Valeria smiled slightly as she listened to Cyrene talk of what happened between her and Malphene and she certainly understood getting busy, they had become so themselves as well, so it was not a surprise. The thought of being involved next time drew a frisson of desire through her, one amplified by the feel of Cyrene's touch on her neck. She felt her body seize up when the pressure was applied and subject to Cyrene's whims.
Despite the fact that she should be terrified out of her mind at her loss of control, and to a degree there was fear there, something about Valeria had broken when at the mercy of the succubi and she enjoyed that feeling of helplessness. When her control was back, she responded, "Yes, I think I am. Please prepare my bed for me, I will be there once I finish gathering my things."
Valeria woke with a startled gasp of fear as the night terror broke and released her from its clutches. She felt like she had barely slept at all as she reached towards the side of the bed where Cyrene had been hoping to have someone to hold onto and help calm her down.
Bartleby spends most of the day out riding which changes Triphylla's plans for the day somewhat, giving her a chance to mingle with Clara and the others servants and potentially to wheedle some information.
Diana wakes up and heads up to the library after a hurried breakfast, determined to work through as much information as she can.
Triphylla enjoys as much time as she can with Clara and the staff, trading stories about Oppara and her time aboard coastal merchant ships.
As the day wears on she looks for Cyrene. She hasn't really figured out how to talk with the tiefling; each time she's tried they seem to be interrupted by some major event, and the conversation ends awkwardly. She figures though that a partner in crime is the right way to go about the Emperor's tower, and no one but Cyrene is qualified.
Assuming she finds the ladies' maid, she waits until the two of them have a private moment, and speaks softly.
"What's wrong?" Cyrene asks, her amethyst eyes glowing in the dark. "Bad dream?"
Despite a proclivity for domination and a delight in pushing the boundaries of pain and pleasure Cyrene proved a surprisingly... caring lover and its clear that her concern is genuine.
Valeria reached out and pulled Cyrene closer to her, resting her forehead against the tiefling. She held on tightly as shuddering sobs wracked through her for a while with her arms around Cyrene's waist.
During the breakfast, Lope notices Valeria's disarray "Problems with the pillow Valeria?" he shows interest but does not press the woman.
Afterwards, he goes to the archives with Diana and expends the early part of the day closing up on the research, determined to find any hint on the blackblade's location.
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The next day's research goes much smoother, Diana finds a number of red covered tomes stuffed behind a neat row of green covered mercantile contracts. These turn out to be two hundred year old Proceedings of The Telus Barony Court.
They both start reading and on the second book, Lope finds a pivotal entry: Toilday 23rd of Abadius, 4492 AR. Taldor vs Albany de Vega. The knave Mr de Vega was overheard publicly disparaging Duke Panivar Lotheed in the tavern while drunk. Several loyal members of the Duke household overheard him and a fight ensued. It is believed the Duke's men started the fight but Mr de Vega's ensorcelled midnight black blade sucked the life out of them. A plea of self defence was accepted, however Mr de Vega was found guilty of inciting the fight by disparaging a duly appointed representative of The Grand Prince. He was fined 10,000 gold. Unable to pay his weapon was impounded and transferred to the Telus estate Vault. Mr de Vega was declared Persona non Grata, exiled never to return to Meratt County on pain of death.
At the same time as Lope found this, Diana was reading through another book when a folded document, yellowed by time fell out. This turned out to be a copy of the original charter granting stewardship of the county of Meratt to the Lotheed family. Quite the find, since this will iron-clad Princess Eutriopia's legal claim to the palace.
"Ah! Here it is" Lope cannot avoid the emotion of finally finding out the fate of his family heirloom, even if the story is plagued with inaccuracies and actually bad intended lies "The Telus estate Vault it is! Actually, didn't we heard Baron Telus behaviour radically changed as of recent? Perhaps prioritizing giving a trip to investigate why did he stop tending to his duties and drove most of his servants away would be a good thing to do..."
When the charter granting stewardship appears, Lope pads Diana's shoulder "Good finding." he looks in al directions, making sure they are not being seen "We need the right people to see this" he secures the document trying not to be seen by unknown eyes.
