Sidrea09a - Hidden Games, Part 1

For the first time in months since the companions' escape from the fall of the Monastery-College of Atroa they felt at peace. The once cursed Ghostwoods now bloomed forth with the myriad shades of spring green. The mornings are filled with the beautiful songs of the dryads and the heroes spent many nights among giggling pixies next to a campfire.

Yet, even as the companions regain their strength from the ravages of yuan-ti poison and their minds absorb the lore of the ancient grey elves, it occured to them that soon they would need to move on.

For war and hatred yet rage outside the bounds of Ghostwoods – and there is still a long road ahead of them. Amidst the farewells from Larkel, the dryads, the nymphs, the treants, and the pixies, our heroes departed from the forest toward Jharuel.

Jharuel is situated at the head waters of the mighty river Arlog. Many streams, fed by the snow atop the Pindaer Mountains, join here to form the river. As the terrain around here is steep, the streams form many water falls. Since ancient times men, gnomes, and dwarves have built mills here to harness the power of the waterfalls.

Eventually, many of these mills were collected together to form the Imperial Armory, where countless weapons and armors are produced. Acknowledging the power inherent in control of the armory, Jharuel is administered directly by an appointed representative of the emperor, instead of being held by a noble as a fief.

Today, in the middle of the civil war, the city is ruled by its mayor, Lord Cormur, in loose alliance with the Arch-duke Iorlas. It also turned out that Lord Cormur is the one whom Berek is suppose to deliver a message to – the dying message from the dwarf Almir Stonebeard.

As the companions entered the city, they heard the announcement from the town crier that a curfew is now imposed on the city from 10th night-bell to 5th day-bell. Apparently the countess of Gwaeden, Areth, will soon be arriving in town. The countess is on her way to Arthadan, where she will marry the ducal heir – Kailimos.

Meanwhile, Haeythir’s sharp elven eyes caught a poster on the bill-board with the likeliness of the companions sketched up it. Apparently, the lawmen from Averdale had been here, and had put up wanted signs for the companions, with a hefty award of 5,000gp to anyone whose information leads to the apprehension or death of the companions.

Fearful of being discovered, the companions disguised themselves and made straight for the mayor’s office.

At the mayor’s office, they first met Lord Cormur, who was grave when he heard about the death of Almir Stonebeard. Then, the companions were introduced to Lord Cormur’s adviser, who is none other than Embar Darokar – the Atroan contact that the companions are supposed to meet (see Sidrea01).

Embar Darokar is an elderly man who is both an alumnus of the Atroan school and the spymaster for the arch-duke Iorlas. He told the companions that somehow the enemies had realized that the Atroans intend to regroup at the Delshan Oracle. Not long ago, the oracle was attacked by the cultists of Merrshaulk and destroyed. The few surviving Atroans had retreated to Arthadan.

[Berek realized belatedly that he had given this information to the Merrshaulk cultists under torture...]

Embar has been waiting for the companions for some time now, and it is a stroke of fortune for him to encounter the companions in Jharuel. Embar is here to arrange the security of the countess. Embar suggests that the companions travel with him to Arthadan by river - it will be faster - enabling them to bypass the various toll gates of the local nobles along the river.

When the companions agreed, Embar also asked if they would help him with security. For the companions clearly have capabilities which is beyond his resources, and it would help a great deal if they were willing to aid him. Embar is willing to pay the companions each 5,000gp, with 1,000gp upfront, if the companions agree.

After some discussion, the companions agreed, Embar gave them the gold, offered them free lodging at the Golden Lion Inn (one of the best inns in the city), and told them that they are invited to the dinner reception for the countess three days from now. A page will be sent to deliver the invitations to the companions, and the party should probably buy something suitable to wear.

In the three days before the reception, the companions took the opportunity to do some shopping in the city, and crafted some magic items. In addition, the party also purchased suitable clothes for the dinner reception.

The night came and following the directions in the invitation, the companions arrived at a private pier, where they were led to a luxurious yacht upon which the reception is held.

On the yacht, the companions are introduced to Alaurenz, who shared their cabin. Alaurenz is apparently a young man from a minor noble family in Arthadan and the assistant to Embar Darokar.

