There Is a Fountain


Robin is quickly in her element: Deep woods that aren’t exactly the Deep Green, but that may not have seen a human in generations. The harts and hinds have no special fear of Robin, nor do the predators. Everything grows larger here, and the light filters down with a special quality.

Robin follows the directions Iron Eyes provided. She finds the landmarks he saw easily: a mountain in the distance, a ravine with a double waterfall, the remains of a forest fire from a decade ago.

It’s pretty shocking when she comes across what looks like some sort of animal trap: a spring loaded set of steel jaws that would pin anything smaller than a grizzly bear, and attached to a chain.

There are tracks where someone checked the trap. They’re probably 2 days old.

Robin frowns as she looks over the trap. Carefully, she leans forward to get a good scent trace. Then, taking a large stick, she first purposefully springs the trap. Then, equally purposefully, wrecks it in such a way as it cannot be repaired. A smile dances across her lips as she thinks of Silhouette. Her cousin would probably be more... graceful about the examination and disablement of a mechanic device, but Robin's methods work too.

As a child of Amber, Robin’s strength is more than a match for the trap. Not only will it never be used as a trap again, it’s also a clear message to whoever finds it.

Then she's off on the hunt. Robin is careful not to walk directly on the trail but to shadow it from nearby, where she has a clear view.

Robin continues along, the tracks go higher into the hills, and she finds the snow-line. The trapper isn’t bothering to conceal his trail. Robin comes across what might’ve been another trap site. It’s hard to tell, because scavengers have picked the carcass of the dead bear clean.

Robin’s frown deepens. It’s one thing to set a trap, it’s another to be wasteful of a kill.

The trail continues to a river, which has a trot line across it. There are no fish caught by it, but it should catch some soon.

Across the river, Robin sees a plume of smoke from the next valley over. It doesn’t look like a wildfire, so it’s probably people.

When Robin finds the trotline an angry buzz starts up in the back of her throat. In short order the trotline gets the same treatment as the previous trap: complete and definitive.

Robin is cautious as she crosses the river, using the firelizards as forward observers.

Once across the river, the Ranger-once-more climbs a likely looking tree to get a better view of the smoke plume. One campfire, many chimneys, burning wood or something else?

Robin sees a cottage in the center of the clearing. It’s not very large, but it may have two or three rooms. It’s a permanent structure, and the smoke rises in a single plume from a chimney or smoke-hole in the small building. The wood smells like it's dry, seasoned and slow-burning. There’s also the smell of smoking food in the plume. Part of the building may be a smoke-house.

The sun sets as Robin looks at the place. The fire is probably also for warmth. It’s getting colder as Robin watches.

Hmmm... Robin rubs her chin as she thinks. Deciding on her tried and true full-frontal reconnoiter style, she climbs down from the tree.

The Ranger takes a few moments to make sure both she and the firelizards are calmer before setting off toward the cottage. The firelizards get sent aloft with fond crooning to watch her flanks. And Robin tweaks the wind slightly to make it more difficult for missile weapons to successfully find their targets.

Then she sets out for the cottage fairly directly.

As Robin approaches the cabin, the door opens and a large, muscled man looks out. He may not have shaved since the spring. "Bonjour! Je n'ai pas vu deja ici. Entrez!"

Behind him is a woman wearing buckskin clothing.

"Merci Beaucoup," Robin says as she enters. She briefly sends her hope that the firelizards will stay outside unless there's an emergency. At which point they would be welcome to join her.

"I've been away and am just now returning to these parts," she continues as she looks around the interior of the home. She's especially looking for any little Ponca touches in the décor or the woman's clothing.

She could be a Ponca or a related tribe. It's hard to say. It is easy to see that she's pregnant.

The man closes the door against the cold and offer her a seat. There are two candles lit in the main room and a fire in the cooking corner, which can't be called a kitchen as such. "Are you? I don't know of any women trappers, in these parts or any parts, not white women, anyway. But you’re here, and that speaks volumes. Unless I'm wrong, and you're a castrati or something." He holds out his hand, "I'm Carles, and I'm the best fur-trapper on this riverway. Lorraine, please get our guest a warm drink. Something strong, I'd say."

