The Hollies

June 20th, Albanus 1.  Night.

While Leyna was talking to her father, the rest of the band attempted to speak to their uncle Larentius.  A message was sent to his room, purportedly from a merchant friend, saying that he'd heard of Larentius' loss and would like to share a couple bottles of fine Benobles wine to ease the pain.  Larentius never showed up at the meeting, however, and when the party checked his room again, the windows were shuttered.

About that time, Leyna left her father.  The band met at their rooms, where Leyna filled them in on what Martialis said.  In the midst of her explanation, there was a knock on the door.  Titus opened it... to reveal a buxsome serving wench who smiled prettily at him.  Cook wanted to know, did the honored sirs want any food or drink before the kitchen banked its fire?  No, Titus said.  The girl's smile grew sweeter.  Was there, um, anything else the honored sirs would like?  She'd be off work in a few minutes, and if they had any needs...

Titus grabbed her and yanked her into the room.

"Hey!" Cassius yelped.  "It's customary to pay women before you do that!"  As the girl twisted free of his grasp, Titus yelled that she was nefas and evil.  Gaius quickly stepped behind her and grabbed her again.  But her hand darted beneath her skirts and emerged a second later with a dagger, which she jabbed into Gaius' knee.  The blood suddenly drained from the ranger's face, and he wobbled.  Marius stepped forward then and fixed a disapproving scowl on the assassin-cum-harlot, and the woman froze under the stern eye of Legis' representative.  As Gaius slid to the ground, unconscious, Severus knocked the assassin out.  Marius, Corvina and Titus were able -- with a bit of experimentation -- to suck the poison out of Gaius' knee, and the ranger revived.  "Good thing she got you in the knee," Titus told his cousin.  "If she'd hit too much higher, we'd have had to let you die."

Sir Marcus, Leyna, Corvina, and Philipus lowered the trussed-up assassin into the alley, then bundled her off to their waiting barge while the rest of the band went to talk to uncle Larentius.

The window was still shuttered when they arrived, so Gaius scaled the vine-covered inn wall and peeped inside.  Larentius was sitting on his bed, chin on his knees, rocking backwards and forewards in shock.  Once they were sure that no ambush awaited within, Severus (disguised as a merchant) went inside and knocked on Larentius' door.  "Wh-h-ho's there?"  "Uncle, it's me," Severus replied.  Larentius gave a stranged sob and bolted for the window.  As his nephew unlocked the inn door, the counselor yanked the shutters open, took three deep breaths, and threw himself out.  Headfirst.

Luckily the rest of the band was lurking about directly beneath Larentius' room.  When their uncle came hurtling down, Titus and Gaius managed to break his fall.  Everyone was a bit battered and bruised, but the clumsy suicide attempt failed.  With that, they trundled the distraught man back to the barge for a private talk.

After much weeping, Larentius managed to stammer out a very different tale than the one Martialis told.  Count Arius had spoken to him about demonic cults, not an affair between Matina and King Albanus.  In fact, the count was very worried about his young wife.  When had she left Rostilla?  Was she safe in High Hold yet?  Larentius assured him that yes, she must have reached High Hold -- perhaps even Harrans itself.  Reassured that Matina was safe, Arius asked Larentius to arrange an audience with the king.  Which he did.

Arius went to that audience... and he never came back.  His shaken knights (who had not been allowed into the audience) returned that evening and reported that he had been slain for treachery.

Even later that evening, Surilla paid Larentius a call.  When the counselor denied that his brother had told him anything, Surilla laughed and said, "Larentius, you're a terrible liar.  Do you believe what our brother said?"  No, Larentius stammered, it was crazy.  Completely mad.  "What did I tell you about your skill at lying?" Surilla chided him.  Then she added, "Well, if you do believe any of it, I suggest you do the honorable thing and report it to the king."  A suggestion she seemed to find eminently amusing.

When Surilla stopped laughing, she told Larentius what was going to happen.  He was going to testify, before the king, the counselors, and Martialis, that Arius spoke to him about Matina's infidelity.  (Larentius couldn't meet Marius' eyes as he made this confession.)  Then the king was going to make him count and...  "I can't be count," Larentius interrupted.  "My brother has children."  "Not any more," Surilla said.  Anyways, the king was going to make him count, and after a suitable period, he was going to abdicate in favor of Martialis.  "Then I think you should take vows," Surilla said, giving Larentius an appraising stare.  "You've got potential."

Things happened pretty much as she said (with the exception that the Surrexus children didn't die, like they were supposed to).  Larentius lied to the counselors.  At that same meeting, King Albanus announced that Brennus Surrexus had been killed.  Worried about the loyalty of the counts' children, the king told his trusted counselor Magnus Tillaford to bring Brennus from Molossus to Rostilla.  Magnus sent Sir Pelius to summon the boy.  And according to Pelius, Brennus and a couple of his young Molossus cousins resisted, violently.  Brennus was killed, as were two of his cousins:  Vesanus and twelve year old Ranorus.  At that, Pelius reported, Sir Valens (Ranorus' father) went berserk and killed a number of the Tillaford men.  They were forced to retreat to Molossus.  King Albanus was most wroth at the abuse that his agents had suffered.

Privately, Larentius spoke to Counselor Parcens of Molossus.  Parcens told him that he'd received word that Brennus and the boys were ambushed while hunting, and murdered.  Count Satus refused to surrender Brennus' body;  he was going to ensure that his grandson received a proper burial.  Valens fled into the Dearthwood, fearing that he would draw the king's wrath down on Molossus if he stayed in the county.

