A look comes over the woman's face.

"I am Jaranth, your majesty."

But the look tells Jack: He was supposed to know her name already. OOPS.

But she gets the horses (all-black, all of them) going, and the carriage takes off... going, perhaps, a little faster than "stately parade" speed? Hm.




The clattering of the horses' hooves on the gold bricks and the carriage wheels is too loud for Jaranth to hear Jack's words, so she doesn't comment.

Jack is of course mindful of the fact that he shouldn't have let slip he doesn't know her name, but at the same time, if he's going to try to recruit people he can't just keep not using their names.

Once she rides away he turns to Janessa.

"Not anything to worry about, but on second thought we'll stick together, I had assumed our mortal shadows were totally absent--based on the whole 'they've returned' exclamations, but perhaps we should move quickly to get what we need, and worry about the recruiting later," he proposes.

Advancing into the castle, he nods to guards as he walks. Looking for some sort of servant of advanced age. Age at least might indicate seniority. He approaches, saying nothing.

The palace is forty stories high if you count the towers, all gold and silver (on the outside, anyway), and fantastic (if such a word even has much meaning anymore in such a setting).

Everyone bows, but a sharp-eyed little old woman in a black dress just does a small curtsy and looks at Jack with anticipation, like He will, of course, speak to me now.

Janessa takes all the sights in. She nods at Jack's suggestion of her looking at the treasury. Janessa smiles when he comments on her nature. ~He's starting to get me.~ She thinks. Janessa notes the look and a small pit forms in her stomach. "Agreed. Don't split the party, got it." She whispers. Janessa also nods to those gathered with a gentle smile. "I hope my shadow here is friendly."

"Oh, we don't want to meet them, we want to be gone by the time they're back from wherever it is that it made the locals surprised to see us," Jack explains quietly aside to Janessa as they walk. "But next time, make sure that there is a narrative that we disappeared and would reappear in times of need or something."

When they get to the person who seems to be looking at them so expectantly, he explains, "We have been arranging some trade in precious goods, where are we keeping that sort of thing nowadays?"

The old woman frowns. "The Treasure Room, your majesty. ...If your majesty means gold or gems-- Furs suiting your needs might more likely be found in the Wardrobe Annex, or in Storehouse number four... But... arranging with whom, your majesty? With the Thamites...? We have heard nothing from you, nor news of the war, for so long..."

"Lead us to the treasure room then, I feel like I'll get turned around," Jack instructs and having heard the tale of where his doppelganger is, he nods his head slightly. "No, with mercenaries from another land entirely, they were willing to join us, but we require a good sum, too much to send anyone back for."

As he gets the woman moving, he attempts to keep her from asking questions by asking her a never ending set of questions about current local affairs.

The old woman doesn't get any happier. This, too, is apparently somewhat suspicious to her.





THIS seems to appease her-- a little. At least she acts like she thinks it's a reasonable explanation.




As you walk (with a number of armed guards), she answers readily, and at length, on each issue... but she's still clearly bothered by suspicions...

(Roll Charming, Jack)

11:54, Today: Jack rolled 3 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 1,3.

( https://media1.giphy.com/media...cdCuFEPHxe/giphy.gif

Jack gets 1 new xp...

Post saying something to the old woman, Jack...)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:06, Sun 07 June 2020.

Jack, having picked up that the woman is feeling fishy about them, decides to throw a tactical gambit. Heading her off before she can start to say something, perhaps: "I've been on the road too long, my head hurts. Let us walk in silence for a time, and then we can arrange for a bath, and a proper escort back. But for now, silence."

Another frown, but a nod.

It's not long before Jack and Janessa and their entourage arrive at a very large and sturdy iron door, guarded by three large men and one dangerous-looking woman standing at attention.

The old woman bows. "Avert your eyes!" she orders all the guards, and they all look at the ceiling.

She leans in close to Jack. "And now, your majesty, by your own command-- the password."

What will Jack say/do?

