In a nearby grotto you find several rotten bodies. On the corpses you find a golden medallion worth 125 gp and 45 gp in assorted coinage.
Grumblejack picks up the little one and puts her upon his shoulder again.
"Let's move." Grumblejack agrees with the others.
The doctor nods and sets off. After a little he voices his thoughts "We did really well at getting out of Branderscar, and when I say we I mean
Angelica with her brilliant bluff. As much as I'd like to go back and destroy everyone there and reduce the walls to rubble I think it would be foolish."
"Let me explain. After our escape the place will be crawling with senior knights and mages, including Sir Rothschild and Praderol. They are two that we will need to ambush if we are to have a chance to defeat them."
"We need to worry about staying free for while, there will likely to be huge amounts of magic turned to locating us and destroying us. Unless one of you has access to powerful magics to hide us we will have to hope that our mysterious backer can keep us secret."
"The prison is but a symbol of an evil empire. One that will destroy us if we fixate on destroying it. There are plenty of more meaningful targets we can aim at."
After many hours of slocking through muck you see a bright light in the distance.
As you continue on you come upon a raised dirt road leading to a hill that protrudes well above the swamp.
On that hill is an ancient three story manor, structurally sound but decrepit looking, with peeling paint and dark ivy creeping up its sides. A large, wide river flows around behind it with a broken down boat house and a rickety deck.
The light you spotted is emanating from an upper story window, the light Tiadora promised Angelica.
Yanev motions to Angelica "After you m'lady."
Angelica nods her head to her companion. "If one of you could use that cantrip to clean off the muck, I would much appreciate it." she says and waits for one of them to comply.
If none of them do she sighs and knocks on the door anyway.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Walking up to the front door, Damien shrugs and retorts bemusedly "Why bother? Whoever is behind our escape knows where we've been, and will understand why we look like hell." Looking himself over, he adds with a laugh "Besides, I think it might take a lot more than a cantrip to clean this crap off."
Not waiting a moment longer, Damien shrugs and knocks on the door "Let's just get on with this then."
After a long moment the door creaks open and the woman who introduced herself as Tiadora to Angelica stands before you.
She is no longer dressed in mourning clothes and wears nothing but a slinky dress, her long blonde hair loose and framing her beautiful face in waves.
"Took you long enough." She says, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame.
"You guys smell like s@*$." she says, wrinkling her nose. "Ah well, at least you made it, and look, you brought a friend." She says, looking at Grumblejack.
Grumblejack doesn't seem to appreciate the woman's snarky attitude and answers her acknowledgement of his presence with a vaguely threatening grunt.
Sibylla is silent, as she has been for much of the journey. Clothed in rags, soaking wet, covered in insect bites, and deprived of her spellbook and holy symbol she has been reduced to little more than a beggar. For now.
She keeps her eye on Angelica, waiting to see what benefactor she has led them to.
"Yes, well after the escape from a dirty prison and the walk through a filthy swamp to lose our pursuers, we didn't have time to bathe. Mind if we use your facilities to clean up before we meet our 'friend' darling? I know I could use a bath and by the smell so could the rest of them." Angelica retains her stature of a proud woman even though she is covered in filth.
"Perhaps you also have some clothes I could fit into? I'm afraid the previous owner of these clothes didn't have any high hygiene standards."
Tiadora's smile widens, and though pretty, it shows entirely too much teeth.
"Come in." She says, straightening and stepping back. She makes an 'after you' sweeping gesture with her hand.
"Baths, fine clothes, and much, much more await you inside." She murmurs.
Johann enters at the back of the party. "Sounds delightful."
"Wonderful darling. Bath is upstairs I assume?" Angelica says and she dumps her clothes right then and there before going up towards the bathroom in just her nickers.
The inside of the manor is startlingly different than the outside.
Everything is clean and new inside. The floors are marble, the walls have well made and expensive hard wood paneling, and finery of every sort decorates the entrance hall.
You immediately begin to suspect that the manor's external appearance of decrepitude is nothing more than a carefully constructed facade, designed to deflect interest from passers by.
While there is indeed a wide staircase leading to the second level in this hall it is currently blocked and occupied by three score servants in butler and maid dress.
"The first gift from my Master." Tiadora explains. "Each of you may choose one servant to be your slave. They are conditioned for loyalty and service and are yours now, body and soul. Once you have chosen one they will lead you to your private rooms, where they will see to your needs and provide you with whatever you want. Spend the day relaxing, the Master arrives tomorrow evening."
Looking over the servants you see a mix of humans, elves, half elves, half-orcs, dwarfs, gnomes and halflings of both genders, each a very attractive member of their race by the standards of their race.
They stand at attention, and await your selection.
"Her." Says Grumblejack, pointing to a tall half-orc with a fiery red ponytail. "She can reach my back in the bath."
