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Background:
E'los Soluzar was a refugee from an outlying elven clan that met a mysterious end. It is considered recent in elven years as it only happened about 60 years ago. Very little is known of how Clan Magestra met its end. Many of the members of this clan were worshippers of Sarenrae, their lawful bent bristled against the chaotic tendencies of Kyonin. The clan’s most noteworthy accomplishment was their marching in the Shining Crusade against the Whispering Tyrant. What is known is that the children of the clan were rounded up by their elders and spirited away quickly and without explanation. It is suspected that the clan was either attacked or sacrificed themselves to contain some great evil that the clan had accidentally unleashed. In the aftermath nothing was left behind, the keep itself has disappeared as if vanishing into thin air.
The clan had good, though aloof relations with many human noble houses that split the children between many nations raising them separately. It is not known why the clan sent their children to live with humans as opposed to sending them back to the elven homeland of Kyonin. The children were sent with some treasure to defray the cost of raising and educating them. Some of the children ended up in good families that educated the children. Others took the treasure and kicked the children out onto the streets. He wound up with a decent family of lesser nobility in Brevic city of Restov. However, being human they were totally unprepared in facing the prospect of a child that aged so slowly. As a child the only thing he wanted to do was finally grow up. Books were his escape and over the long years he became known as “The Child in the Tower”. Childhood had become a prison with time as his jailor. As a teenager (in elven terms around age 80-90) his silver hair slowly began to streak red until only red remained and his magic ability finally awakened.
The very last of his family inheritance was spent on his training in the arts of wizardry elsewhere in Restov. He ended up getting apprenticed to a retired battle mage. His fiery nature made him a natural fit for the Evocation school to specialize in. He chose Necromancy as an opposition school due to an aversion to the "creepy" nature of dealing with dead things. He chose Enchantment as his other school because he felt the mind altering spells were too indirect and smelled of cowardice. In his eyes, why should you cast a charm on an enemy when for the same effort you can incinerate them? He has a particular penchant for fire spells.
His fragmented upbringing has left him a rash, impulsive and slightly embittered adult. He has a short temper and arrogant disposition that seems to have gotten worse with age and will probably get worse as he gains more power. He has somewhat exaggerated "sharp" angular facial features with high cheek bones. His hair is bright red, slicked back with a widow's peak in the front and going all the way down to the top of his back. His skin is fair with a slight trace or hint of gold. His eyes are blue and usually slightly narrowed as if he is constantly calculating something. His speech is laced with a thick Brevic accent. It is very likely that he ended up turning out the opposite of his parent's intentions as he was being groomed to be a warrior, paladin or cleric when he was younger.
Notes:
-His birth name is E'los. However, after moving to Brevoy he took the name Vladius to better fit in with the Rostlanders around him.
-The surname Soluzar is an elven phrase meaning "Sun King" or "Sun Ruler".
-Vladius is the only child of Sir Jartaran Soluzar, Paladin and Commander of the Guard for Clan Magestra. His mother was the Priestess, Telandra Soluzar.
-Less than 50 children were sent away by Clan Magestra. THey were sent to a variety of places such as Taldor, Mendev, Absolom, certain temples of Sarenrae in Qadira and Katapesh and pre-revolution Galt.
Shadow in the Sky Part 1
Well, the last few days have been interesting, after 10 years of training, my master abruptly ended my apprenticeship. One minute he told me to gather my things and the next I was in a town called Riddleport. I could almost swear that I felt a boot to my backside right before I was teleported but that’s probably my imagination. I can’t be angry at him though. He did teach me how to harness the fire in my blood and saved me from the prospect of being a petty sorcerer. Being a wizard, for me, is all about controlling and redirecting the energy coursing through me.
It only took me a couple of days to get my bearings. The town itself is a cesspool of thugs and crooks. It is dominated by a massive edifice known as the Cyphergate, a relic of the time before The Skyfall when Thassilon ruled this area of the world. Apparently, there is a small army of wizards living here studying the gate, for some reason though it doesn’t really interest me. I find the Cyphermage obsession with symbols to be boring in the extreme, my interests lie in studying raw energy and raw force. Right now the Cyphermages were all abuzz about a large shadowy cloud sitting at the apex of the arch. Everyone around town was calling this new feature “The Blot”.
After some wandering and time getting used to my surroundings (and avoiding the routine muggings), I managed to find employment. It was an offer from an old human named Saul Vancaskerkin to work in his gambling establishment, The Golden Goblin. The Goblin was an old casino that was being restored to its former glory. Saul needed some “specialists” to help him with security. With no other prospects for work or adventuring I accepted. A wizard can’t hope to accomplish any great deeds with no coin in his pocket.
I met with the rest of the crew; they were eclectic to be sure. There was Atticus, a priest of Cayden Cailean, ok guy, just seems to drink way too much. There was an unusual sort named Wraythe, probably the most undisciplined monk I’ve ever seen, then again I’m still trying to figure out exactly what he is. There was a huge warrior known as Niko who was dead silent, he seemed to prefer speaking with the massive hammer he carried with him. Also there was another elf in addition to myself, a ranger who went by the name Tristam. After so much time, I must seem as alien to other elves as they do to me. Lastly there was a human warrior named Marko, by his accent I would guess he was from Brevoy.