Robin shakes the offered hand firmly. “Strong would be nice.

"I'm Robin. And I'm not a trapper. I'm a nature spirit." Close enough, she thinks.

"Nature Spirit, huh? Shouldn't you be getting ready to sleep through the winter? Šišóka šni kiŋ waná lowáŋpi."

Lorraine smiles as Carles' comment. She passes a mug of a very different kind of spirit to Robin. It is eye-wateringly strong. Carles takes one himself. "You are welcome in this house, šišóka," says the young woman. "Can we assist you? Why have you made the voyage from the blue world to ours?"

[OOC: http://mahpiyalutatimes.blogspot.com/2013/03/lakota-phrase-of-day-sisoka-ki-wana.html ]

"Merci." Robin takes a hospitable sip from the mug, before addressing the two seriously. "I come not-so-much from the blue world as from the Green one. There is a great deal of unrest in that world. Wars are brewing and being fought between family members. It is bad." She shakes her head sadly.

"Worse, the edges between that world and this world are blurring and shifting. Your traps, Carles," she nods to him, "have caught the spirits' notice. They are not acting as yet, but..." she shakes her head, "this is not a good time to come to the spirits' attention.

"I see that this is your home. And that you are planning a future here." She gestures to Lorraine's midriff. "And I am not fool enough to tell an edgeman to leave his place." She smiles at them both before getting serious again.

"But there is grave danger nearby and if you plan to remain, for the babe’s sake -- live as quietly and as unnoticeably as possible. Return to the old ways if you can. And be very, very careful of strangers." Robin smiles as she says this last and takes a heartier swig from the mug.

He laughs. "I’m not very good at living quietly, but I am very good at living. I take your point, stranger. I do indeed."

Lorraine smiles. "Forgive my husband. He, like you, is a nature spirit dreaming that he is a man, and sometimes he forgets how to be himself."

Carles rolls his eyes, but doesn't contradict her.

Robin chuckles into her mug. Momentarily she wonders if Carles is another of Daeon's progeny.

"That's good. It means you'll have some defense. But bad in that it means you'll attract more attention." Robin kicks back the rest of her mug.

"That being said, I should take my leave." She puts the mug down and stands. "I do not live quietly either." She smiles at Carles, "And I do not wish to bring unwanted visitors down on you with my trail."

Carles stands, but gestures to Lorraine not to get up, probably in deference to her pregnancy.

Carles looks at Lorraine. "We'll be here through the winter, and then move on come spring. If I need to dig in here to protect my wife and child, I will."

Lorraine looks grave. "What spirit or beings should we expect, Spirit of the Green World? We will pray and make offerings as the Spirits need. Grandfather Bear will protect me, but I cannot call upon him if I do not know what the danger is."

"The Dragon stirs." Robin says seriously, "And her daughters fight for or against her emergence. Beware of that which has more life than it should. And beware of the unseasonal." She smile ironically.

"The spirits I have fought have come in many forms but most of them are confusers of the mind. And liars of shape." Robin shrugs. That's the best she can do.

The woman nods. "Thank you for the warning, Spirit of the Green World."

The man looks grim. "Dragons are creatures of the Old World. These people don't even have those myths. I think I know what I need to do, Robin." He stops, briefly. "Robin is such an English word, and doesn't come easily to me," he says. "The French word would be Le Merle, which I think suits you better. I thank you for your warning as well, Merle. If you come here to look for us again, we will be gone before the thaws."

Robin bows. "Thank you for the name. Both of them." She smiles to Lorraine as well.

"I’ll take my leave then. Be safe." With that, Robin sees herself to the door and out into the cold night.

The night is cold, in a high-altitude, first-frost kind of way. If Robin were inclined to dabble with the probabilities, she could probably bring on an early snowfall. It might happen even without Robin’s nudging.

The forest is vast, but it's not Arden, and it's not Brocéliande. Robin could shift to either of those, if she chose to do so. Or she could explore here. There's a mountain range she can see in the distance, which would give her a good view of the forest and of what lies beyond. There's also just plain wandering, a Ranger on patrol, looking for interesting and dangerous situations.

