Lost Lore 27: The Second Strike
The Shadow Council's plan to treat with The Autumn King suffers severe setbacks
General Summary
The docks in Trentpoole are a crowded place, a lot of gangs and insidious sorts congregate within at all times, between the timber haulers from Rylan, other skiffs making their way from small communities to the Frial estuary. The boats were all held in a line to drop off or pick up at various points along the river, and at one point less than 24 hours prior to our arrival at the docks, much of it was under the control of a Saudra-tai masquerading as an elf member of the Lords of Trentpoole named Craenus, who had been replaced about a month prior. The cold northerly wind blew in harshly over the waters, a stinging reminder that Galadir's Hunt was fast approaching while we set about our work to hopefully deny an evil force their desires.
Across the street where Ospher, Crisnos, Brightshine, Tadlo, Lorgan, Janka, and I stood, the warehouse that Crisnos and Brightshine had tailed the two Saudra-tai that had once fled from the wreckage of Craenus' basement after we had thoroughly ruined their plans to kill random elements of the underground, and possibly replace them. The building was two stories tall and situated directly up against the water, and anchored outside and visible from most directions, a larger than average timber hauler, well staffed with people visible from a distance, mostly armed with crossbows. Though the shutters on the warehouse were drawn, we could also make out a number of people inhabiting the poorly upkept building and the traffic to and fro was nearly constant, and of course, stationed out front were two faces we've become very familiar with by this point, larger brutish humans with that same 'Fat B' countenance.
Brightshine reiterated his and Crisnos' observations, a bunch of armed people came in with a large crate with holes on each side of the box and since then a the flurry of activity. The early afternoon sun hung overhead and Janka and I set out onto the street to gain a better vantage for reconnaisance of the warehouse, with the two of us acting as timber buyers while taking surreptious glances of the building and anchored boat. From a few vendor stalls that were practically atop the front door, we acted interested in Rylan made knick-knacks and kumber contracts and saw the two Berrii slacking off on their watch. The building, in obvious disrepair from a distance, up-close was evident that it hadn't seen use in quite some time, and was once a storage facility for logging equipment, some of the larger pieces of rusted machinery and paper-making appratus were both in faded paints on the facade as well as visible in the 2nd floor windows. A number of old entrances and exits no longer in use were well-boarded up, likely by previous owners some time ago, but they weren't mortared over in any case and could likely be taked down quietly.
Charity and Irufan backtracked through the sewers, pushing along the Resilient Sphere holding Basilocke within and finally reaching the surface as she was down to her last few pieces of manacite to use. All the while as they treked, the ground had been rumbling and quaking and climbing back up to the street and seeing the early evening air beheld a strange sight for them; the sky lit up by glittering particles of magic and riddled with geysers of temporal energy erupting out of the ground where the vault must have been. Everything the geyser rushed through vanished, just like Donovo and the Golem. The district was empty due to it being a weekend, but some sirens and horns sounded from all about as the Night Watch sought aid of any type.
They looked dangerous? Dangerous how?The boat guards seemed to be keep an eye out for persons attempting building access from the water side as well, and they also stood significantly more vigilant than the Berrises out front. Neither of us were unable to discern a distinct pattern to guard shifts and the traffic, and the Berrii never rotated into the building. We returned to the others and swept into a nearby tavern to attempt to blend in further with the folk of the docks, and keep a good vantage point on the building and ship, whereupon Brightshine and Crinsos ordered some late-lunch, a steamed purple grouper for Crisnos and Brightshine asked for whatever was in the bucket behind the counter and after a moment of revulsion, they accepted his coin and gave the erratic Tengua bowl of fish bones, chum, and scales, which he choked down with an obscene amount of noise. After a quick scan of the crowd, where we noticed another table of people dressed in the same armor and equipment of the boat-folk, and ensuring we weren't overheard we came up with a quick plan to infiltrate the building after picking off these guards in the alleyway and make changes as necessary to make our way onto the boat or into the building as opportunity presented itself. Janka and I then headed over to start talking with them,hearing them shut down conversation on how they would be pulling up anchor that night and sailing out after Ghrannis got paid, and to their silence as we approached we explained that we were talented mercenaries looking for work going forward as well as generally flirting with them.
Weapons, lots of weapons and scars.
Well if you can get enough bodies together, I can create a distraction.
Well how many bodies are we talking?
How big of a distraction do you want?
Big enough to draw away the observers you mentioned at least.
I could probably make four or five, plus an undead spirit.
Wow, this sounds elaborate.
Well, it's not that complicated, it's just bodies.
We come from different worlds, you and I.
Would you qualify that? When you say bodies, you mean corpses, right?
Oh, yeah.
Well I just wanted to double check.
Janka huffs a moment of exasperation
What? I don't know where we can just find corpses midday in Trentpoole.
Oh there's lots of places where you could find bodies at any time of the day, what you you define a body as?
Just anybody you know, whether a body is living or not is pretty important distinction.
Oh, nine times out of ten, I'm talking about a dead body.
There's always bodies laying about in Bellhaven if you look good enough, we could go dig them up from the cemetary. I think it just rained a few days ago, so the ground should be good and soft...
Do we have time for this??
We could pay the Black Thorns to find your bodies if you're busy.
I like what you're thinking, you can always make a body too if you're view them like that.
