The Mother's Boy
Session Twenty-Five of The Crucible of Youth Campaign

Caladay, 25 First Snow 204 [continued]

Kaylas lies prostrate at the edge of the circle of entangling plants, clutching his chest. But then he feels something slowly rising within himself. Members of his community are in danger. He feels the strength of Terranor flow up from the earth beneath, he feels his muscles filled with divine power. He kicks of his boots and allows his bare feet to sink into the damp ground.

Thorn leaps forward toward the skeletal forms. Whatever intention he may have had is lost as the foliage rises up to engulf him and he disappears into the twisted carpet of vines and creepers. Krais battles on, swinging his sword and connecting with the skull of Cordelia that sits ominously atop the captive Kaleena. But again his blow has no perceptible effect on the creature.

At extreme range, Arax conjures a ball of rolling flame that he sends against the skeleton of Goneril. Trapped by Kaylas's entangle spell, the undead witch cannot move out of the way, and the flame bodily strikes her. Goneril roars in agony and galvanised by the pain pulls herself free of the plants with her prodigious strength. Regan moves forward and sinks her dreadful claws into Krais from behind while Cordelia fixes the Brewer with a cold and penetrating stare.

Krais is suddenly sensible of a great heat building in the handle of his sword. He can feel his hand burning, he can smell his own cooked flesh and looking down he can see the skin pulsating as the tissue of his hand boils and bursts. He screams and drops his sword.

Seeing that the only people entangled by his spell are now his friends, Kaylas dismisses the enchantment. Thorn and Illyan are freed from the cloying creepers. As Kaylas begins to cast a summoning magic, Illyan leaps forward toward Goneril and uses the power of his healing touch to devastating effect against the undead. The positive energy that courses over Illyan's hands twists and fractures the bones of Goneril. But still the monster is standing.

Thorn attempts to entangle Cordelia is the rope trailing from his harpoon, but he misses wildly. Krais picks up his sword and again attacks Cordelia, all the while fearful that he might injure Kaleena. Arax conjures a second flaming sphere and sends it against Regan. Now both balls of fire do their work. But not quick enough to help Illyan and Krais.

Goneril lashes out at the healer, grievously wounding him across the chest, while Cordelia and Regan viciously attack Krais who barely manages to stay standing. But Illyan holds his ground and again uses his touch against Goneril to devastating effect. There doesn't seem to be very much left of the skeleton, but sadly there is more than enough to brutally fillet Illyan.

As Thorn draws the flaming scimitar and dances ineffectually off into the night, Krais continues the assault against Cordelia. But it is Illyan who is in the most danger. Despite the wounds that cover her body, despite the burning sphere attacking her continually, still Goneril presses the assault. Arax unleashes a volley of magic missiles at this target, and it is just too much for the creature. The skeleton of Goneril crumbles before Illyan.

Incensed at her fallen sister, Cordelia employs dark and terrible magicks against him. Fortunately Krais manages to resist whatever fell effect she had in store for him. Unfortunately, Regan punches her way into his smaller intestine and he collapses to the floor, horribly wounded.

Suddenly there is a rumble in the ground and a splintering of stone. Two elemental beings rise out of the darkness and attack Cordelia and Regan from behind. The witches twist out of their stony grips. Kaylas steps forward; he calls upon the power of Terranor to judge Cordelia. Kaylas shouts various pithy insults and points out to his god that Cordelia is endangering the village and the villagers he has sworn to protect. Terranor delivers a mild reproof to the undead creature that quails slightly under the spell.

Illyan realises that he has no choice but to save Krais, even though flinging himself into the fray to cast a healing spell will undoubtedly open himself to the attacks of Cordelia and Regan. Bravely he charges forward, recharging Krais with healing energy. Illyan himself is cut down, although he miraculously remains conscious.

Thorn continues to contribute nothing to the combat, by missing wildly with another swipe of his flaming sword. Krais gets slowly to his feet and attacks Cordelia again. Arax cautiously moves forward, commando-style, until he is but sixty feet from the fray. His main offensive magicks exhausted he resorts to a sly cantrip that has a deleterious effect on the undead. He begins to whittle them down with the same speed one would whittle down a pine tree with a pocket knife.