Robin fluffs herself in the cold and greets the firelizards as she strides into the forest. Slowly, she begins to shift her way back toward Arden. But she keeps herself open to possibility. If there’s one new marked place, there might be others. And those are definitely something the Warden needs to know about.

Robin enters a clearing, sometime after she's shifted the snow back towards the Arden spring, and sees two things. One is a stone plinth with a basin on it, full of rainwater. The other, nestled in a crag on the side of a cliff, is a small castle.

A curious chirp escapes Robin as she cocks her head. Approaching the plinth, Robin looks it over respectfully and more importantly Listens to it. She's curious to know whom the plinth and the water is dedicated to and who dedicated them. She's also looking if there are any traces of Family or Enemies, which these days Robin has to grant are different.

To Robin's (non-sorcerous) glance, it's clearly something, but it's not clearly a thing of chaos or order. What it mostly seems to be is connected to this place. The surface of the water is still and reflective.

Peep lands on Robin's shoulder. She leans towards the water, and makes a curious noise, as if she wishes to get closer to the water.

Robin glances at Peep with a fond smile. "Okay," she says, "Let’s poke it and ask nicely."

Hoping that it's a ward and not a scrying pool, Robin touches the water with one gentle finger. "Hello, my name is Robin. I come with no ill intentions and for no purpose of harm."

The water bubbles a bit where Robin's finger touches it. Rather than damping down the water keeps rising and falling, like a tides. In the distance Robin hears thunder.

Peep wraps her tail around Robin's neck.

"Yep." Robin nods, "That's got someone's attention." [OOC - What direction did the thunder come from? And is it an ongoing sound or just one boom?]

[OOC: It came from the far side of the mountain that the castle is on. Or the castle itself.]

"Well, let's see what the guardians of this place have to say." Robin loosens her sword and nocks her bow, just in case. She's wary, but not looking for trouble.

A mounted knight, fully caparisoned and his visor closed rides into the clearing at the far end. His shield is green with a lion on it. He lowers his lance and points it at Robin.

"Really?" Robin says. "Not even a hail?"

Quick as a wink, there’s an arrow in her bow. If that horse or knight moves toward her, she intends to shoot the horse in such a way that it will fall, trapping the knight beneath it. (And she's not above tweaking local conditions to do so.)

If she gets time, she will tweak in such a way as do minimal damage to Shadow, horse and man. In that order.

The arrow flies straight and true and hits his horse’s breast slightly to the left of center, as if it were tracking on his heart. It makes no noise as it penetrates the steed, and Robin sees the arrow continue along its trajectory from his back and lodge itself in the trunk of a black tinted tree behind the horse and rider.

Robin curses under her breath as she scrambles out of the direct charge path. This reminds her so much of 'Uncle Ugly.' Now, in that situation, she could be seen and touched by her opponent. But she could not affect Dearest Uncle. That seems the best set of assumptions to operate under now.

So with that in mind, Robin is going to try and lure, distract or spook the horse (if necessary) into the stone plinth. That’s probably real and solid in everyone’s universe.

Robin stands so that the plinth is blocked from the view of the horse and rider. The rider charges, and directs his horse to the right of the plinth. Peep flies straight at and through the horse's face, scolding it as if it were a naughty trainee. The others join in and the rider and his mount seem distracted. He swings his shield up and knocks Chirrup out of the air with it. The little dragon seems more angry than hurt, as if it isn't fair that he can't rip the horse's eyeballs out, but he can get hit by the shield.

At the last possible moment, Robin leaps up and backwards, landing on a crag in the rocks behind her. Perched like an eagle, she watches as the horse tries to avoid the plinth and fails, knocking it and the basin over, spilling water over the rocks beside it.

[Card Draw: The Fish, glub, glub, glub…]

As soon as the water hits the ground the rains begin. It is the greatest storm Robin has ever seen, or it seems it. It's all she can do to stay on her rock, and her friends all teleport to her. They can't fly in this.

Visibility almost doesn't permit her to see what is happening, and it's again a testament to her family's abilities that she can tell at all, but the knight seems to be struggling to right the plinth. The water is starting to rise around the base. He might be calling out, but it's hard to hear over the rain and the thunder and the lightning.

