Sapphire:Sessions:20171021
Jimmy Dorsey is secured for the night. Next morning, Chalker has Jeeves send for Sybonne (who still lives at the manor) to join him and Shawna for breakfast. Chalker and Shawna discuss how to deal with the Dorseys' "gift". Shawna will investigate Daniel's claim that "an elven ruler" had given them their "family magic." Chalker will talk with Cor.
Chalker asks Sybonne if it's possible to tell whether someone is performing a Divination on him. He is concerned that a seer knew Jimmy's abductor was in Gateway. Sybonne comments that Shawna "clouds events about her." She agrees to take a look at Jimmy Dorsey. She assures Chalker that in six more days she will make her first attempt to "read" the black sword.
Shawna visits Lady Thire. It is quite evident that Lady Thire is very busy with her various investigations. The two talk over a cup of tea. Lady Thire confirms Shawna's thought that no elven ruler or wizard has ever granted psi powers, though Lady Thire suggests that such powers might be "awoken" by a mage.
Chalker enters the temple of Cor. A priest approaches him and bids him stand before the altar to make his prayers; Chalker replies, "I prefer to be walking -- it makes me a moving target." Chalker avers that Jimmy Dorsey is inherently evil, but Chalker isn't sure what Jimmy's punishment should be, or whether Chalker is qualified to make that judgment. He asks how the Dorseys acquired their "gifts" and if Cor would take them away. Speaking through the priest, Cor says that the Dorseys got their gifts "the same way you acquired yours," and that mages who do wrong are imprisoned and possibly executed.
Then Chalker goes to his "second least favorite place," the temple of Mensep. "I know you know what's going on. I don't know what to do. Kill off an entire family line, or rely on the government or the royal courts (which can be bribed) to handle it." In his circuits he is joined by a young priestess. Chalker: "I am conflicted, not disturbed... I will do my duty as I understand it." The response is, "I don't want a seat at this particular table;' that is, Mensep will not tell Chalker what to do. Nonetheless, Chalker offers thanks for "helping clear my mind."
Chalker writes a note in the journey book inviting the group to join him for lunch at the Boar's Head. A courier brings him a note from Ahn-Lee; he's going out of town across the bay on a fast boat and should return in three or four days.
After a nice meal, Chalker and Shawna go through the portal to Gateway and stroll into Dorsey's store. Daniel notices them right away, but instead of rushing over, he takes several minutes to conclude a conversation with two young women. Then he approaches with an attitude of forced cheeriness. Chalker asks him, "Could you arrange a meeting with your father?" and Daniel's aura evinces even higher levels of agitation and anxiety.
Diane, the soi-disant protector of the Dorseys, arrives, probably (once again) in response to Daniel's panic. "Do the Kelloggs work for you?" she demands. Jimmy went missing the night before, and one of the few clues left behind was a cryptic note.
Diane escorts Shawna and Chalker to the stately home of Jedidiah Dorsey. He is a distinguished-looking man with steel-gray hair and brown eyes with a calculating glint in them. He has telekinesis, high empathy, and a moderate level of the "family magic" (mental link/telepathy). Chalker gets directly to the point: crenolin. Jedidiah knows of it, adding that it is an addictive drug. Chalker sketches out the Taybor Cove story and how Jimmy's hired thugs had enslaved the people of the village and forced them to harvest the monster fish (the bladders of which are a primary ingredient of crenolin). They had killed two villagers who proved resistant to their psi powers. Jedidiah claims that Jimmy had gone against his will in continuing to manufacture and use crenolin. On behalf of the village, Chalker insists on restitution -- 5g apiece for the dead villagers, and 20s for the village as a whole. Jedidiah makes the payment. Then he offers Chalker and Shawna 2g/day to search for his missing son Jimmy. It also comes out that Jedidiah has a buyer for any and all Venettian and Xanthypian artifacts he comes across. The buyer is located in Freehold Destry, about 3 hours' travel north of Gateway.
Chalker says wants to buy something, so Diane takes him and Shawna back to Daniel's store. He picks up a sack made of black silk and pulls it over his head to verify that he can't see through the material. Satisfied, he pays 3s.