During the first part of the reception, when the companions mingled with the guests, Haeythir overheard a few bits of gossip – including the grisly murder of some prostitutes in the city and the rumored sighting of a dragon. Zerkestor also overheard some speculations about Count Ben-Edara (the ruler of northern Rondor) recruiting hobgoblin mercenaries becaue he is growing weaker as well as a fire in the city last night that burnt a tavern to the ground.

Finally, there was a discussion on the fact that elven slaves have flooded the market. Edric Farlane, who is the administrator of the Imperial Armory, interjected that he believes the empire had been too soft on the elves. Zook Procket, a well dressed gnome and adviser of the countess, disagreed with Edric, saying that family and kin should not be split apart and sold, even if they are elves.

Although the companions did nothing at the time, Haeythir was clearly unhappy with the words of Edric Farlane.

Meanwhile, So’yoko and Dalrick, suspecting that there might be poison slipped in among the food, went to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the ill-behaved pair was caught tasting the various dishes. The greatly annoyed chef then threw out the two trespassers.

At the last, the countess appeared; Countess Areth of Gwaeden looks to be a young woman in her early twenties with dark red hair who looked resplendent in her bejeweled gown.

Shortly after the countess’s appearance, dinner was served. The companions were seated at a table with Alaurenz, served by a comely courtesan named Isidora. The food was like nothing the party has ever tasted: the dishes were exquisite and tasted marvelous. Over dinner, some companions caught Alaurenz staring at the table where the countess sat.

Thinking that Alaurenz was staring at the beautiful courtesan at the main table, Isidora then mentioned that the courtesan at the high table is the famous Morgiana – perhaps the best dancer in the Jharuel. Shortly, as desserts and savors were brought out, the courtesans retired – only to reappear in their dance costumes.

The dance was a magnificent affair with the dancers twirling their semi-transparent silk scarves in the air. As the scarves flowed in the air like wisps of cloud, the gorgeous dancer moved gracefully to the rhythm. Amidst them all is Morgiana – whose dance moves looked beautiful, perfect and effortless. The entire performance was further enhanced with magical effects that gave it an ethereal feel.

The gathered guests applauded after the performance and the countess was so impressed that she gave one of her rings to Morgiana. Then, the countess pleaded fatigue from her long journey prior and thanked everyone for making her feel welcome in Jharuel. She then retired to her quarters.

As the guests dispersed, the companions wandered around, some of them went forward, where Embar Darokar was speaking with Alaurenz. Then suddenly there was a woman’s scream from the upstair suite where the countess was staying.

So’yoko turned around – only to find one of the countess’s bodyguards bearing down on him. What ensued was a fight between the countess’s bodyguards and the companions. There were four of these bodyguards: two of them seem to be trying to kill Embar Darokar, while the other two seem to be after the countess.

The companions managed to defeat the bodyguards and save the lives of the countess and Embar Darokar. Three of the bodyguards were dead, but the last escaped by jumping overboard. Dalrick was grievously hurt and Berek was paralyzed for a while. Looking over the bodies after the fight, the companions realize that the these probably weren’t the real bodyguards, as their remains reveal them to be some sort of shapeshifters.

Near the end of the fight, Haeythir was at the rear of the ship and thought he saw some movement and heard a splash. Look overboard, he found the submerged body of the courtesan Morgiana. Apparently Morgiana had been killed and dumped overboard. The long silk scarf from her dance costume, however, was tangled on the railings of the ship, and her body was dragged along the ship's wake.

Haeythir thought he saw someone moving away from the rear of the ship, but found no one.

When the companions reported back to Embar, he was quite upset that Morgiana is dead. Taking the companions aside, Embar revealed that Morgiana was one of his agents, who had been sent to Jharuel sixteen months ago. Over dinner, Morgiana had whispered to him that she had something urgent to tell him and that they need to meet afterward.

Now someone had killed Morgiana and it is important that the murderer be found to determine whether Morgiana had been killed to keep her silent, and if so, what was she going to say?

Embar Darokar realizes that given the assassinations tonight, he will have his hands full trying to re-arrange all the security around the countess and to keep the wedding on schedule. He asks the companions to look into the murder of Morgiana and find her murderer.

