Events of 20-9-1266 TGR - House Affairs
Indigo's Return during Bag of Clouds
Events of 20-9-1266 TGR
Indigo hurries from the docks where he left Mistress Erindale and the Tarangini. As he approaches the doors to the Residence the guard on duty stops him. "I am sorry Sir there are no visitors this late." Indigo sputters just a bit, "But I live here!" then just before getting angry he says, "Go talk to Phillipe, He will tell you. You must be new here. " The guard cautiously nods his head, "Yes sir. This is my first turn at this post. I take it Phillipe is the person in charge of the house? I did not meet him yet but I will call for him." The guard pulls the rope for the bell pull and a moment later Phillipe pokes his head out of the door.
"Sir Indigo! Welcome home sir. Did you want anything before turning in? The Ambassador has just gone to her quarters for the evening."
“Good to be home, Phillipe! Branwyn went to sleep already? I guess I won’t wake her up. It can wait until tomorrow. But is it all right if I sneak into the kitchen and see if there are any leftovers from dinner? Is everyone else back from the werewolf hunt?”
As Phillipe starts to answer, Indigo interrupts feeling horrible that this was not the first thing that he was taking care of. "Where do you think I should put the dead priestess until the morning when I can take her to the Grand Celestry? I was thinking maybe I should put her in the chapel off the courtyard. What do you think?"
Phillipe looks at Indigo and realizes what is in the bundle he is carrying. "I suggest bringing your burden to the chapel on the first floor. I will go rouse Jilly to make you something and then tell Branwyn you are coming to speak with her." Seeing Indigo start to shake his head, "I think if you show up here with a dead body in the middle of the night she will want to know."
Pausing before he walks away, "I do need to ask, do we, I guess did, we know her? I am guessing from your reaction that it is not Miranda?"
“Miranda! Oh no! No, no, Miranda’s fine,” Indigo said, shaking his head. “This is someone else. We never knew her. I’ll take care of her and head up to the salon then.”
Indigo took the priestess into the chapel and carefully laid her down in the back, trying not to disturb the wrappings. He then quietly crept up the stairs to the salon trying not to wake the others and to wait for Branwyn and a bite to eat before bedtime.
As he entered the room and sank down on the sofa, he was startled by an odd sound coming from the corner that to Indigo was sort of like music, but not quite. He swiveled around and peeked over the sofa to find Jennevive sitting in one of the chairs in the corner tuning her lyre. “Oh, hello, Jennevive! I didn’t think anyone else would be up this late. Everything okay while I was gone?”
"Welcome home Sir Indigo" she says with a smile and a nod of her head. "I was just here practicing to not keep Branwyn awake. She has been studying quite hard lately. You are more used to her being secluded away in the library I suppose. You cannot imagine the pile of scrolls that Phillipe has for her."
Pausing to look at Indigo more closely. "Why is it only you here? Where is Tristan, Miranda, Marisu? What sort of bad news do you have for Branwyn? Can I help with anything?"
“Oh, I have all sorts of bad news! Hmmm, and maybe you can help me with some of it,” Indigo said as a thought started to cross his mind.
“And what kind of bad news is that, Indigo?” Branwyn said coming in the doorway while tightening her robe around her waist. “I hope Phillipe is bringing tea for us all.” She looked around the room, nodded at Jennevive, and then turned back to Indigo in alarm. “Wait … where are the others? What happened? Tell me!”
“Everyone’s fine! I promise. They’re just not here. They couldn’t come back with me if we’re going to have four more spots on the airship for the trip back.”
“Trip back? Why would you need to go back? Why are they still there? This was supposed to be a simple negotiation. It would seem that it would either have been successful or it was not. Don’t tell me they have been haggling over details this whole time. And Phillipe told me you deposited something in the chapel I should know about. Did someone send us a gift?” Branwyn asked, her questions spilling over each other.
“Well, it was simple, sort of. Except we kind of promised we would help with something and then it turned out to be a big something and the priestess … Maybe I should start at the beginning,” Indigo said looking back at the door wondering how long it would take for food to come. Sighing, he started to tell his tale.
