The Quest for Eternity, The Invitations
You have been courteously invited to the manor of Lord Edward Terny Theone III, for the reading of the late Lord’s will and last requests. A fine dinner will be provided for you, and we look forward to your arrival. Please bring this invitation, as access will be denied without it.
That was all that the note said. The late Lord Theone, the words seem difficult to believe at first, and perhaps even now you still refuse to accept their truthfulness. Certainly, Theone’s obsession about immortality may have seemed mad at the time, but if any man had the resolve and the resources to discover a means to cheat death, it was Theone. Especially the resources, that man was perhaps as rich as they come, without actually being royalty. And tonight, perhaps there is a slice of those riches for you in that will. If nothing else, does that not deserve your attention?
Perhaps not, you think as you force your way through the mud and the rain, walking uphill to Theone’s manor. Nevertheless, you reach the door where the elderly butler greets you. He asks for your invitation and your name, and as you give him these things he checks you off of a guest list. He gestures inside, and you step in, grateful to be out of the rain.
The dining hall is exactly as Theone left it. Paintings of great battles are on all four walls, marble busts of long dead men and woman sit within glass cases and the table has enough seats to serve a small army. You take your seats, and are understandable cautious of those around you. Other men and women either trickle in, or have already been seated, depending on the time of your arrival, and you cannot help but to size them up.
Your eyes fly to the most flamboyant figure in the room, a Mulan woman of Hazlan. Her head is ritualistically shaved, and her entire body is tattooed, as is the custom for the Mulan. It takes only a moment for you to recognize her, and you gasp to be in the presence of royalty. You recognize her from countless paintings and descriptions, Eleni, heir to Hazlik the Red Wizard, lord of Hazlan. It seems that Theone had more powerful friends than you imagined.
The next guest you can barely stop yourself from cringing from, a bearded elderly man dressed in a soldier’s uniform. However, you only note these things after noticing that the entire right side of his face is scarred and deformed, along with his right arm. His eye is still there, and appears to function, but the wound has taken a terrible price. His right eye is almost decaying, has turned yellow and has become overrun with red.
A scholarly, attractive woman is next, dressed in far more modest clothing than the other guests. She wears a wooden holy symbol and holds a journal in her hands. She cannot be more than twenty years old, and she seems naïve for lack of a better word. Her eyes constantly jump from one guest to another, as though they could answer some question for her.
Then we have what appears to be a gentleman from Darkon, wearing a golden chain, complete with two guards, each carrying a walking stick. The gentleman keeps his right hand pressed against his chest, and occasionally gestures to one of his guards to come closer, to whisper something into the man’s ear, only for all three to burst into laughter.
You gasp, the next man, perhaps only eighteen, is the spitting image of Lord Theone. For a moment you even believe that he is the same Lord, but catch yourself. This young man has subtle, but important, differences; slightly different shade of brown hair, blue eyes instead of green, smaller build. No, he is not Theone. But he’s darn close.
A man covered in furs is the last to enter. He simply sits down, only grunting as he passes. When the food is served, he digs in, caring not for manners or subtlety. This man was hungry, and cares for little else as of the moment.
The food is brought out, and it all looks quite good. Breads, soup, cakes, wine, just as extravagant as when Theone lived here. You may want to introduce your characters now, whenever the butler, who has introduced himself as “Christian Daryl, at your service,” refuses to answer any questions about Theone or the will “until all of my guests are properly fed and comfortable.” If you wish to make an action now, or contradict an assumed action that I have put in this scene, including attending the dinner in the first place, go right ahead.
44 comments:
Oh no, Aleksandr Grimaldi is there. Free dinner, and a chance to rub the faces of my betters in the fact that he, a simple soldier, has been included in the will of someone of high Quality? He's there.
He won't recognize the royalty.
Aleks will eat quietly, hoping to catch some interesting conversation. As soon as possible, he will offer his condolences to the man he takes to be Theone's son. He will also offer his services, should the young man find himself in need of anything Aleks can provide.
