Caraid extends a hand and fires a beam of unpleasantly bright light across the room at Hyrune.
Ceceka and Aily team up for a devastating combo attack on one of the unrisen. The tough skeletal undead is still standing despite its grievous injuries. Humerus struggles to reverse the grapple, and his stomp only knocks down the damaged undead.
Hyrune easily dodges Caraid's beam of light. He barely manages to twist out of the way of Telvir's summoned skeleton's rib attack!
Hyrune is lightly injured, but those wounds quickly heal due to his vampiric nature. Maintaining his shield spell, the Blood Lord casts a dispelling dweomer, banishing the dinosaur skeleton!
The prone unrisen tries to stand, but Ceceka reacts to slice it again and put it down for the count.
The other three attack Ceceka and Humerus.
The battle of spellcasters continues across the fray: Telvir weaves magic around a sharp stake, flinging it at Hyrune, and commands Smoke to attack.
for
for
HP 167/220
AC 35 / 37 in Mountain Stance or 39 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +22, Ref +22, Will +20 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects: grabbed
"Really, boss, letting go anytime now would be nice," Humerus says, resorting to a couple of blows of his own. He continues, blathering a little in a way that makes no sense to Hyrune.
As Ceceka destroys the one attempting to stand, Aily shifts to help her minion which includes a withering "Stop playing with your kills."
Caraid frowns and then turns his attention to the undead minions. Remembering the notes from the previous chamber he summons magic that would have him executed if Hyrune lives to tell about it. Fortunately he won't.
Ceceka and Aily team up to take down a second unrisen. Caraid instantly annihilates another one with his breath of life spell, its body crumbling into a pile of metallic blue-green salts. Humerus and Smoke pummel the last unrisen while Telvir manages to impale Hyrune with a hurled stake.
The vampire lord hisses in pain, pulling the stake free. As the wounds starts to heal, he sustains his shield and casts a powerful spell in an attempt to confuse all of you!
The last unrisen bites at Humerus, crunching bone in a critical hit.
Caraid is taken off guard and fires off a short beam of light.
He misses and then looks around, hoping no-one noticed just what a terrible shot he seems to be.
"Little half breed, come from seed, so filled with need, but will only bleed." Aily finds her mind clouded, thrown back into father's halls, taunted by the inane and poor rhymes of the tattered jester.
When it clears enough to allow her clarity, she charges up to the hated fang and makes a clumsy swipe, which hopefully leaves him open for a follow-up.
The spell confuses Telvir and stuns Smoke.
He fires off a telekinetic projectile at a random target!
for
HP 112/220
AC 35 / 37 in Mountain Stance or 39 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +22, Ref +22, Will +20 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects: grabbed, confused 1 minute
Humerus, more confused than usual, lashes out at the two slavering beasts around him -- the unrishen currently gnawing on him and the horrible hound that he knows has just been waiting for the perfect moment! His mind clears up -- as much as it ever is -- a moment later.
Ceceka is confused, lashing out at his allies and hitting Aily once. Fortunately, she and Humerus are able to finish off the last unrisen minion.
Telvir's projectile bounces off of Ceceka's armor.
Not wanting to deal with Aily's deadly blades, Hyrune casts a powerful spell to banish her to a magical puzzle room!
Telvir continues in his confusion, attacking again with his spells.
for
HP 112/220
AC 35 / 37 in Mountain Stance or 39 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +22, Ref +22, Will +20 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects: confused 9 rounds
Confused, Humerus rushes toward Hyrune, fists flying. "Bibbeldy-boop, blood boss!"
The fury in the maid's red eyes could burn a vampire to ash, but the reason the anger burns so hot is that THERE IS NO VAMPIRE TO KILL. Aily stands in the extraplanar puzzle room of mysterious origin looking to the paths like they are the most disgusting stains on undead underthings. Eventually she steps forward taking one...
Thankfully her keen eyes found what seems like the right path.
Caraid lets out a feral sounding growl and stops holding back.
The beam of light that leaps from his hands washes over Hyrune like the fury of a god.
Humerus ignores Hyrune's repulsion spell as he rushes towards the vampire. Unfortunately, he fails to land a hit. Caraid does, though, blasting the rival Blood Lord with holy fire! Hyrune howls in agony as he burns. Meanwhile, Telvir hurls a projectile at nothing and Ceceka slashes Smoke before finally coming to his senses.
"Let's see how you do without your magic!" Hyrune shouts at Caraid. He casts a spell to attempt to reduce the oracle's mental facilities!