"Are you confused, cannot you see my face? Hear my voice? Open the doors," Jack commands, looking displeased.

"...We will, of course, open the doors, your majesty. It's just that I feared that some Thamite sorcerer might have cast a spell on two thieves to trick us, to make them look like your majesties, so I thought I would make sure... What is my name, your majesty, and what did I say to you when we first met?" She's speaking a bit louder, now...

"Am I to answer to you now? I have been away a very long time in the defense of these lands, and now I am to play YOUR game?" Jack demands imperiously. "I'll have your obedience or I'll have heads. ENOUGH."

Turning in place, he points at the men near to the door.

"You and you. Open the doors."

To the guards who had escorted them.

"Take this old fool from my sight and confine her to her room until I have had a chance to settle down, or I'm going to do something I regret."

The guards don't move. "I think this man might be a Thamite, disguised with sorcery," says the old woman, who backs slowly away from Jack and Janessa. "Our lord has always greeted me by name after an absence. Worse, he hasn't used it once since he got here. I don't think he knows it. If I am wrong in this, I presume I shall die, if our lord wishes it. But I don't think this is our lord. Guards... escort him-- and her majesty-- each to their quarters..."

Suddenly, a blond man dressed in a white robe comes around the corner. "Your majesties!" he says loudly. "I was on the south wall when word reached me of your return!" He walks toward Jack and Janessa quickly. "About to enter the Treasure Room, are we? Excellent! Open the doors!"

The guards are torn. They obviously regard this new guy as a very big deal-- a deal more or less rivaling the old woman in black, apparently. "I suspect that these two are Thamite spies, disguised with sorcery--" she starts to say...

"--And so you are not opening the Treasure Room? This is madness, bordering on blasphemy! Open the door immediately!"

The old woman glares at the new guy. They obviously already didn't really like each other... Now, though, she super hates him. He's seriously on her list.

But then... she gets a cunning look. "Yes... I agree... open the door," she says.

The guards move to do so.

Obviously, she's decided to play his game. Either
--Fake Jack and Fake Janessa will give themselves away soon, she's decided, and she'll be proven right, or
--Fake Jack and Fake Janessa will steal stuff, and she'll be proven right and can blame White Robe Guy,
--Or else she's actually wrong, and this could be a face-saving way of not getting her head cut off, maybe.

The door opens (outward).

...Wow. That's a lot of gold (maybe half of it in coinage form, about half not) and silver (but lots of gold) and jewels and jewelry. It's at least 200 "all-you-could-carry"s... and you can each carry quite a lot...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:13, Sun 07 June 2020.

Jack nods at the man in approval.

Looking over the treasury, he gives it a long nod of the head. "Excellent. We will not require a great deal. No more than a single carriage can manage, and I'd like to review say ten or so of our most devoted, young and most importantly, unfortunately, single, soldiers or guards. We'll need an escort if we're to make it to our destination with such a fortune, and they'll be staying with us after that, and I'd prefer not to take anyone from their family," he decides.

This is spoken at large to everyone.

Including the guy in the white robes. "Three chests worth should be managable with a cart? Yes? That should suffice for our purposes."

"Certainly, your majesty," says the guy. "A selection of gold and jewels? Or simply gold coins? Or would you like to select the goods in question yourselves...?"

The old woman isn't sure what to make of this. Taking chests of treasure is just what she expected, but the idea that Jack wants to take guards, too, has surprised her a bit-- the idea that they should be unmarried throws her, a bit, too. "...Why don't I go and busy myself selecting the guards to accompany you, your majesties...?" she asks.

"Bulk gold, a few pouches of gems should suffice. No jewelry, I'm not going to debate the objective price of one crown over a necklace with a mercenary captain," he mentions blandly.

Jack makes a dismissive gesture, acting the part of a displeased royal. Clearly still unhappy with the way she'd acted. "See it done, and quickly- unattached volunteers, skilled, mixed skillsets, I don't want ten archers and no shields," he orders. His hands folding behind his back, he is still wondering whether he should chastise the guardsmen for failing to abide his orders. But perhaps being distracted by his task is the way to remain. No further boat rocking necessary.

