Arrow of Heaven part III

by Sir Robin

My Lord Geriant,

I am writing to you to inform you of certain recent events that I have been involved in, as there are some aspects that you may want to consider taking action on.

Firstly, I should state that young Manuel de Castil la Columbus is proving to be an admirable student in both fencing and archery, and I believe that he will become a firm friend of Avalon once he reaches adulthood. He is currently with his family on a holiday in Northern Castille, and I am hence not currently employed.

As you are aware, I recently returned from the east after accompanying a small band of adventurers on a mission to deliver a message to General Montegue. You can imagine my surprise when I encountered them in San Cristobal the other day! It seems that after delivering the message, they became involved in hunt for a Syrneth artifact. It appears that this artifact could be used to create great harm, and there is a megalomaniac also after it. However, it can only be used at the full moon, so there was still a few weeks to track it down and stop this person from using it.

They had recently left the company of Berek (who may be able to fill you in on more details), who advised them to seek the noted astronomer Senor Miguel Olivares who may be able to assist them to pinpoint the location of this artifact. I met them whilst they were trying to find the University at San Cristobal. However, not having anyone who spoke Castillian, this was proving difficult (it seems that that only one of the group - a person called Dandelion that I have not met - was on another mission somewhere else).

After a short interlude chasing down some young street thieves (in which my Vendal companion Wulf showed unusual (for him) compassion in giving a donation to an elderly lady to help pay her rent), we found the University and set about tracking down Senor Olivares. With the overcrowding due to all the students and professors who have fled the war-zone, this proved to be a long, but not particularly difficult task. Senor Olivares, I'm sad to say, did not look particularly healthy. It seems that he is constantly expecting the Inquisition to come and take him away to be executed (perhaps we could arrange for him to be moved to a safe location in Avalon - the prestige we would receive should more than cover the difficulty of getting him there).

After studying the information supplied, Senor Olivares pinpointed a location in northeast Vodacce as the location of the artifact. His price for this information was the delivery of a book to Dionna in southern Vodacce, as he didn't want the Inquisition to burn the book.

By this time it was dark outside, so we found a ship heading to Vodacce in the morning, located an inn near the waterfront and settled in for the night. However, we were rudely waken up by a small mob of Vaticine urged on by a number of Inquisitors. It seems they wanted the "five foreigners" to be released to them so they can be burned as heretics. This is worrying, as the only thing I can think of that would cause them to consider me a heretic (apart from simply being Avalon) was my visit to the University. If this attitude is widespread, all Avalons in Castille are potentially at risk of being accused of heresy and being executed.

As they were attempting to burn down the inn, potentially killing all of the innocents inside, I called down for them to stop as we were coming out. As we came down the steps from the upper floor, the mob burst in the front door. After a short melee, I managed to intimidate the rest of the mob and they fled. However, in the interests of the other guests and the innkeeper, my companions and I left the inn and spent the rest of the night in a disused warehouse. The next morning, we found that the Vaticine were patrolling the docks and stopping everyone who was obviously not Castillian. I had, by this time, decided that it would best if I accompanied by friends on their way, at least until they were out of Castille. Unfortunately, Borstennskoldmund had been severely wounded in the melee the night before, so he elected to stay and rest, before making his way to Vodacce, so an extra fighter was sorely needed.

By hiding in some packing crates, and sending a message to the ship's captain we managed to sneak aboard without any trouble. The captain tried to charge extortionist rates for bring the packing crates onboard, and suggested he discuss it with the Vaticine if I didn't like his rates, but after I pointed out that the Vaticine seem to like burning things, and I didn't want his ship damaged, he was a lot more reasonable. One of his crew, an Avalon by the name of Brownbeard, has since become quite friendly with our group, and I suspect there will be someone else to accompany the group to the site of this artifact.

The trip to Dionna was uneventful, apart from a strange episode with a Don Verago Garcia. The ship was becalmed in heavy fog, when a small sloop rowed up and Don Garcia asked to board as he was lost in the fog. He was soaking wet, but otherwise seemed to be quite cheerful. After the fog lifted, and the day wore on however, this changed. His clothes still continued to drip, and his demeanour towards me changed. It seems that he bore a heavy dislike to Avalons due to the sinking of the Armada (though I don't know what he expected from us - they tried to invade, and we defended ourselves). It was only later, after some astute questioning by Franz, that it was revealed that Don Garcia drowned in 1663. He (or rather, his ghost) was quite distraught by this, and swore that he would hount Franz, Brownbeard and I until he was laid to rest with a proper burial. He then faded away, but we three still hear his haunting voice during the night.

I am writing this letter in Dionna. I beseech your lordship to find another tutor for young Manuel, so that I can continue with my friends to the site of this artifact, and stop the megalomaniac from using it. I believe this is of great importance.

I await you response.

Sir Robin of Hood.