The Heir Becomes Even Less Apparent

GM: Erik Hanson

Players this session:

Beth Bartley: Liliana Scarpelli: 15 year old Genoese noble seeking to marry into the Sforza family of Florence.

Joshua Kronengold: Ipolitto Sforza, a 12 year old noble

Lisa Padol: Roggerio, a musician and ex-diabolist with an unwanted, but not entirely undeserved, reputation for intrigue, in Ipolitto's service

Matt Stevens: Rafael Marancini, Jewish Cabalist and advisor to Ipolitto.

Absent players: Lee Painton, playing Vincent di Giovanni, Venitian nobleman; David Siegel, playing Jebril, displaced Moorish architect; and Rachael Tang, playing Bella Ziani, midwife

Prominent NPCs:

Sebastiano Sforza: Ipolitto's uncle, head of the family, Duke of Florence. Previously, his heir was the oldest of his 3 nephews, Ipolitto's brother Horatio.

Lorenzo: Sebastiano's son. His existance was concealed even from his own family by the Church.

Nonna: Lorenzo's nurse

Our Heroes had journeyed from Florence to Spain, or whatever it would have been called in 1491 -- we guessed Aragon. They were searching for griffin feathers, which were an ingredient in a recipe to counteract an addictive wine, brewed by the Dorvinian family. The wine kills if the victim does not have a sip at least every few days.

In addition, the Church had revealed that Sebastiano's true heir was his son, whom he had believed stillborn, but who had been raised in various Church-controlled locations and who was in a monastery in a part of Spain / Aragon near where griffins tended to frequent. The boy, named Lorenzo, was Ipolitto's age, born on the same day, I believe, and had as his companion old Nonna, who had helped Bella's mother deliver him and subsequently been moved by the Church from Sebastiano's discerning eye. She was now a nun.

Our Heroes arrived in state at the monastery and were introduced to Lorenzo. He was charming and talented. He was also the spitting image of Ipolitto. And he had perfect pitch, just like Ipolitto. His voice was slightly different, but, as they spoke, Lorenzo attempted to pick up the correct Florentine accent, while Ipolitto practiced his Spanish, and the distinction between the cousins blurred. As they prepared for dinner, each expressed interest in the other's native fashion, and various articles of clothing were exchanged.

Roggerio wrote a hasty missive to Sebastiano which spoke of the remarkable similarity between Ipolitto and Lorenzo. As this similarity was obvious, he felt safe in saying as much, even should the letter fall into other hands. Beyond that, he wrote only that he was sure Sebastiano could guess the thoughts whirling through his mind. These unwritten thoughts included speculation about whether the cousins were switched at birth or were, in fact, brothers.

Roggerio hoped Lorenzo's nurse could clarify matters. He visited her after leaving a servant with his letter and a donation for the monastery to ensure a rapid delivery, possibly even more rapid than the delivery of the letter appearing last issue.

Lorenzo's nurse was a sweet, nearly blind, quite old woman. She tracked Roggerio's position semi-accurately by his voice. She tended to nod off at odd intervals, dozing for a moment or 3. When she woke, she lifted her head from her chest and looked in a random direction. Sometimes this was where she had last been facing. Sometimes it was not. Roggerio, trying to scoot over to the correct location, soon realized that there was no pattern to which way she would look upon awakening.

The nurse explained that she had held both Ipolitto and Lorenzo shortly after they had been born, astonished at the similarity between the two. Then, as instructed, she gave Lorenzo to the Church's representative.

She was quite clear that Ipolitto and Lorenzo were cousins, not brothers, and had not come out of the same woman's womb. But, as Roggerio thought about the situation, with only minor prompting from the GM, his horror grew. Even twelve years ago, the nurse was old, her sight starting to fail. Even then, she might well have fallen asleep while holding one child in each arm. If so, Roggerio realized, there was no way of knowing which child the disoriented nurse would have given to the Church, Sebastiano's son or his youngest nephew.

Deeply perturbed, Roggerio sought council of Rafael, who was seeking repose.

Rafael: Is the world about to end?

Roggerio: I don't think so. (leaves Rafael to his rest)

GM: Rafael, you have a nightmare about the world ending. It seems to start in Florence.

Rafael didn't bother mentioning this to anyone. Roggerio was able to speak to him after he had rested.

Roggerio: This is bad.

Rafael: Well, one of them is bad. Two are, naturally, worse.

Roggerio explained about the nurse. He felt Sebastiano needed to know the full situation before anyone else did. Rafael didn't feel anyone needed to know, including himself, and he knew nothing, and had every intention of ignoring Roggerio's news.

Meanwhile, Ipolitto and Lorenzo agreed to go out hunting the next day. Lorenzo gallantly asked Liliana to judge who brought in the most impressive catch and award a scarf she'd been embroidering as a prize. She agreed.

Rafael and Roggerio excused themselves from the hunting party, planning their own hunt for signs of griffins. They had been told that the safest way to harvest griffin feathers was to wait for a pair of griffins to rest after mating. They did not find such a pair, but they did spot a solitary griffin flying overhead. Before passing from sight, it gave a single, piercing cry, the very cry they had been told the male of the species gives when it finds a suitable spot for mating. This signals the female to visit the same spot at the same time on the following day.

Ipolitto prided himself, justifiably, on his hunting skills. Lorenzo, however, proved quite formidable. He hunted with a falcon that brought down a larger falcon as live prey. Ipolitto tried to duplicate this with blunt crossbow bolts. He got a respectable, but dead, bird. Liliana pronounced Lorenzo the winner. Ipolitto then proceeded to hunt something larger that could be eaten for dinner. Players and PCs speculated that Lorenzo had inherited the Sforza family magic and could use it best to gain an amazing rapport with animals.

During the hunt, Lorenzo expressed mock surprise that Ipolitto wasn't hunting greater game, like, say, a griffin. That evening, Roggerio and Rafael had not intended to mention griffins in front of Lorenzo. However, I decided, and Erik approved, that when Roggerio was commanded to play, that he had griffins on his mind and instinctively improvised on that theme, his tune ending with the mating cry he had heard, insofar as his lute could imitate it. Ipolitto noted that Roggerio and Rafael had enjoyed good luck on their hunt.

It was clear that Lorenzo knew the group wished to hunt griffins, and that he knew that they didn't wish to kill them, but to pluck a few feathers. He wanted to help. He had no intention of prying into why the Italians wanted griffin feathers, nor did they tell him explicitly. However, they deemed it prudent to warn him about Dorvinian wine.

Lorenzo, duly warned, claimed he'd be the best at plucking griffin feathers. Ipolitto and Liliana protested, out of pride, I think, while Roggerio and Rafael protested because of the risk to the newly discovered Sforza. A brief pickpocketing contest was held. The dice chose to be amusing: Liliana and Lorenzo tied for 1st place. They each returned what they had taken from the other, while Ipolitto, who had done respectably, watched his cousin outshine him again.

Lorenzo argued that, despite the tie, he should be the one to pluck the griffin feathers. Liliana refused to concede this, and, to Roggerio's horror, the two nobles agreed that they should both pluck feathers, making it a competition. Any harm befalling either the prospective bride of one of the Sforzas or the newly discovered heir would reflect very badly on the Sforzas. And, of course, Ipolitto intended to rush in to help his fellow nobles at the first sign of trouble.