Like Father, Like Son: Kid Charlemagne's Story Hour , PT III

[Kid Charlemagne]

Like Father, Like Son

This Story Hour is a continuation of the Story Hour that I started in August of 2001 at the old EN Boards, and continued through 2 board migrations (so far). The episodes preceding this can found here; the episodes preceding that are on the old Boards, which are looking increasingly like they will never see the light of day. I may repost them here at some point.

[EDIT] The full previous Story Hour is available zipped at The ENWorld Story Hour Page

These tales pick up after a two year hiatus to play other games (A horror campaign, a Traveller campaign, a 3e D&D campaign) run by other players in my group. Previous Story Hours to this involved the characters as 2nd Edition characters. This Story Hour marks their beginnings as 3rd Edition characters, converted and everything.

The game begins less than four months after the events of the previous Story Hours, in late May of 420. Without any further ado, let’s introduce the protagonists:

Sir Brennen D’Loxor (Human Fighter 5, Sword of Kelanen 4)
Sir Brennan is a worshipper of the demigod Kelanen, the Prince of Swords. Kelanen is one of those rare individuals who transcends mortal status through great deeds. In his case, he was the catalyst behind the overthrow of Vecna and Kas some 2,000 years ago. He was the only man to ever defeat Kas in single combat, although Kas used treachery to then capture Kelanen. Kelanen’s chief followers are known as “Swords” and practice a windmilling, twin-longsword style that is heavy on offense and light on defense. They also can cast spells in a manner somewhat similar to a Paladin. Brennan fought for King Yarzhen’s forces during the Civil War of 412-416, and for his heroic efforts in previous adventures, Brennen was knighted. Brennan is from Oakendell, and is the son of a local landowner-farmer.
Biggest Change in 3rd Edition
Brennen was a paladin variant class in 2e. Moving to 3e gained him a level, but he lost access to 3rd level spells. No more Dispel Magics from the tank.

Reana Stormblade (Half Elven Ranger 9)
Reana is a local girl, born and raised in Oakendell, a small village in the Doriath Forest. She comes from a tradition of rangers, beginning with her half-elven grandfather, Erethel Mileki, who was a reknowned ranger in his time, but is now quite old and a little bit senile. There is enough elven blood from various sources running through Reana’s family that she still retains the half-elven attributes, even after a couple generations. Reana is related to many of the families in Oakendell and Sickle Creek, as Grandpa Erethel was quite a wanderer in his day, and is currently on his 4th wife. Reana has something along the lines of 80 cousins. Her father was a mercenary in the southern part of Ghithor, and Reana spent a large portion of her early days as an adventurer attempting to locate other members of her father’s family. Reana has recently been working on planning a forest stronghold in the Northern Doriath Forest.
Biggest Change in 3rd Edition
Reana now has improved two weapon fighting, so she gets four attacks on a full attack. She also seems to like the Summon Monster spell quite a bit.

Jalea (High Elven Rogue 10)
Jalea is from the Marquisate of Ulfang, in the southwest of Ambardor. He was active in that city’s Thieves’ Guild, but left town most recently after a run in with Lord Arlen Kentfield, an influential nobleman. Early in his career, he served in the Army of Ulfang as a scout, and has since used that euphemism to describe his talents. For the past several years, he has been working his way up the ranks in the Thieves’ Guild of Fencig, a large northern city. Previous to their recent “vacation” the party had inadvertently aided the Guild by wiping out a group of wererats (known as the “Lumpers”) who were working to take over the Guild. The Lumpers were being aided by the Priesthood of Tyaa, who were enemies of the party, and who were financing the takeover through money earned through their gambling operations at “The Falcon’s Club,” an upscale casino in a very nice section of Fencig. The casino fell into disrepair, only to eventually be bought and reopened by the party’s former Priest, a gnomish priest of Bes (God of Luck) named Jovah. Jalea had been keeping the Guild off Jovah’s back in regards to protection money, with the aid of Morris, a Guild Lieutenant who was their primary contact during the Lumper incident, but Morris is now dead. Jalea has been looking into returning to Ulfang to take care of Lord Kentfield.
Biggest Change in 3rd Edition
Still to be determined. Jalea’s player wasn’t present in Session 1(and I haven’t seen his character yet), so we haven’t got a handle on his differences yet.

