Chapter 40: Home
Again
Ahhhh Spearrow… The trek
here was fairly uneventful. We made a
brief stop in Benic and found about 50 or so people rebuilding the town and for
some strange reason, a large number of boats.
We were ferried across the river and learned that some massive spiders
had been hunted and killed in the area.
The carcass of a huge one was stretched out in the town square. Seeing nothing to be concerned about, we
wished them all the best and went on our way.
Though, now that I think about it…
What ARE they building all of the boats for?
Our only other encounter was with another Negative Energy
Wraith similar to the one we encountered under Stormguard. If we see any more of these creatures, I may
be concerned. Maybe the barrier to
Negative Energy Plane is weakening? Or
someone or something is sending these creatures against us. Whatever the cause, we have other things to
be concerned with.
Luckily, Spearrow isn’t one of those things. The town is in good hands. Grusk is keeping the peace nicely. Three heads on stakes decorated the front of
his office. They belonged to the group
that had tried to kill him so as grisly as the site was, it was definitely
justified. The Runny Eye goblins have
settled in well and seem to be accepted by the town. Everyone seemed happy to see us so that made
for a good evening. There were only a
few things that put the reunion into something less than stellar.
First, we were informed that there were two instances of
people asking for our whereabouts. The
first was a strange other-planar creature that was described as smelling of
“fire and metal”. Will paid a
surprisingly skilled goblin artist for a detailed picture of the individual but
none of us recognized it. I have a
suspicion it may have something to do with Arkhazral, the Effreet that was
imprisoned on Nicotem’s island. I only
hope that there is not hostile intention involved. The second individual spoke with the goblin
chief but no one seemed to recognize him.
Second, while visiting and talking with townsfolk in the
tavern, I spotted Tom Nice. The ghost
informed me that he was haunting me and had been since the ritual with the
Bloodsong guild. He can’t be more than
150 feet from me. Though I do enjoy his
company and having him around could be helpful, I don’t want us to be stuck
with each other forever. I’m going to do
some research and discuss the situation with Alair at the guild.
Lastly, we learned that a prostitute had moved into town and
according to the rumors, she was from Rengar.
Initially, I was afraid that she might be part of the Red Fangs, trying
to spread their influence throughout the kingdom. After confirming that she had been seen outdoors
with her head uncovered during the day, I ruled out her being a vampire. The other possibility was the Enchantress who
as we learned from the guards in the city, originally came from Rengar. Rish was extremely worried about this
possibility and admitted that she had past experience with people like
that. I didn’t press for details as she
was obviously distressed.
So we paid the lady of the night a visit. Tom followed and went into the house first,
indicating that she was alone and had no magical devices present. (He also informed us that the woman had fake
teeth – strange.) Will and Rish waited
outside while I took on the disguise of a young farm boy and went inside. The woman who greeted me was attractive but
looked like she had to work to be so.
She had a soft soothing voice and a pleasant manner. She sat me down on the couch and I played up
the shy virgin act. I know – really not
that much of a stretch for me, but I still had to be convincing and get
information from her.
After a few minutes of intentional awkwardness, I had found
out that her name was Wendy and that she was definitely not a threat. I could detect no lingering traces of magic
in the room and saw nothing to indicate that she was anything other than what
she seemed: a whore looking to make a fresh start in a quiet place. She seemed to accept my act and when I
excused myself she made no move to stop me.
When I stepped back outside, Rish was practically red-faced and after I
told her what I learned, she went inside, closing the door behind. Will and I stared at each other awkwardly
until there was a commotion in the trees behind the house.
Fasa had spotted a goblin hiding there and held the
squirming little green man by the scruff of the neck. With some convincing and a surprising amount
of coin from Will, the goblin told us that his chief had him spying on the
townsfolk, especially those that visited the prostitute. I asked about the goblin clan and he told me
about large spiders in the woods.
Strangely, he also said that if we were going toward the temple, we
better bring a pot of honey. After
agreeing to report to Will as well as the chief, the goblin scurried off back
into the darkness. Now we have two
reasons to speak with the chief.
Rish exited the house, looking angry, but not
murderous. We decided to call it a night
and head back to the hut and we rode in silence. Now I’ve reclaimed my favorite resting place
in the den: the large over-stuffed
chair. Tomorrow we’ll check in Sheila
and the Goblin Chief and likely be back in Stormguard by dinner time. After more than a week of rations and tavern
food, I may have to take Tal and her sister to meet Rawul at the Hobbit House
for a meal.
