# Cerebral Paladin's Storyhour (updated 4/22)



## Cerebral Paladin (Feb 25, 2003)

Welcome to Cerebral Paladin's Storyhour.

All of the write-ups are copyright 2003-2005, Adam H. Morse, as is all of the general world details.  All rights reserved.  Please do not copy my storyhour posts without my express permission.  The player characters are owned by their respective players; aspects of characters or the world developed by both myself and my players are jointly owned by myself and the player who developed it with me.

Session 1:
2/7/752
Sheets of rain pour down on Lir Sanek.  Periodic flashes of lightning illuminate the ancient port city.  Although it's late morning, the storm makes the sky dark.

In the complex of buildings outside Dro Sanek, the mighty castle overlooking the city, a young woman, dressed in nondescript clothes, is escorted into an office.

"You asked me to see you, Kinric?" asks Ginara cath Kalissar.

Kinric Halrin looks up from his paperwork.  "Thank you for coming," he says with a smile.  He nods to the guard who escorted Ginara in.  The guard walks out and closes the door.  Ginara notes the footsteps as the guard walks away from the door.  That's odd; usually when she's in Uncle Kinric's office, he has a staff attendant just outside the door.

"I was wondering if you could take care of something for me, Ginara."

"Sure, Uncle Kinric.  What is it?"

Kinric pulls open a desk drawer and pulls out a small statuette.  He places it on the desk between them.  The statuette is of a human looking man, wearing fine armor and holding a claymore raised above his head.  The white tabard draped around his armor is made of morther of pearl, the armor is burnished silver.  Golden rays project out from around the figure, two upward and two downward.  The statuette is clearly a devotional object for Galerius, the god of valor in the Church Imperial.  To Ginara's practiced eye, it looks to be worth better than 1000 gold.

"I believe you know Melor cath Nortis?  Large, boorish man?  He maintains a vigorous social life.  One of his guests recently was a priest who happened to notice that the statuette on cath Nortis's familial altar was rather more significant than the man thought.  After the priest informed him of its significance, some 10 days ago, he began bragging to anyone who'd listen about how his family heirloom was a powerful holy focus.

"We have some people who keep an eye on the Church Nusaybian.  We have reason to believe that they plan to take the statuette.  Its loss would hurt our position and strengthen theirs.  But beyond its relatively minor mystical significance, it also has some political importance; His Imperial Highness the Prince used to pray in a chapel that included the statuette, before it entered the cath Nortis family's possession.  We don't want it lost.

"After cath Nortis declined a generous offer, we decided to take it into safekeeping.  We fabricated a copy and had it blessed.  We then performed a switch."

Kinric picks up a small piece of dull gray metal and taps it against the statue.  A ripple travels across it; gold changes to dull brass and mother of pearl to enamel.

"As you can see, someone beat us to it.  We know that it's not the Church Nusaybian, because they're still planning to steal it.  I would like you to find out who took the statue and recover it."

"Of course, Uncle Kinric," Ginara stammers.  "When did your people take the statuette?"

"Two nights ago.  We discovered the switch this morning."

"And you're sure this wasn't the original?"

"Positive.  The priest wouldn't have made a mistake."

"Can I get some friends to help?"

Kinric pauses.  "Absolutely.  You will likely need to recruit assistance, but be careful.  If the Church Nusaybian realizes either how important this is, or that you're involved, it could be very dangerous.  I trust your discretion.  I would also prefer it if you avoided any unnecessary killing."

"Unnecessary?" Ginara squeeks.  "There won't be any killing!"

"Be careful what you say; you need to be ready to take care of yourself, and hesitation can be risky.  But I'm glad that you'll try to avoid killing anyone.

"If you should find it necessary, we can supply you with some money.  Because the statuette is currently in the hands of thieves, we would prefer to recover it without compensating them, but recovering it is more important.

"I leave it to your discretion how to locate it.  Should you choose to investigate at the cath Nortis house, I strongly urge you to not touch the statuette."

Ginara carefully places the statuette in a pouch.  This will take some help...

Melania sits alone in a favored tavern.  There's a good crowd in the place, but she's enjoying her mulled wine and relaxing.  The door swings open and Ginara steps in.  She looks like a drowned rat as she pushes back the sopping wet hood on her cloak.  Melania looks up with a smile and gestures her over.

"Ginara!  How are you?  Another mulled wine for my friend."

"I'm glad you have a seat by the fire."  After warming up for a few minutes, Ginara continues, "I need to talk to you about something."

"All right.  What about?"

"Can we go back to your place?  It's a secret."

A handful of the other patrons in the tavern look up with curiosity.

"Yeah, let's go."

A few minutes later, Ginara finishes explaining the situation.

"When people do things for Kinric, he tends to be grateful, right?"

"Oh, yes!  He even said that we could have some money, for expenses and such."

"Sounds good.  I'm in.  If we're going to need to do tracking, we might want to bring in your friend Dov."

The two of them walk into a barracks where a scout company is based.

"Dov?  Can we talk to you for a bit?"

Dovkania Skyrnath looks up from the card game she's playing with her comrades.  "What is it?"

"We want to talk to you about a little business," Ginara explains.  "It's a secret.  Can we go to your parents' house to talk?"

"What sort of business?" interjects one of the other soldiers.  "Anything we could help out with?"

"I'm afraid that it's a girl thing," Ginara says.

Melania flashes the young man a winning smile and adds, "maybe the two of us can talk about it later."

Dov stands up from the game, slings her swords, and they head out.


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## Piratecat (Feb 25, 2003)

A girl thing, eh?

This is great! I'm looking forward to it.


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## Blackjack (Feb 25, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *This is great! I'm looking forward to it. *




Amen.


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## thatdarncat (Feb 25, 2003)

*sets up a tent and camps out waiting for an update*


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## Cerebral Paladin (Feb 25, 2003)

I've lightly edited the first post; I added a copyright notice and made a couple of very minor alterations to the text of the storyhour post.  Now on to the next post:

Session 1 (cont'd):
As the trio sloshes up to Dov's parents' home, a nice two story building in a nice, but not rich, area of the city, they see a lone figure standing on the roof near the corner of the building.  She is dressed in robes dyed a hideous shade of pink.

They hurry in to Dov's house and gather by a fireplace on the second floor.  While they drink hot ciders to warm up, Ginara begins explaining again.  While she is still explaining, a sopping wet Sister Aurora comes in.  Her hair is bound in twelve shoulder-length braids, each of which is dripping its own puddle.  The resemblance between Dov and Aurora, her older sister, is clear, although Dov is substantially larger and more muscular.

Ginara looks up at her with bafflement.  "Why were you standing on the roof?  And why are your robes such an unfortunate color?"

"Father Daybreak says that you can see a ray of sunshine on every day.  It's my penance.  I complained about the color of the robes-there are much nicer pinks possible."

After warming up briefly, Aurora begins to head back to the roof.

"Dai- wait a second." Melania stops her.  "You know a lot about religion.  What can you tell us about Galerius?"

"Of course I know a lot about religion.  I am a novice of the Rays of Truth.  Galerius is the god of valor and honorable warfare.  He's the son of Luirta; his father is a war god who isn't part of the Pantheon.  We actually know less about his father than we really ought to; it probably merits some research in the future.  Galerius is the patron of the imperial military.  Why do you ask?"

Everyone tries there best to look innocent.

"Dov- are they trying to get you in trouble?" Aurora asks suspiciously.

"Not yet..."

Melania and Ginara exchange glances.  "She might be helpful-- all the religion stuff..."

Ginara nods.  "So, Uncle Kinric asked me to help him out with something..."

"You mean Sir Kinric?" Aurora responds, using Kinric's honorific as a Champion.  The Champions are the elite heroes of the empire who perform great feats in both peace and especially in wartime.

"Yes."

Aurora pauses for a second, thinking about Sir Kinric.  Kinric keeps a very low profile for a Champion.  He generally does not participate in ceremonial events and the like.  The only other thing Aurora knows about him is that Ginara's mother is rumored to have had an affair with him about 15 years ago.

Ginara explains the conversation with Kinric and shows Aurora the statuette.  To Aurora, the statuette is quite unusual.  The style of the representation is archaic, most popular about 450 years ago.  Also, depicting Galerius with a claymore is highly unusual.  Most depictions show him with longsword, or occasionally bastard sword, and shield.  The golden rays of light also extend away from him in an unusual pattern.  While there is nothing inherently heretical about the representation, several of the elements are more common within the Traditional Church.

When Ginara and Aurora have finished exchanging information, Aurora says, "Did Sir Kinric say anything about touching the statuette?"

"He did say that I shouldn't take it."

Sister Aurora nods.  "I thought so.  He's left a trap for them.  Ginara...  Maybe you should ask your brother to help as well.  He knows much more about illusion than any of us."

After some grumbling, Ginara sends a messenger to fetch her brother.  He arrives some time later.  Lhovrik cath Kalissar looks somewhat like his sister, although the resemblance is much slighter than that between Aurora and Dov.  He wears an expensive dark blue robe, embroidered with obvious magical sigils, and a pendant emblazoned with his family's arms.

"What is it, Ginara?  I should really be concentrating on my studies."

"Uncle Kinric asked me to help him out with something, and since it has to do with magic, we thought you might be able to help."

Lhovrik frowns.  "Kinric isn't our uncle.  What did he want help with?"

The group rapidly fills Lhovrik in on the situation.


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## Orichalcum (Feb 26, 2003)

*Sister Aurora clarification*

A few minor additions from Sister Aurora's player:

	Father Daybreak told Sister Aurora two separate things - 
	A. that it was inappropriate to complain about the color of her vestments, which symbolized the first hour of the morning (hence rosy pink)
	B. in a sermon, that one could find a ray of sunshine in every day.

Sister Aurora chose to self-impose the penance for her remarks of standing on the roof and looking for said ray of sunshine, despite the fact that it was raining cats and dogs. She considered casting Endure Elements: Cold but decided that would be cheating, but comes down regularly for cups of hot tea - hence meeting with her plotting sister and friends.

Physrep: The priests of the Rays of Truth all wear their hair in twelve equal braids, with a golden bead at the end - hence the multiple puddles. It should be noted that the Rays are a quite young order in the worship of the Sun Goddess Liuerta; while officially recognized by the Church Imperial, many of Aurora's friends and family viewed her decision to become a novice as equivalent to her joining a wacky out-there cult.

In current game-time, Aurora has not yet found a ray of sunshine.


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## Piratecat (Feb 26, 2003)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> *I've lightly edited the first post; I added a copyright notice... *




Quick, identify the lawyer!


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## Cerebral Paladin (Feb 27, 2003)

Session 1 (cont'd):

After some discussion, the group agrees to split up.  Lhovrik and Aurora each make separate social appointments, scheduled for after dinner.  Melania heads over to the cath Nortis home on her own.

The cath Nortis townhouse is about the same size as the Skyrnath house.  Although both families are wealthy without being rich, the cath Nortis taste, if it can be called that, leaves rather more to be desired.  The facade of the house is styled as an ancient manor, with large pillars supporting the roof of the two story building.  Even from outside, the decor is ostentatious to the point of being tacky, with an enormous coat of arms above the main double doors and repeated on each of the doors.

Melania strides up to the door and knocks.  Moments later, the door is opened by a halfling in impeccable livery.  Melania introduces herself and asks whether Melor cath Nortis would be interested in hiring her as a performer.  Tendros, the halfling butler, invites her into the servants' area and informs her that he handles the entertainment hiring.  After a fine demonstration of her vocal and harp skills and a brief price negotiation, Melania has a job offer for 7 gold... scheduled two weeks later.  Tendros is very closed mouthed to her questions.  Melania pushes on whether there have been unusual people around lately, but Tendros refuses to discuss it.  His response to basically every question amounts to "I cannot discuss the Master's private affairs." Melania does confirm that there was a party at the house a week ago; Melor cath Nortis is an active participant in the petty noble social scene.  But, at least to hear Tendros speak of it, the party was completely uninteresting.  After some further investigations are rebuffed, Melania heads out.

Aurora and Dov arrive at the cath Nortis home shortly after Melania departs.  Tendros ushers them in to a sitting room.  The sitting room's decor is more profuse than tasteful.  Shortly after they arrive, Melor cath Nortis, a barrel-chested man whose youthful fitness has long-since given way to flab, joins them.  He sports a thick, bushy moustache, somewhat unkempt hair, and moderately expensive, slightly ugly clothes.

Aurora and Dov talk with Melor for some time.  He's quite a braggart, talking about his great accomplishments in the war with the kobold empire about fifteen years ago.  Aurora cannot resist correcting him on his numerous misstatements about the major battle he fought in; to hear him tell it, he personally killed more kobolds than were even present.  He does show off a large scar on his arm, which does indeed look like a spear wound, although not nearly as dangerous as he makes it sound.  He shows off the spearhead that makes it.  The spearhead is finely made and does not resemble at all the kobold spears Dov has seen in her training, but he assures them that the difference is simply the difference between the local kobold rabble and the kobold empire.  Melor also talks about his son, Melor Minor, who is fighting against kobolds in the Northlands of the Empire; from his perspective, it's a pity he's simply fighting barbarians, because there's less opportunity for heroism that way.

Aurora asks to see the statuette, which Melor is only too happy to show off.  They ask a little about how his family got it, but he refuses to say, except to note that it's been in his family for generations.  Melor mentions that when his son faces more dangerous combat, he intends to have a special shield made so his son can carry the statue into battle.  While they look at the statue, which is set in a shrine in the house's second floor, Tendros periodically slips in silently with drinks.  Most of the time, they don't even notice his coming and going until a drink is at their side.  Aurora visibly flinches when Melor picks up the statuette, but nothing untoward happens.  If her theory about a trap is correct, she thinks, it must have an exception for the family.

Lhovrik and Ginara arrive while Aurora and Dov are still examining the shrine.  Tendros shows them into the sitting room, where Melor quickly rushes in.  He fawns slightly over Lord Lhovrik, and quickly calls for his daughter, Calia.  Melor works vigorously to introduce the two, largely ignoring Ginara, but Lhovrik and Ginara ignore the hints.  Lhovrik quickly asks to be shown the statuette, claiming that Master Verifax, his instructor, wanted him to examine it.  Melor is nonplused by the suggestion that he take Lhovrik to see the shrine while Ginara talks with Calia, but he agrees, because he's so proud of his family's heirloom.  Lhovrik asks who identified the statue's magical power, and Melor says that it was Father Liren, a guest of his about ten days ago.

After being shown to the shrine, where everyone pretends to be surprised to see their friends, Lhovrik excuses himself and goes to the privy.  After closing the door, he casts Detect Magic, and maintains his concentration while walking back to the shrine.  While appearing to look at some minor details around the shrine, he studies the aura of the statue carefully.  The statuette radiates powerful holy magic.  There are at least two magical auras.  One is a conjuration; he is unable to identify the other, because of a deliberate masking effort.

Melor rejoins the group near the shrine.  As he approaches, Aurora comments on the halfling butler.  "Your butler moves remarkably quietly."

Melor smiles proudly.  "Of course he does... that's the point in having halfling servants." Tendros returns to the room to collect empty glasses, and Melor continues talking about him as if he weren't even there.  "But Tendros is a fine servant- completely unobtrusive.  He just bought his freedom."

"When was that?" Aurora presses.

"About a week ago.  He was a debt-slave, so he only needed to pay off his debt.  So when he paid the 150 gold, he got his freedom."

"How could he afford that?"

"I assume he's been saving his wages.  Of course, now I have to pay him more.  But at least I got the 150 gold.  And he is a good servant."

Meanwhile, Ginara chats with Calia.  Calia is somewhat annoyed about her father's most recent matchmaking efforts, but is fairly resigned to it at this point.  As she says to Ginara, "In my family, there are two types of people: soldiers and soldiers' spouses, and I don't want to be a soldier." Ginara asks about Calia's father's military background.  Calia is fairly dismissive; it's not that her father didn't fight in the war, she's just pretty sure that he spent a lot less time at the front than he would have people believe.  The worst is when his old military buddies are around; to hear them tell it, they personally won the war.

Ginara and Calia also talk about her father's parties; he's very fond of them.  At least the last one was fairly interesting; there was a gnomish illusionist who did all sorts of neat tricks, leading up to a finale where he juggled flaming spheres and then threw them into the ceiling where they exploded harmlessly into streaks of light.  Ginara asks his name, and is told Bildorinsomethingallindorf.  At about this point, the people from upstairs return, and all four set out into the night to meet up with Melania and compare notes.

End of Session 1


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## Ladybird (Feb 28, 2003)

Some elaboration and clarification from Ginara's player, on that conversation between Ginara and Calia:

First, the end of the scene   The last few lines went something like this:

Calia: Something must have gone wrong at the end of the gnome's act.
Ginara: Really? Why? What happened?
Calia: Well, his fireball things went straight at the guests. They weren't _real_ fire, of course, but the guests were still pretty scared - jumping under the tables, shouting, things like that. Father was really angry - he'd wanted to show off his statue all night, and now nobody was even looking at it.
Ginara [with lightbulbs going on in her head]: Right. I bet nobody was looking at the statue at all...

And second, a bit of the earlier conversation, when Calia was talking about her father's war exploits:

"From the way my father talks, you'd think he and his friends won the war himself," grumbles Calia, rolling her eyes.

Ginara shakes her head. "I've never heard anyone talk about it so much...I mean, _my_ parents were in the goblin wars too, and they _never_ talk about it."

"Really? What did they do?"

"Well, my mother was with the wizards, but my father was on the front lines - Third Battalion, Sorcerers' Corps." Ginara gives a wry little sniff, recalling one of Calia's earlier lines. "In my family, you're either a wizard or a wizard's spouse. Or both."

Calia raises her eyebrows, impressed. "So your father must have seen a _lot_ of action..."

Ginara nods. "I think so...that's probably one of the reasons why he never talks about it."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 2, 2003)

Session 2:
2/8/752
In another gray and drizzly morning, Dov sets out from her barracks to rejoin her friends at her family home.  She heads out quickly, making her way through the empty streets.  As she heads out of the barracks area and into the mostly empty streets, she notices a figure heading in the same direction as she is.  Not for nothing was she assigned to a scout company.  She stops and looks at a random storefront.  The figure behind her stops as well.

Enough of this.  She takes a quick turn down an alley, moving stealthily and quickly.  Her tail follows briefly, but then she loses him.  Or at least, she thinks she does.

A few minutes later, she arrives at her home.  Aurora, Melania, and Ginara have preceeded her.  The four wait for the better part of a half-hour for Lhovrik.

A young man, with bleached blond hair, foppish clothes, and a rapier hung at a strange and unwieldy height comes in.

Ginara boggles.  "Lhovrik!  What are you doing?"

"This is dangerous, right?  And keeping a low profile is a good idea, right?  I thought a disguise would help."

Ginara shakes her head with disdain.  "Well, at least don't wear your rapier like that- you wouldn't even be able to draw it successfully.  You should be wearing it lower, and farther back, like this." Ginara adjusts Lhovrik's disguise; it still looks fairly off, but it's less blatant now.

Lhovrik goes over to Misty, his gray cat familiar.  Misty continues to sleep, having spent the night at Dov and Aurora's house.  Lhovrik takes out a fresh fish, bought on the same shopping trip this morning that got the rapier, new clothes, and make-up, and slides it in under Misty's paws.  He may be asking her to do things today, and he wants to make sure that she'll be cooperative if he asks her for favors.  Misty awakens and is pleased by the offering.  She'll be benevolent if her human wants her to do things today.

The group exchanges the information they got the previous night.  Ginara asks Melania, "Do you know anything about a Bilhorngsomethingdorf?  I think he's a gnome illusionist."

"Bildorintingallindorf?  Sure, I know him.  He's a fellow performer.  Calls himself "the Magnificent."

"Where could we find him?  I think he was a diversion for the theft."

"We'll go to the Gnomish Quarter and ask around.  It can't be too hard to find him."

"And then we'll kill him," Aurora declares forcefully.

"What?!  Uncle Kinric said no unnecessary killing."
"Gnome illusionists pervert the Holy Truth with their foul lies and deceits.  Plus he's a thief."

Lhovrik mediates.  "Aurora, there isn't really any reason to kill him.  Just because he doesn't have as good a respect for the Truth of Luirta as he ought isn't enough of a reason.  We really need to get some information from him; if he's been part of a conspiracy, we can deal with that later."

"We can claim that Dov is interested in hiring him to perform for your family," Melania suggests.

"Do you mean that we're going to perpetrate our own deception?" Aurora asks.  After a moment's thought she continues, "Well, I suppose in the greater pursuit of truth and knowledge, it's all right."

After the group is confident that Aurora won't do anything rash, they head to the Gnomish Quarter.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 4, 2003)

Session 2 (cont'd):
The Gnomish Quarter encompasses a range of wealth, but is dominated by lower class buildings.  The buildings are uniformly small by human standards; many have mushroom influenced architecture.  As the group travels through the quarter, they experience its dual existence.  Where the gnomes of the Belat-Arnesian Empire dwell, there are wondrous illusions and disgusting realities.  Streets outside well-to-do households gleam as only magical cleaning can make them, but all savvy travellers know that the streets aren't really clean, just covered with illusions to make them seem nicer.  Many gnomes simply sit about on the street, their minds too wrapped up in illusions, brought on by magic or drugs, to notice the group as it walks past.  The residents of the quarter take no notice of the group; it's hardly the first time a group of humans have come to the area looking for some form of wonderment.

Melania leads the group into what humans would assume to be a tavern.  As they enter, it becomes clear that it's more of a pipe garden.  Clusters of gnomes, and a few other peoples, sit at the tables, puffing strange colored smoke out of waterpipes.  As they approach the bar, the bartender looks up at them.

"What can I get you folks?"

"Ales for all of us," Melania says.

The bartender shakes his head-- why did they come to the Gnomish Quarter if they want to waste their time on ale?  But he begins pouring the mugs.  He has some on tap, for those patrons who like a drink with their smoke.

"I've heard that Bildorintingallindorf can often be found here.  We were wondering if you could point us out for him."

"He does come down here many afternoons, but not when he's had a big break.  Then he justs sits in his house and smokes his earnings."

"Oh?  Did he get lucky recently?"

"About a week ago.  He came in to get a couple bottles of elven wine-- helps the mushrooms work, you know."

Melania quickly gets directions to Bildorintingallindorf's house.

When they get to the street by his house, the group splits up.  Melania and Dov head to the house to talk to the gnome, while the rest keep a watchfull eye on the street.  If he was in on the theft, this could get dangerous.

Sister Aurora, who has been muttering about the evil, truth hiding ways of the gnomes, stairs in horror as Lhovrik and Ginara approach a gnome with a cart full of mushrooms.

"We need to look like we're here for a reason," Lhovrik argues.  "I wonder what mushrooms we should get?"

"You should get green ones," Ginara says.  "They don't really work.  I mostly just got a headache when I tried them."

"You've tried mushrooms?" Aurora asks in horror.

Ginara nonchalantly admits to having experimented a few times.

Lhovrik quickly buys a few green mushrooms.  While Aurora shakes her head at the depravity surrounding her, the other two each grab a mushroom.  Because Lhovrik carefully chews a small amount of one mushroom while Ginara quickly downs two or three, Lhovrik is only slightly disoriented while Ginara is fairly disoriented and put in an even bubblier mood than normal.  Aurora steadfastly refuses their efforts to convince her to try a mushroom and, as the only unimpaired look out, devotes most of her attention to keeping an eye on her wayward friends.

Happily unaware of the unreliability of their back-up, Melania and Dov approach Bildorintingallindorf's home.  Melania knocks on the door.  No answer.  They consider leaving...but wait.  Isn't that low moaning, or perhaps snoring, coming from within the house?  Dov knocks on the door this time, pounding rough booms that reverberate throughout the smallish house.

After the better part of a minute, the door opens.  A gnome looks up at them.  He is dressed in garish colors, in clothes that are somewhere between tasteless expensive clothes and motley.  The clothes are in disarray, a stain from a spilled drink on his chest.  He stares out past them.  His eyes do not focus on them; indeed, it's not clear that his eyes are focusing on anything, and if they are, it isn't there.

"Bildo?  We're interested in talking to you about a job."

"I'm not looking for work right now.  Go away.  And my name is Bildorintingallindorf the Magnificent." In a moment of vanity, he casts a minor spell.  His clothes are instantly clean and in perfect array and the confused look on his face is replaced with an imperious smile and eyes that stare out in perfect focus.  Unfortunately, his eyes stare out between Melania and Dov, and his expression looks like it's on a statue, hurting the effect.

"The job isn't for right now.  I have a big performance coming up on the Spring Festival and I thought you would be perfect to perform with me."

Bildorintingallindorf still seems confused, but it's quickly becoming clear that these strangers are not going to go away quickly, so he'd best get them into the house, where he can get back to his herbs and elven wine.

As they enter his home, they weave between the piles of rubbish.  Their host pours some bright blue elven wine into a glass for his guests, accidentally overflowing the glass.  A wave of his hand causes the excess wine to disappear, but a persistent dripping noise shows that it was simply concealed, not actually cleaned, by the cantrip.

"What was it you wanted again?"

"My friend here is looking for entertainers for her family's spring festival celebration," Melania explains.  "She's already hired me to provide music and storytelling, but thought that your wondrous magics might make the celebration even more special."

"I don't normally perform with others, but I suppose I might if your talents are adequate and there's enough money involved..."

Melania quickly demonstrates her substantial performance skills.  As she concludes her demonstration, she asks, "What sort of fee would you be looking for?"

"I normally charge 150 gold to perform.  Of course, on an important holiday like the spring festival, we all charge a little more...  Perhaps 250?"

Melania and Dov easily conceal their surprise at these prices.  Still, there must be something going on here.  There's no way Melor cath Nortis could afford prices like that.

"Do you ever perform for lower fees?  I heard that you had performed for Melor cath Nortis.  I've been hired to work there myself, and I know he doesn't have that kind of money."

Bildorintingallindorf looks uncomfortable and shifts a little bit.  "Oh.  Tendros handles the hiring for the cath Nortises, and I owed him a favor.  So I agreed to do the performance at a lower rate to repay him."

"What favor had Tendros done for you?"

The gnome looks a little confused for a few seconds.  "He helped one of my cousins out.  He got him a job as a servant in a different household; Tendros knows lots of people.  My cousin, Lurginasteron, isn't bright enough to be able to perform any of the Art."

"That must be a little embarrassing," Melania says, not buying this story for a second.

"Oh yes, it's a disgrace for the whole family.  But anyway, since he can't learn any proper skills, he needed some way to get some money.  So Tendros helped him find a job, in a household whose cook had just left."

Melania decides that they've heard enough.  Bildorintingallindorf must be covering up for his role in the theft, and Tendros must be involved somehow.

"Do you think you have enough information to tell your parents about him?" Melania says to Dov.

"I think so." The two of them stand to leave.

As they head towards the door, the gnome says, "Did I ask what your names are?"

Melania quickly says, "No, you didn't."

Dov helpfully adds, "Would you like to know?" before immediately thinking better of it.

The idea fully dawns on the addled Bildorintingallindorf. "Yeah!"

Dov and Melania quickly give their names and take their leave.  They head out past their erstwhile watchdogs, heading directly to Dov's house to meet up.

After Dov and Melania have passed, the bedraggled trio of Aurora, Lhovrik, and Ginara also head back.  Much to Aurora's disapproval, Ginara is fairly giggly from the mushrooms still and mocking Lhovrik.  But as they return to the meeting, the intoxication gives way to a dull headache.


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## spyscribe (Mar 6, 2003)

Great story.  I have to say I love the idea of an area of the city filled with doped-up gnomes.  Really, what's not to like?

Also intrigued by the idea of a wizard who has to bribe his familiar into cooperation.  In our game, my character has her hands full convincing her weasel that he really _shouldn't_ take on a pack of dire badgers.  

Looking forward to the next installment.


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## Piratecat (Mar 6, 2003)

I'd like to hear someone say "Bildorintingallindorf" five times fast.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 9, 2003)

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

The Gnomish Quarter came out a little more over the top when I ran the game then when I was thinking about it.  It mostly came out of an effort to create meaningfully different gnomes, halflings, and dwarves.  (Some friends of mine and I have talked about how usually gnomes overlap too heavily with either halflings or dwarves).

Anyway, on to the story:

Session 2 (cont'd):


The group gathers at the Skyrnath house and shares the information they've gathered.  They all agree that Tendros must have been working with Bildorintingallindorf and others to steal the statue.  Lhovrik argues that there must have been a priest involved, but when he detects magic on the fake statuette, he determines that there is only an illusion effect on it.  Any of hundreds of mages could have prepared it.  Dov and Ginara head over to stake out the cath Nortis house to see if Tendros meets with anyone.

As they head over, they notice that they're being tailed again.  They quickly lose the person tailing them and then head over to their destination.

The first hour or two are uneventful.  Tendros heads out, and they slip in behind him.  He travels quickly, but does not seem particularly concerned.  They follow him down some side streets before he reaches the main marketplace.  Dov and Ginara watch in disappointment as he makes some routine purchases, and then returns to the cath Nortis house.  They watch the house carefully until after midnight, but to no avail.


2/9/752
Early in the morning, Sister Aurora meets with Father Daybreak to determine if Father Liren might have told the wrong people about the statue.

"Father Daybreak, do you know Father Liren?"

"Certainly."

"Is he a knowledgeable artificer?"

"Artificer?  Hardly.  He's an Ordinary priest.  Rather militant; he spends much of his time ministering to the military."

"He identified a devotional statue to Galerius as having significant holy power."

"Ah.  He is a competent priest and has meaningful skills and blessings of Luirta.  That would be well within his expertise; while he is not Galerian himself, he of course spends much of his times with priests devoted specifically to Galerius."

"Is he a good person?"

"Indeed.  Why are you asking about all of this, Sister Aurora?"

Aurora pauses.  "I can't answer that.  Is that okay?"

"Yes, provided you record the information for eventual history."

"Of course, Father."

A few minutes later, Aurora reaches Father Liren.  Father Liren is a muscular, vigorous middle-aged man.  When Sister Aurora reaches him, he has been exercising and drilling in the morning.

"Father Liren?  Were you at a party at Melor cath Nortis's recently?"

"Yes, about ten days ago."

"I want to talk to you about the statue of Galerius that they have."

"Oh.  I'm afraid I can't talk about that.  Why do you want to know?"

"Ummm, I can't talk about that either."

They smile at each other uncomfortably for a little while, and then Aurora goes to meet her friends.

Meanwhile, Ginara has gone to visit Uncle Kinric.  After she tells him what they've figured out so far, she gets to the point of the visit.

"We want to know how much we can do."

Kinric smiles at Ginara.  "It's very important that you recover the statue.  If you know that this halfling has information about where it is, you should get that information from him, however necessary."

"Can you get us out of any trouble?  How much support do we have?"

"You shouldn't reveal that you're working for me unless you absolutely have to.  It would defeat the whole point of working through unknown agents.  But if you have to, I can take care of problems.  If you were arrested by Inquisitors, for example, I would deal with the trouble.  But that would likely mean the opposition finding out about our efforts, which would probably cost us the statue.

