Meanwhile at the Castle, Quint has been watching the grand stairs leading up the pyramid. Four Gray Maidens stand guard at its foot. By half past nine the doors of a nearby building, just left of the stairs, open and a strapping young man, about Quint's age, leads out a horse and cart. He seems familiar with the animal and talks to it soothingly while staring up the stairs to a small group of people coming down. A middle-aged woman and a young girl, who looks no older than fifteen, are accompanied by four Maidens. The girl waves vigorously at the young man and allows herself to be helped on the box. She fakes having trouble getting up, so the man has to lift her. She clearly enjoys the attention. The driver also aids the other woman take a seat before he sits down himself and gently urges the horse to move. The four Gray Maiden fall in line behind the wagon and follow it to the east.
Quint pursues the wagon from a safe distance to the market. The middle-aged lady buys all kinds of supplies, enough to feed at least two dozen people easily. The merchants greet her kindly and allow her to cut in line. The goods she requires are already waiting for her and while she pays and specifies what she'll be needing tomorrow, the merchants' helpers load the merchandise in the wagon. The whole process runs very smoothly and Quint sees no opportunity to interfere without raising suspicion. He does learn the woman's name, as the merchants address her as Mrs. Karina. The young girl remains at her side at all times and while they're buying meat, the butcher hands her an extra piece of sausage and calls her Mikki. The man is obviously charmed by the lass and again she seems to welcome the attention with a warm smile.
Quint then decides to try and approach the driver while he's waiting, but the Gray Maidens step up immediately and urge him to move along. Perhaps he'll have better luck at the stables, where at least there are no annoying Maidens around.
When the shopping is done, the wagon returns to the castle, where a broad-shouldered, but simple-looking man is already waiting for it to arrive. He picks up a heavy basket and joins the four guards and the two women up the stairs to the castle. The man comes back two times more to carry up the rest. Next the driver takes the wagon back to the stables.
In the streets at the foot of the pyramid Quint addresses a woman who also looks like she's just returning from the market. She puts her basket on the ground and reaches for her keys to open the door.
"I"m sorry, ma'am, I just noticed a sweet little dog around the corner. It looked well cared for ... white, with a long fur and a face like a fox. It can't have been a stray, but its owner was not around. Maybe it slipped out of the house or something. You wouldn't happen to know who owns such a pet?"
"A white dog, you say? Sorry, I can't help you there. No one around here owns such an animal." The woman pushes her door open and reaches for her basket.
"Are you okay with the groceries, ma'am? Too bad you don't have a strong man to help you carry your things, like that fellow I just saw on the steps of the castle. He seemed like a friendly chap, though not too bright."
"Well, we can't all be queens, can we? That Jorn fellow is indeed somewhat of a simpleton, but he's a good boy. He's been working there for as long as I can remember.
"Like part of the furniture?" Quint laughs. "Do you know if they're hiring people up there? I'm actually from Old Korvosa, but ever since the quarantine I've been locked out. I can't go home and I can't do my job. It doesn't look like I'll be able to get back any time soon, so I'll have to find something to earn a living in the meantime."
"Oh no, poor boy, here ... have some of my bread."
Quint refuses to take the loaf: "That's not what I mean ma'am. I have a few coppers left, I don't need a pittance. My mum didn't raise me to be a beggar. I want to work for my money and make an honest living. Such a big castle always needs people, doesn't it?"
"Well, it's mainly women, up there. This Jorn fellow is an exception because he's been there for so long. The men work down here, in the stable with Master Jacob."
"Aha, I might give him a try, then. Thanks for the tip, ma'am. I wish you a wonderful day."
"That very kind of you, young man. I wish you the same." At that the woman goes inside.
Quint keeps an eye on the castle for the rest of the day. At two o'clock two dozen Gray Maidens arrive from the east and go up the stairs. Fifteen minutes later the same number of female warriors comes down again. Four of them relieve the sentries at the foot of the stairs, while the others leave again. Quint follows them over the High Bridge into the East Shore district, at the other side of the river. They enter a walled complex just across the water. So these are the Maidens' barracks, good to know.
---
Sjo is still working on finding out whether seneschal Kalepopolis is still alive. He decides to check with archbishop Keppira d'Bear herself at the temple of Pharasma to find out if she can help him. She confirms his suspicion that high level priests have an excellent spell for just such a purpose: commune. With this magic she can contact her deity and ask a number of questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. She is not surprised that brother Cedrik did not know about this spell; he was always better at keeping the books than at weaving magic, as his tragic mishap under the mortuary clearly illustrated. Keppira d'Bear is also the only priest in her church who masters this level of complexity. While she dislikes the fact that she would have to give up a spell that might cure another plague victim, she does agree that Pharasma is the prime authority on life and death. If Sjo can offer some relief for her cure-wasting guilt, she'd be willing to pray for a commune spell tomorrow. She also explains that he has to prepare his questions carefully. The magic allows her only a short time to ask about a dozen things, wasting these precious seconds to come up with new questions is not an option. Sjo freely offers one of his wands of remove disease - the one with 11 charges left - to d'Bear as compensation, which she gladly accepts.
---
Puk decides to dive into the villa's library. He is quite ambitious, putting one book on top of the other, he wants to make a pile as high as he is and read that! Still, looking at all those books, he realizes that he'd better start with some light reading and takes a small book on halflings in Korvosa. Perfect! Now he can find out which other famous kinsmen were here before him. It turns out that the history of famous halflings still has to be written. The book details how the Leroung family uses ships with halfling crews, who are lighter and take up less space than human sailors, so the ships can carry more goods and turn in a bigger profit. So the chronicles of the smallfolk in the city limit themselves to servants and workers. Even the most 'famous' halfling in Korvosa was once a servant. Old Orkatto, the owner of Orkatto's Feathers and Furs, used to serve a lord in Magnimar as his master of the hunt. The country squire saved his coppers well and retired to Korvosa to set up a shop in exotic pets. His caged wonders go from rainbow-plumed songbirds and snowdust badgers to emerald-back nightbelly boas and even the odd dream spider. Apparently, the shop is in South Shore, quite close to the villa.
---
Later that day Balian sneaks off on a private mission. He remembers the Sczarni thugs who attacked him and his friends when they were in Path's End for the first time. Back then his party was no match for these gangsters and needed Grau Soldado's help to escape, but the ranger's skill has grown considerably since that time and now he feels confident that he can handle a little trip to Thief Camp by himself. He does take Spyder along, just in case things come to blows and he needs a flanking partner. His goal is to find the Scarni's godfather, a man called Batista Cadabrani, and enlist his help in tracking down his sister Alika. Being a fellow Varisian, Balian hopes that these Sczarni will agree to sell him their services. After all, the Sczarni are notorious for standing up for Varisian rights and punishing the Chelaxians on their high horses.
Located just outside the city walls beyond Dwarfwalk Gate is the shantytown Thief Camp. Balian notices that the poor people here have not been spared from the plague: there are crosses on several doors and a dozen dead rats and people lie by the road, ready to be carried off. Balian spots a few local thugs and approaches them without showing any hesitation: "I want to meet with Batista Cadabrani. Take me to him", he calmly speaks.
The biggest gang member mocks the ranger: "And who is this little mouse in a rats' nest? It looks like you need an urgent lesson in humility!"
Balian sighs and holds his head at an angle. "I bet I can take you down without even taking my hands out of my pockets", he claims. The man fumes and reaches for his club, but Balian simply whistles for Spyder to jump at the brute. A few breaths later the man is squirming on the ground, bleeding from several bites, begging for mercy. Balian calls off his canine and repeats his request to see Cadabrani.
The ranger is guided into one of the bigger stone houses, where an older man is cutting onions at a table. He's wearing a black brimmed hat and his gaunt face sports a shade of gray stubble. Despite the sting of onion in the air his eyes show no sign of tears. "Do you like onion soup, Varisian?" he asks. "It stimulates the bowels. When you get my age, not everything runs as smoothly as you'd like anymore, just like my men in the street. They seem to be having a hard time as well keeping things in hand. Sit down and tell me why you're here."
Balian explains that his sister has disappeared and that she was last seen in the company of Rolth the necromancer. Batista concurs that this Rolth character is like an eel, slippery and repulsive at the same time. He is also extremely hard to track down. Finding someone who is with him will prove very hard. Such a service will be expensive. Batista wants 100 gold sails per day for sending his men out to look for her and an extra 1,000 gold if they locate her. The payment for the daily search has to be paid in advance. If the money stops, so does the search. Balian stipulates that Alika has to remain unharmed or consequences will be dire. He also demands a daily report. "Do not try to con me, old man, or you'll pay the price that so many have paid who tried to cross me. I'll return shortly with the money."
As Sjo controls the group's income, Balian has no personal money to speak of. Asking his Shoanti friend is not an option, since the righteous healer might not agree to hiring an underworld gang to do some shady work. Selling one of his magic items looks like the only alternative. Fortunately he has just the item: Lady Andaisin's headband of inspired wisdom. The temple of Pharasma would definitely be interested in such an item, but Balian doubts if they will be discreet about it, so he visits a merchant who will do anything to make a profit, including keeping quiet: Diederik Lodann. Lodann was the merchant-actor who played alongside the companions in The Passion of Saint Alika, portraying the seer's father. Balian secures a neat 2,000 gold sails for the headband and negotiates a buy-back option within ten days for a 10 % increase.
With two bags of 100 platinum pieces Balian returns to Batista to seal the deal. He pays the gangster his first 100 gold and expects a detailed report tomorrow of what his money has bought him. "Of course, my dear Balian, for a Varisian hero like you, we will certainly do our best", Batista smiles. Although it sounds like a compliment, Balian senses that the old man wanted him to know that he already figured out who he was in this short time span. Well, at least this proves that the man has resources to gather information, but Balian will have to watch his step around him.
---
Concluding that he has done enough reading for the day, Puk sets out again to check the quarantine situation of Old Korvosa. Since halflings in Korvosa are considered simple workers or servants, no one notices the small rogue, who also uses his skill to blend into the shadows to remain unseen. The Narrows of Saint Alika, as the channel of water between the mainland and Endrin Isle (the actual name of the island on which harbors the district of Old Korvosa) is called, is mostly obscured from view by sturdy city walls that line the northern coast of the mainland. The many gates in the wall, which used to lead to the 20 or so wooden bridges over the Narrows, have all been closed, and the bridges behind them burned. A score of Gray maidens man the walls.
The only 'breach' in the wall is where the stone bridge crosses the channel. The opening has been thoroughly barricaded and is also heavily guarded. Peeking over the blockade, Puk notices several skiffs in the water with even more Maidens, who are guarding both the Narrows and the mouth of the Jeggare river on the other side of the Isle. In all, the security of Endrin Island seems pretty tight. Puk counts at least five dozen Gray Maidens. The halfling also gets a glimpse of the district on the far end of the bridge. Old Korvosa looks desolate; several buildings have been vandalized or burned and no one dares to show himself so close to the deadly guards on the bridge. The most gruesome discovery is the fact that the protestors who were killed when the bridge was closed, are still on the ground Their cadavers have been left to rot. This sight makes the halfling sick to the stomach. He can only pray that his appetite returns by the time he gets back to the villa, since he left a note for the boys: "Days in Korvosa always get me hungry, mountain man scale!"
---
Quint spends the rest of the afternoon spying on the castle, where nothing happens until early in the evening. Three hippogryphs carrying Sable Company marines land on the castle's terrace. From his vantage point in the street Quint can't make out what they do. Half an hour later they fly off again.
When the sun starts sinking towards the horizon Quint decides to take his chances at the stables. He addresses two boys who are filling troughs with water. "I beg your pardon, friends," he says, "I'm looking for master Jacob." One of the lads runs off and quickly returns with strapping man, who looks about 45. "You wanted to see me, good sir?"
"Good evening, master Jacob. My name is Marcus. I live in Old-Korvosa, or at least I used to, before the quarantine." Quint produces a sad puppy look on his face. "I'm actually looking for a job on the mainland and some of the neighbors told me to talk to you. Could you use an extra pair of hands around the stables? Or somewhere else, I'm flexible and I'm a hard worker ... I don't ask for much ... just enough to get by, you know."
"Well, I am actually short a few hands at the moment. I lost three of my men to the plague and three more are in the hospital. I can't promise you it'll be forever, but for now I could definitely use the help. Why don't you come back tomorrow, at sunset? We'll give it a try ..."
"That would be great, sir ... or should I call you master?"
"Master Jacob is fine. I'll see you tomorrow, Marcus. Don't be late. I run a tight shift."
"I'll be there, sir ... erh, master Jacob. You can count on me." Quint makes an awkward bow and walks out. That went well. Satisfied he returns to the villa.
Master Jacob: "Why don't you come back tomorrow, at sunset? We'll give it a try ..."
That should have been sunrise, of course, don't know how I messed that up.
9 Erastus 4708
Quint gets two rooms at an inn, one in his own name and the one next to it as Marcus. This place will serve as his place of operations during his undercover mission. This means he will have to miss out on the commune session, though. Puk, Sjo and Balian attend the morning service in the Cathedral of Pharasma. Afterwards they meet up with Archbishop d'Bear for the divination attempt.
"As I told your friend Sjo yesterday, you have come to the right place to ask your questions. Pharasma shepherds our world's recently-departed souls to their final reward. All have to stand before her throne in the Boneyard, to be judged. She alone decides where each of us will spend eternity. As goddess of life and death, she already foresees what our ultimate fate will be, which is why she is also the mother of prophecy. Still, she accepts that we all have room to shape our own destiny, which is why she reserves her ultimate judgement until we finally stand in front of her.
You have proven yourselves friends of the Lady of Graves, and as such you have deserved this favor of her. But since we are all free to shape our own lives, the Mother of Souls frowns upon divine interference, so she will bestow the honor of her insight upon you only once. I hope you came prepared, for your window of opportunity will close fast. Be ready, my friends, for you will not face the high one again until your day of judgement."
Keppira d'Bear raises her hands to the skies, takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and utters the holy words. All goes silent and it feels like the world around the companions disappears, leaving only the here and now. When the archbishop opens her eyes again, they are white and she speaks in a voice that is not her own.
"MORTALS, YOU HAVE COME TO ME FOR GUIDANCE. ASK AND I WILL ANSWER."
Sjo can't help but feel impressed and needs a little nudge from Puk to snap out of his wonderment: "Gulp ... my Lady, we are humbled in your presence ..."
"Ask the questions", Balian grumbles under his breath.
"Oh yes, my Lady, is Neolandus Kalepopolis, the seneschal of Korvosa, still alive?"
"YES."
"Is he being held prisoner?"
"YES."
"Are Kalepopolis and Blackjack the same person?"
"NO."
"Is queen Ileosa Arvanxi a follower of Urgathoa?"
"NO."
"Is the one who ordered the plague on Korvosa a member of an old Chelish noble house?"
"YES."
"Is queen Ileosa involved in the murder of her husband Eodred Arabasti?"
"YES."
"Are there members of the Red Mantis assassins present in Korvosa at the moment?"
"YES."
"Are there Red Mantis assassins in the Castle?"
'YES."
"Was the Red Mantis contacted by Ileosa or someone of her entourage?"
"YES."
"Was the initiative to contact the Red Mantis taken by Ileosa?"
"UNCLEAR."
"Is the queen being misled by one of her advisors?"
"YES."
"Are Rolth the necromancer and Balian's sister Alika still in Korvosa?"
"YES."
"Did the artists Lucian Lycan, Guy Nolin and Archibald Meerwater die because of a shift in the pantheon?"
"NO."
Keppira closes her eyes again, releases a deep sigh and lowers her head. When she looks up again, she is trembling. "I have not performed this ritual often," she breathes, "it is the most wonderful paradox you can imagine, to feel the wisdom of the goddess flow through your veins, but our simple mortal coils were not meant for such wonders, so it leaves me exhausted and wanting at the same time. So strange, like a drug addicted drug addiction. You must excuse me, I must rest. I hope you found what you were looking for."
---
Meanwhile Quint has made sure to arrive at master Jacob's at sunrise, disguised as Marcus from Old Korvosa. The head of the castle's stables puts him to work immediately, helping to muck out the horses' stalls alongside the two boys he saw here yesterday: Wade and Pip. Although Wade is the older of the two, it quickly becomes clear that Pip is the smarter one. The twelve-year old boy is very helpful and tells Quint what to do. "Cleaning up horse manure is not a difficult job, as long as you are willing to get your hands dirty", the boy teases. "Or you can just be smart about it and use a pitchfork", he laughs, while showing the newcomer how to swoop up the wet and dirty bedding while leaving the clean stuff on the floor. "All horses are different", he explains, "it gets easier once you get to know them. Just make sure to be thorough, or it'll be twice as hard to clean up tomorrow." Afterwards he also teaches Quint how to empty the wheelbarrow in a large cart. "You'll have to take that out of the city later, with Curtis", he says.
Quint really digs in and makes an excellent impression on the boy. In the meantime he learns who else works in the royal stables. Old Docus is an experienced horse trainer who hails from the breeders in Harse. His sight has diminished greatly with old age, but he knows his way around the stables blindly. He walks the animals in the yard with the aid of Billy and Bowen, twin brothers who are about Quint's age. They were hired four years ago by king Eodred himself after their father, who was a hippogriff rider in the Sable Company, lost his life in the line of duty. Quint also meets Ron again, the man who took the cook and the servant girl to the market yesterday. Ron is new at this job, since Greg, the old driver died of the plague.
When the stalls have been cleaned, Quint joins Curtis Kortval on a trip outside the city to get rid of the manure. Curtis turns out to be a hard worker, although he complains a lot. Apart from Greg, two more of his colleagues lost their battle to the plague, Matt and Kirk. Three others are still out sick, Porter, Ekkels and the only girl who works with them, master Jacob's own daughter Red Lisa. So everyone has had to step up to take over their chores. Curtis can also give Quint some insight on who works at the castle. Most of them are women, like Karina the cook and Mikki the kitchen help. There are also a number of cleaning ladies. The only male servants are Jorn, the simpleton who has to do the heavy lifting, and Scotty, the gnome handyman who's in charge of the repairs. Jacob's lads, as the stables workers are often referred to, were allowed into the castle on rare occasions, for example to celebrate a holiday with the other servants there, but they haven't been inside the palace since king Eodred took ill and died. Curtis has never met the queen's new advisor, but he knows the man's name: Togomor.
---
In the villa Puk tries his hand again at reading, but he quickly gets bored and heads off to the market instead to check out Hedge Wizardry, a shop that specializes in alchemy. Since he saw what alchemists like doctor Saulus or Sirtane Leroung are capable of, he's developed a bit of an interest in the matter. Phaeton Skoda, the shop owner, shows the halfling interesting goods that might be of use in his adventures, like smokesticks, sunrods or thunderstones. The small rogue is most intrigued by alchemist's fire, some kind of splash bomb, and the tanglefoot bag, which can be used to glue down people to the floor.
Afterwards the halfling swings by Sirtane Leroung's laboratory. She claims to be making good progress on the cure, but she hasn't had time to investigate the blood sample yet. She'll only be able to do that when the crisis has been conquered.
---
At noon Balian slips off to Thief Camp again, to get an update on the search for his sister. Mob leader Batista Cadabrani tells him that his men have been searching around Westdock , the harbor ward where the Hospice of the Blessed was located, but they have found no trace of the necromancer Rolth or his dark-haired companion. With a deep sigh and a long silence Balian expresses his malcontent at the lack of progress. Batista explains that Rolth has evaded the law for over a decade, so the ranger should not expect him to be found easily. In the end Balian puts up the money for another day and takes his leave.
---
After lunch Sjo, Balian and Puk head over to the Theumanexus college, where the gnome headmaster merrily greets them. Sjo gravely explains that his scrying attempt will have to be done with the utmost discretion: no one can know who he scried on or which information the results of his attempts yielded. Geezlebottle promises to keep it all a secret. Then Sjo reveals the name of the first target: Neolandus Kalepopolis, who - he assures - is still alive. Since the gnome has never met the seneschal in person, he asks for a personal item that used to belong to the man in question, to facilitate his scrying, but the companions have nothing to offer him. Slightly disappointed the gnome weaves his hand over a bowl of murky water and starts mumbling the words of a spell. Puk picks up the name Neolandus Kalepopolis in the otherwise incomprehensible string of words. After a few seconds the wizard looks up: "I feared this would happen, my attempt did not succeed, I'm sorry. Maybe the target resisted my spell or he might also be protected from this kind of magic, I don't know. In either case, it's no use trying again today, it won't work anymore. Who would you like to spend the second scrying on, good sirs?"
Balian asks him to scry on his sister Alika. Fortunately he has a personal item of hers to increase the chances of success: the little wooden dolls she made of herself and her brother as children. Geezlebottle says that this will be of great help. Again he does the incantation and this time he remains concentrated much longer, although the companions see nothing in the water. When the wizard finally opens his eyes again, he confirms that this time his attempt met with success. He saw a pretty black-haired girl, dressed in leather armor, sitting at a table with a skinny, blotchy man - clearly Rolth - and another thuglike individual. Geezlebottle's magic does not reveal any clue on her location, however. Sjo pays the small magic-user and takes his friends back to the villa.
In the evening Quint joins them as well. He gives them a full report on what he found out. The queen's advisor Togomor apparently is a professor at the Acadamae, the head of the transmutation department. If the rumors are true, he should be a quite powerful individual. Sjo also informs Quint on the scrying and commune attempts. The friends discuss the divine answers to their questions until late at night.
10 Erastus 4708
On this radiant Sunday morning Sjo attends a service at the temple of the sun goddess, Sarenrae. Meanwhile Balian hangs around the Gray Maiden barracks on Eastshore. With Maiden guards at the gate, on the walls and in the towers of the walled complex, the ranger does not risk a look inside, but he clearly hears the sound of military training inside, even on a Sunday. The ranger makes a quick stop at Thief Camp as well: Cadabrani's men have been widening their search for Alika to the whole of Midland, but they have come up blank. Balian asks them to continue their efforts and pays the crimelord for another day.
While Quint spends one more day in the stables, Puk keeps an eye on the castle. No one goes shopping today, but at 11 o'clock a coach arrives with Archbanker Darb Tuttle and a handful of Abadarian guards. The highpriest of Abadar stays in the castle for about an hour and a half. Asking around, the halfling gathers that Tuttle comes here regularly, at least once a week. Actually, he has been doing so for years, even dating back to before Eodred met Ileosa. In the afternoon Puk follows up on Sirtane Leroung's progress. She claims to be close to a solution, but she is missing a crucial ingredient: blood cap mushrooms. This very rare fungus only grows in the Bloodsworn Vale. Puk agrees to travel there and gather toadstools for her.
At home the halfling brings his friends up to speed on their new quest. They search the books in the library for more information on the Bloodsworn Vale. Nestled between the lofty peaks of the Mindspin Mountains, the valley lies on an ancient road connecting Korvosa to Nirmathas. This once well-worn path used to serve as an overland route between the empire of Cheliax and its remote colonies in the north. The trail, however, fell into disuse after the death of Aroden and the ensuing civil war, during which Molthune and Nirmathas declared independence. The state of animosity between these fledgling countries and the old empire saw an end to merchants using this route for trade. A century of neglect has erased the road and allowed the woods and monsters to reclaim the vale.
The Bloodsworn Vale is named for the bloody battles that were fought there during the Everwar, Cheliax's war of expansion. It was the site of a large, months-long struggle in 4396 - over three centuries ago - between the Chelaxian army led by Field Marshal Korvosa and the defending Shoanti natives. Fields of blood-red roses are said to mark the graves of the many Shoanti barbarians and Chelaxian soldiers who laid down their lives in the conflict.
Balian actually knows the valley, as he travelled through it after he freed himself from slave duty in Cheliax and returned to Korvosa. Since he had served as a galley slave for over four years, the ranger swore not to travel north aboard a vessel, but rather on foot, thus choosing this forgotten itinerary. He remembers that the eerie sounds and morbid atmosphere of the vale greatly troubled him, but somehow he managed to get through undisturbed without running into any of the cruel monsters or hungry predators that supposedly hunt the place.
11-15 Erastus 4708
The next morning the companions prepare to travel to the Bloodsworn Vale. They buy supplies and warn the field marshal of their impending absence. A one-way trip should take five days, two days to reach the Mindspin Mountains and three more to traverse the treacherous mountain passes before arriving in the notorious valley. Balian visits Batista Cadabrani and pays him 1,000 gold to keep the search for Alika going while he's away. Quint will join his friends on this wilderness trip as well, so he has to make up an excuse to have Marcus miss his new job at the stables: he tells master Jacob that he's come down with the plague.
The first two days go smoothly and the companions reach the mountain range without difficulty. The old pass proves harder to travel; the heroes are forced to lead their horses by the bit. The road was once wide enough to allow for wagons, but now it is overgrown with weed and bushes or blocked by numerous landslides that no one has cleared in a hundred years.
"There's something up there." Balian's senses alert him to the ticking of rocks up the mountain side. When he looks up he sees loose stones starting to shift and slide, quickly gathering speed and volume. The ranger jumps back, getting himself and his steed Webb out of the sudden avalanche that floods the pass. Just in time; if he had reacted a heartbeat later, he would have been buried by the rubble.
Glancing up the mountain flank, Puk realizes that the landslide was no coincidence. Three large shapes are moving against the rocks. Their dark gray skin makes them blend in with their surroundings, explaining why the companions did not notice them before: stone giants! Sjo calls upon his flame-wielding gift and hurls a fireball on the ambushers, but the giants emerge from the blaze hardly scorched. Two of the attackers jump down, swinging their huge clubs, while the third starts hurling boulders on the travelers. The heroes manage a handful of nicks and cuts, but it will take more than a few hits to take down these brutes. The giants on the other hand pack a very mean punch, one of them pummels Sjo to the ground, while the other one nearly bashes Puk's skull to pieces with a mighty critical strike. The halfling bites back the darkness that threatens to drown him and gulps down a healing potion, while Sjo barely manages to heal himself with his magic. Quint has taken a few steps back down the path and casts mirror image on himself. He then taunts the giants with his song of satire, luring one of the ambushers to his position. The large female tries to smash him with her greatclub, but she hits an image instead. Meanwhile Balian finally takes down the first opponent. Puk and Sjo rejoin the fray and focus their attacks on the female, while the rock-throwing giant - clearly upset by the death of his brother - storms down the mountain as well. Thanks to the distracting barbs of Quint's satire the stone giants start missing their attacks. Bleeding from many wounds, the gray female sags to her feet, finally defeated by countless cuts. Her ally joins her in death a few moments later. The heroes quickly heal up and discover a treasure bag on the female stone giant. It holds a cave bear pelt, some gems, a gold nugget and a giant-sized horn with intricate carvings. Quint figures it would make a nice addition to the Jeggare Museum in Korvosa.
The companions continue their journey and reach the green wilderness of Bloodsworn Vale as the sun glides behind the highest peaks. There is not much sunlight left, so they'll have to find a place to set up camp for the night soon, especially since dark clouds are gathering in the sky, heralding a summer storm. Checking the map that professor Sirtane Leroung provided, Sjo concludes that there should be an old fortress down the road: Fort Thorn. The stronghold supposedly dates back to a time when the road to Nimrathas was still used. The healer wonders what will be left of the structure after a century of disuse. The ancient road through the forest has worn down to barely more than an animal path and does not easily allow passage to four travelers leading four stout mounts. By the time the light dies, Balian spots the old fort. The main building, which was made of stone, seems mostly intact, but the rest of the fortress lies in ruins. The wooden palisade has been reduces to crooked stumps of wood that are overgrown with bushes. There is just enough of the old gatehouse left to identify it as the erstwhile entrance. Fort Thorn's central keep was once a massive two-story building, but now it looks more like a haunted house. The eastern flank is heavily scorched and overgrown with the valley's trademark bramble: bloodroses. There is no sign of blood cap mushrooms, though. Balian figures the toadstools require a more humid environment. As the first flashes of lightning illuminate the evening sky, the companions make an uncanny discovery: the dead body of a small, winged humanoid has been nailed to the keep's front door with three arrows. The creature was obviously left there as a warning. Quint identifies the unfortunate being as a pixie, tiny feyfolk who are known for their elusive nature and whimsical character. Balian examines the arrows and finds out that the tips are made of cold iron, the only metal that can hurt these small fairies. Sjo claims the pixie has been dead for two days.
The keep itself looks sturdy enough to provide shelter for the night and the coming storm, but the heroes want to make sure that the rest of the fortress is safe before they make camp. The eastern half of Fort Thorn was completely laid to waste by fire. Wild bushes have reclaimed this speck of civilization, making it hard to even figure out where the various buildings used to stand. One ruin still rises: the base of a stone tower. This building used to house a small smithy. It looks like someone recently cleared the inside of weeds and bushes and made use of the anvil to forge weapons out of cold iron, as some grains of blue-gray ore are still scattered over the floor. Balian examines the place carefully and deduces that it must have been about two weeks since this smithy was cleared and used. Summer rain has worn away most tracks, but the ranger finds one clear footprint in the sand in front of the tower: an unshoed horse hoof. Beyond the tower, Sjo rummages through another growth of bloodroses and notices that they actually cover a statue representing Erastil, the god of wilderness and the hunt. Somehow this wooden sculpture survived the fire that burned down the rest of the building a long time ago.
With the rest of the fortress secure, the companions get comfortable in the old keep, while a thunderstorm erupts outside. They are happy to find out that the ground floor of this building remains dry, even after a century of decay.
16 Erastus 4708
During the third watch Balian perceives a noise outside and silently wakes up his partners. As they rise from their bedrolls a cute little bunny hops in through the front door. It looks at the companions with big, innocent eyes and speaks: "Greetings, you brave men of Fort Thorn. Are you the heroes from the stories of old? We are looking for fearless warriors to protect us from the terror of the Vale." Puk looks charmed by the fuzzy bunny, but his human friends see the rabbit for what it really is, an illusion. Sjo walks over to the window and yells out into the night: "Stop this ridiculous charade and show yourself if you want to talk to us!" He peers into the darkness outside, hoping to pick up someone with his darkvision, but he is surprised by the sweet voice that comes from behind him, inside the keep: "Okay then, here I am."
A ginger-haired female pixie suddenly appears out of thin air. "My name is Lorana. It looks like the gods have answered our prayers and sent you to help us."
"And what is it that we are supposed to help you with, then?" Quint wonders.
"Oakenbrow, the nasty horseman, of course. He is the one who killed my second cousin Lendil who you found nailed to the door. We have no idea why, but since a fortnight the horseman has been on a killing spree, he's killed over a dozen of my kinsfolk. Our king Tirmando is in desperate need of help against this murderer. Will you please come with me and speak with our majesty, mighty heroes?"
"Well, we don't know you or this Oakenbrow, so we can't make any promises. Still, it certainly looks like something is amiss in this little paradise of yours", Sjo answers. "Of course, we're not here by chance, we're looking for something that we can only find in this valley. Do you know of any red mushrooms growing anywhere?"
"His highness will definitely be willing to aid you with that quest, noble strangers. If only you come with me."
"Well, give us until morning to rest up. Then we will go with you", Sjo tells the tiny fey.
And so it goes, when the sun has risen again, the red-haired fairy returns and leads the companions across the river into the forest. After two hours through the dense woods the travelers reach the court of the pixie king: a tall hollowed-out tree. Lorana takes her guests to the royal hall in the heart of the tree. Puk immediately loves these cozy quarters, but his friends have to bend over backwards to fit into the tiny rooms. On a green throne, with a leaf mantle on his shoulders, sits the troubled king, Tirmando. His eyes betray a touch of relief as the heroes enter.
The king explains that the centaur Oakenbrow, who has lived in the valley for many years with his younger sister Mirala, has suddenly become aggressive for no apparent reason. So far he has killed fourteen pixies and he shows no sign of stopping. Tirmando has no clue what motivates the centaur, but is in dire need of help. He requests the adventurers' aid in neutralizing the threat. In exchange he will gladly show them where the blood cap mushrooms grow, but he also offers his cloak as a reward.
The companions agree to help the pixie king, as he does not require the centaur's death, but rather an end to the hostilities. Quint inquires where they can find Oakenbrow and asks for a guide to show them the way. "The centaur and his sister live at Pointer's Rock. Furian, my subject, you know the girl well. You play with her all the time. You will take these gentle folk there." A tiny pixie, even small for his kind's size, reluctantly steps forward, but he does not dare to refuse his king's command.
The trek to Pointer's Rock takes the companions back north through more dense forest. Their guide Furian seems ill at ease. When the PCs question him about the centaurs, they quickly sense he is hiding something. It turns out he played with the centaur girl all the time, but her older brother never appreciated their frivolous games. He used to warn his sister time and again that she shouldn't waste her time with the irresponsible fairy, but she never heeded his advice. Three weeks ago things went wrong, terribly wrong. Furian took Mirala on a scouting trip to the dangerous Mistmoors in the south of the valley. Oakenbrow had always forbidden his sister to go there, but she went anyway ... because Furian talked her into it. While they were playing Mirala suddenly stepped into quicksand and started sinking into the muck. Furian lacked the strength to pull her out and desperately rushed back to Pointer's Rock to get Oakenbrow. By the time they returned, Mirala had completely disappeared below the surface. Her brother exploded in rage and would have killed Furian on the spot if he had had the right weapons. The pixie fled and has since witnessed how the centaur ranger has been exacting his revenge on the fairyfolk with newly forged cold iron weapons. Furian is the only pixie who knows the truth, but he fears informing his kin, because they will hate him for it. He is obviously heartbroken about what happened, but he begs the companions not to tell the king.
After a while the forest gives way to rocky hills. Furian draws attention to the highest one, which has some kind of stone spire on its back: Pointer's Rock. A small brook springs from somewhere on top of the hill and sends its water down in a magnificent waterfall. The entrance to Oakenbrow's lair is behind the chute, Furian explains. Sjo and Quint call out to the ranger before entering the centaur's home, but they find it empty. When they emerge an arrow flies past them and buries itself in Furian's little chest. The pixie falls to the ground, bleeding from a deadly wound. The arrow came from the bushes, some 100 yards beyond. Balian, Quint and Puk form a living shield in front of Furian while Sjo hurries over the treat the fey's injury. Quint calls out to Oakenbrow, offering his condolences and asking the enraged bowman to parley instead of fight. The centaur orders the companions out of the way, claiming that this is not their fight. He gives them one chance to retreat; all he wants is the malicious forest imp who led his sister to her death. "Oh, I warned him so many times to keep his hazardous games away from her, but the naughty trickster never wanted to listen. Now it's too late. All that counts is revenge!"
The companions try to reason with the grief-stricken centaur. They understand his sorrow, but no matter how many fey he kills, he will never get his sister back. They urge him to reconsider his plans for revenge, there has to be a better way than violence. In the end Oakenbrow concedes, he'll agree to a seize-fire until he has spoken to the pixie king. He wants the party to send Tirmando here, alone, so they can negotiate. He even gives his word not to harm the king during these talks.
The companions return to the pixie court to confront king Tirmando with the truth. They make Furian confess what happened to Oakenbrow's sister. The little fey sobs and cries bitter tears as he explains that he lost Mirala to the quicksand of the Mistmoors while playing with her there. The king and his entire court are shocked to learn of Furian's role in Oakenbrow quest for vengeance. With a heavy heart Tirmando accepts that he had best take to opportunity to parley with the centaur, even though he admits that it will be hard for him to negotiate with the archer who killed so many of his subjects. Still, he sees no other solution to this conflict, other than killing his attacker, which he obviously does not favor. He also tells Furian that he will have to pay for his involvement in this tragedy and - more importantly - for his silence afterwards.
