| 21 Jan |
| 04 Feb |
| 04 Mar |
| 01 Apr |
The bane-possessed car tears off Punt Rd onto the South-Eastern, heading east, with the True Seekers, in a stolen vehicle, close behind. It is between 1.00 and 2.00 am. Another day at the office. Jam Technology does not seem to be working on the fleeing bane-car. Speeding through the construction site, the True Seekers don't have room to pull up to the bane-car. Vilna uses Create Element to drop a large rock ahead of the bane-car. Both cars manage to swerve and avoid the obstacle. As soon as they clear the construction area, the True Seekers close with the fleeing vehicle, pull along side and drive it into the concrete guard rails. They can see the owner of the bane car, clearly dead, lolling around in the front seat. As people tear at the car, and Chases-The-Wyld burns the bane with eerie flames, Lachlan punches in the bane-car's back window and leaps inside. The interior of the bane-car is full of exhaust fumes, but Resist Toxin will take care of that. The bane-car manages to push the True Seekers' car aside and surge ahead.
Lachlan shifts the body into the passenger seat, climbs into the driver's seat and does up his seat belt. He then hits the brake. Nothing happens. He tries the steering wheel. It doesn't move. He wrenches the hand brake. It snaps off in his hand.
The bane-car shoots off the exit ramp to Toorak Rd, and the lights at the intersection ahead are red. As the bane-car does a screaming hand-brake right turn onto Toorak Rd, Vilna attempts to turn his car and slide into the bane-car. He misjudges the timing and slams into the concrete guard on the bridge, which fortunately holds. Also fortunate is the absence of any other vehicles in the intersection at the time. The bane-car roars up the hill as Vilna fires the engine and resumes pursuit.
At Toorak and Glenferrie, a tram is just moving away from the tram stop, heading down Toorak, as the two cars approach.
Steve is leaning out of the window, shooting at the tyres on the bane-car. This is quite difficult. Even so, he eventually manages to blow-out a rear tyre. The bane-car lurches and slows, but does not stop. Both cars barrel through the intersection of Toorak and Glenferrie on the red light and speed toward the tram.
Lachlan, in Glabro form, has managed to kick out the windscreen of the bane-car. Vilna swerves to avoid a large pane of glass that flew back and smashed on the road. Grabbing the broken hand brake, Lachlan climbs onto the bonnet of the car, holding onto the steering wheel with his left hand, and starts hacking at the bonnet with the broken hand brake. He gouges a hole in the metal, and starts hacking away at the engine. Steam and oil start gushing and the car shudders.
With one tyre blown on the bane-car, Vilna has managed to catch up. So he is right behind the bane-car when it does an emergency stop. Vilna spins the wheel, his car crashes into the back of the bane-car and becomes air borne. The dead body in the bane-car is thrown through the now missing windshield and tumbles across the road. Lachlan is hurled out of the car, but manages to hold onto the steering wheel. Both steering wheel and arm remain intact. Lachlan is lying full length on the bonnet of the car, staring up as the other car passes directly over him.
In the flying car, most people have decided to head for the Umbra. Vilna opts to stay with the vehicle, to give the plucky Veil a fighting chance. As people enter the Umbra and impact with various bits of the umbrascape at strange intervals, Vilna is severely mashed as the car hits the ground and rolls. He would be looking art many months in hospital and being crippled for life, if he wasn't going to be fine in about 20 seconds.
Lachlan pulls himself up on the bonnet of the bane-car. The car is trying to restart, but is having difficulties. Lachlan starts screaming and hacking again at the engine. Soon the car falls silent.
The tram has come to a stop nearby, and driver and passengers climb out, just as Vilna is pulling himself from the wreckage. The tram driver heads over to offer Vilna assistance, but Vilna is sprinting away down the road. Thinking shrewdly, Lachlan chases after him, yelling at the bastard who "scratched his car". They both run into a side street and step into the Umbra.
The True Seekers watch from the Umbra as police, ambulances and fire engines arrive on the scene. They watch the usual confusion that follows one of their little escapades ("...so the man who was thrown from the first car died of carbon monoxide poisoning?"). They follow the wreckage of the bane-car when it is towed away, and perform a Rite of Cleansing on it. They then head back to the Cemetery, after a job well done.