The companions examine the body and found that it was bloodless – someone had killed Morgiana with his or her bare hands. The companions tried to interview most of the guests, the crew members, and even the kitchen staff on-board, but no one seemed to have seen anything and no one else could be detected as another shapeshifter.

[Haeythir took the opportunity to exact a bit of justice on Edric Farlane by putting a geas on him to free all of his elven slaves.]

The companions also found a slip of paper with some cryptic writing on the body – it’s not clear what the writing meant.

As soon as the yacht reached shore, the companions went to Morgiana’s lodge-house. There they found that Morgiana’s room had already been ransacked. However, among the contents, they found stacks of letters from Morgiana’s admirers, including several ardent letters from Edric Farlane.

The companions also discovered Morgiana’s account books, where she kept detail accounts of her income and expenses. It seems that she frequently visits three places: the Silver Swan (a salon / spa), the Filigree (an expensive restaurant), and the Chessboard (an upscale inn).

While at Morgiana’s residence, the companions also interviewed Morgiana’s housemates – the courtesan named Isidora (who had served the party dinner) and a wild-elf dancer named Lailandra. The party found that courtesans sell their company and their performances but not their favors. Edric Farlane apparently had been after Morgiana for some time now, but Morgiana dislikes him and has managed to keep him at an arm’s length.

Isidora also recall seeing Morgiana with a tall, dark-skinned woman playing chess at the Chessboard Inn. This is strange, as Morgiana is not known to take female clients.

At dawn, Zerkestor called upon the power of his god and spoke with the spirit of Morgiana. Apparently, Morgiana did not see who killed her. However, Morgiana’s spirit did reveal that the cryptic writing she had is a combination of chess moves that will open a secret door. Morgiana also mentioned that she was going to tell Embar Darokar that the countess’s security had been infiltrated. Finally, the name of the dark skinned woman is Vera.

After delivering the body to Embar Darokar and receiving a writ indicating that they have the authority to investigate this murder, the companions decide to proceed to the Chessboard Inn to see what they can discover.

The Chessboard Inn turned out to be a very upscale inn with chess décor throughout. The companions talk to a few employees of the inn, but mostly confirmed what they knew already. Haeythir ended up playing chess with a professional player at the inn and found out that Morgiana was an excellent chess player and frequently played with her clients at the inn.

The professional player also indicated that he didn’t know anyone by the name of Vera. Haeythir bought a book on how to play chess form the player, and it turned out that the moves Morgiana indicated were known as a “Fool’s Mate” – something that even the most amateurish chess players would avoid.

The companions searched through quite a few places in the inn, trying out the “Fool’s Mate” on many chessboards but did not find any secret door.

As the companions exit the inn, however, Haeythir’s sharp eyes caught the professional chess player whom he had played chess with speaking with a tall, dark-skinned woman. When the two realized that Haeythir had seen them, the dark-skinned woman took off running.

Eventually, the companions managed to chase down the dark-skinned woman. Haeythir cast Charm Person on the woman and it did wonders for her attitude toward the companions.

The dark-skinned woman did turn out to be Vera, who was helping Morgiana. Vera revealed that the Chessboard Inn is one of the fronts for the thieves’ guild in Jharuel. For some reason Morgiana wanted to break into the private room of the Chessboard Inn and sought Vera's help.

Vera is a freelancer thief (who doesn’t particularly like the thieves’ guild) and managed to steal a key from the thieves guild. Vera then made a mold of the key and returned original. This key opens the doors to the private rooms of the Chessboard Inn. Vera made a copy of the key for Morgiana.

Something happened last night that caused uproar in the thieves’ guild. Vera suspects that it might be something Morgiana did, but wasn’t sure. Then her contact (the man whom Haeythir ended up playing chess with) told her that there were people looking for her, Vera figures that her game is up and tried to run-away.

Vera still possesses the mold she used to make the key for Morgiana. If the companions wish it, she could make another copy of the key for them.

It seems that the obvious next step for the companions is to break into the private room of the Chessboard Inn and discover what Morgiana had found for themselves…