Session 21: Threads
At the Greenleafs’ residence, No tried to teach his ducklings to use him as a slide into the bathtub, but they were a little confused so he just put them in the water and looked at them proudly as they swum around, and watching over his shoulder Salome shook her head fondly.
Downstairs, Rolen and Tris was were enjoying the Greenleafs’ hospitality and helping themselves to a hearty breakfast. Ireena was still asleep upstairs after her ordeal during the fight against the Leanansidhe, and Nikos and Minthe offered them the used of their personal Teleportation Circle to get them back to Comvos and spare Ireena two day’s travel. They would send word to The Citadel, where the circle lead, to give them a heads up since usually only they used it for official business. Tris and Rolen thanked them for their generosity and gathered their belongings up, as well as Tam Lin, who returned to the home Rolen’s clothes, which he gratefully gave back to him and said he had been scrounging through a local thrift shop for equipment. The combination, while serviceable, left him looking rather ragtag and he commented this was big step down from being Archfey, but he was just glad to be human again.
As they gathered around the Circle in Minthe’s office Meliae helped a still very shaky Ireena downstairs and said she was glad they had a chance to fight together, though hopefully Ireena wouldn’t end up bleeding out of her eyes the next time they had the chance. No thanked her for her help and apologized for leaving her with the Tam Lin-turned-Dragon back during the fight, but she shrugged and said at least she could add going one on one to a Dragon to her resume. No looked around and found a basket he could put on his back to keep the ducklings in and filled it with grass and hay.
As Minute prepared to activate the Circle No turned to Ireena and asked how much trouble she was in. Her grimace said more than words ever could as the magic sprung to life and they reappeared in the Citadel. No quickly counted his ducks and found that they were, in fact, all in a row and breathed a sigh of relief.
Standing just outside the Circle, Tamra took one look at Ireena and sighed, muttering “Not again” as she walked forward and effortlessly picked her up. As Tamra walked off to take her home Ireena assured that it really had been a dire situation this time and Tamra muttered that she wanted to slap Lathander for even giving her that boon in the first place. Tris watched them go and wondered out loud if they could do anything to help Ireena, but determined all she needed right now was rest.
As they stood around, Tam Lin turned to them and confided in them that he really wasn’t sure what to do with himself now, since he hadn’t planned beyond becoming human again. The last millennia or so had consisted of him sleeping and murdering his way up to the top and then continuing those to retain his position, but now that it was done with he felt directionless. And he didn’t even have a place to stay. Rolen and Tris offered to put him up in their suite at the Rosewood Inn until he figure out what he was doing in this life, and Rolen suggested that since he had been a Knight originally he might fit in with the Crownsguard. He nodded and said he would look into it as the rest put their heads together to figure out what to do with the rest of the day, since it was still before noon.
No suggested visiting Bella, since he had nearly been frozen solid by the Dragon’s breath and could use some repairs. Agreeding, the rest followed him to down the Smith District where he knocked on the gate and it was opened a moment later by Bella’s mother Leona. She greeted them and glanced curiously at the basket on No’s back, and he cheerily showed her the ducklings and she commented on their cuteness. As they made their way back to the forge they found Bella working on some wire jewelry, and she hugged No and squeed over the ducklings before she got to work on to repairing him, saying that she had figured out how to make his armor stronger while he was away. Rix started sniffing around the backyard, and seeing Mrs. Hammersley’s concerned look Rolen explained that he was with them, Tris also introduced Tam Lin by calling him a former Fae God. He corrected her to say he was a former Archfey, but the distinction was mostly semantics.
As they spoke there was another knock at the gate, and Leona opened it to reveal Agravayne, now without a cast on his arm and carrying a bouquet of white lilies. He blinked in surprise at the sight of them and said he hoped they had been well, and as he walked off with Leona they heard her reassure him that he needn’t worry, because they were doing well even without the customers he sent to them. Agravayne replied with a sight that he knew, but he was a Paladin and saw it was his job to check up on them. Mostly he was here to visit Kaj, and Leona said that he was where he always was.
