[color=green]Vanacastium of Flambeau: [color=red][i]Teach her to be strong, teach her to be noble. Teach hr the four Greater Illuminations; Courage, Loyalty, Temperence, and Wisdom.
We do not choose our fates Inigo Xalbador. We can only choose how we face fate. [/i]
Octavian & Ludo:
You follow Abaddon, cautiously of course. OOC, I did have a plan for each path, but I won’t tell you what they were. You chose this path 
[color=green]Abaddon: [color=red]I assure you Ludo, it is not I you shold be angry with. Octavian, you hold the title of Quaesitor? When the Wolf and Owl breed, they produce a Raven. Ravens can interrogate the dead you know.
So my official statement to you as a Quasitor is this. Ludovicio sought me out in search of ancient knowledge, the magical roots of both of our Houses. Not the Theurgy of the Titanoi, that is a later corruption. I speak of the Necromancy of Guorna the Fetid. I speak openly, for my knowledge is so vast that the lesser secrets are like crumbs fallen off of a plate.
But of course, knowledge of how to find me was a mystery of its own. Even when Val-Negra was still attached to the mundane realm we were withdrawn and secluded. Erat Caecus, he is the one to blame. Cut off from the mundane world, the only other way he knew of to get here was through Taglyn. Don’t believe his lies, Taglyn is a very real place. He doesn’t understand though. It has many-many layers.
By now I am sure you know of Metron. He was my prisoner at the time. Erat’s reckless abuse of his fellow Tytalus had inadvertently caused his release. When the Obsidian Ring was broken, everything was thrown into chaos. Ludo would have been lost if he had not been rescued by Berengur of Criamon. The circle sundered, our final anchor to the mundane world was lost and we were cast adrift into the sea of the Magical Realm.
And to answer your earlier question Ludovicio, yes, he opened the Iron Door. But right now that is the lesser of my concerns. I stuck Vanacastium in there, he is naught but a ghost now. I am using his powerful spirit to bind a spell that keeps us tethered to our location in the Magic Realm, lest we slip into the Twilight Void. The link to Taglyn was broken, as I had mentioned. We retain our link with Perdut, but we dragged it into the Magic Realm right behind us, like a ship towing a smaller boat by a cable. Perdut once had three tethers, but they are all severed now. The portal to Jafariya was destroyed some years back, and having interroated Metron myself I understand why that had to be done. The original portal, the one to Durenmar, that was destroyed not long ago and I still have not figured out why that happened. The last one, Barcelona, I had set up magical fortifications to strengthen it but they were insufficient. I could not comprehend the Hermetic Architecture properly.
The last link is Vanacastium, and I can send you back to the material realm through him. You will be deposited on the mundane Mount Periditiu. But I warn you, he is addled by Twilight influenced delusions. He speaks in riddles of some strange prophecy, and the story keeps changing. It is full of holes and inconsistencies. He annoys me. But he is loyal to the bitter end and beyond. I do not need the Iron Door to keep him bound, he holds the spells in place voluntarily. The things that were originally in there, they are harmless phantasms. The collected Twilight ghosts of many magi past. These things, they are not even true ghosts, they are the shadows of ghosts. The Criamon, they understand these things much better. The point is, a bunch of minor shadelings were set free, and Metron has captured and harnessed some of them. I admire the bold accomplishment, for he managed to elude my spies while he hid in Perdut. His power has grown. He has achieved Transformation, and has become a magical being.
Then you come to a huge oaken door. Abaddon stops suddenly and turns to speak to you (first he chastises you for standing on the wrong side of each other).
[color=red]Octavian, you and I can go no further. If you will follow me, I will take you to where you can get a good meal and a room to rest for the night. Ludovicio has an appointment with his teacher. Which brings me to a point. If Ludovicio has suffered from memory erasure, how did he know how to fulfill his quest and return for his reward?
Ludo, do you go in the door or not? It seems like what you are supposed to do, but you have no idea what Abaddon was talking about at all. What quest? What reward? It all seems to convenient, and what little you do remember doesn’t seem to fit with what he said just now.
Octavian, you also have your doubts about Abaddon’s story. He is obviously unfazed by your Piercing Gaze. But anyway, he wants to take you to get food and that sounds like a good idea. You can interrogate him and try to poke holes in his story, try to discover the truth.
He nods in understanding and follows. Once out of earshot and that none of Ludo's spirits are in sight. "He remembers only fragments. I was able to restore the full memories, such as they are, for a time. However, he only recalls what he wrote down of those memories."
[color=red]But how did he remember to return here? And with the one he was sent to retrieve?
"May I inquire as to the identity of the exact person he was charged to retrieve?"
(with a smile) [color=red]Your sodale, Inigo Xalbador. I did some research. Metron is as deluded as Vanacastium, though in a different way. He believes the lies Rasus fed him, and he thinks that he is the true blood descendant of Flambeau. I say there is no such thing. But anyway, I looked up the conditions of the "Prophocey", seventh generation after Flambeau. Not many fit that description, as we are now ten generations after the founding. But it isn't about truth, it is all about perception. Delendos, the guy that founded the Knights of Seneca. They believe he was far older than is possible, closing some of the gap.
