(Alright. No clear yes or no answer on calling Clan Ape yet, but I have enough to work with. All actions related to Redding, Charlie, and by extension the Mighty Clans have been skipped as a favorable random event should have you reconsidering your options.)
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 18th Day:Deciding the decision regarding Peat's offer is not one you can rush into, you ask how much of a head start the Kinkaid's messengers could be given while remaining confident that Peat's men could beat them to Clan Ape. Peat suggests two days, and since Wendle Kinkaid hasn't left town yet, that gives you at least three days. Peat then informs you that if the Kinkaids intend to visit each of the mighty clans in a logical order based on distance, that Clan Ape would be the second visited, so you likely have a bit more time than that.
You conclude the private meetings with each of your three underlings with a respectful 'thank you', and return home.
2334th Year of Man, 4th Month, 19th Day:You are roused early, and informed that a crowd is gathering in town square to hear speeches from those in power. The intention of this impromtu event, of Charlie's invention, is to show unity and rally behind Joy as heir. Although you are sure Countess Kinkaid timed the event to reduce your household's ability to participate, you have Mackie and her daughters hurriedly help you into a nice dress and set out for the rally.
Not terribly comfortable in the art of public speaking yourself, you make a point to stand beside each speaker and project an intimidating and authoritative presence.
Charlie speaks first, and opens with a good five minutes of praising your daughter as a soldier and leader, even going so far as to honor Sylvester by stating she gets it from her father. Her speech then transitions towards the theme of opportunity. Opprotunity to reclaim what belongs to the children of South Redleaf Duchy while at the same time honoring Sylvester's legacy. Opprotunity to prove the strength of the Duchy against that of the crown, and avenge the Duke they have all come to love, or at least respect. Opprotunity to bring back the mighty clans, and use their strength to complete Sylvester's work and modernize Redleaf. She concludes by mentioning her close relationship with Joy, and implying that her reign as Duchess would serve to fully unify the two sides of the war that was fought at the time of her birth. Although you are quite sure duchywide unity and Sylvester's projects are near the bottom of Charlie's list of priorities, the Countess hit all the right notes in her speach, firing up the crowd for the next speaker, Redding.
Redding's speech is shorter and less organized than that of his predecessor. He opens with a few self-depreciating jokes focusing on his mutilated hand, and points out that he doesn't know if he'll actually be made full Duke yet or not. He then turns his attention to the mercenaries gathered, appealing to them for aid and mentioning some of the company leaders by name. He concludes by noting that he is sure Sylvester is smiling down on all present. Although his speech is nowhere near as impressive as Charlie's, it gets an impressive reception from the gathered mercenaries. You know he has taken up some sell-sword work since losing his fingers and learning Earth Magic, and that he invests in several companies, but the thought begins to kick around your head that perhaps your son-in-law is far more connected in North Bank City than he has let on to you.
Joy herself is the final speaker. She wears an almost humorously large dress to hide exactly how far along she is in pregnancy (the plan of course being to delay the announcement of her child's birth until it could have feasibly been conceived after her time on the front), and despite being caught completely off guard, she speaks with poise in a well organized manner. The Priestesses of the Steel Sisterhood are taught how to preach, which you suppose isn't all that different from public speaking. Despite of the fact that she is aware it belongs to the Bonedust family in some capacity, she opens with a solemn prayer for her father's soul. She then publicly thanks Glen Horton for saving her from the prince, before turning it around and subtly placing some responsibility for her father's death on him. You frown, strongly suspecting her intent is to discredit Glen so she can give Charlie the powerful office of general.
Joy's speech then takes a major turn in your favor, when she declares that she will refuse the office of Duchess until Cleanriver Castle has been reclaimed and the prince punished. She states that as Sylvester's true love and best friend, that the right to pursue justice belongs to you, and that you shall pursue it with the full authority of the office of Duchess of Redleaf. She then touches on your sinister reputation, and your maiden family's goblin ties, before outright stating that if the crown gets involved, she would heartily endorse turning this skirmish over succession into a full scale civil war and bringing the powers of darkness to bare against the crown. She concludes by extending the blessing of the goddess Weneth to all present, and imploring the deity to look after the Duchy and its legitimate rulers in these troubled times. You note Charlie is having a hard time hiding her shock, the event clearly did not go as she intended. You smile, satisfied that your daughter's loyalties still, for the moment, lie chiefly with you.
