The Bavaria Castle

[Grandmaster]

*Grandmaster hands Cyc the keys to the suite and heads over to talk with Donovan.*

Excellent speech, Donovan. I too hope that the two great lands of former Vanir can come together again. Come, let's have a drink.

And no, Master Cyc, thank YOU! This is the finest wake I can imagine. If the good Prince had been here, I'm sure he would have enjoyed it. This is what he would have wanted. Now who's up for a game of darts?

 

[Donovan Zoi]

Thank you, Prince. I meant every word of it. Let's do that then, Sir Grandmaster. It will be honor to toss down a few with the new Prince of Vanir.

 

[Shaitan]

Cyc sees Rudy in a darkened alcove, talking earnestly with a woman in a homespun gown. The conversation is apparently not going well as Rudy's gestures get wilder and wilder the longer they talk. The woman turns her back on Rudy with a regal show that quite belies her apparel and walks briskly away from him. Rudy takes a few steps after her then stops and hangs his head in defeat.

The woman's path of retreat brings her close to Cyc and as she nears he can clearly see the resemblance she shares with Shaitan's daughters Ruth and Anja. This then must be Marie, Shaitan's estranged oldest daughter. Despite her obvious agitation, he steps out to intercept her.

Cyc: Lady Marie? You are Lady Marie, are you not?

Marie quickly wipes her sleeve across her tear stained face and musters up a regal stance.

Marie: Aye, I am. And you are Prince Cyc, the benefactor of this wake. It is quite impressive. Both more and less than my father deserves but in any case quite inappropriate.

Cyc: Inappropriate? I do not understand what you mean, m'lady. We have observed all of the customs of his homeland.

Marie: It is inappropriate because he is not dead. He cannot be dead!

Marie's voice raises and a tinge of hysteria can be heard in her voice.

Marie: He came to visit me a mere two nights past. Just after I had retired for the evening he knocked on my door. We talked for the first time in many years. He apologized for being a stubborn traditionalist ass and I apologized for being willful and disobedient. He told me that he would make amends for the time we lost, that he would be with me now for all time!

The hysterical edge in her voice grows and she begins to cry uncontrollably.

Marie: Don't you see!? He cannot be dead. Your story of his passing is wrong. Those filthy English dogs lied to you. He was well and safe just 2 days past! Don't you see?!

Cyc tenderly draws the sobbing Marie into his arms and gives what comfort he can.

Cyc: Yes, Marie. Shaitan is with us now and forever. In our hearts and thoughts. Come with me, my Lady. I will introduce you to Brother Fox and Sister Dana. I think they can help you to understand what has happened.

Cyc supports Marie as he leads her out of the hall. He sends servants to fetch Fox and Dana. If anybody can explain the visit of a spirit it is the Spiritualists...

 

[McNulty]

Brother Fox and Sister Dana come over, and are introduced to the Lady Marie. Prince Cyc explains what she has told him. They both consider this for a moment before speaking...

Sister Dana: Firstly, allow us to offer our most sincere sorrows Lady Marie. Your father was loved by Spiritualists. If not for the holy escort of Brother Alexander, I am sure that all of us would be in attendance of this event.

Marie: But this is a sham. I keep telling Prince Cyc that my father is still alive. I told the castellion the same thing, but they will not believe me.

Brother Fox: But they do believe you Lady. It will be difficult for you to accept, but your father is no more. He did die at sea after his boat went down.

Marie: (voice raising in desperation) But I tell you that I saw him!!!

Sister Dana: Yes, but after his death. What you saw was his immortal soul. Prince Shaitan wanted to make things right with you. His desire for this was so strong, that death itself could not stop him. As Spiritualists, we believe that the Great Spirits can grant the dead leave to visit the living. Mostly, it is to warn of a great danger, or to comfort one in great distress. This is what has happened. Your father visited you beyond the pale of death.

Cyc, Rudy, Brother Fox and Sister Dana allow Marie time for this to sink in. She is torn: she is no Spiritualist and so does not believe what they believe, but she wants to believe that her father visited her to make things right with her...

Marie: (slowly) I know that my father had a great respect for you Spiritualists. He never officially adopted your religion, unlike his illegitemet son, Grandmaster, but I know he believed in some of your doctrine. As for me, I do not know if there is anything to your religion, but I want to believe that my father visited me. The years we spent apart after our parting were hard for us to bear, and when I was told that he was lost, I confess that I wished things had been different. Maybe what you say is right, and he did visit me from what you call the Afterlife, I cannot say. All I can say with certainty is that I am better for his visit.

Prince Cyc: My Lady. I am no Spiritualist either, but I believe you when you say your father visited you. I know the power of his love for you, and I believe that death would not have stopped him from seeing you. Take comfort in that in the days to come.

Rudy: Come my Lady, come and be with your family. They wish for you to rejoin them.

