A Rose In The Wind: A Saga of the Halmae -- Updated June 19, 2014

Ilex

First Post
13x03

As Nyoko waited with her nervous companions outside the door of the Head Inquisitor, their guide – who also looked agitated, at this point – knocked for a third time.

"Yes, yes, send them in already!" came a muffled voice.

Their guide swung open the door and stepped aside. Inside was the messiest room Nyoko had ever seen … outside of a derro warren. Overflowing cabinets lined the walls. Stacks of documents and ledgers bordered a narrow pathway to the large, low marble desk, which itself was barely visible beneath a mound of paper.

Seated behind the desk was a man in the robes of an Inquisitor, scribbling furiously on a sheet of paper. He didn't look up – simply held up a finger for silence.

They waited.

Eventually he finished writing, pulled a bell cord beside his desk, and handed the paper to a functionary who rushed in, grabbed it, and rushed away.

The man stood up, ran a hand through his graying hair (making it stand on end and thus doing nothing to improve his harried appearance), and mustered a formal bow.

"Forgive me," he said, consulting what had to be a makeshift appointment sheet. "I have more business than I know what to do with. Savina-san, Nyoko-san, yes? And – others? I'm Lord Ono." Then he looked from Nyoko to Savina, and his face briefly became blank.

"Masa-san said that Savina-san may be of some assistance in the matter of a possible Alirrian heresy…?" Nyoko reminded him gently.

"Yes, right, that." Lord Ono rubbed his eyes tiredly. "My apologies. This—” he gestured at the piles of papers surrounding him, “—is too many things at once. Right. Alirrian heresy. Lord Masa-san’s thing. Yes.” He pulled a scrap of paper from the middle of a precarious stack. “Let me tell you what's going on."

His story proceeded with fits, starts, and a few "what's-his-name"s thrown in. It was not, in other words, up to Nyoko's standards of narrative retellings, but she didn't expect Adept standards from an Inquisitor – especially one who clearly hadn't been getting enough sleep. In fact, she had to admit that Lord Ono was rather likable, in his way. His story, by contrast, was troubling.

Essentially, the lord of the Hillside District – Nishi Oshiro – was Alirrian. Nishi-san did not come from an Alirrian family himself, but his wife's family had secretly worshipped Alirria even before the Affirmation, and he had converted for her. After Nishi-san became a saint-worshipper, the entire district under his jurisdiction was obliged to follow his Alirrian practices. One of these mandatory practices, called the Rite of Joyous Union, took place on the wedding night of every subject of Nishi-san. Masa-san's cousin – "what's his name" – was getting married, and Nishi-san was insisting, as usual, upon performing the Rite. What's-his-name and his bride refused to participate, claiming that the Rite was noxious heresy.

"That, then, is my question for you, Savina-san," said Lord Ono. "Is this Rite of Joyous Union an official Alirrian practice?"

"I have … never heard of it," said Savina. "What does it involve?"

"Nothing sensible," sighed Lord Ono. "I can see why what's-his-name objects, but who knows, saint-worshippers have bizarre customs – no offense. The Rite of Joyous Union requires that on the eve before a wedding in his or her Estate, the liege lord lie with one of the partners to be married. Something about allegiance and family…In this case, Nishi-san insists upon lying with what's-his-name's bride."

"'Lie with'?" said Savina, her eyes widening. "You mean – "

Lord Ono grunted an affirmative. "Well?" he said.

"Who – who gives consent to this?" Savina stammered.

"As far as I know, only Alirria herself. Is this traditional, or not?"

Nyoko watched Savina's spine straighten with anger. "Love is freely given," the girl declared. "What you describe is rape."

Lord Ono looked disgusted, but not really surprised – or energized. "So… that’s a heresy, then," he said.

"Absolutely," said Savina. "How will you stop it?"

Lord Ono sighed. "Theoretically," he began, "a new Inquisitorial Squad and Adept must be sent to the Hillside District to gather evidence, conduct a trial, and pass judgment." He gave slight bow to Nyoko. Then he shrugged and shook his head in exasperation. "But as a practical matter, there's not a single man I could trust to handle it properly."

“But your Inquisitors—” Savina began.

“—have already been out there, gathered evidence, and held that the Rite was not a problem.” He rubbed his temples. “It’s the Tide. They make everything harder.”

"The Tide?" asked Savina. "That sounds Alirrian."

Lord On gave a bark of laughter, without humor. "The opposite," he said. "The Restless Tide of the One True Path, they call themselves. They're ultra-conservative, and they refuse to accept the Affirmation. They want to make all saint-worship illegal again. They're everywhere these days – I suspect half my men are members."

