Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
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.
Last edited by Cerebral Paladin; 23rd April 2005 at 02:56 AM..
__________________ - Piratecat, EN World Admin
Currently editing the 4e War of the Burning Sky adventure path. Support EN Publishing, get excellent modules!
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.
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.
__________________ "You know, Roman emperors have plotted against each other without the help of random Celtic people." --Metellus
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.
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."
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.
Last edited by Cerebral Paladin; 5th March 2003 at 12:33 AM..
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.
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.
__________________ Welcome to the Halmae
Where all the fighters are strong, all the sorcerers are good-looking, and all of the familiars are above average.
I'd like to hear someone say "Bildorintingallindorf" five times fast.
__________________ - Piratecat, EN World Admin
Currently editing the 4e War of the Burning Sky adventure path. Support EN Publishing, get excellent modules!
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.
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.
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.
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."
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."
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."
The last few lines went something like this:
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