IV - The Meeting With The Mentor - Part Two

Various stories on the disappearance of the High King have spread out in Concordia.  Everything from masked marauders assaulting the party, to King Meilge pacifying the panicking people by not speaking of the disappearance immediately.  Caliburn's disappearance and reemergence in the hands of the Eshu, however, remains the unifying truth.


Lady Songbird finds herself recalled to the Kingdom of Apples where she is formally stripped of her Fiona title and, to her surprise, holdings.  She instead gains the position of Goblin Town's Advocate and discovers that Cadmium Redd has met an unexpected fatal accidental death.

The Parliament of Dreams struggles through the months to work together in the absence of the High King, but soon infighting and politicking lead to the Parliament of Dreams breaks down and pretty much dissolves.  Prior to its destruction, however, a panel is made to investigate the disappearance of David, and culminates with King Meilge himself being called to the stand for questioning, and all Gwydion present find no lies from him, even after he temporarily revokes his status as Eiluned during the proceedings with the High Lord's permission.  Given the horror that his face suffers from, however, he was permitted to wear his mask during the proceedings.


Morwen meets with Lenore in time and the two find a common ground in their concern for Kithain society.  After much discussion, Morwen declares she is willing to support Lenore's rule so long as she is permitted to be her direct Regent and have input on her decision-making.  Lenore considers.


Sir Felix learns of the Red Branch knights fragmenting from opposing sides as well, and inadvertently uncovers the existence of another secret faction growing, who identify their fellow members by grabbing the wrist with one hand.   He tries to learn more about the factions without risking too much danger.


Lady Songbird soon finds herself kidnapped by a group of commoner rebels and gets introduced to the wily and charismatic Fenarius, a Pooka who seems to be intent in destroying the Sidhe rule.  She eventually learns Fenarius is more than meets the eye, for rather than a Pooka, he actually happens to be one of the Thallain known as a Beastie.


Flynn Wordweaver and Sir Felix encounter as well ghosts wandering lost in the Dreaming.  They begin to worry what greater events are unfolding that the lack of a unified Concordia will have to contend with.  While Felix and Lenore learn from Duke Dray his convictions that he lives, due to the fact his oath to kill David remains unbroken ("Therefore, he must be still alive.")  Flynn visits the Patrician and first hand witnesses the frighteningly powerful presence of Danwyn.  Danwyn nearly forces Flynn to reveal the whereabouts of Caliburn, but is saved by a sudden twist of fate:  the dark twin Duke and Duchess Kali and Siva attempt to kill the self-proclaimed new King.


Escaping the assault, Flynn finds himself pulled by Caliburn away to a new location.  There, confused, he finds his two friends, Sir Felix and Lady Songbird drawn to the location as well.  Uncertain to what happened, Sir Felix suddenly noticed a billboard that seemingly intones, "The Return of the King" and before the three could decide what to do, the street light nearby shifts to green.  


The High King may just be in one of the nearby cars!  Acting quickly to try to locate him, Lady Songbird gets run-over by the van which she suspects contains him.  Flynn Wordweaver shoves the doors of the van open only to get shot at point blank range by a shotgun.  And Sir Felix closes in on the van, worried that he would have to face the vehicle that radiates an immense field of Banality all on his own.

[npc] Duchess Kali

Duchess Kali
Kasmeara
Unseelie Court, Wilder
Sidhe of Ailil
Member of the Shadow Court

One of twins born who has been constantly quarreling through-out their reincarnations, Kasmeara once found herself captured by her rival, Sarinius after years of  fighting against one another into stalemates.   Rather than submit to his victory, Kasmeara slew herself as a final bid to escape. Little did she know, Sarinius would kill himself as well, choosing to die til the Dreaming allowed them to challenge one another again.

With black hair that reaches down to almost to her knees, Duchess Kali has changed her choice of clothing to a darker shade as well.  While retaining a tight-fitting preference to fashion, her approach to the darker tones mimics the Duke Siva so much that it may be intended to cause confusion in others.

Her love of intrigue is matched only by his passion for lies.  But be warned, they both revel in destruction above all pursuits.

[npc] Duke Siva

Duke Siva
Sarinius
Unseelie Court, Wilder
Sidhe of House Balor
Member of the Shadow Court

One of twins born who has been constantly quarreling through-out their reincarnations, Sarinius once captured his rival Kasmeara who then slew herself than be his prisoner.  Playing along with her, Sarinius fell upon his own sword as well, choosing to die til the Dreaming allowed them to challenge one another again.

