Runelords 12.5 - Objects of Note

Luna stepped into the inn room they all shared, to find the three men already there. Eamon was sitting primly in a chair, while Khyrralien stood sullenly to the side, his disguise sitting awkwardly on his new form, twisted as it had become to match his darkening nature. Virgil sat in a chair tilted far back, his feet reclined on an endtable as he flicked raisins into his mouth from a bag. He grinned as she came in, "Excellent! Take a seat, we have some things to talk about."
She looked about confused, but did as she was told, perching on the edge of a bed. "What is it?"
"Nothing unfortunate, thankfully," Eamon said. He pulled out a bright red turban with a small yellow feather decorating its side. He shook out the creases that it had gained from being jammed in his cloak, and placed it on another endtable before him. Beside it followed a sword with a dark metal forming its blade, a bright red dagger obviously designed for stabbing, and a beautifully ornate pearl ring. "While in the basement, as you know, we found the remains of a wanted highway bandit. He had a few possessions with him, which we have here before us. Virgil mentioned that you were owed a dagger," he said, bowing his head towards Luna, "and this sword is an improvement over my current sidearm. The major question, however, is this headgear. According to Virgil, it is a Hat of Disguise, and so has a number of people who might benefit from its power." Luna blinked in understanding: Hats of Disguise were a relatively common item among both adventurers and the wealthy for their highly useful, continuous, and passive illusions. Eamon continued, "It is integral that we carefully consider who will claim this, as it is both extremely beneficial to several of us, but also presents a clear potential for misuse.
"Currently, there are three options which have been presented to me: Khyrralien, Foxglove, or myself. Just so that we have all of the facts before us, I will explain the relative benefits and shortcomings of each, as I understand them. First, Khyrralien." He turned to face the fey, but continued to address the room, "Khyrralien's current features are a liability, as they are becoming progressively more difficult to hide satisfactorily. He has also been making a significant amount of noise regarding his interest in the hat, which has been noted. Giving the hat to him would solve both of these problems. On the other hand," his expression grew sterner, "the problems presented are both the direct result of Khyrralien's behaviour. Giving the hat to him removes any impetus he might otherwise have to mitigate his self-centered behaviour, and without that impetus, there is little reason to allow him the freedom to mingle freely with civilians who might be taken at odds by that same behaviour.
"Second," he continued, turning to a more neutral speaking position and his voice softening almost imperceptibly, "Foxglove. This man, should he have any hope of rebuilding a life and passing in society, requires an enchantment of this sort. As an unwitting victim of this whole ordeal, and disfigured through actions which we believe to not have been his own choice," he subtly directed this statement towards Khyrralien, "he is deserving of this object. However, there is still the pressing matter of Lordship. Currently, we have no way of predicting or controlling it, and it could at any time be influencing Foxglove's behaviour. A creature such as that should certainly not possess the ability to easily walk among average people. While Aldern certainly deserves the disguise, it must not fall into the hands of the Lordship.
As a third option, I could keep ownership of the hat. I am aware that I cannot exactly begin to use a different disguise in Sandpoint at this time, as the locals would likely ask how I ceased to be hunchbacked, but I could lend it to needing parties at appropriate times. This is a temporary solution, of course; should one of the other two parties prove to be trustworthy enough to keep it, then it can be freely given to them. It is an inconvenient solution, I admit, but it ensures that it won't be misused. It prohibits the use of the hat by needing parties in emergencies, or if I don't happen to be nearby, but it is a solution that I feel warrants consideration." He folded his hands, "Those are the facts as I see them. Does anyone have facts to add before we move to a decision?"
Luna looked curiously at the hat, before she said quietly, "I...always wanted one of those. Could never dream of affording it..." Her hand moved to the medallion on her chest and fingered it idly, still staring at the hat. "I...guess I don't really need it...with this, now." She shook her head slightly and nodded, "You're right. Aldern needs it, but...Lordship can't be allowed to hunt. He was causing enough death without a disguise, and if he gains control with the hat in his possession, he could evade us easily." 
A snorting sound drew their attention to Virgil. He was chuckling to himself, still popping raisins in his mouth. "What is it?" Eamon addressed him formally.