Lounging around at the Cemetery, a moon bridge opens and the pack One Phone Call come through. They chat with Cossack, who calls the True Seekers over. Abina says to them that Bret Hutchinson, their sept leader, wishes to speak with them. The True Seekers agree, and both packs moon bridge to Rippling Waters.
They are greeted on arrival by Bret, who takes them to one side for a private word. He says that, as they have probably heard, Fingal Flashing-Claws is dying. Fingal wishes to speak with the True Seekers, so Bret was asked to see if they were willing to speak with him. The True Seekers agree, bemused by all these intermediaries. Bret asks if he can also have a private word with Lachlan. The two of them go off and have a quiet chat for several minutes. They return, and a moon bridge is opened to the Sept of Clouded Skies, which is on Barrington Tops, west of Gloucester in northern NSW.
When they reach Clouded Skies, they are met by Bryce Beanham, the Caern Warder, and Seana Waugh, the Rite Master. After everyone is introduced, Bret returns to Tower Hill. Bryce says that Fingal has only a few months to live. Fingal, an Ahroun, wishes to die in battle rather than be tended in his illness and waste away. For some reason, he asked that the True Seekers be the ones to accompany him on his final battle against the Wyrm. Bryce doesn't know why that is, but he hopes to honour his Righ's wishes. He asks if the True Seekers will help.
After a brief discussion, the True Seekers agree to do this task. Bryce says that the sept has been looking for a suitable battle for a few weeks. Fingal doesn't wish to die in a meaningless fight, but rather in ending some threat. They have recently found what appears to be a bane infestation in Newcastle. Bryce calls over a lupus Garou, Pads-The-Earth-Down, pack leader of Stag's Voice. Pads-The-Earth-Down says that in the past few days, his pack has found several of a particular kind of bane in an area of downtown Newcastle. The banes seem to be spirits of tyranny and abuse of power of some kind. They spend their time corrupting people in positions of authority. Pads-Down-The-Earth outlines the rough area in which the banes seem to be congregating. Bryce says that there is probably a central nest somewhere in the region. Cleaning out the nest would end the corruption.
The True Seekers say that they should probably speak with Fingal now. Bryce takes them through the umbral forest to a nearby clearing. There they see Fingal sitting under a tree, with another Garou standing nearby. Fingal is looking much worse than the last time the True Seekers saw him. Lachlan tells the rest of his pack (through Kanau) that the other Garou is Brenden Hilditch, Master of the Challenge and Fingal's grandson. As they approach, Brendan gives the True Seekers a dirty look.
Bryce tells Fingal that the True Seekers have agreed to accompany him on this final fight. Brendan bursts out that he doesn't know why outsiders and non-family members have to be involved in this private matter. Fingal tells Brendan to honour his wishes. Lachlan says that the True Seekers are honoured to help Fingal, but they are wondering why he choose them. Fingal says that he does not wish to explain at this time. Bryce says that Newcastle is a fair distance away, and they should drive there. Switching to lupus form, the True Seekers, Fingal, and Pads-The-Earth-Down (acting as guide) move through the umbra away from the Caern. Fingal is not moving quickly, but he is moving steadily. Outside the bawn, they take one of the sept cars and head into Newcastle.
Pads-The-Earth-Down guides them to the area where the banes have been found. They leave him with the car and head off. It is coming up to the beginning of the working day, when the banes will presumably be more active, with more targets to corrupt. They split into groups - Lachlan and Fingal, Vilna and Steve, Glenn and Chases-The-Wyld and Melissa. They decide to check out sites associated with power and its abuses. Lachlan and Fingal go to check out corporate offices. Vilna and Steve go to government buildings. Glenn, Chases-The-Wyld and Melissa have a look at police stations.
Lachlan and Fingal get the first break. Inside a bank, they spot a little humanoid figure seemingly whispering to itself. In the real world, a managerial type is haranguing an underling. The umbral figure is about two feet tall, and appears almost human, wearing a little business suit. However, its skin seems to be melting across its face. Lachlan alerts the rest of the pack, who start moving in his direction. They decide to try and drive the bane to flight, and follow it back to the nest. Lachlan and Fingal move to the bane and start batting at it. The little suited figure warps into the kind of insectile horror one usually associates with banes. Unfortunately, Lachlan then smacks the bane a bit hard, whereupon it dissolves into a mauve smoke. The rest of the pack berate him a bit, then they all head back to searching.
