As Snaac continues to flee, Claudius arrives in the office, finding Aivyprince pawing curiously at the tunnel. Climbing downstairs, he sees Guron quaffing his antidote and Snaac running up to him babbling about a "monster". He quickly shields himself.

Renée fires a crossbow bolt at the fungus, hitting it, but missing with his acid. Guron gouges it with his magic, shredding it. He kicks it, revealing an undamaged belt.

Tupon, dying in the dark, stabilizes himself by dint of will. "Petunia" calls to Snaac, "come back, dragon! Aren't we gonna play?" She emerges from the dark, horrible spider body clacking along the floor after the little kobold. She skitters up to him, biting him savagely, as he howls and flees, drinking a potion.

The lion tamer rounds on them angrily after the show. He's willing to at least talk to them, even though he's angry. He's willing to give them his key ticket, but he wants to know a secret about them. Taevyn tries to sweet talk him, and Max manages to convince the tamer that the circus owner, Cassian, is really to blame. He grumbles, promising words with the gnome, and gives them the ticket.

Taevyn excitedly pushes them to see the acrobats next. An acrobat in harlequin attire, billed as Phantasma, begins performing on the high wire. After a stunning performance, the announcer asks if anyone wants to challenge Phantasma in her domain. Taevyn is up the ladder almost before the announcement finishes.

Phantasma starts with a triple backflip into a split on the rope, which he copies easily. Taevyn does a cartwheel, flipping and catching the rope with his toes. He's a little off-balance, but Phantasma slips more, catching the rope with her hand and bouncing bac

Ezrill shows back up at the Gates, smelling of perfume and cheap liquor, with some rambling story about messing up his calendar. They start discussing methods of continuing to sway the vote, and talk strays to Dorran Ma and the skulls of blades he has. Phizz suggests that Thay might even prefer Olivia on the throne, as compared to Breul or El Gata. Sumi is incredulous that they might want to ally with Thay, rather than exposing Ma.

They discuss whether Ma can be blackmailed or bribed. Sumi is skeptical that they can overmaster the Thayan. Phizz thinks they should be as prepared as possible before confronting the red wizard. Perhaps several of the other blades might be low-hanging fruit ahead of them.

They make a plan with Theryssa for a 24-hour dead drop of their evidence, if they don't return from meeting with Ma. Before that, they head to Ironhold Street to meet with Blade Tarrin Norster, the Blade of Construction and Repair.

After supplying and healing the party, Alvidor Dax enters, and confers briefly with Liliana. He greets the party, asking how they got out, crediting his rescue to Liliana. Renée tells him that Claudius saved them, an ironic twist to his lips. Alvidor hopes Claudius knows about his uncle's passing, and pledges his support to house Laregon and the party in general.

Liliana tells them, when asked, that the Brotherhood of Silence is both implaccable and discreet, and unlikely to be able to be bought off. Guron asks her about the Storm Blades, and she tells him that they were founded by Torbik, associate of Edric I. Edric wasn't a politician, and hated the government of Melvaunt, so had Torbik form the Storm Blades to keep the empire "honest". Torbik was the first master of the group, and Liliana has been the master for most of the last decade, running a spy network. She says that despite Edric III's senility, the Storm Blades weren't in charge of d

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Divine Font: Heal or Harm
Domains: Trickery, Darkness, Freedom, Secrecy, Air
Alternate Domain: Deception
Favored Weapon: Dagger (wind’s talon)
Symbol: A black sky with three streaks of silver, resembling a bird’s wing feathers cutting through darkness
Sacred Animal: Raven
Sacred Colors: Deep indigo, silver, and black

Theryssa asks them how the dinner went, but after a few moments of silence, Theodore Burran slams his hand on the table, demanding progress, after the loss of his daughter. Phizz mentions the Drakehorns, and Burran loses his temper, accusing them of wasting time. Sumi defends the choice to him. She convinces them Alethia can be convinced that Olivia will be better for her than Breul's restoration of the Contract Census.

