Lope gasps as he understands the danger of this creature but cannot communicate it. Though his hand shakes by the fear of his ill wounded state, he does not retreat. The aldori dashes into combat determined to protect his companions and their cause.
Lope's form was good and he scored a decent hit with his sword but to his dismay it barely did anything, beyond charring some of the horror's hair! Intuitively he knew what the problem was, blessed blades where required to bypass it's defences, but to his mounting horror he was unable to articulate this!
The horror seemed amused by Lope's attack and it threw his head back as if to laugh, but instead there was a terrible insectoid din as if thousands upon thousands of demented cicadas where calling all at once!
The din hits Lope and Valeria like a hammer blow and they felt as if their bodies were falling apart! Thin trickles of blood seep from their ears, eyes and noses.
Environment: Normal.
Buffs and Debuffs:
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria -2 to everything (3 rounds), 3 con dmg
Cyrene
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, -2 to everything (3 rounds), 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria -2 to everything (2 rounds), 3 con dmg
Cyrene
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield
Damage Log:Round: 1
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 2 (total damage taken 2)Totals:
Monstrosity: 2 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Lope
Monstrosity
Diana <----- WE ARE HERE
Valeria
Cyrene
Triphylla
Diana, Valeria, Cyrene, Triphylla and Lope are up.
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"What is that thing?" Diana looks on in horror as Lope's swing barely dented the beast. "Can we even bring it down? Or should we make a swift retreat?"
Figuring that bolstering the group's speed is the best she can do in either case, she casts her second Haste spell on the group.
Cyrene is no fool and averts her eyes from the creature almost the moment it appears but the appearance is still more than enough to shake her to her core.
Unwilling to strike yet she circles the edge of the room, gaze flitting hither and thither to garner clues about the creature in each reflective surface she can see.
Having steeled herself, at least for the moment, against the monster's grotesqueness, Triphylla maneuvers around Lope to attack the creature by his side and flank it with Cyrene. She thrusts her clawed hands into her pot of holy weapon balm, figuring this horror is certainly an evil outsider.
Lope looks hesitant to further attack after it mostly did nothing aside from the fire, but bolstered by Diana's haste, and advised by the bloodblade itself to keep doing it, he tries to attack once more.
To his own dismay, the sword turns to a full sheet of pure fire.
Valeria saw the thing that they now faced. It was hideous and she felt the nightmares of her past start to surface just looking at it and then, it laughed. Valeria felt the laugh tear through her like a physical thing and she coughed up blood! Knowing she was going to be of little use in a direct conflict just then Valeria looked at the thing despite how hideous the thing was.
The sight of the thing left Valeria shaken reminding her too much of some of Deskari's horde, but she still tried to identify what it was.
It's an ichko," she called out, "It has a gaze attack so try not to look right at it!" She then promptly looked slightly to the side of it in an effort to avoid whatever it's gaze would do to her as she called upon her goddess to let it know her bane!
"Yes, it's icky!" Valeria's warning comes just in time for Triphylla. By halfling luck she had managed to avoid whatever fate befell the poor creature who looked directly at the wretched thing. As she closed distance to it she tried to look away, anywhere else but at this abomination.
Diana casts a powerful spell, and with it a great surge of energy bolsters your movement and attacks.
Valeria invokes the name of her goddess but the looming horror was fiercely resistant and the spell slid off.
<--- PASS
Cyrene maneuvers into position to study the ichkoh.
Triphylla anoints her claws with Holy Weapon Balm.
The blackened metal of Lope's sword seems to wave and disappear leaving him wielding what looks to be a blade made of elemental fire! Clearly unused to this transformation, Lope's cuts where a little clumsy but to his surprise they were effective! Where the swordflame touched the ichkoh, great blackened sections where left along with the stench of burning hair.
The ichkoh bellowed in rage and it claws suddenly shot out towards Lope. He managed to parry one, but he left himself open to the other and got a nasty scratch all along his back for his pleasure.
<--- MISS
<--- HIT
Environment: Normal.
