Session XXIII: Vanished Varkallin

Chapter 2: Arrival

General Summary

17 Chilling, 1304 AM

After getting some much-needed rest, the adventurers sequentially made their way to the lounge of the Palace of Remembrance. A mixture of angst and anxiety permeated the air of discussion between the adventurers. Eventually, Izdubar intervened and started talking about today's agenda: what he had found regarding the party's previous inquiry and about the symbol of Iomedae that was found in the ornate boxes containing the Regalia of Heaven. He asked what they wished to commence with, and Del'Gado suggested the former. A practical demonstration was found to be in order, and Izdubar informed them that they were visiting a demiplane for a short spell. Summoning a door on one of the walls, the party entered and were now in a room that contained several dozen wooden boxes, soon clarified to be coffins by Izdubar. Their inside was not for the faint of heart, he warned, though he recognised that the party was used to unpleasant sights by now. The only identifying mark on the coffins were glyphs, which Del'Gado could identify as being Ancient Mosehyrian, a precursor language spoken in the region that now constitutes Akkon and Jalron. Imaros and Jacqualine began opening a coffin, and they saw the body of a human dressed in what was the garb of an indebted prisoner. The corpse was artificially preserved, and no clear cause of death could be identified by Imaros. They opened a second coffin and found an orc in the same clothing and condition. Izdubar's leading theory was that this was connected to the High Garden Arcanists, as they still use Ancient Mosehyrian glyphs for communication and have the ability to create and access demiplanes. After leaving, he informed the party that he would secure answers within one or two days. Then, it was time for a talk about history, and why the holy symbol of Iomedae was present in the boxes containing the coronation regalia of Akkon. The former king of Jalron told the party that Akkon the Builder was a devoted worshipper of the Lady of Valour (and apparently liked Torag's teachings). Furthermore, angelic warriors led by her herald had assisted the Brass Pact against the demonic onslaught of Vyriavaxus. He believed that Iomedae's herald had presented Akkon with the Regalia of Heaven after the Anchor had been closed as a reward for his devotion. Izdubar then delivered his theory as to why this radically changed with the elevation of the Karapanate: Akkon had created a massively influential nobility in the form of the Noble Alliance and given them a powerful army; thus, granting the Karapanate, which had absorbed independent clerics and religious warriors into their organisation during the Umbral Deluge, a special role effectively made them a counterweight to Akkon's unified nobility, allowing the monarch to play them against each other instead of having to directly feud with either. In his view, Akkon was both a zealot and a pragmatist, but his pragmatic side had triumphed. And his worship of Iomedae quietly subsided in favour of Easivra. Del'Gado asked why a deity would not simply have the artifacts returned, to which Izdubar said that the gods almost never intervene directly on the Material Plane. Still, he speculated that Iomedae likely would have her herald reclaim the Regalia if they were misused, and as it stood, the Regalia had mostly collected dust in a locked vault for the past three centuries and only brought out during coronations. Once this conversation was finished, the party talked amongst themselves. Jacqualine decided to contact Varkallin to warn her that things would probably start getting dangerous at the palace. There was no response. Del'Gado quickly assumed that she was one of the people arrested during yesterday's purge at Morrowfall Redoubt, and Jacqualine then sent a message to the seneschal, who issued a subtle threat regarding inquiries to Varkallin's status. Jacqualine now considered Varkallin's rescue to be a top priority, and the party agreed. However, they had unfinished business to attend to first. Before they used the conspiracy's scroll to get to the drop-off, Imaros took with him some scrambled eggs from Izdubar's lunch selection. The party arrived in a forest, facing a cottage. Del'Gado took the lead and knocked on the door and was greeted by three darkly-dressed, masked individuals. The group entered, and the conspiracy agents walked to a table and signalled the party to hand over the requested items. Imaros suggested that he could safekeep some of these items, and this was interpreted to be very funny by the conspirators. Nevertheless, Del'Gado handed over all the items and the conspirators quickly stashed them in a bag of their own. They then instructed the party to give them all the items they wished to be reimbursed for. This amounted to:

8x paintings
2x ornate pillows
3x platinum rings
2x fine vases
6x sets of royal cutlery
4x ancient banners
Bust of Akkon the Builder
King's Glasses
Royal Ink and Quill
Silver Candelabrum
Bespoke Royal Playing Cards