Next the king turns his attention to the companion: he realizes that he made a deal with them, to tell them where they can find blood cap mushrooms. These red toadstools are rumored to grow in the Mistmoors, but no one dares to venture there ... except for little Furian, it seems. As a first step on his path to redemption the king order the distraught little fey to accompany the companions to the swamps, a quest that Furian clearly doesn't like.
On their way south Furian tells the heroes more about the cursed moors. Hundreds of years ago it was the site of a huge battle between two human armies. Since that time the ghosts of the dead roam there, so the place was declared a forbidden zone. The pixie king had the Mist Lake flood the area, turning it into a swamp, so no one would go there anymore. Doubting the stories of old, Furian and Mirala tempted fate and went to the moors to see for themselves how dangerous they really were. The pixie has regretted this decision every second since Mirala drowned.
The Mistmoors truly deserve their name, as they are clouded in eternal mist. The companions find no dry path through the swamp and before they know it they are up to their knees in murky waters. Quint pulls out his wand of featherstep to have everyone move more freely through the difficult terrain. Sjo takes Puk on his shoulders, since the halfling is too short to walk here, while Spyder is reduced to jumping and swimming. Furian removes his cloak to reveal his wings and takes to the air. Sjo sends him up to scout the area from above, but the pixie has a hard time relocating the heroes when he descends again, serving only to increase his fear. He testifies that the entire swamps are covered in a thick veil of mist.
After twenty minutes the waters become even deeper and suddenly Quint can't free his feet anymore. He starts sinking slowly and his friends have to throw him a rope to pull him out. Furian explains that they have already travelled deeper into the moors than he and Mirala did, but still there is no sign of the red mushrooms. Then Sjo picks up strange whispers, but his friends claim not to have heard anything. A minute later Balian thinks he sees a shadow move in the mists; Quint calls out and is answered by a whispering sound coming from behind him, but again the others say they haven't heard a thing. Then Furian grabs his head: "They are here! Can't you hear them?" The scared pixie quickly turns invisible, as the mists seem to sigh from all sides.
Next a fearsome warcry resounds in Shoanti: "For the Shadde-Quah! Kill them all! Kill them all!" Four shapes tear themselves from the fog, seeming to be made of white smoke themselves. These must be the ghosts of Shoanti barbarians who fell here, seeking to destroy the Korvosan intruders. Sjo pulls out the amulet he recovered from the Shoanti tumulus outside of Harse and shouts that he is a nalharest, friend of the Shoanti, while Quint starts a Shoanti song to calm the attackers. These attempts do not sway the enraged assailants from attacking, although the incorporeal barbarians focus their attention on the other companions: Balian and Puk. Balian gets hit several times by a misty battleaxe, while Puk's armor proves no defense for one ghost's corrupting touch. Balian's greatsword cleaves through the opponents, tearing away wisps of their ghostly bodies. When Sjo and Quint give up their attempts to reason with the aggressors and join the fight, they get targeted as well. Quint can hurt the ghosts with his wand of magic missiles, but realizes that just two magical arrows per attack will not suffice to take down the opponents quickly. He summons mirror images of himself and jumps into melee with his short sword instead. Sjo heals Puk's and Balian's worst wounds and swings his morningstar at the barbarians. He ends up striking the 'killing' blow on two ghosts, while Puk and Balian slay the other two.
Our friends start to wonder if it is actually a good idea to travel the swamps blindly. Still they press on. Puk climbs one of the large mangrove like trees, only to learn that he can't make out anything in the mist. He finds no blood cap mushrooms in the tree either. As he comes back down, Balian's attention is drawn by soft splashes of water. While the ranger draws his blade, a boat appears with three lizardmen. The one in front hurls a javelin at Balian, but fails to hit him. The trio of scaly creatures is clearly outmatched by the heroes and only moments later they are defeated. Quint notices that two of the dead lizardmen wear necklaces made of flowers, much like the ones they found in Mirala's cave or around Furian's neck. The pixie also recognizes the handiwork of his centaur playmate and is filled with hope that his best friend is still alive. The companions take the lizardmen's boat and Balian sits down at the oars, demonstrating his skill at rowing which he developed as a galley slave. He chooses the direction the scaly hunters came from, gliding slowly over the muddy water. His instincts guide him well and half an hour later he picks up the beating of a drum. He steers the boat in the direction of the noise. Suddenly the mists clear and reveal a small settlement of pile dwellings.
The heroes have located the lizardfolk settlement in the Mistmoors. As they approach, they notice that the scaly creatures are all distracted by something: they are all staring in the direction of the beating drum. Balian seizes the opportunity to glide the boat right up to the pile huts. Puk jumps out of the boat and climbs the first building they pass, while Quint calls out with a friendly voice: "Here, catch!" He throws then end of a rope to the closest lizardman. Surprised by the sudden arrival of armed pinkskins, the creature shouts out in a language none of the companions understands, grabs his club and starts bashing his shield with it vehemently. The entire tribe picks up his war cry and looks ready for battle.
While Quint realizes that he knows no language to successfully communicate with these creatures, his friends jump into battle and quickly take down a number of lizardfolk. Sjo notices a mass of rocks beyond the pile houses, where a fair number of scaly creatures have gathered. He summons a mighty fireball, killing four of them and wounded two others. Puk, Balian and Spyder meet with more resistance as they face some lizardmen wearing hide armor and shields, obviously warriors of some kind. Quint trips one of them and again the bard calls out for a seize-fire, but to no avail. By now the chieftain joins the fight, while the white-scaled shaman summons an owlbear to slow down the heroes' advance.
Quint attempts to capture the chief in a cacophonous call, but the creature is not affected, and Sjo fails to dispel the owlbear. Meanwhile Balian and Spyder pick off the last 'common' tribesmen, so only the chief, shaman and the summoned monster remain. The ranger feels that the shaman tries to freeze him in place, but bites back and resists the hold person. Quint finally manages to control the battlefield by nauseating the leader and his medicine man with two successful cacophonous calls. Both of them slip into the murky waters, giving the companions the time to take out the owlbear and heal their wounds.
Tied to some kind of sacrificial altar is Mirala, the missing centaur girl. Furian, the pixie, blinks out of invisibility and starts babbling away while Sjo unties the horsegirl. Mirala claims to be confused by the tribemen's behavior. They rescued her from the quicksand, took her to their village and treated her with respect, although she could not communicate with them. Today, they suddenly grabbed her and tied her to this pole, but she doesn't understand why. Sjo wonders if they were planning to bleed her out in a sacrificial ceremony, but Puk realizes they were literally trying to offer her to the creature that suddenly rears his ugly head from the swamp waters: a black dragon! Before they can react, the dragon spews a stream of biting acid on Sjo, Spyder, Quint and Furian. The little pixie goes down. Next the black-skinned retile sinks his teeth in Quint's flesh. At the same time the lizardfolk chieftain and shaman climb out of the water again. Puk and Sjo confront the dragon, while Balian and his dog fight back the two lizardmen. Quint distracts the enemies with his satire and hands his wand of cure serious wounds to Mirala, who support the fight with some well-placed healing. During her medical work she sings an inspiring song which lightly boosts the companions fighting skills.
Balian's greatsword cuts deeply into the chief's flesh, but his shaman sidekick heals him again. Fortunately, our ranger friend is on a roll and with a critical hit he takes down the fierce lizardman. The shaman flees into the water and swims to the dragon's side. This monster seems to have overestimated his own power: he does wound his opponents badly, but Mirala's healing keeps them on their feet and their weapons hit him time and again. The shaman heals him enough to continue fighting, but when Balian delivers another critical blow, the dragon decides not to tempt fate any longer and escapes, barely alive. The lizardfolk medicine man quickly follows his 'god', leaving the companions victorious. Sjo can bring back Furian from the brink of death, while Balian finds that the alter is covered in red toadstools: blood cap mushrooms! Hundreds of them!
The companions fill a bag with red mushrooms and then seek their way out of the swamps. Although Furian is very happy to see Mirala alive, he has a troubled heart when he tells her that her brother avenged her 'death' by killing over a dozen of his kin. Mirala feels guilty about her part in this tragedy, as it was her irresponsible behavior that triggered her brother's madness. She wants to confront her brother alone, so the heroes accompany Furian to the pixie court, while the centaur girl makes for Pointer's Rock.
Pixie king Tirmando is pleased to hear that Mirala survived, but no amount of good news can sway his mournful mood. Still, he remembers his promise to the adventurers and hands his green-leaf cloak to Puk as a reward. This wonderful cape functions as a cloak of resistance, but it also allows the wearer to dimension door once per day. The king invites his guests to spend the night at his court before they return home tomorrow. Later that evening Mirala arrives, explaining that her brother is distraught about his own heinous deeds and has decided to leave the vale to seek atonement for his sins.
Level up: level 7
17-19 Erastus 4708
The next morning the companions head back to Korvosa. On the evening of the 18th Zellara's ghost appears to them from her Harrow deck to do another reading. She removes the nine book cards from the deck and has everyone draw one. Sjo evokes a healthy dose of laughter when he draws the idiot, which Zellara interprets as a warning not to be too naive. Quint goes for the inquisitor, who accepts only the truth. Zellara says that Quint will be instrumental in uncovering an important hidden truth. Balian draws the raksasha as a warning not to be manipulated. Balian should be careful not to act differently than what his true nature prompts him to do. Puk's card is the vision: he will meet a man whose insanity and genius will be intertwined.
Next Zellara reshuffles the cards and lays them out for each of the companions. In Sjo's present she finds the crows, who represent a group of dangerous people who violently take possession of what is not theirs. The desert is in his future, as a sign of a harsh environment in which he will have to survive. Quint has the foreign trader in his past, representing a hidden truth whose unveiling will surprise some and shock others. The future reveals the uprising: a leader will be overthrown, but it remains unclear which part Quint will have to play in this. Puk has the tangled briar in his past. Bad events in his younger days defined his path, but set him on a journey towards hope. Puk's future reveals the same card he picked in the choosing, the vision. Zellara concludes from this that the mad genius will play a key role in days to come. Balian's fortune also shows important facts about the past. The empty throne signifies a great loss that still defines his life today. The idiot also comes up here, indicating that Balian made a rash decision in the past and the fact that he fooled others about it will not be received kindly. The marriage in Balian's present stands for big changes that are about to happen. Zellara says that the positive position of the card expresses the hope that Balian will be able to sail the waves of change and maybe even help shape them. His future is less clear, although Zellara interprets the forge card as a sign that a great heat that has burned everything to cinders might be part of Balian's fate.
20 Erastus 4708
Late in the afternoon of the 20th the companions reach the gates of their home city. They immediately head to the university, to hand the blood cap mushrooms to professor Sirtane Leroung. She instantly sends an envoy to warn the castle. Quint feels a bit surprised, but Sirtane eases his mind by saying that the whole city is eagerly awaiting her cure. She gives him the latest issue of the Korvosa Herald, which has an article on the topic: Cure for the plague just around the corner!. Her brother-in-law, who publishes the newspaper, insisted on it, Sirtane explains. There is also a report on the treacherous plague doctors and the quarantine of Old Korvosa. The history of Korvosa on the back is devoted to the reign of queen Domina and her son Eodred II.
Puk also informs about Madam Nesia's blood which he collected after she exploded into a sea of sanguine fluid. Fortunately Sirtane has found some time to examine it. The blood clearly showed signs of residual transmutation magic of a very high order. She believes it to be a weird modification of the simulacrum spell, powerful magic that allows a magic-user to construct an illusionary double of someone from snow and ice. This spell requires a very accomplished caster and costs thousands of golden sails in ingredients. In Nesia's case blood was used instead of ice and snow, which is clearly a more powerful ingredient, but the fact that Nesia had no memories and became sick and died, shows that the spell that created her had not been perfected yet. Mages who master this level of magic are extremely rare, in Korvosa they can probably only be found in the Acadamae, Sirtane muses.
By the time Sirtane has finished her exposé on Nesia's condition, her messenger returns from the castle. He says that the queen has ordered her and her family, and also the companions, to come to the castle tonight, where Ileosa will address her people for the first time in weeks. Our friends decide to return home to bathe the dust of travel from their skins and dress up for the occasion.
Upon arriving at the villa the companions notice that the three kids are nowhere to be found. There is no note either. Sjo is worried that the children got sick again; after all, it's been ten days. A sudden knock at the front door pulls the healer from his contemplation. There is a beautiful Varisian woman at the front door who insists on talking to Balian. She introduces herself as Ravenna and Sjo sees that she is not alone, another man is waiting for her in the street. Balian joins the Varisians and agrees to go with them, without telling his friends where he is going. It looks important, as the ranger is willing to give up a visit to the castle for it. Puk decides to follow the ranger stealthily and tails him to a house in Thief Camp. The building looks well guarded, so the halfling sees no easy way in and returns to the villa to prepare for the queen's speech instead. Unlike Balian he does not want to pass an opportunity to gaze on the beauty of the queen.
In their smartest attire Sjo, Puk and Quint go to the castle, where a small crowd of the city's finest has already gathered. Everyone is quite curious. At the foot of the grand stairs up the mastaba Puk spots Cressida Kroft. She wonders as well what this meeting is about and points out that there are a lot of Gray Maidens present. The Castle almost looks like a fortress preparing for battle.
The guests are allowed into the throne room where the waiting continues. The room buzzes with impatience when the queen suddenly appears out of thin air, flanked by the commander of her Gray Maidens and a heavy, bald man - clearly a spellcaster. His robes cling tightly to his firm body. Ileosa is wearing a new crown with spikes that look like giant shark teeth. While everyone falls silent, Quint calls out: "Queen Ileosa, it has been too long, it is good to see you again." The queen returns his words by briefly piercing him with her gaze, which she then sends over the other guests in the room. She beams with confidence when her lips curl into a smile and she addresses the crowd:
"My dear citizens, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hold on a bit longer and the plague that fell over us will be a thing of the past. We have a cure!
I know, our recent path has been riddled with hardship and challenges. There were many casualties and fear overtook us all. But rest assured, the nightmare will soon be over. The university of Korvosa has developed a medicin. Just a few more days and life will rule the streets again instead of death.
Korvosa is indeed a beautiful city and many envy her for her riches and pleasures. They try to crush us with riots, but we resist! They try to starve us, but we survive by sheer will. They try to cut us down with disease, but we arise stronger than ever. The enemy comes to us in many guises, as opponents or as allies. Treachery runs deep sometimes. The physicians who came to the city, weren't healers who were trying to make us better, but the true architects of the plague itself! But we triumphed over them all!
Still, all these attacks have taken a heavy toll. Thousands of citizens fell to the disease, everyone of us has lost friends or family. The Korvosan Guard is crippled and the Sable Company is broken by numerous losses. None of these troops have the strength left defend our city properly. So I proclaim that henceforth the Gray Maidens are the new protectors of the realm and their commander Sabina Merrin is the general of all military forces in Korvosa."
A wind of discomfort waves through the crowd, but Ileosa is not finished yet. She hails the heavy man to her side: "This gentleman is Togomor, my new advisor who will take up the duties of castle seneschal from now on.
I have also decided to dissolve the Sable Company and merge their depleted numbers with the Guard, making one whole from two halves. Commander Endrin of the Sable Company, please approach!"
The crowd is baffled as Marcus Thalassinus Endrin steps forward. Quint uses the consternation to utter the words of a detect magic spell and sees that the queen, Merrin and Togomor all bear powerful magic. Especially the crown radiates a strong glow. In the meantime Endrin makes his way to the podium.
"Commander, I hereby strip you of your command and ask you to surrender your badge of honor."
As Endrin does so, he trembles. He reaches for his badge, but instead of handing it over, he throws it at the queen, cutting her left cheek. Everyone, including Ileosa, is shocked into paralysis for a few moments, long enough for Endrin to bellow out: "Your shameful reign ends now! Korvosa will be free again!" At that point his other hand appears from under his cloak, firmly grasping a loaded crossbow. He aims at the still-locked queen and pulls the trigger. His bolt strikes Ileosa straight in the temple: a deadly shot!
Yet the queen does not fall.
She doesn't even tremble.
With incredible speed she regains her composure and yanks the bolt from her head. Before the blood from her wound has time to trickle down her cheek, she rushes over to Endrin. With her free hand she grabs the man by the throat and lifts him off the ground. Her other hand wields the bolt as a dagger, which she hammers between Endrin's eyes. The commander's lifeless body tumbles to the floor, as Ileosa turns to the crowd and cries out: "This shall be the fate of all enemies of Korvosa! Mark well his death! All traitors will suffer the same fate!"
A second later Togomor steps forward, laying his hand on Ileosa's shoulder and teleporting her out of the throne room. Sabina Merrin orders everyone out and her Gray Maidens start pushing the crowd towards the exit. Field Marshal Cressida Kroft is stunned and horrified by what she has seen. She takes the companions to her office in the citadel to speak with them freely. Her gut tells her to step down from office, but she fears that a Gray Maiden puppet will replace her then, so she decides against her gut feeling. She hopes that by complying with the queen, she can exert the largest possible amount of control to see her soldiers safe. Quint is angry: Endrin's peaceful approach has only lead to the man's untimely death. The bard feels like the city is slowly being murdered in front of his eyes.
A knock on the door disrupts the conversation. A guard from the Longacre Building bears a letter for the Field Marshal. It was given to him by a boy who was arrested for escaping from Old Korvosa. Kroft thanks him and starts reading. "This comes from Vencarlo Orisini," she says, "it looks like he is looking for you. Here, read it."
Quint takes the note from her.
"Dear Cressida
It has been a while since we have talked. Since the Gray Maidens locked off Endrin Island from the rest of the city, I have been stuck here. At least officially. Let's just say that one does not simply walk out of Old Korvosa these days.
Things have been chaotic here. The plague has ravaged the district. No family has been spared. Without the support or hope from the city's churches many people have fallen prey to despair or disorder. Several buildings lining the quays have been torched and gangs have taken over the streets. Some madman has crowned himself 'emperor of Old Korvosa', you might have heard of him, Pilts Swastel, the deranged owner of a detestable and perverse theatre, Exemplary Execrables. Fort Korvosa is the only place that is still safe, for that is where the Arkona's rule. But the rest of our district is in dire straits.
Anyhow, Old Korvosa might very well be the garbage dump of Korvosa, it is in the city's filth that one finds the most surprising information. I have uncovered some vital clues regarding the queen. You know that I have distrusted her from the very beginning. I do not grasp the full picture just yet, but I fear that dark magic is at work here, possibly a pact with a devil of some sort.
Can you get in touch with our new friends? You know, those young heroes who have helped out before. I have not been able to follow their adventures of late. Are they still safe and in good health? Can you ask them to pay me a visit? The likes of them should have no trouble crossing the Narrows of Saint Alika to Old Korvosa, despite the quarantine. They might even be safer here than on the mainland, after all, there are no Gray Maidens here. The queen has left Old Korvosa to rot, but at least this frees us from her choking grasp.
I greet you cordially and remain your faithful friend,
you know who ..."
Puk and Sjo immediately want to leave for Old Korvosa, but Quint tells them they still have to pick up Balian. "And we also have to get out of these clothes, we cannot face adversity wearing these silks." So the young men return to the villa first, where Balian is already waiting for them in the company of the Varisian woman Ravenna. "We come bearing grave tidings", the bard sighs, but Balian scoffs at this: "It will be nothing compared to what I have to tell you", he claims.
First the ranger asks Sjo to give him 1,000 gold sails, to pay the woman. When the Shoanti is reluctant to do so, Balian whispers that they rescued Larella ... from Rolth. "Just let me pay her and then I will explain all", he says.
After the woman has been paid, she hands a leather bag to Balian and takes her leave. "You might want to sit down for this", the ranger tells his friends. "These Varisians are Sczarni, gangsters from Thief Camp who work for crime lord Batista Cadabrani. I have enlisted his services to track down Rolth and my sister."
"I remember them," Sjo says, "we had a run-in with them before, if it hadn't been for Grau Soldado and his late brother, we would not be here to tell this tale." Quint looks displeased at Balian's secretive behavior, wondering why his friend didn't tell him that he hired help. It feels like betrayal.
Balian continues: "Five nights ago, Cadabrani's men - including the woman you just met - found a trace to my sister. She had apparently been enquiring about Larella Semyr, you know ... Sjo's girlfriend, the high priestess of Shelyn. The Sczarni kept an eye on the temple of the goddess of beauty and that same night they noticed a dark-haired woman sneaking into the building. Inside they interrupted a struggle between this woman, obviously my sister Alika, and Larella. Alika fled, but Ravenna managed to pull this bag off her shoulder. The Sczarni chased my sister to the Narrows of Saint Alika, but there they were driven away themselves by Gray Maiden guards, while the saw Alika make her way to Old Korvosa."
Next Balian reaches into the bag and takes out five small wooden statues. "I think these represent Alika's intended victims", he says as he sets them out on the table. "This is Mouse ... Korwick ... Heldrin. This one is Larella and then we have this exotic beauty. I think she is that girl from the house of pleasure Quint likes to frequent, you know ... the Vudran one."
"That does look a lot like Yuuna from Eel's End, indeed", Quint confirms as he takes a closer look. "They are going quite far in looking for people we care about."
"Still, that does not sound well for our three young lambs", Sjo worries.
"Sadly, that is correct," Balian continues. "Ravenna also recognized our three wards and came here as fast as she could, but the children were already gone. She has been keeping an eye on our home for the last five days, hoping that the intruder might return, but no such luck."
"And what about Larella, is she okay?" Sjo inquires.
"The Sczarni watch over her. At night she hides out with them in Thief Camp and during the day she works in the hospital, but Cadabrani sends his own son with her to protect her."
"Well, it looks like we have one more reason now to go to Old Korvosa", Puk concludes. "An urgent one, I would say. I suggest we leave straight away. We can fill in Balian on what happened in the Castle on the way ... oh yes, and show him Vencarlo's letter. It is time for you to help shape those changes Zellara was talking about, my ranger friend. Time to fulfill your destiny!"
Great session here! Once again you're proving your ability to beautifully interweave the general plotline with the characters' background and personal relations. Very much looking forward to Adventure 3!
BALIAN, CG Male Human ranger 7 (urban ranger)
Init +5; Senses Perception +11
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 20
hp 76 (7 HD)
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee greatsword +1 (two handed) +13/+8 ((two handed) 2d6+8/19-20)
Melee masterwork dagger +13/+8 (1d4+5/19-20)
Ranged masterwork longbow (composite/strength rating+4) +11/+6 (1d8+4/x3)
Base Atk +7; CMB +12; CMD 27
Ranger Spells (CL 3rd):
1st (2/day) (DC 12) - lead blades, longstrider
Abilities Str 21, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 7
Special Qualities Favored Community Korvosa +2, Track +3, Trapfinding +3
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Endurance, Favored Defense (human +2 AC and CMD), Following Step, Power Attack (-2 atk, +4 dmg / +6 dmg on 2-handed), Step Up, Step Up and Strike
Skills Acrobatics +9, Climb +8, Disable Device +12, Heal +5, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (Geography) +2, Knowledge (Local) +8, Perception +11, Perform (Act) +3, Ride +6, Sense Motive +1, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +12, Survival +5, Survival (Follow or identify tracks) +7, Swim +8
Possessions greatsword +1; ring of protection +2; mithral breastplate +1; amulet of natural armor +1; belt of physical might (+2 str/con); cloak of resistance +1; wand of cure light wounds; masterwork dagger; masterwork longbow (Composite/Strength Rating+4)
Favored Community Korvosa (Ex) You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (local), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks. An urban ranger traveling through his favored community leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (although he may leave a trail if he so desires).
Favored Enemy (Human +4, Undead +2) (Ex) You gain a +4/+2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks when using these skills against humans/undead. Likewise, you get a +4/+2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against such creatures.
Trapfinding (Ex) At 3rd level, an urban ranger can find and disable traps, as the rogue class feature of the same name.
Push Through (Ex) At 7th level, an urban Ranger is never slowed by difficult terrain in his favored communities. In addition, he can move through the space occupied by local citizens as if they were allies. This does not apply to creatures intent on harming the Ranger. Areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect him.
Trained actor You trained as a child to be an actor. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perform (act) and Perform (act) is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in Perform (act).
Child of the Streets You grew up on the streets of a large city, and as a result you have developed a knack for picking pockets and hiding small objects on your person. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sleight of Hand checks, and Sleight of Hand is always a class skill for you.
Reactionary You were bullied often as a child, but never quite developed an offensive response. Instead, you became adept at anticipating sudden attacks and reacting to danger quickly. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.
SPYDER, dog companion level 7, N Medium animal
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
AC 26, touch 14, flat-footed 22 (+3 Dex, +7 natural, +1 Dodge, +5 Armor)
hp 62 (7d8+28)
Fort +8, Ref +8 (evasion), Will +3 (+7 vs. enchantment and fear)
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +12/+7 (1d6+4)
Abilities Str 19, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +7; CMB +11; CMD 24 (28 vs. trip)
Feats Dodge, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon focus (bite)
Skills Acrobatics +7 (+15 jump), Perception +8, Survival +6 (+10 scent tracking), Swim +10
Devotion +4 morale bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells and effects and fear
Possessions amulet of natural armor +1; studded leather barding +2
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PUK, CG Male Halfling rogue 7 (swashbuckler)
Init +5; Senses Perception +9
AC 24, touch 18, flat-footed 24, uncanny dodge
hp 58 (7 HD)
Fort +8, Ref +13 (evasion), Will +5, +2 morale bonus vs. fear, +2 racial bonus vs. fear
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee main hand silver short sword +2 (small) +12 (1d4+2/19-20) and off-hand short sword +1 of shock (small) +11 (1d4+1+1d6/19-20)
Melee masterwork sap (small) +12 (1d4 non-lethal/x2)
Ranged shortbow (small) +10 (1d4/x3)
Ranged sling staff (halfling) (small) +10 (1d6/x3)
Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 19
Atk Options Sneak Attack +4d6
Abilities Str 10, Dex 21, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 10
Feats Acrobatic Steps, Dodge, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Halfling Sling Staff), Nimble Moves, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (short sword)
Skills Acrobatics +17, Acrobatics (Jump) +13, Appraise +6, Bluff +7, Climb +8, Diplomacy +6, Disable Device +13, Disguise +8, Escape Artist +12, Intimidate +4 (+0 vs. medium-sized), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +3, Knowledge (Local) +5, Linguistics +4, Perception +9, Perform (Percussion Instruments) +6, Ride +5, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +12, Stealth +17, Use Magic Device +4
Possessions small short sword +1 of shock; small silver short sword +2; studded leather +2 (small); shortbow (Small); halfling sling staff (halfling); small masterwork sap, amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +1; cloak of the Pixie King (+2 on saves, Dimension Door 1/day)
Sneak Attack (Ex) If you can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from your attack, you can strike a vital spot for extra damage. Your attack deals 4d6 points of extra damage.
Bleeding Attack (Ex) A rogue with this ability can cause living opponents to bleed by hitting them with a sneak attack. This attack causes the target to take 1 additional point of damage each round for each die of the rogue's sneak attack. Bleeding creatures take that amount of damage every round at the start of each of their turns. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 15 Heal check or the application of any effect that heals hit point damage. Bleeding damage bypasses any damage reduction the creature might possess.
Fast-Talker You had a knack at getting yourself into trouble as a child, and as a result developed a silver tongue at an early age. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff checks, and Bluff is always a class skill for you.
Personal Addiction You were the addict. You blame Gaedren for your brush with death and hate how his drugs are causing similar problems among other youths. Fortunately, your body recovers quickly from toxins, and you have a +1 bonus on Fortitude saving throws.
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QUINTILIAN (QUINT), CG Male Human bard 7 (court bard)
Init +2; Senses Perception +9
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 19, Combat Expertise
hp 58 (7 HD)
Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +5, +4 vs. Bardic Performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee short sword +1 of frost +9 (1d6+3+1d6/19-20)
Melee longsword +8 (1d8+2/19-20)
Melee masterwork whip +9 (1d3+2)
Melee sap +8 (1d6+2)
Ranged shortbow +8 (1d6/x3)
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 21
Known Bard Spells (CL 7th):
3rd (2/day) (DC 16) - glibness, haste
2nd (4/day) (DC 15) - cacophonous call, gallant inspiration, heroism, mirror image, pyrotechnics
1st (5/day) (DC 14) - cure light wounds, expeditious retreat, innocence, memory lapse, silent image, timely inspiration, touch of gracelessness, ventriloquism
0th (at will) (DC 13) - detect magic, ghost sound, light , lullaby, mage hand, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic
Abilities Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 17
Feats Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Lingering Performance, Skill Focus (Perform Comedy and Perform Oratory)
Skills Acrobatics +11, Appraise +6, Bluff +17, Climb +6, Diplomacy +19, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +11, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (Arcana) +6, Knowledge (Geography) +6, Knowledge (History) +9, Knowledge (Local) +15, Knowledge (Local/Art & music) +16, Knowledge (Nature) +6, Knowledge (Nobility) +9, Linguistics +12, Perception +9, Perform (Act) +8, Perform (Comedy) +16, Perform (Dance) +7, Perform (Oratory) +16, Perform (Sing) +8, Perform (String Instruments) +7, Sense Motive +16, Sleight of Hand +7, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +5, Use Magic Device +13
Possessions short sword +1 of frost; chain shirt +1; buckler +1; longsword; masterwork whip; sap; wand of feather step; wand of cure light wounds; wand of mage armor; Shortbow; amulet of natural armor +1; Wand of magic missile (CL 3rd); Scrolls of levitate, gentle repose, false life, knock; Dust of appearance; ring of fire resistance (10); ring of protection +1; cloak of resistance +1; Belt of Physical Might (+2 Str/Con); [i]Key-Lock Killer's bell Bardic Performance You can use this ability for 19 rounds per day.
Versatile Performance (Comedy / Oratory) (Ex) You can use your bonus in the Perform (Comedy / Oratory) skill in place of your bonus in the Bluff or Intimidate / Diplomacy or Sense Motive skills.
Countersong (Su) You can counter magic effects that depend on sound.
Distraction (Su) You can use your performance to counter magic effects that depend on sight.
Fascinate (Su) You can use your performance to cause up to 2 creatures to become fascinated with you (Will save DC 15).
Heraldic Expertise (Ex) A court bard gains a bonus equal to half his bard level on Diplomacy, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), and Knowledge (nobility) checks. 2/day, the court bard can also reroll a check against one of these skills, though he must take the result of the second roll even if it is worse.
Satire (Su) A court bard can use performance to undermine the confidence of enemies who hear it, causing them to take a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls (minimum 1) and a -1 penalty on saves against fear and charm effects as long as the bard continues performing. This penalty increases by -1 at 5th level and every six levels thereafter. Satire is a language-dependent, mind-affecting ability that uses audible components. This performance replaces inspire courage.
Mockery (Su) A court bard of 3rd level or higher can subtly ridicule and defame a specific individual. The bard selects one target who can hear his performance. That individual takes a -3 penalty on Charisma checks and Charisma-related skill checks as long as the bard continues performing.
Trained actor You trained as a child to be an actor. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perform (act) and Perform (act) is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in Perform (act).
Fast-Talker You had a knack at getting yourself into trouble as a child, and as a result developed a silver tongue at an early age. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff checks, and Bluff is always a class skill for you.
Child of the Street You grew up on the streets of Korvosa, and as a result you have developed a knack for picking pockets and hiding small objects on your person. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sleight of Hand checks, and SoH is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in SoH.
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SHAOBAN (SJO), LN Male Human oracle 7
Init +0; Senses Darkvision (60 ft.), Perception +2, Clouded Vision
AC 24, touch 11, flat-footed 24
hp 51 (7 HD)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +9
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee cold iron mace +2 (heavy) +11 (1d8+5)
Base Atk +5; CMB +8 CMD 19
Known Oracle Spells (CL 7th):
3rd (4/day) (DC 17) - cure serious wounds, dispel magic, fireball, prayer
2nd (6/day) (DC 16) - cure moderate wounds, hold person, remove paralysis, resist energy, restoration (lesser), weapon of awe
1st (8/day) (DC 15) - burning hands, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, magic weapon, protection from chaos, remove fear, shield of faith
0th (at will) (DC 14) - create water, detect magic, purify food and drink, read magic, spark, stabilize
Abilities Str 16, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 19
Feats Armor Proficiency, Heavy, Combat Casting, Dazzling Display; Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (Heavy Mace)
Skills Acrobatics -6, Bluff +8, Climb -3, Diplomacy +14, Heal +8, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (Local) +0, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Linguistics +0, Perform (Act) +9, Perform (sing) +9, Sense Motive +10, Sleight of Hand -1, Swim -3
Possessions cold iron mace +2 (heavy); ring of protection +1; full plate +1; amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +1, belt of giant strength +2, wand of cure light wounds, wand of remove disease; buckler
Clouded Vision Your eyes are obscured, making it difficult for you to see.
Flame Mysteries You draw upon the divine mystery of Flame to grant your spells and powers.
Touch of Flame (Su) As a standard action, you can perform a melee touch attack that deals 1d6 points of fire damage + 1 per two oracle levels (1d6+3). Alternatively you can use this power to ignite your weapon as a free action, adding the same amount of fire damage to each of your weapon attacks during that round. You can use this ability a number of times or rounds per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier (7).
At 11th level, any weapon that you wield is treated as a flaming weapon, adding 1d6 points of fire damage + 1 per two oracle levels.
Molten Skin (Ex) You gain resist fire 10.
Wings of Fire (Su) As a swift action, you can manifest a pair of fiery wings that grant you a fly speed of 60 feet with average maneuverability. You can use these wings for 1 minute per day per oracle level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1 minute increments.
Trained actor You trained as a child to be an actor. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perform (act) and Perform (act) is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in Perform (act).
Child of the Streets You grew up on the streets of a large city, and as a result you have developed a knack for picking pockets and hiding small objects on your person. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sleight of Hand checks, and Sleight of Hand is always a class skill for you.
Ease of Faith Your mentor, the person who invested your faith in you from an early age, took steps to ensure that you understood that what powers your divine magic is no different than that which powers the magic of other religions. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks, and Diplomacy is always a class skill for you.
The party decides to get into Old Korvosa by boat from the other bank of the Jeggare River. Trail's End, outside of the city walls, seems like the perfect spot to get across. Tayce Soldado, Brienne's mother and guard Grau's sister-in-law, lives there, so maybe she can help them find suitable transportation. The companions gather their gear and leave the villa. While making their way through Midland to the High Bridge, they suddenly see three scared Korvosans fleeing from something. Rounding the corner the companions come upon the source of this panic: seven Gray Maiden are locked in mortal combat with three Sable marines. The three black-clothed soldiers are obviously outmatched. Quint addresses the officer of the attacking force, questioning her violent actions and trying to get her to stand down by fascinating her, but he only succeeds in isolating her from the combat while her squad continues pressing the unfortunate members of the Sable Company. Balian's instincts tell him to interfere, but Quint cautions him: fighting the Gray Maidens will only result in outlawing the companions as well. So our friends watch with horror how the ironclad female warriors butcher the marines. The officer explains that Sable Company members have been declared 'public enemies'. These soldiers refused to surrender, so they were put to the blade. As the Gray Maidens march off, Sjo recognizes the dead marines from his days in the Sable company's stables. He feels torn, but has to agree with Quint that stepping in would have compromised their own mission. Quint also adds that killing Gray Maidens is not the solution, after all, these women are just following orders. Moreover, the companions cannot take on the complete force of Gray Maidens by themselves, as there are rumored to be 500 of them in the city and their numbers seem to increase every day. With a heavy heart the young friends continue their own quest.
Tayce is relieved to see Sjo: her daughter still hasn't recovered from the plague, so the healer digs up his wand of remove disease to cure the girl. In return Tayce convinces her neighbor Jarend to take the companions across the river. The skilled fisherman is glad to assist and drops the heroes on the easternmost quay of Old Korvosa, cleverly avoiding the Gray Maidens sloops that patrol the water.
