The foursome reached Lord Ambleer's manor is good time considering their condition, and were greeted at the door by servants who took their horses, stowed their bags and handed them warm brandy, much to everyone's relief. Lord Ambleer was most gracious as he accepted the return of his medicinal herbs, and indicated that the heroes of the hour should refresh themselves as he had given orders for a banquet this evening with local musicians and rare wines.
Covered in much as they were the quartet was quick to comply - Melas and Cybele first given the state of their wounds and dress, followed by the others. All were happy to discover that Lord Ambleer, once an adventurer himself, had constructed his bathing chambers with a separate area where one might disrobe and sluice off the worst of the filth (say, incrusted blood, vulture dander, dust and grit from a collapsed ceiling, spider webbing and venomous ichor in Melas' case) so as to not contaminate the heated, rejuvenating waters of the tub.
As the first pair bathed Hiram wandered through Lord Ambleer's library, finding books on the fire religion, a multitude of atlases the history of the area and his family, and a surprisingly complete collection of the high romances of Lady de la Rosa, starting with "Her Passionate Heart"; alas, there were no plays or other high poetry, so Hiram sniffed derisively at their host's tastes. The young actor might be forgiven for his ego, covering as it was the quaking in his heart over spending another night in the haunted room. Dietrich meandered the grounds and held discourse with Lord Ambleer about the state of the military in the area and their shared agreement that something needed to be done. Ambleer volunteered to write letters anew to the four governors of Emirikol if Lord von Eisenwald would consent to see them to the Chaotic City. Said von Eisenwald agreed.
Naturally both men had some restorative food during this as well; Dietrich confined himself to some small morsels while Hiram, quite appropriately, had the chicken (GM: OK, that was mean. Sorry.) As he ate Hiram questioned the servants about the ghost, learning that her name was Lorell, Roland's twice great grandmother, who was murdered by a kinsman when it appeared that the then Lord Ambleer had died on his second campaign in the southern mountains. The servant added - with no trace of irony - that the ghost appeared only to those with a musical or dramatic soul, and that if someone were to re-create the seeming of the events that killed her than she might be freed (Hiram totally flubbed his Sense Motive check here so he has no reason to suspect that the servants are yanking his chain).
When they dragged themselves from the bath the Lady Floriane amused herself by claiming some food and additional drink - sandwiches which might work for wandering the library - while Melas joined Roland in the wine cellar to make selections for the evening. While his misshapen face and malformed limbs might have made him appear uncouth, Lord Beliseca possessed a finely honed political mind: as they searched for wines and discussed the nature of technology on the winemaking process (printing on corks and suchlike) Melas hunted out a quality wine that was laid down in a year that had favorable connotations to Lord Ambleer's family. Roland smiled when he saw it, naturally recounting the events of his twice great grandfather's first campaign in the southern mountains and how his victory brought the family a new title and estates inside the Greensward. He also added this observation "Men and history are much like wine, you know. Thy are shaped by the years of their maturation, their roots, their environment and their time in the sun, but their value is not set until they have been laid in the ground for a decade or a century." And with those words the two nobles picked a dozen other lesser bottles for the evening’s repast and went up to join the others.
Feeling mightily refreshed our heroes and their host gathered in Lord Ambleer's study to make an investigation of what was found in Vulture Point. In their previous conversation Dietrich and the lord of the manor determined which of the saddlebags were already Ambleer's property, but that left the one containing what were obviously a pair of magical potions and the ominous lead box to consider.
Before the conversation began Cybele grimaced at the pain of her injury and Roland, unaware that any of his guests still suffered from such serious wounds, intoned a prayer to the maiden of the flames, laying two fingers on the Lady Floriane's forehead. The beautiful young noblewoman was briefly immolated with a fire that burned away her wounds. Thanking him for his kindness, Cybele couldn't help but wonder why a priest of the fire goddess would be suffering from a disease such as the one that apparently so debilitated their host but kept her tongue.
