[WFRP] The Bloody Crown VI

[-Sentinel-]

After a rare bath and a change of clothes, both welcome after so much time in the wilderness looking for a familiar, Elsa strolled back and forth through the festival of Manann's Keep. She did not dislike parties; only the early part of them, when people were expected to be chatty and relatively sober. So she patiently waited for the late hours, eating a lot and saying little. Never very good at small talk, most of her social interactions consisted of joining the listeners of someone who had something interesting to say, and to punctuate with an occasional "Uh-huh" or "Damn". After a while, with boredom already starting to set in, she tried to find travellers and learn about the sack of Savonne.

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Gossip 34: (d100)[47]
Fortune: (d100)[87]

She eventually remembered that she was here for a reason. Making a quick beeline to her quarters, she picked up the book of poetry from the Lost Library and went in search of Lady Irene.

OOC

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Elsa's dialogue will depend on the circumstances (who else is present, etc.)

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Not much longer," Sieghard replied, equally terse. He was still angry about the gold, though he did his best not to let it show. He wasn't the least bit surprised to learn that progress on the bridge was slow.

He nodded. "Fischwillen is an embarrassment. One little bridge shouldn't take as long to build as defenses for a whole village, even with the ogres here." There was much more he could've said, but he held his tongue.

[LCP]

Painford

The villagers were playing a fast-paced tune, making Adelbert use all his wits to keep up with the steps. Even more unfamiliar with the music than Adelbert, Etunu was clumsy at first, tripping over her partner's feet - but she seemed to find it funny rather than frustrating, and quickly began to catch on. A small band of Southlanders gathered to one side of the dancers, clapping in time with the music.

Over by the hostel, Makeda paused to listen to Sieghard's remarks.

"Fischwillen is an embarrassment. One little bridge shouldn't take as long to build as defenses for a whole village, even with the ogres here."

"Perhaps you'd like to take over when you're finished here," she replied. Sieghard couldn't tell whether it was a rebuke or a genuine suggestion.

---

Manann's Keep

Elsa couldn't find anyone in town who had actually been present at the sack - instead, all she heard were wild stories.

"I heard they burned half the city to the ground."
"Strung people up all along the river."
"You know them savages from the Raven Hills were cuttin' off people's ears?"
"I heard they rounded up all the guildmasters and pushed 'em off the top of the Rock."

Back at the Keep, Elsa found Irene at her husband's side in the main hall, presiding over the feast. Most of the officers were there, with the exception of Makeda; Bianco was also absent, having already left for Last Water. Viktor, Sussman and a few other local dignitaries filled out the numbers to a little over a dozen.

[RossN]

Painford Posse

Adelbert was enjoying himself and Etunu's sense of humour was proving infectious.

He wasn't an experienced dancer and his parents had been of that starched and austere brand of Imperial burghers than considered respectability the greatest of virtues. Neither peasant frivolities, nor courtly balls had figured much in his upbringing. Well, for once he was going to enjoy himself dancing with this striking woman, the faux-pious and po-faced nature of his ancestors be damned. The Goddess would not object; unless he was very wrong the Lady of Wisdom was not humourless.

"You're good," he told Etunu, his enthusiuasm genuine. She was good too, even if she'd been unfamiliar at first... as had he of course. The clapping of her sisters gave him new energy and a further beat to follow.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo - who had been sat besides Sieghard placidly enjoying the festivities - nodded emphatically. "If you don't mind my saying, Captain Ma'am, I was surprised by the decision to place him on what would potentially be the front lines. His men are veteran soldiers but the captiain himself..."

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(1d100)[64] charm test.

Will copy over and update my sheet tomorrow when I'm next at a computer.

[-Sentinel-]

Manann's Keep

Elsa nodded to Captain Sforza in polite acknowledgement, then addressed Lady Irene. <"Good evening, my lady."> Her Tilean was starting to lose its guttural Reikspiel sounds. <"I've been waiting for a suitable opportunity to offer you this.">

She set the book on the table. <"The Lost Library was rather poor in books of magic, but my companions and I stumbled upon this work of poetry. One of the wizards there was a lover of words, it seems. I've been reading it to improve my knowledge of Tilean outside of everyday language."> That was only half a lie; she had tried to struggle through it, only to give up less than halfway through. She had always found poetry rather dull. <"In these lands, there are precious few people with an appreciation for this sort of thing.">

While the book was meant as a half-hearted olive branch, Elsa did not mention it; to the best of her knowledge, only she, Irene and the Captain were aware of any bad blood between Elsa and Irene.


