Session 26.5 - Evelyn's Days Off
While the rest of the group was tracking Father Geb through the sewers and a pirate ship, Evelyn was doing something else.
The first part of this was my e-mail to the player about what Evelyn was up to, and the second part is the results of a one-on-one session.
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Evelyn Violette was on a mission of passion, a mission of fashion, and a mission of magicians. Her brother and the rest of her strange, wayward friends were off trying to find Father Geb. Now Geb, being an ambitious bastard of the Wands family, was surely going to try to go after them in high society again at some point. There, Evelyn was likely to hear rumors, and the more highly placed and connected she was, the better she’d be able to help avert disaster, and hence the Wands family would be so very grateful… Really, it was a truly altruistic gesture on her part to further her social connections.
One of the ways to do that was not only tend to her budding fashion house, but to further her magic. That would come in helpful not only in her personal ambitions, but in her physical safety. Specifically she wanted to learn more about dragon magic. Wu Yen, the Wang Lung dragon who was her partner in the silk trade, said she would be willing to have Evelyn as a pupil, and was pleased to see her taking more of her destiny into her own hands.
However, something never comes for nothing, and Wu Yen wanted something other than mere coin for her instruction.
“The knowledge you seek is valuable. For commiserate value I would have something of you. I have letters here, letters which must be delivered with cunning and skill. This one here, to the Dragonmage. He will read it and laugh, but he will indeed read it, and you are one of the few who will see to it that it gets to him. This second must go to the desk of Lady Fashane Eglantaine. It must appear without her notice, or the notice of any of her household, before midnight on the night of her natal party, two days hence. The one must be placed in the hands of Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson. This last must go to the temple of Auril, to Sister Valpane. How you choose to do these tasks is up to you. You have half a tenday to succeed.”
Lady Fashane you know as a woman of immense wealth, whose family is heavily invested in the Master Order of Shipwrights. Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson is a paladin of Tyr, and the Open Lord of Waterdeep.
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Also, there is the important if not world-shaking need to find a factor, someone you can trust to run your business. Madam Silverleaf is unused to exporting her dresses or modifying them for local custom, though she’s certainly not loathe to learn the latter. You’ve been relying on the Origami Clan to disseminate your fashion books, paying them and your artist at the temple of Sune out of your own funds, fielding requests, and all other things. But as your business expands, you’re going to need to keep accurate books, pay taxes, help Madam Silverleaf with materials and the expansion of her shop, advertise, and possibly either renegotiate with the Origami clan for transport costs or find your own caravans. (You know Garden’s people will cheerfully take anything from you they can get. And they’ve been reliable, but they’re not everywhere.)
The Merchant’s Guild could help you with those things for an appropriate fee. They’re expensive, they’d take 25%, but they’re licensed and bonded under the auspices of the Temple of Waukeen. You could simply continue on with the Origami Clan (renegotiating, if you so desire) and see if you could find a factor you could trust amongst them. You could partner up with another merchant or three who already has routes (spreading out caravan costs by banding together) and find a factor on your own by searching at hiring halls or perhaps asking amongst your noble friends.
Or even something else? Ask the Council of Wyrms? Partner up with the Thayans? See if Mom or Dad has any ideas? Build it all from the ground up and start interviewing folks? Asking for advice from the Temple of Waukeen or your merchant pals?
Let me know!
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Evelyn had her packet of letters, and now she had quite a bit to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. She decided to go first to the Master Order of Shipwrights, under the perfectly valid pretense that she wanted to expand her shipping northward. She ended up meeting with one Master Elfont, a master shipwright who had built some of the Eglantaine fleet. He was indeed an elf, and one with extravagantly long ears. Evelyn explained her business and her needs, as well as needing to speak with the Eglantaines about their northern routes. Master Elfont seemed to be intrigued by Evelyn, as she was being quite charming, and said if she would be so kind as to accompany her to Lady Eglantaine’s birthday party as his guest, she would certainly be able to informally speak to the family there.
Modestly, Evelyn accepted.
Then she went to do a bit of research into the church of Auril, the cold goddess, and for that she turned to Shandri, who knew more about religion than her brother. Shandri said Auril’s clergy had sort of neutral relationship with Istishia’s church, purely based on their mutual distain for fire. But beyond that, the dogma of Auril emphasized putting holes in walls and roofs, freezing people to death, never taking the life of an arctic creature unless in greatest need, and getting people to fear the cold goddess.
Of Sister Valpane, Shandri said she was the Frostmaiden this year. While “Frostmaiden” was actually one of Auril’s titles, it was also the title of one of her priests who had taken on her mantle of power during the winter. While not a full avatar, nor the leader of a temple, the Frostmaiden of any temple of Auril was infused with the goddess’ essence and was the conduit through which prayers and offerings were made and either accepted or rejected. Thusly Sister Valpane was not going to be leaving the temple, and the only way to talk to her was to be in the process of making an offering.
