Bandon to Kinsale

Sat 3-May-1603 (23-Apr) continued...

Elrick [Ian], after having scoped out the town of Bandon Bridge (the only crossing of the Bandon river), returned to the group (Roma [Chris], Art [Jeff], Ab [Darryl], Deacon Father [Shane], Baron [Deacon], Tess and Mrs Siddy) to report the gloomy news. Not only was the bridge patrolled, but the witch-finder's wagon was in town.

Since it was still raining, they found a barn and took cover. Then conversation ensued, where they explored various options:

• "Borrow" a boat  (there were a few moored, and even some on the south side). Con: might get caught and river was in flood.
• Elrick and Baron (the only non-witches) go across the bridge and walk upstream, with the party following on the south bank. Then throw a long rope across, and everyone get over via that. Con: the river is not a small stream, and was in flood.
• Head downstream to Kinsale at the mouth of the Bandon river. Con: slow
• Head south away from it all. Con: Mrs Siddy's sister lives in Cork.

Option three got the vote.

Sun 4-May

During Second Watch, the door to the barn was suddenly yanked open, and three lanterns filled the place with light.

"'Ere! What are ya lot doin' in our barn?!" came a gruff male voice.

This lantern-holders turned out to be the owners of the barn. Luckily, the party didn't do anything threatening, and tried to talk. When they offered the farmer, his wife and adult son a big bag of (copper) coins, rent for the night, that certainly calmed things down even more.  The wife even offered them all some hot stew and bread, and the farmer brought some watery ale.

The farmer's son made several attempts to get Tess to be his wife, but she refused. The Deacon clearly told him that she was destined for a convent, south of Cork.

In the morning, they further helped the farmer by cleaning out the barn - many hands make light work, and all that.

But when the farmer's son was seen saddling up his horse to take a cart to Bandon Bridge, the party was dead scared he would tell some soldiers in town about them. After the lad had gone, Art kept the farmer in conversation while the rest of the party melted away in ones and twos, and headed south-east.

1=Trachen Abbey, 2=Pealneen, 3=Rantzen

The rest of the day was wet and dreary. It was all rough farmland, small pockets of woods, and muddy tracks. There was no particular main road around these parts, since sensible folk would cross the Bandon at Bandon Bridge, and then follow the proper maintained road, on the north side of the river, down to Kinsale. So the going wasn't very easy.

They camped down that night in a copse of trees on the brow of a hill. The rain had stopped during the afternoon, and the night sky was broken cloud, so the half-moon provided substantial light.

Mon 5-May

It was a quiet night. The morning was sunny, so that raised everyone's spirits.

During the day, they skirted what looked like an abbey. Acres of brush-wood fences and hedge rows surrounded a group of wooden buildings and a central building made of stone: Trachen Abbey. ["1" on map]. But they weren't game to even approach the figures seen moving within.

That night, clear sky, and another copse on a hill.

Tue 6-May

During Second Watch ("Why do we bother with First Watch? It is always Second.") those awake suddenly blinked, and there were three figures nearby. Everyone was slapped and shaken awake. The figures were the size of children.

"'Ere! What are ya lot doin' in our copse?!" came a melodious descant voice from one of them.

Deference ruled the day.

"Your copse? We didn't know."

Conversation ensued in Irish Gaelic. As the party had guessed, these fellows were leprechauns. They were interested in iron (more arrows were surrendered), some of Ab's firewater, and pages from the Bible (of which Tess supplied a couple from Haggai "If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment...")

Ab Siddy, Father Deacon and Roma then struck up a religious doctrinal conversation, but the wee folk did not think too kindly to the acts of the church, both Catholic (esp the nearby Trachen Abbey) and Church of Ireland.

They parted on good terms. One gave Ab a four-leaf clover, which would hum when in the vicinity of a sidhe area. Just to help that the group would not make camp in such an area again.

The day was bright and sunny. The track they were on approached a village, Pealneen ["2" on map].

Low on supplies, they decided to send Elrick and Baron into the village to get some stuff. This trip was without incident and the two returned with eight loaves of bread, a wheel of cheese, a bag of apples and a demi-firkin [20 litres] of ale. They probably overspent, but they didn't care. It was nice to get some fresh food.

The Deacon's ale portion was severely rationed, with Tess taking up the role of the fussing mother hen. Knowing the Deacon's craving for drink in no-way matched his ability to handle it [he has the fault Susceptible to Poison], they didn't want him unconscious in a pool of vomit and urine after only the second mug.

With full-bellies, and a peevish Deacon, they made camp under the stars in another copse on a hill.

"No sidhe here," boasted Ab proudly, holding his four-leaf clover aloft.

Wed 7-May

It was a clear night. The moon was waxing to a sickle (new in two days), had just risen, but still provided a bit of light. Second Watch [!] could see a group of torches approaching.

Everyone was roused and they all tried to hide. Emphasis on the word "tried". It was a pathetic sight indeed, as everyone rushed around like Keystone Cops, bumping into trees, bumping into each other, and tripping over the now empty firkin, as they tried to climb trees, tried to hide, or tried to run.
Half the group were crouched down behind saplings or miniature bushes, and those that climbed the trees weren't hidden at all. [Someone threw a -4, so he had his head stuck in the empty barrel.]

Ab, gloatingly invisible in his magical Camouflage, shook his head sadly.

Elrick rushed off to one side - at least he was quiet.

Suddenly, a disheveled woman sprinted into the group; the exact geometric mean centre of the group (even allowing for Elrick's three standard-deviations off to the side to skew the mean). She didn't pay any attention to the poorly hidden souls, and she could not have failed to see them, as she careened headlong through.

Expecting the torch carriers, of which there were seven, to follow the lady's path, everyone left the pathetic safety of their hidden holes, got out their bows, and fired at the torches. Except for Art, who, after one arrow, began the laborious loading of his Spanish match-lock.

Arrows flew aplenty (Art, Baron, Ab, Roma, Elrick). The chasers had one crossbow between them, and it wasn't loaded. So, they soon realized the error of their ways, and did a turn-about and rushed off. A few were injured, and the cross-bow carrier was dropped, but none of the routers stopped for him.

The party fired a few arrows at the fleeing men until they had fled over the far hill, then went back to see to the dropped one. He was still alive, but unconscious, so the Deacon and Tess bandaged him and tied him to a tree.

"They will be back," growled Art.

Esther of Rantzen

The chase victim, the woman, having seen the rout, made her way back to the group. She introduced herself as Esther. She was an indentured slave and had recently become the bed-favourite of her master, the local plantation owner Henry Rantzen. Hence she had fled, but she was not very quiet with her stealthy moves, and had roused the plantation: "At least I can hide better than you clowns."

The Rantzen plantation ["3" on map] was "over yon hill". The thugs chasing were stable-hands and workers.

They all quickly packed-up and left, giving Rantzen a wide berth. The eastern sky was starting to glow.

Esther knew the area well, so they deftly avoided any trouble and made good progress. But worryingly, Esther had heard about the "Baltimore witches", and how they were on the run. She put two and two together and realized who the group was. But, a pragmatic girl, she didn't look a gift-horse in the mouth (or maybe a "free-from-slavery-horse"); she could even accept the obvious devil-spawn Ab, and did feel sorry for his mother.

Kinsale Dory

That afternoon, they arrived at the village of South Kinsale on the Kinsale harbour (mouth of the Bandon). Following normal protocol, Elrick, Baron, and now Esther too, went into the village. There was a cable-ferry service from this side over to the city of Kinsale on the far side. But there were soldiers about, and a squad stationed at the ferry itself.

