This will be the final chapter in my Sworn by Ghostlight series. The original, Ebon Wood Effigies, and the sequel, Wings of Rot, were based on my playthrough of Yuigaron’s amazing one-page games. The end of Wings of Rot was based on information Yuigaron had given me about their plans for the next case. Sadly, that case never materialized. I decided that I would use Starforged and play the last of the trilogy without the aid of an SbG game.
I am using the Starforged reference guide, Sundered Isles oracles, and Starsmith by Eric Bright.
Selma Belright, Occult Detective
Personal Case Journal
2 August, 1937
Sometime after 1015
The Matron’s Chamber, Grave Hill Catacombs“How can this be?” Hunter asked, his voice full of emotion. “How can you be alive?”
“It is quite the tale, I assure you,” the Matron replied, though her words were strained.
“Fortunately, there’s only superficial damage to your scalp. You’ll have a scar around your hairline, I suspect, but nothing lasting. Do you have any other injuries?”
“She took a spear to her ribs,” Gannis said.
Hunter inspected the wound, coming away with blood caked hands. “Looks like just a graze. Do you have anything to suture the wound with?”
Gannis gestured to someone I couldn’t see and a short, wiry girl with curly white hair raced over with a tattered leather bag swung over her bony shoulders. He told her what was needed and she began rummaging in the bag.
“I’m going to need to cut away some of your gown,” Hunter said. “I’ll try to not damage it more than is necessary.”
“It is only cloth, my son.”
“Thank you,” he said, addressing the girl as he took a needle and thread from her. “This will hurt a bit.”
The Matron never even winced as he set about stitching the split flesh together. Within a few moments, he stepped back and scrutinized his work.
“That should do. You’ll need to limit your movement for a while, but there should be no lasting damage. Could someone bring her some water?”
“Thank you, Julian,” the matron said, reaching out a hand.
He took it, and crouched beside her. “I can’t believe you’re here. Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
“When you first appeared here, I was afraid it would be too much of a shock to your young mind. When I lost you, all those years ago, I feared I’d never see you again. Oracle seemed to think otherwise, but dragons perceive time and history in a way we do not. Then you turned up in the graveyard, disoriented and afraid. When Gannis found you, you were as pale as the full moon and shaking like a leaf. I did what I could to comfort you, without revealing who I was, in hopes that your young mind would figure out a way to shield itself from the time shock. It seems that you did quite a good job blocking out the trauma. Josiah didn’t think my sending you to live with him was wise, and perhaps it wasn’t in some ways, but I knew you were important—call it a mother’s intuition if you must—and needed to be ready for the future. The Brightwoods and the Gotelles have been staunch allies and friends for generations, and Josiah was the only person living I knew I could trust.”
“Did you say Gotelle?” I interrupted.
“My family name, yes,” the Matron replied. “Come up here, ghost branded. You, too, are important.”
I did as she asked, pondering over the weight she added to her final word. There was more to it, though I couldn’t begin to fathom what it was.
“I went to university with a Gotelle. She was exceptionally intelligent, though she seemed to dislike me.”
“The Belrights and the Gotelles have a long, storied history, though much of it is exaggerated—by both sides, mind you—and should have been buried long, long ago.”
“How did you know my name?”
“Knowledge is easily acquired when you’ve lived as long as I have.”
“How are you still alive, mother?” Julian asked.
“When we broke the moon, the site of the working was blasted with the full brunt of the magical fallout. Most of my brothers and sisters were killed on the spot, turned to ash. I was one of the…lucky ones, if you could call this eternal existence lucky. I was irradiated with so much magical energy that my body was fundamentally altered. I became physically frail, though I was still a youthful and vibrant woman before the working, and all color drained from my hair. I couldn’t walk, and was rescued by your father who had been in the village when the working took place. There was a fight between him and Elijah Tubblebottom. Tubblebottom wanted me dead for ruining his plan to revive the Dark God, and Edison refused to surrender me to him. Your father injured Tubblebottom before being mortally wounded by one of the warlock’s Hunters. As your father lay dying, the folk who dwelled in the catacombs came to my aid, chasing off the Hunter and taking us below ground. I expected to die at any time, but I have not. Perhaps I still have a purpose in this world, though even with all my experience I cannot see it.”
“I never thought I’d see you again,” Julian said, and I could see tears streaming down his face. “I saw father’s headstone.”
“He would be proud of the man you became, Julian. He was always proud of you. Did you find the stone?”
“We did, and met Oracle again,” Julian answered. “His calling me Ancient One makes sense at last.”
“You’ve met him before?”
“A few months ago we thwarted Tubblebottom’s plan in the Rift, where we met Oracle,” I answered. “I am still in awe that dragons exist.”
“Oracle might very well be the last of his kind. Even before we cracked the moon, dragons were rare.”
“Why did you crack the moon?” I asked.
“We needed to stop Tubblebottom from reviving Dimuth. There were no options, except to break the source of magical power.”
“The moon.”
“Yes, the moon. As you likely know, it controls the ocean’s tides. Magic, like the ocean, has tides. The moon governs the tides of magic, and there are certain times of the year when the tide crests in such a way that powerful magical workings can be undertaken that would otherwise be impossible. One such event, the likes of which hadn’t happened in nearly three hundred years, was fast approaching. Tubblebottom could have used that event to bring Dimuth back without the need of a mortal vessel, and the world as we know it would have ended. So we broke the moon, limiting the amount of magic in the world. The release of Ghostlight was unexpected to say the least, though I suspect it has been partially responsible for my unending life.”
“It changed your people, too, didn’t it?” I asked, looking around at the gathered ghouls.
“It did. The Gotelles have protected the people of the Hills since they were driven out of Tower Hill when the first settlers arrived with their iron armor and blasting cannons. We administrated the truce that left Grave Hill for the People, and we served as liaisons between the newcomers in the new Tower Village, and with the lord of Monaþstone once the village grew to become a small town. When we cracked the moon, the mingled power of magic and Ghostlight altered those close to the initial fallout.”
“So you were responsible for their change.”
“We were, though it was inadvertent. I have endeavored to aid them for these long years in every way that I have available to me, though it is much more limited now.”
“We do not blame Matron Gotelle for our plight,” Gannis spoke up. “We know that the working was necessary and without it we might not exist at all.”
“Mother,” Hunter whispered, eyes wide as if for this instance he was still a little boy.
“Yes, my son.”
“I have missed you.”
“I have missed you, as well,” she said, and extended a frail hand.
“Let us leave them to catch up,” I suggested.
“Call if you need us, my lady,” Gannis said, bowing to the Matron before joining me and walking off some distance.
I watched the two from the far wall, tears threatening to break free as I saw Hunter embrace his mother gently. After a moment, I turned away to give them privacy and addressed Gannis.
“Do you think the Riven will return?”
“It is likely, though not soon. We suffered many casualties but so did they. They were not prepared for the Matron’s power.”
“Good, I would want to stay in your defense if there was a chance they’d strike soon. As would Julian.”
“It is unlikely we will see them again soon. The Hallow begins in a few hours and even those accursed creatures still respect the ancient traditions.”
We would rest, and Hunter could spend much needed time with his mother, before going back in time to face Elijah Tubblebottom once and for all. It was a daunting prospect, but there was no doubt in my mind that Hunter and I would play a role in bringing down the dark wizard—and maybe save my mentor as well.
Ask the Oracle: Does the Matron have other injuries? 50/50 = 62, yesInvestigation — Mystery of Grave Hill (Formidable): 7/10 progress