Indis
Loyal Freddie
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2004
- Messages
- 48
It was All-Hallows Eve in Albion.
A time of fear and watchfulness, for on this night the legions of undead multiplied in their numbers and strength. In Camelot and Prydwen garrisons were formed by the guilds to protect the villages and farmsteads. In the Isles men prepared to sit through the night, sharpened swords to hand, ready to defend their families while their Llamia allies remained ever watchful for signs of attack by Morghanna’s hoards. Likewise in the Marshes, the ever-vigilant Lord Adribard stood prepared in his tall tower. Only in the frontiers the watch could be relaxed if only a very little - the garrisons there aware that, for this night at least, the enemies of Albion must look to the safety of their own lands.
In the city of Camelot all was quiet. Shops and inns had closed early that night and the only sounds to be heard were the march of armoured feet and the music of the hymns from the Church. High in the Academy a light flickered. Inside a room two wizards were deep in conversation. As the night drew in their conversation turned to the coming night’s events. The elder, a senior wizard by the name of Aeris paused for a moment then said
‘Did I ever tell you of the incident in Cornwall? It must be almost twenty years since.’ The younger wizard shook his head to indicate he had not.
Aeris continued. ‘Reports had come to Lord Adribard of a woman practicing as a witch in one of the villages near Cornwall Station. Now as you know, many of these reports are nonsense – usually it is a wise woman or a midwife who has irritated the village elders. Occasionally however there is found a person who is able to practice the Arts without Academy training or guidance from the Church, and without these their power can be turned to evil ends. King Constantine therefore decreed that each report should be investigated fully by representatives from both the Academy and the Church. Lord Adribard knew this and thus dispatched messengers with speed requesting assistance.
‘Staying with Lord Adribard at the time was a certain Lord Satrin. He was a kinsman of Adribard’s who was also known to the Church having trained as a Paladin in his youth. Lord Satrin was a devout but zealous man who became impatient with waiting for the party from Camelot to arrive. After listening further to the villagers he chose to take matters into his own hands.
‘Lord Satrin then travelled to the village with a band of his knights. He then had the supposed witch arrested, tried and sentenced. He then decreed that the witch should be executed, but instead of a burning or beheading (the first traditional the other merciful) he ordered the woman to be taken to the plains of Cornwall to meet her fate. There his knights bound her to a tree at sunset and ere he left Lord Satrin told the woman that by dawn ‘she should be with her own’. She was then left to the mercy of the moor boogies and the undead that roam the area.’ Aeris paused. ‘It was said that the screams were heard until sunrise. When the villagers gathered courage to return to the place they found a terrible sight. The woman’s corpse was a terribly mangled and worried thing; the tree and the ground around were drenched with blood.’
The listener shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘A bad business’ he said.
‘A bad business indeed’ replied Aeris ‘since I was one of the party sent to investigate the matter. By the time we arrived two weeks later the woman had been buried outside the graveyard that sits just outside the Retreat, underneath an ash tree that grows nearby. We chose to continue our investigation. The woman’s house was searched and one or two magical items were found – mere trinkets. The villagers were a subdued lot and were reluctant to talk. One woman did report that one item of jewellery missing – an ancient coin that was worn by the supposed witch as a necklace. The item had been sold to her by a travelling merchant who said it had come from far Gwynddeau. It was rumoured that this necklace had magical powers. Where it went no one knew, for it was not among the woman’s effects and not on the body when it was buried. It was suspected that Lord Satrin had recognised the power of the item and had taken it for himself. The investigation thus concluded that while there was no proof that the woman was a witch the balance of evidence made it likely the woman was indeed guilty. Lord Satrin, while hasty in his judgement and harsh in his punishment, had done nothing wrong. Lord Adribard concurred – relieved that his kinsman was not to be disgraced.
‘Thus we returned to Camelot, but the case weight heavy on my mind. The following year I was sent to Camporcorentin, during that time I assisted in the All-Hallows vigil. A few days later a strange tale came up from the Marsh, so I rode there to investigate. At the Retreat I was welcomed by Lord Adribard who remembered me from the previous year. I was shocked then to hear that Lord Satrin had died suddenly on All-Hallows Eve.
‘An odd circumstance’ said Lord Adribard ‘and I am glad you are here to take this tale back to your masters in Camelot. Lord Satrin returned here a month ago. He seemed quite out of spirits, starting at sudden noises and shadows. His Lady informed me that this melancholy began at the end of summer. On All-Hallows Eve his mood worsened. He dismissed his Lady and his servants and sat alone in his room. In the early hours we were woken by an unearthly sound- a man in the greatest torment of pain and fear. His servants ran to the room ad found Lord Satrin on the floor quite dead. His breastplate had been rent apart and the flesh beneath torn. When my clerics examined his body they found signs of an item, possibly a necklace, being ripped from his neck, almost as if by an animal – his throat was cut in the process. How, we know not – since his room was in the middle reaches of the tower.’
‘A strange thought occurred to me. ‘My Lord’ I said ‘may I see the room?’ Lord Adribard took me there and on entering I saw the ash-tree quite clearly and surprisingly close to the room. I then gained Lord Adribard’s permission to exhume the grave underneath the tree the following day. While the men dug there came a flash of gold in the sunlight. As they dug a little deeper we saw amongst her remains a golden chain and an ancient roman coin.’
Aeris fell silent, gazing into the fire while his companion found his tongue. ‘So it is certain now the woman was a witch?’
It took a few moments for Aeris to reply. ‘In all honesty I still know not, even after all these years. The villagers certainly knew no peace, harried unendingly by the monsters from the plains until they eventually had to abandon their homes a few years after. A witch exacting her revenge would be expected but I have often wondered of the consequences of sacrificing the innocent to such creatures – and that which we do in the name of judgement, we may well find that judgement being turned then to ourselves.
