After a few minutes of waiting for Talia to answer the door, Silarsha walks away Guess she's still asleep.
As she heads off away from the door, she looks to the servant hanging around nearby;
"I'll just ask Heverly or Charmaine. Show me to wherever they might be."
Talia leaves Thorn's office with another small bow of her head, and walks with the others in contemplative silence, until she reaches her door. "Good night," she says absently, walking in. She is surprised to see her servant still standing at the ready, and has him bring her a pitcher of cool water and fresh nightclothes. After he is sent away, Talia drifts into a dreamful sleep.
She sleeps soundly all night and a good part of the morning, shedding the exhaustion of the previous night. The tension built up after weeks of shackled transport is another thing entirely, and she suspects it will take several days before she recovers fully from that ordeal. When she does rouse, the mishmash of fevered dreams run together, and she can scarcely make sense of them. However, though she is unable to explain it she has a unshakeable sense that she had been holding a conversation with someone - or something - while she slept.
"It would!" Charmaine agrees. "I better get going now, I've got some things to check on. See you both around!"
After bidding the duo farewell, she will head off to find Grumblejack and maybe someone else to talk to. Maybe the big guy in the greatsword wants to work together too!
Wocket is immediately wary of making 'friends'. That's the kind of naiveté that got her caught in the first place. That doesn't mean she can't make nice. She shares some information about the escape, considering the evidence of her recent incarceration is still scabbing over on her face.
She considered altering it, staring into the mirror in her room on the second night. Cold iron didn't effect gnomes the way it did fey, but it would leave a bold scar. In the end, she decided against self-mutilation, corrective though it may have been. She does, however, put the Branderscar key onto a thong to wear it around her neck beside the silver symbol of Asmodeus.
As the days wear on with training, Wocket probes Trik for all the hidden truths he's willing to share about her long-hidden patron, Asmodeus, assuming quite firmly that he is a cleric of Asmodeus. It's exciting to hear about Him in such positive contexts, and from such a warm perspective as Trik's.
---
When Charmaign addresses the group, Wocket is skeptical. "I'm not familiar with enchanted items, will this last more than a few minutes? I'm no illusionist, but the spells I've seen last ten or twenty minutes. Enough for a show, sure, but what if we're stuck in a carriage for an hour?"
After a few minutes of waiting for Talia to answer the door, Silarsha walks away Guess she's still asleep.
As she heads off away from the door, she looks to the servant hanging around nearby;
"I'll just ask Heverly or Charmaine. Show me to wherever they might be."
** spoiler omitted **
Heverly, as soon as she has the iron circlet sits down and examines it. She casts her spell on it and studies it trying to pull all of its secrets out. I trust Cardinal Thorn . . . but just in case.
Elise and Trik both attend "Genevieve's" first performance. Trik cheers loudly at the end, while Elise claps politely. None of the other Ravens attend any of her performances.
As she crosses the hallway, Silarsha sees Charmaine walking towards her.
"Charmaine! I need your help with something. I'm not from this cursed place, I don't know what's normal here, I literally was in chains less than a day after first setting foot on this damn island.
I prefer larger weapons, but as we are wanted, I don't want to stand out as the only person in the land with a big axe slung over my shoulder.
You know this place, what bigger weapons would be more common for me to carry? "
When Charmaign addresses the group, Wocket is skeptical. "I'm not familiar with enchanted items, will this last more than a few minutes? I'm no illusionist, but the spells I've seen last ten or twenty minutes. Enough for a show, sure, but what if we're stuck in a carriage for an hour?"
Heverly shakes her head "No, there's no time limit on these circlets. These are very nice gifts. They can appear as anything you want, including different hairstyles, as well as changing your own appearance." Despite talking about it, Heverly, in her Genevieve disguise, refuses to take hers off. Despite the fact that the White Ravens are nowhere in sight.
Later upon receiving her desired equipment, Silarsha happily tries on the circlet. Her face twists into an expression of fierce concentration, and immediately after her hair darkens from blonde to brown, her pale skin darkens slightly, and she looks at least 4 inches shorter, and even thinner than before. The circlet, now appearing to be a simple silver hair clip gleams in her darker hair.
