Adventures

A little child, a limber elf,
Singing, dancing to itself,
A fairy thing with red round cheeks,
That always finds and never seeks. . . .

Samuel Taylor Coler


Here I'll be trying to post summaries of our great escapades in-game. How long and detailed they are will largely depend on my spare time, though some are willing to help me by letting their own character tell the story from their perspective. This goes under "Good roleplaying", and helps (only helps, nothing's automatic here) towards getting more xp, as a certain someone has discovered...



Session 1

In which a commanding letter reaches faerie holdings across scotland, requesting aid. It seems as if the matriarch Amthoril of the Summer court is in dire need of help, and the respective leaders have to choose who they'll send.

Eilwedd, with her usual spite and sense of mischief sends the newly-sained and oh so precious changeling Mildarfen, to get her away as much as anything else. Since Kelthain has been missing in action for quite some time now, Illuein decides to send one of her newer agents instead, and so Tuki is sent. Kossuth just happens to be spending some time in the palace of Pavona, and so he got chosen. Once again, mostly to get rid of the pesky newcomer. Perhaps not surprisingly, Lillana of the Winter court had anything but altruistic motives when she sent Vukutae to pay the summer-dolts a visit, while a lone solstice-inanimae was also tapped, for reasons as yet unknown.

While making their way to the Palace of vornkral, the travellers were beset by terrible hounds of darkness, and after a lengthy battle (and an unruly Unleashing on Tuki's part) they managed to keep them at bay with steel and arrow, ice and fire. Whereupon the intelligent little changeling opened channels of communication, only to realize that this was some warped attempt at getting help and attention. The strange and malevolent entity seemed to be desperate and irrational due to some painful confinement, which two of the other party members also found out as they copied Merílfen's trick. Disturbingly enough, a cantrip designed to allow Tuki to speak with spirits also made it possible to speak with the shadow-creatures, hinting that their nature might be more ghostly than previously believed.

At this point it had become clear that the thing feared fire and light to some extent, and so Khossuth conjured up a wall of flame that pierced the encircling monster and thusly opened up an escape route. They were not followed, though the experience left many questions unanswered. After their escape, it was not long until they arrived at their destination: The great stronghold of Summer: Palace Vornkral. Here they were informed of their quest by the palace seneschal, Bogg. A certain human village on the east coast is having problems with unidentified monsters, and the problem seems to be spreading. The humans in their despair are breaking old oaths and are turning to Christ for salvation. The natural thing to do would be to travel to the source of the problem, but ancient oaths prevent the fae from even approaching the village. Hence the outside agents.


Merílfen's log, first entry.
“It truly is strange how I met my travel companions – we were all at the same place at the same time, about a day's march from the Summer Court, and were assaulted by one – or several, there is no way to know for sure – shadow dogs. Tuki – a Firstborn of the Autumn Court, and also the best looking of the four men – somehow managed to attract the enemy's (enemies'?) attention when he failed in unleashing a cantrip (what a way to start an adventure, honestly). After I myself had tried to get an overview of the situation – which was impossible, seeing the entire area was covered in vile darkness – I unleashed a cantrip I have yet to learn, namely Dawn, trying to lighten the area. Although it had some effect, it was not nearly as much as I desired, so I decided to try another approach – talk to the creatures that were circling us. I learned little but this:
• They wish to be freed from something.
• Nothing send them, they came on their own.
• They were also in pain.
• They were not sure if they were singular or plural, which is highly annoying.

After a lengthy battle, my companions and I drove the beasts back with arrows, steel, fire, and ice. Nothing more to be learned from them, but I have the most uncanny feeling that this will not be the last time our paths will cross one another.

After one day of marching, we reached the Summer Court. We were told that we were needed to investigate what was haunting the nearby village – they could not enter the village themselves due to an Oath they had sworn, the fools – and also drive it away. More than that I do not have the time to write down – but more will come.

- Merílfen.”


Session 2

After their brief briefing, the oathcircle decided to recuperate. The inanimae began merging with their elements, while the rest sought out the sage Olb, since he had been mentioned as someone who could help them further. He was quickly localized in a forest clearing, where a succulent feast was ready for the weary walkers. Unfortunately, he didn't have much more information about the village of Erlbenn, mostly because the local Fae have been restricted from the place since long before the battle of stone. Supposedly, the only interesting thing about hte place are all the fables and legends about hauntings and ghosts that travellers who've been there recount. Oh, and the rumours that a group of humans once worshiped fae there, but that's far into the past, while oaths were still respected. Olb regretfully states that he's been trying in vain to find out more for them, but after weeks of searching the libraries he's not found anything else. But he does have other information, not given to the entire group...

And with the feast finished, the firstborn and the changeling find themselves with some spare time on their hands. After getting to know each other a little better, Míldarfen decides to visit her nephew, since he's the consort of the local Matriarch. If only she hadn't forgotten that this requires seeking groing through countless rituals and protocols, like applying for an audience and other such rules the Summer Court are so fond of. If he'd actually been home it would have been easier too. So in the end, everyone just relaxed and recuperated until it was time to go (escept for the autumn Kin, who prudently enough sent off for guidance from his superior).

The journey to Erlbenn was an uneventful one, wherein they could get better aquainted. The solstice hunted down food, the spring child cooked it, and everyone had a nice time traversing the endless hills and moors. Rather noticeably, no rabid shadow-monsters molested them during the night. They also were wise enough to assume human guises through various means before entering the village.

Now, upon entering the hamlet they noticed that a couple of passengers had arrived by boat at the same time, an old determined man and a younger boy of twenty, carrying most of their luggage. Our visited the local tavern, "The Jolly Squid", and asked about the monstrous problems. In the exchange a couple of names were mentioned, people who knew more about this than others. Captain Mallone and old granny. The Captain was found in a rather seedy cellar, drinking foul swill as he usually did. He gave them tales of terror and blood, and told them of the hideous monstrosities which emanated from yon monestary. and so they decided to go to this stony edifice upon the cliffs, and see the root of their problems. Of course, Cinéad had to renew his Glamour first, which caused quite some uproar in the village. Strange bursts of light in alleys often do that.

The monastery itself was bleak, and still bore the signs of the viking raid of seventy years ago. But Tuki managed to speak with the Abbed, and was told that no ghost or haunting had ever been registered by the monks who lived there. He was even given proof that the recent stories were nothing new, and that the legends of monstrous happenings had been circulating for quite some time now. But as he visited the altar-room Tuki saw something....strange. With kenning and weawing he discovered that something was trapped between life and death in that place, and had been forced to pace that room for untold ages.

After joining up with their companions which had remained outside the accursed holy ground, the fairies descended the cliff, and came upon the small cottage outside Erlbenn where 'Granny' was reputed to live. An old woman sat outside shelling peas in the spring sun, and Merílfen boldly asked her to recount the old stories she reputedly knew. granny then told them a fairy-tale which her own mother had told her, and her mother before, about an unfortunate soul called True Tom thomas, and how he supposedly still haunted the monastery upon the hill.


Session 3

After learning of True Tom thomas, the stone ring and the unmarked grave from 'Grannie', our heroes decided to retreat to the inn so they could discuss the information they had collected. But the two strangers were also there, and Tuki eavesdropped on their conversation enough to learn that they were Inquisitors, sent by the Vatican to stop the local hauntings and killings. When they left for their rooms, he managed to get hold of a piece of parchment they had lost, and was occupied for much of the meal by reading the arcane and holy text.

The group decided to meet up at sundown, since Cinaéd had managed to locate an unmarket grave in the cemetary. At dusk they approached the graveyard, and many a magic of concealment and protection was unleashed before they dared enter. Both Vukutae and Cinaéd were to be sentires patroling the borders, while the other two would dig. The solstice had gone up to the monastery again, in case something happened up there. Just as Tuki took his first step onto the hallowed ground, a voice rang out.

The two inquisitors and the local priest had lain in ambush, and now tried to drive away the fiends by means of hallowed water and crusifixes, and there was much chanting and reciting of holy scripture. Though it caused them pain beyond endurance, and though Cinaéd was blasted to smithereens, the two pious humans were finally blown up and away, not to land until they reached the monastery walls. The impact knocked them momentarily unconscious. Whereupon the solstice slitted their throats and killed them instantly, even as they struggled to survive. He evenmutilated their bodies, cutting off the heads and dumping the bodies into the sea. This foul act of wanton slaughter awoke the monks, and the bloodletting upon their doorstep angered them greatly. Soon they issued forth in an angry mob, but by running with the speed of the wind the callous fae managed to escape into the distant forest.

In the village, the fae were left to deal with the petrified cleric. Tuki approached him with kind yet stern words, and led him into the far forest there to speak with the minister, and forge an oath of secrecy. Tuki wished to know what was really going on, yet as the man was about to answer, and elf-shot pierced his back. He was dead before he hit the ground. Tuki then called out, wanting to know who had done the deed, yet the wild wind only told him to begone from that place, lest evil things befell him. Then all fell silent.


Merílfen's Log, Second entry
So much has happened since I last took out this notebook. In all honesty, I have not had much time; we have been rather busy since our departure from
the Summer Court. (I wanted to go see my nephew first, but he was out hunting. I suspect that was only an excuse from the guards.) The journey to Erlbenn, which is the name of the village where odd things
have been happening, was blessedly an unadventurous; the most exciting thing
that happen was that the Solstice (who seemingly has no name) caught a rabbit which I prepared. Before we entered the village, we were smart enough to appear human. My Fae-mien may not be so conspicuous, but that does not apply to the rest of the group.

Upon entry, I barely noticed the two other arrivals; we should have
eliminated them in their sleep or something similar, as they turned out to
be from the Vatican (filthy, filthy place it is). They slept (hopefully it
is correct to use the past tense, I will explain later) at the same tavern
where me and mine slept, ?The Jolly Squid?. A young man accompanying an
older fellow. At the tavern itself we speak to Rose, the barmaid, and she
tells us quite a bit about what has been going on, that people are afraid to
go out at night, that one can hear growling, and whatnot. She also mention
two names; Old Granny and Captain Mallone, who supposedly knew more about
these things, and so we went out in search for them, leaving my dear Meribah
with the widow owning the inn.

The less said about the place we found the Captain, the better. I was
wishing pretty desperately for a nun's habit before long. The Captain
himself was a drunkard, which made things easier. Not that he told us much,
all we got were tales of horror, but he did tell us he knew the things were
coming from the monastery on the cliffs overlooking Erlbenn. Interesting
indeed, so we said our thanks and goodbyes and headed for the monastery to
see for ourselves, posing as God-fearing travellers (for my own amusement, I
referred to the group and family and Tuki as husband) after Cinaéd decided
to re-new his human appearance. That in itself was not that bad; that he
decided to do in in a back alley was! Bright, unexplainable lights tend to
attract attention.

