Wednesday, November 28, 652 AU, continued

Aurelia immediately channels sunlight, and Leander backs away, hissing in pain as his skin sizzles. “Head for the window!” she shouts. Qhask fires an arrow at Leander, and Leander retaliates with a fire bolt, then misty steps in front of Valya and Aurelia, blocking their path to the window.

Everyone tries to get around Leander, except Valya, who tries to grapple him. Harmony drinks a potion of feather fall and jumps, and the rest start climbing down the rope. Valya manages to drag Leander to the window and drags him outside—she misty steps to safety, but Leander drops the three stories to the rocky ground below. He is badly injured, and screams in the sunlight. Leander then misty steps back up to the window. “You’ll never make it home!” he shouts. “We’ve already sent zombies to take care of your boat. Come sunset, you’re all dead! You’re already halfway to joining us, priestess—I can smell the death on you!” He then backs away from the window.

Fearing the worst, they all rush back down the cliffs to the river. On the way, they lose track of Harmony and Fergus, but also meet someone new. The newcomer introduces himself as Abundance, a wizard, and says he just escaped from Vargrath Keep. He has an owl familiar with him named Magpie. As they near the boat, they hear Captain Green shouting, and as the river comes into view they see several zombies attempting to climb onto the boat, while the captain fends them off with rays of frost.

The zombies are tough, and there are more of them in the woods. Soon Valya and Aurelia are surrounded, and Captain Green has to disengage and leave the boat. Abundance casts fire bolts at the zombies, and Qhask pelts them with arrows, but there are too many, and they refuse to drop dead. Instead of trying to defeat the zombies, the party decides to make an escape instead. Unfortunately, Qhask and Captain Green are knocked out by the zombies. Valya drags the captain to the boat, and Aurelia, out of healing magic, does the same to Qhask. However, she isn’t strong enough to lift Qhask over the edge, and for a brief, horrifying moment plays tug-of-war with a zombie over an unconscious Qhask.

Thankfully, Valya helps Aurelia pull Qhask out of the zombie’s grasp and up to safety, and they cut the ropes tying the boat to the shore. The boat begins drifting down the river, toward Corentin’s Mirror, and they all breath a collective sigh of relief.

Valya inspects the corpse of a zombie that came with them on the boat. It’s a woman, badly damaged. She looks native to Whitestone Valley, and could very well be an original victim of the destruction of Silverdale. Valya notices she has a silver ring on her decayed finger, and inspects it. It’s unadorned, but on the inside is printed “M. and F. Talos”. Valya pockets the ring.

⁂

While they wait for the captain to regain consciousness, Abundance tells them why he was there. He is a wizard from Khorsir—a mountainous country to the north—and he recently came to Castalia. He was looking for herbs in the forest, when he was ambushed and knocked out. He awoke some time later, finding himself in a wine cellar that had been converted into a prison. His belongings were on the other side of an iron grate door, out of reach. He sent Magpie for help, and waited.

Soon, two people approached. One was a young-looking vampire, and the other was something far worse—a living corpse with pinpricks of cold blue fire in its otherwise dark eye sockets. The corpse said “Ah… such a unique specimen. It could prove quite useful if broken down for parts. See to it that it does not escape while I make the necessary preparations.” The vampire nodded, but as the corpse turned to leave, the vampire shot Abundance a weird look. Like he’s furious and… hurt, somehow?

For the next three days, a zombie periodically shuffled down the hall with a tray of food, leaving it in front of the door. The vampire checked on Abundance twice during this period. Each time he looked around the cell, glares at Abundance for a few moments, and then left without speaking. Abundance noticed the following oddities:

• Most of the food was tasteless gruel, but mixed in were stale pastries and, once, a piece of meat pie. Pretty fancy stuff, not something you’d expect to find in a place like this.
• Periodically Abundance heard faint chanting, or screaming. It sounded like it came from very far below him, and he felt a disturbing chill whenever this happened.
• The second time the vampire checked on his cell, Abundance noticed he had a shadow. Abundance is sure he didn’t have one the other times he saw him.

On the third day, a soft breeze blew through the cell, and Abundance heard a click—the door to his cell had been unlocked. Abundance was pretty sure a spell had been cast, but there was no one around. He picked up his stuff and made his way out of the keep, down the hill, where he ran into the party.

⁂

The party exchanges theories about what could be happening at Vargrath Keep. Whatever it is, it’s not good! After a few more minutes, Captain Green regains consciousness, thanks the party for saving him, and starts more actively guiding the boat down the river.

