Emperor Valerian
First Post
The next adventure is getting split into three parts...
Part One of Three:
A Missing Party Member, and Questions Arising
The party awoke in the morning to discover a note left by Lucius for them, stating basically that he needed some time alone to sort through issues in his mind. He promises to return to the city by midday… sundown at the latest. The party, in particular Tess and Siabrey, find this disturbing, and Siabrey in particular wants to immediately go find him. Tess talked down her excitable friend.; knowing a little about those with magical abilities, she reasoned that Lucius’ new friend, the eagle, would fly back should his master run into trouble. Hidalas just says the boy needs some space.
Tess and Siabrey decide they will try to find some things to do in the meantime to keep busy until Lucius returns and the party can set out to find this reported, “ice demon.” Siabrey decides to ask the talking cat; considering he knew much of the background, she thought he might know the relation between the demon and the idols they had found… unfortunately, Xanadu didn’t have any idea how such idols would be created.
Tess meanwhile decides she will use some of her magical abilities to learn more from the idols themselves. She casts on the largest idol, hoping it will reveal the location of its creator, and the powers it has.
Within Tess’ head, images immediately appear. Flying across the skies, over forests, until there is a long, low mountain, unusually snow capped, ridges running along its back. Her mind then dived through a hole into the mountain, twisting turning, rising falling, before finally emerging in a brightly lit room. No torches were about, as the walls, slick with ice, reflected an unearthly blue glow. The view spun around slowly, until she was faced with a creature… tall, gaunt and thin, a spitting image of the idol. Enormous blue sapphires stood in place of its eyes, and long strands of thin diamonds were in place of its hair. From within its very being, a brilliant blue light showed, growing brighter and brighter until the image was pure white… and then faded away.
Siabrey asked what happened, and Tess, who had been sitting motionless for several seconds as the sequence occurred, stated that she had an idea of what the mountain the creature was in looked like. She then announced she was going to find some maps, so try and pinpoint its location. Siabrey is about to say she is going to go with when Rogar wanders into the room (he had been gone since the party woke up, doubtlessly up to some mischief), puts on some nice jewelry, a little perfume, says he’s off to conclude some business, and then leaves. Tess and Siabrey merely shake their heads, Tess remarking that Rogar was, “a mystery, wrapped in an enigma.”
As the two walk towards the manor, where Tess expects such maps to exist, they walk by the major street that runs towards the West Gate of the village. There, the spot Rogar talking rather intently with a young woman with long, blonde hair who would be rather pretty save for the fact she wears and eye patch and has a rather nasty scar running underneath the piece of cloth. Along her side Siabrey can see she has a battleaxe that looks rather well used. As they watch, the woman hands Rogar a patch, and Siabrey’s eyes spot the top part of what looks to be a large emerald peeking out of the pouch. Siabrey decides that Rogar with a woman bear closer examination. Tess decides to keep on towards the manor, allowing Siabrey to satisfy some of her curiosity.
Siabrey tries to slip among the people going towards the taverns right by the gate entrance, but the clanking of her armor gives her away… but not before she sees something that really catches her attention… namely Rogar and the young woman sharing a rather passionate kiss. The break it off once Siabrey’s clanks are heard (about sixty feet out), and Rogar merely shakes his head at her over her poor attempt at sneaking around. The woman scowls at Siabrey as she walks up.
Siabrey has a tendency to stick right to the point, and at this moment she doesn’t disappoint, asking Rogar immediately what he is up to. He gives her a look of annoyance, and says that he is finishing a business deal for a new horse, among other things. Siabrey then quizzes him about the emerald, and while the woman with Rogar stiffens visibly, Rogar merely grins and says the money from the emerald will go towards his pocket, as well as the horse. Siabrey asks how she got the emerald, and Rogar rather mockingly tells her to just leave things be.
She nods, and then asks in a tart tone, “How long will your…’business’ be?” Rogar muses, looks at the woman, and states he’ll be done by the time Lucius gets back. The woman looks Siabrey up and down, with a clear look of disdain. Siabrey snorts, and blurts out that she doesn’t think he can conduct business that long. Thoroughly annoyed, Rogar leans towards her and quietly says that his business will take far longer than she can handle, before taking the young lady in arm, and walking down the street to one of the inns. A little miffed, Siabrey wanders back to the main avenue.
Tess, meanwhile, makes her way up towards the manor, and notes just outside the doors an impromptu table has been set up, where Sir Santac and several warriors (from their armor, presumably officers) of the Baron’s troops sit about discussing strategy. Santac spots her, grins, and tells all the troops to look at one of the 6 heroes that held off two tribes of hobgoblins almost single-handedly. The officers parted as a ship’s prow slices the sea as Tess moved forward to where Santac was standing. She asks him where his maps are, and describes the mountain in question she is looking for. Santac ruffles through the maps on the table before setting on one showing Mephys and the surrounding forest.
“There,” he points, towards a lone peak some 3-4 days ride northwest of Mephys marked “Ice Spine Mountain.” Santac says that’s the closest peak that fits that description… surrounded by forest, long and low, covered in snow. Its ridges make its top seem to be the spine of some enormous prone monster, but Santac is confused as to how the demon could have taken residence there; until recently, the mountain had been heavily mined for electrum, until better veins were found further away along the Inerman River. Tess puts two and two together, and rapidly deduces that the creature likely didn’t have to hollow out its own holes… the cavernous mining shafts left behind were likely more than suitable. Tess thanks Santac, and heads down to find Siabrey.
