Of a debt of eleven deaths, and the problems that it causes. A return to the Land of the Dead and Unborn, a new agreement, and a lightning raid on Dux Aquil's castle. Also, parties, lacquered turtles, and other frivolities.

Dramatis Personae

Gamemaster: Chris Van Horn

Guest Authors: John Tomasetti (Letter from Xanti)
Kevin Wong (Catorse's Personal Log)

A Chronology: Aquil and Thom

• December 21, 1213 - Young Miracle goes missing when she is kidnapped by Dux Aquil.
  
  
• December 22, 1213 - Magi of Prospectus Locus meet Aquil. He claims ancient fealties from Bercula. The magi manage to get Miracle back, but most of Aquil's demands are ignored. In the process the magi learn of Aquil's arch-enemy, Thom. Prospectus Logs #4, "I'd Like to Be Under the Sea"
  
  
• July 15, 1214 - Magi of Prospectus Locus meet Thom. They are forced to travel through his realm to enter the Land of the Dead and the Unborn. As payment they are required to slay 11 pagans in the next year, in Thom's name, although they may alternatively slay members of Aquil's court. The turtle is valued more and the zombies less than a pagan soul. Prospectus Logs #7, "The Dark Flame Quenched"
  
  

Albus' Dialogues
January 4, 1215
Late Evening

Sometimes this covenant seems to have no end of problems. That is probably the wrong word. Interesting occurrences. They keep us fit and better ready to meet the challenges of the world.

We returned home today. Lorum. Myself. Fabricarious. Viator. Immediately Aubrin brought us word of new troubles. Our fishing has been bad for a year. Ever since our encounter with Dux Aquil. Now something has begun to rip up our nets. With Cugat as our guide Lorum and I went for a swim.

We found that numerous rocks had been sharpened around Cugat's favorite fishing holes. Genuinely sharpened with premeditation. Lorum realized at once that this was Dux Aquil's doing.

We called up Anna, our local faerie ally. She affirmed that our fishing problems were by Aquil's command. Tritons were the ones sharpening the rocks. Other faeries have been nuisances in other ways. We also learned that Anna has a sister--Natasha. She is helping to scare the fish away from our part of the delta!

Lorum and I talked for a while. He said we should hold a party and invite Aquil and his friends. Perhaps we can settle our differences. If not maybe my sodales can meet their debt to Lord Thom. They owe him eleven pagan deaths, but he will accept members of Aquil's court instead. It seems those two faerie lords are old enemies. Lorum really hopes to get a chance to kill Aquil's turtle, but I am sure Aquil will be too smart to allow that to happen.

Still yellow.

"Party is just trap backwards with a 'y'." -Risus, on Criamon subtlety

Invitation to Dux Aquil
Scribed by Albus, January 4, 1215
Delivered by Anna the Water Faerie

Great Dux Aquil,

I have the singular pleasure to invite you to an unofficial party at Prospectus Locus on February 1. It is my hope that we can foster good relations in a friendly, informal setting. By meeting man-to-faerie we can close some of our differences.

Your whole court is welcome. Bring your delightful Romans as well. There is plenty of room for all. Fine wine and spirits will be served. No expense will be spared.

Albus of Tytalus,
Writing Unofficially, for Himself

Albus' Dialogues
January 9, 1215
Late Evening

Word back from Aquil today. He will not attend but his ambassador will. So much for Lorum's hope of killing the turtle. The party must be held at night so the Roman zombies can attend. We will send affirmation.

Still yellow.

Aubrin's Memoirs
January 15, 1215

Antonius came by today with another big batch of messages, which is definitely pleasing, having magi here in Prospectus Locus to send and receive messages. I don't know how the three of us survived that lean year following Las Novas de Tolosa, when the covenant was almost empty.

It seems that I'm leaving, for Xurxo has decided to call in Victrix's marker, but I now feel enough confidence in these new magi that I have no qualms about leaving Catorse to be Elder in my steed.

