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[Toilday, 11 Arodus 4708 A.R. continued]
Near the semi-circle of
shops known as Eodred’s Walk, Protosilaus and Ralph discuss whether the former
could teleport the latter all the way to Absalom! Interested in some magical items that just
aren’t available in a city the size of Korvosa—especially after the recent
unrest—the prospect is a tantalising one.
Protosilaus says it’d be easy for him to do; all he needs is a good
description of a location within the city.
He enters Basha’s, the small bookstore and map shop, just before closing
time. The ever-cranky Basha is quick to
confirm he has just what Protosilaus is looking for. But when the proprietor returns from a
backroom after several minutes’ absence, Protosilaus notices the scroll looks
brand new and the ink is still wet on it! He leaves in disgust at the attempted
scam, smashing an inkpot on the way.
Meanwhile, Ralph gets Phaeton Skoda to agree to let him know if House Arkona
makes any large or unusual purchases of magical items.
When the two return to
Ralph’s safehouse, they see the others are there. Protosilaus talks Goldcape into accepting a
magical brand (which he puts in the shape of a roc) that will, ostensibly,
hardly hurt at all and will allow him to heal her even from a great
distance. Hearing Goldcape’s shout of
pain, Ralph inquires what’s going on and is also persuaded to accept a
brand. But when he’s not quick to
specify what he wants it to look like, Protosilaus chooses an outline of The
Reckoner wearing a dunce hat! Ralph
punches him hard in the nose for it, and Goldcape decides to add a sap blow to
the back of the head for good measure.
Ralph seems serious when he tells Protosilaus he better figure out a way
to remove it soon or Korvosa’s dockworkers will find the half-orc’s body floating
in the river.
After turning over the
prisoners and recovered items to Grau’s forces, Blackjack slips back into The
Reckoner’s hideout and becomes Goldcape once more. Wounded and still smelling of smoke from the
nearby flames, she explains to Ralph what just happened. He says the Cerulean Society is secretly run
by Glorio Arkona, and it’s surely a plot against Grau. What neither realise, however, is that a
third person is listening in to their conversation . . .
[Wealday, 12 Arodus 4708
A.R. continued]
Over breakfast, Ralph
suggests that today is the day to have the proclamation read because it would
be best if some time passed between that event and the actual assassination
attempt so that the castle’s defenders are exhausted by being on high-alert for
so long. But Lorien is much more
interested in drama closer to home: he explains that he overheard some of
Goldcape’s and Ralph’s conversation last night!
He says Goldcape shouldn’t be going on adventures without the rest of
the group, but she replies that she’s known Ralph for a long time and shares
some confidences with him that she doesn’t yet feel comfortable sharing with
Lorien and Protosilaus. Since the cat’s
out of the bag about a run-in with thieves, Ralph shares his suspicions that
the Cerulean Society has been directed by Glorio Arkona (whom he believes is
their real leader) to steal from Grau’s army to weaken it for a potential
post-Ileosa clash. He says that directly
after assassinating Ileosa, the group should teleport and try to take out
Glorio too, before the aristocrat has time to react. Yraelzin, however, is outraged by the idea,
and says the group can’t start killing people just to shape the city the city
to their own ends, and assassinating a rebel leader would completely undermine
the rebels’ cause of furthering lawful transitions of power. Ralph ripostes by reminding the group that
Glorio is surely evil, and that he’s having his xill army implant captured Gray
Maidens. Yraelzin’s not so sure that
Xoza’s intelligence is reliable.
Goldcape brokers a temporary truce by turning the focus back to the more
immediate matters at hand: getting the proclamation read.
With Protosilaus taking
the form of a crow, the others fly on Rocky’s back to the Grand Cathedral of
Pharasma. Keliathrothe, a xenophobic
elven priestess who insulted members of the group previously, passes by the
group in the corridors, and this time, she doesn’t say the word. Could it be because she has somehow been
cursed to appear as a disfigured intermix of elf and human? Protosilaus smiles as she passes. When they find Bishop d’Bear, she immediately
agrees to send a messenger to the three faction leaders and to Seneschal
Neolandus Kalepopolis. After months of
resistance the final step is about to begin: a formal proclamation evicting
Ileosa Arabasti from Castle Korvosa will be read at noon, giving the
self-styled Queen sixty minutes to depart.
And if she doesn’t . . . her life is forfeit!
----------------------
GM Commentary
I liked the concept (drawn from the Korvosa sourcebook) that the city's major retailer of maps is more than happy to sell items of dubious provenance (or, to put it plainly, forged himself!). As an aside, I really love the "in-universe" map of Varisia that came with that region's Player Companion. It was (perhaps unintentionally) different in distances and layout of geographical features compared to the "real" map of Varisia, which is exactly what one would expect. After all, if maps were perfect and easy to read, people wouldn't get lost so much :)
We got to see Goldcape foil a robbery as Blackjack in this session. As the vigilante is a big subplot in Curse of the Crimson Throne, I'm glad I could improv a scene where the new incarnation gets some action. Trying to win combats while restricted to Blackjack's rapier was a sometimes-frustrating challenge for the player, but important for preserving the illusion.
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