Rogan considers, then nods at the oread.
While Speck listens to his companions ask Anya questions, he rolls a coin, that he acquired on his way to the baron's estate, between his fingers. After listening for a minute, he places the coin down on a table near him and leans forward to speak to Lady Anya.
"Lady Anya, would it be possible for us to verify the well being of young Marek? I apologize for asking, but your parents were very specific in the terms of our contract and we were to verify you both were fine. I trust all is well after seeing you are fine and trust that your son is fine as well, but we El-Boddom's are known for our thoroughness if nothing else."
Speck pauses for a minute then remembers he has not properly introduced himself. "I apologize as I have been properly introduced myself, I am Sir Speck El-Boddom, of the El-Boddom nobility hailing from Kalsgard, and it is my pleasure to be of service to you and your family."
"Yes, lady, thank you for the suggestion. It seems a good idea that we speak with your husband directly if we are to be of further help."
Anya smiles and nods. "Of course. Marek is sleeping in the nursery right now, but he has been down for a while so he should be awake by the time you've spoken to Stepan and Gavril. I would be happy to introduce you. Pardon my saying, but he will be fascinated by how different you all look from what he is used to. Stepan is upstairs in his study. Please follow me."
With that, Anya stands and walks to the southern door. She gestures for you all to follow. She leads you across the hall to a staircase leading up. Once upstairs, she walks to the first door down the hallway and knocks softly. "Stepan, you have visitors. It is the adventurers that Lucian told us about." You hear a muffled "enter" from within the room. She opens the door and waits for you all to enter.
This room features a long desk and wooden cabinets full of ledgers and correspondence. A sturdily built man is sitting at the desk, hunched over a book, which he closes as you enter. He turns to greet you, but does not stand up. His face is clean-shaven, but drawn and haggard, and his black hair is neatly cropped. He wears muted versions of his heraldic colors, red and black, setting off his clear blue eyes.
"Thank you, Anya. That will be all." Anya closes the door and leaves you with the baron. He looks at you wearily. "Lucian tells me that you have been providing some assistance with the town's problems. I suppose I should thank you for that. But tell me, why are you here and why are you helping complete strangers?"
Rogan feels the Other scream and claw at the thin membrane of his psyche, and it takes everything he has to beat back the violent creature shrieking to take over.
He takes a deep breath and controls himself, but refrains from speaking. Even without a vengeance-crazed entity sharing his mind space, he wouldn't trust himself not to let his mouth get him into trouble. He makes a note to tell the others at the first possibility.
Speck steps forward to introduce the group: "Baron Stepan, thank you for allowing us an audience. I am Sir Speck El-Boddom, of the Kalsgard El-Boddoms, and these are my companions, Rogan, Ruppert and Lefdam. We are hear at the request of your wife's parents, as they became quite worried after they stopping receiving correspondences from Lady Anya and asked us to check in on her, you and young Marek. I am glad to see that you all appear to be in good health and that we can report back to her family that there is nothing to worry about with regards to your health and safety."
Speck flashes a smile and hopes that his deceptive words go unnoticed while he stealthily rests his hand near his rapier ready to draw it in case Stepan takes any drastic actions.
"As to your questions of why we helped complete strangers, well we each have our own reasons. Ruppert and Lefdam did it because they are gentle souls who can't stand to see other suffer. Rogan did it ... well actually I don't know why you did it Rogan, but I am sure your reasons were noble in there own right, however twisted they were. As for me, well I did it for the opportunity to earn some money." Speck pauses from his speech and stealthily nods to where Stepan's shadow should be, hoping that his companions notice what he has seen as well.
Lefdam follows Anya and his companions into Stepans study and casually investigate his surroundings.
He does not notice anything out of ordinary.
Lefdam decides to stay back ways near where Rogan is standing and let Speck do the talking. He has always been better with words than Lefdam ever could be.
Stepan seems to relax ever so slightly and smiles wearily. "Well, this is opportune timing. We could really use the help of some capable adventurers here. My family seems to have come under the influence of a curse or something similar. I believe that the fetchlings are planning another uprising and have enlisted the help of these shadow creatures to create tallowthroat. It is an intelligent disease whose purpose is to wipe out what is left of my family so the fetchlings can take over the town! If you will help discover the source of this curse, you are welcome to stay in my guest rooms for the duration of your time in Karpad. Will you stay and help?"