On its face the job was easy. I was to help keep the peace inside the Goblin. I kept a couple of Color Spray spells handy just in case things get rough, I doubt Saul really wants to have to clean up a bloodstain or a scorch mark in his own place. My other job was to sit in the rafters and watch for cheaters. I began to learn that my employer has a very shady history as a former crime lord. He swears he’s gone clean but I can’t help but be suspicious, one of his old rivals even stopped by to scope out Saul’s new operation. Since I joined profits have been going up. I don’t know exactly how much, Saul won’t let me or anyone else near the books. It’s his place so I guess it’s his right, until I find out he’s cheating me.
On a lighter note, we got a new girl working here a couple of days ago, her name is Samaritha. She is a pretty thing, a half elf with red hair and also a wizard as well. Thinking we had quite a few things in common, I introduced myself and tried to get to know her better. Maybe it was the fire stirring in my blood that got the better of me or maybe I’m just not a ladies man, she ended up brushing me off. Later that night, I noticed her heading upstairs with Atticus after a bit of drinking. I guess in the long run she would have just ended up being a distraction. Still, it doesn’t feel as good when you’re upstaged by a drunken cleric. It’s too bad this place doesn’t have any Brevnian Vodka around to help put the fire out.
The next day we were called into Saul’s office. I thought it might be to talk about the recent brawl that broke out with a group of sailors. At this point he reveals that he needed some outside financing to get the Goblin going. In a town like Riddleport this kind of money usually comes from a loan shark. The good news at least was that we were in the black and Saul was paying down his debt. The bad news: Feldin, the floor manager was sent to pay a large sum of the loan to Saul’s lender, Lymas Smeed. Feldin hasn’t been seen in hours and Saul was visibly nervous. So I set off to Feldin’s house with Atticus, Marko, Wraythe , Tristam, and Niko. We must have looked like a hit squad walking down the street, no one got in our way.
We arrived at Feldin’s apartment and found the door had been forced open. Inside the apartment was some nameless street bum, with no sign of Feldin anywhere. The place was a complete mess; it also looked like it had been looted more than once. The bum’s story was believable, I doubt a murderer is going to hang out in the house of someone he just robbed, but then again you can’t tell with the lawless nature of this place. There were no answers here for us, so we decided to go see the prime suspect.
Let it be said that we at least had the civility of knocking first. But after he closed his viewing slit our patience with him and this situation had ended. Niko shattered the door with his hammer and we moved in. By this time Smeed had retreated upstairs when we met his bodyguard. It was nothing we couldn’t handle. I have to ask: What kind of criminal/lowlife uses a baboon as a body guard? It was dealt with swiftly by either Marko or Tristam. I don’t know because I was running upstairs behind Niko and Wraythe. We got upstairs and trapped him in his bedroom and moved in. Niko was in front and Wraythe managed to flank him. At this point I realized that if we weren’t careful Niko would end up pounding our quarry to tomato paste with a single blow from that hammer of his, we needed Smeed alive.
I took the initiative and fired off a Color Spray into the room. It was a potent one because I managed to get Smeed, Niko, and Wraythe in the blast. They all dropped to the floor and I ran in with some rope to tie up our quarry so we could deal with him later. Afterward, I tried to rouse Niko and Wraythe, I know they’re both pissed at me, I owe both of them a stiff drink, possibly two. We regrouped and set to interrogating Smeed, we didn’t get a whole lot of information out of him. He proclaimed his innocence in the plot and that he had no knowledge of Feldin’s whereabouts. The irony of it all is that Wraythe seems to believe him. Smeed eventually caved though. He didn’t admit guilt but he did agree to release Saul from his debt. We ended up leaving Smeed alive, after we grabbed anything valuable we could find.
All that was left was to head back to Saul and report our success.
Shadow in the Sky Part 2
Riddleport is certainly an interesting town, a strange mix of law and lawnessness. The vast amount of villainy here is barely kept in check by the local Gendarmes. Everything here is based on a very delicate balance of power between the various crime lords. The Gendarmes aren’t really law enforcement, just a form of urban pacification to keep the lesser thieves in line and to protect the Overlord and his interests. This modicum of order does not extend to the people near the bottom of the social scale as we would come to find out.
We didn’t find out what happened to Feldin, but we did manage to “convince” Smeed to forgive Saul’s debt. Wraythe had his doubts that Smeed had any involvement in Feldin’s disappearance. It didn’t matter to me, shaking down a piece of gutter trash like Smeed isn’t going to cause me to lose any sleep. We were on our way back from Smeed’s house when we heard a cry for help come from one of the side alleys and decided to check it out.
Walking into the side alley we saw a young man being beaten by four men. There were a couple more thugs there as well looking on that noticed us coming. They fired off arrows as we closed the distance. The fight wasn’t a long one. The thugs were decimated it a matter of moments. When the hostilities ended four of them were dead and one escaped. When the Gendarmes finally showed up, Wraythe bribed one of them and they happily took the last thug off of our hands and off to jail.
