ACT II

 

The first act over, the Christ-child spirit departs. Ernst is in costume and waiting in the wings with Lorant. Perun stands with Salih, Matthieu is in the audience. Matthieu sees Maier looking at the crowd and stage with Spirit Sight.

 

With the crisis having abated and Ernst having said to him that he believes this is his test, Matthieu decides to monitor the situation and allow Ernst to work on this. Matthieu examines the structure of the opera, ponders how time will be of the essence in dealing with the effects being unleashed in the “blanks” in the opera.

 

Onstage, Pythagoras is wandering the world to gather wisdom from the sages of the world. He wanders to Egypt first. As the Egyptian priest of Isis goes on stage to rebuff Pythagoras, Lorant re-ups his Sight and speaks to Ernst.

 

Lorant: “In all honesty, what would you be able to do if something happens. I understand you want to be here because it’s your trial…”

 

Ernst: “This has nothing to do with my trial. Powered or not, I have had the most interaction with Christian spirits. If they are here to observe, perhaps my presence will give them pause. If they are here to interfere, perhaps I can convince them to leave off.”

 

L: “I don’t believe they are here to just observe. Do what you can. Keep this thing going forward. This is important to all of us.”

 

Perun and Salih.

 

P: “If possible, we should try to go deeper with Time. We know they were summoned but I want to know where they came from. The tricky bit is that I’m the one with the knowledge and without Mind, I can’t tell you the aura I saw.”

 

Salih proposes using a Prime/Time/Space effect to allow him to see the aura in Perun’s past. Perun explains the substance of the effect’s aura to give Salih a better chance to see back in Time. Salih thinks it would be better to do this from within the Sanctum in the Powder Tower so that he can use runes and Words of Power.

 

Matthieu watches the opera progress. The magic lantern projects emblems onto the stage, here during the Egyptian portion they are taken from “hieroglyphics” and other supposedly Egyptian sources. Matthieu notices the crowd having a slightly awkward reaction, especially among the non-occult tuned nobles. Egypt speaks of the Turk, and this makes the militaristic nobles nervous. And this reaction in and of itself is conspicuous.

 

Ernst awaits his cue. Lorant establishes a Telepathic link between himself and Ernst. Lorant activates Mind of the Inscrutable Hydra so that he can give equal attention to speaking/seeing through Ernst.

 

Salih speaks the Prime/Time/Space effect. It is barely effective, but yes, effective. Salih sees the Mother of Christ, Maryam, Maria, Mary. She is not either nurturing the child or lamenting his crucifixion. She is chained to the doors of an odd-looking Christian Church with heavy iron chains. The multiple towers of the church are topped with pyramids. Salih feels he didn’t get to see the literal location but was instead sent down a cul-de-sac by a Seer cloaking effect. Perun says the description of the place rings a bell but he can’t quite figure it out. Salih decides to redouble his efforts to try to penetrate the cloak.

 

Matthieu notes the crowd’s reaction and sees Pythagoras leave Egypt and go to the Levant. Matthieu memorizes the nobles and makes a note to help instruct them politically in the aftermath of the opera. In the opera, the projections become Hebrew and a group of Jerusalem rabbis, including Ernst, come onto the stage to instruct Pythagoras. And Ernst can see, with his half-effective vision thanks to Matthieu, a huge spirit figure, astride the stage. The figure has the bearing and face of Emperor Rudolf but with the bearing and clothing of a Roman Emperor. Ernst feels like this is a symbol or emblem or imprese come to life. Lorant, of course, sees this through Ernst’s eyes, and feels like he’s seen this in a book or image at court before. Ernst notes he has not reacted to anyone and is facing the audience.

 

Ernst: “Good day, my Emperor, how may I serve you,” in Hebrew, thanks to Lorant’s translation. The giant emperor turns towards the chorus, bends down, and speaks to Ernst in the language of spirits, although it is garbled. “You may serve me, as they serve me, by killing every Moslem you can find.”

