Aphonion Tales (New posts 6/13, 6/15, 6/19)

[Cerebral Paladin]

Baron Opal: I think that becomes more clear later. Abomination and cthon are both types of demonic beings, with cthons being more powerful.

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Kit waited a moment to make sure that Dame Brionna didn’t have any further questions on that subject, and then asked, “What was the purpose of giving candy to children?”

“To win their trust so when we approached them later to deliver the poison on our behalf they would not ask questions.”

“So it was just candy?”

“Just candy. Do you know a better way to win the support of the children of the poor than candy?”

“Not many,” said Kit, thinking back to her own childhood.

Dame Brionna indignantly said, “Support and a good school system!”

Kit fixed a firm gaze on her aristocratic colleague. “Dame Brionna-- candy.” She silently sent to Alistair, <<Thank the gods we don’t have to worry about poisoned children.>>

<<Indeed.>>

“What of the use of krif?” asked Dame Brionna.

“The Black Devourer. What do you need to know?”

“Have you been involved in its spread in the city?”

“Not willingly, but I am aware of it. It devours. Once you are addicted to it, it surely takes your life eventually, be you human, orc, dwarf, or even elves. It is simply quicker with humans and orcs. Only the ents are immune. Among humans, they will grow thin, there will be an increase in crime, and eventually revolt against the government. We were not involved in the krif. But we have reason to believe that Quinliart was, however. We killed two messengers bearing it into the city, and they bore the seal of a dead house in service to his. They could be criminals or independent, but I judge that unlikely, and I have been a member of the Society of the Black Tear for 1150 years.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

<<The Society of the Black Tear?>> thought Alistair.

“What is the Society of the Black Tear?” asked Kit.

“You call us the Harlequins. We were founded at the end of the Kinslaying Wars to finish the kinslaying. We have perfected the art of lawful rule, the art of death… The kinslaying is nearly over now, and we are used for other purposes. Neither race wishes to kill the other one. We have some autonomy in the Threefold Way, hence my hesitancy to poison.”

“The Threefold Way?” asked Dame Brionna.

“Purity, Law, and Mercy-- not to your enemy, of course, but your commoners were not Quinliart’s enemy. Your lord-- whose choice in servants I compliment-- was Quinliart’s enemy, and thus our target. But the way of Mercy extends to forbearing from wanton killing of your commoners.”

“Were there other plots you know about?”

“I do not know what you have accomplished in recent days, but there were several demonic forces allied with covens in the city.” The assassin thought for a moment. “Some thought that Quinliart would bring his own forces to bear as well, but I believe his cousin has taken care of that possibility. So I believe that we are it.”

“Go through the covens,” said Kit. “We’ve dealt with some, but I want to know whether there are any that you know of that we have not.”

“There were three we knew about. One contained the madams of three of your brothels, as well as a smattering of their prostitutes. A second coven was in the lower city-- a few tavern owners, but primarily goodwives; they were deceived deliberately. And a third coven in your sewers, when last I noticed.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Some distance away, in the Exchange, “Lady Sepulva” quietly negotiated with a merchant who sought protection for a drowan refugee, Destak of Three-interlocking-lozenges. [I don't think that's actually his house name; I think it's a description of his house's symbol. I'll try to get the actual name from the GM.]

“You said he was powerful; in what way?”

“He is a magus, fallen somewhat out of favor back home.” The merchant adopted an overly casual manner, deliberately aping nonchalance. “But here, what does the matron mother matter; if her name were Dispania? Not that it is Dispania, but what difference would it make?”

“None that I can see.”

“And if no difference here, what difference in far Enclaves? Even less. And he would be bound to your beck and call if you gave him shelter.”

Lady Sepulva mulled this over and then pressed the point. “And how would he be bound? Would he give some token of faith?”

“If you demanded one, he would give it. He would not survive on the surface without your aid.”

“As a member of my house, he would be under my protection. I take it his fall from favor was not caused by disloyalty?”

“No… his sister arose to the position of matron mother, and she much favors his younger brother.”

