The Chronicle:

The Maris Stella made her way back towards Castille more cramped than ever, with the numerous passengers picked up in Vodacce, and there was much discussion of how to deal with the Inquisition since the heroes had probably been excommunicated after their flight from San Cristobal a few months earlier.  They wanted to ensure the dafety of their guests and the crew.  Melisandre suggested that they first stop by her father's estate in southern Zepeda; Don Tobias de Ramirez' holdings included a small and discreet harbour from which operated his private shipping business. 

As they tacked hard to round the horn of southern Gallegos, the heroes noticed a small mail packet from Castille making all speed towards Vodacce.  She flew the Navy flag and had clearly been stripped for speed.  Since she seemed to be on an urgent mission, the heroes did not try to slow her down but they wondered about her errand.

They made their way to southern Zepeda, but Melisandre, who despite her upbringing had no affinity for sailing, was incapable of recognizing any landmarks along the coast to find her father's harbour.  They decided to make for the port of San Teodoro in the hopes that Melisandre could find her way from there.  Despite the recent peace treaty with Montaigne, they found the port as heavily guarded and the Castillan Navy as alert as if the war was still on.  They did not bring the Maris Stella in, choosing instead to row ashore a little up the coast then walk into town.

They reached the city gates in the dark of night and found them locked.  Other travellers were encamped, waiting for the gates to open at dawn.  The city walls were still patrolled, and the flag flew at half-mast.  Asking around, the heroes learned with consternation that King Sandoval had recently died!  Towards the end of the peace negotiations in Vaticine City, a group of Porté sorcerers had burst in on the proceedings, accompanied by Laerdom and El Fuego Adentro sorcerers, and Black Wolves.  The fight had been terrible, leaving large sections of the city in ruins, and the young king had been killed, as well as Don Andrès de Aldana, Lucas' father; Cardinal Verdugo had been badly wounded.  The heroes were horrified, but hoped that these news had been exaggerated by word of mouth.

When the city gates opened at dawn, the heroes made their way to the port where Melisandre looked for business acquaintances of her father's.  She found a disreputable drunkard in a tavern, One-Eyed Jack, who recognized her and said he could guide her to Don Tobias's harbour.  With him, the heroes returned to the Maris Stella and searched the coast again until they at last found the inlet to the well-hidden cove.  The cove had its back to a steep rise, and the manor house sat on top of a bluff in an eminently defensible spot.

As soon as the Maris Stella was sighted, men started running frantically on the wooden dock at the back of the harbour.  Soon smoke started rising from a warehouse along the dock, despite the Maris Stella's signals that they were friendly.  From the manor house came Don Tobias himself, buckling on a sword.  Recognizing the waving Melisandre at last, he restored some order on the wharf side and the Maris Stella docked.  Don Tobias stoically greeted his daughter and her guests, but the look he gave One-Eyed Jack was less fond.

Don Tobias confirmed that he had heard the same news as the heroes regarding the fate of the king and Don Andrès.  During their short stay, Don Lucas offered an apology to Signor Sebastiano, and thanked him for his help.  The Maris Stella resupplied, and Constanza offered their liberty to her men, explaining that their letter of marque was now expired and profits would be lower, in addition to the Inquisition probably waiting for the heroes.  Most chose to remain. 

Melisandre took advantage of this visit to question Don Tobias regarding her mother, but he evaded her questions with the ease of long practice.  Angry, she tried to break into his desk to look for family papers, but she missed the trap that protected it and lit the papers on fire, thus nearly burning down his library.  After this commotion, she decided that staying any longer would probably be a mistake.
 

At Ferdinand's suggestion and request, the heroes then sailed to Tarago, where he had been summoned to meet with Master Knight Basquez of the Rose and Cross.  Constanza agreed since the Orduño family was powerful in Tarago.  They entered the port tremulously and were greeted by a Navy patrol vessel.  The lieutenant commanding it ordered them to an out-of-the-way berth, and the Corazon de Castille, waiting at anchor, signalled for Constanza to report immediately. 

The heroes repaired aboard the Corazon while the Maris Stella docked.  On the flagship, they discovered that Doña Margarita Vazquez y Soldano de Orduño was now Admiral of the Fleet, while Don Enrique had apparently been stripped of his rank.  He was aboard but gave no explanation.  Constanza uneasily reported to her aunt and visited her uncle, and the sad news from Vaticine City were confirmed.  Rumours were that the attack on the peace negotiations had been staged by Montaigne hard-liners; nevertheless, Montaigne had honored the treaty.

