Thursday, December 6, 652 AU, continued

It’s getting late in the afternoon, so the party decides to ask Gordon for two rooms at the temple of Corentin for the night. Their rooms arranged, they return to the stable where they left their horses. Finlay, the owner, agrees to buy the horses for 50 gp. Finally, they confront Bodo. Although he’s adamant that they’re all just meddlers and that Riley deserves to be punished, the weight of the evidence for her innocence eventually convinces him that maybe Riley isn’t totally responsible for everything. Good enough!

Back in their makeshift room at the temple, Abundance opens the scroll of Tenser’s floating disk and begins tattoing his arm, periodically consulting the scroll.

“What are you doing?” asks Valya.

“Copying the spell,” responds Abundance. “Some wizards use books to hold their spells… I’ve found that this method suits me better.”

While Abundance continues his tattooing, they debate what to do about the shipment. If they do decide to take it for themselves, should they bring it to its intended destination, the Red Eagle company? Or should they hand it off to Remy? Or open it themselves?

“We could open it,” says Valya. “Although it might be dangerous.”

“That’s exactly why we should open it,” says Abundance. “What if it’s a powerful magical artifact? We don’t want it to fall into the wrong hands, and this whole business is rather shady.”

“If it’s dangerous, we shouldn’t open it at all,” says Aurelia. “We should bring it to the Red Eagle. I don’t trust Remy.”

“Remy is willing to pay a lot more than the Red Eagle,” says Qhask. “Red Eagle only pays 50 gp, but Remy’s offering three magic items!”

“That’s assuming he keeps his word,” says Aurelia.

“We don’t know anything about Red Eagle!” says Valya. “At least we’ve met Remy.”

They’re still undecided by the time they turn in for the night, but they know one thing—if they don’t take the shipment for themselves, Jonas and Dusk are going to get killed for it on the road to Crystalport, and this unknown third party will have it.

Friday, December 7, 652 AU

The next morning, they speak to Jonas and Dusk again.

“So, you’re taking it,” says Jonas.

“Yes,” says Aurelia. “Those bandits who attacked you will probably strike again, and you’re in no shape to fight.” Dusk nods in agreement, but Jonas scowls.

“Meet us at the Blue Griffin in Crystalport, two days from now,” says Jonas. “We want our cut.”

“We’ll see you there,” Aurelia promises.

They thank Gordon again for his hospitality, then take to the road. They load the crate and the evil statue onto Abundance’s floating disk, then cover it all with a tarp.

With Maplethorn behind them, Abundance convinces the rest of the party that they should just check what’s in the crate. They carefully pick the lock, then use mage hand to open the lid. Inside, packed in straw to protect it, they find a lacquered mahogany box with a gold lock. A quick detect magic reveals nothing.

“So it’s either nonmagical, which I doubt, or there’s a layer of lead inside the box,” says Abundance. “Or it’s subject to Nystul’s magic aura.”

Abundance inspects the box more closely, and thinks he can see the runes of a glyph of warding where the lid meets the box. They decide to place the box back in the crate and deal with it later.

⁂

An hour later, Magpie spots two bandits hidden in a stand of trees next to the road ahead, obviously waiting for the party. The party approaches them, calling them out for hiding. The bandits, believing themselves to still have the upper hand, burst out from behind the trees. One casts sleep on the party. None of them are affected. The other casts fog cloud around the party and shouts “Jasper! We need backup!”

From somewhere outside the cloud, they hear more movement. Everyone rushes outside the radius of the fog, and see two more bandits descending from a nearby rope trick. However, with their ambush ruined, the bandits quickly realize they’re outclassed and surrender.

“Please, have mercy!” exclaims their leader, Jasper.

“Explain yourselves,” says Aurelia.

“We’re just some students from Crystalport Academy!” says another. “We— we just do some odd jobs on the side, we were supposed to steal a shipment—”

“You killed two people, and injured two more.” Aurelia scowls.

“It was the elemental! We didn’t realize how powerful it would be!”

“That was very reckless of you,” says Abundance.

“We know!” sobs the student.

“Who gave you the job?” asks Valya.

