Jhelom and Justice

It had been decided. In the spirit of Muldran attempting to get to know his son better, he'd asked Tim what he could to for an activity. Tim, with great enthusiasm, had suggested a shrine quest.

Muldran picked the book out of the shelves, and tucked it into his backpack. He patted down the new, blue suit that he'd asked Edna to make, and looked around the Library. A proper shrine quest...


Firstly, Tim and Muldran used a gate form Rhovanion to Jhelom - where Muldran said it would be the last gating magic he'd use for this journey. It was strictly foot, horse and ship from now on! Tim was surprised that Mul wanted to do this - but still remembered to call him Dad!

After collecting some supplies in Jhelom, Muldran made a surprising discovery; Tim wasn't unsettled by the magic in the islands own teleporting stones. Tim asked who built the islands, and Muldran suggested that the teleporters were on some sort of 'key line of magic' something that Cherry might suggest were the 'leylines'. Mul thought that because the elves practised natural magic, this might have something to do with it - but Tim looked a little unsettled, and murmured that surely the Gods had made the islands that way. Muldran was reminded of his conversations with Palirond about divine magic...

A short walk later, both arrived at the docks. Muldran summoned a boat out a model, and placed it on the water. He admitted to Tim that this would be the last piece of transport magic, then!


Clambering aboard, Muldran was impressed at how much he remembered about sailing. The boat took off at a rapid pace, and both father and son enjoyed the sea-spray, and the sensation of fast movement. Muldran lamented that all his gate travel seemed to have deadened the joy of exploration, and vowed to enjoy this trip. It also gave Mul and Tim time to talk. Muldran told him about the time he and Jack of Shadows had first met Roxanne, borrowed her boat, and then sunk it on the shores of Nujel'm. Tim was in stitches of laughter as Muldran described how he'd had to stitch clothes for the Courts of Nujel'm for days in order to make enough money back to purchase passage to the mainland...

A brief fight with a wayward water elemental took place, and before long, after sailing past another smaller island, the pair arrived alongside Valor Island.

Storing the boat again, Muldran and Tim jumped ashore, and proceeded to get attacked by serpents, corpsers, crocodiles and mongbats - although the combination of magic and arrows seemed to know the creatures back a fair bit. Tim also remarked that he seemed to still be carrying some magic within him, as lights grew and flared as his arrows hit their marks.

Muldran and his son finally made it to the shrine as night was starting to fall. Tim knelt at the shrine and repeated the mantra 'Ra'. Mul asked where he heard that, and Tim replied he didn't know - it just seemed the right thing to say. Muldran reminscied about his favourite mantra - cah - and recited a rhyme that made Tim laugh - Mul said he'd try and recall where he learnt it from.


Unrolling the bedrolls, Tim started to light a small campfire as the dark night drew in, but surrounded by the standing stones, the gentle whisper of the sea and the peaceful air of the shrine, few more words were exchanged as sleep crept over the pair...

Muldran woke just after Tim had started preparing himself some breakfast. Waving off the offer of food - Mul mentioned that he just can't eat that early - the two quickly packed items away - and then made a run for the shore.

Summoning the ship, Muldran set sail for Trinsic - and managed to get there in a rather roundabout way. Missing the docks, and leaving the ship near the archery range, Muldran and Tim set off to speak to the Duke.

At the Elven Quarter, Muldran and Tim met Lady Rose, and Muldran handed a present to Stewan, who gingerly accepted it. Muldran assured him it was fine, he still had another 37 of the things...

After staring off into the distance awhile, the group were approached by a two ladies; one named Heuroni and another called Morgan. Both seemed a little... strange, but Heuroni lead Tim back to the town to speak to the Duke.

When Muldran made his way there, he saw Tim arguing with the Duke; it seemed that Irvyn didn't believe it was Tim. Muldran understood, and tried to explain, but Irvyn seemed very short tempered - not at all like himself. Muldran made an offer for Irvyn to speak to them both in Rhovanion later, and were quickly brushed off. Muldran and Tim went back outside - and Tim found himself being made fun of by a couple of the Guards.

Kaelyn arrived and spoke with Muldran, Morgan and Tim, and asked them about Ghosts, and an apparent haunting in the town. Both Muldran and Morgan had theories about this, and Muldran watched Morgan thoughtfully - with the Court's planned work on Magic in the near future, she seemed like a useful ally...

It was at that point that Tim seemed to go a bit glassy eyed, and then waved his hand in a complicated pattern - and faded away before Morgan and Muldran's eyes. He sneaked into the Jail, and made the Guard's jump, before Muldran saw him rematerialise again.


Shortly afterwards, Muldran and Tim bade goodbye to Morgan, and made their way back to the Ship, escorted by the two guards. When they arrived, Muldran asked them to watch out for the Duke and his odd behaviour.