After that, the king surrendered Arius' body to Martialis and Larentius to be cremated.  Though Larentius noticed that his brother's body bore no wounds, no signs of torture.  Matina's ashes were sent from High Hold, and the two brothers headed south to bury Arius and Matina.  Until they reached Birus, that is, and ran into the band.

With that, Larentius began apologizing, over and over, to Marius.  The young cleric asked him to write a confession and swear before the Gods that his testimony about his mother Matina was false.  Larentius agreed, though his hand shook so badly he could barely write.  Cassius managed to calm him with a soothing song, and Marius wrapped the confession up in a water-proof case he kept close to him.

As this was going on, Titus and Severus turned to the smoldering issue of who was going to be count.  Titus was reluctant to give up his vows for a title, yet he longed to build a chapter house, a place of learning where young squires could train and wounded knights find shelter.  With a county's resources, he could do wonders for the Order.  In the end, Severus agreed to endow such a place -- if Titus abdicated in his favor.  The house would be completely independent, under the rule of the Order alone.  Titus agreed, and yielded the county to Severus.  The new count took his father's ring from Larentius and put it on a chain about his neck.  Refusing to wear it until they were sure that his older brother Brennus was truly dead.

That left only Martialis to deal with.  Titus and Severus returned to the inn and marched up to their uncle's door.  There was a guard there, and he angrily told the two to take a hike.  The general was sleeping.  Titus pounded on the door anyways.  The commotion roused Martialis and, recognizing his nephews' voices, he came to the door and calmed the guard.

Titus and Severus wanted to speak to him privately but Martialis refused without an oath, from Titus, that he would not be harmed at this meeting.  The paladin refused;  he told his uncle he couldn't give his word because Martialis wasn't clean.  Heated words were exchanged.  Martialis accused the two of treason, while Severus snarled that Martialis was "spreading his bung cheeks" for the murderous king.  In the end, Martialis came alone -- but he donned his armor (magical plate that appeared on him with a single word) and took his sword.

At first it appeared that nothing they could say would sway him.  Martialis stuck to the story he'd told Leyna, and refused to believe the king had committed murder.  He also disparaged abbot Micarius.  Repeatedly, he said, "I know...  I have it on good authority... I have proof..." about these matters.  Finally Severus, exasperated, asked him how he knew anything about Micarius -- a man he'd never seen.  "The High Priest of Legis, Pontifex Phinias, Micarius' own superior, told me."  Phinias?  Severus frowned.  Why did Martialis know him?  He resided at the Temple of Legis in Rostilla, not with the troops at High Hold...

Martialis explained that he was very close to the Pontifex Supremus.  "He visits High Hold frequently... we've talked at length.  He's very interested in my spiritual training.  Why, he personally initiated me into the Mysteries of Legis."  Titus' and Severus' eyes widened as Martialis drew a holy symbol out from under his shirt, an up-raised hand with a pentagon in its palm.  "What do they teach you in these... Mysteries?" Titus asked.  Martialis refused to say.  He wasn't a priest, he claimed;  he wouldn't do the Mysteries justice if he tried to explain them.

Another quarrel broke out then, as Titus insisted that Martialis wasn't clean, and Martialis replied that it was the Order, not him, that was befouled.  Finally they agreed to summon Aldus, the priest accompanying Martialis.  When Aldus arrived, Titus confirmed that he was clean, then asked him to examine the general and say if he was nefas.  Aldus did... and immediately went pop-eyed and began gasping and sputtering.  (Which everyone interpreted as an enthusiastic, if incoherant, confirmation of the 'nefas' diagnosis.)

Shaken, Martialis began to talk about the Mysteries of Legis.  They taught that Legis rewarded the faithful with pleasant dreams, to give the faithful strength to carry on during the day.  The fas dead, the ancestors who resided in the Blessed Fields with Askelius, could visit you in your sleep and commune with you.  When he was initiated, Martialis drank a "sacred liquor" that Phinias brewed for him.  It gave him visions of Legis -- much like the paladins received, when they took their vows.  Titus bristled at that and said that it gave him visions of demons, not the Gods.  Necromancy was forbidden.  If it is evil to commune with the dead, Martialis shot back, why do the fas dead not object?  They're not the fas dead, said Titus;  they're demons.  The general angrily insisted he was wrong, until Titus finally snapped, "How do you know the spirit you spoke to was clean?"  "Because she was my wife, dammit!" his uncle yelled.  An uncomfortable silence fell on the room, as Titus and Severus realized that their uncle had been trying to reach his beloved wife who died so many years ago.

With continual prodding, they got Aldus to confirm that yes, generally, necromancy was nefas and generally y-y-yes Martialis was unclean.  "Yes generally?" Martialis snapped.  "What does that mean?"  "Well it m-m-means... yes.  Yes... pretty much.  I mean, yes.  Generally."

In the end, they were able to persuade him that the Mysteries of Legis were unclean, and Pontifex Phinias was leading him down the path of damnation.  Severus told him the Surrexi were leaving Rostilla for now, and offered to let him come.  Martialis refused.  He needed to stay in High Hold, where he and Aldus could work on ridding the troops of demonic influences.  (Martialis worried that the Mysteries of Bella were very popular amongst the soldiers.)  He asked, though, that the Surrexi take Leyna to safety.  Severus offered to disown him, so that he wouldn't be labelled a traitor when the House of Surrexus rebuked King Albanus.  Martialis agreed, on one condition:  if he died before this matter was settled, Severus would restore him, posthumously, to the family and bury him honorably with his ancestors in Surrexus.  Severus agreed, and the family parted.