Also, how are we to refer to Lord Theone? He was of the nobility, correct? What was his title? Duke, Count, Marquis? And of what? Is Theone a geographic place, such that he would be 'of Theone,' or a family name, so that he would be 'of something else?' I just want to know how to address his heir, and not fatally offend any other noble.
Theone’s title is “Lord,” and he’s technically not royalty. He’s just rich, very, very rich. Theone is just a family name, there’s nothing important about it. When you address the youth:
“Oh, I’m not Lord Theone’s son, I’m his nephew. His sister is my mother. Edwin Renn, a pleasure to meet you sir.” He takes a look at your hand, blinks, then looks back at you. “I must say, I was quite surprised to be invited here in the first place. Uncle Theone disowned me a few years back.”
Rennac is there, in fact, he shows up quite early. Although his black robe is not exactly of high quality, he still wears it as proudly as most nobles, and quickly joins conversations between some of the people he takes to be the higher ups, mainly listening for speech of some of the politics and descisions of the "governmental" houses. Anyone paying careful attention would realize that he has not once mentioned his last name.
Okay, in that case Rennac has a decision to make as to who to talk to. Eleni is the only person who you recognise, so odds are she's the "highest up" that you'll find. However, the Darkonian man appears to be wearing very regal clothing, probably a lord of some sort in his own right. Then, naturally, there's the man who resembles Theone. These guys seem like the most royal, or highest decision makers, in the group, which one do you want to talk with?
A massive, hulking form of a man blocks the doorway as the old butler, Christian Daryl, opens the door, and takes the proportionally dwarfed invitation from his hand. Ducking through the portal the giant strides purposefully towards the aromas that waft towards him, pausing shortly he unbuckles the chain around his neck and hefts the massive sodden dark wool cloak over a nearby coat rack.
“Damnable unholy weather,” he grumbles as he attempts to ring some of the water from his lengthy hair. As the pleasing aromas of warm food and heady drink return to the entry chamber, he straightens his back and again strides resolutely into the dining hall. He stands nearly three meters in height, and his chest spans half that in width, his immense arms are bare and crisscrossed with considerable scar tissue.
His eyes dart across those men and women already gathered before snorting and reaching for a serving bowl of soup, a full loaf of bread, and a carafe of wine. He glances over his shoulder at the marble busts that line the room, before he begins to eat, and presses the palms of his hands against his eyes and murmurs something quietly under his breath.
The scarred soldier seems to look over the new, towering guest. He coughs once, and in an scratchy, yet powerful, voice introduces himself. “Captain Harrow sir.” The soldier says, extending his left, non-crippled hand towards the guest. “You seem to have come quite a ways to get here. Might I ask how you knew Theone?”
Swiping his mouth with the back of his palm, the towering brute glances towards the crippled soldier and squinting extends his solidly built hand to complete the invitation.
The hulking man's forearm ripples with untold power as he shakes Harrow's outstretched hand, "Haldis Largesse. Theone and I crossed paths some years ago, he spoke at great lengths of his quest... I suppose this gathering would confirm his failure."
“It appears so.” Harrow says. His handshake is rather frail, but he takes yours very well. “Though I must admit, there were times when I thought he might very well have achieved immortality. He was vicious on the battlefield in his day, I honestly thought that the man had no fear.”
Oh, and Soren, if you wish to converse with Eleni, you should know a little background information on her first. These are all things that anyone interested in politics, or scandals, would have heard, at least in passing. First, while I described Eleni as a Mulan, she in fact is not, though she is shaved and tattooed like one. Hazlan has two types of citizens, Mulan, the upper class, and the Rashemani, everyone else. Eleni was in fact born Rashemani, but her magical prowess impressed the Red Wizard. He took her in, made Eleni his chief apprentice and heir, and elevated his new favorite above even the Mulan. There are rumors that Eleni and Hazlik have more to their relationship than meets the eye, though if this is true or just slander made by the envious and resentful Mulan is unknown. Also, an interesting bit of trivia, up until The Grand Conjunction, it was illegal for anyone to study arcane magic in Hazlan, save for the Red Wizard. Since then, the position has been reversed, and Hazlik has even created a school for aspiring apprentices. I don’t know if any of this information is useful to you, I just thought that I’d point it out.
