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Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Tizbiz" data-source="post: 7164167" data-attributes="member: 6874057"><p>Session 9</p><p></p><p>After Nevard's death, Auryn hands over the Skyseer to the care of his druid companions and, heads to the podium after a brief exchange with Carlyle. There she explains to the people that have not fled during the attack the dangerous journey Nevard had done to go all the way up to Cauldron Hill only to gain a vision. She also tells the slowly gathering crowd that the old man had risked his life following the Skyseer tradition and serving Risur and Flint. She explains that his efforts have not been in vain as he had given her insight into his vision at the moment of his death. Then she describes the dangers that may arise from Cauldron Hill as vividly as possible. She then calls out to the people to heed Nevard 's warnings and evacuate and abandon the Nettles. At least until the "twice arisen darkness" has passed. For the evacuation, she explains that Mayor MacBannin, the guardian of Cauldron Hill who has been appointed by the King himself, will surely organize his citizens' resettlement to his best abilities. She also claims that Governor Stanfield won't close his eyes to this sort of imminent danger. (<span style="color: #008000">She realized that, right now, they could ask MacBannin for almost anything as they know about his dirty secrets and he really seems to care for his people</span>)</p><p></p><p>After the speech, Carlyle personally thanks Don Cippiano for the presence of the bravura and reminds him that we, too, have kept our promise to protect his people. Auryn asks Thames Grimsley about his plans for the planned charity event. He explains that he will postpone the concert for reasons of piety, which Auryn totally understands. Shortly thereafter, Margit Stenz surprises us with the bad news that the arrested technicians have all disappeared during their transport to jail. All of us can hardly explain how this could happen, especially as an investigation of the car used for transport offers no clues (holes, metal rings or magic) at all.</p><p></p><p>While we keep looking for possible explanations, the ground shakes again as a new earthquake is striking Flint. This time we get the feeling that something really dark is resonating with the shaking earth. We try to estimate the epicenter of the earthquake and assume it might be located in the Nettles. </p><p></p><p>As we want to talk with MacBannin about Nevard's death and possible means of evacuating the Nettles' citizens anyway, we use Pietro's carriage to drive to the mayor's mansion. On our way, another quake takes place and our horse starts bolting all of a sudden. Fortunately, Auryn's quick reaction (<span style="color: #008000">jumping out of the carriage and then calming the animal</span>) (<span style="color: #0000FF">no car crash ... i really tried but my players luck beat me again *grin*</span>)is able to prevent a possible accident.</p><p></p><p>After this event we decide that going by carriage poses too much danger and we continue by foot. When we arrive at the mansion, we see that parts of MacBannin's estate threaten to fall into subterranean caverns. Fine, black miasma emerges from the cracks and the air is filled with the smell of witchoil. </p><p></p><p>Mayor Macbannin himself is standing in front of the “mysterious shed” and he seems to be conducting a powerful magical ritual. A short examination of the spell he's casting and the overall look of the scene it seems like he is trying to prevent the eruption of a ... kind of transdimensional wave of bleak gate energy mixed with masses of witch oil. (<span style="color: #0000FF">Macbannin did suspend all activity after having doubts about his work. Abruptly shutting down the magic witch oil production was not the best idea. And the tank filling with witch oil interacted with the bleak gate energies in an unexpected dangerous way. There are still other reasons for the earthquake but as this thread is being read by my players i do not want spoilers.</span>) </p><p></p><p>We offer MacBannin our help in trying to regain control of the situation and ask him what in the name of the titans had happened. He swiftly explains that an earthquake has probably damaged his secret Witchoil factory which is now about to explode in a cataclysmic reaction. </p><p></p><p>We think we might repair the damages in the factory, and Macbannin hands us three amulets. He explains that while wearing these amulets, we can pass through the metal ring and enter some kind of transitory plane between the Bleak Gate and our world. Auryn mentions that she knows a similar kind of dimensional overlap between the dreaming and the real world from her enclave, but that this transition had worked quite differently.