Summer 1221 - The Luminous Codex [Arduin]

[Keehnelf]

June 19th, 1221 - The Road from Slezestat to Nancy

Late in the Spring, after completing a round of research, Arduin resolves to dedicate himself to the acquisition of a book of particular interest, The Luminous Codex of Ethereal Convergence, a tome of some merit compiled by the scholar Eriditus of Constanz near the end of the 10th century. Perhaps a half-dozen copies of the volume are said to have existed at one time, though only two are publicly able to be accounted for--one in the closed library of the covenant Atramentum Renatus in Burgundy and one held in the open collection of Durenmar in the Black Forest, where it may be perused or copied but not removed.

Vestius, however, has a lead that may require a bit less difficult travel. "A new friend arrived in the autumn whom you may have met," he says to Arduin, "at least in passing. Or perhaps not. A fine young woman from the troubled lands to the North-West; a prodigy of tragedy, unfortunately. The widow Gertrude von Lithigren. She was telling me of an ally of her late husband, a knight by the name of Simon, who held a collection of occultic tomes in a country house outside Nancy. Perhaps the book you seek, or one like to it, might be accessible there."

Arduin seems amenable to the journey, a matter of only a few weeks there and back, and so Vestius gathers with Gertrude to discuss the opportunities for her own efforts. "I understand Simon to have been an ally of your husband's against the regency that now holds Champagne. I try to avoid embroiling myself in political matters, but I understand that the matter of the lordship there is a matter of some family contention still. I also know that Sir Simon has been divested of his primary holdings and if anyone still holds out hope of a successful struggle, or connections that would make it happen, it would be him. Given the strife overtaking that land, our Society would be more than happy to take any amount of useful texts he is willing to part with...in exchange for generous compensation."

He gives 10 pounds of silver to Gertrude and Arduin as a token of the sincerity of the Covenant's offer. "Arduin, if it is necessary to render some extraordinary service to secure this exchange, of course I leave it to your judgment whether or not to undertake it. Remember, above all, that we must avoid entangling ourselves or our peers in any kind of armed struggle. The hand of the Church and of the Emperor are both strong enough to snuff us out, if they had the knowledge and the will to do so."

The pair gather an appropriate party, outfitted for the journey, and depart the Covenant. In the group there are:

Arduin, a Magus
Gertrude von Lithigren, dispossessed (and perhaps excommunicated?) Duchess
1 Grog, second-in-command of the soldiery of the Verdant Spring (name and identity TBD - anyone can step in to provide identity or characterization for the grogs as they like)
2 Grogs, soldiers-at-arms and escorts for the party (name and identity TBD)
1 Grog, porter/carter/cook for the journey (name and identity TBD)
1 Small Cart with the party's supplies, pulled by a draft pony

As the party travels through the rolling countryside, the full blossoming of summer is all around them. The buzzing of insects in the fields, and the creaking of the cart's wheels, the steady scuffle of feet and hooves on the packed-earth roadway, are almost hypnotic. The spell of the bright sunshine lasts until the party reaches the vineyards surrounding Nancy, and they see the vestiges of the civil war that ravaged this landscape as recently as the last growing season: the fields are burned, the scarred stubs of the once-flourishing vines dotting the dry and ravaged soil stretching on almost to the edge of sight. The half-crumbled crowns of the buildings of Nancy, too, sit along the hillside awaiting rebirth or final destruction, and handfuls of peasants, scattered clots of them, begin here and there the long effort to restore what was lost.

Simon's country house lies a few miles south of Nancy, which was besieged and destroyed in the war--and is not in the earliest stage of restoration. The party can choose to travel through Nancy, and find what it holds, or head via a secondary carter's route around the vineyards to the south and so come directly to the area of Simon's abode.

[Keehnelf]

This thread had been updated--leaving the choice of the final leg of the journey's route in your hands, as well as space for any conversation and characterization you may want for the road between Arduin and Gertrude (who is pretty young for a widow) or any characterization of Grogs.