"You should get the information you need, and recover the statue.  I leave the means to your discretion."

When Ginara and Aurora share their conversations, the conversation turns to means.

"We could keep watching Tendros, but we might not have time," Dov says.

"We could make Tendros talk to us," Lhovrik says, looking very nervous.

Melania shakes her head, "I don't know; he seemed like a tough nut to crack to me."

"There are ways of making him talk," Lhovrik says ominously.

Ginara responds, shocked, "Are you talking about torture?"

Lhovrik finally lets the rest of the group into his thoughts.  "I could cast a spell on him, to make him like me and want to cooperate."

Once Lhovrik reveals that he could enchant Tendros, the conversation quickly turns to tactics.  As soon as they agree on a plan, they head out.

Dov leaves first, with Ginara following shortly after.  Dov's tail picks up again, but this time Ginara is in a position to follow.  Whoever he is, he notices Ginara following and tries to lose her, ducking down alleys several times.  But Ginara manages to follow him and ultimately to hide while keeping an eye on him.  Thinking he has lost both the person he was following and the person following him, the tail heads off into the Halfling Quarter.  Ginara follows through the small streets of rundown shacks and tenements.  Eventually, he enters a human neighborhood within the Halfling Quarter, where Ginara watches him enter a human-sized tenement.  Not wanting to draw unnecessary further attention, Ginara heads over to the meeting place near the cath Nortis household.

Dov and Ginara silently stake out the cath Nortis house.  Meanwhile, Aurora, Lhovrik, and Melania wait in a nearby side street.  Tendros went down that street when he left the house the previous day, so he might do so again.  Melania puts her hat out on the street and begins playing her harp and singing.  She draws the attention of most of the passers-by, so that no one is paying much attention to Lhovrik and Aurora, earning a few coins to boot.

When Tendros leaves the house, Dov and Ginara silently follow him.  He seems oblivious to them, and they are in luck: he follows the same route as the previous day.  After he has left the main roads, he approaches the area where Lhovrik waits for him.  Melania crescendoes a little, and as quietly and subtley as he can, Lhovrik casts a spell.

Lhovrik then strides over openly the twenty feet to where Tendros is walking.  As Tendros sees Lhovrik, his face lights up.  "It's so good to see you!  How have you been?"

With a profound sense of relief, Lhovrik greets the charmed halfling.  "I'm well.  It's a pleasure to bump into you this way.  Why don't you come back to my place with me where we can catch up over a glass of wine?"

"I ought to finish my errand.  Still, I have plenty of time before the master's dinner; I guess I could spend a little time with you before I go to the market."

Lhovrik quickly leads Tendros back to Dov and Aurora's family house.  Tendros is a little surprised by the whole group that gathers, but they're clearly friends of Lhovrik.

"How have things been, Tendros?" asks Lhovrik.

"Very well.  I bought my freedom about a week ago.  So now I'm planning my new life.  I might even be able to get married now to one of the women I know in the Halfling Quarter."

"But you're still planning on working for Melor?"

"I still need to earn a living.  Just because I'm free doesn't mean I don't have to work."

"How could you pay for your freedom?  Did you suddenly get some money?"

A brief struggle of wills ensues, as Lhovrik tries to use the charm to force Tendros to answer.  "I really shouldn't talk about it.  Let's just say I was saving my income." Tendros looks around nervously at the other people in the room.

Lhovrik leads Tendros aside to a side room.  "Melor's really proud of the statue of Galerius he has.  Pity he doesn't know that it's not the real statue." Lhovrik pauses while Tendros looks nervous.  "Isn't his son fighting the kobolds in the North?"

"Yes, he is.  I always liked the children."

"It's a shame that Melor Minor won't actually have the power of the statue to protect him.  With the statue stolen, Galerius will turn his favor away from the family and might even curse Melor Minor."

Tendros looks increasingly concerned.  "You think the family's loss of the statue will really curse them?"

"Oh, definitely.  Especially because Melor Major is planning on building a shield so his son can carry it into dangerous battles."

Tendros looks very upset.  "I didn't mean to endanger Melor Minor.  His father was just so excited about how valuable the statue was... I thought that I could get a lot of money by arranging a theft.  Sildra, a fence I know, offered to pay me and Bildorintingallindorf 200 gold each to arrange the theft.  So the gnome looked at it at a performance at the house and made a copy.  And then I made the switch and delivered the real statue to Sildra."

Lhovrik quickly gets directions to Sildra's hide-out, and shares the information with his friends.  At about this point, an hour has passed since the initial spell.  Tendros suddenly shakes his head and looks around in fear.  "Who are you?  What did you do to me?"

"We just cast a little spell on you to make you more cooperative," Lhovrik says.

"What are you going to do with me now?" Tendros asks nervously.

"We just want to get the statue back.  As long as you promise to not warn anyone, we'll let you go."

"Alright.  But I'm going to pack my things.  If I ever see you coming back to the cath Nortis household, I'm going to run before you can have me punished as a thief."

"Don't worry.  We won't be going back there."

Melania looks a little disappointed.  "I guess this means I'm not going to have my performance there after all?"

The group lets Tendros leave and watches as he runs off into the afternoon.

End of Session 2


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## thatdarncat (Mar 10, 2003)

Nice roleplaying


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## anonystu (Mar 11, 2003)

*No, no, you've got it all wrong: it happened this way!*

Lhovrik is the hero of his own story.

Lhovrik doesn't like cats (exceptions made for those who buckle and swash). 

Lhovrik would like to tell you what really happened.

So who are you going to trust, some omniscient, omnipotent GM, or a self-absorbed, bitter mage who wants to kill his familiar?

Thought so. Read The Secret Diaries of Lhovrik cath Kalissar.

--stu, who has written his very first Story Hour, yay!


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 14, 2003)

Session 3

After a brief discussion, the group decides that they need to recover the statue from Sildra immediately.  If Tendros has decided to betray them, the statue could already be moving.

After some brief efforts to make sure they are not being followed, the group heads down into the Docks.  The Docks is one of the poorest and roughest of Lir Sanek's quarters.  Melania lives in the quarter and knows it well, while Dove and Ginara have both spent more than their share of time in the area, looking for excitement or trouble.  Lhovrik's few visits, slumming with friends, are memories he tries to ignore, and its unclear Aurora has been to the Docks at most once or twice.  Travelling in the Docks could be dangerous for the more genteel members of the group, but during daylight, travelling in a group of five should be safe enough.

The group soon stands at an intersection.  If Tendros's information is accurate, Sildra's place should be in a boarded up storefront on the bottom floor of a tenement building, about 100 feet away on the side street.  The street isn't crowded, but a few other people are milling around or travelling on the street.  The group begins discussing how to proceed.

Ginara says, "Dove and I should go take a look at the building, see if there are any back exits or the like, before we do anything further."

Lhovrik frowns.  "That's too dangerous.  We should stick together as a group."

"If we stick together, we'll be too obvious."

"Maybe we should just storm in right away," Sister Aurora suggests, fingering the longspear favored by her order.  "That way, we don't need to split up and we take less chances."

"I don't know if we want to attack," Melania responds.  "Maybe we could get it back without violence."

"But they're thieves!  We shouldn't pay to get back what doesn't belong to them," Aurora argues.  By now, most of the other people who were around them have wandered off, wanting no part of whatever is going to happen.

"Look, in any event, we need more information first," says Ginara.  "So Dove and I should go investigate."

Lhovrik grudgingly concedes.  "But we're coming after you if you're not back in five minutes."

"Ten!" Dove bargains.

Aurora makes a counteroffer, "Nine!"

"Alright, nine," says Ginara.

"I mean six!"

"Too late, you already agreed to nine."

"Well, I'm coming after you after six minutes, I don't care what Aurora agreed to," Lhovrik informs his sister.

Sensing that they have as good a deal as they're going to get, Ginara and Dove begin strolling up the street.  Exactly where Tendros said it would be stands a dilapitated tenement building, with a boarded-up storefront.  Two tough looking men, both with swords at their sides, lean against the front of the building talking.  An alley way leads off just before the building itself.

Ginara and Dove turn to head down the alley.

"Hey!  Where do you think you're going?" growls one of the toughs.

Ginara smiles.  "Oh, we just realized we were on the wrong street, and wanted to cut through.  Doesn't the alley go through?"

"No, it doesn't."

"Oh, my mistake."

"Hmph.  Why don't you just move along?"

Not wanting to get into a fight yet, Ginara and Dove head down the street.  Once they reach the next cross street, they loop around the block so they can rejoin their siblings without having to pass back in front of the guards.

They rejoin their friends and describe what they saw.  As they talk, Melania notices a group of people, all carrying weapons, heading down the main road towards them.  She doesn't recognize all of them, but at least some of them are muscle for Gwert, a local underworld figure of Melania's acquaintance.  She looks up at her friends, who are still talking about what to do.

"We need to do this-- now.  Let's go!"

With Melania's firm encouragement, the five head down towards the building.  Dove and Ginara are in the lead, with Melania and Aurora following, and Lhovrik brings up the rear, hiding his position behind his tougher allies.

As they approach the building, the two guards look at Dove and Ginara with suspicion.  "Hey, what are you to doing around here?  What's going on?"

Ginara and Dove start to bluff the guards, who are reaching for their weapons, but are interrupted when Lhovrik casts a sleep spell on the toughs.

Next update:  The campaign's first fight!


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 16, 2003)

Session 3 (cont'd):

Neither of the guards knows what hit them.  Both clatter to the ground noisily.

Ginara springs into action, running to the building and throwing the door open.  Standing inside, she sees two more guards, both of whom look dumbly at the sudden intruder, and a woman in expensive leathers, who she assumes must be Sildra.  Unlike the two men inside, she is unarmed.  Dove runs in through the now open door, and attempts to club the woman unconscious with her bastard sword, but misses as the woman ducks agilely.

Sildra reacts quickly, drawing a concealed dagger out of each sleeve and stabbing at Dove, but not penetrating her armor.  Aurora also rushes into the room, moving to Dove's side to protect her flank and stabbing at one of the guards with her spear.  Melania lags behind, standing just outside the building, and begins singing a song to motivate her companions. Lhovrik simply runs forward, too far away to be able to cast any effective spells.

Ginara rolls into the room, ducking past foes and friends alike, and swings her sap at one of the guards, missing again.  Dove swings both her swords this time, giving up on subduing her foe, but has no more luck than she had before.  Sildra stabs at her in response, lightly wounding her.  Aurora thrusts her spear at one of the guards, but his armor blocks it again.  The two guards now engage as well; one closes with Aurora and misses with his sword, while the other lightly wounds Ginara.  Melania moves into the room and begins attacking the same guard that Ginara is fighting.  Lhovrik finally enters the building.  He figures that the best chance he has of ending the fight quickly is to catch as many of the foes as possible in a spell and weaves through the room towards a good position to cast from.  Unfortunately, as he ducks past a guard, the thug lashes out with his sword and brings it crashing into Lhovrik's torso.  Lhovrik collapses to the ground.

Enraged, Ginara throws down her sap and draws her rapier, but is no more effective with it then she was with the sap.  Dove attacks the guard who is threatening her sister, but continues to find that real combat is more challenging than the practice ground.  Aurora runs past Sildra to get to Lhovrik, and is badly wounded for her trouble.  She does manage to cast a healing spell on Lhovrik, bringing him back to consciousness.

Sildra concludes that Sister Aurora is the threat, because she can heal foes and pursues Aurora, but Aurora's armor turns her daggers aside.  Melania keeps attacking the guard, but can't quite manage to hit him.  While the two guards continue to attack ineffectually, Lhovrik scrambles to his feet, moves to a position where he can cast effectively, and catches Sildra and one of the guards in a bright flash of many colored lights, hoping to stun them.  Both foes react quickly, turning their heads away from the dazzling lights and shaking off the stunning effect.

Ginara continues sparring with one of the guards.  Dove finally lands one of her blows.  Her shortsword slides completely through the guard's defenses, and up between two ribs, a perfect blow.  The guard collapses in a huge puddle of blood.  While Aurora attempts to keep her at bay with her longspear, Sildra steps in and stabbes her twice, dropping her to the ground.  Melania finally manages to strike the guard she and Ginara have been fighting, wounding him lightly with her rapier.  Lhovrik casts his last offensive spell, and dazes Sildra.

Taking advantage of the distraction that Melania provides, Ginara stabs the guard who brought down her brother, felling him.  Dove attacks the confused Sildra, strinking her solidly with her bastard sword.  Melania also joins the attack, but cannot hit Sildra, who still has the sense to dodge despite her confusion.  Ginara moves in, dropping her rapier and drawing her second sap, and strikes Sildra, who is clearly on the verge of unconsciousness.  Dove attempts to finish the fight, but cannot land another blow.  At that moment, however, Sildra regains her senses.

Looking around at her terrible tactical situation, Sildra decides to take a chance.  She moves a few feet over standing directly above the fallen cleric and points one of her daggers down at Aurora's throat.  "Anybody moves and I kill your friend!"

Lhovrik holds up his hands, as fear and outrage crosses everyone's faces.  "Don't hurt her!  We're not going to attack."

"Back off! Give me some space!" Sildra shouts.

"Let my sister go first!"

"The longer you argue, the longer she bleeds."

Lhovrik says, "alright, everyone back away from her."

"What do you want, anyway?"

"We're looking for a statue of Galerius," Lhovrik explains.

"If I give it to you, will you let me go?"

"Yes.  We only want the statue and Aurora's safety."

Sildra gestures with her dagger.  "There's a loose floorboard in that corner.  The statue's in there." With that, she rushes out the door, and begins running up the street.

Ginara runs after her to the doorway and thinks about throwing her dagger after Sildra, but decides to honor the deal.

Dove rushes over to her sister's body, reaching for the pouch where she knows her sister keeps a potion of healing.  She quickly forces the potion into Aurora's mouth and is relieved to see her sister's eyes start opening.

Melania and Lhovrik rush to the part of the room that Sildra pointed out.  It takes them a few seconds, but they manage to find the loose floorboard, which they quickly pry up.  They rummage around in the rags beneath the floorboard.  Jackpot!  They pull out a statue of Galerius that looks exactly like the one Kendric gave Ginara.

Lhovrik calls to Ginara, "Get those guards inside!  They'll probably wake soon."
Ginara drags them in, and Dove begins tying them up.  Aurora detects magic; while she doesn't have time to determine how powerful the statue is, she can tell that it's enchanted.  Melania glances out the door, and then quickly turns back in.  "We've got company coming.  Some local underworld enforcers; we don't want them to catch us."

Ginara looks around the room.  "Bar the door!  There has to be a concealed exit into the alley.  I'll find it while you seal the door."

Ginara moves to the back corner of the room and looks at the wall.  To her expert eye, the release is obvious.  She reaches forward, moves the lever, and swings a part of the wall into the alley.  A large midden heap just to the side of the secret door in the alley blocks the view of the door from the street.  The alley jogs around back of the building.  "Let's go!"

While heavy blows start hitting the main door, the group gathers up their dropped weapons and rushes out into the alley.  They slam the door behind them, moments before the enforcers force their way through the main door, and rush down the alley way.  It emerges onto the street that Ginara and Dove took when they looped around the block.  Relieved, but still scared and badly wounded, the group hurries back to the cath Kalissar house to regroup and plan the next step.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 19, 2003)

Session 3 (cont'd)

Aurora heals the group as much as she can, while Lhovrik studies the magic on the statue with a spell.  There's clearly powerful divine magic, but he fails in his efforts to determine what school of magic.  Although Aurora still suspects another trick, the rest of the group is fairly sure that they have the statue they need and is eager to turn it over to Kinric.

Shaken by their experience, the group heads to Kinric's office.  They easily make their way up the winding road that leads from the noble quarter of the city to the government and military buildings that surround Dro Sanek.  As Ginara leads the group towards Kinric's office, a guard stops them.

"They're with me," Ginara says.

The guard looks the bedraggled group over.  He recognizes Ginara but looks suspiciously at the rest of the group.  "I'll have to ask Kinric about that."

A few minutes later he returns.  "Follow me." As he leads them towards the office, he still has a dubious look on his face, noting the ripped clothing and dressed but still fresh wounds.

Kinric greets them happily.  When Aurora introduces herself to "Sir Kinric," he looks slightly nonplussed.  "I prefer to not be addressed by my honorific.  Some of the work that I do would be more difficult if it were more common knowledge that I am a Champion."

Aurora stammers a little in response, uncomfortable with the concealment of the truth.  "Very well, Si... umm... Kinric."

The group quickly explains what happened.  When they finish their story, Kinric looks at Ginara.  "I guess a little killing turned out to be necessary after all," he says pleasantly.  "Good work with this.  Thank you."

"You shouldn't have gotten Ginara and Dove involved in this," Lhovrik says hostilely.  "They were almost killed!"

Ginara indignantly responds, "We were not!  You and Aurora were both hurt a lot worse than we were!"

Kinric looks Lhovrik in the eye.  "I assure you, I never intended this mission to endanger your sister's life.  I was confident that this would be a safe mission for them, where it might have been more dangerous for more well-known agents of mine.  But both Ginara and Dove are of an age where they can serve the Empire, and that service is dangerous.  Do you think that Dove joined the army and trained with a scout company so that she could sleep in a barracks and occasionally parade about?" Kinric certainly seems sincere about not wanting to risk their lives.  But then, Ginara knows that she can never tell if Kinric is lying.

"I think the statue is another fake," Aurora says.  "You can't trust anything once gnomish twisters of the truth are involved."

Kinric rings a bell.  An aide steps in and Kinric says, "Please ask Taldra the Valorous to join us."

A few minutes later, a priestess of Galerius enters the room.  Sister Aurora easily recognizes the tunic and mantle that she wears over her plate armor as the vestments of the Valorous, a low rank of ordained priests of Galerius, and makes the Sign of the Sun as a gesture of respect to the more senior cleric.  Taldra returns the gesture, and asks Kinric, "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes.  Could you examine this statue for me?" Kinric profers the statue of Galerius the group recovered from Sildra's base.

Taldra casts a spell on the statue, and carefully examines it.  "This is a powerfully consecrated item.  There is much holy energy associated with it."

"Thank you.  That confirms that it's the object we sought."

Taldra quickly heals the injured and then leaves.

"Thank you for what you have accomplished," Kinric says as he puts the statuette in a drawer in his desk.  He slides open another drawer and begins withdrawing carefully arranged stacks of platinum coins.  After placing 125 coins on the table in front of him, he says to the group, "Please, take this as a token of the Empire's appreciations for your service."

After dividing the pay, the five split up as they head to their respective homes.  Aurora returns to her temple, Dove to her barracks.  Lhovrik takes Ginara searching for crickets, to replace the one consumed by his sleep spell.  Melania heads back to the Docks.

Melania heads into one of her favorite taverns in a good mood.  The day has gone well, all things considered, and her pouch is full of coin just waiting to be used.  She heads over and joins the card game in the corner.  She bets aggressively and shrewdly, but luck is against her; by the end of the evening she gambles away 45 gold.  Still, the company is good, and she'll have better luck another day.

Ginara and Lhovrik return to their house at some time after dinner, but the family does not often have meals together.  As they come in, their father, Loraton cath Kalissar Valnay, looks up at them.  "Good evening."

Lhovrik responds "Good evening, Father."

Ginara mumbles a vague greeting and heads immediately for the stairs, knowing that her father won't miss her a bit.

Loratan stares with wonder at the torn cloth around his son's shoulder, and then the dyed hair and rapier fully sink in.  "What happened to you?  And why are you wearing that silly outfit?"

"I was out gathering crickets with Ginara.  For spell components.  My shirt caught on a branch and ripped."

"But why the rapier, and the hair?  You should be proud of being a wizard, son."

"Ginara felt uncomfortable.  I wanted to make my sister feel better."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Lhovrik." Whether Loraton actually puts a little too much stress on the word "you," that's how it sounds to Lhovrik.

"I just wanted to make my sister feel better." Lhovrik starts heading towards the kitchen, to have the servants make up a meal for him.

His father closes his eyes and sighs a little.  "All right.  Have a good evening, son."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 25, 2003)

Session 3 (cont'd):

2/10/752

Ev©+†ne seeks out training the next day.  Lhovrik spends most of the day in class with a few other enchanters studying under Master Verifax.  Ginara spends some time in the fencing studio where she practices sword play.  Dove has a mix of guard duty and sparring on the practice fields.  Melania seeks out one of her parents' friends, and begins studying with him, mostly by playing accompaniment for his performances.  Sister Aurora spends her day in prayer and study.

In the late morning, after a conversation about the morality of concealing her identity, Sister Aurora sends a note by courier to Melor cath Nortis.  The note is short: "Your butler, Tendros, is not trustworthy.  I cannot tell you how I know this.   --Sister Aurora." She gives the messenger strict instructions to deliver the message only to Melor cath Nortis personally.

About an hour later, Sister Aurora is attending to minor duties in the sanctuary of the temple, under the great dome.  Father Daybreak enters and walks over to her, appearing somewhat agitated.  "Sister Aurora.  Would you join me in my office?"

Aurora follows her mentor back to his office.  As she enters, she sees a man standing in the small room.  The man has a long black cloak on over dark robes.  His hands are covered by black leather gloves.  His face is completely shrouded by featureless black cloth that completely envelopes his head under his hood.  Sister Aurora immediately recognizes him as an Inquisitor.

The Inquisitor lays a small piece of reused parchment on the table.  "Did you send this note?"

Aurora looks at the note.  "Yes."

"How do you know the cath Nortis butler is untrustworthy?"

"I cannot say.  I promised that I wouldn't say."

"But you know that he is?"

"Yes."

"You must tell me everything that you know about this."

Father Daybreak interrupts forcefully.  "Did you gain this information through a sacramental rite?"

"No, Father.  But I promised that I would not tell."

Father Daybreak gently addresses Aurora.  "Are you sure that it's best that you keep your promise to not tell how you know?  It's very important that you help the Inquisitor."

"How can I know whether I should break a promise?  I was entrusted with knowledge because I promised I would only record that knowledge in the permanent, secret records."

"Sister Aurora, you must weigh that for your self.  And perhaps you should think about this the next time you promise to not reveal information.  But you must decide whether the Inquisitor's important work outweighs your promise."

"Yes, Father.  I think it does."

The Inquisitor cuts in.  "Father Daybreak, would you excuse us.  I would like to speak to Sister Aurora alone."
"No." Father Daybreak's response is calm, moderate, and implacably firm.

The frustration in the Inquisitor's voice is obvious.  "Very well." He pauses a moment.  "You've been to the cath Nortis household recently?"

"Yes, I was there two days ago.  Melor cath Nortis is a liar.  He lies about his military service and his family's accomplishments."

"Really?  Did he not fight in the war against the kobolds?"

"He probably did, but the main battle he fought in was almost nothing like what he described.  And his grandfather couldn't possibly have fought in the Second Battle of Calimdras forty years ago; the Second Battle of Calimdras was 46 years ago."

"Enough," the Inquisitor waves this line of discussion to silence.  "You realize that this is a murder investigation?"

"Murder?  Who died?"

The Inquisitor gives no response.

"Who died?"

"So you understand why your cooperation is important."

"I can't break my promise.  But who died?"

The Inquisitor still does not answer.  "Sister Aurora, would you get a cup of wine for Father Daybreak and myself?"

Sister Aurora leaves the room, badly shaken.  As she goes to fetch the wine, she sees Lhovrik, who has come to the church to purchase some potions of healing and asked to see her while he was there.  He greets her.

"It's terrible Lhovrik.  Someone was murdered in the cath Nortis household!"

Lhovrik is nearly as badly shaken by the news as Aurora.  While she returns with the wine, he promises to investigate.  Lhovrik rushes to Ginara's fencing hall.

"Someone was murdered in the cath Nortis house."

"Who?  I hope it wasn't Calia..."

"Aurora doesn't know.  She's with the Inquisitor investigating it." He thinks for a moment.  "I know who it was.  Sildra must have figured out that Tendros betrayed her and killed him for it."

The two agree to meet after their afternoon lessons to investigate further.

The Inquisitor and Father Daybreak have put on their outer coats by the time Sister Aurora returns.  They ignore the wine completely.  The Inquisitor speaks to Sister Aurora.  "I would like you to accompany me.  I want you to look at the body."

"Who died?" Sister Aurora says again, plaintively.

Neither answers.  Sister Aurora gathers her outdoor clothes, and the three head out of the temple.  After a few minutes walk, they arrive at the Inquisitorial base for the quarter of town that includes the cath Nortis household.  The Inquisitor leads Sister Aurora and Father Daybreak into a back room.

Large stone tables dominate the windowless, well-lit room.  On one of the tables a body lies shrouded in coarse white cloth.  The Inquisitor pulls back the sheet, revealing a slender, nondescript man, with short cropped hair and a few scars from prior wounds.  "Do you know who this man is?"

Aurora stares at the corpse.  "I've never seen him before.  Who is he?"

"He is the person who died at the cath Nortis household."

Sister Aurora looks at the body a little more.  The body has no obvious wounds, but there is dried blood around both ears.  "How did he die?"

"We are not entirely sure.  There was a break-in.  Several burglers entered.  He was the only one who did not leave.  The intruders stole a statue of Galerius; according to Melor cath Nortis, it was extremely valuable.  During the break-in, there was a tremendous noise.  It woke everyone in the house and people in several neighboring houses.  When the family and servants emerged from the wounds, they found this body in front of the family shrine, where the statue was."

Father Daybreak nods.  "The blood from the ears is similar to the injuries from people who have been affected by the holy spell of Soundburst.  That would also explain the loud noise.  It's a strange effect for a religious item to produce spontaneously, but perhaps one of cath Nortis's ancestors had it warded."

The Inquisitor turns towards Sister Aurora.  "Can you tell us anything further?"

"I don't know who he was; I've never seen him before.  I saw Melor cath Nortis handle the statue without any bad effects.  I can't say anything further."

Convinced at last that he will not be able to get any useful information from Sister Aurora, the Inquisitor allows her to leave.

All five young heroes gather to discuss what has happened.  Sister Aurora shares what she found out and theorizes that Kinric placed a magical trap on the statue that he substituted.  After some discussion, the group dispatches Ginara to inform Kinric.

Kinric welcomes Ginara and listens attentively to her description of the news.

"Thank you for telling me.  I'll handle this.  The Inquisitors will not bother your friends or you about this further.  Don't investigate the theft further.  The operation is complete, and I don't want to provide any indication that we know more about the situation.  It could also be dangerous for you.  Thank you for your help in this matter."

End of Session 3


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## Orichalcum (Mar 25, 2003)

*Sister Aurora's story*

Sister Aurora's Confidential Confessional Chronicle.

        I still feel guilty about not telling the whole truth to the Inquisitor. It's much more difficult to balance promises to friends versus the Greater Truth in real life than Father Daybreak makes it sound in morning lessons. I nearly gave everything away when I realized that Kinric's intelligence service's holy trap had killed the foul Traditionalist thief, not Sildra or anything to do with us at all. But  I had made a promise. Father Daybreak says perhaps I shouldn't make promises in the future that require me to conceal the truth. He's probably right, but how can I ever find out new unknown truths if I can't go exploring with friends like Melania and Lhovrik? And, just as important, how can I keep my little sister safe? Dov may be strong, but she has no sense of prudence. Our parents would kill me if anything happened to her.
      I did tell the Inquisitor that the statue would have been of interest to people from the Church Traditional, and also to look for deaf people or people with hearing problems, so hopefully he'll find the real culprits soon. I was as truthful as I could be.
      While things are quiet, I'd like to investigate another possible true story that came up during this investigation. There's reason to believe that Sir Kinric  hired Ginara because he's trying to advance the career of his biological daughter. It would certainly help explain both why Ginara's the only one in her family without magical talent and why her parents don't treat her as well as Lhovrik. Ginara deserves to know the truth. If it's true, it will make her feel less insecure about her lack of magical talent, and perhaps suggest that she is destined by Liuerta to pursue the surreptitious and stealthy skills she seems so good at. But Melania and Dov aren't sure I should confront Ginara and her family directly about it. We should probably collect more evidence first.
           I hope I can publish this chronicle someday. Oh well. Father Daybreak says that even with my not being able to tell the full truth, I should brighten to pale pink robes by next week! They have to be better than dusty rose...
    --Sister Aurora of the Rays of Truth


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## Fajitas (Mar 26, 2003)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> * "And his grandfather couldn't possibly have fought in the Second Battle of Calimdras forty years ago; the Second Battle of Calimdras was 46 years ago."
> *




LOL. 

Sister Aurora seems like a lot of fun to play.


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## Orichalcum (Mar 26, 2003)

*re: Playing Sister Aurora*

Playing Sister Aurora is fun, but not ever lying is _hard._ I decided to represent her Cha of 8 as extreme bluntness - she can't ever let someone's shading of the truth go by. This makes her very unpopular at formal dinner parties.           --Orichalcum


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## Yoji-san (Mar 28, 2003)

*I want more*

I want to know what happens next!  And after that!  And after that!  Can we take up a collection so CP and his players can do this full-time?   

Great gaming, everyone, and great storytelling.  Keep it coming.


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## Ladybird (Mar 28, 2003)

*Re: I want more*



			
				Yoji-san said:
			
		

> *I want to know what happens next!  And after that!  And after that!  Can we take up a collection so CP and his players can do this full-time?
> *




Hey, I'd be willing to play full-time! I'm not sure how I'd explain it to my professors, though....

Thanks for the support - this campaign is a _lot_ of fun to play, and it's really cool to see that people are finding it fun to read, too!

--Ladybird, still pondering whether Ginara's going to snitch big brother's diary sometime


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## themaxx (Mar 30, 2003)

*Storytelling*

I really like the battle scene, and the surrounding narrative. Much more active and engaging. I can't wait for more, especially pitched battles with life or death consequences. And a prisoner's dilemma! Who could ask for anything more. Now I'm just jealous I can't play too.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 31, 2003)

First, I want to thank Yoji-san, The Maxx, Fajitas, and thatdarncat for their kind comments.  It's really what makes a storyhour worthwhile to write. 

Now, on to more storyhour:
Session 4:

2/11/752

The next day passes quietly in training.  Lhovrik spends the day practicing magical technique with Master Verifax and a few other wealthy, noble pupils.  Ginara splits her time between the sword school where she practices fencing and drills picking locks with a man Uncle Kinric has assigned to teach her.  Melania meets up with a friend of her parents who has her accompany him in his singing and storytelling.  Sister Aurora turns her attention to her religious duties, studying with Father Daybreak and performing routine duties in the temple.

Dove spends most of the day drilling indoors and on guard duty.  While it is no longer raining, the practice fields are still a muddy mess.  After a long day of training, her captain approaches.

"I hear good things about your progress in training, Dovkania."

"Thank you, sir."

"In about a week's time, part of the Company is going to be doing some special work.  I've decided to include you in that group.  Make sure your equipment is in perfect order.  Part of the work will be ceremonial, and I want my troops to look good.  But it's not just ceremonial.  Make sure you're ready if there are any problems."

