Story : Atop the Long Mynd

From Ars Magica

Current revision as of 13:19, 17 April 2006

Bodbury Ring and the Burway

As the magi Ambrosius and Mnemosyne, accompanied by Geraldous, Alicia, Llewys, Blathmac and pack animals, set off up the Long Mynd, their pace was matched by the rise of morning sun. Geraldous had chosen the easiest, most direct route up, a simple track known as 'The Burway' which began fairly close to Church Stretton. The fresh spring air, and bright sunlight brought cheer to the company. Blathmac lagged behind and he kept up an almost constant stream of quiet nonsense sounding braying and neighing sounds to the mules. He paused now and again as they made their characteristic sound, and seemed to be listening to them thoughtfully. All in all, it looked almost as though he was conversing with and cajoling them up the path.

It took less than an hour for them to get partway up The Burway, and as they neared the top, they were able to appreciate two of the better known features of the Long Mynd. The most prominent feature, from the point of view of the villagers, was a large valley adjacent to Church Stretton replete with a river and waterfall. However, it was clear from above that the valley was well-visited, numerous signs of human industry including paths, a flock of sheep, and some drystone shelters for them. To the north lay a more interesting prospect. On the crest of a hill overlooking Church Stretton and the valley was some kind of defensive earthwork.

Visiting the earthwork would evidently require descending and gaining the other summit by a different route, while The Burway continued on in a mostly north-westerly direction.

Mnemosyne took the opportunity of a short halt, to slide off the horse she had been clinging to grimly. She staggered over to a patch of gorse and threw up noisily. It was mostly dry retching as she had not eaten anything yet that morning - which made her feel all the more awful. Blathmac ran to the horse that Mnemosyne had abandoned and with a nod to the maga which was respectful but perfunctory, neighed softly to the horse which neighed back somehow managing to look annoyed. Blathmac chuckled softly neighed again and began to adjust the horses saddle and trappings.

Alicia approached Mnemosyne, "Salve maga. I wonder, if the riding makes you so sick, why you do not walk?"

Mnemosyne shook her head silently, not trusting herself to speak yet. Eventually she recovered enough to respond. "You make a good point, Alicia. While even with my affliction I can ride faster than I can walk, we are going as fast as our slowest members. Perhaps the lad would like to take a spell on the beast. It has been ensorcelled to make it more biddable."

"I'm not slow!" cried Llewys, brandishing his walking stick in mock indignation and flashed a cheeky grin at Mnemosyne. As she dismounted, he ran past giving her a wide berth, and took up position next to Geraldous at the front.

Mnemosyne tottered back to the horse and took off a water skin to wash the taste of bile from her mouth. Feeling slightly more human she approached Ambrosius. "I suggest we continue along this route and investigate further. It is likely there will be other sites to survey once we reach the top. We can visit the hill fort on the way back, without going all the way back down into the valley and back up again. In any case, I suspect that place will prove to be too close to the village for our purposes, unless it has some truly outstanding features to compensate."

Ambrosius looked concernedly at Mnemosyne and then answered, "I don’t know that being so close to the village would be such a bad thing, Sodale, but I would agree with you – continuing along this route would be the best way to cover the most, ahhhhh, ground."

The Portway

The path continued up onto the Long Mynd, appearing small, but well-used. A few tumuli lay off to the sides of the path as they ascended, while below, they could see the river and waterfall of the large valley winding its way down into Church Stretton. A flock of sheep and a shepherd idled close by the water in the morning sun.

Abruptly, they found themselves faced with three ways to proceed. The path they followed continued straight, with a turning winding off to the right, and a little further down, a similar turning winding off to the left.

A modest burial mound sat in the crook of the junction where the path split off to the right. Beyond, a wide greenway bisected the three paths, running north along the top of the Mynd. The center path appeared to run up to some sort of large tumulus. The right hand path wandered away and over the crest of the Long Mynd, while the left hand path passed through a boggy area at the top of a small, narrow valley, before continuing on toward some kind of ruin in the distance.

