The Crimson Echo IC - Season Two

[Captain Jak]

Jakkin’s reaction to the arching spray of something nasty from the mutated spider is as instinctive as it is immediate, dropping down to sit on his heels as the attack mists over his head.

Blackjack jostles the spider from behind while maneuvering on Lamm, and the nudge provides just the opening that Jakkin needs. His foot lashes out, the heel connecting solidly with the underside of the spider’s thorax, and the crunch that results is a clear indication of something crucial being ruptured.

Bouncing up onto the balls of his feet again, he glances back over his shoulder to ensure his companions are all right before stepping up beside the remains of the spider to menace Lamm alongside Blackjack.

"Tillen Blackthorn." He throws the words into Lamm’s face. "The filth you peddle almost killed him, has killed countless others. This is the end of that."

And of you.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Save vs breath weapon: 19 No damage thanks to Evasion.
Attack: 28, Damage: 7, Precision Damage: 8

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani took one look down into the darkness, and at the second trap door beneath the stage. "Hunh. I never knew that was there. Interesting."

"We might be a little too close. If you want to go, I'll be right behind you, but I don't think lighting a torch down there is a proper way to stay concealed. Meanwhile..." He nodded his head back down the hall, toward one of the captives. "... Give me a few moments alone with one of them? Might learn something useful. Gavin, I have a feeling you will not entirely approve of this; we can discuss it later."

Moving over to the man, he knelt before his limp body and laid a hand on his shoulder, murmuring softly

"Valiant fought 'gainst mighty foes,
Through my words may your wounds close."

"There we are! You're awake" he smiled to the captive, whoever he was. "That's good. What's your name, sir? You know who I am?

"Quite the predicament you've gotten yourself into. Now, ordinarily, I'd be quite cross with someone sneaking into my workplace running interference for whatever is happening in that basement. It's one thing I can't stand. Fortunately for you, there are two things I can't stand, and the other one's Hellknights. So, I'll make you a deal, we can be friends, you and me: you let me know in some detail who you're working with, and what their purpose is at that meeting downstairs, and anything else relevant you can think of -- and I take my best shot at getting you out of those manacles." Reaching into his belt pouch, he pulled out a set of thieves tools, waving them in front of the man's face like a hypnotist with a watch.

"Otherwise... well, I won't do anything to you, it's not really my nature, but me doing nothing at all pretty much guarantees a very unpleasant end to your evening I'd say. So I'd talk fast were I you; they should be wandering back through within a few minutes, and I'm not the best with these things."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Dumping Cause Fear to cast CLW on one of the captive guards. Will roll in Discord if it matters. Definitely casting this one disguised as a bard, no telling who's lurking about.

[Darvin]

Dalen barely has time to shield himself with his cloak as the spray of acid showers the room. The droplets that do strike him sear, causing him to wince. His focus returns as he hears Gaedren cast. The old man's taunt barely registers over the implications of what he was casting. That spell wasn't just divine magic, it was very specifically druidic magic. There were, of course, schools of magic that dabbled across the traditional delineations, but that was far less likely than Lamm was legitimately drawing upon that very specific kind of divine magic. He glances to the crime lords making their escape. Their departure would complicate dealing with the ambassador, as it would be difficult if not impossible to track any of them down tonight and exceedingly dangerous to attempt to follow any of them under these circumstances. At least none of them appeared to be intent on assisting Lamm at this juncture, which was all he needed.

Dalen turns back to Lamm, reaches into his cloak, and withdraws a vial before lobbing it at him along with a retort, "and if you manage to survive the next minute, I will definitely keep in mind you can do that,"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Attacking Lamm with Alchemist's Fire (1d20+4)[10]
Damage: (1d6)[1] plus 1 splash (just 1 splash on a miss)

[Inspectre]

Darvin & Captain Jak


Distracted as it is by Blackjack’s strike on its flank, the spider never sees Jakkin’s foot coming in for the finishing blow. It’s weakened thorax cracks apart under the impact of the kick, and the spider crumbles up, spending the last of its life force to flip itself over onto its back and curl its legs up. Lamm lets out a feral growl of frustration upon seeing this, and just barely has time to bring the flame saber up in time to block Blackjack’s initial thrust as all eyes turn to the would-be revolutionary. At Jakkin’s words, Lamm’s frustration turns briefly to confusion, and then bemusement as he casually whips the flame blade around behind him, nearly but not quite managing to cut the head off of Dalen’s summoned mount in a single blow (critical hit).

“Do you really expect that name to mean anything to me, Jakkin? After all, I’m – ugh!”

Lamm doesn’t manage to finish his statement, as Dalen’s alchemists fire comes sailing into the melee, narrowly missing Lamm’s head to crash into the wall behind him, showering all three combatants with flaming bits of glass. Blackjack pauses to glance behind him to skewer the only possible culprit – Dalen himself – with a glare while billowing his cape out to brush away the few bits of flaming glass that struck him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crime lords make good on their escape out the north hallway, as Boule gathers his things before leaving at a steady pace, Leblanque pauses to stare intently at Jakkin for a moment before also turning his back, and Marlessa clearly weighs her chances before likewise turning away to hurry into the darkness.

Seeing no further attacks heading her way, Elliana rises from her seat and goes over to Vilas who is writhing around somewhat blindly halfway underneath the table, and lays a hand on him while speaking the words to a healing spell.

Intruding on this scene are the sudden sounds of running feet and fighting from the southern corridor in the darkness past Dalen’s summoned mount. It seems the attackers that the crime lords had been warned about were already here, and would be making their own unique impact on the fight very soon.

(I suspect this will be the last round of this combat, with Lamm the sole remaining combatant on the field, and still trapped between Blackjack/Jakkin, and Dalen’s Mount. Really thought that horse was dead when Lamm rolled a critical hit with his Flame Blade, but alas, minimum extra damage on the crit so the Mount is still up and blocking his escape. Let’s see who gets the kill on him – Jakkin, Blackjack, or Dalen!)

Stelio Kontos/PiccadillyPi/TheChanger

Deciding that following a bunch of Hellknight boogeymen down into the hidden pitch-black basement was a poor decision that might leave your bodies undiscovered for quite some time, you decide to see if you can get any answers from one of their victims. Aliani casts his spell on one of the shackled thieves, and the man stirs with a cough and a groan, but the flicker of his eyes show that he’s much more awake than he’s letting on, and is clearly sizing the three of you up. And not liking his chances it seems, as he stops the charade and straightens up a moment later, grunting in genuine discomfort as the movement pulls on his arm shackled to a support beam of the stage itself.

“Hellknights!? Damn, I figured they were just some of Devargo’s boys or something, maybe adventurers hired by the guard to mess things up for Lamm. I didn’t think those sneaky bastards were no Hellknights! Yeah, alright, what do you want to know? Name’s Liam, by the way.”

Liam listens very attentively to the rest of Aliani’s offer, and his list of questions.

“Alright, well, I’m a member of the Society, see . . . the Cerulean Society? Official thieves guild of Korvosa?”

Liam explains, adding what the “Society” meant after he sees everyone but Gavin looking at him blankly (as I imagine neither Aliani or Silas have much of an interest in Korvosa’s underworld prior to the party’s dealings with Lamm).

“Anyway, my boss – Boule - called this meeting together, and I and my mates were supposed to provide security for him and the other bosses. They were meeting to discuss some proposal put forth by the Rats Teat Boys on behalf of that guy who’s been turning Korvosa upside down – uh, Lamb was his name, wasn’t? Yeah, Galen Lamb or something like that. That’s all I know, though, I swear!”

Liam jiggles the chain of his shackle, clearly hoping that information was enough to purchase his freedom.

(Given the number of people they’re shackling here, the Eye Hellknights are only using standard manacles, so that’s a DC 25 to pick the lock. Which . . . I don’t think Aliani can make with only a +2 to Disable Device using standard no bonus lockpicks. It might be possible to break the support leg of the stage to let Liam slip the other end of the shackles free and wander off with a new set of braclets still attached to his one wrist though.)

[Captain Jak]

The drug lord's dismissive answer sparks new ire in Jaklkin; the man hadn't understood. As he knew he wouldn't.

"So many unknown lives, ruined and ended," he snarls. "That's the bloody point." Using the distraction of imminent death at the hands of the legendary Blackjack, he leaps and launches a stomping kick at the man's exposed side, hoping to rupture a kidney, but his anger has made him hasty and Lamm evades his just comeuppance.

Spoiler: OOC:

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Attack vs Lamm: 17

[THEChanger]

Gavin nodded. "He's a reprobate who pays to have his crimes looked upon favorably by Korvosa's courts. He may not be employed by Lamm, but I see no reason we should let him loose on the city once more.
The Eye will deal with him appropriately. Let's be on our way, see if the others need assistance. The Eye should be far enough ahead by now that we won't run straight into their backs with a light."

[Stelio Kontos]

"Very well, Liam. A nice name. I'm quite intimately familiar with the Cerulean Society's practices. Must say, it's not so great from the victim's end. But I suppose a promise is a promise." He stared at the man, showing his displeasure, but nodded at the offer of the manacles. With that, Aliani began attempting -- either quite earnestly, or acting it well -- to spring that little mechanism that kept the clasp closed. He barely gave a glance to Gavin's thoughts on the matter, his eyes focused on the lock even as he replied.

"Reprobate? Good word! But, no, I think Liam here ought have a chance to make amends, in one way or another -- and if we leave him like this, well, that's not going to happen. You may be right that the courts are corrupt as well, Gavin, but that's the court's fault more than his, so unless you're ready to start executing queens and judges and jailors alike instead of just picking on those smaller than you, your words mean little to me. I'd just as soon not leave him to those who would likely drag him and his companions away and murder them for... well, let's see, I believe they are trespassing, and possibly breaking and entering I think -- but then so are we! Dammit, this is a tough lock!"

"If you want to go ahead, go ahead. I'll either be here working on this DAMNABLE CONTRAPTION! or I'll be back at my home. Or dead 'round here somewhere, but that should make me easy to find. I'm sure I just need a few more - HOLD STILL LIAM - tries at it to, the trick is there's a spot right in the back somewhere that you need to -- DAMMIT!"

"Silas! Start working on the chain? Maybe we can break that instead. Or hack off the leg of the stage, stupid thing's been rickety for months anyway."

He focused his eyes on Liam, meeting the man with a glowering stare. "You owe me for this, you know. Someday you're going to have a chance at paying it back to the people you've hurt in life. I pray you take it. If you don't..."

[PiccadillyPi]

"...You'll be sorry؟ Come now, darling, no need for clichés just because we're in your area of expertise - Liam, he said to stay still! We're not cutting off your leg!"

Silas removed his sword from its scabbard and examined his options before deciding on the wood. As he chopped at it, he snickered.

"Work the chain."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Attack vs. stage leg: (1d20+8)[14]
Damage vs. hardness 5: (2d4+4)[10]

[Darvin]

"My apologies, good sir; I'll make it up to you by covering your exit," he graciously responds to Blackjack's glare as if there wasn't a battle going on, "I'll interfere no more while you hasten Mr. Lamm's exit from this world," he says as he visibly reaches into his scroll case.

Spoiler: OOC

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Dalen withdraws another scroll of mount and readies an action to cast it and summon another if Lamm kills the current one.

[Inspectre]

Darvin & Captain Jak


“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about - that is the bloody point! After all, I’m – “

Lamm grunts, trying to bring his flame saber back around in time to parry Jakkin’s kick but not moving fast enough. Jakkin’s leg connects with Lamm’s side, and he feels magic flare from Lamm’s body as it hardens to the point of feeling like he kicked the side of a tree rather than flesh. But even if his skin is as hard as a tree, Lamm is not planted like on, and he staggers back from the impact. As the crimelord-turned-revolutionary recovers, he glares at Jakkin.

“Would you stop doing that while I’m trying to speak here!?”

Lamm yells, and his focus on Jakkin costs him as Blackjack lunges forward and stabs the tip of his rapier straight at Lamm’s face. Impossibly, at the last moment Lamm twists and bends unnaturally away from the thrust, managing to dodge the attack. What Lamm was not able to counter, however, was Blackjack’s backswing as the vigilante spins the tip of the blade around as he pulls it back, drawing the last few inches of the rapier across Lamm’s exposed throat. Blood gushes from the wound as Lamm collapses with a wheeze, dropping his flame blade to bring his hand up to attempt – rather unsuccessfully – to hold the flow of blood back. The revolutionary gives a wet gurgling chuckle as his form ripples and twists, his body literally shrinking as his skin takes on an increasingly blue hue and his hair lengthens and bleaches itself white. Within moments, instead of Lamm lying in a pool of dark blood before the group, there is only a derro.