When this order of business was concluded, Del'Gado asked where the holding cells of Morrowfall Redoubt were. The agent replied that there were none. He then asked the agent to explain Akkon's gaol system to Caerlin, who was somewhat of a tourist to the realm. In summary, the agent described that there were several tiers of gaols in Akkon, with the most common being debtgaols and evergaols: manual labour for the indebted and life sentences, respectively. Del'Gado wished to know who might be more familiar with this system: certain cadres of the high nobility were the most likely prospects. Leaving the cottage, Caerlin sent a message to Kadaron Hoymat to set up a meeting. A slightly annoyed response came, informing them to meet in Akk-Ur's Sun Market in an hour. Again using a scroll provided to them by the conspiracy, the party teleported to the royal capita's Justice Centriole, and made a plan on how to approach Kadaron. Caerlin and Imaros would talk to them whilst Del'Gado and Jacqualine stayed behind. However, the noble entourage fronted by sardar Kadaron threatened to call off the meeting unless the full party was present. Once the whole troupe was there, they took a walk around the market and talked. Kadaron first demanded to know what the party had learned about Roxana, suspecting that they had delayed this information. Del'Gado told him everything, including that Roxana more or less willingly had been a prisoner with the military unit. He also strongly advised Kadaron and his faction to begin pulling out assets from Akkon and to surrender to Kaedra, mentioning that one of their elements had fought demons to a standstill for months in the Abyss. The noble did not outright dismiss this claim, but said that Akkon's leadership was exceedingly hard to sway at the moment and that he and the faction he represents would need more evidence. Kadaron then told the party of some shocking developments that were in no way related to the group's recent adventures. The Elysian Court had summoned the full Noble Alliance to Akk-Ur to reaffirm their oaths, which Kadaron assumed would be related to a regent being installed. The Fellowship of the Sign has decreed that the Karapanate's temples be closed indefinitely, probably in response to some of its clergymen being murdered by Sunguards, who also had made off with some items from the vaults. Lastly, he said that the party was by now Twilight Advocates in name only due to the arrest of Varkallin. However, open association with the Hoymats would ensure the party's safety, and he offered an exchange: if the party retrieved some information that was of interest to the Hoymats, Kadaron would do the same regarding Varkallin's whereabouts. The party accepted, and Kadaron explained that negotiations with the Holds of Malakad pertaining to the Noble Alliance Army's passage had been slow, in addition to the dwarves now convening an All-Thing to decide on a course of action. However, some clans had been holding meetings in secret with army officers, and one scion of Clan Anvilhead, Ingibjorg, was staying incognito in Akk-Ur. According to Kadaron, she is one of those who had been meeting secretly with the army, and he wanted to know what the subject of their meetings were. She was staying in room 20 at the Builder's Arms. The party departed for their task, with Kadaron warning them he would likely upstage them in efficiency unless they were done by the evening. Del'Gado shouldered the responsibility of sneaking into Ingibjorg Anvilhead's room whilst the rest of the party sat brooding in a dark corner at the Builder's Arms. However, the curse of Enkitan's unassailable window still lingered with Del'Gado, who made several attempts before managing to break into room 20 from the outside. The room was quite empty, save for a backpack and a quill at the desk. The drawers were locked, and again Del'Gado made several efforts before the locks yielded. He found three sealed scrolls, bearing to identifying sigil. Unable to open them without breaking the seal, he left a written letter claiming to be a royal representative willing to negotiate outside the MMC offices in two hours. With the rest of the party staying behind and observing, Del'Gado assumed the appearance of a non-distinct human once Ingibjorg turned up. She was apprehensive and slightly hostile, feeling that her privacy had been violated, and berated the supposed representative for trying to bypass the normal channels. Jacqualine and Caerlin intervened, each casting suggestion. Jacqualine's failed, and before Ingibjorg could narrow down a strange feeling, Caerlin cast one which succeeded, and she was now a bit more talkative. She revealed that the Anvilheads already were in favour of the Noble Alliance Army being given passage, and that this secret meeting was effectively a waste of time if the representative wished to convince her of anything. Del'Gado began inquiring about indirect meetings with the army, which she brushed off as a natural response when tens of thousands of soldiers are encamped outside Gol Thurum. The false emissary offered Ingibjorg a gold coin in these trying times, which she rejected on the grounds that touching it could possibly turn her into a shrubbery. She began leaving, and Imaros and Caerlin hatched a plan to delay her so that Del'Gado could again steal into her room and read the contents of the letters. The duo hatched an improvised start-up which involved selling pins (rocks made to look like pins with illusion magic) alongside singing. Just like old times back at the Society of the Red Mask, the star pair very successfully distracted Ingibjorg for much longer than was really needed. Del'Gado rushed to the Builder's Arms, and this time, he managed to open the letters without risking the integrity of the seal. The letters were coded, and he had to spend some time deciphering them. Two were seemingly gibberish, but one talked about a delivery of 24 "large irons" six days after arrival, with the "correct word" being thunderstruck. Del'Gado copied this and skilfully resealed the letters, locked the drawers, and left the room. The party signalled Kadaron, and they met at Justice Centriole to talk about their respective findings. Kadaron informed them that "large iron" in dwarven terminology normally refers to cannons. The sale of these are highly illegal. He thanked the party and then asked for a map, marking a remote site in the western Hinterlands, far from any road. This was the assumed location of the Nightgaol, the final destination of traitors, spies, and other undesirables to the Crown. The gaol warden was apparently equal to a Garden Principal, although most of the gaol watchmen were likely not Arcanists. He offered the party the chance to speak with their Arcanist sources for the possibility of transportation. Although they could not send them directly to the Nightgaol, they could transport them to the Fortress of Tomorrow, a Sun-Order bastion located on Bar-Sinha's northern border. Jacqualine sent word to Mira, Varkallin's acquaintance, and the party awaited the return of Baldur before setting off into unknown territory in search for their helpful liaison.