They watched as Agravayne walked over to a small stone monument in the yard and knelt in front of it, gently placing the bouquet down as he stared at it, deep in thought. Rolen and Rix observe but said nothing out of respect, though Tris discreetly approached Leona and asked about the monument. She explained that Kaj had been her husband, a member of the Crownsguard who had been killed 10 years ago in the line of duty. Tris offered her sympathies and said she had raised her children well as Rolen waited until Agravayne was done to walk over to the monument. It read in Dwarvish:
Kaj Hammersley
Devoted Husband, Father and Blade of the Crown
21st 10th Moon 1428 - 14th 3rd Moon 1483
He knelt down and said a silent prayer, and to help the family he discreetly put a platinum piece on the marker so Leona could find it later. Seeing him do this, Salome put a gold piece as well. Now done with his repairs, No approached Agravayne and asked how he was doing, in response he flexed his arm he was glad to have his shield arm back and not be stuck on desk duty. He usually had other people do paperwork for him, and was glad to back in the field after all that.
He sighed and asked what they had been up to since he had last seen them. They filled him in on the broad strokes of their latest adventures, adding that Ireena was currently laid up after their last fight. Shocked, he asked what had happened, and when they explained she had been bitten by some sort of half-Fae Fiend and activated some ability that made the monster regret it he looked genuinely sorry, and said while he was aware his relationship with Ireena was, at best, strained he might pay a visit Tamra as a fellow Council member to at least check up on them. Realizing that they may have said too much, No quickly pulled out his ducks as a distraction, and they got a rare smile out of the overly-serious Paladin as he sincerely advised No to take good care of them. No asked him if anything had happened, and scratching his head Agravayne mentioned strange rumors about people chasing children over rooftops offering them candy. No managed to convincingly lie and say he had no idea what he was talking about, despite very much knowing he was talking about their ill-fated attempted to recruit the Gnome girl as a Rogue.
Deciding he had taken up enough of their time, Agravayne said he would be off and wished them luck. Before he went they inquired about Dominic Wainwright, the former Crownsguard Commander, and while clearly puzzled by the inquiry Agravayne revealed that last he had heard he was living somewhere in the Equestrian District.
With at least a partial lead, they made their way into the Equestrian District and found an unassuming neighborhood and a building with a sign out from saying it was The Gentle Stars Bar. Since bartenders tended to know a lot, they made their way inside and found a Halfling man named Tobias behind the counter who looked up as they entered and asked what he could do for them. They inquired about Dominic and he nodded grimly, since he certainly knew the man, and if they waited long enough he’d probably be in around 6. He was also able to give them his address after some prodding, and as they spoke Rix admired the bar food and considered buying some until Rolen advised him that they this stuff was overpriced and they could get stuff that was just as good somewhere else. A moment of Bromance followed as the two vowed to look out for each other.
With address in hand, they made their way downtown, walking fast, faces pass but they weren’t quite yet homebound, and they stopped by a pushcart on the way to get Rix some of the promised reasonably priced food.
They stopped in front of the house that matched the address Tobias had given them and found a two-story, slightly run down building that had clearly seen better days. While not dilapidated the yard needed trimming and unlike the other houses on the block there was no nameplate out front, only a number, suggesting whoever lived there didn’t want guests or to be found. Just to be safe, Rolen cast Detect Magic to see if he could pick up any booty traps, but when nothing was revealed No walked up to the door and knocked using the heavy brass piece bolted to the door. From somewhere inside a voiced cursed and said he’d been out in a minute, and after a shuffle out footsteps the door opened to reveal a somewhat unkempt human man in a housecoat who observed the motley crew as Rix wandered around the yard and managed to find some wild mint.
Dominic bluntly asked what they wanted and they brought out their Crownsguard badges, earning a skeptical glare as Tris brought up that they were looking into Ezra Carpates’ disappearance. He sighed “oh for fuck’s sake” as Tris asked him why he had refused to search for the missing boy.
