1216
Spring
The magi of the Alps relate to their apprentices that Profundus has been given permission to remain at Icy North for another year and offer further instruction in the liberal arts and philosophy. Most magi have little use for such things, but some Houses or particular lineages emphasize spontaneous magic, ritual magic, or specialized training, and so the masters are deciding who shall attend these "electives" and who shall work in the lab or be given other duties.
Of the six Alpine Apprentices, only Eva and Garcette are sent back to school by their dominas. Verditius runes benefit from a knowledge of philosophy, and Quaesitores are routinely schooled in both moral philosophy and the rhetoric of debate.
When Hugh learns that Eva has been sent to school, he gives a disapproving grunt. "I suppose this means you'll be making moon-eyes at her all season," he says to his apprentice. "Again. And forsaking your other duties. Again!" He shakes his head and puts his hand on Rene's shoulder. "When a magus allows himself to love, his heart has already broken. He just doesn't know it yet. Learn from my mistakes, Rene. Do not follow the path of your dominus into folly."
And it is perhaps to help facilitate this that Hugh takes Rene with him to the Iberian Tribunal, where a great battle within the Order has erupted. It appears that a large number of Flambeau in Iberia, many belonging to a single covenant, have all become Infernalists. Known as "The Flaming Shadow," they escaped Hermetic justice at the Tribunal of 1207 and have, over the last seven years, destroyed two entire covenants and killed some fifty magi. The scandal is a vicious blot on the reputation of House Flambeau, which has been under investigation by House Guernicus. But, apparently, the Tribubal of 1214 has cleared the House itself of wrongdoing and a defense pact has been formed to root out the Flaming Shadow.
It's hard to say if Hugh is being sent to Iberia to hunt these diabolists down or going of his own free will, but the point is probably moot. He's not going with the express purpose of keeping Rene away from Eva, but that's a bonus.
Breandan and Gustov are kept in the laboratory for Spring. By the end of May, Breandan and Diana have completed their great project: a 12th magnitude ritual spell called Alacrity of the Huntress. The spell permanently increases the Dexterity of a man or woman, at the cost of Warping and 12 pawns of vis. Diana shows no sign of pleasure when the work is complete, however, noting only, "Now for the difficult part."
Innocentius may do as he wishes.
Meanwhile, in Arcadia...
Cassidy, Kynthia and Iovhar pack for a long trip. Kynthia reveals very little about the destination, but is energetic and intense; it becomes clear after a time that the adventures which she has taken Cassidy on over the years are at last leading to some kind of culmination. Using the icicle she brought back three years before as an arcane connection, she uses Hermetic Pilgrimage to whisk everyone to Castle Snow.
Little has changed there, but Kynthia is not interested in this land any longer. Instead, she puts the road behind her and sets off across country towards the Moon, which floats enormous and glowing in the night sky. By day, the group camps, traveling only by moonlight through a land buried in thick snow, through barren woods filled with lifeless trees. Finally, a week or more into the journey, and while maintaining a brisk stride into the light, Kynthia explains everything.
"That," she says, pointing at the huge moon floating before them, "has always been our destination, our ultimate goal. To break the Limit of the Lunar Sphere is the culmination of centuries of work. But how to reach it? We know many faeries dwell on the moon, and so Arcadia must touch it. But where is it? In what corner of Arcadia could it lie? No one has ever made a journey long enough to reach the moon. No one... until now."
"Seven years ago we began our journey, walking the early roads of youth and beauty to the land of Castle Hartwell and the Faeries of Spring. A year later, with the help of our Arcane Connections and Hermetic magic, we resumed our journey where we left off and went deeper into Faerie, until we reached the Summer Country and Castle Swordpoint. We reached Autumn and the faeries of Castle Gold in 1211 and, eventually and in time, we left that land and came by the oldest of roads to Castle Snow. That was three years ago, and now Winter lies behind us. These are the most ancient paths of Faerie, beyond roads, of all places we are farthest from the fields we know." Her face is glowing with enthusiasm. She can sense the Moon is near. Perhaps it is over that hill, around that bend, or just through those trees... there!