</p><p></p><p>Down in the complex, we have to defend ourselves against two witchoil Jaguars running wild. After the fight we discover that the beasts must have killed one of the missing technicians. Another technician is hiding in an office and we “rescue” her from the Jaguars as we realize we'd need more information about what's going on here.</p><p> </p><p>Due to her shock and because we are obviously being sent by the Mayor, she is quite willing to give us the information we need to understand the purpose of this complex. First we find a kind of shut down turbine with magical derivations. One floor below is a huge facility with a giant Witch oil tank and both magical and mechanical control units. </p><p></p><p>Thanks to our own (but rather limited) knowledge and the help of the technician we manage to identify the parts of the system that are malfunctioning. We decide that we have to lower the level of the Witchoil first before we can safely shut down the whole system. As we have two tubes to choose from - one one of them damaged and in need of repair and the other one leading to an unknown destination - Auryn hurries back to the surface to ask MacBannin, while Carlyle, Margit and technician take care of some of the broken pipes to prevent them from bursting.</p><p></p><p>When she meet up with the mayor again, Auryn sees with horror how MacBannin is struggling with some kind of Porter-Witchoil monster hybrid. MacBannin quickly tells her that one of the pipes leads back into the Bleak Gate and the other one leads down the hill. He doesn't get much further, as he casts his last protective spell, jumps towards "Porter" and both perish in an eruption of magic. The protective seal he cast seems to prevent the Witchoil from emerging for the time being. (<span style="color: #0000FF">I thought that Macbannin deserved a heroic redemption instead of being murdered by the "true patriots".</span>)</p><p></p><p>When Auryn is back in the complex again, we use the un-damaged tube to pump the Witchoil back to the Bleak Gate. We are struck by waves of felt “hatred”, but we are unable to pinpoint the source of these emotions. After that, we can reach the control platform and finally stop the machine. After some discussion about what to do with the shut down machine, we decide to make a sketch of the magic wall's patterns, so we may reconstruct it should the need arise. Then we cut out some important components from the arcane runes to leave the system in a non-operative state.</p><p></p><p>After this last-minute rescue, we head back to the office and explain the situations to a really astonished Stover Delft. Sadly, we have no evidence of the Stanfield's involvement in the conspiracy besides MacBannin's non-statements. Also, we do not really know whether the Deva, like MacBannin, was deceived by patriotism and the idea of working on a secret project for the King as well. We ask Delft to keep our investigation in terms of this conspiracy in secret, as we do not know which officials might be involved in the matter (<span style="color: #008000">we have good evidence that at least some officers in the royal treasury may be involved</span>) .</p><p></p><p>Next we head to our dinner at the Dawkins mansion. There, a troubled looking Milena immediately directs Auryn, who is still completely smeared with oil from "fighting with the jaguars at Dawn Square", to the bathroom. She then leads Carlyle to the salon and starts chatting with the “handsome gentleman”. (<span style="color: #008000">Girl has to get herself presentable. Plus she argued she'd need some rest after all the commotion. And she's totally interested in Carlyle... after all, Auryn might have finally found a match!</span>)</p><p></p><p>After Auryn is back, we tell her about our invitation to the royal wedding and Milena guesses that she might be invited as well, so we could easily all go shopping together. (<span style="color: #008000">Carlyle is not convinced</span>). She also talks about a forthcoming wedding of Goodson, but can not tell us more about his future bride's identity. </p><p></p><p>It turns out during this conversation that Milena had privately attended Nevard's proclamation and that she believes that her governor still wants to uphold Risuri traditions. Carlyle, however, gets the impression that she acts a little evasive. </p><p></p><p>After the meal, Carlyle and Auryn talk about all the stuff that happened that day. We tell Dawkins of our suspicion of a conspiracy in Flint and ask him to keep his eyes open for anything fishy in the military / navy. Likewise, we point out very cautiously that perhaps even the governor (<span style="color: #008000">and Milena?