Also, she had a brilliant thought when speaking with Madam Silverleaf later that day about a winter gown. Madam Silverleaf didn’t keep enough furs on hand for a typical winter wardrobe for more frigid climes, and they’d have to get special contracts with northern fur merchants to supply enough fur. BUT! Since Evelyn was going to use her northern trade routes as part of her routes to get into the temple of Auril, and they hated arctic animals being killed for their fur, what if she were to only get furs that were obtained bloodlessly? That would require getting fur only from animals killed in self-defense, dire need, or who had died from natural causes. Obviously, fur would have to be an accent in that kind of clothing line, rather than front and center, but it would sound so very noble-minded. A “bloodless” winter wardrobe!
Thusly armed with information, Evelyn got some information from one of the UPS urchins about any broker or merchant who sold exotic animals, particularly those associated with arctic regions. That place turned out to be Zeke’s Magical Menagerie. But, before she went, she needed one more thing. She went to Sucker Street to have a nice conversation with Brother Sallis. She took her footman, Sven, along for protection, and dressed down, but she’d been visiting the good Brother for weeks, valuing his advice and his goddess’ favor. She chatted amicably for a while, gambled and lost, and Brother Sallis invoked Tymora’s blessing for her.
Ready to face the world, she dressed up again, and headed for the Menagerie.
It was run by a sleekly plump halfling who worn two-foot-high platform shoes, of a style used in Kara Tur. He found them useful for walking in snow-covered streets without sinking in over his head. Evelyn was quite interested, and listened attentively, flattering him before she made her request for an exotic arctic pet. (She had her heart set on a puffin, mostly because they were cute.)
Zeke showed her the aquatic white bears of the north, the funny, swimming flightless birds called penguins, snow rabbits, snow fancy rats, ermine, snow foxes, snow leopards, and yes, even puffins. Evelyn asked many questions, mostly trying to determine which one she could keep alive for more than a few hours, and ended up settling for a bright-eyed snow-leopard cub. Though she really, really wanted a puffin. She gave Zeke part of his price then, and the rest in a couple of days when she would go to the temple of Auril.
Then came the fun part of the mission! She went to see the head priest of Mystra, who was utterly delighted to send a message to Maaril the Dragonmage just to get her out of his hair. A while later, she was admitted to the Dragonmage’s presence (while successfully smothering the urge to call his green dragon cohort “Fluffy”).
She chatted amicably with the Dragonmage for a while, or at least as amicable as the irascible Dragonmage ever got, and gave him the letter Wu Yen had wanted him to read. As predicted, he read it and laughed, saying, “Not for all the gold in a dwarven mine.”
One letter discharged, Evelyn had done a pretty good day’s work. She stopped to chat with Hildegard, Maaril’s housekeeper, who was much, much nicer than her master, and who’d kept Evelyn’s footman, Sven, plied with food and drink while they waited.
The next day Evelyn went to the Open Hearings of the Open Lord of Waterdeep, wanting to get the lay of the land before trying to get a letter into the man’s hands. At the Open Hearing held every Fourthday, Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson would listen to cases brought before him for advice and judgment. It was mostly attended by nobility and those aspiring to be so, but upon occasion one of the lower classes could try to petition the Open Lord for justice they felt they could not bring to the courts.
This day, however, bid to be fair entertaining. Huburt and Sashine Marburt were addressing Lord Peirgeiron about a complicated legal problem with their combined holdings. The two were married, and in their marriage had combined interests in the Shipwrights, Vinters, Scribes, and Blacksmiths’ Guilds. The two were incredibly wealthy, incredibly well-connected, and also possibly the most contentious couple that had ever graced the face of Toril. The two were bickering like children, but with the assets of some of Waterdeep’s Guilds lying in the balance.
Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson had apparently seen this before, because he eventually cut them off, and in slow, deliberate tones that nevertheless were backed with iron-hard authority, bid them to work together. It was a tone that booked no further argument, and the Marburts were put into the hands of Lord Peirgeiron’s clerks to finish their dispute.
While this amusement was going on (and being avidly watched by many), Evelyn was carefully watching for someone who seemed to know the ropes, who was a regular here, someone who might be able to get her precious letter into the Open Lord’s hands. Her attention landed on a wizened scribe who was attending the Marburts, a man who was simply making certain gestures to Lord Peirgeiron’s scribes, holding entire silent conversations about the content of complicated contracts while the Marburts continued to argue loudly. He sort of reminded Evelyn of Molly.
She approached him when the Marburts had wound down to quiet bickering between each other, explaining that she’d noticed his competence and needed a man of his talents and experience. She explained she was looking for a business factor, and also she had the tiny, needful task of delivering a letter to the Open Lord.
The scribe, who introduced himself as Master Wren, was a former Master Scribe who was working for the Marburts in his retirement. However, he knew who Evelyn was (she was one of four spellscales in the city, and an attention-seeking one to boot), and knew her star was rising. He was cautiously interested, if she could offer him better terms than the Marburts. His apprentice could certainly fulfill all his duties, and Master Wren would certainly prefer a less contentious position.
