Surprisingly, perhaps shockingly, Mag is being truthful. There is no mischief or deception in her body language or words. The prospect of being freed from the chronic pain that has wracked her for so long is simply too good to risk casting aside with her usual criminal behavior.
What's more, Mag harbors no doubt that the Betony court would make good on threats to execute her. She doesn't know who would do the deed - the knightly iron maiden, the mixed-blood strongarm, or the cut-throat houseboy - but she trusts that they would perform the grim duty with aplomb.
Olivia's read upon the sentenced woman is clear: she dares not even swipe a single spoon from the silverware whilst under your custodianship.
Dro'gan departs in the night to scout out Moost, and early on the following morning a handful of carts arrive from Baron Okerra. A small team of laborers come bearing lumber and tools to aid with renovations around Stachys. They arrive at the manor door seeking out Lady Betony for instruction.
"Alright Mags, check in with Lady Photine first thing in the morning and at the end of the evening to inform her your are present. You are on your honor to remain here overnight."
When Olivia comes to tell Amandine to laborers have arrived, she finds Bartolo and brings him along to greet them. She leaves them under Bartolo's instruction since he is the one who has surveyed the condition of the village and best knows where their work is needed.
Amandine quickly gathers Calix and their luggage for the trip to Moost.
By the time Bartolo strolls down the hill to set the newly arrived laborers upon their tasks, he finds their ranks have somewhat swollen. Every able-bodied resident of Stachys - and even some of the more infirm ones who are nonetheless desperate for work - line up to offer their own services. Whatever work is to be done, if there are coppers or even silver to be earned, they are ready.
Your carriage carries you, again, along the twisting road east and then north, past Lauchlein Lake and the Brashen Deeps. At the fork of the Dalaston Highway and the North Cassomir Highway you find Lotheedar, the county's capital, largest town, and hub of both commerce and culture.
The town sits on the banks of Lake Stavian and supports a variety of industries, from timber and brewing to trade and smithing. In the distance, you can dimly make out the Palace of Birdsong upon the rolling hills between the town and the forest. Nearer at hand, the building in town that first catches your eye is a sizeable temple, its gilded roof catching the fading light of afternoon. It certainly looks to be the largest temple in the county.
|
Lidia drives the carriage to the town of Lotheedar. She immediately identifies the temple, which for her is always the most telling building in any settlement.
"Merchants." Lidia says, with a tone of indifference. She mentions that the priests of the Guardian of the First Vault could potentially heal Mag, though of course at a price. "They aren't the generous sort." She says.
Of course. I should have known better. I need to find a way to pay more attention.
Amandine doesn't override Calix's complaints. She feels the pang of guilt that seems to come more often lately. Not long ago she would not have made any decision without talking with him beforehand.
"Alright" She tells Calix. "If Lady Photine doesn't mind, you may stay here rather than going to Moost. I'll talk with her as soon as I can. There is a condition though. You must be helpful while the rest of us are gone. That means you proactively ask Lady Photine how you can be helpful. Don't wait around until she comes asking for something. Do we have a deal?"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Amandine has no fondness for Abadar's people. "It's a pity" she murmurs when Olivia points out the temple's affiliation.
"We will see what other options there might be first. But if there are no others, we have have to try to deal with them. It's important."
She feels more pressure now than before the trial. She hadn't expected Mags to also place her hopes on a cure. Amandine hasn't the slightest idea if such a cure is even possible.
Calix excitedly shakes his head, eagerly agreeing to his sister's offer. The shift in his mood is a night and day difference, as the young boy is relieved to be staying behind. Even if counterbalanced by a promise to help Lady Photine, he still looks forward to getting to explore and roam the estate grounds.
.....
As soon as your carriage rolls into town, a couple coppers earns you information from the locals. They speak quite highly of the temple leader, Archbanker Lady Paril. They also mention a local midwife, Miss Imelia, and a barber by the name of Barthek as other medical options.
