Rubins laughed amiably at Thrüsk's explanation, "I bet something like that has happened more often in history than anyone will admit."
Without any clue of the irony Rubins raises a toast to Alecia as she leaves, "Take care Alecia. I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening!"
"I noticed she didn't ask if you were going with her." Lucien says to Maxwell. "And what exactly did you mean by carve our own kingdom?"
Eris watches / follows Alecia (I guess?)
She stops short of following her into any isolated area's though.
After a few moments, Alecia kneels down in the soft grass and begins studying the ground.
She begins moving in the same direction that you went after you left the tent, and soon is heading directly toward you. She looks up when she comes near. "Oh, pardon me. Did you see a young woman pass by here not long ago?" she asks.
Gray begins looking exceptionally nervous at Alizee's attention. Blushing and flustered, he finally manages to get out, "Ah, well, um... I suppose we could... I guess... enjoy each other's company? Some more, I mean?" He nearly blanches when the eyes are turned his way. "Maybe, um, elsewhere?"
Thrusk laughs at Rubins' statement, nodding. He looks at his bottle, swirls its contents around. He frowns at it briefly, then sets it down.
Maxwell waves a hand toward the south, at least, he means for it to be toward the south. "These 'River Kingdoms' are all nothing like Taldor, Cheliax, or even Varisia, I would say. They're all little fingerholds of land, seized by petty tyrants or charismatic dictators. It's said anyone with a will and a measure of talent can carve out his own kingdom in these lands.
"Why not make your mark by naming yourself king? We've need of good allies. Do you think we trust King Irovetti? Daggermark? Mivon? Heh. They see us as upstarts and possible threats. But we're here to stay. Brevoy gave us our charter and some funds to get started. Maybe we're in the mood to do the same? Pass it along, as they say?"
"How long ago was this?" Eris asks casually, screwing up her face in mock concentration. "I haven't been here that long so I might have missed something. Do you have anything to narrow it down other than just 'a young woman'?"
"King! King?" Lucien is surprised, but quickly comes back to himself. "I knew I was good, but great enough that people want to crown me king? I didn't mean to do that to you."
Alizee giggles at Gray’s continues discomfort, but smiles a mischievous smile and tugs on his arm, leading him out of the tent and into the woods to the southeast of the festival grounds. As they move into the cover of the trees, she turns to face him as she walks slowly backwards, smiling deviously as she begins loosening the ties of her dress.
Before she is fully disrobed, she steps up to the man and begins kissing him with earnest and removing his own garments as well...
"King." Rubins let the word roll around his mouth, trying the feel of it out. He studied the light through his wine glass, enjoying the subtle play of light foe a moment before grinning at Maxwell, "Honestly can't imagine myself as a king. I think you'd be better at that then me! Still if we're staying in the area perhaps there's some other way of helping out..."
Alecia's mouth twists. "Human, dark hair, very pretty in a rather showy way. I think she likes to be noticed. And it would have been in the last ten minutes. See anyone like that?"
Before you're able to answer, a giggling couple emerges from the tent and heads off towards a copse of trees not far from the festival grounds. Alecia glances at them and rolls her eyes, then looks back to you for an answer.
Gray follows you to the trees, though he remains fairly nervous and awkward. It takes some effort to coax him to life, and it's not long before he begins apologizing for his performance.
Maxwell considers Rubins' offer. "Well, it would be nice if you were to win the Rushlight Tournament. Right now, you're in the lead. I could certainly think that a 'Varisian embassy' could be set up easily enough. You've shown yourselves to be capable, and interesting folk. Emeraldvale still has a lot of wilderness on its borders -- fey, mostly, but some other dangerous creatures like owlbears and hodags lurk in the deep woods. We like to take a hands-on approach, but as the whole business of running a kingdom takes more and more of our time, it'd be nice to have some other adventurers around to answer the call."
Yallah stares at Maxwell. "But what about--"
The dashing gentleman cuts her off gently. "Executive decision. We'll put it to the vote, but only if we know for sure they're interested. Okay?"
