Soon enough, you find yourselves outside the grounds of the Aulorian estate. A 12-foot-high wrought iron fence surrounds the complex, with a few iron gates providing acess. The western gate is about 50 feet from the second-floor window that leads to Marquel's bedroom.
The grounds between the gate and the window are open, with no hiding places. Additionally, a three-headed hound with flayed skin and glowing yellow eyes patrols the grounds! There don't seem to be any other guards, though.
A quick spell and the entertainer is wearing the form of a young man of no more than nineteen or twenty in the dapper uniform of an official courtier. She looks around for a bell or other device that would allow those inside the residence to be made aware of a visitor.
Pulling the bell, Farrina is quickly greeted by a halfling servant who asks her business.
"Yes, hello," Farrina greets the halfling with a voice that cracks just a bit with youth. "Uh, I have an official missive from Lord-Mayor Thrune for Master Marquel Aulorian. I have been ... instructed ... to place it in no one's hands, but for his alone and wait for a reply."
"My apologies, but Master Marquel is currently grounded. Lord Auxis has made it clear that he is to have no visitors. If you give me the message, I will deliver it to Lord Auxis and see that he conveys his son's response."
"B-b-but Lord-Mayor Thrune himself commended this letter into my hands and tasked me to deliver it into the hands of Master Marquel Aulorian, himself," Farrina responds, her voice cracking in fear. "H-he was very c-clear on that ... painfully clear on that." The young man seems to consider his options. "W-what's your name? Maybe he'll understand if I tell him that you wouldn't let me deliver it. H-he's understanding like that, right?"
The halfling winces. "Um, why don't you come in and speak to Count Auxis?" He gestures for Farrina to follow him.
Soon, she finds herself in the presence of the count, a portly man with thinning dark hair and a shrewd look in his eyes. The halfling bows. "Your Excellency, this man claims to have a message for your son from none other than Paracount Barzillai Thrune himself!"
Auxis looks dubious. "Does he now? How curious that the great paracount would bypass the family patriarch to send a message directly to a minor member of his household! I'll have the letter now, thank you very much!" He holds out his hand.
"I-I don't know why, but the Lord Mayor just said to deliver this to Master Marquel Aulorian himself - no one else and wait for a private reply. I-in fact, he s-said that before letting it fall into the possession of anyone else, I was to ... t-to eat it." The young man swallows visibly. "He said something about testing the trust of the truly loyal and the next proclamation. I don't know, m'Lord. I'm just trying to follow my orders as they've been given."
The young man looks as if he's going to break down in tears.
"Right," Auxis says, clearing unconvinced. "Well, I am sorry but you are going to have to eat the letter, because my son is allowed no visitors right now. End of story." The nobleman crosses his arms over his chest. "Well? Go on, then! Eat it and be on your way!"
"How do you think it's going?" Seraphina asks her other two companions. "Should we be worried?"
You're always worried!
"I am not." she says aloud, crossing her arms on her chest.
Looking thoroughly miserable, the young man clasps his hands together and bows towards the nobleman. "I'll explain to the Lord-Mayor I'm sure he'll understand." His expression says something entirely different.
The courtier turns and exits the room and the manor.
~~~~
"You'd think I was losing my touch," Farrina grouses once she returns to the others. "And in case you were wondering, no, I didn't deliver the letter." She hands it to Adolina. "Your turn."
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"I'll have to go home and change." Adolina says with a groan. Changing apparently takes nearly two hours but the Adolina that returns is neatly groomed, wearing a fine dress and has her hair neatly braided. "I haven't dressed up this much for months." She says, somewhere between wistful and irritated. "It had better work. Luckily I had the letter sent yesterday."
With Seraphina in tow she walks towards the gate, rather daintily. "Sarah, the bell!"
Once the doorman arrives she nods politely and hands over her card. "I am here to see your master. He should be expecting me."
The same halfling greets Adolina, but his manner is much more obsequious. He leads the half elf to Count Auxis, who bows politely to her. ”Lady Jhaltero, a pleasure.”
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"Likewise Count Auxis." Adolina replies, setting herself to the work of charming the count. They discuss business matters for some time as well as current affairs and the prospects of their families mutual mining concerns and Adolina spends the entire time trying to probe the Count's feelings on the current political situation.
Finally Adolina changes the direction of the conversation.
