Shattered Star

"It makes me the most powerful person to ever exist!" she claims, the magic surging around her eyes making her look further deranged in the moment. "It is no longer my lot to be told what to do, to be twisted by fate and controlled. I am the rightful leader! Me! Nobody else!"

"Of course," Flynt says with a disarming smile. "And that is why Miss Heidmarch has chosen to submit to your rightful rule, and sent us to bring you to her manor, now yours, a site much more befitting your lofty station."

Cecilia looks hesitant for a moment, then smiles widely. "Of course! How could she not? I'm glad she finally realizes how things should be. Come, soldiers, we must take our mansion!" She yells before hopping down the rafters and landing upon the stacked crates. "Well, vassals, lead me home!"

Just as Cecilia gives her order, the front door bursts open, and through the entryway the party can see an armored woman with a whip walk through. "I've seen enough! You're not going anywhere, you pathetic traitor. Ayala wants your head for what you've done! Like hell I'm gonna just let you walk back to safety!"

Cecilia flares with anger at the uninvited guest. "You can fuck right off, Terisha. I don't answer to your worthless rat of a boss anymore!"

Terisha flashes the whip. "So be it, me and these boys will just have to take you by force."

[Combat summary goes here]

"Gentlemen, might I suggest that you leave?" Flynt calls out with a flourish of his shortbow. "It seems to me that might be the better course of action, a far less violent, sewage covered path."

The thugs look between each other and nod. "Yeah I don't want to die for this, covered in filth," one says before they all take off.

"Yes, run maggots! Fear my might!" Cecilia yells after them, conveniently once they're out of earshot.

Anastasia lets out a sigh. "Alright then, your excellency, I believe you have a meeting with Venture-Captain Heidmarch?"

Ali heads into the other room to fish out the unconscious woman from the filth. Seeing as how they're the strongest here, they carry her on their back.

"Yes! To my new grand manor! Cecilia claims, grandly stepping forth.

The party wastes no time heading back to Heidmarch manor. Well, they do spend some time magically cleaning up with prestidigitation. The group certainly gets odd looks with Cecilia strutting mightily proud flanked by two goblin guards, who refused to be cleaned, but are unmolested on their journey back to the manor.

When they arrive at the manor, it is late night and they have to knock for entry. After a short while, a servant lets them in and fetches Lady Heidmarch. Sheila walks into the grand entry wearing a lovely nightgown. Her face flashes with surprise before returning to a calm expression when she sees the group's new companion. "I see you found Cecilia unharmed."

"Yes, our great leader Cecilia is unharmed thanks to her might," Flynt proclaims. "Much thanks is given to you, Miss Heidmarch, for the use of your manor as Cecilia's new residence, and for your fealty to the only true power in the world."

Sheila's eyebrows raise a little but she seems to catch on quite quickly as she sees the strange object hanging from Cecilia's neck. She takes a curtsy to Cecilia. "Yes, your grace. Your new manor awaits its master, though, if I may, your presence in my study would be most appreciated. I have a gift for you."

"Of course!" Cecilia says. She and the rest of the group follow Sheila to her study, where sheila produces a small scarlet-and-blue sphere Ioun stone.

"This stone will empower your necklace further, your grace. I wish you to keep it," Sheila says, as she bends to a knee and offers the stone.

Cecilia greedily grabs the stone and inspects it. Then she looks at the shard. She seems to notice a small round slot for the first time. She places the sphere into the slot and it fuses to the shard, flashing with a coppery light. Cecilia suddenly shakes her head, seeming to become aware of her surroundings for the first time. "Oh gods! Why the fuck did I do all that?"

"Can we drop the your majesty stuff now?" Ali asks, "It's way to stuffy for me. Oh! By the way we caught this little fishy." Ali deposits the lady from earlier.

Sheila stares with a bit of disdain. "Please don't bring trash into my manor," she says. Then she turns back to the group. "I'm far more interested in what you've found, Cecilia. You see, I believe this to be nothing short of a miracle. Varisia has seen it's share of miracles as of late, the discovery of Xin-Shalast, the defeat of Runelord Karzoug, the release of Korvosa from the rule of mad queen Ileosa, and now this is soon to be their equal. This is a powerful Thassilonian artifact, a fragment of horcalcum and a portion of the Shattered Star of Xin: to be precise, the Shard of Pride. I suspect the shard's current carrier already knows more than I do, in fact..."

