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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 2814173" data-attributes="member: 6783">Enemies and AlliesLore (not his real name) sat alone downstairs, appearing to be quietly reading, but in reality trying to patiently wait for news from Geoffrey. The boy was already late and the sorceror was beginning to wonder if this was a sign to move on. He had confidence in the boy’s natural cowardice however and was certain Geoffrey wouldn’t do anything that looked life threatening.Still, he had already underestimated the strangers once, and only the grace of Hyla had let him turn a complete disaster into just a rout. He wouldn’t allow himself another mistake like that. Lore owed both his life and his loyalty to Grandal, and with the half-elf now gone Lore would see that Jaylissa was served in the same manner.How he could best serve was the question of the day. Grandal was gone and no one knew if he was a prisoner or dead. Jaylissa, despite recent problems with her father, wanted him back and those responsible to pay. Lore supported both goals whole-heartedly but something was nagging at him. Grandal had prepared for some sort of retaliation by the Sarathian adventurers but an all-out-assault on the Gaming Den during business hours had never been considered. Now the Sarathians were staying at the Library, but Lore would bet that Grandal wasn’t there.There were too many questions and not enough answers. Prioritize. That’s what Grandal would have done. See to Jaylissa’s safety, find out where Grandal was, and deliver revenge as required. Everything else was extraneous. Lore sighed, a decision reached. He would give Geoffrey another hour and then they would leave. Quereth was Jaylissa’s god-father and would help provide protection.Knock-knock-knock. There was a knocking at the door.Surprised, Lored looked up even as he was setting his book aside. Quickly he made his way to the foyer and, ever cautious, checked the small window to the side of the door before answering. Amazingly, Valadan was standing there; his hand tightly gripping the arm of the woman who had snuck up on Lore earlier. The sorceror was relieved enough to see the assassin that he didn’t stop to consider that the woman was still armed. Lore opened the door with a relieved smile and invited Valadan in.---Jaylissa stared at the ceiling of the room she had taken for herself. Supposedly resting and recovering, she was instead reliving this morning’s ambush and counter-ambush. Her father would have wanted her to pull a lesson from the debacle; ironic considering that his own thirst for revenge had led to this. She was letting her emotions color her planning, a family trait it seemed, and she was finding it hard to care.For a time she had allowed herself to hate her father for Imych’s death. They had never talked about it but she knew Grandal had ordered it. Imych had broken too many rules and Grandal’s bedamned secret had forced him to deal with it. In truth, what had hurt worse was that business had taken precedence over her.She almost hadn’t forgiven her father for that. She might never have forgiven him, but four weeks ago, just after his humiliation, he had brought her into his world. There at the dinner table he told her he wanted her to be his heir in business as well as in family. This had been his, as well as her mother’s, plan for her once she was old enough. From her education in Overdorn with her elven ‘cousins’ to his trusting her with certain business secrets; these had all been designed to make Jaylissa ready to take over for Grandal. If she wanted to.Jaylissa had discovered two things that night. First, that she still loved her father. Second, that up until now her life had been without purpose. She had supposed that she would marry someone her father approved of and be shuffled away. Now it seems that her father was making sure she was ready to make a choice; and it was to be her choice.Grandal had started her graduate lessons that night, beginning with a who’s-who of Corlean and moving on to his most recent mistakes and the plans to correct them. Jaylissa had been disturbed by some of the plans, but the plundering of her personal effects by the hypocritical Sarathians had convinced her to go along.Now it had all gone wrong. The Sarathians had taken their measure of vengeance and she had taken her own shot and failed. As her father had started to recently say, it was time to focus on the important things. She was going to do whatever it took to get her father or his body back; and this time she wouldn’t let revenge get in the way.Knock-knock-knockThe pounding at the door roused the flame-haired young half-elf. Geoffrey would have just entered. Frowning, she swung herself lightly out of bed and moved to the bedroom door, reaching for her shortsword and dagger. She was still dressed as she had been this morning, in nondescript tradesman clothes. Jaylissa opened the door quietly and made her way to the top of the stairs where she could hear some man’s voice speaking to Lore. They were seating themselves in the lounge just off the foyer as she reached the stairs.