Plot Summary

Current up to and including episode 15432. Links are given after the relevant text

denotes episodes from other plots which were linked in

• Chapter 1: In the Caverns, in which Frederigo begins his quest, and meets Astra
• Chapter 2: The Calamari Desert, In which our heroes languish in the desert, only to be rescued by the chiurgion, Vincent
• Chapter 3: An Errant Noblewoman, in which a newly cursed Astra finds herself in North Umbria, with a runaway girl on her hands
• Chapter 4: Reunion, In which Astra is reunited with Frederigo, who is strangely changed
• Chapter 5: Cicatrice, in which Andrea, Astra, and Frederigo meet the necromancer Belboz
• Chapter 6: The Wild Lands, in which Astra flees to unsettled wilderness to avoid harming her compatriots when the moon rises
• Chapter 7: The Four Winds, in which the remnants of the greatest heroes the kingdom has known are brought back together
• Chapter 8: The Fey Wood, in which our heroes travel into the heart of the Faerie Rath and brave the Unseelie Court in search of a cure for Astra's and Andrea's curses
• Chapter 9: The Quest for the Lost Grove, in which our heroes pursue an odd and ancient prophecy
• Chapter 10: Rumours and False Smiles, in which courtly intrigues abound, and our heroes near Mad Vincent's sanctuary once again

Lord Frederigo D'Honaire is sent by the King of Allaria on a quest to kill the dragon of the Southern Caves. [2] Whilst searching for the dragon, he finds Princess Astra from the neighbouring country of Aqualaria [some of the scrolls have it as 'Aquilaria'], chained to a tunnel wall. [38] He frees her, and they have various adventures together.

Eventually, they become separated. Fred is sent to Hell (for reasons which never become clear). [3037] He is told that the pain will stop and he will be sent back into the world if he will become the Thoabath - a word which means "oathbreaker". He will be required to betray those who would have aided him in his quest. Such is his pain that he agrees. A sigil is branded on the palm of his left hand, which he henceforth will have to wear a glove to disguise. [3056-3057]

Meanwhile Astra is recaptured by the dragon, who infects her with lycanthropy [1434] and, after she has spent a short time as a wolf-woman hybrid and then reverted to human form, releases her. She suspects that she is still under some curse, but does not understand its nature. Shortly afterwards she encounters Lady Andrea Le Croix [1518 - with this episode the "Astra" thread joins the "Andrea" thread], who has just run away from home in search of adventure and romance [1499 - option 8]. Astra thinks that she is too young and inexperienced, and takes her back to her home, Croix Keep. However in the brief time that Andrea has been away, the castle has fallen to a sneak attack by the dragon's men. [1552] Astra and Andrea manage to escape. In the process, Astra learns from one of the dragon's men that she is under some spell of the dragon's, confirming her suspicion. [1697]

Astra decides to seek out Belboz the Fell, a black magician who lives nearby, on Mount Cicatrice. She hopes he will be able to tell her what is wrong and maybe cure her. However, Belboz's reputation is such that Andrea refuses to go with Astra and storms off. (It is later revealed that Belboz's bad reputation is probably undeserved.) Within a few hours of leaving Astra, Andrea runs into Frederigo, who brings her back. [1744 - with this episode the "Frederigo" thread rejoins the "Astra/Andrea" thread]

Astra fills in Frederigo on what has happened to her since they were separated. For the first time, Andrea hears about Astra's experience with the dragon. Andrea recognises Astra's lycanthropy for what it is, thanks to stories told to her in childhood by her nursemaid, Fritha. (It later emerges that Fritha was a witch of some renown, and a member of the famous White Witches.) Andrea knows that Astra will turn into a wolfwoman on the night of the full moon. And the moon is nearly full. Then they arrive at Belboz's dwelling. Belboz recognises Frederigo for what he is. [3099]

Belboz says that he can help Astra, but that it will take time. Andrea points out that Astra doesn't have time, and tells what she knows about lycanthropy. Astra realises that it fits, and says that with the moon nearly full she must at once go into the wild country, to avoid the risk of harming anyone. [3420]