Buffs and Debuffs:
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, -2 to everything (3 rounds), 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor, Haste
Valeria -2 to everything (2 rounds), 3 con dmg, Haste
Cyrene Haste
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield, Haste, Holy Weapon Balm
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, -2 to everything (2 rounds), 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor, Haste
Valeria -2 to everything (1 round), 3 con dmg, Haste
Cyrene Haste
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield, Haste, Holy Weapon Balm
Damage Log:Round: 1
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 2 (total damage taken 2)Round: 2
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 19 (total damage taken 21)
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 8 (total damage taken 8)Totals:
Monstrosity: 21 damage
Lope: 8 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Lope
Monstrosity
Diana <----- WE ARE HERE
Valeria
Cyrene
Triphylla
Diana, Valeria, Cyrene, Triphylla and Lope are up.
Lope makes a silent scream as the ichko gets him, but fortunately the ablative barrier takes the worst of the hit.
Seeing how effective his attacks were, Lope keeps the swinging, with the blackblade making an effort to spend its remaining energy into a few more seconds of flames!
Her usual bloodlust replaced with stomach turning horror, Triphylla can't force herself to bite this thing, but her Barbarian rage cannot be suppressed. A pair of demonic horns pierces her scalp and screw upward, and she swings her head at the thing while attack it with her claws.
"GAAAAHHH!
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Diana does her best to not look at the thing, and instead focuses on her companions. With no effective spell to hinder their foe without affecting her companions, she closes with Lope and gives him another illusory ward, seeing as how the beast seems focused on him.
Having to keep her gaze off the creature is making things very difficult for Cyrene, but she does her best.
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Knowing what she needed to do this time Valeria averted her eyes from the monstrosity and cast a spell before moving in to touch Lope with golden light.
Diana casts a minor illusion on Lope, and Valeria called upon her goddess to heal him. With a blue flash of radiance, Lope's wounds simply vanished.
Cyrene manages to land one solid hit on the beast, despite averting her eyes. Cutting through the things's tough hide was rather difficult although Cyrene was certain she hurt it. Her follow up attack missed.
After anointing herself with holy Weapon Balm, Triphylla attacked with unrivaled furiosity. Unfortunately landing blows on such an enemy was difficult at the best of time (it has fairly decent AC) and doing so while averting your gaze made it doubly difficult. Still she managed to strike with one of her claws, eliciting a hiss of pain from the monstrosity!
<--- HIT
<--- MISS (but also due to AC)
<--- MISS (but also due to AC)
Lope maintained the transformation of his sword into pure flame, and inflicted telling damage. It was trivial to hit the monstrosity since his weapon bypassed it's oh so tough hide entirely!
The Ichkoh's demeanour changed, the smug superiority was replaced by desperate fury. Lope managed to parry one strike but he couldn't quite twist away from the other claw which raked him down the side.
<--- HIT
<--- MISS
Environment: Normal.
Buffs and Debuffs:
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, -2 to everything (2 rounds), 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor, Haste
Valeria -2 to everything (1 round), 3 con dmg, Haste
Cyrene Haste
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield, Haste, Holy Weapon Balm
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, -2 to everything (1 round), 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor, Haste
Valeria 3 con dmg, Haste
Cyrene Haste
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield, Haste, Holy Weapon Balm
Damage Log:Round: 1
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 2 (total damage taken 2)Round: 2
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 19 (total damage taken 21)
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 8 (total damage taken 8)
Lope was healed by Valeria for 15 (total damage taken 0)
Monstrosity was hit by Cyrene for 9 (total damage taken 30)
Monstrosity was hit by Triphylla for 13 (total damage taken 43)Round: 3
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 12 (total damage taken 55)
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 10 (total damage taken 65)
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 8 (total damage taken 8)Totals:
Monstrosity: 65 damage
Lope: 8 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Lope
Monstrosity
Diana <----- WE ARE HERE
Valeria
Cyrene
Triphylla
Diana, Valeria, Cyrene, Triphylla and Lope are up.
Triphylla keeps her eyes averted but presses the attack. The violent attacks against Lope make her more desperate to send this thing back to its own damned plane of existence.
But she's drawn toward the horror, inexplicably, and her eyes sting.
Cyrene sneaks brief glances and lashes out twice. She feels at least one land but the creature moves and throws off her second attack.
