A fascinating look at various theories on the soul. I'm guessing Arkhan's notes are the ones that hit closest to how things actually work, both because of Nagash's(?) response and my own suspicions on what the Princeps is after. Wonder what the missing ingredient is? Pure magic? It'd explain what the use of the warpstone in the sewers would be.
You realize, suddenly, that there's been not a hint of divine magic this whole ritual – not in the priest, not in the torch – but the Flame – you See, and you cannot say what it is, but know enough to be afraid.
Well, this means either there is no such thing as the God Tyleus or the ritual has been subverted at some point. The Flame is concerning. It's not divine as Xenophon would have not had that reaction.
burnt so much you can see her soul, a tiny, white, weak thing, a little minnow
Hmm... some sort of minor God, akin to a God of a specific river or some such? Possibly an elevated spirit.
Somewhere very far away, a spring dries up, and a people begins to die.
Shit. That's probably one of the missing ingredients, for the Princeps ascension to divinity. Consuming the energies of a God to provide a framework for the Princeps own ascension.
Side note, the mention of yet more horns on the Princeps statues is a further link to the Horned Rat in my mind.
"I AM THE GENERAL VOCULA – BEWARE THE F-A-L-S-E!".
General Vocula! You're a bold one.
Well, we've got another reason to try and investigate Vocula. F-A-L-S-E... Is that an anagram of something or was he just trying to say False?
You Look at them both. Angelus' subject's soul is visibly magically damaged – the edges of it visible, jagged and black and burnt. Sanguine – you realize with a start the thread of divinity within him that marked him as a chosen of Morr is gone. There is – just nothing, a void – as any person who had never touched magic or been touched by the Gods might appear; so healed, it looks like nothing had ever happened to him at all.
Perfectly ordinary. But why do you feel such dread?
Oh good, Floridus might be up to something bad. Good. Great. Like we didn't need yet another potential conspiracy to deal with. If anything pops up next turn to directly help Floridus I'm going to avoid taking it until we've confirmed Sanguine is healthy.
On Sanguine himself, I'm in two minds personally. I understand Xenophon's concern and why it is so horrible a thing to contemplate, but on the other hand Sanguine's state was so poor it is hard to say this isn't a miraculous improvement. So long as there aren't any unpleasant side effects.
Feel really sorry for Angelus' patient though. How the hell did he expect to win if his method was to literally cripple his patient in the process? I doubt Floridus needed our help for this, though it did get us some information on him.
He comes back the next day, sweaty and covered in dust, his face set in a (still inexplicably charming) pout. "They cleared out her office absolutely" he says, as he distractingly changes while giving you his report. A very fit boy. Anyways – "Don't know who, but there wasn't dust bunny or a scrap of paper till the time I got access. They don't let people into the actual Spring, where I'd presume the rest of her stuff is, or Temple proper, so that was a dead end."
BUGGER!
I'm thinking I need to give up on figuring out what precisely happened that night at the theatre. At the very least the quest itself seems determined to keep it hidden.
You didn't find anything on Marvos, but you can't help but be pleased. For the first time since arriving at the Cities, you're not just a pawn, but have a card to play. You can't wait to upset the board.
Not what I wanted, but it's at least something to feed the Princeps. If he needs the warpstone in the city for whatever reason someone smuggling it out is a problem. If he based his God ritual on Arkhan's work then the Princeps may also suspect Nagash to be capable of the same. It'd be a wedge between the two at least.
For the vote, I'm only going to go with Parzival95's suggestion. Mervin offsets the cost of buying two servants thanks to the honey and the auto success on nobility rolls is pretty strong, while Rosamunde's free explore a district is extremely valuable to me since it's been an action I've wanted to take but can't justify.
[X] Plan: Connections High and Low
-[X] Mervin, Gentleman Butler
-[X] Rosamunde, Wily Freedwoman
I'll also go with the manor for what to search. It's something unique we can help with and the smuggler will likely have kept information on their customers.
[X] the manor
