Lavinia didn't know what to make of their meeting place. She didn't waste time dwelling on doubts, however. She stepped forward at Ahreni's gesture, and kept her eyes on the screen where the voice originated. "Louslik lives, and we have his lockbox right here," she said, gesturing to the box Alyssa carried.
Alyssa says very little, remaining in the background and trying to get some sort of read on their 'host' despite the screen.
Friday propped her cane up on her shoulder and looked around with unabashed curiosity. She had a fondness for libraries, and for ruins. This place was both.
"Nice place you 'ave," she said with a smile.
"Excellent." The shadowed figure responds. "You will find your payment in the parlour downstairs. Come the morning I may have more work for you - you may stay here tonight if you wish." It is clearly a dismissal.
Downstairs in the parlour, another once-grand room there is a small fire with a table in front of it. On the table sits a large meal and a small chest containing four pouches and a variety of weapons.
Ahreni investigates the chest and makes a pleased noise as she retrieves the money bags tossing one to each coven member. "I think these must be a bonus." She says, distributing weapons as well.
Friday receives a walking cane carved from a hard, dark wood with a snarling wolf head as the handle. Ahreni then fishes out two daggers, which all gleam with wickedly sharp edges and hands one to Lavinia, reserving one for herself, before finally handing a shortsword in a soft black leather sheath to Alyssa.
"Right. Let's eat!" She exclaims after the weapons are handed out and sets to the food with a will. Razelago has even provided wine!
Lavinia accepted the dagger and the pouch of coin, while looking around their new digs. She wasn't sure if a half-burned manor was a step up or down from the barn, but it was different, and that was almost as important. Food and wine were even more important at the moment, and she poured a cup for everyone before she sat to eat.
Alyssa draws the blade out of its scabbard, looking at it critically. "Oh, that's nice. A nice big knife. I haven't got one of these. Now I just need to find someone to try it out on." She looks around, as if half-hoping for a volunteer, before sighing (it's an imperfect world) and attaching it to her belt, where it hangs with all the other knives.
She sits down and eats heartily, doing her best to forget the taste of the rat she ate earlier.
Friday looked over the beautiful black wood of the cane with a big smile on her face. "Oh yes, dis will do jus fine..."
Then she sat down and ate with a happy sigh.
Sleep comes easily for the coven, although Ahreni and Lavinia are btoh disturbed during the night by the sound of creaking timbers coming from the second floor of Ash House - almost as though someone was moving around in the room above them...
After their nocturnal activities all the women sleep well past sunrise and it is late morning, while they are making breakfast out of the remains of the last nights meal that a ghostly halfling appears in the doorway.
"Master Razelago wants you to come to his office now." The hafling reports in Razelago's voice, before fading away.
Inside the study, nothing seems to have changed from the night before except that the box with Louslik's 'taxes' has vanished. Razelago speaks as soon as the coven enters.
“With the number of veterans who live in town, it’s not surprising that there’s a church of Iomedae in Longacre. But there might not be one much longer if Tileavia Allamar, its priestess, does what she has in mind.” Razelago’s silhouette clasps shadowy hands.
“There’s growing unrest in the empire, and not just in Pezzack and along the Hellcoast. Many of Iomedae’s faithful have begun speaking more boldly of the monarchy’s vices and the rights of citizens. They seem to believe this is Andoran and that the people have only to reach out to seize power. But they are wrong. This is Cheliax, not Andoran, and we know where true power lies."
"Fifth Sword Knight Allamar is gathering all who will listen for a sermon in front of her church this afternoon— only two short hours from now. I don’t know what she has in mind, but I suspect some revolutionary claptrap that can only sow the seeds of confusion and frustration among Longacre’s citizens. That is contrary to my wishes. So I’d like you to attend the rally. In the box are sashes marked with the insignia of Archbaron Fex. Wear them, remind people that the lord of this town is not without supporters, and see what transpires. Afterward, you will report back to me. In return, you will all receive double what you did last night.”
"You may ask a question or two if you wish."
Lavinia was a little put off by the ghostly halfling, a perhaps a bit cranky from an unpleasant night's sleep. The creaky old house and their host moving about upstairs had woken her a few times during the night, leaving her half-tempted to throw something at the ghost...but she minded her manners and just scowled instead.
---------
Once upstairs, Lavinia listened well to the next job offer. Her mood was brightened some by the amount of coin that was offered. She she mulled over the specifics, she fetched one of the sashes to half-heartedly examine.
