the Journal

Transcription

the Journal

ACADEMY JOURNAL
Misthaven
Orin Rakatha
Fire Day, 25th Hunting Moon, 2 AC
10 Gest
No Justice for the Shadowsfall
The Shadowsfall, one of the
oldest nations upon Orin
Rakatha, like to put out the
general persona of being honourable. They claim that they
“never betray a contract” and
will follow a contract “until its
completion”. So why then did
one of their own act in stark
contradiction to these words,
and bring down a heavy burden for the rest of the Shadowsfall to bear?
The member in question? That
would be Dagdar. However, a recently performed snap poll would suggest
that the Shadowsfall’s strong reputation does not, in fact, cover this member as recent events have proved!
Picture the scene: You’re a Master
of Lore, a powerful being in your
own right. You have informal contracts with a number of factions that
have, by their own choice, all sworn
to follow you. You’re sat relaxing at
the bar in a quiet, cozy tavern, reading the latest fun-packed edition of
the Academy Journal, and a member
of one of your factions enters the
bar. Yes, this may have been the person you had described as “the worst
of all the Shdowsfall”, but his loy-
Master Justice
alty shouldn’t have been in question,
nor should you be concerned that he
would betray the contract between
you and the Shadowsfall.
Dagdar
Dagdar though had other ideas.
With Master Justice distracted, Dagdar proceeded to pick the pockets,
and pouches, of his sworn ally. And
Whether it was the presence of the Lady of Light, the heat of he did this not once, but three times!
the summer sun, or just the seasonal madness brought on by The first two times Dagdar got nothexcessive use of the local taverns, it would appear that the last ing of significant value, so he regathering of the nations brought together more than just allies. turned the items to their pouches.
The Crimson Winter brought some new faces with them recently to meet The third time, however, he managed
the other nations and amongst them were Brother Rhodin and a lady going to steal a large amount of Gest. And,
by the name of Adreema. Whilst little is known of these two at the mo- to compound this amazing act of dishonour against one he’d sworn loyalty
ment, or what drives them, reports suggest that
to, Dagdar proceeded to bank the acthe two have been affectionate towards
quired Gest directly in front of Maseach other for some time.
ter Justice!
Seemingly inspired by the InterplaNow, with all that said, this could be
nar Fayre, now known as the “Festiclassed
as a piece of brave and skilval”, or perhaps under the spell of the
ful
work,
albeit in a very shady sense.
strange Circus Macabre who appeared
However,
for that description to stick
to be hosting the sporting event, the adyou’d
have
to expect the perpetrator
venturesome couple took to exploring this
to
keep
their
mouth shut, and their
strange new land and found themselves at
actions
secret.
Dagdar though, not
a small, picturesque, abandoned, and totally
known
for
ability
to keep quiet, soon
not haunted, castle. Under its captivating gaze
started
to
brag
about
his actions, even
Brother Thodin summoned his strength, and
to
Master
Justice
himself!
Probably
nerve, and took the plunge, dropping to one knee,
not
his
wisest
of
choices
in
hindsight.
and asking the Lady Adreema to marry him.
Love is in the air!
Continued on page 3
Continued on page 2
Page 2
Misthaven Academy Journal, Fire Day, 25th Hunting Moon, 2 AC
Continued from front page...
The rest of the Shadowsfall were appalled by the actions of one of their own, especially as he had acted independently and not part of their team, and when the
facts of this dishonourable incident got out they quickly
sought to implement their own form of justice.
A Shadowsfall judge was swiftly found and a Trial was
held soon after.
Dagdar was, not unsurprisingly, found guilty and sentenced to public humiliation, and immediately placed into
the stocks and covered in mayonnaise! After the verdict
the Shadowsfall Judge was heard to say that “the Valley
could learn some lessons on how to administer justice
from their actions of stocking Dagdar!”
After all this Dagdar did offer a limited apology to his
Masterless Shadowsfall
colleagues, saying “My bad, but it was funny guys”.
of some, but now the tide has turned and the Shadowsfall
will now realise that they have lost a strong, powerful ally
within Orin Rakatha.
Whether or not Dagdar has learnt his lesson remains
Master Justice though, it would appear, did not find it
to
be seen though, and the repercussions could be even
funny at all, and proceeded to disown the Shadowsfall,
more
serious when Laton Silk, the leader of the Shadowsleaving them without a Master, which if this void is not
fall,
fi
nds
out about Dagdar’s irresponsible actions.
quickly filled will leave their land without Boon nor Bane.
Master Justice has long put up with the actions and jokes
Shadowsfallen!
The Masters of Lore - New Information
War, Justice, Coin, Nature, Knowledge, Shadow, Ice, Truth…
Most of our readers will be aware of most, if not all of these
names. These are the Masters of Lore that walk amongst us in
forms that resemble those that have been previous lost. These
anthropomorphic personifications, despite their recognised appearances, are not the same people that resided with us in our
factions though – they are now powerful entities in their own
right, and not part of any faction or nation, contrary to common
misconceptions.
The Vagrants, led by Khobert – their drunken dwarf – found
themselves at odds with the choices they were given though.
Like all factions, they were encouraged to “choose” a Master
of Lore to follow, and another as a “second”. However, the Vagrants weren’t happy with the visible choices in front of them,
and, not being people to just accept the norm, they set out to
learn more about these Masters.
Firstly, they asked “why?” Why devote themselves, and
all the people in their nation, to these strange creatures that
they knew little about.
Through research and
rituals of knowledge
though they were able
to find the answer to
this: for “Boon and
Bane”.
It would appear that
once a nation commits
to a Master their lands
gain the benefit of both
a Boon and a Bane. The
“Boon” comes in the
form of powerful abilities that can be activated
through the use of Ritual Magic. These are of-
ten called “Faction Skills”, and most people presume that these
powers are always accessible, but this is not the case. Without
the Boon of a Master, these skills would be out of reach of the
nation’s ritualists. The “Bane” affects those that would seek
to harm the nation thereby protecting the people of the nation
from outside forces. Without this, enemy forces could enter
into your lands to pillage, burn, and conquer!
So it would appear that naming a Master of Lore as your nation’s chosen is a pretty important thing to do! The Vagrants
took this newly found information on board but were still not
happy though. They didn’t feel like they aligned with any of
the Masters present so they continued their search for knowledge in the hopes of a solution to their problem.
What they found out next surprised and intrigued them. It
would appear that these eight Masters are just the ones we’ve
met – there are many others that we have yet to meet! A whole
pantheon of them! It would also appear that there are different
types of Master – some of them, presumably the more powerful ones, have the ability to provide Boon and Bane, whilst
other lesser Masters do not.
Armed with this information the Vagrants then decided to
dig deeper to see if they could find a Master that suited them,
and their people, perfectly. And, to their surprise and merriment, they found one, the Master of Waystations. However,
there was a catch. Unfortunately this Master was not one of
those that could provide Boon and Bane. More consternation
followed before their decisions were made.
Returning to the ritual circle they then proceeded to perform
a ritual of devotion to the Master of Waystations, with Khobert
sacrificing a shard of his soul to bind themselves to him.
With factions needing to name two Masters though they were
also able to select a greater Master to provide them with Boon
and Bane, but their hearts and souls are now firmly set in the
hearths of the way-stations that line the long roads of the lands.
Continued from front page...
Page 3
She, despite the unnerving presence that always pervades such ruined places,
took pity on him and accepted, and they are now planning for their wedding
set for next year.
The second coming together of people is far more eyebrow raising though,
and that is the announced engagement of Willow, notable administrator from
the Misthaven Academy, and Master War, the anthropomorphic personification of the concept of battle!
Whilst startling rumours have been circulating about Willow’s betrothal, and
unusual relationship with War, for a while now, conflicting information has
also been heard linking her, romantically, to both Arelion and Ragathor Silverwind of the Summer Stars. However if the recent official announcement is true,
then she has perhaps decided to finally chose just one from her list of admirers.
It remains to be seen whether or not the two (or maybe more?) spurned suitors
will react to this announcement, or, if they do, how. Red wedding anyone?
Nothing is known yet about their expected wedding date though, or whether the engagement was announced to ensure that matters could be resolved
before anything ‘expecting’ arrived, but talk of children has already started,
(would baby wars be called conflicts?) and War apparently wants a lot of protégés. It would appear that Willow is going to be busy!
Willow
This announcement has also given rise to some serious debates on whether
or not such a union is even possible. Willow, a naïve young elf, and the ancient War, humanoid but maybe not a real
person? And, if the union is indeed possible, can a family actually be procreated between two such races? Are anthropomorphic personifications even fertile? Are they actually alive with functioning bodies? Or are they just personas,
given shape by our imaginations, and therefore not capable of such acts?
Time will tell, but, irrespective of the outcomes, the Academy wishes both couples well, and hopes they all find
happiness in their unions. Everyone deserves something good in their life.
Keisora’s Disrespect to the Lady of Light
When faced with a being of almighty power, an entity that
could wipe you from the face of the realm on a whim, or a
presence that is omnipotent and godlike, most people’s first
thoughts would be to treat that individual with respect. Whilst
they may not all personally follow the path of said being, lifeexpectancy becomes far less threatened if you accept their
position of power, and treat them with the deserved respect.
Not everyone appears to share that common sense though.
The Keisora Dynasty, if rumour is to be believed, follow
an honourable path or respect, discipline, belief and divinity.
It appears though, through their witnessed actions towards
the Lady of Light, that the rumours cannot be fully believed,
as they demonstrated their rudeness, and disrespect towards
her. They may claim to follow the Shinto faith, but if that is
true, then their Kami must now be extremely disappointed in
their poor behaviour towards the Lady, as it expects its followers to show such beings the utmost respect. Certainly, the
reputation of the Keisora has been severely damaged by their
actions, and people are now looking very differently at these
rude and disrespectful people.
The Vagrants also showed disrespect to the Lady of Light,
an entity of the Good Sphere, although perhaps more so
from an oversight rather than the direct rudeness of the Keisora. The Lady had requested their members to gather within
the ritual circle to offer up their sins for absolvement to show
that their path was pure and honourable. This they were happy to do – for the most part. One important aspect they appeared to overlook was that two of those that travelled with
them could not be classed as “pure”, nor “good”, especially
in the eyes of the Lady of Light, who strives to defeat the
forces of evil. This culminated with her wrath being invoked,
and the two in question being struck down. Maybe next time
they will think before taking such creatures before a being of
pure good.
And there was one more person of note that was able to
raise the ire of the Lady. Despite her renowned patience, her
composure broke under the strain of the verbal onslaught
that was “Old Bill”. The loud, coarse, and belligerent tones
of the deceased Scunner, now residing in the mortal body of
Matsumoto, was more than she could take, and her placidity
was briefly interrupted as she cast him out of the ritual circle.
It took a humble, powerful and grovelling apology before the
Lady would tolerate his presence again, but a subdued Old
Bill finally managed to re-enter the circle and continue his
ritual duties.
Conversely, one faction stood out from the rest in their
showing of respect, and they were the Asgard. Their actions
perfectly suited the situation, they were respectful in the face
of a powerful being, and this culminated with appreciation of
their actions from their own deity. The other nations could
learn of lot from them.
It would seem that some people have a lot to learn when
dealing with powerful entities. You may not like then, may
not follow them, may not share their beliefs or ideologies, but
if the creature in front of you is that much more powerful
than you, or your entire faction, you should show them due
respect. You don’t have to like them, or even obey them, but
your life essence may depend on your actions towards them,
so a bit of humility and acceptance of them is likely to be the
best choice!
Page 4
Kalina’s Tortured Soul
Many of you already know that
I was one of two members of
the Summer Stars, who signed
a contract thinking that we
were joining the Sisters of
Mordent, but instead unknowingly giving our souls over to
a demon. This unfortunately
meant that the demon could
locate us whenever it wanted,
it could force us to do his bidding, it was able to see through
our eyes, and hear through
our ears. Whenever the wards
were raised around us in the
ritual circle we would do whatever it took to have the wards
lowered, but had no memory
afterwards of the harm we’d
caused in doing so.
knew that we could only exist without
our souls for a year at the most, before
our bodies would die.
The next few months were easier, although the dark fae seemed to have a
fascination for the souls and kept trying to steal them. To begin with, we
felt fine, but as each month passed, the
impact of a lack of soul grew. I cannot
comment for Diz, but I became prone
to anger, becoming less ‘caring’ and
much more scathing of those around
me.
And then the time of games and
the Circus Macabre came. It had been
nearly 10 months since my soul had
been removed, and the effects were
much stronger. I was no longer the
happy and carefree satyr that many remembered.
On the first day of the games, my
Kalina, unable to walk unaided
We were cut out – by necessity – of
all of the planning to locate and kill the
demon. Many would not speak to us,
and others wanted to torture or kill us
- it was a difficult and lonely time for us
both. But there was some hope – the
Summer Stars found a way of temporarily freeing us and removing the demon’s control. At the Time of Reckoning a year ago, rituals were performed,
and our souls were separated from our
bodies and stored in safe repositories
which had to be kept close to us. From
that point onwards we were free of the
demon’s influence, but we were soulless. And whilst having our freedom
was a source of great relief and joy, we
soul-box was stolen once again, either
by the dark fae or their agents (as they
are not beyond using bribery to get
what they need). This time we were
not able to find and recover it, which
did not help my mood or my growing sense of despair. That night I was
attacked as I left the waystation – my
throat was slit and some of my hair
was taken, and I began to fear for what
this might mean. I was to have been
apprenticed to Malacoda, and I knew
full well the power of blood, and that
it should never be underestimated…
On the second day of the games as
the sun was at its highest, a wraith en-
tered the ritual circle, and I recognised
my soul-box in its hand. It raised the
wards, and all I could do was watch
helplessly from the outside, pacing anxiously around the edge with
a growing sense of panic. I watched
as it performed some form of ritual,
saw it use my blood and hair, and
then I saw it raise a large hammer and
screamed “No” as it brought it down
and smashed the box that had been
keeping my soul safe…
I collapsed as my soul was released
and sped so very far from away me,
and I knew that this surely meant my
death… and yet my soul was not lost,
despite the unnatural distance from
my body. I was carried back to camp,
where I regained consciousness, and
but a minute or so later I was knocked
to the ground as if by a great force,
and felt overwhelming joy as I realised
my soul had returned, and with it a
happiness that I had not felt for many
months.