Word from Drake too, and he's apparently doing well and is feeling better for his vacation. He's been in Provencal, and is likely up in the Rhine by now.

I hope Lorum's party goes well, but must trust my fellows to their own wits.

Letter from Drake to Prospectus Locus
Written in Doissetep, Provencal
Scribed October 10, 1214
Received January 15, 1215

My friends, fellows, and companions,

Thus far my trip has done as I hoped, freeing my heart as I soar among the clouds. The worries, anxiety, and anger of the past are all gone, and I begin to believe that there may be a future.

I write to you today from Doissetep. It is an amazing place that I have visited but twice in my life, and each time I have felt overwhelmed by the wonder of this place. There are over a score magi working together, compiling one of the greatest libraries in all of the Order. I have remained here but a week and dearly wish I could stay longer, but Doissetep is intolerant of extended visits, and so it is time to move on.

However, I have heard rumors here that fill my heart with dread, and I regret that it is my duty to pass them on to you. They concern Val-negra, the Domus Magnus of Flambeau. The covenant has been hard to reach for a score years, but now it appears to have disappeared. Most say that it fell into Twilight along with Vancasitum, the Primus. Doissetep is on the verge of declaring Val-negra lost.

When this happens many covenants of Hermes will vie to become the new Domus Magnus of Flambeau. Interritus seems to be a prime contender, and that could bode poorly for us in Iberia.

Drake

PS: Tell Docilli that Cuneus says to step up those reports.

Letter from Generarus of Plateau to Fabricarious
Scribed November 14, 1214
Received January 15, 1215

Fabricarious,

I am sorry for not writing sooner. You are still waiting for my listing of magic items for Plateau, but harsh reality has interfered. You already know of the tragedy that visited Plateau this summer. Our vis sources and covenant are both destroyed. We are without resources.

Ferrilynna has discovered most of our vis sources to be permanently irrecoverable. Worse, the new King of Castile, Enrique I, is preparing an open decree against us. Certain of his nobles were killed in the Shadow Flambeau attack, and he holds us to blame. We have decided to move on.

With the aid of Ansalek we have refounded Plateau at the former site of Andalusia. It is an area rich in magic. Its proximity to the Moors is not entirely desireable, but that is a short-term complication. We will do well here.

But, there is one problem. Due to their unprecedented, immoral, and unlawful decree, Duresca prevents us from collecting vis from our new homeland. They have made it a Low Crime to take vis from this land, which is beholden to no covenant. I write this letter to ask for your aid in this matter. Whatever you can do to help raise awareness and indignation concerning Duresca's actions would be appreciated. Within your covenant or beyond, either would be useful.

When vis flows freely again we can continue our other discussions.

Generarus

Letter from Drake to Prospectus Locus
Written in Mistridge, Provencal
Scribed December 20, 1214
Received January 15, 1215

My friends, fellows, and companions,

I have spent the last months at Mistridge, one of the well-respected covenants of Provencal. It has been a pleasant time, but I am about ready to move on once more.

While at Mistridge I have had several long and interesting conversations with the aged leader of the place, Grimgroth. Though born in Provencal he was apprenticed in Iberia at Sader.

From what other says Grimgroth has long felt alienated from our Order. I mean no offense to young Fangere, but that too often seems the result of Tremere training.

In recent years Grimgroth has begun to study a most intriguing topic: the Old Ones. Some believe these beings to be the gods that gave to us our magic. We talked for several nights on this matter. Which of Grimgroth's tales are truth, and which are futile clutching at fellowship in something greater I can not say, but it is an interesting area of research.

When Alacina has the time I would appreciate it if she could scour our library for any references to the Old Ones. They should be forwarded on to Grimgroth, here at Mistridge.

In the meantime, I am off to Crintera.

Drake

PS: Mistridge offers thanks for our diligence in paying vis owed to them.

Letter from Xurxo of Victrix to Aubrin
Scribed January 3, 1215
Received January 15, 1215

Aubrin,

I am writing this letter to request your personal aid. King Afonso II of Portugal continues to show that he does not see things as his ancestors did. A season ago he began a program of clear-cutting certain forests in Portugal. They are faerie forests. Casius is very upset and blames me.