Robin gasps in surprise and indignation as she is suddenly and thoroughly wet. Again! For a moment, she just scrambles to maintain her perch and protect her amazing and so clever friends (especially making sure that Chirrup is no worse for the hit.)

But as she starts to peer and listen through the pounding water, Robin curses softly under her breath. A friendly territorial scuffle is one thing, knocking the bung out of the canoe is another.

Quickly arranging her pack to make as decent a firelizard shelter as she can, Robin instructs her friends to stay there and stay safe. Then she splashes down from her perch, as unhappy and bedraggled as any wet raptor ever was. Slogging over to where she remembers the plinth being, Robin will lend her family assets to whatever the knight seems to be doing.

The knight, his helmet lost in the downpour, is trying to right the plinth, but he is only succeeding at slipping in the mud. With Robin's help, he gets the stone vertical again and replaces the basin. It rapidly fills with rainwater, but the storm does not abate. The knight points to himself and then to the castle halfway up the hillside behind them, then at Robin and the same castle.

He seems to know that he can't be heard over this type of storm.

Robin's soggy eyebrows rise. Really? Ah well, following phasic folk worked out so well for her last time, she might as well try again. Doing her own pantomime over the roar of the storm, Robin indicates that she will follow but she has to get something first.

The girl curses as the flooded ground sucks at her boots, but she makes it back to her perch and gently gathers her pack and firelizards to herself. Once everyone is a bedraggled but secure mess, Robin turns back to the knight.

He starts to lead his horse back around the hill, towards the stone edifice he pointed out earlier.

Ticking her tongue at herself, she follows.

Robin's friends are quite happy to see her again and do not like this weather. Wet dragon skin is pungent.

Robin completely agrees about the weather and wet ranger may not be as pungent - but it carries its own bouquet.

Robin catches up to the knight as he's waiting for the castle gate to open. It does and he leads her into the stable, where he starts taking care of his horse. The knight looks young to Robin, no more than his early twenties.

"Thanks for the help, Lady Knight. I am Ywain, husband to the lady of this castle. I offer you hospitality and shelter from the storm.

"I apologize for attacking you, much less without letting you arm or armor yourself. It is my curse."

"I am Robin, a Traveler, and I accept your offer of hospitality and will abide by guestlaw." Robin says formally. The apology she waves away. "I know a thing or two about living under curses. Consider it forgotten."

For all that the stable is large enough for a score of horses, there are only two, and there are no servants in sight. There's no way one knight could maintain it, but the castle doesn't show any signs of having additional occupants.

A smile lines Robin's lips as she looks around; ghostly knight, abandoned castle, storm of the ages. Ah, the classics. "Is that the Lady's blazon you wear?" She asks pointing to the lion.

He nods. "The Lady Laudine will greet us when we go inside. I have been her husband since I disturbed the Fountain of Barenton and fought her prior champion. I am the champion on the Fountain."

He sighs, blowing water out of his mustache. "At least I was. I had never been defeated."

"You haven't been defeated yet." Robin says, "The game was called on account of weather." Robin's smile says that being irreverant doesn't mean that her statement isn't true.

Then concern lines her face. "Is there anything we should be doing about the storm? Or will it blow over of its own accord?" Because, you know, sometimes they don't....

"Now that we've repaired Merlin's Fountain, it will stop, eventually. My Lady will tell you more of it." Ywain reaches for a towel and gestures for her to take one as well, if she wants. Apparently the stable needs those frequently.

"She will also know if I am relieved of my duties as champion." He frowns. "The magic, Lady Knight, it does not listen to reason. One cannot bargain with it, defy it, or escape it. I know. I tried."

"Ah." Robin says as she shrugs out of her backpack. Various legends swirl around in her head as names and situations begin to align.

Taking a couple of towels, Robin sets herself down on a convenient bale of hay and begins to pat down and dry off her brave and oh-so-pungent little friends. "Then I take it your service is not entirely voluntary. And that this place," she gestures around to the whole of the castle area, "is a knight-trap?"

