A Bell, a Harp and a spinning Ladle
A forgotten Toy under the Bed
The Fox Knight sets a Trap
The Hound Within awakens
The hour before dawn of the 3rd Riverday of Petals, Tizra's Halls
Referee
You squeeze through the
small door and the bell echoes through the halls beyond. It smells of
soil and rotten wood. A broken stairway leads down towards a hall
with large windows. Shadows from unseen candles play around your
feet. On the top of the stairs you spot a ledge that leads towards a
far wall. A cold voice whispers in your ear “In and out the silver
bells, I am your master” and you shudder. The music has stopped but
the sound of the bell rings and rings and rings ...
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
The Salt Knight
plunges his fingers into his ears to try and quiet the voices,
struggling forward with little sight and less hearing. Crouching, he
descends the stairs.
Referee
You crouch forward
until you reach the gap between the stairs and look over to the other
side. You reckon you could jump the distance. The hall below is vast
and empty and there are large windows that allow the view to a
tangled forest under a grey sky, gnarled branches scraping against
the glass. At the far end of the hall is a stage with various
instruments. A child in a white tunic plucks the strings of a harp
unheard over the sound of the bell. Two sets of open doors lead
deeper into the Tizra's mansion.
Sir Anastaz, The
Salt Knight
The Salt Knight
takes a minute to judge the length of the gap through the blindfold,
then runs and bounds across the gap.
 |
| View from the Ballroom |
Referee
You land on the far
side and descend the stairs. The floor of the hall is dusty and made
from stones that are so uneven that they are resembling stones found
in nature. Through the doors you see shadowy corridors leading in all known directions and some more that shouldn't exist. As you had taken the
precaution to plug your ears, the maddening sound of the bell is
muffled but again you hear the whisper as clear as before - as if
reaching your mind through other means than your ears. “And who
will you save?” The voice mocks. “You cannot save them all.”
You approach the stage. The child playing the harp is Saša, his eyes
clouded. His tunic is embroidered with pearls and he wears a wreath
of ivy. When he sees you he asks you something so softly that you
cannot hear his words.
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz approaches
Saša, and leands down close, his plugged ears next to Saša's little
mouth. "What, child?"
Referee
“Where is the
master?" He asks in a sleepy voice. "And who are you?”
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
"Your parents sent
me. Where are Marko and Biljana?"
Referee
He doesn't react to you
mentioning his parents and only looks around. “Marko sweeps the
floor. It is very hard work.” He gestures towards the one set of
doors. “Bijlana stirs the pot. I don't like the smell.” He points
towards the other and sighs."I play the harp all day but now I
only hear the bell."
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
"Keep playing the
harp, I'll be back soon." And the Salt Knight goes through
the door to Marko.
Referee
You walk down the
hallway and you see through vaulted archways other hallways full of
dust and shadows leading off into the distance. Gargoyles and dragons
sit atop the archways watching you with dead eyes and some have stone
faces so old that they had lost all features. With each step the
sound of the bell gets softer and softer until you can't hear it any
more.
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz kneels down
next to one corridor and scrapes a finger across the floor, yielding
a thick layer of dust and grime. He moves on, occasionally testing
the floor again. When at a fork, he goes down the cleaner path.
Referee
You wander for some
time, tracking back whenever the dust is thicker until you hear the
scraping of straw over stone and you reach another vast hall. At the
far end is a large throne made from antlers and woven reeds behind
which hang furs and skins of fabled beats. Through the windows you
see the same tangled forest and the same grey sky like the surface of
a lake seen from underwater. Marko sweeps the floor in front of the
throne but his broom is obstructed by the uneven stones and it seems
that he stirs as much dust as he gathers.
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz stoops down
next to Marko. "Marko, you must come with me. I'm taking you
back to your father." He takes the boy's hand firmly but not
forcefully.
Referee
Marko blinks at you
in confusion. His hands are as cold as his twin's. He looks over his
shoulder at the broom now resting on the floor. He resists your pull
with inertia rather then with intent. “But the master ...”
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
"Tizra isn't your
master anymore. If you come with me, you won't have to work for him
any longer."
The Salt Knight
senses the child's reticence, sighs, and scoops up little Marko. He
turns and swiftly retraces his steps through the serpentine
corridors, searching for Biljana with Marko in his arms.
Referee
Marko rests his head on
your shoulders and sighs. “ … won't have to work any longer” he
mumbles. On your way back through the corridors and halls and under
archways you find a corridor that seems familiar but soon you come to
a dead end and turn around and retrace your steps and after a while
you hear a low rumble from deep below and when you pass another
archway the stone is cracked and dust falls onto the floor.
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz looks around
frantically. "Marko, do you know where Saša and Biljana
are?"
Referee
"The ballroom is
north" he mumbles. "Saša always plays the harp there.
Biljana is west in the kitchen."
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz sets down
Marko for a moment, still hanging on to his hand. He retrieves the
unbreakable compass from his pack, a metal ladle which unerringly
points south. He tosses it on the ground, and waits as it spins. Once
it comes to rest, he picks it up, picks Marko up, and heads west.
 |
| Hallways full of Dust and Shadows |
Passed midnight of the 3rd Riverday of Petals, Bohat
Sir Milos, the Fox
Knight
Night falls in
earnest on Bohat as the grey half-moon sets just past midnight. The
Fox Knight walks quietly among the village paths, pulling millet
grain from his pockets and sprinkling it on the earth.
