Session 18 - Three Citadels
General Summary
At Schloss Hirschenwald, Winifred paced, hoping her friends would come and visit her now that she had sent letters to them. Reinhard was there with her, attempting to calm her. He suggested visiting with their new neighbors, but Winifred still seemed withdrawn. Over the coming days, Reinhard left her to her own devices, but one morning, a dog’s head was found, and it was learned that the dog which had been aggressive with Winifred was now dead. Winifred interrogated Reinhard, asking him if he killed the dog, to which he remarked he would kill any dog to protect her.
* * *
The citadel at Brillig was being peppered infrequently by crossbow bolts. One of them had a letter and a finger attached, indicating that Johann had been taken hostage. The letter threatened to further mutilate Johann and his family if Sigisar didn’t accede to the ratmen’s demands. On the letter, scrawled in blood - a plea from Johann for assistance.
Sigisar Wallia, Markgraf von Horstkopf decided to interrogate the captured ratman in the citadel’s prison. He called upon Manfred for assistance, who magically influenced the ratman to be truthful. The ratman divulged the following information: There were roughly 100 ratpeople in the city. Winifred's uncle Wigand was in charge of them. They stored their provisions in warehouses by the docks and beneath some of the mansions in town. They were supported by owners of the warehouses and foreign traders. They had no infiltrators in the Citadel. After this, Sigisar and Edmon executed the prisoner, to Manfred’s chagrin. Over the next week, Sigisar wrote a letter for Edmon to deliver in case of his death, and prayed often. All three worked on training and rallying the militia. Manfred gave speeches to keep morale, while Edmon worked on physically training the men. The men seemed loyal to Sigisar, if not the best trained. Some had ideas of trying to rescue people in the city.
* * *
In Hegenburg, Narcissa went to the Rathskeller tavern to interact with the few remaining humans in the city. She met a fat administrator, who said he’s “not too easily blown around on the wind”, referring to political changes. Narcissa complained of her exhaustion with eating cheese. Later, she tried asking Matilda for something to do, and Matilda was dismissive of her, telling her to make her own initiative in being useful. Kaleb, meanwhile, tried to find out about some of the people being held prisoner in the rectory of the city's cathedral. Matilda ignored him, while Narcissa told him that such people were in “time out” for bad behavior. This frightened Kaleb, who began interrogating an imprisoned man why he was in “time out”, much to that man’s confusion. Narcissa tried to distract Kaleb, giving him the task of fixing some of their gloves. Matilda, too, would attempt to distract Kaleb later, telling him about a tower in town where a cuckoo lived. After this ambling about, Narcissa and Kaleb elected to go and see Winifred, who had invited them to Schloss Hirschenwald. Narcissa summoned her infernal carriage for the two to ride in. On the ride, Kaleb was quite annoying. Narcissa became enraged and threatened Kaleb with a knife, telling him to be quiet. Kaleb magically put Narcissa to sleep, then stole her knife. Aminosity boiled within Narcissa after she awoke, but soon after, they had arrived at Willmar, a village in Bischoffsbaum domains. In the town itself, Narcissa met Peter a friend of the notary, who offered to take her and Kaleb to Winifred’s castle.
Once Narcissa and Kaleb arrived at the castle, Winifred began interrogating Narcissa about the alleged slaughter at Schloss Herbstfroh. Narcissa confessed to doing so, but distorted the truth to make it seem as if it was more self-defense than it was. Winifred seemed shocked, but decided not to expel Narcissa. She told Narcissa she had seen Reinhard on the stained glass in the secret chapel there, and implied she was afraid of him to some degree. She also told Narcissa Reinhard had asked for her hand in marriage. Reinhard then arrived, with a peasant party in tow in the courtyard. They came into the castle, and made themselves at home, taking freely from the food and pantry. Winifred went and found musical recorders to distribute to the partygoers, so that they might entertain themselves. Reinhard was very happy to see Kaleb. He declared Kaleb the Faerie King, and suggested he should dance with the Faerie Queen, Winifred. There was a big dance, but Winifred soon grew tired of it, telling Reinhard to tone it down before retiring. Reinhard and Narcissa chatted after her retirement, with Reinhard expressing his frustration that Winifred remained distant while waiting for her friends from Brilling. He asked Narcissa to get Winifred to forget about this, and gave her a beautiful tiara as a bribe.
In the morning after the party, the castle was a wreck. Reinhard laid asleep, face down on a table in pig jelly. In private, Narcissa reached out to 'Grandmother' to try and learn more about Reinhard. Winifred, when she awoke, had the servants remove the peasants who remained. She waited for some time in the morning with Narcissa and Kaleb for Reinhard to awake. Before going back to sleep, Kaleb mentioned “his feet couldn’t stop”. He then decided to snuggle with Reinhard on the table. Eventually, Reinhard roused somewhat, and Winifred carried the sleeping Kaleb to a different part of the castle.
* * *
After the week of training, the letter from Winifred arrived for Sigisar by herald, who was accompanied by a thuggish man from town. The letter invited Sigisar and friends to come to the Bischoffsbaum castle. It mentioned that Reinhard was with her. Manfred and Sigisar discussed the letter. Manfred mentioned that Reinhard was likely one of the foreign investor supporters of sedition mentioned by the interrogated ratman. Sigisar told the herald to take a return message that he planned to hopefully come to Winifred within the week. Later, Sigisar tried to arrange a meeting with the town council, but neither party would agree to a meeting on the other’s turf, causing an impasse. An attempt of swearing vows in front the Abbott to raise trust proved unfruitful. Sigisar also began communication with the Tungrisch Knights, who had largely abandoned the city and still seemed unwilling to help Sigisar in any way. Edmon wrote a letter to ask Prince Laurin and the dwarfs for help. Sigisar agreed, re-writing the note in his own hand before sending it off.
One morning after all this, Sigisar was missing. After scouring the citadel, he was eventually found naked and passed out, slumped over a bench. Manfred attempted to rouse him but in that moment, the cause of this condition was unknown.
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