Elrick reported back. Then the party came up with a cunning plan. Elrick would buy a boat from the local boatman, and then sail back to a quiet beach, around the coast from the village, to pick everyone up. Then they would sail up the coast, and into Cork harbour and thence to Corke. That boat trip would only take two days [dotted line on map].

So, Elrick went back with Esther to the boat-maker "O Donnell's Boats", and bought a 12-seat dory for 22 shillings. This was a good sum of money, but Mister O'Donnell was happy to take one of Elrick's Spanish doubloons.

On the Run

Mon 28-Apr-1603 (18-Apr) continued ...

Father O'Reilly, worried for his nephew, went into town to check out the barracks. He soon returned.

"Wit' two posts and all"

"They've built a huge pile of wood in th' town centre!" he spluttered "Wit' two posts and all. Methinks you two be guilty. Witches."

The parish cottage had a root cellar under the kitchen, so the Father hid the Deacon [Shane] and Tess down here, and then covered them with turnips, parsnips and onions. He would have used potatoes too, but these were still under UAT in England.

Sure enough, a bunch of soldiers arrived to arrest them both. The Father made up some sob story about them leaving and fleeing for Corke, so the soldiers did a desultory search, and left.

Tess and the Deacon really did then leave for Corke. They took a circuitous route through Baltimore, evaded the patrols, and hit the road. They had donned some lame-arse disguise, but it would not have fooled anyone; more good luck, than anything else. God smiles upon His own (even if they be a witch and a gender-confused priest(ess)).

At the same time, Elrick [Ian] was half-a-day ahead, on the Corke road, in pursuit of the other outlaws of the party: Ab Siddy [Darryl], Art [Jeff], Roma [Chris] and Mrs Siddy. Elrick could actually use the main road - he had nothing to hide, and thus he covered ground far faster than the shambling others. Not only did they have to travel slow so that Ab's mother could keep up with them, but they took goat tracks and other convoluted rambling walkways, to remain hidden from the road. A normal traveller could do Baltimore to Corke in two solid days, if he pushed hard, or three at a more leisurely pace. But by goat track, and off road, it'd take ten days or more.

Near Skibbereen, Art and Roma spotted Elrick as he strode manfully down the road. They intercepted him, and then all three (including Elrick) noticed that he was being tailed. A shadowy figure melted into the hedge row, 50 paces back - but not quick enough!

All three ambushed the wretch, pulled him out of the shrubbery, and threw him face to the ground.
He professed innocence, and claimed he was named Baron Bliss.

Baron was searched but he had nothing suspicious, except for a shiny shilling, 1603 minted.

He eventually confessed: He was sent to follow Elrick by Captain Carmichael, of the Baltimore barracks

"What do you do when you find him?" asked Art.

"Report to the soldiers in Bandon Bridge," said Baron. "To a Sergeant Tucky. Sergeant Ken Tucky. Password 'Kenneth'."

They were a bit suspicious until Art pointed out the glowing "PC" emblazoned on Baron's forehead.

[ DM note: Baron's player's real-life name is Deacon. So, to add to the confusion of NPC Father O'Reilly and Shane's Deacon Father O'Reilly, we add Deacon's Baron Bliss to the mix. Now we just need a relevantly named NPC Baron to complete the quartet. How about the Baron of Corke, from the famous Father family, named Deacon? Baron Deacon Father. ]

With that awkwardness out of they way, they all welcomed Baron into their band; a band of witches and child-killers. They insisted on their innocence, of course, but there was always a little voice of suspicion in the back of Baron's mind.

This little voice was not helped later into the night. About two hours before dawn, Second Watch spotted a figure. The moon was just three days past full, and it was a lovely clear night, so all was bright. It was a man figure with goats legs and horns.

"A devil!" cried Roma, in horror.

The figure spoke in broken Irish Gaelic. It wanted a toll. Art approached it and offered it some items. It was only interested in iron. So, they ended up giving it six iron arrow heads (from their stock of 45). It didn't (or couldn't) touch the iron, so pushed the arrowheads into a sack with a stick. Then loped off.

Meanwhile, Deacon and Tess, half a day back, camped down on the side of the road that night. Neither had any navigational skills, so they were on the actual main Corke road, mistakenly thinking that they were on a surreptitious side track. They had a quiet night, praise the Lord.


Tue 29-Apr

Because they were on the main road, Deacon and Tess made good speed, and, at day-end, caught up to the slow group near Ballywand. [ A useful contrivance to get the split party back together again. ]

Now Baron had to contend with two more convicted witches in the group. But Tess was a babe, so he didn't mind her so much. Though, the Deacon said he could magically cure (more evidence for witchcraft).

Later on in the day, Baron was on point. He noticed some suspicious figures on the track in the distance. Two men dressed with leather jerkins and cloaks. Roma and Elrick suspected they might be O'Donnells. They'd heard tales of these outlaws back in Baltimore. The O'Donnells were a faction of the Irish rebels who had been defeated in the Nine Years war (ended just this year), but had now gone guerrilla and they practically ruled the wilds, outside the influence of the English controlled towns.

So, rather than risk engaging with them, the party went off, cross-country, north towards the nearby hills.

That night it started to rain. So they had a miserable night.
Elrick and Tess had Weather Sense. Both predicted storm and heavy rain for the next few days.

Second Watch smelt human sweat from upwind. A quick check confirmed that it wasn't Ab (he was downwind). But it was too dark to investigate and they didn't want to light a lantern, so they let it go, and broke camp before light.

Wed 30-Apr

Up high on the hills, they got a good view of the surrounding area, despite the rain. The village of Ballynacarriga was off nearby.

Off to the north-west, there was a clearing in the woods, which was filled with tents and bivouacs. Maybe this was an O'Donnell camp.

Not daring to risk the camp, nor the village, they followed the track they were on northwards, deeper into the hills, and came to the Bandon river gorge. The river was running high, from all the recent rain. They followed this downstream on the south bank.

It was a wet, but quiet, night.

Thu 1-May

More wet trudging, all day, next to the Bandon river.

During the day, the rain got heavier and heavier. Towards dusk, they left the gorge and out onto plains. Here, it was no longer wilderness, and was cultivated and farmed. They found a barn and had a dry and uneventful night.

Fri 2-May

In the morning, the rain was still heavy.

Elrick and Baron went into the nearby village Curroughlickey for supplies. This village was about the halfway point, Corke to Baltimore, so it had an inn. Inside were four English soldiers in the common room. The soldiers were drinking and gambling, and paid no heed to the two.

Elrick and Baron had a good feed and a bath. Then got some supplies, and made their way back to the sheltering group.

Resupplied, the group upped sticks and travelled all day, cross country, finding another barn for the night.

Sat 3-May, Last Quarter

Bandon Bridge looking N

The rain was still heavy, so they trudged miserably to the east. The road here followed the Bandon river, so they stayed away from it and travelled cross country. It was muddy and tiresome, and they made very slow progress, bordering on "pathetic".

Near dusk, they came to the town of Bandon Bridge.

Again, Elrick scoped out the town, alone. Soldiers were on the actual bridge checking everyone who crossed.

The party needed to cross this bridge, because the road to Corke continued north (on the far side). This was the only bridge across the Bandon, until Kinsale 15 Irish miles [ 30 km ] to the south east at the mouth. And anyway, the road to Kinsale followed the river, on the far bank.

