Arc 5: A Lock with a Hidden Door

Plot points/Scenes

The PCs, with their new friend Augustus Hartman with them, have left the city of Lorinne and headed south. They left primarily to escape any reprisals from Gavinus, who has been revealed as a villain working to cause chaos in the Church, but also they are seeking the area revealed in the ceramic cartological map that Hartman discovered at the Church of the Paladins. They believe it refers to an area of rivers and plains near the capital, though admittedly their directions are somewhat vague. They have also brought along Clarity Champoux and Crispin Wildmane, getting them out of Lorinne in haste and with some secrecy, because they believe that she too might be in danger from Queen Lucrece.

Interludes

For the GM: It is a two-day journey to Havelock. On the first night, around the campfire, Clarity will try to learn more from Hartman and Elric about their backgrounds. This is a good time for an Interlude before we begin the adventure proper.

Nightmare

That night, Stigala is plagued with a nightmare. She is back at the Convocation of Lorinne, and surrounded by the crowd of humans as the Grand Preceptor speaks the edict that paladins are not to be worshiped. There is suddenly a great light beside you, and you turn to see Smok there, shining with a holy light that burns from within. "This heresy will not stand," he says with a confidence tinged with sadness, then he is running toward the Preceptor. As the great cleric falls and the guards descend, Smok turns to you, "Stigala, join me!" (a sword blow slams into his spine and his legs buckle) "Stigala, help me!" (Another blade strikes his head, severing part of one ear and gashing his skull) From the ground, he cries, "Stigala, avenge me!" (A final swords lands on his neck and passes right through, sparking and clanging on the stones below. Smok's head bounces on rolls toward you, across the floor suddenly cleared of all people, until it stops at your feet. The face rolls up, and it retains the most soul-crushing look of disappointment and betrayal you can imagine. And you wake up. Until you resolve it, you have a immense level of regret for not helping Smok that day, and instead just backing away. No matter how you try to rationalize it, you know your friend was right and you let him go to his doom alone.

Meeting Malin

A short distance off the road, about halfway to the river, a man kneels in the dirt, turned in profile to you. His long dark-blonde hair falls down off his shoulder and his handsome face is intently focused on the ground, where he prods something with a short stick. He wears in the most full set of plate harness you've ever seen, etched and worked far beyond the utilitarian needs of a soldier but without losing any martial effectiveness. He suddenly casts the stick aside, stands, and turns to you. The left side of his hair, hidden before, falls down in equal length but is a silver gray, and the left side of his face is distinctly more pale and menacing than the right. He speaks calmly and seemingly not louder, but his voice easily carries the fifty yards to you and bears equal parts authority and compulsion: "Bastione, you and your friends took your time getting here."

Do I know you?
"I certainly know you, Rowan Payne, better than your so-called friends. You're selfish, weak, angry, violent. You've got wickedness tangled in your very soul. Which is why I fucking like you, because we're cut from the same cloth. Difference is, I have the discipline to keep it inside."

Who are you?
"We've met before. I'm the one that pulls you back when the red rage takes you. Who fills you self-loathing when you fail. I'm the one who knows how fucking hard it is to stay in control when the pain hits you, and I'm the one that one day will pull that Gods-damned bottle out of your fist."

What do you want from me?
"Up ahead, there's a village. Not large, but a handsome place. I believe it started as a place to help boats get up and down the river. Some of the people there have been invoking my name; they complain to the gods that their baroness has become oppressive, and they call me out as the cause of their problems. We prefer it if people don't summon us in vain. Sometimes it makes us angry. I want you to go that village and find out why the baroness changed. If she acts out of selfish impulses or makes hard choices for the common good."

Why don't YOU do it?
"If I were to answer them, I'd show the people what their baroness could be asking of them. What obedience and discipline really mean. I'd do that, and they would cry tyranny. That's our curse, you understand: we must forever be the truest embodiment of that which we represent. We can resist; we can try to hold it at bay, but in the end the compulsion will overcome our will, even my own. That is why the Paladins are not allowed to interfere in the doings of mortals. But you grow strong and you now have the power to demand the truth."

Have you heard about Paladins being killed?
"War is coming; from a foe that Lady Presagia didn't see coming and in whom even the self-righteous Caroline can find no goodness."