We are then given a recap of the story so far, which goes into more detail on some points than does this plot summary. [3436]

Frederigo and Andrea decide to follow Astra at such a remove that they will only catch up with her after the three nights of the full moon are safely past. The pair spend the night at Belboz's. Frederigo determines to kill Andrea while she sleeps, but is repulsed by a warding circle against evil creatures that the girl has set out and which she had learnt from Fritha. Andrea had thought it was Belboz she might be in peril from, but the circle proves equally effective against Frederigo. We also learn that Fritha had told Andrea that she had a gift for magic. [3890] In the near future, that gift will start to make itself increasingly evident, although it appears to be largely instinctive rather than under her conscious control,

Next morning, Frederigo and Andrea set out on their pursuit of Astra. Andrea is surprised that Frederigo leads her into the treacherous Fens of Canmoor, but Frederigo explains this is to ensure that they do not catch up with Astra too quickly. This wakens a suspicion of Frederigo in Andrea's mind, which will gradually grow. [3967]

The thread now splits into two for a while, one branch [4009] remaining with Frederigo and Andrea whilst the other [4010] - which we follow first - takes up Astra's story.

Astra makes good progress on the first day of her journey, reaching a valley that represents the start of the wild lands. That evening, as she has feared and expected, when the full moon rises she changes into a hybrid of woman and wolf. [4532/4541/4620] Astra struggles to remain in control of her bestial side, but fails. Early next morning, when the moon has set she returns to human form, spattered by the blood of the wild boar whose killing is the last thing that she remembers.

She sees a wisp of smoke rising from the far side of Dagger Ridge. [7119] She recalls that the Fens of Canmoor lie on the far side of the ridge - slow going, so that she guesses it would take whoever it was at least a day and a half to reach the valley. [7122] Nevertheless, she decides that she must put more distance between herself and the traveler(s) as quickly as possible, not even taking the time to search for the remnants of her clothes (discarded when she changed) or her sword. She begins walking towards the head of the valley. [7130]

Unluckily, before she has got very far she twists her ankle so badly that she is unable to walk. When the moon rises, her change causes her ankle to heal. This time, Astra cannot retain mental control even temporarily. [7132] When she comes back to awareness the next morning, she finds herself on the same rocky outcrop overlooking the valley as on the previous night. Her ankle is fine. [7133]

Astra returns to the valley floor, knowing that most of her safety margin could be gone. She is surprised and alarmed to be hailed by a grey-bearded old man dressed in rags. He introduces himself as Simon the Anchorite, who lives just beyond the head of the valley. In spite of his unkempt state, there seems a certain nobility about him. He has been living as a hermit in this area for at least fifteen years. He suggests that Astra should come with him to his hut. [7137]

Astra refuses. Simon senses that she is in some sort of trouble. He suggests that she tell him her story, and she tells him about her lycanthropy. [7161] Simon says that if her friends are really seeking her, she could not get far enough from the valley by sundown for safety. He suggests instead that she come with him to his hut and he should restrain her. Astra knows that is a desperate gamble, but lacking any better plan she agrees. When they reach his hut, he uses ropes and leather straps to tie her to a sturdy bed. When the moon rises the metamorphised Astra manages to break free. However Simon appears to possess some holy power; his words fill the wolfwoman with dread and she flees back down into the valley. [7168]

At this point, the Astra thread rejoins the Frederigo/Andrea thread. [7022]

We now take up the Frederigo/Andrea thread. The first night of Frederigo and Andrea's journey, a mysterious assassin attempts to kill Andrea as she sleeps, but she wakes in time, and a combination of her instinctive magic - which produces a bright light - and Frederigo's dagger results in the death of the potential assassin instead. [6901] Though Frederigo throws the man's body into the swamp, Andrea discovers a medallion torn from his neck in the struggle. When they make camp the next night, Andrea's instinctive magic gleans from the item a replay of the man's last moments, including Frederigo's words to him before he kills him: "You don't know whose toes you're stepping on, little man. Know your place..." [6984]

