- in terms of Hellknight priests within Fort Inevitable there wasn't much of a presence before the latest influx of the Order of the Nail - maybe there are some clerics now but to interact with them would require some level of access to the Citadel, something which is refused to Ea now... as to the wider Hellknight community, it is mainly the Order of the Godclaw, led by Lictor Ountor, where the religious zealots amongst the Hellknights tend to swear allegiance...
The Chancery is as snow laden as the rest of the buildings within the town walls, a heavy blanket lies across the roof whilst drifts pile up against the most exposed of the walls... and nowhere is there any sign of melt; no icicles nor slush on the most travelled of the thoroughfares - it seems that winter has set in hard... there are at least, in a stark contrast to Royst's house (and indeed a number of other properties through the town), signs of life. Through the gloom of the morning, lanterns around the building burn with a red glow and several plumes of smoke spiral into the air from the chimneys that jut from the roof...
...even before the friends can knock or announce themselves, the door swings open and a disembodied voice (clearly an arcane effect) invites the group to come through to the library. Remembering the rough layout of the building from their last visit, so long ago now, Yasmin leads the friends through to the surprisingly grand room... where, standing near to an open hearth with a fire roaring, Signifer Hast is waiting. A smile curls his lips, "I had heard you had returned... the Maralictor was hasty to declare you lost to the Spire, it served his purposes for you to be dead - indeed, your reappearance is probably a loss of face for him..."
"A lot has passed since you were last here - and little of it to the good. I am no acolyte of the Lady Commander, it's no secret that we differ in our views, but the Maralictor is a far worse yoke for this town to labour beneath... those who had the means to leave before winter set in moved to Thornkeep or beyond - pretty soon this will be nothing more than a Hellknight garrison". The Signifer stops for a moment, "Where are my manners? I apologise... can I offer you a drink? Some food maybe? ...and, if you don't mind me asking, your numbers seem depleted... Murassa? Did he not return?"
Even Ea gives a chuckle at Yasmin words...
Now that you point it...I never realised. We should find a brown haired girl to recruit next.
"Don't some Ulfen have white hair? And a lot of Chelish have black hair," Tot ponders as they walk.
Tot looks around, impressed with the library. Given the weather and the warm crackling fire, she could see herself curling up with a good book and a mug of something warm. Signifier Hast's question about Murassa snaps her back to the task at hand.
"No, we do not know where he has gone. He disappeared in the tomb of some Sarenrite heretic," she answers, an uneasy look on her face as she recalls what happened, and what happened afterward. She hunches her shoulders and grabs her arms in a vain attempt to keep from shaking.
After making sure her voice wouldn't crack with fear or waver with terror, the diminutive hellknight asks, "Signifire Hast, would the Lady Commander or Maralictor Wolfheim listen to you if you talked to them?"
"I've heard that Irrisen witches have white hair. But I'm not sure I'd want to see one of them here!"
* * *
"I think we'll take something to drink," suggests Yasmin, as Titania launches into discussion. Accepting a little courtesy would hopefully help as they launched into a challenging discussion. Once they've settled in a little, Yasmin asks a question of her own.
"I think we have two problems. One is that by order of the Hellknights, we are not allowed to travel to the Spire. Now, I'm not sure how much the Maralictor would try to do if we went anyway, especially if we denied it--it's not like he has anyone near the entrance to see. The other problem is bigger, the problem we all seem to share. Fort Inevitable is failing, and that pains me because this is the closest thing I have to a home now. It seems to me that if our disappearance launched Wolfheim into power, then our re-appearance might naturally do the reverse, no?" Yasmin was leery of speaking openly treasonous words, but that was certainly the direction she wanted to go.
Signifer Hast, a gracious host offering spiced wine or coffee to the group dependent upon preference, considers Titania's question, "Thus far the Maralictor has sought my counsel on a number of matters relating to the arcane... I suppose there is a chance that I would be able to influence him if I could convince him that a particular course of action was in his favour... exactly what did you have in mind?"
...and then, as Yasmin turns the topic of conversation back to the Spire, he nods in understanding, "If it is permission to get out to the Spire that you are after, you'd be as well asking the stone walls of the Citadel... he won't allow anyone to venture into the Echo Woods. His decree is, at least publicly, to reduce the risk of any reprisal against the Fort... but, if I were to talk off of the record, I believe he has an ulterior motive. The magicks that Signifer DiViri believed were present in the Spire, lawfully aligned magicks... that's what he's truly after".
