"That's promising, though this Hierophant doesn't sound like a great guy." Astraden stands out of her chair. "See you . . . tomorrow, probably. You can always send Cymria to find us."
Once outside, she asks Cymria, "So, who's in town? Celeste? Eligos? Or are they all off researching and adventuring?"
When the party has crossed the bridge back to Magepoint, Astraden beckons Eben to follow and heads for the library. "So, the spell idea I have is to make a creature's skull speak with a small modicum of sentience, like the spell I use to talk to dead people, but with a permanent duration. Today what we want to do is comb through as many relevant books as we can and take a lot of notes. If we're leaving soon, we won't be able to use the library."
That evening, after a long day of research, she meets everyone back at [insert inn name here]. She tries to heal the wound Cuetzpalli took from the cursed mace, then tries to scry on the Harbinger's phylactery. She also attempts to identify some of the weapons the party collected in Kuluth-Mar.
"Eligos is in town," Cymria says. "Celeste is abroad again, following a major Ebon Triad lead. Also, I think you guys have a friend waiting for you at the inn. I checked her out—she seems legit. Calls herself 'Newt', or 'Caecilia', or something like that. Seems like she belongs more in a grim noir than whatever this is."
Astraden at last succeeds in healing Cuetzpalli of the cursed damage from Kardic's mace. She is unable to identify the mace itself, however, nor the bow. Marka's rapier is an exceptionally keen rapier with one very special property: When it strikes an especially critical blow, it is capable of releasing a burst of antimagic.
Hip, hop, lilypad, stop,
Under these lilies lies silly phylilies,
To stop the lichy's bad plot
Look under green lilies and kill ye a chilly.
Astraden recognizes one word from Diamond Lake slang: "Chilly" was a somewhat dated term for undead.
After about twenty seconds, the Harbinger reappears, now glimmering with a few added enchantments.
Cuetzpalli gives Astraden a warm hug when she heals his cursed wound. "Thank you, dear. Having that was getting really old..."
Realizing he should probably pay better attention, Cuetzpalli asks the group in general, "So, what all did we loot from that place again? If we're going to be facing gods and such, I feel like I should get my hands on some better protective gear."
Tanith frowns as he considers Cuetzpalli's suggestion. "I don't know. I feel like no matter how tough my hide gets and how many magical defensive trinkets I pick up we keep encountering stronger and stronger monsters."
"I wouldn't mind heading back to Greyhawk for a bit. I wonder how far along the temple's construction has gotten."
Tanith frowns as he considers Cuetzpalli's suggestion. "I don't know. I feel like no matter how tough my hide gets and how many magical defensive trinkets I pick up we keep encountering stronger and stronger monsters."
"Yeah," Cymria says, "weird how that happens."
"Well that may be...but I'm wearing a very basic cloak of protection, and carrying around a bunch of gold instead of spending it seems even more useless. I doubt I'm gonna find a better sword than the one Kord made for me, so that leaves more passive magic items on the shopping list."
Eben does his best to assist Astraden in the library, but quickly finds that he's over his head (no pun intended, ironically, given the nature of the magic she's researching) and mostly is relegated to carrying books about for her. During whatever downtime he has, he finds himself drifting towards sections of the library dealing with epic poetry, looking for what Forzamele is describing inside his head as 'the path of the Arrowsong'. He finds a few things, but gets the impression that he's going to have a long, long way to go before he can really learn this particular bit of bardic lore.
On the way back to the inn, he says to Astraden, "I don't know how much you'll need me for your spell, but tomorrow I want to make a run to Greyhawk to let Lowri know we're okay. I think I should be able to make it in less than a day using some shadow magic. Not anywhere near as fast as Ph'rexis's trip, but that may come eventually."
"Oh - newt? I think that's Zalamandra! Hey, Tanith, we might have a way for you to get to Greyhawk," Astraden says. "Let's see how powerful she is now."
Before beginning her research, Astraden visits the inn to reserve a room and meet this likely familiar visitor. If it is Zalamandra, she gives the entrepreneur a firm handshake and asks, "What are you doing all the way up here?"
That evening, Astraden returns Cuetzpalli's hug, smiling. "I'm glad I can help. If we have enough time here I'm going to make sure we have lots of scrolls so you don't end up in that scary rage state again. And yeah, we have the Knights' and the archons' weapons, plus the hullathoin's treasure. Not too much else, honestly."
"Speaking of the Knights' treasure, though, I know what Marka's rapier does - it can shatter spells. Pretty nasty. Honestly, it might be best used in the hands of someone like Tanith - I'm so busy casting spells these days that I don't really have the time to swing a pointy stick around. If no one else wants it, I'll probably save it, though. And I'm not sure what the other two weapons do."