“Inquisitors who refuse to accept the Affirmation,” mused Savina, “might harass people just for saying prayers to the other gods."

"Certainly," agreed Lord Ono.

"Do you suspect that the Inquisitors who first investigated this matter are members of The Tide?” Savina pressed.

“Possibly, though it's much more likely that they're just ignorant of Alirrian doctrine,” Lord Ono replied. “Half the honest Inquisitors under me wouldn't know an Alirrian heresy if it ran naked into the Lord Regent's personal vestry and performed the Beguiling Dance of the Sevenfold Secrets with a goat. Regardless, I'm not in a position to send anyone else out to investigate this. While I appreciate the information you have provided—I have to get back to things I can do something about.” He waved again at the papers on his desk.

"But Lord Ono-san— " said Savina, then looked abashed at her rashness, and then continued. "But an official investigation must be done."

"I agree, but I'm telling you, I don't have the people to do it." He reached toward his bell-pull, as if to summon an assistant.

Savina turned to Tavi, desperation in her eyes. "Tavi, we can't simply allow this to – "

Tavi stepped forward to face Lord Ono, making his presence felt for the first time. "Could we do it?"

"Heathens, running an Inquisition?" said Lord Ono. He snorted, far back in his throat.

"Not heathens, Lord Ono-san. Or not only," said Tavi. "We've got an Adept here, and we've got a Justicar." Kormick, who had been flicking idly through a stack of papers, grunted in surprise as Tavi grabbed his arm and pulled him forward to stand in front of Lord Ono's desk.

"Yes, right," said Kormick, fumbling his holy symbol out of his coat. "May Kettenek's Justice rain blessings upon you." He mis-pronounced "Kettenek," as usual, and flashed Tavi an entirely indiscreet "what are you getting me into?" glance.

"Ah," said Lord Ono, appraising the man. "One of those heathen lawmen. I've heard of you. You're – not what I pictured."

"Such are the mysterious ways of Justice," Kormick intoned, his initial glance settling into a steady glare at Tavi.

"Wha—right," said Lord Ono, now looking thoroughly flummoxed. He sighed the sigh of one who desperately needed a spa day.

Twiggy pulled Mena aside and whispered to her. “If we help them,” Twiggy asked in nearly inaudible tones, “do you think it would make a good impression on the head of the Inquisition for the whole Sovereignty—Lady Akiko? Because she’s close to the Lord High Regent, who we want to meet...”

Mena gave a subtle nod, and turned back to face Lord Ono. “We are at your service,” she said.

Lord Ono shook his head as if to clear it. "I could never allow it," he said.

"Lord Ono-san," said Savina, looking up at him with big eyes, her voice sweet and diplomatic, "we may be – be heathens, but in this matter our values align with yours. We all want to see this heretical rape prevented. Please – let us help you."

"If I may,” Twiggy added, “with our knowledge of Alirrian doctrine, we would be uniquely qualified to assist you even if you weren’t ... short-handed."

"For what it's worth, I can vouch for their general worthiness," Nyoko said, surprising herself by speaking up. But she really wanted to see this man get some well-deserved rest. "They represent two noble families from their home city, and in the Ketkath they saved my life. They have earned the respect of the Adepts."

Bombarded from all sides, Lord Ono actually paused to consider it. Then he shook his head once more. "You have no jurisdiction," he said flatly.

"Yes, yes, jurisdiction," said Kormick. The Justicar turned away from Lord Ono and fixed his traveling companions with a mournful expression. "It is exceedingly important in matters of Kettenek and Justice and so forth to respect jurisdiction, my friends. Brother Scribe taught me the concept in Justicar School by comparing it to turf battles between gangs in Dar Und. As in my hometown, we'd be unspeakably foolish to interfere here. Now, hypothetically, if Lord Ono-san didn't have full control of his own turf and couldn't put this matter to rest on his own, then he'd be showing weakness. These Tidesmen would sense that and unleash the apocalypse. But I'm sure he's considered that."

Nyoko heard the faintest groan from Lord Ono. The man had closed his eyes and was pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

"Deputize us," said Tavi. "You can do that, right?"

"In theory I could…" Lord Ono allowed, eyes still closed.

Savina stepped forward once more, this time less like a pleading girl and more like a deeply empathetic healer. She put a gentle hand on his arm. "To ease your burden…" was all she said.

After a pause, Lord Ono gave a sharp nod and opened his eyes. "I must seek the authorization of Lady Akiko-san," he said.

Twiggy smiled.

"I'll contact you when I've heard from her," said Lord Ono. "Assuming she doesn't have me dismissed from my post for … unspeakable foolishness. I thank you for your … help."