OOC

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I guess I'll add a fellowship test on top of it, just to seem sincere, and not sycophantic or calculating. Either Fel 34 or untrained Charm 17, but given Elsa's low skill either way, I'll treat any result of 34 or under as close enough to not re-roll.

(d100)[60]
Re-roll: (d100)[88]

What's wrong with the dice roller? Why does it hate me these days?

[LCP]

Manann's Keep

Irene looked at the book as if it were a dead mouse brought in by the cat.

<Well I don't want it if you don't want it,> she said at last. <It's probably cursed or something.>

<Irene,> said Sforza, in a warning tone of voice. <It is a gift.>

<Oh, fine,> she said. <But if I turn into a toad it'll be your fault, Muzio.>

Reaching languidly out for the book, she picked it up and flicked idly through the first few pages. Stifling an affected yawn with her hand, she put it down and smiled through gritted teeth to Elsa.

<Thank you, signora,> she said. <You may go now.>

---

Painford

"If you don't mind my saying, Captain Ma'am, I was surprised by the decision to place him on what would potentially be the front lines. His men are veteran soldiers but the sergeant himself..."

"Sergeant Fischwillen has to do nothing more than build a bridge," said Makeda, firmly. "If there was going to be a war it would have started by now." She paused. "And it stops him from trying to dig up things he shouldn't, no?"

Over in the town square, the band finished another tune, and Etunu stumbled away laughing, towing Adelbert with her. <You're not so bad yourself,> she said, in her strongly-accented Tilean. <What do you call this music?>

She fetched herself and Adelbert a drink, and they were joined by Oseye and a few of the others. The Southlanders wanted to know more about Adelbert's god; why he seemed different to Barbaro - but more than that, Oseye wanted to hear about his time in the stocks. Among Sforza's soldiers at least, it seemed that memory was still fresh.

[RossN]

Painford

<Rustic,> answered Adelbert, also in Tilean (out of breath Tilean.) He grinned. <It's not exactly like the music back home, but it isn't bad is it?>

Gratefully accepting his drink from Etunu, he was happy to talk with the Southlanders, though his eyes kept wandering back to his dancing partner.

<I follow Verena, the Wise Goddess, the Lady of Truth and Justice. She is not a warrior like Myrmidia but She has a sword and knows how to use it.> He smiled and touched the hilt of the sword he carried, then the owl amulet he wore around his neck. <Her symbols. We who treasure Her hunt for knowledge like dwarves hunt for gold and prize justice like Tileans prize wine.>

At Oseye's question his smile faltered a little. <Yes... that was hard. I thought I'd die or go mad.> He shuddered at the memory and took a long draught of his ale. <A horrible thing...>

[-Sentinel-]

Manann's Keep

I'm right here, Elsa wanted to snarl at Lady Irene, and I can understand Tilean just fine. She concealed her irritation, and remained unfailingly polite as she took her leave. Well, that was a waste of a potentially valuable book. Adelbert would be disappointed.

Elsa was in a low spirits for the rest of the evening, still bitter about the fall of Savonne and the long months of idleness that would probably follow. By the late hours of the night, when the officers themselves had dispersed to enjoy the festivities, Elsa was tipsy enough to flirt awkwardly with Esteban Valdes, trying to make up for her utter lack of subtlety with sheer persistence.

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Last roll of the night, I guess. This is one I don't mind failing, as long as I fail it by a wide enough margin for entertaining results.

Untrained Charm 17: (d100)[47] - Meh. :(

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Sergeant Fischwillen has to do nothing more than build a bridge. If there was going to be a war it would have started by now. And it stops him from trying to dig up things he shouldn't, no?"

You acknowledge he was caught grave-robbing and yet he receives no punishment for it, Sieghard thought darkly.

He stood and went to get another drink. For a moment, he considered joining the festivities, but he didn't feel as though there was much cause for celebration.

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Unless prompted by someone else, Sieghard will likely spend the remainder of the day filling his stomach and drinking.

4) If Fischwillen is buggering up the bridge construction, we could well concentrate there. A little sabotage (theft of tools perhaps) could slow things down considerably. (Combine that with the discovery of a bunch of bretonnian coins under Fischwillen's bed with the missing tools, say...)