The floor is open for you to make a speech should you choose to do so, and although Joy is be a tough act to follow, the people clearly buy her declaration that power now lies with you. Charlie and Redding would lose much credibility if they were to act against any public decree you make at this moment.Joy's loyalty should also buy you some leverage in your planned meetings with Redding and Charlie. In game time, those meetings happen shortly after the rally concludes, but I doubt talking to demons or picking up a gun will be affected by your decisions there, so I'm going to skip ahead to those.---
Dressed discretely and comfortably, you set out to run some errands once the crowd thins out and calms down. You first stop at
Syzzik's Imports to pick up a powder weapon. You don't intend to lead troops anytime soon, but an artifact weapon could be more handy than dark magic as a tool of self defense.
You enter the store, ask for Syzzik, and once he emerges the merchant offers you a low bow, before pressing a button on one of his shelves causing it to slide to the side and revealing the stairs to his basement. The good stuff is kept downstairs, where you find a secondary sales floor filled with blessed gear, powder weapons, and potent potions that likely were imported.
After letting you get your bearings, your new business partner takes a moment to explain the basics of powder weapons to you. Powder Weapons are almost exclusively manufactured in the city of Gearport on distant Titan Rock. The independent government of the city sets strict standards on the manufacture of powder arms and ammunition, and per these standards there are four classes of individually wielded powder weapons, or guns as they are called in their native land. The standards allow for ammo from any manufacturer to be used with guns from any manufacturer, so long as the ammo is used with the class of gun it was designed for.
The most basic class of gun is the musket, which Syzzik tells you to think of as a particularly loud longbow that hits much harder, fires a bit faster, and is much easier to train people to use. He usually sells his muskets for three to five hundred silver, about twice as much as a well made steel longsword would cost, but expects the price on all his guns to go up soon - the prince's takeover has cut him off from his suppliers in Port County, but he assures you he always keeps his storerooms full in anticipation of such inconveniences.
The rifle, at its most basic, is functionally a superior, safer, and easier to load musket. Syzzik explains that the standards for rifles are kept intentionally loose, so many variants with widely differing attributes and pricing exist. The loose standards are a double edged sword, however, and Syzzik confesses that many rifles, including most of his stock, are poorly made and sold to rubes looking for anything better than their muskets at rip-off prices.
The double gun is Syzzik's personal weapon of choice due to its effectiveness in close quarters - where a shop keeper is most likely to defend himself. The double gun has two barrels, which can each fire one shot per loading. The double gun is the only class of powder weapon that takes two types of ammo: Shot, which effectively spreads shrapnel to tear up anything at close range, and Slugs, which allow the double gun to function as a limited but hard hitting rifle. Double Guns are expensive; Syzzik has never sold one for less than 1100 silver.
Lastly you are shown the quad guns, the smallest and most advanced variety of powder weapon. Syzzik shows how the revolving chamber holds four shots, which can be fired in quick succession. Because they are small and have less kick they are the easiest to pick up and learn, but because they can fire so fast they also have the highest skill ceiling - a quad gun master can hold a weapon in each hand to take out eight foes in several seconds. Although not without flaws, small size renders the power and range of quad guns underwhelming in comparison to other powder weapons, quad guns are the most complicated to produce and expensive to purchase items Syzzik sells, with the exception of some particularly advance rifle varieties.
You mention that you doubt you will be leading troops, so you would like a double gun like he uses for self defense. Syzzik explains that for most people, a quad gun is a more effective defensive weapon. Doubles are great for shopkeepers because they can keep them under their counter, and generally know that they will be using them indoors at close range where they are most effective, but quads can be concealed on one's person, are effective in more environments, and are more forgiving for rookies to use as they carry more shots.
The shopkeep ducks into another room, and returns with a quad gun of purist white.
"This, my Duchess, is Troublemaker. As an artifact it is rare, beautiful, and knows no better, which makes it worthy to be wielded by a lady such as yourself. It is yours, but because guns are dangerous, and Troublemaker moreso than most, I cannot in good conscious allow you to leave with it until you allow me to teach you the basics. Shouldn't take but an hour, two tops."Deciding that you don't want the weapon without the safety lesson anyhow, you consent to some training and Syzzik leads you to his firing range. With an hour and a half of work, you find that you are consistently able to hit the torso of a human-shaped target at twenty paces, and that you can fully reload the weapon in about forty seconds. As you train, the merchant occasionally adjusts your posture or grip when he finds it unsatisfactory, and when he does so his hands linger on your body for just a moment longer than necessary. Perhaps a quirk of his, or perhaps a subtle expression of romantic interest; If he did desire your affection, either out of actual attraction or desire to gain political and economic favors from you, the fear curse you put on him could be keeping the man from making the first move.
