Session 21 - The Mourning Period
General Summary
Over the next week, Winifred is in mourning over Sigisar She sends guards to protect his body outside the castle. Later, she plans a feast for the upcoming feast of the Great Day, and begins looking into new potential suitors to invite. One is Otto the Half-Breed, a part-orcish man, who lives at an estate to the north. Another is Ingo the Pious, from south of the Nixe River. She also invites her uncle to the feast, and sends a letter to Sigisar’s uncle, telling him of his nephew's demise. Finally, with Manfred, Kaleb and Edmon in attendance, she burns Sigisar’s body.She works on making a baggy white coat for Kaleb which doesn’t fit well. At some point, she burns Sigisar’s body along with Manfred, Kaleb and Edmon in attendance.
On the way back from the funeral, Manfred makes a confession of (likely ill-fated) love to Winifred. Over the week he attends to her injured leg. Kaleb meets with the former kennel boy who had his nose removed as punishment for disobedience. Kaleb promises to get his nose back. Edmon hands off Sigisar’s old armor to be retooled for his use, and practiced combat in anguish on some practice dummies. He and Winifred had a short chat where Winifred recounted the combat with Narcissa to her. Over the week, the castle’s denizens hear of ghostly Sigisar sightings in town. Manfred and Edmon resolve to investigate.
* * *
Two travelers, Rodrick, a human doctor, and Uisce, a water nymph performer, are drifters looking for a new home. Rodrick also is interested in finding new sources of knowledge, like libraries. They have made their way to the Markwald area. Rodrick has heard some rumors of the wererats in the area. They arrived at the Blau River south of Hegenburg, and approached the Nixe River. They were ferried across. During the ferrying, Uisca jumped out of the boat and talked to nearby water nymphs/nixies. They told her about a powerful ring they once had, that was taken and hidden. Uisca promises to keep an eye out for the ring. They continue along the river eastward until they find themselves in Winifred’s estate. Talking to locals, they hear of Sigisar’s death, and of tumult at the castle. They decide to go to the tavern at the sign of the blue angel to try and make money, and find lodging for the night. While setting up shop doing healings and singing for their lodging, they hear about Sigisar’s ghost.
Soon after, Manfred and Edmon arrive at the tavern, and discover the rumor was that Sigisar’s ghost would originate from the tavern at midnight. They meet with Rodrick and Uisca. Manfred was impressed to meet another university educated man, and talked about potential employment at the castle. Edmon is enchanted by Uisca’s performance, and insists they take them to the castle later. Uisca earns a decent amount of money from her enchanting performance. Manfred and Edmon receive a sealed letter at the tavern to be taken to Winifred. They also meet an affluent dandy named Bernard the Fowler, who seemed as though he might be a potential suitor for Winifred. The pair wait outside the tavern at midnight hoping to see Sigisar’s ghost, but to no avail. As they prepare to retire for the night, they head back to the castle, taking Rodrick and Uisca with them.
A worried Winifred stays up all night waiting for the pair to return. She is taken somewhat aback by the new guests, and says they must have guards posted at their rooms. Manfred and Edmon both try to make a case for the newcomers, suggesting that Rodrick may be able to help with Winifred’s leg, and Uisca would make great entertainment for the upcoming feast. Winifred takes the letter from Edmon, and seems very white after reading it. When she reads it, she finds it to contain Reinhard's demand that she return a powerful magic item, and perhaps a suggestion that he might be causing the sightings of Sigisar without his heart.
The next day, Rodrick examines Winifred’s leg and sees that it is dislocated. He says he will need to go and obtain herbal balms to make the operation to fix the dislocation easier. Winifred, Manfred, and Edmon talk to Dagobert about the potential suitors. Winifred suggests one may be Reinhard in disguise. This induces a pang of paranoia in Dagobert about letting anyone in the castle going forward. In the meantime, Manfred, Edmon and Kaleb are sent to screen Bernard, as Kaleb has the ability to detect Reinhard even in disguise.
Comments