</span>) could be involved in the matter. He is shocked to hear about MacBannin's death, as the Mayor played an important role in keeping the sinister powers of Cauldron hill in check. (<span style="color: #0000FF">As the players are totally suspicious of the governor his trusted aid Milena could be involved also. Poor Milena ...</span>)</p><p></p><p>This night, Auryn is summoned by Old Stag to a meeting of the Vekeshi. The group heads to MacBannin's magical seal in the Nettles and together they reinforce the ward with their combined fey magic. Carlyle is summoned as well, alas not in a physical form as he is called by the stag Guardian in his dream. He suddenly feels and looks like one of the masked participants and offers his magic as well. (<span style="color: #0000FF">I still have the huge problem that Mr. Carlyle thinks the vekeshi are murderous zealots and Auryn can not tell him straight about her membership with the flower children of Flint. I hope that him being part of good deeds of the vekeshi will soften his attitude.</span>)</p><p></p><p>The next morning, both constables are fairly exhausted, but do not tell each other what really happened during the night.</p><p></p><p>As Carlyle would like to question the spirit of MacBannin to gain more insight in his involvement in the conspiracy, we go back to the mayor's estate together. Unfortunately, MacBannin does not give us more usable information. Still we are sure that he does regret his deeds and that he kind of redeemed himself by his sacrifice. (<span style="color: #0000FF">I was relieved that they did not ask more dangerous questions than they did.</span>) </p><p></p><p>We do learn that there has to be another research facility south of Cloudwood, which is why we travel to a few remote farmsteads. We investigate them using the amulets MacBannin had given to us. There we find an animal research facility, including two technicians. They say they had been given orders to “clean up” their research and quit their work by MacBannin. We take them into custody, but give them good prospects for release (<span style="color: #008000">they are only hired female graduates from Crisillyir, not nefarious criminals</span>).</p><p></p><p>Since we have evidence that maybe some “other" might be interested in the witchoil research complex after MacBannin's demise, Carlyle mentions the idea, to blow up the factory in a way that makes it look like a true accident. When we are about to place the explosives, we stumble across a somewhat older cigarette butt that has written “Doro was here” all over it. Standing there, we also get the eerie feeling that we actually managed to prevent the first “darkness” of Nevard's prophecy.</p><p></p><p>To our annoyance, Lady Saxby takes us off “case MacBannin” after we hand her our official report. Stover Delft tries to protest against this measure, but cannot really do more to help us. Likewise, we are told that we should forward any press requests to our boss and do not make any statements “for the RHC” (<span style="color: #008000">the story with Nevard had drawn wide circles</span>). We suspect that Saxby could not approve of our comments to the reporters, and for a moment, Carlyle suspects her to be one of the conspirators or traverse their circles (<span style="color: #008000">even though MacBannin told us that the RHC is clear of conspirators</span>). </p><p></p><p>From a short announcement in his favourite gossip magazine, Carlyle finds out shortly thereafter that Guy Goodson wants to marry a certain Cecilia Fordren (<span style="color: #008000">even if he is not yet officially engaged with her</span>). Auryn is frightened by this prospect, as this woman is the niece of Francis Fordren and she suspects that the uncle of the bride could also be present at the upcoming wedding. She talks about her idea of secretly attending their public wedding celebration in order to find more information (<span style="color: #008000">and perhaps a favorable opportunity</span>) about the businessman. Carlyle is astonished at the importance she is giving to the Fordren family and Auryn tries to explain to her colleague why she hates Francis Fordren so much. She tells Carlyle about Fordren's character and about the time of her imprisonment on his estate and even shows him the hidden “Scar” on her neck (<span style="color: #008000">which she got as a result of wearing the golden necklace/collar</span>). She explains that he himself did not physically torture her, but that he was on the verge of wiping out her identity as a matriarch's daughter and that he was mentally mistreating her. (<span style="color: #008000">She is not really sure whether Carlyle could actually understand her case, but she tried her very best.