The Gift Malin will give Rowan a portion of his power. This will allow him to Adjure Truth once per day. By spending a Benny, Rowan can present his Pentic symbol and invoke the name of Saint Malin to gain one truthful answer from the subject. The target is aware of the mental intrusion and may be resentful of the compulsion, but will be unable to resist answering unless he or she succeeds at a Spirit roll at -4. If they successfully resist, the struggle will be obvious. (Later, if Rowan spends an Edge on this power, he will be able to ask up to 5 questions per day. Each separate person requires another Benny, however.)

Ending
At some point, Malin will (try to) provoke Rowan into anger. First, the bastione will be overcome with an urge to kneel (Spirit Roll at -2) "On your knees, man of two natures. Admit your ambivalence before the master." (Whether he succeeds or not) "Look not upon me with your blind eyes!" (Spirit roll at -4) "Look instead upon the grave that claims us all, vassal and lord alike!"

With this, Malin will turn and walk away, seeming not to hurry but will vanish over a nearby hill in seconds. Rowan will be focused on the ground in front of him, where he will notice a tarnished silver cloak pin pressed into the earth, with some tiny blades of young grass grown up through it. He will then notice that the ground immediately below him has been disturbed--not recently, but certainly after the winter put the plants to slumber. The affected area is a nearly straight-sided rectangle, 3 feet wide and 6 or 7 feet long.

Structure

Exposition

The Story So Far

Baroness Gwenore rules the Barony of Havelock and a keep known as the Bastion de Caisson on the Crystalflow River. In Janvier of 1005, she was called to Lorinne like the other feudal lords of Saubonne in order to renew her vows of fealty to Countess Lucrece of Boulais. She traveled with six of her gallants and, like most of the barons, was shocked by the Countess's self-promotion to Queen of the northern counties. What Lucrece was doing was treason against Duchess Elena, but to not swear for The Lioness was to invite her considerable wrath and substantial military power. Additionally, Lucrece offered Gwenore a share of a new high tariff she was placing on all goods being sent upstream.

Baroness Gwenore knelt to Queen Lucrece of Leonessa.

This created an immediate conundrum for her gallants. The Bastion de Caisson has been garrisoned for centuries the Order d'Ecluse, the Knights of the Lock, who are sworn to both the Duchess of Lysonne and the Baroness of Havelock. It was set up in this way by Empress Caroline herself to maintain the neutrality of the caisson lock that allows shipping past Maidensveil Falls on the Crystalflow River.

The knights were torn between their pledge of fealty to Baroness Gwenore and their mandate to fight to protect the free trade of the river and their vows to Dame Caroline, Paladin of Fealty. The Lock Knights tried to reason with Baroness Gwenore to change her mind and maintain her allegiance to Duchess Elena. The knights were left in an impossible situation, and Dame Elise, head of the Havelock chapterhouse, decided to take the actions her vows required.

Dame Elise assassinated Baroness Gwenore in her sleep.

By doing so, she favored one vow over the other but absolved the Order d'Ecluse of their dilemma or any wrongdoing on their part. However, the other knights were then also bound to avenge this treason, this breach of fealty to the Baroness. Dame Elise expected this and did not resist their judgement and their merciless sentence.

Five of the knights buried their spears in Dame Elise's body.

They then buried Baroness Gwenore's body and committed Dame Elise's body and armor to the river. The five remaining knights then were left without a local lady. This problem found a solution in Sir Petrus the Silent. Sir Petrus is well known for his vow of silence, but what was not known was that his vow is really a vow of hidden identity. Her real name is Anne the Huntress, and through a relic called the Gorget of Gaspilleur she has been able to maintain the facial appearance of a man (though not a man's voice) for the past six years she has been stationed at Havelock. Anne has claimed a vow of silence to disguise her voice, and been very careful not to allow herself to be seen without her gorget (and either armor or bindings). Anne was a similar build to the deceased Baroness Gwenore, and so she proposed a shocking plan to the other knights.

Anne the Huntress revealed her true identity and the power of her relic and proposed that she assume the identity of Baroness Gwenore, keeping the real baroness's vow to Queen Lucrece secret as long as possible.