Mnemosyne pondered the three way juncture. Without a guide, they were just wandering aimlessly. Which was fair enough really. They would hopefully stumble across something interesting in due course and hopefully anywhere with a strong magical aura should be able to alert them to an interesting place. "Let us go and survey this large barrow ahead - if nothing else, it may give us a better view. In the meantime Geraldous, ride up along the right path and see if you can make out what is beyond the crest, or if it deceiving. If there is nothing of much interest in that direction, I suggest we head toward the ruins. A landmark at least..."

At his name, Geraldous looked around quickly, making sure he caught the rest of the announcement from Mnemosyne. Satisfied that he hadn't missed anything important he interrupted with "Aye Ma'am", caught his horse's attention with a pull on the reins, wheeled it to the right, and put his heels in, stirring it to action.

She cocked an eyebrow at Ambrosius to see if he had anything to say on the matter as she walked along beside him, toward the burial mound. She noticed, as Geraldous spurred his horse into a canter, that the animal responded somewhat sluggishly, and was evidently reticent about the idea of expending any more energy than was necessary to keep the spurs from its sides. As Geraldous cantered away, Llewys kept pace, running happily alongside with his rucksack bouncing around behind him.

Seeing him, Geraldous reined in his horse, pulled his helm back lifting the coif with it, and called out to the lad. "You stay back there, and make sure they all stay safe. I'll not be long away here".

Llewys's happy expression faded as he stumbled to a halt, and turned about to look at Ambrosius. He wasn't entirely convinced by Geraldous's quick instruction; he had heard such things before, and it didn't seem to him like there was a great deal he needed to do to protect two magi. He glanced at his sturdy stick, and wondered how well he would fare against a pair of large wild boar as he began to make his way down toward the others. He was still thinking his courageous effort to boldly protect Ambrosius from imaginary beasts when his feet brought him to the others. He was giving his stick another swish at an unseen adversary, when the second horse's shadow fell over him, jolting him out of his day-dream.

Alicia looked up at the sun, then back to her companions, "Maga Mnemosyne, I do not know if Ambrosius has told you of my ... condition." She took a deep breath, "I am a shapechanger, not a Bjornaer not even Gifted, but with a certain gift. There is a cost, though and since we are now travelling together it is best that you know of it. At sunrise, sunset and noon the change comes upon me. Sometimes I can delay it and I can sometimes control what form I take, but change I must. We still have some time before the noon change will come, but I thought I should warn you. You might also wish to know that one of the forms which I can take is that of a falcon - which might be of use in our explorations."

Mnemosyne nodded. "Yes, it was mentioned to me this morning. A very interesting problem you have there, Alicia. You have my commiserations. On the other hand, as you say it could be of some use to us right now. If you were to find yourself in falcon form, then you could scout the surrounding area very nicely and spot anything of interest. Of course, what we're looking for may not be obvious from the air, but it certainly worth a try. Good thought and my thanks." She smiled at the woman and realised that she had underestimated her.

"At our next halt, then," said Alicia, "if I can have a bit of privacy I can attempt to bring on the change myself."

On the right track - to the earthen ring and mound

Resitting the helm square on his head, Geraldous drove the horse forward again, and headed off, dropping out of site over the ridge line shortly later. Reaching the ridge, he stopped his mount, which seemed grateful for a chance to rest. The ridge was marked by a wide flat path of well-trodden earth and stunted vegetation, that was clearly the much mentioned Portway. Here and there, the passing of flocks of sheep had left such signs as they were want to do; the odd wisp of wool snagged on the heather, and sheep droppings hither and thither.

The ancient earthwork at the end of the path that Mnemosyne was leisurely walking along was much larger than the others seen thus far, and there appeared to be large stones set around the base of the mound. That he could see anything of the stones at all lay solely upon the fact that it appeared to be popular with the sheep.

Before him, he could see his path continued down from the ridge a little way, near a strange earthen bank, shaped like a large ring, which surrounded an equally high mound. Unlike the other one, it was covered in coarse grasses and heather, but even beneath that covering of vegetation, Geraldous could make out the general form. A low but steep bank before the mound turned the path to the north, where it continued to wander off through the heather.

Appraising the ground, Geraldous made the decision to head forwards, and check the earthen ring. Leaving the path, he swung out on a wide arc, taking himself to a position where he could see behind the line of the bank, but not be so close that he could be surprised by anything lurking there. He reined in his horse, and sat, observing behind the bank, and towards the earthen ring. After a few seconds, he swung his shield off his back onto his left arm and, still mounted, slowly walked his horse forward.