After that, he will be ready for the visit to Dame's Crabbe, and will give farewell to the Count and thanks him for his hospitality if he is in the Palace. Otherwise, he will just leave a note of appreciation, inviting him to the Betony's estate if he pleases.
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You approach the guard station Triphylla scouted out the day before. Lord Titus and his cronies are hanging round in the lounge like a bad smell. You'll have to go past them and the guard station if you want to explore the tower.
Riding high after the successful research mission, you spend the next two days traveling in Martella's coach towards the village of Moost. The route was more or less due west along the north Cassiomir highway and on the tail end of the first day you skirted the void wood. You where glad not to have camped within sight of the wood for even over the clatter of the horses and the wheels on the cobbles you heard the distant crashing of something large moving though the trees.
Before you get the the Crabbe Estate, the road winds through the picture postcard village of Moost. The village grew up around the Estate, largely to serve the family’s needs and tend their extensive cranberry bogs, but it has matured considerably into a thriving little community only partially dependent on the noble family for support.
A few minutes earlier, Triphylla hands an Invisibility extract to Cyrene. "This is safe for you to drink. It lasts four minutes. We won't obviously have sight of each other but as soon as I see an opening I'm going in fast and won't stop until we're out of earshot. I'll go upstairs right away and when we're clear we should be able to speak quietly." It's not much of a plan but her nature is to not overthink things. She carries her standard gear with alchemical mixtures in her bag and a dexterity mutagen.
She waits for the staff to arrive into Titus' court of buffoonery and then consumes her extract of heightened Awareness, her Dex mutagen, and finally the extract of invisibility, then moves quickly as soon as the doors open.
Cyrene nods, gives Trip a very soft five second head-start and then practically floats across the room, barely even disturbing the carpet.
Lope passes the time in Martella's coach discussing new approaches to improve the live at Merrat with Diana and Valeria "Literally, whatever little improvement is going to be much more than it has been done so far"
When approaching the village though, he peers with curiosity to the picture postcard buildings "Maybe we can have a quick stop at that inn. Let's get to know more about what kind of nest we are getting in... I am sure the villagers are very interest about Sepsinia's potential romantic futures..."
"I'm glad we avoided camping out near the Void Wood." Diana says with relief. "I'm sure you heard those sounds as well - that wood is full of larger beasts that you won't find anywhere else in the county. It's the largest woodland in the county, but the Baroness Voinum has left it mostly untouched, which is why you can find all manner of beasts that are extinct everywhere else in Meratt."
"We will be coming up to Moost soon,actually. It might be a good idea to take a stop there and pick up on some of the gossip about the county - Moost is somewhat renowned for its love of gossip, not unlike the Dame Crabbe actually. I'm guessing poor Sepsinia and her potential suitors are still the town's favorite topic, but we may be able to obtain a bit more details about the current happenings around county."
She turns to Lope "I'm thinking we might be able to find a bit more about what is happening at the Telus Estate. Any information that can help us better prepare for whatever might be happening over there would be crucial if that is to be our next goal, like you said at the library."
"Speaking of which, I'll admit I am a bit curious." She gives Lope a smile "How did you learn about the Blackblade now resting on the Estate's Vault?"
Veronica wasn't particularly thrilled when Triphylla asked her to distract Titus she said, "That man's an oaf with wandering hands." Still with the offer of several gold for her trouble (which is an awful lot for a commoner) she reluctantly agreed eventually recruiting Mol and Ishtar to come with her.
The trio put on their most provocative dresses and came sauntering over towards Lord Titus and coterie. Simpering Veronica hailed him saying, "Oh Lord Titus! Please, tell us again the story of how you captured the prisoners!" "Oh he's so manful!" whispered Mol loudly into her ear while Ishtar tittered.
Lord Titus who had started drinking early was somewhat taken a back but was clearly pleased. Rather loudly he exclaimed, "I say Carodd, the day's turned for the better!"
The girls knew their business and soon they had the men wrapped around their fingers while the volume of their voiced grew and grew. As Triphylla planned, a rather exasperated sergeant burst out of the guardroom, "Oi! Do you lot have to make so much noise? Can't you clear off?" Nobody paid him or the invisible spies ghosting past the least bit of notice.
Can't blame Dame Crabbe for trying. I hear she had high hopes for the Jubilee, but alas no prince charming has swooped into rescue Sepsinia from her funk. Yet..."