The other knights agreed and the party returned to Havelock, explaining to the squires that Dame Elise and Sir Petrus had been reassigned to the Dam of the Ancients in Lorinne.

The plan worked well, at first, even mostly fooling Baron Gifford, Gwenore's husband, (though he thought his wife's speech patterns were odd for a bit). As the months have worn on, Gwenore seems more distant than before, maintaining separate rooms for themselves. In fact, they have only come together one time, on a particularly dark night when she came to him in his bedchamber and left before morning light.
Now four months after the replacement, "Gwenore" is becoming more accustomed to her new role. When the news of the assassination of Duchess Elise reached Havelock, Gwenore and the other knights knew it would just be a matter of time before Queen Lucrece pressed her new claim and called upon the barony for support. When they would refuse to give it, the claws of the Lioness will inevitably descend upon Havelock. So, Gwenore has essentially put the barony on a war footing, exacting a heavy tax of grain (in an already meager time), preparing arrows and other defensive arrows en masse, and otherwise readying the Bastion de Cassion for a siege.

Consequently, the people of Havelock are becoming increasingly discontent with their Baroness, and are starting to grumble.

Then the unthinkable happened. While touring the village and inspecting the possible defenses, Gwenore and Gifford encountered a cobbler who had been pressed into service building an earthworks ditch and berm around the approach to the village. He had not been able to spend much time in his shop for weeks, and had had enough with the "unreasonable demands" of the Baroness when it had been eight weeks and still no army threatened the town. The cobbler, a man named Baynard, was shirking and complaining when Gifford told him to get back to work and cursed his laziness. Baynard threw a clod of soil at Gifford, which missed and struck Gwenore in the face. A rock hidden in the clod cut her: not seriously, but enough to draw blood.

Gifford immediately declared that Baynard's assault against a noble constituted treason, all the more serious because he drew the blood of his liege lord. The penalty for such an act is death by drawing and hanging.

Gwenore and the knights was caught by the situation: they had to exact the sentence to maintain order, even though the senior knights know that Anne the Huntress herself is low-born, and therefore no capital crime was committed. Sir Valter, the new head of the chapter, is called upon to carry out the public sentence. This grim act of "justice" is what the PCs witness when they arrive in town.

Conflict

Baroness Gwenore/Anne the Huntress

Anne knows that she is not the rightful ruler of Havelock, but she knows that resisting the Queen and fortifying the keep against a siege is the right thing to do. She hates the fact that Baynard needed to be executed, and she increasingly distrusts Gifford's treatment of the peasants. She is also keenly aware that four of her knights are forced to keep secret about her identity. She does not fear them speaking, but in conflicted about the duplicity the situation forces upon them.

Sir Valter

The new head of the Order d'Ecluse chapter, he is driven by his vow to the duchess and yet is deeply grieved by what he has had to do, including killing Dame Elise and torturing Baynard to death. He also knows that the Bastion cannot hope to hold out long against the might of the Lioness, and likely no help will be coming, which means he is dooming the peasants to death as well.

Baron Gifford

Gifford knows something changes with his wife during her time in Lorinne, but she will not discuss it with him. She is physically much colder than she was before, but much more resolute. The threat of battle has drawn out a steel he never expected to see in her, and he is trying to pull his weight in kind, showing his iron will by making an example of Baynard.

Knights of the Order d'Ecluse

The four remaining knights who know the fate of Dame Elise and Baroness Gwenore: Sir Perrin the Vigilant, Sir Jerome the Valorous, Dame Tiphina of the Sea, and Jacquelyn the Whisper, are outwardly staunch supporters of Baroness Gwenore, but are inwardly racked with guilt and shame at their murder and deceptions. They know, however, that removing themselves from protecting the city would not only break their vow but also give the citizens literally no chance to survive the coming months and years.