The visit to the monastery told us little to nothing until Tuki revealed
what he had seen in the innermost chamber; something trapped between life
and death, and forced to stay there for untold ages. This was after he had
spoken to the Abbed, who claimed that there had never been any registered
hauntings or ghost sightings by any monk, and even offered proof that
today's stories are nothing new. So what Tuki saw, and what he was told, did
contradict ever so slightly.

Moving on. We bid the monks farewell and meandered our way back down to the
village, stopping at the small cabin dear Old Granny lived in. She told us a
very different story than the horrible ones we had heard from the Captain,
and even gave us a name; True Tom Thomas, who had loved a Fae and who had
received a bracelet from her, as a sign of their love, and who had experienced having the bracelet taken from him. He could not rest before he
had that bracelet back so that he could find his true love, and our task
pretty much became clear (if True Tom Thomas indeed was the reason for the
strange happenings, and I hope he was); get the bracelet back to True Tom
Thomas (resident of the monastery), so that he was free to go. The helpful
old lady even told us where to find this item, which made it a lot easier;
an unmarked grave in the cemetery.

In short, the story continues as this:

Tuki found the grave, but there was nothing much we could do before sundown
(digging up a grave attracts attention of the unwanted kind), so we went and
had lunch (regrettable action, I hope Meribah is fed better). The two other
newcomers, as well as a female pilgrim, came in after us. The two men
discussed setting up ?traps for the preying animals? before they went upstairs for rest, dropping a scroll on the floor. Again, Tuki noticed this and picked it up (did not tell us before later). At this point, it had been some time since I had taken part in courting...so
after lunch I walked out on my own and found a suitable young man; a
carpenter's apprentice. I forgot the influence the church has here, however,
but his performance was not disappointing. I will remember him, if I ever come back to Erlbenn again.

Sunset; the five of us meet again, and it is decided that the Solstice will
go up to the monastery to see if the things terrorising the village at night
are the same hounds that attacked us, while the remaining four go up to the
graveyard. Before we can even start our mission, we are attacked; the
village priest and the two men that had discussed setting up traps for the
preying animals! Inquisitors, with their minds set on destroying us. Holy
water burns like the proverbial, and I feel like I was very little help;
being blind does put a stop do a lot of things. I tried casting my
weariness-cantrip, but it was Tuki who in the end managed to rid us of them;
he sent them flying in the direction of the monastery (where we saw a lot of
hectic activity shortly after). We were now one man short; Cinaéd would have
to be reformed, but first we wanted to finis what we came for. I was made
useful by keeping guard while the men dug. And sure enough, we found the
bracelet. The sky seemed to be behaving strangely but we paid very little
heed as it was still far away, and we had other matters to attend to;
stealing ('borrowing') wood and making a fire to bring back our Summer. Luckily, we managed without starting another forest fire like the one he was made of.

Now, my hand is getting weary from writing, and even if the story is far from finished, I will stop here and continue later. I suspect we will have
tons of time to write and very little to write about.

- Merílfen.


Session 4

After the death of the poor priest, and with the dull ache of echoes still keenly present, our heroes grew slightly unfocused, milling around in disarray, until they finally managed to unearth the ancient grave. Located many feet below the earth it was, by a twisted and sickly tree whose many roots made digging hard and laborious. But in the end they reached a huge coffin, not made of rotting wood but solid stone, and sealed by leaden locks. Ancient and unreadable runes were faintly visible upon the aged surface, and the thing was far too heavy to ever get out of the deep chasm whence it lay. So vukutae stroked the locks lightly, and they sprang open at his command. Inside they found no body, nor any rotting remains that normal senses anticipated. Only a ring made all of elegantly carved stone was found within, carved all in the likeness of a serpent eating its own tail, though it had ridges and fangs and claws which normal serpents are not wont to have.

Removing the object of their quest they closed up the grave as best they could, before preparing the ressurection of their discorporated friend. By means of firewood from the nearby logger's camp they buildt a bonfire on the spot where the summer kin had been destroyed, and there they caused a fire to burn firecely. Soon their hapless companion was returned to them, and they noticed for the first time the ominous clouds blowing in from all around them.


Merílfen's log, third entry.

Tuki had taken the village priest, who had done very little to harm us so
we had left him in peace, into the woods for some small talk. My memory
fails me, and I can not remember whether he did this before or after we
started the fire to bring Cinaéd back to us. In either case, before the
priest could tell him anything useful, he was killed, and Tuki believes
there are hostile Fae in Erlbenn.

Having the bracelet we start walking up to the monastery to deliver it to
True Tom Thomas, but it should prove not to be that easy; Tuki was struck my
lightning and called out he was not going to take orders from someone he
could not see. I made some comment, and it seemed it ticked him off even
further because I suddenly found myself flying backwards. Not far, but
enough to leave me sprawling on the ground after touchdown.
What happened then...I am ashamed to tell. I heard a voice ? we all did ?
commanding to attack my friends. It could have been directed at anyone, but
for some reason it seemed to apply to me. I loosened an arrow at Tuki,
unable to help myself; it seemed like I did not want to disobey. Vukutae
must have done something to me, because I was overcome by a fear so strong I
did not attack again, but instead fled up to the monastery (it was either up
there, or down the hill; and with unnatural darkness rolling up the monastery seemed like the safest place to be). Fear does wonderful things to one.

Either way, I hammered on the door long enough for the monks to open, and at
this point my companions had caught up with me; I think they too decided
that facing holy items and what-have-you was better than the darkness. Tuki
sneaked in, so the monks only saw one panicked woman and two rather stoic
men (we had not met the Solstice, assuming he had fled the scene when the
monastery had suddenly come to life in the middle of the night). They let us
in and led us to the altar room, where we were left on our own devices.
Rather a lovely arrangement, because Tuki was able to give the bracelet back
to True Tom Thomas without causing suspicion.

Again, my memory fails me; I can not explain accurately what happened then.
The ghost walked through a hole that had appeared in the wall, and for
reasons unknown we followed him. There was a road on the other side and we
followed it until we came to a forking; the road split into three. Cinaéd,
Tuki and myself followed the one in the middle, Vukutae decided for another
one (or, rather, Tuki decided to follow the middle one, Vukutae decided to
follow one of the forkings, so Cinaéd and I were standing there pretty much
alone before we decided that the middle road usually is the safest choice.
Besides, I trust Tuki more than I trust Vukutae, which is saying something).
And the end of the road we arrived at a village; it was decidely Fae
territory, and judging by the surroundings Vukutae would find himself at
home here. There was no life, just a little cottage and a huge castle made
of ice. We were sooned re-joined by said member of the Winter court, and he
? without hesitation ? walked in the direction of the castle. The rest of us
followed.

And here we are now; in an empty ice castle, in cold rooms where even the
beds are made of ice, waiting for Tuki who is currently having an audience
with a Fae from the Golden Era. I miss my kitten; at least I would have had
something to do here. There is no one; just a dragon made of ice, the
Patriarch, and the four of us. I feel the cold but do not seem to mind it; a
trick of Vukutae's, I suspect. According to the dragon there is no road out
of here. Things are looking very, very bleak...

- Merílfen.


Merílfen's Log, Fourth entry
Things have been ever so hectic since the last time I sat down to write! There is seldom a calm, quiet moment; we (still the same old group; Cinaéd, Nameless the Solstice, Vukutae, Tuki, and I) seem to have a knack for getting into trouble faster than we get out of it. I now have some time to write down what has happened since we entered Candorex’s (that was the name of the Patriarch) realm so long ago. I will have to write short accounts; if I write it all with details I will be sitting here until my 21st birthday (just as a side note; I feel awfully young – barely nineteen while the rest of the group most likely are far into their hundreds).

We did find a way out of the realm we had foolishly followed True Tom into – it was a gamble, with out lives at stake, but we did get out. We spent some of our time rummaging around the ice castle, finding treasure, animals, and mirrors – so many mirrors! Tuki was kidnapped by Cinaéd’s reflection. We found him and got him out (after unintentionally hurting him, repeatedly). In the time span between the kidnapping and the rescue (in lack of a better word), Nameless reappeared somehow.

I had somehow accepted a duel with Candorex (I am not entirely sure who did the challenging; as far as I know, the one who is challenged states the terms so that would mean I, or rather we, were the ones challenged). Who knew answering a total lunatic could lead to that kind of activities? I am not sure if it would have been valid had it not been for Sildalauke (the dragon’s name). The problem was – I know nothing of duelling. I know not how to use a sword, and despite my skills with bow and arrow I believe he would have beaten me without breaking into a sweat (as a manner of speaking, of course). I postponed the problem by saying I would state the term of the duel later.

At some point, if it was before or after the incident with the challenge, Vukutae and I needed to rescue dear Cinaéd (who failed controlling the magic, I think). Cynical as we were, we forced him to swear two Oaths before we did, one to each of us. Now that I have Ramsay here, the Oath he swore to me is not really as important. The Oath he swore to Vukutae, on the other hand, will one day come back to haunt him – he has to act as Vukutae’s meat shield.

The duel, then! Cinaéd, being of the Summer Kin and thus more versed in the rules of duelling than the rest of us, said that riddles are acceptable. The choice was made then and there; there really was no other thing to do. The terms were that if we won, the realm was ours. If Candorex won...he had our lives. So losing was not an option. Seeing I had accepted the challenge I was the “main” opponent I was allowed to do all the talking (lucky me), but my companions – or shall I say friends? – supplied me with riddles. So I suppose you could call us a team. Seeing I am writing this, you can guess the outcome – we won, and in the progress got our very own realm! It is smaller than Candorex’s was, but it is our own and it is safe. That is all that really matters. We all have a little influence over it, which makes it more varied than it was under its previous owner. The ice castle has become a mansion, quite big enough for us lot – we have plenty of guest rooms in case we need it.

Due to our victory, the realm was re-attached to the mortal world and we were able to go out, however, it turns out that the realm originally was approximately in the middle of good Scotland, so we ended up in the vicinity of a big, highland city known as Lincoln. We, happy as we were to get out of the realm we had been in for, I believe, a month, went to explore. It was a relief to be among mortal folk again, in a way. We went to look for a whole list of items; leather armour for Nameless and Cinaéd, Nameless had to sell his hides to the local tanner (or one of them, not sure how many there are), and Tuki wanted to purchase a flute – he borrowed money from me, saying he would pay his debts in “other ways” – and he has not stopped playing it since.

