Episode 84

# Welcome to the Grand Game

Ingred wakes up to boils and puss ruining her sheets. Parts of her skin are necropsying and going grey. She peels herself off her sheets and bundles up *completely*, and heads out for the apothecary. She gets noticed, gets defensive, and heads out. She gets stopped by Lily, who's on her way back from turning in her field report. Lily clocks that Ingred is acting squirrelly and pries out of her that she's upset with Marisol for using magic on her without permission on the last mission, and also gets a look at the disease Ingred's been infected with.

Lily's in the mood for ultimatums, apparently, because she insists that Ingred talks to a cleric - if not Marisol then another cleric - and gets help or a better diagnosis if the apothecary's cure doesn't work by tomorrow. Ingred agrees eventually, probably just to avoid arguing any more. She heads off to the apothecary, gets an ointment that *might* help, but it will take a few days. She then returns to Basalt, and quarantines herself in her room.

The whole group, minus Ingred (who refused to come), has been summoned to the second-floor room. Gregory notes they are missing one, and Lily says "she has leprosy!" The rest walk into the room to find it completely decorated with the Basalt colors and Mr. Press there, in full Basalt Uniform, holding champagne. He offers it to everyone so they can toast that Duke Alves was pleased with their work and they have now broken into the big leagues, often called the Grand Game or the Grand Dance. They will be potentially offered more work by nobles, and they'll be in play as a chess piece for those nobles. As long as they play nice, they should do very well in this game.

He has a second surprise for them too: Miss Koates is back! Everyone freaks out and there are hugs and tears. Press exhausted all of his favors to pull this off, so he won't be able to smooth things over like he normally would for them. Gregory is being promoted to become Mr. Briggs' assistant.

Ingred, meanwhile, has quarantined herself in her room and is reading through the local newspaper out of sheer boredom. She learns that a new patron is opening on the other side of the Saltwater Promenade, starting early in the new year. Lower Port is now a quarter of the way rebuilt, and the docks are reopened. Families will be moved back in soon. There's also a rumor going around that Hyacinth and Lily are maybe in some sort of romantic entanglement with each other. They were seen having drinks and breakfast and there was some physical touching that seemed more than friendly.

Once the rest of the group gets back, with their payment from the duke, Ingred asks if someone can take some gold to the apothecary for her, and also if someone could bring her books or something to do. Seipora and Lily divide up duties to make Ingred comfortable, Lily heading to the apothecary and also dropping by Alyx's shop to see if there are any magical potions that could help the situation. Alyx is very busy and tell her no, go ask a cleric.

Seipora gets Ingred puzzles and books of various kinds to entertain herself, as well as comfort food.

Later that night, Lily's gotten word that someone's been watching her house. She recruits Seipora and Marisol to go on a stake out. The stake out is uneventful until one hour the guards don't walk by. The girls look around and Lily spots a figure perched up on a rooftop. She tells Marisol to guard the house, Seipora to be on standby, and she dimension doors up behind the watcher. Seipora doesn't say anything, because there's a hell hound now standing next to her hiding spot.

Lily doesn't immediately attack the hooded figure, but talks to him instead, asking what he's doing up here. It looks suspicious. She can't make out his face, and knows it's a magical effect. He, surprisingly, doesn't pick a fight. He tells Lily that she can call him Arxas. Lily learns he's here looking for his sister Zatari. She is a fugitive from the Nine Hells, and her job was to bring infernal justice. She was a soul collector for those that completed their contracts or retribution to those who broke it. She was trying to ascend to a higher station and embezzled souls she was tasked with gathering. She got caught and fled. The souls were dumped ... somewhere in her escape. No idea what she did with the souls. Ultimately, she was ejected into the material plane and ended up being cursed with a loss of her original power and reverted into a small child. She would now be about six years old, and he can feel her somewhere nearby.

Lily tells him to leave, and he does as his window for whatever he's doing was closing rapidly. The guards could only be bought off for so long, after all. The hellhound vanishes from near Seipora, and the girls regroup. Lily catches them up on her conversation with Arxus, and the three return to Basalt for some sleep.