The maid takes his hand and leads him up the stairs, but not before he deposits his tiny gnome companion gently on the floor.
"See ya later shorty." He says in good humor.
"I like an Ogre who knows what he wants." Tiadora comments dryly, while idly picking at her nails. "Well? What about the rest of you? Times awasting, the sun is almost up and you only have thirty six hours till the meeting with the Master, relax away!"
Angelica marvels at the selection set before them. "Ah, your master has excellent taste." Angelica says and points to the pretty and muscular half-elven man.
"You there, you can come with me. You can start with scrubbing my back and massaging my shoulders. I need to relieve some tension so lets see what you are good for."
The doctor walks up and down the row examining them all closely. He would have liked to have them strip so he could have checked their physical condition better but a bath seemed more important now. Pointing at a male elf who was slightly broader of chest than most of his species. "Show me to my rooms and run a bath."
The rooms your slaves lead you to are all both similar and individualized.
Each has a massive marble bath filled with crystal clear water, and though there is a spigot to add more hot or cold water as you desire, the size of the bath reminds you more of a pool than a watershed accessory, able to accommodate a dozen Medium sized creatures if desired.
Floral scented soaps and bath salts line one edge while the other has a tiled area sporting a rack with warm fluffy towels.
In the center of each room is a divinely soft bed adorned with many feather pillows and sheets of high thread count. The beds are huge, large enough to accommodate a Large sized creature easily, or many smaller ones.
Off to one side is a massive closet filled with many clothes of various types. You each realize upon inspecting them that they are cut for your individual size and in the styles you prefer, making you wonder just how much information about you Tiadora's Master has been gathering to know such things, how long has he/she/it been spying on you?
A vanity with a large silvered mirror and make up, combs, scented oils, accessories etc. dotting its surface lies near the bed but the thing that shocks you out of all of this is an alcove near the back that's not visible when you first enter the room but can only be seen once you are farther in and get the proper angle.
Varmint brings an end to his foolery and grows quiet when the party is welcomed into the manor. With his brow slightly furrowed, he careful considers the finery of the manor and the luxury he is suddenly immersed in.
He surveys the flock of servants lined up on the staircase. He approaches a half-orc man with broad shoulders and clean-shaven head, who stands nearly as tall as himself. He stands face-to-face with him. He grabs him by the jaw, and carefully inspects his protruding tusks and dark, piercing eyes. Then, with a grunt, he slaps him gently, and mutters his first words since entering the manor. "Let's get out of here for a while, shall we? Lead the way to my room."
And he follows his servant to his chamber.
"A bleached gnome," Johann says, approaching the gnome with pale and muted colors. White skin and hair, dull black eyes. Any spot of color around her seemed to be sucked in, drab in her presence. Relatively older than most of the other slaves but she was no less beautiful for it. "How curious you must have been before you became this, and how interesting you still are now. I'll have you lead me, my dear."
Johann nods to the others as he leaves, the gnome leading him to his room. The lavish accommodations and given equipment impress him despite himself and he promises to enjoy it to its fullest. He is eager to get started but controls himself. "A bath first, and some grooming. There will be time to explore and it would be a waste to dirty these."
Approaching the group of slaves, Damién casually walks in and amongst them in a very non-threatening and cordial manner. He appears rueful as he greets each one, smiling affably and making small talk with them. Finally, he stops at a lovely young woman, tall, lean and athletic like himself. While appearing mostly human, a few of her features indicate a celestial lineage, silver colored eyes and long blond hair that shimmers with silver in the light. Turning around, he smiles at Tiadora with a pleasantly surprised look "You managed to turn an aasimar; how delightfully splendid Tiadora, my word." Turning back towards the girl, Damién smiles a little more devilishly than before, and murmurs "Yes, this one will do nicely indeed. Let's go then." Holding out his arm, he awaits for his servant to lead him to his quarters.
After a long bath and massage, Damién decides to lounge about and enjoying some wine and fruits with his new celestial servant. After a day of mostly relaxation and recuperation, Damién finally strolls into his room to inspects the refinements and equipment left for him appreciatively "Hmm, these robes are of the utmost quality, Asmodeus be praised." Glancing back at his servant, he adds "Elisandra*, help me get dressed here... I need to look my sharpest for this evening, for I'm meeting with our benefactor this evening."
Before Damien has an opportunity to depart with his slave Sibylla laughs lightly, the sound an unearthly hymn. "Brother, in the richest soil a seed may take firmest root. Surely you remember your instruction? 'Be thy diligent in thine sowing, for thou does not know where what may be touched by the word of the lord. In time a seed may break even hearts cast in stone.'"
She quotes scripture knowingly.
