Session 71

### Prominent NPCs:

* Bitter Sanguine, a.k.a. Andril, Vampiric-themed assassin, former low-ranking agent of the Dark Brotherhood.
* Bentil
* Rufius, Bank Overseer *(mentioned only).*
* 'Lady Thessaly', head of an organized crime syndicate, agent of The Innominate *(mentioned only).*
* Wewethi Goldbrew, Dwarven Alchemist and Doctor/Retainer to Baroness Pryor.
* Seneschal (First Name Missed) Barallon, Seneschal of Corvid Manor.
* Lempkin Guard Captain (Unnamed), Investigating Sinister Conspiracies in Pelgate Barony.

## And Now...

Hugh finds himself either abducted or rescued (he's not entirely sure which) from the custody of the Lempkin City Watch, awakening in an opulent, richly-appointed bedroom. He's not certain whose it is, but whoever it is, they certainly seem to have a lot of pictures of the Pryor Family on the walls...

### Agents and Antagonism.

Finding himself supplied with wine and food of fine quality and in possession of a world-class headache, Hugh attempts to self-medicate and make himself comfortable as he waits for someone to come for him. Eventually, the Dwarven woman who presumably brought him here appears. She introduces herself as Wewethi Goldbrew, an agent of Baroness Pryor and a member in good standing of the Alchemist's Alliance. She attempts a brief interrogation, but Hugh plays (?) dumb and stonewalls her. Her questions would seem to indicate that the Baroness is aware of a lot of the group's activities, but the extent of this is unknown. She tells Hugh that Baroness Pryor wishes to speak to him and goes to 'ready' her.

Several minutes later, an individual identifying himself as the Seneschal of Corvid Manor (whose last name is Barallon) enters the room and seems startled by Hugh's presence. He informs Hugh that he's in the room of Lady Jane Pryor and inquires as to who he is and why he's there. Once again, Hugh plays (?) dumb and fobs him off, telling him that he was installed there temporarily by Doctor Goldbrew. Upon hearing this, he makes a disapproving face and leaves Hugh to await Doctor Goldbrew's return.

### A Meal in the Aftermath.

The other agents, with Bentil and Sanguine in tow, reconvene at the Forge. Sanguine has seemingly accepted his fate at this point, realizing that he's marked for death by his former associates so he may as well assist the agents. Over a meal of curry puffs and (Goobrew?), they ponder their next moves. Bretta presents Bug with a diary stolen from a City Watch Captain. Based on a preliminary reading, the Captain, who comes across as something of a stickler for law-and-order details what he believes is a conspiracy against the Barony. He has managed to uncover details of a large number of anomalous events (more than a few of which are the work of our heroes), but seems to be having difficulty in making connections. As a result, he seems to have fallen into the belief that everything - the actions of our heroes, the actions of the group encouraging sedition in outlying cities, the actions of the group alternately identified as 'The Guild', 'The Dark Brotherhood' or 'The Innomine' - is the work of a single overarching force.

### Excursions and Investigations.

In an attempt to check on Hugh, Bretta volunteers to see if she can't uncover what's happened to him in crow form. Sanguine, who still has a number of contacts in the criminal underworld, likewise offers to see if he can't turn anything up. His reliability is ensured by a sand cat produced by Bug, who acts as their familiar.

At the same time, Leo and Rast head out to the local Citadel Branch to follow up on information about Rufius, the bank overseer. Undercover as Kellosian Inquisitorial Functionaries updating old files, they discover an interesting nugget of information. Throughout his career in the Citadel and, it implied, after leaving, Rufius made use of a long-time contact/collaborator. In most of the documentation this contact is only ever identified by the initials 'JKC' but it doesn't take much digging to realize that they're almost certainly a member, or at least an agent, of the Innominate. Following some further investigation, JKC is revealed as a local "legitimate businesswoman" who uses the alias Lady Thessaly. While she's mainly active in various criminal enterprises, chiefly smuggling, she owns enough clean businesses to make her cover as a bogus 'noblewoman' effective. Unfortunately, despite this success, it appears the Citadel have no knowledge of Hugh, meaning that his arrest was purely down to the City Watch.

After a short time, everyone returns and, by piecing their various stories together, figure out that Hugh was abducted from the Watch House by several masked figures, including a female dwarven alchemist who used gas grenades to subdue the guards and Hugh.

Bug recalls hearing about a female dwarf alchemist who acts as a personal retainer to Baroness Pryor and we surmise that Hugh has been removed from the Watch House to the Manor outside of town where the Baroness is currently staying.