Gently, Rudy leads Lady Marie towards her mother and sisters. Prince Cyc turns to the Spiritualists...

Cyc: I thank you for your words. Your Spirits are generous to let their dead visit their loved ones.

Brother Fox: Their love knows no limits.

Cyc: What will you do now that your benefactor is dead?

Sister Dana: What do you mean?

Cyc: Well, he owned the Demigrand Hall, did he not? The place where your Mission now stands. With his death, his property is no longer yours to use. It belongs to his heirs. His will made no mention of you having any right to continue to worship there. What will you do?

Brother Fox and Sister Dana are silent. They had not even considered the ramifications of Prince Shaitan's death in that way, so mournful were they. Surely the new owner of the Demigrand Hall would not evict them...

 

[Grandmaster]

*Grandmaster happened to have been walking by the scene when he heard these words spoken by Cyc. He appraoches the Spiritualists.*

GM: Brother Fox, Sister Dana, good to meet you. Sorry we have not been properly introduced yet. I am Grandmaster, Heir to Vanir, and the first citizen of this land to convert to Spiritualism. As the Marillion, and therefore the Mission, has been passed down to me, do not fear for your place of worship. As long as the banner of Vanir flies, and as long as I sit on the throne, Spiritualism will have a home in the Marillion. Come hell or foreign hordes, you and your comrades will be secure within my halls. I swear it.

 

[Zarn]

Originally posted by Grandmaster
*Grandmaster happened to have been walking by the scene when he heard these words spoken by Cyc. He appraoches the Spiritualists.*

GM: Brother Fox, Sister Dana, good to meet you. Sorry we have not been properly introduced yet. I am Grandmaster, Heir to Vanir, and the first citizen of this land to convert to Spiritualism. As the Marillion, and therefore the Mission, has been passed down to me, do not fear for your place of worship. As long as the banner of Vanir flies, and as long as I sit on the throne, Spiritualism will have a home in the Marillion. Come hell or foreign hordes, you and your comrades will be secure within my halls. I swear it.

Grandmaster, you are allowed to be a Spiritualist and a Jedi at the same time. Are you still interested in the Jedi arts?

 

[McNulty]

The two Spiritualists warmly accept Grandmaster's assurances...

Brother Fox: Prince Grandmaster, we are humbled indeed by your words. We should have had no doubts concerning the generosity of the son of Prince Shaitan. We thank you for your words, in what must be an especially sorrowful time for you.

Sister Dana: Your new family awaits you, including the estranged Lady Marie. Pray do what you can to bridge the gap of years that have seperated the family of Shaitan.

Brother Fox: We have had a strange experience at Tsort Castle. Even now, we are unsure of its occupants. I hear that you yourself have had some dealings with Disorganizer since his return from pilgrimage. Have you an opinion on this matter?

 

[Grandmaster]

Sadly, Master Zarn, while the martial arts of the Jedi intrigue me, I have found that the way of the Jedi is not the life for me. I was glad to serve next to you during the escort of Alexander, and I am proud to be a friend of the Jedi, but my place is not in your temple. Honestly, I was somewhat disillusioned by Master Raven1er, who was theoretically my Master, if not so much in person. However, you are all welcome at the Marillion at any time.

 

[Grandmaster]

*Grandmaster looks around nervously before pulling the Spiritualists aside. He begins to speak in a hushed voice.*

GM: Aye, I have. I served under Lord Dis for many years during the Tsort Administration of Lancre, and he has been a friend to me. But since his return, he has been acting.... strange.... to say the least. He came into my shop requesting armor with a mechanism for a constant blood drip. Apparently, he also queried the local Pub about blood deliveries. Now he's started some organization for monsters in Tsort Castle, with I ordered destroyed as my last act as Military Advisor to Lancre. I fear that either he has lost his mind, which I find most plausible, or that he is indeed a vampire of some sort. As I'm sure you have, I have consulted the Book of Spiritualism and found a passage in it about such creatures. But surely they cannot exist. I'll see what I can find out, and I can assure you now that such behavior in Vanir will be stamped out with extreme prejudice. As to my new family, I will talk to them shortly and see if I cannot fix that which is broken.

*The three now walk back into the light and Grandmaster begins to speak loudly so that no-one will suspect what they had talking about.*

GM: Aye, 'tis a good idea Brother! I could use another drink myself! Barkeep, your finest wine for these fine folks!

 

[Zarn]

Originally posted by Grandmaster
Sadly, Master Zarn, while the martial arts of the Jedi intrigue me, I have found that the way of the Jedi is not the life for me. I was glad to serve next to you during the escort of Alexander, and I am proud to be a friend of the Jedi, but my place is not in your temple. Honestly, I was somewhat disillusioned by Master Raven1er, who was theoretically my Master, if not so much in person. However, you are all welcome at the Marillion at any time.

