Paul Simon

June 25th, Legis Day, Albanus 1.  The Day That Would Not End.

After a lengthy debate, the party decided to ride for Tillaford in the morning, rather than taking a ship.  While Severus scouted the home of Sir Pelius the rest of the family rode south out of town and found a copse of trees to camp in.  As they set up, Marius suddenly heard the voice of Abbot Micarius in his mind.  "I received word of your letter," the man said.  "I am safe for now; forgive me for not yet telling you where.  Beware false sendings.  Tell me nothing, unless your need is urgent.  Phinias is thoroughly corrupt, perhaps all of the Supremi as well."  Dutiful, the young priest said nothing in return.

The family regrouped, caught Titus as he came in off the ferry (still wearing his tabard), and headed to the Black Cat to meet Sir Lucellus and Sir Regulus.

They arrived before the paladins did and got a room, ale, and some chicken -- and a number of odd stares.  A few minutes later the two senior paladins joined them.  Regulus was a quite man, perhaps 40, with faint glimmers of grey in his blonde hair.  His younger companion, Lucellus, bounced up the stairs (in platemail...) and swept Corvina into an enthusiastic hug that bordered on improper.  Lucellus appeared to have been scalped recently (the result of an unfortunate accident while cutting his hair on board ship).  There were greetings and handshakes all around.  Leyna managed to catch Lucellus' hand before he patted Marius on the head.

Then the party laid out everything:  their suspicions, their evidence, their fears.  Regulus and Lucellus were a bit dazed by it all.  Especially when it became clear that they were personally mentioned in the letters from the Temple of Lil.  Lucellus was "Discipulus";  when he arrived in Tillaford, two days ago, he aided a little girl who'd been bitten by an asp near the docks.  Regulus was the "guardsman" who was briefly mentioned.  Neither had any idea who "Amicus" was, nor "the Sancti".  

The two paladins had intended to head south to Ossarius, where they hoped to convince the count to outlaw slave trade with Insula Mollita.  After hearing about the dangers to Rostilla, they decided to head to Viridistan instead.  There, Lucellus would summon a council, a meeting of all paladins, and warn the Order about these demonic cults.  (Lucellus' sword, Ancilla, is a holy relic -- a Council Blade.  A lillendi (one of the Gods' angelic messengers) resides within it and helps shield the sword's wielder from spells.  Ancilla can also sing to all members of the Order and urge them to come to her.)

Gaius asked Regulus about the Order's history.  Specifically, about the problems that arose 80 years ago.  Regulus was embarassed to admit that he didn't know as much as he ought.  Eighty years ago, he said, Emperor Darius of Viridia outlawed the worship of Dulcea.  There was some scandal, some allegations of demon worship -- Regulus wasn't sure of the details.  But in the end, Darius declared Dulcea a demoness and forbade her worship in the Empire.  

At the same time Darius also stripped the Order of St. Cavallius of all its worldly power.  The Order's Mother House in Viridia and its four Chapter Houses were closed;  all of the Order's goods (except for the gear the remaining knights carried) was confiscated by the Emperor.  The Frateres (lay members of the Order, who performed a variety of diplomatic and political duties for the Emperor) were dismissed.  At the end of this purge, there was virtually nothing left of the Order.  A handful of paladins remained;  the Emperor allowed them to keep their belongings and their knightly title, but nothing more.  Theodosius, the last Grand Master of the Order, rode into the Fallen Lands, taking his Council Blade Severillia with him.  When Gaius asked why the Order was destroyed, Regulus admitted that of course there were allegations of demon worship and corruption in the Order -- but he didn't believe them.  He believed that greed was to blame.  The Order had gotten too wealthy, too powerful.  Darius coveted their goods;  the Praetor (the head of the Praetorian Guard) coveted their position as the bodyguards of the Emperor.  The two, Regulus believes, conspired to destroy the Order.

Two other odd historical events occurred at this time.  Shortly before the destruction of the Order, one of the Council Blades simply disappeared.  Sir Rarans, who wielded Camilla, vanished.  Neither he nor his sword were ever seen again, and no one knows what happened to them.  Regulus didn't mention the second odd event, but it's something all Rostillans know about:  two years after Dulcea's worship was outlawed, Emperor Darius murdered his wife, Princess Tertia of Rostilla.  According to legend, he drowned her in their bath in a fit of rage.  Tertia's death sparked the last major war between Rostilla and Viridia.  Rostilla lost that war, and has been paying tribute ever since.

As dark fell and the conversation wound down, Titus and Leyna heard a commotion in the street.  Several guards were trying to enforce a "curfew" -- one that hadn't been in place the night before, according to Regulus.  The party managed to slip past the guards at the door.  While the band headed for the southern gates, the two paladins returned to their inn to fetch Mores, Lucellus' squire.