When Tess finds Siabrey back at their quarters, she tells her their destination, and Siabrey becomes all the more convinced the group should go out to find Lucius, at the very least so they can get a head start ride towards the mountain. Neither Rogar nor Hidalas are anywhere in site, and so the two decide to keep themselves busy; Siabrey goes to the western wall to lend a hand in fixing the sections broken down in the recent attack (a move that was much appreciated by many of the commoners, who were amazed to see a petite, 5’3” woman lifting beams and the like), while Tess went about to help with the continued struggle to heal the wounded and care for the sick. When she wasn’t healing, she walked about along the walls, trying to encourage the downtrodden or hurt with her music.
Nightfall arrives, and both Tess and Siabrey return to find that there is no Lucius in sight. Rogar has returned, a little happier than normal, and Hidalas has resurfaced again. Siabrey becomes very anxious, and starts urging the party to ride out immediately to search for Lucius. Rogar remarks that night has fallen, and the chances of them finding him in the darkness are practically nil. Very worried, Siabrey presses that if not then, the party should head out to find him in the morning. IN her opinion, young men of his age shouldn’t, “be allowed to wander about the woods at night. Its unsafe!” Tess agrees with Siabrey, though the two are surprisingly interrupted by Hidalas.
The tutor, who they expected would side with them (and/or possibly be neurotic when it came to protecting his charge) says they should not go out. Siabrey is dumbfounded, and shouts “But he’s your charge!” in frustration and confusion. Hidalas raises his hand, and says that the boy likely needed more time to think things over. Siabrey snorts, Tess growls slightly, and Hidalas becomes slightly grumpy that they aren’t listening.
“IF you saw,” he begins, voice deadpan, though his body actions displayed more animation than they had in the previous couple days, “that boy, crying last night, scared, you would understand me!” The party falls quiet, as Hidalas continued, “Here he was… his magical abilities had burst forth, without his control or knowledge, he’d found out his mother was either evil or in danger, and his ancestors that he admired so much were evil as well. Most importantly,” Hidalas lectured, “he discovered that the magic in his veins has turned evil before, and he is afraid for himself, for his family, and for all of you, if it should turn such a way in him. That is why he wanted to be alone! He needed to measure his life!”
Siabrey and Tess are quiet for a moment, and then Siabrey presses again for morning. Hidalas sighs loudly, and sits down before looking off into space at something that wasn’t in the room.
“There are things going on here that… just aren’t right,” he says quietly. “Things are happening that…”
“What if he doesn’t come back?!” Siabrey presses harder, hoping he sees her point. Hidalas looks at her rather sadly.
“Perhaps that might be the… there’s… there’s too many unanswered questions here. I… I need to talk to the priests in Kulloden.”
“Do you know of a prophecy?” Tess asked, concerned herself. Hidalas shook his head.
“I know parts of past events, but not enough to know what I need to. The Churches of Honoria the Healer and Hieroneous the Brave in that city both have information I need… information that might, in the end, save us all.” He sighed again, before saying, “I likely will not be able to accompany you on your quest to attack the ice demon.” Both Siabrey and Tess started to protest, till Hidalas held up his hand. “If I don’t go to Kulloden and my instincts prove true, it could be the end.”
“Who will mend us when battle leaves us wounded?” Siabrey and Tess both asked. Hidalas smiled, and said he had faith in them, but in either case, he would be speaking with the local healer of Honoria in the morning, and would ask her about some assistance there. Hidalas proposes that the party wait till midday tomorrow, and that if Lucius still hasn’t arrived, they shall begin a search for him. The party heads off to sleep.
At sunup the next day, Lucius hasn’t arrived, and the party, especially Siabrey and Tess, seem to be on a bed of nails in terms of nervousness. Several hours shakily pass by, till Hidalas returns from his talks with the priestess around an hour before noon. Seeing their nervous states, he proposes that the party wait by the west gate until noon, just in case Lucius arrives in the last hour. The anxious Tess and Siabrey agree, and Rogar, for once, doesn’t wander off to do his own thing and instead comes with, his own face drawn.
Once they arrive at the west gate, Tess and Siabrey hurriedly take up positions on the ramparts to watch for Lucius’ arrival. Around forty-five minutes till noon, Tess spots three horses with riders in the distance. She calls out to Siabrey, who runs over and looks as well. The fighter’s sharp eyes spot a man dressed in excellent clothes on a white horse holding the bridle of the horse following him. Siabrey then closes her eyes in disbelief.
The second horse easily was Lucius’ white charger. Sprawled on the animals back is a prone form, bouncing and shaking as the animal gallops. Blood streaks run along the animal’s neck onto its shoulders, and its painfully obvious the figure isn’t moving in any way on his own.
Within seconds, Siabrey is off of the ramparts and on her own bay, thundering through the city gates, her sword raised and poised to strike. Tess follows, chased by Rogar and Hidalas…
As the riders drew near, our hero from the previous adventure, Shaun Dice, reigns up his horse and stop’s Lucius’. From even this far, he can spot Siabrey’s distinctive red eyes, which Lucius had described. Seeing her rapidly approaching, her face curled into a mix of anger and anguish, he reaches over and begins shaking the boy, hoping to rouse him to prevent a misunderstanding that in all likelihood would result in his unfortunate demise.