Alright Grandmaster, your always welcome in the Temple and so are the other Spiritualists. May the Spirits protect you from harm. I'm off for now. So long.

 

[McNulty]

The Spiritualists nod to Prince Grandmaster and have a drink with him. Their conversation continues awhile. They share past experiences with Prince Shaitan, and discuss the continuing threat of terrorism and invasion that Fanatika must face. Brother Fox and Sister Dana listen spellbound as Grandmaster recounts a mission when he was in the Fanatikan Resistance, fighting the dishonourable Indians. At length, they part, Grandmaster heads off to his new family, the Spiritualists are drawn into a conversation with Prince Eklektikos...

 

[Cyc]

* Cyc surveys the damage, and smiles. The laughter, the tears and the love still echo in the main hall. Workers have commenced clean-up. A slow process. The morning light is streaming in, as one of the workers starts to extinguish the candles. I halt his work and instruct that the candles are to burn out, not to be taken away. We are all still healing and the last flickering light from the candles matches constant images of Shaitan flashing across the mind's eye. Cyc approaches the long table on the circular stage that proudly displays the Urn. It is now covered with flowers and other tokens of esteem. Cyc takes the velvet cloth and lays the dagger in it, folding and wrapping it securely. This will be sent to Grandmaster by special delivery. The Urn will stay here, placed in the Fanatika National Art Museum. The fine sculptered beauty of the serpentine marble would qualify the Urn as a work of Art, the Museum will have a grand alcove built in to display it. This will allow all Fanatikans to be reminded of Lord Shaitan. He picks up the Urn and the dagger and heads upstairs. Enough work for today. *

 

[FortyJ]

As Lord Cyc oversees the restoration of his great hall, a messenger hurries in and approaches carrying a rolled up parchment bearing the seal of the President of Fanatika. He hands the parchment to Cyc.

Cyc breaks the wax seal and unrolls the parchment...

<><><><><><>

Lord Cyc,

Please accept my gratitude for your gracious hospitality last night. I certainly hope you will assist the scribes in compiling Prince Shaitan's biography, complete with all those wondrous stories told last night in his honor. With your guidance, I'm sure it would be a book worthy of his greatness. Upon completion, I would like very much to make it the first mass-produced work printed on our new printing press here in the capitol.

Additionally, because of your connection to the late prince, and because of your dedication to Fanatika, I wanted you to be the first to know this...

By Royal Decree, the ides of each term (ie, the 15th of each month) shall henceforth be known as President's Day in all of Fanatika. Furthermore, on that day, the flags at the palace shall be flown at half mast until the sun peaks in the sky, to honor the memory of our greatest president, Prince Shaitan.

FortyJ
President of Fanatika

 

[Shabbaman]

Congratulations, Sir Grandmaster!

 

[Plexus]

Sir Grandmaster, you must keep me posted on what you know. I am currently camped outside Tsort castle and there are strange happenings at night. I have lost 7 of my finest musket knights.

 

[Cyc]

*Cyc is posting his 2900th post in the Bavaria Castle. Hopefully this will help the Three Kings Piano Delivery Truck find us.*

 

[Octavian X]

Ah, Master Cyc. I hope our recent arguements in Bavaria haven't caused a souring of our friendship. I would like to take this chance to apoligize for upsetting you over the past week. I would also like to take this chance to have the penguin, and to dine with you also. Please, order anything for yourself. I'd be more than happy to pick up the tab.

 

[Cyc]

Well, thank you, Octavian X. I will join you for Dinner. I shall have the Filet Mignon and we shall split at least one bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon, which will go well with both meals. Sara shall serve us.

I am not upset with you at all and I apologize if I have upset you. We are merely trying to move this great Nation forward in the directions we see as important. It is the nature of PI's to present our views on issues relating to the law. Although some of us are more cut-throat than others, I don't see this in your actions. You have maintained a high standard of proffesionalism throughout.

* POP * Cyc opens the first bottle while the meals are being prepared, and pours two large goblets of the Master-blend wine.

I remember that you once wanted some of this wine for your cellars, Octavian X. I shall have a case delivered to your home tomorrow. No, wait. Some might see that as a bribe. We wouldn't want any of that. But please, have your fill tonight. We can talk about cellars some other time.

Ah, good. Here comes the food. I just love filet mignon. Especially with these salads and breads. Enjoy.

 

[Cyc]

Oh, no. Octavian's passed out on the table again....

Well, luckily he left 100g on the table. Let's see,....no tip. Figures.

Octavian X - Presidential Penguin Plate.......50g
Octavian X - Cyc's Filet Mignon.....................50g
Total.........100g

Bank Deposit = 80g

 

[Grandmaster]

Well, Lord Cyc, it would seem business is at a standstill again. Regardless, I'd like a filet mignon and a bottle of your finest wine. Thank you.