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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 2824951" data-attributes="member: 3448">Upon returning to the palace, most of the group headed directly to the chambers of the Royal Coven. Lady Constance Deepingwell, the archmaga who leads the Coven, waived the group in, past several barbed devils. As soon as the group saw the devils, Dame Brionna placed her hand on her sword, eliciting a chuckle from the Archmaga. "You needn't worry, Dame Brionna-- they are thoroughly bound, and I am properly licensed to have summoned them.""Very well, then," Dame Brionna replied guardedly. "Can we speak freely here? We have many enemies who would wish to spy on us.""I pity anyone foolish enough to scry on this coven in our own chambers," Lady Constance replied."Some sort of divination has been placed on me," Marcus said, "and we hoped that you could remove it. Preferably in some way that would not make it obvious that it had been dispelled.""Let me see... Interesting. Quite a powerful curse this-- as you suspected, a clairaudience effect. And both divine and arcane components. Very tricky. Do you know who placed this curse?""We believe that it was the Drow of House Hetland, working for the Noldar.""Ah. That would make sense-- there is a certain flavor to drow magic. They must have made this a high priority; both the Matron Mother of the House and the Archmagus must have worked together on this enchantment. No doubt to conceal the actual involvement of the Noldar, which even I cannot detect directly... as I said, very clever." The Archmaga examined the dweomer, gently manipulating its magic, and finally nodded. "It would be relatively simple for me to unravel the enchantment. Transferring it to another subject would be more challenging, but I should be able to. I could summon an infernal creature, transfer the enchantment, and then dismiss the creature. That should conceal your actions; as far as they will be able to tell, the young man will simply have fled the plane to escape their revenge.""I think that would be best," Marcus said. "If at all possible, I'd prefer to avoid groups of drowish assassins looking to punish me for my treachery.""Very well. Let's prepare the summoning, then."The transfer was more difficult than anticipated, but after a few tense moments, Lady Constance nodded with satisfaction and dismissed the imp with a flick of her wrist. "The transfer is complete. There was a trap waiting for any who tried to dispell the curse, but I was able to avoid discharging it." She carefully checked the summoning circle before deliberately erasing it. "Still, you should be careful. Based on what you've told me, I have no doubt that the Noldar were behind this, and they will continue in pursuing their goals."Dame Brionna nodded. "We fear that this is a plot of House Moriquendarim.""Quite likely. But not all of the Moriquendarim will be directly involved. They are usually divided between the Aragoni slavers and the rest of the House, and all of the plots I have become aware of smack of the Aragoni." Lady Constance looked thoughtfully at Dame Brionna. "How are your preparations for more direct assaults on the Archduchess's grandson?""We have prepared as well as we can, and my troops and I stand ready to give our lives to defend him. Still, it is difficult to tell if the guard has been infiltrated.""Hmm. Perhaps I should assign several devils to join in the defense. I could easily place a glamour upon them that would make them seem to be regular servants."Dame Brionna gritted her teeth and answered relying purely on determination and duty rather than her gut. "That would be most appreciated, your ladyship. In these troubled times, the more reliable the defenses are, the better off we will be. Will the devils obey my commands?""After I'm done instructing them, they will do whatever you tell them. I think I shall give them orders to obey young Alistair as well, but to follow your orders above his. That's probably the safest approach.""Thank you, your ladyship."[There was a whole humorous sequence here where Marcus and Lady Constance covered up any suspicions about their contact by deliberately creating a rumor that Marcus was Lady Constance's boytoy, evoking a great deal of pity (and just a hint of jealousy) from the archducal guard. I can't remember enough details to include this directly.]</blockquote>

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