Cecilia blinks. "Yes... it's all coming to me... and I see something more. I see the Irespan, one of its pillars... it's the crow! My old gang's hideout! That's where I found this, but something tells me there's another piece deeper in there! As for me though," she says, taking the shard off and tossing it to the ground. "I'm done with this thing. It's caused me more than enough trouble already."

Cade's eyes widen and jaw goes slack at the mention of the Shattered Star.  "N-no..." Cade mutters quietly.  "The... The Shattered Star?  The relic forged by the original Emperor of the Thassilon Empire?  That Star?!"  Now fully animated, Cade shoves his way forward to Cecilia and eyes the Shard of Pride in giddy awe.  "I've only read legends about it!  It's supposed to be an artifact of untold power!  So astronomical its potential," he continued, clearly enraptured by this discovery, "that the Runelords themselves fractured it in fear of whoever held it threatened the world!  Oh, gods--!"  Cade, now completely overcome with emotion, begins to hyperventilate.  "I-I can't--I don't even know where to begin!  Lady Heidmarch, this is truly a momentous day!  Just think, if we find the other shards, it will be a tale to rival the legends of old!"  Pausing to catch his breath, Cade takes off his glasses to wipe the fog that begins to accumulate on their lenses.

While Cade talks excitedly, Flynt strolls over to the shard and picks it up. With a few words, he casts a spell. "You all made this too easy," he declares with a smirk, as his body vanishes.

A beat passes, then another. "... Flynt?" Anastasia calls out to the empty room. "Not funny, jerk, get back out here."

"My apologies, Mr. Flynt," Cade replies unaware as he returns his glasses to their perch, "what was..."  Cade is met with empty air where Flynt once stood, and the Shard of Pride gone from Cecilia's neck. "...that?"  In shock, Cade stands there rigidly, followed by him jerking his head around the room, frantically trying to find his compatriot.  "...Mr. Flynt?"

Ali blinks and Flynt is gone. "Wh-what's all this about? Since when can he turn bloody invisible?!"

Sheila slams her hands down on the desk. "Flynt, whatever you're doing, this better be one of your jokes!" she yells. "Servants! Shut down the doors immediately! Emergency procedures! Lock the manor down! It may already be too late!"

Cecilia gets a sinking look to her face and backs away a bit. "Uh, whoops..."

Naomi blinks at the empty air where Erron was a moment ago, as sparks start running across her arms. "I can't believe he just did that," She says, running to the door. "And none of us saw it coming." She shakes her head, and clenches one blackened hand into a tight fist. "This betrayal will not be forgotten, and so help me if we see him again..." Her head droops as she finishes talking, the hand opening again as the sparks die out.

Cade looks back as Sheila orders her mansion on lockdown.  The wizard's face contorts from bewilderment to horror, then to dread and finally to fury.  In an uncharacteristically harsh tone, Cade looks at the remaining party and bellows frantically "Find him!"  Grabbing his quarterstaff, Cade rushes out of the study to begin his search, hoping against hope to find the invisible thief.

Ali drops the lady again and runs off after Cade, hoping to find Flynt and give him a piece of their mind.

Anastasia's eyes narrow viciously. "That... that son of a bitch. Even when we weren't on the same side I never would've thought he'd pull this kind of treacherous bullshit... son of a BITCH!" With a snarl she pulls her scimitar from its sheath and runs into the hall, swinging in wide but controlled arcs with the intention of eviscerating anyone in her way that she couldn't see.

Following at a slower pace, a defeated-looking Naomi enters the hall and travels behind the rest of the group. As she walks, her eyes slowly slide from one end of the hall to the other and back.

The group spends quite a while searching the manor, but no sign of Flynt can be found. He made off very fast, and had likely been planning something like this for a while. The group soon finds themselves regrouping in Sheila's office. Sheila is holding her head in her hands as she stares down at the desk.

"I'd like to start by apologizing for the actions of my former subordinate. He won't be forgiven for this, and when you find him I will be happy to hear of the beating he receives," she says in a tired voice, tinged with frustration and regret. "But we can't let this stop us. Even if he has the shard, we can still beat him to the next one. We already know it's in the Crow. I'll make sure you get a boat out there. And, luckily, we have two people here who might know something about it."

Cecilia looks down at the tied up Terisha and then back up to the group. "I'll do what I can to help, but I'm not going back in there."