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The Durnhill Conscripts
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7488140" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 24: TRIAL BY THE COUNCIL</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 5</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Galen Thorne, human paladin 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 9</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 29 August 2018</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>It had been a sad day for Orion Nightsky and she still hadn't finished crying when she finally went to bed. Carl had been such a good riding dog: so easy to train, so brave to ride into battle, so loyal...it was hard to believe he was really gone. Sleep was long in coming for the little halfling, and when it came at last her head lay upon a pillow soaked with her tears.</p><p></p><p>Not surprisingly, she dreamt of Carl. He was alive again, and excited at first, wagging his tail jumping up and down, and barking in pure joy. But then his barks turned more serious, and they became interspersed with growls and snarls. Orion thought he might be mad at her, but then she saw he was looking away, off to her left. She turned...</p><p></p><p>...and just barely avoided the steel blade that came swinging down towards her head. In the dim moonlight, she saw a dark figure bent over her, snarling in fury that her strike had missed.</p><p></p><p>"Assassins!" called out Orion, rolling sideways off the bed - if this woman had made it into her bedroom, that meant she had made it through the exterior door above the stairs on the side of the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, then through her own bedroom door - both of which had been locked when the adventurers went to bed the night before. It was unlikely anyone would have put that much effort into killing one halfling rogue; more likely, indeed, that a group of assassins would have been sent to take out the entire party of adventurers all at once. So if she could warn the others while she dealt with this threat of her own, it might just give them the edge they needed to stay alive.</p><p></p><p>Orion landed on the floor at the side of the bed on her shoulder and turned it into a full roll. When she stood back up, she had her <em>flaming short sword</em> in hand, kept at the side of the bed for purposes such as these. The flickering light of the sword's flames illuminated the room enough for the little halfling to see who she was up against. It was nobody she recognized, nobody she could recall ever having seen before, but she was a tall, lithe human woman dressed entirely in black, with a gleaming blade of her own. Orion made as if to lunge forward but pulled back at the last moment; the assassin, <strong>Jayde</strong>, fell for the feint and swung her own blade to come crashing down where Orion's head would have been had she completed the maneuver. Orion then easily got past the flustered assassin's defenses to plunge her smaller, flaming blade between a pair of ribs; when she pulled it back out, there was glistening blood beneath the magical flames.</p><p></p><p>Jayde put a hand to the wound and tried swinging her blade in a sideways arc to skewer the halfling's head from her neck, but that was the easiest kind of blow for a little halfling to avoid - Orion ducked beneath the swinging sword and struck out again at her assailant. A stab at the knee to cause some distracting pain, then a deeper thrust to the thigh to really get the blood flowing, and before she knew it she had Jayde unconscious on her bedroom floor, bleeding out.</p><p></p><p>It took a moment for Orion to decide whether or not to save the life of the assassin who had so callously tried to take hers away, but eventually, the heat of battle having subsided, the halfling decided the would-be assassin could well be a source of information. So, using her blade, she cut the sleeves from the assassin's armor and used Jayde's own belt and scabbard-strap to staunch the blood and bind her securely. As she did so, she gave a sudden start - for she could swear she still heard the barking that had awakened her from her dream....</p><p></p><p>Moments earlier in the room across the hall, Kaspar snapped out of his nightly trance at the cry of "Assassins!" In a single motion, the elf monk stood up from his cross-legged position on the floor and sent his foot kicking out at the human even now bending over to try to slay him as he meditated. Kaspar's foot drove deep into the enemy's stomach, bending him over into near helplessness while the elf sent a hard strike crashing down upon his head, powered by years of training and the <em>tenryutsume</em> Kaspar wore on his right hand and forearm. <strong>Brian Swiftstrike</strong> fell forward but rolled with the blow, indicating some level of martial arts training himself. He landed, swung around, and caught Kaspar in the face with a punch of his own, but Kaspar had opted not to block the incoming blow so he could get off a devastating counterattack of his own. In a flurry of blows nearly too fast to see, the elven monk battered his human counterpart until he lay dead on the floor. Kaspar casually wiped the blood from his lip, wondering who this assassin might be. Bending over him, he searched for the traditional hourglass tattoo of the Seekers of Eternity on the back of his neck and was surprised to find a similar tattoo in place there - although this hourglass seemed to be spilling drops of blood. Interesting....</p><p></p><p>At the same time, Galen was trading blows with a counterpart of his own. The young paladin had been having a rather pleasant dream involving Serenity when Orion's scream of warning woke him to see a black-armored figure, <strong>Sinblade</strong>, standing above him with a raised sword. Galen rolled sideways and grabbed up the <em>sword of Zehkar</em> and his own shield, propped up against the wall at the side of his bed, and fought the evil knight wearing only his night garment. Instinctively - he didn't even waste the time to examine the man's aura - he channeled positive energy through his blade, smiting the blackguard and causing him to stagger backwards. In the light of Zehkar's glow, Galen made out the symbol on his opponent's shield: Hextor, god of tyranny, the evil counterpart (and brother) to Galen's own deity, Hieroneous, god of valor. The blackguard's sword made a feeble strike at Galen but was blocked by the paladin's shield, then a repeat of his earlier <em>smite evil</em> attack brought the foe to his final moments. Sinblade fell to his knees, lost his grip on his weapon and his shield, and toppled onto his face, stone cold dead.</p><p></p><p>The three heroes having dealt with their assassins, they rushed out to check on the other lodger in the upper level of the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, but Daleth had already dealt with his own assassin, who lay dead on the floor of the wizard's room. Her face bore the burn marks of a recent victim of an <em>empowered scorching ray</em> spell. "I wonder if they just attacked us here, or sent somebody to kill Syngaard as well?" wondered Daleth aloud.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard was sound asleep in a bed in the brothel where he performed bouncer duties when the assassin silently opened the door and stepped inside the room. Any sounds the assassin might have made while crossing the room were surely obscured by the light snores emanating from the scarred fighter's mouth, and in fact it was his snoring which likely saved his life - for beside him in bed, Cori turned to wake Syngaard (or at least convince him to sleep on his side) when she locked eyes with the assassin, still several feet from the bed.</p><p></p><p>Several things happened almost at once. Cori gave a shrill scream, the assassin pounced forward and sent his dagger crashing down towards Syngaard's bald head, and Syngaard woke up from a sound sleep, bolted upright, saw an incoming blade, and rolled to his right, landing on the floor in a heap. The dagger tore into the bed, in a spot Syngaard had been occupying a mere second before. Syngaard looked eye to eye at his attempted killer, grabbed the morningstar he kept at the side of his bed, stood up - and was suddenly looking down at his would-be assassin.</p><p></p><p>"A <em>halfling</em>?" Syngaard roared. "They sent an effin' <em>halfling</em> to try to kill me?" Roaring in outrage at the implied insult, the scarred fighter send his morningstar in a wide arc that caught the halfling - one <strong>Alfonse Silentfoot</strong>, as it happened - in the face, sending him flying across the room. He landed poorly but had time to scramble back to his feet by the time the half-naked fighter strode across the room; he even stabbed out with his short sword, catching Syngaard in the side and drawing a line of blood across his waist - but then another crashing blow from the fighter's weapon sent Alfonse crashing unconscious to the floor, bleeding from both sides of his head.</p><p></p><p>"Is he dead?" asked Cori, who had hidden crouched down on the other side of the bed during the short but furious battle.