"Yes, sir.  I'll be ready, sir."

With that, the captain moves on.

When Melania returns to a favored tavern after a long day of training, a local loanshark named Gwert strides up to her.  "Mind if I join you, Melania?"

"Of course not." Melania gestures to a chair.  It isn't wise to annoy Gwert or his friends.

Gwert smiles at her, only somewhat unpleasantly.  "You understand that my associates and I keep watch over this part of the city.  We don't want any problems.  People who have paid for their protection need to be safe.  There were a few problems in the past couple of days, but I'm sure there won't be any more in the future."

"Sure, I know that Gwert.  I wouldn't want to cause any problems for you."

Gwert's smile broadens.  "Of course not.  I just wanted to make sure you understood my interests." The mood relaxes a little, and Gwert continues with more of a business attitude.  "I think it's time for one of your payments?"

Melania pulls out her coin purse.  "How does twenty gold sound?  Things have been going well lately."

Gwert takes the money.  "I'm glad to hear that.  To your future good luck." He lifts his glass a little and then departs.

2/12/752

Another day of training passes without incident.  Melania notices that Merik hasn't been seen for a few days.  A few questions turn up no news, however.

2/13/752

When Lhovrik attends his classes, he notices that one of the other regular students has failed to show up.  It wouldn't be the first time Balthrin cath Helur was too hung over from slumming the night before in theDocks to make it out of bed for magic practice.  Still, Lhovrik is a little concerned when he doesn't show up by the end of the day.  Balthrin could have just gotten himself into trouble.  But he is a cath Helur, and while not a particularly close relation of either Lir Sanek's garrison commander or Lord Inquisitor, any member of one of the three great families of Lir Sanek raises political questions.  Still, one day of absence is too little to worry about.

2/14/752

When Lhovrik arrives for his lessons in the morning, Balthrin's absence changes from worrisome to a problem.  One day could be chalked up to any number of harmless hijinks.  Two means something has gone wrong.  During a break for lunch, Lhovrik rushes to Ginara's fencing studio, pulls her out of her training session, and tells her about Balthrin's absence.  They agree to meet after their classes have concluded for the day to investigate.  In the meantime, Ginara passes the word to Melania and Dove, while Lhovrik goes to the Balthrin's home.

Balthrin's branch of the family is not particularly wealthy for cath Helurs, so his home is similarly well-appointed to Lhovrik's own.  Lhovrik has been here before many times.  He greets Lady cath Helur and finds out that no one in the house has seen Balthrin since the 12th.  They assumed that he had simply arrived late and left quietly in the morning; it wouldn't have been the first time.  Lhovrik reassures Lady cath Helur that he'll find her son and returns to his classes for the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Dove is with a small group of her comrades, practicing skills on a small strand of beach running along the base of the great bluffs that rise up to the west of Lir Sanek.  Far above them, the mighty fortress of Dro Sanek looms.  Dove moves forward, filling her role in the exercise, when something catches her eye.  A foot is sticking out from behind a boulder.  Part of the exercise?  They weren't expecting other people...

Dove runs forward to check behind the boulder.  A body lies there, dead and bloated.  "Sergeant!  You should come and see this."

Dove's superior hustles up.  When he sees what she's found his face turns grim.  With a glance at one of the soldiers, he says, "Run back to town.  Go to the Inquisitors and tell them that we've found a body."

Taking her cue from the sergeant's curious looks while waiting for the Inquisitors, Dove looks the body over.  The body was a middle-aged human woman.  The cause of death is obvious: her throat was cut.  There are some additional cut marks on the body, but it's hard to tell if they were significant.  The only clue to who she was is her hands.  The hard, thick finger nails have fish scales underneath them.  A fishmonger, perhaps?

After a few minutes, the soldier returns with a strange trio.  All three are dressed in dark cloaks.  Two wear long charcoal cloaks, with the hoods up, obscuring but not completely concealing their faces.  The third is dressed in actually black clothing.  In addition to the heavy hood, he wears a black cowl that completely covers his face and long black gloves.  A heavy sword swings at his side, and the shape of a shield can be seen, slung across his back.  He must be the Inquisitor sent to investigate.

The Inquisitor carefully looks over the body.  Dove and her comrades confirm that the body is below the high-tide mark; she may have just washed ashore after being dumped.  After the Inquisitor finishes determining that none of the scouts have any additional information, he signals to the two men with him.  They immediately lay out a coarse canvass sack and lay the body in it.  Each takes an end as they follow the Inquisitor back to town.

In the early evening, Dove, Ginara, Lhovrik, and Melania gather.  They exchange information about the disappearance and death before heading to the Docks to investigate.  Lhovrik leads them to some of the bars that he went to on the one occasion that he joined Balthrin on an excursion.

The group spreads a little money around while questioning barkeeps and tavern wenches.  They quickly confirm that Balthrin visited the tavern with a friend a few nights ago.  Based on the description, Lhovrik is pretty sure that Balthrin's companion was Garent.  Lhovrik knows Garent, but not well.  To hear the barkeep tell it, both Balthrin and Garent wanted to follow up their drinking with a little wenching, but Garent was having more luck.  He left with a woman.  Balthrin had another drink or two, and then headed out alone.  The barkeep could easily tell that they were from a nicer section of town, but they seemed like they could take care of themselves.  Lhovrik heads back to talk with Garent, assuming that he hasn't also disappeared, while Ginara, Dove, and Melania continue investigating in this neighborhood.


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## Elder-Basilisk (Mar 31, 2003)

Another reader checking in. I've enjoyed the story hour thus far and look forward to the next update. The mystery is getting interesting.

One has to wonder how long the party will go on before one of the Inquisitors becomes very suspicious. They check out clean and have friends in high places but trouble just seems to follow them around. First they visit a home and shortly thereafter someone dies. The PCs say they know something but can't talk about it. Then someone higher up calls the case closed. Then a few days later, another one of that gang finds a dead body. It doesn't look suspicious.

If three days from now, they discovered another body and a week after that, they were involved in some kind of conflict with a demon or other creature, this would have all the setup for one of the cop movies where the nobody can pin anything on the bad guy but the cops know he's bad because bad things always happen around him. And inquisitors don't get to be inquisitors by not being suspicious. . . .


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 4, 2003)

Session 4 (cont'd)

Lhovrik bangs on Garent's door.  "Garent?  I need to talk to you."

Garent lets Lhovrik into his flat.  "Good to see you, Lhovrik.  What brings you here?"

"Did you go slumming with Balthrin cath Helur two nights ago?"

"Sure."

"Have you seen him since then."

"No.  Why?"

"No one else has either.  When was the last time you saw him?"

Garent looks concerned.  "We went to a tavern in theDocks.  We had a couple of drinks, I started talking to a girl, and we left together.  Balthrin was still drinking, not having as much luck."

"We knew that.  Do you know where he might have gone afterwards?"

"He might have gone to the brothel at the end of the street.  Sometimes we go there when we're not having any luck with women at the tavern."

Lhovrik boggles briefly.  That wasn't part of the trip to the Docks he went on.  "Well, thanks for the information, I'll check it out." Lhovrik returns to his home to meet up with Ginara, Melania, and Dove.

Before returning to Ginara's house, the three young women spend a little time canvassing the street and talk to a homeless beggar who sleeps in a nearby alley.  The beggar remembers Balthrin, but is unable to give them any additional information.

Melania remains in the Docks, trying to find more news of Balthrin.  Dove returns to her barracks for the evening.

When Ginara returns to her home, Lhovrik somewhat sheepishly explains where Balthrin may have gone.

"A brothel?" Ginara says brightly.  "We should go talk to them."

"No!  We're not going to the brothel.  I'm going to talk to Mother about whether she can scry on Balthrin.  *You* are going to stay here and not think about the brothel.  It's past your curfew, anyway."

Ginara stomps off to her room.

Lhovrik fetches one of the servants.  "Keep an eye on my sister.  I don't want her to leave the house tonight."

The servant looks somewhat sheepish.  "M'lord, your sister can be difficult to keep an eye on."

"Try anyway.  Stand outside her door, and don't let her leave."

Lhovrik enters his mother's chambers.  "Mother?"

"Ah, good evening, Lhovrik.  How are you?"

"I'm quite well, Mother, but I have a problem that I was hoping you could help with.  One of my fellow students, Balthrin cath Helur, has disappeared.  We're worried that he's been kidnapped or murdered.  I was hoping that you could scry on him."

Lady cath Kalissar looks worried.  "That's very bad.  Also somewhat strange, really.  If someone were targeting the cath Helurs, there are much more prominently placed scions they could have gone after.  How important do you think performing the scrying tonight is?  I could scry him now, but I would have to use a scroll.  If we wait until tomorrow, I could scry for him without spending any permanent resources."

Lhovrik thinks about it.  "I think that it can wait until tomorrow.  I doubt that the difference of a few hours will matter much.  I can look into it in other ways tonight."

"Be careful about this.  I want you home by two."

"Of course, Mother."

Lhovrik goes to the servant waiting outside Ginara's door.  "Has my sister left?"

"No, m'lord.  At least... I think not."

"Alright.  You can go."

Meanwhile, Ginara has slipped out silently to investigate the brothel.  She quickly meets up with Melania, and the two head directly to the brothel.

As they enter the somewhat ramshackle building, a stately woman, probably once quite beautiful, greets them in a swirl of gaudy clothes and faux jewelry.  "Good evening.  What can I do for you ladies?" she says with a smile.

"We're trying to find out information about a friend of ours," Melania says pleasantly, while both Melania and Ginara look around with interest.

The woman's expression suddenly turns frosty.  "I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you anything about your husband or friend."

"No, no, you don't understand!" Ginara protests.  "It's not like that.  We're just worried about him.  He's missing and we think he may have been here.  We're looking for a skinny aristocratic man who may have been here two nights ago."

The madame pauses to think.  "You understand, we really can't tell people about our patrons."

Melania speaks in persuasive tones. "We're really just worried about Balthrin, our friend.  We know that he comes here sometimes, and we're not worried about that.  We just want to know what happened to him."

The madame thinks about it, weighing whether she believes them.  "I suppose I can tell you.  I know who you're talking about.  Nice young boy.  But he hasn't been here in a while."

"Well, was there anyone unusual here two nights ago?  Maybe someone who looked like they had been in a fight?"

The madame nods slightly. "There were a few sailors.  Their ship must have come in that day.  One of them seemed to have an injured side."

"Can we talk to the girl who saw him?"

"Here, time costs money.  If you're willing to pay her fee..."

After a few coins are handed over, the madame shows Ginara and Melania to a small cubicle.  A young woman, about the same age as Ginara, looks at them a little nervously.  She has the neckband of a slave above her simple, revealing clothes.

Ginara smiles disarmingly.  "We'd like to ask you a few questions.  We want to know if you've seen a friend of ours." She describes Balthrin.

"Yes, I've seen him.  He's pretty nice.  Tips well."

"Was he here two nights ago?"

"No, I haven't seen him for a while."

"We heard that you saw a sailor last night?"

"Yes.  He wasn't very nice."

"We heard that he was injured?"

She nods quickly.  "He seemed to have hurt his side.  He must have been hit or something.  He hadn't been stabbed or scraped or anything.  Not even a bruise."

They quickly get a description of the sailor and then head out.

Melania returns to her flat while Ginara quietly scales the way back into her bedroom.  As she slides the window closed, it slips and bangs shut.  Immediately, Lhovrik bangs on her door.  "Ginara?"

Ginara half-heartedly feigns having been asleep.  "Lhovrik?  Just a second." She tosses on a dressing gown and unlocks her door.

Lhovrik sees Ginara's boots projecting from the bottom of her dressing gown and frowns.  "You went to the brothel, didn't you?" The disapproval in his voice is palpable.

After a second of trying to seem tired, Ginara perks up.  "Yup!  It was very educational," she says with glee.

"Could you possibly have said anything worse?"

"I'm sure I could.  Would you like me to try?"

Lhovrik sighs.  "Did you find out anything?"

"We think Balthrin might have been grabbed by some sailors.  Did he know a spell that might cause injuries without any clear wounds?"

"Of course.  Magic Missile."

"One of the sailors had an injured side, but no wounds and no bruises.  We think he came in on the 12th.  We have a description of him."

"That's something at least.  We can investigate tomorrow.  Now go to bed.  And this time actually go to bed."

"Of course," says Ginara with a smile.  "See you tomorrow after our classes."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 5, 2003)

Session 4 (cont'd):

2/15/752

The next morning, Lhovrik goes to see his mother.  Lady Karina cath Kalissar has already laid out a large scrying mirror.  "Good morning, Lhovrik.  Do you have anything to assist my scrying?"

"Yes, Mother.  This is a shirt of Balthrin's.  Thank you for doing this for us."

"Of course, dear." Lady cath Kalissar concentrates and casts a spell.  She frowns momentarily, and casts a second spell.  "Ah, that's better.  I can see poor young Balthrin; he's definitely alive.  He's chained up, in a dark room; I had to cast Darkvision to see him.  I can't see the door or windows.  I think there may be someone else in the room, but I'm not sure.  He isn't moving much."

"Can you tell if he's on a ship?  We think that he might be."

Lady cath Kalissar looks around a bit.  "I'm not sure.  I don't see motion, but if the ship were at a pier I might not."

"Would you mind keeping an eye on this?  If you could see something that would let us figure out where it is, we could rescue him."

"Of course, dear.  I'll see if anyone comes in within the hour that I can watch him."

"Thank you, Mother."

Meanwhile, Melania goes to the harbormaster's office.  "Excuse me, sir, but I was wondering if you could help me out about the schedule of the ships.  I'm looking for a sailor who came into port on the 12th, and I'm trying to figure out what ships he might have been on."

"So not one of the fishing boats or short-run ships then?"

"No, probably from a fairly long voyage."

The harbormaster checks some records.  "That could be either the Prosperity, which arrived from the Southern colonies, or the Lurdana's Luck, which plies the coastal trade."

After their morning errands, the group spends most of the day in training.  In the early evening, they meet up again.  With both a description of the sailor with the possible Magic Missile wound and his companions and the names of the two ships that he might have been on, they can search the taverns and the like fairly easily.  The sailors aren't likely to be far from their ships.

Melania and Ginara take the active role in investigating, while Dove and Lhovrik watch their backs.  In one of the first taverns they check, they see a group of sailors clustered at a table drinking and talking loudly.  One of the sailors matches like the description they heard at the brothel.  Melania stops one of the serving girls.  "What ship are those sailors from?"

"I think I heard one of them bragging about the Lurdana's Luck."

"Thanks.  That's what I thought."

Melania and Ginara stride over to the table.  "Mind if we join you?" Melania asks.

The sailors are only too happy to find room at their table for two attractive young women.  Melania immediately begins making friends with the sailor who she suspects of having been hit with a Magic Missile.  She's fairly direct, talking about how she's heard of his manly virtues from some of her friends. The sailor's name is Aral, and he's very flattered by the attention, which provokes a fair amount of ribald joking among the other sailors.

Melania pulls out a deck of cards and the table begins gambling.  Melania is a better cardplayer than the average sailor and makes a little money, but not enough to bother the sailors; in any event, Ginara loses more than Melania makes.  As they play, Melania tries to prod Aral for information.  Aral doesn't say much of use, but her practiced eye notices Malin, a quiet sailor, looking increasingly nervous as the topic touches lightly on the roughness of the Docks.  After some time playing cards, Melania and Ginara excuse themselves from the table, much to the disappointment of their new friends.

They meet up with Dove and Lhovrik.  They agree that they'll tail the sailors when they leave, figuring that they have to show up at Balthrin's prison eventually.  Lhovrik returns home briefly, to tell his mother where he and Ginara are.  His mother is a little bit worried about their safety, but agrees to allow him to return when he promises to be back shortly after midnight.

The women follow the sailors back to their ship.  As expected, the sailors all go onboard the Lurdana's Luck.  The watchers settle in to comfortable hiding places and watch, waiting for the sailors to emerge and give some clue as to where Balthrin might be.  Lhovrik pushes Ginara to come home as midnight draws near, but she refuses to budge, and so he grudgingly waits with her for another couple of hours.  Finally, frustrated by the lack of results, they call it a night. 

When Lhovrik and Ginara arrive at home, a servant greets them at the door.

"Ah.  It's good to see you, m'lord.  Your mother left me instructions to wake her if you were not back in time.  I was going to wake her when the glass ran out." Lhovrik looks at the hourglass.  About a half-hour of sand is left.  "Your mother was quite worried when you did not arrive home on schedule, m'lord."

Lhovrik stammers a little in embarrassment, while Ginara slips off to go to sleep.  After the servant has made clear to Lhovrik both his and Lady cath Kalissar's disapproval, he allows Lhovrik to retire as well.


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## thatdarncat (Apr 7, 2003)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> *Session 4 (cont'd)
> 
> Lhovrik sees Ginara's boots projecting from the bottom of her dressing gown and frowns.  "You went to the brothel, didn't you?" The disapproval in his voice is palpable.
> 
> ...




Hehe so funny  

*gets some pots and pans out of his tent and cooks himself some dinner* Looks like I'll be camping out here a while


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 16, 2003)

Session 5:

2/16/752

Early the next morning, Dove's captain approaches her.  She snaps to attention and he waves for her to relax.  "I hope that you have your kit ready for that mission I mentioned."

"Yes, sir."

"Good.  We're waiting for the arrival of a ship.  It should come in tomorrow late afternoon.  Make sure you're ready."

"Yes, sir.  I'm ready, sir."

The captain smiles.  "Carry on."

Meanwhile, Lhovrik goes to speak with Lady Karina cath Kalissar.  "Good morning, Mother."

"Good morning, Lhovrik.  I would really appreciate it if you would come home when you say you're going to.  I was worried."

"I'm sorry, Mother.  We were hoping to see something that would confirm where Balthrin is."

"Were you able to?"

"No.  We think he's on a ship, the Lurdana's Luck.  But we weren't able to check." Lhovrik thinks for a moment.  "Could you do some sort of divination to confirm it?  If we knew for sure that he was on that ship, we could rescue him."

Lady cath Kalissar pauses.  "If I can get relatively close to the ship, I could attempt to detect Balthrin.  Since I know him, that will confirm whether he's on the ship, barring misdirection magic or lead shielding or the like."

"That would be wonderful.  I'm very concerned about Balthrin."

"Give me a few minutes to study."

While Lady cath Kalissar pores over a spellbook, Lhovrik and Ginara get ready for a trip to the docks.  After a few minutes, their mother puts aside the spellbook.  "Are you ready to go?"

Ginara looks at her mother's expensive robes and jewelry.  "Ummm... I think that it might be difficult for us to do this discreetly if you wear your normal clothes."

Lady cath Kalissar simply reaches into a small pouch at her belt.  She slips on the ring inside and disappears.  "I think this will be just fine.  Make sure you leave the door open long enough for me to make it out of the house."

Both Lhovrik and Ginara startle.  Ginara then starts to smile.

"Don't get any ideas, Ginara," Lady cath Kalissar gently admonishes.

The family heads to the Docks.  When they approach the Lurdana's Luck, Lhovrik says, ostensibly to his sister, "That's the ship we think he might be on."

Their mother says quietly, "It would be useful if you could talk moderately loudly, to cover the sound of the spellcasting."

Ginara and Lhovrik proceed to talk about anything and nothing, while their mother quietly chants.  After a few seconds, she speaks again.  "He's not on the ship.  Just a moment while I check the nearby buildings.  No, he's neither on board nor near by."

Lhovrik frowns.  "I hope he isn't dead.  We'll have to try to find other ways of locating him.  Thank you for your help."

The cath Kalissars return home.  Ginara and Lhovrik both spend the rest of the day training.  In the early evening, they meet up with Melania and Dove.  After a little discussion, they decide that they should see whether Melania can get Aral away from Malin and press him a little for information.


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## Yoji-san (Apr 18, 2003)

Dead bodies and seaweed!  Yum!   

I agree with Mr. Cat about the funny, and I like watching the character development.  Lhovrik's familiar hasn't been up to much lately, has she?  I like her.

Yay everybody!  More story please!  And maybe a bunny?


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## thatdarncat (Apr 29, 2003)

_pulls out a stick and pokes his fire, then gets a coffee pot from his tent and starts boiling water for his morning coffee_ 

Hmmmm

no updates...


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## anonystu (Apr 30, 2003)

I think there will be updates coming soon, and I'm starting to get free enough to continue writing Lhovrik's diary, which I'll just post on here sometime this week.

More cat abuse is imminent!


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## Cerebral Paladin (May 17, 2003)

Sorry for the update delay... I've been ridiculously busy at work.  (Longest...decision...ever....)

Session 5 (cont'd):

Melania heads to the tavern where they met Aral the previous night, hoping that he'll be there again.  She's in luck.  Aral is at the same corner table, with a group of shipmates.  Melania strolls over, while Ginara lurks at a comfortable distance to keep an eye on things.  Dove and Lhovrik wait somewhat further away, so Ginara can get them in case of trouble.

"Mind if I join you, Aral?"

"Melania!  It's so nice to see you again." Aral quickly motions for one of the sailors next to him to give up his chair so she can sit next to him.

Melania slides in next to him, flashing him a winning smile as she does so.  They chat briefly, making smalltalk.  After a few minutes, Melania smiles at Aral.  "Know a good place where we could get a dinner around here?"

Aral quickly seizes on the opportunity to get a chance to spend some time with Melania without the other sailors around.  "Sure, I know a place that makes great roasted fish.  Let's go."

Melania and Aral walk along the pier, with Ginara secretly trailing them.  They walk close to each other, but without touching, much to Ginara's relief.

"So I bet you've been to lots of interesting places, Aral.  Have you ever sailed to the Southern Colonies?"

"No, my ship sticks to the coast.  But I've been from one end of the empire to the other, and even to some of the places beyond the empire." Aral begins to tell some very tall tales about the things he's seen and the places he's been.  Melania, with her wide knowledge of stories and lore, can tell that some of the stories are simply false, some are inaccurate, and a few, such as the stories about centaurs in the far west of the Empire, probably describe things Aral has actually seen.

"Oh, that sounds really exciting!" Melania gushes, still warming Aral up.  She smiles saucily.  "I hear that centaurs are hung like horses."

The conversation takes a turn for the bawdy, as Aral shares some sailors' stories.

After a few minutes, "What sort of cargo do you carry? Do you carry special things?"

"Sometimes.  We carry all sorts of things really.  A lot of foodstuffs and cloths, but we sometimes carry artwork, or special things as well."

"Do you ever carry slaves?"

Aral looks a little surprised.  "No, no.  You pretty much have to have a special ship for carrying slaves.  The trouble is, it's tough to keep slaves alive, and since you can't let the slaves die, it's a problem.  Most of the big slave ships are in the South, among the lands that don't care if slaves die." The Empire's form of slavery is significantly more restricted than the chattel slavery practiced in some other lands.  "Carrying slaves is even worse than carrying livestock, and let me tell you, once a ship's carried livestock, you wouldn't want anything else in the hold." Aral waves a hand in front of his nose suggestively.  "Sometimes we'll have a passenger on board, and sometimes they'll bring slaves.  But that's not really cargo."

"Are your trips ever dangerous?"

"Sure, but nothing we can't handle.  There are some pirates sometimes, but we just fight 'em off.   And sometimes there will be rough storms.  But we say our prayers and make our offerings, and the storms aren't too bad."

"Offerings?  To Lurdana?"

"No.  Only the captain and the owners worship Lurdana.  She's a god for the rich.  We ask Vergdun for mercy in His storms.  But He sends His storms when we're not at sea, because we make the right sacrifices."

"Sacrifices?  You mean like goats or sheep?"

"Mostly..." Aral and Melania discuss the sacrifices for a while longer.  Melania seems very impressed with how rough and dangerous Aral is, and Aral tries to impress her.  He ultimately says that there is a priest who tells them when a sacrifice needs to be made, and that they brought the priest a person who no one would miss.  Bingo.

They have been talking for quite some time and walking closer to each other.  Aral turns towards Melania.  "Is there anywhere we could go?"

Melania thinks for a second.  "Sure, my place is this way."

Ginara, who has been shadowing the pair, watches as they head towards the boarding house which she knows is Melania's home.  "No...don't...let him just be walking her home..." she mutters to herself as she watches them walk towards the building.  But she is bitterly disappointed as they walk inside.

Ginara doubles-back to meet up with Lhovrik.  "Let's go home."

"Where's Melania?"

"In her apartment.  With the sailor."

Even with Lhovrik's not-so-keen social perception, he can tell Ginara is very unhappy.  "You seem upset.  I'm not really sure why, but do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine!"

"Look, I'm not really thrilled by the choices Melania is making, either, but you seem more upset by it."

"I said I'm fine, Lhovrik." Ginara's voice belies her words.  "Let's just get home.  We can talk to Melania in the morning." When they reach their home, Ginara stomps up to her room and slams the door.


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## Cerebral Paladin (May 24, 2003)

Session 5 (cont'd):

2/17/752

Midmorning, Ginara, Lhovrik, and Dove bang on the door to Melania's room in the boarding house.  A somewhat bedraggled Melania answers the door after a little while.  "Oh.  It's you.  Come on in." Melania quickly tells the rest of the group about what she found out from Aral.

"Do you know how to find the priest that he mentioned?  He must know where the prisoners are kept." Lhovrik is unusually intense as he contemplates the chance to actually rescue his friend.

"Aral didn't say."

"We'll just have to seize him and interrogate him.  I'm sure you can get him back here?" Lhovrik asks with disapproval.

"I'm sure I could, but I'm not really thrilled about attacking him here..."

"We don't have a choice!  Balthrin could be murdered before we have a chance to rescue him.  I have a spell that will probably put him to sleep."

"And if the spell doesn't work, I can hit him in the back of the head with my sap!" Ginara adds, with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm.

"Alright...  I don't really like it, but I guess you're right about needing to find Balthrin."

They agree that Melania will try to find Aral in the early evening.  In the meantime, Dove goes to the harbormaster's office, where she verifies that the Lurdana's Luck is not scheduled to leave for another several days.  If Balthrin's still alive, he's likely got at least that long before they might want another sacrifice.

Dove returns to her barracks, to give her equipment a last review.  Her captain walks up.  "The ship we're meeting missed the tide.  We'll be meeting it before dawn tomorrow.  You should be ready two hours before dawn." Dove assures him she'll be ready.

In the early evening, Dove, Lhovrik, and Ginara take up a position near Melania's boarding house.  The three are mostly hidden, but casually so, by the stoop to a nearby building.

Melania is pleased to find Aral at the same tavern as on previous nights.  She strides up to him and, wasting no time, asks him if he's interested in coming with her.  Aral happily jumps up from the table, and the two leave, admits some catcalls and joking from Aral's friends.

The two walked back to Melania's place quickly.  As they passed her friends, Aral looked over at Melania.  "Isn't that the girl who played cards with us?"

Melania just keeps on walking.  "Yeah.  But that's not important right now."

Ginara just tightens her grip on her sap as Melania ignores her.

As Melania leads Aral into her room, the rest of the group follows quietly.  Melania leaves the door unlatched.  Less than a minute after Aral and Melania enter the room, the rest of the group throws the door open.  Lhovrik casts a quick spell, and Aral collapses asleep.

When Aral awakens, he's tied to a chair.  Lhovrik is waving a rapier menacingly in front of him, while Ginara glares at him and Dove looms.  Melania is sitting on her bed, looking uncomfortable.

Lhovrik's interrogation is direct and straightforward.  "We know you've been kidnapping people.  Where are the prisoners being kept?"

Aral looks at Melania in hurt confusion, then answers, "I don't know.  We just brought them to Strath, the priest.  I don't know where he takes them."

"Where do you meet the priest?"

Aral hesitates for a moment and Ginara says, "Can I hit him now?"

Aral gulps and says, "He sometimes leads prayers and things in a warehouse." He gives the group directions to the warehouse.

Lhovrik turns to the rest of the group.  "The priest must have a hide-out in the warehouse.  We'd better go, to make sure that we rescue Balthrin while he's still alive.  You can sap him now, Ginara."

Ginara slams her sap into the back of Aral's head, with perhaps a tad more force than was really needed.  He slumps unconscious in the chair.  Melania winces a little, but there's little that can be done.

The group heads to the warehouse.  It's getting into evening and the warehouse seems empty.  Ginara easily picks the lock on the back door.

The warehouse is filled with boxes and barrels.  The group quickly notices a clear area, which must be what the priest uses as a chapel.  They quickly begin searching the area around the clearing.  After a few minutes, Ginara finds a concealed trapdoor in the wooden floor.

The group throws open the trapdoor, and quickly starts shimmying down the ladder.  They made enough noise coming in that some of the Vergdunians are ready for them.  Three humans wait for them at the bottom of the ladder.  Two are dressed in light armor and armed with swords, while the third is dressed in heavier armor, wears a holy symbol of Vergdun the Storm Lord, and has a heavy mace at his side.  The swordsmen wound some of our heroes as they climb down, but not badly.  Dove slams her swords into one of the swordsmen, leaving him in a heap on the ground.  The priest responds with a chant that causes her muscles to freeze up.  But even with his magic, the Vergdunians are no match for our heroes.  Melania distracts the second swordsman, allowing Ginara's attack to skewer him easily, while the priest is quickly reduced to unconsciousness.

Figuring that Dove will regain the ability to move soon enough, the rest of the group hurries deeper into the hide-out, hoping to find Balthrin.  Shortly after the other three leave the room, Dove watches in frustration as the guard she downed, badly wounded but not in fact dead, slowly pulls himself to his feet.  Carefully and slowly, trying not to strain his wounds, he pulls himself up the ladder while Dove seethes.

Meanwhile, Ginara picks the locks on the remaining doors in the hide-out.  Two rooms appear to be cells.  One is empty, but the other holds Balthrin and another prisoner.  Balthrin is overjoyed to be freed, but tells the group that there were several people in the cell across the hall when he was captured.

When Dove finally regains the ability to move, she hurries up after the swordsman, hoping to track him.  Though she can follow the trail of blood out of the warehouse, she quickly loses it outside.

The group sends a messenger to summon Inquisitors to both the warehouse and Melania's place and waits for help to arrive.

End of Session 5


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## Elder-Basilisk (Jun 8, 2003)

Long time no update. . . I hope you haven't stopped writing; I've been rather enjoying this story hour.

Anyway. . . bump.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jun 12, 2003)

I'm still definitely writing.  I've just been having a busy time recently.  With luck, I'll get the next post up sometime around Monday (without luck, it might be the middle of next week).

Thanks for your interest!


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## thatdarncat (Jun 13, 2003)

_looks up from his campfire_ 

yay updates

hey Elder-Basilisk, want some breakfast?


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jun 25, 2003)

Sorry about the delays.  Here's the next update.  Updates should be coming fairly frequently for the next two weeks or so.

Session 6:

2/17/752 (evening):

The group searches the rest of the hide-out while waiting for the Inquisitors to arrive.  They find that in addition to the small altar to Vergdun within the priest's chambers, there is also a substantial sum of money.  More worryingly, the money is mostly gold and platinum.  The priest was getting money from some source besides the contributions of his sailor followers, because they would give copper or silver.