Due to the recent storm, the Bandon was in flood. But even with normal flow, it would be a difficult crossing if forded here. (21 cumecs)

As Elrick was leaving, he noticed that the witchfinder's wagon was here, outside the Bandon Inn. Oh dear.

The Rescue

Sat 26-Apr (16-Apr) continued ...

Later in the night, Art [ Jeff ], Ab [ Darryl ] and Roma [ Chris ], hiding out on Coney Island, heard someone approaching. It was Art's mate from the barracks, Paddy O'Driscal.

Art's crime was still only AWOL, but Paddy thought he was in a lot more trouble than that. Paddy had over-heard shouting from Captain Carmichael's office when the midshipman from the HMS Dreadful had come to tell the news of yesterday's incident at Stakes Island.

So, Art did wonder what this was about, but he was not brave enough to return to see. The punishment for AWOL was 12 lashes. Or 100 if it became Desertion. (Or death if they were in battle.)

Art told Paddy to tell Elrick [ Ian ], at the Squire's Daughter, who could investigate in the morning.

Sun 27-Apr

Father O'Reilly had had a rough night. He took the Deacon [ Shane ] aside.

"I be worried for ya, Deacon." he said. "I had nightmares about this, but it'll be today or tomorra when the autority from Cork arrives  What you confessed to me on Wednesday, was a holy sum, I be thinkin'. They could of be sendin' the someone pow'rful to investigate and to inquisit."

This did nothing to instill any confidence into the Deacon.

Elrick went to St Patricks for the Terce service. St Patricks was the Church of Ireland denomination and was where the officers (who were all English) tended to perform their Sunday religious requirements. Sure enough, both the barrack officers and HMS Dreadful officers were all there.

After the service, outside the church, Elrick got to speak to Lieutenant Matthews (Art's immediate commander), but he wasn't very forthcoming and didn't even admit that Art was wanted for AWOL. He said Art was visiting a sick cousin in Old Court (nearby village). When Elrick asked about the shouting, he got very suspicious, so Elrick edged away, and mingled with another group.

He spoke with some midshipmen from the Dreadful. They, too, were cagey and didn't admit that the Dreadful had even been to Stakes Island. Interestingly, none of them recognized Elrick, even though he was quite prominent on the stern of the shallop yesterday (while he manned the tiller during its manoeuvres around the Golden Hind and the Dreadful in the waters of Stakes Island bay).

Yet,  Art, who was further forward in the shallop and not at all prominent, was somehow noticed.

Baltimore Barracks

Ab's mother was being held in the barracks so needed to be rescued. Having confessed to the murders of the boys, she would either be executed as a witch by the witch-finder, or as a child-killer by the circuit magistrate, due in two more days.
The Baltimore barracks was a fortress, having been a former castle, but Art knew exactly where she was held, so he shared the layout with the group.  With their pathetic firepower, the party would not attempt Plan A. So, they devised a cunning plan which they called "Plan C".

St Mary's had a few sets of ceremonial robes, for High Masses, stored in the parish cottage (where the Deacon and the Father slept). Tess arranged for access to cottage for Roma and Ab, while the Deacon kept Father O'Reilly busy (he was preparing for the Sunday afternoon None service in the church anyway)

Roma dressed in the most august priest regalia he found, skull-cap and all, and Ab donned a cowled monk robe. Then they headed for the barracks.

At the barracks gate, Roma and Ab demanded entrance. Roma claimed they were an advanced party of the witch-finder's retinue, Inquisitor Stryker and Friar Fang, who had arrived in Baltimore early. They wanted to see the witch immediately, fearing that she had already unleashed demons from hell.

The superstitious guards, already uneasy over holding a confessed murderess and witch, hurriedly let the two in, and took them through the courtyard to the cells, and to Ab's mother's cell. Here, Roma kept the guards busy with sightings of demons in the corridor, which gave time for Ab to give his monk robe to Mrs Siddy who put it on.  Roma then weaved a frightening tale to convince the two jail guards not to look into the cell for fear of being bewitched by the witch's eyes - the evil eye. This gave Roma and Ab's mum, now dressed as a monk, enough time to get out of the barracks gate. Ab then used his magical Camouflage ability to sneak out himself.

Alarm was soon sounded, but they were well clear by then.

The regalia was returned, and all four of them - Roma, Ab, his mother and Art - hurriedly left town on the road to Cork.

Elrick hung around the barracks, like a bad smell, to see if he could see any outcome of the rescue. There was a lot of shouting, indignant hysteria and histrionics. Several of the afternoon guards were arrested for gross incompetence, including Art's mate Paddy.

Mon 28-Apr

Elrick left Baltimore just before dawn, on the Cork Road, in pursuit of the other four. Ab's mum would slow them down, so he expected to catch them up by nightfall.

Just before noon, on the road, Elrick heard approaching horses. He stepped to the side to let them pass. Two outriders approached. They checked him and around him for any other hiding malcontents, then one stayed with Elrick, while the other continued

Witch-finder's coach

Then followed four mounted soldiers, a carriage pulled by two horses, and then another four mounted soldiers at the rear. The carriage was of studded black iron with wrought iron decorations and cross motifs. It had black curtains which were closed. It had two coachmen and two guards. The coachmen, guards and mounted men were dressed smart black and gold bibs and uniforms, and glistening high hard boots.

As it passed Elrick, he felt a wave of cold chill him, right to his bones.

Witch-finder General

After lunch, Deacon and Tess, who were still in St Mary's cottage, were summoned to the barracks.
The black coach was parked in the courtyard. The two were ushered into Captain Carmichael's office.  Despite being a warm spring day, the entire officers' block was cold.
A skeletal figure in a tattered monk robe was there, and a bevy of soldiers smartly-dressed in  black and gold.

The monk figure introduced himself as "Witch-finder General of all Ireland", he sat the Deacon down, thrust out a primitive wooden crucifix, and then shrieked in his scratchy voice: "By the power of the holy spirit, I command you to speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth!"

He went through the confession letter penned by Father O'Reilly on Wednesday, confirming that each point was correct and true. If the Deacon tried to veer away from the truth, the cross shook violently.

When asked about Ab's mother, the Deacon could not actually confirm that Ab and Roma were innocent. They were away on the night of the kidnapping and murder of the boys, so he could not provide any magically-true testimony to prove their innocence. The witch-finder dwelt on this quite a lot. In the end, he was satisfied that all three (Ab, Mrs Siddy and Roma) were indeed witches.

The witch-finder was surprised by the story of the queen being resurrected, and surprised by the gender re-assignment of Tess. He seemed to know about John Dee and did not pursue any questioning about him. This privilege was not afforded to Edward Kelley however; he questioned the Deacon relentlessly over this.

Then the witch-finder did the same set of questions for Tess.

After the ordeal, they were expecting to be locked up, but no. Instead, they were dismissed, and the witchfinder said: "I will pray for guidance this eve. Don't leave town. I know where to find you."

Returning Tess

Fri 25-Apr-1603 (15-Apr), Full Moon

The Golden Hind was well lit up all night, the gang-plank was raised, and it was permanently guarded. The party didn't want to risk anything, so kept well clear.

At first light, the brig HMS Dreadful left Baltimore, headed for Stakes Island.

"... to hunt for the evil child-murderer Ab Siddy," said Lieutenant Matthews, finishing his breakfast.