“Fooled . . . you . . .”

The derro rasps out, before slumping back and quietly letting out a death rattle as its eyes close for the final time. Blackjack looks over the fallen derro in clear confusion for a moment, and then growls as he flicks the derro’s blood off of his rapier and sheaths the weapon.

“Damn imposters. You can’t hide forever Lamm.”

Blackjack starts to turn away from the Lamm-imposter’s body, but stops as he tilts his head to listen to the darkness further down the corridor. Jakkin hears it too – the sound of many running feet approaching. A moment later and a number of cowled figures burst into the dim light shining into the corridor from the brightly-lit council chamber. Taking in the scene before them the lead figures slow their approach, but their hesitation only lasts a moment before a multitude of orders start being barked out.

“Surrender and face justice, criminals!” “Where’s Gaedren Lamm!?” “It’s Blackjack!” “Who put a Mount spell down here!?”

This is followed by clear orders from one of the figures now gliding up into the light behind the initial wave.

“Get that mount out of the way! Take Blackjack down, arrest everyone else! Find Gaedren Lamm!”

A veritable fusillade of magic missiles streaks out from the leading wave of attackers a moment later, several missiles streaking into Dalen’s mount and dismissing it with a sudden “Pop!” of displaced air, while the remainder slam into Blackjack’s back and side, causing him to grunt.

“Time to go!”

The vigilante calls out, drawing his hand crossbow as he runs back into the chamber, hopping up onto the large conference table before firing his hand crossbow up into the darkness. The bolt clearly anchors into something, and a moment later the vigilante flicks a catch on the side of the hand crossbow, starting to retract the thin wire trailing down into the room from the bolt above. This rapidly hoists Blackjack up into the air, and then into the darkness above the rafters as the second wave of cowled figures surges into the chamber and surrounds Jakkin, menacing him with quarterstaffs and crackling fists.

Dalen feels a hand gently tap him on the shoulder, and then Elliana whispers into his ear.

“I have made . . . an arrangement with Mister Vilas. We get him out of this in one piece, and he will provide us with what we need. Do you have a plan for getting us out of this situation? I don’t know if we’ll be able to get away if we run, which leaves talking our way out. I don’t know who these people are, so I don’t know if invoking Her Majesty here will help or harm our argument for them letting us go. I’ll follow your direction here.”


Stelio Kontos/PiccadillyPi/TheChanger

Liam flinches as Silas draws his falchion, clearly expecting to be missing a hand in a second as the tiefling winds up.

“Hey, wait wait wait boys, let’s talk about this! AHHHH!”

The terrified thief’s expectations are shattered, of course, as Silas clearly snaps off the support leg of the stage in a single blow, allowing the loop of chain secured by the other manacle snapped around it to be easily slipped free of the now severed block of wood. Liam gives a gasp of relief, physically shaking as he pulls himself up to his feet.

“Y . . . yeah. I won’t forget you cutting me loose from a Hellknight . . . h-hellhole.”

The thief stammers, pale as a ghost as he nods at Aliani.

“Y-you j-j-just let me know what you need, s-savvy?”

Seemingly dismissed, the thief hurries out of the Amphitheater, leaving the three of you again alone with a handful of other, less-fortunate unconscious thieves, and the dark way down below the Amphitheater still beckoning. With Gavin’s belief that you have given the Eye agents enough time to move on without bumping into them, you all descend down into the darkness. Silas has no difficulty navigating without the pitch-black darkness beneath the Amphitheater, but Aliani is definitely lamenting the lack of memorizing a light spell for today as the group lights up a torch/sun rod before proceeding.

As it turns out, the group has little trouble following the Hellknights, as their path of destruction continues beneath the Amphitheater with every 100’ of so marked out by another unconscious and shackled body. After a few minutes of this, the group approaches a well-lit chamber, which has the main body of Eye agents surrounding Jakkin, Elliana, Dalen, and another man that the three of you don’t recognize, as well as the body of a derro lying in the hallway with a slashed open throat.

[THEChanger]

Gavin watched as the Cerulean Society thief darted off into the night, hand gripping his rapier's hilt tight enough the knuckles went white. "The crown and the courts will have their due. Their crimes are known, and are not excused. But their corruption does not excuse his crimes. And there is a difference between declaring myself an executioner and providing aid to a man who will undoubtedly now continue to prey upon the weakest and poorest of this city. Or did you think it was the common laborers who could afford to purchase their way onto the safe lists of the Society? Now, when the next family goes hungry for Liam's purse to be filled, that stain is yours as well as his." The Hellknight shook his head, and began to march down the stairs. "I only hope I can dissuade our new friend, before she makes a similar mistake."

Below

Gavin marched down the stairs, barking out to the agents of the Eye. "Those three are agents of Her Majesty the Queen and civilians pressed into service to the Order of the Nail. Release them at once." Gavin glared at Signifier Almson as he attempted to move through the crowd. "I did tell you better men than you had tried to capture him. Thank you, Signifier Almson, you've amply demonstrated the efficacy of the Order of the Eye this evening. Now, if you don't mind, my agents and I will take our leave, before one of your goons makes the mistake of shoving one of those clubs too close to the Queen's personal handmaiden."

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Intimidate, without the boost from Aid Another, to get the Eyes to stand down and let us leave. If Aliani or Silas (or the others, I suppose) would like to buff me, we'll calculate that after.
(1d20+9)[23]

[PiccadillyPi]

"Gods, it must be the air around us. You're both so dramatic! No more speeches or stark words between us or else we're all having a trip to the basement of my friend Ri-Ri. Put simply, chains and whips excite her."

Below

Upon seeing the mess of blue and red on the floor, Silas leaned toward Aliani to whisper. It took him longer than others to realize the lack of victory upon Ileosa's face.

"I knew there'd be one of those blue bastards. They must've gotten... oh, bog it all."

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani could do little but let Gavin vent. He wasn't even wrong, precisely. Liam might very well end up a criminal mastermind, graduating to murder... maybe it was a mistake. But he couldn't help feel that it wasn't. There was but one retort, though, that was undeniably true.

"The crown and the courts have had their due, Gavin. Which is why we are where we are now. I've got a good feeling about him. As I said, we can discuss it later."

It wouldn't do to be seen by the participants downstairs without disguise; a simple tug of his cloak brought that back into being in the blink of an eye as they headed into the depths.

Below

"Hey" Aliani waved at his compatriots, before pointing squarely at the members of the Order. "Looks like we missed all the fun. These guys ain't messin' with you at all, are they? We told 'em you were down here."

[Captain Jak]

His inability to affect Lamm’s tough hide is disturbingly familiar, and Jakkin’s dawning suspicion is borne out when Blackjack manages to end the imposter’s life, revealing another of those damnably tough Derro.

A snarl crosses his features as their quarry evades them once more – he hadn’t even been present, this time! Before he can take any further action, however, the room is stormed by a large number of unknown forces that appear to be some sort of law enforcement. He crouches lower, sizing up the circle of figures surrounding him; they may think they have him trapped, but ducking around the knees of lumbering buffoons like these is old hat to him.

That won’t, however, do a lot to aid his companions to make a similar escape.

Aid comes in only moments, however, by the remainder of their coalition arriving and the Hellknight throwing his authority around. Not entirely confident in this ploy working, Jakkin remains on his guard and readies himself to make an escape should it become necessary. Worst case scenario, whomever escapes can mount a rescue to spring the others....

[Darvin]

Dalen turns to the 'Elliana' and immediately casts a spell of Invisibility. As he grabs her arm to deliver the spell, he delivers a scroll, "a scroll of the same; use it on our new friend. I still have a Whispering Wind spell prepared, and will send a message if necessary," he then spins around as if Elliana were not even there. He jostles his shoulder to send Rhetoric flying.

"Don't attack! I want to cooperate," Dalen declares as he strides forward with both arms raised, "I work for the Queen and was here to investigate this meeting and to arrest Lamm if the opportunity allowed. The Mount spell was mine, I was attempting to block his escape, but the person we focused on was a decoy," he gestures towards the dead Derro on the floor, "you clearly aren't with Lamm or the criminals; I don't believe us to be enemies,"

Spoiler: OOC

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Let me know if a Diplomacy check is necessary.

[Inspectre]

The assembled cloaked figures don't exactly relax at Dalen's self-identification, but neither do they immediately close in on Jakkin to attempt an arrest either.
While keeping a wary eye on the halfling in their midst, their attention turns to their apparent leader, who sniffs in disdain.

"I should have expected that the Whore Queen would have connections with Korvosa's criminal element. I would ordinarily expect that you could produce evidence to back up such a claim to authority, but given the circumstances I imagine such scandalous proof was left behind."

Behind Dalen, "Elliana" stifles a growl at this inescapable moniker that might have given away her existence, which so far seems to have gone undetected by this new group. After a moment's pause the leader continues on.

"Regardless, we are only interested in Gaedren Lamm. We will detain all of you briefly to confirm this story of yours and determine this . . . creature . . . was posing at Lamm here tonight as you claim, and that you are not in actuality confederates of it or Lamm. Once I am satisfied this is true, you will be released."

The leader makes a motion to order his men forward to take you all into custody after all, when Gavin, Aliani, and Silas appear at the back of their formation and Gavin immediately strides forward to challenge the man. The armiger stumbles over his last veiled threat as he suddenly notices that Elliana is no longer present, at the last moment substituting "Queen's personal investigators" over "handmaiden". Signifier Almson, his title identifying him to Dalen and Jakkin now as a Hellknight of some stripe (although a much different one than the common Order of the Nail Hellknights they are used to dealing with), grimaces and rolls his eyes as he turns his head to look back at Gavin.

"Thank you, Armiger Dimir, but I've already been made aware of their allegiances."

Almson considers the situation for a few moments more, and then makes a hand signal to his men that clearly reads "stand back" or "let them down" as the circle of hellknights around Jakkin parts. The signifier then turns his attention back to Dalen, pointedly ignoring Gavin.

"It would seem that you have someone credible to vouch for you. Very well, the three of you may go. We will take this thing's body back with us to see if anything useful of Lamm's location can be learned. You can inform Her "Majesty" the next time you see her that the Gaedren Lamm situation is being handled, and that it would be wise for her agents to see to other matters. Lest there be another misunderstanding with more unfortunate consequences in the future."

The sea of cowled Hellknights then parts, allowing Dalen, Jakkin, and Vilas to join up with Gavin, Aliani, and Silas before turning around and leaving. Dalen occasionally feels a gentle tug on his cloak as proof that Elliana was still immediately behind him as the group ascends back up to the Amphitheater proper. Once you are all out of the building entirely and rapidly moving away down the street everyone feels free to breathe a mutual sigh of relief.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected. "Agent of the Whore Queen", eh? I think I could get used to this!"

Vilas remarks, his smugness at having escaped the Hellknights with you abruptly cut short when he suddenly trips and only just manages to avoid smashing his face on the cobblestones. Standing suspiciously just behind him, the suddenly visible Elliana chides the crime lord.

"A more permanent association is still in question, sir, but it would improve your chances if you would give Her Majesty at least the modicum of respect that she deserves. For now, you have gotten out of a potentially fatal situation with only a few minor scrapes. I hope that you will now live up to your part of that bargain?"

Vilas chuckles and winces as he pushes himself back up to his feet with scraped and bloody palms and smiles.

"Aye, I always repay my debts. And where shall I be delivering this request to? Straight to the palace gates?"

"No, to the Rittle Magic Shop, located in Midpoint at . . ."

Elliana rattles off the address of Dalen's magic shop, and only afterwards glances at Dalen for approval while quietly mouthing "Sorry" to him before turning back to Vilas and adding,

"Prior to mid-morning would be ideal. Any later than that and it will likely be too late to be of use, and Her Majesty will be . . . very . . . disappointed."

"Yeah yeah, don't get your pettycoat all rumbled milady. I said I'd repay this debt and I will. Oh, and if you wouldn't mind granting me just one more small favor, should you see the Field Marshall in your ivory towers at some point . . . tell her Vilas Kroft said, "Hello".

And with that revelation the Scarzni representative walks off into the night, disappearing around the nearest corner, not to be seen again this night. Now no longer with an outside audience, Elliana slumps and breaths a deep sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Mr. Rittle, Sir Dimir, for extracting us all from that situation. I would like to know just who in the Hells those people were, given they seem hellbent on eliminating Gaedren Lamm, and why they were so inclined to listen to you, Sir Dimir, but I suppose it makes little difference now that we are out of their clutches. And I suppose . . . it's time to return to the palace, isn't it?"

The queen's "handmaiden" seems almost apprehensive at the thought, although given Sabrina was undoubtedly still there waiting for her return it was easy to guess why.

