Lorenzo gave the glowing glyph's a disdainful glare, and put his finger to his lips, motioning for them to "Shhhhh".
And in doing so, he spent another 1 Effort to extend his 'Veiled Step' Miracle to include magical senses as well as mundane ones.

Swiftly, either way, he darted across the hallway, and through that wall ... putting as much distance between himself and the activated alarm as possible.


As he moved, however, he was sensing for Domn Vargus:  where he was currently, and how he was reacting to the alarm.  And also Zoltan Benes:  whom Lorenzo was also attempting to eavesdrop on via the Gift 'Word on the Street'.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:14, Sun 13 June 2021.

Lorenzo surged with divine power that washed out of him in an invisible wave. As it touched the walls the glyphs once again faded, returning to their inert coloration. Turning to move through the house Lorenzo tried to ascertain where the Domn was. Passing through walls made the task fairly easy although he felt resistance as he did, likely some manner of low-magic intended to ward the place against intangible beings. Fortunately for himself, however, low-magic was no match against the powers of a godbound.

Still the labyrinthine layout of the manor's interior made travel inconvenient and frankly confusing. On more than one occasion he believed he had reached the master bedroom, marked by and ostentatious and ornate door, only to peer through the wall and find a solid wall or, more incriminating, automatons in wait. They were fashioned similarly to large dogs and covered in bronze and iron. Their activation seemed linked to the doors opening which, needless to say, was not how Lorenzo moved in this place.

Inevitably tho Lorenzo found the bedroom. It's door was at the end of a hallway and occluded by a display case which held some Nezdhovan contraption. Passing into the room he found that the entire place was surrounded by much more powerful, but equally as useless, wards and other spells which parted around him as he entered. The door which had seemed outwardly innocuous proved to be made of thick steel as if a vault door. Sleeping calmly before him was Domn Vargos. He was a well groomed man in his late fifties whose severe face seemed displeased even at rest. Beside him was a sword and a revolver, as if awaiting potential hazard.

Lorenzo looked upon the man.
           Was he alone in this chamber?
He watched him sleep for sometime.

Looking at the Domn sleep Lorenzo surveyed his surroundings. The Domn was alone and appeared to be unmarried as there were no obvious signs of any other regular companion in this place. There were no automatons or guards stationed within the room, likely expecting to be roused in the event such things were needed. For all intents and purposes the man was defenseless and unaware.

Using all of his mundane stealth skills, Lorenzo (still under the cover of his Deception Cloak) carefully went around searching the room for anything worthwhile that would give him any valuable insight into the Dom, and the way this city was run.
This might include correspondences, ledgers, items, etc.

By Chance he will stumble upon something incredibly incriminating that the Dom definitely wishes to keep hidden ... and believes is safe in his private chambers here.

Moving totally undetected within the Domn's room, Lorenzo quickly finds a small stack of papers placed neatly on the Domn's desk. Rifling through them he find a letter, stuck between two pages as if by accident. Its wax seal conveniently vacant. Retrieving the missive inside Lorenzo reads its contents and finds them damning. The letter is the Domn's intended response to a Nezdhovan Cossack known as Fedor. It seems that he was in the midst of requesting additional aid and informing the Nezdhovan's about the coming of a group of Godbound.

Lorenzo put the letter back, carefully.
It provided him with some useful information ... the name of the Nezdhovan Cossack that the Domn was working with.

As he continued to quietly, carefully check the room, the took note of the door from this room out into the hallway.
Did it seem obvious and simple enough to open from this side?


When he was done here, and with plenty of time to be gone before dawn, Lorenzo did a quick scout of this manor house ... and especially any dungeons or basements it held.  He was curious if there was any place down there that seemed unused and unattended.  Some place one might 'hole up' for a few days, without being discovered.

Continuing his examination of the room Lorenzo found that the door was fairly easy to open from the inside, if a tad bit involved given the pair of deadbolts that held the door's upper and lower half securely in place.

--

Moving through the rest of the manor he found an entrance into a basement level. Here there were several storerooms, each filled with enough resources to carry the Domn through years of isolation. One such storeroom, seemingly added almost as an afterthought, had a convenient place for a few people to hole up beyond casual observation.

Lorenzo spent another hour in that room.
He made sure to study the door mechanisms, to ensure he could open it the next night ... when he planned to return.

He also spent time studying the sleeping man; watching the Domn as he slumbered to become familiar with his face.

Then, Lorenzo left.  Using all the usual mundane stealth that he'd been utilising all night.
And he was back in his own rooms by dawn.

He would return to the Manor tonight again, tonight.


During that day, he got some good sleep: knowing that tonight, the would need to have his wits about him.
     Doing nothing of import during the day, and unless the GM has something he desires to happen, I am happy to skip to that night.