In the town square, we saw that the inhabitants were preparing for a witch burning. We did not know who and thought it would be best if we let matters well alone, but I did have to explain the concept of burning people who were suspected of being witches to Vukutae – he does not know as much about Christianity as I do, and did not understand half of what I told him as he made the mistake of applying logic to the matter.

When we returned to the realm, my companions – all four of them! – decided to play around with their magic; at their level they can turn themselves into different animals. Tuki turned into a hawk, Vukutae into a cat, Nameless into a butterfly, and Cinaéd into a dove. Great for disguising oneself, but it seemed like their personality changed into that of their respective animal as well (hard to tell with Nameless, though). We had nothing special to do, so I thought I could...ask Cinaéd to fulfil his Oath to me. Passable, but nothing extraordinary, and thus nothing I honestly care to repeat unless there are no other options.

At this point, Nameless came up with the suggestion of the five of us forming an Oath circle; the idea behind it was that the rulers of a realm should not quarrel, which in itself is a good thought. We pledged that we would not hurt each other on purpose as the holding should be sacred, and all the rulers of the realm should work together to protect and care for it. No one shall consciously steal the property, things or servants of another within the Oath Circle (this only goes for live beings and magical or specified items). If two are to spar, they can mutually agree that they are allowed to hurt one another during a set time span, but never to the extent that the injuries are fatal. Should someone break the Oath, the weapons the sinner uses shall be useless, the magic he or she uses will always fail, and he or she will never have a place within the holding again. So far, no one has broken the Oath. In my highly personal opinion we ought to change it a little, but the men seem content so I will keep quiet about it – for now.

Of course, we needed to go see if the hauntings really had stopped in Erlbenn, so at dusk Tuki unleashes a cantrip known as Straight Path, to shorten our journey. To make things even swifter, Tuki and Vukutae change into wolf and cat, respectively. Cinaéd was supposed to change into a horse, but he lost control and ended up giving himself, Nameless and I the ears, tail, and teeth of said animal. The second time around he managed to turn himself into animal form, and I ended up riding on his back all the way to Erlbenn, holding Vukutae (lazy ass). What Solstice did I did not take notice of.

In Erlbenn, we visited Granny. She told us that the hauntings had indeed stopped, so we decided that our mission was successful and we were quite pleased with ourselves, and when I got my dearest Meribah back my happiness was pretty much complete. So what else was there to do then, than to return to the Summer Holding that had sent us to solve the problem in the first place?

Our reception was not what we had expected it to be. Instead of being thankful to us, the Matriarch, Amthoril, was furious. Apparently, you see, in returning the bracelet to True Tom Thomas we had unleashed something far worse upon the world. My immediate thought was “Candorex”, and I was not the only one reaching that conclusion. It was not the right one – I quote, from memory, the words of Amthoril; “Never mind Candorex! He is nothing compared to what you useless selves have unleashed upon this world!” To drive home the seriousness of the situation, she turned Vukutae into a pig (he said something that she did not have the patience to hear, I forget what) and gave the rest of us a pig’s snout, Meribah included. Then we were told, in no uncertain terms, that we were to find and deal with what we had unleashed, and that (our) heads would be rolling if we failed.

Strangely enough, we were asked what we would like as our reward for solving the problem we were asked to solve in the first place. Tuki asked for lessons, Cinaéd wanted to training, Nameless asked for an Enchanted Bow, Vukutae had his eye on a pair of Rings of Linked Sight, and I just wanted Vukutae to be turned back again. We all had our wished granted, and Vukutae gave one of the rings to me so now we can keep an eye on each other. He has the ring that goes in front of the left eye, while I have the one that goes in front of the right eye. I carry mine hanging from a leather string around my neck.

We stayed in the Summer Holding for a day, because it is a pleasant place to be and because Cinaéd and Tuki needed time to train. Knowing that my nephew was in – he was there, witnessing his wife scorning us by all the rules in the book – I asked to see him; maybe he knew something about this disaster we had set free, because we were clueless as to where to start. He could not tell me much except that it would ruin everyone and everything, which we kind of had understood already. He also suggested me and him going for a nice walk in the sunset, an invitation which I gladly accepted.

In the hours between this little talk and the walk, I took a swim in the lake together with Vukutae, told him what my nephew dear had told me, and simply relaxed.

Come sunset. I remember quite clearly all we did, and I refuse to write it down. Simply refuse. I still can not believe that I was not stronger, but what is done is done. I admit I feel a twinge of nervousness when I think of returning to the Holding, in the light of Tuki’s later exploits, and so I prefer not to dwell on it at all. Stupidity is a sure way of getting oneself killed.

My hand is getting extremely sore. I think I will take a break and do some sowing, before I pick up where I left off. There is still plenty to come.

- Merílfen


Merílfen’s log, fifth entry:
I will try to keep this entry shorter than the previous one – I would like to finish before we are interrupted by another catastrophe.

When I woke up today, Sûriontin – my nephew – was not there, which was not all that unexpected. There were two dresses though, quite similar to each other except in colour; one was royal blue and the other a deep, mossy green. They have small, embroidered white flowers along the neckline, hem and sleeves. Together with the ruby necklace he gave me the night before, I felt a little bit uncomfortable and eager to be on my way. Vukutae came to my room just after I got dressed and gave me the one ring of the pair he had received the previous day, saying it was only right as I had used my wish to turn him back.

A messenger came for us some time after, saying he came from Rymph and that she wished to see us. We did not see any harm in it so we said we would leave at dusk. When dusk came we thanked our hosts and prepared to leave – preparing to leave obviously means unleashing. After Tuki had unleashed Straight Path to shorten our journey, Cinaéd unleashed in order to turn himself into a horse.

He managed. Problem was he turned into a Shetland pony – as did the rest of us, including our poor guide, Lesil. In itself the state did not cause us much harm, it took some time getting used to the situation and that we could eat simply by grassing. Luckily, we turned back to our normal forms before coming to our destination, and were so introduced to the creature that is Rymph.

She has golden hair and skin and believes in a trusting relationship going two ways between mortals and Fae. She talks a lot, seems to be unable to focus, and if I ever see her in a bad mood (I got the feeling she sulks are opposed to being angry) I will eat this journal and swear it was the best thing I ever tasted. I think all of us wanted to get out of her company surprisingly fast, not because she is such an unpleasant person but because she seems to be so distracted all the time. She told us about Lincoln, about how her mother had given her this specific Holding, and more than likely things I do not remember because I was trying not to treat her to a knuckle sandwich (Beth would have been eternally disappointed in me if I had). She did invite us to a ball she was holding, and seeing she is our closest neighbour (with her living close by, I can quite understanding Candorex becoming Lost). Apparently, my grandfather Daerian would be there so naturally I wanted to be there for that reason as well.

There is no point in writing down the preparations for the ball – if I guess correctly it will not be the last ball we will be attending.

At the ball, after having made a fool out of myself on the dance floor, I just walked around a little to see if I could find Daerian somewhere, when Lesil approached me and asked if he could have a private word. He reminds me a little of a sheepdog puppy in some ways. I said yes and followed him to a quiet spot, where he told me that he needed our help. In my last entry I mentioned that, in Lincoln, they were preparing to burn a witch on the stake. The witch, it turned out, was a human girl, Ginevra, whom had an Oath with Lesil. He had tried to rescue her, but had ended up with so many Echoes that he could not go anywhere near the city again. Of course, I said we would help him – and hoped that my companions would be of the same opinion. I asked for specifics, got them, and returned to the ball – there was no point in leaving it as there was no real haste to rescue the mortal. We had a few days.

I found my grandfather shortly thereafter, talking to an Autumn Fae he introduced as Gir. We had a little chat, and I wanted to introduce him to my companions. Turns out...Kelthain, Daerian’s brother of the Autumn court, is Tuki’s mentor so no introductions were needed between them. I wish I knew more about my Fae family – just to avoid unpleasant surprises in the future.

Anyway. The ball ended, Tuki, Nameless and Vukutae did not return home to Yelin (the name of our Holding) but went with a woman each. Tuki came home the following day but both Vukutae and Nameless remained absent. Ginevra’s time was running out so I told Tuki and Cinaéd of what I had promised Lesil. They agreed that we would have to help and thus we ventured into Lincoln, located where she was held, and tried to enter there without having to resort to magic. No such luck. Cinaéd had to Verdict the guards into letting us through, but he did not do it thoroughly enough so when we had found the cell where she was held, turned her into a dog, and on the whole were ready to wander out, we heard shouts and running from the floors below us – the alarm had been raised!

I said we have a knack of getting into trouble faster than we get out of it. What happened then is the perfect way of illustrating that point:
Cinaéd locked us into the cell Ginevra was held in, instead of us escaping into a cell on the opposite side of the hall or something like that. Ginevra’s cell would be the first they checked! To make everything complete, we discovered that the cell had been modified with magical symbols to make using magic (for all but the one who had enchanted the symbols) hard, of not impossible. We did manage to win, but it was a close, close call, and I think we can thank our luck for surviving. Tuki managed to teleport himself out of the cell, leaving Ginevra, Cinaéd and myself to fight our own battle. He did return, after an Inquisitor (I believe, but I am not sure) had blasted out the wall opposite of the door. Thanks to unleashing and timing, Tuki and his shadow (who had gotten a life on his own during our stay in the Summer Holding) managed to push the guards, and the Inquisitor, over the edge and to their death. I did not see it all; understanding I could be no help at all, I jumped and turned to my kitten form (a talent I discovered about the same time as my ears were replaced by black cat’s ears) and hoped I would not suffer the same fate as the guards had, falling six stories down. I did not – if I had, I would not be writing this – but I did end up with a damaged leg. The leg was partially healed, the mortal way, by Ginevra when I came back to Yelin, angry and tired of all the trouble we had been through.

I think we are thwarting Rymph’s plan of building a two-way, trusting relationship between Fae and the people of Lincoln.

It was a good thing it was time for us to tend to our Oaths. The others sped along without much trouble due to magic; I walked. The way mortals do it. It took me two weeks or so to get there, and I picked up Ramsay when I was to return to Yelin, and it took me two weeks of getting back. Parts of the way I walked with a member of my own House, who taught me more about my own Dominion, Dawn. The journey was uneventful otherwise, except that I found an Autumn Changeling, dead for some time, with a knife in his back. He carried a letter – addressed to none other than Tuki. It was from Kelthain, and he warned us not to go to Erlbenn (we could have used that warning before, but as I said the one carrying the letter had been dead for some time). I do not have the letter here, I gave it to Tuki, but I think he said something about an ancient evil resting there. The letter also made it clear that Kelthain had been missing for some time already. He left us a travel plan; the Spring Holdings neighbouring Yelin, the Summer Holding who had sent us to Erlbenn in the first place, and then Erlbenn itself. We did not know where he had been when he had disappeared, so we needed to retrace his footsteps. As our best source of information, we needed to find him fast (and we still do). His Holding, Luvonkral, was our first stop.