"Would you be willing to do me one last service and escort me back to the Palace, then? And, well . . . if it wouldn't impose on you too harshly, perhaps . . . you could come back to the palace tomorrow morning, after Vilas's delivery is complete? I . . . I think I would rather like you all to be present when I go to the council of nobles session and . . . face my fate, whatever it may be."

(OOC: And with that, I think we've basically finally wrapped up this day in the life! Nothing untoward happens on the journey back to the palace, you all can get some rest, and at your discretion you can do whatever you wish tomorrow, although I think from a time management/player engagement standpoint, we will treat tomorrow morning as a singular block. Thus, you can escort Queen Ileosa to meet the Council of Nobles, or you can opt out of that at your discretion to go do something else - report to superiors, ask co-conspirators what's up with their past, check on exhausted Field Marshalls, or whatever else you would care to do. That way, I can handle both situations simultaneously with more party split posting!)

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas looked up at the sky once they were clear of the theatre.

"Tad late for us, eh? I've some tea for us to stave off the wear of yesterday and this night. I know at least of two persons here that might do well for it."

He winked to the queen-in-disguise.

"Sorry darling, boys only tonight. I'll treat you to it our next date."

[Darvin]

Dalen merely smiles, refusing to take the bait of any of the provocations. He identifies himself and repeats his story when asked. The less information he slips - and the less time spent in their custody - the better. He remains silent but attentive throughout Elliana's discussion with Vilas.

At her request of an escort, Dalen gives a brief bow, "I would be pleased to give you an escort,"

After the exhausting evening he returns home and crashes in his bed, desperately hoping that he would have enough sleep to orient his mind. He'd spent one too many late nights at the acadamae learning the hard way that there is a fine threshold of sleep requirements for a wizard beyond which preparation would prove impossible. He is left with no little time; he prepares spells, receives Vilas' delivery, puts on his courtier's outfit, and casts a Mount spell. He makes a quick detour to pick up some scrolls - one can never be over-prepared - before heading to the castle. Whatever transpired today, it would be interesting to say the least.

Spoiler: OOC

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Purchased scrolls of Expeditious Excavation, Protection from Evil, Obscuring Mist, and Silent Image with shared party funds as discussed in Discord; 100 gp total costs.

Spell prep:
0th: Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Message, and Acid Splash (just going to leave it on permanently, not getting caught without it again)
1st: Sleep, Mount, Charm Person, Disguise Self, Mage Armor, (1 free)
2nd: Hideous Laughter, Invisibility, Web, Create Pit, (1 free)

[THEChanger]

Once the party was once again alone with Her Majesty, Gavin let out a long sigh of relief. "You know, this did not go nearly as poorly as it could have. Thank you, all. When I receive my next stipend, I shall treat you all to a bowl of Bridgeport chowder. I know a good place."

The Hellknight nodded as Her Majesty asked for an escort back to the Castle Korvosa. "I am at your disposal, Your Majesty. I actually had a matter I wished to discuss with you and Mister Rittle, if we may as we walk." Once the group had put some distance from the theatre, Gavin began to fiddle nervously with the hilt of his rapier. He smiled ruefully at Silas. "Sorry, Silas, you'll have to indulge me in one more speech. I promise I'll be done for the evening after. It did not escape my attention, Your Majesty, that you and Mister Rittle had an additional purpose for infiltrating this meeting. You've made a deal with Vilas for assistance with the problem of the Lady Ambassador, yes? Falsified evidence for some crime or another."

Noticing his hand on his rapier, Gavin quickly pulled his hands behind his back, somewhat embarrassed. "As the subject of the Queen of Korvosa, it is not my place to question my sovereign. But, as a friend to Illeosa, I am concerned. To begin one's reign on a foundation of lies is dangerous. From what our companions have said, that Andasain is corrupt, treasonous, and a worshipper of the Pallid Princess is true. But if it comes out that you've framed her, suddenly she has her credibility back. And even if she doesn't become Seneschal, she will still be the Ambassador. If there's any doubt that she's what you say she is, this gambit will not work. But if you can stall, give us time to investigate, involve the Order...I still can't say things will be better." He looked around at the others with a small shrug. "I won't lie. All of this is above my paygrade, and nobles tend to be bastards who don't care about what is right and wrong. I'm no Harrower, I can't predict how either path would turn out. But, with something this serious, I firmly believe we should try to do this right. To have a case that no holes can be poked through, give her no chance to wriggle out. And I couldn't let my friend make a decision like this without voicing my concerns."

Gavin shot a withering look at Dalen. "Nor do I think that friends should keep secrets like this. Especially when they are supposed to be working together on something so important."

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani could do little but put on the fakest, most cloying smile he could. "Thank you, Signifier Almson, for your unexpected generosity in allowing us non-criminals not to be dragged off this evening, never to be seen again. You can rest assured that Her 'Majesty' will be personally informed of every detail of this evening's encounter, no matter how miniscule, especially the part where she ought disregard a direct threat to the throne. By the time we're done with her she'll feel as though she had been in the room to experience your wisdom in person. As you say, it would be best to avoid further misunderstandings regarding jurisdiction. I would hate to see your group relegated to guarding ice caravans bound for Irrisen. At any rate, enjoy your evening, and by all means take the derro's corpse with you; I imagine you'll be a few hours more rounding up the mess upstairs. We'll clean things up down here."

As he watched them storm off, he tapped Gavin amicably on the back as he whispered. "Good job. Bullies sure back down quickly when they feel they're not the biggest in the room, eh?"

"I would be pleased to accompany you as well, but I fear I'm likely as not to fall asleep on the walk. Mr. Rittle and Sir Dimir can have the glory. I don't even think I can handle a cup of tea, Silas, and that should tell you something. Liable to keep me up even too much later than already way too late. I'll be there noon tomorrow, though. Full jester's outfit, or something more subdued?"

[Captain Jak]

While getting some sleep had seemed a very enticing prospect, Jakkin had nonetheless shadowed the royal escort back to the palace, ready to step in should anything untoward happen; not that he’s disparaging of his companions’ capabilities, but it had, after all, been a very long day.

Thus it was a somewhat surly Halfling that greeted the day, insufficient sleep exacerbating his already atypical grumpiness. He made sure to wash thoroughly, removing the bits and pieces of the previous day that may have lingered, and dressed himself in his best – which consisted of the new clothes purchased the previous day.

No courtier he, if the Queen wishes the presence of a simple sailor during these events, that’s what she’ll get.

But not until he breaks his fast with a hearty meal; when running short on sleep, it’s important to supplement with extra nourishment.

There usually was, truth be told, a good reason for extra nourishment....

[Inspectre]

Elliana snorts as Alliana lambasts the Signifier, her obvious struggle to hold back her laughter only deepening the signifier’s annoyed expression. But he still lets you all go without another word, and once back out on the street Elliana spends the next several minutes of your walk away from the Amphitheater chuckling and muttering “ice caravans bound for Irrisen” to herself. Her good humor begins to fade when the group splits up to leave Dalen and Gavin as her sole escorts, and Gavin uses the opportunity to voice his concern over Dalen and Ileosa’s conspiracy to frame the ambassador.

“Ser Dimir, while I am in this guise, I would ask that you see me only as the queen’s handmaiden, rather than the queen herself. Even though we are alone right now, the shadows can have ears, and I would be loathe to lose the ability to come and go from the palace as I please.”

Elliana looks into a nearby darkened alleyway, and seeing no one lingering there seems to relax a little as she sighs and rubs at her eyes.

“As for Lady Andaisin, I would rather that none of this were true at all, and that my beloved mentor was not in fact a monster. But I saw the shrine to Urgathoa beneath her home with my own eyes, and it explains a number of her . . . eccentricities in hindsight.”

Elliana concludes, her cheeks flushing at some memory before she pushes on to her own argument.

“This is merely the truth, Ser Dimir, nothing more. But I can hardly testify to what I saw directly without causing a scandal, and imply that we are both guilty of a crime – me with unlawful entry and her with arson. I believe the revelation that she is a worshipper of Urgathoa will be sufficient to deny her selection as seneschal, as while not illegal such beliefs are not held in high esteem in Korvosa, and the nobility is nothing if not consistent in their bigotry. And if the nobility was not meeting in twelve hours to decide our fates, I would happily grant you more time to conduct a proper investigation. But my absence from tomorrow’s meeting will not delay it, Lady Andaisin is clearly the forerunner, and for all I know immediately after the meeting Signifier Almson will be collecting me for an ice caravan to Irrisen!”

As she nears the conclusion, Elliana grows more and more agitated, her cheeks again flushing this time in anger, and she concludes her debate by shouting the last line, fists clenched at her sides. From a dark second-story window above you, a voice yells back down at you to “keep it down”, which Elliana replies with a heartfelt “sorry!”, before looking at Gavin and pointing up at the window as if to say “see?” With this reminder to be more discrete also serving as a break in Elliana’s rant, it is with a much calmer as well as quieter voice that she continues her argument a minute (and city block) later.

“It is therefore a choice between the lesser of two evils that I am now faced with, Ser Dimir. Do I damn myself by framing my friend and mentor, or do I damn Korvosa by allowing a potential monster to become the city’s seneschal? It may all be for naught in the end regardless . . . the nobles may not believe me, or they may simply not care . . . but I have to do something! And this is the best argument I know of that I can make that will sway them that *is* true, so if they do conduct their own investigation hopefully, they will find only more evidence, unlike if I made up a more outlandish claim that was completely false. But I do appreciate your opinion Ser Dimir, and that you are willing to voice it so freely to . . . a friend.”

Ileosa seems to bleed through her Elliana persona as she glances at Gavin with a genuine smile, although that expression quickly becomes pained when Gavin chastises Dalen for keeping this plan a secret.

“I . . . am sorry, Ser Dimir. This is all my fault, as I thought it should be kept secret between myself and Mister Rittle. Prior to all of you, I have made a grand total of four friends in my life, and of those two are now dead and one is apparently a monster. Life on the streets was hard, and while not excessively cruel to me Andy . . . Lady Andaisin could be overbearing at times. So I learned to keep secrets, and when I came to Korvosa, well . . . I didn’t want Eodred or Sabrina to worry. Hiding unnecessary details from my friends is therefore second nature to me now, but I can see now where I may need to rethink that strategy. Forgive me, Ser Dimir.”

Elliana reaches up and gently rubs at her eyes as she gets a bit misty-eyed, apparently quite affected by Gavin’s chastisement for obscuring the truth. Her pledge to do better in the future seems equally genuine to both Gavin and Dalen.

The rest of the trip is uneventful and rather quiet as Gavin and Dalen escort the queen-in-disguise back to the palace. Even at this late hour there are still a couple of city guards manning the palace gates who recognize you and seem to be expecting you, as the gates immediate swing open to allow access into the courtyard. Waiting inside the courtyard is of course Sabrina, fully armed and armored with a saddled mount hitched nearby – presumably she has been ready to ride out at a moment’s notice from Dalen of where to go. Sabrina’s stare is intense as she walks up to the group and visually inspects Elliana, who is unable this time to meet the bodyguard’s gaze as the handmaiden fumbles for words.

“Sabrina, I am sorry I –“

She is interrupted by an upraised hand from Sabrina, who after a moment’s hesitation reaches it out to clasp Elliana’s left shoulder with a relieved smile. The expression is . . . well, out of place on the normally taciturn protector’s face.

“I’m just glad you’re back safe. No serious harm came to you from this . . . adventure?”

After a moment’s consideration, presumably about the level of trauma inflicted by being a literal fly in the spider’s den, Elliana shakes her head in agreement that no serious harm befell her, and Sabrina’s shoulders relax as she spares a grateful look at both Gavin and Dalen.

“Thank you for ensuring her safe return. Now, given that it’s been a long day today, and tomorrow promises to be even longer for Her Majesty, I think that her handmaiden had better get some sleep so she is able to, uh, properly attend to whatever Her Majesty will need.”

Sabrina stammers, finally showing a bit of exhaustion as she stumbles over wording that maintains the illusion that Elliana is nothing more than the queen’s chief handmaiden. Seeming to realize the gaff afterwards, Sabrina releases her hold on Elliana’s shoulder and steps back, gesturing for the “handmaiden” to lead the way into the palace proper. Elliana takes a step forward but then stops, glancing back at Dalen and Gavin as she reaches a hand up to touch Sabrina’s shoulder in a mirror of the bodyguard’s action.

“Hopefully Her Majesty will agree to this, but I think it would be beneficial for her team of investigators to accompany her to tomorrow’s meeting with the Council of Nobles. They have discovered some evidence that the Council is likely to find quite troubling, and there may be questions that it would be best if they were present to answer personally.