But nights pass, days turn into weeks, and then to months. Depression and gloom sets in as the travelers see no one, not a creature. Food runs low. Kynthia has brought vis to create real and nourishing food but, in time, even this is exhausted. Iovhar cannot hunt when there is only snow, ice, and wood. But Kynthia will not give up. She has come too far. Worked too hard. Planned too long.
Until, finally, there is a path. Hopes rise. Kynthia brightens and her stride lengthens. Caera runs ahead. And then, as you crest a hill, there it is...
Castle Hartwell stands high atop a hill, surrounded by a hundred Faerie pavilions, precisely as it did when Cassidy and Kynthia last saw it. As you watch, a herald rides towards your group, making for the road which now lies nearby. Iovhar hails him. "What news? Is Lord Hartwell still king in this land?"
"Have you not heard?" says the herald, eager to be about his task. "The Lord seeks a bride! Even now he has sent messengers to every corner of the realm, commanding them to bring their loveliest daughters into his presence!" He gives Cassidy a quick gaze. "But perhaps that is why you are here. You are not too late. Bring the maiden to the Lord's court, and if he favors her, you will be showered with wealth and favors."
As he rides off, Kynthia's gaze lowers. Her expression is a mixture of grief, frustration, and anger. She and Cassidy have come full circle, back to the very place, the very moment, and the very story which was taking place when they entered the Arcadian realms of Spring lo those many years ago. Kynthia reaches into her bag and takes out a small wooden token.
"They haven't beaten me yet," she says with grim determination. "I yet have one trick to play."
A moment later, everyone is back in Shadow of the Moon and Kynthia withdraws to her sanctum.
Advancement
Eva, Garcette, and anyone else who gets to attend school gets 20 XP in Artes Liberales or Philosophiae, and 3 Profundus XP.
Breandan and Gustov get 2 Exposure.
Rene is in Iberia and gets 8 Practice XP in Spanish or 7 XP in Iberia Lore.
Cassidy gets 5 XP in Faerie Lore, Faerie Magic, or Survival.
Summer
All the apprentices are given a free season; their masters advise them to prepare for their future by copying useful books. However, should they wish, their rudimentary laboratories are available to them and supplied by the covenant of Icy North.
Garcette copies a summa on Muto, working in the library at Icy North at the scriptorium tables there. She seems wistful and distracted and is often seen daydreaming, as if she sees something that no one else can.
In Sinews of Knowledge, Jovis takes Eva under his wing and spends months with her, ordering her to craft her casting tools over and over. Then, at the end of the season, he leads her across the Alps to the slopes of Mount Blanc, where they enter a magical Regio and find a spectacular cavern of ice. There, Eva burns her casting tools. She has mastered the mystery of Enchanted Casting Tools, but the magic of the regio saturates her body in the process, and her Parma becomes permanently flawed, making her vulnerable to Vim.
Rene spends his free season in Iberia, where he and Hugh are hosted by local magi desperate to avoid being murdered by the Flaming Shadow. Hugh spends much of his time helping the Grogs and Turbs of Iberia to organize and better prepare for Infernalist attacks.
Advancement
Garcette gets 2 Exposure XP.
Eva gains Enchanted Casting Tools, Limited Magic Resistance to Vim, and her Humble flaw changes to Hubris. 2 Exposure XP.
Other players as they decide.
Autumn
Profundus returns to the classroom, continuing his instruction in advanced rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, moral and natural philosophy. Once again, Eva and Garcette are directed to attend by their dominas while Gustov assists his master in the laboratory. Rene is back on the warpath in Iberia. Diana, hard at work copying Alacrity of the Huntress onto a casting tablet, gives Breandan a free season.