They look at the stack of old letters they found in the Keep. They’re all addressed to Lena Sharpe—they remember seeing her name on the portrait in the old bedroom. Most of the letters are uninteresting gossip, but one letter strikes them as important. It reads:

Dear Lena,

I hope you are feeling better. Your last letter greatly worried me, and I offer once again—take Iris and visit us at Dawnspire, for as long as you like. Whatever happened on that expedition changed Cecil, and I wonder if he hasn’t brought a powerful curse down on himself. He shouldn’t be exploring those places. They belong to Neesha, and should be left undisturbed. I’ve expressed my views on his hobby before, and I don’t think I’ll change your mind by repeating myself. But now these strange visitors, and the sleepwalking, and that poor cat? Surely you understand that Cecil has become unstable. He needs a priest, and if he refuses to see one, then you need to leave. I have a room made for you here, and I’m sure Iris would love to spend the rest of the summer playing with Bartram and Marjorie.

Your loving sister,

Flora

July 15th, 508 A.U.

The Sharpe family must have been the former owners of Vargrath Keep, but something happened to them. What? Some of the party believe possession by some sort of fiendish entity must have been involved, but the letter is vague and only hints at the events. They’ll need to research this later.

⁂

Suddenly, while floating down the river, the current suddenly stops and pulls the boat roughly to shore. Four druids reveal themselves from the trees on the eastern side of the river. Two of them have bows, and one appears to be ready to cast a spell. Their leader, a female half elf, introduces herself as Treeneedle and demands to know what they’re doing and whether or not they’re spies. The spellcasting druid casts detect thoughts on Valya, who instinctively blocks it out. The rest of the party notice that Valya has gone pale from shock.

Aurelia explains that they’re not spies, and gives a brief account of their encounter at Vargrath Keep. The spellcaster reads Aurelia’s thoughts instead, and nods at Treeneedle. “She’s telling the truth.”

Satisfied (but still slightly suspicious), Treeneedle offers to take the party to the leader of the druids. Captain Morgan stays behind to watch the boat, and the rest travel through the Osorin Forest to a secret grove. There are about a dozen people here, and the camp reeks of a strange-smelling incense. Treeneedle introduces them to the elf Sorendil, their leader.

Sorendil and the party discuss their encounter at Vargrath Keep—apparently, it was considered cursed long before the undead moved in. The former owner, Cecil Sharpe, killed his entire family in some sort of dark, bloody ritual. He was never found, and the keep has remained empty ever since. No one wants to claim it because it’s generally believed to be haunted.

The druids find it puzzling that the party encountered undead in Vargrath Keep, as there weren’t any there when they scouted it out the previous year. They usually keep to the ruins around Silverdale. Valya opines that she wants to investigate the ruins, and Sorendil warns her that worse things than zombies have moved in during the past century, and that he recommends against traveling there.

Sorendil also confirms that the goal of his group is to make themselves as much of a nuisance as they can, until the Daykin family gives up and abandons the rail between Crystalport and Eth’alorei. He is adamant that the disturbance caused by the rail is responsible for the shadows in the forest.

Speaking of the shadows, Valya asks what the pungent incense around the camp is for—Sorendil replies that it’s the smoke of burned shadowleaf, which keeps evil spirits at bay. Valya excuses herself from the camp, saying the smoke is giving her a headache. She looks even paler than before. The party buys six leaves for 6 sp, enough to create three hour’s worth of smoke. While they’re at it, they also buy a pound of beholder eye for 8 sp, hoping the herbalist in Crystalport is willing to pay more for it.

Aurelia asks if the druids are part of the Wood Scorpions. Sorendil replies that the Wood Scorpions are too political and too ready to use violence and assassinations to get their way. He doesn’t trust them, and believes they have ulterior motives beyond their desire to overthrow the royal family in Crystalport.

While the others continue to talk, Aurelia looks for Valya, and finds her on the outskirts of the camp, upwind of the incense. Valya says she didn’t appreciate the mind-reading, and that there are things she wants to tell the party about her past, but that now isn’t a good time.

Finally, Sorendil says there’s a healer in Crystalport by the name of Aldrix who can serve as a contact with his group. They say their farewells, and Treeneedle escorts them back to the ship. They continue down the river and across the lake, and return to Crystalport. As they leave the ship, Captain Green tells them “If you have need of a ship again, find someone else!”