 

Salih, back in the Powder Tower, comes back from his reverie, and tries a different tack. He rushes over to a shelf full of maps of Prague, unrolls one, and grabs some coffee beans from his pocket. He tosses them over the map while making a Fate/Space effect. The map location is clear: the Church of the Virgin Mary-under-chain. The vision granted by Space/scrying lets him see the church’s outer walls. It has been contested a lot by different orders of knights, Perun says: Templars, etc. And so the image of the Maltese cross on the church in Salih’s vision makes sense. And Perun realizes this solidifies the theory that the Seers are involved; they thrive on sectarian strive, and the iconography is pure Seer: those pyramids are ziggurats to the Exarchs.

 

“We should go there, now, while the trail is still hot,” Perun says. “Can you teleport us there?”

 

As he scries, Salih sees the outer walls and sees it is safe to teleport; any shield or cloak is on the inside of the church walls. Perun agrees to take a shortcut through the spirit world because Salih cannot instantly teleport himself and Perun. Salih moves his scrying window to the towers and sees no one/nothing of note on first glance. Salih decides to go first in order to scout the area and look into the courtyard.

 

Matthieu can see the spell effect he laid on Ernst flaring on and off as he communicates to the spirit, but Matthieu cannot see the spirit as of yet. Matthieu can tell Ernst is not speaking the lines given to him but he is speaking Hebrew. He is directing his speech up to a large/aerial spirit. Maier is shocked, and Matthieu can see this. Lorant adds Matthieu to his Telepathy. 

 

Lorant tells Ernst to ask the Emperor, “Why?” in Arabic. He does, and the Emperor responds, “This is what you must do, this is what all of you must do. A vassal does not ask that sort of question of his lord and master.” In Spanish: “I have claimed far too many Muslims already. It is done.” 

 

“You dare? YOU dare?” The spirit responds.

 

Maier glances meaningfully at Lorant, Lorant signals him to do whatever he needs to do.

 

“I can’t bother with you anymore,” the spirit says. “It’s them I need to worry about.” He walks into the crowd and his body begins to fall apart into ectoplasmic spirit stuff and ooze into the crowd.

 

Salih arrives at the church and casts two spells. Exceptional Luck and a Ward under a Time contingency. After this, Salih is almost out of Mana. The Exceptional Luck is poor in Potency; the Ward is up. Salih makes his way to the window overlooking the interior courtyard; he pokes his head out. Salih sees the church about 80 feet away. Between the tower and the church, a great gust of wind blows up from the courtyard, throws Salih against the lintel on the opposite side. 

 

Back to Matthieu. He activates Ectoplasmic Shaping. The Paradox in this sudden Vulgar effect surges through Matthieu’s body, racking it with pain as the ectoplasm tugs at his aura, trying to rip it free. However, the spell effect is also devastatingly powerful, as he gets a deeper hook into the spirit. It was not dispersing its Corpus, it was using a Numina. The Numen was one to affect minds, and spread suspicion on anyone living in the East: the enemies of the state are the Turks, the Jews, even the Transylvanians? Matthieu wishes to shape it, saying, “This is one of Typotius’s emblems, I want to shape it but I don’t know how,” to Ernst and Lorant. Matthieu knew this emblem from the book he replaced for the Guardians. 

 

Matthieu also finds there is also one mind which the spirit did not try to influence: the court artist Hans von Aachen.

 

Lorant considers the situation: this is Rudolf as war leader. Lorant suggests in the mindlink to changing it to something else from the emblem book that has to do with truth or one of our beliefs. Lorant also wishes to analyze it with Slayer. 

 

Ernst feels like when he said he would no longer kill Muslims, he feels like he hurt it.

 

Matthieu senses that the spirit has missed its chance to sow discord among the audience. Matthieu is trying to determine how to handle it. He resculpts the spirit into _______. Matthieu looks at von Aachen. He paints all the Emperor’s “porn.” When it is shaped, Matthieu can see that von Aachen can see what is happening somehow.

 

Salih recovers from his near-defenestration. He feels it’s likely a spirit.