And no doubt many of you witnessed
the inevitable return of the demon…
saw him control me as if I were a puppet… saw him wrack my body and
spirit with pain, and then command
me to die... Be warned - he was so
much more powerful than he had been
a year ago. I am told I was resurrected
– although all I remember is waking as
if from a deep sleep on the ground in
the ritual circle, from a dream in which
I had been bathed in the warming light
of the Summer Star…
So now I am whole, although my
soul is somewhat diminished as a consequence of the resurrection, and I
am weaker than I should be, as the distance to which my soul flew from me
was not natural and has cost me dearly.
I know not why my soul was bound
by the wraith and what it was used
for, and I may never find out. And I
know that my soul still belongs to the
demon - it could find me instantly if
it ever thought to try - so I am leaving this place. I am taking myself as
far as I can get from those who have
become my people - I am too much of
a threat to the Summer Stars, and to
my friends in the other factions here,
but most of all to Diz, whose life now
depends upon your efforts to slay the
demon...
by Kalina, of the Summer Stars
Page 5
An Invitation to our Honoured Guests to be
The day is here, today has come!
A blessed day of mirth and fun,
Where all our kin can co-abide,
In celebration of Fae Pride.
The world would be a better place,
If we could transcend creed and race.
So bring your tankard and your skill,
To play our games and drink your fill
Whether pale of skin with fangs to bear,
Or pointed ears with silken hair,
We really couldn’t give a care,
You’re welcome at the Vagrant’s Fayre.
But beware those wishing to abate,
Us cheery souls of the Dionate.
Our tolerance is not for hate,
You mar our joy, you tempt your fate.
We’re guardians of frivolity, champions of equality
Quellers of adversity, warriors of diversity.
And any who disturb our mirth,
Will find themselves placed in the earth.
When is a chest not a chest?
You, an adventurer trying to make yourself known in the word, spend long, arduous hours fighting your way through strange, dark, and perilously dangerous dungeon
vaults, brutally murdering all the strange denizens that have lived their quietly, ransacking their dead bodies as you pass of their personal possessions and family heirlooms.
You bypass, deactivate, or just smash all their home security traps, and navigate your
way through their private secret doors and passageways on your way to their ultimate
treasure.
You finally make your way to their ancestral vault, with all their worldly wealth earned by
years of hard graft stored securely away from thieves and bandits, bathed in darkness. You
sheath your sword, and light a torch with your flint and tinder, and approach the ornately
carved wooden chest, bound in intricate golden filigree. With greed sparkling in your eyes,
your calmly approach, your mind filling with the endless possibilities of wealth that could
be stored within – gold, gems, jewellery, magical items, artefacts – when suddenly, the chest
starts to animate, gleaming teeth and razor sharp claws slowly appear, and it leaps up with
alarming speed and attacks you, unprepared and prone!
Ah, that old chestnut. What you have just found is the common, garden variety of a
mimic - the bane of adventurers everywhere.
These creatures, usually found in darker areas due to their dislike of sunlight, are able to
pose as items such as stonework, doors and chests, with their ability to mimic the traits of
stone, metal and wood which can survive even the closest scrutiny. They prey on the greed
of adventurers and often catch them flat-footed and unarmed.
Unprovoked Attack!
However, one creature that is a little more unusual than the cursed mimic but, if recent
events are anything to go by, closely related, is the peculiar and often alarming goblin that resides amongst the Horde, known as
Mimic!
In recent times this strange, and quite green creature has attempted to duplicate, or
mimic, various brings, creatures and things, resulting in a varying degree of success, and
risk – laying an egg whilst strutting around with feathers imitating the Lady Crow was a
particularly dangerous stunt – but at the recent gathering she decided to add another layer
to the guise. The feisty goblin known as Mimic, decided to mimic a mimic, mimicking a
chest!
In specially constructed armour, Mimic was able to fold herself up, so that each segment came together, like pieces of a jig-saw, and her appearance changed, remarkably,
from goblin to that of a metal bound wooden chest to, managing to deceive a number
of passers by!
Curious to the nature of this peculiar goblin, Quinn, of the Misthaven Academy negotiated with another of the goblins in the horde, and was able to strike a deal whereby
she took ownership of Mimic so that the Faculty of Cultural Anthropology could study
it. This deal, said to be worth a bit of food and some shinies, would see Mimic temporarily become the possession of Quinn until the next gathering of the nations, so long as
Mimic was fed and watered, and returned unharmed. Who knows what fascinating information the Academy may gather from studying this wild and bizarre critter?
Laying in wait
Page 6
A
Personal
Account
of
the
Circus
Macabre
I have been with this band for several months
now. They are fine warriors, brave and strong,
but still their lack of faith bothers me. They see
holy Varid’s blessing bestowed upon us from
his rituals, and yet they do not worship correctly. This all ties in I believe with the general
lack of faith in this land – but I digress. More
importantly to myself and other fellows will be
my general views of the land at this time of the
“Festival”
Lord Matabar had
been absent from us for
some time. Taking himself into isolation, with
only tools from his personal forge, and the orders not to be disturbed,
he spent many nights in
prayer to Linnel - God
of the Forge, for guidance. Working for 3 days
with no food or rest, he
returned to us, resplendent in a mighty suit of
armour. I believe the
demon attack upon his
person has made him
aware of the need for
stronger protection, if he is to lead us into the fiercest battles.
Showing no fear, he ordered our archers to shower him with
arrows, but as the last fell to the floor, he emerged unscathed,
even his cloak swirling behind him suffering not a tear due to
the masterful crafting of his armour.
Leading us to a traditional meeting point, the people of Orin
Rakatha have been visited by the Circus Macabre, a collection
of strange and bizarre larger than life characters. The declared
a series of games for the people to enter, offering a prize of
great value to the winners. Master Ice informed us that all who
followed him would contest under one banner, so with our
trusted allies the Keisora, plans were drawn.
Whispers filtered among the people of troubles within the
Asgard, and indeed they seemed more surly than normal, if
that is possible.
I had my first direct contact with a member of the so called
“Black Circle”. Talking with a member of the group, I found
him to be open and honest wen talking of their aims – mainly at this time in riding the lands of a particular daemon. In
this we share the same goal and I agreed that both I and the
Knights would offer whatever aid we could. I have seen this
daemon and I believe that it will truly be a struggle to defeat it,
having no doubt it has other minions should it feel threatened.
I was in fact questioned as to why, when the daemon struck
down a tainted being, I did not rush to intervene? My reply is
simple: If daemons want to kill each other, let them at it!
With a small advert placed within the journal inviting other
priests and men of faith to the fort to discuss spiritual issues,
I was most disappointed that none answered my call. I took it
upon myself to begin searching them out. The results of my
research will make up a further report, but safe to say work
is ongoing. I was pleased to talk with a member of the ‘forgotten’, Lucivar Yaslana. While confessing to not being their
spiritual leader, he was most open with me, and I hope to be
able to visit more of their people. Another conversation I had
that doesn’t help my research, but I hope may bear fruit, was
with a member of the Asgard. Now while you will be aware of
hostilities between our two factions, when two members approached me I was justifiably cautious. The first, a large brute
typical of the Asgard, was blunt and rude in his questions, and
I dismissed him out of hand. But the other, a woman, showed
intelligence beyond what I have come to expect of their people. If there is to be a peace between us perhaps this is a place
to begin. Whilst discussing people of note, it may interest the
academy that a bard of particular skill was entertaining at the
tavern, and many places around the lands. He would make a
fine addition to our ranks I believe, if he is not already.
The games did not favour us, although we gave good showings of ourselves. The followers of War carried the day, and
it is to them we shall look to lead the next games. There was
much disagreement as to how the festival should be help, with
master arguing with master, it could only end in conflict. This
led to one of the strangest events – our encounter with a
young man from the Crimson Winter, wishing to pledge loyalty to us. Unsure of his motives, his honesty was tested to
the point of near death. Satisfied, he was welcomed to join us.
Showing great courage in one so young, he even went to the
horde, and they gave his some animal strength, returning to us
a savage beast. Assured we would get our ally back as he was,
we headed to battle. Words were spoken, threats delivered, but
battle could not be averted. The enemy made a strong shield
wall and settled ready for an assault. We should have readied
ourselves, but it was not to be. The battle lust was upon everyone. Howls and chants of Beast, Beast, Beast! rang across
the field, the beasts charged, and we followed. The battle was
short and glorious, but we could not prevail.
Later that day I was to witness an event the likes of which I
have never seen before. Asgardian treachery was revealed, and
in front of the gathering crowns, sentence
was carried out – a
blood eagle. I do not
believe mere words
can fully describe
the sound of torture
as a man’s bones are
breaking, or a brothers tears falling. Even
i, hardened as I am
to passing judgement, still felt a pang
of remorse at the
brothers plight. More
troubling
perhaps
was the display of
power from the mystical Crow, tearing the
man’s soul into a thousand pieces. Such things are not natural.
I hope this have given information to those who would you
it wisely, for the good of us all.
Tiberius Rak, Senior Fellow, Cold Dawn
Harvest Tithe - The Results
Here follows the results of “The Game”, as played at the
last gathering of the nations, “The Festival”:
Territory
By Whom
Commodity
Shadow Dells
Shadowsfall
Tin
4
The Mere
Keisora Dynasty Sharks Teeth 2
The Highlands
Territory Tied
Indigo
The Escarpment
Keisora Dynasty Tin
4
The Rift
Wee Scunners
Silk Worm
6
Badlands
Halls of Asgard Quartz
2
Starvale Peaks
Halls of Asgard Gold
2
Dragur Marsh
Keisora Dynasty Indigo
6
East Waite
Crimson Winter Tin
6
West Waite
Azad-An
Silver
8
Dragur Forest
Summer Stars
Fey Hair
4
Summer Meadows Cold Dawn
Sharks Teeth 8
Fallow Hills
The Forgotten
Gold
8
Bremmin Plain
Azad-An
Indigo
4
Gilden Far
Territory Tied
Silver
-
Page 7
Darkvale
Three Sisters
Last Gate Wood
The Spine
Pendragon Wood
Greensward
Moss Flower Wood
Darkwood
Foghorn Wood
Kingsvale
Misty View
Desolation Downs
Oasis of Souls
Dwimforth Vale
Lost Wood
The Greenheart
Crown of Haval
Summer Stars
Halls of Asgard
Squires
Carnival
Vagrants
Squires
Squires
Squires
Squires
Squires
The Horde
Squires
Halls of Asgard
Summer Stars
Crimson Winter
Summer Stars
Keepers
Indigo
8
Sharks Teeth 2
Fey Hair
4
Gold
0
Fey Hair
2
Sharks Teeth 2
Fey Hair
10
Quartz
0
Silk Worm
4
Tin
0
Gold
4
Quartz
2
Quartz
10
Silver
4
Silk Worm
2
Silk Worm
4
Silver
4
Return my Bringer of Storms to the pillar of the
gods, I will give you ten lunar cycles to do this
or suffer my wrath
A Circle of Unbalance
Information slowly seeping out from this secretive group of malcontents seems to indicate that the
“Black Circle” seeks out balance in everything. However, their actions seem to prove the hypocrisy of
their claim.
The Lady Crow, an Avatar of Death that they all
revere, and follow as their figurehead, is only one
half of a balanced equation in Orin Rakatha. And
the Black Circle’s blinkered viewpoint adds weight to
only one half of that equation skewing the balance
heavily to one side.
The other side of this intangible and anthropomorphic equation? That would be the creature that
has come to be known as “Owl”, an Avatar of Life.
And, whilst this creature hasn’t been seen this year at
the gathering of the nations, her energies surround
us all.
The Black Circle though, despite their claim of balance, do nothing for Owl. They do not revere her,
perform devotion rituals for her, or even spread her
word. Not quite the “balance” that they claim.
And, if the strength of this strange bunch of misIncreasing in number, the “Black Circle” gains a cat...
creants that follow the Crow grows, what will that
mean for the essence of Life? Will is weaken through the imbalance? Will is shorten our life-spans? Will it weaken the
boundaries to the Plane of the Sleepless Dead?
It is something that we need to think about, and maybe consider striving to redress this imbalance towards a healthier
outcome.
by Artemus Black
Page 8
Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It is off to work we go
Dwarves are many things – mostly to do with
mining, gold, runes, beer and beards – but
they are certainly not designed to be scouts or
direction followers, or so recent events would
seem to prove.
The dwarves took up the scroll and went to the tavern
to examine it and found that it was full of dwarven writing,
although unfortunately for them in a dwarven runic dialect
they were unfamiliar with. Ordering up more beer, and activating their renowned dwarven stubbornness, they sat down
and set to deciphering this strange missive that had appeared
During the last gathering, where the Lady of Light watched from nowhere, steadfastly deciding that this was a “dwarven
over the ritual circle, three dwarves in the Vagrants took it matter” and no outside help would be needed!
upon themselves to perform a ritual of devotion. This ritual,
Over the next twelve hours they toiled, grew frustrated,
often overlooked by narrow-minded Incantors, is one of
argued,
had moments of inspiration, but they finally mangiving and restoration rather than one of asking and takaged to crack the runic
ing. It can help restore
writings,
finding that
the balance, to placate
they
appeared
to be inhigher powers, and can
structions
that
would
boost future ritual perlead
someone
to
burformance. Yet often this
ied
treasure!
This
really
ritual is ignored in faperked their attention
vour of greedily taking
now!
