Chapter 5: Blood and Fire

[Ken]

"Ha! What you describe as dalliance, I call unconsciousness," says Belarin. "But it's just as well that you weren't there. The fey may have wished to decorate you with something lacey, and that wouldn't have gone well.

"Our dubious credentials received an unexpected shine on the voyage here when Malov's airship, the Dissolution, appeared and attacked the patrol craft that had just arrived to, ahem, 'escort' us to Fairhaven. That craft was destroyed but not before we rescued its commander, Lord Dassek -- that's the fellow on the other side of this wall -- from certain death, along with several others, including Condign here. A tiefling, Mattheu! Marvelous! Dassek saw the effort we made in aiding his crew and repelling Malov's squad of wind-up warriors. It's because of his support that we're not in chains, I suspect."

[Darren]

Kalarian clasps his hands behind his head. "I think Matheu would actually look quite lovely with a bit of ribbon twined around him," he says, grinning.

[Josh]

Grafth seems unamused by talk of lace-adorned dragons. "Matheu, what news have you of Taymra? Has she been able to discover anything in our absence?"

[Jeff]

Yes, I have met the tiefling, Matheu says in response to Belarin's comment. To date, he is the only one of his kind in recency unaffiliated with marauding of some kind. There are rumors circulating in Passage, and probably here in Fairhaven, that tieflings have begun to emerge from the region you call the Demon Wastes.

Belarin:

Dassek saw the effort we made in aiding his crew and repelling Malov's squad of wind-up warriors. It's because of his support that we're not in chains, I suspect.

That is certain. I have seen prisoners brought to the palace before, and they were not as kindly maintained.

Matheu ignores Kal and his comment completely.

"Matheu, what news have you of Taymra? Has she been able to discover anything in our absence?"

The Lady Taymra has learned some. She and Phorem have been cooperating with the Passage authorities, attempting to challenge the charges raised against you. I am certain, also, that this will be factored into your judgment here. Taymra's chief efforts have been toward mollifying Baron Kwanti, the patriarch of her house. One of the two men found dead at the Lyrandar docking tower was a friend of his, and the baron wants justice done. But until you're cleared, I would recommend staying away from Passage.

At this point, the coach begins to head up an inclined street. Most of Fairhaven is quite flat; it is, no doubt, a street leading up to Fairhold. Through the window you see the faces of curious onlookers, and yet more Watchmen appearing.

[Darren]

Kal places his hands behind his head and closes his eyes. "And I was so looking forward to buying a vacation home in Passage." He opens one eye to look at Belarin and smiles. Closing them again, he says, "Matheu, your help, as always is appreciated. Will you wait for us to come out again? I believe we will have use of your talents once we are released."

[Ken]

"I regret missing the excitement at Passage," says Belarin. "I could probably go there and earn a few drinks by regaling the locales with tales of you criminals."

To Mattheu, he continues, "If we're separated for any reason again, Mattheu, know that we're due to rendeavous with an agent of the fey behind the University of Wynarn tomorrow, around noon. He -- or she -- is to give us any information gleaned from their own less-than-dainty interrogation of Alvek ir'Turien. Personally, I'd like to know who decorated the interior of the manor. It was appealing, in a gloomy, dungeony sort of way."

[Jeff's backup]

Condign, his eyes still wide with amazement, looks from face to face. "You know this Matteu? What did you call him? A pseudodragon? This is the same creature that helped me escape from the brig aboard the White Phoenix!" The tiefling leans back and looks upward--and is jarred out of his astonishment when his horns strike solidly against the wooden wall of the coach. "What strange companions you keep," he says, unaware of irony of that statement.

Yes, I have met the tiefling, Matheu says in response to Belarin's comment. To date, he is the only one of his kind in recency unaffiliated with marauding of some kind. There are rumors circulating in Passage, and probably here in Fairhaven, that tieflings have begun to emerge from the region you call the Demon Wastes.

"Wait," Condign calls out loudly as if he were speaking to someone over a great distance. "What do you know of me? And can you tell me more about these rumors of tieflings crossing out of Fah'llrg?"

