Without hesitation, Gisele will play the Rakshasa card.
Bernaditi's mouth widens in a grin. "Oh, you have the Deck of Harrowed Tales! Excellent work in getting your hands on it, and thanks for recognizing me! That's one of my best portraits, far better than those cheap decks I see from time to time. Sonnorae put a lot of effort into the pictures, back then..."
He seems lost in thought, or maybe recollection, for a moment.
"But that's in the past. You having the Deck likely means that you stepped here on purpose, may I know what it is? In exchange, I will share with you my knowledge of this place, which is way vaster than you could ever get from a hapless storykin like Biyo out there."
Hearing the creature's semi-knowledgeable proclamation, Edda steps fully into the cage once she verifies no one has yet died a violent death inside.
"Storykin? Interesting. We may be new, but we also know tales are currency here. Your bargain seems fair..."
Niklos makes sure to move in only after everyone else has entered the cage. He stands to the side, smiling widely at Edda's cautious approach as he politely closes the door behind him—latching it, if at all possible. He then takes a good hard look at the reptilian ringleader, cocking his head to the side and squinting his eyes at the sight. The rogue even takes a few steps to the side to inspect Bernaditi from a another angle, as if he were appraising a sculpture. He wracks his brain about reptilian-headed monstrosities, trying to recall any mention of such in the many books he had pilfered during the last few years...
Nope, that's definitely new. No more strange than a rabbit-man, I suppose...
The rogue shrugs and scouts out a comfortable-looking cushion, plopping himself down without waiting for further invitation. "Well met, indeed. Nice place you've got 'ere, Bernie. Only four of your flunkies tried to off us on our way in. No hard feelings, though... assuming you can repay us for our troubles. Seems proper to settle old scores before making any new deals, don't ya think?"
Gisele is happy to let Niklos take the lead in this discussion, while she tries to recall what she knows about Rakshasa and The Rakshasa card.
The rakshasa represents domination, mental control, and slavery. Lawful Evil position. He's even holding the teacup.
Bernaditi throws back his head in roaring laughter. "I like you, kid! Not many people have the gall to give me such a nickname. However, you give me way too much credit, I don't really control my employees. Not that I could. You see, that's the deal with storykin, they live according to their role. Our Biyo, here, is the one who sees evil going afoot, then runs to get help. That's his role, that's what he does, his being, he could not act differently, just wouldn't be in his nature."
"In the same way, those crows who attacked you are highwaymen, greedy and cowardly brigands. They are no real threat, but they show the heroes that they are in danger, tell them to be ready. Not that we ever saw many heroes around here."
"I'll tell you what I know, but be warned: I almost invariably lie. You probably heard the story of Sonnorae already, if so you'll remember how she was betrayed and killed by some of the denizens of this Realm. I'm one of them, a Conspirator. We murdered her, then ate her body. In doing so, we acquired self-knowledge."
There are no traces of regret or guilt in Bernaditi.
"We learned that we were crafted tales, we learned the rules of this Realm and we split it between ourselves. Zassrion, the dragon, claimed the Striding Fortress and has not been seen since. I believe that he's trying to find a way out of here, he's ordered to kidnap all travelers, to bring him information about the outside world."
"What would you like to hear more about?"
Niklos nods along, languidly rolling up another cigarette.
"A dragon, huh?" he says, seemingly unshaken. "And he's hoarding people, not gold? What does he do after he's gotten what he wants out of 'em? Does he pile 'em up and sleep on 'em, or what?"
Gisele is a bit taken aback at the casual way he just admits to killing Sonnorae and eating her.
"But if you almost always lie, how do we know you're even telling us the truth now."
"He is," Niklos says to Gisele's question. "For now. Mostly. You just have to know what to look for..."
The rogue smiles widely at Bernaditi, as if they were sharing in some private joke.
Yet again, frustrated with the niceties, Edds speaks her mind.
"Were looking for a Harrow scholar from our world that was tricked into coming here. Also there is a Harrower from our
realm who has been influenced by someone here. To free her, we need to find the one here who has taken control of her actions.
She is the one we took the cards from."