However, this is
more and more power.
where things started
The dwarves in questo go a little wrong for
tion, led by Khobert, a
our vertically challenged
newly trained ritualist,
friends.
and accompanied by a
Whilst they had manmusician, entered the
aged
to decipher the
ritual circle, said words
list
of
instructions that
of prayer and thanks,
would
lead
a would-be
and proceeded to do
treasure
hunter
through
one of the things that
the
area,
they
mistakendwarves do well – prosly chose the wrong spot
The dwarves puzzle over ancient runes
pecting. During their
to
start their trail, ensursearch for minerals the three dwarves, two male and one
ing
that
they
would
be
unable
to
follow
the clues accurately,
bearded female, managed to recover a number of small nugleaving
them
lost,
bemused
and
unable
to
find the important
gets of gold. And, despite their normal dwarven instincts to
runic
markers
identifi
ed
in
the
writings.
After
much vexation
pocket these valuable yellow prizes, they offered them to the
and
frustration
at
their
lack
of
scouting
abilities,
the dwarves
ritual circle in sacrifice.
finally relented and decided to seek outside aid, and, after a
Then, when their search for gold was completed, and the short time, they found a fire cultist who knew the area well,
music had stopped playing, and the dwarves were preparing and who could aid them in their time of troubles.
to leave the ritual circle, something very unexpected hapGuiding them to the correct start location, as indicated
pened – a scroll materialised in front of them in the middle
in
the scroll, Brother Xavier set them on the correct path,
of the ritual circle!
and was able to provide his scouting expertise and aid the
in their hunt for runic carvings set into trees, and
WIZARDS CONCILLIUM ON HOLIDAY Vagrants
accurately traversing the long list of strangely worded direcVisitors to the Wizards Concillium camp tions that needed to be followed.
quickly observed that the wizards were not
Upon reaching their final destination, the dwarves said
present at the last gathering of the nations. farewell to their fire cultist guide, and proceeded to idenHowever, those who waited in their encampment for
tify the exact location of the buried treasure, as indicated
more than thirty seconds heard a deep and disembodied
by more runic carvings, and returned to a skill they knew
voice, which stated:
well – digging. After a short while they came across a hessian
wrapped, engraved metal coffer. After a small scuffle where
“Hello, we are all on holiday at present but will return
each of the assembled Vagrants wanted to take ownership
soon. If you have an urgent message for the Concillium,
of their prize, they opened the container to find the contents
please speak now”, followed by a musical tone.
Visitors to the Legion’s encampment will have also no- wrapped in a cloth of fine black velvet.
As they unravelled the cloth, the end of their quest came
ticed their absence. However, waiting at this camp just
into
sight, and they all stood dumb-founded at the prized
met with a foreboding silence. Are the Legion off huntitem
it revealed. Then large smiles engulfed their faces at
ing wizards perhaps? Or perhaps being hunted?
their
remarkable
success at finding this valuable and ancient
We hope that the wizards have an enjoyable break, and
treasure,
and
their
thought suddenly turned to where they
return safely.
could hide it!
Eagon’s Elegy, by Guthix Wolsfbane
Page 9
A time may come when I forget my name, or lose all memory of home… but I shall never forget
the night my brother was taken from this world... and the next. The story of Eagon Wolfsbane is
choked in pain and bitterness, but I would never trade it for the happiest lie.
His story grows out of my own... As a boy I fled a war-ravaged land across a vast ocean, and
was saved from drowning by one of the Asgard - Soren Wolfsbane. I cannot say for how long I had
passed out, but when I woke the first face to greet me was that of Soren’s son Eagon. He was my
first friend in a foreign land.
Seasons came and went, and I grew up with Eagon as his adopted brother, and the two of us
were as close as brothers could be. We fought with sticks, swam in the cold rivers of the North, and
exchanged ancient myths around the dying embers of the autumn campfire.
As soon as Eagon came of age, he left his father and me behind to help our people settle in Orin
Rakatha. We saw him less and less each year, until one evening our father summoned me. “Guthix,
word has reached me that some sinister change has befallen your brother. You are to seek him out
in Orin Rakatha and keep close watch. Offer him whatever protection you can”. No one could say for
sure what had happened to Eagon, but when I found him I knew he was a different man. He had
found a love for plotting and spying, and his voice was colder.
The warriors of Asgard were ignorant to the truth - that my brother had become consumed by some
evil that festered within his very soul, one that granted him unfathomable dark powers. Three moons
waxed and waned before the darkness took him entirely. Eagon had long been plotting to assassinate a number of influential jarls within the faction, and on one mild summer’s evening he and his
conspirators stormed the mead hall in a failed mutiny, and was immediately thrown into the dungeons
to await trial.
Mere minutes before that trial was to take place, Eagon tapped into the darkness within him, broke
out of his imprisonment and unleashed his deadly wrath upon the Asgard, ignoring only me due to the
former bond between us. We were barely able to overcome him, and exhausted
he was taken to the ritual circle for his judgment.
In all this chaos I could feel my heart cleave, for despite all he
had done he was still my baby brother. Vivid in my mind is that
excruciating moment Master War sentenced him to be blood-eagled,
a ritual so punishing it is performed but once in a lifetime. His ribs
were cracked, his insides distorted, his screams pierced the night sky.
My own kin held me to the floor so that I may bear witness helplessly,
and made me deliver the killing blow to prove my loyalty. And so with
a trembling hand I took my brother’s life that wretched night.
We of the Halls of Asgard are children of Valhalla, the great house of
the Gods, whose mighty company we join when we die. The blood eagle
ritual denies that passage, and its victims are destined to wander the underworld
for all time. Valhalla was robbed of one soul that night, and my ancestors
mourn his empty place amongst their rank. I shall pray – every night for as
long as I live – that mercy is granted to his
soul, so that I may greet him
in the world behind the clouds.
Saviour or Fanged Menace?
Since the last event there has been numerous
sightings of a strange half-vampire priest, going
by the name of Father Kielbasa, who has been
travelling around the various camps of the nations offering what he describes as the “cure”
to Vampirism.
He did, allegedly, managed to find members
from a selection of different factions that were
intrigued enough to take up his offer, however,
there were many others, like the members of
the Summer Stars, that outright rejected it. After surreptitiously checking up on those that apparently imbibed the Father’s “cure”, no imme-
diate, or obvious effects have thus far been
observed.
Referring himself as a “dhampir”, Father
Kielbasa stated that he and the group he
represents, “The Vangrieves”, are in Orin
Rakatha to rid the land of “turned” vampires - those that are created, and not born.
Despite such a noble claim, fears are still
running high due to the Vangrieves dark
heritage. When asked, Patience Magee politely declined an interview stating that she
still gathering her stake and garlic, ready for
the next encounter with the Vangrieves.
Page 10
The Temple of the Black Circle, an open letter to Artemus Black
It is often the case that
new philosophies and concepts are challenged by
those that do not seek to
understand the truth of the
matter , instead like a blind
gardener throw stones inside their house of glass.
It was so, that Artemus
Black, a frequent writer
for the journal whose face
has yet to be seen at any
of the gatherings of people,
yet reports constantly on
news from them, decided
to launch his views on the
recently formed Temple of
the Black Circle onto the
greater sea of information
that is our general understanding of existence; such
views were sailed under the
flag of truth - A true misconception.
Sagacious Kenshin
So here, I, Sagacious Kenshin, Abbot of the Temple
proper , write this open
letter to you, Artemus
Black, in the hope that together we may truly find
understanding on the subject, for is it not written;
“You should probably look
into that”? (Catechism 3.1 of
the Way).
To Artemus Black
The Temple of the Black
Circle is not a cult, nor a
religion, we are not exclusive nor “socially deviant”, I would suggest that
you throwing accusations
for things you have not
seen with your own eyes
is more of this nature then
we are. As a temple, we embody a philosophy that we
take to guide our existence,
a philosophy that is as old
as mortal understanding of
existence, one echoed in
Nature and his followers in
the camps of the Summer
Stars or in the proud and
wise warriors of the Legion.
It is a Philosophy concerning life and death, of past
and future, of circularity
and balance. The Circle represents the ever flowing
passage of energy through
life and death. As you said,
yes, we do venerate the
Lady Crow, the term which
you yourself used displaying reverence; one used
solely by those who follow
the philosophy itself, to our
knowledge. We also venerate her sister , the Lady
Owl, a being sadly not seen
on this plane for some time
(To my understanding, she
is looking after her most
recent hatchling), the Lady
Owl is a Harbinger of Life as
the Lady Crow is a Harbinger of Death. This does not
make them Avatars of such
things, like the cruel Black
Pharaoh, but in fact servants of existence. The lady
owl ushers life into this,
our perception of existence, whilst the lady crow
ensures that souls of mortals are ushered without
undue suffering to where
they belong in there next
existence.
The Temple itself stands
as an organisation to help
us few, who have dedicated ourselves to assisting in
these tasks and to follow
the five concepts of our
Philosophy, to continue on
with our tasks. To join the
temple, it is a matter of
wishing to do as much, to
join the circle, is to swear
an Oath to My Lady Crow
or My Lady Owl, and have
them accept you.
The five concepts, so we
are all informed, are so: The
easing of suffering, the
proper passage of life and
death, the keeping of balance,
the gathering of knowledge
and finally, understanding.
To utter the words that
My Lady Crow spoke to me
when first she accepted
myself and my brother into
her service; “A fear of death
is a fear of life.” Your words,
Artemus, speak of fear and
ignorance. I hope I have educated you somewhat in our
ways; I issue here an invite
to you and any other who
wishes to know more to
come for tea at any gathering they have time to do as
much. I will happily respond
to any questions you have,
teach you of our ways and
attempt, with you, to reach
understanding.
Signed
Sagacious Kenshin, First
Abbot of the Temple of the
Black Circle.
Page 11
Dionaite - A Backwater hell-hole? Or a land of
enchantment and wonder? A Traveller’s guide
When the editor asked me to write a holiday article I was,
as you can guess, excited to take the free holiday. Until that is
I found out I was to write about Dionaite. I asked my good
friend Crow what she thought and her words were “I’d rather
die than visit that s**t h**e!” Not exactly the comforting
words I wanted to hear.
So with a heavy heart I packed for the journey. It took a
lot longer to get there than I had originally planned. Mainly
because there are no direct coach lines to Dionaite as it is
not exactly a holiday hot spot or major tourist destination.
It was with a bit of luck (good or bad I am still not sure of)
that when I was staying at a rather charming and quaint waystation they received a delivery of wines and ales from KBC
(Khoberts Brewing Company). KBC it turns out is one of
Dionaites major exporters of superior alcoholic beverages.
The rather dower and drunk Dwarves offered me a free ride
back to Dionaite. It was a rather pleasant journey basking
in the sun on the back of the wagon watching the world go
by. At night we sat round a campfire, eating the Dionaite
national dish (dwarf stew) and drinking some rather potent
cider (pear and Unicorn piss if the dwarves are to be believed).
It turns out that Dionaite is a mountain kingdom. The
views from the mountain passes were breath taking, though
that could have been heart burn from the Dwarf Stew. Some
valleys dominated by rivers, waterfalls and lakes where Naiads
and Mermaids (I didn’t know until this trip that there in fact
two varieties of mermaid, salt water and fresh water) played
in the water or basked in the sun on the water drenched rocks.
Other valleys contained magical enchanted woods and forests where all manner of brownies, satyrs, centaurs and every
kind of magical creature romped freely dancing through the
sun soaked glades.
It dawned on me that through this bit of the journey that
I hadn’t seen any towns or cities and the dwarfs
explained that Dionaite is made up of lots of
villages and hamlets with no central government to speak of. There are only two
cities, The Dwarven realm of Lafroyg, which
is an underground city and the Elven city of
Tray’Hugres (which apparently if I was to
stand in the centre of it, I wouldn’t realise).
I was a bit sad when my guides announced
that our journey together was about to end, not that
the dwarves were exactly good travel companions, but
the pear and unicorn piss cider is exceptional! And so
it was that I found myself at the headquarters of KBC,
my bags at my feet and having no notion of where to
go next. I was introduced to the proprietor himself
and I can assure you that he is a rude and grumpy as
rumour would have it. I asked if it was possible to have
a brewery tour and he very graciously told me “Do wot
yew fucking lyke just dont touch nuffing”.
I am glad to say that my guide for the tour was a rather
charming creature known as a Blud Imp. His name was
Shnuffles and he showed me around. I have to say
that until this trip I had thought the labels on the
wines at the Pickled Pixie were just a marketing
gimmick. It turns out that they are in fact a fairly accurate description. The unicorns in their rather large paddocks, where
they do indeed frolic freely eating elderflowers. I saw the
satyrs being sponge bathed and many other wondrous and
magical sights, though my gaze did linger a rather long time
on the Satyrs. I even saw the pixie warehouse, the sight of
which still haunts my nightmares. Can Pixies really be as bad
as Shnuffles claims? The tour lasted 3 days. The first day seeing everything and the next two recovering from the tasting
session from the first night.
The next stage of my visit was the dwarf stronghold of
Lafroyg. I was expecting a rather dreary, dank underground
complex. It turns out there are more to dwarves than their
lust of gold. The city was awe inspiring in its complexity and
craftsmanship. If you like architecture and history then Lafroyg is the destination for you. If you are seeking culture and
enlightenment you are probably best giving it a miss.
From Lafroyg I travelled to the Elven city of Tray’Hugres.
True to their word, the Dwarves were right. The city is indeed a magical and enchanted city here nature and the Elves
work in harmony. As beautiful as it is, Elves (in my opinion)
are rather dull creatures. Tree hugging, vegetarian, idealists.
Apparently immortality is just a very good excuse for procrastination. Either that or the Dwarfs spike the water with
valium. After looking round the plethora of gift shops (is
there ever any need for THAT much organic lavender soap?)
and organic health food store i found myself rather bored. I
lessened the boredom with some Elven Mead (and if that is
is the only good thing the Elves ever produce it justifies their
existence!) and decided to leave the next morning.
So I picked a road at random and started down it, bags in
hand. For two weeks (I am guessing the exchange rate with
Dionaite is very favourable for the Editor to let me have so
long away and such a large allowance) I wandered Dionaite.
Passing through hamlets and villages, staying overnight at the
inordinate amount of waystations. I have to say that
the locals are a very friendly and welcoming people. I
should point out that the human population is not
in the majority and there are so many magical
creatures from faerie tales all living together
in relative harmony. With the singular exception of the Pixie.