It was Tuki who did most of the searching – the Autumn Fae are known as the secretive ones, and as Tuki was a) Autumn and b) Kelthain’s student and foster son it seemed natural that he did what he could. I did try my best, but all I could find browsing the different books was that True Tom Thomas could not lie due to a curse and was forced to flee back to faerie land because people did not like what he had to tell them. All these different tales about the same person make no sense when you see them together, and I am beginning to think that there is no help to be found in the legends at all. What we did find out, however, was that he had changed his plan and went to the Summer Holding before he went to the Spring Holding, and we changed our plans accordingly. Before we went, though, Nameless wanted to get to know Kelthain’s magic so that he could recognise it. The magic was “echoed” (not the nicest of expressions, but the most accurate) in both a mirror Kelthain had made, and in Tuki.

At the Summer Holding they told us that Kelthain had indeed been there, three or four months ago. While he had been there he had spoken to Olb and to Mollain. Sadly, we could not talk to Mollain because she had travelled on herself (what is it with all this travelling? Makes our mission a lot more difficult than what it has to be). Kelthain had used Olb’s extensive library, and we found out that he had been reading the prophecies of Culliana, the mad prophet of the Spring Court. I could translate the parts that were written in Spring Tongue, but there were up to five different languages on one page so we had to retort to unleashing (well, Tuki and Vukutae had to) as well as asking the ever-helpful Olb to translate what he could for us.

The group have mostly agreed with one another since we got together, but we were divided pretty neatly into two camps over the question of returning to Erlbenn once more. Some said we had to go to dig up the grave again, and the rest said that Kelthain had cautioned us to stay clear of the place and that we should follow his advice. We ended up deciding to go, on the grounds that we had already been there and that the damage had been done.

I think Cinaéd unleashed Summer’s Glamour upon himself...but, as we ought to expect, failed to control the magic and turned Vukutae into a piglet instead – I am starting to feel sorry for the Winter inanimae. The smell of cooking bacon told us the poor thing was hurt, and our trip was postponed until Vukutae turned back – imagine the commotion if he had turned into his own, icy self in the middle of Erlbenn or while we were underway. Unwanted attraction, you said? We thought he would turn back and noon the next day, but we were proven to be too pessimistic and were actually able to go to Erlbenn the very same day.

Arrival in Erlbenn in the evening, which suited us just fine as we could go straight up to the graveyard and start our work. It seems like they remember the last trouble we made up there because they had replaced the old fence with a new one – made of cold iron. Cinaéd would not enter the church grounds for anything anyway, and the cold iron proved to be difficult. Only Vukutae got in, and with only one man digging it took us some time before we reached the coffin – we could have used our magic abilities, of course, but again we had to consider the possibilities for unwanted attention. The solution was simple; use as little magic as possible.

If we had been smart, we would have scrutinized the lid of the coffin before opening it up. According to Vukutae, the lid actually had a warning on it:
“Whoever opens this coffin, know ye this:
Within you will find only ruin and death
And accursed shall you be for days
Without end.”
That should have given us some sort of idea, and maybe we would not have been in this mess (but who knows what Amthoril would have said if we had failed to complete the task she set us to do?).

There was little point in lingering in Erlbenn, and we did not know how much time we had or indeed if we had any time at all so we wasted naught in getting to the next stop on Kelthain’s travel route; the Spring Holding next to Yelin. We went to Yelin first; the two Holdings are not more than half an hour or so apart if you walk, and we thought it more proper to appear into our own Holding than in theirs. A letter awaited us when we came there – from Candorex’s family. They “expect us to attend the annual festival of the Red Moon”, which is about a month from now, because it had “come to their attention that we have had dealings with prominent members of their family” (I think it said something like that – again, the letter is in Tuki’s possession).

Akkoran could tell us that Kelthain indeed had been at Rymph’s holding, approximately three or four months ago (that is not a good sign). He spoke to several of the residents, among then Nanim. Then, he disappeared without a trace, but we were told that many said they had seen him going in the direction of Lincoln. The men of the party then asked if they happened to have any tailors or seamstresses around; they needed clothes for the afore-mentioned festival. I have clothes – thanks to Sûriontin – and said I could go talk to this Nanim while they had their measurements taken (while waiting for Rymph to finish her beauty rituals).

Talking to Nanim is not a simple business – he speaks in rhyme! Not only that, he did not want to tell me what he and Kelthain had spoken of before I had done him a favour I do not wish to write down here; it is obviously important that it is to remain secret for at least a year.

Rymph, who broke off her morning routine to talk to us, could not remember what topics she and Kelthain had touched upon (I did say she seemed to be easily distracted). She did seem to be tickled pink to hear that we were going to the Red Moon festival; so is she, and she suggested that we all travel together. We accepted her offer (and her offer of brunch) without much hesitation; she knows the way, and we do not.

I mentioned in my last entry that I am nervous about returning to the Summer Holding and meet Amthoril again, especially in the light of Tuki’s exploits. The brunch was very nice and friendly while Rymph was present, but as soon as she disappeared Tuki...seemed to explode...and Akkoran was not as friendly (relative term) as he was on previous encounters. The lady Tuki went from the ball with is Akkoran’s sister, but worse yet – she is married, and her husband is rumoured to be very good with faerie dust. Well, we got that rumour proven to us! I admit I felt a mixture of guilt (I cast a very useful cantrip at both Tuki and the woman, Pavona) and glee (to see the high and mighty First Born blown up is satisfactory in its own way). Akkoran gave us the impression that we wanted to be gone as quickly as we could, without giving ourselves time to do something that could lighten Tuki’s injuries, so Nameless and I worked together in Healing him when we got back to our own Holding. So...you might say I worry a bit. Vukutae did not seem to be too happy either, as he had gone off with Leyana who also happens to be married. I do not think he needs to think too much about it, however, because Punk (Leyana’s husband, who has a reputation as one who has no problems with harming others and who is Amthoril’s brother) does let his wife chose her own “toys”. That is, he has not intervened yet.

That was that – which is just as well, because I am running out of ink. Will have to restock at some point, preferably before the rare occasion arises that I have time to note down another report in here.

- Merílfen


Merílfen's log, sixth entry
New ink and also a feather purchased – the tip of the old one was broken. The house has some new, Spring-like decorations, much to the annoyance of Vukutae and much to the satisfaction of Namless and myself. Kelthain has been rescued, and although he was not much pleased with us (Tuki got the brunt of it, the rest of us he ignored – pointedly or otherwise), I think it a “life is running smoothly” is called for.

Of course, we did not jump directly from Tuki's explosive experience to rescuing Kelthain. If things were that easy, even the most incompetent could have done it!

We (Tuki, Cinaéd, and myself, Nameless joining us later) visited Lincoln, still following the plan of tracing Kelthain's travel route. The tower Edmund had damaged at our first and (hopefully) last encounter was under reconstruction. Of course, we had no clue at all as to where Kelthain had gone when in Lincoln. I asked the group in general if they had any bright and shiny ideas; Tuki said he had felt a “presence” in The Duke's Head (a pub). As it was our only lead, we ended up having beer there. According to our Autumn, his mentor had been here, and then he went sneaking off to follow someone he thought was suspicious (he might be a bit snobbish, but he sure knows how to use his eyes – none of the rest had noticed anything). While he was gone we just sat and tried our best to make a decent plan, and I think the Autumn Court had been a little bit impressed, if they took into account that we're mere beginners at this game. When Tuki returned (after having ignored us, walked upstairs, and come down again), swiftly followed by the one he had gone after, he made his comments, told us that he had been led to the stronghold, and the plan was put into motion. First, we were to rent one room (one because it is less expensive) for the men. I was to leave because I was to “visit my sister, who had only recently given birth”. The real plan was that I would leave the inn, find a quiet spot, transform myself into my feline form, and pretty much acting as the group's pet.

When the room was rented I went out, as planned, Changed (as I will henceforth refer to shifting forms as), and jumped onto the stable roof on the back so that I could look into the room which we knew belonged to the suspicious man Tuki had spotted (that was why he had gone up; he knew our man was returned and did not want to give us away, but had to know which room was his). It looked like an ordinary room; a bed, wash basin, a chair...all the things you expect to find in a rented room. There was also a hole in the floor, leading down to what looked like a cave. I saw nothing more, so I returned to the common room, inspected the room (which was the floor of the room I had inspected), saw no trace of a cave at all (had expected nothing, but I try to make it a rule to check all possibilities no matter how far fetched they may seem at the time). I slipped up to the room the men had rented, was let in by Cinaéd, who quarrelled when I told him of what I had seen, and before I could convince him Tuki came in. He had been attacked while on his way back to Yelin (we might want to find another name soon). There had been lightning, he said, and a woman who had shot him in the back, asked several questions, and on the whole had been very unpleasant. She had seemed, he said, to believe that we had planned to release the monster in Erlbenn and that it hadn't been done on accident. She was also looking for Kelthain, and seemed to think we had him, most likely based on her misinformed decision that we were rebels.

During the day I had done a lot of Changing, and all of us had been extremely sneaky and careful so that we wouldn't alarm the bandits of our (close) presence. Cinaéd managed to make all our careful planning a waste of time by opening the door to the room with the hole just a wee bit. If he had opened it and said “woops, sorry, wrong room” we might have stood a chance, but opening it a little bit to see if it was locked is a lovely way of letting others know that “we're here, breathing down your necks!”, which was exactly the opposite of what we wanted. I Changed, ran out, retraced my own steps around the house and onto the stable room, only to confirm what we had already, I think, known; the hole was gone. What was left was a nervous young man, skinny, around twenty springs old. Seemed human to me, but I did not stay long to find out; all I needed to know was if the hole was still there or not. When I came back to the room, I fell asleep. It had been a tiresome, long day. Tuki did offer me some of his powder, said it would make me feel better, but I declined – I don't trust him that much yet.

I was not left to sleep for long. Someone or another woke me up, and asked me to follow the mysterious youth from across the hall, barely an hour later. He went down to the common room, sat there, and did not do a lot else. I was sitting under his chair, dizzy with near-exhaustion . It seemed like he was studying the people, though, looking for us, maybe. It became quite boring, and somewhere in my sleep deprived self I thought it was a good idea to nudge him into petting me. He did. He also used magic to make me even more tired, so that I didn't have the energy to protest when he got up and took me with him. He took me to the stronghold Tuki had said he had gone to earlier, handed me over to someone who put me in a cold iron cage and placed me down in the cellar. There was no way out of this cage (I can just imagine what had happened if I had Changed back...), so I was left lifting up my feet with regular intervals as to prevent them from hurting too much. But – I had found out we were dealing with members of the Winter Court; no other court can have such a harsh language.