Chapter 41: Preparing
for the Party
Though we were beginning to cut it close on time before the
Lord Knight’s birthday, we did look in on the others in Spearrow before
returning to the big city. On the way to
the temple, we encountered a brownie on the road. The tiny fairie demanded a toll to continue
on the road and though, he couldn’t be less intimidating, we all noted the
dozens, if not hundreds, of his fellow fey in the trees to either side of the
road. Though we were willing to pay
their price of food for their group, we didn’t think the townsfolk would
appreciate the added cost for going to visit their local temple and graveyard.
It seems they had come here from a far off forest known as
Blackthorne and Will looked stunned. It
seems that he is originally from that region and it is a long ways away –
another continent in fact. Their forest
had burned down, along with the nearby town and by some twist of fate, they
ended up here. Seeing such a large
group, I had an idea. I offered them as
much food as they needed if they would move down to the woods around Fennic’s
hut. In return, they would protect the
place and chase off any intruders. To
our delight, they agreed - on a trial basis at least.
We moved on to the temple and informed Sheila that the road
was clear again. She thanked us and let
us know that things were going well in town.
She had seen Shane, but not recently.
She promised to tell him that we were looking for him if she did see him
soon. We left the temple and headed
straight to the goblin caves. The place
looked quite a bit different from the first time I came here when I first
arrived in the area. The busy tribe of
humanoids was hard at work expanding the tunnels and creating a home for
themselves.
We were taken to see the clan chief and found at that he had
a very good reason for keeping watch over the activities of the townsfolk:
Grusk asked him to! The goblins were
naturally stealthy and able to see in the dark so they made excellent spies and
informants. This allows the sheriff to
discover problems early enough to deal with them before they get out of
hand. It’s good to see the goblins not
only fitting into the town, but helping out as well. The Chief also informed us
that the person looking for us was an infamous bounty hunter known only as the
Hellhound. Specifically, he was asking
about Shane, so we've got one more thing to discuss with our former ranger when
we finally see him again.
With nothing else to check on, we went back to the hut and
made sure the brownies were settling in and had food. Clarrens was in the stables to take care of
the horses so we made sure that he left out food for our new neighbors as
well. Having that settled for now, we
took the archway back to Stormguard; bypassing the enormously inflated taxes at
the city gates. I feel a bit guilty
about breaking the law like this, but with the amount we move back and forth,
the fees would severely deplete our resources.
Also, we've been doing a tremendous amount of good for the region so I
feel that we've earned a financial reprieve.
My first order of business was to check in with Tal. I’d been gone a little longer than planned
and I didn't want her to worry. I shouldn't have been concerned because I received an enthusiastic greeting from
the excited tinkerer. With her sister
gone for weeks and even months on end, she was used to prolonged periods of
separation. Also, she had made a
breakthrough with the Lightning Generator and had begun talking with potential
buyers about useful applications. She
was excited to see the books we had recovered from Feldor’s mansion but that
was nothing compared to her meeting Clarrens.
She studied and talked with the golem for over an hour and after that,
she continued to pour over the manual for his construction. I’ll admit, I am little jealous of the time
she is spending with the metal construct, but it really is a marvel of arcane
engineering.
Next, I met with the Baron to discuss the purchase of my new
epic tale, “Curse of the Clockwork Ghost”.
He was very interested in the story and immediately had ideas on how it
could be performed. He made two
offers: a flat fee for the tale or a
small percent of the house receipts from the performances. As I was still fairly wealthy from selling
the Wizard King’s Spellbook, I chose the latter. Being a partner of sorts was much more
satisfying and potentially profitable over a smaller amount now. I look forward to seeing our story up on the
stage.
Knowing that the assassin going after the Lord Knight was
doppelganger, I decided to do some research on how to deal with
shapeshifters. I figured the best place
to get information like that would be the Wizard’s Guild. Unfortunately, when I arrived and asked for
admittance and fees for consulting, the wizard in charge was extremely rude and
condescending because of my association with Oslo. He actually quoted prices that were ten times
the normal rate. Luckily Mak was with me
and asserted some of his authority as an Inquisitor in defense of the city’s
leaders. He paid the normal fees and we
were led to a consultant.