After scrying on the Harbinger, Astraden carefully puts away her mirror and informs the others of what she's seen. "So yeah, I can't scry on the phylactery itself, but I saw the Harbinger in his room. He definitely seems to be a sorcerer. He also seems to have a good sense of when he's being scried on, which actually seems to be a good way to make him start laying down protections."
She runs back the library, hoping to catch Agath before he closes, and gets her Slaadi divination translation. Then she runs back to the inn, well after darkness has fallen. "I got a very cryptic riddle when I asked where the phylactery was. 'Hip, hop, lilypad, stop,/Under these lilies lies silly phylilies,/To stop the lichy's bad plot/Look under green lilies and kill ye a chilly.' I think the lilypads are either the worms, or the rock-islands in the Sea of Worms. Either way, it sounds like we need to kill an undead creature in that Sea, in order to get the phylactery. Which presents many unique problems, because it's gonna be a hell of an experience trying to dive into that 'sea.'"
"We might be able to send one of your animated objects under the water to search for it. Something like that would probably be immune to the worms. Don't know how effective that would be against an undead guardian, though."
"I can prepare the spell multiple times, though that rules out teleporting. At the least an animated object isn't going to be vulnerable to the sort of spells Barnos and co. were using on us," Astraden says.
"Is there some spell that could surround us with air or something? Make a bubble of force? Something to keep the worms off us?"
"Huh, good idea. I know there're some spells that make force bubbles, but they can't be moved, which somewhat restricts the utility. There's one that Rodrigo used to use that makes a cylinder of fire, and we could just like, exterminate all the worms within the cylinder. No, I don't really know of any spells that could do that for us. But, you're casting arcane magic now, so you're actually more qualified than me - any ideas on how we could get down there?"
"Well, in the meantime, I think I'd like to brew some potions for us." Carina taps her foot as she hangs around the others. "Specifically, some potions for understanding languages and some for seeing in the dark--those will likely be for Farrukh."
"But before that..." She stretches. "...a nice bath in the Nyr Dyv sounds like fun for me."
"I liked it when I could see in the dark. Still don't know why I can't any more."
"Well, you know the saying about -" Astraden makes a lewd gesture "- and going blind."
"I always heard "'hair on your palms' from my parents. I thought that sounded fun when I was younger, but I never managed to make it happen. Tried though."
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The group meets with Zalamandra at the All-Seeing Eye. "Robin O'Haranson somehow got appointed mayor," she says grimly. "I couldn't stay in Diamond Lake and watch him destroy everything I hold dear."
She holds that dour expression for a few seconds before revealing her familiar smirk. "Just kidding. I'm sure it will go very well—he has Allustan to guide him. But I've increasingly found that running the Emporium just isn't...diverting me like it used to."
Zalamandra walks over and leans back in one of the lounge chairs. "You see, I've always been dedicated to...fixing. I pulled myself out of murk and mire, I raised the Emporium from the pits to a respected establishment, I brought people and creatures who were different or unwanted, like MacTeague and Esmerelda, to a respectable line of work, and I made them fixtures in the community. Celebrities, even!" Her eyes were bright and lively as she speaks of the Emporium. "And I survived the Razing of Diamond Lake and rebuilt what was left in, if you'll excuse the entirely blatant narcissism, my own image.
"But now everything is ... mostly fine." She shrugs. "With Smenk finally dead, the other mine managers have lost their common enemy, and their influence wanes in the face of growing new factions. The Church of St. Cuthbert is normalizing, there's an Olidammaran faction sprouting up that's entirely dedicated itself to preventing anyone from taking absolute power ... it's not perfect, but the town is starting to become safe. Peaceful. Friendly.
"Boring.
"I want to be an underdog again." She holds up her normal hand dramatically. "I wish to be challenged, to be doing good in a bad place. And ... well, that's your job, isn't it? I want to help. Have you got any use for a fiendspawn sorceress?"
In the morning, Astraden performs a series of scryings, relating their information to those involved.
Alessia and the fiends avoid each other, it seems, and Astraden never gets more than passing glimpses. Lightning flashes above. She looks up and sighs as it begins to rain.
Astraden attempts to scry Spiny twice. The first time, she is surprised to feel a hardy will repel her. It seems Spiny does not want to be spied upon. After a few minutes, she casts a spell upon herself to heighten her magics and tries again, this time barely pushing through.
Astraden finds herself gazing upon a rocky hillock. Spiny stands crouched atop it. At first, though, Astraden almost doesn't recognize him. The dinosaur has grown enormous—perhaps even larger than Madteeth—and his enormous spine seems to have tripled in number, as two smaller crests now rise up around it. He is covered in scratches, most minor. Two deep gashes, however, have been scored in his side, and he also bears several burn marks. An enormous arrow—more like a ballista bolt—is embedded in his side. It is clear that the spinosaurus has been through an ordeal—perhaps multiple—but nonetheless he seems none the worse for wear.
