"Dain, you should see this."
When Dain comes over Velika will whisper to him that the elf is alive. If Dain tries to stabilize him, she will shield his activities from the onlookers so it isn't obvious what he is doing.
Dain moves to Vleika's side, then looks down at the fallen drow. He looks at the dark elf's wounds to see if he is in any danger of bleeding to death. If so, he will bind his wounds.
"We should probably...mmm...tie him up...in case he wakes up before the Watch arrives."
Tilver comes over to see the dark elf. "Maybe we should just cut his throat to get this all over with." He pauses. "But did you hear what that guy shouted back there? He mentioned the Galchutt. Somehow, I doubt that's a coincidence."
He sighs. "You might be right. We need to figure out what he knows and why he's here. But I swear if he starts setting people on fire again, we chop his head off."
Tilver get rope from his backpack and begins tying up the dark elf. "Put a sack over his head to hide him. Let's get him somewhere safe."
Is there any indication that the City Watch is responding to the disturbance?
Nope. The watch isn't that fast.
"If we want aid figuring out how this was happening we could try the Pale Tower. They may be interested in figuring out if this drow is cursed or if there is some new ability of the drow that we need to be aware of. If we want to figure it out on our own we could take him to the Pythoness house. It should still be empty." Silas picks up the drow and slings him over his shoulder.
Velika throws her cloak over the elf on Silas' shoulder to affect a crude disguise.
"Silas, you look surprisingly good in sequins.
I think the Pale Tower is a good idea. As far as I can tell, we have no way to effectively communicate with the elf on our own, even if we could convince him to talk."
After following a few steps, Velika registers the chaos around her and says, "Um, perhaps I'll stay behind a little longer and explain to the Watch that we had to dispose of the 'dead' elf because of his lingering chaotic effects. And then I'll meet you at the Tower."
"Pythonese House. Let's get him there first and figure out what the hell is going on. We can always take him to the Pale Tower later...if he's still alive." Tilver cinches the sack over the drow's head.
Dain nods to Velika. He points to the building where he left Shin floating. "Could you check on Shin and make sure her landing was less...uhhh...gruesome...than that man's?"
He walks westward with the others. "If we are going to get any...ummm...information from Mr Drow, we will need some way to understand him. If we can't...mmm...do that, we should bring him to the Pale Tower and see if someone there knows his language."
Velika nods to Dain and goes to check on Shin and the other injured while she waits for the Watch.
Unable to determine much about the injured, Velika will expend some healing charges from her wand on any of them that is still alive.
As the boys head north discussing their destination (discuss, discuss!), Velika wonders how bad the injuries are among the citizens. Several frightened citizens have killed the middle-aged man with lightning eyes and others have beaten into unconsciousness a dwarf they say was summoning monsters. Shin is still floating, but several people are holding on to her and are bringing her inside where at least she won't float away. The fiery half-orc has ceases burning and appears none the worse for wear.
A woman in the street continually flakes brilliant golden motes from her skin, temporarily blinding everyone around her while her friend has grown to gigantic proportions, dwarfing everyone around her.
Several people are hurt and they are grateful to Velika for the assistance. It seems she can do nothing to help the afflicted as most of their afflictions seem to be permanent or at least long-term.
A man comes along and casts a spell on the gold-flake woman, causing her to return to normal. After a breather, he does the same for the giant woman, who seems mildly put out at the reversal.
The city watch at last appears and begins to establish order, eventually hauling away the screaming prophet.
"I think the Pythoness makes the most sense. We can see if he is the cause of this rather then risking more people at the Pale Tower first." He heads in that general direction trying to keep the drow under the cloth that Velika tossed over him.
Velika gives the city watch a concise rundown of what she and her companions witnessed and explains that they had to remove the dark elf's body, hoping it would end the chaotic effects. "I sincerely apologize if we've interfered with your duties in any way. We were trying to do our best to aid the situation and will certainly make ourselves available if you have any questions or concerns."
Then Velika will try to find the man who is removing the chaotic effects to determine what spell he is using.
Whether or not she is able to figure it out, she will approach him and ask him what he can tell her about the magics that these people seem to be suffering under.
The watch captain, a human named Sergeant Runcible, takes Velika's information.
"Thank you, Miss. I'm sure you saved a lot of lives today. I'm sure someone will be in touch. They might want that body. Where did your friends take it?"