[Jeff]

Matheu continues to ignore Kal.

Belarin:

If we're separated for any reason again, Mattheu, know that we're due to rendeavous with an agent of the fey behind the University of Wynarn tomorrow, around noon."

Then that is where I shall look for you again, Matheu replies.

Condign:

"You know this Matteu? What did you call him? A pseudodragon? This is the same creature that helped me escape from the brig aboard the White Phoenix!"

I am a dragon. For only a few seconds, Matheu's body materializes, perched behind the glass of the window. His body is no larger than a cat's, but even sleeker: with vermillion scales and minute, draconic features, delicate batlike wings, and a wicked-looking barbed tail. There is a cunning intelligence in his vivid green eyes which sets him apart from any beast.

Tangat barks again, another happy sound. Matheu fades into invisibility again.

I know very little about you, Condign. I do, however, desire to learn more. I wonder what part you have to play in the Draconic Prophecy, if these others are indeed making contact with the the events that have been written. Perhaps we will talk again, after you emerge from Fairhold.

And with that, you hear Matheu no more, and assume he must have flown off.

The coach continues to work its way up the hill toward the looming palace. Dassek raps on the pane of glass. "We will be taking a...side entrance. Do not be alarmed by it."

[Darren]

Kal buries one hand in Tangat's fur, and places his other arm around Ralsor. "I'm beginning to think the little dragon doesn't like me very much," he says with mock regret.

Kalarian calls out the window to Dassek. "I generally prefer a more grand display, but I suppose the side entrance will do." He raps the roof of the carriage with his knuckles. "Carry on, driver!" He calls out, oddly seeming to enjoy himself.

[Joe]

Streko chuckles. "You overstep yourself constantly, Kalarian. It is, in all honesty, quite a redeeming feature."

He takers a deep breath. "Why is it that I had almost forgotten about our rendezvous? Oh yes, the near death experience aboard Captain Ralsor's ship. How silly of me to have thought we might have some peace and quiet to prepare for ourlife-and/or-death battle to come."

He smiles. "Is everyone feeling okay? Are the benefits of House Jorasco needed by anyone here before our next appointment with destiny?"

[Josh]

"Ah, Kalarian, who could blame him?" The shifter looks out the window briefly. "Perhaps sometime he can teach me a bit about invisibility..."

[Ken]

Sept 16, 2009 23:01:12 GMT -4 Joe said:

Streko chuckles. "You overstep yourself constantly, Kalarian. It is, in all honesty, quite a redeeming feature."

"Indeed!" says Belarin. "Why, without Lord Kalarian's wit, I'd have a difficult time meeting my daily quota of sarcasm." He winks at Kal.

"Is everyone feeling okay? Are the benefits of House Jorasco needed by anyone here before our next appointment with destiny?"

"I feel quite well, thank you, Good Streko," says Belarin. "Although it could simply be the result of that marvelous ale dulling my nerves.... Good choice, that, Grafth." He looks over at Charis. "And you, my lady? Are you well?"

[Jeff]

"I'm well enough," Charis answers. "I just want to get to that message station as soon as possible. If there's time, can we do that before the, umm, fey rendezvous? Just my suggestion. The sooner we get word to Aldronivus, the sooner we'll have some real help on our side." She looks with uncertainty through the window, craning her neck to see where you're going.

As the coach rolls up closer to the fortress, its massive white towers soar above you. From inside the coach it's hard to get a full look at it, but the architecture of Fairhold is breathtaking: clearly a work of magic as much as brilliant engineering and artistry. Some of the spires look almost too delicate, strung from one to another by a series of bridges. Yet thick and elegant fortified walls rise up around the perimeter. But even these are garnished with lush landscaping, every tree and hedge placed just so to produce an impressive effect. All in all, a graceful fusion of style and defense.

Just as the street levels out to approach the main gatehouse, you hear a snap of the driver's whip. The coach turns sharply and makes it way along the side Fairhold's outer wall. A cluster of trees swallows up your view of the fortress and through the right-hand window (the side opposite where Dassek has been riding) you see an elegant fountain.