When prompted for questions, Lavinia hmm-ed thoughtfully. "Two hundred gold each? To wear a little sash and listen to a speech?" She giggled, impishly. "For that much I'd be willing to throw a few rotten vegetables at this priestess..."
Friday shrugged. 'None, 'ere."
Snubbing the nose of the righteous Iomedeans sounded fantastic.
Alyssa listens carefully to what is said - and to what is left unsaid. "Would 'reminding the people that the lord of the town is not without supporters' be done better by just disembowelling the annoying ones? We could start with the priestess, you know, setting an example at the top..."
She sadly suspects that the answer to this is no, but it rarely hurts to ask.
Razelago's shadow seems to incline its head briefly. "No. Your actions must remain entirely within the law. The point of this is that Priestess Allamar's actions will, most likely, fall outside the boundaries of the law. Your role is be an active presence, a reminder of the law and the importance of respecting it."
Razelago pauses and then steeples his hands. "If you are able to disrupt the Sword Knight's speech, or the immediate aftermath - then by all means do so. But you must not harm anyone. Do you have any more questions? If not, you should go and prepare."
It is clearly a dismissal.
Lavinia smiled even more impishly when Razelago clarified his intentions. "Ah, we're just there," she said, turning her attention to her coven-sisters. "If any trouble happens, it will be because the Iomedaeans started it." There was something wistful, almost nostalgic in her voice.
"If we are trying to make dem look bad, it does not matta who starts it. We should respond wit' as little force as possible. Make dem look violent and unreasonable." Friday mused.
Alyssa nods, obviously disappointed at the order not to cause mayhem. But she brightens up when Lavinia and Friday remind her that you can always rely on the other side to cause trouble. Particularly when you have spells at your disposal that will twist people's minds.
"Come along, dearies. I've a feeling it's going to be an exciting day..."
Ahreni collects the box and the coven returns to the living room downstairs. Inside are four sashes with the emblem of House Fex, a pair of fighting stags with bloody antlers, and the cross of Cheliax. She hands them out and slips one on herself.
"Feels strange, actually representing the law for once." She says with a smile. "Let's go."
Longacre’s Church of Iomedae, surrounded by a wrought iron fence, sits just to the north of one of the town’s squares called, appropriately enough, the church square. The square contains a well, available for use by anyone in town, and a tall wooden post for posting notices and announcements. Shops and businesses surround the plaza, and a wide thoroughfare runs north and south through the square. A conspicuous white-clothed table stands in front of the church, apparently in readiness for the sermon, though the table is currently bare.
One of the buildings across the square from the church used to be the Three Bands Cooper. The archbaron’s excessive taxes on local craftsmen, especially those working with local goods, drove the cooper out of business about a year ago. The shop is dark, boarded up, and empty, but there’s a rickety staircase in the adjacent alley that leads to the building’s second floor.
A few small groups of elderly locals and laborers from nearby businesses have gathered in the square, mostly around the well or along the fence surrounding the churchyard, muttering about what they’ve heard or imagined about Allamar’s announcement. As the time of the sermon gets closer, more townsfolk drift into the square until the crowd is 100 strong.
Friday kept her sash in her pocket for now. No need to give the game away just yet. She happily mingled with the crowd, a picture of smiles and grace.
Friday hears two excitable looking goodwives whispering together. "I heard one of Sword Knigght Allamar's sons say she was visited by an angel! this could mean great things for the church and the town!"
Lavinia mingled with the crowd as well, but opted to keep her shash on. While she didn't wish to instigate anything so soon, she didn't mind letting people see her affiliation while they had time to ruminate and rumor-monger before the announcement began. Meanwhile, she tried to overhear any rumors she could.
The sash clearly marks Lavinia as a member of the Baron's entourage, and people clam up as she approaches.
Alyssa uses her time prior to the sermon to investigate the boarded-up shop. It seems like a good place to be able to come back to as a hideout, if needed.
She has very little interest in what the common people might be saying to each other.
Alyssa and Friday are able to go about their business with relative ease, given that they don't stand out much in the busy crowd. Lavinia however soon finds herself and Ahreni in conversation with the town's Sheriff, who makes a beeline across the square towards them both.
"So, the Archbaron has found some new lackeys? May I ask what you are doing here? Neither of you seem much like the religious. In fatc I don't recall either of you, are you new in town?"
