Hearing what appears to be a long running dispute, Yaos inclines her head and thinks a moment, then says:-
"I am new to the area, but on the face of it Lady Emelia would seem to be correct. Further, there may be a factor you have not considered, learned Varrin. The operations of the Order of the Cypher are clandestine by their nature and I am certain they are most adept at their tasks. Perhaps that Order is larger than you believe it to be, and operating in Macini in greater numbers than you suspect."
Magnius nods sagely, and tips the man a gold coin. "Thank you my friend, you have given a lot to think on. Perhaps I will call on you again later, but for now, I must go meet up with my companions."
He then makes his way back to the castle, walking the halls, giving some thought to what the chandler revealed about Szomniaro. If the man was correct, the mage was likely to be a powerful ally.
It doesn't look like I'll be getting much out of here without a spell or two... And I don't think its worth it...
Alfred will politely extricate himself from the glassblowers and go find Yaos and Magnius.
Yaos raises her glass in turn and smiles, thus covering her taking a moment to consider if "catty bluntness" is an insult or complement before deciding it is the latter and replying:-
"I am not so skilled in intelligence gathering as you Varrin. But I agree the HellKnights are an important asset and weapon of Chelliax, and their standards and traditions need to be maintained."
After speaking to a few servants, Magnius learns that Szomniaro is in his tower, apparently with Baroness Stella. He decides to make his way there, politely announcing his presence and waits to be acknowledged.
Politely in greeting to both the wizard and Stella. "Well met, and thank you for the greeting. I had actually come to speak with you, Master Wizard, but since you have company, I can come back later."
He turns to Stella "When you've got some free time, I would like to talk to you more about something we mentioned on the way here. Preferably before we leave for Westcrown. "
Their path to his chambers(if he doesn't have his own, he'll ask Stella to go to hers' for the sake of privacy). Once they make their way *someplace* private, he explains what he was alluding to. "We have a folio that has several letters that I believe you can use to exploit several 'interesting situations'. As this information was apparently supposed to be a sort of dowry for you, I see no reason to keep them to ourselves."
Yaos takes a sip of wine to cover taking a moment to think about how to reply to Emilia. Is this lady something of an innocent, as she appears, or a much more dangerous creature playing the innocent? is the question resonating in her mind. Now Varrin is easier to read and to win over.
"There are a number of factors that lead me to this part of our country my lady. Some having nothing to do with the people here, like wanting to be away from places evoking painful memories following my husband's death.
But as you say, House Spartaco is on the move. It has a steady source of wealth, and a lot of it, which is always significant. I am not surprised that House Spartaco is spoken of in Coretyn, what is said of your house there?" replies the Red Widow after some thought.
"Fascinating Lady Emilia. The situation in Coretyn, so complex, so dangerous,yet you seem to know it well and negotiate through it with composure." replies Yaos, maintaining eye contact with Emilia and nodding attentively.
Yaos continues to flatter Emilia subtly and draw as much information about the Houses and other political factors in Coretyn.
Baroness Stella Spartaco is clearly now allied with both Magnius and The Red Widow. Yaos is quickly becoming a close friend (and peer) and Lord Magnius is a conspiratorial source of obvious professional, political power.
You have her all wrapped-up as a major ally in House Spartaco -- with potential for much more growth in the House. And as Spartaco gains in power, so will you.
Having built a foundation of good will in Gheradescci County with House Spartaco-- making a strong ally in the young Baroness Stella Spartaco, making an ally in the perhaps flighty Lady Emilia Spartaco-Aranovitch, and established Alfred Ensbridge and Ennahvail as spies or agents for use later.
What remains is to travel to Westcrown, former capital of Cheliax, in order to track down members of the Bellflower Network so as to hunt down the ones who assassinated Francesco Phandros.
Then either find an opportunity to exploit one of the lords or ladies in Westcrown for House Spartaco -- or choose an easier target city, such as Macini.
