“Remember,” Field Marshall Kroft said as she finished the last of the Heroes’ Feast that Wren had prepared, “the people are frightened and confused. They aren’t sure who is the greater threat to them – us or the Queen. We need to win them over to our side, so you have to minimize any civilian casualties.” Kroft was sending them out to clear the way for the rebel forces to invade the city through North Gate. The rest of the party was already double checking their gear, preparing to head out.
“No,” she disagreed. “You’re one hell of
an intimidating-looking group, and we need
a show of force right now, to give people hope that this rebellion can succeed.
If you succeed in this mission, Ileosa will have no doubt that you’ve returned,
disguises or no.”
And so, despite Nat’s continued
objections, the party set out in full war gear. Nevertheless, they saw no need
to parade heedlessly through the streets, and instead used Teleport to pop directly into North Point, arriving at All The World’s Meat. The butcher shop
where they’d defeated Verik Vancaskerkin and his fellow deserters during the
early days of the riots was still deserted, and they set out towards Sunrise
Boulevard, planning to follow it north, past the Bank of Abadar, and then to
Northgate Avenue. The streets were unusually quiet, with curtains tightly drawn
over windows and doors barred.
They hadn’t gone far when they heard
cries of fear and pain from a block or two to the west. Kroft had warned them
that Ileosa had brought in mercenaries from Cheliax to augment her forces, and
that there were rumors they were using innocent citizens as human shields to
impede any attempts to invade the city. “We’d better check this out,” Erin
whispered, and the party slipped off the main thoroughfare and into side
streets and alleys.
The alley opened up into an open area
behind several homes and buildings. In it, a terrified group of citizens was surrounded
by a dozen or so men. The assailants wore headbands with feathers in the back,
and their faces were decorated with war paint. But their crude Shoanti disguise
was at odds with their homespun clothing, hobnail boots, and finely-crafted
rapiers. Nor did it match their Chelish accents as they threatened the crowd.
“Ze rebels have let us into ze city to kill your men, rape your women, and
carry your children off to be our slaves. Your beautiful young queen cannot
help you now!” The thugs were intermingled with their hostages, making it dangerous
for the party to attack without risking civilian casualties.
“Where’s
Jax?” Tomas whispered, looking around – the rogue was nowhere to be seen. “He picked a hell of a time to answer the
call of nature!” Nevertheless, the party stepped out of the shadowed alley,
and were immediately spotted by the “Shoanti” thugs. Seeing the newcomers, they
turned their wrath on them. “I know you!” one shouted, pointing his sword at
the group. “You’re the ones who helped spread the plague! Filthy were-rat
lovers! Have you come to kill more of your own people?”
“I wish you’d go to Hell!” one shouted.
“I wish everyone could see what pigs you
really are!” cried another.
“I wish you’d just up and die!” yelled a
third.
Shadow felt a blast of heat on his back,
and heard cries of anguish in the distance. Then the feeling passed, leaving
the smell of sulfur lingering in the air. Wren felt a racking pain as her bones
and flesh began to transform. She started to cry out in pain, but all that came
out was a squeal followed by a harsh grunt, and then she was herself again.
Tomas clutched his chest as his heart stopped beating. He staggered, then
gasped for breath as it once again began to beat, but he was left white-faced
and sweating, weakened from the experience.
Before the confrontation could escalate,
a new figure stepped out from around the corner of a building behind the mob.
He was clad in a crimson cloak – the same color as the cloaks worn by the Gray
Maidens – and his face was hidden behind a stylized brass mask. He carried a
golden scimitar that flickered with flame. As soon as he emerged, one of the
“Shoanti” cried out, “Oh no! It’s Trifaccia, the defender
of the people! We cannot stand against him! Our cause is lost – run!” (he
seemed to be reading off a notecard palmed in his hand). On cue, the thugs scattered,
and Trifaccia turned his attention to the party.
“Greetings, heroes of yesterday!” he
called out with a mocking laugh. “My name is Trifaccia. Have you heard of me?
No matter. I am the true hero of the people of Korvosa, for I defend the loyal
citizens of our beloved queen instead of fomenting chaos in the streets. As you
can see, with the exception of a few clots of filthy rebels, Korvosa is at
peace now, and soon prosperity and happiness will smile over it again. I dare
say that harmony first began to return not long after you vanished from our
streets. We do not want further trouble in our town, but since I know you mean
to continue disrupting the tranquility in my fair city, it looks like I’ll have
to stop you. But instead of a fight that would end in your humiliation, perhaps
you’ll agree to a duel? Me against one of you, with the winner agreeing to
leave Korvosa for good, along with all allies?”