From the Corazon, the heroes saw a detachment of Inquisitors approach the Maris Stella.  With a sigh, they rowed back to their ship and met with Knight Inquisitor Paolo.  To everyone's surprise, however, the Inquisitor brought pardons for everyone (including the missing Juan) and a summon for Lucas, all signed by Cardinal Verdugo though in a strangely shaky hand.  The heroes arranged to travel with Knight Inquisitor Paolo to Vaticine City.

But first, Ferdinand visited the chapterhouse of the Knights of the Rose and Cross.  Master Knight Elijah Basquez greeted him but appeared dubious; he said he had heard both good things and bad things about Ferdinand.  The Master questioned Ferdinand to judge his commitment but remained unsatisfied.  His problem, he explained, was that aspiring candidates normally trained at a chapterhouse for many months, but it was clear that Ferdinand had other duties that would prevent him from staying that long.  Master knight Basquez asked Ferdinand if there was any among his companions he was willing to trust with his life, and if so, bring them to talk to him. 

Ferdinand returned to the Maris Stella and asked Constanza if she would meet Master Knight Basquez.  She agreed, and the two returned to the chapterhouse of the Rose and Cross.  The Master questioned Constanza about Ferdinand, then asked her if she would be willing to oversee his training and report truthfully to the Order about Ferdinand's fidelity to his vows.  She agreed tremulously, giving her word of honour to be fair and impartial.  Ferdinand was then submitted to two nights and a day of back-breaking exercises, instructed to answer only to "Beggar John" from then on, and to serve his companions as he would serve knights were he to train at the chapterhouse.  He was fordidden to use his weapon, and for good measure the Master took the broadsword and broke it.  Ferdinand returned to his companions, exhausted, carrying a letter of instructions for Constanza.

Travel was arranged for Doña Lucia to return to her estate; she had offered hospitality to Signor Sebastiano and Signora Lucretta Biancastro, and had promised Melisandre to keep the Vodacci girls under her protection.  Sebastiano promised Melisandre that, should she need his help, she need only send for him and he would immediately come to her.  He bid her be careful; he had asked Signora Lucretta to look at Melisandre's strands and she had said all she could see were Sword strands.

The heroes headed for Vaticine City with Knight Inquisitor Paolo and his merry band of Inquisitors.
 

As they approached the Holy City, the heroes saw for themselves the damage wrought by the sorcerers' attack.  Half the city was in ruins, and the wounded and homeless filled the streets.  Knight Inquisitor Paolo took them to the Cathedral of the Prophets, which had been turned into a makeshift hospital.  They were taken to Cardinal Verdugo, who was being treated there for the horrible burns that covered his right side from head to toe; his right arm was missing.  The heroes, who had until then been highly suspicious of him, started thinking that maybe he had not staged the king's death himself.

The Cardinal had summoned Lucas to ask him to take his father's place and serve Castille.  The government was decimated and the line of succession was in shambles.  Lucas was mildly stunned, but said he would do all in his power for the good of Castille.  The Cardinal gave him a stack of notes to study, detailing the Sandoval genealogy and the politics of the succession, including details on the candidates, the Council of Dons, and the Concilio de la Razon.  Lucas found himself studying more intently than he ever had in school.

Melisandre filled her waking hours by attending to the numerous wounded left by the attack.  Meanwhile, much of "Beggar John"'s time was spent on the demanding exercises required by his Rose and Cross training.  As he ran around the city walls the next morning, he was ambushed by a cloaked man who tripped him with a quarterstaff, sending him splattering in the mud, and taunted him, saying Ferdinand would never wear the tabard of the Rose and Cross.  Ferdinand limped back to the Palace of Wolves, furious.

