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Post by Admin on Jan 3, 2021 9:49:42 GMT
The women begin the hike through the city towards what appear to be government buildings. Before too long, they are met with a governing delegation heading in the opposite direction. There is some confusion when they see only two of the ship's complement on the way up. After a minute of fierce consultation among each other, the group splits, with most heading down to the port and the remaining few approach E&K.
They bow and say: "Greeting, honoured guests from the great city of Amber! I am Hakker, Minister of Administrative Affairs, and this is my assistant Sir Humphry. I trust the voyage here wasn't too arduous?"
The two men are also nervous and ashamed like the port guards.
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Post by Eivor on Jan 3, 2021 20:50:49 GMT
"We encountered some trouble with pirates, but nothing we couldn't handle," Eivor replies. "Are you aware of the purpose of our visit, Minister?"
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Post by Katerina on Jan 3, 2021 22:47:04 GMT
Kat keeps behind Eivor and lets her do all the talking. She carries Eivor's baggage to reinforce that she is her servant in the minds of the officials of this place here. From her position she watches the men carefully, trying to determine whether they are just in awe of the Goddess presence or whether they are looking at hiding something else.
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Post by Admin on Jan 8, 2021 8:43:45 GMT
The men are in awe and are telling the truth. They don't seem to be telling everything they know but it is still early in the conversation.
"Ah, I imagine so, Lady. The actions of our delegate Coy, I presume? Our other delegates returned a few days ago, running ahead of the wind in their haste to return to their homeland."
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Post by Eivor on Jan 8, 2021 9:29:14 GMT
"Understandable, I'm sure," Eivor replies evenly. "However, I have needs to question them further to get more of an idea of who we are dealing with. Who would be best to speak to in that regard, and where might I find them?"
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Post by Katerina on Jan 8, 2021 19:01:18 GMT
Kat wonders whether this Coy that was responsible was indeed the real Coy or whether it was actually a faceshifter who had replaced him. This man seemed to think that Coy had been sent as a formal part of the delegation, and obviously had known the real Coy for some time. It was perhaps worth asking the rest of the delegation if they had noticed anything strange about Coy on the trip.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2021 8:24:18 GMT
"I am the person to talk to, Lady. As Minister of Administrative Affairs, I am responsible for relations between the noble houses of Deiga. The Delambre family is an ancient and honourable house in Deiga and claims a distant relation to your family, Lady. Coy is one of the younger members of the house and -" Hakker stops speaking for a moment and holds his hand to his head in pain or dizziness then continues, "- and joined in the affairs of state recently. His help was of great use in the days after Prince Caine's death."
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Post by Katerina on Jan 11, 2021 7:30:38 GMT
Kat curtsies like a proper servant and says to Eivor. "Excuse me Princess there is something I must tell you."
She goes up and whispers in the Goddess' ear. "This man's mind has been affected by magic. Do you wish me to try and break him out of it and get him to force us to tell the truth?"
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Post by Eivor on Jan 11, 2021 9:36:35 GMT
Eivor exchanges a glance with Kat. "Perhaps there is somewhere we can talk with you quietly in more comfort," she suggests. "If you have no objection, I think we may have need to use meditation techniques to uncover memories of yours that may have been repressed. You see Lord Coy did not act alone; he could not have accomplished what he did without assistance. I'm sure you will want to assist us in our investigation and your co-operation will ensure relations between Amber and Deiga recover speedily from this unfortunate episode."
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Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2021 4:54:29 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/WPFL9Yq/images-q-tbn-ANd9-Gc-Qn-Hfqj-Ub9cc2n-JCNA-Br-IBd-ETgta-Db0d-Utw-usqp-CAU~jpg "Yes, perhaps we should," the minister says. "You must excuse Lord Hakker," his assistant Humphry says, "The stresses from recent events have left him slightly out-of-sorts. If you will follow me this way we can find a place of shade and rest to continue our discussions."He leads the group towards a large hotel and its shaded garden. `
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Post by Eivor on Jan 12, 2021 18:39:24 GMT
"Thank you," Eivor says, and lets Sir Humphrey lead them to a quiet spot.
"It seems likely some attempt has been made to erase or suppress your memories in order to frustrate our inquiries," she continues once they're settled. "This may include enchantments designed to do you harm if we probe too deeply. Therefore, with your permission, I would like my colleague here, Princess Katerina of Alswyck, to put you in a trance so we can try to remove any magic that Coy or his associates may have placed upon you. I'm confident you will feel more yourself once the process is complete."
Eivor turns to Kat expectantly.
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Post by Katerina on Jan 12, 2021 20:10:17 GMT
Katerina does a little curtsy to the Goddess. "Oh course Princess Eivor." She replies. "Now I am going to massage your temples to help you relax Lord Hakker. This show allow me to see the cause of the issue."
Kat does just that, a relaxing massage to the man's temples, which in turn allow her to form a psychic link to the man. She treads carefully to first of all examine the man's mind to see whether the compelling was a geas placed on him or an artifical personality. She suspects the former as the latter, but either would only have lasted long enough if it were a subtle tweak to the man's normal personality. She first looks for the markings of the other person's work on his mind before deciding what to do.
She has two potential choices then. Try to break the geas / replacement personality or add another one of her own on top that will get the man to want to tell them about what was done to him and by whom.
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Post by Admin on Jan 15, 2021 3:45:50 GMT
A person's mindscape is a vast place making it a difficult and long process to hunt down any artificial modifications. Luckily in this cast Kat needs only to search for memories of Coy Delambre to investigate. There are some changes made to memories of the Delambre family: the father, mother, son, and daughter are real but Coy has been inserted as the third child. An imperative has been inserted into his mind to rewrite the government family records to include make Coy's status official.
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Post by Katerina on Jan 15, 2021 7:45:26 GMT
Katerina tries to be very delicate and removes the new knowledge of the third child and the imperative to change the records from the man's mind but she leaves the knowledge that he has done so, all the while massaging his temples to keep him calm and relaxes while she does this.
She wonders briefly to herself how many others this has been done to so as to include the fiction of this third son.
If she is successful in this, she will announce to the Goddess Eivor, "I think I have found the source of the issue."
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Post by Admin on Jan 16, 2021 3:34:11 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/FbPCSJm/images-q-tbn-ANd9-Gc-TZwiz-WGC3i-I4-D-XPQ2-N6-J31-Zpq-I9-CMFRhn-Q-usqp-CAU~jpg Removing the compulsion will be a difficult process if Kat is hoping to leave Hakker's mind whole. Coy, or whoever first laid the effect on his mind, sunk tendrils of false memories and imperatives deep into the minister's mind. Even with all the time and luck in the world Kat would leave the man with gaps in his memories; at worst, his mind would be shattered.
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