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Aphonion Tales (New posts 6/13, 6/15, 6/19)
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<blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 2190513" data-attributes="member: 3448"><p>With the priest dead, the group rushed to see if the count could be restored to health. Far from freeing him from the enchantment, however, the priest's death had severed the last force preserving the count's life. No more than a few minutes passed between the priest's death and the group's entry into the count's study, but his breathing had already taken on a ragged, tortured sound as he slumped even further onto the desk. Alistair and Dame Brionna quickly laid him out on a bed, but were unable to do anything to heal him and had to satisfy themselves by making the count comfortable in his passing. By the time the hour was out, the count stopped breathing altogether. Dame Brionna quietly said a prayer for the dead. After she finished, Alistair drew her attention. "You should witness this." Alistair struck a pose. "All other legitimate claimants having perished and my being seized of the territory, I hereby claim this county in the name of the royal family of Canberry by virtue of the victory of forces in our service over the usurper." He thought for a second. "I don't really think it's large enough to be a proper county, though. To avoid offending the nobles back in Canberry, I should probably reconstitute it as a barony. Now I just need to find a baron..."</p><p></p><p>As Alistair began to walk out of the room, Dame Brionna cleared her throat. "It is traditional to reward warriors who have saved the life of royalty in battle, and Kit did save your life..."</p><p></p><p>"I was already thinking that," he said as he exited.</p><p></p><p>"Good. Besides, it would make her much more suitable..." Dame Brionna quietly observed as Alistair walked back to Kit.</p><p></p><p>"Kit... could I talk with you for a moment in private?" Once Alistair had Kit away from their other companions, he faced her. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life, or really all of our lives, back there. And I want to ask you whether, as a reward, you would like to have this barony."</p><p></p><p>Alistair stood ready for many reactions. Stunned silence, overjoyed exulting, even amorous gratitude would not have surprised him. Kit's laughter, however, did. "What," she cried out gasping for breath amidst peels of laughter, "would I possibly do with a barony?"</p><p></p><p>"You wouldn't do anything with it. You would appoint a steward-- I'm sure I could arrange for Earl Richard to supply a good candidate-- who would administer it for you. And then you could live as a baroness off of its revenues, staying in a townhouse in whatever civilized city you chose to."</p><p></p><p>Kit's continued laughter showed what she thought of that idea. "Thank you for the offer, but I don't think I really want to have a barony, your lordliness."</p><p></p><p>As they returned to the rest of the group, Delbon looked up at Alistair. "What about the rest of us?" he asked, apparently having overheard Alistair's offer. "Can't we get any awards?"</p><p></p><p>Alistair smiled. "Of course. How does a knighthood sound? Sir Delbon... I'll make you a knight bachelor. It seems appropriate."</p><p></p><p>Dame Brionna raised an eyebrow. "Were you knighted yourself, m'lord? If you weren't, I can take care of arranging the details for the ceremony."</p><p></p><p>"Of course I was knighted. At least, I think I was knighted. You have to understand, I was pretty drunk at the time. I don't really remember much of the ceremony, but I'm almost sure that I got dubbed at some point."</p><p></p><p>Dame Brionna nodded. "I think I should definitely take charge of the details of the ceremony then."</p><p></p><p>Before dealing with such details, however, the group finished exploring the castle. In the priest's chambers, a diary revealed his gradual descent from the priesthood of Paranswarm to even greater depravity. The problems all seemed to begin when he acquired the fancy gold amulet that he wore around his neck and that fully awakened his mind. His journal declared in careful detail how he had infiltrated himself into the count's household, claiming he had been assigned as a chaplain. He then set about spreading his lycanthropic curse to build up more followers, bound to his will through leather collars that allowed him mental control. When the count's son sought to stop the werewolves, he arranged for a hunting accident, stunning the young lord psionically and then flinging him off the cliff. And now, with the count fading quickly and the werebears and wereboars overmatched by the coordinated efforts of the fallen priest's minions, he merely waited for the opportunity to claim the entire county. Over the course of the journal, the priest's writing grew progressively more crazed, so that the end of the volume appeared to be written by a completely different author from the meticulous scribe who began. Having confirmed their suspicions and positively identified the amulet and leather collars of control as the remaining threats, the group carefully slid the amulet, without ever touching it, into a small lead coffer. They threw in the leather control bands, and then carefully closed the