Upstairs
The Half-elf still seems to be happy to chatter, bewitched by Isabels Mesmerism. "Oh I don't don't know that much about the Guard really. As I said this was my test to see if I was worthy of joining." He shrugs. "Luckily I failed it seems. It was several years ago when someone named Chistrallos began making contact with the independent groups of the southern Narlmarches. Whoever this Chistrallos is no one knows. They use emissaries to negotiate with the various bands. Maka's Hobgoblin group was one of the first to join and they do a lot of her more unpleasant tasks. So she would know more."
Anything else you wish to ask him?
Downstairs
Jory had turned to greet Josef when he attempted to sneak into the inn, doing so meant he missed the actions of the Hobgoblin.
Josef having seen her and looked at her curiously spotted her weakening her bindings with her finger nails.
Darian coming down the stairs also saw this, she must have filed her nails or something of that nature as she was almost free!
What are you doing now?
Darian raises the point of his blade up to her throat! ”If you wish for your sentence to be carried out immediately, by all means keep trying to escape!” he says angrily as he keeps his eyes on her. ”Jory, see if you can rustle up a few sets of manacles for her instead of these ropes. A set for her hands and ankles should suffice.”
"Manacles? Sure. Rope still works, you just have to be less friendly with it. Instead of tying her hands together, you LASH them together like two spars. Include her palms in the lashing. 'Course, if the lashings are tight enough, and stay on long enough, she'll lose her hands that way. But she won't be able to scrape her way out of them."
Josef gets the recommendation out easily enough, but starts to look uncomfortable as he talks about how this method could end up costing her hands.
Lisl replies to Isabel, "No, we just need to keep her secure. Though maybe we should let her 'escape' later if we have a good way to track her."
Keeping the point of his sword at the hobgoblin’s neck, he looks to Josef, ”Lord Marshall, you think you can keep this woman and her half-elven associate detained until tomorrow for their sentencing? They are guilty of attempted murder and assassination per their own admission and, well, multiple witnesses. Katrina will have to fulfill the duties of her position tomorrow once we have concluded our interrogation.”
He then makes his way towards the stairs, and spots Isabel making her way down. He waits for her at the bottom and takes her face in his free left hand, ”Are you okay? I came up to check on you all earlier but you were quite involved with your questioning, so I didn’t try to interrupt further. Things here are at an impasse, she is entirely unwilling to talk.”
Lisl replies to Isabel, "No, we just need to keep her secure. Though maybe we should let her 'escape' later if we have a good way to track her."
"I suppose we could try that, but I'm not sure that it is worth the risk of an actual escape."
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"He's singing like a canary - but not a tune I wanted to hear." Isabel responds. "They're agents of a group called the Green Guard. They apparently guard this part of the Narlmarches from human interference. The half-elf was sent to kill one or both of us, the hobgoblin is some sort of enforcer - sent to see he did the job, I think."
She looks slightly upset, "We're dealing with someone with Christrallos from what he said. I don't want him dead - but we have to set an example don't we?"
Darian sighs. ”This isn’t simple thuggery or strongarmed robbery. This is attempted murder. Organized assassination attempt. We have no real choice. If we don’t, anyone wanting to take a shot at any of the leadership with little fear of punishment.”
He looks to the hobgoblin and mutters quietly to Isabel, ”We can try again at dawn, with the aid of Lisl’s truthtelling magic. Try and charm them first, convince them to willingly accept her enchantment, then ask this hobgoblin what else she may know,” he sighs and adds ”But then...I fear Katrina will have to be asked to do her job. I hate asking another to do that sort of work...are you certain we should put that burden on her?” he asks as he puts an arm on Isabel’s waist and guides her back upstairs.
Before they depart, he looks to Jory and Josef and nods to them, signaling his trust in them to keep the pair detained. Once they are back to their bedchambers, Darian does not rest easily. If Isabel does happen to wake and see him asleep, she sees his hand is resting on the pommel of his sword.
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Isabel in fact sleeps even worse than Darian and ends up curled up in an armchair for much of the night splitting her time between fond glances at her husband and nervous ones towards the door.
Consequently the next morning Isabel looks awful, having snatched short bursts of sleep before slight noises woke her up again. When Darian wakes and accompanies her to the hobgoblin's prison Isabel marches straight in, glares fiercely at the hobgoblin and proceeds to assail her mind without mercy.
Darian likewise looks rough around the edges the following dawn. He dons his armor and fastens his sword belt around his waist solemnly, then leads the way to the holding area for the two would-be assassins. He fills in the rest of the Ruling Council on the way as to what happened last night if word hasn’t already made it’s way to them.
He stands guard over his wife and Lisl as the pair work their magic. He looks uneasily to Josef, Lisl, Jory, Freya, and the rest of the Council as the unfortunate business of interrogation is begun once again.