The giant's eyes sparkle at Harrow's mention of Theone's previous experience, "I was unaware of his prowess. His skill seemed to be with words, not blades."
“Ah, many people get that impression, but they seem to forget that old Theone was the hero of The Battle of Ravening Plains. If he was not there that day, I would have lost my life, instead of these.” Harrow gestures towards his crippled hand and eye, clenching the withered appendage as he does so. “Theone had unusual daring, often times just throwing himself in the way of danger to protect some friends. We all were sure that he wouldn’t have made it through the war, but he did.”
Well, with all this information, Eleni is my choice.
Rennac approaches Eleni and politely waits for whatever conversation she's in to end. "well, it is an honor to meet you, my lady, I have have heard about the sorceress powerful enough to be raised to the Mulan adn even further out of respect, but I never expected to meet her." Rennac pauses for a moment to allow his niceties to sink in. "Anyway, I guess I am here to ask you about your homeland, I myself am an aspiring arcane magic user, and am considering moving toward Hazlan to join the arcane magic school. So I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about how Hazlan runs, since you've been on both sides of it's government."
"Aleksandr Grimaldi. I did little things for your uncle for years, in addition to keeping some few of his troops in line. Why, if you don't mind me asking, were you disowned?"
Overhearing the conversation about Theone's battlefield experience, Aleksandr offers this:
"It's not that he was fearless. He was good with a sword, but he knew that if he had hesitated, we would have been less apt to follow him, and he'd have been more likely to get himself killed than if he showed no fear. Funny, huh? But the strain of having to put himself in danger always seemed to me to be the reason he was such a sucker for the mystic mumbo jumbo he kept after."
ooc: Also, pet peeve alert: 'Lord' is not a title. It's an honorific, like Mister. It implies nothing about just what you are, just something about a perceived relative position in society. And I hadn't meant him by 'royalty,' but the Mulan girl. I had been under the impression that Theone was a noble, which means a noble title.
Ohh….see, that’s what we have the history major here for. Well, Theone is just known as “Lord,” he really wasn’t interested in politics. He had no technical noble title, just enough money so that it didn’t matter. Also, Mordent is divided into several houses of nobility, and as far as anyone knows there is no way to actually purchase a title. I can get you a list of those houses, if anyone is interested, but they are more minor details of the domain than anything else. Theone wasn’t born into one of these houses, so he wasn’t nobility, just very rich, though he certainly had enough money to be respected as one. Also, just a point of clarification, Eleni isn’t royalty in the traditional sense. She is heir to Hazlan’s throne, but she wasn’t born into it. Hazlik has, as far as anyone knows, no children, and he’s over eighty years old now.
Eleni looks over Rennac, then, after a moment, smiles. “An aspiring apprentice to Hazlik, he will be most pleased. Hazlik is always eager for new students, from anywhere in the Core or beyond it.
“As far as government goes, Hazlik is the ultimate ruler of Hazlan, with me being his second in command. However, Hazlik has other duties that call his attention, magical experiments and other such obligations, so he has his Mulan generals handle the day to day affairs of the domain.” You note that Eleni says the word “Mulan” with more than a little resentment. “Until recently, Hazlan has been completely governed by the Mulan, but Hazlik has been working to take down some of those social barriers. For this very reason, he and the Mulan have been at odds, they fear losing their personal power.”
