June began with an air of uneasy expectation as Camelot awaited
the next move in the confrontation with the Monster known as Epoi.
Anki weeded flowerbeds in the gardens impatiently. Kildrummy
did a reading with his strange deck of cards that seemed to promise
hope for Camelot’s future.
Yet in the middle of the crisis, life went on much as usual. Mace
Daniels received a surprise when she put on a long unused helmet.
Blackthorn recognized a very familiar mouse and persuaded the
boy Maud`Dib to resume his human form.
Rhianna made inquiries into what she might do to be of help
around Camelot.
A clergyman named Kratas arrived in Camelot, and while Ian
and others were wary of the man, Quincy found her discussion
with the man interesting although his talk of what she thought
were depraved turkeys was a bit confusing. He did offer to
help teach Quincy to read, but he’s not been seen since the
events that followed in Camelot.
The Morrigan, acting in her position as High Justice of Camelot,
granted Yandora a divorce from the long missing and believed
dead T’Shel. She did place a condition on it, though: the divorce
would not take effect until thirty days after the decree to give T’shel
a chance to contest it if he were still alive and able to do so.
A courier named Morgandy Skyler arrived in Camelot on her giant
hawk with a message for Taralon Phoenix and accepted Ian’s
invitation to stay over night to rest. That same night the King of
England arrived unannounced to secretly spend the night at
Camelot.
Shortly after breakfast the next morning the king was escorted
through unseen passageways to his carriage out in the courtyard.
As Blackthorn prepared to bid the King farewell, they were fired
Upon by archers on the wall. Traitors had infiltrated the Red Dragon
Guard during the recent vigorous recruiting and now they opened the
Gates of Camelot to a force of mercenaries and demon mages. Ian,
Rannen, Lucent, Morgandy Skyler and the forces of the dwarf Hugin
eventually took back control of the gates and cleared the courtyard off
the invading forces.
Inside the castle, Torri and Teglo were confronted by devil dogs and
screelings. Lucent rushed inside and he, Sia-Hun, Teglo, Lyrick, and
Kyrie destroyed the attackers.
And all this was meant as a diversion as in The Hook Epoi began the
ritual that would give him ultimate power. But the ceremony itself also
served to disclose Epoi’s location, and cloak, Bayla and Anki rushed
there at once to do battle. The very fabric of existence was twisted as
a mountain suddenly sprang up in The Hook. Outside of Camelot Elasol
and others found themselves battling
But as it must, Good triumphed over Evil. Once more reality shifted and
the mountain vanished both from sight and from the memory of all but a
very few. The rescue party defeated Epoi and returned to Camelot not
only with the missing Amarella but with the revived father of Bayla-Vin,
the elf known as WhisperWind.
A state of euphoria after the Balance was restored was felt mildly by
most hit Dame Kyrie and Squires Lyrick and Lucent slightly harder
and caused a bit of awkwardness between Lyrick and Castor.
In celebration of the liberation of The Hook and the defeat of Epoi, Ian
announced that a Summer Tournament would be held and that it would
conclude with a Grand Ball. There would be five weapons categories and
the winner of the Swords competition would be crowned the Tourney
Champion.
Lord Corwin returned to Camelot after being away at sensitive
trade negotiations.
Yandora hired a young seamstress to make her a dress.
Lucent and Sandra Anderson had an argument over the merits of
Sandra’s horse.
Master Pinkus was still causing problems. First he transported the
dagger that held him to under Lumiere’s bar. Later he briefly took
possession of Nobly but moved into a book when Kalaris and Bayla
promised to make him a new body to inhabit, a move Ian regarded
with great skepticism. Unable to just sit quietly and wait, Pinkus
startled Nobly in the library. The assistant librarian attempted
to sweep the possessed book out of the library only to have her
broom burst into flames, and the firehall was startled by Nobly
running about with the burning broom. Bayla provided a bucket
of water to douse the fire while Blackthorn provided an “I told
you so!” look.
Yandora’s daughter Eliana arrived in Camelot and met
Master Robinton, unaware of the marriage proposal. But a
few choice remarks by Tyralor caused an argument and when
Yandora ran off in tears, she became lost in the Wyld until
Robinton and TomTom rescued her.
Mace and Mikal set about the task of rebuilding Mace’s ruined
estate.
Madame Maylon’s work on the last of the tapestries neared a close.
Quincy became friends with the dwarven ghost Sa`Gruund. Tyralor
seemed a bit discomfited by the ghost’s proximity, however
.
The announcement of the Tournament was met with great enthusiasm
and the events were run under the watchful eye of Master Marcello. Little
did the citizens of Camelot realize how momentous an event the Summer
Tournament of 1106 was going to be!
The Tournament: Euklipts was the first contestant eliminated from the tournament as he
lost in Archery on the first night to Blackthorn and then to his own wife,
Mirari. As the elf himself put it, if you were going to lose who better
to do so to than your own wife and your commander?