"Gotta keep them prisoner and stay awake?" The young drunk sighs. Then the light comes on in his eyes.
"Jory, can you keep her still while I retie her? if we tie her hands together in front of her, back of the hands touching, and then tie that rope to a ceiling beam, she'll be a lot easier to watch. Whaddya think?
Morning dawns, none of the prisoners escaped. You have your spells and abilities refreshed.
What are you doing now?
In the morning, Lisl stifles a yawn and is back to her vestments, formal and somber, with her book, her key-on-a-necklace, and her truthtelling spells.
She cracks her knuckles. "How shall we begin?"
As they approach the holding area, Darian says ”Let Isabel try and charm the hobgoblin. If she succeeds, she can hopefully convince her to allow you to cast your spell without trying to resist. Either way, keep trying until you are certain you have succeeded if you can. Then we will ask this more senior member what she can tell us if this organization and where they lurk. Then, at noon, they face their punishment for their crimes.”
"Noon? Then I can take a nap?" Josef wastes no time in trying to catch some of the sleep he needs by this point. "I hope you learn something useful!"
Isabel manages to cast a successful Charm Person on the Hobgoblin.
What questions do you wish to ask?
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Isabel feels her spell take hold. "Our friend is going to cast a spell on you. It's not going to hurt or harm you. Please don't try and resist it."
Assuming Lisl succeeds Isabel looks around the group before beginning with the basic questions.
"What is your name? Why are you here? Who asked you to do this? How can I contact/find *that person who ordered them to kill us*?"
As requested, Lisl casts Abadar's truthtelling on the hobgoblin (repeatedly, if necessary), and waits for the signature sheen.
Maka the Hobgoblin is made of sterner stuff than Timo the Half-elf. She resists nearly everything you ask, and you can see the sweat pouring down her face as you probe for answers.
1. Her name is Maka.
2. She's here to make sure that Timo succeeds in killing one or both of the new rulers.
3. She was sent by her leader Oktar. Who commands a group of Hobgoblin mercenaries. Currently they work for Christrallos, though only Oktar has personally met with this person.
4. She doesn't know how you can meet Christrallos. They contact you when they wish something done. Timos was recruited by a small cell that is operating in Restov. A group Christrallos is trying to get more powerful as their organisation doesn't have many Humans in their number yet.
Jory becomes both interested and concerned when he hears this news.
Any more questions? So far she's told you the truth, though she tries to answer in vague generalities, asking for names and details pushes her closer to making saves against the Charm person spell.
As the sun reaches its peak in the sky, Darian stands at the foot of the hill beneath where the castle is finishing up its construction. There, a makeshift executioner’s block has been prepared, and a small crowd has gathered around to see what is happening and learn what has already happened.
Darian turns to the gathered Council of Leaders, ending with Isabel, whom he nods to before turning to the crowd. ”Friends! Citizens of Silverhold! As some of you may have learned by this point, last night a pair of assassins made an attempt on the lives of myself, Lady Isabel, and others who were residing within the Silver Raven. They were defeated in their attempt and have confessed their intention to various members of the ruling body present here during their interrogation. Their guilt is without question. As such, the punishment for such nefarious deeds is all but given.”
He nods to a guardsman, who places the half elf and hobgoblin on their knees and their necks outstretched in front of them across a chopping block. As Katrina steps forward, Darian holds out a hand to halt her, and draws his own blade and advances to beside the prisoners. ”I, Darian of House Aulamaxa, as ruler of these lands, hereby sentence both of you to death for the crime of attempted murder. Do either of you have any last words?”
As the guardsmen work to put the uncooperative prisoners in place, Josef uses the provided lever to tighten the rope holding them in place. Two guardsmen are enough to put the smallish human into the restraint, but it takes five to force the hobgoblin's head under the rope loop.
The board is firmly secured in place, and the lever pulls the slack rope through the holes in the board, combining to keep the executioner's targets still, despite their obvious desire not to be.
Despite the serious occasion many of the growing population of your town treat this as an entertaining event.
When the news of what the two attempted is announced a mutter of anger goes through the crowd. Even those who looked concerned at an execution straighten up and look more approving.
Maka the Hobgoblin glares at you and spits as her final words, while the Half-elf goes pale, he opens his mouth to plead then visibly remembers just what he was trying to do to you. Shutting his mouth and hanging his head.
The Headsman strikes hard and true, two blows and two heads tumble to the ground in a bloody spray.
What are you doing now?
Darian stands straight after he completes the deed and wipes the blood clean from his blade on the grass. He looks solemnly down at the bodies before him before turning to see his wife making her way back towards the Raven. He goes to sit by the Tuskwater for a while, looking out over the rippling surface of the lake to steel his head and heart as to what had transpired through the night and day. He properly cleans his sword while he sits there before returning it to its sheath.