Later, Velika tries to understand the magic the other man was working. She isn't certain, but on introducing herself, the man says "Hello, Little Miss. Always a pleasure to speak with one of the fey folk. My name is Kern and I am, well, I suppose in Ptolus they would call me a wizard, though the traditions are different in my homeland of Kem. The effect you saw is known as the Miracle of Absolution, though I have heard your more prosaic Tarsian practitioners refer to similar effects as 'dispel magic'. The effect is much the same, though it lacks a certain poetry my people are enamored of."
______________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, in Pythoness House:
Having gotten the dark elf into the abandoned home you recently robbed, whaddya do?
"Thank you, Miss. I'm sure you saved a lot of lives today. I'm sure someone will be in touch. They might want that body. Where did your friends take it?"
Velika visibly shudders and leans a bit closer to Sergeant Runcible, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I think they were going to burn the body to completely eliminate the magic. Honestly, I didn't want to ask the details."
Later, Velika tries to understand the magic the other man was working. She isn't certain, but on introducing herself, the man says "Hello, Little Miss. Always a pleasure to speak with one of the fey folk. My name is Kern and I am, well, I suppose in Ptolus they would call me a wizard, though the traditions are different in my homeland of Kem. The effect you saw is known as the Miracle of Absolution, though I have heard your more prosaic Tarsian practitioners refer to similar effects as 'dispel magic'. The effect is much the same, though it lacks a certain poetry my people are enamored of."
Velika takes an immediate liking to this man and smiles at him in welcome. ”I am Velika Wondercraft. Your arrival here is fortuitous and your Miracles are very welcome. I would love to hear more about it and about your homeland. When we have more time, perhaps we could meet for a warm meal and share stories?”
Velika prepares to leave and meet up with her friends. She decides to check Pythoness House before she heads to the Tower since she wasn't entirely sure what they decided and she wouldn't want to explain herself to the Tower if it turns out her friends aren't there.
Silas takes the drow into the lower rooms and begins tying him up. "I have never had need of manacles. It will probably be a while before he awakes, but getting some manacles on him to make him more secure might be a good idea." Silas looks over his handy work after he is finished and shrugs.
"Well I can wake him now if you want. But what's...mmm...the plan? Are we just hoping he'll...ummm...start speaking common now that we have him bound?"
Tilver frowns. "I, uh, didn't really work that out. I guess I was hoping that we'd have some time to think without him setting people on fire or floating away."
"We could go buy a potion of Share Language or Tongues. But maybe we should just try to talk to him now. See what he knows about the Galchutt."
Kern tells Velika he'd be delighted to have dinner with her and trade stories of their homelands. He's staying at an inn in Midtown and offers to send a carriage for her any night until he leaves, ten days hence.
Twenty minutes later she is in Pythoness House with her team.
Holys continues to believe we should kill the drow before he awakens, as it is risky otherwise.
"I agree with Tilver. We've got him here...mmm...bound, so we may as well try and get some information from him. If he can't or...ummm...won't...talk to us, we can then decide whether to take him to the Pale Tower or...uhhh...kill him."
If at any point the group agrees, Dain will cast Cure Light Wounds on the dark elf.
"Velika might be useful in getting him to talk. I think if he refuses to talk to us we turn him over to the tower. Killing a tied up man, even if he is a drow does not sit well with me."
Velika is not surprised to find her companions still debating the disposition of the elf. She goes over and inspects the unconscious drow - as much as possible without being too invasive - looking for any tattoos or other marks on his body that might indicate an affiliation with a chaos cult.
She turns to Tilver. "We need to restrain ourselves here. We need information more than anything and he can't tell us anything if he's dead. If we need to take him to the Pale Tower, they will deal with him the right way. This won't be like Shilukar and Castle Shard." Continuing to watch Tilver out of the corner of her eye, she pulls out a scroll. "I'm ready when the rest of you are. If no one has any better options, I have a scroll of Comprehend Languages. I won't be able to speak to him but I could use this scroll to understand what he's saying ... assuming he says anything at all."
Tilver rolls his eyes. "I never said we were going kill him tied up. Just that if he starts setting people on fire that he would probably need to knock him out again. But if it's between him and us, I choose us."
The ex-gladiator tries to wake up the drow, slapping him on the cheek and splashing some water from his waterskin on the man.
The elf wakens with a start and fixes you with a baleful gaze.
He speaks in an unknown tongue, but his contempt for you is clear. He doesn't try to wriggle free from his bonds. Yet.
Velika uses her scroll of comprehend languages and puts a hand on the elf's back. Then she quickly runs through her known languages saying the equivalent of "Do you understand me?" in each. She watches the drow carefully to see if it looks like he recognizes anything.
Tilver listens closely to the language the drow is speaking. Now that he doesn't have to worry about the chaos happening around him, he can concentrate on the aspects of the unknown words. "Someone mentioned the Galchutt. Do you know what they are?"