"I love it. I can blend in with this!"
"Ha! It'll take more than a change to your looks for you to fit in!" Charmaine jabs playfully at Silarsha. "Whatever language you speak sometimes might turn some heads. You should teach it to me some time!" The possibilities with these circlets are endless! I could even be them... Now isn't that useful?
"Once we get a task of some sort, we should plan a con or something! I have quite the knack for being a human child, a family new to town would be sssoooooo easy!" she suggets.
Charmaine raises an eyebrow at Silarsha. A big weapon? That alone is going to draw attention, especially on a woman. Mitran misogyny is legendary. "Well, to be honest, unless you are a soldier or guard, I don't think anyone would expect you to be carrying around a large weapon, at least in a town or something. That said, I don't think anyone would be so concerned if a group of travelers were armed and I suppose a really big sword would be innocuous enough," she theorizes to the Ulfen woman. Looking unarmed and pitiful has got me far, but I guess everyone has their own strategies for survival.
________
She nods at Charmaine's advice.
"So it's not common, but a big sword might not stand out as much as other options. Okay, I've got an idea that should work for that. Thanks for the advice!"
She then heads off to work on her list.
"Once we get a task of some sort, we should plan a con or something! I have quite the knack for being a human child, a family new to town would be sssoooooo easy!" she suggets.
Heverly smiles wide at Charmaine, "That, my dear, sounds like an excellent idea."
Talia cleans herself up and asks the servant outside to bring her some ale and a small ham for breakfast. When she's finished, she leaves the wish list of items on her dirty dishes for the servant to collect.
She spends the remaining hours of the morning exploring the allowed places in this manor, ultimately returning to the garden area. She finds a secluded spot and begins her daily calisthenics; after some time, she shifts from a physical workout to a kinetic one. She practices shifting soil in the garden to create intricate and challenging patterns, then lifts half a dozen stones and sets them orbiting about in various ways.
When she finishes, she notices Trak standing nearby. Was he watching me? She glides over, still sweaty, and asks him, "Did you like what you saw?" assuming he bites at the opportunity for conversation, she introduces herself and jumps in.
----
Talia smiles at Charmaine's enthusiasm. The devices were indeed quite potent, and would no doubt prove very useful. She focuses her mind and changes her appearance to look like a prim and proper red-headed noblewoman, with a fancy netting holding her hair up. She examines herself in the nearby mirror, making slight adjustments and corrections as she does so. Noticing others' eyes on her, she turns and explains: "The daughter of the nobleman who held - or still holds, I guess - the land my parents still work. She was aloof and cruel - but thankfully too aloof to spend much time being cruel."
Trak looks at Talia, a blank expression on his face, "It's something I've not seen before. How do you do that?" His eyes flick to the stones beyond, then back to Talia.
As Talia introduces herself, Trak nods, "You can call me Trak." Trak is taciturn but polite as he speaks with Talia, rarely speaking without some sort of prompt. When it comes time to leave, he gives a small nod and turns to walk away with no other preamble.
Once her supplies are ordered, Silarsha sets herself to learning her way around the grounds.
While wandering about she comes across the large Raven with the ever present greatsword.
"Hey there. That's a fine looking blade there. Seems well balanced I'm Silarsha, what's your name? "
"Well met, Trak. I'm Talia," she says with a grin; as she does so, she thrusts her palms down, and all of the stones fall to the earth with a series of dull thuds. "I don't quite know why I know how to do it; it's something I picked up from my father. I've never met anyone who can do the same things, at least, not the way I do it. You just kind of feel the rock, I guess." She finishes with a shrug.
She prods him gently about his group and what he does , before taking her leave for the moment.
She seeks out "Genevieve" later, finding her in the hallway after one of her dances, and beckons her aside. "Gen, may I call you that? I wanted to ask you before, but of course we were in the middle of a prison break - not ideal for a chat. Anyway, I was curious, what did Tiadora say to you when she called you out of your cell and gave you the veil? Did you know her before all of this?" Talia meanders a little as she talks, as though unsure of how to broach the subject of their benefactors while under their roof.