Astraden watches Spiny for about a minute. Just as she is about to get bored and cancel the spell, he suddenly goes stiff. He lets out a low growl. At first, Astraden thinks he's looking at the scrying sensor. Then she realizes there must be something behind her point of view. The cleric waits, but the standoff between Spiny and his unseen foe continues, with Spiny slowly circling around, never leaving his hillock.
She hears something else letting out a low hiss. A lispy voice speaks. "Sssstho you are the Bloody Wraith."
Spiny lets out a snarl.
"You have entered the wrong hillssssth, my friend. Why? Why thissssth far north?" A ten-legged reptile covered in azure scales slithers into view. It is easily the size of Spiny, and probably a bit bigger. Unlike Spiny, its eyes glitter with a fell intellect.
Spiny only thrashes his head angrily. Astraden feels a pang from her magical connection and realizes that she's not sure how much longer is left in the spell's duration.
Spiny rushes forward without warning. The blue behemoth lets out a roar, its mouth crackling with electric energy, and releases a blast of lightning. Spiny ducks under, but cannot avoid the full blast. Nonetheless, he rams into the beast and sinks his teeth into the creature's tail. The monster lets out a shriek.
The image cuts out.
After revealing that she can teleport now, Zalamandra finds herself beset by half the party with requests to travel. "I feel like I should be charging for this, but I never say no to a visit to the Free City."
Eben stops by the Screaming Blade, meeting with several of the survivors of the illithid lair. Lowri is out on 'business' when Eben arrives, but she arrives an hour later, and is of course quite happily surprised to see him. This time, she treats him to a meal at a local goblin diner. "The food's okay," she says, ignoring the open melee breaking out the next table over between two goblin families, "but I mostly just like watching them cut the calamari to pieces. It's weirdly satisfying for some reason."
As the commotion dies down, she leans closer. "Okay, so look. I've been thinking. Remember how I was talking about starting my own business with the Champion's Games winnings? Well, I've been talking to contacts. I think I've found an artificer who...well, he's a bit weird, but he really wants to get out of Greyhawk for some reason. Something about doors opening and closing. What's important is he'll work cheap, by mage standards.
"There are some locations I'm thinking about. For some reason, this city called 'Alhaster' keeps coming up. Apparently it's a hot spot right now, and there's a lot of demand for good crafters with good connections. With everyone mentioning it, it almost feels like the Iron Mule himself wants me to go there. But...well, there's also this town called Magepoint. And I happen to know of a few really promising customers who I heard spend a lot of time there these days.
"What do you think?"
Rodrigo, as it turns out, has really done a lot to turn the neighborhood around, and there is now a playground in Midnight's Muddle. All of the rides have Rodrigo's likeness on them. Oddly, this hasn't detracted from its popularity, and children come in from other neighborhoods to play and mingle.
They meet with Rodrigo himself, though he claims to be 'exceptionally busy' these days. Rodrigo and Cuetzpalli meet, and it's really really awkward for some reason.
Afterward, they encounter Anlathi, who is still miserably apologizing for 'losing' Spiny. With the Kordian shrine's growth, her influence in the neighborhood has considerably lessened, but she confesses some relief at this—it was far more power than the druid of Obad-Hai had ever really wanted.
The rest of the day is mostly spent in research, as everyone has spells or abilities they wish to master or gain greater mastery over.
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Over lunch with Lowri, even more significant than Eben's catching her up on the groups adventures in the jungle, or her catching him up on her own business plans, is one significant fact.
"Wait... are you going to be working with Ph'rexis??" he asks incredulously. "I mean, okay, no doubt the guy does great work..." he indicates his set of intricately filigreed bracers, "But you are probably going to have to negotiate hard for a 'wear pants to work' policy..."
"Anyway..." he says, toying with something kind of horrifying looking on his plate. "In spite of your probably quite insane business partner, I'm totally behind you branching out on your own. If you need investors, I'm in, I might be able to talk some of the others into it as well. But so it's really funny. We're going to be headed north to Alhaster soon, we have a lead there we want to follow up on, and since it's closer than either Magepoint or Greyhawk to our next likely destination after that," He carefully doesn't mention that being either the Great Rift or the even less pleasant sounding Wormcrawl Fissure, because one revelation at a time. "We might be based out of there for a while too. But I don't know much about the place myself, yet. I can definitely recommend Magepoint, if you wanted to go there. Although there competition there for magic arms and armor might be a bit stiff."
"Yeah, I think I might scout both places out in advance. Don't wanna make any big decisions without knowing where I'm gonna end up."
Cuetzpalli smashes a few rocks in Tigri's cave, and plays with the kids on Rodrigo's playground. He finds it hard to relax with the whole Age of Worms things on his mind though. Once they return to Magepoint, he tries to spend some time with Astraden. "Wanna go out and get something to drink and eat?"
