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Chapter 038 |  |
From her travels and gathering information, Maga Elise filia Hadis ex Miscellanea had learnt of an unopened Barrow in the Forêt de Lorge. The facts pieced together suggested that some young Hermetic magi had found the Barrow, recognised its Aura, and (fearing undead inhabitants) decided not to tackle it. The best tale named Unseelie Fae as the proprietors of the Barrow.
The local Lord was also implicated in a joint action with the magi against bandits - a useful snippet of gossip for Tribunal - but not a desirable contact for a young Necromancer. A more useful contact was named as a merchant, Bertrand de Quintin, who braves the haunted forest to peddle his wares to the Witches Of The Tower and their slaves. (Well, mundanes exaggerate and confuse facts about the Order!) The Redcap Bartholomew of Wirbelnia, when asked, had confirmed that Bertrand was a reliable contact.
Unseelie Barrows
Hadis had taught her pupil about the names and owners of Barrows, or at least some of that vast corpus of lore. If the barrow were truly of that aspect, and the Aura still strong, then likely a Faerie Gate would open to the Inner World, and to the heart of the Barrow. Again, the opening of that would be at the coldest and darkest of the year - the New Moon of January or February.
The magics Hadis taught should stand a young Barrow delver in good stead...
It being mid-January 1222 as she made her way to Quintin, the New Moon of the second day of February seemed a good candidate day to approach the Barrow.
Cat slipped into the shop ahead of her mistress, and reported that the Merchant and his wife were quiet and alone in their house-front stall, but that the Wife had seen Cat and pointed her out to the Merchant man. Elise was understandably surprised by this, and decided to make a more open approach.
Elise could only see the Merchant, Cat notwithstanding; and it became apparent (as Cat leapt to her mistress's shoulders, complaining that the Wife was trying to hustle her out of the shop) that neither could the Merchant see Cat. Elise took this as a sign that Cat and Wife shared the same state of life. Not wanting to begin spell-casting openly in front of a newly met mundane, Elise left the two others to greet each other and confined her attentions to the man before her.
Tentative enquiries about long-lost relatives living in (a tower in) the woods, and a small fee, produced confirmation of the stories; a short bargaining session fixed a fee of two shillings (24 silver pennies from her treasure) for Bertrand to guide her to the hidden Tower in the woods, where he would introduce her to the Scholars.
When Elise had gone, and Bertrand and Eloise had finished comparing notes, he sent a boy he could trust with a letter for the "Covenant". (It was much easier to send messengers now that the messenger could leave the letter at the normal-seeming village, rather than braving the Wizards' Tower itself.)
Speranda found herself cross with mundanes yet again...
Firstly the merchant peddler had addressed his message to Iuris Perita, the ex-Princeps,
and not herself, now Princeps since the midwinter Solstice;
secondly, the merchant advised them to expect a visitor, "one of your own kind",
and claimed to know that the visitor was accompanied by an "invisible cat".
How was a merchant supposed to know about Invisible Cats? For that matter, how was
she supposed to see the cat herself without breaching the Code of Hermes? Bother!
Just when she had reached an interesting part of her book...
Well, for certes, the cat could not be seen! Speranda greeted the visitor in the Council Chamber, and listened as she recited what little there was of her Hedge Wizard ancestry. This Elise even tried to trace herself back to Pralix and the founding of "Miscellany", as if this would impress anyone with as fine a pedigree as herself in her House Bonisagus!
Then, as if not trusting the skills of her Princeps, Maga Iuris Perita turned up bringing Zane le Fae. As the two noble magae conversed with the Hedge Witch, the lack-wit lad kept staring at the visitor and mumbling about her pussy... So it seemed this Elise did have a cat after all, which she kept under a spell of invisibility - perhaps her Familiar? It was to be hoped that the beast would not wander, as that would breach the Code against spying-by-magic!
Maga Elise spoke knowledgeably of Barrows and their treasures, and her knowledge of the Unseelie Barrow near Quintin - which matched that beyond Plaintel.
The Maga knew how and when the Barrow would open, and wished for the assistance of Grogs to shield her as she wielded her magics to deal with any defences within the Barrow. Speranda wisely felt that this was a dangerous move, and that she herself should not become involved, and nor should the Covenant Grogs be risked for another.
