Sapphire:Sessions:20170311

Chalker, grasping Baron Pollisk's sword by the hilt, feels a static charge but doesn't see electricity or sparks. He sheathes the sword in its scabbard and straps it to his back. To the ten mercs whose brains had been tampered with, Chalker says, "You're hired. Come with me." (To Branamin, who's in the guise of a mercenary, he says, "I already hired you. Come on.") He explains to the guild admin, "Some evil magic has been performed. I'm taking them to one of the temples." The admin asks Shawna, "Should I report this?" Shawna replies, "I wouldn't."

Chalker instructs Ahn-Lee to hire a carriage and take the baron to Chalker's house in Old Town.

Chalker marches the mercs to a local clinic/shrine of Zeph. He introduces himself to the priestess, takes her by the arm, and explains, "Their brains have been altered and they need to be healed. It is old magic. Last time I talked to Our Lady, she was kind but firm about me talking to her." Priestess: "I understand, I believe, what you are referring to." Chalker: "She knows. My Lady understands. Charge all expenses to the Mercenary Guild."

Chalker, Shawna, and Branamin hire a carriage to take them to Old Town. (Branamin impresses the driver by "jumping"/levitating to the top of the coach.) Jeeves shows them to an interior room where Ahn-Lee has tied Baron Pollisk to a chair. Chalker has Jeeves wake Sybonne. He "hooks" the Baron's sword and shuts it in another room. Ahn-Lee leaves to take care of other business. Branamin pours wine for himself and Shawna.

Chalker puts his bracer around the Baron's neck and looks inside his head. Many brain cells are larger and their interactions "more firm [sic]" and more efficient. Areas that Chalker has come to associate with psionics are activated. There is no dark mithril, and there are no structures to account for his control over others. His aura is very strong; he has several psi abilities including telekinesis, very low Magery, and a stronger version of certain aspects Chalker had previously seen in Terry Coleson and Barry. The Baron has an intense bond to some item; Chalker figures it's the sword.

Chalker asks Sybonne to find the courier the Baron had said earlier he was sending to his patron. Chalker detects a powerful force flowing through the sword and into Sybonne; she stiffens, then jerks backward and tumbles to the floor. Branamin immediately tends to her; she has a great deal of bruising to her body, and her closed eyes are flicking back and forth.

Chalker checks auras; Sybonne's is normal for her, while the Baron's bond with the sword has gotten even stronger. Chalker identifies a 'signature' and an open psychic link to what he thinks of as a "master mind-master" in a part of town mostly occupied by well-to-do merchants and lesser nobility. Shawna traces the link to the mansion of Baron Dewith.

Branamin conjures a swarm of flies to locate a Wizard's Eye or other spy device, but finds none.

Chalker revives Sybonne, who says she had been "in the loop of a nightmare" until Branamin brought her out of it. She saw a courier from the Messengers Guild approaching a certain mansion, then "something grabbed my mind and I was tortured for information." Chalker: "Get a long sharp knife and if the baron stirs, stab him." Shawna intervenes, saying Sybonne needs to rest and recover, so Chalker brings in his guard captain and gives him similar orders; "Pay attention and don't hesitate."

Branamin casts his version of Scryguard. Shawna sends through the sword the impression that Pollisk is trying to wake up. Chalker extends his metal sense through the open link; he detects high-grade steel, a few ounces of dark mithril, and a man with very strong will. Chalker hooks solidly onto the steel. They head out toward Dewith's mansion.

From a block away they see flames erupt from Baron Dewith's mansion. Shawna: "Uh-oh." Branamin tries to disbelieve the flames, but they're still there; he even smells smoke. Shawna invokes the protection of nature and rushes into the house. Branamin shouts "I'm sorry!" and casts a spell that drenches her with water. Shawna orders the servants to get out; "Don't stop to collect things, save your lives!" Branamin gathers and shapes water from several ornamental ponds, raising it over the roof and then lowering it like a thick flame-smothering blanket. Once the fire is out, Branamin shifts into owl form and flies away.

Chalker senses the blade upstairs. He climbs up the outside wall to a window; he sees no one at first, but he knows the blade is in there. As he climbs in, Shawna comes through the door at the same time. On the floor is the charred body woman, consumed by fire from within, but somehow still breathing. On the bed is the charred corpse of a man impaled with a sword; another, ornate sword is at his hip, expensive rings on his fingers.

Shawna's link is to the woman, but something's not right... there is someone else. Shawna: "If you value your soul, where is the other?" Woman: "No, no, it can't be..." Shawna: "Who betrayed you?" Woman: "No, she didn't betray me --" and the woman dies.

Chalker: "Whoever is doing it is flying north." Through the sword he hears a curse, then "Enough of this!" Chalker dodges a very powerful mind spell thrown at him through the link. Another curse, and an even more powerful spell which Chalker again avoids. He hooks onto the other woman's rings and pulls her straight down. After struggling for several seconds, some force rips the rings off her fingers and flings them away, but Chalker throws them back against her body. In great pain, the woman tries to communicate telepathically with Chalker; he mentally flips the bird.

Shawna grabs Chalker and flies out the window, following the link. Chalker is impeding the woman enough that they are gaining on her quickly. Suddenly the sword on Chalker's back is yanked from its sheath, but he reacts quickly enough to grab it; a strong stun passes from the hilt through his body.

It is a clear night with little moonlight. From 200' up Branamin sees the flying woman descend toward a farm three miles north of Sapphire and crash through a farmhouse window. Branamin lands and drops the shapeshift spell. Shawna and Chalker follow the woman through the window. The woman is sprawled on the floor, unconscious, bruised, breathing shallowly. Chalker removes from around her neck a dark mithril pendant in the shape of a bell, takes the rings off her body, then picks her up and carries her outside. Shawna stacks 10sp on the table to pay for the damage.

Chalker checks the woman's aura. She has an enhanced brain and very strong mind powers. She is linked to the sword, the bell, and three other items. There is no demonic taint. She is "a classic megalomaniac."

Woman: "May we talk?" Chalker: "Who are you?" "Countess Constantine Harow." "What do you want?" "I want to survive, obviously. Improve my position within the empire." "Have you always had this power?" "Most of my life, since my first marriage, before Count Harow decided I should marry him." "How long have you been this powerful?" "Ever since I first visited Baroness Sylan Giles. Something happened to me while I was touring her lands." Branamin: "Were you given something?" "The bell. It helps me focus."

Chalker: "You're the Baron's patron." Harow: "Yes." Chalker: "Who's your patron?" Branamin: "When will you tell the truth?" Harow: "Baroness Giles wasn't my patron. She helped me. No one had helped me since I killed my husband. He was a bad man. He didn't have powers like her -- or at least, they didn't show."

Chalker: "Are you connected to anyone besides the Baron?" Harow: "Eidolon -- one of the mages I work with. He has potential but not my type of power. I didn't think mages could defend against this.... Baron Pollisk made a mistake and I didn't react properly." Chalker: "Did you start the fire?" Harow: "I probably did." Chalker: "Why did you crash here?" Harow: "I ran out of strength." Branamin: "What did you plan for Pollisk?" Harow: "I believe he [indicating Chalker] has an item that would be of great use to me. It was on the finger of a dwarf... I figured you killed him and took it."

Chalker: "Break your link to the bell." A few moments later, Harow says, "It's gone. I almost couldn't do it." Chalker verifies this with his aura sight.