Aris (High Elven Fighter 3, Wizard 5, Bladesinger 2)
Aris joined up with the party during an expedition to recover an Elven artifact from a group of pirates, and continued with them in order to gain more knowledge of the humans, as well as learn more about the increasing sightings of Drow in the wilderness of Ghithor and Ambardor. The Drow had been laying low for over a century, and Aris was the second Elf to lay eyes on a Drow in over 100 years (the first was Jalea, but he went unconscious shortly afterwards). Aris owes a debt to the Dwarves of the Lake of A Thousand Waterfalls due to his accidental killing of a number of dwarven slaves with a ill-placed fireball spell. He also had his throat slit by a Drow during that episode, and vowed to not have the scar removed until he had found a way to repaly the dwarves.
Biggest Change in 3rd Edition
In two words: Hit Points. Aris more than doubled his hit points in the conversion. He lost access to 4th level spells, though. No more Walls of Fire.

Shyne Jovah Rockbrite (Gnomish Cleric 6, Luckbringer 3)
Jovah is a priest of Bes; one of a very few priests, as a matter of fact. Bes belongs to the Murkraal Pantheon, one of the gods of a long-lost civilization that disappeared into the sands east of the Ar-Ainadorian Empire more than a thousand years ago. Jovah’s parents were jewelllers, and Jovah initially left home to investigate a jewel robbery, and later inherited a tower (and its attendant debt) from a roguish favorite uncle. In the course of paying off the debt, he met and joined up with Brennen, Reana, and Jalea. They have travelled together for nearly four years, and have made quite a name for themselves. Jovah now owns the Fox Club, a swank casino and restaurant in Fencig. He helps out those down on their luck, and uses the casino as his base of operations. He is constantly keeping tabs on the Church of Reksus, which is also powerful in Fencig; Reksus is the most powerful remaining God of the Murkraal Pantheon, and has spread the story that Reksus is the Chief Diety of that pantheon in order to boost his credibility. In fact, this is not true, and Jovah has a set of scrolls dating back to Murkraal’s peak that reveal the truth that Reksus was actually a trickster god, God of Magic and of Power. (And Public Relations, as Jovah likes to say). The Church of Reksus does not want these scrolls to reach wide distribution, but Jovah has been hiring scribes to copy them and send them to scholars across the land to spread the truth.
Biggest Change in 3rd Edition
Jovah no longer can boast he has as many hit points as Brennen, but his damage dealing has seen an upgrade, as he swings a heavy mace two handed, getting a +3 damage bonus. Not bad for a gnome.

Gavin (Human Fighter 9)
Gavin hails from near the mountain town of Cardell. He served as a cavalryman in the Rebel Army during the Ghithor Civil War, and was involved in the campaign in the North, including the Occupation of Fencig. After the war ended, and the Rebels lost, he made a living as a mercenary working the Copper Pass connecting Carandor and Ghithor, picking up a working knowledge of Caradinian and Orcish. He joined up with the party after his friend Koth was kidnapped and turned into a strange sort of ghoul by Virenzo Staris, the necromancer. Since joining the party, Gavin has earned more money than he ever could have dreamed of as a mercenary, and come closer to death as well. His rallying of the cavalry in Mahanaim to fight off Elros Ekozius is frequently credited as the turning point in that battle, and along with his adventurous exploits with the party, earned him a knighthood. Gavin is an excellent horseman, and likes the trappings of money and nobility. His more mercenary nature has been tempered over time by exposure to the more altruistic and idealistic members of the party. Gavin has been given control of the town of Shadow Springs, and has cleared the town of nasties and started rebuilding.
Biggest Change in 3rd Edition
Gavin’s fighter feats will give him all kinds of new ways to crunch enemies. Overall, he is probably the least changed.