“Okay. We arrived at this cabin in the woods. The Duke wouldn’t even meet us at his house and he wouldn’t talk to anyone except Tristan and Marisu. Every time Miranda or I said anything he would act like we didn’t even say anything. I didn’t like him very much. He didn’t offer us anything to eat or drink or beds for the night, even to Tristan and Marisu.’
‘So we go into the cabin and there’s this pirate lady there named Isla and we find out she was supposed to bring a priestess to the negotiation but they got attacked by these bandits and the bandits killed the priestess. So Isla brought her to the cabin and wrapped her up and left her there for six days, waiting for someone to come and pay her for bringing her body back even though she didn’t protect her like she was supposed to.”
“I thought Tristan was supposed to be the negotiator,” Branwyn interrupted. “How many priests did the Duke need?”
Indigo nodded. “That was strange and we were trying to figure that one out. There might have been two others that didn’t make it to the negotiations before Tristan and the Duke was talking to Marisu like she was the old Ambassador. Or he was expecting the old one. He had a chess board set up and was talking about the Ambassador without saying it was her, but made it sound like he talked to her about coming before. Maybe Mistress Waverlyn sent Priestess Rosary. I don’t know. I really didn’t understand what was happening half the time.”
“Who’s Priestess Rosary?” Branwyn asked, shaking her head as she often did during Indigo’s stories.
“She’s the priestess that got killed. Priestess Trisha Rosary. She was a priestess of Aclim. We kept asking where her home was but no one seemed to know, so we brought her back here so we could bring her body to the Grand Celestry for a proper burial or whatever the priests of Aclim do for honoring their dead. That’s what I was going to ask Jennevive about. Do you think if I bring her body to the Celestry that they will be happy, or will they think I killed her? Because I didn’t kill her! None of us did. We’re trying to help her, but I can see where people might figure we did something bad if we walk up with a dead body out of nowhere,” Indigo paused and looked over at Jennevive.
Jennevive sets down her instrument carefully on the floor next to her chair.
"Indigo do you know Rosary's title? Just on the chance this person told you who she was. That will help determine how she should be treated."
"It does seem like there are four or more complications you are bringing up. One would be what are the gnomes doing in all of this? You were there to negotiate for the Duke, I was led to believe in my research that he is having a problem with his mines and a tribe of gnomes."
Hold up a finger to stop Indigo, "Just a moment maybe you can answer all of these and Branwyn's questions at once."
"Number two, if there are other negotiators that failed did they fail before or after meeting with the Duke? Also why is the Temple of Air and Light involved at all with these negotiations?"
"It seems strange to meet the Duke without his entourage and to not even be invited to stay with him as high ranking priest like Tristan?"
"Lastly, How do you know the person who brought this dead priestess to you did not kill her themselves. You said they were a pirate. Did Tristan perform any tests on the veracity of her story?"
"Oh thank you Jilly, " turning to the opening door. "That smells wonderful, and I think we might be here a little longer than expected."
“You sure ask a lot of questions, Jennevive. Ohhh…. Dinner! Hi Jilly! We didn’t get any decent food besides the things you sent with us the whole trip,” Indigo said, already on his feet and heading for the sideboard to get himself a plate.
Branwyn laughed and went to get herself a cup of tea. “Thank you, Jilly. Feel free to grab yourself something and catch up with us if you wish.”
“I don’t eat this late at night. It gives you bad dreams. But Indigo can go right ahead and eat all he wants. I’ll just sit over here in case you need something else,” Jilly said and sat on the far side of the room watching Indigo pile food on his plate.
As Indigo finished preparing his meal, he struggled to remember all that Jennevive had asked him. “Patron. She was Patron Trisha Rosary. I hope that gets her something nice for all she’s been through. And Tristan didn’t cast anything on the Isla woman. He was focused on settling the treaty. I didn’t like her too much, being a pirate and all and asking for gold and demanding to come home with us. I hope she didn’t kill her. No one really thought about it that way. I just think she didn’t do her job like she was supposed to. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t give her anything. We told her we didn’t have any coins since we flew in on an airship, and that’s when she demanded to come home with us so she can get someone to give her something. I guess we’ll see what happens.’
