Dion Arc: Part 1 (5) Report

Hedgehaven is one of the larger towns that the party arrived at in Vestidia. It is the primary defensive position in the western reaches of Vestidia, and has played an important role in the military history of that region. During the Interregnum, petty kings used Hedgehaven as a point from where they could control the otherwise open landscape of the region. During more recent times, Hedgehaven was the site of a siege, from where the men of Vestidia held out in rebellion against the Astorian Empire. While the city eventually fell, the lengthy siege severely hindered the Imperial war effort to maintain the Empire. Unfortunately, the city's importance has diminished over the years. While it is still an important site of trade and transit, it is no longer of significant political importance.   The party, after restocking at Hedgehaven, continued their march eastward to their homestead of Ivywood to see that it had grown into something of a proper village. They stayed for a short time there, recuperating and reestablishing contact with the temple of Sinestra that they had left so long ago. After their stay there, the party departed northward to the border of Astoria where they were stopped by border guardsmen. Using the Gauntlets of Sinestra, Solomon managed to bribe the guards into allowing them into the country. Once there, they passed through the capital city of Pyrgoros on their way to Azabar, seeing it in all of its beauty. That was the peaceful leg of their trip.   Solomon never was much of a trailblazer, and unfortunately his skills in that area failed the party, and they trailed Northward rather than west as they had intended. This put them in the dangerous coastal regions of the country that have been under repeated assault by Grestosi warriors. The party only realized the danger of their mistake when they came upon a brutal battle between the invading Grestosi and an Astorian defending force from Duke Corenius's army. They were safe from the major battle below, but were soon attacked by Grestosi warriors who had scaled the cliffs to try and flank around and so happened to run into them.   After the encounter with the Grestosi, the party trudged off to a nearby Astorian military camp. Once they arrived they claimed to be refugees, and were thus given shelter and protection for the night. The next day, Ralof went searching for a new horse to replace the one that Solomon had killed in the previous battle. Along the way, he encountered a scene of Astorian soldiers surrounding and cursing a recently captured soldier who was fighting with the Grestosi. Upon further investigation he learned that the prisoner was a Cultist of Dion, and was thus worth interrogating.   Working upon this information, the party went to the tent of Duke Corenius of Ibannus, the commander of Astorian forces in the region and the person managing the prisoner. The ensuing investigation led to the death of the prisoner at the hands of Logan, but yield some useful information to the party. The most pressing piece they gathered was that Dion's faithful had managed to captured a band of followers of Imzeral, including Calder Thorne. After the investigation the party quickly saddled up to continue their journey to Azabar. The journey the rest of the way to the Azabar peninsula lasted for a bit less than a week. The party arrived at the city, and set about exploring the vast array of shops, plazas, and other locations in the Cyclops's realm. Solomon also went off to explore the city's government, and potentially find some followers of Imzeral with whom the party had been in so little contact in recent times, despite the fact they're allies. Much to his luck, Oxton Spalding, the prophet of Imzeral, was in Azabar attending one of the council meetings. In discussion, Solomon informed Oxton that his fellows had been captured, much to his dismay. Oxton told Solomon that the boots of Imzeral may be located in the abandoned Dwarven hold of Mol Kaldir, which had at some points in history been a haven for the migrant followers of Imzeral. A plan was made where Oxton would investigate that possibility further, but in the meantime Solomon and the party should try and save the captured followers of Imzeral. The cult is small as it is, and their deaths would be crippling blow that couldn't be recovered from.   The next day the party departed from Azabar to make their way east again toward Astoria. Information has it that important prisoners are usually dealt with by the King of Grestovich, so reason says that where the king is, the prisoners are in this case as well. All the party needed was more information and an army large enough to go save them. To attempt to gather the latter, the party used a recently acquired map to travel to the nearest fort. It was the fort of Oakwell, located high in the mountains that line the western border of Astoria. Much to their surprise, the mountain refuge was being held by the Astorian rebels under the command of Martin Sextus. Despite his disappointment that the party never met him in Pyrgoros, Martin still saw them as friends and bid they stay in the fort until they were ready to continue forward. He also requested that the party attempt to parlay with Vestidia on his behalf.   Waking up the next day, the party contemplated their next move. Solomon went to speak with Martin Sextus, while Ravyn pondered over a dream she had about the War of Darkness over the night. Over the course of the morning they gathered their supplies, made their plans, and headed out eastward to find the Grestosi king and the followers of Imzeral. They agreed to assist Martin and his rebels by bringing word of their struggle to King Ancelm of Vestidia, who would hopefully agree to form and alliance and lend them aid. To ensure that the message made it to the king, Martin transferred Lieutenant Hyatt Landon and 20 men under his command to the party to bring him safely.   Party goes eastward with goal to bring message to King Ancelm on behalf of Martin Sextus. They are given 20 men under the command of Lieutenant Hyatt Landon to escort them. Party reaches old battlefield and sees the horror left behind by the battle between the Astorians and the Grestosi. They also find a number of wounded men left behind when the army double timed it to Varikon. They assist one, who tells them a bit about the dire situation in the city. They get to the city and see that the Grestosi, Astorians, and Vestidians are all fighting for it. They see a camp on the outskirts, which they assumed to be the Vesitidian siege camp. They head there in an attempt to speak to the king. Once they arrive they speak to the Castellan of the camp, who told them that the king was leading his men in the city.   