A coruscating stream of searing energy bursts from Cordelia's eyes and strikes Illyan squarely in the chest. The tenacious (i.e. lucky) half elf resists such attempts to brutally to him over. One of the earth elements drags the wounded Illyan from the combat. Kaylas contemplates summoning a horde of bulls. Arax continues to zap away.

Then Cordelia speaks. The sound grates through the assembled like rusty nails being drawn across a blackboard. "Allow us to depart or the flesh dies!" Cordelia states, as she does so, the whites of Kaleena's eyes roll back to reveal the girl's terrified pupils and the tight-fitting corset of bone tightens by three dress sizes. Krais can hear Kaleena's bones splintering inside. He hears her scream.

Krais lowers his sword and steps back. Kaylas, Illyan, Arax and Thorn also stay their hand. The skeleton of Regan moves quickly, and gathers up the shattered remains of Goneril. Then the two turn and walk quickly from Scarman Rise and into the darkness of the Whittenwood.

Krais is desperate not to lose track of them. Kaylas agrees that they have to keep them in sight or they lose all hope of finding Kaleena. Krais rushes after them, quickly pursued by Illyan and Thorn. Kaylas is about to follow when he hears a cry from behind him. It is Mab. In the heat of the battle Kaylas had momentarily forgotten the reunited Brewer family huddled against one of the standing stones behind him.

"What's happening?" asks Mab, the whole battle having barely registered on the young girl's mind, distracted as she was by the return of her mother. Kaylas explains what is going on as succinctly and quickly as he can, and then moves to follow Krais. "You can't go," pleads Mab and looks over her shoulder at Salia, Grint and Enid. "You can't leave my mother here. We can't be split up."

Kaylas sees the sense of this. The Whittenwood is still infested with murderwraiths after all, and now the ritual has ended the cold of winter is returning to Scarman Rise. He and Arax hurry forward to help. Both Enid and Mab are exhausted by the magic and look a terrible sight in their gore-encrusted nakedness, but they are in full health compared to Salia. She is still wearing the tattered night attire she sported the day Úsaan Altorro revived her all those weeks ago. She is filthy and smells of stale sea water.

Kaylas and Mab hoist Salia to her feet. "What is happening, shepherd?" she asks Kaylas, and although she sounds exhausted and can barely put one foot in front of the other, Kaylas senses that her sharp mind has been undiminished by this experience. He is honest and says that the Miller Sisters returned as part of this dark ritual, and that they have Krais's fiancée and that Krais is pursuing them as they speak. Salia takes this in slowly, and then insists on as much haste as they can manage. They cannot manage much.

Krais, Illyan and Thorn fight their way through the Whittenwood. The threat of murderwraiths weighs on their mind, but more pressing goals currently consume them. The forest is thick and dark, and the trees are packed so closely together than although the Miller Sisters are not far ahead they can only hear them, not see them. Thorn finds his harpoon discarded on the ground and quickly retrieves it.

Illyan reports that they seem to be heading back towards the Village. Krais wonders what the sisters could possibly want there, and then he recalls the history of this trio. Do they want revenge against those who have wronged them? What horror has he unwittingly unleashed on Bear's Reach? Even more horror, it would seem as Illyan points out they are now following three sets of footprints, not two. Goneril has reformed.

There is a movement in the trees above the companions. The horribly familiar, bowel-loosening fear of the murderwraiths returns to haunt the companions. But the sensation is short-lived. Something unseen passed them in the darkness, and suddenly they can hear an altercation in the night. Screams of anger, the sound of thrashing claws, splintering wood and the crackle of electrical energy. The Miller sisters seem to be under attack from the murderwraiths! The three quicken their pace and hurry toward the source of the disturbance.

Within moments they have arrived, but the undead are not to be seem. Stretched out on the snow is a man-like shape, but its proportions are wrong - the arms and legs too long for the body. Illyan cautiously steps forward and turns the body onto its back. It has almost no weight. The creature is unlike anything he has ever seen. It seems little more than a silhouette of a creature, a dark shape without contour or feature. Where the eyes and the mouth should be, there are jagged tears as if the creature was paper and these holes had been torn from it. Illyan feels himself drawn into those empty sockets, for beyond them is movement, a swirling abyss that wants to drag him in, to claim his mind and his sanity. Illyan wrestles away from the creature and sits down heavily in the snow. As they watch the body, the corpse of what can only have been a murderwraith, seems to lose solidity. It diminishes from three dimensions to two and then it is gone.