“We need to talk.” Spoke the man. The voice was familiar, similar to Valadan’s but not quite. “And we would like to do it calmly without Jaylissa going crazy. We’re hoping you could help explain all of this to her.”“I…see.” Jaylissa could hear the tenseness in Lore’s voice and she could imagine him sitting back in his chair and casually making sure his arms were free. “You’re not Valadan, are you?” He asked.A woman’s voice answered. “No.”Jaylissa’s hand drifted to her sword belt. She knew who these people were.The woman continued. “My name is Kestral and we’re here to just talk.”Jaylissa’s keen hearing caught Lore’s slight exhalation as the other man spoke. “And I’m Jared of the church of Sarath. I swear that we are here to just talk.”The woman, Kestral, continued. “Based on this morning we think you believe that we had something to do with Grandal’s disappearance. That’s not true. We’re being framed.”There was a pause before Lore answered. “I see.” It was an obvious conversational ploy to draw them out but Jaylissa could tell that the sorceror was willing to listen to more.Distrubingly, Jaylissa found herself willing to listen also. The voice oozed sincerity and the young half-elf found herself considering that the woman at least believed it to be true.Lore gathered his thoughts and continued. “What happened to the real Valadan? And Halloran for that matter?”The priest, Jared, answered. “The real Valadan is a prisoner right now. We found out he was an assassin and he’ll be turned over to the City Watch. Unfortunately the other one didn’t make it and died in the fight.”Lore sighed. “I’m sorry to hear about Halloran. He was a monk of the Perfected Self and was hired to protect my lady. His loss will incur a financial obligation."There was a pause while the sorceror considered and Jaylissa ruthlessly put down the brief pang of sadness she felt. She hadn't been close to Halloran but he had followed through on his oath to defend her to the death.Lore started speaking, interrupting Jaylissa's thoughts. "You said you're being framed?"“We can’t prove it conclusively.” Continued the woman calling herself Kestral. “We were at the Blue Gorgon during the attack waiting for a deal to continue through. We were at the the temple of Sarath when the Blue Gorgon was attacked.”“With a mage of Jallarzi’s skill it wouldn’t be that hard to teleport around.” Suggested Lore.“Which is why I said we can’t prove it conclusively; however with a mage of Jallarzi’s talent we wouldn’t need to. We certainly could have killed Grandal anywhere and not have runined our names.”It was such a matter of fact statement that Jaylissa’s heart nearly stopped at the assumption that her father was dead.“I can’t argue with that.” Said Lore. “That leaves us the question on who did do it.”“We don’t know yet; but we want to find out. We came here to see if we could put our information together. That’s assuming Jaylissa can be convinced not to try and kill us every few minutes.”There was another one of Lore’s long pauses. “I don’t know why but I think I’m starting to believe you. The question is whether or not my lady will. She may consider me a traitor just for talking to you.” There was another pause, then “Can I contact you at the Library?”“We’ll be there off and on.” Said Jared. The displeasure in his voice was obvious.Jaylissa made her decision.“That won’t be necessary, Lore.” She said as she descended the steps into the foyer and then crossed into the lounge. The stunned silence was its own reward. “I heard everything."She stood in the doorway momentarily trying to make an impression of calm strength while fixing the images of the two messengers firmly in her mind. “It sounds like we have much to discuss.”The woman, Kestral, smiled. “Thank you for trusting us. Our companions are outside, could we invite them in?”Jaylissa pretended to consider as she made her way to a chair. Lore stood as she sat and moved to pour her a drink. “I don’t think so.” Said the half-elf. “It would be better for now if our numbers are equal right now; a semblance of neutrality if you will.”“Very well.” Agreed Jared as Kestral nodded. Neither of them insisted though both believed that Jallarzi and Kellron would take it as a rudeness. After this morning’s fight Jaylissa had every right to be cautious. In all likelihood Kestral and Jared could take Jaylissa and Lore by themselves.Once Lore had given Jaylissa her drink and sat himself down again Jaylissa took control of the talks.