‘What else did you ask again? Oh yeah, gnomes. No one ever said anything about any gnomes. And I thought you were here when Mistress Erindale asked us to help. She needs the gems for the airships. If the Duke was negotiating with other people,” Indigo shrugged, “who knows? All we know is that he said the first negotiator didn’t arrive so the Duke sent a message. Mistress Erindale heard from the Duke’s men that the negotiator was dead so she came to Branwyn. Then we get there and find out Isla was bringing Patron Rosary from the northeast almost a month out. When they were only a couple days from getting to the Duke, they got struck by these bandits. Isla said she was hired by the Kayugan church as the escort, but didn’t know who the priestess was representing. So Tristan was the first negotiator to make it there alive it seems. But see, that was the strange thing with the Duke having the chess board ready and talking about the Ambassador. It was like he was expecting her.”
Indigo took a break from talking to have a couple bites and a drink of water before continuing. “And if it was up to me and I thought the Duke would have even said hello to me, which he didn’t after I bowed and introduced myself to him, I would have asked for some supper. But no one really asked much of anything and so things just happened. Anyway, I should probably just tell you what happened next,” Indigo held his hand up and took a few more bites, hoping Jennevive wouldn’t ask any more questions for just a second.
“Anyway, then Tristan got done praying and started to handle the negotiations. Mistress Erindale was acting all strangely and was pacing around outside saying she didn’t want to go in the cabin. The Duke said he wanted a … ummm … a mutual defense treaty, I think. He said that he was having trouble protecting the mine. So then Tristan tells Mistress Erindale and she says she would provide airship support to protect the mine for 1,000 gems for each day of protection! Can you imagine seeing 1,000 gems in one place? I didn’t understand how any mine could make that many gems. What if the ship protects the mine for a whole week? I mean, that’s a whole lot of gems. But no one seemed to think it was a big deal so I didn’t say anything. Maybe 7,000 gems for a week’s work isn’t a lot. Maybe we should ask for more the next time we go protecting something, huh Branwyn?” Indigo said with a grin.
“Wait, wait, Indigo,” Branwyn said. “This doesn’t make any sense. What were the terms? The airship protects against one enemy and however many days it takes is all the treaty covers? Or was it a protection for a set period of time on an ongoing basis? Does this mine truly produce that much a day? I do not have any true understanding of mining, but I agree with you Indigo, that it seems a little much to produce on a long term basis and Mistress Erindale didn’t sound to me like she simply wanted a one-time purchase. The airship was to stay in Domville flying over the mine waiting for an attack, or just come when Domville called for them?”
“I dunno,” he answered. “We didn’t understand what was going on, what with all the running back and forth inside and outside the cabin. They all agreed to it and then the Duke went to go to his home and have dinner and sleep in a bed and left all of us in the cabin while Tristan wrote the treaty. The next morning the Duke came back and the treaty is signed and sealed and they named it the Emerald Sky Treaty. I think that was a pretty good name, don’t you? But then the something big happened,” he said with what he hoped would be a dramatic pause but also give him time to eat a bit more.
Jilly was bouncing on her seat, "Then what, then what!"
Jennevive gave a small smile at Jilly and turned to Branwyn. "I think that Indigo has learned quite a bit from Sarengar in how to tell a story. Who was that bard that traveled with you for that short time? Maybe Indigo has some other hidden talents we never knew about."
Then she turned to Indigo. With a straight face she asked, "So I take it everyone lived happily ever after? And you came back to tell us?"
Branwyn gave a small chuckle as she waited for Indigo to continue.