Finally the time came for me to return home
and as luck would have it i met up with the same
dwarfs who gave me a lift to Dionaite, they were
returning to pick up the empties and very graciously
offered me a lift home.
And so I sit here at my desk, penning this article. Hell Hole
or Land of Enchantment? I think that it is a land ideally suited for pub crawls, with more taverns, pubs and waystation
that you could possibly visit in a year. It is a quirky, honest
and simple land that would ruined by an influx of Orc Stag
Dos and Goblin Hen Dos I can see that in a few years it
will culturally ruined due to the stag dos and the cheap
exchange rate. My advice would to be get in
there quick before it is ruined.
by Sue D’onayme
Page 12
The Asgardian “Blood Eagle” - An Explanation.
We have being made aware by
members of the Misthaven Academy Journal that many individuals
of other nations were left with questions about the Blood Eagle execution of the Asgard traitor carried
out at the last festival on the evening
of Steel day, 18th of High Sun, by
the Halls of Asgard.
Now, officially, the Halls of Asgard have nothing to say, as the details of that traitor and his actions
have been expunged from the Asgard History and Lore. Though I
am aware that Guthix Wolfsbane
has sent his own piece into the Journal that mentions his traitorous exbrother’s name, I will not utter that
traitor’s name again.
Nevertheless, with recent articles
in the Journal from Tiberius Rak of
the Cold Dawn, and Captain Scales
of the Shadowfall Keepers, there
are clearly questions that require
some sort of answers.
Shaman Kori
Approximately a year ago the
Dragon Clan huscarl, and acting
Bretwalda Loki’s right hand man
fell in honourable combat in battle
at the end of the gathering during
one of those big battles that have,
over time, marked so many of the
gatherings of the nations.
Given the lateness of the day the
Lady Crow made it clear that there
was no time left to perform a resurrection and that his soul was hers to
escort to its rightful place. Whilst
the saner Asgard argued that this
just proved that it was said huscarl’s time, War was adamant that
the huscarl was still needed alive to
maintain Loki’s interim reign.
Thus a deal was then struck between Master War and the Lady
Crow for his resurrection to be conducted at the start of the next gathering of the nations. And, rather
than check on his sanity personally after being returned from the
dead, Loki left order for his trusted
lieutenant to be appointed as field
commander after his resurrection.
However, upon his ‘successful’ resurrection at the next gathering, the
Lady Crow did warn that his soul
wasn’t all there due to the length of
time between his death, and the subsequent ritual, and his movements
were unnatural and stiff.
Still, as per acting Bretwalda Loki’s order, the huscarl was put in
charge despite declaring himself the
Dragon-lord, giving strange instructions, and the fact that he resembled
– and smelled like - a fresh risen
corpse.
He then deliberately insulted the
Keisora Dynasty regarding the use
of the Wizard Concillium’s Dragon
Egg to make an omelette for breakfast, which triggered the Asgard
- Kesora war, which left a strain on
inter-nation relationship. Indeed,
attempts to repair this relationship
with honour duals were also deliberate undermined by him with further
insults, and ordering raids.
Then, between the gatherings, he
discovered a newly arrive group of
Romano-British on Orin Rakatha
and paid them to conduct hit and
run attacks on the Eagle Clan settlements, steal their cattle, and undermine Jarl Rodan.
And, during the last gathering the
Bretwalda Loki
traitor fed misinformation and false
scout reports to Loki to give the impression that the other Nations were
withholding agreed trader tax. He
then decided to create mischief with
the Keepers by arranging to steal an
item of importance from them, as a
sort of strange status symbol. Also,
when caught by the Keepers he tried
to hide his guilt rather than face the
Keepers, thus dishonouring both
himself, and the Asgard.
Public Apology
Following the Blood Eagle of the Asgardian traitor, I feel as
High Shaman and Jarl of the Raven Clan that a public apology
is owed to the Lady of Battle, Ari, as an error of memory by Jarl
Rodan and myself led to her not being allowed to exact her revenge upon the traitor for his use of mind control magic upon
her to gain her support for his twisted schemes in the Jarl council. As this insult was done publicly I will apologise publicly.
Thus, Lady of Battle, Ari, Leader of Swan Clan, and the head
Valkyrie and beloved battle-sister.
I, Jarl Kori, Leader of Raven Clan, and High Shaman of the
Asgard, and foolish battle-brother.
Fully and unreservedly apologise for the none-intended insult to your station and to your person.
I ask for your forgiveness for failing to allow you to deliver
your justice upon the traitor.
Page 13
His final betrayals at the start of the last gathering are still being investigated, as additional un-Asgardian actions
are still coming to light, but what can be confirmed is:
1) He deliberately miss-interpreted and refused direct instruction from acting Bretwalda Loki.
2) He deliberately tried to assassinate members of the Jarl Council and created a Dragon Clan dominance
(whether this was for himself or Loki isn’t clear at this time).
3) He promised money to the Khalid vampire Vestitor Di Chiatta for mercenaries, and blood money that he did
not possess.
4) When judgement time came he used unknown dark arts to enhance his strength, and a resistance to magic to
try and escape, with the continual objective to massacre the none-dragon clan Asgardians.
accuser after hearing the statement.
After, the Jarl or Lord gives a statement confirmAs some will have seen on the evening of Steel day ing Guilt usually in the form of the damned Hávamál
18th of High Sun in the last ritual, this is a brutal and speech:
painful execution method used for the worst of all traiCattle die, kinsmen die.
tors of the Halls of Asgard. As such it has only been
You yourself will die.
used a handful of times over the recorded history of
And the word about you will die.
the nation.
For you have won an evil reputation.
It starts with the accused being brought forward to a
Cattle die, kinsmen die.
holy place, such as a ritual circle or temple so that the
You yourself will also die.
Gods might witness and act should anything untoward
be going on. To prove they have no honour they are
Know that your reputation has died.
brought forward escorted by a fire carrying escort, to
Then those who were betrayed, their close kin or a
prevent any interference from Shadowmen or other en- nominated representative, will step forward and tie the
emies of the state.
guilt party on an uncomfortable stand. Then, taking
While this is done the escort chant the words of either the ritual dagger or a woodcutter’s axe, depend‘Wardruna – The way to Hel’.
ing upon the degree of agony desired, they will make
Once at the selected place the accused individuals the first cut.
are made to kneel before their accuser and their Jarl
The first cut is to carve the clan symbol on the back
or Local Lord (as appropriate). Here the Accuser will and then open the back down the centre.
outline their crimes in the presence of all parties with
Then using the weapon of their choice, sever all the
an interest in the case.
ribs from the spine starting from the shoulder down
The accused is allowed to offer a statement of defence to the loins, the last action is traditional to pull out
to counter the charges or prove that their actions were the lungs and watch the guilt to suffocate in their own
for the greater justice or honour of Halls of Asgard. blood. Then, if a final insult is required, finally an in(As seen by Eagon’s and Loki’s trial). These defences nocent kin member of the guilty will slit the traitor’s
rarely help since if they had a creditable defence they throat to show they are nevermore part of that family
would not being brought before the Gods, but there is kin line.
one historical example of the Gods striking down the
by Jarl Kori, High Shaman of the Asgard
The Blood Eagle Ritual
S
UMMER STARS GUILTY OF TORTURE - AGAIN!
How long will members of the Festival
put up with the bestial behaviour of the
Summer Stars faction? Previously having
been observed stripping and torturing a
defenseless captive, and pinning an innocent lizard to a tree, this dire behaviour
has continued, with other lizards being
hung, drawn and thrown onto the fire.
Not only this, but one of their members has even
turned feral, and been spotted roaming the woods
near the Festival, seemingly looking for an unsuspecting passer by to devour.
For a supposedly nature-loving group, surely this
is intolerable behaviour? Maybe we should consider
welcoming their Dark Fey enemies in, to displace this
miserable faction with one that behaves more decently?
by Kay Drakken, Crimson Winter
Two dark, and evil torturers!
Page 14
IN AND AROUND THE ACADEMY FACULTIES...
The Faculty of Spectral Reanimation
An Interview with a Vampire
It may surprise many of our readers, but for a long
while the Asgard had one that travelled with them that
harboured a dark secret. The Asgard were oblivious to
this though, despite him wearing the colours of the Kalid, and the truth only finally emerged after he left their
nation and then fed on the blood of all the nations that
had been gathering into a ritual circle by the now absent
Malacoda.
Strangely though, even when the facts of his heritage emerged, nothing was done. Even after he entered a
sealed ritual circle to feast on their blood, he was allowed
to leave unfettered. After that, things quietened down,
and people thought they’d seen the last of him.
However, during the Asgardian “Blood Eagle” ritual,
this vampire returned and claimed a blood debt owed to
him by the Asgard. One that does not bode well for them.
The other nations, remarkably, then allowed this creature
of the night to again walk off into the night without so
much as a questioning thought.
Does he have them all under his thrall?
Our intrepid reporter, not wanting to let our readership
down with the lack of the full story, took it upon himself
to bravely track down this dangerous creature of unlivVestitor di Chiatta
ing, and managed to secure an exclusive, but seemingly
“Did anyone in the Asgard know that you were a vambrief, interview. What follows were taken from his notes
that were found strewn across the forest floor, many of pire, or had any suspicion that you may be… different
them blood stained. The reporter, or his body, is yet to be from normal living beings?”
found, but he would wish that his story is published.
No, which even now makes me smile, given their opin-
ions on all things unliving. They even ate what I cooked
for
them without ever questioning what it was they were
“For the record, can you tell our readers your full name
eating – happy days.
and any titles please?”
I am Vestitor di Chiatta, Shadowlord of the Kalid but “Were you a member of the Kalid before joining the Asas for titles, my people do not believe in titles. No, Shad- gard? Or did that alliance start later? Were you ever truly
loyal to the Asgard, or did your loyalties always lie with
owlord is not a title, it is the name of my people.
the Kalid.”
“If I remember correctly, you first became noticed withI believe I have already answered your question.
in the realm whilst you were travelling with the Asgard.
What was your position with them, and what was your
“Have you ever sired, or considered siring anyone? Do
real purpose there?”
you have any ‘family’?”
Noticed? Ha! No-one noticed me, the advantages of
Hmmm.... you need to be a little more specific as to your
glamour I suppose. I was a simple traveller wandering meaning of “sired”. I have..... “children”.
Orin Rakatha and the Asgard were the first to invite me “Did you ever feed on any member of the Asgard? Or,
in to their home to offer their hospitality to a lost soul. In for that matter, any allied members of the other travelling
truth I had been sent by the Kalid Truebloods to observe nations?”
the Asgard and report back to them as to whether they
Do you take me for a fool? Such an act would draw
were worthy of being invited in to the Kalid Empire.
suspicion and I was there to perform a task and remain
“Were you “turned” whilst you resided with the Asgard? hidden amongst the people of Orin Rakatha, so the anOr was your time with them always that of a vampire?”
swer to your question is no, my task was more important
In truth I do not recall being made whole. It happened than my thirst.
so very, very long ago; long before the Fae Wars when “How do you feel about the recent emergence of living
my people went underground, long before the Catastrophe ‘pure blood’ vampires, and dhampirs, entering the realm?
that forced us to leave Dja-Akh and long before we came Do you perceive them as a threat? Prey? Or not something worth your time?”
to Orin Rakatha. It is all I have known and all I am.
I would be extremely surprised if Pure Blood was
amongst the people of Orin Rakatha, if there was then
all of my kind would know and I pity the living of Orin
Rakatha if that was ever to happen. As for dhampirs,
they a half breeds, neutered beyond significance and of no
concern to me or my kind
“How do you feel about an alleged ‘cure’, or ‘vaccine’ to
vampirism being sold to the nations?”
Hahahahahahahhahahaha
Page 15
ing can be distracted, the Asgard take it to another level.
Though at the same time I suppose the Asgard, being and
honour led faction, feel the debt must be paid as agreed.
The Asgard will act, of that I am sure, and within a year
and a day I will have my blood money, or my blood
“After the Blood Eagle ritual, you were seen walking
away arm-in-arm with the Lady Crow. Is this a long lasting friendship? A budding romance? Something more?
Or was it just a way to wind up her growing ‘murder’ of
Black Circle followers?”
“You were witnessed entering a sealed ritual circle and
Oh now there is an interesting concept, a relationship
draining the blood from a dozen vials, gathered by Malbetween
an unliving and an avatar of Death, what could
acoda from the factions, and then allowed to disappear
possibly
go wrong. Crow and I understand each other. We
again without intervention. Did this surprise you? Were
are
similar
in ways you mortals could never understand
you expecting trouble?”
I was thirsty, so very, very thirsty; and seeing all that
blood lying before me was too much for my self control to
withstand. I saw an opportunity to slake my thirst without causing harm to any living being. My time had come
to return to the Kalid anyway so it was of little concern to
me whether people knew my true nature or not. I confess
I had expected a bit more consternation from the people
gathered round but the living are so very easily distracted.
I saw my chance and took my leave
“Following on from this, your appearance in the recent
Asgard ‘Blood Eagle’ ritual seemed to be unmolested, and
you were left to leave the area unscathed and without interference, again, even by the Asgard themselves, despite
them all finding out about the blood debt they allegedly
owe you. What are your thoughts on this lack of action by
the Asgard, and the blood debt itself ?”
In my previous answer I alluded to how easily the liv-
and I believe I offer it a friendly face and an understanding ear. As for it’s“murder”, I confess I am intrigued why
a mortal would offer their soul when there is nothing to
gain but lasting purgatory. How easily the short lived offer themselves without truly knowing the outcome bemuses
me.
“I understand, much like any creature, you have a need
to feed but tell me, is your prime choice of fine dining just
humans? Are the other races, or cross-races, just as palatable or are they like a cheap wine? And does blood mature
with age making older humans taste better?”