### Making Preparations.

Bug and Bretta decide to hunt up some alchemical supplies. Investigating local suppliers, they discover two main sources. The first is an operation run by a pair of twins. Based on reputation, while it seems the larger of the two stores, it's also more commercially-oriented and aimed at the general buyer. The second, run by a dwarven alchemist, seems smaller and more expensive, but tends to be more serious in orientation and better able to supply specialty concoctions and ingredients.

Choosing the latter, they arrive at The Syllogist's Stone, a smaller store which is, nonetheless, crammed to the rafters with all manner of odd supplies. The owner is an older male dwarf who runs the store as half shop and half laboratory. Bug and Bretta pick up some items, and Bretta takes the opportunity to mess with and lift some of the stock while the proprietor is distracted seeing to Bug's requests.

Meanwhile, back at Hugh's rented farmhouse, Rast and Leopold are mulling over some lingering questions while they wait for the return of the others. Was the disgrace of the Amaretta Family targeted specifically at them, or were they merely a target of convenience? In the aftermath of their disgrace, their property was divided up amongst the Barallons and Pryors. Was there any specific property which necessitated their disgrace, or perhaps another asset? And what of the mysterious Lady Thessaly? What, if any, are her connections with the Barallons and Pryors. Alas, for all the questions being offered up, there are remarkably few answers. Frustrated at this dead end, they instead turn to the immediate issue of extricating Hugh from his dilemma.

Researching the history and architecture of Corvid Keep reveals several possible items of interest. There are two known secret ways in. Alas, while the records detail the point at which the passages emerge into the Keep, the ways in are a little less directly referenced. In addition, there is reference to a third passage connected to a series of secret rooms which are listed as being used by 'The Nine Fingers'.

This reference leads to a historical sidebar. Approximately 130 years ago in Pelgate, there was a small Civil War between the Baron's Forces and an underground group. With the revolutionary group beginning to grow traction, Barons from neighbouring Baronies exerted their influence to clamp down on the group, often using draconian methods, with the whole thing lasting a little under ten years. It was unclear from this reading whether the Nine Fingers was a revolutionary or counter-revolutionary force, but it was definitely involved in this particular conflict.

### An Audience With The Baroness.

Eventually, Dr.Goldbrew returns and escorts Hugh to the Baroness' chamber. The dwarf explains that Lady Viola is very weak, so may not be able to speak for long. Hugh begins with conviviality and small talk, offering to remember the Baroness to his Aunt Mimi, but the Baroness cuts him short. She may not have much time, she explains, and the walls have ears, so she must be quick.

She explains that the group which she identifies as The Innominae has been covertly in control of the Pryor family and, consequently, the Barony for some time now. They maintain this control by keeping members of the family as hostage against the compliance of other family members. Jayne was the original hostage, and was initially being held in Lorimar, but was almost immediately moved to a 'specialist school' for 'special training'. Unfortunately, as Baroness Pryor's attachment to her son, Emrich became more obvious, Lady Jayne was allowed to return, and Emrich was called upon to replace her as hostage. He would, the Baroness explains, be about nineteen or twenty years old by this stage.

Jayne has recently returned, but she tends to come and go frequently, keeping to herself more often than not. The last time she was back, she took two items significant to her - a silver-backed hand mirror and a red-haired wooden doll. With time growing shorter, and Lady Pryor beginning to flicker back into a kind of haze, Hugh promised to do what he could to assist. He asked permission to take several personal items belonging to Jayne, perhaps hoping that Bug could make some sort of mystical use of them - a recent portrait and a quill pen that Jayne frequently used. He made tentative arrangements to send covert messages if possible to update our progress, either via "Aunt Mimi" or even in person should that become possible.

At this point, Dr Goldbrew returned and, after seeing to Lady Pryor's initial comfort, escorted Hugh to a secret exit from the Keep. She explained that this would not be a reliable method of egress in the future, as it is normally kept under close observation, however, she'd arranged for a brief window in which Hugh could make his escape.

### An Unexpected Reunion.

On a distant hillside overlooking the Keep, concealed by a thicket of trees, the other agents keep watch on the Keep and consider their next course of action. They are just about to act when Hugh rides up with a cheery, "What ho!" and asks what they're up to. He catches them up on what he's been doing.

In the distance, the agents see a flurry of activity as servants fan out over the Keep grounds as though searching for someone. Our heroes decide that now would probably be a good time to return to the farmhouse where Bretta, left to her own devices, has begun making some "artistic amendments" to the diary of the Guard Captain.

### Continued in Session 72...

*10xp*

*(310xp Total)*