Tall Tales with Butch. Universal Truths Made Real.

“So what lies will you be spreading tonight Butch?”

Lies! Every word is true i tell ya, ill be havin ye know we have a reputation for a strong oral tradition of passing down wisdom.

“of telling tales you mean!”

Aye ya little shite, everything is tale till you go out and see it fer yer self. Now you guna shut it or do i need to close your teeth for ya.

In fact let that be tonight’s tale. How i went out found some lore that even i did not know.

Twas a Fifth night like any other, a drink in hand, and a stroll out to shed to make room for more, when i did become accosted by a good friend of mine, he was right worried that
two young lasses were about to follow a man into the woods in the middle of the night an asked if i would come keep them safe.

So there i did find myself, following a bloke, who’s dress sense seemed to be inspired by old tales of wraiths who stalked small children carrying on after their jewelry, into ta woods with a Rapscallion, a Mage, and Bard.

“do you honestly expect us to believe this shi–”

An there’s another tooth for my collection,

Now as i was saying, Myself, a Mage, a Bard, a Rapscallion, an a light blinded man walked off a fair way. Our dubious ferryman did have something he wanted to show us. And like all things Men clad in black robes, want to show you,
it was inevitably in the woods, in the middle of the night, and he didn’t exactly know the way.

An this will be the first bit of wisdom, The road to knowledge is often winding and full of adversity.

Now, ill spare you details of what felt like an hour of following trails in the dark while a man with a lantern did his best to destroy of night vision.

Our party did come upon a fractured piece of the Menhir, I understand your all quite familiar with it around here, but for myself it twas the first time seeing it. But it was not the menhir but the rune,
our Guide did wish to speak on. To hear him tell it, Every Rune is a representation of a universal Truth, distilled down into a pattern reflecting that Truth. in such carrying a portion of that Truths power.

Oy don go blinking at me like that there are scholars and mages out there if you want the why an how of it. Fook if i know, any ways,

He said, these Runes were both the source of both power and containment for a particular old god. Tha father who are on high and who’s names darkens our skies, had a whole collection of runes. Of universal truths as it were.
An these runes gave him his power, and the abilities to affect the world and make manifest his will.

Runes also provided a path to secure his own power, the Fadur did lay down and record his steps so others could follow. But it was not charity or kindness he had in mind. No. it was a cunning plan to secure himself.

for if any followed in his steps, they would gain power, but in doing so, they would make of themselves a vessel. one that Fadur could take. and make his own.

good thing no one would be fool enough to grasp at universal truths to try and make of themselves a God eh? but I digress,

For ya see, they also provided the bones to his prison, Twas the Dwarven king Ladrian, Ladiv?, Ladrial?

the Dwarven Lady had an idea. when you have a strong power, a universal truth as it were, the only way to suppress that, to bind it, is with more of the same. So Ladday proceeded to lay down in pairs, a series of runes into stone,
laying down bricks of a prison, each securing the other, negating the powers of each with the union of the whole. a Prison erected entirely of universal truths lade down in stone.

well.

until some bellend blew it up.

But aye, its not everyday or night you get to listen to a man educated on the esoteric share secrets of universe with you.

“an who exactly was this learn’ed man teaching class in the middle of the woods at night?”

I’m amazed you still have such diction with that tooth missing. Did’n i say, he was a member of the order of the white lions.

“fuck you, your telling us a Paladin did be taking a Mage, a Bard, a Knave, and a Drunk for lessons in the middle of the night.”

well… Former member of the order, but that’s a story for another night.

