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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ladybird" data-source="post: 3297726" data-attributes="member: 10689">A very happy birthday to our principal writer, Cerebral Paladin! Wishing you cake, happiness, and natural 20s <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />--The Archducal Treasury resided deep below the palace, protected by multiple layers of heavy metal doors, locks, and shimmering magical wards. There were probably dozens, if not hundreds, of other security measures, but those were the only ones Brionna could see as she wound her way down the flights of steep stairs towards the outer room that housed the Keeper of the Vaults, and all of the Treasury’s records.“I’d like to requisition two rings of teleportation, please – one for myself and one for Dame Katherine.”The Keeper had become used to not asking ‘why’ when senior members of the Archducal staff made requests. “Very good, Dame Brionna. Simply fill out these forms in triplicate, and I will have them ready for you right away.”With a sigh, Brionna set about filling out the exhaustively detailed forms. “Oh, by the way? I’d also like to see the records for the most recent items that Lady Brenda Brightspan took from the treasury.”“Very good, Dame Brionna,” the Keeper said again, and went off to rummage through his records. “Ah, here we are. Lady Brenda requested the Tiara of Flame, and…oh my, that’s interesting. Strongbox 378.”“What’s that? Or rather, what was in it?”“I’m not sure,” the Keeper replied, frowning slightly. “It was put into the treasury by Archduchess Amelia’s father. I don’t know what was in it. I doubt the box itself had any particular value, since nothing is written down about its properties, but there are no records of what was in it.”“Can you tell me when Lady Brenda asked for these items?”“Just before her trip to Tarsh – approximately ten months ago.”“Ah.” Brionna gave a satisfied nod. It all came back to the expedition to Tarsh. “What about the tiara, then? What does that do?”“Oh, now that I can tell you all about.” Back on secure ground, the Keeper brightened. “The Tiara of Flame is one of the six artifacts of the Archducal Crown Jewels. When it is worn by a psionic person, it links that person to everyone within a certain distance, allowing the wearer to sense the presence of evil thoughts or intentions.”“That’s very useful,” said Brionna thoughtfully. “But how was Lady Brenda able to get such an important item?”“The late Archduchess had a list of people who were allowed to requisition freely. Lady Brenda was among them.”“Do you still have the list?” Brionna asked, suddenly cautious. “Have any of them asked for items recently?” With all of the treachery among the palace staff, she thought, that’s a very dangerous list.The Keeper blinked at Brionna’s reaction, but said only, “Of course, my lady. Here it is.” Brionna ran a quick glance down the list – to her great relief, even though several of the traitors had been on it, they hadn’t requisitioned anything recently, and at any rate were now imprisoned or dead. Most of the other names on the list likewise belonged to people who had died, considering the recent rush of suicides following the Archduchess’s death.It made Brionna considerably less relieved, however, to see that the only person on the list who was still alive and free was Lady Constance. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about the diabolist’s presence on either the list or the staff. Back to investigating Lord Terence, Brionna thought, as she climbed back up to the main part of the palace. But I need to ask Kit about sending a psionic expert down here to check on that tiara. We can’t afford to take the chance that someone has tampered with it.</blockquote>

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