Sabrina’s hard expression returns as she glances back and forth between Elliana and Dalen, clearly (and correctly) believing him to be Elliana’s chief conspirator for this plan. Yet after freezing up for only a moment the bodyguard reluctantly nods before nonchalantly dropping her own surprise.

“Very well. The meeting with the Council of Nobles is at noon at the Longacre building. We will be traveling there by carriage, leaving the palace an hour before that. You can either meet us here before we leave or at Longacre. Mr. Rittle, I would like to commission you to create some magic items to improve security and communication, so that another incident like this does not happen again. But I will need to discuss this matter with Her Majesty first.”

Elliana grimaces, but does her best to replace it with a brittle smile.

“Very well . . . why don’t we go discuss these ideas of yours with Her Majesty, so that she can provide Mr. Rittle with her decision upon seeing him tomorrow. Good night, Mr. Rittle, Ser Dimir.”

And with that farewell, “Elliana” and Sabrina depart back into the castle, leaving you to be escorted back out of the courtyard by a pair of guardsmen who came down from the gatehouse. Time to return home and get what sleep you can before what is likely to be a decisive day for Korvosa tomorrow.

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In the morning after taking care of your respective errands (or simply sleeping in late), you get dressed and head over to Longacre, either walking there directly or via the queen’s carriage. Despite the relative secrecy of the meeting, word must have gotten out somehow as there is already a sizable crowd of Korvosa’s citizens gathered in front of the ominous-looking seat of Korvosa’s government.

Carved out of drab-grey slate, the Longacre building has seen numerous updates to its architecture over the centuries as its list of functions expanded and various nobles attempted to put their own mark on the structure. Nonetheless, the original fortress-like base structure has remained, and it has taken on a menacing aspect after the addition of the Deathshead Vaults, Korvosa’s primary prison, was dug out beneath. No doubt at the time it seemed like an improvement in efficiency – prisoners tried in the Longacre Building above and then taken down below it to serve out their sentence. However, its reputation as being the last thing condemned prisoners see before they are escorted inside has tainted the structure’s reputation, despite it being used for more than a courthouse and prison.

The Longacre Building today also serves as the city’s municipal offices, housing all of the various paperwork and clerks necessary for Korvosa’s day-to-day business to continue functioning. As part of that there are also large conference rooms available for the city’s elite to make use of, and therefore it is not particularly unusual for the Council of Nobles to be meeting here. On the other hand, there is nothing stopping the nobles at the conclusion of their meeting from ordering ex-Queen Ileosa to be dragged below into the Deathshead Vaults to disappear forever, right along with any commoners she has chosen to associate with. It is with that grim thought in mind that you approach the building.

Those that arrive separately are forced to wade their way through the crowd to reach the line of city guardsmen keeping a wary eye on the crowd and keeping it a respectable distance back from the front steps of Longacre, and out of the street to keep it clear for the occasional carriage to pull up immediately in front of the building. Again, the guards have apparently been informed to expect you as once you have made your way forward to their line they allow you to pass, much to the consternation of several nearby members of the crowd.

Those that arrive by royal carriage with Ileosa ironically have a harder time getting into the Longacre Building, as the crowd goes ballistic the moment that the carriage, decorated with the official seals of Korvosa, comes into view. There is little doubt some of Lamm’s agitators have been busy working the crowd as immediately a significant portion of the crowd breaks away to run down the street to intercept the carriage. Organized to keep the immediate surroundings of Longacre in order, the city guardsmen are caught off-guard by the idea of the crowd moving to intercept a carriage rather than simply block its way to the building. While a squad of guards hastily assembles itself to breach through the remainder of the crowd in front of Longacre to come help, it still takes several precious minutes. Minutes which the several dozen people intercepting the carriage use to block its way, forcing it to come to a complete stop while they give a disorganized chant of “Send the Whore back! Send the Whore back!” A few of the braver members of the crowd even come forward and bang on the sides and doors of the carriage. They are unable to get inside the carriage, of course, as the doors are latched shut from the inside.

At least, they are until Sabrina with an angry snort unlatches the door on her side, shoving it open, stepping out, and drawing her falchion in one smooth motion. The couple rioters on that side of the carriage immediately stumble back at the sight of the fully armored Sabrina coming out to meet them blade drawn. One young man who was attempting to scramble up the side of the carriage’s front to give the carriage’s driver a hard time is a little too slow in stepping back, and gets the full weight of Sabrina’s ire as she deftly spins her falchion around and slams it into his chest. There is no eruption of blood, however, as the bodyguard uses the flat of her blade rather than its edge, but the impact of the heavy blade can still be felt by everyone nearby as the young man flies off the side of the carriage and thuds heavily onto the cobblestones. Several nearby members of the crowd help him back up as he is merely winded with perhaps a few cracked ribs, but otherwise would live. The next person that came within reach of Sabrina’s blade might not be so lucky, and that thought gives the rest of the angry mob pause as no one nearby particularly wants to be the next test subject.

Although it was quite possible the situation would have deteriorated back into further violence after the mob recovered from its momentary shock at Sabrina’s actions, that hesitation was long enough for the guardsmen to arrive and break up the crowd enough for the carriage to begin moving forward again. Sabrina walks alongside the carriage the rest of the way to Longacre, falchion still out and resting slung over one shoulder. The crowd continues to vent its anger by chanting its slogan along with several other epithets about the queen, but otherwise keeps its distance, held in check again by the line of guardsmen. As the carriage pulls up to the front of the building, however, a few of the bravest members of the crowd hurl loose stones they had picked up off of the street, rattling off the side of the carriage. Several stones are thrown at Sabrina as well, and while most of them are well wide of their mark, one does clatter off of her breastplate to no apparent effect. Sabrina just smirks and gives the crowd (and responsible stone thrower) a one-finger salute.

Before the situation can become a full-fledged riot, the guards usher Ileosa and all of you into the Longacre Building, and the crowd slowly returns to a sullen, watchful mob. But the chant continues, echoing into the spacious lobby of the Longacre Building – “Send the Whore back.” Ileosa grimaces and for a moment seems to be contemplating making the mistake of going back out to address the crowd, but ultimately shakes her head and proceeds up to the council chambers, Sabrina and all of you in tow.

**************************************************

Music Theme

While the Council meeting was held in a room set up for meetings rather than a courtroom, one could be excused from mistakenly thinking the opposite upon first entry. Set up at the back of the chamber on a raised dais was a long table with seven ornate chairs, one for each of the seven major noble houses of Korvosa. A few of the faces there are familiar to the party, either by personal experience or reputation.

Seated in the middle of the table and representing House Jeggare was Percival Jeggare, the patriarch of the family, whom all but Gavin met while meeting Queen Ileosa for the first time, after escorting Ambassador Andaisin to the royal palace. The scowling old man looks just as sour and annoyed by the proceedings as he did when you first met him.

Spoiler: Percival Jeggare

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Seated to Jeggare’s right and representing the reclusive House Ornelos was Toff Ornelos, the current Headmaster of the Acadamae. As Dalen enters the room the Headmaster’s eyes flicker with recognition and his mouth tightens into a stern line before he gives just the slightest nod of acknowledgement to the Acadamae drop-out.

Spoiler: Toff Ornelos

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Seated to Jeggare’s left and representing House Arkona was of course the current head and face of the family, Glorio Arkona. While a full-grown man, Glorio was noticeably the youngest member of the council, and also the only one who seemed happy to be there as he whispers something in Percival’s ear and then laughs (which might account for Lord Jeggare’s current sour expression as well).

Spoiler: Glorio Arkona

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Seated on the other side of Glorio and also looking distinctly uncomfortable is Marcus Endrin, the High Commandant of the Sable Marines. Still dressed in the uniform of the Sable Marines, Marcus’s appearance is considerably more spartan than the other well-dressed elites of the city present, even those present in the crowd of guests and those not at the Council table.

Spoiler: Marcus Endrin

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On the opposite end of the table from Marcus Endrin and representing House Zenderholm is a stern-faced woman immediately recognizable to Gavin, as she was the one who presided over his trial – Chief Arbiter Zenobia Zenderholm. Infamous as a “hanging judge”, Chief Arbiter Zenderholm rarely showed mercy when handing down punishments although her reputation as a fair-minded adjudicator is equally well-known. At his sentencing, Chief Arbiter Zenderholm made it clear that while it was within her power to assign a variety of punishments for his “crimes”, the lack of evidence for any crime beyond kidnapping the merchant’s daughter convinced her to simply assign lifetime imprisonment instead. An overly harsh sentence for the crime of kidnapping, but given that Gavin was also accused of raping and murdering the girl, a far cry from the potential punishments of torture, castration, and death. While she had eventually reversed her sentence completely after Gavin’s innocence was proven, she had certainly never apologized. And it seemed unlikely he would be getting an apology any time soon as the Chief Arbiter’s steely-eyed gaze washed over the group, lingering on Gavin for only a moment.

Spoiler: Zenobia Zenderholm

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The older man and woman at either end of the council table are unknown to the group, although by process of elimination the woman must be Eliasia Leroung, the head of House Leroung and the one responsible for taking in a number of Aliani’s briefly-adopted children.

Spoiler: Eliasia Leroung

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Eventually, someone overhears a conversation amongst the other people in the room that the last member of the council is Ausio Carowyn. A relatively minor figure in comparison to the other members, Ausio seems to be aware of that as he is differential when spoken to by the other council members, but otherwise just looks bored with the proceedings.

Spoiler: Ausio Carowyn

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Spoiler: DC 15 Knowledge Local

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Technically, the seat at the far end of the table, occupied by Ausio Carowyn was not a seat for House Carowyn, as the Carowyn family was not influential enough to be considered a “great” noble house like the rest of his peers at the table. Rather, he is present as a joint representative of all the minor noble houses of Korvosa, which got an official seat on the council during Queen Domina’s reign.

Additionally, Marcus Endrin is not technically the head of House Endrin, that honor going specifically to his slightly younger brother Roland Endrin. Marcus stepped aside upon becoming High Commandant of the Sable Marines, ostensibly for the purpose of keeping the Sable Marines untangled from noble house politics. Given many members of House Endrin have served in the Sable Marines and City Guard before Marcus, and likewise distanced themselves from the family after being selected for those positions, it’s really a bit of a family tradition at this point. Unfortunately for Marcus, Roland is currently in Magnimar conducting some sort of trade negotiations, and the Council obviously did not want to await his turn so Marcus is here in his brother’s stead.

Spoiler: DC 15 Knowledge History

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Prior to Queen Domina’s reign, there were actually eight “great” noble houses within Korvosa, which all received a seat on this council – Arabasti, Porphyria, Leroug, Endrin, Ornelos, Arkona, Jeggare, Zenderholm. This changed during the brief reign of Chadris Porphyria the Third, the king immediately before Domina and the only Porphyria to ever sit on the Crimson Throne.

Considered by many to be Korvosa’s only mad king and the closest thing to a tyrant that the city has ever seen, Chadris sought to avenge old slights against his grandfather Chadris the First by House Arabasti - who were responsible for blocking Chadris the First’s own ascension to the throne fifty years prior. He went about this by arranging the murders of every member of House Arabasti, although no one is sure how he managed to pull this off, only that he did. Nonetheless, it was House Arabasti’s slow decline in the many decades prior to this that really allowed Chadris the Third to pull this off without sparking a devastating civil war, and even so once the other Noble Houses learned of what he did there was nearly a civil war regardless. This potential war between the crown and the noble houses was only really stopped by the fact that Chadris the Third was himself assassinated a short time thereafter.

Questions of whether another Porphyria would ascend the Crimson Throne in his place were put to an end by the arrival of Domina Arabasti from Cheliax, part of the main Arabasti family tree that the Korvosan version was only a branch of. Once made queen, one of Domina’s first acts was to banish House Porphyria from Korvosa for their actions against her family. Their seat was given to the assorted minor noble houses of Korvosa to share, and the House Arabasti seat was removed as Domina (and her son Eodred) was the only member of House Arabasti in Korvosa, and it made sense to prevent her from sitting on both the Council of Nobles and the Crimson Throne. Why Domina didn’t arrange for Eodred to be given the Arabasti seat on the council while she herself sat on the Crimson Throne is unknown.

Set off to one side of the council’s table but notably down off the dais is a similarly ornate seat which is clearly meant for Ileosa. As the queen moves forward to take her seat, Sabrina moves to stand beside the chair only to be discretely waved off by Ileosa. Quietly growling to herself, Sabrina moves over to the section of general seating within the room that seems to be set aside for everyone else. Quite a motley assortment of Korvosa’s upper class is present in this section of the room, some candidates for seneschal such as Ambassador Andaisin, other members of the various noble families or personal bodyguards like Sabrina, and in the middle of it all, Vencarlo Orsini who grins and openly waves all of you over to sit next to him in the mostly empty back row.