“Lucius… Lucius… can you hear me?”
The boy had fought alongside him only half-hour before, and until five minutes ago had been bloody, mangled, but alert, even cracking jokes through the visible pain. Since then, however, he had begun lapsing in and out of consciousness, rarely saying more than one or two words, and unable to even hold up his head.
“Hm… Shau…” he heard the boy mumble, his eyes opening barely.
“Lucius, c’mon! Wake up! C’mon!” Shaun continued to shake him, as the thundering Siabrey drew closer, a snarl on her lips and malice in her eyes.
Siabrey, for her part, only saw the stranger that had been holding Lucius’ bridle apparently grabbing him.
If that man has hurt poor Lucius in any way… there is no death that suitable for him, her mind roared. She did not even realize it, but her katana was already high above her head, flashing in the light, and she could sense fear in the man. She reigned up her horse alongside him, her bay rearing into the air with a loud neigh, and she snarled at the man, “What have you done to Lucius!?”
Shaun, seeing her growing far more furious as she approached, had raised his hands, hoping it would be seen as a friendly gesture. The woman shoved her horse between Shaun and Lucius, and with one hand began shaking the boy, and with the other, quickly and dangerously put her blade at Shaun’s throat.
“IF you have hurt this boy, it will be your death,” her voice said in a dangerous deadpan, devoid of any emotion, even as the next second she turned and with vigor and fear shook Lucius again, calling his name. The boy opened his eyes slightly, and in a quiet, almost whisper, asked, “Siabrey?”
“Yes, yes Luke, its me! Who did this to you?”
“Ice mon…” and then his voice trailed off as he left the conscious world yet again. Siabrey shook him, hoping to rouse him, as Shaun finally regained his voice.
“I had nothing to do with injuring your friend! I saved his life! Twice!” Shaun said, starting to grow slightly indignant instead of fearful. Siabrey turned her gaze to him, and was about to say something when Hidalas arrives, and shoves the two of them aside, shouting for them to “Get him into the village, NOW!”
Tess, meanwhile, had noticed something in the commotion that the others had missed; a third horse, no larger than a small pony, following up the others. On its back were two children, and its bridle was held by a halfling, who was running as fast as he could. She trotted up to them, and was greeted by the young boy on the horses’ back asking, “Is this Mephys?”
“Yes, it is my child,” Tess said, trying to put her worries about Lucius away from where they would scare the two children. The halfling, gasping, stops beside her horse, and raspily says, “you must get the boy inside the walls to some help! I fear he has been gravely hurt… Mr. Dice fought valiantly, and managed to keep him alive, but nothing could have prevented the boy from not being mauled… Can I please, for the love of Honoria, have a sup of water?”
Tess handed the halfling her canteen, and he took a long draught, before continuing, “the boy said it was some kind of ghouls… we were lucky Mr. Dice was able to put them to sleep, otherwise I fear all of us, even the children would have been lost.”
Tess’ mind picked up something wrong there. While she was no regular fighter of ghouls, bards overheard many who were discussing such matters… and she was sure all the experienced ghoul fighters she’d even heard always said that spells such as sleep/ never, ever worked on them.
“Whose children are these?” she asked. The boy’s face looked vaguely familiar, as did the girl’s.
“Mr. Dice and I found them in Ephisia… the town had been burnt, and they said they’re parents were likely here in Mephys. Mr. Dice took them under his protection on his way here for… business.” Tess nodded, and noticing Hidalas charging back towards the city with Lucius’ lifeless form in tow, she led the group towards the city.
Siabrey, meanwhile, continued to hold her sword at Shaun’s throat, confusion, anger, and fear racing through her mind. Shaun loudly protested, “I helped your friend, and your other friend yelled at us to go into the city… by definition, I could be considered a guest. It would make me feel a lot better if you removed your blade from my throat.”
Reluctantly, Siabrey pulled her sword away from his neck, though it remained out. Shaun made a disparaging remark about how large blades are often overcompensation… a remark he did not intend her to hear. Hear nonetheless, she did, and she scowled at him, flashed her blade and snarled, “My sword is plenty large, unlike yours!” She then grabbed his bridle and tugged his horse at a gallop into the village.
Hidalas, upon clattering through the west gate, was almost immediately off horseback, and he charged into one of the taverns… as it was the closest building, and Lucius needed help immediately. His sword came out, and Tess and Siabrey heard from within a voice they never knew Hidalas possessed thunder out, “This place has ten seconds to clear! One… two…. Ten!”
Patrons in various states of slovenliness fell out of the doors in a panicked run, as Hidalas turned completely into a war cleric, barking more orders at people. Tess and Siabrey were to help carry the boy in. The barkeep was ordered to clean off one of the longer tables immediately.. the man did it somehow without soiling himself. Others were sent to find the priests at the local temples of Pelor and Honoria, and still others were forcibly conscripted to shuffle the drunks to the tavern across the way.
