Written by Ben Groenen (Raushan)

Our Sire smiled mysteriously as she charged us to entreat with the Avarim (as the house of the unicorn was called), to see the Prince of Stars to request his token. As Wolfstead is busy elsewhere for now, on one of his merchant ventures, Lillane instructs us to take young Rosalita with us.

Now, I haven’t mentioned her before, and the reason for that is that she has only recently become a new resident amongst us. She returned with Rafi to “escort” the Sliver of The Moon. It may appear that young Rosalita is just a very striking, sensual Spanish senorita of great poise, but she is also member of the Clan Garou, a werewolf by any other name.

Now, as I was saying, Lillane instructed us to bring Rosalita with us, and so as we left to gather our things for this journey, Rafi went to find her and get her ready. Now, I found out from Rafi afterwards that he had told her all that we were going to do on this trip. After telling her where we were going, she was very enthused as it seems she had encountered Illisander before and she was quite keen to pursue him again, amorously of course. I could easily understand why she would (the challenge, don’t you know), but then Rafi tried to convince her of the error of her ways.

He started with how Illisander was already spoken for, but then he blatantly told her she wasn’t a virgin! Even if the fact is the most pertinent point to a discussion, it is still guaranteed not to win any affection if not raised by the lady in question, no matter if you use tact, which I can’t see Rafi using anyway. Maybe he’ll gain some after a few centuries … hmmm, but Rollon didn’t. Then, just the last straw for me so I couldn’t help but laugh, he had told her that changing to a wolf form is silly. At least he managed to look embarrassed when he said that. Il-hamdu lillah! (Praise be to Allah!).

As dusk falls, we leave Sadaba and strike a hard ride to the north. Lillane has given us some ghoul horses to speed our journey so we will be back the following night. Most of the night has passed before we reach the forest that Lillane told us was our destination. But it is at this point that we all come to the same conclusion that none of us really knows what we are to do now to speak to the Avarim. Rafi tries shouting out halloos to get some response while Rosalita looks very bemused, and appears to be quietly chuckling.

I ask her how she “summons” Illisander, but she is looking over at Gwyn who is now telling everyone that she knows what to do, and that we need to use some silver, moonlight and water. With lots of shrugging of shoulders, we follow the long-striding knight because otherwise we would be left behind. We eventually find a stream and Gwyn is trying to look like she knows what she is doing when the rest of us notice a strange woman nearby.

While we start talking with her, I Sense that she is not human, but I haven’t encountered her like before. She appears on the cusp between being a child and being a woman, with the strangest diamond marking on her forehead. No matter how we try to put her at ease, she is suspicious of us all, bar Rafi and Monaco. Why this should be so, I fail to comprehend. But she says that she knows of Illisander and that she will see if he wants to talk to us. With that, she steps back into the shadows and is gone! Wallâhi! (By Almighty God!) I can’t Sense her anywhere, but while I am doing so, suddenly she is there and, and with Illisander. Allahu Akhbar! (God Is Most Great!)

In the discussion that follows, Illisander is pleased to see his friends again and when he finds out why we have sought him, he says he can try and arrange a meeting with the Prince of Stars. Throughout the conversation, Rosalita has been acting quite seductively for Illisander, but Illisander and his companion have not made a single sign that they even see her. How very interesting, and amusing as Rosalita is appearing to be getting quite irked.

Just before Illisander turns to go, he appears to be a bit discomfited as he first looks down, bites his lip and such, but then he warns us that the Prince may be … wilful. Inshallah. (As God wills.) We are then left to await a response. Thankfully, there is an empty keep nearby, where we can rest, as Owain and Monaco while the day away talking about metaphysics and about reincarnation, and generally swap ghoul stories.

When some of us awaken as dusk approaches, we start exploring to the north of the keep in time to meet up with Illisander, and his companion, who is coming the other way. They escort us up to some caves, which contains a pool of water that is absolutely still. I mean it gives a perfect reflection – I can’t recall ever seeing one so perfect before. Taking a deep breath, Rafi restates to Illisander precisely what we want, and then a smiling Illisander, in childish fashion, puts his finger in the pool and “draws” a diminishing spiral. All of us have been silent till now, especially when the pool becomes still again.