The coarse grass was not nearly as high as it looked, barely covering his steeds knees as it walked down the far side of the ridge topped by the ancient greenway. He continued forward, warily, for the best part of a hundred metres; leaving the path where it curved away. He stopped at the base of a steep slope of the outer ring. He knew he would have trouble persuading his horse to climb up the slope in its peculiarly exhausted condition, and despite being atop a horse bred for war, Geraldous could not see over the top of the circular bank before him.

Dismounting, he approached the bank, shield before him, before slinging his shield on his back and starting the scramble to the top. As he approached it, he crouched down, and took the last few feet slowly. Keeping his head low to the ground, he peered over the top.

Climbing up the steep bank, Geraldous found himself stood upon a giant ring shaped bank, that descended as far on the innermost side as it rose from the surrounding terrain. In the middle, rose a large plain mound, which seemed a bit smaller than the one that the others headed toward. Rather than descend to the bottom of the ditch, he walked around the top of the ring, to better view the mound.

As he paced the circumference, he noticed that the top of the mound seemed rather flat, and that the sheep hadn't been using the innermost sides of the ring for shelter. Something about the place made him feel a little odd. Arriving back at the starting point, he clambered down to mount his horse, and head back over to the others.

The Middle Way

Reaching the barrow, Mnemosyne begins to give the larger stones a looking over and wanders about the mound peering here and there, alert to any spooky feelings or in fact anything at all to distinguish this place from any other grassy knoll.

The maga notices that the course grass upon the mound is a deeper shade of green, as though it receives more rainfall, though it might also be due to the soil of the mound. The tumulus appears larger, and has better shape; no sheep trails mar its surface. The stones are free of weeds and earth, and look crude by Mnemosyne's modern ideas of stone masonry. The sky is a deep blue, studded with the odd white cloud, and the breeze is light enough to take the heat from exertion without feeling chill.

Alicia Takes Flight

After giving the area a quick glance, Alicia stepped close to Ambrosius. "The maga thinks that I might be able to see something interesting from the air. I will step behind that stone there, out of sight, and attempt to take on my falcon shape. If I succeed, could you have Llewys pick up my clothes?"

Ambrosius nodded. "Be safe, Alicia," he replied with a smile, "do not not forget who you are."

Alicia withdrew out of the sight of the others and brought her willpower to bear on changing her shape. What transpired on the far side of the mound was unclear, but a few moments later, a falcon rose into the sky.

From the air, Alicia could see the area well, and noticed that Geraldous and his mount were doing X, at Y, etc. Ambrosius and Llewys were watching Maga Mnemosyne, who was stood by the north side of the burial mound.

Alicia always enjoyed flying, it literally let her leave her cares behind for a few minutes here and there. For one heady moment, she merely enjoyed the feel of the wind under her wings, then she began to beat her wings in earnest and rose to the height of perhaps a hundred feet. Settling into a simple glide, she began to circle above the party below her, looking for anything of interest - patterns in the terrain or the ruins, other people moving on the Mynd or anything else of interest. Alicia had noticed before when flying that things that seemed hard to understand from the ground were sometimes childishly simple from the air.

Irritatingly, the winds up upon the Long Mynd caused vegetation to move about in unexpected and sudden ways, and when coupled with a growing desire for a mid-morning something-or-rather, caused her eyes to dart hither and thither in pursuit of imaginary rabbits.

Despite the distractions, she could see that a section of the mound appeared to be sagging inward. She regarded the magi from afar, and then cast her eyes toward the ruin. From the air, it looked pretty much like a simple rectangular cottage, as a shepherd might build. The cottage's walls were sat amidst piles of fallen stone, and the walls looked quite thick.

The Regio

Mnemosyne slowly straightened and looked at the scene beyond the burial mound and compared with the one behind her. A intense gleam entered her eyes and she allowed herself a tight smile. "Ambrosius!" she called, excitement entering her voice despite her attempt at restraint. She knew there was something of interest about the barrow. "I think I've found a Regio here... It should be possible to cross over..."

