After the Fall

4: “Mantovani Bloodline”

4.1: “The City of Jewels”

Godric comes down the stairs in the morning, limbs stiff. Mati makes breakfast with her daughter, Kivuli, and they all set out. Kivuli rides with the group to the middle of Maelor Forest, where she and Mati fall back behind the group. They argue in Goblin about Mati agreeing to a dangerous mission and Kivuli agrees to move their family south to the marshes. She disappears into the forest.

The party continue through the forest into Aemilian countryside. The flat terrain lets them see the city approach from a distance, and they note that it’s two or three times the size of Maelor City. Mati stays behind at the outskirts of the city, fearful of entering during daylight hours. She looks around for an old sewer passage that her family used to use, but it has been blocked up during expansion of the city.

The party go over what they know about the Mantovani family, and Maximus explains the gossip he’s heard: Rhoan is widely believed to have killed his father, Costel, in the midst of some unrest in the city. He took the position of Tower Lord and had a son, Mikhael. Both Mikhael and his mother Kriss were seriously ill following the birth. Around a month later Mikhael recovered, but Kriss did not.

Around the age of 18, Mikhael stopped appearing in public. Rumours spread that he had died of a mysterious illness, but 6 months later he began making sporadic appearances again, always in the background. He is now 26, and public opinion is unsure of whether he will take over as Tower Lord from his father: he has no station in the ruling structure and hasn’t had any real training as far as anyone can tell.

Maximus has heard a rumour that he might be staying at a pub called the Royal Serpent, which Maximus scouts out while the others explore the city.

Marvello takes them to a café he’s familiar with, Sia’s Coffee Shop. Godric approaches Marvello and asks for his help selling fraudulent magic items, to which Marvello wholeheartedly agrees. Marvello approaches Sia at the bar and orders the most alcoholic coffee on the menu, a Kollen cappuccino.

“Hey Marvello, how do you fancy a bit of business with me? My skills, your business acumen… If you get my drift.” — Godric, on business.

Godric spots a man sitting in the corner of the room reading a paper (“The Daily Chainmail”) and signals to Marvello that he thinks the man might be a good mark for his scam. Godric hides in the Bag of Holding, and Marvello approaches the man, taking a paper from the rack next to his table and sitting near him.

Marvello finds the most scandalous gossip he can in the paper and comments on it out loud, and the man loudly agrees with his assessment. They strike up a conversation and he reveals his name is Reg Baxon, professional hairdresser. He tells Marvello that his wife left him recently, and he needs a way to make money and somewhere to live. Marvello comforts him and offers to set Reg up with a less-than-legal but well-paying job, which Reg heartily agrees to. They leave and meet up with Maximus.

Godric finds an iron-working guild, the Guild of Artisans and Artificers and registers with them, giving Sia’s Coffee Shop as his address. He finds a Church library in the city to ask for information on the Figure-in-the-Steam. He tells them that he is operating on behalf of the Church, but they refuse him entry without an official letter. Finally, he searches the city for any signs of engines. Finding none, he concludes no cults exist dedicated to his principles, and resolves to found one.

“There are no others. I am the only one!”

— Godric, on esotericism.

Marvello heads to a public library and skims recent newspapers to catch up on changes in the city since he last visited.

Maximus returns to his family home and looks in the windows, finding servants but none of his family. When he left a few weeks ago people were worried about the “ghost hyena” eating rich people in the city, and he thinks they may have fled in fear. He spends the rest of the day wandering the city.

After dark Mati enters the city, avoiding any patrols. She notes that there are more people than she’d expect, including groups standing around on street corners with torches.

The party all meet up outside of Sia’s as she’s locking up, and they decide to rent an AirDnD house in the outskirts of the city. A slightly drunk Marvello finds a locked door in the house and unlocks it, finding stacked furniture and family paintings inside.

In the morning the party sits around a table to plan. They decide to visit the Royal Serpent in the evening to look for clues, with Mati in spider form. Maximus suggests that if they find Mikhael they should be honest with him about their plan and convince him to help them.