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"Speaking of which, I'll admit I am a bit curious." She gives Lope a smile "How did you learn about the Blackblade now resting on the Estate's Vault?"
Lope looks back at Diana and pauses in perhaps the only time he has posed a serious expression in front of the woman. She measures her for a while before finally talking "I... I can't disclose the whole story just yet, but suffice to say, I gave my word to its dying owner that I would recover the blade and put it on good use to cleanse the Vega name"
Lope seems to have a natural come with the people of Moost "Opilio? Who was that? The daughter's crush perhaps?"
The man frowns on hearing the rumors about Okerra "Is there any proof that he is heir to just a stable boy?"
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Valeria shook her head woozily when Lope asked her if she didn't sleep well and said, "No, I didn't. I ad...I remembered things I didn't want to again."
Valeria looked at the village and thought it was a rather nice little village. She'd certainly seen worse and she was just as glad this wasn't one of the bad ones. That they had not had to camp near the forest was a very good thing as fr as she was concerned and Valeria was more than ready to wander around and try to learn what she could.
Valeria had heard the same rumors that Lope had but she stumbled on one he had missed. She looked to her companions and said, "Supposedly Baron Vort has 'gone native' and is living with some peasants Southeast of Baron Telus's land. He's even destroyed the Gold Canyon Bridge to keep people away. Someone was trying to tell me that a witch got in his head and made him do it." Valeria wasn't sure how much of that she believed but that was what she had heard.
Shortly afterwards a harried looking Count Bartleby strides into the waiting area. He gave Lord Titus a disgusted look, "Seriously? Drunk again and it's not even midday. Go for a long walk Titus and clean yourself up. I expect you to have sobered by by dinner time."
Titus looked like he was going to argue for a moment but something in the Count's eye made the braggart back down. Titus beckoned Carodd and Syras, and they swayed more than a little drunk, away without any further fuss.
Once Titus was gone the guards let the Count in, he produced a gleaming silver key and unlocked the impressive double doors to the royal suite. He beckoned the girls through into an overstuffed, roughly triangular-shaped office is fit for a king. Every surface was an example of expert artistry and all but dripping with gold leaf. The centre piece was large expensive looking desk of some dark fragrant wood decorated with golden candelabras. The ceiling was covered in frescoes and the cornices sported carved cherubs dancing among storm clouds.
Once inside Count Bartleby gave Veronica a piercing look and whispered with quiet menace, "I'll thank you for not encouraging the boy, do I make myself clear?!"
Head down looking chastened she replied, "Yes your grace."
"Very well." he replied and catching the eye of all the girls he added, "Clean down stairs as usual, and whatever you do don't repeat Tara's mistake, ignore any sounds you might hear in the nursery. Oh and upstairs is off limits for your safety."
The Count opened the gilded door to the north, carved with the motif of the royal family into a sitting room and stat down to wait while the girls diligently set about cleaning. The sitting room (H32) is a large warm space whose walls are lined with various bookshelves and paintings. Decorated with warm colors, plush carpeting, and overstuffed furniture all combine to give the illusion of warmth, while the scent of tobacco hangs faintly in the air. A large impressively accurate portrait of Duchess Veleto Lotheed stares down from one wall.
Pipe ash in an ashtray on one of the tables suggests the room has been used in the last several months. Several oil paintings of past grand princes hang from the wall, alongside a large painting of the Duchess Veleto Lotheed. A small plaque on the Duchess’s frame reads, “My Veleto, in loving memory. P.”
The nursery (H33) contains two small beds. The centre of the room contains a soft blanket laid out on the floor along with soft toys, wooden blocks, and various small musical instruments. Painted lions cavort along the walls, moving through simple patterns.
From upstairs you hear a child's distant sobs.
"Opilio? Who was that? The daughter's crush perhaps?"
"Indeed" came the reply, "A tragic doomed love. Opilio wasn't right in the head, he took his own life. Sepsinia hasn't been the same since."
Lope's query about the veracity of the rumours about Barron Okerra's upbringing were met with shrugs.