</span>). Between the lines she tells him that she is looking for an opportunity to "quit" the matter in order to find peace. (<span style="color: #0000FF">Mr.Carlyle was not happy about her intention to kill Francis Fordren.</span>)</p><p></p><p>The next days are rather calm. Carlyle invests a great deal of time searching for evidences and legal means in order to compensate Vantrys for the loss of his factories which he had to sell after the arson. Auryn enters the fencing scene as "Aubron of Thessarien," and finds out that Lord Vantrys has close contacts to some haughty young half-elf named "Jack". To her shock, his raw fighting prowess seems to equal hers. She is talking a bit with Vantrys (<span style="color: #008000">who prefers dining and talking in classy restaurants to conversations in the fencing club</span>) and it almost seems like he wants to employ "Aubron" after she tells him that he could easily become a fighter if he just invested some time in training. </p><p></p><p>After these meetings, Auryn tries to explain her colleague the impression she got from the young lord: In her opinion, his "excesses" are means of escape from his duties which could also imply that he feels alone and without hold. Carlyle, however, seems to distance himself from the young lord and feels that the noble line of Vantrys will end with Nathaniel and that he as the family's "guardian" had failed. Auryn suspects that this might be the reason for the ongoing struggles between Butler and Lord. She asks Carlyle to not give up on his protege, but to be the help he might need right now instead.</p><p></p><p>Some time later, the docker charity concert takes place, which seems to attract quite a lot of donations (<span style="color: #008000">although the dockers are not yet sure whether the money should be used for the resettlement of the Nettles' citizens or for supporting the workers' rights</span>). Auryn partakes as masked Calla Aurea and performs excerpts from her still unfinished version of the dirge of Vekesh. She explains to her audience that this piece has a special significance for Flint, as it was both the first and last performance of Navras, the architect and constructor of the opera house of Flint. She illustrates the scenes of the songs with the help of her magic and ends her performance with a symbolic triumph of life over death, symbolized by a sunrise / phoenix metaphor.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">This session consequences of the players actions altered some of the adventure. The players had "befriended" Macbannin and got some direct information from him. My players cleverly asked, if there were conspirators in the RHC and in later sessions we had to change some facts that resulted in Bergeron having a much larger role in organising the conspiracy to fit this. This worked out well.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tizbiz, post: 7164167, member: 6874057"] Session 9 After Nevard's death, Auryn hands over the Skyseer to the care of his druid companions and, heads to the podium after a brief exchange with Carlyle. There she explains to the people that have not fled during the attack the dangerous journey Nevard had done to go all the way up to Cauldron Hill only to gain a vision. She also tells the slowly gathering crowd that the old man had risked his life following the Skyseer tradition and serving Risur and Flint. She explains that his efforts have not been in vain as he had given her insight into his vision at the moment of his death. Then she describes the dangers that may arise from Cauldron Hill as vividly as possible. She then calls out to the people to heed Nevard 's warnings and evacuate and abandon the Nettles. At least until the "twice arisen darkness" has passed. For the evacuation, she explains that Mayor MacBannin, the guardian of Cauldron Hill who has been appointed by the King himself, will surely organize his citizens' resettlement to his best abilities. She also claims that Governor Stanfield won't close his eyes to this sort of imminent danger. ([COLOR=#008000]She realized that, right now, they could ask MacBannin for almost anything as they know about his dirty secrets and he really seems to care for his people[/COLOR]) After the speech, Carlyle personally thanks Don Cippiano for the presence of the bravura and reminds him that we, too, have kept our promise to protect his people. Auryn asks Thames Grimsley about his plans for the planned charity event. He explains that he will postpone the concert for reasons of piety, which Auryn totally understands. Shortly thereafter, Margit Stenz surprises us with the bad news that the arrested technicians have all disappeared during their transport to jail. All of us can hardly explain how this could happen, especially as an investigation of the car used for transport offers no clues (holes, metal rings or magic) at all. While we keep