He sighs. "One's duty is seldom completely voluntary or involuntary, Lady Knight. I killed My Lady's husband, and took up his role. I have left in the past, but I would not do so again.

"The Fountain will have a champion, but must it be My Lady's husband? That I do not know. As long as I have been the champion, I have been summoned when the waters are disturbed to fight the summoner."

Robin nods with understanding, duty is something she's familiar with. And just perhaps, Venesch, Castor and Vere are starting to rub off on her because she decides to let the honorable knight be.

Once she's dried the firelizards to a more pleasant odor and herself to a state where she won't leave muddy footprints & puddles all over the faerie castle, she stands and gestures to Ywain to lead on. "Well, let’s see what the Lady Laudine can tell us." She says with a smile.

Ywain leads the way to a door at the back of the stable. Apparently the castle is designed with most spaces covered to keep off the rain.

The castle is large, open, and for the most part empty. The walls are hung with rich tapestries showing forests in the rain, seascapes in the rain, cities in the rain, battles in the rain, and hunting scenes in the rain. There's a single motif, as if whoever decorated thought about rain quite a bit.

Ywain leads her to a sitting room. A woman is waiting there, in a long blue dress that seems old-fashioned, even by Amber standards. On the table is a complete tea service, with a pot of tea steaming on it and a plate of cakes and sandwiches.

The woman rises. "My husband?," she says, her voice full of questions.

"The Lady-Knight Robin, who I faced at Fountain this very night."

The woman makes an effort to put on a welcoming face, but it's clear to Robin that she is worried.

"I am Laudine of Lothian, Countess of Landuc. Welcome to Trécesson."

Robin gives a nod of respect. "Thank you for your welcome, Lady. Your husband is an honorable man whom it was my pleasure to face. And your home is quite lovely."

Robin and the firelizards are in what she and Castor have designated as 'formal presentation mode': Chirrup rides on her right shoulder, Ooot on her left with Peep curled into the crook of Robin's left arm, leaving her right arm and hand free for formal... thingies.

"May I present my familiars, Peep, Chirrup & Ooot?" She notes each with a nod of her head.

Robin finds the worry on Laudine's face comforting. She's not arrogant about it, it's just a good sign that the Lady might have a clue regarding the stakes involved when Robin's around.

She looks confused, then perhaps a bit frightened. "A knight... with familiar creatures? Is it permitted to ask if you are Fae, Lady Knight? This very castle is the seat of the treaty of Lake Barenton and I wish no mischief or disrespect on Lady Viviane’s kith, kin, vassals or peers."

"It is permitted and I am not Fae, Lady." Robin nods again in understanding. "I am a Traveller and as such, have picked up a variety of... differing skill sets. I do not know Lady Viviane so I am no kith, vassal or peer to her. Kin?" Robin shrugs, "My Family is vast, widespread and fertile. It's possible but I am not aware of any relation."

She nods, her concern fading. "Then with your permission, Lady Traveling Knight, I shall tell you of our circumstance here. This castle has not always been the isolated forest realm you see today. At one time it was the front line, with the Lady Viviane's Crystal Castle across the Lake being the furthest outpost of the Fae realm. It was, in more peaceful times, where she gave birth to her son Merlin.

"But later war occurred, and the lake was black with evil between us. Eventually my first husband Esclados the Red drove out the invaders when their black tides failed them. The Fae created the magic fountain as an alarm and as a symbol of the peace between us. If it is disturbed the magic rains assault the land. If it is ever destroyed, the Fae will come at us caprisoned for war.

"After Sir Ywain slew Sir Esclodos, he married me so that the defense of Broceliande would not fail. My husbands, both of them, have been magically compelled to protect the fountain and thus our peace, for many years."

She sighs. "We do not know what happens next. The Champion of the Fountain of Barenton has never been defeated, except in death. That has us both nervous." She straightens her shoulders. "But we will not let our worries about the future prevent us from providing hospitality as befits a knight of the Rangers of Broceliande, who we knew of old. You are gladly welcomed to this castle and may freely stay and freely go, if the magics so allow. This rain will not let up until morning, so at least stay the night. You can tell us news of the outside world.