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Lope looks back at Diana and pauses in perhaps the only time he has posed a serious expression in front of the woman. She measures her for a while before finally talking "I... I can't disclose the whole story just yet, but suffice to say, I gave my word to its dying owner that I would recover the blade and put it on good use to cleanse the Vega name"
Seeing Lopez's serious expression, Diana drops her smile and nods gravely. "I see. I'm sorry Lope, I didn't mean to pry any painful memories. You can count on me to help recovering it and fulfill its last owner's wish."
"I heard much the same regarding Baron Vort and Okerra." She says to her companions as they recount the rumours they managed to hear. "I didn't hear much about Sepsinia, strangely enough." Diana looks sadly down at her ring for just a brief moment before continuing "Poor girl. I guess people didn't feel too comfortable talking to me about it."
Per the plan, Triphylla sneaks by the staff and the Count and heads upstairs. The sounds of a child crying is unnerving, and the Count's warning to his cleaning crew seems callous at best. She winds her way upward to investigate.
Cyrene makes a swift pass around the downstairs rooms, staying quiet and close to the walls wherever possible. She doesn't risk going upstairs - an assassin plans their moves, rather than leaping at the first maybe chance.
After about three minutes (as best she can tell) she retreats, not wanting to take risks at this point.
The elephant in the room is of course the question, why is there a Trompe l’oeil of Duchess Lotheed?!
With this thought buzzing in your head you crept upstairs to investigate the sound of a child in distress. At the top of the stairs is a large room with a towering, domed ceiling that depicts the shimmering summer stars, with major constellations outlined in gold leaf. A massive bed trimmed with silk sheets and a darkwood vanity fill much of the space, while expensive bric-a-brac covers the waist-high shelf circling the room.
Clearly these chambers are intended for the grand prince and his wife or concubine.
The sounds of crying seem to be coming from the ensuite bathroom . You open the door a crack but nobody seems to be inside.
[spoiler]With a shiver you suspect you're dealing with some kind of undead here. Perhaps an Attic a kind of undead that forms as the result of a lonely or neglected child’s death. Rather than animating the body of the dead youth, the creature rises from an amalgam of old toys, clothing, dust, and other objects associated with the departed—icons of the child’s neglect. The widely varying materials that fuse together to form these creatures lead to attic whisperers with vastly different appearances. Attic whisperers linger in the places where they were formed, typically old homes, orphanages, schools, debtors’ prisons, workhouses, and similar places where children might be discarded. When an attic whisperer first forms, it does so without a skull—this does not impact the creature’s abilities in any way, but it usually seeks out a small animal’s skull as a form of decoration soon after it manifests.
You press onto the Crabbe estate which while large is considerably more homely than many of the stuffy buildings you've visited of late. The estate boarders a large marshy area and the principle export is cranberries, lingonberries and various products made from them.
Dame Crabbe was waiting for you in a brightly room with a roaring fire, and soon you are served a variety of small biscuits and toasted breads with cranberry and lingonberry compote and small fluted glasses with the estate's rather delectable ice wine along with warm mugs of various blends of tea and coffee.
Clearly pleased to see you, Dame Crabbe said "Welcome welcome! Please make yourselves at home."
Tea itself is a quiet affair. Parthena is less overbearing and more informal away from major social events, and she sticks to small talk, telling you of her estate and local news and developments regarding her family in Cassomir. Sepsinia is also there, reading a book although she makes no effort to join the conversation.
After a while Dame Crabbe inquires, "How are you finding your estate? I'm guessing there's quite some work to be done with renovations."
Oh, the fascination with having a realistic likeness of oneself painted true to size and hung on a wall to look down on those worthy only of being looked down upon. What shameless self-importance.
Triphylla is in a hurry, but the painting of Duchess Lotheed completely creeps her out... wait... oh that is b!*##+$ crazy.
Having discovered the truly disturbing portrait-not-a-portrait, the halfling ascends to discover what she now expects is not a babe at all, because who would neglect a crying child?
Presently she finds herself in a place she could have never imagined - the bedchamber of the Grand Prince! She can't imagine Stavian making time out of his busy day of getting bombed out of his mind to make the arduous journey here, so it was a wonder why the Count bothered keeping the place up. Tradition, possibly.
"Cyrene, this place is bananas. Cyrene?" Triphylla is disappointed when she realizes the Tiefling has lost her nerve.