Nothing overly exciting happened for a long time; I have no idea how long I was down there. It seemed like ages. Only thing that broke the monotony was that I was taken up to a laboratory where they took a blood sample from my leg. When my cage was carried back down I noticed I was in a torture chamber. I am not sure if that was intentional or not, but if they tried to worry me they did a mighty fine job.

At long last, I was taken (in cage) up to a room. Despite the conditions I found it vaguely amusing; Tuki had a rat with him (only Tuki and Nameless were there), as well as a big, ginger cat. The conversation following the revelation of the rat was somewhat like this:

Winter-bastard: “Any reason to bring out the rat, or were you just planning to feed the cat?” (I wonder if there was an intended pun in there.)

Tuki: “Actually, that's your nephew.”

That was funny. The next comment was not as funny...it had to do in which state I was going to be returned to my group; “if you wish to give us back our nephew mutilated, we could do something a bit like it with your friend.” But I am well, so obviously Tuki did not fall for the temptation. After much discussion about the details, I was let out of the horrible cage at last. This time I did accept the faerie dust from Tuki, because my hands and feet had blisters even in Fae form. Back in Yelin Ramsay, who apparently doesn't think my companions worthy of taking care of me, insisted on me sitting down and petting the ginger (Cinaéd...explanation; Vukutae). While I had been locked up due to my own sleepiness/stupidity, Cinaéd had been put to sleep (in a non-lethal sense) in the forest between Yelin and Lincoln, and nothing could wake him, so Vukutae had turned him into a cat in order to make him easier to carry. That was also why the Winter nephew had been a rat, but that had been Tuki's work. The reason for Vukutae not being at the meeting was that he was frozen in ice out in the garden. Yet another unleashing gone wrong! Tuki and Nameless attempted to get him out of his block of ice by working together, so while I sat enjoying my tea and talking to Cinaéd, I could witness trees flying past the window. Just an everyday affair, or at least becoming an everyday affair. They did manage to get him out, though, and he managed to turn Cinaéd back to what he usually was before dragging himself up to his own, room-restricted icy domain.

We had the portal, the key, and the key word to the cave I had seen at The Duke's Head. Finally we were going to get Kelthain back!

Of course, that was how it should have been. But again, the woman who had shot at Tuki in the forest had intervened and stolen the necklace the portal was disguised at! It had been she who had put a spell on Cinaéd so that he slept soundly. The problem was solved much easier, and without any damage to us, than the earlier ones had; she came knocking on our door, ranting that “I KNEW YOU HAD HIM!” and not listening to sense. Her name, by the way, is Mollain; yes, the same as the one I mentioned Kelthain had spoken to when he visited Amthoril. She gave us the portal, Tuki opened it, and down we went; Cinaéd first, then I (in kitten form, landing safely on Cinaéd's head).

There were two caves, not just one as I had thought initially. We were in one, and we could see Kelthain in the other, looking pale and not healthy at all. Nameless said that there was a “slithery one” down there with us, after we inquired why he demanded “show yourself” no no one in particular (so we thought). A high scream followed, turning me deaf, and a battle erupted . Trust me when I say that witnessing a battle while completely deaf is a peculiar experience. It did not last for long, thank goodness. Tuki started attacking after the battle was over and the snake-like creature (earlier I had unleashed “Reveal”, so that I could see what we were fighting) had disappeared. He was also terribly hurt, and for once my Healing did more than just take care of a few bruises.

Everyone hurried to the other room. Kelthain was indeed a whiter shade of pale and his pulse was very faint, but he was alive. After some initial Healing, just to make sure that he did not die on us while we took him up, Nameless had his sprite take Kelthain and himself up. Tuki threw Cinaéd up, using the same trick he has used on me more than once (intentional or not), and then took Mollain and me by the hand and transported us up by much gentler means. He is improving.

Nameless attempted to Heal Kelthain to wake him up, but could not do it by himself so Cinaéd and I had to assist him (that is also why the house is overgrown now – the garden is still full of ice).

Kelthain suggested, after having gotten over the first confusion and dizziness, that we had been set up; that even if we had not set free the unknown monster of Erlbenn, someone else had. It had been Mollain's mission to stop us, but she failed (might be an added thorn in her side).

That's enough for now. In four weeks or so we're going to the Festival of the Red Moon, and after that I suspect we're going to the Court of Woven Stars, close to Hadrian's wall. The Mad Prophet of Spring, Culliana. Kelthain does know what the monster is, but has sworn an Oath not to tell, ever, and thus we need to find out for ourselves. But in the meantime, I am teaching Nameless what I know of the Spring dominion, and in return he will teach me what he knows of Dusk. He also wants me to teach him Spring Court language. Hopefully, some weeks of peace – I think we both need it and are entitled to it. I also hope to work on my sowing; the shirt I was working on is finished. It's nothing too elaborate, but for a first attempt I don't think it's bad. Maybe I'll give it to Vukutae, as a present, or to Tuki, because he has a knack of destroying his own.

- Merílfen.


Merílfen's seventh log entry
In this entry, I have reasons to be jubilant. I also have reasons to grieve and to be angry. It is a month since I took out this journal last, but the events I speak of took place over a very few days. I'm currently with my father and mother at what should have been my childhood home, had it not been for a certain someone I now believe to know the identity of attempting to assassinate me – and in a way, succeeding.

It started, I suppose, when Tuki, Cináed, Vukutae, Nameless and I went with Rymph to the Festival of the Red Moon. Rymph had offered us to ride in her carriage (the only parts of this carriage that didn't look alive were its wheels, and it was pulled by four white unicorns). The journey took us a day; the five of us, Illian (sent to us by Kelthain and posing as Tuki's man servant), Rymph and Akkoran shut up in one carriage. Is was a remarkably swift trip, and very smooth – but we know Rymph likes to show off a little. Strange how she doesn't seem to be upset about our antics in Lincoln, by the by, but I'm not complainting. She may be too dim to realize.

The Holding that was our destination is hidden in a loch in the highlands. It's made of coral and glass, and to go down to it you have to wait for someone authorised to call up a sea dragon, who then takes the command and if you're entitled to enter a lot of smaller sea dragons merge into one portal to the palace itself. We were presented to Faruk, a member of the Siludar family, whose sole job was to make sure we stayed out of trouble (of course, he didn't tell us this – it because painfully obvious after some time). We had travelled a whole day so after a short guided tour of the premises (we were allowed to enter) we retired to our rooms. Apparently, they had only counted four of us – Nameless and Illian were either new to or ignored by them. In the end we did end up with the following room division:
Tuki and Merílfen; Cináed and Vukutae; Nameless and Esam; Illian and Shivn (a friend of Illian's apparently, that we got to know later on).
A room division I could highly agree with, of course. Tuki apparently likes to show of a little though, which is fine by me and also a little amusing.

The night came and went without any events, and the next morning we were woken by breakfast on bed and a note informing us we had an audience with the King and Queen (yes, those were the titles used) when we had finished eating. Faruk was to take us, and we got there after going through a magically darkened corridor, followed by a corridor literally through the water to a small tower separate from the rest of the castle. When we entered we found that the same architects that had been in charge of Candorex's throne room had been in charge of this one as well. The tower had no floors, and no rooms; the entire thing was dedicated only to the thrones of the King Mildarfen and Queen Femilfer of the Siludar Family. Of course, they had to put on a blatant show of power; as we entered we bowed or courtesied, as custom and propriety demands, and they kept us in those position for something close to three minutes.

The reason why we had been granted an audience with the Royal Couple was, of course, Candorex. I think that came as a surprise to none of us. Queen Femilfer apparently turned out to be Candorex's sister, which made us very careful of how we answered their questions about his mental state. Of course, wanting to know how their relative was faring was not the only reason they had demanded we appeared before them; they laid claim to Yelin (new name is needed). This was when I made the mistake of taking the lead (I didn't trust the men to be smart in the way they phrased themselves), and according to Illian I had put myself forward as the leader of our little troupe – and the rest just had to nod to what I had to say. When you are standing in front of one mermaid and one flaming red dragon, believe me, you don't want to be regarded as the leader of a group – especially when you have the queer idea that you and your companions are not the most popular people alive in the Royal Regard (please, note the sarcasm just there). Illians whispers were either way a life-saver; when I was stuck he was there at once and gave me what I needed to proceed. After a bit of talk the two agreed that they would be willing to postpone the discussion; there would be a hunt later and we agreed that if we won, they would drop their claims to Yelin. If we didn't win, the discussions would continue. Their point was basically that Candorex had not been sane when he entered the duel that won us Yelin in the first place, and that an insane man's word was not enough to transfer a whole realm from one set of hands to another set of hands. To be sure that they would keep their word, we asked Shivn to be our witness; he is known to keep his word and never to lie, so he seemed like a perfect person to chose. Of course, that he belongs to the Winter Court was not a downside either.

Tuki and I retired to our room after the King and Queen dismissed us, just to relax from the rather nerve-racking experience, and we started to talk about the guest. Apparently, Pavona's faerie-dust-magician husband was sleeping in the room next to ours. This naturally lead to talk of what had happened that evening of Rymph's ball (one of many, if rumours are believed). I did not say directly what I had done, but I did say that the Dawn dominion is useful if you want to inspire people to get to know each other better. He might have understood, or he might not have; nothing in his behaviour indicated either way. While we were talking Illian came in and informed us that Faruk might accept a bribe; he also said that the assigned personal guard could have agendas of his own, but he was not sure. Then he disappeared out again, and I ended up giving Tyuki's shoulders, back, and neck a massage; just showing him how to relieve stress in non-magical ways. He seemed to enjoy it very much.

Evening came, and with evening came the ball. My choice of attire was my blue silk dress, simple but elegantly put up hair, the necklace Sûriontion gave me, and my normal, albeit clean, shoes. The dancing hall was enormous, the music played was beautiful; indeed, it was a promising start. I had received a letter from my mother earlier, which asked me for a favour – ask Mea, earlier librarian at the Siludar library, to get her a book on the Siludar style of art. I found him, spoke to him and his wife Zoolk (the princess of the House of Aoor), and we agreed that we would talk again later; I did not feel comfortable asking for a private word already. All I wanted first was to give my my mother's regards and introduce myself. Mea himself mentioned that he was surprised to hear I was not dead after all, and of course I had to explain to Tuki (we walked as a pair – apparently, according to Illian, it is better to come in pairs than to come alone) the reason for me being a Changeling and not a Firstborn like himself. He took the news somewhat...seriously. We did not have much time discussing my unfortunate past, though, because just then the King, Queen, their daughter the Princess, and one Airik of Norway were introduced. The occasion was also used to read the rules of the ball:
1. Violence will be answered with violence.
2. No unleashing within the palace.
3. No loitering where you are clearly not wished.
I can say already now that we did not break any of the above rules (that I can think of). Miracles are not only a work of mortals' God.

