The Fall of House Pancrazio Chapter One

[Griselda]

As the bruises she inflicted fade from Phebe's neck, Agna releases an inaudible sigh of relief. Ezra, I am grateful, and if I could promise that I'll never do this again, I would.

Tuke gestures for them to depart as Phebe starts snoring. Agna represses her shudder, and follows him out and down the winding stairs, closing the door silently behind her (1).

Now downstairs, Agna leans against the prep table and softly blows out a breath. Turning to Tuke, she whispers gratefully, "I don't know what I would have done without you tonight. Thank you."

Crisis now managed, Agna shakes herself, picks up her ash bucket and places it on the prep table. "And now, back to what I should be doing at this time," she says firmly, more to herself than Tuke, trying to wrench routine back onto its track somehow.

She peers into the ash bucket, starting to look for the usual likely bits, then pauses and turns back to the little fool with a puzzled expression. "You were trying to ask me something earlier. I'm so sorry, I didn't really hear you then. What was it?"



(1)Move Silently check, result 19

[Lord Skybolt]

As that wolf falls Tahl goes to the aid of Jullian . If at all possible to get one of them between him and Jullian .

[ewancummins]

Having wounded one of the wolves, Tristan moves to finish it off with his bayonet.

[Irving the Meek]

Tuke waves off Agna's thanks. "Think nothing of it, my dear. After all this times you've swept my pipe ash out of the carpet, it was the least I could do." He ignores the studious glare Agna gives the ash bucket - or chooses to ignore it, in any event. Not surprised. That's my girl.

The little fool slaps his forehead at her reminder. "Of course! One moment." He goes out to the back stoop, fetches the book of pressed flowers, and flips the pages with a kitchen knife until he finds the delicate little pressed flower. "I know I've seen this bloom somewhere today - or smelled it, to be more precise. It's not a very pleasant sort of blossom. Does it ring a bell with you?"

[Griselda]

Agna studies the little flower carefully. Hmmm, true, not the prettiest, but then how pretty does anything look after being mashed flat and shoved in a dusty book?

Tuke mentioned the smell.... The half-Vistani bends down and gently wafts the fragrance toward her face, searching her memory. Maybe in the greenhouse....

[PathOfDreams]

The rain picks up somewhat as the mourners leave the graveyard. Some head towards Von Ziyden and others take the path towards Pancrazio manor. Though Saverio is not in attendance, his assistant Harold uses his carriage. The scholar often was out of Borca on various educational trips, and there were some who thought it offensive the eldest Pancrazio was not in attendance.

Sitting next to the coachman on Roderigo's carriage, Tristan scans the landscape for any hidden threats. The rain's heavy fall made this difficult, but the trained gunslinger felt confident in his abilities even with the hindrance.

Tuke sits in the carriage flanked by Magenta and Agna, and he can tell by Magenta's body language that the woman is agitated about something. Indeed the tension inside the carriage is almost physical. Gianna breaks the silence first.

"Boiryer. What did Ezra's plaything want this time dear."
Gianna's voice is laced with the venom common to Borcan noble women. It is hard and accusatory.

"Just coin for the services. Death tax. What a horrible thing." Roderigo looks out the carriage window, an expession on his face betraying his annoyance at the question.

"Not that horrible when you impose it upon the peasants."

"Can we not talk about this now? My mood is dark enough as it is, I have no desire to blacken it further."

Gianna nods and looks at Magenta. Tuke notices them exchange looks.

"Perhaps I can have Tuke whistle us a tune, Father. Will that lighten this foul mood of yours?" Magenta ruffles the hair of her halfling servant.

after all mourners have left the graveyard, Goran slips from his perch in a tall tree nearby and approaches the tampered earth. He thought to himself, So it is true, you have finally been released. Good riddance you withered hag, my only hope is that your stench will not foul this fair earth.

Goran spends the majority of the rain soaked day at the grave. He is not sure why, maybe disbelief that it has finally come, the day he would return to the manor under different circumstances than the last five years have been under... there would be no more of his Grandmother's incessant greed and fist clinching reign. He thought perhaps that she had gone a little mad, although he could not make a good guess as to why.

[PathOfDreams]

DOWNSTAIRS IN THE DRAWING ROOM

Mariabella is cleaning the room, carefully dusting all of the furniture and the many antique clocks above the fireplace. This had been one of Miss Luisa's favorite places, well here and the greenhouse, and Mariabella still found herself thinking about the things she needed to do to prepare for Miss Luisa's day. She started to weep. Even though the old woman had grown increasingly distant, Mariabella had known her all of her life.

There was a sudden noise from behind the cook. She turned her head to look...


UPSTAIRS IN MISS PHEBE'S ROOM


Tuke slips into the room quietly, Agna close behind him. The very memory of being in the room and her earlier actions made the girl want to flee, but the reassuring jests of the halfling had done much to help her failing nerves.

There is very little light in the room, emanating from the candle on the stand next to Miss Phebe's bed. Right where the words formed. The body on the bed is motionless, but a moment after entering Miss Phebe lets out a loud sharp snore and rolls over, her face now in the light. Peering closely Tuke sees what he expected and feared; small hand sized bruises were forming on her neck, some yellow and dull others dark and black (1)

(1) HEAL CHECK


ALONG THE ROAD TO PANCRAZIO MANOR


Tahl, Sir Jullian, and Tristan make their way slowly back to the manor. The silence of the night was heavy and suffocating.

But the silence is broken by a loud snap of underbrush that cracks like a whip on each of your spines. A second later the howling of wolves floods the sky.