The elf doesn't respond to anything you're saying until Tilver says the word "Galchutt". Then a broad and not entirely comforting grin spreads across his face.
He says something in the unknown language. You can tell it's not friendly.
_____________________________________________________
As you grow frustrated with the dark elf and debate what to do, there is a loud knock on the door of the room you are in (for the sake of our mental image, I'm going to say it's the ballroom on the third floor.) Even more interesting, that door leads to the balcony outside.
Panicking slightly, Velika quickly throws her cape of the drow's head and looks around for a place to hide. Then she chuckles a bit nervously, pantomimes a question to her companions, and calls out, "Um ... who is it?"
Silas walks over and opens the door.
There on the open balcony stands a woman in a green doublet and thigh-high black boots. Her waist-length auburn hair is only the second-most arresting thing about her. Her entire left arm has been replaced by an arm of magical scarlet glass. In the other hand she carries a thin, crooked staff.
"Good morning. My name is Jevicca Nor. I wanted to talk to you about.." She spots the cape over the dark elf's head and stifles a smile. "About what happened on the boulevard today."
"I commend you on your heroism and skill. I think I know a little of what is happening here. If you'll hear me out, my organization has a unique offer to make you."
Dain finds himself staring at her glass arm as he responds, "Your...ahhh...reputation proceeds you, Jevicca, although you are younger than I had imagined. Please join us in our...errr...office? What interest does the...mmm...Inverted Pyramid...have in...ummm...Mr Drow and his escapades?" With his last question, he manages to pull his eyes up to meet hers, and gestures her in with a wave of his hand and a half bow. Slightly behind him and to the side, Magill mimics his bow and wave.
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Jevicca smiles at Magill and looks around for a seat. Finding none, she waves her hand and produces a table and several fine chairs. "It's a long story. Please be seated."
"My story is so old that it dates back long before written records to a time now forgotten by the civilized people of Praemal," she begins.
”In the ancient recesses of time, a powerful and benevolent cleric set upon a well-intentioned plan. His name was Danar Rotansin, and he was beloved of the gods and was so close to them as to be nearly divine himself. In those days, evil was on the decline and the forces of darkness had been routed in almost every field of battle. The master of evil dragons had been chained, and even the fell races of orcs and goblins—once more numerous than the races of humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, or gnomes—had squirmed back into their meager, shadowy refuges.”
”With malevolence on the wane, the Danar sought once and for all to rid the world of the remaining evil influences. This powerful figure began to gather up all the evil artifacts, objects of dark power, trapped essences of vanquished fiends, demonic relics, and even the last vestiges of particularly horrible diseases. Danar called all of these things “banes” and imprisoned them. He believed that, if destroyed, the banes would simply release their evil into the world to wreak more havoc and bring about other darknesses. Destroying banes begat new banes.”
”Danar used powerful spells and magical items to accomplish his task, working tirelessly. As his collection of banes grew he began to bury them beneath his tower, Mosul Pearl, located near the sea. Danar constructed a vast catacomb, well warded and sealed, deep underground, and he called it the Banewarrens. He also found allies who believed in his cause to aid him. Chief among them were the dragon known as Saggarintys the Silver King and a celestial named Bastion, Guardian of the Morning.”
”But Danar’s goal was flawed. Concentrating so much raw hatred and despite—so much darkness and evil power— in one place was a terrible mistake. His actions drew the attention of vile intelligences of whose existence Danar had never even dreamed. These secretive forces manipulated events (and perhaps even time and space) to ensure that the Book of Inverted Darkness fell into the hands of this well-meaning cleric.”
”The Book of Inverted Darkness is an artifact older than the world itself. Scribed by gods and demons, its pages contain vast lore (only the Book of Eldritch Might contains greater lore, it is said), all of it dreadful. Unfortunately for Danar Rotansin—and the world—the book presented this dreadful knowledge using supernatural techniques, giving it an irresistibly seductive quality.”
”While he intended to seal the book away with the rest of the banes, Danar lingered over its pages for just one instant too long. Its cunningly crafted words beguiled him to keep the book by his side. Soon, he read more. And more. ”
”And still more.”
”The book consumed Danar. He neglected his quest to gather the remaining banes. He withdrew from his family and comrades. The book’s dark lore corrupted his spirit and twisted his mind. The lure of the dark power and forbidden knowledge was too much, even for Danar. Danar Rotansin became Eslathagos Malkith—the Dread One. With the vast resources of the banes he had gathered and the knowledge he had gained from the Book of Inverted Darkness, the Dread One withdrew into his tower, also renamed: Jabel Shammar.”