Faruk asked me to dance with him when the introductions were done and the rules were read, and I saw no reason to refuse to I accepted. We spoke a bit about the hunt; he told me we were hunting a mortal, and that physical attacks on other Fae were frowned upon but that only killing was outright forbidden. Also, many of the guests had bought mortals of their own, as it is a great honour to have your mortal chosen; political intrigue are the two key words here. He could also tell me (while standing on my toes from time to time) that Airik of Norway had not been staying here for long, but apart from that there was very little useful to be learned from him. Vukutae came and asked me for the next dance, which I happily granted him; at least he did not stomp on my feet because of incompetence.

He asked me for a favour. A big favour. He wanted me to provide him with an alibi. Apparently, you see, he was going to murder someone. And not just anyone, but Namlak, my father. Without betraying what relations I had to the chosen victim, I demanded to know why. He only said he was doing a favour for a friend. Illian had also apparently agreed to help him, but did not know with what. I told him that I would have nothing at all to do with it, of course, and that if he would not give up his plan I was not going to keep quiet about it. Then I left, hoping for refreshments before trying to talk to Illian. While I was sipping my drink Tuki also asked me for a favour; this one was much less severe than the one Vukutae had asked for. He only wanted me to make it easier for a certain couple to be open for getting to know one another. Before I agreed I asked if any of the involved parties were married, but according to Tuki this wasn't the case. We hope he was right, because I agreed and said that he had to signal for me when he wanted me. Illian asked me if I had the possibility to get to the library, unlock it, snoop around a little bit. I said that Faruk, whose room was right next to the library, seemed to be mildly interested in making my intimate acquaintance, and if I could play on that I would see what I could do. I'll reveal straight away that I didn't succeed in this project; things that happened kind of got in the way. More about that later.

While I had him, I asked Illian to make sure, or attempt to make sure, that Vukutae's plan of assassination wasn't successful. I said the target was a member of my imminent family, and that I had no wish to see any of them dead. He now has a rather big favour he can ask of me, but I think it was worth it. Although I could have done without, it would have been better than be safe than sorry even in retrospective.

Seeing I was already busy talking with people, I figured I would talk to Mea already and ask him the favour my mother had asked me to ask of him. What I did not know, of course, was that Mea is Candorex's son, but the family ties weren't that strong, and he was not so loyal to his birth house that he minded stealing a book from their library – in return for a favour (there were a lot of favours doings the rounds this evening); he wanted to know what his wife wanted for their wedding anniversary. Simple enough, said I, and accepted. My agenda was getting full.

As soon as I was done with Mea, Vukutae asked for another word. I made sure we were visible, but far enough away from the others to be sure that no one overheard our conversation. He said that he valued our friendship too much to lose it, and that he offered me an Oath on that if he didn't kill Namlak, he wouldn't lose my friendship. The plan was to accept the Oath, with Illian as our witness, but due to unforeseen events this Oath was never forged – luckily for me.

Now it was time for the human prey to be announced – in short, it was the mortal Korif (I believe) had brought with him. The festivities went on, but the Royal Ones retired after announcing the prey so the hall was quickly emptying itself so we decided that there was no more work to be done tonight, and went to bed. It was late, and we had been quite successful all in all. There were three more nights to come.

The following day we slept in, got up at noon, and did nothing much except for, in my case, have a few words with Faruk, but more importantly, with Zoolk. She told me what her husband had given her as anniversary presents earlier years, and that she wanted something romantic this year. This was all I needed to know, but made some small talk just because before I walked back to the room I shared with Tuki, and we got ready for the fabled hunt (not dressed in fancy clothes, but in all everyday wear). Before we even started all Fae unleashed (the hunt was held on land, so the rule about no unleashing didn't count) and cantriped all they could to protect themselves against all sorts of dirty tricks. We had a tracking sprite; it belonged to Illian and had, when the prey had been announced, taken a good sniff so that it easily could lead us correctly. So when the horn sounded, the sprite headed in one direction and we followed – swift like the wind. A lot of rather amusing things happened, like me tying together the shoelaces of Akkoran's wife while she was paralyzed; Vukutae flying and as a result causing it to hail; Tuki jumping (we believe) and leaving footprints in the air. I was having the time of my life; running through the forest faster than I had ever run before, and even managing to keep my feet under me. I think it might have been my cat form bleeding over into my Faerie Mien (in order to unleash, I decided that it was good to stay Fae). I did a lot of running, the magic was left to the others who actually have tricks that were useful. Shivn and Faruk ran with us, and with the help of various tracking we ended up close to a village (of course, we didn't stick together all the time – with some of us in the air and the rest on the ground, and most of us difficult to spot, sticking together as a group definitely wasn't easy). The tracks led into the village (of course, where else would a mortal go?), and to the local inn. The door was bolted, and I got to try out my new Dusk magic; one of my cantrips would be to unlock doors. Using the mists to cloak what I was doing, I simply stroked my hand over the door and it opened – maybe not soundlessly, but not loud enough to wake anyone and there were no mysterious flashes of light giving away what or where we were. Stepping in, we looked around. Some went down to the cellar through a trap door, others just looked around. I spotted a pair of feet, barely visible, behind the counter. It could just be regular drunk sleeping off the alcohol, so I approached without warning the others.

It was not a regular drunk sleeping off the alcohol. It was a sleeping mortal; the one we had been hunting. It would be easier to transport him back to the castle as a lifeless body so I shot him neatly through the heart with an arrow, killing him instantly, before triumphantly raising my arms above my head and declaring, not too loud of course, that we had found him. Tuki unleashed a straight track back to the castle so that we could get there faster (knowing well that as soon as someone knew we had found our prey, they would attempt to take away from us).

When we got back, there was a group standing waiting for us; the King, the Queen, and some attendants. It was confirmed that our prey was the correct pray, we were asked who had killed the prey, and although King Mildarfen looked unhappy he did use his impressive voice to call out so that it could be heard for miles around, I'm sure, this:
“Merílfen Dikara and company have won the contest!”
It must have been one of the best moments in my life. Newly Sained into a Court, barely twenty Springs old, and I can add “Mistress of the Blood Moon Hunt” to my name. I don't think it's a common thing to happen, not even among Fae. And better yet – Yelin is ours. As far as I know, no one can come and lay claim to it now. The bath that stood ready when Tuki and I entered our room was one of the best things I had felt, too. Not that we had much time to bathe; the dinner was about to start. As the winning team, we got to sit right at the very top of the table; the King and the Queen sat at the short side, looking down, but I sat next to the Queen, with Tuki, Illian and Shivn next to me. Across the table sat Faruk, Nameless, and Cináed. It was a good moment, to know that Tuki is the first of the Autumn Court to ever enter the palace and, just to add insult to injury (so to speak), he is sitting at one of the places of honour (Illian is of course of the Autumn Court as well, which made everything a lot more, privately, fun). The meal itself was...special...though; they served the mortal I had shot. I took a piece (before the King and Queen – do I really have to say I felt pretty much at the top of the world?) but managed to push it over to Tuki's plate so that he could eat it. We were officially declared Huntmasters of the Blood Moon, and also the proper owners of what used to be Yelin, and during dinner I actually had some small talk with the Queen. I know Beth said queens are ordinary people like she and I, but it sure didn't feel like that. I'll probably grin when I think of this day forever more.

After dinner, we danced the polognese before a somewhat more free form of dancing. Because Tuki had managed to become somewhat blind during the Hunt (and Vukutae was nowhere to be seen), I danced with him as to make sure he didn't walk into people all the time. Even blind, the man danced like a god; people stopped to look at us, even with Rymph present (she was dancing with Cináed). It seemed impossible that the evening would end badly now, but such are the whims of a jubilant mood. It makes you think you're invincible. It got better after the dance and I found Mea, and he gave me the book I had wanted for my mother in return for a few simple pieces of advice on romantic anniversary presents (flowers, jewellery, sweet dried fruits?). We danced once dance before Faruk asked if I would mind dancing with him, which I didn't – I still had Illian's little request to consider. Tuki was dragged onto the floor and danced with by Oga, whose idea of dancing was picking him up and putting him down without him really having a say in what was going on. It was hilarious to look at; she seemed to take pride in the fact she couldn't dance better than a drunk goose.

When we had both untangled ourselves from our dance partners (admittedly, Faruk didn't stand on my toes quite as much as he did yesterday, in fact he didn't stand on them at all). Tuki reminded me of the favour he had asked of me, and said it was even more important that we saw it down now than when he had asked me previously. Both our “victims” were present, so he went to fetch the Sprite Trainer (who had really no idea about what was going to happen) and I went to fetch the Treasure Guard (she was something like that, anyway). It was she (her name was Voraibel) who had asked Tuki to start with to help her break the ice, shall we say, with the Sprite Trainer. Tuki apparently thought Dawn's specialities were a good thing to have on his side. The plan was simple; he got the trainer out on the balcony, and I would take Voraibel to that very same balcony before Tuki and I withdrew and I did my magic, which hopefully would lead to the accomplishment of the mission. I must admit, Voraibel seemed to be very reluctant to believe that our plan would work, but she didn't protest too loudly (that lady, who looks like an amazon, needs to learn how to be a bit more friendly and open). Having gotten the two were we wanted them I asked Tuki for a private word, we disappeared around a corner, I called the Mists to hide what I was doing...and I cast the best, the strongest, most successful spell of that kind I have ever done. Needlessly to say, it worked a treat. And our reward? A black check to the treasury – we could get whatever we wanted out of there, but we had to act quick before Voraibel realised what she had just done. Finding a calm spot we, after some brain searching, decided to take out the Black Torc of Carniog as well as the Blazing Silver Torc of Mylanwy Du. The first torc was something Airik of Norway had expressed a wish to own (says Tuki), the other one was just something that could really come in handy one of these days. It's to stay between myself and Tuki, of course – not even the Oath Circle were allowed to know. I think I'm starting to develop tendencies usually associated with the Autumn Court. Either way, we asked a Sprite to fetch us the items requested and bring them to the guard tower (the tower the guest had access to that wasn't where the guest rooms were situated). It was quiet there, and we didn't want to be seen receiving treasures in front of everybody.