⁂

Back in the city, they head to a jeweler’s to appraise the gems they found in the Keep. After asking around, they think they can get a fair price at Evelyn’s Jewelers. The old woman behind the counter charges a 5 sp appraisal fee, and she determines that the gems are worth the following:

• Onyx (20 gp)
• Malachite (30 gp)
• Jasper (15 gp)
• Hairpin (20 gp in small rubies and 10 gp in diamonds)

Evelyn isn’t sure what the silver of the hairpin is worth, since she’s mostly a jeweler and doesn’t know much about the provenance of the object. Aurelia convinces her that the craftsmanship of the hairpin must be worth something, and that it has the Sharpe family crest on it. It must be of value to a collector. Evelyn agrees, and offers to pay 100 gp for all the gems plus the hairpin (appraising the silver at 5 gp). Satisfied, they make the trade.

Their next stop is Omera’s Herbs. Lucia Omera is happy to buy beholder eye for 5 sp an ounce, so they sell her all but two ounces of it, for 7 gp. When asked what beholder eye is used for, she says it’s a staple ingredient in antitoxin, which is in high demand right now. Everyone has fear of poisoning on the mind after the attempted assassination of Lord Calvin.

Having sold the treasures they acquired on their expedition, they return to the temple of Soleil. Cedric Daymirror is deeply concerned by what they experienced at Vargrath Keep, and asks them to accompany him to the temple library once more. He searches through the temple chronicles, finding an old, dusty volume entitled Of the Winter of 562–563. He searches through it for a few minutes, and then begins to read aloud:

Thus did the Runebreakers—Beatrice of Soleil, Halas the Strong, Doubrar Kegbuster, and Pancras the Wise—descend into the Underdark to thwart the devious plan of Tharruk, the archlich. For Tharruk had planted in the minds of the drow of Rinasash that the duergar of Mudmaul plotted their downfall—and also did Tharruk plant in the minds of the duargar suspicion of the drow. So great was the war Tharruk stirred up that the drow, in desperation, called upon their goddess Lolth, and she entered into the world in the form of a monstrous spider, to lay waste to the duergar. This was Tharruk’s intention—to devour Lolth and usurp her power and divinity. His web of deceit rivaled even Hers, and Lolth would have been caught, if not for the Runebreakers. But Beatrice of Soleil was mortally wounded by the ungrateful Lolth, and there perished.

It seems like everyone at the time thought The Runebreakers had defeated Tharruk. The party has several hypotheses, none of them comforting. Perhaps Tharruk had a second phylactery? And it seems like Beatrice was brought in secret to the Pool of Tears, for healing. It would be an awfully big coincidence for the hydra to be planted at that time… was Beatrice the target all along?

Cedric tells the party that he is going to convene a council of all the major temples in the city to discuss what to do about Tharruk.

Abundance tells the party that he would like to put a stop to the evil they encountered, and that he will join them. They decide their first order of business should be to learn more about the history of Vargrath Keep. Since they’re in the library, they decide to start there. The letter to Lena Sharpe was dated July 508 A.U., so Abundance starts reading through the annals from that date forward. He doesn’t find an entry directly related to the keep, but he does find something interesting dated later that year:

The Sharpe expedition to the ruins in Ilvassar Forest ends in disaster.

Well, it’s a lead. Some more digging implies that Cecil Sharpe was an amateur archaeologist, and that he hired several dwarves to help him excavate some sort of tomb in the Ilvassar Forest. Unable to find anything else that’s noteworthy, they return to their quarters to rest.

Worryingly, Fergus and Harmony still haven’t turned up.

Thursday, November 29, 652 AU

The next morning, they’re greeted at their door by a familiar face.

“My friends, my comrades, my brothers and sisters in arms!” says Captain Woodmore. “It took quite a bit of digging to figure out where you were staying, you know! Might want to leave an address next time! But no matter. I’ve got great news!” Everyone braces for the horrible news.

“Well, first of all, I should say, we received an anonymous tip that the Wood Scorpions were planning another attempt on Lord Calvin’s life at this Friday’s gala. It’s been pushed back one week, while we call in some reinforcements from the capital. Duke Daykin had a mind to cancel the gala altogether, but I convinced him that we can’t let it look like those Wood Scorpions have won. Besides, the gala is for the Duchess’s birthday!”

“And here’s the great news: I pulled some strings, called in a few favors, and got you all invited!” Everyone stares at him, confused. “Lord Calvin has agreed to personally bless our holy quest to slay the hydra, like the heroes of old! There will be bards at this gala, I am assured—always best to let them know of your mighty deeds before you do them! Gives them time to come up with better rhymes, you see.” He gives the party a conspiratorial wink.