Suddenly thoughtful, Edda asks a question that pops into her head suddenly as if from nowhere.
"If you and the others killed and ate Sonnorae's body, I wonder what would happen if we killed all the 'conspirators' chopped
them up and mixed them in a pot together. Would Sonnorae reconstitute in front of us?"
She then waves her hand in front of her face as if smoke got into it.
"Anyway, do you know the easiest way to find the Striding Fortress? Do you know of a secret way into it? Does Zassrion have any
weaknesses? What kind of Dragon is he?"
"I get the feeling that you may be a liar, but you can trust in a creature such as you to follow your nature." Basil comments. "So ... killed and eaten by her creations... a sad conclusion to this tale."
Niklos sniffs and pouts at Edda. "Oh, you're no fun..."
He lights his cigarette and takes a long drag out of it, eyeing the ringleader. "Our, uh... noble quest does point us to the Striding Fortress. I suppose we are asking for directions, like."
Bernaditi smiles, the kind of smile that has people covering their necks to avoid being bitten.
"Oh, Zassrion is as much of a dragon as dragon could be. He's not hoarding people, he's using them somehow to find a way to your world. He does not exactly talk to us people."
He looks at Gisele and Edda. "My dear, you don't know whether I'm telling the truth, that's half the fun. Can you pick the fresh fruit from the spoiled? And you are an inquisitive one, aren't you? Well, I remember that scholar. He was kidnapped by the crows and sent to Zassrion. The dragon is also responsible for the harrower you met, it's his way of finding new samples for his experiments. Trying to resurrect Sonnorae... good luck with that. For obvious reasons I would be against that. But even if you managed, she's been dead for millennia. I think only the Gods could bring her back."
He shifts into a more comfortable position before giving the last answer. "The Striding Fortress can't be found. It roams the Tangled Briar, hiding from those who try to approach, approaching those it want found. Now you may believe that I could contact Zassrion, tell him that I have four prisoners I caught from the Outside World, have him collect you. It wouldn't work. You wouldn't really be unwilling prisoners, so the story would not be told properly, you could wait the Fortress here for a thousand years and have it arrive the day after you leave. Such is the nature of this Realm. Zassrion himself is a blue dragon, big and bad, and if he has any rare weakness, I never heard of it."
"But I do know of a way into the fortress. When we murdered Sonnorae, we each kept a memento, a token from her kapenia, her jeweled scarf. Seven conspirators took a precious stone each, one was left where she was killed, and Zassrion took the remnants of the scarf. However, the tokens want to be one with the rest of the kapenia, they gently tug towards the Fortress, where the scarf is. It's too weak of an effect if you have one token only, but having them all together... you may be able to follow them to Zassrion."
"Don't bother looking for my token, I hid it carefully, you would never find it. However, you may have it if you pass a challenge.: I'll allow you five questions to catch me in a lie. If you do that, you'll have the stone. Otherwise I may trade it for a favor. Do you accept it?"
Also, his smile says "There are important things I'm not saying, because you didn't ask.".
Suddenly realizing their best bet lies with the Sczarni and a talking rabbit, Edda looks at the others and shrugs.
"I say we take on the challenge. At worst we gain nothing more than we already had."
"You keep referring to the others as storykin, but not yourself. Are you not also just another creation of the Harrow?
Who are the other conspirators? You said seven took stones, that leaves six others.
And how do you define a lie? If we accept this challenge, we would not want to loose on a technicality because your definition differs from ours."
Basil's eyes narrow, his training in reading between the lines proving quite beneficial. "Wait a minute. He's not telling us something. Something important." He interrupts.
Basil catches the Rakshasa's eye and jabs a furry thumb at his chest. "I'm the inquisitive one, Bernaditi."
Bernaditi leans closer to Basil, crocodile eyes staring into rabbit eyes.
"Of course, there are many important things that I'm not telling you. The score of the Deplorable Sonata. The secret ingredients I put in my stew. It's up to you to make the right questions, wouldn't you say?"