If Ludo feels like bringing up this suggestion now, go for it. If he'd prefer to wait until after Mittherbst is over and Makeda is gone, we could also do it as a timesplit.

[LCP]

Manann's Keep

Valdes was far too much of a gentleman to take advantage of a lady when she was drunk - and far too sensible to get entangled with this particular lady in any circumstances at all. Kindly but firmly deflecting her advances, he took his leave, leaving Elsa to watch the last embers of the great bonfire burning down from the walls of the keep. Finishing the last of her booze alone, she watched the curling traceries of Aqshy rising hypnotically into the night.

---

Painford

Oseye seemed a little disappointed not to hear more gory details. <Well,> the tall woman said, <now you know not to pick a fight with the big man, eh?>

<It can't have been that bad,> pressed Etunu, She made a stabbing gesture. <Not as bad as a wound from a sword.>

<Or a bite from the Al-Saurim> said another, using an Arabyan term Adelbert didn't recognise.

<Or a daemon,> said a third, standing at the edge of the group. She didn't sound as entertained as the rest - with a shock, Adelbert recognised her as one of the ahosi who had accompanied them to the Library. She was giving him a particularly searching look.

At that moment, Makeda came striding towards them, calling a sharp order in the Danxome language to her warriors. Adelbert had no clue what she had said, but they rose to follow her, heading away from the festivities. Reluctantly, Etunu followed after.

<Stay safe, Mister Empire,> she said, buckling on her sword. Pulling a bronze throwing knife from her belt, she turned it over between her fingers before handing it to him - a gift. <Don't get in any more trouble, hey?>

[RossN]

Painford

Touched and momentarily speechless, Adelbert accepted the dagger. <Thank you. I'll try not to get into more trouble.> He smiled.

After a moment of looking into Etunu's eyes he reached around his neck and lifted his owl amulet, pressing it into her palm. <Take this. May Verena watch over you daughter of Danxome.>

Slipping her gift into his belt, he paused hesitating, then darted in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. <The owl is to keep you safe... that... that was something I wanted to do.>

OOC:

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Ready to move on.

Adelbert will look for a new owl amulet in the morning - or seek a woodcarver or metalsmith to make him one.

[LCP]

Taken by surprise, Etunu stood blinking for a second or two before Makeda's voice again called her away. Flashing Adelbert an uncertain smile, she folded the owl pendant into her hand and headed off after the others.

[Northern Lad]

Viggo Hirtzel

Viggo made a show of resisting being pulled up to perform at the festival, but in truth it felt good that people wanted to hear him play. His eyebrows almost lifted off of his head when he saw Adelbert spin into the mob of dancers with one of the savage southlanders in tow, Mad he is, mad as a box of toads!

After a while of playing and with the help of a few ales Viggo began to relax a little more. It was the most at ease he'd felt in weeks, he even managed to spare a grin for some of the local village girls.

OOC

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So for the festival there's Viggo musician Test .... if that goes well he'll go onto put on a more rounded performance and tell some stories and do some tricks too (if he fails his initial music test he wont bother with the storytelling and magic)

Either way afterwards he'll try to charm himself a companion for the night, aided by several ales he is tentatively starting to 'move on' from his loss.

Musician Test:
FEL 48 - (1d100)[72]
Re-Roll - [roll]1d100/roll] - Re-rolled OOC 28

Storyteller Test:
FEL 48 +10Mimic - (1d100)[99] Re-Rolled OOC 58

Sleight of Hand Test:
AG 46 - [roll]1d100/roll] - re-rolled OOC 97

Charm Test:
FEL 48 - (1d100)[3]
RE-Roll - (1d100)[56]

[RossN]

Adelbert

Feeling a little uncertain himself at his impulsiveness, but happy all the same Adelbert gave the departing warrioress a rather shy smile. Then he went to speak with the villagers, especially the local woodworker. He had a request to make.

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Adellbert will either buy outright or order a new religious symbol.

Gossip test: (1d100)[9] vs. 56 (+10% for Common item)

Otherwise he'll just chat with the villagers and maybe the Thorns and enjoy the drink and food.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo laughed at Makeda's joke and then made his excuses to follow Sieghard. "You know," he said in a low tone, "if we could slow down the bridge building even further, they'd probably fire him straight away."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"They might," Sieghard replied, clearly interested. "Even if they didn't, it would make him look more the fool. You think you can slow down work on the bridge? Without anyone noticing?"