I think I could stand in just the right way to harpoon two of them at once, right here in the Tavern.A bit of non-magical charm later, they explain they don't make hiring decisions, but they work for a dwarf named Galrum Ghrannis and they're mercenaries/bounty hunters and that Ghrannis specializes hunting mages and magic-related. They also were loose-lipped enough to let slip that they had been brought on for a specialty item, a unicorn that they had captured and brought it to the buyer here in Frial and were working security until they got paid. They do a majority of their work on Lake Bask and the small communities but have had a lot of recent work in Rylan due to monsters from the wood that whill threaten deep woods logging teams. They were also proud enough to show off some magical trinkets and blades. We had paid for their meals at the table at this point and were walking with them out the door into the back alley, engaged in conversation about their exploits and history, where Lorgan's Minor Illusion of a back door to a cross street that didn't exist allowed the remainder of our table to get the jump on these 4. Crisnos stabbed one in the shoulder with his scimitar, Birghtshine's glave caught another's forearm, Lorgan's rapier and Green Flame Blade was ruinous to the one Crisnos attacked, and I swung the Immortality Malady into the mercenary Brightshine hurt, slicing thorugh some armor and buckles, Ospher's crossbow struck true as well, and Janka with the aid of the Friends spell was able to con one of them into just fleeing with her from this mad ambush. Two of them drew weapons and attempted to strike at me, and my skilled defense repelled three of their attacks with the last one sliding up under my arm to gouge at my ribs with a clumsy blow. The one that ran off with Janka then tried to run back to save his friends, the moment of confusion having passed, and Brightshine was able to land a blow on him as he moved in threateningly with his Brace Manuever. Ospher's next shot at the man by Brightshine barely missed the mark, and he retreated back and another guard that was retreated was engulfed in my Sacred Flame, leaving red welters all over his face in spite of their magical protections. Tadlo fired a crossbow bolt at the same retreating person, catching him in the upper back, but not stopping him. Lorgan closed and killed off the one guard that attacked Brightshine and reignited the same man as before with another Green Flame Blade and then manuevered around behind one of the men attacking me. Janka's Vicious Mockery on the man who ran with her was a nasty surprise for him as he reeled in mental anguish.
Sounds fantastic.
You're a witch! I tried to save you, you're one of them!Crisnos struck the man whom Lorgan lit on fire twice with his magic, and in kind stabbed back at our elf companion. Brightshine also tried to strike that man with his Sentinel Strike Manuever but could only catch his armor, complaining about the man being too fast. The remaining guard near most of us went for me, landing a couple of blows, though Tadlo's Protector Cannon cushioned much of their blows from landing significant injury on me. The Guard by Janka landed a blow despite her cruel insult still bounding about his head, and I struck the man who hit me, though my strike fouled Lorgan, Tadlo and Brightshine's efforts to land a blow as well, with Brightshine's glaive hanging up in the man's armor buckles after a glancing hit. Pulling it out brough him in line for Crisnos to run his neck through with his blade, dropping him to the alley in a bleeding mess as Janka took the opportunity to return back to our vantage of the ambush location as she slung another Vicious Mockery at him. Ospher's Ray of Frost went wide due to his magical protections afford by Ghrannis' amulet, and upon seeing a chance, he ducked and ran down the alley towards the crowds as far as he could from our looming slaughter. Ospher took careful aim attempting to avoid the crowds and with some help from a Guidance from Tadlo, landed the shot squarely into the base of his skull, dropping him among the crowds causing a bit of a panic. The final guard by us stepped back and begged for us to negotiate with him, as I recalled, his name was Neddy.
Hey stop, I surrender, i don't know what you want!
Well, what we want is your body, so this is a little awkward...
Neddy, we're looking to set that Unicorn free.
But all my friends, why... Is it that important to you that you would murder for it?
Yes.
It's nothing personal, but this concerns the safety of the whole city, believe us or not.
Well what do you want me to do about it, I can't set her free?
Yeah, we know that.
What do you want then, I surrendered?We grabbed the three Amulets off their bodies and handed Brightshine a magical shortsword that would likely be more deadly in his hands and set Janka to raising their bodies to create the main distraction we sought. Janka's Animate Dead worked a sickening effect on the bleeding bodies, the muscles and organs seemed to just shred themselves off of the bones which then rose up under their power and were then directed with Ospher crossbow to cause mayhem. Ospher thought for a moment that it would be to just cause a scene and not harm anyone, but she gave no explicit instruction in that regard.
I only wanted to explain.
So what do you want, zombies? Do you want, oh skeletons? Skeletons are spookier.
They are, but don't they have to be skeletons?
That's a common misconception, I can show you.
We don't have time to discuss this at length since the crowd is already gathering. How about Chef's choice?
Yeah whatever's most convenient here.
Ospher you should give my your crossbow. after animating the skeletons she hands it to one of them to pin the murder on the skeletons instead of authorities looking for us You are no longer guilty of the crime, a skeleton did it.
I don't like all the things I'm doing today but sometimes education is not a choice.
You still shot him in the throat, I just got you off of the crime.
God knows I've been involved in too many accidental crimes of late.
Very impressive Janka.Searching the mess of their flesh, we took several magic shortswords from them, nine faintly magical arrows (likely to be bartered to Trevor in the future), an Amulet of Health, and each of them had an Amulet of Spell Turning that didn't really serve any of them well in this encounter. Crisnos recieved the arrows/amulet of health, Birghtshine got an amulet of spell turning, Ospher took an amulet of spell turning, Janka got an amulet of spell turning. With the main thoroughfare erupting into chaos and people limping from crossbow bolts in their leg or back, we saw this as the distraction made manifest. I cast Pass Without Trace on us, never having been familiar with it's use during the broad daylight and we were blanketed by the smothering effect of its enchantment, greasing us to slide through the throng, skulked past the Berrii on guard, directly to a side of the warehouse we spotted and to a boarded up door I recalled from earlier. With the umbrella of silence muffling noise as well, Lorgan deftly removed the boards from the door, laid them aside for our escape route and we entered the unknown building.
Thank you! that means a lot to hear.