Anyway, I knew that if Inigo was brought here, it would trigger a chain of events that will help extricate s from this situation.
"Metron was deathly afraid of Rasus." He places an emphasis on the past. "Do you intend to use master Inigo to restore the anchors to the material world?"
[color=red]Who was this Rasus fellow anyway? Is he still around? Anyway, my plan is to hope for the best. I do not believe in Vanacastiums mad ramblings. But madness is but a mystery. There may be some hidden truth disguised in his words. And since he is the one holding everything together, my hope is that fufillment of his "destiny" will bring about a Transformation in himself and perhaps for all of Val-Negra. It is a living thing in many ways.
(Note: I accidntally messed up your post by clicking Edit instead of Quote. My bad, sorry. )
"Placing your faith in hope and luck ill suits you master Abaddon." He states; calling his act of playing the fool.
[color=red]Indeed, and it does not sit well with me either. But when you have exhausted all rational options, then this indicates that the answer is found in the irrational. Vanacastium is powerful, vastly powerful beyond his understanding. He is the only hope we have, and he is fixated on his prophetic delusions. I do not believe that we will return Val-Negra to its original mundane location. but I am convinced that he can halt the slide once and for all, and help me forge a permanant link to the material realm for ease of travel. After that, I will lock the Iron Door and seal him in permenantly with an ancient ritual I know. He is but a ghost, and I cannot afford for him to wander away.
"Explain to me what was done to master Ludovico and the exact state of this covenant."
[color=red]I already told you what happened to the covenant, and as for Ludo I truly don't know. I think he is bluffing, a rouse just to get you here and fulfill his quest.
"You admitted to giving him that task and also expressed surprise that he still remembered it despite the fact he did not quite. Meaning that you are aware of a phenomena or circumstances that would make him forget. You also stated that it was an irrational attempt at trying to resolve the problem of the Covenant being drawn into the Twilight Void. So which is it master Abaddon?"
[color=red]I recieved that information from the two of you. Remember? The first thing he did when we met was to try and hurl spells at me, claiming I did something to him. Then he quickly calmed down. It was just a show, I assure you.
One of the grey skinned grogs appears before you.
[color=red]Gythorm, retrieve a bottle of our finest vintage for Master Octavian, he has much thirst.
"If I may correct, that is not quite what transpired. You first offered to reward master Ludovico. to which he felt offended by such a statement and then expressed a loud outburst. It was only after that he stated his memories were stolen which is a false claim borne of ignorance as since I was able to restore the memories means they were not entirely stolen but shattered or lost. Not necessarily stolen. As such you then explained your gambit and your astonishment that he was able to accomplish the task he was given. Thus, one can conclude that he was put through an ordeal that made it unlikely for him to do so. Now is it the one you explained briefly in Taglyn or another?"
He raises his hand to politely refuse the wine. "Water shall be sufficient. You have my thanks."
Once the grog has departed. "I acquiesced to your request to speak with Ludovico in private to reward him as you deemed fit. However, you also likened me to a raven; a creature that interrogates the dead. The implied meaning is not lost to me. That I stand before one of your "simulacrums" that give form to your will."
[color=red]You think that I am some sort of ghost or illusion? Why didn't you follow one of the other two then? Ludo already gave you his proof that I am the one who is real. Poke me, feel my arm. Am I but smoke and shadow? Or am I warm blooded flesh?
"Why should I accept his 'proof'?" He asks rhetorically. "Or that the other two were not any different?"
He smiles oddly. "Master Abaddon. My apologies but as I have stated before, I will not indulge you in participating in these mind games and word plays. Interresting as they may be."
He levels his eyes on the man. "I pose a fundamental dilemma upon you. On the one hand you may attempt, and risk failure, to subvert me to your will and become your pawn. For whatever good that will do you. You appear to have no end of those already and yet find yourself in the current predicament. On the other hand, we may discuss on more level terms and you can obtain an ally; a more significant piece on the board, that will offer much more than what an unthinking pawn may offer which may ultimately prove useful."
Ludovico stands silently before the door, contemplating it for a long moment. He strains his memory for any scrap of the image of this door, and comes back with nothing. Sighing to himself, arms on his hips, he walks forward and places his hand on the door, running it over it's surface... examining the feel of the thing, hoping to spark a memory. This also is futile.
His quiet determination slowly rekindles into anger, whereupon his frustration builds back up to where it shows plainly and he kicks the door open rather forcefully and storms within.
[color=green]Abaddon: [color=red]You misunderstand me, and you underestimate me. I have already accomplished my great goal, Val-Negra is secluded in safety from the mundane world, and the world is safe from it. I am just trying to tie up all the loose ends. 
"What danger does Val-Negra pose now that the Iron door has been flung open and its prisoner escaped to the mundane world?"