Half-suspecting that some old druid will be hiding behind the curtains Gracian makes his way towards the far corner of the room. An added bonus is that he will be as far away from the duel when it breaks out and he wont have to see his old friend, Sir Perin, humiliate himself by pursuing the wicked witch Lady Fiona.

As he moves across the room he keep his eyes on the curtains until he gets there at which point he calmly pulls aside the curtains prepared to find a druid or a young couple caught in a romantic moment.

Sir Gracian discovers that the curtains are being used to cover a door that goes out to a patio.  There is a servant standing on the patio arranging instruments and props used by the jugglers, apparently the entertainers use the patio as a staging area, although they are all currently in the great hall.

Surprised by the turn of events Gracian looks a bit puzzled and doesnt quite know what to do. "You ... my good man. Has anyone just left the patio?" he says to the servant. Something just isnt right.

The man nods and points off to the right, "an attractive young Roman Lady, high-born by her dress," he responds.

"I understand... I often have felt lost in the waves of activity that is the King's court. Lucky that we have found one another, so neither of us shall ever be lost again." Garym leads her up to the ramparts grasping her hand as they walk. He removes his cloak placing it on her to cut the chill of night.

"I wanted to speak to you about the coming season. As you know; my vassal duty shall take me to war. I do not wish you to be alone at Woodford. I believe that you should wait for me in Bod Dynal. I also think it wise for us to be part of the Barony that I am heir to. I love Salisbury and Woodford, but one day we may be called upon to be the Baron and Baroness of Bod Dynal. We must start to understand the people that we will one day rule."

Gracian rush off in the direction of the young woman while thinking of himself as a fool. Who says the woman wasnt spying on someone else? And if he catches up with her what is he to say to her?

Gratefully Sir Dalan departs the hall with his ladywife, relieved to just slip away for a moment from this place.

Sir Dalan and Lady Ellowyn have not gotten far when Sir Gracian hurries up, inquiring about a lady having passed their way.  Ellowyn noticed a woman hurrying off toward the East Tower.

Arianwen, looks a little distracted, pointing toward the base of the tower, “isn’t that Sir Gracian, Sir Dalan, and Lady Ellowyn?” she asks.

Gracian hurries off towards the East Tower while becoming more and more curious about the mysterious woman.

Ellowyn and Sir Dalan watch Sir Gracian head off after the woman, unsure what transpired to necessitate a chase.  As he disappears into the East Tower, they continue walking for a while in the near darkness, following the string of braziers to the end of the wall before heading back tot heir accommodations.

- - - - -

With a shrug, Arianwen looks back at Sir Garym, "we can always stay in the castle, I would certainly prefer that while you are gone as I will have people around and no responsibilities for keeping up a manor.  If you want your own manor in Bod Dynal, you have but to ask."  The pair walk along the rampart for a while before turning in themselves.

- - - - -

Sir Gacian rushes to the East Tower and hurries down the stairs, following the distant sound of footfalls.  At the bottom of the stairs there are two long corridors, he notices the door at the end of one is closed while the other is swinging shut.  He runs down to the door and finds another staircase going down.  At the bottom, there is room with a low ceiling with several closed doors, and another open door down to the right on the opposite wall.  The room is cast in shadows as there are only a couple of torches, and there are several piles of boxes, crates, and barrels around.

Grabbing one of the two torches from its sconce on the wall, Sir Gracian pears around before examining the open door, which is at the top of a few steps in a small alcove.

He somehow misses the shadow as it separates itself from the wall and comes up behind him.  He feels a shove and goes tumbling down the three steps and the torch flies from his hand as he hears the door close behind him.

Sir Gracian picks up the sputtering torch and looks around.  He appears to be in a wine cellar.  The door is quite secure and seems to be locked.  There are no other doors, just racks and barrels of wine.  The hinges are on the other side and there is no window in the door.  Hitting the door with all of his might does not budge it at all.

Sir Gracian explores the room more thoroughly but does not find anything of interest.  There are eight barrels of wine stacked against the far wall from the door.  They all appear full and are difficult to move.  There are also long racks along each wall, each containing a couple of hundred bottles of wine.  The three steps leading up to the door make getting a running start difficult.

Sir Gracian yells and pounds on the door but never hears any response.  After a while, the torch sputters and burns out, leaving him in darkness.  At some point he drifts off to sleep.

Sir Gracian gets a check in Awareness.  You can't miss anything that badly and not learn something from it!

In the morning, Sir Garym is preparing for the Induction Ceremony for the Round Table Knights and Sir Dalan is preparing to head home.  They are both surprised when Sir Gracian does not come down for breakfast.

Puzzled, Sir Dalan turns to his lady wife. "It is not like my brother Sir Gracian to be absent on such an occasion. My dear could you speak with the other ladies and see if he... um... sought companionship?"

At some point Gracian wakes up alone in the dark. He has no idea how long he has been sleeping but he can feel he is getting hungry. He fumbles around in the dark trying to find a solid object like a mallet or something similar heavy. Once found he starts to bang on the heavy door hoping someone will hear his cries for help.