I went to my old allies, but they have proven unhelpful again, just as they were at Tribunal. Mortis says it is not his problem. Ferrilynna does not even respond. I have no alternative; I can not deal with this alone. Casius suggests your name, as your history of interactions with both the fay and mundanes may be what is required.

You owe me a debt and I ask that you fulfill it in this way, by coming immediately to help with this problem. However, I hope you will come as a friend and fellow, not solely due to your promise. Perhaps when we are done we can discuss Victrix's place in Tribunal politics.

Xurxo

Letter from Xanti to Grimgroth of Mistridge
Scribed January 15, 1215

Grimgroth,

I have been informed by Drake, who recently visited your covenant, that you have some knowledge of the Old Ones. About these beings I have little information and am greatly intrigued. I would be most greatful if you would share what you know of them with me.

Xanti of Ex Miscellanea
at Prospectus Locus

Albus' Dialogues
January 28, 1215
Mid-Afternoon

Received a letter today from a churchman near Barcelona. He was impressed by the deeds of myself, Catorse, Fabricarious, and Viator in rescuing the Napkin of God. Invited us up to his church to study scripture whenever we wanted. Fabricarious and I will likely head up there for a season at some point.

Still yellow.

Albus' Dialogues
January 31, 1215
Mid-Afternoon

At my request Catorse called a council meeting today. We discussed some minor things. We have decided to hang Viator's griffin-head on the wall, but have decreed we may never state it was purchased in a store.

My main reason for the meeting was to discuss our tactics at tomorrow's party. My pater always said a solid plan is worth a hundred hot-headed actions. We had two conflicting objectives for the party. Three actually.

First, we wished to make peace with Aquil so that we could begin catching fish again.

Second, we wished to kill 11 of Aquil's court--or alternatively 22 of his zombies--to pay off a debt to Thom.

Third, Lorum wished to embarass Aquil's turtle in whatever manner he could.

Although I believe it to be a mistake we decided that paying Thom's debt was more important that making peace with Aquil. So that is the tact we will take. I will try and lure the zombies away. To convince them that they would be better off at Thom's court.

Since we have decided not to offer the hand of peace to Aquil, Lorum is free to torture the turtle. He simply cannot "harm" it. Harming a faerie ambassador could bring down the wrath of all faeriedom. Or at least some small part of it. Lorum is going to get Jean-Paul to carve the recipe for "Lorum's Turtle Soup" into the turtle's shell. As much as possible this will be presented as Lorum's own deed. I suspect it will still reflect on the covenant as a whole.

Still yellow.

Albus' Dialogues
February 2, 1215
Shortly After Dawn

A faerie party. Much less annoying than I would have thought. Not particularly helpful though. Except maybe to show us which tactics will not work.

Twelve or thirteen tritons showed up early. They began feasting our at our floating pavilion. Then a huge, glowing, ghostly ship appeared. A Roman trireme. It floated over both land and river before coming to a rest at our covenant. No doubt it gave a number of mundanes nightmares. The turtle disembarked. Then about 80 Roman soldiers and 30 Roman sailors followed. Finally a Roman priest named Titus appeared. He was dead too of course. I'm glad we stocked enough wine for a few hundred.

I spent time talking with the tritons for a while. Not very helpful. While I was doing so I saw Risus swimming off with a naiad! I worried. I've ready many tales about sea faeries' voracious appetites. I tried to go after them but she drove me away with some mental coercion. I've since learned that he is probably alright. At least that's what the Romans say. Catorse says Risus is a mature magus and can take care of himself. In any case Tristan has agreed to go retrieve Risus after the party.

Tristan is the Roman centurion. I went to talk with him after my swim. A long and useful talk. I learned much. The Romans are apparently bound to this world by some statue in Aquil's castle. The priest--Titus--controls them with it. If the statue were destroyed they would be free.