Quint leads his friends straight to Eel's End. The 'entertainment center' is still running, although there are a lot less visitors than before. No surprise, since Old Korvosa is cut off from the rest of the city. Almost all patrons are sporting a strip of red cloth bound around their right arm. Quint quickly learns that they are the emperor's 'men', though the word thugs would suit them better. So Vencarlo's letter spoke true: Pilts Swastel, the crazy owner of obscene Exemplary Execrables theater, has become the self-proclaimed ruler of the quarantined district. Quint boards the House in the Clouds, the brothel where Yuuna works, and asks her boss about her. Madame Halvara claims that she hasn't seen the Vudran girl in five days. She recommends that the bard talks to Danarella, who is Yuuna's best friend. Perhaps she knows more. Sjo's ears already glow red as he thinks of the pretty redhead who helped him lose his virginity, but it looks like she is 'occupied' with one of the emperor's men for the moment. The Shoanti also picks up that the brothel's Madame does not seem overly pleased with Pilts Swastel's mob crowding her establishment. When he questions her about it, she whispers that the emperor's men act as if they own the place and pay only a fraction of the normal rates to get their kicks. But they are the only business Eel's End sees these days.
The companions figure that the emperor is probably the best source of information in Old Korvosa at the moment, so Quint uses fasinate and suggestion on one of his cronies. The ruffian, whose name is Patrick, agrees to take the party to see his boss. As he leads the way through the streets, his gang of thugs notice a drifter who is coughing badly and has trouble standing. Sjo immediately makes out that the stranger is suffering badly from the plague. "There's one of those filthy infected!" the thugs scream as they brandish their short swords and storm the unfortunate soul, quickly slashing him down without mercy. "That is the way we deal with the diseased in Old Korvosa", Patrick laughs. As they approach the former theater, the companions see that the playhouse has partially burnt to the ground, a theme that seems to run all over the island recently, just like the heaps of rotting cadavers in the streets. Several walls are covered in graffiti with slogans like "Gods bless the emperor", "Swastel is the man" or "Pilts to Power", and depictions of a bloody guillotine and heads flying about. Most houses in the area are boarded up tightly, others look abandoned with their front doors kicked in. Pilts Swastel's new 'palace' consists of a block of buildings that escaped destruction, right next to his erstwhile theater. Patrick knocks on the door of a small corner house and takes the companions past the guards up rickety stairs inside. Through a splintered hole in the wall he proceeds them over a rope bridge to a second building and then over another bridge to a huge open-air balcony clinging to the south side of a large tenement. The terrace is shielded from the elements by a brightly colored canvas roof that extends over the area like a dome, held in place by a wooden framework. The balcony itself contains two features of note. The first is a high backed chair that looks like a poor man's version of the Crimson Throne itself. Directly west of the throne stands an intimidating device, a tall guillotine of carved wood and bone, its blood-spattered base depicting grasping demonic feet and the housing that holds its glittering blade looks like a leering demonic face. Puk recognizes the apparatus as the Demon's Maw from Galt, one of Swalts' most prized possessions from his freak show museum. Flies hovering over a nearby basket leave no doubt to its content: severed heads.
Lazily relaxing in the throne's red cushions is a familiar figure. He looks even more hideous than he did when they met him three months ago. His eyes have fallen back in his skull, his pockmarked face indicates that he survived a bout with the plague, but not unscarred. He is dressed in a threadbare fur-trimmed crimson cloak and a cheap crooked crown, both pieces from his extensive collection of stage costumes and attributes. Pilts Swastel looks more like a vagrant king than actual royalty. His gaze betrays more than a touch of madness, but when he speaks the almost hypnotic pattern of his voice explains how he managed to gather the desperate and cruel to his banner. The toughest of the Old Dock thugs have made it to his personal bodyguards, guarding all corners of his throne. Staring from the hole in an executioner's mask is a sturdy gnome. Since the second eye-hole in the mask has been sewn shut, this can only be Swastel's tongueless, one-eyed sidekick, Jabbyr.
The emperor of Old Korvosa remembers the companions and welcomes them to his court. He saw them perform at the Marble Dome and was especially taken with their inspired alteration of the opera's final scene, with a genuine fight and real blood spattering the stage. When he inquires why the party has come to his island, Quint informs him that things on the mainland are getting out of hand. The bard recounts the story of what just happened in Castle Korvosa, using silent image and ventriloquism to depict the scene of queen Ileosa killing the commander of the Sable Company. Swastel loves it and already envisions a new play in which commander Endrin's sexual relationship with the queen ends in his death at her corpulent advisor's hands. There should definitely be room in it for a threesome with Sabina Merrin as well, he muses.
Next Quint changes the subject to Rolth, who is supposed to be hiding in Old Korvosa. He does his best to portray the necromancer as a great threat to the emperor's rule, but also admits that Rolth kidnapped some children who need rescuing. "So in fact you come to me seeking my assistance, hmm, let's see ..." Swastel sighs before mumbling the words of a detect magic. "I do like that belt you're wearing, young bard", he smiles at Quint. "It would make a handsome tribute to my person, as well as an acceptable payment for my services." The emperor makes his exorbitant demand with an air of self-evidence; emanating that he will not take 'no' for an answer. Being from a humble background, Quint has had to earn every one of his possessions through hard work and understands their value. He feels insulted and bellows at the emperor. Then things go fast: the emperor's bodyguards jump forward, stun Quint with a well-placed punch and grapple Balian. Sjo tries to freeze one of them with a hold person, but his magic is resisted. Balian struggles out of the brute's grasp, but the emperor whispers a charm monster and sways the ranger not to fight. "Just give me my prize and get to your knees, young bard. My court, my rules! Now don't be stupid!" Swastel grins at Quint. Puk realizes that complying with the emperor's wishes is the only tactic to get out of this mess alive, so he frees Quint' belt from the stunned bard's waist and throws it at Swastel's feet. The next moment one of the emperor's brawlers forces Quint on his knees and the fight is over. Pilts Swastel girds on the shiny belt and suddenly seems bored with his guests. "I'll see what I can do about this Rolth character. You are dismissed", he blurts out. Not wanting to overstay their welcome, the companions take their leave. A displeased Quint vows to himself this is not over yet.
The companions' next destination is Yuuna's flat. Balian easily picks the lock and finds a small, but colorful room. There is no trace of Yuuna, there are no signs of a struggle, only the back window has been forced open. Nothing else is of any help to the young men, so they return to Eel's End to talk to Yuuna best friend, Danarella. The redhead has no idea where her Vudran colleague disappeared to, although she hopes her friend is okay. She might have fled to the mainland, but Danarella suspects that Yuuna would never do that without informing her. Maybe Yuuna's stalker knows more, she muses. She explains that Yuuna had a 'fan', a man who was probably in love with her and who regularly escorted her home after work. They jokingly called him her 'stalker', although he was quite a respectable man, a trainer at the Endrin military academy, called Janros Rainwater.
Endrin military academy is a whitewashed building that acts as barracks and training grounds for a small garrison of both Korvosan guards and Sable Company trainees. This place does not just only drill soldiers and teach them new tricks and tactical insight, it also serves as a breeding ground for good relations between the Guard and the Sable Company. The trainees act as liaisons between the two military forces, allowing for joint operations and continued mutual support. The academy's location within the old wall of Fort Korvosa, at the foot of Garrison Hill, provides a more serene scenery than the chaotic streets of Old Docks and the cramped alleys of Bridgefront. Although there are signs of plundering and destruction here as well, they are less frequent and there are no decaying bodies on the ground or thugs about.
Double doors bar the entrance to the academy. A note has been nailed in the wood: Academy closed - No entry. Balian knocks loudly. The only reaction is a dog that starts barking inside, but no one answers the call. Since this building is so close to Vencarlo's house, the companions want to pay the fencing master a visit first. Maybe he knows his colleagues in this training center, so he might facilitate their access.
Two blocks away stands Vencarlo's famed sword school, or at least, that is where it used to stand. The once-proud Orisini Academy is no more: the training facility has recently burnt to the ground. Fortunately, Vencarlo's living quarters still stand, nestled in the other corner of the compound. Puk's quick eyes pick up a line of smoke coming from the chimney, so the fencing expert is at home! When Balian knocks on the door, it clicks open from the impact of his blows. Why would Vencarlo leave his door unlocked? The companions draw their weapons and carefully enter the building. The ground floor is empty. If Vencarlo is still here, he is probably resting upstairs ... and if he isn't, the bedroom might just be the best place to find a trace. The stairs lead to a personal training room with a burning fireplace and two practice dummies in the far corners, to either side of the hearth. The exposed rafters give the room an open feel. There is one more door in here which can only lead to the bedroom. Puk's sixth sense warns him of a danger as two shadows drop down from the beams above. Their weird armor resembles the carapace of a scarlet insect and their blood-colored ant-like helmet completes the picture: Red Mantis assassins!
The first assassin uses the element of surprise well by slicing into Quint's flesh with his curved, serrated blade. His comrade never gets the chance, however, as Balian brings down his greatsword in a devastating arch, tearing apart the man's carapace armor. When the heavily injured hitman tries to stumble out of the way, the ranger follows up with another bloody sweep, finishing off his opponent once and for all. As his corpse hits the floor, the room is suddenly filled with a red mist. The first trained killer realizes that newcomers aren't simple students of the Orisini Academy and vanishes from view. The next moment a giant real-life red mantis appears behind Balian. The ranger easily deflects the insect's claws and continues his deadly attacks, quickly chopping the creature down. Meanwhile Puk reaches into his pocket and draws out some dust of appearance, which he blows into the air, making the invisible assassin reappear. The opponent now finds himself cornered and summons four mirror images, but facing overwhelming odds, this act only prolongs his suffering. He manages one more feeble hit, before being overrun. As he falls down, more red mist arises and the companions notices that both assassins' corpses have completely disappeared, as if they were never there. So these are the dreaded red mantis? By the gods, how they failed to live up to their reputation!
Sjo suggests using Vencarlo's house to rest up, the hour is growing late and tomorrow promises to be a rough day. At the same time they can wait here for the fencing master to come back home. The heroes quickly scan the building and discover a hidden lockbox in Vencarlo's closet. It contains a bag of holding, which Balian empties on the floor. The black cloak, mask, boots and gloves and the fancy rapier leave no doubt as to its proprietor: this gear is Blackjack's. So Vencarlo is the caped crusader, just as the companions expected. Sjo puts the items back in the bag and return the box to its secret compartment. Let's just hope that the old pro gets home soon, the party could definitely use an accomplished ally at its side to steer through the murky waters of Old Korvosa.
21 Erastus 4708
Morning breaks and still there is no sign of Vencarlo Orisini. As the party leaves his house, Balian spots a shadowy figure trying to hide in the ruins of the burned training facility. The ranger rushes over, his greatsword blazing in the light of the morning sun. The shadow scurries backwards, stumbling over his own heels and falling flat on his bottom in the ashes. In the black dust Balian recognizes the face of one of Vencarlo's students: Amin Jalento, captain Jalento's boy.
"You are alive! I saw you enter that deathtrap yesterday evening ... those assassins were waiting inside. And when you didn't come out, I feared the worst!"
"So, what are you saying? You saw us walk into this ambush without warning us?" Quint raises his eyebrows.
"I'm sorry, I was hidden in that building up there, squeezed between the beams of the roof. A narrow hiding space, not easy to get out of, but a good place to remain from view. Anyway, after the master was forced to flee the day before yesterday, I've been waiting for him there."
"Wow, too much information at once, Amin, why don't you start at the beginning?" Sjo interjects.
"Of course, I apologize. You know I'm a student at master Orisini's school. I was on the island attending classes when the quarantine hit. My master was gracious enough to allow me to stay as his guest. My fellow students have all either left or died from the plague, but fortunately Vencarlo and I did not get sick. Then, two nights ago, we were set upon by five of those red killers in their ant helmets ..."
"Not ants, mantises actually, red mantis assassins to be exact", Quint clarifies.
"Gods, no ... those notorious slayers are after my master? They say the red mantis don't quit until they finish their contract. Then it's even worse than I feared. Anyway, my master held them at bay while he shouted for me to run. As I glanced over my shoulder, I saw how he took down one of them, but there were too many, so master Orisini knocked over a brazier and set the academy on fire, giving him the opportunity to flee as well. I haven't seen him since. I've been hiding, waiting for him to return. That's how I saw those two killers sneak into the house yesterday. They even lighted the fireplace, perhaps they were trying to suggest that I was in the building."
"And then we arrived. It didn't occur to you to shout a warning?" Balian grumbles.
"To be fair, I had dozed off, it was late after all. I was awakened by you knocking on the door ... before I could react, you had entered. By the time I had crawled out of my hiding place and made it to the door, I heard the sound of battle inside. When you did not come out again, I assumed you had been slain. So I hid once more ... I'm a coward, I know, keeping out of harm's way is the only tactic I know to survive."
"And what of you master, where could he be?" Quint asks.
"I don't know where he has gone. The master never tells me where he goes. Even in the days after the quarantine he left the house regularly, mostly at odd hours in the night, sometimes not returning until the morning. At one such return his clothes were bloody - he told me he had fought off a thief, but I'm sure there was more to it than that. Furthermore, in the days before the red mantis attack, my teacher had a singularly strange houseguest visit him on three separate occasions - a man with wild hair and a jittery habit of looking about. I guess he was some kind of artist, for he had blue stains on his hands and clothes."
"Salvator Scream, a doom-thinking painter who has been going through an extended 'blue period', no doubt", Sjo muses.
"That is probably correct, he definitely had this 'poéte maudit' vibe going for him. Still, Vencarlo always spoke to him behind closed doors. On their last meeting I heard my master raise his voice in anger, a rare thing, I assure you. Vencarlo Orisini is known for his patience and control. In over a year, he never got mad at me even once, despite my clumsiness and lack of progress."
"Don't sell yourself short, friend. You will find your courage yet", Sjo balms. "Still, one thing is clear, this place is no longer safe, not with the red mantis about. Do you have any other place to stay?"
"I don't. I live on the mainland, I just come here for my classes. Master Orisini is the only one I know here."
"So you don't know anyone at the Endrin military academy either?" Balian asks.
"Well, I know of the place. It's a Sable Company operation, but some officers of the Guard train there as well. Dad studied there for a time, before he made captain, when I was still a child. But I've never been there myself."
"Well, the academy is where we're going right now, perhaps you can stay there, you're the captain's son, after all", Balian smiles.
And so the companions return to Endrin military academy, with Amin Jalento in tow. Again, the only thing answering their call at the front doors is a dog barking inside. Quint uses the Key-lock Killer's bell to magically open the entrance. The barking comes from a room down the hall. It leads the young friends to a training room where a white labrador retriever sinks into a low growl. Balian sends Spyder over to ease the animal's discomfort, as suddenly one of the practice dummies comes to life and jumps down from the wooden scaffolding and swings his longsword at Quint. "Get out, intruders. We don't need looters in here!" He draws some blood, but when the bard looks at the man's face, he notices a long scar across his left cheek. When Danarella talked about Janros Rainwater, she mentioned such a distinct scar.
"We come in peace ... Janros Rainwater, I presume. We're not here to steal from you, we're here to talk. We want to ask you about Yuuna", the bard says.
"Yuuna, do you know where she is?" he jumps to Quint's words.
"We were actually hoping you might tell us", Quint continues with a slight tone of disappointment.
"She's been missing for a couple of days now, she hasn't been at work and she's not at home."
"So you've been to her place. Maybe you're the one who got in through the back window", Sjo speculates.
"Indeed I was. The only thing I found was a wooden toy house, representing a local little restaurant. I don't know if you're familiar with it, 'The Traveling Man' it's called. I went there and asked about her, but I didn't find anything."
"So, you're here all by yourself, or what?" Balian notices.
"Just me and Boomer", Janros pets the dog. "Everyone else was called back into service, when all the trouble started after King Eodred died. I am one of the seniors here, so I stayed behind to keep an eye on things. There have been a couple of attempts at looting since the quarantine. That is why I attacked you ... I do apologize, of course."
"Don't worry about it, hard times demand even harder measures. We understand," Quint assures the man." Still, I imagine you do not know what is happening to your brethren on the mainland. They are much worse off."
"My brothers, what do you mean?"
"Well, there is no easy way to break this news to you," Sjo explains. "The Sable Company has been outlawed after Commander Endrin attempted to murder the queen."
"He did what?"
"He tried to kill her, shot an arrow straight into her head, he did", Balian goes on. "Should have killed her on the spot, but she pulled it out like it was a splinter and planted it right between Endrin's eyes. Game over for him, and his troops with him. The Gray Maidens have been all over town hunting the Sable Company down."
"By the gods, I must get over there and help them!" Janros shouts.
"If some of your colleagues are still alive and at large, they've probably gone into hiding already. There's not much you can do", Quint says.
"The hell there isn't. I cannot sit idle while my friends are being butchered or arrested. I have to help, or at least I have to try!" Janros objects.
"Why don't you come with us to find Yuuna?" Sjo suggests.
"As much as I love her, duty calls. I'll give you the wooden house, though I don't see what good it will do. Then I have to go."
The toy house does not only portray 'The Travelling Man', but also the square in front of it, which is famous for its occasional otyugh outbursts. A small wooden circle represents the plug over the sewer entrance. Puk notices he can remove it and sees a strange, vaguely heart shaped indentation underneath it. Studying it, Quint realizes that it perfectly fits the feet of the wooden Yuuna figurine. So she is not in 'The Travelling Man' after all, but in the nearby sewers!
The companions quickly say goodbye to Janros Rainwater and Amin Jalento, who has agreed to watch over the Endrin academy in Janros's absence. Afterwards they hurry to the square in front of 'The Travelling Man'. A heavy grid covers a substantial hole in the ground, which is normally winched open every Oathday to feed the garbage eaters. Next to this giant plug is a smaller manhole with a lid, which opens easily, revealing a ladder down. A scared female voice rings from below: "Is anyone there? Please help me!" The slightly exotic accent betrays her Vudran heritage. It is Yuuna! And she is still alive!
The adventurers climb down and find a stone set of stairs leading further into the dark. Below a light shines from a locked cage which houses a scared woman. She clings to the bars in the front, trying to avoid the tentacles swinging at her in the back of the cage. A hungry otyugh is barred from entering at the other end, but it is attempting to grab the Vudran with its long feelers through the iron ribs.
Then a second female voice calls out: "Once again we bear witness to your slow and feeble attempts at rescuing those you love! You should have been here hours ago! Still, I'll give you this one shot at saving the damsel in distress to kick off our little game. There will be no such mercy from here on, though. So, prove to me how fast you are at rescuing your friends or watch them die! No time to dally." With the sound of metal grinding on stone several portcullises rise and at the same time the door in the back of Yuuna's cage swings open, clearing the way for the otyugh to charge in.
"Puk, use the cloak of the pixie king!" Quint shouts as everyone gathers around the halfling who zaps the party into the cage. Arriving behind the bars gives the companions the opportunity to confront Yuuna's foe, but it also keeps them safe from the pair of otyughs that enter the central room through the other opened passages, or at least the heroes think so, because the creatures simply stretch their appendices through the iron poles to attack. Balian cuts a deep slash into the sewer monster in the cage, but then he sees an extraordinarily large specimen emerging from one of the lower pipes. The creature glides its mighty tentacle through the bars and grabs the ranger with it, pulling him against the iron and crushing his ribs. Quint tries to save his friend by nauseating the huge grappler with cacophonous call, but his magic is easily resisted. One of the normal sized beasts also grabs Balian through the metal, putting the ranger in dire straits. Inside the cage the otyugh bites Sjo with its filthy teeth, but it doesn't survive Puk's deadly gashes. Next Sjo draws upon his mastery over the element of fire and hurls a fireball at the three monsters in the central room. Burned sewage is not exactly a pleasant smell, but the crisp meat on the otyughs' backs is definitely a welcome sight. Balian fails to free himself from the huge tentacle and has to resort to his dagger to gash the tendril that squeezes him. It takes several rounds of cutting and two extra fireballs to drop another otyugh and send the two remaining ones running.
While Yuuna thanks Quint profusely for saving her, Balian notices another toy house in the corner. This one resembles the temple of Aroden, an old crumbling church, devoted to the worship of the city's former most popular god, until he disappeared a century ago. A pitiful trio of clerics is rumored to maintain the building as best they can, going so far as to hold services every Sunday for a handful of patrons, most of whom are not worshippers, but simply curious observers. The feet of the Korwick doll fit into an indentation inside the wooden miniature building.
While making their way to the temple of Aroden, the companions find the streets mostly abandoned. Has the plague decimated this district so thoroughly that there is hardly anyone left or are people so scared of the emperor that they dread coming outside? The first reason will surely have a huge impact, but fear of Pilts Swastel definitely plays a part as well, which becomes clear by the little game some ragged children are playing. Faking an execution with some simple wooden stick dolls and guillotine, the kids sing a macabre song:
"Off with your head, off with your head!
The Demon's Maw will see you dead.
He'll put you down, his blade will thrust
and BANG your head drops in the dust!"
Sjo tries to scare away the children by telling them he will grow two heads if his is ever chopped off, but these little upstarts are not spooked easily. Having survived as long as they have in these inhuman circumstances has clearly hardened them. They simply change their lyrics to "off with your heads ..." and carry on singing.
The temple of Aroden is an old, crumbling building which has lost almost all of its former splendor. Sjo uses a new neat trick and summons a pair of fiery wings, allowing him to fly up to the bell tower. Using his mace, he strikes the brass bell in an effort to distract whoever is inside the building, while his friends burst through the front doors. The ring of the bell is answered by the rattling of chains and the wails of a young child crying out in pain. When Balian pushes open the front doors, he finds the temple covered in a web of chains. A strange figure, dressed in tattered robes, is standing at the other end of the room. Multiple chains flow from his body and seem to bring the entire iron meshwork to life. Above the altar hangs the squirming form of Korwick. The shackles are squeezing him ever tighter and make him scream out in agony. Balian and Quint find a path through the tangled web and close in on the enemy, who unleashes a cacophony of dark, soul-shaking howls from the pits of hell. A pitch-black cloud spreads out around him and the overwhelming scream deafens the two brave heroes, who summon the strength of their will to fight back an even nastier effect. Puk and Sjo enter as well, but the Shoanti is the only one who can see in the dark - his limited clouded vision does have its advantages after all. He notices that the evil fiend moves through the sea of iron braids with ease, while his friends all get caught in it. The healer throws a burning hands on the creature, but the flames simply glide off its body, leaving it unharmed. Spyder's keen sense of smell allows the dog to locate the devilish monster in the darkness and attack it with a critical bite. But the canine's teeth do almost no damage. So the devil needs specific weapons to be hurt; unfortunately no one in the party possesses the knowledge to know which. Groping around in the blackness and struggling with the entangling chains makes the party very inefficient. Balian manages to pull free from the grasp of the web and makes his way to the monster, but as the darkness drops away, he now faces the unnerving gaze of the sacristan kyton - who has lowered his hood - and is staggered. The chain devil keeps moving agilely through the crisscross of strings and lashes out mercilessly with his own spiked chain, making all the heroes bleed. Quint stumbles out of the church and pull out his wand of feather step to allow himself faster movement in this difficult terrain. The combination of the entangling chains and the unsettling eyes of the kyton make this fight very hard. The companions keep getting stuck in the iron web - even the dexterous rogue Puk - and the monster's gaze continually steals actions from the heroes if they fail to summon the willpower to resist. The only upside is that the devil's most efficient tactic is to cleave away at his enemies, thus spreading the damage over multiple targets, instead of focus firing. Of course, this forces the companions into combat healing as well, Puk has to pull out a potion to stay in the fight, while Quint resorts to his wand of cure serious wounds and Sjo burns through his own healing magic. Quint makes it to the altar, where the strangling chains have forced poor Korwick into unconsciousness. He saves the boy's life with a touch of the wand. Meanwhile Balian scores his first hit; his greatsword's magic is not empowered to bypass the devil's damage reduction, but his heavy hit still deals a fair gash. The ranger's skill of following up when his enemy tries to step away also proves its worth, forcing the devil to stop moving about. Sjo also closes in on the kyton and strikes hard twice. It takes many more rounds of healing, striking and trying to avoid the creature's gaze or facing the potential staggering effect before Puk finally gets into position and finds that the silver of his off-hand short sword actually does full damage to the fiend. The halfling's first strike is also his last, as the sacristan kyton finally drops to the floor, defeated at last.
The companions dig deeply into their resources of healing wands to restore everyone to full health. Korwick has lost consciousness again, but is still alive! Puk finds another wooden miniature building, representing the Copper-Beater hall, an enterprise close to the pier of Eel's End. This wooden toy house fits the feet of the Heldrin puppet. Sjo also discovers the bodies of the three priests of Aroden in a backroom of the temple. They have all been slashed to death by the kyton's cruel barbs.
Travelling to the Copper-Beater hall sends the party through the heart of the emperor's district again. They pass four of Pilts' ruffians on the way, who glare at the heroes and start chuckling, but do not engage. As the thugs walk down the street, a gaunt man with a blank stare in his eyes exits from an alleyway. He's clinging a simple wood-chopping axe in his grasp and is dressed in an ill-fitting and awkwardly strapped leather armor. The man pays the companions no heed, but trots off after the four bullies instead. Quint shouts out to him, but his cry only makes the emperor's men look back and notice the haggard man approaching. The wretch raises his axe and charges the thugs, but his inept swing goes wide and the next moment he is on the ground with the four ruffians on top of him. They cheerfully disarm the poor man and drag him along.
The Copper-Beater Hall is an impressive structure with a fancy front door. Peeking through the windows Puk makes out a luxurious meeting room and a richly decorated office, which are both deserted. The side of the building sports large warehouse doors through which crates and containers are normally transported in and out of the building, but they are shut now. The three chimneys are spouting black smoke, but there is no thunder of pounding hammers, which usually resounds from within. There is a third way in on the backside of the factory, which looks like the entrance for the workers. This is the entry point the companions choose.
The heroes walk into a small changing room with some clothes and leather aprons hanging from pegs on the far wall. The dry, mouldy bread on the table suggests that the workers have not been here for some time. The door leading to the copper-beating furnaces feels slightly warm to the touch and Puk's observant ears pick up some low growls on the other side. Sjo casts resist fire on Balian and Puk, trusting that his innate fire resistance and Quint's ring will prove enough protection to withstand any potential fire attacks. As Balian pulls open the door, he is met by three powerfully built wolves, the size of draft horses, with ebony fur and fiery eyes. Spikes protrude from the fur on their backs which seems to flicker with red flames. The biggest of these hellhounds turns towards the intruders and spews forth a sea of flames, engulfing all companions in an inferno. His breath weapon also lights up oil which flows through several gutters in the workplace. Tied up in front of the blazing furnaces is Heldrin, who is now struggling to avoid the wall of fire that spreads through the room. Puk can evade the fire breath completely, while Quint and Balian get seared moderately. It is the fire-loving Shoanti, however, who takes a heavy burn. Before he can recover, Sjo gets jumped by a second warhound, whose fierce bite puts him down. Quint pulls Spyder, who is also heavily charred, behind the open door and waits for Puk and Balian to lure the hellish canine into the changing room. Then he kicks the door shut, giving his friends the opportunity to quickly take out this opponent. Meanwhile the bard uses his wand to put Sjo back on his feet. Next Quint reopens the door and Balian charges the two remaining Nessian warhounds the workplace. Through sheer luck Heldrin has avoided most of the flames and is still on his feet, though barely. Fortunately the oil in the gutters has burned away and the fire in the room is now dying out. Balian cleaves and Quint makes it to his side, for the ranger is taking multiple bites and is in desperate need of healing. Puk tumbles into an advantageous position and works his sneaking magic. Sjo aids in healing Balian, whose heavy hits kill off a second hound, but the ranger still gets dropped himself before his friend finish off the last Nessian warhound.
The healing wands are drained further of their cures and the companions realize they are slowly getting through their resources with at least one more rescue attempt ahead. Quint notices a wooden replica of the Old City Hall, the tall spire of which has in indentation which fits the feet of the Mouse miniature. At one time in history, this belfry-like structure was the tallest building in all of Varisia, until the Arvensoar in Magnimar stole away that distinction for more than a decade. Korvosa quickly reclaimed the honor with the completion of the north tower on Castle Korvosa, though. The Old City Hall's black stone walls have led to people calling it the Charcoal Palace. It served Korvosa as city hall for 60 years, until Remsev Ornelos decided that its many stairs leading up the tall tower were a terrible inconvenience to anyone working there. The building might have been prestigious in design, it was also very impractical. So when the city expanded to the mainland, the Korvosans constructed a new, more practical city hall in North Point, which remains in place until today. The Old City Hall has housed a handful of private initiatives over the last two centuries, but it has stood empty for at least as long as any of the companions can remember, serving mainly as a landmark in the oldest part of the city. Will this tall tower be the arena for the party's confrontation with Alika and Rolth? Judging by their resources, the heroes certainly hope so.
With Heldrin and Korwick safe, two of the three children living with the party in the villa are now out of harm's way. Heldrin joins his friend in the Endrin Academy while the companions head over to the old city hall to rescue the third and last missing lamb: Mouse. Korvosa's former townhall is situated in the quieter part of the island, up on Garrison Hill, quite close to the Palace of the Arkona family. Apparently the nobleman's name still carries enough weight to keep the emperor's men at bay. The high tower of the abandoned building is impressive. The companions figure they will have to climb it to the top floor, with the stories in between forming the perfect set-up for traps. Proceeding with caution the party locates and dismantles three traps on the lower floors. Climbing the tower turns out to be safe, at least until the companions reach a very high-ceilinged room in which the stairs wind up to the top floor. About halfway up the stairs acid rain starts pouring down on the heroes, burning their flesh. Balian scurries all the way up to shut off the sprinkling system. One wooden trap door separates the party from their destination, but Puk and Balian find powerful magic protecting the lid. Quint sacrifices himself and suffers the effects of a symbol of pain to open the trap door, while his friends hide on the floor underneath to keep out of the harmful magical blast. Next they storm through the hole, with Balian and Puk leading the way.
The top room has windows on all sides, overlooking the region. There used to be a huge clock in here, but it was removed and melted down decades ago, when queen Domina needed funds to finance her ever growing hunger for fancy building projects. A balcony juts from the south side of the tower; the open door reveals Rolth standing in the wind. Tied up, on the other end of the railing, is Mouse. One nudge would suffice to push him down. Barring the way to the door are three bearded devils and Alika. Hate flickers in her eyes as her brother steps into view. "For the glory of Urgathoa! Time to settle the score!" she hisses as she removes a long leather glove from her right hand. Her limb is completely stripped of flesh, leaving nothing but bone, like an undead graft on living tissue.
Sjo quickly gauges the situation and notices the schmuck smile on Rolth's ugly face, indicating that the necromancer feels in control with the little hostage at his mercy. The Shoanti summons his fiery wings and flies out, surprising the evil wizard and positioning himself between the foul man and his prey. Rolth looks most displeased and lifts off into the air himself ... he obviously prepared a fly spell. Still, he is frustrated, having hoped to threaten the party with the helpless boy and cast spells at them from a safe position. He calls into being a wall of force that block the doorway and curses Sjo for ruining his plans once again. Sjo pulls Mouse over to the safe side of the railing and lifts off. The two flying men engage in an aerial dance, swirling around each other, trying to hurt one another with magic. Sjo easily withstands the burns of two scorching rays and scoffs at Rolth's attempt to fear him, but he sees his own hold person and dispel magic fail as well.
Meanwhile Puk and Spyder are keeping the bearded devils occupied. One of the creatures claws into the halfling and rends his flesh with his filthy beard, while the other two wield glaives and cut Balian and his pet dog from a ten feet distance. Alika immediately charges her brother and starts hacking away at him. The ranger returns the favor by showing no mercy when he wields his greatsword. Doubt still creeps through his veins as he misses his target more than he hits it. Quint pulls out the wand of cure serious wounds and reverts to healing again. He also launches a discouraging satire in infernal, weakening the devils' attacks. Puk has already taken considerable damage, but strengthened by Quint's cure, he survives long enough to cut down a bearded devil. Next thing he knows is darkness, as the glaive of another devil drops him as well. Alika's skeletal claw hit several times, but deprived of an opportunity to sneak, the rogue does limited damage. When Balian's strokes hit, they are much more harmful. Even when the ranger realizes his sister is close to death, he does not hold back. He drives his blade through his sibling's chest, finishing her off once and for all. The foul necromancer corrupted her beyond saving, Balian sadly realizes. Death was the only release from this mortal existence that was left to her. And since she was Balian's responsibility, the cruel task fell on him. Still, the time to mourn will have to wait, for there are two dangerous devils left. Quint revives Puk and joins him in cornering one of the opponents, leaving the other one for Balian and Spyder. The heroes now have the upper hand and finish the job in a few rounds.
Outside the flying struggle continues. Rolth blasts Sjo with a powerful lightning bolt, but the Shoanti casts some healing magic and flings himself at the wizard, grappling him. Rolth curses even more in frustration and barely succeeds at mumbling the words of dimension door. From one second to the other he disappears. Sjo figures out that the wizard has to flee to a place close-by that he is familiar with, like somewhere else in the tower. The Shoanti flies down to the front door, quaffing more healing potions on the way. He enters the front hall again and stumbles upon his opponent in there. He jumps the necromancer once more and grabs him in a choking hold. This time Rolth fails his effort to cast magic and fizzles his get-away teleport spell. Sjo is determined not to let go of his prey and clasps his arm tightly around the man's throat, sending fire through his hands again and again. He only stops when he has no more fire left. Rolth's charred and lifeless body tumbles to the ground.
The companions recover some loot and find a special document in Rolth's possessions. After surviving the explosive runes on the parchment, Quint discovers it holds the precise wording of an infernal contract between Rolth and a devil named Chyvvom, promising the necromancer the services of infernal creatures up to five times in return for his immortal soul. The companions do not regret having had to fight their way through the servants from hell, as they now realize that Rolth will pay the price for these creatures' assistance with eternal torture in the afterlife. A fitting fate for one so foul!
[Edit] Decided it would be best to keep it under spoilers.
Sjo's player wrote down his version of the end of the session:
The Necromancer just escaped with a dimension door and Sjo - driven by the momentum of his charging attack- lands on the balcony where Mouse is still lying gagged. The healer suppresses his urge to go to the kid to undo his bindings but instead spies the sky in search of Rolth.
His limited vision prevents him from seeing his surroundings clearly but there seems to be no sign of Rolth.
Where did that filthy piece of s@+$ go? Acting on his instincts Sjo jumps off the balcony and summons his fiery wings to glide down, back to the basement of the belfry tower. Getting more and more confident with his new form of movement the Shoanti takes his time to flutter down while quaffing 2 healing potions before his feet touch the ground.
Sjo pushes the doors of the building for the second time and is surprised to see Rolth standing in the big entrance hall. "You filthy piece of Shoanti-s%#!" the Necromancer shouts. "Why you just don't die as everybody else?" and 5 missiles shoot from his fingertips targeting the Oracle. Sjo starts to charge towards the necromancer, stoically taking in the missiles without giving a glimpse. Luckily the Shoanti was almost completely healed using his remnant potions.
In a final leap Sjo throws his full weight at Rolth and both crash to the ground. The necromancer tries again to escape the clutches of the furious Shoanti by casting a spell which would take him farther away from his nemesis. But this time he is not so lucky and the spell fizzles before it takes effect. Sjo seizes the opportunity to slip his arm around the filthy death-reeking man's neck and starts to strangle him. In his rage he calls out to the domain of Asmodeus to get that all-consuming fire. By setting his own arms ablaze and ever squeezing harder, Rolth only has a couple of feeble attempts left before all the life fades away from his body. While the necromancers' consciousness slips away, Sjo whispers in the dying mans ear: "I sentence you to die Rolth and hope you'll burn in hell for all what you did to us and the kids ..."
