Episode 23: Valsdale, Part 1

Ridley is greeted by an employee on the transport road through the Elderstone fields. He declines any help from the employee, and the group continues towards the estate as it comes into view.

Ridley hesitates at the front door and Kika knocks for him. He hides behind Fan's shield as his cousin Cassandra answers the door. Kika pushes him out and he is greeted with relief by his cousin, who immediately takes him to the breakfast room where the rest of the family is currently eating.

Ridley's aunt Melba is overjoyed to see her nephew and glad he is unharmed. She asks the party where they found him, assuming they are here for the reward. Ridley quickly corrects her and confesses he left home willingly after panicking about his impending status and responsibilities. Melba is furious about Ridley's "holiday" and sends him to his study to write letters of apology to their employees and clients. He immediately does so while Fan explains to Melba how Ridley has been helping people all around the world; his aunt seems to soften. Ridley returns complaining of kids' drawings on all the paper, and Melba goes upstairs with him to help. On the way, Ridley confesses he can use magic.

Kika follows upstairs to eavesdrop, pursued by Barry who desperately attempts to stop her from invading the family's privacy. She finds Ridley and Melba in the study. Ridley points his quill at her: "*rude.*" Barry welcomes Ridley home and asks about his adventures; Melba returns downstairs. Kika asks how long Ridley will be; he tells her to go wait downstairs, and she reluctantly obliges.

Kika, Fan and Milla talk to a few Elderstones downstairs. They eventually meet Lowell, another of Ridley's cousins, and ask him to show them to the gallery where he knows there's a portrait of Barclay. He does so, and they find Barclay's journal in a display case, as well as a portrait on the wall. Asking if they can read the journal, Lowell seems uncomfortable, telling them they would need Ridley's permission. Ridley eventually arrives in the gallery, and pretends to decline their request until Lowell leaves: "okay, *now* we can open it."

They take the journal to the library to examine it along with records from the early days of the business. They find the deed to the first fields owned by the Elderstone family, signed by then-Grand Chancellor Laura Lundgren. They also see a spike in production coinciding with Barclay's letter to Ragnar. The journal contains to-do lists of highly abbreviated, short hand notes, containing lines like "Write L re: Z - no knowledge of counter-FO activities," "Write L re: FOE plan," and "council meetings" that begin frequently but become less frequent further in the records. Ridley paints his nails ("a light, shimmery teal"). The group is confused by these cryptic records and struggles to make sense of them. Kika asks if the mansion has a basement or cellar, and Ridley takes them downstairs.

Kika attempts to find a door like the one in the Temple of Bahamut but is unsuccessful, even when Fan casts *Detect Magic*. They decide to ask Melba if she knows where any more of Barclay's belongings may be. Kika remains in the library, searching for information about tieflings. Melba tells the others there may be some documents from Barclay's time in the study, and finds an old box of correspondence from Barclay's business dealings. The letters are purely business-related and don't contain anything useful to their quest, but at the bottom of the box are a set of notes that appear to be the development of some sort of advanced conjuration spell. Ridley takes the notes and is very possessive of them.

Ridley takes the group to his room, wondering if Barclay was a spellcaster: it would explain why there was a spellbook in their library despite no Elderstones being magic users. He takes out the spellbook he found in the library, and finds notes on the pages matching Barclay's handwriting (mostly corrections and improvements to the content of the book). Ridley remarks he always found it strange that a spell had been crossed out and the word "WRONG" written above it. Ridley returns to the library to look for other books in the same area and finds an alchemy book with similar handwritten annotations. He looks for "tetraribosol" but does not find it. Milla and Fan wait in Ridley's room and browse his personal library. Fan discovers Ridley's diary from when he was 12. Milla gets engrossed in a fantasy book series where all the characters are cats. Ridley lets her borrow the first book.

Frustrated at their lack of progress, Ridley suggests the group take a break. He gets the idea to do everyone's hair, but thinks again when he finds a twig in Kika's. He takes them to the spa, and showers alone in the men's partition while the girls bath in the women's. He sings, badly, apparently unaware that the sound carries. Fan bathes in 5 minutes and is ready to go. Kika doesn't understand the purpose of bubbles. Milla attempts to find some way to read while in the bath, but thinks better of it - to her relief, as Fan pushes a reluctant Kika into the bath, drenching Milla with the splash. Fan tries the scented oils, as does Milla, but only when nobody is looking.

Ridley shows them to a walk-in closet filled with guest clothes and they pick outfits for the evening, their travel clothes not particularly appropriate for dinner with a noble family. Fan picks a long blue dress. Kika puts on a suit: pants, shirt, and a jacket. She removes the bow tie. Milla struggles to choose until Fan suggests dark green, and she picks a green dress. They meet Ridley in his room, finding him dressed in clothes that, to the three women, look fancy, but are probably just his everyday clothes at the mansion. He does everyone's hair - the highlight of his evening - letting Kika keep her usual style (but nicer), straightening Fan's hair and putting it in a high ponytail, and curling Milla's into ringlets before adding a gold and emerald clip.

The group joins the rest of the Elderstones for dinner. Ridley's relatives welcome him back with a seemingly endless procession of hugs. Barry shares his latest mead with Ridley, who then pours some for Milla. She consumes it uncharacteristically quickly. Melba welcomes Ridley back as the head of the household, and announces that now he has returned, they can finally have his grandfather's memorial ceremony the following morning. Ridley seems uncomfortable, and Barry asks him quietly what's going on. Ridley tells him he doesn't know what he wants. Barry confides in him that, at least at his meadery, things have been running more efficiently without having to wait for a "yes" from the head of the household before making any decisions or changes to his branch of the business. Ridley immediately perks up.

As dessert begins and several of Ridley's cousins retire to the drawing room to discuss business, he follows them, in "business mode." Milla starts to doze at the table, tipsy from all the mead. Kika wakes her, and Milla immediately asks where Ridley is. Milla mumbles something about him probably talking to his family about staying here, then spaces out. Kika attempts to get her attention again, but Ridley re-enters the dining room and gets everyone's attention for a speech.

Ridley tells his family that he will not be taking his place as head of the household. He tells them that he feels he has a greater purpose in discovering the mysteries behind the metal spheres and the Barrier, and how it is linked to their heritage, after discovering Barclay Elderstone's letter. He tells them about his magical abilities and how much he has learned since leaving Valsdale. When Melba objects, he tells her how he's heard from several members of the family that their branches of the business have been running more efficiently without a head of household. A few of his cousins chime in to agree. Barry hands Ridley his numbers for the past month, and Melba is stunned. "Why didn't you tell me?" She reluctantly accepts Ridley's decision, apologizing for forcing the position of head of household on him. He, in turn, apologizes for running away. Ridley announces that he will be leaving the following day with Kika, Fan, and Milla, after his grandfather's funeral. He uses *Disguise Self* to pretend to be Barry and show off his spellcasting, to the amusement of his family.

Ridley excuses himself and the party, and leads them to the guest rooms.