It takes Illyan a few moments to recover. He feels as though his mind has been scrambled. The question of why the murderwraith attacked the Miller sisters seems less important than the realisation that the three witches killed it, a feat the party thought was practically impossible. Krais voices the question that occurs to each of them: how can they possibly defeat these things.

But the village is danger, and Kaleena is in even more danger and if they don't do something then no-one else will. Illyan leads the way through the Whittenwood. They reach the river and cross it. They hurry into the Wyrwood and pass Higham Dip. They emerge on the path at very summit of the town just as the first thin rays of dawn sunlight crest the horizon.

Sharday, 26 First Snow 204

The path of the Miller Sisters take them through the Farmer's fields - through the cobbled courtyard outside their farmhouse. Fortunately, it is just slightly too early for the residents, and the Farmers are oblivious to the passing of the undead just outside their kitchen window as they sit down to breakfast.

Krais, Thorn and Illyan pound the same route, sprinting now to try and reach the Miller Sisters before… well, they don't really know what's going to happen, but generally consider that they should be there for it nonetheless. They run past the Old Mill and hurry down the hill to the centre of town, and then they hear the shriek.

It is the shriek of someone trying to sound butch and manly, while at the same time being scared out of his wits. A gaggle of burly Njedelstroms are fighting to get back through the door into their home as the three undead creatures pass. It is now obvious where they are heading: they are going to the Fisher family home. Thorn is ecstatic. He is going to rescue the Fishers and make them look bad! He leads the way.

Krais remembers that all the Millers married Fishers. Cordelia married Mao Fisher and the two were burned to death on their wedding night. Regan married Atilla Fisher, and Goneril married Rasputin - the only one still alive. Are they coming for Rasputin? By the time the three have reached the Fisher place, the heavy door has been reduced to splinters and there are the sounds of shouting from within. Without really knowing what they can do they swallow their fear and enter.

Kaylas, Arax, Mab, Grint, Enid and Salia finally make it back across the river. In the relative safety of the Wyrwood, Kaylas can speed things along a bit. "I'm going on ahead," he says to Mab, "all of you get back to the inn. You'll be safe there." Mab doesn't argue, but she does take Kaylas's hand. Her thoughts are with her brother. "Keep him safe, Kaylas," she says.

The shepherd nods and with a gesture he summons a horse out of thin air. He and Arax quickly climb aboard. The horse rears and they both only barely hang on. Kaylas spurs his mount and they gallop toward Bear's Reach. They gallop through the crowd of Farmers that have gathered in their own courtyard to see what is going on, and they ride pell mell into the chaos of town. Scores of people are on the streets seeing what the disturbance is. Wild stories are starting to fly. Kaylas sees that the problem lies at the Fisher place and he makes for it with all possible speed.

Inside the Fishers' home is further chaos. There are the scream of children and the running of frightened feet. The Miller Sisters have evidently come down the central corridor, and nothing was going to stand in their way. On the floor before them is the water priest, Curran Fisher. His wife, Magda, is crouching next to him wailing. His children stand in an open doorway, held back by one of their aunts.

Illyan runs forward. Curran has stopped breathing… but this has only just happened and he is not dead yet. The healer pounces forward and pummels Curran repeatedly on the chest, while yelling "Live!" in a slightly maniacal tone. Thorn calls for calm, and in the confusion, he and Krais slip onwards. Krais has burgled this house enough times to know his way around. The witches are heading to Rasputin's rooms. The pair plunge through the splintered door, not knowing what they will find within.

Kaylas and Arax come to a sudden halt at the front door and hurry inside. The pair quickly catch up to Illyan, who it still doing his best to save Curran. "Shepherd!" comes a voice, "What is going on here?" Kaylas turns to see Heinrich Fisher (Curran's brother and one of Rasputin's children). Kaylas doesn't sugar coat it. He says the Miller sisters have returned and he suspects they are here for Rasputin.

