Session 4
General Summary
Lucarno performed a reading of the cards for the party, promising to give them a glimpse of the future. He gave six cards to Ludwig up front, then drew three: The Masquerade, The Devil, and The Bloodline. He then drew The Corpse and asked Ludwig for a card, which ended was The Coin. Lucarno then drew The Knife and the party drew The Child. Finally, Feng asked to pick a card from Lucarno's deck and chose The Dice; the party drew The Lord. The party guests were ushered into a small side room, set up with rows of benches, black drapes on the walls, and a black-draped altar at the head. Before entering, Slint slipped two coins into the latch so that the lock wouldn't close completely. Mrek made sure to sit with Dr. George Whitby, an Exonian who Lucarno said was the personal doctor to the Exonian ambassador Patience Hardby, and tried to befriend him, but Dr. Whitby seemed a bit put off. A drunk faux priestess performed a fake devil-summoning ritual for the entertainment of the crowd. Suddenly a scream split the air, startling the priestess, who knocked over a few candles onto the alcohol-sodden "altar," starting a fire. Cyras put it out with a ray of frost, but knocked out the priestess in the process. Slint and Feng rushed to the door, pushing through the panicked guests, and opened it... To reveal five members of the Halfrigger family standing around the corpse of the sixth, Anrietta, Lord Humbert's first wife. Feng and Mrek immediately moved to examine the body, and didn't see any obvious signs of foul play, but were stopped by the arrival of the household guard. The captain insisted that they not investigate at all, and became somewhat threatening. Mrek attempted a charm person spell on him but failed, and a fight broke out. The party seemed outmatched at first against the captain, three guards, and an axe beak, but a fear and thunderwave from Cyras turned the tide, as did Ludwig's bane and Mrek's unexpected (even by him!) transformation into a huge bear. Slint was knocked out but stabilized by Feng, who showed no interest in fighting the guards, preferring to keep one grappled at first. With two guards and the axe beak down and out, and the third guard sobbing over the death of his beloved bird, the captain surrendered. As Mrek restored Slint, the two guards, and the faux priestess with goodberry, the party tied up the guards. The captain swiftly admitted that they had been bribed a week earlier with a bag of platinum and a note, saying that there would be a murder at the party and asking them not to investigate. The guards, all destitute veterans of the Great War, decided to take the bribe. The party was now in charge of the investigation. Dr. Whitby had locked the ballroom doors so that nobody could leave, presumably including the killer. They moved Anrietta's body to the side room, where Whitby discovered a poisoned dagger in her back. Ludwig immediately suspected Rance, Humbert and Verona's son, but the strange young boy had a solid alibi: he was outside preparing to shoot an apple off the head of a servant when they heard the scream. Mrek discovered a crimson thread on the corpse, which did not match her clothing. Rance, Lystra, Maldris, and Verona all had matching crimson stitching in their outfits, however. The party brought the entire family into the side room and began to question them. Maldris had no witness to his alibi, but was able to give a detailed description of the papers he was reviewing when he heard the scream, and as a valued member of the Halfrigger family business had no obvious motive for the killing. Verona had multiple witnesses to her alibi, preparing the dining room table for the night's feast alongside multiple servants. Lystra said she was up in her chambers about to change out of her costume, and gave a description of her clothing, but had no witnesses despite wealthy women usually changing their clothes with the help of a chambermaid. The party suspected her, and Cyras cast a charm person that earned her friendship. Soon she was sobbing in the elf's arms, complaining over how unfair it was that her "dear Humby's" other wives had gotten two children each and Lystra had none. He gently coaxed her into a confession: she had murdered Anrietta out of jealousy and planned to kill Verona next. She'd used poison made from a death's-head orchid she'd stolen a few petals from during a recent trip to the local arboretum, and bribed the guards using "a few coins" saved from her "little allowance." Lord Humbert seemed unbothered by the violence; his concern was mostly over losing not one but two wives in one night. The party was split over how to handle Lystra, but Cyras took charge, declaring both the killer and the guards she'd bribed under arrest by his power as a member of the Queensguard of Sauvage. Feng and Cyras took the criminals outside and summoned the city watch, who promptly arrested them for real, though not before Slint took the guards' money and weapons. Ludwig requested a reward of Lord Humbert, who said to take the sack of platinum "blood money" from the guards' barracks. Mrek escorted Dr. Whitby to his inn; the Exonian was much changed in his estimation of the half-orc and promised to speak on his people's behalf to Patience Hardby. Back at the Ruddy Fishwife, the party listened to Ludwig's song of rest then went promptly to bed. The next morning, they awoke late to find two letters. The first was from Edward the Wolf and read "My friend has grown extremely ill. I need to know if you will help me." The second was a formal invitation from Prince Jaren Deyne of Caleria for the party to attend the Ambassadors' Ball, the fancy closing party of the Congress of Volscia Mera, in eight days' time. The party sent a response to Edward that they were investigating the Bryce family mausoleum that day and set out to do so...