Back in the Shadow of the Moon, Kynthia is in the library researching and reading. She seldom emerges from her sanctum. Cassidy is, instead, taken in by Camille, the Nordic illusionist who previously taught her spells. Camille is eager to pass on the secrets of Pendule's line to Cassidy, whose talent with illusion, Camille insists, is wasted in Kynthia's hands. "Ah, if you had been my apprentice," she says one night, downing her fourth tankard of honey mead, "we would have stolen the Silken Bellows from Kosel the Wind God, smuggled the Ruby Egg back from the King of Thieves, and arranged a marriage between Golden-Haired Sif and Gullinbirsti the Pig! All this business about breaking the Law of the Lunar Sphere and reaching the Moon... It's hopeless! A fool's quest! And we leave those to the Flambeau, am I right?" Another round of laughter follows.
Camille keeps Cassidy busy for most of the season, regaling her with tales of Pendule's legendary trickery and passing on tidbits of obscure Faerie magic. Pendule wielded many spells with unique characteristics which do not fit into standard Hermetic Theory, including spells that could be cast and then held to be released at a later moment, spells that lasted as long as the target slept, or read, or drank, and spells that worked like a geas, remaining in effect as long as the target avoided a simple action like speaking or eating. These are known as the mysteries of Spell Timing, and on the last day of Autumn Camille leads Cassidy into a cave on the slopes of Mount Blanc. There, Cassidy sits in a kind of magical fasting, neither sleeping nor eating for an entire day and a night. Following Camille's instructions, every few seconds she casts a Spontaneous spell measuring the moments of time which have elapsed since her last casting, until she has counted every moment over an entire night and a day. She completes the ritual initiation, but it forever affects her mind, making her just a little bit more addled than ever. Her words and thoughts become Inscrutable.
Innocentius may do as he wishes.
Advancement
Eva, Garcette, and anyone else who attends school gets 20 XP in Artes Liberales or Philosophiae, and 3 Profundus XP.
Gustov gets 2 Exposure XP.
Rene gets 8 Practice XP in Spanish or 7 XP in Iberia Lore.
Cassidy gains the Virtue Spell Timing (+1) and the Flaw Inscrutable (-1) and 2 Exposure XP.
Winter
Winter’s embrace had settled upon the Greater Alps Tribunal, and the masters of the Alpine Apprentices took up their duty to teach the Arts.
DECEMBER 4TH
Our tale begins at the Tower of Solomon. Once home to an archmaus of the Order, the Tower now serves as a modest chapter house within the Tribunal. Residing within the Tower’s newly reconstructed innards are the Toymaker, Innocentius and his Slavic bride, Klara. Though the former apprentice known as Akakios is a mage in his own rite, there is much for Innocentius yet to learn and the Toymaker is the man to teach him.
A paranoid sort, the Toymaker sends his ward on his nightly errand of checking—or rather rechecking—their protective wards. Innocentius wanders outside where a light snow now descends and secures the ward on their well. He returns to his fellow magus puttering about his workshop and retires to his bedchamber where Klara awaits.
DECEMBER 5TH
The next morning begins with a start as Klara cannot rouse her husband. For afoul witchcraft has befallen Innocentius. She pounds on his chest, whaling. In bolts the Toymaker decreeing this the work of none other than the Cult of the Dead. All across the Tribunal, a similar scene is played out. An ill wind is compelling several of the Alpine apprentices to dream dreams not their own.
Unbeknownst to the dangers of his fellow tiros, Gustov and his master, Kentigern, returns from a hunting trip to the town of Icy North only to make a stark discovery of their own. The once tranquil hamlet is now a sleepless one. Rioting has taken hold and martial law has been enacted. People are tearing themselves apart, all in the vain hope that sleep might come.
Alarmed, Kentigern makes a mad dash through the town square toward the covenant. Gustov, however, is called away by the telltale screams of Alys the Washer-Woman. He runs to her aide only to discover that she is wrapped in a domestic dispute with her husband, Sam the Butcher. The two are haggard looking, screaming at one another that the other is keeping them up all night. Not knowing what else to do, Gustov sics his dogs on the once loving couple to restrain them before anymore harm is done.