Even when the body goes limp, Sjo keeps getting on to that burning fire until he's exhausted.
---
Asmodeus is sitting in audience, listening bored and half-heartedly to the umpteenth dispute about some contract. Suddenly the Prince of Darkness' attention is caught by a little disturbance in one of his domains. Something is pulling fire with that much hate and force that it gets to his attention.
Shifting his attention away from this ever-dull audience the Ruler of Hell notices that the power is drawn by some Shoanti warrior in an amusing attempt to fry someone's head.
There's something about these two that gets the Dark Lords attention: This Shoanti must be that runaway pupil Reebs keep ranting about in his communes, and the other one... yes, that's the necromancer who - not even a day ago- haggled endlessly about a contract he wanted to sign.
The Lord of the Pit is amused with the situation: this filthy worm will fulfill his end of the contract very soon it seems. And the bigger irony is that this Shoanti-runaway is now fulfilling a service to him without even having a clue.
Burning his head every day for at least a hundred years seems like a good start to teach this would-be necromancer a little lesson in humbleness. As for this Shoanti-character: might be worth keeping an eye on that one.
The Prince of Darkness stand up from his throne - dismissing the audience- with his thoughts full of crispy heads ...
The companions return to Vencarlo's burned down academy and build a pyre for Alika. Sjo prays to Pharasma to show mercy on the poor, misguided girl's soul and Quint pours his sorrow in a sad song. Balian just watches in silence as his sister's remains are consumed by the flames, hoping that she will find some kind of peace in the afterlife. Afterwards the party heads to the Endrin Academy, where Amin Jalento, Korwick and Heldrin are still safe. The sadness of Alika's demise is somewhat compensated by the joy of Mouse, reconnecting with his two best friends. Realising that they accomplished nearly the impossible by saving the three boys from the clutches of death definitely brings some comfort. Weary of today's trials, our heroes quickly slink away in sleep's embrace.
22 Erastus 4708
The next morning immediately proves how resilient young boys can be. Although they went through a traumatizing experience, Korwick, Mouse and Heldrin do not appear dazed. Sjo feels proud when he sees that his wards put food first in their priorities, plundering the provision cabinet for salami. Having faced the revenge of a deranged necromancer did not break little Mouse, as he recounts to his friends how the heroes saved him from the bad man with much gusto. Who knows, these boys might have the making of heroes in their hearts as well.
Following up on Amin Jalento's hint that Salvator Scream, the painter, visited his master Vencarlo Orisini on several occasions, the companions head over to the artist's house. The decripit building on the Narrows of Saint Alika appears in an even sadder state than the last time the party came here. As Balian moves in to pry open the lock on the front door, he notices that someone beat him to the punch. It looks like Salvator Scream already had 'visitors' a couple of days ago. The door swings open to reveal a front room with multiple muddy tracks covering the floorboards. The footprints lead to the bedroom with a single bed. The blankets and pillow atop are in disarray and there is no sign of the painter.
Salvator's studio stinks of must and mildew. At one time this room was a sanctuary where an inspired madman committed the visions of violence and horror in his head to canvas, but Salvator's latest work shows none of that brilliance. Frustration must have taken hold of the artist, as he destroyed his own lackluster creations.
Outside the party comes across some of the emperor's men. Quint inquires about Salvator Scream's whereabouts and easily tricks the goons into admitting that mister Scream is a 'guest' at their master's. Seeing this as an easy opportunity to make some money, Corl, one of the thugs, offers to procure an audience with the emperor in exchange for a pay-off. He wants 25 gold sails, but is haggled down to a mere 5 gold pieces before he takes to companions to the emperor's poor excuse of a palace.
Emperor Pilts Swastel heartily welcomes the heroes back to his place and after graciously accepting their gift of a magic cloak as a tribute, he agrees to let them speak to the painter for a couple of minutes. He takes the companions into the building behind his throne and leads them to a dark, unpleasant room, scarcely more than a cell, in which Salvator Scream is pining away. Pilts has no intention of leaving the party alone with the painter and sits down in a chair as he invites his guests to have their little conversation. The emperor feels comfortalbe in the company of his four personal bodyguards, who easily kicked the heroes' butts last time.
Scream looks in bad shape and seems ill at ease with the emperor staring down his face. Still, the companions convince him to talk. His tale starts with Neolandus Kalepopolis, the seneschal of Castle Korvosa. The two of them became friends a few years ago and regularly shared drinks to discuss art, religion and history. Then, three months ago, things started going horribly wrong. First Scream lost his muze and and three weeks later Neolandus Kalepopolis showed up on his doorstep, on the morning of King Eodred's death. The seneschal was grievously wounded and had lethal poison running through his veins. Kalepopolis drifted between life and death for many weeks, but somehow the good man survived, taking even longer to fully recover. When he finally felt better, Neolandus entrusted Salvator Scream with the terrible truth of what had happened to him. He had discovered that Queen Ileosa was responsible for killing her husband and that she had enlisted the aid of the Red Mantis, a secret organisation of deadly assassins. Two of those dreaded killers in their red insectoid armor had tried to slay him, but Neolandus escaped, barely alive, fleeing to Old Korvosa.
Neolandus admitted that he had never been a fan of Ileosa, but in the final weeks of Eodred's life, she had somehow changed for the worse, whatever that entailed. The seneschal did not share more on this topic with Scream, claiming "the less the painter knew, the safer he'd be". Neolandus also realized that he the painter's humble shack was no safe place to hide any longer, so now that he finally felt better, he wanted to find another refuge. Scream suggested the Arkona's, Old Korvosa's only remaining noble family. Since the island had already been cut off from the mainland at this point, the Arkona's seemed like the safest place to stay. The seneschal had his doubts, but Scream convinced him there was no alternative. Moreover, the artist liked Glorio Arkona, to whom he had sold several of his paintings in the past. He took Neolandus Kalepopolis there and hasn't heard from him since. The Arkona's seemed nice enough when he delivered the seneschal to them and Salvator Scream had felt like he could trust the nobles.
That changed after Scream talked to Vencarlo Orisini. The fencing master never tried to hide his disdain for House Arkona and seemed convinced that the family was involved in all kinds of dark, criminal activities. He was so outspoken about his distrust for these nobles that it took Scream three visits, spread out over more than a week, to gather the courage to tell him that he had delivered Neolandus Kalepopolis into their hands. Orisini got raving mad when he heard that, claiming that the seneschal would have been better off in Ileosa's dungeons.
When the heroes inform Salvator Scream that Vencarlo was attacked by the Red Mantis and has disappeared after escaping the assassins, the painter gets even more worried. He has no idea where the fencing master could be, but if he's still on the island, he might very well have gone to the Arkona Palace to find the seneschal.
At this point Pilts Swastel interrupts the conversation. The content smile on his face shows that he is pleased with what he has just overheard, but now he claims that time is up - the cloak the heroes gave him only bought them so much time. Sjo shoots a glance of understanding at Quint and the bards spurts into action, suddenly casting a haste spell. Balian takes advantage of his accelerated actions to chop down one of the emperor's bodyguards with three heavy blows. Puk throws himself at Pilts Swastel and almost takes the man out with three vicious lashes. Spyder finishes the job by grabbing the surprised emperor by the throat and choking the life out of him. The remaining bodyguards back down when Sjo steps in front of them, growling like a mad dog. The fight ends as quickly as it began, just like the first confrontation with the emperor, only this time the companions are on the winning side. The emperor's rule is over! Sjo drags his dead body outside and throws it on the guillotine. Most of the emperor's men have already cleared the scene; some of them are glancing at the adventurers from a safe distance and witness how their precious leader loses his head under his own tall knife. Sjo shouts out a challenge to them: "The emperor is dead! If I ever catch as much as the smell of you cowards, you'll suffer the same fate! Now RUN!" At that the mob disappears, leaving only a stupefied one-eyed gnome on the open-air balcony. When Sjo leans over him, the mute creature starts gesturing that he is innocent, pointing at the emperor's remains as the source of all evil. With a nod Sjo lets him go and the gnome jumps at the chance to get away.
Quint comes out with his hand on Scream's shoulder. "You're free to go, Salvator, Swastel won't bother you again."
"So, what do we know about this Arkona dude?" Balian inquires. "We met him once, at the great council in the castle ... He seemed pretty level-headed to me. And didn't we see his sister at the celebration in the Jeggare Museum, before the opera?"
"Yes, we did", Quint confirms. "I've picked up many rumors over the years. They say that the Arkona's are one of the richest families in Korvosa - if not the richest. Their home is supposed to be a magnificent marble castle, up on Garrison Hill. They do business with the distant nation of Vudra ... very lucrative, since they are one of the few trading companies allowed to import and export goods there. Most of their vessels never even make it to Korvosa, preferring to sell their cargo in the Inner Sea region instead.
The guards at their palace are Vudran too, as is Glorio's other half. Most people think he has a wife and two kids in Cheliax, but I've heard his spouse is a Vudran beauty who has never left her home country. She's raising his son and daughter there as well.
It was actually one of Glorio's forefathers who established the profitable relations with Vudra, a man named Nerio Arkona. He saved his house by pouring his last coins in a trading vessel, the Reprieve it was called ... hmm, must have been two and a half centuries ago, I reckon. Anyway, his journey was fraught with peril, but he survived and turned his enterprise into a smashing success. Upon his return, three years after he had left, he ordered the Arkona Palace built. Yes, he really managed to turn his fortune around, going from nearly bankrupt to filthy rich."
"Still, why does Vencarlo think he is so dangerous?" Puk wonders. "Aren't the Arkona's known for their generosity, providing cheap housing for the poor and sometimes even handing out money in the streets?"
"They are", Quint nods. "The man is quite popular and respected in this district. But this image of the big-hearted benefactor hides a less admirable truth. I'm afraid Vencarlo may be right. I've also heard that the Arkona's are heavily involved in crime, through the Cerulean Society, to be exact. Korvosa's thieves' guild does some dirty business, but by never crossing the line and by paying a hefty vice tax, they can get away with it ... even with being a 'guild' in a city that allows none. What's their leader's name again? Boule! A brute of a man, if rumors be true."
"Doesn't really matter how good or bad our man is, I suppose", Sjo interjects. "We'll find out soon enough as I suggest we pay him a visit. What do you say?"
"I guess we must", Balian smiles. "Let's knock on his door for a cup of tea."
"Coffee", Quint remarks. "Vudrans drink a bitter black tea they call coffee."
While making their way to Palace Arkona, the companions worry about how to get inside. They have met Glorio Arkona once, but that might not be enough to broker an audience with the man. Upon approaching the compound our young heroes are marveled by its beauty. Black marble walls, topped with swirly iron decoration, line the grounds. An intricately forged gate allows a peek inside, revealing a magnificent marble palace with gold pillars, high windows and elegant minarets. The large, open garden hosts stylized bushes trimmed to look like elephants, opulent patches of imported trees and exotic flowers and fountains and statues depicting strange animals like tigers, apes, snakes and peacocks. Two guards stand inside the gate, but the companions' attention is immediately drawn to a third person walking up from the palace with a graceful stride. It is Selena, the Vudran beauty who was manipulating the uprisings in the city prior to the plague and who orchestrated the failed murder attempt on Aisha Leroung during the Passion of Saint Alika opera. She was also the one who alerted Balian to the threat at the Carowyn party, which allowed our heroes to take out the shadow creature before it killed off half of the city's noble youngsters.
"At last you have arrived. My master has been expecting you. Please, follow me", she says as she opens the gate and leads the guests inside. She proceeds them up to the palace and through the front door, which is framed by a black marble arch depicting dozens of elephants standing atop each other. A rich hallway with a luxurious red carpet leads left and right, providing a pathway between several ebony doors. Selena walks off to the right and rounds the corner to a corridor leading up to a fourteen-foot tall marble statue of a six-armed woman with four faces on her head, staring in every direction. Sjo is sure she represents a Vudran deity, but his knowledge of that pantheon is too limited to identify her. A door in the middle of the right-hand side of the corridor opens up into a comfortable lounge with a large fireplace and some snug sofas. Lord Glorio Arkona is standing next to the hearth, with an impressive feline creature lying lazily at his feet. Spyder growls disagreeably as he sees the great tiger. Selena takes up her place between her master and a bare-chested man with broad shoulders, obviously a bodyguard.
"Gentlemen," Glorio greets his guests, "it has been a while since last we met. A lot has occured in that time, wouldn't you say so? How are you doing? Can I offer you some refreshments, a glass of wine perhaps? Or would you prefer coffee and chocolate?"
While Selena leaves to get the refreshments, Lord Glorio bids his visitors to take a seat. He tells them he has been following their progress closely and appreciates the direction they have chosen recently. Quint immediately asks his host about seneschal Neolandus Kalepopolis and Vencarlo Orisini. Glorio wishes not to discuss them at this time, he states, as he wants to know first where the companions stand with regards to the queen. Lord Arkona makes no secret about having opposed the queen from the very start. He never trusted her, ever since she weaseled her way into king Eodred's bed years ago. Still, he tolerated her as long as the king was alive, but after Eodred's death, her malevolence became increasingly clear. She murdered her husband, got rid of the only person who had the authority to stop her - the senschal - and grabbed power in the city with no regard of its citizens.
Sjo objects to this analysis. He remains unconvinced of the queen's guilt, suspecting that she is being manipulated by an unseen power behind the throne. A likely suspect is her new seneschal, Magister Togomor. Lord Glorio smiles at Sjo's suspicions, but wipes them off the table: Togomor did not get involved until after the riots. Before that he was just doing his job in the Acadamae, while Ileosa was already plotting her evil. Sjo also refers to the commune that archbishop Keppira d'Bear of Pharasma performed. Although he agrees that most answers could possibly incriminate Ileosa, there was one question that supported Sjo's theory of a manipulative force behind the queen: the fact that she was being misled by one of her advisors. Glorio rolls his eyes at this line of reasoning, saying that we are all being misled some way or another. Even the most insignificant effort to mislead Ileosa about the most pointless thing imaginable would have prompted a 'yes' from the commune question. Hardly any proof that the queen is someone else's puppet.
Quint also points out that he and his friends met the queen before all the trouble started, when they returned her brooch to her. She was a different woman back then, sweet and innocent, not the ice-queen they saw when she killed commander Marcus Endrin of the Sable Company. Again Glorio nods and says this only supports his theory that the queen is evil and that they have to stop her. Sjo tries to meet his host halfway, by claiming that he does not stand against Ileosa, but for Korvosa. He does agree that something has to be done about the castle and Glorio seems to be satisfied with that.
Now the Lord of House Arkona is willing to talk about Neolandus Kalepopolis and Vencarlo Orisini. He admits that Salvator Scream, the painter, brought the seneschal to him and that he aided the man by providing a safe place to hide. At Kalepopolis's own request - Glorio claims - he cannot reveal where that is yet. He does know where Vencarlo Orisini is, but fears that it is not in a good place.
The swordmaster is a respectable man, Glorio feels, who fights for the right cause as well, albeit mostly on his own, which explains his limited success. Anyway, in his search for the seneschal, Vencarlo Orisini followed up on Scream's hints and came to the Arkona Palace only three nights ago. Apparently the fencing master was a well-informed man as well, Arkona muses, as he knew about the secret dungeons under the palace. Orisini snuck in and did something quite unfortunate: he entered a place called the vivified labyrinth, wrongly suspecting that Kalepopolis would be in there.
The labyrinth is some sort of deathtrap dungeon, Glorio sighs. It was constructed over two centuries ago by one of his forefathers, Eduardo Arkona. Glorio points to the painting of a handsome man above the fireplace: his face clearly shows several Vudran features, like a tanned skin and dark eyebrows. A bright red silk shawl covers his hair and completes the exotic look. Eduardo was Nerio Arkona's son, the man who established the trade route with Vudra and erected the family's palace in Korvosa. Eduardo completed his father's work by building the vivified labyrinth underneath, a place said to house Nerio's treasure. None of the Arkona's, nor any of their Vudran servants have ever entered the labyrinth, as powerful magic keeps anyone with Vudran blood out. Nerio's descendants have repeatedly tried to send hired adventurers in and reclaim the treasure, but no one ever came out of the dreaded dungeon alive. Glorio's grandfather Horatio was the last to attempt such an enterprise, but Glorio's father Marco banned the practice and his son kept to the same rule. This implies that no one entered the vivified labyrinth for two generations, until Vencarlo stupidly decided to go in three nights ago.
Glorio has no way of knowing if Vencarlo is still alive, but he wants to offer the companions the opportunity to find out, since Vencarlo is a friend of theirs who is worth saving and the man might make a capable ally in the struggle against the queen ... or castle. Glorio also admits that the 'treasure' intrigues him: it has been an unsolved mystery in his family for over two hundred years and who knows ... it might just be a powerful tool in their quest to help Korvosa. Glorio even offers the heroes a magic ring as payment, hoping the item can be of help inside the labyrinth. Sjo uses Zellara's cards to identity the piece of jewelry as a ring of evasion.
After a hearty meal Glorio takes his guest into his greenhouse garden, which is filled with jungle plants, tropical birds and a refreshing fountain. The most surprising feature in the chamber is a life-sized statue of an elephant, its tusks and trunk raised high. It takes Sjo a few seconds to realize this animal is not real, but made of stone. Glorio approaches the elephants and presses a hidden button somewhere, making the ground between the statue's giant feet shift aside to reveal a set of stairs.
The companions follow their host down into a vast cavern under the palace. The air is cool, humid and smells of salt. Staring down from the upper ledge, Balian sees a number of rope bridges descending from ledge to ledge until they reach a small quay below. So this is how the Arkona's manage to keep their pantries full, a secret pier inside a sea cave; the perfect place to smuggle goods in or out unseen. The upper rim is overgrown with colored fungi and leads past a solemn tree that moves as our friends approach. Quint notices that Glorio waves his hand, making the tree lean back and stop swaying. Crossing a first rope bridge takes the companions to a ledge with a door in the wall, which Glorio completely ignores. He continues to a second, smaller ledge which has nothing but a natural wall. Sjo spots double doors on the bottom level, facing the pier in the sloshing pool of sea water, and wonders about them. Glorio says that they hold his family's private shrine to Chamidu, their Vudran patron deity.
Puk already wants to take the third and last rope bridge down, but Glorio stops him. The nobleman pushes against the blank cavern wall, opening a secret door into a hidden tunnel. "We're going this way, Puk." After 20 yards the tunnel makes a sharp turn to the left, leading up to a sturdy bronze door. The face of the bronze entryway and the arch around it are carved with motives of tigers chasing tigers in endless circles. Glorio seems to shrink back in sight of the entry to the labyrinth. "This is the place", he breathes. "This is a far as I go. I wish you the best of luck. I'll eagerly wait for your return, so hurry back."
Puk touches the bronze door and it swings open easily. The small entry room has an exit in the opposite wall. Once all the companions are inside, the bronze door behind them swings shut. Balian and Puk look for traps and when they find none, they open the other door, discovering a second door immediately behind it. After opening that one as well, the party walks into a room with two alcoves on either side and a statue at the far end. Puk discovers two obvious pressure plates in both alcoves, while Quint studies the statue. It is the same man he saw on the painting in the lounge earlier, Eduardo Arkona, the builder of this labyrinth. The statue is dressed in long Vudran robes, has a shawl draped elegantly around its head and stretches out its hands to the sides. A familiar saying on the pedestal reads: "Balance in all things". Once Balian and Puk have established that the pressure plates do not trigger any traps, Quint figures out that both plates have to be pressed with a similar weight to trigger the mechanism. He steps and the left plate and motion for Balian to mount the other one. As soon as the ranger does so, the door slams shut and the companions feel the room turning. Puk estimates they have made a quarter turn before they stop and the door swings open again, revealing stairs going up to yet another door.
Behind this is a large room which is filled with a pool of acid. A stone walkway leads to a central platform with a shining circular symbol in the middle. As Sjo steps on the platform, the circle flashes up even brighter and summons a huge air elemental which immediately slams down on the Shoanti. Puk gets hit as well as he tries to tumble into position, but the halfling quickly discovers that the creature is invulnerable to his vicious sneak attacks. Balian jumps into the fray as well, but needs Quint's timely inspiration to actually hit the swirling air. The bard follows up with a haste spell. Sjo calls upon his fiery wings and flies to the other end of the platform, catching the agile creature in his burning hands flames, but causing it hardly any harm. The combatants exchange some hits and slams while first Spyder, next Puk and then Quint get sucked up in the whirlwind and spat out in the pool of acid. Fortunately Balian and Sjo get the better of the air elemental and quickly pull their allies out of the biting fluid.
Behind the acid pool is another corridor with a corner in the beginning. A gold mirror is mounted on the wall. Words have been written into the frame: "Use me, but do not speak about me or I will break." Discussing this strange puzzle, Quint uses the word 'mirror' several times, but that has no (ill) effect whatsoever. Balian finds that trying to take the mirror off the wall is not possible. Sjo notices a strong aura of conjuration magic down the corridor and tries to study the corridor in the reflection of the mirror, but cannot figure out how this puzzle works. Puk and Balian find no traps of pressure plates, but when they throw a gold piece down the hall, it reappears in the corner. So the corridor teleports you back, unless you use whatever it is you have to use.
Suddenly Puk steps up, looking at the mirror, and says: "It a riddle. What can break when you say it?"
"A secret is gone when you speak it out loud," Quint muses, "but how do you use a secret here? And what has this mirror to do with it?" Meanwhile Sjo attempts to walk down the hallway, but also gets teleported back to the beginning.
"It might not be the mirror, but the fact that it is made of gold that is the hint", Puk tries. "What is gold? The sun? The rays of the sun? Should we summon light or something?"
"Silence ..." Quint thinks out loud. "Silence is golden. And when you utter the word, you break the silence. You have to be silent to walk to the other side."
"I'll give it a try", Puk says as he tiptoes to the far end of the corridor. This time he is not teleported back, but he reaches the door on the other side. Opening it, the halfling stares into a small room with bookcases lining the side walls and many books and scrolls spread out on the floor. Now that the door is open, Puk's friends can easily join him, but when they step into the library, the books float off the ground and swirl together to form a creature made of tomes and scrolls.
The companions have seen some strange creatures before, but never have they set their eyes upon a creature made of books and scrolls. As an avid reader, Quint is amazed and horrified at the same time to face the scrivenite, unsure of whether attacking it can even be justified. Balian feels no such qualms and bears down heavily on the living documents. Puk finds out that his sneak attacks are once again useless against this being, reducing his roll in the combat to assisting the ranger. At least that is what he was hoping to do, because the scrivenite utters magical words that freeze Balian in place. Fortunately Sjo's quick thinking provides a rapid answer as the Shoanti casts a remove paralysis to set his friend free again. In return the creature lashes out with its bookmarks. The ribbons do little damage, but they drain some of Sjo's intelligence. Balian sees that the stolen knowledge immediately manifests itself as a new text among the many scrolls on the scrivenite's frame. After that strange occurrence his greatsword and Sjo's fire magic swiftly reduce the enemy to a pile of volumes and parchments again, ending the fight.
Sjo recovers the text with the memories that were taken from him, but has to hand it to Quint because he does not master the art of reading. As the bard reads the words out loud, Sjo realizes that these recollections must date back to a time that he never consciously remembered. It is the story of his birth, which he can only have learned from the mouth of his mother as a newborn.
Yundur Firestorm was his name and he was truly blessed by the power of the sun. His people were the Sklar-Quah, the Sun Clan, the noblest of all Shoanti. After he had finished training as a sun shaman, he was appointed the southernmost tribe of the Sklar-Quah. Yundur was still young and bursting with admiration for his brethren's lust for battle. As their spiritual leader he fanned this flame and enjoyed their hatred for the tshamek, the strangers.
Yes, Yundur Firestorm was truly blessed in his spiritual doings, but he turned out to be equally cursed in his family life. Five times his wife bore a dead son before finally giving birth to a living child, a girl, Aithne (pronounce EFnee). She became the apple of his eye and was trained from a young age to follow in her father's footsteps.
But Aithne was more interested in joining the ranks of the famed burn riders than in going through life a boring shamaness. The elite mounted cavalry of the Sklar-Quah, who were able to coax their horses to race through the flames, represented the culmination of Shoanti honor. And so it happened that the disobedient teen Aithne secretly followed the burn riders on a raid in the lowlands. She was joined by her faithful companion Shaoban (pronounce SHEEbuhn), the jothka's son, whom his father, the chief, still deemed too young to go to war.
From afar the two youngsters witnessed how the burn riders attacked and burned down some remote farms. When the riders were gone, the curious teens wanted to examine the smoldering field of battle. Shaoban already felt like a warrior and pretended to kill the farmers all over again with his spear. As he proudly jammed his weapon through the skull of a dead farmer's wife, the corpse next to her suddenly arose. His face was red with blood, and even though he was hardly any bigger than Shaoban, he jerked the spear out of the surprised Shoanti's hands and thrust it through his chest. Then he turned on Aithne and knocked her out with the blunt end of the weapon.
When the girl woke up, she was naked and smeared with blood and soot. Shaoban's severed head towered above her on a wooden stake. From his eyes protruded two arrows. Just a few yards away the surviving farmer's son was finishing his family's grave. Aithne crawled to her feet and started to flee in utter fear.
"Run all you can, barbarian spawn!" a rough voice called out. "Flee to your people and tell them that they will all end up like this wretched creature here! And explain how a whore like you wound up with Chelaxian seed in her belly!"
His maddening laughter haunted her across the fields and kept ringing through her head for hours, while she tried to process what had happened. Apart from the blood on her upper body - which clearly came from her attacker - her own blood was dripping between her legs, proving that his vicious words were true. Did she really have a Chelaxian's seed in her body? Then she could not return to her people, not until she was sure that his seed had not taken root.
The next couple of weeks the girl roamed the lowland plains and found out that her worst nightmare had come true: she was pregnant with the vengeful farmer's son's child. Her people had never shown understanding or tolerance for bastards and the shame would kill her and her father, so she decided not to head back home before she had got rid of the halfbreed. Killing her own unborn child was no option, as it was the greatest sacrilege imaginable. Therefore she retreated deeper into the lowlands, fleeing every living soul she encountered, until she came upon an abandoned shepherd's hut. There she stayed until her belly was full and she bore a child during a stormy night.
The baby was a healthy son, whom the heart-broken mother named for her lost friend, Shaoban. She carved his name in a piece of wood and placed it with the newborn in a wicker basket. With tears in her eyes she begged the sun for help and through her hands flowed a shaman's power which put the child to sleep. Next she entrusted the child's floating cradle to the river, before turning around and commencing the long road home to her tribe.
Two days later the basket washed ashore in the city of Korvosa. Shaoban awoke from a long sleep and the starved nursling started crying loud enough to get half the city out of its bed. Some kids who were scavenging the shores of the river's mouth, found the baby and took it home to their cruel master, Gaedran Lamm. And so it was that the young Shaoban wound up with the lambs. Bullheaded Lamm misinterpreted the name on piece of wood and read it as Sjoban, which was later shortened to Sjo.
Sjo is stupefied to learn this part of his history. So now he finally knows where he comes from. He finally knows his mother's name, Aithne. Who knows, maybe he can find her again? The companions also discover a text describing how Vencarlo Orisini took over the mantle of the caped crusader Blackjack from his old master Raneiro. Quint briefly skims through the library books, all of which are in Vudran, and picks up some nice volumes to practice his skill in the language. One book is illustrated with lewd pictures portraying all kinds of daring sexual position, the Kama Sutra, it is called. Quint decides to study it with Yuuna later. Sjo also pulls a powerful scroll of heal from one of the tomes.
The floor of the next room is paved with brown and white marble tiles, forming a big chessboard. Four queens line each side of the chamber. A voice rings out as the heroes enter the room: "Eight queens are about to tear the realm apart. Only when they don't threaten each other there will be peace." At the same time a ticking starts, counting down the time the companions have to rearrange the pieces on the board. Pulling and pushing the heavy statues around, the young men succeed in getting six queens to a safe position, but when the timer stops after eight minutes, the two chess pieces that still threaten each other, animate and attack. It takes a lot of hits and healing before both marble figures are reduced to rubble on the floor. Combat continues in the room that follows. A calikang, a large blue-skinned, six-armed giant awakes from suspended animation and lurches to life, whirling around two sharp longswords and four clenched fists. Puk gets the worst of it and needs to fall back on his halfling's luck () to avoid being killed by the creature's acid breath. Quint and Sjo have to support their fellow combatants with lots of healing, while Balian's heavy hits gradually wear down the blue giant, whose wounds keep closing. To make sure the creature does not come back to attack them in the back, Balian basically reduces it to mash. More healing follows to nurse everyone back to full health.
The next puzzle takes place in a vaguely-heart-shaped room with two magic circles on the floor: one glowing in red and the other radiating blue light. The companions are teleported to a square in the middle, as two elemental appear in front of the way in and the way out. Behind them the heroes see a large water elemental, who speaks to them in a low voice: "My name is Rivers, I will follow." In front of them is a fire elemental who bellows: "My name is Pyro, I will oppose!" While the water elemental mimics the companions' movements, the fire elemental does the exact opposite. Using the walls and corners to get one or both elementals to stay in place as they move themselves, our friends manage to lure Rivers to the blue circle and Pyro to the red one. The elementals fall into a passive state as the final door clicks open.
The final chamber of the labyrinth is richly decorated with a luxurious bed, an impressive throne and beautiful frescoes covering the walls. There are three vats against the wall across the entrance, providing porridge, water and wine. When the companions enter, a woman, bearing a close resemblance to the divine statue of Chamidu in the Arkona palace, approaches. She carries three exotic weapons in her six hands, a curved longsword, a kukri and a long spear. Her head holds three golden-skinned faces, which are paragons of physical perfection except for the large curved fangs curling out of their mouths. Her ears are pointed like an elf's, and like the slender fair creature, she moves with grace in her flowing azure dress. Still, her intentions do not seem so lovely as she greets her visitors: "So, after all these decades my descendants finally send in their minions again ... Don't they realize that you are only here to become my playthings? So, little dolls, let's play ..." Next she initiates combat.
Quint starts mocking the creature, reducing her fighting prowess somewhat with his satire. But the many-armed woman has multiple attacks and starts toying with her assailants nonetheless, by lashing out at each of them. Balian, Puk and Spyder try to damage her with their attacks, but find it hard to get through her damage reduction, while Sjo and Quint discover that magic has even less chance of affecting her. The two fall back on their healing, Sjo with his spells and Quint with his wand of cure serious wounds to keep their friends in the fight. They also notice that the 'upasundra' has a innate power that heals her wounds while she fights. After having dealt some damage left and right, the six-armed warrioress suddenly changes tactics and starts focus-firing her enemies. Her many attacks take out Balian first. Sjo reaches for his newly discovered scroll of heal and brings the ranger back to full health as Puk becomes the next victim of the upasundra's focus fire. Quint does his best to keep the halfling on his feet, but cannot keep up with the many wounds he is being dealt. Balian survives another burst of pummels and cuts and hacks mercilessly at the Vudran fighting machine. Quint restores Puk to consciousness, but the halfling is hit down again. After a truly brutal fight the heroes win out and finish the upasundra off.
The chamber holds some extra revelations. The upasundra's crown turns out to be a headband of charisma +4. Vencarlo Orisini is lying on the bed, unconscious. But the biggest surprise comes from the paintings on the walls. They tell the amazing history of the Arkona family. The first frescoes show how an impoverished nobleman sets out on a desperate quest aboard a ship named the Reprieve. After facing storms, monsters, pirates, hunger and illness the survivors set foot on Vudran shore and sell the natives the 'exotic' goods of the northern lands. The nobleman, clearly Glorio's ancestor Nerio, gains great respect and wealth and manages to convince the maharaja to let him face a legendary six-armed and three-faced warrior princess in combat. He defeats and enslaves her, taking her home when he sails for Korvosa again. There he has the Vudran palace constructed and fathers a son with the upasundra. The child inherits more from his mother than her golden skin, though, he has a second face on the back of his head. The pictures of him as a grown man show him with the same (front) face as Nerio's son Eduardo, but here his head is not covered with a shawl as on the painting in Glorio's lounge, revealing the creepy second face on the other side of his head. One particularly remarkable fresco has Eduardo standing over Nerio's dead body. The young nobleman clutches his head between his hands while both faces are screaming madly. From the shadows the upasundra watches. The final works portray the construction of the Vivified Labyrinth, Nerio sending his 'mother' inside and enchanting the entrance to lock her in.
So, Nerio's treasure was a creature that turns out to be Glorio's ancestor. The companions wonder if even the man himself knows ...
The first order of business is getting Vencarlo out of his state of unconsciousness. He is lying on the bed, apparently unhurt, but with a lost look on his face. Sjo examines him and determines that his mind is fractured. Using two spells of lesser (or rather minimal) restoration the healer succeeds at having Vencarlo open his eyes, but the man still does not recognize the companions. Quint digs up the documents he retrieved from the scrivenite that contain the fencing master's lost memories and hands them to him. Orisini starts reading them.
Meanwhile Puk and Balian examine every corner of the room. The halfling notices that the two braziers next to the throne are magically burning, but they look too heavy to take home. More important, though, is the vague line he discovers in one of the frescoes, framing a secret door in the painting where a crazed Eduardo has killed his father. They study the scene more closely: Eduardo has apparently used some kind of magic bolt to kill his father. The arrow protrudes from the dead man's chest and black lines have spread across his flesh, indicating that the father was possibly killed by an arrow of human slaying. Nerio's sword still lies in his open hand, while Eduardo's six-armed and three-faced mother is watching the scene from behind a pillar. She is wearing a heart-shaped necklace. Nerio himself looks like a madman: he towers over his father's body with his head clutched in his hands; both of his faces are screaming madly.
Upon further inspection of the mural Puk and Balian first find a secret button in the eye of Eduardo's second head and then they locate three more buttons: one in the pommel of Nerio's sword, one in the feather at the end of the bolt and the last one in the upasunda's heart medallion. The explorers find no traps in this configuration and assume that the buttons are meant to open the secret door, but do not push anything yet until the party is ready to leave.
It takes Vencarlo about three hours to catch up with his own memories and thus restore his mind. Now he does remember the heroes and thanks them for saving him. When Quint informs him that they discovered Blackjack's gear in his house, Vencarlo admits that he is the caped crusader. Quint thanks him for saving their lives five years ago, when he and Sjo were still kids and Gaedran Lamm was taking out his anger on them because he had lost heavily in a game of chance - the same game that put Balian in the shackles of an oarsman. Vencarlo smiles: "I guess we're even, then."
Vencarlo wonders if the companions also snuck in here, but when he learns that they have been talking to Glorio Arkona and that it was the nobleman who showed them in, he is amazed. It is clear that master Orisini harbors no love for the lord of House Arkona, and he remains suspicious, even after learning that it was Glorio himself who suggested that Vencarlo be saved from the labyrinth because he might make a valuable ally. He is even more surprised when he hears that Glorio Arkona has agreed to tell the companions where seneschal Neolandus Kalepopolis is.
When the companions are ready to leave, they try pushing all four buttons at the same time, but the secret door does not open. After experimenting a bit, Puk figures out that the order in which the buttons have to be pushed reflect the challenges of the labyrinth. The first test of balance and the air elemental stood for agility, which is reflected in the arrow. Then there was the test of smarts leading up to the book creature. Intelligence is in the head, so the eye should be second. The puzzle with the chessboards and the six-armed fighting machine are represented by the sword; while the final challenge with the fire and water elemental took place in a vaguely heart-shaped room, protecting the true heart of this maze. So the order is : arrow, eye, sword and heart amulet. When our friends push these buttons, they hear the grinding of wheels for about a minute, before the secret door sinks back in the wall and slides open. The turning entrance chamber has grinded into position behind the door, allowing the companions to exit the labyrinth.
