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As they walk to Shade Roll Fredrik says. Hmmm, while I was asking around I learned an interesting trivia. The baron actually fired all but one of his fetchling servants and said fetchlings suspect that he may be going mad. Which, unfortunatly, looks to be the case.
At their new friend's home the priest asks. Perhaps you know some of the Baron's former employees. We would like to talk to them and the one who still works there.
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To the party's questions about the disease, the father replies, "Ah. No, I'm sorry. We truly know nothing about the disease, nothing more than anybody else anyways. It doesn't seem to affect our kind but that doesn't mean it came from us."
Perhaps you know some of the Baron's former employees. We would like to talk to them and the one who still works there.
"Well, we do know some of them but they really don't know much more, honestly. They weren't told why they were being fired; just sent on their way. Now, our cousin Gavril is still living up at the Manor. If you folks are going that way, could you please check on him? We're too afraid to leave Shade Row and we daren't approach the Manor. Gavril works as the houndmaster and we haven't heard from him since this all started."
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"Gavril the houndmaster? We can definitely check in on him. We'd appreciate it if you'd keep your ears open; if you hear anything out of the ordinary, we'd appreciate it." Hiram smiles and thanks the family.
"Well gents, it looks like all roads lead back to the Manor. Shall we speak to Gavril before we meet Stepan?"
Laurentiu once again greets you and bids you enter the Boroi Manor. He looks surprised when you request an audience with Gavril but goes to fetch the houndmaster nonetheless.
Gavril is an aging fetchling who greets you warmly when he is brought to the sitting room. "Ah, so you are the folks who saved my cousins? I can not thank you enough. What do you need from me?"
When asked how he is faring, Gavril responds, "Oh, I am fine-or at least as good as anyone in this troubled time. Thank you for your consideration." Gavril pauses a moment and motions you closer as he whispers, "I am bit worried, however, about someone. Well, other than the Baron, that is. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that before this whole recent unpleasantness I was involved in an affair with a married human woman named Irini-until she disappeared, that is. Human-fetchling relationships are quite taboo around here, especially now, and the combination of adultery and Irini's abduction mean that if this were to become public, I would have to flee the valley or be killed-especially if it were known that I saw Irini on the afternoon of her disappearance. I had to sneak out of the window, though, because Irini's friend Catalina, the chandler, had arrived for lunch."
Gavril leans back and resumes his normal tone of voice, "I suppose with the threat of that coming out I'm lucky that the Baron kept me on. You see, I'm the only one who can control Stepan's favorite mastiff Iozif."
He takes a pause from his story and continues, "So is there anything else you need from me? Or were sent to check on me by my relatives? You can assure them that all is well here. I just wish I had more news from the town."
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A grim look grows on Terrill's face as Gavril explains his relationship with the woman Irini. "I fear we have bad news for you, Gavril," he says in a serious tone. "Irini may be dead, and Catalina too. Terrible things were being done in the basement of the chandler's shop, and we found several bodies, men and women. And the tale gets darker still."
Terrill pauses for Gavril to digest what he's said, then continues, "There was a strange, fey creature in the chandler's basement, conducting some sort of dark rites. In fact, it's where we found the abducted children. And when we entered the room, he said we should leave him alone, because he was working for the Baron. Do you know anything about any of that?"
Gavril looks stricken when he hears of the deaths of the citizens, particularly of Irini. "This comes as news-and shocking news-to me. We all feared the worst but I suppose we were holding out hope that they would turn in. . . a better state."
When questioned about the fey creature, Gavril responds, "I'm sorry, I have not heard of such a thing. The Baron has been very secretive of late but the fey might also have been lying-an opportunist preying upon our already troubled times. I can not say for sure."
"Everyone knows the Baron has been. . . not himself lately. He spends much time locked away in his study; he has become quite paranoid and often refuses to leave. I am very concerned, but what can I do? I am but his humble houndmaster. And a fetchling at that."
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Terrill considers what Gavril has said, then makes a suggestion, "It seems we need to get into the Baron's study, and it would be best to do it when he's not there. I wonder if his wife, or Gavril here, could get him out of the study for a while, so we can look around in there?"
He casts a quick glance around at his fellow Pathfinders, then says, "If we confront the Baron, we may get nothing but denials and paranoia, and he might even destroy evidence of what he's been up to. Maybe if we tell the Baroness what we've learned, she'd help us get into his study undetected."