[LeSwordfish]

"Without anyone noticing... I doubt it, aside from staying there for days and sabotaging things. Stealing their tools would slow them down a lot, though, we just need to be ready for whatever they do in return."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"If they don't know it was you who stole them, they'd have no reason to do anything in return," Sieghard said. "Don't let them see you."

[LeSwordfish]

"Who else would be sabotaging them but us?" Ludo said. "Maybe the duke but will they think that? The important thing though is that they don't have any evidence to give to Makeda."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard shrugged. "His men are oafs and things go missing all the time," he said. "They won't have any reason to suspect sabotage unless you give them one."

[LeSwordfish]

"Well then I won't give them one." Ludo said. "But I would make sure we're on guard just in case."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Good," Sieghard said, patting Ludo's shoulder. "And I will, though I doubt it will be necessary."

[-Sentinel-]

Manann's Keep

Valdes' rejection stung; Estalians were supposed to be hot-blooded lovers, always seducing barmaids and other men's wives. Either Elsa had been lied to, or her status made her unattainable; high enough to be intimidating to those below her, but still too low to do whatever she wanted. Things were so much simpler before she was the court wizard. Now people were afraid of her, and of Sforza.

After a few more failed advances on other men of the Brotherhood of Magritta, Elsa moodily lurched towards her quarters. There would be a hangover tomorrow, without the upside of waking up next to a lover.

One day I'll rule my own country, she swore to herself. And then things will be easy. I'll have soldiers and bodyguards, and I'll be able to tell one of them: 'You, go wait for me in my bedchambers'.

[LCP]

With his fine clothes and his tall tales, Viggo was a hit with the village girls – but few of them could forget Kirsten so easily. Though he won a good deal of admiring company, when the party ended he was left alone. The last girl to leave was one he hadn't even been making advances toward – Hanna was the only one on whom Kirsten's memory didn't seem to weigh too heavily.

---

The week after Mittherbst, the weather began to close in. Heavy grey rainclouds settled over the Thornwood, filling the forest with the sound of dripping water and wet drifts of fallen leaves. In Manann's Keep, Irene seemed to derive a special glee from "accidentally" crossing paths with Elsa whenever she returned after a particularly heavy squall, asking her solicitious questions like how many squirrels she had caught that day while she stood there looking like a drowned rat. Still remembering how the Captain's wife had twisted her words before, Elsa maintained a civil facade - but it was hard not to be worn down by Irene's constant needling.

In Painford, Sieghard put the Thorns to work on the south wall, and began making plans for the new barrack-blocks. On a dark Konigstag night before the foundations were laid, he, Viggo and a hand-picked group of Thorns - Florin among them - dug up Beatrix's grave and moved her remains to the lichyard, smoothing over the disturbed earth they left behind. Sieghard carried the golden hand himself, covering it quickly in rags to shield it from prying eyes.

The next day, the barracks blocks began to go up - big longhouses of new-cut planks and beams, covering the spot their digging had disturbed. This was a more complex task than the palisade, but progressed steadily all the same. Sieghard had little knowledge of this kind of work, but there were enough woodsmen in the Thorns to make up for the deficit, filling the daylight hours with the sound of saws.

Consulting with Sieghard and the villagers, Adelbert won approval to add a small chapel to the planned construction, for the benefit of both the soldiers and the locals. While Sieghard let him use the army's timber, he was dependent mostly on the villagers for labour, particularly one old carpenter and his two sons. As a result, the shrine went up more slowly than the barracks – but looked set to be more pleasing to the eye.

OOC:

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Any specifics about how you want the chapel built? Assuming Adelbert has no outlandish requests for its construction it'll take three weeks to build, with local labour costing him 3gc 15s per week. Modifiable through Haggle as usual.

The work on the chapel kept him busy to such an extent that he was stretched for time to work on the play – nevertheless, most evenings he managed to track down Viggo to go over the latest scene. The play was coming together – now all they needed were players and a stage. Their evening writing sessions had become common knowledge in Painford, and many of the villagers would ask curious questions about the play – but neither Adelbert nor Viggo thought them likely to be great actor material.

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The following tests will help craft your play:

• Read/Write from Adelbert (to write the lines)
• Charm from Adelbert (to make them suitably flattering to Sforza & co.)
• Intelligence from Viggo (to gauge the audience)
• Performer (Storyteller) from Viggo (to get a good shape to the story).