We learned of three ways to deal with our assassin. First, we could spread a mixture of salt and
iron at the base of any entrance.
Crossing that would cause the shifters disguise to melt away and reveal
its true form. Second, mage knew a spell
which could detect any Transformed creatures, but the range was extremely
limited and could only target one such individual at a time. He offered to make us a wand but the cost
would have been prohibitive. The third
option was get the creature to imbibe a specially crafted drink known as Wine
of Burning Truth and as fate would have it, I knew a talented wine-maker.
Leaving the guild (gladly), I traveled through the arches to
the Starfire Winery where I met with Raz.
He did indeed have some of the wine in question but to my dismay, it
cost 2000 gold per bottle! I had enough
to buy a single bottle but that was all so I attempted to work out a deal
instead. If the Lord Knight would sign a contract to
use Raz as a supplier for his party and other events, Raz would hand over one
bottle for free.
We all met with the Lord Knight after that and he
immediately agreed to the contract with the winery.
Though the salt and iron mix wouldn’t work on
the main entrance, we planned to place it over the window sills and any
entrances into the house that wouldn’t see much traffic. We decided against using the assistance of
the Wizard’s Guild, though in hindsight, the Lord Knight could likely have
gotten their assistance at no charge.
For the wine, I came up with a plan.
Each person that approached the Lord who he knew well would be asked a
question that only they would know. If
the person could not answer correctly, nearby guards would immediately detain
them. If the person was not well-known,
the Lord would offer a toast of the special wine.
Rish would stay by the Lord Knight’s side with her Sanctuary
spell and healing magic ready for use.
Will would be up in the rafters for a bird’s eye view. Mak planned to be in the kitchens to ensure
none of the wait staff was involved while Lilly, Fasa, and I would be mingling
among the guests.
There are still two more days to prepare, but none of us had
any other ideas for further preparations.
I’ll be eating dinner tomorrow night with Tal and her sister who just
arrived in the city today. According to
Tal’s letter, her sibling is very eager to meet me.
Chapter 42: A Night
of Chaos
Dinner with Tal and her sister Erra went very nicely, though
Rawul had other matters to attend to. I
am amazed at how much those two can eat!
(Something I will never ever say anywhere but here – I may be
inexperienced with relationships, but even I know that much!) Erra is every bit as lovely as her sister,
but where Tal is smart and quick, Erra seems languid and wise. They both have a lively sense of humor and we
exchanged stories of childhood and more recent adventures. Erra is a druid and an adventurer and was
very interested to hear the story of our travels to Sky Lake, especially about
Shanna’Drina, the druid caretaker of the region. Tal told me that she had a surprise for me
and the sisters shared a sly smile. I
was understandably nervous and after everything that happened last night, I was quite justified in that
worry.
We spent the next day getting everything ready for the
party: we raided Fennic’s wardrobes to clothe everyone in suitable finery. Actually, Rish was the only one needing a
dress everyone else would either not be dressing up or already had their
outfits. We arrived early to the Lord
Knight’s home so that we could get into position and make sure everything was
set up. Looking back, I don’t think any
amount of preparation could have made us ready for everything that happened.
As the guests arrived, things seemed to go smoothly until I
got my first surprise. Tal was there
doing a floor show using the lightning generator! She had two assistants as well, her sister
and Clarrens! The show was quite
impressive and she looked amazing in an outfit that seemed to be made of
nothing but moving clockwork parts.
Unfortunately though I wanted to spend time with her, I had a job to do,
but I’ll admit, I was distracted.
Which is probably why I was so surprised when a doppelganger
suddenly appeared in front of the Lord Knight.
Rish activated her Sanctuary spell and at the same moment, a trio of
monks attacked Fasa. He smashed one of
the attackers brutally but before I could move to his aid, three men in heavy
Lunarian armor, similar to Mak’s advanced on the Lord Knight! Mak charged them while Will rained arrows
down on them. I assumed Lilly was doing
what she does best, sneaking into position to attack. A scream caught my attention and I turned to
see two men going after Tal. One was
trying to wrap her in a cloth sack while the other was pulling plates off of
the lightning generator. Erra cast a
spell on the man with the sack and he froze in place.
