Khareo's Tale #3 - Speaking of the devil.

Act 2, Scene 1 - Something wicked written in the sky

Martha woke up late as usual: her night spent on the roof peering at stars and drawing on sky charts had this way of flipping her sleep cycle upside down. In the kitchen, she met with her mother and her neighbor, Silvardo Torrens, a prosperous fur trader. Silvardo seemed worried. He asked Martha for advice about helping a friend that he thought was in trouble. Martha asked him some details about his friend such as full name, birthplace and time of birth. Silvardo was worried about Lady Fremton. He was hoping that Martha could help.

Martha spent the following two nights gathering pertinent celestial information and performing various rituals. The first night, she figured out that something wicked was in the Lady's life, but couldn't expand. She quickly drafted a chart for Silvardo and found out that he was heartbroken. On the following night, she repeated the rituals and established that Lady Fremton was of noble birth. That her husband had died of a sudden and upsetting disease, and that she was the prisoner of a terrible curse. In fact, Martha had never see such wicked evil in anyone's chart before.

When Mr. Torrens came back on the following day, she explained to him that his friend was at the center of something very dark and wicked. Silvardo pleaded with Martha to ask her sister Mary to help. He promised a generous payment in return.

Mary and Martha conferred. They decided to investigate the curse and see what can be done.

Act 2, Scene 2 - Lady Fremton's dark secret

The sisters dropped by Lady Fremton's flat in the afternoon, but no one was home. They felt a stifling buzz inside their chest as they listened through the door. As if steam was building up in their lungs. Mary figured out that as Lady Fremton was part of the Queen's retinue, she would probably not be home until late in the evening. Mary had a hunch that one of her amulet may be something that the noblewoman would need. She spent the afternoon enchanting a seashell pendant with vitality.

They returned late into the night. Through the door, they could hear the shuffle of feet and tingling of a carafe.  Mary knocked at the door, and shortly a voice answered. The female on the other side was audibly worried to be disturbed late by strangers. Mary did her best to convince Lady Fremton to open the door, and told her that they had a mutual friend: Silvardo Torrens. Lady Fremton dismissed them. Martha took over, however, her argument came out all wrong [ Martha told her that she knew that she was in trouble, and needed to talk to her about her destiny or else she would die. This was perfectly in line with Martha's delusion about stars, and worked fantastically well with Martha's critical fail on her influence check. ] [+]. Lady Fremton got creeped out by this and demanded that they leave.

Before turning back, Mary hung the vitality amulet on the door knob. She told Lady Fremton that she was leaving a protective charm for her. Martha added that it was very important that they talk. As they were walking away, the door opened ajar. A hand reached for the amulet. Mary turned around and made eye contact with the woman. She seemed to be distressed. Mary asked again to talk to her, but she, peering nervously over her shoulder, turned down the offer. She added that she'd find them at their home on the following day.

A sudden burst blew into the sister's face and startled them. Mary recognized the telltale of black magic, raw energy rather than a spell, thrust against them. Mary felt some of the energy enter her body through her hands [ Failed fright check lead Mary to acquire a new quirk: must wear gloves. ] [+]. The sisters got a hunch that they may have encountered a devil. The road back through the street felt a little darker that night.