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Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
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<blockquote data-quote="CPaladin" data-source="post: 8552875" data-attributes="member: 7030144"><p>[session 91, cont'd]</p><p>Alistair suggests Dame Brionna seek out elucidation of her revelation. Bishop Waters steers her to the Sisters of Fate, a small order in the lower city.</p><p></p><p>Dame Brionna goes to talk to them.</p><p></p><p>Other tasks: 1. Kit’s tea with Lady Marybelle.</p><p>2. Washing the feet of the Purified.</p><p>3. Getting Kit blessed.</p><p>4. Searching for poison</p><p></p><p>The Sisters of Fate know that the Lady of Fate is continuously sought out be people who would gain her assistance—as well as those who would steal her hair, although that is only fated to occur three times, and has twice.</p><p></p><p>The nuns lead her to a sacred pool. They are weird nuns. They dunk Dame Brionna’s head into the fountain, saying that the weaving is still upon her. "Four dangers still lie ahead. Behold! The first is poison, but that you have already begun to avert. The second is serpents. That you must face on your way from here. The third is the heart. Look upon it. Finally, in desperation, after your return to the place of belonging, the final is those who will lurk and wait for their chance of assassination."</p><p></p><p>The water seems almost like a weaving of cloth. When she says each of the four threats, an image appears. The serpents look like literal serpents, though winged. When she mentions the heart, an image of a heart does not appear, but rather the bosom of a woman.</p><p></p><p>The nuns also say, "All people deserve the touch of fate, though few will accept it. The child… children… child… children she carries has great value."</p><p></p><p>Kit goes to meet Lady Marybelle, who leads her out of the Holy City and to an inn in the upper city. She asks for the rose tea and the finger cakes for both of them.</p><p></p><p>"How was your travel here?"</p><p></p><p>"We travelled by gate, so no trouble at all."</p><p></p><p>"Traveling by voller here could have been deadly. For some reason, they’re after you. Not the Archduke, Grand Duke whatever. A cadre of men, generally right… there. I overheard the plotting, and I have a loyal retainer of Brightspan who is also from my order, so I took it upon myself to notify you. But there was no easy way to notify you. They meet here nearly every afternoon. They use the dice games as a cover, and the noise. But I have this small device… it looks like a mouse’s ear. It cuts through the noise. The other people who are here are absolutely lovely."</p><p></p><p>(The tea and the cakes are perfectly safe. Very sugary, but nothing else.)</p><p></p><p>"I thought you should see them." She makes a gesture, and Kit changes her appearance.</p><p></p><p>A little while later, four men come back. The waitstaff don’t like them.</p><p></p><p>Kit calls psionically for more people. Dame Brionna sends a standard strike team.</p><p></p><p>Kit listens in with the device.</p><p></p><p>“Do you think the poison will take her?”</p><p></p><p>“She is well protected, Awfulness. I do not think it will reach her.”</p><p></p><p>“Must we rely on the Snakes of Abomination?”</p><p></p><p>“We may need to, your Awfulness.”</p><p></p><p>(“Your awfulness” is an Arthranaxian title, Alistair confirms.)</p><p></p><p>“If the Snakes fail, we must see her dead one way or another. The entrails reveal that if her child lives, our faith will die.”</p><p></p><p>They get up from the table. The leader tosses a pack of silver down on the table, and leaves out the back door. Kit’s person follows him. Dame Brionna’s team tries to grab the other three. They are trying to leave at the same time as the team tries to grab them.</p><p></p><p>Lady Marybelle’s guards throw themselves on her and Kit to protect them. That’s when one of the people trying to escape drops a fireball. Two of the three are captured, although one is incinerated.</p><p></p><p>There are a bunch of dead little old ladies, some waiters who are the worse for wear, and two who are unhurt—one who looks confused, and one who is in a force bubble, saying “That was surprising—I thought I gave that up years ago.”