Lachlan notices that Fingal seems to have become more alive since the fight. He is moving more quickly and his eyes are bright as they continue the search.
Chases-The-Wyld, Glenn and Melissa are moving through the police headquarters in Newcastle when they find a bane; a little police figure with a lumpy face whispering through the Gauntlet. Taking more care, they pad at the thing, and Chases-The-Wyld pisses on it, until it flees. They stay close behind it across the umbra until the reach another police station, this time an abandoned suburban station. The bane flies in through a window. Chases-The-Wyld gets a clear Wyrm scent from the site. They wait for the others to arrive.
They decide upon a cunning plan - storm the building and destroy everything. Lachlan, Fingal and Glenn go through the front door, Vilna and Melissa enter through the car park door, Chases-The-Wyld and Steve enter through the back door. They all move into the building and start kicking down umbral doors, looking into rooms that are mainly empty in the umbra. Vilna and Melissa enter an area corresponding to the holding cells in the real world. The doors to the cells are open and dozens of tiny banes swarm out and attack.
As the battle begins, everyone else converges at the site. Steve decides that going around might add as much as 5 meters to his trip, so he goes straight through the back wall of an office to reach the battle. As they are fighting in narrow corridor, which prevents them all from fighting effectively, Vilna leaps into the nearest holding cell to clear the corridor. He sees a much larger insectile mass hanging in the corner just below the ceiling. The shape elongates then warps again into a tall and twisted caricature of Cossack. It croaks at Vilna that a worthless Metis must respect his sept leader. Vilna feels a brief urge to comply, but quickly quashes the impulse. Instead he starts ripping the thing into little bane bits.
Each of the Garou move into one of the holding cells, ignoring the Gaffling banes to fight the Jaggling banes. The Jaggling banes are tough, but the True Seekers manage to resit their corruptive influence and scrag them. As each Jaggling bane dies, a number of the Gaffling banes careen about crazily for a few seconds before vanishing.
When the last bane is gone, the True Seekers move to find Fingal. He is lying on the floor, covered with wounds and coughing up blood. The True See kers lift him up and carefully carry him outside and lie him on the ground. He is whispering in a delirious manner, something about his father dying in Newcastle, and something about his failure. The True Seekers ask him what he means, and he seems to hear them. He says that he has been Righ for many years, and nothing has been done to atone for the crimes of the Fianna in the War of Tears, it being a Fianna who decreed the beginning of the attack on the Bunyip. Fingal says that he looks back and sees that he allowed petty fighting to interfere with the things that mattered. He is dying quickly, but seems more lucid. The True Seekers ask him why he wanted them to accompany him. Fingal says that he had hoped that before he died he would see some sign, some thing that would give him hope again; that the True Seekers were what he could not hope they were - some means of atoning for the past and redeeming the future. But he saw nothing, which was as he expected. He asks if the True Seekers will do him the final honour of acting as his pall bearers. Lachlan, speaking for the True Seekers agrees. As Fingal dies, Glenn uses Dream Speech to show Fingal visions of the things that they have seen, to maybe bring him some measure of comfort.
The True Seekers howl for Pads-Down-The-Earth, and when he arrives they carry Fingal's body back through the Umbra to the Caern. At the Caern, they tell Bryce about Fingal's death, and that Fingal asked them to act as his pall bearers. Brendan looks particularly miffed upon hearing this, but Bryce said that Fingal had already suggested the possibility to him. Bryce tells the True Seekers about the duties of the pall bearers. They are to remain with the body from now until Fingal is buried. Bryce has been preparing for Fingal's death for a while now. The next full moon is less than a week away, so they can hold a Fianna moot for Fingal's funeral as well as to appoint the next Righ of Australia. Bryce goes off to prepare, and the True Seekers go with Fingal's body, which is taken by the Fianna to be cleaned and laid out on a wooden bier.
With a bit of time on their hands, Lachlan tells them a bit more about what is expected of them as pall bearers. They don't all need to remain with the body at all times, but Fingal's body must not be left unattended. At the funeral, they will be expected to carry the bier around at the appropriate moments in the ceremony. After the ceremonial part of the evening is over, there will be the wake, which is a fairly relaxed affair. The wake and the contest for the Righ will take the three nights of the full moon. To determine the new Righ, the Council of Song, comprised of the elder Philodox and Galliards, judge the contenders, although popular acclaim is also an important factor. The contests are of song, lore, wisdom, wit, endurance and prowess in battle. Given that a single test of lore may involve reciting great chunks of the Silver Record (in Gaelic), you can see why the whole process may take a while.