That morning, Lucas and his "advisors" had a second interview with the Cardinal, who discussed the situation.  He pointed out that they could either wait for a month for the Council of Dons to meet and hope that the dons would resolve the problem neatly and quickly, an unlikely prospect; or do some legwork and try to present them with an acceptable candidate as early as possible.  He charged Lucas with asking Don Javier de Torres y Sandoval to consider claiming the succession, as the man seemed the likeliest to draw a compromise.  Unfortunately, Don Javier's son, Don Fertus, was married to a Gallegos which would likely be unacceptable to hardliners (and the Church).  In fact, the Cardinal admitted that this was precisely why the marriage had originally been arranged: to weaken any claim that this line could make to the throne and consolidate Good King Sandoval's position.  But the Church was willing to annul the marriage if Don Javier (and Don Fertus) could be persuaded.  Lucas accepted the task with some trepidation, and said he would leave the next day.

Later that same day, a visitor arrived for Constanza.  He turned out to be Professor Aden Wigsfield, bearing a letter of recommendation from none other than the (in)famous Alvaro Arciniega.  Wigsfield had brought a strange object which Arciniega was asking Contanza to research for him since he was now persona non grata in Castille and its best universities.  The object was block of congealed lava which had been carefully chipped open; from it emerged what looked like a human femur, but had not been turned to cinder by the lava.  Moreover, when struck the "bone" resonated like metal; finally, it always seemed to remain at the same temperature, not matter what environment it was in.  The block of lava came from a dig in Pompius, a city of the Numan Empire which had been buried in ancient times by a volcanic eruption.  Arciniega had started exploring the site after reading references to work performed by Father Tomaso Vincente Bilardo in the fourteenth century -- work that had been most efficiently suppressed by the Church at the time.  Father Bilardo had been known as an expert in comparative anatomy.

As payment and thanks for Constanza's help, Arciniega sent two vials of red fluid which, he said, he had produced based on his studies on the nature of sorcery.  He assured Constanza that although these reproduced certain effects of sorcery, but only through non-magical, scientifical and chemical means.  They gave the user a sort of very limited, one-time Porté ability allowing one to essentially shimmer in and out of existence -- for example, to avoid an attack. 

Constanza was perplexed and somewhat unsettled by the whole thing, but agreed to research Father Bilardo's work.  Since she had been on her way to pay her respects to her old headmaster and advisor Professor Salvador garcia at La Ciencia, it was a perfect opportunity to begin enquiries.  Garcia remembered Bilardo and the unusual vigour with which his work had been suppressed by the Church of his day, but could only direct Constanza to begin at the library.  It was too late to do much more since the heroes had to leave early for San Cristobal early in the morning.

But the day was not over yet.  Lucas had been checking his father's apartments, and had found his own sword waiting, as well as the badly damaged sword which Don Andrès had been wielding when he died, and the accounts of Lucas's own estates which Don Andrès had been managing in absentia.  He was interrupted by Ferdinand, who brought with him a visitor he had just encountered, bringin more mail for Lucas from his estates: none other than Signor Sebastiano Biancastro himself, covered with dust from the road after riding madly for three days.  Lucas received letters from several luminaries, including his great-uncle Don Francisco Guzman de Aldana, head of the Aldana family; the now-healed Torvo Espada, ready for a duel; the master of the Torres school of fencing, Don Jaime Béjarano y Guzman; and an old friend of his father, Don Hector de Ontivarès.  Lucas was less than delighted by the messenger, but took it in stride.  He finished the day by seeking out the royal armourer and asking him to attempt to repair his father's blade.

Melisandre, for her part, was charmed to receive Sebastiano's visit and dined with him.  Since he now had to return to the Aldana estates, which were on the way to San Cristobal, she asked him to travel with them and he gladly accepted.  Lucas was less glad.
 

As the heroes and their retinue assembled in the morning to head for San Cristobal, a contingent of no less than two dozen Knight Inquisitors, commanded by none other than Knight Inquisitor Paolo himself, formed up to escort them.  The heroes resigned themselves to the company.  The trip took a few more day than Sebastiano had, riding at his reckless pace.  Reaching his estate, Lucas stopped to spend the night, visit his mother and bring her the latest news.  Doña Lucia was of course in deep mourning and would see no one else.  And at Melisandre's invitation, Sebastiano continued travelling with the heroes...

Another day and a half of travel brought the heroes to San Cristobal.  Lucas requested, and was granted, a meeting with Don Javier de Torres y Sandoval, a captain in the Castillan Navy though on the supply side.  The man impressed everyone as a solid, unpretentious, honourable man.  He listened to Lucas's request (and Melisandre's arguments), but was unwavering: the line of succession clearly pointed to Pascal Rois et Reines de Rogné as the closest heir.  Unless a letter of abdication was obtained, he would not support any other candidate, let alone consider becoming one.  In addition, he mentioned with a bit of a smirk that it might be difficult to convince his son to have his marriage annuled.