[Grognardsw]

Arduin Archembeau
Magus

Early Spring

At the after-concert reception, Arduin was approached by one of his patrons. Allasandra von Bek was a certain noblewoman of mature beauty whom he had entertained privately on occasion. (Her husband would not approve such performances.)

“Of course, send Simon for lessons,” said Arduin to the mother. Her boy was an aspiring vocalist. “Though I worry he will find the covenant an austere and boring place.”

Late Spring

“Very good Simon, now from the top,” Arduin said to his vocal student. He had taken on the seventeen-year-old son of the Strasbourg noblewoman Alessandra Von Bek as a favor in return for her own financial and amorous favors.

The boy had some talent as he sang holy hymns, chants and the occasional German folk songs of his heritage. Simon had been staying in the earth-side Covenant for several months, studying music theory, honing his vocal skills with Arduin, and assisting in the crafting of string instruments with master luthier Johannesburg.

Arduin the artmancer had begun painting a portrait of Simon during the boy’s performances. Capturing the energy of Simon’s voice in the painting as part of a dweomer his mother would find quite entertaining.

“Simon, I will be going abroad soon for a few weeks in early summer. You have progressed nicely, and with your music notes you can return home and delight your mother. Tell her I miss her.”



Arduin’s dryad dreams continued to haunt him at least a few times each week. Had the forest fey left remnant magicks in his mind that swayed his night-time thoughts?

The artmancer tried to dismiss the thoughts and focus on his upcoming mission of recovering the Luminous Codex of Ethereal Convergence.



Summer



Amidst the rolling hills and verdant meadows, where the emerald blades of grass danced with the whispering breeze, the pastoral countryside held secret histories. Or so thought Arduin, daydreaming as the bibliofellowship journeyed to Nancy. The town’s name a melancholy woman betrayed by men, as men are wont to do. The air was redolent with the scent of wildflowers and earth. Arduin wondered if the ancient oaks and gnarled willows he passed held dryads, distant cousins to she who once held him enthralled.

Along the pleasant journey Arduin talked with Gertrude.“Why did you choose the Verdant Springs to visit?”

Arduin tried to keep the subjects airy and bright, given her past tragedies, though with Simon being her late husband’s friend it was unavoidable at points. Funny coincident Simon being the same name as his recent vocal student.

“Yonder mushroom ring has mystic significance as the dance pattern of fey. Though the French believe them to be witches circles. Best not to dwell within them too long.”

On some nights around the campfire, Arduin played his small lute and sang traveling songs to keep the mood light. He possibly made Gertrude smile when his Magic Mouth - cast upon a sizeable boulder - accompanied Arduin in a bawdy duet.

“I wonder why a knight has a collection of occult books?” Arduin wondered aloud. “Was there a magus in the family?”

Seeing the peasants grouped about doing peasantry things, and the sad state of Nancy (unlikely to hold anything of interest to Arduin), the magus declared: “Let us proceed along the secondary route around what’s left of the south vineyards, so we may arrive at Simon’s abode directly.”

[Grognardsw]

Balthazar Dietl, Lieutenant of the Guard, Verdant Springs Covenant

When you work for magi, you expect the unusual. But this Arduin fellow is something else.

Sometimes he’s entertaining and charming, singing and playing his lute. The way his voice shifts from male to female is startling. Makes me wonder about those rumors I’ve heard…

Other times he’s creepy. Frankfurt told me the other night during watch he spied the guy going around humping trees. And the other day, Roderick says he saw him pressing his body into the boulder that had that freakish magic mouth, and it wasn’t singing going on.

Gertrude seemed disturbed with his habit of collecting nail, tooth, eyeballs, and blood samples from our daily dinner hunts. Something about components for his friends, whatever that means.

But I have to say he’s nice enough with us. So many of the magi walk around the Covenant with a stick up their arse. Or act like we staffers don’t even exist. Arduin is down to earth; or down to somewhere, I’m not sure.

Tomorrow we reach Nancy.

[AleBelly]

Gertrude has found Arduin to be odd, even for a magus. But he plays the lute beautifully, and Gertrude is keen to show off her skills with her own instrument, made of an exotic species of rosewood. She finds it easy to harmonize with the magus, with the added benefit that he doesn't speak much while playing and it keeps his hands occupied.

