Chapter Eight

Then the stranger came to King’s Dulcarnain. Gaunt, severe, and - most damning of all - foreign he asked a lot of questions (to which he got evasive answers), walked around a lot and made some rough maps of the landscape. He had the same description as Genevieve’s estranged husband le Compte Ettiene Fauçonburg, who was last seen being absorbed into the Demiplane of Dread now ruled by Monster Hunters villain Chia Caranques los Llanos.

On midsummer’s eve, always a good night to get drink from the barn, Bellnichol and his cronies placed the empty bottles as usual. However, the foreigner was watching, and he arranged for another, more sinister type of substance to be placed in the old building. His gift was a case of German spirits which had been prepared as a gateway for a Saaiitaii Manifestation. When the old magics opened up the gateway the process was usurped by the sinister horror from beyond time and space. A terrible storm was the most visible manifestation of the turmoil of the Manifestation’s coming.

The old barn had not been left defenceless, of course. The toad in the lintel was placed as a guardian, but many years had eroded the local ley web and it was too slow and too weak to do anything but call in a shower of toads hours after the storm instead of the powerful protectors it might have once commanded. The barn was shattered, and the source of its magic exposed and effectively unguarded. That source is now gone. Those toads which were summoned were imperfectly transported, and after the initial energies which brought them were exhausted they devoured their own life-force (and that of the seagulls which consumed many of them) to maintain their existence here a little longer. All are now dust.

The morning after the storm the barn had been shattered. As well as finding and removing the German spirits (with their indwelling Saaiitaii), the King’s Men also saw the lintel shatter. Superstitious Wode beat the guardian toad to death with a spade, little realising how ungrateful he was being to the earth-power which had supplied him and his kin of its bounty for so long. The Saaiitaii manifestation had been abandoned by its summoner and weakened by overcoming the barn’s virtues. It therefore jumped from alcohol to alcohol, biding its time until it was strong enough to shift permanently into these fleshy hulks that ingested it. It was finally destroyed by the MHC before it recovered enough to do so.

On the day after the storm the man dressed in tweeds made his first appearance to inspect the broken barn. He had already met and posted Radshaw by the time he retrieved a bottle of the possessed German spirits and bound the Saaiitaii to it. The manifestation could not truly escape that bottle until the binding was broken, and the key to that was to find and destroy the focus of the binding – the person to whom the handkerchief stuffed into the top of the bottle belonged to: Hank Radshaw. The tweed-suited man had already ensured a Monster Hunters presence at the site by warning them not to go there.

The tweed-suited man also made a few temporary repairs to the ley system. Hence when the foreign gentleman summoned a daemon to destroy local historian Mummer the land responded by summoning and empowering sea birds to attack and rip it apart (the traditional +5 seagull attack). It was too late to save Mummer, of course, who had been held and then murdered for the fiend’s amusement with produce and control flame and the application of paraffin. The ley web also meted justice on the murderer of its guardian, the hapless Walter Wode. It was not a druid that killed Wode, but the power which druids worship.

The tweed-suited man appears to have been busy and to have been able to appear in Harrogate and King’s Dulcarnain within ten minutes of each other. He accosted Radshaw by teleporting the engine from Radshaw’s vehicle, first into a nearby field and later with the vehicle itself into a more distant mere. He used some influence to pacify and paralyse Radshaw, the same power he later used to force Alistair Courtney to lick purchased stamps to adhere to Radshaw’s back and to attach to two other letters. He also teleported Courtney into the wall-space at Harrogate Post Office and somehow managed to fold Radshaw up during a teleport into the post box. This suggests a specialised and dangerous ability in teleport not previously encountered by the Club.

Meanwhile the foreign gentleman (hereafter referred to for convenience’s sake as Fauçonburg) had also been busy in London. Another beneficence had been taking place for some time on the platform of Waterloo subway station, in the form of enchanted chocolate machines which blessed the product they dispensed. A range of magics appear to have caused these machines to be serviced by station personnel without anyone ever thinking anything strange about them. The chocolate gave minor virtues to good-aligned consumers.

Fauçonburg began his investigations into the chocolate by sending minions to steal the contents of the machines. Again guardians of the product resisted, drawing magical energies through the railway tracks which had long since replaced the original local ley web. The chocolate disappeared to prevent Fauçonburg gaining it. These disappearances were eventually noticed and the Monster Hunters consulted.

Meanwhile Fauçonburg met with and interviewed Line Manager Daniel StClement. The unfortunate StClement became the material component in a demon-summoning (and was literally consumed), and the Pit Fiend used its various powers to steal the vending machines at its summoner’s behest (up to and including the use of wish). However, the use of such vast abyssal powers was noticed by the old guardians, and the demon had foolishly consumed someone who had in turn consumed the blessed chocolate. One of the oldest guardians of all awoke to deal with the situation, and dragged the Pit Fiend down into the land to be chastised. The nature of this guardian has not yet been discovered by the MHC.

The vending machines have now vanished, and the magic with them.

Fauçonburg also appears to have played a pivotal role in the Finchley Poltergeist Case, but the Club have more research to do in that area.

