April dawned on a Camelot confronted with a series of puzzles.
Even as Bayla crawled about Lumiere’s bar with Lyrick’s silver bells,
Blackthorn received a message informing him of a murder in town. It
was to be the first of many. Believing at first it might be an animal
attack, Ian soon discovered that each body had been marked with
what appeared to be a letter 3 lying on its back.
That same evening TomTom examined Excalibur in its resting place
above the Fireplace and became excited over some discovery. The
next night when Ian arrived at the firehall, Master Robinton informed
him privately over his own concerns. TomTom questions concerning
rhythm had aroused Robinton’s suspicions and Ian agreed. The
young apprentice was looking for a way to reach Avalon.
Robinton had another distraction, however. A familiar face from
the past, Lady Yandora, had returned at last to Camelot and the pair
found themselves attracted to each other. But could they act upon
this? Yandora, after all, is still legally married to T`Shel, even if he
has been missing for years. Could there be any future for her
with Robinton?
Meanwhile, Nautchiq had hit upon a novel idea on how to get
Najitha , Mixik and Kalaris talking once more. She would play
an April Fool’s Day trick on Najitha and Kalaris, telling them
that Mixik was missing.(even though he was safely tucked
under his sleeping furs by the hearth). The plan backfired when
a worried and angry Najitha took a punch at Tyralor after a typically
caustic remark. Ian managed to restore order before he was
summoned away to the scene of yet another murder, and Kalaris
went off hunting with Najitha.
Although TomTom still had plans about Avalon, Nobly was persuaded
to abandon the idea. She met a young man who’d been interesting and
agreed to meet him for a an evening in town. Ian said he would assign
some guards to accompany her there.
Cloak solved the mystery of the squirrel in the library, claiming it was
her familiar. thus shooting down Ian’s theory that it was Bayla’s brain in
the squirrel’s body. Ian gave her the note Nobly found hidden in a book
in hopes cloak could decipher it. When Ian led some of the others into
the library to find the book, TomTom found some object on a bookshelf
and dashed away with it back to his cottage. A few days later he left on
his Journeyman’s Walk. Robinton informed Ian that that his apprentice
would seek out a legendary bard while on his trip, but Ian wondered if
TomTom still meant to gain entry to Avalon.
The deaths continued and as Ian and Morninglord examine each scene
and body it became evident the killer was mocking them. Some clues
were found however: a piece of fine wire and what looked like silver
colored blood. After a discussion with Palmer, Ian realized that the
killer was somehow connected to Kalaris, whose blood is silver.
Palmer also showed Ian a mark that the dead Abaris had left after an
attack that was similar to that on the murder victims. It was not a
tipped over number 3 but a stylized drawing of a flying dragon.
Abaris was dead. So who was the killer? Meanwhile the killer stepped
up his attacks, killing the guard who’d delivered news of the
previous deaths, and then kidnapping several children from town.
Alarmed, Ian ordered the evacuation of the rest of Camelot’s children
to the outlying farms and estates.
Palmer made a dangerous and unsuccessful attempt to mentally
restore Bayla’s mind. Blackthorn made the healer promise not to
attempt again unless there was someone else with him.
Yandora asked Ian his advice about her dilemma over the missing
T`Shel. Ian advised her to take a bit more time before seeking a legal
answer.
Camelot rode to Glofin’s aid when the Swan Knight was besieged
in an old Roman fort not far from the border.
Ian had noticed Angelica moving about the firehall as if she’d been
injured but she had denied it. Then her superior informed BT and
ML that the museum had been broken into and Angelica roughed
up a bit by the thief. When Ian asked her about the incident,
Angelica also revealed she had narrowly escaped another attacker,
the mysterious killer stalking Camelot.
Then a young victim was found alive. A teenager named Collin was
brought to the infirmary but there was little Palmer could do to help
him. The killer, who Ian now believed was Kalaris’ estranged son
Shale, had given Collin a deadly poison, but
before he died he gave Ian a clue as to where the other missing victims
might be found.
A stranger named Hand arrived in Camelot looking for the dwarven
tome Tomas had given Blackthorn. He set about asking various citizens
if they’d seen it, but Ian would not reveal it was in his possession.
Nobly when questioned not only told Hand she had no knowledge
of the book, she also claimed her name was "Annabellanessaleelee".
But she agreed to let Hand know if she sees the book, despite Sakora’s
warning that the wolf sensed Hand was evil.
Helped by Collin’s clue, the Red Dragon Guards found Shale’s lair
in town. Ian, Morninglord, Mace Daniels (who had returned to duty
in Camelot) and Squire Lucent led a raid and discovered a horrific
scene. All Shale’s prisoners were dead, and worse still, one of the
Dragon Guard was poisoned . This led new urgency to the search for
a way to return Bayla to normal since Bayla had a certain expertise
with poisons and was the best candidate Camelot had to know
about an antidote.
