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[Ukrainian Ranger]

Tarana  left others to talk with the duke and sat near the captain of the guard. She smiled and asked "Excuse me, can you suggest me some nice wine? As a foreigner I know nothing about that cactus drinks you make here.

[Ross Vernal]

"How dare you speak to the-"

The Duke waved a hand.

"Peace, Captain. I am appreciative of direct talk. My dear Kysine*, if you desire to leave, I will not be offended. However, I do suggest that on your way out, you proceed into the crypts. Five hundred paces in, next to the tomb of my great-uncle, is an alcove dedicated to your God. He was one of Mingan's Withered Hands**, and was of great service to the duchy before and after his death. I expect that the two of you would get along, should you be able to convince him to speak."

"Eeef ye'll pardon me, Ay must say Ay have little entorest in ye, angelborn soldier. Ay ken the young laddie has been tooshed by the Hamma of Righteousness. If Ay may ask, sera, do ye ken the Ged of ye daimone parent?"

The Coranthiian priest directed his question to Tarana after an apologetic glance to Zoah, his thick and heavy accent showing. Clearly, he had a theory that her demon parent was a Corinthiian demon, possibly of Light. Either that, or a Vijan demon of protection. Zoah was simply an angelborn of another god of whom his God happened to have a mutual shared goal.

"Direct answers for direct questions. I have been betrayed by my milk-brother. I know it for certain, as..."

He appeared to be overcome, but concealed the moment by taking a drink of his wine.

"He has our children, and threatened them should we take any action. That, and only that, is why you're here."

"And to save the Duchy from the threats within. No matter the cost." Stiff upper lip and all. "It is his captain that leads the rebellion of Garrison. His barony lays a week travel beyond Garrison."

The captain, upon hearing Tarana's inquiry, turned to her and grinned, keeping an eye on the necropriest.

"I must say, we are fond of our desert pear. It's a fruity white wine, very sweet. But if you prefer, we grow grapes that make an excellent dry red. I would actually suggest you try the red to accompany the meat course - the rasin sauce and wine are excellent complements."


[* One of the titles for a second-tier Minganite priest.

** Fourth-tier Minganite priest.]

[Ukrainian Ranger]

"Thank you, captain, I'll definitely follow your advice " Tarana planned to flirt a bit with the soldier and get information but Priest's question was way more important and she turned her attention to Coranthiian's priest
"Righteousness? "Demongirl laughed, "You have a nice sense of humour. As for my parents, I have no idea what demon fu...." Tarana remembered that she is not at some tavern and should watch her words better ...Spent a night with my mother. Should you want to talk about my relations with gods, I insist on doing  that in more private atmosphere  She was worried that priest can tell everyone that she does like some of Coranthiian's laws.

[Chink]

"Do you have anything stronger than wine, Duke? I've always liked to put down something a little stronger before bed."

[Xantalos]

"Kidnapped? and by your own brother too? How intriu- I mean, terrible!"
Myrln leaned forward in earnestness.
"Now, any specifics on what particular punishments you would like us to inflict on the kidnappers?"
He gets up and slowly begins walking around the table.
"Shall we bring them back to you to be tortured? Slay them where they stand? Tickle them to death?" He pauses beside the duke, then reaches down for something - and pulls his hand back up.
"Got your nose, by the way." He nonchalantly walks back to his seat and begins to dip the bread in his broth and tear great chunks out of it and eat it.
"This is a wonderful soup. Please give my compliments to the chef."

[Xero]

"I would say that securing the children are the top priority, and I promise you that my companions and I will handle things with the utmost care. But as he says, shall we deliver your enemies to you dead or alive?"

Zoah was hoping that he would say alive, because he preferred to see proper justice done.  That is, the Duke and his wife should be the only ones to carry out a death sentence. It was their family that had been harmed by this kidnapping, and it should be their hand that sounded the death of the enemy.

Of course, the angelborn would not object to doing the deed himself.

He looked down to his food and continued eating, trying to think what constituted as proper manners in the presence of a Duke. Hey, when it doubt, Pinky Out!

[Gamerlord]

Very well, I will visit this Withered Hand. The rest of you, come find me when you are done here.
That said, Mingan stalks away, glaring at the Captain of the guard and Zoah as he does so.

[Ross Vernal]

"Brandy, mostly. I hope that will do?"

