Session 10 - Lingering Threats

GM Observations/Summary
- In writing this up, I have just become aware that it is difficult to find a wholly natural place on the Stair because there must always be a structure with a Door in the domain in order for the Lord to pass through. Interesting. I shall think on this a bit further.

Session 10 - Lingering Threats

Realm 1 - The Middle Kingdom
- Having won the Battle of the Four Winds, Grant and Ethan offered to take the Emperor onto the Grand Stair and restore him. The Emperor accepted.

Grand Stairway Sections 1 and 2
- Ethan leads the way on the stair as Grant recognises him as having a stronger connection to his surroundings than Grant does. (GM's note - Grant is sufficiently aware that Ethan has a significantly higher Psyche) It takes Ethan a few hours before he finds a pale blue door that feels right.

Realm 14 - Heavenly Garden
- The three of them enter a beautiful garden of fruit trees and fresh flowing water. Clouds billow around - they are truly in the heavens. The fruit has restorative properties and the Emperor is returned to youth and health. Grant and Ethan also try some of the fruits but are not affected in the same way - the fruit is exceptionally good, but it does not change them.
- GM's note - David and I discussed whether the heavenly garden should be guarded and we decided 'no'. We didn't want this location to be a significant side-plot, so deliberately got in and out quickly. He's cured…. move on…
- Impressed by his transformation, the Emperor offered earthly rewards to both Grant and Ethan. Ethan said that he would like to visit the Royal Library, and have access to a forge - the request was granted. Grant used his opportunity with the Emperor to deliver a warning to him, and encourage him to think about the welfare of his subjects. The Emperor listened obediently as he was still under the impression that Grant and Ethan were servants of the gods.

Grand Stairway Sections 1 and 2
- Grant, Ethan and the Emperor then retraced their steps back to the Middle Kingdom. By this point in time, Grant had convinced Ethan of the need to return to their home domain before heading to the Middle Kingdom and journey to the royal library there. 

Realm 1 - The Middle Kingdom
- Hence the Emperor was escorted back to the Temple of the Four Winds, where he was greeted by the Shang Loyalists. Grant and Ethan then swiftly departed.

Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1985 (Brown Door)
- Returning home to the manor house around midday, they found themselves once again with a pile of letters and no milk in the fridge. Quickly sorting through the mail, they found a letter relating to John's will and Ethan decided to pocket it for later reading as both were hungry.
- Both quickly changed their clothes and stepped outside the house, and were surprised to find a number of cats and ravens still in residence in the area. Ethan drew up a shopping list and the two of them headed down to the shops to buy milk, bread… plus cat and bird food. They then stopped at the local pub, the Tipsy Elephant, ordered some pints and read through the letter.
- The letter requested their presence in York in three days time (York was about 5 hours away by car) in order to hear the contents of John's will. Ethan and Grant quickly decided to stay put for a few days before heading back to the Middle Kingdom. They bought more supplies and headed back to the house.
- The cats and ravens behaved very strangely when being offered food. They even lined up and took measured portions of food before stepping aside and allowing the next in line to eat their fill. 
- In the meantime, Grant fished out a postcard from the pile of unread letters and discovered it was from John (sent before he died). Again it made reference to the strange door that they had stepped through, but also warned them to stay away from the attic. This of course immediately attracted their attention, however Ethan decided to talk to the cats to find out why they were still hanging around the house.
- The cats and ravens could understand the spoken word but could not themselves speak. A series of yes/no questions were asked and answered, and a picture was gradually built up. The cats and ravens had been threatened. It was not something that they could see, but it was something that they could hear and it had been and gone. Ethan was shown a tree that had 'vanished', replaced only with a tiny seedling; and also rows of tiny graves. Inside one of the grave was a cracked egg. The conversation continues for some time, but finally Ethan and the animals grew frustrated with one another as there were some key concepts that they were unable to communicate. The animals were clear that whatever had killed their kin could not be stopped by either Ethan or Grant, and that the thing would return, but they were also unwilling to leave the realm or even stay inside the house.
- Grant had an idea and drove off, leaving Ethan in the house. As he sipped on a hot cup of tea, the idea came to him to explore the attic. Upstairs he found a door with no lock and no key - and yet it was locked and barred from the inside. Of course he was able to open it (being a Lord of Gossamer) and he found a very dusty room with no exterior windows. There were two items of power in the room which Ethan could sense - a dusty old lamp (which was not lit) and a beautiful silver key. An old painting was on the wall which shared some kinship with John - perhaps a distant relative. Ethan pocketed the key and went back downstairs to think the situation over.
- Grant returned with two Scrabble sets, and the animals were able to move pieces around and spell out basic words, speeding up the communication. It turned out that the house was Warded, and the animals were able to demonstrate that there were tiny markings on the windows and doors of the house. During the exchange, it occurred to Ethan to pick up one of the Ravens and he stroked its body and tried talking to it (via mind-to-mind). 
- To both their surprise, this worked and the Raven began scolding him that he should have done this long ago. (GM's note - David told me that the Raven spoke with the tone of a high school teacher, and he did a pretty good impression of a disappointed teacher scolding a small child.) The information then tumbled out that the house had Wards upon it that had been weakened due to the amount of activity that Grant and Ethan had triggered by repeatedly opening the Door. The Wards were only active if one of them were inside the house, otherwise they were substantially weaker. The Wards would keep 'bad things out'. The things that had attacked the house were servants of another power which had long since left, and were following their last instructions. They were strong but very slow - the Ravens would give them days of notice when they returned. As for why the Cats and Ravens did not want to stay in the house, they were concerned that if they stayed in the house that there would not be sufficient food if Grant and Ethan went away - and they didn't want to starve.

And that's about where we left it. We now have a way of 'talking to the animals' to get information, there is an attic to explore, a strange will, and some bodiless creature which has been attacking the house ……