Introduce the visitors to Marzena at the Tower

As the sun dipped low in the sky, you had an excellent view of Undrek around you from the balcony of the aptly-named Crooked Tower. Though large by the standards of Itheria with a permanent population that seldom dropped below five thousand, it was not particularly prestigious is the eyes of anyone except the iconoclasts who lived there. The buildings were all wood but built upon deep foundations of gravel to sturdy them against flooding. The entire city was surrounded by a series of levees and dikes that also made it eminently defensible. Because space was at a premium, the town was very dense and cramped, with narrow winding streets and a lot of alleys that the sun seldom touched. Travelers often referred to it as 'the shady underside of a much larger city cast adrift from the whole'.

But it was yours, and that made it beautiful in your eyes. In a variety of 'quality of life' measures that most nobles never cared to consider, Undrek was superior to any other part of Itheria, and you intended to keep it that way. Part and parcel of that was embracing ideas that others found radical and dark. Serving the region with conventional vice was a nice niche, but it wasn't going to take you or your county all the way.

Witchcraft it was. Granted, conventional vice was going to go a long way in easing the transformation of the Crooked Tower's 44 convicted maleficars from prostrated and prostituted prisoners into the largest assemblage of active magic users in the land, outside of the coven. With Duke Magus serving as a stalking horse, the time was ripe to reveal a power base that embraced dark magic.

Of course, the prisoners of the tower were getting restive; many didn't want to stay here, serve you, or (most especially) spread their legs for anyone who paid or held a high enough rank. So it went; a countess's most prize possessions would, naturally, also be her most high maintenance.

The business went smoothly enough most of the time, though. In one of the rooms not far from yours you could hear one of those 44 women squealing and crying out rhythmically in time with the scraping and shaking of a bed frame. Listening more closely you could also hear the deeper grunts of the man-at-arms who'd come to this town to blow most of his past year's pay (among other things) in a single week of debauchery. The Crooked Tower echoed with the sounds of sex each and every day for the eight hours that it was open to visitors.

Meanwhile, Count Lamar of Luxem is arriving at last, bearing an entourage of half a dozen men at arms astride proud warhorses. From what you'd heard, he also had a company of levied soldiers with him, no doubt dispersed into the inns and drinking halls by now. Those poor peasants, dragged from their fields and families and marched off to war, would have a rare turn of good fortune here in Undrek - when volume wasn't high, food, drink and accomodations (and "accomodations") were quite affordable even for those paid as little as them. You could see little of him with his helmet on.

Marzena entered the room and you turned to smile serenely at her. "I hope the Count didn't bring too many troops with him." she says casually. "According to old Griselda the manager, a lot of the girls are already tired after a long day. I thought about stepping in to help take some of the pressure off the 20 who are working today, but I thought it best to stay nice and fresh for however this meeting betwixt two counties turns out."

"Hmm." You nod along. "You take to the Tower like a duck to water, Marzena. I confess, I was worried you wouldn't be up to it."

"Eh?" she asks. "Zoe, hah...! The whole reason I took to dabbling in dark places in the first place was because I wanted to be well taken care of, and that's what you've offered me. A room of my own, fine food, servants... I could've ended up in much worse whore-houses, is what I'm saying."

You softly chuckle and nod. "Ahhh, Marzi - you haven't changed a bit. I'd be lost without your counsel. And speaking of - I was curious to get your opinion on something."

"When you said, earlier today, that the other two town bordellos were framing your people for murders out of jealousy, well, I found I didn't have too much trouble believing it." you say with a reassuring smile. "But whence comes the Crooked Tower's popularity, do you think? Why do some knights and merchants ride for days out of their way just to visit it? I know you've only been there a year, but you always had a good eye for these things."

"Well," Marzena said, tilting her hat slightly and smirking proudly, "I'd actually wondered that myself, Zoe. Three reasons, I think... First because we're so confident. Once you've gone through with something you could be killed for, you don't hesitate so much when trying other new things, heh."

