The long day had grown late, but not so late we sought out sleep. Song and Olvir both thought it right to send a prayer to the little servitor of Vanileth who’d been our eager companion over the last few weeks and devoted a little time to building an offering for him, Olvir constructing a kite which Song painted in Old Realm script in praise of Van-Oris. We used bamboo poles for lightness and also because they were hollow - Song found an alternative use for the spark resin she’d been experimenting with and filled the poles to ignite it in flight.
We went a little way from the circus tents and Olvir got some exercise running up and down to launch the kite in flight. As it ascended and the tail lit up the kite with sparks falling, Song offered up a prayer to Van-Oris and to Vanileth.
The tiny flames were extinguished long before they fell to earth but just as we were to head back to the circus we spotted the familiar sight of our little metallic bird friend. He was hopping about from one leg to the other and told us in anxious tones he had to be off soon. He’d been summoned back home – to Vanileth’s domain but evidently didn’t want to leave before checking on us.
Caelan had a few questions before he went, Brightwater still on his mind. Just how long would it take to build this airship? He was wondering if it would be a swifter route home. Oh, it would only take a few weeks, said Van-Oris, as ever remarkably optimistic (and a little overly so, we perceived). Would we need anything else to make it? Yes, some more silk, some blue jade, some steel wood… maybe a few other bits, and some moonsilver and orichalcum (for decoration, apparently). He reeled off the list much as one would ask a market trader for a selection of fruit, though we were less than confident of our ability to procure such things at short notice. Realising that, Caelan asked Van-Oris for a private word and the two moved away a little. Caelan asked if he knew a way of getting a message to someone and Van-Oris said he could… though it would be difficult and as such, Caelan would owe him a significant favour. The Solar agreed and gave the little bird the message, which he repeated to ensure it was memorized. With that, he dematerialized and returned, as summoned, to Vanileth’s domain.
Olvir and Teela headed off into the forest, neither tired yet, while Song retired to her caravan needing to rest. We met up at breakfast around the circus camp to discuss our next moves and having decided we wanted to get to Moonspire sooner rather than later approached Selene and agreed to precede the circus to Green Springs to arrange for the visit before heading on to Moonspire.
First though, we wanted to check out the trading caravan which had arrived that morning. An initial look around showed everything to be as we’d expect, though being suspicious (given recent events) Olvir asked around and found the person in charge was a woman called Iradi. Caelan soon grew frustrated with Olvir’s vacillating over talking to her or not though and marched him up to her to perform introductions.
A little taken aback, Olvir’s small talk mostly revolved around the caravan, the fez he’d just bought, and recent events in Hengethorn until he tired of such conversation and asked her in less than circumspect ways if she worshipped the Yozi. Unsurprisingly she said no – but didn’t seem to be lying to him. He then tried to steer the conversation towards less unpleasant topics, such as his relative size compared to his companions… which ended with the resolution he was bigger. This was hardly news to Iradi (or indeed anyone else) and she was left a little bemused as he said goodbye and left – still proudly wearing the fez.
He caught up with Caelan and shared the news Iradi wasn’t a Yozi worshipper. They discussed the Manse and decided Caelan ought to attune to it – so he headed off to do so. Song, back at her caravan and mixing potions, felt someone trying to attune and not knowing who, headed to the manse suspiciously, not sure of who she’d find and relieved to see it was Caelan. She talked to Cold Night while she was there, and was relieved to find he was doing remarkably well at adjusting to his new role. Meanwhile Olvir had been giving Thrunn the blacksmith’s son a few suggestions on finding a better test of strength than hanging by the neck for three days.
We met up again later in the day when Olvir and Caelan found Song still working on potions and asked if she wanted to come hunting. Glad of the break and keen to learn some hunting tips from Caelan we headed out together where the Solar set to work teaching his companions how he hunted and saw how both proved to be able students.
Realising we were still in the domain of the manse we thought we’d see how far out it went and how the powers of the hearthstone worked, testing it out on some of the nearby trees. With a moment of effort Song had one animated, its roots withdrew from the ground and it moved independently, it obeyed her commands and moved at relatively speedy pace through the forest. We spent a while travelling by tree and seeing how it would respond to commands, and finding whoever held the Hearthstone controlled the trees.
The sun was setting as Song sent the last tree back home and we got back to hunting, Caelan setting Song and Olvir the goal of following the trail a wild dog pack. We tracked them to the edge of a clearing and stealthily crept closer, each Lunar approaching from opposite sides. Song’s size and stealth served her well – the dogs spotted Olvir and growled but had no chance to do anything further as a sudden shadow dwarfed us as from above, a strix silently swept down with claws outstretched, missing a dog by inches. Song and Olvir shared a look and a moment of unspoken understanding passed between them. Olvir launched himself into the air after the great bird and the Hunt was on, the strix beating its great wings and Olvir in owl form flying frantically to keep up. Thankfully the strix wasn’t flying fast and after chasing after it for an hour or more he moved in to tangle with it - but in his much smaller form the larger creature gained the advantage. The aerial tussle continued for some time before he managed to wrestle it the ground where he could shift to a heavier form and overcome it to take its heart.