He doesn't believe that it's a fetchling uprising. He is definitely hiding something; perhaps he has more involvement in what's happening than he is letting on?
Well, at least Speck seems to have noticed it too. He moves his eyes back to Stepan. "That's very kind of you." He takes a moment to mull over the situation. They should squeeze the nobleman and make him to answer for his complicity at the chandlery, but...
Coward.
Rogan looks down, jaw clenched, and says no more.
“Sarenrae protect this town from that! We will certainly stay and help. Thank you for your kind offer. These kayal must be a duplicitous bunch - we’ve been among them and had no idea of their plans. We are an...odd group, though.”
Baron, where might we start our investigation- any ideas? We hear that one kayal, Gavril, remains in your employ. Should we question him, perhaps?”
Rupert glances around the room grinning at his companions, glad to have finally made some headway in the investigation.
Lefdam waits for a reply to Rupert's question and then steps up and decides to ask one of his own seeing that no one else is going to ask it.
"I am also grateful for offering us a place to stay and we are certainly willing to assist this town as we can see what great need it has for an answer to its problems. One question that I do have for you, Baron, is if you know anything about what was going on in the Chanderly. We investigated the disappearance of Lucians daughter and it brought us there...what we found was...disturbing...to say the least. A Lurker-in-Light was there conducting some very strange research, or so he called it, which consisted of 2 townsfolk that appeared to have no idea what they were doing when they attacked us and then several others, including Lucians daughter, were stuck inside large vats of wax. Luckily, we were able to rescue all the townsfolk, but the Lurker got away. Before leaving he informed us that he was conducting this research at your behest. Is this true? And if so...to what end?"
Lefdam thinks through all the events. Some of it is still a bit fuzzy for him after all he had been through. He then remembers a very important piece of information and adds it...almost as an afterthought.
"Oh! We also found Catalina...dead...also covered in dried wax. Please...explain...if you can
At Lefdam's confrontational questions, Rogan's fingers twitch. It's the only outward sign that something is wrong. Inside his head, though, the sudden panic at possible violence causes a dam to burst. Thoughts of violence, vengeance, and darkness spill into his forebrain as the transformation steadily begins. His mindscape is a terrifying battlefield as two personas rip at each other for supremacy. But The Other is winning. The Other always wins.
Outwardly, there is almost no perceptible change, but a subtle hardening of features, and a distant, glassy look to his eyes.
Stepan grows ashen when Lefdam mentions what the lurker in light was actually doing at the chandlery. "Oh. No." He shakes his head emphatically as if that would make the terrible things not have happened. "No, no, no. This can't be. He said he was going to help me with the shadow problem..." He trails off and looks at you, realizing that he's just revealed that he has involvement in what's going on here. He pauses and considers, his eyes studying each of you in turn, then sighs. "The time has come for me to admit that I am in over my head. Everything I have tried has only made things worse. I need to start at the beginning. This room is not very comfortable for visitors; please, follow me." He stands and leads you to the room next door, which turns out to be a library.
The walls of this library are lined with bookshelves filled with folio editions in various stages of decay. Several armchairs stand in a central reading area. He motions for you to sit in these chairs, and he remains standing. He takes a deep breath, hesitates, and then begins. "Ten years ago I made a discovery in a storage room in this manor: a strange mirror. It fascinated me and almost seemed to call to me. I visited it often to look into it and wonder what it really was. Then, one day, I saw a figure looking back at me that was not my own. He was tall, with a white mask covering his face, and eyes like distant stars. It startled me but my curiosity was stronger than my fear. I tried speaking with it. And he spoke back. He is a shae, a creature from the shadow plane. His name is Nicasor, the mirror is a prison called a midnight mirror, and he has been trapped there for nearly 1000 years for leading the uprising against my ancestors. Over the next few weeks, I spoke with Nicasor more and more, and eventually we discovered that we each had a problem that the other could help with."
