Hunger Games

“This isn’t good,” Nat said with a worried look. He’d just examined Marcus Endrin, who Tomas had discovered locked in a secret cell in the Gray Maidens’ prison underneath the Longacre Building. The once proud and confident commandant of the Sable Company Marines stared blankly at the wall behind Nat, a thin trickle of drool running down his chin. “I’m pretty sure they’ve cast Feeblemind on him,” Nat concluded. “If that’s what it is, we’re going to need someone with more powerful magic than anything we have to cure him.”

Maiden a Big Deal Out of It

“Intruders! We’re under attack! Come help me now!” The party had been on a mission to infiltrate Deathhead Vault, the Gray Maidens’ headquarters under the Longacre Building, rescue Thousand Bones and Commandant Endrin, and do as much damage as they could to the Gray Maiden leadership. They were currently in the process of doing just that, having caught their second-in-command, Kordaitra Destaid, by surprise in her quarters. But now she was screaming for help at the top of her lungs, and they knew there were more Gray Maidens behind a closed door at the end of the hallway, just yards away.

Deathhead Vault

The group was once again settling in for another night in Gaedren Lamm’s old hideout, the Old Fishery. They’d managed to rescue Vencarlo Orsini and Castle Korvosa’s Seneschal, Neolandus Kalepopolis, but seemed no closer to being able to overthrow Queen Ileosa. Neolandus had warned them that the Queen’s power might stem from some artifact she’d found in the vaults below the castle, something he’d heard called Midnight’s Teeth, but he had no idea what it might be or what power it could have given her. His only suggestion was to consult Thousand Bones, the Shoanti ambassador – his people had guarded the pyramid on which the Castle was built for centuries before the white men arrived, and he might know something helpful.

Neolandus’ Tale

On the journey across the Jeggare River, Neolandus Kaleopolis began to pump the party for information on what had been happening in Korvosa over the last few months – he’d been in hiding or captivity during the entire time of the riots and plague, and had only the most general sense of what’s been going on. Their description of everything that had happened since the King’s death continued after they’d made landfall. When they described Ileosa’s actions during Marcus Endrin’s failed assassination attempt, he became extremely agitated.

“It’s even worse than I feared! That fool harlot has brought our doom with her greed, and likely her own as well.”

Escape from the Labyrinth

The party was still trapped in the Arkona’s Vivified Labyrinth. They had come seeking to rescue Vencarlo Orsini and Neolandus Kalepopolis, Castle Korvosa’s Seneschal, but at this point they’d have been happy just to find a way back out. The maze held a number of levers, and each time they pulled one, the layout of the labyrinth seemed to change. They couldn’t discover any rhyme or reason to the arrangement of rooms, and were now just pulling levers repeatedly, hoping to find someplace new. And they did. The floor shook, the wall in front of them moved, and when it opened, they were looking into a throne room of sorts. They caught a glimpse of an unconscious Vencarlo hanging from manacles in one corner, but their attention was focused on the creature in front of them, a thing with the torso and face of a woman, but the body of a lion and the wings of a vulture.

The Lady of the Labyrinth

“You! What are you doing here?” Vencarlo Orsini crouched behind the column of black marble, a kukri held ready in his hand, gaping up at Jax. His shirt was dirty, his face bruised, but his hand was steady as it gripped the knife.

“We’re looking for you,” Jax replied with a grin. “And yes, I know I’m wearing your cloak.”