Kaylas quickly tells everyone to evacuate the house and head as quickly as they can to the chapel of the Church of the Land. They will be safe there. The women hurry to gather their children as Curran takes a ragged breath. Illyan has saved the priest. Moses Fisher pulls Curran to his feet. Illyan promises he will return to continue his ministrations, but he is more immediately required elsewhere. Kaylas, Arax and Illyan head after Thorn and Krais. They are joined by the harpoon-wielding Heinrich. He won't see his father die at the hands of his undead mother.

Krais and Thorn bundle into Rasputin's rooms mere moments after the Miller sisters. The window is open and the curtains flapping in the cold dawn breeze. Still wearing his nightgown, the octogenarian Rasputin is running and stumbling away across the snow as fast as he can. If the witches detect the arrival of Krais and Thorn they do not acknowledge it. Cordelia gestures toward the wall. The wood cracks and breaks as the entire wall opens like a pair of extremely brittle curtains. The undead step out onto the snow.

"Murderer!" Cordelia yells after Rasputin. "You burned me!" Krais and Thorn are only feet behind, but Krais is at a loss as to what to do next. As Rasputin rapidly protests his innocence and says that he did not burn Cordelia, Krais has dark thoughts. The Miller sisters are back to kill Rasputin. If he lets that happen will they release Kaleena? He isn't sure, he doesn't know. But Krais Brewer isn't a killer, even by proxy. He hefts his sword and attacks Cordelia again.

The witch shudders at the blow and turns to regard Krais. "You again. I told you to leave us!" - "Release Kaleena!" Krais demands. The witch smiles. "I have need of this flesh, boy." Then she turns. Rasputin is using the distraction to make a getaway. He is somehow climbing over the stone wall into the walled garden behind the chapel to the Church of the Land. The skeletons pursue him.

Kaylas, Arax and Illyan race onto the scene. Krais quickly explains what is going on. Kaylas suspects that Rasputin did indeed kill Cordelia. The rest of the party can believe it of the old man as well. Wouldn't it be justice to let the witches have their way? Illyan's response to his is an emphatic no. "This cannot be allowed!" he says. Kaylas is about to belabour the point when he realises that he has just sent the entire Fisher family to the same chapel the Miller sisters are now breaking into. He hurries away to head them off.

Krais, Arax, Thorn, Illyan and Heinrich Fisher head to the gate leading into the garden. It is open. They see the Miller sisters advancing on the chapel, just as Rasputin slams and bars the door against them. But can the heavy doors to the holy place of Terranor serve as any better a defence than anywhere else in the village. The answer is no. The doors splinter at Cordelia's touch.

After redirecting the Fisher family to the temple of Sharrash, Kaylas returns and pounds into the Chapel of the Church of the Land with his friends. He fears for what he will find inside. The temple connects to his home. His entire family is in there! And then he hears the scream.

The chapel is a very simple affair. A rectangular stone building with a door leading to a central aisle flanked on either side by wooden pews. At the end of the isle is a font filled with holy earth (that still sports an impression of Kaylas's face). Behind the font is a heavy green curtain running the length of the room. Behind the curtain is a doorway leading to the Chiesa home.

The scream has come from Kaylas's surviving grandmother, Carlotta, who is standing in the far corned by the curtain. Sigmund Chiesa is also in the room. He is not yet dressed, merely wearing a thick coat over his night-shirt. He stands in the aisle by the font. Rasputin Fisher has run past Sigmund and is now hiding behind the font. The three skeletons led by Cordelia are marching down the aisle toward Sigmund.

Now is the time for our heroes to spring into action. But how will this battle go any better than the last one? Arax and Thorn both realise that the key is Kaleena. Cordelia needs her. Kill Kaleena and the threat is over. However, neither think it is prudent to act on that suspicion.

Krais leads Thorn to attack one of the skeletons. From the way his sword has been acting, he believes they are all linked in some fashion and hitting one of them is as good as hitting any of them. Illyan makes his way forward down between left hand wall and the pews, avoiding the undead and places himself in a position to attack Cordelia. Kaylas begins a summoning ritual and Arax starts throwing his cantrip around from a distance.

