Session thirty-four - In which Hasimir reunites with some old faces, Hemlock has his revenge and De Havilland has lunch.

We start the session with Chastity and Hemlock at breakfast.  Mal has yet to appear after returning late to the Inn.  He eventually emerges, takes food and returns to their room. Hemlock follows but Mal ignores him, entering a meditative trance.  Hemlock tries to intervene with no success and so returns to Chastity.  After Mal has come out of his trance he and Hemlock discuss plans and Mal tells him of the refuge he has found. Hemlock explains that he intends to kill Al-Salih Al Malik that night and to Hemlock's surprise both Mal and Chastity do not hesitate to offer their help.

Meanwhile Hasimir and Virssu have travelled on foot through the quiet and sleepy little barony of Abalone in arrive in The Midden Barony. They are met at the border by Hawkwood guards who have been instructed to escort them to the Baron (for Hasimir's protection as he is still a wanted man). They arrive safely and are taken to see Baron Christopher and the Marquis De Havilland.  The Baron seems glad to see Hasimir and explains how they may need to still prove his innocence.  Hasimir hands over to him the documents that Lawrence sent him and alludes to the possibility that this could be related to some Decados plot.  The Baron and De Havilland tie this in with the Marquis' investigations in Suryada but the suggestion is that Hasimir may need to do more to prove his innocence as Lawrence might have fabricated all this data on Hasimir's instruction. The Baron asks that Hasimir deal with the wedding correspondence that has arrived during his absence from the fief.  He also instructs him to liaise with his major domo, Ralph, so that if Hasimir leaves to prove his innocence or is arrested again, then things can proceed in his absence.

 

Above: Hasimir and Virssu are brought before the Baron.

De Havilland makes his excuses and heads back to Sector 42. He is greeted warmly as an honoured guest by Baron Tochiro, who apologises for his son's (Hemlock's) wayward conduct. He fears that while he had gone off the  rails before, the Marquis' steadying positive influence had been to no lasting avail and he was once more being led astray. There follows a rather awkward lunch where De Havilland picks up on how the Baron tolerates the ill treatment of his Al Malik guest and his servants. Hearing that the Marquis plans to leave the following day Sir Al-Salih suggests that they may leave together as his business here has been concluded.

Above: An awkward lunch

After spending most of the day working through things with Ralph, Hasimir heads to dinner to find that since he has been away another member has joined the household; Father Konrad, the Orthodox priest who investigated Hasimir in Suryada. He is now serving as Christopher's confessor and professes great interest in hearing what has happened to Hasimir since they last met.

Meanwhile Hemlock and company have spent the day in Mal's refuge planning their attack.  When the residents of the Sector 42 mansion house are having dinner, Hemlock and Chstity scale the walls and gain access to the Al Malik's bedroom via the window.  All whilst Mal watches from a vantage point using night vision goggles and co-ordinating their movements by squwarker. Things go well and Hemlock and Chastity take up position, hiding under the bed in the room.

 

\Above: Hasimir encounters a familiar face

During dinner at The Midden Barony Hasimir is formally introduced to Father Konrad by the Baron and is then entreated to regale them with the tales of his adventures in space.  This he does, in particular keeping Lady Stephanie completely enraptured by his (somewhat edited) tales of daring. The evening is disrupted by a sound in the hall and a footman comes to seek the Baron and Father Konrad.  Hasimir tries to overhear what is said but fails. The baron eventually returns without his confessor but in a state of some elation, calling for one of the finest wines from the cellar.  It appears that Father Helsing has been arrested by the Synecullum for treason and inciting rebellion (a fact that Hasimir confirms to himself by surreptitiously reading the Baron's mind) and this seems to in part because of "Hasimir's tireless work".  The Baron does ask why some of the correspondence that was intercepted was going to him rather than Sir Tarquin but Hasimir excels himself (as ever) with the explanation of how it was all part of the plan to implicate the possible revolutionaries. The Baron seems to accept this easily, possibly due to the wine and his current sense of victory.

Upon the Al Malik's return to his quarters Chastity and Hemlock remain hidden, waiting until the noble and his bodyguard fall asleep.  This they eventually do and then the prospective assailants manage to sneak stealthily from their hiding place. Chastity indicates that she will take care of the guard while Hemlock enacts his revenge. Using one of Keat's knives he quietly slits the knight's throat as he sleeps while Chastity darts to the guard, executing him with a single stroke of her cybernetic blade. They leave the way they came, assisted by Mal, and return to their refuge, job done.  Chastity is concerned for Hemlock but he speaks of how this is just the beginning and how he plans to tear down the entire organisation that this Al Malik represented.

 

Above: The assassins strike

The following day in The Midden Barony Hasimir and Christopher's breakfast repose (and hangovers) are interrupted by the arrival in the fief of a large state procession. Runners notify the Baron so he and Hasimir are waiting on the mansion steps and Baroness Abalone Justinian arrives with a full entourage of servants (but no significant arms or troops).  The Baron seems completely taken aback by this turn of events and asks the frail old noblewoman what he may do to assist her.  She summons a Reeve from her throng of hangers on who presents documents to Christopher , who in turn reads them and passes them to Hasimir for his review.  The lady states that she is handing over full entitlement to her lands to the Baron. She is seceding from her fief and wishes him to rule in her stead. Hasimir takes the opportunity to read her mind and it seems genuine; her only remaining heir is old and infirm where as this young Hawkwood has shown great qualities of leadership while only a regent in the Midden Barony.  This grant gives him lands of his own and her people get a noble ruler to oversee them justly.  The Baron seems genuinely shocked and invites her in...