“Well, well! You all are certainly moving up in the world! Come to enjoy the puppet show, have you?”

Vencarlo whispers, but perhaps not quietly enough as several nobles in the nearby rows turn to give the fencing teacher a black look, whom Vencarlo placates with a few half-hearted “mea cuplas” and bows with his protistic hand.

A few minutes after Ileosa has arrived, Lord Jeggare picks up a small gavel in front of him and bangs it on the table as the room swiftly falls silent.

“I call this session of the Council of Nobles to order. Today’s agenda will be to decide Korvosa’s next seneschal, in light of the unexplained disappearance of the city’s current seneschal Neolandus Kalepopolis. Also present is Her Highness, Queen Ileosa, who has been provided with a list of the candidates that the council will be considering. Your Majesty, before we begin our own deliberations, are there any candidates that you would like to advocate for or against?”

For a moment, Ileosa seems to be undergoing a panic attack, as she is not prepared to immediately be made the center of attention in the room. Her eyes dart about the room, pausing briefly on Ambassador Andaisin and Sabrina, before finally finding all of you. She seems to find her strength then, tightening her hands into fists and giving just the barest of nods at Aliani before taking a deep breath and responding.

“Yes. Based off of the list that was provided to me, the first candidate to be discussed today is my dear friend, Ambassador Andaisin of Cheliax. I am afraid that despite our years of friendship, information has recently come to my attention that I feel obligated to share with the Council. And, after a great deal of self-reflection, has determined that I cannot in good conscience advocate in support of her candidacy to Seneschal.”

“What!?”

Andaisin’s voice cracks like a whip across the chamber, and in the moment that all eyes in the room turn their attention on the Chelish ambassador who is staring at Ileosa with a mixture of complete disbelief and predatory anticipation, the queen shudders and closes her eyes. Recovering her composure first, Andaisin puts on a saccharine smile as she continues in an equally sweet voice that nonetheless has a brittle, icy edge to it.

“Surely you misspoke just now, Ily. As you said, we’re old friends, why you even recommended to this very council my appointment to the position of ambassador for Cheliax. Have I failed somehow in my duties as ambassador, to make you think I would be unable to fulfill the duties of seneschal? Surely the council would agree that relations haven’t been smoother in years. Is it some sort of personal slight that has caused you to lose faith in me?”

“Ambassador, I believe that you have interrupted Her Majesty. I am sure that she will explain her reasoning if given a moment.”

Marcus Endrin interjects, earning a brief look of pure hatred from Andaisin before the mask comes back up and she smiles at the High Commandant. That brief interruption seems to have been enough though to break Andaisin’s spell over Ileosa, who had been wilting and retreating further into herself as Andaisin spoke, in the way a fly trapped in a web might recoil from the dark bulbous shape rushing towards it. Opening her eyes again and coughing to give herself another moment to recover, Ileosa finally spoke again although she was unable to meet Andaisin’s gaze as it attempted to bore a hole through Ileosa’s skull.

“Y-yes, Andy, we are friends, and that is why I . . . I – ahem – why I was concerned for your safety of late. I trust that the council is aware of the recent fire that destroyed her private residence in Old Korvosa? Given the recent strife within our city, I was concerned that perhaps Andy – Ambassador Andaisin was being targeted by seditious elements. Not wishing to distract the city guard with such an investigation, I commissioned a team of private investigators to discretely look into the matter. Unfortunately, what they uncovered about the ambassador herself deeply concerns me about her suitability for seneschal. They found this within the wreckage of her home, while searching for clues as to who was responsible for the fire.”

Ileosa then reaches into the pocket of her dress, and procures the “evidence” that Dalen gave to her, and in return was delivered to Dalen by what was presumably one of Vilas’s Scarzni thugs – a set of onyx prayer beads carved into miniature skulls, attached to a silver unholy symbol depicting a naked woman with a skeletal lower half. With a bit of a dramatic flourish, she lightly tosses the unholy symbol onto the desk in front of the council, where it slides halfway across the desk until it stops just short of Percival Jeggare, who picks it up to examine it with a look of curiosity before recoiling in obvious disgust as the unholy symbol of Urgathoa dropped into sight.

“Chief Arbiter Zenderholm, I believe that as a priestess of Abadar, you would be able to identify this . . . thing for the Council?”

Jeggare asked, sliding the prayer beads further down the table to Lady Zenobia, before wiping his hand on his tunic. Zenobia for her part shows less obvious distaste, holding the prayer beads up and examining them critically for a moment before setting them back down onto the table before her.

“I believe that this is a set of prayer beads and an unholy symbol of the goddess Urgathoa.”

Music Theme

The room immediately explodes into a chorus of whispers as the assembled elites urgently whisper speculations back and forth between each other over this scandalous revelation, only falling silent after Lord Jeggare has pounded with his gavel for nearly a full minute. Andaisin for her part simply stares back and forth between the Council and Ileosa in mute shock, in complete disbelief either over being exposed or that her “pupil” would manufacture evidence to prove it.

“Quiet! Your Majesty, it was correct for you to bring these findings before the Council. They will [b]certainly[/i] impact the Council’s decision as to the Ambassador’s candidacy.”

Jeggare states after the room has finally fallen silent again, all while glaring daggers at Ambassador Andaisin. Rather than wilt under the glare, however, Andaisin immediately goes on the attack.

“Your Lordship, please, this is a ridiculous accusation, brought about by some sort of misunderstanding! Those prayer beads are not mine! Why they, they must have been left there by the same individuals who destroyed my home!”

“Please.”

Glorio Arkona interjects, looking up from his nails which he had previously been busy picking at.

“I believe that Her Majesty’s “seditious elements” are in reference to this Gaedren Lamm fellow that everyone seems too scared of to even address by name. And thus far Lamm’s behavior has been more in keeping as a Milanite, rather than an Urgathoan.”

Glorio concludes, applying the same distaste in his tone for both goddesses. As a parting shot before returning to studying his own nails, the Arkona lord adds, “And as I understand it, six badly charred bodies were removed from the wreckage. And while the argument could be made that one of them was the owner of this symbol, it does seem odd that they would break in, start a fire, and then allow six of their number to perish in the ensuing blaze without managing to escape.”

“My home was protected with magical defenses, as any citizen of Korvosa living within such a lawless district would employ, if they had the means to procure them! It’s entirely possible these intruders were slain or otherwise trapped within the blaze while their co-conspirators fled!”

Andaisin argued, prompting a response from Marcus Endrin.

“I agree that this evidence does seem somewhat circumstantial. Your Majesty, have your investigators discovered any additional information that might support this accusation of the Ambassador’s beliefs, or who indeed was responsible for the blaze which consumed her home?”

Marcus Endrin asked, which prompted another outburst from Andaisin.

“Listen to yourselves! “Evidence”, “Accusation”, “Crime” – I am not on trial here! And even if this were a court, worship of Urgathoa is not a crime within Korvosa!”

This prompted a bemused response from Glorio Arkona again.

“But it would be fitting for those charred bodies to in fact be the remains of undead servants, much as would presumably be found within the den of an Urgathoan. You did say that your home was protected with magical defenses, didn’t you Ambassador?”

Glorio then glances up from his nails to look at Chief Arbiter Zenderholm.

“What do the laws of Korvosa have to say about the creation of undead, Zenobia?”

The Chief Arbiter considers a moment, and then lays out the law in a carefully neutral tone.

“The creation of free-willed undead is strictly forbidden. The application of Necromancy to create unintelligent servants is highly regulated but permissible, so long as the proper permits are filed ahead of time.”

Zenobia concludes, turning her head to giving a knowing glare at Toff Ornelos who simply chuffs and waves her off – clearly the subject of the Acadamae’s lack of a Necromancy wing is a sore spot for the Headmaster. Marcus Endrin cuts in here again to repeat his question.

“As I just mentioned, it would be helpful to know if these investigators of Her Majesty have acquired any additional information on this matter, either while searching through the wreckage of the ambassador’s home or afterwards. Do you have anything else to offer to substantiate these claims, Your Majesty?”

Queen Ileosa nods, and then gestures to the party.

“I have requested that my team of investigators be present today in the event you have questions for them, although I will mention that they are still in the midst of their investigation, and are not at this time prepared to speak at length on their findings. Nonetheless, they are present if the Council does wish to hear them speak.”

Again the crowd starts murmuring loudly their speculations to each other as Andaisin jumps up out of her chair, only to be greeted with another loud slamming of Jeggare’s gavel on the table before she can get more than a few words of protest out.

“I will have everyone removed from this room if there is one more outburst!”

Jeggare declares, and then glares coldly down at Ambassador Andaisin.

“That goes for you as well, Ambassador, as it is mere curtesy that you are present for the Council’s deliberations. And while you may not be on trial here for any criminal actions, this Council nonetheless is very much sitting in judgement of you right now. The office of the seneschal is one of the most honorable and profound positions within the city, and I certainly will not have its mantle stained by the rumor that its holder is an acolyte of the Pallid Whore! Now then, if there is anything that Her Majesty’s chosen investigators wish to add at this time, please step forward before this Council and speak.”

All eyes in the room then turn towards your small party, and Vencarlo by association who merely grins, leans back in his chair, and gestures at the front of the room with his good hand where the most powerful members of Korvosan Society await.

*************************************
Earlier that next morning . . .

THEChanger

You arrive back at Citadel Volyshenek early the next morning to find that it is once again a hive of activity, with more shackled people being escorted into prison wagons for transport to Longacre. Given most of the people being loaded up are wearing some sort of blue-colored attire and a few have faces recognizable to you from last night, this must be the remnants of the Cerulean Society toughs that the Order of the Eye rounded up last night at the Amphitheater.

This time, you do not have to go up to her office to find Cressida Kroft, as the Field Marshall is present in the courtyard personally overseeing the prisoner transfer. She still looks rather haggard and frazzled from having too many things at once to concentrate on, but the sluggishness and inability to focus seem to have been banished by an actual night’s sleep. Progress, at least.

“Ah, Gav . . . Ser Dimir. Is there something that the Guard can help you with this morning?”

Dalen

As promised, early the next morning you are woken up by one of Vilas's minions dropping off a wrapped package. Inside is a set of Urgathoan prayer beads, complete with silver unholy symbol of the vile goddess. This you slip to Queen Ileosa after boarding her carriage with the Queen and her bodyguard, which she quickly slips into a pocket of her elegant dress. Almost immediately thereafter, Sabrina presses a folded slip of paper into your hands with a triumphant grin.

"As was discussed last night with Her Majesty, here is some magical security that Her Majesty would like to commission you to procure or manufacture for her handmaiden's safety on any future ill-advised adventures outside the castle."

Spoiler: The Order

Show

• One Jailer's Dungeon Ring
• One Prisoner Dungeon Ring

(OOC: Or a similar set of magic items that would allow Sabrina to track Queen Ileosa and her condition at all times, that would not be easily removed or suppressed, and does not require actual magical proficiency to use.)

[Darvin]

Dalen courteously greets Sabrina, and unfurls the note. He keeps a stern face as he reads it, refusing to allow it to show any displeasure. He didn't blame Sabrina for not reading the fine-print outside of his shop about what services he did (and did not) provide, but the fact remained that this was not something he was capable of producing. He folds and stows the paper, his mind turning through memories of countless lectures and evenings spent studying enhancement theory; the pause would be noticable to Sabrina, but better to speak with intent than to stammer something out in the moment. He smiles when the solution comes to him, "I'm afraid I haven't the facilities or tools for forging magic rings, but I can recommend an alternative that should meet your needs... and for a fraction of the cost. If it pleases you, I can have the paired items ready for later this week," he proceeds to explain to Sabrina the specific combination of magical items he had in mind.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Items are the Minders Coin and a Cloak of the Hedge Wizard (Divination). With accelerated crafting (which Dalen can take 10 to auto-succeed on) the coin will take 4 hours to create, and the cloak will take 12 hours. Dalen can spend up to 8 hours per day on crafting, so it will take him two days of dedicated work. Unless otherwise stated, presume Dalen spends his downtime crafting these items.

Dalen remains a courteous observer throughout the affairs, but can't help but smile innocently when he catches Toff's eye. While it may be for the wrong reasons entirely, he appreciates that he left an impression on the headmaster.