Charmaine is strolling through the yard when she spies Silarsha talking to the person she was looking for. Not wanting to butt in on their conversation, she takes a seat nearby and just listens. Of course, they are talking about big swords. Just signed some sort of infernal pact, but yeah, a sharp piece of metal is obviously the thing to talk about right now.
________
Genevieve nods, "After what we've been through together, Talia, yes. You may call me Gen. As for Tiadora, no I did not know her before she came to visit, though she pretended such when she talked to me. Truthfully she said little more than what I conveyed to you. She would not speak of Cardinal Thorn at all other than to say that someone wanted to meet with us. I assume that she did not want us to be able to tell anything should we have failed in our escape attempts." Gen gives a shudder at that thought. She then reaches a hand out to Talia, and speaks in a low voice, "Why do you ask? Is there something worrying you?"
Dotson looks down at Silarsha and grunts, "Yes, she treats me well," he says, patting the sword to indicate what he's talking about. "Dotson," he says with no explanation, simply standing and waiting as if this were a normal answer. He shifts a little from one foot to another, as if unsure in this situation.
"Nice to meet you Dotson. Have your crew been here long?"
She continues on, not noticing his unease.
Dotson shakes his head, "No," he says, then falls silent.
Oh. Us neither. Well, thanks I guess. I've got to go
anyway, but we'll talk later I'm sure.
Finally picking up that Dotson isn't the most talkative person, she lets him of the hook, and heads off.
Later when her new gear is delivered, she'll head back to her room where she'll organize and set up her new gear. Once finished, she'll start reading the book on Asmodean theology provided by Cardinal Thorn.
Oh. Us neither. Well, thanks I guess. I've got to go
anyway, but we'll talk later I'm sure.
Finally picking up that Dotson isn't the most talkative person, she lets him off the hook, and heads off.
Later when her new gear is delivered, she'll head back to her room where she'll organize and set up her new gear. Once finished, she'll start reading the book on Asmodean theology provided by Cardinal Thorn.
The days come and go, with perhaps far too much sluggishness, but eventually they do pass. On the evning of the third day, you are summoned again as a group to Cardinal Thorn's office.
When you arive, Cardinal Thorn sits in his chair, looking thoughtfully out a window. He turns as you enter, "Have you enjoyed your gifts? The iron circlets allow you to move amongst your enemies as one of them. The silver amulets will remind you of your true loyalties. And the other items – well, you need them now."
"You have done well to escape from Branderscar and to accept my offer. However, you are still not ready for my service. Tiadora will lead you to the basement of this domicile. There you will find nine chambers each more dangerous than the last. Somewhere hidden within these chambers is a pendant of silver and sapphire. Recover the pendant and bring it to me. Let nothing and no one stand in your way."
He stands up and turns back to the manor house window, looking out across the grey moor. "It’s almost dusk. You have until dusk tomorrow to bring me my prize. Do not fail me." Cardinal Thorn takes a seat at his desk.
Tiadora arrives right on cue. "This way," is all she says.
Tiadora leads the group to a set of stairs. "Below you will find the Nine Lessons." She stands there for a moment longer, but gives no further explanation.
A set of stone stairs leads down, through an archway. Inscribed upon the archway are these words: “Deception is a tool. Self-deception is death. Deceive always thy enemy but never thyself.”
Wocket does spend some time in the alchemy lab, but it's mostly to familiarize herself with the tools available. She doesn't seem too eager to return to any part of her past life.
She avoids the woman with the albino raven, embarrassed to talk to anyone who might have a reason to compare her to her mother.
Their three days of rest seem to end too soon, as arduous as Wocket seemed to think filling the time was. Baths, warm food, and the compulsory attentions of her slave are a luxury she'll miss on whatever mission they're appointed.
When they're lead to the nine lessons, Wocket's the first to speak up. "That sounded like some details were intentionally left out... How do we want to start? From the left? From the Right? Each of us to a door?" With a tap, Wocket sets her circlet to imitate Charmaine's appearance.
"Genevieve" looks up at the words on the archway. "Interesting. I believe you're right Wocket," Genevieve says, giving a side-long look to Tiadora. "I also don't expect we'll be given much more. The advantage being, I think that means we have a pretty free reign on how we accomplish our task. Well, I guess there's nothing for it but to go down and see what we're up against. Whatever it is, be prepared for some sort of deception." Gevevieve steps up to the archway, prepared to go down into the so-called Nine Lessons.
