First session, "Mightier Than the Sword"

Intrigued and Perplexed

From the archives of the Order of St. Jerome

Curator's Notes: This sheaf of parchment pages purport to be a rough draft or a letter to King Oberon of Faery from another Fae by the name of Brock Feeorin.

May it please Your Majesty,

Forgive the length of this missive. Ordinarily my reports on the activites in the region known variously as the Isle of Apples, the Blessed Island, the Fortunate Isle, or Avalon, are rather more brief, as the Lady who rules here is fond of peace and tranquility. However, because of certain events in the mortal world and a promise she made to certain Powers long ago, she took action which has impinged on several persons whom I am given to understand Your Majesty has an interest.

I did not understand her motive when her uncharacteristic behavior began, of course, as she does not broadcast her intentions to strangers.

My first inkling that something was afoot was when she entered the mortal world near the village of Towcester, where she approached the local lords' manor in the guise of a frail crone. She approached a young mother, whom I later learned was known as Mrs Emily Wooster. She claimed to be impoverished, supporting herself by selling corset laces. Mrs Wooster looked kindly upon her, and purchased some laces. She could not see the very slight enchantment upon them.

However, since the Lady vanished into thin air as soon as the transaction was complete, Mrs Wooster became convinced the laces were cursed, and took varied measures to contain whatever malevolent magic there might be in them. Over the course of the next few days, Mrs Wooster experienced several mishaps with her existing corsetry, apparently as an attempt to force her to use them, but she proved both persistent and inventive.

I had heard tales, from certain pixies, that this Mrs Wooster is a Witch of strange powers over steel, but I saw little to confirm those reports during the lace incidents.

Meanwhile, the Lady returned to the Fair Lands and journeyed quickly to another portal, to emerge in Oxfordshire, where she again took on the shape of a frail crone, and attempted to sell combs to a red-haired maiden. I determined that this young lady was Miss Wilhelmina Moriarty. Miss Moriarty purchased combs, as did one of her companions, a witch who I later learned was the same Witch Frazer whose recent exploits in Carpania have inspired numerous tales.

Again the combs had a very mild enchantment upon them, though to a witch of Frazer's reputation they surely posed no threat.

Miss Moriarty used the purchased combs without any apparent troubles following.

The Lady crossed the Fair Lands once more, and returned to the mortal rhealm in Worcestershire. She brought with her that time a Brown Man by the name of Shalee Mudfoot. They took the forms of a governess and a boy in the governess' care, and boarded a train. In the shape of the boy, Mudfoot approached Seamus Michael O'Flaherty, descendant Fezzik the Bold, and asked him to sign his name to one of the published tales of O'Flaherty's exploits. There followed a short conversation until the Lady, still disguised as a governess intervened.

The Lady and Mudfoot exited the train at Taunton, as did Mr O'Flaherty. Mudfoot took on the guise of a common workman and went into the city. The Lady, meanwhile, took the guise of a frail crone once more, and approached O'Flaherty selling apples. O'Flaherty overpaid handsomely for the apple. They were then interrupted by Witch Cuthbert, who had arrived to meet O'Flaherty.

The Lady seemed to mistake Witch Cuthbert for her sister, the Notorious Witch Lillian, just before she vanished.

Witch Cuthbert warned O'Flaherty that the apple was magickal, and proceeded to examine it. The apple was one of the True Apples from the Lady's sacred grove. Witch Cuthbert wished to keep hold of it, and was a bit surprised that it seemed every time O'Flaherty reached into his pocket, he found another apple, and it was a True Apple.

I was quite intrigued and perplexed by this time as to what the Lady was doing. I was also tired from following her and trying to stay out of sight, so I decided to enlist the aid of some pixies to watch over all the people the Lady had met, while I returned to Avalon to attempt to find out why she was doing it. Unfortunately, the pixie I sent to follow Mudfoot was not clever enough to avoid being spotted, so I was not notified of what happened next before many more Personages were involved.

Upon returning to her rhealm, the Lady consulted with the guardians of each of the entries to her land, and gave them instructions that mortals would be coming soon, that three: O'Flaherty, Moriarty, and Wooster, were expected. They weren't to be allowed through without a fight, but they were expected.

She then took Sir Galahad and the ghost of his mother, and ensorcelled them, as she does from time to time, to think that they are peasants.

