War for the Crown Gameplay

"I think it would be best to return the remains to Princess Eutropia," Sarina says. "I'm sure she'd appreciate the opportunity to lay him to rest in whatever fashion she prefers."

"That doesn't really match with what we know, though," Momo notes with a twist to her lips. "The note that was with that dog more or less implies to me that Princess Eutropia knew of the undead, and in some way cavorted with it to keep it around. 'For my sweet brother Carrius, Taldogis will always be with you,' it said," Momo recites. She temples her fingers. "As you probably know, Carrius was Princess Eutropia's deceased younger brother, who died tragically following an accident with the stairs. But... why was that undead child here?"

"Or the note and the toy were given before Carrius's tragic demise," Sarina points out. "And then they were left here, with the body of the child. Why the undead child was here, I couldn't say, but if the Princess didn't know of its existence, I think she would much appreciate the opportunity to lay him to rest properly."

"Certainly a more charitable interpretation than I had been imagining," Momo ponders. "It's likely worth telling her," Momo eventually concludes after a few moments of internal debate. "Regardless of the circumstances that placed the child here, I can't think of one that would somehow make this something more than a curious mystery. If by some freakish circumstance Princess Eutropia is secretly a necromancer or something, that's a problem to contend with when the evidence actually exists."

Josie shrugs and says, "It's certainly weird, but if there's something unsavory going on, maybe we'll get to the bottom of it by bringing the remains to the princess. And if she's not involved, then she gets her brother's body back and can be satisfied with that."

"That matter done then, what do we intend to do with Bartelby and Titus with regards to having them vacate the premises? I doubt they'll be the type to leave willingly if they're unbound," Sarina says.

Momo chuckles, and jokingly suggests, "lock them in the brig!"

Josie thinks for a moment about Momo's idea, and then smiles. "Actually, let's do that. We'll take them home in our carriage, and keep them locked up in our jail. We can't really turn them over to anyone else, after all, and I doubt they'd stay gone if we released them somewhere nearby. Once Lady Martella has taken control of the region, we can ask her what she wants done with them. It's either that, or we dump them in some tiny town far away from here." She shrugs with her last statement.

"Either is fine by me, though if we throw them in our jail, I think we should hood them. I'd rather not any attention or gossip being sprung from us openly detaining Count Lotheed in our own prison," Sarina says.

A giggle from Momo, as she hooks a finger and jokes, "arr, that be sufficiently brigly. Excellent insurrection, me hearties!"

With that established, you cart the Lotheeds off to Stachys, and Martella arrives before Corey returns, right at the break of dawn. She simply pushes open the front doors, calling into the palace, "The Countess is in the building," with a peal of laughter, grinning ear to ear.

"Welcome, Countess Lotheed," Sarina says with a smile. "Might I present you with the deed to the estate?" she says, offering the piece of paper. "As well as the many other holdings of the Lotheed fortune, still in the family vault."

Momo offers a curtsey at the Countess's entrance, adding, "if it should make things sweeter, your brother and his lapdog are in cells at our estate."

Martella gratefully accepts the deed and scans her gaze about the building, "Thank you, and that's good to hear. I'll certainly have words with Bartleby... I may just have Titus sent off to his other family in shame. I'd rather not have to listen to his prattle."

Momo blows a tuft of hair out of her face, folding her arms and grumbling, "don't I know it..."

"You most of us," Sarina agrees. "Perhaps we can arrange transportation for him on a barge transporting fertilizer, hmm? Like cargo and all that," she remarks with a smirk.

"That would be amusing," Martella chuckles. "I take it reclaiming the Palace was not too challenging? Nothing too unexpected?"

"Nothing beyond our abilities to handle, though, we did discover a few pieces of information that were a bit unusual," Sarina says, relating the stories of the documents that show Panivar Lotheed's unnatural longevity, the trompe l'oeil of his wife, the undead formed from the spirit of Carrius, and the additional ability of the teleportation circle to summon from Hell.

