85b: The Roads to Saspien

Talsil 24th - 26th
three roads to Saspien

Isabella's Road

Renato's Road

Diana's Road

Experience: 2200 xp each (64,606 total)
Infiltrating Castle Saspien (Isabella), 1200
Addressing the Court of the Night (Isabella), 600
Escaping Castle Saspien (Renato), 3600
Making Amends (Diana), 600
Matchmaking (Diana), 600

Coin: - 25gp (Isabella, Object Reading)
Loot: Three of Wands card (Diana): It is well known that you should take a journey, with the greater the distance proving the greater rewards.

New Companions
Mina Morris: Reserved dhampir mage and associate of the Ravens, she was Diana's 'footsteps' during her extended stay in Barovia. She had a difficult childhood and a macabre flair to her dress, but proved a stalwart, if witty, companion to the Heiress Apparent.

Orso Mallus: Renato's childhood 'friend' and the object of his incessant bullying. Never the less, the rather simple beastmaster proved loyal to Renato upon their reunion and willing to help him clear his name. As with many of the Mallus, he has taken a beastwife in Ladybear, the 300 pound black bear. He himself is a big, bald boy around 6'3" and 260 pounds.

Ladybear: Orso's beastwife, a 300 pound black bear that serves as his sexual partner and guardian.

New NPCs
Marquess Olivianna Ruiz-Lorein: Sovereign of the vampiric port of Tepest, she married one of the last remaining Loreins with any claim to power. He's enjoying an extended holiday on Tir'buk and Olivianna rules in his stead, controlling the landing point for the Tir'bukan houses (earning her the hatred of Loreins everywhere). She has recently fled to Saspien and the protection of Castle Saspien while the war rages along the vampiric coast and within the Sea of Embers, her daughter acting as her remote hand. Izzy discovered her designs to supplant Queen Victoria and suggested already having had the pleasure of the king. It is in her best interests to keep Dante in power, though she is far from trustworthy. Very far...

King Dante Il'spana I: The King of the Night, he is lord of the vampiric empire both on Othyr and Tir'buk. His rule has always been challenged, largely because of his half-blooded nature, but also because of his soft, even sentimental, stances toward the kine/bestiame/non-vampires. He banned the consumption of humanoid blood and strengthened ties with the outside world, joining Saspien with the Northern Alliance. Though a new era of acceptance has risen in regard to vampires in the northern world, many perceive these gains a negative, especially during a war with the Holy Nors Empire in which Saspien is facing the brunt of initial conflicts. Coupled with the fact Dante is aging much faster than a full-blood vampire, his wife openly ridicules him, his daughter marred his reputation by shamefully killing herself (or so the public believes), rivals disregard him daily in court, and he proves unable to properly defend the Saspish Vale from recent Nors incursions, most believe (perhaps himself included) that his days as ruler are numbered. Izzy, through ritual, did uncover evidence that he loves her and misses her still, something entirely opposite her soul-selling mother. He may be involved in some sort of affair with the marquess.

General Janisar al'Zareef: One of three generals of the vampiric armies, Janiser is of the summoner's house, though prides himself a capable dervish instead of his family's customary mages. His armies are gathered in the Saspish Vale, as opposed to the armies massed in Tir'buk and those in Saspien itself. He currently fights a losing battle on the valley front, trying to retake or at least hold the hills outside Lastlight, where Nors by the thousands are landing from imperial Tolerna, Liscar and Dalmera, and uniting with vampire hunters of the Order of Saint Gormite. He seems young to be a general, and rather dashing with swarthy skin and long black hair, though he wears a perpetual worried look, for there is much to worry about. He appears more loyal to the king than to his sire Kalfar, or at least he observes Dante as the highest authority in court, something many others do not.

High Priestess Widofa Lorein: The decrepit high priestess of Hecate in Saspien, one of the few remaining Loreins with any real power to their name. She was not always so, an ancient vampire baroness of a long-dissolved barony many thousands of years old who had removed herself from the political scene, but, with the rising of Hecate she, like many in her house, leaped at the chance of new-found power through the infernal faith. She oversees the Seven Sects of Sin within the goddess's main Saspish cathedral. Thus far, the Queen of Hell regards her as worthy and she holds many strong ties with the fiendish elements in the city.