I remembered something about a transformatin of Galahad being mentioned in the records of my predecessor, so I consulted them. They report that the Lady does this whenever an Archangel gives the sword Caliburn to a mortal without consulting her. She then arranges for the mortal to undergo a series of trials, to determine whether he is worthy to carry the sword. One of those trials is always an encounter with Sir Galahad as a peasant, though exactly why this is the records do not say. Having observed the process myself, I confess to be equally in the dark as to the purpose of this trial.

Meanwhile, in Taunton Mudfoot had taken on the form of a local laborer and arranged an altercation with Fong Chigwidgeon. This Mudfoot may warrant careful observance, Your Majesty, as few Brown Men would be brave enough to attack the great-grandchild of Nanny Chigwidgeon, even under orders from a Power such as the Lady.

Another of Nanny's great-grandchildren, an Avatar of Kali known as Lady Cowperthwaite, was in Taunton during this time. I suspected that Mudfoot's actions may have been calculated to distract Lady Cowperthwaite until the rest of the Lady's plans were in place.

I had not recognized Miss Moriarty as the ward of Lady Cowperthwaite. I had thought her ward was a young man known as Radical Edward. Obviously my information is incorrect. I did know that The Witch of Darlston was a member of Lady Cowperthwaite's household.

The Lady had returned to Taunton once more, and this time took the form of a beautiful young woman who visited the home of Lord Cuthbert (uncle of both Witch Cuthbert and Notorious Witch Lillian), where she appeared to be trying to seduce Lord Cuthbert. They were interrupted by Witch Cuthbert before the Lady's intentions became clear.

Witch Cuthbert, O'Flaherty, and Lord Cuthbert set out to track down Mudfoot, having determined that he was responsible for what had happened to Fong Chigwidgeon.
Witch Cuthbert, Lord Cuthbert, and O'Flaherty followed Mudfoot back into Avalon, using the same doorway he used.

The Witch of Darlston, Lady Cowperthwaite, and Miss Moriarty all decided to keep a close watch over Fong Chigwidgeon, since a member of Faery had taken action against him once.

The Lady, meanwhile, sent several Greenteeth, Haunts, and Bugganes into the mortal world. Two of the Bugganes went to Taunton, where they kidnapped Fong Chigwidgeon and whisked him through a doorway into Avalon. Lady Cowperthwaite, Miss Moriarty, the Witch of Darlston, and their companions followed close on their heels.

Meanwhile, a Haunt and two Jenny Greenteeth kidnapped the twin babies of Mrs Wooster, and led her through a doorway into another corner of Avalon.

Two other old doorways into Avalon were opened. One in Bridgwater, through which Witch Frazer and her husband wandered. The other in Oxfordshire, through which Sir Simon McGregor wandered. I have not yet been able to determine who opened those doors nor why. It is possible that the comb sold to Witch Frazer opened the door, but I have been able to find no such connection to Sir Simon. I can't see why the Lady would have wanted her candidates to have additional help, but then her plan was rather convoluted.

There were several other faeries crossing the paths of the mortals who were not, as far as I can determine, under orders from the Lady. Two pixies of the Silvermist clan I believe were involved solely by chance. The Silvermist clan's debts to a previous Witch of Darlston are well-known, which I believe explains their involvement. I shall continue to investigate these unresolved issues.

The Cuthbert O'Flaherty party were confronted by a Chimera. They had barely defeated it, when they were set upon by two Harpies. When those were defeated, the Lady appeared herself, and snatched Witch Cuthbert back to the Crooked Citadel, where she seemed to fall under the spell of King Arthur.

Cuthbert and O'Flaherty searched the area where Witch Cuthbert had vanished. O'Flaherty specifically stabbed into the ground with the Sword of the Cross. Your Majesty is well aware that much of the land in Avalon is actually the body of the long-ago defeated Fomorian, Bolster the Giant. Though legend says that Bolster was killed, it was obviously not the Final Death, because this sword thrust awakened the giant.

Meanwhile, Mrs Wooster and her husband had followed their baby's kidnappers to a log bridge being guarded by a Ogre. Sir Simon's doorway had opened nearby, as had the Frazer's, so they quickly joined the Woosters. While Mrs Wooster decided the easiest way to catch up to her babies was to ignore both bridge and ogre and jump into the river and swim across. The others, meanwhile dealt with the ogre. They managed to knock the ogre into the water, but unfortunately Wooster and Sir Simon were pulled in as well.