For the day Maximus explores the area of the city they’re staying in. He finds a small shop and pub, and goes in for lunch. He approaches a couple of young men who look the most friendly out of everyone in the pub and strikes up a conversation. They introduce themselves as Jeremiah and Matthew, retired knights who came into some money and bought a small shop and house in the area. Maximus introduces himself as Bellin. They invite him to visit their house for cocktails one evening, and give him their address.

Marvello heads to the Royal Serpent for a late lunch, telling the others to act like they don’t know him. He finds two young women chatting at a table and starts a conversation, convincing them he’s a rich professional spellcaster. They tell him that they’re waiting for their friend Katie Frank, and invite him to a poetry event they’re going to that evening at Katie’s boyfriend’s house (who the party later learns is named Barnaby Rayner), featuring a poet they are both big fans of, Inure Crowfane. Marvello can tell they’re both more excited to be going to a fancy party than to actually hear the poetry.

In the evening, Godric enters the pub and notices Marvello still waiting, now with three women. He finds a group of young men who look wealthy and attempts to endear himself with an intentionally awkward introduction.

“Yo, how’s it going with you organic kids over here? How are you enjoying your Spripes?”

— Godric, on fitting in.

The men are not impressed by this, and they tell him to leave. He realises they’re probably knights, or otherwise martially employed. He leaves and finds a comfortable corner of the bar, and orders himself a drink.

A little while later Maximus enters with spider-Mati in his pocket. He puts her on a wall and orders a Spripe, sat by himself at the bar. Mati crawls up the wall to keep watch.

After half an hour of waiting a man enters the room from a doorway that leads to the upstairs room. He comes up to Marvello’s table, the girls whispering excitedly at his presence. He is tall, with long, curled black hair and dress carefully chosen to look nonchalant. He doesn’t look anything like Mikhael Mantovani.

Mati, looking at the poet, feels a half-remembered feeling that he is important to her somehow. She notices that as he walks across the room to the table a chair he passes is knocked aside shortly after he passes, without him touching it.

Marvello excuses himself and rushes to the toilet, and Godric follows him. He gets into the Bag of Holding and Marvello takes it, following the poet’s flock. Maximus messages Marvello, and he tells him to remain behind. He tells Maximus that they’re going to “Katie’s boyfriend’s house”.

“This is Maximus. Where are you going?

“Been invited to a party, haven’t I.”

— Marvello, on communication.

After a short walk down streets lined with expensive houses and gardens they reach the house hosting the party. At the end of a long driveway lined with fruit trees and perfectly-manicured bushes is an old mansion. The entire property is surrounded by an 8-foot fence, with a guard post at the entrance. The guards recognise Crowfane and let the group through. The area around outside the front of the mansion has groups of guests chatting, drinking, and eating canapés, and through the open doors Marvello can see even more people waiting.

Marvello follows the group through the grounds and into the house. They occasionally stop to talk to people but Marvello is entirely ignored as all attention is on the poet. He leaves the group to surreptitiously let Godric out of the bag, and the two grab drinks.

A drunk man approaches Godric and appears very excited at him being warforged, drawing a small crowd. Godric gains some favour with the crowd by encouraging people not to shame the man for his rudeness. Someone in the crowd suggests that a friend of theirs has a good warforged friend, and that Godric must be that friend. He plays along.

“Of course. My name’s Godot; a lot of people have been waiting for me over the years.”

— Godric, on metatextual comedy.

Godric talks to the drunk man, and finds he’s very bitter about Crowfane’s popularity, especially with women. He explains that him and his friends are waiting for Crowfane to reject women so they’ll be easier to seduce. Godric calls him out on this and leaves.

Marvello enters the main hall of the house where people are gathering for the poetry recital. He spots someone leafing through a notebook who he thinks might be a reporter, or dedicated fan of Crowfane. He strikes up a conversation, repeating facts he’s overheard about the poet in the hope of learning more. The person introduces themself as Cat Masters, and says that they’ve been a fan of Crowfane’s since the beginning. They explain that Crowfane has been writing poetry for the last 7 years; he started publishing in ‘zines but was largely ignored, then made a public appearance where people noticed he was attractive — which helped him gain widespread popularity. Cat is very critical of fans that aren’t genuinely interested in Crowfane’s work.