“Ah, family politics.” Lady Sepulva nodded in understanding, and then gestured to the merchant to continue.

“Where should he come in the third hour past nightfall?”

“To the suite I maintain.” Lady Sepulva gave the name of her inn. “If he can manage to gain entrance to the chamber without anyone in the house knowing it, I will be impressed.”

“I will see that he is informed, and I will say, Lady Sepulva, that you have gained a bargain worth its weight in gold.”

“For the sake of our future dealings, I hope it turns out as well as you suggest.”

Over the course of the afternoon’s trading session, a change overtook the dynamics of the contacts with Lady Sepulva. As people realized that she had an interest in rumors, they began offering to sell rumors to her. Her late, lamented husband had a reputation for honesty, which also encouraged the information merchants. They could not know that Lady Sepulva privately thought Lord Sepulva’s honesty to be charmingly quaint. Some of the information merchants were remarkably unsavory-- Lady Sepulva was surprised to learn that Lord Sepulva had had any contacts that would make her uncomfortable. Still, the key thing was that they offered useful information.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Late in the day, Clarence directed a man, rather shabbier than most in the Exchange, over to Lady Sepulva. The man leaned in to Lady Sepulva. “Do you have any head in the City? I would be careful about selling them. And I might think about grain futures.” The man passed his hand noiselessly over her table, leaving 5 wooden disks with gold circles on them behind.

Lady Sepulva looked at his ask; this sounded worth well more than 5 gold. She carefully counted out six gold coins and slid them across. “What more can you tell me?”

The coins disappeared. “Three of the great grain warehouses in the lower quarter were poisoned about a month ago. Much of the grain remained sound, but they have almost reached the poisoned sacks of grain. When they do, the cattle will die.”

“Do you know which warehouses?”

The man nodded, almost imperceptibly. He passed across a scrap of parchment. “I think it’s part of a bigger plot, but I always have to worry about where my next gold will come from.”

“Thank you. This will be most useful.” She reached into a pouch and brought out another gold coin. “An advance on next time.”

As the man slipped away, Lady Sepulva signaled Clarence over. “Arrange for this note to reach Dame Katherine of Lyneham in the palace. Don’t deliver it directly! I don’t want this traceable to me.”

Clarence nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

That having been dealt with, Lady Sepulva turned to making the information profitable. She began buying grain futures, using both the Exchequer’s accounts and her personal accounts. The grain would be condemned, and that would tighten supply considerably. When it did, the price of grain futures would spike. Still, she had to be careful. Buying too rapidly could trigger a run or a panic that could hurt everyone. After several hours of trading, Lady Sepulva had secured 20 to 25% of the available market for the Exchequer’s account, with another 20% for her own account, all without triggering any undue market responses, although inevitably prices rose over the course of her trading.

By the time she was done, Clarence had returned. “M’lady, may I make some suggestions? If you’re going to be dealing seriously in information, you’ll want to get two things: A table in the second tier of the Exchange, and a bodyguard.”

Lady Sepulva nodded thoughtfully. “The table will take care of itself in time; my late husband was offered one each year at the renewals, but declined because we did not do enough business here directly. I’ll simply accept and buy the table when this year’s offer is made. As for the bodyguard… I suppose we must keep up appearances. To the Mercenaries’ Hall, Clarence.”

At the Mercenaries’ Hall, Lady Sepulva carefully looked for a bodyguard that would make the perfect visual impression. Actual threats that she couldn’t handle seemed unlikely-- certainly, many less people would want Lady Sepulva dead than when she impersonated Alistair. But she had to look the part if she was going to be a significant information broker, and so she searched for the ugliest eunuch as possible.