The journey to Westcrown, back across the swath of wilderness that marks this stretch of Longmarch ArchDuchy, is remarkably uneventful. For a dozen miles or so a leopard tracks you from a distance of a thousand yards, perhaps sating some feline curiosity, perhaps marking your trek for some Ranger or Druid. A day or so later, light Spring rains make keeping yourselves clean easier, while keeping yourselves dry is more difficult. The gentle showers seem to last the rest of the trip. Raccoons suspiciously watch you each night and during the day you startle an occasional deer or small black bear, who flee from you back into the deep forests of the day.
Early afternoon before your final approach into the Twilight City, the Spring showers cease. Looking at the hazy skyline of Westcrown from eighteen miles out, the shadows of night seem to slumber in the clouds hanging above the city, a few hours before they awake to descend upon their victim, Westcrown.
It is early evening when you arrive.
.
The northwest curve of Westcrown, the Parego Dospera in her decaying, half-abandoned state, is the first District that comes clearly into view. It's a void that marks this district of decay and the forgotten. Here, the homeless of Westcrown sleep in the darkness and their own isolation.
Two things may interest you in Parego Dospera, the wandering Dusk Market where illicit goods and services are sold on the Black Market, each night at a different location, and of course the slave-market of Westcrown, near the bottom of Parego Dospera. Perhaps you can make contact with the Bellflower Network in the Dusk Market – if you can find it. Or perhaps you can loiter near Pleatra, the slave market, hoping to observe a Bellflower scout or spy, as he or she gathers information for a later Freedom-Raid.
East of mostly-empty Parego Dospera, the nobility of Westcrown reside in their old-money mansions on the long island Parego Regicona, that splits the Adivian River at her mouth, while her mighty waters spew out into the Inner Sea. Cut by steep canals the island district may remind you more of a district of palatial castles separated by moats – but it is afterall, just a city district.
South of Pleatra in Parego Dospera begins the Westcrown peninsula, jutting out into the Inner Sea and blanketed in wispy fog. Here in Parego Spera, the Twilight City lives. The noise from the busy port is heard even from where you stand a thousand yards from the northwest curve that marks Parego Dospera. But schools and merchants and businesses and homes and markets and city-works and, of course, the Asmodeus Curch and a garrison of HellKnights, Order of the Rack, all stand in close quarters in Parego Spera, looking over their shoulders suspiciously – and quietly – lest one’s loyalty to Thrune or fervor for Asmodeus come under question.
And all around her is shadow.
Yaos has, as always when faced with any kind of adversity, tried hard to show no sign of inconvenience or discomfort during the journey.
Upon arrival in Westcrown, Yaos, astride her huge pale horse named Hell, is tired and in need of a bath and but showing no sign of this. Yaos is quietly watchful in the dark streets, having Red Wing and Pale Wing keep alert also. She turns to Magnius and asks "Are you familiar with this town Magnius? I know you have family here, should we approach them for lodgings or seek an inn. I will defer to your local knowledge, but I would normally seek lodgings soon, wandering a strange city after dark is courting danger."
Magnius can use an Arvanxi town-house or condo for a couple days without incurring any ire or financial debt from his House. This would be on the peninsula, the 'Parego Spera' where 95% of Westcrown lives and works.
He could also attempt to go to a manor in the Arvanxi complex on the island, 'Parego Regicona,' but that would involve some information trading with other Arvanxi nobles.
Think of it like this, it's easy to go to one of the little town houses House Arvanxi owns in Parego Spera under-the-radar and stay a few days. But if you go to the island from where the nobility run their Houses, Parego Regicona, ranking members of House Arvanxi are gonna be up in your business and want to know what's going on. This is not necessarily a problem -- you can certainly make friendly contacts with Arvanxi nobles here, like you did at Castle Spartaco and Gheradescci County, it's up to you completely.
.
.
.
.
Or, if you want to guarantee to stay under-the-radar this trip to Westcrown, you can stay in an abandoned building on the northwest curve of Westcrown, the Parego Dospera. There are plenty of dilapidated, crumbling and empty facades from which you can choose to squat for a few days. Bed bugs and lice included.
