The Reliquary

Roma Freeley - the "pikey" [ Chris ]

Tue 15-Apr-1603 (5-Apr)

On Long Island.

Three foreigners were down: one dead and two unconscious. Roma [Chris] took out the magic sand (the sand that had changed Todd into Tess) and scooped a small lump into each of the unconscious men's mouths. Then stepped back to watch.

Ab Siddy - the "hedge wizard" [ Darryl ]

Ab Siddy [Darryl] surreptitiously cast his reflexive Camouflage spell, and padded down to the edge of the woods where it met the beach. There were four foreigners there, out in the surf, using their jolly boat as cover, getting ready to leave. One was shouting orders.

"Mantén tu mierda abajo! Esos hijos de putas atacarán en cualquier momento."

Ab mumbled to himself "they be Spaniards," and watched them for a bit, then returned to the group.

Elrick - the "sailor" [ Ian ]

By the time Ab got back, one of the unconscious Spaniards was bucking and writhing, and the other one was convulsing so violently that his body formed a hoop and his ankles touched the back of his head. There was a sickening cracking of bone and then he shrieked hysterically. He rolled on his side and was still. Roma approached the stationary man warily, then recoiled in horror. The skin and flesh had started to melt off the wretch's bones.

The second Spaniard fared a little better. He started to cough violently, just like Tess the other day. And like Tess, he started coughing his insides out... then he just turned ... inside out, and coughed out a young woman. She had dusky skin, and jet black hair. Like Tess, she was unconscious and non-responsive, so  Roma bound her up,  leashed and gagged her, taking his own sweet time, enough to steal some exquisite cuddles.

Deacon F. O'Reilly - the "priest" [ Shane ]

Suddenly, there was a distant bang. Elrick [Ian] (using his navy knowledge) instantly recognized it as the blast from a canon. A second or two later, the leaves whispered above, and motes of dust danced around the party on the ground, as a load of grape-shot arrived at high speed. Most of the party were hit by the flying balls and wounded. They all scurried for cover.

Deacon O'Reilly [Shane], uninjured himself, moved from person to person and used his Healing blessings  to administer to each of the wounds.

Art - the "solider" [ Jeff ]

By now, out on the water, the four Spaniards were rowing back to their ship (moored half a mile off the island).

The tide had reached its lowest, and was so low that rocky reefs were starting to show in a ring around the island. Down the coast a little was the reason the group (and presumably the Spanish) was here; a wrecked ship was sitting, half submerged. It looked ten to twenty years old.

"Could be from the Spanish Armada," observed Roma. "That was fifteen years back."

Tess (Todd)

The group moved adjacent to the wreck, with the gagged and bound Spanish sailor-now-girl in tow, maintaining their cover in the woods. The Spanish ship fired a few more desultory blasts of grape-shot at their old location.

Elrick, who was a fair swimmer, swam out to the the wreck. He poked about, not willing to risk entering the dangerous hold proper, but he managed to get into the Captain's cabin where he found a sealed wooden tube. He returned it to the group. Father broke the tube's wax seal and opened it, and was greeted with a sheet of velum covered in Spanish writing and a small map of the British Isles. No-one could read Spanish, so they rolled it up and returned it to the tube.

Elrick returned to the wreck and poked around blindly at the gash in the ship's hold. He fished about and picked up something small and heavy. He cleared the muck off it; it was gold! He took it back to the group.

Father recognized it as St Agatha, and that it was a reliquary. It contained some thick red liquid - presumably the Saint's blood.

By now the tide had risen too high to allow Elrick to explore any more of the wreck.

"We need to get the Dreadful (English warship back in Baltimore) onto the Spanish ship there," stated Art [Jeff]. "They will take care of it."

It was getting dark.

They made a decision that would almost cost them their lives.

"We need to get back to Baltimore fast. Let's go now."

They hauled out their skiff, and slid it into the sea, and all clambered aboard, including the Spanish girl prisoner, who was still bound and leashed. Elrick manned the rudder and they set sail, into the breakers, with Roma clutching on at the bow. Roma had excellent night vision [ Fudge gift night vision which gives him vision like a star-light scope ] which was a good thing, because there was no moon and it was overcast.

Elrick dead-reckoned [ a Fudge gift can't get lost ] to Horse Island, and guessed this trip would take five hours. Already, there was a big swell and this was still in the lee of Long Is.