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d10, Strength d10, Vigor d10
Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d10, Resilience d10, Intimidation d6, Knowledge (Battle) d8, Notice d6, Riding d10
Pace: 6; Parry: 10; Toughness: 12 (5)
Hindrances: Code of Honor
Edges: Block, Combat Reflexes, Command, Frenzy, Improved Nerves of Steel, Level Headed
Gear: Brigandine Jack + gambeson (+5), plates arms and legs (+5), closed helm (+5), long sword (d10+d8), large shield (+2 Parry), lance (Str+d8, Reach 2, AP2 when charging), war horse

Pastore Athelesia

The local Venerati, she was converted to the worship of the Sixth last fall by the harbinger, though she does not air her views openly. However, she is likewise angry about the treatment "her" people have been receiving by the "damn nobles who think they own people," so she instigates rebellious talk among the people, and tells them she prays to a Sixth god who "won't stand by and watch good people suffer." She will cast a ritual to call down a Neverborn possessor on "all the nobles in Havelock," which includes Baron Gifford and Clarity Champoux.

Rising Action

Poison or Possession?

At dinner, Baron Gifford and Lady Clarity will suddenly choke and fall back into seizures right after drinking some wine. This will seem to be poison (in fact, Gifford will think so and knock the goblet out of Gwenore's hand), but it is not poison at all: in fact, Athelesia has used black magic to summon Neverborn possessors to The afflicted will be comatose and completely unresponsive, but alive. If they are carried into the chapel are placed within the confines of a ward, they will vomit up a viscous black liquid at the edge of the area, which will then rise up into a Neverborn possessor:


Neverborn Possessor
The possessor is a winged humanoid with a leathery body and sinister, red eyes. While low in the Malfean hierarchy, a possessor is very smart and literally feeds on fear and chaos. This Neverborn rarely appears in the physical realm, more frequently entering our world as a spirit and possessing its victims. Once it possesses a victim, it likes to cause as much mischief as possible.
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d10, Notice d6, Stealth d10
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 5 (1)
Special Abilities:

• Terror/Mental Anguish: Resilience rolls at -2; if failed, d10+d6 Sanity dam vs (1/2 Spirit +2) or suffer Madness (like wounds)
• Armor +1: Neverborn skin is leathery and hardened.
• Claws: Str+d6
• Neverborn: Bane (Holy Items Immune to poison and disease; +2 to recover from being Shaken; half-damage from nonmagical attacks; suffers +1d6 from pure iron weapons; Shaken or Fatigue by Holy Water.
• Fear (–2): In addition to any fright effects, the possessor imprints illusions into the victim’s mind such as fiery pits, more Neverborn, the end of the world, attacking friends, or whatever else the GM can dream up. The illusions have no substance and disperse if touched. They last a number of rounds equal to the possessor’s Spirit die type.
• Feeding Frenzy: Every time a human fails a Fear roll in its presence, the possessor gains +1 to all Trait rolls, Toughness, and Parry for one hour (maximum of +3).
• Flight: A possessor has a Flying Pace of 12" and Climb at –1.
• Possession: The possessor can attempt to take over a mortal host. With a success, the demon is now inside the body and in complete control of it. It has access to all the subject’s thoughts and memories. The demon can take control whenever it wants, but after committing any particularly heinous act the victim may make an opposed Spirit test to wrest control for 1d6 hours, or 2d6 hours with a raise.
• Quick: When dealt a 5 or lower for initiative, it may discard and redraw until it gets a card higher than 5.
• Size –1: Possessors are child-sized.
  
  

Attacks in the Night

Stigala: (make a Notice check at -4 to notice something slipping around your neck. If Successful, Stig gets a Draw in the first round of combat. Otherwise, she does not.) You awake as a length of silken cloth slithers across your neck and is drawn up tight. At the moment, you can't see your attacker. Clarity attacks with the Drop on the first round, seeking to Grapple. If Clarity gets a Raise, Stig is Bound (and Distracted and Vulnerable). Each round Stig is Bound she must make a Vigor roll. If the roll is failed, Stig gains a level of Fatigue. Death: A person Incapacitated from strangulation dies in a number of minutes equal to her Vigor. If someone can get to the victim before then, he can be resuscitated by removing him from the hazard and a Healing roll at -2. Clarity's stats are below:

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Athletics d4, Common Knowledge d8, Fighting d4, Resilience d6, Notice d8, Persuasion d8, Riding d6, Stealth d4.
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5

After 1 round, jump to:

Commotion in the Corridor

Meanwhile, the other PCs awake to running footsteps outside the door, and then another set. Opening the door, you see a bare-chested and well muscled Sir Perrin, shirtless and barefoot, wearing only chausses but carrying a sheathed longsword in his hands. He barely pauses, "Trouble! Come on."