The known answers to the questions posed last time are listed below. More xps can be picked up for additional answers as people gain more insight into the remaining aspects of the case, and for answers which are proved right as the case unfolds but are not revealed here.

1. Why did it rain toads on King’s Dulcarnain?

It was a feeble last gasp of the Horne Barn defences reacting to invasion by a Saaiitaii manifestation.

2. What became of Radshaw’s car, and how?

It’s engine was teleported out of it and then it and the engine were teleported into Blubberhouses Tarn. The exact mechanism of the teleport has not yet been revealed.

3. What killed the Waterloo Pit Fiend, and why?

It was slain by an as-yet unidentified guardian because the Pit Fiend was stealing the vending machines which dispensed the blessed chocolate at the behest of the foreign gentleman. Specifically, it was grabbed from below the ground by massive hands and dragged into and through the earth while being squashed with a strength of 25, under circumstances that prevented it teleporting or plane shifting away even after its death.

4. Why are Margaret Stankey’s dresses too short?

Nobody has got this one yet, not even Tony.

5. What was special about the imported German spirits, and who imported them?

They were placed in the barn by the foreign gentleman and they contained the essence of the Saaiitaii Manifestation.

6. Why was Walter Wode killed, and by what power?

Wode was killed because he superstitiously beat the toad guardian to death with his spade, by the earth-forces of which the Horne Barn guardian was a part.

7. What did the tweed-suited man make Alistair Courtney do and why could he not do it himself?

He made Courtney lick his stamps for him. The Club has rightly surmised it was because he did not have any spittle of his own, but has not yet fully determined why this might be.

8. What became of Radshaw’s handkerchief?

The tweed-suited man used it to stop up the head of the German spirits bottle which he had bound the essence of the Saaiittaai manifestation to, so that the Manifestation could not be truly free until Radshaw was destroyed (hence the Manifestation’s interest in the engine block of Radshaw’s vehicle). The tweed-suited man has an odd sense of humour.

9. What killed David Mummer, on whose behalf, and how was it destroyed?

A daemon killed Mummer when summoned by the foreign gentleman for the purpose. It was destroyed by sea-birds assembled and empowered by the King’s Dulcarnain earth-force for the purpose once that force had been temporarily repaired and reawoken by the tweed-suited man.

10. Who does the tweed-suited man work for?

This question remains unanswered for now.

Feel free to mark your own work.

On the first of July Magda Maledicta returns from her visit to the nymph of Lammermuir with flowers in her hair and answers in her mind. Galeili Worldsedge has an affinity with "the worldtides of rootweb and leytorrent", and has sensed at a distance the damaging, temporary restoration, and ultimately the collapse of the old ways at King’s Dulcarnain. Her knowledge of the Waterloo events are far less complete, for cities are totally alien to the nymph. From Magda’s discoveries the Monster Hunters are able to piece together the information outlined in the sections above.

The Club has news for Magda too, for it has been concluding its investigations at King’s Dulcarnain, following the police work at what the papers are calling "The Finchley Love-House of Death", and dealing with an unfortunate twist in events at Waterloo – or which more later.

Redvers-Ainderbury and Revell have journeyed to pick up the two unclaimed poste-restante letters delivered to distant locations in Scotland and Wales. The Welsh venue, "c/o Postmaster, Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire", is indeed land which was historically owned by the Horne family. It was sold in parcels by public auction in 1799, but had been granted (or re-granted) to the Hornes by a charter going back to Owen Glendower in 1401 and confirmed by Henry V in 1415.

The other venue has not yet been associated with the Horne family (their known Scottish estate was at Milton of Campsie in East Dunbartonshire). HMS Edrachillis, Edrachillis Bay, in the Highlands, is a closed top secret military base. Even with a good word from General Carlyle Bonnington of H.M. Special Resources Executive not all the Club would be allowed in there (certainly not the foreign ones). As Redvers-Ainderbury and Revell are each able to independently verify, this is because this site is apparently being used to design, build, and test a new breed of submarine said to be capable of firing H-bombs

A long wet drive brought the two couriers to the lonely post-office at Strumble Head. Only a half-dozen houses still remain at the once-prosperous fishing village. The postmistress accepted Revell’s forged credentials and handed over the letter (precautions with Unseen Servants were not possible given the limitations on personnel present). Revell does not believe that the envelope has ever been opened. When it is unsealed (with due precuation) it is found to be empty. !

A wearying drive from the furthest reaches of Wales to the furthest reaches of Scotland in some miserable weather took the duo to HMS Edrachillis and a new mystery. Bonnington would have been hard-pressed to allow even that pair on-site had it not been for the furore caused by the loss of "Prototype Four" on 26^th June. The last recorded message came in at 2217 hours, as the vessel was travelling north-north-east at five knots, thirty feet below the surface, returning from a successful trial of its targeting equipment:

The Base Commander himself, Admiral George Potter, handed the mysterious envelope over to the Monster Hunting visitors. Although it was sealed it was clear to Revell that it has previously been opened. This envelope is also empty.