The group met up near the docks, and through the Deacon [ Shane ], tried to convince Tess (via the Familiar link) to put the magic sidhe sand into the queen's blood barrel.

"I am NOT going to do that," exclaimed Tess to him. [ Adding quietly "I'm an NPC, and the NPC Charter, 1982, clearly states that NPCs shall not take active nor dangerous roles, nor shall they burden any risk, especially while you lot sit on your fat arses, picking black-heads." ]

She did tell them four important things, however: "

1. The queen is still getting younger. My guess is that this seems to be a function of the lightning, rather than the blood. She is quite loquacious and outspoken now, and has toned down her abusive ad-libs (no more feck, whore, arse, bitch, slave slut, feck, quim, zounds, quint, and megaphone). 
2. The queen has no memory of her former life; at all. I think Edward has changed plans. He has christened her 'Elizabeth Stuart'.
3. I have not had to feed her since last night. Can we assume she is now being fed the other blood? 
4. We will be leaving Baltimore for Stakes Island later today after a final load of supplies.

"
The group hurriedly visited the chandler on the docks, and while the rest distracted the chandler's men, Roma [ Chris ] snuck into an apple barrel, and covered himself with apples.

As good luck would have it, this barrel was successfully loaded into the Golden Hind's hold without even being inspected, but as bad luck would have it, they loaded Roma's barrel upside down, and it was propped up by other cargo on either side, so he could not even wobble the barrel over. So he began the arduous task of hacking away at the inside lid with his delicate throwing knife.

Mid morning came around and Roma was still cutting and hacking. The Golden Hind disembarked.

The shallop.

The Deacon had borrowed another fishing boat, a shallop, off another of his parishioners, and the rest of the group (Elrick [ Ian ], Art [ Jeff ], Ab [ Darryl ], and the Deacon) headed off in pursuit; Elrick at the tiller. The irony of this was not lost upon anyone: an elaborate story had been concocted that claimed Ab was on Stakes Island, and here was the party, with Ab himself, headed for the very island that was, right now, being searched by the marines !

Elrick checked the weather with his new ability Weather Sense [ there had been an Experience Round ], and the prediction was clear and calm. And there would be a full moon tonight too.

Roma eventually got free of his barrel after a few hours of hacking. The Deacon had messaged Tess and sent her to the hold to meet Roma. She helped him with the final break-out. Roma was carrying the magic sand.

The rundlet barrel with the blood was no longer in the hold. The queen and her hand-maidens, Tess and Lucia, were now staying in Edward's laboratory (at the bow). Edward had taken another cabin in the stern, so they assumed that the blood rundlet was there.


A few hours later, the Golden Hind (with the shallop in pursuit) pulled into Stakes Island harbour. The HMS Dreadful was anchored out from the wharf. It had too deep a draft to get close, so the jolly boats had been used to get the marines and sailors on shore.

The Golden Hind pulled up nearby and also put out its anchor.

Private Smith

This gave Roma the chance he had been waiting for. He snuck into Edward's cabin, (using his pick-locks skill), while Edward was feeding the queen, and poured three-quarters of his sidhe sand supply into the rundlet, and shook it to mix it up. But on the way out, he was confronted by Private Smith, one of Edward's men-at-arms.

"Halt!" yelled the Private, lunging with his sword.

Roma threw the remaining sand into the Private's face, and then clambered up the steps onto the deck.

The Private yelled.

Roma leapt overboard, forgetting he couldn't swim, and splashed into the water. There was much raucous shouting on deck.

Roma sank like a stone, flailing and struggling.

Tess rushed up onto deck when the shouting began, and with the Deacon's voice ringing in her ears "jump", leapt overboard too.

The party's shallop was not far behind when this happened. Elrick gibed, and sailed over fast as he could, and then, being the best swimmer, dived into the water. He recovered Roma and guided his unconscious body close to the others to be hauled into the boat. Tess was in her Tudor dress, so its bulk kept her floating just like a life-jacket, long enough to be pulled on-board too. Elrick clambered back on board, and got the shallop underway again.

By this time, the men-at-arms on the Golden Hind had got their wheel-locks loaded, and they opened up in a volley of musketry. Most of the shots missed. However, one good one smacked right into the back of poor Roma, who was just coming around after being cured (of water inhaling) by the Deacon. The musket ball smashed through his lung, and the hapless chap dropped, unconscious again.

Elrick broad-reached as fast as he could; full speed. He guessed he had fifteen minutes before the Golden Hind could get underway, and when that happened, they'd be in big trouble. The Hind with full sail was easily twice as fast as the shallop.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and a splash in the water nearby. This was the swivel cannon at the bow of the Golden Hind - thankfully the big 6 and 12 pounder cannons couldn't be deployed until the ship was underway. Everyone ducked down, and hoped and prayed. The distance was increasing every minute. A few more swivel cannon shots splashed nearby, and then they rounded the northern point of Stakes island.

Elrick hurriedly sailed into the first bay, everyone jumped out, they dropped the mast, and pulled the boat into the trees, which luckily went right down to the beach edge. Then they all hunkered down and waited. The Deacon took this opportunity to cure poor Roma of his musket ball wound.

Twenty minutes later, the Golden Hind sailed around the point too. It failed to spot anything [ a -4 on the lookout's Fudge dice: "oh, look at the funny cloud" ] and merrily headed off into the distance along the Stakes Island southern coast.

The group stayed hidden and immobile for some more time. As luck would have it, this was an uninhabited bay.

Further down the coast, in the direction the Golden Hind had sailed, they noticed glinting of metal on a beach, maybe two Irish miles away. The guess was that these were the marines from the Dreadful, still methodically searching the island for Ab.

The party waited an hour (the marines were thorough and didn't advance very fast), two hours before sunset, then pulled the shallop out, and headed off into the open sea. At this time of the year, the sun set almost at 9pm, and there was a full moon, so they headed back to Baltimore sailing half the night.

Sat 26-Apr

Early in the morning, they arrived back in Baltimore harbour. Ab and Roma melted into the woods and onto Coney Island (very close to Baltimore and walkable at low tide). The Deacon and Tess returned to St Mary's, Elrick to the inn, and Art to the barracks.

Edward had told Tess that the Golden Hind was headed for Cork, so they weren't particularly worried about it returning to Baltimore.

Art figured that he had until the HMS Dreadful arrived back in Baltimore before he would be in trouble, so he reported some creative untruths to Lieutenant Matthews:

• Roma was seen dragged on to the Gold Hind.
• We followed in a fishing boat.
• We got on board the Golden Hind at Stakes Island and rescued Roma.
• Roma claimed he saw a barrel of blood and offal in the Hind.
• We were shot at and chased by the Hind. We took cover on Stakes Island.
• Roma ran off.
• We returned to Baltimore during the night.

Ab's poor mother had been tortured the previous day and had confessed everything. She signed a confession stating that she and Ab Siddy had performed satanic rituals on the bodies of the two boys, which involved draining their blood. As this was a capital crime, she would have to be tried by the Circuit Magistrate who would need to come from Cork. Dispatches had been sent.



Later in the afternoon, the HMS Dreadful arrived back in Baltimore. By this time, Art had made himself scarce. He arranged for one of his barrack mates, Private Paddy O'Driscoll, to give a secret signal to indicate if Art was in trouble.

Sure enough, Paddy gave the signal, and so Art stayed away from the barracks, and joined Ab Siddy and Roma on Coney Island. Failure to turn up would make him AWOL at the very least, so now Art was officially on the run too.