Lachlan thinks that the likely contenders for the position of Righ are: Glynnis Jackson, sept leader of the Sept of Winged Gifts; Quintana Gloury, sept leader of the Sept of the Crown of Fire; Tiernan Rhodes, sept leader of the Sept of Blood's Unspoken Voice; Brendan Hilditch, Bryce Beanham, Mae Fischer and David Thewlis. Lachlan debates for a while as to whether he should contend for the position, but decides against it.
The True Seekers send a message back to Melbourne, saying that they will be delayed for a while. They then settle down for the next few days.
The evening of the first night of the full moon. Fianna kinfolk have been arriving in the real world all day for an outdoor booze-up. Moon Bridges are opened to the five other primarily Fianna Caern's in Australia. Because the normal monthly moot must be performed at all the Caerns tonight, and because having all the Fianna in one place would leave these other Caerns dangerously vulnerable, the moon bridges are kept open during the moot, and Fianna are coming and going to other Caerns all night. Around 100 Fianna are involved in the moot, from Australia and also visiting from elsewhere, although only about 60 are at the Clouded Skies sept at any one time, the rest being busy protecting the other Caerns.
While everyone is arriving, Glenn and Lachlan spot Mae and wander over for a chat. After talking about the contest and the likely contenders, Mae asks Lachlan if he will be contending to be Righ. Lachlan says that he won't be as he thinks that he has other things that he needs to do, and that he doesn't feel that he is ready for that kind of responsibility yet. Mae agrees, saying that responsibility is a heavy burden that you shouldn't accept until you are ready.
Once everyone has arrived in the Umbra, the usual moot business is taken care of. Then the ceremonial part of the funeral takes place. The ritual is conducted, with the True Seekers carrying the bier around as directed. After the ritual, the remembrance is held, with many tales told about Fingal's long and not-undistinguished life. The last tale is told by Lachlan, who tells of Fingal's death. Bryce then steps forward and says that the Council of Song will now accept the challenges of those seeking to become the new Righ, and that all those wishing to challenge should announce themselves. Everyone who Lachlan suggested would contend does so. Many of the Fianna look at Lachlan, and are surprised when he makes no move to challenge.
The Council of Song gather and the long process of the challenge begins. The rest of the Fianna spread out across the mountain, and soon from all quarters the sounds of song, music and laughter can be heard as the wake begins. As the contest gets under way, Fianna come to watch the contestants perform. Fianna also disappear and reappear through the moon bridges. Over the course of the night, several Fianna ask Lachlan about why he is not contending to be Righ. He tells them that he has other concerns for the moment. Also over the course of the night, individual and small groups of Fianna come up the Fingal's bier to pay their personal respects.
Vilna is sitting a short distance away from the bier. Three Fianna walking past notice him, talk briefly amongst themselves, then change direction and walk over to him. While two hang back, the third, who is Rank 3, asks Vilna whether he thinks that it's fitting for the Righ's pall bearer to be metis. Vilna says that Fingal though it fitting enough and asks whether his interlocutor is questioning Fingal's choice. Meanwhile Chases-The-Wyld has moved behind Vilna and is sitting quietly, sending Vilna little messages about keeping his cool. However, Vilna is having no trouble and after a few more exchanges, the Fianna gives a snort and wanders off.
A couple of hours into the wake and the Fianna are getting pleasantly soused. A band of drunken Fianna come running up and say that they have come to take Fingal for a dance. Lachlan doesn't seem to worry, so the rest of the True Seekers go along. The Fianna and the True seekers hoist up the bier and take it for a dance around the area. They take the bier to the different groups of Fianna, who raise a toast to Fingal. After a few minutes the bier is returned to its resting place.
Lachlan has been busy trying to persuade his pack mates that a Fianna tradition at wakes is to strip naked and run around until you can steal someone's drink. The others point out that they haven't seen anyone else try it. Near to the bier, a small group of Fianna are engaged in a singing contest. There seems to be some dispute as to the winner, and one of the Fianna calls out to Chases-The-Wyld, who is sitting nearby, to say who she thought won. Chases-The-Wyld, aware of her strengths and weaknesses, says that she wasn't really listening, and that probably Glenn or Lachlan would do a better job of judging. Glenn, who had been listening, declares one the winner, and is challenged to sing.