"Heh. Heh heh heh. I just...wow," he replied, "I totally didn't think of that earlier. You're right, Lordship could take control, and he could murder a ton of people with a disguise like that. Hell! Lordship could be in control right now! Could just be a lying, man-eating prick with a smooth tongue, who fooled us into not killing him on the spot." He grinned and ate another raisin, "I didn't even think of that until right now. Heh. I'm my father's son. We're both idiots about trusting people too quickly. Anyways!" he flipped the orientation of his feet around. "I agree. Aldern should have it; Lordship can't. Until we can learn for certain that there is a difference, that Aldern isn't a murderer and is in fact compulsed, and can be freed from that compulsion, he can't keep the hat." Virgil sucked on a raisin, then suggested, "Ok, idea: Eamon, run down the hall and Detect Evil. He's an undead, and Lordship is certainly, obviously evil. Ergo, if he is a lying murderer, he should register. If he doesn't, then it suggests that Lordship really is a compulsion or a separate entity, and Aldern much more certainly didn't commit acts of unrepentant and brutal murder of his own accord. We might be able to use it as a measure of whether Lordship is in control or not. If he does register, well, doesn't necessarily mean that Lordship is in control or that he's just bluffing about a compulsion altogether, but it should put us on higher guard." 
Eamon nodded at this explanation, and left the room. A few short minutes later, Eamon stepped in. He gave a firm nod, "There was no trace of evil." Luna relaxed visibly, as though she had been holding herself tensely since Eamon had left.
Virgil grinned, "Good! Helps corroborate his story." He ate a raisin and frowned slightly, looking in the bag and shaking it around a bit. "We'll leave him alone for a bit. But, tomorrow morning...we should probably make sure he's not carrying any weapons, magic items he could use against us, things like that." He ate another raisin and frowned again before turning and throwing the bag off-handedly out the window behind him. He sat back and continued without missing a beat, "We are awful at remembering to take things off of people."
Luna frowned, "We aren't stealing his property!"
"No, we aren't," Virgil said calmly, "We are asking his permission to hold onto any items he might have that could hinder our ability to prevent him from doing something he'd regret. He can have everything back when we're sure the Lordship is contained." She nodded, accepting the concession. "Back to the point at hand, though," he said. "The hat. It sounds like most of us agree to the third option. Khyrralien, do you have anything to add?" The fey just made a 'hmph' noise and folded his arms, his expression speaking volumes that he didn't voice aloud. 
"Then we're in accord?" Eamon said, walking back to his chair. "I'll keep the hat, and lend it to those with need."
"Well..." Luna said slowly, voice shy, "...Why can't...Why couldn't I keep it? I mean, if you're just passing it around, I can do that too, and, I could wear it when no one else was using it." Her voice dropped again, expression and posture screaming her timidness. "...I don't like wearing a scarf all the time..."
With only a brief moment of hesitation, Eamon said gladly, "Of course! I apologize for not thinking to offer it earlier." With that he passed over both the hat and dagger to her. He looked to the two other men, "I will take the sword then?"
"Go for it," Virgil said. He turned to Khyr, "You kind of got screwed on this one; want the ring?" He gestured towards it with his chin, "Probably worth a couple hundred gold." With a noise of assent, Khyr took the ring from the table and slid it onto a prong of his antlers, now jet black, pointed and curved menacingly forwards. "Next order of business, then!" Virgil declared. "Foxglove: what are we doing to help him, and contain him in the interim?" 
Eamon nodded, "I move for continual observation." 
Nodding, Virgil consented, "Yes. The ravens are a decent stopgap if we all have to be somewhere, like earlier with the sheriff, but I doubt their ability to maintain focus for very long. One of us should be with him at all times, if possible. None of us sleep, so we shouldn't have an issue." 
"We aren't keeping him prisoner," Luna clarified, "We're helping him adjust and keeping him in company and support, and standing by in case something goes wrong. We aren't stopping him from doing anything, or restricting him in any way." 
"Of course," Eamon said. 
"He'll have to eat," Virgil added. "Luna, you're the most qualified to see to that, if you would." 
