₴₮łⱠⱠ ԋҽɾҽ

 

Often said by parents: monsters are nothing but fantasy. Untrue fears manifested by some vague shape in the corner of a room or their dreams running rampant by anxious thoughts. Throughout time, children manifest their fear in a way that their undeveloped little minds can make sense of. Many mages tried to unlock the potential of their youth through a wide array of experiments, none too invasive as distrust for these learned people was still looming over them like a shadow from a cruel Age. During the reign of King Kalem, the last experiments were held involving the perceptions of unseen things in the world. Those things you can barely grasp in the corner of your eye. Things that make animals feel uneasy. Things that made friends with the youngest inhabitants of the Kingdom with often malicious intent. 

But there are some times that these happenings aren't so malicious at all. Many spirits roam bound to the living world in a lonesome wander. Some gifted can perceive these lost, lonely souls who are often happy to find one able to lift their sorrow, albeit temporarily. Contact becomes a precious thing and for young minds who are still open and unburdened by certain laws of perception, these lost ones often visit with a craving to interact once more. An unsettling thing to witness as a parent but overall harmless.

Princess Rincah was the youngest of the Royal Family, being in her eighth year of life. As the fourth and last child, there wasn't much expected from her besides public appearances to quell the smallfolk in Sal Lastonîr or other cities and so received less attention about her upbringing. Had the Queen still been alive, one could argue Her Majesty gave this child all the attention and love she craved from her father. But the Queen passed after the birth of Rincah. And Kalem, in his way, blamed the youngest Princess for the death of his beloved one.

One such gloomy day, Kalem told Rincah to bother someone else so they can do unto her what he has too much honour left for. Stinging words that wounded the child's heart as she ran to her favourite balcony garden; believing leaping off would finally make her father smile for her. The wind was strong so high above, that maybe taking a step off the ledge wasn't even needed. It would make it so much easier, caught in a fateful gust. Frightening was such heights but returning to the cold, unloving walls of the Rising Keep was worse for living such a life. Then, tingling bells. 

Pleasant bells. Erratic but enough so not to climb the ledge. Behind the Princess stood an odd fellow with a large, porcelain-like head with bushy, curly lemony hair under a three-pointed hat, each end with three bells and entirely wrapped in thin twisted antlers growing from his forehead. Soft pink eyes glistened warmly able to melt and inflame any but the coldest hearts. He appeared ghostly and faded, adorning a vest and attire patched throughout the ages. This odd fellow waved his hands wildly, making the bells around his wrists and hat tingle. Asking where he came from, the odd fellow gestured to his mouth and made movements like he was trying to fish something out. He could not speak, so he talked with his hands. Feeling unsure about this merryman, Rincah asked that he left her alone and promised not to do anything bad. His face went from panicked and sad to smiling and glad. In a fast movement of his hands, he conjured a bouquet of singing flowers that were far too large to have been hidden on him at all, and he waved goodbye to the Princess. The flowers were placed in her tiny hands and jumped right into them. He disappeared entirely. 

The sound of tingling bells was now gone. 

Months went by like water down the mountain, every day stung Rincah with resentment towards her father. Yet there stood her new friend that no one could see or hear. Since they first met on the balcony, he always came when Rincah's sorrow was highest and lifted it with gifts of candy and magic tricks. Wishing to speak to him, she once asked him to teach her to speak with her hands as well, which made the jester so happy he double-flipped in the air and got his puffy pants stuck on the high chandelier above. Releasing himself only to land with a flat face to the grounds below. Clapping and laughing went Rincah. Loud enough for her uncle, the head of the Royal Garde, to be drawn and saw her dancing in circles with held-out hands, akin to the common folk would around a large pyre. But where was her partner in this odd dance? 

After, the sleepless nights came.