"Secondly, I think the visitors are excited by the thought of all the bad things we've done. It feels dangerous in a sexy way, gives them a thrill, you know? Makes them feel brave even if they're a pitiful toad of a man who wouldn't dare meet the gaze of one of us if our magic weren't denied us. Besides, even though men get convinced they want a pure and innocent virgin, they can't resist the lure of a bad girl playing siren."

"And lastly," Marzena said as she walked down alongside you to the first floor of the tower to meet Count Lamar, "I think a part of it is to salve their pathetic guilty consciences. They imagine that any witch deserves anything she gets, so they don't worry in the back of their mind that they might be defiling a virtuous young lady. Gives them license to get a little rough - you've seen it happen a couple times, haven't you Zoe? Swatting me hard on the bottom, pulling my hair, that sort of thing."

"Well, you and the other witches haven't given up on your dreams - dark though they may be - completely, I do hope." you said to her, giving her a knowing wink. Getting allies in the Crownlands would get your foot in the door enough to let you start manipulating the court properly. Allowing witches to leave the tower (and Undrek entirely), unshackled, would be a terrible risk, but the possible rewards and power to be gained was enormous.

But when you reached the bottom floor and met the count's entourage, they were notably grim and humorless. Three girls in tight-fitting black dresses had been casually lounging on the couches in the lobby area, but Count Lamar and his armored soldiers paid no attention to them - most of the time, visiting nobles who could invoke the "right of prostration" started putting their hands on the first attractive young woman who crossed their path, often taking them without even bothering to bring them somewhere private first.

The Count of Luxem pointed an accusatory finger at you. "Countess Zoe. I apologize for my brusque manners but the matter I have come here on is quite serious, so much so that I could not be forthcoming in my letter about my true purposes in coming."

You lurched back slightly, telegraphing your surprise and discomfort. "What?" You smile awkwardly. "Ah... of course, Count, an excellent jest. Supper and hospitality are matters we take quite seriously in-deed here in Undrek, so-"

He cut you off. "I shall speak plain, Countess. A sorceress in league with the darkest of demons committed an unforgivable crime against my wife, Countess Marissa. Once I discovered who was responsible for my wife's peril and near-****, the evil woman, who had taken the guise of a chambermaid at my castle, fled."

"I have since tracked her here to Undrek.... to no great surprise." he added with a hint of disdain, pulling off his open-faced helmet and tucking it under his arm but keeping one hand near his sword hilt. "It is my sincerest hope, Countess, that you can deliver her to me swiftly. Otherwise I shall have to insist on searching every room of this tower myself. I will not allow this traitorous wretch to get away with what she's done."

Marzena flashes you a guilty look, which you sincerely hope Lamar didn't see. Well, that is enough to tell you that Marzena probably DOES know of this fugitive witch. However, the ladies of the tower won't be pleased in the least if you hand over one of their number to this swaggering prig of a man to be burned or worse.

This was a disaster. You struggled to find a way to reply. "Well I'll... see what can be done. G-give us her description. Would you let me speak with my advisor for a moment?" You stepped into an alcove.

You and Marzena looked at one another nervously. She broke the uncomfortable silence. "Okay. Fuck. I can find a way to fix this," the dark-haired woman said to you. "I was already preparing a scrying ritual for tonight, I'll find something we can use to get him off our backs."

"You want to solve a problem created by black magic with more black magic?" You ask.

Marzena stares at you for a second.

You shrug. "Ah... Well. I suppose that was a rhetorical question. Are... you sure we can't afford to turn over one relatively recent arrival to prosecution?"

"No way!" Marzena says. "Flora has more knowledge of summoning than anybody in the tower, she still has too many valuable secrets for you to let her face the noose! Just think of something, will you?"

You walk back out, struggling to make your decision. "Perhaps some refreshments and music while my court mage makes inquiries, Count...?" you ask politely.