Strange Aeons 2: The Thrushmoor Terror [IC]

[lostsole31]

Cesadia listens very intently to Flair's account of the events. She seems much less focused on everyone else who speaks without offering anything factual. All emotional appeals seem to be alien to her. When Brother Jaume verbalizes his need for a drink, she very pointedly points to his tea. A quick look around the parlor she guided you into doesn't reveal anything that looks like a sidebar or brandy service. You get the feeling that the tea you are drinking - which is quite stimulating - is the strongest drink the severe woman allows in her home (and place of business).

Winter then begins to tell the tale, from her perspective, and with help from Flair to fill in the holes, when needed, of the overall ordeal. After Brother Jaume's outburst, a lot needs to be parsed that might have been unnecessary, but is included. It takes Winter about two hours to tell the story (with the PCs' additions as requested). The tale begins in the parlor, but then is continued in the large dining room where dinner is served for all, and then in the parlor again for dessert.

During Winter's tale (ha! for the dramatists among us), and the follow-on open discussion she has with Ms. Wrentz and Flair (for they seem to dominate conversation), it becomes obvious that she is concerned about the things going on in town, and frustrated that she seems to be the only person in a position to address them. However, since any sense of leadership in town has collapsed, the responsibility has fallen to her, though it is too much for her to manage with only her skeleton crew of agents in the Sleepless Building.

Her biggest concern is the rash of kidnappings that have taken place in recent days. While many insist the Briarstone Witch is snatching up townsfolk, Cesadia knows there must be a more reasonable explanation. She has noticed there have been a number of newcomers to town and suspects cult activity is to blame for the missing persons, but she has no hard evidence. She’s smart enough to know that the shuttering of Fort Hailcourse is highly irregular, even with the magistrate missing. Cesadia is convinced that Count Lowls’s departure somehow ties into the town’s misfortunes. She wonders why the count fired his servants and replaced them with peculiar foreigners brought to Thrushmoor by ship—one she suspects was a slave ship.

Cesadia is further frustrated by the constant requests from Dena Gallegos at the Silver Wagon and Emman Gulston at the Stain, both proprietors asking her to convince Elgrior to stop scaring their clientele. And reports that people in town have spotted the apparition of Thrushmoor’s previous countess are growing more frequent.

Cesadia is eager to address the town’s problems, but knows she needs help. And now to this she answers some of what the PCs had asked. She knows that the PCs were in the employ of Count Lowls' previously. She was able to determine within minutes of meeting you all that you had worked in the employ of Count Lowls' previously. There are some oddities.

• The one person who seemed to have come late to his employ was Dorn Blackminer. "St. Dorn the Protector" is the name of a doomed adventurer to the north, who was killed in Harrowstone a few years ago.
• There were two others she remembered in the Counts' employ as well that went around with you: one was a Varisian woman named Marquering, and a Tian man named Satou.
• A Varisian woman sharing Maeni's name was in the group, and the Maeni of now reminds her of that Maeni, but the "new" Maeni is not human. At this time, nobody still seems to know what race Maeni Llioredn presents as (least of all herself).

"Brother" Jaume, when drunk, had tried to force his way with Meg Thalen, but the latter got the upper hand before Cesadia had come to her employee's aid and tossed the fat man into the street.

Cesadia claims that you, or those like you sharing your name, were as disreputable a bunch of brigands under the aegis of the local noble before all of you disappeared and Count Lowls had departed County Versex (presumably). She realizes that none of you have your memories - she figured that out within minutes, and that it wasn't a ruse. This means that you are blank slates to her, but she needs to know that your current personae are as trustworthy as presented in the heroic re-telling of the events of Briarstone Asylum, or if it was merely a tale of survival given a rosy hue.

So, if the PCs are willing to help the town in its troubles - it is late now, by the way - she recommends that you get rooms at the Silver Wagon. As long as you are working towards helping the town in its troubles, and therefore assisting the Sleepless Detective Agency as "outside contractors," she will provide two rooms (total) and a normal allotment of meals for the group. However, Dena Gallegos - the proprieter of the Silver Wagon - will have strict rules that absolutely no alcohol will be served to any of you. That doesn't mean that you are responsible for your own alcohol purchases .... it means, and Cesadia makes sure that each of you understands .... that if you are to serve in any capacity that is welcome in this town, you will not imbibe any alcohol whatsoever while (nominally) representing the Sleepless Detective Agency.

The accommodations does not include Winter Klasczka, who is given a guest room here at the Sleepless Building until the Church of Pharasma can be contacted and her status determined. Winter thanks Cesadia, and takes her up on the offer of a bed away from a noisy tavern. That said, her original missive was to assist Royal Accuser Omari in investigating Count Lowls. If the PCs need or help, she is wiling to help as well, even if it is to help give her a purpose in town (which includes checking on the former asylum patients at the New Chapel).

Okay, PCs, what do you say to the offer?