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 2 (total damage taken 2)
Round: 2
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 8 (total damage taken 8)
Lope was healed by Valeria for 15 (total damage taken 0)
Monstrosity was hit by Cyrene for 9 (total damage taken 11)
Monstrosity was hit by Triphylla for 13 (total damage taken 24)
Round: 3
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 10 (total damage taken 34)
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 8 (total damage taken 8)
Totals:
Monstrosity: 34 damage
Lope: 8 damage
Lope gives a thank you look at Valeria as her healing let him keep fighting. With the blackblade back to its metal form, he cuts through the enemy without much other options remaining for him.
Figuring she can't do much more for now other than trying to protect everyone else, she places an illusory ward on Tryphylla as well.
Seeing that Cyrene was in rough shape Valeria cast another healing spell then moved around the combat to get to her and deliver a touch of golden light to the worst of her injuries.
Diana weaves another subtle protective cantrip, this time on Triphylla.
Still averting her eyes, Cyrene lashed out and she did indeed feel one solid impact as her weapon struck the Ichkoh.
Triphylla's attacks were fast and furious but she had her eyes closed which meant they were mostly missed by several feet, however she managed to snag one hit with her tusk. Normally this would have lead to a serious injury, but the Ichkoh's hide was incredibly tough, turning aside the worst of the damage.
Also from your description there's no weapon balm on the tusk.
Feeling queasy, Lope risks looking at the monstrosity and managed to hold together enough to land one solid hit. The metal of his blade barely scored the Ichkoh, but the flame blackened and blistered the dense filthy hairs of its body, causing a terrible reek!
The Ichkoh lashes out at Lope, his Aldori training kicks in and he parries one claw but again this leaves him open to the second one which leaves a deep gouge in his side!
<--- MISS
<--- HIT
Environment: Normal.
Buffs and Debuffs:
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, -2 to everything (1 round), 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor, Haste
Valeria 3 con dmg, Haste
Cyrene Haste
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield, Haste, Holy Weapon Balm
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier, 3 con dmg
Monstrosity
Diana Mage Armor, Haste
Valeria 3 con dmg, Haste
Cyrene Haste
Triphylla Dex Mutagen, Shield, Haste, Holy Weapon Balm
Damage Log:Round: 1
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 2 (total damage taken 2)Round: 2
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 8 (total damage taken 8)
Lope was healed by Valeria for 15 (total damage taken 0)
Monstrosity was hit by Cyrene for 9 (total damage taken 11)
Monstrosity was hit by Triphylla for 13 (total damage taken 24)Round: 3
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 10 (total damage taken 34)
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 8 (total damage taken 8)
Monstrosity was hit by Cyrene for 11 (total damage taken 45)
Monstrosity was hit by Triphylla for 2 (total damage taken 47)Round: 4
Monstrosity was hit by Lope for 7 (total damage taken 54)
Lope was hit by Monstrosity for 12 (total damage taken 20)Totals:
Monstrosity: 54 damage
Lope: 20 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Lope
Monstrosity
Diana <----- WE ARE HERE
Valeria
Cyrene
Triphylla
Diana, Valeria, Cyrene, Triphylla and Lope are up.
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Terror stricken, Triphylla looks directly at the horror. It's better to be shaken and see the enemy then try to hide her eyes now that the effects of its otherworldly countenance have taken hold.
+1 = 5 rnds
She screams as she attacks, perhaps to ground herself in a reality that she understands.
"AHHHHH!"
Not being able to look at the creature is making this very difficult for Cyrene...
Still averting her eyes, Cyrene attempts to attack but this is no mean feat and her blade stabs only air.
In blind terror, Triphylla tears into the Ichkoh. Her tusk connects bit the thing's hide turned aside most of the damage. Daubed with holy weapon balm, her claws where a different matter, they sank unto the elbows into the Ichkoh's abdomen. Triphylla felt something squirming inside, she grasped it with both claws and ripped it out in a shower of gore.
The Ichkoh's face twitched horribly for several minutes before it finally died. The lab falls eerily silent, the only sounds are of your laboured breathing.
