[Story] Just Desserts

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Loch Caillte (Lost Lake)
1

After careful and thorough searching both magical and mundane, no trace of the mysterious archer is found. 2 of Mab's gaurds, Nell and Carhi, are perched on the high points of the covenant, armed with great bows that make the welsh longbow look small and inadequate. Indeed, most of the custos who were out in the fields have arrived, having been called in, including one grizzled veteran on crutches. "Out for a few weeks, place is going to peridition in a handbasket. Oi, Look Lively, you lot!" he yells at a bunch of custos working on clearing debris, who had stopped to rest.

He turns to look at the newcomers present. "Don't let Diedre fool ye about anythin'", he says, his latin having a slight brogue. "A few scratches from a boar isn't enough to keep ol' Hugh down for long." He appears unfazed by the presence of the magi. "And don't let 'er bully ye around, either. There are few who can stand her, fewer still those who can stand against her. She needs a voice to remind her she's still human."

"And then there's Mab. Not much I can say about me great-great-grandmother, for or against. She can be a handful, but she's not a bad sort. Most folk around here, fair or otherwise, aren't..." He's interrupted by young boy who runs up, a blurts out a brief message in Erse, then runs off. "Redcaps goin' out tonight, if you magi want to spread a description of the attacker, so other covenants in the area can be watchful, now's the time."

"I'm Hugh MacAirt, Grog Sargeant, as ye magi like to put it. So who or what are me men lookin' for, and in what condition do ye want it in, if we're ta bring it back at all?"

The Storyguide

2

CORVUS
You, Hugh. Oh, I like that... "You Hugh"... Why do ya think he may be spotted by other covenants? Unless he just likes dicing with death and he's playin' every covenant in Hibernia until he gets caught. No, whatever he wanted was here. You'd do best to send ya men out around here.

Where would a man stay? Overnight? If he's a man he'll sleep somewhere. Either a camp or a village or a town near here. And he'll want food. Oh, he could have flown away home, I suppose, but would you flee to your sanctum or... ya... pub or wherever you people sleep?

And as he can come and go as he pleases, what's to say he won't simply come back here during the night? But that'll be our problem.

So, put ya men on the road. Send 'em out looking for camps. Send 'em to the villages. Any strangers buying food, we need to know about 'em. Any strangers at all, come to that. And we need a way o'bein' told when ya men find 'im. They may not be in a condition to run all da way back here when they do.

3

Hugh turns to face Corvus. "Common sense, and basic strategy. If it's attacked here, who is to say it hasn't attacked elsewhere? Or that it will attack again, nearby. Our nearest neighbors are 3 days away, as a man might walk. Less than a day, as the crow flies."

"I'll have the woodsmen scour the woods; there are several glens and clearings concealed from the roads that are excellent camp sites. A couple of Angus' lads are already headed into town., ta ask those verra same questions. And if he's huntin' for food, Lady Mab's friends in the wood will let us know. Most of the beasts around here are Fae, and don't like being hunted."

Hugh looks up in the air, off to his left. "As ta gettin' a message back, tis na' the problem you think it might be." He holds an arm up, and a tiny sparrowhawk alights. "Like I said, most of the creatures around here are fae, and some help with the covenant. Goldie here," he says, indicating the sparrohawk, who begins preening, " and her brood run messages for us between the groups of grogs and the covenant."

"Aye," replies the sparrowhawk, her voice extremely high pitched, and squeaky. "The food's free, and the works not hard." and with that, Hugh hands her up a small gibbet of meat, which she takes and eats. "I owe Mab a great deal, so I and my family repay that debt. Gordain says 'They found something north of town, near to the old tithing barn. Man-like, gaunt, with wings. Dead. Do you want him to bring it back?"

Hugh smiles grimly. "Master magi, what say you? Will you go to Gordain, or shall he bring it here?"

4

Corvus breaks into a smile, his eyes sparkle out from his cocked head.

CORVUS
Do ya know, Hugh? I think it's time ma wings had a stretch. Let's go see it where it is. And have ya men meet us there with a cart and if any a that here assembled magi would care, perhaps they could bring a sack full a chalk and incense and the like. I've a feelin' there may be spell casting before the dawn.

5

CORVUS
If any magi here want ta come, of course...

6

Mathius

"I shall come as well. Perhaps the nearby trees or stones can tell us something of the creatures demise"

7

Fabrica gathers up the two grogs he had armed earlier. His third sword is in the hand of the Covenant's sergeant, who is off doing other tasks.

"Alright men, we go to find the enemy that attacked us. Caleb, stay by me as I told you before. The glory you gain is by keeping me alive, remember that. Carhl, wield the Superlative blade as you see fit, and remember the activation word. Follow the lead of my fellow Magi, and let's go!"

8

Azaelle

"I want to join, of course. Count me in."

She looks around.

"Where's Uza?"

9

Stephan

Stephan returns from attending his 'patient'.

"I think it best for me to stay around here and keep an eye on or guest. He's resting, but I'll have him moved to a guest room and put some minor wards around him to keep him a little safer. I don't think he's out of the woods, yet."

"Please let me know what you find."

It;s a little striking how "all business" Stephans' attitude seems to be.

10

Azaelle
(to Stephen)

"How is Brodvic?"

11

Soon. Goldie the Sparrowhawk is away, and Corvus soon after. The flight through the air is relatively brief, and the afternoon air clear. And then, the freedom of flight is over, and they are spiralling down into...

