The Reluctant Heiress
This is the very first chronicle of the Starry Wisdom Temple. For background
information on the characters, please see The People
of Starry Wisdom Temple.
Jenny, having been tossed out of her band by a romantic rival, hitched a ride with
Edward to the Starry Wisdom freehold, where he told her she would be welcome. They
arrived at the freehold in time to witness the latest in a constant series of battle
between Toby and Mel as to who's army men have won the battle and whether ninjas
can have grenades. Edward greeted Toby and pulled a cute little bunny out of his
backpack to feed Toby with. This briefly distracted Toby from his argument with Mel,
but only briefly. Sir Pensius showed Jenny around the estate, highlighted by a tour
of the alien topiary gardens and floral crop circles. Jenny also met Toby, Mel, and
Mel's rat, who found in her voluminous skirts a relatively safe hiding place from
Toby and his appetite.
Later that day Sir Pensius received a summons to appear at the court of Count Tormentil,
his liege lord. He was to bring his freehold record books and accounts. He workws
on getting his records up to date and choosing a suitable piece of tribute (in this
case a goblet used in the mission's rituals, infused with considerable glamour from
the dreams of the mortal worshippers) for the Count. When the dinner bell rang, the
group assembled for the evening meal in the freehold dining room. Franklin, at Sir
Pensius's request, cast a Protocol cantrip to make Mel and Toby stop their endless
and obnoxious arguments and settle down. After dinner, Jenny performed Steeleye Span
songs for the group to much applause.
That night Toby, as is his habit, patroled the grounds of the freehold looking for
trouble and good things to eat. He found both when he came across Edward in his coyote
form. "Them's good eatin'" said Toby, as he made a grab for the coyote.
Edward attempted to run and hide but was quickly found by the hungry Toby. Cornered,
Edward cast a Fuddle cantrip at Toby, saying in his best Foghorn Leghorn voice "Now
see here, son, what do you think you're doing here!" Toby was overcome by confusion,
allowing Edward to gain the upper hand and run off to change back into human form.
Edward explaines to Toby that he is in the category of "Things Bad To Eat"
and that Toby should find his meals elsewhere. The chagrined Toby apologized. Edward
trotted off to howl at the moon and intimidate the local coyotes.
The next morning Pensius went to Count Tormentil's court to make his quarterly report.
Pensius was impressed by the Count's mansion in Rancho Santa Fe - the main entrance
was set up for mortals and was elegant but pretty mundane, but the back entrance
lead to the Count's freehold and court, and was opulent indeed. Guarded by stone
kelpies (big nasty horses with glowing eyes who decide who can enter) and populated
by flights of faerie sprites, the Count's freehold was magnificently appointed in
expensive but stuffy antiques. Pensius spent the morning going over his books with
the Count's counselor, the very formal and upright Sir Armaund. Armaund told Pensius
that the Count was very concerned about the church. Drawing attention to the fae
is expressly against the rules of the Escheat, and Pensius was coming very close
to breaking the rules.
Pensius was then brought in to see the Count himself in his audience chamber. With
the count was a young sidhe childling who seemed nervous and shy. The count repeated
Armaund's concerns about the work of Pensius's church. Sir Armaund argued in Sir
Pensius's favor, having been influenced by Pensius's eloquence. The Count decided
that he will send Pensius on a quest in order to prove his worth.. If he succeeds,
his church will be left alone. If not...
His quest is this: to find and return the count's missing niece, Ariel, in time for
the Carnival celebration in seven days. Tormentil is in charge of the Carnival this
year and had chosen his heir, Ariel, as the Queen of the Night. Ariel's role, for
which she has been prepared by numerous rituals , infusing her fae seeming with Glamour,
is to rule over the Carnival from sunset to sunrise. As a childling at the cusp of
becoming a wilder, her every word and deed that night will be noted as portents for
the coming year. Unfortunately for Tormentil, Ariel has been missing for three days.
He had sent his best knights to find her, but none had been able to even gather much
in the way of information. Tormentil believes that Ariel has been kidnapped by unseelie
fae who want to disrupt or take over the Carnival, embarrassing Tormentil on his
big night. He also wanted Pensius to be on the lookout for an antique mirror that
he believes was taken by the same unseelie who kidnapped his niece.
Pensius agreed to the quest. In order to aid him, Tormentil enchanted a gold pocket
watch with a geas cantrip. Pensius and whatever allies he chooses can use the cantrip
on the watch to bind themselves as oathmates for the quest, giving them several benefits
but ensuring unpleasant consequences if they break their oaths to each other. Tormentil
also gave Pensius Chamone, the nervous sidhe childling, to foster for an unspecified
amount of time. He told Pensius that he wants Chamone to understand more about the
world of the fae and that she was too sheltered at Tormentil's court. Chamone was
confused by this turn of events but went with Pensius.
Pensius questioned the household servants about Ariel. Mrs. Alder, the boggan gardener,
told him that Ariel is the darling of Duke Valerian's court, and is doted on by the
count. Pensius returned home with Chamone to plan his quest.
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