Astraden grins when Zalamandra delivers her spiel. "Actually, we were just thinking how nice it would be to get to Greyhawk without hours of horse-riding. If you've got a teleport spell now, you're in. If not, well . . . you're still in, of course. Glad to have you back!" She gives the backwards-wristed sorcerer a handshake-hug. "Now, what's this about Olidammarans in Diamond Lake . . . ?"
Once she's gotten all the non-gory details, Astraden heads out to the stable and tries to work out her tab. "Uh, we were gone . . . six days? I think? Wait, did I already pay you?" she asks the equally confused stable urchin. "Yeah, yeah, I did! You trying to scam me?" She winks, and gives the kid a gold piece. Then she gives Lynwerd a handful of oats and a good brushing, apologizing for the fact that the horse was now likely going to be completely replaced with Zalamandra in the party. "I've got a good retirement home idea, though."
The next day, she worriedly relays what she sees of Spiny to Cuetzpalli and the others. "He looked hurt. And that thing looked bigger than him. Zalamandra, is there any way you can teleport us uh, based on my description of a place that I've seen once? Hm."
"Sure! All-Seeing Eye, or somewhere else?" Astraden is happy to eat and drink with Cuetzpalli wherever he prefers, and spends the whole evening trying to make him groan with worm-themed jokes. "What do worms leave round their baths? The scum of the earth! What do you get if you cross a worm and an elephant? Very big worm holes in your garden! Wait, that one's just a factual event . . . this joke book Agath had is pretty weak." Unlike some of their previous dates, she drinks only modestly and savors the food. "Hey, you wanna go for a walk after this?" she asks.
Carina is actually quite surprised when Zalamandra returns, and even more so when she extends her offer of joining them on their quest. "Er..."
"...well, I don't see why not, ma'am." She feels her cheeks turning a deep blue. "It sounds like a good idea."
...and after what I saw from scrying on Mom, I'm starting to get even more worried about what lies ahead...
---------------------------
Most of Carina's time is spent in the room she and Tanith share, using her portable laboratory to mix together some potions that she believes will be useful in the trials ahead: some for seeing in the dark, and others for speaking and understanding any language. She takes time in between brewing the potions to wander about Magepoint getting some fresh air--after spending the better part of a month cooped up in her room brewing weapon blanches (an undertaking that part of her still resents Eben for putting upon her), she's learned to appreciate the refreshing feeling of sun on her face and wind in her hair.
Once or twice, she finds herself sneaking down to the banks of the Nyr Dyv and going for a swim. The water does wonders for her mood as she paddles about, helping her to forget the worm-riddled horrors beyond death she's seen in the past few weeks.
I suspect I'll need all the relaxation I can get.
Zalamandra reaches forward and picks up a few hard toffees, examining them quizzically in her backwards wrist. "Oh, the Olidammarans. Well, it all started with this strange halfling fellow. He calls himself Maraca, or something like that. He showed up in town and set up a sort of, well, cult. A lot of the initial rioters—mostly the young people, really—began to listen to him talking about the dangers of restrictive governing, and how the managers couldn't be trusted. I was a little worried at first, but..." She shrugs. "After a while, I came to realize he was just another Wierus. Different ideas, different preachings, different clothes, that's all. He's a fighter for the common folk, albeit a rather unsettling one. No offense if he's a friend of yours, of course—he simply seems a little bit...radical. Still, I think he can be kept from trying to burn it all down as long as he thinks he's still being listened to." She smirks. "That I and the new mayor are both friends of yours has kept him fairly receptive, I believe."
When Astraden asks about teleporting, Zalamandra grimaces. "Oh, perhaps. Do you know where it was? You need a fairly specific location, darling, even with scrying. If you could point it to me on a map, maybe."
"Hah, Maraca? That's not a familiar name. You don't mean 'Raddle,' do you? He's not likely to burn much down, I think. More focused on the revelry aspect over the chaos one. If it is Raddle, I'm glad he stuck around, though."
Astraden thinks hard. "Well, we saw him near a lake or an ocean a while ago . . . and this seems pretty far north . . . I'll see if Cymria has a map I could borrow? But I guess that wouldn't do much for helping him against this other dinosaur. Oh well. He's big now. I'll scry again tomorrow, see how he's doing."
"What if Astraden described the location, and I made an illusion to fit her description? And then she can talk me through fine-tuning it until it's basically an exact replica. Would that be good enough to teleport there?"
"Oh, well... we're probably not headed up that way for a little while. A few weeks maybe. We've got some stuff to do in Magepoint, my talking bowstring is making me take a bunch of lessons on magic and archery, and then we have to make one last trip back to the jungle to, well, kill this ancient evil lich we kind of left behind imprisoned there. So if you want to tie up your own business here in that time, you can come to Magepoint and then to Alhaster with us."