The gnome looks at Thrusk, who gives her a half-hearted shrug. She looks back at Maxwell and mimics the gesture.
Maxwell responds as if they've given unequivocal approval. "Excellent! What do you say?" he asks Rubins and Lucien.
"Since you've asked me directly, I have to say yes. I also, add that I absolutely look forward to it." Lucien smiles.
Eris makes a dismissive gesture. "I think I might have seen someone like that pass by. A Calistrian, right?" she responds, her eyes flicking towards the giggling couple curiously before flicking back to Alecia, giving her a suspicious look. "What's your interest in her?
Rubins glanced at Lucien before looking back at Maxwell, "You know the last thing I was expecting to find here was a job! Funny how things work out sometimes. Well lets give this a shot shall we?"
”Exactly what are you apologizing for?” Alizee asks. ”I had a good time. Did you?”
Alecia shrugs. "Calistrian? Good eye. Yes, she left a scarf behind; I was hoping to catch up to her to give it back."
"So, did you see where she went?"
Maxwell clasps his hands together. "Yes, excellent. I think there's a place in Stagshelm that'll be perfect. In that inn that we had to shut down a couple months ago because they were kidnapping people? What do you think?"
Yallah and Thrusk look at each other, then back to Maxwell. "Uh, Max, what about the vote?"
He finally slows down. "Oh, right. Well, we'll have to make it formal, won't we? Should we do it here? In Pitax?"
Thrusk facepalms, then wearily stands up. "Hey. Let's talk about this. Gray's out, so is Alecia. Come on. Let's wait for them to get back, and we can... deliberate." He turns to Rubins and Lucien. "Thanks again for the drinks. We'll be in touch."
Gray sputters. "Oh. Sorry! For apologizing. Sorry."
He flops back down on the bed of moss and leaves, staring up into the sky.
When egomania started getting the better of Maxwell, Rubins watched him very closely, this was extremely interesting.
Rubins glances at Maxwell and then back at Thrusk, "Well then, I bid you gentlemen a very good evening." He nodded at Yallah, "You too Ma'am. If you come to a decision, you'll know where to find us I'm sure."
He finished his drink and sighed to Lucien, "I suppose we should consider turning in."
Eris reflects. She was unsure if she had left anything behind but shrugged, not entirely concerned if she had. Either way, she was sure Alecia had ulterior motives and wasn't going to make it easy for her. "I saw her head off in that direction" Eris remarks, pointing to an area or path heavily used, to therefore slow down Alecia's tracking abilities.
Alecia winces as she looks at the hopeless task of trying to track in that direction. "Figures. Well, thanks," she says dejectedly.
She starts moving slowly, not bothering to look at the ground and instead hoping that plain luck would allow her to spot Raven. She doesn't take long before Maxwell, Yallah and Thrüsk exit the tent. She turns and jogs lightly to catch up with them. The four head toward their own pavilion.
Gray dithers a bit. "Oh, ah, well. I was just thinking... Ah, would you like to try, what we did before?"
He shakes his head. "I can't. Council business. That's all."
He rolls over and clumsily goes in for a kiss.
He sinks back. "Maybe? Some? I mean, do you trust me? 'Cause I just want to be sure, that's all. Is that so awful?"
She continues to work her hand as she talks to him. Once she sees his emotions are nearing their peak, she stops and adds, ”If you don’t trust me, though...”
Lucien seems to barely register Rubins' suggestion. "I'll be along shortly?" The question is more to Maxwell than to Rubins.
Eris takes the form of a humble servant/helper and heads over to Lucian and Rubins (after the others leave), pretending to ask if they needed anything further.
In reality, she informs them that Alecia is a werewolf, the information she had gleaned from her mind reading abilities.
Maxwell gives Lucien a wink over his shoulder as he exits. "I'll be waiting."
Gray deliriously moans beneath Alizee's touch. Dreamily, he mutters while poised on the brink,"Never trust the living."
Gray looks dejected, but doesn't move to stop her. He rolls over and turns his back to her and pulls on his own robe.
Still not looking at her, he chants a strange string of words. When he finishes, he slumps onto the ground, unmoving.