Song and Caelan, knowing he’d be a while at the hunt, rode on exploring to find the furthest reach of the manse and discovering it was some two miles out from the centre. As they paused for a moment both had the unerring feeling that someone else was trying to attune to the manse and fearing the worst, pushed aside the request and turned horses around and rode back. Song knew she could get back faster in flight and left her horse in the care of a tree – with instructions to look after it and make sure no-one caused it harm. She spotted a strix flying with speed towards Hengethorn and deduced Olvir’s hunt had not only been successful but he’d had the same thoughts she had. Landing, both shifted forms – he to a human to ask the guard what was going on and she to the form of a rat to track by scent whoever had been there, since there was no-one in the manse circle when they arrived. She picked up the scent easily, it was a familiar one and led to the nearby house – the priest’s house, now belonging to Cold Night. The guard affirmed as much to Olvir – Cold Night had been sitting in the circle till recently.
Relieved that we weren’t facing another Yozi-worshipping incursion and realising our response may have impeded the fledgling priest’s efforts Song found somewhere secluded again to change form and went to speak to him. He’d been performing a ritual to attune to the manse – it was a rite, she discovered, to gain attunement despite the user not having awakened Essence. She apologised for the fact the ritual hadn’t worked and explained how her own attunement to the place had given her warning and not knowing, she’d prevented his attunement. He wasn’t pleased that his night’s efforts had been in vain but nodded: he understood why. Now he knew, however, he wanted her to release her attunement and return the hearthstone to him but Song wasn’t quite so willing. She and the others hadn’t fought a pitched battle against demons and their servants only to give up control over the manse they sought to a young man without the power to defend it. He spoke well in support of the village and his rightful claim to the manse: but she reminded him of the fate of the priest Brem and ensured he was sufficiently afeared of the same thing happening to him to give him pause for thought. Leaving him to think on things she left to meet up with Olvir and Caelan. The latter had returned to the forest to retrieve Song’s horse but had run into a rather large arboreal problem as the horse’s tree bodyguard had followed him back, doing no-one any harm but steadfastly obeying its commands. Song had to go to the tree to tell it to return to its rooting ground before it shambled back into the forest.
The next morning dawned bright and frosty and we were keen to be leaving soon. Caelan sought out Jeret who was leaving too – heading back the way he’d come. He declined Caelan’s offer to travel with us but said if we needed his help, we all had common goals and he’d assist if he could. We kept the coin he’d given us, just in case.
Olvir got on with some heavy work – which he made relatively light work of all things considered – helping Ylang pack up and shift some of the heavier carts into place for the circus to move out the following day. Song had returned to see Cold Night and persuade him it was for the best if she and the others retained their attunement for the safety of all concerned. He argued the manse belonged to the town and wasn’t hers to take: which she understood but in face of the danger argued ownership was a lesser issue than the safety of the people of Hengethorn. There was also the issue of the White Lady and what had been done to her. Song told him quietly what we’d discovered and what she suspected had happened to the town’s god, and encouraged him to lead the people in prayer to strengthen Firefall for her eventual return and soothe their fears when she didn’t walk the streets.
She suggested he perform the ritual to attune to the manse again that night – we’d know it was him and permit it. Reluctantly, he acceded to her arguments. He didn’t mention the hearthstone again – and nor did she, but she left with a promise to return within the year: if not before. She had one more thing she wanted to do before leaving and headed out into the forest to find a wasp. She’d seen the very beginnings of a nest when out hunting the day before and was surprised to see one being built so early. But then, a lot of things around the manse were thriving due to its beneficial effects. Calling on the gift of Luna to speak with animals she asked the little wasp queen to travel with her, promising food in return for her colony’s moving with the circus and with the wasp’s assent moved the fragile paper husk to hang from the wagon. Travelling at the back of the circus train it should cause no-one any harm – there would be no more than one wasp for a month or more yet anyway. She warned the circus workers to be careful of it and provided the queen with food and supplies for her to build the nest – cautioning her against disturbing the circus folk.
We gave farewells to Jeret and bantered briefly – he thought we were a little ambitious as Caelan spoke of his plans to stop the Dragon Blooded’s persecution of Exalted and Olvir’s dreams of ridding Creation of every Blood Ape... however, he didn’t say we couldn’t do it. Just that we might want to entertain ourselves with more modest aspirations for now. Ah well – time to find that airship.