High Priest Sufrat Il'spana: The spectral high priest of Gabriel in Saspien, he is a dread wraith looming seven feet tall and heaped in ghostly rags, with a tremendous scythe, black crown and blazing, red eyes. He was once a vampire of considerable power slain in the Demon War by Shalraza herself, only to rise again with the coming of Gabriel to serve as shepherd to the reborn vampires. He claims to have a direct connection with the King of Death, valuing his position even more than his house affiliation. That said, he's a staunch supporter of the king and all other Il'spana in office.

Sire Kalfar al'Zareef: The wealthy, eloquent and well-connected sire of House al'Zareef, an accomplished summoner and rival of the royal family. He challenges the monarchy openly at court and carries a large following among the city's envoys and officials. It is no secret he covets the crown, but plays the game so well none have managed to impede his progress toward that end. Dresses in the finest silks and opulent jewelry, and has a devilish appearance with his waxed beard and angled face.

Valenzo Vega: Renato's stunningly handsome and effeminate cousin of similar age, known for his depraved lusts and spotted wandering The Carnival of Monsters. He is the son of the marquess.

Dust: The Saspish Temple of the Night's most famed killer, she is one of only three assassins to have ever have been afforded erasure from the Book of Life, a ritual which removes her name and presence from all history. Wrapped in bandages from head to toe, only those she's marked for death are able to hear her voice. Renato spotted her for a brief moment on a rooftop before she vanished, though it's unclear whether or not she had been staring at him. Renato suspects she may very well have been the assassin who killed Lady Savrano, the same assassin who his father attempted to fend off.

Returning NPCs
Dame Samira von Immol
Burgomeister Ireena Kolyana
Maggie Magthere
Madame Eva
Burgomeister Petre Teodorous

New Hooks
The Coup (Isabella): On the night of Lady Savrano's murder, Renato heard the noblewoman reveal a conspiracy to kill the royal family. Two years later, the political climate is ripe for deposing King Dante. The list of potential usurpers is a long one, headed by Sire Kalfar al'Zareef, but definites are few and far between. Prevent the murder of your father and, perhaps, your mother. Preserve the rule of your immediate family and your eventual birthright.

Sins of the Mother (Isabella): Vrock revealed the terrible truth that your mother was the one who sold your soul to Mara for a single dread secret. What was that secret worth your innocence and immortality? How will you punish her for such a transgression again her own blood?

Revenge of the Son (Renato): Lord Ruiz is most likely being held within the bowels of the Saspish Temple of the Night, where the infamous Shadow Cabinet convenes, suffering the Ninety-Nine Cuts until he at last goes mad and his very soul dies. Both his name and yours have been tarnished in a grand cover up, pinning Lady Savrano's murder as a fit of bloodlust committed by father and son. Few have even heard of the Ordo Templi Nox, despite every district in the city possessing a Shadow Door to their temple, and your actions against the Barovian temple have upped you to number one on their hit list. You must avoid the pursuit of some of Othyr's most skilled killers long enough to enact your revenge on the Shadow Cabinet, free your father, and maybe even assume control of the organization for yourself... if such feats are even possible.

Lastlight: The Nors have landed, establishing a vital foothold in the Saspish Vale, a landing point for hundreds of ships and thousands of troops from Tolerna, Liscar and Dalmera. Combined with vampire hunters native to the valley, they prove a formidable and growing force that even now drives back General Janisar's forces nearly to the city walls. Within the month Saspien will be under siege unless something can be done.

Completed Quests
Matchmaker: Diana fulfilled her promise to Dame Samira by properly introducing her to Burgomeister Petre Teodorous. Things looks promising.

Next Session
Isabella, hidden in the civic wing of Castle Saspien, struggles with whether or not to contact her father or confront her mother. Renato, Orso and Ladybear infiltrate one of the older and smaller Ordo bases for answers. Diana passes into Saspien via the wardrobe and attempts to find her friends and avoid notice wandering through Ravenloft's sister palace.