An Inquisitor soon arrives with a large guard contingent.  They quickly take custody of the priest and listen to the groups description of what happened.  The guards escort Balthrin back to his home, while the rest of the group heads back to their various residences.

Melania is unsurprised to find that the Inquisition has searched her room thoroughly, in addition to forcing the lock on the door and taking Aral away.  Rather than stay in the boarding house, she pays up her bill and finds a cheap room at an inn somewhat further away.

Ginara and Lhovrik return home.  A group of well-dressed gentlemen led by Kaelat cath Sallen, a close friend of their father's, visits with their father.  The whole group talks in Loraton's study.  Ginara, who listens at the door briefly, can't quite make out what they're saying, but she can hear voices inside raised in anger.  She thinks she hears someone say "treason," but she can't be sure and soon has to flee into the kitchen to avoid discovery.  Loraton shows Kaelat and his companions to the door and slams the door behind them.  As Ginara heads up to her room, she can see her father looking very angry and upset while pouring himself a stiff drink.  She sneaks up to her room without drawing his attention.

2/18/752:

Well before dawn, Dove gets up and readies her equipment.  She meets up with the other soldiers from her company that are assigned with her on this special duty.  The group consists of more senior soldiers; while Dove is fairly junior over all, none of the other soldiers assigned to the escort duty are more junior.

Dove's captain looks over the group.  "This is going to be a simple job of escorting some passengers from a ship in the harbor to Dro Sanek.  We don't want any problems between the passengers and any one from outside.  There are some people who might be upset about the presence of these people in Lir Sanek.  Our main job is to protect the passengers, but we also need to be ready to protect the people of the city from the passengers.  The passengers will be protected by an illusion, but there may be people who can see through the illusion or know who the passengers are.  You should all be carrying saps or cudgels; I don't want anyone getting killed if we can avoid it, but don't be afraid to use whatever force we need to get the job done.

"There will be a Champion in overall command.  There will also be a captain of another company.  Are there any questions?"

Neither Dove nor any of the other soldiers have further questions.  The group heads out.

They quickly arrive at the docks.  The sky is beginning to brighten in the minutes before dawn.  Though there was very little activity in upper parts of the city, the docks are already bustling with fisherfolk preparing to sail out for the morning catch.  The soldiers, who have been met by a group of troops in heavy armor, fall into formation.  A moderately large ship pulls up to the pier.  Standing at the fore of the ship is a medium-aged, handsome man dressed in plate mail.  He wears the star, sash, and gilded spurs of a champion.  The champion also has a holy symbol of Galerius hanging on a chain around his neck.

As the ship is bound off to the pier, he jumps down onto the pier, moving with surprising grace and agility for someone wearing plate.  A door to the hold of the ship is thrown open, and a group of people dressed in robes walk out of the hold and down the gangplank.  Although all of them appear to be normal human height and build, Dove thinks that that may be part of the illusion. For just a moment, she thinks that some of the robed figures are actually only the size of halflings.  The hoods of the robes are pulled forward, so Dove can't see any faces.

The guards form a box with the robed figures in the middle and two ranks of troops at the front and back.  One of the captains is in the front of the group and one in the rear, with the champion, walking back and forth alongside the group.  As soon as all of the robed figures are in position, the group begins to walk forward.  As they walk, Dove notices two things about the champion.  First, his sword is unlocked and loosened in its scabard, as if he is expecting trouble.  Second, he periodically holds his holy symbol and slowly turns past the crowd of curious fisherfolk.  Dove has seen that sort of gesture before: Dai does the same thing when she detects evil.

The formation begins marching towards Dro Sanek.  As they march, the sun rises and increasingly large crowds begin filling the street.  A crowd of curious onlookers begins to form around the formation, but they stay well clear of the heavy cudgels that the lead group of soldiers carry to clear the path.

After about 15 minutes of walking, Dove sees a figure on one of the rooftops look down at the group.  After a moment, he drops a piece of parchment and moves back away from the edge.  The group proceeds onwards.  A few minutes later, an elderly woman flings an egg at the robed figure.  Dove watches the egg strike one of the robed people and notices that the splatter is curiously higher than where the egg struck.  Some of the guards brandish their weapons at the crowd, which quickly backs off.

The guards are all tenser as they walk.  Dove hears someone in the crowd yell "F---ing butchers!" in draconic.  She turns in the direction of the voice and sees a man throwing a large ceramic pot over her head towards the center of the group.  Dove swings her sword out and bats the pot down as it flies over her head.  When her sword strikes the pot, it shatters, and the alchemist's fire within bursts into flame and settles heavily on her head and shoulders.

Many of the onlookers panic and begin to flee, as the soldiers draw their weapons and Dove beats out the flames on her cloak.  Somewhere behind her, she can hear chanting, also in Draconic but no words that she understands.  She glances around but nobody seems to be moving oddly.

As the attacker turns to flee down an alleyway, a strange creature emerges from the alley to stop him.  The creature is almost human shaped, but appears to be made of rubbery, partially melted globs of wax.  It swings its fist out at the assailant, hitting him lightly.

The formation of troops begins moving faster, trying to get clear of the crowd before any further problems come up.  The rest of the group does not appear to have noticed the wax creature.  The alchemist's fire thrower dodges past the wax creature and runs down the alley.  Obliviously, the creature swings its fist at a random panicked crowd member, knocking them to the ground.

Dove drops back and points out the problem to her sergeant, who sends her to tell the champion.  The champion looks in the direction that Dove points and grimaces.  "A lemure.  Make way!" he yells at the crowd, as he begins drawing his sword.  They comply as fast as they are able.

The lemure batters another bystander to the ground before they can reach it.  Dove is the first to make it up to the strange creature, but her blow glances off its rubbery hide harmlessly.  The champion then hurries up and swings his sword, which now glows with a fiery blue light.  The blade chops deep into the beast, which slumps to the ground and then immediately fades out of existence.  Dove hurries back to the formation, while the champion briefly touches the injured bystanders, closing their wounds.

After that, the trip is uneventful.  The formation moves out of the city and into the military area near Dro Sanek, and they are relieved by a larger group of guards.  Dove's captain stresses the importance of keeping this morning's events secret and dismisses his troops, but stops Dove before she leaves.  "Sir Theron, the champion, was impressed by your quick actions.  He'd like to see you at noon at the castle."


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## thatdarncat (Jun 26, 2003)

Go Dove!

hmmm halfling sized, draconic speaking...

Kobolds?


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jun 28, 2003)

Session 6 (cont'd):


Dove heads back to her barracks to scrub off the last of the alchemist's fire.  At the barracks, many of her fellows are sharing stories of the morning's events, but she dutifully refuses to discuss it.

Meanwhile, Lhovrik wakes up.  Ginara catches him before he gets breakfast and tells him about their father's odd interaction with Kaelat cath Sallen the night before.  He's a little curious, although not nearly so curious as she is, and on Ginara's urging agrees to ask their father about it.  Lhovrik finds that his father is eating breakfast and sits down to join him.

Loraton looks at him genially.  "Lhovrik, I heard that you helped rescue poor Balthrin from some kidnappers."

"Yes, Father."

"I'm very glad to see that you're starting to take an active role in dealing with the threats facing our city.  You should know that your mother and I are very proud of you."

"Thank you, Father.  I was wondering about something.  I noticed that you seemed to have a fight with Kaelat cath Sallen last night, and I wondered what was going on."

Loraton's face stiffens up.  "It wouldn't be appropriate to discuss it."

Lhovrik accepts this answer, and the rest of breakfast passes quietly.  As Lhovrik gets up to leave, Loraton holds up a hand to stop him.  "Lhovrik...  Just so you know, Kaelat is no friend of this family, no matter what you may have thought.  If he ever reaches out to you, you should have nothing to do with him."

"Alright, Father." Lhovrik heads upstairs, a little confused- Kaelat was one of their father's closest friends.

Ginara is waiting for him in his room.  "Well?  What did he say?"

"He said it wasn't appropriate to talk about."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Didn't you ask further questions?"

"No!  He obviously didn't want to talk about it."

"Lhovrik!" Ginara grimaces in exasperation, but no amount of cajoling can convince Lhovrik to push their father on the issue more.

After Ginara gives up on pushing Lhovrik to ask more questions of their father, Lhovrik heads out of the house.  He goes to the local base of the Inquisitors and asks to see Inquisitor Telan, the inquisitor who is handling the investigation into the Vergdunian kidnapping plot.  Unfortunately, the inquisitor is unavailable.  Lhovrik leaves his name and address and heads home.


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## thatdarncat (Jun 28, 2003)

Who's this Inquisitor Telan? I don't see him mentioned anywhere.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jul 1, 2003)

Good point, Thatdarncat!  I think I left out some context.  I added it in by editting the end of the previous post; Talen is the Inquisitor assigned to clean up the mess left by the PCs.

BTW, good catch on the kobolds.  Hopefully, I'll get the posts where the PCs get confirmation on that soon.


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## greycastle (Jul 7, 2003)

Excellent!


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## Cerebral Paladin (Aug 4, 2003)

Session 6 (cont'd):

A few blocks away, Sister Aurora is taking care of her temple duties.  As she works, Father Dalren, a young ordinary priest who she only knows vaguely, approaches her.

"Sister Aurora? As you may have heard, a group of Vergdunian apostates have been kidnapping and sacrificing people in the Docks quarter.  A few of us have been thinking about what we should do in response.  We were hoping you would join us to discuss the matter."

Sister Aurora enthusiastically agrees.

About an hour later, a group of perhaps twenty young clergy fill a meeting room in the temple complex.  Ordinary priests of the Church Imperial are the single largest group, although there are also priests dedicated to specific gods.  There are several other orderly clergy besides Sister Aurora, although no others from the Rays of Truth.  When everyone has found a seat, Father Dalren stands.  The attention of the room shifts to him, although some people continue murmuring their private conversations.

"We have all heard the call to serve the Gods and the people of the Empire.  We each nurture the people in our own way, and some of us have been vigorous in defending the faithful of the Empire from foreign threats." Father Dalren gestures towards a cluster of Galerian priests.  "But we have ignored threats within for too long.  As you all know, the Vergdunians have started murdering innocents."

Sister Aurora, ever precise, interrupts, "We don't know that all Vergdunians are murdering people.  We only know that some Vergdunians have been killing people. "

One of the priests sitting nearby responds, "But you must admit, Vergdun has a long tradition of human sacrifice."

Sister Aurora nods.  "I just don't think that means that every sailor that wears a Vergdunian amulet is a murderer."  She pauses.  "Well, it might, and that would be profoundly interesting."

Father Dalren continues, "We should take steps to bring those who have fallen into false practices back into the fold."

A Galerian priest stands.  "We must demonstrate to the people that the Church Imperial can protect them."

Father Dalren smiles.  "We must protect those who are already faithful, but we must also bring the Church Imperial to those who have not seen Luirta's Light.  The Church is the one true way to receive the blessings of our beneficent Gods."

At this point, Mother Halera, one of the handful of priests in the room who venerate Lurdana, rises to speak.  "Dalren, it seems like we could reach out to those who follow Vergdun by recognizing the relationship of their beliefs to the Church Imperial.  That way, we can try to assimilate the lost sheep peacefully and bring them the safety of our faith."

Father Dalren scowls.  "If they weren't interested in the protection of the Church before, why would they come to us now, when they've begun killing people?"

Sister Aurora responds, "While there is some truth to that reasoning, Lurdana is the daughter of Vergdun.  We may be able to use that to our advantage."

"But he is not part of the holy pantheon we follow, and we do not wish to encourage heresy within the Church by encouraging his veneration, particularly in light of the recent foul deeds of the Vergdunians."

Sister Aurora nods solemnly.  "That would be horrific."

Father Dalren turns to the group as a whole.  "The only way to end this threat is to reach out to those who have turned aside and to bring them into the Church Imperial.  We should go and bring the faith to those who have not listened.  We should be ready for problems, as the Vergdunians have shown their violence already, but our faith will be our shield." The group quickly shows its support for Father Dalren's suggestion.

Mother Halera rises again.  "While I certainly support this effort, we should be careful.  There are many who venerate Vergdun.  After the culprits are executed, there may be significant feelings of anger."

Aurora says, "But what about the people who are disappearing?  We must end the suffering the Vergdunians are causing."

"I merely think that we should be careful."

"It's more important that we end the sacrifices than that we concern ourselves overly much about caution."

Mother Halera says, "But if we sow crops during winter, and the seeds land in snow, they will not grow.  We should carefully plant in only the areas that have already thawed, while we wait for the spring.  When the people have become more calm, it will be the springtime to sow our message more effectively."

Sister Aurora boggles.  "That was very... agricultural."

Mother Halera, already sensitive about her less urbane accent, flushes and stammers.  "I was just trying to say, we'll do better if, we should try to be careful and not spend our time confronting the hardest cases."

Sister Aurora notices Mother Halera's discomfort, but doesn't know how to ease the awkwardness.  Instead, she just moves on to the planning.  The group quickly agrees that they will work in small groups, to avoid the dangers a lone prosyletizer might face, and travel down to the Docks to preach from street corners, at the crowds in bars, and to anyone who will listen to spread the Church Imperial's teachings.  Throughout the planning, there is a definite current that some of the priests are ready to back up words with force if they are met with hostility.


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## thatdarncat (Aug 4, 2003)

Yay update 

Anyone want to join me at my campfire and cook marshmellows?


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## Cerebral Paladin (Aug 5, 2003)

Session 6 (cont'd):

Sister Aurora seeks out her friends.  Dove still hasn't made it back yet, but she finds Lhovrik, Ginara, and Melania fairly quickly.

Sister Aurora looks at her friends earnestly.  "We need to reach out to those who do not see the Light of Luirta and bring them into the faith.  Many of the people in the Docks do not follow the righteous Gods of the Church Imperial."

Melania's tone is skeptical.  "I'm not saying I disagree with you that it would be better if there were a few more regular church goers and a few less Vergdunians, but are you sure this is a good idea?  People could be a little touchy about this."

"Touchy?  People could try to kill her just for showing up in the Docks, let alone for prosyletizing!" Lhovrik bursts out.  "Just let things be."

Aurora wants nothing to do with his skepticism.  "Luirta has called me to this mission, and I must bring her Light to the unbelievers.  Now, in their time of troubles, is when they most need the Light of Truth.  Whether you'll go with me or not, I must bring it to them."

"No one said anything about leaving you to do this on your own," Ginara says.  "Lhovrik may not want to do anything, but I think spreading the faith in the Docks could be exciting."

"Fine.  If I have to go to keep the rest of you safe, I will.  But I still think it's a stupid idea."

Sister Aurora thinks for a moment.  "We should wait for Dove to join us.  She'll help prevent anyone from getting bad ideas if there are people who are resistant to the Truth."

In Dro Sanek, Dove waits for her appointment with the champion.  After a brief wait, a clerk shows her in to the office he has been assigned.

"Ah.  You're Dovkania Skyrnath?"

"Yes, sir.  You wanted to see me?"

"Indeed.  Please, have a seat." Sir Theron gestures at a chair with a friendly smile.  Dove notes that he still has the perfect posture and commanding attitude that she saw before, but he also has an open, approachable attitude.  He is still dressed in his armor, with his sword readily at hand.  "Why don't you tell me what happened before the lemure attacked."

"Yes, sir.  I was marching along in formation when someone threw something at the people we were escorting.  I thought that it was a threat, so I batted it down, resulting in some of the alchemist's fire within splattering on me.  I wasn't sure what to do then, sir, because I didn't want to leave my station, but when I saw a lemure emerge from the  I decided I needed to inform you.  I wasn't sure what to do."

"You did well.  The lemure is a type of devil.  They mostly are found in the Hells, but there are some in our world, although not many, particularly within the Empire.  We have a duty to destroy them or drive them from our plane.  Based on the way the lemure faded, it was probably summoned, not one of the lemures that live in our world.  Attacks with ordinary weapons are not very effective against most devils.  If you don't have one already, you should get a silver weapon for use against devils, lycanthropes, and similar threats.

"You should have been more aggressive in chasing the man who threw the alchemist's fire.  That's very suspicious.  It's both a lethal attack and one that indicates prior planning."

"I'm sorry, sir.  I was trying to follow orders and protect the group we were escorting."

"You did well.  The most important thing was maintaining safety, and your actions helped preserve our guests' safety.  Have you thought about what your goals are?"

"No, sir.  I haven't really thought about what I want to do, beyond serving well as a ranger."

"You could become an officer; with your skills, quick wits, and good family, you would be likely to be promoted rapidly.  Becoming an officer would be very honorable, and I'm sure you would serve well.  But the Empire also needs heroes who will handle challenges that regular armies are not well suited to.  If you choose to serve in that way, you may well become a champion someday."

"Thank you, sir.  I'll have to think about that further, sir."

"Good.  Either way, you should be more assertive.  The Empire needs soldiers who will step up to a challenge and deal with threats aggressively." The champion pauses.  "I'm assembling a team of soldiers for a trip up north.  If you would be interested, I could arrange to have you assigned to the mission.  It could be a good opportunity."

"Thank you, sir.  I'll consider the assignment.  Sir... I heard someone say 'F---ing butchers' in Draconic before the alchemist's fire was thrown."

Sir Theron leans back a little bit.  "As I suspected... they must have known.  Let me ask you a question.  Who do you think we were guarding?"

"Their small size, and the Draconic, makes me think they may have been kobolds."

"Correct.  They are a group of unaffiliated kobolds from the kobold empire in the South.  They are independent of their empire, and people higher in the service of the Empire than I have decided that they can be used to accomplish our goals." Sir Theron pauses.  "It's not my place to determine whether the plan is wise.  But we need to maintain secrecy.  If it were common knowledge that we were escorting a group of kobolds into the city, people would have rioted.  Many people still remember the last war.  A major incident could have been terrible."

Dove nods.

"In addition to yourself, I need to recruit other alert people, with good eyes, ears, and a sense of judgment.  If you know people who might be appropriate, arrange for them to see me."

"I will, sir."

"Dismissed."


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## spyscribe (Aug 6, 2003)

Ooo.... the plot thickens.  

Religious conflict, racial tension, secret plots, what more could you want?


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## anonystu (Aug 6, 2003)

I know what more you could want: whining and cowardice!

Not to spoil anything, of course.


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## thatdarncat (Aug 6, 2003)

So how many sessions are you behind CP?


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## anonystu (Aug 6, 2003)

Session 7: Wherein Lhovrik whines.
Session 8 (double long session: twice the death in twice the time): Wherein Lhovrik kills his cat, then resurrects it from the dead, just so he can kill it again.
Session 9: Wherein Lhovrik both whines, and acts cowardly.
Session 10: Wherein Lhovrik takes over the entire world, setting about to his life mission of eradicating the world's cat population.

So, we're four (or 5 by time) sessions behind.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Sep 11, 2003)

Just an apology about how long it's been since I updated... I've been fairly busy recently, and I've been having networking problems at home (which is a big pain).  I'm going to try to get the next update up by this weekend at the latest.


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## thatdarncat (Sep 12, 2003)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> Just an apology about how long it's been since I updated... I've been fairly busy recently, and I've been having networking problems at home (which is a big pain).  I'm going to try to get the next update up by this weekend at the latest.





Hey, update on saturday and it can be a birthday present *wonders how he can bake a cake on his camp fire*


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## Cerebral Paladin (Sep 13, 2003)

Happy Birthday, Thatdarncat!  Here's an update for you.

Session 6 (cont'd):

Dove quickly finds her friends.  Aurora looks at her younger sister with concern.  "Dove!  You've been burned!"

Dove shrugs off her concern.  "I'm all right.  But I am pretty hungry..." Dove immediately starts raiding her family's larder.  While Dove eats, she opens a letter that the cath Helurs had delivered while she was out.  "The cath Helurs sent their thanks for freeing their son.  They also invited me to attend the execution of the people behind the plot..."

A few people talk uncomfortably, and then Dove interrupts.  "So, I was working on a secret mission this morning."

Ginara perks up.  "A secret?  What's it about?"

Dove looks a little uncomfortable.  "I can't really talk about it much.  I was working for Sir Theron cath Milros.  He was escorting a group of people through the town on Imperial business.  There were some people who hated the people we were escorting and who tried to cause problems, and one of them splashed me with alchemists fire."

"Alchemists fire?  You should take a bath and scrub very carefully," Sister Aurora says didactically.  "Alchemists fire can be very dangerous.  Wait a moment... you said Sir Theron cath Milros?  I've heard of him.  He's a paladin of Galerius.  But it's strange that he would be here; he generally lives in the South, fighting kobolds and dragons."

"All of the things that are going on seem a little troubling, but Sir Theron tried to recruit me to help him with a further mission.  He asked me to recruit some of my friends as well.  This could be an important opportunity for me to advance." Dove explains what she saw this morning.

Lhovrik shakes his head.  "This is all just a bad idea.  We shouldn't get involved.  This could be really dangerous, and we're not even really sure what's going on."

Ginara asks, "When would we have to decide by?"

"Tomorrow."

"Let's think about, and I'll see if I can bring Lhovrik around."

While Lhovrik heads home and Dove scrubs alchemists fire out of her hair, Ginara travels to Dro Sanek to speak with Kinric.

"Kinric?  I have a couple of questions, and was wondering if you could help."

"Of course, Ginara.  What were you wondering about?"

"My friend Dove was working on something secret with Sir Theron cath Milros, and..."

"Just a moment, Ginara." Kinric signals for the guard outside of his office to step in and asks the guard to station himself at the far end of the hallway, where he won't be able to overhear anything.

"Now then... you were saying?"

Ginara explains what Dove told her.  "We're trying to figure out whether we should be part of this and what's going on."

Kinric thinks for a moment.  "This is a serious, important matter.  Sir Theron is a good man, who has served the Empire very ably against the kobold empire in the South.  But decisions have been made at a much higher level than him or me in this matter.

"In the northern highlands, a blue dragon called Arthonix has its lair.  Arthonix is an old, powerful dragon with a dangerous brood of children.  Their raids have caused substantial destruction in the areas of the Empire around where they lair.  The kobolds are here as part of a deal that the Empire plans to propose to convince Arthonix to move out of the Empire and stop raiding our lands."

"Why not just send some heroes to kill the dragon, Kinric?"

"Would that it were that easy.  Heroes have tried to kill Arthonix before, but without success.  If we sent some powerful champions, we could destroy the dragon, but it is likely that great heroes would die in the process.  And we have a limited number of great champions; if they are spending their time hunting dragons, they can't accomplish other objectives that we need them to work on.  Of course, if we sent a powerful group of champions to kill Arthonix and they were defeated, the loss would be enormous."

"What do the kobolds have to do with moving the dragon?"

"We typically think of the southern empire as the kobold empire, but that's not really accurate.  It's more a draconic empire, with kobolds as servants to the ruling empire.  These kobolds are independent of the empire but wish to have a dragon to serve.  The hope is that Arthonix will be interested in agreeing to move in exchange for gaining the service of a group of kobold slaves."

"Do you think we should agree to go with Sir Theron?"

"It would be very useful.  This is an important mission.  Without smart, effective people along supporting Sir Theron, it could turn into a disaster.  It would also be useful for me to have someone who could keep me informed about the events as the group travels north.  If you send messages back with the Walker who will be accompanying the group, they will reach me quickly.  It will also provide you and your friends the opportunity to distinguish yourselves further.  Of course, it will be dangerous.  You should be careful."

"Thanks, Uncle Kinric.  I think we'll go, but I need to talk to Lhovrik first."

Ginara finds Lhovrik in their townhouse.  Ginara explains that she thinks they should agree to go on the expedition.  Unsurprisingly, Lhovrik is hostile to the idea.  They agree that he will speak with their parents to get their opinions on the matter.

Lhovrik finds his father in the study.  His father looks fairly grim as he comes in.

"Father?  I need your advice about something."

"What is it, Lhovrik?"

"Ginara and some people I know are thinking of going on a mission for the Empire.  I'm not sure exactly what it involves, but I know that it somehow involves working with some kobolds."

"Lhovrik-- the only good kobold is a dead kobold.  Your a grown man; it's time for you to start making your own decisions about how you can serve the Empire.  But if you want my advice, just stay away from anything involving the Empire dealing with kobolds.  Don't fight against what the Empire chooses to do.  It's our duty to be loyal, even if we don't like it.  But you don't have to get involved with that."

Lhovrik thanks his dad and heads up to his room.

Ginara is waiting for him at his door.  "Well?"

"Dad thinks we shouldn't get involved with anything involving kobolds."

"Why did you mention kobolds?  Of course he was going to be upset by that.  You know he fought in the war against them."

"You didn't tell me not to mention kobolds!"

"Well, you didn't say you were going to go straight to Dad and say 'Hey, there are kobolds in town'!"


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## Cerebral Paladin (Sep 14, 2003)

Session 6 (cont'd):

A few hours later, the entire group reassembles to attend the execution.  Several people don't really want to go, but it could be dangerous if the crowd gets riled up and the cath Helurs may be offended if they don't attend.

The group heads to the main square in the Docks, where the execution is to take place.  Lhovrik and Dove stand with the cath Helurs, while Ginara and Melania blend into the crowd and Sister Aurora does her own inimitable impression of blending into a crowd while wearing bright colored robes and carrying a badly concealed spear.

A large scaffolding has been erected at one side of the square.  Near the scaffolding, a tall stake stands with a pile of firewood at its base.  A fairly large crowd has assembled.  Aurora calls on Luirta to detect evil; while there are a few evil people scattered throughout the crowd, she does not see any large groups or particularly strong auras.  Dove notices that a few of the people in the crowd are wearing Vergdunian holy symbols, while Melania keeps an eye on some of the people who seem most agitated.

A slow drum beat starts playing and a heavily armed procession of guards files into the square.  At the front of the procession is a group of three Inquisitors in formal robes.  One of the inquisitors has a small shape about the size of a hawk, on his shoulder, completely covered by a hood.  In the middle of the procession of guards are the three prisoners, all in chains.

Aral and Malin are lead up the scaffolding and positioned next to nooses.  A priest of the Church Imperial speaks quietly with each of them.  The Vergdunian priest is led to the stake.

The chief inquisitor removes the hood from the shape on his shoulder.  The shape is a strange white creature, with a profusion of wings emerging from its center and eyes spaced evenly around its body between the wings.  It spreads its wings in every direction and rises into the air.  Sister Aurora, recognizing the minor celestial as a creature that remembers all that it can see, stares in wide-eyed admiration.

The Inquisitor withdraws a scroll.  He reads out the charges of kidnapping, murder, and illicit religious conspiracy against Aral and Malin, that they have been convicted by a proper court, and that they have been sentenced to hang by the neck until dead.  Aral looks at Melania, who tries to look anywhere but back at Aral.  As the Inquisitor finishes, he signals to the executioner.  The platform beneath Aral and Malin falls, and the sentence is carried out.

The Inquisitor places that scroll back in a case and withdraws a second scroll.  As he reads from it, the crowd can see that the condemned priest is yelling wildly, but they cannot hear him.  A magical silence effect must have been placed on him.  The Inquisitor reads out the charge, conviction, and sentence.  After invoking Luirta's justice and the hellfire the priest faces, the Inquisitor makes a second signal and several burning brands are touched to the wood at the base of the stake.  Smoke and fire rises around the silently screaming priest.  

End of Session 6


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## Ladybird (Sep 15, 2003)

Happy birthday, thatdarncat!

Here - have some smores for the campfire!  More CP goodness is coming soon...

--Ladybird/Ginara


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## Elder-Basilisk (Sep 15, 2003)

If the board stays stable for long enough to post, hooray for the updates!


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## thatdarncat (Sep 15, 2003)

Woo updates  Read them when they were posted, but was in the middle of a lan party at the time, so I haven't had time to reply  



			
				Ladybird said:
			
		

> Happy birthday, thatdarncat!
> 
> Here - have some smores for the campfire!  More CP goodness is coming soon...
> 
> --Ladybird/Ginara




Thanks


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## Fajitas (Sep 15, 2003)

Ladybird said:
			
		

> Here - have some smores for the campfire!




And here - have an evil, Vergdunian priest for the campfire, too!


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## thatdarncat (Nov 8, 2003)

Fajitas said:
			
		

> And here - have an evil, Vergdunian priest for the campfire, too!




nah, too foul tasting, thanks though!


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## Piratecat (Nov 8, 2003)

Mmmmm. Smells like bacon!


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jan 10, 2004)

Sorry about the huge delay in posting.  Life got busy, and I fell way behind.  I'm going to post a write-up of the most recent session, so that my players can use it to remind themselves of what's going on in the game.  I'll then try to both stay current and fill in the posts in between the last post and this one.  Once I'm re-caught up, I'll try to sort things out so that the posts are actually in the right order.  Without further ado, 

Session 13

4/25/752:

Having concluded their business in the North, the group prepares for the long trip southward to Lir Sanek.  Melor-minor, the captain's aide de camp, informs them that Captain cath Klevit would like to speak with them before they depart.  The group dutifully reports to the Captain's office.

"Thank you for your assistance.  I hope that the good soldiers we lost pushing the kobolds back was worth it, but it's not my place to question the orders." Captain cath Klevit's expression leaves little doubt about his opinion.  "I'm sure that most of the troops will be ordered from here to somewhere they can do more good, but that will have to wait for further orders.  In the meantime, however, the Aretash prior here has decided to send one of his monks back to Lir Sanek.  Since you're travelling in the same direction, I thought that Brother Moreth could accompany you.  The roads around here can be dangerous." The Captain looks at the cath Kalissars.  "Give my regards to your father."

After Melor-minor shows the group out, he leads them to a wiry young man, hair cropped short in a monk's tonsure but with a long braid in the back.  Brother Moreth wears plain clothing, with a coarse but lightweight woolen top crossing over his torso and unadorned pants.  His arms are bare, showing an impressive physique.  Aretas is a god of discipline and self-perfection; his followers form the largest minority religion within the Empire, although most only spend a small portion of their lives in his monasteries and abbeys.

"I hear that you would travel with us to Lir Sanek," says Lhovrik after everyone has introduced themselves."

"Indeed.  My superiors sent me to assist the imperial troops here in their mission, that I might increase my perfection through martial striving.  Now that the kobolds will represent less of a threat, the prior thought that it would be best if I moved on and instructed me to travel to Lir Sanek for further instructions.  As we are not formally part of the Empire's military, we do not need to await a command to redeploy."

Sister Aurora smiles.  "I'm sure that your travelling with us will provide a great opportunity to exchange knowledge about our respective faiths.  How quickly can you be ready to depart?"

"I have already gathered all of my possessions together." Brother Moreth gestures at a small, tightly bound bedroll.  "I am ready to leave whenever you are."

4/25-5/16

The trip is largely uneventful.  In the early stretches, while travelling through areas that are still more frontier and have problems with banditry and worse, they spend the nights in the small walled villages on their path.  The slightly slower travel is worth the peace of mind, at least to some of the travellers.  Those who would rather have pressed on grumble a little, but acquiesce.