Ambrosius looked up suddenly at the urgency of her call, his expression slowly changing over to a mix of wonder and amazement as he watched Mnemosyne move about, puzzling out the mound.

As Mnemosyne moved around the mound, the shimmering view of the regio faded away, until she moved closer to it again. She wandered about it a couple of times while keeping her distance, and saw that one of the curbstones was significantly larger than the others, and that a misshapen part of the mound is actually where a second large curbstone has become buried under grass, soil and wind-blown debris with a three foot gap between them.

The gap was mostly filled with the earth and vegetation that had spilt over the rightmost stone, principally due to the activity of sheep further up the barrow.

Standing between the large stone and the misshapen part of the mound, closer inspection revealed that there were a significant number of spirals faintly carved into the surface of the exposed stone, wherever moss has fallen away, and idly traced the spirals from outwards to inwards. The spirals reminded Mnemosyne of something, but she was too distracted to think about it now. Possibly Celtic, or maybe even before. Each time she tried to trace a path through the twists and turns, she lost her way, and on the third attempt, decided it was a matter best left for another day.

She vaguely thought as she made a mental note of her positioning and stepped forward between the rocks, hoping to pierce the barrier which was the Regio. As she pushed herself forward, she could feel a strange influence upon her as though she were teetering upon a beam. As she took a final step toward the stone and tumbled earth, the vision of the regio grew almost tangible, and she felt her being drawn forward, only to be repelled by the obstruction. It was clear to her from her view of the regio that a stone door lay a couple of steps further in.

Mnemosyne backed off a couple paces and pondered the blockage of her path into the Regio. It seemed to her as if this was the main path to be used to enter it, but the physical situation in the 'real world' made it impossible to enter. If this was the only way in, then she doubted anyone had entered - or left - the Regio in a long time. She walked around the mound a way and climbed up onto it from another direction which allowed easier access. Reaching the top, she realised that while she could still see into the deeper Regio, she was still on its borders and was unable to break through the veil. She looked around to see what she could see of things in the Regio from this angle, trying to make sense of the weird waves of double vision assaulting her senses.

Beyond the mound, she could make out the ruin. From here, close to the edge of the regio, she could see a transparent view of the regio overlay ed on the mundane, causing the walls of the ruin to extend up to roof height with a ghostly vale of stone. The building was still ruined, however, as it appeared to be lacking anything resembling a roof.

After looking around, Mnemosyne walked back down to talk to Ambrosius. "Yes, definitely a Regio. It looks like it might be of quite a substantial side. Perhaps the biggest I've ever seen, but we wont really be able to tell until we get inside it. It looks like we have to enter from a certain direction though - there is a door, just on the other side of the Regio." Mnemosyne proceeded to relate what she had been able to see around the stones and from the top of the mound in as much detail as she could manage, trying to stick to the facts and making her suppositions clear when she made them. "As such, I think if we want to enter, we will have to shift the blockage out of the way and excavate the edge of the burial mound to provide better access. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at Rego Terrem and worse at Perdo Terrem. How about you? Do you know any spells which could move the earth aside, or could you manage something on the fly?"

Ambrosius turned back to look at her from the mostly covered stone column that had been covered in a confusing array of spirals, linking together in such a way that he just didn’t seem to be able to trace from one to the other. “Hm?” he responded. The rest of what Mnemosyne had been saying seemed to sink in. “Ah! Yes, Maga! I think that perhaps Muto Terram might be just the trick...” He set his staff and backpack on the ground and took up a stance, almost comical in nature. He began speaking slowly and softly, but quickly reached a crescendo as he began moving his arms about in match to the spell’s words. Much louder and active than a normal spell casting, Mnemosyne could tell that he’d opted to better his chances of success with this spell by using extravagant gestures and vociferous language. He no sooner let the last words of the spell shout from his lips than he moved forward and began brushing tremendous hands’ width swaths of dirt away from the front of the burrow. Where his hands came in touch with the eroded dirt and mud, it simply vanished, leaving nothing behind but a gentle shower of pebbles falling to the earth now want for the support of the soil that supported it only moments ago. Within a couple minutes, he’d exposed much of the broken remains of the ancient door and the flanking symbol carved pillars as well as some of the side stones. He kept going though, until the magic wore thin and died off – working to brush as much dirt out of the runic carvings as possible.