Meanwhile, in the Royal Serpent, Maximus talks to the man sitting next to him at the bar. He says his name is Leuk Adamson, and that he works as an apprentice in a merchant guild in the city. Maximus introduces himself as Bellin, and Leuk recognises his name. Leuk says he thought Bellin’s family had left the city in fear of the hyena. When pressed on the hyena, he says that he’s heard that the hyena was spotted hunting in the city very recently.

Mati eavesdrops on the knights complaining about their recently increased working hours. One brings up that the hyena is the reason, and the group argues about whether or not it’s real.

A couple of hours later Mati decides Mikhael is unlikely to show up and leaves the pub, and tells Maximus through magic that they should find the others. They find the house, and Maximus decides to stay outside to avoid being recognised. Mati wild-shapes into a spider to get past the fence and enters the main hall with Godric and Marvello, the performance about to start.

Crowfane strides up the stairs onto a small balcony overlooking the hall where the crowd (numbering around one hundred) is gathered. He’s wearing a dark cloak, and leans over the banister, holding one hand out as if holding a skull.

“My friends, my fans, my lovers… I am Inure Crowfane — and I am here to perform my poetry!”

— Inure Crowfane, on subtlety.

He begins his performance with some of his most famous poetry (which sounds somewhat like a cross between Shakespeare and Evanescence).

Mati drops down from the ceiling on a silk thread to land on the top of his head. She is stopped about twenty centimetres above him, feeling a hard surface under her feet. Marvello, taking a closer look at his appearance while he performs, deduces that he is disguising his appearance with illusion magic. Understanding this, Marvello can see a little of what lies under the illusion, and realises the poet has a tail.

4.2: “A Higher Key”

Godric takes a coin and drops it on the ground. He steps away and the coin starts loudly yawning. Cat, standing near Marvello, obviously scowls in the direction of the sound. Godric, realising he can’t turn the coin off remotely, hurries back and stamps on it.

Nearing the end of his recital, Crowfane thanks the audience for listening, and says that he’s got something new to share with them. He tells them that he feels modern poetry has become stagnant and repetitive, but that his muse has given him a gift: words he truly believes. He closes with his final poem.

eyes closed, descent
ever darker
beyond— the barrier
into your light, dark star

i hear him louder, clearer
i can’t—
tell him “no!”, i must—
tell him “yes”

refuse—
to comply, refuse to live a lie, i
refuse—
to live, apart from you, my ally

named, numbered
identified
your controller, operator
code broken

dark star, call to me
i live your light, here
my only thought, command
what you need me to do

orders spark
influence intrinsic
opposing, i follow
your constellation

— Invocation Array, Little Dark Star (modified)

He closes with a half-bow, and after a moment of silence a murmur goes through the crowd. It’s very different from anything he’s written before. Marvello sees Cat is utterly transfixed. Godric worries that the poem could be a spell but decides there’s nothing magical about the words.

“Bad poetry. Alright party.”

— Marvello, on the evening.

Crowfane thanks Katie for supporting him, and Barnaby for letting them use his parents’ house. He leaves the balcony through a small door behind him into a corridor, taking Mati with him. Barnaby takes his place and says a few words. Marvello thinks he sounds jealous of Crowfane’s importance in the eyes of the crowd compared with his own.

Crowfane takes a door off the corridor into a bedroom, and turns the magical lights on. He goes through into an ensuite bathroom and stands in front of the mirror before dropping his illusion. The right-hand half of his face is completely, unnaturally black, and the rest is speckled with jet-black patches. On the right side of his head is a curled ram’s horn, and on the left a much smaller lump of horn. His hair is shorter, wavy, and black.

He splashes water on his face, looks at himself in the mirror, and congratulates himself on a good performance. He seems relieved, more than anything. Mati looks around the room and can’t see anything of his; she concludes it’s a guest room prepared for one night.