The Miller sisters charge past Sigmund who takes a fistful of blessed earth and throws it at Cordelia ("In the name of Terranor!") The holy substance burns and boils the skeleton, but it does not deflect her from her objective. As Regan battles Krais and Thorn, Goneril attacks the old earth cleric. Two blows from her claws are enough to lay him low. Meanwhile, Cordelia pounces on Rasputin. She grabs and slices him and throws him into the curtain with such force that the whole thing comes crashing down around the Fisher, leaving him a quivering heap beneath a pile of well worn, green velvet.

Kaylas's family are not doing well. Carlotta collapses with the shock of seeing Sigmund attacked, and the removal of the curtain reveals Kaylas's father (Skellan) and brother (Joachim) lining up to filleted as well. Illyan jumps forward and wrestles with Cordelia, using his healing powers to their fullest anti-effect. And then there is snarl from the end of the chapel and the vicious mountain lion summoned by Kaylas bounds down the aisle and attacks Cordelia, raking her with numerous claws and biting her repeatedly. Free to act, Kaylas once more calls upon Terranor to judge Cordelia as naughty in his sight. This time, Terranor has much more to be miffed about and Cordelia is battered by holy forces.

As Cordelia and Goneril team up to make life very difficult for Illyan, Krais presses the assault against Regan. She has suffered very few wounds, but a strange thing happens. Krais swings and strikes Regan a solid blow. As soon as he does so, the head of Cordelia explodes showering bond in all directions.

The skeleton strait jacket that has been imprisoning Kaleena falls away, and the young girl collapses like a puppet with its strings cut. Goneril and Regan regard one another for a moment, before they too crumble into their constituent parts.

It takes a few moments for the assembled to realise that the threat is over. Illyan hurries over to Sigmund and stabilises his wounds, and then digs Rasputin out from beneath the curtain that was feeling its way along the wall, hunting for an exit. He gives him some minor healing. The old man is in shock. Kaylas attempts to take charge. He yells for his father and brother to look after the fallen Sigmund and Carlotta.

Krais and Illyan are at the side of Kaleena. The girl is barely breathing. Illyan feels for her wounds and is horrified that her bones and her organs are not where they are supposed to be. Her spine has been broken, her ribs powdered. Without immediate magical help she will die. And although Illyan can mend the flesh and seal the cuts he has not the magic to make her whole again. "I will do what I can for her," says the healer, "but greater magic is needed."

Kaylas is incensed by this. All of which could, in his mind, have been easily avoided. "And you know why this happened?" he exclaims, casting an accusatory glance at Krais. Krais snaps and punches the cleric firmly in the face. "I did what I had to do!" he yells. And none can doubt how cut up he is about Kaleena.

Illyan quickly calms them. There is still hope. The last magic leech that was recovered from the sunken temple. It has enough power to restore Kaleena. Illyan had been saving it for Salia, but as she evidently does not need it. He unscrews the jar he keeps in his pocket and fishes out the slimy, albino creature. Resigned to the end of his dream of creating an 'albino-healing-leech' farm, he places the invertebrate onto Kaleena. The creature freezes in place, dries, shrivels and drops off. Arax quickly pockets it.

There is a movement about Kaleena. The cuts on her body (most caused by Thorn's harpoon and Kaylas's mountain lion) seal over. Bones regrow. The spine reattaches itself. She is still naked and still covered in sheep's blood but she is well and she is whole. Illyan takes the curtain and lays it around her. She opens her eyes and falls into Krais's arms.

In the aftermath of this these events chaos reigns in Bear's Reach. Illyan is without magic, so Sigmund and Carlotta are taken into the Chiesa house and laid in a quiet room. Kaylas attempts to calm the growing crowds, that include Kelsar Njedelstrom looking for his wife. Even in his delicate mental state Krais can see that there will be hell to be pay when the council finds out - and he knows that Kaylas will make sure the council finds out.

Illyan suggests that Krais takes Kaleena home. She is perfectly well (and actually in better health than anyone else in the room). Krais and Kaleena leave the chapel and begin the walk back to the Dyer place. Krais apologises profusely to his fiancée. He says that he could have killed her and Sigmund and Rasputin and Curran…. Kaleena is very understanding. She says that no-one died. She says that Krais has his mother back, and that is all that mattered.