I also learned the exact location of Aquil's castle. It is in a regio below that shipwreck we collect vis from every August. In fact it seems that the ship was actually the Romans. It is their spirits we see every year, fighting futilely against the elements! There is no coincidence in faerie.

Tristan also offered another option--another way to free them. He said Aquil also had an opening into the Land of the Dead. Just like Thom does. There is apparently a man there who can free them.

Another interesting bit is that Tristan says Aquil kidnapped Thom's wife a while ago. He replaced her with a corpse. Since Thom does have a corpse for a wife there may be truth in this.

There was actually considerable more discussion. I tried to convince the zombies simply to defect up to Thom. Unfortunately they turn to mush when they travel a few miles inland from the coast. The coast at the time of their death that is--very near to our own covenant. In addition they've been instructed not to conspire with us. So, we can't expect much help from them. I chopped up one of the zombies too and dedicated it to Lord Thom. The zombie just grew back together. So much for easy solutions.

So the party wasn't a total waste. We received a good amount of information that we plan to use. Also, Lorum achieved his objective. Sort of.

He swiped some medical supplies and managed to knock the turtle unconscious. Then he had Jean-Paul try and carve the recipe into the turtle's shell. No luck. The turtle's shell was extremely hard.

I wandered in about here and suggested that they just paint the recipe on the turtle's shell. Then they could coat it with enough varnish to waterproof it. For a while at least. Lorum immediately set to it.

Pretty soon a half-dozen people were spreading lacquer on the turtle. Some of the Roman soldiers even joined in. I believe we went through the covenant's entire supply.

As dawn neared the party winded down. We sent the Romans and their still unconscious turtle off. Then we considered our options.

It looks like we will go to speak with Thom abut various issues. Right now we are waiting to make sure that Risus returns. We can proceed forward then.

Still yellow.

Albus' Dialogues
February 5, 1215
Mid-day

Finally Risus has returned. He looked very tired but otherwise well. I had begun to worry greatly for my old friend.

We have also nailed down our plans. Risus has some studies he wishes to complete. In three days we will head out to Thom's. Myself. Risus. Viator. Lorum. Xanti. Catorse. We have two objectives.

First, we will try to tell him about the kidnapping of his wife. We suspect a spell may be preventing him from seeing the truth. Perhaps his anger in this will cause him to give us aid in an attack on Thom.

Second, we will seek passage down to the Land of the Dead and the Unborn. We hope to find the man who may free the Romans. Whomever that might be! If we can free all 100 warriors we will not only pay off Thom's debt, but he will also owe us for 78 lives.

Still yellow.

Albus' Dialogues
February 8, 1215
Mid-Morning

We had a quick council meeting today. The only topic of discussion was the retroactive requirement we implemented last July--for everyone to learn Moorish knowledges. Catorse expressed that he disliked the requirement and felt betrayed. He said we younger magi had already offered something up when we joined the covenant--our sigils.

So we voted. We struck down the retroactive portion of required Moorish training. New members will still be required to learn Moorish knowledge, but they will not be forced to give up their sigils. It seems balanced.

I am--of course--a month into Sufi Philosophy studies. I expect to continue. It should be useful knowledge in any case.

In just a few minutes we will be off. Beginning our trek to Thom's castle. May we conquer Aquil this time. Our limited success a year ago continues to rankle.

Still yellow.

Catorse's Personal Log
Febrary 8 - The Year of Our Lord 1215

With the elder magi gone from the covenant, I have been left in charge since I was the eldest remaining. I must say that being the Elder Magus is a responsibility I was not prepared for. It is disconcerting to realize that the younger magi look to you for some sort of guidance and order. Unfortunately, I was not up to the task. We held a covenant meeting just over a week ago wherein I failed to follow the normal procedures. Aubrin does it all effortlessly while I stumbled over protocol. I should pay more attention to Aubrin in the future.