Outside one of Glorio's bodyguards is waiting in contemplation. He leads his master's guests up again and takes them to see his lord. Glorio Arkona is very interested in learning what the heroes discovered in the Vivified Labyrinth, and he looks truly shocked when he finds out that one of his forefathers was the son of an upasunda. Quint even summons a projection of her, using silent image. Sjo concludes that lord Arkona still must have a hint of upasunda blood running through his veins.
Glorio makes good on his promise and orders Selena to fetch Neolandus Kalepopolis. The seneschal is dressed in common clothes and looks worried, but healthy. He claims that Lord Arkona was a generous host, thus silencing suspicions that he was a prisoner here. He has some rather interesting information about queen Ileosa, but has to start his story much earlier:
"When the Chelish settlers came here 300 years ago, they found the Shoanti who had been living here for over two millennia. The tribal warriors defended their territories with great tenacity, not only because they it was their homeland, but also because it was their sacred duty. The mighty mastaba, a relic from Thassillonian times, which now serves as the base for Castle Korvosa, was a holy site of immense importance to them. But the pyramid was more than holy, it harbored an unspoken evil that the Shoanti shamans were sworn to protect. I don't know the nature of this evil, but I fear that Ileosa has uncovered it. That explains her sudden change in character leading up to Eodred's death.
I truly realized that things had got out of hand when Eodred's half brother disappeared. You see, the Arabasti family had a secret of its own: when queen Domina came over from Cheliax, she did not only bring her son Eodred, she had a second child whom she never revealed to the outside world. Domina was known for her close relations with the devil-worshipping church of Asmodeus and had, at one time, conceived a baby with a devil. The offspring, a child named Venster, was a blemish on her crown, for Chelish society hated tieflings as badly as it loved devils. Venster had his own quarters in the attic of Castle Korvosa and very few people knew of his existence. Only Eodred and I visited the lonely soul from time to time. Ileosa knew about him too, but like all true Chelaxians she loathed him for even being alive and refused to set foot in his quarters. That is, until the final days of the king's life, when she suddenly started going up to see her brother-in-law for long stretches of time.
Around that time I also found out that Ileosa had stolen the key to the vaults a few weeks before. It might just have been because she was bored and curious about the riches in Korvosa's treasury, but the gods only know what she found underneath the castle. From my meetings with the Shoanti ambassador Thousand Bones, I had learned about an unspoken evil lying in the vaults and I started to worry. Not only had Ileosa changed how she felt about Venster, she had also become very cranky, she got almost hostile towards Trinia Sabor, the young girl who was painting Eodred's portrait and she locked her husband away in a dark room, keeping all but a select few from seeing him. The king's improving health took a deep plunge and before long he was on his deathbed. And then I found out that Venster had disappeared.
That is when I decided to confront the queen. She was not the docile, albeit somewhat annoying woman that I had always known. No, she scoffed at my concerns and laughed in my face when I told her about what troubled me. I implored her to change her treatment of the king's illness, but she cried out that he would not live to see another day and, with a malicious glare in her eyes, informed me that I wouldn't either. At that point three red mantis assassins broke from the shadows and attacked me. I can only thank my years of training at the Sable Company for making it out alive, but I was badly wounded and grievously poisoned. I fled to a last place where people would come looking for me, my dear, but very weird friend, Salvator Scream. He took me in, but was of little use in my recovery, so it took many weeks for the poison to get out of my system.
In the meantime I heard rumors about the chaos that swarmed the city: the king dying on the same day that I was attacked, the people rebelling and being slain by guards or Hell Knights, and finally a terrible plague consuming our dear citizens. When Old Korvosa got quarantined, Scream became truly paranoid, claiming that he was being watched, so I decided to look for a new place to hide and Salvator suggested this place. I've been here for two weeks now, and my host, lord Arkona, is most kind, but has not kept me up to date on what's going on in the city. So, you came to me looking for stories, but now I aks you to tell me some yourselves."
The party informs the seneschal on the goings-on of the last two weeks. He is happy to hear that a cure for the plague is on its way, but is horrified when he learns about Marcus Endrin's fate and the queen's decimation of the Sable Company. The fact that Ileosa survived a bolt to the head tells him that she has become more than human and Kalepopolis fears that her new crown of fangs might actually be the evil that she has dug up. If Ileosa has become so powerful that she can simply shrug off an arrow to the temple like a mosquito bite, it will be nearly impossible to stop her. Maybe the Shoanti shamans know of a way to fight the evil that has taken hold of the queen, so Sjo and Quint see no other option than to go to the Cinderlands and find out. Still, Sjo is reluctant. The Shoanti who used to live here, were members of the Sklar-Quah or Sun clan, the same clan his mother came from. The fact that his mother would rather throw him in the river than take him to her people, is proof enough that the Shoanti do not like bastards. Maybe they should try and find Thousand Bones, the shaman of the Skull clan first. At least he's a friend.
The seneschal and Vencarlo Orisini also want to abandon Korvosa. Vencarlo suggests going to his friend Jasan Adriel in Harse, the man who already took in Trinia Sabor. Neolandus Kalepopolis agrees, but has a request of his own. He suspects that the Sable Company's hippogriffs are still alive in their stables in the Great Tower. He does not want to leave the animals in the hands of Ileosa's troops and feels that there is no better way to get out of the city than atop his company's majestic mounts. He asks the heroes to aid him in this endeavor and they are happy to oblige ... at least, they will be tomorrow, after having rested.
Sjo also considers the children's fate: Mouse, Heldrin and Korwick might not be safe in the city any longer, so it is finally decided that the children will accompany their saviors to Harse. Tonight they want to return to the villa to rest up, so they will be ready to attack the Great Tower tomorrow night. Glorio Arkona allows them the use of the barge in his hidden sea cave. Arkona's men are skilled at avoiding detection and easily transport the party, Vencarlo and the seneschal to South Shore. But first the sword master picks up his Blackjack gear, inquiring whether Quint would be interested in taking up the rapier in his place and protect the people of Korvosa. Quint is honored to accept.
23 Erastus 4708
Level up: level 8.
The party spends the next day selling their loot and getting some new wands of cure light wounds. Balian also acquires a dusty rose ioun stone which enhances his defenses.
Sjo takes some time to visit Larella. The priestess of Shelyn is still working with the sick in the city's hospital. When Sjo asks her to flee to the country, she refuses, as she has work in the city, helping the people. She does accepts another offer he makes, though. Taking the best looking ring of protection he and his friends found yesterday, Sjo gets on one knee and asks her to marry him, once this trouble is over. The beautiful priestess beams as she says yes.
When darkness has fallen over the city, Neolandus Kalepopolis leads the party to the Great Tower, the headquarters of his order, the Sable Company, and home of their magnificent flying mounts, the hippogriffs. Officially there are only two ways into this massive tower, the front gate on the third floor and the flying platform in the aerie, 250 feet off the ground. Fortunately, the seneschal knows a third way in: a secret door in the back. Upon whispering the words "For safety in the air and on the water" the outline of a hippogriff head lights up in the palm of his hand. When he touches it to the cool stone, a secret door slides open. A small set of stairs takes the heroes to the second floor of the Tower, where a gruesome scene awaits them: the bodies of three dead Sable Marines. Neolandus swallows down his disgust and shows the others to the central staircase, which takes them directly to the entry hall on the third floor. Eleven Gray Maidens are guarding the front doors here and they are quite surprised to see people emerging from within the building. Quint casts haste on his companions and starts satire, warning the warrior women to stand down or perish. Up to this point, none of the heroes has ever crossed swords with the queen's elite soldiers, and the bard would prefer to avoid a bloody confrontation. His words do not impress the armor-clad maidens, though, and their commander orders her troops to attack. The Gray Maidens seem to work well together, strengthening each other's attacks and defenses. Balian is surrounded and takes several hits. Puk, Vencarlo and Spyder try to hold the line, giving Quint the opportunity to use pyrotechnics on the fire in the hearth. The fireplace blazes up in a flash of light, blinding over half of the opponents. Sjo follows up with a mighty fireball, which burns badly through the female knights. Blinded and scorched, the Gray Maidens fall quickly to the companions' blades. When Sjo summons a second fiery explosion, the fight is as good as over. The remaining warrior women die in the last seconds of hand-to hand combat.
The companions continue their way up. On the fourth floor they discover more bodies of slain Sable Marines. While Kalepopolis closes their eyes and wishes them well on their way to whatever paradise they deserve, Quint slips into the chapel of Iomedae, where he prays to the goddess of valor and justice for forgiveness for his aid in ending the lives of the Gray Maidens downstairs. On the next floor Neolandus Kalepopolis still has his personal quarters. He opens a secret cache in the wall, from which he pulls weapons and armor. His new attire is very ostentatious, a vibrantly red silk vest with puffy shoulders and a similar pair of pants. He also dons a red wide-brimmed hat with a flowing peacock feather and a matching cloak. "If we're going to fight the power, we might as well do it in style", he smiles. "Now, let's go up and free the hippogriffs!"
The stables start on the fifteenth floor. Sjo knows this place well, as he used to work here for a time, hoping to become a Sable Marine himself. His impaired vision quickly spoiled these aspirations, though. The stables reek badly, as if they haven't been cleaned properly in a few days. The snorts of unhappy hippogriffs from behind closed doors tell the companions that the animals are still alive, just like they had hoped. Two half-orcs guard this floor, but seeing a group of well-armed and battle-ready heroes burst into the room has them flee up the stairs, calling out for someone named 'Grenk'. Quint recalls hearing about a cruel half-orc beast master who went by that name. Our friends find this character on the top floor, the aerie, where he and some minions are viciously trying to tame a couple of hippogriffs. The brute draws his axe, bellows out a terrifying howl which sends Puk and Spyder running in fear. This is the only success he manages in the fight, though, for the beast master and his goons are quickly overrun. Vencarlo shows his skill with the rapier and stabs down two of Grenk's helps, while Quint's cacophonous call takes away the half-orc leader's ability to fight. The raging brute makes for the platform, hoping to crawl away over the walls with his slippers of spider climbing, but he never makes it. Quint trips him as Balian unleashes greatsword hell on his @§§. Before Grenk can get up again, Sjo freezes him in place with a hold person. The party shows the cruel animal trainer no mercy.
Neolandus Kalepopolis and Sjo show the others how to saddle the hippogriffs and lead all the animals upstairs. The seneschal designates each companions a mount, before sending the remaining hippogriffs into the air. "Fly, my pretties, fly!" he proudly shouts. "Don't worry about them, or your own mount, either," Kalepopolis tells the party. "All of them will follow my steed, Silverback. Just hang on tight and make sure you don't fall. Tie yourselves down if you have to. And most of all: ENJOY!" At that he orders his gray-backed winged stallion off the platform and into the air.
SHAOBAN (SJO), LN Male Human oracle 8
Init +0; Senses Darkvision (60 ft.), Perception +2, Clouded Vision
AC 24, touch 11, flat-footed 24
hp 58 (8 HD)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +10
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee cold iron mace +2 (heavy) +12/+7 (1d8+5)
Base Atk +6/+1; CMB +9/+4 CMD 20
Known Oracle Spells (CL 8th):
4th (4/day) (DC 17) - blessing of fervor, cure critical wounds, wall of fire
3rd (7/day) (DC 17) - cure serious wounds, dispel magic, fireball, invisibility purge, prayer
2nd (8/day) (DC 16) - bear's endurance, cure moderate wounds, hold person, remove paralysis, resist energy, restoration (lesser)
1st (8/day) (DC 15) - burning hands, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, hide from undead, magic weapon, protection from chaos, remove fear, shield of faith
0th (at will) (DC 14) - create water, detect magic, purify food and drink, read magic, spark, stabilize
Abilities Str 16, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 24
Feats Armor Proficiency, Heavy, Combat Casting, Dazzling Display; Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (Heavy Mace)
Skills Acrobatics -5, Bluff +13, Climb -2, Diplomacy +19, Heal +9, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (Local) +0, Knowledge (Religion) +10, Linguistics +0, Perception +2, Perform (Act) +11, Perform (sing) +13, Ride -5, Sense Motive +11, Sleight of Hand +0, Swim -2
Possessions headband of alluring charisma +4; cold iron mace +2 (heavy); ring of protection +1; full plate +1; amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +2, buckler +1; belt of giant strength +2, wand of cure light wounds, wand of remove disease;
Clouded Vision Your eyes are obscured, making it difficult for you to see.
Flame Mysteries You draw upon the divine mystery of Flame to grant your spells and powers.
Touch of Flame (Su) As a standard action, you can perform a melee touch attack that deals 1d6 points of fire damage + 1 per two oracle levels (1d6+4). Alternatively you can use this power to ignite your weapon as a free action, adding the same amount of fire damage to each of your weapon attacks during that round. You can use this ability a number of times or rounds per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier (10).
At 11th level, any weapon that you wield is treated as a flaming weapon, adding 1d6 points of fire damage + 1 per two oracle levels.
Molten Skin (Ex) You gain resist fire 10.
Wings of Fire (Su) As a swift action, you can manifest a pair of fiery wings that grant you a fly speed of 60 feet with average maneuverability. You can use these wings for 1 minute per day per oracle level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1 minute increments.
Trained actor You trained as a child to be an actor. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perform (act) and Perform (act) is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in Perform (act).
Child of the Streets You grew up on the streets of a large city, and as a result you have developed a knack for picking pockets and hiding small objects on your person. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sleight of Hand checks, and Sleight of Hand is always a class skill for you.
Ease of Faith Your mentor, the person who invested your faith in you from an early age, took steps to ensure that you understood that what powers your divine magic is no different than that which powers the magic of other religions. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks, and Diplomacy is always a class skill for you.
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BALIAN, CG Male Human ranger 8 (urban ranger)
Init +5; Senses Perception +12
AC 24, touch 16, flat-footed 21
hp 87 (8 HD)
Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +4
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee greatsword +1 (two handed) +15/+10 ((two handed) 2d6+10/19-20)
Melee masterwork dagger +15/+10 (1d4+6/19-20)
Ranged masterwork longbow (composite/strength rating+4) +12/+7 (1d8+4/x3)
Base Atk +8/+3; CMB +14; CMD 29
Ranger Spells (CL 5th):
1st (2/day) (DC 12) - lead blades, longstrider
2nd (1/day) (DC 13) - barkskin
Abilities Str 22, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 7
Special Qualities Favored Community Korvosa +4, Track +4, Trapfinding +4
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Endurance, Favored Defense (human +2 AC and CMD), Following Step, Power Attack (-2 atk, +4 dmg / +6 dmg on 2-handed), Step Up, Step Up and Strike
Skills Acrobatics +10, Climb +9, Diplomacy +0, Disable Device +15, Heal +5, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (Geography) +2, Knowledge (Local) +9, Perception +12, Perform (Act) +3, Ride +6, Sense Motive +1, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +13, Survival +5, Survival (Follow or identify tracks) +9, Swim +9
Possessions greatsword +1; ring of protection +2; mithral breastplate +1; amulet of natural armor +1; belt of physical might (+2 str/con); cloak of resistance +1; wand of cure light wounds; dusty rose prism ioun stone masterwork dagger; masterwork longbow (Composite/Strength Rating+4)
Favored Community Korvosa (Ex) You gain a +4 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (local), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks. An urban ranger traveling through his favored community leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (although he may leave a trail if he so desires).
Favored Enemy (Human +4, Undead +2) (Ex) You gain a +4/+2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks when using these skills against humans/undead. Likewise, you get a +4/+2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against such creatures.
Trapfinding (Ex) At 3rd level, an urban ranger can find and disable traps, as the rogue class feature of the same name.
Push Through (Ex) At 7th level, an urban Ranger is never slowed by difficult terrain in his favored communities. In addition, he can move through the space occupied by local citizens as if they were allies. This does not apply to creatures intent on harming the Ranger. Areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect him.
Trained actor You trained as a child to be an actor. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perform (act) and Perform (act) is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in Perform (act).
Child of the Streets You grew up on the streets of a large city, and as a result you have developed a knack for picking pockets and hiding small objects on your person. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sleight of Hand checks, and Sleight of Hand is always a class skill for you.
Reactionary You were bullied often as a child, but never quite developed an offensive response. Instead, you became adept at anticipating sudden attacks and reacting to danger quickly. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.
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QUINTILIAN (QUINT), CG Male Human bard 8 (court bard)
Init +2; Senses Perception +10
AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 20, Combat Expertise
hp 74 (8 HD)
Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +6, +4 vs. Bardic Performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee short sword +1 of frost +10/+5 (1d6+4+1d6/19-20)
Melee longsword +9/+4 (1d8+3/19-20)
Melee masterwork whip +10/+5 (1d3+3)
Melee sap +9/+4 (1d6+3)
Ranged shortbow +9/+4 (1d6/x3)
Base Atk +6/+1; CMB +8; CMD 21
Known Bard Spells (CL 8th):
3rd (3/day) (DC 18) - glibness, haste, invisibility sphere
2nd (5/day) (DC 17) - cacophonous call, gallant inspiration, heroism, mirror image, pyrotechnics
1st (6/day) (DC 16) - cure light wounds, expeditious retreat, innocence, memory lapse, silent image, timely inspiration, touch of gracelessness, ventriloquism
0th (at will) (DC 13) - detect magic, ghost sound, light , mage hand, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic, spark
Abilities Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 20
Feats Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Lingering Performance, Skill Focus (Perform Comedy and Perform Oratory)
Skills Acrobatics +11, Appraise +6, Bluff +20, Climb +7, Diplomacy +23, Disguise +9, Escape Artist +13, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (Arcana) +6, Knowledge (Geography) +6, Knowledge (History) +10, Knowledge (Local) +17, Knowledge (Local/Art & music) +18, Knowledge (Nature) +6, Knowledge (Nobility) +10, Linguistics +13, Perception +10, Perform (Act) +10, Perform (Comedy) +19, Perform (Dance) +9, Perform (Oratory) +19, Perform (Sing) +10, Perform (String Instruments) +9, Sense Motive +18, Sleight of Hand +8, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +13, Use Magic Device +16
Possessions short sword +1 of frost; studded leather +2 of shadow; buckler +1; longsword; masterwork whip; sap; wand of feather step; wand of cure light wounds; wand of cure serious wounds; wand of mage armor; Shortbow; amulet of natural armor +1; Wand of magic missile (CL 3rd); Scrolls of levitate, gentle repose, false life, knock; Dust of appearance; ring of fire resistance (10); ring of protection +2; cloak of resistance +1; Belt of Physical Might (+2 Str/Con); [i]Key-Lock Killer's bell Bardic Performance You can use this ability for 23 rounds per day.
Versatile Performance (Comedy / Oratory) (Ex) You can use your bonus in the Perform (Comedy / Oratory) skill in place of your bonus in the Bluff or Intimidate / Diplomacy or Sense Motive skills.
Countersong (Su) You can counter magic effects that depend on sound.
Distraction (Su) You can use your performance to counter magic effects that depend on sight.
Fascinate (Su) You can use your performance to cause up to 3 creatures to become fascinated with you (Will save DC 19).
Heraldic Expertise (Ex) A court bard gains a bonus equal to half his bard level on Diplomacy, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), and Knowledge (nobility) checks. 2/day, the court bard can also reroll a check against one of these skills, though he must take the result of the second roll even if it is worse.
Satire (Su) A court bard can use performance to undermine the confidence of enemies who hear it, causing them to take a -2 penalty on attack and damage rolls (minimum 1) and a -2 penalty on saves against fear and charm effects as long as the bard continues performing. Satire is a language-dependent, mind-affecting ability that uses audible components. This performance replaces inspire courage.
Mockery (Su) A court bard of 3rd level or higher can subtly ridicule and defame a specific individual. The bard selects one target who can hear his performance. That individual takes a -3 penalty on Charisma checks and Charisma-related skill checks as long as the bard continues performing.
Trained actor You trained as a child to be an actor. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Perform (act) and Perform (act) is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in Perform (act).
Fast-Talker You had a knack at getting yourself into trouble as a child, and as a result developed a silver tongue at an early age. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff checks, and Bluff is always a class skill for you.
Child of the Street You grew up on the streets of Korvosa, and as a result you have developed a knack for picking pockets and hiding small objects on your person. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sleight of Hand checks, and SoH is always a class skill for you. You also gain a free skill point in SoH.
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PUK, CG Male Halfling rogue 8 (swashbuckler)
Init +7; Senses Perception +10
AC 24, touch 18, flat-footed 24, uncanny dodge, improved uncanny dodge
hp 66 (8 HD)
Fort +8, Ref +16 (evasion), Will +5, +2 morale bonus vs. fear, +2 racial bonus vs. fear
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee main hand silver short sword +2 (small) +15/+10 (1d4+2/19-20) and off-hand short sword +1 of shock (small) +14 (1d4+1+1d6/19-20)
Base Atk +6/+1; CMB +5; CMD 22
Atk Options Sneak Attack +4d6
Abilities Str 10, Dex 24, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 10
Feats Acrobatic Steps, Dodge, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Halfling Sling Staff), Nimble Moves, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (short sword)
Skills Acrobatics +20, Acrobatics (Jump) +16, Appraise +6, Bluff +7, Climb +9, Diplomacy +7, Disable Device +15, Disguise +8, Escape Artist +14, Intimidate +4 (+0 vs. medium-sized), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (Local) +6, Linguistics +4, Perception +10, Perform (Percussion Instruments) +7, Ride +7, Sense Motive +6, Sleight of Hand +14, Stealth +19, Use Magic Device +4
Possessions small short sword +1 of shock; small silver short sword +2; studded leather +2 (small); shortbow (Small); halfling sling staff (halfling); small masterwork sap, amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +1; cloak of the Pixie King (+2 on saves, Dimension Door 1/day), belt of incredible dexterity +2
Sneak Attack (Ex) If you can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from your attack, you can strike a vital spot for extra damage. Your attack deals 4d6 points of extra damage.
Bleeding Attack (Ex) A rogue with this ability can cause living opponents to bleed by hitting them with a sneak attack. This attack causes the target to take 1 additional point of damage each round for each die of the rogue's sneak attack. Bleeding creatures take that amount of damage every round at the start of each of their turns. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 15 Heal check or the application of any effect that heals hit point damage. Bleeding damage bypasses any damage reduction the creature might possess.
Resiliency (Ex) Once per day, a rogue with this ability can gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the rogue's level. Activating this ability is an immediate action that can only be performed when she is brought to below 0 hit points. This ability can be used to prevent her from dying. These temporary hit points last for 1 minute. If the rogue's hit points drop below 0 due to the loss of these temporary hit points, she falls unconscious and is dying as normal.
Fast-Talker You had a knack at getting yourself into trouble as a child, and as a result developed a silver tongue at an early age. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff checks, and Bluff is always a class skill for you.
Personal Addiction You were the addict. You blame Gaedren for your brush with death and hate how his drugs are causing similar problems among other youths. Fortunately, your body recovers quickly from toxins, and you have a +1 bonus on Fortitude saving throws.
Soaring through the air on the back of a hippogriff is an exhilarating experience. The companions make a quick stop at the Endrin Academy on Old Korvosa to pick up the kids and then make an easy escape from the city.
24 Erastus 4708
The heroes have never seen the sun rise quite as spectacular as from their seats in the sky. They continue for several hours until Neolandus Kalepopolis orders them to land. The flying mounts are tired and he can tell that they have not been properly fed during the last few days. The company buys some sheep and goats from a local farmer to feed its mounts and spends the rest of the day and the following night resting up.
25 Erastus 4708
It takes a few more hours to get to Blackbird Ranch, the home of Vencarlo’s former adventuring companion, Jasan Adriel. The party makes sure to avoid the village of Harse itself, deeming it wise not to be seen in the neighborhood. Jasan is over the moon to see his old friend Vencarlo again. He welcomes his guests with open arms and his booming voice and ready grin bear witness to his warm-hearted intentions. Trinia Sabor is still at the farm as well. The young painter is eager to reunite with her former rescuers and after having exchanged big hugs and honest laughs, the ranchers are curious to learn all about recent events in Korvosa.
Fortunately the countryside has been mostly spared from the plague that hit the capital so hard. There have been a few isolated cases, but farmers usually stick to themselves, keeping the chance of getting infected to a minimum. Moreover, few merchants are coming to and from the city lately and patrols by the Korvosan Guard have all but ceased, so the disease has been mostly contained to the capital.
The heroes spend the rest of the day skinny dipping in the brook and relaxing under the sun. Neolandus Kalepopolis notices Quint’s scorpion-shaped mark on his shoulder, and wonders whether it is a tattoo, but the bard tells him it is a birthmark.
That evening Jasan treats his guests to a pleasant and filling dinner. Mouse, Korwick and Heldrin settle in well and quickly make friends with Jasan’s children. Sjo is pleased to see them recount the heroic acts of their masters, demonstrating that the boys have not been traumatized by what happened recently. Jasan says he will be happy to provide the three kids with a home, but he fears that he cannot take care of the hippogriffs, since they require too much meat to be fed. He suggests that Kalepopolis look for sanctuary in a safer haven, and feels that Janderhoff, the dwarven sky citadel on the edge of the Willspin Mountains, might serve such a purpose. When he learns that the companions are planning to travel to the Cinderlands to look for the Shoanti, he recommends finding a guide, since both the city of Kaer Maga, the entry point into the Cinderlands, and the desolate scrublands themselves are fraught with peril. Jasan’s sister-in-law, Derdra, is an excellent and trustworthy guide. The retired ranger expects her on his ranch in about a week. He suggests the companions enlist her help. In the meantime they can take some time to catch their breath and visit Janderhoff to aid seneschal Kalepopolis in procuring the dwarves’ support for their cause.
At the end of the evening Jasan digs up an oak chest from a cupboard. He takes out a scroll and hands it to Quint. It contains a teleport spell. It is one of the treasures that remains from his adventuring days with the Blackbirds, but since neither he nor Vencarlo can use the scroll, he hopes it might serve the companions on their quest. He advises them to use it for long-distance travel, possibly when they want to return home from the Cinderlands. It will certainly save on traveling time.
26 Erastus 4708
Janderhoff, the monumental dwarven Sky Citadel, is a firm trading partner of Korvosa. Its miners and smiths are well-known throughout the region. Using Neolandus’s hippogriff mounts, it takes the companions the better part of the day to travel there. The first thing visitors to Janderhoff see are the massive iron curtain walls of the city, proud reminders of the glories of dwarven architecture and engineering at their peak.
Captain Durrag of the city guard takes the party through a long series of tunnels to see clan lord Ragnar Ironfist. Seated on a stone throne at the far end of a great mountain hall is a pensive dwarf. Although he does not bear the title of King, the sober crown on his brow suggests his station is similar. An older dwarf stands next to him and introduces himself as the lord’s advisor, Bronn Silverheart.
Neolandus Kalepopolis has met these dwarves before and enjoys enough respect to be heard. He informs the dwarven rulers of the hard times that have befallen Korvosa, making sure to point out the queen’s foul role in this crisis. Although the seneschal spins a good tale, the companions pick up a lot of hesitation on the dwarves’ part. Quint, Sjo and Puk chime in, trying to convince the mountain folk of their plight. Quint refers to the treaty of Crystalrock, in which both nations pledged to protect each other. With a murderous usurper on the crimson throne, the people of Korvosa appeal to the dwarves to honor their agreement. Sjo also points out that Torag, the dwarves’ patron deity, is the father of honor and protection, so he would certainly approve. Ironfist admits that honor is a value that greatly exceeds other, worldly matters. Trade with Korvosa is booming at the moment, since the queen has been making huge orders of female suits of armor lately. But if she is really as evil as the seneschal claims, it might be unwise to support her in building up an army. Quint agrees, the queen won’t stop with Korvosa. Once she solidifies her grip on the city and its hinterlands, she will look for ways to expand her power. Janderhoff will be one of her first targets. In over nine millennia, Janderhoff is the only dwarven Sky Citadel that has never fallen to an enemy, a fact that the dwarves are justly proud of. Surely Ragnar Ironfist does not want to be remembered as the clan lord who lost the citadel. No, he has to defend his home as his predecessor have done since the time of Boldrak Rockcourage, the dwarven explorer who discovered these caves and carved the gladdringgar in the wall, Quint pleads, pointing to the rune behind Ironfist’s stone throne.
The companions’ fiery speech succeeds where the seneschal’s words fell short. The clan lord nods: this Ileosa character cannot be trusted. He will cease all trade with her. He will also open his halls to those who seek sanctuary, beginning with the seneschal. The dwarves are also prepared to sell weapons and armor to the ‘rebels’ and if necessary, they will even provide a number of soldiers to help battle the queen, if it should come to that.
The companions can immediately make good use of the dwarves’ offer. They leave some of their armors and bucklers in the hands of Father Bardin Bronzebeard in the temple of Torag. The highpriest and his staff will strengthen the magical enhancement on these over the next few days.
Our heroes spend the next couple of days in the great city of Janderhoff, sniffing up dwarven culture. Quint gets the opportunity to practice his mastery of the Dwarven language, while Balian refines his fighting technique, facing axe-wielding dwarves in mock combat. Sjo spends some time in the temple of Torag, admiring the art of enchanting armor. He also starts reading lessons, since he does not want to be an illiterate’barbarian’ when he’s going to marry a sophisticated priestess.
30 Erastus 4708
When their armor is ready, the companions prepare to leave. Puk also picks up a small range of special metal weapons and Balian buys a silver heavy mace. It might come in handy when fighting devils. Borrowing Kalepopolis’ hippogriffs once more to return to the Blackbird Ranch, the party makes it there by the end of the day. The seneschal himself stays in Janderhoff.
Trinia is happy to see her friends again. She started painting a group portrait of them and she’d like them to pose for her so she can get their faces right. Balian tries to impress her by taking his shirt off and flexing his muscles, but the young girl smilingly tells him he’ll be depicted in armor, so there is no need for this machoism.
1 Arodus 4708
That evening Zellara appears again, ready to perform another Harrow reading. Taking only the ‘hammer’ cards, she invites the heroes to draw one. Sjo picks the the uprising, a card that has shown up before in the readings. It is becoming abundantly clear that the path of rebellion that the companions have chosen offers no way back. Quint’s hand falls on the beating. Threats are arising from all sides and there are people out there who are specifically after the heroes. They will need to be prepared to face those challenges. Balian goes for the bear, a card that depicts a ‘docile’ circus bear, but these wild animals are not so easily tamed. Danger can indeed hide in the guise of innocence. Puk ends up with the big sky, in which slaves throw off their shackles under a bright sun. The companions will be instrumental in throwing off the yoke on the necks of those who are suppressed.
In their full spread reading, Balian’s past ‘backfires’ when the idiot now shows up in his draw. The ranger had so much fun last time, when Sjo drew this card, but now the joke is on him as his previous loss of dignity is laid bare. The liar in his present clearly stands for fraud and deceit, which need to be exposed. His future is determined by the marriage, which is Sjo’s token card. But here it indicates that different people will have to be united.
Quint is next. As always, his reading is much more unclear. Zellara suspects that Quint might have more freedom in writing his own destiny that people normally do, which is quite remarkable. The midwife in his past tells us that his arrival in this world was not a welcome one. The rakshasa lies on top of his present. Normally this creature is treacherous and deceitful, but the card’s position in the positive top row suggests that Quint’s mastery over influencing other people might actually be a force of good. The crows are part of his future: they are dangerous, even deadly opponents who can attack at any moment, but there is hope, because justice can prevail.
The theatre in Sjo’s past reveals he played a lot of roles before he finally came into his own. The present has the mute hag: dark pacts are being forged and are working against the party. The trumpet is normally a good card, as it depicts the most loyal of angels, but its opposite position in the spread, in the negative bottom row, reveals that Sjo might be forced to take steps that conflict with his character, to get the job done.
Puk’s reading is the clearest one again. The tanlged briar stands for hard times in the past, but its positive position in the spread indicates that the Halfling overcame his demons. The owl in the present has a needle and thread in its beak. The Halfling will play an important part in sewing together parts that will be hard to unite. The lost stand for a future in which the ‘insane’ will try to take over. The companions will have quite a struggle on their hands if they want to stop these forces of insanity.
Sjo also asks Zellara’s ghost how she felt in Korvosa of late. She confirms his suspicion that it’s getting increasingly harder for her to manifest in the city, as if otherworldly forces are preventing her from revealing herself. She does not feel this resistance here in Harse, though.
3 Arodus 4708
By three in the afternoon Jasan’s sister-in-law arrives at his ranch. Derdra is a seasoned ranger, not the ‘urban Balian’ type, but an outdoor one. She is well into her thirties and makes a solid first impression. She seems to have a close bond with her horse, a brown mare who goes by the name of Sasha and whose manes match Derdra’s hair. The woman picked up the latest copy of the Korvosa Herald from a merchant in Harse. The companions read up on recent events in Korvosa; they are happy to learn that the cure is finished and that it is working miracles. Even the quarantine of Old Korvosa has been lifted. Derdra agrees to act as a guide to the party.
4 Arodus 4708
The companions return to Janderhoff on the hippogriffs and return the flying mounts to seneschal Neolandus Kalepopolis. Derdra takes a number of horses from Jasan’s ranch and meets up with the party in the Dwarven citadel.
5-6 Arodus 4708
The companions leave Janderhoff on horseback and make their way across the Korvosan hinterlands. While the lands are still suited for farming, the fertile stretches of farmland seem to creep ever closer to the river, the more the companions travel north.
At the end of the second day, they arrive in Sirathu, the poorest and farthest removed of Korvosa’s holdings. It is a simple town indeed, with simple and dusty houses, although the center square is quite refreshing. The air smells sweet here and colorful flowers surround a white marble fountain which supplies a steady stream of the clearest water. The heroes find a place to sleep in The Royal Hare, a stable turned inn. Balian sarcastically remarks that Sjo will feel right at home here. Derdra draws the party’s attention to a straight line that marks the horizon to the north. She explains that it is the Storval Rise, an enormous cliff that separates Korvosa from the barren Cinderlands. “Kaer Maga is right about there”, she points.
Quint remembers the stories of the local young girl who revealed herself to be some sort of prophet of Pharasma, a new Saint Alika, so to speak She was also the one who issued the warning that the opera in which the companions participated - The Passion of Saint Alika - faced a great danger in the last act, readying the heroes to interfere when former thug Erik Brolan tried to assassinate lead singer Aïsha Leroung. Quint seeks the girl out to thank her. She has unsettling blue eyes that constantly seem to stare in the distance. She reacts rather coldly to any interaction, as if she is in higher spheres, but she does tell the companions that the Lady of Bones has a soft spot for them.
7 Arodus 4708
As the companions travel further up the road, the cliffs on the horizon become ever clearer and more impressive, finally rising to a gigantic stone wall of a 1,000 feet high. Even more daunting is the massive waterfall that crashes down, where the Yondabakari River breaks through the stark line of the cliff’s top. A couple of miles down the road another monumental feature stands atop the Storval Rise: the cliff-top city of Kaer Maga. It is supposedly built inside the ruins of an ancient fortress: a six-sided ring of 80-foot-high seamless stone, stretching for more than half a mile in diameter. The city has been a refuge for exiles, misfits and ne’er-do-wells for many centuries and houses a wide variety of races. It is a place where anyone can fit in.
It feels as if Kaer Maga actually stares down at travelers at the foot of the Rise, for the rocks supporting the fabled city have been hewn into the massive likeliness of long-forgotten kings. These colossal heads spew forth the city’s sewage from their open mouth; the foul-smelling water cascades down a thousand feet of vertical cliff, but as much as they offend the nostrils, they are a delight to behold.