Krais doesn't understand how Kaleena can be so calm and accepting of what happened. Part of him wants her to yell, and thump him and blame him for the horrors that she has undoubtedly had to endure this evening. And so, oddly, Kaleena is the one comforting Krais.

"I had better go in alone," Kaleena says when they reach the back door of her home. She again tells Krais not to blame himself for what happened, and not to worry about her. She kisses him and then she steps into the Dyer kitchen. The scream that follows tells Krais that her mother was already in there.

The lights are on in the tavern when Krais returns. He opens the door quietly and enters. The fire has been lit. Mab, Enid, Grint and Barvin are sitting around Salia. Mab is still naked and covered in gore, but has a blanket draped around her shoulders. As Krais turns he is grabbed by an emotional Tarn. He takes Tarn's shoulders. "Thank you, boy," he says. Krais is momentarily dumbfounded by Tarn's affection and gratitude. His mumble of "It was really Grint," is lost as Tarn draws him into a powerful hug.

"What abound Kaleena?" Mab asks with some concern. Krais says that she has been saved and the Miller sisters returned to dust.

Salia takes Krais by the hands and folds him into a powerful hug. She has heard the stories now and knows what was risked this evening. "A foolish thing," she says in a tone that betrays her pride. "It's just the thing my father would have done."

Morday, 27 First Snow 204

A mixture of rumours and truth, given wings by an alarming number of acid-tongued harridans, fly around Bear's Reach with surprising speed. By lunch time everyone is talking about what transpired at the Fisher place yesterday. The matter will be brought before tomorrow's village council meeting. Everyone is eager to see how Tarn Brewer will chair it.

Illyan returns to the Chiesa home and uses his magic to fully restore Sigmund. The old cleric is appraised of exactly what happened and then he joins Kaylas in creating sufficient blessed earth to bury the remains of the Miller sisters forever. Although grateful to his grandson, he is mindful of the role Kaylas played in these events. Why didn't Kaylas come to him with the matter of witchcraft?

Sigmund is worried that Kaylas's soul is far from clean and that he still carries the mark of his time in the Great Dark (although Sigmund hasn't mentioned this to anyone). He also thinks that Kaylas's aggravating chirpy optimism and unfounded belief that he can take on any threat and solve any problem no matter how dire is something that needs to be sweated out of him. And so Sigmund becomes Kaylas's shadow. Sigmund doesn't let him out of his sight. Kaylas's freedom to go where he likes and do what he likes evaporates, as he is put to work rebuilding the door to the church.

Kaylas attempts to convince his grandfather that he is ready to learn more powerful spells - spells that even Sigmund himself cannot cast. Suffice to say that Sigmund doesn't believe a word of it.

Arax happily absents himself from all the rumours by shutting himself into the Old Mill. He doesn't emerge for three weeks. He has spells to research and other magicks to learn. He sees no reason to sully himself with the day to day workings of the village, and has no desire to see groups of children point their fingers at him and yell: "Witch! Witch!" He doesn't want to be in the same amount of trouble as Thorn.

Thorn helped to save the life of Rasputin Fisher, and although this has pleased Curran greatly, it has not enamoured him in the eyes of his father. Plus, Konig has remembered that he is already extremely mad with his seventh son, and so he decides to make Thorn's life a living hell. No more is Thorn able to run off to the Old Mill and hide from his chores. Instead, Konig charges him to spend his days removing barnacles from the bottom of the fishing boats armed with only a toothbrush and a duster.

In the Brewer household things will never be the same again. Tarn closes the inn to celebrate. For Salia has returned, and seems unchanged by the four seasons she was bed-ridden. Strength has flowed back into her limbs. Barvin and Enid and Mab and Krais have regained their loving mother. Mab especially, who has been crying out for a mother's love and guidance, is particularly changed by the experience. Tarn himself has mellowed, as will be proven over the next few weeks by a significant reduction in the town's count of petty larcenies.