Edwin smiles. “No, I don’t mind at all. The last time that I saw Uncle Theone was five years ago. I was in this very manor, here for a little party, and he insisted that we come. You see, my mother and I were the only family that Uncle Theone had left, and he absolutely adored her. Well, there was an incident, I was thirteen at the time, and you know how emotions take over you. There was a girl, I had just met her that very same day actually. Well, I was bored with the party, and I snuck off to meet this girl. She wanted to see the manor, and I brought her in, showed her some of the artwork and artifacts that my father had collected. To impress her, I brought the girl into one of Uncle Theone’s secret rooms, where he kept some of his more valuable items. She looked around, and eventually Uncle Theone found us, just as she was lifting an odd antique blade. He was furious, though to be honest I have no idea why. He threw me out and disowned me, just like that. Now, my mother was heartbroken, she truly loved her brother, and insisted that I apologize, make piece with my uncle. Eventually she threw me out, telling me not to come back until I did. So I dressed myself up, went to Uncle Theone’s manor, and asked to see him, but he was already gone by that time. Since then, I had hoped that he would return, so that I could apologize and that my mother would accept me back, but since it appears that the old man is dead, I can only hope that there is something in his will that shows that he has forgiven the incident.”
"Well, there has to be some reason you were called to the reading of the will, unless maybe he really wanted to rub it in that you were left out."
"The way you spoke of the Mulan there... are they corrupt or cruel rulers, or just self-absorbed?" Realizing who he's speaking to, Rennac corrects himself, "I'm sorry if I spoke out of place."
"Don't be. The Mulan are not the rulers, they are the ruling class. Hazlik rules over them. They are, however, corrupt, selfish little creatures, who live off of the sweat of the Rashemani. They have the economical advantage, if a Rashemani wishes to eat he needs money, and the only ones who can give him that are the Mulan. So, the Mulan give their money, as little as they can, for work that would fetch a heavy fee in Darkon. In this method, they can maintain their power, the Rashemani never have enough to become self-dependent. But Hazlik's new stance on arcane magic has begun to destroy these barriars. Now there are other ways for the Rashemani to get money, and slowly the Mulan are losing their power."
Aleks asks Edwin, "So, any idea when we actually get to hear this mythical will?"
“I’m sure I don’t know.” Edwin says.
Daryl takes this opportunity to step in. “The will shall be brought out shortly, you needn’t worry.”
Sure enough, once the guests seem to have lost their interest in the soup, bread, and other food objects, Daryl has three objects brought forth. First comes an envelope, already opened, with the words “Edward Theone” written on one side. Next comes a leather book, devoid of any markings on its cover. Finally comes a small chest, which is placed in front of Daryl.
“Five years ago, Lord Theone left this house, quite suddenly, and never returned. As per his standing orders, we have kept his manor in the same condition since that time, continuing our duties as though the Lord was still here. His will remained, locked away, with instructions for it to be opened if he vanished for five years. And so, only a month ago, we tore open the envelope, and found only this.”
Daryl removes two slips of paper from the envelope that was brought forward. He lifts one slip and reads it aloud. “Attached you will find ten names. Upon five years after my disappearance, send for them, or their next of kin should they have passed on. Treat them well, and read this will aloud to them. My dear friends, I am sure that by this time you are all wondering why all of you have been summoned here. I left these instructions, in the event that one of my expeditions to achieve immortality resulted in my death. All of my belongings, my property, are to be passed on to a single person, one whose name is on the attached list. In order for any of my property to be passed on, one of these fine men and women, must discover my ultimate end. The first among these to return to this manor, with either proof of my death, or proof that I have, in fact, achieved immortality, will receive everything to the Theone name, including the manor that you now sit in. All who wish to enter may do so now, they need simply sign their name on page ten of the book provided here, and take an item from the chest that accompanies my servant. Inside are various objects, all of which have a symbol on it, so that other players in this game might recognize each other: and, if I still exist, that I might recognize them. You shall be allowed free reign of this manor, should you chose to accept, and a writ of payment, made out for three thousand mournpieces, to cover expenses. And so, let the great race to learn my fate begin.”