A small tent camp surrounds a couple of stone buildings and a set of huge bronze double-doors at the foot of the cliff: the Twisted Doors to the Halflight Path, the only way into the city above. The way up winds through endless ancient tunnels in the rocks and treacherous goat paths along the exposed cliff face. Derdra explains that they will have to enlist the services of the Duskwarden, the guardians of the Halflight Path.
Derdra leads the companions to the inn. While she approaches the duskwardens to secure passage to the city above, Puk notices some halfings and a dwarf at a table nearby, who raise their glass at him in a gesture of friendship. Rungo Halfmoon and his cousins Bosco and Nolo are traders from Kaer Maga, on their way to Palins Cove to sell leather from the Cinderland aurochs. They tell the heroes more about the city atop the cliff.
Kaer Maga is a melting pot of citizens from all cultures, religions and races. Most of its inhabitants are humans, but there is a sizeable number of halflings, dwarves, half-elves and half-orcs as well. On top of that the city is the home to gnomes, elves, orcs, trolls, centaurs and nagas. The absence of a central government makes Kaer Maga an anarchic civilization, but it still functions quite well through the influence of several power groups who have achieved somewhat of a balance. Each factions has agreements with the other power groups, and while most of them are constantly looking for ways to undermine the letter of these contracts, they ensure the peace. This strange equilibrium makes the city a place where everyone is welcome and everything can be traded.
Perhaps the most selfless group within the city, the Duskwardens represent the first – and often only – line of defense between the city of Kaer Maga and the Undercity below. Trained to defend against all manner of undead, monster, abomination, or whatever else might crawl up from the dark, the Duskwardens patrol the tunnels below the city to ensure their safety. Organized from their headquarters in Bis, they not only clear the tunnels for the city’s expansion, but attempt to map the maze below. The only profitable enterprise the Duskwardens undertake are the guides through the Halflight Tunnel – the fastest, and most dangerous, way from the cliff’s base to the city. As a group that truly represents the benefit of Kaer Maga as a whole, they are supported by the entire city. No reasonable request from a Duskwarden is refused, and they are honored guests wherever they may choose to go.
If it’s magical and it’s in Kaer Maga, then the Arcanist’s Circle probably has a hand in it. As the center of the city’s magical research and experimentation, it houses a number of wizards and mages, all in the interest of learning and sharing information to the benefit of all involved. This involvement with magical devices has made them a powerful mercantile power – they not only sell magical items, but take commissions to construct new (and untested) devices.
The city also houses a relatively large population of hemotheurges. These so-called Bloatmages are arcanists who cast spells strengthened by their own blood. They produce excess blood to be used for power in spells and rituals. This blood pools in the folds of skin as blood vessels burst, giving the hemotheurge a grotesquely overweight look. They use leeches to increase the blood flow in their bodies and clean the blood of toxins left behind from the spells they create.
Controlling the district of Bis, the Ardoc Family is an age-old group of golemcrafters. Despite the city’s fluid alliances and residents, the Ardocs have managed to stay strong – and present themselves as such. They hold Bis with an iron fist, ensuring that gangs and crimes are punished accordingly. Yet, they are not exactly virtuous – the order they impose on Bis is equivalent to that of the city’s strongest crime family. Truly bound by blood, the family is made of brothers – both blood and those married in. Those family members without magical ability are second class, only just above the average Bis citizen, and among the Ardoc’s children and women. The mages, however, all bow before the family’s patriarch, an aging wizard named Merriman Ardoc.
One of the newest factions to make an impression on Kaer Maga, the Freemen have made themselves known through their zealous defense of both freedom and democracy. Founded by a group of escaped slaves, the Freemen actively seek out slavers and end their human cargo’s plight. Any escaped slave is welcome, regardless of his history – and the Freemen will gladly give their lives to ensure none of its members find themselves back in chains. Working out of the Bottoms, the district has become a bastion of democracy in a city with no real government. Led by the man who masterminded the first escaped Freemen, Halman Wright, the group has come to an uneasy truce with the other, slave-owning factions of Kaer Maga. In a delicate balancing act between freedom and foolishness, the Freemen often find themselves at odds with the mercantile interests of the rest of the city.
Originally founded as a means of standardizing market procedures to maximize profits across the board, The Commerce League has grown to little more than a white-collar mafia. Focusing on businesses like price fixing, protection rackets, and loan sharking, the Commerce League undeniably has its hands in the criminal ring. Yet, it still holds its original principles to heart, as it protects the commercial interests of its investors and members with a tenacious fervor. As such, they keep the core largely free of the inter-gang squabbles that plague the rest of the city – after all, such things are bad for business.
Augurs are trolls who have taken up fortune-telling. They answer their client's questions by cutting their own stomachs open and reading their own intestines. This method of fortune telling has questionable accuracy. They use this practice as a façade to broker information.
Twice-Born is a polite term for referring to undead, and typically only used within the Ankar-Te district of the Varisian city of Kaer Maga. Here, necromancy and the creation of undead is commonly practiced and accepted, and the twice-born can often be found working as servants for wealthy individuals. Being generally mindless, the tasks assigned to these Twice-Born are naturally quite simple, but can include such jobs as household servant, litter bearer, waiter, and even prostitute. This does not imply that the undead are held in the same esteem as the living. They are considered to be the property of their owner who think of them as little better than pack-animals, and who are also responsible for keeping them under control; destructive or aggressive undead are quickly put down by the general population, with the owner held responsible for any damage or injury caused. Their owners will often spray them with perfume, or hang them with fragrant herbs or flowers to mask the stench of decay. The city’s infamous White Lady brothel even uses Twice-Born as prostitutes
The Sweettalkers are a group of unusual traders from far to the east of Avistan who follow a little-understood monotheistic religion that imposes strict rules. The Sweettalkers of Kaer Maga believe that to utter anything but the most perfect true name of their god is heresy, yet none so far encountered have felt that they are worthy of this honor. In order to not speak an impure word, they sew their lips shut and communicate with each other in a code of clicks, whistles and sighs.
Seeing that the companions are hardened adventurers, Rungo recommends them to pay a visit to The Flame That Binds, a shop specializing in the sale of magical goods and services, found in the commercial Tarheel Promenade district.
8 Arodus 4708
The next morning the heroes gather at the Twisted Door, the ancient set of double doors at the foot of the cliff, which serves as the entry to the Halflight Path. The doors are covered in strange runes in an unknown language. They also exhibit a strange optical phenomenon: the doors’ edges appear perfectly straight, but an observer who follows an edge with his eyes somehow finds that was once an outside edge is now an inside edge. It is this effect that gives the door its name.
Derdra introduces the party to Tanack, a bearded man in a distinctive brown and gray uniform, the right breast of which bears a badge with a golden arch on a midnight blue background, representing the Twisted Door. He’ll be taking them up as the first group. The guide hands the companions pendants that provide light in the darkness and beckons them to follow him down the tunnel.
Tanack explains that the complete height of the cliffs below Kaer Maga is riddled with huge complexes of natural and artificial tunnels and rooms, most of which have never been charted. Everyone in Kaer Maga maintains a healthy fear of these deeper levels, for they know that those who travel too often or too far beneath the surface return with tales of unspeakable horror -- if they return at all. From the earliest days of the city, its residents were under continual threat from the incursions of subterranean creatures that would occasionally make their way to the surface, which proved inadequately protected by its volunteer militia. Eventually, the city's residents decided that a small, specialized group could protect the city more effectively, and the first Duskwardens were commissioned. In the first years after their formation, the Duskwardens aggressively sought out and sealed as many entrances to the deeper levels as they could find, although they left a few select, easily-patrolled entrances accessible. Over the centuries that followed, the Duskwardens have patrolled the highest levels of the Undercity, maintaining the seals that prevent further attack from below and dispatching any creatures that manage to break through. So successful have they been in their mission that most residents of Kaer Maga are able to live their entire lives without ever encountering the denizens of the deeper Undercity. The Halflight Path is a carefully selected route through these tunnels. Tanack warns his clients not to stray from it.
The way up sneaks through endless tunnels. While the companions quickly start to feel the muscles in their legs burning, Tanack is light on his feet and often scouts ahead to make sure the dark holds no unwelcome surprises. Most side passages have been bricked up and sometimes Tanack warns the party to keep quiet, as he does not want to attract the attention of creatures who might finds these walls a mere inconvenience. At one point the companions hear a deep growl from behind one such wall, which is followed by a high-pitched death rattle. After two hours of traveling, the party reaches a round tunnel with gleaming walls that looks like glass. The tube is so smooth that only the sand spread out on the floor keeps travelers from slipping. At other points the tunnels turn into majestic hallways with ornate masonry and elaborate frescoes decorating the walls. The doors here are barred with locks and chains. When they are about halfway up, the companions pass three groups that are traveling down. Judging from the looks on those travelers’ faces, Sjo concludes that going down must be more pleasant than making your way up, especially while wearing a full plate.
After five hours the heroes see sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Their hope that they have already reached their destination is quickly tempered by Tanack, who tells them that the tunnel emerges onto the cliff-face, becoming a ledge barely wide enough for a cart. The view is breath-taking, but one look over the edge at the sheer drop down is enough to keep the heroes hugging the wall. Tanack dances off ahead again to scout for danger, but when the party catches up to him, he is just standing on the ledge with his back towards them, as if he’s waiting for them. He trembles as he turns around. Balian spots a line of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Then he sees the three arrows protruding from the Duskwarden’s chest. Tanack’s legs buckle and he topples over the edge, plummeting down in the deep. Quint immediately reacts by throwing an invisibility sphere over the group, which is answered by a threatening howl from a fierce gnoll warrior who emerges from the rocks up ahead and storms down the path, into the invisible party. The hyena-headed humanoid is wielding a spiked whip. Two spear-bearing gnolls follow in his wake and a fourth warrior with a flail clears the bend as well. These creatures move fast; their speed has obviously been enhanced by magic. Sjo swings his heavy mace at the whipmaster, becoming visible in the act and revealing himself as a target to a gnoll archer who is hiding above the road. The healer gets two arrows in the chest. Puk tries to move into a favorable position by tumbling around the gnolls, but his enemies are not so easily fooled and the rogue suffers two attacks of opportunity: a lash from the whip and a stab from a spear. Balian orders Spyder to attack while Quint casts haste on his friends and tries to take the archer out of the fight with a cacophonous call, but the creature resists his magic. Balian jumps at the gnoll with the whip and brings down his greatsword with a force that could kill an auroch. The brute stumbles, but remains on his feet and counterattacks. Sjo pulls the arrows from his chest and heals himself with his most powerful spell, cure critical wounds. In the meantime Puk slashes the wavering whipmaster in the back and brings him down. Spyder sinks his teeth into one of the spear wielding barbarians, who is now raging like a madman and stabbing at anything in reach. A final enemy reveals herself, as she appears from behind the archer and casts a spell that allows her to walk through the air. Then she suddenly blips out of plain sight, having turned invisible. Although Balian lacks the rage power of his opponents, his blade hits them with the force of a thunderstorm. But these gnolls fight smart, and focus their attacks on the ranger. As Sjo forces the enemy caster to reveal herself again with an invisibility purge, Balian learns what it feels like to be a punching ball. A final arrow and a hit from the flail suffice to knock him out. Puk still dances around like a dervish warrior and takes out one of the raging spear fighters.
The gnoll cleric calls upon the power of her damned god to confuse her opponents, but through sheer force of will, all companions and Derdra can bite off her foul magic. This seems to be the turning point of the battle. Puk gets knocked to the ground by the surviving barbarian’s spear, but he keeps fighting from his prone position, barely clinging to life. Quint attempts another cacophonous call on the archer, which takes hold this time. Another enemy has been taken out of the fight. While Sjo pushes back the assailants with a fireball and heals his halfling friend, Puk kills off the last gnolls on the path. The air walking cleric notices the battle is lost and flies off, signaling her archer ally to get out as well.
The party heals up and waits for the next group up to arrive. They explain what happened to the Duskwarden guide; who informs them that the Halflight Path houses many threats, but gnolls are not usually among them. This ambush must have been planned for the heroes in particular. The man takes the companions along with his group and after three more hours they arrive at the end of the last tunnel. They are now standing at the foot of the massive wall that does not only circle, but actually houses most of Kaer Maga. The hexagonal ring of eighty-foot high walls is imposing indeed. The residents have chiseled out doors and windows at every height. There is no great gate into the city, but a giant breach in the northwest wall provides easy access through a district called the Warrens. The breach also allows the heroes to peek inside the hollow wall, which has been filled to the brim with layer upon layer of small buildings. Ropes, nets and wooden ladders weave their way between these houses like the rigging on a ship.
Derdra takes the party to an inn and leaves them there for the night, while she slinks off into the city to pick up the latest rumors on the Cinderlands and its Shoanti tribes. Quint urges his friends to join him to The Flame That Binds, the ‘magic shoppe’. An amiable, but incredibly corpulent bloatmage welcomes them there, introducing himself as Carthagos. He offers to sell them magic components, scrolls and magical items. He is also willing to take interesting items off their hands, but having spent most of their fortune in Janderhoff, the companions have little left to barter with.
Although The Flame that Binds offers a nice array of magical goodies, the party has no real money to spend, so Quint just buys a handful of scrolls and the remainder of the budget goes to some extra wands of cure light wounds from the local temple of Pharasma. Balian is also curious about the troll prophets in the augur temple and decides to have his fortune read. The temple is a vast and columned affair of stone, with wide steps too tall for a human. Balian sees an ugly troll wrapped in coarse linen clothes. She beckons him over and gestures to a small bowl for a donation. The ranger throws a handful of coins at her and wonders about Korvosa’s future, at which the augur draws a knife across her own belly and pulls out her steaming entrails, studying them carefully. Then she speaks:
“Who beats who in this hodgepodge revue?
You get things going, you set the tone.
With both skill and knowledge you defeat the shrew.
But who will be next to sit on the throne?”
When she has finished her prediction, the troll shoves her bowels back inside her abdominal cavity, waiting for her natural regeneration to heal her. Although her words are short and cryptic, they ring true. She does not know the heroes and yet she can tell from her own bloody insides what they are up to … so the augur’s abilities must be real! Quint approaches another soothsayer and asks her about their future in the Cinderlands. She replies:
“No help without trust, no trust without friends, no friends without help.”
After this mystifying experience in the augur temple the companions return to the inn, where Derdra rejoins them. She has news about the Shoanti: apparently the Cinderland tribes are gathering for war on Korvosa, having learned that recent troubles have weakened the city. The biggest of the clans, the Sklar-Quah or Sun clan, leads these war efforts.
9 Arodus 4708
The next morning the party leaves on foot, since Derdra cautions against using horses. She claims that the Cinderlands’ treacherous undergrowth and shifting sands will prove too dangerous for inexperienced riders. The first stretch of the trip leads through the most fertile parts of the wastelands, in the proximity of the Yondabakari River where rough grasses and small bushes grow. The further away the party moves from the river, the more desolate the landscape becomes. Since the companions are looking for the Skull clan, Derdra takes them east, to the Kallow Hills, where the Skoan-Quah live. The dry prairie and the beating sun make for a tiring journey. Dusty winds of sand and ashes give everyone a burning throat.
In the afternoon a big cloud of dust and a thundering rumble of hooves breaks from the horizon. Derdra explains that it is a great herd of aurochs, big, horned oxen that live here. The animals are dangerous, but make for a great source of food and leather skins for the local tribes. Fortunately the beasts of the prairie do not cross paths with the travelers.
In the evening Derdra looks for a good place to set up camp. She gathers some tumbleweed and bushes to make a fire, for nights here get quite cold. During Sjo’s shift in the night watch, a group of four large beetles makes straight for the camp. The tall half-Shoanti shouts out to his companions and throws up a wall of fire to halt the vermin’s approach, but the creatures seems unaffected by the flames. Quint casts haste on his friends, who quickly learn that the jewel beetles are not much of a challenge, but then the bard notices that one of the large insects has a bony spike sticking through its carapace. Suddenly four more of these spikes soar through the air and plant themselves in Derdra and Puk. The attack came from the dark sky above! Quint covers the party in an invisibility sphere, which gives them the opportunity to heal and grab their ranged weapons. Derdra recognizes the spikes as the weapons of a manticore: a winged lion with a humanoid head. The creature swoops over the camp a couple of times, doing serious damage with its volley of spikes, but Sjo manages to heal these wounds in time. It is hard for the companions to hurt this creature that just flickers in and out of sight to fire off another set of bony arrows. But since the heroes do not appear fazed by its attacks either, the manticore quickly abandons its offensive. The party moves camp, this time without the warmth of a fire, and makes it through the rest of the night unharmed.
10 Arodus 4708
As the journey continues, the travelers come across a gruesome sight. Three Shoanti heads have been shoved on a pike, with two crossbow bolts sticking from their eyes. Derdra says that this is the work of the Cinderlander, a lone wolf who has devoted his life to hunting and killing tribesmen. Some think he is a ghost, but Derdra has heard more plausible tales of a man from the Korvosan lowlands whose family was butchered by a Shoanti war party and who is out for a lifetime of revenge. Sjo gets goosebumps when she tells this story, for it matches the tragedy he recently learned about his mother. The warriors that executed this raid came from her tribe. Being too young to join them, she followed them instead, with her best friend Shaoban. The two youngsters were surprised by a single survivor, who killed Shaoban and raped the girl, which would make this Cinderlander Sjo’s father!
After many hours the heroes reach the Kallow Hills. Derdra finds mounds of stone with animal skulls on top: they have entered the domain of the Skoan-Quah. The guide describes how this clan fulfills a special role in Shoanti society. The Skull clan is devoted to the memory and protection of the dead. Its warriors cover themselves in a mixture of mud and white ashes, giving them the color of smoke. This is rumored to protect them from the undead, whom they have to destroy out of tradition and duty. The Skull shamans travel between all the other tribes to bless their dead and carry the most honorable deceased to these hills, to ensure a safe passage to the eternal hunting grounds. This makes the Kallow Hills one of the greatest burial sites of the Shoanti.
Half a mile into the hills, the companions notice four warriors covered in grayish white paint. Quint waves at them, showing no sign of threat, and hails them over. They greet the visitors with caution: “Sharatok tshamek” – be received, strangers. Sjo pulls out the amulet Thousand Bones carved for them back in Korvosa and says in Shoanti that they are here to talk to the wise shaman. The warriors relax and lead the party to their camp.
Dozens of tents have been set up around a central totem. This camp must house at least a hundred people. Derdra explains that the Shoanti are divided in seven great clans, but each clan in turn is divided in smaller tribes, as the Cinderlands are too inhospitable to support massive groups of people in the same place. The tribesmen regard the visitors with great curiosity, but when Thousand Bones steps out of the central tent he immediately recognizes the companions and gives them a heart-warming welcome. He also introduces them to his chief, jothka One-Life, and Ashdancer, another shaman. Balian also notices a large wingless dragonlike creatures lurking between the tents. Suddenly a cry of happiness resounds: “Sjo! Sjo!” Little Lerrim, the Shoanti child the heroes saved from Gaedran Lamm’s clutches, flies around the healer’s neck. It looks like he’s been doing well since he joined Thousand Bones and his men.
Thousand Bones invites the visitors in his yurt to talk to them. Quint clarifies that they are here to find out more about the evil that houses under the great mastaba in Korvosa. He fears that queen Ileosa has unearthed it and is now firmly under its influence.
“My friends, I have indeed heard speak of such an evil, and although I will not be able to tell you anything about it, I am glad you came to me first. You see, unlike our brethren in the other tribes, the Skoan-Quah are a peaceful people. Our willingness to talk to tshamek is not followed by the other Quah, who even think it brings shame to us. Still, they accept us as we watch over the souls of their dead. My words of peace do not reach their ears, instead they talk of war. They have heard stories of a city in flames, a king dying and a terrible disease decimating the people of Korvosa. They believe the time has come for them to reclaims the lands of their forefathers and descend once again to the green pastures in the south.
Yet I say, war will not be good for us. My brethren refuse to see that even a crippled Korvosa is a formidable opponent. I deem it wiser to make friends of one’s enemies, but the Sun clan only sees weakness and demands action.
As to your question about the evil under the mastaba, know that my people were once part of the Sklar-Quah – the Sun clan. But since we were willing to forgive our enemies, we were no longer welcome among them. Over many generations our fathers found peace in these lands, but that does not go for the Sklar-Quah, who still believe that the lowlands of Korvosa are their only true home. Apart from guarding over the dead, my people also watch over the Shoanti’s history. As such we know many tales from days past, but the knowledge of what was buried in the great mastaba is known only to a select few, the guardians of the word from the Sklar-Quah: the Sun shamans. In my long life I have only heard two of them mention this evil in what you call Korvosa. They called it the Teeth of Midnight, but that is all I know. If you want to learn more, you will have to ask the Sun Shamans yourself.
Although I can speak to the Sun clan on your behalf, I will never be entrusted with their deepest secret, only to spill the information to you afterwards. Being tshamek you will never learn this secret either, even less so since you hail from the one place they hate most in the world. So if you want them to tell you, you will have to earn their respect and trust by throwing off your tshamek mantle and becoming true nalharest, not only to me, but to them as well! Only then will you stand a chance of learning about the evil under the great mastaba.
We will reconvene tomorrow to ask the spirits for guidance. Until then you are welcome in our midst.”
After the meeting with Thousand Bones, the companions join the tribesmen around the fire to share in a hearty meal and some stories. Sjo inquires whether the fact that he can call Sun shaman Yundur Firestorm his grandfather will earn him any favors among the Sklar-Quah, but the Skull people tell him that his non-Shoanti heritage is too much of a shame to make it so. Then he wonders if there have ever been people who have been freed of great shame and indeed, there is a legend of one who achieved just such a feat. His name was Skurak, a mighty Shoanti warrior, who stood accused of having murdered his own brother. Since family is sacred to the Shoanti, he was banished from the tribe and declared a tshamek. Skurak insisted that his brother’s death was a hunting accident and swore to prove the truth by reclaiming his position among his people. He left for the hunting grounds of the deadly Cindermaw, the Clan-eater, a humongous sand worm who can swallow whole tribes at once. Skurak walked up to the beast, armed only with a dagger. Without fear he dove inside the monster’s maw and carved his way out. Having been cleansed by the fires of the Cindermaw’s acid belly, he was once again accepted by the Sun shamans, who declared he had been redeemed. The word tshamek was never spoken to Skurak again, who passed into legend as Skurak the Reborn.
Suddenly a new commotion stirs the camp. Seven Shoanti riders arrive, their red, orange and yellow colors identifying them as Burn Riders from the Sun clan. One very large and imposing tribesman leads them. “That is Krojun … Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills”, Lerrim whispers. His rippling muscles are heavily covered in tattoos and war paint. He carries a mighty warhammer, an earthbreaker, and a Klar blade.
Several of the younger warriors from the Skull clan gather around these newcomers, regarding them with great respect. Krojun greets them with great gusto and welcomes their attention. Then he notices the companions and his body language changes. “Why do the Skoan-Quah harbor tshamek intruders?” he growls in Shoanti.
“These men are guests of Thousand Bones and thus guests of the tribe”, jothka One-Life answers him. The look in the giant’s eye does not show any acceptance, so Thousand Bones himself steps forward.
“Tell me, Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills, since when do the Sklar-Quah decide who is or who is not an intruder in the Kallow Hills where the ashes of our forefathers rest?”
Krojun snaps back at him: “Those words do not change my question, old shaman. These tshamek bring trouble to the Cinderlands, you know that as well as I do. The future will reveal soon enough which of us is right, but to me they are just that: intruders.”
“You may be right, but I fear that the one bringing us trouble today is standing right in front of me. Tell me, Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills, why are you here?” Thousand Bones replies.
The great barbarian’s face glides into a wide grin, as he addresses not only to Thousand Bones, but all tribesmen: “Why indeed am I here? You all know why. For you are not only the guardians of the dead, but also of knowledge. 82 winters our forefathers fought against the tshamek from Che-lee-axe (he spits on the ground) before being driven to these unhospitable lands. More than 200 years we have bided our time here, but now our enemies are weak. At last the time has come to strike back! I am here to gather your warriors. Once more the blood of our enemies will flow in honor of our forefathers, in honor of our totems, in honor of our sacred duty! (Some of the Skoan-Quah around Krojun let out a cheer.) We are SHOANTI and each quah will have to earn its own honor in battle or be doomed to live out its life as cowardly dogs! We have barely stretched our muscles and already tshamek are here, begging for peace.”
This time Quint speaks up: “Although we do not consider you our enemy and we wouldn’t mind being friends, we are not here for peace, and we’re even lees here to beg! You are mistaken, Burn Rider.”
“But it looks that I was not mistaken at all, Krojun Stormcrow”, Thousand Bones takes over. “You are the one who is here to bring trouble with your talk of war. How can you believe that spilling more Shoanti blood can ever honor our forefathers? Or do you think you can simply walk into Korvosa unopposed? The tshamek might be weakened, but that does not mean they are defenseless. Much blood will flow if you carry out your plans. We are indeed the guardians of the dead, but we do not invite death into our yurts.” Then Thousand Bones turns to his own tribesmen: “I will not stand in your way if you want to join this warmonger on his insane quest. Each of you has to make his own decision and follow his own totem. But my totem tells me to walk the way of peace and these tshamek (he points at the party) are my guests on this road. You, Krojun, who are also a guest in our midst, will do well to remember that!
At first Krojun’s muscles in his enormous neck tighten, as Quint warns him: “Heed the words of your elder, warrior; listen to the shaman’s wisdom.”
Once more Krojun’s face changes to a charismatic smile, as he answers to all gathered around him: “As always the insight of age trumps my youthful enthusiasm and fire. I will honor these tshamek as your guests, Thousand Bones, as tradition requires. Who knows, they might even possess some courage since they are willing to travel so deep into Shoanti territory. Still, you will not mind that I test this courage in an innocent game of Sredna, now will you?” At that the barbarian digs up a leather strap from his pouch and dangles it before the companions. Thousand Bones gives the heroes a look and then shrugs, leaving it up to them to accept or refuse.
Lerrim explains to Sjo that Sredna is a game similar to tug-of-war. Two opponents tie a leather strap behind their heads and try to pull each other down until one of them falls of gives up. The game is innocent enough, as no one really gets hurt in it, but refusing the challenge would be considered a sign of cowardice, more even than losing.
Sjo and Balian both accept Krjoun’s challenge. Sjo enters the game of Sredna first. He removes his armor and steps up to his opponent fearlessly. Although the healer is of impressive height, Krojun still towers over him and the barbarian’s chest is as broad as an ox’s. Krojun gets on all fours and signals for Sjo to do the same. Next both men swing a loop of leather behind their necks and crawl back until the thin cord is pulled tight between them. Sjo already feels the leather dig in the back of his neck and skull. He fears this will get quite uncomfortable.
One of the Sun clan burn riders explains that the opponents have three breaths to try and stare each other down before they start pulling. Krojun lets out a deep growl and gnashes his teeth, but Quint mocks his effort, giving Sjo the upper hand in this first part of the battle. Then the tugging part begins. Krojun tries to go for a quick victory, but his hasted attempt fails as the sand on the ground slips underneath his hands and Sjo manages to withstand his force. Frustrated the barbarian slips into rage, fuming at the mouth and pulling like a madman, but still Sjo resists and the healer is actually the first to drag his adversary forward. He sees a glimmer of respect in Krojun’s eyes, who now flexes all his muscles and claws his fingers deeper into the ground to get a better grip. Now the barbarian pulls Sjo backward, but our friend tugs him right back and it seems that their tug-of-war competition does not budge far from its starting point. In the end it is the towering barbarian’s natural stamina that wins out, as the bite of the leather strap in his skull forces Sjo to bow his head and relent. Still he resisted Krojun much longer than expected and the great burn rider has to catch his own breath after the game. “You fought like an auroch calf, you should be proud”, he compliments Sjo.
Next up is Balian. Quint gives him a quick pep-talk and throws in a heroism spell to boost his friend’s power. Although the ranger is broader than Sjo, he does not stand as tall, so standing opposite Krojun, he looks almost dwarfed. “It is a good thing we’re getting to the ground for this,” Balian smiles, “won’t be as much of a height difference.” The staring competition gives him a slight advantage over the barbarian, but when the tugging starts, Krojun manages to pull the ranger back a couple of steps. Again the hulk activates his raging powers and pulls Balian even further. Fortunately the ranger has better luck resisting the sting of the leather in his neck than Sjo and as the match continues he regains the territory he lost in the beginning. Both men’s heads turn red and purple as they growl and pull like great beasts of burden. The excitement of the spectators grows as the contest lasts and Balian even gets some cheers from several Skull clan warriors. The cord tears into the back of both contestants’ skulls, drawing blood on either side. Sweat runs wildly over their backs and foreheads as they try to bite down the pain. The ranger is hoping to hold out until Krojun’s rage wears down, but a final cut of the leather cord forces him to admit defeat right before the barbarian’s frenzy runs out. Exhausted Krojun rolls over on his back to recover from the effort, before getting up again. He offers his hand to Balian to pull him to his feet as well. “Congratulations, lowlander, it must have been five years or more since I came across an opponent like you”, he sighs with a gleam of true respect in his eyes. He pats the ranger cheerfully on the shoulder and then returns to his own men, who hail him for winning this formidable match.
Sjo’s and Balian’s valiant show of force has gained them the admiration of several Skoan-Quah warriors and Quint takes advantage of the fact that he has their ears to convince them of the fact that Korvosa is far from defenseless. In fact, the number of warriors in the city grows day by day, for the new queen is building her own great army. At the end of the evening, the companions are given a yurt in which they can sleep.
11 Arodus 4708
When the party rises the next morning, Krojun and his Burn riders have already left camp to go auroch hunting. They have taken a number of Skull clan warriors with them. The heroes spend the day in the company of their young friend Lerrim, and Fartshek, another youngster who turns out to be Thousand Bones grandson – or son-son, as he calls it himself. While the tribe’s shamans are preparing a hut for tonight’s spirit consulting ritual, Fartshek tells the visitors from Korvosa more about the legend that is Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills.
The imposing tribesman is the son of Chief Ready-Klar of the one of the numerous Sun clan tribes. He is one of the Sklar-Quah’s most fearsome warriors, specializing in the klar and earthbreaker technique. As a young men he saw his tribe suffer several brutal attacks at the hands of orc champion Kyrust Chief Killer, a Rotten Tongue marauder from Urglin. Desperate to help his people, Krojun sought the aid of a reclusive Shoanti sorcerer who lived alone deep in the Mindspin Mountains. The hermit sent Krojun on several punishing tests, promising him that if he succeeded he would earn a great reward that would help him defeat Kyrust. The tests were harrowing indeed, designed in part to train Krojun in the ways of the Thunder and Fang fighting style, and it took Krojun many months to complete them. In the end, he stood before the sorcerer in triumph. When Krojun demanded his reward, however, the sorcerer responded only that he had no reward to give and vanished. Krojun’s rage was great, and when he returned to his people empty-handed, he found that his entire tribe had been enslaved by Kyrust. Krojun tracked the slave caravan for days, finally catching up to it a few miles from Urglin’s gates, and in a fantastic display of rage and power, single-handedly defeated the orcs and their leader Kyrust. It was only as Krojun claimed the orc’s belt of giant strength as both a trophy and a symbol of the Sklar-Quah’s power over the orcs that he realized the truth—that strange old sorcerer had indeed given him a gift: the gift of rage. Without the skills and strength Krojun honed in completing the tasks the sorcerer had set him to, he would surely have fallen in such a combat as he had just won. Today, Krojun is at the forefront of the Sun Clan’s efforts to strike back at the orcs and tshamek who have hammered away at the Shoanti for centuries.
Sjo also wonders about the strange golden-hued wingless dragon creature he has seen roaming around camp. Right now the wonderful being is lying on a big rock, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Fartshek explains that this is Wicked-Claws, a dragon-like beast known as a dragonne. It lost its wings in a fight with a ferocious bulette some years ago, before chief One-Life saved it from certain death. No longer able to soar the skies above, Wicked-Claws adopted the Skull clan as her family and now protects the tribe from danger.
By the time the sun sets Krojun’s hunting party still hasn’t returned yet. All preparations for the ritual are ready now. Thousand Bones, Ashdancer and jothka One-Life invite the visitors to strip down and join them in a small hut that radiates waves of heat. Smoldering hot rocks have been heaped up in the middle of the tent. Once everyone has found a place around the stones, Ashdancer takes a large wooden spoon and pours water on the hot rocks. Scented steam fills the hut and immediately everyone breaks out in a sweat.
Thousand Bones hums in a low tone and then speaks: “Tonight we consult our ancestors. Great spirits from the past, show us whether we can truly trust these tshamek and show us what we have to do to achieve peace for both their people and ours.”
Ashdancer joins Thousand Bones in his humming and then changes the tune to a mesmerizing tribal chant. Ever so often she spills another spoon of water over the searing stones, filling the hut with boiling smoke. One by one the companions succumb to the heat and slip into unconsciousness. Sjo suddenly finds himself in a lush, green meadow and sees that his arms have turned into the mighty forelegs of proud red brown stallion. A massive, noble tree draws his attention. As he trots up to the stately plant, he sees other animals approaching. A nimble puma darts through the high grass and without hesitation Sjo knows it is Puk. Then he sees the snout of a fox peaking up which is undeniably Quint. A few moments later Balian arrives as well, in the shape of a massive bear.
Walking under the tree Sjo sees a black panther lying lazily on one of the branches: Ashdancer. Two birds swoop in as well, an owl and an eagle: Thousand Bones and One-Life. Looking around Sjo realizes that there are other animals about, not in real physical form, but in an outline of light blue energy. These must be the spirits of the forefathers. It also dawns on the healer that this world does not inhibit his sight and he can see well into the horizon.
The owl turns its head around and regards the heroes in their animal forms with its milky-white eyes. “The ancestors find in you no treacherous intent towards my people, since you all appeared as animals of the natural world”, he hoots. “Now behold what they have to tell you!” He takes to the air again and swoops closely over the companions. The next moment he is gone, as are Ashdancer and One-Life. The majestic tree suddenly pulls away to the horizon and mountains come into view, from where a light rumble swells into a loud thundering. The earth itself starts to tremble when a herd of wild horses appears over the closest hilltop. Some of the mounts have small round plaques of gold dangling from their necks, others bears medallions of silver, while others bear a dreamcatcher-like emblem made of tiny bones. An imposing stallion clad in multiple golden circles leads the herd. Having reached the last hill, the animal pulls to a stop, rears and whinnies loudly. When its hooves hit the ground, sparks shoot up. The rest of the herd start trampling impatiently. Quint wonders what the horses are looking at. He shifts his gaze across the plain and sees a large gray mass making its way through the long grass. One wolfish howl fills the air, quickly joined by the overwhelming howl of massive pack of wolves. The horses leap forward and storm into the plain, racing at the charging pack of canines. A few heartbeats later the two armies tear into each other. Wolves growl and snap at everything equine, while the horses use their hard hooves to kick around, showing no mercy for their enemies. The battles turns into a veritable bloodbath with no one gaining the upper hand.
Then a deafening bang burst from the dark clouds at the horizon. Wolf and horse cease their animosity for a second, before a shockwave reaches them and throws them all to the ground. The clouds pull together and swoop closer, slowly taking the shape of a terrifying dragon made of shadow, her wings are a living curtain of darkness that falls over everything within sight and swallows the complete landscape. The battlefield disappears in blackness and then the dark sweeps over the companions, drawing them in an endless plummet into the great nothing. As he falls, the big bear that is Balian, suddenly sees a small sparrow batting its wings furiously, trying to catch up and grab a hold of his fur. It bites and scratches in Balian’s shoulder, struggling to hold on, but then it loses its grip and it is forced to let go. As it tumbles away in the dark, a humongous hyena mouth appears on top of it and swallows it whole. Then Balian’s fall suddenly ends as he jumps to his feet, having returned in his own body inside the steam hut. His friends awake as well.