</p><p></p><p>"Not yet," replied Syngaard, raising his morningstar over his head for the killing blow - but then, in a surprising moment of insight, he lowered his weapon. "Ah, Hell," he sighed. "You got anything to tie him up with? I suppose Skev-- I suppose I oughtta go take him to get interrogated, see who sent him." Cori turned up the oil lamp to brighten the room, then started binding the halfling's hands and feet while Syngaard got dressed and put on his armor. She used strips from the little halfling's own cloak to bind the wounds on the back of his head, wincing at the scars the morningstar's sharp points had made to his face. "You made him look like a little version of you - only with hair," Cori observed. Syngaard only grunted in response.</p><p></p><p>Once he was ready, he picked the halfling up by his bound legs, looping his shield arm between Alfonse's knees and tossing him over his back like a sack of potatoes. "Now I gotta trudge all the way across town with the little bastard," the fighter grumbled to himself. </p><p></p><p>While Syngaard started walking through the dark and silent streets - it was somewhere between two and three bells in the morning - Orion and Kaspar had geared up and gone down the stairs to investigate the barking that was still going on, leaving Daleth upstairs to guard the unconscious Jayde while Galen took the laborious steps to get into his plate armor. Rounding the corner of the building, the first thing the elf and halfling noticed was their front door was missing - no, not merely missing, upon further investigation, but <em>disintegrated</em> into oblivion. They silently crept into the dark tavern, but the magical wards recognized their rings and turned the <em>everburning torches</em> on the walls up to full illumination. </p><p></p><p>Looking up at the two heroes in surprise was a pale-skinned woman standing behind the bar. The barking sounds were coming from a thick gray mist over to the left side of the tavern; as Orion watched in amazement, the mist coalesced into a familiar shape: Carl the riding dog, snarling and growling over at the intruder behind the bar. She wore a green dress and had long, black hair; that was all the two heroes could make out about the woman before her own form instantly vanished, to be replaced by a bat flapping towards the open doorway. Orion pulled out one of her throwing daggers and sent it flying at the bat and Kaspar followed suit with a handful of shuriken, but it didn't look as if any of the thrown weapons hit their target. The bat made it outside the building and then was lost in the darkness.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar scanned the skyline to see if he could find the bat, but Orion had other concerns at the moment. The intruder gone, Carl walked over to his mistress and tried to rub his muzzle against her hand, the way he did whenever he was hinting he wanted a good petting or a rubdown. Orion tried to oblige, but her hand went right through her mount - Carl was, without a doubt, now a ghost. She could feel the coldness of the air around Carl as she tried and failed to pet him, and he looked into her eyes with a look of canine sadness.</p><p></p><p>Then Daleth and Galen walked into the tavern, the armored paladin carrying the bound Jayde over a shoulder. Movement caught Daleth's eye from the street outside, but it was just Syngaard, with a prisoner of his own draped over a shoulder. He stormed into the tavern with a fierce scowl and plopped Alfonse onto the nearest table. "They sent a damned <em>halfling</em> to try to kill me!" he exploded.</p><p></p><p>"We'd better get Skevros," suggested Kaspar, moving to behind the bar to the door leading to the storage room - and, if you wore an attuned ring, also to the extradimensional rooms the king's adviser kept for his own use. Syngaard, in the meantime, briefly wondered why Orion was making such a big fuss over her damned dog until he remembered Carl had been slain the day before. "Well Hell," he commented. "That ain't right."</p><p></p><p>Once Skevros had joined the assembled group, they filled him in on the attack. Kaspar mentioned the "blood-hourglass" tattoo on the back of his foe's neck, and a quick check confirmed both Jayde and Alfonse wore the same emblems on the backs of their necks. "Interesting," mused Skevros. "A splinter group, perhaps? Or the assassination branch of the Seekers?"</p><p></p><p>"Let's find out," suggested Syngaard, slapping his bound halfling foe awake. "Talk!" he commanded. Alfonse just stared defiantly at the big brute who had overpowered him. Then, quick as a snake, he wriggled his hands free from the restraints behind his back and dropped to the floor. Instead of trying to untie his ankles and make a break for it, though, he reached inside an inner pocket and brought out a small potion vial. He tried to get it to his lips but Syngaard tackled him, pinning him underneath his own bulk. Skevros pulled the vial from the halfling's hands and sniffed it experimentally. "Poison," he declared.</p><p></p><p>"You're not escapin' us that easily," warned Syngaard, giving Alfonse a punch in the nose for good measure.</p><p></p><p>"I have nothing to say," replied the halfling assassin.</p><p></p><p>"Perhaps not now," agreed Skevros, "but you might be useful at the upcoming trial." He put a hand on the halfling's head and muttered a few arcane syllables, and the halfling's flesh and clothes became gray stone. Then a <em>shrink item</em> spell reduced the halfling statue to the size of a small stone, which the king's wizard immediately pocketed. He then turned to Jayde, who had been awakened and saw what had befallen her partner-in-crime.</p><p></p><p>"Do you wish to share his fate?" asked Skevros.</p><p></p><p>"I...I'm willing to talk," Jayde answered hesitantly.</p><p></p><p>"Then let's hear it," snarled Syngaard. "Who are you working for?"</p><p></p><p>"The vampire," Jayde answered immediately. "We were to provide a distraction while she broke into your headquarters and took what she was after. She was going to reward us with eternal life if we were successful."</p><p></p><p>"Eternal life?" repeated Galen in astonishment. "You mean, as a vampire? That's not life - that's undeath!"</p><p></p><p>"And your mistress's target was...?" prompted Daleth.</p><p></p><p>"The body of the wizard you slew."</p><p></p><p>Skevros swore uncharacteristically and raced over behind the bar, looking down at the shelves there. "She got it - it's gone," he sighed.</p><p></p><p>"Got what?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"The body of Arcturus. I had shrunken it as well, after casting a <em>gentle repose</em> spell upon it. I didn't want it stinking the place up before the trial."</p><p></p><p>"Well, the lot of you failed," sneered Syngaard. "Five assassins after the five of us, and here we all are, while three of you are dead and the other two our prisoners."</p><p></p><p>"On the contrary: we won," sneered Jayde right back at the bald fighter. "We didn't have to kill you, merely keep you from interfering - which we did."</p><p></p><p>"I suppose this means they'll have Arcturus <em>resurrected</em>," surmised Orion.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, he better not be at our trial!" said Syngaard. "He's one of the Guildmasters - ain't they gonna be the ones running the trial?"</p><p></p><p>"Not necessarily," replied Skevros. "But in many cases, yes."</p><p></p><p>"Well, that don't seem fair, getting to convict the guys what killed you! Plus, if he's back alive, then what's the harm done? We shouldn't need to go to no trial after all!"</p><p></p><p>"I'm afraid it doesn't work quite that way," remarked Skevros offhandedly, turning to face Jayde. "In any case, I think we've heard quite enough from you." He placed a hand on her head and repeated the two spells he'd previously cast on Alfonse, leaving her petrified and shrunken to 1/16th her normal size.</p><p></p><p>"So we're still going to the trial?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"Indeed we are. Tomorrow - well, later today, I suppose. Daleth, would you mind giving me a hand with our front door? We'll need to see if we can <em>fabricate</em> a new one, I suppose."</p><p></p><p>"I need a drink," announced Syngaard suddenly. "Where's Karen?"</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>"Well, teleportin' sure beats trudging all the way over here, I suppose," remarked Syngaard as the group manifested instantly just outside the front door to Wrencrofft Manor later that afternoon. Skevros had brought all five of his heroes with him, and even managed to include Carl's ghost, who had hung around Orion ever since the two had been reunited. However, Skevros ignored the fighter's comments - he was intent upon the mechanical figure standing in front of the door.</p><p></p><p>"I am <strong>Azure Delta Sigma</strong>," said the metal construct. (Skevros would later identify it to the others as a kolyarut, one of the inevitables serving as the Executioners of Azure Law.) "I have been assigned to watch over the accused. If you have any questions regarding your trial, feel free to ask and I shall answer to the best of my ability."</p><p></p><p>"I have no questions at this time," replied Skevros. "Please stand aside." The kolyarut did as it was bid and the group entered the Wrencrofft Manor, Azure Delta Sigma following behind. Skevros tried his best to simply ignore the construct, so the others followed his lead. </p><p></p><p>"So, what kind of justice can we expect during the trial?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"The trial--" began Azure Delta Sigma, only to be cut off.</p><p></p><p>"We wasn't talkin' to you, we was talkin' to him," said Syngaard, pointing a thumb at Skevros. The construct dutifully stopped talking.