In Leg Post 21 the knights on Algernon find that they are captives of Sebile, the witch, in The Red Castle, despite her friendliness. They decide they should stay the night anyway and inspect their rooms. Sir Percival accepts the room that she had offered him. Sir Sagramore offers to bless Sir Gawain's chosen room but Gawain refuses heathen religion so Sagramore goes to find a clean room. Just as Gawain is about to sleep, Sebile appears in his room. She offers him wealth, power, sex and herself through images in a mindscape but he refuses all of them. She reveals that Percival also refused so she will try the last knight. At a shout from Sagramore, Gawain and Percival rush to his room to find Sebile naked in the bed with him but he asserts he did nothing. He had apparently gotten into her bed without knowing she was there. The scandal looming Sagramore offers to marry her and save his and her honour. Gawain knows this is a trick but Percival thinks it's the perfect plan.
Post[]
Space Camelot[]
Captivating[]
Location: Algernon | Perce Forest | The Red Castle
Characters: Sir Gawain | Sir Sagramore | Sir Percival | Sebile
Sir Gawain: "This confirms it then."
Sir Sagramore: "We are captivating!"
Sir Gawain: "Captives, Sir Sagramore."
Sir Percival: "We may well be captivating too!"
Sir Gawain gave the front doors another shove but they wouldn't budge even a centimetre. He deduced they were locked by magical means rather than a mere key. He wondered if they could break open a window or if any projectile would bounce off of the glass. Their host, or captor, was nowhere to be seen. The evening had landed and she had retired for bed.
Sir Sagramore: "We should speak with the lady."
Sir Percival: "We shall. In the morning I think."
Sir Gawain: "You want to sleep here?"
Sir Percival: "I would prefer to tackle our escape after sleep, yes. I don't know if I can--"
He gave a long yawn.
Sir Percival: "--keep awake much longer."
Sir Gawain: "Maybe she cast a magic sleeping spell on us!"
Sir Sagramore: "I am not tired."
Sir Gawain: "Me neither. Just Percival then."
Sir Percival: "It has been a long day, Sir Gawain..."
Sir Gawain: "Then let's inspect our rooms."
They take to the stairs and ascend to the next floor. Dust hung on the walls and yet there are no insects anywhere to be seen. No spiderwebs, no beetles, no cockroaches. On the walls are ancient paintings of proud-looking people. Gawain assumed they were Sebile's ancestors.
Sir Percival: "This is the room she said was mine."
They enter the room and look around for signs of tampering, magic or any other assorted dangers. The bed is the only clean thing in the room, with fresh sheets laid out. Everything else is as caked in grime as the rest of the old castle. The chest-of-drawers is missing several of its drawers and the wardrobe is missing one door and the back.
Sir Gawain: "How can she live in a place like this?"
Sir Percival: "Maybe she keeps her own room tidy?"
Sir Sagramore: "I will take the cleanest room I find."
Sir Percival: "I'll just take this one. It's the chivalrous thing to do. She offered it to me after all."
Sir Gawain: "Maybe the bed is possessed and will swallow you."
Sir Percival: "Then I shall die in my sleep and blissfully unawares."
Sir Gawain: "Always a bright side."
Sir Percival began to remove his armour and the other two leave him. Gawain closed the door behind him and they paced down the corridor.
Sir Gawain: "I can't remember which she said was mine."
Sir Sagramore: "There are no other guests. I think you can choose whichever you like."
Sir Gawain: "I suppose so. I just hope to find one with clean bedsheets though."
They opened another door and found it much the same as Percival's room, including clean sheets.
Sir Gawain: "This'll do then."
Sir Sagramore: "Do you want me to mess your room? Keep you safe?"
Sir Gawain: "Mess? It's already a mess!"
Sir Sagramore: "Um. Not mess. Bless."
Sir Gawain: "No thanks. I don't need heathen blessings, thank you very much."
Sagramore shrugged his shoulders.
Sir Sagramore: "My tengrism beliefs are more like magic. Might work better here than your Christian blessing."