The party investigates the odd wall Cyrene noticed. It takes a few attempts but you find a hidden latch, which opens to reveal a chamber decorated with the holy symbols of two dozen religions, as well as strange herbs and dried animals. Jars of colored powders are organized neatly along the northern wall. A large circle, etched in silver and decorated with intricate loops and swirls, fills most of the floor.
Lope wants to praise the group for their accomplishments, but he has not the voice to do so. Still, after checking that last wound he received, he smiles and does an ok sign with his hand before investigating the room further on.
As Lope enters the place, he shivers. He starts to make quick moves, like wanting the party to rush, despite he cannot communicate why.
The first think that picks up his attention is the circle in the middle of the room, and he rushes to try erase a bit of it with his left foot.
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Triphylla drops the rancid sack of slimy flesh as soon as she exposes it to the light, then recoils in horror, stumbling backward and slumping against the far wall, closing her eyes tightly so as to not have to watch it die. The rush of battle soon leaves her body feeling weakened, and she buries her face between her knees for several minutes until she feels her strength begin to return. She looks at the Ichkoh one more time and shudders, her will broken by it. Then she follows the group through the secret space.
Her eyes are drawn to the circle on the floor. "That's the teleportation circle. Good instincts, Lope!"
Triphylla takes the vials of acid from her pack and hands them around. "Take these and destroy the circle!" She pours the contents of one flask along a section of the etching. If that's not enough, she breaks into her stash of mineral acid to finish the job.
After staring in horror for a moment at the scene unraveling in front of her, Diana lets out a relieved sigh as the monstrosity falls to the ground, lifeless. Noting Triphylla's reaction, she carefully kneels down next to her and places a comforting hand on her back, until she's ready to move on. "It's over, Triphylla. Thank you."
As they enter the new room, Diana expression quickly becomes panicked, however.
"That... That was a magical alarm going off! Grandfather knows we're here now! We must destroy the circle immediately!"
She frantically takes a vial from Triphylla and pours it on the magical circle as well.
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Lope quickly realizes the teleportation circle is too permanently constructed for his foot to do anything however when Triphylla and Diana start pouring acid all over it, the floor starts to fizz vigorously as it dissolves. Clouds of noxious fumes boil off the acid as it works requiring everyone nearby to cover their faces with scarves, sleeves etc... It takes every bit of acid Triphylla had on hand, but with much of the stone dias eroded by the acid, bits of metal inlay started to come away and could be levered up by shoving a dagger point underneath.
The moment the precious metal inlay broke there was a loud bang and everyone was flung back. When you recovered from the shock you found all that was left of the teleportation circle was a blackened ruin, the precious metals had vanished along with much of the floor rendering this part of the tower distinctly unsafe.
Triphylla coughs and rolls over staying low to the floor. But the could of noxious gas has permeated the room and with only one way out, the toxic vapors aren't going anywhere. She quickly collects the jars of spell components and scurries back through the secret door. The air isn't any less foul, but at least the rotting corpse of the Ichkoh can do them no more harm.
She shows the jars to the others. "These spell components must be worth a couple-thousand gold, but perhaps we can put them to better use." She nods to Diana, thanks for her consoling hand earlier.
Taking more time now, she examines the scrolls laying about the laboratory, and is only able to identify four of them. She expects Diana and Lope will have better luck.
Finally, she looks at the Ichkoh once more. "I'll set it on fire where it lies, but I won't touch it again. If we burn the tower down in the process, not a big loss, as far as I'm concerned.
However the group decides to remove the remains otherworldly monstrosity from this plane, once the task is done Triphylla returns to the house proper and takes a very long bath with plenty of soap. She then scrubs her clothes, armor, and gear clean of all the accrued ick and grime from their time in Merratt County, and once everything is hung to dry she sleeps in one of the well-appointed guest suites.
The following morning she breakfasts with the group and then gathers the Palace staff to inform them of Bartleby's decision to leave and take back his life. She says nothing of the tower except to leave it be for the time being. She assures them they will all remain on, although a new seneschal will be hired or promoted to manage the house, perhaps indefinitely. It's not really her business to decide such things, but she keeps up the ruse that she has some real authority over such matters, at least until Martella and the Princess arrive.
