Damsel-of-Distress

[Mark Chance]

Pete, Tam, Beron, and Shoes follow Alain - who carries a large serving tray laden with food and a pot of hot water for tea - out of the kitchen and across the courtyard to the door leading into the Lady's quarters.

"M'Lady," Alain says loudly but gently.

The sound of a bolt being slid scrapes through the door, which then swings inward.

"Please enter," says the Lady Desdemona.

She is a surprisingly young human, no more than eighteen years, possibly one or two younger than that. She is also strikingly beautiful. Her demeanor and bearing belie her unfortunate circumstances.

"Please come in," the Lady says. "Place the tray on the table there, Alain. I have just enough chairs, gentlemen. Will you join me for tea and --"

"Stew, m'Lady," Alain says almost as if apologizing.

"-- for tea and stew," Desdemona finishes with a gracious smile.

 

[RaZZer99]

Desdemona’s apparent youth caught Tam off guard. He was expecting a much more mature matron to put it as politely as possible. This creature is a mere child by some standards. “Umm pleasure...meet...you, Lady.”, he manages to blurt awkwardly, almost fumbling each word, “I'm Tam!” To hide his growing embarrassment, the young abjurer scrambles to the nearest chair (careful not to sit before the Lady Desdemona herself does) and falls silent relying on his compatriots to offer much more graceful salutations and introductions.

 

[Mark Chance]

The Lady sits and gestures for the others to join her around the smallish table. Alain begins to serve.

"I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to help guard me," Desdemona says. "Alain is quite the capable servant, but he's only one man, and I fear my father's enemies will not be so easily scared away by the incident in the marketplace."

She smiles warmly as she looks at each adventurer.

"Ah, but I see by your expressions you do not know of what I speak. Your patience, please, while I explain.

"I am the last scion of Bowgentle Kale. He was my grandfather's father. I am the third generation since Bowgentle to have guarded the Recondite Pendant, and I believe I am the the child of the first generation to have fully deciphered its secrets. My father, the late Aurelius, studied the lore surrounding the Recondite Pendant for his entire life. Old Bowgentle, for whatever reason, took the Pendant's secrets to the grave with him.

"Before my father could act upon his discoveries, he was struck down by a sudden sickness that, in an instant it seemed, destroyed his mind and crippled his body. In putting Father's affairs in order, I read his research on the Pendant. Father believed - with very good reason, I feel - that the Pendant is a sort of planar key attuned to the Seventh Heaven.

"Alain, please retrieve the Pendant for me. I'd like to show it to these gentlemen."

A troubled look briefly crosses Alain's face, but then he bows slightly.

"Of course, m'Lady."

Alain leaves the chamber. Lady Desdemona eats a spoonful of stew.

 

[Kafkonia]

"M'lady," Pete says, "I am concerned by your mention of this sickness that claimed your father... It is my experience that items of this sort may often bring on such side effects."

 

[Mark Chance]

"M'lady," Pete says, "I am concerned by your mention of this sickness that claimed your father... It is my experience that items of this sort may often bring on such side effects."

Desdemona smiles faintly. Her eyes shine warmly. "What do you mean? That I might be in danger from exposure?"

 

[Kafkonia]

Desdemona smiles faintly. Her eyes shine warmly. "What do you mean? That I might be in danger from exposure?"

"I do not mean to cause untoward alarm," Pete replies. "It is just that your mention of this unusual sickness that claimed your father's body and mind so soon after he unlocked the pendant's secrets suggests a link between the two. Certainly, if it is a pendant with planar properties, it is quite possible that its power may have effects quite aside from its purpose."

 

[RaZZer99]

“Perhaps the pendant is…cursed?”, Tam suddenly adds to conversation, his voice dripping with a abject horror over the notion. Merely entertaining the thought robbed the flighty young abjurer of his appetite. But his trusted rodent familiar was not about to let a perfectly good bowl of stew go to waste. Emerging from the folds of Tam’s drab brown robes, a squeaky rat scuttles joyously to Tam’s untouched lunch and eagerly helps itself to the contents.

 

[Mark Chance]

Desdemona observes the squeaky rat with amusement. "How...intriguing?" She looks from the rat to Tam. "No, I do not think the Pendant is cursed. In fact, I am convinced the opposite is true, or rather can be true. The Pendant can be a source of great blessing, but it is incomplete."

Alain reenters the room carrying a small iron strongbox. He sets it on the table. Lady Desdemona retrieves a key from a dainty purse attached to her belt. After she has opened the box, she removes the Pendant.

It is shaped like a seven-pointed star, and is suspeded from a fine chain. The Pendant and chain are crafted from platinum and gold. In the center of the star, there is a concavity about the width of a gold piece. The Lady offers the Pendant for the adventurers to examine.

"Notice the depression in the Pendant's center," she says. "I strongly believe it once held a gem, but not just any gem, but one specific stone: the Deva's Heart. When the Deva's Heart is placed in this setting, the Pendant's power is complete. It then becomes a conduit for holiness channeled from the Seventh Heaven itself. I've come to Rainhaven because my father's research discovered that the Deva's Heart lies within the Inquisitor's Tower. Soon my request for an audience with the Inquisitor shall be granted, and I shall convince him to give me to the Deva's Heart."

 

[Fenris]

"And if the Inquisitor won't give it to you? Or instead demands the pendant?..." asks Beren

 

[Kafkonia]

"And if the Inquisitor won't give it to you? Or instead demands the pendant?..." asks Beren

"Or," Pete adds on, "has already attempted to acquire it? I don't mean to impugn the Inquisitor's reputation, but it would behoove us to consider all possibilities while planning to protect My Lady."