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concept and event

Goldenswell Prison Network and Memory Grubs

Summary

The Goldenswell prison operation was an off-the-books detention and prisoner-transfer network run through the Goldenswell militia house under orders from the Duke’s office, later connected to ear-grub memory control and missing experimental menagerie creatures.

Known Details

  • Goldenswell refused The Basilisk’s prison checks while Redford and Everchard had no Lady Thorpe.
  • Lady Thorpe was held in the Goldenswell militia house, two floors down, after a false Lady Thorpe impersonated her in Hartwall.
  • The captain said orders came from the Duke’s office, a Duke’s emissary fed Lady Thorpe, and the Duke’s personal guard had brought prisoners in.
  • A woman with a bag on her head, a snake-bodied man, Duke’s emissaries, Duke’s personal guard, and yellow guards with a half-sun tattoo obscured by a waterfall are implicated.
  • Off-the-books prisoners had been held a few times, with several people taken each week over the prior month.
  • Prisoners or prisoner sources linked to the network included Claymeadow, Stronghedge, Redford Point, Seaward, Gnoll, Hartwall, Lady Thorpe, the Elementarium, Baytail, a half-elven woman related to the twin Justicar guards, a kobold in recognizable tattered robes, a pale halfling woman with tiger-eye-like eyes, and several council members rescued on Day 35.
  • On Day 35, a prisoner cart carried magically asleep or drugged captives including Lady Katherine Cole, the Elementarium, Mr TJ Biggins, Lady Katherine Neugate, Lord [uncertain: Harmock] Hayes, and Lady Yadreya Egrine.
  • Rescued council members had dried blood, eardrum injuries, deafness, and a pupa or large grub lodged in an ear canal.
  • Removing and killing Lady Cole’s grub restored her memories, ended the feeling that she was being watched, and revealed that affected prisoners had forgotten The Guilt was a council member and had been told not to trust him.
  • Lady Yadreya Egrine recognized the grubs from the menagerie, where experimental creatures had been going missing.
  • Day 36 showed a memory in which a dark elf dropped an ear grub into Icefang’s ear during a mage-table dispute with Browning, implying the same or similar memory-control method affected ancient wizard decisions.
  • Ruby Eye and Icefang’s memories had both been tampered with; the dark elf may have been from Envy’s apprentice.

Open Questions

  • Who in the Duke’s office authorized the off-the-books prisoners, and who knew the full truth?
  • What is the woman with a bag on her head doing in the operation?
  • Are the snake-bodied boss, Lady Envy, llamia, Noxia-linked serpent talisman, and memory grubs part of one faction?
  • Who used the grubs to erase The Guilt from council memory and turn council members against him?
  • Did the menagerie supply the grubs, lose them, or investigate them after the fact?
  • What happened to the remaining prisoners from Claymeadow, Stronghedge, Redford Point, Seaward, Gnoll, and the still-unidentified cells?
  • Who else among the old wizards or dragons had memories altered by ear-grub-like intervention?