Taking his obvious cue, Nyoko moved toward the door, indicating that it was time to leave. As they all filed toward the door, Twiggy grabbed Mena's shoulder and whispered quickly into the Defier's ear. Mena turned back.

"Lord Ono-san," she said, "on an unrelated matter, would it be possible to have one of your assistants look up an old record for us?"

"Given your generous offer just now," he sighed, "I can hardly refuse… what is it about?"

"It's for some research we're doing," said Twiggy. "We're trying to track down a transcription of some things a woman said seventy-five years ago while she was being executed. Apparently she was some kind of Sedellan—"

Lord Ono's eyes had started glazing over at "seventy-five."

"I'll write down the information," interrupted Mena, reaching for a blank scrap of paper on his desk and scrawling some words on it. "Hand it to your assistant and think nothing more of it." She gave him the paper.

"I'll see what I can do," he said.

"Thank you very much," said Mena, and with that, the meeting was over.

They silently followed a guide back down the imposing hallways. Only as they were getting into the waiting carriages did Savina suddenly ask, "Did I really just offer to help Sovereign Inquisitors?"

Unexpectedly, it was Arden who answered, sounding almost as beleaguered as Lord Ono had. "Yes, you did, Blessed Daughter. And when the Honored Mother ordered me to protect you, I wish she'd mentioned how hard it would be."
 

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Ilex

First Post
13x04

Arden paced behind Savina and Mena through Cauldron's main marketplace, losing an internal battle against impatience. After days of standing silently in the back of meetings (if she was admitted at all), she found herself restless to go back to Pol Henna. This afternoon, Savina had asked Mena to help her shop for better traveling clothes and equipment, anticipating that they'd soon be departing the city to assist Lord Ono. Arden couldn't argue with Savina's logic (boots were one item on the girl's shopping list), but it did mean that Arden was now carrying all the new armor that Mena had selected for herself, Savina, and Tavi, and it looked like the load was only going to get bigger.

Then Mena suggested that Savina buy Arden a new dagger, and unexpectedly, Savina consented. With the small weight of the new weapon at her hip, Arden summoned her willpower and silenced the complaining voice in her head. Returning to Pol Henna was simply not an option. The mission Savina had so naively gotten them all into – to stop a string of heretical rapes disguised as an Alirrian ritual – was important. And Rose's problems were by no means solved… and the prophecy itself was not exactly comforting…

A man was shouting at them from a market stall: "Pretty ladies! Pretty ladies! Pretty ladies!" Arden ignored him, thinking about the prophecy's structure: Four verses. "Find the breath… catch the drop… fan the coals..." Those all sound helpful. Like we're supposed to save symbols of Sedellus, Alirria, Ehkt. But then there's "break the stone…" and that doesn't sound helpful at all. Is something wrong with Kettenek?

"Pretty ladies! Good bagel here!"

Arden stopped dead.

"You're kidding me," she said to no one in particular.

"Arden?" asked Mena.

"Pretty ladies! Good bagel! Make you good bagel, great bagel, have many dildos!"

“What?” said Arden.

“Huh?” said Mena.

"Dildos?" asked Savina, brightly curious.

"That salesman…" Arden said, turning away her face from the enthusiastic dwarf, repressing a strange urge to hide from him outright. "I met him in Lord's Edge. He's a swindler."

"How do you know?" asked Mena.

"I don't trust him. He won't talk straight."

"Arden, that isn't a good enough reason to condemn someone," admonished Savina, and walked right up to the man. Mena followed. Arden rolled her eyes helplessly and trailed behind.

"By 'bagel,' do you mean 'bargain'?" Savina asked the dwarf, who was quivering with gladness at their approach.

The dwarf shook his head "no," smiling ingratiatingly. "Is bagel," he said. "Make bagel."

"Perhaps you might explain to us what goes into making bagels," said Mena.

He grinned and held out his hands. "Is bagel," he answered. “Everyone is know how make bagel. And with best bagel come best customer!”

Arden studied the dwarf. His natural beard was beginning to grow in, but he'd lengthened it with extensions.

"Then might we see your very best bagel?" Mena pressed.

The dwarf was delighted. He rummaged behind his stall and produced an old burlap sack. Here we go, thought Arden. Just the sort of thing you'd need to toss over Savina's head before dragging her off to your bagel smithy. The dwarf leaned conspiratorially over the countertop and opened the bag. Savina peered in first.

"Oh!" she gasped. "Why – it's beautiful!"

Arden stole a glance over Mena's shoulder. There was a scintillation in the depths of the bag where a shimmery cloth caught sparkles of sunlight through the gaps in the burlap. It was pretty.

