Play Report 28 — Days of Rest

Hant needs to rest for 2 more days to fully recover from the Basilisk Man’s venom. He and Almuund spend this time trying to learn a little more about the dynamics of the Valley Collaboration.

Hant, using the name Thomas, establishes himself as a repeated visitor to a local bar, The Crown. It is a popular location constantly abuzz with conversation. Another regular, an overly friendly man named Swann, is excited to tell him about the future plans of the populace to establish more irrigated farmland around the windmill in 0906. The windmill providing its services is proof of a working society, Swann says. Long live the king.

Almuund, while perusing local businesses, finds himself followed by a man in a robe that resembles those commonly worn by civil servants in Catage. After being aware of being followed for three stops, Almuund introduces himself to this man in a way that is friendly but clearly communicates that he knows that following is being done. The man invites Almuund to dinner with the settlement’s governor, Lionel the Loyal, who has had dealings with “others of your kind in the past.” Almuund cautiously accepts.

The night passes.

Hant returns to the bar. Swann is delighted to have a new returning face, and asks if he plans to stay in the settlement permanently. Hant says he is not yet certain. Another repeat face catches Hant’s eye: a woman named Adhira is a near constant fixture, not quite fitting into the overall dynamic of the place. She doesn’t act unfriendly, but doesn’t engage with Swann and co at length, all the while seeming like she is scrutinizing the other visitors. Hant makes note of this.

Almuund goes to dinner, dressed in the same finer clothes he bought to meet Ambassador Sala. He is met by a guard who quickly brings him into the central fort, to the dismay of others waiting for an audience. “Why does a cat get in?” shouts one of the crowd disdainfully. Lionel the Loyal and three close servants — the scholarly man (identified as Colin), a woman in an old fashioned formal dress, and a person in an unassuming but immaculately clean tunic — are also present for the mostly fish based dinner. Lionel tells Almuund that he hopes to establish a more permanent alliance between the royalists and the ghost-hunting cat cult, as he suspects that many opponents of the nobility will call upon curses and necromancy. This is a true concern, though he also has personal reasons to want their services. Almuund is receptive to these ideas and promises to get in touch with those who can make it happen. Lionel also inquires about Almuund’s traveling companions, and Almuund tries to paint them as individually respectable but politically vacant, with some difficulty on both fronts. The unassuming but immaculate advisor unexpectedly knows Hant’s full name Burhannetin, and mentions something about him to Lionel.

The night passes.

The newly recovered Hant is unhappy to hear from Almuund, and decides to make use of a contact in the city to get dirt on Lionel in return — all the way back in play report 5, he met a fellow assassin he calls “his reflection” who he was told is here. His player rolls to make use of the contact, and gets a 9:

“7-9: Your contact has some useful information or they can get the goods that you need, but at a steep price. Perhaps they can also pass you on to someone else who can help you more effectively.”

He locates marks on the walls of abandoned unroofed buildings that would tell an assassin of his order where to meet another of the same order, and follows them — they lead to the fortress, where as evening falls he sees a window with a curtain stretched and the sillhouette of some object casting a triangular shadow upon it, like a mountain peak. He climbs to the window, and listens. Someone walks around inside, rustling papers and humming tunelessly. He adjusts the curtain to make his presence known. The humming changes to a tune of religious significance, and he steps in.

The room is full of an artists paraphernalia, and the dinner attendant in the immaculate tunic — also Hant’s “reflection” — is now wearing an ink-stained set of work clothes, from their current job of creating illustrated signage for Lionel. They are stacking freshly dried posters onto a table. They wait for Hant to make the next move.

Hant bows low, exposing the back of his neck. He is surprised by his “reflection” when they reciprocate with a bow of equal depth — he thought himself to be showing submission to a clear superior.

The session comes to an end due to time constraints, and the conversation between these two will resume next we play.