The longer lived the host the richer the blood becomes
with memories, knowledge and experience, but like all
food, it starts to deteriorate after a time. Innocence provides a truly refreshing meal too. Have you noticed also
how Elven kind are long lived but never seem to age?
interview by Xavier Proudfoot, presumed deceased
The Faculty of Minstrels and Mummers
“Ode to Death”, Ari, Lady of Battle, Asgard
Death thou art feared as the end of life, the end of days
But thou art not so
For those that we thinkst thou dost overthrow die not, death
Nor yet dost thou kill me
From rest and sleep which but thy pictures be, much
pleasure.
Then from thee much more must flow.
And poppy and charms can make us sleep as well,
A reflection of thy stroke.
Why fearst we then,
When one short sleep past and we wake eternally
and death shall be no more.
Gone but never forgotten
Page 16
The Faculty of Culinary Delights
I am Khobert, Dwarven Master Brewer from the magikal realm of
Dionaite. I have been brewing for over 200 years. Sum of my brews
ave been passed down from my ancestors, some are recipes from
uver races but given a Dwarven make over cos well it s well nown
by us Dwarfs that the other race cant andle their alcohol. Sum of
these brews ave been created by me. Cos I get bored listening to the
vagrants going on about ow we ave to look after the trees and the
value of fay air, which of course any Dwarf can tell you a fay air
is worth less than a gold, but the vagrants like to debate.
Anyway I thought that I should rite all these recipies down cos like
I might die and the knowledge wood be lost.
Khobert, Master Brewer, KBC
Satyrs Sweat
This is one of my own recipies and
I stumbled across it quite bye axeydent. KBC owns an erd of unicorns.
Sum thyme ago I hired sum travelling
Satyrs to look after them. I should
ave listened to my father wen he
warned me about em. It wuz a hot
summer that year and i remember
that the unicorns were looking a bit
fat and that the piss was not very
elderflowery. I also remember that a
number of the dwarf lasses were
with child out of wedlock and that
a number of the young lads were
walking with a strange limp. I put
this down as just odd.
That wuz until the day I noticed
that the unicorns were not in the
Elder Paddock, scared that they had
broken free and that they wood
come to arm, cos as everyone nows,
Unicorns are beautiful creatures,
but stewpid beyond belief. Anyways
I found out why the uncicorns were
fat, as I found them in the Peach
Orchard, gorging themselves silly.
I also found the Satyrs. And the
Dwarven lasses. And the Dwarven
lads.
Now i recall that when I hired
the Satyrs that i thort to myself “what a good looking bunch of
guys”. So did the lasses and lads
so it seems. I dont qwyte remember
the rest of that afternoon. But I
do remember waking up in my bed
sumthyme later smelling vaguely of
Satyr and peaches. It was an intoxicating smell, I went back down
to the orchard and gave the Satyrs
a piece of my mind. I also told the
young Dwarfs off and ow I had a
mynd to tell their parents about all
the faunication that ad been going
on. Anyways I made em take the
unicorns back to the paddock.
The Satyrs were innebriated and
passed out in the orchard and sew
ii got the lads and lasses to sponge
the Satyrs down as they wuz
beginning to stink to high heaven.
I noticed that the young Dwarfs
were blushing and giggling as they
did this and bugger me if the yonguns werent tayking sips of it. I
of course scolded em sum more and
sent em ome. But the satyrs sweaty
water didnt alf smell nice and so i
took a sip myself. You know just to
see wat the fuss wuz about.
Well in Tay’’Toe’Talls name it tasted good. Salty but still good with a
nice overtone of peach. Well that i
nyte I had a very odd dream witch
i wont go into but the next day I
started work on a new wyne. It
took several attempts.
Recipie
After about a week you. then
add the pint of Satyrs urine, this
enhances the peach flavour.. It is
important to know that if the
Satyrs urine is cloudy it means
that they need to be tayken to
the vet and given antibiotics for
a week and that it will not make
a good wyne. Well it doesnt affect
the wyne to be honest, but it does
mean you will need to go to the
doctors after about a week. let the
wyne absorb the Satyrs urine, a
day or two should do.
You then add the unicorns urine.
This is a very important step and
shood not bee missed. The Satyrs
1 bucket of satyrs sweat (ideally
fed on peaches, but any fruit will
do)
Sugar
are very impure creature and the
1 pint of Satyrs urine
unicorns are very pure (on account
1 pint of unicorns urine.
of em being so stoopid). The unicorns
urine cleans the impurit ies of the
Yew take the satyrs sweat and wyne and makes it an olesum drink.
add the sugar to it. Make sure it is After a day or two the wyne is
dissolved. You add the yeast and let ready for bottling.
the concocktion ferment at room
Yew myte bee interested to know
temperature.
that I am currently in discussions
wiv GAG (Gnome Alchemist Guild)
about using the wyne without the
unicorns urine as a medicine for
libido dysfunction and also with
WHWC (Witches, Hags and Warlocks Consortium) for the production of love potions.
Blud Imp Liquor
This is a typical Dwarfish wyne
and one we dont often share with
outsiders. Not cos we are racisit but
it s just to good to share.
Yew may remember me mentioning the Blud Imp earlier. Well these
are friendly little things that are
considered good luck by us Dwarfs.
Saying that we dont actually know
that much about em. Lyke where
they live., how they live, whether
they speak or anything at all really.
It is customary in the dwarven
societies in Dionaite to leave a bowl
of dwarf ale outside the back door
once a week and in the morning all
your recycling with be sorted into
the correct boxes.
Some Dwarfs also leave their
washing in a pile next to the ale
as well and in the morning all the
washing is neatly ironed and folded.
Except for the underwear witch is
mysteriously missing.
I myself use the Blud Imps to
clean my wyne bottles. In fact i use
the Blud Imps so regular lyke that
I ave given up putting out bowls of
dwarf ale and just keep a barrel of
the stuff there with a note telling
the blud imps to elp themselves and
make sure it s kept topped up.
Us Dwarfs also leave a bail or
two of straw out for em during
the wynter so they dont freeze to
death. They seem to appreciate this
as they ryte polite thank you notes.
Well we assume they are thank you
notes as they arent ritten in any
language that we know. They could
just be gibberish.
Anyway part of this ancient tradit ion is that along with the recykling being sorted and the laundry
ironed (and wyne bottles cleaned)
they leave little bottles of their blood
Page 17
(we assume it s theirs anyway). Now
these little bottles are the real gems
(worth their wait in gold yew myte
say) cos from these we brew the
Blud Imp Liquor and it s a dam good
wyne.
Another syde effect of aving a
Blud Imps favour is that they are
the mortal enemies of the pesky
pixie (yew myte be familiar with
the old dwarf proverb the only good
pixie is a pickled pixie) and the pixies
are ryte scared of the imps and
give ya ouse a wyde birth.
You ave to love the Blud Imps, no
ouse without one is an ome as we
say in Dionaite.
Recipie
1 bottle of imp blud.
1 barrel of water
Sugar
2 drops of Elf Tears
Moon Lyte
A good singing voice
On the nyte of a full moon you
pour the bottle of imp blud into the
water. Its important that this is
done in the moon lyte. It can be indoors in front of a window as long
as the moon lyte falls onto it. YOu
then add the sugar and stir till it
is all dissolved. You then cover until
the next full moon.
Unlyke other wyne yew cant just
leave it to ferment. Every nyte it is
customary to sing to the fermenting wyne. this aint exactly true
you can just talk to it every nyte
and tell it stories. In fact wen my
nan, Lag Avulin, went senile at 856
i moved Lag’s bed into the distillery
and she constantly tells it stories
of the past. I suspect that the Imps
also come to listen as when i bring
her a cuppa tea in the morning often her bed is made and her hair
dun.
Anyway when the next full moon
comes along you open the barrel in
the moon lyte and add the two
drops of Elf Tears. How you get the
Elf Tears is up to you, i find the
best way to gather elf tears is to
tell one about the thyme i had to
put a unicorn fowl down, or the
thyme I axeydently trod on a kitten. Elves are so soft, pretty much
anything maykes em cry.
The wyne is then ready to bottle.
The wyne, lyke all wynes, improves
the longer it is kept, but with this
wyne you ave to read it a story
every full moon or it goes off.
Khobert
Probably the best dwarven
brewer in all Dionaite!
Pay him a visit in the Vagrant’s camp and
sample his wares, and you’ll tatse for yourself!
Page 18
The Faculty of Cultural Anthropology
The Vagrants Charter
Scribe’s Note: Since the Vagrants formed a little over a year ago, we have generally agreed on most things regarding the
way our faction is run. The leadership is a light touch and we all mostly leave each other to our own devices. However, we
could not continue in unspoken agreement forever, and to put our ethos into writing is a good way of clearing up problems
before they begin. For reasons unknown, it was Poops who took to herself the task of forming up a first draft of the Charter.
The concept was that the items of the Charter be made into boards hung from a tree, and the order in which they hang determines the importance of each item. For example, the fact that no Vagrant may serve as leader for more than two seasons
in a row is overruled by the fact that if the leader isn’t about, any Vagrant can step up as acting leader. She has also come up
with a set of Rights for the Vagrants to go with the Charter, but the contents of that are still being argued discussed, and so
will come as another article at a later date.
And so first bringing it to me to put into letters, she presented it to the Vagrants. There was discussion on the order and
exact phrasing of each item in the charter, and it has been now burned into wooden boards, torturously copied from my
written version by the illiterate elf to hang in Dionaite. Below is the order the boards will initially hang, but as the ever changing Vagrants, it is not likely to stay exactly so for long.
1. No board of the Charter can be accepted, removed, or moved within the Charter without the decision of a Full
Council
2. No Vagrant may be judged for acting against a board that was not part of the Charter at the time that they acted.
3. When two boards of the Charter contradict each other, the board higher up the charter is taken to be correct.
4. No Vagrant may cause, whether by recklessness, neglect or wilful action,
may cause the death of another Vagrant.
5. When a Vagrant is accused of knowingly acting against the Charter, a Full
Council must be called to determine the consequence: Reparations, suspension of ribbons or expulsion from the faction.
6. Any Vagrant may serve as acting leader when the current faction leader is
not present.
7. No Vagrant may serve as faction leader for more than two seasons in a row.
8. No faction resources may be spent on personal indulgences. If a Full
Council decides a Vagrant has spent Faction recourses frivolously, it must
be reimbursed from their personal account.
9. When a board from the Vagrants Rights disagrees with a board from the
Charter, the board from the Rights is taken to be correct.
10. A Council of the Dionaite is any collection of Vagrants, brought together for the purpose of making a decision. Each
option is voted on, with each Vagrant being allowed to vote for as many options as they see fit, and the option with
the most votes is taken. A Full Council is when all Vagrants in Orin Rakatha at the time are present.
11. The faction leader is the voice of the Vagrants when a council to discuss options is not feasible.
12. Of any spoils past 3 commodities and 10 Gest per Vagrant per season, half, rounded down goes in the Faction pot.
by Poops of the Vagrants, transcribed by Lilthkoi
The Faculty of of the Past and Present
The Origin of the Asgard
other gods and goddesses are thought to be weak and
The Halls of Asgard are a barbarian warrior
group originally from a realm known as the
Northlands. They occupy an area of high
mountains called The Teeth of the World and
the great forests known as The Blackwood.
When the gods warred among the stars, The
Allfather Orn’s blood fell from the heavens.
Where it hit the earth it is said that the Asgard
people were born there from the ice and snow.
Thus, according to Asgard mythology, they
were the first mortal race.
The Asgard worship two gods. Orn, the Father God, in
times of war and his son Tulan in times of peace. The
inferior although they recognize Neya as the goddess
of water and the lead of the five elements. They also
recognize the Nameless One as a dangerous adversary.
If asked the Asgard believe themselves to be descended
from the first drops of Orn`s blood, the first and mightiest god and the father of the mightiest people.
The first and maybe greatest hero of the Asgard is Gar.
At the time of his coming of age he was a happy and
outgoing youth, he was sent alone into the wilderness
to collect food for the tribe as part of the trials which
all Asgard have to face. Armed only with a spear and his
wits he had to survive the cold and the dangers of deep
winter.
Having spent days on his own he prepared to give
up, shivering from the cold and hunger, when he spied
a target. Stealthily tracking it he prepared to cast his
spear. As he cocked back his arm to throw a great Arctic
Wolf sprang from the undergrowth and killed his target.
Turning on Gar the giant beast attacked locking its jaws
around Gars arm. With heroic strength Gar prised apart
the wolf jaw and crawled away preparing to die as the
beast stalked towards him. Placing his spear beside him
Gar braced for the deathblow, the wolf pounced and Gar
brought up the spear and pierced it through the heart
turning it aside with all that remained of his strength. Gar
treated the bite he had taken and passed out wrapped in
the body of the beast.
On his return to the tribe Gar brought back the blood
and pelt of the great wolf and was elevated to the ranks
of the warriors although he was never the same, more
withdrawn and cold. He was renamed Wolfgar and wore
the pelt of the wolf he had killed in the forest and excelled in all he did. In battle he fought with unnatural
strength and was renowned for his cunning, many attributing his encounter with the wolf and the bite he sus-
The Asgard
tained as the source of his greatness.
His first action as was Wolfgar was to deal with the
rebel group known as Fenrisians.
Fenrisian’s are a break away from Bear and Dragon
clans who abandon the righteous worship of Orn. Instead this berserkers took up a barbarian cult worshippers of Fenris. The great wolf of evil. These twist and
dark Asgardian types were fighting other Asgardians on
sight, and were becoming more beast like given into the
inner berserker rage. Thus Wolfgar united a force of the
loyal clans and hunt down and destroy the main Fenrisians settlements and then exiled there surviving women
and children to lands beyond the Northland realm.
Many years passed and he became the leader of the
Asgard, then, during the harshest winter in memory, as
the people starved and froze to death in their villages,
Wolfgar climbed the mighty World Tree to catch the attention of the god Orn, upon the recommendation of
Page 19
his wife. Orn looked down upon him and was pleased
with his feat. He struck the heart of the Northlands with
his spear, and despite the harshness of the winter, game
sprang up from every glen. The Asgard rejoiced and
gathered for a great festival in Wolfgar and Orn’s honor,
feasting for days upon their god’s gifts. Every year they
hold great feasts and sparring matches in honor of their
hero’s bravery and their mighty god Orn, known as the
Festival of Ingibjorg.
