"Interesting, I wondered about the rats myself, but never got to see them, or if they had a food source. The Seeker saw to that.. They were from the vault, you say? Not the corridor? Was there much magic around the area, or associated with the rats?"

Tomas thinks for a while and then says, "Apart from the magic on the vault door, I didn't see any other active magic. However, someone shaped a hole into the vault from the tunnel, and that's a pretty impressive feat."

Brand's head come up, and he looks at Rima closely. "Wait, what? There was a hole there already? So the cursing about Rhani may have been because what he wanted was already taken, perhaps?"

"Oh, we knew the hole was already there," says Tomas. "Rawl knew all about it. What he forgot to mention was that it had been made magically rather than dug out."

"Ah...I came to this late, so there's a lot I don't know I'm afraid."

Brand looks at Rima, assessing his state, "I apologise, I have been quite rude; can I get you anything? Wine, brandy, caf, cha, food...or just leave you alone to recover?"

He smiles, "I must warn you; I have had a lot of Caf, not to mention a busy night, so will probably be awake for a while yet. Also...I should say...if you have any questions, I am happy to try to answer them."

Tomas hesitates and then asks, "You said that you told the boat to leave... Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with that, it was important to get Master Fazal out of there. What I don't understand is how you got there in the first place..."

Brand sighs, "My father asked me to protect three people: Fazal, Bom and you -- which is how I know he thinks highly of you, by the way, I -- I suspect that -- like you, I have certain skills that mean I know how to move fast and discretely --though I am no sorceror, but one hold out hopes in that regard."

"I was not made aware of the plan for the group to separate, which made my task quite difficult. I was actually there before the boat arrived, and watched you all leave." Brand smiles, "Very annoyed, I was, when Fazal and Bom stayed in the boat, though I must admit I should have predicted it."

"In any case, the simple answer is: I left before you and got there early and...discreetly."

He nods, but still looks confused.

Then he asks, "Madame Damass's crystal ball was completely dark to the rest of us, so you can clearly see in the dark... How is that possible, if you are not a sorcerer? Or are you like Master Lazlo?"

"There are spells that grant the ability to see in the dark; if someone or something -- a friend for example -- were to cast that on you, then you would be able to see in the dark."

Brand frowns, "It just occurred to me - it is clear you have some magical training...how is it that you are not at the School?"

Tomas looks at his feet for a moment in thought and then says, "You don't have to go to the School of Occult Studies to be trained in the arcane arts, that's just the accepted path for those outside the temple... And there are others who can teach you how to control your sorcery..."

"So, you have a friend who is a magi?" says Tomas. "Anyone I might know?"

"As it happens, I have a couple of such friends, both of whom are very elusive at the current time. If you have heard anything of them I would be most interested: Melitta [[NAME]], she attended the school I believe, and Dworkin Blackfeather, an Angolorian. If you see hide or hair of them, I would be most interested. One or both I believe kept company the school would disapprove of, I believe. Though I found them to be stalwart companions."

"But, to answer the question you are really asking, I confess, I use an item to give me night vision. It is far more reliable than my two friends."

"Do you by any chance know anything of latent sorcery? And how it may be tested for? I believe it involves casting See the Arcane on another. Is that a spell you know?"

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

"As it happens, I have a couple of such friends, both of whom are very elusive at the current time. If you have heard anything of them I would be most interested: Melitta [[NAME]], she attended the school I believe, and Dworkin Blackfeather, an Angolorian. If you see hide or hair of them, I would be most interested. One or both I believe kept company the school would disapprove of, I believe. Though I found them to be stalwart companions."

[[Melitta's family name is 'Talorun'.]]

"But, to answer the question you are really asking, I confess, I use an item to give me night vision. It is far more reliable than my two friends."

[[This seems to impress Tomas even more.]]

"Do you by any chance know anything of latent sorcery? And how it may be tested for? I believe it involves casting See the Arcane on another. Is that a spell you know?"

[[Tomas does know this spell, and knows that it can be used to detect an innate sorcerer along with the Identify ritual, but he yet lacks the knowledge as to how to cast it on someone else. Unfortunately, although he knows of people who were latent sorcerers, he doesn't know anything about how to test for that.]]

[[And that's me for tonight. Ciao.]]