“It was— there’s a tavern in Hart’s Crossing, The Lucky Sword, a dwarf there, he sometimes offers us jobs, good pay— we don’t know his name—”

“Oh, don’t lie,” says Aurelia.

“It’s Julian!” says one of the other students. “He, uh, he’s always wearing really fancy clothes, lots of gold rings. We were supposed to take the package and leave it in an abandoned warehouse in Basinglen.”

The party confers, and decides to spare them. “Never do something like this again,” says Valya. For good measure, they take what gold the students have on them, though it only amounts to 14 gp and 8 sp. “Really?” asks Valya.

“Students,” says Qhask, shaking his head.

Suitably chastized, the students collect themselves while the party continues on the road to Crystalport.

⁂

They reach Crystalport’s western gate. Unlike the previous few times they’ve entered the city, the guards seem very suspicious. “Do you have anything to declare?” asks the guard, eyeing the covered floating disk.

“It’s a delicate matter,” says Aurelia. “We found an evil relic, and are transporting it to the temple of Soleil to be cleansed and destroyed.”

The guard raises an eyebrow. “May I?” she asks, gesturing to the tarp.

“Of course,” says Aurelia.

The guard lifts the tarp, and her face goes pale when she sees the statue and feels the evil aura emanating from it. “Oh, I see. Yes, well— perhaps this is a matter for the temple. You may pass.” She motions them through, shaken, forgetting about the crate they have with them. “But… what is that?”

“We don’t know. We’re hoping the high priest can tell us.”

⁂

Once inside the city walls, they head directly for the temple and show the statue to Cedric, briefly explaining where they found it and what it had done to Riley’s mind. The high priest is nonplussed.

“My goodness! What a disturbing sculpture…” He peers at it, then recoils with a grimace. “I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s clearly evil, but it’s not of Neesha… Thank you for bringing this to me. We’ll store it in a vault and inspect it more closely.”

“Do you know anything about the Red Eagle shipping company?” asks Abundance.

“No, I’ve never heard of them. Why do you ask?”

“We think they might be up to some shady business.”

“There’s a trader here who might have more information—she’s delivering a shipment of food and supplies to the local markets.”

They thank Cedric for the lead, and head to the temple’s kitchen. Entering they hear a familiar voice. “You!” exclaims Saphielle.

“Saphielle! And Klabrog,” Valya adds, as the half-orc enters the kitchen with several large sacks.

“Glad to see you made it to the city,” says Saphielle. “What happened in Kyasha’s Vale after I left?”

“Well, we weren’t able to defeat the hydra. But we found out the hydra is the reason the sacred pool dried up. We’re trying to get the Crystalport guard to help.” says Valya.

“Have you heard anything about the Red Eagle shipping company?” asks Abundance.

“Huh? Oh, yes.” Saphielle looks around the room, motions the party closer, and whispers, “That’s a shell company for the Daykin family.”

“What would the Daykins want with—” asks Aurelia, then stops and looks at Saphielle, who looks intrigued.

“Please, go on,” Saphielle says with an innocent smile.

“You’ll understand if we’re reluctant to,” says Abundance.

Saphielle sighs. “Yes, yes. Well. If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to trade for information.”

They say goodbye to Saphielle and Klabrog, and return to their room at the temple.

⁂

“We have to open that box,” says Abundance, pacing the room. Qhask nods in agreement.

“I agree,” says Valya. “What’s so illicit that the Daykins are using a shell company to acquire it?”

“I’m not so sure…” says Aurelia.

“Well, we shouldn’t give it to Remy,” says Abundance. “We need to check for ourselves what it is.”

“…Fine,” says Aurelia.

They return to the western gate of Crystalport, hiding the lacquered box in their robes. The same guards are still on duty, and let them pass with a nod. They walk along the road for fifteen minutes, until they find a suitably secluded grove.

“I’ll pick the lock,” says Valya, “but we should open it with mage hand.”

“We should dig a pit and put the box in it before we open it, in case it explodes,” says Abundance.

Valya starts picking the lock, while the rest of the party looks on with worry. Suddenly, a pin ejects from the lock. “Damn it!” shouts Valya, but she’s not hurt—she managed to pull her hand away in time. She tries again, and this time there’s a click. “It’s unlocked.”

