Talking to the Lady
Subject: Talking to the Lady
Ragnar signals Ally to end the spell and the mage, though a bit distracted, does so. Ally quickly pulls his bag of holding out and starts rummaging in it for some rope. Ragnar turns to the Lady "My Lady, I apologize that we had to enter so suddenly. Before we talk, perhaps you might find something more comfortable to wear?" The Lady looks down and realizes what has happened. A slight tinge of red colors her cheeks but her voice does not waver "If I wore anything more comfortable I would be as naked as the day I was born." She grabs the ties and pulls the robe closed "Just like men to notice the unimportant things. Quickly mage, cast your spell so we can talk unobserved."
Ally pulls out a length of rope and chants his spell. The rope climbs about 6 feet into the air and then disappears. "Follow me," Ally says, trying to keep his eyes averted. Ragnar climbs up next. When Ranthir motions for the Lady to go ahead of him she shakes her head demurely "I think, considering what I am wearing, that I would rather have you ahead of me than underneath me." Ran turns, blushing furiously again, and climbs into the rope trick. A few seconds later the Lady follows, still showing a distracting amount of leg as she climbs into the almost empty space.
When she steps off of the rope she turns. Before he can stop her, she slaps Ranthir across the face, hard. Her eyes blazing with anger she says "I was going to apologize for when I hit you at the reception. It was unfortunate but necessary. However, if you lay hands on me again with out my permission, I will have you killed." She then turns to the party, her demeanor switching back to her normal attitude. "I was hoping one of your group would have the brains to figure out I wanted to meet with you. Which one of you figured it out?" Ran motions to Ragnar and that seems to surprise the Lady. "I would have put my money on you "she motions to Ally "or that nature priest." She turns back to Ragnar "I keep forgetting that even though you are a dwarf, you have been trained by the Order. I don't care much for the Order, they tend to be sticks in mud, but they do train competent people."
"On second thought" she says "it is probably good that you are here. What I have to say concerns the fate of the Underkingdom." She sits down, placing her legs in a demure position. "The King should not be King. Something is wrong. I can not tell you how I found this out. Let's just say that we maintain some contacts here and I have been able to talk with them. I also think that the attack on my person coming here is part of the plot. You need to find out what really happened to King Dar."
OODM: Questions for the Lady?
From: Derek
Subject: Talking to the Lady
"May I ask what you do know about the circumstances of the death of King Dar? Also, what do you suspect is the reason for you being targeted? I of course do not ask you to reveal your sources, but the more information we have the easier it will be to get the bottom of this."
From: Mark
Subject: Talking to the Lady
"Two questions." Says the Lady. "First. To have a King die of something other than old age or in battle is rare for the dwarves. Second, to have a dwarf tunnel collapse is almost unheard of. Third, to have the King at the exact place of the collapse strains belief. Fourth, to have called off the search with out having found a body is unheard of, but Barden did so."
She takes a breath and continues "I believe that the attack at the pass was conected mainly to keep me from asking questions. The alliance between the dwarves and Byho is longstanding. Others would like to break that alliance, some for profit, some for power. My being here means that certain questions might be asked that can not be avoided. However, if I bring these questions out in the open, I risk my life or even possible civil war amongst the dwarves. If Barden is involved in what happened to Dar, proof will be needed to bring him down."
"That wizard is still out there. He is either behind this or in the employ of whoever is behind this. Now that I am here, attacking me would draw too much attention, as long as I do not obviously threaten them. So I am going to play the spoiled rich lady. And hope your party can help me."
From: Kevin
Subject: Talking to the Lady
OOC: Ran should have known she was going to whomp him no matter where he touched her and gone for the big "accidental" grope. If this had been our RL evil game, it would have happened.
From: Derek
Subject: Talking to the Lady
Allistair has a few more questions. "Do you know if there were any members of King Dar's staff or retinue that have lost their positions and been replaced by the new king? They might be a good place to start asking some questions and getting information. Were there any survivors to this cave-in that claimed King Dar's life? Also, speaking of the cave-in, if it is so suspicious as you say, then why hasn't there been any outcry from the populace or from the populace, from the nobility, or at least from Dar's family?"
From: Jason
Subject: Talking to the Lady
Ragnar is inclined to agree with the Lady's assessment; the account of the king's death had seemed suspicious since he first heard it. That being said, he maintains a skeptical expression while Allistair begins to question the Lady de Blum. Suspicions are not proof, and if his suspicions were correct, the most obvious culprit was none other than the king himself. Which meant that if they did decide to look into what happened, they would have to use extreme caution.
OOC: Allistair's already asking all the questions that I want to know as a player, so I'm mostly just checking in for now.
From: Randy
Subject: Talking to the Lady
Ranthir returns the blazing anger with his eyes on fire as well. "The next time you raise your hand to me, you will regret it. My father taught me that when a lady stops acting like one it is time to stop treating her like one. Just as it was unfortunate but necessary for you to slap me at the reception, it was necessary for me to ensure you would not cry out at our sudden appearance."
Ran finishes his statement with a finality that makes it clear he doesn't expect further discussion about the subject and he proceeds to listen to the ensuing conversation.
From: Mark
Subject: Talking to the Lady
OODM: True love. :)
From: Mark
Subject: Talking to the Lady
"I don't know yet. I've only had a day or so to gather this much info together. As to the King's family, Dar, from what I understand, was fairly young when he became King. His parents were killed in an ambush several years ago. Since he was an only child and had not married yet, there is not much immediate family. That is one of the reasons why his cousin became king."
"The King says that he had his top miners inspect the area of the collapse and that there must have been some sort of underground event that weakened the tunnels. No one has questioned him about it since. That is all I have been able to find out."
"I need your help. Please find out what really happened to King Dar."
From: Derek
Subject: Talking to the Lady
Allistair looks over to Ragnar. "Well, what do you think, Ragnar? I know this isn't the reason we have come to the Underkingdom, but I think the Lady's concerns are genuine and her analysis is thorough. Besides, if her suspicions are true, then I somehow doubt that Barden is just going to give us the item that we came to retrieve."
From: Jason
Subject: Talking to the Lady
As Allistair finishes his questioning, Ragnar finally allows his face to relax. "Actually, I believe that her suspicions are correct. At least, I've had a similar suspicion in my mind since last night when I first heard the story. And yet, my Lady, I have to wonder at your confidence in us. Is there something in particular you had in mind for us, other than simply asking a few questions? You must know that we dwarves are not generally talkative by nature. Perhaps we could investigate the tunnel itself, and yet... though I'm a dwarf, I'm hardly an expert stonecutter myself."
OOC: Ragnar is mostly fishing for ideas/more information here, he does plan on looking into it and he has a couple of ideas, and that might show in his voice or on his face, given his great skill with diplomacy/bluffing... But it'd be nice to know if she had any ideas.