Responses to Chapter Ten:
From Emmanuelle LeClair (Nicky):
>zombies [snip] main intention is to harm and disfigure Emmanuelle.
IW REPLIES: I think Qayrawun had best answer this one himself. I can’t recall an encounter, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any.
What about Aveyard?
IW REPLIES: Nobody knows anything about Aveyard’s sex life. There’s probably a scenario in there somewhere.
If Qayrawun and Aveyard are both .... you know...., then perhaps a gentleman of more wide ranging tastes could be brought in to check whether the dress shortening only applies to females? Emmanuelle has a dear friend called James whose stage name is Cynthia, and who can best be described as uninhibited in his outlook on matters of romance, not to mention undiscriminatory concerning the minor issue of gender. He's currently appearing in a little show near Wood Green, not far away. She's sure he could be persuaded to model Qayrawun's dress for a while to check whether the hemline effects apply.
Okay, so the original dress bought by Maureen might have been the "Mantle of Faithful Wives".
Emmanuelle, still very annoyed, remarks that she bets no one ever got the Knights at King Arthur's court to try on a Mantle of Faithful Husbands. And, as a matter of fact, King Arthur himself was...
IW COMMENTS: The only knights who seemed to take chastity seriously were Perceval, Galahad, and Bors – who achieved the Grail.
At this point, noticing how red around the ears poor Qayrawun is getting, Emmanuelle decides to concentrate more on the case in hand. Somehow the effect of the mantle got transferred to all the other female clothing in the vicinity. How? And why is it happening here when presumably it didn't happen to Guinevere et al.
IW COMMENTS: Angherad points out in passing that Guenevere translates into modern English as white neck.
And presumably the Stankey family cat is male? Female cats, being something of a metaphor for ....goings on..., presumably wouldn't like the mantle.
But we do have more urgent matters to deal with - young Deborah mainly. Then that General chappie...
> Where do the Club look for the missing Deborah Stankey?
In a place where you'd expect to find unicorns, probably.
Perhaps the more mythologically inclined club members might offer some suggestions.
Or might Magda enquire of her friend the dryad?
From Maraud Qayrawun (Clive):
Please note that the original intention of my inquiry did not involve Qayrawan trying on the dress. The intention was to observe exactly what would happen to a female-purchased
dress when taken into the Stankey house. Were there any discernable magics at work - similar to those of genie-kind (though obviously not the same). Dr Aveyard, your note book seems to be on fire (Jazz'reen, come here!)IW COMMENTS: Ah, sorry about that. Misunderstood.
I feel that we need to apprehend the assailants of Miss Stankey, and a trip to a Scottish forest
seems in order. After all, if one were to summon a large, undersea creature (Cthulic? - or of even more ancient origin - i.e. the Leviathan, or some legendary beast in olde lore), what better than to stake out the last female, virginal descendant of the holder of the Hallows? Are there trees on Tuddle's point?IW COMMENTS: No. It is a bleak peninsula.
And can the Enemies of Mankind reach Tir na Nog? Or whatever the Isles of the Dead are? More
questions, methinks, for Edith Chanterness. If Wayland the Smith created the four Hallows, then which one can we not account for, and might we look for it at one of the Horne sites, or ...IW COMMENTS: Wayland didn’t create any of the traditional Celtic Hallows, except possibly the Sword of Falias in some later interpretations. The other Hallows were the Spear of Destiny (or of Lugh), the Stone of Kingship, and the Cauldron or Grail of Plenty.
We still haven't had a look at Temple Fortune (too late now, unless anyone has any other ideas),
but I still think there's something tied into that. Any lay-line readers available? Angerhad (!) - get thee to Temple Hill.I'm up for a trip to Scotland, and the forest around the Edrachillis naval base - just where are the
Horne estates, again?IW COMMENTS: In Scotland they were at Milton of Campsie.
Any other suggestions to get there? And does anyone fancy a side trip to Temple Hill?
Are there any forest of that description in/around the Wales site? Or Ireland?