Stepan pauses and pours himself a glass of wine from a side table in the library. He downs it in one gulp and then pours another. As he does so, you can see his hands trembling. He drinks half of his new glass and then continues. "A midnight mirror is a magical prison used by the church of Zon-Kuthon. It traps its prisoners in a demiplane, where they never age and are tormented until they go mad. A normal midnight mirror has a command word which allows retrieval of a prisoner back to the material plane, but mine is broken. The only way out of the prison is to switch bodies with a person on this side of the mirror. Nicasor longed to escape his prison, and I ..." He takes a breath. "I longed to rule Karpad when my father died. My two older brothers were first and second in line, so I struck a bargain with Nicasor. In exchange for his help getting my brothers out of the way, I would swap bodies with him for one year of each decade. Over the next few months, Nicasor instructed me on how to imprison my brothers in the mirror. My father died soon after -- which I had nothing to do with! -- and I took over the barony."
He finishes off his wine and pours a third glass. "Now the ten years have passed and it is time for me to honor my side of agreement. But things have changed. I have Anya. I have Marek. I do not trust Nicasor not to stay in my body forever, and I fear for what he will do to my family. I haven't been to the mirror in months, and I know that my refusal is somehow causing the problems in town. First tallowthroat killed one of my servants, and the shadows killed two more. The fetchlings weren't sick, and I knew they were shadow-touched, so I got rid of them to protect my family. That is when people in town started getting sick and dying. Ilquis told me he had the ability to banish the shadows, so I gave him free reign to do what he needed to do so. It seemed believable; a creature of light banishing shadows! But it seems that I was duped, and that has gotten even more of my people killed." His head drops.
He finishes his third glass of wine and sets the goblet down. "I believe that the mirror needs to be destroyed to stop the influence of shadows on Karpad. I know not how, but this library is extensive and has many books on the subject. I will grant you access to the library and anything else in my manor that may be of assistance to you. I beg of you; so far, it seems that tallowthroat has not spread beyond Karpad, but eventually someone who is infected and doesn't realize it will leave and infect people elsewhere. My soul is already damned for what I have done, but I will do what I must to stop this horror."
Stepan's eyes well up with tears. "Will you help my people?"
Lefdam stands there for a moment in complete shock at the long confession this man has just given them. He was not expecting such an outburst.
"You FOOL! This comes out of him much louder and stronger than even he expected. "You have doomed your entire village because you got greedy and what's more...you sacrificed your own family to do so all because you do not have the bravery to go through with the deal that you made. Lefdam pauses to take a deep breath and calm himself. This is not like him...but this man has made him furious. Lefdam takes a couple more calming breaths, closes his eyes, and collects himself a little. "I suggest you thank the gods that your wife's family wanted to check up on their daughter amd grandson...otherwise your actions here would have meant the end of an entire village...if not worse. I do not speak for the rest of my friends here...but I will do all I can to help...but know it is not to help you...but to help your town and your family.
Lefdam moves in a little bit closer to Stepan. Close enough that the man can feel his breath on his face. "And one last thing. If any of my companions here are hurt...or worse...because of your foolishness...there will not be a place in Golarion that you would be able to hide from me. He stands there for a moment longer before breaking his gaze and taking a spot in the back of the library. He stands there with his arms folded staring at Stepan.
Speck walks around the library, casually browsing at the titles of the books at eye level, listening intently to Stepan's confession. Upon hearing Lefdam's outburst he stops what he is doing and looks slack jawed as he puts Stepan in his place. After Lefdam finishes he collects himself and starts clapping.
"Well done Lefdam, I knew if you traveled with us long enough some of our more aggressive tenancies would rub off on you. Personally I understand that drive for power and wealth Stepan, as I mentioned earlier that is what drives me, and I commend you on your approach. But now it seems that your fun time with your precious toy has come to an end and the stakes have become to steep for you. So let me give you some advice that I strongly recommend you follow, send Anya and Marek to stay with her family while we deal with this situation for you. This will make our job far easier knowing that we won't have to worry about their well being."
Speck turns back to look at the books, waiting for his companions to pick up the conversation where he left it off. He picks up a book and casually turns through the pages, and says over says without turning around: "Oh by the way what happened to Anya's fingers? And I highly recommend you answer truthfully, we don't like being lied too."
