Session One Hundred and Twenty-Three (Graveyard of Empires Summary)
Session 123 September 7, 2016
11:00PM 3rd of Tanrilden, behind the Cock & Bull
Chuq, Edan, Ronan & Thorfus have a change of plans. Instead of delving in the sewers, they decide to interrogate Aardman with their liar box. The night’s carriage is hailed to return and they pile in. As the carriage heads to the Courthouse, we notice some sort of police action at the Marlborough Gambling Hall down the street. Curious that Ronan had visited the place shortly before…
The guards on the street outside the court house are on edge and nervous but allow us entry. We send the carriage to wait down the road by the University before meeting Lord Thorton in an office. We wait as he finishes some paper work. He listens to our plans then shows us a letter from the city’s Council of Elders directing him to refuse us access to Aardman with any magical items. He wants to follow the word of the directive but not necessarily the spirit. He agrees to conduct the interrogation while we listen and prompt from another floor via our Broachie Talkies.
The Night Court and Cap are still insulated by Thorton’s items but he does pass a liar box test. However, the Night Court can tell that the attendant guard, Gifford, plans to report our behavior to someone else after we leave. Chuq mentions this to Lord Thorton hoping the magistrate will be guarded with the guard in the future. Bellisonte demonstrate the liar box function by stating some outright lies. Boris is made invisible by Edan so that the familiar can follow Thorton clandestinely. Following Boris via the night cap, Chuq can locate Aardman’s mind when Thorton meets him in an interrogation room a floor below the room the party is occupying.
After many questions and back and forth, Thorton has no doubt the Aardman’s accusations against Perette and The Barldric/Starchie Boyz are all lies and that the Grells (Ardnan & Alaine) & Peter Thorell were slavers. Unfortunately, he doesn’t give up his benefactors, why he is changing his testimony at this time (except that he feels safe now) or who is feeding him information from out of the court house/jail. Serithos corroborates most of Aardman’s responses but admits something else is hidden. Thorton is curiously quite during the interview not following any leads on his own. At the end, Thorton puts on a show, vociferously herding us out of the courthouse. No doubt to cover his cooperation in the eyes of those guards reporting to the City Council or Admiralty.
Back at the C&B, one of our mercs reports that the Grey Cloaks busted up the Marborough gambling hall because fugitives were thought there. The Grey Cloak apprehended Rolth and a Magic User named Applebe. We have no idea if these two were the fugitive sought or for what crime, but the night’s events show that having Grey Cloaks loitering down the street from C&B also keeps an eye on us. Cannis’s pigeon swoop reports to Chuq that our submersible is still at the navy floating docks but that the Grey Cloak guard also includes a large woman now. Suspecting it’s Em in disguise, the party set’s off on foot for the docks to the south since the carriage is long gone.
The party is followed by a Grey Cloak as we pass the gambling house. Edan hides in shadows until the Grey Cloak passes and follows him as we travel to the docks. There we hire a row boat for 1 gold piece while our tail rushes back the gambling hall with Edan following. There the Grey Cloak confers with a city guardsman before the two split running in different directions. Edan follow one as Boris the other. Boris’ prey, the guardsman rushes to a watch house which quickly empties. The horde of guardsman run towards the docks. Edan’s Grey Cloak rushes to the paper bazar where he speaks with another Grey Cloak. This second Grey Cloak mounts a horse and leaves toward High Town. Edan steals another horse to follow until he sees a gaggle of Grey Cloaks running towards the docks. He then alerts Chuq, Ronan and Thorfus via the broachie talkie.
The three shadow step to the floating dock to get ahead of the guardsman/Grey Cloak posse, leaving Bellisonte at the dock with the rental row boat. The Grey Cloaks guarding the submersible threaten the three when they arrive, until Thorfus correctly answers Perette’s questions. Perette removes a protection ring allowing Chuq to confirm his identity with the night cap. We were correct, Em is with Perette and the Grey Cloaks, there plans is to escape the city.
Perette’s loyal Grey Cloaks told him that Aardman had changed his testimony. Thorton had issued a secret warrant for Perette’s arrest. He went into hiding because that was out of character for Thorton. He uncovered a plot to take him down and learned the Grey Cloaks were planning to capture EM. Realizing the risk, he acted first. Apologizing for bringing the authorities to his hide out, we talk over options on how best to avoid capture. When Ronan suggests Perette and Em could hide with Alainon Bartling the watch maker, we put our plan into action. The brilliance of Ronan’s plan is that Alainon is a known Islander sympathizer who was tortured by Perette in the past. He is also fiercely loyal to the islander pulp fiction hero, Em. Relying on Em’s notoriety and a good deal of coin to convince Alainon to help, it’s hoped the Grey Cloaks would overlook a former victim of Perette.
Perette hoped to escape on the Wrath of the Waves which is currently heavily guarded by the navy. We also want to use the Wrath but as a distraction to hide our escape from the floating dock. Thorfus realizes his autonotom control circlet will allow him to control the Wrath since the Navy has installed an electrical orb autonotom in the Wrath. To start, Chuq shadow steps to the bow of the wrath of the waves to cut the lashings. Surprisingly, he notices eyes watching him as he is within the shadow. As the lashings are cut, Thorfus commands the ship to take off catching the Monk by surprise. As the rear lashings burst free from the ships force, Chuq steps far away from the action happening on the nearby dock.
Ronan leads Em, Perrette & Grey Cloaks to the Midmark side of the floating docks where they meet up with Chuq & Thorfus. Perette’s four loyal Grey Cloaks are left on the floating dock as the rest shadow step back to Midmark. Telepathically, Bellisonte is tasked to retrieve the Grey Cloaks with the rental rowboat and the rest take the long way to Alainon’s.