Yandora cooked a dinner for Master Robinton. Hedgehog was one
of the dishes served.
A young lady named Shahndel arrived from Avalon to learn the
ways of court life.
After a night in which Bayla seemed especially rambunctious
(wrestling with Mixik and Nobly), Palmer and Mace delved into
Bayla’s mind together. It doesn’t seem to have been successful
at first. Ian entered the firehall one night shortly after to find Mixik,
Mace, and Bayla in a tangle tugging on each other’s ears as Tyralor
commented sarcastically. But then Baylsa spoke a complete sentence.
Ian might have been more heartened if not for the fact that Bayla
seemed to think that the firehall and its people were all illusions meant
to torment him. Nevertheless, Mixik and Palmer were able to persuade
Bayla to help find an antidote to Shale’s poison. Given that Bayla now
had a split personality, Ian wondered how effective any antidote he
makes would be.
Alarmed by Quincy not having left her room for days, Tyralor used
a circuitous route through chimneys and secret passages to gain access
to her room and roust her out. A side effect of his exploit was Nobly
watering the walls because she believed they were thirsty.
An inexperienced Nobly challenged Hand to a fight in the arena but
thankfully was not seriously hurt.
Frustrated by a lack of progress against the barrier around the Hook,
Blackthorn decided to search Bayla’s office in hopes of finding answers.
Anki, Mace, Sia and Nobly helped with the searching . Mace found
three journals that seemed to indicate that Bayla’s sanity had been
crumbling since the events of the previous year. Anki noticed there were
strange notations on the journal pages and they realized it was a code.
Ian leaves it to Anki and Mace to decipher what Bayla has written.
That same night Mace had a vision that seemed to predict a tragic fate
for young Sia.
Mace’s next vision was equally upsetting, a flash of Nobly in danger.
The librarian had gone into Camelot to meet her young man and had
as she’d promised Ian, taken a guard detail with her. Now Mace saw
Nobly in danger at a fountain within a walled garden. Alarmed, she
& Ian, Elasol, and Lucent began a frantic search for the librarian who
was at last discovered in the garden of the Von Urforths. Although
her guards had been killed, Nobly was not hurt badly. Her
admirer had been Shale, and once more the killer played games
with Camelot.
Even as the knights searched for Nobly, Yandora was helping
Master Robinton back to the infirmary. The harper had been laid low
by an attack brought on by anger over remarks made
by Tyralor and Winsten about his relationship with Yandora.
Blackthorn received a message that the King was concerned about
the continuing occupation Of the Hook by a foreign force and was
sending a Counselor to investigate. Worse still, the counselor was
rumored to be Baron Lughar. Tension over this state of affairs led
to a shouting match between Anki and Blackthorn.
The relentless blows against Camelot continued the very next eve
when mercenaries attackedanother part of town. Glofin and
Christopher had been in a tavern nearby and Glofin’s squire was
wounded in the fighting. Ian led his men down from the castle in
response to the alarm bell. Among the defenders of Camelot were
Quincy, Elasol, Mace, Lucent, and Sandra Anderson. Angelica
discovered that Hand was behind the attack and it was he who had
rung the bell. An accomplice named Grant had been paid to set a fire
in the garden at the same time as the attack, all of which
was intended as a diversion while Hand snuck into Blackthorn’s office
to steal the dwarven book entitled "Travelling Mountain". But
Mace`Daniels caught Grant before he could escape.
Unfortunately for Hand, someone else had taken advantage of his plan
and when he entered the office he found Tyralor and Starlet already
searching Ian’s desk. Hand escaped in the ensuing fight but the book
also disappeared. Blackthorn did not seem particularly upset that it was
now in Tyralor’s possession as that would keep Hand busily pursuing
McDougal.
Camelot then hit the depths of depravity. Someone bespelled the coffee
pots so that their coffee was salty! Confronted with this heinous act of
heresy, Blackthorn was enraged.
The relationship between Yandora and Robinton hit another snag
when she discovered another woman was staying at the harper’s
cottage
Other mischief was played within the firehall. A gremlin who
sabotaged some chairs turned out to be a young girl named Ahmi.
McDougal did his part to add to the mayhem by first moving all the
chairs from the firehall into Ian’s office, and then all the castle mattresses
a few days later. This last indignity led to Lumiere being scolded by
Blackthorn for turning a blind eye to Tyralor’s pranks.
By now Ian would grasp at any straw to end the Hook’s occupation.
He come to an agreement with Mornaur. In exchange for the dragon’s
help in finding a way to bring down the barrier, as well as the return
of Bran’s Cauldron, Ian promises to find the Dragon’s Tear and return
it to Mornaur.
The last day of April held one last surprise. Nobly came to Blackthorn
with a plan to entrap Hand using a token the man had given her. Ian
began working out the details but as yet they have not acted.
At midnight the glow of Beltane Fires heralded the end of April and
the start of May.
Would May see an end to the troubles besetting Camelot?
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