When he fell toward the river, the ogre activated a charm which froze the entire river. Unfortunately, the charm didn't take effect until he was under the surface. Two of the mortals were frozen in place. Mr Frazer was under the surface with the ogre.

Mrs Wooster caught up to what she thought was her nursemaid (though it was actually the Haunt). Surprisingly, the Haunt simply pointed Mrs Wooster to one of the Jenny Greenteeths that had one of the babies. Mrs Wooster was under the surface, fighting one Jenny, when the surface froze over. Witch Frazer went onto the ice and helped break a hole for Mrs Wooster and one baby to escape. Mrs Wooster left the child with Witch Frazer and ran off in pursuit of the other Jenny Greentooth and the other baby.

Mr Frazer and the ogre were washed down at this point, and Witch Frazer had to entrust the baby to her familiar (a half-wolf), while she worked to rescue her husband.

Sir Simon's father's ghost assisted Sir Simon and Wooster's escape from the river by coaxing Sir Simon's horse out to the river. Unfortunately, when they broke the ice, it shattered all of the ice, causing a bit of a flood for the Frazers, though eventually everyone got out of the water.

Meanwhile, the Cowperthwaite party had also been confronted with a Chimera, and had likewise defeated it, though some of the members were more badly hurt than others. The Jenny Greenteeth that was still running with a baby came upon them, and was attacked by several of them. The managed to extracate the baby unharmed, just as Mrs Wooster caught up with them. She grabbed the second baby, turned, and fled back to where she had left her first.

The ground, meanwhile, was rising, since all of them were standing on some part of Bolster's back.

Mrs Wooster ran fast enough to escape the giant before he stood up. The Frazers, Sir Simon, and Wooster were just off the edge of Bolster's body. And the Witch of Darlston stopped just before the giant awoke. So only some of the mortals were on Bolster's back as her rose.

O'Flaherty started singing a quiet lullaby. Miss Moriarty joined in as she and her minion ran up toward Bolster's shoulder.

Lord Cowperthwaite had been unconcious, so he fell when Bolster stood. Lady Cowperthwaite and her minion dived after him.

Back near the river, Mr Wooster produced a musical instrument from somewhere and began playing the same lullaby on it.

The Witch of Darlston, who had been consulting with one of the Silvermist pixies, began weaving a sleep spell, which seemed to be strengthed by the lullaby, and Bolster barely had time to stretch some of the kinks out of his back before he fell backward, crashing to earth and going into his deep slumber once more.

Mrs Wooster had both of her babies and the half-wolf. They had met up with the transformed Galahad and his mother's ghost, appearing to be two peasants, called Dennis and Mum. They attempted to engage her in conversation, but she was intent on making a sling to carry the babies in, and didn't really pay them any mind. The Frazers found her just as Bolster stood up, and they realized if he fell their way, they would be crushed, so they all went running toward a nearby outcropping of stone. They didn't realize it was the south door of the Crooked Citadel, of course.

They confronted the steward of the Citadel and a Haunt. Mrs Wooster was unnerved by the Haunt and went running about madly changing direction again and again for no apparently reason, until she randomly collided with her husband, incidentally destroying his music instrument.

Meanwhile, Miss Moriarty and her minion, searching for their missing companions, came upon Sir Aethelwyte of Otterham, who eternally wanders the downs of Avalon searching for his long lost sister. He offered to assist Miss Moriarty, who had just seen a boat on the lake. Inside the boat it appeared that the Cowperthwaites were fighting several Each-Usige. There were Each-Usige on the boat, but the others were Haunts taking on the shape of Miss Moriarty's companions.

Sir Aethelwyte took Miss Moriarty on horseback to the lake, where she, the knight, and her minion fought with the Each-Usige.

Lord Cuthbert had leapt from Bolster while he was falling, and had landed on the island of the Crooked Citadel. He began scouting, soon verifying that his neice and Fong Chigwidgeon were both inside. He searched for a means of escaping the island before he went into the Citadel to rescue them.

Meanwhile, O'Flaherty had been confronted by a knight. Or at least he thought it was a knight. It was actually the Lady herself, dressed in a man's armor and weilding a sword that was enchanted just enough to resist the magic of Caliburn. I knew that legend said she had trained her famous mortal foster son, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, in fighting arts, but I had not believed it until I saw her in battle against O'Flaherty.

