Summer 1221 - The Luminous Codex [Arduin]

[Keehnelf]

Balthazar doesn't make eye contact with Arduin as he issues his orders, but nods in assent and takes one of the other grogs to stand sentry with him on the drive while the others unpack the cart.

As Arduin stands in the courtyard, he feels an odd sensation, like a cold wind with a hint of honeysuckle, but the sensation is traveling in the opposite direction of the wind that's blowing the grass. His eyes are drawn unaccountably toward the dark stand of trees on the hillside opposite the house, and a chill runs down his spine as he recalls soft green fingers tracing delicate whorls on his naked flesh...

He shakes off the impression and enters the house with Gertrude and Simon's manservant.

[AleBelly]

"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.

Gertrude considers a retaliatory remark, perhaps aiming at the decline of Simon's homestead, but as always, opts for diplomacy. "I'm not his type, my dear Simon" she smiles thinly. It's a true enough statement she thinks to herself, recalling Arduin's nighttime dalliances with the arbory.

"How have you been keeping in these difficult times, Simon?"

[Keehnelf]

Simon gives a dry chuckle at Gertrude's response and offers Arduin a knowing wink. "Yes, I can imagine so."

He takes a few puffs on his pipe and ponders the question before responding. "Well, times have certainly been better. I've had to dismiss most of the house servants, as you can see," he motions to the condition of his clothing. "And I'm relying mostly on my southern properties for sustenance these days, but it gets me by a bit. I try to remember that it's to be expected that these are lean times, and that good ones will come again if we keep a vigilant eye and a careful mouth." He pauses a moment. "I'm glad to see you look healthy, if a bit roadworn--I trust that you've found yourself a secure holding somewhere, but news has been scant indeed."

He arches his eyebrows toward Arduin. "Pray, introduce yourself, sirrah. I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting before. You look a bit like one of my aunts' grandchildren, grown, but that would be an odd coincidence..."

He trails off, chin raised, pipestem poised on his lip as he stares at Arduin.

[Grognardsw]

Arduin eyed the hill and dark copse of trees, feeling a familiar sensation. He was tempted but his desire for the Luminous Codex was greater. The woods could wait.

In the house Arduin introduced himself to Simon.

“I am Arduin Archembeau, artist and scholar at the Verdant Springs Covenant,” said the magus, with a slight bow. “I come to explore what books you may have, with an eye toward purchase.”

[Keehnelf]

Simon coughs suddenly, just one short exhalation before he masters himself, red-faced. Slowly he lowers his pipe and takes another look at Arduin, more intently. Finally, after long, long, uncomfortable moments, he speaks.

"You..." and he hesitates, casting his eyes toward Gertrude. "You should be careful about the kinds of words you speak, out here in these lands. This isn't Strasbourg, you know, but it is the Empire, still, and...you may not know, but a man's to be burnt in the morning for confessing less than what you've intimated just now." He waves a placating hand. "You've nothing to worry about here, in this House, but all the same, lips should be a bit tighter around such utterances."

He sighs, and eventually nods, seeming somewhat resigned. "Yes, yes, I understand why Gertrude might have brought you here." He stands and paces around the room, agitated. "Still, I'm not sure how much I can offer you of real value. I am an appreciator, not a practitioner, you might say. Much of what I have may only offer only historical interest at best. And--" he stops suddenly, aiming his pipestem at Arduin. "And...the gardener's house where I kept my more curious collections has been...overtaken, you might say, by the landscaping of late. And perhaps something else." He plops down into his seat once more, a look of defeat on his face.

[AleBelly]

Gertrude allows Simon's admonishment to hang in the air before rejoining the conversation. "Simon, it would have been impolite to mention the state of your estate, but now that you have raised the issue, pray tell the circumstances of the decline. Are you in peril?"

[Keehnelf]

Simon sinks lower and lower in his chair as he speaks, alternating his gaze between Gertrude and Arduin.

