subplotkudzu | Emirikol, Part II, scene 8

The foursome reached Lord Ambleer's manor is good time considering their condition, and were greeted at the door by servants who took their horses, stowed their bags and handed them warm brandy, much to everyone's relief. Lord Ambleer was most gracious as he accepted the return of his medicinal herbs, and indicated that the heroes of the hour should refresh themselves, as he had given orders for a banquet this evening with local musicians and rare wines.

Covered in much as they were the quartet was quick to comply - Melas and Cybele first given the state of their wounds and dress, followed by the others. All were happy to discover that Lord Ambleer, once an adventurer himself, had constructed his bathing chambers with a separate area where one might disrobe and sluice off the worst of the filth (say, incrusted blood, vulture dander, dust and grit from a collapsed ceiling, spider webbing and venomous ichor in Melas' case) so as to not contaminate the heated, rejuvenating waters of the tub.

(Brian: So what are you doing? Hiram: Well, I spend the night... Brian: No, not the night, right now. Hiram; Actually, 'm so dreading the night that it kind of washes out everything else.)

As the first pair bathed Hiram wandered through Lord Ambleer's library, finding books on the fire religion, a multitude of atlases the history of the area and his family, and a surprisingly complete collection of the high romances of Lady de la Rosa, starting with "Her Passionate Heart"; alas, there were no plays or other high poetry, so Hiram sniffed derisively at their host's tastes. The young actor might be forgiven for his ego, covering as it was the quaking in his heart over spending another night in the haunted room. Deitrich meandered the grounds and held some discourse with Lord Ambleer about the state of the military in the area and their shared agreement that something needed to be done. Ambleer volunteered to write letters anew to the four governors of Emirikol if Lord von Eisenwald would consent to see them to the Chaotic City. Said von Eisenwald agreed. Naturally both men had some restorative food during this as well; Deitrich confined himself to some small morsels while Hiram, quite appropriately, had the chicken (GM: OK, that was mean. Sorry.)

As he ate he questioned the servants about the ghost, learning that her name was Lorell, Roland's twice great grandmother, who was murdered by a kinsman when it appeared that the then Lord Ambleer had died on his second campaign in the southern mountains. The servant added - with no trace of irony - that the ghost appeared only to those with a musical or dramatic soul, and that if someone were to re-create the seeming of the events that killed her than she might be freed (Hiram totally flubbed his Sense Motive check here so he has no reason to suspect that the servants are yanking his chain)

When they dragged themselves from the bath the Lady Floriane amused herself by claiming some food and additional drink - sandwiches which might work for wandering the library - while Melas joined Roland in the wine cellar to make selections for the evening. While his misshapen face and malformed limbs might have made him appear uncouth, Lord Beliseca possessed a fineely honed political mind: as they searched for wines and discussed the nature of technology on the winemaking process (printing on corks and suchlike) Melas hunted out a quality wine that was laid down in a year that had favorable connotations to Lord Ambleer's family. Roland smiled when he saw it, naturally recounting the events of his twice great grandfather's first campaign in the southern mountains and how his victory brought the family a new title and estates inside the Greensward. He also added this observation "Men and history are much like wine, you know. Thy are shaped by the years of their maturation, their roots, their environment and their time in the sun, but their value is not set until they have been laid in the ground for a decade or a century."

And with those words the two nobles picked a dozen other lesser bottles for the evenings repast and went up to join the others.

To be continued.