Dominic planted his hands on both side of the door fame and said that in case they hadn’t noticed the Carpates had their own private army, while he had been in charge of the entire country and serving the people in it, not just the ruling family. What had they expected him to do, drop all of his active cases to look for one missing kid who had already been gone for a week by the time it was reported? Everyone in his line of work knew that if you didn’t get any leads in the first two days the case would likely never be solved, so even if he had ignored his better judgment and pulled his people in it wouldn’t have done anything, even before the Lady tried to pull rank on him and make him do it.
Tris asked if he had something against Lady Julia, and he snorted that her blood was bluer than the sky, promoting Rix and Rolen to glance skyward, while his father had been a ferrier and actually worked for a living. He’d tried to have as little to do with the Lady when he was Commander, and she had been just looking for an excuse to get rid of him and install her personal pet Paladin Agravayne, who had been gunning for his position ever since he joined the Crownsguard and was probably fucking the Lady on the down low since her husband died.
Shocked by the allegations but dismissing them as the ramblings of a bitter alcoholic, they asked him if he could recall any weird sightings or events around the time of the disappearance. Though his mind had been clouded with an alcoholic haze he admitted that there had been a few strange sightings in the mountains around that time. They looked at Tam Lin and asked how long the Leanansidhe had been around, and when he answered she was at least three centuries old they realized they were probably unrelated and instead asked about any Necromancers who had been active around that time. Through the alcoholic haze Dominic remember one whose name he couldn’t quite recall, but it started with an A causing trouble, and realizing he probably meant Tristan Arendt No commented they killed him and Dominic snorted that despite appearances they were actually useful for something. No then started inquiring about any connections to Old Cassia, and Dominic fixed him with a contemptuous stare as he said “Do I look like I paid attention in history class? What are you, stupid?”
A chill feel over the group nas No stood up to his full height and loomed over Dominic, trying to intimidate him, but even though Dominic was a washed up alcoholic he was still a Paladin and stared up at him unflinchingly. Wanting desperately to change the subject before violence broke out, Tris asked Dominic about his family, particularly if he had children and he bitterly said they no longer spoke to him. She stared to ask about his wife and if she was still around, but stopped short as he fixed her with a hate filled stare and slammed the door in their faces.
With a sigh, Tris suggested going back to the bar to talk to the bartender to see if he could fill in any of the pieces on Dominic, since he was evidently quite familiar with him. She turned to Tam Lin and asked him for his take on this, and he replied that Dominic clearly felt guilty about something and was trying to dull the pain with drink. He could relate, since he had gone from one of the most powerful men in Raetia to this, and from the top there was nowhere to go but down. Thinking about their conversation, Salome and Tris wondered if Dominic had ever been in a good place and if Ezra’s disappearance had been the tipping point.
As they returned to the bar Tobias looked up, saw their expressions and assumed it had gone poorly. Tris said he actually had talked to them, much to their surprise, but she hoped he could fill in some gaps. He agreed, adding he didn’t know much about Dominic on a personal level but he did have ears, though he was curious why they wanted to know. She explained about their search for Ezra and that he had reacted badly to a mention of his wife, causing him to flinch, and he reluctantly revealed that 9 years ago his wife Ella had killed herself. You could hear a pin drop as they processed this, and after further inquiry he said he didn’t know much about her on a personal level but he had seen her around, she had seemed to be kind of a homebody from what he remembered. With this new info in hand, Tris suggested going to The Raven Queen’s Temple to try and find out anything about Ella and the circumstances of her death. Rolen said they might have those records and it was worth a shot.