Lucian’s Math Lesson

Lucian gathers all of the kids together and Angela hands out fresh cookies to each of them.
“Alright everyone it’s time. I promised your friend that I would teach you all math and I am a man of my word. Lets start with something basic, does everyone know how old they are? There is no better way to show off how well you know math then calculating your own age! Let’s use Peter here as an example. The first step is to subtract the current year by the year you were born. It is currently 610 and Peter was born in 602. 10-2 is 8 and 600-600 is 0 which in total equals 8, but Peter was born in the late Summer so he hasn’t had his birthday yet this year. The next step is if your birthday hasn’t come yet this year you must subtract another 1 from the total. Which means Peter is…. 7 years old! So remember if anyone asks if you know math just explain to them how old you are! Now who wants to learn so more grown up math? If you have 4 gears in sequence the first with 120 teeth, the second with 60 teeth, the third with 70 and the final with 200. If you spin the first gear at 10 RPM how fast does the last one spin? You see when…”

Her Ladyship’s Tea Party

The heat from the hearth blasting warm sweet air through the kitchen as I pull a batch of scones, smells like heaven, smells like home. I bustle around preparing the many treats and snacks for the party, and joy rises in my heart as I imagine the delighted look the guests will have upon the reveal.

I get a few friends to help me carry out the food for the party, and I carefully inspect each item for poison. You can never be too careful when feeding Her Ladyship! Her ladyship smiled and nodded at me! she is delighted with the offerings! I am so Happ- What’s that? animals approaching us? Not at my party!

*Tiffany reached for her bow, and deals death to defend her Ladyship, even killing one of the creatures with her new handaxe!

Porter Warehouse Njodr Branch Christening

The sun hangs low as I approach the Valerian Porter’s new warehouse. I made up some time on my journey back because I took the path Sil recommended. Without that tip I wouldn’t have been able to make it here in time for moving day. It was important to me that I was here to christen the Warehouse with the other Valerian Porters. I even made sure to grab a bottle of 585 pinot noir from the Jokeri Vineyards for the occasion.

Felix had let me take on deliveries through last Forum. Mostly working odd jobs—messenger, light hauling. Nothing that had anything to do with Magic. I hadn’t felt like myself since that seemingly mundane letter delivery that went sideways. Like most problems in my life, throwing myself into my work is how I got through it. I find it easy to undervalue the weight of my interactions when not focused on them. What may seem like a simple letter delivery, could actually be a confession of love that remains secret unless we deliver. That light package could be the stuffed animal a newborn cherishes through their youth. The path to excellence is paved through consistency. The better I can accomplish these tasks in the manner promised, the better I become. I allowed myself to be consumed in that effort and the next thing I knew an entire season had past. “Yet ‘neath the snow, a promise glimmers bright” is what I would say if I had Gil’s pen.

I continue to close the gap between myself and the warehouse, allowing myself to appreciate my comrade’s handiwork. Honestly, the more I look at the warehouse, the more it reminds me a bit of the old fort. Almost as if they repurposed the stones. Some of the Porters look to be moving the rye. I would have kept it near the entrance, easier for offloading to the mess. Felix is probably being cautious about thieves. Actually, Felix and Gil look to be moving out front now, I should catch up with them first.

Better yet, I should get in some practice for Peace Day and see if I can sneak up on them. I take a wide berth of the entrance and start creeping up behind Gil. The anticipation brings a smile to my face. This however was quickly wiped away when I see the look of recognition in Felix’s eyes. He doesn’t sell me out though, so I tune in to the conversation. Felix prompts an opening for me and as I reach out to place my hand on Gil’s shoulder I join in the conversation “Making himself useful. That’s how things get done.”

Hunting Trip

Silvester fell to his knees in front of the deer. He was breathing hard, blood was thundering in his ears. He skinned it. He needed to buy time, to think. The acrid smell still hadn’t faded, and whenever he glanced at Arvid, the head of the deer caught his eye and stared back accusingly. He found it better to keep his head down and finish the work he had set before himself.

Finally, when he finished, he looked at the impassive mage. “Are you done wasting time?” Silvester nodded, a forced calm spreading across his face. He slowly got up from the grass where he had been working. Bent down and grab the flank he could carry. The rest of this kill he left for the wolf’s and other wildlife of the Forest.

As he turned his back and prepared to head back into town he could have sworn he heard his name behind him. When he looked back it was only the deer carcass. With a shudder he shouldered his pack, sheathed his knife, and began to walk the same path back to Runeheim.