Mena reached in to touch it, and the dwarf snatched the bag away. "No no no," he said. "No touch. Is best bagel."

"What's it for?" asked Mena.

"Is for keeping wet," said the dwarf, and pantomimed shivering and throwing a cloak over his shoulders.

"Warm?" asked Savina. "Do you mean warm?"

"Yah. Sure. Is that."

"How much?" asked Savina. Arden suppressed a groan.

"One thousand gold for good bagel."

Savina, to her credit, frowned. Even she wasn't willing to hand over that much money – at least not right away. "Mena," muttered Arden, seizing her chance. "His beard is fake. And what's he doing here instead of in Lord's Edge?"

Mena nodded. "Both these ladies would like to know a little more about you," she told the dwarf. "With such an expensive purchase, it's nice to know something about the seller, don't you agree? My friend Arden says that she met you recently in Lord's Edge. Why are you here?"

Here the dwarf looked briefly askance. "Ah… Is – is better business. Here people know good bagel."

"Can you tell us anything more about this cloth?" asked Savina. "What makes it so very precious if all it does is keep you … wet?"

The dwarf grinned at her. "Is precious because one-time dildo!" he proclaimed.

They stared at him. “Perhaps this would be easier if we used a tongue he is more familiar with,” Mena finally murmured, and then said something to the dwarf in her most courteous Dwarven.

But the dwarf smiled and shook his head. “No, no,” he replied proudly in Common. “Am visit to your land. Am learn to speak your language with tongue.”

"What's your clan name?" demanded Mena flatly.

"Rockminder."

All their eyebrows shot up at that. Rockminder, thought Arden, her mind racing. How could he be related to the dwarfs we rescued? He's so… squirrelly. Mena immediately questioned him in more detail, asking if he knew Kurtan or Sertani, but he shook his head. She finally declared that dwarven clans were massive and this salesman was clearly from a different branch. Arden was frustrated. Just as in Lord's Edge, she wanted to know what was going on here, and just as in Lord's Edge, she had a sinking feeling that she wasn't going to find out.

Mena asked one final question. "Dwarven beards are only removed for great dishonor," she said. "How did you lose yours?"

"Is … accident with fire," the salesman said.

"Is bull!#&*," Mena answered.

"With respect, Dame Mena," said Arden, having finally lost all patience, "you and the Blessed Daughter are such close friends with the leader of the Adepts … and the Head Inquisitor… Maybe your close friends would like to know more about this man's wonderful bagels. I bet the Inquisition, especially, would – "

"Eh, good night," said the dwarf, though it was still broad daylight. He shoved the bag back under the counter and began packing up his things. In the process, he scrabbled around in a dirty crate, produced a forked piece of wood, and shoved it into Savina's hands. "Nice lady, pretty lady," he said. "Is present. Present for you."

"Is this – ? It is! This is a divining rod," Savina said.

"Yah yah, good present for you. Good night, good night." He ducked down below the stall again.

Arden smiled, pleased to see him scared. She caught Savina's eye and realized that the girl was frowning at her, but she didn't care. Savina leaned back over the stall to glimpse the dwarf.

"We didn’t want to frighten you," she said in her kindest voice. "We wish no more than to satisfy our curiosity about your merchandise."

"Good night!" He would no longer raise his head.

"We shouldn't have scared him like that," said Savina. He was asking for it, Arden answered her silently, and maybe her irritation showed on her face, because Savina dropped the matter.

As they walked on and Savina resumed shopping, Arden did realize, with a pang of remaining annoyance, that she still had no real proof what "bagel" actually meant.

###

The next day, Arden found herself standing in the back of another meeting in Lord Ono's cluttered office. Lady Akiko had consented to the group's plan, and Lord Ono was briefing Savina, Tavi, Kormick, and the others on what would be expected of them as deputized Inquisitors. Arden kept her eye on Kormick, curious to see how these foreign duties might conflict with his idiosyncratic commitment to Justice. He seemed unperturbed.

Next, Lord Ono requested that everyone except Arden take a formal oath of office. The wording was slightly awkward, suggesting that it had been hastily amended to incorporate the heathens' belief in four gods. Arden was relieved to be left out, not least because she had learned to hate making promises. Slaves weren't in charge of their own lives; an owner's demand could always destroy the best of intentions. Promises weren't worth making, and oaths weren't worth taking, unless you were prepared to defy the world and everything in it to keep them.

Lord Ono presented each of his new deputies with a gray Inquisitorial robe and a ceremonial wakizashi. Arden traded her Alirrian colors for a gray surcoat, just like the other servants around the place were wearing. And with that, they had become Inquisitors. Heathen Inquisitors.

Before they left, Twiggy asked, "Have you had any luck finding that old record we asked for, Lord Ono-san?"

