Session One, Part Two: The Perpetrators
In the house that had once been Councilor Verlaine's, delicate strands of magic coalesced, shaping themselves into an unseen eye. Slowly it turned, inspecting the room it found itself in.
The room was once a lushly furnished study, although little remained of that now. The furniture had been sold by the city government, just as the house was scheduled to be, and the only sign that remained were patches of wall that were slightly lighter in color where they had been covered. The rug on the floor had been left for the next owner to dispose of - probably due to the enormous scorch mark covering half of it.
Standing in the room were two figures: man and woman, human and elf respectively. The man was unarmored, but with a large sword strapped across his back. His face was haggard and unshaven, and a crude patch covered his left eye. The elf was equally rough-looking - her hair looked as if it had been roughly hacked with a dagger, and then left to grow for a few months. A thin white line ran down the right side of her face, and an intricate web of scars laced her forearms. A rapier hung low on her left hip, and over her shoulder was slung a quiver and bow.
Glunnyn knew them, of course. Everyone on the Watch knew them, and quite a few people outside as well. After all, they'd shaken the city to its foundations when they exposed the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.
"Naïlo's in the hallway," the gnome reported. "She drank a potion of
spider climb and she's on the ceiling. Di'Fier is still in the room. There's no sign of the Captain - he must be out of sight, in the closet."
Katya nodded, and took a breath, letting it out slowly. Pulling up her hood, she crossed the road to where Jemis and Quooral were hunched over the door. "Any luck?"
Jemis shook his head. "The lock's too good."
"All right, we do it the old-fashioned way. Quooral...the ram."
The big man nodded, picking up the wide wooden beam easily. "Ashrem 'n' I got the bars off of one of the windows," he reported. "He's ready to go up when we go in."
Katya took up a place on the other side of the ram. "Let's do it, then."
On the second floor, Di'Fier frowned. He stuck his head out the door of the room and called to Dru. "Ampiel says that the gnome is still casting spells. They're coming in two places at once - the front door, and somewhere around the back. Be careful."
The elf nodded from where she hung from the ceiling, and reached slowly into her pouch. The door shuddered under the impact of the ram, with a splintering sound - but it held. And again. Again.
Di'Fier stepped into the hallway. "Time to give them some company, I guess." Placing a candle on the banister in front of him, he raised his hands and began to chant. The candle sparked to life, and eldritch energy began to flow to the stairs below. The scent of brimstone hung heavy in the air. Below, the door bucked in its frame, twisting in a vain attempt to escape the punishment being wrought on its outer surface.
There was a tearing sound as reality was rent asunder below them, and a dark shape with eyes that burned a hellish green crawled forward from the rift. The long, naked tail twitched as it rose onto its hind feet to sniff the air, and then crawled forward towards the door.
Without pause, Di'Fier uttered the keyword to another spell, and his face shimmered and changed. His body expanded, his hair lightened, and in an instant he had been replaced by a duplicate of Donnach.
The door gave way, flying back into the hallway, and an instant later, the massive form of Quooral followed it. The massive head of his hammer arced through the air, slamming into the summoned hell-rat. The creature burst from the impact, spraying the genasi and the walls with the black ichor it used for blood.
Suddenly, the hammer-wielding watchman was coated in a thick, gluey substance, binding him to the floor. Katya and Jemis dodged around his once again immobile form and headed for the stairs as Dru scuttled away along the ceiling. As she pounded up the stairs, Katya looked at the figure standing in the hallway - and hesitated. "Captain?"
Jemis saw, too - but there was something wrong. The Captain didn't wear his sword over the shoulder..."It's not him! It's Di'Fier!"
At the warning shout, the false Captain dove back into the study, followed closely by Dru. Katya and Jemis rounded the corner as Ashrem emerged from the master bedroom, and the three heard a whispered voice. "
Be careful, he's gone invisible." A moment later, it spoke again. "
They've got the captain out - Dru's got her blade at his throat."
Katya nodded as they encircled the door, and whispered: "
Got it. Get in here, Glunnyn, we might need your counterspells." She looked at the others. "All right. You know what we've got to do. The Captain's always said that we can't give in to hostage takers - but we're going to bring him out alive." Footsteps on the stairs announced the approach of Glunnyn - and Quooral, still trailing streamers of sticky goo. "I'll go in first and make her let him go. The rest of you follow me."
The auburn-haired woman stepped through the door, her empty hands held high. Donnach was bound and gagged, and Dru had laid her blade across his throat.
The elf's eyes narrowed as Katya entered, and she spoke each word with low menace. "Where's. My. Father?"
The other woman's smile was disarming. "We're doing everything we can...but right now I want you to
release Donnach." As she spoke, the amulet in her hand fell into sight - a golden wheel made of bound stalks of grain - and in that instant, her voice was the voice of a god. Drusilia Naïlo stepped away from Donnach and lowered her sword, and Katya turned to the door.
Just as it slammed firmly closed and latched.
