Session Sixteen: The Man of Law's Tale

The Valley of Grandcamp-Maisy

Hospitality

The people of Paix are, however, not without courtesy, and they soon invite the company to rest and sup at the Truce Inn before continuing on their way. The company gratefully stables their beasts, enters the inn, and makes themselves comfortable. They note a fine, old table in one corner of the room that has been roped off with velvet cordons. They also note that the other patrons of the inn seem to be worried about the ill fortunes plaguing the valley.

The company gains the attention of the tavernkeeper, Guillaumette Poirer—to whom Renee and Sir Henri find themselves strongly drawn—and orders strong ale and lunches. As they begin to tuck into their meals, they pepper Guillaumette with questions. The tavernkeeper, being a naturally gregarious and friendly sort, is only too happy to answer them. They learn the following:

The Valley’s Troubles

The troubles in the valley center around a young woman from Paix named Constance du Lac. She was orphaned the previous winter when the bitter cold and a horrible affliction took her parents. Her fortunes seemed to rise, however, when she caught the eye of Baronet Arthur Coligny, of Grandcamp.

Their courtship was swift and, in but a month, the two were officially wed. The nuptials went off splendidly, but the next morning, Constance awoke in her wedding bed to find that Lord Arthur had savagely murdered. Baron Stephane, Arthur’s father, put the blame squarely on Constance, and would have had her executed had she not fled Grandcamp.

Constance went to Maisy and threw herself on the mercy of Baroness Louise. Since the baron and baroness have been long-time rivals, it pleased the baroness no end to take in someone who had brought such ruin to the baron’s family. All was well, until the baroness threw a welcoming feast for Constance, in which the baroness, ten of her knights, and her daughter Josephine were in attendance.

Minutes into the feast, the knights began screaming and clawing at their eyes and their throats before falling down dead. Baroness Louise and Lady Josephine were also stricken, but recovered after a bit of bed rest. Poison was suspected and, as Constance was unaffected, it was assumed that she was the poisoner. The baroness, suspecting that Constance was secretly in league with Baron Stephane, demanded her head, but Constance fled before the baroness’ orders could be carried out.

Guillaumette and the rest of the people in Paix fear that these actions will soon plunge the valley into war, and that no serf nor commoner will be safe then. She says that there was a war in the valley 100 years ago that fairly soaked the ground in blood until the Miracle of Saint Jaqueline put an abrupt end to the fighting. The cordoned off table in the Truce Inn is where the peace treaty that ended that war was signed. It is kept in a place of prominence to serve as a reminder of what is now at stake.

Guillaumette, Proprietor of the Truce Inn

The Pilgrims and the Monk

Guillaumette served the pilgrims before insisting that they hurry on their way. She informs the company that they are no more than a half day behind the pilgrims, who are now on their way to Castle Carcassonne.

Guillaumette also says that she spoke to the monk a few days before. She described him as sorrowful, but very humble and kind. On a hunch, Sabina asks if the monk offered to hear Guillaumette’s prayers. The tavernkeeper says that he did, and that he kindly offered to write it down in his book, since she herself cannot ready.

She then produces a slip of yellow paper from her apron and presents it to the company. Pierre and Frieda notice that the handwriting has become much more unsteady, and that several of the words are nearly lost beneath splotches of ink. It reads:

Merciful Lady, PLEASE, Guillaumette of Paix only desires PEACE in the valley.

The company has by now convinced the tavernkeeper that they are the monk’s good friends. Sabina uses this to her advantage, ands tell Guillaumette that the monk forgot to mention that the prayer must first be burned before it reaches the Lady. Guillaumette does so, and the company watches in apprehension as the slip of paper burns to ashes.

Sir Henri and Renee discover that they no longer feel the strange attraction to Guillaumette. Renee also notices that she has stopped absently scratching at her wounded arm.

Farewells and Greetings

Shortly thereafter, the company realizes that Sir Jean-Marc is not seated at table with them. This leads to a confused discussion and a brief search. Maurice steps outside and notices that Ambrose, the knight’s horse, has been taken from the stables.

The company is baffled by his disappearance, though they suspect that Sir Jean-Marc has gone to either find himself or to do something to “put things aright” after his startling admission to them on the bridge.

At roughly the same time, a former marine, Andre Morgan, awakens with throbbing head in his room upstairs. Fighting the effects of his hangover, he dresses himself and clumps downstairs, only to discover that it is the early afternoon and that his fellow pilgrims have already departed.

He is invited to join the company and soon learns that they are the erstwhile guards that Gascon Gascoigne, the pilgrimage leader, hired to keep them safe. He trades stories with them and learns of their frankly bizarre adventures. He, himself, has little to offer in return, though he does scoff in surprise when he learns that the company has not had to pay all the little fees to visit the various temples, shrines, and churches along their route. The company becomes convinced that Gascon is scamming his charges, possibly to raise the fees needed to pay their salaries.

Andre Morgan, Former Marine, Current Pilgrim

The Shrine of Saint Jacqueline

The company travels to the shrine in the center of the lake, where they learn the tale of Saint Jacqueline. In the last days of the war that had brought so much blood and death to the valley, a common woman named Jacqueline stood between the forces of Grandcamp and Maisy. She begged the nobles and their armies to leave off their bloodshed for the good of the people and the valley.

The nobles refused and spurred their armies forward. In the clash Jacqueline was trampled beneath their horses and slain.

But then, the earth tore itself asunder and a great lake appeared in the center of the valley, providing a barrier between both noble houses and driving off both armies. In the middle of the lake, where Jacqueline fell, rose an island.