At this point Lucas was becoming rather doubtful, but felt he must receive Don Fertus's answer face to face, so he requested an audience.  As commander of the city guard, Don Fertus was a busy man but agreed to the meeting.  He was young but had made a name for himself as a war hero against the Montainge.  In fact, he had been Ferdinand's own unit commander, and he readily recognized the corporal.  He was delighted to hear that Ferdinand was a postulant with the Knights of Rose and Cross, and praised his bravery during the war. 

Like his father, Don Fertus made a good impression; and like also, he felt that the lines of succession were quite clear.  He said that his wife Pomba and him had fallen in love, despite thepolitical nature of their marriage, and that he was far from certain he would be able to sacrifice so much for his country, even if a letter of abdication was obtained for the Montaigne heir.  Pointing to the patch that covered one of his eye, he commented that one eye should be as much as any man was required to give.

That night, the heroes had a war council.  Constanza, who had kept very silent during the earlier meetings, tried in vain to get Lucas to consider the ideals of democracy and the republic.  But all agreed that no matter what happened next, the situation would be much improved by obtaining an abdication from the Montaigne heir, or rather from his parents.  Lucas decided to present the idea to Cardinal Verdugo.  Moreover, although they did not plan to mention this, the heroes resolved to use this mission to cover another, self-appointed one: they would search for those responsible for the deaths of King Sandoval and Don Andrès, and learn the whole truth about this attack.

They returned to San Cristobal to present the request.  Will anyone be surprised to learn that Melisandre invited Sebastiano to join the expedition to Montaigne, and that he accepted?  Cardinal Verdugo was not entirely happy with the plan (and, presumably, with the idea of letting the heroes out of his sight) but he agreed.  He even arranged for them to carry letters stating their diplomatic status.  As they were leaving, the Cardinal asked Ferdinand to remain behind; Ferdinand later revealed that the Cardinal had ordered him to make sure the problem of the Montaigne heir was solved... permanently.

Before leaving the country, however, Lucas went to visit his father's friend, Don Hector de Ontivarès.  On the way, he met a charming young lady and gifted rider, who turned out to be Don Hector's daughter Maria-Soledad, or rather his foster daughter.  Lucas learned many interesting things that night, from stories of his father's rather wild youth, to secrets of Los Vagos.  It was Don Hector, it turned out, who had invited him to join the League.  It was to him that the huge crate brought from La Reina del Mar had been destined, and the contents were revealed: a recent invention, a piano, doubling as an even more ingeniuous mechanism that allowed extremely secure encryption of messages. 

From Don Hector, Lucas also learned the identity of the Inner Council, the three advisors to El Vago himself: Don Hector, Don Cristian de Acedo y Lopez de Torres, and the late Don Andrès.  Since a position was now left empty, Don Hector invited Lucas to take his father's place.  Lucas was rather shocked, but accepted.  Then Don Hector dropped the other news: he revealed that his foster daughter Maria-Soledad de Rivera y Aldana was in fact Lucas's older half-sister.

Maria-Soledad told a few more secrets to the reeling Lucas.  He learned that Don Andrès had been researching the matter of the true founder of the Aldana school of fencing, a topic dear to Torvo Espada's heart.  Finding no sufficient evidence to decide the matter one way or another, Don Andrès had begun creating a new school derived from the Aldana style, which he hoped would clear the point of honour.  He had been teaching Maria-Soledad this school, called El Puñal Occulto, and she had reached the level of Journeyman.  Unfortunately, she had not yet had the chance to learn from him some of the more advanced techniques, and thus the school remained unfinished.  She asked Lucas to keep an eye open for any notes of Don Andrès that could shed some light on the matter.  Lucas promised to look.

As a last shock, Lucas heard the voice of Maria-Soledad's dueña calling her and recognized it as Fidencia Suarez!  Don Hector knew that Fidencia had taken a few months' leave a while ago, but was perplexed to learn that she had been in Freiburg.  He said she had been Maria-Soledad's dueña for several years.  His head ringing, Lucas left but promised to return as soon as he could.