"As you will no doubt have heard the new Lord Mayor is taking an interest in our cities elite families." She says with a distaste that takes little faking. "We received a letter, delivered by messenger for me rather than my brother. I must say I was rather disappointed by Lord Mayor Thrune's manners, but since he is a churchman perhaps that means he didn't mingle much with high society. Apparently he feels that, after that unfortunate business with the Victocora's, it is important for the city to have something to celebrate and he proposes..." She pauses and wrinkles her nose in disgust. "Weddings. You've probably received a letter for Marquel? He seems to have written to every unmarried noble scion and is 'encouraging' us to, what was the phrase? "Reconsider your decisions, remembering the blessings Asmodeus bestows upon duly consecrated unions"." She produces Sargava's letter, having already broken the seal and makes a show of gesturing to the passage (although she never shows the letter's face). "Sheer cheek in my opinion, but we must adapt with the times. Until now my brother has been little concerned about my marital prospects, but since my nieces are not of age yet I am being encouraged to reconsider my situation. Frankly, in your ear alone my dear Count, I would never consider Count Tanessen's sons. Brutish louts the pair of them and that leaves few men of my own age and station."
She pauses and wraps her finger in one of the artful strands left loose from her hair. "Our families have always been close Auxis, may I call you Auxis? and Marquel and I used to get on well. So I was hoping that you might consider an alliance between our houses? Just the initial stages of course, we would not want to rush things, but even setting the wheels in motion would likely please the Lord Mayor. If you amenable perhaps I could speak to Marquel about it? If there is another lady he'd prefer then I wouldn't want to stand in his way."
Auxis chuckles. ”Oh, dear lady! I fear my son may not exactly have the qualities you’d look for in a husband! Still, an alliance between House Aulorian and House Jhaltero would be a profitable one indeed. Especially if the union is sanctioned by our illustrious and magnanimous Lord Mayor! Very well. I will allow you to at least speak to Marquel about the prospect.”
On the counts order, the halfling escorts Adolina to Marquel’s room. Marquel Aulorian is a young man with a gentle face and fine, dark brown hair, but bags under his eyes hint at the fact that he’s not been sleeping well of late. Although he is fit and healthy, Marquel’s right arm is withered and atrophied; he carries it close to his chest and usually conceals it from view.
”Yes? Lady Jhaltero? This is n unexpected visit.”
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Adolina frowns lightly, "Ah, my lord Aulorian. If my visit is a surprise then you did not receive your letter from our illustrious Lord Mayor. Here, read mine and it should lay the situation out clearly." She hands him Sargava's letter and follows him to the window where the light is better, standing a pace or so behind so as to shield him and his reaction from the servant.
"Now I know its a shock." She says, "And I don't want you to feel you have to commit to anything,I simply asked your father for a meeting to see if we still get on the way we used to. So just tell me, what do you think of the proposals laid out in the letter?"
Marquel reads the letter, his eyes widening in shock, delight, and relief as he realizes whom it’s from. He dismisses the servant, then closes the door and grabs a satchel. ”I am so glad Cassius sent you to me. I am ready to leave at once! We can climb down the trellis and make for the garden gate. We will need to mind my father’s hound, though.”
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"Stop being an idiot!" Adolina replies in an angry whisper. "Think for a moment, what message does that send to your father about the guilty party? I have better things to do than try and hold off your father in a court of law for kidnapping his son! No. A jailbreak can be arranged but not now. Not until I have a strong alibi! The main problem will be the hound," She continues, looking out of the window with every appearance of interest in the landscaping. "Are there any servants you trust? Could you arrange for it to be drugged or something?"
She stays for a little while longer, hammering out the details with Marquel before bidding him an affectionate, but chaste farewell. Collecting Seraphina from outside the room she returns to the Count.
"My dear Count, your son and I spoke at length and he was very gallant. However it appears that his heart belongs to another. So I think for the time being, at least, I will consider other options. Thank you very much for your time and patience my Lord."
-----------------------------
Once well clear of the Aulorian estate she conveys the details to the rest of the group.
"I don't think I can come on this one." She says, "I need to be visibly elsewhere, just in case, but hopefully it can be achieved without fighting."
Once he receives the report, Tanjona asks, ”What kind of hound is it? Maybe something I can quell? Or another hellhound or unnatural beast?”
"If you think that you could more helpful here than I can, then you most certainly can be somewhere else while being here at the same time," Farrina says with a meaningful waggle of her thin eyebrows.
Seraphina listens to the back and forth and finally asks "How are we to get him something when he is locked away?"
"You had mentioned he wanted to use the trellis to escape, perhaps we can deliver the vial to him through that method instead?"
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"One of the ravens could fly to his window simply enough. Or we can try something else, like a distraction for the dog. Perhaps Tajona if you head around towards the dog and toss stones at it from the top of the wall or some such then Seraphina and I can get Marquel out while Farrina ensures my alibi?" Adolina proposes.