Janka gestures dramatically towards the anchored boat Well, we can make our entrance now.Within we saw stacks and stacks of dusty old equipment from paper processes, mills, furnaces for boiling and old crates showing the start of some rot, and oils and lubricants for the machines and past that was a group of people congregating and they were focused on the noise outside. The only dwarf in the room was, presumably, Galrum Ghrannis, a stout male with a reddish-grey beard, clad in gunmetal armor, with 4 more guards like we had just killed from the boat. Next to him were several Berrii, two of the usual thuggish googly eyed Reds, both holding the ends of a large tree saw, and one in their uninspired human-form, dressed in white noble attire, a walking cane, gaudy jewelry, with a green undershirt, plainly broadcasting in his ostentatiousness for anyone with knowledge of their species as a Green Saudra-tai in the flesh. I was relieved to have found their ringleader amid this plot so we could finally have a chance to end their coordinated infiltration. Then just past them was where the large crate with the holes spotted earlier stood, at the front a larger hole where the Unicorn's head was being restrained out of it. The logging saw had some traces of wear and a hint of blood on it as they were attempting to use it to hack off the Unicorn's horn with it, and based on some of the blood flowing over the white coat, they were making progress.
We'd best get moving on this before skeletons draw the authorities here.
We're going to need to bring your Bone Spirit into here because we'll need additional targets for these people. We need to do something immediately.Recognizing the need to reduce the numbers present here, I used the stolen Channel Divinity: Read Thoughts from Ssambrae's clockwork divine text on one of the Reds, first gleaning their surface thoughts, getting some pangs concern about the noise outside, frustration at how hard it is to saw through a Unicorn's horn, and eagerness to eat unicorn meat since it is a delicacy they haven't had in a very long time and after the horn is secure, they'll be rewarded. Using The Clockmaker's power to convert it to Suggestion and ordered it to get rid of the dwarf and mercenaries while getting even hungrier.
You're distracting from the cutting with your ugly dwarven tangles. It distracts us! Go find out what the commotion is!As they bickered briefly, we swept around to behind the crate from them in order to have a better vantage to attack and discovered another person in the room, a very tiny almost frail looking old man, shorter than Ospher, thin and guant and a long raggedy beard and feet clad in massive iron boots while adorning his pate was a triangular cap that looked to have been drenched in blood that's running down his face and in his beard. He sat there mumbling to himself and peeling skin off of a dead cat, while watching the Berrii and grunting occasionally. I make out him faintly saying "Faster faster, rip and tear, faster faster, rip and grind!" at which point I stopped wondering what his association was; obviously some sort of Nightmare Fae to represent the interests of the Autumn King until they finished mangling this Unicorn. The mercenaries departed through the front door, for how long was anyone's guess, so we sprang another quick plan into action to bring this situation into our control while we wouldn't be overwhelmed in numbers: Tadlo cast Shatter on the crate/cage nearly breaking it pieces, Janka ordered her Undead Spirit to fire Grave Bolts at the Green, Crisnos cast Protection from Evil as he advanced, Brightshine would unleash the Glaive's Burning Hands englufing the two Reds without hitting the Unicorn, Ospher Catapulted the Iron Bands of Bilarro restraining a Red away from combat, Lorgan fired Ospher's Wand of Fear at the Berrii from maximum range which worked successfully on the two Red driving them further from us and I used the Immortality Malady to destroy the rest of the restaints on the Unicorn after the Shatter spell faded, freeing it. The Green reacted with a Fear of its own on Ser and I and then closed thinking we would be easy prey once enchanted. Brightshine craned his neck around and started wailing but the spell washed over and off of me as Nisaba's divine will within me wouldn't be overcome so simply. Ospher's next Catapult caught the other Red with the Butcher's cahins, restraining him as well while puncturing him with the brutal barbs. The Nightmare creature stomped over and leapt off a box at Crisnos while screaming bloody murder, ultimately landing two blows with a long bloody sickle it produced from nowhere slicing him up. Brightshine was ultimately comforted by my presence but retreated back behind a box to collect himself. Tadlo activated his Protector Eldritch Cannon on himself, Lorgan, Ospher, and Janka and then used his Circlet of Blasting to strike the Nightmare with all three beams of Scorching Ray immolating him as he wasn't wearing much in the way of armor and backing up to guard the way out. Lorgan leapt to Crisnos' defense and punched his rapier clean through his rib-cage as his syrupy sweet red blood poured free from him, but still standing, while Crisnos swore his Vow of Emnity on the monster, and then swept the ancient Scimitar through the gibbering thing's arms, gangly body and leg, powered by his god Corellon's Smite and the pure light penetrating his body along the blade exploded the Redcap's head. The Grave Spirit fired it's bolts at the Green Saudra-tai, hitting twice and dealing grevious blows due its enervating power, and Janka's Dissonant Whispers was also unresisted by the Fae horror. As it fled due to the spell's influence, the Unicorn struck out with its horn, rending putrifying flesh, and I landed a shallow blow at the same time before briefly communicating with the Unicorn, who explained she hated these things for what they tried to do, and that she would run with us when directed. I cast Spirit Shroud to summon enervating damage and prevent the Green from its rapid healing and closed in and struck it in its paunch, resulting in a snarl.
yawning larger than what should be possible Just go, we need to make the horn comes off, properly and cleanly. If you're distracting them, then just step away.