Cleaning the tall pillar stones with their spiral ornamentation was fairly easy, and Ambrosius was interested to note how the fallen earth had protected much of the right hand pillar's carvings, which were crisper and deeper than those of the other pillar. The space between the pillars was somewhat awkard. As the earth was swept away by gentle wafts of his hands, he found large pieces of stone slab which he surmised to be the door that Mnemosyne had mentioned. By the time he had finished clearing the portal itself, he was stood upon a pile of broken stone. Beyond the portal, the passage was blocked with earth upto shoulder height, and a narrow gap lay between the top of the intruding earth, and the stone ceiling.

"Excellent work, sodale" Mnemosyne complimented. She was very pleased to see that Ambrosius was so skilled in areas which she was quite deficient in. Since meeting the other magi she had been getting a generally good feeling about this whole undertaking. With so many complimentary magi, could anything stand in their way? She shook her head with a small smile, ridding herself of such thoughts of hubris. "Shall we enter now for a quick look, or would you like to wait for the others to return? The way seems quite clear now."

Ambrosius looked dubiously at Mnemosyne. He stuttered, “Ummm…I, ah….Maga, I do not believe that is the wisest of ideas.” He looked towards the cleared door. “I do not have a great deal of experience or training in regios, but I understand that they may have inhabitants of their own. I think we should make a careful, planned exploration. For all we know, there may be a drop right on the other side of this threshold.”

Mnemosyne nodded. "Quite right, Ambrosius," she agreed. "These type of places generally have as many inhabitants as anywhere else. Sometimes more. And the possibility of danger exists. However, we do have one advantage." She paused to smile in cool satisfaction. "I can see what is on the other side. I can assure you I will not be leading you off any kind of cliff and currently I can see no inhabitants. A quick look will only enhance our knowledge. A detailed and lengthy exploration should wait for another time... probably." She glanced once more through the veil of the Regio peering into the other world with second sight, checking on any folk or creatures around ostensiouly, but in fact more to reassure the cautious mage.

She could see no signs of life beyond the fact that the mound was neither overgrown nor scarred by sheep's hooves, and thus probably tended by someone other than a sheep.

Ambrosius looked towards the door, as if he could peer through it through force of will alone…which he could, if he put his mind to it, but this was not the time. “Your words have some merit, Maga,” Ambrosius smiled. “At the very least, I believe we ought to wait for Alicia and Geraldous to rejoin us…and leave them instructions, should we encounter any, ummmm, problems.” After a moment’s thought, Ambrosius took his belt knife out while he called to Llewys. As the boy came over, he reached up and cut off a small lock of hair from his own head. He handed it to Llewys when he arrived.

Llewys looked at the hair thoughtfully for a moment, before wrapping it around his wrist, and rolling it up his forearm and under his sleeve. "All, right," he said we slight grin, "I'll keep it safe." As he spoke, the hair crept down his arm. Llewys looked guiltily at it, and then rolled it back up, above his elbow, and then rolled up the end of his sleeve to hold it securely, with a big, embarrassed grin. "Really brother, it will be fine."

”Do you remember what a regio is, little brother?” He queried in English. After Llewys replied, he continued, “Maga Mnemosyne has discovered one that starts here at this doorway. When Geraldous and Alicia return, she and I will be entering it for a quick look around. I would like for you to set forth to building a fire right now. If we have not returned by sun-up tomorrow, you, Alicia and Geraldous are to take this lock of my hair to Brother Marcus. He will be either in Church Stretton or at the cottage. Give him the lock of hair and tell him that we have fallen into trouble while exploring a regio. He will know what to do.” He paused a moment, “This is just in case, frater. When Maga Mnemosyne and I return, you and I will burn that hair in the fire you build, conspicio?”

Ambrsoius switched back to Latin, “Any more than that I would need a full labotratory.” He smiled weakly. “When Geraldous and Alicia return, I suppose we can set off.”

Alicia Lands

Alicia circled above the magi who appeared to have settled in by the edge of the mound to wait for some reason. "Not too much else to see here," she thought. "I should return." She took one more pass over Geraldous trying to make out what he was doing, then returned to the rock where she had changed and where her clothes awaited. Landing, she bent her will toward returning to human shape.