She catches the glimpse of a jagged black crystal in his hand just as she realizes he's just cast magic jar!
While in the magic jar, you can sense and attack any life force within 10 feet per caster level (and on the same plane of existence). You do need line of effect from the jar to the creatures. You cannot determine the exact creature types or positions of these creatures. In a group of life forces, you can sense a difference of 4 or more HD between one creature and another and can determine whether a life force is powered by positive or negative energy. (Undead creatures are powered by negative energy. Only sentient undead creatures have, or are, souls.)
Silence is the only response that Alenaya gets, leaving her to conclude that Gray is still within the magic jar, and is incapable of hearing her or responding.
You move away and are able to get clear.
Alenaya returns to the tent, half-naked.
"Had a good time?" Eris remarks in urban amusement, still in her servant attire as she notices Alenaya return half naked.
Alenaya doesn’t seem to care about her state of undress. She is clearly angry, though. ”He tried to possess my mind! Tried to force his soul into my body and take it over. To what end, I don’t know, and looking back on it, he might have done it once before. But I caught him in the act this time!”
She has a seat next to Eris and grabs a bunch of grapes off the table. She frustratedly picks one off and begins chewing it. ”Didn’t even have the decency to let me get my kicks. Gets a girl all reved up and then leaves her hanging!” she looks to Eris and a devious smirk paints itself on her face. ”But I suppose the feeling is mutual this time. I didn’t let him have his fun, either,” she adds with a snicker.
”But he is most definitely a necromancer. It was a necro spell he tried to use on me, and he muttered something about ‘Never trust the living.’ And I know a way to protect ourselves from his little trick if we need to later.”
"We have to address this, but how can we use it to our advantage? Perhaps we could play up the 'we've heard rumors about his unusual appetites' angle. Show concern and sympathy. Act like he's a friend with a problem that no one speaks about."
Kage fumed inwardly upon hearing the news. Rather concerned he asked, "I wonder if they know? Might explain the sudden change in Alecia." He paused before adding firmly, "No. My cover story was too outlandish for her and I can't seriously imagine the others would have dinner with us if they did."
Kage listened to Jon-Wyn and his evil brain kicked into top gear, "I bet he's done this before hasn't he, depraved little f*****. Let's go digging. If we uncover enough scurrilous evidence, real or otherwise, they'll have no option but to turn on him. If they don't go for it, we kill grey and frame Maxwell."
”I considered giving that f%#*ing gem his soul was in out of range of his spell and letting the little prick die in there. Would serve him right for trying to steal my body....” Alenaya mutters as she eats another grape.
"Calm." Jon says.... calmly. "Focus on the Ritual. We made a pact and all we do must be to the benefit of that. Now if Gray were to die because no one found him, that's on him, but If we go them like concerned friends trying to help them keep their secrets, they may trust us."
"If possible, Alenaya, you may finish Gray and take some time in doing so."
"Do we want to do this tonight or tomorrow when next we see them?"
Kage was curious, "How do suppose such a conversation should go? 'We're a bit worried about Grey, he tried to trap Alize's soul. Don't worry no hard feelings, but it's not exactly normal, maybe he needs help?' Do you think they'd believe that? Or was there another angle you had in mind?"
Jon sighed as he let the sarcasm wash over him. "Something like that, but more victim trying to not believe that a good friend could do something like that. More looking for an excuse or reason and willing to help"
”However you wanna swing it, feel free. But me being there will not end well. Sure, I could probably keep up the charade of a scared victim, but only so far. Then I’d wanna shove a vial of Lotus Extract down his throat!” she says as she squeezes a grape in her fist, the juice splattering on her thigh.
”And you’re damned right I’m gonna take my time. When this goes down, we subdue and gag that prick, and then leave him to me. And don’t any one of you try and interfere. It won’t be pretty. It won’t be quick. And he’ll be begging to be made ‘trustworthy’ by the time I’m done. And then, when he is begging for death, I’ll let him linger a while more. Maybe an hour. Maybe a day...but he will suffer before I let him lapse into the Boneyard.”