Stealing the Dark Wizard's New Toy
"Excellent," Lugtee smiled. "I'll meet you in the Citadel in a few days, the sooner you can get there the better. Meet me at an inn known as the Bloodstained Rose." With the details worked out, Lugtee bid them a good eveningand left Warrior's Courage.
The party had just agreed to steal some new "weapon" the Dark Wizard had created. Lugtee knew some "interviewer" was examining potential weilders for the weapon, and Lugtee wanted to keep it out of their hands, preferrably through stealth.
Canthor was not as thrilled with the assignment. He had been particularly disturbed by the recent disappearance of Aenith's dead. He informed his companions he would be assisting in the investigation, joining his fellow clerics of Bryle trying to determine what happend to Aenith's graveyard. He would keep in touch with the party via his magic.
The next day, the party ventured south toward the Citadel of the Eye. The snow had been falling for the last few days and the path, while not difficult to traverse, was covered with snow. The first two days passed without incident.
On the third day, four brigands emerged from snowy hiding places along the road, and started throwing poison-tipped shurikens at the adventurers. The metallic projectiles landed into Tarmus, the other adventurers being too nimble or encased in armor.
The fight went quickly. The brigands were not novices, but were no match for seasoned adventurers. Remus' blade swirled in a green arc as he bat down brigand after brigand. In the end, Star had slain one bandit and Remus had knocked the remaining three unconscious. A thorough search of their bodies revealed they were members of the Mithral Blades, with written orders from the organization to waylay travellers along the road to Aenith. The party left the three unconscious men with only their clothing. It would be a cold walk back to the citadel for them.
The remainder of the snowy journey was uneventful. The party quickly made their way through the Citadel of the Eye, getting directions to the Bloodstained Rose.
The Citadel of the Eye sits between a break in the Deathfall Mountains, the natural border for the northern border of Polary. Due to the Citadel of the Eye itself, a city eventually sprung up around the mountain fortress. For now, the gates were open, and travellers were allowed to pass. After all, it would be foollish to attack the Citadel of the Eye as winter set in.
As the adventurers approached the inn, Star could see a human hand waving them around a corner. At first glance, the man resembled the Dark Wizard of Polary, however it was only Lugtee dressed in dark gray clothing. He warned the party of the Bloodstained Rose's patrons, many of them are Mithral Blades and it is highly likely the party could find out some information here.
Star had a plan. He proceeded in first, walking in like he owned the place and get his "regular" room 14. After getting to his room, Star took a piece of paper, folded an airplane, and flew it to where his companions waited outsided. It said simply "14." Lugtee and Tarmus proceeded to enter the inn an hour later, proceeding to room 14 and meeting up with Star. An additional hour later, Remus and Yeric entered and likewise proceed to the room. After discussing their situation, the party proceeded to join the activities in the common room. Lugtee decided he would simply retire for the evening, not particularly interested in drinking games or arm wrestlng.
The night yeilded only a little bit of information. Apparently, no one knew about any kind of weapon, but there had been a few "important" people coming through town the last couple weeks. The next morning, Tarmus and Star related their information to Lugtee, who was the only person awake in the common room early in the morning. Lugtee was pleased with the progress and the party planned to wait for another potential "interviewee" to come through while Remus posed as a powerful Mithral Blade member who would hopefully attract the attention of the interviewer.
The second day passed into the evening. As the party sat around their table in the Bloodstained Rose, a hush fell over the inn as a tall, imposing figure flung the door open. He wore a dark cloak over his black full plate armor. On his breastplate was the emblem of Balahnin, a black four pointed star surrounded by a circle of flame. An adamantine battle hung at his belt, and a shield in the shape of a lion's head. His eyes had an eerie green glow to them, his hands were tipped with sharp claws.
"I think that's him," stated Tarmus. Tarmus attempted to buy the "man" a drink, but only managed to see a twisted set of elvish features and came away with a sliced up hand as he shook the creatures hand. At one point during the evening, Star observed the creature look at a scroll of paper, and drink many strong drinks.
The creature retired to his room for the evening and Star went to work. He quietly crept into the creatures room and examined the scroll. It was an invitation to see a Mr. A. Enforo at the temple of Balahnin with the possibility of gaining a great weapon.. Star took a long time in studying the document, then spent the rest of the night making a duplicate.
The next day, Tarmus and Star set about their stealthy business. After consulting with Lugtee, Tarmus set about attempting to gain info on A. Enforo. His investigation turned up a familiar name: Armathon Enforo, the man who had hired them to slay the dragon and return some gems. He also discovered one of the Citadel's popular rumors: beholders in the underground tunnels. Of course, no one has ever lived to tell the tale.