Any points I wish to raise? Why is Ross still one of the Friends? How did England manage to beat the
Aussies in the one-day series match? And where is the tweed-clad man - who do we think he is?An agent of the old ones (i.e. Titan, etc), or a major player himself. So far we've been a step behind. We need to think ahead to his next move - so what is it? Where will he strike next? We need to work on
the Lud clue, I fink, and find out more about this Wayland-created item. What was in the last Horne tomb at Chalfort Didbury? Did we get a look in?IW COMMENTS: So far nobody has opened the tomb at Chafont Didbury (as far as the MHC knows)
Yours, the grave robber.
Clive
From Patrick Revell (Tony):
All,
My additions by the edited version of Clive's text.
Tony
[Janes, Antony] The other likely place for the forest will be near Milton of Campsie.
I had thought of the best as some bio-mechanic Balor/Fomorian/Chthulu cross breed or maybe a Stoorworm. (I think Wayland the Smith is a Saxon or Viking import and not of Celtic origins)
From Redvers-Ainderbury (AJ):
Immediate questions for clarification:
Where were the spent bullets recovered from exactly? Did they appear to have fallen on the ground where the shadowy figure was seen or where they elsewhere? If elsewhere, were they further along the line of fire or had they been carried off it?
IW COMMENTS: One was found roughly where the figure was, and that one had some impact signs. The other was discovered a long way away and didn’t seem to have hit anything.
IW COMMENTS: We will examine this in Chapter 11, but the base personnel seem baffled by the change in attitude.
IW COMMENTS: You are responsible for him.
IW COMMENTS: What an oversight.
From Revell (Tony):
Ian,
Just three questions in addition to my reply tacked onto Clive's e-mail.
Was Lud talking to anyone (e.g Genevieve) in particular when he said "yon indwelling spirit"?
IW COMMENTS: The Monster Hunters got the sense that Lud was referring to the entity that summoned the Pit Fiend.
IW COMMENTS: I think we have to assume that even pelting rainstorms don’t count, given the amount of storm-summoning that vampires get up to. I don’t think they even get wet from them.
IW COMMENTS: Angherad’s researches indicate it was named after a semi-historical figure called Tudwal.
From Emmanuelle (Nicky):
> Please note that the original intention of my inquiry did not involve Qayrawan trying on the dress.
Emmanuelle reassures him that it did suit him. James/Cynthia didn't carry the look off nearly so well - purple really isn't his colour...
I feel that we need to apprehend the assailants of Miss Stankey, and a
trip to a Scottish forest seems in order
Well, as soon as we've got a destination figured out Emmanuelle is ready to go. Her overnight bag is packed. In view of the oceanic nature of the latest clues she's bringing some new experimental waterproof mascara with her. So convenient that low heeled boots are "in" this season.
It could be a little inconvenient traipsing through a forest in ordinary shoes. Emmanuelle hates to pass up the opportunity to trip up decoratively into somebody's arms, but this IS an emergency...
Nicky
From Qayrawun (Clive):
More details, good sir, of the actions to be taken on arriving at a possible location for the
forest wherein Miss Stankey may be held captive. I feel that Tony could have the right of it, with Milton of Campsie, but what are forestation conditions like around the naval base?IW REPLIES: The base isn’t near any heavy forestation. It’s on a relatively bleak but starkly beautiful coastal plain.
Qayrawan will try to arrive as soon as possible, but magical means of travel lie beyond his
power. Also, I should like the gens to have a rest before we set off into the forest. Qayrawan makes the most of a decent set of tweeds, or some such protective clothing, against insect bites and the like (specifically so, in fact, as I feel I do not wish to be the target of an Insect Plague or similar, knowing the midges of the west of Scotland).If Dunyazade could please seek out the 4th level Mage spell Locate Creature (she has a special bonus to finding divination magics, I believe), whilst an aerial search is conducted by Ghunayya. Jazz'reen should be away looking for a Divination Enhancement (an Evocation
spell - his area of bonus, I think) to boost the range of the first spell. I would also like to send them for a Sepia Snake Sigil (for use on the girl) and/or a Fog Cloud spell, but the first two take priority. On location of the girl, Ghunayya should also depart (if he's not too tired), to search for a Summon Swarm spell (Mage, 2nd level): the others will to be back for some time, I suspect, and will be too tired to act, I suspect, when they return.Any active summoners will get the Summon Swarm around them, when we try to rescue the
girl. The Fog Cloud is to cover our escape, and the Sepia Snake Sigil to put the girl out of harm's way (and in stasis).I can't think of anywhere else we should be looking for the girl, but I think we will need to have
a trip to Ireland - I have a feeling that, if the Isles of the Dead are anywhere, they're off the coast of the old country - somewhere near wherever the Horne properties are.