"Ah. Well. It has been suggested to me that it may be somewhere on my desk … " Lord Ono ventured, glancing helplessly at the mountains of paper.

"Oh," said Twiggy. "Maybe by the time we're back, then."

"Indeed."

###

They spent a few hours back at the Adept House, packing. Arden helped load the carriage that would carry them into Hillside District. Then she made sure Savina was comfortable inside next to Rose. As she finally climbed up to the outside front seat, she overheard Rose say, "I knew this would be a long and unusual path. Still, this is a bit longer and far more unusual than even I expected…"

Kormick swung himself up next to Arden and took the reins.

"Be ready to brutally murder anyone who looks at us oddly," he told her. "We're not the popular kids right now."

"When's the law ever popular, Justicar?" Arden asked. He crooked a half-smile and twitched the reins.

They drove up the curving, sloping street to the city's gates. Everyone made way for their carriage, some bowing heads respectfully – or fearfully – to the passing Inquisitors. The traffic thinned as they passed out of the gates and began their journey down the long and winding road to the base of the mountain that Cauldron was built atop, but their fellow travelers still made way.

Until three didn't. A woman stood square in the middle of the road, blocking their path. Two men flanked her.

The woman's arms were crossed. As the carriage bore down, she didn't budge. She just glared.

Kormick pulled up on the reins. Arden lowered her hand to her new dagger.

And then, as the carriage stopped, the woman yelled.

"Octavian di Raprezzi, Roseanna di Raprezzi, I am taking you home to your mother. Now!"
 

Ilex

First Post
Just a little postscript to the latest update: ellinor and I wish to be on the record that Mena's verbal riposte to Bagel Guy's "Is accident with fire" claim -- presented here just as it was improvised by Jenber with lightning speed at the gaming table -- was a moment of sheer Mena-tastic perfection.
 

ellinor

Explorer
14x01

“Roseanna di Raprezzi, Octavian di Raprezzi, I am taking you home to your mother. NOW.

At that voice, Twiggy's blood ran cold.

Twiggy—and more importantly, Acorn—had just been enjoying the fresh breezes on the road after the sulfur stench of Cauldron. Twiggy had been musing that, despite its smell, Cauldron had turned out to be much more pleasant than she'd expected. She now wore a wakizashi at her side. In their way, the Inquisitors had made her a noble. A noble, just like Rose and Tavi.

It wasn’t just their unexpectedly positive interaction with the Inquisitors that had made Twiggy feel good. Leaving the forest hadn’t transformed her back into “just a lady-in-waiting,” as she had once feared. Even Tavi, with his dedication to ordered responsibility, had begun to treat her more or less as an equal—or at least he hadn’t balked when she slipped and called him “Tav.” After seventeen years spent struggling against the accident of her station—dreaming that it might be possible to earn the respect of the di Raprezzis—it had happened, almost by mistake.

But now, with that voice—that all-too familiar voice—all her happy musings vanished in a heartbeat.

The voice was Mariela. That’s Signora Mariela, to you, thought Twiggy, scowling inside. Mariela: Powerful sorceress. Signor Dante’s sister. Rose and Tavi’s aunt. Di Raprezzi family functionary. Generally bitter woman.

And my mother.

Tavi’s eyes had widened with surprise, but he barely missed a beat. In an instant, he'd jumped out of the carriage and was standing straight. “Aunt Mariela,” he said with a tiny formal bow. “That is a fascinating proposition. I am afraid it’s not going to happen.”

Twiggy and the others stepped out behind him. Mariela put her hands on her hips. She was flanked by two members of the family guard, each holding a halberd across his chest with stern attentiveness. “We can do this two ways,” she replied, “the easy way, or the hard way.”

“Hard for whom?” Mena muttered to Twiggy.

Kormick stepped forward. “Signora di Raprezzi,” he began in a conciliatory tone, “We are authorized by the Sovereign Inquisition to enforce the law of Alirria. I think it would be—”

“I don’t give a rat’s a@@ what you are authorized to do,” Mariela shot back. “I am authorized to enforce the laws of Pol Henna, as a licensed enforcement agent for the di Raprezzi family.”

“What are the charges?” Kormick asked.

Mariela smirked. “Theft of property and familial disrespect. Now get out of my way.”

Tavi nodded to Kormick and squared his shoulders. “Aunt Mariela,” he began. “Since the age of 2, I have had one responsibility: the care and protection of my sister Rose. It is a duty I have never shirked, for Rose and for the family. Now, the best and only way that I can carry out that duty is for Rose and me to be beside each other, here in the Sovereignty, right now. If you are really concerned with familial respect, you must respect Rose’s fate, and our responsibility. We have work to do here, and we are going to do it. So you can get out of our way.”