She experienced a little difficulty at first as she tried to bend her avian form toward a more familiar shape. Soon enough, she found herself back in human form. She stood for a moment, mentally comparing the feel of the wind in her long hair with the wind that had so recently ruffled her feathers, before a chill shudder reminded her to thrown on some clothes.

Moving on

The sounds of hooves were heard from the right-hand path, as Geraldous returned, trotting back, his shield slung on his back again, his helm pushed well back, and a smile on his face. He called out cheerfully to Llewys as he approached "You kept them all safe here?", then reined back in front of Mnemosyne, continuing "All safe here? There's nowt to worry about over there, nor owt of much interest, so we may as well continue - unless you have found something here to detain us?"

Llewys looked up at Geraldous with a smile, happy to recieve a warm greeting after being left with two magi and little to do but fold a girl's clothes. After he had tended to that simple task, he had sat himself up out of the way, and watched as Ambrosius wove some magic. He could see the small crawl way within, and was mentally imagining the group forcing him to clamber up amidst the horrors of that dark and tiny space when Mnemosyne spoke up.

"Indeed I have," Mnemosyne with some satisfaction. This did not stop her from giving Geraldous a 'look' though. "We will shortly be investigating a realm beyond this one. Your presence and... er... Blathmac's will be required. It looks peaceful enough, but it pays to be wary about such things. However, before that, report more fully on what you could see. Where does the path appear to lead and could you see any other features? Ruins? Barrows? Standing stone? People? Sheep? Signs of inhabitation? I expect more accuracy than 'nowt to worry about', Geraldous." While she listened to Geraldous' more detailed report, she waved Alicia back so that she too could give her input on their surroundings. The woman was back sooner than Mnemosyne had expected, so she guessed there would be something interesting to hear there.

"OK", he replied, "There's what looks like an old abandoned earth-fort. I don't like it, and by the look of it the sheep don't neither. At a first glance there's no one there, and no sign that there's been anyone there in a long time. That's your lot, of interest". He continued, describing the lay of the land.

Place for Alicia to do her stuff

"Very well," Mnemosyne said after hearing all of this and continued on in English for the benefit of the grogs. "I will lead the way in, which should not be difficult as I can see the way and Magus Ambrosius has cleared us a path with his Arts. Geraldous will take my hand, then Ambrosius his and Blathmac shall take Ambrosius'. Weapons at the ready you two, just in case and..." She glanced at Ambrosius for his input. "Will Alicia be with us, or stay behind with your brother?"

"She must stay behind, I fear." Ambrosius turned to Alicia. "Guard yourselves well, sister," he said affectionately. "While it is like to be uneventful while we explore, anything is, um, well, possible, as you and I have both learned the hard way."

He looked towards Mnemosyne, "We are planning a short look, yes? An hour or so at the most?"

"At the most", Mnemosyne agreed. "I think we should have the other the other magi along for anything longer than a quick fact finding mission. However, we do want to have something of substance to report."

Ambrosius nodded and turned back to Alicia. "I have heard of regios like this being places where even, ah... time flows differently, so we may be in there longer than we suspect, by your perspective. There are supplies enough on the horses to carry you through the night. If we have not returned by sun up tomorrow, Llewys has instructions on what to do."

She approved of Ambrosius cautious back up plan. Disappearing without trace into an unknown Regio would be embarrassing to say the least.

When all were ready, Mnemosyne took Geraldous by his free hand and lead the chain of people between the stones and into the Regio. With a deep breath and a mental inventory of his belongings, Ambrosius continued in after the maga and her shield grog, content that Blathmac would follow him.

Blathmac, a little bewildered by all this, gave a last glance at the animals. He didn't really understand why the magi wanted him to go with them, shouldn't his place be with the beasts? Still, the habit of obedience was strong in him, and so he followed.

Alicia watched them go, then looked around her carefully. She shivered slightly, then her instincts took hold. "Come Llewys, we might well make use of the time. Decline magus for me, and then maga." She looked for a place to sit as Llewys began his litany, "Magus, nominative, mage, vocative, magi, genitive ..."

Continued

Next page: Within the Barrow.