While Qhask digs the pit, Abundance takes out his alchemist’s supplies and analyzes the needle. “It’s drow poison,” he concludes.

A few minutes later, the pit is deep enough that any explosion the box might produce will be redirected upwards, hopefully keeping the party safe from harm. Standing as far away as possible, Abundance casts mage hand and opens the box. There is, indeed, an explosion of fire, but the pit works as intended, and no one is hurt. They cautiously approach the pit and peer down at the box.

Sitting in the box—which they can see is lined with lead foil—is a velvet pillow. Sitting on the pillow is a crystal sphere, about the size of an orange. And inside the crystal sphere, staring back up at the party, is a devil. Her hair is fire, her eyes are jet black pits, and she wears a blood-red gown trimmed with gold. “Finally,” she says as she smiles up at the party.

“Who are you?” asks Aurelia, her face grim.

“My name is Valspira,” says the devil. “And you are…?”

“We’re not telling you our names,” says Aurelia.

“How rude,” says Valspira. “I’d like to know the names of my rescuers.”

“We’re not rescuing you,” says Valya.

Valspira frowns. “You will, when you hear what I have to offer you.”

“I doubt that,” says Aurelia.

“If you set me free, I will reward you beyond your wildest imaginations. I know where Tashklon hid the Orb of Souls. I can lead you to the sunken ruins of Ghelroth’Far and its innumerable treasures. I could teach you how to bend the mightiest of kings to your will, if only you release me from my prison. And all you have to do is break this sphere.”

“I’ve never heard of any of those things,” says Abundance.

“What? Surely you’ve heard of…” she trails off. “What year is it?”

“652 AU,” says Valya.

“AU? That means nothing to me. Who is king right now?”

“Oriel IX Fentris is queen.”

“Fentris?” Valspira barks a laugh. “Then that old bastard Raymond managed to keep his kingdom… Oriel is his daughter, I take it?” The party looks at each other awkwardly. “…Granddaughter?”

“Raymond Fentris was king over 650 years ago,” says Valya.

“What?!” Valspira’s countenance darkens. “You will free me right this instant! You have no idea how many irons I had in the fire—”

“We will do no such thing,” says Aurelia.

The devil puts on a pained smile. “Once more, I can give you unimaginable riches, and all you have to do is—”

“Nope!” says Aurelia.

“I have a question,” interrupts Abundance. “Who trapped you in there?”

“The wizard Azakon,” spits Valspira. “His soul will be mine yet.”

“Well, it’s been 650 years—he’s probably already dead.”

“Hah! I wouldn’t count on that. The bastard cheated me—I have no doubt he could cheat death itself.”

“Well, I’ve heard enough,” says Aurelia.

Abundance shrugs and starts casting mage hand. “No!” shouts Valspira. “You have no idea what you—” The box clicks closed.

“There’s no way we can let anyone have her until we know more,” says Abundance. Everyone agrees. They return to the city.

⁂

“What do we do now?” asks Aurelia. “The temples are sending an expedition to Vargrath Keep sometime soon, the gala is tonight, and tomorrow we leave for Kyasha’s Vale…”

“Well, we’re going to a gala, and we don’t have the proper attire,” says Valya. “There’s only one possibility—I’m shopping for clothes.”

While the rest of the party spend some downtime studying and preparing for a possible attack, Valya heads to the clothing district of the city. She returns a while later with two formal gowns—one for herself, and one for Aurelia. She also gives Aurelia a silver pin for her hair.

“That’s… very kind of you,” says Aurelia in thanks.

Thus prepared, the party heads to the Daykin Estate.

⁂

There’s a line of well-dressed nobles at the entrance to the estate. A servant checks their names one by one, granting them passage. “Ah, yes, guests of Captain Woodmore,” he says. “Welcome to the Daykin estate.”

The interior of the estate is lavish, unlike anything any of them—except Valya—have ever seen. Dozens of nobles are spread out over most of the first floor of the estate, but Abundance notices that there are guards blocking the staircase to the upper floors, as well as a hallway. He surmises that the hallway must lead to the kitchen, as staff periodically exit the hallway with full platters of canapés.

