Silver Insanity

With a shrug, Aurora turns the ship towards the Stones. She guides it to a halt well above and a short ways due east of the stones, far enough away someone who scanned the immediate area wouldn't immediately recognize the ship for what it was but near enough the stones could be used as a reference marker.

"Well then," Aurora says, glancing back at Stewart and Luma, "now what?"

"De-cursing were-rats, as far as I can tell. The airship is interesting and all, but we need the current astronomical alignments to deal with the were-rats... And leaving were-anything, much less rats behind in a city is not a good idea."

The de-cursing of the were-rats goes by without incident.

Twill and Lauren depart in the direction of Chapter VIII - though Lauren leaves most of her artifacts with Stewart for safe-keeping.

The next morning dawns, still dreary - but at least it's not raining anymore.
Breakfast (in the inn of your choice) reveals some local news: The Duke is dead. Or at least, hasn't been seen since the attack yesterday. His seneschal, Mr. Sketton, has taken charge "for the duration of the emergency."

He has also announced that the contents of the Duke's mansion will be auctioned off to support increased security measures - as other city-states in the area will undoubtedly try to take advantage of Dornsby's weakness.

Stewart will frown at his meal for a moment before bolting a good portion of it. "Sketton? Haven't heard of him. What's he like?"

"Quiet. Responsible. He's the one who kept the city running while Duke Timon ignored it. At least, that's the face he put on for the world; now - I don't know. Perhaps he had something to do with the Duke's dissappearance; I can't think who else would have gained anything by it." The bartender shrugs, and continues about his business.

"Great. Just great... Well, I guess I get to see if he'll be reasonable. I need that library. Well, I just need a part of it, but I don't know what part." Stewart sighs. "But it's not like we haven't already done things for this town. Maybe I can get a good discount."

And, barring any objections, Stewart heads off to what's left of the castle.

The castle is untouched. The Duke's manor, on the other hand...

A number of workers are out and about, dredging through the soggy ashes of the front section of the manor.

A quick question about Sketton directs you to one of the intact wings of the mansion - one floor up and a couple rooms over from the library, in fact. Apparently he's working out of his old office, at least until he can get organized enough to move into the castle.

Of course, you can't just walk into his office... there's a secretary in the way.

"Unfortunately," she explains, "Mr. Sketton is quite busy at the moment. I think I can squeeze you into his schedule, um, tomorrow at three in the afternoon?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure how long I will be remaining here. I was hoping that Mr. Sketton would have time for someone who not only helped remove the were-rats and the airship, but is also offering to help speed your rebuilding."

Having gleaned similar information from her eavesdropping in her inn, Aurora too heads towards the damaged castle, albeit by a circuitous route. She makes her way to the seneschal's office, arriving towards the tail end of Stewart's reply to the secretary. She sticks her head around the doorway and chimes in, "Make that two someones, though I'm afraid that rather than assistance rebuilding I'll have to resign myself to offering a possible scapegoat to placate the commoners..." Aurora steps fully into the doorway, nodding at Stewart.

The secretary sighs. "Heroes..."

She pulls out a thin book, and opens it towards the end. "Section seventeen... Special exemptions... Ah, here it is, heroes. May substitute for appointments with mining guild, weaver's guild... Hm..."

She cross-checks against a different book, and finally announces, "I can put the... three," a quick gesture denotes everyone except Eenyrl, "of you down for three hours from now."

She makes a quick mark in the second book, and turns back to her original paperwork. Clearly, from her point of view, the matter is settled.