As they continued, the sea got bigger and bigger. However, only Roma could see this, and he would shout to Elrick above the din of the roaring sea, "Left! Left! Hard left! I mean the other left! Right! Left!". The wave tops were beginning to break, and so a wall of water would rush down the length of the skiff, utterly drenching everyone. In the pitch black, no-one could see the slightest thing, and Roma didn't always get a chance to scream "Wave!". All they could do was bail...  and bail ... and bail as water pounded and soaked them. Occasionally, the clouds would part and there'd be a few stars visible, but all this did was to highlight the horrendous silhouette of an approaching wave, twice the height of the mast, as it roared and foamed towards them.

Time passed, waves crashed, wretches bailed, Roma screamed, but Elrick's skill and determination prevailed [ four boating rolls made; had any failed, it would have broken up the boat, ... and no-one could swim, except Elrick ] and the sea dropped as they entered the bay of Horse Is. Friendly twinkling lights shone from the house overlooking. The group staggered up the path and were greeted by the inhabitants, (most of whom they knew from two nights ago anyway).

They were given dry clothes and warm beds. Father took the double bed with both Tess and the Spanish prisoner, platonically, to protect the girls from Roma.

In the morning, Father had a strange dream. He was floating out of his body, outside in the pre-dawn gloom, in the garden here. He looked down and gasped; he was a woman, or in the body of a woman, and she was trying to pee, but she was standing up, making a mess. He jumped, a hypnic jerk, and woke up, back in the bed. Tess was not next to him, though the Spanish girl was.

A short while later, Tess arrived back to bed. The Spanish girl was still tied up, and she had wet the bed. So Tess took her outside, while Father got the bedding changed.

Wed 16-Apr

After breakfast, they said their good byes and headed back out into the harbour, to cross over to Baltimore. This trip would be another six hours.

The swell had dropped a bit, and they were now running with the waves, so the trip wasn't so terrifying. But they still got utterly soaked.

They passed Lamb Island after three hours, and from then on, the sea got considerably smaller. They arrived in Baltimore early afternoon.

They all rushed to the garrison. Captain Carmichael, Baltimore commander, was summoned.

Straight away, he ordered a runner to be sent to the Brig Dreadful with a letter asking it to engage the Spanish.

The Spanish prisoner was questioned first.

"We found this Spanish girl on Long Island," said Private Art. "Maybe she is a ship's whore. She can't speak English."

The Capt summoned a Sergeant Suarez who could speak Spanish. Suarez questioned the girl, while everyone watched. The discussion was quite animated and Suarez and the girl ended up shouting at each other. He struck her across the face, and she fell to the ground.

"She claims she was changed into lady, by magic!" spluttered Suarez.

They all laughed.

"'She' was Spanish sailor hhoo was on ze island and accosted by your group, Private Art, and you... you changed hhher into a woman. I hhave asked hhher many time and she no change hher story."

"Put her in irons and throw her in the cells," said Carmichael. "We'll work on her later."

The girl was dragged off weeping.

"What will happen to her?" asked Roma.

"Most likely she'll end up as a comfort girl in Cork."

Captain Carmichael questioned the group about their trip. He didn't ask about Todd Unctuous nor Tess, probably assuming she was a maid or camp follower or whore, but he was particularly interested in the Long Is wreck.

The map tube parchment was unrolled on the table, and Suarez read it.

"These orders. For the ship Santa Maria. Eet give landing sites on England south coast. Eet not say much more."

The Captain then started asking many details about the wreck. Father tried to keep the presence of the gold St Agatha reliquary secret, but honest Elrick told all. The Captain confiscated the priceless item.

"This will belong to the Church of Ireland," he said.

"What about the Catholic church?" asked Father. "That is a Catholic reliquary!"

"What part of 'Church of Ireland' do you not understand?"

Father scowled.

"Will we get any of the treasure from the wreck?" asked Roma.

"You'll get your share. Plus you will get great thanks from the Primate."

"The Primate...?"

The Captain sighed. He'd have to explain this all again. "There are two Primates, that is, two heads of the Church of Ireland: the 'Primate of Ireland' and the 'Primate of All Ireland'. The former is the Archbishop of Dublin who is His Grace Adam Loftus. That latter, the superior of the two, is the Archbishop of Armagh who is His Grace Henry Ussher."

[ Queue monkey jokes ]