Well, back to wrapping up the Lord Derby story I think :)
The shrine Samual opened the third door along and Elizabeth smiled at him and went through first. As Samual followed her he felt as though he'd missed a step down: his foot seemed to land heavily and jarringly, but when he looked at his feet there was no step to be seen. Then he looked up and realised that he wasn't in an official state meeting room. The King was stood by a small altar that was covered in a purple cloth and had two old-looking books half-stacked, rather haphazardly, on it. Behind the altar was Warlock Gray, who appeared to reading the titles of a some books on a shelf against the wall; not far from the King's left-side was Lord Derby, and sat on the only chair in the room and looking rather pleased with himself was Lord Vileburn. Elizabeth, who looked very slightly startled as well, quickly took herself off to Lord Vileburn's side, so Samual carefully adjusted himself towards where Lord Derby was standing, without actually acting as though he was associated with him. "Welcome," said the King. "We are waiting for- ah, I think they have arrived." Samual looked towards where he'd come in, which was just a blank patch of wall, and was once again startled by seeing the Lord Martial Redstone seemingly step through it. A moment later the Lord Thaumaturgical Verbilious appeared, looked around, and smiled beneficently. "Thank-you all for attending," said the King. "Most of you will know that this is Queen Mary's Shrine, but for those of you that haven't been here before, this room is actually located quite deep within the Palace and has had all its original entrances sealed up about three hundred years ago. We're using it because it's secure: magically, physically and spiritually. We have representatives from the three arms of my Council: Redstone, Verbilious, Vileburn." The King indicated each of them as he said their names. "We have experts in recent events: Ernest, Samual, Elizabeth." Again, he gestured to each as he spoke. "And we have Warlock Gray who I have reserved till last but certainly not because he's least. In fact, I suspect that the Druids, whom he represents, have a job ahead of them that none of you will envy." Warlock Gray looked up, and the King nodded to him. He faced the group fully, placed both hands on the altar, and leaned forward. "We're certain that recent events in Carcosa are not the doing of the King in Yellow," he said. A faint white light shimmered around his fingers. "We are equally certain that the King in Yellow is as unconcerned with us as it is with most organic life, but it seems to have involved because it thinks we can be useful to it. We now know that the King in Yellow is one of at least four beings of similar power, and we are certain that Labdaris is not dead and is aware of this as well. This alone would constitute grounds for raising a Security Alert and acting. However, we are also now certain, after interrogation of the woman calling herself Lady Grace, that his Polish Majesty has been researching demonology and has achieved something abhorrent. This also is grounds for a Security Alert."
The primary Constellations were recognized most everywhere, with any number of spaces and markers to show for it. But for a Constellation like the Sisters, like other Constellations outside the primary array, it was collected under the banner of what folk called the Weird Stars. And in any given marker, there was only so much room to represent any number of Constellations rarely worshiped outside their scattered communities. There was some visible recognition of the Sisters in a few parts of the Republic around Sestry, but not much more in the wider world beyond, apart from some specialized academic situations.
But even within Sestry, there weren’t exactly lodges or shrines to the Sisters, not as there were to other Constellations elsewhere. There were visual representations, but worship of the Sisters wasn’t centered on single places. Between the seven, each Sister encompassed the various domains—life, death, strength, creation, war, all the rest—and together they suffused everything, encouraged everything. They were often invoked—in word or in gesture, counting the seven on each finger, from the index to the pinky and back—but a person living their life, mindful of their movement through the world, was their marker in the world, a living shrine. ===== Working out a bit of lore regarding the Mechaniker Dad Friend—the campaign world's cosmology is centered on worship of celestial bodies, primarily stars; and the character I refitted to this setting originally has connection with the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. And I figured if I'm gonna go to the trouble to port over a character, I might as well port over a whole constellation.
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Well, back to wrapping up the Lord Derby story I think :)
The shrine
Samual opened the third door along and Elizabeth smiled at him and went through first. As Samual followed her he felt as though he'd missed a step down: his foot seemed to land heavily and jarringly, but when he looked at his feet there was no step to be seen. Then he looked up and realised that he wasn't in an official state meeting room.
The King was stood by a small altar that was covered in a purple cloth and had two old-looking books half-stacked, rather haphazardly, on it. Behind the altar was Warlock Gray, who appeared to reading the titles of a some books on a shelf against the wall; not far from the King's left-side was Lord Derby, and sat on the only chair in the room and looking rather pleased with himself was Lord Vileburn. Elizabeth, who looked very slightly startled as well, quickly took herself off to Lord Vileburn's side, so Samual carefully adjusted himself towards where Lord Derby was standing, without actually acting as though he was associated with him.
"Welcome," said the King. "We are waiting for- ah, I think they have arrived."
Samual looked towards where he'd come in, which was just a blank patch of wall, and was once again startled by seeing the Lord Martial Redstone seemingly step through it. A moment later the Lord Thaumaturgical Verbilious appeared, looked around, and smiled beneficently.
"Thank-you all for attending," said the King. "Most of you will know that this is Queen Mary's Shrine, but for those of you that haven't been here before, this room is actually located quite deep within the Palace and has had all its original entrances sealed up about three hundred years ago. We're using it because it's secure: magically, physically and spiritually. We have representatives from the three arms of my Council: Redstone, Verbilious, Vileburn." The King indicated each of them as he said their names. "We have experts in recent events: Ernest, Samual, Elizabeth." Again, he gestured to each as he spoke. "And we have Warlock Gray who I have reserved till last but certainly not because he's least. In fact, I suspect that the Druids, whom he represents, have a job ahead of them that none of you will envy."
Warlock Gray looked up, and the King nodded to him. He faced the group fully, placed both hands on the altar, and leaned forward.
"We're certain that recent events in Carcosa are not the doing of the King in Yellow," he said. A faint white light shimmered around his fingers. "We are equally certain that the King in Yellow is as unconcerned with us as it is with most organic life, but it seems to have involved because it thinks we can be useful to it. We now know that the King in Yellow is one of at least four beings of similar power, and we are certain that Labdaris is not dead and is aware of this as well. This alone would constitute grounds for raising a Security Alert and acting. However, we are also now certain, after interrogation of the woman calling herself Lady Grace, that his Polish Majesty has been researching demonology and has achieved something abhorrent. This also is grounds for a Security Alert."
Greg - woo, clandestine meeting! Those are the best kind... in stories at least.
Consider me intrigued and fascinated and looking forward to the next bit.
The primary Constellations were recognized most everywhere, with any number of spaces and markers to show for it. But for a Constellation like the Sisters, like other Constellations outside the primary array, it was collected under the banner of what folk called the Weird Stars. And in any given marker, there was only so much room to represent any number of Constellations rarely worshiped outside their scattered communities. There was some visible recognition of the Sisters in a few parts of the Republic around Sestry, but not much more in the wider world beyond, apart from some specialized academic situations.
But even within Sestry, there weren’t exactly lodges or shrines to the Sisters, not as there were to other Constellations elsewhere. There were visual representations, but worship of the Sisters wasn’t centered on single places. Between the seven, each Sister encompassed the various domains—life, death, strength, creation, war, all the rest—and together they suffused everything, encouraged everything. They were often invoked—in word or in gesture, counting the seven on each finger, from the index to the pinky and back—but a person living their life, mindful of their movement through the world, was their marker in the world, a living shrine.
=====
Working out a bit of lore regarding the Mechaniker Dad Friend—the campaign world's cosmology is centered on worship of celestial bodies, primarily stars; and the character I refitted to this setting originally has connection with the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. And I figured if I'm gonna go to the trouble to port over a character, I might as well port over a whole constellation.
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