Session 14 Prep

## The Tournament

After Brian's fight, he will be summoned to speak with Lord Mitchel of the English Court. If he does so, his conversation will be short, and Mitchel will be disinterested and snooty. His daughter however, Lady Emily, will wish to speak with him (in actual fact, she is the one who arranged for him to be summoned). She will commend him on his bravery and prowess in the melees so far, and ask about his life overall, as well as his intent regarding the tournament, and finally about the power he displayed in his fights.

* It is worth noting that Sir Harold is there, and standing next to Emily and not Mitchel. He might pipe up with snarky comments here and there, but can be quieted by Emily.
* The conversation will be interrupted after sufficient time by the arrival of Fergus, who has come to speak to Lord Mitchel (but really Emily, but also Brian). He will exchange pleasantries with her, and turn to Brian to do the same. They can thus have a conversation. Be sure to mention Fergus' outfit, a dress of thick yellow wool and slippers, sleeves of his undershirt bound at the wrists, with a red sleeved cloak.
	+ In this talk, Fergus should mention wistfully his boyhood dream of becoming the king of Ireland, and that he is too old to ever see that dream come true. He hopes that perhaps his heir might step up and do what he never tried.
	+ He is excited about the developments surrounding the mists, and while worried about tales of monsters with big heads and thin bodies, he is confident about the valor of men empowered by the mists to defend the innocent.
	+ If asked about his recent odd decisions, he will only say that circumstances require that he make preparations for the future. He will not elaborate further.
	+ Most important, he will try to get at whatever Brian's power is, and will ask if he might work for him, should the tournament not pan out. Fergus could use of man of Brian's prowess after all.
	+ Fergus will leave, and Brian will be with Emily and Harold. Brian can pick up on the fact that she seems more intelligent than she might have him believe, and be suspicious when Sir Harold asks for a word with him alone and her farewell to him (this is a chance for Emily to meet with another super) Harold will ask what Brian hopes to get out of the tournament, to make sure it will not hurt Emily. The conversation will be interrupted by the call for "Murchad O'Ferrall" and "The Red Rock". The convo can continue, but Brian will most likely want to see this.

Murchad will evade her attacks, until finally she charges, enraged at him, she suddenly trips (Murchad has used his ice powers to slick the ground) as he dodges, and she slams into the structure, knocking it onto herself, finding Murchad standing over her. She will yield after an unheard dialogue between them (he uses his ice powers and threatens to kill her on the spot with them).

* A perceptive player might notice the puddle where she tripped.

One might notice that Red Rock is called to meet with Fergus. In fact, come to think of it, most of the supers so far have been summoned to meet him, and every single super who has lost. He is seen walking away with her, ending up in the castle.

Murchad will approach Simon, attempting to recruit him. Should he agree, Murchad's victory would include a position for Simon, should Simon win, he should ally with Murchad. Simon will want to refuse, but Murchad will remind him of the civil war, even Murchad can't stop his own brother if it came to that after all. He will attempt the same deal with Brian, especially if Brian is there to begin with. Murchad will ask what they want out of the shift of leadership, and then suggest they ally with him. If pressed to it, he will say that while he is not currently interested in Irish unification, he will likely fight for it in the near future, given conflicts he is hearing about, including Dublin.

* He will, if pressed, reveal a twinge of regret, having only wanted to help his brother, though he won't be overt about it.
* He will play coy if asked about whatever powers he might have, though will change the subject to the player's powers.

Roland will have watched this alongside one of the players, probably Aubrey. His time to fight will come, and he will have to fight Lord Geoffry, the Golden Star (who can shoot gold lasers from his eyes). Roland will ask Aubrey not to help him as he saw her help Brian. Roland will play evasively, using the structures to his advantage. He will seem to actually have a chance...

* He may win with Aubrey/Brian's help, but will resent that.
* He may lose, jumping to a structure to flank Golden Star, but Star's lasers will cut down the structure, causing Roland to break his arm and nose. Golden Star will close in with him and shoot him with lasers, low intensity, but enough to cause agony. Star will do this sadistically, affronted that Roland would shame him so, until he is stopped by either a player or Fergus forcing an end to the match.