"Alibi easily assured," Farrina says with a nod of confidence. "Is there any particular tavern that you never plan to return to?"
"So how do we pull this all off? I'm not the brains of this operation."
Neither is Seraphina, so she turns to look at Adolina expectantly.
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Adolina sighs, sometimes being the leader is very tiring. "Tajona, go to the markets and purchase some oil of taggit. A couple of doses just to be sure. We'll deliver it via Raven to Marquel tonight and tell him to give it to the dog tomorrow night. Then go in around 11 once the household is in bed."
Plan made she heads home to change out of the dress. It's pretty, but not practical!
"All right. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
Tanjona heads to the market to purchase some oil of taggit, as well as a few vegetables and fish for dinner. A man's gotta eat, after all.
The next day, you deliver the drugs to Marquel via silver raven figurine and instruct him to feed it to the cerberi just before 11 PM. Then you wait.
When you arrive at the Aulorian estate late that night, you find the three headed hound slumped unconscious in the courtyard. Now is your chance to liberate Marquel before the fiend awakens!
Meanwhile, many blocks away in a small tavern that's almost respectable, a figure that looks amazingly like Adolina strides imperiously into the room populated with tired merchants and crafters.
Garbed in immaculately tailored travelling clothes of brown and cream, she walks purposefully up to the woman tending the bar.
"My family and I are considering partnering with someone in the leather trade," she asks, making no attempt to keep her voice low. "It's come to our attention that many of them patronize your establishment. Who would you recommend as honest and skilled?" she asks, her gaze moving over the various individuals in the tavern.
Seraphina follows closely behind Adolina, ready for trouble buy praying there wouldn't be any.
Marquel has some trouble climbing the trellis with his atrophied arm, but Adolina and Seraphina are there to catch him and hustle him across the courtyard. The cerberi begins to growl and shift as the poison is wearing off, but you are out of there before it can fully awaken!
When you escort Marquel to the Scourge of Belial, Lieutenant Nones moves swiftly into action, hustling you and your charge into the captain’s cabin. Captain Sargaeta sits at his desk, sipping tea and reading poetry by lamplight. He looks up as you enter, but Marquel speaks first, rushing into Sargaeta’s arms. “Here’s your answer, Cassius!”
The two embrace and exchange a tender kiss, Sargaeta actually weeping. “Ah, my darling!” the captain cries. “Marquel, my sweet, impulsive boy!”
The lovers finally part and Sargaeta looks at you, his eyes awash with gratitude and his stern demeanor for a few moments gone away. ”Thank you. I am now in your debt, and furthermore, I am a man who honors his debts.” He finishes his tea, then hands the teacup to Adolina and asks her to drop it on the wooden floor below.
“The fragments of this cup represent the number of favors I owe you,” says Sargaeta once the shards are gathered. “Anything—short of outright public treason to the queen—I’ll do for you. Simply write your request on a scrap of paper and use it to wrap a shard of the teacup. Deliver it in person, or perhaps via one of your silver raven trinkets. And know that you have earned a friend tonight.”
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"It is always a pleasure to make new friends." Adolina replies politely. "Well Marquel, it appears we won't be getting married, but all the best to you both. In the meantime Captain, if you ever wish to get in touch with us a note left here will reach us, rather than sending your lieutenant. She has many virtues but subtlety is not one of them."
With that she turns to leave, six fragments safely in her pouch and makes haste to let Farrina know that her alibi is safely established and the illusionist can stop ruining her families good name...
Farrina also seems quite pleased.
"Your family's honor is still intact," she pish/poshes Adolina's concern. "Unless being known as one of the sole manufacturers of lady's leather intimate-wear is something to be ashamed of." She waggles her eyebrows at the noblewoman.
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"I'm sure Canton will be delighted at the new facet to the family business..." Adolina replies. "Thank you for your help tonight. I'm afraid we don't do free samples though."
As the two women leave she explains briefly what has happened. "I plan to check in with Laria in the morning and then we can gather at the Tooth and Nail and decide what to do next." She concludes.
As you rest that night, you feel stronger and better able to take on further challenges.
***
Laria doesn’t have any new leads for Adolina, but Lictor Octavio does. He gathers you all at the Tooth and Nail as he speaks. ”I have a place in mind that might prove to be an appropriate stronghold as your rebellion continues to grow. The Lucky Bones was, to the public, a gambling hall and opium den. In truth, the building was a front for a guild of thieves and abductors known as the Gray Spiders. When my order learned the Gray Spiders were involved in a kidnapping and slavery ring tied to the cult of Norgorber, we confronted them. They responded by assassinating Lictor Reya, our heroic founder. In turn, we brought the full might of the Order of the Torrent down on them, and when we were done, the Gray Spiders were no more.