Mariela did not move. Then—with a look of concentration that Twiggy recognized well—she began to cast.

“Signora Mariela!” Twiggy blurted it out, in some futile attempt to stop time. “We are doing something good here! Something important! Something good for the world and for the family! You talk about familial disrespect—would you take this away from us? From me?”

Twiggy hadn’t meant to say that last part.

Mariela smirked again, and turned to face Twiggy. “I am taking Octavian and Roseanna. You are free to do whatever you want.”

Seventeen years of pent-up anger welled up in Twiggy. Seventeen years of trying politely, patiently, to get the love and attention of this woman. Seventeen years of studying, training, excelling. Serving the di Raprezzis. Caring for Rose. Hiding my lineage for the sake of the family’s good name.

Seventeen years of being ignored.


Twiggy steeled herself. It was not her place to act.

But Mariela did. She stared at Tavi, and cast. Tavi’s body stiffened, held in place by Mariela’s infamous petrifying gaze.

Kormick immediately turned to Nyoko.

“Attacking a member of the Inquisition. That’s pretty illegal, yes?” he asked her.

“Very illegal, Inquisitor-san.”

“O-kay, no more Mr. Nice Inquisitor-san,” Kormick said. “Now you’re all under arrest.”

Four more di Raprezzi guards leapt out of the bushes beside the road, and—it must have come from one of them—ear-splitting thunder erupted from the middle of the road. The force made Tavi’s petrified figure shake, and he grimaced in pain. The force hit Nyoko, too.

“As is attacking an Adept,” she noted with satisfaction as she shot back. Her arrows struck guardsmen in clearly painful, but non-vital, locations.

Savina stepped forward. “Stop this, before someone gets hurt,” she said, with an air of outraged nobility that Twiggy had not seen in her before. “I warn you, you are attacking a di Infusino.”

“Stay out of this,” Mariela hissed, and stared at Tavi. Tavi’s face twisted in pain, and he cried out.

“Stop. That.” Savina’s voice was forceful and commanding, and rang not only with the confidence of her own nobility, but also the divine power of Alirria. Mariela was helpless to resist. She stumbled backward and fell on her backside, glaring with impotent rage. Savina continued. “And stay down, or my father will have something to say about it. Arden?”

“Yes, Blessed Daughter?”

“Attack the next person who is foolish enough to attack one of us.”

But Mariela showed no signs of relenting. The guards advanced, leveling orbs and halberds at Tavi and Nyoko. “Please, Signor,” one of them murmured, “We do not want to hurt you.”

Tavi called each guard by name. “This is a family matter,” he said as movement gradually returned to his body. “If you wish to remain in the employ of the di Raprezzi family, you will not attack a di Raprezzi or any of our companions. This need not come to blows.” He bent gingerly, laid his sword on the ground, and offered his hand to help Mariela up.

Mariela did not take it, but rose slowly on her own. “I have orders to bring you home.”

“From whom?” Tavi asked.

“From everyone.”

“That is not an answer,” Tavi replied. “There are only two people who could give you an or—“

“Don’t be naive,” Mariela growled. “You cannot imagine the holy storm you have unleashed in your mother.”

Their mother, Dona Giovanna, thought Twiggy. Then, bitterly, But at least Dona Giovanna loves her daughter. She could feel her control slipping as her anger rose again.

Mariela raised her hands to cast. Mena, still standing by Rose’s side, spoke up. “Surely, we do not need to return this very second. Let us take a few minutes to explain to you what we are doing.”

Mariela scowled. “Dame Filomena, I am instructed to inform you that your services are no longer required by the di Raprezzi family.” Gods, did she just FIRE Mena? Can she even do that?

“But I will be heard,” Savina interjected. “Fifteen minutes, and we will explain.”

“The house di Infusino has no standing here,” Mariela shot back.

Bile rose in Twiggy’s throat, and her grip tightened on the orb before her. “I don’t understand! Why can’t we just take fifteen minutes to talk?”

“Why? Because I am tired of waiting! Because I have been living in this foul, foreign, stinking city waiting for you for two months! And because I don’t care what you—“

It was the last straw. BAM! Twiggy cast Force Orb, and the her spell knocked Mariela several feet backward. “You don’t care?!” Twiggy’s voice rose. “You condescending witch! You’ve never cared! You’ve never cared about what’s right, or about the people around you . . . Well, you don’t get to not care anymore. You don’t get to do this to me, or the people I care about. You don’t get to—” Twiggy stopped as she realized she was yelling. She looked around. Everyone—everything—else was silent. For a moment, embarrassment replaced rage. But then she saw Mena, who offered a small, almost imperceptible, smile and nod. The anger returned, but now it was controlled. Quiet. Powerful. Twiggy held it in, tight and focused, and waited.

