Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-16047389-20140624184300/@comment-16047389-20140818214026

(I think I've been misusing the term 'Chancellor'. So I'm going to start using Councillor instead.)

"Call it an old wound," Attrebus says. But the Fortesias have a history of reckless behavior, and making decisions that have come to harm the Empire. Suspected ties to the Thieves Guild, known involvement in smuggling, suspected...or should I say confirmed involvement in Daedric magic. However, the worst of all their actions happened years ago, when Madame Fortesia's late husband was found guilty for endangering the royal family."

A serious crime, indeed.

"Lord Ignatius Fortesia was well known in the black market for being able to procure the most impossible to find objects," Attrebus continues. "He had connections from Daggerfall to Stormhold, and the names of the criminal underground's most influential figures. This time, he had recieved an order for a Daedric artifact. More specifically, it was a thick black tome."

No...

"I believe you can see where this is going," he says. "The request came from a younger Vallina, and Ignatius was the contact she used to track it down. It was because of the Fortesia family that Vallina formed a pact with the fiends of Oblivion, and was almost taken away. The Fortesia family is responsible for nearly killing the daughter of Titus Mede II."

You look over at Madame Fortesia and her children, making sure they aren't listening in on your conversation.

"For what it's worth," Attrebus continues with a sigh. "We do not suspect that Ignatius knew who he was sending the book to, much less that it would endanger the owner's life. But he did know it was dangerous. And it was because of his negligence that Vallina was nearly lost to us. I led the investigation that discovered his involvement. I was under orders to bring him back alive, if possible, to face trial and an inevitable execution. He resisted arrest and nearly killed one of my men. I was forced to kill him, right there in front of his wife and children. Finding the man that nearly killed his daughter put me in the Emperor's good graces, and two years later I was brought into the Elder Council. That's about the same time that the law outlawing the practices of Daedric magic and rituals was reaffirmed."

Things are finally beginning to come together.

"Madame Fortesia claimed not to harbor any hate toward either Vallina or myself," he continues. "How much truth is in that, I can't say for certain. However, the Count of Skingrad insisted that Vallina should attend this party in an attempt to smooth over any remaining ill will. The Fortesias originally invited another member of the Elder Council than myself, but when I heard that Vallina was attending, call me a paranoid old man, but I "insisted" that I go in the Councillor's place."

So this isn't all just an enormous coincidence. It's directly related.

A) Discuss the murder.

B) Talk about the evidence you collected from the Redguards.

C) Ask about his days as a legionaire.

D) Leave the dining hall to go visit Vallina.