Gray said nothing, he merely scowled and then walked away after giving Tarken one last glare. Much like Ziera, he took a circuitous route to his destination, looking about for the elven woman when he got close to the designated meeting place. Hopefully nothing had happened to her...
Just to be clear, Edmund has just given Tarken a different inn name, the one they were planning to give Tarken when they were going to give him and Antonio fake inns. I think Ziera has gone to Sarini’s Glory, the real meeting place.
Tarken looks concerned. Someone caught on to us again and already compromised our meeting location! Fine. Splitting up makes sense then, I’ll see you at The Goat’s Knuckle.
After scouting out the place and determining that it is free of surveillance (at least non-magical), Gray went in the building to meet with the others and discuss the next phase of their plan. Seeing that Tarken is not present, he assumed that Edmund and Antonio had thrown the man off or perhaps killed him.
His eyes drifted to the other three who had helped to ambush the dragonborn, eyebrow lifted expectantly. It seemed that the whole crew was here, minus Tarken, the first time since they had awakened. They had many things to discuss, chief among them the potential assassination tomorrow morning.
Ziera goes in to the meeting , but offers a boy on the street a silver to come in and warn her if he sees any group of armed men approaching. Says she'll pay him 4 more if he warns her in time to sneak away so she doesn't have to fight, and even if nobody comes, if he is still there watching when she comes out, she'll still pay him. She tells him which dining room she will be in.
Thank you everyone for coming she says to get things moving. Sydney has agreed to give us a report on what she has learned. Should we start there?
Sydney, well you're pretty sure it's Sydney but she is in another disguise. "Ziera and I were able to obtain some information about our memory issue. I'll paraphrase a little, but here is what I remember of the conversation."
Sydney, it turns out, has a very good memory.
Sydney: “But honestly, Lady Imbrex, you have to admit the discovery of the memory modifications far outweighs the morality of the matter. These reports out of Tadloton are fascinating, even if they haven’t been verified. An entire week’s worth of memories, even noteworthy events, just erased. It’s groundbreaking. ”
.
Lady Rosalie: “Did you say someone had a weeks worth of memories removed? What were the circumstances of the study?” .
Sydney: “That is the claim. But that is where i differ with the Lady here. I think that for the sake of discovery it is acceptable to have removed the memories from the subjects without their prior knowledge. The Lady has a different view. .
Ziera: While I do greatly admire the discovery, my dear, I don't think that any discovery can obviate the need for the discussion of the ethical considerations. I mean, certainly, as you say, sacrifices need to be made for progress, but imagine a future where a woman discovers her husband's dalliance, and he just pops off to the local magic shop for a memory potion, permanently wiping out a week of her life, and all consequences of his actions. The mages in Tadloton seem to think that discovery is above both law and societal impact. Surely you can't agree. .
Sydney: A potion to remove a week's worth of memories! That's ridiculous."
Lady Rosalie: "That's what you got out of her comments? The reality of a hypothetical potion that she proposed. I agree, the subject should be aware of the study that is occurring." .
Sydney: Ok, I guess we don't need to debate the ethics of it anymore. What I am more interested in, anyway, is how they managed the memory removal? A whole week! I only know of spells that can manage a few seconds, maybe a minute." .
Ziera: I don't personally know of anything longer either, although the eternal quest of finding new ways to apply permanancy to things has always been there. I wonder if that is what they are trying, or if it is something else, like quickening a spell, but supercharging it instead, or ... maybe tying the spell to a different measure of time somehow? Oh, I don't know. There seem to be so many possibilities, but I don't know enough about magical theory to even guess well. .
Lady Rosalie: Actually, Ladies, the theory on memory modification magic is now very sound. Time in memories is not the key driver. It's often subjects that are the focus. Think of it, if a charlatan wants to make you forget something, he tries to wipe your memory right away, because he knows what you're thinking. Theoretically, if you had a person focus on a memory from years prior, you could erase it in the same manor as any standard memory modification spell. The only constraint is time and understanding. It takes time to work through multiple memories. The other problem is that it is almost entirely theoretical. As much as people might proclaim that they want to forget, very few are willing to part with more than one or two memories. ".
