invitation to dinner at the Vulcanus estate for Kelsa and Blythe
preparing for dinner at the Hahn estate
as Kelsa pokes fun at Blythe about a marriage proposal from Maric, she says that “Love is bullshit anyway.”
Kelsa says Vulcanus are interested in our surplus iron (3,000 pounds), wants me to make the deal
Blythe suggests a price of 420,000 copper; Kelsa says start at 550,000
Kelsa says if they take a higher price, then “we know they want you” and says I should show my horns if I want them to like me
Helwyn and Kelsa instruct me that if Kelsa says “chastise,” I need to duck for cover
on the carriage ride
Kelsa informs me she’s brought bombs with her, strapped beneath her dress
“I KNOW that they could kill us with a word but I'm not worried about death I am worried they will make you disappear.”
Kelsa tells me she’s half sidhe, her father was a fae and her mother was a noble who became a “working girl”
says Asheborn is a cursed house, evil, dark forces touched them
“why do you think my cousins are calling themselves Alderoaks?”
confirms that she is a descendant of Nelocon and technically heir to the throne, but she doesn’t want to be on a throne and doesn’t think she can change the world from a throne
Adrian Vulcanus wants to breed Kelsa; Kelsa is going to make a deal with them, with me as collateral - she intends to take me out of their sights and fake her death after my “fourteenth” birthday
if she bends the deal, they kill me
“They forced my hand and I cant do anything to stop it except agree. In exchange for me and "breeding rights" they will leave Hahn and H.A.R.M alone forever, it’s going to be seal by devil’s deal and fae's deal.”
“I'm going to try and swindle them, add a small term to the contract, that the breeding rights only last until my legal death. Then if I legally die then they cant touch me but they can't break the deal with you. But if that fails then I'll do it, I'll be a Vulcanus breeder, because YOU and all the kids will be safe. They wont get a single kid out of me though. the bombs will make sure of it.”
Blythe tries to convince Kelsa not to promise herself, to instead promise HARM, me, all the platinum from the boxes
Vulcanus estate
greeted by Maric and Adrian; Maric and I exchange veiled insults
two guests of the dinner are discussing the “dragon girl” who preaches near Heroes’ Alley
“Preaching profanities she is, primordial powers, dragon gods, what sort of fool is she? When these Dragon loving vagrants move on she will be torn to shreds by the faithful, serves her right.”
talking with Maric
he tells me that the dragons are “pox”
as we skirt around the subject of our last encounter, he tells me that dragons and vampires hate each other
“I hear that the righteous hand of the paladins took care of another terrible infestation in the Middies. They even captured one of them, a young one, must have slipped under Coldwill's gaze.”
he thinks they are going to gather information from her before handing her over to the dragons to be executed as a sacrifice
“It is a most ancient of rituals the dragons have been consuming mortals for as long as history records.”
Kelsa and Adrian disappear to the “lounge” to talk business, and Maric and I follow after a few minutes
we exchange more veiled insults along the way, but Maric finally says, “you are less then nothing to me. The screeching of a injured bird as you tear off its wings.”
“We both know there was no miraculous revival, your father abandoned you and you only made it back because your sister is a bigger fool then your mother, but we must both tolerate each other until the deal is done and pray to whatever god you worship they don't force me to be your husband. I prefer to the keep the contents of my stomach down.”
my response: “Your insides will be your outsides if you marry Kelsa, so choose carefully,” she snaps back. “And this is me tolerating you."
the lounge
inside the lounge are Adrian, Kelsa, and “a large devil-man in purple clothing with a lit cigar in his mouth laying cards out on a coffee table and playing something that looks like solitaire”
introduces himself as Adamas Ander (and says his brother is William Anderwild)
Anderwild is the lord of Aerath’s four hells
Lord of Lies, Dark Seducer
Adamas Ander, also known as Poppy, is lord of the third hell, Sin City
Lord of Chance, King of Sin
offers to teach me the game of cards he is playing
the deal for iron
Kelsa starts the price at 800,000 for the surplus
Blythe moves the price to 650,000 and says she wouldn’t have come here if she intended to continue her father’s feud
Adrian offers 300,500
Kelsa: “450,500 is a more acceptable price, under the condition that this contract also insures no additional costs are accrued and upon agreement the contract is considered fulfilled when the iron is delivered with out additional terms”
Blythe’s final offer: “430,000, as a show of good faith, for the full shipment of three thousand pounds of surplus iron”
Adrian agrees and Adamas verifies the deal; a mark appears on the hands of Blythe, Adrian, and Kelsa in the image of a joker card
the deal for Kelsa
Adrian: “Ashborn, we start the offer at 9.5 million copper for H.A.R.M, and an additional 2.5 million for its current leadership to be acquired by House Vulcanus.”