“For the sake of argument I’m willing to believe that you didn’t have anything to do with my father’s disappearance. Why don’t you tell me what you think you know.”Kestral collected her thoughts and took the lead. “For starters we believe that your father is Father Dark. We think that in the process of trying to get revenge on us for what we did two months ago that he trusted the wrong people and was either kidnapped or killed for it. Since he’s a wizard it’s a fair guess that he’s been kidnapped but it’s hard to say for sure.”Jaylissa took a drink while she gathered her thoughts. “It’s plausible.” She conceeded. Reaching another decision she heaved a sigh. “My father is not Father Dark; or rather he’s not always Father Dark. He shares the title with another person who I will not name at this point.”Jared interrupted. “Could he be responsible for what happened to your father? A power struggle of some sort?”Jaylissa waved her free hand. “That’s unlikely. He’s my god-father. I think it has to have been someone else.”Kestral made the connection and assumed Jaylissa was talking about Quereth Holtson. She refrained from voicing her suspicion though. “Well whoever it was set us up at the Blue Gorgon and then framed us for looting it. Was that your father’s idea?”“No. I don’t believe so. Up until a few minutes ago I assumed you four were behind that. Father would have approved of it though. He was furious with you after your last visit to Corlean.” She nodded to Jared. “As a Sarathian you might be pleased to know that you embarrassed him greatly. As a direct result of your actions the organization lost a full third of its strength and capital. He spent a lot of money and time trying to find out all he could about the five of you.”Jared nodded gravely but didn’t express any pleasure. “And Ashimar?”“The young priest? That was my father; at least he capitalized on the man's death. He found a wizard who claimed to have the priest’s soul and purchased it.“Who was the wizard?”Jaylissa shrugged. “I didn’t get his name but I did see him once. He was perhaps five decades old with white hair and eyes. The only thing that stood out was that he’s the first wizard I’ve ever seen that cared about his appearance.” She let that sink in and continued. “Father purchased the soul and then worked out a scheme with his partner to sell it back to you in such a way that would embarrass you. This way he’d get the money back with interest and you’d have no legal recourse in getting it back.”“That worked.” Noted Kestral. Then she changed course. “Has Quereth been working with anyone new recently?”Jaylissa raised an eyebrow. She got the sense that Kestral dropped the name on purpose. Now she knew that Kestral knew who Grandal’s partner was. “New business partners? Maybe. I believe he was arranging lodgings for a Braenite cult. Since the attack I’ve seen some of the cultists hanging out at the Gaming Den.”Kestral and Jared glanced at each other. Then Kestral looked back to Jaylissa. “So what now?”Jaylissa’s green eyes flashed fire. “I want my father back.” Said Jaylissa firmly. “I also want the bastards to pay.” She looked to her two guests. “Will you help me?”Again Kestral and Jared looked at each other and as one they slowly nodded. “We can try.” Said Kestral. “If he’s still alive.” She looked at Jared as she spoke. “We can do some magical investigations also.” The priest nodded agreement. “If he’s in town we should be able to find and retrieve him.”Jaylissa held herself very still, then nodded. “Very well. If he’s dead there’s always a chance at Silver Well.” She took another drink. “If he’s dead I want whoever killed him to be dead too.”“We’re not hired killers…” Began Jared.Kestral interrupted before the priest could finish. “I’m willing to bet that whoever is responsible won’t be captured willingly.” Said the woman placatingly. “Even if we do capture them, there would jail and quite possibly a death sentence.” She paused and then looked to Jared.Jaylissa frowned. She preferred revenge, but if the responsible person was in jail a death sentence wouldn’t be too difficult to arrange. “Very well.” She agreed. “To be clear about this, you’re going to find out if my father is alive and who kidnapped him. You’ll help me get him or his body back if he’s in town.”Jared touched his holy symbol and nodded. “We swear it.”“That will do. As enemies you four have been bad luck for my father. Let’s see if having you as allies will turn that luck around.” So speaking Jaylissa raised her free hand to her shirt collar and reached for something just under the cloth. Grasping something she pulled upwards.Kestral cocked her head as Jaylissa’s head was momemtarily blurred and was then obscured by a black silk, excutioner-style mask which had no eyeholes . Jaylissa pulled the mask over her head and shook her hair free.The half-elven woman looked at the mask a moment and then threw it to Kestral who caught it easily. “My father made these. It can provide a magical disguise and prevent magical detection. If you do all you say you will you can have it.” So saying Jaylissa stood up, signaling that the meeting was at an end.Kestral and Jared both stood. “We have to deal with some things this afternoon.” Said Kestral. “We can meet back here tonight and keep you updated on what we find out.”Jaylissa looked about the lounge. “This was supposed to be an anonymous safe house. Since it’s not so secret I’ll head back to the family house. I don’t think I have to worry about being safe from you right now.”The bargins made, Jared and Kestral said their goodbyes and left, meeting up with Kellron and Jallarzi who were just outside.</blockquote>

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