Benlunar - Episode 1
The first episode of Benlunar! Meet Lilian Lausanne and explore Benlunar in this brand new audio adventure!
Take the road up through the mystic mountains
Past the fantastic fishing fields and fountains
Three days through the Titan woods
Whose trees glare down through leafy hoods
Crawl in the darkness of the biting caves
It’s more dangerous the other ways
Then finally find yourself later or sooner
In the hidden valley town Benlunar
Lilian Lausanne woke up in a foul mood. Her parents had sent her to bed the night before without any supper and she had only managed to sleep for 9 hours. Her hungry stomach growled at her and so she went downstairs to feed it. She was dreading seeing her Mum and Dad, who were probably still cross with her, but they were nowhere to be seen. In their place she found a note on the kitchen table with her Mother’s handwriting on it. She picked it up and read it whilst sloppily buttering some bread: Dear Roux, It said, We’ve gone to the Stave to get everything ready. Please tidy your room and the kitchen before we get back for lunch, we don’t know where the visitors will stay yet so we need to be prepared. Thank you, P.S. Don’t think we’re done talking about yesterday. As Lilian read the note she could hear her mother’s voice in her head. She only called her Roux when she was trying to be nice, “Roux red Roux she said, “Red like the tangled hair on your head”. Her Mum clearly felt guilty about shouting last night, but not so guilty as to not put that little reminder at the end.
Lilian sighed and casually wiped jam off her cheek. Looking around, the old cramped kitchen was in dire need of a scrub. The butter and crumbs from breakfast were falling on to the floor where signs of last night’s shouting match could still be seen. There was a large green splat on the wall where Lilian had thrown her bowl of broth. There were shards of glass on the side table from where her father had accidentally knocked a picture off the wall. Lilian glanced over at the sink, the pile of pans and and dirty dishes was almost taller than she was and her heart sank at the prospect of a very boring morning of cleaning, followed by an afternoon of being yelled at again. She sighed and huffed and puffed but eventually realised that no amount of pouting had the power to clean a plate, so she grabbed the kitchen pale and went outside to collect water from the creek. It had clearly rained during the night, so the short journey down the steps to the water was more treacherous than usual. On her way back up she slipped a couple of times and got angry at herself for losing so much water before even having reached the kitchen. Her temper brought her mind back to the previous day. ‘It was only a bit of paint’ she sulked as she poured a splash of water into the sink and mixed in some lye soap. Her father had called her ‘malicious and irresponsible’, but Lilian didn’t understand how trying to brighten up the Padda Stone with some nice green paint and some blue spots could be seen as malicious. “I mean yes,” she thought, “It is the symbol of the town’s spirit, and everyone loves it. But it’s just a big grey statue of a toad at the end of the day isn’t it? I just thought it could use a bit of brightening up. Stupid smiling rock.”
The Padda Stone was Benlunar’s oldest and proudest sculpture. Some of the townsfolk swore that it was there even before the town was built, and that the buildings had actually been constructed around it. The statue looked like a giant grinning toad, it’s mouth was open wide and water from the mountain flowed out from it and into the lily-padded pools and ponds beneath it. Even Lilian had to admit that it was a beautiful thing and by the time the last plate had been dried and put back on the shelf she could finally admit that she was jealous of it. She knew how ridiculous that sounded. Jealous of a statue? Who’d ever heard of such a thing. But it wasn’t the rock itself that Lilian envied. It was the love and admiration it got from all who saw it. She somehow had thought that by painting or damaging the rock, she could be seen to be larger, lovelier and more admired. At the very least, she would be seen. Her parents were builders and were always working in some far off corner of the town. She didn’t really get on with her class mates, and her teacher, Madame Streng had almost given up trying to teach her anything. She spent most of her time at home reading or hunting flipsies in the creek. And all the while people would flock to see that stupid rock, ‘old toady’ she called it, which never failed to produce a stern look from her Mum.