This day of the Tournament will have a few more fights to close, that the players are unlikely to notice or care about, as they are likely to be dealing with Roland's injury if that's what happened, or alternatively wrapping up affairs with Angus, Simon, etc.

## Aubrey's Quest (If she waits till tomorrow)

Aubrey will be woken in the night and given a note, written by Bruce, asking her to meet him outside. If she does, Bruce will be there. He will be looking to the other end of the street, where one of his men is standing with Meive, who is looking haggard and beaten, with a black eye and several cuts. She is wearing her maidservant's clothes and wrapped in the man's cloak. Bruce will mention that he one of his had found her a few hours ago when trying to contact her again, as Aubrey's last report had him interested in her. After rescuing her from pursuers, and asking her who she was, and asking her what was wrong, she told him that she had just escaped from the castle. Bruce thought to bring her to Aubrey, as he knows she has been investigating the castle. He figured that Meive might be of some use to Aubrey, or vice versa. There is no money in this one, but he'll promise to think on it as an investment on his part to help the girl.

* If Aubrey talks to Meive, she will ask her who she is. If she is satisfied that Aubrey would help, she will explain her situation: 3-4 days ago, she was taken by the castle guards as the suspect of aiding a spy (Johan, who has confessed her involvement) in the castle. She had been locked in the same cell as Johan, who had been brutalized to death before she got there. After a couple days of basic questioning he guard walked into her cell, and began questioning her more roughly than previously, on who else knew what she and Johan had found.
* She will say she told him everything, and is worried about the man Brian, who she mentioned had asked about Johan. The guard then threw his keys from the room, took out a knife, and stabbed himself right through the throat. His face was one of satisfaction, then turning to panic a few seconds after he stabbed himself. He then, with his own blood, wrote the name "Fergus" on the wall before slumping to the floor, dead. This all happened yesterday evening.
* In a panic that she might be thought to have killed the guard herself, Meive made a desperate escape (using the guard's spear to get the key). She ran from the castle as soon as it was safe to run, just barely evading pursuit, and made it back home. She was in the midst of preparing to leave the city when [the man] appeared, offering her help.

Fergus will have sent Odo to look for her at her house. He might be spotted spying on them.

If Aubrey chooses to go to the castle at this time, all the castle residents will be abed, however the guard patrol will be unchanged from normal. It should be noted that they are aware of Meive's escape, as is Fergus.

* The dungeon will have 2 guards stationed at the door to the larger dungeon room, but no guards inside.
* Fergus will be asleep in his chamber.
	+ If alerted to suspicious activity he will hide in the secret chamber and use the bodies of one of his victims to investigate.
	+ If confronted, he will use the black liquid, a ritual knife and the death of one of his victims to allow creatures from the mists to arrive (a nerfed Behir, a Gibbering Mouther, and a Grell [or simply 3 nerfed behirs]), who will fight the players. In order to do this he needs access to his secret room. This is effectively a short-term small scale black mist. If Fergus believes that he will be stopped from completing his plan, he will trigger the Black Mist now.
	+ Fergus' solar is such:
		- A combined study, bedroom and cabinet. The room is stone, with fine rushes on the floor, tapestries on the walls depicting amusing scenes such as a rabbit riding a dog shooting a bow, or a man fighting a giant snail, or other tapestries with scenes of hunting or battle. The candles are unlit, and sunlight streams in through the large windows.
			* The desk contains letters from other nobles, relatively uninteresting accounts regarding marriages and deaths, as scandals of certain peoples, no one that Aubrey recognises.
			* The bed has a harness underneath, which is capable of restraining a man as well as gagging him. The harness is spattered with dried blood, particularly on the wrist straps.
			* There is a opening onto the balcony facing the courtyard. Everything of the inner baily at the back of the castle can be seen from here.
		- A successful Perception will reveal dust on the bottom of the heavy tapestry on one wall (indicative that it has been brushed against the floor many times). If she investigates, she will find a secret door behind it, revealing a room with a small desk and writing implements, with letters from Lord Phillip (last seen at Maynooth).
			* There is a recipe detailing that sufficient blood of those touched by the mist, will open the way to the world of the Outsiders, and the power that lies therein. There is a long row of pillories facing a table with a large silver bowl and an ornate knife.
			* Phillip's letters detail the experiments on the people of Maynooth, and what he believes will be possible if the way to the outsider's world is opened, such as advances in technology and wealth beyond anyone's imagining. The power that men touch by the mists wield could become a tool of the common man, or indeed his liege.
* Odo will have been following Meive's trail, and unless the party actively lose him, will still be on them. He can continue Fergus' work if Fergus dies. He will rush to Fergus' defence if he is aware of the need for it. Odo is copying the power of one of Fergus' victims (bound and gagged with the others) who has the power to put people to sleep for extended periods of time. Fergus' victims are currently under this power.
	+ Odo will arrive if Fergus is going to die, and will put himself on Fergus, who will swap bodies with him as his body dies.

