[CHAPTER 1] [CHAPTER 2] [CHAPTER 3] [CAVALL KEEP]

"What is the meaning of this?"

THE KEEP

OWYN: Not that I dislike your new house here, but what happened to the Keep?

CORVALIS: The townhouse is temporary lodging, nephew. We have no intention of staying in Cavall like common folk. As for the Keep, one night three years ago, an inept chamber maid left a lamp unattended by the tapestries which hung on the west wall. You remember them don't you, Owyn? Centuries old, woven by the finest weavers in all the Kingdom. In seconds they went up in flames and they took the rest of the Keep with it.

OWYN: I remember having heard something about a fire, but I hadn't known the Keep had burned to the ground. It's a miracle that you all survived. Were you able to save anything?

CORVALIS: We saved ourselves, Owyn, the only things of true value that were within the castle. It is regrettable that the girl who was responsible for the blaze was killed, but Ugyne and I both escaped it hale and hearty. I ordered only the stones of the foundation left behind and the tunnel mouth sealed. We progress forward with our lives.

OWYN: Why go to all that trouble?

CORVALIS: I really would prefer not to speak of this anymore. It brings me great grief and I would prefer to discuss other matters.

LOCKLEAR: There is a moneylender that lives here in town...

CORVALIS: Isunatus, yes, I know him well. Strange Quegian fellow.

LOCKLEAR: Then you have done business with him recently?

CORVALIS: Why should it concern you? I have paid my taxes to the king.

LOCKLEAR: We wish to borrow money and we want to make certain that we deal with a reputable firm. I thought that if you had done any business with him, made any deposits, then perhaps you might know if he was an honest man.

CORVALIS: Ah. Suspicion in business is a healthy tactic. To answer you, I have had no need to borrow any funds of late and in fact have made several substantial deposits recently. Some of my better placed investments have provided me with comfortable profits, Banath be praised. Isunatus will do well by you.

LOCKLEAR: You have a reputation for disliking Navon du Sandau. Anything you would care to share with us?

CORVALIS: And what makes you believe I have animosity for Ugyne's suitor?

LOCKLEAR: Your petition to Kahooli. You asked for Navon to be - how did you put it - driven mad until he is grey with age?

CORVALIS: Who did you pay to get that note? Do you have spies in the Temple?

LOCKLEAR: Nothing so insidious as that, Count. It seems the petition collectors from the Temple of Kahooli have been slow to do their duties this year. We found your note and your tithe. If you tell us why you wish him driven mad, I'll let this little matter slip my mind. Otherwise, I think I can take up the matter with du Sandau.

CORVALIS: Do what you will, Seigneur. He already knows my feelings for him. I simply wish him gone from my family and his meddling in our affairs... Day and night, he is at Ugyne, asking her questions about the Keep and Cavall Run. How extensive were the tunnels that ran under the great hall? Have they ever been mapped in any great detail? How much money is in my coffers? What are my schedules? With whom do I meet? His questions are endless... I lost a wife in that infernal Keep and I wish the matter put to rest. I never wish to hear another question again about it! Can you understand that, Seigneur? He brings up memories and feelings I wish to leave buried...

LOCKLEAR: I want a direct answer from you Count. Do you have any association with the Guild of Death, yes or no?

CORVALIS: What nonsense is this?! Why should you even believe it possible?

LOCKLEAR: Navon Du Sandau told us you have hired assassins on many occasions.

CORVALIS: As bodyguards! Who better to hire to watch me than those who have made a profession of stalking others? But I have never employed a member of the Guild of Assassins for any other cause. Those in my employ guard my estates and the persons of myself and my daughter. Nothing else.

LOCKLEAR: How did you manage to contact these men?

CORVALIS: I asked the priests at Kahooli to send the men to me, so I never knew how to contact them directly. After the Keep burned down I asked for more help, but the priests told me the Nighthawks had fallen into disfavor with the Temple and that they could no longer summon them to service.

ASSESSMENT

OWYN: Weren't you a spotter for the Natalese Rangers when you were younger? I seem to recall you telling stories when I used to visit at the Keep.

CORVALIS: That was quite a long time ago, indeed. Before you or Ugyne or even Neville had been born. I still have the eye too. I can tell you precisely how much a man is carrying by the way he walks or how good a swordsman he is by the way he pulls it free of the scabbard.

JAMES: Sounds like a useful skill. Any chance you could teach us something about it?

CORVALIS: Don't be absurd. I spent five years training to be a spotter. You expect for me to teach it all to you in one afternoon?

JAMES: I suppose you're right. I'm already a decent spotter myself. I'll make you a wager though. You teach us anything I don't already know and I'll pay you in gold sovereigns.

CORVALIS: I'll take your wager, but I'm not one to waste my time. Two hundred sovereigns or it's no deal. Will you take that wager?

KAHOOLI PRIESTS (if Kahooli)

OWYN: Do you know anything about the Temple of Kahooli? We were talking to them earlier and they seem to have this strict code of behavior they ask their followers to adhere to.

CORVALIS: You said you were a member of the Temple of Kahooli. The Temple isn't as stringent as it appears from the outside, so long as they collect their tithes from their worshippers. I hope this year their collectors are a little brighter than the ones they have sent in years past. They almost never found the tithe I hid for them the year previous.