He looks back in the mirror and waves a hand across his face, causing the illusion to reappear. He leaves the room and takes another set of stairs back down to the main room, and starts chatting with guests. Mati crawls down from his horn and makes her way outside to meet Maximus.

Godric samples the free drinks, and shows off some small artificer tricks to people around him. Someone asks Barnaby where he met Godric, and he pretends they’re old friends. Godric doesn’t correct him.

Mati and Maximus meet in an alley and discuss what Mati saw. She says she thinks there’s something going on with Crowfane, but that he’s harmless overall. Mati decides to go back to the house without the others. Maximus returns to the pub near their house to socialise. The main crowd of attendees to the party filter out in the hour following the end of the poetry recital, and Godric goes with them. His group heads off to a nearby pub to continue the night.

Marvello approaches Crowfane, who is talking to the girls Marvello came in with, and praises his newest poem. Crowfane admits he’s been unable to sleep for the last couple of days due to worry that people wouldn’t like it, and the girls all coo that they loved it too. Marvello introduces himself as a member of the Royal Poetry Academy, which Crowfane is impressed by. He reveals that he has no formal training in poetry.

Marvello challenges Crowfane to a poetry slam, which he accepts. A small crowd forms, and most agree that Marvello won the competition. A spectator asks Marvello if he publishes, and Marvello answers that poetry is only a hobby to him now. Katie whispers to Crowfane that she thought his poetry was better. Marvello, similarly, compliments him on his poetry, then leaves the crowd to pretend to brood in a corner.

Later in the evening, after most of the guests have left, a small group of Crowfane’s close friends including Katie, Barnaby, and Marvello are left sitting in a living room on a collection of sofas and chairs. They’re talking about poetry, and a couple of people present work they’ve written to discuss.

Marvello steers the topic of conversation to gossip about Mikhael Mantovani, and politics more generally. Barnaby, who’d been mostly shut out of the poetry discussion, wakes up and engages with his questions. On mentioning Mikhael, Katie glances nervously between Crowfane and Barnaby.

Barnaby goes off on one, talking about his family’s involvement with the Mantovani family and the work he does. People occasionally try to get the conversation back to poetry but Barnaby is steadfast. After about ten minutes Katie interrupts him, telling him to stop going on about his family. His face momentarily flashes with anger, before he sits back, resolved to boredom.

Marvello pretends to pass out in his chair from drinking too much, and after a while the others start to disappear off to bed, leaving just Barnaby, Katie, Crowfane, and Marvello. Barnaby sulks in silence while Katie and Crowfane whisper about esoteric poetry. Later, their conversation wraps up and they head to bed. Crowfane carries Marvello up to a guest room and puts him to bed.

“Urgh, poets. Get him out of here.”

— Barnaby Rayner, on poets.

Marvello wakes up at dawn, well before his hung-over hosts. He composes a poem of thanks and leaves it in the room for them. He hangs around the house for a little while in the hopes that anyone who is awake might recognises him and offer him their contact information, but nobody does. He returns to their rented house; Mati is preparing to leave for the Royal Serpent, and Maximus and Godric are asleep, still drunk. He recalls the events of the night to Mati. Godric wakes up, and he and Mati leave for the pub.

At the pub, Mati climbs up to a first-floor window in spider form while Godric waits below. She searches the four guest rooms in the pub and finds nothing of value. The fourth room is incredibly messy, with clothes, books, and pages of writing strewn all over. She deduces it’s likely to be Crowfane’s room and returns to goblin form to search more thoroughly.

Godric sees Crowfane on the street approaching the pub with Katie. They notice Godric and approach him, thinking he must be staying at the pub. He loudly greets them, hoping Mati will hear, which she does. Godric asks Crowfane if he can subscribe to his ‘zine, and gives the address of the Rusty Duckling. Mati wild-shapes into a spider to keep watch in the room.

Katie and Crowfane come into the room, and Katie closes the window and curtains. Crowfane drops his illusion, takes a romantic poem he’s written for Katie out of one of the drawers in his desk, and reads it to her. Katie embraces him, and whispers something in his ear that Mati can’t make out. They have sex, leaving Mati traumatised.