The investigation started with the vial of viscous, honey colored liquid. Lord Ambleer was able to identify this for them as a concoction of veinleaves (an ivy whose broad, flat leaves took on the appearance of tanned human skin in the autumn) and the honey of blood-bees (very dangerous insects whose stings thickened the blood of the target, but whose reddish honey, when heated, flowed in a way that resembled blood). By the doctrine of signatures such a mixture would knit skin without scars and ensure the proper clotting or flow of blood, greatly accelerating healing. If consumed at once its properties border on the miraculous, but it also works as an additive to food, speeding the healing of all who consume the dish.
Seeing the value in keeping such a thing the quartet set it aside for safekeeping. Next they explored the multi-hued liquid in the lead-stoppered bottle. While it radiated a faint conjuration magic and possessed the strange quality of shifting color between red and green as it was jostled, none of them could discern its purpose or origin. [I later told the players it's Green Dragon Blood. Even the players aren't sure what to do with that.]
Finally the lead box was pulled from the saddlebag, and an inspection in the light found a shallow indention that might be an owner's mark - some sort of flower or dancing man - but said owner's mark was unfamiliar to the gathered quintet. The box was still firmly locked with a complex mechanism, so with his guests permission Lord Ambleer called for one of his servants to get a hammer and small chisel that they might disable to the lock [Bec: Let someone else do it this time. Tom: It's probably just full of darts anyway.] After a few moments the dwarf had opened the lock with a single firm rap, stepping back to give his betters the right of first viewing of the contents. Inside was a carved stone indentation holding am 18" long feather, 3" across at its widest point, of bright red mixed with more autumnal colors. Hiram was easily able to recognize this, as mock Cockatrice Feathers were used in masquerades and opera costumes with disturbing regularity. Based on the alteration magic radiating from the plumage, however, this one was what gnome fences would call 'the real deal'.
[They began riffing on what to do with the feather somehow ending with Hiram ticking his throat with it to throw up stone on his critics at the theater - it's a Bulimic Breath Weapon. How we got to that I'd rather not speculate at this remove.]
With that task complete Lord Ambleer thanked them again for their aid and insisted that they spend the next week with him before continuing to Emirkol. Melas, Dietrich and Cybele were quite taken with the invitation but Hiram reminded them again and again that they would be remiss in their duty to the republic if they didn't bear word of the chaos beasts they had encountered back to the Paladins of the city. In fact, they should really get on the road this very minute. Unsure why their young comrade in arms had developed such patriotic fervor as the evening approached but unwilling to insult Lord Ambleer by turning down the banquet already prepared for the evening, the group settled on leaving in the morning. . . forcing Hiram to contemplate another night in the company of the shade of Lorell Ambleer.
It turned out he needn't have worried himself: the repast was delightfully balanced and quite restorative (Melas felt the last of the lethargy brought on by the spider venom lift during his second bottle); the music provided by some local artisans - aided by Hiram's magnificent hurdy-gurdy - was rollicking and joyous, the dancing was subtle and fine (with the Lady Floriane taking turns standing with all of her new friends), and driven on by Hiram's manic energy the party lasted quite through to the dawn. The sliver of the sun cleared the horizon to see Melas & Cybele finishing up the last of a rather amusing Bordeaux on the patio, snacking on breakfast muffins fresh from the oven, watching the night servants load their luggage back onto the coach and listening to the tired, coffee-fueled musicians attempting to exit without waking Dietrich (who stretched out into a chair shortly after midnight and fell asleep to the pleasant sounds of the musicians) and Hiram (who passed out from exhaustion an few hours later).
[GM: "So, how late are you partying?" Hiram, forcefully: "All Night." Cybele & Melas: "Oh, what the hell. Why not?"]
Eventually the two woke their companions and staggered to the coach. Loran Albleer, who had retired well before they, thanked them again and handed over to lord Von Eisenwald four letters addressed to the governors of the city. The quartet then slept the rest of the way to Emirikol, recuperating from their well-earned entertainment.
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