When Frederigo goes back to sleep, Andrea decides she will be safer if she leaves him, and she slips away and goes in search of Astra on her own. [7001] When Frederigo wakes, he sets off after her. He wants to ensure she comes to no harm, as now he knows of her magical ability he sees the chance of using her. Meanwhile, Andrea crosses Dagger Ridge into the valley beyond, where Astra in wolfwoman form finds her. [7022]

Astra hesitates, but the wolf element is in control and she attacks, wounding Andrea in the thigh. Before she can do any further damage, Frederigo appears and tackles her. As they struggle, Simon D'Chrétien appears, and Astra flees. Though Simon had disappeared twenty or so years before, Frederigo recognises him (perhaps from a portrait). Simon had been one of the famed quartet of heroes known as the Four Winds. The others had been Frederigo's own father - Charles, Belboz and a man named Aethir MacFionn. [7242]

Infected with lycanthropy by Astra's bite, Andrea soon changes into a wolfwoman. Prevented from harming Simon and Frederigo by another display of the former's holy power, she runs off. Then she hears Astra's howl and seeks her out. [7602] Next morning, Astra and Andrea awake together. Andrea tells Astra how exhilarating she had found the experience. She had never experienced true freedom like this before. Astra tells her that she shouldn't think like that; lycanthropy is too dangerous.

The two women exchange stories. Astra learns that her Simon the hermit is the famous Simon D'Chrétien and of how he had made her flee. Now that the last night of the full moon has passed, she suggests that they head for his hut, since if anyone can help them it may well be he. She is also interested to learn of the magical power that Andrea has discovered within herself. [7691]

On their way to find Simon and Frederigo, Andrea accidentally discovers that her magic gives her the ability to change into a wolfwoman whenever her emotions run high. She catches the change before it goes too far and succeeds in reversing it, so that Astra - her attention fixed on the trail - notices nothing in spite of Andrea's nudity. [7793]

Frederigo and Simon have come to find the women, and they meet them halfway to Simon's hut. Simon says that he cannot help the women, and suggests that they should visit Belboz. He will come with them, for Belboz is an old friend of his and he feels that he himself has been a hermit long enough. Pausing only to retrieve Astra's sword from where she had discarded it, the strange group heads for Cicatrice. [7907]

When they arrive, Belboz provides fur cloaks to preserve the two women's modesty. He tells them that the lycanthropy can only be cured by a poultice incorporating Spirit Willow and Fire Moss. Both of these can only be obtained from the Fey Wood, domain of evil faeries. No-one has dared visit it since Aethir MacFionn did so many years before and never returned. Frederigo is rude to Belboz. This is so uncharacteristic of him, that Astra is alarmed by it. [7961]

Next morning the party of four sets out for the Fey Wood. Astra suggests that only she need go, but is pleased when each of the other three insists on coming with her. In Andrea's case, this is partly because she still fears Belboz. Thus she is alarmed when he takes her aside just before they leave, and suggests that when they return she should become his apprentice. He has detected her magical ability, and says that it could be dangerous to her unless she learns to control it. Andrea dashes away to join the others without answering him. That day's journey is uneventful. [8083]

That night Andrea has a strange dream. She can choose between adopting her wolfish form or joining a group of seven women clad all in white and dancing in a grove. She opts for the former. As she changes, she wakes. She discovers a small patch of brown hair has appeared just above her navel. [8160]

Next day, they enter the Fey Wood. Immediately they notice that, though autumn was now well advanced, within the wood it still seemed to be high summer. They follow a path that runs beside a stream that Belboz had told them leads to a lake at the heart of the wood. By the side of the lake is where they should find the plants that they seek. As they walk on, they seem to hear insidious voices inside their heads, tempting them to stay. Night falls before they reach the lake, and they make camp. [8318]

Andrea has another dream. This time the grove is dead, and there are seven gravestones. Then a ghost of a woman appears and says: "So...the last sister comes to us now, when the coven is shattered. Fritha did well, though it may be too late..." Andrea flees from her, and revels in the exhilarating feeling of freedom as she changes into the wolfwoman. When she wakes, she finds that the region of fur is much expanded and that her ears are now pointed, though she can hide them with her hair. Astra has fallen asleep on guard, and in the night the path and the stream have mysteriously vanished. [8319]

