The New Year began with a mix of the sedate and of the
tumultuous.
Kildrummy gave Lucent a late Mid Winter’s gift: a thirteen year
old fruitcake that Dhugal and Kildrummy had exchanged as a
Yule gift over the years. Interestingly enough, the Scotsmen had
given the fruitcake a name: Margaret. Somehow Lucent came to
believe that the rock hard baked gift was haunted.
A group of supporters for Edmond Zeagram arrived from the
town of Briarwater to plead his case in regards to his attack on
Squire Lucent. Among these were Emund’s wife Mable, their son
Eicheard and One-Eyed Bernie, a retainer.
Mace Daniels, Bayla Vin and Palmer cast a new ward within
Palmer’s office.
Alaena spoke with Captain Morgan about booking passage aboard
his ship to Spain for herself, her horse, and her wagon of goods.
That same evening Tyralor and Amaris came into the firehall Tyralor
was carrying a small jade monkey figurine and his voice was high
and shrill, punishment from a pixie whose voice he had mocked.
But when others touched the figurine they too were affected.
One of Palmer’s feet was stuck to the floor, Amaris itched all over,
Quincy changed into a dog and Lucent into a monkey. Kildrummy
tried to evade being touched by the figurine but failed and shrank
down into a dust mote that was inhaled by the Quincy/dog. But all
returned to normal after the dog bit off the jade monkey’s head and
Quincy sneezed Kildrummy out of her nose.
Tyralor saw Quincy with the stray kitty who hangs about the firehall
and offered to teach Quincy how to play a poker game that used cats
as wagers.
Edmond Zeagram was finally brought to trial. Lord Corwin presided
as Judge while Ian Blackthorn acted as prosecutor and Mable
Zeagram spoke in her husband’s defense. Zeagram surprised the
courtroom by entering a guilty plea, but Blackthorn presented the
case in full so as to counter any claims of a miscarriage of justice.
He called Tyralor, Palmer and Lucent himself to give their account
of the incident and then Zeagram himself to get the confession on
record.Despite various protests and points of order from Tyralor,
the trial eventually came to a conclusion and Corwin listened to
pleas for leniency. He sentenced Zeagram to time served and
banned him from the city for life. Zeagram and his family left for
Briarwater the next day.
Lady Marty invited Yandora and Master Robinton to dinner at her
Lakeside Castle but she had other unexpected guests as well that
eve as Tyralor and Amaris showed up. The evening was a success
however since no one died. Yandora later extended an invitation
to Marty to visit her at the Mystic Tapestries Shoppe.
Najitha returned from the North with Nautchiq. Time had passed
differently in the North while he battled the Beast and both the
Inuit were grown and had a child. The couple was happily reunited
with their old friends Kalaris and Bayla Vin.
Palmer and Bayla dealt with a rampaging Bookus but eventually
Mace took the voracious volume to the Mage Academy.
Quincy gave Lucent a bit of a pep talk about his studies.
Kalaris discovered Tyralor repairing a leaky pipe under the bar. He
asked if he might study one of the spare limiters like the one
she’d made for Bayla and surprisingly she agreed.
Much more serious matters were taking place in the caverns below
Camelot as the fire salamander made his way closer to the dwarven
community of Camelot Below. The dwarves’ leader Hugin sent word
to Blackthorn and made plans to intercept the salamander but Brynt
the boggan learned of them and set a trap of his own. Blackthorn’s
party included Mace Daniels, Captain Morgan, Bayla Vin, Palmer,
Lord Corwin and the warrior women Chrystal and Imari and was
supposed to rendezvous with Hugin’s dwarves. Instead Brynt laid
a false trail of signs and boggans ambushed the group. The party
was able to soundly defeat the attackers but by the time they had
reached the rendezvous point they could only watch as Hugin
sacrificed himself to lure the fire salamander into a permanent prison.
Hugin’s death left the dwarves leaderless until they elected one of
Hugin’s protégées, Svarti, as his successor. Brynt survived the
consequences of his failed plan by using trickery.
Quincy encountered Kalaris’ pinata-like toy and enjoyed whacking
the ball apart and then the items that fell out of it as well afterwards.
Corwin and Ian discussed Delroy as a candidate for Squire studies.
Asherah offered Palmer the chance to accompany her to Byzantium
and Jerusalem.
Tyralor and Amaris’ investigation of strange events at Blaxley Manor
continued.
The question of the Wild Magic and surges of energy in the nodes
and ley lines around Camelot had been a matter of concern for some
time.Corwin was especially worried about the node that lay beneath
Camelot itself and after considerable study decided on a dangerous
plan that he must carry out alone. On the night he did so the ground
trembled and Ian was horrified when he lost the link he shared with
his brother. While Corwin’s human body was destroyed his memories
were not and a note he left Ian hinted that something in his office back
at the Mage Academy was needed if he was not able to find his way
home on his own.
Ian was not the only one devastated by Corwin’s disappearance. Mace
Daniels believed that once more she had lost someone because of
some curse on those she loved. She watched over Corwin’s children
back at Dragon Keep
Kalaris discovered a wisp of Corwin’s memory hovering near her and
gathered it and later others into glass bottles. She supplied bottles
for the others to use in the hunt.
Skye managed to stop Ian from going off to blindly search for Corwin’s
son Kylan whose presence was necessary to retrieve the item in
Corwin’s office. He began capturing with the help of his children bits
of memory that flitted about Blackthorn Manor and it was during one
such hunt that a shadow of a large dragon flowed over the courtyard,
even though there was no beast flying in the sky above.
Corwin’s brother Random told Ian and the others that Corwin’s dragon
form would indeed return but with no memory of his past. It was up to
them to help Corwin regain it. While capturing another of the fragments
in his office Ian saw a vision of what the object Corwin left at the Mage
Academy might be.
At Ian’s request, Kalaris set out to find Kylan and bring him back to
Camelot.
TomTom drew a portrait of Ephanie and gave it to her when she asked
if she might show it to her father the MerKing.
Tyralor and Calandra pondered the whereabouts of Art the Cat and
considered Cecily’s offer to "educate" him.
The young woman called Wolfy continued to observe the citizens of
the firehall and began to interact with them as she gained confidence.
Two newcomers named Jerris and Fernan Alvar arrived in Camelot
but what their purpose if their visits might be were yet unknown.
Others faced new dilemmas of their own. The Mage Tobias once more
faced an attack from the Chaos Storm.
Kyrie fell into as deep sleep and her dreams transformed her younger
twins Ian and Ashleah. Keavie helped change them back and took
charge of Kyrie’s care as well as the children during the absence of
their father Kimpo. Captain Morgan loaned her the use of a crystal
goblet that was said to be efficacious in curing ailments caused by
magic or poisoning.
In what seemed an innocent chance encounter Lucent met an enigmatic
young lady in the corridor outside the library who would have profound
effects on him and the lives of others within Camelot.
The old year and its problems were over.
But the New Year had already presented a new set of challenges for the
citizens of Camelot to meet and overcome.
© 3/2007 B. West
