Mikelmerck - the caves beneath Strangmont Castle

Top down view of the caves.

The above map shows some of the difficulties involved in finding the caves beneath the Castle.  It is not that they don't exist, but the entrances are many and most lead to nothing in particular.  Nor are those entrances easy to find. 

Seen from the ground, there is merely limestone cliff rising steeply.  Covered in trees and brambles, it is not inaccessible, but it is inhospitable.  None of the openings are visible either from the top of the cliffs or from ground level.  If one could fly, perhaps the chances would be greater - and indeed watching the nesting patterns of birds has so far offered the best clues to possible entrances.

If Walt Mukel ever fulfils his dreams of finding a useful entrance, he will be hard pressed to make any use of it.  He has neither the skills, nor, if the truth be told, the inclination to go burrowing among the rocks.  Such activity is far below his sense of self-worth.  Paying the intrepid is one option, but he would need to be very sure he could trust such a group.  After all, he has not spent the best part of his adult life looking for secrets to have them blabbed about by some random adventurer.

Mikelmerck - The Strangmont Seneschal (8th day of advent)

I have every intention of doing backdated posts for the 6th and 7th days as well, but this is what you get today.  

The position of Seneschal at Strangmont Castle is hereditary.  This is due to an error of wording in the original contract, but after 700 years it is a little late to be setting right a bureaucratic error.  In any case, to do so would be to bring down the wrath of the Mukel family.  Never a large clan, they are nonetheless important and have made themselves more so with their tenacious hold on the post of Seneschal.

As the years have gone by and the Castle's importance as a politcal seat has dwindled, so too have the duties declined.  In honesty, they are now mostly ceremonial and for most of the people of Strangmont, the Seneschal is a kind of local joke.  Naturally nobody says so outright, but the tolerant politeness shown to the current holder speaks for itself.

Walt Mukel - Hereditary Seneschal of Strangmont Castle

Walt Mukel is not happy about this and longs for the glory days.  Now in his early thirties and unmarried, he has a two great ambitions.  The first is to wed so the line can continue through him rather than some outlier cousin.  His second great ambition is to find the caves beneath the Castle.  To this end he spends much of his time searching the extensive records for clues.

Walt has been postponing the search for a wife mainly because he feels he simply cannot spare the time.  He is also uncertain quite how to broach the matter.  He is anxious to avoid marrying someone unable to appreciate the importance of his lineage.  Locally, Walt is reckoned a good catch - being a pompous bore is not a crime, after all. 

Walt is often to be found fulfilling his duty to walk the walls with obsessive interest.  He always takes a small hammer and a tape measure with him, but hides both when anyone comes into view.

Mikelmerck - Goffroi I, the Pactsinger (2nd day of advent)

The real foundation of Sarahame power lies in the Song of Binding composed by Goffroi I.  As a young man, arrogant and longing for power,  he hunted and caught a fey woman on his lands.  Outraged at his insolence, but intrigued by his courage, she offered a bargain.  If he could compose a song to please her, she would lie with him three nights.  

The song was sung and on the first night, the fey woman lay with him and bore a son.  Now she asked Goffroi to raise the boy in the mortal world.  He agreed.  The boy should hold all the land that he would walk in a day.  So was marked the boundary of Mikelmerck.

On the second night, the fey woman lay with him and bore a daughter.  She asked that the girl be raised among the fey.  Goffroi agreed, but insisted that the girl return each year for one day.  So was born the Veiled One.

On the third night, the fey woman waxed great but bore no child.  She offered Goffroi a choice.  The child she carried would be his downfall and the downfall of his family.  So long as he and his heirs walked the Progress with the Queen each year, they would prosper.  When the bargain was broken, she would birth the child.

In the morning, he found her gone, leaving nothing but a spring of broom in her place.  Taking it as his emblem and his name,  Goffroi heeded her words.  He wrote down the tale and the song.  The tale is told freely - if treated now as a myth.  The song has been long hidden.  Some parts can be found engraved into the family vault at Jervich, but the whole is unknown these days.  For seven centuries the Sarathames have walked the Progress, always accompanied by a veiled woman.  Some bargains are not to be broken.