</p><p></p><p>"When we are taken into the courtroom, it will be presided over by nine members of the Council - possibly the eight Guildmasters of the eight colleges of magic and the Head Priest of the Church of Boccob, but not necessarily so - any on the nine may appoint an underling in his or her place."</p><p></p><p>"So there's no guarantee we'll have Leorna there on our side - or Orlin?" asked Galen, mentioning the two Guild leaders who had reason to view the Durnhill group in a good light.</p><p></p><p>"Guarantee? No. But I would hope if they aren't there themselves in person, they'll have passed on their views to those who take their place. Now then, besides the nine presiding over the trial, there will also be sixteen kolyaruts in attendance - our executioners, should it come to that. The outcome of the trial is determined by a simple majority vote, with the severity of the sentencing based upon the size of the majority. For murder, or assassination, as we're being charged with, the penalty ranges from life imprisonment or banishment with a 5/4 guilty vote to the obliteration of the accused's souls in the event of a unanimous guilty vote."</p><p></p><p>"Well, that sucks," observed Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"Still, we should have the Guilds of Illusion and Conjuration on our side. That's two in our favor, to start with. All we need is three more of the other seven to side with us, and we're free and clear."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, but we also got three already in the bag for the Seekers," reminded Syngaard. "That we know of - there could be more, for all we know."</p><p></p><p>"So there's...four more still undecided," said Galen. "And we need to sway three of those four to our side."</p><p></p><p>"As you say," agreed Skevros. "Still, not an insurmountable task. And we have the better part of a week to decide upon our defensive strategy. Plus, recall that it's unlikely the majority of the Guilds even know about the Seekers - we will be bringing their secret organization out into the open. That will likely sway some of the undecided to our side."</p><p></p><p>"Is there anything else we should know about?" asked Daleth.</p><p></p><p>"The Council will have a <em>discern lies</em> spell active on us at all times. It won't force us to speak the truth, but it will allow them to know when we're lying. I would therefore recommend we speak the absolute truth whilst in the courtroom. And," he added, looking at Galen and Syngaard in turn, "a bit of decorum would be appreciated. I will expect all of us to be respectful and on our best behavior."</p><p></p><p>"Of course," replied Galen immediately, while Syngaard only answered with a puzzled expression of wonderment that he would be singled out in such a fashion.</p><p></p><p>"It will be up to us to convince the Council of our innocence," Skevros said. "To that end, the Council will ask us questions, as a group or individually, but we are allowed to ask questions of the Council as well. In a way, this will be a simple conversation between two parties."</p><p></p><p>"I think we would do best to have you do most of the talking," suggested Orion.</p><p></p><p>"Quite the contrary: I intend to do very little talking during the trial. I will leave the arguments as to our innocence to the rest of you."</p><p></p><p>"What? Why?"</p><p></p><p>"Because I am not only an outcast of the Azure Glade, having been found guilty by the Council some decades ago and banished to the kingdom of Durnhill, but I am also a wizard of the higher rankings. I fear some of the Guildmasters may assume it possible I may have found a way to bypass the <em>discern lies</em> spell."</p><p></p><p>"I don't suppose they're gonna let us wear our armor or bring our weapons with us," grumbled Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"Quite the contrary," answered Skevros. "Not only will we have access to our equipment in case of an emergency, but some of your weapons are no doubt going to need to be examined. They're treating them as 'murder weapons,' you know."</p><p></p><p>"Any obviously hostile actions against the Council will be met with immediate execution," added Azure Delta Sigma.</p><p></p><p>"Yes, we will all need to play nice during the trial," agreed Skevros. "Now then: let me show you to your rooms."</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The rest of the week was relatively uneventful, with Azure Delta Sigma continually attempting to be of aid to the accused while they continued to distrust it. At the appointed time, Azure Delta Sigma approached the group and, with their consent, teleported them all to the waiting room for the trial. The group was then led down a corridor to a blue transparent wall which lowered upon their arrival. They stepped into a large, circular room with 16 blue doorways, including the one from which they had just entered, behind each of which stood an identical replica of Azure Delta Sigma. The kolyarut who had delivered them to the courtroom obediently took up its own position behind the door they'd just used.</p><p></p><p>There was a platform 10 feet above the floor all around the circular room; in nine alcoves spaced equidistant around the circle's circumference sat nine robed figures, eight of them wearing a mask that covered the face, leaving only eyeholes. Each mask was featureless save for the emblem of the Guild to which the member belonged - or, likely in many cases, ruled. The robes were each the color of the respective Guild, with the maskless leader of the Church of Boccob adorned in gray. Galen thought for a moment the Boccobian looked familiar, but then his attention was diverted as he scanned the figures seated above him, searching for the taint of evil in their auras. Surprisingly, he found none - none at all. <em>Probably hiding their alignments</em>, thought the paladin.</p><p></p><p>The Boccobian cleric was the first to speak. "I, <strong>Khier</strong>, representative of the Church of Boccob, hereby bring this trial to order. The assembled are accused of the assassination of Grand Diviner Arcturus, Guildmaster of the Diviners Guild and member of this council. Present your evidence to the contrary."</p><p></p><p>The group looked among themselves. "First of all," stated Galen, his voice booming in the enclosed room, "we wish to know who brings the accusation of assassination."</p><p></p><p>"It was I," said the Guildmaster in black, the head of the Necromancers Guild.</p><p></p><p>"We are accused of assassination," said Syngaard. "But that just ain't true, for one simple reason: assassins get paid for their work. If we're assassins, then who paid us? 'Cause I state here for the record that nobody paid us even a copper to kill Arcturus - let your spell tell you if I'm lying."</p><p></p><p>"Murder, then," came the response from behind the necromancer's mask. "Premeditated murder, even. You planned on killing the Guildmaster of the Diviners Guild."</p><p></p><p>"We fully admit to killing Arcturus," said Galen, causing a bit of a stir among the robed Guildmasters. "But only because he came into our home and attempted to kill this man here, a man many of you already know: Skevros Wrencrofft. While there, he also stated his intention to kill each and every one of us as well. Killing him was an act of self-defense." Seeing the paladin's words were true, several of the Guildmasters began nodding and whispering to themselves.</p><p></p><p>"And check out the holy symbol on his shield," pointed out Syngaard. "This man is a paladin of Hieroneous. You shouldn't need no spell to tell you he's telling the truth."</p><p></p><p>"An alleged paladin of Hieroneous," countered the necromancer.</p><p></p><p>"Can you prove you're a paladin of Hieroneous?" asked Khier. "Can you cast a spell in our presence?"</p><p></p><p>"I'll do you one better," promised Galen and mentally called forth across the planes for his bonded mount. In a flash, Burt appeared in the courtroom, 3,000 pounds of saber-fanged feline, straight from the Beastlands. He roared at the unfamiliar figures seated in a ring above him and stood protectively next to Galen, his master.</p><p></p><p>"You admit to the killing," repeated the Necromancy Guildmaster, ignoring the legitimate reason they had stated for doing so and trying to undo the good the dire lion's presence had done for the accused. "While you're in such a mood for confessions, why don't you tell us if you have committed any other crimes against the country of the Azure Glades?"</p><p></p><p>"Other crimes?" began Daleth - and then Galen and Syngaard swapped guilty looks.</p><p></p><p>"The book," whispered Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"Ah," said Galen. "Well, um, there was this matter about a book we took from the Diviners Library."</p><p></p><p>"So, you are admitted thieves as well as murderers!" declared the black-robed Guildmaster.</p><p></p><p>"Not murderers, and not thieves," corrected Galen. Orion clamped her mouth shut and told herself not to a say a single word - not when the subject was thievery. "We paid a group of divination students at the library to smuggle the book out, and then we purchased it outright from them. So technically, they were the ones who stole the book, not us."</p><p></p><p>"Accessories to theft, then," scoffed the necromancer. "Instigators, even!"</p><p></p><p>"But even that had extenuating circumstances!" insisted the paladin. "We needed the book to research Zehkar, Osleth, Hirek, and the Seekers of Eternity, the organization that is trying to take over the Azure Glade, in order to stop their evil plans!"