"Let's rest the night and resupply. I can lead a detachment to check out those cultist locations tomorrow. No reward is necessary for me, Ma'am." Steave replies to Irabeth not knowing who this Vhane character is.
"We also have the sword. It should be kept in a safe and honored place."
would it be wiser to take it with us to use in our fight against the worldwound?
"Let's rest the night and resupply. I can lead a detachment to check out those cultist locations tomorrow. No reward is necessary for me, Ma'am." Steave replies to Irabeth not knowing who this Vhane character is.
"We also have the sword. It should be kept in a safe and honored place."
Irabeth regarded the blade thoughtfully.
"I think that you should keep it with you. I am unschooled in such things, but if the Templars thought Radiance worth turning to their use then they might have good reason to still fear it. It may be that it only sleeps since Minagho slew Yaniel and will wake when needed."
Yridhrennor nods. Crusader, he turns to Staeve and the others. Do you think I have time to research in a library? It may help us if I can learn more about this blade.
Falfaerel snorts. Typical. There's a battle raging, demons literally pounding on the doors, and you want to read!
Steave shrugs and replies, "as you wish."
Galin nods, Do you think the information you'd gain is worth the time spent?
It could be?. Yriddhrennor blushes and ducks his head. It couldn't hurt to learn anything about or for and this blade.
Abelard nods in agreement. "More we know, the better, far as I'm concerned." He wrinkles his brow, trying to remember something: "Should I know who this 'Vhane' character is?"
** spoiler omitted **
Defender's Heart had rather less of a library than Yridhrennor would have hoped, but some had made successful efforts to save books. Between them and a few helpful reminders from the longer-lived residents, the elf recalls an episode from his childhood:
The fortress city of Drezen once stood firm on Mendev's far northwestern border, nigh unto the Crown of the World. There no city had existed before the Worldwound came but in the flush of victory after the First Crusade, many thought to retake large sections of fallen Sarkoris. They delved Drezen, as much below the earth as above. It was the greatest of a line of such fortresses, meant to be the staging points for a new crusade in time.
Drezen soon became the crusaders' unofficial capital, home to many storied heroes. With them came many precious relics, the most famous of which was the Sword of Valor. Once, Iomedae herself carried it into battle. While it stood, all believed Drezen impregnable to demons. When the demons rose up again, other fortresses fell but Drezen held. The Sword of Valor proved its worth.
Then someone betrayed Drezen and the city fell in a single night. The loss brought about the call for the Second Crusade. None know who betrayed the city, and many believe whoever did soon learned the true price of dealing with the Abyss. Then, just three years ago, the paladin Irabeth Tirablade discovered that a crusader of good standing named Staunton Vhane, leader of the Hammers of Heaven, had betrayed the crusade and caught him in the act of trying to damage Kenabres' wardstone. Vhane escaped capture and fled into the Worldwound.
Since then, some scholars have speculated that Vhane was the betrayer of Drezen as well. Evidence is largely circumstantial. Other survivors of Drezen remember the dwarf being discontent in the week or so before the city's fall. He had taken up with an elf princess of Kyonin, strange behavior for a dwarf. Furthermore, he gave conflicting accounts of how he survived the wreck of Drezen. Before discovery of his true allegiance, most assumed that Vhane's memory failed under the trauma or he'd done something he didn't take pride in, but nothing so serious as turning traitor.
Steave turns to his new companions and asks, "Thanks Yridhrennor, for the information. Who wants to accompany me to check out the cultist locations in that message? And who wants to carry the legendary sword?"
Steave turns to his new companions and asks, "Thanks Yridhrennor, for the information. Who wants to accompany me to check out the cultist locations in that message? And who wants to carry the legendary sword?"
"Paladin? No, I could never remember all those rules."
"I'll come with ya. Anything to spike the cultists' wheel."
Saito, exhausted by the crusaders' ordeal, begs off coming along for just now. He'd like to come, but feels in his present state that he'd do better to remain in Defender's Heart and help guard the noncombatants there.
Steave will gather information in the Defender's Heart while he is re-equiping. He wants to know what is interesting to people. He's specifically interested in the organization structure of the crusaders, e.g. who are the leaders and why.
Steave will gather information in the Defender's Heart while he is re-equiping. He wants to know what is interesting to people. He's specifically interested in the organization structure of the crusaders, e.g. who are the leaders and why.
[dice=Diplomacy (gather info) first four hours]1d20+9
[dice=Diplomacy (gather info) second four hours]1d20+9
Steave learns that by dint of her knighthood and ability, Irabeth Tirablade is presently in charge. There are one or two who might technically be her senior, but they're either incapacitated or uninterested in the job at present. Things haven't settled enough for Irabeth to have set lieutenants yet, rather than people who just seem convenient and capable in the moment.
