A Duel At Dawn -- Gathering Threads -- The Apothecary's Associates -- Eyes and Ears
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A Duel At Dawn
Tiago the iconographer meets with the young heir of House Lazaran at dawn beside one of Syran's waterways in Newmarket Park, to fight a duel that neither has arranged. With them are Mendrik, Tiago's roguish protector, Salfard, Lazaran's man-servant, and Rotheric, a professional duellist who has been employed to stand proxy for Lazaran. Unbeknownst to the others, Touchstone is also present, having been instructed to observe the duel and prevent the death of any participants by his shadowy masters, a secret society called the Faculties of Arkat.
Tiago, bemused and reluctant to engage in mortal combat with an evident professional, soon finds a renewed reason to fight when he notes the inexplicable presence of his wife's scarf about Rotheric's neck. Before the two can come to blows, however, the duel is interrupted by the sudden emergence of a diabolical monster from the waterway beside them.
Leaving his sidekick Sheri in an ill-fated attempt to distract the monster, Touchstone tries to lead the others to safety via a nearby alleyway, but finds a dark figure blocking their escape route. A fierce fight ensues, with this new foe - evidently a dark magician of some accomplishment - rather out-matched as she attempts to tackle nearly all of the others single-handedly.
Salfard, meanwhile, has concealed himself near the entrance to the alley, from which vantage he observes another figure following the monster. Having concluded that this is the monster's master, the intrepid servant leaps upon him and dispatches him with gruesome alacrity, opening the unfortunate fellow's throat. Although rather disturbed to find that his opponent is a young man, Salfard leaves the boy to his fate and makes haste to follow the monster.
In the alley, the battle is interrupted by the monster, which roots the various combatants to the spot with its terrible arrival - and then stands motionless itself. At this point, their other assailant attempts to flee, but is swiftly dissuaded form this course of action by Mendrik. Then attempting to convince them that her attack had been a mistake, the woman struggles both to retain her composure and to keep her face concealed, but seems to be in earnest.
As Salfard joins them with the news that the monster has dissolved into a grisly pile of its constituents, the plot thickens further. The magician suggests that they are all the victims of a deception, perhaps perpetrated by her adversary, whom she had been expecting to encounter in the alley.
At this point Touchstone realises that the woman is a member of House Heligan, and the apparent subject of a prophecy that seems to link its fortunes to the fate of the city and his own secret society. When he quotes some of this prophecy, the so-called Opert Prophecy, the woman and (unexpectedly) Rotheric are moved to reveal more of it. It seems to imply a strange connection between all of the characters.
Feeling thoroughly spooked and eager to remove himself from this unsavoury company, Tiago abruptly takes his leave, but arranges to contact the woman again at her home departing with her visting card. The others return to the park and the woman examines the corpse of the youthful ex-controller of the monster. Finding a hideous talisman upon his person, she speculates that this had been used to summon or control the monster and is adamant that he had not acted alone.
After making some rather peremptory arrangements to meet with each of them to discuss this further, the woman suggests that they make themselves scarce before the Watch arrive....
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2: Gathering Threads
Tiago seeks out his mistress, Gabriela, at whose behest he had attended the duel. She asked him to do so as a favour to her brother, Tomas, an apprentice at the Imperial College. He was, she had said, attempting to curry favour with a fellow student of noble descent called Fabian. Tiago was supposed to have met and duelled with this Fabian, allowing the boy to humble him before a select audience.
Determined to wring the truth out of her, Tiago discovers that she has been spying on him for an unknown benefactor, a benefactor who persuaded her to involve Tiago in the duel by kidnapping and threatening her brother. Enraged by her betrayal, he wrings as much truth out of her as he can, learning of two unnamed men who seem to be behind this plot.
Gabriela seems genuinely unable to give him clear descriptions of either of these men, but does recall a few distinguishing features. The first man has what she describes as a "golden" voice and wears a cloak with a colourful and shimmering lining. The other was hooded, but wore many rings on his fingers.
Leaving her, but without much clue where to begin, Tiago first thinks to visit the woman that he had encountered earlier that morning, but an illustration on the visiting card that she had given him instead inspires a train of memory regarding House Heligan. Recollecting rumours that this noble family had long been a shadowy "power behind the throne" to the more prominent Houses in Syran made him suddenly suspicious of this woman and her motives.
Instead, with Mendrik in tow, he decides to seek out Gabriela's brother Tomas at the Imperial College. They learn that he has indeed been missing for a few days; his friend' Fabian has also disappeared and has missed an important examination. Trying to process all that he has learned, Tiago returns home to think.
Sketching his thoughts out on a canvas, he experiences a profound revalation after realising that the boy controlling the monster, who had met his fate at Salfard's bloody hands, must have been Fabian. Amongst other visions, he sees an image of the man that he now thinks of as Golden Voice, his face strangely obscured, and recognises the man's surrounding as the Docks.
