The Beatles

July 1st (evening) through July 3rd, Albanus 1

As the sun set, a quietly disapproving priestess led the band into the Golden House for a private meeting with Abbess Halaessa.  Halaessa met them in a small room deep within the maze of twisty, book-lined passages that honeycomb the land beneath the temple.  As Severus introduced his famuli, the abbess smiled at young Marius.  "I've heard a great deal about you," she said.  

"Um... how?" Marius replied

"One moment, and all will be clear," the greyhaired woman said.  Rising, she opened another door in the room and called to a figure clothed in the traditional dress and veil of a priestess of Crescens.  "They're here.  You can come in now."  "Must I?" the shadowy shape grumbled.  Halaessa sighed.  "We can't very well yell down the corridor, now can we?"  Reluctantly the figure shuffled forward... and revealed himself to be Abbot Micarius.  In drag.  Everyone had the good breeding to pretend they didn't notice the venerable cleric's unusual garb.

Micarius explained that a long time ago, he and Halaessa had exchanged refuge items -- magical charms which, when broken, allow a person to teleport to a sacred shrine.  The abbot discovered evidence that many (most?) of the clergy in the capitol were corrupt;  the poison had spread throughout the temples of the city.  The good news was that he did not think the problem had spread far into the counties.  The bad news was that he'd been forced to flee Rostilla and now had to hide here, in the Golden House's libraries.

The old scholar was using his time to try to discover the nature of the demonic cults threatening Rostilla.  While researching the party's clues about "Lil", he came across a nefas text on demon-worship, written in Insula Mollita.  Lil, this book claimed, was one of the four "Hands" of the Dreamer.  Her companions were Morrash the Devourer, Pazzur (a plague demon worshipped as a god in Dulsanius), and Selness the Divinely Raving, a demon of rage and slaughter.  Combined with the Dreamer (perhaps the same as "the Sleeping God" who's worshipped in parts of Altania), these five creatures formed a twisted mirror of the Gods of the Pentad.  The Hands had three goals.  1) To prepare the land for the Dreamer.  2) To gather "the Sebetu".  3) To wake the Dreamer and make his dreams real.

"Sebetu", Micarius explained, was an ancient Altanian word meaning "seven".  He had no idea why a Mollitan text would use this one, solitary Altanian word -- and such an archaic one at that.

The band in turn shared all of their evidence with the two senior clerics.  Halaessa granted them permission to research in the library, and offered to arrange a meeting with Count Benobles when they were ready.  She also gave a sending to Sir Tinnius, a senior paladin whom Lucellus and Regulus thought might be in Viridistan.  Lucellus asked him to contact Pontifex Orosius of Viridistan, a cleric who'd met Mores.  Perhaps the boy could tell them where he was being kept.

Most of the band returned to the inn for the evening.  Clarissa Benobles and her son Marcus remained in the basement, since it had stronger warding about it.  Corvina shared a room with her, while Lucellus and Regulus slept outside the door in the hallway.

When the folks in the inn arose in the morning, they were greeted with huge, steaming platters of bacon... bowls of fresh fruit and cream... bread warm from the oven... and a variety of other delectibles.  There was even akoa, a sweet Altanian drink (very much like hot chocolate).  Things were a bit more unpleasant in the library, however.  Corvina and Clarissa awoke to find Lucellus despondent.

Orosius had indeed been able to contact Mores -- and the news was terrible.  The boy was in great pain, grievously injured, and being tortured.  He thought he was in the Fallen Lands because there were Witch Lights playing in the sky above his cell.  His captor was a man, long dead (a vampire, perhaps?) who called himself "a friend" (ie., Amicus).  Mores' thoughts were jumbled, but Orosius was able to tell that he was sure Amicus had killed Lucellus, because the creature had something.... something critical... that belonged to Lucellus.  (The party speculates that this "something" is a Council Blade, and that Mores mistook Severilia for her twin, Lucellus' blade Ancilla.  If this is true, then Amicus is probably Theodosius, the last Grand Master of the Order of St. Cavallius.  Theodosius supposedly rode into the Fallen Lands to die, about 75 years ago.)

As Regulus guided everyone up to the inn (to keep their strength up, even if they weren't hungry), Corvina pressed Lucellus to promise that he wouldn't do anything foolish, like ride off for the Fallen Lands without warning.  The paladin stubbornly refused.  Severus reminded him that this was obviously a trap and that he had no idea where the boy was in the Fallen Lands or how to find him.  Lucellus didn't say anything.  Titus then pointed out that the 'Witch Lights' the boy saw could be an illusion -- a lie to trick Lucellus into a suicidal ride south.  That penetrated Lucellus' funk, and he sadly agreed to continue on to Viridistan and summon the Council, as they'd planned.  Regulus reminded him that he'd find help at the Council, great knights like Sir Tinnius and Sir Darius.  And Severus tossed in a point that oddly reassured Lucellus.  If this truly was a trap, Severus said, they'd know soon -- because Amicus was going to have to let more information about his location "slip" if he wanted to lure Lucellus.

Fighting off food coma, the band then headed back to the libraries.  Over the next two days, they uncovered a great deal of information.  (Actually Marius found the lion's share of it, showing off his scholarly skills to great effect.)  Severus composed a series of letters on one day.  And the next, both he and Corvina summoned their familiars.  Severus was answered by a young black eagle, still biting off bits and pieces of its white baby plummage.  He named the bird "Brennus" in honor of his dead brother.  Corvina called a blessed raven, which announced that its name was Tenebrus (Shadowy, or Enshadowed).

That night Halaessa spoke to Count Coronatus Benobles and arranged a meeting for the next evening.  She invited the party to a lovely dinner, complete with fen-cow steaks.  And, as a present, she cast true sight on Marius, which allowed him to see Ancilla -- the angelic spirit bound to Lucellus' council blade.  Half woman, half serpent, Ancilla had wings made of brilliant green and blue feathers which almost looked like slivers of stained glass.  Her scales, hair, and eyes were pure emerald green.  Again, looking more like gems and glass than flesh and blood.  She also, apparently, had a sharp set of fangs.  Lucellus nearly got himself bitten by insinuating that Ancilla couldn't carry a tune to save her life.  (The lillendi are known to be incomparable singers.  Judging from Ancilla's reaction, being called 'tone-deaf' is a pretty big insult amongst them.)

As the evening wound down, the band returned to their feather beds and sleep.  In the middle of the night, however, a strangled screech awoke them, a cry coming from the lake outside the complex's walls.  Brennus clawed Severus awake and snapped, "A guardian has died."  And with that, everyone scrambled for their weapons and armor...