At the edge of town, Arvid stopped them both and they surveyed Runeheim. They could see the inhabitants of Runeheim going about their lives. The tavern loudly complaining as people entered or exited, the purple livery just barley in sight, a meeting on a porch of a log cabin a little closer to the forest then the rest. “This is where I leave you. I will be back for the next forum. To begin your initiation.”

Silvester just nodded, too numb to say anything. With that, Arvid turned on his heel and headed back into the forest.
After watching the town go about it’s routine preparations –and other tasks he hadn’t taken the time to notice before– Silvester finished the walk from wilderness to civilization with one thought on his mind, “He needed to talk to Java.”

As he was passing the cabin he heard a familiar voice.
“Heeey Silvester,” Felix called out, jogging out to meet him, “I hadn’t seen you in a while. Just wanted to see how are doing?”
With a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes Silvester looked at Felix, “Yeah, things are good, thanks for asking.”

Brittle

“You trust that I want to help you, yes?”

“No.”

“Then can you at least trust that I don’t want to hurt you?”

“No.” My reply shocked us both, stinging like an angry welt beneath the weight of the lash.

Why did I say that? We do trust Ragnar, don’t we? He’s always been someone to depend on: admirable, caring, courageous (to a foolhardy degree at times, even he admits), protective, strong– Ragnar has only ever done what was in the best interest of the people.

That’s just it though, isn’t it?

He would put the danger down– as he’s done for every parlous threat that faces the town– as he did with Brenna.

But it’s not that bad (yet). No need to catastrophize (yet). They don’t see ██ that way (yet).

“Alright, then we are operating from a baseline of zero trust.” Ivor observed the resultant silence, her tone humored. “Off to a good start.”

Lucian’s Second Runeheim Lesson

Lucian is preparing for his speech for the members of House Valerian’s expedition.
“Angela, thanks for gathering everyone can you make sure Peter pays attention”

“Thank you for coming everyone I glad you all are safe after such a raucous forum.
First of all, as you know, we have successfully purified Fort Hrafnakastali. The curse dates back to the forts original construction. Some of the workers were buried alive in the walls and in their dying breaths cast a curse over the fort leading to the influx of spirits that were pulling people into solid walls. With the curse purged those and the stone monsters referred to as gargoyles should disappear entirely.

Secondly there was a powerful vampire controlling a Cyanahim monastery. She was performing a ritual on ‘Threads of Fate’ which was stopped. Many members of forum succumbed to her powerful mind control including a number of mages and the Night Warden. Due to this we sustained heavy losses but, everyone was recovered and due to the kindness of the Charismata Euthymius none of our injuries were permanent. Unfortunately the vampire escaped.

Next, the man Alu, who was responsible for the brainwashing of some of the town’s Branded during the previous forum, was captured and executed. Of course knowing this place he immediately rose as some sort of spirit and began brainwashing even more people. No one was seriously injured but, this entity also escaped.

Also members of House Drake have been seen in the area and were trying to purchase the service of a mercenary band so be on guard.

And lastly there have been groups of bandits roving the nearby woods, some of which were accompanied by rogue mages. The group I encountered were attempting to kidnap children, including my son Peter, for god knows what reason possibly to sell as slaves or to train as new bandits. Maybe even just to feed their dogs. Fortunately Silvester, Alfred and I were present to drive them off. I would recommend anyone who cannot defend themselves to only travel with armed guards.

Thank you all for coming sorry it was a long one. Hopefully with the Fort under our control things will get a little calmer.”

Afterwards he meets up with Angela and Peter. “Hopefully that wasn’t too boring or scary so much happens around here. And Peter I’m trying my hardest to keep you both safe while we are out here. You saw what happened when you came into forum to surprise me. How do you think your mom and I would feel if you disappeared. I love you son and I couldn’t live with myself if some monster took you away from me”

Hazardous Waste Removal, Winter LA610

Surveying the once-cursed fortress with a sense of cautious relief, Felix took a deep breath. The air no longer hummed with magic, but the aftermath was a chaotic mess of debris, scattered stonework, and shattered furniture. Purposefully organizing the other porters to clear away the remnants, he moved slowly through the rubble, his gait irregular because of injuries sustained fighting the vampire spawn. If he focused on delegating tasks efficiently it kept his mind off the pain. The cursed fortress, now cleansed, still felt heavy with the ghosts of its past. Lucian’s counsel that we needed to finish the clearing of the catacombs to truly lay the curse to rest was driving their efforts.