 

There is the faintest rumbling of thunder in the distance. Both those at the Castle and Salih sense a storm coming. Salih is low on Mana and cannot affect spirits. He thinks about the options, realizes he is in a Seer Sanctum, and decided to try to find the upper part of the “ziggurat.” He goes to the top level, a tiny room, and an altar. The crude altar is made out of bits and pieces of iconography of all the religious orders and knightly orders that have owned this building. Nailed to the altar with an iron nail is a piece of parchment with the legend, in German, “FOR MY FATHER.”

 

Back at the castle. The Hebrews have left the stage in favor of the Phoenicians and Syrians; Ernst comes backstage and takes off his costume to meet with Lorant. They both sigh. Matthieu says over the mindlink he needs Lorant to look at van Aachen’s aura. 

 

Ernst wishes to go out with the actors to be present onstage with Act 3. Lorant considers which role to give him.

 

Lorant looks at van Aachen. He’s not a supernatural. He’s not being possessed. He may have a sixth sense, an Unseen Sense, perhaps. He’s sensitive to what’s going on at the play. Deep in his aura, there is a mark on him, a smudge. Someone’s… fingerprints? Or he’s touched something he shouldn’t have. Lorant is concerned for Act 3 and for the storm approaching. 

 

Salih is surprised at the crudeness of the altar, the makeshiftness of it. He decides to take action. He goes down the stairs to the bottom floor of the tower and makes a dash for the church across the courtyard. Pushing inside the church, Salih enters and sees there are three Catholic priests saying a Mass to no one. Salih uses his Exceptional Luck to make it look like the wind blew open the door. He succeeds in sneaking in and not alerting the priests.

 

Ernst and Lorant work together over mindlink: what has been the common thread on these spirits? In the first act, a Christ-child meant to exploit differences between Protestants and Catholics, in the second act, an Emperor meant to exploit differences between Christians and Muslims. The play was MEANT to display to the learners an effort to justify similarities between ancient myths and Christianity.

 

There should have been a Christ spirit during the wandering years. Ernst says, “Someone is either filling in the gaps, or they look at Rudolf as a Christ figure.” And just as they are considering this, a Christ-figure walks across the stage, sculpting birds from mud, and breathing life into them.

 

The Christ-figure looks up at Ernst. He’s speaking in Arabic, seemingly, and smiles at Ernst. “Thank you for dispatching that monster,” speaking of Rudolf. “My life is yours,” Ernst says in reply.

 

Issa: “You must know, someone does not want this story told. Every variation of it is against what they stand for.”

 

E: “That is why we are telling it.”

 

Issa: “This story is my story, it is his story,” he gestures to the actor playing Pythagoras, “it is the story of the thrysus god, it is the story of the hanged god. The last part of the story, the sotyr of my sacrifice, of his sacrifice, of our sacrifice, they will try to make people feel guilty about it, to feel complicit, to feel like they put the nails into the hands, they burned him, they chased him into the field. The form this will come in is probably some punishment from a vengeful sky god.”

 

Salih uses Prime sight as he walks through the church. The resonance here is that of a vengeful sky god. Salih wonders if the Seers have done this.

 

Perun is late.

 

Issa: “This story must be told. And this first time, it must be told without any distractions. Because they wish it to be destructive.”

 

Ernst rushes to Lorant. “You must make sure this performance is not interrupted.” Ernst is adamant, and Lorant understands, despite Ernst’s urgency, Lorant is relaxed. 

 

Matthieu says, “Should we patch the holes in the pattern then, the ones we saw during the rehearsal, to ensure no magic is channeled?” 

 

Lorant says to the actor playing Pythagoras, “We need someone older. He’s playing Pythagoras.” Lorant points to Ernst. Lorant uses Telepathy to make sure he knows his lines.

 

ACT III

 

As the third act starts, Pythagoras is solo. He is then gradually joined by his central cultists. As the actors assemble on stage, Lorant calls yet another audible: he will be playing Zalmoxis.

 

Pythagoras/Ernst is singing perfectly, and his basis provides the other singer-actors with a great guidance.