A glade not too far away from an old, rickety barn. The thing looked better while it was still alive; It looks like it had been beaten to death with a blunt instrument, then stapled to a tree with thick branches, which go all the way through the wood of the tree the creature is secured to. It is clearly incapable of doing anyone anymore harm, as it's arms, legs, wings, neck, skull, ribcage and spine are all broken in multiple places.

Even more curious are the hoofprints in the ground; They are cloven, and about the size of a draft horse; Great clods of dirt have been torn up, as if something charged. There is also the impression of a fist, slightly smaller than a man's head... In another tree.

Gordain and his men are on watch, rather nervously, loaded crossbows pointed at the creature attached to the tree, swords drawn. They relax when Goldie spirals in, then look a little nervous as Corvus glides in.

12

{OOC: timing is before Kryslin's post, above}

Stephan

"He's sleeping and probably will for a while. The spirit that took over his activities pushed his body pretty hard. I'm recommending that we keep him here for a time until he recovers somewhat."

Stephan winces and then says, "The Code keeps me from performing any more than a mundane medical investigation into his condition. When he wakes, I'll ask his permission to go further. Good luck in your own investigation."

And with that Stephan proceeds to a serving girl to ask that Brodvic be moved to more comfortable bed.

-K!

13

CORVUS Swiftly changing back to human form as he lands.
Ah, don't ya worry, lads. We're here now. Oh, and can I borrow ya cloak there. Aye, that's it, I'll give it back.

Corvus ties the cloak around his taught middle, tucking and tying it as he looks up and the wrecked corpse pinned to the tree.

Silently, and without gestures, Corvus casts a spell (Sense of Infernal Power), trying to detect the presence of an Infernal aura... and then drops to the floor, looking at the prints. He follows the prints for a moment and then looks the corpse up and down.

CORVUS
You know, give me some space to work, and I think this fella could tell us lot.

14

Corvus takes up a stick from nearby and starts to inscribe a great circle around the tree, explaining as he goes.

CORVUS
Unless any of you can talk to the dead, I'm going to need your help in casting this spell. And, well, if any of ya can talk to the dead, you could save me a lot of time instead.

No? Well, on w'it then.

The small magus then starts muttering beneath his breath and starts to mark out a square, the four corners touching the inside of the circle.

CORVUS
I'll need three points filled, so as his words don't escape if I am able to reach him. Fabrica, I'll need you behind the tree, he may not think to look there but we'd better be safe. Matthius, over here to ma left. Azaelle, I'll need you where I can see you.

[i]Corvus strips some leaves from the twig and starts chewing them, saying something unintelligible to the forces starting to well up. He then spits the juices into the hoof prints littering the area. All the while, at points within the circle, he casts many minor spells, some simple flashes of light, others making the circle more regular of carving find writing in the dirt. But at last, with preparations apparently complete, Corvus begins the intonations proper.

There is a sound as of wings flapping and the light visibly dims. The circle and the other shapes inscribed as part of the casting seem to throw shadows that lengthen and stretch towards Corvus and then...[/i]

CORVUS
Speak, he that had been thought lost. Speak and be heard. No, look not to them, for they will not let you pass. Speak instead to me and be released.

What is your name?
How came you to this place?
What creature did this to you?
Why did this fate befall you?
Where can we find your attacker?

15

The broken remains for the creature whisper it's answers, a sibilant hissing easily heard by all.

Answers in in the sequence the question is asked.
"I once had a name, it is lost to me now."

"I flew on wings I was not born with, a curse which was inflicted upon me."

"One not from the Pit."

"I was compelled to attack it by those who made me."

"It is nearby."

16

Mathius

[Stage whisper to Corvus]
"Ask it for more details about what killed it."

17

CORVUS
Yes, yes, yes. I was getting to that.

And then to the beast

Tell us how we might recognise your killer.
What name will we know him by?
Who is his target?

And then to the magi

Well, I'm open to suggestion...

18

There is a moment of silence.

"I was not her target; rather, she was mine, and a target of opportunity at that. My usefulness was at an end, having failed at my given task, to keep Bruler from divulging too much information. As to my attacker's name, I know it not...We were not introduced. She had red hair, and fists slightly smaller than your head."

The creature convulses, and then begins to vomit forth vermin, a majority of which are spiders of all sizes and shapes... the body collapses, becoming nothing but spiders, which scurry away into the woods in all directions...

The wind gusts, and swirls dust and leaves into a vaguely man like form; At the same time insubstantial yet somehow projecting an aura of menace. "It appears I have underestimated the skills of those Mab has chosen to surround herself with," it says in very old latin, petulant. " And so close, too. Ah, well." It looks around, and everyone gets the feeling like your being chosen to be butchered and served up for dinner. "You may call me Dusk," it says, bowing. "I now have a better idea of whom I have to contend with, though I must admit, the Nephilim was a surprise. Still, no matter. I have all the time in the world, and the patience of a spider in it's web..."

And with that, the dust and leaves collapse back to the ground.

Steve

19

Caleb

[English]

Caleb shudders a bit and then asks, "Uh, what did he say? Is it really dead?"

20

Azaelle

"where is this... pit?"

Uza, who is standing behind Azaelle and has a weapon in her hands that looks like a mix betweer a crossbow and a catapult. She scowls whne Dusk mentions the word "Nephilim".