Almost without provocation, the passing residents also recommend Lotheedar's most popular tavern, the Count's Cravat.
While in Lotheedar, Greenly volunteers to stay by Amandine "for your, like, protection," further explaining it would look suspicious for the Betony heiress to travel without her bodyguard close behind. Being able to harry and annoy Amandine is just a plus.
Amidst the day's errands, Greenly finds time to gossip with her fans from the joust. "And the trick is, you gotta just, like, know your opponent. Like, when I fought the Lady Lidia, I knew she, was like, into me or whatever, so I winked at her. Can't see little things like that from the stands, now can you?"
Time permitting, she picks up a tin of her favorite chew
In the local marketplace, Greenly actually finds an importer who sells a variety of chew blends at fair market prices. Apparently, her taste is shared by at least a few residents or visitors of Lotheedar. As she shops, she finds a small crowd gathered to listen to her stories. They hang upon her words as she browses the tins.
In the marketplace, Olivia also finds no shortage of residents with minor wounds and conditions that they can't quite afford to have treated. As Olivia offers her simple ministrations, she earns not just respect but a font of information from the people who line up.
You learn that the Archbanker is greatly admired if only for being a counterbalancing force to Sir Gul Gusairne. He has served as the Lotheed family's seneschal for two decades, and over that time he has developed a reputation as a strict enforcer. He is also widely acknowledged as the head of the count's "secret police" that ferrets out suspected dissent and conspiracy against the Lotheeds.
"If not for Lady Paril's steadying hand, Gul would've become a full-on tyrant years ago."
The crowd member's assertion earns a chorus of heads nodding in quiet agreement, although a few also look around nervously, as though the seneschal might be listening around any corner.
"You know what I think?" another local whispers to Olivia. "Lady Paril would be a kinder, fairer leader than the count's half-elf attack dog."
|
|
"You're probably right." Lidia whispers back. She thanks everyone for their help, eventually returning to Amandine to relay the news.
"It seems like the Archbanker isn't that bad. She's standing up against Gul Gusairne, who seems to be silencing dissenters. The folk here seem to really like her, but they're scared. I'm used to Abadarians being under the thumb of the government, but perhaps this Lady Paril could be Gusairne's Peril."
"Well you can hardly expect them to do something only out of the kindness of their hearts, madame.", Bartolo retorts at the jibe at the Abadarites. "Their tenets make it so it's at the very least reliable, and their terms understandable. Were it anyone else providing services that nobody else does, they'd skin the common folk the skin on their backs for a simple poultice, and force anyone else out.", he reasons. "That said, they aren't cheap, and an alternative would be preferable - assuming, of course, it's not some snake oil!"
Finding himself a comfortable spot with good acoustics in the Count's Cravat, Bartolo spends little time to get a flagon of beer in his belly and start gesticulating wildly. "Hear ye, hear ye!", he roars in the tavern in a jovial voice, before raising his lute in the air, and strumming on the chords.
"I'd like to raise a glass, or a flagon, to my new benefactors.", he says, before taking a hand to the lute's strings. "I've travelled long, and travelled far. I've mostly, however, travelled drunk!", he shares, before clearing his throat. "But I've rarely seen a group as devoted to their lands, their people and the pursuit of what is right than the Ladies Betony of Stachys."
Waving his hand aside, he gestures towards the flagon, and furrows his brow. "But all that aside. We may be drinking for their health, but we also should be drinking!"
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I happen to believe that if everyone found the kindness within their hearts and acted upon it without need of payment, that this world would rival the bounty of Heaven itself. But do not think me mad for wishing. I see few who truly share this view, and while I hope for better, I have come to expect far less." She replies with a seething silver tongue.
Bartolo's efforts result in one of the most raucous nights the Count's Cravat has ever seen; to the owner's joy, it also proves to be one of the tavern's most profitable. While most of the patrons will leave with thundering hangovers, more than a few will also harbor a budding appreciation for the county's new noblewomen. Of course, that progress is small compared to the number of friends, and the gregarious reputation, that Bartolo comes away with.