 

Ernst looks out on the audience. In the seat that Ernst once occupied in the audience, is the human Veles. 

 

Matthieu considers going into Twilight to be more effective. He leaves his seat and goes to a shadowy corner to enter Twilight.

 

Zalmoxis enters. They sing point and counterpoint: “Govern your tongue before all other things, following the gods.” “Declining from the public ways, walk in unfrequented paths.”

 

At the church, Salih explores, finds nothing inside, and goes back out to the courtyard. No sign of Perun, still. Salih decides to use the Perfect Moment to search the courtyard and find what he needs to do. Salih walks to a suspicious-looking stain on the courtyard ground, near the gate. He looks down and sees two different substances: blood and a dark, almost black substance. 

 

The entire Tetractys cult is now on stage. Matthieu, in Twilight, sees the storm above him is not natural, it is magical, but it is not created with Forces, it is created with Spirit. 

 

Onstage, the people of Croton are uniting against Pythagoras. The mob sets fire to the homes of Pythagoreans across the city. Milo struggles mightily to save his family. Pythagoras disappears from his temple. Damo gathers her father's scrolls and sails away from Croton. Alcmaeon slinks away. Only the freed slave Zalmoxis remains alone in the temple. 

 

Lorant sings. Zalmoxis performs a mighty ritual to summon vengeance and retribution from the sky. He calls out:

 

"Perkūnų yra daug! There are many thunders! Whether Jupiter, Perkunas, Zibelthiurdos, Zeus, Perun, Thor, Hadad, or Yahweh! The storm-winds, the thunder from colliding clouds, from whence comes the lightning! Hear my plea! Preserve my master and his knowledge! Smite his enemies, and I shall offer myself willingly..."

 

In the midst of all this, Ernst/Pythagoras’s cue has been to go under the stage to await the deus ex machina. And Veles peeks under to look at Ernst. “I know you!” Veles says.

 

E: “Meet me after the play.”

 

V: “You need to watch out! He’s coming!”

 

E: “Who’s coming?”

 

Salih deduces that this is the aftermath of a ritual. Salih quickly gathers a sample of the substances, including the blood and the black material, zips up to both towers to defile the altars, taking some parts to use for magic later, and then teleport back to the castle. 

 

Matthieu in Twilight believes this storm is the work of Perun. He believes Perun is trying to ruin the play. He prepares to Quell the Spark.

 

Salih also prepares a spell effect for Perun: Occlude Destiny. 

 

Veles and Ernst:

 

V: “I’m not speaking these words!” He says, surprised. “I feel like something very bad is going to come from the sky.”

 

E: “Hide here. I will find you after the show.”

 

As all these effects are going to launch, the orchestra appears from behind the curtain, launching into the coda. 

 

Orchestra begins playing a bombastic, driving fortissimo possibile, while the Chorus of the Elderly sings: "Our city burns! The temple is shattered! Thus is the end of all who seek out those things which man was not meant to know!"

 

Occlude Destiny goes off. Salih’s connection to Perun tells him that he has managed to do it, but he now also knows that the Seers have managed to use that destiny for themselves.

 

Two things happen as Matthieu Quells the Spark. The clouds immediately clear, and whatever entity from the deeper parts of the spirit world has been flung backwards. The being that was coming from the deep part of the spirit world was a spirit who was once a Mage.

 

The rest of the play goes off without a hitch. Salih teleports back to the castle. Perun never shows up.

 

Veles ceases speaking in riddles and becomes even more profoundly simple-minded.

 

The Emperor rises from his seat in his tower and makes thunderous applause, as does the rest of the crowd. The crowd’s being manipulated is over; they receive the message of the play perfectly. The Seers’ plot is rebuked.

 

Lorant apologizes to his actors; Ernst gets back into his regular clothes quickly to find Veles. He’s gone. He begins canvassing the witnesses. 

 

Salih: no sign of Perun in the Powder Tower. Salih walks out, makes his way to the stage. Matthieu returns from Twilight. The cabal rejoins together without Ernst, who has left for his office after not getting information from the witnesses.