The Deacon and Tess returned to St Mary's. Elrick returned to the Squire's Daughter.

Missing Boys

Tue 22-Apr-1603 (12-Apr) continued ...

No sooner had Ab Siddy left the premises of St Mary's after his confession, then the Deacon arrived.

Father O'Reilly

He sat Father O'Reilly down and began to confess himself. The Deacon basically confirmed all the wild and outlandish tales of Ab.

"So, is all true?" said Father O'Reilly, aghast, his face pale with worry.

The Deacon nodded.

"So, you been consorting wit demons 'n' magic? Breakin' many mortal sins?"

"But the Good Bishop John Dee seems a very pious and good man," said the Deacon. "He has a chapel set up on board, and performs many services each day." He added: "Many many services."

"Neverth'less, my nephew," said Father O'Reilly. "You up to yer pretty necks in evil. I respect the sanctity of confession, Deacon, but think this ... evil ... must be told to the Powers-That-Be. Can I write to the Bishop of Cork. And ... and even to the good Archbishop of Armagh - the Primate himself?"

The Deacon nodded.

Ab decided that he wanted to contact the Little People (the sidhe). So, after dark, Ab and Roma went off into the wilds, around the countryside of Baltimore, looking for them. After most of the night, the only thing to show was one wolf howl [ Irish wolves extinct in 1786 ], so they returned to the town; Ab to his house, Roma to the inn.

Wed 23-Apr

As Roma and Elrick were having breakfast in the Squire's Daughter, the serving wench waiting their table mentioned: "Have yuh heard th' news?"

Blank stares.

"The mayor's son, the O'Driscoll lad, has gone missin'. And the boy of the O'Hallorans, Patrick, also run away. Folks is searchin' now. If you see them, tell the Watch."

She looked up from her tray, and their table was empty, apart from a spinning cup and plate.

Back at St Mary's, the Deacon and Father O'Reilly were having breakfast. The Father showed the Deacon his carefully-crafted letter, ready to send to the bishops. The Father summarized:

• Bishop John Dee and Edward Kelly (from London and Cork) are devil worshippers and witches and alchemists and necromancers.
• Edward performs alchemy and other sorcerous practices on the ship, sometimes even using lightning.
• Bishop Dee performs unholy rituals in reverse Latin.
• They have the dead body of Queen Elizabeth on their ship, The Golden Hind, in Baltimore harbour.
• They have resurrected the Queen using foul magics into some kind of demon creature. And it now drinks blood.
• Edward has a collection of banned and evil books.
• Todd Unctuous, Assistant Deacon, has been turned into a woman, now called Tess, by foul magic.
• Lucia, a Spanish whore, likewise.

"That'll do," said the Deacon.

The Father sealed his letters and left for the barracks. It would presumably be taken to Cork with the next batch of military dispatches

Roma and Elrick, with Ab, arrived at St Mary's and told the Deacon the news. He leapt to the same conclusion: the boys were harvested for their pure blood.

Art Bowman was back in the barracks. He heard through the grapevine about the missing boys. There wasn't much official interest in "a couple of Irish brats who ran away". ('The Watch' was a local militia and didn't involve the barracks soldiers.) But he did find out their ages: 11 and 12.

Lieutenant Matthews, Art's immediate commander, ordered Art to stick with the group.

Hand-maiden Tess

The group met at the docks next to the Golden Hind. Ab sent El Gato Diablo (his cat familiar) surreptitiously on board. It explored the ship's hold, and using its superb sense of smell, located a suspicious rundlet (a small barrel). It could smell traces of blood, and it could tell that this blood was human.

The Deacon was getting the hang of communicating with his familiar, Tess. She was on board, the queen's hand-maiden. So he asked her to join the group on the wharf.

Tess was dressed in a costly Tudor dress when she came elegantly down the gang plank. The first thing Tess asked the Deacon, was to cure her wrist, which he did with his healing magic. She had been solely responsible for feeding the queen, and was feeling rather drained. Tess had not seen Edward feed the queen any other blood. The ship was destined to stay in Baltimore "a few more days". Also, the queen's apparent age now was 55, but her rate of un-aging was slowing.

Hand-maiden Lucia

Ab then explained to Tess exactly where the blood barrel was located in the hold. Tess reboarded and went to the hold, as quietly as she could, and found the barrel. It had a cork in the side, so she dipped her finger in and sure enough: blood. But on the way out of the hold, Private Smith (one of the Golden Hind men-at-arms) spotted her. She quickly made up some cock-and-bull story, then hurriedly returned to Edward's room and the queen, before she could be questioned more.

Lucia was now staying with the queen, and she had been made into a hand-maiden too ("but not a pure one").

Ab was still wanting to contact the Little People. Last night's excursion with Roma had been fruitless, so he wanted to try another one of the uninhabited off-shore islands: Ferkin Island. He had a feeling in the back of his mind that this was a good place to look.

So, the Deacon borrowed a boat from one of the fishermen in St Mary's congregation, and the party (sans Tess) set off with Elrick at the tiller. It was a solid half-day's trip and they would arrive at Ferkin island just after dark, but Elrick wasn't too worried, since the weather was good.

But, as the afternoon dragged on, the wind switched to the West, picked up, and white caps started to form. Then it got dark. No problem: there was still star light, and the moon was almost full. However, after an hour, a large bank of clouds came from the west and blotted out the stars, the moon and the entire sky. And then the storm hit.

They all groaned "Not again!" [ This wasn't Deus ex cussedness. Significant weather had been pre-planned in advance for this night. ]

Again, Roma was at the bow, shouting directions to Elrick on the tiller. And, again, everyone bailing for their very lives, as huge waves broke over the boat.

"Breakers ahead!" screamed Roma, his voice tinged with terror.

Despite Elrick's excellent boat skills, he couldn't hold it, and the boat rolled in the mountainous seas. Luckily, they weren't too far from the Ferkin island beach, and luckily it was sandy. A few of the non-swimming wretches clung to the boat, and others to bits of flotsam. Only Ab was the unfortunate one, and he was tossed in the waves, like a piece of driftwood, and got washed up on the beach unconscious, and half-drowned.

The Deacon crawled over, using touch more than anything, and used his healing magic to cure Ab's drownedness.

They pulled the boat up the beach, right to the tree line, and used it to shelter from the storm, which was well and truly in full fight.

Far off in the stormy distance, six Irish miles away, Baltimore was behind a headland, but they knew roughly where it was. The storm was more violent there, and lightning was arcing down in the vicinity of the town, bolt after bolt. The guess was the Golden Hind's mast ball.

The Deacon concentrated and managed to make contact with Tess. She was huddled, terrified in the corner Edward's room, next to Lucia. Two large pelton wheels were spinning and arcing discharges all over the show. Large brass balls were sending bolts of lighting crashing into each other. The queen was strapped in the stout chair, with the weird helmet on, spasming and jerking, as bolts of power surged through her. Edward was rushing about, hair standing on end, flipping switches and turning cranks, and putting out fires.

Back on the beach edge, Ab put out some flasks of his home-brew whiskey. And spoke to the trees,

sidhe sand basket

hoping this was a sidhe place. Overcast, it was absolutely pitch dark; there was no star light, no light at all. Even the cat vision of Roma and El Gato could make nothing out.

A whispered voice, shouting over the wind and sea noise, spoke to Ab. Ab relayed info about the Golden Hind and how it had drained two sidhe circles. The voice admitted that sidhe magic worked best at night and in a full moon, and that if the ship struck during the day, they could not do much to stop it. But it did place a small basket of sand by Ab: "Put this in their drink."