Chaos abounds for the next several minutes, as the party gets Lucius inside, and laid out on one of the largest tables. His upper armor was evidently pulled off, and the creature had bitten his shoulder and side some four times, while Hidalas nervously counted upwards of 13 rakes against his chest and belly. Tendrils of flesh lang from his torso, and bone shows in some places. The priests of Pelor and Honoria, a robed man and a wizened old woman respectively, arrive in the tavern, and Hidalas pulls the party aside, telling them quietly but forcefully they will have to leave, so the priests can get full concentration. He then turns, and as the party closes the door, they hear him bark at the priest of Pelor, “did you bring your censor!? This man is of high noble blood!”
Siabrey’s worries now turned themselves again on Shaun, and she immediately asks him in a very hostile tone what he had to do with Lucius getting injured. A calmer Tess interjects that Siabrey is, “insulting the man who rescued our friend!”
Siabrey laughs the nervous laugh of someone that is really angry, and growls that she said much harsher things to him earlier, causing Tess to shake her head and ask if she had really insulted him. As Shaun nodded yes, Siabrey merely said, “I didn’t insult him, I merely gave credit where credit was due!”
“Why aren’t you doing that now?” Tess asked.
“I’m being cautious!” Siabrey rejoined, growing frustrated that her expected ally was not backing her position.
“You’re being obnoxious,” Tess said quietly, but the words carried the full force of a hammer blow. Shaun said quietly that he agreed with the other bard, and a sullen and corrected Siabrey quietly walked alongside them… for about a minute. Long enough for Tess, concerned about the children, to announce that the party should try and find their mother. The party agrees, and not two seconds later, Siabrey launched into Shaun again.
“Why didn’t you do anything to help the boy?” she asked, her voice quieter but still having an air of malice.
“I did!” Shaun stopped and protested, waving his arms in annoyance. “I gave him some dwarven ale, I thought it might have helped!” Siabrey’s eyes flashed in anger, and Shaun’s finally completely responded in the same. “What would you have given him?” Shaun asked, hoping for vindication.
“Not ale,” she growled.
“Will you stop it!” Tess hissed at them both, and then pointed at the children. Suitably beaten down, the two glared at each other as the party made its way back towards the manor. The children were likely hungry, and the manor was the best place in the besieged town for food. The cooks remembered the party from its hunting trip, and had saved some of the black swan for them in case they returned. The children downed the food quickly, and their tummies filled, were happy to follow the party to, “where we can find your parents.”
It was about this time that Tess realized where she had seen the boy’s face before… his face looked almost like that of a commoner that had served down the wall from them… perhaps 50 feet off from the group’s position. The reason his face had been burned into Tess’ mind was the fact he was the first one shot down by the goblin archers, three arrows filling his chest, his body falling, landing on a barrel of pickled herring, breaking it.
“We aren’t going to find his father,” Tess says quietly to Siabrey. “He fell two days ago.” Siabrey nodded her head quietly, before putting up a false look of happiness for the children saying, “lets go see if we can find your mommy!”
The young girl looks quite a bit like one of the adepts that had been near the party along the wall that night, holding back the roiling fogbank sent forward by the ice hordes. The party begins asking around, and figures out that the adept has taken residence in a small cottage in the southern end of the city. They begin to move that way.
As the party passes the street that leads to the west gate, Shaun tells Geoffrey aloud to run to the now lone, overcrowded tavern, and ask around to see if anyone had seen a woman with an eye patch, a scar on her face, long blonde hair, who carried a battleaxe. Geoffrey nodded, adding after what he’d seen, he’d appreciate some wine. Before Shaun can respond, a quite livid Rogar is in his face.
“Why are you asking questions about Rosalyn?” Rogar growled angrily. Shaun looked confused, as Rogar continued, “you gave an exact description of her, boy.” His hand floated dangerously close to his rapier. “If you want trouble,” Rogar growls, “then fully expect my sword point to be between you and my Rosalyn, child.”
Though angered, Shaun thinks quickly, responding that he was looking only for someone of that description… he had no clue if the lady’s name was Rosalyn or not. Rogar seems unsatisfied, though he merely hisses at Shaun, “I’ll be watching your kind,” and stalks off towards the west gate. Siabrey turns and chastises them both for arguing in front of the children. Shaun sighs and apologizes just before he spots the top of a large emerald peeking out of one of the pouches that Rogar’s hand carefully guards…
The party continues onwards, arriving at the said cottage shortly thereafter. The adept in question, a young woman in her mid twenties, is found in a back room. Her face, formerly streaked with tears, breaks into a relieved cry as she is overjoyed to see her two children. After hugging them for several minutes, she runs up and hugs Siabrey, who quietly says that the woman shouldn’t thank anyone present except Shaun, who brought the children from the ruins of Ephisia to the city. She gives Shaun an enormous bearhug, as the boy proudly announces that he, too, wants to fight monsters when he grows up.
After spending some time with the family, the party then heads back to their own sleeping quarters, as Siabrey has a question she needs answered… and it would be a good use of time instead of worrying over Lucius. They set up the idol that Xanadu’s intelligence is trapped in, and attempt to see how far away the cat can be from it before Xanadu loses contact with his brains. The find its about thirty feet, and a very confused Xanadu is somewhat relieved to find that their random movements of him about the room had a logical explanation. The party, their patience exhausted now, decides to return to outside the tavern and wait for the healing to hopefully be successfully completed.
