[WHF] The Broken Mirror - A Divided Loyalties Peggy Sue

You escort Maltor a short distance through the woods - in case reinforcements come to dispose of him - and then begin the process of interrogation beneath a hangman's tree while Wolf circles and keeps guard, prepared to alert you at any approach.

Maltor cowers before you, and you can see that his mind is filled with Shyish and only the faintest hint of Aqshy. He's certain of his death, and somewhat resigned, and he's angry about it.

"If your expectation of death comes from the spell bound within you - that's taken care of." You say, gently. "The vampire who was renewing your bound spell had to remove the old one first, and I interrupted him at the moment between removing one and adding the replacement."

"Could... could you free other people - copy the removal?" His tone seems hopeful. "I know of a couple of others ensnared by those vampires. At least, I did, I can't say if they still live."

You think it could be done without triggering the effect, but there'd be a high chance of significant dhar-poisoning on top of any already suffered unless the removal is performed by someone willing to control dhar directly - meaning one of the vampires.

"I can't do it the same way he did - but I can do it. The dangers would be severe, half of those I did it for might suffer mutations from the spell within them - but they'd live."


"I know of two others ensnared as I was - Cassandra Pale in Kaneston and Elias Kohler in Ugolcen." He's lying, but you're not sure exactly what the lie is. "I don't know how long they'll have before the spell unravels - but it can't be more than a few days, now that you've slain Lord Pepescu."

"Hmmm - you're right, I'll need to fetch them within the day if I am to save them." Maltor's sly smile confirms your suspicions - he's hoping you'll leave him behind, giving him a chance to escape. "But first I need to know everything you can tell me about how you were recruited."

Maltor spins a beautiful tale about how he was a good and honest lawman who was ensorcelled in his bed by a vile vampire and forced to serve them or die - how they demanded he abduct innocent townsfolk but he bravely refused, until they revealed that in addition to his death, failure meant he would be turned into a Spectre terrorising the town, at which point he made a deal that he would provide them with convicts in exchange for the safety of his home town.

You glare at him. "That is a wondrous piece of fiction, but I can see lies. I know you were willing to give over innocents - if they had been desired. Lying to me will only force me to enact the death I have saved you from."

"Fine then - I met his Lordship through my dear departed dad. We've been the law around here for generations, and apparently the vampires have a taste for criminals. That spell thing he had on me was new though, only the past few years since you and the Van Hal showed up. Before then we offered our services as judges and executioners and folks were happy to have murderers and thieves taken off their hands." He shrugs. "Always told myself we were doing the world a favour by keeping the vampires from getting hungry, you know?"

"And the others you spoke of?"

"Cassandra was a thief I handed over to Pepescu - apparently he found her useful. Elias... well, I wanted you to rush off to save someone and Kaneston's too close for you to hurry enough with your magic horse and such." He shrugs again. "I'd rather not live the rest of my days in a cell - especially as I'm sure Lord Pepescu's friends are going to come looking for me. Wouldn't want your effort saving me to go to waste now would we?"

You don't get even the slightest sense of remorse from him. But still, you keep up the questioning a little longer, ferreting out a few minor details of how he met up with the vampires, until you realise that one of those details is definitely a rehearsed lie.

He's clearly more afraid of the vampires than of you, and with his life to protect he's willing to gamble on them deciding he's still of use rather than a liability. Done with this part of the questioning, you turn to magic: Mindhole.

----

Maltor's earliest memory of you is also a memory of a vampire - but not Lord Pepescu, the beautiful Lady Lavyets. She snuck into his bedchambers one night and informed him of the arrival of a Grey Mage and a Witch Hunter into Wurtbad castle, and that it was imperative he draw no attention to his activities.

Other memories in which you're mentioned are scattered, and largely without any relevant context, with one exception: His memory of your questioning includes points at which he remembers coming up with lies to fool you, and using a half-truth with Cassandra to send you away from him.

The memories of lying aren't particularly useful in this case, as you were able to see through his deceptions anyway, but they're something important to remember for future - it won't be absolutely reliable against those with mental discipline, especially if they find out about your Mindgulp mastery, but it could still be a potent tool in your arsenal going forwards.

----

Questioning Maltor while he believes he's dying is far more informative. He doesn't know who you are of course, but when you inform him that you're a vampire hunter he is happy to tell you everything he knows - he's soon to die at their hands and spite motivates him far more strongly than gratitude did, along with a desire to ensure they cannot have his soul.

With nothing to lose he is honest aside from the lies he tells himself to justify his misdeeds. He has interacted with two vampires of which he is aware, and gives a detailed description of each: Lady Lorena Lavyets, a beautiful and charming young lady with black hair who appears to be in her late teens and who will walk on air rather than touch muddy ground, and Lord Pepescu, a late-40s nobleman with a very cold and haughty attitude combined with a short temper, who unlike Lorena has never entered the town.

He doesn't know why, but it is vital to them that all those he gives them be guilty of harming another person; the more directly and heinously the better - your first thought is the fact that some vampires are weak to the tears (and blood) of innocent people, but given the Banshee it's possible that they've also been engaging in experiments with spirit creation for some time now.

Finally he tells you of a sneak-thief, Cassandra Lupe, who he handed over to Lord Pepescu three years ago only to find out a few months ago that she'd re-emerged in Kaneston using the surname Pale - and of his belief that she's a recently turned vampire.

A vampire turned in the last few years might actually be within your current skills to take in alive - it's also possible that Maltor is wrong and Cassandra is actually a victim bound by the Dhar Matrix.

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Voting Options:

You're pretty sure you've got all you're going to out of Maltor for now. There's a chance he could spill more information later, if you ask the right questions, but you're doubtful. So what do you do with him?

[ ] [Maltor] Kill him
[ ] [Maltor] Imprison him without telling him the Matrix has been removed
[ ] [Maltor] Imprison him and tell him the Matrix has been removed

And what of the lead with Cassandra? Kaneston is close enough for a very hurried follow up.

[ ] [Cassandra] Spy on her, but take no action.
-[ ] [Human] If she's human, leave her be.
-[ ] [Human] If she's human, capture her.
-[ ] [Human] If she's human, kill her
-[ ] [Vamp] If she's a vampire, retreat.
-[ ] [Vamp] If she's a vampire, capture her.
-[ ] [Vamp] If she's a vampire, kill her.
[ ] [Cassandra] Leave it for later investigation.

No Moratorium. Write-ins are welcome as usual. The structuring on the Cassandra vote is because I've stretched things out enough already, and not having a prepared idea of how to respond could mean another vote.