Ziera: How interesting. That makes total sense, but then how are they erasing an entire week? Surely they aren't working through the subjects minds memory by memory. That would be an enormous undertaking.
Would they be able to do a more generalized erasure by focusing on one person or even an occupation perhaps? If they know someone is a carpenter, could they erase everything to do with carpentry? Although that wouldn't really work the way it was reported from Tadloton. Of course, we might not be getting all the details, but what they say is a full week's memory of everything, not just selected memories. How do you think that would fit in with the theory? .
Lady Rosalie: Those are good questions; everyone these days seems to be curious about memory modifications. You touch on the problem where theory ends and practice ends. Without more studies on the issue, we can't be sure how the theory will hold up on an extensive memory modification. I would think that if the an entire week was erased, either touching on a subject extensively can erase the subject and connections, or the modifier would have to be extremely patient and thorough." .
Ziera: How interesting. I'm not sure I would ever have the patience to do so much extensive work for a spell, but perhaps it would be useful in a therapeutic environment... to help the victims of depression or past catastrophe to erase the memories that still haunt them.
I do apologize though. ... You say that everyone is curious about this? I do not mean to be repeating questions you have been asked before. Perhaps I should satisfy my own remaining curiosity by consulting someone that you have already enlightened instead? .
Rosalie: “Yeah, i just had a conversation about it with...Um, it was… I believe that i had a conversation about it but i cannot remember the conversation. The be studied it enough to recognize when someone has modified my own memory. ” .
Ziera: oh my goodness! How horrible for you! Can it be that the consequences that I predicted as far off are already before us? Is this something that can be undone? How can we help you to regain your memory? Whoever has done this must be stopped! ... But quietly and carefully, for we are all in danger from someone with this power. .
Rosalie: “It can be restored, but only if the original modification moved the memories to a new host instead of erasing the memories. I don’t know why something would keep the memories though instead of just erasing them. I fear that conversation will forever be forgotten. ” .
Sydney: “Another note from this study is that one of the subjects started having strange dreams. Have you heard anything like that before with memory modifications?” .
Rosalie shakes her head.
Would anyone that talked to Dice Drem like to explain that conversation?
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That was just part of the bluff. Once they’ve gathered, they can head over there, look for an ambush, and look for Tarken. If he actually showed and there’s no ambush, then he was just a fool for healing the enemy and that means that somebody else is spying for the bad guys (which they need to know).
It could also be that there is no traitor, and they only found them though divination.
Vince whistles at Sydney’s memory. “That’s interesting and all, but I’m more interested in who we, we’ll Adrien, have to kill... no, has to kill. Er, who Adrien needs to kill for little Dice.” Alden and Payk flinch. Vince looks over at Edmund and then Antonio. He then looks around quickly. “Wait, what happened to Tarken? Don’t tell me he’s so stupid he couldn’t even find the place? I’ve never heard of Dragonborns as stupid. Aggressive, savage, and barbaric sure, but not stupid. ”
Tarken isn't part of our group anymore, and anyone telling him more information about the group will also be kicked out. He's been healing our enemies and allowing them to continue to hunt us down. Whether he is an active traitor or just foolish remains to be seen.
Gray nodded at Ziera's words, his level stare at the rest of the group leaving no doubt that he is willing to help her enforce her mandate. After a suitable pause, he contributed to the conversation. "Keep your exclamations to a minimum when I say who we are contracted to kill for Drem's assistance. Alana Thrune was the name given, the death that will pay for our memories and information. Tomorrow morning at Leroung. Now we must decide whether this is a clumsy trap, or a sincere effort. We know from Antonio that Thrune is posturing to downplay the other noble houses, and that it is Alana choosing to go this course."
He looked about to the others in attendance, to hear their thoughts on the matter.
"Ah, at last a name. It could very well be a trap - best be on our guard. I wouldn't put it past Leroung to seek revenge on Alana for insulting them, but Drem seems less of a leader and more of a pawn. I suspect someone else wanted this, much higher up."