"Please, sit,and have some refreshments."

"Thank you, Lady." Robin bows. "For both the invitation and the news."

Robin sets aside her pack, settles the firelizards along the back of her chair and seats herself. Watching carefully as Castor has taught her, she follows the cues of her hostess for appropriate manners in this setting.

"Let me repay you with what I can say of the outside world. Though, as a Traveller, my news may be outdated or irrelevant.

"I know of the war that turned your waters black with evil. It was fought between the denizens of the Eternal City and the Forces Primeval. That great war spanned across many, many realms. In the end, the Primeval were defeated, but not without great cost to the Eternal City. The One King gave his life to protect the City and his descendants. Yet despite that, the Heart of the Realm was sundered and she has lost much of her former greatness." Robin still finds that hard to accept and the sadness in her eyes is unmistakable. But she carries on.

"From the King's sons, two new Realms have arisen: Xanadu, a city of excitement, growth and music - direct heir of the Eternal City. And Paris, a city of artistry, civilization and... those kind of things." Robin smiles at her own lack of understanding regarding the benefits of civilization.

"It is the King of Xanadu whom I serve and I am an... unconfirmed Knight in the first Order formed after the Fall of the Eternal City, the Order of the Ruby." A wry smile dances across Robin's lips as she thinks of what Brennan might have to say about that.

"In the wake of the Great War and the diminishing of the Eternal City, many old enemies with old grudges have come to light. They circle around both new Kingdoms like jackals, probing for weakness, striking when they can. The new Kings, Random and Corwin, are not without power and craftiness, but they are not the One King and their Realms are young. Many see this as a sign of weakness and times are perilous across the land as opportunists strike where they can.

"The Kings have responded by dispatching their brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces" Robin gestures to herself, "where and when they can, to keep the lands safe from those that would see the Fall of the Eternal City as a chance to create whatever mayhem they wish.

"My own feet are well-suited to the Green and so I find myself travelling the wooded paths. When I came across the Font, I announced myself as peacefully as I could. Please know that I hold no rancor whatsoever with your husband or his actions and I have no desire whatsoever to kill a defender of peace and order.

"But also please know, that while I do not wish to disturb your ways or bring the wrath of the magic or Fae down upon you, as a descendant of the One King I cannot be compelled by anything of this land without grave peril following." Robin shrugs sadly, she's a walking time-bomb and she knows it.

Ywain nods. "If we fail here, then Magic will be released into Broceliande and It will affect the great realms of Avalon and Paris. Please make sure Arthur is told of this." The man frowns. "Unless I mistake, he will think me long dead, and perhaps in a way I am." He pauses and forces a smile onto his face. "And tell him to get around to knighting you, on my say-so Lady Knight. You are clearly deserving of it, both martially and in honor."

Ywain receives a smile laced with both gratitude and humor from Robin.

Laudine reaches out and puts her hand on Ywain's knee. "My husband speaks the truth. Our bastion of order here may well be about to fall." She looks quite upset.

"Hmmmm... " Robin leans back in her seat. "Well, given that I am just one being, though not without differing skill sets, and that I cannot reside within your Realm for long, how can I help?"

Laudine sits still for a moment, and then leans forward to speak.

As she is about to, Ywain interrupts. "You can't. You should leave this place and go very far from here, and not return." Laudine looks defeated. "We won't drag you into our curse."

Robin nods to both Laudine and Ywain. She sits back in her chair as she thinks about it. When she's come to a conclusion, it's Ywain she addressed. "Can you explain this curse without tangling me in it?"

Laudine considers. "I think so, Lady Knight. It is the bond of a vassal to her liege. We cannot abandon our duty to hold this place for the defense of the realm, and yet we cannot hold it.

"Like Hruodland at the Roncevaux Pass," adds Ywain. "And like him, I mean to take many of the Fae knights with me.

Lauding continues. "As do I. The sorcerer-knights of the fae-lands will threaten Avalon and Amber again, Lady Knight, if we fall here..." She looks at her husband. He is silent.

