@Device(PostScript) @Make(Report) @Style(Spacing 1.5, Leftmargin 0.75 inch, Rightmargin 0.75 inch, SingleSided, Font = TimesRoman, Size 10) @comment(Set these values appropriately for each character profile) @string(name="Haggai llo-Lore Nahum ") @string(realname="Haggai llo-Lore Nahum ") @string(playername="Player Name") @string(id="745712") @include (/mit/abstract/Characters/Sheets/cover.mss) @MajorHeading(@value(realname)) The odors of blackroot and hairaku rose and mingled, seeming almost stifling in the small chamber where you sat, crosslegged, striving for the state of mindlessness you needed to commune with yourself and with the Goddess. In some dim corner of your awareness, you realized you probably couldn't spare the time for this. Too many things had gone wrong, on too many fronts, and @i(you) were the one responsible for picking up the pieces and gluing them back together. But you also knew you needed to meditate, to put your thoughts in order, or you would be of no use to anyone--not the Goddess Gaea whose priest you were, not the assembled Guard of the Realm whose Justiciar you were, not the band of self-styled druids known as the Oakthorn Collective, whose mentor you were--not even yourself. So you firmly told that part of your awareness to keep its comments to itself and let @i(you) drive. It wasn't happy, but it listened. And so you turned your attention inwards, towards your self. Haggai llo-Lore Nahum. The son of lore, of knowledge. Knowledge of the world, to be certain, but first and foremost knowledge of yourself. You drew in a deep breath of the scented air and felt peace, for the first time in weeks. As you waited patiently, the images began to unfold before you... @i(a dark, cold night...a tent, the ashes of a campfire, the remains of dinner...outside, the howling of a beast and sounds of a man and woman, screaming...) Hurriedly, you ended that vision. It was your only recollection of your true parents, who died on that ill-fated trip to the Outland forests, and you were loathe to give it up -- but it was not important at the moment. Nor were the memories that followed it: being adopted by the Elder, learning the ways of Gaea, undertaking the rituals to become Her priest, your return to the Realm cities and entrance into the Guard of the Realm...even the disappointment that came with the realization that the High Priest of Gaea would not be your title, though no other who bore the title was alive...none of that was relevant. @i(a large chamber, dimly lit by red candles...two women, dressed in black robes and waving smoking containers, chanting shrilly in words that chill your soul...kneeling before them are a young man and woman, and an older man...) This, too, was a well-worn memory, but perhaps important. The two women were Clanswomen, named Ivory and Jade, and were dark witches hoping to begin a subversive organization they called the Claw. The others were their apprentices, innocents subverted with lies and promises of power. You had arrested the women, and received a commendation from your Justiciar, Job. But that wasn't the end of it, by any means... @i(again, a dark night, the padded sounds of the beast, returning for you...a cold fist reaching for your heart, smothering hope...a red veil covers your sight...) But it wasn't that beast. It was the first of a series of vicious, if clumsy, psychic attacks that would probably have killed a lesser-trained man. A series of attacks powered by the rage of one young man, one of the three apprentices. Yes, they were innocents. But they were @b(dangerous) innocents. @i(another large chamber, candle-lit in green and blue...standing before you are a young man and woman, and an older man, wearing proud smiles, and the green-brown robes of Gaea...) that marked them as successful initiates into your Order. Although, perhaps, not the most @b(serious) students you'd ever had. These three--Shelaphi Vellad, Havilah Jacob, and Segwina (you never *did* find out her family name!)--dubbed themselves the Oakthorn Collective. You've seen them on and off in the last 5 years, since you presented them with the hatchwing companions that marked their entry into the service of Gaea...once to marry Segwina and Jacob in a secret ceremony, and several times in the last year or so, since it looked like Segwina was going to become Heirophant, and Jacob had worked his way up to Guildmaster (no wonder they wanted their marraige kept a secret! The Goddess only knows what people would have said...). Vellad you haven't seen much of until recently--he always seemed ashamed of his attempts to kill you at first, though you've repeatedly assured him that all that was forgiven and forgotten. The Collective has always been one of your joys. Except now Segwina is dead, killed by a blow to the head that @i(should not have been fatal!). As if it had been the last straw, the final shock to a system already stressed to its breaking point. You were in meditation when she died, seeking to purge yourself of the events of the days preceding, and you recall a faint mental touch, and a message -- @begin(quotation) "Honored teacher; be warned. The Eastern hand shall rise again." @end(quotation) She had always called you "honored teacher," though the days of her apprenticeship (both to you and to the Wizard's Conclave) were long gone. At the time, you didn't understand its meaning; now you realize they were likely her last words. Shaking off the contact, however, you allowed your mind to drift free again. @i(another chamber, this one lit brightly by glowing sands and burning runes, and ten bright candles in a circle around the cold, slightly blue-tinged corpse of Job, the Justiciar...slowly the room grows brighter, as you shift your Sight, and you see traces...traces of magic...traces of witchcraft...) And signs, to you, that your superior had fallen victim to