Suddenly the generator let out a pulse of electricity and
people screamed as they tried to get away from the malfunctioning device. I yelled at Clarrens to protect Tal while I
charged in. Knowing that I had to get
that generator away from the crowd, I activated my flight ring and rushed in,
grabbing the heavy cylinder, and flying up into the rafters. Current raced through me but I shrugged it
off as I secured the device on one of the heavy beams, making sure it was far
enough from Will and the crowd below.
The monks and the samurai were dealt with. Erra and Clarrens had taken care of Tal’s
attackers. The Doppelganger actually
looked terrified and bewildered. Under
the effects of the wine, he couldn’t lie and swore that he was only a diplomat. From behind the knight, one of the guests
lunged for the Lord Knight. Malarkius
had made his move!
Unfortunately for him, we were all ready and after a brief
but bloody battle, he assassin was lying unconscious on the floor. I called out to the guards to secure
Xristopheles as well, knowing he was somewhere in the crowd. The Lord Knight also ordered his guards to
seal the room so that no one could leave until everything was sorted out. We all looked around at each other and
suddenly realized that someone was missing, Lilly!
We called out for her, searching around but it was obvious
that she was gone. Will spotted an open
window but without knowing how long the kidnapper had left or where he could have
gone. I activated my Message ring and
told Oslo what had happened. His
response was simply, “teleporting in 30 seconds”. I was dully aware of hands grabbing onto me,
including Tal and Erra. In a flash of
arcance power, we all appeared on a rooftop.
There was a bit of scrambling as few of those transported were left
dangling over the edge. All I could see
was the man in black running along the roof, the man who had attacked and taken
my closest friend. The flight spell from
my ring was still active and I shot forward until I passed him. A red haze settled over my eyes as I drew out
a wand and fired. The Doom Gaze spell
took the man and he crumpled in a lifeless heap.
Voices, angry and alarmed, came toward me but I grabbed the
man’s belt and opened it. Inside was all
of Lilly’s belongings and clothing, shrunk down into miniature. With a
slight bit of relief, I spotted the bracelet, but I was looking for only one
thing: a simple ring that held the bone fragments of an elven sage. Without a pause, I slipped it on, feeling a
slight sting of life being drained from me.
The image of Belthazar appeared in my mind and I demanded to know where
Lilly was. He didn’t know but after my five
questions and an observation from Tom (that Lilly’s Father was at the party), I
realized that she had to still be at the Lord Knight’s manor.
After retrieving Fasa
from where he had fallen, we all raced back to the house and as soon as we were
back inside, I called for the Halfling business man to be detained. He was smug, arrogant and thoroughly
detestable. I tried to make him drink
the Wine of Burning Truth, but he refused.
However, after I accused him of abducting his daughter, the Lord Knight
ordered him to drink it. When he did,
the truth came spilling forth like a flood of corruption.
He had kidnapped Lilly and on demand, he reached into a belt
her shrunken unconscious body, still alive but naked. Rish took her as we began to interrogate her
father. Thanks to the wine we all
learned what a terrible piece of filth her father was. First, he tried to declare that he had the
right to take his daughter because he was protecting a minor but then revealed
that he only wanted her so he could “sell” her to someone else like her current
fiancé. Next, he confessed to numerous
illegal operations: slave trading and
drugs were just the tip of the iceberg.
After exposing his numerous crimes, he tried to pull a fast
one. He declared all of his assets to be
the property of Lilly and that all crimes were her responsibility, by the laws
of his country. Fortunately, the Lord
Knight assured him that she would not be prosecuted for said crimes and that
the laws of her homeland held no sway here.
Panicking further he declared diplomatic immunity and unfortunately, the
laws did dictate that it had to be granted.
He would be forcibly and magically deported without delay.
Lilly was still unconscious so we moved on to interrogate
Xristopholes and his hired assassin.
Seeing the methods that Mak was going to employ, I decided to excuse
myself so I could check on Tal and Erra.
We checked on the men that attacked her and learned that one of the men
escaped and that the other was a member of Stormguard Intelligence. I recovered the lightning device after making
sure it was deactivated and we spent the rest of the evening talking.
I later learned that the attempt on the Lord Knight’s life
was punishable by death. Xris was trying
to have the knight killed so that he could expand his holdings into smuggling
and other less-than-legal pursuits. It
wouldn’t surprise me to learn of a connection to Lilly’s father, but that won’t
be possible for them any longer.
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