Cerebral Paladin's Storyhour (updated 4/22)

[Orichalcum]

Sister Aurora's story

Sister Aurora's Confidential Confessional Chronicle.

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

 

[Fajitas]

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

LOL.

Sister Aurora seems like a lot of fun to play.

 

[Orichalcum]

re: Playing Sister Aurora

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

 

[Yoji-san]

I want more

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

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

 

[Ladybird]

Re: I want more

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

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

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

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

 

[themaxx]

Storytelling

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

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

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

Now, on to more storyhour:
Session 4:

2/11/752

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

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

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

"Thank you, sir."

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

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

With that, the captain moves on.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2/12/752

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

2/13/752

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

2/14/752

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

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

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

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

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 4 (cont'd)

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

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

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

"Sure."

"Have you seen him since then."

"No. Why?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ginara stomps off to her room.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Of course, Mother."

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

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

"Alright. You can go."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Was he here two nights ago?"

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

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

"Yes. He wasn't very nice."

"We heard that he was injured?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Could you possibly have said anything worse?"

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

Lhovrik sighs. "Did you find out anything?"

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

"Of course. Magic Missile."

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

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

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

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Session 4 (cont'd):

2/15/752

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Thank you, Mother."

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

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

"No, probably from a fairly long voyage."

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

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

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

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

"Thanks. That's what I thought."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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