Star also witness the "green eyed man" enter the temple. Shortly thereafter, a man in red robes and the "green-eyed one" left the temple and proceeded down the street, moving quickly into an alley. Star followed, and they went underground.
They emerged shortly later. The "green eye" did not have anything new on him.
Armed with the possible location of the weapon, the party consulted Lugtee immediately. He was in his room, as usual, and asked for a moment of privacy. Star was immediately inquisitive and demanded to know what Lugtee was doing. He admitted to checking in on "someone he was protecting" and that was all he said. Satisfied, the party laid their information out on the table. Lugtee agreed to their plan: to enter the passageway and take the weapon.
Dressed as the priest, Tarmus entered the underground passageway. Three wraiths immediately attacked Tarmus. The battle started in earnest as Remus and Star entered the fray. The wraith's touch weakened Remus severely, and slightly weakened Star as Remus responded by slaying one wraith outright. Lugtee shot two magic missles into two of the three wraiths. As the third wraith fell, four more emerged from around the corner of the well lit.
Casting a simple protective spell, Lugtee emerged into the tunnel as Tarmus began singing. Remus and Star took the first swings at the wraiths. As the party's strike team of Star and Remus engaged the wraith's, Lugtee cast a daylight spell, causing the wraiths to flee the seen. The fleeing caused Remus and Star to strike them down, only one managing to escape down the hallway, where the tunnel turned to the left. Yeric used his speed to wound the wraith once more, before it fled through the wall.
As the party rushed down the hallway, Star noticed a strange marking on the wall. Examining it closely, Star found it to be a rune protecting the suface it was on. Unfortunately, Star was unable to disarm it safely, and its powerful magic weakened him greatly (Greater Glyph of Warding: Harm).
After Tarmus tended to the severely injured elven rogue, Remus opened the stone doorway, revealing a skeleton witha purple membrane in its ribcage along with two zombies at its side. Remus used his greatsword to damage the skeleton like creature, while Star shot at it with his bow. Yeric rushed into the room, flanking the skeleton creature (Morhg) and slicing at it with his weapon.
Remus fell victim to the morhg's paralyzing tongue. As Lugtee pulled Remus away from the undead attackers. Yeric and Star continued to waylay the creature as Tarmus sung a battle hymn. Lugtee flung an acid arrow at the creature, only wounding it slightly. Yeric struck the morhg down, and quickly dispatched the zombies. As the final blows landed upon them, a skeleton in the room pulled a lever, bringing down a stone wall.
Surveying the room, Star found himself in a small shrine of Balahnin. An eleborate mosaic of Balahnin's holy symbol lay on the floor, a woman with dark red hair was chained to the wall, and an alter with a bowl of black burning flame lay under a hover black broadsword. Star proceeded to the altar while Lugtee tended to the woman. A powerful magic attempted to stop Star's approach, but Star proved too strong willed and approached the altar. Taking a vial of holy water, Star dowsed the dark flames and took hold of the black broadsword. A chill went through his body, weakening him slightly, and Star wrapped the blade in a blanket before tucking it into his bag of holding.
Meanwhile, Lugtee had determined the lady was indeed alive, but has been tortured for a while. Star, pulling her hair out of her eyes, recognized her as Lady Lia Quickwater. The Polarian ambassador had seen better days as Lugtee cast a spell releasing her from her manacles.
As Lugtee tended to Lia, Tarmus had entered the room, immediately sensing the presence of a Medallion piece. Tarmus and Star quickly located the hidden panel in the alter, revealing the Fire Chain of Balahnin and a simple metallic ring.
"Time to go," Star proclaimed, having had a successful pilaging outing. They had acquired the weapon as well as another Medallion piece, bringing them one step closer to freeing Cloudgatherer and able to send Remus home.
"Exactly how are we going to do that?" asked Remus. The stone wall was blocking their escape. Star reached into his backpack, pulling out his battering ram and handing it to Remus. As Star and Remus set to breaking down the stone wall, Lugtee supported Lia as they looked down the corridor. Lia was the first to gasp.
"Beholder!" Lia whispered coarsely to Lugtee, who relayed the message. Three beholders were coming down the corridor, presumably to end the lives of trespassers such as the party. A final ram knocked a hole through the wall, allowing the party to flee back into the Citadel.
The adventurers were ready to leave the Citadel. Lugtee would have preferred a day of recuperation, but Star was intent on fleeing deeper into Polary in order to throw off any pursuers. Star retreived the horses, and the company started to ride south, toward's Saven.
Star's plan is designed to throw off the ones interesting in gaining the item back. Riding south to Saven, then west Steelhold where the party would take a boat north to Ralanov or River's End, and finally reaching Aenith. How well the plan works, remains to be seen.....