"Two of Rawls hand did not make it out with Rawl. Am I correct in assuming they died in the tunnel? To the rats?"

[[ Brand waits for answer, then continues ]]

"Of course, like much of this business," Brand waves his hands indicating the office and house in general, "what I've said tonight should remain between the two us. Have you told my father what you told me about tonight's events? If not, I'm sure he would want to know."

"In the vault," corrects Tomas. "The ritual caster? The rats killed him—he got caught on the wrong side of the fire. The other man... Rawl finished him off after the rats did for him. I heard him tell the others that the unconscious man would only slow them down."

"I've told Lord Brand some of this, but we haven't really had much of a chance to talk yet, he was more interested in seeing if Master Lazlo had completed the mission."

At this point, Koric comes back from seeing out Madame Damass and her people.

[[If Brand has no more questions of Tomas, he will tell Koric a lot of what has already been said above and then ask to be allowed to go and await the return of Jon Lazlo.]]

[[ Sounds fine, I'll summarise what I think Brand heard and hopefully you can correct anything inaccurate on the second telling. I'd be interested in knowing what Koric asks about it takes an interest in as well.

Summary of Rima's account

- Rima was seen by the sorcerer in the Seeker's hand, and barely escaped
- He used magic to disguise himself as a chest, but was discovered when Rawl and his mean started searching chests
- Rawl and his men were searching for something specific (knew we should have kept him for questioning!)
- Rawl regarded Rhani as an enemy and "said something about 'lapdogs'"
- Rhani may have been in the vault at some time
- Rats had no food and were very agressive. They were not magical.
  My observation and question on second telling: starving animals will be aggressive, was there more to it?
- hole in wall was magically created
- Rawl knew about the hole
- Ritual caster was killed by rats, he was on the wrong side of the fire
  Followup: what was the fire and who set it up?
- Other man, wounded and killed by Rawl

Other facts

- Rima not at SoOS and mentions other training (link)
- Can cast See the Arcane, but not on others
- 'Identify' ritual also used (must be used?) in identifying latent sorcerers(??) (link)

To raise with Koric when alone.

- do you think Rhani is a fake; not everything Rawl said was necessarily a lie.
- consequently, might she have been after (and found) something in the vault before Rawl
- there's another, possibly fake, religious manifestation in town: do you think they might be related?
]]

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[ Sounds fine, I'll summarise what I think Brand heard and hopefully you can correct anything inaccurate on the second telling. I'd be interested in knowing what Koric asks about it takes an interest in as well.

Summary of Rima's account

- Rima was seen by the sorcerer in the Seeker's hand, and barely escaped
- He used magic to disguise himself as a chest, but was discovered when Rawl and his mean started searching chests
- Rawl and his men were searching for something specific (knew we should have kept him for questioning!)

[[Nothing specific was mentioned, but they were searching and Rawl seemed angry that they didn't find anything of interest, despite there being lots of interesting things to find.]]

- Rawl regarded Rhani as an enemy and "said something about 'lapdogs'"
- Rhani may have been in the vault at some time
- Rats had no food and were very agressive. They were not magical.
  My observation and question on second telling: starving animals will be aggressive, was there more to it?

[[This might indeed have been the case, though from the description Tomas gave it doesn't sound like they couldn't have left if they wanted to.]]

- hole in wall was magically created
- Rawl knew about the hole
- Ritual caster was killed by rats, he was on the wrong side of the fire
  Followup: what was the fire and who set it up?

[[Rawl's group went in apparently prepared for the rats and had fire bombs prepared. The ritual caster went to help his familiar against the rats and got caught on the wrong side of the fire.]]

- Other man, wounded and killed by Rawl

[[Wounded by rats and killed by Rawl because he was unconscious and would have slowed them down.]]

Other facts

- Rima not at SoOS and mentions other training (link)
- Can cast See the Arcane, but not on others
- 'Identify' ritual also used (must be used?) in identifying latent sorcerers(??) (link)

[[Note: The above is relevant for innate sorcerers, not latent sorcerers. Tomas knows nothing about that. Also, Brand would remember a ritual being used from his own testing, though he wouldn't have known the name of the spell.]]

To raise with Koric when alone.

- do you think Rhani is a fake; not everything Rawl said was necessarily a lie.