Tahl sees them first.

Five black furred beasts begin circling the group, coming close, less than twenty yards away. The beasts have bared teeth and the ragged looks of starvation. A purple saliva drops from their mouths in thick, oozing clumps.

Goran decides not to attend the reception at the manor and allows himself into the stables to escape the rain. Night is soon here so goran finds a suitable place in the rafters of the stable, removes his gear and hangs it on a protruding nail in the roof. The pattering of rain on the stables and nearby lull Goran into dreams. His state is interrupted with the echo of a distant black powder blast brought to him by the cold night air. Realizing by the temperature in the air (1), Goran has dreamt too long, he gathered his belongings and trudged to the front of the manor without regard. it is time to make an appearance after more than a year...

A timid knock on the large manor door and entrance if no one greets him...

(1) Knowledge: nature (estimate time of night)result 7

[JMaytr]

THE STABLES AT THE PANCRAZIO ESTATE-


Goran, roused from his slumber in the stable rafters guesses that the time is near to midnight, with dawn only a few hours away. The sound of the gunshot in the distance is soon followed by another. Goran was used to hearing gunfire in the night, but this was a tad close to the manor.

Another sound alerts Goran. It is right outside the stables: a scratching, dragging sound.


ALONG THE ROAD-


The big black wolf Tristan fires on moves towards the guns man, teeth bared. It lunges at him, catching Tristan on the left arm. The pain is terrible and the wolf locks his jaws. Dark blood runs down Tristan's arm. (1)

Tahl moves gracefully to flank the wolf near Julian. The elf brings his sword down in a quick stroke, severing the wolf's head. Chancing a look to Julian, Tahl can see that the man is sweating and that the wound on his leg is starting to bubble a yellow-purple fluid.



(1) 5 damage. Fort save.

[RocEter]

With the other wolf at his flank taken care of by Tahl; Jullian focuses on the injured before him. Jullian strikes at the wolf with his sword going for the final blow that will put the beast down.

Shouting to Tahl "Assist Tristan I will finish off this beast."

[ewancummins]

Tristan takes his right hand off the musket and - lightning fast- draws a pistol from his belt. He jams the muzzle of the gun against the wolf's breast and fires at point blank range.


[OOC[fort save 22]]

[Lord Skybolt]

Tahl goes to the aide of Tristan and flanks that wolf .





Attack roll -19+9=28
Critical Confirm on 10+9=19
If hit's damage is 7/14 for critical hit !!

[Griselda]

After a minute or so of examining the flower, her eyes distant with thought, Agna finally nods. "Yes, I've seen this. Luisa had it in the greenhouse. There's likely still a pot of it in some corner. It's used for perfumes, especially the expensive ones -- that's likely why you remember the scent. Luisa also used to use it in some of her tea, a home blend...." Agna's face clouds, recalling how frequently Luisa called for it as the last few years rolled by, the changes it seemed to cause in her. She shakes it off, like a horse might shiver briefly at a cross-breeze.

"There was a word I heard used sometimes with it...," Agna frowns a moment, remembering a low conversation she had come upon outside the study, "...intoxicant, that's it. That if you use it that way, too much can sicken or even kill you. Luisa was very careful who cut it and how much; she wouldn't let me touch it until I was 14."

She gives Tuke a sidelong glance. "While Madame Magenta likely has a few perfumes made with this, I suspect you're not asking me just because it smells pretty."

[Irving the Meek]

Tuke crinkles his nose in thought. "I'm not sure, truthfully. I just know that I've been smelling this little flower all day, and for some reason it worries me." He shrugs. "Ghostly brats, mysterious poisons... it's all terribly strange if you asked me. All we need now is a mysterious masked stranger to knock on the door and a blinding thunderstorm, and we'd have one those cheap romances that Magenta sneaks into the house to read in the wee hours."

"Hmmm. Too much of that tea could kill someone? I wonder. Do you still have any of her tea blend?"

[PathOfDreams]

Goran scoops up his pack to investigate the gunshots as he realizes they are in close proximity... i should hope those shots were not intended for any of my brethren, human or bestial he thinks to himself, leaping from the rafters with a more pronounced urgency... it is when he lands in the hay that he hears it... the sound of scratching just outside the stable... he holds his movement in the dry hay and tries to associate the noise(1) with the regualrities of the manor... perhaps the dogs have found a rathole near the stable wall...

Whether the noises persist or not, he leaves his gear in the hay, leaps for the rafters again to swing out under the open sky(2)... landing in a roll he dampens his landing on the moist earth(3) and settlers near the corner of the stable to observe with infallible eyes what he had heard... the boar tusk dagger is drawn from his belt as he knows his approach could have been heard easily in the cold still of the night...

(1) Listen check, result 25
(2) Jump check, result 20
(3) tumble check to arrive as close as possible to the corner of the stable without overshooting it, result 12

[Griselda]

"Thunderstorms and masked strangers? Bite your tongue, sir, or someone will take that as a challenge." Agna follows this by making the sign to ward off evil.

"As for the tea, I thought there was still some. It would be in the larder, I think. I'll look, provided you put away the wine before Mariabella catches us."

With that, Agna lights her stubby candle for a quick trip into the larder, looking for the wide-mouthed clay jar that held what some called "Luisa's 'special' tea." It was on a higher shelf, kept toward the back, and had a peculiar glaze which kept it from being mistaken for the ordinary stuff Gianna used for entertaining (1).




(1)Search check = 17