Lavinia wasn't too surprised that people clammed up around her. While it meant she wasn't gathering much information, it also meant she was having the desired effect on the crowd. She didn't quite expect the Sheriff to single her and Ahreni out so soon, though. Even so, she weathered his questioning with a polite smile and a slight flutter of her wide, innocent eyes.
"I'm just here for the public announcement," she said, with feigned sweetness. "We're sort of new in town, yes. I wanted to come down and see what all this fuss was about."
Friday continued her slow circuit of the room.
Friday keeps wandering and overhears other snippets of town gossip.
"Fex doesn't like the townsfolk gathering in large groups like this. Allamar's message must be pretty important if she's willing to provoke the archbaron."
It seems not everyone is entirely enthusiastic about a meeting this public.
--------------------------
Lavinia's smile and sweetness, combined with Ahreni's politely neutral replies seem to stymie the sheriff who nods politely. "Well, if you should see anything untoward please do contact me. I'll be nearby, keeping an eye out for troublemakers."
Alyssa makes a mental note of the useful properties of the place, before rejoining the others. "So, dearies, what shall we three do now?"
The crowd falls silent as Tileavia Allamar, Fifth Sword Knight of Iomedae appears on the balcony in front of the church. A tall woman, who wears the robes of her faith well she raises her arms and immediately receives silence.
"Friends and Neighbors, I have wonderous tidings to share! We have all known hardships in our lives - needless sorrows, injustice, even cruelty. Indeed, such is the struggle of all who live. But many among us have known more than our share. Many among us have shouldered burdens laid upon them not by the Inheritor, but by those who would curse her name and taunt her faithful!"
She looks around, clearly well versed in the art of performance, catching every eyes, including each of the coven in her gaze. [b]"But today, I bear a missive from a champion of Iomeadae's faith, heralds of the goddess's will, who knows your troubles and would see them end!"
The priestess's twin sons, Loran and Lacall, carry a box from the church's porch and place it on a table in front of the church gate. Above them Allamar unrolls a parchment.
"I received this letter last night: 'People of Longacre! The time of your redemption is at hand. When the song of the Inheritor rises, you all must choose: live as complacent vassals of corruption and evil, or embrace honor and claim the glory that is your right. The Glorious Reclamation gives you a choice.'
Signed, 'Lencia Visserene, Knight-Inheritor of the Glorious Reclamation."
Allamar lowers the scroll and even from this distance it is easy to see the tears in her eyes.
"Friends, it is up to us to restore the worship of Iomedae to its rightful place in Cheliax and reclaim our nation in the name of the Inheritor. But we have been given a sign - a sign that the 'Angel Knight' has come to Longacre to lead us to glory!"
Below her Allamar's sons open the box to reveal an ornate silver helmet, sculpted with angelic features and a halo of curls. Its blank eyes stare sternly across the crowd.
Allamar pronounces a benediction on the crowd and prepares to depart as the crowd buzzes.
Lavinia spent most of the speech with her hands casually on her hips; a semi-aggressive stance that made certain the sash was visible. Whenever Allamar looked her way she made certain to lock onto her gaze, never flinching nor wavering. Lavinia frequently huffed, snorted, and rolled her eyes throughout the assembly. Its contents were troubling, and her obstinance soon became less of an act and more of a genuine, souring mood. She was actively grinding her heels into the dirt by the time they were touting a pretty helmet as a sign from their petty goddess...
"There's nothing glorious about putting people to the sword, and forcing your bloody faith on them!" Lavinia heckled, in the wake of the well-acted presentation. "You could feed everyone in Longacre for a year with what you spent on that fancy helmet! Typical Iomedaeans! Shiny on the outside, rotten to the core inside!"
"Actual demons are pouring forth from the Worldwound right now, and the Iomedean Crusade thinks they need to focus their attentions here? Idiots." Friday said loudly enough to be heard by people nearby.
Alyssa sets her eyes on the helmet, and smiles. A plan forms in her mind, but she needs a distraction.
Looking at one of the sheriff's deputies, she fixes them with a steely gaze. "Did the priest just tell you to turn against your boss, dearie?"
The Sword Knight seems rather taken aback by the heckling she receives, and even more so when a groundswell of agreement passes through the crowd. She retreats inside the church without trying to address the counterarguments, although her two sons stay outside, now with hands openly on their swords - glaring through the crowd in an attempt to find out who disparaged their mother and their faith.
Then all hell break loose.
