LogAn Age of High Adventure-Jason-6

Game log for the 2022/08/28 session of An Age of High Adventure, as taken by Jason

Oracles for the 2022-08-22 session (generated 2022-08-14)

Nirar is next on the owe list, who Jason played in session 6, so Jason chose...

Blood and Sex

• JC - The death of the primary heir of a local noblewoman.
• 3H - The sorcerously animate homunculus of a wizard, more clever than wise.
• AC - A spirit of the lower air, caught up in joyous human celebration.
• 9D - The secluded home of an exiled court wizard, dense with unseen population.

Characters

• Nirar, a member of the local woman's guard, played by Jason
• A local noblewoman, Aveline de Normin, whose son just died suddenly of syphilis, in early old age but poor health
• Aveline's secondary heirs
  • Lisa - Coretha, Aveline's niece on her husband's side, early 20s
  • Tim - Remus, Aveline's bastard son, 17 years old
• Maybe additional heirs
• A exiled court wizard, Seppar the Learned, with an animate homonculus, formerly Aveline's pet sorceror, fired because his contraceptive spell failed
• Moog, said homonculus (Joe)
• Jandre, a spirit of the lower air (Gary)
• Any of a number of ghosts or spirits from the secluded home of that wizard. The home is called The House of Doors.

Interests

• Coretha
  • Inherit the estate
  • Eliminate all other heirs
• Remus
  • Inherit the estate
  • Take what he's owed
• Nirar
  • Ensure a clean succession
  • Get hired by Seppar
• Jandre
  • Keep things civil
  • More heirs!
• Moog
  • Earn my master's favor
  • Become a real boy

Play starts at the funeral of Lord Ardar, previously the presumptive heir of Lady / Countess Aveline, who has already outlived her husband the earl (Arvid). Ardar, like his father, died of syphilis. He was not beloved in any case. Lady Aveline has been widely courted, but never remarried. She swore off men after the way she was treated after Remus was born. Her late husband has many relatives.

Guests are arriving at the front gate. The funeral is family and close friends only, and Remus is not being allowed in. Nirar and NPC Huber are guarding the door, and politely insists that Remus will not be granted entrance. Moog turns up and claims that they bring gifts and starts to lead Remus in. Nirar starts to grab at Moog, intending to throw him out, but Moog evades him, as Remus tries to sneak through. Moog escapes the guards, Nirar in fruitless pursuit, and Huber stops Remus at the door. Remus promptly tries to knee the guard in the groin, but Huber is too quick, and throws him down the stairs.

Just as Remus comes to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, Coretha arrives. Jandre tries to inspire them both with the idea that if they got together, their collective chances of inheriting would be increased. Her first thought is to reject the idea, but it occurs to her that Lady Aveline does have a soft spot for her son, and such an alliance might both win the Lady's favor and give her a chance to expose Remus as unfit. She decides to make Remus her guest, after stopping to act as though she's not entirely sure who Remus is.

The kingdom has known peace for quite some time, and the Lady's house is not intended as a defensive work. It is luxurious, its splendor marred only by everything being draped in mourning black. Moog offers Aveline a penny for her thoughts, which was Seppar's condolence gift to her. It may be an ass penny. People are milling about, politicking, and being gloriously insincere. Coretha makes the rounds with Remus, hoping to put him in a position where he'll look bad in front of an important audience. Remus totally ignores her implied slight and introduces himself as Lord Remus. The duke's heir they're talking to takes an immediate liking to Remus, and they have a very pleasant conversation, though he keeps his hand on Coretha's elbow the whole time. She's trapped in the conversation until Remus puts her in a position where she has to fetcb drinks for them.

Moog manages to whisk Coretha away to see his master, but Nirar sees them, and with his resentment over his earlier rough handling running high, goes after them. Once again, Moog has appalling speed, even towing Coretha. The chase goes out the manor, into the woods, and Nirar begins to sense that they're headed to Seppar's House of Doors. Moog tries to take a circuitous route to elude persuit, but Nirar guesses the game, gets ahead, and ambushes them instead. Moog, exhausted, halts and then scuttles off so as to keep Nirar from attempting to hammer-throw him.

Jandre realizes they're alone together in the woods, and suggests that maybe they should spend a little time together. The spirit just can't make any headway, though. Whatever passions motivate Coretha, sex with Nirar does not rank. She ends up asking Nirar to take her back to the party.

At the party, Remus has gotten a few worthies convinced that he's a person of some merit. They might all support Aveline, should she decide to legitimize him. He strikes up a conversation with a Baron Consard, who has a daughter of marriageable age, but who is not real excited about the idea of a bastard. The Baron asks why Remus hasn't been speaking with his mother, but the lad points out that it might be seen as gauche for him to approach her. That actually makes the Baron think better of Remus, well enough that the Baron could be open to a wedding, but his daughter's hand would be her dowry. Just then, Lady Aveline herself arrives, just in time for Remus to ask her for a private conversation.