She scuttles out under the door to search the other of the four rooms that seemed to have a resident, but finds nothing, before returning to Godric outside. They both return to the house to plan, and Mati explains to the others everything she saw.

Marvello visits a public library to find obscure poetry to pass off as his own, but finds nothing suitable. Godric heads to a different library to research Ancient religious practices, but finds nothing relevant.

That evening, Marvello and Maximus return to the Royal Serpent. Crowfane recognises Marvello from the party and sits with him. Marvello introduces himself as “Malcom”, and explains that he’s travelling the world to study important magical documents in various libraries. Crowfane offers to buy him a drink, seemingly very interested in magical research.

Marvello bullshits about magic for a while, criticising modern magical research as too academic. Crowfane asks if Marvello knows anything about dreams, and Marvello plays along with his interest. He explains that his muse is an actual being who he believes speaks to him through dreams. He names the being as Polaris, and asks if Marvello has heard of them. Marvello recommends he keep a dream journal to record the messages he receives.

After this conversation wraps up, Maximus passes and pretends to trip, spilling his drink all over Crowfane. He apologises profusely, and buys him a drink. Maximus sits down and they discuss poetry, and songwriting. Maximus mentions that he writes and performs songs, and Crowfane says he’ll mention his name to the landlord of the pub.

After about half an hour Crowfane suddenly stands up, apparently remembering he has somewhere to be. He apologises for leaving in a hurry, and asks Maximus’s name; he gives the name “Bellin”. Crowfane promises to get him a slot to perform in the pub sometime within the week, then runs out of the door.

Maximus and Marvello return to the house and catch everyone else up. At the mention of Polaris, Mati’s face momentarily betrays intense dread. Before bed Mati casts animal messenger, enchanting a bat to deliver a message to Crowfane:

"To he who hears the stars — know that their words are like the creeping fig that chokes the tree. You will crumble to dust and the stars will remain in your shape. Beware their branches around your neck."

In the morning, Maximus tells the others he was invited to perform at the Royal Serpent, and has written a song that might draw out Mikhael. The party sits around the table and goes through the song, making various changes. Maximus explains that he’ll be performing under a fake name.

In the evening the party arrives at the pub, staggered to avoid attracting suspicion. Crowfane is sitting, writing, at a table in the corner. Marvello goes over to sit with him, and he tells Marvello about the bat that visited him the previous night. He says he thinks it’s an omen of death. Marvello tells him it must be dark magic, and that he should follow his heart to fight it. Crowfane is worried about the message’s relevance to the stars in his dreams; Polaris tells him to do things, but he feels she looks after him. Marvello tells him not to worry over the message.

Maximus arrives, and greets Crowfane and Marvello. Crowfane introduces him to the landlord, who thanks him for agreeing to perform and shows him to a small stage. Godric persuades Maximus to let him play percussion for the song. Maximus mounts the stage and introduces himself to the patrons, then plays his song:

We are a guild of adventuring
Seeking peace in this world of shadow
While they pay us for our quests
Our goal is not so shallow

Don't you see that war is coming
Fire and steel, and fear and sorrow
Casting death upon us all, and
Stealing dreams of our tomorrow

In the wake of that dark storm
We come to you with hope in hand
You can stop your father
Allowing troops to cross his land

Share the secrets in your mind
That Mercy holds over his head
Armed with equal knowledge we
Can make him stop the tides of dead

The son that's lost so long ago
Don't fear any harm to you
As we shall protect the world
Just ask and we'll protect you too

If your heart is moved at all
By our desperate heartfelt pleas
Talk to us in honest words
And be the saviour of our pe-e-eace

Mati drops down from the ceiling in spider form onto Crowfane’s head. He is staring intensely at Maximus. Their eyes meet, and he gives a little nod before walking upstairs. Maximus thanks the applauding patrons, and leaves to follow. Godric follows behind.