Caraid shrugs off the spell without comment and unleashes another gout of holy fire!
Another pause to contemplate the patterns, then with a single step, Aily appears back into the fight. Her red eyes find first her blood lord. Seeing he is still breathing, she then turns to the leech who sent her away. "Your magic is weak." her velvet voice is full of mocking disdain.
Smoke is in better shape than Telvir. The dog lopes up to Helrun n on his own, flanking with Humerus.
Telvir fires off a spell!
for
HP 112/220
AC 35 / 37 in Mountain Stance or 39 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +22, Ref +22, Will +20 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects: confused 8 rounds
Humerus flinches! Realizing the horrible, vicious awful bone-chomping horror has finally decided to try to dismember and devour him, Humerus strikes first! He moves around the annoying vampire in his way and attacks Smoke!
Ceceka struggles against the repulsion field around Hyrune but is unable to get through it. Frustrated, he grabs a javelin from his quiver and hurls it at the vampire, scoring a hit! As Aily finds her way out of Hyrune's extradimensional prison, Caraid blasts Hyrune with another beam of searing light. The final strike proves too much for the Blood Lord to take, and with a hiss, his body dissolves into a cloud of mist and flows into the nearby coffin...
"Open the coffin!" Caraid commands, reaching into his extra-dimensional bag and producing a simple wooden stake as Smoke bounds over to grab the slab of juicy meat which also falls out of his bag.
"Time to end this."
Coming out of his confusion, Humerus shrugs.
"You got it, blood boss!" he says cheerfully, pulling open the coffin as he flinches away from Smoke.
Aily nods to her minion from her position behind her lord, her dagger still out just in case.
You find Hyrune lying helpless in repose in his coffin. It's a simple matter to drive a wooden stake through his black heart and end his miserable existence, once and for all.
***
The death of a Blood Lord is a noteworthy event in Mechitar, but not an unusual one. People soon feel free to openly speak of their many grievances against Hyrune, and it’s clear that he was deeply unpopular but feared. In a few days, the citizens adjust to the changing political climate, and for many, you are the “rising stars” Hyrune so bitterly commented on. While Geb, for the moment, seems not to have much time or interest in speaking you again, another powerful undead leader certainly does.
Kortash Khain has had all he can take of Mechitar, Geb, and the surface world. The ghoul king prepares to return to Nemret Noktoria, but he invites you to visit with him once last time before he departs. Through the disembodied corpse that serves as his Voice, Kortash thanks you for your assistance during his time in Mechitar. He says that you are welcome to visit the streets of the "greater city" of Nemret Noktoria at any time in the future. Whether or not Geb’s decision to reinstate the nation’s tithes to Kortash’s people is imminent, Kortash notes—speaking in his own voice for the first time—“Ghouls never hunger for long—not so long as flesh exists in the world above.”
Telvir bows with the appropriate obeisance to the ghoul king, "One day, perhaps, we will visit your great city."
Caraid also bows, while privately vowing to never visit the ghoul city if he can possibly avoid it!
Thanks, blood boss," Humerus blithely exclaims. "That sounds really nice!" The skeleton doesn't have any flesh to worry about the ghouls eating, not that it would likely occur to him even if he did.
Aily's watchful eyes study the Kortash's Voice as it speaks, cooly distant but ready in case it chooses to try and end future rivals. Her breath does drawn in as the creature stops in front of her and offers her a stunning onyx statue of a flaming steed. She can almost feel the untethered, rearing and driving across the streets with his mistress riding on its back.
She looks up, and gives the Voice a true nod of respect before taking the treasure, making it disappear in the folds of her apron.
Part of Ceceka is intrigued by the idea of visiting Nemret Noktoria. For once, he'd be the one lusted over by thousands. Sure, they'd want to eat him up, literally, but that feeling of being wanted and desired does warm his heart a little.
"I'd be honored, High Priest. "
As usual when they have time, Humerus goes out to relax at Aily's very firm suggestions. If he happens to learn something during this time, he definitely brings it back. He's not sure why Aily yelled at him last time he came into her room to tell her, but it likely had to do with her lack of clothing and Caraid's similar state.
He decides to wait outside their door, ignoring the noises coming from inside, to tell her what he's learned without interrupting her. He begins humming tunelessly to himself.
In the aftermth of their victory, TElvir hosts a number of academic symposia in their lair. The meetings mostly focus on embalming, but touch on many of the necromantic arts.
