The Beatles

August 16 - 22, Albanus 1

Though the band arrived safely in Hakarim, the storm continued to roil in the south.  They told their tale to Meera against a backdrop of flashes of lightning and the distant growl of thunder.  Meera showed little grief when they uncovered her man's body;  she'd known, for weeks, that there was little chance she would ever see him alive again.  The party urged her to move, now, to the tribe's winter settlment.  Reluctantly, Meera agreed to abandon the last of the pearl-gathering season.  But she begged Corvina to find Lucellus and tell him what was happening.

The next day, as black clouds boiled over Hakarim, the Noricans packed with whirlwind speed and efficiency.  Clearly, they were a people accustomed to moving at the drop of a hat.  That evening they burned Dennek's body and feasted his spirit.  And the morning after, on the 18th, the Noricans set out for Madreponas, across the Viridian Sea in Altania Superior.  Tem and his boat detoured north to Viridistan to return the band to civilized lands.

Only one incident broke the uneventful sail.  On August 19th, Marius suddenly heard the voice of Pontifex Phinias in his head.  Normally Phinias spoke with cloying sweetness;  this was the first time Marius could recall hearing real anger from the man.  "Remember this date, boy," Phinias snarled.  "When you hear of your 'victory', I want you to see it for what it truly is:  your damnation.  We know you, and your famuli, now.  I look forward to our next meeting."  Marius said nothing, but informed the others of this cryptic threat.

Arriving in Viridistan in the evening of the 21st, the band hiked back to their villa on the eastern side of the city.  As they neared, they heard the sound of sword-play from within the courtyard.  Alarming -- until they heard Lucellus cheerfully bellowing, "No, no, Philipus.  You really do have to keep your eyes open.  Try to block me again.  And watch me this time."  Entering, the band found the house full of strange paladins, perhaps a dozen or more.  Tinnius hurried down and begged Severus' forgiveness;  he feared that he had imposed upon the Surrexus' hospitality.  But Severus assured him that it was no problem;  having this many paladins about made them much safer.

The band then regaled the amazed paladins with the tale of Hakarim and what they'd found there.  Lucellus was in agony that he'd "missed" a liche -- though he was somewhat mollified when people reminded him that the liche wasn't going anywhere.  Corvina downplayed her role in the ritual that freed the souls trapped in the Vault, leaving Marius with the lion's share of the credit.  There was no great news from Viridistan.  Paladins were coming in, in droves.  Sir Petrus, a young knight recently in Rostilla, said that the Count of Proinde had asked him to examine the county's clerics closely for corruption, and had hinted that some of the neighboring counts might like the same done.  Ancilla's call pulled him away when the deed was only half done, but Petrus intended to return to Rostilla once the Council was over.

Tinnius and the senior knights had learned a lot about the Order's history, but nothing too startling.  Tinnius admitted that he wasn't pleased by the Order's old records.  They hinted at corruption, and a "religious" order far too involved in politics.  "The Order has fallen, no doubt, and is less than it was.  But I believe our hardships have scraped away some of the dross.  We may arise from this much stronger than we were."  Marius nodded and reminded him that sometimes the Gods sent hardships to call us to humility.  A sentiment Tinnius acknowledged.

Severus sent Dah on two errands:  to arrange a party at the city's finest inn, and ask Captain Cassius of the Praetorian Guards what had happened in Rostilla three days ago -- the day on which Marius had received Phinias' message.  The dutiful slave also gave his master a mysterious letter that Count Harrans had forwarded.  Severus read it with great interest, but did not show it to anyone.

Despite the lateness of the hour, the band set out for the Collegium of Magi to visit Oshan.  The mage was awake and had them brought to his tower, where a delighted Alive began crawling all over Gaius and insisting he come upstairs (into Oshan's bedroom...) to see his "nest".  Oshan was clearly wide awake.  And admitted that he didn't sleep at night much anymore.  There'd been an assassination attempt;  the killer posed as a merchant selling griffon eggs, and had accosted him in the street.  Oshan gave no details -- except that he was alive and the assassin was dead.  The foreign magus had shaved off his beard and looked far more Viridian than before.

The band then told him about what they'd found in Hakarim.  Oshan read Vestran, yet he did not know anything about 'Vaults'.  The gate and the Effluvia they described, however, were very familiar to him.  He specialized in conjuration and gates, he said, and he'd seen gates like this in Fransk and Insula Mollita.  (And in doing so, dropped another hint about his background, for these two foul lands lie close to Dulsanius.)  They opened onto the Void, the darkness between the Stars.  A foul plane that powered undead creatures.  Gates to the Void allowed Effluvia to enter this world, a miasma that trapped souls at the moment of their death.  There were unclean ways of binding yourself to such gates, and if you were undead, this increased your power to extraordinary heights.  The one piece of good news was that normally the Effluvia did not spread far.  The strength of the gate determined its area;  Oshan had never seen an Effluvia more than two miles across.

But what about the Vault?  How did it fit into the picture?  And were there more Vaults about, that an undead abomination like Theodosius might find?  Oshan didn't know -- but he did know someone who might.  Anat Alariel, the drow ambassador;  a magus residing at the Collegium.  Reluctantly, Severus, Marius, Gaius and Corvina agreed to meet her.  Titus remained silent.  And when Oshan asked him directly if this was alright, Titus got up and left without a word, Leyna following in his wake.

Oshan arranged a meeting with Anat in one of the Collegium's sitting rooms.  She was a slender woman, tall, with long, dead white hair and ebony skin.  She wore black chainmail, which Corvina recognized as silk-weave, magically enchanted spider's silk from which the drow craft armor that will not hamper their spellcraft.  About her throat lay a holy symbol of Dulcea.  A human holy symbol, Corvina noted -- for the drow use different images for Mother Night.  A symbol that was clearly intended to provoke and annoy the humans surrounding her.