The contestant causing the most interest among opponents and the
onlookers alike was the mysterious stranger know only as The Green
Knight. Rumors abounded as to his true identity. He was a royal prince
travelling incognito. He was the last Saxon heir to the throne of England.
He was Tyralor McDougal in disguise!
No matter who he truly was, the Green Knight cut a wide swath through
the opposition, beginning with hard fought matches with first Lucent and
then Sir Glofin. As the Green Knight won match after match only Mace
Daniels was ever able to defeat the newcomer one time in the all important
Sword category.
The Green Knight was not the only sensation of the tourney, Michael Ard`
Rhi made his yearly appearance to insult the defenders to Camelot. This
year was a bit different than his previous visits and Ard`Rhi added insult to
injury as he defeated nearly everyone he met. For a time it seemed as if he
and the Green Knight would face each other for the Sword title, but
Blackthorn’s latest student Squire Lyrick eliminated Ard`Rhi.
Ard`Rhi had one match in particular that set all of Camelot abuzz. He
matched Swords with Quincy Randall of the Red Dragon Guard and
despite re-injuring her wounded collarbone the guardswoman refused to
surrender. Her bravery infuriated Ard`Rhi and although he won the match
he was not satisfied. He beat Quincy senseless and then stalked off. Tyralor
came to Quincy’s aid and in the course of doing so had a confrontation with
Squires Cian and Kylan.
Ard`Rhi’s anger with Quincy continued even after she was brought to the
Infirmary where his addition of an unknown substance to her medicine led
to another of her incidents of transformation.
A fourth contestant of note was the whirling bundle of energy that was
Daylily Dreamweaver. She advanced up the ranks while giggling, diving,
and kissing. She also consumed quite a bit of candy. But whatever the
reason behind her prowess with the staff, she fought her way to the
finals, even defeating Blackthorn along the way.
Finally, the performances of the four Squires of Camelot, Cian, Kylan,
Lyrick and Lucent displayed their prowess, honor, and chivalry and gave
all great hopes for Camelot’s future.
Other tournament highlights included:
-Sir Glofin being knocked from his horse by a savage hit from Blackthorn
in the first pass of their joust, then regaining his horse to continue and then
eventually win the match.
-Bayla Vin’s epic battle with Suiechi whose injuries forced him to
withdraw from the tournament. The confrontation foreshadowed the
intensity of competition that would be maintained throughout the whole
tourney.
-The now legendary back to back mace matches between Sir Elasol
and Quincy that electrified the onlookers with their ferocity and warcries.
-The match between TomTom and Lucent where the Squire helped his
friend deal with memories of battle.
-The exciting championship match between Calan Lachland and The
Green Knight.
-Blackthorn’s shouts of “HIT SOMETHING!” “DUCK!”and “ the
target is THAT way!”
As the tournament drew to a close, a memorial service was held in the
chapel by Yandora for her husband T’shel. It was well attended and several
speakers shared their memories of T’shel with the others
The festivities ended with the Grand Ball which was easily the best attended
attended event in anyone’s memory. The winners of the tournament were
announced and awarded their prizes.
Sword and Tournament Champion: The Green Knight
Jousting- Squire Cian
Staves- Sir Elasol
Mace- Squire Lyrick
Archery- Lord Corwin
When Blackthorn presented the Green Knight with his prize, the stranger
finally removed his helmet to reveal he was a Fae knight named Sir Elhand.
Of course, this fueled a new round of speculations over the knight’s purpose
in coming to Camelot and whether it had anything to do with the recent
events in The Wyld.
Life in Camelot now returned to normal or at least to what is normal in
Camelot.
A young lady name Angelica_Reaux entered the firehall one night and
Immediately crawled under a table in a failed attempt to hide. Nobly’s
earnest warnings about the dangers of spiders crawling up legs helped
coax the girl out.
Anki had a rather annoying encounter with a persistent imp named
Malykin.
Madame Maylon delivered the final tapestry
Daedalus ran afoul of Dame Kyrie over a spar with her Squire, Lyrick.
Master Pinkus took possession of Kalaris’ assistant, Riza.
The fae lords Beron and Albel had a polite but subtle conversation in
the neutral territory of the firehall. Beron later returned another night
to warn Blackthorn that some denizens of the Wyld were talking of war
with the humans to regain their old territories. He also cautioned that
a close eye should be kept on Palmer, Albel’s grandson.
Blackthorn had thought Shale would have died by now from the effects
of the poison but was stunned to learn the murderer was still alive. He’d
hoped he would not have to order the death of another of Kalaris’ sons
since the death of Khaimon still haunted him. The memory of Shale’s
victims, including Nobly, was something Ian could not ignore and he issued
an order for Shale’s execution. The sentence was carried out in the warded
room by Bayla, Quincy and Palmer but Shale did not die quietly and all three
were injured in the fight.
June had seen the end of two great evils and the first stirrings of a possible
future problem. Even so, it ended on a high note of hope as Sir Elasol swore
girl Lyssa in as his first Squire.
The long dark Winter and troubled Spring were over. For now at least, the
Sun shone brightly down on Camelot.
But for how long?
© 7/2006