“It’s the beginning of a glorious career for us all, I can feel it! Think of it—” He throws his arm around Valya’s shoulder and waves his hand majestically, as if showing her a breathtaking vista. “The hydra is only the beginning. We could slay giants! Devils! Even dragons!” He looks over at Qhask. “Uh, metallic dragons excepted, of course.”

“Aren’t we leaving for Kyasha’s Vale on Wednesday the fifth?” asks Valya, supremely uncomfortable.

“That has been pushed back too! What with the calling in reinforcements from the capital, I’m needed to handle the logistics for a bit longer. We’ll leave the morning after the gala. But rest assured, the hydra will be defeated! And if it goes well, perhaps I can give up my desk job and go adventuring full time! We could be the next Mighty Hand, or even the next Runebreakers!”

Horrified by the way Captain Woodmore used the word “we” in that sentence, Aurelia says “I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it to the gala. We have more important things to do.”

“Nonsense, what could be more important than a chance to meet the Duke and the Queen’s brother? And it would be quite a slight against them not to show up after having been invited, I might add.” He looks at them very seriously.

“Am I included in this invitation?” asks Abundance.

“And you are?” Abundance briefly introduces himself. “Splendid!” replies Captain Woodmore. “Yes, everyone in this little adventuring party is invited.” He throws his free arm around Abundance. “Consider yourself lucky—you have just joined the most promising new group of adventurers in the kingdom!”

Captain Woodmore retreats back to the door. “I will see you at the gala! And do try to come up with a name for our little troupe by then. I’ve already come up with several!” He leaves.

The moment he is out of earshot, Aurelia turns to the rest of them and grimly says “We need to get rid of him as soon as possible.”

“Well, the hydra will probably kill him, right?” says Valya.

“We have to come up with a better name than him, too,” says Aurelia. “If there are bards at this gala, well… names stick.”

Friday, November 30 to Monday, December 3, 652 AU

The party spends the next few days training in preparation for the hydra. During this time, they read a few flyers posted on a bulletin board in the main city square:

• Red Eagle shipping corporation is seeking to guard a shipment from Basinglen to Crystalport on the morning of December 6th. The reward is 50 gp.
• The Kildare family in Rimehollow is looking for brave adventurers, but they don’t say what for.

Valya is very interested in the possibility of speaking to the Kildare family.

While walking down the street one day, a small drake flies down from the sky and lands in front of Qhask. It tilts its head back and forth inquisitively. There’s a note attached to its leg. Qhask takes the note and reads it:

Qhask,

It’s Skorzunk. I managed to escape, along with Bror, Bar, elder Scukvon, and a few of the drakes. We don’t know what happened to everyone else, but Scukvon says he knows you’re alive, because Chotrur told him so. We fled east. Somewhere in Amyanthalas, I think. But we separated from Bror and Bar, because last night I saw things, like ghosts, enter Bror and Bar. They denied ever seeing them, and said they were fine, but they started acting strange and Scukvon and I ditched them in the forest. We’ll be staying here for a few more weeks, at least, in case we can find any more survivors.

Hope you’ll come too,

Snorzunk

The drake waits patiently, staring at Qhask. “Well, I guess we’ve got a drake now!”

Tuesday, December 4, 652 AU

Having sufficiently trained, the party takes a ferry across Corentin’s Mirror to Rimehollow early in the morning. Valya asks a passing woman how to find the Kildare smithy, and the woman says it’s easy: Just follow the acrid smoke and the sound of hammers.

Making their way to the center of town, they do eventually come across the smithy, and it is as loud and smelly as promised. The entire front of the building is open to the air to avoid the buildup of dangerous fumes, and the noise of hammers and hydraulic presses is deafening. They tell a smith that they’re here to answer the flyer, and they have to yell to be understood. He escorts them to a back office, where they are met by Tolman Kildare, the manager. The smith closes the door behind them, and the noise level suddenly drops by several orders of magnitude.

“So, you’re here to help us,” says Tolman.

“Yes, but I also have a question,” says Valya.“If I were to describe a sword, would you be able to tell me if it was made here?”

“That depends. When was the sword made?”

“At least a few centuries ago. I can draw it, if that helps.”

“Be my guest.”

Valya takes out a scrap of parchment and begins scribbling a sword on it. After a minute or so, she hands the parchment to Tolman. “Does it look familiar?”

Tolman squints and looks intently at the drawing. “Not to offend, miss, but this looks like every sword ever created. Also could be a tree branch.” The rest of the party look at the parchment—Valya has drawn what amounts to a pointy rectangle with a single line for a crossguard."