The Signifer seems comfortable talking openly against the Maralictor, maybe even more so than he previously did against the Lady Commander...
"An excellent vintage," remarks Yasmin, taking a sip of the fine wine. "So it makes sense now, he wants the power for himself. But who is he sending into the Spire? When we came, there was a camp full of dead Hellknights. Hardly an effective way to conduct a search. Have any of them made headway within?"
She then considers the situation, and what Hast might want. "Surely the Order of the Gate is not sitting idly while the Order of the Nail bumbles its attempts to gain these magics?" Yasmin leans in, trying to gauge by the Signifier's reaction what plans the Order of the Gate had in this arena.
Signifer Hast, for the first time, seems slightly agitated, "I have entreated the Order to stake a claim here... if there are magicks within the Spire it would be better that the Order of the Gate lead any expedition to retrieve it. But none will dare challenge the word of Severs DiViri, it is he that has decreed that the Order of the Nail has primacy in Fort Inevitable and that the other orders here, the Gate and the Pike, will respect the chain of command".
A wicked smile then curls his lips, "The Order of the Gate cannot act... but maybe someone outside of the Hellknight orders could do so?" As the words - and the inference - hang there, the signifer is definitely looking toward Titania with a quizzical look...
"You can trust Titania," interjects Yasmin as she notices the stare. "Her loyalties do not lie with the Maralictor."
Yasmin gives Titania an opportunity to speak for herself before pressing on with her own topic of interest.
"Suppose lawfully-aligned magic exists, and someone outside the Hellknight orders were to find it. How does that help? If it is destroyed, the Order of the Nail may just keep searching in vain. If it is retrieved, the Order of the Nail will not look kindly on those who seized it from their grasp. Why is everyone so sure this thing exists, anyway? We've not seen evidence of it, and we have traveled a long ways down the Spire."
"Can one even leave an order," Titania asks at the look Signifier Hast gives her as she looks down at the steaming mug of coffee with cream and sugar. "However much I may be despised and however low my rank is for the years I've served, I'm still a member of the Order of the Nail," she states, "I don't even know if I'd be allowed to leave, much less what I would have to do in order to be able to leave without being hunted the rest of my life."
With a calm voice, Ea speaks
Has DiViri magical means of healing his troops? Most notably, does he have the means to call the deceased back to life? It's against my personal beliefs-not religious,just personal-but if Pharasma herself allows our prayers to be answered, it seems to me that the Fate of this individual isn't completed. Being able to call back his important, trusted officers from the dead could be a powerful weapon. Losing this ability, and potential allies...could damage his position. So I think he should listen to Titania's request with an already favorable ear.
We just won't give them an option to not let you leave the Order, Titania...they obviously do not care about you...or us, for that matter. You're one of u, now.
Ea's line of questioning comes to an abrupt end, "Lictor DiViri has powerful magicks to call upon... It was he that despatched the signifers that brought Chaid DiViri back from the dead. But he isn't here... he's at Citadel Vraid, thousands of miles from here in Korvosa... he's of no use to you". As to the source of the magicks, Signifer Hast seems convinced that there is a truth in it, "Before she was lost in the Spire, and before you brought her back, Signifer DiViri and I were able to discuss her findings... the auras that she divined - they were quite convincing... whatever it is that is down there, it's deep... far below the surface'.
Returning to the topic of Titania's allegiance to the Order of the Nail, "There may be something... a change of allegiances maybe?"
"To what? You said someone outside of the Hellknight Orders, so that rules all of them out. How would changing my allegiance help me break free of them?"
Putting down her wine glass, Yasmin leans in to hear what Signifier Hast was suggesting.
"It's a risky strategy... and Titania, I do not presume to suggest that you should cease being a Hellknight - your faith in Asmodeus is still strong?" the Signifer arches his eyebrow as he asks the somewhat leading question. "No, I meant more that Yasmin, Rallos and Ea could slip from Fort Inevitable - possibly having 'stolen' something from the Chancery... and that I would need despatch someone to bring them back. I could sequester Titania into the Order of the Gate for the task. Of course, it would need the appearance of a genuine theft. That is where the plan becomes challenging - Rallos, Ea and Yasmin would be wanted criminals until such a time as I can bargain for clemency..."
Hast pauses for a moment, "However you proceed from here, the moment that you head into the Echo Woods, you become criminals... this way, we can get Miss Thrune out of Fort Inevitable without her being branded deserter". The word 'deserter' hang there... the inference of retribution and punishment for such a heinous crime unspoken...