Mikelmerck - Boothler Samael

Boothler Samael was a most unusual man.  Well known as Mikelmerck's foremost magician, he was also a noted entertainer.  Indeed performance was his first trade.  As a young man, he was called to duty in the court masques of the Sarathame kings and had a successful career as a noted dancer and orator.  His light comic touch was much admired and he was a favourite both on and off the stage.

Advancing rapidly in favour, he passed into the inner circle of the kings and thence to some of their closest secrets.  Records of this period are sparse and Samael himself revealed nothing of note in his autobiography.  What is certain is that he left the court and with the blessing of Rickart III, proposed and built a circuit of theatres around Mikelmerck.  All were on noted leyline points.  He and his troupe of actor-mages walked the circuit time and again bringing protection and amusement in equal measure.  Now, the only surviving venue is in Strangmont and it is here that Boothler Samael's ghost resides.

Like many of the great Mikelmerckian dead, his work continues after death and is likely to do so for some time.  He had no successor.  Subsequent Sarathames moved away from theatre and its protective magic and many of his secrets are lost.  Boothler Samael talents have not been forgotten, but his legacy at present is greatly diminished.  There are still actors, to be sure, but they perform for their own amusement.  The deeper meaning of their activities eludes them.  Even so, they are, unwittingly, maintaining his tradition and Samael's ghost has not given up hope that his protective magic may find a successor.

He sits in the gallery of the Strangmont theatre, kicking the boards at the rare good performance.  To be "kicked by Samael" is therefore a great compliment.  The old door keeper, Ym Rowsel knows the ghost well.  His eyes are ever on the alert for signs of true talent.  Boothler Samael is still waiting patiently to teach his skills and Ym's task is to find a suitable protege.

Mikelmerck - Scrivener Wainwright

Mikelmerck's Customs and Places, Mikelmerck's Folk and An Introduction to Mikelmerck for the Young are often the first port of call for visitors to the Duchy.  Scrivener Wainwright's popular works, while somewhat superficial, offer a good outline of the Duchy and its history.

As a southerner coming to Mikelmerck as an outsider, his views are always interesting.  Much that he finds curious is, of course, regarded as completely normal by the Mikelmerckians themselves.  Scrivener himelf confesses to a slightly obsessive love of his adopted home.  Part of the charm of his books lies in the admission that not all the tales he hears may be strictly accurate.  The dour Mikelmerckian humour, may, he feels, have exaggerated some of the stories.

Now resident in Strangmont, Scrivener Wainwright continues to explore the Duchy.   Wearing his trademark straw hat and carrying voluminous notebooks, his small, plump figure can be found at most events of any importance.  Insatiably curious, permanently ink-stained and always courteous, he is at least tolerated almost everywhere. 

His next planned volume is Nightmares of Mikelmerck.

Mikelmerck - Strangmont Castle

Strangmont is the only town of real note in Mikelmerck.  It was made so by the Sarathame kings as a gesture of defiance to the older powers.  To do this, they built a majestic castle (most likely with fey help).  Set high on a limestone outcropping, overlooking the Roosh, Strangmont Castle has never been successfully attacked.

The town perforce grew up around it, since Goffroi Sarathame removed all rights to market from the surrounding area.  Enclosed by long-gone city walls, Strangmont was a stronghold and a statement in one.

In the present time, while still important in Mikelmerck, Strangmont is no longer the seat of Sarathame power.  It remains an important symbol to the family, and the Progress both begins and ends here.  Although a fever of activity marks that event, for the remainder of the year, the Seneschal's duties are light.  Most of them are symbolic. 

Every evening, the Seneschal must walk the circuit of the Castle to ensure that the walls yet hold.  Long ago, a local drunkard stumbled on a gap and found his way into the network of caves beneath.  There he claimed to have found sleepers and a horn waiting to waken them.  Few believed him, but the Seneschal's nightly walk gives some credence to the tale.

Mikelmerck - St Mikela, the Voice of the Head

Former home of St Mikela, the Voice of the Head.  Now a shrine.

The Legend of St Mikela has long been a popular subject for artists in Mikelmerck, but the best known example remains the Oltsow Tapestry.  Here all the major events of the saint's life are depicted in vibrant colour and provides the best introduction to this important figure.