It was some time after they had put the finishing touches on the first draft that Sieghard and Viggo quietly approached Adelbert about the possibility of helping them frame Fischwillen. Initially confused by their cagey questions, Adelbert quickly determined he wanted no part of it – with the chapel getting nearer to completion, Verena's word held a stronger grip over his conflicted conscience. Watching them walk away, he doubted his discouragement would stop them doing what they had planned to do.

---

Marktag, 8th Brauzeit

After about a week, Viggo rode out to Ravenskird alone. Walking Magnus up to the edge of the marshy village, he looked down to the broad stretch of the riverside where Fischwillen's men were trying to build their bridge.

It was a mess. A ramshackle structure of damp wood stretched across about half the width of the river, propped up by additional baulks of timber in some places and leaning worryingly in others. Men stood up to their waists or their necks in the muddy water, trying to manhandle new supports into place, and shouting and cursing as the poles slipped in the silty riverbed. Fischwillen and a few of his cronies stood on the riverbank, shouting profanity-laden “encouragement” at the men down below.

Guiding Magnus wide around the sergeant, Viggo headed over to the shallows to the right of the bridge, and slipped into the village.

~

With Costin's and the Sow both burned to cinders, there was no easily recognisable watering-hole in Ravenskird any more – but tailing one of the remaining boatmen through the muddy streets, Viggo noticed a shack by the docks that seemed to have more people going in and out than was usual. Stepping inside, he was immediately hit by a fug of smoke, stale ale and body odour; as his eyes adjusted, he saw that a great number of men were crammed into the small, dark space inside.

There weren't as many boatmen left in Ravenskird as there had been before the end of the siege, but they still seemed to be the most numerous people here. Squeezing through the crowds, Viggo noticed the familiar face of Captain Sandu in the corner, and headed over to speak with him.

It quickly became apparent that there was no love for Fischwillen in Ravenskird. “I mean, don't get me wrong,” said Sandu, “there's nothing wrong with having to grease a few palms to get things done. Makes life easier for everyone.” He took a swig of his drink – something foul that the villagers seemed to be brewing up out of swamp water and reeds, as far as Viggo could tell by the taste. “But him? He wants a bribe to let you get out of bed. At least when that daemon-woman isn't watching.” Viggo gathered he was talking about Makeda. “Bloody extortion, that's what it is,” grumbled the boat captain.

Nodding along, Viggo segued smoothly from the concept that Fischwillen might do anything for greed to the insinuation that there was a spy somewhere in Ravenskird. “Wouldn't be surprised,” said one of the villagers. “Alvarr, Sforza, we're caught right between 'em now. As bloody usual.”

Viggo's claim that he'd seen Fischwillen meeting someone after nightfall was met with raised eyebrows and interested expressions from the locals, and an indifferent shrug from Sandu and his crew. “That's the Tilean's lookout,” he grunted. “Soon as I can get my cargo out of the swamp, I'm taking the Green Dragon north. They say the city's open again. No reason to stay in this mud-puddle until the real trade comes back. And you can bet this sergeant will try to stick his thumb in that too.” He glanced across to the locals. “No offence.”

They murmured indifferently and shrugged their shoulders. Ravenskird was a mud-puddle and they knew it.

~

Later on, when work on the bridge had finished for the day, Viggo sought out Stevan and a gaggle of the other junior halberdiers. Getting them to complain about their sergeant was a good way of sneaking in the question of whether he could read or write.

“What, like, letters? I don't know if he can read 'em,” said Stevan, furrowing his brow. “Seen him sign for supplies, but he just makes a mark, you know? Like this.” He drew an X with his finger. “I don't know if that's a letter.”

“Why would he need to read letters anyway?” asked one of the others, disdainfully. “Readin's fer morons who don't understand pictures.”

Returning through the rain to Painford the next day, Viggo shared his intelligence with Ludo and Sieghard. The game was afoot.

---

Angestag, 12th Brauzeit

Four days later, Ludo made his inconspicuous arrival in Ravenskird. The bridge was looking closer to completion, but appeared even more ramshackle than Viggo had described it. Ludo wondered how well it would stand up to the weight of the Iron Company marching over it – or worse still, the ogres.

Hanging around town until nightfall, he saw the Green Dragon was back in the docks – and Sandu's men were loading it up. It looked as if they'd recovered their goods from the Mere. From what he could gather, they would be getting under way in the morning.