Astra climbs a tree to see if she can spot the stream. She has to discard her cloak to do so. Andrea looks to see if Astra has undergone a similar change to her own, but there is no sign of this. Perhaps Astra's strength of will is preventing it? Andrea decides that she owes it to Astra to help her find the moss and willow twigs that are needed, but once that is done she will slip away and lose herself in the forest, and give her instincts full rein. Astra cannot see the stream, but suggests that Andrea might try using her magical power for water divining. [8353] Andrea's divining is successful, and as dusk falls they reach the lake. [8373]

They see movement out of the corner of their eyes - the faeries. Simon succeeds in dispelling them with words of power. As before when Simon has used his power, the sigil on the back of Frederigo's hand flares up painfully. Astra feels briefly uncomfortable, but Andrea feels agonising pain in her loins and the tips of her ears. Does that mean she was becoming something evil, she wonders, no longer sure what she should do.

Before it gets dark, they collect the moss and willow twigs that they need. As it is now too dark to travel, they have no choice but to make camp by the lake. [8449]

Andrea does not dream that night. When she awakes, she discovers that Astra has fallen asleep on watch again and that Simon is gone. However, he soon reappears, having come to no harm. He has discovered Aethir Macfionn, entwined in the branches and vines of an enormous tree. He is asleep and, though he has grown a long beard, he has not aged in the twenty or so years since he disappeared. [8458]

Simon blesses a bottle filled with water from the lake, then throws it over the tree. The water acts on the branches as if it was a strong acid, and even the undamaged branches seem to draw back. They manage to extricate Aethir from the tree, and lay him down a safe distance from it, though he still sleeps and they are not sure if it would be damaging to wake him prematurely. [8511]

The dreams of Aethir had been "powering" the illusion of the verdant Fey Wood. Now he is freed from the tree, the others see the Wood for the first time as it truly is: dead and somehow nightmarish. A little man - a spriggan - appears, who claims to be at odds with his faerie fellows and to be ready to help them. [8614] Then they see in the distance a huntsman - the Huntsman - and a pack of hounds. At the little man's urging, they enter a hollow tree to escape the hunt. [8645]

They have been tricked into the embrace of the Tree. Astra has a series of dreams - more accurately sleeping illusions controlled by the faeries - each of which is replaced by a new one when some incongruity enables her to recognise that it is not real. When she detects the Huntsman in one of her dreams, he tempts her with the suggestion that the dreams may be better than reality, but she turns him down. Then Aethir Macfionn, now awake, manages to wake and free her. [8752]

Frederigo's unholy condition means that, though a captive of the faeries, he does not sleep nor dream. The tithe due to Hell from the faeries' Unseelie Court is already overdue, and Frederigo tells Mab, Queen of the faeries, that it need not be paid if he and Andrea are freed. Mab agrees, and Frederigo and Andrea find themselves in one of the ancient tunnels that underlie the Wood. Frederigo tells Andrea that the others are lost, and that they must save themselves. [8752]

When she wakes, Astra's cloak and sword are missing. Such valuable items were naturally wanted by the faeries. She notices her fingernails are somewhat longer, and wonders how long she has been asleep. (She suspects that even when awake time in the Fey Wood may flow more slowly than outside.) She decides that she has no alternative but to believe that Aethir is real and not an illusion, and tells him how she comes to be in the Wood.

Meanwhile Fredrigo is thinking that things have worked out very well. Simon is no longer a threat, Astra has been betrayed, and he has Andrea in his hands. It could surely not be too long before the bestial side of her took over completely. Then she would be lost. Didn't she know that werewolves were Hell's creatures? She would have to dance to his tune then, and use her magic as he directed.