He then looks back at Gavril and says, "Or you could help us. You've lost someone you love to whatever madness is driving the Baron. Would you help us? Perhaps you could arrange for the Baron to visit his hounds, or just tell us when he plans to be elsewhere?"
Gavril thinks on the offer a bit. "The Baron is certainly paranoid. . . I do not think he will leave his study, especially at our suggestion. It will only increase his paranoia, I think. He does not visit the dogs any more. Besides, I fear for what may happen if he discovered I was involved in such a ruse; he is my employer, after all, and I would like to think he was my friend before all this happened."
After thinking for a moment, Gavril says, "He may be paranoid but the Baron has never been unreasonable. I can take you to speak with him if you'd like. If he knew you had his and the town's best interests at heart he may speak to you. Or I can allow you to look about the rest of the Manor if you think that would help, although I'm not sure what you would be looking for."
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Terrill ponders a moment, nodding his head back and forth as if considering Gavril's options and Hiram's answer. "I'm not so concerned about showing the man respect, if he's been up to what we think he has. But it's true we don't really know what we'd be looking for if we searched the manor. Let's go pay the Baron a visit, see if he's still got some reason left in him amidst his fears."
Gavril leads you to the door of the study, on which he knocks and calls inside to introduce the visitors. A moment later you hear a click! as the lock is undone from the inside and the door swings open.
Baron Stepan Boroi is of average height but sturdily built. His face is clearn-shaven and his black hair is neatly cropped. He wears muted versions of his heraldic colors, red and black, setting off his clear blue eyes. He looks quite morose.
"Well, I'd heard we had foreigners about. Who are you and what do you want?"
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"My lord Baron, I am Hiram Kell of Taldor. I represent the Pathfinder Society and we were sent to ascertain the health of your lady wife on behest of her relatives. Now that we are here, we find ourselves caught in a web of mystery: the mysterious Tallow Throat disease and the recent disappearance of several citizens. We have introduced ourselves to your Lady Wife, but she thought it best not to disturb you. However a strange tale has reached our ears: tales of small flying creatures that burn brightly like the sun, of shadow erupting from those who succumb to the Tallow Throat disease, and most troubling, of a Baron who casts no shadow." Hiram leans forward. "My lord, we can help you, but we need to know everything."
Baron Stepan looks grumpily at the party as Hiram lays out the charges. At the mention of the 'small flying creature' his expression turns ashen and he frowns when he realizes that you have noticed his missing shadow.
"Very well then. Yes, I'll admit the lurker-in-light was acting in agreement with me. I thought-perhaps naively-that such a creature would help protect my family and townsfolk from the forces of shadow coming for me. I agreed to let Ilquis take any actions necessary to ensure the safety of my people. . . I was not, however, aware of what this would mean to the treacherous creature." He looks crestfallen, knowing that people have suffered from his mistake. "Please, you must believe me, I did not intend for that to happen."
The Baron looks troubled for a moment before continuing. "Yes. . . my shadow. . . . There is someone coming for me. All shadows could carry my killer, even my own. I have trapped it in a Book of Night without Moon, hoping to protect myself. Please. . . please, I can't do this alone anymore. I regret so many of my past actions, and all for what? This inheritance will come to nothing in the end. I promise I have learned my lesson now but I can not undo it all on my own. Will you help me?"
The Baron nervously clears his throat and hits back down behind his desk, motioning for everyone to take a seat in the several chairs throughout the room. "Alright. But no one has ever heard this tale before; I ask that you try not to think less of me after you have heard it. I regret much now and see how foolish I was."
"You must understand, first of all, that I was the third son of a minor Nidalese noble. I was not entirely content to see my eldest brother Iozif inherit the family lands. I was quite unhappy with what would be a fairly disappointing inheritance. . . until one day, amid the detritus of generations that fills this crumbling old Manor, I discovered an ancient mirror."
"Within I saw another manor, shadowed and hazy like half-remembered dream. Yet where my reflection should have been, there stood instead a dark figure, taller than a man, with a face covered in a white mask and eyes like distant stars."
