Mazed and Confused

“Do you think this thing’s safe?” Jax asked warily, shaking the ropes that anchored the bridge to the ledge. It descended into the gloom ahead of him, and he could barely make out its far end in the darkness. A light suddenly illuminated the area as Wren cast Light on a pebble, then tossed it out onto the bridge. It rolled down the steep incline for a little ways before rolling off the edge, then grew fainter and fainter until it finally vanished with a distant splash.

“If the Arkonas use these for bringing smuggled goods up from the sea, then I’m sure they’re strong enough for us,” Tomas said confidently. Jax still wasn’t sure, and he asked Wren for more lights. She was creating Light rocks as fast as she could, and he chucked one across the open pit. It landed on the far ledge, beyond the foot of the bridge, and bounced a short distance before coming to rest against a wooden door. He realized that all his friends were gathered behind him, looking at him expectantly. Succumbing to peer pressure, he ventured cautiously out onto the swaying rope bridge.

Family Secrets

The party awoke feeling much better, and with a clear plan for the day: they were off to visit the Arkonas. Salvator Scream had told them he’d taken the Seneschal, Neolandus Kalepopolis, to seek refuge with the Arkona family, and they suspected that Vencarlo Orsini had also gone there, seeking Neolandus. With any luck, they’d find both men hiding out on the Arkona estate, and they could report back to Cressida Kroft that they’d accomplished their mission.

Looking for Loot in All the Wrong Places

“He’s in here!” Jax heard Nat shout from the bedroom behind him. ‘Emperor’ Pilts Swastel had vanished as they’d attacked his pint-sized bodyguard, Jabbyr, but Nat, using his Red Mantis mask, had apparently found him. Jax had been coming back to help with Jabbyr, but he’d just seen him take Tomas out with three swings of his oversized battleaxe. Gee … maybe the Emperor was the bigger threat. Yeah, that’s it – I need to take out the Emperor first. Hoping that Jabbyr hadn’t noticed him, he reversed direction and headed back to the bedroom.

Blood Pig!

“Welcome to the Empire of Old Korvosa!”

A New ... Friend?

“I’m telling you, we need to wait for these suckers to come back and then … pow! We take ‘em off the board.” Shadow was eager to ambush the next pair of Red Mantis assassins who were due to show up in a few hours for their shift lying in wait for Vencarlo Orsini, and Nat was right there with him. “Yeah – I want some payback. I mean, they caught be by surprise last time; I wasn’t looking, and it’s not fair to stab someone in the back when they’re not looking. So I say we wait until they’re not looking and then…”

Wanted!

“I think we need to look for a new place to live,” Jax said. It had been two days since Queen Ileosa disbanded the Sable Company so violently, and the group was still reeling from what they’d seen. “We haven’t made any secret of where we’re staying, and you have to believe the Queen knows we were involved in taking down Dr. Davaulus. That means she knows that we know she was involved. I don’t think we’re safe.”

The Third Harrowing

As soon as the group returned from Queen Ileosa’s bloody proclamation, Wren felt a stirring in her pocket. The dust in the room began to swirl, and Zellara’s insubstantial form materialized. “The spirits!’ she moaned. “There are so many of them. They call out for justice, and in warning. Please – my deck. I must perform another reading.” Wren removed the Harrow Deck from its box and placed it on the table, and the cards sorted themselves. “The suit of Books – it holds the power we need this day.” Each person drew one card from the selected suit, then Zellara shuffled the cards together and began to lay them out in three rows on the tabletop.