Imzeral Arc: Part 1 (7) Report

After a short while waiting, the party began to consider their options. They could steal and ship and try to sail along the coast to get to Azabar or Fort Oakwell, or they could try to get there by land. Solomon conferred with Ectival on the matter, who told him that he only had enough power to either disguise the ship or the party, nothing more. With this information they decided upon the latter, and made preparations. They began to ride out of the city, but became lost within the labyrinth of buildings and plazas. Coming out onto a wide street, the party noticed a group of men coming toward them from down the road. They wore Vestidian tabards, so normally it wouldn't be problematic, but the party was still disguised as cultists of Dion. Noticing this, the Vestidians charged forth to slaughter the supposed enemies, only to be surprised when they suddenly transformed into average people.   The party spoke with Prince Mauger after being captured, who released them shortly after under the condition that they not return to Varikon. They immediately accepted, as they had already resolved to leave the city and never return of their own volition. The party then returned to Azabar over the course of a few days and sought out Oxton. They waited a day before seeking him out, during which Ectival and Solomon disputed how to deal with the artifacts. In his fury, Ectival knocked Solomon out cold, where he was dragged into a side room by the barkeeper who assumed he was just a drunk. The party discovered Oxton in his dwelling near the city's council chambers. The house was in shambles, and they found him alone in his study with a blue light that emanated from a book. This is how they met Imzeral, who was himself the light. Solomon, Ravyn, and Imzeral discussed what would be done if the party managed to successfully acquire the artifacts. Imzeral and Oxton were still concerned of the outcome, so as collateral Solomon gave them custody of the helmet of Ectival. Satisfied, Oxton agreed to charter a boat on behalf of the party for their transit to Mol Kaldir.   The party set out for the frigid coast of Everos the next day, but not before a particular oddity. The night before the departure, Ralof and Ravyn visited the Mage's Guild to see if there was a solution for Ralof's case of Arcane Rot. They found a mage named Lethgar for the task. Unfortunately, it wasn't his best work, and Ralof suffered quite a bit from the operation. Much of the skin on his chest was cut away and raw. A strange, milky-yellowish solution was applied to the area, which temporarily numbed the pain, but did not eliminate the Arcane Rot affecting him.   The party left the next morning upon the IMF Goldthorn, captained by Ilman Pyros, a Nevanese trader. Their voyage lasted the better part of four to five hours, during which the party prepared themselves for what would be their final expedition. They approached the imposing figure of the mountain burst forth from the mist, a cold air brushing across them as they stood upon the deck. Strange ships had also seemingly laid anchor in the ancient dockways of Mol Kaldir, bearing no flags or identification. Aiming to avoid the unknown group, the party took sail from in a dingy toward an isolated wharf far and away from the main port. Once they landed, they ascended the rocky, snow covered pathway that led to the narrow defile in the mountain. Beyond that is the dusty interior of the hold, filled with broken debris and other detritus. Such was their bitter welcome to the ancient hold of Mol Kaldir.   The party send time navigating the winding halls of Mol Kaldir, taking note of the poor confition of the place and the odd nature of its layout. It very much seemed as though ants had carved their way through the mountain, going this way and that without a set plan of where they would end. Amongst those dark halls the party discovered the first puzzle of the mountain: A bust of a wailing women with a note tied with string around her neck. When pulled, the string triggered a series of gears which brought down the gate behind them, trapping them in the room with the bust. Their initial guesses at the riddle proved to be incorrect, and a dark green mist, poisonous to breathe, began to pour from the woman's mouth. They began to hurry their guesses, and luckily for them Ralof can up with the correct answer before the mist had time to choke them out.   Stumbling out of the room, the party continued down the dark and damp corridors. Going up a carved flight of stairs they came upon what seemed to be a feasting hall. Inside the musty room was a scene of recently fought battle. The room stank of the early stages of rot, and the already worn furniture was mostly broken under the force of the conflict. Upon investigation, it became known that most of the bodies were cultists of Dion, and the other side was a group of black-clad knights. Inside one of the knight's pouches was a note describing in short detail the nature of their mission there, to get the artifacts and destroy them. Ralof as well found a blood trail on the far side of the room that led into the corridor beyond. Following, the party discovered it was the body of Hrodvaldr, but he had been stripped of the breastplate. That was a matter of great concern, as Hrodvaldr was a man of impressive stature and skill, and for him to be face down in his own blood bode poorly for what was ahead.   Down further from the feasting hall was another series of corridors that wound wildly around the interior of the mountain. After quite some time exploring, the party managed to find the next room on their way up to the peak. It was a massive archive room, filling with volumes of Dwarven books. It's official name is the Library of King Breward. but the party couldn't speak Dwarven to make that out. They saw the door ahead was closed, and immediately began the search for clues to what they correctly figured was another puzzle. They found their wonderful hint in a dusty tome written in both Everosi Manish and Dwarven, split down the middle with each language to allow for translation. Inside was a small note with numbers scrawled onto it. The party correctly surmised that the numbers related to books that were located on specific shelves and rows of the library. Unfortunately, they were unaware of the numerical order that the numbers needed as well, leading to another gust of posion gas to fill the room. For every incorrect book they grabbed, more gas would pour into the room, to the point where members of the party were on the brink of death. Before their deaths however, they managed to pull the correct combination of books and open the far side door, filtering out the posion.   They continued once more through the interior of the mountain. Up and down and around they went, until they finally found signs of life: A bonfire in the center of a roof, with armored men surrounding it. Ravyn and Ralof failed to stealth into the room, so were detected and ordered to show themselves by the surprised soldiers. They spoke to a knight who seemed to be their leader, who in turn introduced himself as Lieutenant Keld. They had an interesting conversation about their oddly similar objectives down in the belly of the mountain. Knights of the Scarlet Hand are tried to be skilled interrogators and researchers as well as fighters, so he milked out as much information as possible. He then offered that Ravyn, Ralof, and Rodgyr, being the only three he knew about, to come with him to speak to his commander for further information. Ravyn and Ralof agreed to go with him, and in secret agreed to finally betray Solomon.