Yasmin struggles to suppress a frown at Hast's strategy. "I find the thought of being a criminal twice over to be rather unpleasant. Do we really need to be so dramatic about it? What if we just say we're taking a journey to Thornkeep? You send Titania along to "make sure" we don't stray from our plan?"
If there is no other way, I suppose that is workable. Rallos ponders for a moment before continuing. A thought...what if you sent us; Titania included; with a "message" you need delivered? That way we do not attract the unnecessary attention of the Order, and we still get Titania out of here....just thinking off the top of my head...
Titania looks down into her cup, watching the swirling patterns of steam rising from her tea. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on something far away and long past. She’d been taught that Hell was the perfect model for society. Each person had their place in the regimented hierarchy and things went smoothly so long as everyone performed their role.
In reality, things were not so simple. She’d seen subordinates backstab superiors so that they might take their place. She’d seen men and women who were more than capable of doing the job passed over for promotion in favor of someone with better political connections. She’d seen comrades purged just because of who they were related to. The order and discipline was a thin veneer over a chaotic, tangled web of alliances, betrayals, and rivalries. She’d turned her eyes from it. She’d even aided it by torturing those that had been accused of heresy, dereliction of duty, desertion, and other trumped up charges. Some of those had even been those same comrades.
And for what? Survival? To maintain order? To do her duty?
No, she sees it clearly now. The petty, hollow sense of superiority over the “soft and weak” faiths and the sadistic games played solely to build one’s powerbase were all laid bare and she found herself disgusted with what she was a part of and what she’d done. The company she was with now, Yasmin, Rallos, and Ea, cared for her. They accepted her, fears and all. After the fight with the worms deep in the spire, they had seen her at her weakest, and had accepted her.
No one had ever done that before, not even in her family.
”No,” she answers Signifier Hast, ”my faith was never great to begin with, but after seeing what is happening, knowing the chaos that will result if Maralictor Wolfhiem does not work to end the threat of the undead attacking with all of his strength, and watching as Fort Inevitable dies, I have none. Even if the Maralictor were to allow me to transfer to another order, the moment he discovers I have stepped foot into the Spire, he’ll have the inquisitors ready.”
She looks up and smiles sadly at the signifier.
”That’s even assuming that he’ll waive his order that I not leave the fort. I’ve been placed on enforced leave. I am to make myself available for transfer as required. I think we both know what’s coming,” she says, her mind now clear enough to see the possibilities that lay before her. ”If I’m lucky, I’ll be reassigned somewhere. If not, well… I don’t think the inquisitors will care much where I’ve been.”
I won't be a pawn between various Hellknight factions. We've seen how the Hellknight punish outlawry. We don't need to be another target. What we do in the Spire helps the Hellknights keeping order in the Fort and around, they don't have to divise their forces. Titania will join us, face the same risk we do and grab her share of treasure and glory, if any. If she succeed, the prestige of the Hellknights rise. If we fail, she can be blamed, as we all will be. It's simple like that. The Hellknight see her as disposable? We see her as a valuable ally, and a strong and competent fighter. Nearly everything we have done benefited the Hellknight and the Fort so far. We took every risk in the Spire, while they just have to wait for our return, sitting on their a$$es. It's time they give a little back.
The tone is fierce, even if the words are as diplomatic as Ea would bother
As an alternative plan is proposed, "The Maralictor has the woods under surveillance - it will be difficult, but not impossible, to get to the Spire without it being known about... A cover story of travelling to Thornkeep - maybe with a message to the Goldenfire Order - would not be too difficult to construct. There were, after all, many making the same journey before the snows came", Hast smiles, "Yes... I apologise if my plan seemed overly dramatic - I always did favour the excitement of the show!!! I believe I can co-opt Titania into the Order of the Gate temporarily and have her accompany the rest of you - it will ruffle feathers but no matter... you should leave before nightfall though - the longer you tarry, the more chance there is of the Maralictor finding ways to occupy Titania... or indeed, all of you".
For now, Signifer Hast makes no comment about Titania's state of mind, her faith nor her willingness to remain loyal to the Hellknight orders... he does however arch an eyebrow as Ea speaks out, "You are determined then... get to the Echo Woods before nightfall and I shall do what I can to disrupt the Maralictor's observations of the Spire..."
Yasmin nods in agreement as the Maralictor signs on to her proposed deception. "No need to apologize, I rather like dramatic flair myself! But everything you suggest sounds helpful. If you'll arrange the message, we can be on our way this afternoon. Maybe we'll even stop by Thornkeep at some point, it would certainly aid the deception and I've been meaning to visit ever since arriving here. Remind me, how many days' travel is it to Thornkeep? That might help us to mark time properly."