Maga Iuris Perita interrupted her Princeps to point out that such a Barrow, possessing a powerful mystical Aura, should surely also contain Vis, even were that Vis defended within! Lest this Elise should open the Barrow and remove all the Vis for her own uses, Iuris Perita proposed to accompany Elise, to observe and to supervise any removal from the tomb. With this, she would recommend that some few grogs accompany the magae to the Barrow.
As for cats, Elise was indirect to the point of evasiveness, but did not deny the presence of her Cat. She did however let slip that M. Bertrand had a Wife, to the surprise of those who thought they knew the merchant.
Yet again, the treasury of Saxum Caribetum must stretch to host and feed a visiting Maga: Elise proposed to stay with them until the First of February, after which the New Moon would rise, and the Barrow could be opened. She was not too forthcoming on how the Barrow should be opened, but was clearly confident that she could do so.
During her stay, it became apparent from the grogs that this was the same wandering Maga as had met the Covenant grogs in the Peat Bogs of the Landes du Mené.
A number of grogs were worried by the realisation that the Maga was visiting the Covenant and conducting business with their masters and mistresses, as there was the small matter of the "treasure" from the pits of the Peat Bogs, and its unreported absence. However, the five days passed without the matter being raised, so that in the end the grogs could breathe easily again.
Around noon on the first of February, a small party left Caribet, heading towards Plaintel. Maga Speranda accompanied the others, to watch-and-observe, she said. Maga Iuris Perita Quaesitoris (who also went) seemed perhaps better suited to that role, but who are we to question the wisdom of the Princeps?
They passed through St. Guihen shortly after dark, and moved on into the woods beyond, to where the Barrow lay, still undisturbed. The New Moon would not rise until near the end of the night, but they must be in place before that.
The Barrow lay quiet under the stars, with its side Barrows guarding its flanks, and the air cold and shiver-inducing around it. All felt their hackles rise as they approached... Speranda and Iuris Perita held back, while Zane wandered off, apparently counting trees in case they wandered away(?). Speranda exercised extreme caution by scribing a Ward Against Spirits Of The Night around herself.
Elise circled the Barrow carefully but confidently, then indicated VI precise places around the perimeter where Alain should dig; in each of these he found and removed a small carved stone. Clearly the stones bore some significance, perhaps a ward, but Iuris Perita could not penetrate their opaque mystery.
Cat complained to Elise about the wall around Speranda, but Elise would have none of her protests; Cat went off to probe and try the Wall.
Once all the stones were removed, Elise pronounced herself satisfied, and squatted down to wait at the western end of the long axis, with her back to the set Sun. She showed a calm patience, which did nothing to alleviate the worries of the others present.
There was a minor distraction with Zane pursuing the Invisible Cat wishing to stroke it, while the Cat (according to Zane) went to sit on Maga Speranda's skirts where he might not pursue it;
Speranda denies this, as she had Warded herself against Spirits. However she acknowledges Zane's Talent for Seeing things and so allows that perhaps the Cat is under some enchantment to prohibit herself from seeing it. This enchantment apparently also renders the cat intangible and weightless...Zane returned to the important task of counting the wandering trees, and attempting to mark them so as to recognise which had moved; however he kept forgetting his purpose in this, only returning after he had lost his place.
At Midnight, Maga Elise stood, and the Door into the Barrow lay open before her - quite impressive really! Three stones framed the entrance and a stone flagged passage lit by smokeless torches could be seen beyond. (Zane scribed a circle in the dust at his feet, to match the Circle that Speranda used to Ward herself.) The passage led to stone steps which descended into a fine stone chamber below ground. Alain le Guerrier stood ready as self-appointed Shield Grog to Elise (and she in turn bade Cat protect Alain from enemies).
The chamber was dominated by the vast Feast Table at its centre, piled high with plates of food and goblets of wine, with fine chairs all around, and Lord Toel sitting at the High End, in his barbarian finery, calling out to greet his guests and bid them seat and partake! Maga Elise took a seat carefully, and a serving, but did not yet eat (for she remembered tales of such Feasts!); Alain sat by "his" Maga, and Zane and Garth took seats beyond.
Alas, the feast did not last long - according to Cat, Toel reached out to Garth and took command of his body; Garth drew his maul and attacked Alain next to him (as Alain nimbly grabbed a golden plate and tried to parry the maul). As this happened, IV warriors burst through the curtains and tapestries and headed towards the visitors, swords drawn: two against Alain, and two against Zane. (Maga Elise, sitting at the foot of the table, was separated from the intruders by the two grogs either side of her.)