Crowfane enters his room with Maximus following, locks the door behind them, and draws the curtains. He dispels the illusion on his appearance and admits he is Mikhael Mantovani. Maximus asks if he can get his comrades from downstairs, and Mikhael assents but asks him to be discreet. Maximus brings Godric and Marvello into the room.

“Oh, it’s all of you. All the new interesting people — I knew there was something about you.”

— Mikhael Mantovani, on coincidence.

Godric tells Mikhael he looks better without his illusion, that he should appear as himself more often. Mikhael scoffs, telling Godric he doesn’t understand the pressures that lay on the son of a Tower Lord.

Maximus admits the party was sent by Hana Kohl to uncover Mercy Kamau’s blackmailing conspiracy. Mikhael seems surprised the party found him without knowing the full story, and explains: he was born human, but was ill and would have died. His mother made a dark deal to trade her life for his, but he was left changed. His father ordered him to stay hidden to keep anyone from finding out about his mother’s crime.

Maximus suggests that the easiest way to defuse the situation is to reveal the truth to the public, but he says he couldn’t do that to his mother’s reputation. Maximus follows up by suggesting he tell people he made the deal himself, or that some external power did it to him.

“You’re saying pride is worth more than the countless lives that will be taken in this war?” Maximus says.

“Not pride. Honour.”

“Honour is pride.”

Mikhael tells them that he was intending to challenge his father to a duel to take his place; that if he was rightfully Tower Lord he might be able to convince people his father made the deal, and that killing him in a duel would wipe away the perceived stain to their family’s honour. He says he thinks this is the path Polaris is telling him to follow, but that in his dreams it always ends in his death.

Marvello assures him that if he duels Rhoan, they’ll help him. Mikhael tells Marvello that the message from the bat must have been about this — that he’s fated to do this, and that their appearance to help him was fate too.

Maximus asks if he has a plan. He says he doesn’t, but he thinks good will come from the situation either way: if he dies, the evidence of his mother’s crime dies with him, and, if he survives, he can fix things himself.

4.3: “Thank the Steaming One”

The party leave Mikhael’s room in the Royal Serpent and reconvene with him at their rented house. Mati listens at the door from an adjoining room as they speak. Mikhael describes his dreams of death: he finds himself duelling his father, and being stabbed and killed. He says he doesn’t know if the outcome is good or not — he believes the dream is a prophecy but worries that his death might not be enough to change his father’s mind, or ultimately stop the war.

“I think it is a good plan. I think it is time that the sins of the father be washed clean by blood.”

— Mati, on honour.

The party discuss faking Mikhael’s death by various means, and Mati suggests repeatedly that they kill Rhoan Mantovani. Maximus suggests that the dream might be symbolic, that his “death” might just be the death of Inure Crowfane; it could be a message to reveal his identity publicly. Mikhael expressed interest in such a poetic interpretation. Maximus tells him that revealing Mercy Kamau’s actions would nullify his leverage against Rhoan. Mati has the group assure her that the backup plan if public opinion comes out in favour of Mercy Kamau would be to kill Rhoan and frame Mercy Kamau for it. Mikhael tells them that he’ll organise a public appearance in a few days as Inure Crowfane and reveal his identity. He leaves the house and Mati grumbles about her plan being ignored while they prepare dinner.

Marvello visits the post office and finds a letter left for a “Professor M. T. Mysterious”, postmarked three days prior. He presents his credentials — pointing to his wizard outfit and name badge — and takes the letter home to decipher. He shares it with the others:

He pens and enciphers a reply:

We have found him and struck up communications. We believe we have a way of resolving this, however exact details are confidential and the risk of them falling into the wrong hands is too great, regardless of any cipher.

Marvello T. Mysterious

Godric sits in his room and enters a trance, attempting to contact his otherworldly patron for more information. He feels himself being swallowed up by the earth, buried alive — but it doesn’t feel frightening at all. The dirt is soft and cool, and he might feel safer than he has in a while. Marvello goes out to visit shady bars, and finds someone he once knew. He stumbles back into the house at 2am, “stinking of sweat and rum and sorrow”. A bird arrives at Mati’s window in the night, and screeches in Kivuli’s voice: “You have to stop this! Putting yourself in Mantovani’s path does nothing for the rest of our family! If you do not stop I will tell your other children”.