When not supervising the staff, Triphylla spends her time in Bartleby's alchemy laboratory. She intends to loot it, but she's extremely thorough in her examination and appraisal of his collection of things.
Take 20 on Perception and Craft Alchemy checks inside the Alchemy Lab in Palace Birdsong.
Diana slowly rises after the group is slung from the magical explosion, coughing a bit from the acidic fumes. Her eyes widen at she sees the results of their success, but quickly shifts her focus to the rest of the group. "Is... Is everyone alright? We... We should get back to the lab."
She nods approvingly as Triphylla shows the recovered components "I noticed them as well when we entered. I'm glad you were able to get them out, well done Triphylla. And I agree, no reason to get rid of them unless we're sure we won't be needing them for anything."
She then takes a look at the various things left around the lab.
"I'm sorry everyone. Aside from the scrolls, I... I couldn't make out what the belt and paints do." She lets out a frustrated sigh as she looks back to the room that held the teleportation ring. "I guess the thought of my grandfather knowing we were just here due to his magical alarm has got me a bit more... Distracted than I'd like. Hopefully I'll be a bit calmer tomorrow and will look them over again if needed."
Lope gives a nod of acknowledgment to Triphylla and Diana as they discuss the spell components. Though he remains silent for an hour or so, he helps sorting through the collected components.
Afterwards, Lope heads back into the palace. His sharp eyes scan every room, every shelf, and every desk, looking for anything Count Bartleby might have left behind: documents, magical items, spellbooks... He meticulously searches through the study, the library, and any hidden compartments or safes he can find.
Once satisfied that nothing of importance has been overlooked, Lope takes a moment to assess the state of the palace. With his voice likely recovered, he addresses the servants to calm them down, ensure their jobs will be kept and start giving orders to ensure the place will be cleaned and prepared for the arrival of Princess Eutropia, ensuring the staff is well aware of the importance of their tasks.
Finally, Lope steps out onto the balcony, where he quietly observes the surrounding lands of Meratt County "With the princess on her way, order must be maintained, and the local nobles need to be reassured and organized." he plans the next move with the others: a series of visits to key noble houses to ensure the transition remains peaceful and that the county is stable when the princess arrives.
With a final glance at the horizon, he heads back inside to gather his things and set off for the first of these meetings. Baron Okerra. The work of restoring order has just begun.
Diana does her best to keep up appearances as the new Lothees in charge of the palace, until the princess can make her way there.
She spends the rest of her time studying the library, lab and other rooms belonging to her grandfather, hoping to gain some further insight into the man.
She tries to hide it as best she can, but there's a restlessness to her ever since they destroyed the teleport circle. The idea that they might end up against him fills her with dread, and she's desperate to find someway to avoid such a confrontation as long as possible.
After the frenetic action of the past couple of months, the next week passes slowly. Triphylla finds the alchemy lab which contains a wide range of exotic glassware, burners and reagents. Unlike the lab in the tower, Steel and lead panels cover most of the walls to prevent accidental damage to the rest of the palace.
In addition there's four rather impressive looking spellbooks here:
The Swordsman's Analects, The Wisdom of Jatembe (Three Warriors Edition), Book of Harms and Erages Journeyman's Manual
Lope find Barron Okerra in good spirits who said, "There are difficult times ahead for Taldor, but I'm heartened the through you Princess Eutropia found a way that minimised bloodshed. I think we all know how team Pytherous would have deal with things..."
A little over eight days after destroying the teleportation circle, Princess Eutropia guarded by twenty men at arms and flanked by Martella arrives.
After some small talk as you handed the key and the deed over, she thanked each of you personally and said to you collectively, "Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart! Word of your work here has spread far and we are most surprised that Count Bartleby was persuaded to go willingly. How ever did you manage that?"
Triphylla has no interest in hauling heavy tomes around with her, but after she transcribes what spells fit into her area of expertise she eagerly shares them with her fellow magic users.
Triphylla transcribes the follow spells into her formulae list:
Lvl 1: Enlarge Person, Jump, Comprehend Languages, Detect Undead, Endure Elements, Identify, Detect Thoughts, See Invisibility
Lvl 2: Alter Self, Human Potential
Triphylla exhausts herself daily in the Lab, replenishing her personal stock of alchemical creations, as much as she can comfortably carry. Her backpack is crammed with vials of this, that, and the other, all meticulously labeled and compartmentalized for relatively easy access at time of need.