After a short search, she found the perfect candidate for a bodyguard: a half-ogre named Glurp. Glurp was horribly ugly, although Lady Sepulva required that he bathe regularly so that he would shock the eye but not distract by smell. She also gave him a mask to play up his frightening aspect. Glurp was also precisely as slow-witted as she wanted-- dumb enough that she did not need to worry about double-dealing or that he would try to use information for himself, but smart enough that she did not need to employ a separate handler to care for him.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Well satisfied with her new hire, Lady Sepulva returned to her chambers in the inn to await her drowan visitor. Glurp quickly cleared some of the furniture out of her room while they waited for the drow to arrive. At precisely 3 bells past nightfall, a quiet rapping sounded at the door. Clarence opened the door, and the cloaked figure in the hallway stepped in just far enough to allow the door to close before prostrating himself before Lady Sepulva. The figure remained perfectly silent and still, waiting to be acknowledged.

Lady Sepulva finally deigned to respond, her voice equal parts imperious and uninterested. “You may rise. Are you fluent in the common tongue?”

The figure smoothly climbed to his feet, but kept his head bowed and his eyes averted. “I speak some … Surface. Not… not lots,” he replied pausing as he searched for words in his answer.

“Destak tells me that you are looking for a household to join, one that will take you away from Nikarphous for a time.”

“Yes,” replied the drow, in the same halting, broken speech. “Sister now mother. Sister cleaning house. Many males be dead, soon I.”

“I may be interested in taking you in here. What do you have to contribute to my household?”

“I am of the fourteenth circle of power as a wizard. I am a researcher of the planes. And I can bind demons to your service, or elementals, if you prefer.”

“I might. If I take you in, how long would you say?”

“If you take me in as a refugee, until it is safe to return. If you take me in as a member of your house, I will renounce my house and serve yours. It is the way of a renegade male. But I understand that you may not wish to pollute your house.”

Lady Sepulva thought about that. Handling this correctly to ensure that she got the most out of him without undue risk would require care. “What are you called?”

“I have always been called Brillial, but my house name was lost when my sister declared my life forfeit for having been born too soon.”

Lady Sepulva sat in silence for a minute. Brillial waited quietly for her judgment, sure that his life hung in the balance. Finally, she nodded curtly. “Very well. I will take you into my household as a refugee. If you serve well and impress me with your abilities, I may invite you to join my house at some point. But for now, you will be a refugee servant.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” replied Brillial prostrating himself again.

“Can you give a demonstration of your abilities? What sorts of things can you summon?”

The drow sorcerer twisted a ring on one of his fingers. Moments later, a large figure appeared. One of its arms was grotesquely larger than the other, and held a huge mattock. “This is the most powerful daemon I can bind, Mistress.”

She nodded. “It will do.” At a gesture, the drow sorcerer dismissed the daemon he had summoned. Lady Sepulva’s suite included a master bedroom, a bath, a counting room, and three servant’s rooms. She gestured at the smallest of the servant’s rooms. “You may stay here for now.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Back at the interrogation, Kit continued questioning the Harlequin. “Let’s go over the four missions again. You were to infiltrate the City, assassinate the Archduke, spread disease and chaos, and poison the wells. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“So the poison was a separate mission from the disease?”

“Yes, for after the death of the Archduke. I don’t understand its purpose.”

<<See?>> thought Kit to Alistair. <<I told you that we’d heard all four.>>

<<Thanks for checking,>> replied Alistair, who had been unsure.

“What poison did you plan to use?” asked Dame Brionna.

“Quinliart specified that as well. We were to use a derivative of a frog in Krashmere-- it is a very powerful purgative and can cause death from dehydration and hemorrhage.”

“I suppose that would cause a fair amount of chaos, but why would he care about that after His Grace’s death?” asked Dame Brionna.

“I do not know,” replied the Harlequin, frustration palpable in his voice. “It would harm those who were not the enemies of Quinliart. That is why it troubled me. There might be a possibility that Lord Quinliart has tendencies towards sadism, rather than simply eliminating those who oppose him and rewarding those who support him.”

<<There might be?>> thought Kit increduously.

“Might his allies among the vermin be aided by the excess of filth?” asked Dame Brionna.

“Perhaps, but to dishonor the Society for such a small gain…”

“But it would help them.”

“I don’t know that it would; it was never discussed with me. But I can see that it might, especially with the one known as the Abomination.”

“Why would the Abomination benefit from it?” asked Kit.

