For the first time in days, the cold autumn rain stopped falling.
A chill still remained in the air.
Jakardros and
Vale felt that chill in their bones, but they dared not so much as shiver while they watched two dozen ogres emerged from
Fort Rannick. For a moment they thought they'd been seen and the ogres were coming to collect them, or eat them. But Jakardros realized that their shouting was not a war cry. They were cries of panic, and the ogres were running for their lives. Something in there had shaken them, and after the ogres were long gone he and Vale curiously entered to fort to see what that something was.
They were greeted by zombie Jaagrath Kreeg and understood.
Jakardros and Vale thanked the
Saviors of Sandpoint for reclaiming the fort and began to survey the damage. They, along with
Kaven, gathered the bodies of their fallen Black Arrows brothers and burned them in a large funeral pyre. The dead ogres were dragged out of the fort and left as carrion at the edge of the forest, food for the animals, and a warning to the ogres who had fled.
Kadrus Shieldwalker and
Truett teleported into the fort from Sandpoint. Together they removed the cursed armor from
Dilay, but kept her restrained so they could speak to her and determine if she was a threat.
Dilay, now apparently under her own control, told the heroes that this was all born out of revenge. She and
Kumiko, her adopted sister, were members of the royal family in the kingdom of
Laterre. That kingdom was destroyed by Lord
Kaitos Blackmoor, his troops, and his pet dragon. Kumiko and Dilay were able to flee the destruction of their home, but few others did - and none of the royal family were counted among the living. Dilay and Kumiko became separated in their escape after being attacked by bandits, and each believed that the other was dead.
After several days, Dilay was found by an elven ally named
Oberon Thornhide. Oberon had led the elves who had wanted to join the Kingdom of Laterre, and knew who Dilay was. After learning the fate of her family, he took her back to the town of
Eshal’aiqua and began to train her in the way of the sword. Driven by vengeance, she became skilled with the blade. She wasn't sure if Kumiko was still alive, but if she was then the only way she and Kumiko would ever be safe was if Lord Blackmoor was dead.
After many years of training and planning, she traveled to the kingdom of
Turapal to gain her revenge. Dilay made her way through the mountains, then past Mist Walkers that roamed the land at night. The mist rolled out at sunset and retreated at sunrise without fail. Undead horrors of all shapes and sizes would come out of the mist and feed on any poor soul who hadn’t made it back within the confines of a protected village. She never approached the villages, the people, or the undead. They were not her concern.
Using both potions and finesse, Dilay managed to infiltrate
Castle Virin. She was surprised at the lack of any military presence within the castle. In fact, when she found Lord Blackmoor he was walking down a hallway alone. He was also wearing a full suit of what Dilay would learn later was cursed
Theyrium armor.
She crept up behind him. He stopped. No words were spoken. She attacked.
It was over quickly. He managed to slap aside her attacks and hit her harder than she'd ever been struck. Several blows later, darkness took her. She died. Dilay believed she had died. And Blackmoor never drew a weapon.
When she did finally open her eyes, she was in a library that she did not recognize. A robed stone giant was watching her from the shadows. He stepped forward, and Dilay saw that he was definitely taller than her but fairly small as far as stone giants went. He said his name was
Mokmurian, and he explained that they both wanted the same thing - Lord Blackmoor dead. Blackmoor was an “ally of convenience” but his usefulness was coming to an end. Mokmurian said his master would soon be free and Blackmoor would pay for what he had stolen from his master. He told Dilay that Blackmoor obtained power from the theyrium armor he wore. He depended on the power of the armor, having no military training or combat background. He was simply a blacksmith by trade. But if she had armor similar to him, with her training she would have the advantage in their next encounter. She would easily defeat him.