”He emerged only a few years later, launching an attack so devastating, it threatened to tear the world asunder. His might knew few bounds, and with his magical aid, the armies he had created or summoned conquered the surrounding lands with ease. The earth itself, no longer able to tolerate the concentrated evil that Eslathagos Malkith and the banes represented, thrust Jabel Shammar away from it, creating a tall, impossibly high and narrow spire atop which the tower stood, its former pearly hue turned black as night. From there, the Dread One could survey the world—a world he desired to either conquer or crush entirely.”
”Only the actions of all the mortal races, led by powerful and stalwart heroes (many of whom had been friends and companions of Danar), stopped the forces of Eslathagos Malkith. It is said they carried the battle into the halls of Jabel Shammar itself. When it was over, the Dread One lay defeated. The world’s greatest heroes sprawled dead and dismembered all around him. Most of them had lost not only their lives but their souls to their foe’s magic and the banes he wielded.”
”Some bit of Danar—the good and true man he had once been—still remained, however. His spirit, now free of corruption, managed to seal the Banewarrens once again. Although his quest remained uncompleted, and some of the banes were released again when he became Eslathagos Malkith, the warrens still contained vault upon vault of evil artifacts, foul creatures, and vile relics that it would keep away from the world at large.”
”Unless the Banewarrens should ever become unsealed again.”
"Your friend there is from the Banewarrens. He's well over ten thousand years old and is one of the Banes Danar locked away. Which means the impossible has happened - The Banewarrens have opened at last."
"Which is where you come in. My organization knows a little of the terrors locked inside the Banewarrens. We want you to investigate how it became unsealed and if possible, how to seal it again."
"We're prepared to pay each of you a reward of 850 gold shields for recovering substantial information regarding the opening (and resealing)
of the Banewarrens."
Tilver nods as Dain recognizes the woman. "Something tells me that you know exactly might be going on, Miss Nor. Do you know who this dark elf is and what power he's wielding?"
He glances around at the others. "Well, I think you have us all ears."
Velika follows the story with rapt attention, reacting with obvious awe, horror and sorrow as the story unfolds. When Jevicca mentions the part she hopes they will play in this, Velika seems a bit startled to find they have a role in the tale. ”Investigatee and reseal the greatest accumulated trove of evil known on earth? That seems … a bit above our skill level …” And yet, she doesn’t sound completely unhappy about this idea.
"You won't be alone," says the tall redhead. "We're sending other teams. There are moves here that may not be obvious at the street level and lots of pieces are moving well above your skill level. I'm thinking that while the great powers square off, a talented team unknown to our foes might pull off a coup."
Dain listens to Jevicca, then ponders a minute before responding. "We already seem to be...mmmm...interested in...the activities of several different chaos cults. If the seal on the Banewarrens has been broken, it seems likely that one of the cults is...ummm...responsible. So we can investigate the...ahhh...opening...by simply continuing our current course."
Dain looks back at the dark elf, then to Jevicca. "What do you suggest we...umm...do...with him?"
"We, uh, can't bring him to the Watch." Velika volunteers, eyes shifting guiltily.
Tilver looks down at the dark elf in horror. "You mean to tell us that he's a dark evil that was worthy of sealing away for eternity?" He takes a few steps back.
"Dain is right. We believe some Chaos cults are gathering in Ptolus. If they were responsible, we can track them and find whatever ritual they might have used."
"That's not exactly what we had in mind," says Jevicca. "Investigating cults that may or may not be directly involved may take too long. We need someone who investigate the entrance. We've learned where Zith entered the city, and therefore know where the entrance to the Banewarrens lies. We want you to go investigate and bring back information."
"As for Zith, you've seen what his very presence can do. Can you imagine how much damage he would have done just walking through a great city like this if you hadn't stopped him? And his power is nothing compared to the terrifying legends said to be locked away in the Banewarrens. Stories so horrifying that their very memory has been locked away for millennia. Every vile cult, every world-beating madman, every stupid, naive investigator and researcher in the world will be headed for the Banewarrens if word gets out. And it will. We have to find a way to seal it."
"So you think the entrance to the Banewarrens is in the city, and not...ummm", he points upwards and westward, roughly towards the Spire, "...up there?"
"You want us to go to the entrance and see if we can figure out how to reseal it. What if more like him come out? Shouldn't someone from your organization be there to stop him?" Tilver keeps checking on the dark elf with the cloak draped over his head. It was as if when Tilver wasn't looking, the drow might suddenly be gone.