When prompted, Dalen confidently strides forward - preempting any of the others - to speak, "thank you; I would be pleased to answer any and all questions you have about our investigation. I would stress that were it not for the immediacy of these proceedings we would prefer to continue in private. I can add one detail to further the picture painted to the council. Beneath the Ambassador's home, we found a connection to the sewers of Korvosa, with the doorway left wide open... a door that only opens from the inside. We do not believe the intruders perished that day, and share Sir Arkona's conclusion that the bodies recovered from the fire were - in fact - undead servants,"

"Of course, Ambassador Andaisin is entitled to defend herself against these accusations and prove us wrong. Whether the religious paraphernalia belongs to her is a matter that we cannot prove or disprove conclusively, but it would be possible to establish whether the dead bodies were - in fact - undead," he turns to the headmaster, "Esteemed Headmaster Ornelos, is it not true that an Animate Dead spell can only work upon a corpse but once? And should the undead creature be destroyed then never again can any necromancer animate the same body by the same means? If the ambassador were to stake her honor on the matter, and the council were to order and approve it, one of the bodies could be exhumed and under the controlled observation of the Acadamae an Animate Dead spell cast upon it. If the spell should succeed it would exonerate the lady of the charges of having unlicensed undead in her home. If it should fail with no apparent reason, then her claims of innocence would ring hollow,"

He turns to Andaisin, "If proven wrong I would graciously issue a heartfelt and public apology. Will you stake your own honor on the outcomes of such a trial?" Dalen's eyes meet the ambassador's head on, a piercing and determined gaze making clear he is not bluffing and knows that those bodies were zombies, and that he has no intention of backing down.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

As usual, everything he's stated is technically true but he's leaving out details that implicate the investigators (and the queen herself!) as the intruders who triggered the house's defenses and the fire. The GM can tell me if this has crossed into bluff check territory.

[THEChanger]

Throughout the proceedings, Gavin remained seated, and silent. He had not been with the group as they investigated the ambassador's home, and the reliance on forgery and deception still sat ill with him. Of course, the Ambassador's reactions were of great interest to the Hellknight, and his eyes did not leave the Chelish woman.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Gavin attempts a Sense Motive check, to see what insight he can glean about Andasain.
Sense Motive - (1d20+5)[13]

---

Earlier...

Gavin gave a small bow in respect as he entered Cressida's office. "Field Marshall. I...well. My visit is personal, this morning. I wished to drop by and check on an old colleague who I greatly respect, but had fallen out of contact with."

He allowed himself a small smile. "I am glad you took our advice. You are looking much more like yourself."

[Stelio Kontos]

Aliani spent the morning -- a surprisingly long morning under the circumstances; he would have to remember to ask Silas to pick up much more of that tea -- first in a long bath, getting the stink of the previous day out of his nostrils, and second in contemplation as he pruned the little rose bush that had taken to growing in the small courtyard behind his apartment. It would be another long day today, and another tomorrow, and the day after that, but ... well, life would go on, right? He wondered if perhaps letting young Liam to his freedom may have been a mistake, and cast forth a short prayer asking that he be given the chance to redeem his mistakes.

He arrived on his own at Longacre a few minutes before noon, dressed -- not quite in full jester's outfit, but quite flamboyantly nonetheless thanks to the sleeves, with the bright red leggings and an inordinately ruffled crisp white shirt, fastened of course by his trademark rose brooch. That's how these people were used to seeing him, after all, nothing more than a harmless entertainer there for their amusement, and it wouldn't do to put them on guard any more than necessary. To the nobles he gave no more than a passing wave, appearing to not wish to disturb their business, save for a more pronounced greeting to Miss Leroung and a silent "thank you" from across the room.

"Ah, Mr. Orsini!" he exclaimed, slipping into a seat just next to the man. "A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Silas has told me a great deal about you, but rest assured I plan to ignore all of it! But yes, here for the ****show, how could I resist a personal invitation from Her Majesty? Though I rather doubt 'enjoy' is the right word."

He leaned in a bit closer, just as the proceedings were about to start. "Have you any free time this afternoon? I'd very much like to speak to you, if it should fit your schedule. I've need of, well, the kind of services you provide. It's a dangerous place these days, this city. Wondering if you might have a student you would recommend. And I thought I might cheer up any houseguests you might have, if you think they might like that."

He found himself picking idly at an imagined bit of lint on his shirtsleeves as the nobles chattered on, paying rather more attention than it appeared as he did so. Dalen would do more than well enough in this sort of circumstance. He was more interested in the reactions of the nobles to the various revelations, and particularly if anyone seemed... less surprised than they ought.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Sense Motive on these here noble types: (1d20+10)[25]

[Captain Jak]

Preferring not to make a spectacle of himself if it isn’t necessary, Jakkin elects to arrive to the proceedings on his own. While the area before the building is, indeed, extremely crowded with curious civilians, it is of little hindrance to someone of his size and experience at avoiding the mass of moving legs. Eeling his way through, he emerges to the line of guardsmen and is passed through, too late to do more than hear the roar of the crowd as the mob had made its—abortive—move towards the carriage.

Glaring balefully at the agitators, he slips inside along with the others.

---

While there for support as requested, Jakkin is quickly bored with the proceedings. There isn’t, practically speaking, much he can do to impact the course of events apart from the added weight of his presence. There are others of their company that are far better versed with persuasive words than he, and he is more than happy to leave their employ to them.

He better spends his time keeping a wary eye on the Ambassador, suspecting that she won’t go quietly into defeat if she has another option. Things could get hairy, and arses might just need kicking again.

[PiccadillyPi]

Silas spent the morning as any well-to-do person would. A bath in his house using various scented oils to ward away the cheese and fruits he had for breakfast. The grapes were already too old having been gone for days, but his apples remained resilient. More honestly, it was a break in the miasma from his week - as if a witches brew against evil. He had no magic save for a trick or two, but his imagination bade him to pretend if only until his clothes for the day were fully adorned. Red and black were his colours of the day. It couldn't be his favourite for it often faired fewer clients, and clearly his fur was better suited to a cooler palette, but he knew that the eyes of Korvosa would be upon him if only for a moment. He meticulously put together garments that evoked a patriotic vision without the gaudy visage of a buffoon with a flag for a cape. Finally, he completed his look with a cane fit to kill.

His door locked behind him, the dandy waved at the neighbour across the way as he made for the markets. His early day allowed him time enough to barter a regular routine of the special tea he'd procured just the other afternoon. It took some doing, but a few handshakes and some chatter of a party perhaps elsewhere secured the deal.

An hour later and Silas joined the queen and her entourage. Sabrina impressed him with her merciful skills in repelling villains - never mind the queen's efforts to remove that word from noble vocabularies. Once they were safely at their destination wherein Sabrina could relax enough to pay attention to him, he pointed at her equipment. Rather, he pointed in quick succession between himself and herself numerous times as if to try to impress upon her a shared feature. Was it the puffed shoulders of their outfits? The trained musculature that they might share? No, it was the shared choice of armor and sword. However, Silas had forgotten he forgone his equipment in favour of one Sabrina was familiar with: his swordcane. Once he realized this, his pointing slowed and he shrank into himself, forgetting to clarify his confusing gestures.

During the proceedings, he kept his chest bluff and stance strong for the duration of Dalen's speaking time. He played his part. A proud representative of Korvosa. His outfit, as he planned it, was dually for the court to recall their duty to their nation (and maybe their people), and a fond "f**k you" to a certain less competent whore. Their words, not mine. As Silas stood behind Dalen, he also took in a view of the crowd. Seeing so many faces, he only wanted to see one. Well, two, but he thought his daughter might be in disguise. The face he wished to see was Trinia. Her world was different from what it was, and he felt a desire to ensure she was well. As he acted for Dalen's benefit, and for a time once sat back down, he planned what to say to the young woman that helped start him on this oblong journey.

[Inspectre]

Earlier

Dalen

Ileosa’s relief at not having to wear what was effectively a cursed ring is cut short after you explain how the Minder’s Coin works, requiring a full 24-hours under her tongue to attune itself.

“I suppose only having to do it once – ever – will be tolerable. Certainly better than Sabrina’s suggestion at least.”

Ileosa opines, while Sabrina looks at you skeptically.

“Not sure how this is going to let me know when Her Majesty has fallen into trouble during one of her . . . “adventures” . . . but I suppose it’s better than nothing. I’m not going to have to learn magic in order to use this stuff, am I?”

It was then Sabrina’s turn to be obviously relieved after your explanation of the cloak’s purpose and uses, as the queen’s bodyguard clearly has no interest in learning how to use magic herself. A pity, but a common opinion by those who have dedicated themselves so heavily to learning something as mundane as fighting with a sword.

“We’ll take it – thank you for providing a fast – and much cheaper – option for us.”

Ileosa says with a grateful smile, closing the argument in favor of your suggestion and earning yourself yet another royal commission.

THEChanger

At your comment Kroft gives a little shake of her head before quickly replying.

“I’m afraid that Grau is currently busy following up on a lead for an investigation he’s conducting. First time in a while that I’ve seen him so interested in his work, not sure when he will be back.”

It takes a moment after that reflexive statement for it to register, in conjunction with your follow-up compliment, that there might be two old colleagues whom you could be referring to. A faint blush spreads from the bridge of her nose across her cheeks, and she shifts her footing self-consciously before simply letting the compliment go unanswered. Instead she moves to change the subject by nodding at the line of Cerulean Society thugs being loaded in the prison wagon.

“I am feeling better, but it seems there is no rest for Korvosa’s field marshal. These were all found this morning inside the Kendall Amphitheater when it was opened up for the day. All shackled together an waiting for us, like some kind of perverse gift . . .”

Whatever Kroft said next, you don’t hear it as something about her statement opens a door in the recesses of your mind, and a flood of memories come bursting out.

Self-consciously, you tug at the silver mask adorning your face as if to straighten it and ensure that it would not slip off at an inopportune time, but of course that was impossible. The mask was your face now, and to remove it would require putting your old, mundane face back on – represented by the wooden mask you could summon at any time. But in your defense it was hard not to be nervous when the Field Marshall of Korvosa rounds the corner of the crypt a moment later, muttering a startled curse under her breath and dropping a hand down to the hilt of her sword before relaxing into a peaceful but wary stance.

“And who in the Hells are you supposed to be!?”

“A friend of Korvosa.” You reply, enjoying the chance to be enigmatic for once, although it comes at the cost of the frown on Kroft’s face deepening. You were going to need to make this quick before you lose her forbearance entirely.

“The Grey District is off-limits tonight. I ought to have you arrested as a potential conspirator and agitator.”

Kroft opines, fingering her hilt but her curiosity still holds out enough to prevent her from drawing the weapon yet. This gives you enough time to deploy your peace offering, stepping to one side with a flourish and gesturing at the circle of unconscious thugs propped up against each other’s backs.

“If I might make a suggestion, Field Marshall, perhaps you should arrest these men first. They are, after all, part of Lamm’s inner circle who you came here to arrest tonight, correct?”

"What is this, some kind of perverse gift?"

Kroft mutters, but you don't provide an answer for while the Field Marshall is still staring in surprise at the unexpected “gift” and starring at the different faces in an attempt to identify them all, you take the opportunity to leap up and skitter up the nearby side of the crypt, hauling yourself up onto its roof. From that new vantage perch you give the Field Marshall of Korvosa a bow and jaunty wave with a, “Looking forward to working with you in the future, Field Marshall!” before turning and running across the roof and dropping down out of sight on the far side of the structure. At which point you land awkwardly on a stone sticking up just far enough up out of the ground to ruin your landing and nearly twist your foot off.

You hobble, rather than run, to the partially concealed tunnel nearby that would serve as your escape out of the district, past the roaming patrols of Hellknights and city guardsmen. Waiting for you there, arms crossed, is a woman in a feathery red dress with literal bronze skin and a halo of rainbow-hued hair.

“That was rather reckless, don’t you think Mr. Dimir?”

The woman accuses, prompting a lop-sized grin beneath your mask that probably went totally unseen, although the earnest amusement in your voice certainly carried through.

“Perhaps . . . but it was fun.”

You suddenly snap back to the present to find Kroft’s hand on your shoulder and her face over a few inches away from your own, her lips drawn into a concerned frown as she peers directly into your eyes.

“Are you alright, Gavin? You were just starring off into the distance for a couple minutes there.”

The Field Marshall’s lips quirk briefly up into a smile as she releases her grip and steps back, apparently satisfied that you were now back in the same world as her. What the Hells was that just now, anyway!? More false memories!?

“I guess I’m not the only one who could use some more sleep around here.”


The Council

Everyone

A series of murmurs ripples through the room after Dalen’s explanation and offered solution to determine Andaisin’s guilt in unauthorized animation of undead. Jeggare ignores them this time, as he and the rest of the council are caught up in their own quiet deliberations.

