[Empire] The Man from the Mysterious Isle

[Gengy]

The Mysterious Island. It had vexed Lady Spring, Kellianth Beagen, for most of her later life. She would have found it ironic that, slightly over a year after her passing, a human man was reported seeking her out. A human man, from the island with no name, that changed it's location frequently. The first reported being to have come back from beyond the beaches of the shifting shore.

Runners had managed to get ahead of the man in Fantastigoria, and commandeered fast ships, bringing word to Tir Amser of the man's imminent arrival. They first went to Lady Spring, Aleuta Kellianth, but she sent them on to speak with Lady Autumn, Cynel Bres, in the hopes that this matter turned diplomatic. As a precaution, however, messages were also sent to Lord Winter - for his wisdom in the mysterious - and to the nearest, confirmed plague free, Summer Rangers station; to be on guard, just in case. Aleuta then took her personal bodyguard, a Spring Boy named Eoghan, and proceeded to the docks of Glaw Novo; the ship yard that had perfected Clinker Wood Ships, Ian Porffor.

Here, she waited. She waited for, she hoped, Lady Autumn to arrive first, or a representative from Lord Winter, if not the man himself. If someone from the Summer Courtlands showed up, something had gone terribly wrong.


Arandi, year 123
The Docks of Ian Porffor
The Man from the Mysterious Isle

[QuintonBeck]

It was such an absolute labor traveling across the ocean in a vessel made of wood. There was practically nothing to look at beyond the cold blue horizon and the rather boring and empty-headed crewmen who scrambled around the deck like ants. He rubbed his temples again in bored frustration.

He'd been keen to leave the visitors to his island to their own devices but the guests from the "Spring Courtlands" had proven themselves to be especially determined in investigating every inch of his home until they had found him. Briefly he considered whether he had made the right decision in not killing them as had been the standard of his predecessor prior to his own arrival but quickly dismissed the idea once again. Still, he was not eager for more guests crowding his home and with the properties of the island the only way to ensure such a thing was to go out and put a stop to the sending of these Spring Ail Deer. He had been informed over numerous tea times and luncheons with his Ail Deer guests that they had been sent by the Lady Spring Kell E Ant Be Gone.

So was the reason he now sailed into the Docks of Ian Porffor where he had been informed he would be granted a meeting with the Lady Spring. He was dressed simply in hides and leathers and likely looked all the part of a hill tribesman or other barbaric creature. He'd seen and doubtless been able to afford finer dress but he was comfortable in his own clothes and he had no intention of attending any grand banquets that might demand a higher degree of finery. The Ail Deer had the appearance and ambitious curiosity of the young though their capability to maintain focus and conduct months-long investigations into the various oddities of his home had quickly betrayed a more advanced intellect. He suspected their leader would likely be the same and prepared himself for a taxing and question-filled conversation the likes of which he had first had when he finally made himself known to the Ail Deer on the island.

[Gengy]

Aleuta was quickly informed when the man had arrived. She had some of her Girls set up a small table under a wooden pavilion that was already here, overlooking the docks; nothing ornate or ostentatious, but it was functional. She sent Eoghan out to greet the man, and lead him back to the pavilion. There way was quick and unhindered. Though there were many whom were curious as to who this human was, no one wanted to get in between him and Lady Spring.

As soon as the man arrived, Aleuta nodded to Eoghan, who quickly removed himself from the pavilion. As though that had been some kind of signal, the surrounding area was also soon clear of anyone visible. Only Lady Aleuta and the man remained. Gesturing at one of the larger seats around the table, the blond haired leader of the Spring Court nodded towards her guest, "Greetings. If it pleases you, I would invite you to join me. I am Lady Spring, Aleuta Kellianth. Kellianth Beagen was my Best Friend, but she... is no more. This happened recently. My apologies if I am not what you were expecting. Is there something that I might call you? A name? A title?"

[QuintonBeck]

The man took the offered seat and leaned back comfortably whether in a show of dominance or simply not particularly caring even he wasn't sure. He yawned open mouthed without bothering to hide it and looked around a bit at his surroundings. Odd place with all the pink, he thought to himself. He ran his tongue over his teeth and looked out over the table.

"Do you have anything to drink? I'm afraid I'm a bit parched."

[Gengy]

"Drink? Of course." Aleuta did not even snap her fingers. Her words alone were apparently enough. What had been an almost empty place before now had two Spring Girls carrying earthenware pitchers, and cups which were set before both Lady Spring and the visitor. "Water or wine, as is your pleasure. Or, if you'd rather, I could have someone send for tea."

