Session 8

Just when it looked as though things were becoming truly dire, Tallis woke up from her little nap. She stopped a moment to gather her shattered wits and to find her sword. Then things became truly dire. Justin was struck down by the combined attack of all three knights, Kaelli attempted a fancy-schmancy disarming tactic (which failed) and then she was cut down in her turn, and then Tallis was hit for six (for 19, actually) by a masterful polo-stroke from the last remaining knight on horseback.

Fade to black.

Our heroes came to with night falling, finding themselves stripped down to their underwear (except for Justin, whose clothes are built-in at present, being part of Pandora's transformation) and all their horses and goods gone. Jim the Acolyte rejoined them from his hiding place in the long grass, while Justin cast about for his bastard sword (thrown away by the knight who first knocked him out), eventually finding it hidden under a clump of wild flowers. Pandora graciously agreed to heal the wounds of our battered heroes, and then, exhausted, went to sleep in a grass nest made by Jim.

They cast about to see if they could find any sign of where the knights had gone, but were hampered by the fact that nobody has any sort of tracking skill of any kind. They found the camp-site under the trees, but could find no other sign and decided to hoof it back to Rath Connul to re-equip. Justin complained vociferously about his new puny, clumsy body and asked Pandora to try to make him stronger and faster; she took offence that he should be suggesting that her original work was no up to scratch and went off in a huff while Tallis tried to soothe her enough that she wouldn't turn anybody into anything unfortunate. She did make a new habit for Tallis though: a startling fuschia satin confection entirely smothered in rouches, flounces and spangles, and bearing only the faintest resemblance to a habit of the Little Sisters.

The next day, on the way back to Rath Connul, they met a small merchant caravan heading south along the road, Notum Portante and his four strapping sons carrying a few mule-loads of dried smoked eels to Clancappail. Messr Portante was alarmed to hear that there was a band of robber-knights in the area and decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to head back to Rath Connul and gather a larger and less vulnerable caravan; our heroes accompanied him as far as the bridge where they were stopped for lack of either a pass or any money to pay the toll. Notum agreed to carry a message to the Chapter House, and about an hour and a half later a Sister arrived with a pass to get everyone back across the bridge. She was rather taken aback by Tallis' new outfit, but accompanied them back to the Chapter House.

The Matron, though obviously displeased, re-equipped Tallis and assigned a strong patrol of a dozen sturdy sisters under a hatchet-faced harridan, Sister Hiltrude, to accompany them safely to the Clancappail ferry.

Justin continued trying to persuade Pandora to re-transform him, and eventually she agreed if only to shut him up. She sprinkled him with fairy dust and he reappeared, more gorgeous than ever was a mortal man, but if anything even weaker and clumsier than he was before (he's now only slightly above average instead of being way above average). Naturally, he was displeased, since he didn't care two hoots about being the most swooningly handsome man on the planet. The nuns, on the other hand, were very pleased indeed and the stables suddenly became the focus of attention as the younger sisters suddenly found all sorts of pressing errands there; they gathered to watch Justin in case he did anything heart-meltingly exciting like chopping wood or something, they offered to help him wash his back, and he was delivered at least six separate trays of food for dinner (some of which he passed on to Barsh and Jim, both totally ignored by the assembled nuns in favour of the Adonis-like Justin).

The next day the Matron sent them off with Sister Hiltrude and her troop for Clancappail. They got there, undisturbed by bandits, in just two days and arrived at the Clancappail Chapter House just in time for dinner. Once again, Justin received plenty of personal attention until the younger nuns were shooed away by some of the older, more mature Sisters (who wanted to be able to perve at him without being jostled by a crowd). Barsh asked for an interview with the House Librarian, and describing the arms of the three knights who had attacked them, discovered that they were all of more-or-less local noble families — two of them of the Cathal, whose family seat is on the banks of the Donn about 30km north of the city, and one Connach, a day or two to the south. Barsh (and Tallis, for that matter) appear to be harbouring some un-holy grudges. Justin and Kaelli are harbouring entirely predictable grudges.

The Matron of the House gave Tallis such information as they had about the situation; they believed they had pinpointed where in the Old City the demon had originally landed, and roughly where the Heart had been until they lost contact with it four(?) days previously. She had kept the place under visual surveillance and, as far as they could tell, the demon had not left. She had the Librarian dig out some old floorplans of the palace, but could not guarantee that they were still valid, and they showed nothing of the Under-City at all where it was assumed the Heart had been taken for safe-keeping.

Everyone got some rest, having been riding hard for the last few days (and had the shit kicked out of them too), and early the next morning the Matron sent them off with a guide up into the Old City to the palace they believed to be the locus pondus. They were taken through the winding, labyrinthine passages to a doorway, a short, broad, arched tunnel shut with a wrought-iron gate. Tallis tried the gate and it screeched open, dropping a shower of rust and cobwebs, and they passed through into the ancient palace.