Once he is satisfied that you can use a gun without blowing a hand off, Syzzik shows you the artifact's special feature. He instructs you to pull a small mechanism on the back of the gun into the upright position before firing another round into the target. When you do so, the round detonates on impact with a mighty boom, blasting the target into bits where your previous shots had just put holes in it.
"When the mechanism is up, my Duchess, the Titan Roshstream channels explosive energy into any round that passes through Troublemaker. The explosion is actually a bit less effective than a normal shot on somebody wearing full plate armor, but anybody wearing clothes, leathers, or chaingear is going to get torn to bits. Anything inside of three paces of where the bullet hits is going to be hurt pretty badly, so always keep the mechanism down when you are not using the gun. You never know when you might have to shoot somebody inside of three paces on short notice."Syzzik then casually picks up his own quad gun, and cleanly puts all four shots through the cranium of another target, seemingly ignoring the kickback and pulling the trigger as fast as he is able. Having demonstrated how much room for improvement you have with the quad gun, he invites you to come back and practice with him anytime, before sending you on your way. You note he only sends you home with 24 bullets; Enough to protect yourself, but nowhere near enough shots to get significant training in on your own.
---
You head to the knifehouse after dark. You find the resident mages busy using the projection stage when you arrive, so you sit down for a second dinner with Nix, one of the goblin hex weavers who isn't involved with the current proceedings. Over a fresh dish of panther sausage and melted cow cheese, you mention Clan Ivy, and that you intend to employ Dean's services as an augur to get in touch with one of the demons close to their god. You mention this because the augury process requires the use of the summoning circle and projection stage for many hours, and you would like to schedule a good time for Dean to work without disturbing the schedules of the mages who own the equipment. You are shocked when Nix offers you a more direct solution.
"I actually know the hex of Yukprong, one of the demonic servants of Trance of which you speak. You don't have to have your son waste time with augury." Astounded by your good luck for the day, you give Nix consent to place the Hex, and she grabs you by the wrist. Her grip is gentle, but she deftly uses one of her claws to break your flesh and draw a bit of blood. Blood drawing is only required to place particularly powerful hexes, so you hope that Nix's action is more a force of habit than born out of ill intent. Most Goblin casters become highly specialized in particular areas of Dark Magic, and are prone to falling into routine.
You feel the new hex on your soul a few seconds later. It is strongly woven to the point where Nix could use it to place a doozy of a curse on you, and knotted tightly enough that it would take you a good half-days effort to remove on your own. She could activate it at any time of her choosing, but for now all it does is allow you to contact Yukprong and significantly foul up your aura.
Just as you are about to bring up the Goblin's heavy handed style, the other dark mages emerge from the basement and inform you that the equipment is free for you to use, so you head downstairs without raising the issue. You are fairly sure Nix means you no harm.
In the basement, you waste little time calling up Tivavarav at the projection stage. A massive image of his grotesque head, like that of a goat but rotting, missing its eyes, and bleeding from the empty sockets, appears before you. Tivavarav is glad to see you, and informs you that your family and his entire organization has been worried sick since Sylvester's soul showed up in his possession and you stopped contacting him. Apparently your mother got so concerned she gathered some troops, both Bonedust aligned and Redleaf Duchy soldiers pulled from the front lines, and sent them to check on you via the Winding Path.
You swear under your breath. You don't know how many or what kind of forces were sent, but Winding Path would dump them right in the middle of presently hostile Silver County, and you highly doubt they would stand a chance should Count Marlowe attack them directly. To make matters worse, the only friendly troops in the area are under the banner of House Kinkaid, and somebody looking out for your interests but unaware of the details could easily assume them to be the enemy.
After filling Tivavarav in on the exact situation, the demon offers to pass it along, with any other messages you choose to send, to your family. You then get down to business, inquiring about your husband's soul and his other stock. Tivavarav explains that your father has already started to work on Sylvester, and will likely give you the soul for your birthday if it is ready in time. If not, it will go up for sale, but will be held for you indefinitely if you would like, or sold to your mother for the family catacombs otherwise. Tivavarav hasn't been personally been keeping tabs on the soul cleaning process lately, but reckons it is already too far along to change the type of undeath Sylvester is being prepared for. He does suggest that you contact your father if you would like to request that skills, memories, and/or personality traits be added to or removed from the soul.
Before showing you his wares, Tivavarav mentions that you that all ten sets of demonic armor are available to borrow, and would be a great boon to any troops you have trained in heavy armor use. He also adds that your situation is dire enough that you may contract the services of Yaugur should you wish to do so.