A wingless stone dragon spews two jets of water from its mouth at a stone bird of prey of equal size. The water strikes the great bird on each wing. Fanned out wide, the water separates and seems to ricochet into individual droplets off individual feathers before they fall into the pool below.

But a few seconds later and the fountain's out of sight. Just more trees, which seem to be disappearing under a haze of white mist....

You can see nothing through the thick fog, and even the clop of hooves has faded away. Through the window, you no longer Lord Dassek. The jostle of the coach has stopped. You feel as though the coach, bereft of its horses and its rider, is just floating through a void.

[Ken]

"This is ... disconcerting," says Belarin. "A security measure of some sort?" He raps on the ceiling of the coach. "Driver! Have we stopped?"

[Darren]

Kal's eyes pop open. "Yes, Belarin. I believe you've stolen the words right out of my mouth." The man glances out the window, trying to gauge their surroundings. "Dassek did say to not be alarmed...."

[Jeff]

Amal looks nervously out both windows. He meets Kal's eye and offers a slight smile. "I'll say again, my lord....had I not met you, I don't think I'd have seen things of this sort."

Charis shrugs. "Aundairian magic. They don't trust us—probably not anyone who enters their precious palace—and so they're searching us, maybe."

[Jeff's backup]

Charis said:

"Aundairian magic. They don't trust us—probably not anyone who enters their precious palace—and so they're searching us, maybe."

"My Lady, we have been searched already. We are--"Condign looks outside the window of the coach--"were traveling with a relative of the Queen. Until just now, we have not been out of his sight the entire time, save Grafth's brief absence to relieve himself at the Inn. It makes no sense to waste time and effort doing it all again."

Condign shift slightly, giving him unencumbered access to his sword. "If this fog is an enchantment, then it is meant to conceal. Either to conceal our presence at Fairhold from others, or to conceal our awareness of what is transpiring outside the coach. I do not like that Lord Dassek is not here. As my mentor would say: To lose a fight is not a sin; to be unprepared for one is. I suggest we prepare ourselves for possible trouble."

[Jeff]

Condign:

"My Lady, we have been searched already."

"If I may interject," Lever says, speaking for the first time in quite a while. The skinny warforged doesn't even look out the window at the strange white mist. Instead he raises both of his three-fingered hands and cocks his head, as if listening to something. Then the artificer traces a glowing line in the air with a single digit. It fades away quickly. "I believe we are being searched, not for our possessions but for our...capabilities. It's not a perfect science, mind you. But if any of us possesses the arcane power to, say, destroy castle masonry or melt stone with a spell...they wish to know about it."

As if on cue, intermittent flashes of multicolored light spark from within the mist around you. There is a hissing sound which doesn't quite match it, and you feel more than hear a hum in the air.

"Impressive," Lever says. "I imagine there are few places in the world—perhaps the Tower of the Twelve, the towers of Arcanix, and some structures in Sharn—woven with such complicated wards."

After nearly a full minute of this disconcerting effect, the white mist begins to clear, and gradually the sound of clopping hooves fades back into your senses. Through the window you no longer see trees or a garden, but walls of a courtyard.

The coach door opens and Lord Dassek beckons you to exit. Tangat hops out first, nose in the air, sniffing away.

You find yourself in a small courtyard of smooth flagstones, surrounded on three sides by pale gray walls rising high above. Behind the coach, an open portcullis manned by crossbowmen. Narrow windows and arrow slits peer down at you from the walls—and you have the feeling you're being watched by guards from them behind them. Each wall has a door.

Lord Dassek clears his throat. "Some things you should know, if you don't already." He glances at each of you, his gaze lingering on Charis the longest. "None of you are Aundairian, so you're rather disadvantaged here, in the legalities and politics of this nation."

"As you know, Queen Aurala governs all of Aundair. She lives here, with her husband, the Prince Consort Sasik d'Vadalis." Belarin, Charis, and Kal have heard that supporters of the queen claim she married Sasik, a blood heir of House Vadalis, for love; her opponents claim it's a political move in an effort to curry favor from the dragonmarked house.