The party heads into the city through the breach that the Vesitidians used to get inside. They saw the dead and dying from where a fight was had at the walls. They advanced forward to try and find the Vestidian camp. Going down the road they came upon a strange scene: Three men standing in the middle of the main road, seemingly waiting. When the party advanced they split up into two groups, Ralof, Rodgyr and some men down once road, and Solomon and Ravyn down another. The side with Ralof encountered the three men, the leader of them being the famous Vestidian hero Davor of Greyhall. Talking with him, things didn't seem quite... right. He was acting rather strange, and was also far away from the fighting, which was strange in and of itself. It turned out that Ectival, who had previously been out of the picture for quite some time, had returned. He had taken possession of Davor in his attempt to stop the party long enough to have a chat with them. This worked out very well, as Solomon and Ravyn want together, who were the two people we wanted to speak to anyhow. He took possession of a soldier and gave them an offer for them to join him.   The party then headed to the headquarters of the Vestidians in the city, in the hall of the Guild of Metalsmiths. There they met with King Ancelm of Vestidia, in all of his martial glory. They made a deal, that he would consider an alliance with Martin Sextus if the party dealt with the Astorians in the city. To do so, the party headed off to the Governor's Palace in the western portion of the city. It was a gorgeous and elaborate structure, and stationed with many Astorian soldiers along with the commanders of the city's defense. They arrived, and were rejoined by Logen and Sindryl. Using the gauntlets of Sinestra, Solomon summoned an illusion of a company of Vestidian soldiers, convincing the guards to allow them in for a parlay. He succeeded, and the party was allowed inside to speak with Duke Corenius and Lord Trantus   Party meets with them, manages to get a private meeting with Lord Trantus. They convince him that working with the rebels and Vestidians would allow him to gain greater power than his position as the Governor of Varikon. Once they secured his support, the party went on with their plan to destabilize the Astorian military in the city, from within rather than from without. This was done by convincing the soldiers that joining with Martin Sextus and his forces would be the best way to restore their glory and secure their position in Astorian society. It was also added that Duke Corenius left the wounded behind once, and that he could very well do it again. This was enough to convince around 30 of the soldiers in the governor's palace to trade sides. A mass melee ensued as the rebels and loyalists brutally battled throughout the lower rooms of the building, ruining the beautiful décor, burning out certain rooms, and leaving a trail of bloody death behind them.   They party battled their way up to the third floor where the Duke had setup his command post. Unwilling to surrender, the Duke fought to the death alongside most of the officers. This left only Lord Trantus in the room, who congratulated them on their success, and bid they take him to see King Ancelm and work out a deal. Unfortunately, the king was in a foul mood, and the party only managed to anger him further by their suggestion of an alliance between the Astorian renegades and Vestidia. This was due to the one sided nature of the benefit of such an alliance rather than the mere concept of the alliance itself. The situation devolved further when the party attempt to speak on behalf of Lord Trantus to secure his position as governor in the event of a takeover by an Astorian rebel and Vestidian alliance. The King was less than receptive, and put forth that his mercy and thanks for Lord Trantus's part in the overthrow would be his ability to leave the city alive.   Disheartened, the party stalked out of the King's chambers and into the streets. Their options were limited, since it was clear that assistance from the Vestidians would not be forthcoming after that exchange. They headed back to the Governor's Palace to rest and think of a plan. During the night, a most curious series of visitations occurred. Ectival, who had made his presence known to the party only a day or two, came forth to visit the party. He came first to visit Ravyn in her room, but it was in the form of a possessed Rodgyr, normal in all ways but manner and his green glaed eyes. He offered the same deal to her as was offered to Solomon: Service in exchange for power and survival. It would be a shame, so he said, for potential such as Ravyn's to be wasted because she fell onto the wrong side once things begin to fall apart. She declined his offer, stating that not even he knew what he was dealing with, and that he spoke nothing but lies. A valid accusation if nothing else.   Whilst Ectival and Ravyn spoke, Solomon communed with Sinestra. He was rather fed up with her vagaries and demands, with a lack of answers and transparency. Collect the artifacts because it is your job to do so, that is what Sinestra told him, nothing more. She is, of course, the aspect of vanity, so being reasonable and listening to the complains of others is barely in her job description. The only thing she revealed was that the purpose was for her to come onto the mortal realm and beautify the world in her image, with Solomon as her vessel. Not surprisingly, this didn't sit well with Solomon, who had learned a great deal about both the power of the artifacts and the immense danger they pose to the world over the source of his adventure. He ceased communication, and in the moment after he whispered the name of Ectival. With that, the spirit came forth in his specter form, a mist of green only vaguely shaped like a human. Solomon explained that he wished to negotiate a deal with the aspect of plots and lies, and join him. Ecstatic, Ectival was more than willing to agree to anything and everything to gain the alliance and prophet hood of the bearer of three of the artifacts. With a simple ritual, the control of Solomon's soul went from Sinestra to Ectival, changing the campaign entirely. The transfer was entirely hidden from the rest of the party.