"Let's head to one of my family's town houses. We can easily stay there for a few days without drawing any attention. On the off chance we need to stay longer, we'll deal with that when the time comes."
"Sounds like a fine idea. We may return to this Parego Dospera later to investigate. But not this evening."
northwest corner: half abandoned, poor, deteriorated
.
Coming into Westcrown near the time of twilight, you observe the sad, even hopeless faces of the forlorn citizens unable to afford housing in the peninsula. They busily get ready for the night as you hurriedly make your way to the peninsula that has banished them, the Parego Spera.
Some of them stand out. The first is an apparently homeless woman, tall and bulky with layers upon layers of tattered and threadbare cloaks and robes and shawls. She mutters to herself as she walks purposely, determinedly, through the empty alleys and cobbled streets, ignoring and being ignored by others. Dead rats and mice and pigeons hang from twine tied to her various belts. A ring on one of her fingers, even seen from a distance, is most likely magically enchanted. In various separate moments, large caracal cats, all gray-coated, approach her with their hunting prizes, more dead rats. She takes their dead rats and fastens them to her belts with twine, giving her twenty-five pound cats a share of the food from time to time. And she walks the cobbled streets and alleys of the Parego Dospera, less afraid of the growing shadows than the others.
After the cat-lady you see a raker, having just finished his job raking garbages and filth from the peninsula for his few copper pieces/per day, hurrying back into Parego Dospera, to a mostly burned out abandoned building whose chimney and foundation are still intact. A shanty of a wall-unit has been lashed together around the chimney, and this is where the man enters, to sleep the night in his bed inside an old fireplace.
Adjacent to the raker's burnt-out home two children, orphans likely, begin lighting candles and broken lanterns in their adopted home, a looted and broken temple with a missing north-facing wall and no remnant of any deity left whatsoever. The children are small, aged ten or eleven, but not innocent. They have the cold look of predators and the deliberate movement of the experienced. Lighting their few candles and campfires, though, they try to fight the encroaching shadows before they sleep.
Another block away you see a cluster of Halflings climbing into a rare three story building and, through a gaping hole in an upper-floor wall, see them making their way upstairs, likely to sleep for the night.
Finally, as you approach the southern edge of the Parego Dospera and cross a canal entering the still living Parego Spera, you see a mixed pair entering their own home, some other formerly abandoned building. They seem androgynous: a Gnome in drab, colorless garb and a Wayang, whose grin though plastered to its face, reveals no joy or humor, or even contentment. Trying in vain to shutter and close all the various openings to their home, you observe the androgynous Gnome kiss the androgynous Wayang's cheek the way a tired and hopeless wife kisses her tired and hopeless husband before bed. From an acute angle in a hole in the building, you can still see them as they cuddle together prone, sleeping until the break of day.
peninsula: the ‘living’ Westcrown
.
Moving briskly in the ever quickening conclusion to the ephemeral twilight, you make your way to the Arvanxi condo that Magnius is certain of which is not currently being used. It’s in the middle of the peninsula, very near the river-side -- the bottom floor of which is a dentist office.
It is the light of the Parego Spera that stands out from the Parego Dospera; whereas the forlorn of the north corner try to create as much light as they can by night, artificial, man-made light is everywhere on the peninsula. Every building, every street corner, every person hurriedly walking home, has some form of light to fend off the darkening shadows of The Twilight City.
Passing an opulent opera house as it regurgitates its cacophonous audience at the performance's conclusion, you witness the mood of Westcrown at the beginning of night. First, the opera patrons are boisterous and talkative, huddled together exiting through the bottlenecking entrance. Then, as they fan-out going their various ways home, with less light and less noise and less cover from other people – they grow more furtive, and more quiet. Their pace quickens as their talk lessens.
One man stands out, a Phandros by the look of his angled cheek-bones and hair color and eyes. He does not show any heraldry of House Phandros, no amulet or badge of office. Perhaps he is a bastard or has been excommunicated by the patron, Marcus Phandros. But the man remains loud, cocky in the night, as he regales to his entourage his opinions, both positive and negative, of the opera they just heard.
