Sapphire:Sessions:20150314

Change Time 26, Deerhome 'not a valley yet' Meadows. Taking the morning's events in stride, Baron Browning invites Chalker, Shawna, and Cliff Tran in for brunch. The guests are escorted to a sitting room, and bread and cheese are brought.

Chalker (to the Baron): "Are you part of the Talisman Group?"
Browning: "No, but I knew of them. They paid a lot of taxes."
Chalker: "You were in the way of what they had in mind."
Browning (staring at Cliff): "He passes through here every so often... gadfly, always meddling... saying things like 'building a house in the wrong place'... 'disturbing the animals...'"
Chalker: "But is he right?"
Browning: "About half the time. I just don't like you, Cliff Tran."
Chalker: "The die is cast. We can't rewind the day."
Chalker: "The history between my family and the Trans... is a long story."
Chalker: "The past is the past. You shouldn't let petty things from the past affect today. The sins of the father should not reflect on the son."
Browning: "You know who 'his lord' is, then. I met Jax once."
Chalker (to Cliff): "Next time you talk to your lord, tell him I'm still waiting."
Cliff: "Do what you're inclined to do -- see who was associated with the ones who ran. That will answer your questions regarding the Talisman Group."
Chalker: "I'm going to talk to Kevin Boyd about the Talisman Group. I'm curious as to why they're holding those properties."
Shawna: "Oh, it seems obvious to me. Run-down places in the slums... they pay their low taxes, and the Empire never looks into either the properties or their secret activities there."

Baron Browning's heir is his fifteen-year-old son. He has six children in all.

Chalker: "Do you know why they would try to take you out?"
Browning: "Not yet. Two of my children are away at court."
Chalker: "But wiping you out would not benefit Blankenship."
Browning: "The Duke and the Count would determine who inherited my title and lands."
Shawna: "Does your family have any heirlooms considered 'holy' or such?"
Browning: "No."
Chalker: "Would you give us a tour of your manor?"

Chalker checks the Baron's Aura: He has a connection to the land that not all nobles have. He is a decent man who tries to do right. He metes out justice as he sees fit, but he is not rigid. He is loyal to the Calventine Empire. He is somewhere between 35 and 45 years of age.

The tour begins in the newer part of the manor. The Baron does not keep a mage on his household staff, but he does bring out an object that detects magic.

Not long after, the tour reaches the library, which is in an older part of the manor. The door is locked, but it opens at the Baron's touch. There are no windows, and servants quickly move in to light the lamps. On display are the Brownings' original writ of nobility and their original family crest.

Shawna draws Chalker's attention to an old bronze sword displayed in a locked case. Chalker can tell that it is mostly copper, somehow tempered to be stronger than normal, and is laced with a hint of another metal (the metals are separate, not alloyed).

Shawna asks the Baron, "May I examine it?" After thinking it over for several seconds, Browning takes a key, unlocks the case, and with a flourish presents the sword to her. Shawna raises the sword in front of her, infuses it with a touch of mana, and it begins to glow. She relates that the sword was crafted by a highly-respected Elven smith some 1300 years ago. "Your family must have been more illustrious than you let on. How did this sword come into your family?" Before Browning can answer, Cliff says, "The sword would have been a coup to the conspirators."

Cliff goes on, pointing out a jeweled cuff, "This bracelet over here carries a slice of Twilight. Part of the essence of Jax enlivens this twilight crystal set within it. Whoever it was given to was high in the favor of my lord." The Baron looks perplexed and somewhat embarrassed as he tells them that the bracelet had belonged to his six-times-great-grandmother, given to her by a wealthy merchant who she had taken as a lover. Their relationship had evidently scandalized the rest of the family. Shawna smiles. "She must have been an outstanding beauty. I suspect the 'merchant' was Jax himself."

Chalker senses immense power in the bracelet, and Shawna nudges him, "You keep telling Cliff to take Jax a message. Well, now you could tell him yourself!" Addressing the bracelet, Chalker asks, "Where are my communication devices?" Suddenly Jax, god of Twilight, steps into the room.

Chalker: "You've been ignoring me!"
Jax: "I've been busy. You should have your devices in a couple of months. ... It was a phenomenal woman who received that bracelet."
Chalker: "That must be why you sent Cliff to fetch us."
Jax: "I put things in motion; I don't micromanage." With a bow to Shawna, Jax departs.