We were given two boxes – one made of mahogony and the other made of ivory. Not wanting to be caught red-handed we started to go for our room, on our way stopping so that Tuki could put the newly acquired boxes into that little stick of his. Just as well – because even the most perfect evenings can be ruined. We entered our room to find a crisp corpse, looking vaguely like a satyr. We could hear guards approaching, so I did the first thing I could think of; scream. Guilty people don't scream when they find the body they murdered, do they? Usually not. Didn't help much, we were placed under arrest suspected of murder without further ado about it. All our treasures were taken from us and put into the custody of the guards (luckily they didn't look too closely), and we were thrown into each our cell. Apparently, the one who had designed the throne rooms of Candorex and the Royal Couple also designed the dungeons in both places; the bars were made of cold iron. We did get some time to think, and together we found out the following:
- there were only two satyrs here (I had seen it was a Satyr, Tuki was still blind at this point). One we had no name for, and the other one was Namilak – Shivn's father.
- the body had looked charred – our suspicions went directly to Verlern – Pavona's husband who is rumoured to be very good with faerie dust, and who slept in the same room as Namilak.
More than that we didn't figure out before Cináed and Faruk visited us. I suspect Cináed used Verdict to make us tell the truth. In either case they both believe us, and Faruk was going to investigate the case. We couldn't do much but sit there, sorting our thoughts. There were some things that bothered me; I had a story, and that story pointed to Vukutae. I just didn't have a reason, and a reason is, most of the time, very helpful when you try to shift the blame over to someone else. At the same time I couldn't believe that Vukutae, who I had travelled with for nearly the past year, had killed someone. But the more I thought about it, the clearer it became. It had to be Vukutae. It couldn't be anyone else.

First of all, Vukutae had told me he was planning to kill Namlak – my father. Namilak, Namlak...there isn't a whole world of difference between the two. He had also told me he had purchaced two bags of faerie dust of the self-combustion kind, just what could cause the effect we had seen on the body. Also, when he said that he didn't want to lose our friendship, Vukutae had told me that he of course couldn't guarantee what his employer would do about it - “employer” being the operative word. Vukutae had to be an assassin. He had even said, when I asked, if he did this often, that he did it occasionally. Then I started thinking back – to my own assassination attempt. Both father and daughter attempted murdered? Vukutae can also easily be old enough to be “my” assassin, and upon discovering that he had failed could try to hit two nails with one hammer – kill Namlak, and frame me for the murder. It seemed far fetched, and it still does, but my mind was going in all kinds of different directions. I had no reason, no motif, of course, which is what I needed. I thought and thought...and remembered. Eilwedd isn't grandfather's first wife; actually, he left his first wife, Lillana, for her. Lillana is the Queen of House Aoor – the House Vukutae belongs to. She couldn't be happy about losing her husband, could she? Could she possibly be so angry she took it out on Eilwedd's family?

It seemed plausible. My parents should have been at the ball, but they had been prevented from coming, which quite possibly is the reason for why my father is still alive. I told Tuki in hushed whispers thought the cold iron bars of my suspicions, and he didn't find a fault with them. He seemed to be angry; if my suspicions were right, then Vukutae could be considered to be a traitor. Maybe not to Oaths, but to friendship. On the other hand, if our suspicions were correct, he most likely would not care much.

Either way, I informed Faruk of my suspicions. We sat for a little while – Lillana wasn't here, so it was kind of hard to blame her. But her daughter, the lowland princess of Winter, Zoolk, was here. Darian was her father. She grew up without her father, and knew who was at fault for that. I got that far; Tuki and Faruk then seemed to realise a thing or two. Someone had approached Tuki and Illian (Faruk had just overheard it) and asked them to find something they could destroy Zoolk's political reputation with. Something that really could blow up in her face. Well, this was something, indeed. We had no proof, but maybe this mysterious person could help remedy this.

We heard nothing for three hours, so I slept. Then we were released and allowed back to our chamber, were Nameless was waiting for us. We gave him the short, friendly version of our adventures and fell asleep (I think Tuki fell asleep, I know I did). Again we were woken after three short hours, but this time because the trial had started. We hadn't received any summons, so I hoped fiercely that we were cleared.

Very few people were in the dancing hall, which for the occasion had changed function into a court room. There were few guests (maybe one or two as well as Nameless, Cináed, Tuki and myself), and several members of the family. There was also someone very impressive, and very old, there; he wore cold iron and didn't seem to take any damage from it. It was Xul – a myth to many, a reality to us. Technically, he was never Sained – he is rumoured to be one of the very, very first Winter Fae, and Siludar claim him to be theirs and that he started out as a dragon but changed his very Fae Mien. Seeing him was, to say the least, unexpected. Something really important and serious had to be afoot. In front of him stood Zoolk. Many different kinds of proof were presented, such as the fact that there was no soot on the floor in our room, as if he had just been placed there by someone else; the body had been dead for longer than it had been discovered – most likely it had been killed the day before and kept somewhere; a Sprite brought it from Yelin had seen Zoolk meet with a shady creature in our very own realm; there were signs of struggle in Namilak's room; and of course, Verlern admitted he had sold two bags of powder of instant combustion, not to Tuki (no other name mentioned, but we know). The verdict was “guilty” - and the old, old Fae somehow swallowed the princess into his cape and the next thing (and last thing) we heard from her was a long, painful scream while blood dripped out from under the black coat of the Ancient (more Ancient than Candorex, even) one.

No sentence was passed on Vukutae; I asked Mildarfen (very lacking in respect, but I had had enough at this point) what was to be done about him. He was ours, they said, as long as we got out of here – now. So he's in Yelin, securely kept; we're going to murder him when I come home and after we've dragged out of him why he did this and who is really is. Whatever liking I had for him, it's history now. I trusted him and he turns out to be a murderer, going after my family. For now, though, I'm with my parents, at home. I had to deliver the book, and I wanted to tell them of what had happened.

- Merílfen,
Mistress of the Blood Moon Hunt.


Merílfen's Log, Eighth entry
We are alive. We are all alive.

Except Vukutae. I executed him, and I regret it bitterly. I acted rashly, without thinking, letting anger cloud my mind. I wish I had opted for letting him go instead, after making him swear an Oath that he would never do anything to harm us or our families in any way. At least it was quick. He never woke up again after Nameless put him to sleep. But I have no wish to think more about it; what is done is done and nothing I can do will change what has come to pass, right? We are all young and foolish at some stage in our lives, Beth used to tell me.

We have a new member in our little group. He is not a part of our Oath Circle, but he travels with us. Chose it himself; he must surely be half-mad! His name is Veliv, and he is a Firstborn of the Summer Court. To be more exact; he is Bogg’s son and a librarian, has an extra set of arms (which means that Meribah downright adores him), and mercifully has not shown any of Bogg’s, how shall I say, blazing temperament. I like him well enough, although he is a bit shy and not very forthcoming.

In order to see if we could uncover more of our little mystery (how to put the great evil back where it came from), we had decided to go to the Throne of Woven Staves, hoping to find Culaina. We walked, of course, on a Straight Track, meaning that we only had to walk for three or four hours before we were at Hadrian’s Wall.

Nothing ever goes smooth, and this time was no exception. There was no violence of any kind, but we were invited to sup and have a night’s rest with Lord Adam of Dromongard. We said yes; why should we not have? The servant who had found us, a boy no older than sixteen years of age, showed us the way, and although it was getting late the people of Dromongard were still out, dancing around a burning scarecrow. Apparently they believed that the Lord sacrificed himself for the land, so that it would be a prosperous year (or was it season?).

The Lord himself – the real Lord, not the scarecrow – was not rich, not by a mile. Compared to the rest of the village he seemed to be well off, but compared to other Lords he was poor. He invited us to eat with him, which we did, making pleasant small-talk all the while. I am still nervous when it comes to Cináed in combination with mortals, but Lord Adam seemed to think his guest was a Lord too. We had to make up a story on the spot as to why we were travelling; I was engaged to Cináed, Nameless was my brother, Veliv and Tuki were Cináed’s advisor and servant (I think), and we were travelling to visit family that lived in England.

Lord Adam had a daughter, and he seemed very interested in seeing her wed. I feel a bit guilty about us getting his hopes up, but I am sure the girl will find a nice husband soon enough, if she hasn’t already. Elaine, her name was, and the name suited her well.

Tuki and Solstice slept in the servants’ quarters that night (the stables), Cináed and I slept in the same room (with a sword in the middle of the bed; keeping traditions is important), and Veliv slept across the room from us. In the middle of the night, someone hammered on our door, and when we opened we saw the lad who had brought us here. He seemed different, though, and we soon enough found out why; a Fae by the name of Malgirich had borrowed his body to bring us a message. Malgirich said he was in charge of the Stones of Night’s Kin, a holding not too far from here, and that he insisted on us experiencing the hospitality of the Kin the very next day. When we accepted, he left the head of the poor servant, who fled as soon as he saw us. The next morning we bade our farewells to Lord Adam and his daughter Elaine, and went North (Malgirich had given us directions). After a while we reach a sinkhole, surrounded by standing stones, and Korith (who has his mortal chosen at the Siludar Ball). He led us down into the holding itself, and I must say; it was not a bad place, considering it was a Winter holding.

Malgirich met us in the main room. He was sitting upon a throne, looking just a wee bit threatening – the fact that he had two battleaxes did not lessen the effect! But, as it turned out, he was surprisingly friendly for a Winter Fae. I got another surprise when I discovered my brother Tmor and his wife Pekkim as we sat down around one of the fires (blue, of course). We drank and told stories; I told them the story of the Hunt, which was warmly welcomed. Malgirich, in turn, told us that he had fought in the War of Seasons, and had liked to eat the sword-arm of his enemies. Then, a woman rose up and challenged our party to a friendly spar; Cináed accepted, most likely thinking it would be an easy victory – the woman was not exactly sober. Long story short; he lost, she won, and she gave him her sword because he “had been so fun to stab” (her words). We later learned that Pani, for so was her name, was the holding’s pride when it came to fighting.

After another story, this time Solstice’s (I still have no real idea about who he is; a very secretive one indeed), and then we were on our way. Solstice led the way; it was apparent that these parts were known to him. We did not have much trouble finding the Throne of Woven Staves; we walked straight into it.