"Bah! As far as dreams go, Lady Espinosa, yours is the most beautiful of all, and I applaud you for it.", the man raises his hands in surrender. "I'm merely a cynical realist, and all too often I've seen that even when one gives all their heart, and it the end of their journey, needs still beckon them." Bartolo pauses his eyes on the paladin.
"Unlike the Heavens, we're too oft beset by problems outside of our own make, and unlike them, too, there's fair few more demons, devils and bloodsuckers in our midst." He purses his lips. "And hence, while I'd never refuse help when I can give it, I'd much rather help a man learn to fish than go fish in his stead! Deeds, not intentions, are what we ought to be judged on!"
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Still I disagree, but I understand and sympathize with your conclusion. You have received wounds in return of your favours." Olivia replies tenderly, before her face stiffens. "But intentions must also be judged, because there are many evil people, diplomats and senators, who pretend to give to the less fortunate solely to consolidate their power, or simply to show themselves above the masses. But their words and deeds are hollow and manipulative. They will go on to create far more harm than the empty good they tease.
"Helping a man learn to fish is a great gift, but do you think healers teach magic and bandaging instead of tending to the wounds? If the man were starving such that he could not walk, would you still try to teach him to fish? Would you teach the poor to invest, when they cannot buy bread? Quick and short-term selflessness is still good and essential. It is not lesser in any way."
Olivia pauses for a second to keep her composure. Then continues
"We must seek out those demons, devils, and bloodsuckers. Outsider and human alike, who intend evil. Only then will we be able to give without being taken advantage of. But if my charity and kind nature becomes my downfall, I shall readily accept that fate, rather than live a long and selfish life. Hopefully my fall will inspire others to have faith, and see that there is good, and stand up against the evil that threatens it."
By this point, Olivia has tears in her eyes, and her voice trembles and fails her. So stalwart she is in her belief, that she can barely contain her emotions.
"You both make respectable arguments, but I would more readily agree with you, good lady."
Turning around, Olivia and Bartolo find themselves approached by a woman clad in the gold-fringed robe of a priest, with a golden key - which Olivia can immediate identify as the holy symbol of Abadar - hanging from her neck.
"I don't suppose you would happen to be one of the Ladies Betony?" she asks Olivia. "I heard that their party were making merry at the Cravat, and I wanted to introduce myself. I am Archbanker Paril of the church of Abadar."
|
|
Lidia is pretty startled, with tears dripping down her cheeks as she meets the Archbanker. "Oh, no, I'm just a... a knight in her service. I will lead you to Lady Betony. Please, this way."
When she arrives to wherever Amandine had been, she says
"My Lady, may I introduce the very reverend Madam Paril, Archbanker of the church of Abadar. Madam Paril, this is my Lady Amandine Betony, of Stachys."
Amandine arrives from dropping off a note only a few minutes after Paril. After introductions by Olivia, Amandine greets the cleric.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Archbanker Peril. It's also very fortunate for us. We were hoping we would be able to see you today. There's an affair in Stachys I would like to discuss with you. It has both legal and medical aspects to it."
"Likewise, it is a pleasure to meet you, as well. I am also pleased that you've deigned to approach me about your demesne. For you see, I wished to make your acquaintance not just as a performance of my formal duties, but because I've hoped to raise the other villages in the county to a success commensurate with Lotheedar. Sadly, I've long heard Stachys' name used as a fearful watchword for neglect and decay. I hope we can work together to turn the village's fortunes around."
Lady Paril listens intently as Amandine and the party share Stachys' situation, particularly the recent legal proceedings surrounding Lucina Mag.
"You have impressed me, Lady Betony," Lady Paril says with a wan smile. "Your adjudication of justice may well deserve to be a model for other noble landowners. Addressing the root cause of a criminal's recidivism? Inspired!"
