Dr. Si's Curse of the Crimson Throne - Beta Group

[Dr Simon]

Off to see the Queen

The next day, the four of you set off to Castle Korvosa, intent on returning the Queen's lost brooch and, perhaps, looking forward to rewards both monetary and intangible.

Castle Korvosa towers over the city. It is built atop a huge stone pyramid, an ancient Shoanti ruin known as the Grand Mastaba. When General Korvosa conquered the surrounding lands he forced the Shoanti out of the area and, the castle was built atop the ruin as a grand gesture of "up yours" to the natives. The southeast corner of the Grand Mastaba is in poor repair where people have removed stones for their own building materials over the years, the rest is still an imposing edifice with stone steps up each of its four sides.

The castle proper is an imposing building in Chelaxian style, all black stone, spiny turrets and gargoyles, but the gates are open and the castle guard (members of the Korvosan Guard) allow you entry once you have told them of your mission. Two of them accompany you through the busy courtyards tot he inner keep where a tall, dark, beautiful woman dressed in ornate (yet funnctional looking) armour designed as much to show off her shapely form as to protect her from damage, stands waiting.

One of the guards explains the situation to her and she nods.

"Thank you, and well done," she says to the guard. "You may leave us now, I'll take these heroes to Her Majesty myself." The guards bow to her and return to their posts.

The woman smiles warmly at you all.

"The Queen will be pleased," she says. "Perhaps you will bring a little bit of happines to her. Come with me. You'll have to leave your weapons outside the throne room, I'm afraid, but I'm sure Her Majesty has nothing to fear from such fine upstanding citizens as yourselves. You must tell me how you came by it some time, but first I must inform you of protocol"

As she talks, the woman takes you down the broad corridors leading to the throne room.

"First, you must wait until the Queen addresses you before you speak. Second, address her as Your Majesty the first time you speak to her; after that Ma'am will suffice. You may not touch the Queen's person, and do not approach the throne unless requested to do so. You are not courtiers, so I don't expect you to bow or curtsey correctly. Now, how do you wish to be addressed to Her Majesty?"

 

[Ambrus]

Dj'hân fidgets atop the Holy Warrior's shoulder as the group makes its way into the palace to speak with the occupant of the Crimson Throne the following morning. It's unclear whether he's unnerved by the imposing structure with its leering gargoyles and armed guards or disturbed by the crisp new white linen tunic and maroon breeches he's been made to wear. Regardless of the cause, the halfling boy looks frequently over the Holy Warrior's shoulder, apparently longing for the relative security of the backpack that Edmond though inappropriate to carry while meeting with the Queen.

The newly clothed guttersnipe seems to relax somewhat when the armored woman greets them warmly. He sits still and listens intently to her as she goes over issues of royal etiquette. Having been caught up in her aristocratic bearing and speech, Dj'hân at first fails to respond when she pauses to ask her question of them. Finally the boy's cheek dimple as he beams a cherubic smile at the woman. "You talk real nice. My name is Dj'hân. Are you Sabine?"

 

[Oni]

Lynn had awoken early that morning to prepare for their visit to the castle, and had spent a goodly amount of time making sure her appearance was just so. It was finally Edward's squawking about about being late that put an end to her primping and preening. Carefully wrapping the the damaged brooch in a soft cloth she tucked it away and ran out the door to meet the others.

On the way the castle she had been full of energy, reminding the others more than was necessary to be on their best behavior, and fussing with their clothes to make sure they were in order. Once they had reached their destination, however, her demeanor had changed and she carried herself with a great deal more calm that might have been imagined only a short time before. At least all those lectures from her Aunt Ophilia on the proper behavior of young ladies wouldn't go to waste.

The tall woman in the ornate armour who greeted them seemed impressive enough, though being reminded of how short she was annoyed Lynn a little. Still she returned the smile with all the grace and warmth she could muster. Despite her natural inclination not to do what she was told she carefully listened to the armoured woman rattle off the rules of engagement. No wonder these people lost touch with reality, in their artificial little world.

Lynn looked at Dj'hân with a mixture of fondness and amusement when he replied to the woman's question. His innocence was charming and disarming, it really didn't matter what he said, it seemed as though he could get away with it.

She added her own name to the mix with a nod.

Lynn d'Arches

 

[Dr Simon]

The woman gives the small smile of one trying not to look amused despite herself.

"Yes, little boy, my name is Sabine. And who are the two gentlemen?"

OOC: Any news from Neurotic and Valthosian?

 

[Neurotic]

Edmond Deathwish

Looking stark in his simple yet expensive black silken tunic and dark blue boots and cloak with sail and wind motiffs Edmond bows and curtly responds..

My name is Edmond Mer'Caulthon. It will be pleasure to see The Queen and lift her spirits in this hard times.

[sblock=OOC]
Sorry, children are sick and I wasn't working for a time.