For Krais to have his mother back puts all other things out of his mind. Enid spends all day at the inn. Her husband, Kelsar, is not at all forgiving for the part she has played in the witchcraft. However, a visit from Barvin has convinced him to let it lie. Yet there is one thing that does nag on Krais's mind, and it is the one thing he fears he can do nothing about: Grint.

Late in the day, Grint meets with Krais, Enid and Mab in his room. The four know of the bargain Grint struck with Phelasina, and that now Salia has returned, Grint will need to make good on his part of the bargain. Krais argues that something should be done to avoid this. They could lock Grint in the Old Mill so Phelasina could not reach him. Grint shakes his head.

Displaying a wisdom beyond his thirteen seasons he says: "Please don't try and stop this. You might say I was foolish to agree to this, but mother has returned. I knew what I was getting into. I entered into a bargain, and when you enter into a bargain like this you can't break it. If you break it bad things happen to you and to the people you care about."

Krais listens to him stoically. Grint's words are a lesson that Kaylas should also learn. Enid and Mab cry but Grint doesn't want them to do anything. "I only ask that you don't tell mother what happened. Think of something else. Don't let her think she was responsible for this. And someone needs to tell Sallie."

Sunday, 28 First Snow 204

The day of the council meeting dawns and Tarn is at his vitriolic best. He presents his wife to the council with open defiance. He challenges any member of the council to voice criticism of himself or any member of his family. He says that his wife has returned to the land of the living, and it is a miracle "… and that should be enough for any of you!"

Kaylas and his companions are asked to speak before the council. Kaylas speaks of what happened. He tells the council everything that he apprehends took place (which isn't the whole truth, because Kaylas doesn't know the whole truth). But Kaylas says that witchcraft is just like any other magic. That it is a tool that can be used for good or ill. The Brewers used it for good. There were side effects, but these were dealt with. It is largely due to Kaylas's testimony that the Brewers are not censured by the council for their actions. And Krais apologises for thumping him.

But there are other matters discussed at the meeting. It is revealed that Lorik Craftwright had been poisoned and a valuable ring stolen from his house. The ring has not been recovered although Private Tam (the new darling of the Watch) traced the poison to the possession of Salmon Njedelstrom.

Salmon is summoned to the council chamber to explain his actions. He denies all knowledge of these events, and even Lorik stands by him and said his potential son-in-law would never do such a thing. In fact there was only one person in the village who would want to see him dead. Fingers are pointed at Illyan, but remarkably many members of the council leap to his defence. Sigmund Chiesa and Rasputin Fisher will not hear such scurrilous lies. Lorik is shouted down and Illyan thinks that things are finally going his way.

When the council meeting breaks the truth about witchcraft and the return of Salia Brewer are all over the town. Despite the council's desperate desire to sweep the thing under the carpet, there are some things that will not be forgotten and some things cannot be forgiven.

Krais is not surprised when, later in the day he is accosted by Monty Dyer. He is accused of taking Monty's only daughter and getting her to take her clothes off, cover herself in pig's blood and dance naked by the full moon in a ritual that had the effect of raising the Miller sisters into unlife, that possessed Kaleena and very nearly killed her. Krais cannot dispute the truth. Monty calls off the wedding between Kaleena and Krais. He never wants to see him again. Krais can see his point. But Kaleena's feelings for Krais are unchanged, so where do they go from here?

Vítday, 29 First Snow 204

In the morning, Grint is simply gone. Krais and his siblings search the house for him, but it seems obvious what happened. Krais makes up a story for the benefit of his parents. Grint has a reputation for disappearing for days on end. Tarn is mad with him, but expects him to come back eventually. Salia is more perceptive than her husband. But if she senses something suspicious in Grint's disappearance she doesn't voice it to her children. Krais and Mab hope to one day find their brother again. But for now he has paid the price for the deal he made with Phelasina.

Illyan returns to Darnavan's Forest to continue his druidic training under the supervision of the delightful and patient Oma. Illyan's training as a healer and a ranger continue to stand him in good stead, and Oma is amazed at quite how quick a student Illyan becomes.