“Well, it’s not like I’m an artist…”

“You know,” says Tolman, " your question is actually related to the job I need done. How tough are you?" He looks intently at the party, as if sizing them up.

“Why?”

“You probably know, the Kildare family has been in the metalworking business for generations. We used to have a smithy in Silverdale but, well, that was destroyed during the catastrophe. Our record books, containing information on every custom item we ever produced… they’re still in the vault below the ruins. I’d like you to go there, get those books, and bring them here. If you do, I can tell you whatever we can find out about this sword of yours. Plus, reward you handsomely. So, do you think you’re up to the task?”

“We can handle a few zombies,” says Valya.

“Oh, there’s worse things than zombies there. Skulks, ettercaps—all sorts of nasties.”

“How many books are there? How much will it all weigh?” asks Qhask.

“Oh, hundreds of books. I’d say all told it will probably be three to four hundred pounds.”

“That’s a lot…”

Aurelia interjects. “If you don’t mind my asking, why haven’t the books already been brought back? Silverdale was destroyed a century ago.”

“Well, no one has been brave enough to get through the zombies. When the Crystalport guard was sent in, it was to slay as many undead as they could, not to get our books for us. And there were still too many undead for anyone to deal with. Fewer undead now, since many of them have been destroyed over the years.

“And, to tell the truth, you’re not the first ones to ask about a sword. About three weeks ago, someone came in asking for information about a centuries-old sword and two daggers. Offered to pay me handsomely.”

Valya perks up at this. “Do you remember what they looked like?”

“No, he was wearing a hood, but his accent… now that I think about it, it was very similar to your own.”

Valya stands up. “We’re going to get you your books.”

“Well, good luck to you. You’ll need it.” Tolman thanks them and escorts them back outside the smithy.

⁂

Outside, Valya explains to the party why she’s interested in this sword. “I come from a noble family in Thamior, the Haedels, a line of bladesingers stretching back centuries. My family had an heirloom, a blade named Grieving Edge… it’s passed down to the Lord Protector of the Haedels when they reach adulthood. My brother, Lucan, was to inherit Grieving Edge. He had a natural talent for bladesinging, not like me. One day, I heard the sword calling to me… I went to the treasury room, and…”

Valya pauses, steels herself, and then continues. “The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of the manor, covered in blood, the sword missing. My family lay dead all around me—the only body I couldn’t find was Lucan’s. So I ran outside, screaming for help, but then I thought, people would think I did it. I mean, I think, I did do it, right? So I took what money I could find and I hid. When the city guard came looking for me, I left the city on a boat headed for Castalia.

“According to the family history, Grieving Edge originally came from Vashios—this continent, of which Castalia is the western peninsula. I want to know who made that sword, and whether it was possessed by some spirit. Whether I’m to blame for my family’s deaths. When I heard Sorendil talking about what happened in Vargrath Keep… it was too similar to what happened to me. I had to leave.” Aurelia nods in understanding.

“This cloaked man who asked Tolman about the sword has to be Lucan. I need to get these records and find out everything I can about Grieving Edge.”

“Of course, we’ll help you,” says Aurelia.

“How are we going to carry hundreds of pounds of books out of a zombie-infested ruin?” asks Qhask.

“Perhaps we could use Tenser’s floating disk,” says Abundance. “Unfortunately, I don’t know the spell.”

A few minutes later, while returning to the ferry, they come across a halfling merchant selling his wares from a large carriage with extendable shelving. They approach, and the halfling introduces himself as Remy Wanderfoot, a traveling merchant selling goods from exotic locales, some as far as Nahalis or the Gemra Empire. They ask if he has any magic items.

“Magic items? You mean contraband? I would never claim to carry such illegal goods, and would certainly never invite those who ask me about them to the Drunken Goblin in Crystalport, say about nine o’clock tonight, to discuss further!” He gives them a big wink.

“See you there!” says Qhask.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about,” replies Remy with a smile. They then head to the ferry to return to Crystalport.

On the boat, Abundance voices his frustration with the way magic is treated in Castalia. “In Khorsir, magic is not so heavily restricted. My master studied in peace in his tower. I think when we get back to the city, I will look into joining a mages’ guild so I can cast spells openly.”

⁂

Back in Crystalport, they first stop at the temple. There’s a new face there—a young half-elven woman in formidable shining armor. “You must be the adventurers! Cedric’s already told me so much about you.”

“Greetings, sister,” replies Aurelia. “Where did you arrive from?”