This Green is league with the Autumn King to capture you for nefarious purpose. We can escape but his schemes will likely pursue you, so we'll need to kill this thing before we run.With its lesser Red allies restrained, the Green pulled back to get cover to launch a spell with impunity though I made it pay for that distance, cutting at its arms with the enervating blade, and then it shaped a Fireball to hurl at the two of us. Having expected something like this from these otherworldly Fae, a timely Dispel Magic stopped the mana from holding its shape and cast it back into the surrounding air. The Red in the Butcher's chains managed to snap them and then flee off into the maze of equipment to attempt gain control from this spell. Ospher fired off Magic Missiles at the the Green, resulting in four purple welts raising up as the magic broke bones and raised bruises and then the scene was shattered again. Galrum, his guards, and the 2 Berrii at the front spilled back into the room with the Reds crossing the distance all the way to the cage from the front door. Tadlo's next Shatter caught up all four of the Red Saudra-Tai, and Lorgan placed a Grease spell underneath them as they braced to endure the spell's concussive wave, knocking over two of them and the two of them stationed themselves at the exit. Brightshine flung his spear at the Green, going a little awry and missing, and then running back towards Crisnos as Milka and I ran out the door from the overwhelming change. Crisnos and Brightshine showed off their tandem combat skills at this point, attempting to draw the attention of the room while the two of them presented shields with Ser's Bait and Switch manuever, making them difficult to strike. Janka's spirit's Grave Bolts struck the Green as it attempted to fly about dodging draining it's pallor further, as she ran out of the room as well, leaving instructions for it to keep shooting the monster. Galrum pulled out an ancient looking piece of dwarven weaponry, a blunderbuss as we knew it from our research into firearms, and loaded something into it and fired at Ospher, even with his Shield spell coming to exsistence to protect him, pegging him squarely in the shoulder and spinning him about. His 4 guard went for Crisnos and Brightshine and his tactic paid off, shrugging off most of the blows. The Green attempted to use Fear on both Ser and Crisnos, with Ser ignoring the spell thanks to his Amulet of Spell Turning and Crisnos having his spell's Protection from Evil earlier rebuffing the unnatural power over him. They fled out the door, urging Ospher out with them, but two Reds attempted to then close on Ospher, and landing four strong blows in spite of the magical envelope of protection. The Grave Spirit's final bolt caught the Green in the chest, resulting in it keeling over from an overdose of necromantic energy coursing through it. Ospher then attempted to cast Invisibility on himself to escape, discovering that he was coursing with white energy and finding the spell failing, likely due to the Mage Killer's bullet. He then fled from the next blows raining on him from the Reds, bolstered by the Eldritch Cannon's Protection and racing out the door ahead of these malign forces, recovering the shreds of the Butcher's Chain with his Phantom's Caress. With this unholy alliance hot on our heels, we had returned into the crowd thanks to the Pass Without Trace giving us cover for having a blood covered Unicorn in our midst and evading notice and then sweeping up the limping Ospher as we ran off as fast as we could into the streets and alleyways until we could catch our breath away from pursuit. Looking over Ospher, the site where he had been struck, the flesh was blackened and the veins were starting to blacken as well, something was spreading within him and even where the Red had struck him, the eggs were liquefying and seeping out of the wound sites, and magic inside him was dying rapidly. Ghrannis' bullet were some kind of spent manacite, similar to what we saw from the Bodak's infection. With our objective met, we planned on a circuitious route back to the Abbey to meet back up, with the need to address Ospher's newest unique condition pressing in our minds as any further magic on him could also result in killing him.
the unicorn communicated her hate for this green telepathically
Good! We can get out of here expeditiously, but we'll need your help.
There's nowhere else for me to go, besides back into the forest.
You can hide with us for a time, we can certainly help.
Charity and Irufan backtracked through the sewers, pushing along the Resilient Sphere holding Basilocke within and finally reaching the surface as she was down to her last few pieces of manacite to use. All the while as they treked, the ground had been rumbling and quaking and climbing back up to the street and seeing the early evening air beheld a strange sight for them; the sky lit up by glittering particles of magic and riddled with geysers of temporal energy erupting out of the ground where the vault must have been. Everything the geyser rushed through vanished, just like Donovo and the Golem. The district was empty due to it being a weekend, but some sirens and horns sounded from all about as the Night Watch sought aid of any type.
We're gonna have to talk to him and this will buy us a minute and I don't know that that's any good.
You may gladly have my manacite as well, Headmistress.
We're on foot, getting back to the Abbey will take 20 to 30 minutes, that's not enough either.
I told you to save the mirror! I told you we could use it for good, Paladin and Donovo paid the ultimate price, and for what? Look around you, for this? Do you have any idea the consequences that could fall on the heads of the Circles because you didn't listen to me?
The city still stands yet Basilocke, have faith. We're not out of the woods yet, but I'm sure we'll find a way.
No doubt the city is going to stand, but magical geysers are erupting in the middle of City Center!
Have we done bad Lady Charity?
We all agreed, the mirror, the gate, whatever it was had to be destroyed and he agreed too, we all agreed!
I don't understand these things too well, but it did look like a sinister device.
It's a pity our adventure had to turn out thusly.After some tense accusations from Joriah, they sat down onto the Broom of Flying and took off into the night sky away from the mad master of the Adamantite Order before he could exact his revenge on them. As they arrived back at the school, Charity told Irufan that she would understand if he wanted to leave our employment tonight, given everything that happened, and after Irufan responded with assurance that he wanted to remain here, she went to go lay down on a couch. Irufan sought out Tomlin to explain what had happened and found most people still in the Abbey watching out of windows towards the unmistakable magical lights from City Center.
BECAUSE OF YOU.
It was a group effort!
I wonder if Donovo got the rope?
Sorry about him, I don't know if you were close or not.
Oh, we'd only met the few weeks ago, but he seemed a decent sort. I looked foward to working with him.
Me too.
I hope we did the right thing. What if Basilocke was right?
We can't look back on that now, we did what a we had to do and can only trust that everything will turn out ok. In fact, we don't even know where Donovo's gone, he could be waiting in his office in the Abbey even as we speak.
I hope so. she fliches looking back at the geysers in the city
What are those lights? Where's everyone else that went with you?As Irufan explained what happened to Tomlin, Norynor, Neville, and Tyrom, he noticed something unusual happening in Bellhaven, a lot of wagon traffic was moving down the street towards the school. 9 wagons, some covered and all with the symbol of an apple on it bearing down on the school. Irufan and Tyrom went out to recieve the guests at Charity's urging and they pulled up in front of the front stairs around the corpse tree and fountain. As they came to a halt a number of swarthy indiviuals were climbing out of the wagons, a heavy smell in the air of illicit substances, mushrooms, and various different alcohols. From the lead cart, a small man hopped out, dressed as a satyr, but clearly a halfling, 'Frennan', the Master of the Harvest Children.