After spending about an hour sitting by the shore and thinking, Darian rose and sought out Jory. He took the halfling for a private walk and, once alone, says ”We need to know more about this organization that seeks to kill us. And no one knows the streets of Restov like you do. I can think of no one better to do the job, but they may recognize you as our compatriot. So I’ve been thinking: we make a show of us ‘falling out’ over this assassination attempt and you leave in a huff. Any word that leaves the town should hopefully give credibility to your cover story that you are no longer our ally. Then perhaps you can infiltrate their order and get information out to us. What do you think?”
Later, after giving her ample time to catch up on rest, Darian goes to Isabel and outlines the plan he has concocted to her quietly. ”I haven’t told the others, not because I don’t trust them, but because the more of our number who think we’ve legitimately had a fight with Jory, the more convincing his cover will be, and in turn, the safer he will be. What do you think?”
Frowning, Josef looked at the bodies, and heads.
"Have the bodies treated with respect, but dispose of them. Tar the heads and display them above the main gate for a lunar cycle. Then do with them the same you did with the bodies."
He shakes his head as he gives the orders. "Nasty business, this trying to keep the peace."
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"It's a good idea." Isabel agrees. "We'll need to manage it carefully, and explain afterwards but as long as we make a good show at the time... somewhere public too. Perhaps the next town meeting? If Jory 'loses his temper' there and heated words get exchanged then we have the setting. I'll talk to Katrina - she's going to have to step into Jory's place so she needs to know in advance."
Having watch the executions, Freya shakes her head thinking, Likely a better fate than they deserved... before returning to her preferred location on the outskirts of town.
With the castle completing, Darian begins walking through its halls and getting a feel for its floor plan.
We need to get this place staffed. Get some guards in here to keep it secure so we reduce the chances of something like the other night doesn’t happen again. And some folks willing to help with maintaining this place.
He moves up to the walls and looks out over their small village in the making.
This is still all so surreal. It’s like a vivid dream that I cannot wake up from. Any minute I expect to be woken up by Harcule’s yapping.
As things settle down, Josef seeks out Kesten. "Hey. I know things are pretty quiet for the most part, but the assassins pointed out that somebody's still going to do stupid things. I know your team is reasonably outfitted and built some good loyalty. I'm thinking I'm going to need to start building a team to patrol outside the city, because people are going to be stupid." The youth stops and looks sideways at Kesten before shaking his head.
"Somehow this isn't coming out right. Do you have someone on your team that you think deserves a promotion to leading a team? I would rather reward one of our existing people with leading the patrols than bringing in a stranger to do so."
I'm assuming Kesten will have one of the other NPCs that he thinks has been doing well enough to deserve a promotion like this.
"Well, with your permission, I would like to offer him the job. The first task is going to be recruiting, sadly, but we have to start somewhere!"
Lisl presides over sanctifying the bodies, to make sure that they do not rise as vengeful undead.
"It seems odd to me," she says later, "that this organization would simply stoop immediately to assassination, without ever attempting to speak with us. I wonder if reconciliation might be possible, if we can show that we can manage shared goals and perhaps convince or change their leadership."
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Darian nods in agreement to Lisl, but replies "True enough, but not everyone is willing to talk. An unfortunately large number of people in this world would rather solve things with steel and blood rather than words."
__________
Darian had been seeking out Lord Garess and Lord Orlovsky, and spots the men talking already. He and Akiros approaches openly, just in case the two lords were in a private conversation. Once within a reasonable distance, he says "Lord Orlovsky. Lord Garess. I'm glad I found the two of you together, saves me some steps searching through our grand city," he says with an attempt at a jovial smile. Though, the recent attempt on the life of his wife and unborn child, as well as himself, still weighed upon him.
He looks back to Silverhold Castle. "Given what just happened a couple of days ago, I have been thinking, and have decided to hire on some guards. These men will be castle guard, not a private house guard for my House. For now, I intend for them to be tasked with guarding everyone that holds a seat on the Council, until all of us here have had the time to hire our own personal House guard. This is the second organization that has made it clear they want to see us dead, and it is time we took some extra precautions. Now that Silverhold Castle is complete, for safeties sake I feel that all of us should set to living there for the mean time until proper housing can be constructed for the rest of you. This way, the guard can be centralized in one fortified location to make further attempts on any of our lives a far more difficult venture. I thought long and hard about who to task with heading up these guards, and given the duties of the positions you each hold, I have decided that Lord Ismort here should act as their commander. Lord Garess should focus on the training and development of a military force for potential defense of our lands, while Lord Orlovsky has responsibilities a bit more far reaching than the town itself, given his need for overseeing patrols and keeping up with the reports generated. Besides," he says with a smile and a nudge with his elbow to Josef, "I'll be needing your sword out there to keep us safe should we need to venture out again."