With the conflict subsided we then turned to the victim. After some patching up he was eventually coherent enough to talk. He introduced himself as Jhonas, a young acolyte of Sarenrae; he served at a small local mission called St .Casperian’s Salvation. The boy didn’t seem concerned about his own health. Apparently, his mission had fallen on hard times and he was looking for help. The head priest, Father Podrick seemed like he was having a crisis of faith, turned to the bottle to escape from the misery of the place that had consumed him. In the Father’s weakness a gang had moved into the mission and took over the entire top floor. The needy and poor were being used as a smokescreen to hide one gangs’ criminal activity. If the local bosses found out, the innocents there could be harmed or killed in the inevitable conflict.
For the time being we had Jhonas accompany us back to the Golden Goblin. We couldn’t deal with his problem right now. It was getting late, we needed some rest from the previous fights and also we had to report back to Saul on what we found out-and didn’t find out concerning Feldin. Saul seemed to be happy about the results, especially the part about his remaining debt to Smeed being wiped out. There was no real mention of Feldin and the fact that we had no clue as to what happened to him. We let Saul know our intention to do a little side work, he didn’t need the details. He seemed pensive at first about the idea but accepted it as long as it didn’t interfere with our work.
The following night we decided to pay a visit to St. Casperian’s Salvation. From the outside, it was everything I expected from a small mission in a city like this. It was small, dilapidated, and run down, its stained glass windows a sign of much better days. Jhonas had some idea on how the place ran from day to day and in general who would be where. The thugs mainly inhabited the top floor pretty much doing their own thing; they didn’t interact at all with the other people at the mission. Downstairs was the domain of the lost, the poor and the desperate. Jhonas also mentioned that their leader spent most of his time downstairs. The main problem with that was that no one outside the gang knew exactly who we was or what he looked like. Our strategy was clear: wipe out his cronies upstairs then move down and try to filter him out from the innocents he was hiding among. All we knew about him was his nickname; people seemed to refer to him simply as “The Pauper.”
We approached the temple from the back entrance. There were three doors, a large one going into the chapel and two on either side that lead to stairs going up on opposite sides. We picked the lock and moved in with Niko leading the way. At some point in the first moments they must have heard us because there was a rogue hiding near the top of the stairs. He got a good hit in on Niko which turned out to be his last mistake. Niko responded by crushing his skull and caving in his chest with his hammer. I believe they are still trying to clean up what’s left of him off of the walls. After the first one fell we all came in behind Niko, following him up the stairs.
The top floor was just a series of small rooms down two separate hallways. Niko went down the first hallway with Atticus behind him, Wraythe and Tristam took the second. I stayed behind Atticus with my crossbow ready and bore witness to the chaos. There were thugs in at least four different rooms along the hall. Out of the rooms came the thugs, the problem was that with such a narrow hallway only a few could engage Niko at once, he had become a human wall. Wraythe and Tristam didn’t run into any resistance as they went through the other hall. The halls didn’t connect so for the thugs the only ways out were out the window or through Niko. Wraythe found another way to get to them by going out a nearby window and entering back through another behind them.
At this point the battle had degenerated into a chaotic and cramped struggle. In a way we had them on both sides with Niko on one and Wraythe on the other. Wraythe entered a room with three thugs and managed to defeat them all. A wounded elf tried to escape Wraythe by jumping out the window, the fall ended up killing him. Watching Niko fight you would think he were driving pylons into floor. Every time Niko would swing his massive hammer another thug would fall. If he happed to take a shot he had Atticus right behind him with a healing wand at the ready. Tristam and I managed to get a couple of hits; it wasn’t easy lining up a shot in the chaos. I didn’t have many chances to try my luck as I over cranked my crossbow when reloading and snapped the bow string on it. It looked like Niko, Atticus and Wraythe had this all but wrapped up, at that Tristam and I headed downstairs.
When we got downstairs we found the chapel to be almost completely empty. It’s very likely the sounds of battle scared everyone else out. The only ones left were an old man in holy vestments and another man who looked like a filthy beggar standing next to him at the altar. When Tristam and I got closer, the beggar drew a dagger and held it to the priest’s throat. I assumed the priest to be Father Podrick and the beggar could only be this “Pauper” that Jhonas was referring to. The Pauper used the Father as a human shield and demanded for us to leave. I’m guessing he must have realized that his gang had been decimated by now. In a swift motion, Tristam nocked an arrow, bow drawn back and at the ready. The Pauper jumped at that but didn’t react otherwise. I decided to try to talk The Pauper down, or at least make a good show of it. Moving in slowly, I raised my hands and tried to calm him.
The Pauper seemed more and more apprehensive as I got closer. He was in a pinch with me close by, Tristram taking aim, and our companions coming down any second now. As I got closer I heard some muttering coming from Father Podrick. His hands weren’t moving and he certainly wasn’t casting a spell. I then realized that he was saying The Last Prayer to the goddess, his last before dying. The Father was ready to die and was in essence giving me permission to act. I concentrated and channeled a Color Spray spell out of my hands illuminating the altar in bright flashing lights. Luckily I managed to get my spell off before The Pauper could react. At that, both men crumbled to the floor completely dazzled. The Pauper was promptly disarmed and tied up. About a minute later the others finally made it downstairs. The good news in the end is that the thieves were wiped out and Father Podrick was safe.