"Well, we've got enough spells to give it a shot today, I think. It was a rocky hillock . . ." Astraden describes the hillock as best she can, and then corrects Eben's illusion in real time.
"Now, the problem is, I haven't prepared more than the absolute basic spells. If we port in there right now, I'm going to be fairly useless, though I can probably heal Spiny and maybe bring him back to life if he's been killed. I know Carina will have a similar issue with extracts prepared. Is everyone else basically ready to fight, though?"
"Oh, MacTeague." Zalamandra shakes her head. "The trouble is, even if I'd done the scrying myself, I would still only have seen about a twenty-foot radius area, right?" She glances at Astraden for confirmation. "And that's the problem. Seeing a subject isn't enough—you need at least some idea of its position. It's why scry-and-fry tactics don't work as well on traveling targets."
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"Sure! All-Seeing Eye, or somewhere else?" Astraden is happy to eat and drink with Cuetzpalli wherever he prefers, and spends the whole evening trying to make him groan with worm-themed jokes. "What do worms leave round their baths? The scum of the earth! What do you get if you cross a worm and an elephant? Very big worm holes in your garden! Wait, that one's just a factual event . . . this joke book Agath had is pretty weak." Unlike some of their previous dates, she drinks only modestly and savors the food. "Hey, you wanna go for a walk after this?" she asks.
"Doesn't matter to me where," Cuetzpalli says, following her to the Eye. Cuetzpalli chuckles at some of her jokes, mostly for how cheesy they are. He tells her stories about his time in the afterlife, and his youth in the jungle. He follows her lead, and doesn't get too drunk. On her offer of taking a walk, he smiles and nods. "That sounds great." He hesitantly reaches out to hold her hand as they begin to stroll.
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Astraden sighs. "Alright. Well, we'll just have to hope he's safe. Spiny's smarter than some dogs I've met. Hopefully he can tell that he doesn't need to fight this other dinosaur thing."
During her evening with Cuetzpalli, Astraden is at first tentative in her questions about his early life - she doesn't want to bring up bad memories. She's much more outgoing on the subject of the afterlife. "So did you smash rocks in Ysgard too? I only remember . . . lots of drinking, and music, in Winesong. And walking with you, of course. A little less strenuous, haha."
During their walk, she leads him east along the shore of the Nyr Dyv, out of the nightlife of Magepoint and past houses and shops whose lights have been turned out. After a good hour of walking, the two of them are on a promontory overlooking the dark lake. "It's nice out here. Kind of lonely. Kind of cold, after Kuluth-Mar! But nice." She looks westward at the town. "I have to know - when you came back, did you come back only because it was Kord's will? Do you feel the same as when you were first alive, with the endless suffering - even after a day like today, with no conflict except consummating your apparent vendetta against rocks? You can tell the truth, I'm just - just trying to understand how the world I love connects to yours."
"I feel a lot better since coming back actually. It's like after dying I was able to put my past behind me. Some day I'll die again and then I'll just end up back in Ysgard, which is not such a bad thing. Then we have this important mission we're on to save the world..." Cuetzpalli shrugs. "It also didn't seem right walking out on you guys. Kord made me see that. I need to stick this out to the end, whatever that may be for me. I did miss you though. Did you miss me?"
"That's good. I mean, I could see how you would still feel the way you did when I saw you in Ysgard, since the whole time in Kuluth-Mar was kind of just endless fighting and sleeping in a dirty cave, but I'm glad you're with us for this." Astraden leans against Cuetzpalli, and smirks. "Of course I missed you, you goof. It was like I got back to the Material Plane and there was this piece of me that they missed when they regenerated my body. I wanted to say 'Hey Anlathi you f!$&ed up the spell, my heart's made of bricks instead of heart-flesh,' but I knew what was causing it. And I tried to like, numb the pain with the promise I made to you. That I'd make the world safe, and bring you back. But now that you're back and the world's not safe, I feel like a new promise is in order. How about, 'The only thing that dies from now on is Kyuss?'"
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...immediately, I could tell that these two were special. Fair Carina and rugged Tanith, two sides of the same coin—a coin I could not help but desire. I could sense their passion, could see their destiny radiating around them like rays of light shattering against their skin. And so I decides to introduce the pair, who were quite new at the time to the world of adventuring, to the Champion's Games.
I knew they were not ready then, of course. Tanith was affronted when I suggested as such, but it was the affront of a brash young man. Too young, perhaps—but what are years to a noble genie? I knew my words of caution would only goad him to greater heights. It was their destiny to compete, and mine to guide them down that road. They were born contenders, but they needed a mentor to show them the way.
I had no idea, though, just how far their star would rise from my little nudge.
...