That is a sorry tale, and I do not like sorry tales.
Whatever could that be?
shaking his head The Harvest Children, those are their apple carts.
I see. What could they want with our abbey at this hour?
Normally all they want is new hallucinogens to get high on, or assistance coming down from an unfortunate high.
Nothing wrong with that...
Maybe we should meet them outside?
After you Master Dwarf.
Is Charity in any condition to join us?
I'll relay the message to her, but she has had a most difficult time in the sewers. Oh, uh, I'd be careful approaching approaching Basilocke in the future. I don't think he's very happy with us.
Can you just see what they want, is it an emergency? We don't have anyone here to handle anybody else's baggage.He moved quickly up the stairs and adressed the two in front of the Orphanarium looking for Ospher and I. They explained we weren't present and while he stammered on, they saw a large individual in a a while suit with a Grey fur coat on look out the window and give an unnaturally wide smile before adressing them as well, expressing impatience. Tyrom tried to be diplomatic, asking for introduction, but the man explained only that he was Berris, and that Ospher and I should hurry. They recognized the name from my explanations and went back inside to speak with Charity who then resolved to track down Bianca and the Eye of Basul.
I will see to them, you just wait here and get your rest.
You're, uhh, you're the cook, right?
Cook? I've never been accused of such, no. Irufan Rimer, at your service.
I thought I saw you in and out of the kitchen.
I do occasionally asssit with some of the culinary matters of the school. I'm a jack of all trades.
Are Adjenna and Ospher here?
They are currently indisposed, I'm afraid. Can we assist you in any way?
I don't think so, we need them.
Oh well, you're welcome to wait.
Don't let them keep us waiting long.
I don't have your acquaintance... err the pleasure?
I am Berris, they'll know the name and I think they'll hustle a bit if you can pass the word on.
That must be one of the clone fat men?!
Is it!?
I'm not certain, I've never seen one.
I haven't either, the man certainly... well I don't want to disparage him, but he's... corpulent? Is that better? I don't know, but they're definitely not being subtle, we might need help soon.
I think that this may be above my pay grade Tyrom.
Perhaps all of our, I don't know that we could keep them out of the school for long.
The school is warded though?
Correct, but this is a lot of magicians and I don't know what that Berris thing is capable of.
Hmmm, I hate breaking promises.
Did you send them away, please?
Odd question, do we have murder holes installed in the front of the Abbey?
We have bay windows?
We wouldn't want to break those, would we?
Why do we want murder holes?
An easy way of sticking young little hands out to cast multiple Firebolts. No, they weren't sent away, I'm afraid our 'friends' in the Harvest Children have decided to make a pact those fat men you were speaking so much about.
flatly There's fat people here.
Well a fat person.
They're never alone, there's always lesser fat people with them.
Should we send a message to the other headmasters?Bianca was in the lab with the Eye and claimed to be working on a Gate breakthrough that would give it more precision calibration. He ignored that and contacted me as we were still in Trentpoole, running down the streets helping Ospher along. He gave us a brief rundown on Basilocke, Paladin, and the Harvest Children, and by foot we were still 45 minutes on foot. Ospher's ability to use magic items wasn't hampered, but we still resolved to get it out of him immediately since we knew we'd be facing a new fight in Bellhaven. The 'bullet' shot by Ghrannis was designed to have a very fragile casing in order to be nigh impossible to remove hastily in order to leave fragments of depleted manacite in a mage. Between Lorgan's deft hands, my Mending spell, and Janka's natural aptitude at most things to control the bleeding, we extracted the thing from him, undamaged, in about 15 minutes time. Holding it outside of his body, the craftsmanship was remarkable and of clear dwarven make with the in-built weaknesses throughout the structure, in spite of being fired from a gun. I handed it to Ospher afterwards as the direct study of Manacite and its various perversions is much more of his forte.
Did they say what they wanted?
No, they refused to treat with us.
Glad everything went well!
Oh I don't know about well, but it did indeed go.
Oh good, everything went well on your end professor?I beseeched Milka to heal him and she agreed to it, gently touching him with the wounded horn and substantially granting him energy and purging his blackened flesh and veins with it's incredible power. We briefly discussed Milka's immediate plans and grabbed up some stable pallets for Ospher to use the Phantom Caress to load people onto and with that and the Broom of Flying we raced through the streets back towards Bellhaven. We continued until we got close to City Center and then observed something Irufan didn't prepare us for; Fire Brigades, Kreastos Patrols, Grand Order of the Lion patrols and strange golden flakes of energy cascading down from the air and a number of buildings missing, with no trace of their existence in the form of debris.
We have the Unicorn.
And we have destroyed the mirror! That was the mission, correct?
It was a mirror? Ok good, yes.
Also, several pieces of news, we have lost the Paladin from the Prismatic Order, Basilocke believes that we have caused destruction Frial and its magic circles, and the Harvest Children and a Berris is at our door, wishing to speak with the two of you. Your orders, ma'am?
to Ospher There's a Berris at our door.
Where do I go now? This place is alien and horrible.
We think there is another one of these creatures at our Abbey.
There's nowhere for me to go, I'm hunted in the woods and I'm hunted here.
We have a device that could send you far from here or elsewhere at your choosing. I know you're also from the past, yes?
Yes, but could I not just join with my people here?
I don't know where they are.
Nor do I.
You're welcome to our library?