Another individual stands out, a female Tielfing forty yards from the Phandros bastard with her own retinue. Unlike so many of her peers in Westcrown, her evening gown is loud and garish. She walks violently erect, as though she were Queen Abrogail herself. And she carries a platinum rod and bejeweled handbag. Her sycophants follow her, vying to impress her with their insight into the opera, unafraid of the Shadows so long as they remain in the Tiefling’s presence.
A few blocks closer to your destination, crossing a few more shallow canals, you pass by a grand temple of Asmodeus, also disgorging its disciples into the street after the night’s sermon has run especially late. The crowd leaves in silence, pondering the profound words of Hell and Law and Her Infernal Majestrix Abrogail Thrune, as proselytized by one of Westcrown’s fine Priests this evening.
One couple stands out. Ranking members in the hierarchy of House Oberigo, Lord and Lady Toran and Tanith Oberigo lead their cadre in pious silence to a wider canal, one arched with a grand Pegasus Bridge, whereupon they board a wealthy boat and head back to their mansion on the island, Parego Regicona.
A moment later you pass a lone HellKnight from the Order of the Rack striding past the colossal statue of Aroden that still stands proud in Westcrown. The HellKnight, having no book-burnings to execute at present, is apparently headed in the direction of the Gargling Gargoyle, to make sure patrons at the tavern are departing for home to obey the lawful curfew.
Eventually, as night descends in full, you come to the cul-de-sac with the Arvanxi condo. You see the dentist shop ahead of you, and the cast-iron spiral staircase outside of it leading to the second floor and the darkened apartment that will serve as your temporary base of operations here in Westcrown. Sharing the cobbled circle with the dentist office is a bath house, a brazier foundry, a clock-maker's workshop, and a lapidary showroom. A linkboy is just finishing lighting even more torches on this street as you approach and he looks as though he is relieved that this is the last area of torches he must make sure are still lit before heading to the safety of his own home.
From the higher vantage point of the staircase leading to the Arvani apartments, you can see out in the river one final fishing boat, having just braved the dark waters for one more hour to bring in a good haul, the boat is now docking on the Parego Spera wharf, only forty feet away. The handful of fisherman are panickingly tying the boat down and rushing to finish offloading their catch to some dock-hands you can’t see from your angle.
It’s the captain that catches your attention. Completely unafraid of the dark, the bold man strolls off his boat with the authority of significant personal power. His glossy black breastplate, odd for a man who works in water, appears to have magical enchantments, as do many other accouterments on his person. Why such an accomplished man would be captaining a small fishing boat instead of a warship in Cheliax’s navy is a mystery, for certainly that is what he is trained to do. But here he is in Westcrown, fishing with commoners until the sun has already set. Of course, as you look at the scene again, a clue comes forth. The name of the fishing boat, 'Captain Black’s 4th’ is neither clever nor interesting and reveals a complete lack of imagination from the captain who named her. Perhaps Cpt. Black, though a powerful seaman, has not the intelligence to wade through the political waters of Cheliax, and is doomed to live the rest of his life as a grossly overqualified fisherman.
Inside, the Arvanxi condo is dark, cold, mostly unfurnished. But un-curtained windows reveal Westcrown on all four sides.
Magnius makes mental note of several of those they pass by. The old lady is certainly interesting, and makes him wish he had Alfred with them.
The group of halflings are of obvious potential. He mentions to Yaos that he'll attempt to speak with them tomorrow.
The member of House Phandros is of particular interest, especially since it seems he could be on the outs with his house.
The tiefling noble lady could be of use, as they are usually treated poorly in most of Cheliax. This one seems to be somebody of at least some import.
While the others are all also noteworthy, he wants to do his best to focus on a few to start.
Entering the Arvanxi condo, he turns to Yaos. "I think I'll go try and meet with that group of halflings tomorrow, posing as a sympathetic lord. Do you think you can try and talk to either the guy from House Phandros or the tiefling Lady?"