As the conversation proceeds, the archbanker proposes an arrangement. She would be willing to visit Stachys and cure Mag's chronic pain as recompense for a favor.
"Two of my acolytes, quite worryingly, have seemed to vanish," she explains quietly. "Their names are Mise and Maladus. I dispatched them almost a fortnight ago to investigate the silence from Jambis, another town suffering from hard times.
"I know they planned to take the southern highway because, along the way, they were also to deliver a handful of books to Stachys. I have heard nothing back from them. I'm not sure whether they even made it to Stachys, but I was hoping you could inquire among your residents about their whereabouts."
"I wholeheartedly agree about the wickendness around us! And that is why I'm here, working to stop the very same people, Lady Espinosa, instead of discussing politics in the tavern.", Bartolo concurs, before pausing, and crossing his gaze with Olivia's. "Madam, you make me proud to be your compatriot and your companion. Though I'd rather you didn't fall for a long time yet, as Taldor needs people of your cut."
-------
"With you, that makes three of us hoping that I'm wrong!", Bartolo replies as he bows towards the Archbanker, rising up with a radiant grin. Listening to the negotiations with a semi-quiet bout of 'hrms' and muttered 'of course's, the man rubs his beard at the request. The thief's well-being as a favour is a bad trade if I've seen one. But the highways being safe and the good graces of Lothedaar - that is an excellent outcome.
"I'd say good folk disappearing around Stachys merits an look on its own, Archbanker.", he adds, giving Amandine a nod to indicate his eagerness to help. "And I certainly wouldn't mind a visit to see what's the cause of Jambis' reticence to respond."
Having stuck by Amandine's side all day for appearances, Greenly drops the bodyguard act when they head to the bar to party with Bartolo. She drinks more than her fill, socializing and gossiping with fans.
Archbanker Paril does not expect you to drop everything and immediately search for her acolytes. Rather than recruiting a party of uncouth adventurers, she recognizes that she is instead asking a favor of a noblewoman and her coterie. Thus, she understands if it must wait until after tea with Dame Crabbe.
While socializing at the Cravat, Greenly finds the locals all too eager to share stories and rumors.
"Baron Tellus stopped tending to his duties and lets his townsfolk loot as they please. It's disgraceful!" howls one of the tavern's patrons. "Count Lotheed should've stepped in and put a stop to this years ago, but I guess he doesn't care so long as Telus' little bandit army leaves his lands alone."
Jambis was once a prosperous trading town and the heart of the Tellus Barony, but now it's almost entirely abandoned. Most of its residents scattered, with some of them founding the squatters' settlement of New Towne.
You also recall what Alista, aka Purple Finch, told you during the Tanager Jubilee: many people attribute Baron Tellus' dereliction and Jambis' ensuing decay to a curse placed upon him by an offended witch. Jambis is seen as a blight upon the county, having fallen even further than Stachys, and serving as a base for bandits purportedly working for the reclusive baron.
Archbanker Paril is far more pleasant and affable than Amandine has expected.
"You're very kind Archbanker Paril. We are trying to do the best we can in circumstances that are very unfamiliar to us. Your approval is very encouraging."
"We certainly will look into the whereabouts of your acolytes as soon as our visit with Dame Crabbe is over. If we cannot locate them in Stachys, we will look in Jambis as well."
You rise at the break of dawn to ensure you are not late for afternoon tea - surely an offense Dame Crabbe would never forgive!
The road is long but surprisingly smooth, as the North Cassomir Highway is far better maintained than other routes in the county. Along the way you pass the Void Wood, which is Meratt's largest remaining forest. Thankfully, no swarm of beggars or bandits, nor any more winged beasts fly out to meet you on the road and you pass unmolested.
Eventually you crest one last hill and Moost comes into view beyond, cradled by small lakes and cranberry bogs. Moost is a humble hamlet of perhaps 50 residents that has grown up adjacent to the Crabbe estate, and by comparison even the small town of Lotheedar seems more like a metropolis.