Can you send me back?Ospher figured out that the energy and flakes meant the chronomantic energies had taken the buildings elsewhere, or even elsewhen. The district itself looked stable minus towards where we figured the Vault must have been close to the Kreastos and the market, but the constabulary was keeping all traffic diverted around the entire district, diverting us around through more of Bellhaven. As we closed on the Orphanarium, we smelled the Harvet Children's unique smell before we saw them and then getting in sight, we spotted what looked to be 4 trained magicians in their midst, Yellamar not one of them, and Frennan, with a dour look on his face, was staying close by to a carriage and occasionally talking through a window there with what we confirmed as yet another Berris, the one Irufan mentioned. We shuttled people in through the clocktower access with Milka's own Pass Without Trace concealing the people waiting on the ground for entry and got back inside and down past the dormitories. The children were doing their best, staying in their rooms but the chatter and calling underneath the doors was a dull roar to say the least and as we drew into the Grand Entrance, we spotted Tyrom and an exhausted Charity.
I don't know if it can do that, but if it does, we could destroy our gate afterwards as well.
If I can't go back, will you help me kill all of them?
Oh yes. All of these Berrises, yes.
Its been a night; Donovo is dead, City Center is...Charity briefed us in a long breathless explanation of what happened on her end of things, the disappearance of Donovo, the death of 'Paladin' the Sandoran Angel, Basilocke's ill intent and desire to change what had been agreed upon and their intrusion into the Rat King's lair as well as the brush with the pudding king. I asked Irufan to run interfence with Crisnos getting to the dungeon and making sure that Cassie hadn't attempted escape and gathered Tyrom in addition to the others who participated in the dual assaults to be ready at the door while Tyrom, Charity, Ospher and I went out to meet this Grey Berris they spotted.
We saw.
a wreck, Basilocke... We had the opportunity to destroy the Mirror and he said maybe we shouldn't and we should keep it and try to do good with it and it was this whole thing, and we used the statue to smash the mirror and then everything started blowing up and we just got back here and now Fat people are outside and they want to talk to you.
Okay.
How did cleansing the abbey go?
Well enough, I don't think the vampires can enter without permission.
That's all I wanted.
The worst case scenario, at least they'll stay dead.
Tyrom I'm think that maybe our 'circle' and your circle should combine after all of this.
Umm, perhaps, that would be wise.
We might be a drag on your reputation.
I don't know how much flack you'll get for your involvement in all this and I would feel better about you and Neville and Norynor and Marike stayed in the Abbey.We stepped outdoors to hear what they had to say and Frennan explained that since we thwarted their plans we would need to be taken to the Autumn King as an offering to keep peace. We ridiculed this idea and the Grey Berris stepped out to defend his patsy and explain that due to our meddling, they would try to present us as an offering to the Autumn King for having spoiled their promise and hope that would give them the time to continue to seek a way through. I persueded a great number of the allies and hangers on of the Harvest Children that this was not a smart fight to be involved in and their dream of a Golden tomorrow following the Fae would be one primarily of fear. As the two other Red Berrii made their way out of the carriage they came in, I knocked on the abbey door to signal for Janka, Crisnos, Brightshine, Tadlo and Lorgan to make their way out so we could kick these people out of Bellhaven.
Are we responsible for what happened in City Center?
I believe so, yes.
Well then I will take considerable flack, but this would be worth it.
I'm so sorry, I just wanted what was best for Frial and the Circles and they said the Unicorn would bring peace. And if they can't have the unicorn then they're hoping the Autumn King will settle for the people that took it from him.
Seems like a bad deal all around Frennan.
Would you say that this is our 'best place in the grand plan' then?
Well we should just call it a theory, it's an educated guess, yes, turning the two of you over, but I am nothing if not an perpetual optimist, as you know.
At this point, yes, I'm well familiar.
If the tribute is rejected, well at least we'll have you near and dear to our hearts to thank for the night's bloodshed and the coming butcher's bill for the city.
It's so strange meeting you, the person responsible for all this, having met other yous so many times, I'm almost star struck.
'Almost most as if you the one responsible for all of it'? We tried our best to do so bloodlessly, did we not?
You in fact did not try to do this bloodlessly, don't try to gaslight us. How many lives were lost with your attempt to settle this with the bribe of a unicorn?
How many 'gracious hosts' did you take from the Lords of Trentpoole?
Some, no doubt, but bloodless compared to an invasion, yes?
I understood the point you're trying to make, but ultimately it is hollow.
It wasn't your life on the line after all.
We want you and we want your surrender. You can be the tribute to the Autumn King. I would make no mistake, we might not win tonight but lose and you die either way, but in the truest sense of what it is to be a hero, you get to decide how many good souls you drag down with you. Do surrender.
And all of you think that whatever Frennan has agreed to for this terrible deal is just something that you should just go with as well? How many of you are even sober presently? Is this something you agree to in inebriation?
It would be much easier on our mutual acquaintances here if you didn't have to die in a messy bit of violence. I personally prefer violence, I am a guest in the city after all and manner make it the monster, as I say.
Did you maggot all of these people?
Oh no no no! We have an accord: they recognize the glory of the fae and they want their place in the coming future.
We captured your agent. We brutally tortured her, obviously. Do you know, do all of you know when she originally revealed her nature, Frennan himself here recoiled in horror screaming and crying in the hallway of the 12 Carrots.
It wasn't a pretty sight.
They're destined to win! And even if they don't, our city will burn! We at least have an opportunity to find a place in the tomorrow that they're going to build! And I am trying to do it bloodlessly, amd I'm sorry for what will happen to you but your students can survive.