With a chuckle, he turns back to Gisele. "Seven more. Zassrion is a Conspirator as well. We are no longer storykin, not since we became aware of what we are. We are unbound from our tale, we remember, we can make choices. Other than me and Zassrion, there are Brambleson, Balifor, Marzalee, the Ticktock Man, the Nightpeddler and Mourning Choir, although I've heard that she relinquished her status and gave it to the Barrow Man. Each of them reigns over a part of the Harrowed Realm, I'll give you a map before you leave."
"As for the lie, I'll answer to those five questions mendaciously. If you can provide irrefutable proof that something I said is untrue, then you'll have won. But your perception won't be enough. If that cushion is red, and I say it's blue, perhaps I just see blue where you see red. How would you know? You'll need to use your logic."
"We've heard the story, but would be interesting to hear from your side. Why did you kill Sonnorae?"
Gisele begins trying to match up the names Bernaditi provided with the cards Hajek had shown them during the story telling. Bernaditi is The Rakshasa. This Zassrion, the dragon, easily The Tyrant. Nightpeddler, maybe The Foreign Trader...
"And if we fail to catch a lie? What is in it for you?"
As he speaks in recollection, Bernaditi's voice is plain and calm, as if he was describing some mundane matter instead of a murder.
"As Sonnorae became trapped here, century after century, her mind started dwindling, for this is a Realm of stories, spending millennia here eroded her human mind. And as she became twisted, slowly sliding into madness, we started having flashes of who we really were. We flew into a rage, demanding that she released us, and when she refused... we attacked her. We took what we wanted. Freedom. Power. Awareness."
"It is not absolute freedom or power, mind me. We are bound to the Realm, and we only rule over our demesne. And no matter what we do, we can't change the stories that were woven. Zassrion doesn't like being bound here, that's why he became obsessed with finding a way out."
"And as for what is in it for me... Entertainment, I'd say. Try living thousands of years looking at Rogg juggling, or Balifor's plays. Small wonder the crowd liked you."
With one eyebrow raised, Edda gestures and casts a healing spell upon herself. She then finally comments on the Rakshasa's revelations.
"A sad story. I almost pity you all...Almost."
Niklos does not seem bothered by stories of betrayal and murder—quite the opposite, in fact. The rogue leans forward with an anticipatory grin, clearly enjoying the situation immensely. He had spent many an hour with his sister doing just this: telling tall tales, trying to catch each other in a lie. "I'm ready for a game, mate. Bring out the booze!"
Basil doesn't share the enthusiasm that Niklos has, but he too is ready for the challenge.
He sighs. "I am ready for these games." Basil replies "How do you say... bring it on?"
Well, at least those two seem confident about this. Gisele thinks about Basil and Niklos.
"Yeah, alright. In."
"Very well" Bernaditi says, smirking and leaning back. "Have some tea, if you'd like, and ask away."
The sudden silence that descend unnerves her, so Edda tries to be clever with the first question, but is unsure if she succeeds.
"If I asked you who here in this Realm should we go to talk to after talking to you, whom would you recommend and why?"
Bernaditi's laugh is roaring. "Trying to get information out of me, knowing it'll be a lie, eh? Well played. I'll count the who and the why as one question only, just for audacity. Now then, I'd recommend you visit the Ticktock Man. He immensely enjoys visits, and will heartily provide you with anything you may need."
"Four questions remaining, go ahead."
Feeling bold at the Rakshasa's statements, Edda asks another question.
"If I were to ask Biyo what you would say my hair color is, what color would he say?"
"What is the precise location of your token piece of Sonnorae's kapenia?"
"I believe that Biyo would say you have red hair, and my token is buried deep under this pavillion. Two remaining."
He looks inquisitively at you.
Niklos ponders his question long and hard, forgetting his cigarette until it singes his fingers. He hardly seems to notice, flicking the remains on the carpet and looking triumphantly at Bernaditi.
"Do you always lie?" he asks with an expectant grin.
Bernaditi raises his eybrows appreciatively. "Yes, I do. Smart, boy. Here's the prize!"
Gulping down the tea in his cup, Bernaditi then fishes out a garnet and gold pendant and throws it to Niklos. "The Songsmith's Kiss, my token. Don't lose it."