“Be
careful!” Nat whispered to his friends via a Message spell. “He’s not what
he appears! He’s transformed in some way!”
Before anyone could speak, a familiar
figure dropped nimbly off a nearby rooftop. He wore a black hooded cloak over
gleaming black leather armor, and his face was obscured by a black mask. The crowd of
citizens gasped as they recognized the legendary hero. He slowly drew his
rapier, regarded Trifaccia with a cool smile, and said:
“Greetings, good people of Korvosa. You
know me – I am Blackjack, and you know
I speak the truth. Do you smell a rat? I do. Those men who assaulted you were
not Shoanti, and this thing who calls himself Trifaccia is some evil servant of
Queen Ileosa, and he and those men who assaulted you are working together to do
her bidding. But never fear,” he glanced back over his shoulder at the party
gathered in the mouth of the alley. “I’ll take care of this.”
Trifaccia raised his scimitar to his forehead in salute, then charged at Blackjack with inhuman swiftness, slashing the hero with his flaming blade. Tomas didn’t seen any sense in leaving Blackjack to face this enemy on his own, and began firing arrows as fast as he could, but in the excitement of seeing his childhood hero close-up, they all went wide. “You see!” Trifaccia shouted to the crowd. “They have no honor. They are filthy scoundrels who only wish to destroy our city!”
“Move back!” Nat shouted, waving to the
crowd; he wanted to try to heed Kroft’s request to minimize collateral damage.
Realizing the possible danger, the people backed up, but made no move to flee –
they were mesmerized by the opportunity to see the famous Blackjack in action.
Nat cast Greater Invisibility on
himself and rushed forward to get a better angle. “Do you need help?” he called
out to Blackjack.
“Shut up, shit-head!” the great hero
growled, to Nat’s shock. Then Blackjack whirled his rapier in a dazzling series
of feints and thrusts that took Trifaccia totally by surprise, sinking deep
into his gut not once, but twice. But the crimson-clad foe simply nodded. “I
see you have some skills. Good – it will make for a more interesting duel. But
it will not save you, nor will it save your doomed rebellion!”
Wren sidled over to join the crowd. “Go
Blackjack! Get him!” she cried, urging the crowd on, and several voices began
to join hers. In a quieter tone she added “Are you all OK? I’m a cleric – I can
help.” Several faces turned to her in relief, but they seemed to have not been
injured by their assailants.
Shadow also took up the cause, turning
on all his charm to sway the crowd to their cause. “This Trifaccia is some evil
creature, masked by many magics to deceive you. But see! Blackjack is fighting
him, and will unmask him. Hurrah for Blackjack!” The crowd’s voices were louder
now, cheering Blackjack on. “Blackjack! Blackjack!” they began to chant.
Erin strode forward to stand beside
Blackjack. Her celestial armor gleamed in the sun and Serithtial shone with
bright holy light in her hand. She did not attack (for now), but Trifaccia did
not let her appearance go unnoticed. “You see!” he called again. “As I said –
no honor. They will not allow this to be a fair duel!” Some of the onlookers
seemed to agree. “Let Blackjack handle him!” one called out. As he did,
Trifaccia lunged, and his flaming scimitar slashed Blackjack twice more. More
arrows whistled harmlessly past his head, as Tomas continued to ignore the
Marquess of Queensberry rules.
Wren continued leading the cheering
section, but cast a quiet Prayer,
just to be safe. Nat cast Haste on
Blackjack and Erin, then joined in a few cheers himself. For his part,
Blackjack did not immediately respond to Trifaccia’s attack, but gave Erin a
nod. Recognizing his intent (she could somehow read his body language, as if
they’d fought together before), Erin sidestepped and slipped around behind
Trifaccia, stabbing Serithtial into his back. As soon as she was flanking him,
Blackjack also struck, but the masked man easily parried his blow, laughing
derisively. Then he thrust his flaming scimitar forward, past Blackjack’s
defenses, deep into his chest. The crowd’s cheers turned to gasps and screams
as Blackjack crumpled to the dirt in a spreading pool of blood. Without missing
a beat, Trifaccia spun and continued his attack on Erin, but her sword and
shield batted away every swing.
But in facing Erin, Trifaccia had turned
his back on Tomas, and the ranger at last found his mark, as a brace of arrows
sank deep into Trifaccia’s back. He let out a deep bellow of pain and rage, and
transformed. The crimson cloak and brass mask fell away as he grew to twice the
size of a man. The crowd screamed in terror as it saw Trifaccia’s true form – a
muscular giant with crimson skin, smoldering eyes, and black horns. He floated
a foot or so off the ground, smoke rising from his flesh as he glared at Erin
and drew back his scimitar once more. But Nat, all but forgotten, threw a Maximized, Empowered Orb of Light that
flashed through the air and struck the Efreeti square between the shoulder
blades. There was a blinding flash of light and flame and the genie fell to the
ground with a thud.