With pale skin and black eyes, Duke Siva is said to have six fingers on each hand.  His clothes vary from the deepest shades of wine red to black.  In the past, he used to wear his hair silvery white, but something has inspired him to change his look to a darker motif, similar to that of Duchess Kali.  Some whisper it is a portend of things to come.

[item] Caliburn

Caliburn is the sword of High King David and is said to have been the sword of all High Kings that have ever ruled.  Blessed with incredible powers, few are truly aware of the range of abilities the magical blade is capable of.  Of what is known is the ability of the blade to deliver itself from threats when the High King is no longer able to protect the blade.

The blade is believed to now be searching for the (new) High King.  Back during the Accordance War, the young David found the blade somewhere in the depths of Goblin Town, and it was his emergence from its tunnels with the sword in hand, and the majestic Griffon chimerical image that brought the beginnings of the end of the war.

Now, in the hands of Flynn Wordweaver, the search for the High King continues.  Will he find the High King before the kingdoms of Concordia tear the land apart?

IV - The Meeting With The Mentor - Part One

9 months have passed since the disappearance of the High King David.


The Oathcircle had exhausted all attempts to find more information in the Kingdom of Willows and have decided to consider searching in other locations.  With Lady Songbird being elevated to the leader of the Oath Circle known as the Seekers of the High King, she finds herself having to make a decision on two destinations.  Flynn Wordweaver wants to go to Disney World in Florida and many seem to agree his urge to go may be a magical intuition granted by the sword, Caliburn.  On the other hand, much suspicion also lies towards the Duke Kali and the Duchess Siva.  In the end, they choose to investigate in Florida.


As fate would have it, the group would find themselves encountering the Duchess Siva, who mistakes one of the Oathcircle as her contact.  The group acquires a vial of darkness which Flynn's Soothsay determines to be Banality itself made chimerical.  The poison consumes itself in time, leaving no trace of its existence.  Sir Felix Southpaw attempts to find more information and simply uncovers that the real contact, the restaurant clerk, knew only to hand deliver the vial to another contact in return for the safety of her children.


When Lady Songbird's attempt to gain more information posing at the contact fails, the enemy (believed by the group to be the villainous Shadow Court) unleashes a veritable army of nineteen goons after them, all dressed up in sentai outfits to disguise the threat from the public present.


To elude them, the Oathcircle breaks into a run through the nearest Trod they can find, and the Silver Path leads them to a Keep that sadly holds frightening horrific memories for the Lady Songbird.


*


In the past, Lady Songbird and her husband Danwyn first met when the young Sidhe came to the Fiona's rescue against a multi-limbed horror called Iblis.  


*


The Keep seemed empty.  Huge and empty.  And when the ancient being called Iblis was seen, she was practically human.  Her powers, however, remained deadly.  When confronted, the thing breathes out fire and tries to defeat them with the use of strange Arts to create chimerical duplicates of herself.   Sir Felix was forced to call upon powerful Primal forces to take her down.  And Lady Songbird banishes her to what is called the Autumn Realms.  


When the group decided to head back through the Trod instead of risk traversing it, they find themselves bathed in spotlights and targeted by laser point systems.  Sir Felix quickly dons his invisibility cloak and discovers it was all a ruse by the Queen of the White Sands,  Queen Morgana of House Gwydion.  When Lady Songbird's outbursts are nearly taken as "a declaration of war" the Oathcircle becomes exceedingly aware of how strained the relationships between the Houses and the Commoners have become.


The Commoners, under the guise of a revolutionary step, attack the Castle and numerous explosives erupt here as well as all over Concordia!   Tired, weak and injured, the Oathcircle is forced to find ways to survive as well as struggle to save the former Princess Lenore's life.  None would foresee the sudden coming of two possible saviors:  Rowena the Just emerges to assist in the battle, and through her a strange and uncanny fighting style is reflected by Sir Felix.  One practiced back in the Deep parts of the Dreaming by a Sir James.  The second unlikely savior, the bumbling fool Duke Dray, whosed martial skills prove to be quite formidable.


*


Princess Lenore is checked into a hospital.  It is only here Lady Songbird catches the news of how widespread the attacks are.  She calls home to check on her beloved ones only to learn of the man called Danwyn who has emerged from the body of Miles and has possibly taken over the loyalties of all her followers.  

III - The Refusal of the Call - Season Ender

The wedding is moved to an earlier date.
And the rest of Concordia finds itself rushing to make changes.