"I am Anat Alariel, ambassador of the drow," she said.  "Sit."  Oshan bristled at that, and pointed out that in Viridia they added 'please' to such requests.  "Do they?" Anat shrugged with supreme indifference.  "Sit or stand.  It makes no difference to me."  Corvina rightly noted that the drow had actually been quite polite, by her own standards.  Drow had no word for 'please' -- and she hadn't called them 'fools', 'worms', or anything similar.  Anat's companion, a spider a foot and a half across, crawled over to stare at them, then scuttled off beneath the table.  Most people chose to move their chairs away a bit, and sit at the edges of the room.

Again, the band described what they'd found in Hakarim.  Anat perked up at the mention of the Vault.  She did indeed know what such things were.  They were remnants of Vesterix, left over from the Fall.  Part of 'the Rite of Ascension', a ritual that captured a myriad of souls and channeled their power into one mage, making him a demi-god of sorts.  As far as she knew, there were only four mages who ever successfully completed the Rite of Ascension;  she did not, however, say who they were or what happened to them after their success.

Were there other Vaults?  Yes, in most of the major Vestran cities.  The drow had found several -- the ones that could be safely accessed -- and destroyed them.  Anat was quite annoyed that the drow had somehow failed to locate Hakarim's Vault.  Those that remained were deep within the Fallen Lands.  Did the drow have maps of these cities?  At that, the ambassador bristled slightly.  "Our maps were made when we were cowards," she said.  A phrase that Corvina translated to 'when we were elves, not drow'.  "We no longer have them.  If you require them, seek amongst the craven.  But beware, for cowardice is contagious."  The party thanked her for her assistance, and returned home.

While they were doing this, Titus and Leyna sought Sir Tinnius.  Titus told the older man of his plans for the Order.  How he hoped to re-establish a Chapter House where young squires could be trained for their first year.  How he was going to propose that the Order elect a new Grand Master -- and that he was going to suggest Tinnius for that honor.  Tinnius was both flattered and disturbed.  He offered a number of half-hearted objections.  Chapter Houses cost money... the Order had no need of a Grand Master... he had no wish to return to the more political Order of a hundred years ago...  squires should be trained by knights, not teachers...  Though he admitted that it would be good to have a home for those rare paladins who lived to be elderly.  Someplace these old men could go, and be useful.  Titus added (with a pointed look at young Balthasar, practicing with his heavy book in the courtyard) that it would good to create a role for weaker men who had good hearts.  Yes, Tinnius agreed, even the effete could contribute something.  In the end, Tinnius agreed to think about this, and thanked Titus for the forewarning.

When the rest of the band returned to the villa they found Dah kneeling in the doorway, waiting for them.  The dinner arrangements were made, for the Red Horse.  And Captain Cassius said he knew of nothing that happened three days ago in Rostilla.  However five days ago, Pontifex Phinias died in his sleep.  Severus then shared the gist of the letter he'd received (though he still did not show it to anyone).  Clearly Phinias had been forced to fake his own death, and retreat from his base of power.

With that, the band rested for a day.  Then, the next evening around dinner, the senior paladins (and Balthasar) assembled wearing their finest clothes.  Which startled Leyna, who'd begun eating supper.  Severus had forgotten to mention the party to anyone, and so Leyna and Corvina had to scramble to get into decent clothes.  Leyna managed to squeeze into her one good dress, a close-waisted bit of frippery she hadn't worn in years.  Balthasar straggled along with them 'to help'... until Gaius swatted him in the back of the head and pointed out that it was NOT appropriate for a paladin-to-be to hang about in ladies' doorways while they got dressed.  Blushing furiously, the youngster slunk back to the other paladins.  Sir Darius, Titus noted, was oddly silent about his squire's behavior.

The Red Horse was a lively inn near the Collegium, full of Viridistan's finest people.  The Surrexi had a private dining chamber in a small courtyard, with a sparkling fountain and brilliant red roses.  Oshan joined them -- causing a slight scare as he teleported in (apparently the assassination attempt had quite rattled him, for the Mages' Guild was only 500 feet down the road).  Lovely servants (of both genders) brought a variety of fine wines and food.  Roast lamb with rosemary.  Shaved steak.  Tiny game-hens baked with garlic.  (Severus had vetoed the more exotic possibilities, like puffed maggots, lark's tongue pie, and velvets -- the Mollitan white-fish fed on the flesh of corpses.)  

The master of the house discretely enquired whether any 'other' services would be required this evening.  Severus said he thought not -- but said the serving girls should flirt with Marius.  Which they did.  The young cleric withstood their charms stoically, with only a faint disapproving glance at Severus and Gaius.  Balthasar, alas, was not quite so sedate.  The boy drank far too much, and kept staring wistfully at the women.  Gaius tried to get him to slow down on the wine -- and asked if he was truly certain he wanted to be a paladin.  Balthasar insisted that he did, he definitely did... and once again, Sir Darius said nothing.  He seemed content to allow the boy to get himself in as much trouble as he wished.

At the height of the meal, Severus announced that Marius' fourteenth birthday (the day on which he became a man) had passed.  He gave him his honor blade, the sign of maturity -- then warned that he had an unpleasant present for his brother.  Should he die, Severus wished Marius to be the next count of Surrexus.  He realized that this could destroy his career in the Temples, and he apologized.  But Marius thanked him for the honor, and made it clear he'd do whatever his famuli required of him.  The assembled guests toasted him, and the House of Surrexus.