Abelard looks wistfully at the longsword Radiance. "That's a mighty fine blade. Seems to me it'd take a mighty fine paladin to wield it." He offers the sword, hilt-first, to Steave. "Crusader, you served with honour before; it'd suit you like shine suits platemail."
When Steave turns it down, he blinks in surprise. Looking at his own, self-crafted falchion, he can see all of the imperfections in its forging. Compared with Radiance, it's like night and day. He'd be a fool not to take the new blade. His own doesn't even have a name yet. "So long, old friend; thanks for taking me this far," he murmurs. He doesn't discard it, but it stays in its sheath as he takes up the longsword with something approaching reverence. "I sure hope I can prove worthy of this finery."
Abelard looks wistfully at the longsword Radiance. "That's a mighty fine blade. Seems to me it'd take a mighty fine paladin to wield it." He offers the sword, hilt-first, to Steave. "Crusader, you served with honour before; it'd suit you like shine suits platemail."
When Steave turns it down, he blinks in surprise. Looking at his own, self-crafted falchion, he can see all of the imperfections in its forging. Compared with Radiance, it's like night and day. He'd be a fool not to take the new blade. His own doesn't even have a name yet. "So long, old friend; thanks for taking me this far," he murmurs. He doesn't discard it, but it stays in its sheath as he takes up the longsword with something approaching reverence. "I sure hope I can prove worthy of this finery."
In Abelard's willing hands, Radiance glows with golden light and swells into a falchion.
Ready
Topaz Solutions
The crusaders set out from Defender's Heart for Topaz Solutions, one of the Templar lairs they learned of while still beneath Kenabres. It took the better part of an hour to reach the herbalist's shop. Its wooden sign, bearing a bundle of orange herbs and flowers hovering over a beaker of smoking liquid, marked it out from the small collection of mostly intact buildings to either side. The shuttered held fast on the shop's windows, but its door hung open.
The hind end of a large, bulging sack stuck out into the street.
"Let some of us circle the shop. See if there is any movement through the windows and another entrance." Steave volunteers and starts circling around the building.
Im on it.. Falfaerel fluttered off Yriddhrenor's shoulder and flew towards the building.
"Let some of us circle the shop. See if there is any movement through the windows and another entrance." Steave volunteers and starts circling around the building.
A circuit of the building, by wing and foot, reveals no windows unobscured by shutters or other doors. On two sides, the shop shares walls with its neighbors. On the back, in what was once a narrow alley but now a debris field, the crusaders find only a blank wall.
Perhaps the adjoining walls will provide a way in.
Steave arches an eyebrow. "Thanks Falfaerel. The simplest way is usually the best." The old crusader heads toward the doorway. He prods the bulging sack with his toe before stepping over it and into the building.
"If'n you can't go around, best go through," Abelard agrees. He steps in after Steave, peering around as best his ruined eyes will allow.
Theran will leap in after the others to see what's happening.
The crusaders catch two women and a man unawares, lost in rifling through chests and clearing shelves. They've made a remarkable mess of the store, with things thrown about and knocked to the side. They start as one, making panicked shouts and casting about. One of the women lost her balance and fell into a table. The man dropped a large piece of glasswork, which shattered on the floor.
"Don't kill us!"
"We're not demons!"
"We're friends!"
Steave replies, "identify yourselves, and show us your hands."
Steave replies, "identify yourselves, and show us your hands."
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+9
All three showed their hands.
"Marin."
"Elspeth."
"Sigur."
Abelard sighs. At least they had the sense not to attack. "Well, Marin, Elspeth, Sigur, care to tell us what brings you here? And why you ain't fled the city, like anyone with a lick o' horse-sense shoulda done?"
Abelard sighs. At least they had the sense not to attack. "Well, Marin, Elspeth, Sigur, care to tell us what brings you here? And why you ain't fled the city, like anyone with a lick o' horse-sense shoulda done?"
"We're going to need coin when we get where we're going. Otherwise it's stuck on the streets," Marin said.
"Do you know that Defender's Heart is a safe haven? Or are you risking your lives out here to scavenge?" Steave asks their intentions.
"We're looking for anything out the ordinary in here, not necessarily of value. Please let us look around. If you want, you can stick with us until we return to the Defender's Heart. We've two other places to hit before returning."
[dice=Sense Motive]1d20+4
"Do you know that Defender's Heart is a safe haven? Or are you risking your lives out here to scavenge?" Steave asks their intentions.
"We're looking for anything out the ordinary in here, not necessarily of value. Please let us look around. If you want, you can stick with us until we return to the Defender's Heart. We've two other places to hit before returning."
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+9
"We've got our own place for now," Marin said. "Suppose you can look if you like, but anything worth keeping's ours."
"Fine. How about if we need to take something, we'll pay you a fair value?"