Corwin Marchettus (Human Fighter 2, Wizard 7)
Corwin is a new addition to the party, played by a new player. Corwin is a former noble of Ghithor who lost his lands in the Civil War. He also had his (then fighter) butt handed to him by a Wizard in an engagement in which his entire unit was wiped out. He began studying magic, and found he had an aptitude for it. He is now trying to get back in the good graces of the lords of Ghithor, and is hopeful that the party can help him achieve that. He is not, however, overly impressed with their reputations, and is not afraid to voice his concerns about how things should be handled.
Biggest Change in 3rd Edition
Corwin is the only true-blue, fully 3e character. Created for this game, his player decided to play with expectations by having a burly, armored, sword-wielding guy who is primarily a spellcaster.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

May, AE 420

RECENT ACTIVITIES OF NOTE

THE PARTY
Sir Brennen has been doing some info-gathering on Lord Arlen Kentfield of Ulfang, the rumored demon-worshipping nobleman who nearly had Jalea killed. Reana has been working on getting a fortress built in the Northern Doriath Forest. Jovah has recently closed on a deal to build a Temple/Halfway House for down-on-their-luck folk in Fencig. Jalea has been incommunicado for the past several months, but has expressed his interest in finally dealing with Kentfield. Gavin has been busy as the new Lord of Shadow Springs, setting up the framework for getting the town rebuilt, and the mining operations restarted. Aris has been trying to figure out how to repay his debt to the Dwarves of Kazathun now that Vekkoth is dead.

SHADOW SPRINGS
The Dwarves have been moving back into Shadow Springs, and so have a fair number of humans. Around early April it is discovered that the cavern passage just before the Long Cavern (where Aris fireballed the enslaved dwarves) has caved in. It is unknown if this is intentional or not. Thus, the one known connection between Shadow Springs and the Lake of A Thousand Waterfalls has been cut, and the Drow have no access to this side of the Vokal Mountains, and vice versa. There has been talk of trying to locate another way through the mountains, but nothing has been done in this area as of yet. Things have quieted down to the point that Lord Gavin can consider a little adventuring on the side.

ELROS EKOZIUS
In late April, word reached Belluin that the city of Augrim has offered Elros Ekozius sanctuary within its territory in exchange for his aid in protecting the city from the ravages of the Plainsmen of Nali. Augrim is a fair distance downriver from Mahanaim, and on the opposite side of the Great River. There is a great deal of speculation as to why this has happened, including concerns that Ekozius has somehow manipulated the Duke of Augrim into this action. However, no one has been able to learn anything specific by this point.

GHITHOR GOINGS-ON
Things seem to finally be back to normal in Ghithor after years of low-grade fighting followed by four years of Civil War, followed by four more years of rebuilding. There has even been talk of reforming the Senate, which is an advisory council that reports to the King. It was disbanded in AE 402 by King Yarzhen when several members were charged with treason, and conspiracy to overthrow the King. This was one of the major things that sparked the political breakdown that led to the Civil War of 412-416.

ULFANG GOINGS-ON
Lord Kentfield’s influence in Ulfang is still growing; his support in the past falls mayoral election is credited with ensuring the incumbent’s re-election. Kentfield remains in charge of the Ulfang Prison system, and any rumors of his side activities seem to have made his enemies leery of confronting him. The city is bustling with trade activity, and the economy is humming along nicely.

