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(A couple of days pass creating tactics lessons for Gaius and tracking down the best seer in town) January 25 - I located the seer they call Cassandra today. She was a little cagy, but agreed to undertake to locate Quintus and his associates for 2,000 gp (1,000 of mine and 1,000 of Decimus's) and protection. I only hope we *can* protect her! January 27 - Cassandra has had limited success. Quintus has more than one protection on him, and she has been unable to work her way through the layers; but she found our bard moving through the streets of Freeport. February 1 - Cassandra still doesn't have Q, but the bard is back in town and is wandering the streets of the noble districts in company with a handsome young man who is unlikely to be our nondescript mage (unless he's using alter self or some such dodge, in which case, one would expect the bard to be disguised as well). Corvus went out to find some information on them, and I stayed home to make a potion of sanctuary. I wish I'd thought of them before. I'll need one for Cassandra, one for Gaius, one for Corvus - maybe I should make some for Greta and Mother and - but one thing at a time. At any rate, in the late afternoon, after completing my potion, I was informed that one of Gaius's little friends wished to see me. He told me "Corvus says that what happened to Gaius has happened to him." I collected Robyn, followed the child to the alley where he'd left Corvus, paid him, and sent him on his way. Robyn at once began to clear away flammable items and I told Corvus I would cast "Break Enchantment" on him. He said that he thought that move might be anticipated and that the villains were unlikely to repeat themselves exactly, so he though I should cast "detect magic" first. At the words "detect magic," the fireball went off. Poor Robyn got the brunt of it, and Corvus miraculously escaped unharmed. We started putting out the fire and crying for the vigiles, who arrived with commendable promptness. I told them plainly that we had reason to believe that agents of the fugitive, Quintus Valerius, were in town and attacking us out of spite for our testimony, but did not go into details. We then went straight home, where the others met us in my study. Corvus reported that the bard's new companion appears to be primarily engaged in gathering information about himself and Robyn. Obviously, they penetrated his disguise at some point, but he is not sure how. I scryed the bard and found him near the docks. Decimus and Robyn volunteered to go looking for him, but I wanted to cast Status on everyone first. Alas, the suggestion placed on Corvus was that, the next time I cast a spell, it would be to betray and injure him; so to everyone's surprise he drew his gladius and stabbed me in the throat as soon as I started to cast. He hit me three times and made a bad mess of the study before Robyn and Alfredus subdued him. (Gaius bravely attempted to grab his arm, and got a bloody nose for his pains.) Decimus tried to Dispel Magic on him, but failed. I broke his enchantment, so that he stopped trying to release himself and finish the job; but it was plain to me that I had not gotten all of the enchantments on him. Corvus, subdued and frightened, asked that we remove everything from his person except his clothing and lock it in the vault, and get the Sunshine Boys to keep an eye on him. Decimus transformed into a vulture and went in search of our foes, and Robyn followed on foot, taking his quarterstaff. I instructed Alfredus to gear up and I healed myself and did likewise, checking their progress through the crystal ball and going after them the moment we saw that they were on the verge of confronting the bard. We ran as hard as we could, which meant I was puffing along the street with Alfredus barely in sight much of the way; but by the time we arrived, the bard was a tortoise, Robyn was held, and the spellcaster - who had been invisible when I scryed the bard - was caught in a Web spell. As Decimus and I discussed how best to take the wizard prisoner, he teleported away - teleport without error, alas. Decimus reports that during the course of the conflict, the spellcaster had benefited from Stoneskin, Spell Reflection, and Invisibility. He had attempted to polymorph Decimus and failed; Decimus's attempt to polymorph him had succeeded only momentarily, after which he turned himself back, demonstrating that he is either a doppelganger or had some shapeshifting spell on himself. Quintus must be spending a fortune, as people this wicked and powerful are unlikely to work for love. The bard, however, is nowhere near as well-informed as he thinks he is. He thought he could cast Robyn into an enchanted sleep; but, since he does not sleep, this particular plan was foiled. We carried the tortoise back to that cozy little room in the cellar. Leaving Corvus and the Sunshine Boys outside the door, and sending Gaius on an errand which I don't suppose he thought for a moment was legitimate, Robyn and Alfredus gripped the tortoise, Decimus let his polymorph drop, and Robyn and Alfredus bound the bard and stripped him to his underwear (checking inside even that; but I would probably have been more uncomfortable questioning him when he was naked than he would). Once we had all settled down, I cast Inquisition, asking as follows: Q: What spells did y'all cast on Corvus this afternoon? Casting Detect Thoughts, I then asked how he expected to be rescued; he refused to get a meaningful answer and I couldn't read his thoughts. He kept talking about Quintus's vengeance and how he was too smart and subtle for us, and didn't rise to any of the baits I cast for him. Again I missed Tamara; but if we can only hang onto him, we'll break through that conceit yet. He refusing to speak reasonably, and we fearing the result if he remembered a spell which he could cast by singing alone, we gagged him and left Robyn alone with him in the dark, sharpening his sword. A guard was just outside, and I have ordered a cot moved down to the hallway so I can be on hand tonight. Meantime, however, I