__________
Darian seeks out Freya on the outskirts of town where she had retreated. He waves at her as he approaches, "Lady Velson!" he calls out. "A word if I may?"
__________
That evening before dinner, Darian asks Isabel to join him for a walk on the walls of Silverhold Castle. He watches as the sun begins to settle behind the treetops of the Narlmarches in the distance, painting them in a shower of rich color. "Despite what has happened here," he says as he leans against the parapet, "this really is a nice place to settle, isn't it?" he asks. He turns to look at her before adding, "But, we need to talk about what happened. Are you alright? Not just physically."
Her brow furrows and a smirk crosses the Ulfen woman's face as Darian approaches. "I don't know about this Lady Velson bit, Freya will do just fine."
Hearing conversation Muninn floats down out of a nearby tree and Fenrir trots over to the side of his master.
"What would you like to speak about, Darian?" she asks in a more pleasant tone.
”Ah! But a Lady you are now, Freya! Not that we will expect you to wear a ball gown and a corset everywhere, but Lady Velson you are just the same,” Darian replies with a teasing smile. ”Nevertheless, when we returned from our dispatching I’d the undead tomb, you reported running into a troop of gnomes that were exploring the area of their own volition? A...Narplobble, was it? Gnomish names are so confusing to me...anyway...do you think it would be possible to get in touch with him to negotiate better terms of trading information regarding his maps? Perhaps we let him compare to ours in return to getting copies of his?” he asks.
If you are a wise Lord, Darian Aulamaxa, you'll not expect me to ever be in a ball gown or corset." Freya says with grin.
"Narthropple." Freya corrects with only the slightest tinge of displeasure, remembering the rather arrogant gnome. "I told him about Silverhold, but he did not seem overly keen on the idea of coming here. That being said his expedition is not all that dissimal to the one we initially untook, mapping the area, so it is certainly not out of the question that we would run across him again."
Darian chuckles at Freya’s return quip. ”I’ll do my best, Lady Velson,” he says with a wink, ”But I make you no promises!”
”Unfortunate. But perhaps we can change his mind. I’d prefer to find him and negotiate before he explores too much further, though, to add value to our own efforts. The less of the areas we’ve already mapped out he explores, the more value they will hold to him. We should ride out soon to meet him.”
After talking with the rest of the Council about the various bits of business he had to conclude, Darian spent the rest of the afternoon continuing to help out in the building projects going on in town. Things were now getting started on the future Town Hall. It was at the groundbreaking that he and Jory had had their “fight,” and the facade still sat uneasily with him. Even so, he spent several hours hauling lumber and stone up to the site. By the time he was done, he was an absolute sweaty mess.
He made his way down to the Tuskwater and dipped his shirt into the lake before wringing it out over his head and leaning back on the cool grass. He slipped his arms back into the sleeves and draped it over his back, but elected not to bother with the front buttons to let the wind cool him off. His sword belt lay beside him in arms reach. ”Just in case,” he had thought to himself. An unfortunate thought, given the recent attack on their lives.
As Darian mulls both impending parenthood and the ongoing responsibilities present by a neophyte realm his eyes are draw to an approaching craft on the lake.
The small sampan is unassuming and plain, similar to many such vessels that ply their trade - both fair and foul upon the waterways of the River Kingdoms. Yet this one was unusual in that it bore two fluttering pennants upon its mask. The first bore the flag of the River Kingdoms as was customary. However the second smaller flag bore the symbol of Silverhold itself…
As the river-boat comes to a halt on the silty bank of the Tuskwater, scant distant from the outskirts of the castle itself, Darian can see a few crew members busying themselves with mundane tasks.
On the foredeck stands another small figure, this one’s flamboyant garb at odds with the seeming drabness of the vessel. As the disembark plank is lowered, the same figure collects a small chest and walks onto shore with a lightness of step and element of swagger…
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Darian eyes the odd sight of a ship docking on their shores flying their colors with a bit of curiosity.
Interesting...I don’t recall us hiring out any sort ship...
He rises to his feet and fastens his swordbelt around his waist as he walked slowly towards the beaches ship. As he closes distance, he raises a hand and calls out ”Hullo there!”
The diminutive dandy pauses with a wry smile and approaches Darian still bearing his box;
Bien. An honest labourer by his shroud of sweat. A good compass on those I seek...
"Salut my friend! Pray tell me where I can find the Lord and Lady of Silverhall?"
Darian looks the gnome over, and decides a bit of joviality was in order.
”Silverhall? Well, yer a wee bit south of that! That’s up in Brevoy! But if yer lookin’ fer SilverHOLD, well this is it!” he points to the castle. ”What ya need the Lord an’ Lady for?”