some evil rites performed by your enemies in the East, against whom you have been fighting a war for 5 years. You were Head of Internal Security at the time, and began a series of rituals and policies to prevent a recurrence of this sort of attack (managing to keep your talents and nature a secret throughout was quite a task, but you succeeded, impressing your colleagues in the Guard.) As Justiciar, you have coordinated the military efforts of the Guard for 9 months now, ever since you were chosen to replace your predecessor. About a month ago, there was a sign that perhaps that would be no longer necessary. The political activists of COERCE brought you the shocking news that your fellow Peers of the Realm, and your opposite numbers in the Clansman's Clasp, had agreed to a cease-fire, a peace summit, treaty negotiations. A chance for peace, for an end to this insanity. Instead, it seems the insanity has worsened. The Clans have brought their Iron Gauntlet, ostensibly to defend them from your Guard, but what if @i(they) are the attackers? Roughly the same time that the cease-fire was declared, Segwina came to you with an interesting proposition. It seemed that one of the Wizard's Conclave had stumbled across a spell for enchanting armor and weapons to an unheard-of degree, forging items of enough power to tip the balance of the war. The Conclave, it seemed, would be willing to produce such items for your use -- or at the very least, Segwina was willing. You haven't seen them, though, and now you can't ask her, either. Perhaps you should not have brought the Guard onto the Castle, but there are too many mysteries that remain to be solved and your intuitions tell you the key to many of them lie on the Castle. At least you have declared that they shall wield only blunt weapons -- lipips and truncheons, for the most part -- to keep the killing on the Castle at a minimum. And may the Goddess grant that you not be forced to contribute to it... Last week, a young lady named Zephaniah Terhanna lost her father when thieves attacked his shop. At about the same time, the same young lady reported being assaulted while on her way home, though no permanent damage resulted. Any Guard off the street would bet mythril that the two were connected, but they weren't. You know they weren't, Goddess forgive you, because you were the one who assaulted her. It was that mockery of justice that drove you into meditation. The ritual-invoked memories intruded on your thoughts... @i(a field of wild grass, muffling the all-too-loud clatterings of your weapons and armor...a shadow, shifting across the starlit sky, growing larger...the flap of leathery wings, the fetid breath of some evil beast...an attack, limbs of unearthly strength sending your blade flying from you, jaws like steel piercing your mail collar, and your neck...) Unarmed, you were anything but defenseless--not while you were surrounded by the glory of Gaea. In response to your entreaties, the grass around you rose and battled your opponent, whom you now saw was no ordinary creature or man, but the worst of both--a vampire. You battled. You were losing. Badly. And to your horror, you saw approaching you a Clanswoman, shakily wielding a pitchfork, clearly coming in response to the sounds of battle. And to her death, you thought, as the infernal creature retreated from you to seek easier prey. But you were wrong. As the vampire approached her, it slowed, then stopped altogether...and wailing in terror, ran screaming into the night which had spawned it. Leaving you wounded, unarmed, and with the black mists of fatigue and pain clouding your mind, facing this young girl with a pitchfork who had taken on a vampire--and won. The girl's name was Hyacinth, of Clan Goldenfield, and in the week or so you spent at her farm, recuperating from your wounds and fighting the curse that now afflicted you, you discovered more remarkable facts about her. Her father was a brother in the Order of Gaea, and had taught her much of the healing arts and of herblore. It was enough to explain how she ran the huge farm by herself, why the area radiated such an aura of power (it was this that had caused you to investigate it) and perhaps how she maintained your sanity during the long nights while the vampire's curse raged through your system...but her defeat of the creature was the work of a talisman she wore around her neck, bearing the symbol of the silverleaf. It was enchanted, of that there was no doubt, but she would speak no more of it. The two of you parted friends, and you left cured, in body and spirit. Except that last week you were on your way home, when the world went black. Not the black of night, or that of unconsciousness, but the black of evil, the taste of Chthon, the Destroyer, the Dark God. A darkness that overwhelmed you, that moved your limbs...but only for a moment. Calling upon the graces of Gaea the Sustainer, you broke free of that darkness. And lying at your feet, you saw the sprawled unconscious body of Terhanna, your victim, victim of a vampiric curse you thought you had cured, victim of your failure. You ran. Goddess strike you down, you ran from that spot, from your own failure, your own darkness, and you wept. You prayed to the Goddess for forgiveness, but your own thoughts were muddled and torn by guilt, by uncertainty, by grief, by doubt. The Goddess would not hear you, and so you left the Capitol City to meditate, entered the trance of memories to clear your thoughts. In this, at least, you succeeded. You know now you are guilty of no betrayal, that you have acted in good conscience for the most part, and those sins which you have committed can be atoned for. Your Badge, the token of the Oath you have sworn to act always in the Realm's best interests, has begun to clear and lighten. It darkened in response to your feelings of guilt, as it has