Sibylla prowls the aisle of slaves, seeking one that calls to her. A strapping human… a graceful elf… finally she decides upon the youngest of the group, a human girl that could only barely be into her teens. “Broken toys,” she remarks, “but perhaps the vigor of youth will allow this one to recover.” She cups the shorter girl’s chin to more carefully examine her face, pulls down her lips to examine her teeth, and finally nods in satisfaction.
She turns her attention once more to their host, “We come to you as beggers, and you appoint us as kings and queens. I shall be very interested in meeting the master when he arrives. Until then, by your leave.” She waits for the woman in white’s assent before allowing ‘her’ slave to guide the filth covered escapee to the prepared rooms.
She pauses for but an instant in the doorway, awed that the display of wealth and planning demonstrated, before taking charge of her slave. Her rancid clothing is burned, reduced to nothingness, and before long she descends into a scalding both to remove the caked on filth from not only the prison, but also the long trek through the swamp. When she emerges her pale skin is flushed and nearly raw from the scrubbing and heat, but the only trace of her trip to Branderscar is the once more throbbing burn on her arm. That soon vanishes beneath a thin bandage. Before long Branderscar will be only a memory for her – and if the priestess has her way it will very soon be only a smoking crater for everyone else. These things in time.
She dresses in fine but relatively plain clothing. Passing up on her favored whites, she dresses the part for what must come next. Robes of red and black, the vestments of faith, with seven knots upon the left sleeve and nine upon the right. Tonight the crimson flame burns on the outside, a beacon for the to be faithful, while the void of darkness is worn close – representing Sibylla’s own role in the ceremony to come. She is nothing, she is no one. To this girl she must be only an empty vessel through which the Dark Lord’s will works. Sibylla raises the newfound holy symbol as she directs the slave to her knees. The rubies in each tip glitter in the light cast by the candles in the room.
“What is your name?” Sibylla asks the girl.
"Cecily." The girl whispers in a soft voice.
"Lovely." Sibylla replies. "And Cecily, have you sworn yourself body and soul to the Dark Lord?"
"I have." She says, trembling.
The priestess cups the young girl's face, "No, you haven't. You cannot until you do so with full awareness of the magnitude of what you do. You have made a pauper's promise. But rejoice, for we shall amend that in due time." She holds out her new signet ring, marked with the pentagram of Asmodeus for the girl to kiss, then continues.
"For now take your first steps, walk into the glorious light of the Lord of the Pit. Let it burn away all impurities, and tell him, through me, who you are. From whence you came, where you would go, and why you are fit to serve him."
The candles flicker in the room, the flames seeming to strain and pull from all directions towards the ceremony - though to its priestess or supplicant one cannot tell.
"I come from Ghastenhall." The girl says. "And I would someday be a High Priest." She swallows as she tries to think of something that would make her worthy of serving Asmodeus. "My loyalty is complete, I would do anything, even be tortured and killed, for the Dark Lord."
Sibylla laughs, and it is distinctly not that of earlier. Rather than the hymnal chorus this sound is hard, cruel, and short. Almost manly and without mirth. "Such is the loyalty of a dog." She slaps the girl across the face, but the laughter cuts off abruptly, and is replaced once more by Sibylla's voice.
"And yet, Father Church's duty is to instruct its children, as a father with a child. And so, on the one hand, discipline," She cups the angry welt on the girl's face with her opposite hand, "and the other, instruction Can you read and write? Can you speak pleasantly? Do you see into the hearts' of men? Or," She glances down between the girl's legs, "into other parts of them? Can you do great violence? Do you possess some secret knowledge? These are what the Dark Lord desires in a girl that would be a servant to him, rather than a dog. Trust me, you should rather be the servant than the slave. A servant may one day rise in station, they may grow or be rewarded, but a dog is forever at his master's feet, and his reward is naught but table scraps."
Sibylla gestures for the girl to rise. "Let us see what you can do.". After putting the girl through her paces, Sibylla turns to more present concerns, "Tell me girl of how you came to be here, and what you know of this household."
Having cleaned the doctor looks through the gifts in his room. The alchemical equipment is fairly comprehensive including a smaller but finely made traveling kit. Looks at the elven man he asks "Have you had any training in alchemy... Of course not there is no waay they could have known I would pick you. And even if you had I would have to unteach what you thought you knew first anyway, you'll have to learn at least enough of the basics to help me with my experiments. What is your name?"
While talks he continues to sort throught the equipment, now going through the weapons and armour. When atlast he opens a small box full with ice and a flask of red liquid he gives a gasp "Wow, if I'm not mistaken vampire blood, they do know me well... I'll have to get a living... unliving vampire at some point but this will work for a while atleast." Turning the servant he asks "How do you feel about becominga vampire? For the greater good of course."
Cecily begins to answer but then her eyes widen in fear. "I-I don't really remember."
"Eldwin." The Elven man replies. "And I feel good about it."