Breanden awakens to find himself in an odd place indeed. He went to sleep in his bedchamber at Shadows of the Moon. However, he is now at the Covenant of Icy North, reliving his greatest triumph. He looks around the Great Hall to see the various mages of the Tribunal seated at the long table, alongside Doctor Azzo Carducci, awaiting his answer. Although Breanden is being asked the question here, it is the Profound Doctor’s teaching methods being put to the test. Impatiently, Breanden’s master, Diana, taps a lone finger against the oaken table.
Finding his voice, Breanden answers the question with his usual overconfident aplomb. He is right, of course. After all, why wouldn’t he be right? Pleased, all assembled become indistinct from one another—like shadows cast on a cave wall—all that is save Diana herself. She rises and sashays toward her apprentice, seduction clear in her gaze.
His master’s sudden interest in him is enough to raise his suspicions. He questions the veracity of the imposter. For his troubles he is rewarded naught more than a mischievous grin and a promise that the story is still unfolding. With that the world around him breaks like so much glass and Breanden is once again alone in the dark.
In the dark, Eva awaits. She is alone within an endless void. That is until a disembodied voice calls out to her, taunting her. In spite her best efforts to the contrary, the voice is not one that Eva can readily name.
The voice laments his inability to touch her as he does with her fellows. Perhaps, the voice ponders aloud, he not as strong as he thought he was or… Perhaps, something is protecting her, warding her, something he dare not seek to tamper with. Yet.
The voice takes his leave, revealing the well she peered into in the Valley of Saint Nerius, taunting her to peer in.
At Shadows of the Moon, a sleepless Cassidy is startled by her domina, Kynthia, and her stalwart protector, Iovhar. With little to no fanfare, Kynthia takes hold of her apprentice and casts Hermetic Pilgrimage to transport the whole lot of them from their covenant to Alys’ home. She remains long enough to mutter that there is trouble at Shadowpoint Keep and vanishes just as quickly as she came.
Reunited, Gustov, Cassidy and Iovhar begin to piece together what has befallen the good people of Icy North. After a short conversation with a fearful Heinzelmann, the three learned that no one has been able to sleep for going on a week now and that the person that the kobold feared was closer than he would have liked. Using Call to Slumber, Cassidy knocked out the squabbling couple. She could not help but notice that neither one of their eyelids were fluttering, a sign that neither one was dreaming.
With that mattered tended to, Gustov called off his dogs and the three headed outside, whereupon they were beset by Constable Kaspar, a horse his mount. The constable turned his sword toward them and shouted, “You there! You lot are responsible for this devilry!”
When Breanden’s world came back to focus he found himself alone in the vampire infested caves of Novgorod. Wandering aimlessly, he took great comfort when the Wand of Nestor the Old was once again in his hand, miraculously. That comfort was short-lived, however, when he heard footsteps running toward him. Without thinking, Breanden’s fight instinct took hold and he hurled a Ball of Abyssal Flame in the on comer’s direction.
The spell went off. The corridor filled with flame. Only to dissipate into so much nothingness when the footfalls ceased, revealing Alfeva. Alfeva had little time for explanations. She ran towards her fellow tiro, grabbing him. The two ran down the hall. All around them, the shadows on the wall twisted and churned, revealing a host of incorporeal Shadowmen chasing them.
Alfeva willed a door to appear, turned a corner and there it was. Opening the door, she slammed it shut once Breanden was inside.
Breanden was in awe when the location revealed to be Alfeva’s own Memory Palace. In short order, Alfeva told Breanden that they appeared to be caught in their own dreams. That something was keeping them asleep and tampering with their memories to do so. She asked him if she saw anyone else. He said no. There were others trapped in these dream cells, she knew—others that could still be freed.
Once more, alone in the void, was Eva. The voice returned his attention to her, taunting her.
