Sapphire:Sessions:20140927

Countess Bastress, possessed by a malign spirit, lies unconscious in the breakfast room. Some guards carry in the priest of Dar, who they found barely alive. He has massive bruises, cracked ribs, and burst blood vessels. By the priest's weakened aura, Chalker judges that he is hanging on to life by sheer willpower.

So that his guards will obey the outsiders, Count Bastress throws a signet ring to Chalker and another to Shawna.

Searching for Prewin's nanny, Shawna finds her unconscious in the nursery. Another woman is in the room looking out the window. She turns and hesitates at the sight of Shawna's drawn sword. After dealing with the possessing spirit, Shawna peers out the window. A dozen spirits loiter at the wood's edge, and a flock of black birds is perched in the trees. Three saddled horses, wearing Bastress's colors, stand off to the side. Shawna rouses the nanny and sends the two women to the breakfast room for medical treatment. She locates the head of the ghostly guards, Jason Branvold, who explains that the spirits of those who have had grievances against the Bastress family often show up during the Days of the Spirits. Shawna sends him and his squad to drive the spirits away.

Chalker calls for a basin of water and a soft towel and begins to gently dab the Countess's face. She opens her eyes, and at first seems normal and rational, noting that her husband hit her. Chalker: "Can I speak to the one possessing you?" Countess: "Where's the elf? Oh, she's gone to meddle elsewhere." The countess denies being possessed, but under Chalker's persistent questioning the spirit grudgingly gives her name, Anna Kell. Chalker: "I was sent here." Kell: "So was I." Chalker: "Why do you risk the wrath of two of the First Chosen?" Anna: "You don't understand what the Days of the Spirit represent." Chalker: "What is your grievance?" Anna: "That is for me to keep and cherish. This family has done me a disservice."

Count Bastress doesn't recognize the name Anna Kell. According to the records, she died in the year 2350. She sneers, "The ones I'm working with have several contingency plans." She claims that "at the right time and place" she could possess Chalker. A spirit had been assigned to each person in the manor, but there was more resistance than expected. Chalker: "It's because I told Dar you were coming." Anna: "You surprise me. You didn't strike me as being so faithful to the First Chosen."

Since the Countess awakened, Trace has noticed that the mana flow is changing, as though a powerful magic artifact were charing up. He alerts Chalker to this.

Chalker tries to look at Anna's aura but is blocked. Dabbing the Countess's face again, he says, "You're looking warm." Anna: "I won't hurt the Countess."

Chalker notices around the Countess's neck a gold chain and a silver chain. He extends his hand and lifts the chains and gets a heavy electrical shock. Anna: "Don't be a naughty man." This time Chalker uses his metal power, abruptly snatching the chains upward. The chains bite into the Countess's skin, drawing blood. A small black pebble dangles from the gold chain, while the silver one is decorated with a small cone-shaped silver object. Neither chain has a clasp.

Quickly and alertly, Rory pushes Thana out of the room. Chalker barely resists a spell. Trace can see that the black pebble is a powerful magic item; it is the artifact he had sensed earlier.

From the chain a bolt of lightning flashes at Chalker, who dodges it. Chalker pulls the chains off of the Countess and flips them to Trace, who hooks them around the end of his staff and grounds them, which creates a high-mana area around him. Rory, pushing Thana on out into the hallway, glances over his shoulder, sees two hostile spirits, and yells "Trouble! Can you see them?" "Yes!" replies Thana.