When Lilian finally wiped the last trace of soup off the wall, she turned to have a look at her handywork. The kitchen almost sparkled with cleanliness. Lilian wanted to shut the door quietly and never use another plate, so that her work would not be ruined. The patch of sun from the skylight in the kitchen ceiling told her that it must be nearly midday and that her parents will probably be back soon for lunch. Lilian decided to head towards the Stave and meet them on their way back, she knew she would have to apologise to everyone eventually, and, much like cleaning a kitchen, the sooner she started, the sooner it would be done.
Lilian breathed in the fresh mountain air as she closed her front door behind her. It was shaping up to be a sunny Spring and although the air still had a slight winter chill in it, the snow along the path banks had all but melted. The snow on the mountain top above the village was of course still there, and would likely stay there until the middle of Summer. Lilian’s house was down stream, towards the bottom of town so she had to walk up the muddy, wet path up towards the town centre. She didn’t mind though, she enjoyed spotting the snowdrops that were beginning to appear underneath the newly flowering trees. It was nice to see such bright colours in the canopy, thought Lilian, the end of winter is always so dreary and dark. Gradually, the tall wooden spire of the stave church got closer. It was by far the biggest building in Benluner and one of only 3 of its kind. The Stave Churches were old and wooden, built in tiers and layers by carefully arranging planks of wood, not a single screw or nail could be found in the whole building. Inside, the townspeople would gather and sing songs and pray to which ever God was being celebrated that time of year, or just one they thought might be lacking attention.
The front of the Stave looked out onto a small square where there were sometimes markets, or puppet shows or even Summer dances. This day however was a visiting day and Benlunar was preparing to welcome a host of strangers that would have travelled up from various cities. Some came to relax and drink the healing water, others came to touch and pay respects to the Padda Stone. What ever the reason, everyone in town was busily preparing for their arrival. Cityfolk were known to have fat purses and would pay a little extra just for something to remember their trip by. Lilian saw Xander and Liny piling some pies onto a table, the co-owners of Benlunar’s only Inn, The Fox and Octopus, Liny’s keen business mind was only matched by the deliciousness of Xander’s famous pies. Their smell beckoned Lilian forward.
‘Ah ah’ snapped Liny, noticing Lilian’s eyes widening, ‘you can have one if there are any left over’
‘But there are never any left over!’ complained Lilian
‘Well then you’ll have to buy one’ smiled Xander as his hands deftly positioned each pie so that it caught the sun in the most appealing way. Liny kept a keen and cunning eye on her merchandise whilst her husband worked.
‘Have you seen my Mum and Dad?’ Asked Lilian. She noticed Xander and Liny glance at each other before answering. “They’re in the Stave” Said Liny, “They told us what happened yesterday, you know Brother Thomas has been cleaning the Padda Stone all morning..”
Lilian felt her stomach turn, she was embarrassed and quickly looked away.
“Here” Whispered Xander “For Brother Thomas” He handed her a delicious looking pie that smelt of rhubarb and cream. Lilian wanted nothing more than to eat it there and then, but she knew what Xander was doing and she thanked him before heading towards the large wooden doors of Benlunar’s central Stave Church.
The Large church hall wasn’t just a place of worship, it was where important town decisions were made and various people were voted for into positions that Lilian didn’t really understand. The walls were covered in tapestries, large colourful carpets that showed the mountains and the moon, the river and the valley and even one with the gormless toady face of the padda stone. The carpets softened the echoes slightly but the circular nature of the main hall meant that even the slightest whisper could be heard as clearly as the churches bowl bells. So when Lilian poked her head round the large wooden doors covered in carved frogs, she could hear the words of Brother Thomas, who was talking to a couple in the middle of the hall.
“I’m just thankful it washed off easily, she might have used iron based paste, and then we’d all be in trouble!” To Lilian’s surprise, he was smiling.
