Chapter Four: The Manifest of the Harikan Squall

(The stairs are on Domarc's left, the party's right)

Zora steps forward. "We're not here on business. I need to speak to Martjan va Locra immediately, please. Privately. Tell her it's a family emergency. She'll know who I am."

"Uh, just tell her it's...Zee," Zora answers.

This Zee has quite a motley crew of retainers with her, but she seems entirely comfortable with them, and her request to see Martjan was more blunt and underembellished than he'd expect from a scammer.

Martjan is where Domarc last saw her: at a table in a meeting room with several other officers of the company, reviewing documents. She raises an eyebrow without looking up. "Forget something?"

Ozen looks at Mordred & co., then at the door. "Ah...you can have a seat wherever you like," he says, sinking back down slowly to a seat behind the desk.

~meanwhile, upstairs~

"Everybody thinks their matters are urgent. Tell her to --" Martjan stops mid-sentence, makes eye contact with Domarc. She rolls up the scroll in front of her and hands it to the man to her right. "Never mind. I'll see what this is about." She gets up and walks out of the room, giving Domarc a small nod to follow as she passes. On the stairs, she says quietly: "Stay alert."

~and now back to main party POV~

After only a moment or two of waiting, a woman descends the stairs, followed closely by Domarc. She is short and slim, with thick curly hair and an aquiline nose, dressed in a simple black skirt and laced vest. She looks first at Zora, then at the rest of you, then back to Zora.

"What's this about?" she asks.

"We need to talk privately," Zora replies.

"You've brought mercenaries. I'm going to need a little more by way of explanation."

"My father is dead," Zora says through gritted teeth. "Can we go talk somewhere, please?"

Martjan clasps her hands together. "I'm sorry to hear that." She sighs, her eyes dart around. "Domarc, go up and clear out the meeting room for us."

Anybody have anything to interject here before we continue?

Mordred notes how guarded she is at Zora's being here, but isn't completely sure what to make of it.

Zora gestures to Shamush and Zangua. "Will you two stay down here and keep an eye out for trouble?"

"Trouble?" Martjan asks, an arch note to her voice. "You've brought here?"

Zora shoots a sour glare at her mother. "Might be I did. Sorry."

"And if those two are staying down here, I suppose the rest of them will be joining our so-called 'private' meeting?"

"They're friends."

"Of course they are."

When Domarc comes back down the stairs to let her know the room is free, she turns to follow him up, and mouths the words stay in there with me. Zora follows her.

Upstairs and down a short hall, Domarc stands aside and gestures you all into a large room with a round table made of fine golden-hued wood. A pitcher of tea and the remnants of a fig cake still sit atop it. Martjan finds a seat; Zora sits a few chairs away. The rest of you seat yourselves as Domarc closes the door and takes an empty chair near Martjan.

Martjan takes a breath. "So --"

Zora cuts her off. "I'm not happy I'm here either. But coming here to see you was the last thing Dad asked me to do before he died, and I was hunted the whole way here. These men saved my life. So try not to act too put out."

"Zora, you're going to have to forgive me for not liking surprises. Whatever trouble Edvers got you involved in, if you need to stay here --"

"I'm not staying here. I'm trying to find out what happened to Dad. Have you ever heard of something called the Six-Pronged Crown?"

"Sure. I've heard of it, but that's all," Martjan says with a shrug. "There's a thousand secret societies in Hazard."

"How about the Iron Sphere of Sthombo?"

Martjan frowns. "What about it?"

"The Six-Pronged Crown made Dad steal it. They coerced him or something, I don't know. But he stole it, and instead of giving it to them he hid it somewhere. And before he was arrested and executed for stealing it, he gave me something and told me I had to deliver it to you. So I really hope you have something to say when you see this, because me and all these friends of mine nearly got killed trying to bring it here." She takes the hippocampus tile out of her pocket and slides it across the table to her mother.

Martjan stares at the tile for a long moment, then looks back up at Zora. Her face has changed. There is fear in her eyes now.

