trap set, sprung...
Plot Developments
- After the events in the Ruins, what Diana affectionately named the Battle of the Ruins, the king demanded an explanation. Thanks to the princess's involvement, the Dark Three and their constituents were not thrown in the dungeons, rather allowed free reign until a mandatory dinner at the palace.
- During that time, Astraea was able to resurrect Renato's better half, and he returned decidedly different, happier, lighter, but incomplete. At an early age, Lord Ruiz fragmented his son's soul and hid the soulshards for many reasons, not least of which was so Renato could maintain the level of detachment necessary to function as an Ordo assassin.
- Isabella and Diana each questioned their captured Ordo. Isabella learned the infamous Shadow Cabinet, ruling body of the Ordo, demanded the Dark Three and all their efforts be wiped from existence, no doubt to preserve the solidarity of their Tirbukkan agenda. When he'd nothing left to offer, she drained him dry. Oppositely, Diana managed to convert her drow, Korm, and utilize him as a double agent in a plan she'd hatched to ensnare Olivianna.
- Diana devised a sort of Edict Gambit, using a false copy of the Cultu Solis' edict to bait the marquess into proving her affiliations with the assassins by producing it at dinner. She would, of course, retain a true copy, to show the obvious differences. Her hopes were, with Olivianna out of the way, the main thrust of the Ordo's efforts would be diffused.
- However, given the alarming ignorance the king showed to the very existence of the Ordo, and disbelief his lover would be so intimately involved with this coup, gave him pause when the trap was sprung. Olivianna claimed the false edict had been left on her desk, and that she was compelled to inform him, even going so far as to say the document was being distributed illegally on the streets, with the forged signatures of Dante and Diana.
- Diana could at least counter she did not sign, given the lack of 'Huma' in her name, revealed to her during a private meeting with Alistar Huma, one in which it was revealed she was his granddaughter, and Gianna his daughter, formerly a Huma. More startling, the pair were part of the original Ordo's plans to take the city, but Gianna's change of heart led to a two year delay in the assassins' plans, plans that at long last are gaining momentum again.
- Admittedly, Dante was already overwhelmed before the topic of the edict, as this drastic allegation had come after a just as startling admissions of the princess. Isabella confessed to everything that had gone wrong since leaving over a year ago, Mara, Strahd, her deaths, and ultimately her appointment as prophet. It was enough to make any king father reel, but, he ultimately forgave her and regretted that she did not come to him sooner. Still, what was done could not be changed, and though he disliked how much Isabella was acting as his over-informed and over-involved wife, he could never stop loving her.
- Diana and Olivianna were ordered to stay until matters were resolved, a polite form of arrest, as three relevant court members were summoned and Isabella sent to fetch Korm, perhaps the only living claim to Isabella and Diana's story. Olivianna acted very peculiar just before the princess left, fondling an obviously magical ring.
- Meanwhile, Renato reconvened with the Gilda, having inducted thirteen new members in the way of Maarth and a dozen drow assassins who were unhappy with the imbalances of the Tenebrean Ordo and likely marked for death given their horrid failure in the Ruins.
- The Darklord sent scouts to the Night Gallery in hopes it could be taken quickly and another Shadow Door key gained (the others lost during his death and now in the possession of Asmodeus). Another party was instructed to remain in the Gilda's new base, an abandoned manor in the Lords, while a third would come with him to the Ruiz Estate so he might say his goodbye to his mother.
- Lady Manuela Ruiz was a ghost of her former self, alone and bitter, but still filled with love for her son. She feared his Yith warnings and urged him to make peace, somehow, with the cabinet, but he refused. She blamed Gianni and the slut Gianna for their ruined lives, and the two ultimately parted on quiet, tragic terms.
Experience: 6,000 xp (130,481 total)
New NPCs
Korm Shal'Rhe (formerly 'drow assassin'): Once a member of the drow Ordo, the destruction of his temple and subsequent capture led to his redemption through Kalinda's light. He acted as a double agent for the Solis, delivering a false edict in a plot to ensnare the marquess. He is currently been summoning to bear witness against the marquess.
Lady Manuela Ruiz: Renato's mother and wife to the captured Lord Gianni Ruiz, she's fallen far out of favor due to her husband's betrayal and son's offenses. Lonely and embittered, she proved to still love her son, despite opposing his plans and sensibilities. She still harbors a quiet hatred of Lady Gianna Savrano's memory for stealing her husband, and blames her for ruining their lives.
Bloodlord Hatna al'Zareef (impending): Commander of the king's personal protectors, the Crimson Guard, he is a steely, grim-faced blackguard from the days of the more agreeable Sire Husifar al'Zareef. He is never far from the king and protects him during all official, and many unofficial, court gatherings.