With a hiding spot picked out and the Domn's men no more aware he was free to move about through the compound and city without notice in the following day. He witnessed a rider leaving the compound sometime early in the morning, likely carrying the letter he had uncovered the night prior to its proper destination. Other than that, however, there was little in the way of activity.

Then night came and Lorenzo's own plans were once again in motion.

Again, Lorenzo approached the Manor House.   It was late: very late, quite possibly the early hours of the morning.
And again, he concealed himself with (the miracle: 'Veiled Step') the word of Stealth and Deception ... making sure that it covered him both from mundane senses, and those magical glyphs that he now knew the Manor House had.

Quietly, and with mundane stealth (because you can never be too sure), he made his way through the walls of the Manor House, and to Domn Vargos' room.


IF all was as he expected ... the Domn was locked safely into his room, alone and asleep ... Lorenzo stepped up close to the bed.
And drawing his own sword, he carefully positioned it above the man's heart ...

And thrust the man's death downward in a swift and decisive manner.




Due to the shelf life now on this game, I am escalating and expediting Lorenzo's plans.
Maybe I can achieve what he intends to achieve before the game ends.

Lorenzo's weapon passes into the man's chest easily. He stirs briefly, his eyes fluttering around to locate his attacker. He locks eyes with Lorenzo's shadowed form for an instance and attempts to speak but only a small current of blood issues forth. He quickly grows paler and his eyes begin to grow dim as the life drains away with his blood that now soaks the bed. Beyond the reach of his walls and guards and his automatons and his magic Domn Vargos dies to an assassins' blade.

Swiftly and without protest.

Lorenzo spent the next 10 minutes carefully changing into a fresh set of the Domn's bed clothing (assuming there is a drawer of them some place), and stripped the dead man of his clothing.

Then, dressed in the man's clothes, Lorenzo gashed his arm ... a superficial wound that would bleed some.
And he dressed the man in his own clothes.
He put his own sword lying on the ground nearby, and drew the Domn's own sword ... and carefully inserted it into the man's wound, to get blood on it.

Then, he covered the man with an illusion* (as he often did over himself) with the 'Mico Darsh' identity.
Standing in front of the mirror, he called upon his Powers of Deception to change his image own image*.

Suddenly, it was 'Domn Vargos' starring back at him from the mirror ... with the dead assassin lying at his feet.

The Assassin's blade, that had cut open the Domn's arm in the failed assassination lay nearby the dead body ... and Domn Vargos held his own blade, which he had managed to get to.

The blood on the sheets of the bed must obviously be from the arm wound the Domn had sustained.


Lorenzo looked about him ...



PERFECT MASQUERADE
Commit Effort. Instantly appear as any humanoid you have seen.Only worthy foes or those with significant personal knowledge of the individual have any chance to make a Spirit save against the deception unless you do something egregiously out of character. You instinctively mimic voice, clothing, mannerisms, and expected habits of behaviour.

Having recovered the Effort used for his own 'Mico Darsh' disguise, then spent it and another on this 'Shadow Play' and 'Perfect Masquerade' ... Lorenzo has spent a total of two Effort this night.
He'll be needing the next two to enforce his Con ... and his subsequent rulership of Bernath.

Striding over to the door, he quickly unlocked it.
Stepping out into the hallway, he shouted loudly for the guards.

And when they arrived, he pointed at the scene ... and the dead body.
"Don't touch it.   I want the incinerator fired up, now:  I will dispose of the body myself.
Go now, and do it quickly.   I don't want this to become public, so keep your mouth's shut:  only those on duty here tonight are to know what has happened".
This message was last edited by the player at 22:58, Thu 15 July 2021.

Lorenzo, under the guise of Domn Vargos, gave his orders and while the guards were confused they did not question him. Instead they simply nodded and moved to obey. Dragging the glamoured corpse through the halls was difficult but not impossible and when he reached the incinerator, in truth a large furnace for a boiler that supplied the manor with hot water, he tossed the body in and closed the gate. The guards watched him curiously for a while longer but dismissed themselves when the smell of burning flesh became overwhelming.

The fire would purge the body of any resemblance to the Domn and scorch the bones black. He'd need to break them to ash at some later date to remove the evidence entirely but gradually and with assurance he would get away with this murder. His only difficulty now was maintaining the fascade; at least for a long as he needed to be the Domn.

It was still before dawn, and Lorenzo needed to achieve one last part of the plan.

Gathering together all those who were on duty this night, he called upon the word of Deception* again, questioning those present and ensuring that they had spoken to none others about this.
         * Spend 3rd Effort, for the Miracle of 'Deceiver’s Unblinking Eye'.
Lorenzo wanted all those 'in the know' to be aware of his next commands,  "None of you are to speak of this to anyone.
Not until I discover who was behind this attempt on my life.  Only then will you be welcome to speak of these matters.
Till then, we keep this between us".