It felt very strange, standing there in the chapel. It has been more than 50 years since I stepped foot in a temple to The Dawnflower. St. Casperian’s small size reminded me of my family’s chapel back at Avendine. I never thought I would be entering one of Sarenrae’s temples with the intent to do violence. It was all a strange mix victory and nostalgia. We struck a blow against the evil and corruption of this city. Also, we made a fair bit of coin; The Pauper’s men were loaded. Father Podrick has given us an open invitation to the mission for shelter or healing should we need it. I just hope he can eventually shake his drinking problem, or a worse face could eventually befall the mission. Lastly, we turned over The Pauper to one of the other crime bosses, who was happy to hear that we solved one of his problems for him. He wasn’t happy to hear that The Pauper’s operation had been going on under his nose for as long as it did.
We headed back to the Golden Goblin, weighed down with all of our hard earned loot. The load was lightened with the feeling of a good deed done.
Shadow in the Sky Part 3
The past couple of weeks have seen some dramatic changes. Our recent activities on the streets of Riddleport have given us a degree of notoriety. Our nighttime visit to Lymas Smeed’s house has garnered some attention, especially since he worked for one of the crimelords. The attack and liberation of St. Casperian’s also has attracted a lot of attention on the streets as well. There is a very delicate social order here that can only come from a loose confederacy of crimelords. An action against one usually results in an opposing reaction elsewhere. Reactions to us around town changed, when we walked down the street there were more eyes watching us. There was a nickname for us on the streets, we had become known as The Wrecking Crew.
Business at the Goblin was picking up. More and more people were coming through the doors and more importantly, spending their money. Saul called a meeting letting us know he had plans for a major event. In preparation for the event, he had ordered a large quantity of high quality exotic liquor, the type bartenders usually keep on the top shelf. Saul was worried that knowledge of his shipment had gotten out and one of the other crimelords would try to take it from him. He wanted us to head down to the docks and pick up the merchandise ourselves. The liquor was just too tempting a target.
On our way out I ran into Samaritha. She was stopping by to give Saul her resignation. The news she had been waiting on had finally come, she had been accepted as an apprentice to one of the Cyphermages. Personally, I was mixed on the prospect. I was happy for her; this would be a good chance for her to learn more art from an experienced wizard. It could eventually open the door for her to join the Cyphermage’s Guild. I couldn’t do it myself though after spending most of my childhood reading every book I could find, and then going on to apprentice to another wizard for over 10 years. Books and experiments have their place, but I want to get out and see the world. I want to do things. I want to burn my name into history. Also, I have no interest at all in this Cyphergate that they obsess over. They were also studying the recent blot and other strange happenings in town. For some reason one day all magic auras were visible without the need of the spell, on another all of the weather vanes on the roofs of town all bent and pointed to the Blot. I promised her I would stop by and see her sometime. It might work out for me eventually; she’s good looking, well connected, and she had a Scorching Ray spell that I had my eye on.
We made our way down to Dockside, one of the worst areas of town. This wasn’t a problem for us, there were people almost jumping out of our way. Saul was right to be cautions, as we approached the ship we were looking for we noticed something wrong. There were men already there loading up a wagon with what looked like our cargo. They saw us all coming; one of them shouted to us that the shipment now belonged to Boss Zincher. They practically dared us to defy their boss and take it back. At that point the gauntlet had been thrown down and we had a job to do.
Niko seemed to recognize the man leading this group. He identified him as Braddikar Faje, and according to Niko this man had framed his father for some great crime. The Shoanti may be a savage people, but they take their personal honor very seriously. If you wrong one of them they will never forget it until their honor is avenged. In all the time I have known Niko this is probably the most I had heard him speak. The fact that this event could break his silence punctuated just how serious this matter was. While Niko was no raging barbarian, I would shudder at the thought of being at the receiving end of his wrath.
The fight was short to say the least. I managed to get in close and hit a couple of them with a Color Spray; they were so dazzled that they ended up falling off of the pier and into the bay. Wrathe took out another couple of them himself while Tristam almost leisurely picked off the remaining few from a distance. Niko closed against Braddikar, his hammer went up once and came down once with his foe dropping in a single hammer stroke. The remaining thugs decided that they had had enough and scattered. We gathered up all of their loot and even got the bribe that Zincher’s men gave the ship’s captain. After that bit of excitement, our trip back was uneventful.
As usual, Saul was thrilled with what we had done. We had once again defied the will of the local thugs that seemed hell-bent on shutting down our business. I am beginning to wonder just how long our luck is going to last. In attacking Smeed we likely got the attention of Boss Croat, an orc who owned most of the hired muscle in this town. We had seen Boss Zincher before when he came into The Goblin; he was looking to take out his competition, in addition to having an old grudge against Saul. Our actions at St. Casperian’s might have labeled us as a threat to many of the other bosses in town as well.
There was plenty of fuel for the fire; all that it needed was a spark.
