Rhiannon PNP Supplement

Antioch

After sleeping/meditating restfully, Randall wakes at 9:00-ish and dresses for the day. He wears his traveling cloak over his leaf armor to hide the colors and appear more somber. Coordinating wiht Elbereth to meet every two hours to keep in contact.
Items Carried and spells memorized [sblock]
Walking with the black staff.
Leaf armor worn.
Traveling cloak and large tunic covering the leaf armor.
Ring on left hand.

Spells:
O O O Detect magic
O . . . Flare
O . . . Light
O . . . Read magic

O O O Cure Light Wounds
O . . . Obscuring mist
O . . . Speak with Animals

O O . .Flaming sphere
O . . . Spider climb
O . . . Bulls strength

O . . . Call Lightning
O . . . meld into stone
O . . . Wind wall

O . . . Air walk

[/sblock]

{What do we witness - see / hear? }

Location: Antioch, The Patriarchs Funeral

The Mongrel and the Mitre is swarming with people as the Funeral begins at 10AM.

You wake up and exit the Inn, pushing through the crowds, into St Rhians Square, where you find it to be even more crowded. It is a sunny but crisp morning. A large stage has been built of wood near the entrance to St Rhians Church. (Black Square on Map.) The entire area around the High Church Hill is cordoned off by church warriors of all types all clad in a ceremonial black tabard. (Green Line). You expect that if you would work your way along the line, you would find Trailen somewhere.

People pack the area as far as you can see, in some cases they hang out of windows or stand on statues in order to get a better look.

The dignitaries, including the Cardinal Archbishops, clad all in Red but wearing tall black hats, are already on the stage. You notice a group of ornately dressed folks on the other side of the stage, which you take to be royalty or representatives of the King. Twelve knights clad in shining armor, wearing the same black tabard as those making up the cordon are moving the ornate casket without difficulty onto the stage.

The crowds are mostly quiet and respectful, though an occasional temper flairs over the jostle for postition. As you move through the crowd you hear little talk, mostly parents telling smaller children to sit still, be quiet or don't wipe your nose on you new shirt.
Several others are telling stories about the Patriarch, who came into his gift of healing very early, one of the best and brightest of St. Keoughtom's order. It seems the people thought well of him, regaurding him as a kindly man.

The knights settle the casket onto the catafalque prepared for it, then depart behind the stage. The Archbishop of St. Rhian rises, walks to the pulpit on the stage, waits a moment for quiet, and speaks in what could only be a magically amplified voice.

"Let us pray..."

The Funeral has begun.

Location: Malta

Zoick and Gori'On make their way back to the Golden Hind.

"You can sleep there- just make sure you keep the snoring down." Says Zoick.

"Weres yer wife to be sleepin." Asks Gori'on.

"Another room, got it all set up proper like." Answers Zoick with more than a touch of sarcasm.

The morning dawns clear and brisk. Zoick finds Miriam waiting for him. They pen a quick note to Gori'on, telling him to stay put and set off to the Wind and Waves, the most upscale tavern on the docks, known for what else - the finest fresh fish.

"I can't imagine they do much breakfast business." notes Zoick.

"Probably not," Agrees Miriam, "Do you trust this vagbond dwarf you picked up at the bar last night?"

"Trust is such a broad word, Hes not really a vagabond. I trust his intentions, his methods are, um, in a word, unsubtle."

"So hes a loud dwarf, nice."

"And he thinks were getting married." Zoick smiles.

"Me and you? Why does he think that?" Miriam seems a bit taken aback.

The discussion continues until they two arrive at the Wind and Waves. It appears closed, but the door opens when Zoick knocks.

"Put yer weapons in there. I will lock it and give you the key, or you get no more infermation." Says a lithe dwarf with a short beard and several wicked looking knives stuck though this belt. With some hesititation, you comply with his request. He makes a show of locking the chest and handing you a key.

"They may come, I detect no other weapons on them," a female voice states.

A young looking elf woman steps from around a privacy screen that separates one part of the restaurant from another. She steps forward and grabs each of your hands. "Hold tight, don't let go until I say." She incants and you are transported to a woody glade. An old elf sits on a large boulder, waiting for you.

"My friend Mylander, says you are good for a considerable sum of money in exchange for a bit of knowledge I give you. Is this so?"

"How much is considerable?" Asks Zoick.

"2000 gold, that will cover both my and Mylanders fees. A really reasonable price, actually, considering what you seek."

"We'll pay, though we don't have it all with us." answers Miriam.

"That will be fine child. Leave what you have with Mara. Zoick can get the balance for Mylander on thier own terms."

Miriam walks over to the young elven woman and counts out 476 gp worth of coin.

The old elf gets up and walks over. "Names Samson, thats not my real name of course. In my younger days I was a bit of a crusader, always championing the Church, thought the old girl got a real raw deal after the war, you know. I'm a real passionate student of the way of St. Macedone. I was already long retired when the whole Keth Anar murder thing happened, must have be about 40 years ago. I knew about the High Temple from some studies I had done a long ways back and I put two and two together about what he must have betrayed. "

"So anyway, to make a long story short, a few years later, I found out about the secret cache of stolen documents and artifacts here in Malta. Even though Mylander caught me, no one else did. I got really good at watching who and what went in and what went out. One of the items that was there, but is no longer, is St Xantas' StarGem. It sits on the mantle of Prince Devin Cuthbert in the trophy room at Rowan Palace. Which sits on ample grounds north of Malta."

