Everyone Knows - In Character Discussions
re-ordered from oldest/top to most recent/bottom
"Jerome did you see that... that.. I don't know what it is." she said quietly as she pulled the duck pie out of the cold storage cupboard. "Do you suppose it eats normal food? You don't think it needs something special do you? What is it anyway?"
Jerome stood up from pulling the pitcher out from under the tap of the barrel careful of the froth. "I think it is a dwarf. I have never heard of anyone who has seen one before so I can't be certain. I think they eat normal food too but just to be safe we need to have a bowl of rocks available for him at dinner tonight. Yes I think it is safe to call him a him rather than an it. I would think Joseph would have told us otherwise."
Jerome balanced the full pitcher in one hand and the plate with slices of pie in the other. "Open the door Mary to serve them and then off to your chores. No following them around trying to see what he is like."
Branwyn put on some gloves so she wouldn’t have to look at the bloody hand that she now had and went to bed knowing that it was unlikely that she would get much sleep. After a fitful night of tossing and turning, she awoke at dawn with a start. “I’ve got it!” she said happily and quickly rose to dress and gather the others to discuss her revelations.
First she went pounding on Sir Toybin’s door and then went down to awake the others. After gathering everyone she could from the guest rooms, she dragged them all down to the dungeons so they could include Esmerelda and Indigo in the conversation.
“Sorry to wake everyone up so early and get you down here, but this is the only place where the guards will be outside the door and the servants won’t be hovering over us at breakfast. After everything that happened last night, I finally think I know what’s going on!” she proclaimed excitedly, pausing for dramatic effect.
Indigo yawned and stretched, “Well, go ahead and tell us so we can go up for breakfast. Did you find out where Wilamina is?”
“No, I have no idea where she is. But I don’t think the Count is a vampire at all! I think he just wants everyone to THINK he’s a vampire and be scared of him. I think he’s a mage. A very good one, but still, only a mage, and not an undead evil blood draining fiend.
Everything he was doing last night could be explained by magic and not special vampire powers. He was popping in and out all over the castle. He knows the place and could cast dimension door and show up wherever he wants to. He’s got traps and alarms scattered about the castle. Typical mage things, but he has no Court mage himself. Who’s setting all these up? That mage at the gate?
Also when I was in the throne room, I opened two of the secret compartments in the chairs. One had a wand in it and the other had a dagger and this stupid powder that made my hand look like a bloody mess. Grink kindly did a check on my hand last night since Koorin was nowhere to be found and he said it wasn’t poison. So was this powder for an illusion of a bloody hand? Why would a real vampire need such parlor tricks? Who is he trying to convince?
As far as his age is concerned, the Count knows his history. That’s not surprising coming from a powerful Drillian family. A mage could also polymorph himself into the image of any of his ancestors giving the illusion that the same man has lived for hundreds of years. Who knows how many Drakes have reproduced themselves to look like this Count.
And lastly, he asked when we’re going to leave. I told him when we have what we came for or when he sent us away. Admittedly probably not the best response, but it was what I said. Then he leans in and says ‘or until I get what I want from you.’ Now what is that supposed to mean? We as a group don’t have anything the legendary Count Drake would want. I’m sure the Count could buy his own spyglass if he wanted one. So was he talking about ‘you’ as being our whole group, or ‘you’ as in me personally? And if it is me personally, it’s probably mage related. Killing us is not really a smart move. Sir Toybin is a knight of the Royal Court. He will be missed and though I am not in as lofty position as Sir Toybin, I would like to think that Lord Mosskin would make a bit of a fuss if I simply disappeared and did not show up at the Naming Ceremony. We’re not the kind of people you can just kill and toss into the swamp and have no one notice.
So, that’s about it. What do you think?”
Esmerelda yawns as she hears Branwyn excitedly explain away the counts behavior. Rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes she raises her hand to comment. "Um... I don't know. None of that sounds like proof that he isn't a vampire. It just sounds like he is a vampire AND a mage, which just makes things worse. Having powder that makes you look bloody is something that a vampire might use to pass as human during say, an assassination attempt. Something that might very well happen while he is sitting on his throne talking to people. It would look suspicious if you get stabbed and there is no blood, so smear on this stuff and 'poof!' you have a bloody wound! As for polymorph, as far as what I know about the standard theory of that spell goes, it isn't specific enough to make him look like someone. It could make him look like a gnome for example, maybe even a female gnome, but he wouldn't look like me. He would just look like a female version of himself. Illusion spells could possibly do it, but those take concentration to maintain for long periods of time so it would not be practical to keep one going forever. I suppose he might have a magic item that does it. I don't know what specifically, but there are things out there like hats of disguise that could possibly pull something like that off. Still, even if he did, when would he have made the switch? No one remembers anyone but him being the count. Unless this is some weird ruse that the last ten generations of Drake family have been perpetuating in secret somehow, I don't really buy that."
Rubbing her face briefly, Esmerelda continues, "As far as popping about is concerned, I have never heard of a vampire who does that naturally, so he obviously has some sort of magical abilities, which might mean he is setting up magical traps. On the other hand, this is an old castle, so the traps could have been made by his ancestors. Even if they are new traps, he has no shortage of funds I am sure. He could contract anyone he liked to come in and put them in. Traps are not specific to wizards though. Even a kobold can rig up a simple trap. Having traps just means he has something or someone he wants to protect as well as the resources to get them made."