Shadow in the Sky Part 4
It seems in all this time I’ve been missing something that has been going on literally under my nose. During all of our activities here it seems that we have had a hidden ally, striking from the shadows. To any casual observer he is nothing more than just a simple housecat, but he recently revealed himself to us one day. The Golden Goblin has had a housecat hanging around named “Mister Whiskers”. He is a rare creature called a Tibbit, they are similar to halflings in their normal form but can polymorph into simple housecats. His capacity for deception was stunning, I petted him numerous times as well as many others without suspecting a thing. We continued the deception to those outside the party, including Saul and the rest of the workers at the Goblin. One more ally couldn’t hurt, and soon we would need all the help we can get.
It had been over a week since Saul’s big event. We saved it at the last minute with a delivery of spirits that almost fell into the hands of one of the other crimelords. After what had happened I was thinking there would be some form of swift retribution from Boss Croat or Boss Zincher. I was surprised in that the opposite was happening. The last week could be summed up in one word: dull. There weren’t any brawls to break up, nor had we caught any cheaters. The only issues we’ve had are with the occasional drunk, which is par for the course.
Closing time had come and gone with most of us hanging out near the stage. Most of the employees that didn’t live here had also gone home with the exception of a few of the bouncers. Saul was upstairs counting out the coin and calculating the daily take. Atticus was the only one not with us, he was sitting near the door with his chair kicked back and his feet on a table, his face was in yet another tankard of ale.
Suddenly, there was an explosion centered on the front door. Debris flew everywhere and Atticus was thrown forward onto the floor, the shock from it seemed to knock him out. After the smoke cleared a group of ten came through the front door. Most of them were orcs with the exception of one, very attractive human woman. At the same time there was some commotion also coming from the back as well. Mr.Whiskers, not breaking his ruse, darted away much like a typical cat. Niko and Wraythe ran to the back. Marko and the bouncers engaged the thugs at the front door. Tristam and I took a position in the middle of the room to hit the thugs at range.
Marko had it rough at the start taking a massive blow from a particularly large orc with an equally large falchion. Mr. Whiskers had come back circling in behind one of the thugs. Tristam and I focused our fire on a couple of men who looked like rogues heading our way. From the back we heard the sounds of battle as well. My guess would be a group was sent to the back to seal off any possible escape.
Tristam took a shot from one of the rogues while dropping another with a well-placed arrow. I injured the rogue on Tristram with a crossbow bolt which afterward he fled. Marko was still struggling up at the front while the bouncers were being slaughtered. The red haired woman moved towards Tristam and hit him with a fire spell. My guess by this point is the she had to be a sorceress, most likely fire blooded. Two more of the rogues came after us as well. While all this was going on Atticus managed to stagger his way to his feet, making his way to Marko.
Atticus made it over to Marko with his healing wand in hand and healed him. Marko stood up and went after the orc that injured him before, cutting him down with two quick slashes. Atticus then moved to another one of the orc, putting away his wand and pulling out his rapier. Mr. Whiskers struck out of the shadows, taking one of the orc thugs from behind using a Shocking Grasp spell. The sorceress moved between Tristam and me and unleashed what I believed to be a Burning Hands spell. The spell hit Tristam hard but due to the fiery nature of my blood I emerged unscathed. I managed to injure another rogue with my crossbow causing him to flee as well.
I managed to remain uninjured up until an orc with a bow popped out of one of the doors on the other side of the bar. It was a solid hit, leaving me with an arrow sticking out of my chest to show for it. The sorceress, seeing me injured was going for Tristam who looked even worse than me. She managed to catch him once stabbing with her spear. Up front, things were going a lot better with Mr. Whiskers, Marko and Atticus dispatching some more goons. Atticus left the others to deal with the last couple of goons, while he moved to the back to help out Tristam and me. After a few more arrows from Tristam and me the sorceress decided to retreat, but was brought low by Tristam with a well-placed arrow right before she reached the door.
After being initially outnumbered the tide of the battle had finally turned. Most of the thugs were dead or in retreat. Other than the immediate threats I began to grow more concerned about Niko and Wraythe who ran to the back. I got one of the last rogues with a Color Spray and started moving to the back door, Atticus was moving to get the orc that shot me with the arrow. Marko and Mr. Whiskers were barely in view but looked like they had gained some ground in the battle as well.
I’ll admit at this point, despite being injured, that my confidence had briefly gotten the better of me. I was moving to the back to see that had happened to Niko and Wraythe. As I was getting near the bar the door behind it opened and a very injured orc in what looked like monk wrappings stepped out of the back. Behind him I saw Niko and Wraythe lying on the floor. Feeling cocky, I moved in and unleashed a Color Spray thinking it would drop him. The spell had been working almost too well lately after the lucky takedowns of The Pauper and Lymas Smeed. To my shock, the spell missed and now I was uncomfortably close to a very angry orc monk. I lucked out though as the orc jumped the bar Tristam cut him down with a couple of quick fired arrows.
By this time all of our attackers were either dead or running for their lives. None of us were in any shape to mount a pursuit. Atticus pulled out his healing wand and began to make his rounds. Niko and Wraythe were first on the list, having just barely survived, their wounds had staunched before they had a chance to bleed out. The rest of us were injured but ok. We all fared better than the bouncers, they were all dead. A couple of minutes later, Saul made it downstairs. One can only presume that he had locked himself in his office. We barred the doors to the Goblin and set a watch to allow us a chance to get some rest. Saul sent his assistant and bodyguard, Bojask out to gather more information on just who had attacked us.