Its dusk when they arrive outside the tavern, and even as bawdy music and singing drifts from across the street, the party hears more chilling sounds coming from inside. The chants of prayers echo across the air, punctuated every few seconds by a blood curdling cry, a scream from within the building…
Part One of Three:
A Missing Party Member, and Questions Arising
The party awoke in the morning to discover a note left by Lucius for them, stating basically that he needed some time alone to sort through issues in his mind. He promises to return to the city by midday… sundown at the latest. The party, in particular Tess and Siabrey, find this disturbing, and Siabrey in particular wants to immediately go find him. Tess talked down her excitable friend.; knowing a little about those with magical abilities, she reasoned that Lucius’ new friend, the eagle, would fly back should his master run into trouble. Hidalas just says the boy needs some space.
Tess and Siabrey decide they will try to find some things to do in the meantime to keep busy until Lucius returns and the party can set out to find this reported, “ice demon.” Siabrey decides to ask the talking cat; considering he knew much of the background, she thought he might know the relation between the demon and the idols they had found… unfortunately, Xanadu didn’t have any idea how such idols would be created.
Tess meanwhile decides she will use some of her magical abilities to learn more from the idols themselves. She casts on the largest idol, hoping it will reveal the location of its creator, and the powers it has.
Within Tess’ head, images immediately appear. Flying across the skies, over forests, until there is a long, low mountain, unusually snow capped, ridges running along its back. Her mind then dived through a hole into the mountain, twisting turning, rising falling, before finally emerging in a brightly lit room. No torches were about, as the walls, slick with ice, reflected an unearthly blue glow. The view spun around slowly, until she was faced with a creature… tall, gaunt and thin, a spitting image of the idol. Enormous blue sapphires stood in place of its eyes, and long strands of thin diamonds were in place of its hair. From within its very being, a brilliant blue light showed, growing brighter and brighter until the image was pure white… and then faded away.
Siabrey asked what happened, and Tess, who had been sitting motionless for several seconds as the sequence occurred, stated that she had an idea of what the mountain the creature was in looked like. She then announced she was going to find some maps, so try and pinpoint its location. Siabrey is about to say she is going to go with when Rogar wanders into the room (he had been gone since the party woke up, doubtlessly up to some mischief), puts on some nice jewelry, a little perfume, says he’s off to conclude some business, and then leaves. Tess and Siabrey merely shake their heads, Tess remarking that Rogar was, “a mystery, wrapped in an enigma.”
As the two walk towards the manor, where Tess expects such maps to exist, they walk by the major street that runs towards the West Gate of the village. There, the spot Rogar talking rather intently with a young woman with long, blonde hair who would be rather pretty save for the fact she wears and eye patch and has a rather nasty scar running underneath the piece of cloth. Along her side Siabrey can see she has a battleaxe that looks rather well used. As they watch, the woman hands Rogar a patch, and Siabrey’s eyes spot the top part of what looks to be a large emerald peeking out of the pouch. Siabrey decides that Rogar with a woman bear closer examination. Tess decides to keep on towards the manor, allowing Siabrey to satisfy some of her curiosity.
Siabrey tries to slip among the people going towards the taverns right by the gate entrance, but the clanking of her armor gives her away… but not before she sees something that really catches her attention… namely Rogar and the young woman sharing a rather passionate kiss. The break it off once Siabrey’s clanks are heard (about sixty feet out), and Rogar merely shakes his head at her over her poor attempt at sneaking around. The woman scowls at Siabrey as she walks up.
Siabrey has a tendency to stick right to the point, and at this moment she doesn’t disappoint, asking Rogar immediately what he is up to. He gives her a look of annoyance, and says that he is finishing a business deal for a new horse, among other things. Siabrey then quizzes him about the emerald, and while the woman with Rogar stiffens visibly, Rogar merely grins and says the money from the emerald will go towards his pocket, as well as the horse. Siabrey asks how she got the emerald, and Rogar rather mockingly tells her to just leave things be.
She nods, and then asks in a tart tone, “How long will your…’business’ be?” Rogar muses, looks at the woman, and states he’ll be done by the time Lucius gets back. The woman looks Siabrey up and down, with a clear look of disdain. Siabrey snorts, and blurts out that she doesn’t think he can conduct business that long. Thoroughly annoyed, Rogar leans towards her and quietly says that his business will take far longer than she can handle, before taking the young lady in arm, and walking down the street to one of the inns. A little miffed, Siabrey wanders back to the main avenue.
Tess, meanwhile, makes her way up towards the manor, and notes just outside the doors an impromptu table has been set up, where Sir Santac and several warriors (from their armor, presumably officers) of the Baron’s troops sit about discussing strategy. Santac spots her, grins, and tells all the troops to look at one of the 6 heroes that held off two tribes of hobgoblins almost single-handedly. The officers parted as a ship’s prow slices the sea as Tess moved forward to where Santac was standing. She asks him where his maps are, and describes the mountain in question she is looking for. Santac ruffles through the maps on the table before setting on one showing Mephys and the surrounding forest.
“There,” he points, towards a lone peak some 3-4 days ride northwest of Mephys marked “Ice Spine Mountain.” Santac says that’s the closest peak that fits that description… surrounded by forest, long and low, covered in snow. Its ridges make its top seem to be the spine of some enormous prone monster, but Santac is confused as to how the demon could have taken residence there; until recently, the mountain had been heavily mined for electrum, until better veins were found further away along the Inerman River. Tess puts two and two together, and rapidly deduces that the creature likely didn’t have to hollow out its own holes… the cavernous mining shafts left behind were likely more than suitable. Tess thanks Santac, and heads down to find Siabrey.
