"Donal, you ready to lead? Everyone ready to go?" Mals asks like a den mother. He does a quick sweep of the prison and cell for anything useful, while everyone is thinking about getting ready.
Mal, turning to leave a miniscule glint of gold catches your eye from the Maztican wall of skulls known as a tzompantli. Upon closer inspection, one of the oddly shaped human skulls has a small gold ring piercing just above the eye where the eyebrow would be. A bit of strangely not rotten twine loops around the back, where it ties into the fracture that probably killed the skull's former owner. The skull, ring, and twine all could be somewhat easily removed from its resting place, if desired.
I'm ready if everyone else is... Mal? Donal notes the halfling's gaze.
"Ready to go," Mal answers Donal while staring at the skull, ring, and twine. He studies the twine wondering the significance wanting to secure gold ring without a curse of the dead or infernal.
Very carefully, he recovers the precious gold ring.
Mal, the ring breaks free of the skull easily (ripping through the ocular bone), and in a moment the twine and ring are in your hands. The hard as steel twine looks more like hair than plant fibers, and most curiously seems to be growing out of the golden ring.
Donal nods and unlatches the door, making sure that his mace and shield have been stowed again before opening and leaving.
EDIT:
Donal leads the team west, with Satiir and Fisk in tow. They stick out rather obviously, and try to stay behind the robed/masked party as best they can. After 100 ft or so, the passage branches south. The green lanterns illuminate a tight mesh of steel bars...a possible escape route into the city depths, Fisk whispers.
Grim and Mal spot the hidden portal of plaster before even Fisk, just opposite the southern passage.
I'll move the plaster... and trust my armour to soak up any backlash if something jumps out. You get read to kill anything that jumps out.
Looking ahead and back to make sure the coast is clear, Donal presses his ear to the plaster, listening for activity on the other side...
We can continue to the vault that Amrik pointed us to, or we can clear this place out first... Donal whispers to the others.
"Vault." Mal whispers. Potential secrets and loot were always his priority beyond the Nothing of Shar.
Grim shrugs. Fine.
Then let us go, Donal continues past where he might start looking for the secret door that he heard and continues to the vault on the map that Amrik had drawn.
Just a few steps further is the familial vault of the Vanthampur...a brass plaque next to the door labels it as such, and additionally holds the motto 'A stone heart never bleeds'. The door and lock (?) are a wonder of Gond's divinely inspired engineering, featuring thick long levers of some strange alloy and blunt toothed gears nearly seemlessly flush with the front. There are no visible hinges, but there is a key hole directly in the center...just below a fistsized cut piece of glass that looks red in the green light.
Mal, any of the keys fit the vault lock?
Eventually, the halfling winds his way up to the front of the group with the set of keys, giving enough time for more competent trapfinders to be successful. "Let me see what we've got here."
He tries his set of prison keys half-heartedly and then pulls out his skeleton keys and attempts to unlock the vault.
Mal merely glances at the lock, for you saw no hand movements at all...
*click*
...and it melts away like nothing. The perfectly machined gears rotate smoothly in circles, then the entire panel folds inward with a much more complex geometry. The end result is a number of bronze triangles, pointing inwards...with the red glass prism unaccountably still hovering in the air. (
Inside is a treasure room containing four wooden tables with two small wooden coffers atop each one...for those without an abacus, 8 total treasure chests. But who cares! For hanging on the wall opposite the door is a beautiful shield that seems almost simultaneously silver and gold, where it isn't masterfully adorned with a King's Ransom of precious cut jewels. Your life flashes before your eyes, as you get a vision of what life could be totally devoid of material concerns.
Standing in front of the shield is an old man in much plainer garments, carrying a half-high lit candlestick. As he turns to face the door, you see that his shadow on the far wall doesn’t match his form, but appears to be the shadow of a pudgy, horned fiend with small wings...
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Horned One, it is time to return that shield to its rightful owners. Do you need help returning home? We have helped two of your friends on their way... Donal quips as he dons his shield.
Don, to your horror, as the man turns you realize it is none other than Thavius Kreeg, High Observer of Elturel, High Overseer of Elturgard...supreme leader to all followers of Torm. You take a moment trying to figure out if your words were treasonous, blasphemous, or both...or if you care.
Donal looks to Reya, Do you have your answer, Hellrider? Pay attention to his shadow.