"I guess that settles it then," Titania says. She wasn't at all comfortable about this, and she was certain that no matter what, the Maralictor would try to make it look like she'd deserted.
===
After leaving Signifier Hast and the Order of the Gate, Titania heads back to her room at the inn. She gathers her things, but stops as she is about to walk out. She hesitantly moves her hand to where the symbol of Asmodeus hangs under her armor. A question pops into her mind. Should she even wear it? Should she wear anything that marks her as a hellknight?
Several minutes later, she walks out the door, the symbols that identified her as a hellknight left on the nightstand of her room.
"It is settled then!!! I shall make the necessary arrangements... if we are to make this work then it would be preferable that you leave through via the Juliver gate to the east. There's an officer normally manning that gate, who I can influence... And that's pretty much the way to Thornkeep anyway. As to how long a journey that would be? With the snows, it is probably a three day hike... make sure you look like you're prepared for the journey", Hast starts to usher the group from the Chancery, "That old fool Royst? He's down there somewhere... In the depths. Do me a favour? Bring him back will you?"
"I'll do my best," Tot promises the Signifier before she leaves.
"Believe me, when it comes to rescuing Abenard Royst, you and I very much want the same thing." Yasmin finishes her wine, takes whatever "message" is being sent by Hast to the Goldenfire Order, and makes her farewells.
Soon enough, she is ready to go. As they prepare to leave the Julliver, Yasmin says (perhaps a bit too loudly) "Let's get to it, then, shall we? Thornkeep awaits!"
After they group leaves the chancery, Rallos heads to the market.
Got to make it look like we're heading to Thornkeep, right? May as well tell a few merchants and get some warmer clothes as well. I can stand some cold...but would prefer not too... He heads to the furrier/coatmaker and sizes up some warm cloaks and boots.
Have to avoid frostbite on the trip to Thornkeep. he says to the merchant. A bit colder than usual, isn't it? Someone mentioned that the other night at the bar. I'm not from this area originally...so can't rightfully say either way.
Titania meets with the others dressed in warm clothes and carrying her pack with her sword and quiver strapped to it. Her bow was strung and in a leather sleeve to protect it from the snow.
"We've got a tent, right? A blanket of snow isn't really the kind of blanket you want in weather like this."
"I guess a big fancy tent would be nice, it's like taking your own little home wherever you go."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Let's get one then. The really big ones can have a small fire in them. That should help keep us warm. We'll need a way to carry it though," Tot says, "could we get something like my pack, but able to hold more?"
Yasmin is seen rummaging through her backpack to make sure she has what she needs. That's when she sees a stone peeking out underneath her things.
"Woah, how could I forget about this!" She takes it out, sets it spinning around her head, and imagines a short grumpy dwarf. Suddenly, she looks rather like one!
After a moment, she snatches the stone once more in her hand and appears as her normal self. "Pretty neat, huh? It's called a Western Star Ioun Stone." And hands it to Titania for her perusal. "You should keep it. We need to make sure those Hellknights don't see Titania going into the Spire, after all."
"A-are you sure," Titania asks as she timidly reaches for the beautifully cut stone.
Yasmin nods. "It'll be more useful for you than it is gathering dust in my bag. Give it a try!"
Just don't make yourself look like the Maralictor...I might accidentally stab you... Rallos says.....somewhat jokingly....
Tot nods and thinks for a moment before letting the stone orbit her head. After making sure no one is watching, she thinks about a look that isn't hers. Her hair darkens to a raven black while her skin grows a little paler. Her armor and clothing seem to morph into an elegant, black dress with a fur lined cloak over it. Her hair undoes itself from its elaborate bun and grows until it falls to her hips. The only similarities between the finely dressed girl before you and the hellknight from before are her small height and her striking blue eyes.
"How do I look?"
Not bad...completely different person....now can you have a different voice as well? That might be a tripping point. Try speaking from yur belly...a deeper sound...
After a few attempts, Titania's voice is lower and raspier.
"Is this better," she asks.
Their story straight, and with Titania well disguised, the group make their way towards the eastern gate of the town... the Julliver Gate is manned by several disinterested Hellknights. With cloaks wrapped over their armour and stamping their feet against the harsh cold, they open the gate and wave the group through, "It's a long trek to Thornkeep... you're sure you folks are ready for the weather? The Maralictor won't send anyone out to rescue you if you find trouble".