“Well, Toff? Would that work?”

“Mr. Rittle is correct that a second casting of Animate Dead should fail if they have already been re-animated once. Getting the Church of Pharasma to agree to it, however, especially as I imagine they’ve already interred the bodies . . .”

“To the Hells with the Church of Pharasma! They’ve got their hands full with the undead getting up on their own already! One more isn’t going to make any difference! Besides, we just tell them it’s involving an Urgathoanite and they’ll be falling all over themselves to help! Zenobia, when can you have an order to exhume one of the bodies drafted!?”

“There is some legal precedent to exhume a body for magical examination, Jeggare, but it’s not a common request. Even after the paperwork is filed, the family of the deceased must be contacted to grant consent. The Church will need to locate the correct body and be allowed to perform the appropriate rites before they will ever agree to this . . . the point is, it will take weeks.”

“Weeks!? We can’t wait that long to make a decision! Korvosa needs a seneschal now!”

“I am prepared to wait that long for vindication.”

Andaisin says evenly, glaring daggers at Dalen for his suggestion. No doubt the wheels were already turning in her head for ways to somehow swap out the body for one that could be re-animated.

“And even if this vile lie about me was “proven” by this method, I will remind that council that as the Ambassador of Cheliax, I have diplomatic immunity and am therefore immune to prosecution for any such minor crime as raising the dead.”

Jeggare’s response to this confident challenge from Andaisin is to slam his fists onto the table as he attempts to bore through her skull with his glare.

“No one cares what you think, Corpse Humper. And frankly, we don’t need evidence here, just the accusation against your character is enough for me. I formally withdraw my nomination of Ambassador Andaisin for consideration to be seneschal. And don’t think I won’t be sending a letter to her Imperial Magistrix Abrogail Thrune about your . . . proclivities, “Ambassador”. We’ll see what she has to say then, but I imagine you will be getting an invitation to return home and explain yourself in person . . . over a nice heretic pyre! Or, you can refuse and stay here to await prosecution for illegal re-animation of the dead, whenever the Church of Pharasma decides to get off its ass, as a private citizen.”

“You can’t do this.”

Andaisin says flatly, gritting her teeth as she matches Jeggare with a glare of her own. Jeggare simply laughs.

“It’s already done. By the time I’m through with you, you’ll regret having ever come to Korvosa.”

At this point Marcus Endrin clears his throat, breaking the mounting tension between Andaisin and her former nominator.

“Technically Jeggare, the Ambassador is correct. Your nomination cannot be withdrawn once your candidate is up for review by the council.”

Jeggare smiles frostily at the Sable Marine commander, and then shrugs.

“Well, alright then. I move that we immediately put it up to a vote. All in favor of Andaisin becoming Korvosa’s new seneschal?”

No hands are raised.

“All opposed?”

Everyone at the council table with the exception of Zenobia Zenderholm and Marcus Endrin raise their hands.

“This is all still hearsay and unsubstantiated claims at this moment. I would prefer to wait until we could confirm this accusation of illegal re-animation prior to voting, but it seems the Council would prefer to decide this matter now.”

Marcus defensively explains, to which Zenobia nods her agreement. Jeggare merely snorts irritably.

“Well, regardless it is zero in favor and five against, with two abstentions. Ambassador Andaisin is officially removed from consideration for Seneschal!”

At this point Andaisin stands up, her face a tight-lipped mask and her eyes brimming with cold fury. But rather than make a scene she simply skewers Ileosa with her frigid stare and says very quietly, “I hope you are happy. I, on the other hand, am very disappointed in you.”

That seems to trigger some unpleasant memory in Ileosa, who visibly flinches and shudders while Andaisin imperiously turns and walks out of the room without sparing a glance at anyone else. Once the disgraced Ambassador is out of the room Ileosa manages to compose herself once more. Jeggare either doesn’t notice or ignores this interplay between the two, shuffling the papers in front of him before announcing the next candidate up for debate after Andaisin has left.

What follows is two hours of soul-crushing banality as various other candidates are floated by one member of the council, only to be shot down by another member, sometimes for reasons far pettier and more insignificant than “might be a worshipper of Urgathoa”. Finally breaking this stalemate near the end of the list of potential candidates is Glorio Arkona, who puts forward a name that is oddly familiar to several of you (certainly Aliani, Dalen, and Silas being from the “true original” timeline) despite never hearing it in this world before - Darvayne Amprei (the Chelish ambassador in the previous world).

“As you may or may not have heard of him before, Mr. Amprei is a native of Cheliax who came to this city ten years ago to start a shipping business. That venture unfortunately failed, but did inspire him to serve Korvosa in a variety of civic roles since then which he has performed . . . adequately. While I will admit that he has no great accomplishments to his name, neither has he made any dangerous blunders nor revealed any grotesque foibles, unlike some of the other candidates this august body has discussed thus far today.”

Glorio explains as an introduction, prompting a thoughtful look from Jeggare.

“Nor does he have any connection to one of the Great Houses of Korvosa, like the other disqualified candidates . . .”

The nobleman says, following Glorio’s train of logic with a slow nod of approval. Toff, who looked like he was going to start nodding off at any second over the past several candidates, firmly slaps his hands on the table.

“Great! Let’s put him to an immediate vote! All in favor!?”

Now it’s Toff’s turn to give Marcus Endrin a black look as a number of the council members had done previously when the Sable Marine commandant brought up concerns over past candidates.

“While I will grant that Mr. Amprei is a fine administrator, I do not believe he has ever served in a city-wide capacity, let alone in one with such myriad demands as the role of seneschal will place upon him. I am therefore concerned that we will do a disservice to him, as well as the people of Korvosa, if we place him in such a demanding position with his current lack of experience.”

“That may be true, however, I believe that our expectations are unfairly skewed by the exemplary performance of Neolandus Kalepopolis, who served as Korvosa’s seneschal for nearly thirty years. It is a tragedy that we lost both our seneschal and our king during the same dark night, but with no trace of Seneschal Neolandus’s whereabouts or fate, we must give him up for lost and I fear we shall not see his like again. Regardless, Korvosa needs a seneschal, and in our hour of need I would argue that we need a seneschal more than we need the ideal one. Perhaps Mr. Amprei will raise to the occasion, and perhaps he will fail, but even so he will give us what we most need in this moment – stability.”

A fresh wave of murmurs washes through the reinvigorated crowd, although the council looks less swayed by Glorio’s eloquence. All except Toff Ornelos, who slaps his hands on the table again.

“That’s great, I heartily agree – move to an immediate vote?”

Jeggare sighs and knocks on the table with his gavel.

“Very well. All in favor of granting Darvayne Amprei the position of Seneschal?”

In the end the vote was 6-1 in favor, with only Marcus Endrin opposing the nomination. As soon as the vote is finished the room bursts into applause, as the weasely Darvayne Amprei stumbles up to the front of the room in a confused daze.

“I . . . I won? I’m the s-s-s-enes-schal now!?”

Amprei asks the room, glancing around aimlessly once he has reached the front, and he flinchingly comes to attention when Jeggare knocks on the table again for silence.

“Now then, Seneschal Amprei, here is your first order of business – nominate your choice for the next sovereign of Korvosa.”

“M-ME!? Um, well . . . I didn’t think I was going to win, so I never gave it much thought really . . .”

“If the Council would indulge me one last time today, I would like to take a moment to voice my own opinion on this matter.”

Glorio offer, and immediately launches into another soliloquy upon Jeggare nodding his consent.

“I am aware that as difficult as the selection of Korvosa’s new seneschal was, the selection of Korvosa’s new monarch will be even more fraught with peril. Each Noble House stands to gain or lose much depending on which of our number is selected to sit upon the Crimson Throne, and this leaves the decision to be intensely political. In Korvosa’s past, bloody wars have even been fought to determine the victor. We avoided this fate twenty years ago by mere fluke, for our illustrious Queen Domina gifted us with a son who could inherit the throne upon her death – our beloved King Eodred. The first such event in our blood-soaked history, which ironically is considered a simple matter of course in other lands with an unbroken line of succession. Alas, the Curse of our Crimson Throne has prevented such a dynasty from being forged in our fair city, and so we have had to make do with lines of succession along family branches – brothers, aunts, cousins, and sometimes yes, a successor chosen by the fortunes of civil war. Unfortunately, the Arabasti line in Korvosa is now extinct once more, so that optional of familial succession is not open to us as Eodred left us without surviving family . . . save one. His beloved wife, Queen Ileosa, who although she is young and is as inexperienced as our new seneschal, can nonetheless grant us the continuity and stability that we need now. And who has already demonstrated her capabilities by presenting us with the scandalous news of Ambassador Andaisin’s true nature, without which we may have been a grave error today. Therefore, I urge Seneschal Amprei and the rest of the Council to consider officially coronating Queen Ileosa as Korvosa’s new sovereign, with the understanding that, after a sufficient period of mourning, she should seek a new King to wed and therefore provide us with a new line of succession, ere the Curse of the Crimson Throne’s next striking leaves us in this same position again, however long from this date that might be.”

The loudest murmurs so far begin as soon as Glorio sits back down, leaving Jeggare to fruitlessly pound the table to restore order. Let it not be said that Amprei is a complete idiot, however, for he does his job before the room can collapse in total chaos. Shouting to be heard above the din, Amprei calls out.

“I AGREE! I OF-OFFIC-CIALLY NOMINATE QUEEN ILEOSA!”

Like a bolt of lightning, silence immediately descends upon the room again as everyone reflexively sucks in their breath, waiting to see what the official decision of the Council would be. This time, the vote is unanimous, 7-0 in favor. Despite all appearances to the contrary at the beginning of this council meeting, Queen Ileosa will be Korvosa’s new sovereign. Everyone, even Queen Ileosa herself, is completely stunned at this outcome, and Jeggare is quick to capitalize on the momentary silence.

“This Council session is officially concluded. Queen Ileosa’s coronation as sovereign will take place one week hence from this date. Long live Korvosa, and long live its new Queen!”

And with a final crack of his gavel on the table, Jeggare signaled for the meeting to be over, and for the guards to start filing in and directing everyone out. Of course, the council and its new seneschal and queen remained behind to discuss exact details, but your part in this drama is over, and so you likewise are escorted out of the room. As you go, Queen Ileosa catches each of your eyes, and gives you just the slightest nod, clearly crediting all of you with this unfathomable outcome. Which likewise means that your fates are now likely even more firmly tied to hers, for better or for worse.

(OOC: So, now that the council session is concluded, what are you all doing? It is about three in the afternoon at this point by the time you have managed to file out of the Longacre Building.)

Spoiler: Darvayne Amprei

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Spoiler: Aliani and Gavin Only

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Sense Motive Results:

• Vencarlo openly finds this whole thing HILARIOUS and is not even trying to hide it. Not so much that an Urgathoan worshipper was nearly made seneschal, but that she was exposed and is having the wrath of the entire noble council dumped on her head? *Popcorn moment!*
• Sabrina has her face of stone up as usual, so who knows what she's actually thinking, but she certainly does seem pleased - no secret she HATES Andaisin (and vice versa) - quietly pleased, in a sort of counterpoint to Vencarlo's open bemusement
• Toff Ornelos is bored out of his mind. He has a flicker of interest with Dalen's presentation, and the ideas of using magic to determine whether or not the bodies were in fact undead, and if he has another magical solution for that and then he's bored again. He doesn't give a **** about any of this either way.
• Marcus is clearly quite uncomfortable sitting up at the council table. His brother usually handles the politics bit and it shows. He's a soldier, and so he's trying to remain politely neutral and open-minded about this while trying not to show his own quiet disapproval for Urgathoa.
• Eliasia Leroung, much like Marcus, is here out of a sense of duty. She really doesn't like Percival Jeggare the way she slips him black looks whenever he's talking, but otherwise she doesn't really want to be here. Like Marcus, she seems to be trying to keep an open mind about this but is definitely struggling with the idea of an Urgathoa worshipper as Seneschal.
• Andaisin is PISSED. But it's the cold-blooded fury of a viper. She's fuming but she's not going to make a scene here. She will quietly bide her time and take her revenge on Ileosa later.