I called a covenant meeting today whose sole purpose was to reverse a previous covenant vote. A previous decision required all magi to spend a season increasing their knowledge of Moorish culture. It was meant to be a condition for new mages that join our covenant but an additional covenant vote changed that to include all current magi; and that I strongly objected to, to no avail. For this issue I was able to garner the votes to remove the requirement for current magi, and if perhaps I used my position as Elder to threaten and cajole the other magi to vote my way, then so be it.

Albus' Dialogues
February 9, 1215
Mid-Day

A short irritation today--on the road to Thom's. Sixteen Moorish bandits approached us. They sought to rob us. Viator floated one in the air and the rest fled in abject terror.

Still yellow.

Albus' Dialogues
February 13, 1215
Late Evening

It has been four days since I have written in this journal. This is not because the days were uneventful. Quite the opposite. At first I was too busy to scribe here. Then I was unable for I had given this book over to Hufar for safe keeping. I have just received it back.

What a tale I have to tell. Exotic locales. Realms beyond those I had before been able to imagine. A near run-in with Death. Abject stupidity and through it success. I am not even sure what lesson to take forth from this all.

I last wrote on Monday--the ninth. After the bandit attack the rest of the day was uneventful.

On Tuesday we came to the swamp that surrounds Thom's castle. We began to make our way in and were challenged. No great surprise there. A swamp goblin was our first adversary. He said we should surrender to him so we could be brought to the castle. We did.

A bit further in we came to an area filled with sickly-looking trees. Much to our surprise one reached out and smashed our goblin escort. We chatted with it a bit. We wanted the body back for its vis. The talking tree refused. So we burned it down.

We youngsters still do not have a spell to collect vis. So we decided to burn the tree to ashes so we could transport it. We spent the rest of Tuesday and part of Wednesday reducing the tree to its essense. The hard way. Through constant use of spells we eventually learned the essence of the tree was actually in its sap. By then we had burned it all together though. Mid-day Wednesday we collected our tree ashes and dead goblin and headed on.

We passed through the main gate to Aquil's castle. It tried to befuddle our mind. Then we were inside. We were quickly escorted to Thom's throne room.

Thom seemed about as rational as most faeries. Not a lot. Every day I better understand my pater's suggestion against working with them. But it was necessary this day. Xanti and Viator went forth to talk to him.

First, they tried to discuss the issue of Thom's wife. He refused to believe that the corpse at his side was not she. We decided not to probe the issue too deeply, lest we cause him to rise in wrath. Viator convinced Thom that Aquil was at least pretending to have his way with Thom's wife. That made him angry. Not quite sure what it got us.

Second, we talked about Aquil and his connection to the Realm of the Dead and the Unborn. This was much more successful. Thom told us that the house my sodales had seen when they last entered the Realm probably represented Aquil's connection to that place. He said a person inside named the Pale Man was probably whom the Romans had spoke of. So, we determined that we indeed desired to enter the Realm of the Dead and the Unborn, to seek out the Pale Man and request that he free the Romans, so freeing us from Thom's debt.

There was still one other matter. Payment to enter the Realm. Thom wanted more souls. We were unwilling to pay that. Finally we agreed that we would send him some moudly cheese and some wine that had become vinegar--both from France. Maurice almost ruined it. Big-mouthed grog. But finally we were set. We were escorted to the three hundred and thirty-three stairs that led to the Realm of the Dead and the Unborn. Seven of us went down those stairs. We magi and Hufar.

It is a place unlike anywhere on Earth. Awful in its stark beauty. All gray, but in a thousand different shades. Most of it is a vast plain, though on occasion we saw slight hills in the distance. Xanti saw spirits constantly. The rest of us saw but the faintest signs of a few corporeal undead. And the visions... we were constantly beset by them. Visions of death. A hundred different ways. Some awe-inspiring. Some stupid. Some beautiful. Some grotesque.

We spotted the house. Eventually. It was as my sodales had seen it last. Soon we found a problem. Like the spirits we could not approach it.