Mati dreams.

You wake to distant birdsong, the room filled with suffocating light filtered through drawn curtains. You have dreamt of something — for the third time in as many nights.

Your body remembers what you do not; sticky sweat on your skin, and the deep ache in your bones testify to fitful sleep, but your mind is cloudy and uncertain. You know only feeling, untethered vestiges felt first by someone else but bequeathed to you. Was that someone your dream-self, now dead? Or someone else’s, rejected by your mind for its own protection? The harder you try to remember, the faster they slip away.

You sit up and, without realising, reach a hand up to touch the swollen bud of hard horn hidden under your hair. Your stomach drops, your heart pounds, your lips part with a harsh breath. In mortal terror, or anticipation? Revulsion overwhelms you — of the change, or of every part of your body besides it? You do not want to know.

You assume your animal-form and curl up on the cheap sheets. Familiarity. You breathe deeply, and find the rush of unbidden emotion gone, replaced with sickly comfort and a cold understanding. You know now who you dreamt of being — who you are. You are the Moth; you have flitted, unknowingly, too close to the candle-flame, and now you are becoming something more.

Early the next morning, Godric decides to take a walk in the garden. He finds himself walking past Mati’s open window and hears from within distressed animal noises. He climbs in through the window to comfort her, and she curls up and falls asleep in his arms. After an hour she transforms back into a goblin, still asleep. Godric notices, poking through her unkempt hair, two tiny horns. He wakes her up in fear but she tells him she is just getting old, and that he shouldn’t worry or tell anyone.

“Do not tell my daughter; she does not understand. Do not mention it to her. Do not mention it to anyone. It all is fine.”

— Mati, on fear.

The next morning, a letter arrives from Mikhael informing them that he’ll be assembling a crowd in a square in the city at 2pm in three days’ time.

In the meantime, the party do various things around the city. Marvello sets up a fake paper trail to frame his old friend from the city for a crime. He goes to the police with the papers and the man is arrested. As he is taken away, Marvello watches from nearby and waves. Marvello forges papers showing Godric as the rightful owner of the man’s house.

Godric takes to the streets, looking for people that he might be able to convince to form a cult. He takes up position in the reception area of a boarding house popular with down-on-their-luck young men and starts paying the fees of people coming in the door. He explains to anyone who asks that he’s trying to start an organisation dedicated to Thomas. A few people take him up on his offer of something to do, including The Fanatic — a man who has been dreaming of trains. They agree to meet him at the Royal Serpent the following day. He makes them all Thomas-face pin badges as proof of membership.

Maximus persuades Mati to come with him to cocktails with Jeremiah and Matthew. At the door, she recognises Jeremiah from the Star fiasco but still goes in for Maximus’s sake. They have a pleasant, if superficial, evening, and Mati concludes she could be friends with them given more time.

In the evening, a bird arrives at Godric’s window from Kivuli, Mati’s daughter:

"Godric. This is Kivuli Wa Fisi. I am as loathe to ask your help as I am sure you are to be asked of it. But this is for Nina. She may be my blood, but she has still taken you as hers and that makes you binamu. Please — as Binamu — I need you to protect Nina. She is sick — something is wrong. It is beyond any circle, beyond any natural order and I fear I am losing her to it. I can't lose her again. Please, Binamu — you can go where I cannot. Please keep her safe."

— Kivuli, on family.

Godric goes to his new house to redecorate. He meets his cult and explains to them that true believers can become like him — mechanical constructs that don’t need to eat or sleep, and never age. He shows them the radio technology blueprints he’s trying to decipher which the others accept as material proof of the existence of Thomas. He explains that the power that’s been shared with him could elevate any person without education or wealth to rival the power of magical institutions.

Mati goes down into the underground tunnels she used to live in. The city above has expanded and most of the entrances have been filled in. Her family has moved on, and most of the evidence of their presence is gone. In the evening, she receives another message from Kivuli pleading her to come home.

