Nat was surrounded by chaos. In the doorway in front of him, Shadow and Tomas were in the clutches of a pair of Barbed Devils; Tomas was screaming in pain and terror, and Nat could see the things’ spiny barbs protruding out of Shadow’s back where it had impaled him in its embrace. Worse, another of the monstrosities had teleported out of the room and appeared right next to Nat – he could smell its foul breath on his face as it screeched in fury. He scrabbled away from it, but his back was already against the wall. In desperation, he cast Glitterdust, but still had the presence of mind to use his Selective Spell metamagic rod to protect his friends from its effects. The devils were coated in sparkling motes, and the one holding Shadow bellowed in pain and began clawing at its eyes with its free hand.
For his part, Shadow had never intended
to be this close to the action, but the Barbed Devil’s hell-born muscles and
deadly spikes held him firmly in place. But it couldn’t hold onto a real shadow, as he cast Slither and flowed away from the
creature. Still blinded by Nat’s spell, it lashed out futilely at the spot
where Shadow had been, then managed to clear the magical dust from its eyes.
Tomas was thrashing about in a panic, desperate to escape the devil’s hold, and
between his struggles and the devil’s attempts to hit him again, it lost its
grip, but he had nowhere to run. The devil that had been next to Nat ignored
him, spun around, and slashed Erin with one of its claws. She stabbed
Serithtial forward, ignoring the barbs that cut at her hand and arm, and it
collapsed in a widening pool of black blood.
Jax was right behind Tomas, and he could see that the ranger was in no condition to fight, so he reached out, put a hand on his back, and then Dimension Door’d into the room behind the devils, as Wren called down the Destruction of Pharasma on one of the devils. Tomas, freed from the devil’s barbs, turned and fled full speed through the door behind him. With Jax and Shadow suddenly gone, Nat discovered there was nothing standing between him and a pair of enraged Barbed Devils. He reached into his Handy Haversack and pulled out a pair of Tanglefoot Bags (his mind raced back to the night he’d taken these off the Cow Hammer Boys, back at All The World’s Meat – that seemed like a lifetime ago). Weaving the bags’ alchemical contents into his spell, he cast Slow, and one of the devils found his feet glued firmly to the floor, as his movements slowed to a crawl. Not confident that even this would keep him safe, Nat scampered away, well out of reach.
Shadow stepped into the breach Nat
opened up, and blasted the two surviving devils with Chain Lightning. The one who’d been blinded was still having
trouble seeing, and took the blast of electricity full in the face, and it
swayed on its feet. Nonetheless, it stepped forward and focused its fury on
Erin, grabbing her with one claw and pulling her in close in a deadly embrace.
But the paladin glared at the thing and bore the pain with stoic determination;
calling upon Iomedae, a Shining Light blazed
forth from her face. Her friends felt their wounds begin to heal as the holy
light swept over them, but the devils roared in agony, and the one holding Erin
collapsed in a lifeless heap.
That only left one, and it was firmly
glued to the floor, but it was not helpless, nor cowed. It called out words in
Infernal, and a pair of Scorching Rays slammed
into Shadow. From behind it, Jax performed an Impromptu Sneak Attack, and the blade of his rapier slid through
the creature and out its belly in the front. Wren stepped up, and slashed it
twice with her Spell Storing Sawtooth
Sabre. She hit, but the blade couldn’t penetrate the thing’s tough hide; however
the Searing Light spell stored in the
sword blasted it with holy light. Nat poked his head back from behind the
corner where he’d taken refuge, and tossed an Orb of Light that bathed it with still more deadly illumination,
and when the light faded, the last devil lay dead.
Wren began doling out healing, and Tomas
sheepishly rejoined the party. “Um … I checked out the path to the Lord’s
Tower,” he offered as an explanation. “It’s all clear.” The plan had been to go
to Kazavon’s former lair, load up all its treasures, and get the hell out. But
Nat was already trying to open a door across from where they’d fought the
devils. “It’s stuck,” he groaned, leaning his shoulder against it. Tomas and
Jax joined him, but even their combined strength couldn’t force the door open.