Lady Spring continued to observe her visitor, as the Spring Girls faded away again, once again creating the illusion of seclusion. His clothing seemed... simple, yet his mannerisms suggested that he was used to having his way. Though she would never say so out loud, it was as if Aleuta were looking upon a laconic version of Lord Summer; so relaxed yet confident was the man before her. And, Aleuta admitted to herself, she was bursting with questions: What was on the Island? Were the Spring Girls and Boys sent there all right? Why did the Island move it's location every few years? How did it do it? How did it disappear?

But Aleuta said none of this, as she was awaiting the answer to her former one: What to call this man? She poured herself a cup of water, and looked at the man with an inquiring eye, ready to pour him the same if he wished.

[QuintonBeck]

The man nodded and smiled with an added wink to indicate his desire was water. He took the cup after it was filled and tilted it back, taking a long gulping swig. The seconds seemed to drag out as he drained his cup before setting it down with an empty clunk on the table as he let out a loud refreshed "ahhh." He sniffed hard, clearing his nose and turned his head, spitting a wad of phlegm on the ground.

"What did you ask? A name? Well, your little girls call me the Green Man. I think that's probably a good enough name as any."

"I really only came here for one reason. I want you to stop sending your people to the island. You send them and they're never coming back and then I have to deal with them running all over the place I call home. Your people aren't like the sailors who shipwreck, no, your people seem much more determined to bother me and let me tell you, they've done just that. But it doesn't do them any good and it just irritates me so I'd rather not have to deal with any more of them. They said it was Lady Spring Kell E Ant Bee Gone that sent them and so I told them I'd have to come find you and tell you to stop and that's what I've done."

"Now, I imagine if you're anything like your people you're curious what happened to your girls and I'll bet you've got just as many questions about the island as they did. Let me just say your people are fine. They've got themselves a nice little camp and once I finally met with them they've been focusing less on trying to pick apart my home and more on trying to get off the island, cept they can't. Now I told them that and I'm telling you, can't nobody leave that island except me and I don't leave it, this being the exception of course, so they might as well accept it and you might as well too."

"Now, normally I wouldn't be answering questions about the island since you ain't on it but you promise not to be sending any more of your people to come nosing around the island and I'll answer a couple of questions that don't put me at risk. You make that promise, I answer some questions, and we leave here nice and friendly like never to speak again."

[Gengy]

Aleuta looked silently upon the Green Man for a moment, as she carefully sipped her own water. "I shall need a moment, please, to think about this."

In truth, she was considering just how much this did or did not fall into her purview within the Rose Courts. On the one hand, this was clearly a deal being struck: information now in exchange for a greater mystery later. However, the deal was with a... potentially unrecognized foreign power. And dealing with a particular mystery of Arandi. And it would also condemn a significant number of Spring Girls and Boys to their own devices, apparently unable to ever return to Tir Amser; effectively exiling them, for something as simple as doing their duty.

The deal part of it all was clearly a matter for the Spring Court, but the diplomatic nature of things put some of what was being discussed into Lady Autumn's realm. The mysteries here - and uncovering them - were also something that Aleuta was encouraged, if not required, to address. Lord Winter would be curious, but only to the extent that it did not reveal anything that he did not wish revealed; always a tricky task, even on a subject Aleuta was already knowledgeable about. Still, she was quite certain that since it was her Spring Boys and Girls on Green Man's Island, and the investigation was still underway to discern the truth, neither Lady Autumn or Lord Winter would find fault with what Aleuta was considering: accepting the deal.

It was Lord Summer, however, that had her pausing. In truth, the Aeldir on the Green Man's Island were from her Court. But Lord Drustan had already proven that he took his duties to protect all Aeldir of the Courts very seriously. Creating a situation where, intentionally or unintentionally, there were Aeldir of the Rose Demesne that could no longer be protected? That were, perhaps, even held hostage? It didn't sit well with Lady Spring. Aleuta was still trying to ensure that the other Seasonal leaders saw her as the equal that she knew she was. It would not go well if she didn't consider this type of decision without respecting the viewpoints of her fellow Seasons.

Ultimately, though, she would need to take some independent action here. No one from the other Courts, it seemed, was going to show up in time to advise her. As Aleuta realized this, she set down her water glass, and decided to try something that not even Kellianth Beagen had really done before: seek advice from the non-Aeldir across the table.

"Green Man," Aleuta began, breaking her silence, "I find myself at something of an irritation of my own. I am inclined to accept your proposal, as it does seem reasonable. It would allow me to ask some of the questions that I have concerning your island. However, doing so, it seems, would doom many of my Girls and the Boys with them to seclusion upon your island with, as you say, no way for them to leave. And whether this is some mystical reason because of the island itself, or due in part to something more natural, simply by agreeing, I would have no way of knowing. It makes them, unintentionally, hostage to a situation that makes me uncomfortable. I want to agree with you. I want to make this deal. Yet - if it does not, again as you say, put you at risk - there is one thing that I hope you can help me understand first: Why might you be free to leave, even if only this once, and they cannot?"