Then turning to Kreeg, Donal spits, Did you sell your soul? Or did you slay the High Overseer and replace him to send Elturel to Hell? Not that it matters...
Reya Mantlemorn, the veteran Hellrider and rather foxy lady is totally awestruck by his presense...her swordpoint barely *tinking* the floor as she stands in disbelief. "No! Hold, Tormtar, it can't be...aye I see the shadow but can't believe! Bear not arms against your Lord!" she shouts before kneeling in respect.
As if that wasn't enough, Donal a voice enters your head...
Donal looks at the High Observer to see if he understands what he says...
Turning to regard Kreeg, Donal continues in tongue of angels...
Simon looks at the shield as if enchanted. Here's what I was looking for... For the first few moments, he completely ignores the presence of the old man in this place. Then, looking at Donald and Rea's reactions, he finally gets into the conversation.
Thavius Kreeg! Greetings! I am sure that whatever you are doing here, everything can be explained. I'm sure you only wanted the best for Elturel. I'm sure you sacrificed everything, even your own soul, solely for the good of people, right? Of course we are ready to help you. Just tell us how it was.
He says all this, removing the mask of the cultist and making it clear that this is just a masquerade.
Don, it doesn't seem like Reya understands Celestial. Kreeg certainly does however, responding in Common with almost a tear "Oh yes, a historic tragedy...our beloved Elturel. I was visiting a parish a few miles outside when it happened...you can't imagine my horror. I was a fool to seek refuge in Baldur's Gate, the Vanthampur captured me almost immediately...now they force me to study this strange shield. But this one, a Hellrider you say?" glancing at her rank insignia, and grasping at the holy symbol of Torm at his neck "We will see. Rise, lieutenant, and recite the Creed Resolute."
Reya stands but keeps her head bowed as she rests her hand on the pommel of her longblade "...serve the realm of Elturgard and the High Observer, defend the city of Elturel body and soul, serve all good people and the greater good, uphold Elturgard's laws and the Creed Resolute itself, and permit no difference in faith to come between them, nor attribute the Companion to one god or another..." Her speech was ryhtmed and practiced, obviously memorizing the Creed at a young age.
Kreeg nods affirmatively at her recitation "Well done...just so. And you did not drop the final verse like some of your older armsmen...the Companion had already arrived when you were born, I suppose." he ponders. When Simon prompts for further explanation, he adds "This shield is...twisted, false. I suspect it may be the reason for much of the rampant avarice and malice in Baldur's Gate. It festered for so long in the Hhrunian crypts..."
Don, even without the bizarre shadow thing, your gut is squirming listening to Kreeg speak. Suppose everything he said was true. Why would he leave Elturel to its fate, instead of mounting some action from the wreckage? A leader would rally, not flee...and not abandon his people to the Hells without a fight. Further, how could a high cleric be captured by the likes of Vanthampur's goons so easily? The Powers of Life and Death should be his to command.
And the High Overseer would allow himself to be captured by this Duke? Even with the fiends that she has in her service, you should easily be able to leave and help your people. The Hellriders are being hunted like dogs, yet you stand here, fascinated by this shield... Donal has by this time, changed back to the Common tongue.
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I join the question. It can't be that easy to grab you... Really, that's enough. You had a plan and you stuck to it. Tell us, what is it? What are your terms of the deal... with devils? You can trust us. We are people of a flexible mindset. We can understand a lot.
Reya had just about had enough "Stop it! Just listen to him, let him explain!"
The Candlekeep spy, Fisk, leaned in the vault door frame poking at the strange hoving red glass "Na, my mistress had it right...charlatan. Seen a thousand just like him. The Eltan's got the gist. We know about your little contract, Kreeg. Whatever good you did in the undead wars decades ago will forever be overshadowed by this betrayal."
The pudgy winged shadow dancing on the wall in Kreeg's candlelight seems to flicker and pace, it creeps around the shield as corporeal Kreeg motions to it as well with a flourish, focusing on Simon "Don't you see, it is plainly here before you. The key to proving what the patriars are...corrupt and evil, united behind a rising grand duke and driving its people down like fenceposts in wet ground. Tell me, do you think Baldur's Gate is a city of good? How can it continue as it is now? Its guardians fleece the poor while the wealthy feast upon each other. Why not remove it, as Elturel was? With the intelligence within this shield, I think we can..."
Reya tears up, finally realizing the man before him is no holy leader.