coffer and tied it shut, hoping that would contain the threat until they could give it to the temple of Glordiadel to destroy it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cerebral Paladin, post: 2190513, member: 3448"] With the priest dead, the group rushed to see if the count could be restored to health. Far from freeing him from the enchantment, however, the priest's death had severed the last force preserving the count's life. No more than a few minutes passed between the priest's death and the group's entry into the count's study, but his breathing had already taken on a ragged, tortured sound as he slumped even further onto the desk. Alistair and Dame Brionna quickly laid him out on a bed, but were unable to do anything to heal him and had to satisfy themselves by making the count comfortable in his passing. By the time the hour was out, the count stopped breathing altogether. Dame Brionna quietly said a prayer for the dead. After she finished, Alistair drew her attention. "You should witness this." Alistair struck a pose. "All other legitimate claimants having perished and my being seized of the territory, I hereby claim this county in the name of the royal family of Canberry by virtue of the victory of forces in our service over the usurper." He thought for a second. "I don't really think it's large enough to be a proper county, though. To avoid offending the nobles back in Canberry, I should probably reconstitute it as a barony. Now I just need to find a baron..." As Alistair began to walk out of the room, Dame Brionna cleared her throat. "It is traditional to reward warriors who have saved the life of royalty in battle, and Kit did save your life..." "I was already thinking that," he said as he exited. "Good. Besides, it would make her much more suitable..." Dame Brionna quietly observed as Alistair walked back to Kit. "Kit... could I talk with you for a moment in private?" Once Alistair had Kit away from their other companions, he faced her. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life, or really all of our lives, back there. And I want to ask you whether, as a reward, you would like to have this barony." Alistair stood ready for many reactions. Stunned silence, overjoyed exulting, even amorous gratitude would not have surprised him. Kit's laughter, however, did. "What," she cried out gasping for breath amidst peels of laughter, "would I possibly do with a barony?" "You wouldn't do anything with it. You would appoint a steward-- I'm sure I could arrange for Earl Richard to supply a good candidate-- who would administer it for you. And then you could live as a baroness off of its revenues, staying in a townhouse in whatever civilized city you chose to." Kit's continued laughter showed what she thought of that idea. "Thank you for the offer, but I don't think I really want to have a barony, your lordliness." As they returned to the rest of the group, Delbon looked up at Alistair. "What about the rest of us?" he asked, apparently having overheard Alistair's offer. "Can't we get any awards?" Alistair smiled. "Of course. How does a knighthood sound? Sir Delbon... I'll make you a knight bachelor. It seems appropriate." Dame Brionna raised an eyebrow. "Were you knighted yourself, m'lord? If you weren't, I can take care of arranging the details for the ceremony." "Of course I was knighted. At least, I think I was knighted. You have to understand, I was pretty drunk at the time. I don't really remember much of the ceremony, but I'm almost sure that I got dubbed at some point." Dame Brionna nodded. "I think I should definitely take charge of the details of the ceremony then." Before dealing with such details, however, the group finished exploring the castle. In the priest's chambers, a diary revealed his gradual descent from the priesthood of Paranswarm to even greater depravity. The problems all seemed to begin when he acquired the fancy gold amulet that he wore around his neck and that fully awakened his mind. His journal declared in careful detail how he had infiltrated himself into the count's household, claiming he had been assigned as a chaplain. He then set about spreading his lycanthropic curse to build up more followers, bound to his will through leather collars that allowed him mental control. When the count's son sought to stop the werewolves, he arranged for a hunting accident, stunning the young lord psionically and then flinging him off the cliff. And now, with the count fading quickly and the werebears and wereboars overmatched by the coordinated efforts of the fallen priest's minions, he merely waited for the opportunity to claim the entire county. Over the course of the journal, the priest's writing grew progressively more crazed, so that the end of the volume appeared to be written by a completely different author from the meticulous scribe who began. Having confirmed their suspicions and positively identified the amulet and leather collars of control as the remaining threats, the group carefully slid the amulet, without ever touching it, into a small lead coffer. They threw in the leather control bands, and then carefully closed the coffer and tied it shut, hoping that would contain the threat until they could give it to the temple of Glordiadel to destroy it. [/QUOTE]
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