“You have dishonored this family once, Aunt Mariela,” said Tavi. He took a step forward. “You will not dishonor it again.” His sword flew into his hand, and he raised it. “Do not make me use this.”

Mariela cast. Tavi gave a gulping scream as the force hit his chest, and he stumbled backward, struggling to catch his balance and his breath. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Then all hell broke loose.
 

spyscribe

First Post
Naturally, Nyoko witnessed all of this with the dispassion of her training.

SpyScribe, on the other hand, gets a huge kick whenever someone invokes Tavi and Rose's mother.

Holy storm I'm sure. :)
 

StevenAC

Explorer
Naturally, Nyoko witnessed all of this with the dispassion of her training.

SpyScribe, on the other hand, gets a huge kick whenever someone invokes Tavi and Rose's mother.

Holy storm I'm sure. :)
I'm hoping we'll get another Special Guest Appearance by Lira (and Euro). Particularly if Nyoko is still in the party... :D

(BTW, chapters 12 and 13 are now up at the Collected Story Hour site.)
 

ellinor

Explorer
14x03

To Twiggy, it seemed like everything happened at once.

Arden—who had somehow managed to sneak around everyone—ducked behind one of the guards and, with the pommel of her dagger, clocked Mariela in the head. Mariela squawked with pain and vanished, re-appearing a few feet away, her attention still focused on Tavi. Twiggy saw an opening, and cast illusory ambush at Mariela, sending images of stones and arrows flying at her head. As Mariela ducked and dodged, Tavi’s sword whipped from his hand and flew, end over end, at Mariela. The butt of the sword struck her square in the chest, and she grunted as Tavi’s sword returned to his hand.

Twiggy felt a swell of pride at the group’s impressive, yet non-lethal, show of force. See? I bet you thought we’d be afraid of you. A month ago, we might have been. For a moment, it seemed as if one of Mariela’s guards was going to attack Arden, but Savina leveled her staff at him and called out: “You! Stop that!” Her voice echoed with the power of Alirria behind it. With a look of fear, he turned and ran, nearly tripping on the embankment as he dashed toward the trees beyond. Well done, thought Twiggy.

Kormick charged a second guard and slammed one of his warhammers into the man's gut. “You. Spotty. You were in my class at the Sorcerer’s Academy,” Kormick said conversationally.

“Jan Kormick--?” the guard gasped, as the Justicar’s second warhammer landed right in his gut.

Kormick raised his hammers again. “Remember that thing I didn’t know how to do back then?” Kormick asked. He whispered something, and a burst of energy shot from between his hammers, arcing into the guard’s face.

The guard ran toward the trees, following his companion. “If you keep that up, you’ll just die tired!” Kormick called after him, strolling toward the trees.

Then a magic missile from one of the remaining guards struck Kormick between the shoulder blades. “You should know better,” he sighed, and dashed back across the street. With a swift motion, he whacked his new attacker in the back and then the kneecaps. The guard fell, unconscious. That’s three guards we don’t have to worry about, Twiggy thought. Mena growled at another guard and brandished her sword. Hopefully four.

But Twiggy’s moment of pride ended as, without warning, pain rang out from her shins—it was the shaft of one of the guards’ halberds—and she flipped forward, landing prone on the hard road. Then, just as suddenly, Twiggy felt a thunderous force—from one of the spell-casting guards—shake her whole body. As she struggled to rise, she saw that several of her companions had also been toppled by the spell. Mariela recovered her balance and cast something new at Tavi just as he began to stand. He gripped his head and fell, unconscious.

The group retaliated with well-calibrated force. Arden threw her new magic dagger and its butt end struck Mariela in the head before returning to Arden’s hand. Nyoko’s arrows grazed Mariela’s arms, drawing blood but not crippling her. Savina called out to Alirria. “Help us carry out your will!” A ray of energy flew from Savina’s staff, shooting toward Mariela. Mariela tried to shield her face, without success. Blood from her arms smeared on her dress. She cried out in pain and snarled “I’ve had about enough of your—“

Not nearly enough, thought Twiggy. Your nephew is lying on the ground. He has dedicated his life to protecting the family. Your daughter is bruised and hurt. She has dedicated her life to keeping your secret safe. You think hurting us is good for the family’s honor? You have the nerve to speak of familial disrespect? “You just. Don’t. Get it.” said Twiggy, calmly, and ignited her fireball.