We might have given up if Xanti had not sent his fetch toward the house. It was gone for a long time. Finally Xanti sought to contact it through the spirit realm. Much to our surprise Xanti's fetch had entered the house, where we could not. Now it was lost. But, the important thing was that the magical barriers had not stopped it. We had new hope.

Viator finally solved the riddle. He learned that he could pick up the ground--which was solid Mentem--and fling it toward the house. Unlike us it was not stopped. He finally tied a note to a clump of these ground-down spirits and managed to knock on the door with it. Someone opened the door. Then he noticed our note and read it. Suddenly we were mere feet from the entrance.

The things that we learned in that house--I can scarce believe them. They were so fantastic. So beyond the mundane world. But we had the evidence of our own eyes. Of Xanti's spirit vision. How could we not believe them?

The fellow who had opened the door introduced himself as Robert. The Pale Man's butler. When we asked further he revealed that the Pale Man was Death. The Grim Reaper himself. He said that the house was a sort of in-between place. A resting place for spirits. Where they went after death but before they went to their punishment or reward. That was why it opened onto the Realm of the Dead and the Unborn. For that was the home of those spirits who believed they would be reincarnated into the world.

Robert also affirmed that there was an entrance from Death's house onto Dux Aquil's castle. He warned us, though, that we should not return to Death's house by that entrance. By doing so we would become His servants. It seems we were saved from that fate only by the method of our entrance. We had come into Death's house by the back door, as it were.

So, we learned amazing and philosophical truths. But we were also to learn that our trip had been in vain. Death was not at home. Robert could not help us with the Romans.

It was a mixed blessing. I am not sure I would have wanted to meet Death. Face-to-skull.

I was frustrated. I remember it well. A year ago when we confronted Aquil we had found ourselves powerless. Now it seemed we had no recourse again. We had failed in our hope to destroy his Romans. So failed our plan to both weaken him--an enemy--and pay our debt to Thom. I think that was when I was struck with stupidity.

Aggravated and frustrated I suggested that Lorum and I could use this back entrance to Aquil's palace to sneak in and destroy the Roman statue. It was a woefully small strike force. But only we two could breath the water. We were agreed. Lorum and I gave most of our equipment over to Hufar so it would not be destroyed by the water. Then we bid our friends farewell and stepped from Death's house into Aquil's palace.

I have already said that was stupid. I wish to underline that fact. It was stupid. We had no plan. We did not know the lay of the land. We had insufficient strength. We had no backup. We might as well have just marched up to Aquil's seat of power and cut our throats. Somehow though it worked. And that worries me as much as anything.

We found ourselves in a long tunnel with light at the top. We ascended to a grate. A spontaneous spell destroyed its lock. The first of many such that I cast that day. I think I sponted more spells that day than any day since my gauntlet.

We found ourself in a dungeon. Jal, the merman criminal lord, was in one cell. A group of tritons in another. A Roman zombie in a third. They had each comitted some minor crime against Aquil. We asked them questions and so learned that the Roman's statue was hidden away in a storeroom.

Exiting the dungeon area was little problem. Some Roman guards were at the entrance but we were able to bribe them with wine. The storerooms were just a short distance beyond.

There were five storerooms in all. Four had wooden doors, one iron. They were all locked. We slowly went to work sponting spells to knock small holes in the wood doors. Knocking out knotholes. Widening slats. We peered into four of the rooms and saw no statue. We were sure it was in the room guarded by the metal door.

While we worked we were interrupted by a mermaid. We acted nonchalant and she did not realize we were trying to break into the storerooms. We learned that she had keys to the wooden doors but not the iron one. This affirmed my belief that the statue was there. We let her go unmolested and returned to our work at the door.

Lorum and I had by then decided to break into a storeroom adjacent to the iron-guarded one. Then we could tunnel through a wall. There was but one obstacle. The storerooms teemed with dangerous looking moray eels. Each even had a collar around its neck! They were clearly guards.

So we choose a storeroom for egress. Then we sponted spells for another long while. Eventually all twelve eels we could see were calmed. One last spell popped the door open. We proceeded in. That was when we saw the last three eels.