at times in the past -- only a fool or a madman is @i(always) sure of his actions. Now, with your balance restored, it will heal in a day or two. Still, it is perhaps advisable to keep it hidden until then, as you will need every bit of authority you can obtain to prevent chaos on the Castle. If, indeed, it is not already too late. Too many pieces--and do they fit together? Hyacinth, too, is on this Castle--married to a Guard soldier who was missing in action before you took office: Malachai Noah, who is being brought up on charges of treason for consorting with the enemy during wartime. Surely there is a story there, but your task as Justiciar is clearcut--to establish whether the boy was guilty of treason. Is this of a piece with the rest of the puzzling fabric? Perhaps a longer meditation would have been of better use, but that time was denied you. For the Goddess spoke unto you at last, and showed you a vision. @i(A gate, covered with the runes and symbols of Tualoha, the Creator... a crystal, white and green and black...an orb, black as night, and holding that orb, a man...and a chain, fine and strong, binding the four together. Suddenly, another man, and the chain is broken, and behind the gate the sounds of awakening...and a chilling horror, as the World is drowned in a mad storm of creation) The Compact between the Gods has declared that no God shall interfere in the will or action of the children of another God. And the Lord Mishael declared that the children of Gaea would be forever free from the control of the Gods. And so, the voice and the bidding of the Goddess is ever vague and subject to interpretation, lest the individual become but a puppet in the Goddess's hands. The gate in your vision is likely the legendary Creation Gate, the portal between the World and the realm of Tualoha that caused an imbalance in the powers of the High Priests a millenium ago, and indirectly began the Holy Wars. It is the existence of that gate that causes white magic to be the easiest to summon and shape, easier even than the natural magics of Gaea. The rest of the vision remains a mystery, save to indicate that the Gate may soon be the source of your Goddess's destruction. Such a thought is near sacrilege, yet it must be considered lest it occur unopposed... After that vision of horror, you knew you could no longer remain in meditation. You returned to the Capitol City and your job as Justiciar, and discovered that in your absence, things had been steeped in chaos. First, nearly a score of dead bodies had been discovered in the few days you had been gone. A dozen were found soulless, killed by a single swordstroke -- the mark of the Circle of Bloodletters. Half as many were found mauled to death, in the manner of a great beast. And one -- Segwina, your daughter of the heart -- was found dead of a blow to the skull, from a blunted weapon that should not have caused her death. It was Nimrod who reported most of these crimes to you upon your return, and it was clear he was disturbed at your absence. But you had no time to listen to his -- deserved -- criticisms; you needed to move quickly. You gathered together the rest of the Oakthorn Collective, and found them a way onto the Castle for the peace summit you had to attend. Vellad mentioned that he knew lle-Victory Sorsha, the Realm's foremost forensic surgeon, and that she could perhaps find leads regarding the twelve soulless corpses; thus, you have had them brought up to the Castle. Also, you have brought the Guard of the Realm here. And in the days since your arrival here, you have been busy. The beasts of Kalerege's menagerie escaped, and it took the combined efforts of the Castle's occupants to bring them under control. These are creatures of the World, children of Gaea...what is their purpose here? Is it here that her future shall be decided? Too many pieces, too many mysteries, too many questions. And here, the voice and glory and power of Gaea is muffled and faint. The connections, the solutions, the answers are yours to find. Good luck. @newpage @heading(Items and Abilities) You begin the game with the following items: @begin(itemize) A longsword A set of Guardsman's armor Two hairaku pods Two mandrake roots Two naza leaves One dose of eyebright Three all-heal flowers A leaf of angel's tongue One olvar flower (a rare and precious herb) A small crystal lens Some incense A large silver goblet Your athame Seven multicolored braided candles. A topaz pendant with a heavy silver chain Your Justiciar's badge, still blackened. @end(itemize) You have the following abilities: @begin (itemize) You are a priest of Gaea. Identify Herbs @end(itemize) @section (Spells) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/detect_life.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/detect_life.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/detect_magic.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/animal_tongues.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/dream.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/healing.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/purify_poison.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/immune_poison.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/lifekeeping.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.herbs.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/vampire.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.creation.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.gaea.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.magic.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/guide.realm.mss) @section(Organizations) @include(/mit/abstract/Organizations/guard.realm.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Organizations/guard.shadow.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Organizations/oak.coll.mss)