A Traitor Among Us?
1/23/2000
Prelude
At Long Lake
Well now, that was interestingNear Ansalea
Tonight my liege?
Yes, yes, tonight, by all means tonight!Somewhere
Hey, is that a door?Sign of Crossed Mugs
Harkonen swore a sacred oath, the King's law to uphold
and he will do that very thing, as long as you've got gold.
The law you see, is just a tool, a way to serve his end,
and if the truth will not serve him, then you just watch it bend.
He went away for just two weeks, years later he returned,
while he was gone, some stupid rules La-dy Elsbeth had spurned.
She'd helped the town, the temple too and things were going great,
Harkonen checked the written logs, the entries sealed her fate.
She had been kind, she had been just, but that was not the rule,
Harkonen turned his back on her and proved himself the fool.
Summary of the Adventure
The investigation into the attack on Lady Elsbeth continues, with Harkonen using a charm to let him speak with the dead soldier. The soldier is less than helpful, revealing only that he was following the orders of a member of the priesthood. He didn't know the man, but he was clearly a priest and he said that killing Elsbeth was the will of Lorial. Harkonen promised to raise him if he ever had the ability to do so.
Androth visited the famed Orcs of the Blue Water, bringing them tomes and supplies to help free them, and the lovely Larissa, from their curse. He visits overnight, then returns to find that Malz has invited another houseguest. Losing his patience, he kicks the trio out to find their own breakfast.
Rumors of the companies intentions to depose the Baron and replace him with Cedric as their puppet reached the company and they visited Pendergrast to set things right. They also assured everyone they spoke with that they had no evil designs on either the Baron or Harkonen. A second rumor had begun that they intended to either oust Harkonen or build a new temple and put Lady Elsbeth in charge.
Jameson finally managed to open the spellbook the company had recovered and they studied it intently. While the wizards did that, Calidon trained his troops and Jameson continued spying on Marquis Karakius and his Lady.
Jameson thought he finally had something when the Lady returned to her tent alone and then left wearing a heavy cloak moments later. She went immediately to Calidon's home. Fearing foul play, Jameson ran to find the rest of the group and bring them back to save Calidon.
For his part, Calidon submitted to the questions Berakor asked him willingly, hoping to help the justicar in his investigation of strange doings at the temple. A knock at the door brought word that the others had arrived. Berakor asked Calidon to keep their meeting a secret and to hide him from the others to prevent tainting the investigation and Calidon agreed.
When the group asked Calidon about the Lady there was some confusion, but they quickly realized that whoever had left the Marquis' tent had arrived at Calidon's in the guise of a man. Checking his hiding place, they found that he was gone.
This entire incident was reported to Harkonen, who dismissed the possibility of a “secret” investigation and determined to question the Lady. He went to the Marquis' tent and, despite the strident objections of the Marquis, arrested her, and confiscated some of her belongings.
During the questioning she was made to remove her magic items, at least some of which seemed to have been enhancing her beauty. A rather heated and confused dialogue followed and in the end, no one was happy with the outcome. It seemed clear that Jameson had seen someone go from the Marquis' tent to Calidon's door, but there was no hard evidence that it was the Lady.
After many insults and a lot of arguing, Calidon suggested that perhaps their true enemy had put them at odds as part of his plan. While the group assembled in the temple discussed that, the alarm bell sounded.
The town was under attack!
In Character Moment(s) of the Night
Lady: May I have a dagger? I might as well slit my own throat since my death seems inevitable
Harkonen: I would take that as an admission of guilt.Cedric (about the coup): Yes, I've heard
Androth: It's not a bad planAndroth: Let's not be too hasty with the word “friend”
Jameson: Never cast a fireball into the wind
Soldier: Where does Lady Elsbeth fit?
Harkonen: For the next two days she fits immediately (obvious struggle for a word) lower than me.
Player Moment(s) of the Night
Steve (to Tom): You can't even mock people!
John: Who'd want to join your temple?
Joe: Anal retentive psychopaths looking for a bit of structure in their livesJoe: I'm just waitin' to say: “Send in the orphans; arrows cost money!”
The Spoils
None
Experience Summary
Base experience for this adventure computed as:
Accomplishments Realization of some town-oriented goals and growth 15,000 Roleplaying 20,000 Individual Awards and Totals
All previous totals have been verified by adding up all previous points awarded, regardless of published totals. Any questions should be brought to my attention before the next session or these will be DT (Deemed True)
Player Adventure Bonuses, penalties and what not Total Andivarai Shea 0 Did not play 41,200 Androth 9,500 Personal Satisfaction +2,000
Removal of freeloaders +500240,450 Brother Urbane 10,500 Investigation +2,500
Interrogation +1,000120,500 Calidon 7,000 True Enemy +2,500
Missed most of game -2,50098,850 Daran 9,000 Avoiding Malz +1,000
The song +1,000106,000 Jameson 9,000 Open book +1,000
Spying +1,000089,415 Malz 9,000 Freeloading +2,000 104,750