Waiting until nightfall, Ludo nonchalantly headed down to the riverside where the bridge-builders had left their tools, whistling a jolly tune he'd learned back in Sermena. Gathering up as many of the mallets, shovels and saws as he could carry, he bundled them into a sack and carried them about a mile down the riverbank, to where the river began to split and braid into the countless channels of the marsh. Finding the highest ground he could, he took out one of the shovels he'd stolen and buried them under the mud and moss of the Mere.

That had been surprisingly easy.

---

Wellentag, 14th Brauzeit

It was on Wellentag that the rain decided to get serious. An autumn storm, piling up against the jagged peaks of the Giant's Teeth, raged over the Thornwood. Rain lashed the wooden walls of Manann's Keep, while the treetops bent and swayed in the wind.

Out on one of her excursions, Elsa cursed at the weather, at the forest, at its animals, at the world. Over the last weeks, the fruitlessness of her search had been growing more and more frustrating, Irene's barbs becoming more and more intolerable – but she wasn't going to give up now. Storm or no storm, she was going to find herself a familiar.

A blinding flash of lightning stabbed down into the trees, and Bastard reared, throwing her from the saddle. Picking herself painfully up off the wet forest floor, Elsa shouted abuse after the retreating horse, the most choice words blotted out by the clap of thunder that followed. She knew Bastard would be back. If he ran away for good he'd have no-one to torment.

Dusting herself off, she saw a glimmer of flame somewhere far off through the trees – it looked as if the lightning bolt had set a tree ablaze. Still, in this rain it wasn't likely to spread. Looking around, she tried to decide which direction to head in.

Slowly, she became aware of noises from a large tree on her left. It was one that still had a good portion of its leaves, offering good shelter from the rain – and beneath it, something was making a strange racket. It was a fat toad, wedged into a burrow between the roots, and croaking fiercely at the glossy black raven that was sizing it up with a hungry eye. Every time the raven hopped forward to take a peck, the toad would flinch back into its burrow, puffing itself out croaking louder still. They seemed to be at an impasse.

At last, the raven flew off, leaving the toad to enjoy its victory. Watching the ugly creature settle back into its hole, Elsa briefly wondered whether a toad would make a good familiar. It wasn't exactly charismatic, but she was pretty sure Irene would hate it, and that would be something...

Before she could finish her train of thought, the raven returned. In its beak, it was carrying a smouldering stick from the lightning-struck tree. Twisting the burning twig around, it thrust the lit end into the toad's burrow. With an alarmed croak, the fat amphibian came tumbling out, straight into the bird's waiting claws. A couple of savage strikes from the raven's sharp beak and the croaking stopped.

That, thought Elsa, watching the raven begin its meal. That was the one.

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Sentinel, I leave it up to you how Elsa goes about catching it, but after 8 weeks of waiting you can take it as an auto-success – I'm not that mean!

[RossN]

Adelbert

Try though he might Adelbert found enormous difficulty in stringing the play together, with the depiction of Sforza especially sticking in his craw, and leaving him feeling guilty and unhappy. It seemed one thing to study the old drama of Luccini; quite another to assemble them into a living breathing narrative.

A text developed after a fashion but it was hard to feel proud of it.

He was happier with the development of the chapel and content to pay full costs for the work. While obviously dedicated to Verena he asked the carpenters to carve the symbols of Morr, Shallya, Myrmidia, Sigmar, Ulric, Taal and Rhya above the entrance too, intending this to be a place for all the faithful (well, perhaps not the Ogres - did they really worship and enormous mouth?)

As soon as Viggo returned from whatever hair raising scheming was going on he'd have a word with him over the direction of the play. Maybe the minstrel was having better luck.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard couldn't help but laugh when Ludo told him how easily things had gone in Ravenskird. "Just left the tools laying around, did he?" Somehow, that didn't surprise him. "They'll probably think his men lost them. Or think it was one of the villagers in that den of thieves."

[LeSwordfish]

"I spent some time with Sandu." Ludo said. He had been waiting for a chance to travel to Manaan's keep again, but the rain had set in with a vengeance. It was beginning to look as if he'd have to travel in it one way or another. "He could get us a lot of information if we're willing to pay."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Go on," Sieghard said. "What sort of information?"

[LeSwordfish]

"I don't know, but he's been based there since the siege." Ludo said. "If he's still around, he could tell us a lot i'm sure."