From Crannog (Chris L):
Ian,
Sorry, but time constraints mean I will have to withdraw from the online game (not that I have noticably active in it so far...). Please keep me on the mailing list, as I do enjoy "watching", but I currently don't have time to make more than the occasional comment. Also (as always) feel free to use Crannog as an NPC if he is required.
IW COMMENTS: Just contribute when you can.
From Emmanuelle (Nicky):
> The only knights who seemed to take chastity seriously were Perceval, Galahad, and Bors
From Albrecht (Chris M):
Ok, we'll start with King Lud.
I apologise for my lack of deep mythical knowledge but:
What were the treasures crafted by Wayland
IW COMMENTS: That’s a hard question to answer. Very little of Wayland’s legend has come down to us. He is variously ascribed as forging lots of magic weapons (Excalibur by some accounts) and cunning devices. He is the Northern counterpart to Hephaestus, and like him was lame. King Nidud lamed Weyland (apparently a common thing to do to iron age smiths, who were valuable assets and couldn’t be allowed to run off to the opponent) and enslaved him to labour only in the King’s cause. Weyland thereafter lured Nidud’s son into his furnace (terminally, of course), raped Nidud’s daughter, and escaped.
In the Monster Hunters campaign Weyland showed up a while back and was revealed as the father of Monster Hunters Dawn and Aurora D’Aosta (former Monster Hunter Viviane D’Aosta was the mother) – the lineage which qualifies them to jointly fulfil the "maiden" role in the trinity currently sustaining the damaged Many-Coloured Land (Faeirie). Weyland died in the events leading up to #2000.
Where/what is Greymere (at a guess a reference for the plane)
IW COMMENTS: Gramyre is an old name of Britain, like Albion. It has Arthurian connotations.
Why do I feel proving worthiness to seek the Hallows will be painful?
IWCOMMENTS: Long experience.
IW COMMENTS: West is the key direction here, where the sun sets/dies.
IW COMMENTS: The Club have only ever really met two unicorns. The first was a rather shy, beautiful animal they rescued from a hunter circa 1886, which they never saw up close. The second was Erunobas, Prince of Unicorns, a very powerful beast whom the Club have clashed with more often then they have got on with him. Erunobas has little patience or love for polluting, corrupted humanity. He was last seen seething because former Monster Hunters president Greyhame Whittacker had temporarily dominated him with the Horseman’s Word.
Unicorns are much-prized by spellcasters because their bodies contain so many useful material components.
IW COMMENTS: The bullets do not have any dweomer upon them.
IW COMMENTS: The stew no longer detected as evil after Purify Food and Drink. It just tasted odd.
I am not certain about the nature of the effect. I wonder if it could be linked to the dreaded Starksborough Effect? Luckily a driving desire to throw oneself into the water should not overly
affect Albrecht - although the evil nature of the goo and the eaten dog don't look good.
I'm glad Albrecht knows what the opponent is as I'm certainly unsure. Options would tend to point to mind flayers, based on the previous glowing lights scenario (although they have been killed off forever again haven't they!).
IW COMMENTS: As far as the Monster Hunters are aware there are no longer any Mind Flayers on the Prime Material Plane.
From Madga Maledicta (Jo):
Sorry been horribly busy lately am moving to Cumbria!!!!
I will try and respond
Cheers
Jo
From Redvers-Ainderbury (AJ):
Hi Ian.
Only just seen the responses.
If Rupert is responsible for Albrect he will be watching him like a hawk......
Cheers.
AJ
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