</p><p></p><p>"Fairy tales!" scoffed the black-clad wizard.</p><p></p><p>"He isn't lying," pointed out the masked wizard in green robes, and the heroes thought they recognized the voice of Orlin, the Conjuration Guildmaster, who went on to explain he owed his life to the efforts of the accused, who saved him from being slain by two members of the Seekers of Eternity in the lower level of the Abjurers Guildhouse. This brought about more mutterings from the other Council members.</p><p></p><p>"We know this much," stated Galen. "The Seekers of Eternity are looking for the secrets of immortality, and will do anything to gain such power. They have already infiltrated and taken over the Diviners Guild, the Necromancers Guild, and the Evokers Guild, as well as many of your Azure Guard. They also infiltrated and destroyed the Church of Wee Jas in Durnhill, as a practice session for when they attempt to do the same to your own Church of Boccob."</p><p></p><p>"Ridiculous! Never have I heard such nonsense!" declared the Necromancy Guildmaster.</p><p></p><p>"But the <em>discern lies</em> spell backs them up," pointed out the red-clad wizard - the speaker for the Guild of Transmutation, Skevros's old college.</p><p></p><p>"Pah! That only means they believe these lies themselves to be true! It proves nothing!"</p><p></p><p>"Well here's something you can check for yourselves, then," piped up Syngaard. "These Seekers of Eternity wear a tattoo on the backs of their necks, shaped like an hourglass full of sand tipped over on its side." As he said this, Skevros pulled the two stones from his pocket and said the words returning the two petrified assassins to their normal size. "I'll bet if you check him, him, and him" - and here Syngaard pointed to the wizards in white, black, and blue robes in turn - "you'll find they each got that tattoo on 'em."</p><p></p><p>"Those who attacked the Church of Wee Jas were animated skeletal spellcasters, created by foul necromancy," added Galen. "They wore the emblem carved into their skulls, right here." The paladin pointed to his own forehead as loud murmuring came from behind the masks of those sitting in judgment above.</p><p></p><p>"Why are we even bothering to listen to such nonsense when they have already admitted to killing Arcturus?" demanded the black-robed leader of the Necromancers Guild.</p><p></p><p>"I believe we should take a recess until tomorrow," suggested Khier. "It will allow tempers to calm - and give us time to investigate the claims made by the accused." While the other members of the Council discussed amongst themselves, the Necromancer and Diviner Guildmasters both moved as if to remove their masks. As soon as the masks were off their faces, they disappeared - as if having teleported away.</p><p></p><p>"It would seem the decision has been made for the rest of us," Khier announced. "We are adjourned." The other Guildmasters nodded their consent and disappeared by removing their own masks as well.</p><p></p><p>"That's a neat trick," observed Kaspar. "All they have to do is take off their mask and they teleport away."</p><p></p><p>"Or they were never even physically here in the first place," opined Daleth.</p><p></p><p>After looking over the empty council seats, Khier stepped forward off the raised ledge and floated gracefully down to the party. "It's the latter," he admitted to the elf wizard. "Each of the judges is back at his own Guildhall, and has been there since before the trial commenced." He turned to Galen. "I would have preferred you not bring up Zehkar and the others, but I believe you have done a good job shedding light upon the Seekers of Eternity." Then, looking to Syngaard he said, "Keep them safe."</p><p></p><p>"I...that's my number one priority," stammered Syngaard, at an uncharacteristic loss for words. "Just who are you?"</p><p></p><p>Khier smiled. "I am Hirek. Your succubus friend caused a bit of trouble asking about my existence. Personally, I would prefer the Seekers to not know I'm still here, even if I am a mere ghost of my former self." He chuckled softly at his own pun.</p><p></p><p>"You're a ghost?" asked Orion - her first words since entering the trial chamber.</p><p></p><p>"I am indeed a ghost," answered Khier. "Those of us who know the Mithral Mage's name are cursed, prevented from passing on to our proper afterlife, further preventing the Mithral Mage's own true death."</p><p></p><p>"Wait--so you're Hirek?" asked Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"I am."</p><p></p><p>"So you're, like, hundreds of years old?"</p><p></p><p>"I am."</p><p></p><p>"Then you were here for Skevros's trial? Like, here in the chamber?"</p><p></p><p>"I was, although back then I had a different name - I was posing as a man whom I am now posing as the son of. Being human, I need to change names every so often so nobody gets suspicious of my unusually long life."</p><p></p><p>"So then, what was Skevros found guilty of?"</p><p></p><p>"Being an accessory in the death of Arcturus's son, Rigel."</p><p></p><p>"Ah," replied Skevros. "When I was evil, due to the helm, I found a way to open the gates to Hell permanently, and left notes as to how the ritual had to be performed. But I had made intentional errors in the transcription I wrote, so that anybody trying to use them but me would die in the attempt. Rigel tried, and he died."</p><p></p><p>"I must warn you, though: Arcturus is sure to be returned to life," said the ghost calling himself Khier. "The Seekers of Eternity began as a group of alchemists, seeking to create a potion of immortality. During our research, we found a way to transmute base metals to gold. The Seekers as they exist now have a practically unlimited amount of wealth with which to fund <em>true resurrections</em>. Furthermore, before his death, Arcturus was at the Durnhill Temple of Pelor, asking questions about Syngaard and his donations to the orphanage there. For her own safety, I suggest your daughter Hope be moved at once."</p><p></p><p>"Where to?" asked Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"My extradimensional chambers," answered Skevros.</p><p></p><p>"That would be ideal," agreed Khier. "They have yet to breach the space - in fact, I doubt they are even aware of its existence."</p><p></p><p>"We will make arrangements immediately upon our return," Skevros promised Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"As for the hourglasses of blood, they too are members of the Seekers of Eternity. Most seek to follow in the footsteps of the Mithral Mage, but a small group believes that Hirek is the rightful leader of the Seekers. Unfortunately, they mistakenly believe that the moniker 'the Scarlet Sage' refers to me being a vampire, and so they seek eternal unlife through vampiric means."</p><p></p><p>"You're not a vampire?" asked Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"I am not."</p><p></p><p>"But you're a ghost."</p><p></p><p>"That I am."</p><p></p><p>"So now what?" asked Galen.</p><p></p><p>"Now, you return to Wrencrofft Manor," replied Khier - or Hirek. "The Council will reconvene tomorrow to pass judgment."</p><p></p><p>"May I ask how you believe we are doing?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"I think you're all doing remarkably well," replied the ghost with a smile as he stared fading away from view. Almost immediately thereafter, one of the 16 blue doors opened and Azure Delta Sigma stepped forward to take them to the waiting area, from which they could teleport back to Skevros's manor home.</p><p></p><p>"We got this," predicted Galen. And he was quite right: the next day when they reconvened, there were only seven robed figures presiding over the courtroom. Conspicuous in their absence were the Guildmasters to both the Diviners and the Necromancers Guilds.</p><p></p><p>"We stand reconvened," announced Khier despite the two missing members. "We will hear the votes of those present."</p><p></p><p>"Abjuration: not guilty."</p><p></p><p>"Conjuration: not guilty."</p><p></p><p>"Enchantment: not guilty."</p><p></p><p>"Evocation: abstain." That one was a bit of a surprise: perhaps the Guild hadn't been entirely taken over by the Seekers just yet.</p><p></p><p>"Illusion: not guilty."</p><p></p><p>"Transmutation: not guilty."</p><p></p><p>"And the Church of Boccob: not guilty," added Khier. "The accused have been hereby found not guilty in the murder of Grand Diviner Arcturus and are free to go. In addition, the Council agrees to modify the terms of the <em>mark of justice</em> worn upon the brow of Skevros Wrencrofft: from this day forth, he shall be allowed to travel from the kingdom of Durnhill, where he has been banished, to his manor home here in the Azure Glade, without breaking the conditions of his banishment. This Council stands adjourned."</p><p></p><p>"So what about the Diviners Guild and the Necromancy Guild?" asked Orion as they returned to Wrencrofft Manor.</p><p></p><p>"I imagine they're undergoing a thorough inspection of their ranks and new leadership is being put into place," Skevros explained. "All in all, this trial brought about some good: by exposing the Seekers to the Council of Guilds, we get them to work on our side expunging them from their ranks!"</p><p></p><p>"That ain't the only good thing to come of it," added Syngaard. "We don't gotta trudge all the way back home to Durnhill - you're here to teleport us all back there for once!"