He actually already suspects that she'll give them orders to watch to see if he's a thief under a sorcerer's spell, but he can get around that with enough time and someone charming like Janessa working their beliefs.

He mostly just wants the laborers who don't know Janessa's earth, but if they can be turned to serving him and Janessa as soldiers against the greymen, all the better.

Soon, three decent-sized wood-and-steel chests are filled with treasure, the majority of it gold coins.

The old woman has disappeared, for the moment, at least.

The big door to the Treasure Room is closed once more.

The guy in white signals that the chests be brought along, and he starts leading Jack and Janessa (and the guards bearing the chests)... elsewhere. To a door leading outside, where there'll be a carriage waiting, presumably?

"So," the guy says enthusiastically, walking alongside Jack and Janessa (but closer to Jack), "what of the war? We've heard nothing here...!" He is obviously eager for news...

"Well enough that I could get away, not so well that I will stay a moment longer than necessary. We must be away again st soon as we have the men arranged, and a horse and carriage pointed in the right direction," Jack replies and looks over toward Janessa, wondering if she'll interject at any point. She is the more social of the two of them, that is certain.

As he walks, he thinks about it and adds, "Can you send someone to arrange the horses and carriage for the chests? We should not tarry."

"Understood..." As they pass a guard, the man in white gestures him over, and sends him running off to arrange as Jack wishes.

"You won't have to wait long at all, your majesties." The man in white sighs. "There's so much I wish to know... How many Thamites dead so far? Many losses on our side? Which ship did you take to come back-- or did her majesty just use her magic to get you back here in a hurry? That's the rumor that's going around..."

"I'm thinking she wishes to remain mysterious, so I will simply say that means were arranged to bypass much of the journey. The numbers? I will arrange for something for you and others to understand our current predicament, once this business is concluded, suffice for now to know that I would not have come back if things were trending poorly," Jack explains patiently as they walk.

Happy to see that their travel arrangements are being put together, he nods slightly.

"Excellent, excellent!" enthuses the war-hawk. "That is highly sufficient for me for the moment, your majesty." Indeed, he's downright delighted. If he were a kid, he'd be skipping along right now.

Jack and Janessa and company emerge into a very large courtyard that they haven't been in previously, though it's clearly on the outer edge of the palace grounds. A very intense guard comes up and salutes and informs that the requested carriage will be arriving very soon. It sounds like it's going to be, seriously, less than five minutes. Must be just hitching up the horses now.

The old woman emerges from some other door, and with her are about forty guards.

They march up to Jack and Janessa. The old woman does her kinda-curtsy thing again... then gestures behind her.

Ten guards, well-armed, step forward.

One is Jaranth, the woman with the scar from earlier. Indeed, the guards assembled are pretty evenly split between male- and female-presenting. Good to know that Jack and Janessa's Shadow-doubles are equal-opportunity employers, whatever else their deal might or might not be.

Jaranth gives Jack a look. It's sort of a please remember me... look. Very intense.

"Your majesties," says the old woman, "these are the ten I have selected."

She gestures again. Ten more step forward. "These, on the other hand, have begged me to go, as well. I have not forgotten that you said ten, and I made that clear to them, but I promised them that they could be presented to you, and that their dedication and zeal be made known to you."

Then she shrugs. "The remaining twenty merely wanted the honor of looking upon your majesties again. I will say, though, that all of those presented here are unmarried, young, extremely capable, and will lay down their lives gladly for you and your cause-- although anyone wishing to take them up on such a thing will find their lives very hard-taken, I dare say."

There can be little doubt that the old woman will have the carriage, when it leaves, followed... But does that matter? The one thing that Jack and Janessa's Shadow-doubles will NOT be able to do will be to walk through Shadows... nor lead others through them... so... Seems good, for the moment...?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:49, Mon 08 June 2020.