O'Flaherty defeated her, or at least had her down and at a disadvantage, though they had both lost their swords. O'Flaherty saw the boat with Miss Moriarty fighting, and grabbed his sword and ran out to help her. All of the Each-Usige defeated, they rowed the boat to the shore, where the Frazers, the Witch of Darlston, the Woosters, and Sir Simon now were.

When the Cowperthwaites had fallen, Lady Cowperthwaite's minion had caught them, and used is magic to shield them from the damage of the fall. They plunged rather deeply into the mud beneath the former resting place of the giant, and it took them some minutes to dig their way out. The minion came out near the Witch of Darlston's feet. Started, she hit him in the head with her iron skillet. He seemed unharmed by this, and in fact pleased to see her. O'Flaherty helped pull the Cowperthwaites from the mud.

The Lady had transported herself back to the Crooked Citadel and changed into her silvery chain mail. She walked across the water toward the mortals, and congratulated O'Flaherty and Moriarty for passing all the tests thus far. She indicated that Mrs Wooster had not passed at least one of the trials. Since I'm still not certain which events were trials and which were accidents, I'm not certain which test she failed.

They were given a chance to surrender Caliburn and all return home, or for only those not involved in the trials could all leave. If they chose to continue, the candidates were to come to the Citadel and face their final challenges. One of those would require the candidate to convince Arthur to let him or her keep the sword.

The Lady left, and the mortals spent a few minutes arguing about their next course of action.

Some argued. Lady Cowperthwaite and her minion simply took the boat while the others were distracted and crossed over to the Citadel.

Two mice from the mortal world obtained Witch Frazer's attention and directed her to a nearby cave that was another doorway into the mortal world. The Witch of Darlston's daughter was in the cave. I wasn't sure how the child found the cave, though she is the daughter of a Witch. Also, Lady Cowperthwaite's sons have shown signs of being avatars, so it was likely a combination of those things.

I have attempted to locate the mice for questioning, but thus far have been unsuccessful.

The mortals decided that the Frazers would transport the wounded back through the cave to Taunton, while the others proceeded to the Citadel and the final trial. Wooster had somehow contrived to bring his luggage to Avalon, and they used these as a raft to reach the Citadel. They had just reached the island's shore when a Nuckalevee snatch Wooster back into the water.

Mrs Wooster, Miss Moriarty, and O'Flaherty leapt into the fight. The Nuckalevee wasn't the only threat, of course. Five Lake Women were also there, trying to distract the mortals. All proved of strong enough will to resist them long enough to defeat the Nuckalevee and escape. Perhaps not all; Mrs Wooster had her hand clapped over her husband's eyes, and she dragged him from the water.

Meanwhile, Lady Cowperthwaite and her minion had entered the Citadel, where they found Lord Cuthbert had just extricated Witch Cuthbert from the dance. Together, they grabbed Fong Chigwidgeon and exited by means of a route Lord Cuthbert had found. Witch Cuthbert summoned Sir Simon's father's ghost and sent a message to Sir Simon that they had found a way out.

O'Flaherty, Miss Moriarty, the Woosters, the Witch of Darlston, and Sir Simon proceeded to the Citadel, where the majordomo admitted them. They spent a few minutes trying to find the Mrs Cuthbert, Lady Cowperthwaite and the others. They learned that the others had made their escape.

They had to extricate O'Flaherty from dancing with the Lady. And it took several attempts before they could get out of the Citadel, but they managed it. O'Flaherty had surprisingly little trouble convincing Arthur to let him keep the sword.

It has been said that Arthur's spirit (for it is only the spirits of Arthur and his knights who perpetually dance and dine in the Citadel--their bodies slumber somewhere even more closely guarded by the Lady and her allies), can see into the true heart of any man he speaks to. I believe this may be proof of that rumor, for why else would the Lady set this as the final task?

The mortals then returned to their rhealm.

The Lady was not quite done with them, however. She and several of her allies, in mortal guise, attended the theatre the next evening, where Fong Chigwidgeon was one of the performers putting on a play called, "Molly Sparrow, Queen of the Pirates."

She simply attended the play and congratulated the players on a job well done.

I will continue to look into the various questions that I have been unable to answer, unless Your Majesty wished me to let these matters drop.

I remain ever your faithful servant,

Brock Feeorin

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