Daryl lets the effect sink in for a moment. “We had an appraiser in as soon as we opened the will. The property and house are worth half a million mournpieces, if sold quickly. However, the true value of this prize is the pieces of art and the antiques that Theone managed to acquire over the years. The library is especially valuable, stocked with first editions of Van Ritchten’s works, along with countless other works. A separate appraiser estimated their value at approximately three-quarters of a million mournpieces. That just covers their material value; we never divined the purpose of any enchanted items in Lord Theone’s collection, but I assure you that there are many such items. This is your prize, bring back proof of Lord Theone’s fate, and all of this is yours.”
Daryl opens the book to page ten, which is completely blank, and opens the chest. Inside are numerous items, rings, belts, gloves, all with the symbol of an eclipsed sun. “Take care of whatever item you chose, should you wish to join the race, it is your ticket back. You must provide one of these items if and when you return, to prove that you were invited to participate in this race. Have we any volunteers?”
"Theone might be dead, or might just be lost somewhere, and he wants us to play a game? Sure, why not?" Aleks stands, walks to the book, signs, and selects a pair of leather riding gloves. (ooc: I assume you didn't mean winter gloves; correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll choose a different item.)
“Welcome aboard.” Daryl says. The NPCs begin to filter to sign their names and take an object, at their own paces. And yeah, they’re riding gloves, it’s around spring in this domain so winter ones would be impractical.
Pushing the bowl away, Haldis bends over, scribbles his name on page ten and lifting the box from the floor to a closer distance to his face, reaches for a large and worn leather belt which he wraps around his massive right thigh nearly a foot above his knee. "Suppose this will just have to fit here, then, won't it."
“Very good sir. Please, you may now all take a look through the manor, if you wish. Theone’s collection has been neatly displayed. Everything in a display case we request that you do not touch, but you may examine anything else at your leisure.”
Oh, I forgot to tell you guys what a mournpiece is. Most of the domains have different currencies, and a mournpiece is the Mordent equivalent of a gold piece. Usually these coins spend the same, as they have roughly the same value of precious metals, but problems can arise if money is spent in the wrong place. For example, mournpieces indicate that you’re from Mordent, so, for example, you may have trouble using them in Falkovnia.
"So, where was he last seen, for sure? Maybe we should all start by saying where and when we last actually met with Lord Theone, and who else was there or where we thought he was going from there.
"I'll start. I saw Lord Theone five years ago. He was in his study, in his city house. I was headed off to Port-a-Lucine, and when I came back about eight months later, he was already missing. No one claimed to know where he had gone, or they wouldn't tell me. Just gone.
"Anyone else? It's not as if a random trawl of the world will be terribly likely to turn up one person. Every bit of information will help someone, maybe you."
Eleni doesn’t seem interested in sharing. She walks out of the room.
Harrow speaks up. “Well, after the last was against Falkovnia, Theone and I parted ways. He tried to rope me in to coming with him to find immortality, and I even searched for it myself once, but I haven’t seen him since then.”
The Darkonian gentleman steps up next, seemingly more amused at the prospect than anxious. “Theone and I parted ways five years ago, after he cut off my trade rout through The Mountains of Misery. I only saw him briefly, to pay him to get off of my trade rout.”
Edwin is next. “Well, after I was disowned by Uncle Theone, I never saw him again.”
The man covered in furs just grunts, apparently he doesn’t feel like sharing either.
Finally, after being nudged by Harrow, the lady with the holy symbol speaks up. “Um…h-hi. Well, I didn’t know Theone that well personally, he was more-more of a friend of my mother. Actually, I assumed that the invitation was meant for her, but she died a couple of years ago.”
“That is correct.” Daryl interrupts. “Sister Ella here was not supposed to get an invitation, but being her mother’s next of kin she received the invitation in her stead.”