The Lady Viryd sat in the middle of the clearing we had walked in to, and next to her sat Sithech. Malgirich had told us about him, how he was the rightful heir to the Stones of Night’s Kin but now was a “hostage” in order to ensure peace between the two holdings. And if there had been any doubt about Solstice’s ties to this place before, they were blown away now; when we introduced ourselves, he said something like “I am Nameless, the green gangrel of Stone. Sorcerer of seasons, Huntmaster of the Red Moon and sire of Yelin”. Now that, although long and slightly unnecessary, did not surprise us as much as the next bit – for he continued! Oh, did he ever continue. “And might I say, Lady Viryd,” he added, “that your eyes are still as enchanting as they were since before the dawn of the Age of Iron.” My, did our jaws drop! He clearly knew her, and I suspect that we were in the holding he would have called home had he not taken a vow of Unsaining. He has admitted to spending some time there, at least. The Lady did not seem to remember him, but she was courteous enough toward him. The good news was, of course, that the Prophet was indeed here! We did not need to hunt her down, risking our necks and limbs on the way. She was in her bedroom, not to be disturbed, but at least she was there. As long as she did not slip away before we got to talk to her.

I am going to shorted this down as much as I can; there is so much to tell that it would take me days to write down all the details. I do not have enough to write on, either, if I were to record every little thing that came to pass.

After breakfast, we spoke to Culaina. Of course, we did not get straight answers – what do you expect? She gave us many riddles I need to sit down with and think on; I will write them down when I think I have the answers, or part of the answers. Tuki asked for his fortune, though, and was told he could help to prevent a friend from turning to stone. I asked for my fortune, and was told that I needed to get the poison out of my veins before I turned to stone. She spoke in riddles – or so I thought. Also, it was no ghost we freed in Erlbenn, and True Tom Thomas had nothing at all to do with Erlbenn either; he was Irish.

Oh, no. When we asked how we could find the Luin spear, which supposedly could help us kill the evil we had set free, Culaina said this: “I see a marked that floats and vibrates over the desert. I see a cathedral that breathes. I see a grave with weapons. I see a silhouette.” Please, don’t tell me we were so close and yet too blind to see it?

After speaking to Culaina, we went to bed – and somehow, small white flowers now grow in my hair. A resemblance to my mother, perhaps?

When we woke up, we discovered there was an attack on both the holding where we were, and on the Stones of Night’s Kin. I was silly enough to venture out in order to visit the nearby village; if Tuki had not found me I would have been dead now, slain by wolves. After we had assisted in the fight against the animals (wolves and bears), Garmyn (we had met him when we med Viryd) told us that he had sent a mortal woman over to the Winter holding to...I am not sure what he wanted her to do, everything happened a bit fast. He wanted us to kill her for him, as she had turned against him and now worked with the Winter holding. We went, or course, never ones to say no to a request (or a direct order).

Turns out that Garmyn was lying; the woman did not attempt to murder anyone, but she wanted to destroy the throne Malgirich had been sitting on. It was nothing less than the Bloodgraal, and it holds the power to terrible destruction. A good thing that very few people, none except one actually, know how to active it! We did not attack her, but Solstice, who was behind us, did, and I daresay he would have been dead had we not intervened and told him what was going on.

Summary: The Winter Fae took the mortal woman in for questioning, but let us go, telling us to ask Lady Viryd for a meeting on Hadrian’s Wall at midnight. We stay for another few hours while I go around healing those I can. Then we walk back to the Throne of Woven Stars, where we find that most of the residents are gathered in the main hall. The Lady Viryd asks us to come up to her throne, wondering why we had abandoned the holding while it was under attack. We tell her that Garmyn had sent us on our way; Tuki tells her what we discovered in the Winter holding; that Garmyn had agreed to help the witch, for a witch she was, to get to the Bloodgraal, because he knew it would annoy the hostage. Annoyed people were easier to agitate and thereby easier to coax into a duel, and in a duel the participants have he right to kill. Short: Garmyn wanted to kill Sithech. Lady Viryd agrees to the meeting, and asks us to come with her has impartial bystanders. At the meeting, Malgirich demands that the hostage is to be allowed to come home; Garmyn says “take him”; Sithech goes back to his own kind, and says to Viryd that she was a fool to believe he really loved her (she definitely loved him, however, and we could almost hear her heart breaking); the Solstice surprises us once again by saying that he would never have left her (Viryd) if he knew this would happen; the Lady doesn’t seem to notice him, she is just too angry and wants to murder Sithech for what he has done to her. To prevent it, Tuki unceremoniously blows her away.

We all departed shortly after that, as no one seemed too interested in talking to us. Veliv and I chose a different route than the others, because we had to fulfil our Oaths. While in the area, I visited home, and my mother taught me more of our Dominion.

I see that I need to purchase more skins to write on; I managed to spill ink all over the last one I had. I will go into Lincoln this afternoon and see what I can find; hopefully I won’t have to skip the details on our next adventure. It is more dramatic than this one, and I feel that it deserves more than just a hurried account. I also want to write down the prophecies given to us by Culaina, as I do not think that we can afford to forget them.

- Merílfen.


Merílfen's ninth log entry
Culaina had, as I mentioned, said that I needed to get the poison out of my veins before I turned to stone. I thought she had spoken in riddles, but when I had returned to Yelin I discovered that I was indeed turning to stone; my left hand was turning grey, almost like granite. Tuki saw it too, and his first instinct was to make me Unleash - he thought that it was because I nearly always chose to use Cantrips instead of Unleashings that I was being turned to stone. So he set began teaching me more about his Dominion, that of Dusk, but the only effect was that I became better at it (and that my shadow danced with Tuki’s, after having tossed Meribah up in the air, poor thing). The stone continued to make its way slowly up my arm, and we had to admit that Unleashing was not the answer to this one. Our next plan was to allow Veliv and Cináed to burn the nasty liquid out of me (it had been given to me at the ball). This did not work either; it was painful enough to make me pass out, however, after jumping into the lake because I was, literally, on fire.

We decided to travel. Tuki had seen Olb about his nightmares, and Olb had given him a name of an alchemist who might be able to help. We did not know how to find him, but according to Kelthain his brother Daerian, grandfather, might know. And so it came to pass that we went to see my home, and it was as beautiful as ever. The shining white castle with its red roses and roof tiles, the windows and the towers, and the sprites and unicorns around it; much better than the icy home of the Siludar family, for instance! Because I am family there was no need for us to wait for a guard to let us in, and an Unsained palace servant led us to Daerian. He was with guests; Illian, whom we have met previously, and a Fae of the Winter Court who went by the name of Felit. He said that we could find Memnus, the famous alchemist, at the Floating Marked (quite a coincidence, it seemed to be popping up everywhere). He also said he believed that he knew of someone who had a trod that could take us there; Ëamin, a Changeling living in Berwick. We were to travel there the next day; we had arrived in the evening and had walked for a week already, so spending one night in a proper bed seemed like a stellar idea. I slept in cat-form on Tuki’s chest, just because.

The next morning we were woken up by birds singing. After having had breakfast, I tried to make a Straight Track myself, nervous because I had never done it before. But I managed, and managed beautifully! The fact that it was early morning and that we were in a Spring holding made it easier, but now I know that I can do it, at least. It was so well cast that the well we were going to (according to granddad, we needed to go down a well to reach Ëamin’s home) was just outside the door. I am actually getting good at this! Tuki was the first to jump down, closely followed by myself. I did not take notice about who jumped after me; my first and foremost concern was to get out of the way so that Cináed would not land on top of me. During our time in the Throne of Woven Staves, he pretty much doubled his size – meaning he is downright humongous, and that no one would want him to land on top of them.

We landed on green grass. There were trees heavy with fruit, and a little path, and a fence. We followed the path and came to a nice-looking farm, with a large area surrounding it. There were also many sheep there, and by the look of them they had not been shorn for years. I spoke to them, a little, asked them how they were and such, and it was clear that they desperately wanted to be rid of all the heavy wool. I was tempted to find something sharp and do something about it then and there, but we would have to speak with the owner first, so we went up to the house. And who do you think answers the door when we knock? None other than Molleyn, who slammed the door in our face so that Ëamin himself had to let us in. My, I wonder what tricks Tuki played on her, that left her hating him (and us) this much! There were other guests too; Ix, who we have had previous encounters with, and two new faces; Rakikk and Ellip.

Of course, we did not expect Ëamin to allow us to use his trod for free, so we asked him what kind of payment we could expect him to ask of us. Much to our collective surprise, he told us we could pay him however we saw fit. How charitable! (Remind me never to think that of him again – he is Autumn, and thus there just had to be a catch.) We chose to attend to some tasks that had been ignored for a long time, such a sheering the sheep. To be honest, Illian and I just watched while Salir did all the work, chatting to the sheep and asking them how they wanted to be sheared. Not surprisingly they all went for the same cut – friendly as they may be, they will always be sheep. When we were done, though, they shared with us a very useful piece of information (we discovered later). They simply said ‘green box’, which made absolutely no sense until later.

Oh, yes, I forgot – there was one other guest, by the name of Hedley. Straw inanimae, I believe, and thoroughly annoying. He turned over a bowl of soup Veliv was carrying, and apparently found it endlessly amusing. But this did provide me with an excellent opportunity to stay inside, cleaning up the mess he had made, and while the others roamed about on the farm. When I had taken care of the spilt soup I searched the house for this green box the sheep had mentioned – without success.

After a while, my Oathcircle (and the ones travelling with us for the occasion) gathered to discuss strategies. Rumour would have it that Ëamin is a sadist, no more no less, and we had to keep this in mind in order to obtain permission to use his trod. Of course, we had to involve Molleyn – I mean, she hates our faces already, what harm could it do? So Tuki tricked her into exiting her room (and she brought a crossbow and a sword), leaving the rest of us free to fill it with wool (might as well use it for something, right?). And then we went to have a snack; Felit had been collecting fruit so we all had a bowl or two, innocently chatting and generally enjoying ourselves (as much as we could when Molleyn, the distrustful thing, was sitting in a corner with a book and an aimed crossbow, sword close at hand).

I suspect someone did something or the other to our snack, or there was something special about the fruit itself. In any case, Tuki and I quickly retired to a room. It smells strongly of Spring’s Urges to me; but I may only be suspicious because I have used this lovely Cantrip every once in a while myself.

Our little trick on Molleyn worked several times better than we ever could have hoped for; apparently, she managed to set the wool on fire by loosing control over her magic, and setting the entire house ablaze. Naturally I was kind of nervous how Ëamin would react to having his home (which I later have come to realise can not be the case) burn down, but he thought it was hilarious – I am never going to understand that Court. Either way, Tuki and I conveniently decided to seek cover from Molleyn in a room with a bed and a lock on its door. Not that we were left undisturbed for long; Illian soon came to knock, telling us that we were going. And indeed, behind the house there were three boxes – one of which was green. When Ëamin asks us which box we pick, I quickly say we want the green one, not daring to contemplate what might happen if someone else picks another colour.

I must admit, I am feeling very restless; I think I might go out for a walk. There is, as always, much more to tell.

- Merílfen.


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