Setting off again, Muldran steered the boat of of the Trinsic Bay, aiming to sail south for Serpents Hold, and then round the coast towards the Honor Shrine. However, the pair were waylaid by a strange, small island. Going ashore - what little of it there was - Tim immediately named the island 'Tim's Island'. Muldran laughed - an appropriate name, since the place had appeared out of nowhere! It was here they decided to rest for the night. They spoke for a little while - and Tim asked about the magic he'd performed, and expressed his worries about this magic that seemed to be orbiting inside him. He also confirmed that he felt some sort of connection at the Shrines.

Finally, he asked Muldran to teach him magic. Muldran was surprised - but very, very happy, and immediately agreed. It was more than he could have hoped for; Muldran had even thought he might have to give up magic to give Tim the life he deserved, but already his foster son had started to see that Magic didn't necessarily have to be bad...

The pair started a fire, roasted some ribs (and when they didn't look quite nice, settled on bread.) Vowing to buy a fishing rod to catch some fish with, father and son watched the sea gently lap around the island, and slowly, slowly fell asleep out there, in the middle of nowhere.

Honor

The next day dawned clear; Muldran and Tim woke, and made their way - their short, quick, just-across-the-way way to the boat. Hopping on board, they quickly cast off towards the next shrine. Muldran, unrolling his map, suggested that they head for the shrine of Honour, on the west coast of the main continent.

Mul shouted out commands to the tillerman, and steered the group round a huge leviathan swimming in the water. Sadly they didn't manage to avoid the two water elementals (but those were quickly dispatched). Tim was also slightly distressed when Muldran drove straight into a dolphin. However, the dolphin didn't seem to mind to much (although Muldran was a bit worried about a few of the phrases that were whistled towards him afterwards.)


As they sailed, Muldran stopped the boat suddenly. Hopping ashore - with Tim running behind him - father and son discovered a ruined camp, and a strange charcoal-black pedestal. Before Mul could stop him, Tim climbed up and dropped into the centre of the pedestal, but nothing happened. Mul let out a sigh of relief, and warned Tim about diving into things without thinking. Tim replied that Mul did it all the time - and of course, 'Dad' couldn't really disagree!

Back on the boat, the pair continued sailing. Looping round the cape, the pair sailed onwards towards the shrine of Honor. Landing the boat a short way from the shrine, Mul and Tim battled several skeletons before finding there way to the strangely quiet shrine. When they'd fought their way to the shrine area, they noticed that even the birds seemed hushed in this area.

As Tim nervously stepped forward, he was seized by a strange feeling that drove him to his knees. The word 'summ' burst from his mouth, and he staggered further, seeming in pain. Muldran urged him to say the mantra three times; pilgrims had often done this. As Tim spoke the word twice more, a weight seemed to lift from him. He slowly got to his feet and smiled.


Heading to the other side of the peninsula, the boat was placed upon the water again, and Muldran drew the boat into its full size, before they both climbed on board. Tim asked if that spell could be used on humans - but Mul mentioned that it would probably kill them... since people couldn't compress and expand that way. Then Muldran mentioned that spells often have 'bans' in them that prevented them from being used in such ways.

Continuing to sail North, the pair docked in Skara Brae, and went ashore to buy some fishing poles and a knife. Greeting a couple of the locals as they went by, the quick visit was concluded, and father and son continued to sail North, now heading towards the Justice Shrine.

Docking in Yew, Muldran suggested that Tim disguise himself under his shroud; the Guardsmen were still peery about elves. And magic, Mul murmured to himself, hoping that the Guards he had encountered some time back had forgotten about the business with the Templars and the Black Box.

Walking threw the town, past Empath Abbey, and onwards the pair carried on past several familiar - and a few unfamiliar sites, until they reached Tel'Mar. Tim remembered the pool where they had tried to help heal him. A quick exploration in the town revealed cobwebs growing, and dusty footprints left in several buildings; it seemed that the town of Tel'Mar was all but deserted.

Climbing up a set of stairs, Muldran suggested that Medric wouldn't mind if they borrowed a dry area of the Virtue Hall to kip in.

Justice

A torn page from Muldran's diary reads:

...and that was interesting. One thing to note was that when we were at the Shrine of Justice, Tim found it much more difficult to summon forth the mantra. Indeed, I thought he would fair explode as the word Beh rocketed out from him.

It seems that he's finding the call of the shrines difficult; but I've encouraged him to continue. The problem with a shrine quest is that once one has been called, one needs to complete it. As it was when I tried that path long ago.

Tim's also showing quite a curiosity about magic. I need to steer this the right way - want to make sure he avoids the obsession I had. I don't want him to think magic can solve everything; I've shown that it can't!

We've decided to stop off in Stonekeep for two days - they've got a 'peace agreement' for the week.