As they travel, the group spends some time getting to know Brother Moreth better.  Brother Moreth is an affable fellow.  Dove worries some about the fact that Brother Moreth does not wear boots, but is impressed with his ability to travel quickly and has some enjoyable sparring matches.  Brother Moreth fights unarmed by choice; while Dove thinks she would win a real fight, it would be close.  Sister Aurora and Ginara are more interested in learning that he has almost reached the level of spiritual development that will make him immune to disease.  Melania, for her part, spends some time speaking with him about whether Aretash monks can enjoy the pleasures of good music, food, and close companionship.  Brother Moreth responds that, while they are not prohibited from enjoying pleasures, most monks choose to live an austere life, that they may not be distracted from their efforts to improve themselves.  With that, he returns to reading his book of scriptures.

After about three weeks of travel, the group reaches the prosperous town of Lir Galdra.  Lir Galdra is a major river port where land trade routes meet up with the trade on the River Sanek, and they should be able to book passage on a ship or barge to take them to Lir Sanek.  As they arrive in the town, they rent rooms, one for the men and one for the women, in an inn and then disperse to take care of several errands.  Ginara, Sister Aurora, and Dove go to visit the baby kobolds that they left at the temple of Lurdana and have a nice visit with the unruly orphans and a very harried looking priest, while Brother Moreth heads to the local Aretash priory to pay his respects to the prior.  Melania heads to the docks and gets price quotes on the different options for travelling down the river.  Lhovrik, who lets everyone who will listen know how much he wants to get back to Lir Sanek as quickly as possible, stays at his room.

Everyone reassembles at the inn.  Upon Lhovrik's firm urgings, the group books passage on the first convenient vessel to leave town, which is scheduled to depart on the 17th around nightfall.  Brother Moreth excuses himself from his comrades quickly after returning to the inn and spends the evening reading scripture.  While several people worry that something upset him, they leave him to his readings.  When Lhovrik goes to bed, he can see that Brother Moreth is already asleep on the bedroll that he laid out, eschewing the beds as too soft.

In the morning, Lhovrik notices that Brother Moreth's bedroll is empty and cold.  Brother Moreth rises early, but it is unusual for him to leave without telling anyone.  Much of the day passes without him returning, and Ginara, Melania, and Sister Aurora begin worrying about him.  A brief conversation with the inn's staff confirms that he slipped out during the night.  Although Lhovrik is unconcerned, saying that he'll either return in time for their departure or find his own way back to Lir Sanek, the others insist on looking into the matter.

The group begins by travelling to the Aretash priory.  They ask the oblate on duty whether he has seen anyone matching Brother Moreth's description.  The amused lad gestures to his own head and clothes, which are the same as they have described.  "A fit young monk with typical clothes and the standard haircut doesn't provide me with much information, I'm afraid." After some further questions, they confirm that Brother Moreth spoke briefly with the prior, who looked at his certificates and told him to continue on to Lir Sanek, as he had planned.  Brother Moreth spent a little time after his conversation meditating in a chapel but did not return to the priory after heading back to the inn.

The group eventually asks after Brother Moreth at a local guardhouse.  The sergeant on duty takes them to a back room.  Brother Moreth's corpse lies on a table in the room.  He was obviously in a fight; his body has several wounds and is soaked in blood.  Sister Aurora checks his fists; while it is hard to tell because his training regimen gave him pronounced calluses and enlarged knuckles at all times, she thinks he may have struck blows before being defeated.  The sergeant asks them to not discuss the matter amongst themselves, and takes each person aside in turn to question them.  The sergeant is very conscious of Lhovrik and Ginara's rank, and begins with Lhovrik.

The sergeant begins by asking Lhovrik several questions about Brother Moreth.  Lhovrik truthfully describes his brief acquaintance with Brother Moreth.  The sergeant asks Lhovrik whether he knows the cath Kalissars who live in Lir Galdra and Lhovrik responds that they are distant cousins and that he has not had the opportunity to visit them on this trip.  After a few minutes of questioning, the sergeant gestures down a different hallway.  "If you would accompany me, m'lord?  There is one more thing I would like to ask you about." The sergeant leads Lhovrik into another room, where a different corpse lies on a table.  "Can you identify this body, m'lord?  It was found at the same place as your companion."

The sergeant repeats the same process with Ginara, Sister Aurora, Dove, and finally Melania.  None of them recognize the second corpse, but some of them notice a few interesting things about the body.  The corpse was a heavily-built, muscular man of early middle age.  The body is dressed in padded clothing; Dove is positive that the padding is meant to be worn under armor, although she can't tell whether he was wearing armor at the time of his death.  A few of his examiners notice a tatoo on his right shoulder, of an eagle in flight with a spear clutched in its claws.  Under the eagle, a Celestial motto is written on a scroll, which Sister Aurora easily translates as "Valor, Honor, and Victory." Below the motto is the numeral "IV." The body clearly has many wounds, and may have been hit with both bludgeoning and piercing weapons, although armor can make slashing wounds look like bludgeoning.  The back of the padding is soaked with blood.

After the sergeant has worked his way through all of Brother Moreth's companions, he informs them that they are free to leave.  After a little badgering, they convince the sergeant to tell them where the bodies were found.  They thank him and head out.  While Lhovrik still advocates leaving immediately, his friends insist on investigating Brother Moreth's death.  They begin by looking through his meager possessions.  The only thing that seems even remotely interested is his book of scriptures.  The book is well-worn; within the cover, it lists a series of monks who have used the book, ending with Brother Moreth.  There are two different bookmarks in the book, each in a different section.  The Aretash scriptures have three parts: narrative descriptions of the deeds of Aretas and of the great followers of Aretas; an epistlary collection which contains important writings from great leaders of the faith; and a psalter.   There is a bookmark in the narrative section, in the middle of what seems to be a heroic tale of a great monk of Aretas on an important quest.  The other bookmark is among the epistles, and is next to a letter describing the structure and hierarchy of a well-run monastery.

The group then headed to the scene of Brother Moreth's death.  The bodies were found in an alley behind a different inn.  In addition to the piles of sawdust covering the blood where Brother Moreth and the stranger were found, there are several other piles of sawdust.  Dove searches for tracks, hoping to figure out more about the fight and also to find where the survivors may have gone.  There were clearly a substantial number of people involved.  She is able to find some tracks leading up to one of the other bloodstains and then leading away; the tracks to the bloodstain have a much longer stride than the tracks away.  Unfortunately, she is unable to follow the tracks away from the scene of the battle.

While Dove finishes her search, Melania goes into the inn nearby.  She talks briefly with the staff, but the conversations do not go well and she is unable to gain much information.

The group then travels to the priory.  They quickly convince the oblate to take them to see the prior himself.  Sister Aurora takes the lead in the conversation.  "We were travelling with an Aretash monk named Brother Moreth.  We're sorry to tell you that he was killed last night."

The prior displays no emotion in his response.  "I'm sorry to hear that.  Based on the reports of those who had overseen him, he was a fine monk.  It's tragic that his progress towards perfection was cut short.  Do you know who killed him, or why?"

"We were hoping you could tell us.  He left our inn last night and was killed while he was out.  Do you know what he might have been doing?"

"I do not.  We discussed his plans, and I agreed that it was sensible for him to take a boat downriver to Lir Sanek, to join the abbey there."

"We noticed that he was reading his book of scriptures.  Were there specific readings assigned?"

"I did not assign him any readings in particular.  While novices are always told what readings will further their progress the best, we allow monks who have reached a certain point in their spiritual development, such as Brother Moreth had, to determine their readings for themselves.  He would read whatever seemed appropriate to the challenges he faced, or perhaps work through sections of scripture systematically to deepen his understanding.  I would appreciate it if you would return his scriptures, so that another monk may benefit from it."

"Of course.  Thank you for your time, Father.  We're sorry about your loss."

The prior nods.  "Thank you for informing us.  We will request that the authorities deliver his body to us for proper treatment.  Should you learn more about the cause or circumstances of his death, I would appreciate being informed."

End Session 13


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## thatdarncat (Jan 10, 2004)

_sleepily opens the flap of his tent to find that the snows of winter have been replaced with the budding greens of spring. He pokes the fire and brews a warm pot of tea, giving a cup to the wandering storyteller who has stopped to share the fire._


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## themaxx (Feb 10, 2004)

Arrr...

Must....not....post....in character


Until I actually exist!

(happily joined the campaign just last week)


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 17, 2004)

Anyone who reads this storyhour may be interested to know that I have started an additional storyhour for a campaign I play in.  That storyhour is at Aphonion Tales.  I'll be posting about once a week to that thread; I've got the first 3 or 4 posts prepared already, so I hope to be able to stick to that.

As for this storyhour, I've got 3 sessions all written up, but I'm missing the session between the last one I posted and the first of those three.  With luck, I'll get that written soon, and then I'll post my way through all 4 of those.  So, contrary to appearances, the storyhour isn't entirely moribund.


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## thatdarncat (May 7, 2004)

*pokes the fire with a stick*


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jul 17, 2004)

Session 14

5/17, evening

As the group leaves the monastery, Lhovrik says, "Too bad we couldn't figure out more about that.  We have a ship to catch."

Ginara reacts predictably.  "Lhovrik!  Moreth was a companion of ours, and somebody murdered him.  We owe it to him to find out what happened."

"We don't owe him anything.  We were just traveling together, and then he got himself killed.  The less we get involved, the better.  And we need to make it back to Lir Sanek.  We've been away for too long."

Sister Aurora looks at Lhovrik sharply.  "The Truth of Moreth's death ought to be revealed.  It shouldn't be dangerous for us to investigate a little."

Dove chimes in, "It shouldn't take us long to find out whatever more there is to find out.  It'll only cost us a day or two."

"You can go back to Lir Sanek tonight if you want, Lhovrik.  But I want to investigate further, so if you go tonight, I'm staying behind!"

"Fine.  If you insist, we can stay for another day or two.  But no more.  What are we going to do, anyway?  Do we even have any leads?"

Melania thinks for a bit.  "I want to ask some more questions at the inn.  Someone has to have noticed something."

Melania strides into the common room and orders a dinner, tipping heavily.  She strikes up a conversation with the barmaid.  "I'm trying to find a friend of mine who was supposed to be staying here.  Did anyone leave unexpectedly this morning?"

"Not really... a couple of people checked out in the late morning." She pauses after she finishes pouring Melania's ale.  "Now that I think about it...  there were a couple people who paid up late last night.  They said they wanted to get on the road early in the morning."

"That might be my friend's group." Melania describes the body the guard sergeant showed them.  "Does that sound like one of them?"

"Yes, one of them did look like that."

"Could you tell me the names of the other people who were with him?  What did they look like?  And did they say where they were going?"

"I dunno... if he's your friend, wouldn't you know who he was travelling with and where he's going?" The barmaid looks around uncomfortably.  "The owner really doesn't like us talking about the guests..."

Melania slips a gold coin onto the table.  "It won't cause any problems.  I'm just trying to meet up with my friends."

At this point, the owner notices the delay in the barmaid's rounds and walks over.  When the barmaid sees her coming, she quickly heads off to handle other patrons.

"Can I help you?"

Melania smiles winningly at the middle-aged woman who is looming above her.  "I just had a few questions about a few of your guests...." Melania slides a stack of coins across the table.

Melania smiled winningly, but not persuasively.  The owner glares at her.  "The reputation of my inn is worth more than your bribe.  My customers expect me to not spread their business about- that can lead to banditry, or worse." The innkeep slides the coins back to Melania.  "I think you should go now." Melania notices the bouncer walking over and decides that the time has come to leave gracefully.  She rejoins her friends and tells them what she has learned.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jul 29, 2004)

Session 14 (cont'd):
Dove's re-examination of the alley has turned up a new lead.  There are some very heavy footprints at the base of the inn's wall in the alley.  Dove notices that the footprints are directly beneath one of the second story windows that faces out on the alley.  The shutters remain wide open.  Perhaps someone exited through a window?

Stster Aurora stares up at the window.  "We need to check out the room.   There might be clues."

Lhovrik smiles.  "I know a way that we could examine the room.  Come with me, Aurora."

The two walk into the inn.  They avoid the dining area and head straight to the desk clerk.  Lhovrik steps forward.  "We'd like to rent a private room for the night."

"Of course, sir.  If you would write your names in the ledger?"

Lhovrik places a coin down.  "We would really prefer to not." Sister Aurora's sudden intense blush fits right in.

"I understand, sir.  If you will come this way?"

As the clerk leads them upstairs, Lhovrik makes some specifc requests about the room.  "Could we have a room with a window?  We'd like to be able to get some air.  But I don't want a room that faces the street-- too noisy." 

As expected, the clerk leads them to the room directly above the footprints that Dove found.  "Will this do?"

"Perfectly."

Once the clerk has left them in the room, Sister Aurora frowns at Lhovrik.  "You shouldn't have misled the clerk like that."

"What?  I didn't lie at all.  And I got us into the room you wanted to check, didn't I?"

Aurora looks dubious, but does begin searching the room.  The first thing that they notice is that the whole room smells lightly of flowers, as if it had been perfumed.  After a few minutes of searching, Lhovrik rolls back a small rug and notices that the floor has been burned recently.  The area has clearly been scrubbed, but the lightly charred floor is quite obvious.  The burn is concentrated in a small area.

"I wonder what could have caused that?" Lhovrik says.

"It looks like the sort of burn from a brazier overturning....  Maybe they were trying to summon something?  It could have been from a magical ritual."

They search the rest of the room, but the only other interesting thing they find is a set of marks on the windowsill.  Those are more easily explained: they match perfectly the pattern that a grappling hook leaves when it's used to secure a rope, in another piece of evidence that someone left through the window.  They rejoin their friends and return to their own inn, where they discuss what they found before calling it a night.


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## thatdarncat (Jul 29, 2004)

woot! yay update 

I'm enjoying the mystery... I don't do enough mysteries in my games, though I think my players would like more.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Aug 6, 2004)

Glad you're enjoying the mystery.  Mysteries are one of my favorite types of games.  Getting on with the story

Session 14 (cont'd):
5/18:

In the morning, the group discusses their discoveries.  The two things that stand out are the early departure, and the strange tatoo on the corpse that was found with Brother Moreth.

Sister Aurora muses about the tatoo.  It seems Galerian, but she isn't sufficiently well versed in Galerius's symbology to be sure.  The group heads to the Lurdanan temple in the outer city where they left the baby kobolds to find out if the priest could recommend any Galerian priests for them to question.

The priest is happy to see them, if only because Dove and Ginara are willing to play with the kobolds and thus distract them for a little while.  "Priests of Galerius?  Hmm.  There aren't many Galerians around here.  The cath Galdras are devotees of Galerius, though; I know they have a chaplain at the castle.  Other than that, I can't think of any, although of course the main churches have priests who serve all of the Gods of the Church Imperial." The group thanks him and begins the uphill walk to Dro Galdra.

"Wait a moment..." Sister Aurora says as they walk through a gate back into the inner city.  "How do we know that the group that killed Brother Moreth left in the morning?"

"Because that's what the barmaid told me," replies Melania.

"Not quite.  The barmaid told you that they paid at night and said that they planned on leaving in the morning.  They could have left immediately, and simply been trying to avoid suspicion when they weren't there in the morning."

"Not to mention giving any investigators false information about when they departed.  But if they left at night..." Ginara trails off.

"They would have had to sign out when they went through the city gates!" Dove finishes the thought.

"And if they signed out at the gate, we can find out who they are."

The group detours from its trip to the castle.  The few dayshift guards on duty are suprised to face any questions, and at first refuse to check the log.  Between Melania's persuasiveness, Lhovrik's lordly manner and assurances that this is for the good of the Empire, and the news that they are investigating a murder, the group is finally able to convince the guard to cooperate.  The first two gates they check have no records of anyone that sounds like the group they are looking for leaving.  The eastern gate, however, does.  On the night of the 16th, a group of four men left the inner city in the middle of the night.  The leader, who signed out for all of them, was named Boren.  The group prevails on the guard to give them the name and address of the guard corporal who was on duty that night, and they head across town to his home.

After banging on the door for a while, the group is met by a bleary-eyed man, only a few years older than they are.  "Can I help you?"

"Were you in charge of the eastern gate two nights ago?"

"Yes, I'm on the nightshift this fortnight." The guard rubs his eyes.

"We're interested in talking to you about a group of travellers who signed out through the gate late that night.  The log said that there were four of them and that their leader was named Boren."

"Why do you want to know?"

"We're investigating the murder of one of our companions.  We think they were involved."

That wakes the guard up.  "A murder?  I had no idea.  Of course I'll help in any way I can."

"Can you tell us anything you remember about them?"

"I didn't notice too much.  The one who signed out did most of the talking.  He looked to be pretty wealthy-- a merchant, maybe, although he didn't have many trade goods."

"Do you know where they were going?"

"Not really.  Back home, I guess."

"Back home?"

"To Nusaybia.  Boren's a Nusaybian name, and he had the accent to go with it.  And the eastern road leads straight to the border, a few days' ride away."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Aug 17, 2004)

Session 14 (cont'd):

Sister Aurora nods, starting to understand.  "Is there a heretical church in this city?"

"Nusaybian, you mean?  Sure, outside the city walls." The guard describes how to find it.

After some brief questioning to make sure he has told them everything he knows about Boren and his companions, the group heads away.

They quickly reach the small Nusaybian church.  The building is not particularly unusual for a church, although the construction is substantially more solid and imposing than the other buildings in this section of town.  The most striking thing about the church is the imposing stone wall that surrounds its enclosure.  A single heavy iron gate bars the only entrance.  When this church was built, they obviously wanted to be ready for riots or worse.

The gate is closed, and Sister Aurora loudly rings the bell set next to the gate.  After a minute or so, a middle-aged man wearing a priest's frock approaches the gate.  Sister Aurora easily identifies him as an ordinary priest, although the cut of his vestments are slightly different from what a priest of the Church Imperial would wear.  He stops short as he looks at the group outside the gate, and particularly at Sister Aurora.  While some of the orders exist in both Churches, only the Church Imperial includes the Rays of Truth.

"May I help you folks?" the priest asks, remaining behind the closed gate.

"We just want to ask a few questions," Melania responds.  She describes the body they saw at the guardhouse.  "Did he come here?"

"Once or twice.  I assumed he was passing through with one of the merchants.  Why?"

Sister Aurora cuts in.  "We want to find out some more information about him.  He had a tatoo on one shoulder, of an eagle in flight, with a spear in its talons, above the motto 'Valor, Honor, and Victory' and the numeral IV.  Do you know what that means?"

The priest looks very uncomfortable.  "Look, I didn't know him well.  He's not a regular member of my congregation, just someone passing through.  I'm a loyal subject of the Empire, and so are the parishioners.  We don't want any problems, and just want to live in peace, worshipping the Gods as our forefathers did..."

Melania nods.  "We understand.  We don't think there's anything wrong with how you worship." Sister Aurora begins to interrupt, but Lhovrik and Dove quickly shush her.  "We just need to get some information about this man.  He's been involved in a murder, and we need to find out more about him.  We know that he didn't really have any meaningful connection to you or your parish.  But if you start covering up for him, we might need to take it up with the guard..."

"You have to believe me.  I never knew he had that tatoo." The priest pauses and sighs.  "It means he was a member of the Nusaybian Royal Guard.  But I swear, I never knew he was a Guardsman.  I don't know whether he's still in the Guard or retired.  I had no idea."

The group presses the priest a little longer and confirms that he knows nothing else about the matter.  With that, they thank him and leave.

Lord Lhovrik turns to his companions.  "I think we now know everything we're going to find out.  The merchant, if he wasn't really a spy, and his companions were Nusaybian, and included at least one Royal Guardsman.  They killed Brother Moreth, for who knows what reason, and then they left that night.  We can't possibly catch them by this point.  We might as well head back to Lir Sanek."

This time, the rest of the group is forced to agree.  They inform the sergeant of the guard of what they discovered; while he pays a little more attention to the fact that the unidentified corpse was an elite Nusaybian soldier, it's clear that he lumps these deaths in with all the other killings that go unpunished and has no interest in worrying about it.  They also return to the Aretash priory and are shown in to see the prior.

The prior listens as impassively as ever as they describe what they have discovered.  "Thank you for this information.  The followers of Aretas are grateful.  I do not know why these Nusaybians would have wanted to kill Brother Moreth, but I will pass this information along to others of my order." Once again, the group cannot tell whether the prior is completely controlling his emotions, or whether he simply does not care about Brother Moreth's death.

In the late afternoon, the group boards a barge heading down the River Sanek and begins the last leg of their journey home.

End Session 14


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## Cerebral Paladin (Aug 24, 2004)

Session 15:

5/25

After an uneventful week of river travel, the group arrives back in their home city.  Lir Sanek's sprawling, crowded cityscape is a welcome change from the wilderness and small towns that they have been in for the past several months.  The group immediately splits up to take care of the various tasks of returning to the city.  Lhovrik and Ginara head straight home, while Dove and Sister Aurora each decide to attend to their professional stations before having to deal with seeing their family.  Melania has the different issue of needing to find a place to live, since she was forced to abandon her old apartment and had yet to rent a new one.

As they get off the riverboat, Ginara hires an urchin to deliver a short note to her uncle Kinric, telling him that she's back in the city.  Lhovrik chastises his sister for insisting on contacting Kinric so quickly, before they have even been home to see their family, but Ginara pays him no mind.

When they arrive home, their mother is overjoyed to see them safely returned.  Ginara is somewhat relieved that their mother greets them instead of their father, but they quickly start catching up.

"How have things been here, Mother?"

"Tumultuous, I'm afraid.  Everything's fine with the family, but the city has had some troubles.  The religious troubles that were just starting before you left-- the looting and rioting and such have broken out periodically.  There have been some priests beaten, and a few clashes were the city guard has had to put down a mob in the docks area.  Things are still tense, and some of the young priests have been stirring people up, while some of the guard patrols have been looking for trouble."

Lhovrik pipes up, "But if there are Vergdunians causing trouble, surely vigorous guard patrols are the right response."

"Oh, I don't question the response, dear, but the troubles are still unfortunate.  Oh, did you happen to see your cousins in Lir Galdra while you were travelling?  There have been some worrying rumors."

"No, it wasn't the sort of trip that allowed us to spend time visiting family, Mother.  What seems to be the matter?"

"Oh, I don't know for sure.  There have been some stories about a magical mishap-- some quite unpleasant stories.  I was hoping you might know the details.  You know I've never been close to those cousins, but I was still wondering." Lady cath Kalissar brightens as she changes the topic.  "Have you heard the big news?  The Emperor has appointed a new governor."

Ginara looks up with interest.  "Who is it?"

"Sir Korel cath Sanek.  His installation is scheduled for the first of Sixmonth.  It should be quite festive."

Lhovrik thinks for a second about what he's heard of Sir Korel.  A member of the most important family of Lir Sanek, he has spent the last several years as governor of one of the southern colonies, where he's earned a strong reputation.  He was dubbed a Champion for his heroism during the Kobold War, before he left the military for civilian appointments.

"What's happening to Governor cath Varish?" Lhovrik asks.

"She's been recalled to the imperial court to serve as an advisor.  It's hard to say what to make of that.  Sometimes that can mean a position of even greater importance, swaying policy throughout the Empire, but sometimes that means being put out to pasture.  You need to know the ins and outs of the court to figure out which, and I've never spent much time in the capital court-watching.  There are some who think that the Emperor wanted to make sure that the governorship didn't become an ancestral seat, but I don't think that's likely; Governor cath Varish has been in power for 10 years, but we've had longer serving governors, and while her father was once governor, that was 20 years earlier and there were three governors in between."

Lhovrik pauses for a moment.  "Could I speak with you about something, Mother?  Perhaps in your workshop?"

"Of course, dear.  If you'll excuse us . . ." Lady cath Kalissar smiles at Ginara.

"Fine." Ginara resignedly heads off to her room and resumes her habit of throwing daggers at the door.

Once they are in the scrying proof workshop, Lhovrik begins talking seriously to his mother.  "Is Kaelat cath Sallen still in the city?"

"I'm not sure, dear.  Your father hasn't spoken with him since their fight just before you left.  He was always more of your father's friend than mine, although I liked him well enough.  Loraton never did say what they fought about, and I didn't want to press him..."

"I think I know what they fought about.  Kaelat was opposed to the mission we were on and wanted it to fail.  I think he wanted to recruit Dad, or at least me through Dad, to try to make sure it failed."

"Why would he want to do that?  Kaelat served the Empire loyally for years.  He fought in the Kobold Wars with us..."

"That's why I think he wanted the mission to fail.  We were escorting a cargo of kobolds as part of a negotiation with a dragon in the North.  I'm pretty sure he was plotting against it, and Father refused to have anything to do with it."

"I see." Lady cath Kalissar pauses.  "I would be careful when talking to your father about this.  He lost a lot of friends during the war.  He'll take losing more friends because of it very hard."

"Some of Kaelat's agents may know that we played an instrumental role in making the mission succeed.  They may try to get revenge on us.  Do you think you could find out from friends in the Inquisition whether a Talin Cralith is still in the city?"

"I can try.  I've never had a lot of contacts among the Inquisitors, but I'll see what I can do."

Lhovrik heads to Ginara's room.  Hearing the familiar "thump" of daggers striking it, he's careful to knock before entering.

"Who is it?"

"Lhovrik."

"Oh, c'mon in."

Lhovrik enters her room cautiously, holding his familiar Misty out as a shield.  Ginara's expression brightens on seeing Misty, only to sour when Lhovrik flings the cat over his shoulder and down the staircase.

"I'm going to tell Mom you weren't treating your familiar well."

"I just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to throw a dagger at me."

"I've only thrown a dagger at you a few times.  And most of those were accidents!"

Lhovrik closes the door.  "Ginara... I want to talk with you a little about Uncle Kinric and about the trip."

Ginara smiles.  "I think that's the first time you've called him uncle."

Lhovrik thinks back to when he was a small child, when Kinric often visited the family and was always introduced to him as Uncle Kinric.  Of course, Kinric stopped visiting more than fifteen years ago.

"That's not important right now.  I don't think you should tell him the details of the trip."

"Why not?"

"You know how Father had a big fight with his old friend Kaelat before we left?  I think it was about the trip.  I think Kaelat was plotting against it."

"Uncle Kinric wouldn't do something like that.  He encouraged me to go on the trip and works for the Empire."

"Kaelat worked for the Empire as well.  This turned someone who has been a friend of this family for years against Dad.  And Kinric hasn't been a friend of this family for a long time."

"He's been a friend to me!" The hurt tone in Ginara's voice makes it clear that she thinks that not many people fall into that category.

"I'm just saying it could be dangerous to talk to people about what we did..." Lhovrik gives up and returns to his room to study before sleeping.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Sep 2, 2004)

Session 15 (cont'd):
Meanwhile, Melania searches for a new flat.  She thinks that either prices have gone up or she is missing the best deals, but she finds a room in a tenement in the Docks District at a reasonable rate.  The place isn't great, but the apartment is in a neighborhood that is somewhat nicer because it's near the Merchants District.  In any event, the price is acceptable, and it has the perks of a live-in landlord and a decent looking tavern and eatery down the street.  She settles in, unpacks, and heads to the tavern to get some food and catch up on the gossip.

She first shares a drink with a stranger and gossips about much the same news as Lhovrik and Ginara heard from their mother, although with a slightly different emphasis.  Her drinking partner is quick to imply that if she's Vergdunian, she should stay away from priests of any religion if she wants to stay safe, and is rather more excited about the prospects of a festival with free beer at the governor's installation than about the larger political issues.  Melania notes with interest the military background of the new governor.  Maybe Sister Aurora was right to think that war with Nusaybia is coming.

After a while in the tavern, a reasonably well-dressed, portly middle-aged man approaches her table.  "Mind if I join you?"

Melania gestures at the seat.  "Everyone's welcome in a public tavern, last I checked.  Suit yourself." She looks him over.  He's better dressed than most of the people in the tavern, wearing clothes similar in quality to her own.  But if he's a legitimate merchant, he's slumming for a meal.  "What's your name, stranger?"

"The name's Lathan." He comes straight to the point.  "I hear you know some people who might be interested in buying some magics, Melania."

"Maybe.  What sorts of magics?"

"Oh, I've got all kinds of things.  Some wands, some scrolls, a few specialty items.  I can probably also get specific things, if you know of buyers for them."

"These wouldn't be stolen, would they?"

Lathan feigns shock.  "Of course not.  All of these are perfectly legitimate.  And don't worry, they're fully paid up." Melania isn't quite sure what to make of the last comment, but she's pretty sure that the only question about Lathan is whether he's a fence or a smuggler.  "Anyway, it's a good time to buy.  The new governor has a lot of cronies who like having magics that provide some kick in a fight, if you know what I mean, and I could get you some wands they might be interested in buying later."

"I'll think about it, and let you know if I find anyone who's interested.  How could I find you, Lathan?"

"I stop in here a time or two most days.  You could probably meet me that way."

Across town, the Second Dro Sanek Lancers practice their maneuvers in one of the training fields.  A block of cavalry carefully wheels, then charges, then wheels again.  Ensign Vannser cath Elbesar is posted at the front left corner, while his superior, Lieutenant Devon cath Nortis rides at the right front and commands the detachment.  After they finish up their drills, the men are sent to water and feed their horses.  The officers hand their horses off to aides, and at the behest of one of the other horsemen head to see their captain.  As they enter the captain's command center, he looks up and smiles.  "I have a message for the two of you." He hands across a piece of parchment, creased shut, with a wax seal showing a symbol similar to the arms of the city.

Lieutenant cath Nortis obviously recognizes the seal.  Before breaking it, he pulls out a gold coin and taps it against the wax.  When he does, a small illusion of the seal appears, floating above the wax and vividly green.  The lieutenant shrugs apologetically at the captain, who just smiles in response.

"Excuse me, sir.  May I ask...."

"The Lieutenant was verifying the message's authenticity."

The lieutenant smiles in response to the writing in the parchment and passes it over to Vannser.  The message inside is brief and to the point:

	Lieutenant Devon cath Nortis
	Ensign Vannser cath Elbesar

	His Lordship the Commander of the Garrison of Dro Sanek requests and 	requires that you report to him for duty at daybreak tomorrow, the 26th day of 	Fifmonth.  You are to report to service on his staff until you receive further 	orders.

The Captain smiles at them.  "I have been informed separately of your new assignment.  Congratulations to both of you."

The officers shake hands with their now former commander and head out.

Devon turns to Vannser.  "I know you've been hoping for your lieutenancy, but this is a great opportunity for both of us.  No better way to get a promotion than to be on the Commander's staff, and they often assign staff officers out for special tasks that are a great place to win glory and promotion.  This is a fine thing for both of us."