Yaos is all alert as she moves through Westcrown with Magnius, despite her fatigue wchich is noticeable despite her attempts to hide it. She reponds to Magnius's question with "I will try to talk to both, and perhaps the Captain of the fishing boat. He seems... like a lot more than a fisherman."
Upon reaching the condo Yaos feeds and washes her horse herself, as it sounds like there are no stable hands to do it, then goes immediately to bed.
The following morning Yaos will take a bath, at the condo or in the bath-house if that is easier, then go out seeking sign of the man from House Phandros, the colourul Tiefling lady and Captain Black.
Bastard, Socialite
.
The bath is reasonably high quality, though not made for nobility. But the plump, almost grandmotherly woman who runs it, based on her handling of Lady Yaos, has served nobles in her bath before. It takes almost no time at all for Yaos to get some information from about Kylian Phandros.
Born to Viscount Jeremiah Phandros and a mistress, Kylian was hidden from society for the first several years of his childhood -- Viscount Jeremiah's secret. Bellma, washing Yaos' clothes a few feet away from where the Red Widow bathes, clearly enjoys telling the story. She does it expertly, as though gossip and girl-banter is part of the atmosphere at the Bath House.
Viscount Jeremiah's wife died suddenly in uncertain circumstances. After a scandalously brief mourning period and briefer courtship, the Phandros Lord married his mistress and tried to get his son from her, Kylian Phandros, legitimized. But the Phandros patron, Marcus Phandros, refused to take the case to Her Infernal Majestrix. So Kylian Phandros is a bastard -- even though his father and mother are now married.
The young man is a socialite. He enjoys Westcrown high society and, since his Viscount father can't really give him too much in the way of money (Why put House resources into a bastard with no return on the investment?), Kylian Phandros has done an admirable job building up his own bit of personal power.
Yaos can likely meet Kylian Phandros during the day a small fencing arena a few blocks from the cul de sac. He often practices his parry and riposte with some other sportsmen.
At the three story structure -- 'building' would seem to imply completeness -- only four Halflings remain. Three of which are children. But the fourth, , is able to talk to the Inquisitor who looks somewhat like a HellKnight.
"We have our 'free papers,' Sir," Conna begins from a hole in the second floor wall, looking down in concern at Magnius as he approaches purposefully and enters a hole in the first floor wall. She obviously thinks he's here to evict them -- and doesn't sound as though she can resist, or escape with the three smaller Halflings in tow. Perhaps her best bet is to use the Law, something of which she has always been terrified, to get out of this dilemma. She has her 'free papers.'
Yaos listens to Bellma's gossip, actually useful information, attentively, nodding and asking questions. After completing her bath, much needed after time on the road, Yaos thanks Bellma and leaves her a generous tip.
She then returns to the condo and dons suitable gear for fencing, slacks, clothing allowing movement and her +3 mithral shirt and heads to the fencing area frequented by Kylian Phandros intending to join in the fencing.
And says "Ma'am, relax, I'm not here to apprehend you. I'm actually in need of some help. Not that long ago, I ran into some freedom fighters who ambushed the caravan I was traveling with. I was able to parley my release, and they let me go free. I'm in need of their assistance. Is there any chance you can point me in the right direction?"
Meanwhile, whispers from hiding places in the broken and looted structure squeak to Magnius' perceptive ears. "Are the traps set if he comes in?"
"It's the Bogeyman! The Bogeyman's come to eat us!"
"We should run; he's immune to our traps."
"The Bogeyman doesn't really exist; I think that man is a HellKnight. Now hush up."
And back above you, Conna continues your dialog over the voices of Halfling children hiding behind traps. "Need our help? I'm sorry Sir, I don't know any Freedom Fighters." Conna sounds sincere. She knows not to lie to a HellKnight.
"I am a stranger to Westcrown by the name of Yaos Battori. I was told this was an area for fencing and was hoping to improve my martial skills here. But I seem to have arrived at the wrong time. No matter, I am pleased to make your acquaintance gentlemen."
Yaos smiles and bows theatrically in greeting, while thinking:-
A coterie of gays. Damn, that makes charming the lot of them much harder.
Yaos will try to make friends with the group.