A time of fear and watchfulness, for on this night the legions of undead multiplied in their numbers and strength. In Camelot and Prydwen garrisons were formed by the guilds to protect the villages and farmsteads. In the Isles men prepared to sit through the night, sharpened swords to hand, ready to defend their families while their Llamia allies remained ever watchful for signs of attack by Morghanna’s hoards. Likewise in the Marshes, the ever-vigilant Lord Adribard stood prepared in his tall tower. Only in the frontiers the watch could be relaxed if only a very little - the garrisons there aware that, for this night at least, the enemies of Albion must look to the safety of their own lands.
In the city of Camelot all was quiet. Shops and inns had closed early that night and the only sounds to be heard were the march of armoured feet and the music of the hymns from the Church. High in the Academy a light flickered. Inside a room two wizards were deep in conversation. As the night drew in their conversation turned to the coming night’s events. The elder, a senior wizard by the name of Aeris paused for a moment then said
‘Did I ever tell you of the incident in Cornwall? It must be almost twenty years since.’ The younger wizard shook his head to indicate he had not.
Aeris continued. ‘Reports had come to Lord Adribard of a woman practicing as a witch in one of the villages near Cornwall Station. Now as you know, many of these reports are nonsense – usually it is a wise woman or a midwife who has irritated the village elders. Occasionally however there is found a person who is able to practice the Arts without Academy training or guidance from the Church, and without these their power can be turned to evil ends. King Constantine therefore decreed that each report should be investigated fully by representatives from both the Academy and the Church. Lord Adribard knew this and thus dispatched messengers with speed requesting assistance.
‘Staying with Lord Adribard at the time was a certain Lord Satrin. He was a kinsman of Adribard’s who was also known to the Church having trained as a Paladin in his youth. Lord Satrin was a devout but zealous man who became impatient with waiting for the party from Camelot to arrive. After listening further to the villagers he chose to take matters into his own hands.
‘Lord Satrin then travelled to the village with a band of his knights. He then had the supposed witch arrested, tried and sentenced. He then decreed that the witch should be executed, but instead of a burning or beheading (the first traditional the other merciful) he ordered the woman to be taken to the plains of Cornwall to meet her fate. There his knights bound her to a tree at sunset and ere he left Lord Satrin told the woman that by dawn ‘she should be with her own’. She was then left to the mercy of the moor boogies and the undead that roam the area.’ Aeris paused. ‘It was said that the screams were heard until sunrise. When the villagers gathered courage to return to the place they found a terrible sight. The woman’s corpse was a terribly mangled and worried thing; the tree and the ground around were drenched with blood.’
The listener shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘A bad business’ he said.
‘A bad business indeed’ replied Aeris ‘since I was one of the party sent to investigate the matter. By the time we arrived two weeks later the woman had been buried outside the graveyard that sits just outside the Retreat, underneath an ash tree that grows nearby. We chose to continue our investigation. The woman’s house was searched and one or two magical items were found – mere trinkets. The villagers were a subdued lot and were reluctant to talk. One woman did report that one item of jewellery missing – an ancient coin that was worn by the supposed witch as a necklace. The item had been sold to her by a travelling merchant who said it had come from far Gwynddeau. It was rumoured that this necklace had magical powers. Where it went no one knew, for it was not among the woman’s effects and not on the body when it was buried. It was suspected that Lord Satrin had recognised the power of the item and had taken it for himself. The investigation thus concluded that while there was no proof that the woman was a witch the balance of evidence made it likely the woman was indeed guilty. Lord Satrin, while hasty in his judgement and harsh in his punishment, had done nothing wrong. Lord Adribard concurred – relieved that his kinsman was not to be disgraced.
‘Thus we returned to Camelot, but the case weight heavy on my mind. The following year I was sent to Camporcorentin, during that time I assisted in the All-Hallows vigil. A few days later a strange tale came up from the Marsh, so I rode there to investigate. At the Retreat I was welcomed by Lord Adribard who remembered me from the previous year. I was shocked then to hear that Lord Satrin had died suddenly on All-Hallows Eve.
‘An odd circumstance’ said Lord Adribard ‘and I am glad you are here to take this tale back to your masters in Camelot. Lord Satrin returned here a month ago. He seemed quite out of spirits, starting at sudden noises and shadows. His Lady informed me that this melancholy began at the end of summer. On All-Hallows Eve his mood worsened. He dismissed his Lady and his servants and sat alone in his room. In the early hours we were woken by an unearthly sound- a man in the greatest torment of pain and fear. His servants ran to the room ad found Lord Satrin on the floor quite dead. His breastplate had been rent apart and the flesh beneath torn. When my clerics examined his body they found signs of an item, possibly a necklace, being ripped from his neck, almost as if by an animal – his throat was cut in the process. How, we know not – since his room was in the middle reaches of the tower.’
‘A strange thought occurred to me. ‘My Lord’ I said ‘may I see the room?’ Lord Adribard took me there and on entering I saw the ash-tree quite clearly and surprisingly close to the room. I then gained Lord Adribard’s permission to exhume the grave underneath the tree the following day. While the men dug there came a flash of gold in the sunlight. As they dug a little deeper we saw amongst her remains a golden chain and an ancient roman coin.’
Aeris fell silent, gazing into the fire while his companion found his tongue. ‘So it is certain now the woman was a witch?’
It took a few moments for Aeris to reply. ‘In all honesty I still know not, even after all these years. The villagers certainly knew no peace, harried unendingly by the monsters from the plains until they eventually had to abandon their homes a few years after. A witch exacting her revenge would be expected but I have often wondered of the consequences of sacrificing the innocent to such creatures – and that which we do in the name of judgement, we may well find that judgement being turned then to ourselves.