</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Logan said he was worried about this adventure, since so much of it was just role-playing - in fact, he even added the assassin attack at the beginning solely so we'd have <em>some</em> combat. He was relieved when we all had a good time with it, although Harry and Vicki stayed mostly silent during the court scene, leaving the defensive arguments to Dan and me. But Vicki, after some initial trepidation about having Carl return as a ghost, has bought fully into the idea. Logan even had Skevros offer to create a <em>ghost touch saddle</em> for Carl; rather than the normal <em>ghost touch weapon</em> that allows a wielder on the Material Plane to affect those creatures on the Ethereal, this will work in the opposite manner: by Carl wearing it in the Ethereal Plane, it will allow Orion - in the Material Plane - to ride on Carl's back like normal. Carl won't be getting any bite attacks any more (unless he encounters an ethereal opponent) and will thus be solely a means of transport, but on the plus side he now gains a fly speed. Vicki's pretty stoked.</p><p></p><p>Also, Joey didn't show again - he's a freshman in high school now and was swamped with homework. Therefore, we hand-waved his combat with the assassin as having happened off-screen but had Daleth come along to the trial - there was really no other option. Oddly enough, he was the only one to level up as a result.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7488140, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 24: TRIAL BY THE COUNCIL[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 5 Galen Thorne, human paladin 9 Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 9 Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 8 Syngaard, human fighter 9[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 29 August 2018 - - - It had been a sad day for Orion Nightsky and she still hadn't finished crying when she finally went to bed. Carl had been such a good riding dog: so easy to train, so brave to ride into battle, so loyal...it was hard to believe he was really gone. Sleep was long in coming for the little halfling, and when it came at last her head lay upon a pillow soaked with her tears. Not surprisingly, she dreamt of Carl. He was alive again, and excited at first, wagging his tail jumping up and down, and barking in pure joy. But then his barks turned more serious, and they became interspersed with growls and snarls. Orion thought he might be mad at her, but then she saw he was looking away, off to her left. She turned... ...and just barely avoided the steel blade that came swinging down towards her head. In the dim moonlight, she saw a dark figure bent over her, snarling in fury that her strike had missed. "Assassins!" called out Orion, rolling sideways off the bed - if this woman had made it into her bedroom, that meant she had made it through the exterior door above the stairs on the side of the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], then through her own bedroom door - both of which had been locked when the adventurers went to bed the night before. It was unlikely anyone would have put that much effort into killing one halfling rogue; more likely, indeed, that a group of assassins would have been sent to take out the entire party of adventurers all at once. So if she could warn the others while she dealt with this threat of her own, it might just give them the edge they needed to stay alive. Orion landed on the floor at the side of the bed on her shoulder and turned it into a full roll. When she stood back up, she had her [i]flaming short sword[/i] in hand, kept at the side of the bed for purposes such as these. The flickering light of the sword's flames illuminated the room enough for the little halfling to see who she was up against. It was nobody she recognized, nobody she could recall ever having seen before, but she was a tall, lithe human woman dressed entirely in black, with a gleaming blade of her own. Orion made as if to lunge forward but pulled back at the last moment; the assassin, [b]Jayde[/b], fell for the feint and swung her own blade to come crashing down where Orion's head would have been had she completed the maneuver. Orion then easily got past the flustered assassin's defenses to plunge her smaller, flaming blade between a pair of ribs; when she pulled it back out, there was glistening blood beneath the magical flames. Jayde put a hand to the wound and tried swinging her blade in a sideways arc to skewer the halfling's head from her neck, but that was the easiest kind of blow for a little halfling to avoid - Orion ducked beneath the swinging sword and struck out again at her assailant. A stab at the knee to cause some distracting pain, then a deeper thrust to the thigh to really get the blood flowing, and before she knew it she had Jayde unconscious on her bedroom floor, bleeding out. It took a moment for Orion to decide whether or not to save the life of the assassin who had so callously tried to take hers away, but eventually, the heat of battle having subsided, the halfling decided the would-be assassin could well be a source of information. So, using her blade, she cut the sleeves from the assassin's armor and used Jayde's own belt and scabbard-strap to staunch the blood and bind her securely. As she did so, she gave a sudden start - for she could swear she still heard the barking that had awakened her from her dream.... Moments earlier in the room across the hall, Kaspar snapped out of his nightly trance at the cry of "Assassins!" In a single motion, the elf monk stood up from his cross-legged position on the floor and sent his foot kicking out at the human even now bending over to try to slay him as he meditated. Kaspar's foot drove deep into the enemy's stomach, bending him over into near helplessness while the elf sent a hard strike crashing down upon his head, powered by years of training and the [i]tenryutsume[/i] Kaspar wore on his right hand and forearm. [b]Brian Swiftstrike[/b] fell forward but rolled with the blow, indicating some level of martial arts training himself. He landed, swung around, and caught Kaspar in the face with a punch of his own, but Kaspar had opted not to block the incoming blow so he could get off a devastating counterattack of his own. In a flurry of blows nearly too fast to see, the elven monk battered his human counterpart until he lay dead on the floor. Kaspar casually wiped the blood from his lip, wondering who this assassin might be. Bending over him, he searched for the traditional hourglass tattoo of the Seekers of Eternity on the back of his neck and was surprised to find a similar tattoo in place there - although this hourglass seemed to be spilling drops of blood. Interesting.... At the same time, Galen was trading blows with a counterpart of his own. The young paladin had been having a rather pleasant dream involving Serenity when Orion's scream of warning woke him to see a black-armored figure, [b]Sinblade[/b], standing above him with a raised sword. Galen rolled sideways and grabbed up the [i]sword of Zehkar[/i] and his own shield, propped up against the wall at the side of his bed, and fought the evil knight wearing only his night garment. Instinctively - he didn't even waste the time to examine the man's aura - he channeled positive energy through his blade, smiting the blackguard and causing him to stagger backwards. In the light of Zehkar's glow, Galen made out the symbol on his opponent's shield: Hextor, god of tyranny, the evil counterpart (and brother) to Galen's own deity, Hieroneous, god of valor. The blackguard's sword made a feeble strike at Galen but was blocked by the paladin's shield, then a repeat of his earlier [i]smite evil[/i] attack brought the foe to his final moments. Sinblade fell to his knees, lost his grip on his weapon and his shield, and toppled onto his face, stone cold dead. The three heroes having dealt with their assassins, they rushed out to check on the other lodger in the upper level of the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], but Daleth had already dealt with his own assassin, who lay dead on the floor of the wizard's room. Her face bore the burn marks of a recent victim of an [i]empowered scorching ray[/i] spell. "I wonder if they just attacked us here, or sent somebody to kill Syngaard as well?" wondered Daleth aloud. Syngaard was sound asleep in a bed in the brothel where he performed bouncer duties when the assassin silently opened the door and stepped inside the room. Any sounds the assassin might have made while crossing the room were surely obscured by the light snores emanating from the scarred fighter's mouth, and in fact it was his snoring which likely saved his life - for beside him in bed, Cori turned to wake Syngaard (or at least convince him to sleep on his side) when she locked eyes with the assassin, still several feet from the bed. Several things happened almost at once. Cori gave a shrill scream, the assassin pounced forward and sent his dagger crashing down towards Syngaard's bald head, and Syngaard woke up from a sound sleep, bolted upright, saw an incoming blade, and rolled to his right, landing on the floor in a heap. The dagger tore into the bed, in a spot Syngaard had been occupying a mere second before. Syngaard looked eye to eye at his attempted killer, grabbed the morningstar he kept at the side of his bed, stood up - and was suddenly looking down at his would-be assassin. "A [i]halfling[/i]?" Syngaard roared. "They sent an effin' [i]halfling[/i] to try to kill me?" Roaring in outrage at the implied insult, the scarred fighter send his morningstar in a wide arc that caught the