Stepan looks at Speck with a confused look, then after a moment he has a realization. "Ah, right, you are newcomers to Nidal. There are many things to worry about in Karpad these days, but I assure you that Anya's scars are not one of them. It is quite common for Nidalese nobility to self-mutilate. It is supposedly in deference to Zon-Kuthon, but these days it is more just a sign of high standing, of never needing to work for anything. Quite silly if you ask me, but it is the fashion."
"As for sending Anya and Marek away, while I do agree with you that I would like to get them as far away from this mess as possible, I wouldn't feel right about doing it. They could be infected with tallowthroat and not showing any symptoms yet. I have make many terrible mistakes these past years, but infecting all of Nidal with tallowthroat won't be one of them if I can help it."
Then he turns to Lefdam. "And you are right, mighty oread. I admit to all of my mistakes. I accept whatever fate awaits me, both in this life and after it. But that is why I am beseeching you for your assistance. I have tried to fix things and only made them worse, many times over. I am a prideful man but I know when I've been beaten. I need help... my people need your help, and you four are here and seem quite capable. So ask your questions, use my library, explore my manor. It is all at your disposal. Whatever you need, just ask."
Rupert is taken aback by this admission from Stepan, who insisted that he was worried about a kayal insurrection just a few moments ago. Still, he hears the man out. How power corrupts. Sarenrae knows this all too well. Doesn’t she teach the path of forgiveness? Maybe this man can be brought back from darkness.
“Baron, we will make use of your library to stop this blight. I will ask, though, how can we trust you? You’ve lied to us at least once since we arrived. How do we know that you’re not this Nicasor, asking us to destroy the mirror and the rightful Baron with it? You’ll forgive the question, I hope, but I imagine you understand my need for truth before acting.”
At some point during their walk to the library, the hat and scarf had come out, and the Nightshade's pistol is prominent in its holster. He refrains from outright attacking the baron, mostly out of bemusement and morbid curiosity.
He grunts at Rupert's words, and says in his smooth baritone, [color=red]"Fair point. Perhaps I should simply put a bullet between his eyes, just to be safe. He has certainly done nothing to earn succor."[/color]
Stepan barely flinches at Nightshade's threat. "You are right. You have no reason to trust me, and I cannot prove that I am who I say I am. I am willing to submit to a truth spell at the temple if that will ease your minds, or one of you if you are capable of casting it. In any case, I suggest you research the mirror and focus your investigation on curing the blight that it is causing. Even if I am not Stepan, you must agree that tallowthroat is the most important thing to resolve. Solve that for Anya and Marek, for the people of Karpad, and then you can figure out the rest." He goes to the stacks and retrieves several books. "These books should help you. I have been through them all but I haven't exactly been in the best state of mind since people started dying, so it's likely that I have missed something. You are welcome to any of the books in this library, but I would start with these."
He hands you the books: A Short History of the Usklands, a crumbling copy of The Umbral Leaves, and Sojourner in the Sunless Waste.
Lefdam unfolds his arms and walks over to Stepan. He takes the books without a word and then finds a quiet place to sit and begin reading.
"I will look over these books. If the rest if you wish, you can take..him... He shoots a still angry look at Stepan to the Church to make sure he is who he says he is.
The Nightshade crosses his arms. Without looking at his companions, he says, [color=red]"Do your research. I will keep an eye on this one."[/color] His eyes remain locked on the baron. He doesn't keep the man from coming or going, but remains within fifteen feet at all times.
Lefdam nods to Nightshade. "He may be an idiot...but please...do not kill him...yet He shoot another glance at Stepan before starting dig away at books.
Speck looks through some of the books trying to find some scrap of knowledge that could be useful.
"Hmm this looks interesting", Speck turns around to the rest of the group pointing at the book he has in his hands, and notices a very grumpy Nightshade staring daggers into Stepan.
"Nice to see you Nightshade, as always your presence is appreciated, but if you don't mind can Rogan come out and play? I do not want to explain to Anya why her husband's blood is all over the nice floors."
Lefdam and Speck spend several hours poring over the books that Stepan has pointed out.
- A Short History of the Usklands recounts the history of Karpad.
- The Umbral Leaves is Zon-Kuthon's holy text.