Maga Elise drew her magic wand (let us not dwell on its design) and reduced one warrior to dry dust as Alain continued to defend himself from three (now two) assailants.
Cat clawed out at Toel when he tried to reach out into Alain - Lord Toel started back at this unexpected defence, while Alain continued blissfully unaware of the additional drama taking place around him.
With the grogs outnumbered and on the defensive, Maga Elise quickly turned the odds by shattering more of the ancient warriors - who were, thank goodness, not as effective as their appearance might have indicated - certainly not so skilled as our Covenant grogs. As they were forced to move around with the battle, the grogs found that all was certainly not as it appeared - there was much clutter filling the room which could not be seen, but could be felt if you stumbled into it.
The battle then changed when Garth turned quickly and ran out and up; Alain was then able to despatch the remaining warrior, while a Horse rose from some unseen position within the room. By now, Iuris Perita and Duncan had heard the noises and stepped into the passageway, so that the fleeing Garth was blocked by the stalwart Duncan - forced into an impasse with a ferocious attack against an impassive defence.
After a futile strike which sliced cleanly through the form of Toel (who just laughed),
Alain raced to pursue Garth, calling out "Garth is possessed - stop him!",
while Elise despatched the first Horse into dust (and another rose from elsewhere(!)).
Iuris Perita enspelled Garth so that he was rocked by tremors, while Alain struck
from behind with the flat side of his billhook, eventually bludgeoning him into
unconsciousness. Speranda meanwhile had left her Warded circle and come over to
see what was happening...
With Garth knocked out, and the Horses and Warriors despatched, the others returned to the regal chamber. Elise cast the spell of Seeing the Corpse in the Grave, and so ordered Alain to grasp the bones which "lay upon the table". Startled, but obedient, he clumsily gathered up all he could sweep into his arms - and found himself indeed clutching a skeleton.
As Elise concentrated on this spell, the evil Toel animated yet another servant, which cowardly struck the Maga from behind, cutting a telling wound into her back with its "claws". Alain immediately struck past her and shattered that final monster. Cat reported that the form of Toel was now little but a pale shadow of its once mighty shade.
The Glamour covering the chamber fell apart, showing the table to be a stone dais, and the chamber to be rather smaller and much darker than they had believed. With magical light they could see it to be packed with grave goods, most now brittle and perished, but still gleaming with gold, and that the Warriors had been but some of the bones within the tomb, animated no doubt by the evil will of their Lord.
Ignoring such trivial gleams the Magi set to hunting for Vis; Elise pushed forward to complete the conquest of the Barrow, lest there be more servitors in the crypts to the side and beyond this first, pushing past the ruined throne of Toel and his golden torc to get there.
The spoils lay before them: the bones of Toel himself (IV pawns of Vis) and the
slain (un-powdered) Warrior (II pawns) and the slain Servitor (I pawn), all of the
Form of Corpus; sadly those whose bones had been reduced to dust held no remaining
virtue.
They also carried out from the Barrow IV pounds by weight of golden plate and jewellery,
and XX pounds weight of silver plate and jewellery.
The Caribet Magi laid claim to all found within, backing up their claim by numbers and excess of armed grogs. Protest that this was not fair was disputed, as had Elise not ruined so many of the corpses, there might have been more Vis and they might then have allowed her some of that greater whole.
They generously allowed her one half a pound of gold from the treasure; she acknowledged this and left with surprising good grace.
After Elise had gone, and the others returned to Caribet, some thought was given to the matter of a wandering Maga, lacking any Covenant to base her laboratory, nor anywhere to post claim to sources of Vis. There was also the matter of a Maga's Sigil going wasted and unused at Tribunal...
There is some suggestion that perhaps they should offer her the Tour de Cesson as a Chapter House of Saxum Caribetum, in return for their safe care of the Sigil which was otherwise sadly under-utilised. They need not actually offer her the Vis rights of the Covenant, and might even be able to persuade her that she owed service to the rest of the Covenant magi until such future time as they determined.
Iuris Perita was especially keen on this as placing an otherwise wandering Necromancer in an out of the way place, but where they could keep her under observation and control!
It remains to be seen whether Maga Elise might accept such a one-sided bargain...
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