So hungry for revenge, Dilay agreed to help Mokmurian. The wizard surprised her by offering her two pieces of theyrium armor that he had in his possession - bracers and boots. She didn't hesitate in putting them on. It didn't take long for the blackness of rage and bloodlust to begin to engulf her mind. She had to fight to remain in control, battling against something in her mind that wanted to be in charge. She was barely in control of herself when Mokmurian told her that if she would do something for him, he would help her to engineer her vengeance. He gave her a new identity -
Lucrecia, which she learned later was a play on the abyssal word for "slave." That was what she was - a slave to her revenge and a slave to the corrupt power of the armor.
The plan was to go to
Turtleback Ferry and set up a gambling barge. There she would lure out the greedy, and brand them with the mark of the Sihedron star. People who were slaves to their sins. People like Lord Blackmoor, who killed her family out of greed. Once she had marked those greedy souls, he would let her mark Blackmoor before avenging her family and her kingdom.
Dilay agreed. She would do as he asked to get her revenge. And the power of the theyrium would help her to do so.
After several months in Turtleback Ferry, she felt her mission was complete. Her gambling barge, Paradise, had done its job. She had marked over half of the population of Turtleback Ferry and the surrounding region. There didn't seem to be much else for her to accomplish, so Lucrecia abandoned Paradise and sank it in Claybottom Lake. The fact it was full of gamblers and partygoers at the time was not a concern. They were slaves to their greed, just like Lord Blackmoor.
While she planned her next move, Lucrecia was contacted by another ally of Mokmurian -
Sereg, a hobgoblin that had taken over the Kreeg ogres in the region. Sereg asked her to take a group of ogres and see if she could eliminate the threat of Fort Rannick. The rage-filled voices that screamed in her head had long overpowered her own desires, and she agreed to the plan. Lucrecia used the information Kaven had given her to find the fort’s weaknesses and wipe out the Black Arrows.
Dilay did not know where Sereg or Mokmurian were hiding, or what their plans were. Why was Fort Rannick taken over? To eliminate a threat? To create a staging ground for the ogres? And what was the plan once the people were marked with the Sihedron? Was this similar to what the goblins had planned with Sandpoint? Were the ogres coming to Turtleback Ferry to liberate souls like the goblins were?
Sisters reunited
The Saviors of Sandpoint spent an uncomfortable night at Fort Rannick. Jakardros, Vale, and Kaven took watch while the others slept. The next day, Jakadros rang the alarm bell and woke everyone up. Not only had Kaven disappeared during the night, but someone from Turtleback Ferry had come to the fort to warn them that the town was flooding. The people needed help.
It was decided that Jakadros and Vale would hunt for Kaven while the Saviors of Sandpoint, Dilay, and Kadrus rushed back to Turtleback Ferry. When they reached town, the heroes saw that the river had spilled over and was coming dangerously close to washing away several buildings. Many townsfolk retreated to high ground, and those who were unable to found refuge within the church of Erastil. That was when Kilgor saw what looked like a tree floating toward the church. But it was no tree - it was the immense
Black Magga, a creature from legend dating back decades, or longer. The giant creature began to attack the townspeople in the church, but the Saviors of Sandpoint came to their rescue and were able to drive the creature off.
The water began to recede, but that gave the town little comfort. Their initial fear was that the
Skull’s Crossing dam had burst. Yet the sudden rush of water seemed to indicate that something had definitely happened there. Several locals recognized Black Magga from local legend and explained that the monster was said to dwell in the Storval Deep, not in Skull River.
Mayor Shreed suspected that something must have happened at Skull’s Crossing. In the past, when storms threatened to spill over the dam, the structure’s floodgates opened automatically to release water pressure in a controlled flow. No one in Turtleback Ferry knew exactly how the mechanism for opening the floodgates worked, as Skull’s Crossing had long been the den of a tribe of trolls known as the
Skulltakers. Yet as long as anyone could remember, the floodgates had functioned without fault. If the floodgates were malfunctioning, someone needed to brave the wrath of the Skulltaker trolls to determine what, if anything, could be done to repair the ancient Thassilonian structure before a cataclysmic flood washed the entire region away.
Mayor Shreed offered the heroes 1000gp - half now, half again on their return - to discover what had happened and address the issue at Skull’s Crossing.
