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Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
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<blockquote data-quote="CPaladin" data-source="post: 8830940" data-attributes="member: 7030144"><p>[Session 137, cont'd]</p><p>Lord Silverleaves says that it was far beyond Alvinus’s normal psionic abilities—perhaps boosted by demonic energy. It should not have been within the capabilities of a Twilight Elf. It will burn him out—when you routinely use energy beyond the capability of a given mind, it damages them. But it might take decades for that to happen. A Noldar could handle that power, but a Twilight Elf could not.</p><p></p><p>“I know that elves who are not born as Eldar can become Eldar—is the same true for Twilight Elves and the Noldar?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s extremely rare, even among us, and even rarer among our cousins. They will almost never have the support of the existing structure, as it offends them. But it is possible—it would take a great Redactor, but then, Lord Raf is a Redactor.”</p><p></p><p>The Council speculates that Lord Raf may be willing to do this because he’s now fully renegade, and not mobile either, and thus may want more Noldar followers.</p><p></p><p>“He could not be a full Noldar—I would not have survived then.”</p><p></p><p>“But a half-Noldar, perhaps?”</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps. And that is the stage he would pass through. It’s possible.”</p><p></p><p>The group also speculates that the fact that Glordiadelian dead can be turned into undead might suggest that the funerary rites were performed incorrectly—perhaps due to corruptions among the seminaries.</p><p></p><p>They call for the Archbishop, planning on tracing where those parish priests were trained, who else was trained there at a similar time, and so forth, so they can check whether the training was adequate. They also pass on information about this and the attack on the house of the priest of Death to the Mother of Death.</p><p></p><p>The Archbishop attends upon them quickly, with a variety of people with many scrolls.</p><p></p><p>Alistair describes the situation to him and their concern.</p><p></p><p>“That’s interesting. I have heard from the Ecumenical Council that this new Mother of Death has a great deal of clean-up to do. Her predecessor did not seem to be corrupt, just completely and utterly incompetent. Our priests have mostly been seminarians. But in areas where there are circuit priests, or elderly priests, funerals are often carried out by deacons. In theory, the graves are later properly sanctified by a priest. Out in those areas… so many funerals have been handled by deacons. And I have no method of verifying that those graves have been properly blessed.”</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps they could be sent an episcopal letter emphasizing the importance of that duty and that a higher emphasis is currently being placed on that?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, I think that might be wise.”</p><p></p><p>“Would I be correct that the circuit priests would also be consecrating Holy Feast and leaving it in the tabernacle for distribution by the deacons?”</p><p></p><p>“Of course, standard practice.”</p><p></p><p>“Since we know that they have been stealing some Holy Feast, they may be stealing more in these villages.”</p><p></p><p>The Archbishop calls in an abbot, and asks him about his research about what heretics could do with the Hosts.</p><p></p><p>“If it were stolen, and then abominated, it could be used in principle to undo any consecration.”</p><p></p><p>“What about bolstering undead against turning?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, it could be made almost impossible to turn undead.”</p><p></p><p>“And what if it were used to deconsecrate a Church?”</p><p></p><p>“Than any rituals performed on the consecrated ground would have been ineffective—the Enlightening of children, the funerals of the dead, the like.”</p><p></p><p>They agree to have a set of priests work with the Grandmaster Farsensor to verify the holiness of all the churches in the archdiocese. Also, the archdeacons are called upon to verify the ordinations of the deacons—the priests are ordained by bishops in cathedrals, and the bishops would almost certainly notice if there was a flaw.</p><p></p><p>They warn the Mother Superior of the Order of the Silvery Veil through a sending that the undead may be highly resistant to turning because of abominated Hosts and that they should be careful to secure the Hosts as they withdraw.</p><p></p><p>A group of priests works with the Grandmaster Farsensor in building a map of all the churches and checking them all. As they cast, blotches start appearing on the map. After they are all done, they file out. “Two areas of concern. The major one is the northwest. Also, this thing off the southeast trade road—two villages. They didn’t exactly sense it as unholy, but I didn’t know how else to mark it. They sensed it as blank.”</p><p></p><p>“Shielded?”</p><p></p><p>“Not by psionics, or magic—I would recognize it. But you might be right, as the other blank area is the area around the tor. But that’s your undead army, north of the border about two days’ march, and most of the churches in the area have been desecrated. Not that one, though.”</p><p></p><p>“Can you tell why that one isn’t?”</p><p></p><p>He reaches out. “Ah. It has a dedicated priest assigned there. He is not able bodied, so he stays in the church at all times.”</p><p></p><p>Alistair contacts Princess Curinirim’s duty psion and tells her about the undead army, in the hope that they will attack the army after attempting to deal with the renegade Noldar voller.