As you finish up breakfast, Lavinia says, "Well, I don't want to hold you up. I'll let you all take care of things from here." She then excuses herself from the table and hurries off excitedly to her room.
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"This is such a relief," Lavinia says. "I was starting to worry about what had happened to him. But it looks like things can still be fixed, so I'm really glad. I hope you him soon." She smiles throughout the rest of breakfast, looking excited, but generally calm and happy.
"I might," Lavinia replies. "But you can tell me all about it in the morning after you've slept and cleaned up."
Lavinia's eyes widen with excitement. "That's wonderful!" she exclaims. "What sort of business do you have with him?"
Lavinia nods, looking a little embarrassed. "You're right, I know," she says to Jacinth. "I'm just...eager to learn everything. And a little scared, I guess."
"I don't know that name," Lavinia says with a shake of her head and a shrug, "but when he came back from the plantation last year, he started spending a lot of time away from home. He definitely had a lot of...associates, but I don't know anything about any of them. When he first moved out of the manor before mom and dad died, I'm pretty sure he moved in with a lover somewhere, but I don't know who. I think he may have argued with our parents about her."
Lavinia listens to the exchange between Tippi and Jacinth with uncertainty. "I really don't think Vanthus is a bad person," she says finally. "It's just he's had a hard time like Tippi says and he... he's rebelling, I guess. In some ways, I don't blame him. I do hope we can reconcile."
Lavinia nods slowly. "I understand, I think. I'm just worried that...well, what if he's fallen in with a bad crowd or something? Maybe he just needs to get away from them." She sighs. "Or maybe not. But if you can find him, I'd appreciate it. Even if he says no to coming to see me, at least I'll know I tried. I'll pay you for your help of course. I know I don't have as much money as I thought I had, but I'm not broke. Not yet."
Lavinia shrugs. "I suppose my parents would say it's because he's unreliable, he's untrustworthy, that sort of thing. They said those kinds of things sometimes about him. I don't know why. It's not true. Or, well...it wasn't. They always treated him unfairly. They brought in Edunel to see to my education and sent him off to work on one of our uncle's plantations. They said it was important that he understand the family business--not that they understood any of it. I don't think they ever set foot on one of those plantations, let alone ever worked on it. But they were really just looking for an excuse. They thought he was a bad influence on me. Vanthus and I were very close when I was young. He always looked after me when they were away on their expeditions and adventures. I don't understand the problem they had with him." She sighs and pauses for a moment, taking a drink of juice. "He came back from the plantation a year ago. But he had changed. He was bitter all the time. He would sleep all day long and go out all night. Eventually, he just moved out entirely, and mom and dad were glad to see him go again. I don't know where he went. But then, just after our parents died, he came back again. He was only here a week. He was... He was bitter and cynical, cruel even. He said terrible things to Kora and Edunel. He was angry at not getting any of the inheritance and he made that very clear. We argued a lot. Then he..." She pauses again. "Then he struck me with his hand. I... I was shocked. So was he, I think. It was a heat of the moment thing. He was angry and... well, he gathered his belongings and left. I haven't seen him since."
Lavinia accepts Jacinth's arm and heads towards the edge of the park. There, she flags down a cab and has it take you all back to the manor. She has a forced smile on her face for the entire ride, but it's clear she's upset and fighting back tears. Back at the manor, she climbs out of the carriage sullenly and pays the driver. "I'll see if Kora has food ready for us," she says.
Lavinia wipes away a tear at the mention of her brother. "Not just anybody can walk in here," she says. "The priests will only let you in if you have the ring and you're a member of the family or in the company of a family member. The only ones left that the priests would let through are me and my brother. I don't think my brother would do this. Even he..." She pauses. "Even he wouldn't go that far. No, it's probably just that my father was a terrible bookkeeper. I shouldn't be surprised. He and mom have turned out to be terrible at everything else regarding money. Let's go."
Lavinia shakes her head. "Nothing that I'm aware of," she says glumly. Then her eyes brighten up. "What about that piece of parchment that was with the ring? Could it help?" She pulls it out and unfolds it. "I don't understand what it means."
Chimera looks to sunrise
"I...I don't really know," Lavinia says coming into the room. "My parents never told me a lot about the vault, other than you needed one of the rings to open the door and it contained all our fortune. I've looked at my father's ledgers, but they just say how what treasure is in here, nothing else." She glances around the apparently empty room. "So where is everything?"
"And what did he do with the bad parts of her teaching?" Tippi asks innocently. Lavinia giggles slightly and slaps a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. "I'll go tell Kora that you'll be here for dinner, but to give you enough time to go to market first before serving it," she adds hastily.
