Troll's Bridge event report
I wasn't going to do one, since that's kind of my LT shtick, but Vyara asked for one and so I figured I'd post it here in case anyone else is interested.
Report on the events leading to the arrest of Princess Eleanor and Duke Horace.
It was the late King's wake and so I had to show face - also because I was hoping that I would be able to get to the bottom of what happened to him. I wasn't buying the official story.
As well as his daughters, Duke Horace had come down from the North and was his usual self, while Earl Avery had travelled from the West to pay his respects along with a local witch, Bella, and Archbishop Kendra. The Duke and Earl had both brought their servants with them - Avery had a somewhat quiet mage and alchemist, and Horace had a silent... creature. She had burning red eyes, pointed canines and a dagger slung in her boot, a fact I pointed out to the assembly as soon as she and her master left the room. The fact that no one else had noticed this seemed to me to be a measure of the alertness of my comrades. As Queen Helen pointed out however, this could perhaps be the Duke's reaction to the various threats in his area.
Conversation was dominated by Duke Horace who regaled us with tales of his travels, meeting elves and traders from far lands, and also with the harsh punishments he enjoyed meting out to the populous. The nature of alchemy versus witchcraft was also discussed.
Avery's servant - Martyn - indicated that he would interrogate Horace's, and when the Fool clearly seemed to disturb her by blunt recognition of her condition he too the excuse to escort her outside on the pretence of taking the air. When he returned, and when Horace had left the room, he reported that her name was Otys and she believed herself to be an elf.
I questioned Horace further upon the nature and appearance of elves - never having seen one before it was possible that this was their natural look - but he refused to be drawn.
As the meal continued conversation turned to the nature of the poison which had afflicted the King - Martyn was able to inform us a great deal regarding its nature and most crucially that it needs demon blood to create. Conversation was tightly condensed into moments when both Horace and his servant were absent, and often when the Fool and the royals were likewise out of the room, as it was impossible to know how deeply the rot had spread.
Bella drew my attention to a crumpled piece of paper on the floor, which we resolved to investigate after dinner - the veneer of civilisation was drawing thin, but I would not be the one to break it.
Archbishop Kendra and Duke Horace had a discussion about a kind of magic stone that could be used to control demons. It wasn't something I knew much about, but from the expressions around the table I wasn't the only one so I cheerfully took the hit and proclaimed my ignorance. From this we learned that demons could be controlled by binding them with such a stone, that in order to do so a contract would exist which outlined what the demon would do, and that Horace had learned a great deal regarding demons from a man in his service who he had then had killed. Kendra tried to debate with him the morality of his actions, but her arguments fell upon deaf ears.
At the next interval Earl Avery asked Princess Eleanor who was present at her father's death: after listing herself, Horace and Otys, she excused herself, overcome with grief. This gave us a rather strong starting point, and we then turned to practical discussions of methods of incapacitating a demon, which seemed tricky but the more arcane amongst us felt it was possible to, at the least, give me an edge in a fight. I've never dulled a demon before, it seems that the evening's entertainment could be better than I had expected.
It was the Fool however who provided the crucial link, rushing forward to take notes on a conversation and picking up what turned out to be the contract in question. He moved with such speed I feared an attack upon the Queen, and while he professed ignorance of the paper's contents I noted that he moved directly after being closely in conversation with Otys, and so I do wonder if this was related to his "discovery".
Reading the contract there was an obvious difficulty - the demon was ordered to kill anyone who attempted to remove the collar, or to harm her owner, or to ask about the collar, and our knowledge of demons was that she was likely to indiscriminately attack everyone when released. However there was also an easy way to prove the identity of its owner, as one of the instructions was that "you will obey only me".
Taking charge to some degree, as the one least likely to panic, faff or stab someone, I asked Otys to join us, explained the situation, and called upon everyone to give her an order, explaining that she would only obey the one she was ordered to. The Queen began, ordering her to fill her glass, which was ignored.