Compassion

Muldran and Tim met up with several others from the Shadow Court - Callum, Gorthyn, Decardo and Cherry - and watched the opening part of a play that told the tale of the founding of the Guardsmen Militia. At the interval point, Muldran collected Tim, and both started to head away from the platform.

The others caught up, Gorthyn remarking that he was impressed we were all still in one piece. Decardo acted with disbelief when Muldran proudly said that they were walking and sailing without magic. Cherry reminded the father and son of the responsibilities back in the Court, and Muldran advised her that they would be home soon.

Walking through the woods, Tim and Mul found an abandoned outpost; Muldran mentioned it would make a good checkpoint for the Court to keep observation on Yew. He marked a rune there, and Tim started copying the words of magic he uttered. Mul stopped him, and explained a bit about how magical words can run away with people, and sounded out the words that he'd used; explaining a little of the magical language.

Setting off down the road, they came to the edge of the Compassion desert. Muldran realised - with surprise - that he'd run out of reagents to cast attacking spells, so Tim stepped forward with the bow, and proceeded to guide the two through the edges of the desert, towards the Shrine.

The biggest nuisance were the swarms of scorpions, rushing backwards and forwards and trying to overwhelm the pair. They soon reached the shrine, where Tim once more knelt down to meditate.

This time, Mul observed sparks of light snapping from the ankh towards Tim's hand as he tried to concentrate. Tim said that the 'remaining strands were working together, making it more difficult for him to find the mantras'. Muldran urged him on, and with great effort, Tim tamed the strand of the quest that related to Compassion.

After a rest, Muldran suggested they run for the eastern edge of the desert. Doing so, a large group of scorpions churned after them, as did a sand vortex. But even on the greenlands they were not out of trouble - as a group of brigands had seen the commotion on the desert, and had come to investigate.

Running past them, and loosing them in the woods, Muldran and Tim found their way to a cave tucked inside a mine. The pair went inside, and lit some wood, and before they could talk, Tim had fallen asleep.

Muldran watched him cautiously for a moment, and then slowly let himself drift off.

Sacrifice

Muldran's journal notes:

"That was almost a disaster. I'd only popped out to find a few reagents - but once more, creatures from the desert nearly made me dessert! Fortunately, Tim was on hand with his bow. Managed to disturb a few Solen nests as well. Nasty case of poisoning, but again, once I'd explained things to Tim - about how magic needs absolute concentration to succeed - I'd already recovered.

A short stroll later, and we were walking through Vesper. It had been quite some time since I'd been home - and the place was quiet. I didn't feel homesick. Funny, that. It's been so long, yet - nothing. I think the Library - the Shadow Court - is now more of a home than ever before.

Passing through Vesper rapdily, we found our way to the Shrine of Sacrifice with only a few brushes with demonic trees. I did point out to Tim that the Shadow Court was originally founded in that area; I'd have to take him there, to the coast, sometime. The shrine of Sacrifice was as beautiful as ever. As Tim went forward to the shrine, I was thinking back to my shrine trip, and suddenly remembered Humility.

As I did so, a great pain swept through me, and I staggered, sitting heavily down on the ground. I saw Tim was having his own troubles with the shrine. It seemed worse than ever before, he was struggling to control the threads within him, and the mantra seemed to cause him pain. Pulling myself to my feet, I sang a song that I'd sung him on the start of the journey, the song my mother sang to me when referring to the shrine of Sacrifice.

"The crow flies near!
The crow flies far!
And where it lands,
It sayeth..."

Cah! The word rocketed out of Tim, and he repeated it twice more. Slowly his shaking subsided and he got to his feet. As I stepped forward to him, another wave of pain hit me - something outside, something in Magincia was very wrong. Asking Tim's permission, I summoned a gate to take us to Rhovanion, to speak with the Court.

Ankh and Magincia

The following day, a meeting took place in Rhovanion. Bertrand and Muldran arrived first. While talking, Bert presented Muldran with something he'd found - an ankh pendant. Muldran looked at it, and smiled - he know who'd this suit... As they went into the meeting, Muldran handed the pendant to the young lad.

The Court discussed the recent strangeness - and then noted that a magical barrier had appeared around Magincia. During the discussion Tim and Decardo argued; the older warrior needling the young lad to try and get a reaction. However, Cherry intervened to try and calm the air down. The discussion turned back to the Order and Magic, and Shadow King Gorthyn ordered that an Assay be started in Magincia, and an eye be kept on the location over the next few days.

The Court journeyed there - via Trinsic - to inspect the island. The place seemed... quiet, waiting for something. It was pointed out that there were no birds in the trees, and even the breeze had stopped blowing. As various Courtiers returned to their other duties, Muldran and Tim elected to stay behind on the island for another night.