Wolfgar’s final act came at the end of his life, the lesser
races reiforced by the Shadowmen were once again attacking the Asgard in a mighty host, led by the Nameless
One himself. Wolfgar led his tattered army to the foothills
of the world tree, and in an echo of the past a mighty
battle was fought. At the end as all seemed lost, Wolfgar challenged the Nameless One to single Combat. No
one knows what happened, some claim he defeated the
Nameless One others that the duel continues to this day
in Valhalla a mortal and a god locked forever in combat.
Upon Wolfgar`s disappearance the warriors of the
Halls of Asgard were structured according to the rules
of the Eternal War fighting amongst themselves to determine the strongest. While his
great wolfs pelt was passed down
along with the title Wolfgar. Also
at this time the wolf blood was
put in a bottle, called the Bottle
of Asgard it was passed down to
each new generation of warriors
as a symbol of strength, cunning
and bravery.
By the time of Wolfgar Aakon
lead a party through a mysterious
rift to the Mirror Orin Rakatha.
They were lead by a full lord
known as Wolfgar and his clan
council as his second in command.
When Orlo Master of Arms of
the Mercenaries handing over the
spear of might to Wolfgar, the
Asgard who have arrived on the
Mirror Orin Rakatha have recognized elements of their own history being mirrored
once again on this new world. Taking over the mercenary
war bands the Halls of Asgard had set up on the Mirror Orin Rakatha bringing with them a deep and glorious
history, reforming the mercenaries into the ancient clans
and taking on the burden of training Orin Rakatha’s new
and untowered adventurers till such a time as they join a
tower of their own choosing, or remain with the Asgard
to carry on the fight for Orn.
When the time came to leave the Mirror plane and journey to the true Orin Rakatha, the Halls of Asgard Ritualists were a key part of the semi-successful effort to break
the anchors and get everybody to the True Orin Rakatha.
Upon reaching Orin Rakatha proper the Asgard survived in the lands of the festival till the first time of reckoning and earn recognition to allow them to re-establish
themselves as a Nation.
copied from Master War’s records
Page 20
The Faculty of Flora and Fauna
The Restoration of Nature Magic IV
Introduction
The fourth article in this series focuses around
the illusive plant known as Devil’s Vineyard and
the less illusive, almost unavoidable nymph.
The character of these two creatures couldn’t
be much more different, but both belong to the
flora of the forest and exhibit curious potentially magical tendencies.
The Prowling Nymph
I say nymph, you think sex. If you’re not thinking that,
you’re either too young to be reading this article, or you
are a progressive individual who can ascertain that stereotypes are hurtful and damage society [6].
Nymphs
do
however
have an ability to charm
most people
who they meet,
are reputably
good in the
sack and are
often found
wearing very
little
clothing, although
we must stress
that
correlation
doesn’t
imply
causaDevil’s Vineyard
tion [7]. Please
try and reDevil’s Vineyard
The Prowling Nymph
This voracious Vitis is a cold sapped killer. The plant member this
secretes a pheromone which attracts its prey to come when looking to be covered in their sap. Many people
closer and partake in the delicious grapes it grows [1]. have later reported to their significant other halves that
The grapes are often described as the best tasting food they had no other choice after a night with an houron the planet, but are sadly filled with a toxin which glass shaped or hunky eight packed god or goddess
breaks down the walls of blood vessels, causing extreme of the forest, and that they lost the ability to run away
haemorrhaging with rapid effect [2]. Victim’s limbs of- [8]. Whether this is an example of an infatuating magten resemble black pudding wrapped in a thin sausage ic, poor life choices or being bad at not getting caught,
skin after around 30 minutes. The plant then feeds off we’re about to find out. I intend on exploring the magithe spilled blood, which most often drips from the nos- cal properties of these enticing mobile herbs.
trils, eyes, nose and anus [3]. However there is a silver
lining. Often this process dislodges faecal matter, much References
like a haemoglobin rich colonic irrigation, which proves
1.
Hugo Boss, Scents that Make you Want to Rip your
to be of great benefit to the soil and ecosystem in gen- Clothes off
eral [4].
2.
Hazel Witch, The Big Book of Poisons and Their
The toxin however seems to be of a magical nature, as Terrible Symptoms
the grapes contain no chemical compound that can ex- 3.
Hilary Swank, Top 10 Worst Ways to Die that don’t
plain these effects. With the aid of a ‘cure mortal’ spell involve a Penis
the grapes lose all effect, which to me at least smells of
4.
Kirstie Allsopp, In the end, everything we own was
magic. As a side note, these grapes were also the death once a collection of faeces
of the infamous chieftain ‘Jora the Fascist’ who had
5.
Accounts from an On Looking Midwife
them made into wine to kill his more left leaning guests,
6.
The Quran
but was tricked into drinking the vintage himself. The
7.
Carol Vorderman, Basic Statistics: Why obesity isn’t
wine took immediate effect, with a much more concen- necessarily the cause of global warming
trated effect, reducing him to as witnesses described
8.
Julien Blanc, How to juggle a girl/boyfriend and
solemnly ‘like a giant had taken privy on its own tragic
several other non-human sex conquests
afterbirth’ [5].
by Palin MacGregor /Illowyn Orchediaeas
Page 21
The Restoration of Nature Magic V
Introduction
The fifth article in this series focuses around
the furry sandman of the woods and the
hideously cute but devious wild pug. These
animals are my final leads on magic in the
woods around my precious Dionate and I
can only hope that between all the creatures
I have identified that some of them can lead
us to the discovery of some of nature’s arcana.
Wild Pug
The wild pug is a master of ugly cute. Saggy, slobbery, wheezy. What’s not to love? How about their
taste for flesh? The feeling of quibbling lard gnawing
at you, taking difficult breaths in between bites? It
has been known for these monstrosities to put aside
the clothes of young children they devour and wear
them to lure sappy travellers to their sides [5]. The
pug then leads the unsuspecting adventurer to their
pack, where a game of fetch and cuddling quickly
turns into ankle nipping and the ripping of skin
of muscle as the beady eyed canines get loose and
groovy.
How the pugs can trick people though is astounding. Some people even aware of the danger go in
anyway, lured by the pedigree charm of the most
pugly (pug ugly). It would not be amiss to suggest
that perhaps a pacifying magic is at play. The other
alternative is that people are stupid. This is a possibility that we cannot ignore [6].
Masked Man of the Forest
Masked Man of the Forest
Bushy tails, cheeky little smiles, grubby paws and
mischief. The marking characteristics of the racoon
species known as the masked men of the forest [1].
The racoons are masters of infiltration, able to enter bee hives, ant colonies and wasp nests to steal
honey and other food stores, without a sting or bite.
One man remarked that they do this by acting like
their victims, moving with a chameleon grace, fingers
becoming multiple legs or mandibles or segmented
masterpieces. The same man however was caught
smearing timely human secretions on his face shouting ‘MOONCUP! MOONCUP!’ [2]. For this reason
amongst many others, we discredit this evidence.
What I do know is that after the little grubbers
have got out with the goods, the insects seem very
lethargic. I actually managed to coax one bee into
a tiny feather bed, where it buzzed contentedly [3].
Upon loud noise though, the little critters would revive at a rapid rate [4]. The racoons seem to emit an
aura that can create a fatigue in their targets if the atmosphere is already subdued, and I sense that mystic
forces are afoot in providing this effect.
Wild Pug
References
1.
Some Guy, Choosing Names of Animals based
on Arbitrary Information and Physical Characteristics.
2.
Germaine Greer, Things that don’t make you a
Feminist
3.
This is what you Orin-Rakathans refer to as an
‘Exaggeration’. The bee was flying around with a large degree off apathy though.
4.
Personal Observation: I passed gas loudly, without shame, and I got stung
5.
Occult Fairy Tales, Little Red Riding Pug
6.
Arian Weiss, Some people are stupid. If you can’t
see the grammatical error in this title, your one of them
by Palin MacGregor /Illowyn Orchediaeas
Return my Bringer of Storms to the pillar of the
gods, I will give you ten lunar cycles to do this
or suffer my wrath
Page 22
The Faculty of the Divine Pantheon
any way “wrong”.
Are we all a bunch of Sinners?
Much discussion and consternation
was created at the last gathering of the
Nations where the Lady of Light was
watching over the ritual circle. The subject of this discourse was “sin”, and
stemmed from the request for factions
members to confess their sins to the
Lady of Light to prove that their path
and their intentions were pure as their
lives had become tainted.
Whilst many of the assembled people
were more than willing to offload their
sins (many of which were too scandalous to print in this fine, upstanding and
reputable journal!), and ask for absolution, others were a little less enthusiastic
about opening up their darkest actions
to their peers, let along to public scrutiny, and some were absolutely convinced
that they had nothing to confess as they
had never sinned or done anything they
were ashamed of!
The biggest problem that some people seemed to have came
under the question
“what is sin?” Our
researcher has uncovered two definitions:
The first, and the
most understood and
followed, is “the
act of violating a
power’s will”. That
is to say, when you
follow a higher power,
be it the Emperor, a
deity, a mystic, or some
other being or magical
philosophy, and you break one of
the commandments or decrees set
down upon you. These are often clear
cut, and easily identifiable, as they are
simple “breaking of the rules”.
Mind you, it is entirely possible for
two higher powers to conflict in their
decrees, so the followers of one power
may see followers of another as “sinners”, whilst they themselves are seen
as the same, with each believing that
they themselves are pure! So maybe it’s
not so clear cut.
However when people do not “follow” a higher being or power this definition of sin falls away as there are no
specific edicts to break.
The second definition, and one that
covers the rest of the populous, is
that of the “general sense of offence,
wrong-doing or misdeed”. However,
this can be extremely subjective, hence
the consternation that it caused.
Leaving aside the “laws of the land”,
which would cover a lot of the second
definition, what remains are individual
points of view of what is an “offence”,
“wrong doing” or even “unethical”. Is wenching and
whoring wrong?
What about being drunk on rum
every day? What
about
strange
and unusual couplings? (I’m looking at
you ship’s cat!). What
about
shanghaiing
new crew into their
new roles? What about
actually pirating? And consider murder in self defence? Is
torturing a goblin or a sprite a
sin if it isn’t specifically decreed
as a crime? Some would just see
that as sport! Certainly the Keepers
do not feel that these actions are in
What about forcefully kidnapping
a female member of an unusual cult,
tying her up, stripping her naked, and
then cutting her with a knife? All after
brutally cutting down and murdering
all of her friends in front of her. Some
people would certainly see that as a sin,
yet the Summer Stars obviously don’t!
For some people, the above list is just
a normal way of life, and nothing they
consider “wrong”, and certainly not
anything that they feel remorse or guilt
over. They feel no need to “confess” or
require “absolvement”. These people,
and others, sometimes form groups
that follow a “code”, or set of rules
that apply to them and those around
them. Whilst this code maybe abhorrent to those outside it, can the actions
of those that follow it be construed as
“sins” since they are not breaking the
rules that they live by? Do “sins” just
exist in the eyes of others?
Whilst a small number of people initially tried to claim that their lives were
pure, and sinless, the majority quickly
broke down and admitted some of
their indiscretions before the Lady of
Light. There were though, amazingly,
only a very few in the entirety of the
collective forces of the nations that had
the strength of conviction to stand in
front of a greater being of power, and
vehemently deny any wrong doings or
transgressions.
What does this say for the rest of us
though if the vast majority of the combined forces are actively, and regularly,
committing actual sins in the eyes of
the sinners! Aren’t we supposed to be
the good guys?
by Bob, of the Argent Dawn
The Faculty of OpposedingEngagement
greatly at the hands of the strange new elements that
Know Thine Enemy!
In the art of combat there is one concept that can give
you a significant advantage over your enemy. It can change
the tide of battle so much that an impending loss can be
turned into a resounding victory. And it can also stop you
looking like a twit, and repeatedly banging you head against
a brick wall! This not-so-secret and simple concept is just
“understand what or who you are fighting”.
This simple rule was learned, with significant success,
by the Asgard at the last gathering. After initially suffer-
plagued them, the Asgard regrouped, learnt about their new
enemies, and then used that knowledge to prepare their warriors for the next attack. The next skirmish was a very different affair, with the Asgard emerging almost unscathed.
What did they learn? Well, it appears that this new ‘breed’
of elemental had developed a magical aura that negated
the effects of mundane weapons against them. So initially,
when their warriors went into battle against these magical
creatures, their weapons were ineffective and their battle
line impotent, and so the elementals ripped through them.
After learning about their enemy, realising what could affect them and what couldn’t, and then intelligently readying
the battle line for the next assault, the outcome was very
different. Prepared with magical flame blades, and hired
mages, the Asgard were able destroy the next contingent of
these creatures that attacked, simply and effectively.
This knowledge did not quickly spread though, and many
other nations repeatedly just threw themselves against
these creatures with mundane weapons, doing absolutely
no damage, and acting more like cannon fodder than intelligent fighters. Strangely, despite obviously having no effect
with mundane weapons, many adventurers kept attacking
with them hoping for a different outcome. This is the very
definition of stupidity. To be a victorious fighter one must
learn – ideally before the battle – and learn quickly. Repeatedly trying something that obviously fails is a trait of the
losing side.
This type of learning can be applied to many different
creatures and enemies. From some of the incorporeal un-
Page 23
dead that can only be affected by priestly magics to the
skeletal front line necromantic forces being only affected
with blunted weapons. Other creatures have been known to
reflect certain weapon/magical damage types, or even turn
them into healing. There have even been cases of monsters
that can only be defeated by healing them!
And, as been learned from recent gatherings, there are
some even more powerful beings, notably greater demons
that actually need to have specific weapons forged in their
name just to be able to damage them!