He then raises to his feet, taking a small enamel case from a cupboard and handing it to you. "Here's somewhat of a map of the Realm. You'll travel through the Briar, but directions won't help you much. Think of where you want to go and walk, you'll find yourself there in a while. Now, I may tell you all I know about my fellow Conspirators, but... where would be the fun in that? But I'll do you one last favor, I'll contact the Nightpeddler: return in a few days and I may have some stuff to sell you."
"Be ready, though. This is by far the most welcoming place in the whole Realm, and the other Conspirators might not be as friendly as me..."
Once back outside of the tents, Gisele turns to the others, "I've never been that good and tricks and riddles, so while we were talking to Bernaditi, I was going over the Harrow in my mind." She will pull out her personal deck.
"We already know the conspirators from Hajecks story." She fishes out the 8 cards for them. Along with the Keep and Tangled Briar. "We've been told old Zazzy is in the Striding Fortress somewhere in the briar." She will group The Tyrant, The Keep and The Tangled Briar together.
Gathering the 5 cards they have just encountered together, "All these we just dealth with, but in what location?" Looking around at the circus something strikes her. "Midnight Circus - Umbral Carnival. I think there is more connection that we may have realized. But that should make this card," plucking The Carnival out of the deck, "our current location." She places it with the pile of rashaka cards.
"Of the remaining conspirators, I am certain the Nightpeddler will be The Foreign Trader. Maralee and Mourning Choir I would bet are Queen Mother and Winged Serpant, thought not sure which is which, yet. Leavimg Ticktock Man, Brambleson and Balifor. I'm pretty sure Ticktock is going to be the Locksmith based on what Bernaditi said about him."
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Niklos laughs out loud as the rakshasa fishes his token out of the tea cup. He catches the pendant and spins it around his finger, looking at his companions with an insufferably smug expression on his face.
"Well, aren't you glad I came along?" he asks with a wink.
Nodding along as Gisele presents her theories, Niklos keeps being distracted by the pendant. He keeps dangling the jewel from his fingers, almost as if expecting it to do something—but mostly just to see it glitter.
"I'll take your word for it," he says absently. "This is all so confusing, I'd prefer not to dwell on it overmuch. The cards, they're supposed to be just, uh... what're they called... symbols. Not meant to be real, like. You follow? Feels like chasing butterflies at night, like my grandma used to say..."
The rogue spits on the ground with a somewhat sour look on his face, as if this were not a pleasant recollection.
Basil ponders.
"I'm not entirely sure, but this being a storybook world, each location or entity would correspond to a card of the Harrow. I hope we avoid the Fiend."
"But that's just it Niklos, to us they are symbols. But here, they are real, or as real as they were drawn to be. Like Bernaditi," she shuffles to his card, "he was still sitting on a guy's back like a chair, sipping his tea. This should give us at least a bit of information about what we can expect here: locations, 'people' or events."
Niklos shrugs.
"Fair enough," he says. "Well, based on what we know, where do you reckon we should go next? None of these cards are particularly good omens, as far as I know..."
Niklos looks at the map, turning it around in his hands and comparing it to Gisele's cards. "So, uh... going by your logic, the Sanguine Playhouse would likely be The Theatre. Smith's Caldera... is probably the Forge. The Manmolds... hmm... sounds like a good time... The Waxworks, possibly? The card has a bloke being dipped in wax, in any case..."
He stops to scratch his head, glancing at the magus. "Huh, whaddaya know. This does make sense, kinda... The Trackless Dearth could stand for The Desert, and the Demon's Fen is a fitting place for The Demon's Lantern. The Prophet's Garden is, um... huh. No idea, really. Looks like it's surrounded by a wall...?"
"Now you're getting it. Though I'm not recalling a prophets garden off hand. Those others sound very likely." Gisele smiles at Niklos. "So, where to begin?"
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Silent for a while Edda nods and speaks up.
"Wherever we go, we should see the Tick-Tock man last possibly. Bernaditi said he loves visitors and will go out of his way to help us.
So we need to expect the opposite. We could the let Harrow decide?"
Edda grabs her Harrow deck and draws three cards.