One of the deputies takes a step toward Sheriff Staelish, murder in his eyes, before coming to and raising the cry "Witch! Black magic!" The crowd, already jumpy, panics and starts streaming from the square as the sheriff and her deputies try their best to maintain order.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Friday nearly paniced, but she took advantage of the chaos of the crowd by whipping off her sash and stuffing it into one of the pockets of her dress. Then she pointed to a nearby woman standing near Alice.
"She did it! I saw her!"
At Friday's call the sheriff's deputies converge on the woman Friday pointed to as the crowd shrinks away. Lorcan and Lacall start forward too, leaving the helmet temporarily unguarded!
The art of a good steal is misdirection. Alyssa staggers backwards, as if pushed by the crowd, accidentally bumping into the table where the helmet is and sending the whole thing crashing into the ground, before falling over herself. "Oh lawks, what a clumsy old woman I am. Would someone help an old lady to her feet, please?"
She looks meaningfully at Lavinia, Friday and Ahreni, before shifting her gaze to the helmet, her implication clear: Make yourselves useful, dearies.
Friday moved to Alice's side. "Careful, madame. Here let me help you up."
As she helped Alice, she snagged the helm and deftly tucked it beneath Alice's cloak, using the other woman's crooked posture and the closeness of their bodies as Friday "helped" her to hide the bulk of the helm beneath the cloak.
Who knew learning to swipe things from patrons while waiting tables would come in so handy...
Lavinia looked around frantically as the situation devolved into near-chaos -- but brought with it a glimmer of opportunity. She doubted she'd be much help stealing the helmet, and it looked as though her coven sisters were handling it soundly. The best she could do was to put eyes on herself, instead of them...
"Look!, look at the Sword Knight's cowardice!" Lavinia shouted to the crowd, while staying away from the table and pointing at Allamar's sons. "She cowers from a witch while leaving her own sons in harm's way! She doesn't seem to care about glory, now!" She cast a side-long glance towards her sisters; eager to seek her own getaway once they were out of sight.
The theft goes off without a hitch, Friday sweeping the helmet into Alice's voluminous cloak without a pause. Lavinia keeps the crowd attention elsewhere until her sisters have made their escape, at which point she too slips away.
"Oh, thank you dearie." Alyssa staggers to her feet, careful to maintain the pretence of frailty until they are out of sight of the crowd. She keeps a careful eye out for pursuit. You never know who might be watching.
Once clear of the town, she stands straight-backed and tall, striding back towards the Ash House.
She gives Friday a nod of acknowledgement, and a (semi) friendly pat on the shoulder. "That was quick work, dearie. Always thought of you as a bit frivolous, but you'll do."
The coven makes their get-away without mishap and arrive back at Ash House with no-one the wiser, and consternation in their wake.
Upon receiving the report, Razelgo congratu;ates the women, but seems somewhat distracted by their news. "That's a more dramatic move than I'd expect frm a country priestess - I'm impressed. Tileavia Allamar might be more interesting than I thought. It's the helmet and this 'Angel Knight' I'm curious about though. I've heard rumours of the Glorious Reclamation. An overzealous mob of Iomedean fanatics calling for a nationwide revolution as if there was any hope of that. Still, Archbaron Fex might find this information valuable."
He pauses, and the figure behind the screen taps its fingers for a few moments in silence.
"In any case, you've done well. You'll find your payment in the parlor. Take the rest of the day to enjoy it. I may have more work for you in the morning."
The chest in the parlor contains two hundred gold pieces each, but no provisions. If you want to spend another night in Ash House you may need supplies.
"Oh, I am frivolous," Friday laughed as she "helped" Alyssa away. "I'm also a lot of other things too."
----------
Later, Friday was wowed by the money. It was more than she'd ever had at one point in her life. She didn't really know what to do with it all, but she liked having it.
Lavinia could not have been happier with the way the day's events had worked out. She felt like they'd given the Iomedaeans a black eye, and earned a tidy profit as well! There were still dire things on the horizon, but tonight was worth celebrating.
Lavinia wished to do some shopping in town; some new clothes, if nothing else. She volunteered to buy some provisions while she was out, seeing as the Ash House had little left for them to eat. A few hours later she returned, with a few bottles of the priciest alcohol she could find, and naught but a loaf of bread and bit of cheese to eat. Not the most responsible purchases, but she seemed pleased with herself nonetheless.
costs 88.22gp
Someone responsible might want to buy some real groceries. :P