They decide to split up to cover more ground. Abundance heads directly for the tables at the far side of the Great Hall which are covered in all manner of dishes. He chats with Cheldric Tunnely, a halfling merchant who complains about the attacks on trains from Eth’alorei and the delays they cause for his shipping business. During the conversation, Abundance spots motion on the second floor landing, but whoever it was darts out of sight when Abundance turns to get a look.

Abundance, suspicious, heads to the bathroom to discreetly cast detect magic. He returns to the Great Hall, but doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Many people are wearing magic items, but it all seems benign, as far as he can tell.

Valya, wandering about the floor and listening for any relevant conversation, notices a well-dressed elven woman… by her looks, she’s from Thamior! Valya hopes to avoid a conversation, but the woman spots her, smiles, and begins heading her way.

“It isn’t often I meet a fellow Thamorian here. I am Lady Aliatha Omanys, of Nahalis. And you are…?”

Valya decides not to lie. “I am Vahadryl Haedel. We haven’t met, but I know of you through my father.”

Lady Omanys’s eyes go wide. “A Haedel? I’ve heard the rumors about what happened at their manor… Wait, surely you’re not—”

“I am, but it’s not what you think. I’m here in Castalia investigating the murders.”

“Then was it your brother? They had said the two of you went missing—”

“I don’t know. I have some leads I’m investigating here in Crystalport. I don’t believe it was Lucan.” Valya then tries to change the subject. “What brings you to Castalia?”

“Well, I’m an art collector, I suppose. I specialize in the contemporary painting of Amyanthalas, but it’s so much more convenient to operate out of Crystalport, so I made my home here. I visit Nahalis often, to handle what affairs must be handled in person.”

Valya and Lady Omanys continue to chat, while Aurelia and Qhask head to the library. As they approach, they hear a familiar voice; Leander! He’s sitting on a couch, talking with a young man with olive skin and royal attire—Prince Calvin. Standing behind them is Lythienne. Aurelia speaks first. “Lythienne! Good evening.” Then Aurelia frowns. “Leander.”

Leander scowls at Aurelia. Prince Calvin, oblivious, asks “Oh, are you already acquainted? Who are our new guests, Leander?”

“I think they were just leaving.”

Calvin smiles and laughs. He addresses Aurelia and Qhask. “Please, excuse my fiancé’s temperament.” He turns to Lythienne. “You know them as well? They seem to be quite popular!”

“These are Aurelia Goldensong and Qhask Bronzeback, your highness. Two of the warriors invited by Captain Woodmore regarding the Kyasha’s Vale issue.”

“I see! It seems I’m to give you my blessing tonight before you fight the hydra. Where are your companions?” Several nobles nearby let out “oohs” and “aahs” as they realize these are the great warriors.

Abundance and Valya, having wandered to the library by this point, step forward and introduce themselves.

“They don’t look very… heroic,” says Leander. “Perhaps you should let the city guard handle this themselves? This lot are liable to get themselves killed.”

“If I recall, we wiped the floor with you,” retorts Aurelia.

Lord Calvin frowns. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing, Calvin,” says Leander. “And as I said, they were just leaving.”

“Your highness,” says Aurelia in a low voice, “are you aware of Leander’s true nature?”

At this, Calvin’s eyes go wide. “Please don’t tell anyone! My sister would kill me!”

Everyone, including Lythienne, blinks. Calvin already knows? Leander rolls his eyes.

“Perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere more private,” Calvin says quickly. He nods to Lythienne. She and two guards lead Prince Calvin, Leander, and the party up the stairs and through the manor, until they reach Prince Calvin’s private quarters. The guards stay outside, and close the double doors behind them.

“You have no right to interfere, priestess,” says Leander.

“So they do know?” asks Calvin. “How?”

“We encountered him at Vargrath Keep. I’m sorry, your highness, but he’s working for Tharruk, an evil lich.” says Aurelia.

“That’s… preposterous! Leander may be a vampire spawn, but he has a good heart! You have no right to speak such lies about him.” says Calvin.