Caraid calls in favours, bribes, woos, charms and (thanks to a certain lovely maid) blackmails, threatens and even in one particularly stubborn case assassinates. He works for months, relentlessly, until at last he has done everything he can do and there is nothing left to do but see if Geb responds.
While Humerus uncovers a secret about the Celebrants, Tevlir works to increase his personal celebrity, doing so with great success!
Meanwhile, Caraid and Aily campaign tirelessly through Mechitar for several months, recruiting powerful supporters to their cause. His hard work pays off as a new faction emerges: the Proclaimers. Geb himself approves of their work, granting them a permanent headquarters in the capital city!
Telvir spends some time repairing relations with the Celebrants and Reanimators.
Humerus follows suit with the Builders League and Export Guild.
Humerus and Telvir are able to make up with the Celebrants and Reanimators, restoring your reputation loss from the foundation of the Proclaimers.
***
Chapter 5: A Taste of Ashes
Eventually, the time comes to follow up on the information you learned about Chancellor Kemnebi being the ultimate mastermind behind the food poisoning plot. Thus, you leave Mechitar behind to journey to Yled in search of proof.
Fortunately, you have an old ally who wishes to help you: the graveknight Seldeg Bhedlis, Geb’s spymaster. As you begin your journey from Mechitar, you meet a courier who delivers an invitation from Seldeg asking you to stop at his residence at Fort Halg on the outskirts of Yled.
The road ahead curves to the northeast, following the edge of a sharp cliff that faces south. The terrain here is rough and rugged, with only a few scraggly shrubs and plants tenaciously clinging to what little soil hasn’t been blown away by eldritch winds from the Mana Wastes to the north.
To the northwest, the rocky terrain rises to a dramatic plateau, atop which stands a low-walled fortress with a commanding view over the surrounding area. Colorful pennants fly from the walls of the structure, and a well-tended hedge lines the small road leading to it.
Seldeg greets you calmly, gesturing to his living servants to see to your mounts or other needs. He asks what you’ve learned in Mechitar, and listens patiently despite already being informed of nearly everything through his agents.
The graveknight nods briefly, and the desiccated skin around his mouth crinkles in a grim smile. “Yes, it sounds like there’s a great deal to learn about this mystery in Yled. While I don’t have much direct influence on matters in the city, I do have a bit of advice.
“First, Yled is a complex political tapestry. Blood Lords and the factions still have influence as they do elsewhere, but a new group has seized the reins of power in Yled: the Warmaster Council. They’re a collection of graveknights and military experts who’ve been charged by Geb himself to prepare for war with Nex. The Warmaster Council takes their mandate very broadly. Yled is a production center for the war effort, you see, and since the Warmaster Council directs those preparations, they can set rules, regulations, and practices that everyone in Yled must follow, even those who are Blood Lords. It’s an easy matter to be branded a traitor by the council, and that’s a speedy route to permanent death. Unfortunately, the council sees this old spymaster as a threat rather than an asset, so it’s unwise for me to even set foot in Yled these days.
“Second, talk of the imminent war is on everyone’s mind in Yled. Rumors are spreading in other nations about the recent spate of poisoned crops, and there’s talk—as yet uninformed but ultimately correct—that some kind of sinister necromancy is involved. Nex, in particular, is gearing up for war, having seized upon these rumors as justification to ramp up their own war machine. This preoccupation with an upcoming war may serve as an easy distraction to use in your investigations, I suppose.
“As for the source of this shadow ash, I’ve heard reliable rumors that Pesabnet, the high priest of Urgathoa, is involved with smuggling from Nex. While he makes all the right overtures to Yled’s Overgovernor and to the Cathedral of Epiphenomena in Mechitar, he’s almost certainly involved with illicit activity. If the smuggling rumors are true, Pesabnet is playing a dangerous game, for the Warmaster Council would not ignore such behavior, even from one of the city’s spiritual leaders.
“That said, Pesabnet has allies throughout Yled society. Be as subtle as you can until you’ve amassed concrete rumors of his suspicious actions; with sufficient evidence in your hands, Pesabnet will probably be willing to speak with you to avoid entanglements with the Warmaster Council. Once you have information from Pesabnet, follow those clues to the shadow ash and any proof that Kemnebi is behind it. I have faith in your competence.”
"You got it, boss. We'll be really subtle! Maybe I can ask questions about this Pesabnet, and then no one will know it's really the blood bosses here who are curious."
Humerus is very proud of this idea rattling around his empty skull.