For now the pool looks like a window on the bottom of a fountain, looking up at the stars, with no moon showing, and a man who is similar to Illisander sitting on a bench near the fountain. The man in the pool is dressed in silver and blue, looks clean-shaven but still looks ageless. So this is the Prince of Stars. We bow, pass on our Sires felicitations, and formally request his aid to help repair the circle. We described the circumstances of the Circle being broken, and he summed it all up by saying with a smile, “So all hell broke loose?”

The Prince agrees to help us, and shortly afterwards the Queen of Air appears into view and hands something to the Prince, who then approaches the fountain. Looking quite distinctly and steadily at Illisander, the Prince tells Illisander that he is to protect it at all times. With a look of absolute shock and a kind of voiceless panic pouring from his eyes, Illisander reaches into the pool, through the water without making any ripple and takes it out.

It is a unicorn’s horn … the Prince’s!? It gives off a holy fire-like power, which harmfully affects the extra Sense that I use almost as much as any other. I now have to constantly hold my extra Sense back to stop me from falling writhing to the ground in agony. Unfortunately, I fail and fall quite often. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rasheem, (In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful,) may this end soon!

In the times when I was able to notice anything but my pain, Illisander apologized repeatedly for forgetting to ask about contacting the Fae while Gwyn laughingly tells him we have other ways. Everybody, and especially myself, want to return to Sadaba as soon as possible, but we return to the nearby keep to stay for the rest of the night and the following day. We travelled at a slower pace back as I occasionally collapse from pain. It was as I was recovering from one of these bouts that Monaco noticed large shadows flitted over us, the shadows of gargoyles!

Monaco, Owain, Rosalita and the unicorns try and hide, while Rafi tries to shoot them down but they close too fast and the single shot he gets off just bounces of them. Gwyn opposes one of them, and Rafi attracts the attentions of another as I stand before Illisander, waiting for the last. I may not be able to fight long, so this must be finished quickly. Wallâhi, (By Almighty God) I rend mine almost to his death, but one of my claws is caught in a tree so when it flees, it gets away. Inshallah! (As God Wills!) When I free myself, I join Rafi in tearing his gargoyle to pieces as Gwyn kills hers. Although they are dead or fled, all of us still feel like we are being watched.

Approaching Sadaba, we enter a fog that seems to surround the castle. Owain, Monaco and I find that the fog hurts our eyes, and the others tell us that we begin crying tears of blood. When we pass through the castle gates, we abruptly leave the fog and our tears stop flowing. As we progress further into the courtyard, Lillane comes gracefully in and apologizes for the fog.

After introductions are made between Lillane and our new castle companions, she continues to apologize and tells us she instructed Lucio to summon it to prevent others from scrying us from afar. She believes that the Tremere Clan was aware of the Horn as soon as it entered the lands, and sought to take it off of us. This is very interesting and requires much discussion but I need to rest … now.

Written by Jenny Hein (Gwyn)

Gwyn left the servants to see to their guests’ needs. That was the least of her concerns. She was shocked, but not totally surprised, that Lillane had caused the haze that had affected their eyes. Lillane did as she saw fit and it was not Gwyn’s place to question her actions.

On the way to their room, Gwyn called for a servant to bring hot water. They had gotten used to her frequent, unhealthy bathing, putting it down to unexplained foreign customs. As soon as they were in their room, Gwyn held Owain tightly. They’d both cried a large amount of blood. Now she released the pent-up tension. If she’d been able, she would have cried.

“I thought I was going to lose you. I didn’t know what was happening and I didn’t know how to stop it.”

Owain held her just as closely and stroked her hair. “It’s all right, we’re going to be all right.” It wasn’t, but they would be. In a way, he enjoyed comforting Gwyn. After 700 years, they had no secrets from each other and few surprises, but it was still pleasant to be reminded how much she valued his presence.

Gwyn looked up at him. “When this is over, when the Circle is mended, let’s go away for a while. Just the two of us.”

Owain smiled tenderly at her. “Wherever you want.” Gwyn laid her head on his chest again and he kissed her hair. He didn’t doubt she meant it now, but something was bound to keep her here. She didn’t give up her duties so easily. However, it was nice to know that, after all that time together, she still wanted him by her side and for herself alone.