In the evening she splits her time between the Palace staff and her own team, finding comfort in their stories as well as the food and spirits. If she had more time she would like to tend to the vineyards, the wine being of conspicuously poor quality. While the cool valleys make for rotten grapes, the plateaus are capable of producing a particular windswept and temperate variety that is likely too sweet for Opparan tastes except as a sherry, but could do well in Cassomir, she suspects. Perhaps when all of this high politic gamesmanship is over...
When Eutropia arrives she is front and center among the staff to greet the Princess. She wonders at the smallish contingent of personal guards; maybe she doesn't wish to draw unnecessary attention, though spies travel quickly.
Diana takes a long moment to examine the tomes Triphylla brought, thankful for the opportunity to focus her mind on something other than her worries.
"These tomes are certainly impressive, Triphylla. I am sure both me and Lope will be able to make good use of moat of the spells within. A pity we can't take them with us, though, seeing as they belong to the palace, and so the princess is their rightful owner. But I should be able to transcribe their preparation rituals to our own spellbooks, I think."
Making use of the Identify spell in one of the tomes, Diana again goes over the paints and belt they found in the lab on the next day.
---
Diana gives the princess a smile at her question on Bartleby. "Mostly words, Your Highness, although I do have to thank Miss Achlys for the potion she handed me during our talk with my cousin - it definitely helped me read him more clearly and find the right buttons to press. Surprising as it might have been, I am very glad we managed to achieve it without any violence. Should serve as a nice reminder to everyone that most of the time there is an alternative to outright confrontation."
When the planar monstrosity finally fell Valeria's hold on herself fell apart. The thing had brought to mind the horrors of the war against the abyss far too much to the forefront even though the thing wasn't a demon it was close enough to trigger her. The fact she managed to get through the fight as well as she had was nothing short of a miracle. She had stumbled out of the room and to a nearby corner she could huddle in for a while a place she could feel at least a modicum of security, while the other looked around more. Consequently, she completely missed the fact there was a teleportation circle to deal with.
Over the next several days after Valeria spent much of it isolated. She came out to eat, usually, but she didn't talk much. She did spend a lot of time drawing, the pieces she produced were disturbing, as she used her art to help handle her fear and terror, to process it into something she could deal with. As a result of her seclusion, only really letting Cyrene enter her room, Valeria had forged a deeper connection to her goddess and her powers as an oracle were increased.
When Valeria's seclusion finally ended it was only a day or two before the princess arrived and Valeria looked much calmer and more at peace with herself than she had for some time. She was pale, and seemed a bit thin, but otherwise more herself than she had been.
When the Princess arrived, it was obvious that Valeria had been not exactly well but, on the mend, and she greeted the Princess gracefully. She let the others tell the story but when it came to any talk of the iktoh Valeria promptly excused herself from the room. She was doing better but not that much better that she could stand to hear that part again.
A smiling Martella chose that moment to come forward, "That sounds remarkable... I fear some including Pythareus will mistake this for weakness, but its not. Down the line, choosing mercy where we can will set us in good stead. A reconciliation will eventually have to come and this will help. Unfortunately that is a long way off and I'll touch on why in a moment, but for now I'd like to give each of you a toke of my appreciation."
Martella clapped and servants appeared carrying very finely crafted cloaks for each on you. These cloaks where reversible with the Taldan flag on side and a midnight blue on the other.
Princess Eutropia nods when you are given the cloaks, and she picks up the conversation thread Martella started, "If you don't mind Martella, I'll explain some of what's been going on. Martella and I have been in Yanmass, as you know it's the largest city and wealthiest city in the prefecture of Avin. It's the key to the entire prefecture, so naturally I've been making overtures to the Mercantile Council that runs the city. Martella has been a darling and set things in motion and at first things seemed to be going well but Pythareus's has also sent a delegation and there have been incidents..."