...it would be but a single spiral of the moon's fair face before I would see Spiny's Six again. This time, it was at a house of chance and fortune, the noble cathedral of Norebo, when I met a dark and mysterious stranger with a salty sense of humor and a razor-sharp relationship with Lady Luck. I felt an immediate kinship with Farrukh Al'Khatel, and though I did not know his connection to the fiery undine and towering Kordian from the bakery, I could tell he, too, was destined for greatness. It was because of this that I must confess my attention was not on the cards or the dice that day—my eyes never left his, and I fear that watchful gaze entirely prevented me from my usual tricks.
...
Part II: The Feast
...It was with nothing short of delight when I spotted Farrukh, Carina and Tanith attending the great feast of the Champion's Game. I could tell that Carina's and Tanith's relationship, which I had initially recognized as a blossoming romance, was beginning to take shape, for when I greeted Tanith with uncommon warmth I saw her hands fly to her vials as if afraid I would spirit him away right then and there.
Ah, but once again I was spellbound. They had grown so much since our early meetings. Tanith had clearly learned a great deal from my words of advice, and the prospect of being able to challenge me clearly had him excited—perhaps too excited. They do say that the truest affection lies in the thrill of competition, and I was honored that day to know I had made three worthy friends—and perhaps, one day, somethings more than friends.
But I must not forget their companions. A pair of bards, Rodrigo and Eben, noble allies and chroniclers for Spiny's Six. Is there any profession nobler? I have greatly missed the thrill of battle, but as I always say, the pen is mightier than the sword, and cuts cleaner. Astraden was always the puzzle—Olidammara is a joyous deity, but I have never met a cleric of his whose thought process was easy to grasp. She spent the whole night trying to get me to divulge my tactics for the game. She knew the danger I posed, and her keen mind, like her keen rapier, sought an easy path forward. But I was never her enemy, in truth. Just a friend. A competitive friend!
When it began to rain in that terrible storm, they were at a loss. I kept it in perspective, of course. "Are we on the Elemental Plane of Water?" I joked. Smiles cracked on their faces. I was happy to keep their spirits light throughout the night.
...
Part III: The Coenoby
...and what luck! We were to share a room! I could tell that Tanith was every bit as startled as I was. I was delighted by the opportunity to get to know them better...
...Astraden and Eben were cheating like the dickens. Of course, so was I, and oh, were they not worthy adversaries!. What a shame we weren't betting anything. I'm pretty sure I could have won Farrukh's scimitar that night...
...passions blossomed, sparks became flames, skin touched skin...
...the chronicler Rodrigo nobly lingered to record the events between the two fair adventurers. How many of us likely envied him...
...technically, according to the wardens, there was no rule saying a gladiator pair couldn't have sex in the middle of the Coenoby...
There is a rule saying it now.
Farrukh notices that there's an awful lot of detail—most of it almost definitely conjecture, since he knows Korush was playing cards all night—about Carina's and Tanith's time together.
Part IV: The Bloodbath
...Ah, what an honor it was to declare my alliance with Spiny's Six! I was thrilled—it was my pleasure to help those young adventurers find their way in what would prove a bloody battle indeed.
Farrukh notices that the details on the battle itself become extremely sparse when discussing Korush's defeat. It's more-or-less glanced over, and there is some implication that Korush threw the fight deliberately, that his summoned mounts were tampered with, that the announcer kept distracting him, that the winds were against him, and/or that he'd simply been dazzled by the beauty of his opponents.
Part V: Foiled Again
My mood was dour for the next few days after, my mind aglow with thoughts both bright and dark. I sensed trouble coming—some evil beneath the Coenoby, some corruption in Loris Raknian's aching heart. It was with these concerns that I left the band with a warning: That as I was no longer in the Games, it would be up to them to continue where I had left off, and finish what I had started. I prayed they would be up for the task, and I feared for my beloved Gem of the Flanaess.
Part VI: Aftermath
This segment is much shorter than the rest. It touches on Korush's meeting with Farrukh at the Golden Palette, giving a warm and surprisingly truthful account of the exchange. It describes the departure of Korush's cavaliers. Then, however, it becomes slightly uncharacteristic as Korush begins to write about a strange encounter on the road about a month after.
Korush describes his meeting with a very well-dressed, very pale gentleman accompanied by half a dozen hooded figures and one person with a wide-brimmed hat and "firebrands at their sides". They'd been traveling at night, as Korush and his "small quantity of retainers" had been out hunting down a group of wraiths that had arisen near a once-well-guarded shrine to Fharlanghn. The gentleman had kept very respectful, but decidedly on his guard. Once Korush had mentioned his own minor noble blood, however, the gentleman had doffed his hat and identified himself as "the Marquis".