In an attempt to provoke the apprentice into lowering her guard, water began to pool around her. Ankle deep and cool to the touch, the water showed her Rene in the most dire of straits. A country away, her love stood his ground. Streams of blood were welling up within the grooves of his armor. On the ground nearest him laid Hugh. His master was unconscious having taken a grievous wound to the head. Overhead, a swarm of demons descended upon the squire-who-would-be-a-magus. Just then a rippled ran across the water’s surface and the image was no more, leaving her alone with the well of Saint Neirus and pool of still water to keep her company.
Innocentius awakens to discover his location has changed. The Tower of Solomon is no more. In its stead are the caves beneath Sinews of Knowledge. As opposed to sharing the night with Karla, he discovers that the ghost of his mother has returned. She is teaching him his spells when footfalls fill the cavern outside. Recollection kindles his actions as he prepares for the worst: For this is the day his master, Sabastien, murders what remains of his mother.
It is not Sebastien that runs forward, however. It is Hugh of Flambeau. Hugh beckons the lad toward him, desperate to flee, to save themselves. He reaches out grabs hold of Innocentius. The young magus cannot help but notice that this Hugh is not the man that spent seasons in the vampire caves. He is a man with all his vigor. Suspicion begins to creep in as he tries to pull free.
Before he can do so, however, both Hugh and his mother begin twisting into Shadowmen. Allowing his training to take hold, Innocentius casts Lay to Rest the Haunting Spirit. The doppelgangers twisted and turned until exploding in a Ball of Abyssal Flame, heralding the arrival of Breanden and Alfeva.
Back in the real world, Gustov, Cassidy and Iovhar are confronted by the constable. He is as bewildered as the rest; though it is clear that his hyper developed sense of order has taken over, overriding all other rational thought. Iovhar’s attempts to talk sense to Kaspar fail. Yet, Gustov manages to convince his steed the righteousness of their cause. Through a conversation of whinnies and clacking teeth, he tends to the creature’s wounds and learns that the villagers started tearing itself apart when they arrested the blacksmith, putting him in the stocks in the town square.
Thanking the horse, Gustov asks if he might be able to take care of the constable long enough for them to reach the town square. The steed is only too happy to oblige and gallops off into the night away from the town of Icy North.
With the constable suitably occupied, the trio head up the road. All around them are signs of carnage and destruction. Bodies litter the street. Sadly, their wounds were dealt by mortal hands. In the square, locked up in the stocks, is none other than Krampus. He is awaiting them with a grin.
In the dark, the voice returns. The voice complements Alfeva, saying that he underestimated her resolve. However, he finds Eva to be “no fun.” Having heard those words earlier, Eva assumes it to be the voice of Krampus. The voice laughs; mocking her attempts to divinate his true identity. The voice tells him that the plot threads are drawing tighter and that soon all will be revealed.
Having heard enough, Eva runs to the well and hurls herself in.
Safe and sound in Alfeva’s Memory Palace, the trio of tiros compare notes. Theories as to what is happening are tossed around as she shows them the wooden figurines of her and her fellow apprentices. Their figures are clumped together, but “Eva’s is missing,” she points out, “and Rene’s is broken.”
That’s when a sudden movement in the atrium catches their attention. The trio run off and are led to the room Alfeva has dedicated toward crimes. Within the room several crime scenes are laid out in meretricious detail. At the middle one, the one showing Lukas’ cottage where Innocentius tried to stab Hugh and the trio assembled here plus Eva saved the life of a young boy named Edward stands Edward’s ghost, sobbing.
On the other side of the looking glass, parlaying with an ageless Faerie bent on the tormenting of wayward children proved a more problematic proposition than anticipated. Still, ever undaunted, Gustov, Cassidy and Iovhar persevered.
Through their exchange, it was revealed that the Edward returned on December 13th, 1209 had indeed been a Changeling. Mistaking the child for his incestuous older brother, Krampus had murdered an innocent. Yet, Edward’s death was not enough to appease the wrongs of his brother, Lukas. Lukas needed to meet a similar fate if Krampus was to be discharged from his duty. Seeing the Alpine apprentices desire to save the dead as immutable, Krampus conjured up the Changeling-Edward as a suitable replacement and this chaos that so enraptured the town of Icy North was the result.