Just out of direct sight of the town, down the road approaching Moost, Dro'gan will will be found napping underneath a shady tree wearing his travel clothes. Seeing the carriage approaching, Dro'gan will hail it, tie up Bartolo's horse to the back and then settle inside with a welcome sigh of relief.
"Cushioned seats are so much more comfortable than a horse's backside. Well, my Ladies...and Gentleman...my trip proved fruitful. I have some interesting news of Moost and the Dame Crabbe. More importantly, of her daughter."
Pausing for dramatic effect, he then continues once all eyes were on him.
"This last season or so, the Dame's daughter had a fiancee. He 'suddenly' took his own life, and I think this is at least part of the reason the young lady is so easily hesitant with suitors. PLEASE NOTE: While Moost is well off now, the people here do worry about the Crabbe family and its heir. They want to see her with a suitable offspring to continue the line. Now...the important part of this story is it does not seem to me that the fiancee had any reason to kill himself. That means foul play of some sort in my experience. The question is...was the Dame involved? An outside party? The Daughter herself? Some ideas seem more likely to lean on this, but I tend to keep my mind open. The simplest answers are the most likely, but they are never the answer at all times when it comes to death and possible murder of nobility. The man had complained in some letters I found, to his family about needing more money. To impress the Dame I assume, but his language seemed haughty and arrogant about it. Such narcissistic people are rarely suicidal I think, but I'm no expert either. Strangely enough, details about the suicide itself are sketchy too. His method of was not well known, although most suggest he hanged himself. It seems the local constabulary locked down the situation quite quickly before the gossips and fishwives got much information. Boy, does this town like to gossip! Hold onto your ears in Moost! They will talk them off quite quickly with all the verbal hullabaloo that goes around here."
He waves a hand in a gesture of supplication, then hands over the letters he found in the man's house.
"This information could be used in many ways. We could try and blackmail the Dame, although I would not suggest it. She seems the decent sort and the kind you want on your side of things, not against you. However, if she were a murderer or hired one, justice may need to prevail too. Right, Lady Olivia? Also, we could use this to help with the Daughter mayhaps...but how exactly eludes me at the moment. I need more information before I can assess everything properly."
With that he shaves and cleans himself up with several Prestidigitation spell uses, then changes into his garb for portraying the Butler/Footman 'Gandro.' He then leans back to relax in the remaining comfort he can manage and lets the others discuss his findings.
|
|
Olivia listens intently to Drogan's description of events.
"Yes, justice does demand an answer, though I'm still more focused on Sepsinia's health. If we can solve what happened to her fiance, it may provide closure. She may be mourning his loss, perhaps even suspecting foul play. Oh, to be forced to live with that kind of knowledge, while your mother sends you out to any man that claims nobility. We must do something."
Olivia has dressed herself in courtier's clothing, with the appropriate jewelry. She decides to keep Koriana's blade at her hip.
Dro'gan nods and smiles, pulling his traveling hat down over his eyes to shade the sunlight out.
"That would be my conclusion too, but I'm not in charge. I investigate and advise, then I do what I'm told. However, we may face an unusual set of circumstances with this and we do not know what happened for certain: The cad may have attempted something too forward with the lady and she was forced to defend herself? Then her mother cleaned up the mess? Almost anything is possible...and the man may have just killed himself too. I don't know for certain yet, but I intend to try and find out if I can."
Greenly greedily eats up the gossip Dro'gan shares, giggling here and there whenever Sepsinia's lover is mentioned. "I hope we can, like, bring light and cheer to that poor lady."
She wears a plain and simple gold dress, keeping her ancestral blade by her side.
Looking out from under the brim of his hat, Dro'gan watches the Lady Olivia walk away...appreciatively...and doesn't comment out loud.
