Situation
The Black Hand sails upon the tide. The Usurper’s army, meanwhile, goes on the hunt for the pagans who attacked their men, now that their captain, Sir Catamere, has gone missing. People suspected of being of the Old Faith are being hauled in for questioning left and right. The whole of Dwyr Tywyll is on high alert for treasonous activity.
Session Report
The crew is stirred from their respite in The Rathole by a commotion outside. Out of the window, they can see soldiers dragging people out of their huts and hovels and lining them up in the road. Sir Baldric decides to uncover the meaning of this and storms out into the street, planning to use his mark of privilege to get answers. Moya, secretly sworn to protection Sir Baldric, follows as well. Upon inquiry, the soldiers inform Baldric that some of their men have been beaten and branded and now another (presumably Sir Catamere) has gone missing. Rumor is that pagans are responsible and the soldiers are rounding up potential suspects and general low-lifes in the hopes of getting some answers. Sir Baldric proceeds to rant and rave about being a noble in such a climate, having to leave an inn due to soldiers and every place being filled up with soldiers and now soldiers causing a racket in the early morning outside the shit hole he finally found a room at, and is that any sort of experience for a man of his bearing?
Moya realizes exactly what consequences her revenge on the soldiers has caused and seeks to diffuse the situation and rumor before true harm can befall any of the people the soldiers are rounding up. She fabricates a lie to tell the guards, that she has it on very good authority that the perpetrators of the branding were merely bored kids who had found the symbol on a scrap of paper. She talks the soldiers into letting the people go and dropping the matter. Baldric continues to back her up by ranting about being a noble in such conditions, when Sir Madoc “The Blunt” empties the chamber pot out of the window onto Baldric, to drive Baldric’s point home. With that, the soldiers leave as Baldric storms back up to the room.
Things go downhill fast from there. Baldric charged Madoc, aiming to throw him out the window. Eogan Ninian readied to intercede and hopefully stop the fight. Madoc aimed to step out of Baldric’s way and instead let Baldric exit stage Window. Moya tried to cast The Fear to distract everyone long enough to prevent a fight but she reacted too slowly. Baldric made his charge, Eogan didn’t intercede in time, and Madoc managed to get Baldric out of the window. About that time, Moya’s spell went off, causing Madoc to stand and drool in the corner while Eogan followed Baldric out of the window. Eogan, under the stress of everything and now The Fear, went into fits in the road under the window, speaking in tongues. As Moya joined them to get them back to the room, a little boy broke off from the gathering crowd and ran, presumably to tell somebody of their whereabouts. The party then decided (wisely) to split in a hurry but, not meeting the Black Hand until midnight, agreed to meet back up at a pub on the docks.
Sir Baldric, being as full of himself as he was a noble, insisted upon showering off the filth before leaving. Moya stayed behind as well, expecting people to show up looking for them. Instead, Baldric engaged her in a lengthy discussion about gaining the respect of the party and, more specifically, Sir Madoc the Blunt. They argue for a time, with Baldric insistent that the others should just follow him, as he was a knight and his father is the Duke. Moya made the point that Madoc was a knight as well, and unlike Baldric he had to work for the title. Moya eventually convinces Baldric that he has to give respect if he wants to receive it, but also promises to help pave the way between the two men.
Moya beat Baldric to the pub, and asked Madoc and Eogan to give the other knight another chance, which they begrudgingly agreed to. Madoc bought Baldric a drink, and Baldric sucked it up enough to ask Madoc’s advice on matters at hand. Eventually, the party finally gets around to asking Eogan about his blatant leprosy, and they decide to keep him covered up and below decks for the duration of their voyage. Baldric observes that leprosy is no gift from a god and Eogan should reconsider his faith, but no consensus is reached.
Come midnight, the party heads to the docks to meet up with First Mate Liam, the man with whom Moya secured passage to Kashkir. Liam quickly hands off rope with grappling hooks to Madoc, points out a ship, and says “There she is, The Black Hand! Or…will be.” The pirates had picked out the fastest ship in the Usurper’s fleet with the intention of stealing it for their own use. Eogan and Baldric can not abide a hostile take over and convince the pirates to try it their way first, at the unbeknownst price of later being tried for mutiny in front of the crew.
First, Eogan steals uniforms in an attempt to make the pirates look half official. Madoc then bribes the dock workers/security to get them out of the way. Baldric next takes charge and, giving commands under Sir Catamere’s crest, orders all crew off the boat and onto the dock for inspection, touting the pirates as a third party inspection crew. Moya tells the king’s men that the inspection crew will watch them tie their knots and has them untie the anchoring ropes. She then casts the fear, scattering men every which way. To Baldric’s disdain, the pirates grabbed and stabbed the soldiers as they could.
Once on the boat, the pirates hurriedly sack the quarters as well as ready the ship for immediate departure. Coming up from below, the pirates announce that they have found an old man stowed away, claiming to be riding with the king’s men to Kashkir on a research mission. The pirates speak of not taking kindly to stow-aways and as they present their captive, it is none other than Houdin, Moya’s sorcery teacher, whom she was avoiding in Dwyr Tywyll, as she has possession of his spell book.
Roll Summary
Moya: Falsehood vs Ob 3: 7D – 6s
Moya vs. Baldric: Moya: 0 Baldric: 2
Baldric vs. Madoc: 3d (Baldric) vs 4d (Madoc): 3s Madoc
Moya: Ob 3 Sorcery: 3s
Moya: Ob 3 Forte 1 Fate: 3s
Madoc: Steel
Eogan: Steel
Madoc: BL Inconspicuous, Ob 1, 3s
Eogan: Bl Inconspicuous, Ob 1, 3s
Moya vs Baldric – DoW
Baldric BoA: 5 – Moya backs him publicly
Moya BoA: 7 – Baldric apologizes to Eogan and Madoc
Result: Moya wins, but must help Baldric make amends
Baldric: Ob 3 Persuasion 6D, 1 Fate: 2s
Eogan: Ob 2 BL Scavenging – 4s
Madoc: Ob 2 Bribe-Wise, 1 Fate – 2s
Madoc: Ob 1 Resources, 2s
Baldric: Command + 1D – 6D vs. Ob 3, 1 Persona: 6s
Moya: Sorcery vs Ob 3 – 4s
Artha Awarded
Eogan: 3 Fate
Persona
Madoc: 1 Fate
2 Persona
Moya: 2 Fate
1 Persona, MVP
Baldric: 2 Fate
4 Persona, Embodiment, Workhorse