Robin rubs her chin and thiiiiiinnnks about it. "Well, I think there is something I may be able to do. Though it is not without risk to this land and yourselves. And though we barely know one another, it would work better if I were at the Heart of this land."

She sits forward. "I may be able to strengthen the order within the land. I don't know what effect that may have on the Fae and I suspect it'd piss them right off. Buuuutttt, if you are facing a losing battle anyway....” She shrugs.

Ywain frowns. "This is why you should leave. If you are here when they attack, you will be overwhelmed by our curse."

Laudine smiles, "But not tonight. No one will ever be put out at night into this. And we will all feel better after the rain stops and the sun rises."

"And the moon sets", adds Ywain.

Robin raises a Julianic eyebrow at the moon comment, but nods her head in agreement.

Leaving more weighty subjects behind, Robin spends the rest of the evening eating heartily, chatting with her hosts about hunting and rain, and getting the firelizards fed and oiled.

Once within her chamber, Robin wanders over to the window (if any) and casts her gaze out of the sodden land. She lets her gaze wander aimlessly and gently begins to Listen. She' not doing anything active, just trying to get a sense of and a feel for this Shadow.

The forest here is old, ancient like the great primeval depths of Arden, the places where no one patrols because it is too old, unchanging, and eldritch to enter. The places where, even if a person enters, they are like an insect on the surface of a lake.

Robin hums in delight, happy to be an insect on the surface of a lake. In the cities, in the castles, it's too easy for people to think that they are all that's important in the world. That the world exists to serve their purposes. Here, and in places like it, the world just exists. And it is balm to Robin’s soul.

Such a forest sings its own song, primal and rhythmic and free of melody or tone, but likewise undisturbed by anything so ephemeral as a castle or a human. This is a forest that knows only forest, and has not yet learned the modern things that may soon afflict it.

As Robin hums along, she hopes that the maybe-coming affliction will be as ephemeral as possible.

It is quite a lullaby and Robin returns to her bed and lays down, her eyes heavy and the tuneless tune in her head. Her fire lizards all lie around her, their breathing soft and regular and just faintly echoing the refrain of the valley and the lake.

It was the sound that woke her. It was always the sound. She looked around her chamber, in the crystal castle, and put on her armor. She knew she had no choice. The water all around made her arms and legs heavy, but she knew the trick of making through it. Her joints moved fluidly and she slid around the difficult places. The moon shone in, through the lake above and through the castle, bathing her in the familiar silver and making her feel more whole. More like herself.

Armed and armored, she quickly made her way to the sable, and was mounted and out of the castle and headed for the bottom of the lake.

A human knight stood before the fountain of air, further disturbing the bubbles. The knight, a woman, turned, She picked up her shield and mounted her horse and charged. Her coat of arms was a Unicorn over a great tree. She sat her horse like an expert and they crashed their lances into each other, and both were unseated. The interloper's helmet flew off and she lay unmoving on the ground.

Robin saw that they shared the same face, but she didn't remember if she was the attacker or the defender. One of her was dead.

"Peep", says Peep, in Robin's ear, before proceeding to lick it clean. Robin awakes in a cold sweat and short of breath, in the castle of the Countess Laudine once again.

"Oooooggg." Robin says as she rolls over to nuzzle her little ear-cleaning marvel. Followed by "Bleah."

Still loggy from her dream, Robin slumps up into a sitting position. "Yay, prophetic dreams..." her voice is heavy with sarcasm. The whole thing probably means something -- maybe a warning. A fond smile dances across Robin's lips as she thinks how much Vere would enjoy discussing it.

The water though... that makes her think of Rebma. And reflections. And mirrors. And maybe the issue isn't the Fae but the curse and its Liege. Maybe she should ask her hosts a little more about that....

From where she sits, Robin can see out the window. There is a large lake outside. The surface is smooth and reflective, and the color is a perfect blue.

"Hunh." Robin grunts looking out at the lake; maybe previously invisible in the storm, maybe there for the first time, maybe only visible to herself. Bleah – she's doing it again.

She perks up though as she pulls herself out of bed, far happier to be up and at things rather than be lounging about... thinking. Yuck.

