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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3383216" data-attributes="member: 3448">Kit cut to the heart of the matter.  “Who hired you and what was your mission or missions?”“Lord Quinliart Moriquendarim approached our Society and asked for the commitment of twenty to discomfit a kingdom that stood in the way of the destruction of the Forest of Singing Leaves.  Lord Quinliart had reached an agreement with an Abomination that could have arisen to be a cthon, but had chosen not to, and a ratlord.  There was another party to their agreement, but we never met it.  Our superior agreed to Lord Quinliart’s request.  Our mission was fourfold:  infiltrate the city, which was exceedingly easy; disrupt the process leading up to the coronation, by spreading disease and helping a local cult slaughter innocents who were distant cousins of the true race to give additional power to the abomination that could have been a cthon; and to poison water in the poor quarter, killing about a quarter of the residents.  I had not yet decided to do the last.  It was an agonizing poison, and I do not know what it would add.  And lastly, we were to kill the Archduke before he took the throne. Quinliart gave specific orders about each.”Kit grumbled mentally to Alistair about the Harlequin’s dismissive comment about infiltrating the city, <<Hmph.  I wasn’t in charge then.>><<They don’t understand what a free city means.>><<Also true.>>Dame Brionna continued the questioning.  “What were your orders for how to kill the Archduke?”“We were to strike during the coronation parade.  The Archduke’s path into the City is known, at least in important regards.  There are many starting points, but the ending point is known, and the possibilities are limited.  I would have dispatched two on each path with my full complement; since I no longer had my full complement, I would have concentrated my men near the end point.  To kill him, there is a cache of special darts from the vermin lord beneath the perfumery in Pottersfield.  We were to use those.  It would not matter if we did not hit him directly.  There were 60 darts.  He could not survive, even with the support of the hated cousin.”“Wait… why wouldn’t it matter if you hit him directly?” asked  Kit.“The darts were enchanted with warpscrolls to cause the most horrible mutations.  We could only carry three each, because even through their cases, they would affect us if we carried more than that.”<<Warpstone?  Ugh.>><<Or some similar magical changing effect,>> replied Alistair.Kit shuddered.  <<Don’t want to think about it.>>“How close did you need to get the darts?” asked Dame Brionna, remaining focused on the practical.“The darts could effect an area about twenty feet in radius.”“Did you have other agents besides the other Harlequins?”“Yes, we placed gargoyles along the route.”“Surely you must have expected His Grace to carry orichalcum as a safeguard?”The Harlequin smiled.  “So often humans don’t have the sense to do so.  But yes, we had planned for that eventuality.  The vermin lord had calculated that even if you had the orichalcum to stop some of the darts, you would not have enough for them all.”</blockquote>

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