Since I was aware that - in the unlikely event that the demon wanted to protect its master - she could possibly interpret protecting her master as framing someone else, I ordered her to give me a kiss, reasoning that she was unlikely to do that by choice. Obviously the order was declined. Earl Avery's mind seemed to work on the same lines as he ordered it to "drop and give me twenty", which earned him laughter, but no obedience.
Duke Horace was prevailed upon to go next and attempted the order "Obey only me", which was rather direct evidence that he was attempting too hard to avoid the test. Between us the Queen and I made it plain that he wasn't able to get out of this one and he ordered it to bring him a piece of fruit. It obeyed.
I put away my sword so that I couldn't be interpreted as threatening Horace and thus activate the demon's trigger, and then placed myself between the royals and the demon.
Martyn, seeing that Otys was likely to be involved for the considerable future, went to get her a drink. Ensuring that she drank deeply, he then questioned her obliquely about the nature of her enslavement and, having determined that she would have to attack him if he attempted to free her, he conversationally remarked that by his magical power he commanded her to Sleep. With a confused expression, the demon slumped to the floor, at which point Martyn explained that the drink had been laced with a loyalty potion binding the demon to the Queen for a time.
Unconscious, she was unable to attack anyone for removing the collar - and anyway I had removed the dagger as soon as she hit the ground - so Kendra removed the collar and set about constructing one of her own, though in the end it was not used. Since I found myself needing to be in two places at once, I took the liberty of trusting Earl Avery to prevent Horace from leaving while I remained between the demon and the royals. This did mean that should a fight have begun I would have attempted to be the first person known to have slain a demon with it's own knife, but perhaps fortunately this was in the end not required.
Otys was carrying another vial of the same poison which killed the king, which she intended to slip into the Queen's drink. Given the level of suspicion in the room I do not think it likely that she would have been able to do so without it attracting sufficient attention for one of us to notice, but it is highly likely that someone would have died whether it be the intended target or not.
Otys identified Princess Eleanor as the mastermind behind the incident and the Archbishop confirmed this using magic. Both Eleanor and Horace were arrested and await trial. I do not see how the verdict can be anything but guilty.
In faith and in truth,
Sir Morwenna Wedderburn
Commander of the Royal Guard
Queen's Champion
Report on the events leading to the arrest of Princess Eleanor and Duke Horace.
It was the late King's wake and so I had to show face - also because I was hoping that I would be able to get to the bottom of what happened to him. I wasn't buying the official story.
As well as his daughters, Duke Horace had come down from the North and was his usual self, while Earl Avery had travelled from the West to pay his respects along with a local witch, Bella, and Archbishop Kendra. The Duke and Earl had both brought their servants with them - Avery had a somewhat quiet mage and alchemist, and Horace had a silent... creature. She had burning red eyes, pointed canines and a dagger slung in her boot, a fact I pointed out to the assembly as soon as she and her master left the room. The fact that no one else had noticed this seemed to me to be a measure of the alertness of my comrades. As Queen Helen pointed out however, this could perhaps be the Duke's reaction to the various threats in his area.
Conversation was dominated by Duke Horace who regaled us with tales of his travels, meeting elves and traders from far lands, and also with the harsh punishments he enjoyed meting out to the populous. The nature of alchemy versus witchcraft was also discussed.
Avery's servant - Martyn - indicated that he would interrogate Horace's, and when the Fool clearly seemed to disturb her by blunt recognition of her condition he too the excuse to escort her outside on the pretence of taking the air. When he returned, and when Horace had left the room, he reported that her name was Otys and she believed herself to be an elf.
I questioned Horace further upon the nature and appearance of elves - never having seen one before it was possible that this was their natural look - but he refused to be drawn.
As the meal continued conversation turned to the nature of the poison which had afflicted the King - Martyn was able to inform us a great deal regarding its nature and most crucially that it needs demon blood to create. Conversation was tightly condensed into moments when both Horace and his servant were absent, and often when the Fool and the royals were likewise out of the room, as it was impossible to know how deeply the rot had spread.
Bella drew my attention to a crumpled piece of paper on the floor, which we resolved to investigate after dinner - the veneer of civilisation was drawing thin, but I would not be the one to break it.
Archbishop Kendra and Duke Horace had a discussion about a kind of magic stone that could be used to control demons. It wasn't something I knew much about, but from the expressions around the table I wasn't the only one so I cheerfully took the hit and proclaimed my ignorance. From this we learned that demons could be controlled by binding them with such a stone, that in order to do so a contract would exist which outlined what the demon would do, and that Horace had learned a great deal regarding demons from a man in his service who he had then had killed. Kendra tried to debate with him the morality of his actions, but her arguments fell upon deaf ears.
At the next interval Earl Avery asked Princess Eleanor who was present at her father's death: after listing herself, Horace and Otys, she excused herself, overcome with grief. This gave us a rather strong starting point, and we then turned to practical discussions of methods of incapacitating a demon, which seemed tricky but the more arcane amongst us felt it was possible to, at the least, give me an edge in a fight. I've never dulled a demon before, it seems that the evening's entertainment could be better than I had expected.
It was the Fool however who provided the crucial link, rushing forward to take notes on a conversation and picking up what turned out to be the contract in question. He moved with such speed I feared an attack upon the Queen, and while he professed ignorance of the paper's contents I noted that he moved directly after being closely in conversation with Otys, and so I do wonder if this was related to his "discovery".
Reading the contract there was an obvious difficulty - the demon was ordered to kill anyone who attempted to remove the collar, or to harm her owner, or to ask about the collar, and our knowledge of demons was that she was likely to indiscriminately attack everyone when released. However there was also an easy way to prove the identity of its owner, as one of the instructions was that "you will obey only me".
Taking charge to some degree, as the one least likely to panic, faff or stab someone, I asked Otys to join us, explained the situation, and called upon everyone to give her an order, explaining that she would only obey the one she was ordered to. The Queen began, ordering her to fill her glass, which was ignored.
Since I was aware that - in the unlikely event that the demon wanted to protect its master - she could possibly interpret protecting her master as framing someone else, I ordered her to give me a kiss, reasoning that she was unlikely to do that by choice. Obviously the order was declined. Earl Avery's mind seemed to work on the same lines as he ordered it to "drop and give me twenty", which earned him laughter, but no obedience.
Duke Horace was prevailed upon to go next and attempted the order "Obey only me", which was rather direct evidence that he was attempting too hard to avoid the test. Between us the Queen and I made it plain that he wasn't able to get out of this one and he ordered it to bring him a piece of fruit. It obeyed.
I put away my sword so that I couldn't be interpreted as threatening Horace and thus activate the demon's trigger, and then placed myself between the royals and the demon.
Martyn, seeing that Otys was likely to be involved for the considerable future, went to get her a drink. Ensuring that she drank deeply, he then questioned her obliquely about the nature of her enslavement and, having determined that she would have to attack him if he attempted to free her, he conversationally remarked that by his magical power he commanded her to Sleep. With a confused expression, the demon slumped to the floor, at which point Martyn explained that the drink had been laced with a loyalty potion binding the demon to the Queen for a time.
Unconscious, she was unable to attack anyone for removing the collar - and anyway I had removed the dagger as soon as she hit the ground - so Kendra removed the collar and set about constructing one of her own, though in the end it was not used. Since I found myself needing to be in two places at once, I took the liberty of trusting Earl Avery to prevent Horace from leaving while I remained between the demon and the royals. This did mean that should a fight have begun I would have attempted to be the first person known to have slain a demon with it's own knife, but perhaps fortunately this was in the end not required.
Otys was carrying another vial of the same poison which killed the king, which she intended to slip into the Queen's drink. Given the level of suspicion in the room I do not think it likely that she would have been able to do so without it attracting sufficient attention for one of us to notice, but it is highly likely that someone would have died whether it be the intended target or not.
Otys identified Princess Eleanor as the mastermind behind the incident and the Archbishop confirmed this using magic. Both Eleanor and Horace were arrested and await trial. I do not see how the verdict can be anything but guilty.
In faith and in truth,
Sir Morwenna Wedderburn
Commander of the Royal Guard
Queen's Champion