“Indeed,” says Leander.

“How do you really know each other?” asks Calvin.

“It’s true, your highness,” says Abundance. “I was prisoner in Vargrath keep, and Leander was the one who watched my cell.”

“We fought him, and he sent zombies into the forest to attack our boat captain,” says Valya.

“This isn’t funny!” says Calvin. “Guards!” The two guards open the doors. “Please escort these very unfunny pranksters off the premises.”

Abundance, thinking quickly, casts suggestion on Leander. “Tell us what you and Tharruk are planning!”

Leander, succumbing to the spell, smiles blankly and says “That sounds reasonable. Tharruk wants to perform a ritual on the solstice to turn everyone in Crystalport into thinking undead. His previous attempt at Silverdale failed and the resulting zombies didn’t have minds, but I’m helping him modify the ritual using what I learned from my former master, Pamona the Eternal.” He continues smiling. “Does that help?”

The room is dead silent for a few moments, while everyone processes this new information. Then, as the spell wears off, Leander realizes what he’s done and bolts for the door. Valya tackles him to the ground, and after a brief struggle, the party and the guards manage to tie Leander up.

“Leander, what are you talking about?” asks Calvin.

“It… it wouldn’t be so bad! You’d be immortal, like me! Tharruk was going to make a free city of undead, a place where we could all live out in the open—”

“And you believed him?” asks Aurelia.

“Yes! As if you would understand, priestess.” Leander spits the word. “Your vengeful goddess knows nothing of mercy. Do you know what it’s like to be hunted down like a monster?”

“Based on your confession, you are a monster. And how dare you imply that Soleil—”

“Is merciless? She is. Have you ever thought how strange it is that you can walk in the moon, but I can’t walk in the sun? Neesha is the forgiving one, priestess. Tharruk was simply going to even the playing field, give our kind a place where we don’t have to hide—”

“He would condemn an entire city to undeath!”

“You know, I never asked to be undead! I was kidnapped by Pamona the Eternal when I was sixteen. She tortured me, forced me to learn necromancy, to be her apprentice. She didn’t turn me until I was twenty-three, because her insane rituals required living essence. Two years later, the paladins of Soleil finally raided her lair, and defeated her. And do you know what they did then?” At this point, Leander is practically screaming. “They started killing off her spawn. I don’t know if any of the others escaped, but I did. If Soleil is so merciful, priestess, how do you explain that?”

“I am ordering you to let go of my fiancé!” Prince Calvin shouts at the guards. He looks like he’s in shock.

“Your highness, I don’t think that’s a wise idea—” begins Lythienne, but she is interrupted by a voice from the hall.

“Hey, everyone!” It’s Fergus, escorted by a guard. Suspicious, Abundance meets Fergus in the hall before he can enter the room.

“Where have you been?” asks Abundance.

“Oh, you know, with some friends. I was pretty busy, I just lost track of the time! I’d really like to meet Prince Calvin, you know—Captain Woodmore sent me up here.”

“…I’m going to pat you down first.” Abundance begins patting Fergus down.

“That really isn’t necessary. Who are you, again? I don’t believe we’ve met!”

“He has a knife,” Abundance says.

“Haha, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” says Fergus. Then, in a quiet voice, he says “Please. If I don’t do this, they’ll kill me.”

“Who?” Abundance narrows his eyes.

“You don’t understand! They’re watching us right now,” Fergus pleads.

Suddenly, a window in the hallway explodes into thousands of shards of glass, and archers begin shooting at them from outside. Two men, armed with daggers, burst through another window.

Valya bolts into the hallway to engage the attackers while Qhask fires arrows of his own out the window. Unfortunately, they hear shouts of confusion and broken glass from the floor below—the Wood Scorpions have arrived, and they have the place surrounded. Fergus bolts down the stairs and out of sight.

“We have to get the prince to safety!” shouts Lythienne. “Hold them off, but retreat to this room! There’s a tunnel.” She turns to the two guards. Jaryth. Marcus. Keep a tight grip on Leander and do not, under any circumstances, let him go."