“But then Lictor Reya’s successor, Lictor Yehl, made the curious choice to seal the Lucky Bones rather than fully explore it. It was shortly afterward that others in the order discovered that Yehl and some of his subordinates had sought to preserve the Gray Spiders’ ill-gotten gains for themselves and had planned to return to the complex to loot it. Yehl and the others were charged with corruption and expelled, and command of the Torrent passed to Lictor Arcamo Hyrmagus, but no one ever followed up with the Lucky Bones. Lictor Arcamo was ashamed of the entire episode and forbade any of the rest of us from investigating it, and in time, it all mercifully slipped from memory. But those chambers still exist below the ruined gambling hall—chambers that were never mapped or officially reported. For all intents and purposes, they do not exist. Sounds to me to be the perfect place for a rebellion to set up shop... provided someone first scouts the place out to ensure nothing unwanted has moved in!”
Octavio has regretfully little more to provide you other than an address to the ruined building that once served as the complex’s aboveground extension. Little remains of this site but rubble today, he warns, but the entrance—once uncovered—should still be accessible.
"I'm sure Canton will be delighted at the new facet to the family business..." Adolina replies. "Thank you for your help tonight. I'm afraid we don't do free samples though."
"Who said anything about free," Farrina says, leafing through several parchments with sketches of various ways to conceal the female form with artfully yet erotically patterned leather. "I'll be happy with a designer's credit and a small percentage." She holds up two fingers a quarter inch apart. "Just a small one."
~~~~~
"Down into ruins again?" Farrina comments with a pained expression. "My cleaning bill is just getting worse and worse."
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"That does sound promising." Adolina says with a nod. "Where exactly is it? Give me a day or so and I can purchase the land above it through a proxy or two, that should help a little. An 'urban renewal' project or something similar. That should give us legal cover if needed."
Having made the necessary decisions Adolina heads next door and knocks politely. "Luculla? Are you available? I was hoping you might have time for a baking lesson?"
"It is here in Old Kintargo, across the district," Octavio tells Adolina.
***
Luculla swiftly answers the knock on the door of Sweet Tooth. The dark-haired young woman smiles at the half-elf, a glint in the eye that is not covered by her eyepatch. "Of course! Come in, come in!"
Inside, the confectioner's shop is full of sweet smells, as pastries and cupcakes of various descriptions fill the shelves. Luculla leads Adolina into the kitchen and hands her an apron. "Here, put this one. Wouldn't want your fancy clothes to get messy! I thought we might make those blackberry tarts you liked so much the other night. What do you say?"
"Yes, that is very important! You wouldn't want anybody to get sick! I've already washed mine," Luculla says, wiggling her gloved fingers.
"Now, then, you'll want to mix the flour, sugar, and water together to make the dough. Knead it gently, then roll it with the pin to flatten it out." She demonstrates before letting Adolina try.
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Adolina copies everything Luculla does carefully, and still manages to make a terrible mess. At least she doesn't drop the rolling pin, although she nearly manages that too! Then her hair gets in the dough and they have to spend five minutes picking hair out of the dough and vice versa.
Eventually though Luculla pronounces herself satisfied with her apprentices efforts. Although 'resigned to this being the best she can manage' may be more accurate.
"Sorry." Adolina says with a grin. "I can dance and I can even paint a bit, but this seems completely out of my league."
Luculla giggles. "It's okay! Baking is a fine art. It takes years of practice to get as good as me!" She puts the tarts in the oven, then turns and dusts a bit of flour out of Adolina's red hair. "You've been a good sport about it all. So, you dance? I've always wanted to learn, but never had much of a chance. Maybe you can teach me something since I taught you how to make tarts, hmm?"
"I'd enjoy any dance with you," Luculla says with a sly smile and a flutter of her eyelashes.
Tanjona, meanwhile, has taken to the kitchen with his fish and his vegetables and made himself a sautée, which he enjoys with half a bottle of white wine.
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"Well we don't have any music, but I'm sure we can improvise." Adolina replies, "Now, you'll have to stand nice and close. I'll lead so put your hand here, and your other hand up here in mine."
She positions Luculla and walks her slowly through a few steps. Once the baker seems to have them, at least roughly, she begins to hum a tune and the pair 'dance' around the kitchen.