Something odd was going on -- though it was hard to say what.  There were guards in the street... but not huge numbers.  They were enforcing a curfew... but the southern gate was still open when the party arrived.  A few minutes after they passed, a messenger arrived and the south gate closed... but only a small contingent of men were left to guard it.  Most of the band headed back to camp;  Severus remained near the gate and watched.  Soon he spotted a glimmer of light shooting back and forth along Tillaford's streets, and heard faint cries of "Halt!  Halt!"  A few moments of squinting revealed that the light was Ancilla, catching the moon's faint rays on her mithril hilt.  Lucellus was riding back and forth furiously, though Severus couldn't tell what was wrong.

Hoping to summon his family, Severus climbed the roof of a nearby house and set its thatched roof on fire.  Yet even as he did, the weather began to shift.  The wind died, and then reversed itself -- blowing into the bay from the ocean.  Clouds boiled up.  The guards at the gate shouted "Fire" and a few moments later there was chaos.  People poured out of their houses, and the guards came streaming out of the gate to assist the fire brigade.

Spotting the blaze, the band rode back to Tillaford.  And when they ran into the confusion they... split up.  Titus and Corvina charged the gate, taking a couple arrow shots as they plowed past the startled guards.  Leyna slipped off her horse to help the fire brigade.  Meanwhile Gaius and Marius rode ditched their horses and scrambled over the wall (six feet tall, sloping, and covered in sheep).  There they hookd up with Severus.

Above them, the skies opened and a torrential rain poured down.  Bolts of lightning lit up the sky.  Titus and Corvina ran down the frantic Lucellus, who raved that More was gone.  The inn keeper at the Seven Winds said that a woman came to the inn with a squad of guards.  (A woman who fit the description of someone Regulus thought had been spying on them.)  They asked for the paladins' rooms.  When they came down, they had Lucellus' squire in shackles and told the inn-keeper that the boy was under arrest.  On what charges, he couldn't say.  Titus suggested that they go to the Temple of Dulcea in town -- perhaps that's where they'd taken the boy.  The four of them (Corvina, Titus, Lucellus and Regulus) rode for the Temple (after draping a cloak over Ancilla).  Corvina sent Fluffy back to the gate with a note in his collar that read, "Temple of Dulcea."

Leyna, meanwhile, helped the fire brigade and kept an eye on the guards' behavior -- which was notably odd.  They seemed to have no interest in catching the "madmen" who rode into town.  All they worried about was the fire.  As rain began to fall, the peasants broke into cheers and praise of Crescens.  A moment later Gaius slipped up beside Leyna and told her to follow him over the wall.

Marius and Severus had headed east, to see what was going on around Tillaford castle and Sir Pelius' house.  Things seemed quiet -- except that they spotted a cloaked figure slipping out of the back of the palace and making a bee-line for the south gate.  As the figure neared, they saw that it was a woman holding some infant-sized burden at which she occasionally chucked and cooed.  When she was a few feet away, Severus said, "Good evening lady.  Do you seek to leave by the south gate?  If so, perhaps we can help."  The woman startled and said, "Good evening to you, fellow peasant.  Why would I need help leavin?."  Guessing that this dreadful actor was Clarissa Benobles, Severus said, "Because your husband has closed the gate, Lady."

Gaius and Leyna arrived then, and the ranger recognized their Mystery Woman at once.  "Taking a runner, Clarissa?" he asked.  Blushing, Clarissa admitted that yes, she needed to leave.  Now.  Before her husband spoke to the clerics and used magic to find her.  The bundle was indeed a baby, her son Marcus.  Clarissa stammered out a confused story.  Count Robertus had told her of the Surrexus letter, and was enraged at the accusations against his son.  Later, that evening, she overheard a conversation between Sir Pelius and one of her former maid-servants.  A woman she named "Lara", but who seemed to be Vermilla of the Temple of Lil -- and probably the woman who had kidnapped Mores.  Lara said everything at Altus had been destroyed, then she and Pelius left to warn Magnus.  This event seemed to have great meaning to Clarissa -- for reasons she didn't have time to explain.  She immediately retired to her room, bundled up her baby Marcus, and slipped out of the castle.  Severus asked her if she had divorced her husband;  Clarissa said she hadn't had time.  Gaius asked her if she wished to, and she said yes.  Magnus was a cruel and violent man.  But she had to leave now.  Lara had taken a lock of her baby's hair.  (When, she didn't say.)

As they pondered what to do, Fluffy arrived with the note from Corvina.  It seemed the day was not over quite yet...