When Tess finds Siabrey back at their quarters, she tells her their destination, and Siabrey becomes all the more convinced the group should go out to find Lucius, at the very least so they can get a head start ride towards the mountain. Neither Rogar nor Hidalas are anywhere in site, and so the two decide to keep themselves busy; Siabrey goes to the western wall to lend a hand in fixing the sections broken down in the recent attack (a move that was much appreciated by many of the commoners, who were amazed to see a petite, 5’3” woman lifting beams and the like), while Tess went about to help with the continued struggle to heal the wounded and care for the sick. When she wasn’t healing, she walked about along the walls, trying to encourage the downtrodden or hurt with her music.
Nightfall arrives, and both Tess and Siabrey return to find that there is no Lucius in sight. Rogar has returned, a little happier than normal, and Hidalas has resurfaced again. Siabrey becomes very anxious, and starts urging the party to ride out immediately to search for Lucius. Rogar remarks that night has fallen, and the chances of them finding him in the darkness are practically nil. Very worried, Siabrey presses that if not then, the party should head out to find him in the morning. IN her opinion, young men of his age shouldn’t, “be allowed to wander about the woods at night. Its unsafe!” Tess agrees with Siabrey, though the two are surprisingly interrupted by Hidalas.
The tutor, who they expected would side with them (and/or possibly be neurotic when it came to protecting his charge) says they should not go out. Siabrey is dumbfounded, and shouts “But he’s your charge!” in frustration and confusion. Hidalas raises his hand, and says that the boy likely needed more time to think things over. Siabrey snorts, Tess growls slightly, and Hidalas becomes slightly grumpy that they aren’t listening.
“IF you saw,” he begins, voice deadpan, though his body actions displayed more animation than they had in the previous couple days, “that boy, crying last night, scared, you would understand me!” The party falls quiet, as Hidalas continued, “Here he was… his magical abilities had burst forth, without his control or knowledge, he’d found out his mother was either evil or in danger, and his ancestors that he admired so much were evil as well. Most importantly,” Hidalas lectured, “he discovered that the magic in his veins has turned evil before, and he is afraid for himself, for his family, and for all of you, if it should turn such a way in him. That is why he wanted to be alone! He needed to measure his life!”
Siabrey and Tess are quiet for a moment, and then Siabrey presses again for morning. Hidalas sighs loudly, and sits down before looking off into space at something that wasn’t in the room.
“There are things going on here that… just aren’t right,” he says quietly. “Things are happening that…”
“What if he doesn’t come back?!” Siabrey presses harder, hoping he sees her point. Hidalas looks at her rather sadly.
“Perhaps that might be the… there’s… there’s too many unanswered questions here. I… I need to talk to the priests in Kulloden.”
“Do you know of a prophecy?” Tess asked, concerned herself. Hidalas shook his head.
“I know parts of past events, but not enough to know what I need to. The Churches of Honoria the Healer and Hieroneous the Brave in that city both have information I need… information that might, in the end, save us all.” He sighed again, before saying, “I likely will not be able to accompany you on your quest to attack the ice demon.” Both Siabrey and Tess started to protest, till Hidalas held up his hand. “If I don’t go to Kulloden and my instincts prove true, it could be the end.”
“Who will mend us when battle leaves us wounded?” Siabrey and Tess both asked. Hidalas smiled, and said he had faith in them, but in either case, he would be speaking with the local healer of Honoria in the morning, and would ask her about some assistance there. Hidalas proposes that the party wait till midday tomorrow, and that if Lucius still hasn’t arrived, they shall begin a search for him. The party heads off to sleep.
At sunup the next day, Lucius hasn’t arrived, and the party, especially Siabrey and Tess, seem to be on a bed of nails in terms of nervousness. Several hours shakily pass by, till Hidalas returns from his talks with the priestess around an hour before noon. Seeing their nervous states, he proposes that the party wait by the west gate until noon, just in case Lucius arrives in the last hour. The anxious Tess and Siabrey agree, and Rogar, for once, doesn’t wander off to do his own thing and instead comes with, his own face drawn.
Once they arrive at the west gate, Tess and Siabrey hurriedly take up positions on the ramparts to watch for Lucius’ arrival. Around forty-five minutes till noon, Tess spots three horses with riders in the distance. She calls out to Siabrey, who runs over and looks as well. The fighter’s sharp eyes spot a man dressed in excellent clothes on a white horse holding the bridle of the horse following him. Siabrey then closes her eyes in disbelief.
The second horse easily was Lucius’ white charger. Sprawled on the animals back is a prone form, bouncing and shaking as the animal gallops. Blood streaks run along the animal’s neck onto its shoulders, and its painfully obvious the figure isn’t moving in any way on his own.
Within seconds, Siabrey is off of the ramparts and on her own bay, thundering through the city gates, her sword raised and poised to strike. Tess follows, chased by Rogar and Hidalas…
As the riders drew near, our hero from the previous adventure, Shaun Dice, reigns up his horse and stop’s Lucius’. From even this far, he can spot Siabrey’s distinctive red eyes, which Lucius had described. Seeing her rapidly approaching, her face curled into a mix of anger and anguish, he reaches over and begins shaking the boy, hoping to rouse him to prevent a misunderstanding that in all likelihood would result in his unfortunate demise.