“Yeah…but I guess the last time I saw Theone was…six years ago? He had something of an attraction to my mother, but I guess it never worked out.”
Thomas Aconite walks into the room after nodding in passing to Eleni. He seems a tad shocked at her physical appearance, but other than that, he isn't terribly affected.
Tom stands at an average height and a muscled build, he doesn't look too extraordinary, although his yellow eyes have a certain ferocity to them, as though something terrible lurks beneath his skin, waiting to spring free. He runs his hand through his black hair and says, "Sorry I'm late, have I missed anything important? My name is Thomas Aconite."
“Oh, Thomas, good to see you, I was afraid that you weren’t coming. Well, you’ve missed dinner, but we seem to have some leftover goods, if you want to help yourself. We’ve also read the will.” Daryl patiently reads through the details of the will again. The man in furs, who is still eating through this, looks up at the new arrival, then returns to his food.
Tom listens intently to the reading of the will, and after a moment of considering, he says, "Alright, count me in. And please, call me Tom." He scribbles his name down in crooked, hasty handwriting in the appropriate place in the book. After rifling through the chest, he produces a necklace and puts it on. "This seems to fit nicely," he says with a smile.
"For what it's worth," the giant speaks. "I crossed paths with the old man nearly ten years ago. We were both traveling through one of the many unnamed forests but he went on and on, apparently even then, with his desire to find immortality."
“Well.” The Darkonian gentleman stands up. “This has all been fun, but seeing as this is a race, and there can only be one winner, it hardly seems advantageous for us to work together. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in the library.” With that, he leaves, followed by his two guards.
“I’m off too.” Harrow says, taking a final swig of wine before stepping out of the room.
“Um…yeah.” Sister Ella says hesitantly before getting up and bolting from the room.
Edwin stands up. “Sorry, I’ve got to look for something.”
The man in furs doesn’t seem that interested in leaving the table, and just sits back, still eating.
Tom nods to those leaving, and steps toward the man in furs. "Pardon me, sir, but just what kind of fur is your outfit made from?" he asks, not seeming terribly interested in bothering to get the leg up on the race.
"Wolf." the man says as he bites into another loaf of bread.
OOC: Sorry, I've been away the last few days.
IC: Rennac waits until everyone else has already signed their name before even bothering to approach the book and chest. He signs his name illegibly and takes a ring if there's one left (If not then something small is good too). After taking something from the chest, he returns to his seat and slowly picks at and eats his food, in quiet contrast to the man in furs sitting near by.
Upon seeing some of the people leave, Rennac mutters something about surprise at the length of time it took for people to start chasing after money, and then goes back to quietly eating.
"Wolf... Ah. I see. Well then, I'll leave you to your meal. I've always been one for the hunt that's all." Tom pats the fur-clad man on the back and stands leaning against the wall. "So, anyone here willing to work as a team, perhaps split the winnings? I can say for myself I wouldn't mind having some company seeking out our possibly late host."
Fur man gives you a glare when you touch him, but doesn't bother to do anything past that.
"Well, as my suggestion, aimed not at collaboration but at making sure that someone actually wins, failed, I may be willing to collaborate, if only to screw those selfish bastards.
"First though, who the hell are you?"
ooc: By the way, did we ever get skills? If not, is there a way they're being handled, or do we just pretend (which is fine, this being a game of pretend, I'd just like to know)?
The hulking giant follows languidly behind Harrow. They both seem to be heading in the same direction.
"What do you mean, who the hell am I?" Thomas asks. "My name is Thomas Aconite, but you can call me Tom. I'm a fairly accomplished fighter, and also an experienced hunter and tracker. What more do you wish to know, stranger?"
A loud crash interrupts your conversation, followed by a scream coming from another room.
Tom straightens up quickly and runs out of the room toward the source of the scream and crash. Along the way, he draws his sword.
Aleks turns his head towards the noise, then also runs.
Rennac calmly putss down the bread he was eating and walks toward the disturbance.
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