</p><p></p><p>Kit asks her people about whether there have been any efforts to steal Host that they were aware of. She is told not recently, but a while ago in Tusslefields and some of the other major cities (Kesselford) (though not Canberry City proper) there were people soliciting it. None of her people in the Guild took the job, but in a large city, hard to know. The person asking had credentials from the Guild of Slayers, from Enclaves. There’s no local Guild of Slayers, but they recognize their credentials locally. The warning scared anyone off—they were told that if anyone tried to cheat them, they would be hunted down and bled to death over a pit of vipers. This was about two and a half months ago. People didn’t take the job though—they found him off, even for a Slayer, and the job was strange. He was offering gold coins.</p><p></p><p>Kit asks to have a (via a blind) meeting with someone who spoke with the Slayer.</p><p></p><p>Kit also reaches out to people in Enclaves. She has a real fast fan conversation with her person in Enclaves.</p><p></p><p>“Oh, that would be Devon, Lord of the Pit. Didn’t always have a lot of money, but someone gave him a big contract recently. Everyone knows who he is, since he’s done some high profile jobs—not what he looks like, but who he is. He’s good at changing his face—remarkably good at it.”</p><p></p><p>“Not quite human talent?”</p><p></p><p>“Don’t know. Never seen him—or if I did, don’t know it!”</p><p></p><p>Separately, they send a warning to Archbishop Humbold of Enclaves about the risks that people may try to steal consecrated Hosts.</p><p></p><p>Alistair contacts the Tor Lord. He sheepishly confirms that there are some changelings there—some of the Tor Lord’s children, and the wards are there to protect them.</p><p></p><p>27 Tar</p><p>Kit goes into labor and has an easy labor over the course of a couple hours.</p><p></p><p>After the baby is born, Alistair gives Kit several gifts. He first confers upon her the title of Countess of Lyneham, with the personal style of Your Grace, ranking with but after the Duchesses of the Archduchy of Canberry, and with their children ranking with but after the children of the Dukes and Duchesses of the Archduchy of Canberry of equivalent birth order. The son is named Lord James Duncan Fitzalistair-Lyneham (called Jamie, at least in his childhood).</p><p></p><p>Alistair also gives a more significant gift: he brings out a lap harp and plays a love song that he wrote for her, that describes his love and admiration for her in all sorts of different ways, including her beauty, her courage, her ingenuity, her sexiness; as he plays, illusions form through his bardic magic and also there are bursts of empathic psionic emotion that can only be perceived by those with psionics, expressing the love, lust, and admiration as psionic feelings. The psionic bardic music is not sufficient to alter emotions, but uses them as another part of the experience, solely for people like Kit who can perceive them. By the end of the song, Kit is crying. Alistair kisses her tenderly and holds her and the baby as they snuggle and slide into an exhausted sleep.</p><p>[End Session 137]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CPaladin, post: 8830940, member: 7030144"] [Session 137, cont'd] Lord Silverleaves says that it was far beyond Alvinus’s normal psionic abilities—perhaps boosted by demonic energy. It should not have been within the capabilities of a Twilight Elf. It will burn him out—when you routinely use energy beyond the capability of a given mind, it damages them. But it might take decades for that to happen. A Noldar could handle that power, but a Twilight Elf could not. “I know that elves who are not born as Eldar can become Eldar—is the same true for Twilight Elves and the Noldar?” “It’s extremely rare, even among us, and even rarer among our cousins. They will almost never have the support of the existing structure, as it offends them. But it is possible—it would take a great Redactor, but then, Lord Raf is a Redactor.” The Council speculates that Lord Raf may be willing to do this because he’s now fully renegade, and not mobile either, and thus may want more Noldar followers. “He could not be a full Noldar—I would not have survived then.” “But a half-Noldar, perhaps?” “Perhaps. And that is the stage he would pass through. It’s possible.” The group also speculates that the fact that Glordiadelian dead can be turned into undead might suggest that the funerary rites were performed incorrectly—perhaps due to corruptions among the seminaries. They call for the Archbishop, planning on tracing where those parish priests were trained, who else was trained there at a similar time, and so forth, so they can check whether the training was adequate. They also pass on information about this and the attack on the house of the priest of Death to the Mother of Death. The Archbishop attends upon them quickly, with a variety of people with many scrolls. Alistair describes the situation to him and their concern. “That’s interesting. I have heard from the Ecumenical Council that this new Mother of Death has a great deal of clean-up to do. Her predecessor did not seem to be corrupt, just completely and utterly incompetent. Our priests have mostly been seminarians. But in areas where there are circuit priests, or elderly priests, funerals are often carried out by deacons. In theory, the graves are later properly sanctified by a priest. Out in those areas… so many funerals have been handled by deacons. And I have no method of verifying that those graves have been properly blessed.” “Perhaps they could be sent an episcopal letter emphasizing the importance