Giving a bit of a pause, Esmerelda thinks. Finally she says, "However, if by some chance he is in fact trying to keep up some sort of illusion of being a vampire while not being one- and I am not saying he is because I find it really doubtful, just that it is a possibility- I can think of only one explanation to that. He must be something else. Something else that lives far longer than humans. One possibility is an elf, but I have no idea why an elf would want to pretend to rule a human kingdom as a vampire. Another would be a lich. It would certainly explain having powerful magical abilities and wanting to hide your true identity. Still, the type of mage that would try to become a lich is not usually much of a people person. It takes a sort of crazy personality to pull that sort of thing off and they are usually more concerned with learning new levels of magic than anything else. The most likely candidate, especially considering the family name, would be a dragon. Dragons are known to change shape and have magical abilities. The older ones are quite smart and more than capable of coming up with crazy, elaborate plots like this.
"Still, that is all just talk. Before we start reaching for other theories, we should stick to the most obvious one until we can prove that it is not true. There are many simple tests for vampires and if we are really concerned about it, we can try some. For example, does he have a shadow? Does he have a reflection? How does he react to holy water? How about garlic? Obviously it would be difficult to get him into sunlight, but that would be another. Most of those tests could easily be done without attracting too much attention."
Standing off in the corner, cleaning his nails with one of his lock picks, His mind mulling over all the conversation, Grink finally pipes up, a bit of confusion and a grain of apprehension in his voice.
"If he's a dragon, I'm outta here. There's nothing we could do to disrupt his plans or get her back at that point anyway, and I'm much more interested in EATING dinner than BEING dinner. That being said, I believe it unlikely that he is. I also think its fairly unlikely he's a vampire. Why exactly would a vampire take the one room in the castle with a full bank of windows open to the outside... JUST to have them all curtained off? I think the powder and the wand Bran found are good evidence of his wizardry, or at least some magical ability."
Concentrating again on his nails for a moment, getting some of the castle grime out from under them before tucking away the bent pin in one of his sleeves, "Has anyone checked HIM for magical items or illusions? Bran, you have detect magic, don't you? Could we see if he has some aura going on? We did most of this on your arm, although it didn't return anything, but if he's using a transmogrification spell of some sort it should be detectable. Now if nobody else minds, I missed dinner, so I'm going to go see what the kitchen can drum up on short notice."
Branwyn leaves the note from Wilamina on the table in the guest rooms before she goes to get ready for dinner. It reads:
Ilero,
Bring Branwyn and a weapon to the Queen's chambers after the reception. Do NOT (underlined) bring Toybin I will explain there.
WM
As the group was finishing what would hopefully be their last breakfast ever in Castle Drake, Branwyn stood up and pulled Indigo away from the table and his fifth biscuit. “Come on, we have to talk to Koorin.”
Looking down the table she said, “Anyone who wants to come see her before we go should come too.”
She walked past Jerome and Mary into the kitchen, who in turn stared after her with the fervent wish that Branwyn and her friends would leave as soon as possible so things could return to normal and there would be things to clean but no one to serve but the Count himself.
Koorin, who had only just finished making breakfast, was now in the stages of planning a sumptuous dinner feast. The servants were trying in vain to explain that all of the guests would be gone and it was a waste to prepare 40 pheasants for a dinner that no one would eat.
Softly she called, “Koorin, may I speak to you for a moment?”
Koorin wiped her hands on her apron and turned to speak with Branwyn. Seeing Indigo, she frowned, still angry with him over the whole berries and cream debacle of the past evening.
“The Count’s announcement at dinner last night surprised me, Koorin. Then you ran out so quickly I did not have time to find you. Is this what you want, to stay with the Count instead of coming home with us? You do know he is a vampire. You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to. I will make sure of that. If you wish for a larger group to cook for, I am sure Lord Mosskin would give you a position at the Keep in Jistelle. That way you wouldn’t be fighting with Widow Washburn for control of the kitchen at Orchard House any more. Please come home with us. Don’t’ stay here with that …. that thing.”
Koorin looked at Branwyn and Indigo. "The Count wants me to cook for him. But if you are right and he is a vampire then what will he eat? I thought they ate blood? Not much to do with blood. I suppose I could make it into puddings, make a jello mold out of it, maybe even use it on a sauce? Do you think he likes other things than blood? Maybe liver? That might be a nice match. A good pate with a blood sauce." She pauses thinking on ideas.
Koorin squints at Indigo. "Would you eat pate with a blood sauce?"
Frowns, looks up at Branwyn. "I will come with you to the Coronation Ceremony I have never seen a Queen before last night so I think if I see another one that would be enough for me. Then we can talk there?"
Indigo makes a face and shakes his head, "I don't know what pate is, but I know I don't want to eat any thing with blood sauce!"
Thinking for a minute, he says, "But doesn't the Count have those monthly parties for the people in town? You could make real food for that. Well, if you decided you didn't want to be with us any more. Which I don't understand at all, by the way. I know sometimes I give you a hard time, but you give me a hard time too! Making me run around in stove wheels and stuff. But ... but I still thought you liked being with us. I don't understand."
Branwyn smiles at Indigo. "Not to worry yet, Indigo. All is not lost. Yes, Koorin, you were a very large part in our success in this mission and it is only right that you shall be able to see two Queens and let them thank you for all you have done. You must definitely come to the coronation and perhaps you may be persuaded to stay with us."
Almost forgetting an important item, she turns to one of the servants. "Would you mind going or sending someone into the village for me while we pack? The glass blower there should have finished making a lovely pink glass blown otter for me and I should very much like to take it with me."