Greenly busies herself by yawing on tobacco and watching an ioun stone flit around her head, oblivious to the world around her
Dro'gan's summary contains all the details that he has collected, pertinent to the mystery surrounding Sepsinia and her late suitor. One other tidbit of nebulous relation is the state of the Crabbe family's conservatory. Parthena is the latest Crabbe to tutor young musicians and dancers in Moost, and Sepsinia's departed suitor - whose name was Opilio - was, in fact, one of Dame Crabbe's students. However, ever since Dame Crabbe lost her husband to cancer some years back, her interest in teaching has waned, and the conservatory takes in fewer students each year.
Additionally, Dro'gan has identified an interesting landmark in Moost apart from the Crabbe estate. Despite its small size, the village hosts the largest and most comfortable coaching house along the North Cassomir Highway. While its proper name is the Gilded Lily, the locals who patronize it endearingly refer to the establishment as the Bog House.
Once rejoined by Dro'gan, the party's carriage continues down the highway, closing the last few quarter-miles between you and Moost.
The sky is heavy and gray, threatening rain.
The locals eagerly watch as your carriage rumbles through Moost; they already look to be fermenting the speculations about who could be calling upon the Crabbe house and for what purpose.
You are spared a downpour for now. The overcast sky hangs like a mourning veil upon the Crabbe estate, blotting out the noontime sun, but no rain falls yet. Your carriage grinds to a halt before the house's entrance, surmounted by an arching balcony.
Based upon your impression of the noblewoman from the Jubilee, one could have reasonably expected Dame Parthena Crabbe to erupt from the front door in a riot of taffeta and lace, gushing an exaggerated welcome. Instead, the door gently creaks open and the noblewoman carefully takes the stairs down from the porch, holding up the hem of her simple day dress with one hand while shouldering an unopened parasol in the other.
"Welcome, welcome!" she calls out before reining in her voice, suddenly all too aware of the sing-song tone that slipped out. "I'm so glad the pall of this simply dreadful weather didn't scare you away. I daresay that I've been quite looking forward to this tea date."
Greenly smiles to see the Dame Crabbe, genuinely happy to see the woman.
"Afternoon Miss Parthy," she says with a curtsy. "We wouldn't miss this for, like, the world."
Jumping out before arriving in view of the estate, Dro'gan hitches a ride on the footman's step from the carriage's back. Thoroughly wet and bedraggled by the time they approach the front door, Gan'dro hops down into the mud with gusto in order to open the carriage properly for the riders and announce the people inside to the Dame.
"Dame Crabbe! I bring forth the Lady-Sisters Betony of Stachys for the appointed hour! May they approach?"
He then holds the carriage door open and offers his hand to those inside as they step forth as a good butler/footman should/would.
Unfortunately, he stumbles a bit in the road and manages to cover most of his pants with glistening mud before he manages to open the door.
Dame Crabbe winces at both Greenly's nickname for her and Gan'dro's messy stumble, but she holds her tongue and does not call attention to them.
"I've had the guest rooms prepared for you since it would be absolutely ghoulish to simply throw you back on the road after tea, especially not with the weather about to turn."
She turns back to the still open door behind her, and with a gesture she summons her own footman.
"Fernand can guide your footman around the side to the servants' quarters and help him get cleaned up so he can attend to you properly."
Albeit by different entrances, you are thus ushered into the Crabbe house to freshen up from the long trip before setting down to tea.
Greenly shares plenty of gossip with the Dame Crabbe, mentioning everything she has heard about Jambis and the Beggarwood and making clear her displeasure with the way things are being run, but in a, like, "I or my Ladies Betony could, like, run these so much better than them Barons Telus and Okerra," way and decidedly not in a "that Count up there sucks" way.
Bowing at the gracious Dame's words, 'Gandro' waits outside until he is led off to the servants entrance. Once in the servants' area, apologizing for dirtying their doorstep, Dro'gan will try and get a careful feel for the servants and their general attitudes with the Crabbes.
"Could I borrow some decent attire for the evening? I can wash my things later this evening for the morrow, I just want to be handy ASAP in case the Ladies Betony need me..."
using my once/day racial trait re-roll...