For the rest of the night and into the next day it was dead quiet. The Goblin was closed for business indefinitely for cleanup and repairs. There was a void of silence where there should be the sounds of gambling and revelry. The silence was a little spooky as the repairs and cleanup even hadn’t gotten underway yet. Saul was still wary about letting anyone in; we didn’t know who to trust. No staff, no customers, it was just us and Saul. It was obvious we would be striking back against someone for this, we just didn’t know who. All we could do was lay low and wait for some news.
The following evening Saul finally called us into his office. Apparently, he still has some pull left in this town as his sources had come through. Our initial suspicions had been confirmed: the attack was the work of Boss Croat and Boss Zincher. We were surprised to hear that the Gendarmes had no direct involvement. It seems that the Overlord deliberately had his men patrolling different parts of town. The Overlord wanted to stay out of this; he wasn’t with us or against us.
Croat and Zincher weren’t taking their recent defeat lightly. Saul got tipped off about a meeting that was being called together in just a few hours. They were gathering up a few thugs and mercs for a quick second strike against us. The meeting was being held just outside town in a wetlands region known as The Boneyard for the remains of ruined ships that littered the place. Once inside, we were to look for a smugglers drop called The Spar. There was just too much heat in town after the raid; they needed this remote location to avoid any eavesdroppers and problems from the Overlord. The plan was to hit them before they could hit us. None of the bosses would be there; they would have to wait for another day.
We left immediately after the meeting, anxious for some payback. The trudge through the Boneyard was miserable with the water sometimes coming all the way up to my waist. I would have suggested getting a small boat but we just didn’t have the time. There were some islands in the muck formed by tangles of vegetation and the remains of old ships being pushed in by the tide.
As we approached the place we thought was The Spar, we stopped and let Mr. Whiskers go in to scout it out first. I also sent Ezrick for a quick flyover. Both of them came back with the same observations. There was what appeared to be a group of people there but really was just a group of cleverly arranged target dummies. In addition to this, there appeared to be two groups of creatures hiding in the vegetation waiting in ambush. From the description that was given Tristam guessed that they were probably wererats. With some general idea of their position I, Mr. Whiskers and Tristam turned around to come up on their rear. Niko, Marko, and Atticus would be following our original course, supposedly walking right into the ambush. Our enemies would only succeed at surrounding themselves.
We had a good plan going in; and it would have worked if not for me. I was moving through the swamp quietly trying to sneak up on the enemy. But I wasn’t doing a very good job of it as I stepped on the one dry stick in the entire swamp. It responded with a loud crack that got the attention of pretty much everything. The plan was blown and now it was time to fight.
As the wererats rose out of their concealed position an arrow came out of the darkness and struck one of them down. I looked around and saw Tristam who seemed just as puzzled about it as everyone else. There was someone else here, but it seemed that whoever they were they were on our side. Niko and Marko charged their front as planned with Atticus providing backup and healing making short work of them. Our mysterious helper sniped a couple more by the time they were through. Tristam was the only one of us at the back that got a good shot off. I paid for my botched attempt at stealth with an arrow to the gut from one of the wererats. This fight ended like it started; abrupt and inglorious.
After the last of the wererats went down we kept our guard up. We weren’t exactly sure what to think of our mystery ally until he stood up and raised his hands in the air in a gesture of friendship. He was an elf, likely a ranger by the rough and tribal look of him. An eagle circled overhead which I would guess was his companion. His eyes were an odd shade of lavender with long, white hair. We were going through the remains of our enemies when he met up with us.
The ranger quickly introduced himself as Kwava waving off all further questions. He was of the mind that we needed to get out of there as soon as possible lest more enemies come. The slain wererats were relieved of their belongings and stuffed under a hollow log in a deep area of the swamp. We then hiked farther out of town for the next couple of hours. We stopped somewhere further northeast to an area where the swamp began to give way to a thick forest. Sunrise was just a few hours away.
Kwava’s “camp” was a platform constructed atop a fairly large tree. The climb up to it was the final exhausting act of a very long day. He briefly excused himself to stoke a fire that he had left simmering with some food still cooking. Not too long after our arrival I saw his eagle companion flying away with a message in its talons. A few minutes later, he returned with a spot of overcooked stew for breakfast. I don’t want to know what kind of meat he made it from.
Finally, after the fight and our long journey we were finally going to get some answers. Kwava spoke in elven with a strange accent. The simple words he used were laced with a distinct Mwangi dialect while his more complex words and ideas were in classic Kyonin elvish. It took me a few minutes to notice but he was only speaking to Tristam and me, barely acknowledging the other (non elven) members of the group.
Kwava revealed many things to us in rapid succession. The information that he was able to gather was limited because he could only observe from afar to avoid arousing further suspicion. He admitted that he had been shadowing Saul, his agents, and then in turn, us since the beginning. Saul’s return to power in Riddleport was no accident; he was getting help from some “rogue elf” who was bankrolling the entire operation. He then dropped a damning revelation: our meeting at the Spar was a trap.