Wren rushed to Blackjack’s side. She
could see he was beyond the help of normal healing, but possibly not beyond
saving. She closed her eyes, whispered a prayer to Pharasma, then lowered her
lips to Blackjack’s. She gently blew into his open lips, and her Breath of Life called his soul back from
the threshold of the Boneyard. As he rose unsteadily into a sitting position,
someone in the crowd cried “Blackjack lives!!!” and a rousing cheer went up.
"Um … hi. My name’s Wren,” she said, blushing. “Nice to meet you.”
The cheers were cut short by angry
shouts as the faux Shoanti charged belatedly back into the fight. One chopped
down at Blackjack, who groggily parried the clumsy blow. Most surrounded Erin
and Wren, while still others charged Tomas and Shadow. But they would have been
better off slinking back to Cheliax. Shadow unleashed a blast of Chain Lighting that leaped from thug to
thug, leaving little but smoking corpses. Tomas fired arrow after arrow that
blasted through the skulls of a trio of thugs. Only two were left standing,
albeit wobbly after surviving Shadow’s Lightning,
but Nat calmly popped each of them with a couple of Magic Missiles and the fight was over.
Erin and Wren knelt over Blackjack; he
was alive, but barely, and they quickly began to deliver magical healing. He
gripped each of their hands, and pulled himself back upright. “It’s not easy
being a hero, is it?” he said in a low voice that only they could hear, and
both stepped back, startled. It had not been Blackjack’s voice they heard – it had
been Jax’s!
The crowd was pressing in close around
Blackjack, thanking him, reaching out to touch his cloak. He gave Erin and Wren
a wink, then turned to address the crowd. “Good citizens!” he called out (and
his voice again sounded nothing like Jax’s). “This isn’t the first time that
Blackjack has bitten off more than I could chew, but there are always other heroes,
like these, to come to Korvosa’s aid.” He bowed to Erin and Wren, then saluted
the rest of the group. “I thank them for their assistance, and their healing,
and I thank all of you for your support. Now go home in peace, and tell your
friends and neighbors – Blackjack has returned! Queen Ileosa must be
overthrown! The rebellion has begun!”
The citizens erupted in cheering and
applause. “Whatever you say, Blackjack!” “We’re with you, Blackjack!” “Down
with the Queen!” As they began to disperse, Shadow interrupted. “On more thing,”
he cried out. “These men who assaulted you are not Shoanti!” He kicked one of
the dead thugs, then bent down and pulled a heavy purse off his belt, pouring
out a stream of gold Korvosan coins. “They were mercenaries, hired from Queen
Ileosa’s home country of Cheliax to oppress the people of Korvosa! The real Shoanti are our allies, and
have come to help free the city from Ileosa’s domination.” This was a little
much – after a lifetime of stories of Shoanti atrocities, the average Korvosan
found it hard to picture them as allies. They looked uncertainly to Blackjack,
who nodded. “It is true. I have many friends among the Shoanti, they fight now
by my side.” That was good enough. “Hurray for Blackjack! Hurray for the
Shoanti!” they chanted as they made their way back to their homes.
Blackjack turned to the party. “You’ve
done good work here this morning, but you are not finished. The Field Marshall
has told me of your mission. You must continue on to North Gate, while I go to
enlist more aid for the rebellion.” He bowed with a flourish, then vanished
down a side alley. As the group retraced their steps towards Sunrise Boulevard,
Jax suddenly stepped out of a narrow passage, hitching up his pants. “Oh man!
Were there prunes in that Heroes’ Feast?
Did I miss anything?”
They didn’t encounter anything else on
their way to Northgate Avenue, where they turned east towards the gate. They
stayed out of the main thoroughfare, skirting the edges of buildings, trying to
stay out of sight. As they finally neared the open courtyard fronting the gate,
they could hear the murmur of voices, intermingled with cries of fear. Peering
around the corner of a building, they saw the city walls ahead of them, with
the heavy wooden gate that led out onto North Bridge. The gate was closed, and
two dozen or so people were crowded in front of it. They appeared to be
manacled, and chains wound through their manacles and were nailed to the gate
with heavy spikes. Any attempt to breach the gate would be deadly to the
hostages. A squad of Gray Maidens stood behind the human shield, bows at the ready. On
the parapets of the wall, armed and armored men manned ballistas and catapults,
aimed out onto the bridge approaching the city, ready for an assault.
