Ravenna collects the trophies and four journals from Earthmender Gorboto’s chamber- three of them are written in Duergar, but one of them is much older and written in a different hand. She also collects two sheafs of parchment bound in leather between slate plates.

The trio collect some valuables and, with Naisha the ex-prisoner in tow, leave the mines. They head back through the mining entrance complex on the surface and back to the Salt House to rest and regroup.

September 19, 7761

With the morning whistle, Mar’Khabazza and Ravenna head to the Duergar keep to collect payment for services rendered but the keep is silent and still. They decide to wait, camping out at the doorway all day to finally leave for home at nightfall.

September 20, 7761

Ravenna and Mar’Khabazza return to the keep to resume their vigil. Eventually the small stone door in the seamless wall opens and Earthcaller Franzahl steps forth.

“Is it that the deed is done?” he asks.

Ravenna provides him with the helmets of their fallen targets and the Duergar smiles. He gives ravenna with a small sack of duergar gold orbs and after some convincing, agrees to teach Ravenna how to speak and read Duergar.

September 21, 7761

Savenia Loresong appears at the Salt House door with a summons to the Blue House, the meeting place for the Sept of the Serpent. They arrive and are greeted by three of the seven members of the Sept: the handsome and intimidating Justiciar Muriel Trueheart, the hard and scruffy-looking Postmaster Malown, the dark-skinned and wrinkled, ever-smoking his black tobacco, Merajit the Alchemist.

Over the strong black tea in the manner of the Chakagari, they group shares new developments:

• according to Gorboto’s journals the creatures leaving the birdlike footprints are the Winter Elves who come from the blasted lands of Tothkubad
• Earthbinder Tavgren, Earthcaller Halmgar and Earthmender Gorboto were apparently working against the rest of the Duergar in their research into the Shapeless Ones and the kidnapping of freed Indentures
• Earthmender Gorboto is a desciple of Az the Unclean, whose symbol is the circle with the small star outside of the sphere at the 10 o’clock position
• the boulder of strange grey rock in the blight north of the river valley and the portal stone in the Chamber of Stars, are of a meterial called aluxium and act as some kind of portals that are connected via maze-like pathways through the Void
• there exists some kind of arrangement between some humans of Opal, the Duergar, and the Winter Elves. Ore and Shapeless Ones are being sent to the Winter Elves of Tothkubad and gems and precious metals are being returned
• there was a major Duergar city where the upheaval now exists
• the Opal Duergar came to the Upheaval looking for their ancestral home and descovered that the human mines had exposed ropes of laen. Unable to bypass or remove the unbreakable laen, the Duergar convinced the humans to abandon those mones and expand their mines in a different direction
• the Az faction of the Duergar are searching for cold ore, called kormorlian, for the Winter Elves

Muriel Trueheart gives a lengthy report on the state of the upper houses and then the meeting breaks up for the day.

September 22, 7761

Back at the Salt House, Magnus, Ravenna and Mar’Khabazza discuss Lady Catriona’s request to murder her husband.

Putting Lady Catriona in charge of House Indi would alter the power structure at the top of the heirarchy of houses: there is a shaky alliance among House Rinji, House Bates and House Indi who actively work to maintain the status quo of these three houses at the top of the pecking order. They work to keep it that way by Rinji owning five of the seven of the ruling council’s votes and House Indi and Bates paying tribute for access to those votes.

House Rinji controls the following votes of the ruling council:

• both senators
• the Overseer
• Speaker Margrom
• Inquisitor Caleras

With these five votes these three houses were able to pass the law making it illegal for House Thesper and House Terilaen to use the Merchant’s Guild, and it is assumed that this is how they will come after Mar’Khabazza. By prohibiting access to the Merchant’s Guild, the major houses prevent access to banking services, trading information and instructions from the Empire, available manpower, and security services. Without these services, a house would be forced to trade in less reputable markets without the cover and blessing of the Guild.

Now that Senator Redstone proclaims friendship with Mar’Khabazza, Rinji controls four of seven votes – still a majority but now exposed to a swing vote. The theory is that, by doing this favor for Catriona von Indi, she would take House Indi out of the trio’s arrangement and make moves of her own. This shift could expose a potential crack in the relationship between Rinji and Bates.

Trueheart’s report stated that Senator Redstone is willing to attach a rider onto any proposed law preventing Mar’Khabazza from accessing Merchant’s Guild’s services. This rider would introduce a loophole into their proposed action, effectively de-fanging it, but putting Redstone at risk for retalliation.

Asfter some discussion, Ravenna comes up with the plan to assassinate Balthus von Indi. It turns out to be elegant in its simplicity and they execute that plan right away:

Ravenna is a regular at the Menagerie these days, and she knows that Lord Balthus von Indi frequents that establishment regularly. In fact, Lord Balthus is there that very night.

Having previously used sorcery to memorize the visage and carriage of him during their encounter in Beryl some weeks ago, Mar’Khabazza uses different sorcery to shift into the form of Ogslight Bates. As Ogslight, he approaches Balthus outside the Menagerie with “an urgent message from his father”. Balthus summons his carriage and the two men enter it. As the carriage pulls away from the Menagerie, Mar’Khabazza stabs him multiple times, leaving him mortally wounded. He then flees the carriage and sprints into a nearby alleyway to hide, shapeshifting back into his actual form and walking away from the scene of the murder.

After a breief manhunt, the City Watch finds and arrests Ogslight and he is held for several days in the city jail but it can easily be proved that he was with friends and nowhere near the scene of the crime so he goes free. No one even remotely suspects Mar’Khabazza.

Publicly, Lady Catriona is devastated by the news of her husband’s murder and, surprising everyone, decides to become the Matron of House Indi instead of selling their interest to House Rinji, despite a very generous offer. In private she meets with Magnus and Mar’Khabazza and Ravenna. “I’m not sure how Ogslight was compelled to commit murder but I asked and you have delivered.”

Quickly, Mar’Khabazza proposes a marriage of convenience to Catriona to build an alliance. Catriona counters by offering the troupe positions within House Catriona as “troubleshooters”. At an impasse, they agree to be allies.