“The capital. I was sent here to serve as Prince Calvin’s personal bodyguard for the remainder of his stay in Crystalport.” From the tone in her voice, they can tell she finds this assignment supremely boring. “My name is Lythienne Pazana, of the Order of the Radiant Dawn.” The party makes their introductions.

“I heard there’s a Grand Council, a meeting of all the church leaders in the city tonight,” says Lythienne. “Something about a mission you went on?”

They give Lythienne an account of their encounter at Vargrath Keep. Lythienne whistles, impressed. “A lich! Now there’s a mission I’d like to be assigned. Instead, I’m stuck babysitting some teenager. You know, you should go to the meeting.”

“Is that allowed?”

“By the ancient pacts between the local churches, no cleric can be turned away from a Grand Council.” She gives Aurelia an odd look. “I should warn you… I was stationed in Amyanthalas for a while, so I know this may come as a shock for you, but in Castalia, Neesha is openly worshipped. People pray to her when they travel at night, for prophetic dreams, and so on. The high priestess of Neesha will certainly be there.”

“The foolishness of these people,” replies Aurelia. “Thank you for warning me. I will brace myself.”

They thank Lythienne for the information. “Out of curiosity, do you know much about the mage’s guilds in the city?” asks Abundance before they take their leave.

“I don’t. If anyone in the temple does, it would be Cedric—he seems to have the most contact with the bureaucracy outside the church.”

They find Cedric in his chambers, and Abundance asks him about the guilds. “Well, there are two main guilds in Crystalport. The Crystalport Mage’s Guild is the larger of the two, and quite standard in organizational structure and charter of rights. The other is the Andirune Institute, a mage’s academy that enjoys special privileges regarding which spells it has access to. The Crystalport Mage’s Guild answers to the ministers, but the Andirune Institute is beholden only to the Duke himself, if I understand correctly. It’s a very old academy—one of the oldest in the kingdom, I believe.”

Valya and Abundance decide to head to the Andirune Institute, while Aurelia and Qhask continue training. The institute is an old, venerable collection of stone buildings engulfed in ivy. Two guards stop them at the gate, asking them to state their business. Abundance asks what he needs to do to join the guild. One of the guards pauses, as if communicating with someone telepathically, and then motions for them to follow him inside. The gate opens silently and closes behind them.

While walking to a tower at the center of the campus, Abundance is shocked to recognize one of the students. A pale sickly-looking half-elf with messy blond hair—it’s Leander. He’s casting a shadow, though, and standing in direct sunlight, and wearing the dark green robes of an Academy student, and talking to someone with a friendly smile… is Abundance mistaken? The half-elf notices Abundance and Valya, and his expression quickly changes to a scowl. He turns around and heads out of sight. Valya and Abundance raise their eyebrows at each other in concern, and continue into the tower.

The guard leads them up a spiral staircase to a large office. Sitting behind a large mahogany desk is an aged wizard.

“Greetings, Valya and Abundance! I am Utaz the Inquisitive, headmaster of the Andirune Institute. It is my understanding that you wish to join our guild? I sense you each have quite the spark of magic in you already…”

Valya and Abundance are surprised. How did he know their names? “A wizard knows many things!” says Utaz, reading their faces. (Or their minds?) “If you wish to join our ranks, there is a test… a dangerous test, tailored to the individual.” He peers at the both, studying them carefully. “Yes, you should both do well, I think… the test will take some time to set up— a week or two, no more. You will be summoned when we are ready for you. But I sense you have something more to say.” He looks at them inquisitively.

“Yes,” says Abundance. “Something very important, actually. We think there is a vampire among your students.”

Utaz looks taken aback. “That is a serious accusation. Who? Do you have any proof?”

“We met a vampire in Vargrath Keep who called himself Leander. Then we saw him again, just now, while walking through your campus. He recognized us. We’re sure it’s the same person.

“Leander? We have a student by that name, but I am sure he’s not a vampire.” Utaz frowns. “If you feel the need to accuse other students to increase your chances of admission, I’m afraid it won’t do you any good. Or is this some convoluted attack on Prince Calvin?”

“We swear, we are telling the truth,” says Valya. “Just check for yourself. We don’t know how he can walk in the sun and cast a shadow, but we know what we saw—Leander is a vampire.”

“And what does this have to do with Prince Calvin?” asks Abundance.

Utaz looks puzzled. “You really don’t… Leander Vyrtana is one of the brightest students in the academy, and Prince Calvin’s fiancé;. If he were a vampire, someone would have discovered it by now.”

“Can’t you just check?”