Kelsa: “18.6 million for both, under the condition that the contract includes the clause that no further acquisition attempts of House Hahn's personal assets will be made until the legal death of the 6th blood heir to the Hahn name. In addition the current leadership of H.A.R.M. will not be used after their legal death, for any purpose magical or otherwise.” Kelsa smiles at Adamas. "Wouldn't want to be turned into a zombie or something, you know?”
Adamas pulls a card from his deck, not a playing card but a tarot card: the devil
Blythe tells Adrian “You can’t have her,” and Kelsa tells Blythe to stay out of it
Blythe’s offer: “You can have HARM, you can have me, and soon you can have 50 million in platinum pieces. But you cannot have her.”
Adrian ignores me, and they accept the deal laid out by Kelsa
as the deal is sealed by Adamas, the vines appear on Kelsa’s neck, surrounded by a circle of cards
Adamas looks to Adrian and asks for his payment; as Adrian nods, Maric screams, and crumbles into ashes
Adrian welcomes Kelsa to house Vulcanus, and Kelsa hopes he won’t “chastise” her for being so hard on him
Blythe ducks for cover, and Kelsa activates the bombs in her dress
the bombs explode the entire room; Adrian is thrown against a wall, and a charred corpse against another
the door opens and a bear lycanthrope enters, along with several guards
Adrian screams at them to get the corpse, “we can save her”
Blythe screams at Helwyn to hide Kelsa
the bear throws the corpse and I into a carriage, which rockets away from the estate
after a few minutes the carriage comes to a halt and Karlie opens the door, grabbing Blythe
I can smell the sea as Karlie grabs me and transforms into her bear form, and sprints to the Hahn estate
back at the Hahn estate
as we return home, Karlie tells Varen that Adrian murdered Kelsa, Maric, and tried to murder Blythe
Varen says the paladins are here to speak with me, and Karlie goes to talk to them
Marlie comes in, saying that she saw the whole thing
Karlie comes back, says she persuaded the paladins to leave for now but they want to speak with her as the only non-Vulcanus on scene; also told them she found the abandoned cart at the docks
Karlie says she made sure they won’t find Kelsa’s body
“I am not sure what happened but I was drinking with some buddies at the dock when I smelled Blythe.”
Karlie tells us that Kelsa’s mother was a Vulcanus, born without magic, and when she fell pregnant with the child of a drifter they tossed her to the streets; when the baby had magic, they stole it from her, but she stole it back and escaped to Lowtown, working under the Guttersnipes
after that, Kelsa pledged to help those overlooked and trampled
I tell Karlie that Adrian didn’t kill Kelsa and Maric, that Kelsa brought bombs and killed herself; that Adrian paid Adamas with Maric; and that Kelsa made the deal where it lasts until her legal death specifically
Karlie’s instructions for talking with Nords: “tell them you didn't see what happened, you just saw Kelsa's body and narrowly dodged your own death, tell them Adrian sold Maric to Adamas, make sure you say Adamas. And don't mention the bombs, do not mention them.”
Marlie and I enter the wardrobe to talk to my godmother
godmother tells me if Kelsa is dead she’s either dispersed in the Otherworld and will reform in a few hundred years, or she’s wandering between the planes alone
when Drevlin returns home, Marlie and I share what happened - the full story
in the morning, I go to the secret room and ask my tuning fork how to destroy the life of Adrian Vulcanus
in my head I hear my own voice: “Ascendance.”
I invite the party to the house to give them the news
Elli is convinced that Kelsa is still alive, and Marlie sides with her while Cordelia believes me
while they are there, the paladins arrive to interview me
Sergeant Coldpepper leads the investigation
I don’t lie to him but I leave out Kelsa’s role in the fire and try to lead him to believe that Adrian was responsible
he tells me my father was making preparations to have me betrothed to Maric Vulcanus, although I later learn it was a different Vulcanus who is now dead
the following events
Adrian Vulcanus is arrested the morning after my interview and placed in an AM collar
following this, I let the rest of the party believe that he was responsible for Kelsa’s death, and do not tell them about the bombs
violence and propaganda against mages is enflamed across the city, and there is a crackdown on unlicensed mages
Consuela Alderoak is found hanging from a tree outside the city; a resurrection is attempted but apparently fails and her death remains a mystery
find my father’s coded journal, but no luck decrypting it