The rest of the night passed without event.

Thu 24-Apr

The Deacon woke at first light. It was still overcast, but the wind had dropped a bit, though there was still a big surf. But there was something nagging on his mind. Tess? He tried to contact her, and got a broken link, and mental white noise.

Then, faintly: "Ab. Mother. Trouble." But he couldn't get a proper link.

Elrick took one look at the surf. "We can't launch in that," he said.

It wasn't until mid afternoon, before the waves had dropped enough to risk a launch. Even so, the first attempt failed, and they were all washed back on to the beach. But the second attempt was successful, and they sailed out into the choppy sea.

The Deacon tried again and managed to contact Tess this time.

Tess's tale was not good: "The bodies of the two missing boys were found in Ab's woodshed. His mother has been arrested and Ab is now wanted. He will be hanged."

They made landfall around the coast from Baltimore, an hour before sunset, and Ab vanished into the woods. The rest of the group sailed to Baltimore and returned the boat to the Deacon's fisherman acquaintance, then went into town.

Art reported straight to the barracks. Ab's "mammy" was in the barrack's cells in chains, but before Ab could speak with her, he was summoned to Lieutenant Matthews, and immediately questioned about Ab. The party had made up a cock-and-bull story to explain Ab:

1. Went on a fishing trip, with Ab Siddy, to Stakes Island (also a half-day trip). 
2. Ab vanished into the woods there. 
3. The storm arrived; sheltered for the night.
4. Came home.

Art then tried to give Ab a cast-iron alibi.

"I happen to know, sir," volunteered Art. "That Ab Siddy was out almost th' entire murder night, wit Roma. So, he can surely vouch for Ab."

"That filthy pikey from Riga?!" exclaimed Lieutenant Matthews. "So he's involved as well? Consider him under arrest, Private Bowman. Since you are embedded with that group, make sure you grab him, tout de suite."

Art headed out and rendezvoused with the Deacon. Ab's house was not guarded, so Art and the Deacon checked it out. Ab had also made his way there (using back-roads and his Camouflage ability). Both Art and Ab had tracking skills, but soldier boots had stomped all over the ground obliterating any sign of tracks. Though, the farmland adjacent to Ab's land was un-traipsed, so they guessed that whoever planted the bodies, used the road. The house contents and Ab's brewing kitchen were in a shambles with things tipped out and smashed; a real mess, probably a result of the soldiers. There was lots of blood in the woodshed where the boys' bodies were found, and El Gato recognized it as human.

Queen's Hand-maiden

Sun 20-Apr-1603 (10-Apr) continued ...

Bosun Island was a tiny island, quarter of an Irish acre (circular, 50 paces across),  right next to Inishbeg Island. The island had a single sidhe circle which all but covered the entire island, and had a stone cairn like the one on Lamb Island.

Golden Hind

There was a large storm brewing and it hit just as Golden Hind made anchor; horizontal rain, howling wind and lightning. They were in a relatively sheltered bay, deep down the Donegal harbour, in the mouth of the river Ilen, five Irish miles from open sea, but even so, the storm severely rocked the boat bad enough that Captain Owens ordered a second anchor for the stern.

There were two hours left of the day, but the wise Captain suggested: "Baton down the hatches, lads. It's too dangerous to put the jolly boats out in this. We'll try in the mornin'."

A crack of lightning emphasized his words in stark silhouette.

Everyone went below, out of the driving rain. Except Roma. He was up on deck, when another crack of lighting struck the spike on the ball at the top of the mast. Roma was blown off his feet: ears ringing, sight blinded.

Edward Kelley came scurrying up from below, dragging a long rope. He inserted it into a hole at the foot of the mast, then went below again. Roma had a look at the rope; it was braided with small pieces of metal wire. The rope went from the mast down below, through the ship and under the door to Edward's room at the bow.

A few minutes later, another bolt of lightning struck the mast spike. The rope crackled and smoked. This time there was a whining noise coming from Edward's room.

Where the rope snaked over the deck, it left a charred trail on the wood. Captain Owens was asked, by the party, if he worried about this, but he seemed to trust Edward's assurances.

The Bishop, Deacon and Tess were doing Vespers in the chapel when the lightning struck. The flash lit up the chapel quite artistically though the stained-glass window on the ceiling. They could hear the whining too. [ Tess played by Charlotte this week ]

Captain Owens

Mon 21-Apr

In the morning, it was still raining hard and there was quite a sea, but the lightning no longer raged.

After Prime mass, the ship's compliment loaded the two jolly boats with Edward's equipment and went ashore. Edward walked the queen, stiffly, into the centre of the island, and sat her down in a sturdy chair which had been placed next to the cairn. Edward fashioned a metal helmet, with a cross on it, for her head, and connected it to his equipment.

Edward activated his gear, the three men-at-arms turning cranks, and he gave a nod to the Bishop who began the ritual. Again, it was the funeral mass done in reverse Latin. At the culmination of the service, the grass in the circle suddenly went brown, and the archway through the cairn went dark. The queen, on the chair, rolled her eyes, opened her mouth and screamed, then thrashed about convulsing and writhing as if in agony. Everyone tensed and covered their ears from the deafening howls, worried what would happen next. But the convulsions and spasms faded and stopped.

Then her eyes lolled, and focused on Tess, staring intently. Her mouth and tongue gibbered and flapped. Then she spoke. It was Irish Gaelic. The words started off raspy and sibilant, but got clearer as she spoke. (Only Tess and Edward could understand Gaelic.)

"Cé tusa? Cé tusa?! Cé tusa?! Cé tusa?!!"

"Ah... Tugtar Tess orm," said Tess. "I am Tess."

"Bráithre! Bráithre!" the queen said. "Is mise mo bhráithín daor."

"She says I am now ... her servant," translated Tess. "Her ... erm ... hand-maiden."

"Fola. Tá fuil orm. Anois! Anois!! Anois!!!"

Queen Elizabeth (post-blood)

"And she says she needs to drink," said Tess. "Um... drink blood. Now. Urgent."

Roma muttered quietly "Vampire."

The queen scanned everyone present, eyes alighting on each, staring into their very souls: Bishop John Dee and Edward, the four men-at-arms (Sergeant Evans, and the three privates Smith, Staines and O'Halloran [ Private Smith guest-played by Andreas ]), the party, and the group of twelve jolly Jack Tars off the Golden Hind.

"Níl aon duine anseo íon, ach amháin tú féin agus tú," She pointed at the Deacon and then to Tess. 

"She states that no-one here is pure except the Deacon ... and me," translated Tess. "It seems you have all had ... carnal knowledge in your pasts. I don't think she can consume blood of the ... sullied. I did ... er... think I was sullied, but maybe the 'conversion' made me pure again."

After a bit, the Deacon came forward and offered his hand to Edward, who used a small blade to cut the Deacon's wrist, and then bled him into a cup. Then Edward put a dollop of some cold stinging unguent on the wound, and covered it with a piece of sticky cloth. This stopped the bleeding. 

Edward gave the cup to the queen: "Fola an sagart a thugtar duit. The Deacon's blood, given for you."

She drank it down in one. Blood came out her eyes.

Roma said "Vampire" again.

Edward frowned at Roma and said: "Those foul creatures can not function during the day. And they have bitey teeth. Do you see such teeth on our great Queen here? No. So don't say that word again."