FENCIG GOINGS-ON
Marquis Samsen has not made very many major policy pronouncements so far in his short rule, however the one thing of note that he has done is try to undermine the Ghithor/Fencig treaty that was signed in Belluin around the time of the King’s marriage. It would be difficult politically for him to merely break the treaty, which calls for a joint Ghithor-Fencig attempt to patrol and control the Northern Territories, but he has withheld men and materials, as well as attempted to prevent Ghithor forces from being able to act in their areas. Work has also begun building a new road between Fencig and Norridge, one that will cut significant length off the distance travelled by trade caravans between them. It will also allow such caravans to completely bypass Ghithorian territory.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Gujo, May 28th, AE 420

After several months of relaxation, taking care of other business, and generally laying about, Brennen, Gavin, Reana, Jovah, and Aris all gather in Gujo, the capitol of Ghithor, to discuss their next plan of action. They are concerned about the goings-on in Ulfang, specifically the actions of Lord Arlen Kentfield. Kentfield is believed by Jalea to be a worshipper of Pazuzu, the Demon Prince of the Air, messenger of the Abyss. The party is gathered to figure out what to do about Kentfield.

“Where’s Jalea, anyway?” asks Jovah.

“He was supposed to be her yesterday,” Brennen replies. “He said he was going to do some advance scouting.”

“And he isn’t back yet?” Reana asks.

“Hmm,” Jovah says. “It’s not usually the coming back that’s a problem, it’s the ‘where did he go…’”

“I know,” Brennen says. “We may have to do some looking for him in Ulfang, and hope he hasn’t gotten into trouble.”

Discussion follows as to how to handle getting into Ulfang, and how discrete to be. Eventually, they decide to not disguise themselves in any way. They are in town to do some sightseeing, some glad-handing, and some shopping. The investigation is to be handled on the side.

Brennen has been given the names of two people in Ulfang to contact. The first is Corwin Marchettus, a wizard who was formerly a noble of Ghithor, but lost his lands in the war. Presumably, Corwin would be willing to help the party in order to get back in the current regime’s good graces, and he has good contacts within the social strata of Ulfang.

The second name is of a Ghithor agent in Ulfang, who can get secret messages out of town without difficulty.

Jovah casts dimensional folding, and the party takes their horses through the portal to a grassy field just outside of Ulfang, where a small tower stands. The tower once belonged to Jovah’s uncle, and was inherited by Jovah, but he had to sell it to pay off the back taxes. Still, it is a familiar spot to the Luckbringer, and is a favorite spot to fold to when heading to Ulfang. They ride into town, relatively unnoticed, noting along the way that several thuggish types seem to be watching the gates. Aris believes they are casing incoming merchants. This is of some concern to the party, as Kentfield supposedly has good ties to the Thieves’ Guild and Assassin’s Guild in town.

They ride to the Gold Dragon Inn, Ulfang’s finest hotel, and ask for Corwin Marchettus, who is supposed to be staying here. After a short delay Corwin comes down, and introduces himself. Sir Brennen was expecting a wizardly type, and is somewhat surprised to see that Corwin is a powerfully built man in his late twenties.

They take Corwin to a private room, and reveal all that they know about Kentfield, and ask if he will help them. Corwin has met Kentfield at various social gatherings, and is shocked to hear the allegations that the party lays out.

“I will help you investigate this,” he says. “But I’m not convinced.”

The rest of the afternoon is spent doing all the things that they are supposedly in town to do. Reana and Gavin check out the horse market (Gavin wants to breed horses as a sideline hobby); Aris checks out the apothecaries and alchemist shops in town, while Brennen waits at the Inn in case anyone sends word there for any reason. All of them are keeping their ears open for any discussion of Kentfield, but without Jalea, their information gathering skills are weak.

Jovah checks out the local Church of Reksus. “Just getting the lay of the land,” he thinks to himself.

They reassemble for dinner and discuss plans. Digging up old man Kentfield (a rumored Pazuzu follower himself, and dead for several years) is brought up and quickly dismissed, as are various other ideas. Aris suggests going back to talk to the rogues at the city gates.

