Book 1 - Chapter 5: Have Sword - Will Travel, or How the West was Fun(dead)

[Asta]

The following morning you arise and make preparations to continue to the capital. As you leave the inn Eeada, Duny, and little Moira meet you at the stables.

"Thank you, again, for punishing them. I know our parents ain't coming back... But it helps to know it won't happen again" Eeada says, watching you gather your things in the cart. There is a haunted look in her eyes that will take some time to fade, but perhaps your efforts will have started the process. Duny nods in agreement, Moira clinging to his side.



Location: Aite Aerd
Date: Fabri 13, 796
Time:1200

Arriving once again in the capital, you have a moment to decide how to proceed.

"Straight to the Righ then? Or should we try to arrange a private audience to report? If MacArtain really is responsible for what happened in that village it might be a good idea not to tip him off he's been discovered, and surely he'll be at court."

[pringerbeam]

     "About that..." Thedrin said as he looked around the apartment granted to them by the Righ and going over to open the curtains and look out the window to the street below on the off chance some cunning rogue was clinging to the wall. "As a bunch of commoners, I doubt you would understand the complexity of our situation." He said, after closing the window and blinds and pulling back towards the interior of the room.  "Supposedly these MacArtains are a quite powerful house and we don't quite know who might swear to them in court. If enough of the court is allied to them, a mere signet ring will easily be explained off as either stolen or forged without its bearer available for interrogation and in the worst case we might be imperiled with counter-accusations of trying to sully their clan name. Unfortunately the word of an honorable knight seems of limited use in this backwater so my pedigree will not aid us here. We need to keep what evidence we do have as secret as possible until we can strike a decisive blow..."  He said as he held up the signet ring.
     "We need to figure out where loyalties lie and who we can trust before we expose the MacArtains at court."  He continued as he returned the signet ring to a secure inner pocket of his doublet. "I'm not sure that going straight to the Righ, even in privacy would be wise. He's too powerful a figure to not have a housemaid or dozen employed as spies that would note our arrival and possibly surveil our meeting. I think we should continue our investigation of the MacArtains and build a support base at court, letting the Righ in on our endeavors only once everything is in place."

[Asta]

Scathach narrowed her eyes at the suggestion that she was incapable of understanding the obnoxious intricacies of court intrigue, but let the comment slide.

"Ok then. To that end, what do you suggest we do?"

[pringerbeam]

     "Well first we will need to report that we were successful in our quest. We will do so in front of the court but omit any mention of the MacArtain clan. If we chalk the incident up to the machinations of some cult we were unable to identify it will hopefully throw off any suspicions of what we truly uncovered. After that we will need to follow up on that name the villager mentioned and find this Peadaran the cultists were supposed to report to while we rally support at court."

[Asta]

"Alright. And who are we planning to convince first?"

[pringerbeam]

     "When in doubt look for the oldest allies. The clan Foirbeiseach was apparently a stalwart friend to the ruling clan in their civil war and one of the more influential houses. I think they would benefit most from ruining the MacArtains and would be most likely to assist us."

[Asta]

"If that seems like the best way to do it, alright. Should we go report then?"

[pringerbeam]

     "Yes, let's."  Answered Thedrin. "From now on we must be very careful. We can't openly discuss this matter. Keep an eye out for any eavesdroppers or spies. Now, onward to the court."

[Asta]

Arriving at the keep a short walk later, you check in with the guard who leads you down the now familiar corridors to the audience chamber. After a brief wait at the doors, you are announced.

As usual, the gallery and lower level of the audience chamber has its fair share of high society types and Righ Marr is seated on his throne.

"The champions return! What news of Baille Fada?"

[pringerbeam]

     "Grim news my lord." Replied Thedrin with a bow. "The town was attacked by cultists that were trying to make more of those dark crystals. They massacred most of the townsfolk with the assistance of an ogre and had raised them as undead by the time we arrived. We slew the cultists and their ogre but only a few in the town have survived."

[Asta]

The righ's countenance darkened immediately, his right hand clenching into a tight fist on the arm of his throne.

"Bastards! Nearly the entire village slaughtered!? You say the cultists were creating more of those crystals there? How? To what purpose were so many lives lost!?"

He turned to the nearest guard. "Send a runner to the west garrison, I want a battalion out to Baile Fada to investigate further... and to honor the dead."

The guard left the chamber with a salute, and the righ returned his attention to your group. The murmurs of the gallery were animated, but low enough you couldn't distinguish any individual conversations. "Give me every detail, starting with how these cultists were producing more crystals..."

[pringerbeam]

     "We do not know exactly how the crystals are created. The only cultist we were able to interrogate expired before we could get more information and no survivors actually witnessed the creation of the crystals." A statement that was ultimately true as far as Thedrin was concerned. The lich having supposedly been inconveniently unconscious when the cultists were working.  "We found evidence of some ancient evil creature that we suspect was involved in the process but we still are not sure how it all works. The creature has left the town and we unfortunately are not sure where it might have gone. We would like your highness's permission to pursue this lead."

[Asta]

"Of course, and should you need anything to assist in your investigation do not hesitate to ask. I'll furnish you with a writ that will allow you to procure any supplies you may need from the guardhouse stores. What manner of creature was it do you believe?"

A few moments later a page appeared bearing a rolled parchment in a document tube bearing the royal seal, handing it to whomever was close enough to take it.

Obtained Writ of Investigation
This royal decree gives the holder the ability to requisition supplies from various stockpiles around Aite Aerd and other settlements around Thuinich. Generally mundane and sundry goods, occasionally these supply stores will have more useful things stashed away. The writ is both temporary and limited, once your investigation is over it will no longer be usable.

[pringerbeam]

     "We believe it was a lich." Answered Thedrin as he took the writ from the page. "Thank you my lord, I'm sure this writ will be of great use to us." Thedrin continued with a look up to the galleries. "As well as I'm sure that the many clans of Aite-Aerd would also be willing to assist us by allowing us access to their libraries so that we might be able to research this ancient beast. Surely with the generous aid of such mighty houses we will have no problem tracking down the creature."

[pringerbeam]

Diplomacy

Rolled 1d20+10 : 8 + 10, total 18