The True Seekers are starting to notice strange lights in the trees, small figures running around, and tall and beautiful people watching the contest. It seems that the fae have taken an interest in proceedings, and that the glamour of the Fianna moot has allowed them to come to this place.
During a break in his challenge, Brendan comes over to pay his own respects to his grandfather. He says nothing to the True Seekers. Chases-The-Wyld offers condolences for his loss. Brendan nods, and walks away. After he has left, another group of drunken Fianna come to take Fingal drinking with them. The True Seekers help carry the bier to a new location for a while.
Steve is scratching his neck when he realises that his monkey puzzle fetish is missing. After searching himself carefully, he walks around looking for it. It doesn't take him long to find it. Some kind of sprite is running around, twirling the monkey puzzle furiously on its cord. Steve debates just taking it back, then goes to chat with Lachlan. Lachlan says that this is a perfect chance to honour the Fianna custom. If Steve were to strip naked, run around and steal someone's drink, this would distract the sprite long enough for Lachlan to grab the fetish. Steve doesn't need that much persuading, and so, having stripped naked behind a bush, leaps out in front of the sprite. As Steve bounds away through the trees to the cheers of the Fianna, Lachlan yoicks the monkey puzzle out of the sprite's now-limp hand and runs off. Meanwhile, Steve has run up to a group of Fianna, snatched up someone's drink, sculled it, and run away again.
Bret Hutchinson come jogging up to Lachlan and says that he would like to hear the story of Marion again. Lachlan is more than happy to oblige, and tells his epic tale, which he has been practising a lot. Soon he has drawn quite a crowd of Fianna, including a large chunk of the audience from the challenge, where by coincidence Quintana is also telling a story. In fact, Bret doesn't seem to be paying a great deal of attention to Lachlan's story. He seems more interested in what is happening over at the challenge. Still, he hangs around until Lachlan finishes his tale, which takes quite a while. He thanks Lachlan and heads back over to the challenge.
When it is dawn, the contest is halted until the next evening. The True Seekers have been keeping track of the challenge during the night. Mae is a bit weak when it comes to lore and singing, but she is still doing well and is expected to shine in the upcoming challenges. She is definitely a front runner. Brendan is doing adequately, but is not really in the race. The True Seekers decide to get some sleep to be ready for the next evening.
As soon as it is dark, the wake and the contest begin again. The fae also quickly make their presence known. Glenn, looking over at the crowd watching the challenge, has spotted a familiar figure - Lady Niirsa from the Arcadia Gateway. Looking around, Glenn can't see any sign of Reegus. Glenn saunters over and stands in the crowd opposite her. Soon she has moved around the circle to have a chat with an old friend. Glenn gallantly offers to escort her around, and she agrees. The last the True Seekers see of Glenn for a while is him walking away through the trees with Lady Niirsa on his arm.
Lachlan is walking in the real world. He passes by a group of people listening to a CD. It is the debut album of Futon, and it is getting air play on JJJ. One of the guys says that he heard that Futon used to be some Melbourne reggae band which changed direction when they dumped the lead singer. Another guy claims that he saw Futon play the Punters Club when they were the thrash band Gnarl, and that the lead singer was this psycho guy who was questioned by the cops about some policemen who got killed. Lachlan storms off, muttering about traitors and philistines.
Glenn has returned, looking rather smug, and so has Lachlan. The True Seekers are sitting around the bier. Nearby and old Galliard is talking to a couple of young Fianna. He says that he remembers the fragment of a strange and ancient tale about Malfeas, which isn't much told as it seems incomplete. Soon after the Sundering, a nameless Realm in the Near Umbra became so utterly corrupted by the Wyrm that the Eater-Of-Souls reached out from the Deep Umbra, across the Membrane, and swallowed the Realm whole. The Realm fell into the guts of the Wyrm in the Deep Umbra and became Malfeas. But the head of the Eater-Of-Souls still reached into the Near Umbra, and it vomited corruption and evil across the Umbra. This is where the story becomes fragmentary, because no-one knows what happened then. Some suggest that the head of the Eater-Of-Souls was petrified and became the Abyss. Others say that a nameless Garou hero leapt down the throat of the Eater-Of-Souls and choked it, forcing it back across the Membrane. All that is known is that at one time the Eater-Of-Souls reached into the Near Umbra and that later it was gone.