By the time Robin's finished with her own and the firelizards' morning abulations, she's almost cheerful. Bouncing down the corridor, the Traveller-Knight-Ranger-Lord-of-Order lets her nose lead her to wherever breakfast might be set-up.

The Countess Laudine is in the same sitting room that Robin and Ywain met her in last night, although now she is in a sea-green dress. "Good day, Lady Knight. My husband has departed to hunt. You may break your fast here, if you wish."

She seems pleased to have met Robin alone.

"Good day, milady." Robin bows as Castor has taught her. "Thank you for the fare."

Helping herself to a good portion of meat (mmmm, primal meat), Robin seats herself across from the Countess. After a thoughtful bit and some even more thoughtful chewing, Robin states, "I have questions, milady. But I would not challenge your husband's desires in his absence. Can you endeavor to do the same?"

She smiles, and it is neither friendly nor unfriendly. "My husband is my partner, and not my Lord. Our Marriage is Morganatic, and the title vests in me.

"Sir Ywain believes that if you knew our local legends, that you would undertake a task that he cannot, due to his binding. He feels that if you know of it, your knightly virtues would not permit you to refrain.

"I believe that you will, from these same virtues, act, but that knowing less, it will be more dangerous. I have no requirement to honor his wishes, but I am willing to honor yours, if you tell me that you will do as he says, and leave us to die, and never look behind you."

Robin chews and thinks a little more, then nods with decision.

"Okay then. Both you and your husband are correct, my... virtues," Robin's lips cock wryly, "will not permit me to refrain from action. But to your husband's worries, I couldn't refrain from action the moment I knew he was bound to attack without recourse. I hate that kind of dung.

"And I would rather know what I'm getting into. Especially in light of last night's dream.

"Oh, by the way, I didn't assume that Sir Ywain had sway over you -- that'd be dumb. I just meant that I kind of like the guy and don't want him to feel betrayed or maneuvered around. Though... that's exactly what I'm doing. Bleah." Robin wrinkles her nose in self-directed grumpiness.

"Soooo," Robin continues, "who is you Lord and how is this binding done?"

She nods. "My late father, the Duke, holds title from Arthur, the King. The last word we had from my father was when Arthur fell in battle with Modred and was taken to Afallon.

"The binding was Morgana's done as part of the peace treaty.

"There is another castle and another fountain, the counterparts of our own. The lake rises and falls as the fountains are emptied. They are to stay at equilibrium while there is peace between Fae and Man."

"Hmmmm...." Robin leans back in her chair and scratches Peep on the eyeridge.

"And how amenable would you say Morgana is to discussion regarding the treaty?"

Laudine clearly doesn't know, exactly. "Less now than before you came, if she and hers are at the Castle at all. More if you defeat her champion and empty her fountain."

This is probably what Ywain did not want Robin to know about.

"Weeeellll, Lady," Robin chuckles, "there was a time when I was all for pre-emptive balancing. And it might still come to that. But I'd rather see if there was some way I could improve upon your and Ywain's situation without starting a war.

"Any thoughts?"

She nods. "Many. But foremost, there is no divergence between our plans that does not come after you scout the sunken castle."

"True." Robin nods. "Soooo, how do we go about arranging that?" She's not sure she trusts Laudine not to pull a fast one while she's down there. But mentally she shrugs; her strength is reacting to betrayal, not planning for it. Robin leaves that to the plannerly types like Jerod or Brennan. Bleah.

The noblewoman gestures towards the window casement. "There is a cairn of stones on the shore of the lake. From it you can see a path to, in, and under the lake. Follow it and you will reach the castle. On the path, the water is breathable, like air."

She pauses.

"Don't step off the path until you reach the castle."

"Right." Robin nods in understanding. "Glub, squish. Not fun."

She scratches Peep's eyeridge again, wondering about the firelizards on such a journey, but decides she needs to 'talk' it over with them first.

"Well, then. Soonest begun, soonest up in fire and smoke and screaming." Robin smiles crookedly as she pushes back her chair. "By your leave, Lady." Castor would be proud.

She nods. "May Lir look kindly on your deeds, Ser Robin."


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Last modified: 12 March 2015