He sets down a small
cup with milk at a crossing of paths and writes in chalk next to it
“freely given and refused without offence.”
And finally, he enters the town square and hangs a lantern from the branch of an elm, places a sprig of St John’s Wort inside, and lights it. It casts the only light in the darkened village.
Milos climbs up the
side of the stable and comes to sit next to the shadowed figure of
the Dove Knight.
He speaks slowly to his comrade in a faint but clear whisper: “Do not watch the dark. Watch instead for what cannot step upon spilled grain. A thief may take the milk, a dog may drink it, but a faerie will be vexed by the offer and tarry. Watch for what casts no shadow from the light, or too many. Whatever pauses before it is measuring the cost of entering the brightness.”
Referee
Sir Heldris, under the
moonlight you find speaking difficult, there are too many teeths to
pronounce words properly and a lagging tongue too large to fit even
your slightly protruded mouth. Your mind wanders. There is a hunger
inside you that won't be sated by anything but prey that flees before
you.
Sir Heldris the Dove Knight
Milos’ words enter
Heldris’ ears like a droning noise, muffled sentences making their
way to a meaning of sorts. The Dove Knight just nods silently,
avoiding the young knight’s gaze. He scans the darkened streets,
quietly, although struggling to hush his own breathing which has
slowly turned into a low scraping sound.
Sir Milos, the Fox Knight
Milos looks
carefully at his comrade and senses that his words do not land. He
quiets himself and slowly reachs out his hand to cover Heldris'. No
pressure, no insistence, simply presence.
Referee
You hear Sir Heldris'
rattled breathing next to you and a dog barking in the distance. The
taste of the resinated wine you drank in the evening is on your lips
and its mundane magic still circulating in your blood. From above the
village looks like the toy blocks of your childhood. Now a cloud is
covering the moon and plunges the few streets in darkness - but only
for a moment: Now the cloud passes and the moonlight reveals a yellow
blotch of colour disappearing around the corner of the inn moving
south.
 |
| Bohat at Night |
Milos gives Heldris'
hand a firm squeeze and rises silently."Cover me, friend. We
may have a visitor." He slips down the side of the stables
and prowls through the shadows toward the far side of the inn. He
briefly looks up toward Heldris, catches his gaze, and nods.
Referee
On the town square you
see spilled milk on the ground but the cup Sir Milos placed there is
missing. Small white footprints are leading away. When you reach the
corner you spot Biljana crouching against Yordanka's wagon, holding
the cup between her hands and eagerly lapping the milk like a cat and
like a cat her eyes reflect the moonlight. She stares vacantly and
she hasn't seen you yet.
Ser Perilake, The Gilded Knight
After leaving the
gathering, Perilake takes Avert to his room. "Papa...."
The boy mutters sleepily "Will you sleep in here
tonight?" Perilake smiles, and tucks his boy in. "No
Avert, I will not sleep in here tonight. You are nearly grown, and
there is no space. But I will sit with you a while, and I will tell
you the tale of the Seed Knight and the Bandits." Before
Perilake's story is halfway begun, the young boy has drifted into
sleep. Perilake waits quietly for a few moments, then studies the
bed. High enough for him to slide under, and clear on either side for
him to roll out and spring up. Drawing his blades and carefully
placing them below, he slides under and blows out the candle.
Tonight, he will not sleep. Tonight, he will watch. And see what may
come
Referee
After some time your
eyes adjust to the darkness and in the moonlight you see a small
wooden falcon under the bed close to the wall and you recognize the
present you gave Inga many years ago during the first winter you
spent together and that Avert tearfully admitted to have lost. You
hear an owl hooting and the movement of mice in the old walls. Avert
moves a little and the bed creaks. Time passes. The shadows move
slowly with the moon's arc and more shadows that shouldn't be there
from some source of illumination invisible to your eyes and with them
comes a musky smell that seem to make the space under the bed shrink
and your limbs lay lazy and stupid around you as if they were
belonging to a discarded puppet.
Sir Heldris the Dove Knight
Even before spotting
Biljana, Heldris feels himself drawn to the wagon, like a dog drawn
to a familiar smell. When he sees the child lapping the milk like a
cat, he lets out a deep growl, but immediately pushes it back. He
approaches the child and with enormous effort he manages to
articulate a speech: "Biljana, if that's who you are, I know
you carry a curse under this unearthly moon." He pauses for
the pain from speaking out loud, and after a moment he resumes:
"Lead us to the place where it came from, I beg you, and let us
help Biljana back."
Referee
She finishes the milk
without taking her eyes of you and then licks her lips. “I have
nothing but contempt for your kind, your pleas only amuse me.” Now
the cup is on the floor and reels and clatters to its rest and
Biljana crouches on top of the wagon looking down at you. She makes a
lazy gesture towards the Fox Knight. “I cannot harm him - his soul
is claimed.” There is a hint of disappointment but then she smiles
for the first time and her teeth are long. ”But you can!” And she
lifts her muzzle and howls and the Hound inside of you awakens.
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