“All the same” Lilian recognized her Mother’s voice, “She’s gotten worse the past few weeks. Restless, argumentative and the language she uses, well let’s just say I don’t think she learned it from school”
Just then, Brother Thomas looked up and saw Lilian, creeping forward. Her parents turned to look at her, they both wore concerned expressions and didn’t seem to have gotten much sleep last night. Lilian’s father saw the pie and understood.
“Lilian. I think you have something to say to Brother Thomas”
Lilian suddenly felt very tired herself. Her throat began to hurt and she could feel tears building in her eyes. She held out the pie like a shield and whispered,
“I’m sorry Brother Thomas” The Church fellow looked as though he was ready to forgive her, but her mother’s face told her that wasn’t going to be enough. Lilian went on.
“I didn’t mean to break the Padda Stone, I just, I didn’t think, you know? I wanted to paint it, so I got the colours and thought it might look funny but now I know, you know, I know really that it’s precious and important and so yes I’m very sorry I promise I won’t do it again” The pie began to get very heavy in her hands and she was thankful that Brother Thomas knelt down to take it from her.
“Now now,” he said, his kind eyes reassuring her “The stone is not broken, it was merely decorated for a while”
“It was vandalised” Lilian’s father interrupted
“I wouldn’t go that far,” replied Brother Thomas, “How about we all agree that it was spruced up without permission, I think it’s clear that Lilian is very sorry and if it meant that I got a pie from the the Fox & Octopus everytime I had to do some washing, well let’s just say this church would be as clean as gold piece and I’d be too big to fit through the doors”
Lilian smiled, she looked at her Mum and saw that even she was beginning to soften, although it might take more than one joke to calm her Father.
“Why don't we all have a sit down this evening and we can talk about what Lilian would like to do over the coming weeks. I think she’s becoming a little too clever for Ms Streng’s class and it might be time that she joins in in helping around the town.” On this last note Lilian’s parents both seemed pleased but Lilian’s stomach was doing somersaults. What did he mean ‘helping around the town’? Was Lilian going to be given a job? She was too young to be put to work, she had things to learn, games to play and books to read. Not to mention that she hadn’t even caught one flipsy!
Just then the wooden doors flew open and Brother Ulnar stumbled through them. No one knew how old brother Ulnar was but Lilian remembered her Mum saying once that he had been an old man even when she was a baby, so Lilian thought he must be at least 104.
“They’ve come Brother” He croaked, almost tripping over his tattered robes in excitement. Brother Thomas turned to Lilian’s parents: “Edward, Polly, I’ll see you this evening. Goodbye Lilian thanks again for the pie.” Lilian watched as the pie seemed to disappear into Brother Thomas’ long sleeve as he walked towards the doors.
She followed him, not wanting to talk with her parents just yet and in seconds she was back in the Spring sunshine. In the short time she had been in the Stave Church the little square outside had transformed. Whereas before there had been just a few townsfolk setting up stalls, there was now a great many people milling around, inspecting the various wears of the Benlunar locals, buying pies and sweet caramel honey combs. The little wind up wooden toads resembling the Padda Stone seemed to be a particular favourite amongst the newcomers. Every 3 weeks from now until the end of Summer Benlunar would look like this. “I suppose that’s the price we pay” Thought Lilian “For living somewhere so beautiful”. Lilian looked around for Brother Thomas but he had already been swallowed up by the crowd. She walked amongst the visitors, admiring their bright city clothes. Occasionally she would see someone dressed more like her, but they were usually servants or vallets responsible for looking after the many horses that brought the cityfolk up through the hills and forests.
“I’ve been travelling for almost two weeks!” She heard one portly gentlemen say, dressed in a bright orange doublet, “I swear, one more day and I would have thought our guides were leading us off to be lost, ransomed off to our loved ones like cattle.” Lilian smiled at his exaggeration but just then a cold shiver swept over her. She turned to see who the gentleman was speaking to and she found herself looking at an older man dressed in a dark, shimmering cloak. It looked like a lake reflecting the night’s sky. It even had the occasional pearl or silver button that looked like stars in the darkness. He didn’t wear any jewelry but he had a white beard, and a bald head and his cold grey eyes were looking directly at Lilian.