halfling - one [b]Alfonse Silentfoot[/b], as it happened - in the face, sending him flying across the room. He landed poorly but had time to scramble back to his feet by the time the half-naked fighter strode across the room; he even stabbed out with his short sword, catching Syngaard in the side and drawing a line of blood across his waist - but then another crashing blow from the fighter's weapon sent Alfonse crashing unconscious to the floor, bleeding from both sides of his head. "Is he dead?" asked Cori, who had hidden crouched down on the other side of the bed during the short but furious battle. "Not yet," replied Syngaard, raising his morningstar over his head for the killing blow - but then, in a surprising moment of insight, he lowered his weapon. "Ah, Hell," he sighed. "You got anything to tie him up with? I suppose Skev-- I suppose I oughtta go take him to get interrogated, see who sent him." Cori turned up the oil lamp to brighten the room, then started binding the halfling's hands and feet while Syngaard got dressed and put on his armor. She used strips from the little halfling's own cloak to bind the wounds on the back of his head, wincing at the scars the morningstar's sharp points had made to his face. "You made him look like a little version of you - only with hair," Cori observed. Syngaard only grunted in response. Once he was ready, he picked the halfling up by his bound legs, looping his shield arm between Alfonse's knees and tossing him over his back like a sack of potatoes. "Now I gotta trudge all the way across town with the little bastard," the fighter grumbled to himself. While Syngaard started walking through the dark and silent streets - it was somewhere between two and three bells in the morning - Orion and Kaspar had geared up and gone down the stairs to investigate the barking that was still going on, leaving Daleth upstairs to guard the unconscious Jayde while Galen took the laborious steps to get into his plate armor. Rounding the corner of the building, the first thing the elf and halfling noticed was their front door was missing - no, not merely missing, upon further investigation, but [i]disintegrated[/i] into oblivion. They silently crept into the dark tavern, but the magical wards recognized their rings and turned the [i]everburning torches[/i] on the walls up to full illumination. Looking up at the two heroes in surprise was a pale-skinned woman standing behind the bar. The barking sounds were coming from a thick gray mist over to the left side of the tavern; as Orion watched in amazement, the mist coalesced into a familiar shape: Carl the riding dog, snarling and growling over at the intruder behind the bar. She wore a green dress and had long, black hair; that was all the two heroes could make out about the woman before her own form instantly vanished, to be replaced by a bat flapping towards the open doorway. Orion pulled out one of her throwing daggers and sent it flying at the bat and Kaspar followed suit with a handful of shuriken, but it didn't look as if any of the thrown weapons hit their target. The bat made it outside the building and then was lost in the darkness. Kaspar scanned the skyline to see if he could find the bat, but Orion had other concerns at the moment. The intruder gone, Carl walked over to his mistress and tried to rub his muzzle against her hand, the way he did whenever he was hinting he wanted a good petting or a rubdown. Orion tried to oblige, but her hand went right through her mount - Carl was, without a doubt, now a ghost. She could feel the coldness of the air around Carl as she tried and failed to pet him, and he looked into her eyes with a look of canine sadness. Then Daleth and Galen walked into the tavern, the armored paladin carrying the bound Jayde over a shoulder. Movement caught Daleth's eye from the street outside, but it was just Syngaard, with a prisoner of his own draped over a shoulder. He stormed into the tavern with a fierce scowl and plopped Alfonse onto the nearest table. "They sent a damned [i]halfling[/i] to try to kill me!" he exploded. "We'd better get Skevros," suggested Kaspar, moving to behind the bar to the door leading to the storage room - and, if you wore an attuned ring, also to the extradimensional rooms the king's adviser kept for his own use. Syngaard, in the meantime, briefly wondered why Orion was making such a big fuss over her damned dog until he remembered Carl had been slain the day before. "Well Hell," he commented. "That ain't right." Once Skevros had joined the assembled group, they filled him in on the attack. Kaspar mentioned the "blood-hourglass" tattoo on the back of his foe's neck, and a quick check confirmed both Jayde and Alfonse wore the same emblems on the backs of their necks. "Interesting," mused Skevros. "A splinter group, perhaps? Or the assassination branch of the Seekers?" "Let's find out," suggested Syngaard, slapping his bound halfling foe awake. "Talk!" he commanded. Alfonse just stared defiantly at the big brute who had overpowered him. Then, quick as a snake, he wriggled his hands free from the restraints behind his back and dropped to the floor. Instead of trying to untie his ankles and make a break for it, though, he reached inside an inner pocket and brought out a small potion vial. He tried to get it to his lips but Syngaard tackled him, pinning him underneath his own bulk. Skevros pulled the vial from the halfling's hands and sniffed it experimentally. "Poison," he declared. "You're not escapin' us that easily," warned Syngaard, giving Alfonse a punch in the nose for good measure. "I have nothing to say," replied the halfling assassin. "Perhaps not now," agreed Skevros, "but you might be useful at the upcoming trial." He put a hand on the halfling's head and muttered a few arcane syllables, and the halfling's flesh and clothes became gray stone. Then a [i]shrink item[/i] spell reduced the halfling statue to the size of a small stone, which the king's wizard immediately pocketed. He then turned to Jayde, who had been awakened and saw what had befallen her partner-in-crime. "Do you wish to share his fate?" asked Skevros. "I...I'm willing to talk," Jayde answered hesitantly. "Then let's hear it," snarled Syngaard. "Who are you working for?" "The vampire," Jayde answered immediately. "We were to provide a distraction while she broke into your headquarters and took what she was after. She was going to reward us with eternal life if we were successful." "Eternal life?" repeated Galen in astonishment. "You mean, as a vampire? That's not life - that's undeath!" "And your mistress's target was...?" prompted Daleth. "The body of the wizard you slew." Skevros swore uncharacteristically and raced over behind the bar, looking down at the shelves there. "She got it - it's gone," he sighed. "Got what?" asked Kaspar. "The body of Arcturus. I had shrunken it as well, after casting a [i]gentle repose[/i] spell upon it. I didn't want it stinking the place up before the trial." "Well, the lot of you failed," sneered Syngaard. "Five assassins after the five of us, and here we all are, while three of you are dead and the other two our prisoners." "On the contrary: we won," sneered Jayde right back at the bald fighter. "We didn't have to kill you, merely keep you from interfering - which we did." "I suppose this means they'll have Arcturus [i]resurrected[/i]," surmised Orion. "Hey, he better not be at our trial!" said Syngaard. "He's one of the Guildmasters - ain't they gonna be the ones running the trial?" "Not necessarily," replied Skevros. "But in many cases, yes." "Well, that don't seem fair, getting to convict the guys what killed you! Plus, if he's back alive, then what's the harm done? We shouldn't need to go to no trial after all!" "I'm afraid it doesn't work quite that way," remarked Skevros offhandedly, turning to face Jayde. "In any case, I think we've heard quite enough from you." He placed a hand on her head and repeated the two spells he'd previously cast on Alfonse, leaving her petrified and shrunken to 1/16th her normal size. "So we're still going to the trial?" asked Kaspar. "Indeed we are. Tomorrow - well, later today, I suppose. Daleth, would you mind giving me a hand with our front door? We'll need to see if we can [i]fabricate[/i] a new one, I suppose." "I need a drink," announced Syngaard suddenly. "Where's Karen?" - - - "Well, teleportin' sure beats trudging all the way over here, I suppose," remarked Syngaard as the group manifested instantly just outside the front door to Wrencrofft Manor later that afternoon. Skevros had brought all five of his heroes with him, and even managed to include Carl's ghost, who had hung around Orion ever since the two had been reunited. However, Skevros ignored the fighter's comments - he was intent upon the mechanical figure standing in front of the door. "I am [b]Azure Delta Sigma[/b]," said the metal construct. (Skevros would later identify it to the others as a kolyarut, one of the inevitables serving as the Executioners of Azure Law.) "I have been assigned to watch over the accused. If you have any questions regarding your trial, feel free to ask and I shall answer to the best of my ability." "I have no questions at this time," replied Skevros. "Please stand aside." The kolyarut did as it was bid and the group entered the Wrencrofft Manor, Azure Delta Sigma following behind. Skevros tried his best to simply ignore the construct, so the others followed his lead. "So, what kind of justice can we expect during the trial?" asked Kaspar. "The trial--" began Azure