Neither of the letters has any traps, residual magic, or other dweomer upon them. The handwriting on the addresses matches that on the card found in Radshaw’s pocket.

Meanwhile Angherad has enlightened the Club on the mythological significance of the tweed-wearing man’s latest pseudonyms. Morfran (literally Great Crow in Welsh) and Affagdu (literally Utter Darkness) are both names of the ugly son of the goddess Ceriweden. He was cheated of the gift of wisdom his mother brewed for him in her Cauldron (or Grail) of Inspiration in consolation for his ugliness, when Gwion/Taliesin drank it by accident. Morfran survived the battle of Camlaan because all fled before him believing him by his countenance to be a devil.

Meanwhile attempts by Mr Christopher Gent’s solicitor to gain bail for Mr Smith and Mr Jones have been rather thwarted by the Monster Hunters’ legal representatives, and the annoyance of East End underworld figure Mr Gent is shaping up into a very nice scenario all of its own.

Much attention has been given to the Finchely situation, and in particular Mrs Stankey’s skirts. If they have all been cut short then they have been neatly hemmed thereafter. Police enquiries into her movements have found evidence of secret meetings with her brother-in-law which encourage the representatives of the Law to believe that the murders were somehow inspired by jealousy. Zany has been allowed to participate in the autopsies – a sure sign that the police are baffled – and can verify that as best she can tell these are genuine human corpses, not polymorphed, simulacrae, changeling, or any other esoteric variant. The child may well have been paralysed by hold person at the time his throat was cut since he stood still and bled as long as his muscles would react to his commands.

In the three days available to him Qayrawun has yet to successfully acquire a magic mirror spell, and has therefore not yet had a chance to scry for the missing Deborah Stankey. The police are keeping a watch on the ports but hope for her safe return are fading. Qayrawun’s efforts to trace "Count Alucard" are leading him to conclude that it was the Fauçonburg-lookalike who enquired into the Stankey and Whiteneck (Mrs Stankey’s maiden name) bloodlines. A number of key records appear to be missing from Somerset House, while other important documents are now completely blank. Maureen Whiteneck/Stankey was an only child and no close relatives are still alive.

The Land Registry is helpful in identifying the extent of the Horne land plots previously described, with a useful 1751 site plan of the estate in Milton of Campsie.

In tying up the loose ends of the King’s Dulcarnain situation Selkirk is able to determine that the ashes in Mummer’s library do include the missing volumes from the shelves. It will take Brother Indexer some time to go through the correspondence and visit bookshops etc. to reconstruct a catalogue of the destroyed books – a painful task for the meticulous librarian. The teacups in Mummer’s house seem to indicate that the local antiquarian had a visit from someone shortly before his death. An aerial survey of the area shows nothing special, and certainly no sign of any undersea ruins of the old town.

A search of Bellnichol’s pub uncovers paperwork pertaining to his unlicensed trading of alcohol but nothing to implicate Mr Gent. Bellnichol is now co-operating fully with the MHC, is happy for any alarms or traps that Emmanuelle chooses to add to his licensed premises, and would seriously consider a chance to be relocated as the new landlord of the Dog and Gun in Epping Forest.

Radshaw has had a happy time at Waterloo sending electrical current up rails but has failed to elicit any response from any possible sentience. However, around midnight on June 30^th Angherad’s archaeological excavation of the hole where the Pit Fiend was discovered comes to an abrupt halt when Angherad herself disappears from the bottom of the trench! She has not been seen since. What does the Club wish to do about this?

The next chapter starts at 11am on 1^st July, the morning after Angherad’s disappearance, as the Club has received news from Lammermuir and weary Redvers-Ainderbury and Revell have completed their tour of Great Britain. Any of the rest of the Club have the chance to be at Harrogate, Waterloo, Finchley, or King’s Dulcarnain by this time; by default I will assume they are at Harrogate unless I’m told otherwise or it makes more sense for them to be elsewhere.

General Bonnington is keen that the MHC investigate the matter of national security at HMS Edrachillis, but regretfully has to limit the possible team to UK-born Monster Hunters. This cuts out Dawn, Genevieve, Emmanuelle, Zany, Albrecht, and Qayrawun. Dual-nationalitied Radshaw with US defence clearance is just about acceptable. Revell negotiates the usual commission rates; after all, the Club has a lab to refit.

Dawn D’Aosta is equally keen to locate the missing Angherad. It is true that Angherad has vanished mysteriously on occasion before, but that was when she was working as a herald for the Morrigan, the ancient Celtic creature of mystery, myth, and malice. Angherad is now free from the Morrigan’s clutches (in exchange for the MHC agreeing to do a thirteen-part quest for the Morrigan at some future date). Dawn is therefore determined to ensure that Angherad has not been taken by the Morrigan, and to retrieve her from wherever she is if at all possible: "We don’t leave our people in there, even if there is buried twenty feet beneath their archaeological dig".

What the DM needs to know to prepare the next chapter is what lines of investigation the Club wishes to pursue, and who is going where. Don’t just tell me about your character, suggest for the others too.