</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the leader goes into the lower city and enters a small but sturdy stone house. We recruit Lady Marybelle to put a dimensional lock on the building, while Dame Brionna goes with a group of champion paladins recruited via the Chancellor. Lady Marybelle senses an extraplanar being in the house—too lawful to be demonic, but very evil. Kit puts up a mindlink with Lady Marybelle and then retreats since she needs to stay safe.</p><p></p><p>There is a larger ball of light here that fights viciously, but has no chance to defeat high level paladins. There is a person here as well, dressed in fancy clothes, with a large purse. He’s just there, though, slackfaced. He’s breathing, but does not come back to himself. In the house there are caches of 4000 pieces of silver, some clothing, a ring of mindshielding on the body. There is taint in the building, including liquefied taint. Also various records clearly indicating that they are Arthranax cultists.</p><p></p><p>Grandmaster Farsensor examines the coins. It came from off the south coast of Drucien; probably money from the old South Kingdoms that got recycled.</p><p></p><p>Dame Brionna interrogates the prisoner—there’s no evidence they are aware of the Blue Star duplicity. They sought out Arthranax because they felt unappreciated by the Church of Glor’diadel. They met a powerful Arthranaxian mage—the guy in the cell, who gave them money and helped them gain status.</p><p></p><p>They have seen the Snakes of Abomination before. The Snakes are manifest on the material plane; there are at least 5 of them, they’re not dragons, but they’re very large and fly and can alter material so much by their venom or touch that the substance will alter into another shape, which makes them particularly powerful against flying ships.</p><p></p><p>Do they know of other active cells? Nowhere near the Holy See.</p><p></p><p>Any other active plans? Nope.</p><p></p><p>They get the Patriarch to bless Kit, which he is happy to do. After dinner, Alistair is declared Protector, at the recommendation of the Curia—the last of the three major titles they can grant a secular ruler.</p><p></p><p>The Patriarch declares a foot-washing, and Alistair washes the feet of everyone, in descending order of precedence, starting with the Patriarch. He then assists in washing everyone else’s. Alistair makes sure to publicly reveal the mark on the foot of the Archbishop of Cese Mai, Archibald the Purified. He’s the only one with the mark. The Patriarch and the crowd see it, and Alistair passes on to the others. One particularly elderly archbishop has a prosthetic foot.</p><p></p><p>And with that, their visit to the See of Light wraps up.</p><p>[End session 91]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CPaladin, post: 8552875, member: 7030144"] [session 91, cont'd] Alistair suggests Dame Brionna seek out elucidation of her revelation. Bishop Waters steers her to the Sisters of Fate, a small order in the lower city. Dame Brionna goes to talk to them. Other tasks: 1. Kit’s tea with Lady Marybelle. 2. Washing the feet of the Purified. 3. Getting Kit blessed. 4. Searching for poison The Sisters of Fate know that the Lady of Fate is continuously sought out be people who would gain her assistance—as well as those who would steal her hair, although that is only fated to occur three times, and has twice. The nuns lead her to a sacred pool. They are weird nuns. They dunk Dame Brionna’s head into the fountain, saying that the weaving is still upon her. "Four dangers still lie ahead. Behold! The first is poison, but that you have already begun to avert. The second is serpents. That you must face on your way from here. The third is the heart. Look upon it. Finally, in desperation, after your return to the place of belonging, the final is those who will lurk and wait for their chance of assassination." The water seems almost like a weaving of cloth. When she says each of the four threats, an image appears. The serpents look like literal serpents, though winged. When she mentions the heart, an image of a heart does not appear, but rather the bosom of a woman. The nuns also say, "All people deserve the touch of fate, though few will accept it. The child… children… child… children she carries has great value." Kit goes to meet Lady Marybelle, who leads her out of the Holy City and to an inn in the upper city. She asks for the rose tea and the finger cakes for both of them. "How was your travel here?" "We travelled by gate, so no trouble at all." "Traveling by voller here could have been deadly. For some reason, they’re after you. Not the Archduke, Grand Duke whatever. A cadre of men, generally right… there. I overheard the plotting, and I have a loyal