looking for possible explanations, the ground shakes again as a new earthquake is striking Flint. This time we get the feeling that something really dark is resonating with the shaking earth. We try to estimate the epicenter of the earthquake and assume it might be located in the Nettles. As we want to talk with MacBannin about Nevard's death and possible means of evacuating the Nettles' citizens anyway, we use Pietro's carriage to drive to the mayor's mansion. On our way, another quake takes place and our horse starts bolting all of a sudden. Fortunately, Auryn's quick reaction ([COLOR=#008000]jumping out of the carriage and then calming the animal[/COLOR]) ([COLOR=#0000FF]no car crash ... i really tried but my players luck beat me again *grin*[/COLOR])is able to prevent a possible accident. After this event we decide that going by carriage poses too much danger and we continue by foot. When we arrive at the mansion, we see that parts of MacBannin's estate threaten to fall into subterranean caverns. Fine, black miasma emerges from the cracks and the air is filled with the smell of witchoil. Mayor Macbannin himself is standing in front of the “mysterious shed” and he seems to be conducting a powerful magical ritual. A short examination of the spell he's casting and the overall look of the scene it seems like he is trying to prevent the eruption of a ... kind of transdimensional wave of bleak gate energy mixed with masses of witch oil. ([COLOR=#0000FF]Macbannin did suspend all activity after having doubts about his work. Abruptly shutting down the magic witch oil production was not the best idea. And the tank filling with witch oil interacted with the bleak gate energies in an unexpected dangerous way. There are still other reasons for the earthquake but as this thread is being read by my players i do not want spoilers.[/COLOR]) We offer MacBannin our help in trying to regain control of the situation and ask him what in the name of the titans had happened. He swiftly explains that an earthquake has probably damaged his secret Witchoil factory which is now about to explode in a cataclysmic reaction. We think we might repair the damages in the factory, and Macbannin hands us three amulets. He explains that while wearing these amulets, we can pass through the metal ring and enter some kind of transitory plane between the Bleak Gate and our world. Auryn mentions that she knows a similar kind of dimensional overlap between the dreaming and the real world from her enclave, but that this transition had worked quite differently. Down in the complex, we have to defend ourselves against two witchoil Jaguars running wild. After the fight we discover that the beasts must have killed one of the missing technicians. Another technician is hiding in an office and we “rescue” her from the Jaguars as we realize we'd need more information about what's going on here. Due to her shock and because we are obviously being sent by the Mayor, she is quite willing to give us the information we need to understand the purpose of this complex. First we find a kind of shut down turbine with magical derivations. One floor below is a huge facility with a giant Witch oil tank and both magical and mechanical control units. Thanks to our own (but rather limited) knowledge and the help of the technician we manage to identify the parts of the system that are malfunctioning. We decide that we have to lower the level of the Witchoil first before we can safely shut down the whole system. As we have two tubes to choose from - one one of them damaged and in need of repair and the other one leading to an unknown destination - Auryn hurries back to the surface to ask MacBannin, while Carlyle, Margit and technician take care of some of the broken pipes to prevent them from bursting. When she meet up with the mayor again, Auryn sees with horror how MacBannin is struggling with some kind of Porter-Witchoil monster hybrid. MacBannin quickly tells her that one of the pipes leads back into the Bleak Gate and the other one leads down the hill. He doesn't get much further, as he casts his last protective spell, jumps towards "Porter" and both perish in an eruption of magic. The protective seal he cast seems to prevent the Witchoil from emerging for the time being. ([COLOR=#0000FF]I thought that Macbannin deserved a heroic redemption instead of being murdered by the "true patriots".