The True Seekers are sitting and musing about this odd story when Grek Twice-Tongue walks up to them. He says that he has important news, that he wishes to give in private. Grek goes off through the trees with Lachlan and Glenn. The rest of the True Seekers go off with another bunch of drunken Fianna taking Fingal for a dance. When Grek is alone with the others, he says that he has discovered that their Caern in Melbourne is facing an imminent threat. Lachlan asks if it is another Wyrm Beast, and Grek says that he believes that it is. Glenn sends a message to Vilna that he should call the Caern immediately. Vilna steps into the real world and phones Cossack. Glenn asks Grek about how he knows of the threat, but Grek seems reluctant to explain. Lachlan is starting to feel uneasy and uses Sense Unnatural on Grek. He gets a strong sense of Fae and a sense of Wyrm.
Chases-The-Wyld, Steve and Melissa are dancing with the bier when the Fianna carrying the bier suddenly step away. As the True Seekers halt in confusion, the Fianna leap at them, two Fianna grappling each of them. Steve was caught in the middle of draining a beer and is knocked flat, but Chases-The-Wyld doesn't drink and dodges aside. The bier crashes to the ground but doesn't tip over.
Lachlan and Glenn through themselves at Grek. As they connect, there is a green flash and a crack as they are hit with a blast of energy. Lachlan manages to grapple Grek to the ground, whereupon Grek seems to fade out, moving through Lachlan and away. As he does, the image of Grek vanishes to be replaced by Marianna. Both Lachlan and Glenn change to Crinos and attack. In the real world, Vilna has cottoned on that everything is a bit screwy, and steps back into the umbra.
Around the bier, Chases-The-Wyld, Steve and Melissa are battling the "Fianna" when Vilna arrives and starts swinging with the fae sword. Steve thinks this is a good idea and swings away with his trusty sword - which snaps on the armour the fae are wearing. Two more fae run out of the trees with a large purple cloth between them. The True Seekers are too occupied to stop them as the throw the cloth over Fingal's body. Steve snatches the cloth away, but Fingal's body has gone.
Lachlan and Glenn have managed to pin Marianna against a tree, when she spits out a single word. She immediately disappears from their grasp. Back at the bier, all of the fae and the cloth also vanish away. The True Seekers are left standing there as Fianna come running from all directions.
Lachlan and Glenn rejoin the rest of the pack in a gathering crowd of Fianna. Bryce silences the babble and asks what happened. Lachlan gives them the low-down, and tension amongst the Fianna eases. Bryce says that as pall bearers, it is their responsibility to retrieve Fingal. Bryce calls some low fae to him, and directs them to take the True Seekers to the Arcadia Gateway. The True Seekers and the fae head off through the umbra, looking for a moon path.
As they travel, Lachlan tells the others that interference in Fianna matters by the fae is expected and accommodated for, which is why the Fianna were fairly laid back about them losing the body - so long as they can get it back again.
They arrive in the Seelie forest in the Arcadia Gateway, and the low fae disappear into the undergrowth. The True Seekers trek through the woods until Lachlan spots the white stag, which leads them to the great road from the setting sun to the rising moon. The pack debate awhile on a course of action, then decide to talk with Lysander first for advice and possibly aid.
They run toward the setting sun until they reach the gardens of Gateway Castle. Stopped by the fae knights, they request to speak with Lord Lysander and are soon brought into his presence. After a few pleasantries and some chit-chat, the True Seekers explain their situation, and ask for Lysander's....advice. Lysander suggests that they should initially approach Marianna diplomatically, and see if she wants something in particular. Lysander also says that he will not get directly involved in this matter. The True Seekers thank him and head out to the Grim Fortress. Passing through the Seelie and Unseelie forest, they arrive in the frozen and barren gardens of the Grim Fortress. The drawbridge of the fortress is up. After deciding against a direct approach, the True Seekers call out until someone on the wall responds. The True Seekers say that they wish to speak with Lady Marianna, and after a small pause, the drawbridge is lowered and they enter.
Escorted by a dozen fae knights, the pack is taken to a feast hall, where Marianna is relaxing, having a little wine. She offers drinks to the pack, but they politely decline. Lachlan then says that they have come for Fingal's body. Marianna smiles enigmatically and says nothing. Lachlan asks if there is anything that she would like in exchange. Marianna asks what sort of thing he had in mind.