They leapt at us. Lorum and I each cast quickly. Two were calmed but the third moray swarmed toward us. It was upon Lorum; he tried to defend himself. I fastcast and was able to calm the last beast. It was a near thing. Fifteen docile moray eels swam about us.

We searched the room a bit to verify the statue was not here. Then we turned to the wall adjoining the treasure room. It took over a dozen more spells to put a hole through this last wall. Even then it was only fist-sized. But it was enough. Lorum and I could see into the last store room. A Roman statue lay within in.

We also saw magical runes lining the walls. That worried me some. But we had come so far we could not retreat. We should have but we did not. We each sponted a last spell. A Perdo Terram. We wished to maim the statue. We felt sure that would destroy its magic.

When my spell bounced I felt my heart drop. There was magic protecting the statue! But then the whole statue crumbled to bits. Lorum had reached deep within himself to find the magic necessary to penetrate the magical resistance. His spont was spectacular. Rather than just taking off an arm--as we had hoped--he had reducing the Roman statue to rubble.

And then the alarms started going off and the runes began flashing bright red.

We panicked. No ifs, ands, ors, or buts about it. I suggested we rush back to the Romans. I hoped they might be free of the priest's power and now able to escort us out. They were free all right. We found the Roman guards of the dungeon crumpled to the ground. Dead. Really dead dead. So we began fleeing the other way. Hoping it would lead us out.

The passage up from the storerooms hit a four-way interesection. We took a right and found ourselves in the Roman quarter. There were zombie corpses all over. As we rushed into one room we found one was still animate. The priest. Titus.

We argued with him. We lied. We tried to convince him to tell us a way out. It was to no avail. He became angry. Perhaps afraid. With a snaky staff he held he waved. Suddenly Lorum and I were thrown back against a wall. Propelled by a wave of water. It might have killed us if not for our Parmas. Even the blunted impact hurt. We fled again. The priest let us go.

Back at the crossroads we had two paths left. We had by then learned that one led to the Great Hall of Aquil, then out. Lorum was sure the other went to the tritons' quarters. I saw no option. I suggested we try and march straight through Aquil's hall. And from there to freedom.

The Great Hall was a scene of great activity. Tritons were armed and armored. They prepared to go meet the invaders of their castle. I thought we would pass through unnoticed. Then Aquil shouted out to us. He demanded to know why we were there.

I was prepared. I had thought ahead. Considered for this eventuality. It was my one plan of the day, but a good one.

I began to speak at once. I claimed that we had come to speak with Aquil because we had been unable to talk at the party. I said we came seeking peace between ourselves and him. We bickered about horses. My heart still pounded. Finally he agreed that we could sacrifice two horses a year to him rather then having to pay over a hundred all at once. To account for those lost years. I tenatively agreed but said the turtle must first bring us an explanation of the exact terms of the agreement.

And then Lorum and I got the hell out of there.

That was Wednesday. The eleventh. It was four or five long hours before Lorum and I made it back to shore. We actually did not get back to the covenant until Thursday.

My sodales were a day behind us. They arrived back at Prospectus Locus today. Friday. They brought good news.

Thom had learned of the destruction of the Romans before they even had left. Only two of the souls went to him. Most of the Romans did not believe in reincarnation. Nonetheless he was pleased, for they had been denied to his enemy. Our debt to Thom was paid. Better, we had exceed our payment by 78 Romans.

Viator was quick to take advantage of that. He asked that in return for Thom's debt we be allowed to tap some of his trees for sap for the next 78 years. Thom agreed. For the next 78 years we will be allowed to tap five of Thom's tree-folk for sap. It will be punishment for the tree-folk and payment for us both.

And that was how our little misadventure with Thom and Aquil ended. Thom is paid in full. Aquil is likely very mad with us by now. But, thanks to that last discussion in his hall, he is bound to us. We have agreed to a deal and faeries always keep their word. A very good mission but very distressing that our success should come through such impulsive and poorly considered action. I should not complain.

Still yellow.