When Evelyn asked if he would be willing to deliver a letter to Lord Peirgeiron, Master Wren said he might. Then he quickly wrote up a contract with special, enchanted ink, and pointed out that she must swear, and sign, that the letter contained no poison, no magic, no curses, no blackmail or threats to the Open Lord, anyone of his people, or the city. If she would swear to that, he would deliver the letter. Evelyn excused herself to go to a corner and open the letter (she hadn’t read any of them), and found it was a request from Wu Yen about dragons approaching the Open Lord directly about entrance into the city, instead of relying on the whims and effectively, extortion, of the Dragonmage to allow them entry.
The letter had no aura of magic, and didn’t make Evelyn catch on fire or fall dead upon reading it, so she counted it safe. She signed the contract, gave Master Wren some compensation for his efforts, and saw him put the letter in with the Marburts’ contracts, and then into Lord Peirgeiron’s hands. Evelyn actually saw him take the letter, peruse it, and then put it in his pocket.
Second letter, delivered!
Tonight was the night of the Eglantaine party, and Evelyn purchased a fine shawl for the Lady Eglantaine before Master Elfont picked her up for the gala. The party was an elegant affair, and after Master Elfont had taken a couple turns with her on the dance floor, was content to point out the Lady’s youngest daughter, the mage Sasha Eglantaine, who handled much of the family’s finances and contracts. (If Lord Eglantaine was the CEO, then Sasha was the CFO.) She chatted with Sasha for a while, and struck up a tentative agreement to extend her northern routes of the fashion business through the Eglantaine shipping lines.
That done, she had a brief conversation with the Lady Eglantaine, presenting her gift (as well as some juicy gossip about the Marburts), before casually drifting over to the roped-off areas to the private parts of the family manor. After ducking into the ladies’ room and using magic to disguise herself as an elegant but clearly human noblewoman, Evelyn tried to magically charm one of the pageboys left to direct the guests that Lady Eglantaine needed her to get something from her office. Annoyingly, the boy had a strong will and resisted her magic, but Evelyn switched tactics.
Instead she said, with as much sincerity as she could muster, that Lady Eglantaine had sent her to get a “special lady’s potion” from her study. The boy believed her, and turned beet red. He quickly guided her to the study and stood in the doorway staring at his shoes while Evelyn entered. She wanted to casually slip the letter onto Lady Eglantaine’s desk while palming another innocuous object and magically making it look like the apocryphal potion she’d been sent to get. However, she nearly fumbled the switch.
Just at that moment, she saw a small gold coin she hadn’t noticed before on the desk blotter – the gold coin of Tymora, goddess of luck. The pageboy turned out to be looking down at his shoes as she made the exchange, and she walked out of the office with the “special lady’s potion” in her hand and the letter on the desk with no one else the wiser. She went to “powder her nose,” ditched the illuioned object, and her own disguise, and rejoined the party as herself.
The third letter had been delivered!
The next day, she dressed quite warmly in Madame Silverleaf’s new “bloodless” winter gown, paid Zeke the balance for her snow leopard cub and all his accoutrements, and headed off to the temple of Auril. It was atop a wind-swept promontory, with holes in the walls and roof to let the bitter wind blow through, and ice covering everything.
Evelyn went to explain to a priestess that she was there because she had a fashion house. That was enough to get a raised eyebrow, because that was definitely not how most conversations started in Auril’s temples. She went on to explain about her new interests in Silvermoon, the Gem of the North, and her desire for “bloodless” fur of the beautiful artic animals, and how she’d come with an offering to secure Auril’s favor for her shipping to arrive safely to the cold harbor.
The priestess judged Evelyn sincere, and took her to the inner sanctum to make her offering. This room was even colder, and atop a dais, on a throne made of ice, was a woman with white skin, pale hair, and icy blue eyes, wearing attire more suited for summer than winter, as it showed a great deal of pale white skin. When The Frostmaiden spoke, her voice was breathy as the winter wind.
Evelyn was tasked to pray for the favor of the cold goddess, and was pressed to her knees on the icy floor, her glove taken off, and a piece of ice as big as her hand pressed into her palm. She had to pray until the ice melted before Auril would hear her. Evelyn prayed quite hard that the ice would melt as soon as possible!
With the last freezing drop had fallen from her palm, the priestess let Evelyn walk up to the dais to both give the snow leopard cub to the Frostmaiden, and deliver her letter. The Frostmaiden clutched the little leopard close, and it looked quite startled, possibly verging on terrified. But she took the letter, and nodded at Evelyn. Figuring she’d done all she’d been sent to do, Evelyn left in search of something way the hell warmer.
The fourth letter delivered, she returned to Wu Yen, who was sharing Karaxmegathron’s (the white dragon) meeting room with Jukuminno, the red dragon who’d taken on the form of a dwarf. Wu Yen was interested to hear the reaction of the Dragon Mage, and Jukuminno said, “’Not for the all the gold in a dwarven mine?’ Ha, good thing I know more than one dwarf.”
While Jukuminno lapsed into writing things down and muttering rather unpleasant things, Wu Yen took it upon herself to give Evelyn her first lessons in dragon magic…