Dame Merna Scarios (impending): Knight of an Il'spanian banner-house, she was chosen as Bloodlord Hatna's squire as a show of good faith between Houses nearly thirty years ago. She's since proven her worth enough to join the Crimson Guard, and many whisper her and her mentor are now lovers.
Royal Mage Ayasha Malhotra (impending): Mage of an al'Zareef banner-house, she was Victoria's fourteenth apprentice and the only one to survive its tests and tribulations. There is little love lost between former master and former student, but Ayasha often vouched for the queen and went to her for guidance in matters arcane. She acts as a formal arcane counsel in court, provides all the necessary wards and detections before, during and after court gatherings, and monitors arcane orders within the city limits.
Royal Justice Valente Il'spana (impending): A distant cousin of the king and brother to the extremely powerful Sire Pinello Il'spana, under Dante's reign he is the kingdom's chief arbiter. His authority sees vampires freed or jailed, absolved or sentenced to execution. He is a careful vampire, who accepts his brother is of greater stuff and seeks to maintain his own secondary role in the Il'spanian dynasty. This very rarely amounts to leniency of family members in court, however, for the sake of reputation and rule, but the law has sometimes been known to bend for the right people. Valente holds formal matters behind the imposing, black pillars of the Nemeseia, one of the Il'spanian Citadela's loftier domes. His jurisdiction stretches over the many dungeons, prisons and torture chambers throughout the kingdom, and the city guard is answerable to him during certain escorts and manhunts.
Royal Spymaster Stefano 'The Whisper' Il'spana (impending): An ancient scout and accomplished spy dating back to the Abyssal War, he is a distant great uncle to the king and an immediate uncle to Sire Pinello Il'spana. Remarkably, Stefano passed up the opportunity to become leader of House Il'spana, quipping how much power he'd be giving up. He has been acting Spymaster for thirteen Kings of the Night and maintains a web of informants that spans the greater continent. He has made himself indispensable to each dynasty, and has quietly kept Saspien going for over five thousand years.
Returning NPCs
'Grandpa' Alistar Huma: The mad astrologer met with Diana privately and divulged his former ties with the conspirators, as well as Gianna Savrano's. In the process he revealed Gianna was originally a Huma, his daughter, making him Diana's maternal grandfather.
King Dante Il'spana: The host of a very fateful dinner, Dante was struck with a number of revelations, few of which were good, before the second course, concerning Isabella's time away and the idea his lover is in fact a conspirator. He's forgiven his daughter, but is far from happy with her, and has called a meeting of certain court members to decide truth from fiction. The fate of the marquess and the Cultu Solis in Saspien hangs in the balance.
Marquess Olivianna Ruiz-Lorein: False edict in hand, she made her opening accusations against the Cultu Solis as expected, and is seemingly confident she can still turn the king against them before they can firmly establish themselves.
Lore
- Alistar Huma and Lady Gianna Savrano were once part of the Ordo conspiracy to take over Saspien, the last members of the fallen House Huma. Huma were magic-users of the highest order, every bit the match of the al'Zareefi, and in their lowly state ripe for rebellious enterprises. They were tasked by the Ordo's vanguard, Lord Gianni Ruiz, to study and weaponize the Strangeheart. In the process, Alistar grew increasingly unstable, and Gianna increasingly enamored with the foreign lord. The feeling was mutual, and the two became lovers, and even had a child together: Diana, who was passed off as Davos Savrano's for everyone's safety.
- The cannon atop the Saspish Observatory was key to the original Ordo plot to takeover the city, intended to hold Saspien ransom and facilitate an easy coup. It was nearly in place two years ago, before Lady Gianna Savrano had a change of heart and convinced her father and her lover to sabotage the plan for the sake of the city and, perhaps, the world. She was murdered for her efforts, Alistar was forced into hiding amidst the Ruins, Lord Gianni dragged away a traitor, and Diana sent 'safely' away from the capital, taking the deadly gem with her.
- Alistar Huma and Erasmus Ruiz were the initial founders of the Cultu Solis, inspired by Lady Gianna Savrano's memory and fearful of the urgent messages hidden in the stars. He collected some of the most powerful and influential Kalindians in the worlds, numbering High Priestess Finduilas Oranar, Celunduil the Gold, the mysterious Lady in the Light, and perhaps even more intriguing the being known as Zerthimon- who possesses intimate knowledge of the alien technology scattered across Creation, knowledge Celunduil is convinced he will share in good time.
- Of all the Ordo temples, the Night Gallery is the least, set in the inconsequential Lords District and overseen by Deathdealer Kandar Ruiz, Renato's talentless uncle.
111b: The fate of Olivianna and the Cultu Solis in Saspien revealed!
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