## Potential Outcomes

If Fergus dies outright or is forced to swap with Odo, there will be increased contention on the legitimacy of the tournament and an uptick in the rebellion efforts, but also parties vying for it to continue on the grounds that this was clearly Fergus' wish and O'Ferrall's next leader should be decisively chosen. This would end in support shifting back to Angus as the new clan chief, as tournament would not have very strong support at this point.
If Fergus is in Odo's body, he will be forced to adapt to this, and will come out and reveal his power to change bodies, and his current state. He will attempt successfully to gain control of the supers he has hired, and will move to enforce his claims, as some will not believe him.

If Fergus survives and his body survives, and the black mist is untriggered, the plan goes on as usual.

If Fergus and his body survive and the black mist has been triggered, he will fast forward the plan, having himself "killed" in order to swap bodies with his heir.

## Aubrey's Quest (If she starts today)

* Aubrey will have the information from the book, and will probably follow it up. Each person she finds is of course a super. Most will know nothing about Odo's having stalked them, though they will know who he is. One or two will have seen him hanging around them however. Some of them live in the castle.
	+ She might have the insight to try and use Meive, and realise she is not there.
* Aubrey will eventually bump into the castle jester, Odo, dressed in motley dominated by red. He will ask her on what she hopes to find in [whatever room she has ended up in]. He will seemingly buy whatever excuse she gives. He will be very playful and coy in his interactions with her, putting on voices and occasionally smacking her with his tiny wooden sword. He will see her off, and continue to spy on her after she has left.
	+ Aubrey might notice during the conversation the sound of metal slowly tinkling against the floor. Turning around, she will see that it is a [metallic item] from the nearby room. It is no longer moving. (Odo has copied her powers and tested them). He will play it off, asking if perhaps she had too much to drink or something similar.
	+ Odo is the only person in the castle, save Fergus himself who is aware of Fergus' powers, and aids him in his endeavors. He has powers himself, being able to copy the powers of anyone he can see within a 30ft radius, only one person at a time, lasting 5 minutes, can be swapped at any time.
* Aubrey can continue investigating as she will. She might hopefully go to the dungeons, where she will find Meive. She will find Johan in the same cell having been brutalized to death. She is here because Johan had confessed her involvement. Next to her is the corpse of the guard (slit throat) who had been body-swapped by Fergus. The guard will have written in his own blood on the wall "Fergus".
	+ By Meive's account, the guard walked into her cell, and questioned her on who else knew what she and Johan had found. She will say she told him of Aubrey and Brian, apologizing for that. The guard then took out a knife, and stabbed himself right through the throat. His face was one of satisfaction, then rapidly turning to panic a few seconds after he stabbed himself. This happened yesterday evening.
	+ Meive is scared that it will look like she killed the guard, and she will be killed for it, and will beg for Aubrey's help to escape. Aubrey can help her or leave her, or whatever else, as she will.
* If Aubrey investigates Fergus' solar, refer to the above section on Fergus' solar.
* Angus will be waiting for Aubrey's report at the White Duck, and will not be participating in the tournament until the next session.