Lavinia smiles broadly. "Oh, I'm glad. Thank you! We don't have to go right away though. You should rest first. Maybe first thing tomorrow?" Edunel enters the room at this time, and Lavinia hurries over to her, taking several small pouches the elf is holding. Lavinia turns back to the rest of you. "Here's the payment I promised you. One hundred and fifty gold pieces each." She hands one pouch to each of you. "I'll have Kora prepare food for us," she says once everyone has their money.
Lavinia takes the platinum and the ring from Felos, and listens with wide eyes to what everyone has to say. "I don't really know what to say," she says finally. "Thank you so much! They were smugglers? You really had to fight them? I'm glad none of you was seriously hurt. I was starting to get a little worried since it seemed to be taking you awhile to get back." She's practically hopping about as she rambles on excitedly. "Now that I have the ring, I can get in the vault and get money to pay off the rest of my family's debts. I can probably get some sort of help for the harbourmaster, if you think that's a wise thing. He is really sick. I'll see what I can do. Oh, and I promised to pay you all, too! Kora, can you tell Edunel to bring it in?" As the halfling nods and leaves the room, Lavinia continues, "Would you be willing to come to the vault with me? I've never actually been to it before and the priests of Asmodeus are kind of intimidating. That's not something you can get in trouble for saying, is it?"
Lavinia mulls it over for a bit, chewing slowly on a piece of bread. "Jacinth and Tippi seem to think a note will be enough," she says to Festa. ]"I think I'll try that this time. Besides, I have to admit, I'm a little scared of Soller Vark after what he did to me. Hopefully, he won't even be there when you speak to the harbourmaster, but if he is..." She takes another bite of her bread. "I'll send a note with you though so that the harbourmaster knows who you are."
"So, are you going to speak to the harbourmaster first then?" Lavinia asks during breakfast. "Do you want me to come with you? Or should I stay here? Edunel thinks I would be safer if I stay here, but the harbourmaster might want some sort of proof that you're working for me. I could give you a letter with the family seal on if that would help."
Lavinia blushes a bit a Xanthippe's words and nods. "I've sent the Jade Ravens--they're the group my parents hired a lot--I've sent them to Egorian with a message for my uncle there. Hopefully, my uncle can help out, but there really isn't anyone else."
"Well, I think I'd like to," Lavinia replies a bit hestiantly, "but since I have to take care of my family's estate now, I don't know if I'll be able to."
"Edunel's been a great teacher," Lavinia interrupts. "I've learnt a lot from her."
Lavinia smiles broadly at Jacinth's words, but grimaces at Xanthippe's. "Other than the vault, nothing," she says. "My parents amassed so many debts. I didn't know until after they died and everybody came to collect. I didn't want to believe it at first. I mean, they never behaved as if they had any money problems. But the papers were all in order. My parents owed a lot of money. I've paid almost all of it off now, but that's used up just about everything in the manor. But once I can get into the vault, I can pay off the last couple of debts and make investments with the rest of the money."
"Mom and Dad used to travel all over the place," Lavinia adds. "They saw all kinds of strange and exotic lands. I used to wish I could go with them, but I was too young."
Lavinia listens carefully to each of the options listed and nods at Jacinth's comment. "If he did, then we could find the ring." She looks pleased at the thought. "I'll go see how Kora's doing with dinner." She hurries off, calling back, "Thank you!" as she goes.
"They fell in the water," Lavinia replies, but actually looks kind of happy as she says it. "But! I have other copies. So it's not all lost." She turns to Xanthippe. "I don't want to ask anyone to do anything illegal. You've already been nice enough to save me from drowning. It wouldn't be right to ask you to do something that would have the Hellknights arresting you. I have to get the ship back somehow, but there has to be other options for how to do it. I don't expect you to just go onto the ship and start killing people or something like that. Maybe you could talk to the harbourmaster or something? You're all adults. He might take you more seriously. I'm not yet fifteen. When people look at me, they see a girl that they can manipulate, and they're right. I thought I could do this on my own. I thought I could show people that I could handle my parents' estate by myself. But I was wrong. Really wrong. I need help. Please?" Xanthippe: You're not familiar with the name Soller Vark, but you do know a little about the local harbourmaster, Keltar Islaran. Word has it that he suffers from a chronic lung infection and that it's been getting worse. Because he can do fewer and fewer duties himself, he's been hiring more and more outside help. It's possible, even probable, that Soller Vark is one of these new hires.
