<04GM> let me call up my old text files for this, if I can find them.

<04Hanno> I think Hanno had just stormed out of the Pictish court with the Circlet wrapped in a cloak. He believes he is under the Doom of Atlantis for letting the thing leave his possession, but Ogdabert the evil druidic ghost has said he can help if Hanno digs up his bones and brings them to Ogdabert's grove.

<04GM> Right, right. Just for reference: anything on this setting that wasn't on the website--i.e., 99% of it--is fair game if you want to declare stuff, as a co-author.

<04GM> The sun shines down on the fine ladies and aristocrats, gathered in the open courtyard outside the Hall of the Picts. The birds chirp, and the breeze ruffles the finery of the women. And in the center of the grass lies a man. And some distance across the green lies his severed head.

<04GM> Rhiannon, the ten year old girl who now rules the Picts, sinks to her knees. She beseeches the King of Swords: "Mighty Ogoun! My people are threatened on all sides. You have proven your might. I beg you: protect us in our hour of need. I shall give you any boon you desire; I shall offer you great worship." She holds out the golden Atlantean circlet, which Hanno had placed on her head moments before.

<04GM> The King reachs out and siezes the circlet.

<04GM> "YOUR PRAYERS WILL BE GRANTED IF YOU DO AS I COMMAND:

<04Hanno> Ah dammit. He's getting his own ideas now.

<04GM> "SEND FORTH MESSENGERS, AND BRING TO THIS PLACE A WHITE SOW.

<04GM> "BRING ALSO ALL BOY-CHILDREN OF BORN TO YOUR SLAVES TAKEN FROM MARSILIA. AND ERE THE MOON IS FULL, THEY SHALL BE DISEMBOWELED.

<04GM> "AND RAISE HIGH A BONFIRE FROM THEIR OFFAL.

<04GM> "AND ANNOINT THIS BONFIRE WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SACRED WHITE SOW, WHOSE THROAT SHALL BE CUT WITH YOUR OWN HANDS, LITTLE QUEEN, RIGHT TO LEFT.

<04GM> "AND WHEN THE FLAMES SHOOT HIGH--

<04GM> "AND THE MOON TURNS RED--

<04GM> "AND THE SLAVE-CHILDREN GIVE THEIR LIVES TO SAVE YOURS--

<04GM> "CAST THIS ACCURSED CIRCLET OF THE PALE ONES INTO THE FLAMES AND DESTROY IT!

<04GM> "THEN I SHALL LEAD YOUR PEOPLE TO VICTORY IN WAR, THOUGH IT TURN YOUR LAND TO AN ABBATOIR.

<04GM> "OGOUN, THE KING OF SWORDS, HAS SPOKEN."

<04GM> ...and Hanno suddenly feels his head spin, and his lungs hitch, and the terrible being departs, leaving him reeling.

<04Hanno> "Uhhh .. Meantime I will keep this thing," he tries to keep up the voice.

<04GM> Caedhwal--regent, now that Lugh is dead and Rhiannon has not reached majority--gestures to his guards. "This is a sacred object. We must keep it for the rite."

<04Hanno> (trying to straighten up) "Indeed! It shall be safe. Has not the King said that he shall protect this realm? Who would thwart his mighty will that this rite shall proceed?"

<04GM> Tam has watched all of this with a strange, speculative gleam in his eye. "Hanno has won the favor of Ogoun, who showers him with greatness. Praise to Ogoun! Praise to the King of Swords!"

<04GM> Selene, meanwhile, seems protective of Rhiannon. "Regent, perhaps it would be best to defer to Hanno. The ritual need not be obeyed in all particulars. Rhiannon herself could hardly take part in such a orgy of destruction."

<04GM> Rhiannon: "Mother, I will do what must be done to protect my father's people. The followers of my fallen uncle Diarmid already rebel along our coast."

<04Hanno> (bows to Rhiannon) "Bravely spoken, lady, and may you find strength for what may follow when the King of Swords turns his gaze here."

<04GM> Caedhwal: "Selene: you are only a king's widow. Your daughter is queen now, and she has decreed the ritual must be performed." The guards move forward to take the crown--but not aggressively. It's not clear how much they respect Caedhwal.

<04Hanno> (ignoring the guards) "The presence of my patron is taxing. I would rest a moment." (walking with the circlet to a bench)

<04GM> Selene pats Rhiannon's shoulder, and then moves forward to help Hanno sit. She whispers in his ear, as he re-arranges Ogdabert's cloak: "Please. Please keep my daughter safe."

<04Hanno> (nods to Selene)

<04GM> Tam: "Indeed. Those along our coast contrast my brother Diarmid's courage with our Regent's... other virtues. But they grow troublesome and must be subdued in short time."

<04Hanno> "How has this braggart (indicating the body) proceeded with the coast rebels?"