“Lucius… Lucius… can you hear me?”
The boy had fought alongside him only half-hour before, and until five minutes ago had been bloody, mangled, but alert, even cracking jokes through the visible pain. Since then, however, he had begun lapsing in and out of consciousness, rarely saying more than one or two words, and unable to even hold up his head.
“Hm… Shau…” he heard the boy mumble, his eyes opening barely.
“Lucius, c’mon! Wake up! C’mon!” Shaun continued to shake him, as the thundering Siabrey drew closer, a snarl on her lips and malice in her eyes.
Siabrey, for her part, only saw the stranger that had been holding Lucius’ bridle apparently grabbing him.
If that man has hurt poor Lucius in any way… there is no death that suitable for him, her mind roared. She did not even realize it, but her katana was already high above her head, flashing in the light, and she could sense fear in the man. She reigned up her horse alongside him, her bay rearing into the air with a loud neigh, and she snarled at the man, “What have you done to Lucius!?”
Shaun, seeing her growing far more furious as she approached, had raised his hands, hoping it would be seen as a friendly gesture. The woman shoved her horse between Shaun and Lucius, and with one hand began shaking the boy, and with the other, quickly and dangerously put her blade at Shaun’s throat.
“IF you have hurt this boy, it will be your death,” her voice said in a dangerous deadpan, devoid of any emotion, even as the next second she turned and with vigor and fear shook Lucius again, calling his name. The boy opened his eyes slightly, and in a quiet, almost whisper, asked, “Siabrey?”
“Yes, yes Luke, its me! Who did this to you?”
“Ice mon…” and then his voice trailed off as he left the conscious world yet again. Siabrey shook him, hoping to rouse him, as Shaun finally regained his voice.
“I had nothing to do with injuring your friend! I saved his life! Twice!” Shaun said, starting to grow slightly indignant instead of fearful. Siabrey turned her gaze to him, and was about to say something when Hidalas arrives, and shoves the two of them aside, shouting for them to “Get him into the village, NOW!”
Tess, meanwhile, had noticed something in the commotion that the others had missed; a third horse, no larger than a small pony, following up the others. On its back were two children, and its bridle was held by a halfling, who was running as fast as he could. She trotted up to them, and was greeted by the young boy on the horses’ back asking, “Is this Mephys?”
“Yes, it is my child,” Tess said, trying to put her worries about Lucius away from where they would scare the two children. The halfling, gasping, stops beside her horse, and raspily says, “you must get the boy inside the walls to some help! I fear he has been gravely hurt… Mr. Dice fought valiantly, and managed to keep him alive, but nothing could have prevented the boy from not being mauled… Can I please, for the love of Honoria, have a sup of water?”
Tess handed the halfling her canteen, and he took a long draught, before continuing, “the boy said it was some kind of ghouls… we were lucky Mr. Dice was able to put them to sleep, otherwise I fear all of us, even the children would have been lost.”
Tess’ mind picked up something wrong there. While she was no regular fighter of ghouls, bards overheard many who were discussing such matters… and she was sure all the experienced ghoul fighters she’d even heard always said that spells such as sleep/ never, ever worked on them.
“Whose children are these?” she asked. The boy’s face looked vaguely familiar, as did the girl’s.
“Mr. Dice and I found them in Ephisia… the town had been burnt, and they said they’re parents were likely here in Mephys. Mr. Dice took them under his protection on his way here for… business.” Tess nodded, and noticing Hidalas charging back towards the city with Lucius’ lifeless form in tow, she led the group towards the city.
Siabrey, meanwhile, continued to hold her sword at Shaun’s throat, confusion, anger, and fear racing through her mind. Shaun loudly protested, “I helped your friend, and your other friend yelled at us to go into the city… by definition, I could be considered a guest. It would make me feel a lot better if you removed your blade from my throat.”
Reluctantly, Siabrey pulled her sword away from his neck, though it remained out. Shaun made a disparaging remark about how large blades are often overcompensation… a remark he did not intend her to hear. Hear nonetheless, she did, and she scowled at him, flashed her blade and snarled, “My sword is plenty large, unlike yours!” She then grabbed his bridle and tugged his horse at a gallop into the village.
Hidalas, upon clattering through the west gate, was almost immediately off horseback, and he charged into one of the taverns… as it was the closest building, and Lucius needed help immediately. His sword came out, and Tess and Siabrey heard from within a voice they never knew Hidalas possessed thunder out, “This place has ten seconds to clear! One… two…. Ten!”
Patrons in various states of slovenliness fell out of the doors in a panicked run, as Hidalas turned completely into a war cleric, barking more orders at people. Tess and Siabrey were to help carry the boy in. The barkeep was ordered to clean off one of the longer tables immediately.. the man did it somehow without soiling himself. Others were sent to find the priests at the local temples of Pelor and Honoria, and still others were forcibly conscripted to shuffle the drunks to the tavern across the way.
Chaos abounds for the next several minutes, as the party gets Lucius inside, and laid out on one of the largest tables. His upper armor was evidently pulled off, and the creature had bitten his shoulder and side some four times, while Hidalas nervously counted upwards of 13 rakes against his chest and belly. Tendrils of flesh lang from his torso, and bone shows in some places. The priests of Pelor and Honoria, a robed man and a wizened old woman respectively, arrive in the tavern, and Hidalas pulls the party aside, telling them quietly but forcefully they will have to leave, so the priests can get full concentration. He then turns, and as the party closes the door, they hear him bark at the priest of Pelor, “did you bring your censor!? This man is of high noble blood!”