Gilbert was sifting through the wreckage nearby, his fingers brushing over discarded weapons and armor of indeterminate age and disrepair, pausing only to mutter a line of verse. “The stars, like watchful eyes in heaven’s dome…” His mind seemed split between cataloging supplies and weaving some new poetry. Felix is again reminded that he could never understand how Gilbert’s mind worked, but he appreciated his acumen and candor regardless.

As Felix surveyed the wreckage, he couldn’t shake the worry gnawing at him. Damian was off at Runeheim’s Church, recovering from the touch of the Vulgaris. What other trouble were those mages brewing in the shadows? He gave a small prayer of thanks to Benalus for the timely intervention of Sir Euthymius for his intervention on that. And then another for it again after the catastrophe that was the assault on the monastery. So many Rooks… it was clear these northmen did not understand the threat of the Vampires. He unconsciously pulled his collar higher up his neck.

Wincing and pushing himself against the wall to give some clearance to other porters moving an impressively large stone, his thoughts wandered to that foppish noble from House Drake lurking at Forum. He didn’t expect something less savory than a Rennet to show itself so quickly, but they didn’t seem to have any obvious allies around either. An ongoing threat, but not yet a naked blade. He mused on how to make him scarce without resorting to… Dunnick methods.

As Felix helped shuffle some rubble into a bucket, he signaled to the waiting porter it was good to remove. Watching as the scum left the hallway he recalled the reaction at Court to the prospect of conscripting the local scum and putting them to actual service of the Reich. He was still stunned by it. Putting scum to honest labor for their liege, whom they have provided nothing, yet received food and protection, they acted like these were hordes of the war-wounded, not contributing not out of choice, but necessity. He audibly scoffed to himself. Were the northmen that raided their shores so soft-hearted? Service with arms would teach these scum discipline and give them purpose. Instill comradeship with their countymen and to love the lands they fought for. That’s how you turn scum to use for the lands they otherwise refuse to work. When you bleed for the land you learn to care for it.

He groaned while pulling himself up along the wall and wiped his dusty hands on his pants. It’s fine. Her Ladyship was Seneschal now. We will aid the people here. Build their almshouse, whenever they deign it’s time. “We’ll make ourselves useful.” he reaffirmed “That’s how things get done.”

Flip a Coin

Silvester was Tired

He had been in and out of combat all day and had barely slept either of the last two nights, fighting off waves of gargoyles, bandits, crows, spawn, and whatever else this land had decided was fit to throw at her ladyship. And now here he was again walking amicably up a hill with Java and Father Erasmus to hopefully save Mari-Lywd and protect Runeheim from these Vulgaris .
“So what do we have to deal with these mages?” He asked the group.
“Just my sword today, but if you fall here I can get you back to your house,” the Father promised.
Silvester nodded in thanks and glanced at Java, who was quieter than Silvester had come to know from her. She looked straight ahead and marched past him.

“Just my magic.”

Instantly, he was back. In the woods, in front of Java as bandits surrounded them. Her magic keeping them at bay, doing her most to protect them.
Then, in the dark, a scant few torches lighting up the shadows of the monastery courtyard. Just enough to know they were surrounded. The knot at their backs, the pain and frustration of a losing battle.
“Hey friend, we are friends. Come on, you don’t want to do this…”
A familiar voice. Tearing his eyes away from the Shadows, from the spawn, to see Java slam Lucian into the ground. He drew his bow and fired on instinct. What was happening!? Java looked at him with a slight head tilt, almost confused. Then her hands started to move.