Humility

Muldran and Tim returned to Trinsic by the ferry service provided by the Council. From there, Muldran plotted a course on the map to take them out, far into the sea, and onwards to Fire Isle, where the shrine of Humility was located.

As they set off, Tim was humming a tune comprised of the mantra-words he'd learnt so far, while clutching the ankh pendant. It seemed to calm him as he did so.

The boat cut through the ocean at a vast rate, until Muldran called a halt. Telling Tim to prepare to see something strange, Muldran took the boat round in a wide circle, until Tim craned his neck over the edge of the boat, pointing at the strange sight in the sea.


Muldran pointed out the Serpent Pillar that stood in the sea in front of them. He told the tale of them, and let Tim know that a single word would whisk a ship away in a whirlpool, and take them to another realm. Tim asked if Mul knew the word, and he said he did... But didn't want to interrupt the journey.

Setting off again, the pair finally arrived at the Isle of Fire - not without some near death moments as the boat nearly ploughed into the beach. Stepping from the boat, father and son strode towards the shrine that lay ahead of them. A simple shrine, the area seemed very peaceful - in a good way, not in the ominous way that
they had experienced in Magincia.

As Tim stepped forward to the shrine, Muldran steeled himself, advising Tim to remember, concentrate, and stay strong. As Tim's hand went near the shrine, there was a crackle of energy, but Tim seemed unaffected. He looked towards the shrine, clutching the ankh with his other hand, and sounded out the mantra: Lum!


Muldran was surprised; almost as surprised as Tim! Muldran suggested that the pendant had acted like a focus, helping him channel his attention in to it, and helping him sort out the threads. Setting up a camp for the night, Muldran looked forward to a restful night; it seemed that Tim had found a way to avoid the pain the quest was causing him.

Honesty

Meeting in the Library, Muldran created a doorway to Vesper, where father and son set sail to the Icy North - and the icy island that held the shrine of Honesty.

Tim was very calm on this journey; humming the mantras he'd gained from the other shrines seemed to help him focus. As they approached the shrine, Muldran used some of the warnings that he'd received from both Tim and Decardo when they were referring to his boating skills. With not even a bump, Muldran pulled the boat alongside the shore, and hopped off. Tim was very impressed!

A short walk through the snow and ice lead to the enclosure where the Shrine was hidden. Muldran noticed that Tim seemed immune to the cold.

As they approached the shrine, Tim seemed to become unfocussed and dreamy. Each time he tried to approach, he slowed down, and looked off into the distance. Mul realised what was happening - the last two unfinished threads of virtue inside him were writhing, desperate to escape being tamed.

Tim shook off the effects long enough to summon up the mantra of Ahm! which was repeated three times. He then leant forward and seemed to grasp at something only he could see - the thread - and gently push it into place.


Muldran bowed respectfully towards the shrine, telling Tim that - strangely enough - the virtue of Honesty is aligned with the path of the Mage. Then, chuckling, he realised that Spirituality, the final shrine that they had to visit, was aligned to Ranger. This made Tim remember the time in the past when he was learning the way of the Ranger, and put him in a melancholy mood. He wondered if he'd always be the way he was now...

Muldran remembered rumours of a quest where one could find a path back to being human, which brightened Tim up... but Muldran was unsure where he'd heard this tale.

One more thread to go...

Spirituality

The day had dawned; father and son had travelled all around the world - and a few places outside it as well - and now, one more shrine was left. Spirituality.

"Some might say that it's the central part of the Virtues, linking them all together," Muldran said to Tim.

Tim, however, was a bit distracted. He felt hot, uncomfortable. "Like you have a cold?" Mul asked. Tim disagreed - he said he just felt *hot*. The pair left Trinsic, and Muldran marched North towards the shrine. As they neared the clearing, Tim became more and more uncomfortable. Muldran quickly deduced that this was another trick that the threads were playing on him, to try and stay out of reach.


Muldran and Tim reached the shrine, and stood on the steps. Tim wondered how to get to the shrine, and Muldran suggested that he'd need to know the mantra in order to move to the shrine itself. The tow concentrated, until Tim managed to pull the words out of the air.

Using the mantra 'Om' the pair vanished from the steps, and reappeared in front of the Ankh. Reaching forward, Tim touched the ankh, and with a crackle and an audible snapping noise, the final thread slipped into place. Tim looked up and beamed - he had done it!


Muldran gave Tim a hug, and the two stepped down from the hovering platform. Running to the trees to avoid the freezing rain - which Tim could feel, now that the thread had been pulled into place - the pair sheltered by a large copse of oaks, and looked out over the road.

They spoke about magic, and how Tim's command of the threads had focussed him. Muldran deduced that Tim's apptitude for magic would be best directed towards the natural earth-magic of Spellweaving - and the pair set off for Heartwood - a new quest straight away!