A servant with a wine cart stocked heavy with liquor arrives at each of your rooms, offering you a bottle or two of whatever you like. He informs you that there is also a sitting room near the rear of the house to socialize in if you wish.
The room is a well appointed lounge area with large and comfortable furniture, books and board games on shelves, paraphernalia for smoking various herbs and playing dice based games on large hard wood tables, and a western facing sunroom area, where a single huge window gives a panoramic view of the landscape outside(which is mostly just unpleasant marsh, but hey, better to look at it then be in it).
Annie finds a servant that suits her needs. once she decides, she instructs her to gather her new collection of things and they head to her room to sort things out.
as the two were figuring out exactly what is expected the cart arrives. Annie quickly goes through the contents looking for the most flammable liquids. she tastes a few but doesn't seem to like any of them.
hmmm, a sitting room? well now , that does sound interesting. Annie then grabs her new stuffed teddy bear, she misses her old one, and the new one just does not feel the same. but still it will have to do.
glancing back at Ignace, her new servant, straighten up a bit will you? and burn those drapes over there, I like the sooty smell.
After being refreshed and reinvigorated by the bath and personal care of her slave, Angelica proceeds to the sitting room in her new attire.
She takes a glass of red wine laced with virgin's blood and scans the book collection.
Yanev nods at the elf "Good man, Eldwin."
In response to the servant carrying the liquor. "Nothing for me, you can't be too careful about what you put in your body. Eldwin feel free to grab something for yourself for your free time, if you want. Then clean out the bath and dispose of the rags I was wearing."
Feeling better now that he is clean he takes up the offer and explores down to the common room. Nodding to Angelica he also goes to the book collection "Good morning, m'lady." selecting a book on history he takes a seat.
Annie is all cleaned up and with her new Teddy in hand, she heads to the sitting room.
she looks around to see if there is anything interesting.
looking for something interesting on the book shelf she pushes a chair over to the bookshelf and climbs up trying to reach some of the books.
noticing something up higher, she starts to climb up to reach it.
Inspecting the liquor, Damién finally decides upon a bottle of port by pointing towards the bottle "The port will do nicely." Seeing little point in tipping a slave, Damién instead gives the servant a dark blessing in the Infernal tongue for his trouble "Kler taekt sie nomen rah."
Glass in hand, Damién strolls casually down the hall, leaving his servant to tend to his room during his absence. Entering the hall, Damién draws back his hood, and gives a single nod to those gathered in the game room. With a sly grin, Damién adds "My, but if we don't all clean up nicely."
Heading into the room, Damién inspects the books and then moves onto the games. Finding himself at a nearby table, the dark priest finds himself admiring a beautifully crafted set of chess pieces. Unlike what one might expect, the theme of the pieces appeared not to be of good and evil, but rather of the ancient blood war of the lower planes. The red pieces appeared to represent the devil legions of the Dark Prince in the Nine Hells with a Pit Fiend for their king, while the black pieces appeared to be Demons of the Abyss. Grabbing the one of the pieces, Damién peers at it closely and murmurs "Baatezu and Ta'nari, how marvelous." Sitting down behind the devil legions, Damién leans back and makes a general inquiry to those present while sipping his port "Anyone care for a game of chess?
Angelica smiles at the compliment, and though there are quite some books that look interesting enough, she doesn't find one immediately worth reading.
When Damien suggests a game of chess with devils and demons Angelica seems a bit more enthusiastic.
"I haven't played chess in a while... should be fun to pass the time."
She takes a seat across from Damien in a large comfortable red leather chair and picks a few pieces up to study them.
"Nice craftsmanship. Our new friend has quite some resources getting these. It's commendable that he kept this hidden from Mithra's fanatics."
When they start to play, Angelica opens up her top a little further than needed. "So hot in here isn't it. Our host surely intends to keep us warm." She smiles innocently.
"I hope you will not be too hard on me Damien. I haven't played this game often. Though perhaps it is fun if we place a wager to keep things interesting? How about: the loser must obey one command of the winner?"
Raising an eyebrow with a playful grin, Damién nods at the Angelica's suggestion "Ooo, I like they way you think m'lady; a friendly wager it is then." Taking a sip from his port, Damién grabs one of the pawns beautifully sculpted to look like an imp and makes his first move.
The game goes on for quite some time, Damién realizing somewhat later in the game that his opponent his both more wily and intelligent than he had originally guessed. At a particularly critical moment in the game, Damién finds Angelica removing one of his knights; as she removes the piece from the board, Damién grins and looks up "Hmmm, well met Angelica... you had me thinking you were something of an amateur, but I can see you've played more than a few times." Taking a sip of his wine, Damién grins and leans back to survey the board before winking at his opponent "Alright now, with such a high stakes on the line, it's time to take the kid gloves off."