The True Seekers make a few feeble suggestions (so feeble that I can't remember what they were), which doesn't seem to impress Marianna much. After a bit more of the back and forth, during which Marianna demonstrates that the pack's link through Kanau is not as inviolate as they thought, Marianna says that she will think about their offers, and that they should come back tomorrow for her answer. The True Seekers leave.
They travel back along the road, and decide to crash out at the intersection of the Roman road and the Old road, on the border between the Seelie and the Unseelie realms, and wait for morning.
The next morning, the True Seekers head back to the Grim Fortress. Once inside, they are escorted again by a dozen fae knights into a library where Marianna is reading. Several of the True Seekers get the impression that she is bemused and perhaps a little puzzled by their presence.
Lachlan asks whether she has had time to consider their various offers. Marianna says that she has, but that it doesn't really matter. She says that she had expected that someone would have come by now and told them that Fingal's body had been found. She didn't steal Fingal's body away with her little trick - not very far, anyway. She simply shunted it a hundred metres or so away and turned it invisible. The glamour would have worn off long ago, and someone should have found it. She wasn't interested in arousing the ire of the Fianna, just in embarrassing the True Seekers. The True Seekers, through gritted teeth, thank her for being so forthcoming. They gain from her a more precise description about where the body should be located. They then leave.
They travel back into the Seelie forest and search for a moon path. They follow the moon path into the umbra and then through the umbra, heading back to the Sept of Clouded Skies. When they get back, it is still...
They find the elder Fianna and tell them what happened. The True Seekers say that they will look for Fingal's body alone, as too many others might confuse matters. They head off to the area described by Marianna.
In a space between some trees, Naomi can smell the funeral herbs on Fingal's bier. She cannot see the body. Using Sense Unnatural she can detect lingering traces of fae. Fingal's body may be present, but still masked with the glamour.
Sniffing more carefully around the site, Naomi also picks up an additional scent which runs from the current site to where the moot is being held. Whoever it is, either they followed the same track here and back, or they travelled part way in the real world. After a moment, she recognises the scent. It is that of Brendan Hilditch.
Glenn goes to have a chat with the noble fae to learn a bit about glamours. Vilna starts summoning a fox spirit to maybe track Fingal's body. So at this stage, Fingal is either still there but glamoured; was once there but has been moved, in which case where and why did Brendan move it; or Marianna lied about Fingal's location.
The noble fae tell Glenn that a glamour to conceal something would either be passive or active. A passive glamour would be cast on the object to hide it, while an active glamour would be cast on a subject so that they couldn't find the object. Since Marianna was trying to conceal the body from about one hundred Fianna, a passive glamour would have been the only real option. But while a passive glamour might render an object undetectable from all five senses, you will still see that your hand has been obstructed by an object that you can't see or feel. If Fingal's body was there, they should have found some sign of it.
Naomi is carefully sniffing along the scent trail, and uses Sense Unnatural. She picks up a fae sense from the trail itself. Vilna's fox is sniffing around the area and says that the body is no-where near here as far as it can tell.
Having been Kanau-briefed by Naomi, Glenn asks the noble fae if they could perhaps work to dispel the glamour. The fae says that he can try. Taken over to the site, he says that he has no sense of an existing glamour except for the scent trail. He manages to dispel the glamour. The scent of Brendan fades and is replaced by the scent of Mae Fischer.
Glenn wanders off to have a chat with Mae. Using Truth of Gaia, he asks her a few conversational questions, like "why would someone take Fingal's body?", and "how would they move it without being seen?" After it becomes clear that she is lying about the extent of her knowledge, Glenn mentions that they have found an unidentified scent trail, and asks whether she might not come over and see if she recognises the scent. Mae agrees.
They both move back to the site. Mae (in lupus form, naturally) makes her way along the proffered trail, sniffing carefully. When she claims not to recognise it, Glenn points out that it is her own scent. Mae freezes for a second, then slumps in a mix of resignation and relief. Mae says that first off, she would never have allowed the True Seekers to take the fall if the body had not been recovered; that she would have confessed at that point. She says that it was just an accident that she found the body, about an hour after the True Seekers left. She had been walking alone, worrying about the challenge. She was doing very well and was pretty sure that she was going to win. She wasn't sure if she was ready for such responsibility, but Bret had been pushing her and everyone, including Glenn, seemed to expect it of her.