- Sojourner in the Sunless Waste contains an account of journeys into the Shadow Plane that purports to have been originally written during the Age of Anguish.
Most of the information that you find is about what Stepan has already shared with you: namely, that a midnight mirror is an extraplanar prison that prevents prisoners from aging and torments them for all eternity, until a command word is spoken to retrieve a prisoner from within. (You remember that Stepan's mirror is broken, so it does not function this way. ) You find nothing with regards to tallowthroat specifically, but you do find mention of other incidents in history where a leaking of shadow essence from the Shadow Plane has caused afflictions among inhabitants of the Material Plane. If this is indeed what is happening in Karpad, it could explain why kayal are unaffected, given their racial ties to the Shadow Plane.
You also learn that Nicasor is a shae, a native of the Shadow Plane. He was an advisor to the Boroi family when it held much more influence in Nidal. He was imprisoned in the mirror 950 years ago for fomenting a revolt against Stepan's ancestors among his fellow shaes and the many kayal citizens in Karpad. He and his entire family and all fetchlings in the barony were banished to the mirror. Strangely, though, kayal continued to be born in Karpad in the years that followed.
The piece of information that was the most difficult to glean was the method by which the midnight mirror can be destroyed. The information had to be pieced together by cross referencing several books, which may be why Stepan failed to learn it. The only way to destroy it is to enter it and kill the physical manifestation of the magic item's consciousness with a shard of itself from the Material Plane. Doing so will cause the prison plane to break apart and disgorge all living creatures and items originally from the Material Plane through the shattered mirror back to their plane of origin.
Upon hearing this, Stepan's eyes grow wide and he rushes out of the room without a word. You are left looking at each other wondering what is going on, but shortly thereafter Stepan rushes back into the room and hands you a jagged piece of dark, nearly black glass. "This is a shard of the broken mirror. If what you say is true, this should be able to kill it and stop the leaking of shadow essence. It will release Nicasor from the mirror but we can deal with that after we stop the disease."
upon Speck's request, the Nightshade looks at the sylph with dead eyes and says simply, [color=red]"No."[/color] He slowly returns his gaze to Stepan.
The entire time the others are researching, the Crimson Nightshade sticks to Stepan, remaining at exactly 15 feet wherever the nobleman goes, as if he has made a conscious effort to replace the man's missing shadow. That still feels significant, but the Nightshade can't quite place why.
I don't suppose you want to make yourself useful, Rogan.
F&~$ you.
Hmph. Didn't think so.
***
When the baron runs off, the Nightshade follows after, unhurriedly drawing and loading his gun, keeping pace with Stepan. He has no interest in letting this greedy little weasel out of his sight even for a moment.
When Stepan reveals the mirror shard, his eyes narrow and he studies the man's face carefully for signs of treachery.
Additionally, sending you into the mirror to destroy it will almost certainly require the party to interact with Nicasor, and the texts specifically say that anything from the Material Plane would be returned to the Material Plane when the mirror is destroyed. He doesn't seem concerned that any subterfuge on his part might be found out by you upon meeting Nicasor. You are maybe a bit more confident that Stepan is who he says he is.
Rupert turns to Lefdam after thinking about what they've learned.
"What do you figure the physical manifestation of the mirror's consciousness will be? Construct? Shadow? Some sort of Golem? I may be immune to fear, but I'd rather not rush into a fight with something unknown if we can help it."
Another shadow would be bad, but I suppose we'll have to deal with whatever this mirror throws at us.
Rupert detects evil on the shard.
"Any ideas on whether this fragment of the mirror is magical?"
Lefdam thinks a bit on Ruperts questions.
"Hmmm...it is hard to say. The books did not talk in exacts when it came to that kind of thing, unfortunately. It could be any other above...or something totally unexpected. Either way...I do not think it is going to happy with us.
The Nightshade continues to stare at Stepan long after he has finished his assessment of his words. They are devoid of any emotion, except perhaps disdain.