Our part in all of this seemed to be accelerating the culmination of Saul’s plans, whatever they might be. But our usefulness to Saul had been coming to an end. Kwava showed us a message that he had intercepted on its way to the wererats. I took the note and compared it to the notes we took off of them. The notes were all written in code which didn’t take long for me to crack. In Saul’s own hand I saw the signed order for our deaths. One has to wonder, just how deep this goes. Just how many lies has Saul told us?
We talked for quite a while. Tristam and I insisted that Kwava speak in common so that the others in our party could understand him as well. A little while later, as he was finishing with his explanation his eagle had returned with another message. The eagle landed gracefully on Kwava’s outstretched arm, after which he retrieved the message. He released the bird and began to quickly read the message. After he finished, he threw the note into the fire where it was quickly consumed.
It was more than obvious that Kwava was also working for someone else. We didn’t have to ask. After he read the note he must have seen the questioning look on all of our faces. Kwava opened up to us, starting with his life story. He was born in the Mwangi Expanse to a tribe of tribal wild elves. In his youth he had received a vision of himself walking in a great darkness and holding it at bay with a single light. That vision led him to leave home, and wandered the world looking for the meaning of his vision. He found it when he came into contact with a group of elven fighters known as the Shin’Rakorath, whose name in elven literally means “lantern bearers.”
At this point is where the gears in my mind began to turn. I had heard of this group before, I just couldn’t place it. Then another name came to me: The Winter Council. All of a sudden I was cast into my past. It was a rush of memories that were locked behind a wall of decades, to the time before when I had a family. The forest and the great tree were gone; I was at the place of my birth, Avendine. I was a little boy again, walking the halls of my family home. I felt my mother’s warm embrace, and I heard my father voice full of authority but tempered with mercy. There were others there as well, numerous relatives that I haven’t seen in years. A homesickness washed over me as I paused, taking it all in.
I heard my father’s voice again, this time it had a twinge of anger. He was speaking to two robed men. They were arguing over access to Avendine Hold, the seat of the clan’s power. There were whispers from other relatives; they spoke of suspicion and deception. I heard my mother, cautioning my father. All of their warnings were revolving around the same thing: The Winter Council. All I know of them is they are an advisory group to the ruler of Kyonin, the Shin’Rakorath are their field agents. Something else is going on, the council with its own soldiers implies that they do more than just advise. One last thing was abundantly clear: my clan, with its strained relations with Kyonin did not trust them.
Reality eventually returned with Kwava talking about his eagle companion. With his keen senses be must have seen the visible chill that went up my back as my reverie ended. It made me wonder what Kwava knew. It also made my silently question the Winter Council for the first time. Did their action or inaction cause the end of my clan? There is something more to all of this; I have to play along with Kwava if I want to learn more. I kept quiet for the rest of the conversation, which carried on until sunrise.
After being out all night trudging around in the swamp, Kwava was kind enough to let us rest at his tree house. We ended up resting for the entire day and headed back to Riddleport just before sunrise the next morning. Today was going to be another busy day.
Shadow in the Sky Part 5
The day started early with a long and quiet walk through the swamp. In the predawn hours we were trudging back towards Riddleport towards a reckoning with our “boss” Saul. The idea that Saul had something else going on was both surprising and not surprising at the same time. Saul having a hidden agenda was something to be expected in a city like this. The idea of him turning on us like this was a shock. This makes me ask just what he is really up to. What is he willing to risk so much for? Kwava’s recent involvement also begs another question: Who is he working with?
As we all neared the city the silence was broken with questions of what we were going to do when we got back. One idea was to openly attack The Goblin. There was another to hide out in town and try to figure out what was going on. Lastly, there was another idea to just simply walk in as if nothing had happened. We ended up going with the last option knowing it was going to require a lot of guile to pull off. Hiding out wasn’t an option, Saul had informants all over town. Also there was no guarantee we wouldn’t get jumped by another boss out for revenge.
As soon as we got back in town we headed straight for The Goblin. There was no point in putting this off; an unnecessary delay would have looked too suspicious. We had almost arrived when we noticed something different. We were clearly being watched a little more than normal, probably lookouts that Saul deployed to keep an eye out for us. There were also a couple of archers on the roof with a couple of armed guards at the door. They weren’t doing anything but their rounds; it seemed like all we need to do is play it calm and cool to get back inside. As usual we had Atticus doing the talking as we didn’t have anyone else suitable. The rest of us looked too intimidating or too weird for actual negotiation but Atticus isn’t bad himself, even though he’s drunk most of the time.
With a little grifting on the part of Atticus we managed to make in inside. We got a couple of looks from the bouncers and other workers but no one confronted us. At the point we walked in like we always did, on our way up to Saul’s office to give him a report on last night’s activities. We made it upstairs without incident and up to the office. It looked like there was a meeting already going on with Saul, Bojask, and a couple of the bouncers. Wraythe, Niko, Atticus and Mr. Whiskers all filed into the room leaving Tristam and me outside.
Even from my blocked view outside you could tell that Saul was a little nervous. The weapon that he wielded so well against his enemies had finally turned on him. This time it was Wraythe doing the talking. He began to verbally berate Saul for his treachery, looking for weaknesses. His alien profile was intimidating and threw a lot of people off; this gave the ex-pit fighter an edge in figuring out people and their intentions. Saul tried to cover his actions with more lies which didn’t work anymore after he was unmasked for the backstabber he really was.