Thousand Bones asks the companions what they witnessed. When they tell him about the horses and wolves, he believes they represent the Shoanti and Korvosans going to war. The shadow dragon could be Ileosa or whatever evil that is controlling her. The vision proves to him that waging war with Korvosa will end badly for both sides. When Balian informs the others about the sparrow clinging to his fur, he notices that there are tiny scratches in his shoulder, forming Shoanti runes. They spell out: “Saamesh Urgir help”.
The ranger has heard of Urgir, a great orc city controlling the lands known as the Hold of Belkzen. Quint recalls stories of a legendary orc warlord Belkzen who managed to unite all the orc tribes under his banner and lead his people to victory over the dwarf army stationed at the sky citadel Koldukar. After crushing the dwarf army in the Battle of Nine Stones Belkzen seized control of the mighty citadel and renamed it Urgir, meaning “first home” in Orcish. He expanded his holdings and constructed a small empire for his people which survived the centuries and lasts until today. No successor of Belkzen ever succeeded in truly uniting all orc tribes again, making the Hold of Belkzen a hodgepodge of dozens of orc tribes, all vying for power. The most powerful tribe controls the city of Urgir and by extension the rest of the orcish lands, but this control is tenuous at best.
Thousand Bones has more to add. He knows what the word ‘Saamesh’ refers to, it is the name of a young Shoanti warrior from the Sun clan who resides in the Hold of Belkzen as a spy. Much like the Korvosans to the south, the orcs of the north are the Shoanti’s archenemies and it is Saamesh’ task to evaluate the threat. Saamesh is not just any Shoanti either, he is the youngest son of Valkur Burns-in-his-Veins, the chief of the biggest Sklar-Quah tribe and therefore the first among all Sun clan jothka’s. Thanks to Saamesh’ intelligence, the Shoanti have learned more about the current leader of Urgir, Grask Uldeth of the Empty Hand. This mighty orc warchief has been at the head of the Hold for over a decade now, making him somewhat of an exception in a long line of orc rulers. He has proven himself a much more clever leader than his predecessors, because unlike them he is surprisingly accommodating to foreigners in Urgir. He allows humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings into the city to trade, because he has come to realize that wealth from trading with non-orcs is more profitable than simple raiding. This progressive thinking is frowned upon by many of his kin, but none of them can deny the wealth the pinkskins have brought to Urgir.
Thousand Bones believes the spirits have granted the heroes this information to allow them to go to Urgir and save Saamesh, who obviously needs help. It would give the party the chance to gain the Sun clan’s favor, for the Shoanti crede says that you can be accepted either “by blood or deed”. Anyone who is not of pure Shoanti blood can still become a ‘nalharest’, a brother, by proving himself worthy through his actions. Thousand Boens has already accepted the companions as his ‘nalharest’, but his only extends to his own tribe. If the party wants to attain the same level of recognition with the Sun clan, they’ll have to find a new way to achieve that. This Saamesh business might just be the perfect opportunity.
The old shaman also tells his guests that in order for ‘pinkskins’ to get into Urgir, they need the patronage of one of the many tribes’ chiefs. Only when carrying a token or badge from a tribal orc commander can minority races exist in Urgir. These badges signify that the bearer has the protection and permission of that tribe to reside within Urgir’s limits and consequently provides some safety in the orc city, but it does not avoid mistreatment and discrimination. To facilitate the party’s travel to the distant lands of Belkzen, Thousand Bones offers to prepare a teleportation ritual, which will be ready by tomorrow evening. For now he bids them good night.
When the heroes return to the camp, they see that Krojun has returned from a successful trip. A big roast is being prepared while warriors are boasting their prowess in today’s hunt. Krojun bursts into a hearty laugh when he notices the visitors. “Well, if it isn’t the lowlanders. How are we today? No stiff neck? I must admit that I missed you at the hunt. I’m curious to see how you would fare against the mighty aurochs. Seeing the auburn manes of these great beast waves like flames today really reminded me of a great Sun clan tradition, the Burn Run, our infamous rite of passage. Brave youngsters have to prove their mettle by outracing a wildfire, bolting for the safety of the great Yondabakari River before they are overcome by smoke or consumed by flames.
If only there were a river and grasses here, then I would like to see you prove yourself in your own little Burn Run. But no such luck, although we could swap out the fire for the auroch mane. I have never tried to outrun an auroch stampede, but I rejoice at the thought. What do you say? Are you up for the challenge of a special auroch run?”
12 Arodus 4708
In the traditional Burn Run young aspiring Sun Clan warriors have to stay ahead of a wildfire. Krojun advises the ‘tshamek’ to do the same in the auroch run, because “once those beasts catch up, you’re lost”, he claims. Sjo has prepared by removing his full plate and Quint and Balian get ready by casting a few spells. Quint enhances everyone’s general performance with heroism and his own speed with expeditious retreat. Balian whips out his longstrider to be a bit faster.
The three companions and their Shoanti challenger are waiting at the mouth of a one mile long rift through the Kallow hills. Their goal is a standing stone at the end of the canyon; they have to reach the top safely before being overrun by the aurochs. Krojun’s own companions have left early in the morning to locate the great herd and drive it towards the rift. A big cloud of dust over the hills heralds their arrival. When the proud animals finally pop into view, the race starts. Sjo calls down his blessing of fervor to hasten himself and Balian. Krojun uses his barbarian speed and immediately breaks into a sprint. Still, the companions’ magically enchanced speed sends them all in front of him. Quint decides to play the game for maximum effect and waits for the mighty barbarian, trying to hang around his position during the entire race. In the meantime Balian chooses to get the most out of his magical velocity and runs as far ahead as he can, while Sjo attempts to slow the herd by throwing a fireball in front of it. The panic slows the animals only for a second, before sending them into a wild bolt down the rift. Now the stampede has truly begun!
Sjo runs off again and renews his blessing of fervor, for its powerful pace lasts only a few dozen heartbeats. Now he can close in on Balian again, who successfully jumps over a wide pit that spans the floor of the canyon from left to right. Sjo summons his fiery wings to cover the distance. Behind him Krojun has little trouble leaping over the gaping hole, but Quint does not make it to the far side and loses a handful of precious seconds to crawl out. Still, the bard is not worried, his superior expeditous retreat speed easily allows him to play a game of catch and release with Krojun. He catches up again, bluffs his face into a “wheh, that was exciting” look and continues the race. Sjo has to renew his hastening magic twice more, making sure to cover Balian in the spell as well. The two companions have a nice lead on the two other runners, until they have to slow their advance to a hustle - continuing to sprint would only result in exhaustion. This allows Krojun and Quint to close the gap between them. The trampling herd follows hot on their heels.
Finally the standing stone pops into view. By now Quint and Krojun have overtaken Balian, and the bard bolts ahead to reach the finish first. Sjo is the second to arrive, summoning his wings once more to reach the top of the stone. Krojun and Balian arrive seconds later, just in front of the thundering herd. From the top the finishers witness the impressive wild herd storm past. When the dust settles the burn riders and the Skull Clan members arrive, cheering at the runners’ success. Krojun smiles broadly at Sjo and his friends. While he doesn’t yet see the companions as true nalharest, his gaze glazes with respect.
The companions spend the rest of the day basking in the glory of their victory. They learn that the Sun Clan has sent out many riders to gather all Shoanti tribes in the shadow of the Great Flame, an immense rock pinnacle in the heart of the Cinderlands. Krojun continues his efforts to enlist new warriors for this army, while Sjo and Quint try to sew doubt in the minds of the Skull Clan members, telling them about the might of Korvosa’s new ruler.
In the evening Thousand Bones informs his guests that he has prepared the teleport ritual. He will send the party to the Hold of Belkzen tomorrow.
13 Arodus 4708
The next morning Thousand Bones leads the companions deeper into the Kallow Hills, to a rocky hilltop with a circle of menhirs. The majestic stones have been decorated with intricate patterns. A large flat stone lies in the center of the circle. Thousand Bones tells the party to stand on it. “Remember, you need a token to get into the city”, he says, before bursting into a chant. He squeezes two small bird skulls to dust and sends the pulverized bone over the standing stones, which start to glow with magic. A big flash ensues and the heroes feel like their stomachs are being turned inside out and their eyes are pushed deep into their sockets. The next moment they have arrived in a desolate plain. The landscape definitely resembles the Cinderlands: dusty and dry, full of rocks and a handful of shriveled bushes and dead trees. The only feature on the horizon is an elevation to the northeast, so the party decides to head that way.
The sun seems even hotter here than it did in the Cinderlands. Fortunately Sjo’s magic can provide an endless stream of refreshing water, while his magic keeps the companions from suffering any ill effect from the heat. A few hours into the afternoon Quint hears a feeble rumble and feels the earth tremble ever so slightly. Before his friends can react, the ground tears open and four bulettes burst through the sand. These mighty monsters are known as land shark, but are at least ten times as deadly as their marine counterparts. Balian suffers the frontal assault of the biggest and meanest specimen and Sjo struggles to keep the ranger on his feet with his healing magic. A smaller bulette leaps through the air to Quint, who has taken a few steps back to cast haste on his friends. A mirror image saves him from the worst attacks, while Balian and Puk exchange blows with the other three beasts. They barely manage to take out the leader, kept alive by the grace of Sjo’s cure critical wounds. Quint turns the tide of the battle by taking out another bulette with his cacophonous call, sending the monster back into the earth. While his friends take care of a third land shark, the bard successfully repeats his magic on the smallest beast, which flees the scene as well. He thanks the gods that the creatures did not resist his spells, realizing that his friends might not have survived if they had.
While the companions nurse their wounds, they notice a cloud of dust closing in. Balian squeezes and makes out the shapes of running wargs: big, bad wolves with riders on their backs.
The six warg riding orcs come closer. Balian makes out a banner with a skull, surrounded by a spinal cord. Quint searches his memory and attributes the symbol to the Broken Spine Clan, one of the more notable orc clans in the region. Sjo takes a seat on one of the slain bulettes’ heads, where he casually starts cleaning his mace. Quint greets the wolfriders in Orcish and introduces his party their leader, Grimgort. He pleads with the head scout to be taken to Kroghut Bloodaxe, the clan warlord, because he needs a token to get into Urigir. He promises to make it worth his while. Impressed by the bulette cadavers, Grimgort agrees. He orders his men to give the pinkskins a ride. Quint shares a warg with an orc named Ark’ch and questions him a bit about orcish females.
The Broken Spine orcs make their camp in an old castle ruin. Quint is sure it dates back to the last great war against the orcs, in which it was part of a larger defense line. Most of these bastions have fallen into orcish hands, though. Inside a big meeting hall, which is missing about half its ceiling, the companions meet the Broken Spine’s warlord, Kroghut Bloodaxe. Seated in a marble makeshift throne this mighty orc has a large doubleaxe leaning against his right leg, while his head lazily rests on his left fist. Several dozens of orc warriors fill the room. When the companions enter his hall, the warlord cries out in Orcish: “What are these armed pinkskins doing in Kroghut Bloodaxe’s throne room?”
Grimgort, the head scout, explains that he picked up the party and brought them here because they are looking for a token to get into Urgir. Quint is careful to treat the imposing orc with the necessary respect, while painting his own party as fearless and accomplished adventurers. In the end he offers his companions’ assistance to the warlord in exchange for a token. Kroghut seems convinced of his visitors’ qualities and proposes a deal. One of his vassals, an orc named Brugar, has failed to do his duty. Word reached Kroghut that this Brugar found a pair of golden bracers, which he didn’t offer to his lord as is the custom. Brugar wants to know what is going on with his subordinate and would like the companions to investigate. He also wants the bracers, of course, and any other treasure that Brugar might have found. He agrees to send one his men as a guide and appoints Ark’ch, the warg rider, to the task.
Ark’ch takes the party farther east into the hills, where the dry landscape gives way to small grassy valleys. En route they pass some basic orc farmlands. When Ark’ch draws to a halt, he points his pinkskin guests to a hilltop. Brugar’s village is just across the hill, he says, but Ark’ch won’t be joining the companions there. The party crosses the hill and finds an abandoned orc settlement. There are about twenty huts, but there is no sign of life, apart from some crows who are flying about. In the dying light Puk spots a number of lifeless shapes on the ground. Moving in to examine the halfling first discovers some sheep cadavers, who have been slashed up by big claws. Next he detects three orc corpses, who have been slain with arrows. In all the companions find eight dead orcs and about a dozen dead sheep. The crows are feasting on the cadavers. At the other side of the settlement a scrawny dog is trying to keep the carrion birds away from an orc body. This orc is still alive, though unconscious. He has been bound to the ground like a prisoner. While Balian and Spyder try to calm down the dog, Sjo examines the bound victim. He uses some of his healing magic to bring the poor soul back to consciousness. The orc opens his eyes with a dreamy stare: “Where is the music?” he sighs. "Where is the wonderful music?”
Quint tries to find out what transpired here, but when he senses that the orc sheepherder, whose name is Skabog, is hiding things, he uses his power of suggestion to get him to talk. Skabog testifies that he wondered into the Broken Peaks a few days ago, where he came upon the ‘swerving witch’ who was bathing in a stream. While she was occupied cleaning herself, Skabog snuck up and stole her gold bracers, because he wanted to give them to Shura, the girl he loves. His chief, Brugar, found out about the theft and punished the sheepherder for his betrayal by tying him to the ground. On the following night the swerving witch attacked the village with her minions, killing some of the orcs, but leading most of them away with her heavenly songs. She also reclaimed her bracers. Being tied down, Skabog was unable to join them and finally passed out from dehydration. Fortunately his dog Scabby was around to keep the crows away, or the orc might not have survived. At Sjo’s behest, Quint inquires whether the swerving witch is a harpy, which turns out to be the case. The party sets up camp, deciding to wait until daylight to find the harpy.
14 Arodus 4708
The next morning Balian tracks the orc trail deeper into the hills. A few dozen orcs came this way, so their tracks are easy to follow. They lead to a tall rock pinnacle, with a small ledge crawling up the side. On top they are surprised by a murder of crows, who raise the alarm. A big orc, obviously more skilled than a simple shepherd, draws two shortswords and charges at Balian, while an enchanting song resounds from atop a high peak to the companions’ right. The heroes all muster the strength to resist the call of the harpy and Balian opens the fight by hewing his greatsword with great strength into the charging orc. From a cave in another rocky outcropping four harpies take to the air and attack. Sjo catches one of them in a fireball, making sure to include the sword wielding orc and the crows in the flames. The swarm of carrion birds doesn’t survive the fire. Quint activates a countersong and casts haste on his friends, but the heroes soon learn that flying opponents are hard for them to hurt. While the swerving witch peppers the adventurers with arrows, her harpy minions swoop over the companions and tear at them with their claws. Balian sustains wound upon wound, while Sjo summons his wings of fire to engage the harpies in the air. Quint buys his friends some time by casting cacophonous call on the witch, who orders her troops to retreat for about a minute. This gives the party the opportunity to heal up before the birdwomen attack again. Sjo attempts a hold person on the swerving witch, but this time she resists the magic. She returns the favor by firing two arrows in the healer’s chest. Next she also survives another cacophonous call by Quint, but she gets seriously burned by Sjo’s next fireball. One of the other harpies launches a captivating song, affecting Balian, who starts walking towards her. Quint starts a new countersong to free the ranger’s mind. On the next harpy swoop, Balian manages to grab one of the birdwoman, holding her down so Puk can finally do some damage. Grappling the winged creature does leave Balian vulnerable to the other harpies’ attacks, who strengthen their claws with sneak damage. Using his burning wings, Sjo has flown up to the swerving witch and is now trying to engage her in personal combat, but she eludes him and shoots even more arrows at him. Both Sjo and Balian are severely hurt by now. The healer lands again and casts a cure critical wounds on himself. With only the sword wielding orc and one harpy down, this fight is far from over.
Damn those flying creatures! With no powerful ranged attacks at their disposal, the companions learn the hard way that only being strong in close combat has its limits. Balian is still holding down one of the harpies, but this leaves him vulnerable to sneak attacks from the other birdwomen’s claws. Quint pulls out a scroll of blur and casts it on the ranger to safeguard him from these vicious attacks. Doing so, the bard singles himself out as the next target of Circeis’ arrows. She shoots away his last mirror image and fires another arrow in his shoulder. Balian finally manages to squeeze his prey into unconsciousness and seeks shelter against the rocks, turning the next swoop he is subject to into a miss. Meanwhile Puk realizes he has been mostly idle in this fight. He has barely damaged his opponents and his small frame keeps the harpies from targeting him, so he is the only one who hasn’t suffered any wounds, while his friends are struggling to remain standing. The halfling climbs on Quint’s shoulders, both to gain a better reach and offer himself up as a potential target. Sjo sustains even more damage from the next harpy’s flyby attack and exhausts his last fourth level spells to heal himself and Balian. Quint buys himself and his friends some more time by covering everyone in an invisibility sphere, allowing them a few precious moments to patch up further and study the battlefield. The top of this peak, which serves as the harpies’ home, holds two extra rock formations. A small needle rises to the right, while a more robust rock rests to the left. An cave opening, about 30 feet from the ground, serves as the entrance to the harpies’ lair. Between the two rock masses, a wooden fence has been constructed to contain the imprisoned orcs. The companions find themselves in the open ground in front of the fence, where they are at the mercy of the harpies. Puk contemplates climbing the needle, but quickly decides against it. His adversaries’ superior maneuverability would put the rogue at even more of a disadvantage there.
With the heroes invisible, the winged witches change their tactics. One of them launches a new captivating song, but Quint’s lingering countersong saves his friends from her bewildering influence. Another harpy flies into the cave and reemerges with a sack, which she tears open above the veiled party. Grain rains from the sky and gives away the position of the cloaked heroes, heralding a new series of swoop attacks on Balian, who has returned to the open ground to retrieve his greatsword. Meanwhile Circeis has flown to the orc prison camp, where she now orders her ‘minions’ to climb out and locate the enemy. The invisible heroes stand at the ready, prepared to grab the next harpy who flies over, but the creatures refuse to attack blindly and take on a similar approach, biding their time until better opportunities present themselves. Quint takes this chance to recast his mirror image and is forced to launch another countersong when Circeis sings her captivating melody once more. Trying to lure out his enemy, the bard summons a silent image of Sjo, but Circeis arrows reveal that the newly reappeared figure is just an illusion.
The first orc has made it over the fence by now and blindly runs into the area where the invisible party is standing. He bumps into Spyder and starts shouting that there is something unseen in front of him. Sjo feels frustrated and breaks the standstill by throwing yet another hold person at Circeis, but again she resists his magic. This action turns the healer visible, triggering a new swoop attack from Circeis’ three surviving sisters. Balian grabs the first harpy as she passes, but suffers her sister’s claws in return and is forced to let go. Sjo heals his friend, but has to receive a touch from Quint’s healing wand himself when Circeis resumes firing at him. The orcs who made it over the fence fall back when one hero after the other turns visible again. In the fray that follow Puk gets hit for the first time in this combat by a claw and Sjo goes down when Circeis’ next volley hits him hard. Again Quint has to use his wand of cure serious wounds to heal Sjo. Balian fails to grab a harpy on her next dive, but Quint, who is the only one that hasn’t turned visible yet, can snatch her by surprise and holds her down for Puk to finish her off. Circeis keeps on peppering the party with her nasty arrows, forcing Quint to renew his invisibility sphere. Sjo depletes his level three spell as well healing himself and Balian, while Circeis makes for the cave and hides inside, just out of sight.
This is the opportunity Puk has been waiting for. Using the power of his cloak of the pixie king he dimension doors the party into the lair. Circeis’ eyes tumble with surprise as she realizes she is suddenly cornered. She calls out to one of her sisters, who tries to provide some back-up by assaulting the companions from the back, but these enclosed quarters work to the party’s advantage and finally the swerving witch and a third sister fall to their weapons. The last surviving harpy understands that the fight is lost and bolts. After all, with her sisters out of the way, she might return one day as queen of the mountain.
The companions take a few breaths to heal up. A detect magic reveals that Circeis’ gold bracers hold quite a bit of power. Sjo pulls out Zellara’s harrow cards to have the arm bands identified as greater bracers of archery. The witch’s bow is magical as well and – as the heroes found out over and over in the fight – bolster arrows fired from it with frost. Sjo makes another very interesting discovery in the back of the cave. Hidden underneath one of the beds is a pouch of gems and jewels, a runestone of power (level 2) and a tome of leadership and influence (+1). These treasures will prove very useful for either him or Quint!
Quint addresses the orc survivors and tells them they are free again. As the heroes join them back to their village, they learn that their ‘leader’ Brugar – who the companions were forced to kill in battle – was not really one of their own. In fact, he was warlord Kroghut’s nephew who had grown a bit too ambitious for his own good. His acting lord removed him from court by ‘promoting’ him leader of his own tribe, a ragtag bunch of lowly shepherds. Quint suspects the family tie between Kroghut and Brugar was also the reason why the Broken Spine warlord sent pinkskins to take care of the problem, rather than his own men, whom he did not trust with his rabble-rousing nephew. Also, if things got out of hand and Brugar did not survive (as is the case), Kroghut would have perfect deniability. Honor prevented him from killing his own nephew before the young orc had actually undertaken a coup, but by having pinkskins take care of the problem before it came to fruition, Kroghut managed to remove a future threat without losing his honor.
The companions see the orc shepherds safely to their homes and take the rest of the day off to rest, while the orcs bury and mourn their dead. The heroes are assigned one of the dead orc’s huts to spend the night.
15 Arodus 4708
The companions return to Kroghut’s court. Ark’ch, the warg rider, rejoins them on their way back. When the party reappears before Kroghut, the mighty warlord listens to their tale. Quint tells the story with gusto, making sure to underline Brugar’s lack of willpower to resist the harpies and working up to a worthy finish in which he displays the gold bracers and fills his audience with awe for the beauty, power and value of these items. Such potent arm bands can only decorate the wrists of the most worthy, and who in these lands is more worthy than Kroghut the mighty? The warlord is pleased with the pinkskins’ show of respect and rewards them with his clan’s tokens: simple round disks of white wood with a crude rendering of the Broken Spine crest. He informs his guests that these medallions will allow them to get into the great city of Urgir, but he warns them not to dishonor his clan’s name and also offers a word of caution. Pinkskins are not well liked in Urgir, even when wearing a token. They should do well to be respectful and even submissive to the orcs there if they want to stay out of trouble. Quint already realizes that this will prove to be a challenge.
Kroghut also invites the pinkskins to spend the night in his hall and travel to the city with one of his men tomorrow, Makpok the trader. The companions agree. Quint honors his host with some music, while Sjo practices his menacing grunts on the orc children who eye his gear too greedily.
16 Arodus 4708
The trip to Urgir takes about six hours. The heroes join a small caravan of five grain wagons under the supervision of Makpok. A dozen handlers and guards watch over the convoy. Makpok looks somewhere in his forties, quite a respectable age as far as orcs go. He turns out to be the friendliest orc Quint has ever met. The trader does not seem to mind dealing with pinkskins and proves to be a very good source of information on the party’s destination. The Hold of Belkzen has no central government. Instead, the region is populated by dozens of orc tribes of various sizes, constantly warring amongst themselves or forming strategic alliances. Each tribe is ruled by a chieftain or warlord and some lucky clans have a savvy leader who has managed to gain hold of a fortress, like Kroghut of the Broken Spine. The mightiest of all warlords takes control of Urgir, the unofficial capital of the Hold of Belkzen. This formidable city is situated in the south of the Hold, along the central highway in the region, the Flood Road. This Riverbed lies dry for most of the year and only fills with water and mud for two months during the spring, when the snow on the Tusk Mountains melts.
Urgir itself is a mass of stone buildings and spires, dwarven monuments and deep warrens, held aloft by giant pillars of stone and iron deep beneath the earth. These supports suffer from a rust monster infestation, which leads to ever more frequent tremors and collapsing structures in the city as the columns are devoured by the metal-eating pests. Originally built as one of the Sky Citadels by the dwarves upon their emergence on the surface of the world and known as Koldukar, Urgir was conquered by orcs under the rule of the great warlord Belkzen in the Battle of Nine Stones, who renamed the city Urgir, meaning "first home" in his native tongue. Over the years, the masterful stone and metalwork of the city’s dwarven builders has been defiled by its current residents, yet despite this defacing, Urgir remains a testament to its creators' talents and vision.
Since orcs find it difficult to maintain any stable government, the metropolitan Urgir proves hard to rule. Throughout the years, control of the city has shifted from one powerful warlord to another, and the ruling tribe has shifted more times than most orcs have the intelligence to count. The current ruler is Grask Uldeth, chief of the Empty Hand tribe, who has implemented a new, more accepting way of life. Envious of the human cities in neighboring and distant nations, the city's chief has opened Urgir up to foreign traders and travelers in the hopes of increasing the settlement's status in Golarion as a whole. His rule has proven quite successful, as Uldeth has held the city longer than any warlord in recent history.
The population of Urgir is almost completely comprised of orcs, with fewer but still numerous half-orcs nearly completing the city's demographics. In recent years, since Grask Uldeth opened the city to "pinkskins," a small number of humans, elves, and half-elves can be seen within Urgir's walls, primarily in the more trade-friendly sections of the city. Each of these non-orc inhabitants must carry and display a token from a tribal chief indicating that they have the protection and permission of that tribe to exist within Urgir's limits, and these tokens generally provide safety for the vulnerable minority races. That said, taunting and discrimination are prevalent from the orc natives, and while a pinkskin's safety may be guaranteed, they tend to stick mostly to themselves to avoid mistreatment from their hosts.
Using the famed dried riverbed of the Flood Road themselves, Makpok’s caravan and traveling companions make good time. The closer they get to their goal, the more travelers they come across. Finally the heroes behold the wonderful city. Looming out of the rolling grasslands, a vast and white-walled city rises from the earth like a many-layered cake, tier upon tier of stone buildings and monuments, forming a mountain that glimmers in the afternoon sun. There is a long queue in front of the North Gate, awaiting permission to be allowed in. Makpok patiently gets in line and tells his fellow travelers that they will be on their own from now on. When they finally reach the gate, Makpok gains entry quickly, but the companions are hailed to the side for closer inspection. The orcs guarding the gate are dressed in breastplates bearing the image of a black hand. Although they lack the cleanliness of the Korvosan Guard, their gear looks in much finer shape than the arms and armor the companions saw on the Broken Spine warriors. Quint gets ready to address these orcs, when his gaze is drawn to a large shape breaking from the shadows.
An ettin, nearly as tall as the fortifications themselves, walks up, towering over the orc guards. The creature is naked, safe for a loincloth, and has vaguely porcupine features, seeming a grotesque blending of orc and giant. More disturbing than its stature, however, are its two heads – one (apparently the dominant) stares at the companions with rheumy eyes, while the other stares off into space and simply drools. Around the neck of the first head swings a pendant bearing the black hand symbol. The beast carries two spiked clubs, each thicker than a man’s chest.
“Whassup?” it gurgles.
“Pinkskins come to make trouble, Wargus”, one of the orcs calls.
The ettin towers over the heroes: “Token?” it grunts.
Quint quickly shows his Broken Spine pendant. “Broke Neck”, the giant observes. “What yer bizniz here?”
“We come to trade. We are adventurers, looking to sell some interesting loot to our orc brothers”, Quint smiles confidently. “We hear that Urgir is not for the faint of heart, and since we are nothing of the sort, we feel like we need to honor your great city with a visit. We also have some nice things for sale, so it will definitely be worth some orc’s while, I can assure you.”
“Big words, pinkskinner”, the ettin growls. “But good token, you pass!” At that the mountain of meat moves back into the shadows of the gatehouse and the orcs step aside, clearing the way for the companions to enter Urgir.
Walking through the gates of Urgir, the companions immediately see for themselves that this was once one of the greatest cities in the world, bearing a grandeur that not even a hundred generations of orcs could completely tarnish. Having witnessed the Sky Citadel of Janderhoff, the travelers thought they had seen dwarven architecture at its best, but the splendor of ancient Koldukar, as Urgir was formerly known, must have been truly breathtaking. A huge boulevard paved with marble fit for queen Ileosa’s throne room stretches into the city, winding between monumental buildings and imposing statues that seem to grow from the stone itself. Supported by vast arches and buttresses edifices are crowned one atop another in a seemingly endless heap. Some of the grand avenues soar up this hill, while other thoroughfares become tunnels that dig into the city’s heart, where the architecture is so dense as to become subterranean. This is the lifework of generations of dwarven master builders, a triumph of engineering and imagination.
Still, this wonderful city also bears undeniable signs of degradation: statues have been crudely defiled, a line of crumbled buildings sloughs down the mountain like a landslide, stonework meant to last millennia is cracked and buckles under the weight of ancient wounds. Sewage flows down the streets and gives the city entry a reek that clashes with its awe-inspiring glamor. And everywhere, truly everywhere, throngs of orcs, grunting, fighting, pushing and shoving, shouting and groping! There even seem to be some orc kids groping at Sjo’s cloak, checking out how good it would look on them. Automatically the healer lifts his hand to strike the closest youth in the face, when another orc boy pulls the overconfident pest back and urges Sjo to keep his calm: “Mister, mister, you are in Urgir, you not hit orc!” Next the kid tells the other teens off in Orcish.
“Thanks, I guess,” Quint says, “and what might be your name, lad?”
“I’m Uri, mister.”
“You think you could show us around town, Uri?”
“Sure, mister, you give me a hundred gold and I help you.”
“One hundred gold? How about one?” Sjo screams.
“Uri not stupid, mister, one hundred gold for me being your guide”, the boy answers.
“Let’s split it in half, twenty gold and you have yourself a deal”, Sjo suggests.
“Okay, mister, you pay me now and twenty gold it is.”
Sjo digs up the cash and hands it to the little orc.
“I take you to market, where all pinkskins go”, the boy says while putting the money in his pocket. “You follow.” At that he takes off and slinks through the crowd, looking around for possible threats and steering the party from left to right to avoid trouble. He might be small, but he definitely seems to know what he’s doing. He leads his customers down some tunnels to a large underground square that buzzes with activity. Everywhere merchants haggle and hawk at their stalls, the only difference with other markets the companions have seen before, is the amount of aggression and violence. The best traders seem to be the burliest and most scarred. There is also a fair number of humans in the crowd, although they keep a relatively low profile and move with purpose. They mostly dress in dull colors made to blend in. Puk does spot one particularly well-dressed pinkskin trader, though, an elf at a stall with magic products, flanked on either side by an especially bestial orc guard.
Sjo and Quint walk up and ask him about his wares. He is in the business of arcane potions, he explains. Sjo ends up buying a potion of blur and a potion of fly, realizing how costly these magical brews actually are on the open market. As the companions conclude the trade, a firm hand suddenly closes on Quint’s shoulder.
“You, come along!” a deep voice barks. The bard spins and looks upon six orcs, armed with spears, in a ragged semblance of military formation. Upon their chests hangs the same black-fisted icon that the guards at the gate bore. The largest of these soldiers is the one with his nails biting in Quint’s flesh. He is obviously in charge, not looking like the smartest one, but definitely the strongest. Yeah, orc logic!
“You come now”, he demands, “if you fight, you will be broken, and then you come!”
Uri eyes the offended bard with a look of submission and nods for him to follow this orc’s command.
“Lead the way”, Quint replies in fluent Orcish. “As you ask, we will come.”
The unit marches the party deeper into the city, down a stretch of narrower tunnels. While the streets here are populated with nothing but orcs who clearly do not appreciate the passage of pinkskins, the swine-faced creatures move aside quickly when recognizing the emblem of the Empty Hand on the guards’ dirty uniforms. Before long the group arrives at a squat, bunker-like building with a shield bearing the black fist above the door. Several orcs in guard garb mill about throwing dice or wrestling, briefly interrupting their activity to eye the new arrivals.
As they walk into the near perfect darkness of the building, Quint and Balian find themselves almost blinded. Sjo has no trouble observing the Spartan room and the ironclad door in the back. The leader of the unit knocks and is answered by a rasping voice from the other side: “Come in.”
A single candle illuminates this new chamber, which is furnished with a table and a few chairs. Several pages of parchment scatter across the desk’s surface. Looking up from his seat behind the table is a bizarre figure. While obviously once tall and broad-shouldered, the orc’s thin frame is hunched and bent. Long, stringy white hair hangs around his hollow face. This is the first time the heroes set their eyes upon a truly aged orc, realizing that this harsh culture does not normally support long lifespans. This orc must be quite gifted if he managed to get so old.
“Newcomers?” he inquires in Orcish. In response the handler nods and points at Quint’s pendant: “Broken Spine”, he grunts.
“Good, go.” The guard turns and walks out, leaving the companions alone with the old orc.
“Sit … or stand”, he gestures at the chairs in perfect common. “Tell me, how did you got these badges?”
While taking a seat, Quint coughs in his hand, hoping to murmur the word of an innocence spell to boost his skill at bluffing, but when he catches the gleam of intelligence in the eyes of the person across the table, he abandons the idea. Instead he informs his questioner of the truth how he and his friends helped the warlord of the Broken Spine clan retrieve some golden bracers from a disobedient underling, taking out a nest of harpies in the process.
“And why, do pray, are you in Urgir?”
“We here to check out the market, hoping to do some trading in the future”, Quint replies.
“Really”, the old one says in a tone that makes it sound more like a word than a question. Meanwhile he toys with a small pebble that glides like water up and down his wiry fingers. “What kind of goods?”
“Well, we’re adventurers,” Sjo adds, “we pick up some trinkets along the way. Urgir seems like the perfect spot to turn them to cash, without too many questions being asked … except by you, of course, constable.”
“Just Ardax”, the orc interjects. “Ardax the White-Hair. Titles are for those without reputation.” His eyes shift from one companions to the other, then he tosses the pebble in the air, catching it without taking his gaze of Sjo. “Very well, then I bid you welcome in Urgir. Good luck and … be careful. Stay among your own kind. Ad if you ever bring interesting loot to these walls, don’t be afraid to look me up. Just ask anyone for me, I’ll know.”
Next the old one calls out to the guards and orders them to take the party back to the market district.
Exiting the all-orc zone, the companions feel almost relieved to be back in the merchants’ square. At least here they don’t stand out as much, although Sjo deems it safer to pick up some gray cloaks and mimic the behavior of other pinkskins: look as regular as possible. Uri takes his charge to the Pinkhouse, an inn that caters to pinkskin newcomers. Marlo, the bartender, looks almost human, but upon closer inspection Puk spots some half-orc traits in his features and teeth.
There are about two dozen patrons in the room: four half-elves, two elven mages with orc bodyguards, a handful of half-orcs … the rest are humans. Sjo secures a room for three nights and orders a bread and meat platter for his table, along with some pints of stale ale. Quint tries to lighten the mood in this small hall with a bawdy song, but he quickly understands that the crowd finds his singing more troubling than relaxing. “Don’t stand out,” the bard reminds himself, “that has to be my new motto here.”
After sending Uri home for the night, Balian muses that he hasn’t seen a single dwarf or Shoanti in the city. He can understand dwarves, their hatred for orcs is legendary, and the ranger can only imagine how furious and ashamed the stout fellows must feel at their archenemies’ violation of dwarven culture. Sjo adds that in this corner of the world Shoanti and orcs hate each other almost as much as dwarves and orcs. Still, he would have preferred to spot a Cinderland wildling or two in the crowd, he admits. So the question remains: how do the heroes find a Shoanti in a city that does not welcome his kind? How can they locate this Saamesh character? Quint comes up with a brilliant idea. He suggests calling Sjo ‘Saamesh’ in public from now on, making sure bystanders pick up the name. Maybe that will draw out the real person.