In contrast, Queen Mab is not happy. The fae had failed to break Aethir over all those years, then they had failed to break Astra, and now she has been freed. Only Simon remains trapped, and he is an old man. How long will he last? Though the dreamer will not age, nevertheless he will gradually be drained. [8775]

Aethir reflects on Astra's story. She has not said why she calls herself "cursed", but her quest for magical unguents must be important if she is accompanied by Simon and the son of Charles D'Honaire. He wonders how long he has been sleeping, for when he came to the Wood Frederigo had just been born. He knows exactly what must have happened on the outside if Simon has come [though the reader as yet does not]. He absently rubs a small chunk of stone, broken on two edges, but smooth and curved on a third, and remembers the last quest of the Four Winds.

Shutting his eyes, Aethir gropes for his dagger, for the illusions of the Wood mean than touch is the only reliable way to find something. When his hand closes on it, he brings forth an ancient weapon with a wrought iron blade. The fey cannot withstand it, and it can tear apart the dreamstuff of the Wood. He cuts at the air, and Astra sees a tear through which she can see the Wood as it really is. She and Aethir step through the hole. [8778]

They find Simon trapped in the Tree. All the time, he had been only a matter of feet away from Astra. There is no sign of Frederigo and Andrea, however. Then the Huntsman appears between them and the Tree and makes Aethir an offer. If he will let them have Astra, then he can have Simon and the two of them may leave unhindered. After all, Simon is an old friend and he has only just met Astra. Furthermore, she is young and strong, and can spend many decades in the Tree without harm, whilst Simon is old and could be at risk. [8868]

Aethir scornfully turns down the offer, and threatens the Huntsman with the knife. Meanwhile Frederigo and Andrea walk through the tunnels. Frederigo is trying to find the signs which would let them find the dvergar who built these tunnels, so that they could lead them through them, escorting them to safety, but any signs he finds are much too old. [8948]

As Frederigo and Andrea continue walking through the tunnels, they start to come across human skeletons, but oddly diminutive ones. Suddenly a hideous creature leaps out of the shadows beyond Andrea's witchlight, and pounces on her [9029]. The creature, a savage black goblin, is the source of the departure or death of all the dvergar who once lived in the tunnels [9033]. Something in Andrea snaps, and in retaliation she uses her newfound ability to call upon her she-wolf form, shocking Frederigo, as she does so without the full moon. Frederigo attempts to control her using his demon magick, but a strange, ancient magick prevented him. Realizing he may need more power for this, Frederigo moves on to the second part of the mission he was assigned by Hell, to destroy the wizard Minestus who tends the sleeping great wyrm Deltumnimos.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Aethir rescues his old comrade Simon from the Faerie Rath, and they merge two fragments of an amulet they had kept safe for decades [9112]. Coming up from the tunnels, Frederigo enlists the unwitting aid of the other adventurers, even as they were discussing returning to Belboz for the third section of the amulet. The fourth, it seems, lies in the hands of Jarlath D'Honaire, missing since age ten, and seventh son of Charles D'Honaire, Frederigo's father [9173].

While her companions, Andrea had managed to flee the Fey Wood entirely, using the speed of her feral form, and emerged in the surrounding Allarian countryside, not far from a small village [9179]. Stealing some ragged clothing from the clothesline of a nearby mill, and ran into town to avoid being caught for her theft. As the miller's wife recruited the local guards, Andrea ducked into an alleyway, only to run into a scarred, blind madman claiming to be none other than Jarlath D'Honaire. Though the search party found Andrea, the mere presence of Jarlath seemed to unnerve them, and so they left her to the lunatic's ministrations. In exchange for saving her from the guards, the enigmatic scarred young man demanded that he come with her, and raved of a destiny she must fulfill.

Aethir, Astra, and Frederigo leave the Fey Wood in its ruined state, gathering the ingredients necessary for the cure and carrying out the comatose form of Simon on a stretcher. Once they made their way back to Cicatrice, Belboz set about making the poultice which would give Astra and Andrea a chance at a cure, a risky endeavor indeed [9368]. Applying the cure, it was revealed that all that was within the poultice's power was but a chance to fight the bestial impulses of the curse. Astra struggled, but the outcome was uncertain, and thus the slow wait until the next full moon began, not knowing if the cure was successful. The next morning, the charred corpse of Belboz was found, the seeming situation indicating that he tried to merge sections of the amulet himself and was overwhelmed [9395]. None suspect that it was actually Frederigo who killed the old necromancer. Astra and Aethir successfully merge the third section into the amulet, not noticing Belboz's ghost becoming trapped in the amulet in the process. The nearly complete amulet grants a small vision, and the heroes know that the holder of the fourth section lies in the frozen lands of the Northern Wastes.