I may be sporadic until early February, projects are coming to term...


I imagined Mer' being prefix for merchant noble families as opposed to something else or nothing by 'true' or 'old' noble families.

Edmond may not even know what it means, his memory from childhood is unclear,when he was big enough to care they were already starving
[/sblock]

 

[Dr Simon]

With a small smile and a nod, Sabine leads you into the throne room. The tall vaulted room is pristine but mostly empty. Stained glass windows showing former kings and queens let in light from the east, with tapestries covering the opposite wall. Heat comes from an immense fireplace, and a silken carpet leads up to the throne itself, a red and black spidery-looking affair.

Dressed in mourning black, with a delicate veil that doesn't quite hide her sad beauty, Queen Ileosa is sat up the throne.

"Your Majesty, may I present Lynn D'arches, Edmond Mer'Caulthon, Thorson Berith and Dj'hân," announces Sabine. In a quieter voice she asks for the brooch, which she takes and presents to the Queen. The Queen's face lights up in a broad smile.

"You may approach," says the Queen. "We thank you for this service you have done to us, and we will award you accordingly. We wish all of our subjects were as brave, as noble and as loyal as the four of you."

Her voice breaks a little and she drops the formal tone, becoming less the imperious ruler and more a sad young woman.

"This brooch was stolen from me some time ago, and truth be told I had not expected to see it again. Thank you for bringing a little light to these dark times."

She stands up.

"I love Korvosa, as did my husband, and it saddens me to see my city torn apart by rioting and disorder. If you so choose, you can do me further great service. Sabine will give you the details, and your reward. If you'll excuse me, I must retire to my personal quarters, my grief has quite drained me."

The Queen steps down from the throne with an elegant swirl of her mourning dress, and looks back with an almost coquettish glance, where it not for the tear-reddened eyes.

"Thank you again for your kindness. I hope that your days of serving the Crown are only just beginning." And with that, she is gone.

Sabine hands over a small silver chest to you (probably to Lynn). Inside the red velvet lined interior of the chest are 12 gold ingots bearing the seal of Korvosa. Sabine shuts the chest and passes it to Lynn.

"Your reward for finding the brooch," she says. "Regarding the Queen's other offer, I am authorised to offer you a secondment to the Korvosan Guard, as..." she searches for the word, "special agents. It is a chance to restore stability to the city and, perhaps, to help make it something greater. You will have considerable autonomy in your actions, you will help the Queen, and it will prove financially favourable for you. Perhaps we could even find a role for the little boy. What do you say?"

[SBLOCK=OOC]
Feel free to interject any character comments if you like. The gold ingots are standard trade bars worth 100gp each, and the chest looks worth a bit too.
[/sblock]

 

[Neurotic]

Edmond Deathwish

Edmond bows slightly at queens prise.

When she turns to leave, he bows more deeply and speaks in his usual monotone:
It is pleasure to serve Korvosa.

He leaves chest handling to those more suited to social situations. He is uggly and disturbing and he knows it.

After queens departure he turns to Sabine.

I accept the service as long as my prelate gives me the leave to do so. I will ask and have definitive answer tomorrow at the latest.

 

[Ambrus]

Upon entering the throne room, the small boy turns his head all around to admire the chamber's radiant stained glass windows, marble tiled floor, high vaulted ceiling, beautiful tapestries and impressive crimson throne. Being overwhelmed by the art and pageantry on display, the urchin grins widely and claps his tiny hands appreciatively. The sound echoes hollowly throughout the large empty space before the halfling boy catches sight of the glum queen's countenance and stops clapping. Overwhelmed with embarrassment Dj'hân turns and takes shelter behind Edmond's boot and tries to hide himself from the Queen. Dj'hân listens without interruption as the monarch speaks.

Later, his earlier faux-pas entirely forgotten, the guttersnipe's eyes nearly pop out of his head at the sight of the silver coffer full of gold bars. He once again claps appreciatively and giggles with delight at Sabine's proposition. "I can be a Special Agent? Really?!?" Growing suddenly serious, Dj'hân offers the warrior woman his best salute. "For Queen and Country!" Dropping the officious pretense, the young halfling grins excitedly once more.

 

[Oni]

Lynn had not expected the encounter to be so...brief. She was still not quite certain what to think of the Queen. That she would ask service of them based on so little was passing strange. Still the weight of the chest in her hands was real enough, and it lent weight to Sabine's words. And it would be foolish to refuse the Queen. There was only one answer that could be given.

Yes. But what can we do?

Lynn would do what was best for Korvosa, that she knew. She hoped that was their intention as well.

 

[Neurotic]

Ooc

I didn't think Dj'ahn would be sitting on Edmonds shoulders during the interview. It seems inapropriate

Also, I expected some formal thanks and dismissal and that Sabine would handle any additional offers and such. So surprises all around