"There are other reasons I am hesitant to accept, but I must admit, that is the primary one. Since the unification of the four Courts, every Aeldir life is precious to me. I won't discard them easily. Not even for potentially very useful information."

[QuintonBeck]

The man's brow furrowed and he gave the figure in front of him a disappointed look.

"That's not how it works. You don't get to ask free questions, and certainly not that one."

He reached across the table and grabbed the pitcher of water to pour himself another cup of water.

"If I tell you how I leave and return you might get some bright idea to try and replicate it. Maybe you even think you don't need me any more. If I were to answer that without assurances to my safety and the safety of the island I'd be a damn fool and I'm a lot of things but a damn fool ain't one of them."

He sipped his water and glared over the rim at Lady Spring. As he set the cup back down he smiled, revealing his brown and black teeth fully.

"Now, since I'm the magnanimous sort I'll answer a question you almost asked for free. Your people can't leave the island. Not cause of something I did or want, I want them gone remember? They just can't leave. The island won't let them. That's just the way it is. If you're worried about them being trapped you shouldn't have sent them in the first place. I'd thought the first batch not coming back would have surely done the trick but then more of your Girls showed up and that's the only reason I'm here. Consider it a courtesy, letting you know sending people to the island is not a good idea if you want to see those people again. You don't want your people being tossed away, but I'm telling you that's already happened. When you sent em that's what you were doing, throwing them away to the island."

"How I see it, the deal is pretty simple and you've got nothing to lose and a bit to gain. You don't make the deal, I leave and go back to the island or maybe you try and kill me, either way you still won't be getting your people back and you sure won't know anything more than you do now. As for me I end up dead or irritated by more of your Girls you don't take the deal. You make the deal and I don't have to worry about more uninvited guests coming and turning my home upside down and you get to know a little about the island without being stuck on it. We each part and go our merry way."

"So now, it's a pretty simple choice I think but then maybe I'm wrong about what makes sense out here anymore. You tell me Lady Spring, what's it gonna be?"

[Gengy]

Aleuta gazed upon the Green Man again for a moment, her left index finger tapping on the tabletop. She wanted to explain to him that the first expedition was to an island that, at the time, was thought to be no different than any other. Just unexplored. The second one was the confirmation that it was the same island, and that it somehow moved, and was an attempt to recover the first explorers. Both times, there had been volunteers. Lady Kellianth had still given the order, but it was not to unwilling participants.

Still, he did have a point. Aleuta had been privately wondering what was stopping her from holding on to this man before her. After all, if his claims were true, then only he and the Spring Court were upon the island. And if he had found a way to leave, eventually, so would her Girls. That kind of thinking, though, smacked of an unspoken oath being broken. So she decided to make it plain. "You are correct. Assurances and decisions must be made."

Alueta stood up from the table, and tried to look imperious as she said, "By my own wisdoms as Lady Spring, I recognize Green Man's Island as an independent political entity, and you, as it's primary representative. This brings with it the assurances that you will be treated with fairly, and while in Glaw Novo, considered a guest and under my protection. As a matter of trade, it is within my rights to station Spring Girls and their retinues upon foreign shores in exchange for information. I also will accept your condition that no other Spring Girls or Boys will be sent to Green Man's Island without prior permission. I shall also endeavor to inform the rest of Arandi that the Island is, for it's own reasons, unsafe for outsiders. That there is an unknown property that prevents travelers from leaving, once they have gone beyond the beach. Many already know this, so it will not be a surprise to them, but it will hopefully discourage other foreign powers from bothering you."

"I cannot stop them if they try, though. Well, I could, but, I doubt you would like what it would require." Aleuta snapped her fingers, seemingly at no one, and a moment later, paper, quill, and ink were brought to her. She sat back down, and began to write in the Luskan Trade Language. "I am drafting a document that outlines our agreement. My Girls will be - officially - ambassatrixes to your island, and 'Green Man's Island' will see to their safety. It must be worded this way, or Lord Summer, I am afraid, will demand that he be allowed access to the island. He may still try his hand at ensuring that they are not being... treated unfairly, though I will try to make him understand that he would not receive reports from anyone he sends."