“Of course not, Jennevive! If everyone lived happily ever after, we’d all be back at home and Tristan would be the one telling the story. But back to what happened. They signed the treaty and Marisu had no sooner dried the ink on the contract and Tristan thanked them both, when the Duke stands up and says … he’ll see us in a week when the dragon returns!” Indigo beamed at his audience.
“Dragon? What kind of dragon? And how did the Duke know when the dragon was coming? This dragon has a standing appointment to attack the mine?” Branwyn asked incredulously.
“I guess so. The Duke said it comes on the first of every month and has shut down his mine for the last six months. The Duke said he’s lost some men. He said it was a young rogue green dragon.”
Branwyn, who was thinking of the first dragon she had ever seen, suddenly relaxed in her seat. “A young one. And no fire to burn the airship. You know when it will be coming and the Duke should know its patterns if he has been fighting it for six months. Why didn’t you just stay and kill it? Or at least use the airship to scout the area for its lair? I don’t see a terrible problem.’
She paused and continued. ‘Yes, Tristan should have asked what the mine defense entailed before committing Mistress Erindale to it, and I am not entirely convinced that the terms are such to please her. If she needs gems on an ongoing basis and you kill the dragon in a day, the Duke solves a permanent problem and Mistress Erindale gets a payment and not a trade agreement. I hope that I am wrong in this and I shall not be disappointed in her treatment.”
Indigo put his empty plate on the table and shifted in his seat. “Well, I think nobody was sure what to do. I tried to ask the Duke about the attacks and so did Miranda, but the Duke won’t listen to us. And Tristan was so upset he wasn’t listening to us and he didn’t ask the Duke anything. And Marisu didn’t ask the Duke any of our questions either. Before I left to come back I told them to talk to the Duke again, but I don’t know if they’re going to or not. They just keep trying to come up with a big plan and no one agrees what it should be.”
Branwyn scowled a bit. “I’m sorry no one was listening to you. So what were these big plans?”
“Well, at first Tristan wanted you to come. I’m not sure what else he’s thinking. But then right before I left he gave me a warning that you shouldn’t come unless you were going to kill it because he didn’t want you going all the way over there just to be nice to it or anything. Isla was talking about nets and hooks and stuff and two airships, but I think we only have one. Marisu wants to negotiate with it and have the Duke give it gems not to rob and kill people anymore. But she’ll only do that if she can be in a safe place so she can hide far away from its gassy dragon breath when she talks to it. And Miranda,” Indigo said with a sigh, “wants, as usual, to cast her fly spell on me and toss me at the dragon while everyone else stays away where they’re safe. I told them I’d do it because if they were all too scared to fight a stupid dragon, someone’s going to have to do it.”
Branwyn’s eyebrows arched as she listened to the grand plans. “I have a good mind to keep you and the airship here and let them fight the dragon all by themselves. All this fuss for a young dragon? And does no one but you even begin to understand me, Indigo?”
Branwyn got up and forgetting the tea, poured herself a glass of wine and began pacing the room as she talked. “Two dragons! Two and they know nothing. The first dragon was seriously injured and had surrendered at my feet. I had a dragon at my feet! We could have found out where his lair was and had an enormous treasure. Besides the fact that I was the one it had carried away. It had not hurt anyone else. It surrendered to ME and Sarengar and Hoffman killed it in a burst of pride and bloodlust. I am the bad one for that?’
‘And that damned white one of the north! The people there kept it captive for decades, chained and on display. That is torture for a flying and sentient being. Then they have the gall to tell me, ‘well, we feed it, so it’s okay it’s in chains.’ The kind of people that torture deserve what they get. If they don’t like what the dragon did to their city, then kill it, get along with it, or move. Doing what they did was as evil as the dragon itself. If someone kept me captive for decades, no one would want to see the evil I would unleash on them if finally found myself free. I did what should have been done a long time before. Let them have a fair fight. So enough of this Branwyn and dragon talk. It just makes me angry.”
“Grrrr! Yes, enough of that,” Branwyn said, sitting back down. “And you should not judge Marisu too harshly. She has not had her diplomacy training yet. Maybe they should let her try, but I do not see how one negotiates successfully with a powerful being from an obvious place of fear. But you, Indigo, I know you don’t like the idea of flying. Do you want to do that?”