Meanwhile, Erin was pacing back and forth along the hallway, counting steps and
comparing to the walls on the balcony behind them. “Something doesn’t line up
here,” she said suspiciously. “There’s a space here that we haven’t seen.” She
began carefully examining the wall, looking for any sign of a secret door.
Unable to open the stuck door (and the
original plan forgotten), Nat and Jax moved on to the other closed doors in
this hallway. The first opened into an elegant bedroom; unlike everything else
in the castle, its furnishings and decorations were fresh and vibrant, as if it
had just been decorated yesterday. A stunning canopied bed sat against the
north wall, while dressers, a writing desk, wine cabinets, and other creature
comforts adorned the remainder of the chamber. Nat cast Detect Magic, but his disappointed sigh told everyone he’d come up
empty. He began rifling through the contents of the desk. After a time, he
looked up. “I think this room belonged to Scarwall’s castellan: Mithrodar!”
Perhaps the fact that this had once been home to the Chained Spirit who had
ruled Scarwall’s spirits explained why its contents had survived intact.
They moved on to the last unexplored
door. The chamber inside held only a few rough cots and wardrobes containing
all manner of women’s garb ranging from elegant evening gowns to revealing
nightwear, most of which was yellowed and crumbling with age. “Looks like we
found the harem,” Jax said, and Wren snorted in disgust. Nat was going through
the wardrobes, and came out holding an elegant evening gown; unlike the others,
it had survived the centuries in surprisingly good shape. “That’ll look real
good on you!” Jax said approvingly. “No! It’s magic!” Nat protested, and Jax
nodded. “Yep – I’ll just bet it is – it’s magic the way it makes your legs look
when you wear it!” Nat blushed three shades of red, but still stored the gown
away in his pack.
A door in the seraglio lead out onto
another of the balconies that surrounded most of this level of the castle, and
another door on the balcony seemed to lead back into the room they’d been
unable to open. Sure enough, when they went in, they found the reason they’d
been unable to force the door; one of Scarwall’s original residents had wedged
a red metal glaive against the door, presumably to try to hold off Mandraivus’s
force. The weapon glowed magic, and was immediately added to the stash.
Out in the hallway, Erin had enlisted
Tomas to help search for secret doors, but she was coming up empty. An ancient
storeroom butted up against one side of the area she was suspicious of, and the
pair began searching in there. “Aw … you guys are going about this all wrong,”
Nat said confidently. “Let me show you the easy way.” With that, he cast Passwall on the area Erin had been
searching in the hallway. A passage opened through two feet of stone, but ended
abruptly in a sheet of solid lead. “Well, that’s unusual,” he muttered, poking
the metal wall tentatively.
“I found it!” Erin’s voice suddenly
called from within the storeroom. Everyone rushed to join her as she outlined
the secret door she’d discovered with a piece of chalk. Jax examined the area
carefully. “It’s definitely locked,” he confirmed, and pulled out his picks.
Five minutes later, he threw them down in disgust. “You try it!” he said to
Tomas, and the ranger also gave it a go, with no better success. Between the
two of them, they worked on the ancient mechanism for over an hour before it
finally gave way with a loud click.
Beyond the well protected door was a
hidden storeroom, its walls lined with thick sheets of lead. “Whatever they
kept in here, they didn’t want anyone finding it,” Nat whispered. Several empty
shelves suggested that much of what had once been hidden here was gone, perhaps
taken to use in the original defense of the castle. A roll top desk appeared to
have once held a wealth of rare spell components, along with sheaves of fine
parchment and powders for making ink, but these had all decayed to uselessness.
However, a set of small urns held a large amount of glittering powder. “Diamond
dust!” Wren proclaimed, and took custody against the need for future Restorations. A simple walking stick
leaned against the wall in one corner, but when Nat cast Detect Magic he had to squint against the glow that emanated from
it. “I’ll carry this,” he said quickly.
Having looked everywhere but the place they’d intended to go, they finally turned
their attentions to the Lord’s Tower, Kazavon’s former bedroom. As Tomas and
Jax shoveled coins into their Bags of
Holding (literally – they had to use shovels), Shadow set about prying all
the glittering gems out of Kazavon’s throne. Nat levitated up to collect the
artwork out of the niches that spiraled up the inside wall of the tower. Interspersed
among them were several dozen polished skulls. Nat had determined they were
magical when they’d first visited the tower, and as a result everyone had given
them wide berth. Now Nat’s curiosity got the better of him – he just had to know what was up with
them. He gingerly picked up one of the skulls, intending to use his Spellcraft to determine what magic it
held, and he nearly dropped it when the skull suddenly spoked to him. “Sir Resinald of Ustalav” it said in a
deep voice.