After discerning the portrait downstairs for what it truly is, Triphylla decides she has no interest in learning the true source of the crying. Some things are better left as mysteries.
Still the shiver down her spine is enough to cause her to fish in her pocket for a blood-boiling pill and quickly swallow it. Her cheeks flush and extremities tingle as the warmth floods her frame. Out of an abundance of paranoia, she also consumes a dose of Essence of Independence and dips her clawed hands into the jar of Holy Weapon Balm. Finally, she consumes her Shield and Expeditious Retreat extracts.
Now those double-doors, those must be opened. She takes an extra moment to look for devices which might cause her untimely demise, mechanical, arcane, or otherwise.
Seeing Lopez's serious expression, Diana drops her smile and nods gravely. "I see. I'm sorry Lope, I didn't mean to pry any painful memories. You can count on me to help recovering it and fulfill its last owner's wish."
Lope appreciates Diana's response with a nod, then recovers his usual clean smile "But we are in a tavern, isn't it? So let's profit to enjoy!"
The Aldori spends the time at the tavern drinking with the villagers and Diana and Valeria, and explaining amusing stories about Oppara in which always Princess Eutrophia gets good propaganda.
Lope looks around the estate in appreciation "You have made a quite a home out of your inheritance Dame Crabbe"
He does mingle with the ongoing conversation, trying to get to know the Dame's guests but also having a look on what Sepsinia is reading. Ultimately he tries to make her talk "I was not understanding before, but it is just ok that you just don't take social chit chat seriously. Honestly, it is just fine. Whatever you are feeling is ok"
When Dame Crabbe inquiries about the estate, Lope smiles and offers a good version of the place "Oh, if you take out the broken windows and the crumbling façades, it is quite fine. I would say it makes for an interesting training to find out how to repair the whole thing. Maybe the Dame can recommend some architect and designers even. I quite like your place."
He does mingle with the ongoing conversation, trying to get to know the Dame's guests but also having a look on what Sepsinia is reading. Ultimately he tries to make her talk "I was not understanding before, but it is just ok that you just don't take social chit chat seriously. Honestly, it is just fine. Whatever you are feeling is ok"
"I am guilty of choosing books over social events myself." She tells Sepsinia with a smile. "As such, I will not try to take your mind away from it. But we might have more things in common, if you ever want someone to talk to."
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Almost immediately you get a terrible sensation of foreboding, some second sense lets you know this place is guarded and that you have been noticed despite being invisible. To step foot inside would be deeply unwise...
At the tavern Lope's catchy tune gets into people's heads. With satisfaction he hears several patrons humming the chorus as he leaves.
"You have made a quite a home out of your inheritance Dame Crabbe"
Dame Crabbe seemed to appreciate this, replying "Well, one does what one can!"
When Lope praises the decor and asks about architects she seemed even more flattered and she told him, "Well there is Appleton's of Cassomir. I know most would recommend The Argent Group since they've got a royal charter but honestly I find their designs to be overwrought and unspeakably expensive. Appleton's aren't exactly cheap but they will listen to you rather than look down their noses at any design request that doesn't ape royalty."
Lope and Diana briefly coax Sepsinia into talking, she replied to them "Oh that's kind of you both. But I guess I find I don't have much to say anymore." You manage to get a little small talk out of her about her book, Absolom's most notorious killers and the lives and times of their victims but it's a little bit like talking to a wall and she looses interest quickly.
Dame Crabbe frowns with worry when Sepsinia looses interest again. She tells you, "It's good of you to try, but ever since Opilio died last year she's been like this. I'm at my wit's end, I don't know what to do with her. It's like some vital spark has been extinguished and some days she doesn't eat unless I remind her. You know she was a promising painter, but she no longer takes any interest in art or beauty, and if asked about any topic, she simply sighs and asks to be left alone..."
"The death of a close one is sure to leave its scars, I know that well." Diana replies sadly at Dame Crabbe. "I'm sure Sepsinia is doing her best in handling her grief. The best we can do is help her along as best we can. I am sorry we could not be of more help. If there is anything else you think we could do to aid her, do not hesitate to call on us."
This amount of apathy is far from normal, even considering the circumstances. I'm pretty sure there's magic or something similar behind Sepsinia's behavior.