I definitely don't like the idea of someone using us as assassins for hire. However, in this particular case, Alana Thrune was the woman who ordered my father killed, and the reason that I even joined up. So I also have no qualms about her death. If you are all willing to do this job in order to restore our memories, I am also willing. However, if anyone has an idea of a way around it, please let me know. I don't like the feeling of being manipulated, and not being able to remember some likely essential information about all of this. I suppose we could also try to get the information out of Drem in a different way.
Vince starts muttering something to himself as soon as the name is mentioned. His body convulses. He waits patiently as the others talk and then stands and exclaims, Done. I will kill Alana Thrune. His excalamationnis probably too loud for the situation, but the general noise level in the main room does not change.
He looks around. Good, now that that is settled, who wants to help. I’ll probably only need one other. he considers for a second and then adds, There’s only one condition; i must strike the death blow.
... to hear what Vince was muttering.
"Vince, I don't think two people will be enough. This is a Thrune we're talking about, and preparation is the name of their game. Who knows what kind of measures they'll have taken to protect themselves? We should be on our guard."
"I personally don't care how Alana goes out, but I'd like to know why you particularly want to do so, Vince. You've been acting odd ever since she came up. You were also quite quick to agree to kill her back at the party, now that I think about it."
Antonio leans forward, staring Vince in the eyes, attempting to mark him. "We all have our reasons against Thrune, Vince. I'd like to know yours."
Vince keeps the ey contact with Antonio for a moment? Then his eyes drift to the ceiling. He sits back down, his gaze distant. He sits there, staring off for a few moments before finally responding, I don’t know actually. I just... feel compelled to kill her. It happened in the last two years though, because i don’t remember a particular grudge against Thrune.
His gaze moves back to Antonio. I i didn’t know the name until now since that sneaky Halfling wrote it down and didn’t show everyone. I just figured we could easily knock off someone to help ourselves along. But i do think it’s needs to be a small team job. I lived in Cheliax for a time, we’ll i do now but i mean i lived here before all of this, and the high nobles keep themselves extremely well protected. You can’t overwhelm their security, you need to go around it with a small team.
Adrien nods at Vince assessment. He’s right. I’ve been killing these sad-sack nobles for years, and anyone at Alana’s level can’t just be killed by brute force. I’ll help, though my vendetta isn’t personal to Alana, so if someone else’s is...
This whole thing is too weird. I guess if you guys want the job, it is yours. Do you want backup at Leroung at least?
After Ziera asks this, she goes to the door of the private dining room and opens it quickly, checking to see if there are spies listening in, or a battle outside the room. She's becoming increasingly paranoid, perhaps understandably so.
If there is nothing, she closes it again and comes back to hear the answer.
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Gray narrowed his eyes at Vince and his peculiar behavior following the inquisitor's revelation of the group's target. His brow arched as Vince rambled on, and then his eyes flicked about at the back and forth between various members of the assembled group. So Vince's obsession with killing Alana didn't happen until after they had lost their memory? That seemed very suspect.
"What is this, now, Vince? There are conditions for your help in this matter? And why only two? Drem didn't seem particular about how it was done or who did it. If you don't recall a grudge against Thrune before...whatever happened, then I think your new-found hatred to be highly suspect. I will be there, and I think as many as can stomach it should be, as well. Underestimating the woman would be a deadly mistake."
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"Vince's grudge could come from within the time frame of our lost memories. That seems a good explanation, but there could be another."
Antonio points to Vince. "You are under some kind of compulsion, of the magical nature. Would you be willing to let us check, if only as a guarantee?"
Vince stares off in the distance for a few moments before responding. It's not that I hate Alana, I don't hate her any more than any commoner might; I just need to kill her.
He looks over at Antonio. Sure.
Vince is likely absentmindedly rubbing a spot on the inside of his belt. There appears to be an etching of a holy symbol there.
You can DC 10 Religion to get the next spoiler
It's the symbol for Moloch.
”Perhaps it is a latent memory so strong, it’s bleeding through whatever memory modification magic is at work.”
Ziera glances at Gray with real concern in her eyes. She waits to see if Antonio will notice the same thing, hoping he will broach the subject if so.