“Um … hello there,” Nat stammered once
he’d regained his composure. “Nice to meet you.” But the skull said nothing
else. Everyone on the floor was now looking up at him. Aware of their attention, he
maneuvered to the next skull; this one was an orc’s skull, and when he touched
it, it announced. “Chief Magwanna of the
Skullsplitter Tribe”. Having decided the skulls weren’t dangerous, Nat took
some time to examine this one. “It’s just a permanent Magic Mouth spell,” he hold those watching from below. “I’ll bet
these were some of Kazavon’s enemies – sort of souvenirs of his battles. These
probably have a lot of historical value.” (Not to mention monetary value, to
the right collector, he thought to himself.) Sure enough, as he collected the
skulls into his pack, one introduced itself as ‘Count Andachi of Tamrivena’.
By the time they finished, their magical
backpacks were bursting at the seams; indeed, they’d had to remove some of the
larger items to make room for all the coins and other goodies they’d collected
in this room, and they now carried these on their backs. Still unable to open
Castle Scarwall’s main gates (for lack of strength to work the winches), they
moved as close as they could to the front of the castle and then used Dimension Door to teleport onto the
causeway, where they made their way back to their camp at the barbican.
As the next morning dawned, the light of
the sun rising over the lip of the caldera bathed Scarwall Castle in a golden
glow. The curse that had lain on Scarwall for over eight hundred years was at
last lifted, and its halls were again empty. But the black stone of the Star
Tower seemed untouched by the light, a shadow that could not be illuminated,
and they felt a chill as they thought of Laori Vaus, now condemned to spend
eternity as its undying curate. As the sun rose, they turned their back on
Castle Scarwall for the final time, joined hands, and vanished into the ether.
This completes Book 5, The Skeletons of Scarwall.
They reappeared at the gates of
Janderhoff, the dwarven sky citadel. They made their way to the inn where they
had stayed before, and then immediately set out into the city to sell their
collected spoils, make arrangements with smiths and spellcasters to upgrade
items, and search the inventories of magic shops and smithies for new items to
complete their arsenal. The good dwarves of Janderhoff welcomed them and their
business with open arms. Erin used her Wristband
of Sending to let Field Marshall Kroft know that they had retrieved the
sword and would be back soon; she got the cryptic reply: ‘Return as soon as you can – events are in motion’.
Several nights later, as they prepared
for bed, the flames of the candles in their rooms suddenly flickered and the
air began to swirl around them. The familiar form of Madame Zellara materialized
before them. Her face seemed drawn, but she smiled as she looked at the party. “Thank
you so much for saving me from that awful place. I felt as if I were there for
years, being tortured and tormented, but you freed me, and all the other
spirits held captive there. There are no words to express my gratitude.
“But the spirits still call to me, the
spirits of Korvosa, louder than ever. A great cataclysm approaches, and I fear
only you can prevent it. Please, my cards – we must see what wisdom they hold.”
Wren produced the deck, and the cards shuffled and sorted themselves. “Now that
you pursue the Crown of Fangs, the suit of Crowns must lead our way.” Each
person solemnly drew a card from the suit, then Zellara replaced them and
shuffled the deck once more.
“Let us first review what the past has
taught us.” Closing her eyes, she laid three cards down on the table: The Unicorn, The Betrayal, and The Midwife. She smiled a bit as she
touched the first card. “The Unicorn
is a card that offers what you most need. Just a few months ago, each of you was
alone, despondent, lost. But you found each other, and your newfound
comradeship has been all that has allowed our city to survive these past months
of turmoil and death. And in each other, you have found purpose, and trust, and
friendship.”
But then her expression darkened as she
moved to the second card. “But Queen Ileosa represents selfishness incarnate.
She has shown that she will sacrifice all for the sake of vanity and power.