But their attention was all focused
outwards, towards the river, and that gave the party a chance to catch them
unawares from behind. “I’ll start things off with a Lightning Bolt in a minute or two,” Shadow whispered, then vanished
from sight. “I’m heading up the stairs,” Jax added. He cast Haste on the group before he, too went
invisible. Wren cast Bless and Nat
tapped Tomas with a Wand of Bull’s
Strength. Wren and Erin both downed potions of Invisibility and moved out into the Avenue. Nat, not wanting to be
the only visible player, cast Greater
Invisibility on himself.
Jax had hustled up the stairs leading to
the northern parapet. From this vantage point atop the wall, he could see a
force gathering at the far end of the bridge, flying the Korvosan flag. He
stealthily approached the mercenary manning the ballista at the left end of
their line, waiting for the signal. He didn’t wait long; from almost below him,
there was a whoosh and a crackle, and a Lightning
Bolt flashed through the line of Gray Maidens. As the mercenary turned to
see what was going on, Jax’s blade flashed, and the mercenary’s body tumbled
off the wall, while his head rolled under the ballista. On cue, the others
leapt into action; Tomas’s bow twanged, and Erin charged, Serithtial’s light
temporarily hidden by her Invisibility,
and in seconds, two of the Gray Maidens were dead.
Although taken totally by surprise, the
Gray Maidens were too well trained to panic. “We’re under attack!” one shouted.
“Attackers inside the city gates!” Then she and the other surviving Maiden
converged on Erin (now visible), who blocked their blows with sword and shield.
The mercenaries who’d been working the catapults turned and pulled heavy crossbows
off their backs, firing wildly at Erin, while those at the ballistas began to
manhandle the siege weapons around to fire back into the square. Seeing this
threat, Wren cast Air Walk and ran
through the air towards the nearest ballista.
Nat conjured an Elemental Wall of acid that ran along the southern parapet, catching three of the mercenaries in its blistering liquid. Shadow, still invisible, rushed
to the body of the Gray Maiden Tomas had just killed, hoping to find keys to
unlock the hostages’ manacles. But as he knelt to search her, a cloud of arrows
suddenly erupted out of her
body, as Tomas cast Arrow Eruption.
The arrows flew off in all directions, hitting four of the mercenaries and both
Gray Maidens, one of whom collapsed. Erin sank Serithtial into the last, and
the threat of the Gray Maidens was erased.
But just when they thought they had the
situation in hand, everything changed. A deafening bellow echoed off the city
walls from somewhere to the northwest, followed by a loud beating of wings. A dark
form blotted out the sun, and a horrifying vision flew into view. It was a
black dragon, huge and angry, and a woman in shining armor and crimson cloak rode
on its back. They recognized that armor – they had seen it many times, always
in the company of the Queen. It was Sabina Merrin, the Queen’s bodyguard
and commander of her garrison. She was seated on the dragon’s back in a
makeshift saddle; the dragon had no bridle of reins, and Sabina was yanking and
jerking on its spines to control the beast, to its obvious displeasure.
Jax knew this was bad, and he fired off a Disintegrate at the Gray Maiden commander, but she shrugged off the worst of the spell’s damage. The dragon landed awkwardly in the northern end of the square, and unleashed a blast of acid at the only visible target in sight: Erin. She managed to raise her shield just in time, deflecting much of the stream, but it still seeped into the cracks of her armor, blistering her badly.
On the wall, two of the mercenaries were
struggling to reload their crossbows, while their mates to the south ran
screaming out of the Wall of acid.
The one beside Wren hurriedly aimed the ballista at Erin and pulled the
trigger, but the bolt flew wide over her head, knocking a hole in the wall of
the stone building behind her. In turn, Wren pounded him over and over with her
mace, making him wonder where this enraged little girl had suddenly come from.
On the ground, Nat had come to the same conclusion
as Jax: this was bad. He pressed
himself against the wall of a building then peeked out around its corner. He
blasted the dragon and its rider with a Maximized,
Empowered Lightning Bolt, then followed up with a swift Maximized Cold Ice Strike. The pair screamed
in pain, but showed now sign of backing off. As Nat dropped the spent rod,
something about the whole situation just felt off to him. Why had they landed? The dragon would be far
more dangerous attacking from the air. And even on the ground, it seemed
awkward and flat-footed, as Sabina Merrin yanked and pulled on its spines to
control it. What was she up to?
The PCs earned 19,200 XP, putting them
at 420,835 XP, with 425,000 required for Level 15. You’ll reach level 15 next
week, so have your new characters ready to go.
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