“If he were a cthon, he would not gain any strength from the slaughter of innocents. But demonlords are different; perhaps he would gain some benefit.”

“Were specific wells targeted?” asked Dame Brionna while she mulled over the new information.

“Yes, we had the list; there was a map.”

“Can you re-create it for us?”

“Yes, given writing utensils and parchment.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

“Where would your remaining agents go after we chased them out of the brothels?” asked Dame Brionna.

One of the Harlequin’s eyebrows lifted. He then nodded. “You have been most methodical in eliminating our agents. I do not know for sure. They would try to find new places to hide and would continue trying to accomplish the missions, but there were no additional safehouses specifically planned. We had not expected to even need the brothels, in light of how easy the infiltration had been.”

“Can you make any predictions about how they will try to finish their missions?” pressed Kit.

He thought for a moment. “At least one of my brethren will try to reach the cache of darts. It is not clear what the others will do.”

Alistair thought to Kit, << If the Harlequin in Pottersflat is heading to the cache, then we know where he’s going and they should grab him before he gets there.>>

<<Right.>> Kit slipped out of the interrogation chamber and snapped open her fan. She reached out with her mind. Many minds were available through the fan, and at first she could not isolate the one she wanted. After much effort, however, she made the link she needed, although without entering his body. <<What’s the current situation?>>

<<Lady… you’re back… He has entered a perfumery.>>

Kit swore under her breath. It would have been much easier if they had been a little faster. <<Below that shop is a cache of warpstone. That’s what he’s going for. You need to apprehend him very carefully. Bring in as many people as you can get. How many have you got?>>

<<Eight, but I can probably get a couple more.>>

<<I’ll look around for anyone else in the area, and send them to you. Do not let any of your people touch the warpstone. If he throws a dart at you in any way, do not get hit. And do not let any civilians get hit either.>>

<<I will try?>> the agent thought back, worriedly.

<<This stuff is dangerous. Do you know what it does?>>

<<We have heard of it recently.>>

<<Then you understand how dangerous it is. We don’t know if the people in the shop are his accomplices. If they are, bring them in, too. I’m going to go in search of more people to support you.>> Kit quickly ran her mind over the other links from the fan. She got vague impressions of the many minds. Several were in noble houses, and many were vaguely familiar, although none that she knew by name. But the only one in the lower city was the agent who was already chasing the Harlequin. Still, maybe she could move people into position… She reached out her mind towards “Alvin Smith,” her illithid agent. <<I need your help, and your brother’s.>>

<<We await your command.>>

<<There is a perfumery in Pottersflat. One of the Harlequin assassins has gone there. Others of our agents --about eight-- are pursuing him, but he is very dangerous, and is trying to get access to a stash of warpstone darts. I want you and your brother to go there and provide support to the people heading in to stop him. If you can stun him, that would be ideal. The darts are very powerful. You need to make sure that you stop him from getting them and using them.>>

<<We apport.>>

High above the streets of Pottersflat, two illithids appeared in full regalia. They hovered in the air for a few moments until they spotted a group of stealthy individuals closing in on a perfumery. And then they dove like sharks from the air, and the battle began.

 

[Alratan]

My only thought is that the illithilids don't behave like creatures with racial mods that gives the average member of the race Wisdom and Charisma in the top 10% of the normal human range, and the top 0.5% for Int. There, of course, may be some other reason for this.

Apart form that slight incongruity, great SH.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

It's worth noting that the illithids in Aphonion were defined long before D&D rules gave any Wisdom or Charisma scores for them. In general, Aphonion's illithids diverge significantly from 3e standard-- for example, there are baby illithids in Aphonion.

Also, I would not say that they necessarily have low Wis or Cha, just that they are alien. Brionna has a pretty high Wisdom and a high Charisma, but she probably wouldn't do particularly well in an illithid city. And then, it's not clear that "Alvin" and his brother are the sharpest tentacles in the shed, if you know what I mean.

 

[Alratan]

Fair enough, just struck me as a bit unusual (given that with the standard stats, the stupidest, illithid, equivalent to a human with a very severe mental handicap, is as clever as the average human)