Spoiler: Aliani Only

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Sense Motive Results:

• Ileosa is extremely nervous and is absolutely terrified of Andaisin. Given what you've seen of the council's reaction to Andaisin's dark secret revealed, Ileosa's belief that the nobles would take her out into the street and stone her to death or worse really isn't far-fetched if they were to find out she was a commoner.
• Ausio Carrowyn is doing a pretty good job of keeping a studious and interested face in these proceedings, but there's a little nervous tick that he's doing with his fingers on the table that suggest he's completely out of his depth here and he knows it.
• Jeggare is likewise keeping his anger in check for the most part, but he's SEETHING over this. You're pretty sure you found who put Andaisin's name at the top of the list, and he's regretting it in a big way now and probably feels personally betrayed by this information. He's clearly struggling not to throw some sort of wanna-be despot temper tantrum here and order Andaisin to be burned at the stake or something equally dramatic.
• Glorio is bemused by this whole thing, but that seems to be his default setting - just sort of sitting back and smiling at the whole thing as if this was all a play for his amusement. Whatever is going on behind those eyes there's not a hint of it visible. He did point out some of the flaws in Andaisin's story, but it's impossible to say WHY he did that, whether it was just to screw over Jeggare's nominee, because he didn't like Andaisin to begin with, he enjoys being that "but, actually" guy in the conversation, or some other motive.
• Zenobia likewise has that mask of a stern impartial judge who is perpetually in slight disapproval of everything. What she's actually thinking is a mystery.

Stelio Kontos/PiccadillyPi

The old fencing master greets Aliani with a genteel smile and offers his fake hand for the greeting handshake, only to pop the prosthetic free of his arm with a deft twist, leaving Aliani holding the glove-covered dummy hand. Vencarlo chuckles and gives a disappointed shrug when this act is met more by confusion than panic from the playwright.

“It would appear that you have me at a bit of a disadvantage, Mr. Rose, as you are aware enough of me to know of my tricks, whereas I only know you by your cheesy plays! Not that Korvosa couldn’t use a few more such plays.”

Taking his prosthetic hand back, Vencarlo reattaches it to the stump of his arm, but continues to listen attentively as Aliani explains his intentions and Silas joins in on the conversation. The fencing master’s perpetual smile darkens into a frown as his former house guest is mentioned.

“Ah, yes, well I’m afraid that I no longer have a house guest, as they moved out recently. Perhaps that is something that you can discuss with your new close friend.”

Vencarlo says, inclining his head at Queen Ileosa. The fencer’s good mood returns a moment later as he moves on from the topic of Trinia to potential teachers for Aliani.

“Well, in any event, should you see my old house guest again, relay on my best wishes for their future. Now, as for a potential teacher for you, I am afraid that despite still running the fencing school, I am not currently training any students personally, for reasons that should be obvious.”

Vencarlo states, lifting his prosthetic hand for emphasis. He nods at Sabrina who is currently staring at Silas and his attempts to communicate via gestures in confusion – then her eyes drift over to Vencarlo and her mouth tightens in anger before looking away from you all quite deliberately.

“If you want the absolute best in Korvosa, Sabrina Merrin would teach you more in a day than most could teach you in a year. Unfortunately, I imagine she’s rather busy these days, but given your friendship with her ward, perhaps you could borrow her for a brief lesson? Just . . . don’t mention that I was the one who suggested it.”

Vencarlo thinks a moment and then shrugs with a grin.

“Of course, if you’re willing to settle for only the second best, I think our dear Field Marshall would be an excellent teacher. She’s also much less likely to literally beat the lesson into your head, so there’s that. But you are right that she is rather busy these days . . . hmmm.”

Vencarlo thinks a moment more, and then frowns as he thinks of a final alternative.

“There is one other former student of mine that I think could be an excellent teacher for you . . . if he could pull himself together. Another member of the city guard, so he’s probably rather busy these days . . . if he hasn’t gotten himself suspended. Maybe you’ve met him already . . . Grau Saldado?”

Vencarlo sighs as he sees Aliani’s expression upon hearing that name be offered.

“I see you have met him, then. He wasn’t always such a mess, you know. Once, he was one of my most promising students, but then . . . well, it’s not my story to tell.”

The fencing master slumps back in his chair, watching the councilor’s deliberate Andaisin’s fate with a faraway look on his eyes, as if replaying whatever it was that he knew but was unwilling to share. He perked up again a few moments later as another thought occurred to him, and gave a light shrug as his previous smirk returned.

“Of course, if it’s just a single night’s lesson on the proper way to hold a sword so you stop cutting yourself, I suppose I can provide that to you. You and Silas can stop by my house this evening, after seeing this new servant of Her Majesty – just make sure to bring a nice bottle of wine with you as payment, eh?”

Later

Stelio Kontos/PiccadillyPi

Spoiler: For Stelio Kontos Only

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When you arrive at the flower shop, you find it in a highly unusual state of business, with several people going in and out of the shop with purchases. Haeluna looks particularly frazzled, and drops all sense of pretense the moment you walk in the door . . . which seems to support the idea that these people in the shop were not regular customers, either.

“Where have you been, child!? I was worried sick something had happened to you! Didn’t you get my note to come here!? Nevermind!”

The old flower shop owner/revolutionary shouted the moment you stepped into the shop, certainly more animated than you had seen her in . . . well, ever. You had not, of course, received any such summons, so either the messenger got there just as you were leaving your house this morning or they never showed up, a possibility which Haeluna confirmed a moment later as she ranted at the ceiling upon seeing your confused expression.

“Godsdamnit Jack!”

Haeluna quickly hurried on to explain what this was all about, at a considerably lower tone now that you were at the counter in front of her.

“Our stockpile of weapons in the Grey District was hit last night, Aliani. Gaedren Lamm and his men showed up at the tomb where we were storing them, subdued the sentry we had watching it, and made off with the entire stockpile. And of course, he knew right where they would be . . . he’s the one that set up the damned stockpile in the first place!”

In a rare display of anger, the old woman pounds her fists onto the counter in front of her.

“There were over a hundred weapons in that stockpile, Aliani – blades and bows both! He can field a small army now with that stockpile, our stockpile! What are you going to do about it?”

As the sun starts to hang just above the horizon, marking the end of yet another hectic day in Korvosa, you both arrive at the gates to the castle. By now a familiar sight to the guards manning the gates, you are simply let inside into the entry courtyard, but unlike all of your previous visits to the castle, this time there is no royal bodyguard impatiently waiting for you. You therefore aren’t entirely sure where to go from here to see Trinia, as you’re aware that she is being sheltered somewhere isolated within the castle. As it turns out, Sabrina again comes to your rescue as one of the guardsmen must have gone looking for her as she comes stomping up to you a few minutes later while you are still aimlessly wandering the castle’s hallways.

“What do you two want?”

She asks, as bluntly straight-forward of a communicator as ever. She does quirk an eyebrow at the vase of roses cradled in Aliani’s arm.

“Are those for Her Majesty?”

When it’s explained that you both are here to see Trinia, Sabrina seems strangely more relieved than annoyed, and gestures for you both to follow her as she leads you on a winding course back out into the gardens where you had the luncheon several days ago, and into the tower beyond. The gambling room where King Eodred had played games with his ostracized brother Venster was now even more of an art studio than it had been before, with several easels now set up.

Seated in front of the farthest one away from the door but in full view of the moonlight drifting in through the nearby window was Trinia, her back to you and a half-eaten platter of food next to her alongside a palette dotted with various paints. She is thoughtfully considering the painting of that stone bench Eodred had commissioned, now three-quarters finished instead of half-done, paint brush bouncing thoughtfully off her right index finger. She doesn’t seem aware of your approach as you enter, at least not until Sabrina loudly clears her throat, causing the painter girl to give a brief squeak of fright and twist around with a speed that drags her cheek across her held aloft paintbush, leaving a thin streak of green paint there.

The girl gives another squeak, this time of delight, as her face lights up and she hastens to stand up out of her chair, this time pausing long enough to set her paint brush down onto the palette before hurrying over to give each of you an enthusiastic hug, her bare feet softly pattering against the hard stone floor.

“Hi! It’s so good to see you two again! How’s Mr. Orsini doing!?”

[Darvin]

Earlier
Dalen chuckles as Ileosa reacts to the function of the Minder's Coin, "it probably wouldn't surprise you to learn that it's gnome magic. Few creatures in this world would try something so outlandish as putting a coin under their tongue for an entire day and seeing what resonances can be achieved, but every so often such experiments do yield useful results, and I am more than happy to use that knowledge in your service,"

To Sabrina's question about magic, Dalen chuckles, "I wouldn't be doing my job correctly if you needed to learn magic. Anything I produce for you will be designed for ease of use. I think you'll find command word items to your liking," while many wizards might condescend towards a student of the blade, Dalen knew much better than that. Her skills, while more specialized and narrow than his own, required years of practice and discipline to hone. That narrow specialization was very much like the blade she wielded, and only a fool discounted the ability to end lives as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Presently
Dalen does not interrupt further throughout the proceedings, taking his place in the audience. He gives Ileosa a nod when their eyes align, then he leaves the building with the others. He turns to his compatriots and speaks, "I've a task that the queen has asked of me; nothing major, but I'll be predisposed in my workshop. You know where to find me if you need me," Dalen explains, then casts his Mount spell to ride off.

When he gets to his workshop he settles into place to begin his work. He uses an ordinary gold sail as a starting point, but as he begins weaving the enhancements he begins to alter its appearance. Rather than a heads and tails side, he changes the coin to feature two distinctive heads sides, each showing Ileosa from a slightly different angle. It takes only a few hours and he's satisfied with the work. He then sets out to start the cloak. Though he knows he cannot finish this evening - he can already feel the taxing process of enhancement wearing on him - he can get through a great deal. The fine garb he is using as a base proves pliable for him. He molds the cloak so it can easily be stowed as a sash when not in use; the magic does not require the wearer to keep it on at all times, after all, and this way Sabrina would be free to employ another magic cloak - a cloak he would be all too happy to produce for her. As midnight approaches he dismisses the light in his workshop and goes to bed.

Spoiler: OOC

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Should have just enough time to put in eight hours of crafting time. Take 10 on accelerated crafting, which is enough to finish the Minder's Coin and half finish the Cloak of the Hedge Wizard.

[Stelio Kontos]

At The Council

Aliani spent most of the interminable meeting sizing up the council, and their increasingly petty reasons for discarding increasingly petty people nominated for an increasingly irrelevant position was frankly starting to wear on him; by the end, he'd fully assumed a "are you ever going to get this over with" pose that a parent might bestow upon a child steadfastly refusing to eat the last of their peas. When they finally accepted the simpering noble as their avatar of righteousness, he let out a loud sigh of relief and bemusement, and gave Vencarlo a quick roll of his eyes.

They're going to tear him apart. Which... might be fine, actually.

At Orsini's reminder that Trinia was right there in the castle, all the bard could do was slap his forehead. "Of course, of course. Forgive me. I.. my memory seems to be failing me somewhat on occasion. But yes, yes. One night of even just a few pointers would be better than nothing, and a bottle of wine is a small price to pay."

Spoiler: OOC/For The DM

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At the flower shop, Aliani listened intently, and with deep concern, to the latest problem that has befallen the cell. "That's rather a poor coincidence. My friends and I were seeking to destroy him once and for all at the theater, but... he managed some sort of derro body as a decoy, I am told. Not sure how, but he did.

"Weapons are just weapons. What we need is more people. We get that, somehow, we'll find a way. That's my job, right?

You can have the stash I bought when this all started, and take some of the food too if you need it; my group seems not to need such things. Mere clubs and crossbows, I'm afraid. But better than nothing. And when they take those, we will use broom handles and pitchforks, if we must, and those will be enough. There's always a way. I'll see what I can do to gather more. As for Lamm... we know what he intends with his newly-supplied army. He intends to rob the Bank of Abadar in two nights time, though... now that you say it, it's likely as not that he wouldn't be there himself.

It's a dangerous game, but, if the noble houses and the royalty can be reminded that he is the threat, and train themselves upon them, a climactic battle that leaves them both weakened... it may be better that he only narrowly fail. To weaken them, focus their energies... for that moment, that's what we have to prepare for, do you understand? It's always the second mouse that gets the cheese. Just pray that we don't misjudge the moment."

Along with the vase of flowers, a tasteful mix of red and white roses in a simple vase, he made a quick stop to pick up a couple of bottles of wine -- nothing extravagant, but a simple blend he quite enjoyed the taste of -- and a wedge of cheese.

At the Castle

Aliani shrank away reflexively from Sabrina. "I'm sorry, no, they are for your 'guest', Miss Sabor. We thought it would be nice to drop in on her, remind her that there's still a world, even if she can't go there right now. Perhaps next time."

He let Trinia's hug linger for just as long as was socially acceptable, and perhaps a second longer.

"He's well, and sends his regards" he replied to Trinia's inquiry on Orsini's condition, before presenting her with the vase. "A little something from us to remind you that you're not alone, even while you're in here." He looked around the room, to evaluate it's privacy. "How are you holding up? Is there anything at all you need? We're going to get you out of here, you know."