 

Maier: “I need to gather together what happened.” 

 

Salih, roughly, “You’re work’s not done. We need to find out what happened to Perun. He has not shown up for a rendezvous at the Church of the Virgin under chain. The Seers are involved!”

 

Matthieu speaks. “The storm was being generated by Perun’s magic aura with Spirit not Forces, and I flung it back into the deep spirit world. It wasn’t a Mage, but…”

 

Salih sighs with realization. “The Seers have been thwarted for now.”

 

“Did they somehow turn Perun?” Lorant asks.

 

“Yes.” Salih says.

 

Maier goes into a panic. Matthieu glares, asks if he needs to be sedated. Salih says he wants to go to Libuse.

 

Salih asks to remove the cabal from Maier, and tries to play down what he and Lorant said about Perun, but Maier calmly asks what we need to do about Perun. 

 

Matthieu asks where’s Ernst. Lorant says he ran off. Matthieu asks why. Lorant says as usual he gave no explanation. “He said he had something important to do. We were doing very well for a while, he was helping us. And now, disappeared.”

 

Maier asks what he can do to help? Matthieu knows that it’s important that Maier not spread any rumors to any other cabals or Orders about Perun’s disappearance. Matthieu sows his speech with symbols of import, especially pertinent to the Guardians, to make sure he understands the political importance of not spreading rumors.

 

Ernst comes into his office to see Ludovic, and tells him to take down a description of the human Veles. It’s a perfect description. “What am I doing with this,” Ludovic asks.

 

“We need to find this man.”

 

“I’ll put the castle guard on it.”

 

“This is not a castle guard affair, I’d prefer not to get them involved, he has a personal importance for me.”

 

“I’ll make more subtle inquiries.”

 

“Listen, Brother,” Lorant says to Maier, “these are troubling times,” on the heels of Matthieu’s statement. “We need to not act in haste.” Maier seems to understand. 

 

“Please let us know what I can do to help,” Maier says, specifically to Salih.

 

Salih asks for the ability to speak with spirits. He has the ability for a day. A Fate/Space effect to teleport directly to Libuse.

 

Matthieu asks where he’s going, Salih says going to Libuse. Matthieu says it should be him, not Salih. Salih says go to Gans, Cosmas, or Khunrath. Salih: “This is a little beyond the Council.” The Fate/Space teleport is strong and busts through any of Libuse’s wards.

 

Ernst returns. “I saw the human Veles during the play. He is in Prague. I thought I’d gotten him to stay under the stage, but he left. So what’s happening?”

 

Lorant says we’re having a debrief. Maier has left, leaving Matthieu, Lorant, and Ernst. 

 

L: “So when you said you cast him into the deep spirit world, what did that mean?”

 

M: “I destroyed the effect he was weaving and whatever was coming through on that effect was cast back.  And I got the feeling it was not a Mage, but a Spirit who had been a Mage.”

 

Lorant asks out loud that as we’ve known Perun, he’s a Mage, not a spirit pretending to be a Mage.

 

E: “Perun definitely came to me as a semi-Spirit in my time in the spirit world recently.”

 

Lorant’s assumption was that Godwalker was a Legacy. It is not.

 

L: “Let’s wait to see what Salih digs up with Libuse, but we may have to find a way into the shadow world to find Perun.”

 

M: “It sounds like that is something that Perun should be able to handle himself.”

 

L: “But if he has been turned by the Seers, we’re going to have to go get him.”

 

M: “Or leave him where he is.”

 

Salih is in a cave. A cave of winds. It’s cold, damp, the stone drips with moisture. Salih appears right in front of Libuse and her spirit court. She takes a dagger from her side and weaves a shield, sees who it is, then puts her dagger aside but keeps the shield up.

 

S: “I’m sorry, I didn’t think I’d get this close.”

 

L: “I don’t expect you did, what exactly is going on here? What’s going on, what’s that Effect, it’s not yours?”

