The Inner Circle Society - The quest for Excalibur (3)

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Morgaine le Fay, illustrated by Venlian

Cline turned to Draco, leaning across the table. "Okay, the nitty  gritty. From what has been said so far." He glanced around the oblong  table. "Correct me if I am wrong."

"We will assume the sword exists. Apart from being a artifact of  historical value, there is a strong possibility it is exceptional in any number of ways. The most dramatic attribute, I think we would all agree, is that it belongs to the future King. King of what, is still in question."

He cleared his throat and rested his chin on his fist. "Now, the location - there are a few posibilities. At sea, in the hands of this famous lady-of-the-lake, or at Avalon, also known as the island of apples." He turned to the woman by his side. "Right Elizabeth?"

Dr Cline gave a friendly smile. He liked her apparent calm sincerity. "Also, let's not strike out the possibility of someone else already having discovered Excalibur. That would be a turn of events, wouldn't it?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Maybe the king has already been found!"

He shuffled awkwardly on his leather chair. It didn't seem like there was much to go on. If only they could obtain a definitive answer.

The Inner Circle Society - The quest for Excalibur (2)

The lady of the lake, by Okmer

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"I won't even go into the whole 'time travel' notion," Lothian said.  "I've  seen strange things aplenty in this life, so I'll just take that one at face value.  However, I strongly recommend that you set that notion -- and any like it -- aside.  You don't toy with key artifacts in such a way.  Destiny has marked it, and anyone who plays with it in a cavalier manner will surely wind up dead.  Destiny doesn't tolerate fools."

"Careful, pops," Jesse warned as he began cracking his knuckles.  "You  don't like my plan that's fine, but you start calling me a fool and you'll find yourself eating a knuckle sandwich."

Lothian smiled a wide, bright smile.  Being six-foot-eleven and built like a stone wall, it was the rare individual who dared threaten him aloud.

Usually a fool.

"Nonsense," he replied.  "You make a trifle with lady fingers."

The Inner Circle Society - The quest for Excalibur

(Text sample of our writings)

"Among us?" Lothian asked.  "None.  While there is a Greene left alive on this Earth, none but the Once and Future King will wield Excalibur, unless and until a higher power decrees.  Whatever hand of fate willed the sword to Arthur may will it to someone else... but until such time as Providence appoints another, NONE shall wield the sword of Arthur."

"Unless, of course, someone here _is_ this re-incarnation of said Once and Future King..." Tatyana left that particular tidbit hanging, waiting to see if anyone was about to offer any revelations.

"If fate would have it so," Lothian said, "there will be signs to that effect. Monotheists would have that 'God moves in mysterious ways.'  The older gods eschew subtlety in favor of getting the job done."

Cline pondered on the significance of that, while stuffing a doughnut  into his mouth. All this excitement gave him a craving for sugar and coffee, if it could be made available.

Elizabeth found herself absent mindedly watching Dr. Cline eat doughnuts and pondered the meaning of Lothian's words.  The fates had a way of working in the direction of the desires of the most powerful and she wondered if there was potential here to coax the turn of events in the direction that would benefit the Guardians.

The Inner Circle Society - how it came to be

The Inner Circle Society was a play-by-email roleplaying game I created a bit over 15 years ago. Funny enough, after all these years I still have the original documents kept in my computer, and curiously after googling the term I've found out some other "Inner Circle Societies" that are more recent and obviously not of my creation since as its origin it's completely different.

The original Inner Circle Society was created out of my obsession with the legend of King Arthur. During my intensive interest on the topic,  I've pretty much read all I could get my hands on about it and that sort of explains why the main plot was "The quest for Excalibur"

Usually when one creates, coordinates and plays writing games, one has to have a very precise idea - or at least as precise as possible - of what things are. It is a requirement so we can explain it welll to others and help them integrate in the story. This was, in my opinion this is one of the most the most wonderful challenges I've faced as a game master in my own creations. Allowing the others to become part of the plot, to enrich it with different aproaches contributing to the storytelling and its end result.

One thing was certain; I always knew how the story started, but it was never possible to predict how it would end and this was a kind of an addictive feeling.


So, the original text about the Inner Circle Society went like this: