Sapphire:Sessions:20170225
Mid-morning, Short Days 5. Branamin is in his lab, studying the Xanthypian language as his carefully separated powerstones recharge.
Ahn-Lee checks his drops. Kimtri, the merchant's daughter, invites him to take her to dinner tomorrow night at a fancy restaurant near the palace.
Shawna rides away from the city to a forested area where she can relax and work with her new companion falcon.
Chalker and Shawna have agreed between themselves to keep an eye on Branamin and the other entities that share his brain.
Several "Copper Kids" bearing bags of coins totaling 108gp visit Chalker.
Later in the day, Branamin changes his appearance to what he imagines a Xanthypian would have looked like, then goes around town buttonholing couples who are wearing the "love token" rings he has been creating and selling. "Such a beautiful ring! It must have cost you a fortune! Five hundred gold at least!"
Shawna searches the university library for references to the final war between the Venettians and the Xanthypians. Of course there are almost none. She borrows one slim, dusty volume that tells of a Golden Age when artifacts allowed people to fly. It also contains the ominous phrase, "... destroyed themselves and crumbled the world with magic and...." She pays a late-evening visit to her friend Lady Thire, who is hard at work on the "dark elf situation." Lady Thire's son, Lar'is (nicknamed Lars) had rescued from the cult a young elf who is now in foster care. Shawna suggests that the dark elf cults may be influenced by ancient knowledge of the Xanthypians.
Short Days 6 is a temple day. Chalker rises at 10am and goes to the temple of Phor. He notices that one of the four holy flames is unlit. After giving observance, he begins circling the altar. Almost immediately, a male and a female priest step forward and motion for him to stop, but he continues past them. "My lord, I have returned from a mystery place from a long time ago, which your presence had influenced heavily. You sent your son to that place. I assume you were on the side that did not prosper in that great war...."
The priestess' face registers shock, then settles into calm. She turns up her left palm and upon it appears 10" high white-hot flame; with her right forefinger she points to the floor. Chalker takes her elbow to have her walk with him, but she doesn't budge. Speaking with an oddly resonating voice she says, "You have a question?" "Did you pick a side?" "Don't you mean, which side picked me?" "Yes, that is my question." "That is not to be spoken of. But you are correct. Their end was in fire and lightning, earthquakes and crashing waves. It was destroyed, and the world rebuilt. You should take instruction from their example." "I'm not sure -- What you said didn't mean what you said. Thank you for protecting me from your wife." The flame vanishes from the priestess' hand as she collapses in a faint. The priest intones, "You walk a thin line." "There is no line. Do you think she will try to eat me?" The priest smirks, "Ask her only active son."
Despite Chalker's attempts to get him to speak further, the priest turns his back on him and escorts the priestess away. Looking around, Chalker notices that the sanctuary, which was quite crowded when he first entered, has been cleared of worshippers. Raising his voice, Chalker promises, "I'll be back. I have more questions."
Around noon Shawna senses Phor's "intense manifestation" on Temple Row. She rolls her eyes.
As his observance to Cor, Branamin creates a musician playing an ancient Xanthypian instrument and studies people's reactions. He receives 10sp in tips, which he donates to the poor. Then he heals the sick and injured among the poor.
A ten-year-old boy, who Ahn-Lee recognizes from having seen a statue of Mensep several years ago, guides him to a food vendor. Ahn-Lee: "Are you watching me?" "No more than usual. Tell Chalker I got a deal if he wants to deliver another message."
Chalker writes in his journey book that he wants to visit the place where the tiny hammer comes from.
The tailor finally arrives at his shop, and Ahn-Lee haggles the price of a new set of clothes, finished quickly, and with places to conceal his various tools of the trade. "Two-and-a-half gold it is, but I'd better look damn good."
Branamin visits a special area in the mage guild and practices throwing sunbolts.
Chalker visits the palace library. Four youths are studying there, including the emperor's [!] eldest daughter, Liana [lye-ANN-uh]. He asks the head librarian for "the oldest books you have in a language that you can't read." The librarian replies haughtily, "I can't show it to you. You're not of Calventinian royal blood."
Chalker goes and asks Liana, "Can you assist me?" At first Liana is rather shy and flustered, and blurts out that Chalker's cousin Frederick is "loud and rude." Chalker explains, "I want to see a particular book because I'm looking for an answer." "You have me curious. Will this help the Empire?" "Is that the criteria?" "The dangerous books are not in the library." "Thanks for telling me."
Liana goes with Chalker to the head librarian, who leads them to the room where the oldest books are kept. One tome is titled Book of Military Doctrine, dates back to the previous age, and is written in an obscure language that is neither Venettian nor Xanthypian. The Head Librarian indicates a Book of Folk Tales which is said to be 3000 years old; it is written in a different language than the other book. Chalker translates the titles out loud to Liana, whose curiosity is piqued.
Chalker: "Are there older books in the castle than this?" Librarian: "Probably." "You've been very helpful." "Then I failed." "You're going to take the titles I translated, and you're going to start translating, and then you're going to write a note and thank me. Next time I'll bring someone here and you will call him 'Sire'."
Ahn-Lee, freshly shaved and dressed in his new clothes, meets Kimtri right on time. Their meal is excellent and he and Kimtri flirt and make small talk.
In the same restaurant he spots Terry Coleson and his father (a wealthy merchant from Verde). Terry looks distraught. After a time Terry's father gets up and leaves. Kimtri tells Ahn-Lee, "Terry is staring at you. He looks nervous." "Want to make him more nervous? I learned this trick from a friend."
But then Terry rises and approaches their table. Ahn-Lee does not invite him to sit. Terry: "There's a problem -- three of my friends have disappeared, and two others are acting strangely... A man came, and nex day my friend disappeared..." Terry stammers incoherently, then manages, "...like they were listening to voices, like they've been taken away..."
Kimtri sends Terry to the bar to buy drinks, and murmurs to Ahn-Lee, "We had a compatriot behaving like that, and it did not end well. And one other of our guild is affected." Ahn-Lee: "There's someone I need to have a look at the body." He pulls out his journey book and writes, Are you free, Chalker? I need you to look in a dead guy's head. Several seconds later comes the reply: ....Okay. Ahn-Lee gives the location where he wants Chalker to meet him, adding Be discreet :) Ahn-Lee assures Kimtri that this is urgent, and she leaves before Terry returns.
"You're looking good," Chalker tells Ahn-Lee, surreptitiously checking Ahn-Lee's brain (and finding nothing). Ahn-Lee: "Weird mind crap is going on." Ahn-Lee knocks and Kimtri answers, having changed into her "working clothes" and armed herself with a hand-and-a-half sword. She leads them to a body laid out on a table. There's a sword through the corpse's heart and a stiletto thrust through its eye into the brain. Kimtri: "This was a guildmate."
Chalker scans the body starting with the brain. Chalker: "You all have a problem. His brain has been realigned by someone not as skilled [as whomever had done the same to Branamin and Ahn-Lee]. He doesn't have the material [dark mithril] in him... This person's mind could have been manipulated by another person... not a mage, someone with mind talent, powerful enough to make someone into a puppet." Kimtri: "Does it always make the mark that you see?" Chalker: "A piece near the brain stem has been reorganized. But the control does not necessarily require this mark." Kimtri: "Can you yourself touch minds, manipulate them?" Chalker: "No." Kimtri explains that "they" killed this man because he would not follow orders and had tried to prevent a contract from being fulfilled. Kimtri: "I want you to see Irvin. He's in the library."
Branamin has switched to the guise of a "copper kid" playing with a dog. When other kids accost him, he has the dog run away, telling the kids there's a reward for the animal. As the kids scamper away, Branamin changes into a city guard. As he enters his lab, he thinks that something is out of place.
Irvin sits at a table in the center of a reading room. Approaching, Chalker scans him, finding more damage to Irvin's brain cells than in the other victim's. Chalker: "They cn possibly control Irvin from a distance, but it's not likely." Kimtri: "Early afternoon I noticed his odd behavior." Ahn-Lee vouches to Irvin that the answers Chalker seeks are important to their guild, to all of Sapphire, and beyond.
Irvin had had dinner with George Branly, a merchant from Verde. At the restaurant he had seen a client from a brothel he'd visited earlier that day. "I thought he might be a royal. He wore a strange sword on his back. While I was headed to my wench's room, my head started to hurt." Irvin describes the sword in detail, and Chalker remembers having seen it in Tron Ironsinger's shop; it would have been picked up six days ago. Chalker tells Irvin to go to the temple of Zeph to have them heal his damaged brain.
Chalker: "This wasn't a personal or guild attack. I think he's practicing on random folks." Ahn-Lee: "I know exactly where to look next." Kimtri: "Is your group going to handle this?" Chalker: "The guy with the sword might need a contract taken out on him. But yes, we'll look into it." Kimtri: "I'm afraid our guild will be destroyed." Chalker: "Ahn-Lee, you get to be the leader. Wait till I tell Shawna!" Ahn-Lee: "Remember the college idiot who wanted me to kill his professor?" Chalker; "Oh, you mean Terry the Cowardly?" Ahn-Lee: "He and his friends have some... intutition or mind thing -- and he told me his friends were acting strangely."
Branamin feels his Cor amulet turn warm. He creates a servant to look at everything in the lab, and confirms that several objects have been picked up and replaced. However, none of his wards were disturbed, so it's as though whoever it was belonged here. He finds some dark mithril in a bag he'd brought from the island. He also senses a "shadow" of dark mithril. Someone has altered it as he carried it into the lab. He Apports some flecks of dark mithril and discovers they are turning into gold. He puts all the dark mithril into a separate bag and puts up a ward; he calculates that all the dark mithril will have transmuted to gold in ten hours.
Branamin writes in his journey book: I have dark mithril now that I did not have before. They might be looking for Annabelle now. Chalker: Ahn-Lee and I have found more people with their brains rearranged. Now someone is using dark mithril against you. Branamin: Is there a group that wants to reinstate the Xanthypian era? The dark elves, maybe? Chalker: The Xanthypians were human. I'm not sure about the dark elf connection. After Ahn-Lee puts on his work clothes, we're going to see some college students who have mind powers. Branamin: Annabelle and I will meet you there. Chalker: ... Okay.
They find Terry Coleson pacing back and forth. Ahn-Lee: "Have you met Chalker? He's going to look into your brain." Terry: "I didn't know mages could do that." Chalker: "I'm not a mage." However, Chalker sees no damage or alterations.
Terry leads them to a door, then hesitates. "Barry is in here. Edmond is in another building. Emma lives off campus." Chalker: "You go first." Terry opens the door and Barry stumbles toward them, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated. Chalker pushes him back to his bed, sits him down, and lays his "chain of truth" around his neck, easily overcoming some outside resistance. Ahn-Lee pulls open a different door, revealing another student, Jeff.
Chalker: "Do you know who did this to you?" Barry: "Yes, and his name is --" Chalker: "Stop." (Jeff tenses up, and Ahn-Lee puts his hand to the back of his neck.) Chalker: "Does he have a nice fancy sword?" Barry: "Yes." Chalker: "Is he in your brain now?" (Ahn-Lee tightens his grip, forcing Jeff's head down; "Relax, Jeff." Chalker looks over Jeff's brain; there is some damage, not recent.) Barry: "No." Chalker knows Barry is lying; he tightens the chain. "Do you want him out?" Barry starts to say "He..." and then his head falls back as he loses consciousness.
Chalker: "The guy we're looking for was in Barry's brain. We're going to have to get rude."
Terry admits that Jeff is part of their group. Chalker puts the chain on Jeff's neck, Ahn-Lee lets him up, and Chalker punches Jeff in the sternum. Jeff: "It wasn't me! Barry was going to make me attack this man!" Chalker: "You three morons -- is Emma part of the group?" Terry: "Yes, there are twenty of us, the group grows --" Chalker: "Shut up." Terry: "Seven of us together can move small objects with our minds." Chalker: "Can you invade another person's mind?" Terry: "Not if they're not a member of the group. We're not very good at it --" Chalker: "One person can control twenty. Do you see the problem? This would get me hanged, but I should kill all twenty-plus-one of you. We're good for breaking things, but this time we may need to mend them. Y'all are very dangerous." Terry: "The guy with the sword is a landless baron. His name is Pol... Pollisk. He was looking for students to do research."