Indigo shrugged. “Not really. But it seemed to be getting silly. Someone has to do something or Mistress Erindale won’t get her gems. I wasn’t even going to go back. I’m not good at fighting from a distance. I was just going to come here to tell you all everything and see who wanted to go and help.”
“I’m sorry, Indigo. We’ll figure something out,” Branwyn said. Then she turned and caught the figure of Phillipe in the doorway. “Phillipe! I’m glad you’re still up. Tomorrow, can you please send a card to the Ambassador of Domville and invite him to tea or dinner, whenever he can come?”
Jennevive stood up. "I will go stand vigil for our lost Patron. Indigo I can bring her to the Grand Celestry for you if you wish in the morning. Thank you for honoring her."
Jennevive bows to Indigo briefly and then goes downstairs to the chapel.
Phillipe holds the door for her and then nods to Branwyn. "I shall contact them at first light and will ensure they are here for dinner tonight. Good night Indigo, Good night Ambassador. Jilly, I think you will need to start breakfast a bit later tomorrow. But" smiles at Indigo " I do think you need to double the size of the servings."
Phillipe closes the door quietly behind him.
Jilly jumps from her chair and runs to hug Indigo. "I am very happy you are home safe. I cannot imagine being thrown through the air at a dragon! That would be amazing! And dangerous," glancing over at Branwyn, "very dangerous. But WOW."
"I will make you honey scones in the morning! Night!"
Jilly opens the secret door and skips down the stair case.
Branwyn ruffled Indigo's hair and stood up. "It's about time we get some rest. It's been a long day. You did very well tonight telling us everything. Thank you."
"All right. I am a little tired now after all that. Is everyone else back from hunting werewolves? How many did they kill?"
"Oh no. No one else has returned yet. I have no idea how they are faring out in Northam. I do hope under the circumstances that they come home soon. So, be prepared to tell your story all over again for the others. Goodnight Indigo," Branwyn said with a smile and then headed back to her room.
Researching the Order of Purity
Branwyn entered the Mages’ Guild, removed her cloak, and found Midguard the Magnificent seemingly waiting for her in the foyer. Branwyn wondered if poor Midguard’s duties were to stand in the hall waiting for members to arrive, or if any time someone did arrive, Midguard had to drop everything he was doing to greet them at the door.
“Good morning, Midguard! I hope you are well. I am glad to see you. I would like someone to guide me to the Guild’s library, if that is possible. I’m not looking for spells. This is more of a political or historical question. It might be a tad on the religious side, but between you and me? I sincerely hope not. Is there a library section that might be able to help me on these sorts of topics?” Branwyn asked.
"We have a small library of historical events here in the guild. They mostly cover the guild itself of course but perhaps there are items there that can help you. Of course there are other libraries in the city as well where we can avoid visiting the Grand Celestry. What are you looking for in particular? We can assemble a team of apprentices to do the divination for us while we wait."
“I really need to get my head out of the Mist. Divination is always the last thing I think about,” Branwyn replied, shaking her head a little. “But I don’t think I need a whole team working on my little project. I was just hoping I could poke around about the shelves for a little bit. The thought just reminds me of the last Drillian Ambassador. She was always hiring people to do work that she probably should have gotten out and done for herself. Now, who killed that woman? There’s a project I wouldn’t mind a team for,” she said with a smile.
“But really Midguard, this is just a matter of curiosity for me. I heard someone mention this Order that I was unfamiliar with and I thought it would be good to educate myself. They could be a group of celibate priests or just a bunch of people committed to clean clothes for all I know. If I can’t find information on organizations or cults, I might need to try some local genealogical research. If the Guild library won’t be of much use, any ideas where I should go? I really don't want to bother the apprentices for a whim.”