"He's a passionate historian of the War and the fall of Bastion, prolific collector too. The Star Gem isn't connected as far as I know, but its still the prize of his collection. Good Luck."

"Oh, a word to the wise. The Cache is probably beyond your skill, unless I really underestimate you. It took me 3 years to get in and Mylander about the same, if I remember right. Mara will take you back to Malta, if you are ready."

Location: Antioch

The funeral ends and a procession of priests carries the body up the hill to the High Church for interment. The crowd is not allowed to follow and it begins to break up.

A waifish young woman with a striking face, wearing priestly robes, wanders up to Randall as he continues to move through the crowd.

"Hello Randall." She says plainly.

"Hello." Replies Randall cautiously.

"We have a mutual friend that thinks you may need temporary access to items that are otherwise unaccessible."

"Hmm." Randall is non commital.

"Specifically two of them." She prods.

"Well, perhaps." Says Randall.

"I will require payment in gemstones valuing 8,000 gp, and evidence that you have the sibling of these two items. How soon do you require these?"

"Ten days?" answers Randall, still fighting off bewilderment.

"Give me twelve. I will leave a message at the Mongrel with instructions. Eli's blessings to you fair elf." She slips back into the crowd.

OUT oF Character....

Where is Rowan Palace?

Good Question. It lies on a royal estate north of Malta.

Gori'On cont.

I take all the stuff in the room and stuff it in one corner clearing as big a space as i can. I place the dresser and the bed....everything and begin to practice my unarmed combat. Ilose myself in the art for 4 hours...

.c.

spells mem
det magicx2
rd mgc
ray frost
prestidigitation

mage arnorx2
ff
mmx2

scorching ray
bull strx2
Inv

fire ball
fly

Location: North of Malta.

Zoick takes a last look over the royal compound from a distant hill planted with ripe corn. Rowan Palace is visible, more a keep than a palace, sticking over the tops of some trees along the south side. The trio has spent a couple days checking the area out, very carefully staying far clear of the place and avoiding the servicing village that has grown up not to far from here.

"This is gonna be a tough cookie to crack my friends."

"I bet it fer sure is," Adds Gori'On. "If only I could see over this dern corn."

"Lets go get the others at Antioch," says Miriam, "I booked us three berths on a fast ship, hopefully we can be there in 5 or 6 days. I leaves in a couple of hours."

Gori'On corrects her, "They call those ships clippers, lass, they run the rigging a bit differently see..."


*****END OF SUPPLEMENTENTAL PBP GAME: MALTA

Location: Antioch, Mongrel and the Mitre

Several days following the Funeral, Randall, Elbereth and Cal sit in the very empty common room of the Mongrel and Mitre inn. They sit near the fire to ward off the chill air which has suddenly come today.

"We should probably get Trailen up," says Callitheus, " I know he did 24 hours of duty and all, but hes been sleeping a long time. If no one objects, I'll go get him."

Trailen comes down the stairs a few moments later, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Did you see anything other than what you expected? "Asks Randall.

"Nuthin."

"We've spent the day poking around looking for strange elves, following up the leads we had.
Didn't find a thing. As far as we know, the only people that had any interaction with pasty elves, are the ones we caught and killed."

"I've been sleepin." Says Trailen, biting into a hunk of ham.

“The Conclave starts in four days. Trailen, how does this Conclave work exactly? I’m not really knowledgable about the Organized Church.” Asks Callitheus.

“Hmm, well, ah, its like this, “ Trailen puts down his fork, takes a large gulp of beer, and begins to ramble.

“When a Patriarch dies, the College of Cardinals gathers as soon as it can to plan his Funeral. They also deal with his political will and try to tie up any loose ends. Traditionally the Patriarch is buried seven days after death. The most senior member in terms of service is in charge. So this stuff is goin on right now.
Once the Patriarch is buried, preparations begin for the Conclave, which usually starts 7 days after the Funeral. The conclave is held in a building on the High Church grounds and everyone is locked in until they decide on a new Patriarch. They communicate the outcome of votes by black smoke or white smoke. Black means no new Patriarch, White means they have elected a new one.
There are ,ah,about 20 Archbishops who get to vote in the Conclave. The longest serving one is in charge of the process and is not eligible to vote. A new Patriarch needs two thirds of the vote to win.
Other than that, all the stuff that goes on is really secret. The only ones that know are the Cardinals and they don't talk about it. Not even after. The entire place is protected by Anti-Magic, so you can’t scry what is going on or teleport in or out. The doors are literally locked. I’ve seen the room they do this in, very pretty, but also very small. No magic is allowed, so the Archbishops are highly motivated to get it done. Also, they use tons of guards, physical and magical on the outside, so its really cut off from the outside world.
I'm lucky they don't need me for gaurd duty."

He takes another large gulp of beer, orders another, and digs back into the ham.

"What are we going to do now?" Asks Callitheus.

*****END OF SUPPLEMENTENTAL PBP GAME: ANTIOCH
*****END OF SUPPLEMENTENTAL PBP GAME.