In the intervening time, Andrea had been led on a journey most strange by Jarlath, covering a distance that should have taken weeks in a matter of days [9529]. They found before themselves before a ruined stone city in the icy lands of the Northern Wastes, its structures megalithic, better suited to giants it seemed. Andrea's mistrust of her guide grew, and she summoned up the power of her wolfish form to rebel against him and fled, only to be confronted by one of the Colossi who inhabit the ruined city, the monstrous Nephilim [10433]. She was wounded grievously, but was rescued by Jarlath's immense magical might.

Traveling still northward, Astra, Aethir, Frederigo and Simon encounter only minor trouble at first, taking the form of an easily dispatched bandit attack. The night of the full moon arrives, and Astra begins to doubt whether the cure worked as cramps seize her. However, she does not change, much to her relief. As their travels continue they come dangerously close to the territory of the fierce marauders known as the Court of Fools, but manage to avoid trouble. What they do find, though, is the camp of the Count of Fenring. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, they do not make their presence known, but Astra manages to observe a nighttime conspiratorial meeting between the Count and an emissary of Minestus, swearing fealty. Another detail of this clandestine encounter disturbs Astra, for the Count has hired an elite band of Aquilarian mercenaries as his honor guard [11025].

Days earlier in the Northern Wastes, Andrea finally recovers from her injuries only to be told by Jarlath that the full moon approaches rapidly. He suggests that she be caged, but she bowls him over and flees, only to be captured by the Nephilim known as Mahmoud the Elder, who apparently was expecting the both of them. He accepts Jarlath with open arms, and offers him hospitality during the three nights in which Andrea's bestial side overtakes her [11179]. The nights pass uneasily, and finally Andrea is allowed to emerge from the pit in which she has been held, only to realize that she is sliding backward, becoming increasingly wolfish.

As tribute for his hospitality, Mahmoud demanded that Andrea and Jarlath help kill the last of the Nephilim, ending the war of the two tribes [11025]. Andrea refused, and knocked over Jarlath before fleeing and shifting into her werewolf form. Using its native speed, she ran across the frozen wasteland, making her way to the shantytown of Smuggler's Cove and slaughtering her way through it in her escape, stealing a boat.

Jarlath then played the Nephilim against each other, as he knew was preordained, tricking the Anakim and Rephaim into killing each other while he pitted Mahmoud against the disoriented pirates of Smuggler's Cove. In the aftermath, the enigmatic spirit known as Mahaziel gathered the souls of the three Nephilim and left [14533].

Meanwhile, Rowena D'Honaire, upon hearing rumours of Frederigo having emerged from the Southern Caves, was summoned to the Royal Court. There, she endured the political pressures of the court, and entreated the sorcerer who was custodian of the catacombs to scry and discover her brother's fate. She received a cryptic answer, and was puzzling it when she received news that her lost brother Jarlath may also still live [15373].

Elsewhere, our heroes in search of the fourth part of the amulet were assaulted by Queen Mab's champion, the Stick Man. Frederigo seemed to defeat it, but did so in such an easy fashion that Simon began to suspect that something was awry. The Stick Man rebuilt itself after they were safely away, and began to reformulate its plan.

As our heroes traveled onward, they were accosted by a party of armed knights who thought them in league with the Court of Fools [15401]. After convincing the knights of their earnestness, our heroes commandeered their horses and set out at a faster pace. Going on, they were solicited increasingly by the Sdanosi gypsies, who were the only guides willing to trek through the dangerous Calamari Desert, the home of Mad Vincent and his monsters. Frederigo rebuked them, but Astra secretly hired one to escort them covertly [15432].