Delta Sigma, only to be cut off. "We wasn't talkin' to you, we was talkin' to him," said Syngaard, pointing a thumb at Skevros. The construct dutifully stopped talking. "When we are taken into the courtroom, it will be presided over by nine members of the Council - possibly the eight Guildmasters of the eight colleges of magic and the Head Priest of the Church of Boccob, but not necessarily so - any on the nine may appoint an underling in his or her place." "So there's no guarantee we'll have Leorna there on our side - or Orlin?" asked Galen, mentioning the two Guild leaders who had reason to view the Durnhill group in a good light. "Guarantee? No. But I would hope if they aren't there themselves in person, they'll have passed on their views to those who take their place. Now then, besides the nine presiding over the trial, there will also be sixteen kolyaruts in attendance - our executioners, should it come to that. The outcome of the trial is determined by a simple majority vote, with the severity of the sentencing based upon the size of the majority. For murder, or assassination, as we're being charged with, the penalty ranges from life imprisonment or banishment with a 5/4 guilty vote to the obliteration of the accused's souls in the event of a unanimous guilty vote." "Well, that sucks," observed Syngaard. "Still, we should have the Guilds of Illusion and Conjuration on our side. That's two in our favor, to start with. All we need is three more of the other seven to side with us, and we're free and clear." "Yeah, but we also got three already in the bag for the Seekers," reminded Syngaard. "That we know of - there could be more, for all we know." "So there's...four more still undecided," said Galen. "And we need to sway three of those four to our side." "As you say," agreed Skevros. "Still, not an insurmountable task. And we have the better part of a week to decide upon our defensive strategy. Plus, recall that it's unlikely the majority of the Guilds even know about the Seekers - we will be bringing their secret organization out into the open. That will likely sway some of the undecided to our side." "Is there anything else we should know about?" asked Daleth. "The Council will have a [i]discern lies[/i] spell active on us at all times. It won't force us to speak the truth, but it will allow them to know when we're lying. I would therefore recommend we speak the absolute truth whilst in the courtroom. And," he added, looking at Galen and Syngaard in turn, "a bit of decorum would be appreciated. I will expect all of us to be respectful and on our best behavior." "Of course," replied Galen immediately, while Syngaard only answered with a puzzled expression of wonderment that he would be singled out in such a fashion. "It will be up to us to convince the Council of our innocence," Skevros said. "To that end, the Council will ask us questions, as a group or individually, but we are allowed to ask questions of the Council as well. In a way, this will be a simple conversation between two parties." "I think we would do best to have you do most of the talking," suggested Orion. "Quite the contrary: I intend to do very little talking during the trial. I will leave the arguments as to our innocence to the rest of you." "What? Why?" "Because I am not only an outcast of the Azure Glade, having been found guilty by the Council some decades ago and banished to the kingdom of Durnhill, but I am also a wizard of the higher rankings. I fear some of the Guildmasters may assume it possible I may have found a way to bypass the [i]discern lies[/i] spell." "I don't suppose they're gonna let us wear our armor or bring our weapons with us," grumbled Syngaard. "Quite the contrary," answered Skevros. "Not only will we have access to our equipment in case of an emergency, but some of your weapons are no doubt going to need to be examined. They're treating them as 'murder weapons,' you know." "Any obviously hostile actions against the Council will be met with immediate execution," added Azure Delta Sigma. "Yes, we will all need to play nice during the trial," agreed Skevros. "Now then: let me show you to your rooms." - - - The rest of the week was relatively uneventful, with Azure Delta Sigma continually attempting to be of aid to the accused while they continued to distrust it. At the appointed time, Azure Delta Sigma approached the group and, with their consent, teleported them all to the waiting room for the trial. The group was then led down a corridor to a blue transparent wall which lowered upon their arrival. They stepped into a large, circular room with 16 blue doorways, including the one from which they had just entered, behind each of which stood an identical replica of Azure Delta Sigma. The kolyarut who had delivered them to the courtroom obediently took up its own position behind the door they'd just used. There was a platform 10 feet above the floor all around the circular room; in nine alcoves spaced equidistant around the circle's circumference sat nine robed figures, eight of them wearing a mask that covered the face, leaving only eyeholes. Each mask was featureless save for the emblem of the Guild to which the member belonged - or, likely in many cases, ruled. The robes were each the color of the respective Guild, with the maskless leader of the Church of Boccob adorned in gray. Galen thought for a moment the Boccobian looked familiar, but then his attention was diverted as he scanned the figures seated above him, searching for the taint of evil in their auras. Surprisingly, he found none - none at all. [i]Probably hiding their alignments[/i], thought the paladin. The Boccobian cleric was the first to speak. "I, [b]Khier[/b], representative of the Church of Boccob, hereby bring this trial to order. The assembled are accused of the assassination of Grand Diviner Arcturus, Guildmaster of the Diviners Guild and member of this council. Present your evidence to the contrary." The group looked among themselves. "First of all," stated Galen, his voice booming in the enclosed room, "we wish to know who brings the accusation of assassination." "It was I," said the Guildmaster in black, the head of the Necromancers Guild. "We are accused of assassination," said Syngaard. "But that just ain't true, for one simple reason: assassins get paid for their work. If we're assassins, then who paid us? 'Cause I state here for the record that nobody paid us even a copper to kill Arcturus - let your spell tell you if I'm lying." "Murder, then," came the response from behind the necromancer's mask. "Premeditated murder, even. You planned on killing the Guildmaster of the Diviners Guild." "We fully admit to killing Arcturus," said Galen, causing a bit of a stir among the robed Guildmasters. "But only because he came into our home and attempted to kill this man here, a man many of you already know: Skevros Wrencrofft. While there, he also stated his intention to kill each and every one of us as well. Killing him was an act of self-defense." Seeing the paladin's words were true, several of the Guildmasters began nodding and whispering to themselves. "And check out the holy symbol on his shield," pointed out Syngaard. "This man is a paladin of Hieroneous. You shouldn't need no spell to tell you he's telling the truth." "An alleged paladin of Hieroneous," countered the necromancer. "Can you prove you're a paladin of Hieroneous?" asked Khier. "Can you cast a spell in our presence?" "I'll do you one better," promised Galen and mentally called forth across the planes for his bonded mount. In a flash, Burt appeared in the courtroom, 3,000 pounds of saber-fanged feline, straight from the Beastlands. He roared at the unfamiliar figures seated in a ring above him and stood protectively next to Galen, his master. "You admit to the killing," repeated the Necromancy Guildmaster, ignoring the legitimate reason they had stated for doing so and trying to undo the good the dire lion's presence had done for the accused. "While you're in such a mood for confessions, why don't you tell us if you have committed any other crimes against the country of the Azure Glades?" "Other crimes?" began Daleth - and then Galen and Syngaard swapped guilty looks. "The book," whispered Syngaard. "Ah," said Galen. "Well, um, there was this matter about a book we took from the Diviners Library." "So, you are admitted thieves as well as murderers!" declared the black-robed Guildmaster. "Not murderers, and not thieves," corrected Galen. Orion clamped her mouth shut and told herself not to a say a single word - not when the subject was thievery. "We paid a group of divination students at the library to smuggle the book out, and then we purchased it outright from them. So technically, they were the ones who stole the book, not us." "Accessories to theft, then," scoffed the necromancer. "Instigators, even!" "But even that had extenuating circumstances!" insisted the paladin. "We needed the book to research Zehkar, Osleth, Hirek, and the Seekers of Eternity, the organization that is trying to take over the Azure Glade, in order to stop their evil plans!" "Fairy tales!" scoffed the black-clad wizard. "He isn't lying," pointed out the masked wizard in green robes, and the heroes thought they recognized the voice of Orlin, the Conjuration Guildmaster, who went on to explain he owed his life to the efforts of the accused, who saved him from being slain by two members of the Seekers of Eternity in the lower level of the Abjurers Guildhouse. This brought about more mutterings from the other Council members. "We