In a drawing room, kept empty by the staff, Aveline asks Remus why he's at the party. Remus' explanation does not move her. She thinks that having been raised outside the household, he will be totally out of his depth if he inherits, unable to protect the name and estate de Normin. He flips the script and suggests that if she wants the house to live on after she's gone, she should offer him her aid. "Convince me," she says. As he starts in, Jandre manifests, reminding her of the love she bore Remus' father. The spirit's aid ends up counting for little, in the face of a mother's weakness for her her only surviving son. She grants Remus the right to live in the house, and if she feels as though he's an apt pupil, she will name him as her successor. Just then, Nirar ushers Coretha in, looking for the Lady to inform her that Moog was up to something with her niece.

Aveline is not best pleased to be interupted, but when Nirar explains, she understands the urgency. She sends Nirar with a message for Seppar the Learned: he must cease to interfere in her affairs, or there will be consequences. Nirar heads for the House of Doors, and Lady Aveline leaves the two of them alone in the room.

Moog meets Nirar at the stone bridge, assures the guard that he will need a token, leaves a penny on the ground, and vanishes. Nirar doesn't believe he will need any such token, and sure enough, he does arrive at the House of Doors. It's a two-story building that almost resembles a barn, because the ground floor has no windows, only doors. He can just barely hear whispering, too soft to pick out the words. Nirar announces himself, and the door in front of him opens. He enters into a foyer, and the door closes behind him. There's the door he came through, a staircase with a door at the top, and perfect floor-to-ceiling windows on either side. As he approaches the door on the top of the staircase, the door opens. It becomes apparent that the House of Doors is larger inside than out. There's a corridor, with many doors, and dim lighting. Nirar can make out light coming from under one of the doors. Nirar knocks on that door, and is granted admission. It's a very nice study, in which Seppar is working at his desk. As Nirar enters, Seppar turns to no one and says, "That will be all, thank you." The wizard anticpated most of Nirar's message, but Nirar makes no effort to carry through with any threats. Seppar has taken oaths to support the house, though he cannot speak of them. They talk, and after conveying Aveline's message, Nirar asks if he take service with the wizard. Seppar seems open to it, and as a test, sets him two challenges: see himself out, and bring Coretha there to consult with him. As he tries to leave, he immediately begins losing his bearings, but he does seem to see some landmarks out the windows, and uses them to orient himself and find the right door, through a stairway up. The guard heads back to the funeral. He arrives late, and the guests have left, but Coretha has been allowed to stay in the house. Nirar persuades her to go visit Seppar in the wee hours of the night.

Meanwhile, Moog sneaks into Remus' bedroom, binds his wrists and ankles, and starts carrying him off to Seppar's.

This time, at the old stone bridge between the manor and the House, there are drag marks on the ground.

Remus awakens suddenly, inexplicably sober, with a weird taste in his mouth. He finds himself in a well-appointed study, with an old man with a spoon in his hand stepping back from him. Apparently his interview with Seppar the Learned starts now. Seppar describes Remus as his greatest failure, since the wizard's spell failed to prevent Aveline from getting pregnant. Remus explains his current situation and suggests that since he will need council if he inherits, he would likely lift the wizard's exile. Seppar admits that is an inducement, and asks Remus to go pour himself a drink and leave him for a time.

When Nirar and Coretha arrive at the House of Doors, the hallways have all changed. Of course. The guard brings the other heir to speak with the wizard, and is not told to leave them as they meet. Seppar admits that her legal claim is strongest, but since she is not a de Normin, he doesn't know why he should allow her to inherit. She argues that she is of the bloodline, and also, that she is better able to operate among the nobility than Remus is. He asks how he is to make this decision, and she says that she's sure he will make a wise choice. He asks her to convince him she is worthy, so she begins explaining how she's already perfectly positioned to take over. She has a ready answer for every question he asks, and convinces him that she's the best choice. Asked directly, she also tells him that should she inherit, she would allow him in her court. She swears, forming a binding pact with him.

Seppar tells Moog that he is allowed to seize Remus' body and make use of it, though should he succeed, he will become mortal, with all its frailties. Moog pleads that he is not ready.

Seppar then summons Jandre. Since his first effort to dispose of Remus has failed, he would like Jandre to bring the two potential heirs together.

Coretha finds herself in the same waiting area as Remus, who is nursing his brandy. Jandre tries to inspire them both to make the beast with two backs (but no brains), and while Remus remains strong, Coretha has just had enough, and tries to leave. She becomes lost inside the House of Doors. Jandre decides that Remus can go bone his fiancee instead. The House, however, has not released them. Jandre helps Remus find his way out, and Remus proves up to the challenge.

Remus returns to the manor, to discover that Nirar stands accused of murdering Coretha.

Coretha becomes a ghost in the House, and a season hence, when Lady Aveline finally passes, and his new bride become the new Earl and lady de Normin. Remus keeps his word to Seppar and ends his exile. Remus does occasionally practice archery on Moog, but since the imp is wooden, it doesn't hurt him. Shortly after Remus' heir is born, Remus is afflicted with a wasting disease, and dies rich and otherwise happy.