Garym was surprised that Gracian was not there. He had seemed better than Garym could believe considering the loss of his wife. Garym was planning on moving to Bod Dynal soon, and certainly the three of them would grow apart due to duties and distance.

He had a little time before the ceremony. He kiss Arianwen good bye for the moment, and went to speak with Dalan. "Dalan, I have not seen Gracian since last night. Arianwen and I were on the ramparts as you were leaving. I saw Gracian running towards the East. Did he return?"

OCC: Been sick and sort of meh last few days, but I think I am back to normal. Which means more posting. Sorry for inconvenience.

No one has seen Sir Gracian since midway through the feast.  His bed has not been  slept in and there are no missing women reported.

- - - - -

It is quite impenetrably dark.  Sir Gracian finds the remains of the torch.  Banging wine bottles seems a bit risky.  The torch banging on the door seems to make a great deal of racket in the enclosed darkness.

Gracian (rather loudly) curse the unknown woman for luring him down into the basement - and himself for even looking in the direction of a woman.

Sir Dalan frowns darkly. "This may be more than a mere matter of sleeping in. Sir Garym, I suggest I gather some of my men and begin a search; your own presence would be missed should you vanish but I doubt mine will."

There is a strong current of unease to his voice now. "Do you know any with a specific grudge against him?"

"None that I know of, but perhaps the woman he was dancing with had a jealous suitor." Garym needed to be at the ceremony, but he also wanted to find Gracian. If, he was simply hung over in a barn somewhere Garym would have strong words for him. "Yes, send you men."

Sir Dalan takes a half dozen men and they go off in search of Sir Gracian.  Asking around, no one has seen him since the banquet.  Starting in the East Tower, where he was last seen, the men spread out, searching room-by-room.  It takes a couple of hours before they find a wine cellar a couple of levels down, the door to which has been blocked.

After a little work, they unblock the door and find Sir Gracian inside.

Meanwhile, Sir Garym goes to the High Chamber, in which is ensconced the Round Table, and there is presented to the other Round Table Knights.  Then, the King stands and proclaims "you are charged never to do outrageousity nor murder, and always to flee treason; also, by no mean to be cruel, but to give mercy unto him that asketh mercy, upon pain of forfeiture of your worship and lordship of the King for evermore; and always to do ladies, damosels, and gentlewomen succor upon pain of death. Also, that no man take no battles in a wrongful quarrel for no law, ne for no world’s goods."

All of the knights stand, place their right hand upon their breast and swear, "I do!"

It is a yearly proclamation.

"What took you so long?" Gracian says and leave for his quarters. Embarrassed by being such a fool.

Garym was overwhelmed as he walked into the High Chamber. King Arthur and his legendary Knights of the Round Table; Garym did not feel legendary in their presence, but he looked at each one of them seeing a trait that they embodied. A trait that Garym needed to strive for in all his dealings.

As the King spoke the oath; Garym realized that he was part of something bigger than himself. He was part of a new form of chivalry that strove not for personal fame and glory, but a new way of life for all of Briton. One which Might did not make right. A place where commoner and noble could raise their families with joy and safety. The Knights of Round Table were the protectors of those that could not protect themselves.

Garym's hand rose to his chest with the others. He did not just hear the words King Arthur spoke. He felt them deep in his very soul, and he knew that he would gladly die for them if needed. "I DO!!!"

Sir Dalan blinks in astonishment at Sir Gracian and touches his arm in a gesture to stop him fleeing at once. "My brother do you have any notion of who did this to you and why?"

Sir Gracian is clearly embarrassed and pulls Sir Dalan aside away from his men. Gracian sees no reason to why the Dalan's mean should have something to gossip about.

"It was a woman." Gracian whispers "I was such a fool. I noticed her spying on me at the feast so I followed her. A servant had seen her - a Roman woman of noble birth - and I followed her here to the East Tower. I never saw her. I just felt someone push me and heard the door slam shut. Oh, I am such a bloody fool - and blind as a bat as well apparently!"

Sir Dalan's eyes widen but he simply nods and whispers back. "Well I'd keep my eyes peeled if I were you, there must be something more to this. Still she seems long gone by now. I suppose we best get ready for the journey home."

"I agree. Our focus should be on the coming campaign and not on some mysterious woman that is long gone by now. We have a war too fight and glory to be won!

But I am still a bloody fool ..."

Sir Garym and the other Knights mingle and chat for about an hour after the ceremony, each greeting Sir Garym and talking with him for a while, getting a feel for the new member.  The personalities are interesting and varied but all of the Knights are quite dedicated to Arthur's Vision and Serving the Kingdom.

Although it is not said, several hint that come Winter, Sir Garym is likely to be granted land from the King himself.  One of the perks of the role.

At length, the meeting breaks up and the Knights head off to their various duties.  Sir Garym will be joining the excursion to Ireland as marshal for Bod Dynol, mostly this is liaison work to integrate them with the rest of the army.

Sir Gracian and Sir Dalan head back to the west with their knights.  Sir Gracian is sure as they travel that they are being watched.  He occasionally catches sight of movement in the trees but investigation reveals nothing but hoofprints.  It seems that no one is anxious to attack a group of a couple dozen knights though.