“Maybe we could bribe them,” Gavin suggests.

“Uh, yeah,” Aris replies, as if that should have been self-evident.

Eventually, Corwin offers to scry for Jalea to see if he’s in danger. It’ll have to wait for the morning, however, as he does not have that spell prepared.

“I’ve never met him, but I can try from a description. It might not work, but its probably the best we can do.”

The party agrees and in the morning, Corwin takes them up to his room. He pulls out a finely crafted mirror, and casts the spell.

“I see him,” he says. “He’s in a tree, maybe fifty feet up, hidden and watching a manor house. I think I know the area, its not far outside of town, maybe fifteen miles. It’s a nice area, where the local nobles have their country homes. He’s not doing much at all, he’s just watching the place.”

“What can you see of the manor house?” Aris asks.

“I can see it well enough, but there’s no flag flying. There are a couple of small pennants, but no main flag. I guess that means whoever’s place it is isn’t there.” Corwin puts away the mirror as the spell ends.

Aris gets a good description of the manor house, and writes a note for Jalea, and attaches it to the foot of his hawk familiar. As an after thought, he ties the pen into the note as well. He whispers the directions to the hawk, and off it flies. They have little choice but to wait for the hawk to return, and they do. After about four or five hours, it returns with a new note on its foot:

“Watching K. country home. Strange visitors. Will arrive shortly. Am safe and sound.”

The next morning, Brennen hears a light knock on his door. A voice on the other side whispers urgently, “Open up, it’s me.”

Brennen opens the door, grabs Jalea by the collar, and hauls him bodily into the room, kicking the door shut after him.

“What the hell were you doing!?”

“I…I.. was just checking something out!” Jalea stammers.

“Okay, I’m going to go get everyone else. Wait here. No, come with me,” Brennen grabs Jalea and drags him along as he wakes up everyone else and notifies them of Jalea’s return.

They gather in a room and Jalea tells them what he’s been up to. He explains that he’s been watching Kentfield’s house in Ulfang for a week or more and had noticed a couple of visitors. One is a wizard type, extremely “twitchy” as Jalea puts it. The other is a man whose oddest feature is his eyes; they have a gold rim around the pupils, just barely noticeable. He bears a rapier, but is unarmored ordinarily. The twitchy wizard came into town in one of Kentfield’s carriages, and then back to the manor house, where he is now. Jalea has never seen the golden-eyed man go very far from the Kentfield house.

Jalea also describes the routines of the Kentfield guards, and explains that it is quite difficult to get in close enough to the house to over hear conversations, as the dining room and office windows face the courtyard, which is well guarded, with guards on the roof at night.

“I can help there,” Aris says. “I can make three people invisible, and also give them spider climbing. And if arrange it so that we go there when something is happening, I can cast clairaudience, too.”

Aris, Jalea, and Reana are chosen for the scouting mission. Jalea sneaks up and watches the Kentfield house from a distance, and notifies the others when he sees the golden-eyed man enter the house, a few hours after a carriage enters the courtyard. The others wait several blocks down the street, at an upscale tavern that has street side seating.

The three attach themselves with rope, Aris casts his spells, and they scale up the wall. They clamber around invisibly, looking in windows, until they see the golden-eyed man leaving a bedroom on the third floor. A few more minutes don’t seem to lead to any apparent imminent meetings, so Aris suggest that Jalea open the window to the golden-eyed man’s room so they can check it out.

Jalea begins to open the window, and sets off a blast glyph, which he does not do a good job of avoiding.

“Didn’t you check for traps?” Aris whispers urgently.

“You said open the window, not check for traps!” comes the invisible retort.

It matters not, the alarm is raised. Guards stream into the courtyard, but can’t see any perpetrators. The three scouts slip over the roof and begin making their way back to the rest of the party. Reana slips off the rope attaching her to Jalea and Aris.

“I’m going to see what they do with the alarm raised,” she tells them.