With time running short, a truce was struck. For his freedom, Krampus would reveal to them Changeling-Edward’s location. Terms were made. Cassidy released Krampus, in spite the iron chains holding him in place and the quartet took to the road leading outside the town of Icy North.
In the Memory Palace, Eva appeared through a conveniently placed plot hole in the ceiling. Descending to the ground, Alfeva quickly caught Eva up to speed as to what was learned. With all the Alpine apprentices present during the previous 1209 incident now assembled, a plan was quickly devised to give Edward’s remains a Christian burial. (This was in spite Innocentius’ objections to the contrary.) Convincing the ghost to travel alongside them, the quartet stepped out of the Memory Palace and into…
Outside, the quartet neared a white veil. Taking Gustov in hand, the quartet stepped through and into…
A Faerie Regio!
Their location was a lone, wilted tree. The gnarled roots ran deep into a frozen stream.
With the all the players on stage it was time for the director to show himself. As expected, Changeling-Edward appeared in a flash of white light. While the others attempted to distract the changeling, Alfeva went to work unearthing Edward’s remains.
Presented with the evidence that he was dead, and that his ghost longed for a Christian burial, Changeling-Edward’s faerie magicks short circuited—his story unraveling in so much blinding light. Those gathered made a hasty escape. Innocentius earned a warping point as he tried to haul Edward’s remains through the regio.
DECEMBER 6th & BEYOND…
When all was said and done, it was Gustov, Cassidy and Iovhar whom remained behind. Greeting them was none other than Saint Nicholas. He had chained Krampus, and apologized profusely for all the havoc he has wrecked. Perhaps, he admitted, wayward children need not be punished so severely, but need only be reminded of goodness’ warmth. He proposed to deliver unto them not a demon, but coal to warm their hearts. He smiled at them; his gaze, twinkling, and presented the two children with a candy cane of their very own. In a dash, he and his prisoner were gone.
As per the others, each awoke peacefully within their own beds across the Greater Alps Tribunal. All were safe and sound.
Alas, poor Eva was deeply troubled. She ran to her domina, Balbina, and pleaded her to scry as to Rene’s whereabouts using the arcane connection she had of him: Loose leaf pages from his leather bound gardening book he left behind for her on his trek to Iberia. Balbina, though not unsympathetic, was at a loss to aide. Eva resolved to take the matter up to Athena Alpina herself if she had to.
As per Athena… She oversaw the efforts to restore the town of Icy North, thus leaving the investigation to her apprentice’s charge.
Alfeva deduced that the Changeling-Edward had stolen all the townspeople’s dreams in order to cultivate the raw materials necessary to construct his dream cells for each of the Alpine apprentices involved in his so-called rescue years. Sadly, the damage wroth upon the people of Icy North was done unto themselves; the devastating ill effects of dream deprivation. In time, the people of Icy North would be mended, but it would be a slow, gradual process.
Alfeva noted that what protected Eva was her love for Rene for the Faerie suffered a traditional ward against such emotions. No doubt, she concluded, as a result of the real Edward having died due to his love of his brother. That being the case, Changeling-Edward’s efforts of isolating Eva were no doubt his attempt to cleave a wedge between her and her emotions, thus making her susceptible to his charms like all the rest.
Lastly, she concluded that the Changeling had no prior knowledge of her own Memory Palace, which had served her as a safe harbor free of his machinations, until he had cast their dream selves in his cells. Not enough evidence exists to deduce whether the damage done to her wooden figurines. Perhaps this was her own subconscious trying to warn her of the danger.
Advancement
Breandan gets 15 Teaching XP in Corpus.
Cassidy gets 13 Teaching XP in Rego
Eva gets 18 study XP in Herbam
Garcette gets 14+5 Teaching XP in Muto.
Gustov gets 13 Teaching XP in Creo.
Innocentius is taught by the Toymaker for 13 XP in the Art of his choice.
Rene gets 13+5 Teaching XP in Muto