Yaugur, the founder of the modern Bonedust family, is a Balrog, a particularly powerful variety of fire demon that stands sixteen feet tall and is somewhat resistant to most magics, and impervious to any mundane weaponry short of a direct hit from a siege engine or powder explosive. He wields Bonedust, the namesake of your bloodline, which is a twelve foot long greatsword that appears to be made out of mundane iron but can cleave through stone walls like steel through cheap leather. To top it off, while on the mortal plane, Yaugur can maintain blessings much more easily, and would likely offer you several dozen free ones for as long as he is around. As kin, Yaugur's contract is for complete, unconditional, and uncorrupt servitude to the summoner's interests over the negotiated period, terms only an exceedingly skilled binder could usually expect to get from a demon of such power.
Tivavarav notes that you are up one soul with him, on account of Sylvester's death. Noting your difficult circumstances and the fact you were likely fond of that particular soul, he offers to make it count for triple credit if you buy now. You note that for three souls, you could get a non-casting soul prepared for a state of basic undeath, a soul to be scrapped, or a month long contract to summon one of Tivavarav's lesser servants. You could hire a reaper, a quick and durable scythe wielding melee shock trooper, or a worker devil who can serve as a tireless mason, carpenter, fisher, or farmworker and will likely know the basics of several schools of nature magic.
Tivavarav's Stock Souls:
For Scrap - 12 in stock, 2 souls each
Wight, Formerly Elven Performer - 1 in stock, 3 souls
Wight, Formerly Lowborn Human Soldier - 1 in stock, 3 souls
Wight, Formerly Highborn Human Scholar - 1 in stock, 3 souls
Wight, Formerly Dwarven Guard - 1 in stock, 3 souls
Wight, Formerly Orcish Ranger and Fire Elementalist - 1 in stock, 5 souls
Ghoul, Formerly Goblin Slave Driver - 4 in stock, 3 souls
Ghoul, Formerly Elven Thief and Prostitute - 1 in stock, 3 souls
Ghoul, Formerly Elven Divine Caster - 1 in stock, 4 souls
Ghoul, Formerly Dwarven Master Smith - 1 in stock, 5 souls
Chimeric Abomination, Formerly Goblin Slave - 19 in stock, 2 souls
Chimeric Abomination, Formerly Dwarven Dark Mage - 19 in stock, 8 souls
Chimeric Abomination, Formerly Kobold Scavenger - 3 in stock, 3 souls
True Vampire, Formerly Human Spy and Assassin - 1 in stock, 5 souls
True Vampire, Formerly Merfolk Water Elementalist of Royal Blood - 1 in Stock, 9 souls
False Angel, Formerly Highborn Human Priestess of the Dread Knights - 1 in Stock, 7 souls
Contracts:
Balrog - 1 Available, 15 Souls per Month of Service, Contract stipulates Unconditional Service
Reaper - 9 Available, 3 Souls per Month of Service, Contract allows reaper to freely kill where doing so wont harm summoners interests
Nightmare - 5 Available, 4 Souls per Month of Service, Will only allow riders who are sufficiently wicked or skilled in dark magic
Worker Devil - 18 Available, 2 Souls per Month of Service, Contract stipulates summoner provide them with daily rations of drugs or booze
Once you wrap up your business with Tivavarav, you try checking in with Yukprong, the demon Nix was kind enough to put you in touch with. You ask if it would pass a message along to its divine master, and it responds by offering to deliver any message you want, as well as a reply, in exchange for two souls. You get the feeling Yukprong isn't used to dealing with Dark Mages, as usually the going rate for messenger service is a few hexes placed for the duration of time the service is used. Further complicating things is the fact that Yukprong's hex has nothing to do with soul ownership, so paying up would be complicated; You would have to either ritualistically slaughter two people at the summoning circle, which you know how to do but have never done before, or send the souls to Tivavarav and bargain with him to make the delivery on your behalf.
You have other options of course. You could try to haggle or bluff to get what you want out of Yukprong, as deception and demonic social protocol are areas in which you are strong. If bargaining goes well, you might find out about other services the demon is offering, but if it goes poorly you could piss off Trance's entire organization. You could also get Dean to find the other demonic servants of Trance and try your luck with them. Lastly, it is likely the goblins here do business with Yukprong if they know its Hex sign; The might be willing to help, but you would look pretty pathetic if you came crawling to them on a matter worth only a couple souls. The goblins might also know of Clan Ivy's mortal agents in town if you are willing to try a slower channel of communication.
A mixed bag this round, but as usual options abound...