“I am a busy man, and these accusations are baseless. Furthermore, pestering a soon-to-be member of the royal family with this nonsense won’t do any good for the academy’s relationship with its financers. Do not test my patience further.”

With that, their interview is over, and they are led back to the gates of the institute. “That could have gone better,” says Valya.

“What is Leander doing here?” asks Abundance. Neither of them have an idea, but whatever it is, it can’t be good that a vampire is insinuating himself into the royal family.

⁂

The party reconvenes in their quarters at the temple of Soleil, and a few hours later they head to the temple of Corentin—the largest temple in the city—where the Grand Council is to take place. Clerics with robes of every color are there—including black. An elderly woman in black robes stands off to the side of the large chamber, flanked by two younger clerics. She somehow notices Aurelia looking at her, and smiles back. Aurelia turns away.

Soon, the Grand Council begins. Cedric is called to explain why he called a meeting of the Council, and he in turn calls the party to give a detailed account of what they saw in Vargrath Keep. As Aurelia and Abundance give their accounts, there are gasps of shock in the audience, especially when Tharruk is mentioned. When they finish, the entire room erupts into arguments.

It takes a good fifteen minutes for order to be restored, at which point the elder clerics debate what should be done. Eventually, they decide that a group of their most powerful clerics should be sent to Vargrath Keep to gather more information.

Lythienne, standing next to the party, sighs. “Would that I could be reassigned…”

When they get a free moment with Cedric, Valya mentions their concerns about Leander. Cedric is nonplussed. “A vampire? That certainly is concerning…”

“Is there anything you can do about it? Get the royal family to test him?”

“It’s a pretty serious accusation. It would be a delicate matter of diplomacy, and besides, if he’s so close to the Prince, I’m sure he’s already under intense scrutiny. Perhaps you are mistaken?”

Valya throws up her hands in frustration. Lythienne, who had been listening in, adds “I’ll be babysitting the Prince for the next few months, so I’m sure I’ll meet this Leander at some point. I can use my divine sense! Then we’ll know.”

Aurelia looks unconvinced. “It does seem like someone would have already done that. And he can cast a shadow and walk in sunlight—surely there is powerful magic disguising his true nature.”

“Nonsense! My divine sense never fails. All I have to do is—” Lythienne stops midsentence and goes pale. “Well, perhaps my divine sense is going haywire.”

“What’s the matter?” asks Aurelia, worried.

“I don’t understand why, but—Aurelia, as far as my senses can tell, you’re undead.”

Aurelia is shocked. “First that old woman, then Leander, and now you—what is it that people are detecting about me? What happened?”

No one has any answers. Eventually, the clerics start filtering out of the temple, having decided on the finer details of the upcoming expedition to the keep. As they turn to leave, Aurelia hears a voice behind her.

“You have questions, priestess, and Neesha has answers.” Aurelia turns around and sees the high priestess of Neesha.

“I won’t seek answers from your dark goddess,” replies Aurelia.

“There is darkness all around you, child. And darkness is precisely the Mistress’s domain, is it not?”

Aurelia, frustrated, responds “How do you know about this darkness?”

The old woman chuckles. “For those with the eyes to see it, the darkness around you is as plain as moonlight. When you are finally ready to learn, I will be there to teach you.” She smiles. “Have a pleasant evening.”

Aurelia frowns at the old woman as she leaves the temple. “I’m not going to get answers from her.”

⁂

They next head to the Drunken Goblin tavern to make their appointment with Remy Wanderfoot. As they enter the tavern, they see him sitting alone at a table in the back corner. He sees them, and waves for them to join him.

Most of Remy’s items aren’t actually that useful to the party—a staff of adornment, a mechanical crab, a pipe of smoke monsters—but they do manage to buy a spell scroll of Tenser’s floating disk, which Remy carries in the event that his wagon breaks down. It uses up most of Valya’s remaining gold (50 gp), but she’s happy to spend it if it means getting information about the Grieving Edge. Remy also has a proposition for them.

“There’s a shipment scheduled two days from now by the Red Eagle shipping company—a package being delivered from Basinglen to here in Crystalport. I would like you to intercept this package and redirect it to me.”

“What’s in the package?” asks Valya.

“Oh, nothing important! Just something I’m very interested in. Oh, and don’t open it! That’s very important. Just deliver it to me intact.”

Aurelia is suspicious. “If it isn’t important, why do they need to hire extra mercenaries to protect it?”

“Oh, you saw the flyers! I was just going to mention, getting hired to guard it and then just bringing it to me would be quite the clean operation, wouldn’t it?”

