Play@YSDC

Duc's Palace, Great Hall - Vyones, Auvergne, France
8:15 AM - Monday, April 20, 1517

The great hall of the palace was vast, easily large enough to hold all of the assembled guests, guards, and servants. The Duc and Duchesse entered to a tremendous fanfare, arm in arm, striding down the carpeted central aisle to a raised dais at the back of the room upon which sat a pair of golden (or at least gold-plated) thrones. The Duc was a man in his fifties, fat and bald, who carried himself with an air of authority. The Duchesse was in her thirties and pretty, smaller than her husband but still pleasantly plump, with long black hair. They both wore flowing purple robes over their elegant clothing. They reached the thrones and sat side by side upon them.

A guard marched in Gui at swordpoint, following him closely. "Your Grace, I have caught the escaped thief!" he announced. "I did it, me, by myself!"

"Well done," said the Duc. "I shall see that you are rewarded. Bring him forward!" The guard marched Gui down the aisle to the front of the room, before the thrones. "What do you have to say for yourself, Monsieur?" he demanded of Gui.

Gui bowed deeply before the Duc. ”Your Grace, I fear there has been a grave misunderstanding, not helped in anyway by misinformation that has been spread about me. It is true that I entered Monsieur Da Vinci’s room last night, but only as an devotee of his art. I found a man dead on the floor and in attempting to render aid, I was assaulted my that man, there!” He glared at du Bardin. ”I tried to explain that I was acting in the role of Good Samaritan but he was deaf to my entreaties!”

”As for being in the passages behind the walls, I heard the young ladies moving about and entered to ensure their safety. A man has died and until the miscreant has been apprehended, no true gentleman would allow such beautiful ladies to come to harm!” He straightened up, tugging his jerkin down and very much giving off the air of the affronted party.

Wincing at Gui’s display, Brook contrives to fade in the background. She sidles next to Story and Elizabeth and rolls her eyes.

"A likely story!" snorted the Duc. "Do you take me for a fool, Monsieur..." The Duchesse leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Monsieur l'Argot? Let us hear what the other witnesses have to say."

Jacques:

Jacques steps forward and bows with military precision. Well used to reporting to noble superiors, he starts calmly, "Your Grace, this is an odd matter but I would be pleased to give you a short report of the events of last night."

Gui rolled his eyes. ”With all due respect, Your Grace, this man has taken an instant dislike to me for reasons I cannot fathom! So much so that he tried to kill me without pausing the discern the facts of the situation.”

Jacques:

Jacques ignores Gui, and remains politely attentive to the Duc, other than to raise an eyebrow.

"I think I have an idea why he may dislike you," said the Duc to Gui. "I am developing such a dislike myself. Be silent, knave! Chevalier, please give your report."

Gui opened his mouth to retort then thought better of it. He had the feeling that he was in enough trouble as it was…

In her head, Brook grabs a tub of popcorn and sits back to enjoy the show.

"What else did he say to you, Brook?" Story murmers to Brook and Liz whilst everyone else is watching Jacques.

“I rather believe him but it doesn’t look promising.” Elizabeth murmurs to Story and Brook. “And he may drag us down with him at this rate. We won’t be able to help him if we are stuck in gaol too.”

“Gui didn’t say much to me, apart from his wish not to get caught,” Brook whispers to her friends.

”He didn’t say why he’s here, though to be honest I didn’t ask.”

“We didn’t find anything of interest in the rooms we looked into; did you? A guard found me before we could go much further down the passages. Luckily I was discovered before Gui. I played the little lost girl, so hopefully they won’t tie us to that geezer too much.”

“We still gotta explain our presence here though…”

Jacques:

“Your Grace, some instinct kept me from my sleep last night. Thinking something amiss, I dressed hastily and went for a patrol of the near corridors of your palace.”

“I found the door ajar to the apartments of Master Da Vinci, who I previously only knew of as the famous painter and inventor. Thinking it strange the door was not shut, I looked through into the half-dark to see a man down, slain with a halberd, and M. L’Argot relieving the deceased of a gem.”

“In the gloom, I mistakenly thought M. L’Argot had slain the great master and was now robbing his body. I resolved to apprehend L’Argot although foolishly I was armed with nothing but the dagger in my boot. I threw my dagger, wounding him, yelled for the guards, then demanded L’Argot surrender. Were he to grab for the halberd, my plan was to charge and wrestle him to the ground lest he murder another guest.”

“Whilst I was arguing with L’Argot, the real Master Da Vinci emerged from his bed chamber, very much alive. Three foreign ladies also entered from, ah, somewhere. They hail from the land of Narnia.” Jacques shrugs at this to indicate he doesn’t know where that is.

“Ultimately, L’Argot surrendered. It appears the dead man was a thief, slain by one of Master Da Vinci’s famous devices, that acts as a thief trap. Quite what L’Argot was doing in the room, uninvited, late at night, is a matter for Your Grace to judge.”

“I had your guards take L’Argot back to his room to ensure he would attend the audience this morning. I hope you will forgive my taking this liberty with your men but I did not wish to disturb Your Grace’s evening.”

“I swear by St John, this is the truth as I know it.”

"Thank you, Chevalier," said the Duc. "Master Leonardo, have you anything to add?"

"I did not witness this myself, Your Grace" said Leonardo, "as I was asleep in bed at the time. I was awakened by the noise and came to investigate, where I saw these two men in my workshop, and the dead man. Monsieur l'Argot had a wound in his shoulder, which I bound for him. Had the Chevalier wished to kill him, he could have easily done so without difficulty. The dead man in the room had indeed been slain by the halberd held in the gauntlets of my automaton, but it was not designed as a thief trap. The automaton can take no actions of its own, unless someone operates its controls. The dead man had stolen a crystal that had been in a puzzle box, which he had managed to be clever enough to solve and open, yet not clever enough to prevent his own demise."

"Thank you, Master. Do the ladies have anything to add?"

"We were also drawn by the reputation of Master Leonardo, Your Grace," Story says, "We arrived soon after the altercation, so we cannot shed any light on the death of the intruder. We can at least confirm the latter part of M. L'Argot's tale, regarding finding us in the passages."

Jean Luc sits in attendance doing his best to appear disinterested while making a sketch. In actuality he keeps a keen eye on the proceedings and those in attendance, straining to pick up a clue that more than meets the eye is afoot, as he had grown accustomed to doing.

Elizabeth stands quietly, wondering about the mystery automaton operator. She scans the audience to see if anyone is taking more than the usual interest in the proceedings, other than that artist.

Psychology 47, roll: 57