In the week of intersession, Roland would like to travel down to Glantri City to visit Etienne de Ambreville.
Heading down is easy enough. The weather thaws on the way back, turning the deteriorating northern roads to mud; it is a struggle to return in a timely manner, and you may find yourself needing to rent (or buy) a horse.
He'll bring a few bottles of "Rouviere's finest" vintage, if such a thing exists, to show off the bounty of the north
Rouvière is too a new hamlet to have old-growth vines, and the climate in northern Glantri isn't ideal for wine in any event. A few of the farming families have reasonably good beer, of which you can secure a keg, or else you can pick up a few bottles of Malinbois white.
Etienne's townhouse in Glantri is relatively small but in good repair. You briefly meet his wife Perrette, a vivacious woman who you don't think has a single aristocratic bone in her body, as she passes through in a whirlwind of goblin nursemaids and small d'Ambreville children. You then sit down for a private discussion with Etienne, who scarcely seems to have aged since previous meetings other than going prematurely gray.
He politely asks about how things are going with your new fief, and asks after the Company's well-being and recent doings.
ask him about Maglorin de Ambreville. Did you know he is apparently "alive"? (though we could not personally substantiate that) What's he like? Why would he still be both alive and in the Chateau? Do you have any messages for him?
He searches his memory. "As you know, I was quite young at the time of the civil war, and had not met many in the family personally. There were dozens of us, after all. But I remember visiting the Insectarium, and there was a cavern full of living plants for the insects to eat. Maglorin — or was it Maglorine? — may well have subsisted down there all this time."
Additionally, what is your current stance on the state of the Chateau? What are your plans here? In what way did you seek to involve the Company in those plans?
Etienne sighs. "I'm no longer young and foolish enough to think that my bloodline will win me the family's lands and power. The Ambrevilles tried to seize power, and we lost. My claim to inherit the Chateau's treasures is tenuous at best, and I won't dispute your Company's claim to the money you've earned with blood and spells and steel.
"But my children will need wealth to earn a new place in Glantri. I'd like to make a deal where we both profit.
"I only have childhood memories of the Chateau. But between speaking with surviving family members and staff, and going through family journals, I am the closest you will find to a guide."
He sips his drink. "I'd like to trade my services for a bit of the Chateau's wealth. Whether that means selling you facts here in my townhouse or accompanying you to the Chateau for a share in the rewards is up to you. I'm no adventurer and I have no intention of dying before my children are grown, but I am a sorcerer of House Ambreville and can provide supporting magics in the field — as long as you're not fighting something ridiculous like a knight of Hell."