Gawain had to admit a certain logic to that but he wouldn't sully his belief and so Sagramore left with the room unblessed. Just in case, Gawain made a prayer to God to keep him and his allies safe for the night. It took a long time to remove his armour. He had to pile it all on the dressing table as they was nowhere to hang it up. He kept a dagger under his pillow and lay down his head. Sleep soon came until he sensed something in the room.
He opened one eye.
Sebile: "Hello young knight."
Gawain sat up quickly.
Sir Gawain: "Sebile! You shouldn't be in here!"
Sebile: "Why?"
Sir Gawain: "It isn't proper."
Sebile: "What do you want, Sir Gawain?"
Sir Gawain: "What do you mean?"
Sebile: "What do you want in the whole world? The whole universe? What do you want most?"
She circled around the four-poster bed. Her hair was long and loose and she wore a long, white nightgown.
Sir Gawain: "You mean what would make me happy?"
Sebile: "Yes! Wealth?"
Suddenly Gawain was seated on a mountain of gold. He gasped at the sight of it. From below she called up to him;
Sebile: "Power?"
He was then seated upon a throne with hundreds of men and women bowing to him. More than Britannia. More than Space Britain. A kingdom than spanned the stars and they all worshipped him as a god-king. In the front row of his subjects was Sebile. She rose her head;
Sebile: "Sex?"
He was in a wide room filled with satin pillows and sheets and wherever he looked there were naked women who lusted for him. They crawled on the floor towards him. He backed away but was suddenly back in the Red Castle. He drew a deep breath of shock as he tried to grasp his surroundings again. Sebile, at the foot of the bed, climbed up onto the mattress and held the posts. It was clear she wore nothing beneath her nightgown.
Sebile: "Me?"
Sir Gawain: "I want nothing!"
Sebile pouted as though she had been insulted.
Sebile: "Nothing at all? Nothing in the whole galaxy can make you happy?"
Sir Gawain: "Happiness for others. Then I would be happy."
Sebile tittered.
Sebile: "How noble you are! These Knights of the Round Table are magnificent creatures. Good Percival was much the same!"
She, now changed in demeanour, hopped off the bed again.
Sir Gawain: "Then we have passed your test?"
Sebile: "Test? This is no test. This is my will. I would give you gifts but you refuse them. Nevermind. I have seen your world. Your rules of conduct. I shall ensnare one of you at least."
She then vanished in a puff of blue smoke as aether was displaced. It took Gawain a moment to figure out what was happening and then he jumped from the bed. He put on his undershirt for the sake of modesty and rushed into the corridor. He found Sir Percival already there and dressed in much the same way.
Sir Gawain: "She must be after Sir Sagramore now!"
Sir Percival: "Which room is he in?"
Sir Gawain: "I have no idea! He chose one after I went to bed!"
There was a sudden yelp and the two men rushed down the corridor and bust through the door they guessed the noise came from. They found Sagramore sat upright in shock and Sebile lying, naked, in the bed next to him.
Sir Gawain: "Sir Sagramore!"
Sir Sagramore: "I did nothing!"
Sebile: "You climbed right into my bed, Sir Sagramore. How inappropriate!"
Sir Sagramore: "I did not sight her-! See her!"
She held the sheets to cover herself but was smirking at the thrill of victory.
Sebile: "Whatever will you do now? This is positively scandalous! What will Queen Guinevere say!?"
Sir Percival: "How does she know the name of our queen?"
Sir Gawain: "She saw into our minds."
Sir Sagramore: "I-I-I shall marry you!"
Sir Gawain: "...what?"
Sir Percival: "Grand idea!"
Sir Sagramore: "It will preserve our honour if I marry this woman! ...right?"
Sir Percival: "Absolutely!"
Sir Gawain: "Percival! She tricked him into this!"
Sebile: "I accept! What a wonderful, honourable and selfless knight you are, Sir Sagramore!"
Sir Gawain: "This is going to be difficult to explain back on Camelot..."