Branamin, in the guise of Annabelle, walks in. (He had stopped at the university job board and posted "Annabelle is looking for work.") Chalker checks Branamin's brain, noting it is "degrading [sic] into normal patterns." He writes in his journey book: Baron Pollisk has the ability to reorganize brains like we saw in that place.... I need your help before me and Ahn-Lee kill all of these dumbasses. I'm sure there's a better solution, but not as much fun.
Terry: "Are you going to kill us?" Chalker: "If I tell the emperor about you, he'll get twenty bricks and tie them to your feet and throw you off a ship."
Branamin lights up his hand with a Green Ball of Nasty Death and asks Terry, "What am I thinking?" Terry can't get through Branamin's ward. "We have a way not to kill you!"
They all suddenly notice that Barry is faking unconsciousness. Ahn-Lee grabs him by the shirt front; "Glad you could join us!" But a stranger's voice speaks through Barry. "Annabelle, you have a nice home. Remote viewing has opened so many new possibilities. My sword is a nice focal point."
Shawna writes back in the journal, What do you want me to do? Chalker: Find the Baron. He's in town, talking through Barry. Shawna: You could scan for dark mithril. Chalker does so, finding none within two miles.
Pollisk speaks again. "I am sending a courier to my patron. What do I want? More dark mithril. Our source up north was cut off by the crown.... I'm not telling you my patron's name. He would not appreciate it. No, he is not a First Chosen; he worships Aup [Envy]." Branamin: "The ore has no value to us." Pollisk: "Leave a message at the university."
Chalker: "I have a secret, and I'll let you know it when the five of us catch up with you." Pollisk: "How will you explain a dead body?" Ahn-Lee: "I'll be happy to explain yours."
Abruptly, Barry lunges at Ahn-Lee's knife as though to impale himself on it. Ahn-Lee easily throws him to the ground and pins him. Barry shakes his head and returns to himself. Ahn-Lee binds him with rope that Branamin conjures. Chalker: "I think we're done here." Barry: "I was pushed aside in my own body!" Branamin: "I suggest putting Barry in a mage-proof prison."
Terry is told to round up the group and self-police any that act strange. Ahn-Lee: "We'll find you when this is over." Terry: "Have you got something to put Emma and Edwin to sleep?" Ahn-Lee gives him three needles wrapped in leather.
Ahn-Lee passes Mensep's message to Chalker, adding, "And tell him to contact you directly, not through me."
Back at Chalker's house, he sends Jeeves to fetch Sybonne and bring the sword from Trace.
Chalker has Sybonne do a divination on Baron Pollisk, where he'll be in two hours' time. "He'll be here with twenty armed mercs and two wizards. He's carrying a sword, very fancy. Several birds circling the area, I think they are hawks. He'll be in the rear of the column." Sybonne confirms that many of the mercs have the mark of the local guild, and it occurs to the group that maybe he's there hiring them right now.
Shawna arrives, and she, Chalker, Ahn-Lee, Branamin (in the guise of a mercenary for hire), and Sybonne ride to the mercenaries' guild. Although it is an hour past midnight, the place is lit up. Shawna: "Ahn-Lee, find him." Branamin casts Haste +3 on Ahn-Lee. Chalker kayos the guild administrator, who has been "touched." Chalker hears Pollisk's voice from behind a closed door, looks through it, and hooks onto the sword. Ahn-Lee readies his needles and charges inside just as Chalker pulls on the sword. Though Pollisk tries to dodge, Ahn-Lee drives both needles into the baron's neck and Pollisk drops.
Ahn-Lee: "Good evening, mercenaries!" Chalker: "A night's sleep will do you good. There's no gold for you tonight." The other mercs in the room, who were being interviewed by Pollisk, seem stunned, and Chalker sees that their brains were all being reorganized. Shawna checks the horse which bears Pollisk's livery. There is no sign of the two mages Sybonne had seen.