01-20 to 1-21 963: The Beggar Prince Revealed!

Showtime!  Nicodiemas Elothar introduced his newest play, The First King of the Baran't before letting his troupe do what they do best. Only a few minutes into the First Act, Luci's perceptive ears picked up the barest whisper of a door opening then closing again, and someone settling onto a stool.  Then, as the herald is transformed by the trio of witches, a man who certainly wasn't in the room a few minutes before whispered to Sinata how much he disliked heralds being used to deliver exposition in plays.  The play progresses and during the first intermission everyone turns to see who was intruding on their private box. 

They were met with a bearded, robed figure who introduced himself as the Beggar Prince. After introductions were made, the Beggar Prince inquired about the party's investigations into the Bishop's death, and asked what their impressions of the new Bishop were. The Beggar Prince placed himself squarely against Bishop Torrannes on the matter of tearing down 'ostentatious' or 'decadent' art.  . By his reasoning, the money gained from stripped art will run out one day, and leave nothing but an empty, dead cathedral which would inspire no one to reach beyond themselves. Furthermore, he revealed that he had been working with the previous Bishop on establishing a number of pseudo-monastic farming communities in the Oakwood, where those who have lost everything could go to get back on their feet, learn a trade, and be a part of a community.  He also brought up rumors that the Bishop's bad mood was a result of continued bad dreams and night terrors he suffers as he sleeps in different places around Ritten each nightAs the intermission was ending, Sinata asked about proper theater-going etiquette. Meanwhile, a few of the party noticed the Beggar Prince wore a pair of fine leather shoes under the simple robe he wore.

The second act began, and soon several members of the party noticed the Beggar Prince kept making a strange hand gesture before each lighting change or sound effect.  In the next intermission, Sinata pointed out that it was rather rude of the Beggar Prince to keep distracting everyone by waving his hand around.  As other pieces of his charade began to unravel, the Beggar Prince revealed himself with a flourish to be Nicodiemas, the playwright. In a more frank manner, Nicodiemas explained that he was a kind of patron for the poor and dispossessed in the city and that he thought Bishop Torrannes's methods and rhetoric were toxic. He also explained more about his relationship with Bishop Maynard Tessel.  During some of their meetings, Maynard would look over the four pages that were found in the catacombs of the cathedral.  Apparently one passage of the second page resisted being looked at, Bishop Tessel remarked that it was difficult to make his eyes focus on it, and even when he could, they would frequently slide right over it without really seeing what was on the page. He confirmed that the documents were removed from the Bishop's residence shortly after his death.  

The third act told of Manfred's descent into grief and his ultimate failure.  Afterward, Nicodiemas gave the party a ticket to the box they were in, and requested they give it to someone who could help him continue the work he had begun with the late Bishop Tessel. He then bid the party farewell and left to give his patrons the attention they paid exorbitantly for. After making it to the end of a day that seemed to take months to pass, everyone got some much needed rest back at the dormitory of Avandra's clergy.  

The next morning, the party headed to Ritten and made their way to a dingy, lopsided bar with a sign proclaiming it The Quivering Sweeping Rivering Rumble. Inside, the very hungover bartender soon wished he was literally anywhere else, and directed the party upstairs to Nora's room.  Nora proved to be a younger dwarvish woman, and greeted them with considerable confusion before she joined everyone at a table downstairs. Dr. Venma exercised his bedside manner along with Dendra's natural gregariousness and the two pretended to be conducting a post-employment survey. Throughout this, Nora's confusion increased, but at the mention of the bundles of hair, she became defensive and claimed she knew nothing.  Luci picked up on this, but in three consecutive strokes of genius Nexus read her like an open book, convinced her to spill her secrets, and interpreted what she told as the work of a hag.

Nora, breaking down and terrified of retribution, explained that she had been angry and hurt and wanted to lash out against the clergy of Pelor for not doing enough against the Goblin Threat during the War. After going to the Temple in the city, she had fled the city, only to lose her way in the woods. There, a strange woman by the name of Granny Preant offered to help her get back at the clergy. In return all she asked was for help on a few simple tasks. Preant gave her three bundles of hair, one of which she planted under the Bishop's bed, thinking it would cause him trouble or make him ill. Once it was clear the Bishop was going to die, she realized what she had been a part of and went to Preant, asking to be done with the deal. Preant agreed, so long as Nora brought her a particular page the Bishop had found, and planted the hair on the next Bishop.  Nora explained that she had sewn it into the hem of Bishop Torrannes's robe, then got out of the house as soon as she could. Once Nexus reassured her that Preant had no power over her once the deal was done, Nora calmed down and the party left her.

Once Nora began explaining about the hag and mentioned the name 'Granny Preant' Dr. Venma got very quiet, although most of the party was focused on what Nora had to say. Leaving The Quivering Sweeping Rivering Rumble, the party decided to deal with the immediate threat to Bishop Torrannes's life, and get the hexed hair off him.  They returned to the Temple of Pelor, but found he was preaching in Ritten. Doubling back, they located the Bishop speaking in front of a decent sized crowd. Nexus cast Detect Magic to spot the hair, and as the rest of the group discussed how to get at the hem of a Bishop's robe, Dr. Venma approached a street urchin named Tef and gave him a silver to follow Luci over to the Bishop. Understandably concerned for his own safety given the situation, Tef was skiddish but followed eventually.  Luci was confused by the child, as he hadn't accounted for it in his own plans, so Sinata himself headed for the Bishop with Tef in tow as Nexus used the his arcane arts to improve Sinata's people skills. 

How will the generally cranky Bishop Hugh Torrannes react to a group he had met only once before trying to take part of his robe? What does Granny Preant want with an ancient account? What secrets lie beneath the Cathedral, untouched for millennia? It's up to this eclectic assortment of people to discover this and more as their story continues to unfold.