[[Koric has seen the woman. She is a nubian, which means she could be of the holy bloodline, and actually gave the sermon equivalent at a Dawn Ceremony he attended. He does not think she is a fake, but doesn't know of her intentions or motivations.]]

- consequently, might she have been after (and found) something in the vault before Rawl

[[He doesn't know, but he does know that Rawl thought there was something wrong with her, which is part of the reason Rawl came to him and started this whole thing.]]

- there's another, possibly fake, religious manifestation in town: do you think they might be related?

[[Koric has heard about this vaguely, but knows nothing about it. He thinks it might have been a hoax as nothing has come of it, which would be unlikely if it were real, considering the religious purity push that the Mithrans have been making.]]
]]

[[ Did Koric add to or take an interest in anything ? ]]

[[ Depending on how Koric reacted to Rima, Brand may say (when they are alone) ]]

"Rima did well tonight; I could not have done what he did. Yet he thinks he failed you. You may want to say something to him."

]]

Then "Where did you find hm, by the way?"

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[ Did Koric add to or take an interest in anything ? ]]

[[Koric asked Tomas when Rawl and the others turned on him. Tomas replied that he started to get worried when Rawl started to get angry about not finding anything, which Koric found interesting.]] 

[[ Depending on how Koric reacted to Rima, Brand may say (when they are alone) ]]

[[Koric treats Rima as an employee, but congratulates him on a job well done and allows him to go quickly to wait for Jon Lazlo.]]

"Rima did well tonight; I could not have done what he did. Yet he thinks he failed you. You may want to say something to him."

]]

Then "Where did you find hm, by the way?"

"I didn't," says Koric in answer to Brand's question. "Lazlo did. Tomas is from New Nineveh and Jon just turned up with him after he went home one time."

[[ Can you give a comparison between NN and Constantine? is similar religious repression occurring there? Assuming not: ]]

"He seems a good man. Probably best he's not from here; there seems to be something -- unwholesome -- about Constantine since I returned. Have you seen it father, or do you thinks it's just my imagination?"

Brand refills his brandy [[if possible]], and offers to fill his father glass, "Fake apparitions at the school, the anathema declaration, and, possibly, Rhani with a dubious agenda. Rawl...I should have left him alive. After what Rima said, I have a few questions for him."

Brand looks at his brandy and shakes his head, "I saw people fleeing town when I arrived. And we are not even at war. Except with ourselves."

[[ For later, but feel free to add if the narrative fits ]]

"Oh...and I meant to mention...after  I left Last Chance, it fell. I thought the garrison was wiped out. Did you hear of many survivors of the garrison making it back here?"

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[ Can you give a comparison between NN and Constantine? is similar religious repression occurring there? Assuming not: ]]

[[There is no obvious religious repression in New Nineveh because there are no competing religions of any size. The biggest difference between New Nineveh and Constantine is the fact that Engle is a conquered land with the conquerors (and their religious adherents) very much a minority of the population.]]

"He seems a good man. Probably best he's not from here; there seems to be something -- unwholesome -- about Constantine since I returned. Have you seen it father, or do you thinks it's just my imagination?"

Brand refills his brandy [[if possible]], and offers to fill his father glass, "Fake apparitions at the school, the anathema declaration, and, possibly, Rhani with a dubious agenda. Rawl...I should have left him alive. After what Rima said, I have a few questions for him."

Brand looks at his brandy and shakes his head, "I saw people fleeing town when I arrived. And we are not even at war. Except with ourselves."

---

[[ For later, but feel free to add if the narrative fits ]]

"Oh...and I meant to mention...after  I left Last Chance, it fell. I thought the garrison was wiped out. Did you hear of many survivors of the garrison making it back here?"

"The Mithrans have their own agenda," says Koric, accepting the offer of a refill. "One that I am not allowed to interfere with—directly."

He takes a sip of his drink before adding, "However, it might have been useful if tonight's activities had revealed something of Glory Rahni's reason for being in Constantine. Some leverage in the Temple would be useful."

"And of course the Bank of Sorenden has to be appeased as well... Fortunately their losses cannot have been too great as it seems robbery was an afterthought of Rawl's..."

"I must be getting old, Alaric. I should have seen that coming, what with the calibre of the men Rawl brought into this house... It is probably for the best that none of them survived."

[[Not much happening today because it was Jennifer's birthday. Night.]]