As soon as she met them however, he turned to look back at the larger man who was now going on about how he hoped the mountain air might cure his rheumatism.
“My friend,” The old man’s voice cut through the hubbub of the crowd like a knife through butter, “This fresh air might very well do wonders for Rheumatism, but it will not help you in the slightest.”
The orange gentlemen looked confused, “Um.. why not.”
“Because you have gout” The orange man was taken aback. And then, suddenly he began to laugh. “Hahaha I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that quack in Bonneville”
“Indeed.” Said the bearded stranger as he reached into the depths of his cloak, “The air and water here will do you good no doubt but if you wish to rid yourself completely of pain I suggest you take two of these a day.” He handed the Gentleman a small bottle of purple sweets, or were they pills thought Lilian. The Gentleman looked shocked and pleased.
“Why thank you Good sir, what do I owe you?”
“My Lord,” Said the stranger, “I require no payment. Only the pleasure of seeing you back in the city, to check if my remedy has worked.”
“Granted!” said the orange gentleman, pleased with how this conversation had gone. Now he could enjoy his time in Benlunar without the fear of his condition worsening.
Lilian detected no smile or trick from the bearded man, and she was usually very good at spotting when someone was trying to play a joke. Lilian she was so distracted by the conversation the she wasn’t looking where she was going and she stumbled headlong into her mother’s flowing blue skirt.
“There you are!” She said to Lilian. “Come along, let’s go home and eat, there are too many people here and our work in the market is done.” Lilian threw one more glance behind her, but the crowd had shifted once again and the two men were gone.
For the rest of the day Lilian said very little. Every harsh word, every judgement from her parents were like bricks slowly forming into a wall around her. Within this shell the outside world couldn’t hurt her so much.
“See!” Her father exclaimed over dinner, “She’s not even listening.” Lilian looked up from her untouched bread and stew. Her father’s face was red and her mother looked close to tears. Lilian wanted to rage, to shout back, to say that not only WAS she listening that she had heard it all before a thousand times. She wanted to say that she was sorry to be such a disappointment, that she was sorry to not be perfect like Kilde, or one of the Bergren kids, that she was sorry to have ever even been born and why had no one thanked her for cleaning the kitchen!!? She wanted to scream it all but instead she said nothing. She ate nothing. She did nothing but build the walls thicker around her, to hide away alone with her heart. Suddenly a tear found a secret passageway and escaped out of her fortress, making its way to freedom by running down her cheek. Her parents must have noticed it as the atmosphere in the kitchen changed. Her father stopped yelling and breathed out a large sigh.
“I suppose it’s my fault really.” He said, “We’ve been so busy all winter repairing the town, and fixing the upper bridge in time for Spring that we’ve neglected you. I’m sorry if that’s the case Lilian. You know we love you and I for one am going to do better from now.”
To Lilian, this was worse than any argument, she would rather have her Dad rage, roar at the top of his lungs, scream at her send her to her room without food ever again than to see him do this. To watch him deflate and blame himself for something she did. Lilian couldn’t handle it, and she found herself standing up, opening the kitchen door and running out into the cold air, tears stinging in her eyes and the concerned voices of her parents fading and echoing behind her.