"Ah," says Talia in response to Genevieve's initial recounting.
Gen gives a shudder at that thought. She then reaches a hand out to Talia, and speaks in a low voice, "Why do you ask? Is there something worrying you?"
"No reason in particular. I only wondered whether or not you were the one they wanted to break out, and the rest of us were just lucky to be with you at the time." Talia smiles and winks. "Though she does give me a bit of an uneasy feeling; I'd say even more than the Cardinal does."
--------
At the meeting with Thorn, Talia listens intently for any clues from the Cardinal, but finds none. She follows Tiadora at a brisk pace until they reach their apparent destination at the top of the stairs. As their "guide" walks away, Talia looks around at her companions, hefts her longspear and chimes in after "Genevieve" finishes: "We've beaten the 'scar - we can beat this. Let's make the most of our time." She takes a step down.
The group descends the stairs, into a small chamber, about 30 feet across, that is lit by an oil lantern hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. There is a door on the other side of the chamber. Nothing else can be seen in here.
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The Charmaign who doesn't seem to know how to skip and prance like a little girl gets to the bottom of the stairs and stops short, seeing the empty room and the single door. "Oh... So they're sort of daisy-chained, then. -or maybe, like a maze? -but they're called Lessons... -and we can't trust anyone... So maybe the pendant is in here!"
The pseudo-halfling holds out a hand and closes her eyes. "Whither; Whence; Where..."
EARLIER
"Ah," says Talia in response to Genevieve's initial recounting.
Gen gives a shudder at that thought. She then reaches a hand out to Talia, and speaks in a low voice, "Why do you ask? Is there something worrying you?""No reason in particular. I only wondered whether or not you were the one they wanted to break out, and the rest of us were just lucky to be with you at the time." Talia smiles and winks. "Though she does give me a bit of an uneasy feeling; I'd say even more than the Cardinal does."
"Ah, no. She made it clear to me that it was all of us or none of us." Genevieve shudders at the thought of what might have happened had she abandoned the others. "I must say, I agree though. She is dangerous. She sometimes makes me think of a bear leashed with a piece of twine."
NOW
Genevieve looks around the room, unsure of what to be looking for. "It cannot be as straightforward as that, can it?" She walks around the room, as she examines everything. "Did you find anything W-- Charmaine the second?"
Grumpy-Charmaine lets her hand drop. "Nah, I think this is like a place to get prepared. Like, get our story straight? So we can get with the deceptions in the next room." She looks pointedly at Talia. "You heard Master, 'Let nothing and no one stand in your way'. Don't deceive yourself into thinking you'll be able to get through this with your hands clean."
Gathering up the equipment she prepared, Silarsha meets the others at the stairs. "If nothing else, this will be interesting. Shall we?"
Loosening the bastard sword in its sheath, then checking her other weapons, she starts down the stairs.
Once in the room at the bottom, she looks to the smaller women of the group, "You two check the door for dangerous things, then I'll be the first one through? You know in case some kind of enemy is on the other side."
Charmaine stands silently while her orders are given. She does nothing more than nod her head and walk with the group to their destination.
When Wocket turns into her double, the Halfling jumps with joy. "YES! I've never had somebody want to be me!" Rushing over, she takes the hands that are but aren't hers. "Ok, ok, let me show you how to be ME!" Wether or not Wocket seems to be taking the advice, Charmaine spends the next couple of minutes pointing out the motions and mannerisms that she believes to be quintessential to her being.
"Wait, wait, wait... You want the me's to go first? Aren't you the big, strong, I-can-kill-a-giant-toad-with-one-swing-just-because person?" she pushes back. They literally just said this place was dangerous. Wasn't she paying attention? She puts her hands on her hips, further emphasizing her obstinance.