And The Midwife – here it is
mis-aligned. It says that she has brought dangerous new forces into the battle for
Korvosa. Some, like the Red Mantis and Gray Maidens you know, but others you do
not.”
She shook her head. “Let us move on to
the present, and the challenges before you.” Three more cards appeared on the
table: The Publican, The Inquisitor,
and The Twin. Zellara nodded. “You
have found new allies through your trials, and now is the time you must lead
them as they come together to defeat your common foe.” But she touched The Inquisitor with a look of sadness. “One
of your allies has tried to sway some of the enemy, to call on their ideals of
truth and loyalty to old bonds. But he has failed, and been taken. The spirits
do not know if you can save him.” She looked to the final card, The Twin, and she was silent for some
time, her brow furrowed. “There is some strange duality at play. Not all is as
it appears. The foe you fight may not be the foe you seek.”
She shook her head once more. “Now for
the future. The near future, one would hope. What lies ahead?” The final three
cards were lain on the tabletop: The
Mountain Man, The Peacock, and The
Paladin. Zellara eyes went wide as she saw the first card. “There … there
is an even greater power than Kazavon in play here, one which the Queen is
attempting to harness, perhaps to the destruction of all. This card fills me
with dread. The Queen craves youth and beauty eternal,” she continued, laying
her finger on The Peacock, “as did
one long before her, and she will stop at nothing to attain it.” She moved to
the last card. “The Paladin is a card
that says to stand fast, but here it is mis-aligned. The cards are saying that
you must keep pursuing the foe - no matter where that leads. Do not be lulled
into thinking your quest ends in Korvosa.”
Zellara looked up at the group as her
form began to slowly fade. “Farewell, my friends. I do not know if we shall
meet again. But know that I watch over you from the Great Beyond, and the
spirits we have marshalled will continue to guide your footsteps.” There was a
soft sigh of wind, and she was gone.
The party spent nearly two weeks in
Janderhoff, gearing up for the final push to depose the Queen. At last, having
spent as much time as they feared they could afford, they gathered outside the
city gates and teleported back to Korvosa. They appeared in the Gray District,
outside the mausoleum housing the hidden headquarters of the rebellion. They
descended into the Dead Warrens, and found Cressida Kroft waiting there.
The
Field Marshall looked a little more ragged and rough-looking than when they
left, but she was delighted to see them. With her was another familiar face,
one that the party was surprised to see: Seneschal Neolandus Kalepopolis. Once
the party had briefed her on what transpired at Castle Scarwall, and showed
them the holy sword, Serithtial, Kroft began to bring them up to date on what
had been happening in the city.
“Things have progressed since you left,
and I believe we’re reaching a tipping point. The Queen has remained isolated
within Castle Korvosa, and her Gray Maidens haven’t been patrolling as much,
but they have increased their violence against the citizens. That vain bitch is
erecting several enormous statues of herself around the city, dismantling the
Great Tower to provide the stone, and work gangs of common citizens have been
pressed into slave labor to construct them. She’s also imposed almost daily new
taxes that are driving the people into poverty. And yet that fucking coward,
Archbanker Tuttle, has declared that the Church of Abadar recognizes Queen
Ileosa as Korvosa’s only true ruler. Our friend and ally, Ishani Dhatri, tried
to dissuade him, but Tuttle preferred to hide behind the guise of ‘legality’
rather than what’s best for our city. Oh, and Ishani has vanished – he was seen
approaching Castle Korvosa, but hasn’t been heard from since.” The group
exchanged worried looks, recalling Madame Zellara’s Harrow reading.
“To confuse things even more, gangs of 'rebels' have been roving the streets, terrorizing the citizens in the name of 'the rebellion'. They’re not our people of course – they’re provocateurs that
Ilesosa has sent out to stir up the people against us. And a new 'hero of the
people' has appeared, to “protect” the people from the rebels. He calls himself
Trifaccia,
and with Blackjack nowhere to be seen, he’s been able to gain some level of
sympathy from the people of Korvosa. The whole thing is almost certainly
staged, but we haven’t been able to unmask him as a puppet of the Queen.