"I don't want to sound too dramatic, but I will be as frank as I can be with you about the situation here. It is true that this House was in a bit of a state when I returned here after that whore Blanche and her benefactors stripped Joinville from my holdings, but it was actually far worse than I anticipated. I knew the years of war had meant disruptions to the harvests, but we were never burned, being far enough outside the bounds of Nancy, and so I was caught off guard. It seems that in my absence during the war, many of the staff had abandoned their roles here and left the place to the wilds. For the first few weeks, I was not able to get a clear answer from those who remained, apart from dark allusions to a sense of unease in the night that had culminated in a veritable frenzy of anxiety last spring, in mid-March or thereabouts. One morning, all but a handful of the servants had abandoned the place, leaving only the most stalwart: the gardener, my manservant who remains here still, and the cook.

"Things, as I saw, were in disrepair but not yet decaying when I arrived in early Fall, and I was not afflicted like the others with this sense of dread. At least not at first.

"It changed one night, as I was awoken from my slumber by an unaccountable sound. This far away from the village, atop the hill, the only night-sounds are usually the wind and the occasional owl in the treetops on the hillock yonder," he waves his pipestem vaguely toward the leaden windows that look out over the garden patio toward the dark hilltop grove. "And as I listened, it was such a fierce noise, a rustling and creaking of ominous aspect, that I thought a gale storm had struck the estate and so I bustled myself under the bed to avoid any wind-blown debris!" He blushes.

"I'm not proud of that cowardice. Me, a man who has stood for King and Country and sustained more than one injury in the defense of both. But so it is. In the dark, at an unexpected hour, sometimes we are taken by moods we are powerless to resist.

"At any rate, the unease persisted in the morning as I rose and wondered whether it had been an unfortunate dream. For there seemed to be no sign of distress in my room, nor downstairs. It was only when I stepped out to the garden to take my morning wine that I discovered the most unaccountable thing of all!" Here, he rises to his feet slowly and lumbers toward the garden door. He turns and pauses, hand on the door latch. "The gardener's cabin, long disused except for storage, seemed all at once, and under the cover of darkness, to be overtaken by the clutching tendrils of the wild!"

He throws the garden door open, revealing the narrow valley that lies between the country house and the hill opposite: filling the valley from one side to the other is a thick and trackless mass of brambles and vines, rising high enough that only the slate-shingled roof of the gardener's cottage and its stout chimney are visible. He points his pipe at it with a melancholy, resigned gesture.

"The gardener has been unable to reclaim the place since. He has made several attempts, clearing a narrow path, and every night the thicket grows to restore its barrier. Perhaps with enough men, one could undertake to clear the way in a single day, but I do not have the will or the resources to undertake such a thing."

He sighs and returns to his seat. The light of day is beginning to fade--the sun, sinking to the West behind the country house, is casting the valley into deeper and deeper shadow, and leaving a sunset glow frosting the canopy of the grove on the opposite hill. The darkness between the trees is almost palpable, deeper than the twilight overtaking the valley. Deeper, one suspects, than the night sky that will soon rise around it.

[Grognardsw]

“Yes Simon, I know the dangers of truth in these tumultuous times. I judged your character as trusting to speak plainly.” Arduin’s trust was finite and conditional.

”Something older than man and uncaring of our petty politics now resides in those woods,” said Arduin, stepping beyond the doorway to better view the thickets around the cottage. The magus lit a pipe as he pondered the situation.

Arduin studied the size of the area. How many feet to the cottage from the house? What was circumference of brambles around the cottage? Could birds, squirrels or other natural wildlife be seen in or around the brambles? Were there any tall trees near the cottage that loomed above the brambles? Were the cottage and brambles at the edge of the hill of dark woods?

“Before investigating those thickets and cottage, I would interview the cook, gardener and manservant on their experiences up to now. Any insights could be a clue to the nature of what lies beyond. Are there any secret tunnels under the house to the cottage?

Arduin exhaled a ring of smoke.

