Having watched the message - and warning - from
Lasdolon, the Guardians questioned
Kisari a bit longer.
Eviana joined them outside, along with four members of the
Lantern Bearers. Once the questions had been answered, Kisari was taken into custody. The drow openly confessed that she would be breaking out since she had committed no crime. If anyone tried to stop her, she would kill them.
The next day, after hearing that Kisari had in fact escaped (but killed no one in the process), the Guardians packed up and prepared to leave Crying Leaf. Before departing, they stopped by Fjord’s mother’s home and invited
Fjord to come with them in hopes that he might find a cure for his condition. He accepted and joined the Guardians of Golarion on their journey.
During the ride to Riddleport,
Reh tried to access the internal world within her pyramoid. She was able to enter the world but was unable to access the tower that contained the great library, as well as her friends
Chakos Vrinn and
Naebler. The doors were locked, and no one answered her cries. Frustrated, Reh returned to the material plane.
On the eve of the second day, the party reached the gates of
Riddleport. The gendarmes appeared more vigilant than normal as if waiting for someone or something. When asked what their business was in town,
Telith Nordhof said that they were the Guardians of Golarion and that should be enough. The guards became alarmed at this and called for reinforcements, drawing their swords the whole while.
Rooker Shango managed to calm everyone down and asked for an explanation.
One of the guards told them that
Arcaan, a man claiming to be a friend of theirs, went on a rampage. He was responsible for a great number of people. He also appeared to be responsible for killing
Maly. To make matters worse, he also somehow burned down the mighty magical tree that was
Maly's Wondrous Vault. The landmark burned for hours and could not be extinguished by water. It took the assistance of the cypher mages to put out the flames. Maly's daughter
Anen was not among the dead and was still missing. Also missing was their ally
Kwava.
The city guards didn't have to go far to locate the apparent source of the carnage. Arcaan was found wandering the streets covered in blood, muttering to himself in infernal. His gauntlets had changed, having become part of his body and changing the flesh of both arms to armored steel. Glowing molten slag flowing through the veins of his arms instead of blood. He killed about a dozen gendarmes that tried to apprehend him.
Elias Tammerhawk, the speaker of the Order of Cyphers, finally put him down and restrained him.
Reh’s cousin
Liam, a cyphermage, gathered up the Guardians from the guardpost and took them to the cypher lodge. Once they were settled,
Sir Godric decided to go and see the remains of Maly’s Wonderous Vault for himself. The others followed, and together the Guardians rode into the night to see just how bad things were.
A block away, it was clear just how bad it had been. Buildings were black with scorch marks, windows caked with ash. Gendarmes were posted on the street, warning others to move along and not get too close. From the barricade, the party could see that the mighty tree was gone. A single slab of charcoaled wood stood out from the hole. Everything was ash and debris. Some of it had been carried out into the street.
Rooker and some of the others illuminated a nearby building. Rooker used his Mending spell to repair the damage while attracting the attention of the gendarmes. Fjord cast invisibility on
Kuuro, who then stealthily crept into the wreckage to look for clues. Everything inside was gone. Counters, shelves, all ash. No magic items remained. Kuuro’s keen eyes made out the human-shaped discoloration on the floor and realized that was the place where Maly’s body had most likely been found, burned and buried under the collapsed building that she called home.
Back at the Cypher Lodge, Reh spent a few hours in the library trying to find out any information on the sa’har order. She found a great deal of information, but nothing that mentioned any members of the order (specifically the owner of the pyramoid in her possession,
Chakos Vrinn).
The next morning, after breakfast in the cafeteria, the Guardians went to meet with Elias Tammerhawk. Elias questioned them regarding their purpose in Riddleport, as well as Arcaan’s purpose. He admitted that Overlord Cromarcky wanted Arcaan dead, but Elias confessed that there was too much that he didn’t know about the magical appendages and what powers it gave him. Some things were more powerful after they died, and Elias wasn’t sure if that was the case with Arcaan.
The trial would be a farce, of course, but Arcaan needed to be contained. Elias made an agreement with the Overlord. Elias would imprison Arcaan until the nature of his magic could be discovered and isolated. Overlord Cromarcky would have his own men guard the cell until Arcaan could be safely tried and killed.
Elias took the Guardians to the containment cell by teleportation. They arrived deep within a stone room, surrounded by runes and walls that emitted cold. At the cell, the Guardians got a look at Arcaan and could see that he had changed. His gauntlets had become arms, metallic limbs that covered his shoulders and shoulder blades. Arcaan was shirtless but his pants were stained with blood.
Arcaan admitted that he had been drinking a lot lately. The last thing he remembered was having drinks at the Broken Hammer inn. He blacked out, but had visions of flames and screaming, heard sounds of pain. He woke up in the cell with his arms the way they were now.
Atrament suddenly stepped out of the shadows. He said he had the contract that Arcaan was hoping for.
Damocleus Gallus was willing to part with his book, the
Pnakotic Manuscript (Volume Eight) as well as the soul coin that contained the life essence of the drow
Serdrissa. He knew what Arcaan wanted the book for, and that by using the ritual within the book to release him from his gauntlet curse, it would destroy the book. As a collection, Gallus was upset by that. However, if Arcaan obtained the
Orcadian Disc, the trade could be made.
Arcaan told the Guardians that if they recovered the disc for him, they could use Serdrissa to find out everything about Lasdolon and his plans. She had been part of Nolveniss’ inner circle so she knew things. Important things. They had something to gain by helping Arcaan.
Fjord asked to see the contract. Atrament conceded and allowed everyone to look at it before being signed to it. Reh pointed out that there was a clause written regarding Arcaan’s gauntlets. If he successfully removed them, Arcaan would give them to Gallus. However, if the disc was not obtained within a “reasonable amount of time,” Arcaan would surrender his arms and give them over to Gallus. The contract was returned to Atrament, who was told to rewrite it. Atrament smiled, annoyed, and vanished.