The night was cold and Lilian panted thick clouds of breath as she stumbled up the path towards the town centre. Nearing the square she could hear the crowds from inside the the church and the Inn, the visitors were always greeted with a big party but Lilian didn’t want to face people just now. She found her feet carrying her away from the noise and down through the back alleys and side streets towards the outskirts of town. Down, around and out through the back of the lodge and up towards the mountain path. By the time she crossed the tree line she was no longer paying attention to where she was going. All she knew as she replayed the events and conversations of the past 3 months in her head over and over again was that she wanted to get away. Her tears were freezing to her cheeks now as she found the last of the winter snow. It crunched under her feet and she realised she had left Benlunar far behind her. She stopped. Looked up. And realised where she was. The snow shone in the moonlight and illuminated the ponds and flowers around her. Above her she saw the mountain from which the town got its name, and above that she saw the moon. The biggest, roundest, brightest moon she had ever seen. It seemed so close it was as if it was balancing on the snow capped mountain peak. The light from the moon flowed down the hills across the snow and into the river and the river flowed through the mouth of the giant stone toad in front her. For a moment, Lilian forgot all her troubles. She was paralysed by the beauty of her surroundings. How could she ever have wanted to damage such a wonderful thing, she thought. For a second she stood still, listening to the trickling of water and the soft scurrying of any nearby woodland creature. In the distance, she heard an owl hooting and she found herself calming down. She took a deep, cold breath and was about to shut her eyes when she realised, she was not alone.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Coming out of the tree line, about 100 yards ahead of her, toward the base of the Padda Stone, a shadowy figure emerged. Lilian stood very still, knowing that the slightest movement would alert this person to her presence, the way their motion had alerted her. She was stood amongst tall grass and she realised that the moonlight was making everything around her, including her hair, a shimmering blue/grey colour. She watched as the figure walked towards the stone toad. They were not rushing, nor did they seem to be sneaking around, but the mere fact that they were here in the first place seemed strange to Lilian. The rest of the guests were drinking and dancing in town and the Benlunar locals could visit the stone at any time, so why bother coming in the middle of a cold night? As the figure reached the edge of the largest pond, the one directly beneath the Mouth of the Padda Stone, it knelt down and produced a small black bag. Lilian could hear the slight clinking of glass as they reached into the bag and pulled out a set of what seemed to be empty bottles and vials. Just then, they froze as something had caught their attention. Lilian was worried that she had been spotted but instead the stranger stood up and looked in the opposite direction. They were looking up towards the moon, at the top of the mountain. Lilian followed their gaze and at once saw what had captured their attention. The snow on the peak was now brighter than ever, and the moon was practically touching it. Lilian felt her eyes widen in amazement as she saw what appeared to be liquid flowing off the moon and down the side of the mountain. It was as if the moon was bleeding or crying and the mountain was catching every tear. The liquid was bright silver and flowed slowly over and under the snow on the mountain face. Lilian had never been so still, she realised that she hadn’t taken a breath in ages and slowly breathed in the cold air once more. A strange energy seemed to fill her lungs, like when you breathe in a delicious smell and although she couldn’t put her finger on what the air smelled of, she knew that she wanted to breathe it all in at once. She almost forgot about the stranger and when she glanced back they seemed to be just as taken in by this wondrous sight as she was. Slowly the silver liquid flowed down the mountain and after about 10 minutes it had reached the stream that flowed through the mouth of the Padda Stone. Once it hit the old grey toad Lilian almost wept at the sight. The shimmering light liquid flowed around the stone and into every crack and crevice of its body. It also fell from its mouth and created a cloud of light in the pond below. Once it hit the water, the stranger was spurred into action. They unstoppered one of their many bottles and began walking into the pond. The liquid shone all around them now and Lilian could see them more clearly. She saw a bald head and a grey beard and a cloak as dark as a starry sky. She recognized the man as the mysterious doctor from the market. The silver and pearls on his cloak reflected the moonlight as he held out his hands and started filling his first bottle with the liquid light falling from the mouth of the stone toad. Lilian watched as he filled first one, then two, three, four more and more bottles until all of them were filled and stoppered and placed back in the bag. Lilian counted 18 in total. As he waded out of the pond and back on the bank she saw that he was smiling. It was the smile of a done deed, one that had been accomplished after much planning and patience. The smile quickly faded however when the man looked up and stared directly at Lilian. Lilian didn’t think it was possible to be any more still, but like a mouse in the sights of an owl she prayed that her movement would not betray her position. The man’s eyes seemed to be searching, making sure that his hunch was correct. He was about to take a step towards her, about to shout or say something when the Padda stone opened its eyes.