of that duty and that a higher emphasis is currently being placed on that?” “Yes, I think that might be wise.” “Would I be correct that the circuit priests would also be consecrating Holy Feast and leaving it in the tabernacle for distribution by the deacons?” “Of course, standard practice.” “Since we know that they have been stealing some Holy Feast, they may be stealing more in these villages.” The Archbishop calls in an abbot, and asks him about his research about what heretics could do with the Hosts. “If it were stolen, and then abominated, it could be used in principle to undo any consecration.” “What about bolstering undead against turning?” “Yes, it could be made almost impossible to turn undead.” “And what if it were used to deconsecrate a Church?” “Than any rituals performed on the consecrated ground would have been ineffective—the Enlightening of children, the funerals of the dead, the like.” They agree to have a set of priests work with the Grandmaster Farsensor to verify the holiness of all the churches in the archdiocese. Also, the archdeacons are called upon to verify the ordinations of the deacons—the priests are ordained by bishops in cathedrals, and the bishops would almost certainly notice if there was a flaw. They warn the Mother Superior of the Order of the Silvery Veil through a sending that the undead may be highly resistant to turning because of abominated Hosts and that they should be careful to secure the Hosts as they withdraw. A group of priests works with the Grandmaster Farsensor in building a map of all the churches and checking them all. As they cast, blotches start appearing on the map. After they are all done, they file out. “Two areas of concern. The major one is the northwest. Also, this thing off the southeast trade road—two villages. They didn’t exactly sense it as unholy, but I didn’t know how else to mark it. They sensed it as blank.” “Shielded?” “Not by psionics, or magic—I would recognize it. But you might be right, as the other blank area is the area around the tor. But that’s your undead army, north of the border about two days’ march, and most of the churches in the area have been desecrated. Not that one, though.” “Can you tell why that one isn’t?” He reaches out. “Ah. It has a dedicated priest assigned there. He is not able bodied, so he stays in the church at all times.” Alistair contacts Princess Curinirim’s duty psion and tells her about the undead army, in the hope that they will attack the army after attempting to deal with the renegade Noldar voller. Kit asks her people about whether there have been any efforts to steal Host that they were aware of. She is told not recently, but a while ago in Tusslefields and some of the other major cities (Kesselford) (though not Canberry City proper) there were people soliciting it. None of her people in the Guild took the job, but in a large city, hard to know. The person asking had credentials from the Guild of Slayers, from Enclaves. There’s no local Guild of Slayers, but they recognize their credentials locally. The warning scared anyone off—they were told that if anyone tried to cheat them, they would be hunted down and bled to death over a pit of vipers. This was about two and a half months ago. People didn’t take the job though—they found him off, even for a Slayer, and the job was strange. He was offering gold coins. Kit asks to have a (via a blind) meeting with someone who spoke with the Slayer. Kit also reaches out to people in Enclaves. She has a real fast fan conversation with her person in Enclaves. “Oh, that would be Devon, Lord of the Pit. Didn’t always have a lot of money, but someone gave him a big contract recently. Everyone knows who he is, since he’s done some high profile jobs—not what he looks like, but who he is. He’s good at changing his face—remarkably good at it.” “Not quite human talent?” “Don’t know. Never seen him—or if I did, don’t know it!” Separately, they send a warning to Archbishop Humbold of Enclaves about the risks that people may try to steal consecrated Hosts. Alistair contacts the Tor Lord. He sheepishly confirms that there are some changelings there—some of the Tor Lord’s children, and the wards are there to protect them. 27 Tar Kit goes into labor and has an easy labor over the course of a couple hours. After the baby is born, Alistair gives Kit several gifts. He first confers upon her the title of Countess of Lyneham, with the personal style of Your Grace, ranking with but after the Duchesses of the Archduchy of Canberry, and with their children ranking with but after the children of the Dukes and Duchesses of the Archduchy of Canberry of equivalent birth order. The son is named Lord James Duncan Fitzalistair-Lyneham (called Jamie, at least in his childhood). Alistair also gives a more significant gift: he brings out a lap harp and plays a love song that he wrote for her, that describes his love and admiration for her in all sorts of different ways, including her beauty, her courage, her ingenuity, her sexiness; as he plays, illusions form through his bardic magic and also there are bursts of empathic psionic emotion that can only be perceived by those with psionics, expressing the love, lust, and admiration as psionic feelings. The psionic bardic music is not sufficient to alter emotions, but uses them as another part of the experience, solely for people like Kit who can perceive them. By the end of the song, Kit is crying. Alistair kisses her tenderly and holds her and the baby as they snuggle and slide into an exhausted sleep. [End Session 137] [/QUOTE]
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Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
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