"Please. As if Elturel was innocent. The scions of Torm that flanked our halls all fell, one after the other. Surrounded by snakes you either die, or adapt."
You were supposed to be better. You were the beacon of hope. How can you turn on Torm this way? How can you betray the Hellriders, like Reya here? You have forsaken your post. Sadly, I must do what they cannot. You should have just let me do that, Donal dons his shield and draws his new mace, I am His fury, I am His vengeance. I will send you to be judged.
"The Hellriders owe everything to me! I made them!" he sternly informs, reaching for a blunt iron scepter.
Init:
Round 1:
Don, Mal, Si, Grim <--UP
Kreeg
Mal considers charming the overseer to diffuse the situation but decides that this man would be better off dead. His soul with the infernals with whom he dealt.
So, back out from under his cultist robes, the halfling pulls out and loads his crossbow. He backs up against the wall, takes aim, and waits for someone to distract Kreeg in melee. But his companion fouled his aim sending his bolt into the far wall.
Donal surges forward, The Hellriders owe you NOTHING you arrogant fool! You owe them EVERYTHING!
I tried so hard to give you a chance. We would have killed you anyway, but that way you would have died usefully...
Sighing, Eldan begins his gloomy infernal song.
Donal assaults his former Lord, the fury surging his blow as Mal's bolt lodges itself in the fat part of the man's cheek. Simon's blast goes wide, striking one of the treasure chests which explodes in a shower of hundreds of gold coins.
The Doomguide thrust his sword at the fallen cleric, wondering how much like himself this Kreeg used to be...
Round 1:
Don, Mal, Si, Grim
Kreeg <--UP
The old man, so deprived from Torm's grace, no longer had any magic or powers to channel. Instead, in some last ditch effort he reached for the shield, affixing it to his forearm as his entire body seemed to smolder with tiny black tendrils of smoke...
Mal was surprised when Kreeg jumped in front of his errant bolt. He smiled when it sunk into his cheek. Happy that the bolt will be easier to recover later.
Against the wall, he takes aim and squeezes the trigger. This time his bolt really did slam into the wall.
Don't touch that shield! - Simon says, almost breaking into a scream.
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Somehow, the universe obeyed Simon's command...Kreeg's hand (and therefore the shield) was separated from his body in an explosive blast of dark energies. The former High Observer slumped to the ground, slowly bleeding from his wrist until he sputtered one last cough...
His body then exploded in a shower of ashes, but his soul (which looked like some kind of pudgy winged devil) was bound by chains and dragged into the hells just like the others.
Kreeg's Iron Scepter (non-magical mace)
Mysterious Shield (a legendary quality magic item)
30 electrum ingots (worth 10gp each)
300 gp
An ivory ceremonial blade with Draconic writing, broken in one clean snap
200 pp (yes, platinum)
20 azurite gemstones (10 gp each)
Without wasting time, Simon approaches the shield. That's what I was looking for. He picks it up and admires it with fascination. Are you okay Hellrider? It could have been a blow to you. However, he asks it anyway without looking up from the shield.
Donal looks down at the dead priest, the paragon of his church, fallen so far from his once-high perch, You will not be the first, you will not be the last.
At Simon's comment, Donal looks over, That shield may be a liar. It claimed to be a celestial bound, but it did not seem to understand the tongue of angels...
Simon, the quality of the shield is unlike anything you've ever seen. Whatever crafting methods were used to create such an exquisite yet useful piece have surely been lost to time.
Reya seems to be having some kind of emotional struggle "...I just don't understand why...why did he turn his back on us. Who will lead us now, with neither High Observer nor Companion?"
The spy was leaning against the door frame picking his teeth with a splinter "...hate to interject, but...that puzzle box is still in the compound somewheres. That contracts inside...my mistress is rarely incorrect. Should have the answers you seek, lightfoot."
The old lady Hhune who had been cowering in the corner rises and beholds the shield for the first time "That's it! Our family artifact...it must return to our vaults at once."
At the spy's comment, We will get the box. We are just getting started. Take what we can, this will deliver another blow to Vanthampur.
--
What do you know of the shield, Lady Hhune? Donal asks.
Simon looks at lady Hhune, then says with a smile. Of course it will return, just not immediately. This is a strong artifact, it was needed by Vanthampurs for a reason. We will use it against them and their machinations. It may take some time, you know... It's not enough to commit a massacre in their basement, we need to stop their whole insidious plan.