<04GM> Tam: "Voivode felt that victories were augured by feasts, drink, and wenches. None provided thus far were auspicious enough to merit venturing forth."

<04Hanno> (whispers to Selene) "I have no quarrel with the child."

<04GM> Selene gets up to return to her daughter's side, but her eyes clearly communicate that she would speak more of this at a later time.

<04GM> Rhiannon: "Hanno, the circlet is not yours to hold. You won it to restore your honor, and then gave it to me. I gave it to the King of Swords, and would have it in his trust. I respect that it cost you much blood; rest assured it will be near my person, that it may be close at need."

<04Hanno> "Lady, I have paid in more than blood. Curses hang about this thing. I urge you to let the curse remain over me, before it is destroyed by the King's will. I would not have its dark history pass to you."

<04GM> Rhiannon: "Hanno: your continuing service does me honor. But I am not afraid of dark histories. My father murdered my grandfather, and was murdered in turn by my uncle. Curses matter less to me than obeying the will of a god."

<04GM> Caedhwal: "My child, you speak as a queen should speak. And, when we wed, you will find that THIS uncle will go to great lengths to protect you, even as Hanno has."

<04GM> Selene: "Regent, Rhiannon is far too young, and in any event the ritual leaves no time for her to contemplate nuptial matters. Hanno is exhausted; let us adjourn to the hall."

<04GM> ***********scene shift**********

<04GM> Night. There are fires outside the gates as Tam begins to marshal forces to suppress the rebels. From within the palace Hanno can hear the restless hooves, and the clinking of mail.

<04GM> Caedhwal has sent word wishing to talk to Hanno, but Selene's summons seems more important.

<04GM> Selene's chambers are exquisitely appointed. Hanno once spent time pillaging such places, and knows what they are worth.

<04GM> Selene, by the way, is perhaps 25 years old, but her eyes are much older. They are the eyes of Marsilian royalty, accustomed to hardship and grim choices.

<04GM> When Hanno enters, and the maid departs, Selene speaks.

<04GM> "Thank you for coming. I will waste no time, for the hour is desperate. You must either wed my daughter, or kidnap her, to keep her safe."

<04Hanno> Hanno leaves off assessing the value of the room. He's genuinely taken by surprise. "Take her from Pictland? You would wish her to lose this kingdom? You seem used to luxury, here, if I may say so."

<04GM> It's obvious that she is distressed, but she tries to stay focused. Her shoulders are bare, but she wears a white gown threaded with gold. She wears toe rings of silver and bronze. Selene: "We have grown fat in this place, but the line of Odile is well-schooled in hardship. This kingdom is lost. Already my brother Tam and the ungodly Caedhwal scheme to rip it from my daughter's fingers, each for his own purposes."

<04Hanno> "Caedhwal's desires have become clear. Do you have more to tell me about Prince Tam's doings?"

<04GM> Selene: "Only that you did the world a favor by killing my older brother Diarmid, who was full of mad ambition and a fool's temper. Tam lacks Diarmid's folly, and thus is all the more dangerous. You can see for yourself that he masses an army outside the gates. Does he seek to subdue Diarmid's followers, or join with them?"

<04Hanno> "You have a fair point, if those he leads are more loyal to Tam than to the crown."

<04GM> She suddenly gives a self-conscious chuckle. "I was raised to become a queen myself, but my manners are low-bred. May I help you to wine? Please, sit." She moves to help Hanno sit down. The cloak seems to catch her attention.

<04Hanno> "Heh. I'm sure they are not." Hanno smiles for the first time in what feels like years.

<04GM> Selene: "Tam, like Diarmid, desires the extinction of Lugh's line, even though Rhiannon is his kin as well. Caedhwal thinks only of securing his own reign by marrying Lugh's heir."

<04Hanno> "Could Tam be convinced to stay his hand, if he gained the title of regent? I think he would not like to be second in the kingdom."

<04GM> She shakes her head. "Caedhwal would not relinquish the position. In any event, Tam was the youngest and given over to the druids as a child. His ways are the ways of blood. And he is very thorough."

<04Hanno> "So much for that, then. I'll be plain: my way lies to Marsilia."

<04GM> "Marsilia?! It is a dangerous place. They say my mother, Queen Odile, has not been idle these years."

<04Hanno> "I don't doubt it is worse than when I saw it. But what would your mother make of Rhiannon?"

<04GM> Selene: "I do not know how my mother would react to my daughter. The same strengths are there... Tam would know more of Marsilia than I. When Lugh took me from that place, I hated him--but now I would thank him for it, though he has passed beyond hearing. Among the Marsilians, the royal house has inter-bred for many generations, brother to sister. But there are some ties that are too close even for us. I worry for Rhiannon.