It seems like you have chosen violence and I am ecstatic.With our companions advancing to join us in this brutal contest, Charity threw an Ice Knife to strike the Grey Berris and also catch the two reds and Frennan as it shattered. Janka cast Summon Undead to fire more necrotic bolts at the Grey Berris in order to demonstrate off the bat that we understand his kind now. He reeled from the hit and already towering over Frennan he transformed into a massive Grey Saudra-tai. Tadlo used Banishment from the Skyririan Boomerang, sending one of the Reds into a pocket dimension for a minute while his brothers realized the seriousness of picking this fight and his Protector Eldritch Cannon granted us each a coat of blanketing protection. As their copious numbers dwindled at the shock of the actual situation we saw two of the Harvest Children spellcasters remain behind to continue the fight with their masters. One of them proved to be a very adept weaver and charmed Brightshine with Dominate Person ordering him to attack Ospher, which is managed to absolutely mess up to our relief, Ospher's Mage Armor prevented the Tengu from landing a connecting blow. The other magician did one bette, trying to influence us with Mass Suggestion, and Tyrom did well by casting Counterspell to befoul their attempt at crafting the mana into their enchantment. Frennan stepped away from the Berrii and apologized and unleashed a Cone of Cold at Charity, Ospher, and I, though while we did our best to avoid the spray of icicles, the spell's potency was not lost on us, covered in slashes, scrapes, and bruises. The remaining (for now) Red charged at Charity, but her amulet from the vault and the Cloak of Displacement kept her from being smashed by the brute, while the Grey Fat B charged me and struck me twice, thankfully not being equipped with fingers that penetrate and inject, though it felt like he broke a few of my ribs and collarbone. Ospher demonstrated that Polymorph even on an Undead creature could be potent, transforming the long dead thing into a creature called a Tyrannosaurus Rex, an ancient bipedal reptile capable of devouring these gigantic toadmen as well with teeth as long as a spear. Crisnos' Bless on the Dinosaur, Tyrom, Lorgan, and himself would also prove to make their attacks even more reliable. Tyrom tossed me a spare potion so I ended up drinking both his and one I had from earlier to desperately prevent these creatures from doing me in and kept on the defensive from his next attack. Ospher's next spell, Haste on me would prove to make me these Fae's worst enemy, giving me enough speed to make another strike as that much harder to hit. I cast my Spirit Shroud adorn myself in an aura of enervating energy for my attack, and caught him in the thigh, letting the energy pour into him and I caught a glimpse of shock on his face as his regenerative abilities crawled to a stop.
That is your nature after all.
Janka! be careful with this thing!Frennan flung a Fireball at Janka and her... T. Rex, which both of them were able to scramble out from the worst of it as it struck the school's facade and fizzled out as a cascading rainbow of light spread out across the bulding's face. Both of Frennan's magii flung Magic Missiles at me, thinking to counteract the Haste, but the Broach of Shielding that the teachers back from Becklinburg with protected me from that raw arcane power. The Red one landed a single glancing blow on Charity, but thanks to the Amulet, again, she was able to shrug off the effects of its egg-laden claws. The Grey's attacks barely went wide of me thanks to the improved speed of Oshpher's magic. Charity unleashed Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound next to me, attacking the Grey with impunity due to its invisibility. Brightshine kept Ospher on his toes, landing a clumsy slap with the blade along Ospher's backside as he wasn't facing our charmed friend with the Fae threat present. Janka, annoyed by the Harvest Children's master having flung fire at her send cruel Dissonant Whispers to him, driving him back towards the carts, clutching at his head. Tadlo and Lorgan used their ranged weapons, Tadlo shooting a bolt and striking the fleeing Frennan while Lorgan firing his shortbow at the Grey Saudra-tai and struck him in the eyeball with an arrow. Crisnos went to back up Charity's position using his Divine Smite to empower a blow that evaded the Red's defense and the Dinosaur managed to somehow both attack the Red with it's tail and attempted to keep the Grey in its jaws, though the Grey was unsuccesful in mowing out of the way of the shredding bite, did stop it from holding him tight in the sharp teeth. Tyrom struck out at the red as well, slamming it twice about the body with his hammer while it was reeling from the whip like strike from the huge tail of the beast. Frennan, relieved to be in the back, drank a potion and then flung Magic Missiles at Janka and took cover behind their abandoned carts. Seeing Ospher as the caster of so many power spells, one Harvest Children mage attempted to Charm Person Ospher, which sloughed off him, here in his seat of power, and Charity was targeted by the same spell by the other one, but she also mustered the strength of will to let no one compel her action. The Red Berris, seeing a chance as Charity gritted her teeth, attempted to bite and claw at her in a frenzy of blows, but a single scratch landed as she swept away from the assault and again proved to be hardened to their infection. Seeing me as too hard a target and his buddy similarly toughed to magical damage, Grey Berris flung a Fireball at his feet, catching most of us off guard and absolutely susceptible to the tactic. As the flames and smoke cleared, Lorgan's next shot from his bow went wide and similarly for Brightshine's attacks on Ospher, even with the brutal blow from the fireball he couldn't shake the control. Janka's next Dissonant Whispers didn't have the same power that the previous one did, probably that Frennan was ready for it this time, but his cries were good to hear from the arch-traitor. The two Harvest Children mages were not ready for Tadlo's Grease, with one of them dropping his spellbook to steady himself while the other tumbled straight to the covered cobbles. Charity's invisble Hound struck the Grey Saudra-tai again, making him wonder where these attacks originated, and she lined up a Lightning Bolt to strike both the Red and Grey Berrii, dealing a significant blow to the red, in spite of his resistance. Of my next two attacks on the Grey, I landed one blow across his largeness, stopping his natural healing again while Crisnos' next invocation of Divine power filled him with holy light that erupted from him as he struck the Red, blowing it up leaving nothing bu red bits and gore. The no-longer-undead Servant rended the remaining Saudra-tai with its teeth before walking off to strike Frennan with it's tail, knocking out of the addled mage and damaging the cart he hid behind. Tyrom's mighty hammer crushed the bulbous head of the Grey with a thump of wet meat, and it slowly toppled over as my strike earlier ensured its death. The remaining two Harvest mages dropped all their scrolls and held their hands up as we turned to them to stop their assault and the one that Dominated Brightshine let go of the spell, ceasing the assault on Ospher. We walked over to where the Red Saudra-tai would return from the Banishment while Tyrom gathered up the two mages and made sure they had no more funny business to perpetrate while Tadlo ended the spell from the boomerang. Between my, the T rex, Charity's hound, Tadlo and Lorgan's assault, it died a moment after arriving back, bemoaning its destiny.