St Mikela's birth was marked by the blossoming of the white pear tree outside Cooshboth's major temple in Jervich.  Her wealthy parents had quite other plans for their beautiful daughter, but Cooshboth's flame burned brightly in Mikela from the outset.  Agreeing at last to wed, she grew a beard on her wedding night and she and her nonplussed groom knelt in prayer to know the meaning of such a sign.

The following morning, she parted with her husband and retired to the cave that was to be her home for the next 60 years.  Here she rapidly acquired a reputation for wisdom.  Although much of her time was spent in contemplation, she readily accepted visitors and answered all questions with unfailing courtesy.  She was widely reputed to speak with the voice of Cooshboth himself - indeed, some said that he even dwelt at times within the cave.  Certainly her advice was heeded and few events of import took place without first consulting Mikela.

Mikela's advice of this period was collected by her devoted acolyte, the Blessed Aldern the Repeater and is noticeably practical in tone.   The Booke of St Mikela remains a standard text found in most Mikelmerckian homes and ranges over topics concerning the proper times for planting and husbandry as well as behaviour and the worship of Cooshboth.

Thirty years after she entered it, the saint's cave was seen to glow with a powerful divine light and Mikela herself was not seen for many weeks.  Fearing that she was dead, the people, lead by Aldern, closed off the cave mouth and built a small shrine in honour of her memory.  It was at this shrine that Mikela reappeared clad in sheep fleece and utterly silent.  It seemed that the Voice of the Head had been given a new role.

For the remainder of her life, she remained within the cave, speaking but rarely.  When she did so, the words made little sense, concerning events yet to come.  Nonetheless, she continued to welcome and bless all comers.  Her kindness extended to everyone.  Rich, poor, child or elder - any might make the pilgrimage to visit the saint.  After her death, her  incorrupt body remained in the cave.  Miracles were soon reported and the shrine remained a popular pilgrimage site.  Even after her death, Mikela continued to prophesie.  She chose her vessels from among the visitors  and they spoke in her voice.

In the view of many, the greatest sin committed by the Sarathame kings was the removal of St Mikela's body from her cave.  Taking her to their own crypt, she was reburied with great honour, but she seemed to disapprove.  From that time the saint has remained silent and the miracles have ceased.

Mikelmerck - the fey and the Sarathames

Fabian did a lovely piece on the Nine Men of Muriz which obviously falls into the same territory as the Drowned Seven (below).  I meant to link to it yesterday.

In the way of Mikelmerck, old stories often turn out to be the true ones.  The Sarathame kings long had links with Mikelmerck.  They had little to call their own - only vaulting ambition, a love of music and a way with words and small magic.  As their power grew, so did their need for knowledge.  Unusually among powerful families they respected learning, seeing it as a way forward rather than a threat.  In Mikelmerck they found a most uncommon source of power and took advantage of it.

They realised early that the boundaries in Mikelmerck were fragile and started to cultivate the fey.  Far from fearing them, they yearned for fey knowledge and in exchange offered a permanent border on their lands.  It is said that Goffroi, the first Sarathame king wrote a song of calling inviting the fey into this world and sharing its joys with them.  Parts of it are inscribed in their burial chapel, but the whole song is known only to the king and his heir.

It is certainly true that under the Sarathames, architecture has taken a very different turn, seeming to ignore the rules of logic and physics to build towering palaces and churches.  Music and culture are enduring preoccupations of the family.  Their dynasty has lasted for nearly 700 years, but in that time, their eccentricites have become more extreme.  They keep their secrets well, but in the end their own need to keep them may bring about their downfall.  Increasingly paranoid and mistrustful they turn inward and rot like overripe fruit.  Even so, they maintain their links with Mikelmerck.  Their wives nearly all come from the Duchy and their castles still stud the landscape.

Each year the Progress spends a month walking the boundaries.  At this time, anyone may approach the king and beg a favour.  The king is bound to listen and answer, but it is a risky thing to do.  The favour may well be granted, but it will come at a price.  Sometimes that price is a small thing - a clean fleece or a fresh baked cake placed at a certain spot, a new chant or a rock moved from one place to another.  Sometimes though the price is higher and stranger.  It depends on the mood of the king and the need of the boundary at the time.