Martella pulls out a journal and a self-inking quill and takes thorough notes through that explanation, asking for clarification or more details at several points. "I'd like to take some time to go over these documents you found about Panivar myself," she says first. "If he's truly an immortal wizard, he's a far bigger threat than I had believed, and we will need to tread extremely carefully." Her expression pales, "And if you saw my father's ghost to find those documents... I wonder if his death wasn't truly of natural causes, but rather Panivar having him killed for discovering his secret."

Momo hands the documents over, smugly pointing out the inconsistencies she had found in the birth and death certificates. "Your poor father looked beside himself. Hope these can help you sort that all out."

"I wouldn't be too sympathetic to him, he wasn't a kind man. Brilliant and competent, but not much of a father," Martella accepts the documents and scans through them. "Thank you, I'll look over these when I have some time. His longevity explains the trompe l'oeil however, Veleto would not have had the same fortune, unless he found a way to share his immortality, and the summoning from Hell does not surprise me all that much. As for Carrius..." she frowns and pauses. "I don't believe Princess Eutropia knew anything of this. Losing Carrius was one of the two saddest days of her life, along with the day her mother passed. If she wanted to bring him back, it would have not been difficult for her to covertly seek out a divine caster capable of doing so properly, rather than rely on some dark necromancy to bring a fascimile of him back."

Sarina nods. "I didn't think that Princess Eutropia knew what had become of Carrius, but what matters most is that the child has been laid to rest once more."

After that, Martella sets to work, primarily spending the next few days sending letters and digging through the archives for any details her father would have missed about Panivar, enlisting Sarina's help in sorting through the documents to catalogue her family's wealth for Eutropia.

The next days are uneventful, the servants for the Palace of Birdsong return to help prepare the place and clean it up after the raid, following Martella's directions without complaint about the change in leadership, while the guards stay away, waiting for Gul Gusairne's return for his leadership. Shortly before noon three days after the raid, all of Lotheedar's attention is drawn to a procession of carriages and mounted guards. The procession pulls up to the gate, and first out is the Lion Blade commander who had directed the Lion Blades to protect Eutropia at the Exaltation Gala, who swiftly orders guards to key positions all around the Palace's perimeter and grounds. Next out is Eutropia herself, dressed in fine but sensible travelling clothes and accompanied by a pair of Lion Blades. Immediately behind her follows a small group of younger nobles, including Adelaide and a well-built, lightly scarred, muscular woman. 5'8", with short blonde hair, pale skin, and green eyes wearing a well-embroidered tunic and pants in greens and blues. These groups head directly inside.

"My friends," Eutropia beams when she sees the assembled group and Martella inside. "I am deeply grateful and indebted to you for your service, it's because of your efforts that our movement stands a chance of returning stability to this country and putting it on course to become fairer and stronger than it has ever been. Thank you."

Momo kneels at the Princess's entrance, bowing her head. "We're honored to welcome you, and just as honored to serve your cause." She does, however, tilt her head towards Adelaide and the new entrance, squinting at them from behind her glasses.

Princess Eutropia smiles and nods at that, then gestures at the four in front of her, Adelaide, and Lillian. "I'd like to speak with you six in my new office, please," she says in a tone that's a clear dismissal to all the other retainers, who set about their business while Martella shows Eutropia the way to the office room in the west wing outside Veleto's chamber.

Once in the room, and the door's shut, the princess tilts her head towards the assembled group. "I suppose some introductions are in order. You all know Adelaide already, her help with policy has been invaluable these last few weeks, but I believe her talents will be even better served with this group on more immediate issues for the moment. As for the other introduction, this is Lillian Atencia, she is going to be working with you going forward. She used to be an officer in the army, and has run a bodyguarding service of late, giving her a perspective that you've lacked until now. Lillian, this is the team that secured this county, and by extension the entire grand duchy, for our cause. Sarina Karthis, Josephine Novius, Myoui Momo, and Corey Crawford. And this is my right-hand woman and spymaster, as well as the new Countess of Meratt, Martella Lotheed," she gestures to each person introduced in turn.