It is of utmost importance, if the factions are to be victorious, for the nations to adapt quickly to the ever changing
forces that oppose them. Be prepared for many different
assaults, and have the resources available to combat them,
and the intelligence to use them as soon as the enemy is
identified. Who knows what we may face next – there will
surely be surprises in store for us to learn quickly from or
face certain death.
by Ingmar Stormshield
Page 24
The Faculty of Physical
Excellence
greater potential, and prevent you from roundings, with all your senses - seeing
Scouting 101
Recent events have highlighted how
certain skill-sets have declined for the
members of the assembled nations, presumably caused by them living in more
civilised areas making certain proficiencies less needed. However, when these
people leave their warm and comfortable homes and venture to various
gatherings in strange new places, they
are seen fumbling around, getting lost
and confused, unable to navigate, see
clearly, and actually scout anything. And
this isn’t relating to late night tavern sessions!
Whilst certain races are born with
natural advantages in this area, the elves
stand out here, and other races suffer
some limitations with their heritage, notably the dwarves, all of the assembled
races should be able to achieve the basic
levels of scouting required to achieve
the tasks set before the nations when
they meet.
Entrance level scouting includes such
topics as:
1) Know where you are!
A key requirement when using a map,
or trying to follow directions, is to actually know where you are, not just ‘think’
you know. If you are actually in a different location to where you think you are
then following a map, and/or written
directions, becomes an almost impossible task.
So before you start out on your journey, double check that you are in, in fact,
where you think you are. This will make
the subsequent time invested have far
wandering around aimlessly wondering
why you can’t find anything (I’m looking
at you Vagrant dwarves!)
2) Look all around you!
Some people have natural tendencies
to focus their gaze upon particular areas of the landscape when they travel.
Dwarves, for example, tend to look
down a lot hoping to find good rocks to
mine; elves are always looking for trees
to procrastinate in; and goblins concentrate on finding new paths to “run away”
down!
A good scout though will not focus
their gaze upon any specific area – they
will take in all of their surroundings, irrespective of their actual goal, as being
blinkered will cause them to lose time,
and lessen their success.
3) Open your eyes!
Whilst this section may, on the surface,
look like an obvious one, it is, in fact,
a commonly overlooked ability which
causes the most trouble.
The majority of the nation’s members
now walk around without actually “seeing” anything. Their eyes may be open,
but they don’t actually notice much, unless it jumps out at them with a knife
and screams “die, infidel!”
From the Keepers, with their semipermanent drunken blurry gaze, to
the chattering Vagrants that are so engrossed with their conversations that
they can drift from one location to another, seemingly by osmosis, without
noticing anything!
Becoming actually aware of your sur-
the colours, feeling the textures, smelling the environment, tasting the air, listening to the ambience – allows a proficient scout to notice many things that
most adventurers would miss.
4) Avoid distractions!
Many good scouts travel alone, and
with good reason.
Apart from the additional risk of being noticed, the extra humanoid baggage can be amazingly distracting. They
can mask sounds that you might want to
hear with their stumbling around; they
can cause you to drop your concentration with their inane mutterings; their
“aroma” may mask other more important spells; or they may just irritate you
making you rush and make mistakes.
As such, if you do decide to travel
with company, choose your travel mates
carefully. A chatterbox is not a good
companion for a scout. Nor are people
with short attention spans, like goblins.
Nor are the aromatic and small-minded
orcs that just want to kill and plunder.
With these most basic guidelines observed, the art of scouting may start to
recover, and the nations may actually
start to become more successful in this
area.
And, what with the Academy’s Faculty
of Fauna and Flora becoming disconcerted with the scouting ability of its
members, the nation’s foragers struggling to find their objectives, and the
adventurers struggling to complete their
quests and claim their rewards, these
skills are still very much in demand.
by Artemus Black
The Faculty of Minstrels and Mummers
A Collection of Jokes heard in and around the tavern!
An orc, an elf, and a dwarf find themselves being granted
wishes by an Efreeti.
The orc says, “We orcs need to return to power. I wish all the
orcs and half-orcs were returned to their ancient lands.” The
Efreeti nods his head, and the orc vanishes.
The elf says, “The elves need to get back to their roots. I
wish all the elves and half-elves were returned to their ancestral home.” The Efreeti nods his head, and the elf vanishes.
The dwarf looks around. “Let me get this straight,” the
dwarf says, “the orc wished for all the orcs to be gone, and
the elf wished for all the elves to be gone?”
The Efreeti nods. “Very well, then,” said the dwarf, “I’ll have
an ale.”
How do you get a one armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave to him.
A very angry-looking knight storms into the bar with his
sword in hand. “I’m looking for the no-good scum who
painted my horse green!” he declares, “Stand up and show
yourself, you knave!”
At this, the biggest, ugliest, meanest-looking half-ogre you
have ever seen stands up and says, “Yeah, dat’s me. Whaddaya
want?”
The knight gulps and says “I, uh, wanted to let you know I
think it’s time for a second coat.”
A dwarf, hafling, and an elf walk into a tavern...
The bartender says “what is this, some kinda joke?”
An elf and a dwarf come across a dark elf in the woods
while adventuring.
Preparing to attack, they are shocked to find an Efreeti which
offers the three each one wish.
The dwarf asks for his home hold to be filled with the best
defensive weaponry possible.
Not to be outdone, the elf asks for his home city to be surrounded by a huge, impenetrable wall, with no crack, crevice
or even gate to fully ensure his people’s safety.
When it comes to the dark elf ’s turn, he thinks for a minute.
‘How high is this wall?’ he asks.
‘About 30 feet’ replies the Efreeti.
‘And it’s completely impenetrable?’
‘Yes’. Again, the dark elf thinks, before finally opening his
mouth to declare his wish.
‘Fill it with water’
A werebear walks into a bar and says “I’d like a beer.......and
some nuts.”
The barkeep says “Hey buddy, why the large pause?
A Halfling, a Gnome, and a Half-Orc are running away from
the city guard when they come to a forest, and they each
decide to hide by climbing a tree.
When the Guardsmen arrive, they go to the first tree where
the Halfling is hiding and shout, “We know you’re up there,
come down!”
The Halfling, thinking fast, says, “Tweet, tweet, tweet!”
The Guardsmen, thinking that it’s a bird, move on to the
next tree where the Gnome is hiding and once again shout,
“We know you’re up there, come down!”
The Gnome, thinking fast, says, “Whoo, whoo, whoo!”
The Guardsmen, thinking that it’s an owl, move on to the
next tree where the Half-Orc is hiding and once again shout,
“We know you’re up there, come down!”
The Half-Orc thinks for a bit and says, “Moo, moo, moo...”
What is the difference between an orc and a rock?
About three IQ points.
Human: Hey elf, you look like a girl!
Elf: To a human, everything must look like a girl.
Human: What?
Elf: Half elves, half orcs...
Human: Hey!
Dwarf: Half dragons, half trolls...
Human: Stop it!
Elf: ...
Human: ...
Dwarf: ...
Elf: ... Centaurs.
Page 25
A dwarven woman walks by a pet shop with a parrot in the
window.
The parrot says “Hey lady! You’re ugly!” The woman gets all
flustered and walks away quickly.
On her way back, she passes by the store again, and the parrot says “Hey lady! You’re ugly!”
Furious, she storms into the store and yells at the owner with
all sorts of threats. He apologizes and says it won’t happen
again.
The next day, she walks by the store and the parrot says “Hey
lady!” She looks over and says “Yes?”, to which he replies
“You know.”
How many clerics does it take to fix a broken lamp?
One to cast cure light.
An ugly man walks into the cleric’s office and says: “Father I
hurt all over.”
And the doctor says, “That’s impossible .
“No really!” he said, “Just look, when I touch my arm, ouch!
It hurts.
When I touch my leg, ouch!, it hurts.
When I touch my head, ouch!, it hurts.
When I touch my chest, ouch!!, it really hurts”, he replies.
The cleric just shakes his head and says, “You’re a half-orc
aren’t you?”
The man smiles and says “Yeah. But how do you know?”
The cleric replies, “Because, your finger is broken.”
An Elf, a Human, and a Scunner Go into a bar and order a
beer.
Before they drink, a fly lands in each one.
The Elf shoves the beer away in disdain.
The Human waves the fly away and drinks the beer.
The Scunner picks the fly up, holds it over his glass and yells,
“Spit it all out yeh wee bastard!”
A skeleton walks into a bar - orders a beer and a mop.
Did you hear about the evil wizard who liked to give people
hickies?
He was a neck romancer.
A man was out late walking his dachshunds when he suddenly was attacked by a stranger who threw him
to the ground and shoved a wooden stake through
his heart.
A friend of the dog owner saw it all and cried out
“Why did you do that? He never did anything to
you?”
“But he was a vampire! You can tell by the overlong
canines!”
How do you get a bar full of Dwarves up on the
roof ?
Yell “drinks on the house!”
Page 26
The Faculty of Flora and Fauna
A Beginner’s Guide to Foraging: Bear’s leek - An easy start!
Scribe’s Note: Poops of the Vagrants has lived
continue with.
a relatively short life so far in elvish terms, but
Figure 1. A diagram of bear’s leek that I pinched from my
she has lived the majority of them outside. She
mother’s old foraging book. I can’t read the letters and I
appears to still be alive, and this is her qualificaknow the plant from a mile off, so I thought
tion for the knowledge she is attempting to cataI may as well stick it in the article.
logue. As is usual by now, all of the words are
Bear’s leek is related somewhat to chives,
hers, but I have been employed to scribe
and the bulbs are favoured by bears, hence
them on her behalf.
the name. You can find it in great gluts in
Welcome to the first article in this new forold forests, generally appearing with blueaging series! Hopefully, the topics we’ll be coverbells in spring. They unmistakably stink of
ing will give you the skills to begin learning foraggarlic, and you’ve no doubt encountered it
ing proper if that’s what you’re after, but at the
at some time or other. They have flat green
same time I’ll aim keep the focus on edibles that
leaves shaped like a spearhead, with one main
are mainly used for flavouring and medicine, so
vein through the centre. They have a single stem
as to keep it relevant for the dabblers.
with a triangular cross section, leading to a burst of
I would like to begin by saying that none of these articles
little white, star-shaped flowers.
are intended as a foraging bible, and what is relevant for idenWaiting until it flowers makes the leaves less potent,
tifying one plant in one region may not work for another. To
but the flavour just ends up in the flowers, and since this
add to the confusion, when there’s magic being flung about,
plant is so plentiful you’ll do it no harm by picking the
it can affect the plant life in subtle ways you might not notice.
flowers. That said, don’t pick the bulbs, or you’ll come back
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, it would be stupid of
to your spot next year to find it all gone. It goes great in any
you to take my word as truth. I’m always learning, and since I
situation that suits chives or garlic.
am usually my own teacher, I can never really trust my study
It’s important not to confuse this with Lily of the Valley,
to be solid. My intent with these articles is more to give
which before flowering, has very similar leaves. However
you an example of my thoughts when judging the safeif you wait until late spring when the flowers arrive,
ty of a plant, or the effectiveness of a herb. I hope
it’s almost impossible to get them mixed up. Lily of
to instil a keen judgement in every reader. That they
the
valley has downward facing bell shaped white flowFigure 1
always question what they know, and never take safety
ers that grow off the main stem and smell sweet. Other
for granted. I hope fervently that you will each develop
plants it’s often confused with are jack in the pulpit, which
your own style of caution. But when in doubt, I would always
resembles part of a naked lady, and naked lady, which resemadvise leaving it well alone; it’s better to be hungry and breathbles a crocus. All three of these plants are highly poisonous,
ing than contented but dead.
and people die all the time making these simple mistakes. Wait
The first topic we will cover is known to me as bear’s leek. until it has flowers, and if you’re not sure, simply walk away.
I’ve heard it called by many names; ramsons, buckrams, broadSo there we are. I hope many of you try this wonderful herb
leaved garlic, wood garlic, wild garlic or bear’s garlic, but my
and enjoy it as much as I do. Go forth and forage my students,
mother called it bear’s leek, so that’s what I call it. It’s combut take great care, and I cannot stress this enough, people acmonly known, with the lore on this plant generally in agreetually die from getting this wrong. For a soup seasoning. Don’t
ment, so I thought it a simple and identifiable plant to begin
be one of them.
with. However, it is often confused with poisonous plants, and
by Poops of the Vagrants, transcribed by Lilthkoi
so it sets the tone of caution and constant care that I hope to
The Faculty of the Past and Present
The Festival and the Circus Macabre, Kori’s Personal Account
As the height of summer approached the nation’s of Orin
Rakatha became aware that the usual summer gathering to
mark the central point of the year was imminent. The Nations so prepared to gather to compete in contests of strength,
skill, wit and bravado. However, with the corrupting and
ending of the Interplanar Fayre Avatar, aka the wanderer, aka
the Chaos Jester, things would surely be different this time
around. There were some who voiced for a continuation of
the old ways and those who felt a new way must be forged
from the ruins of the old.
In the end a Baron, who was allegedly the main sponsor,
of a collection of eccentric individuals known as the Circus
Macabre announced that his people would sponsor the new
event called ‘The Festival’ and this year games would be
based upon the skills of the first people to walk upon the
lands of Orin Rakatha. That statement was disputed by the
Shadowsfall Judges and the Shadowsfull Keeper who maintain that’s the Shadowsmet were the first.
Anyway the festival games from the Circus were based
upon the ancient and historical tribes of the Dark Aspect, the
Otomi, the Children of Fire and Stone, the Shendai and the
Sneverhime; each contest reflecting the everlasting marks
these first societies left upon Orin Rakatha.
However before the Halls of Asgard arrived acting
Bretswelda Loki received a summoning from the Truthsayer
to discuss an important new vision, he had seen.
Loki took his Huscarl, and myself as the head Shaman,
with him to meet with the Truthsayer and his bodyguard.
The Truthsayer revealed he had seen a vision in the stars last
night, one where he saw an eagle and blood, enough blood to
drought the stars. Loki thought about this vision and ask for
interpretation from his Huscarl, the Truthsayer and myself.
There was disagreement but the only consensuses reachable was something major was going to happen involving
Eagle Clan. Concerned, Loki instructed his Huscarl to fetch
additional Dragon clan reinforcements. The Huscarl point
out that nearest reinforcement units was many days away
at which point the Truthsayer said he could arrange for his
Bodyguard to take the Huscarl to meet an old associated who
could provide troopers, for a price. Emergency funds were
provided from Raven clan sources and Huscarl was sent to
meet this old associate.