The company learned all this and more as they visited with the priests of the island and purchased pilgrim badges (struck in the shape of an eye). While there, Garnier, Magnus, and Maurice also discovered that the shrine had a new anchorite shut up in an alcove, who turned out to be none other than Constance du Lac.

Speaking to Constance, the company learns a bit more about what has transpired in the valley, and of Constance’s part in it. To wit:

• Constance caught the eye of Lord Arthur of Grandcamp. She admits that he was quite smitten with her, but that she did not really love him. However, he was offering her a life free from hardship, and he seemed a decent enough sort, so she thought that she could grow to love him, eventually.
• Arthur’s father, Baron Stephane of Grandcamp, did not approve of the union. The two eloped and were married at the shrine with only a few priests for witnesses.
• All was well on their wedding night, and both of them shared a bed in Arthur’s room (on the third floor of the castle tower). However, when Constance awoke in the morning, she was covered in blood and saw that Arthur had been savagely murdered in the night.
• The murder weapon was a hunting knife that had once belonged to Arthur’s mother, which had been given to Constance as one of her marriage gifts. Arthur had been stabbed several times with it—the last time through his breastbone.
• Baron Stephane, of course, wanted her executed immediately, but she was able to escape Grandcamp and flee south to Maisy.

The company then interrupts to ask why, if Maisy had given her sanctuary, that Constance was now an anchorite on the island. Constance patiently sighs and continues.

• Baroness Louise and her daughter (both of Maisy) were very kind to her, but also seemed amused that they were harboring a fugitive who had caused so much trouble.
• Baroness Louise, who appears to be something of a gourmand, threw a lavish feast for Constance. She also invited her daughter, Josephine, and half of her household knights.
• During the feast, the knights died horrifically from some sort of poison, clawing at their throats and eyes as they fell. The baroness and her daughter were afflicted, but not as badly, and quickly recovered.
• Constance was the only one at the feast who did not suffer the poison’s effects.
• The baroness, suspecting that  Constance had poisoned her household as part of a long and convoluted game by the people of Grandcamp, called for her head. However, Constance was able to escape to the shrine, where she begged the priests to save her.

The company does not have long to ruminate on these new facts before they hear several riders galloping toward the shrine.

Constance du Lac

The Company is Impressed

The company steps outside and is quickly introduced to Lord Alexandre—son of Baron Stephane and younger brother of Lord Arthur—along with two of his household knights. Alexandre’s condescension and lordly airs puts the company off of him immediately. He tells the company that his father fears attack by the traitorous scum of Maisy, and says that he will hire them as mercenaries for five crown a head.

At about this time, Lady Josephine arrives at the shrine with two of her household knights, and she and Alexandre begin to hurl insults at one another. Once she hears what Alexandre is offering the company, she counters that she will give them 10 crown a head to protect Maisy from Grandcamp.

It is here that Pierre appeals to reason. He says that, from what the company has heard, there are many unanswered questions surrounding the misfortunes of both noble households. He says that he would prefer it if the nobles would hire the company to be investigators, not sellswords, and that they promise to get to the truth of the matter.

Pierre is able to persuade Josephine and Alexandre of the company’s good intentions. Both agree to pay the company their fees for “investigative work,” before leaving the shrine to return to their own lands. Sir Henri, Pierre, Jules, and Jim travel north to Grandcamp with Alexandre, while Frieda, Sabina, Andre, Garnier, and Magnus travel south to Maisy. Maurice and Renee travel back to Paix with a very worried Henri the innkeeper, and also to conduct their own investigations.

Grandcamp

Alexandre abandons Sir Henri, Pierre, Jules, and Jim in the courtyard at Grandcamp. A young lady of perhaps thirteen, who is reading in the courtyard, watches the new arrivals over the top of her very weighty book, but neither approaches them nor says anything.

Sir Henri soon locates the stables, where he sees to his horse and befriends a stableboy.  Though the stableboy is quite friendly, he is unable to tell Sir Henri much of anything he doesn’t already know. He does indicate that the young lady in the courtyard is Lady Valerie Coligny, the youngest child of Baron Stephane.

Lord Alexandre (Don't Sue Me, Matt Mercer)

Maisy

Frieda, Sabina, Andre, Garnier, and Magnus accompany Lady Josephine to Maisy, though she says that she must leave them at the gate in order to announce their presence to her lady mother. The group wanders the courtyard, where they soon find an impromptu memorial that has been set up for the dead knights. While there, Sabina befriends a servant girl of the household, who tells them that Baroness Louise has asked that the memorial be cleared away. The girl confesses that, despite these orders, she cannot bring herself to do it.

The group, suspecting that the knights were poisoned by something at the feast, ask the serving girl if she can bring them down to the castle kitchen. The girl obliges.

Paix

Henry the innkeeper parts ways with Maurice and Renee to arrange for rooms at the Truce Inn. Once this is done, the two wander Paix looking for merchants of various types.

They first visit a taciturn blacksmith and ask him if he makes rings. Renee is briefly discomfited when the smith assumes that she and Maurice are a couple. Renee clarifies that they want to know if he made a wedding ring for Constance, but the smith says that he did not. He suspects that Lord Arthur gifted her the wedding ring that was once worn by his late mother.

Maurice then asks where he might buy herbs in Paix. The blacksmith directs him to an elderly woman who lives on the outskirts of the town. The woman welcomes Renee and Maurice into her home and Maurice attempts to see if he can buy poison from her—in a circumspect way.

Renee is briefly discomfited when the old woman assumes that Maurice wants to buy Renee herbs because she is in the “family way,” but manages to keep quiet for Maurice’s sake. Maurice procures a paralytic herbal concoction, but learns that the old woman has nothing of the potency or awfulness of the poison that laid low the Maisy knights.

Lady Josephine