Sessions XXXIX-XLI: Abridged Adventures

Chapter 4: Casus Belli

General Summary

3-22 Dripping, 1305 AM

The four Red Mantis Assassins, including one senior Sanguine Sister, attack the party; or rather, try to avoid the party in order to get to Del'Gado. Although Baldur manages to secure an impressively quick kill on one assassin, it becomes apparent that they are under the effect of the Death Ward spell in addition to a form of contingency teleportation that activated when Death Ward triggered. As such, the assassin, and their gear, all vanished to an unknown location. During the assassination attempt, Del'Gado does get brought dangerously close to death on several occasions, notably against the (last standing Red Mantis) Sanguine Sister, but Caerlin had used Tasha's Mind Whip on her, which only allowed her to close the gap between herself and the dying Del'Gado. Once she had been killed, the party hurriedly went on their way forward, intent on reaching another of Hazred's elusive markings.
Upon reaching a smaller road that would presumably take them to their destination, Tropam and Jacqualine notice a spot in the ground where a sign had, presumably, recently been removed. After merely a few minutes of travel, Tropam catches a glimpse of an upcoming hurdle: a squad of ten Imperial soldiers standing watch. The party approached and were sternly told that they encroaching in an area under Directive VB-XVII military jurisdiction and were advised to leave. After Baldur challenged the officer on his usage of non-binding terminology, they were instead ordered to leave. Once out of eavesdropping distance, the party hatched a plan to trespass. They were to utilise invisibility to their advantage. This plan worked; however, when the spell ceased, the party did not recast it, and unfortunately happened upon a deep-wood patrol. Caerlin and Jacqualine fail to avoid their vision, and were shot down immediately without warning. Some of the soldiers take up stationary positions behind cover whilst others start to approach the dying Caerlin and Jacqualine (probably to verify their deaths). The hidden party members initiate a cunning plan to save their friends. Tropam prepares a Wall of Force (cast as a globe around the party, to be cast once Baldur moves inside range of it. The instant he moved away from his tree, he too met a barrage of gunfire and fell down dying, but he did so within range of Tropam's spell. Which was a wise decision, because one of the soldiers launched a rifle-shot grenade towards the centre of the party's location, but instead of exploding on contact with the ground (assuredly delivering tangible death to Jacqualine, Caerlin, and Baldur) it detonated on contact with the Wall of Force. The squad leader and some other soldiers approach the impenetrable Wall of Force and start taking notes (Tropam was preparing a teleportation circle straight to the Roaring Hearth), and so the party tries to disguise both themselves and what they are actually doing. In the end, everyone lived, and they made it to Del'Gado's tavern intact.
Once in Vindova, the party again plan on how best to avert suspicion from the authorities. They decide to wait a day before reporting to TKH military command, but were redirected to the Vindovan MARPOL headquarters, the city's acting military police unit. Del'Gado handled the talking, but felt that his gift of gab was temporarily removed, which he realised was his bargain with Adralei exacting its toll. The questioning officer asked the party to leave for a while, and soon after a contingent of intelligence officers from the TKH HQ arrived. Led my commander Hedwig, she saw no rhyme or reason for the Red Mantis Assassins to impersonate the party and march straight into a restricted military site, which was the explanation the party gave when they started inquiring about that (since the officer ordered the party to leave, their likenesses were reported and documented, and the party used illusion magic to make it look like one of them was a Red Mantis Assassin in disguise during the escape). Whilst Hedwig believed that the assassination attempt was genuine, and would be treated as such, she dismissed the trespass incident as a falsehood. Since the party had proven to be competent, if a slight bit standoffish with Kaedran and Draecovian law, she gave them an ultimatum: report to the innkeeper of Gareva, an eastern border village, or face summary execution for violation of standing Directive VB-XVII. Since the party were going in that direction anyway, they decided to accept this most one-sided of conundrums, and even managed to arrange to travel alongside patrols of the 141st, and later 73rd, Divisions. Also, before departing, Del'Gado hired the former Hellknight paralictor Hildegard Seratolva as the Roaring Hearth's bouncer.
On the way, the party was disturbed once by the presence of something else. Tropam somehow detected traces of sulphur, which he knew to be the telltale sign of devils. The devil in question introduced herself as Glasya, which would mark her as the "daughter" of Asmodeus. She simple wanted to have a talk, get to know them, because after all, they were in cahoots with Izdubar, just as she were. She also vaguely talked about favours, and how the party might appreciate one from her, given what they were probably going to encounter in the near future. No contract, no fine print. Unless? Still, the party reached the conclusion that a devil would absolutely try and exploit them, even for something miniscule and ill-defined. Perhaps especially the miniscule and ill-defined, in fact. And so they journeyed on, until they reached Gareva, which was not a quiet little peripheral village. Gareva, and its surroundings, were host to a massive gathering of soldiers and advanced equipment, with a particular focus on the now-frozen isthmus which separates Kaedra from the Ruined Lands. The "innkeeper" was a nickname for the local quartermaster, who did serve as an innkeep in the local tavern. He offered them free drinks, and directed them to two other figures in the tavern. He only knew that they were members of the army's intelligence special services field branch.
The party sat down with them: the two introduced themselves as Lila Eversacred and Charles Nobleflower of the 39th Military Intelligence Special Reconnaissance (MISREC) unit. Before beginning their debrief, they gave the party an unconditional out, if they wanted it. After considering the facts, the party accepted their mission. The situation is the following: just over the Constellator Isthmus, a devil-worshipping duergar slaving clan, the Khâzukavil, have established several thriving colonies. Being slavers, the High Command of the XXV Corps ordered the terminal dissolution of Clan Khâzukavil, to be executed with extreme prejudice. The main Khâzukavil hold of Gol Sentuleus was recently invaded and occupied by the 141st Division, but the Khâzukavil in the Ruined Lands started to crucify scores of their slaves on pentagrammatic devices, which made the commander of the 71st Division (tasked to eliminate Clan Khâzukavil in the Ruined Lands) to halt the attack. Both Lila and Charles have established a year-long familiarity with the duergar on their assignments in the Ruined Lands and can therefore pass the bridge without arousing suspicion. The party is to masquerade as their hired bodyguards, making camp at a designated site deeper inside Khâzukavil territory. Then, they are to jointly dispose of two Khâzukavil nightwatchmen patrols, who may otherwise suspect tomfoolery if Lila and Charles' campsite unexpectedly sits empty, and then make their way to the clan's chief mine. Ten minutes after midnight, Lila and Charles will give the all-clear for a full-scale bombardment (not targeting their objective, naturally) to commence. In the chaos that follows, the party, with their manifold skills and competences, will enter the mines and clear it of any Khâzukavil presence and manumit the clan's slaves. Lila and Charles will cover the rear, and "deal" with the local garrison.

All in all, very straightforward, very clear, should be a breeze.

Campaign

The King on the Threshold

Protagonists

Jacqualine

Zsakshash (Caerlin Krexis)

Del'Gado

Baldur Ironfist

Lawful Neutral Mountain Dwarf (Knight)
Paladin 6

70 / 70 HP

STR
19

DEX
13

CON
20

INT
10

WIS
11

CHA
17

Report Date

13 Jun 2024