"Well doesn't that sound like fun." Caraid says sardonically. "And here I was hoping to focus on foreign policy for a while. Thank you for your assistance Seldeg, we'll stop by on the way back once everything is done."
------------------------------
He doesn't say anything else where Seldeg can hear so it isn't until they're travelling again that he says anything.
"Seldeg's strategy seems to be sound. We should speak to Pesabnet fairly early, among other major leaders. As part of a series of audiences. We are still new Blood Lords, naturally we'd bow and scrape to the established powers. I think we start there. Telvir, you and I will lead on that. Aily, you and Humerus should investigate the lower levels of hierarchy - they'll know a lot more and I'm certain you'll find what we need."
His smile for Aily is much warmer than the one for Humerus - it's not exactly a secret within this carriage though.
Aily flashes her lord a look at the thought of him bowing and scraping to anyone, but keeps her rebuke in check. "As you wish." the slightly shifting to plump (At least in the middle) maid says.
Ceceka glares at the road ahead. How much easier would life be if Geb simply took complete control? Or is this what Geb wants, for them to keep each other busy by plotting against one another?
"If we get to talk to one of them, we'll get to talk to all of them. I suppose it is as Caraid says: we start with Pesabnet, and then see who else comes knocking."
Before you depart, Seldeg offers one more suggestion. "Word will quickly spread that a group of new Blood Lords has entered Yled. Your authority is something you can use to your advantage. I suspect you’ll be visited by many who offer help, but be cautious with their offers. No one in Yled is truly selfless." The graveknight gives a raspy chuckle. "No one in the world is truly selfless."
***
The ruinous landscape around Yled is scarred by thousands of battles and littered with the shattered remnants of the many forces who’ve tried, and failed, to destroy the city over thousands of years. The infamous Bonewall that surrounds the city appears as a smooth mass of ivory at a distance but resolves into a conglomerated patchwork of millions of individual bones up close.
The city’s massive gates stand open, although there is no hinge or mechanism for these yawning portals. Tall, flat-topped towers rise behind and above the walls, with numerous defenders positioned to keep a close eye on the surroundings in all directions. The top of the wall and towers bristle with numerous large siege engines, some mechanical and others visibly charged with crackling negative energy.
A steady stream of wagons, carts, and travelers wind their way across the shattered, dry earth outside the wall and into the gates, most drawn by tireless undead creatures. Each of these vehicles stops in the long tunnel formed by the openings within the wall where grim guards carefully inspect each shipment before they pass into Yled proper.
The gates to Yled are typically guarded by soldiers and usually overseen by incorporeal sentries. The guards question everyone entering Yled and examine all cargo. As soon as they learn that you are Blood Lords, they step aside with obvious deference, offering to provide directions to well-known landmarks or even conscripting a guide for you.
Of course, you have been to Yled before, when you were hunting down the last of the hags that made up the Graveclaw coven. In fact, you met and befriended two of the local Blood Lords: Kyril Vonth, the wight banker, and Lord Zthni, the vampire socialite. Both might be happy to see you again.
"Ah, Yled. I admire the walls as much now as when we first visited," Telvir nods with approval when they enter the city. "We should pay our respects to the local blood lords. Lord Zthni is sure to have heard any rumors around the city, and if large quantities of coin were traded for shadow ash, I'm sure Kyrul Vonth would have heard of it."
Aily coordinates with her minion maids to secure the blood lords lodging and to see their belongings secured in them. "Both are good choices. Visting one before the other might show favoritism. Should we split up or invite them both to a meal as Lady Berline did before?"
"I will pay a call on Lord Zthni and invite him to dine with us." Caraid agrees. "Telvir, will you call on Vonth? Best we deliver the invitation and little else, for now at least. Aily, I trust you can arrange something of suitable splendor." It isn't a question, he truly doesn't doubt that his maid will be able to do so and more.
I must get around to making her position official. He muses idly.
"Excellent idea," Telvir agrees. He dresses for an outing in the city and leaves to deliver the invitation.
"Huh? What do you want me to do, blood boss?" Humerus says, his attention diverted from a bone on the wall that looked like it would work particularly well as a replacement for one of his own cracked phalanges. "You want I should come with you like a bodyguard?"
"Yes, come along, Humerus," Telvir agrees. "The blood lord may have a heavy gift to give us."
"A gift, blood boss? Oh, what do you think it'll be? I wouldn't mind a nice sweater. These old bones get cold sometimes. Well, not really, but a nice sweater is still a nice gift."