"Their children are Crown Prince Wrogar and Princess Corrine, and they live here as well." Dassek pauses for a moment, as if considering something. Belarin and Charis recall from their studies that Queen Aurala actually has a third child, Prince Jurian, but he lives in self-imposed exile, reputedly for breaking his mother’s decree against honor dueling. It's a delicious scandal for the Aundairian aristocracy to talk about.

"Though she rules the nation, the Queen leaves the management of Fairhaven itself to her brother, Prince Aurad. He is the Queen's High Chancellor and the governor of Fairhaven itself. In fact, it will be Prince Aurad's representatives you will most likely be speaking to. Though the murders were committed in Passage, the events that have implicated you—the lightning rail attack, the Ferenthoron massacre, and so on—occured here, so the Prince has claimed the matter his own."

"Finally, there is Adele Fulirno, the castellan of the palace itself. Everything that occurs here, and everyone who comes and goes, is her business. Should we encounter her..." Dassek meets Kal's eye. "I implore you to conduct yourself with a respectful and cooperative manner. Get on her bad side and Prince Aurad will not look favorably on you. None of these people I am naming should be trifled with. You are entering the governmental fortress of Galifar's* greatest city..."

"That said, there is much that weighs in your favor. Let it, but don't be cocky about it. Before we go in, do you have any questions?"

__________________________________

The dice roller isn't working (hoping not forever), so I've used WotC's for you:

History checks:
Belarin (21), Charis (26), Condign (14), Grafth (16), Kal (19), Streko (10).

* Just a basic reminder: Galifar was the mighty kingdom that each of the Five Nations was once merely a province in. When the last king died and disputes of succession came up, so began the Last War. Galifar no longer exists anymore, except as a time-honored model of what a nation should be. Many people still refer to it as if it still was. Because they like the idea of it. Each court in the Five Nations dreams of their court remaking—and ruling—Galifar.

Also, just as a way of helping you out, the bolded names are more worth remembering. If the unbolded names become more important, then you'll simply hear them again and again. No need to try to remember them too much.

[Darren]

Kal steps out of the carriage and stretches his arms above his head. "I've had less comfortable rides, I suppose," he says, looking about the courtyard as though he were deciding whether or not to buy it. "Tangat! Do behave yourself here," he calls out to the canine. "Don't make a mess of the queen's gardens." He smiles at Dassek.

"Any chance we will be meeting with the queen, or even the prince, in person? There are a few things I'd like to ask them about...."

[Ken]

Belarin is intrigued, despite his natural caution, by the arcane examination, and he still seems distracted by it even as the group enters the courtyard. He recovers in time to hear Dassek's description of the powerful figures in Fairhaven, and he glances around at the arrow slits and, presumably, the crossbowmen standing behind each one. He begins lifting an arm as though to wave at them...

Sept 18, 2009 11:35:11 GMT -4 Jeff said:

"That said, there is much that weighs in your favor. Let it, but don't be cocky about it.

...and he quickly thinks better of it. "No, no more questions from me," he says, his hands now clapsed politely in front, although he awaits the answer to Kal's question.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign steps from the coach into the courtyard of the fortress. A guarded expression is written into the lines and scars of his face, yet he purposefully keeps his hand away from his blade hilt. His bearing has become more formal, like a military man about to meet his commanding officer.

He turns to Lever, and after some hesitation, he says: "May I ask you a question? How did you know what was happening when we were in the coach?"

[Josh]

Grafth joins the others in the courtyard, taciturn and observant. He listens to Dassek with mild interest, but has no questions for him.

[Jeff]

Condign:

"May I ask you a question? How did you know what was happening when we were in the coach?"

"Since my...creation," Lever replies, "I have learned to study arcane energies. I have refined, though not perfected, such skills, as might any artificer. Auras resonate in all objects possessed of arcane elements. With living creatures, it is much more difficult to detect, but not impossible. You would be capable of the same sensitivity, if you applied yourself to such study."