”First however, let me peruse what volumes are here in this house. How did you come across your books?

Can one enter the regio from anyplace, such as here to get a different view of the scene and possible inhabitants?

[Keehnelf]

Simon nods. "Yes, yes of course I'll put the staff at your disposal. I hope that it's something that might fall within the domain of your expertise. If not..." He shrugs, as if it's all beyond the realm of his understanding. "As for books in the House, there is nothing in which you might have interest. As I say, my more esoteric items are all kept in the gardener's cottage for my own safety. Unexpected visitors with...probing questions, you know." He gives Arduin a dark glance.

Arduin inspects the area closely. None of the brambles seem to rise beyond just above the eaves of the cottage, and one lone tree, withered and scrawny, curls up above the roof on the far side. The brambles seem to extend about 50 yards around the cottage in every direction, including filling the entirety of the space between the cottage and the darkened grove. He can see signs of movement of small birds here and there among the uppermost parts of the brambles.

Using his magical senses, he can discern that the aura here around the House no longer falls under the sway of the Dominion, or the Realm of the Divine--the ordained celestial hierarchies of values that emanates from God. Instead, the tickle at the nape of Arduin's neck tells him that Arcadia holds sway here, and while he does not know, he strongly suspects that the grove and the cottage, at least, might lie on the boundary of a regio.

Arduin doesn't possess any special traits or abilities that would allow him to "pierce the veil", to see beyond the mundane world into the upper layers of a Regio. So, he has his suspicions but the only way he could confirm them would be to try to find entrance into a suspected and see if he can gain passage--and observe the changes that would take place. It seems likely that there must be some way to pass through the brambles, and if this is a regio, then the brambles are the doorway and key to the first layer.

Here in the House, currently a Faerie Aura of level 2 holds sway, which provides a +1 to any magical tests (skill or ability checks) made here.

[Keehnelf]

"As for where I got my books...here and there, you know. I'm a bit of a dilletante and collector of interesting things, and have traveled a lot over the years. Most of it is probably junk, from your perspective, but especially given my current circumstances, and if you're able to help me solve this little issue, I'd be very happy to part with ones that you think have use for some cash or other compensation."

[Keehnelf]

Let me know which servant you want to interview first.

[Grognardsw]

Simon nods. …"As for books in the House, there is nothing in which you might have interest. As I say, my more esoteric items are all kept in the gardener's cottage for my own safety…

“You presume so, but first let me peruse the shelves here,” replied Arduin.

[Keehnelf]

A shadow passes over Simon's face as he absorbs Arduin's request. "No," he says shortly. "I don't think I will. If that's the price of your assistance here, I might advise you to be on your way."

He turns away to gaze out the garden window, brooding.

[Grognardsw]

Arduin motioned Gertrude aside and whispered: “What think you? He hides something. He would have us - or me - face great risk with the cottage.”

Are there any secret tunnels under the house to the cottage?

[Keehnelf]

Gertrude’s read on Simon based on her knowledge of him is that his pride as a nobleman is wrapped up in this—that he’s already embarrassed at the condition of his estate and the need to ask for help, and so won’t tolerate having demands made of him in his home.

Gertrude has only been here a couple of times at most: there’s likely a small root cellar by the kitchen but no tunnels she knows of (and she’s never been in the cellar, as that would be unseemly for a woman of her status).

[AleBelly]

Gertrude goes to the side with Arduin. "Yes, he may be. But out of pride. We do not have time for an etiquette lesson now, Arduin, but I will put it on our list of things to work on. Now I am going to pretend to remonstrate with you" and as she says this, she throws up her hands and points at Arduin, feigning anger "so I can try to rectify the situation. I am now continuing to talk so he thinks I am giving you a good tongue lashing. Your lute playing is fantastic, by the way"" she finishes, still making gestures and keeping an angry look on her visage.

