Capitulus Octo: Baron Hopes

[ManWithDoor]

Damien nods. "Of course. Let us go meet this fascinating prisoner."

[Vardaen]

Sand nods, and taps a button on his arm. A hidden door slides open behind you. "Good luck." The light behind the window fades and Sand drops out of view.

A pair of Inquisitorial storm troopers stand behind the door and escort you down into the lower levels of the area to the Bastion Serpentis. What follows is a bewildering array of doors, chambers and hallways all of which seem deliberately designed to disorientate and confuse. While the Bastion is, in the main, formed of black stone, the seemingly natural cave area that you enter in the bowels of the edifice clearly appears to be as old as the upper levels. The storm troopers stay with you the entire time, guiding you past several wrought iron doors. At last you are brought before an unprepossessing door, clearly not as reinforced as many of the others you have passed. The storm troopers indicate that this door is the correct one, stating, “Call if our presence is required, sirs,” before withdrawing some distance away.

The pendant given to you by Sand opens the door, which slides back into the wall, revealing a stone cell some 20-foot square. A simple cot, a single crude chair and small table with a handful of books on it are the only adornments the room boasts. As the door opens, the room’s sole occupant looks up from the book he was perusing. A heavy-set man with long silvery grey hair and a crudely kept beard regards you with sharp violet eyes. He slowly rises from his chair, casually placing a bookmark into his tome before tossing it to the table beside him. His right leg, below the knee, is clearly an augmentic construction ending in an inhuman three-toed bionic foot. He says nothing at first, quietly studying you, before saying, “It seems they have honoured my wishes, unless the Inquisition’s standards for its Inquisitors has dropped sharply. To what do I owe the honour of this visit?”

Baron Havalir Saerton Ulbrexis

[Trogdor]

Jericus ignores the jibe, considering it both beneath him and beneath the Baron. "If you've made your wishes clear, then you should know why we're here," he says simply. "The Inquisition has determined to give you a chance to redeem your life by performing a service for it, a service we understand that you are only too eager to perform, since it involves working against an old foe of yours." He pauses and looks the Baron up and down. "We're here to see if you are willing and able to perform the tasks required of you."

[TetNak]

Sword frowns at the Baron's quip and he'd like nothing better than to throttle the old man and show him some respect. Yet, he pauses to let Jericus do the questioning. He might be able to beat him later, Sword considered, and would let the fat-man play out his part in their next mission.

[ManWithDoor]

Damien leans against the wall, casually observing what is going on. "And who knows? You might get another shot at ending Morirr. Your energy blast took off half his head, but I guess mutants are tougher than that. He's still running around, causing trouble."

[Vardaen]

GM

The Baron hasn't been briefed on anything really yet. That's your job.

The Baron only looks around at you, and at Jericus "Perform a task required of me?" He seems interested, but unsure what you are talking about. Then Morirr's name is mentioned. "Morrir is dead, I killed him with my own hands. So if you've come to taunt me you can just leave."

[Trogdor]

"It seems the killing didn't take," Jericus says dryly, sliding a picture of Morrir from the envelope he holds and handing it over to the Baron. "Our sources say that he's very much alive and running free, while you're stuck in here." He raises one eyebrow. "We're interested in knowing whether you wanted a second crack at him."

[Vardaen]

The Baron looks at the pic, and you can see his face flush red with anger, "No! I killed that son of a bitch. These things can easily be faked!" He slides the pic right back at Jericus refusing to believe him. You've clearly struck a nerve.

[TrueStag]

Nemidia hangs back and lets the boys continue the interrogation.

[ManWithDoor]

Damien isn't liking how this is panning out, they're just agitating the man. He decides to change his tactics. "Let's start from the top. There is continued trouble on Sepheris Secundus. More than a dozen mines have been sabotaged, using very thorough explosives. The locals aren't up the task of rooting out a conspiracy such as this. You founded the Broken Chains, and you're going to help us destroy them." He picks up the picks of Morirr, organizing them again. "The Inquisition has confirmed that these new recordings of Morirr are legitimate, and ruled out disguise or deception as reasonable alternatives. Mutants are not human anymore, they can recover from illogical amounts of damage."

He thumbs through the pics, then looks back at the imprisoned noble. "In return for your successful help in this task, Baron Ulbrexis, the Inquisition is ready to offer to assist you in taking the Throne of Queen Lachryma when she exits it. But the victory must be total, rooting out these terrorists in their entirety. Otherwise we might as well just collapse every mine, killing every conspirator and innocent, and start from scratch."