What did you just do?! Do you bring him to life?
Oh no, I just gave him a new form, you brought him to life.
Parley is still on the table.With the Berrii melting in the cool night air, the children lost all self control and started opening the windows and clapping and cheering, catching me unawares of the spectacle we were putting on for them. Better, I suppose, for the reality of our work to be liad bare before them instead of false pretenses any longer. I ran over to keep Frennan from slipping off to the great beyond and provided medical aid so we could pin the magical chaos of the city on the Harvest Children. Strangely, Charity noticed in the remains of the Grey couple arms full of maggots and grubs, waiting to be implanted into the unsuspecting. While my spell was still active, I set into making sure they didn't grow ex vitro.
We're both sorry, very sorry, very sorry!
Were you injected? Are you alright?We turned over their carts to see what they brought with them, and besides literally barrels and barrels of Apples and illicit substances, there were a lot of harvesting tools and farm equipment that the people who walked away that they likely were going to use to attack us with. We found a Blue Alchemy Jug, an Astral Shard for Love, a vase with a rose inside it which I was told is a Black Chromatic Rose, a pair of Drift Globes (divvying up one each to each headmaster), a Folding Boat, a Gem of Seeing, and the two casters each gave up a Pearl of Power for Charity and Ospher.
He poked me twice, but I don't feel it? Do you feel it? Would you feel it?
Yeah, you feel it in your stomach, trust me its terrible.
What you've seen here tonight is the culmination of unfortunately. It means that you will be targeted to get at us. We're very sorry that this is the case, but we endeavor to teach you the best magic that we can.
You saved our lives tonight!
You're the best magician we've ever seen! You took down a school master!
I am no magician. I am a cleric. The true gods are still alive!
We should go in and get real drunk, this is the worst day ever.With everythign cleaned up, we forestalled getting drunk to put on a pot of coffee and assess the situation: Basilocke and the Adamantite Order would likely regard us as bitter foes from here out; anyone surviving the harvest Children could attempt to seek revenge for their broken Circle or find shelter within the Adamantite, and with bitter enemies in town now, our funding from the Grand Order of the Lion could be jeopardized if anyone sought to spin a tale about the weekend's affairs, real or false. This also meant our friends would be in danger as well, we made to move Bianca's shoppe and her possessions into the Abbey immediately after speaking with her and agreeing that she could still run her shop here but would need to meet with people with some prior appointment and clearing of the person. We offered to move Tyrom's belonings from the Curious Word immediately as well, but he had faith that no one would move on him since that would mean crossing both us and Rowna, the Oracle.
Oh as much as I want to...
The day's not over yet, unfortunately.
I can live here?
Yeah.
Wow, do I owe you anything?
You're still our teacher's aide, so as long as you continue to help.
Can I run my shop out of the back?
I have about five or six customers a week.
How do you stay open?
My family owned the property so... I do have to eat a lot of stale bread though.
Have to? You can eat here.
I'm astounded by your poor nutritional choices.
Oh no, but coffee makes it fine, it's really nutritious.
That is, that is not true, but fortunately you're here now, so I can rectify that.
It's better that it falls on him than anyone else, maybe he forced into what he did tonight but he wasn't into his infatuation with the fae prior to this, he opened himself up to this alliance.With our work cut out for us, Ospher and I went into the 'dungeon' to speak with Cassiopeia once more while locking up Frennan until we could lever the responsibility onto him. She watched us with cautious eyes as we left his unconscious body nearby and we spoke at length about what was next for her. We set her free after some tentative agreement that we should work together and that attempting to subvert control of the city will not be met well, while understanding that her peoples are not in possesion of some blood guilt.
I don't want to live in a cell, but I also don't want to be hunted by the people that I'm employed by.
You've said a lot of things in the last day but the thing that stuck out most to me is that fae, nightmare or otherwise, aren't really into this Autumn King business.
Well no, but the Shadow Court opposes him and that's the best hope anyone has of stopping him.
In spite of the cost of that?
I know you look at the Shadow Court's methods as harsh, but they're my people and they're just working to return my people from having to live in the shadows, afraid of inquisitors from your cities. You would do the same, anyone else would do what they do.
I'm not a solider, if they plan to invade, I'm of no use to them there. But I am what I am, which is an agent of the court.With this threat subdued we now have only to face the fallout of our conviction. May it be a challenge we may rise to confront. The future at times looks as bleak as Master Basilocke proclaims, but I have faith that the convergence within which we live will amount to some sort of grand change, at least at a small scale to start. Maybe next week we'll learn that Seagravia is actually interested in also going back in time and doesn't want to conquer Frial and her farmlands. Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. I heard that once shortly after joining in the street gangs of Ghal Pelor. I will grasp at that courage perpetually. -AA
So we set you loose and we hope we don't have to see you again.
And if they want you to do something that you don't quite agree with, we can always come to a better solution, there's always another way.
Missions/Quests Completed
Defeat and spoilage of the Fae plot to subvert Frial to possess a Mirror Gate to go back in time.
Freed a Unicorn from the clutches of those that would use her magic to wicked ends.
Excised traitors from within the Magical Circles of Frial.
Related Reports
https://youtu.be/BMjSOxA-CWQ- first game
https://youtu.be/-dVTVIDwff0 - second game
https://youtu.be/-dVTVIDwff0 - second game