Then the Truthsayer told Loki that he needed a full council
of Jarls and so he should instate me as Jarl of the Raven Clan.
Then Loki led the Truthsayer and myself back to the mead
hall. His intentions less than clear but clearly he want the
Truthsayer to meet with Jarl’s Rodan and Eriecho.
Before the meeting Loki confirmed my appointment to Jarl
and then asked for a special brew to be shared amongst the
Bear Clan as reward for recent services. This was quickly
consumed and the Bear Clan passed out. Loki then started
the meeting but during the meeting the Truthsayer asked the
Raven banner to be flown.
Not long afterwards a force attacked the Mead Hall. I rose,
preparing to race back to warn the Bretwelda and the Jarls
that we were under attack and needed to join our force in
the field and stand together. However Loki said the forces
outside were enough and to close the door and carry on the
meeting, much to both Rodan’s and my surprise.
The meeting was interrupted by the Dragon Huscarl who
was acting unnaturally and clearly trying to assassinate
Rodan and Eriecho, despite clear instructions from Loki to
stand down. Then he raised a sword towards Rodan thus I
stepped in and was struck down with unnatural power.
When a healer got me up I found that the both Loki and his
former Huscarl were under guard and the field outside the
Mead Hall was fillled with corpses of an army about three
time the size of the Asgard force. Though I do wonder now
why the Mists didn’t generate a Hoardling force or at least
that size of force didn’t attracted some reprisal from the Mist,
perhaps the rumours that the mist is currently weak have
some truth to them?
Anyway the Council of Jarls then declared that the Dragon
Huscarl had lead an enemy force against the Asgard, whether
at Loki’s instruction or not was unclear. The Truthsayer said
he would take the Huscarl away to a secure holding facility
that would not violate the laws of the land (whatever that
means) to await a formal Blood Eagle trial. While Loki was
stripped of all rank and privileges and told to prove his innocence by his deeds in the time before the Blood Eagle trial.
Upon resolving this we went to the ritual circle to perform
our rituals only to be greeted by Willow of the Misthaven
Academy who told us before we could before any ritual we
would need to speak with an individual in purple known as
father. This Father told us this ritual was under some sort of
spiritual control lock by one of the Lords of Light, known
as ‘The Lady’. It seem we would need to conduct one or two
pre-rituals to find out if we would be allowed by the Lady to
Page 27
use the Ritual Circle for our rituals.
The first was one of us would need to go alone into the rit-
Quinn and the Father from Misthaven Academy
ual circle and through them all of us would be judged. Lady
of Battle Ari volunteered and thus we found that we indeed
had things to confess and were told how we could amend
our ways.
All the Asgard were briefed with the advice from the Father
based on other rituals and Ari’s original meeting feedback.
The comment of interest was that the Father felt that while
now a Lord (Lady?) of Light, “the Lady” might have been a
being of a different sphere originally hence her rather brutal
methods of dealing with disrespect.
So at an available slot I lead the Asgard into the ritual Circle and with the outstanding spiritual guidance performed
the ritual of confession and atonement. All but one Asgard
showed the honour to admit the truth of their hearts and displayed their personal sin and offer a way to amen. Only Jordi
decided to be a smart donkey and not offer a true atonement,
which got him rightfully struck down, however Ari pleaded
with the Lady to restore him so he could offer a proper respect to the Lady. Much to my surprise she did and then Jordi
suffer the wrath of Ari, till he offered a proper apology and
atonement up to the Lady and the gathered Asgard kin. I suspect he almost would have preferred the Lady strike down at
least that was quick.
The events that followed were mostly standard for a gathering, help the Az-Azan with patrol and guarding of caravans,
the partaking in the Harvest Tithe were we did gain some
resources. Drink with allies, forage in the field and winning
games with Honour.
The event was plagued by repeated appearances by Dark
Fey waging their fight on the Summer Stars, our shared intelligence seem edto indicate the dark fey have a larger and better equipped force on Orin Rakatha than the summer Star had
first informed us. Their improved impersonating skills means
that more anti-doppelganger tests should be implement by all
who have need to trade with the Stars.
A fight broke out over the games - for the old ways or a
new - during the dusk of the second day. Only officially the
factions of War and Nature fought for change, however the
Vagrants rebelled against Master Justice and join us. The
Shadowsfall Keepers also seemed a bit half heart ed about
the cause but still fought bravely.
Despite the poor position the Forces of War and Nature
pull off a surprise win, helped by the Vagrant rejection of
Page 28
Justice. One does wonder what that means long term for them.
Upon returning to the Meadhall we found that the disgraced Dragon Huscarl had being delivered in chains but much to
everyone‘s surprise he easily broke the chains and went on a rampage, where neither blade, power or magic had any effect on
him. Bar from Emergency aid from the Summer Stars and the Bear Clan using an old Berserker rage charge tactic, he might
well have escaped justice.
Anyway, without delay the disgraced Huscarl and Loki were taken for their Blood Eagle trial. Which result in:1)
The truthsayer being reveal as Master War
2)
Loki formally losing all rank but not his life
3)
The Huscarl being found guilty of breaking his word to the Khalid vampire Vestitor
4)
The Huscarl being found guilty of high treason and blood eagled.
5)
The Huscarl being found of failing Crow and having his soul shatter never to reach any afterlife, just to endless
repeat his blood eagle for the rest of time.
In the end the Asgard won the Skullball and Trolljageur events along with the Warriors of the Crimson Winter winning the
Magic tournament, despite the Keisora’s post event objections to the judging. Those three win meant the Followers of War
had won him this year Festival games.
As the winner of the most games the Halls of Asgard won the former master Shadow sword, so that we might study it to
learn more about weapons of renown.
The Faculty of Cultural Anthropology
Elves! There’s so many of them!
When you mention the word
“elf ”, most people would immediately imagine a tall, slim,
aloof, long-lived, slightly arrogant, pale skinned and pointy
eared creature. But whilst all
this may be true for the common garden variety of elves,
this only really scratches the
surface of elven culture, and
family tree.
If you look closer at the lineage of
elves, you will find many threads of
cross-breeding that have developed into
unique races of their own, and other,
completely different, elven bloodlines
created by deities or other powerful entities.
The Avariel – A race of nearly extinct
winged elves. These creatures like to live
in open spaces and detest being inside or
underground. Fiercely devout, they often enter the priesthood, but others have
strong magical links making them excellent ritualists or mages.
Sea Elves – Mostly living beneath
the waves, these blue skinned elves can
breathe underwater as easily as they can
in normal air. Whilst their skin retains its
blue colour whilst on land, the majority
of their scales and webbed joints fade
from sight when land-walking.
Half Elves – A bastardisation of human and elf, that even the majority of
elves races look down upon. Humans
though are more forgiving, and accept
this half-breed more openly that the oth-
er elven variations.
Dark Elves – The infamous dark
skinned, light haired, cruel, malicious,
vicious and debased denizens of the
Underdark. Mostly living underground,
these evil-natured creatures are seen as
the enemy by most races of the realm, although some of them have escaped their
dark caverns and sought the light to try
and follow a more honourable path.
Wild Elves – Reclusive, feral and
brown skinned (and haired) elves that like
to live in isolation, deep in the forests of
the land. Often highly skilled in the ways
and weapons of the forest, these elves
tend to steer clear of civilisation/
High Elves – Noble, morally upright
and fair. These fair skinned, often with
golden or silvery long hair, these tall elves
often come across as haughty, or arrogant, due to their vast wisdom stemming
from their extended lifes-pans. This is
the race of elves that most humans bring
to mind when thinking of “elf ”.
Wood Elves – Fickle, capricious, and
dangerously inconsistent. They tend to
be more boisterous and hedonistic than
there high elf cousins, and they have a
zest for life and pleasure, perhaps due to
their repeated exposure to the humans
of the realm.
The Lythari – This is a race of shapechanging elves that can transform into
wolves at will. However, unlike werewolves, they keep their own mind and
will whilst in wolf form, so they are no
immediate danger to their friends and allies.
A “dark” elf
The Unari – A strange mix of elf
and unicorn, with pale – and slightly
furry – skin, with a small single spiral
protuberance stemming in the middle of
their foreheads. Their bodies are mostly
humanoid, although their legs end in fetlocks, which improves their speed significantly over land, although makes them
look a little odd!
Rumours also talk of other strange
sub-classes of elf, although facts are few
and far between about these sub-races
due to their lack of contact with the civilised races. Maybe they are just figments
of the imagination, or perhaps they are
now extinct, but I list them here for reference: snow elves, the eldar, blood elves,
the fey’ri, rockseers, the druidic painted
elves, sun/moon elves.
by Aredhel Turgul
The Faculty of the Divine Pantheon
Page 29
Thinking Outside of the Tome: Balance Power
A Collection of Novel uses of Incantations by Famous Priests of Orin Rakatha
Introduction
Orin Rakatha is a world as divine as it is magical, and powers are a formidable force in addition to and in contrast to the colours of magic. In this article we explore the abilities bestowed
upon the priests of balance while hoping to glean a few intelligent uses of their power.
The uses for the sphere of balance are as flexible as their namesake. Harnessing the ability to
throw divine aspected bolts at their foes and conjuring impassable barriers to protect, hinder
or kill… in the hands of the unthinking these abilities are already sturdy, but in the repertoire
of a situationally sensitive spell-slinger of significant savvy, priests of this discipline can literally shift the balance on the battlefield.
I have searched the dusty libraries for tomes on the order of balance, and sneezed my way
through a tale or three which have earned my respect. I share these findings with you, to educate and warn of the possibilities those who master the scales of our world may enjoy.
Dysten’s Death Trap
Let’s kick off with the light conversation starter of the inevitability of death. It’s going to happen, but with a little bit of
patience balance priests can significantly speed this process up. Dysten wasn’t known for his compassion. He was however
known for excellent time keeping and fondness for pregnant women. Dysten had always hated his rival Father Phyll in the
neighbouring town. Phyll had it all: a hovel with running water, a donkey pulled cart, the pristine skin of a toddler dipped
daily in cocoa butter and the access to the sizeable rack of a bawdy bar wench (when she could pull herself away from her
drunken husband). On one misty evening as Dysten was travelling home, he found poor Phyll was bleeding heavily from
his leg where a wolf had savaged him senseless. Phyll was groaning and calling for aid, trying to reach his spellbook to cast
a spell to restore his wounds. Dysten as a priest was forbidden to kill, but putting Phyll inside a barrier for a few minutes
certainly wouldn’t even count as touching him… such a waste of a cure mortal spell anyway and Dysten knew exactly how
to dispose of the worthless body… [1].
Kerwin’s Unblockable Knockdown
Kerwin was a mage, a powerful one, with a love for destruction. For years Kerwin had accumulated knowledge about the
different ways he could burn, frazzle and freeze his foes. The
only issue he was having, was that often when he should be
smelling crispy fried flesh, he instead found his spells resisted.
Other mages had eventually found a way to block his assault,
and so he turned to the priests of balance. Seeking a new way
to end the paltry existence of his lesser competition.
He learned of the spell power hammer which was unblockable and would hit his foes right in the chest knocking them
down for an easy finisher. The only people who could prevent
this new tactic were the high priests of balance who had taught
him themselves, who could easy be cindered, impaled or blown
up by the rest of his repertoire. Many of them indeed were.
He was sadly but eventually killed by a Vagrant of Dionaite
who bounced his own power hammer back at him taking his nuts clean off [2]. Unfortunately with no patience for defensive
magicks, he had no idea how to block the very energies he had summoned himself.
Aurianna the Aura Walker
Under careful mastery of the sphere of balance, high priestess Aurianna learned the nature of the barriers generated by
her own sphere. This gave her the ability to manipulate the barriers so they stood firm when she entered or exited, rather
than dissipating. Aurianna would often walk confidently into the safety of other’s barriers, or ambush foes hiding from the
combat. This gave her great combat advantages and let her drag her allies to safety in times of need. Aurianna was also
rumoured to be able to pass through the barriers of ritual circles, although this is a myth and no one has since been able to
recreate the feat using balance magic [3].
References
1.
2.
3.
Gorag the Goblin, How to cook a human
Barberosa, Power Hammer: A Quicker Way to Back, Sack and Crack
The Darwin Awards, Passing Through a Ritual Barrier with Crow Nearby
by Palin MacGregor, Senior Fellow of the Academy
Page 30
The Faculty of Enigmatic Linguistics
End of Year Competition - The Word Fit Challenge
The faculty has put together this little challenge and the Academy has decided to publish it as a competition
that anyone may enter. The idea is simple - take all of the words listed beneath the grid and arrange them
so that they all fit into the grid and interlock correctly.
When you have successfully completed the grid below, show it to your local Academy field professor who
will then verify and notarise your success, and then place your name into a hat. Once the gathering has
ended, one name will be pulled from the hat as the winner, and receive the prize reward.
Complete Word List
Academy, Anchor, Archer, Asgard, Bane, Bank, Beer, Cabin, Circus, Concillium, Crossbow, Dagger, Dawn,
Demon, Disease, Dymwan, Dynasty, Element, Emperor, Even, Favour, Fayre, Fear, Festival, Foraging,
Forgotten, Gest, Halls, Harvest, Horde, Incantor, Invocation, Isle, Justice, Kalid, Keepers, Keisora,
Labyrinth, Lamp, Life, Locks, Loud, Macabre, Magic, Masks, Mews, Mission, Misthaven, Mortal, Mystics,
Nation, Nature, Ninja, Orin, Potion, Power, Quest, Ranger, Reckoning, Repairs, Resurrect, Ritual, Scroll,
Scunners, Serenity, Shadowsfall, Shield, Skeleton, Soul, Squires, Stars, Summer, Sweat, Sword, Tavern,
Tithe, Tombs, Tower, Undead, Vies, Winter, Wizards, Xenos, Zombie
Additional copies of this Word Grid can be requested from your local Academy field professor

the Journal

Transcription

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