Plagues and Princesses - the Lucying - Session 4
You are summoned to the Lady High Magistrate, Hildrathsuen, a very tired, thin looking Sebiccai, in a cluttered office. She doesn't have much time, but hears you out fairly. Your story sounds preposterous, like a cover-up for infanticide, but she's prepared to believe you because. She will pull some strings at the Palace Guild, and advises you to check the church, as the Scholars there would have had dealings with the Mages. Meanwhile, she will have her secretaries scour the archives for other similar patterns of attacks.
The Church is a huge building, open to the air, set in beautiful gardens. There's a large infirmary, a small barracks, and a house for the priests/priestesses, as well as a hall for the scholars. Everyone is currently decorating the cathedral. Lord High Minister for Security, Damien Conram, is having a naming celebration for his firstborn daughter. She was born an hour after nightfall 3 days ago. They're very excited, as Finula Conram was their most devout acolyte, until her father married her to Damien. You're shown to Father Cad'fael, who has been the man in charge of the scholars for quite a while.
He remembers Finula fondly, and makes you some tea. You ask him about students who were interested in planeshifting, and he remembers another acolyte a few years older than Finula. His name was Emmit Fijhur, a human male. He would be in his mid 30's now, and was almost obsessed with old mythology, especially in the ancient stories of the warriors from other worlds. Emmit was an odd man, didn't really warm to anyone during his time here, but was very good with the children and younger acolytes he liked those who he could teach, usually called him Uncle. He did have a soft spot for Finula, but then again most everyone did, as she was pretty and kind. Bondlisser from the Tarth plane.
In fact, Cad'fael seems to remember an argument with some of the other male scholars the same age as Emmit, just before Emmit left, but none of the boys would tell him what it was about. By then he was splitting his time between the Palace Guild and the Scholars hall, and was a powerful mage. No one in the Cathedral can remember seeing him after that, though a Palace Guild mage did say he dropped by for his things the next day. They haven't seen him since either. No other scholar was as interested in the planes and the otherworldly warriors than Emmit.
We go to the library and all have a big talk about our feelings and cray cray feelings. We do not do research. Then we eventually do research. Bondlissers They're summoned based on intentions and needs of the sorcerer, forms a bond with them, but Bondlissers are full beings with thoughts and will. It is up to the summoner to dismiss them when their task is done, and none has ever fallen in battle. Tabitha and Dom make a gentleman's bet about finding lost libraries. Drax is very interested in the section of lost arcane knowledge. We find some information about lost libraries. There is some discussion about where we go to next. Everyone goes back to the inn.
Bodie goes to pick up the turkey. It is alive. He finds out that Finula is considered relatively boring by the general populace, all religious, never done anything very interesting. The woman to be executed is Stacy Cook-Browne. Bodie returns to the inn with and brutally murders his turkey with a block of wood. The innkeeper is very disturbed but cooks it for them. Players find interesting parallels between the execution and baptism happening on the same day. Tabitha visits Stacy in jail to provide solace, she takes responsibility, and feels guilty, but is sad about death. The players curiosity is assauged.
You're summoned to the Palace Guild, big echoey stone halls, but they're warmed with fires, and have lots of studies, libraries, workrooms. Lots of mages of every race/gender/appearance all trying to work harmoniously to find a solution to the blight, distinguishable by rainbow armbands. You're shown through by Baeth, a young litorian apprentice, and she's very excited to have the solemn duty of showing people about. You're shown to her master's room. His name is Ya-Hilth, a full giant, jewels and nice furs, dark hair greying about the temples. He sends a servant for juice and food, and you're given cheese and crackers with a wink and a flourish. Has money deals a lot with the black market, sees nothing wrong with it, wealth should allow people to enjoy a higher state of life. Kind of a rich bastard, but Baeth seems to like him.
He hears you out, you're looking for information about Emmit Fijhur and plane-shifting. He does have a lot of information about those things. In fact, when he was a young teacher he was one of Emmit's instructors, and agrees he was the most interested in plane-shifting he'd ever seen. He has a proposition for you.
The mages think they might have found *hushed tones* the location of the Lost Library of Ztild, (OK, so Drax and Dom have already heard of this hallowed almost mythological library. It's a place that Drax would have been interested in finding for his book-quest, and Dom's aware of the hazing prank for new bureaucrats, asking them to go get a book from it. It's been lost for centuries, and people are starting to doubt it even existed. It's meant to be a huge bastion of knowledge, particularly cosmology and spellbooks) a verick sorceress from long ago. She was also the pupil of Tamaleth-Albhor , the last person to open a portal and bring through a Bondlisser. He thinks Princess was a young Bondlisser, warriors from other plains that can look like various animals. Emmitt was very interested in the Library of Ztild, like all old mythologies.
Ztild, a very accomplished sorceress, came across the Sable Church, and was one of its first advocates in Beechwood. She spent her final few years devoted to it, working on spells to reconnect and rejuvenate nature, bringing life and nourishment to overworked soil. The Palace Guild wants these spells to see if they can help with The Blight, and want you go go get them. You will probably also find lots of information about planes and Bondlissers there. They decide to follow this quest and do things.
They want to go to the naming ceremony. Between the guild and the church, they stop and leave messages for the lady High Magistrate and the Lady Mayor saying where they're going and what they're doing.
Tabitha is allowed into the ceremony. Drax and Merlyn decide to lurk around the perimeter, and Dom and Bodie decide to sneak in under the guise of servants. Bodie mans the snowcone machine and Dom hands out canapes. Damien brings up his daughter who was blessed and named Batya Coram. There is revelry. Finula isn't there, it is assumed because of a hard birth and she is still recovering. Tabitha takes messages from Father Cad'Fael to the priest of the Lordan chapter.