"How often need she feed?" asked Art.

Edward asked the queen quietly, and then he said sheepishly "Um ... Six times a day."

"How many times can the Deacon and Tess give blood before they will start to ... be harmed?"

Edward thought about this for a while. "We don't really want them killed. So, I would say, three cups a day for two days, each, should be fine, but then they must wait for ... erm ... many weeks, to refresh ..." He interrupted the look of concern on their faces. "... but we will make for Baltimore on the next tide, and round up some pure ... criminals, urchins and strays, and volunteers."

They began to load all the arcane gear back on to the ship.

The queen was ensconced in Edward's room (his laboratory) using the stout chair as a make-shift throne. Tess was required to stay with her all the time as her hand-maiden. Tess did her hair and made-up her face. Todd Unctuous had, understandably, no experience with make-up, nor lady coiffure, but, as Tess, seemed to manage remarkably well. Maybe he found his feminine side. [ excellent rolls done ].

Queen Elizabeth was 70 when she died, but already the signs of aging, and the signs of being dead and embalmed for three weeks, were beginning to lessen. Maybe it was the blood, maybe it was the recent ritual.

El Gato Diablo, Ab's cat familiar, joined Tess and the queen in Edward's room, and spent the time curled up on some cushions in the corner of the lab. Ab had learned a lot more "remote control" of El Gate, so having another pair of eyes on the room seemed a good idea.

Four hours later, all the gear was tidied up, and the ship pulled back from Bosun Island and achored for the night.

"We will head for Baltimore in the morning," said Captain Owen.

After None mass, it was Tess's turn to give blood. Like with the Deacon, Edward cut her wrist. He bled out two cups of blood. One he gave the queen to drink; the other for later.

Tess briefly considered consorting with someone to break her purity and thus save on "blood donations". Handsome and charismatic Elrick was a superb candidate, and he was certainly keen. But there was still the mind of Todd Unctuous in Tess's womanly body, and the thought of doing that with a man turned his/her stomach.

Someone suggested that the Spanish girl be used as a blood donor, but the queen quickly discounted her. The act of sidhe gender re-assignment apparently made one pure (Todd was a bit of a lad in his past, yet Tess was now pure), but when the hapless Spanish prisoner was being held in chains in the Baltimore barracks' cells, half the garrison had "conjugally-visited" her.

The Spanish girl was beginning to learn a few words of English (and John Dee was fluent in Spanish), so she had a name now. Before the change, he was called Lucas, now she named herself "Lucia". She was on the path of becoming a fully-fledged NPC.

While Tess was alone with the queen in Edward's lab, she examined his impressive library. Tess could read Latin and English, so had no trouble at least reading the spines:

Prague Golem - Play-Golem's
Golem of the Year, 1602

• Trithemian Steganography
• Marsilio Ficino's Neo-Platonism
• Studia Humanitatis.
• Cosimo de' Medici's The Schism  
• Reuchlin's De arte cabalistica libri tres, iam denua adcurate revisi, 1530.
• Francesco Giorgi's De harmonia mundi
• Necronimicon
• Voynich Manuscript
• Demonicron
• Taverner's Book of Angels
• Dr. Dee's Book of Spirits
• The seven main versions of the Quran: Nafi`, Ibn Kathir, Abu `Amr al-`Ala', Ibn `Amir, Hamzah, al-Qisa'i and Abu Bakr `Asim.
• Wycliffe's Bible 1388, hand-copied
• Various printed versions of the Bible: Tyndale Bible, 1526; Coverdale Bible, 1535; Matthew's Bible, 1537; Taverner's Bible, 1539; Great Bible, 1539; and Geneva Bible, 1560. [ note, the King James Bible comes out in 8 year's time ]
• J.P. Sopwith's Dummy's Guide to Physics
• And a good selection of golem pornography (Play-Golem, Lewd Things to Make with Clay, Clay Boy, Suck My Name)

The night passed quietly.

Tue 22-Apr

After Terce, the Deacon used his innate healing "blessing" skill on himself. Not only did this heal the wrist wound, but it restored the lost blood. So, the next time Edward came to collect blood from the Deacon, he was most surprised.

"Your group astounds me more and more, with your preternatural abilities," Edward said to him. "You do know that healing ability will get you burned as a witch if the Church finds out?"

Ab had two healing potions that he had brewed when last in Baltimore. He gave one to Tess when she returned from Sext. It had a similar effect to the Deacon's blessing - healed the wound and restored the blood. So, the next time Edward came to collect blood from Tess, he was, again, surprised.

"Your group astounds me more and more, with your preternatural abilities," Edward said to Tess and Ab. "You do know that healing ability will get you burned as a witch if the Church finds out?"

Later on in the trip, Roma had an idea to get the queen to eat some of the magic sand; maybe it would change her to a man, maybe it would affect her in other ways, maybe it would "destroy this vampire". He conspired with Ab to slip a pinch of sand into the blood cup the next time the queen fed. This required the Deacon or Tess's tacit assistance. Tess made it clear that she would not help. Nevertheless, it was all set up to happen, with a diversion using El Gato, and Roma's sleight-of-hand. But the Deacon got cold feet and they decided not to attempt it.

They arrived in Baltimore harbour late afternoon (after None). The Brig HMS Dreadful was still docked at the wharf, but the Painted Lady of Riga was gone.

As soon as the ship was secured to the wharf, Ab scurried off and went straight to St Mary's. He found Father O'Reilly and pleaded for a confession. Father O'Reilly sat dumb-founded in the confessional as Ab spilled his guts with not only venial sins, but a host of mortal sins too: wild stories of little-people magic, sidhe gender re-assignments, magical storms and lightning, participation in the raising of an undead queen, the undead creature drinking blood of a priest, magical potion brewing and cat familiars. Father O'Reilly thought he was dealing with someone touched in the head, as all these confessions out-weighed the total of all the confessions he had ever heard. The good Father, like most Baltimorians, had always seen Ab as a weird, social pariah (not helped by his stomach-turning visage), and this rambling confession only helped to cement that belief.

After Ab had finished, the Father paused and digested the extensive litany "Perform ten Rosaries, my son, and then give what you can to the Church. Give until it hurts."

Queen Elizabeth

Fri 18-Apr-1603 (8-Apr) continued...

The party was on-board John Dee's merchant ship the Golden Hind.

"We should be at Long Island by noon," said Bishop John Dee. "But in the mean time, Deacon, will you join me for Terce? We have a consecrated chapel on board. Consecrated by none other than ... the Pope himself! Clement the Eighth."

The Deacon couldn't say no. So he and Tess [ Tess played by Grace this week ] accompanied the Bishop below decks to the chapel. A peaceful room amidships, below decks, with a stained glass window on its ceiling.

During the Terce service, Tess could swear she heard singing; a heavenly choir, women's voices. The Deacon did too. But they couldn't identify the source. It seemed to come from everywhere, and only when the Bishop was performing the service. He claimed he heard nothing. Though, he had claimed the other day that "he could commune with angels".

Spanish gender-reassigned prisoner

They got to Long Island about noon. After performing the Sext service (again, with the heavenly choir), Bishop Dee asked the party to accompany the Spanish girl, Edward Kelley and three men-at-arms to the shore. He told the Spanish girl that she wouldn't be kept in irons if she behaved herself.

Art took them to the site of the battle, and to the spot where the Spanish sailor had had his gender re-assignment.