Awaking after a nap, Tiago resolves to pay the Heligan noblewoman a visit. Joining her for dinner, he learns that she is called Amelyn and that she is the eldest daughter of Lord Heligan. Ignoring his repeated requests to be allowed to paint her portrait, she is nevertheless intrigued by the information he discloses regarding Golden Voice and the man with the rings.
Agreeing to participate in another attempt at divination, she watches as Tiago draws a sketch of the spreading tree emblem of House Heligan on the tablecloth and decorates it with tokens representing her, the two unknown men, the dead boy Fabian and the 'informant' that advised her to lie in wait for her enemy in the alley this morning.
After Tiago determinedly overcomes some magical resistance, this hastily assembled divining tool finally grants them some information. Golden Voice, it seems has some connection with Amelyn's informant and the man with the rings has a nautical connection. Seemingly moved by these revalations, Amelyn asks for his aid in unravelling the puzzle. In return, he asks her to tell him what she knows of the Proven Reappearance of Arkat.
Perplexed, she tells him what she knows of this ill-fated movement and the associated painting, but there is little to tell. Returning their attention to the ruined tablecloth, they resolve to set Mendrik to tail her informant - a cousin called Kenelm - to see if he will lead them to Golden Voice. She also agrees to let Tiago paint her portrait, as a pretext to cover their continued association, and arranges to visit him in two days time...
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3: The Apothecary's Associates
Salfard hastily deposits his master at a convenient social engagement and returns to his quarters, only to be confronted by a rival servant and summoned to see his Old Master, Lord Lazaran. The bed-ridden nobleman is eager for news of the political climate, but also asks about the duel that he hears his son is about to fight...
Meanwhile, Rotheric takes some ichor that he collected from the monster's remains to Damplestone, a kindly-disposed apothecary of his acquaintance, hoping that this dubious ingredient might help to find a cure for his demon-cursed brother, Sigeric. Damplestone tells him to return in a couple of days and then shoos him away.
Having emptied his purse, the duellist is approached by a well-dressed gentleman who introduces himself as Sarken. Claiming to be a senior emissary (the Apparitor General) of the Ecumenical Council, he explains his purpose over a drink in a nearby tavern. Damplestone, he believes, is a member of the heretical Alchemists Guild, an organisation that he is attempting to expose. He then does his best to enlist Rotheric's aid in this cause, using a potent combination of threat and lucre. Apparently swayed by the former, Rotheric departs with the latter, and promptly loses it all gambling.
When he returns to the apothecary a day or so later, Damplestone hands him a potion with evident excitement and urges him to test its efficacy on his unfortunate sibling. When the concoction proves to be a great success, Rotheric returns to Damplestone with the happy news and agrees to rendezvous him later that evening, in order to meet with his 'associates' and discuss a more permanent cure. After agreeing to this and departing, Rotheric is approached by a young noble, who engages his services as a proxy in a duel.
Later that evening, Sarken intercepts the duellist on his way to the meeting, demanding a progress report and emphasising his seriousness with the help of some heavily armed cohorts. The Apparitor General seems well-informed of recent events and forcefully reminds Rotheric of their previous conversation. Rotheric eventually manages to convince him that he is still mindful of their arrangement and hurries off to the appointed venue.
He meets with Damplestone, who ushers him into a dark basement where two other men await them. The first, a bespectacled fellow with a curious accent goes by the name of Bastian; the second remains in the shadows and does not introduce himself. They invite him to enter into a partnership with them: they will provide a cure for his brother, provided that he undertakes a task on their behalf.
Damplestone and his associates sidle up to the nature of this task in a series of metaphors, but their meaning is plain. They wish him to dispatch an important ally (a 'sword') of their enemy. When he indicates his willingness to consider this undertaking, they reveal that his target is a noblewoman and an adept. Then they confirm his suspicions - that the lady in question is a Heligan...
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4: Eyes and Ears
Upon leaving the park, Touchstone realises that he is being followed, but manages to double back on his pursuer. He is surprised to find that it is a member of his own secret society. After losing the fellow, he proceeds to a clandestine rendezvous to make his report on the duel. The man that he meets is not his expected contact, however: it is his former mentor, Larchspur, who he has been missing, presumed dead, for some years.
After asking for and receiving a blood oath from his protégée, Larchspur reveals why he disappeared and the reason for his return: a breakaway faction within the Faculties is taking the organisation in a disturbing new direction. He instructs Touchstone to report to his superiors as expected, in order to avoid arousing further suspicion, but also gives him a new mission: to follow the iconographer Tiago and find out how he is involved in the plot that Larchspur is attempting to uncover.
Upon parting from his mentor, Touchstone does as he is told and makes his report without incident. When he returns to his home, however, he finds another mysterious stranger waiting for him, one who claims with some credence to be a 'brother' and an associate of Larchspur's...