~meanwhile, downstairs~

After a few moments, another clerk comes downstairs and takes her place behind the desk, and Ozen gets up and walks to the front doors. Throwing them open, he announces: "The West Bload Trading Company is open for business! Queue up in an orderly fashion, please!" He returns to the desk as merchants, traders, buyers and suppliers begin to file into the lobby.

Zangua and/or Shamush, please give me a Perception roll. Everybody else, please feel free to interject with any comments or actions you may want to take before we resume the upstairs scene.

Domarc has never heard of the 6PC, has a passing knowledge of the Iron Sphere as a notable object associated with Sthombo, and can't make any sense of the hippocampus tile.

"No secrets," Martjan says quietly. "I could take you to a bookseller a few streets away where you'd find a volume with this very drawing in it. It was only a few days ago I decided it was finally time to part with it...isn't that ironic? Or maybe..." She shakes her head as if to rid herself of an unwelcome thought. "No matter. That drawing is an illustration of one of the Horgul prophecies." She looks skyward for a moment, concentrating, and then recites:

"See what lies on Culsu's door:
Sleeping sea-horse, curled in a ball.
Tickle him awake, and your city will fall!
Ice and flood through the broken gate
An early death is the last Child's fate
Set a crown of frost on the tomb of the Old
And never again will men dwell upon Bload."

She smiles sadly. "You see, Zora? You think me heartless, but all the things Edvers and I shared...I never forgot them. I still carry it all with me. I was certain there was much truth still to be mined from Horgul's writings. Edvers thought it was all fever-dream nonsense. But still. That book was one of the first gifts he gave me."

"The 'last Child' is generally understood as a reference to the Innocent of Hazard," Martjan says.

ICYMI: "But the leadership of Hazard was one of the least well understood things about it. The city was ruled by a child-potentate called the Innocent, who served for a limited term of seven years, who was advised by a Hierophant, who served for life, and these two were appointed by the ancient noble houses of Hazard according to rules that nobody but themselves were privy to."

"...But no, one does not read Horgul for his command of verse. I recall Edvers and I discussed a few of the better-known interpretations of that one. What it means to me -- what it means to most who read it -- is that it anticipates the destruction of Hazard by some invading force or natural disaster, with dire consequences for every living person on Bload. But we never connected the Iron Sphere with --"

"That's not the only one Dad mentioned," Zora interrupts. "He said he thought I might be 'the last dream' of Horgul. Do you remember that one?"

Martjan looks rather stricken. "He said that? Was he serious? Zora, I don't know what Edvers has gotten himself into these past few years, but that...yes, I remember it. It relates to the other prophecy. How does it go...

"Hazard's daughter
Stops the water
And the cold.
She who makes heads bare
And feeds the sea-horse its own tail.
But oh, the price she pays.
But oh, the price Bload pays."

Martjan stares at Zora. You can almost seem to see the wheels turning in her mind. "So Edvers stole the Sphere from Sthombo. Under the command of this...Six-Pronged Crown. But instead of giving it to them, he hid it away. And they hunted you? Because they think you know where it is? But you don't, do you?"

Zora nods, then shakes her head. "Right. I don't."

"And of all the places to send you for your own safety, Edvers Kells -- the man who use to make fun of my interest in Horgul, who called it 'silly doggerel' -- spoke of you fulfilling the last prophecy and told you to come here. To Hazard. To see me."

"He did."

"Because he knew I would understand the oblique references to the Horgul prophecies," she says, slowly. "Because I would be in a position to warn the rulers of Hazard of danger. Because I have the resources to give you shelter and safety. And because I can almost certainly guess where he hid the Sphere away." She leans on the table and steeples her fingers together. "Would you say I've assessed his intentions correctly?"

Anybody, feel free to jump into the conversation if you have questions or observations. Still need Perception checks from Shamush and Zangua!

sorry for the delay, had A Situation

Zangua notices a youngish man with swept-back gray hair standing in the queue whose eyes keep drifting over in his direction.

At one point, as he nears the head of the queue, he quietly gestures for the merchant standing behind him to go ahead before him.