had urgent business. I cleaned up and donned my pearls and went down to the Temple of Rufus, where I started with the highest of my acquaintance and worked my way up the chain till I found someone powerful enough to do the job. I convinced him to come home for dinner and to remove the curse on Corvus. There's another favor I owe! I may not be free to work for Uncle this summer at this rate. However, there's no help for it - Corvus is not lingering on with an unknown Geas a single day if any effort of mine can prevent it. When the curse was lifted, and the Modify Memory spell removed, he found that he was supposed to spy on us and report to Hrolf the day after tomorrow. We are all extremely angry now - as if we weren't before! I daren't let Gaius near the prisoner, and Corvus should not be left alone with him. Decimus, though not personally injured yet, is all too aware of the implications here and does not like his friends being boobytrapped any more than I do. Alfredus is ready to go "beat the tar out of" Hrolf again, and I won't say he doesn't deserve it, after accepting restitution for the cattle from Alfredus. Corvus even returned the ax to his wife! Any honorable man would be leaving us strictly alone and finding an honest employer. However, it is too early to take out our feelings on small fry like Hrolf. We are discussing the possible disinformation we might feed him to maximize benefit from this geas. In the realm of minor annoyances, my study, though cleaned, still smells like blood; and I had to give Mother a simplified version of the story to keep her from imagining things to be even worse than they are - hard as that is to imagine! February 2 - As soon as I finished my prayers this morning, I marched into the cell and cast a geas on the bard (Sinon of Pylos is his name; he's finally copped to that, at least). He'll lead us to Quintus or suffer the consequences. So far he is stubborn. I also went ahead with Inquisition, as follows: Q: Is Quintus in league with the League? Q: Where will he go after Ashkalon? Q: What other places does he use as a refuge? I had too much to do to do further at that point. We have all been popping in on him at random intervals, and he is never alone. We have decided to follow Corvus's suggestion that he inform Hrolf that Sinon is on the verge of breaking and we are removing to the country place in Aquitania, the better to do what is necessary to get what we want out of the fellow. We will already be there when he gets the news, and then we shall see what we shall see. Whether they attempt to assassinate or rescue him to prevent his talking is all one to us. The only trouble, as Robyn points out, is that Quintus will not come after us in person and he'll still be out there to track down; but it has the great advantage of giving us a battle on our own turf, and removing innocent bystanders from the area of effect. If we can destroy or control that spellcaster (or those spellcasters: I'm still uncertain whether we're dealing with one or two), we'll be that much ahead. At the moment I incline toward destroying in an open fight; but I must pray on the subject. Gaius is sulking, but there is no way I'm taking him to Aquitania with us. He'll be far more useful here, assisting the Sunshine Boys, Greta, my maid, and Mother in creating the illusion that we're still here 12 to 24 hours after we actually go. I will also be leaving both Sanctuary potions with him, one for himself, Greta, or a Sunshine Boy as seems appropriate, one for Cassandra if she comes while I'm gone. Uncle is very busy just now with some project he's doing with Claudia, so I'll be Sending to Gaius every night at sunset and he can pass on any important messages. If he doesn't get the message on time, he is to inform Uncle as soon as possible. Also, Cassandra or one of his little friends may have important intelligence for us. No, Gaius will be much more useful, as well as safer, where he is. Although I have some qualms about holding Sinon - as he reminds me, our actions are illegal - when I asked Uncle's advice, he dwelt a great deal on caution in dealing with a mind as practiced in deceit, trickery, and magic as Quintus's, and not at all on legal ramifications. The hard fact is that the local authorities are not as well-equipped to use this man to bring in Quintus as we are. I have dropped hints to Sinon that we are acting with authority, and I don't suppose for a moment that the authorities will care two pins how we did it if we bring Quintus, or sufficient pieces of him to prosecute, to them in time. I am working up a little story about how I deceived Uncle into thinking we were doing something else and the Staff into thinking we had legal authority, in case this all blows up; it will clearly be my duty to take the fall in that case. Meantime, we have had Sinon shaved completely, including his eyebrows, to make it easier for him to keep clean in the dark; and dressed him in some old clothes of Greta's, in two contrasting plaids, to keep him from catching cold. He visibly minds this more than the pain the geas is causing him, and I'm convinced that, in the end, vanity will do what threats and true suffering cannot. He'll get his own clothes back when he cooperates. Why he's being stubborn I don't know; the geas says nothing about assisting us to defeat Quintus, and if his opinion of his master's skills is as high as he says, a direct confrontation should not frighten him much. But we mustn't expect even rudimentary courage from one who picks on children. Hmm...that needs work, but with a little tweaking I can use it tomorrow, in conjunction with Inquisition and Mind Raid, and we shall see what we shall see. Uncle will set up the teleport circle first thing tomorrow, so I must get to bed in that awful cot again. That cellar really is quite chilly at night, and we've left Sinon barefoot. I must ask the Sunshine Boys if they have any nice thick socks, preferably argyle in shades that don't match Greta's plaids.
Last Updated:
Monday, 18-Aug-2003 00:27:09 CDT
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