"You sound like you are looking for a secret society of some sort. Do you know why they want to keep secret? Who are they hiding from? I tend to find that there are almost always more questions than answers when you start out a search for some bit of information. Then you find the path that makes the most sense and you go down that trail until you know if you are right or wrong. "
He pours two mugs of ale and hands one over to Branwyn.
"So what sort of hidden sect are you looking for? Priests would be at the Grand Celestry or the Prince's library. Unless of course you are paranoid and think that they are hiding something from you. Did you master your new spell? There are other libraries to go visit. It is a bit unorthodox I would admit but there is a very extensive collection of material in Wolfspack. If you can deal with the druids that is."
“Thank you,” Branwyn said, taking her mug. “I might as well just tell you. It can’t be that secret if I heard someone mention it. It’s not like I made myself invisible and was eavesdropping or anything. All I know is that it is called the Order of Purity and it is supposedly older than the Kayugans.'
"Oh,” Branwyn frowned and took a drink. “They probably are a religious sect, aren't they? And I've never been to Wolfspack and so while I did learn to teleport, I do not think that it would be worth the risk of teleporting 50 feet in the air or 20 feet underground in Wolfspack looking for the library. Though I do get the sense that there are those that would wish me a death by teleport. People keep suggesting that I teleport to places I've never been. It almost seems like it would be amusing to them to learn that I teleported myself inside a boulder or got to plummet to my destination out of the sky."
Midguard chuckles at Branwyn's comment. "Oh you are being dramatic I do think. If you are careful about where you go and who you go with there is not much problem at all. My old mentor made us teleport into a lake. If you got it right you would come out right on the surface and get a quick snatch from a nearby boat. If you were off as you say you got a good dunking. It does help sharpen the senses I will tell you."
Taking another drink from his tankard, "As to your Order of Purity, I cannot say that I have ever heard of them. If you say they are older than the Kayugan faith that is not much at all. Only a handful of centuries there. You should talk with the dwarves or the elves. They might know something. Of course you don't want to talk to one and then mention the other. Bad blood there for some reason."
Taking another pull from his tankard, "There are always rumors of elves in the Blum Woods. More likely they are in the wilds of the Cordrawn Hills or across the river in the Wildlands. Not sure where you could find a dwarf to talk to near these parts."
He raises an eyebrow, "Who is this Order and what makes you interested in them?"
Branwyn waved her hand in a show of dismissal. “I suppose that’s that then. I told you before, it was simply a matter of curiosity. Someone mentioned this Order as if it was still active. I’d never heard of it and so I thought I would do some research. I hardly have the time or the inclination to travel the world conducting interviews on the subject. If you think there aren’t any libraries in the city that would have this kind of information, then I shall either have to let it go or ask the person who mentioned it in the first place. I do appreciate the suggestions though.”
"Oh I would never give up that easy. I can ask around if you would like me to. I can see if I can find out if anyone has any old musty history tomes around that might shed some light on things for you. If they are a secret society that is active and let you know about it maybe they want you to join? Perhaps this is a test to see if you have what it takes to be part of their group?"
He takes another drink emptying his tankard, "Or it could be some acolytes playing a prank, you know how they get near the time they get ordained."
Branwyn laughed. “I cannot imagine anyone who knows the least bit about me thinking that I would be a suitable candidate for an Order of Purity, no matter what its true nature is. I have lived too much in the gray areas to be considered a paragon of purity in any aspect. And as far as I am concerned I am much the better off for it. I am sure that there are many who would beg to differ,” she shrugged, “but who has the time to worry about that?”
“I think I will take my questions to the source for now. Secret societies lose a bit of their mystique if people are gabbing about them all over town,” she said with a smile. “I’ll see what I can find out and let you know if I learn anything exciting.”
Branwyn took another drink and then said, “Oh! I know what you can help me with, though. I met Crandal the Knowledgeable at the Prince’s Ball last week. He pulled me aside to show myself to the Great Mage through his Eye of Seeing. Who is this Great Mage and why would he have any interest in me? Is he here in Dryads Lair? Crandal said he doesn’t have another name, but he has to really. I seriously doubt his mother gave birth to him, took one look and named him Great Mage,” she said looking eagerly at Midguard for information. “Or at least that would be one hell of a name to have to live up to!”