She does her best to hide her suspicions over tea, but is quick to share her concerns with Lope and Valeria as soon as she gets a moment alone with them.
"I'm not sure what it might be, but I'm certain there's something supernatural behind Sepsinia's behavior. Maybe we should ask around a bit more about her and about this Opillio. Maybe find out how he died. Maybe they dabbled with things they shouldn't have and things got out of control?"
"Dragged through a hedge? Somewhere over in the garden, perhaps?" Diana ponders for a moment on the servant's words. "Thank you for your help. Could I ask you a few more questions about these sleepwalking episodes? Is she always like that in the morning, or could she be heading towards different places? And do you know how frequent these episodes are? Have they been happening for a while, or is it more of a recent thing?"
Nope!
The instant the room is revealed to Triphylla she recoils. The crushing smell of rot and the jars full of horror; no alchemist lab looks like this. Something far more macabre is happening here. Maybe, with her team at her side, she could muster the bile to explore this chamber, but her mind races with an image of the door closing fast at her back and some extra-planar monstrosity materializing to harvest her brains out of her living skull.
Wait, is that a secret door? No, this is not the time.
And the clock is ticking. With a minute or so of invisibility remaining, she quickly and quietly - as quiet as her pounding heart and ragged breath allow - descends from the tower and rushes out to the safety of other reaches of the Palace. Although knowing what she now knows, no place will feel safe here. As soon as she is able she informs the staff of her imminent departure and returns to the manor.
Trip's hurried departure from the Palace of Birdsong surprises Cyrene, but it also confirms to her the wisdom of taking time to plan rather than charging straight ahead.
She spends the rest of the time at the Palace as a perfect servant - cataloging rooms, guardians and defenses everywhere she goes. If the time comes for Bartelby to die she intends for it to be quiet, smooth and utterly undetected.
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In Moost she remains in the background, as her 'betters' do their social duty. It's a lot easier being out of the way most of the time and she's made a point to be pretty, but not very pretty. Dame Crabbe seems like the kind of woman to make life difficult for any servant she deems a threat to her daughter - be the threat real or imagined.
Diana's suspicions match Cyrene's own and she says so.
"I noticed something similar at the Gala. I am no mage but something must be affecting her. I will ask if they had a favourite place to go, or a hidden spot of some sort."
She asks around the servants and the help - the kind of people who actually know things!
The servants you spoke to don't seem to know where Sepsinia goes, saying "I've never seen her sleep walk myself, most of us live in the village after all.'
When Cyrene asked one of the maids she replied, "I don't rightly know, but somewhere outside. If you're worried about her safety perhaps you could stay up and follow?"
By now the sun has long since set and you've enjoyed dinner with Dame Crabbe. After some delicious desert wines and several rounds of tiny but delicious fruit crumbles you're all stuffed and your hostess has fallen asleep in her comfy chair by the crackling fire.
Triphylla cools her heels in the local pubs for a day or two until the rest of the Betony ensemble return from Dame Crabbe's.
Lope hears Diana's suspicions with worry "A control spell maybe? Can you unweave the magics Diana?" also looking at Valeria "Or maybe you?"
Further hearing Cyrene and her findings, the Aldori nods resolved "If this is magical in nature, then we need to discover what is the force taking control of her. Otherwise, it could just affect her again, or worst, take someone else. I agree, let's say and try to find out."
Once the group has resolved together, he will accept the invitation to stay the night.
Before going to sleep, Lope prepares the magics of an unseen servant, and combat magic for the rest. Then convenes with the others to discretely hide in the gardens and taking turns, observe where Sepsina goes tonight.
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Valeria was rather quiet as they visited with Dame Crabbe and Sepsinia and was worried for the young woman as something seemed wrong. While she did not know what the cause was it seemed that others were more capable of determining it. The suggestion that she was affected by a spell was very concerning and she had to shake her head and reply, "I am afraid that I have not yet gained that level of magic from my goddess as of yet. From the description I rather doubt I could break it even if I could dispel magics. "
Considering for a few moments Vaeria said, "The only thing I could do to help would be to talk with her. I have experienced much loss in my life, maybe I could connect with her and help her talk about things?"
Cyrene tours the grounds while it is still light, trying to narrow down possible locations for a secret rendezvous.