[/COLOR]) When Auryn is back in the complex again, we use the un-damaged tube to pump the Witchoil back to the Bleak Gate. We are struck by waves of felt “hatred”, but we are unable to pinpoint the source of these emotions. After that, we can reach the control platform and finally stop the machine. After some discussion about what to do with the shut down machine, we decide to make a sketch of the magic wall's patterns, so we may reconstruct it should the need arise. Then we cut out some important components from the arcane runes to leave the system in a non-operative state. After this last-minute rescue, we head back to the office and explain the situations to a really astonished Stover Delft. Sadly, we have no evidence of the Stanfield's involvement in the conspiracy besides MacBannin's non-statements. Also, we do not really know whether the Deva, like MacBannin, was deceived by patriotism and the idea of working on a secret project for the King as well. We ask Delft to keep our investigation in terms of this conspiracy in secret, as we do not know which officials might be involved in the matter ([COLOR=#008000]we have good evidence that at least some officers in the royal treasury may be involved[/COLOR]) . Next we head to our dinner at the Dawkins mansion. There, a troubled looking Milena immediately directs Auryn, who is still completely smeared with oil from "fighting with the jaguars at Dawn Square", to the bathroom. She then leads Carlyle to the salon and starts chatting with the “handsome gentleman”. ([COLOR=#008000]Girl has to get herself presentable. Plus she argued she'd need some rest after all the commotion. And she's totally interested in Carlyle... after all, Auryn might have finally found a match![/COLOR]) After Auryn is back, we tell her about our invitation to the royal wedding and Milena guesses that she might be invited as well, so we could easily all go shopping together. ([COLOR=#008000]Carlyle is not convinced[/COLOR]). She also talks about a forthcoming wedding of Goodson, but can not tell us more about his future bride's identity. It turns out during this conversation that Milena had privately attended Nevard's proclamation and that she believes that her governor still wants to uphold Risuri traditions. Carlyle, however, gets the impression that she acts a little evasive. After the meal, Carlyle and Auryn talk about all the stuff that happened that day. We tell Dawkins of our suspicion of a conspiracy in Flint and ask him to keep his eyes open for anything fishy in the military / navy. Likewise, we point out very cautiously that perhaps even the governor ([COLOR=#008000]and Milena?[/COLOR]) could be involved in the matter. He is shocked to hear about MacBannin's death, as the Mayor played an important role in keeping the sinister powers of Cauldron hill in check. ([COLOR=#0000FF]As the players are totally suspicious of the governor his trusted aid Milena could be involved also. Poor Milena ...[/COLOR]) This night, Auryn is summoned by Old Stag to a meeting of the Vekeshi. The group heads to MacBannin's magical seal in the Nettles and together they reinforce the ward with their combined fey magic. Carlyle is summoned as well, alas not in a physical form as he is called by the stag Guardian in his dream. He suddenly feels and looks like one of the masked participants and offers his magic as well. ([COLOR=#0000FF]I still have the huge problem that Mr. Carlyle thinks the vekeshi are murderous zealots and Auryn can not tell him straight about her membership with the flower children of Flint. I hope that him being part of good deeds of the vekeshi will soften his attitude.[/COLOR]) The next morning, both constables are fairly exhausted, but do not tell each other what really happened during the night. As Carlyle would like to question the spirit of MacBannin to gain more insight in his involvement in the conspiracy, we go back to the mayor's estate together. Unfortunately, MacBannin does not give us more usable information. Still we are sure that he does regret his deeds and that he kind of redeemed himself by his sacrifice. ([COLOR=#0000FF]I was relieved that they did not ask more dangerous questions than they did.[/COLOR]) We do learn that there has to be another research facility south of Cloudwood, which is why we travel to a few remote farmsteads. We investigate them using the amulets MacBannin had given to us. There we find an animal research facility, including two technicians. They say they had been given orders to “clean up” their research and quit their work by MacBannin. We take them into custody, but give them good prospects for release ([COLOR=#008000]they are only hired female graduates from Crisillyir, not nefarious criminals[/COLOR]). Since we have evidence that maybe some “other" might be interested in the witchoil research complex after MacBannin's demise, Carlyle mentions the idea, to blow up the factory in a way that makes it look like a true accident. When we are about to place the explosives, we stumble across a somewhat older cigarette butt that has written “Doro was here” all over it. Standing there, we also get the eerie feeling that we actually managed to prevent the first “darkness” of