Lavinia arrives back a little over half an hour later, having changed into a light, casual dress. "Kora is in the process of preparing dinner, but it will be a little while yet," she says. "Trust me though, she's an excellent cook. While we wait for dinner, I suppose I should tell you what's going on." She walks over to the reading table and leans on it for a moment, then turns to face the rest of you. "As you probably know, my parents died last month. They had just bought a new ship and were taking it out on its maiden voyage. There was a terrible fire and everyone on board was killed." She pauses for a moment again to wipe away a tear. She takes a deep breath before continuing. "I inherited their entire estate. Except I've learnt that my parents had a lot of debts. Apparently, for all their success as explorers, they were not very good at managing their finances. So now I'm trying to repay the debts, but my funds here in the manor are running dry. However, underneath Zelkie Park outside of Dhoffram Keep, there are a series of vaults where the noble families of Corentyn store their fortunes. The Vanderboren family has a vault there too. Unfortunately, to get into it, as well as being a Vanderboren, you have to have a special ring. There are only two of them. My parents had one each. My mother lost hers months ago. She was never able to find out what happened to it. But my father kept his hidden on board his ship, the Blue Nixie. That's why I have to get the ship back. But of course, the ship is one of the other debts. Apparently, my parents hadn't paid the mooring fees in nearly ten months, so the harbourmaster seized the ship and put in the control of man called Soller Vark. He's the one who pushed my off the gangplank. Anyway, it was a thousand gold pieces total that was owed. I gathered a hundred platinums earlier today and went to the harbourmaster's office. Soller was there, but..." She reddens in embarrassment. "The harbourmaster wasn't. Soller said he'd make sure the harbourmaster got the payment and I could go claim the ship. It was stupid of me to believe him, I know. I just... I don't know. I guess I'm as bad with money as my parents are. Edunel said before that I should get help. She said I'd spent my life isolated from the world and that I wasn't ready to take on these responsibilities yet, but..." She pauses again. "Anyway, you know what happened next. I got to the ship and Soller denied that I had given him the money. But I have to get that ship back. If I don't, I won't be able to pay off my parents' debts. Soller Vark and his people are up to no good, I'm sure of it! Will you help me? Like I said, I'll pay you. What's a good price? Um...a hundred gold each? A hundred and fifty?"
Lavinia nods. "Yes, of course. I'll...um...just show you where you can wait." She goes over to a door on the north side of the hall, just before the staircase and opens it. "You can wait in here. I'll try not to be too long." The room beyond is filled with rows of bookshelves, all filled with books. A hearth, currently unlit, sits against the north wall. A reading table sits near the fireplace. "Either Kora or I will come to get you," Lavinia says. "Or maybe Edunel. She's my tutor. All the other servants left not too long ago when my parents died. Well, some of them were slaves, but I let them go. I've never really felt comfortable with slaves. Anyway, I'll try not to be too long." She then hurries up the stairs.
"My brother?" Lavinia lowers her head. "He's...uh...not here right now. He won't be back this evening. I don't think." She turns to the halfling. "Kora, can you prepare a nice meal for these people as thanks for saving me?" Kora bows her head. "Of course, my lady." Sense Motive DC 10: It's clear that Lavinia is hesitant to speak about her brother and is leaving out information.
"And you got no receipt, I presume?" Lavinia shakes her head sheepishly in response and then again to Felos's question if she has any proof that she paid. Her cheeks redden in embarrassment. In response to the discussion regarding Festa Fire's level of assistance in the crisis, she says, "I'm grateful to everyone who gave me assistance, and I'm grateful to those who wanted to assist but couldn't get here in time." She looks about at other people in the area, all of whom have gone back to their business and are not paying any more attention. She turns back to Festa Fire. "At least you're showing an interest. Honestly, I don't know how to handle this sort of thing. My parents used to hire adventurers all the time. They had a regular group that did many tasks for them, but I've already sent them to take a message to my uncle in Egorian. That was mainly to get them out of the way for a while. I don't really trust them very much, especially Tolin. So I wouldn't want their help for this task anyway. And I'm rambling. Sorry, I do that when I'm nervous. Anyway, my point is my parents would sometimes hire people they'd never met before and it seemed to work out for them. Kind of. I guess. Anyway, you all helped me, or wanted to help me, and that's a reason to trust you, right? And there's strength in numbers, so four of you is better than three, right? Can we go back to the manor now? I need to change my clothes."
"I did pay them!" Lavinia protests. "I paid Soller not an hour ago at the harbourmaster's office. Then I came here and he'd come ahead of me. I thought he'd come to tell his people to turn the ship over to my custody, but he claimed I never paid him and now he wants me to pay him again. And..." She pauses and looks at the floor of the peer, continuing more quietly and somewhat sheepishly, "And if I pay him twice, then I really will be nearly out of money. I gave him a hundred platinum coins. It's many months of outstanding mooring fees that my parents never paid."
"I need the ship," Lavinia says. "It's mine. Well, my parents', but they left it to me. And I already paid the mooring fees. He's lying when he says I didn't, but I have to..." She stops suddenly and stands up straight. "I probably shouldn't talk about this here. I'll tell you back at the manor. It's the least I can do since you helped me. Edunel said I should get help any way." She pauses for a moment, looking at each of you in turn. "I know we don't really know each other, and saving a person who's about to drown is a different kind of situation to agreeing to...um...longer-term help I guess you could call it. But anyway, do you think you'd be willing to help me with something else? I could pay you." |