Lope nods to Valeria "Maybe it is worth the try to talk with her. Perhaps she is more receptive to someone who has gone through that kind of loss" though he cannot avoid looking weird on the thought, not even wanting to imagine the tragedy Valeria has endured.
"I don't know the spell, but might be able to learn and cast it if I can reference a scroll - it's something I might try to acquire when we get back. But I agree with Valeria - I'm not sure it's something we could dispel - I found no traces of magic on Sepsinia when I examined her earlier. We should do our best to find out what exactly were dealing with."
She nods sadly towards Valeria. "Trying to talk to her is still a good idea, and I'm sure will be crucial to help her along. But I'm not sure she will be any more receptive before we remove whatever magical influence is affecting her."
"Hiding out in the gardens, to see if she comes out for us to follow might work, but we have to be discreet about it. I can prepare a couple Invisibility spells, and have some additional illusions that might help. I'd really prefer to avoid having to explain to Dame Crabbe why were sneaking around during the middle of the night."
3rd (2+1/day)- Haste, Fly, Bonus: Major Image
2nd (3+1/day)- Glitterdust x2, Invisibility Bonus: Invisibility
1st (5+1/day)- Mage Armor, Grease, Ear Piercing Scream (2 slots), Disguise Self, Bonus: Silent Image
0th (at will)- Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Daze, Read Magic
While Lope, Valeria and Diana discuss what might be wrong with Sepsina, Cyrene returns from walks around the estate. Most of the estate is pretty much what she expected to see, a large but homely manor house with various outbuildings for livestock, storing grain and cranberry related industry. The grounds are generally well maintained. The large and rather overgrown hedge maze at the back whose neglect stands in stark contrast to the rest of the tidy estate.
Attempts to talk to Sespina don't get very far, her behaviour is consistent with deep depression although you suspect there's more to it than that. Eventually you give up and take turns to wait outside and follow her.
Hours pass quietly with nothing but the occasional hoot of a owl. One of you comes to relieve the first person on watch.
She heads towards the maze, she's closer to it than you and moving quickly!
Diana nods at the stable groom's words, her face deep in thought. "Any idea why they would be afraid of it? Any rumour you might have heard to that effect? Seems a bit odd that they'd avoid the place without reason. And did Dame Crabbe not notice the state it's in?"
While she waits for any sign of Sepsinia, Diana sends her thrush familiar to fly high over the maze, to see if it can see inside from above. If the passageways are somewhat visible from above, she'll try to work with her familiar to draw a map of the thing.
Casual conversation (and maybe a hint of flirting) is an art Cyrene mastered long ago and it doesn't take long to bring conversation with the groom around to her chosen topic. The fact that he doesn't seem to have noticed the hedge rings alarm bells in her mind - it's obvious and out of place on a well kept estate like this one. No-one should just miss it.
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"There," She hisses, and then grabs Diana by the shoulder when the other woman fails to respond. "She's heading for the maze - tell the others!"
With no more time to waste the assassin hurries into the darkness. Luckily its her natural environment and holds no terrors for her.
"Cyrene, wait, don't go alone, you don't know what might be lurking over there!"
"Lira, go wake the others and bring them here! Guide them inside if you can." After hurrying her familiar along, Diana casts her flight spell and takes off after Cyrene.
As Cyrene and Diana approach the maze they find choked with dense brambles, weeds, and there's a cloying mist clearly of supernatural origin that deadens sounds. Despite Cyrene's confidence, the maze is quite daunting from the ground.
Floating above Diana has an easier time of it, she can see a picturesque gazebo overgrown with roses in the centre. Surely that is Sepsina's destination? But to Diana's dismay she can see the maze shifting and reconfiguring around Cyrene - guiding her to the centre will not be easy...
Lope, Triphylla and Valeria are rudely awoken by the sound of a thrush singing right by their ears. After a moments disorientation as the fog of sleep leaves you, you recognise Diana's familiar. The little bird flies towards the door and then back to you, clearly it's trying to lead you somewhere...
combat maneuver (DC 15), Climb (DC 20), Knowledge (engineering; DC 18), Knowledge (nature; DC 20), Perception (DC 18), Spellcraft (DC 22), Survival (DC 18), or a Will saving throw (DC 15); a flying animal companion, familiar, or other guide grants PCs a +2 circumstance bonus on their checks to navigate. The same type of check cannot be attempted twice, and a failed check means the PCs have accidentally exited the maze and must start over.