Next, he wants three riding horses. Chalker pops the silk bag over Diane's head and sets her on his horse in front of him; Shawna rides another and leads the third. After losing their followers, they hitch the horses in a secluded spot and go through the portal to Sapphire. Chalker calls for a carriage, and soon they are at Envoy Manor. He removes the bag from Diane's head and escorts her to the bedroom where Jimmy is sleeping. Chalker: "You're our witness that we found him."
Returning to Gateway, Chalker and Shawna deliver Jimmy to Jedidiah. As agreed, Jedidiah pays 2g apiece, plus another gold piece as a "speed bonus." Chalker asks to meet Thomas, the eldest son, who he reads as greedy, and as powerful psionically as his father. Chalker: "I wanted to see if the brotherly love went both ways."
Shawna and Chalker ride toward the Golden Rainbow tavern. At a certain point Shawna feels strongly that they should go to the left instead of the right and decides to "follow her luck." They ride up to a three-story building. The first level contains various shops, including a jewelry seller and some food vendors. An outside stairway goes up to the third floor. The place is busy, with shoppers and tradespeople moving about. On the front steps sits a young woman, her face buried in her hands, sobbing.
The crying woman, Tilly Bellini, sobs out a very disjointed tale, but it seems her fiancé Todd, influenced by a wandering mage named Randle Ajello, had acquired a sparkly black sword and has gone off with his friends Nolly and Hanno to "put the old king back into power." She thinks they are currently at the Gateway Travel Inn near the southern gate.
At the inn it's not hard to locate Todd's room. There are two big brutes at the door; one of them asks, "Have you come to join the lord's retinue?" Shawna and Chalker enter the room and Shawna casts Flash, temporarily blinding most of the men. Chalker tries to hook Todd's sword, but his TK slides right off. Shawna unbuckles Todd's sword belt, but then is compelled to place the sheathed sword in Todd's hand. She removes the sword from its sheath and attempts to break it to no avail. She prays to Yasseph and Santash, and is given to know that the sword is quite ancient and was blessed millenia ago by Aakbarath. Once the sword is destroyed, Todd and the others regain their senses. Learning that there were several other "sparkly" weapons, Shawna and Chalker return to the building where they'd met Tilly.
In a shop with the strange name Crushed Cradle are several tough-looking, well-armed men and women. The proprietor at the back of the shop, however, is unarmed. The entire back wall is hung with evil magic weapons. The aura of the place is anti-justice and in favor of pain and vengeance. Chalker hooks a mace, which feels "like a greased pig" in his telekinetic grasp, and follows Shawna to Temple Row. They go straight to the temple of Santash, quickly recruit six armed and armored priests and a higher-ranking priest, and return to the shop.
Chalker TKs a black hammer and throws it at the proprietor (though the hammer "told" him to throw it at one of the priests). The proprietor (P) dodges and the hammer smashes a hole in the wall before returning to Chalker's hand. Shawna fast-draws her sword and swings at P, who dodges again.
Shawna strikes P's shoulder, a mortal wound. P staggers back against the wall; he opens his hand and a morningstar smacks into his palm. Chalker throws the hammer, which blows right through P's torso and back to Chalker's hand. P, screaming, drops the morningstar. Evil magic shimmers in the air, and the priest informs them that the weapons have compelled every living thing within a quarter-mile to come and save them (the weapons).
Shawna decapitates P. One of the fighting priests appears to be wavering, succumbing to the compulsion. Chalker dinks him on the head.
The priest links hands with Shawna and Chalker, and the warrior priests fall unconscious. The evil weapons sparkle, and as the first of the summoned people reaches the front door, all the evil weapons disintegrate. Shawna feels momentarily ill, and Chalker shakes off vertigo.
The evil/vengeance effects in the shop are purified. Chalker gathers up all the cash he can find and stuffs it into his black silk bag. He also takes a pouch containing severed fingers and several other containers of spell components, figuring on giving them to Azzhik. Shawna identifies their other opponents as mercenaries from the southern part of the Troubled Lands.
Chalker speaks to the landlord, informing him "a space just became available." The renter had given the name Sander and had moved in a little over a month ago. Originally the shop had sold knickknacks, but two weeks ago the weapons had shown up.
Chalker writes, Justice has been served; justice has been done. -- Rice and Coco
Chalker and Shawna return to Sapphire, where it is early evening. Chalker will set up a pearl broker in Taybor Cove. He thinks about Freehold Destry and realizes he has been there before.