She slips back up on the roof, and watches. After a minute or so, she sees a small door in a corner roof access tower open up, and a guard climbs out, followed by Arlen Kentfield himself.

Lord Kentfield looks out over the roof of the house, and Reana shrinks lower onto the roof, even though she is invisible. Kentfield’s eyes stop, and rest on the Ranger. He grabs a crossbow from his guard, and swings it directly at the invisible half-elf.

“Uh oh,” Reana says.

 

[Matchstick]

Sounds like it went well!

Thanks for the character summaries, even for me that was nice. There was stuff in there I didn't remember!

One of the things I think you do very well in writing these up, and I know I've mentioned it before, is the places you choose to end the post. The above is a perfect example.

Of course the one problem with you being so good at the cliff hangers is that it makes it harder to wait! I'm assuming there was more this week?

So, any comments from the players? For Brennen and the others who have read the story hour, did you have that at all in your mind as you played? How was it getting back to these characters?

KC you said that you may leave these characters and start new ones in the same world. Why? Would these characters go out in a blaze of glory or would they just fade away?

 

[Jovah]

The session was a blast!

Not only did we have "new" characters, but we had a new player in the mix.

The "Brennen- no dispel magic" scene comes up a little later- Jovah assumes he has it..oops.

I think Jovah's spell selection is a lot more useful and less esoteric. He is not King hit point anymore, but he is better in combat. I can't wait to cast Random Causality.

It was interesting having a "true mage" - able to do things that Aris never could. Of course the bad guys can do the same sorts of things.

Kentfield should provide some giggles.

 

[Jovah]

Kid C- Just curious - what does "Like father, like son" refer to:

Kentfield?

Samsen?

Jovah is too paranoid?

 

[Sir Brennen]

For the curious, Aris, Brennen and the Sword of Kelanen PrC (Beta version) have been added to the Kid C.'s PCs thread in the Rogues Gallery here.

The session was fun. Before we started, I mused a little over what it would be like playing, knowing it would end up on Story Hour, but once we were into the game, you really just want to be in the here and now, and just play. (Though I think I did notice Kid C. doing a bit more of his already prodigious note-taking) It's certainly interesting to read things right after they happen, instead of a couple of years later, like Kid C's other story hour threads.

And, yes, there's more to come from that first 3E campaign session. Kid C. was suffering from a cold the day of the game, so we're all grateful he got something up so soon.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Kid C- Just curious - what does "Like father, like son" refer to:

Kentfield?

Samsen?

Jovah is too paranoid?

It seems applicable to both, doesn't it...

 

[Gavin]

I have to agree with Brennen that knowing our sessions were going to be posted didn't really change the atmosphere once we got going.

To answer the question about retiring the characters: although I enjoy playing Gavin, I look forward to having a character I can create from the very beginning. I would also like to start from low level. When I joined up Gavin was pre-made and already 8th level.

I love the fact that Kid C has a persistent world and that characters from games 10 years ago turn up as NPCs now. Maybe someday an older Lord Gavin will play a part in a future campaign.

I would also like to add that Power Attack is the best thing since sliced bread. Of course Gavin probably doesn't know what sliced bread is...

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Ulfang, May 30th, AE 420

Reana quickly scampers down the far wall of Kentfield’s house to avoid getting shot. She still has the spider climb going so she hits the ground safely in no time at all.

A few blocks down, Aris and Jalea are just letting the party know about the glyph going off, when they all hear a loud cry, like an eagle’s cry, but much louder. They turn towards Kentfield’s house, and see a griffon land on the roof!

Reana looks up, and sees that the griffon appears to be sniffing for her. It’s pretty clear the creature has a decent idea where she is, and she doesn’t particularly want to fight it all by herself – and certainly not this close to Kentfield’s house. She runs for it, fleeing down the street as the griffon takes off from the roof, swooping down towards her. People on the streets are running in all directions, in a total panic over the suddenly appearing creature.