After swearing/ordering them to secrecy, he sent them off to finish their shift.
And went back to bed.

The next morning* he spent an hour, wandering the halls 'deep in thought' ... this allowed him time to get an understanding of the Manor House's layout.   If anyone tried to speak with him about anything that didn't seem important, he simply put a hand up to silence them, and kept walking.
When he found that place that looked 'official' (planning room, or throne, or whatever) he seated himself ... and sent word via the nearest guards to "send Zoltan Benes to me".
Then, seated, he remained deep in through until that man arrived.


* with Effort refreshed

Wandering the manor he learned how truly labyrinthine the layout of its interior was. When he was free to simply wander through walls and doors it was less a matter of consequence but now, as he masqueraded as the deceased Domn, he found locating his destination was quite the task. Still with an air of confidence about him and a useful trend of simply ignoring the Domn as he went about his business Lorenzo was finally able to find the planning room.

The room was not particularly sophisticated. Much like the other rooms the door was heavy, likely lined with metal and enchantments, with redundant deadbolts and piston locks. Inside he found a desk with a large functional chair and two lesser wooden chairs across from it. Beyond that there was nothing of particular note save an oddly ornate rug which gave the otherwise barren space some color and character.

Still taking a brief pause to issue a command to guard Zoltan was summoned to him. The second in command knocked on the door in a clear pattern before speaking a passphrase.

"The sun is high."

Domn Vargas simply opened the door, and ushered the man in.
"I cannot trust that any longer", he said, gesturing to Zoltan.
Once the door was shut, and locked (Lorenzo was allowing his actions to speak of deep paranoia), he turned back to Zoltan, "Early this morning an assassin came to my door.   He used the passphrase to lower my guard.
The guard shift know if this, and have aided me to dispose of his body.  But I have sworn them to secrecy, until I can find out who sent this threat into my home.
I am directing you also to keep your mouth shut, until that time".

He took a seat, looking flustered ... but knowing that the Word of Deception was having him do so in just the way Domn Vargos would.
"Lets start with Fedor," he said to his 'trusted right hand man', "could the assassin have been sent ...."

Zoltan was surprised when the Domn opened the door without giving the passcode but quickly gathered himself. He watched as the Domn moved to his seat and spoke about what became of the assassin. Zoltan frowned.

"I will ensure that no information about this escapes but how could they have penetrated our defenses and learned of the passcode? We have no reports of any of the guards spotting any movement and none of the automatons or wards were triggered."

Zoltan then paused to consider his lord's question.

"No it was unlikely to be Fedor. If I had to place a wager it would be on Mariangrad. They've likely taken offense of my departure and sent assassins to send us a message. They'll likely try to force us into a negotiating position so that they can expand and annex Bernath."

'Astute', thought Lorenzo, at Zoltan's conclusion there ... and true.

Domn Vargos sat quietly moment, then said, "Talk me again through your visit to that city.  What did you learn ... and walk me though your departure again, step by step, leaving nothing out.   I want to think about it all".

"Of course sir" Zoltan responded.

"After intercepting missives bound for Kovar concerning Vidas' plans to speak with the supposed divinities we arranged a delegation of our to coordinate with their arrival. Upon arrival at the site I was able to determine that the city of Mariangrad had not be constructed through mundane means. Beyond the fact that its foundations were within the center of a lake they were risen as a single piece. I have yet to rule out the possibility that they have practitioners capable of such magic as it was made clear to me that the city is home to some number of mutants and practitioners."

"After receiving boarding for the night we observed the other delegations closely but were unable to determine their motivations. In the morning the divinities called in the delegation leaders for Delor and then Kovar. While the delegation leader of Kovar was discussing matters with the Mariangrad leadership, Andras Vidas bragged to me about the business relationships they would be having with the group in the future and attested to their divinity."

"From this I inferred that Mariangrad was leveraging the local powers to gain legitimacy as a sovereign power. With Boyar Vidas being a neutral merchant lord and the growing militarization of Kovar I determined that meeting with the Mariangrad leadership would only reveal information and potentially mark us as an enemy before I could report back to you. Given that they've potentially sent assassins it my belief that they intend to ally with Kovar."

Domn Vargos nodded, deep in thought, as he listened to Zoltan.
'... mutants and practictitioners' Lorenzo thought to himself.

After a moment, he asked, "And walk me through how, and when, you left.   The witch there may have ascertained the details, so lets think this through".

Zoltan was about to respond when he suddenly stopped himself, his eyes peering around the area with suspicion.

"I do not believe that it wise my lord. Your defenses have already been penetrated without raising any alarm. I believe we should proceed with our backup plan and move you to a secure facility before we discuss matters further. If not we may inadvertently reveal details that could serve our enemy."