She nodded, "I've been getting an animal every day, but I really don't need to eat that often. It's just precautionary, in case I suddenly don't have anything the next day..." her voice dropped in shyness, "and it's more embarrassing to change the order than it is to just keep it as it is." She brightened, "So he can have some of them. We'll have to see how often he needs to eat, and whether that's linked to Lordship." 
"Good," Eamon said. "Now, we need some way to lift the curse." 
"Oh!" Luna interrupted. "I asked the book. The intelligent book we found. Her name is Zara. She said that we need a powerful cleric to consecrate the house to purge Vorel's soul, but since it was the result of a mistake, not a proper spell, she can't even guess if cleansing the building will lift the curse from Aldern." 
Eamon reiterated, "So, we shall consecrate the manor, and hope for the best. If that doesn't work, we shall explore other avenues." The others nodded. "Good. We will take a day or two to rest here, then we will head to Medinipur to see about finding a cleric." 
Virgil raised his hand, "Notwithstanding the funeral I need to attend here in four days, we aren't legally allowed to leave Sandpoint until we're acquitted for murder." Eamon's face went blank with realization, before disappointment crept across it and he brought his palm to his forehead. Virgil shrugged, "Their investigation should wrap up over the next few days, and we should be let off the hook. On that note though: it's important that we get the cleric, but the actual pressing deadline is the messenger of the Brotherhood. They're going to be at the meeting point on the second day of the second week; that's gone by this month, so it's going to be..." he counted off on his fingers, "23 days from now. We have a bit of time, and it apparently only takes four days to get there on horseback. If we haven't been cleared a week from now, then we'll start pressuring the sheriff to get a move on; if it starts to look dire, we'll let slip some of the reasons. We shouldn't say anything right away though; the less you spread around what you know about secret societies, the better, and I don't want the guard finding out we kept one of the ghouls." 
Eamon muttered something about 'finicky Materia', but agreed with Virgil's assessments. "Alright. We shall wait a week for the sheriff to give us clearance to leave. If he does not, we will try to convince him of the pressing nature of our mission without revealing Foxglove or the Brotherhood. In the interim, we will take turns accompanying Foxglove to ensure that he presents no danger to others, or himself. Who will take the first watch?" 
Luna raised her hand, "I will." She looked down, "I was just going to spend the night reading Zara anyways. I can do that in his room." 
Virgil nodded, "Alright. I'll relieve you in the morning. I'm the one who can cast Detect Magic, so while you're still there, we can ask him about his armaments and I can make sure he's not hiding anything. We'll be honest and up-front!" he said defensively to Luna, who frowned at Virgil's statement. "We just don't want to find out he has a Ring of Invisibility or a Ring of Mind Shield after it's too late and the Lordship has given us the slip. We shouldn't take huge chances. Heh," he chuckled as he reached down into the bag at his chair, pulling out another small pouch. This one apparently contained dried apricots, as he flicked one into his mouth. "At least, when we stop and consider them." 
Luna raised an eyebrow, "...Didn't you just throw out a bunch of fruit? ...Very literally?" 
Virgil grinned sardonically, "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say I was feeding off of gluttony now." He ate another apricot, becoming more serious, "I haven't decided if this is actually any better than wrath. Certainly projects a less appealing image. Ugh. Whatever." 
Luna looked at him flatly for a moment, before sighing and standing up. "Well, I'm going to go sit with Aldern and do some reading." She looked a bit embarrassed as she said, "Thank you for including me, with the hat and all. Everyone have a nice night; Virgil, I'll see you in the morning." With that, she stashed her new things into her bag and went out into the hallway. 
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Luna knocked gently on Aldern's door before sticking her head in. He was lying listlessly on the bed, staring at the ceiling. A pair of iron ravens sat on the windowsill outside, staring pointedly in. She walked up to the man who lay unblinking. "...How are you feeling?" she asked. He made a guttural, non-committal noise, and she nodded. "...Do you mind if I sit here with you? ...Just in case...?"
"No."
With his affirmation, she began to move away, but hesitated. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a handful of novels. "Um...I have some books, if you want something to do. I'll just...put them here..." She placed them down on a nearby endtable before sitting down in a chair across the room. She pulled out Zara and some notepaper and began on the first page, studying the text closely with the intent of breaking the code. Later, Aldern rolled over and picked up the book on top.