Back at the tavern, the party can only see that the Griffon appears to be swooping down the street towards them. Aris cancels the invisibility on himself, and moves out into the street. Gavin fumbles with his peace-bonded sword, and moves out into the street as well. Jovah casts fly on himself, and zooms up to the roof of the building opposite the tavern, looking down on the griffon fight.

Ulfang requires all weapons to be peace-bonded, and all bows must be unstrung. I decided on the fly that undoing the peace-bonds would be either a full round action, or a partial action requiring a DC 10 dex check. This was good for several rounds of hilarity as fighters struggled to get their weapons out of their sheaths!

Reana dodges down a side street, just as the griffon lands where she had just been standing. The creature loses her trail for a moment, and the Ranger takes no chances, grabbing some fruit from a nearby vendor and smearing it on her armor to try and mask her scent. Jalea has his bow strung by now, and plugs the griffon with two well-placed shots. Corwin unloads a series of magic missiles into it, and Aris moves to engage it in hand-to-hand. Gavin finally gets his weapons untied, and charges, landing a heavy blow on the beast. Sir Brennen is having all kinds of trouble with his peace-bonds, and finally decides to takes his time and do it right.

As Brennen is undoing his bonds, he sees that four guards from Kentfield’s house are approaching on foot, led by a rapier-bearing, somewhat foppish looking fellow. Aris’ hawk is circling overhead, and notices both the men approaching, and another hawk. This hawk seems unperturbed by the fighting just below, and is watching the fight intently from a ledge just across the street from Jovah.

Aris lands a final blow on the griffon, and it dies, only to vanish a moment later.

“Summoned creature,” Corwin says. “Powerful caster to be able to call a griffon.”

Meanwhile Brennen has walked up to meet Kentfield’s guards.

“Nothing to see here,” he says. “We took care of the the threat. But thanks for coming down to help…”

The foppish leader of the guards smiles a wry smile, and turns and walks away, along with the three other guards. Reana looks up at the roof of the Kentfield house, and sees Lord Kentfield looking down in the direction of the fight. He watches for a moment, and then turns away. Aris’ hawk notices that the other hawks flies off to the south, then circles back, eventually landing in Kentfield’s courtyard.

The party regroups in the Gold Dragon Inn.

“What now?” Corwin asks.

“I say we nab one of the guards, and get some info out of him,” Jovah says.

“Those guards are probably pretty loyal,” Reana says.

“They don’t have to be disloyal,” Jovah replies. “They just have to have a mouth that works.”

“What do you plan to do with such a guard after you’ve interrogated him?” Corwin asks, suspiciously.

“Hmmm, you’re right,” Jovah says. “We can’t just stuff him down a hole somewhere…”

“Not that we haven’t done that before,” Gavin adds, helpfully.

“I say we nab the twitchy wizard out at the manor house,” Brennen says. “There might be some evidence out there that we can use.”

“I have an idea,” Jovah interjects. “I can do a divination. What should I ask? If we go to the manor house….”

“Will we all die?” Gavin finishes for him.

Jovah shoots Gavin a glare. Eventually, the wording is decided on: If we go to the Kentfield manor house, will we find the evidence we need?

The answer comes back to Jovah: Anything that you would have found is now in the city.

Meanwhile Aris is chiding Jalea for not checking the glyph-ed window for traps.

“There was probably something important in there… of all the windows to pick, we picked the one that was trapped…”

“That just proves we’re dumb,” Gavin is on a roll.

More discussion ensues. The decision is made to check out the abandoned prisoner of war camp, about five miles outside of town. It is the place from which most of the missing Ghithorian soldiers vanished during the aftermath of the Siege, and it is the place where Kentfield took Jalea to attempt to kill him, several years back.

Somewhere in the rotting remains of the camp, they hope to find some evidence that can be used to back their claims about Arlen Kentfield’s demonic ties.