Lady Songbird, Flynn Wordweaver, Sir Felix Southpaw, and the rest of the Oathcircle find themselves once more crossing paths in the Kingdom of Willows as High King David Ardry and Faerilyth ap Eiluned celebrate before numerous witnesses their marriage.


While there, the group as individuals are introduced to a host of new characters:  From the lovespat between the unacknowledged duchess Igrania, and the contesting duke, Firedrake, to the disturbing siblings Duke Siva and Duchess Kali, the sultry Sabrina Lennin-Corvald, and the tinkering Duke Murdoch.  They learn of how the Kingdom of Willows still hold much to slavery and racism, and eventually meet the charismatic King Meilge.

As the wedding progresses, Lady Songbird and Flynn Wordweaver work their magic once more to help keep the night productive, even with Princess Lenore acting emotionally distraught over her father's choice of actions.  But when the wedding takes a turn for the worse, the oathcircle finds itself at the center of a Kingdom without a High King, of warring sides declaring loyalties to varying leaders, to a Princess disavowing her right to rule, and of an Oathcircle embracing a new name.  Caliburn, the High King's most potent Treasure and the symbol of the Dreaming's favor in his rule had suddenly departed from the missing High King and had transported itself into the hands of the eshu storyteller, Flynn.  The sword, through words Flynn alone can hear, tells him that it will remain with him until the rightful bearer is found.


The Seekers of the High King is united by oath and by promise.

*

However, in the Kingdom of Apples, the young ward of Lady Songbird awakes from his feverish dreams and a new face comes to the fore.  His chimerical mein becomes fully apparent as he declares out loud, "I am Danwyn ap Gwydion, the rightful King of this realm.  Where is my Queen?"

II - The Call to Adventure - Part Three

An Oathcircle is formed.

With the goal being to rescue Sir Thortal, Princess Lenore forges an Oathcircle with Sir Felix, Lady Songbird, and Flynn Wordweaver.  The four then make their preparations for the quest.
Lady Songbird decides to offer the Trod in the Patrician as the point of entry to the Dreaming.  She realizes the other oath of secrecy that she had promised and asks for the Oathcircle to be mindful of it as well.  She notices her knights having a rivalry of sorts, and eventually agrees to rename Sir Finn into Sir Awll.

Flynn Wordweaver visits Duke Dray in hopes of having weapons and learns the Duke insists on joining him in the quest.  The Duke wears a hideous armor that blocks out his senses (in order to maintain the secrecy of the oath) which allows Flynn to leave the Duke behind.  He takes with him a set of magical throwing knives, blades which could be retargeted at the last second to strike a different target with but one's mind.

Sir Felix Southpaw gathers up the Glamour he can, including Dross which he successfully takes from Lady Songbird's knights through verbal wordplay.

The three gather at the Patrician, witness a brief outburst from the young man, Miles, and attempt to open the Trod.  It is only later that Lady Songbird and Sir Real realize that the Trod can only be opened while feeling the grip of lust.

In the Dreaming, the heroes encounter a myriad of things:  an information broker in the form of a bird who sells them information which leads them off the Silver Path, a set of statues that seem to speak of a woman and her children running away from someone, a silver river that eventually reveals itself to be a dragon now freed from its geas, and even a pirate in a sea of stars where desires are granted without a second-thought.

In each encounter, the heroes find a way to work together, or to confuse their opponents, using every skill or knowledge they have to their disposal.   Their greatest threats however, were to come from two other places:  their past.  And their future.

Upon finding the Silver Path, Lady Songbird sees the wreckage of a carriage that once belonged to her and her husband, a man named Danwyn.  Against the other's words, she tries to recover the contents of the carriage.  But when they find the tree ahead of them, she decides to bury the cask for now and to return to it some other time. The tree happens to be another one of the Ghulle Dhu, and the old one questions them for not choosing to return to the Dreaming instead.  It warns them that great threats are coming.  And leaves.

The group then finds a Ruined Arch to take home, but learn it is watched by a massive Spider chimera.  Lenore is snared into its web, and Sir Felix and Flynn struggle to find a way to best it, even as it attacks from the shadows.   Lady Songbird, on the other hand, discovers the Huntsman on the path, stalking them, and thankfully succeeds in an Ordeal against his dogs.  The Huntsman allows them to leave for now.

The Oathcircle find themselves emerging in the Kingdom of Pacifica, all the way in the other side of America.  There, amidst Justin Beiber songs and stilleto heels, the group discover they had been gone for barely a minute.