Mariela’s dress erupted in flames, and she flailed wildly, trying to put out the fire. Twiggy moved the fireball away a few inches. Mariela staggered… and fell, unconscious. Twiggy let the fire wink out.

Savina ran to Tavi’s side and healed his wounds. “Now can we put a stop to this?” she asked, her voice still strong.

Mena stared down the remaining guards, each of whom knew her well. “Now would be a good time to put down your weapons,” she said, softly. They all did, except one, who paused, his eye on Mariela. Mena gave him a grim, knowing wink. He gulped, and put down his halberd. The only guard who didn’t surrender was the one whom Savina had frightened—he was still running deeper into the forest.

As Kormick and Nyoko bound Mariela, and Savina healed her, Mena pulled Twiggy aside. “Breathe,” Mena suggested.

Twiggy gulped air, and stared into the distance. Breathe. Good idea. Mena always has good advice.

“I just . . . I never realized,” Twiggy said, after a while. “I knew I was angry, but . . . I have always envied Rose and Tavi. Their futures were free and mine was decided. I will always be a servant. Now I realize . . . Rose and Tavi don’t have that choice either. Between Sedellus and Dona Giovanna—their futures are no more free than Arden’s.” She paused for another breath, following Mena’s advice. “But at least they aren’t walking, talking risks to their family’s honor.”

“You are ten times the honorable woman your mother is,” said Mena.

###

Tavi knew his mother would be angry. Nor was he surprised that she had sent people to follow them. What surprised him was that she thought Tavi would choose anything over helping Rose. Or, frankly, that she thought being trapped back at the Estate would do anything to keep Rose safe. Maybe sending Mariela packing back to Pol Henna would impress upon their mother the seriousness of their mission. Who am I kidding, he thought. This wasn’t the last they’d hear from their mother. But at least now she’d know they were alive and well, and—as a tinge of vindictiveness crept into his mind—he couldn’t imagine that creating an international incident by attacking a team of Inquisitors and an Adept would do anything for Mariela’s standing in the family.

They brought Mariela—kicking and screaming, but well-contained by their Inquisitors’ manacles—back to the Hall of the Inquisitors.

Nyoko recounted the day’s events. Lord Ono stared at her as she did so. Then held his head in his hands. “You know what I don’t need?” he asked, gesturing to the piles of paper on his desk and floor, which seemed, somehow, to have grown. “This. This is what I don’t need.”

After some discussion, it was agreed that the di Raprezzi household guards would not be punished—they did not act with malice against the Inquisition—and Mariela’s case would be addressed by Lord Ono’s clerks. Although Mariela had intentionally attacked the Inquisition, it was decided that she had done so without knowledge of Sovereign laws, and therefore would not be subject to the traditional penalty of execution. The fact that executing a scion of House di Raprezzi might jeopardize the Sovereignty’s access to the Teleport Network—to say nothing of potentially risking war with Pol Henna—played no small part in the Inquisition’s lenience.

Whatever the reason, Tavi heaved a sigh of relief.

As they rode out the Cauldron gates for the second time, Savina was angrily writing a letter to her father. Whatever’s in there, Tavi thought, it can’t be good.

“Is your Aunt usually so . . . abrasive?” asked Savina, looking up from her letter.

“She has never been my favorite relative,” Tavi replied, “but in her way, she is a good and honorable member of the family di Raprezzi.”

Savina smiled at his return to Hennan decorum. “And Twiggy,” she added, “are you all right? It seemed there was something . . . personal between you and Signora Mariela.”

Tavi focused on Twiggy so hard that he thought he might bore a hole in her head. “We do have some history,” Twiggy understated, “but that is no excuse for my losing control of my emotions.”

Well done, Tavi thought.
 


ellinor

Explorer
Thanks, Seonaid!

Yes, Illusory Ambush is a great spell -- it's an at-will power that does 1d6+4 psychic damage and gives the opponent -2 to its attack rolls until the end of my next turn. For some reason -- I don't remember what it is now (maybe a feat?) if Twiggy hits with Illusory Ambush (or any other illusion spell), Twiggy also gets +2 to hit the same target with any attack until the end of her next turn. So you can imagine, Illusory Ambush has become Twiggy's go-to combat spell! (Fortunately, I don't have to say each time what sort of illusion I'm sending...)
 

WisdomLikeSilence

Community Supporter
I have to say the encounter with Mariela was one of my favorite sessions of the game so far. Everyone had juicy role-playing reactions, and there were several times that players simply had to stand-up in order to properly declaim their impassioned speeches. It was awesome.

Plus, Savina got to play offended princess instead of her usual hesitant girl. The very thought that anyone from Pol Henna would *knowingly* attack a Di Infusino... humph!
 

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