"The. . . creature. . . a shae, I believe. . . introduced himself as Nicasor. He told me his story; he was formerly an adviser to the Boroi family when it held much more influence in this country. However, Nicasor was imprisoned in the mirror over 950 years ago after he led a revolt with his fellow shaes and some of the fetchlings of Karpad against my ancestors."
"Over the years the prison has become slightly broken, however. I don't quite understand how, but Nicasor told me that during the Age of Darkness, a powerful nightshade was released from the mirror and in the process it damaged the magic of the mirror and ever since the Shadow Plane has leaked into the countryside around Karpad. While the shadow essence can escape, the normal ritual to release a creature from imprisonment no longer works, and I was unable to free Nicasor."
"There is one way to free someone, however. A willing subject on either side of the mirror can use the mirror's crack to essentially trade souls. Nicasor heard my story of desperate ambition to wrest power from my elder brothers and struck a bargain with me; Nicasor agreed to help me succeed my father as Baron and I, in return, would trade places with the shae for 1 year once every decade, granting Nicasor control of my body so he could escape prison for a time without disrupting the magic of the prison."
"Within the next few months my brothers disappeared. I had to claim they perished of sudden illness as I was crowned Baron of Karpad when my father died shortly after, but I suspect they were sent into the mirror as prisoners themselves."
"Now ten years have passed. Last year I took a wife and two months ago she bore me a son. Now it is time for me to exchange bodies with Nicasor, but I fear he will keep my body forever. I fear for what Nicasor will do to my wife and son, whose love has softened my once-iron heart. I fear for what he will do to my people! I broke my pact with Nicasor. And now he has vowed to ruin all that I hold dear."
Stepan pauses and catches his breath at the conclusion of his story. "I can not battle Nicasor's forces on my own. I have learned my lesson but can not correct my mistakes on my own. Please have pity on me; enter the mirror. If my brothers still live, please rescue them that I might make amends. Nicasor and the prison he inhabits must be destroyed. Are you willing to help out a troubled soul and ease a tortured mind?"
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Terrill's eyes grow narrow and his jaw clenches as the baron relates his tale. When it is finished, he speaks in a voice full of barely-controlled rage, ”I have to agree with my companion, you were a fool and worse to do these things, and to your own family! I was driven out of my church because I freed a man who I believed had been falsely imprisoned. I did it because, aside from life, there is nothing more precious than our freedom.”
He pauses and gives the baron a long, grim look, then says, ”I will help in this, but not for your sake – though I would not wish you unfairly imprisoned either. I will help in order to try to free your brothers, and for the good of the people of Karpad. If this eases your tortured mind, baron, then so be it, but that is not why I agree to help.”
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Hiram nods slowly. "Foolish indeed. But we make mistakes, we are mortal. Now you must make amends for the error. And we shall help, for the glory of Taldor, the honor of the Pathfinder Society and the sake of the souls of this village! Let us go to the library and see what information we might glean there."
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Bizzle just listens to the tale with fascination. A mirror that imprisons people? A pact with some evil entity? What a story! Haha! Of course we'll help to tuen this sad tale into one with a happy ending, no matter how foolish the players might be! Travel into a mirror, that's rich!
Bizzle seems to be quite excited by the impending excursion. So, where are we going again?
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"Ah yes, your lack of shadow - that couldn't have been more obvious."
Wilhelm mutters to whoever is closest to him, "Wait, how does one capture a shadow?" forgetting that the party had fought shadows just the night before.
"Well, I shall help. I've certainly done some foolish things in my day. Still, my foolishness didn't involve making deals with some kind of strange shae creature in order to pursue unjustly-gained status and riches. But... c'est la vie!" Wilhelm offers the baron a wide smile.
"However, perhaps I should stock up on more oils of magic weapon if we plan to navigate through some magical mirror-world."
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Wilhelm finds a book entitled A Beginner's Guide to Midnight Mirrors by Dumbledore Kenobi. He reads a passage aloud.
"Midnight Mirrors are magical prisons used by the church of Zon-Kuthon to punish those who offend the church and its god. Each is an extraplanar prison within a mirror in which the prisoners never age and are trapped for an eternity of torment. The midnight mirror in the Boroi family's possession was broken centuries ago, and now functions differently than normal.