Vannser smiles in return.  It is good news, but it's a much bigger opportunity for Devon.  After all, company commands are rare indeed; many lieutenants never get promoted.  On the other hand, Vannser's promotion is starting to be a little overdue.  He's not yet behind the average ensign, but if he were on a fast track he would have been promoted a few years ago.  Devon is only four years older than Vannser, but he has seven years of seniority as a lieutenant.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Oct 2, 2004)

Session 15 (cont'd):

In a nearby barracks, Dove reports back to her unit.  The duty officer smiles at her approach.  "Good to see you back, Skyrnath!  The captain will want to see you right away, so head on in."

"Thank you, sir.  It's good to be back."

Dove heads into her captain's office and comes to attention.

"Welcome back, Dovkania.  I hear from Sir Theron that you acquitted yourself well on your duties." The captain gestures at her with a piece of parchment covered with writing.  "I expected no less."

"Thank you, sir." Dove smiles with pride.

"I want to talk to you a little about where you want to go from here.  Sir Theron recommends you for promotion, and I agree.  I'm short a sergeant right now, and I want to offer you the position."

"Thank you, sir.  I'm honored, sir."

The captain smiles at Dove.  "I hope you'll take the position as a sergeant, but Sir Theron wanted me to tell you about some other options as well.  Sir Theron thought that you might be a better fit for special services.  I'd rather see you as a proper sergeant, but it's not my place to not pass on a Champion's suggestions.

"I could also probably get you a position as an ensign.  I won't make you an ensign in my company-- it's bad for morale to promote officers out of the ranks.  But I have some friends who command other companies who could probably find a place for you.  Of course, you would be older than most of the other ensigns.  Most of them start out young, when they don't know which side of a sword to hold, but they learn a lot about command from that.  It'll be tough for you to get promotions, but I could get you that position if you really want."

Dove thinks about the possibilities.  The special troops take care of dangerous, important missions: attacking enemy officers in their camps, retrieving strategically important magic items, killing dragons and other great threats on the battlefield.  A lot of the troops assigned to those duties end up dead, but those assignments make heroes and Champions as well.  "Do you have a recommendation, sir?"

"If it were my choice, I'd have you as one of my sergeants.  You'll do a good job and have a fine career.  There's nothing wrong with the sorts of work that Sir Theron and his types do, but that's not what keeps the Empire safe.  It's not the sort of honest work defending the Empire that real soldiers do.  As for becoming an officer... competing with caths, and starting out a little older...  it will be tough for you. I put more weight on what a person can do than on who their parents are, but nobles are most of the officers for a reason, and it's not a bad reason either."

"Can I have some time to think about it, sir?"

"Take as long as you want.  I'm going to fill the sergeant position within a fortnight; it's yours if you want it, but if you don't take it by then I'll give it to someone else.  If you decide you want it later, I'll give you the next free promotion I have, but it could be months, and believe me, the sooner you get the seniority to not be the junior-most sergeant, the happier you'll be.  So take as much time as you need, but let me know as soon as you can."

"Thank you, sir."

"Dismissed."

Sister Aurora enters the great temple complex that is her home and seeks out her mentor, Father Daybreak.  She assures him that she will file a report that is as complete as the Empire will permit soon, and they discuss the continuing troubles with the Vergdunians.  While both Father Daybreak and Sister Aurora approve in principle of evangelism, Father Daybreak expresses his concerns that some of the younger priests have been getting themselves into trouble.  Fortunately, none of the prosyletizing priests have been killed.

After discussing the news, Father Daybreak raises a different topic.  "I've been quite pleased with your progress in your studies and faith.  If you feel ready, Sister Aurora, you can be ordained during Luirta's holy days in a month."

Sister Aurora reacts with delight.  "Oh, thank you.  That will be an honor."

"You'll need to concentrate on your liturgical studies to prepare for the ordination ceremony.  And then, of course, we'll schedule you to lead your first service soon after the ordination.  I'm afraid that you won't be able to preach a major service in the cathedral.  Those spots are very hard to get."

"And I'm not a cath and don't have powerful friends."

"Indeed.  But you can lead a service at one of the parish churches, or we could probably schedule you for a more minor service at one of the cathedral chapels, I think.  You should start thinking about what readings you would like to write your homily about, because that will affect when we should schedule a service for you to lead.  You'll want to spend plenty of time working on your homily.  You want your first one to be memorable."

"Oh, of course.  I'll start thinking about it right away."

"Good.  We can talk about the details further as your ordination approaches."

Having put off dealing with their family as long as they can, Sister Aurora and Dove finally stop by their parents' house.  Their parents are very happy to see them again.  They quickly notice some changes in the household staff.  Their old nursemaid has been pensioned off, because Aurora and Dove's older sister, Desithia, insisted that she needed a new maid to help with the wedding preparations, and the family could not afford a fourth servant.  Their mother expects that Desithia will take Marna, her new halfling maidservant, with her when she sets up her own household after the wedding.  After mentioning the new governor, Madame Skyrnath quickly turns to matters related to their older sister's impending wedding.  Both of the younger daughters are surprised that even the installation of a new governor would delay the wedding, but their mother explains that it would be impossible for any other social event to make much of an impression if it was too close to the installation.  Even three weeks later, the wedding will be a little overshadowed.

Sister Aurora brightens at a thought.  "Maybe, since it's already been delayed, Desi could wait another couple of weeks.  Then I could perform the ceremony, after I've been ordained."

"Maybe, Dai, but you know how much your sister's looking forward to being married.  She probably won't want to delay it again.  And the priest we found for the ceremony has such a nice voice...  Oh, both of you should plan on coming to dinner here tomorrow night.  It will be a good opportunity to meet Desi's fiancé.  And maybe he could bring one of his brother officers, as well." Madame Skyrnath looks thoughtfully at Sister Aurora.  "Unless you would prefer to invite young Lhovrik cath Kalissar..."

"I suppose bringing another young officer could be good for Dove's career advancement.  He would be a useful contact."

Some further discussion ensues, while Sister Aurora almost willfully fails to take a hint about why her mother is discussing various possible other guests for the party.  Dove expresses her own amusement and decides to invite Ginara to join them, prompting Sister Aurora to agree to invite Lhovrik.  Sister Aurora also suggests that her mother employ Melania for musical entertainment during the party, partially as an audition for the much bigger job of providing wedding music.

Dove writes a note to Ginara, while Sister Aurora writes out a confused invitation telling Lhovrik that he should come to dinner tomorrow, either because he's going to be recruited for the army or "because of that other awkward thing I mentioned before."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Oct 8, 2004)

Session 15 (cont'd):
5/26

Before the dinner the next day, a few people take care of some errands.  Ginara drops in on Kinric to report on her trip to the North.  Kinric gives her a hard hug when she enters and then sends his guard to the end of the hall so that they can talk in private.  Ginara quickly describes all of the events in the North, while Kinric asks occasional clarifying questions.

"I wish we had been able to figure out more about Brother Moreth's death."

"Indeed.  Especially because of the connection to the Nusaybian Royal Guard."

"Do you think he was killed by the Nusaybians?"

"It's hard to tell.  Former Royal Guardsmen are popular as bodyguards, so he could simply have been working for a noble or a wealthy merchant."

"He did seem old enough that he could have been retired."

"And I don't usually send agents with tattoos on foreign operations.  Still, it's troubling.  It also means I should watch the Aretash more closely.  If he was involved in something nefarious..."

"Oh, I don't think he was doing anything wrong.  I just feel bad.  He was our travelling companion, and then he died."

Kinric looks at Ginara, and says with a kindly voice, "People die in our line of work, Ginara.  It's best that you get used to that while you're young.  It's sad when good people die, and if he was a loyal imperial subject, I can assure you we'll do what we can to avenge him.  But even if he was, you can't get too upset about it.  And if he wasn't, then he was no friend of yours, no matter what you may have thought."

Ginara pauses while she thinks about this.  "Uncle Kinric... is there going to be a war with Nusaybia?"

Kinric frowns.  "You know I can't answer that."

"There have been a lot of problems, and I'm worried that we might be going to war.  The effort with the dragon in the North, and the new governor..."

"There are serious problems with Nusaybia.  They refuse to honor the trade embargo with the Kobold Empire, and their trade strengthens our most serious enemies.  There are even those who say that they support the Kobold slave-taking.  If the conflicts over their smuggling continue, it may well escalate into war."

After some further discussion, Kinric turns to some more pleasant discussions.  "The installation of the new governor will also be an important social occasion.  You should attend some of the festivities; it's important to get used to it."

Ginara rolls her eyes, "Yeah, getting used to the silly social obligations of being a cath."

Kinric smiles wryly.  "I meant that it's important to get used to functioning well at state events in our line of work."

"Oh!" Ginara brightens up. "I hadn't thought about that."

"I should, I'm afraid, turn back to work for now.  I'll let you know if I find out anything about Brother Moreth's death." Kinric hugs Ginara again as she prepares to leave.  "It's good to have you safely back from your trip."

Later the same day, Melania seeks out Gwert and makes another payment of 10 gold on her debt.

That evening, the Skyrnath household bustles with activity as the family prepares for the dinner.  Melania arrives fairly early at the servants' entrance and is shown in by Marna, who takes care of setting up an appropriate place for Melania to play from and explaining the schedule for the music at the dinner.  Dove and Aurora also show up quite early. Dove wears her finest tabard, with the arms of her unit emblazoned on it.  Aurora wears her summer robes, which are still in good shape because she has been wearing the heavier weight robes since she took her current order.  Madame Datellia Skyrnath looks at her daughters, and with a sigh says to Dove, "Would it hurt you so much to wear a dress sometimes?  And did you really need to wear your swords to dinner?"

"I agreed to wear a dress for the wedding!  And he's an officer.  He'll be impressed to see me in a uniform."

Madame Skyrnath sighs.  "I suppose it will have to do."

Aurora broaches the subject of officiating at the wedding to her sister Desithia.

"I'm sorry, Dai, but I really don't want to delay the wedding any further.  Besides, Mother has already gone to great efforts to arrange for a priest who will do a really fine job with the wedding, and it's important that we impress my new in-laws.  You know how much Mother cares about making an impression."

The rejection feels very bitter to Aurora, but she tries to put on a brave face anyway.

Lhovrik and Ginara are the next to arrive.  The Skyrnath parents greet Lord Lhovrik effusively and Ginara with reasonable warmth, and the Skyrnath children quickly begin talking with their friends, while Desithia stands a little apart.  Melania gracefully plays incidental music, but not loudly enough to interfere with conversation.

After a few minutes of conversation, the Skyrnath's butler steps into the room to formally announce an arrival: "His Lordship, Ensign Lord Vannser cath Elbesar."

Vannser strides gracefully into the room, wearing a dress cavalry officer's uniform that bears the arms of both his unit and his family.  A fine longsword hangs comfortably from his hip.  As his name is announced, Melania stumbles in her playing.  Aurora, Lhovrik, and Ginara all glance over at Melania in surprise; while she has not made any terrible mistakes, her performances usually do not include errors as bad as what they just heard.  At the same time, Dove notices that Vannser's easy smile stiffens as he notices who the musician is.

Vannser greets Desithia and his future parents-in-law, and Madame Skyrnath promptly introduces him to her other daughters and their guests.  Vannser compliments Dove on her fine sword, and she mentions having won it in battle on an expedition to the North with her friends.  Meanwhile, Lhovrik and Aurora quietly but enthusiastically discuss Melania's unusual reaction to Vannser's entrance, trying to figure out what caused it.  Madame Skyrnath looks around at the party, as the servants bring around trays of canapes, and is momentarily disappointed to notice that Aurora has made little effort to meet Vannser.  But then she realizes that Aurora isn't paying any attention to her sister's future husband because she's too busy spending time with Lhovrik, and her discontent turns into a broad smile.  When Dove and Ginara get a chance to talk privately, they quietly exchange their own observations about Vannser and Melania, punctuated by discussions of clothing, with Ginara grumbling about having to wear a dress while Dove exults in wearing a uniform and wonders whether she could get away with a uniform for the wedding.

After a few minutes of conversation, the party proceeds into dinner.  As usual for Skyrnath events, the linens are of the highest quality, rather nicer than the rest of the place settings.  The dinner is good, but not exceptional, because the Skyrnaths cannot afford a truly elite cook.  But they have pulled out all the stops to impress their noble guests and have been successful enough.

Vannser asks the others about their trip to the North, and Lhovrik is almost standoffish in his refusal to describe any information about it, even to the level of whether he played a diplomatic, military, or mystic role in it.  Ginara, annoyed by her brother's behavior, talks some about the fights against the kobolds in the north, reasoning that conflict with kobolds is not really much of a secret.

The group also asks Vannser about his military experience, and he explains that his unit has fought several engagements with local bandits.  The outgoing governor is very serious about suppressing banditry and other threats to trade; at the first reports of bandit activity, a group of rangers, much like Dove's company, are sent to flush the bandits out, while a detachment of cavalry waits on the roads and in the fields to destroy the bandits when the footsoldiers force them out of the safety of the forests.  Vannser has been on several such expeditions.  He also mentions his new assignment and the increased opportunities for promotion that it promises.  

Aurora turns to Vannser and asks without preamble whether he thinks there will be war with Nusaybia.  Her parents blanch a little, but Vannser handles it in stride, saying that the new governor and some of the preparations could be in case of war, but that there has not been the large military buildup that would be expected if war is imminent.  He also assures them that the military is ready to defend the Empire, and that if war comes, the Empire will surely win easily.  The discussion of the new governor leads to a segue into politics.  Prompted by a question from his daughters, Gerrod Skyrnath mentions his concerns about the new governor.  Governor cath Varish has been a very effective leader from the perspective of the family's business, providing for smooth and profitable trade both locally and abroad.  He also discusses the more immediate concerns: they will be expected to give their workers a paid holiday for the festivities around the installation.  At the same time, many people will want to commission fancy new clothing, so the family business will probably profit from the festivities overall, even with the loss of work on the holiday itself.  The real question is whether the new governor will be as effective a leader.  Sir Korel has a good reputation, but has less of an orientation towards commerce.

After dinner, the group begins to disperse.  Before leaving, Vannser carefully mentions to both Desithia and her parents that he was not very pleased with the musician, and they assure him that they will find a different musician for the wedding.  Lhovrik kisses Aurora's hand before departing, leaving a flustered Aurora and a beaming Madame Skyrnath.

After the dinner, Aurora goes into the kitchen, where Melania is sharing a dinner with the servants, to find out whether something is wrong.  Melania explains that she used to know Vannser and that his presence surprised her, and Aurora accepts this explanation without questioning further.  Aurora then proceeds to ask Melania for advice on figuring out what to make of Lhovrik's sudden displays of interest, after how rude he has been before.  Melania replies that she thinks that Lhovrik is interested in Aurora, although perhaps with a certain amount of confusion, and asks whether Aurora is interested in Lhovrik.  This question stumps Aurora, who is very confused and hapless, while Melania is simply glad that the conversation is no longer about her.  After some further efforts to help sort out what Aurora feels, Melania heads home to be alone with her own mixed feelings.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Oct 22, 2004)

Session 15 (cont'd):

5/27

The next day passes uneventfully.  The group continues to attend to the transition back into the life of the city, taking care of various routine tasks that did not merit dealing with as soon as they returned.  In addition, they train rigorously, to try to master some of the skills that they developed on the trip to the North.  They arrange to meet in the afternoon of the following day to look into having Lhovrik's instructor in wizardry, Master Verifax, identify the magic that they gained on the trip to the North.

5/28

Early in the morning, a message reaches Aurora at the temple and Dove at her barracks, asking each of them to come to their parents' house as soon as they can.  They both hurry home and find their parents waiting for them, worrying.

"Do you know where Desi is?"

Aurora startles in response to the unexpected question.  "No... what do you mean?"

Her father responds more calmly but with an undertone of concern, "Desi wasn't in her room this morning.  We fear that she didn't come home last night, and we don't know where she is."

Dove asks, "What about Marna, her new halfling maid?  Does she know anything?"

Their mother sighs.  "Marna isn't here either.  She occasionally spends the night with her family, but usually is here."

Gerrod Skyrnath continues, almost as if thinking aloud, "We didn't even notice that she didn't come in last night, just that she wasn't here in the morning.  It's probably nothing... she probably just spent the night with Vannser.  They haven't before, but of course we don't disapprove of a night with a young man, especially when that young man is her fiancé.  But it would be terribly . . . awkward if we inquired after her with Vannser and she hadn't been with him."

Aurora and Dove quickly determine that the last time anyone definitely saw Desi was in the late afternoon the day before, when she went on some errands with Marna in preparation for the wedding.  Master Skyrnath knows that she visited his shop to consult with one of the senior employees on the tablecloths for the reception.

Aurora's suspicion quickly turns to Marna, the new servant.  She asks the butler for his opinion of Marna.

"Marna is a good enough servant, although she hasn't yet learned a proper sense of decorum.  I've had to chide her a few times about being too obtrusive in her efforts.  Still, she keeps Mistress Desithia's room well and is competent in her duties."

"How long has she been here?"

"Some few weeks.  When we needed a new servant, your mother asked around among her friends, Mistress Daimonia.  One of them had briefly employed Marna, the daughter of their long-time servant, to help with entertaining some guests who were visiting for a few weeks.  They no longer needed her services, but recommended her well, so your mother hired her on to assist Mistress Desithia." The butler quickly gives Aurora Marna's mother's address and the name of the family that recommended her.

Dove, meanwhile, searches Desi's room.  The bed is made, and the room appears to be in order.  A small amount of jewelry is missing, including one of Desi's favorite necklaces, but their mother thinks that Desi was wearing that necklace the previous day.  There are no signs of a break-in or struggle.  Aurora takes one of Desi's scarves, in case they need to scry on her.

Dove and Aurora head to their father's shop, because that's the last place they know Desi went.  Merrik, one of their father's most senior tailors, greets them warmly as they come in.  "Mistress Daimonia, Mistress Dovkania, so good to see you.  Are you here about the wedding preparations?  I hadn't planned on fitting you today."

"Good day, Merrik," Sister Aurora responds.  "You know that I prefer to be called Sister Aurora."

He smiles.  "I do know that, Mistress Daimonia, and someday I'm sure that I shall call you that, but as long as your father calls you 'Dai,' it behooves me to call you 'Mistress Daimonia.'"

"Soon, I'll have to ask people to call me Mother Aurora."

"Indeed?  Congratulations on your impending ordination." Merrik begins looking through some ornate fabrics.  "We shall have to prepare formal vestments for you.  No daughter of the Skyrnaths will be ordained in common robes bought from a rack..."

Dove interrupts.  "I'm sure that Aurora will be happy to come back to get her robes ready.  But we have more important things to worry about right now.  Did you see Desi yesterday?"

"Indeed I did.  Mistress Desithia came by with her halfling maidservant to work on picking out the fabrics to be used for the tablecloths and placesettings."

"Do you remember when that was?"

"Midafternoon, I should think.  Why do you ask?"

"Desi didn't come home last night, and we're worried about her.  This shop is the last place we know she went."

"Oh, my.  I do hope she's alright.  Perhaps she went to visit with her young lord?"

"Perhaps.  But we'd like to figure out where she went."

"I'm afraid I don't know where she went when she left here.  I think she may have headed towards the Docks, but as you know, there are any number of different stores between here and the end of the Merchants Quarter."

Dove and Aurora thank Merrik for his assistance and head out.  They ask a few of the street vendors whether they remember seeing Desi, but their father's shop is on a busy road, and a well-dressed young woman with a halfling servant is simply not remarkable enough to be remembered.

The sisters travel to Marna's family's flat in the halfling quarter and speak briefly with Marna's younger brother, but he is unable to tell them anything useful.  They do convince him to give them a piece of Marna's clothing, again for scrying purposes.  By this point, they are very late to meet their friends to discuss the magic they got in the North.

At Dro Sanek, Ensign Vannser cath Elbesar works on some of the routine paperwork that junior officers on the commander's staff frequently need to deal with.  Late in the morning, a messenger delivers a short message from Vannser's father, requesting that he come home during lunch.  After finishing up the morning's work, Vannser heads to his father's townhouse in one of the nice areas of the Castle District that is filled with successful officers' homes.

"Ah!  I'm glad you got my message.  A letter was delivered for you this morning.  I thought you should see it as soon as possible."

Vannser follows his father's gesture and sees a plain, sealed letter waiting for him.  The letter has a plain, unornamented wax seal that gives no indication of who sent it and also has the words "Urgent" and "Private" written on the outside, in addition to Vannser's name.

Vannser breaks the seal and quickly scans the message within:

	We have your fiancee, as you can see from the scrap enclosed.  If you wish to see 	her again, come alone to the Imperial Arms and bring one of the Commander's 	Seals at noon tomorrow.

Included within the letter is a small scrap cut from a dress.  Vannser tries to remember whether he has seen Desithia wearing a dress made of that material, but is sure that the message is real.

He immediately shows the letter to his father.  "What do you think I should do?"

His father sighs.  "You can't do what they ask.  Giving them one of the Commander's Seals would be treason.  The proper thing to do would be to go to the Inquisitors.  But if you do that, your fiancee will almost surely die.  You probably can handle it yourself.  If you can rescue her and deal with the threat quickly, people will overlook the irregularities."

"Do you think the Inquisitors would care about this kidnapping?"

"Because the kidnappers asked for the Commander's Seal...  The Inquisitors investigate a lot of ordinary crimes, but they exist to handle threats to the Empire.  Preventing one of the Commander's Seals from falling into the wrong hands would be their top priority.  Worrying about Desithia's safety would not be nearly as important to them."

Vannser quickly sends a message to Dove at her company, asking her to meet him that evening, as soon as he finishes his duties for the day.  He then returns to finish his tasks for the day.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Nov 7, 2004)

Meanwhile, Lhovrik, Ginara, and Melania have been meeting with Master Verifax, Lhovrik's instructor.  Even at the special rate that he offers to the cath Kalissar family, it would cost several hundred gold to have him identify all of their finds.  Lhovrik decides to simply have Master Verifax teach him the spell to identify magic.  Master Verifax also agrees to attempt to identify the potions they recovered through mundane means.

They spend a while talking, wondering what has been delaying Aurora and Dove.  Eventually, Dove and Aurora arrive and bring their friends up to speed.  They quickly agree on dividing up further investigation.  They worry that the kidnapping may be motivated by some of their enemies.  Vergdunians?  Or maybe Sildra, the thief and fence from whom they recovered the Galerian statuette.  Melania thinks that Sildra might be acting for revenge, but that it is unlikely because there's no way for her to profit from it.  Still, they need to chase the leads they have.  Lhovrik asks the butler whether his mother is available, but finds out that she is enchanting an item and cannot be disturbed to perform a scrying.

Lhovrik travels to the Inquisitor's building and asks to speak with Inquisitor Telan, because he has become aware of another kidnapping.  He is sent into an office with no windows, where an Inquisitor-- it could be Telan, but how can he tell with the hood and face mask in place-- greets him and refers to a file.  Lhovrik can see that the file has to do with the Vergdunians.  He presses both on the question of any recent kidnappings, but also prods about whether the Inquisitors have arrested Talin Crelith, at which point the Inquisitor stops talking.  Lhovrik is finally shown out.

Aurora, Dove, Melania, and Ginara head to speak with Marna's mother at her employer's place.  Marna's mother is very dismayed to hear that there is a problem with Marna.  Marna was always a good child.  Marna started working a little later than would have been ideal for the family, but after her older brother started working she needed to take care of her younger siblings.  Marna's mother works long hours, so the oldest child needs to take care of the younger children.  It was also difficult for Marna to find work; the competition is fierce, and of course, there's always competition from people who buy help.  "Not that there's anything wrong with that-- I got my start with this family as a debt-slave, before I worked my way to freedom."

Sister Aurora asks the difficult questions.  "Did Marna have a boyfriend or other close friends?"

"There were lads who she would see sometiems.  No one particularly special."

"What about her older brother?  Maybe he's seen her more recently."

"I don't know.  We don't see him very much." She seems upset to be talking about her son.

"Who does he work for?"

"Hedron Minor cath Veda.  He's an officer.  My husband used to work for his father." No one recognizes the noble's name, but at least it's a further lead.  They head off to speak with the brother.

"What do you suppose the oddness about her son was?" Dove asks.

"Her son's a slave!  That's what she was embarrassed about." Sister Aurora explains authoritatively.

"I'm not sure about that," Melania responds.  "Most officers don't use slaves for servants.  In a dangerous situation, they want someone they can trust."

They travel to meet Hedron Minor cath Veda.  Hedron is a young officer, and meets them with Marna's brother.  He refuses to allow them to speak to Marna's brother without him.  They ask Marna's brothers a series of questions about Marna but fail to find out anything useful.  Hedron Minor wishes them success.  He cares about Marna's brother.  "I was surprised when he asked me if I needed a servant.  Of course I said yes."

"Why were you surprised?" asks Sister Aurora.

"Because his father was working for my father when they were killed.  My father was an officer in the Kobold War.  They often attacked the officers.  The fireball killed his father as well."

Dove meets with Vannser, who shows her the letter.  He asks her to bring in her sister and the cath Kalissars.  When they meet up, Melania is there as well, to Vannser's chagrin.  Sister Aurora and Dove are suprised to find out that the kidnapping was about Vannser, not about them.  They examine the letter, but find out little.  Ginara can tell that whoever wrote it is fully literate, but not a scribe or someone else with a particularly practiced hand.  Lhovrik detects magic, but the note comes up clean.  Lady cath Kalissar has finished her tasks for the day, so Lhovrik asks her to scry on the owners of the two items.  She agrees, and takes him into her lab, where she moves back the lead barrier with a gesture and then activates her crystal ball.  Even with her ability, she is unable to produce an image for either of them.  "I'm sorry, dear.  They must be shielded," Lhovrik's mother gestures at the lead barriers she maintains to prevent scrying on her house.  "Assuming the best, of course."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Dec 1, 2004)

Session 15, cont'd:

They quickly decide that Kinric is the best option they have.

Ginara leads Dove and Vannser to see Kinric.  He was just about to leave when she arrives, but immediately returns to his office and sends the guard to the end of the hall, figuring that whatever brought the group here has to be important.  They explain the situation.

"Oh, f**k." Kinric grimaces.  "Let me see the note." He fishes out a small lens from a drawer.  "No magic on the note."

"Any idea of who could be behind it?"

"The problem is there are too many suspects.  It could be simple greed; one of the Commander's Seals would sell for tens of thousands of gold.  But it would be difficult to sell a Seal.  It's much more likely that the plot is coming from someone who is an enemy of the Empire.  Could be the kobolds.  Could be the Nusaybians.  Could be someone else.  The handwriting on the note isn't in the Nusaybian style-- they shape their 'e's a little differently than we do.  But that could be someone who has been in the Empire for a long time."

"Do you think they thought he might actually go along with it?"

"People do stupid things to protect their loved ones.  Besides, they might actually release her if he brought a Seal.  In addition to the Seal's value, they would then own him, since they would have blackmail information that would get Vannser executed if it were ever released.  That's probably worth the risk of letting Desithia go.  She might be alive because of that." Dove blanches at the implicationg that Desi might already be dead or might be killed soon.

"What can we do?  Could we send a fake Seal?"

"Sure, I could have something that looks like a Seal made.  But I can't have it enchanted; any seal that produced the magic effect of one of the real Seals would be too dangerous.  If that fell into enemy hands... thousands of people could die."

Vannser speaks up.  "Maybe you could send someone to follow the person I'm supposed to meet?"

"Maybe.  But it's dangerous.  A lot of my people in the city are known to work for me.  If any of them are spotted, they'll kill Desithia.  It would be better if you handled it.  The sisters would be recognized, but it would be possible for some of the rest of you to watch the meeting."

Vannser thinks aloud.  "I could play for time, I guess.  Try to get them to take me to her, to show me that she's alive."

Kinric nods.  "I can take care of some of the problems afterwards, if questions are raised about why you didn't go to the Inquisitors.  In a sense, you did go to the appropriate authorities.  But you'll need to get her back, and quickly."

With that cheerful thought, the group leaves, to think and plan.

End of Session 15


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## Cerebral Paladin (Dec 9, 2004)

Session 16:

5/29

After some further discussion the night before, the group has a plan for how to get more information on Desi.  The plan really begins with Vannser's meeting at the Imperial Arms at noon, but the group takes care of some preparations beforehand.  Melania and Dove shop for disguise supplies, and Melania does her best to make it not entirely obvious that Dove is Desi's sister.  Ginara asks Kinric to prepare a fake of the Commander's Seal, in case they need to make an exchange.  Kinric warns her of the dangers with this plan, but agrees to have it made.

Around noon, Vannser leaves his station and heads to the Imperial Arms.  The rest of the group has already set up.  Melania waits in the Imperial Arms, blending in with the rest of the clientele.  Ginara is in the street outside the tavern, most of a block away.  Dove, disguised as best as she can, watches Ginara from further away.  Lhovrik, in turn, waits outside a temple on a side street, ready to follow Dove.  Finally, Sister Aurora, the most obvious person in the group besides Vannser, prays quietly in the temple, waiting to hear from Lhovrik.

Vannser arrives at the tavern and takes a seat at an empty table.  He looks around the room, but does not notice anyone except for Melania paying attention.  Fortunately, Melania notices that a heavily built, balding man in leathers is clearly focusing his attention on Vannser.  After a few minutes, a nondescript man, perhaps thirty years old, with light, unkempt hair and a thin, clean-shaved face approaches Vannser's table and seats himself.

After looking around to make sure no one is listening in, the man gets right down to business.  "Did you bring it?"

"I couldn't yet.  I haven't had a good opportunity to get one.  It wouldn't do any of us any good if I'm stopped while trying to smuggle it out."

"You were supposed to bring it today."

"How do I even know she's safe?  You have to let me see her."

The man sneers.  "You know I can't take a chance like that.  You'll see her when you get us the thing.  We're not interested in hurting her-- if you make the delivery, we'll let her go."

"I still need proof that she's alive.  Have her write a note to me."

"Will you be able to recognize her handwriting?"

"I wouldn't be able to recognize a good forgery."  Vannser pauses.  "I'll ask a question that only she would know the answer to."

The man thinks for a bit.  "Alright.  But you'll need to bring it with you next time.  When I give you the note, I expect you to give me it back." He takes out a scrap of parchment and a piece of charcoal and passes it over to Vannser.

Vannser quickly scribbles a message:
	Desithia- this is Vannser.  I need to know that you're actually safe, so please 	describe your wedding dress so I know this message has reached you.  I'll get 	you free soon.

He folds the scrap and passes it back to Desi's captor.

Melania concludes that she's seen what she needs to see.  She quietly slips out, carefully watching to make sure that neither the man Vannser's speaking with nor the man in the corner who was paying so much attention to Vannser pay attention to her leaving.  Satisfied that she wasn't recognized, Melania hurries over to Ginara and gives her a description of the man Vannser was speaking with.  Having mostly finished her part in the plan, Melania heads to the temple where Sister Aurora is praying, and begins offering some prayers in another side chapel.

The kidnapper puts away the note.  "You understand that we'll need to get the object next time.  I don't want any funny business."

"I understand.  But it might take me a while to get it.  They keep a close eye on the Seals."