Gertrude quite agrees with venturing along the secondary route, eager to meet with Simon and avoid the potential dangers she and Arduin may face with the peasantry in the current environment. "Yes, Arduin, well done. We shall proceed around this ruined vineyards. Oh, to think of the wine that has been lost due to such savagery."

[Grognardsw]

Arduin, a shrewd observer of people, suspected someone had spied on his night time activities. It was the way the soldier-at-arms talked amongst themselves and didn’t meet his eye. Lieutenant Dietl knew, Arduin’s intuition told him.

It was likely two nights ago, when Arduin under the influence of the yellow lotus had communed with Mother Gaia. One of the watchman must have observed the sacred rites and misinterpreted.

That wouldn’t due. Arduin reviewed the mystic syllables and somatic fingering of a certain hex. He waited for the opportune moment when Lt. Dietl was separate and alone from the others. The magus joined him, smiling, “Dietl, I’ve been meaning to share important news…”



Balthazar Dietl, Lieutenant of the Guard, Verdant Springs Covenant

I forget how much that Arduin is such a good friend. We were talking today and he’s like a brother that guy. So funny! And so kind that offer of his to help my sister out.

I have to set Frankfurt and Roderick straight on what they think they saw last night. That type of talk can get them fired, if not banished.

We’ll reach Nancy in just a few hours. I have to share with the men that funny joke Arduin told me about Nancy. HA!

[Keehnelf]

The company diverts its route southward to avoid the city proper, seeing no benefit in traveling there. The path they select is rough, mostly disused, though one of the guards notes some relatively fresh signs of travelers, including boots, horses and two-wheeled carts, having passed this way in both directions. The route itself meanders along the edge of the burned vineyards, under the eaves of a pleasant mixed forest of beech, cherry and maple trees, with the occasional oak or other tree adding to the color and variety.

After about an hour on the path, the group can see the sign of the small village of Ludres a mile or so off, lying on the southward road out of Nancy, nestled along a steep hillside--their next destination. However, they also spy a small band of foot travelers--perhaps a half-dozen. Balthazar's keen eyesight, for which he's known among his peers, reveals that the group flies a banner of blue and gold...the colors of the Regency, the enemies of Gertrude's family. Flying colors means they are likely a patrol or military detachment of some sort.

They are headed toward the travelers, about a quarter mile off--and it is likely they have spotted you as well.

[Grognardsw]

“Perhaps it would be wise to use a different family name, if asked?” suggested Arduin to Gertrude. “It may go easier with those Regency men.”

Is Simon a known political enemy of the Regency? If so, is there another neutral or friendly destination (town, church, another Covenant) that we could say we are journeying to, should we be asked?

[Keehnelf]

Simon is definitely a known enemy of the regency. King Louis stripped his primary holdings from him and gave them to his brother as a result of his support for the rebellion.

There is a church in the town where the priest is known to be a correspondent of many folk from far-flung regions that you could say you're visiting on a journey elsewhere--such as to Normandie. Any subterfuge you might might attempt would potentially be compromised if someone were to recognize Gertrude. It's unlikely that simple soldiers would, but keep that in mind as you continue your journey.

Also note that this area lies under the Dominion, which exerts an aura rating of 1 over everything, lying as it does within the bounds of the celestial ordering of the universe. This means there will be a -3 penalty to all Magic tests attempted while in this aura (roughly the equivalent of reducing each of your Arts by 1.5 points.).

[AleBelly]

“Perhaps it would be wise to use a different family name, if asked?” suggested Arduin to Gertrude. “It may go easier with those Regency men.”

Gertrude dons a burlap shawl from among the clothing and pulls out her lute. "Why, Arduin, I'm but a lowly minstrel. Josephine Strummer should have no enemies amongst the blue and yellow." She attempts a smile, but her nerves are clearly frayed.

[Keehnelf]

Gertrude attempts to disguise herself as much as possible with a cloth and her instrument, giving herself the air of a travelling musician so that she and Arduin can make something of a matched set.