Maximus visits various old acquaintances he met through his father and drops hints that something interesting might be happening in a certain square the next day. He asks one of them where his family has gone, and the man explains that many rich families in the city have left temporarily, scared by the rumours of a hyena hunting wealthy people in the city. He tells Maximus that his family has gone to their second home in Westphal for about a month. When conversation turns to Crowfane’s public address, the man says he’s heard a rumour that the Tower Lord will be there.

4.3: “Unmasked”

The party assemble in the square on the day of Crowfane’s address. Maximus plays music to passersby, inviting them to stay and listen to the address. Mati hides in a stormdrain to watch. Aither takes a table by the window at a coffee shop in the square. A crowd of around 100 people assembles, and Rhoan Mantovani arrives to some murmur from the public. Marvello notices the Crowfane enthusiast he met at the party, Cat Masters, is near the front of the crowd with a notebook and pen.

Inure Crowfane arrives and walks through the crowd, launching straight into his speech without delay. He tells the crowd that the rumours they have heard about Mercy Kamau plotting to destabilise the city government are true. The crowd is skeptical that a poet would know anything about politics, and Rhoan Mantovani looks a little frightened. Cat seems unsurprised by his words.

Crowfane continues, saying that Mercy Kamau attempted to kill the son of the Tower Lord years ago, but he survived. He drops his disguise, revealing himself as that very son, Mikhael Mantovani. He is a tiefling, and tells the crowd that he was cursed by Mercy Kamau’s magic, and hid his appearance to protect his family from shame. The crowd is unsettled by his reveal, unsure of what to think. Aither follows the teachings of the Church, and thus thinks his infernal appearance betrays evil. Mikhael reaches a hand out towards his father and publicly petitons him to help him.

Rhoan stands up, suddenly intensely angry, and strides away through the crowd, trailed by his guards. Mati uses druidcraft and healing spirit to make Rhoan see and hear a hyena standing in an alley ahead of him. He tells his guards to wait, and heads towards the alley alone, face pale. Mati follows him but fails to hear what he says to the hyena.

Maximus appeals to the crowd to trust Mikhael, and Godric sends his minions out to make it seem like the crowd is supporting him. They begin to applaud, some shouting out messages of support for Mikhael. Aither, disgusted, leaves the square to find a pub. Mati wild-shapes into a stray dog and approaches Maximus. Godric takes up position in an road leading away from the square to try and recruit to his cult. Mikhael finishes speaking and leaves. A small group follows him, including Godric and Marvello. They go to a pub and chat to Mikhael. Godric introduces his cultists, and Mikhael tells the pair that he’s sure his father will come around given some time.

Leaving the pub, Godric visits his guild, the Guild of Artisans and Artificers, and asks around for potential patrons for his cult. After some searching, he finds an elderly woman, a retired industrialist and inventor — The Horologist — who fears death and seems open to occultism. He sways her to his cause with the promise of transformation into an immortal robotic being like himself.

The party stays in Aemilia for three more days. Marvello keeps an ear on the city to see if any trouble is brewing, and Mati scouts around in rat form. Marvello visits his parents in the city. Maximus visits Mikhael at the Royal Serpent, who thanks him for the help and offers his help in return if they ever need it. He gives Maximus a Sending Stone to contact him. A few days later, word arrives that Rhoan Mantovani has offered Mikhael a high-up position in the military. Maximus visits Matthew and Jeremiah to say goodbye, and gives them the address of the Rusty Duckling.

Halfway back to Maelor, the party meet Kivuli on the road, flying in bird form towards Aemilia. She lands, turns back into a goblin, and flies into a rage directed at Mati. They argue passionately for ten minutes, before Kivuli wild-shapes back into a bird and flies back towards Maelor.

“As long as the family is safe, it does not matter. You are Matriaki now. The family is more than just me.”

— Mati, on family.

Back in Maelor, the party head directly to the Tower. The guards tell them that they have been instructed by Hana to let the party through whenever they want, but that Shaun wanted to speak to them first. They give them directions to his office, and the party goes to see him.