They made their way to the Temple and past the main entrance to the record keeping department. A Cleric behind the desk greeted them and they told her they were looking for the records of Ella Wainwright, she nodded and returned a few minutes later with a parchment that she read off to them. Her death had been recorded as a suicide by ingestion of poison at her home, unwitnessed, and a note had been found at the scene that suggested suicide. The actual note could be found in the Crownsguard records since they had investigated but determined that there had been no foul play. They then asked for anything about next of kin, and besides Dominic himself a Theresia Bartsch of Waterdeep and a Matthias Wainwright who lived in Comvos’ Noble District were listed as surviving family members. Thanking her, they moved out into the main Temple area and Rolen stopped to pay his respects at the statue of his patron, and was surprised to hear a familiar voice off in a corner.
Bakirian and Iskander stood with their backs to them as Bakirian said “I know what I’m asking, old friend” while Iskander retorted “I’m not sure you do, old friend.” Bakirian sighed and said he just wanted to know if it was possible, and Iskander replied with a sigh that he couldn’t make any promises on the outcome but he would make inquiries.
Tris, who had moved up to listen to them, made a motion that they should leave and give them some privacy before their presence was noticed. No then turned to Rolen and thanked him for talking to Kolero for him, and Rolen replied it was his pleasure to know he could have the ability to help people. No hugged him, and Rix joined in on the hug as No tried to comfort Tris on how she had handled Dominic, reassuring her that he was just an asshole who had called him stupid.
It was approaching sunset, and they decided to check up on Tamra and Ireena since they were in the area. They went in through the main Library, and No worried about his ducklings but was assured they would be fine and the Temple cats wouldn’t be able to get them in his basket. Tris pet the cats as she passed and saw Nicodemus doing his rounds, making sure to give him a scratch before they headed back to the Knowledge Keeper’s quarters.
They knocked on the door and a slightly harried looking Tamra emerged. They asked if this was a bad time and she said Ireena was resting, but if they wanted to talk they should go out into the garden so as not to wake her. She motioned to a garden bench and No was thrilled to see it actually fit him as Tris told her about the medallion the Leanansidhe had dropped and her promise that her father would kill them all.
Tam Lin stepped up and filled them in on the Leanansidhe’s background, explaining that her mother Nimue had been a conniving, treacherous Fae who made no secret of the fact she wanted to overthrow him someday and hated him for being the Archfey despite being born a human. One day three centuries ago she had gone off for a few years and returned with the girl in tow, saying her father was a powerful Wizard named Ovid. Tam Lin thought this was odd since usually crossing a Fae with a human resulted in weaker offspring, but as the girl grew older he realized something was terribly wrong and she wasn’t even a Fae but a fiend, because her father hadn’t been human, he had been a vampire, and the result was an incredibly powerful Fiend who inherited the worst aspects of both parents. And that was probably why Nimue had her in the first place, to use as a weapon in her power play, but it seemed the girl had taken Mommy Dearest’s lessons to heart and slew her mother when she came of age. When Tam Lin asked her why she did it, the Leanansidhe’s only reply was “She got in my way.”
Chilled by this description, Tamra asked if this Leanansidhe was the one who bit Ireena, and when it was confirmed she declared “What a cunt.” Surprised by her bluntness, Tris tried to refocus and said that this seemed to confirm Ovid was the vampire they were looking for and since the Leanansidhe used present tense to describe him he was probably still alive She then asked Tamra if she knew Dominic, and she said she had interacted with him professionally back when she had been apprenticed to the previous Knowledge Keeper. She didn’t know much about his personal life or his wife Ella, but she had heard some of the other Clerics mention that she had been very sick towards the end.
No asked Tamra if she knew which healers, and said she it had been the Clerics of Ilmater. But she cautioned that they might not be able to tell them much since they had guidelines about how much they could reveal, even if the patient had since. No wondered out loud if her death wasn’t actually a suicide, but as much as an asshole as Dominic was he didn’t think he was responsible. Rolen added he didn’t think his wife was necessarily killed, but it was possible it was an assisted suicide of some sort.
With the sun setting fast, they decided they had enough leads to get them started tomorrow and decided to head back to their home base at the Inn. As they departed, Salome kissed one of the ducklings on the head and No squealed with delight.