Zephday, 31 First Snow 204

Mysterious lights are seen in the sea four miles from Bear's Reach. This is around the location of the sunken temple. The origin of the light are unknown, but the village remembers the dream they all shared, and any disturbance is taken very seriously indeed. However, after significant chatter and gossip, it is largely decided that nothing can be done except the pray. The angel, that has been the focus of a great deal of devotion for some time, is again turned to.

Caladay, 32 First Snow 204

A Njedelstrom fishing expedition returns to Bear's Reach with tales danger and disaster. They say they encounter a gigantic sea monster while fishing in the southern patch, about thirty miles to the south of Bear's Reach. The creature had a huge, bloated body and bulbous penetrating eyes. The description is reminiscent of the dragon Karakoravus (although the mariners do not mention the dragon's serpentine neck). This is yet another omen. And still the lights in the sea continue to shine.

Sharday, 33 First Snow 204

After just over a week of pleaded, Kaylas persuaded Sigmund to finally show him the scrolls containing spells of the next circle. These are spells beyond the power of Sigmund to cast, beyond the power of any Earth priests that has lived in Bear's Reach for the last five generations. One would have to go all the way back to Peregrine Chiesa (Peregrine the Pious) to find someone with that much magical power. Kaylas reckons it'll take him an afternoon. The scrolls are old and dusty, and haven't been looked at in a very, very long while.

Morday, 34 First Snow 204

A dusk a strange creature is seen flitting across the night sky by some members of the village (although no party members). It is described as a wing dragon, a giant man with wings instead of ears, a levitating ball with tentacles and a flying cow. Whatever it was, it is another omen of dark and dangerous times ahead.

Sunday, 35 First Snow 204

At the village council meeting, and in deference to rising hysteria in the town, the council votes to bring the angel from the Forester Lodge into Bear's Reach. In town it is better able to protect the town from whatever disaster is just around the corner. It will become the town's lucky charm. A ward against evil. Not everyone is convinced, but Illyan is more than happy to get the thing out of his house. The Craftwrights are charged with converting the gaol in to a shrine for the angel where it can be visited and various thanks can be given.

Vítday, 36 First Snow 204

Kaylas stuns his grandfather by successfully mastering spells of the third circle. Sigmund is faced with a quandary. Kaylas evidently has the potential for great power, and yet there is a chance he has been tainted by the forces of evil. What if his grandson uses his newfound powers for ill? Meanwhile, work begins on converting the gaol.

Terday, 37 First Snow 204

Lanna Chiesa alerts her brother that something strange is happening with the device Karakoravus smashed in his escape from the underground chamber. The egg-shaped device that used to imprison the dragon is radiating strange magic and periodically showers the area in sparks. Lanna knows how important it is that this device is repaired and says that she will labour as ceaselessly as her chores allow to fix it.

Sharday, 40 First Snow 204

Much to Illyan's horror and consternation, the date of Salmon and Emmaelia's wedding is announced. It will take place on the winter solstice - the 25th of Midwinter.

Morday, 41 First Snow 204

Illyan is distracted from his growing depression by helping the villagers move the angel to the town square. The gaol is finished in the morning and by lunchtime the angel has been lifted from the Forester lodge and carried to Bear's Reach on an enormous litter. In is then placed reverentially in the luxurious surroundings provided for it in its new shrine. By dusk people have already started to come to the shrine to tell the angel their woes and to recant their sins.

Sunday, 42 First Snow 204

Just before the council meeting, the patriarchs of the families say a few words before the shrine to the angel. They keep it up beat and point out that such a powerful celestial creature will undoubtedly keep away any evil beings from the dark recesses of time and space. The people of Bear's Reach seem to have become increasingly dependent on the angel. Certain members of the village do not consider this to be a good trend, and even Kaylas Chiesa is having a few difficulties equating it with the teachings of his church. And still the angel has spoken to no-one except Illyan.

Terday, 44 First Snow 204

The time has come. Oma considers that Illyan has learned as much as she can teach him (at least for the time being). She bids the healer farewell, and returns to Thenndin. She says that he now knows enough to be initiated into the druidic order. She expects that Tobias will take them both to the druidic moot on 25 Midwinter. The same day as Emmaelia's wedding… well, at least he won't have to watch it.

The End of The Mother's Boy
The Crucible of Youth Campaign continues in
The Quest for Galen Thorn

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