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Antonio's eyes narrow. "Vince. I don't know if you've noticed, but there seems to be a particular mark on your belt. Could I see it? It reminds me of something."
Vince frowns and looks down at his belt. oh that, that’s just Moloch’s symbol. I am a follower of him; somewhat indirectly.
oh that, that’s just Moloch’s symbol. I am a follower of him; somewhat indirectly.
Indirectly how, Vince? Why don't you explain it to us?
Edmund hisses at the name and backs away from the man.
”Moloch!! One of the generals of Hell itself? Why not just worship Asmodeus while you’re at it!!”
Vince frowns at Edmund. "This is Cheliax, everyone worships Asmodeus. Anyway. I talked to my lawyer, Jamie the guy that Rantin mentioned to me, and he says I took out this contract with a guy named Vous. Well, guy is probably a bad term. He's a bearded devil that managed to become a paladin of Moloch. I don't remember the encounter at all, but Jamie filled me in on him. He also showed me a contract I had made. I don't get anything yet; I have to prove myself first. And part of that is always following through on a promise. If I were to turn away from it... actually, this might help.
He stands up and walks toward the corner where there is a waste bin. "I, Vince ------*, have decided I will not kill Alana Thrune." Vince convulses violently and vomits in the waste bin. He retches a few times before managing a muttered, "I will kill Alana Thrune." He body relaxes and he stands panting, bracing himself against the wall.
"So, yeah, well you can see how it can be bad. I remember nothing of Alana Thrune, but I can feel the pressure to kill her." He stops, and smiles and he looks around at the mostly aghast faces.
*You can't actually hear what he says as a last name.
Is anyone else hearing something incomprehensible when Vince says his last name?
Gray looked at Edmund, then nodded in agreement. Moloch wasn't Asmodeus, but he wasn't far off, either. A loyal vassal devil wasn't really much higher on the inquisitor's list of friendlies.
Gray arched an eyebrow as Vince stated that he wouldn't kill Alana Thrune and then proceeded to violently be ill in the waste can. That was interesting. As Ziera asked if they heard a bunch of mumbling when Vince said his last name, he said aloud, "Yes, it is just a jumbled mess."
The young man eyed Vince with distaste, then looked at the others. "He is clearly ensorcelled. What do you all think of this? I believe more than two should be sent. Indeed, any who wish to participate should do so. Better overkill than fail."
"We'll need to investigate the situation with this devil after. For now, it aligns with our affairs. More than two should be sent, but we should be careful not to draw attention. We should send others under some form of concealment, where they can wait in surprise. "
Antonio silently ponders Vince's indescribable last name, recalling it being just the same during their first meeting, the faraway memory. "Vince, do you know why your last name is... well, as it is?"
Vince nods. “It’s part of the contract i saw, I have to give up my family name. I still say it all the time though just to annoy Vous. ”
He frowns at he direction of the conversation. “I’ll do this with more people, but we’ll have to change the plan. ” He yawns. “Ok, so that’s settled. Shall we meet the Halfman tomorrow?”
Edmund is just floored that someone would be so stupid as to ever sign such a contract—for once, the old man is just speechless.
He retreats to a chair, shaking his head and muttering under his breath about witless fools.
Ziera resists the urge to sink to the floor in despair. Did she actually know any of these people? Had she approved of all of this before her memories were stolen from her? ... Were they just glorified assassins? ... But nevermind all of that. The memories were her primary concern now. She could question her life choices later, when she remembered what they actually were.
We have no idea how deeply we are being manipulated here, but since Vince is committed to do this deed anyway, we will proceed. This assignment will be volunteer only, in the interest of regaining our memories. Who will accompany him?
Gray stepped forward eagerly, trying not to smile. He'd been told it was disturbing. "I will accompany Vince and help see to our target's demise." Of course, it probably wouldn't be that simple. Things never were. It was just as likely that Drem would double-cross the group. The halfling had better hope his ploy worked, if that was the case.
”I will go as well. No doubt some magic will be needed.”
Adrien, I assume you are still in? What about the rest of you?