know this much," stated Galen. "The Seekers of Eternity are looking for the secrets of immortality, and will do anything to gain such power. They have already infiltrated and taken over the Diviners Guild, the Necromancers Guild, and the Evokers Guild, as well as many of your Azure Guard. They also infiltrated and destroyed the Church of Wee Jas in Durnhill, as a practice session for when they attempt to do the same to your own Church of Boccob." "Ridiculous! Never have I heard such nonsense!" declared the Necromancy Guildmaster. "But the [i]discern lies[/i] spell backs them up," pointed out the red-clad wizard - the speaker for the Guild of Transmutation, Skevros's old college. "Pah! That only means they believe these lies themselves to be true! It proves nothing!" "Well here's something you can check for yourselves, then," piped up Syngaard. "These Seekers of Eternity wear a tattoo on the backs of their necks, shaped like an hourglass full of sand tipped over on its side." As he said this, Skevros pulled the two stones from his pocket and said the words returning the two petrified assassins to their normal size. "I'll bet if you check him, him, and him" - and here Syngaard pointed to the wizards in white, black, and blue robes in turn - "you'll find they each got that tattoo on 'em." "Those who attacked the Church of Wee Jas were animated skeletal spellcasters, created by foul necromancy," added Galen. "They wore the emblem carved into their skulls, right here." The paladin pointed to his own forehead as loud murmuring came from behind the masks of those sitting in judgment above. "Why are we even bothering to listen to such nonsense when they have already admitted to killing Arcturus?" demanded the black-robed leader of the Necromancers Guild. "I believe we should take a recess until tomorrow," suggested Khier. "It will allow tempers to calm - and give us time to investigate the claims made by the accused." While the other members of the Council discussed amongst themselves, the Necromancer and Diviner Guildmasters both moved as if to remove their masks. As soon as the masks were off their faces, they disappeared - as if having teleported away. "It would seem the decision has been made for the rest of us," Khier announced. "We are adjourned." The other Guildmasters nodded their consent and disappeared by removing their own masks as well. "That's a neat trick," observed Kaspar. "All they have to do is take off their mask and they teleport away." "Or they were never even physically here in the first place," opined Daleth. After looking over the empty council seats, Khier stepped forward off the raised ledge and floated gracefully down to the party. "It's the latter," he admitted to the elf wizard. "Each of the judges is back at his own Guildhall, and has been there since before the trial commenced." He turned to Galen. "I would have preferred you not bring up Zehkar and the others, but I believe you have done a good job shedding light upon the Seekers of Eternity." Then, looking to Syngaard he said, "Keep them safe." "I...that's my number one priority," stammered Syngaard, at an uncharacteristic loss for words. "Just who are you?" Khier smiled. "I am Hirek. Your succubus friend caused a bit of trouble asking about my existence. Personally, I would prefer the Seekers to not know I'm still here, even if I am a mere ghost of my former self." He chuckled softly at his own pun. "You're a ghost?" asked Orion - her first words since entering the trial chamber. "I am indeed a ghost," answered Khier. "Those of us who know the Mithral Mage's name are cursed, prevented from passing on to our proper afterlife, further preventing the Mithral Mage's own true death." "Wait--so you're Hirek?" asked Syngaard. "I am." "So you're, like, hundreds of years old?" "I am." "Then you were here for Skevros's trial? Like, here in the chamber?" "I was, although back then I had a different name - I was posing as a man whom I am now posing as the son of. Being human, I need to change names every so often so nobody gets suspicious of my unusually long life." "So then, what was Skevros found guilty of?" "Being an accessory in the death of Arcturus's son, Rigel." "Ah," replied Skevros. "When I was evil, due to the helm, I found a way to open the gates to Hell permanently, and left notes as to how the ritual had to be performed. But I had made intentional errors in the transcription I wrote, so that anybody trying to use them but me would die in the attempt. Rigel tried, and he died." "I must warn you, though: Arcturus is sure to be returned to life," said the ghost calling himself Khier. "The Seekers of Eternity began as a group of alchemists, seeking to create a potion of immortality. During our research, we found a way to transmute base metals to gold. The Seekers as they exist now have a practically unlimited amount of wealth with which to fund [i]true resurrections[/i]. Furthermore, before his death, Arcturus was at the Durnhill Temple of Pelor, asking questions about Syngaard and his donations to the orphanage there. For her own safety, I suggest your daughter Hope be moved at once." "Where to?" asked Syngaard. "My extradimensional chambers," answered Skevros. "That would be ideal," agreed Khier. "They have yet to breach the space - in fact, I doubt they are even aware of its existence." "We will make arrangements immediately upon our return," Skevros promised Syngaard. "As for the hourglasses of blood, they too are members of the Seekers of Eternity. Most seek to follow in the footsteps of the Mithral Mage, but a small group believes that Hirek is the rightful leader of the Seekers. Unfortunately, they mistakenly believe that the moniker 'the Scarlet Sage' refers to me being a vampire, and so they seek eternal unlife through vampiric means." "You're not a vampire?" asked Syngaard. "I am not." "But you're a ghost." "That I am." "So now what?" asked Galen. "Now, you return to Wrencrofft Manor," replied Khier - or Hirek. "The Council will reconvene tomorrow to pass judgment." "May I ask how you believe we are doing?" asked Kaspar. "I think you're all doing remarkably well," replied the ghost with a smile as he stared fading away from view. Almost immediately thereafter, one of the 16 blue doors opened and Azure Delta Sigma stepped forward to take them to the waiting area, from which they could teleport back to Skevros's manor home. "We got this," predicted Galen. And he was quite right: the next day when they reconvened, there were only seven robed figures presiding over the courtroom. Conspicuous in their absence were the Guildmasters to both the Diviners and the Necromancers Guilds. "We stand reconvened," announced Khier despite the two missing members. "We will hear the votes of those present." "Abjuration: not guilty." "Conjuration: not guilty." "Enchantment: not guilty." "Evocation: abstain." That one was a bit of a surprise: perhaps the Guild hadn't been entirely taken over by the Seekers just yet. "Illusion: not guilty." "Transmutation: not guilty." "And the Church of Boccob: not guilty," added Khier. "The accused have been hereby found not guilty in the murder of Grand Diviner Arcturus and are free to go. In addition, the Council agrees to modify the terms of the [i]mark of justice[/i] worn upon the brow of Skevros Wrencrofft: from this day forth, he shall be allowed to travel from the kingdom of Durnhill, where he has been banished, to his manor home here in the Azure Glade, without breaking the conditions of his banishment. This Council stands adjourned." "So what about the Diviners Guild and the Necromancy Guild?" asked Orion as they returned to Wrencrofft Manor. "I imagine they're undergoing a thorough inspection of their ranks and new leadership is being put into place," Skevros explained. "All in all, this trial brought about some good: by exposing the Seekers to the Council of Guilds, we get them to work on our side expunging them from their ranks!" "That ain't the only good thing to come of it," added Syngaard. "We don't gotta trudge all the way back home to Durnhill - you're here to teleport us all back there for once!" - - - Logan said he was worried about this adventure, since so much of it was just role-playing - in fact, he even added the assassin attack at the beginning solely so we'd have [i]some[/i] combat. He was relieved when we all had a good time with it, although Harry and Vicki stayed mostly silent during the court scene, leaving the defensive arguments to Dan and me. But Vicki, after some initial trepidation about having Carl return as a ghost, has bought fully into the idea. Logan even had Skevros offer to create a [i]ghost touch saddle[/i] for Carl; rather than the normal [i]ghost touch weapon[/i] that allows a wielder on the Material Plane to affect those creatures on the Ethereal, this will work in the opposite manner: by Carl wearing it in the Ethereal Plane, it will allow Orion - in the Material Plane - to ride on Carl's back like normal. Carl won't be getting any bite attacks any more (unless he encounters an ethereal opponent) and will thus be solely a means of transport, but on the plus side he now gains a fly speed. Vicki's pretty stoked. Also, Joey didn't show again - he's a freshman in high school now and was swamped with homework. Therefore, we hand-waved his combat with the assassin as having happened off-screen but had Daleth come along to the trial - there was really no other option. Oddly enough, he was the only one to level up as a result. [/QUOTE]
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