When she stumbled across Fingal's body, she saw a way that she could delay or even postpone the challenge. She called some Seelie low fae to her and had them take the body to the Arcadia Gateway. She also had them conceal her scent. She hadn't told them to make the scent that of Brendan - that must have been their own personal touch. She regretted it almost as soon as it was done, but couldn't bring herself to undo it.
Glenn calls the True Seekers together and updates everybody. They go to Bryce and tell him that the suspect that Fingal's body is in the Arcadia Gateway after all, and will go and retrieve it. Bryce calls some more fae to get them there quickly.
Once again they pass through the umbra, onto a moon path and into the Seelie forest. They follow Lachlan's white stag to the road and head for Gateway Castle. They are once again ushered in to see Lord Lysander. Having explained the entirely new problem, Lysander says that it will be simple enough to call the low fae who took the body. After talking for an hour or so, the True Seekers explaining to Lysander exactly what is going on, a group of low fae are ushered in.
Lysander asks them to return the body they were given. The fae say that they would like to, but they don't have it any more. They were on the old road when they met another fae, who beat them at a game of chance for the body. Lysander asks who was the other fae. They say it wads Jack O' The Lantern.
Lysander says that Jack is of the Unseelie and not within his demesne. They must either petition Marianna for aid, or deal with Jack directly. The True Seekers ask Lysander to tell them what he can of Jack O' The Lantern. Lysander says that he is a low fae, but powerful. He appears as a short, weathered woodsman with a rusty axe at his belt. He carries a long pole, at the end of which he ties the severed heads of humans - his "lanterns". Finding him will be difficult, given the powerful glamour of the forest which defeats non-fae means of navigating (as the True Seekers well know). If the pack has some mystical means of locating things, then doing so on Jack will probably attract his attention. If he wants to talk, he will then find the pack.
After thanking Lysander, the True Seekers head down the Roman road again. They turn right down the old road for a short distance, then plunge into the twisted and nightmare forest of the Unseelie lands. After they have travelled for a time, various people use Questing Stone looking for Jack. They get only the vaguest of indications, but follow as best they can. Soon night falls and the forest comes alive with bizarre insects and the squawks, shrieks and giggles of the Unseelie. At one point something very large moves through the forest nearby, driving everything else to silence until it passes.
Later, the True Seekers are moving down a narrow track when something bops Steve on the head. Looking up, they see a figure that must be Jack O' The Lantern, sitting in the bough of a tree. He just tapped Steve with the rotting head tied by its hair to the end of Jack's long pole. A ghastly, green light spills out of the head's various orifices.
After brief introductions, they ask Jack if he has Fingal's body. Jumping out of the tree, he says that he will take them to it. They follow Jack down many a trail until they read a large swampy patch of tussocks and stagnant pools. Jack leaps across from tussock to tussock until he reaches the middle. The True Seekers follow, being very careful to only jump where Jack jumped. Jack indicates to a pool. Looking in, they can Fingal's body floating just below the surface. Jack says that they can have the body, if they want it. But every time they reach for Fingal's body, it is just out of their grasp. Even trying to swim down to the body doesn't get them any closer. When they point out to Jack that they can't get the body, he says that he will fetch it for them, but it will cost them. He says that he is bored in the Gateway, rarely able or allowed to go back to the real world. He says that he will get Fingal's body if the True Seekers devise some way for him to get into the real world. When they ask Jack what he enjoys about the real world, he says it's the cutting of people's heads off - with his axe!
The True Seekers mull over this proposal, although they have no idea how to bring it about. They ask to see Fingal's actual body, just to make sure that Jack is selling goods he actually owns. Jack agrees, provided that the pack swear that they will look at the body only to determine its genuineness, and not to take it. They dutifully swear, and out across the swamp, a body bobs to the surface and lazy floats towards them. When they have checked the body and satisfied themselves, it floats back out into the swamp and sinks.
After much back and forth, they agree to a compromise. If they get the body now, then as soon as they have finished their business with it, they will make good faith efforts to find out if it is possible, and they will return to do what they can. Jack makes them all swear to this effect (Except for Chases-The-Wyld, who hangs up the back and keeps quiet). He then gives them Fingal's body.
Now with Fingal's body, they do the usual moon path thing and get back to Clouded Skies. When they get back it is a few hours before dawn on...