“We’re here,” whispered the Father.

Silvester glanced around trying to collect himself. A snow packed clearing, two mages and the skeletal spirit they had come to rescue impaled on a spike. Yeah, they were in fact here. He was _here_ . The three of them looked at each other, nodded, and stepped into the clearing. As Silvester drew back his bow he wondered… which Java would he get this time?

Head(space)

Rhyme turned the bezoar over in their hand, reflecting silently on the way it cast flecks of golden light off into the far corners of the room. The Lady was gone now, and with her fled the feeble grapple for a distraction the mage had clung to in attempts to shut out the echo of voices thundering in their skull.

‘Your student is betraying you … He holds himself back from killing you.’ ███ ██████ ███████.

‘I’ll take care of Mother Amelia…’ ███ ██████.

‘You put everyone in danger … If you want to defect and join the Vulgaris then…go do it. Just leave me out of it.’ Matthias.

‘What you do– it’s against nature.’ ████.

‘You burned Rowan–’ Sir Rowland.

‘You lied to me.’ Malachi.

The harsh gravity of their mistakes ran through their mind on a tired loop, competing loudly to drown out the now-familiar chorus driving Rhyme towards indulgence of their abnormal psyche. The madness they could suppress if they put in the willpower to steel their mind; but the distinct absence of insanity left all the more room for reflection to steal its way in. Silence was never absolute.

‘You want to see true power? … Little Interloper … I can teach you.’ ███ ██████ ███████.

‘You are not free … I can almost see the weave– but you still have a role to play to make it clear to me.’ The Lady.

‘Rhyme, you need to slow down.’ Matthias.

‘We’ll figure this out.’ Sygrun.

‘What’s wrong with me?’ Jester. Dun. Beacon of the Fire Guild. Rook to a vampire. Soulsplit. Daemon-haunted. Insane. “Interloper”. Vulgaris-minded. “Hero of Dunland”. ████████. Malefactor. Ally. Enemy. Rhyme. O’shea.

Why couldn’t they get it right? The others have been patient so far– but that kindness won’t last forever. If they keep moving perhaps they could tamp down the swell of all this neglected emotion and bury this sense of unease. If they worked a little harder then maybe they could outpace their ignorance, and repair what rifts they’d sown. One more act– one more study– one more apology…

‘You’re telling me what happened– that has nothing to do with how you feel.’ Sir Jacqueline…

“I’m a problem. I’m a burden. All I ever do is push everyone away.” Rhyme couldn’t remember when they’d arrived before Malachi– or why they had deigned to tell him this. They clutched at the bezoar in their pocket like a lifeline as the unfamiliar sting of tears clawed their way out from someplace buried and bricked over.

“No, Rhyme. I’ll always be here.” He looked so sad when he said it.

▲▲▲

‘I find it best to set aside your defenses, and to simply act as you are. They just want to make sure that you’re safe.’ ████.

“Enough!” Rhyme cast the bezoar across the room, breathless by the time it had clattered into obscurity somewhere behind their bed. No sooner had they unhanded the item did the flood of insanity return to deafen all other intrusions.

‘Find the bezoars,’ it demanded. ‘Find them all. Get them. Hoard them. Think how pretty they’d look– all lined up on your mantle…’

Compared to all that had come prior, the return of this particular preoccupation was a welcome relief from introspection, and it was with a thin sheen of sweat that Rhyme finally dropped back onto their and Reason’s empty bed. While a hand over their eyes blocked out the faint reflection of moonlight glancing off the snow and through their window, their thoughts supplemented a dancing array of crystalline reflections to attest to the beauty of the many bezoars their addled mind craved. Yet– somehow– Rhyme began to drift towards sleep in spite of the star-bright fireworks lighting up the backsides of their eyelids.

‘They just want … sure … you’re safe…’ An echo…

‘Huh… Is that true…?’ They wondered blearily. That thought hadn’t ever occurred to Rhyme– genuinely. That alone made them feel more messed up than any amount of meddling the vampire, Alu– or even the daemon could do…