“I still think there’s something you’re not telling us.”

“You mean beside the contents?” Remy asks innocently. “Well, I should probably warn you… it’s unlikely, but there’s a tiny chance that the Hammer has an interest in the fate of this package. Just a tiny chance. Negligible really. In fact, don’t even worry about it at all. It’s probably nothing!”

“The Hammer?” asks Valya.

Valya and Abundance aren’t from Castalia, but Aurelia and Qhask have heard of the Hammer. “They’re a group of elite mages who answer only to the Queen herself,” Aurelia says. “They’re her personal strike force… they have access to spells forbidden to everyone else in the kingdom. They’re… known for their efficiency and brutality.”

“Yeah, them!” says Remy.

“What are you offering us in return?” asks Qhask.

“No small sum of gold. Plus, I can throw in a few magic items. How does a ring of truth telling, a mithral chain shirt, and a pair of sending stones sound?”

“We’ll have to think it over.”

“Don’t think too hard, it’s easy money! Well, if you do decide to help, I’ll be around Crystalport the day of.”

While this conversation has been going on, Abundance had spied some dwarves sitting at a table closer to the center of the tavern. He overhears them talking about an excavation they’re currently working on—could they know anything about the Sharpe expedition? He decides to join them.

It turns out that one of the dwarves does, indeed, have a cousin who was on the ill-fated expedition. “Yeah, Cecil Sharpe hired my cousin and a few other dwarves to help him unbury some tomb. Oh, it was awful. Everyone in these parts heard about what Cecil Sharpe did to his family, but the other dwarves—they went insane, too. News just doesn’t travel out of Kharst that quickly… A few months apart, they all went on killing sprees, drew weird symbols on the floor in blood. They were all caught, though, as far as I know. Couldn’t explain why the did it, died soon after. Pretty creepy stuff! Obviously got cursed for raiding the tomb.”

“Where was this tomb?” asks Abundance.

“Somewhere in the Ilvassar Forest. Supposedly the tomb of some mage—who would raid the tomb of a mage? You’re just asking for trouble.”

Abundance thanks the dwarves for the information, and with that, the party return to the temple to rest.

Wednesday, December 5, 652 AU

In the morning, Aurelia prays to Soleil for answers. Instead, she has another vision. It’s similar to the first, except each of the three sections is more detailed. She sees Beatrice suspended in a void by two chains, but now sees that the chains are attached to enormous spheres. She sees the comet, but also sees ragged-edged voids in the sky, and watches as the comet crashes into the surface of the world. She sees the woman being raised from the dead as a zombie, but now hears a voice say “rise” as it happens. Aurelia snaps back to reality in a cold sweat.

They set off for Basinglen soon after, hoping to get hired to guard the shipment.

“I think we should just steal the package for ourselves,” says Valya.

“That seems quite dangerous,” says Aurelia. “We don’t want to fall under the Hammer’s scrutiny.”

An hour down the road, they come across an overturned carriage. A woman in expensive clothing is lying on the road next to the carriage, holding her leg. “Oh, thank goodness! Could you help me? I think it’s broken.”

“Something doesn’t feel right… I think this is a trap,” whispers Abundance, but Valya and Aurelia are already on their way to help. Aurelia extends a hand to help the woman up. The woman grabs Aurelia’s hand, says “Nothing personal”, and uses the leverage to stab Aurelia in the gut with a dagger. Four more bandits appear from the trees on either side of the road, and two more climb out of the carriage, brandishing scimitars.

“I knew it!” shouts Abundance, casting a fire bolt at one of the archers in the trees.

Although surprising, the bandits aren’t very tough, and the party has soon dispatched them all. After some healing, they search through the carriage, and find that it’s been stripped of all the valuable fittings and the silk that used to line the interior. “It must be a stolen carriage,” says Valya. On the bodies of the bandits, they find 16 gp, two potions of healing, and one potion of invisibility. They also find a note on the body of the woman. It reads:

Got a job for you. Some pests are sticking their noses where they shouldn’t and need to be gotten rid of. Crystalport, Temple of Soleil. You’ll know them when you see them: a Nahalian elf, an elven priestess, a kobold, and a human. Might have a Khorsirian wizard with them too. Make it look like a random attack. If this gets traced back to us, it’s your head on the chopping block.

—T

Someone doesn’t want the party poking around, it seems. But who is T? They briefly consider Tharruk, but he doesn’t seem to be the micro-managing bandit-hiring type. And what exactly did they do to trigger this? ❦