The man looks skeptical.  "With your position, it should be easy to get."

"It might take a while to do it secretly, though.  I think I could get it for you within two days."

The kidnapper thinks that over.  "No good.  You can have until tomorrow evening.  But I expect to be able to get it from you then."

"I can do that.  It will be a little difficult, but that should be enough time."

"I'll meet you here at about 6 tomorrow evening.  I expect you to have it with you."

"I will."

Vannser remains at the table as the man leaves.  He wants to give the man some time to get ahead of him.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Dec 15, 2004)

Session 16 (cont'd):

Ginara easily spots the man Melania described.  He doesn't appear to have spotted her, but he's moving quickly and seems to be trying to avoid being followed.  Ginara sneaks after him, careful to avoid being seen while trying to keep a clear view of the man.  Dove follows Ginara easily.  Lhovrik spots Dove beginning to move and calls in to the temple for Sister Aurora.  When she doesn't leave immediately, he calls in again.  Melania concludes that they're being a little more obvious than anything she wants to be part of and stays behind as they fall in behind Dove.

Ginara follows the man as he makes a few quick turns and carefully hides as he looks over his shoulder.  She isn't sure whether he's seen her, but she's slowly following further behind him.

Meanwhile, Vannser leaves the tavern and begins walking towards where Lhovrik and Aurora were waiting.  As he sees them approaching, he turns to join them.  Sister Aurora is rather surprised, since she thought the plan was for the rest of them to follow the contact while Vannser went his own way to avoid revealing any pursuit.  Still, they all begin walking along until they notice that when Vannser changed directions, a bystander also stopped walking along and then followed in the new direction.  Vannser realizes that the bystander was one of the other people in the tavern, the large bald man.  Much to Lhovrik's confusion, Sister Aurora and Vannser insist that they stop for lunch and pull him into a different tavern.  To nobody's surprise, the man follows them in.  They eat a quick lunch-- with someone following them, they clearly can't follow Dove and Ginara without giving up the whole plan.  Much to their chagrin, they can see that the man is writing on a piece of parchment.  After looking more carefully, they realize that he is sketching a picture of Lhovrik.  They finish their meal, and then disperse before heading back to the cath Kalissar house to continue their planning.

Ginara continues to trail the man who spoke with Lhovrik, while Dove keeps a watchful eye on her.  After about a half-hour of travel, the man loses Ginara, leaving her at a major intersection.  She knows he turned, but isn't sure whether he headed left, towards the noble district, or right, towards the Merchant Quarter.  She makes a quick choice and heads right.  Her guess is rewarded when she sees the man she's been following taking a cross street deeper into the Merchant Quarter.  After that close call, she's easily able to follow him the rest of the way.  As he enters the Dock Quarter, the man begins to walk casually, apparently believing that he's lost any pursuit he may once have had.  Ginara increases the care she takes to remain hidden, and follows him to a tenement building.  She watches as he heads in the main door of the tenement.  After a few minutes of waiting with Dove, they conclude that he must be holed up somewhere within the building and return to report to their friends, arriving right as the rest of the group begins worrying about whether anything has happened to them. 

The group quickly discusses what to do next.  The discussion focuses on where the kidnappers might be hiding Desi in the building that Ginara and Dove found.  Lhovrik thinks about how scrying can be blocked and realizes that a basement area would be the easiest to proof against scrying, because a simple layer of lead in the ceiling of the basement would be sufficient, whereas an above-ground room would need to have lead along all the walls.  They begin planning ways to further investigate the basement of the building that the kidnapper returned to.  Dove and Ginara report that there were two basement apartments, each with its own entrance from the outside.  The group initially discusses searching them, but concludes that since the kidnapper went into the main entrance, it's likely that there's an internal connection to the basement.

Melania sets off to gather more clues.  She heads into the tenement, notes the stairs leading down into the basement, and knocks on the door of the groundfloor apartment that belongs to the landlady.  A plump, friendly older woman greets her.

"I was wondering if you could rent me a flat."

"Aye, I do have some rooms available."

"I don't have a lot of money, so if you have anything really cheap, like a basement apartment, that would be perfect."

The landlady thinks for a second.  "Both of the basement apartments are let right now.  I do have a small room on the fifth floor, at a reasonable price."

Melania allows the landlady to show her the room.  "I'll have to think about it.  There are some other places I'm looking at." She makes a show of looking around.  "Do you have any storage space available?"

"Oh, yes.  You could rent one of the bins in the basement for a silver each month."

"Can I see them?  Even if I lodge elsewhere, I may want to rent one."

The landlady takes Melania down to the basement.  The stairs lead to an area of wooden stalls, some locked, others merely latched close.  All of the stall doors would allow enough sound out that Melania confidently concludes that Desi could not be trapped in any of them.  She also sees from the layout that in addition to the two basement apartments, the two first-floor apartments must each have a private access to the basement.  To keep a way into the building, Melania agrees to rent one of the storage areas and heads out to report.

She describes what she's seen, and the group quickly hammers out a plan.  Desi must be in the basement of the other first floor apartment, so Ginara and Dove will enter the building under the cover of Lhovrik's invisibility spell.  Lhovrik, Aurora, and Vannser will wait outside, while Melania lurks among the storage bins, ostensibly moving her stuff in.  The plan is to give Dove and Ginara about 30 seconds to get the door open, at which point the rest of the group will charge in.  They figure that after they've captured the kidnappers, they can sort out any problems this may cause with the watch easily enough.

Dove and Ginara slip in to the building quietly.  They rush to the door to the suspected apartment, and Ginara quickly picks the simple lock on the door.  Both Dove and Ginara can hear loud conversation within, so Ginara cracks the door open a little, trying to get a view of the miscreants within.  Instead, she sees a large family having dinner, until the father mutters at one of his kids for leaving the door open and walks over to close it.  Desperately sure they must have made an error, Dove and Ginara rush out and tell their anxiously waiting friends that they need to check another door, mere seconds before the rest of the group would have charged in and attacked.  They next try the landlady's apartment; she's doing some knitting in the bedroom, so Dove and Ginara are able to slip entirely inside.  They check the basement, the kitchen, and even the privy, but there's no sign of Desi or of any den of kidnappers.  They quietly exit, and once again prevent their friends from attacking innocents in a mad rush.  Much less sure of their plan, they approach the basement apartments more carefully.  Some investigations confirm that Desi is not in these, either.


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## thatdarncat (Dec 15, 2004)

I like the weekly updates, thanks


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## Cerebral Paladin (Dec 23, 2004)

Session 16 (cont'd):

Our heroes regroup, as the invisibility wears off.  It now seems that Desi is not in that building's basement, at least.  But they still know that the man who contacted Vannser must be inside.  Ginara and Dove both hide where they can keep an eye on the building, while the rest of the group go to a nearby tavern to wait for their signal.  Ginara keeps Misty, Lhovrik's familiar, with her.  Lhovrik finds the empathic smug contentment Misty sends him as Ginara pets her far more annoying than Misty's usual emotions.

After a few hours of watching, the kidnapper emerges from the building.  Ginara and Dove both tail him and he shows no sign of having noticed them.  After a few minutes of walking, he enters a small store.  Ginara and Dove lurk outside and decide to ambush him if he heads back to his home.  Ginara ducks in one alley, while Dove waits in another 50 feet further on.  Each readies her sap, or in Dove's case, saps.

Sure enough, the kidnapper begins walking back the way he came.  As he approaches the alleyway where Ginara waits, he spots her waiting with her sap out.  He warily draws two daggers and gestures at her, letting her know that she's been spotted, but makes no aggressive moves.  Ginara straightens up and makes it clear that she's not planning on attacking an aware target.  The kidnapper walks onwards, unperturbed but more alert.  After all, this sort of thing happens in the Docks all the time.

When he spots Dove a little later, his attitude changes.  His face betrays recognition and worry, and he turns to run.  Unfortunately for him, Dove is faster and leaps out from the alley to begin battering him with her saps.  Ginara runs up to help, and the man begins fighting back, sure that his only hope of escape is to defeat one of his attackers.  But before the combined attack of both Dove and Ginara, he is quickly pummelled unconscious.

"Quick," says Ginara, "let's get him into the alley where we won't draw any attention."

"Right." They drag the unconscious form back into the alley and hide it behind a pile of rubble.  "How can we get the rest of them to join us to interrogate him?"

Ginara looks at the cat, contentedly sitting by her feet.  She begins petting it, pleading "Good Misty, send for Lhovrik, tell Lhovrik we need him, let Lhovrik know to come." Misty just purrs and snuggles up to Ginara.  Back at the inn, Lhovrik only feels an increased sense of happiness and tries even more resolutely to ignore Misty.  After a few minutes of ineffectual pleading, Ginara gets a pained expression on her face.  "I'm really sorry about this Misty..." At the end of petting Misty, Ginara grabs the cat's tail and yanks hard.  The sudden feeling of fear, surprise, and pain gets Lhovrik's attention.

"We should go.  Something's happened to Misty.  With luck, she won't make it, but we need to make sure Ginara and Dove are okay."

It still takes the rest of the group some time to find Ginara, but they eventually do through a combination of Dove looking for them and knowing that Dove and Ginara are somewhere near the tenement.  When they are all gathered near the prisoner, Lhovrik proposes a plan.

"I'll cast charm on him, we'll wake him up, ask if he's my friend, and then we can see if the charm worked."

"I'd lie, if I were in that situation," Sister Aurora objects.  A second later, she clarifies, "I mean, <b>I</b> wouldn't lie, but I think he would."

"Right.  So I'll just have to start asking him some questions."

The group carefully binds and gags the prisoner, and Lhovrik casts his spell.  They then wake the prisoner up.

Lhovrik begins speaking.  "You know that you can trust me, right?"

The prisoner nods.

"Can you write?" The prisoner nods again.  "Untie one of his hands so that he can write." Dove unties his right arm, but looms menacingly over him.  "Could you write your name, so I know what to call you?"

--Olin Charit.  Can you untie me?

"My friends won't let me.  But you can trust me.  I won't let them hurt you."

Olin pauses.  --Your friends are dangerous.  You need to get away.

"They won't hurt you.  They're just worried about Desi.  Do you know where Desi is?"

--Yes.

"Where is she, Olin?  We need to know that she's safe."

A war of wills takes place as Lhovrik tries to use the power of the charm to force Olin to answer.  Olin shakes his head.  --Can't tell you.
Olin gestures at where he already wrote "Your friends are dangerous."

The group leaves Olin back in the alley and moves further out to discuss what to do next.

"I won't be able to compel him to answer," explains Lhovrik.

Sister Aurora points out, "I could cast a zone of truth."

"But he wouldn't need to answer."

Sister Aurora looks grim.  "I think we should just zone of truth him and leave me and Vannser in a room with him." Several other people seem slightly shocked by this suggestion, but Vannser nods enthusiastically.

Lhovrik responds, "We would need to move him first to a place where no one would hear him before we do that."

Sister Aurora points out, "I can cast silence."

"Ummm...then we won't be able to hear him." Vannser reminds Aurora, who looks quite crestfallen.


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## spyscribe (Dec 24, 2004)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> Sister Aurora points out, "I can cast silence."
> 
> "Ummm...then we won't be able to hear him." Vannser reminds Aurora, who looks quite crestfallen.




Doh!  An adventurer's best-laid plans...


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## GreenArmadillo (Dec 28, 2004)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> As he approaches the alleyway where Ginara waits, he spots her waiting with her sap out.  He warily draws two daggers and gestures at her, letting her know that she's been spotted, but makes no aggressive moves.  Ginara straightens up and makes it clear that she's not planning on attacking an aware target.  The kidnapper walks onwards, unperturbed but more alert.  After all, this sort of thing happens in the Docks all the time.




I don't know if this was a good Bluff roll by Ginara, a bad Sense Motive by the thug, or just a great Craft (Gameworld) roll by Cerebral Paladin, but the result was cool.  This seems like the type of thing that might happen in such a seedy area, but it isn't an example that I can recall ever seeing before.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jan 3, 2005)

Thanks, GreenArmadillo.  I don't think there were any dice rolled in that interaction, although I can't remember for sure.  It was just trying to think through how the NPC would react.

Anyway, time for a (little behind schedule) weekly post...


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jan 3, 2005)

Session 16, cont'd:

"Before we try any of that, I could also charm him and try to convince him to talk," suggests Melania.

"Why don't we move him first?  It'll be easier if we do that in a private place, where we can safely let him talk," Ginara responds.

After Melania rejects the idea of using another of her apartments for interrogation purposes, the group moves Olin to a private room of an inn that they rent specifically for this purpose.  Melania and Lhovrik go into the room with Olin while the rest of the group waits outside.

Melania casts her spell and begins trying to warm Olin up.  "Are you from Lir Sanek?"

Olin, glad to finally be able to actually speak, responds, "I've been here for a long time."

"Where did you come from?"

After a pause, Olin answers, "that's not really important."

Lhovrik begins getting impatient.  "Ask him the important question."

Melania faces Olin.  "We really need to know where Desi is.  Can you help us Olin?"

"I can't tell you that.  It's too important, and your friends are dangerous.  I know you and Lhovrik are good people, but your friends ambushed me.  If I tell you where Desi is, they'll just try to rescue her.  We can't let that happen."

"Is she safe at least?"

"Oh, yes.  I checked on her earlier today, and she was fine.  A little scared, but unharmed.  We don't want to hurt her..."

Lhovrik thinks for a second.  "How did you know my name?"

"One of my allies saw you with Vannser, sketched a picture of you, and then asked around to find out who you were.  When he did, he passed on the picture and information to me, so I could keep an eye out for you.  I didn't realize then that I could trust you." Olin shrugs apologetically for having doubted his "good friend" Lhovrik.

"Was your friend the bulkier person who watched your meeting with Vannser?  What's his name?" Melania asks.

"Yes, that was him.  Morgan."

"Is Morgan your boss?"

"Not really.  He's sort of acting that way with this thing, because I'm the one who's exposed, so it's better for him to keep an eye on things.  But we're really at the same level.  We report to the same person."

"Who do you report to?"

Olin struggles as he tries to avoid saying, but gives in.  "Feldmar."

"Can you tell me about Feldmar?"

"He's a priest who has been running all sorts of things.  He set up the whole plan.  I only got involved after they had already captured her."

"Do you know what god Feldmar serves?"

"Lurdana, I think."

"How many other people do you work with?"

"Really, Morgan and Feldmar are my only contacts.  What we do is dangerous; I've always expected to be killed eventually.  It's best if we don't know many people to avoid revealing too much if we're captured.  Feldmar arranged for a couple of thugs to work with me on this, but I think they're just hired muscle."

"Do you have any other guards for Desi?"

"Feldmar supplied me with some undead he created and two ogres.  I wasn't really thrilled about the undead, but the cause is worth it."

"Where did he get the ogres?  They aren't common around here."

"I don't know.  I didn't ask.  Feldmar has some sketchy contacts.  He needs them to do his job."

"Do you also have Marna?"

"The halfling?  No." Olin looks uncomfortable.  "We sold her...  Look, it's not what any of us would want to do.  But operations like this take money, and there's a good market for halflings..."

After some further questioning which doesn't yield much, Lhovrik returns to his house and borrows a scroll of Suggestion from his mother, desperate for some way to get the key piece of information from Olin.  He returns, reads the scroll, and says, "Tell us where Desi is, Olin."

Olin looks at him with surprise.  "Why did you cast a spell on me, Lhovrik?  You know I can't tell you where she is."

End of Session 16


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jan 13, 2005)

Session 17:

5/29, late at night:

While the charms still last, the group gets Olin drunk so that he will sleep soundly till dawn.  After he falls asleep, they discuss what to do next.  Sister Aurora suggests that she could prepare a Detect Thoughts spell at dawn; with luck, and combined with a skilled interrogation, that might get some more useful information from Olin.  In the meantime, the consensus is that they need to keep an eye on Olin's building in case Morgan comes to check on him.

Ginara, Dove, and Vannser set up a stake-out in the alley across from Olin's tenement.  They each sleep for 4 of the 6 hours before dawn, with Dove taking the middle watch because of her better ability to function with low levels of sleep.  By the morning, they are all very tired, but have learned nothing new.  They continue watching as the street begins to bustle with morning activity.

5/30:
While Olin still sleeps, Lhovrik and Melania both cast additional charms on him as Sister Aurora prays for her spells.  Lhovrik carefully blindfolds Olin and then wakes him up, while Sister Aurora and Melania stand ready to beat him unconscious if the charms failed.

Olin immediately begins reaching for the blindfold.  "What's going on?  Why can't I see?"

Lhovrik tries to calm him.  "Everything is alright, Olin.  It's me, Lhovrik.  Leave the blindfold on." Olin pauses for a second, with a dubious expression on his face.  "My friends don't trust you and want to keep you blindfolded while you're here.  I know that we can trust you, but I don't want them to get angry with you."

Olin grimaces.  "Lhovrik, your friends aren't good people.  The best thing for you to do would be to get away from them."

Convinced that the charm is working, Sister Aurora slips out of the room into the hall and quickly casts Detect Thoughts.  She reenters the room and nods to Lhovrik to begin the interrogation as she reads Olin's surface thoughts. 

"I was wondering if you could tell us where Desi is."

Sister Aurora senses only annoyance from Olin.  "We've been through this before, Lhovrik.  I can't tell you where Desi is."

"I was just wondering if you could help us out a little.  We'd heard that she was being kept in the Gnomish Quarter..."

Olin's thoughts betray surprise.  <The Gnomish Quarter?  We must be doing a really good job of feeding them false information.> "I can't tell you anything, Lhovrik.  I'm not interested in helping your friends figure out where it is to try a stupid rescue attempt."

"Maybe you could think about the building where she's being kept?  Try to form a mental picture of the building where she is."

<Form a mental picture?> Olin thinks incredulously.  <What a bizarre request...  Why would he want me to do that?> Comprehension dawns.  "Are you trying to read my mind, Lhovrik?"

Sister Aurora rolls her eyes in exasperation over Lhovrik's inept questioning.  Lhovrik tries to defuse Olin's suspicion.  "No, what would give you that idea?  I'm just trying to make sure that Desi is safe.  I mean, how can you know that your thugs won't hurt her?"

Possibly as a result of the charms, Olin accepts Lhovrik's denial.  "Don't worry; I know my men won't hurt her." <The ogres are between the thugs and her, anyway; that should keep them from doing anything stupid.> "Besides, I check on her to make sure she's safe.  She's just a little scared."

"How often do you check on her?  It must take you a while to travel to your hideout."

<Oh, good... I can make Lhovrik's friends think the hideouts far away, instead of just up the street.> "Yeah, it does.  It takes me the better part of an hour to walk there, but I check in two or three times each day." As Olin finishes his lie, Sister Aurora's spell lapses.

Sister Aurora raises her sap meaningfully.  While Olin continues to talk meaninglessly, Sister Aurora, Melania, and Lhovrik all prepare to attack at once.  With a series of thuds, they quietly beat him unconscious.  They bind and gag him before heading to the alley where their friends watch Olin's home.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Jan 30, 2005)

Session 17 (cont'd):

Sister Aurora, Melania, and Lhovrik explain the new information to their friends.  They turn to trying to identify the specific building where Desi is being held, while maintaining the stake-out in case Morgan investigates.  Melania asks around the neighborhood, hoping to find some neighbor's suspicions.  Unfortunately, at least this early in the morning, she is unable to find out anything useful.  Meanwhile, Sister Aurora and Lhovrik patrol the area around Olin's building.  Lhovrik spends his time hoping to see something obviously wrong.  Sister Aurora, for her part, casts Detect Undead, hoping to detect Desi's guards.  Lhovrik warns that the lead barriers that blocked the scrying attempts will also block weaker divinations.  Much to Sister Aurora's satisfaction, however, she detects a group of weak undead in an old building about a block away from Olin's house.  They return to their friends and plan the next step.

Ginara and Dove scout the building, carefully hiding in shadows and moving discreetly in an effort to avoid alerting any occupants.  The building is a decrepit old house.  At one time, it was the home of a wealthy family, perhaps a ship captain, but wealthy families no longer live in this section of Lir Sanek.  The house is about 45 feet on a side, with two stories and perhaps a basement.  The front door is heavily boarded up, as are the windows that face the street.  The scouts pass down the narrow alleys between the house and the neighboring buildings.  The house has an alley on each side, both somewhat filled with trash and debris.  Neither doors nor windows face onto the side alleys.  A backalley runs between the back of the house and the buildings that face the next street over.  Some pitiful shacks and hovels stand in the backalley, where the poorest try to make do.  One lean-to even abuts the back wall of the house, but Ginara confirms that the lean-to is not occupied and does not conceal an entrance to the building.  A backdoor from the house has also been boarded up, but Ginara notes that the boards on the backdoor, unlike on the front door, do not actually extend beyond the door itself.  In other words, the backdoor is still probably useable.  Several windows also face the backalley on each story, but those windows have been carefully boarded shut, like the front windows.  The ground story windows do not look promising for a break-in.  Confident that they have discovered the best route in, Dove and Ginara return to their friends.

In preparation for the assault, the group casts several spells.  Lhovrik makes Ginara, Vannser, and Dove invisible, while Sister Aurora makes Lhovrik, Vannser, and Dove invisible to undead.  The group moves into position in the backalley, with the invisible group clustered around the door while their visible allies are somewhat further back in the alley.  The group tries to be stealthy as it moves into position, but some are more successful than others.

Ginara hurries up to the door.  She notes that it has a lock in it, but searches the door for traps before worrying about the lock.  She notices three slots in the door, presumably containing spring-loaded weapons of some sort.  Her first attempt to block the slots fails, but not badly enough to trigger the trap, and she's able to force some debris into the trap's mechanism on her second try.  She quickly turns to picking the lock, and a few seconds later, the door swings open.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Feb 9, 2005)

Session 17 (cont'd):

As the door opens, arrows streak down towards the visible members of the group from arrow slits in the boards covering the second story windows.  Lhovrik and Melania are both wounded, but the archer aiming at Aurora misses.  The group must have been spotted while sneaking around the building, but the attackers waited until they were sure it was a raid.  Invisible figures unlocking the back door are hard to interpret as friendly.

Vannser reacts first, slipping through the backdoor and rushing through a large but poorly kept-up kitchen into a dining room.  Two men in leather armor play cards at a small table, while a half-dozen other people simply stand about.  The standing people where heavy cloaks and have veils or masks concealing their faces, leading Vannser to assume that they are undead.  Vannser notes a door leading to a staircase into the basement, where he assumes Desi is being kept as a prisoner.  The two men at the table, unable to see any foes but knowing that something is going on, ready their swords and begin looking for someone to fight.  Aurora rushes forward into the doorway from the kitchen to the dining room and brandishes her holy symbol, crying "May the rays of Luirta drive you back to the places from which you came!" Rays of light shine forth from her sun disc and most of the figures in robes collapse into small piles of rags.  Two of the robed forms recoil from her, but do not collapse, apparently the stronger undead that she detected.

The archers fire again, wounding Melania further, but she hurries into the kitchen where they cannot fire on her.  Ginara tumbles past the guards and begins hurrying down the stairs into the basement.  The basement is a largely open area, but it has a large prison or cage in each corner.  Two ogres, each towering nearly ten feet tall and armed with a giant club, stand in the open area between the cages.  The ogres are not secured at all, but Ginara notices that they have heavy iron collars around their necks and can see a large, badly healing wound on each right shoulder under the heavy cured hide armor.  More importantly, Desi lies on a bunk in one of the cages, looking up at the noise of combat with a mixture of hope and fear on her face.  She appears largely unharmed, although very dirty and unhappy.  Sturdy chains secure her to the walls of her cell but give her a reasonable freedom of movement within the cell.

Lhovrik rushes into the kitchen and casts a Sleep spell at the only remaining targets.  Fortunately, he positions the area of effect so that it does not include the invisible Vannser, and the two guards collapse into unconsciousness.  The remaining robed figures move, shambling out of the dining room at the same time as another robed form shambles in.  Dove trades blows with the presumed undead, but without much effect, while Vannser follows Ginara into the basement.

Ginara quietly creeps up to Desi's cage and scrawls out a note saying that Vannser and Desi's sisters have come to rescue her.  Desi looks up in surprise and relief as the note appears before her and carefully tries to cover her reaction so the ogres will not realize that something is happening.  The ogres grunt and yammer at each other, aware that something is happening upstairs but unable to do anything about it.  Unfortunately, Ginara does not speak whatever language they are using and cannot understand them.  As Vannser follows Ginara down, one of the ogres hears his armor clanking, but the dumb brute is unable to figure out what that could mean and does not try to attack its invisible foe.

Aurora finishes off the fight upstairs, turning the remaining undead.  Lhovrik casts Sleep at the ogre he can see, but it resists his spell, while Melania fires her crossbow at it.  The ogre begins attacking the staircase, apparently hoping to clear it out of the way so it can attack the foes who are pestering it from above.  Its first blow shakes the staircase, but does not do much damage.  The second ogre hears Vannser again, and finally realizes that there must be an invisible person present.  It follows its usual plan of "kill first and eat the bodies later," but guesses incorrectly and swings its mighty club a good fifteen feet from where Vannser is actually.

Vannser concludes that the time has come to engage the foe and charges the ogre by the staircase, wounding it lightly.  Sister Aurora casts a Hold Person, only to see the ogre shrug it off, not truly a person.  Lhovrik casts his last Sleep spell and topples Vannser's target.  Ginara charges the other ogre.  With the advantage of her invisibility, she is able to badly wound it with her rapier, and it roars in pain and dismay.  Dove rushes down the stairs to come to Ginara's aid, but the ogre slams its club into her as she approaches her, knocking her unconscious.  The rest of the group hurries down the stairs, with Melania seeking to heal Dove.  Sister Aurora tries another spell, commanding the ogre to "Fall!" But the ogre seems unable to understand her and is unaffected.  Its mighty club crashes down near Ginara, but she nimbly steps aside.  Lhovrik tries to Sleep the ogre again, this time with a scroll, but its will is too strong for the weaker magic in a scroll.  Finally, Ginara tumbles behind the ogre, flanking it with Vannser, and finishes the brute off with a precise thrust of her rapier.

The group rushes to Desi's cage, promising that they will have her free in moments, as Ginara sets to work on the locks.  Lhovrik encourages a newly healed Dove to finish off the sleeping ogre, and she happily lops its head off.  After a minute or two of work, Ginara frees Desi from all of her chains, and she joyfully embraces her sisters and Vannser.  She assures them that she's fine, although she was very scared.  They ask about Marna, and Desi confirms that Marna was held in one of the other cells for the first day or so, but was then taken away.  Sister Aurora sadly informs her sister that Marna was probably sold into slavery, but that they will strive to free her.

Sister Aurora and Dove head to the second floor, to deal with the archers.  One of the archers is no longer there; apparently, that archer was a human who fled out of the windows when it was clear that his side was outmatched.  Dove quickly smashes the other two archers, both animated skeletons.

The group searches the building quickly.  Sister Aurora examines the wounds on the ogres' shoulders.  They do not appear to be combat wounds, but are large areas where a quarter-inch or so of skin and flesh was cut away.  An ugly mass of scar tissue was still forming at the time of their deaths.  Sister Aurora and Ginara speculate that there may have been tattoos or brands there, although Lhovrik opines that the wounds are deeper than would be necessary to eliminate a tattoo.

With everything wrapped up, Vannser and the Skyrnath sisters take Desi back to her parents' house, where her parents are overjoyed to see her.  Sister Aurora, hoping for another clue to trace back to Feldmar, asks Desi whether the kidnappers took her necklace.  Desi is unable to remember for sure, but thinks they probably did.  Unfortunately, she cannot provide any other helpful information, because she was struck from behind and knocked unconscious without ever seeing her attackers.  Vannser quickly arranges for guards to watch Desi to prevent any further problems.  Meanwhile, Lhovrik hires a coach, pays the driver a substantial bribe to not worry about why a young noble needs to transport some unconscious bodies from a building in the Docks to a house in the Noble Quarter, and takes the two thugs, along with Ginara, Melania, and a reluctant Olin, back to his house.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Feb 17, 2005)

Session 17 (cont'd):

Lhovrik and Ginara quickly position the captives in the basement of the cath Kalissar townhouse.  The basement is usually only used by the servants, but they figure that performing the interrogations there minimizes the danger of their parents interrupting.  They are both glad to hear that their father is at his club and their mother is still occupied with her enchantment.  Ginara sends a runner with a message to Kinric, telling him that they will not need the thing he was preparing and that she will come to speak to him soon.  Their friends return from the Skyrnath household, determined to get information out of the captives.

The group separates the two thugs so they can interrogate them seperately.  They choose one at random to begin with, and Sister Aurora casts her last Detect Thoughts.  She then casts a Cure Minor Wounds to wake him up.

The thug is only too eager to spill everything he knows in hopes of leniant treatment.  "My friend Gerrik told me that he had heard about some work.  Just some guard work...  It seemed like easy money, and they were offering a silver a day." Sister Aurora can hear the panicked thoughts easily.  <I wish I knew more to tell them, but Gerrik took care of all the details.>

The questioners press for more information.  "Can you tell me who you were working for?"

"I never knew his name.  He was kinda thin, with light, messy hair.  He came by every day, sometimes a couple of times a day." His thoughts confirm his statements.

"Anyone else?"

"One time the boss came with some other people, but I didn't get a look at them.  He sent us upstairs while they did whatever they were there to do."

"Do you know what was going on in the basement?"

"Not really.  We weren't supposed to look down there, just to keep other people out.  I think there may have been some giants or monsters." The thugs thoughts confirm his lack of understanding.  <They were probably involved in the underground pit fights.  I bet we were watching some of the monsters for the fights...>

Sister Aurora pulls the rest of the group aside.  "He's an idiot.  We should interrogate his friend before my spell fails."

The group quickly wakes Gerrik.  Unfortunately, Sister Aurora is unable to read anything from his mind.  "Look, Gerrik, you should tell us what you know and we can make things go more easily for you."

Gerrik looks at his captors calmly.  "Sure.  I know a lot of useful information that you want to get.  I'll tell you what you want to know if you let me walk when we're done."

"After what you did, we're not going to let you go.  But we can make this easier or harder.  You can determine whether you go to the Inquisitors or to the city watch."

Gerrik seems unimpressed.  "It's not going to matter who you initially turn me over to.  If you want my information, you're going to have to make me a meaningful offer."

Vannser shakes his head menacingly.  "We can't agree to any deals like that."

"Then you'd best fetch the person who can."

"The Inquisitors will force the information out of you anyway.  Telling us will make it easier on you."

"You're not offering anything that gets me anything."

The group withdraws from the room and discusses whether to torture him, but no one is really willing to go that far, especially because the Inquisitors will certainly take a dim view of it when they find out.  Most of the group goes back in to threaten Gerrik a little more, while Sister Aurora remains outside, perhaps to allow a little more flexibility with the truth.

One of the servants comes down to access the supplies in the basement and is very surprised to see Sister Aurora.  "Excuse me... may I ask what you're doing here?"