Do two rounds of Stig and Clarity, then jump back to:

Sir Valter's Suicide

You follow Sir Perrin to a door just down a corridor to Baron Gifford's room. Squires Raoulina and Wilmot stand outside the closed door, their faces ashen.Sir Valter will be found dead in his chamber, slumped face down over the edge of his bed with his longsword jutted two feet through his back. Other clues:His hands are loosely tied with rope that turns out to be nothing but than a loose loop twisted around his wrist...he could have unraveled the loop and removed his hands at any time.His room is neat, but his table has been pulled over near the bed, and stands about four feet away, though the chairs that go with it still sit across the room.The sword hilt is firmly wedged between the slat of the bed and tied there with a light cord.On his bed, is a small pile of about 40 shillings and a note that reads, "For Baynard's widow Bess."

Then finish up Stig.

Rebellion Against the Baroness

The peasantry, led by Bess and Athelesia, will rise up against the Baroness and try to (somewhat ineffectually) demand that Gwenore cease all of her siegeworks demands and pay them back wages for the lost work. Athelseia says "her" people are tired of "damn nobles who think they own people." When Gwenore says the Gods set nobles above commoners, Athelesia says she prays to a Sixth god who "won't stand by and watch good people suffer." The people cheer and a few throw stones. When the Knights offer to run out and put down the crowd, Gwenore says, I won't attack our own people! Close the gate!" As they close the Bastion, Athelesia jeers, "Did you enjoy last night's gift, Gwenore? That was but a taste of my god's power..."

The Knights will seal up the Bastion, trapping themselves (and likely the PCs) inside.

Climax

Arrival of the Minister of Customs

The Leonessa Minister of Customs arrives for the 1st quarterly customs collection. Being a highly-tempting target for thieves, he is accompanied by no fewer than fifty men-at-arms in full harness. Baroness Gwenore tells the Minister to go to hell: she's not charging tax on the Duchess's river. The minister says that it's the Queen's River, and Gwenore retorts that she recognizes no Queen. The Minister then orders his men to lay siege to the Bastion, enlisting the aid of the peasants of Havelock if needed.

Neverborn Siege

Pastore Athelesia will lead the peasantry in a large ritual to The Sixth (PCs will hear in the chanting the name Holika Dahan) and a black mist will rise up all around the castle and resolve into goblin-sized Neverborn at the top of the walls to attack the occupants.

Neverborn Besiegers
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6,Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d6, Notice d6,Stealth d10, Taunt d6
Pace: 5; Parry: 5; Toughness: 4
Attack: Claws (2d4)
Terror/Mental Anguish: Resilience rolls at -1; if failed, d6+d4 Sanity dam vs (1/2 Spirit +2) or suffer Madness (like wounds)

There will be literally no end to the besiegers. The only way to avoid death by attrition is to wait things out in the chapel until dawn or make a fighting retreat into a boat and into the caisson.

Falling Action

Into the Lock

There is a third door to the lock on the upstream side, unknown to everyone. If the PCs don't think about it, they might be journeying downstream to continue to Llys and the caisson will be sabotaged, dropping them far below the normal exit level. This exit will lead to a locked door and a chamber that leads to...something cool...and a transporter to the mouth of Earthfall Chasm.

Physical Specifications

The caisson chamber of the lock is a rectangular watertight box made of heavy timbers tarred with pitch. It's interior dimensions are 60' l x 18' w x 18' h, though there is normally a 3' depth of water in the bottom, allowing 15' of freeboard between water and overhead. Each end has a large set of double doors that open inward, with a small window in each door (6" h x 12" w x 4" thick). The ends of the caisson mate with similar doors at the upper and lower locks (as well as the hidden Vault below the lower lock). Once mated in the docking slot, a ratchet inside the caisson draws it tightly up against the outer door, and another pump lever pumps out the water to free the doors. Then the doors can be opened.

Descent to the Vault

In normal times, operation of the caisson is unremarkable and hazard-free. However, the PCs are never so lucky, whether because of sabotage from above or because the caisson hasn't descended so far in centuries.