Mutters, "you never memorize the right spell you need for the day" looking at his enpty tankard and sighing.
Midguard blinks and look up at Branwyn. "Crandal? Very nicely done. A viewing with the Great Mage is always best to get out of the way quickly when they notice you." The Great Mage is the mage that serves the King of Terraguard. They must have wanted to be sure of you. Did Crandal cast anything on you while they were talking?"
As for the name, that is a title of course. I do not know who the Great Mage is currently. Once you take that title you have great magics at your disposal so you can do so many things it is hard to keep track of who people used to be, who they change into, and so on."
Looking at Branwyn, "you might like that position actually for other reasons. Working with the King's Army and Navy. Able to affect battles over hundreds of miles."
Glances down at his tankard, "You would not happen to have memorized metamorphize today would you?"
“You spend too much time in the Guild and have become lazy,” Branwyn said taking his mug and pouring the contents of hers into his. She handed his mug back to him. “Here, drink this if you can’t manage to walk over and get another drink by yourself,” she said in feigned exasperation.
“So the Great Mage is simply the Royal Mage of Terraguard,” Branwyn continued, a bit disappointed. “Crandal could have just told me that instead of trying to create this big mystery. I don’t think he cast anything on me, but I have to say I was fascinated with the Eye and wasn’t paying much attention to him. But if he was casting some divination spell, he can cast as much as he wants. I have nothing to hide and some divination might actually dispel a few rumours that seem to be going around about me. But I suppose I must have passed whatever inspection was called for as I’m sure I would have heard something by now. How difficult is it to gain an audience with the Great Mage or the Royals in Terraguard City?”
Chuckles at Branwyn's exasperation. "I am just missing my apprentices. Normally I just reach over and my mug has what I need in it. They keep it refilled. But when I heard you wanted to speak with me I dismissed them from this morning's lessons. They are very happy with you for that I can tell you."
He raises his mug to Branwyn in salute.
"As to how difficult it would be to get an audience? Much much harder for me than it is for you. You are one of the Mages of Note. I can only imagine that you have a page or more in the Great Mage's book. Of course he would want to talk to you. Or is it a she? I do not suppose you know? As to the Royals that is your function. They will see you if you ask for it. How quickly, in what circumstance it would be beyond my ken to know but I cannot imagine that anyone would actually tell you no. Why is there something where the Prince has not satisfied you?
“Not at all,” Branwyn said, shaking her head. “I like him very much from what I know of him. And what I like most about him is his professed distance from all the politics in the capitol. However I might like that idea, politics is why I’m here and I am a little concerned that by staying in Dryads Lair I might be missing something that I shouldn’t. But I really have only just arrived. There is plenty of time for visits to Terraguard City.’
‘One more thing before I let you get back to terrorizing your apprentices. What is going on with all this freezing around here? I heard that a girl was found with her heart frozen outside our villa during summer. I just heard the other day there was a frozen dragon shrine. And there was another one … I just can’t remember right now. Anyway, is turning into a block of ice something we need to be worrying about around here?”
"That is a mystery I have not tried to explain. My own guess is your house is haunted. You have some sort of spirit that turns intruders into frozen ice-people. I find it interesting that it only happens to humans and not to just any creature that wanders through there. Must be some sort of very powerful ward. I take it from your question that you did not get a password of any sort for the wards?"
Branwyn laughed. "Passwords for our wards? That is not something I think Philippe would have thought about when he investigated our housing arrangements. But seriously, we have over a dozen people in the house and no one has seen a ghost. Even Lord Hightower reported spending the night there before we came trying to find the alleged ghosts and he found nothing. But it is funny that you would bring that up. I have been thinking about our ghosts this week and was already planning on conducting a more in depth investigation. Thank you for all your help today. I will head off to the shops and buy a couple dozen candles. We are going to have a séance!"