Sister Aurora flusters.  "Lhovrik just wanted a place where we wouldn't be disturbed."

The servant stiffens up and gets a prim look on his face.  "I see.  Pardon my intrusion." He turns to leave.

Sister Aurora, embarrassed by his conclusion, proceeds on, "no, Lhovrik and Ginara and a whole group of our friends are down here.  We just didn't want ..."

The servant, increasingly confused and worried, hurries away.

The interrogations conclude without any more information.  Gerrik is clearly the leader of the thugs, but he refuses to talk without an offer of freedom.  Everyone is adamant about not letting any of the captives go.  Concluding that they have done as much as they can, the group prepares to transport the captives to the local Inquisitors station.  They start by knocking the captives unconscious again.

While they begin their preparations, the butler pulls Lhovrik aside.  "Master Lhovrik, if I could have a word with you?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"You seem to have bothered one of the other servants by having a group of your friends visit you in the basement."

"Oh, I'm sorry.  We just didn't want to be interrupted by any of the other servants.  We were having an important conversation."

"I understand, m'lord.  In the future, you should come to me.  It's my job to make sure that the other servants are out of your way when you do not wish to be interrupted.  I can't do my job if you do not keep me informed, and it is much less disruptive to household order and discipline for me to simply keep the servants away from your rooms than to have to deal with the servants wondering what the family is doing in the basement."

"I understand.  I'll take more care in the future."

"Thank you, Master Lhovrik."

While Lhovrik deals with the butler, Ginara quickly hurries the whole group out the servant's entrance to the cellar and bundles the captives into the family carriage.  By the time Lhovrik is done, he only needs to walk into the carriage house and join his friends.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Feb 23, 2005)

Session 17 (cont'd):

They quickly drive to the Inquisitors.  They begin explaining their business and are shown in to a private office.  An Inquisitor sits behind a heavy desk.  One of the Watcher celestials perches on the Inquisitor's shoulder, wings extended and unblinking eyes staring in every direction.

The group quickly explains everything, omitting Kinric's involvement but mentioning the ransom demand.  Lhovrik stresses that he came to the Inquisitors about this matter earlier, while Ginara pushes her theory that this is part of the same Nusaybian plot as the incidents in Lir Galdra.  The Inquisitor mostly listens quietly, periodically asking for clarifications or elaborations.

When they finish, the Inquisitor berates them for not bringing the ransom demand to the Inquisitors immediately.  Vannser responds that he was worried the Inquisitors would not care enough about Desi's life, but the Inquisitor is unimpressed.  "A military officer of all people should understand the threat posed by an effort to steal the Commander's Seal.  Your concern about saving one life may have endangered thousands."

Ginara tries to get some information from the Inquisitor.  "Do you know why stealing the Seal so quickly mattered?  We figure they must want to get it before the new governor is inaugurated.  Do you know why that would matter?"

The Inquisitor refuses any answer.  After they finish explaining what they know, the Inquisitor informs them that they may leave.

End of Session 17


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 4, 2005)

Session 18:
5/30, afternoon:

After finishing with the Inquisitors, most of the group returns to the cath Kalissar townhouse.  Vannser heads directly to the Skyrnaths, so he can comfort Desithia.  As they enter, the butler steps forward to Ginara with a sealed message on a silver platter.  She notes that the seal is blank, and ignores Lhovrik's griping about her sharing information with Kinric.  She quickly opens the letter.

	Please come see me as soon as convenient.

	If you have prisoners, bring them with you, or leave them in a safe place and I'll 	arrange to have them picked up.

				--K.

Ginara looks up from the note.  "I need to go talk to Uncle Kinric.  Does anyone want to come with me?"

Dove nods.  "I'll come."

Sister Aurora looks at her friends.  "We need to get Marna back.  It's my family's responsibility."

"I'm happy to help with that," Melania says.  "The first step will be to check the city slave market."

Lhovrik gestures at the ragged rips in the group's clothes.  "We should probably clean up first.  We'll be less obvious that way."

The butler steps back into the room.  "Master Lhovrik, Mistress Ginara, we have laid out fresh clothing for each of you in your rooms."

"Thank you.  Can you take care of our friends as well?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, m'lord.  We have clothes that will suit most of them, and I'll have the maid use the Mending Stick on Sister Aurora's vestments during her bath."

A little later, the two groups depart.

Dove and Ginara travel across the nice sections of the city to Kinric's office in Dro Sanek.

Ginara quickly describes the recent events.  Kinric smiles.  "I'm glad that you're sister was recovered safely," he says to Dove.  "All of you handled the situation very well.  It's a little unfortunate that you turned the prisoners over to the Inquisitors..."

"But aren't they the right people to handle things like that?"

"Yes, but the prisoners would have been more useful to me.  The Inquisitors tend to not be very interested in exchanging spies, and when the Nusaybians capture my people, I try to get them back.  Still, the most important thing is that you saved your friend.  And turned up some interesting leads as well."

Kinric pauses.  "I have some further news about the Lir Galdra incident.  I sent an agent to look into matters at the Aretash monastery here in Lir Sanek.  He was supposed to check in, but he's missed the last two.  I suspect they've killed him.

"That may not mean much.  The Aretash are touchy about their secrets, and may have just killed him because he was looking around in places where he wasn't welcome.  And while we don't officially recognize their claim that their inner sancta are extraterritorial, we don't contest the claim.  It's very delicate.  If a conflict comes with Nusaybia, it's essential that the Aretash remain at least neutral."

"They may already be choosing to not be neutral..."

"I know, but I can't give them reasons to not be.  I would really like to get his body back, though.  Feel free to investigate further, but don't create any incidents.  And be careful, if you do... Cathen was a much more experienced operative than you are."

Kinric opens a drawer in his desk and removes a set of small pieces of parchment.  "There is a ball celebrating the new governor's installation tomorrow evening.  You and you're friends should attend." He tosses the invitations across to Ginara and Dove.  "Just let my people know who to expect so we can include you on the security list."

"Can we talk to you at the ball?"

"I will be on duty, of course.  You should also be a little careful about being seen around me.  There are some people who know my role, and you don't want to be identified as connected to me."

Ginara and Dove head back to the city.  As they walk away, Ginara excitedly says to Dove, "Did you hear that?  Uncle Kinric called me an operative!"


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## Cerebral Paladin (Mar 10, 2005)

Lhovrik, decked out in a particularly foppish outfit, smiles at Sister Aurora and Melania.  "I feel like shopping for a slave." His efforts at levity are not rewarded, but the group soon reaches their destination.  The slave market is in the Docks, but near the Merchants Quarter.  One side of the market abuts the main avenue that separates the two quarters.  Usually, the areas near the border are the nicest sections of the Docks; Melania lives in one of those neighborhoods for precisely that reason.  But the area around the slave market has an oppressive feel to it, and seems to draw many shady people.

The slave market itself is a sprawling complex.  A stout wooden palisade with guard towers manned by archers surrounds the entire complex.  Near the main entrance are a collection of nicely appointed buildings decorated with banners and signs; barkers stand outside each of these buildings trying to convince the customers that their employer is the best merchant to use.  Beyond those buildings, the various slave pens sprawl, occupying most of the complex.

After a quick discussion of strategy, Melania waits at a nearby tavern, busking to pass the time, while Lhovrik and Aurora head in to the complex.

Lhovrik and Aurora walk past the barkers and in among the cages.  The slaves are roughly sorted, so several cages are filled with strong,unskilled adult laborers and another is filled with human children and so forth.  After a few minutes of searching, Lhovrik and Aurora find the set of cages filled with halflings.  They begin carefully examining the halflings inside; while a few of the halflings look somewhat similar to Marna, they cannot find her.  After a while of searching, a young halfling man bounds up to the edge of the cage.

"Looking for a servant, m'lord?  I'll do great work as a valet or household servant, or whatever you need!"

Lhovrik shakes his head.  "I'm sorry.  We're looking for a specific halfling." He briefly describes Marna.

"Can't say I've seen anyone like that.  But you should buy me anyway.  I can do domestic work, and I'm sure I can do anything that she can." He pauses for a second.  "Well, almost anything..."

Sister Aurora and Lhovrik finish their search of the halfling cages.  They make a quick swing around the rest of the cages, in case Marna ended up in the wrong cage.  They do find some other halflings scattered about, but no Marna.  After about an hour of searching, they return to the tavern where Melania has been waiting and give her the news.

Lhovrik says to Melania, "Don't be afraid to spend really prodigious amounts of money to get her back.  You may need to."

"You know, Lhovrik, not all of us have prodigious amounts of money..."

Lhovrik hands Melania a heavy purse.  "This should take care of it."

Melania walks straight in towards the barkers and merchants.  She heads straight towards the largest building, and says to the barker outside, "I'm looking to buy a slave."

"Then you've come to the right place.  My principal has the best selection in Lir Sanek."

He leads her into a large room where several people are bustling around.  A heavy, balding man looks up at her. The slave merchant is dressed in fine, expensive clothing, with some gaudy jewelry as well.

"Good afternoon.  I'm Brek Ferund."

"And I'm Melania.  I'm hoping you can help me out."

Brek smiles.  "First things first.  Are you buying or selling?"

"Buying."

"I'm sure I can meet your needs then.  I have the finest and largest selection in all of Lir Sanek."  At a gesture from Brek, a servant brings over two glasses of wine.  Melania makes a show of sipping hers, but does not actually drink much.  Brek does the same with his glass.  "What sort of slave are you looking for?"

"I'm actually looking for a specific slave, a halfling maidservant." Melania describes Marna.  "She was sold by mistake-- my friends were going through a confusing time.  But she has a lot of sentimental value, and they want to get her back."

"Ah.  About when was she sold?"

"Within the past few days."

"I don't think I've seen any new slaves that match that description, but let's take a look to be sure."

Brek leads Melania to a set of slave pens filled with halflings.  They search for Marna, but to no avail.  Brek then leads Melania to another set of halfling holding areas, but again, there's no Marna to be found.

As they head back to his office, Melania slips a few silver to Brek, "Thank you for your help.  If you do see a halfling that matches the description, let me know.  My friends would be willing to pay to get her back." Melania gives Brek her address.

"I'll certainly keep my eyes open.  If any of the other merchants acquire her, I should find out fairly quickly, and I'd be happy to work as your friends' agent and acquire her."

"I'm worried that in the confusion, my friends may have sold her to a less reputable merchant."

Brek sighs theatrically.  "Many people try to set up deals outside the legitimate trade to save a few gold on fees.  But those fees pay for the reliability and service we provide.  You know when you buy from me that everything is perfectly above board.  Because I only deal in merchandise that I know was fairly purchased, I don't deal with any of the less reliable, unofficial dealers."

"Do you know any of your fellow merchants that might be a little less careful?"

"We're all guilded, of course, and the guild tries fairly hard to eliminate any unsavory business practices." Brek looks around to make sure no one is likely to overhear him.  "But you might try Salish Verr.  I think he may cut some corners and deal with some underground sources.  Not that you heard it from me, of course." Brek smiles at Melania, who passes him a little more of Lhovrik's money.

"Thanks for all your help."

"My pleasure.  You know, I understand the sentimental attachment that your friends had to their servant.  But they'll still need someone to take care of her tasks.  If we can't find their old slave, I'd be happy to help them get a good replacement."

"Thanks.  I'll keep you in mind."

Melania heads to the smaller, less ostentatious building Salish Verr operates.  Salish is a younger man, with a compact, heavily muscled frame and a nasty scar on the left side of his jaw that is only mostly concealed by his thick beard.

"How can I help you?"

"I'm looking to buy a halfling maidservant."

Salish frowns.  "I don't have a big stock of halflings.  Most of my slaves are human laborers..."

"I'm looking for a specific halfling." Melania describes Marna again.  "My friends sold her by accident and are trying to get her back."

"Hmm.  I don't think that I've seen that halfling.  Do you know who they sold her to?  Brek Ferund handles most of the halfling trade."

"I'm afraid that it may not have been to a legitimate dealer."

"I'm not surprised. Guild dealers have rules to prevent these sorts of things, but underground dealers will try to rush in to make deals without following the rules, like when a death in the family leaves people desperate to settle newly discovered debts." Salish rubs his chin.  "I can keep my eyes open, of course.  If the dealers try to sell the halfling to a legitimate dealer, I'll buy her to hold onto her for your friends.  But if they make a direct sale, there won't be much I can do."

"Thanks for your help."

"You might also check out some of the institutional buyers-- inns, taverns, maybe a brothel.  But in order to do a full search would take a full time agent, and wouldn't be cheap."

"Thanks.  I'll see whether my friends are interested in going that far."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 3, 2005)

Session 18, cont'd:
Later that afternoon, Sister Aurora travels to the employers of Marna's mother.

"You wanted to see me, ma'am?"

"Yes... you know that we've been trying to rescue my sister and your daughter." Sister Aurora struggles to find a way to say this gently.  "We were able to rescue my sister, but Marna had already been sold into slavery by the kidnappers.  We're still trying to get her back...."

Marna's mother miserably forces herself to say, "I'm glad your sister is safe."

"We'll find her.  Did Marna have any other skills that might help us figure out who would have bought her?"

"I trained her well in cleaning, cooking, and other skills a domestic servant would need.  Other than that... she is a little light footed, but I taught her to be honest." The halfling woman chokes back tears.  "We all know that there's a chance that slavers will kidnap our children, but you always hope that you'll be the lucky family..."

Sister Aurora frowns.  "Wait... how common is it for slavers to kidnap halflings?"

"Everyone knows a family that has lost a child that way.  I'm not sure how common it is, but it's a fact of life in the Halfling Quarter." Marna's mother thinks for a second.  "It's probably a little less common than it seems.  After all, a family wouldn't want to admit that one of their sons couldn't support himself and had to go to the slave merchants.  It might be easier to say that he was kidnapped.  But enough of the families have to be telling the truth, and everyone knows a family that lost a child that way..."

"I'm sorry again for your loss.  I promise that my family will bring Marna back to you."

* * * *

That evening, Lord Lhovrik greets his mother as she emerges from another long day of enchanting in her lab.  "Mother, may I speak with you about the Skyrnath kidnapping?"

"Of course, dear.  Have you made any progress in finding the poor girl?"

"Yes, we rescued her earlier this afternoon.  My question is about some discoveries we made during the rescue."

"Oh, I'm very glad to hear that.  What did you find?"

"Desithia was guarded by two ogres, in addition to some more readily explained guards.  Do you have any idea how someone could have gotten ogres into the city? Is it legal to own ogres?"

"Ogres... that's very odd.  I suppose they could have captured them.  There are wild ogres in the hills in parts of the Empire, although they have been wiped out close to Lir Sanek, so they would have had to transport them some distance.  Ogres fall into a gray category... I'm not sure if it's illegal to hold them as slaves, but tolerated for some heavy work like construction, or legal, but heavily frowned on."

"Can you think of any way that they might have been gotten besides capturing them?"

"I can think of one other place I've heard of ogres.  But it's illegal, and very dangerous.  You must promise that you won't investigate it yourself."

"Don't worry.  I won't tell Ginara."

"I'm glad you understand." Lady cath Kalissar smiles. "You know that there are illegal pit fights in the bad parts of town?  I've heard that some of the pit fights use ogres, at least some of the time.  I don't know how common it is, because I don't visit such vile places.  But the kidnappers might have bought the ogres from the people who run the pit fights."

"Thank you.  That's useful to know."

"Oh, I thought you might want to know that we've received invitations to the Governor's Gala, for myself, your father, and you.  Your father and I won't be attending, but if you want to, just let the butler know so he can make preparations."

"Thank you, Mother.  I may."  

* * * *

Melania continues the search by checking out some of the inns and taverns in the area.  She neither sees Marna, nor hears anything about her when she asks some of the staff.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 10, 2005)

Session 18, cont'd:
6/1

The next day is full of festivities and ceremony, as the new governor takes office.  None of our heroes pay the celebrations any mind, however, choosing to work on practicing their respective skills instead.  After many hours of hard work during the day, they are eager for the Gala in the evening.

The preparations are largely uneventful.  Dove and Sister Aurora offer a spare invitation to their sister Desi, but she declines it with a wan smile.  "Thank you; Vannser had already asked me if he should try to get an extra invitation for me, but I just don't feel ready for a big event yet.  I think I'll just stay home, where I feel safe."

Sister Aurora and Dove exchange worried glances.  Before her kidnapping, Desi would have viewed the opportunity to attend a state ball as a prize beyond price.  But even now that she has been freed, it will take time for the emotional wounds to heal.

Melania spends some time getting a suitably fancy outfit, since the only comparable clothes she has are for entertaining at parties, not enjoying them.  She asks Ginara if she would like to come with her while she tries on possible dresses and Ginara surprises her with the enthusiasm of her response; Melania never thought that Ginara had much interest in clothing.

As the time of the Gala draws near, the whole group gathers at the cath Kalissar townhouse.  Following their usual somewhat antisocial ways, Lhovrik and Ginara's parents have declined their invitations and are neither hosting a gathering nor attending any of the numerous pre-parties in the elite social scene.  On the upside, this allows Lhovrik to commandeer the family carriage without any difficulty.  The butler seems slightly nonplussed when the Skyrnaths arrive on foot, but he maintains a steady expression, and everyone climbs into the carriage with the assistance of the more junior servants who are spending the night as footmen.

The trip to the Governor's Palace is uneventful and short.  The Palace, in the heart of the Noble Quarter, is designed for massive social events like this.  A swarm of carriages surround the gated walls of the Palace grounds.  As the cath Kalissar carriage approaches the gate, Dove and Ginara notice that one of the guards atop the guard tower is scanning the area vigilantly through unusual lenses over both eyes.  A footguard approaches the carriage and looks at each occupant while confirming that they are on the list of expected guests.  This guard wears a monocle, much like the one that Kinric has used on occasion.  Seeing that everything is in order, he waves the carriage through the gate.

The carriage rolls around a great U in front of the enormous Palace.  The Palace is ornate yet tasteful; while it is impossible to not realize how expensive it must be, it is mostly breathtaking for its beauty.  Great domes rise up from the Palace, in the finest Imperial style, and a splendid, sprawling garden extends beyond the building itself.

The cath Kalissars and their guests head into the Palace.  Protocal suggests that they should attend the formal reception in one of the great ballrooms.  They thus join a long line of guests awaiting the opportunity to greet the Prince, the Governor, and the other high dignitaries.  The crowded line mills slowly forward.  Most of the people in the line are humans, although there are a smattering of halflings and a few more exotic peoples; Sister Aurora perks up with interest when she catches a glimpse of a wolfen wearing the regalia of a Champion.  Melania looks around attentively, hoping to find Yeron Moril, or at least Andolin cath Deliton, and is pleased to spot Yeron further forward in the line.  As they finally reach the doorway into the ballroom, they pass by Captain Taledra cath Varish, on duty in her capacity as captain of the Governor's Footguard.  She smiles and nods at them, but otherwise remains at her post, staring out at the crowd through a monocle.

The ballroom is spacious but mostly filled.  Along the far wall, a line of dignitaries sit or stand on a prominent dais.  In the center, His Imperial Highness Gallus cath Belath, Prince of Arnesia sits on a raised throne.  The Prince almost shines with a radiance of his own.  He looks to be in his thirties or early forties, although the better informed members of the group know that he is, in fact, well over a century in age.  On his right hand sits the new Governor, bedecked in all the formal insignia of his office, as well as a variety of other decorations including his Champion's sash.  To the Prince's left sits a man wearing the unmistakable vestments of a lord of the Church-- Metropolitan cath Sanek, the highest ranking cleric in Lir Sanek or the surrounding lands.  Near the Metropolitan, but standing off the dais, are two other religious leaders: an elderly woman wearing a silver sickle and formal gray robes and an Aretash monk surrounded by a few other, clearly deferential monks.  Sister Aurora is sure that the woman is Archdruid Riothan, while the monk must be the Abbot of the Aretash monastery of Lir Sanek.  

Lhovrik, for his part, notices that the dais is also attended by two wizards of great reknown: Archmage Lorak cath Galdra, reputed to be the most powerful mage in Lir Sanek, and Grand Master Selendrina, the head of the guild mages.  Consistent with the attitude towards guild mages that Lhovrik has learned from his mother, the Archmage appears to be largely ignoring the guildmistress.  Unlike all of the other figures on or near the dais, very few people seem interested in paying their respects to the arcane masters.

While the dais displays some of the great personages of the Empire, the left wall of the ballroom is dominated by some of the strange delegations that imperial ceremonies attract.  Closest to the entry door, and surrounded by a wide area that the crowd seems uninterested in entering, a large, six-foot diameter orb floats.  The rough sphere is dominated by a single, giant eye over its gaping maw.  At the top of the sphere, ten eyestalks project upwards, looking around in every direction at once.  The eyestalks project through a finely made piece of clothing that hangs down from the beast, making the creature look like a cloth cylinder except for the open area in the front from which the mighty main eye stares out.  Sister Aurora easily identifies the creature as a beholder, one af the most feared creatures of all.  The beholder floats above a silver disk on the floor that has arcane symbols inscribed around its edge.

Further into the room, a small cluster of elves stand.  The elves are tall and elegant, wearing fine silver robes that could be silk, but might be the famous elven chain that is stronger than steel mail yet as light as cloth.  The leader of the elves is one of the few people besides the guards who bears a weapon: a long sword with an exquisite white rose at the pommel rests on the elf's hip.  The elves quietly talk among themselves, occasionally staring at the Prince and Governor, but ignoring the humans around them the rest of the time.

The remaining groups along the left wall are small human delegations.  The closer group is smaller, only three people.  The leader wears a long armless robe that hangs open in the front, while his two attendants are dressed in fine but unremarkable courtiers clothing.  The last group is a handful of humans dressed in clothing similar in style to imperial fashion yet subtly different.  Each member of this group has a chestful of bright ribbons and medals; the apparent leader, an attractive middle-aged woman, has far more ribbons and medals than any of her companions.

Sister Aurora immediately heads towards the beholder.  Lhovrik tags along nervously.  "I really don't think we should be going near that thing."

"But think of the opportunity to learn about it.  When else are we likely to get an opportunity to see a beholder up close?"

"Hopefully never..."

Sister Aurora stands in front of the monstrosity, considerably closer than anyone else has been willing to approach.  Most of its eyes continue to survey the crowd, but one eyestalk focuses on her.  "You may perform an obeisance."

Sister Aurora bows awkwardly.  "I am Sister Aurora of the Rays of Truth.  This is Lhovrik cath Kalissar."

The creature turns a second eyestalk to examine Lhovrik.  "You are a human nable.  Who are your most significant ancestors?"

Lhovrik relunctantly tells the beholder a little about his parents and then briefly describes some of his more prominent but more distant ancestors.  The beholder listens patiently.

Sister Aurora asks, "Who are you, and what brings you here?"

"I am Ixithilrix, of the true breed beholder city.  I have come to observe your political event and to gain knowledge."

"The true breed beholder city?  Where is that?"

The creature stares at Sister Aurora with one of its small eyes.  "That is very valuable information.  What information do you have to offer in exchange?"

"I'm afraid that I don't have a lot of information that you would find valuable..."

"Then this conversation has little further point."

Lhovrik finally manages to convince Sister Aurora to come away from the creature.

"That was fascinating."

"I'm just glad that it was only an illusion, presumably with some divination to allow it to perceive us.  At least, I hope I read those runes right."

The rest of the group notices that Kinric has approached the human delegation with the ribbons and medals and is exchanging some friendly banter with the lady that leads the delegation.  After a few minutes, he slips away.

A clumsy member of the crowd thwarts Kinric's efforts to approach Ginara stealthily.  "Ginara, while you're here, you might want to speak to the Nusaybian ambassador.  It could be worthwhile for you to make her acquaintance." Kinric smiles at Ginara and slips off through the crowd.

Ginara gamely makes her way across to the ambassador.  She curtsies and introduces herself.  The ambassador smiles in response and tries to make up for the awkwardness of Ginara's efforts at small talk.  After a minute or so, Ginara decides that she has adequately followed Kinric's suggestion and heads back to her friends.

As they slowly make their way up to the dais where the most honored guests sit, Ginara carefully watches the Nusaybians for any signs of interactions between the Nusaybians and the Aretash monk who stands near the Metropolitan.  She does see one Nusaybian approach the monk, genuflect deeply, and have brief conversation with the monk before receiving a blessing and returning to his compatriots, but it's hard to see anything sinister in that.

After quite a long time in the reception line, the group reaches the honored guests at the dais.  The Prince greets each of them and the Metropolitan makes the sun disk of blessing over each of them, much to Sister Aurora's excitement.  As they approach the Governor, an aide whispers their names in his ear.  The Governor looks with a smile at Lhovrik and Ginara.  "What are your parents' names?"

"Karina cath Kalissar and Loraton cath Kalissar-Valnay, your Grace."

"Ah... I thought so.  I met them in the South, during the war.  They were good people.  I'm sure you will also be a credit to four family."

Dove notices that, in addition to the Governor's regalia of office and his Champion's star and sash, he has another medal, which is awarded to heroes who are killed in the service of the Empire and then restored to life.  She is suitably impressed, whispering to her friends as they walk away, "The Governor was killed in action in the war against the kobolds.  That's hard core..."

Having paid their respects, the group begins to head on to the rest of the party.  Before they leave the room, though, they notice a man, Nusaybian based on his dress and the couple of ribbons on his breast but not part of the ambassadorial party, approach the Governor.  The Governor's face shows surprise and pleasure, and he firmly clasps the man's forearm.  The Governor speaks to his aide, who leads the Nusaybian towards a small door to the green room.

Sister Aurora catches Sir Kinric's eye, although perhaps less suavely than could be hoped.  He makes his way across the crowded room.

"Do you know who the Nusaybian speaking to the Governor is?"

"I'm afraid I don't, Sister Aurora.  But it is interesting... I'll have to see what I can find out." Kinric slips away from the group, and the group leaves the main ballroom.

Melania finds Yeron picking up a drink and walks over to him.  He smiles warmly, "Ah, Melania, I was hoping I might see you here."

"It's good to see you as well, Yeron.  How have you been since our trip to the North?"

"Quite well.  I have had to deal with some rather tiring business at work-- interminable old disputes that take many people's time and yet never seem to be finished.  But otherwise, I've been well.  And yourself?"

"I've been well.  I've been thinking about a conversation we had on the trip north.  You mentioned the possibility af my being involved in more diplomatic work, and that's something I would like to pursue."

"Glad to hear it.  I think there are some tasks that we could use your skills on.  Come by my office some day in the next week or so and I'll introduce you to the people you need to know."

"Thank you, I appreciate it."


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 16, 2005)

Session 18, cont'd:
Sister Aurora, meanwhile, strikes up a conversation with an older Wolfen, enjoying the opportunity to practice her language skills.  They enjoy a pleasant walk through the gardens, growling and barking at each other about Wolfen society, while Lhovrik follows them around dejectedly.

After some time, Lhovrik heads to refresh his drink, and meets his friend Balthrin cath Helur, who introduces him to Ayendar cath Coritz.  Ayendar's family is a prominent colonial family, but Ayendar is travelling the Empire.  He demonstrates an impressive awareness of cath society in the South, even knowing that Lhovrik's parents spent some time there during the war.  Lhovrik quickly concludes that Ayendar's breathing is a waste of air and heads away.  As he leaves, Ayendar says something unintelligible to Balthrin, who responds by smacking him lightly.  Lhovrik figures that the less he learns about what that was about, the better.

Ginara and Dove have a pleasant conversation with Calia cath Nortis, who regales them with her father's ongoing efforts to marry her off advantageously.  They express their sympathy, shortly before Lhovrik walks by.  As Lhovrik approaches, Melor-Major appears as if out of nowhere to continue his campaign to recruit Lhovrik for his family.  Lhovrik calls over Sister Aurora.  "You remember Sister Aurora, Melor?  She's my date tonight." This declaration has the desired effect of thwarting Melor-Major, and provokes a smile of gratitude from Calia.  Sister Aurora, however, is thoroughly disconcerted by it.

Ayendar approaches Ginara and invites her to accompany him on a tour of the Palace's famed art galleries.  Ginara deflects his tipsy flirting for some time until Melania comes by to help her friend out, only to trigger an awkward yet offensive discourse on the importance of ancestry in determining character.  Ginara understands the insinuation, but remains civil while Ayendar defends the importance of noble birth.

Having had about enough of the gala, the group returns to their carriage and travels back to the cath Kalissar townhouse, where they exchange stories of their experiences before the carriage takes the Skyrnaths and Melania home.

6/2-6/5

The next several days pass uneventfully.

On the evening of the 5th, Melania goes to a tavern that has a lively card game in the backroom, with stakes that are still meaningful despite the profits of her adventures.  She joins in, and after a few hours of play is a little ahead.  One of her fellow players, a bulky man named Rorgin, has been less lucky, losing most of his money to a third player.  Between hands, he pulls out a strange coin minted from a dull grey metal.  Rorgin asks the winning player if he would advance him some money against the coin.  The other player frowns.  "How much is the coin worth?"

Rorgin smiles.  "Several hundred gold.  Watch." Rorgin takes the coin and an iron fork from one of the plates.  He hammers the coin into the fork, nearly cutting the fork in two.  The coin is unchanged, its edge as sharply cut as before he began.

Rorgin and Melania's mutual opponent grunts.  "I'll spot you a hundred gold against the coin." Rorgin hands the coin over, and the game continues.

While they play, Melania asks Rorgin where he got the strange coin.  "Ah, I needed a loan a while back.  I found some people who were happy to help, and they gave me some of the money as that coin."

After a few hours, Rorgin has done well enough to claim his coin back.  Melania notices that the other player holds onto it a little bit longer than he should, forcing Rorgin to tug on the coin a little to get it back.


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## Cerebral Paladin (Apr 23, 2005)

Session 18, cont'd:

Across town, Ginara meets with Kinric to discuss the gala.

"How did your conversation with the Nusaybian ambassador go, Ginara?"

"Not bad.  Is she a friend of yours?"

"A friend?  No."

"Oh.  I thought you might have set up my conversation with her, so I could practice my skills."

"No.  It wouldn't be safe for you if Countess keth Allis associated you with me.  If she ever had me within Nusaybia, she would have me put to death." Kinric pauses.  "Did you notice the ribbons and medals she wore?  Those represent various Nusaybian orders.  Every Nusaybian is a member of some orders, and the nobles are members of many.  The Countess knows that I swore loyalty to the King of Nusaybia to join some of those orders- you have to in order to find out anything useful there.  If I ever return to Nusaybia, the Countess would take a certain pleasure in ensuring I was punished for not remaining true to those orders."

Ginara's eyes widen.  "Oh.  I didn't understand..."

Kinric smiles.  "Just don't agree to join a Nusaybian order lightly."

"Speaking of Nusaybians, do you know who the Nusaybian that the new governor greeted was?"

"I don't.  That was a curious thing.  Especially because he had a strange mix of orders.  Many of the more obscure orders, and none of the royal orders.  I don't really know what to make of that, but it's definitely worth keeping our eyes and ears open."

End of session 18


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