The Dance!
The Keep!
The Snakebite!
"Unclear. But I would foretell that 'we' are the Dance, the Keep is the 'Location', and the Snakebite is a warning. We need more to go on
before we approach the Keep! What do you all think? We could let the Briar decide for us first? Then just go from there?"
"Now, don't get me wrong," Niklos says with a carefree shrug. "I'm totally fine with just wandering around aimlessly. Been doing that for most of my life, and it usually works out like a charm. Maybe we should traipse over to the Playhouse, though. Bernaditi mentioned seeing some plays by this Balifor fellow, meaning that he'll likely be there. That's more than we know of the other locales..."
"The playhouse... sounds fine. as much as letting the briar 'choose' for us, I know not its motivations. If it can choose, it can choose the worst place to go."
Edda nods and shrugs.
"Yes, agreed. To the playhouse. But think on this: This is not an intrinsically evil place like the Abyss or the Hells.
This world exists to tell stories...only the worst kind of stories get to the climax too soon! I say we put our faith in the
Harrowed Realm, but WE interpret the story to our benefit! Our futures are not written yet, and by Desna's glittery wings of
chance, not ever."
"Then the Briar it is."
Gisele will pull up The Tangled Briar card, ready to use it once they approach the twisted branches.
At the exit of the Midnight Circus, you encounter the Briar. You can see how, a long time ago, gravel paths ran along wildflower bushes, but now everything is overgrown into a thick, tangled, mess of trees, thorns and mud.
The wild vegetation is hostile hard and to cross... until Gisele uses her Harrow card. Responding to the magic from which they were born, the thorny vines open up at your passage, and you know instinctively where to put your feet for safe passage. An image of the Sanguine Playhouse in your mind, you walk the way you feel is forward.
Soon, the twisted path opens up to reveal a clearing. Crude, amateurishly sewn banners flutter weakly in the breeze of this otherwise deathly silent clearing in the dense nettles of the briar. At one end of the clearing, an adorable little house painted in garish reds and yellows stands out against the trees. As you approach, you hear a voice from up in the branches.
"Begone! Begone and mewl at my heels no longer, you stupid... mewling... heeling-thing! I have greater destinies than to play your nursemaid!"
Although more squeaky and angry, the voice sounds similar to Basil's.
Basil's ears twitch and he bounds upwards, popping himself up into the branches with great speed.
"Could it be?" Basil asks, his eyes and ears straining. His attitude seems to have changed from his normally reserved self into one that heeds no warning. "My prince?"
He'll advance through the treeline, leaping from branch to branch spryly.
Niklos looks on as Basil dissappears into the canopy above, turning to his companions in feigned confusion. "...so wait, is he a rabbit or a monkey?"
Perched over a branch is a creature resembling Basil, but he's definitely more fey-like, about as small as a gnome, and his appearance is just as clear-cut as Bernaditi's. As the rabbitfolk climbs to him, he seems to be shouting at his lawn, but his ears shoot in the air hearing the voice heeding him, and he turns around with a jump. "Now what's that? Am I going crazy? Crazier? But no, you're not me. You're like me! Somewhat bigger. A story? Perhaps. Not one I heard, though. Did someone write a new story? Here? Oh, but there's more of you! Follow me down, you who look like me but are not, I'll welcome you properly!"
With this words, the creature pops out of existence and reappears on the grass underneath, bowing with a flourish.
"Well met, travelers from faraway shores! My name is Brambleson, a poet and a gentleman! Pray tell, where do you heed from? What brings you to this Realm? And what stories do you bring? Tales? News? Gossip? Oh, you just must tell me any and every thing!"
As he's speaking, the large rabbit moves qickly around you, examining intently your clothes and hair.
"What are you still doing up there?" he then shouts at Basil's address, immediately distracted. "Come down, you must tell me everything! Where do you come from? Do all of your folks look like you?"
Niklos eyes Brambleson with the same curiosity as he did Bernaditi, though this time his his attention is divided between their new acquaintance and his rabbit-like companion.
"There are more of you?" he asks Basil. "I just thought you'd gone and pissed off a wizard, or something of that description..."