First test of the new campaign! Gertrude, go ahead and roll a Stress Test for the Folk Ken or Guile ability--your choice, depending on whether she's planning to pass herself off as a musician or use misdirection so that folks don't notice important details. The attribute modifier will be either Presence or Communication for Folk Ken, depending on whether she plans to be silent and rely on her disguise or talk her way through the encounter, or Communication for Guile if that's her intent.

This will be a 1d10 roll + the relevant ability + the relevant attribute modifier. Since Gertrude has higher than 0 in both of those abilities, she doesn't roll any extra Botch Dice.

Since these soldiers aren't on the specific lookout for Gertrude, this will be an Ease Factor (difficulty class) 7 test.

[AleBelly]

As the party closes the distance to the oncoming squad, Gertrude thinks through her options. Let Arduin do the talking? The idea appeals to her jangled nerves, but no. The aura of the magus could raise more questions than answers. Who knows what he might say...or do...if he falls under another fey fugue?

Barely entertaining the thought of leaving her fate in the hands of the grogs, she decides she must be the one who communicates.

As the cart approaches, she picks out a tune on her lute she knows is favored by the Regency, though it pains her to play it. "Hello, gentlemen." she greets the blue and yellow-bannered party. "Today is your lucky day. You have happened upon the finest musicians this side of Strasbourg! If you have the time and coin we will happily play you a tune or two!"

Test modified with Communication (2) and Guile (3) [1d10+5]=3+5=8

[Keehnelf]

The soldiers, and there are about eight of them as the party sees upon their closer approach, are wearing the colors of the Regency and of the Regent Blanche herself specifically. Several of them point toward the travelers as they crest the nearest hill, and they wait alongside the roadway for the cart and its escort to pass them. Several have taken off their pot helmets and are sitting on them in the dusty lane that runs between the cart track and the nearest trees, taking advantage of the last few scraps of shade that remain as the sun begins its descent to the West.

They all smile and laugh as they see Arduin and Gertrude. The sergeant, a thick-jowled man with a dense black beard, beetle-black eyes and a round belly, addresses the group in French. "Welcome to Ludres, your honors! It's a fortunate time you've come--the inn at the crossroads is right full tonight and you'll have plenty of custom and a lively audience. Folk are coming from far and wide to see the old priest burned in the morning!" The soldiers embark on a round of vulgar jests before the sergeant finally settles them down. "A tune would be a lovely gift, in place a toll this hot afternoon, and then we'll be on our way to finish our duties, kindly." He makes a half-bow and taps two fingers to the front of his helmet, patiently awaiting the requested payment.

[AleBelly]

"It would be a pleasure" replies Gertrude. She begins to strum Ce fut en Mai, a sufficiently bawdy ballad about a man who sees a knight and maiden cavorting in a meadow then having intercourse, the man dismayed as he has no love. She hopes it will resonate with the soldiers.

Gertrude wishes to inquire about the reasons for the priest's execution, but worries it will draw undue attention to herself.

[Grognardsw]

Arduin, acquainted with all the bawdy songs of the day, accompanies Gertrude with his own lute.

[Keehnelf]

The Regency soldiers nod and clap along to the jaunty tune despite the heat and their weariness, with some even rising to their feet after a verse or so to begin dancing merrily.

The performers know their craft, and the audience is left well-satisfied, laughing and mopping their brows as the song comes to a close.

“Aye,” says the sergeant, as they prepare to go. “You’ll find a fine and receptive crowd in the inn tonight, no mistake! It’s right off the square, across from yon church-yard. You should make haste to find a room before the sun sets!”

The soldiers keep along their previous route with friendly goodbyes and promises to come by the inn for another performance later, and many musing repetitions of a particularly ribald line.

The party continues on, and after another hour or so the cartway begins to meander down between freshly sown fields lined with stands of aspen and birch, the region less touched by the recent trouble.

As the descend the last stretch past the stone markers of the churchyard, the open space that serves as a square at the intersection of the cartway and the trade road reveals the village of Ludres’s newer trouble: a hastily erected gibbet stands opposite the church, a rude cage hanging from it in which the dirty and trammeled shape of an older man lies unmoving.