He finally pulls his eyes from the baron to look at his companions. [color=red]"I doubt it will be anything we could possibly suspect. We should be on our guard. We should also begin as soon as possible."[/color]
Stepan starts towards the library door. "If you will follow me, I will show you to the guest rooms." He turns right out of the library and leads you to three identically sized rooms on the northern side of the manor. These well-appointed guest rooms smell musty, and moths have had their way with the lace curtains. Nonetheless, the beds are quite comfortable, and the doors lock. "I am afraid we only have three rooms. If none of you want to share, Laurentiu can prepare a cot in the library."
After showing you to the guest rooms, he also leads you to his chambers on the southern side of the manor. Faded tapestries adorn the walls of this spacious chamber and threadbare rugs cover the floor; a four-poster bed dominates the room’s center. A spiral staircase leads up to the tower room, which has been converted into a nursery with a crib. The tower room has beautiful stained-glass windows large enough for a man to walk through without crouching. Anya is in this room tending to Marek, who has just woken up from his nap. Marek appears to be a normal and healthy one year old baby.
After showing you around the upstairs of the manor, Stepan heads back to his study. "I have some work to attend to. Please feel free to explore the manor, the grounds, or do more research in the library. Gavril is probably in the kennels downstairs; Laurentiu can show you where. Dinner is at sundown."
"Well, I for one believe we should go speak with Gavril. If nothing else than to check on him as we were asked to do so. Perhaps after that we can all sit down and decide how we are going to take care of this mirror business."
Rupert nods at Stepan as he leaves the room.
"I agree that we should speak with Gavril. Perhaps he has some insights into all of this."
He turns to the group and lowers his voice so that Anya can't hear. "It's still not clear to me why Gavril has not been sent away, as well. If the rest of the Kayal were turned out due to some possible affiliation with Nicasor, what made the Baron keep Gavril here?
"Nightshade, I appreciate the need for urgency at this point, but if we are going to be fighting more shadows it may be a good idea to rest one more night. I've exhausted my restoration for the day and we may need it."
Nightshade shakes his head. [color=red]"Don't get me wrong. 'As soon as possible' would be tomorrow. We all could use some rest, but you especially. We will need your holy powers in that mirror at full strength, I have no doubt."[/color] He nods down the hall. [color=red]"In the meantime, let us have a chat with Gavril and see what he has to say."[/color]
The party heads downstairs and finds Laurentiu. When you request to see Gavril, he leads you to the kennels. A row of painted kennels houses enormous black dogs, sleeping, pacing, or contentedly eating large pieces of red meat. The dogs are well cared for, and indeed the kennels as a whole are in better shape than the rest of the house.
Gavril is an aging kayal but seemingly in good health. He smiles as you enter the kennels. "Ah, my friends! I have heard about what you did for my family in the courtyard. Please accept my gratitude. How is it that I can help you this day?"
“Well met, Gavril! I am Rupert Stillwater, and this is Speck, Lefdam, and Nightshade.” Rupert waves a hand in the direction of his friends.
“It’s a shame that we meet under such troubling circumstances - your family has asked us to check in with you and make sure you’re doing alright up here. You appear to be doing well, I see, and your hounds, as well. We will make sure to pass the word along.”
We did wonder if you could tell us a bit about what’s been going on as of late. We’ve heard the tale from a few points of view now, including the Baron, but it would be invaluable to us if you could share what you’ve seen with us. Could we impose that upon you?”
Gavril looks at Rupert with a bit of a confused look on his face. "Well, sir, I am just a houndmaster, so I don't rightly know what I might know that would help you. I don't leave the manor much. Anyway, about two months ago, the baron started getting... different. He just didn't leave his study much anymore, not even to visit with his favorite hound, Iozif." He points out a particularly large, aggressive mastiff. "I'm the only one that can handle this dog, you know. If I weren't here, he would be tearing your throats out right now, or trying. Anyway, then the human servants started dying of this disease. I think the baron thought the kayal were causing it, because he sent them all away, except me. Servants stopped dying, so I guess he was right? But then people in town started dying! And disappearing!" He stops and clears his throat, as if to stifle a sob. "The whole town is turning against my people. If you hadn't shown up when you did, kayal would start dying too!" He looks like he wants to hug you.
"I don't know what's going on here, but I pray that you are able to put a stop to it, before more people die."