He flashed a funny smile when I told him of the danger. "I don't fear such petty things," he said. "Why don't I walk with you? I haven't had any real warm-blooded company since I met Eben's and Astraden's little group."
"You know Eben and Astraden?" I was astounded. "Where are you from, 'Marquis'?"
"Ravenstone." This was not a land I was familiar with, and even now, no map I can find confirms the existence of such a place. "And yes, I know them. More or less. I hope to meet them again someday. They did me a great service." There was an air in his words that I didn't quite like—a certain sense of foreboding, if not outright menace.
We never did find the wraiths, though we did find the shrine, along with seven empty-eyed bodies, with no marks indicating a cause of death. Two priests and five travelers lay dead before the shrine that must have seemed like a sanctuary. Overcoming my revulsion to the sorry scene, I asked the young Pelorian cleric who'd accompanied me to work a small spell to detect the presence of undead. The moment she completed the spell, she let out a squeak of pure terror and dropped her holy symbol.
The Marquis glanced back. "Problem?" he asked.
After a long pause, she recovered enough to stoop and pick up the symbol. "None," she said, her voice taut. But later, after we had parted ways with the Marquis of Ravenstone, she confided in me: "They were all undead. Every one of them. Powerful undead."
I fear for my friends. They have not been seen in the public eye for some time as I write this. And if they are reading this now, I would say to them: You seem to be involved in something terrible. Be very careful.
That night back at the inn Farrukh reads most of the articles with a sense of light amusement (out loud to any of the group that will stick around to hear), even (or especially) at the embellished parts.
"Man, Korush really knows how to spin a tale. He even somehow made that whole Coenoby thing sound barely messy and awkward at all!"
That is, until he reaches the final chapter and he takes on a grimmer expression as he reads. Upon finishing:
"Yeah, I figured that was going to bite us at some point. We can probably handle the guy better now though. Should we take a detour to track down the Marquis?"
That night, when Carina comes downstairs for dinner and a break from brewing, she listens politely to the articles Farrukh has.
Well, up until the... affair in the Coenoby. When she hears him read it out, her eyes go wide and her face drains of colour. "Er--uh--oh, my--um... oh, that..."
...now they know EVERYTHING!
"...just continue."
Then Farrukh reads the bit about the Marquis. Her face is no longer drained of colour, but now a furious glare. "...I think we should. Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit F+~~!" She punches the arm of her chair.
A week goes by. Astraden is able to scry Spiny the next day, and confirms him to be alright—but heavily injured. He seems oddly driven to be on the move, but she can't tell where he's heading. From his shadow, she is fairly certain he is going west or northwest.
More loot identification goes by, and the last few items are recognized. Shopping, the adventurers' constant, is carried out. Eben and Zalamandra return to Greyhawk, and this time Lowri comes back with him—for entirely business-related purposes, of course, as she needs to survey Magepoint to see if it would work for her business.
With Zalamandra's help, Astraden is able to pursue visits to each of her relations, with one key exception: The bandit camp lies unused and abandoned, looking as though it hasn't been occupied for months. Scrying on Svender or Rindi yields the curiously tranquil image of the two of them sitting atop a grassy cliff, each holding fishing poles over the edge. They both seem lost in thought.
Lambere has been recovering well. They still seem to resent having to rely on her help, however. Diamond Lake continues to rebuild, but she meets with Raddle, who indeed has founded a growing cult mainly made up by the disaffected youths of Diamond Lake.
Adamantine chain shirt: +1.
Brass wand styled to resemble a dead tree: Wand of barkskin (42 charges).
Pair of snug leather gloves: Gloves of arrow snaring.
Kardic's Clay Mace: A unique +1 heavy mace crafted from the severed arm of some ancient form of clay golem. Damage dealt by the mace is cursed, and cannot be healed without a Caster Level check. Priced as though a +3 weapon.
Barnos's White Bow: A +1 unholy composite IX longbow.
Marka's Double Rapier: Priced as though a +4 weapon.
However, all three weapons are found to radiate evil auras, though no innate malice can be found in their handiwork. Because of this, unless the party is willing to sell them to evil individuals, the value of each weapon is effectively reduced by 1 enhancement bonus. So, Marka's is treated like it's a +3 weapon, Barnos's is priced like it's +2, etc.
Barnos and Kardic both wore suits of +2 full plate, while Marka just wore a +1 chain shirt. They all also possessed rings of protection +2.
Astraden and Zalamandra do a lot of eyebrow-waggling when Farrukh reads the Coenoby section.
She scoffs when Farrukh finishes. "Hmm, yes, what made you think helping the Marquis would bite us later? Perhaps the fact that he is a ghoul?" Astraden says with teeth bared for demonstration.
"I'm fine with another detour, since y'all are willing to go kill the lich with me. And we don't want any more Fharlanghn priests, or any other people, getting massacred by this a&&%%~@. But next time we kill the undead when they try to offer us a deal, right?"