The party hold off the attackers, but more keep coming, and they retreat to the room, barricading the door. Lythienne opens a secret door in the corner of the room. “This leads to the wine cellar. There’s a tunnel that leads to the Greymar estate, not too far from the Temple of Soleil.”

One by one, they enter the cramped shaft and descend the ladder. They find themselves in the wine cellar, where Lythienne opens one of the casks. It turns out to be a door concealing a tunnel through the stone wall. As soon as she opens it, an arrow whizzes out of the darkness and clips her in the leg. “Ah! They’ve got the tunnel covered.”

“I can handle this,” says Abundance. He casts flaming sphere, sending it down the tunnel.

“Shit!” says a voice from somewhere beyond the sphere. They hear the sound of someone scrambling out of the way.

They all pile into the tunnel behind the flaming sphere, and after a tense minute they emerge into the basement of the Greymar estate. The archer has holed himself up behind some boxes on the other side of the room, and begins firing arrow after arrow at the party, while a few more assassins burst out from the corners of the room to attack with daggers. Those who are hit by the arrows discover that they’re laced with poison, but the party has a numerical advantage, and soon they’ve killed the assassins.

A quick search of the bodies reveals several pins and pendants decorated with the Wood Scorpion’s motif, as well as 10 gp and a vial of drow poison.

The carefully make their way out of the Greymar estate, and cross the street to the Temple of Soleil. In the distance, they can see part of the Daykin manor, the east wing, is on fire, and they can hear that a crowd of citizens has gathered in front of the estate to gawk.

As they enter the temple, covered in cuts and bruises, Cedric Daymirror rushes out of his office. “What has happened?”

They briefly explain the situation, and Cedric suggests they find refuge in the catacombs beneath the temple. “The assassins could be anywhere in the city, but the catacombs are holy to Soleil… none can draw a weapon while they stand in such a place.”

⁂

In the catacombs, they continue to interrogate Leander.

“My former master, Pamona the Eternal… she had a grimoire called The Book of Dark Waves. She used it to create undead abominations of her own design. After she turned me, she taught me some of its secrets so I could better serve as her apprentice. That knowledge… Tharruk needed it to complete his ritual. When he learned that one of Pamona’s spawn had escaped destruction, he sought me out.”

“Where is the book now? It could be key to stopping the ritual,” asks Valya.

“I don’t know. Presumably the paladins of Soleil took it during their raid. If so, it’s probably in the vaults under the High Temple of Soleil in the Shining Citadel.”

“That’s so far away… we won’t make it there and back before the solstice,” says Qhask.

“Do you truly love Prince Calvin?” asks Aurelia.

“Yes! I just… I thought if there were a city, where undead could walk about in the open…” Leander is lost in thought for a few moments. “Here. I won’t need this any time soon, it seems.” He hands Aurelia a small silver pin from his robe. “It’s a brooch of living essence. If you wear this on your person, you won’t detect as undead.”

“So that’s how you were doing it,” says Abundance.

Prince Calvin thanks the party for saving him. “Those assassins must have been from the Wood Scorpions. I don’t think Crystalport is a safe place for me anymore… I might have to return to the Citadel.” He makes a face.

“What do we do with Leander?” asks Valya.

“Well,” says Lythienne, “unless his highness would like to exercise his prerogative, which I strongly advise against, we should bring him to the guardhouse for questioning.” She turns to Prince Calvin. “We will keep him safe.”

Prince Calvin nods, acquiescing. He turns to address the party. “Thank you, again, for saving us. I know you’re planning to fight the hydra soon, and maybe even a lich… Please, take this as thanks.” He hands Aurelia a small leather pouch. “It contains one thousand gold pieces.” They thank Prince Calvin profusely, and then, finally, set up camp among the old tombs.

Saturday, December 8, 652 AU

In the morning, the priestess Arabella comes down to bring news from outside. Several nobles were killed in the crossfire last night, but no one the party knows. When the city guard arrived and the assassins determined Prince Calvin was no longer in the building, they fled. The fire was put out before it could take the whole estate, but the east wing is heavily damaged. Curiously, several independent witnesses claim they saw imps flying out of the east tower while it was burning!

“Well, that’s suspicious…” says Abundance. ❦