I had never attended a masked ball before last night, and I certainly hope the ball I attended at Sir Roderic's manor wasn't an example of a typical one.
But perhaps I should begin earlier in our story. My new comrades and I were on our way back to Roderic's Cove after dealing with the Roadkeepers and goblins. On the road we suddenly came upon a group of bodies! Several of us immediately recognized one of them as the child, Kynae, who had given us information about the brigands and the mysterious woman who had killed several people. Kynae was still alive, and so was an unknown woman, though both of them were badly injured. With them was the old woman we had spoken to at the stone building above the Roadkeepers' underground lair. She was dead, her body gruesomely cut open.
Lonn went at once to attend to Kynae. Both the boy and the strange woman had been bound. While he was about that, Zinovia and Fox looked around to try to discover what had happened. Something bit Fox badly in the leg. He spied a tiny fey creature, a gimple, which scampered off into a nearby tree, but not before Lonn was able to determine what it was and warn the rest of us to beware its ability to spew something vile over what would be quite a considerable distance for a creature the size of a cat. Hunter went after the gimple.
I didn't know any of that until later. I had been following behind the rest of the group, and while they ran forward to examine the bodies in the road I had hung back a bit as my involvement didn't seem to be required. When I saw the gimple fly into an oak tree I retreated to the other side of the road to get out of range of its spew should it decide to use that. Hunter was already after it, and both Zinovia and the other woman began to hew at the tree trunk with their swords. Then Hunter turned his sword into a sort of whip and wrapped it around the gimple, pulling it out of the tree and sending it plunging to the ground. It got back on its feet, but before it could do anything else Zinovia cut it in half with a swift swipe of her blade.
The other woman, whose name was Amiri, told us that she'd just been walking along the road when she'd been attacked by Mister Retch. Once he was dealt with she went on her way to the East toward the Stolen Lands.
We took anything of use or value from the old woman's body and dragged her off the road, though that was as much attention as we gave her. We took Retch's remains with us. The old woman had several magical talismans on her and a dagger that would have been effective against Retch if only he'd gone within reach of it. Kynae said that Retch had killed her because he'd wanted information from her about us and she'd refused to tell him anything. That is troubling, though Kynae also said that Retch didn't work with anyone else so perhaps he was simply annoyed by our efforts to eliminate some of the criminals from the town.
The following morning we went to see Mayor Thort again to tell her about everything we'd learned and claim the bounties for the Roadkeepers and Retch. I've now got quite a substantial quantity of gold in my possession. I hope someone in town can sell me a good wand or some scrolls.
Mayor Thort told us that since we'd provided proof Sir Roderic's family had all been slain, control of his manor fell to the nobles of the town. She had received approval from the nobles to allow us to visit the manor and look around inside, but only for one evening. She had found out about the Peacocks herself just before we returned, and she told us that the nobles would dictate what time we could visit the manor. They had set the time as the following evening - which would also be the eve of a ball the Order of the Peacock would be holding there.
When we returned to our rooms at the inn, we found that apparel and masks appropriate for the ball had been delivered for us. This quite upset Zinovia, as she didn't like that someone had been in our rooms in our absence, and the innkeeper professed to know nothing about it.
These garments proved all to be under some spells, though they didn't appear to be anything disturbing. The masks were marked with a Thassilonian rune for 'guest', which could be seen when looked at through another such mask. The clothing was enhanced to keep it clean. Fox decided to exchange masks with Zinovia as they'd left identical masks for her and myself, and three other identical masks for Fox, Hunter, and Lonn.
That evening a coach came to fetch us and carry us to the manor. All was dark as we approached, but as we passed a point we could see the lights. A magical effect, I think, to impress visitors. There was a great deal of that within the manor. It was quiet outside and in the vestibule, but as soon as we entered the large ballroom where the other guests congregated we hard music playing without any evidence of minstrels present. The woman who led the Peacocks, Lady Corstela Rostrata, stood on a small platform in one corner of the ballroom in front of a drapery. There were a number of people about wearing no masks but dressed in unusual clothing that left their legs and arms exposed, and their heads were shaved.
I hung back while Hunter and Lonn mingled with the other guests, most of whom were nobles of the town, owners of various businesses such as shipping and armories. There was another person on the platform with Lady Corstela, and Zinovia went to talk to him. She had been very displeased with the ornate gown she'd been sent to wear and had contrived to hang her sword on her back as we hadn't been told to leave our weapons behind. After chatting with this gentleman, who wore no mask, Zinovia accompanied him up the curving staircase that led from the ballroom. Hunter was occupied chatting with one of the nobles and didn't seem to mind.
Fox, however, though it very odd that Zinovia had gone off with another man and followed her. Finding the ballroom not to my liking, I went up after him. I found him in a hallway lined with doors, opening them one by one to see if Zinovia and her companion were within. After a moment I stepped back to see if anything had changed downstairs, and I realized that when we left the ballroom the music was no longer heard. When I stepped back out to the head of the staircase I could hear it again - and I could also hear people screaming and shouting below. I hurried to tell Fox that something was happening.
Fox decided to let Zinovia be, assuming she could take care of herself, and we both ran back downstairs to find that the other guests had begun attacking one another and our friends. Corstela stood in front of a statue that looked very like the broken statue of the Runelord of we'd found underground, laughing like a madwoman. The shaven-headed women were all surrounding Hunter below the staircase and hemming him in so that he couldn't move away from them. I on the stairs and attempted to cast spells at them to aid him. I could smell smoke somewhere in the room.
There was so much going on in the room that I couldn't see due to all the people milling about. I kept my attention on trying to get rid of one of Hunter's opponents from among the strangely attired women. After a short while I came down from the stairs and used the wand we had taken from the Roadkeepers' lair to hurl a ball of flame into the crowd. Fortunately I was able to use that Thassilonian trick of using wands without expending a charge that you taught me, Master Taeral, as that wand doesn't have much left in it. I blasted Lady Corstela with it as well though I couldn't save the charge on the second use. To avoid using it all up I used my own magic to fire two missiles at her as well, but to my disappointment she had a shield spell active. Still, other attacks had been directed at her before I arrived and it wasn't long before she slumped over on the floor. As soon as she fell, her body transformed from a human woman into a frightful monster.
Next: part 6, A Disturbance at the Manor
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