<04GM> "I repeat: you must take her from this place. I have gold. I have servants. I will give them all to you-- (she suppresses a shudder at Hanno's grotesque tattoos) --and more, if you protect her from her uncle... and Caedhwal."

<04Hanno> "Gold? There is only one piece of gold I need. I must travel lightly. But you should come as well. You have the cleverness to help her. I am only good for thieving."

<04GM> Selene: "I was taken from the place of my birth, and born anew in Pictland at Lugh's side. I would not leave it lightly... but perhaps... " She fingers the bedsheet nervously.

<04Hanno> "I think you will die here, if you stay. Who will that help? Others have seen us talking."

<04GM> Selene: "It is the place of the widow to honor her husband. The more so, if her husband was a king." She stares at the floor. Her fingers, still scrunching the bedsheet, stray to the sickening leather of Hanno's cloak. Then they pull away. She turns to regard it. "How hideous!"

<04Hanno> "It is .. a memory of Marsilia."

<04GM> Selene: "Tam's tutor wore a cloak of similar style. Ugh, unless I misremember it was stitched from-- "

<04GM> Suddenly she screams!

<04GM> She practically jumps into the canopy of the bed, then backs in a panic toward the far wall, inching toward the open slit of the window, still in shock. "My f-- my f--- " she stammers, shaking her head, eyes unblinking.

<04Hanno> Hanno tosses the cloak aside out of view. "Quiet, woman!" You'll have the guards in here! Now what is it?"

<04GM> Selene keeps shouting. She charges at Hanno, trying to pummel him with her fists, but almost trips over her gown. "My father! My f--- my fath-- my father's face! You stole my father's face!"

<04Hanno> Hanno grabs the cloak and jumps for whatever seems to be the best exit.

<04GM> The best exit right now would be either the door, or the 3rd story window leading to the courtyard below. The guards who attend Selene may already be approaching.

<04Hanno> Hanno puts a leg over the windowsill, grabbing the sill so he can hang as far down as possible before dropping.

<04GM> There's a trellis with roses growing on it under her window. It should be possible to descend.

<04Hanno> Hanno barrels down the creaking trellis, with thorns raking his arms and catching at his unfastened cloak. He drops the last few feet to the ground and hot-foots it to the nearest corner to get out of sight of the window.

<04GM> From his hiding spot, Hanno can see the silhouettes of three guards playing in the light from Selene's room. He can hear her hysterical shrieks, though not what she may be saying.

<04GM> After a moment, one of the guards descends the stairs and races into the courtyard, where he almost collides with another. "Tell Regent Caedhwal! The Lady Selene has gone mad!"

<04GM> And indeed she seemed to be going that way moments before. The cloak Hanno took from the High Druid Ogdabert was made from the faces of dead men. Yet Selene's reaction suggests that Ogdabert used Selene's father, Vortigern, in some foul necromantic ritual--the face now one of many making up the garment.

<04GM> As Hanno reaches around for a loose stone in the wall in which to hide the cloak, something falls on his back.

<04GM> It's wriggling and thrashing, and hissing in Hanno's ear. It must weigh 1 to 2 stone.

<04Hanno> (try to grab it and pull it round where he can see it) "Huh?"

<04GM> Hanno grabs it and holds it under the torchlight -- it is an infant.

<04GM> An infant with grey, moldy skin. <04GM> And no face.

<04GM> Its sunken eye sockets sparkle with some otherworldly deviltry. With a snarl it tries to gnaw off Hanno's hand.

<04Hanno> Gaah! Hanno tries to bash it against the wall.

<04Hanno> How can this thing be alive?

<04GM> Driven by horror and surprise, Hanno drapes his hand over back of the creature's skull, and smashes it head first into the stone wall. There is a sickening splatter. Its legs and arms spasm.

<04Hanno> Hanno leans back and peers into the darkness to make sure there aren't more of them ready to drop on him.

<04GM> It's hard to peer properly when there's an oozing, hissing, half-dead-but-actually-maybe-dead-to-begin-with thing in your hands. But it looks like this is the only one.

<04GM> On the other hand, the presence of this foul creature makes the faces of the cloak writhe and twist. The feel of their tics is most unpleasant.

<04Hanno> "Now, spook, time to give me some help for all the time I've carted you about." Hanno had little time to study Ogdabert's methods before killing the man. The cloak moans a little with excitement--something about this creature interests it--the the faces twitch and blink as Hanno spreads it on the ground.

<04GM> The grotesque demon-child is still groggy--the front of its head appears no worse for the beating--but when Hanno wraps it in the cloak, it almost coos. It pets and strokes the severed faces like a baby and its blanket. He cinches the cloak shut with distaste.

<04GM> What is this thing? And where did it come from?

<04GM> ...TO BE CONTINUED...