Session Fourteen - February 7, 2004

[Matt]

Nolus 29, 730 TR

After breakfast the group decides that we need more information about Jond the elder. Arlen and Ardeth go to the Capstan & Hook to look for Teldar, while the rest go to find Ewen. Bevan realizes that no one knows exactly where Ewen lives so they head to the Harpers Guild to ask. They are directed to a somewhat shabby neighborhood, but nothing more specific. Luckily for them they run into Ewen on their way to find him.

Teldar isn’t around so Ardeth leaves a message with Elwene to meet him later and they head back to Tabard & Hearth. Ardeth then goes to join to local Guild of Arcane Lore and to take a room there.

Bevan, Even, and Imarë head over to Jond’s to see if they can get more information from him; he has promised to show them his father’s papers. When they arrive he seems agitated and is no longer willing to help in any way. He eventually asks them to leave.

Ewen knows the jeweler in the next building. The jeweler tells them that he thinks Jond the younger is an idiot and that his father probably just fell into the river when he was drunk. But he reports hearing noises late a night in Jond’s shop; he thinks he may be selling something after hours. He also tells us the apprentice herbalist is more mistreated then usual.

Ewen leaves for the Halean temple to worship.

Later, Ardeth and Arlen go back to meet Teldar. He doesn’t have much more information about Jond; he didn’t know that he had disappeared. He tells Ardeth that Jond wrote a good book about herbs. They agree to meet the next day to discuss the arcane arts.

The group reconvenes at the Roundels, which we think might be a favorite hang out of Jond the Elder. The owner tells us he saw Jond a few nights ago with a small, sharp looking man, with short graying black hair, and that Jond makes a nuisance of himself with the barmaids.

Nolus 30, 730 TR

The Laranians in the group go to the high mass. During the ceremony all of the Deryni present seem to be surrounded by a glowing red “nimbus,” their bodies illumined starting at the outer left ankle proceeding up around the arms, around the head, and down to the right ankle. Some nobles present are the Earl of Techen (the husband of Arren I’s first daughter), and the Earl of Daenshire (the Chancellor). There is also a striking woman with raven-black hair, accompanied by two young boys. They are heavily guarded, and we assume that she is Queen Meghann. We don’t know if any these nobles are Deryni. The two bishops present are both female Deryni. One of them is the Archbishop, Rafella of Ewen, the other is the Exchequer, Marliese Tansel. Arlen talks to Father Rafe after the mass.

Ardeth meets with Teldar and they trade some spells. Ardeth also commissions a scrivener to copy Jond the elder’s book for him.

Back at the Tabard & Hearth, Ewen tells Anders that Jond the elder has gone missing. Anders looks worried and shows a note he has received to us. It is a ransom note for Parmen: “I have Parmen. You know where to find him. Come soon.” The note is accompanied by a pouch that belonged to Parmen. The note was for someone who left town two days ago, he will not tell us who, and he has no idea what the message means. He also has a note for Bevan from Sir Barane the younger, containing a badly written love poem.

The group goes to Jond’s shop, no one is there. After waiting for a few minutes, a boy comes and opens the door with a key. We force our way in with the boy and bar the door. Sir Arlen terrifies the boy who begins to sob incoherently. Bevan tries to comfort him while Arlen and Ewen search the place. Arlen finds berries, in various states of preparation, that we later discover is fanosel (about four doses). He takes one to show to Ardeth.

Bevan learns the boy’s name is Galatar, and the man with graying hair is Strek. Jond the elder did not like Strek coming around the shop, so he came when he wasn’t there. Recently (since Jond’s disappearance), he has been coming a lot. The boy is particularly afraid of Strek. He tells us the name for an inn where Jond the younger might be: Aranoal’s. Bevan gives him a shilling.

Ewen and Arlen go to Aranoal’s to find Jond. It turns out to be a very shady establishment, primarily a brothel. The owner will not give them any information unless they partake of her services. Ewen agrees and goes of with a drugged whore, leaving Arlen and Kamen alone to gamble with the unsavory clientele. Alone with Ewen, the whore wordlessly disrobed, who roughed her up, and promised to make it so she couldn’t work anymore. Ewen forces the prostitute to tell him where to find Jond, and he, Arlen, and Kamen set off the place she described, after telling the proprietress not to give him someone so fragile next time.

After being accosted by some people asking for money in the alley where Jond is supposed to be found, Arlen loses his temper and attacks one of the beggars, but moments after he gave thruppance to another claiming ‘there’s no time for this.’ Despite attacking with the flat of his sword he crushes the man’s chest and kills him, having forgotten to pull his blow in his anger. The rest of the people in the alley run, and Arlen and Ewen proceed to the house where they expect to find Jond.

Inside the house is an empty room. They soon discover that one of the walls has a concealed door. A man opens a peep whole in the door and asks what they want. After arguing with him a bit he refuses to open the door.

Just then, about a half dozen armed men arrive in the alley and attack Arlen and Ewen. Sir Arlen kills one, disarms another, and then grapples with the guy after his sword hand is struck and after moving forward in the gap created by Sir Arlen’s grapple, Ewen cuts off one of the guy’s arms. The others flee. Now desperate, they force open the concealed door and search for Jond. They find him with a woman and drag him quickly back to the Tabard & Hearth, where the rest of the group is waiting.

Jond has taken a lot of Fanosel and was not very coherent but we manage to discover several important facts after Sir Arlen threatened to castrate him, whereupon Jond sat up and said, “Ivor?” Jond is part of a Fanosel ring. Ivor the Albino is the leader. Ivor killed Jond the elder because he was making it difficult for Jond the younger to produce enough drugs. Strek collects the drugs from Jond and brings them to Ivor to sell. He doesn’t know anything about Parmen except that Ivor hates him, he doesn’t know why. Ivor is a follower of Naveh. Jond pretty much passes out at this point.

Anders thinks that Ivor had a falling out with his former employers. He tells us that the redheaded man who we often see at the Tabard & Hearth (presumably the intended recipient of the ransom note) is an enemy of Ivor because he had somehow shamed Ivor.

We decide to take Jond back to his house and wait for Strek or Ivor to come there. But we have to drag him through the streets after dark. After quite a bit of paranoid planning we decide to go in three groups: Bevan first to scout, then Ewen and Arlen with Jond, then the rest. Bevan has to talk her way past a guard. When the same guard stops Ewen, he asks if a good-looking blonde just went by, the guard lets them pass. The guard is so amused that he doesn’t even stop the last group.

Back at Jond’s place we have some more paranoid discussion about what to do next, and what to do about opening the shop the next morning since the apprentice has vanished, then go to bed.

Larane 1, 730 TR

The next morning Jond awakes and is more coherent, he even wants to open his shop. He is running low on his supply of fanosel and Ardeth allows him to work on making some more. He tells Ardeth more about Ivor’s drug ring. He says there are 3 dens in the city: one that Arlen and Ewen smashed up, one near the Peonian temple, and one in the middle. There is also a place where the drugs are produced. Jond the elder would not allow producing in his shop, which is probably why Ivor killed him. Jond was now hoping to transfer production to the shop, and seems vague on whether his father is alive or dead.