Thaylin also mentions Damien Tusk, about whom Burran is similarly skeptical. Theryssa points out to him and Sumi that El Gata splits the board between Olivia and Maxilliar. Thaylin suggests that the two marrying would be a solution, but no one takes him seriously.

Theryssa wants to know which blades they legitimately think they can flip. The numbers aren't in their favor, and time is of the essence. The High Blade's faction, wherever he votes is likely to carry the day. Tarrin Norster seems like a likely next stop. Fyn casually mentions th

Snaac sends more fire at Pickles, missing. Guron slung a phase bolt, directing his fire scamp to harry the rat, its fire hitting him. Renée takes careful aim, firing Dignity's Barb, and hitting him. He attempts to broker a surrender, unsuccessfully. Tupon grabs the rat, constricting him, and beating him into unconsciousness.

As Tupon punches the rat to ensure he's really unconscious, the others look around. Renée, with Claudius' unnecessary supervision, binds the unconscious rat. Dragging their captive with them, they move to the eastern door of the old Senate well. Turon roughly bandages Guron's wounds. The door looks long-unused, and Renée tries it to no effect, as does Guron. Tupon assuming the door is stuck, ends up ripping it off its hinges, Claudius ducking out of the way.

Beyond, is an antechamber, with a hallway and another door. The room is fully undisturbed, dust covering every surface. They carry Pickles with them, placing him on one of the couches. Snaac

Quid tumbles over the rampart firing his pistol, and hitting the nearest guard. Ducking low, he skitters along the rail line. Jasper tries to follow up the ladder, but slips back down. He reaches out, sparks melting the ice off the ladder. One of the guards fires at Serena, hitting her. Dundee struggles up his ladder again. Otavi vaults the railing, landing on the walkway, and switching his array. One of the guards attempts to bull rush him but can't move the large lashunta. Serena dives out of the way, summoning a small celestial. It slams into the nearest guard, knocking him back. Quid snaps off a trick attack, hitting the guard. Jasper scrambles to the top, firing on the guard, but missing.

The guards fire on the celestial, hitting it. Dundee continues struggling with the ladder. The injured guard sets off his own grenade, killing himself. Otavi swings his hammer, smashing the guard who rushed him. The guard tries to shove him back into the killing box, but isn't close. Serena and her

As the statue booms out its challenge, Tupan turns, sure the slime's God has turned its attention to death of its favored servant. The statue, when Guron addresses it, claims to be Edric Storm, deified founder of the empire. It demands gems and gold, but several of the party members disbelieve its claims. A flash of light sears out from the statue, but the party members avert their eyes.

Snaac goes to leave an offering, placing 100gp on the statue. Guron and Renée both take away most of the offering, chiding him for doing too much. With a crack, Guron's sword shatters, the statue booming disapproval. Several of them notice a small creature peeking over the statues shoulder. The floor beneath Guron, Snaac, and Renée turns greasy. Tupon picks up a stone, and throws it at the little creature.

It quickly pleads for peace, identifying itself as Viceroy. The party backs away, Renée buys a potion off him for 1gp, and Tupon ensures the creature is not the s

The arrives at the eastgate of Melvaunt, when Rose notices the card is still pointing almost due west. Only the wealthy noble houses lie in the northern district. Rose suggests the follow the grand promenade, and the card points almost consistently towards westgate. By the westgate, the find halflings passing out fliers for The Grand Menegerie. Outside the gate, signs point the way, and a mile or two outside of Melvaunt, a large circus is set up in a fallow field.

Taevyn is beyond excited, rushing to view the acrobats. Lirael is more reserved, being wary of the large crowds. As they step on the grounds, however, both are overcome with a feeling of childish wimsy and joy. Lennox as well, whirling small children in the air and hugging complete strangers. Max seems unaffected, and Rose immediately recognizes the influence of magic on the others. The commoners all seem taken completely, and the festive atmosphere is everywhere. A young woman comes up to kiss Max and he returns her affection re