The Duke watched the half-fey with interest, and upon completion of the joke, looked momentarily confused. He mouthed the words, blinked a few times, and then shook his head.

"I... er... appreciate the attempt at levity, but can you not? I... just... please." There was another moment for him regain his composure, and then the Duke continued. "Dead or alive? To be completely frank, I like to think of myself as a good man. It is an illusion I can believe most of the time. If you were to bring him back alive, the things I would do to him would ruin that fakery for me. And yet, I still feel a desire to do them. I suppose none of you have children, else you'd understand."

A sigh.

"The choice is yours. If you do feel the desire to end his life, I would be content with his head and his black heart to mount on a pike. And the knowledge that he died suffering."

The second course would be brought to the table, consisting of thinly sliced chicken tasting of orange and cloves, set to the side of a salad made of equal parts flowers and vegetables. Obviously, several courses remained.

"The others... hmmm. Spare a few; we must have a proper trial, conviction, and execution. A spectacle for the people to behold the rule of law."

"Verrah well, sera. Ay shan't press ye father... but ye ken the drams of the tymple. Ay kens it in yer oys."

The priest would give her a conspiratorial wink, and finish his soup before going to the next course and chatting with a noble lady sat beside him.

"Between you and me, I think he's been hit with that "hammer of being right" a few too many times."

***

[The Crypt]

"Someone interesting for a change. I do grow tired of the living."

There was no apparent source for the voice, but the skull positioned on the tomb next to a hollowed-out recess set with Chaos siguls was pretty obviously where the dry tone was coming from.

The skull would begin to dimly glow with a grey light, showing signs of a cheerfully malevolent presence. Almost immediately after the skeletal voice echoed through the crypt, there would be a rush of necromantic energy like a cold winter wind. A living person would probably get a bad case of heebie-jeebies and possibly bleed from the ears from it; however, to the Dead, it was practically a friendly handshake.

[Gamerlord]

Morgred kneeled at the alcove, returning the surge, but weaker and more submissive, as was only natural.

Greetings, honoured one. Your... descendant upstairs sent me down here to meet you. It truly is a pleasure. My name is Morgred. May I know yours?

[Xantalos]

Myrln twirled his fingers, an lo and behold, there sat the Duke's nose in his palm! (Feat: Illusions)
"Is this your nose?", he asked, smiling devilishly, before placing the errant nose over his own, looking very much like a jester.

[Ross Vernal]

The Duke sort of stared at Myrln for a moment, then burst out laughing. Clearly, the alcohol was getting to him.

"Ah, a Sidhe. I suppose I should have known... of which Court?"

Somehow, his tone carried the suggestion that he knew perfectly well that Myrln was not a full-blooded fey.

***

[The Crypt]

"I was once known as Alaric. These days, I get called "that skull guy" and you can guess how well I like it. Let me guess - my idiot nephew is saying everything you already know just to listen to his own voice and serving expensive food so he can be impressed by his own generosity? What's the little shit done now that he can't fix by himself?"

The voice sounded exasperated. If it were possible for a skull to sigh, he would have done so by now.

[Gamerlord]

Dunno. Something about a milk brother betraying him and a rebellion at Garrison, his children being kidnapped by said milk brother... I stopped listening after a while. He's quite annoying. But enough about that simpleton, how may I be of service to you, honoured one?

[Xantalos]

"I suspect Summer. I'm told Winter fae are much more malavolent."

[Ross Vernal]

"You know, that's a question I haven't been asked in some time. Most people tend to ask me questions about trivialities and traditions, then leave without so much as a thank you. Now, you likely noticed that I am currently a talking skull. While it is wonderful for clarity of thought, I have had a long time to come to the conclusion that I enjoyed having a body. If you could possibly construct one for me - preferably not of my family - then I would be most appreciative."

Once again, Alaric strongly regretted his inability to sigh.

"As a gesture of goodwill, I suggest you commune with our God briefly, and then remove the brick with the [something so utterly alien as to be untranslatable] sigul on it. You'll find my old sacred bone knife there; I only ask that you make a sacrifice in my name with it, and it is yours to keep."

***

"Why, I' would never say such a thing."

Left unspoken was the fact that he would most certainly think it, though.

"Exactly how skilled are you with those illusions, my good man? Could you, say... make this chicken more juicy? I fear it was left to roast for too long."

[Gamerlord]

I would be honoured to construct you a body. Would you prefer flesh or bone? Also, what form of sacrifice would you wish?