Edward Kelley wandered about. He was carrying a strange device, like a two sycamore seeds joined together on a stick. He called it his "orphic dowser". He would pause in different spots, and spin the device. It would float to the ground and he would check at this exact spot.

The "melted" body of the Spaniard was where the party had left it on Tuesday. It had started to rot in the warm spring sun and was already fly-blown. Edward knelt next to it, and used a paring knife to take little flesh samples, which he placed into glass ampules. His orphic dowser, when done near the body, would land on corpse's mouth every time. So he took some samples from there too.

When Edward was done, he suggested the corpse be given a burial, so he ordered the men-at-arms to dig a grave, and the Deacon performed a commitment ceremony.

Back on board, the ship made for Lamb Island; where the party had been on Sunday night. During this trip, Bishop Dee performed the None service for the Deacon and Tess.

At Lamb Island, they went ashore and the group showed Edward all the spots they remembered of this place, the woods where the nymph was seen by Roma, and the spot where Todd had his gender re-assignment into Tess. Edward's orphic dowser got a few good detections all over the place.

Lamb Island sidhe cairn

Beyond the forest, the ground sloped upwards. Here there was a large mushroom-ringed sidhe circle with a stone cairn in the centre. And beyond that, a cliff which marked the other side of the island.

Roma, Elrick and Art were brave enough to cross over the mushroom-line boundary and into the circle. There was no ill effect. The stone cairn was built in the shape of an arch; no-one was brave enough to crawl through it.

Edward did an extensive set of tests with his orphic dowser while they were playing. He scratched his head and did some calculations, then announced to no-one in particular: "This place is perfect. I think we have the power."

Roma spotted a skeleton at the base of the cliff above the high tide line. He climbed down. It had a bronze crucifix, which he rescued. Roma was still carrying the sidhe sand (that had changed Todd to Tess, etc) on his person, and while doing so, the crucifix burned him if he tried to wear it. He experimented, and if he didn't carry the sand, then the crucifix would not burn..

As it was approaching dark, they all returned to the Golden Hind; no-one was brave enough to chance staying the night ashore. Captain Owens pulled the ship back a bit further from the shore. This was probably a good idea, because during the night they saw eerie lights in the vicinity of the cairn, and shadowy figures in the woods.

The Bishop took the Deacon and Tess for Vespers, then, at different stages during the night, for Compline, Matins and Lauds.

Sat 19-Apr

After breakfast (and Prime), Bishop Dee and Edward assembled the men-at-arms, the ship's crew, and the party. Then he burst into beautiful plain-song:

"Procedamus in pace
In nomine Christi, Amen
Cum angelis et meretricibus dantur mercedes
niamur, triumphatori mortis:
'Hosanna in excelsis'

Levate portae capita vestra, non canino:
Et elevamini portae aeternales:
et introibit rex gloriae.
Quis est iste rex gloriae?

I commune with angels. I've done it all my life.
What I am about to say; it may engender strife.
The good Lord has commanded me, to follow His decree.
To help the world and England, as loyal as I can be.

So what I have below this deck, I'm sure you will support,
A golden casket. much bejeweled, as like something wrought,
Within the casket, to be sure, is something good and blessed,
Lies the body, in her state, of our great Queen Elizabeth."

Jaws dropped all round.

"Queen Elizabeth?!"

Elrick whispered to Roma: "How long's she actually been dead?

"Um.. three or four weeks."

The locked doors down in the hold were opened, and the men-at-arms carried a gold coffin onto the deck.

The two jolly boats were loaded with equipment from Edward Kelley's work-room: strange wires, pipes, bellows, tubes and blown-glass vessels. And large brass hoops and balls. This equipment and the casket was ferried to the shore, and transported to the sidhe circle where Edward set it all up. The casket was brought forth and placed on a trestle table right next to the cairn. This took several hours, and it was well past noon when they finished.

The entire ship's company had been used in this undertaking, and there was a skeleton crew (and the Spanish girl) left on board the Golden Hind.

The party stationed themselves outside the circle. Ab and Roma even further back by the woods.

Then Edward activated his gear and got it humming. Mechanical force was supplied by the men-at-arms cranking handles and turning wheels, and there was a small wood brazier to provide distillation heat and to burn incense. Edward gave a nod to Bishop Dee, and he began the service.

Deacon O'Reilly recognized it as a funeral mass in Latin, but half-way through, the Bishop started to read the Latin words backwards. The instant this began, in the woods where Roma and Ab were sheltering, the trees started to rustle, even though there was no wind.

Queen Elizabeth

The corpse stirred, gave a raspy sigh, then it sat up, stiffly. Queen Elizabeth had been embalmed, but, even so, the body had desiccated considerably. Also, she was seventy, was completely bald, and wore a wig and ornamental head-gear. Finally, her face had been heavily made up, in corpus status, so was painted white. So, when this corpse thing sat up, there were quite a few gasps of concern.

The Bishop paused mass, Edward approached the dried corpse, forced open its mouth, and placed a piece of paper inside. The Bishop composed himself and managed to complete the rest of the  "funeral" mass.

The corpse turned to the side and stiffly climbed out of the casket, and stood there, unmoving.

Edward was delighted, he all but capered around the corpse. Its dead eyes were on him all the time; so much so, that when he capered behind it, the head spun right around.

By now, all the grass in the sidhe circle had died, and was already turning brown.

Bishop Dee, the party, and men-at-arms, didn't look very pleased.

"This isn't natural," said Tess to the Deacon in a hoarse whisper.

"You think..?!" Deacon was never very good at not using sarcasm.

"She lives! She lives!" said Edward.

Well aware of the time, the Bishop ordered everything packed up again. Even more so than last night, they did not want to be on the island after dark now.

All the equipment was reboxed and ferried back to the boat again. Edward escorted the lumbering corpse queen back to the boat, and stiffly walked her into his room.

He kept his door locked. Later that evening, Roma did make an attempt to get in, but the lock was more complex than he was used to.

After dark, there was less activity on the island than the previous night.

Sun 20-Apr

In the morning, after Prime, the Deacon called a breakfast meeting, including the party, Bishop Dee, Edward, Captain Owens and the Sergeant at arms: Sergeant Evans

"This is a blasphemy in the sight of the Lord," said the Deacon. "An abomination..."

"Yet the Lord instructed the good Bishop to do this," interrupted Edward. "Nay, 'demanded'."

Bishop Dee nodded wanly.

"It is unnatural," said Sergeant Evans. "It should be destroyed."

"Burn it," said Captain Owens.

"'SHE'", said Edward. "Not 'it'."

They argued on and on. Noone wanted this thing in their midst, except for Edward, and Bishop Dee. On Edward's side, apparently angels did regularly commune with the Bishop and told him that God wanted him to resurrect Queen Elizabeth, to 'make England great again.' So the Bishop was still giving Edward tacit support, even though he was getting more and more horrified each hour at what they had made.

"Well, why can't we get her to speak then?" asked the Deacon. "She doesn't seem very alive."

Roma thought she was a vampire. His Romany origin was near the kingdom of Wallachia, so that theory made perfect sense to him. Though, he seemed to remember that sunlight burned vampires, and this one seemed unfazed.

"Yes," admitted Edward. "More work must be done to fix that. But we have exhausted the power of Lamb Island. Do you know of other areas of the Little People?"

The party didn't, but Tess had heard of one when she (as Todd) lived in Cork: Bosun island [ +4 on her Knowledge roll ]. About another half-day's travel away.

"We will head for there," said Edward.