The shouting began to escalate and carry throughout the building. There was no way we could hide our intentions anymore. Saul pointed his finger in Wraythe’s face threatening to run us down with assassins until our dying day. Wraythe looked like a viper striking his target as he quickly grabbed Saul’s finger and snapped it and many other fingers with an unnatural twist of his hand. This accompanied a hard jab right to Saul’s face. With that a cry went out with the sound of boots coming upstairs and weapons all over being unsheathed.
Bojask seemed to be the greater threat in the room and was the first to fall. Wraythe quickly tripped him and gave him a couple of good kicks while he was down. Niko swung his hammer once and crushed the skull of one of the bouncers. The Goblin’s own mascot, Mr. Scratch teleported into the room but ended up being nothing more than an annoyance. Bojask grunted and tried to get up only to have Wraythe knock him down again. Bojask never got up again as his fate was sealed when Niko’s hammer came down on him. Wraythe had moved to Saul next, and after a couple of good blows had our former boss on his back. Saul, not wanting to end up like Bojask decided to surrender just as Niko’s shadow fell upon him. The other bouncer dropped his weapon, probably figuring he wasn’t being paid THAT much. With his owner defeated, Old Scratch vanished in a puff of brimstone, never to be seen again. Not much happened outside, between my spells and Tristam’s arrows the men coming up the stairs were cut down one at a time.
After Saul’s defeat he was led downstairs by Niko. The remaining mercenaries had all left by then. There was no resistance from the staff or from the bouncers, we cleared the building with just us and Saul remaining before I sent Ezrick to fetch Kwava. We tied Saul to a post and waited in silence for over an hour.
Eventually, Kwava made his way inside. You could tell that he wasn’t very comfortable around civilization, he was always looking around, always alert, clearly out of his element. At that we began questioning Saul about what he was doing, why he betrayed us, and who he was working for. We got no answers, only a cold glare from Saul, he was finished and we knew it. Saul didn’t have much left really, all of his answers were in the form of an angry stare, cursing, or spitting. No amount of intimidation could get him to budge.
With all of our options with Saul sitting at a dead end we decided to go looking for some of the answers ourselves. We left Kwava to watch over Saul and did a top to bottom search of the building, beginning with Saul’s office. Wraythe made a beeline for Saul’s safe where he stored all of his money, to our shock there was only a few hundred gold in the safe. We always had a feeling that Saul had most, if not all of his money was tied up in the Goblin. We guessed that the rest of the money must be in the Night Vault. The mystery deepened when we found only a couple thousand in gold between the cashiers and the vault. The whole casino was a sham that couldn’t cover its own bets. I’ve saw many of the receipts for money going to the counting room. While I had an idea of how much money the Goblin made there was burning question that remained. Where did all of the money go?
A second look at Saul’s office pointed us to the answer, in our haste we missed the hidden room that was attached. It was small and filled with filed and records. After finally getting a chance to look at the books our suspicions were confirmed with numerous false entries. There was a ton of money coming in but almost no record of money going out beyond expenses. After a few hours of work I managed to construct a shadow ledger based on the income and expenses. It didn’t tell us exactly how much money was missing. It did point to a conclusion: that most of Saul’s profits going out to a person known only as “D.A.” The Goblin was on its way to insolvency, in a town like Riddleport it’s something that could be hazardous to your health if you owe money to the wrong person. After all of our searching we were left with more questions than answers.
Our continued searches of the Goblin lead us down below to the subfloors. There was word going around that these spaces were eventually going to see some use. Bojask was in the process of putting together a fighting arena down here but it never got off the ground. Saul didn’t have enough money to cover his own bets much less take part in expansion of any kind. On our arrival downstairs we were met with dim lights and the smell of pig s$*+. We followed the stanch to Bojask’s pet boar which we put out of our misery. We would be eating a lot of pork over the next few days, such a salty meat…Anyway, Wraythe and his powers of observation found a ring in a pile of pig droppings that looked like one that Larur once wore. It seems that Saul had been lying to us all along. It’s likely he had Larur killed and fed to this pig….disgusting. Lastly, we found a covering over the main arena floor that concealed a secret door. It had a complex lock with a large keyhole; the key looked suspiciously like the mithril key that Saul wore on the stump that had once been his hand.
After the revelations of the previous day we decided to take a rest. The Goblin was still closed with its former owner tied to a post in the middle of the casino floor. We took turns watching over him with Kwava volunteering for the most of it. We gathered our gear together the next morning and all went to see Saul. There was initially a look of worry on his face; he likely thought it was going to be the end for him. Then Wraythe partially loosened his bonds enough to get to his hand, and then quickly and unceremoniously ripped it from him. With that Saul appeared to be totally defeated. He had nothing else left to say, his plots, lies, and secrets were all exposed but one. I had a feeling that he was concealing something big; all that money had to be going somewhere. As we walked out of the casino floor you could almost see a slight grin.
We left Saul under the watchful eyes of Kwava once again as we went back downstairs. The key on Saul’s stump fir the lock perfectly as it unlocked with a loud click. Down below were the caverns in the undercity and the sewers. Saul had left one final secret for us to discover.