Martella grimaced as she told you, "One of my most trusted agents, Sir Meir Dratavis, has gone missing. His last correspondence mentioned troubling recent events: bandit raids, cult activity, missing soldiers. He was working alongside Pythareus’s representative, an earl named Yander Merkondus, to resolve the problems, but I haven’t heard anything since, and we suspect foul play. We need you to find Meir, or else continue his work of convincing Yanmass to formally back the princess."
Just then Eutropia interjected, "There's another thing, something that for me is very personal and upsetting. When I was little, my older brother Carrius broke his neck in a terrible riding accident. That was strange, because he was scared of horses and would never go riding even when it made father mad. Even stranger I have it on good authority that he couldn't be resurrected. Father refused to speak about this, saying that he needed time to grieve. Carrius and I were close so as you can imagine this was all very painful for me, anyway now we have reports of a new cult..." Her words trailed off.
Martella waited for a moment to see if Eutropia would say more before explaining, "This cult Meir mentioned, the Cult of the Twilight Child... they claim to worship a resurrected Prince Carrius. While it’s possible for a powerful spellcaster to raise the dead after so long, it strikes us as suspicious that another potential claimant to the throne has just so happened to appear. We need you to find out what's really going on."
She looks each of you in turn in the eye before asking, "If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them."
Triphylla accepts the generous gift of the cloak with a curtsy. She folds it over her arm and listens intently to Martella and the Princess.
She considers whether she knows anything of the past relationship between Eutropia and Carrius. Were they famously close or were they often distant and cool? She also remembers, with a shudder, the harrowing massacre of nobles when Triphylla disguised herself as Prince Carrius and confronted Stavian in his final moment. Any thought she might have had that the mad Grand Prince might be struck dumb upon seeing the likeness of his lost child was immediately assaulted by a shocking reality: Stavian wanted his son dead. As with too many insane human rulers throughout history, the king fears the son who will one day take his throne.
When it's her turn to speak, she steps forward and takes a deep breath. "Your majesty, what I'm about to say will be uncomfortable to hear, but it may be relevant. On the afternoon of the death of your father - of so many of your citizens - we were inside that chamber, as you know. The chaos of that moment, there's no need to recount. However, in that time of desperation, I assumed the guise of your late brother. I thought maybe... Well, I don't know, maybe the Grand Prince might come to his senses if he believed Carrius had come to judge him. It was incredibly vain of me, and I beg your forgiveness.
"But the Grand Prince did not call off his men. Instead, he ordered his personal guard toward me, to kill me, but not me."
Triphylla pauses for the implications of her words to become clear. "If my actions that day gave rise to the rumors of your brother's return, or in any way reinforced that belief, I am truly sorry. I will not stop until the perpetrator is discovered and justice delivered."
Does Triphylla know anything about this cult?
No.
Triphylla's words caused Princess Eutropia's breath to catch, it seemed she was trying to say something but no words came out and a tear rolled down her cheek.
The silence grew uncomfortable and at length Martella spoke up, clearly struggling with her own emotions "This is something we've long suspected, but never had proof of before. Divinations to discern what happened where attempted on more than one occasion but every time the magic was blocked, a property of Taldor's imperial crown or so I understand."
Lope listens carefully as he makes a mental picture of the situation "As some of you know, I served protecting the caravans that bolster trade in the Yanmass area while helping run my grandfather’s trade business." he winks an eye at Martella remembering the club where they met "These news about a cult of a new raised heir is troubling. Maybe we could travel there an leverage my contacts to try investigate this and the other topics of concern"
"Do we know about any agent of Pythareus or member of that cult?"
Martella replies, "The only open agent we know of is Earl Yander Merkondus. The Merkondus family operates in sea trade. They’re landed in Moda prefecture, but Yander works heavily in Oppara. I’ve had the dubious pleasure of working with him in the past, and he is charming, insightful, and ruthlessly efficient. He’s the sort of man you watch very carefully, only to be struck down by a carriage you never saw coming."
She shakes her head slightly as if thinking of something unpleasant before adding, "As for the cult, we know very little, except that its members seem friendly and it is popular with many locals. Meir claims the so called Twilight Child has been healing the sick and injured with a touch, but he would hardly be the first self-proclaimed god I’ve seen claim the same thing."