 

S: “No. Maier. There was a performance in Prague that the Seers tried to interfere with, using spirits. Perun and I managed to track them to a church in Prague. I teleported there, he never arrived through the spirit world. I tried to cast a Fate effect to protect him.”

 

“What Fate effect was it?”

 

“Occlude Destiny.”

 

“You… you didn’t case Occlude Destiny on him. Please tell me you didn’t case Occlude Destiny on him.”

 

“I did. That’s not all. But I don’t understand why that would be a problem.”

 

“What else?”

 

“We believe the Seers found a way to undo his current status, that he is a spirit once more, and that he has been cast away, deep into the spirit world.”

 

“Tell me what you saw at this church.”

 

“Two towers, a blood stain.”

 

“The substance was it dye, or paint?”

 

“I do not know.” 

 

The spirits around her start to show her inner turmoil. “How did they know?”

 

“I came to you,” Salih says, “because you are the only one who knows about all of this.”

 

“You Occluded his Destiny.”

 

“I was trying to protect him.”

 

“I don’t blame you, Salih,” Libuse says, “I just…”

 

“What would that do? Is that what cast him back?”

 

“The Godwalker walks a very narrow path, so that they may not become all mortal or all god. The Destiny of a Godwalker is to walk that line. The Seers found a way to bind him as a spirit; your Occlude Destiny pushed him the rest of the way off the path.”

 

“That is not the effect it should have.”

 

“It is when it is the Destiny of the rest of his… unnatural life to walk that path.” Distaste creeps into her voice. Despite Salih’s protestations, Libuse says, “They may have gotten to him first. The ritual space you describe… two altars, blood and ink… it’s one of the ways in which a Godwalker can be brought to heel. Captured. They know. They know everything! They used Spirit magic. What was missing from your cabal, your Spirit mage. They used this play! What did they try to turn it into, something that would espouse their point of you. They could get to me. Were you followed?”

 

“I don’t believe it possible.” 

 

Libuse is wearing a rough-hewn toga; she takes that off. She walks away from Salih. Nude, holding only her dagger, which she switches from right to left, she continues to walk into a smaller cavern.

 

Salih says, “I will leave if you wish me to.” Salih’s Prime sight lets him know a large spell effect is surging. This effect is Level 6, Unweaving. It is changing her nature.

 

A long anguished scream. All the wind spirits die. A great burst of energy flashes over Salih. Her aura is destroyed. Salih enters the powerful Hallow in the next chamber. In the chamber is a skeleton, seemingly having been there a millennium and a dagger.

 

A quick Time effect tells Salih she just voluntarily gave up the mantle of Godwalker. She knew the Seers could control and capture a Godwalker, and so she was too much a liability to go on. Time caught up with her when she gave up the mantle.

 

Salih returns to Prague, informs the cabal that Libuse is either dead or back in the spirit world. “She killed herself.”

 

“What?” Matthieu asks angrily.

 

“Because she fears what the Seers could do to her.”

 

Lorant, also angry, “So one of the most powerful mages in Prague has ended her life because she was afraid of what the Seers could do.”

 

“Kill us, drive us from Prague?” Matthieu states angrily. “It is our duty to report these happenings to the council! We are the Peregrini. Things don’t look good for us now.”

 

S: “With Perun and Libuse gone, there will be questions. We need to answer them.”

 

M: “We need to go to the Powder Tower right now to let the Consilium know.”

 

E: “How much of my situation do they know?”

 

S: “They seemed to know we didn’t have a Spirit Mage.”

 

E: “Enough to plant someone? You weren’t here, but the human Veles was here in the audience this evening. He has since disappeared.”

 

S: “They’ve used people to toy with us before.”

 

M: “Can you help him find him?”

 

S: “Yes, but I’d have a hard time right now,” mentioning his Mana.

 

“The Seers used Perun in the place of the sky god,” Ernst realizes.

 

The plan: Salih to inform Brux to summon the council, then to go to Perun’s window to ponder the stars as an Oblation. Plans to Forge Destiny to get him back on the path. Also van Aachen.