________
The inferior Charmaine studies the mannerisms displayed, and mimics them to the best of her ability, but she lacks the joie de vivre, or maybe the training as an actor, to truly pull off the illusion. "At the very least, a stranger might be confused," she offers, a little embarrassed. Wocket's never felt lacking as a woman, other than feeling like she's being treated like a child, but not being able to nail the lightness of Charmaine's step and the sweet incline of her chin when the gnome can make the complex forms involved in magic on intuition alone is enough for Wocket to adjust her appearance to more of a family resemblance than a spot-on duplication. "Maybe twins was a reach?"
To the prodding of Silarsha, Wocket points bluntly at Talia. "The squeamish one is probably our best bet. She's always pointing things out... -but we shouldn't barge in there with our true faces, waving our symbols in the air and proclaiming the superiority--however absolute--of our Lord. This is a test, and it was made very clear that deception is involved."
Genevieve alters herself just a bit more, changing the appearance of her Asmodean symbol to that of Mitra, cleaning up her appearance a little and changing her clothes to be a bit nicer. "I agree with Wocket, though if we are going around deceiving whoever else might be down here, do we want to actually use our real names?" She finishes the transformation and then continues her walk around the room, her gait changed just so, standing just a bit taller, and looking around more with more confidence, but a little less arrogance. "For now, while we are in this test, you can go back to calling me Tressa."
She finishes her inspection of the room and then throws her hands up in frustration. "It seems to be a normal room to me. Did you find anything Talia?"
Silarsha looks down at the original version of Charmaine.
"I figured the people who could pick the lock and tell if the door was magicked would be best, and I'd go through in case there's something waiting on the other side, but whatever works."
"Well Tressa, deception isn't my strongest thing but all the old tales are filled with honey-tongued Skalds tricking their way out of trouble, so I'll do my best!"
Taking the leather cord bearing the unholy symbol gifted to her by the Cardinal from around her neck, she tucks it into her belt pouch.
"Also, in my experience, Skald tongues taste like more like ale than honey, but that's a whole other story." she says with a wink.
She then takes a moment to check out around the room, and a closer look at the door ahead.
-------
"Oh, sorry. I got distracted. Nothing in this room is magical at all. Depending on what that door is made of, there may not be anything magical behind it either. I can usually feel something about twice as far as this room is deep."
Talia shrugs and fiddles with a small lace bow in her hair. After a moment, the slight woman's appearance shifts. Her hair lengthens and straightens, her face softens, and she adopts the visage of the noble woman's daughter you all saw earlier. It's a little out of place given her armored attire and the giant spear in her left hand. Looking at herself, she shrugs and says, "Didn't really have any other ideas at the moment. If anything comes to me, I'll change then."
With that, she looks for a moment at the floor and at the lamp, and then begins slowly and carefully crossing into the room.
Talia spots some telltale seams in the floor just in front of the door that don't make sense to be there. She slides the butt of her spear in straight lines, marking out the edges of this apparent false floor. "Trapdoor," she grunts. "Look out, everyone."
She stands at the demarcated edge of the trap, and glances at everyone in turn as she mimes pushing the door open with her spear. Talia checks each person's face to ensure they are ready before she does so.
Wocket could offer to open the door with her new spell, but watching Talia try not to fall in the pit is more entertaining. She'll wait to see if the tiefling can manage on her own.
Tressa stands clear of the marked trap door and watches, "I seriously hope you know what you're doing here."
Charmaine scowls at Talia when she mimes to open the door with the spear. "What? No no no no, step back.... amateur..." she protests as she pulls the set of thieves' tools from her hair, ribbon unruffled. "If this doesn't work, do whatever it was you thought you were going to do, mmmk?" she says with just a bit of sass and a wink as she works at the trap. I should probably get a disguise up too, but of who? So many options now!
________
Silarsha stands to the side, as the others find and try to disable the pit trap.
"That's kind of what I meant."
"Well, no, I don't know what I'm doing, not exactly. Do any of you have any bright ide- oh."
Talia steps aside sheepishly as Charmaine produces her set of thieves' tools. Well, at least we won't have to jump over a giant hole each time we come and go.
Charmaine stops up the floor, breaking the trap, then once she steps back, satisfied with her work, the door is pulled open. There is a click, and the floor gives a little shudder, but remains in place. On the other side is a bricked up wall. It appears to be a false door.