"Then the terms of the deal: With express permission, I will send no further investigators, surveyors, explorers, or any other Aeldir to your island, and actively discourage others from going there as well. In exchange, you will answer questions for me, regarding yourself and the Island, so long as these answers do not place you - or your new ambassatrixes - in harms way. I would also appreciate the favor of taking a copy of this agreement, and a letter, to whomever has ended up in charge of my Spring Girls. I expect it is Axuda. She had the closet relationship to Kellianth Beagen." Aleuta finished writing, and with an elaborate flourish, signed 'Lady Spring, Aleuta Kellianth' at the bottom. At the top, in large letters, the paper read 'Exchange Agreement of Courts and Green Man's Island'. "I apologize for the need to have this all on paper; a verbal agreement would have suited me fine, but if I am to help convince the other Courts of my Girls' safety, they will want your signature. If you find this acceptable, I will begin my questions after you have marked the page."

[QuintonBeck]

The man raised an eyebrow at the formal paper and reached out to grab the ink well and pen. Carefully he removed the pen and picked up the ink well. He tilted the well and proceeded to pour the ink over his hand coating it in the black stain before slapping his wet palm down upon the page. The ink splattered across the page and table and his silhouetted hand print covered half of what Aleuta had written. He snorted and moved to wipe his hand across his jerkin, leaving wet black streaks across his clothing.

"Alrighty then, ask your questions."

[Gengy]

If Aleuta was surprised at the actions of the Green Man, she didn't show it. She had other things on her mind now, and smiled, "Having spent time with my Girls, I hope you can tell I have been holding myself back. I have many questions. I hope they will all have answers, but I will understand if a few are deemed too risky."

"Why does the island seem to disappear? How does it create this seeming of being gone? Is it constantly just... moving, and is only at rest for short periods of time?"

"Based on our records, the island has reappeared in a location that it was originally first spotted in; this is notable in that it seems to have shown up in the same spot almost exactly twenty years - per the non-Aeldir Arandi calendar - from it's initial time of being in the same spot. Does this mean that there is a set pattern for when and where the island will show up?"

Now that she had started, Aleuta could not stop herself, and the questions flowed freely, "Is the island, in some way, alive?"

"If you have any knowledge of the Arandi calendar, how long ago did you first arrive onto the island? Or have you always been there?"

"Have you noticed any unusual runes or markings upon the island?" Lady Spring remembered the Xungla Crystals and the 'Arandi Runes', and hoped perhaps there might be more on this island. "Are there any indigenous flora or fauna upon your island? What kinds of foodstuffs are there, and could something be imported to your island's beach, if we were careful enough to not go further, so that my Aeldir might have some additional amenities?"

Aleuta had more questions, but realized that she had asked... several. And had not really given the man a chance to answer. She bit her lower lip, and quieted.

Sorry QB; I would have asked these one or two at a time, but I've got an IRL event that I'm attending, and I don't know how often I'll be able to post. Better to get as much out as I can, while I can, and 'blame' the insatiably inquisitive nature of the Spring Court.

[QuintonBeck]

The man ran his hands through his greying beard and long hair as he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table.

"Seem to disappear? Well, it doesn't just seem to disappear Ms. Be Gone, it does disappear at least from where it was to where it's going. As to why? I don't know. I wasn't the first Green Man on the island and a lot of what it does or why it does it was lost with my predecessor."

For the first time the Green Man seemed somewhat serious in his tone as if he was reflecting on something important. The moment was brief however and he continued.

"I think it's on some sort of schedule, that much I've figured out from the stars and it's definitely making some sort of circuit hopping around to pre-destined spots every couple of years and it does seem like it's got ten spots it likes to go to. Not sure I could tell you where they are without my star charts and a set of yours and I don't have mind and if you give me yours you won't be seeing them again."

He chuckled at his own joke.

"The island is definitely alive, or at least I think so. I couldn't tell you how I know or why I think that with any proof behind it but I think it is. She's a bit of a horse without a master, so to speak, wandering as she does. As to my own history with her I'd rather not discuss it as there might still be people looking for me if I did. Needless to say I've been there a long time."

"I don't feel comfortable talking about the markings that may or may not be on the island,"

Once more his tone was serious and he seemed to look Aleuta over with the appraising eye of a man who was shocked by the particulars of the question.

"There's plenty to eat, if that's what you mean. Pigs, carrots, tubers, all sorts of things. As to 'importing' if you want to crash empty ships onto the beach I won't stop you. I always do enjoy when a shipwreck brings in something new, but if you're looking to save on ships and honor our agreement not to have people come ashore or anchor too close off shore you might find such an arrangement difficult. That's not even considering the infrequency afforded by the island's movement."

"Your girls are getting along fine as far as I can tell. Plenty to eat, warm places to sleep, all that. The island may be a trap for most everyone but it's a very livable trap."

"Now, I think I've answered all your questions so if you please I'll be departing."

He leaned forward letting the two legs of the chair that had been raised slam into the ground and he stood to his feet.