A handful of village folk and travelers stand in the shadow of the gibbet, conversing in low tones, and in the lowering sunlight the travelers can see lantern light beginning to shine from the front windows of the busy inn. Simon’s manor house lies another mile south along the main trade road, if the party wishes to keep on: or they can choose to stop over here in the village square briefly or overnight.

[Grognardsw]

“I didn’t expect a noble woman to know such commoner songs!” said Arduin to Gertrude after the soldiers left. “But good that you did!”

”The more we interact with the townsmen, the more sticky our web of lies. Perhaps we should make straight-away for Simon’s house?” counseled Arduin.

[AleBelly]

“I didn’t expect a noble woman to know such commoner songs!” said Arduin to Gertrude after the soldiers left. “But good that you did!”

Gertrude looks solemnly at Arduin. "It is important to keep current in the songs of the commonfolk. They do tend to reflect the mood of the masses. Bawdy songs indicate happy times. I worry when the songs turn to the hanging of the ruling class."

She then whispers conspiratorially "And the commonfolk songs are more fun to play."

”The more we interact with the townsmen, the more sticky our web of lies. Perhaps we should make straight-away for Simon’s house?” counseled Arduin.

"You are wise, Magus Arduin. I was of the same mind. Perhaps we can learn from Simon why the priest is to be hanged."

[Keehnelf]

The small band turns the cart south, leaving the bizarre scene behind...for now.

The village is not large, and quickly disappears behind the shoulder of the hills as the cart rolls along the trade road. The country here is mostly open, rolling hills, and occasionally rises offer views of the broader countryside. Very quickly, their destination comes into view: a compact country house sits atop one of the more distant hills, far off the road to the East, with its own drive winding back and forth along the tops of the neighboring hills. The house itself is packed close with overgrown trees, bushes, and long grass, and has no protective wall shielding it from the surrounding countryside. The grounds about it once seem to have been vineyards, but they are at least a generation overgrown and disused, choked with brambles and dotted with circling birds.

Just beyond the house to the southeast, another hill rises even higher, topped with a copse of dark and tangled woods. A wild and unkempt maze of hedges and fragments of ancient boundary-walls fills the hollow between them.



The party turns up the winding road, and follows it through the disused vineyards toward the country chateau, eventually bringing it up in the circular court formed by the space between the building's two "wings". A servant emerges to help the party settle after their long journey, and they are led inside, the grogs separating from Arduin and Gertrude as the latter are led into a small, dusty study with leaded grease-stained windows looking out over a small wildflower-strewn garden and a small flagstone patio. The light filters only dimly into the study, the walls lined with dark-paneled wood shelves and antique hanging portraits of distant relations of Sir Simon. There is an uncomfortable delay before Simon himself emerges from the recesses of the house, pipe in hand, to greet his visitors.

Simon, formerly de Joinville, is a heavyset, small man in his late forties. When a younger man, he was vain and kept his appearance pin-neat, but in the last year both his self-attention and his capacities have diminished, leading his appearance to become somewhat slovenly, though still obviously rich. He wears a doublet of fine gold-threaded linen and brocade, worn thin and somewhat stained, and his moustaches are unruly and overgrown, much like his yard. He settles himself slowly and gently down in a chair facing the duo, then takes great pains to prepare and light his pipe without saying anything. Once it is smoking, he leans back heavily in his chair and squints in Gertrude's general direction.

"So. You've found yourself a consort much quicker than I'd expected, Gertrude." He gives her a sly glance, obviously waiting to see how his line will land before continuing.

[Grognardsw]

Arduin imagined Simon’s estate and vineyards in a better time. How human politics and folly punish nature.

“Balthasar my friend, please keep watch on the road up here, a man at each twist of the road, to relay an alert to us if civilians or soldiers approach,” said Arduin to the lieutenant.

This Simon has seen better days, thought the magus. He should be open to gaining coin in trade of books.

Arduin held his tongue at Simon’s playful verbal thrust, letting Gertrude deliver the riposte.