retainer of Brightspan who is also from my order, so I took it upon myself to notify you. But there was no easy way to notify you. They meet here nearly every afternoon. They use the dice games as a cover, and the noise. But I have this small device… it looks like a mouse’s ear. It cuts through the noise. The other people who are here are absolutely lovely." (The tea and the cakes are perfectly safe. Very sugary, but nothing else.) "I thought you should see them." She makes a gesture, and Kit changes her appearance. A little while later, four men come back. The waitstaff don’t like them. Kit calls psionically for more people. Dame Brionna sends a standard strike team. Kit listens in with the device. “Do you think the poison will take her?” “She is well protected, Awfulness. I do not think it will reach her.” “Must we rely on the Snakes of Abomination?” “We may need to, your Awfulness.” (“Your awfulness” is an Arthranaxian title, Alistair confirms.) “If the Snakes fail, we must see her dead one way or another. The entrails reveal that if her child lives, our faith will die.” They get up from the table. The leader tosses a pack of silver down on the table, and leaves out the back door. Kit’s person follows him. Dame Brionna’s team tries to grab the other three. They are trying to leave at the same time as the team tries to grab them. Lady Marybelle’s guards throw themselves on her and Kit to protect them. That’s when one of the people trying to escape drops a fireball. Two of the three are captured, although one is incinerated. There are a bunch of dead little old ladies, some waiters who are the worse for wear, and two who are unhurt—one who looks confused, and one who is in a force bubble, saying “That was surprising—I thought I gave that up years ago.” Meanwhile, the leader goes into the lower city and enters a small but sturdy stone house. We recruit Lady Marybelle to put a dimensional lock on the building, while Dame Brionna goes with a group of champion paladins recruited via the Chancellor. Lady Marybelle senses an extraplanar being in the house—too lawful to be demonic, but very evil. Kit puts up a mindlink with Lady Marybelle and then retreats since she needs to stay safe. There is a larger ball of light here that fights viciously, but has no chance to defeat high level paladins. There is a person here as well, dressed in fancy clothes, with a large purse. He’s just there, though, slackfaced. He’s breathing, but does not come back to himself. In the house there are caches of 4000 pieces of silver, some clothing, a ring of mindshielding on the body. There is taint in the building, including liquefied taint. Also various records clearly indicating that they are Arthranax cultists. Grandmaster Farsensor examines the coins. It came from off the south coast of Drucien; probably money from the old South Kingdoms that got recycled. Dame Brionna interrogates the prisoner—there’s no evidence they are aware of the Blue Star duplicity. They sought out Arthranax because they felt unappreciated by the Church of Glor’diadel. They met a powerful Arthranaxian mage—the guy in the cell, who gave them money and helped them gain status. They have seen the Snakes of Abomination before. The Snakes are manifest on the material plane; there are at least 5 of them, they’re not dragons, but they’re very large and fly and can alter material so much by their venom or touch that the substance will alter into another shape, which makes them particularly powerful against flying ships. Do they know of other active cells? Nowhere near the Holy See. Any other active plans? Nope. They get the Patriarch to bless Kit, which he is happy to do. After dinner, Alistair is declared Protector, at the recommendation of the Curia—the last of the three major titles they can grant a secular ruler. The Patriarch declares a foot-washing, and Alistair washes the feet of everyone, in descending order of precedence, starting with the Patriarch. He then assists in washing everyone else’s. Alistair makes sure to publicly reveal the mark on the foot of the Archbishop of Cese Mai, Archibald the Purified. He’s the only one with the mark. The Patriarch and the crowd see it, and Alistair passes on to the others. One particularly elderly archbishop has a prosthetic foot. And with that, their visit to the See of Light wraps up. [End session 91] [/QUOTE]
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Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
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