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The Baron left the peasant's body and drifted upward. How could he find a plotter that Gregory could not? Gregory knew this castle and these people inside out!
"Hmm.... What can an outsider do that an insider can't?" he thought.
"Gregory Stienhortz thought of himself as worldly, but he was a babe-in-arms when it came to dealing with outworldly plotters and devices. Perhaps his plotter was much more worldly than Gregory, and had brought in outside help? Clearly the Stienhortz mentality was still dead-set against outside help, or they would not have let this Johanne Porter business degenerate as far as it has.
A worldly plotter would likely be one of the younger people, but it was possible that one of the 'true family' had signed on as part of a power play. How to find such a pair in only an hour?
"First, I will look for a device; then it's owner." thought the Baron, and he now had a plan.
It is fortunate that eldritch devices are easy to see on the Ethereal Plane. It is unfortunate that the Stienhortz's are well aware of this, and have well-developed security and defenses -- and even more so now that the castle is under siege by a being of great eldritch power. The Baron had hardly begun his rise before he sensed guardians above.
"But wait! I'm not looking for an eldritch device. Those the Stienhortz's would cope with routinely. This device will be material!" The Baron hastily returned to the peasant's body; he spoke with Gregory.
"You must let me in to you." He said.
Gregory looked up at him with glazed listless eyes, "Why not? I have nothing to lose, now."
"You must do more! You must move me to Cecilia!"
Gregory half snorted, half laughed, "I may be without hope, but not without honor and love. No, silly man."
"Yes!" said the Baron, "Cecilia has run of the castle. Only through her can I quickly find your plotter. You must think of her... think of her deeply and longingly. I will enter you, and move through you to her."
Gregory just stared.
"Hurry man! You will save you! You will save Cecilia! You will take down a plotter, and I personally will slap Jackov for you while I'm in her body."
A spark appeared in his eye.
"Slap him silly, and spit on him!"
Gregory bellowed, and tugged so hard on his chains that blood trickled down his wrists. The Baron rushed into him. At the center of that maelstrom that his body and mind were for that instant, the Baron saw a pure, white, peaceful spot, and dove for it. It was the image of Cecilia, and there he found a tenuous thread leading up into the castle itself. Recklessly, he merged with the thread and followed it. If the image was not strong, if it was not reciprocated at Cecilia's end, he would end up floating, disembodied, in some nether part of the Ethereal Plane, and just getting home would become the primary challenge of his stay.
Cecilia's image was strong; she was dreaming of Gregory; worried sick; the Baron entered her body easily. He soothed her with words from Gregory as he quickly investigated this new body form he had entered.
She was strong-willed, and had he approached her by conventional methods, he would have been ensnared as well as rebuffed -- the Stienholtz's did not leave their assets unprotected. But now he was inside her dreaming body, and in just a few minutes he was in complete control. He started to wake her gently....
"Cecilia, we must help Gregory." He thought to her.
"Of course... but who are you? I have never dreamed of you before!"
"I am a friend. You must rouse, and search the castle. We seek a machine of the plotters."
"A machine?"
"I will know it when we see it." says the Baron, "We must hurry."
The Baron could control her every motion, but doing so would be terrifying for Cecilia, and clumsy for him. He allowed her to control her own motions. She rose and dressed in a night robe.
"Where should I look?" she thought.
"We seek a device. Something strange and mechanical. Where would such a device be hidden in this castle?"
"I am not familiar with mechanical things.... Perhaps the dungeons... the tower... the tool sheds?"
"This is not some commoner's toy! It will be a place one, maybe two, royal people can frequent, plus an artisan assistant, perhaps."
"Jackov maintains a laboratory in the north tower."
"How convenient. We will go at once."
"Must we? These days I hate dealing with my brother, even in broad daylight in a crowd!"
"We must, if we are to save Gregory."
Cecilia moved swiftly and quietly to the tower. The guards she passed were numerous and vigilant -- had the Baron attempted to wander the castle in either a Prime Material or a naked Ethereal form, he would have been spotted quickly. The Stienhortz's defenses against a Johanne Porter-style attack were vigorous -- Johanne Porter's imps would not last long in here. Choosing to travel inside Cecila was most fortunate choice for the Baron.
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