When they are done with the sidebar, she returns to Simon. "You will have to excuse my eccentric campanion, Simon. We both are dedicated to helping you, he just lacks the social graces to show it properly. In my experience, those of us without his gifts may overlook things that he could find useful in solving this vexing cottage issue. It could only help our cause to allow him to look, if you do not find it too intrusive. For this cottage issue is puzzling indeed."

She pauses there. "At the risk of continuing to be ill-mannered guests, is there anything else in the cottage that may be attracting the odd phenomenon you have been afflicted with?"

[Keehnelf]

After Gertrude's performance, Simon seems mollified but still suspicious of Arduin and a bit thorny of temper.

"Well, I don't really know. All of my most unusual items are stored away there, and since the Succession challenge started, I was rarely back here, and wouldn't have considered digging around in things. There may be something, but it's been years...it might make the most sense to talk to the servants, since they were most recently there before this all started."

[Grognardsw]

Perhaps we can rewind here, as there is a disconnect on perception of Arduin that would not allow him to be positioned as lacking in social graces or etiquette.

He would interject halfway through the first paragraph of Gertrude’s post (#36).

As a performer before mundanes noble and modest, with patrons, admirers and perhaps haters, Arduin is fully aware of the social milieu of the time and its practices. Coming from a minor noble family; being of House Jerbiton with certain social characteristics per the rules; having the Virtues of The Gentle Gift and Privileged Upbringing; and having the Abilities of Code of Hermes, Etiquette, Folk Ken, Guile, and Native Language Noble Style, all of which are social skills dealing with mundanes of the noble type, Arduin is arguably one of the most socially sophisticated magi in the Covenant.

Arduin would object to the first two sentences in the second paragraph of the Gertrude post.

Gertrude goes to the side with Arduin. "Yes, he may be. But out of pride. We do not have time for an etiquette lesson now, Arduin, but I will put it on our list of things to work on. Now I am going to pretend to remonstrate with you"

Arduin raised his hand in protest and he whispered reply to Gertrude in Latin.

“Gertrude, perhaps you have forgotten the role House Jerbiton plays? Though I have chosen a path less traveled by my noble Archembeau family, and Covenant practitioners are not known for their social skills with those we affectionately call mundanes, I am neither unfamiliar with noble etiquette nor lacking in social graces.”

‘In his current situation, Simon’s pride is haughtily misplaced and obstructive.”

Arduin turned and addressed Simon.

“Simon, the cottage is at best the under the sway of a dark fey, and at worst an infernal force. Within the month your house will be overtaken by the brambles. If you wish to save the last of your wealth, this château, and what standing you have left, let us dispense with this parrying of pride. “

“Gold and sterling may be your currency, but knowledge is mine. I would survey your titles here, then move to interview the staff.”

“I am authorized to trade good coin for books. I would imagine that incentive, and the possibility of ridding your backyard of a supernatural threat, should make us all cooperative in our common goals.”

If this isn’t enough… I don’t know how easily one cast cast a spell - are some like full ceremonies and other quick jedi-like powers - but if the latter Arduin could cast Aura of Ennobled Presence.

[Keehnelf]

I was forgetting Arduin’s noble background, so my error on not providing context through that lens. Gertrude’s read on Simon is more or less correct. He may be stubborn, but it’s more likely that it’s his pride causing it than a desire to hide anything—and pressing someone in a situation like this WOULD be viewed as an offense against courtesy. Simon has made clear that he thinks he has things you’d like in the cottage, but it’s currently not accessible—not only would helping him out get you access, it would also predispose him to giving you a better deal than he would under other circumstances.

There’s also the possibility here that you could recover items from the cottage without solving his problem, and still have the ability to purchase them.

[Keehnelf]

Spellcasting is generally quite obvious unless you’re trying to mute/still your casting, which makes the spell more difficult. Arduin’s situation is actually a little more complex though, because he has to sing or perform music in order to enact his magic: without that, it just doesn’t work. That can be a boon in some cases, but overall it’s an obstacle.