"We'll be careful," the raven-haired young woman travelling with Ea, Rallos, and Yasmin, who was certainly not Armiger Thrune, assures the guards.
Once they are out of sight of Fort Inevitable, Tot dismisses the illusion.
"Sorry. I just... I'm tired of living lies, and it's unnerving how easy it'd be to pretend to be someone else with this," she says indicating the stone she now holds in her hand.
It's harder being yourself, despite everyone and everything, I agree. Lies and truth are part of life. Sometimes lies are kinder than truth,
sometimes it works th eother way. Both have their usefulness, or mankind would have stick to one choice since the dawn of Time.
The group haven't travelled particularly far beyond the walls of Fort Inevitable, maybe no more than three hundred yards, before the town is lost in the whiteness of the flurrying snow. Satisfied that they are out of sight, and hoping that Signifer Hast is going to come through on his commitment to ensure their true journey isn't observed, the group draw the collars of their cloaks tight and turn to the west.
For what feels like several hours, the friends struggle against the bitter winds and a trail that seems to threaten to disappear beneath the blanket of snow every hundred yards or so... indeed, on several occasions the group are sure that they should be heading away from the main trail and into the woods - yet each time they consider it, an unfamiliar grouping of trees or the tailing off of what they thought was a trail, sends the friends backtracking and back along the treeline. Soon enough, darkness starts to fall and the woods become even more unfamiliar...
For a few minutes, in the dwindling light, things seem to have gone desperately awry... and then Rallos sees footprints in the snow - and lines either side of the large prints, as though someone were dragging a sledge through the wintry conditions. It is the first sign of life for at least an hour... and, from up ahead now, the friends see a glow in the darkness - the flickering of a lit torch or a lantern...
...and then, muffled by the spiralling flurries, the ever familiar ringing of steel clashing against steel!!!
Yasmin was feeling ready to just make camp as they trudged through the snow. But hearing what seems like the sound of battle puts the sorceress on alert. "Come on, sounds like a battle ahead, let's hurry!" Yasmin shields herself with an armor of force (Mage armor), summons some light Dancing Lights and quickens everyone's step to close the gap! Haste!
Rallos darts ahead, blade at the ready for whatever challenge lies ahead.
Titania is already drawing her sword and rushing down the road towards the sounds of battle before Yasmin has finished her sentence.
Even without seeing him, obscured as he is by the trees and the still falling snow, there can be little mistaking the source of the shouts of anger that colour the air up ahead of them. Making their way, with Yasmin summoning magicks as she pushes through the snow, into a clearing just within the woods, the group step past two distinct piles of felled zombies... and can finally take in the view...
With a skeletal horse watching from the edge of the trees, dead hooves stamping the ground, an immense hellknight - the armour of the Order of the Nail badly scarred by combat - moves towards a very familiar figure in the centre of the clearing. Grayface, maybe even more imposing than ever before, swings his sword... and cleaves the helmet straight off of his opponent - a dead face, eyes glowing sapphire blue, stares coldly back at him.
Rallos darts ahead and thanks to Yasmin's magicks, reaches the fallen knight. He thrusts his blade at the monstrosity, trying to find a aeakness in his defenses.
Rallos, quick to react, darts forwards and stabs with his blade... yet, in the flurrying snow, his aim is poor and the sword merely bounces from the frost encrusted armour of the risen hellknight. Initially ignoring the tiefling as though he simply wasn't there, the hellknight swings a mighty sword at Grayface... cutting through the air with a dread hum, the blade smashes into the mighty warrior - and, shifting its balance, the undead monstrosity cleaves into Rallos as well...
Created dread, they are immune to acid, to electricity and to cold...
Using the arcanely enhanced speed that Yasmin had given to her, Titania rushes up to the defence of Grayface and Rallos. Her blade sings as it carves a brutal arc in the air towards the now undead Hellknight.
The lesser foes that lay crumbled at his feet were little more than gnats, though this cold dead lord was something else entirely. The biting cold! The unworldly strength! Grayface saw his lifeblood sprayed upon the pure white snow below him, steaming in the cold air.
And so it ends, here in the damnable snows outside of Fort Inevitable.
He used the pain to set off his inner fire, prompting him to heights of fury that allowed him to endure significant pain - and he knew more pain was coming. The sudden crunch crunch of footfalls in snow cut through the din of his wall of anger - His minions are surrounding me.
But it was no minion of this undead lord - it was his friends! What luck had brought them together at this moment he may never understand, but he made a mental note to offer a generic prayer of thanks when he got the chance.
---------------