The bard walks up to the bar and calls back to his friends: “Hey Saamesh, you wanted another beer as well, didn’t you?” Then he orders another round from Marlo, while inquiring whether dwarves or Shoanti ever visit the city. The bartender chuckles at the idea of dwarves in Urgir and claims not to know any Shoanti either. Quint realizes this search might prove harder than expected. He and his companions quickly finish their second drink and retire to their room.
17 Arodus 4708
At breakfast Balian and Puk study the other humans in the inn more carefully. One of them seems to be a bit taller, six feet four at least, and he sports a broad pair of shoulders under his grey cloak. He might be a Shoanti, though his face does not immediately look very barbarian-like. Guide Uri returns and when Quint asks him if they can go and see the palace, the boy advises against it. Admittedly the palace is marvelous to behold, but it is not located in a quarter that is not frequented by pinkskins. Grask Uldeth does not appreciate strangers snooping about, unless he invites them himself, like that one human who is rumored to stay in the palace at the moment.
“A human at the palace?” Quint wonders.
“Yes, a … how you call that … pathfinder, you know, those fellows who like looking for old things.”
The Pathfinder Society, Quint explains, is a globe-spanning organization based out of Absalom, the world's largest city. The membership consists primarily of Pathfinders, adventurers who travel throughout Golarion - usually inconspicuously - and explore, delve, and otherwise experience the lesser-seen parts of the world. They send journals documenting their travels back to their venture-captain, who also assigns them new missions and suggests new places to explore. The most exciting and illuminating of these journals are compiled in the Pathfinder Chronicles, an ongoing series of books which collect the history and mystery of Golarion for their membership.
The day-to-day management of the Pathfinder Society is in the hands of so-called venture-captains. These are usually older or accomplished Pathfinders who have settled down and claimed a Pathfinder lodge for themselves. They maintain no permanent presence in Korvosa, Quint concludes, although several members of their organization have certainly been in the city in the past, usually hailing from the lodge in Magnimar. Still, the bard has never knowingly encountered a pathfinder himself.
When the ‘six feet four’ tall trader leaves the inn, the companions follow him out. Quint approaches him as he is unloading his wares from storage. He is originally from Sandpoint, but he has been in Urgir for some time now to sell weapons, something the orcs are very interested in. Quint recognizes a Varisian accent in the man’s words, ruling him out as a Shoanti. The companions join the man to his stall and after he has set up shop, they go explore the market for themselves. Again Quint shouts out to Sjo regularly, calling him ‘Saamesh’ instead. The healer sometimes swears out loud in the language of the Shoanti as well, but no one reveals himself to them as the real Saamesh. Balian also spots something nasty: the rooftops surrounding the market are crowned with strange features, no stone gargoyles, though, but pale orc heads impaled on spikes. Uri clarifies what the ghastly crenellations are about: Lord Grask Uldeth has declared that no one bearing a token is to be touched without good cause. Orcs who want to harm token-protected pinkskins anyway, had better do so in a dark alley without witnesses, or they will suffer Uldeth’s wrath. Puk is unsure whether this grisly display of merciless force should make him feel abhorred or relieved.
Suddenly the earth trembles! Balian immediately calls out for Spyder to stay calm, while Sjo is already searching for a good spot to look for shelter. Then the companions notice that the quake hardly startled anyone. When Quint asks Uri about it, he confirms that tremors like this are quite common. No one really cares about them, unless their own home collapses, he states casually.
The companions decide to widen their search by having lunch in another tavern. They can chose between several dozen pubs, inn and taverns that surround the market and could possibly feed the occasional pinkskins. Yet, they pick poorly; the only human in the bar of their choice is a slave who serves food. He strongly advises against drinking the wine, but even the beer he brings tastes awful. Going through all the establishments in the district will not only be a lengthy, but also gruesome process, Sjo concludes. There must be a better way to find the mysterious Shoanti.
In the afternoon the young men from Korvosa hang around the marketplace some more. Sjo starts asking around about the Pathfinder in the palace and learns his true name: Arnois Belzig. Still, no one has actually come across the man in person, they have only picked up rumors that the adventurer-explorer serves as the Great Warlord Grask Uldeth’s advisor. Upon their return to the Pinkhouse later that evening, another human customer stumbles into Sjo and slips him a note.
Be careful. The walls have ears. Don’t ask too many questions or the orcs will start wondering about you as well. Keep your heads low and your voices under control if you want to live. Distrust everyone, the orcs, naturally, but also members of your own kind.
The man slips out of the drinking hall and makes for the toilet; where Quint joins him on a long wooden bench hanging over a reeking pit. Despite the public nature of these facilities, there is no one else around.
“Good evening, young sir”, he greets in a steady, monotonous voice and with an even face. Quint senses that the stranger’s measure of control is deliberate. The bard returns the hello and identifies himself as Quint from Korvosa.
“My name is Brugo, from Nimrathas. I deal in cloth and fancy dresses for the occasional uptown orc lady or the frilly frolics in the local brothels. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise”, Quint tips his head.
“If I might be so bold as to offer you some advice”, Brugo continues in his hushed tone. “Do not draw too much attention to yourself. Asking about Grask Uldeth’s business too adamantly will sooner get you troubles than answers. Orcish honor and loyalty only extends to their own, and even then it is not assured. But no such qualms exist about us pinkskins. Literally anyone and everyone might tell on you if he feels he can benefit from it. Make no mistake, little brother is watching you at all times, unless you are truly alone, as we are in here, for the moment.”
“Thanks for your kind councel”, Quint replies, considering whether he should ask the man about Shoanti in Urgir, or someone named Saamesh. But the bard decides against it for now. Perhaps he will see this Brugo again tomorrow. For now he judges it wiser to heed the man’s warning and remain silent.
18 Arodus 4708
The next morning, at breakfast, Sjo does not feel inclined to explore the city further. He fears that wandering about the city blindly and asking questions might raise more suspicion than answer questions. He trusts that the Pinkhouse is probably the best place to find the information he needs. Looking around the taproom he sees the same people who were here yesterday morning. The tall weapons dealer from Sandpoint is at one of the tables, as is Brugo, the cloth trader from Nimrathas, who is having a meal with his two men who look like his assistants. Puk, Quint and Balian visit the market with little Uri again, but do little more than stretch their legs. The most daring thing they do, is try a local specialty: bulette on a stick.
After spending a couple of hours watching his pitcher of beer grow warm, Sjo sees the empty barroom fill up with a handful of customers again during lunchtime. Brugo returns, although he has left his assistants at the market. Sjo follows the trader to the toilet and starts a casual conversation. Brugo discreetly asks Sjo if he is a Shoanti, because the tribesmen from the Cinderlands are generally made to feel even less welcome in Urgir than other pinkskins. Sjo explains that he is a halfblood, but he still appreciates the warning. He wonders if Brugo knows about any remarkable incidents with Shoanti in the past. The trader says that he has heard some tales about Shoanti barbarians whose pride got in the way of … surviving, and he adds that he actually knows of a Shoanti who lives here, but the man does his best not to look like one of the wildlings, in fact, he wears a clever disguise that makes him seem like a halforc. It’s a daring, but sensible move, Brugo explains, especially for a man who does business in the all-orc districts. Brugo met him in The Pit of Doom, one of Urgir’s fighting pits, where the man delivers monster for death matches.
When his friends return, Sjo gets Uri to lead them to The Pit, but only after they have cast some long-term buffs, like heroism. The orc boy proves his worth again by cleverly guiding the party through throngs of orcs, avoiding the meanest and toughest hotspots in the crowd. Using the hoods of their gray cloaks to hide their faces, Balian and Puk try to keep from being noticed, while Sjo and Quint imitate an orcish way of moving about to blend in. Uri keeps the pace high enough to prevent little mishaps. By the time a more perceptive orc suspects something fishy about the group, they have already moved on.
The Pit of Doom is situated in a part of the city that must have once been a warehouse district for the dwarves. The buildings here are bigger and more basic in design than the fancier neighborhoods the travelers have visited until now. Still, the orcs use most of these storehouses as apartment block in what feels like the run-down corner of town. One such barn-sized stone building bears a wooden sign above the entry, depicting a simple pit. The double doors stand ajar, allowing raucous laughter, curses and grunts to filter out to the street. Inside the depot serves as a massive taproom, with a ceiling that reaches a height of 20 feet. Thick stone arches support the slightly cracked roof and have chains hanging down from them with burning lanterns. The smell of cheap alcohol, blood and urine permeates the air, but does not seem to bother the many patrons, for indeed, despite the early hour, the place is already quite packed with orcs and a handful of half-orcs. The only humans in here are slaves who serve drinks and while none of them looks like fighters, they all bear signs of being beaten.
The arrival of the gray cloaked party draws enough attention for one of the orc patrons to peek under Sjo’s hood and recognize a pinkskin. The creature spits on the ground in front of the healer and growls: “Hey, slave, fetch me a drink!” The others at his table burst into laughter, which makes even more orcs in the tavern aware of the company’s presence. The heroes of Korvosa chose to ignore the provocation and pick a table at the far end of the room. The chairs have been nailed back together so many times that they look like the final failure of a dying one-handed carpenter with a blind eye. The whole bar is set up around a cave-in in the center of the hall, which has been filled with earth to create a flat surface for the fighting pit. A stone pillar rises in the middle of the arena, heavy chains hanging from its sides. The bartender operates the place from a large caged bar at the back of the common room.
A human slave takes the party’s order, eying them with a mixture of amazement and fear. His visit at the table is quickly followed by a burly orc who walks up with a broad smile of confidence on his scarred face. His hands rest casually on the pommels of two short swords, hanging from his belt. “Tough pinkskin, come here looking for a fight, hey?” he spits in Orcish.
“We heard about this wonderful place”, Quint replies, weaving the power of fascination in his words, “and the spectacular fights that it hosts. We wanted to see for ourselves, as spectators, of course.” Next the bard mixes a suggestion in his exposé: “Why don’t you get us a drink and tell us about it?”
“Har, har, I’ll get you a drink all right, little man, while you think about who you’re going to send into the pit to face me!” the orc shouts for the whole bar to hear. “One versus one, or two versus two, your choice!” Next the orc does indeed get the companions some ale, expecting an answer to the challenge he issued upon his return. Sjo and Balian accept, having just learned from Uri that these death matches have no rules, so any magic is permitted. As the two of them descend into the arena, Puk joins the betting pool at the caged bar, matching all the orcs’ money with 400 gold. The crowd gathers around the pit and starts shouting: “Arrodok! Arrodok!” The orc gladiator jumps in as well and waits for his partner to arrive: a humongous troll with a hefty warhammer in his left hand and a cruel blade in his right. The onlookers purr with delight as the monster glides in the ring.
The troll is the first to strike: he lunges at Balian and glances the ranger’s shoulder with his hammer. From the crowd Quint attempts to influence the fight with satire, but the loud cheers from the orcs around him drown his word of mockery. Arrodok and Balian exchange blows while Sjo surprises everyone by throwing two fireballs in rapid succession at his adversaries, having them wonder how the hell a fully-plated warrior casts spells like a wizard? Especially the troll seems shocked, obviously harboring a fathomless fear for fire. The flames of Sjo’s fireball even blow over the edge of the pit, taking out three spectators in the crowd. Balian has a harder time impressing the bystanders and sees his swings parried. The troll has no doubts about who his biggest threat is and focuses his attention on Sjo. He rages with fury and knocks the fire-wielding warrior off his feet. Arrodok is likewise inspired and slices at Balian with swift strikes. Sjo, who is still on the ground, seeks to freeze the orc gladiator in place with a hold person, but the fighter miraculously summons enough willpower to resist. Balian struggles to keep to his feet and counterattacks, cutting a deep gash in the orc with his first strike, but seeing his second blow go wide. Using heroic inspiration he attempts another hit, but threatens to miss again. From the side of the pit Quint interferes by having his bardic magic guide the ranger’s attack true; the crowd’s cries are so loud that they easily mask his meddling. Balian’s corrected arch hits Arrodok hard in the head and the orc goes down. The troll grunts, but continues his furious charge on the prone fire-wielder and gets two more hits in. Sjo encloses the brute in a wall of fire, making the creature’s morale drop even more. The troll’s instincts tell him to run, his fear forcing him to give up his rage and making him flee to the other side of the pit, where he takes a few breath to compose himself. Sjo uses the opportunity to get to his feet and cast a powerful cure critical wounds on Balian, steering the ranger away from the edge of death. Balian now takes a defensive stand in front of Sjo, blocking the troll path to his friend. The troll is still a bit shaky on his feet, but rejoins the fight and tries to cut Balian out of his way to vengeance, but the ranger deflects almost all of his hits. In the meantime Sjo throws fireball upon fireball at the monster, until finally, he succumbs to the burns. The crowd around the pit suddenly goes quiet. Uri is the first to break the silence, as he yells out in victory and even urges the other orcs to applaud the companions’ triumph as well, without success however. The shame of losing to pinkskins combined with the loss of money in the betting pool compels the patrons of the Pit of Doom to muteness.
While Sjo uses his powers of healing to patch him and Balian up, Quint and Puk head to the bar to pick up their winnings. Quint sees how the bartender reluctantly reaches for two pouches of coin. The bard inquires about the ‘monsters’ that are rumored to be an attraction in the pit, as he would love to see such beasts for himself. The barkeep says that he hasn’t heard from his supplier in several days and when Quint prompts him to elaborate, he reveals that he normally buys his pit monsters from a half-orc named Hobar, who lives only two blocks away. His house is easy to spot, someone has painted a message on the barn door: “Pinkskins out, orcs first!” Quint tips the orc and motions for his friends to leave.
Uri has no trouble locating Hobar’s place, which has two points of entry: a big barn door and a set of double doors into the main building. Puk tries the lock and finds it open already. He pushes in, stepping into a peculiar place of business, a monster dealership. The room behind the counter houses two big cages: one with a dragon-like creature – a mantidrake - and another one with three large birds. There is a wooden door behind the dragon cage and a set of stairs leading up. Quint covers his friends in invisibility, but when they advance into the room, something behind the wooden door reacts to their presence. At that exact moment all doors open simultaneously, releasing the mantidrake and terror birds, and revealing two rust monsters behind door number three, their antennae feverishly reaching for the metal of the companions’ arms and armor.
To a man dressed in shiny armor rust monsters inspire a fair amount of fear, more so than a mantidrake or three terror birds, who are in fact fiercer opponents. Quint hastes his friends and makes for the stairs at the end of the room, drawing away the invisibility from anyone but himself. Waiting at the top of the wooden steps is another nasty surprise: orcs! Meanwhile Sjo, Puk and Spyder take care of the rust eating beasts with ease, while Balian tanks the terror birds. Uri, the little orc guide, hides under the table and just watches what happens. Quint presses up against the wall as the orcs from above charge down. Still, one of them, who looks the smartest and probably has the keenest senses, spots the invisible bard on the stairs and stabs him with his dagger. “You see,” he screams, “the purple worm was right, he wasn’t alone!”
Sjo rushes past the mantidrake to give Puk flanking, allowing the halfling to cut down the creature in a matter of seconds. By now two orcs have joined the fight on the ground floor, one is engaging Quint on the stairs, while two more archers appear and fire upon Sjo. Their arrows fail to pierce his armor. Despite the number of opponents, the fight turns out to be easy. The enemy has a hard time wounding the party and one by one the birds and orcs go down. The dagger-wielding leader of the orcs tries to make a run for it, but is literally held in place by Sjo’s magic. The heroes disarm him and lock him up in a small cage.
After a few rounds of healing the party explores upstairs. There is no sign of the building’s proprietor Hobar, his bedroom has been ransacked and a small book lies open on his desk, with several sheets of scribbled notes on the side. The book itself is written in code and the notes are someone’s failed attempt to make sense of the secret writing. Quint relishes at the challenge to decipher it and starts studying the strange letters. It takes him little over an hour to break the code and read the notes, obviously the work of the Shoanti spy.
The log contains all kinds of data on the orcs in Urgir. It confirms that Grask Uldeth, the orc overlord, is seated firmly on the throne, in a way that few of his predecessors ever did. He’s been in power for over two decades and has used these years to plant his own pawns in the other orc clans to strengthen his influence. His many, many children have been married off to countless sons and daughters of other orc warlords. He controls an army of over 7,000 strong in Urgir and can call to arms at least double and likely even thrice this number from the other tribes in a relatively short amount of time.
The book also focuses on Uldeth’s decision to allow pinkskins in the city. This policy started about nine years ago and has proven very successful: the coffers have never been so full and there is a steady supply of weapons, magic and knowledge. The orc leader has also appointed a human pathfinder as his councilor recently, probably to aid him in his efforts to unearth hidden dwarven treasures and secrets which might still be buried under the former sky citadel. The pathfinder’s talent for exploration and keen archeological insight will certainly be useful in this endeavor.
The most recent notes in the book mention someone named Wyrnan Korch, the Purple Worm, a person of some interest in the church of Rovagug, the Rough Beast, god of the orcs. Korch has been spending more time in the seedier parts of town lately, gathering mercenaries and allies. According to the log he is searching for the Key of Koldukar (the ancient dwarven name of Urgir). This key is rumored to provide access to unknown and unopened dwarven tunnels under the city. In the hands of a spy such a key would be of immense worth, allowing him to move about unseen from one side of the city to the other. The writer of the log decides to shadow Wyrnan Koch. His final notes includes a sketch of the temple of Rovagug; an arrow points to the southern corner of the building. It reads: “Purple Worm entered here through secret door”.
When the companions head back down to question the prisoner, they notice that little Uri has disappeared without a trace. The front door stands slightly ajar. Quint addresses the caged orc, pretending to be an agent of Arnois Belzig, Uldeth’s new pathfinder advisor. The orc admits that he and his men were stationed here after they helped ‘arrest’ the spy who lived here. They were to ambush any of the spy’s contacts, so when a group of pinkskins walked in, he naturally assumed that they conspired with the spy. When Quint asks the prisoner where the temple of Rovagug is situated, he wonders why Belzig’s agents would not know something so trivial. Balian thinks the orc has served his purpose and silences him.
The companions return to the streets, feeling ill at ease at the thought that Uri might have betrayed them. The orc child knows where they are staying and witnessed how the killed several orcs in Hobar’s house. If he has decided to snitch to the guard, the party is not safe here anymore. As they retrace their steps through the city to the market square, they scout for a good place to lay low for the night, but no obvious hide-out turns up. At one point, while still walking through the all-orc district, a passer-by notices Balian, shouts at him and moves in to pull back his hood. The ranger reacts immediately by punching the assailant in the face. Only then does he see that the orc was actually a woman. The ranger pulls his hood even closer over his head and picks up the pace before other bystanders join in. When they finally get back to the market, Puk sneaks ahead to assess the situation. The rogue notices several Urgir guards at the Pinkhouse, asking questions. Other guards are making inquiries on the market square. The heroes try to blend in for a while, but when the guards come too close, they decide to move. Quint addresses a random orc servant at one of the stalls and asks him for the way to the temple of Rovagug. After receiving directions the bard casts memory lapse on the orc, so he won’t remember the conversation.
The party slips away from the market district before the orc guards notice them. Some passers-by definitely recognize Sjo and Balian for humans, but since they are still in a ‘pinkskin-allowed’ zone, their presence does not immediately raise suspicion. Making their way down a street in the direction of the temple district, the heroes resume their search for a hide-out for the night. Quint spots a ruined building in a street that veers off to the left. A recent earthquake took the house down, taking its now half-rotted owner with it. There are signs that the place was plundered afterwards, which comes as no surprise in this inhospitable orc city. The back kitchen of the building miraculously survived the quake and is still standing. Its door has been kicked in, but enough of it remains to block the bottom half of the entrance. The companions take refuge in the ruined room and rest up, making sure to keep watch all night.
19 Arodus 4708
It is still early in the morning when the party members have regained their energy and spells and leave for the temple district. At this hour of day (or rather night) the city seems to be at its quietest. Quint uses his make-up skills to give everyone a half-orc appearance. Although it will probably not pass scrutiny, it might suffice to fool anyone who casually glances at the heroes. Following the directions they received yesterday, the companions find a broad lane that leads them out of the tunnels to a grand square. The first rays of the sun light an impressive cathedral, obviously a feat of dwarven architecture. The massive building of marble stone rises over a hundred feet into the air. Still, orc interference has had its effect: rusted metal plates with spikes and barbed spears adorn the front of the temple. The walls above these plates bear crude paintings of orcs in battle. Various statues have been defiled and remodeled to look like orcs or vile beasts. A broad set of stairs provides access to the immense front doors. Six orc soldiers stand at attention at the entrance.
Checking the map in the spy’s notes again, the companions figure out that they have to get to the back of the temple. Keeping to the far edge of the square, the party circles the cathedral, easily making it to the other side. The focal point of a smaller square at the back side of the temple is a large fountain that must have been beautiful once. Various animals and creatures of stone lie at the feet of three central statues. These one-time dwarven heroes have been resculpted into hideous orcs. A dozen spouts spew out reddish-brown water that smells of rust and sewage. Fortunately this corner of the city is quiet at this time of day. Puk jumps over the statues to the central figures and starts looking for a secret door. Quint joins him, but their first quick search does not reveal anything. Then Puk gets into a dwarven mindset. Where would he hide a secret mechanism if he was a dwarf? A burrowing animal perhaps? Checking the different animal statues, the halfling discovers a small mole figure. When he presses the blind creature’s eyes simultaneously, a slab of stone behind the central sculptures slides up. Squeezing between the statues and the wall, the heroes reach the entrance, which leads down into the dark.
The stairs take the companions to a small dwarven crypt. Quint casts light on a coin to allow the party to see. All the graves have been plundered a long time ago; only broken stone, dust and bones remain. A second set of stairs in the center of the room leads further down. Puk’s keen ears pick up orc voices from below. Quint performs a round of heroism on the party before they dive deeper into the earth. A second, slightly bigger crypt holds a troop of ten orcs, half of whom carry an axe, the other five wield swords. Sjo opens combat with a fireball, while Quint casts haste and starts satire to debuff the enemies. Balian swings his greatsword with great fervor, cutting down one orc in the first moments of combat. He forms a line with Puk to shield his friends, but the two of them get completely surrounded by enemies. Spyder blocks off another orc who tries to circle around the back pillar of the room. Sjo calls forth a prayer to aid his friends and debuff the orcs even more, while Quint summons six mirror images and draws his blade to assist Spyder. Balian and Puk take down two more orcs, but the ranger suffers some grievous wounds himself and requires healing. Sjo jumps to the rescue, giving Balian enough breath to cut down another orc with one mighty blow. The healer is now in the thick of battle as well and gets dealt a bloody cut. Puk and Balian push the attack and skewer two more opponents. Still the remaining orcs show no sign of backing down, dealing a few more wounds before they too fall to the heroes’ weapons. After patching themselves up and storing some loot in their bag of holding, the companions take a spiral staircase that descends even deeper in the earth.
Once more Puk hears the sound of orcs grunting and arguing below. Sjo fears the rattling of his heavy plate will give him away and enspells a coin with silence, so he can move down unheard. The heroes reach a third, even larger crypt where they spot some light coming from behind the corner. Puk scouts ahead and sees four orcs down the hall. Quint decides to pull them in and uses ghost sound to simulate the noise of a skeleton rising in one of the plundered tombs. The orcs take a few moments before they move in to explore. Puk, who is hiding behind a pillar near the orcs, hears someone casting a few spells first and someone else starting a bardic song of inspiration. When the orcs storm past, the halfling stabs one of them in the back, continuing his attacks until the creature goes down. Quint casts haste on the party, but notices that the orcs have been similarly enhanced. An axe-wielding orc bears down on Puk now and delivers a tremendous blow. Sjo attacks the orc fighter, while Quint lashes out with his whip and trips one of the orc rogues. The creature gets back up quickly, suffering two attacks of opportunity from Balian and Spyder in the process, but in turn he gives the ranger a vicious cut as well. Puk realizes that the three remaining orcs he and his friends are currently targeting are nothing but cannon fodder for two invisible casters who are coming up from deeper in the crypt. One caster’s slow spell lifts both his and Spyder’s haste, while the other one keeps bolstering the skirmishing orcs with his song. Once more the axe-wielder hits the halfling with incredible strength, knocking the unfortunate halfling unconscious. The creature continues his attacks on Sjo and survives Quint’s trip attempt. Spyder senses that one of the invisible casters has crawled up close and suddenly sees how a cone of cold seems to appear out of thin air, catching all standing heroes in its blast. The orc rogue backstabs Sjo and the healer goes down as well. Balian stands the hero and cuts down the visible orcs in quick succession, but gets covered in glitterdust by one of the casters and cannot see anything anymore as a result. A moment later three scorching rays take the ranger out, while one of the invisible attackers – the singing bard – now targets Spyder with his blade. Although the dog smells where the assailant is, it does not succeed in biting him. Quint hides behind one of the pillars around the corner and casts mirror image on himself, while the unseen bard presses the attack on Spyder and defeats the dogs as well. Four down, one to go! Now where is that annoying human bard hiding?
Quint presses his back tight against the wall. His heart pounds furiously. How could everything go wrong so fast? He had not seen this coming: two powerful casters who could so easily dictate the course of the fight. And they are just around the corner, still under the influence of an improved invisibility spell, standing over the bodies of Quint’s fallen companions: one a magic-user who was mighty enough to conjure a cone of cold, the other one a bard who wielded greater power than Quint.
Quint casts an invisibility sphere on himself. Fortunately his voice is still being blocked by Sjo’s stone of silence on the floor, so the enemies can’t hear him. Then our hero quickly makes for the spot where Sjo dropped the stone and picks it up. From this position he has a clear view of the battlefield in the second half of the crypt. The two caster figures turn visible again. The first one is an orc dressed in gray robes with a red hand painted on his chest. Huge fangs jut from his jaw, mirrored by two fang-like pieces of bone sticking from his earlobes. He glances about cautiously, expecting the last surviving infiltrator to appear at any moment. At the same time he gathers Balian’s, Sjo’s and Puk’s weapons and checks their bodies for a pulse. He calls out something to his companion, the enemy bard, who is dressed in purple robes and whose face appears to be covered with a mask. Quint suspects this is Wyrnan Koch, the ‘Purple Worm’, whom he read about in Saamesh’s secret journal. This person pulls out a wand and moves over to the four orcs who went down in the battle. Two of them are still alive and the Purple Worm restores them to full health with the wand. The other two are beyond saving, it seems.
Quint repositions himself in the mouth of the stairwell. He still has a good view on the orcs from there, but can easily make his escape if he has to. He sees how the two orcs that have just been nursed back to life pick up their weapons and search the first half of the tomb, where Quint was hiding initially. Meanwhile the casters do another spell and focus on the bodies of Quint’s friends. They start stripping them of all lose magical items, from spare weapons to jewels and cloaks. Judging from the way the handle his friends, Quint can tell that they are probably still alive.
By now the two orc minions reach the end of the crypt and, having discovered no one, are about to return. Before they do so, Quint slips back into the crypt and hides behind a ruined dwarven grave. The orcs walk back - past the bard - and take the stairs leading to the next floor. Now only the two caster remain, who are still plundering the fallen heroes of anything but their armor.
Realizing that his invisibility will not last forever, Quint decides to find a better place to hide. A big sarcophagus sits in the overflow of the first and second half of this crypt. It stands a few feet from the wall, leaving just enough space for the bard to hide. It also provides a perfect view of both parts of the crypt and allows Quint to hear his enemies as well, as he now steps out of the silence zone. The casters are talking in Orcish, a language that Quint masters as well. They seems to be very pleased with the ‘fat loot’ on the intruders’ bodies, even though they will have to examine the items further to determine their exact powers. At the same time they are disappointed, because they can’t find ‘the key’. They wonder if the ‘one who got away’ might have it. The Shoanti ‘spy’ always denied having the key, but the men were never sure if they could believe him. Just imagine what they could do with that key! Open ancient doors and discover Koldukar’s hidden treasures!
Once the two casters have finished stripping down their opponents, they pull out some rope to tie them up. They obviously don’t feel like lifting up a heavy bloke like Sjo to wrap the ropes around him, so they settle for rolling him over and tying his hands behind his back. They also bind his feet together. The other fallen companions get the same treatment. The orc with the large fangs also jokes about cooking and eating Spyder later on, although Quint seriously doubts it actually is a joke. He’s seen dog on the menu in the market square.
Quint’s invisibility wears off, but he chose his hiding place well, so the two figures do not notice him and continue their tedious work. When they’re done securing the prisoners, they attach a length of rope to Balian’s feet and start pulling him to the end of the gallery, towards a set of double doors. The floor is covered in stone rubble, and even though they advance slowly, the casters laugh over the unconscious ranger’s rough ride through the debris. When they disappear through the exit, Quint finds himself alone in the crypt. He jumps to action, hurrying over to Sjo and Puk while pulling out his wand of cure serious wounds. Two gentle touches with the magic timber restore his friends to consciousness.
Quint tries to make the most of the time he is given. He ushers his friends over to the other half of the room, where they can proceed unnoticed. Using Quint’s wand and Sjo’s curing spells the companions patch up again. Quint also hands Puk the bag of holding and the halfling picks out a number of Blackjack’s masterwork daggers for himself and Sjo. Since the enemies still haven’t returned, the party decides to set a trap. Puk drops back to the floor where he went down in battle. Since he is the one who will be in immediate view when the bad guys come back, they might not notice anything is wrong until they are close. Spyder, who has been healed as well, also lays down in a pool of his own blood and plays dead. Sjo hides next to Puk, behind a pillar, while Quint waits just around the corner.
The plan works! When the enemy casters come back a few moments later, chatting merrily about their victory, they remain relaxed and unalarmed until they reach Puk’s position. Sjo launches the attack by cleverly casting silence on a coin, while Quint casts haste on his friends from just outside the silenced zone. Spyder and Quint get behind the enemies, closing off their way of escape and Puk proves that a rogue does not need magical daggers to deliver serious damage. The figure in the purple robes draws his rapier and returns the favor, giving the halfling a nasty cut. Sjo finds out that wielding a dagger is not really his thing and misses his mark. The orc mage realizes that there is nothing he can do, being surrounded in melee in a zone where he can’t voice his spells, so he tries to make a run for it, but Quint trips him. His attempt to get back up is foiled and Puk’s quick little stabs make short work of him. It is astounding how much of a difference the circumstances make. Where the mage proved a formidable and illusive opponent in the last fight, he now turns into a complete push-over. The enemy bard lasts a few breath longer, as his defenses are actually quite decent. He also seems to have some skill with his rapier, slicing a few more gashes in Puk, but then the halfing gets lucky and finds three gaps in the man’s guard. The purple figure drops to the floor.
Sjo reclaims his heavy mace from the enemies’ sack of loot, and hands back Puk’s daggers as well, while Quint pulls off the Purple Worm’s mask. His face is human. He wonders whether this might be Arnois Belzig, the Pathfinder in Grask Uldeth’s service. Detect magic reveals that the men carry some potent magic. The party moves over to the next room, a large round chamber with a floor that drops into the darkness, deeper than Sjo’s 60 feet of darkvision. There is a stone platform that stretches across the room, leading to a blank wall on the other side, but a lever in the middle of the platform can make the whole construction turn 90 degrees to reach a stone door with a small porch in the left wall. Balian’s body lies on the platform, while another bound and unconscious figure lies on the porch in front of the door. The companions quickly restore Balian to full health and turn the platform to reach the prisoner on the porch. It is Saamesh, the Shoanti spy they were looking for. When Quint frees him and nurses him back to consciousness, he recognizes the companions from their previous encounter in the spirit world, even though they were all in animal form then.
Saamesh has been beaten and tortured, not just as punishment for being a spy, but also to extract information. The Purple Worm was after two things in particular: he wanted to know where the Koldukar key was and who Saamesh’s allies were. The Shoanti could only answer truthfully by denying that he had either of those: no key and no allies! His torturer obviously did not believe him and kept on tormenting the spy to get him to talk. Saamesh tried using an old Shoanti trick to detach his spirit from his body. That is how he entered the spirit world and was able to get a message to the heroes. But the Purple Worm quickly succeeded in breaking his mental escape.
The door behind Saamesh is made of stone and radiates strong magic. It is one of the Koldukar doors that can only be opened with the Koldukar key. Saamesh marvels at how absurd life can be sometimes. He came here looking for the Purple Worm, believing that man had the mysterious key, while the Worm captured him and was convinced that he knew more about this notorious dwarven unlocking device. The Shoanti also admits that he had seriously underestimated the Purple Worm’s forces. The man had more troops than expected and was actually quite powerful, as was his magic-wielding orc ally. In hindsight, that might not be such a bad thing, Puk jokes, as he glances over the mighty loot he gathered from the two casters’ bodies.
Anyhow, the spy realizes that his cover in Urgir is blown and that his role in the orc city has come to an end. He is happy to be alive and rescued, and now he just wants to return home. He does wonder, however, how four Korvosans came to save him. From his visit in the spirit world, he knows that he can trust his rescuers, but he does not understand why they came for him: the Shoanti and Korvosa are not exactly on friendly terms. Quint explains that Korvosa’s new queen is under the influence of something evil that she unearthed in the great mastaba, and they need the Shoanti’s help and insight to fight it. Saving the son of the Sun Clan’s most influential chief might go a long way with the people of the Cinderlands, who only accept non-Shoanti if they prove themselves worthy. Saamesh promises that he will aid their cause and plead to his leaders to help his rescuers. Sjo also has a question of a more personal nature. He wants to know if Saamesh knows his mother, Aithné. The young spy nods affirmatively. She is one of the famous burn riders, a proud and capable warrior. Her father (and Sjo’s grandfather), Sun shaman Yundur Firestorm, passed away some years ago, unfortunately. She has no children, though, at least, not in the tribe, the rescued Shoanti sighs.
While Saamesh begins to formulate plans how to get out of the orc city and travel back to the Cinderlands, Quint pulls out the scroll of teleport he got from Jasan Adriel. Saamesh is delighted: traveling home overland could take up to three weeks and the journey would be fraught with danger. This magical short-cut could both figuratively and literally be a life-savior. Quint decides to take the Skull clan’s encampment, where they found Thousand Bones’ tribe, as his focus point. The magic does its work and the next moment the heroes and their new friend are back in the Kallow Hills.
The camp is still there, but it looks emptier then when the party left here six days ago. Most of the able-bodied men and women have left for the meeting in the shadow of the Great Flame. Only the elderly, children and some women remain here. Even jothka One-life and shaman Ashdancer have joined the warriors. Thousand Bones, however, is still here, waiting for the companions. He is overjoyed to see them and find out that they succeeded in their quest. Now he wants to follow his tribesmen to the gathering as quickly as possible, suggesting the party joins him there. The companions agree and take the rest of the day off to recover and distribute the loot they recovered from the orc magic-user and the Purple Worm. There are two mighty cloaks of resistance, both caster were also wearing headbands of alluring charisma, which were more powerful than the one Quint is wearing at the moment. There are other magical upgrades as well: a good amulet of natural armor, mithral buckler and chain shirt, better rings of protection for some of the party members, but the nicest item is the Purple Worm’s silver rapier. The blade has small holes that whistle in a high pitch when the weapon is wielded and deliver sonic damage. But its most wonderful property is the fact that it allows a bard to use his bardic performance to charge the weapon, allowing him to use his charisma instead of his strength to guide his strikes and deliver damage. Quint is usually the last to join melee, but with this rapier he will much better at it.