As the PCs descend, the caisson will creak under the increasing pressure. This is alarming, but normal. However, once past the lower level, the creaks get louder and some snapping or cracking can be heard. Just as the upstream doors begin to align with a lower there is a sickening pop and the downstream end of the caisson suddenly falls! This pitches the boat (and all the water) to that end. The boat itself will capsize and float on end against the wall/ceiling. The PCs will be swimming in the upper end, about 10 ft below the doors. Stig must make an Agility check to hold onto the lantern (or not duck it in the water), thereby plunging everyone into complete darkness.

Getting Out (Dramatic Task)

The PCs must escape with a Dramatic Task (using whatever skills they can think of). For each PC involve in the task, they have to collect 3 Tokens in three rounds Success: The PCs get through the doors wet, but unscathed. However, there's no going back out through the lock until the cistern is drained and the caisson repaired. Failure: The PCs make it through, but the pounding water slams them against walls, etc. Make a Vigor roll (at -1 for every missed Token) or take Fatigue level (2 or more if failed by more than 4).

Beyond the caisson are watertight doors that swing out toward the cistern that can be shut to block the water (but that will then be almost impossible to open against the water pressure).

Vault of the Caisson

Behind the watertight doors is a short tunnel about six feet wide and eight feet high, with a barrel vault ceiling. There is a right-hand intersection about 10 feet ahead, and about five feet after that, the passage ends in a brick wall with a page of parchment tacked to it. On the left hand wall, the masonry of the corridor has been plastered over and is frescoed with a mural of a group of people walking forward.

The Mural. The group is led by a Matelot woman in a hooded tunic emblazoned with a sun. She holds a bow with a nocked arrow and wears a sword at her hip. Behind her is a tall Matelot man in an early kind of armor carrying a spear. Next is a large Loxodon, carrying a mace but wearing only blue and silver robes. Next is a woman of very slight build. Her hair is blonde and her skin color is light, even lighter than most Paysans, but her ears are the oddest feature, because though small they are delicately pointed! She wears a dagger on her hip and carries an ornate lute. The last figure is a little ways behind the group. It is a young woman of very small stature--no more than four feet tall-- wearing a cloak with a bow slung over her shoulder. Her hood is pulled up, and either the hood itself has false ears sewn to it, or she has very large and pointed ears that extend to the top of her head! She carries a dagger in each hand.

Brick Wall. The passage has been sealed up with smaller, lighter-colored bricks than the rest of the masonry. The tacked-up parchment is inscribed with faded ink, but says in Lalange, "This way is sealed by order of Grand Patriarch Latrec and Baroness Foquet. (If the PCs try to break through, see below).

Office. The right hand passage is short and leads to a small room, pleasantly appointed with 2 chairs and 2 writing desks. One desk is entirely empty, but one holds a fair amount of pages covered in writing. They seem to be manuscript pages for a work entitled, "Remorse and Arrogation," by Sincére Foquet. If a person studies them for a week, they will learn how to talk a subject through their remorse and absolve them, taking upon themselves the pain of the subject.

Breaking Through

The bricks have Hardness 10. After breaking through, they will find an asymmetric chamber of a strange ceramic or bone-like surface, with a vertical hexagon about 9 feet high standing in the center. The structure seemed to be made of a black-veined stone about a foot thick, and the center is filled with a seamless, copper-colored metal. At the 4 upper vertices of the hexagon, 3" diameter cylinders of what appear to be softsteel protrude about a foot. On the floor, starting from somewhere underneath the rubble of the ruined wall, a dried brownish smear leads to the middle of the hexagon where it ends against the metal center. (If they walk around to see the other side). The other side of the hexagon is exactly like the first, but behind the hexagon is a pedestal about 8 inches square that stands about 5 feet high. On the side that faces the hexagon, a notched disc, possibly made of softsteel, is inset into the pedestal. On the top of the pedestal is an angled plate of dark glass.

If the PCs complete the following activation, purple energy crackles into the center and a purple sheen fills the center of the hexagon.

[

]
This gate connects to the Samraaji Mining Station in Earthfall Chasm.