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"With as many bombs as I can carry, Astraden."
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"That's good. I mean, I could see how you would still feel the way you did when I saw you in Ysgard, since the whole time in Kuluth-Mar was kind of just endless fighting and sleeping in a dirty cave, but I'm glad you're with us for this." Astraden leans against Cuetzpalli, and smirks. "Of course I missed you, you goof. It was like I got back to the Material Plane and there was this piece of me that they missed when they regenerated my body. I wanted to say 'Hey Anlathi you f%%%ed up the spell, my heart's made of bricks instead of heart-flesh,' but I knew what was causing it. And I tried to like, numb the pain with the promise I made to you. That I'd make the world safe, and bring you back. But now that you're back and the world's not safe, I feel like a new promise is in order. How about, 'The only thing that dies from now on is Kyuss?'"
"How about the only thing that stays dead is Kyuss? I can't guatantee one of us won't fall again given our track record..."
" But next time we kill the undead when they try to offer us a deal, right?"
"You're telling me this isn't preferable to having to deal with Flycatcher nasally whining craziness?"
"This still seems like the better outcome in both the short and long term. We had an excuse to kill both of them."
Tanith doesn't pay much attention to Korush's biography except to chuckle briefly at the description of his and Carina's noisy coupling in the crowded Coenoby.
He becomes noticeably more interested with the Marquis is mentioned and nods in agreement when Carina and Astraden seem moved to violence. "Are there any dates attached to that meeting? If it wasn't too long along we could visit the shrine and see if the bastard left a trail Farrukh can follow."
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"Fair enough. Always come back, Cuetzpalli. I need you."
Astraden delivers the news of Spiny's survival to the party. "Well, he looks okay, and he's in a different place. From the shadows I could see it looked like he was running northwest-west, so given that I saw him near a lake he might have gone up along the western shore of the Nyr Dyv?" She points to the rough map of the region that she bought from Cymria for a pound of gold. "Might be in this 'Kingdom of Furyondy' now, or even further north. Cuetzpalli, you got any idea why he'd be going off so purposefully?"
She's a little less active in her pursuit of Svenser. She feels ashamed of leading him into trouble, getting him hurt, getting him captured by bandits, getting Rindi killed. If he's out of the camp - if he's peaceful - that's better than anything she can offer him now. And besides, facing him now after all this time away (even if it's only been a few months, it feels like years) would be too hard. Brummis, too - she realizes now that he deserved a chance to get free of the life, even if it jeopardized her own chance. She's glad he's free, but she won't bother him now. Plus, she doesn't want to attract Zyrxog's attention any more than necessary.
She is happy to see Lambere thriving, and when in Greyhawk on another theater date with Cuetzpalli orders some "non-frog based alcohol" be sent to the village care of Ma Rastophan. She also orders several casks wine for Diamond Lake, to be delivered to Raddle and to be distributed around town by the cult. When she visits Diamond Lake, she makes annoyingly cryptic hints about "the grace of Olidammara visiting this town." She introduces Raddle to Zalamandra and Robin, though they have likely already met, and has an awkward midafternoon lunch with the three of them (and anyone else in the party who wants to join) out at her house, in which she tries to force them all to make friends. Rillikandren just kind of boggles and goes back to work.
Judging by Korush's framing, it seems the encounter took place about a month ago.
When Astraden meets Raddle, he takes her aside at some point. "People been in town," he says. "Over the last month, I think. Mostly humans, miner-looking folk, never the same face twice. They're good. Quiet. Come off as curious, real respectful. I only noticed the seventh time someone turned up, and they haven't turned up since. That was a few weeks ago.
"They were asking all sorts of questions about you. Tanith. Carina. Not so much about the other three. Personal questions. You're gettin' cased, girl. You got any enemies'd be asking about you?" The last question is said in a deadpan tone. Clearly, Raddle takes Astraden's enemies for granted.
Eben gets a touch defensive. "Well, in all fairness, Moretto was the one being nice and reasonable, and Flycatcher was the one who'd kidnapped Robin. So, yeah, I can't really regret the way things went down. I dunno, maybe Korush is playuing it up for drama, and making it sound more sinister than it is. I mean, not like he was there for the Carina & Tanith sexfest, but he makes it sound like he was, so clearly, he's an unreliable narrator. Maybe Moretto just wants to meet up again because we're so interesting."
One night of the week, before headed to bed, he asks Astraden to prepare an extra remove disease or two for the next day. When asked why, he just smiles and says "Reasons." At breakfast the next day, he comes down to the table, produces one of the glass tubes with the knowledge worms in it, cracks the top of the thing off against the table and sticks the worm in his ear. "Don't magic this out unless things start going really bad..." is the last thing he says before tilting his head to the side to let the worm drop straight down.