Every night King's brood was plagued by haunting visions and nightmares. He soon called upon a group of these mages to the Rising Keep to share their insights and experience. The King's Court-Mage and College Elder of the Magehand Rock, Hénon Ulen, vowed for his accomplished mages but warned that not every mystery is known to even the wisest that walk on the world. As the group explained that such vivid nightmares were often a deep-rooted manifestation of fear and desires, Hénon advised to relieve pressure from the princes and princesses of Bastion of their duties; ease of mind to not scar their future destinies as the Royal Family. Kalem was reluctant with the thought, as much still needed to be done, and he barely had the time since organising and inviting allies and nobility to Sal Lastonîr was a daunting task to do alone. With a sigh, the King agreed. So long as Hénon could find fitting replacements for preparing the Founding Festival as Princess Linerra took up the majority of the work to oversee. With that, Hénon reminded his King that maybe the matter of Princess Rincah and her 'friend' should be discussed with the mages present. 

She was the youngest of the four royal children and the most glad-hearted, skipping and dancing within the silent halls of the Keep. The very sight of her was enough to motivate many if not all servants that spent any time in the Keep. A fact reinforced whenever the Princess and the Garde's Captain, her uncle Jorgrunn, were united in laughter and gladness. The invited mages wondered what was so alarming about the uncle until Hénon quelled that line of thought and assured them that Jorgrunn was not the issue. once reported to him and the King as he saw the Princess dancing and speaking on the balcony once in full merriment, stretching her arms as if someone held her in a skippy dance. Glances were exchanged until one of the mages mentioned that, in their studies, they encountered many children with an unseen friend. All described the same thing: a silent yet dancing jester. 

Most of these reports said it was a harmless apparition appearing before children in a time of loneliness and after which they were more than happy to go on with their lives. The strangest thing was that, after such visits, all the memories of a jester just disappeared. Only to be re-explored in forgotten writings of old diaries, if children even kept those. Yet still, no memory is gained of their old friend in adulthood. 

Such tales did not concern King Kalem. He just wanted to know if this 'grey merryman' was a danger to Rincah. If one of the Royals was seen so challenged in her mind, one can easily see how scandals are created; weakening the Royal House. While the mages were unsure about the nature of this apparition, they assured the King that it was surely a benign being and a rare thing to appear as well; the last it was recorded was well over a century ago. Just as the group would take their leave, they encountered Princess Rincah at the main gates who was making strange gestures towards them. The oldest of their number recognised them as 'hand-speech', a language of gestures still young in development but already widely used among the deaf and whose tongues are stricken with silence since birth. An unusual sight to behold in these parts of Bastion, however. Some were almost certain to have seen a glint of pink flash in her eyes when turning her short-haired head to leave the group alone. It was an odd and eerie encounter and decided to inform Hénon of it who promised to let them know if something arose from this. 

All the way returning to the College, the group felt watched and some became jumpy at the sight of cats appearing and staring as they woke up in the mornings. A particular red cat with very human-like eyes of cobalt was seen several times, always appearing ahead of their way and maybe one or two saw this cat in their dreams with a foreboding wide grin. It was only in the presumed safety of the Magehand Rock that the eldest figured out what the Princess gestured in Sal Lastonîr: 'Beware that in the empty which speaks with hands, still playing yet unseen in the light of time's sands. Learn a name from her, in dark profane. A queen of night, if you still live within her sight.'

An expedition was launched to solve this odd riddle, believing one of the Vampyre Monarchs to hold answers. Only three such known queens rule the night, which did not simplify the matter at all. To call upon them on matters such as these and expect to survive. Most Vampyres have withdrawn from society but do not intentionally seek to harm others. Of course, a few exceptions are always there, but they are made off examples of by their very own kin. Like the dreaded Ravasar, who are mortal enemies to all things living but fortunately, not ruled by a queen. Of all secretive things within the Vampyre clans is the knowledge of their Monarch held in supreme regard, discussed only amongst the oldest of their number and even then not often as it draws their king or queen near with annoyance and ire. 

All mages that had since left the Rock, have been reported missing within mere weeks after the translation of the one who "speaks in hands".

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