Lope awakens abruptly by the insistent singing "Is that not Diana's bird?"
The Aldori had his clothes and blade ready, and is quick to set up himself, running to catch up with the bird "Where is Diana? Is she in danger?"
He follows up until reaching the maze. His first attempt is to try navigate it orienting himself inside.
As things become more tough, he uses some magic detection divination, trying to follow lingering auras to deduce the center of the place.
And when he reaches a desperate point, Lope attempts to break through.
Which proofs the walls are to thick and leaves Lope in a worse position than before.
Triphylla got bored waiting for her cohorts to do whatever it was they were doing at Dame Crabbe's. In the end she flipped a coin as to whether she should spend the days drinking or go to Crabbe's to see what's what.
She lost the flip, and a few hours later she found herself at the Crabbe Manor, which aligned with her present mood.
Defaulting to her role as Master Chamberlain, she had little to do, but retired the previous evening having little direction except to try to drink the horror of the Palace Tower out of her memory.
From a stupor she is awaken but a winged rat, such is her desire to be compelled to action in the middle of the night. Nevertheless she hears Lope in the hall and she shrugs on her gear to help investigate.
"Diana has a bird?" she responds. "To what end?"
She follows the Aldori to the massive hedge maze. "What is this game, Lope? It's too late, or too early for whatever this is."
She quickly loses her companion in the high hedge and then finds herself lost in it, with no recourse but to try to navigate its pitch black recesses. Her mind cloudy and her reasoning not sharp, she tries to use her small stature, squeezing at the root to circumvent the circumabulation to the center.
After a couple false starts she casts her fate to luck and runs with unwavering conviction along a path to the center! "HA!" she cries, bursting forth from the maze.
"I think Sepsinia is heading towards the center" she calls out to Cyrene below. "I can see a gazebo over there. I'll try to guide you there as best I can, but the maze is shifting around you!"
Magical mazes... that's practically cheating and Cyrene is frustrated within moments. She knows that Diana is trying to help, but it isn't working until she rolls her shoulders and lets herself just be.
As her tail surges out behind her the succubus pushes her body to the limit, stretching out mass for size and looks up.
"Might need you to hold me up!" She calls, before scrambling up the hedge. It takes a couple of moments before she manages to find a semi-secure footing and starts plotting her route over the damn hedges!
Valeria was awakened by the bird getting her attention and recognized it in fairly short order. She nodded in understanding and said, "I understand, I'll be right out." She quickly dressed and grabbed her gear before heading out to meet up with the others.
When Valeria heard her compatriots talking about the maze being magical Valeria groaned in annoyance and said, "Because of course it is!" With a sigh she squared her shoulders and said, "Alright, let's do this," before she headed into the maze.
At first Valeria was did well, forcing herself through a narrow opening in the shrubs as it tried to close on her, and found herself confronted by a closed in section. She found some vines and used them to shimmy up over the hedge but as she came over the top a flurry of pollen poofed in her face and she found herself coming down on the outside of the maze. Valeria cursed and managed to find her way back into the maze but within just a few turns she was right back out again as some illusion turned her around. No longer able to even see the entrance to the maze Valeria glared at the maze and finally gave up in disgust as she sat and waited for the others to take care of whatever was going on in there.
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The maze proves to be rather frustrating with shifting paths and bramble thickets. At length and despite several false starts Diana manages to guide you through the maze. You cast your eyes over a picturesque gazebo, overgrown with roses, in front of which is a ghastly parody of a romantic picnic.
There is a tenuous saccharine sweet image overlayed on top of everything, an illusion of a perfect summer day. A picnic is spread on a front of the gazebo, although you can see that the dirty blanket is moth eaten and covered with suspicious stains. The food in the hamper looks rotten and worm infested, and the bottle of champagne in the ice bucket is a disturbing shade of green with unidentified bits floating in it.
Sepsinia is cuddling up to a clearly undead young man, who must be Opilio, is offering her with mouldy biscuits. The undead man's flesh is an unhealthy shade of green with bones exposed in places. He gazes at her with an expression that wavers between adoration and savage lust.