The safe arrival of Dionysus, son of Bacchus, was reported elsewhere. However, this record of the day's events from the pen of Leah Firedrake may clarify certain of the references made by the child's mother in that report to the assistance and great honours she received from many of those present during that momentous occasion.

Well, it took a while, but we finally managed to get to Gloucester where we erected the tents in true Bacchus style (with lots of stops for bevies) and then quickly began worshipping (more bevies). Despite our merriment, it was a fairly quiet night, with the odd gribbly turning up and running away again at the fearsome sight of the Bacchus' gate guard (three silver, Jac, my, what a generous donation, thank you very much!)

Saturday started well with the Queen regaining her sight thanks to Kaithen and Lysandra, and it promised much more action as, according to George's careful calculations, this would be the day on which the son of Bacchus would be born. Katerina firmly and with much relief agreed, having already begun experiencing birthing pains. The fact that during the baby's more frisky moments he had been seen to kick George right across the room warned us that the birth might be harder than most, so Xantalia, Elhana and myself began preparing the birthing tent, stocking it with spirits and towels aplenty.

And so it came to pass that the child was born later that afternoon in a cloud of action, his new-born cries mingling with those of the battle ensuing just outside the gate. A true child of Chaos, perhaps? Maybe we should have taken more notice of the forewarning!

Hearing our cries of joy, some of the faction guards ran to inform us that we were under seige by Unseelie Fae who had just managed to breach our defences. This was a great worry to all of us since George had reported having dreams warning him of potential danger to the baby now tightly clasped in Katerina'a arms.

Saving the baby

Knowing about the Fae and their baby-stealing habits, it was decided that an attempt would be made to get him out of the camp and back to the safety of Londinium where he might safely await his naming ceremony. Katerina was obviously in no condition to undertake this perilous journey yet and besides, apart from the full-scale battle raging outside, the surrounding walls of our encampment were 60ft high.

Fortunately Bacchus provides and s'Pika and his son, the noble s'Kallion of the Beastmen, were just rushing down to join the battle when they overheard our anxious conversation. Immediately agreeing to assist, they promptly disentangled the babe from Katerina's desperate arms.

Leaving Iggy to comfort Katerina, I went with the Beastmen to the rear perimeter wall and watched them climb carefully over and disappear with our precious bundle. Returning to Katerina, where she hid with a decoy bundle, I stood on guard outside with s'Kallion's weapons, watching the ensuing fracas, fully expecting at any moment one of the fae to appear from nowhere right in front of me.

Fae fie foe fum

Eventually the battle died down and the Bacchus warriors returned without any losses. s'Pika and s'Kallion were still not returned so, taking Pelleas, Remy, Young John and Jac with me, we headed for the ritual circle and thence to Londinium where we found all three safe and sound, much to everyone's relief.

As the danger seemed to have passed for now, we decided to risk taking the baby back to his mother to be prepared for the naming ceremony later that evening.

We thought it best to lay the child on a shield and carry him between us to avoid any possible injuries, but on our return to the camp discovered that this was the least of our worries. The Club of Bacchus had, when transported, suffered a seepage of its power and this had affected us all and we discovered ourselves completely muddled by the effects. I certainly have never been so confused in my life (and no comment from anyone who was around the campfire that evening, thank you!) though the baby seemed happy enough with the situation. Definately his father's son.

Placenta party

We made it back to the camp, despite our tingling heads, and it was a great pleasure to see Katerina's face as I handed the baby back to her. Tears of joy all round, methinks! And so the celebrations began, my speciality placenta pate going down very well, (particularly with the Beastmen) although the Queen and Kaithen declined even when put to shame by Lysander's acceptance, one of the few nobles who appreciates good food when presented with it!

As night fell, all the necessary arrangements had been made for the naming ceremony. It was quite a procession which wended its way down to the ritual circle, as both George and Katerina had invited the entire Faction to witness the occasion, and the Queen and s'Kallion had both agreed to act as the child's guardians. The fact that the Harts almost in entirety were present was indeed most fortunate as we were soon to discover.

Tel Falcon stood in the centre of the circle holding the child, Katerina beside him and the ritual group around them expressing their hopes for the child's future. Then, just as George named the boy Dionysus, everything became impenetrably black and Katerina screamed out for her baby. Then, in a brilliant flash of gold, a man stood before us with vines entwined in his hair, proclaiming himself the son of Bacchus and explaining that his father, not wishing his son to endure the painful years of childhood, had speeded his growth and gifted him with all his memories.

Everyone fell to their knees and were utterly amazed. So completely did he enthrall us, not only with his words but also with his presence, that we did not notice the portal open behind us until it was almost too late. Some of us managed to reach safety as George hurredly opened the circle, but the army of undead who poured from the portal had paralised Katerina and Remy before they had an opportunity for escape. Jac and the team keeping guard around the outside of the circle were taken by surprise as much as the rest of us and when the thick ground mist issued from the portal it became impossible to distinguish friend from foe in the ensuing battle.

When the danger was over and we were once again safely inside the walls of our camp, Dionysus was nowhere to be found, and a new panic began.

Naughty boy

Katerina was almost prostrate with grief and when it became apparent that our warriors were slow in returning from the fight she decided to march out herself and search for her son, against all advice to the contrary. George, Jac, a few others and myself accompanied her and we eventually discovered the youth in the house of his father, taking King Rhino to task over some matter or other! Relieved, we could not have known then that this was only the first of many such occasions when he would absent himself without bodyguards, but that's another storyÉ