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The next morning, despite having come down with a terrible chest cold and headache, Virgil managed to explain his case in a polite and respectful manner, and Aldern agreed with resigned acceptance to lay out his belongings. Virgil made a mental comparison of the information Foxglove revealed with what he knew from casting Detect Magic before he had entered, becoming progressively more satisfied as it seemed that he wasn't hiding anything: enhanced leather armour, a ring of protection and a ring of jumping. He gestured to his boots, "I...don't even know where these came from. I can't remember. I certainly didn't buy them." Once pointed out, it was obvious that they didn't match the rest of his outfit: his clothes were decadent and of obvious fine make, while the dark leather boots were heavy, armour-plated and fitted with small spikes, obviously designed for combat. A powerful magic hung about them. He grimaced, "I'd get rid of them, but they're the only shoes I have right now." 
"Hmm," Luna said, "Well, we'll just go out today and buy you new shoes." He looked hesitant at the suggestion, but Luna goaded, "Come on. Shopping is fun."
"Anything else?" Virgil asked, knowing full-well the answer.
"Umm...oh, yes. This horrid thing..." he said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out what appeared to be a wadded up ball of leather. He handed it over, "I don't know where it came from either; maybe the same place as the boots? You can keep it." Virgil and Luna unfolded it and stared at it: a patchwork of rough, overlapping leather pieces that formed a base mask, meant to be pulled over one's head. 
As they investigated, a slip of paper fell from the folds of the mask, fluttering to the ground. Virgil picked it up, noting Foxglove's reaction; it seemed he was just as surprised as them that there was a note there. Glancing over the thin, even cursive, Virgil read the note before asking, "Did you know this was there?" Aldern shook his head. Passing over the note to him, he asked, "Do you remember anything here that it says you supposedly know? A list of people, or a ritual?" 
Reading it over shakily, Aldern shook his head, the same creeping hesitancy as before, "...No...no, I don't...I don't know any of this...I haven't seen this note before, and I don't know anything..." 
"Do you know who wrote it?" Virgil pressed. 
"It...it's signed the Mistress of the Seven. She...she was the one I had the deal with, to pay off my debt. No one but the worthiest get to ever meet her, and..." he shook his head, "She's an attractive, red-haired woman, pale skinned, but I don't know her name, or anything about her." 
Virgil scrutinized Aldern as Luna took the note to read. "...When could she have written this? It sounds like it was written when you were...sick," Virgil obviously changed his choice of word at the last second. "And it sounds like 'Lordship' was involved with something a little more involved than random acts." Virgil's eyes narrowed and he added under his breath, thinking carefully, "...And involved with it before you became a wight..." 
Aldern was shaking again, "Please...please, I don't know anything. I don't remember. I swear, I don't remember..." 
Luna, concern on her on face, put her hand on Aldern's shoulder comfortingly, "It's ok, it's alright. We believe you. We won't talk about it anymore." She turned to Virgil, the meaning of her expression clear. 
Shaking his head, Virgil said, "Whatever. I'm sick as a dog right now; I don't want to think about this now either." He turned to Aldern, "If you remember anything later that could help us get to the bottom of this, please, tell us when you're ready." Aldern nodded weakly, unhappy. 
Turning their attentions back to the mask, they used their wand of Identify and learned it was to be used to enhance stealth, and could be used to create an illusory mimicry of someone who was being observed, granting enhanced combat acuity to fight whomever you duplicated: an item designed for stalkers. All three people winced at the item's purpose, and Luna stuffed it away in her bag, along with the note that had been kept in it. 
Confident that Foxglove's rings and armour presented no significant risk to them, and with his vehement offer of his boots in exchange for less unpleasant ones, the pair thanked him for his cooperation. With that, Virgil declared that he was going straight to the church for a Remove Disease spell, while Luna pulled Foxglove out on a shopping trip; after a pricey day-long adventure, Foxglove had brightened somewhat and had the beginnings of a new wardrobe.
Category:Rise of the Runelords