The Nightshade watches the kayal's response, checking for telltale physical signs of duplicity--excessive eye contact, scratching the ear, and so on. He doubts very much that Gavril has anything to hide, but the Nightshade is nothing if not thorough.
Lefdam studies the houndmaster and tries to get a sense of his..well...motives...
"Can you tell us why you are the only one that was allowed to stay? I cannot believe that it is simply to take care of his favorite hound..."
Gavril shrugs. "I think you underestimate how much the baron loves this dog. Without me, he would be forced to keep him caged all the time, or he'd have to put him down."
"What is Iozif's temperament towards his master most of the time? I am Sir Speck by the way, I believe my dear friend Rupert forgot little detail when he introduced me, but I digress. I wonder if Stepan hasn't been to see his favorite hound because he hound would sense that maybe something is amiss with Stepan. Would it be possible to bring Iozif to his master, under your care of course, to see how he reacts?"
Gavril looks quite confused by the implications behind your questions, but he seems cooperative. "Sure, I'll ask Laurentiu to fetch the baron." Gavril locks Iozif in his kennel and leaves the room. Once he does, Iozif loses his mind barking and snarling at the party. After a few moments, Gavril returns. "Oh, Iozif, these are friends! Be nice, boy." The dog calms down immediately. "As to Iozif's normal demeanor with the baron, he is the only other person besides me that can be alone with the dog. They have a good relationship, but the baron fears for Iozif's behavior when he is not around, so that's why I'm here." Gavril lets Iozif back out of his kennel.
After several minutes, Stepan enters the kennels. "What is the meaning of this? I am very busy." At the sight of the baron, Iozif wrenches himself out of Gavril's grasp and runs to Stepan, jumping and wagging his tail uncontrollably. He is clearly very happy to see Stepan. Stepan laughs in spite of himself. "Hello Iozif! I guess it has been a while since I've been down to visit you, hasn't it?" At this point, Iozif's excitement becomes too much, knocking Stepan down. He actually laughs, the first sign of happiness you have seen out of the baron since you met him.
He looks at the party while trying (and failing) to fight off Iozif's kisses. "Why have you called me down here?"
While Gavril is away, Speck looks over Iozif to see if he notices anything peculiar.
As Stepan enters he finds that he has to quickly jump out of the way to avoid being trampled by Iozif, and chuckles as he falls flat on his bottom. Quickly standing up he addresses Stepan's question.
"Sorry about that Stepan, that was my doing. When Gavril mentioned that you haven't seen Iozif in some time I thought it would be good to give you an opportunity to take a break and have some quality time with your faithful hound. And from the looks of it, it appears it was quality time needed for both you and Iozif."
Stepan pauses and considers, then nods. "I suppose I did need this. I'll ask you not to interrupt my research for trivial matters in the future, but I don't begrudge you this one time. Now, if you'll excuse me." With that, the baron heads back upstairs.
"I for one do not see anything else we should do around here. Everyone we wanted to talk to has been talked to. Perhaps we should rest for the evening and then check out the mirror in the morning.
Lefdam looks around at his companions looking for some input.
The Nightshade simply says, [color=red]"I'll take the cot in the library."[/color] With that, he strides off. In the library, he settles cross-legged onto the cot and stares out over the darkness of the room.
***
He does not sleep. He never sleeps. But his awareness is invaded by something akin to nightmares: vague, half-formed shapes with distended faces, whispering in agony as they rend through the membranous veil between He and Rogan, their wispy smoke-claws slicing as if made of folded steel; the shrieking psyche of His counterpart pleads through the rents in the veil, his emaciated form little more than a shadow. The Nightshade cannot make out his words, and has no interest in doing so. He counts the droplets falling from the void above Him, instead, dark red and rich with the vitae of His past victims.
Drip.
Twenty-seven...
Drip.
Twenty-eight...
Drip.
Twenty-nine...
He does not sleep. He does not need to. This will suffice.
"Right you are, Lefdam. Let's call it a day and begin our investigation of the mirror tomorrow."
I suppose I've heard of stranger things than a man being attached to his dog. Maybe Gavril really is here just to tend to the mutt.
"I'll take first watch, gentlemen. Just because we're sleeping in beds doesn't mean that we should lose our vigilance."