Components

Hooks

When they arrive in Havelock, they will walk right into the middle of Baynard's disemboweling at the hands of Sir Valter. The other Knights of the Lock stand ready in full harness and poleaxes to keep any protestors back. Lady Clarity will be moved to speak directly with the Baroness about the matter.
Bess, the widow of Baynard will speak with the party and relate that Baynard did indeed throw a clod of dirt at Gifford and struck Gwenore but when it hit, Bess swears she saw Gwenore's face change. It seemed to shimmer and for a half a moment, Bess swears it looked like a different woman, then it was back to Gwenore with a cut on her face. Bess suspects black magic.
If the PCs enter Bastion de Caisson, in the chapel they will see an inscription in Bhaasa: "Down and down again to find the door hidden in the lock and the lock hidden in the door. Journey to the end and be where it all began." No one in Havelock reads Bhaasa, so no one knows what it means.

Stakes

For Killing Gwenore: the penalty for killing one's liege lord is death, but Dame Elise has already been executed.

For Assaulting one's liege: death drawing and hanging

For Rising Up Against One's Liege: confiscation of all property and exile.

For Refusal to Pay the Queen's Taxes: seizure of lands and castle, possible trial for treason

For Impersonating a Noble: loss of tongue and branding on forehead

Moral Quandaries

The Knights of the Lock are already wracked with guilt over being witness to the murder of the real Baroness Gwenore and having to then execute their former commander Dame Elise. They also maintain the charade of Anne/Gwenore because it maintains their double vows and prepares the people for the inevitable conflict. However, the recent horrible execution of Baynard is starting to take its toll. Sir Perrin is starting to believe he should confess to someone and stand for punishment.

Save the Order

Squire Raolina has a different approach to save the Order d'Ecluse. She will target the PCs who most leads the investigation and attempt to assassinate him one night if he can be caught alone in a corridor of the Bastion. (Make a Notice roll against a 5 to notice a hooded and masked figure aiming an crossbow). She is assumed to have aimed, and her first shot is at a Shooting d6+2 for a possible 2d6 damage. If her target is visibly armored, she will shoot at the least armored vital area. Then she will run. If caught, she will surrender and willingly submit to judgment and punishment.

Raolina
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigor d8
Skills: Athletics d8 Fighting d8, Notice d6, Shooting d8
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 8(2)
Hindrances: Code of Honor
Gear: Bow (2d6 dam), sidesword (d8+d6 dam)

Relations

Protagonists

Nobility

Baroness Gwenore
Baron Gifford

Knights of the Order d'Ecluse

Sir Valter the Resolute
Sir Perrin the Vigilant
Sir Jerome the Valorous
Dame Tiphina of the Sea
Dame Jacquelyn the Whisper
Knight Errant Sir Ranulph
Knight Errant Sir Berinon
Squire Raoulina
Squire Bernar
Squire Aunsellus
Squire Wilmot

Peasantry

Pastore Athelesia
Bess, Baynard's widow

Backdrops

Locations

Havelock

Small town of about 700 people. Currently surrounded by mostly-finished earthworks, including a ditch and berm. It looks like it is expecting a siege. It has a small timber frame church built into the side of a hill, a few shops, and a bargeman's inn fronting one side of the market green. There is currently a rectangular timber frame that holds a man suspended by his arms with rope, and with a slack noose around his neck. A brazier of coals stands smoking nearby.

Bastion de Caisson

A castle in the river with a caisson lock above Maidensveil Falls. It was built over 800 years ago and is rumored to have been built by Sincére Foquet (Paladin Sincére the Pure). It is a small but strong keep built right on the water's edge and connected to the Great Caisson.

Maidensveil Falls and the Great Caisson

A long series of short falls that resemble a maiden's veil. They are shallow and swift and include a total drop of about fifty feet, making navigation in either direction impossible without the ancient lock under the Bastion de Caisson. A short Upper Canal is separated from the rest of the river by a masonry wall. The canal leads to a small stone bailey with a long rectangular structure taking up most of the interior. This is the Great Caisson, and it lowers barges almost 60 ft down to the Lower Canal, which then parallels the river and rejoins it after the Falls.

Past Events

The Bastion de Caisson was indeed built by Sincére in the 2nd century CE, but the lock itself dates to a pre-Carolingian era. The lock was built primarily to mask the entrance to the hidden ancient chambers below the ground, and only secondarily to facilitate river traffic through the lock.