"Any chance we will be meeting with the queen, or even the prince, in person? There are a few things I'd like to ask them about...."

Lord Dassek turns hard eyes on Kal. He says nothing, then turns away. "Follow me."

The colonel opens one of the doors in a featureless courtyard wall and leads you into a long, dark corridor.

Charis slips past Amal and takes a position alongside Kal. Whispering just loud enough for the rest of you to make out (but not loud enough for Dassek to hear), she says:

"Listen to me carefully, you pompous ass. I'm not exactly thrilled to be here. The arrogance of Queen Aurala is responsible for the deaths of many good Thranes, my people. But we're going before her agents to try to get some help against Malov. Better fortune than I expected.

"And when Malov's ship was busy slaughtering Dassek's crew right before our eyes, you were urging us to run and save our own skins. Don't think for a second that we've forgotten that. If you ruin this opportunity with your pitiful swagger, I'll be the first to mention this in front of the queen, the prince, or whoever Dassek trots in front of us." The Thrane woman pauses. "I hope you believe it."

[Josh]

A sound halfway between a guffaw and a chocking cough escapes Grafth's lips.

"Excuse me," the shifter says, "Something in the air. Iam fine now."

[Darren]

Kal grabs hold of Charis' wrist and squeezes it painfully hard. "And never forget this," he says, not caring who hears. "Someone had to take charge of that situation, and while you were happy to run headlong into destruction, I was attempting to make sure that we lived long enough to stop Malov. Never question my motives." He releases Charis' wrist as though he were throwing away a rotten piece of food. "Mention whatever you want to whoever you want. It matters little to me."

[Jeff's backup]

Lever:

"You would be capable of the same sensitivity, if you applied yourself to such study."

Condign stares silently at the warforged for a moment, then mutters a "thank you" and proceeds into the corridor with the others.

The tiefling glances up ahead and sees Kalarian harshly grab Charis's wrist and say something about the previous day's encounter on the airship. As the dragonmarked releases Charis's wrist, Condign strides forward, moves smoothly past Kal, spins around, and places a large red hand on the human's chest, stopping the procession. "That," he says in a flat tone, "is not an honorable way to treat a lady. Despite the fact that she and I see some things differently" he glances briefly at Lever "does not mean that I will not defend the honor of a Lady." Condign drops his hand to his side, but looks directly into the human's eyes. "Do we have an understanding, my Lord?"

[Ken]

Belarin's eyes flare with anger as Kal grabs Charis. After Condign speaks, he adds, "Expect to be questioned. Constantly. The only one who fear questions, Kalarian, are those who harbor the greatest doubts. Deal with your insecurities at another time."

[Darren]

Kalarian bows low and formally to Condign and Belarin. "And as I have said," he says, turning his eyes upward from his low bow, "I have no fear in answering for my actions." Rising, he pushes past them. "Now if you will excuse me, it appears we must go see the queen."

[Jeff]

When Kal grabs Charis's wrist, Tangat whines. When Condign places his hand upon Kal's chest, the dog's lips peel back and his ears flatten against his head. A deep growl rises in his throat, echoing through the corridor. For a moment, Condign recalls the deep-throated snarls of fiendish wild dogs that used to echo from afar in the dark canyons of the Labyrinth.

Kal:

"Never question my motives....Mention whatever you want to whoever you want. It matters little to me."

"That's precisely the problem. Your motives are crystal clear: Nothing, and no one, matters to you. Except you." Charis regards him coolly, features obscured in the gloom of the corridor. "Touch me again, and you'd better have a spell ready," she adds softly.

She regards Condign. "I need no protector." Her tone is sour, most likely due to Kal.

Lord Dassek has turned, watching the tail-end of the confrontation. "Are we finished here?" he asks wearily.

"Now if you will excuse me, it appears we must go see the queen."

"Not likely," Dassek mutters, leading on.

[Darren]

Kal says nothing as he follows Dassek, but small sparks jump between the tips of his fingers. If he is aware of it, he does not show it.