Siabrey’s worries now turned themselves again on Shaun, and she immediately asks him in a very hostile tone what he had to do with Lucius getting injured. A calmer Tess interjects that Siabrey is, “insulting the man who rescued our friend!”
Siabrey laughs the nervous laugh of someone that is really angry, and growls that she said much harsher things to him earlier, causing Tess to shake her head and ask if she had really insulted him. As Shaun nodded yes, Siabrey merely said, “I didn’t insult him, I merely gave credit where credit was due!”
“Why aren’t you doing that now?” Tess asked.
“I’m being cautious!” Siabrey rejoined, growing frustrated that her expected ally was not backing her position.
“You’re being obnoxious,” Tess said quietly, but the words carried the full force of a hammer blow. Shaun said quietly that he agreed with the other bard, and a sullen and corrected Siabrey quietly walked alongside them… for about a minute. Long enough for Tess, concerned about the children, to announce that the party should try and find their mother. The party agrees, and not two seconds later, Siabrey launched into Shaun again.
“Why didn’t you do anything to help the boy?” she asked, her voice quieter but still having an air of malice.
“I did!” Shaun stopped and protested, waving his arms in annoyance. “I gave him some dwarven ale, I thought it might have helped!” Siabrey’s eyes flashed in anger, and Shaun’s finally completely responded in the same. “What would you have given him?” Shaun asked, hoping for vindication.
“Not ale,” she growled.
“Will you stop it!” Tess hissed at them both, and then pointed at the children. Suitably beaten down, the two glared at each other as the party made its way back towards the manor. The children were likely hungry, and the manor was the best place in the besieged town for food. The cooks remembered the party from its hunting trip, and had saved some of the black swan for them in case they returned. The children downed the food quickly, and their tummies filled, were happy to follow the party to, “where we can find your parents.”
It was about this time that Tess realized where she had seen the boy’s face before… his face looked almost like that of a commoner that had served down the wall from them… perhaps 50 feet off from the group’s position. The reason his face had been burned into Tess’ mind was the fact he was the first one shot down by the goblin archers, three arrows filling his chest, his body falling, landing on a barrel of pickled herring, breaking it.
“We aren’t going to find his father,” Tess says quietly to Siabrey. “He fell two days ago.” Siabrey nodded her head quietly, before putting up a false look of happiness for the children saying, “lets go see if we can find your mommy!”
The young girl looks quite a bit like one of the adepts that had been near the party along the wall that night, holding back the roiling fogbank sent forward by the ice hordes. The party begins asking around, and figures out that the adept has taken residence in a small cottage in the southern end of the city. They begin to move that way.
As the party passes the street that leads to the west gate, Shaun tells Geoffrey aloud to run to the now lone, overcrowded tavern, and ask around to see if anyone had seen a woman with an eye patch, a scar on her face, long blonde hair, who carried a battleaxe. Geoffrey nodded, adding after what he’d seen, he’d appreciate some wine. Before Shaun can respond, a quite livid Rogar is in his face.
“Why are you asking questions about Rosalyn?” Rogar growled angrily. Shaun looked confused, as Rogar continued, “you gave an exact description of her, boy.” His hand floated dangerously close to his rapier. “If you want trouble,” Rogar growls, “then fully expect my sword point to be between you and my Rosalyn, child.”
Though angered, Shaun thinks quickly, responding that he was looking only for someone of that description… he had no clue if the lady’s name was Rosalyn or not. Rogar seems unsatisfied, though he merely hisses at Shaun, “I’ll be watching your kind,” and stalks off towards the west gate. Siabrey turns and chastises them both for arguing in front of the children. Shaun sighs and apologizes just before he spots the top of a large emerald peeking out of one of the pouches that Rogar’s hand carefully guards…
The party continues onwards, arriving at the said cottage shortly thereafter. The adept in question, a young woman in her mid twenties, is found in a back room. Her face, formerly streaked with tears, breaks into a relieved cry as she is overjoyed to see her two children. After hugging them for several minutes, she runs up and hugs Siabrey, who quietly says that the woman shouldn’t thank anyone present except Shaun, who brought the children from the ruins of Ephisia to the city. She gives Shaun an enormous bearhug, as the boy proudly announces that he, too, wants to fight monsters when he grows up.
After spending some time with the family, the party then heads back to their own sleeping quarters, as Siabrey has a question she needs answered… and it would be a good use of time instead of worrying over Lucius. They set up the idol that Xanadu’s intelligence is trapped in, and attempt to see how far away the cat can be from it before Xanadu loses contact with his brains. The find its about thirty feet, and a very confused Xanadu is somewhat relieved to find that their random movements of him about the room had a logical explanation. The party, their patience exhausted now, decides to return to outside the tavern and wait for the healing to hopefully be successfully completed.
Its dusk when they arrive outside the tavern, and even as bawdy music and singing drifts from across the street, the party hears more chilling sounds coming from inside. The chants of prayers echo across the air, punctuated every few seconds by a blood curdling cry, a scream from within the building…
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