Nevard's prophecy. To our annoyance, Lady Saxby takes us off “case MacBannin” after we hand her our official report. Stover Delft tries to protest against this measure, but cannot really do more to help us. Likewise, we are told that we should forward any press requests to our boss and do not make any statements “for the RHC” ([COLOR=#008000]the story with Nevard had drawn wide circles[/COLOR]). We suspect that Saxby could not approve of our comments to the reporters, and for a moment, Carlyle suspects her to be one of the conspirators or traverse their circles ([COLOR=#008000]even though MacBannin told us that the RHC is clear of conspirators[/COLOR]). From a short announcement in his favourite gossip magazine, Carlyle finds out shortly thereafter that Guy Goodson wants to marry a certain Cecilia Fordren ([COLOR=#008000]even if he is not yet officially engaged with her[/COLOR]). Auryn is frightened by this prospect, as this woman is the niece of Francis Fordren and she suspects that the uncle of the bride could also be present at the upcoming wedding. She talks about her idea of secretly attending their public wedding celebration in order to find more information ([COLOR=#008000]and perhaps a favorable opportunity[/COLOR]) about the businessman. Carlyle is astonished at the importance she is giving to the Fordren family and Auryn tries to explain to her colleague why she hates Francis Fordren so much. She tells Carlyle about Fordren's character and about the time of her imprisonment on his estate and even shows him the hidden “Scar” on her neck ([COLOR=#008000]which she got as a result of wearing the golden necklace/collar[/COLOR]). She explains that he himself did not physically torture her, but that he was on the verge of wiping out her identity as a matriarch's daughter and that he was mentally mistreating her. ([COLOR=#008000]She is not really sure whether Carlyle could actually understand her case, but she tried her very best.[/COLOR]). Between the lines she tells him that she is looking for an opportunity to "quit" the matter in order to find peace. ([COLOR=#0000FF]Mr.Carlyle was not happy about her intention to kill Francis Fordren.[/COLOR]) The next days are rather calm. Carlyle invests a great deal of time searching for evidences and legal means in order to compensate Vantrys for the loss of his factories which he had to sell after the arson. Auryn enters the fencing scene as "Aubron of Thessarien," and finds out that Lord Vantrys has close contacts to some haughty young half-elf named "Jack". To her shock, his raw fighting prowess seems to equal hers. She is talking a bit with Vantrys ([COLOR=#008000]who prefers dining and talking in classy restaurants to conversations in the fencing club[/COLOR]) and it almost seems like he wants to employ "Aubron" after she tells him that he could easily become a fighter if he just invested some time in training. After these meetings, Auryn tries to explain her colleague the impression she got from the young lord: In her opinion, his "excesses" are means of escape from his duties which could also imply that he feels alone and without hold. Carlyle, however, seems to distance himself from the young lord and feels that the noble line of Vantrys will end with Nathaniel and that he as the family's "guardian" had failed. Auryn suspects that this might be the reason for the ongoing struggles between Butler and Lord. She asks Carlyle to not give up on his protege, but to be the help he might need right now instead. Some time later, the docker charity concert takes place, which seems to attract quite a lot of donations ([COLOR=#008000]although the dockers are not yet sure whether the money should be used for the resettlement of the Nettles' citizens or for supporting the workers' rights[/COLOR]). Auryn partakes as masked Calla Aurea and performs excerpts from her still unfinished version of the dirge of Vekesh. She explains to her audience that this piece has a special significance for Flint, as it was both the first and last performance of Navras, the architect and constructor of the opera house of Flint. She illustrates the scenes of the songs with the help of her magic and ends her performance with a symbolic triumph of life over death, symbolized by a sunrise / phoenix metaphor. [COLOR=#0000ff]This session consequences of the players actions altered some of the adventure. The players had "befriended" Macbannin and got some direct information from him. My players cleverly asked, if there were conspirators in the RHC and in later sessions we had to change some facts that resulted in Bergeron having a much larger role in organising the conspiracy to fit this. This worked out well.[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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