"The command word to retrieve a prisoner from the plane no longer works, and the mirror leaks shadow essence from the Plane of Shadow into the Material Plane. Unlike a normal midnight mirror, the broken specimen in the basement of Boroi Manor allows two willing subjects on opposite sides of the mirror to trade bodies (as the magic jar spell by simultaneously toching the mirror's surface. Such a switch lasts indefinitely, or until the two subjects switch souls again through the same process.
"The only way to destroy the midnight mirror is to enter it and kill the physical manifestation of the magic item's consciousness with a shard of itself from the Material Plane. Doing so will cause the prison plane to break apart and disgorge all living creatures and items originally from the Material Plane through the shattered mirror back to their plane of origin."
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I should really request more compensation and hazard pay from the Society. These missions keep getting odder and odder each go around. I still have nightmares of feeling my insides eviscerated by some strange extra-planar entity when I lost a close, albeit new friends, Chasik thought to himself as his walking encyclopedia told what he knew.
Look, if we are going against the plane of shadow, I suggest we get properly armed if possible. Holy Water or vials of bless weapon for our melee oriented folks. Unless there are other thoughts present
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Wilhelm looks up from the book, "Well Fredrik, it doesn't seem to say. However, I hear tell that the Society has a tapestry in its possession that allows one to step into another plane of existence. To access it, one merely walks into the tapestry. I don not know if the mirror would function in the same way." He turns to Bash, "I agree that we should outfit ourselves as you suggest."
He sets the book down and seeks out the baron, "Your eminence, are you able to enlighten us at all as to how one enters this mirror-world prison? Also, you had mentioned that the mirror is cracked - you wouldn't happen to have a shard of it kept somewhere, would you?"
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With no particular knowledge of the mirror to contribute, Terrill turns his attention to other matters. "Baron," he asks, "do the shae and the mirror have anything to do with the tallowthroat disease that is sweeping through your people? The lurker-in-light was behind the disappearances - was it in some way connected to the illness as well?"
He gives the baron a moment to respond, then turns to Chasik and concurs with his thinking, "You're right, we should prepare ourselves before we go through the mirror. Perhaps there is someone here in Karpad who might know a bit more about the shadow realm and can advise us. Baron, do you know of anyone, or have you already ccollected all the knowledge you could about the topic here in your library?"
Yes, but how do we do to actually enter the mirror and how do we get a shard from it? Can we remove a piece of it?
He sets the book down and seeks out the baron, "Your eminence, are you able to enlighten us at all as to how one enters this mirror-world prison? Also, you had mentioned that the mirror is cracked - you wouldn't happen to have a shard of it kept somewhere, would you?"
The Baron responds, "Entering it is easy; getting out is the hard part."
To Maaarv's second question, Stepan stands back up and says, "Wait here a moment." He goes off to his study and returns a moment later with a small fragment of glass, handing it to the party.
"do the shae and the mirror have anything to do with the tallowthroat disease that is sweeping through your people? The lurker-in-light was behind the disappearances - was it in some way connected to the illness as well?"
Baron, do you know of anyone, or have you already collected all the knowledge you could about the topic here in your library?"
Stepan sighs at Terrill's first question. "I can't know for sure, of course, but I think that it is highly likely. Clearly Nicasor is using the leaking of the Shadow Plane to leak that foul disease among my people."
To Terrill's next inquiry, the Baron responds, "I believe my library is the best repository of that sort of information in the area. From what I understand magical and mundane lights are less effective on the Shadow Plane, as one would expect, whereas spells that utilize shadows are obviously more effective. I believe there is also often a lack of color on the Shadow Plane. Although this is all from my own study; I have no firsthand experience, of course."
Yes, good questions Terrill. And why was it putting the bodies into the wax? Concealment or some other purpose?
The Baron flinches as he remembers his brutal mistake in trusting the fey creature. "I have no idea what that foul thing intended. My intentions were that a creature of light could help fight the shadows; obviously Ilquis deceived me and had other motives."
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"'All that glitters is not gold'" murmurs Hiram quietly, remembering a tale he was told a long time ago. "The mistake is made and the damage done, so let us fix what we may. You say lights are dimmed in this mirror world and shadows strengthened. We should supply as needed. Do you have any objects or supplies that might aid us that you might share?"
"I can lend you torches and such but I'm afraid I don't have any magical ways to battle the darkness. If I had, I would have used them already."