“But all the news is not bad. Last week,
One-Life returned from the mountains with a war party of nearly a hundred
Shoanti warriors. With their help, we’ve been able to secure the mainland
approaches to the city, from Trail’s End to East Shore, and control the far
ends of both North Bridge and High Bridge, cutting off the city. Grau Soldado
is coordinating our campaign with the Shoanti, but so far we’ve been reluctant
to press the attack into the city proper. Given their history, Korvosans are
probably more frightened of the Shoanti than they are of the Gray Maidens, and
Ileosa has been stoking that fear. Grau has a band of former Guardsmen and
Marines ready to storm North Bridge, but there are rumors that the Queen is
planning to create a human shield of common citizens to bear the brunt of any
attack. What’s worse, we just got word that last night the Shoanti encampments
in Trail’s End were attacked by a dragon, with terrible casualties among both
the Shoanti and the village’s inhabitants.”
Seneschal Kalepopolis spoke up. “You’re
probably wondering why I’m here, instead of still in hiding. After Vencarlo’s
murder, I could no longer cower in the background. Once we have established a
hold on North Point – controlling City Hall, the Longacre Building, and the
Bank of Abadar – we intend to reveal that I survived Ileosa’s coup. As the
rightful Seneschal, I have the legal right to depose the monarch.” He frowned.
“Unfortunately, that will mean little as long as Ileosa still controls Castle
Korvosa, and her illegitimate seneschal, the bloatmage Togomor still lives. At
some point, we will have to take the fight to them. However, our spies report
that the Castle holds more than just the Queen and her Gray Maidens. The
remnants of the Red Mantis have retreated there, joined by a new leader
recently arrived from Mediogalti Isle. Worse, there are reports of devils
consorting with the Queen. I fear that taking the Castle is a task beyond the
capabilities of simple soldiers – we will need someone like yourselves to
accomplish this.” He pointed to the table beside him, strewn with pages of
parchment covered with floor plans. “I’ve sketched out the details of the
Castle layout, for when the time for an assault arrives.”
This was a lot to digest, and the group
was silent for a moment. Then the questions began to pour out. “Devils?” Shadow
asked. “What kind?”
Neolandus shrugged. “Hard to say. At
first we dismissed the reports as wild rumors, but there are too many similar
stories. But to be honest, most people – including myself – would have no idea
how to tell one devil from another.”
“We’ve had a little experience with
that,” Jax muttered, but Neolandus didn’t hear him.
“What about the Red Mantis?” Nat asked. “This
new leader – we found a letter in the old Red Mantis headquarters from someone
just called “K” – is that who it is?” But again, Neolandus had little to offer.
“It sounds like you know more than we do. We’ve heard it’s a woman and that she
came from the Red Mantis’ Crimson Citadel on Mediogalti, but that’s all we
know.”
“I told
you we should have waited around to kill the rest of them,” Nat groused.
“The good news is, no one knows we’re
here,” Wren said. “It sounds like we should just lay low, and they won’t come
looking for us.”
Cressida Kroft cleared her throat. “Actually,
Now that you’re here, we need your help right away. I need you to go to North
Point, to make sure the way is clear for Grau and his men to move into the city
across North Bridge. If you encounter any Gray Maidens on the way, scatter
them, but don’t be drawn off towards the Castle – you need to stay focused on
the objective. When our side of the gate to North Bridge is clear, contact me
with your bracelet, and I’ll signal Grau and his men to advance.”
That prompted a lengthy discussion. “Well,
just walking there seems foolhardy,” Erin stated. “Who knows what we’ll run
into? Can we all turn invisible?”
“We should fly over the area, and scout
it out. If there’s an army waiting at the gate with a mob of civilians, we’ll
want to see what they’re doing,” Tomas suggested.
Jax shook his head. “If there’s a dragon
flying around, that might be the worst
thing we could do.” That silenced everyone.
Kroft cleared her throat again. “I don’t
think you understand. I don’t want spies to snoop around. I need a rearguard
action to clear the path for Grau and his men to enter the city. And I need it
ASAP. His men are exposed on the east shore, and the sooner we start to take
back this city, the better.
Everyone exchanged grim looks. Zellara
had said that this was the time for them to lead. It was time to take the fight
to the Queen.
The PCs earned 6,400 XP, putting them at
401,635 XP, with 425,000 required for Level 15.
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