The same night that General Argos is released, the arsonist strikes again, starting a fire at the house of Livia Dierfli.
By some “coincidence”, Kratos is there. Livia’s family has made plain that they do not approve of him, and have begun to make it difficult for Kratos and Livia to see each other. His very presence is suspicious, especially “in the nick of time.”
Especially when a combination of the watch and the Dierfli house guards capture the arsonist- and it is Nowhere Jones.
***
General Argos keeps a jar on his desk. He asks everyone that sees him to contribute what they can afford to the war effort. He does not demand anything, but he does remind every visitor that the Hand is coming, and everyone must do their part if the city of Fandelose is to avoid extinction.
In the immediate aftermath of his liberation, General Argos sets to work on the jigsaw problem of the city’s defense. One part of the problem is that Councilor Bridget Willow may have the brave soldiers that uncovered the truth and freed him thrown in jail over their unlawful imprisonment of her manservant. Another issue is that a complaint has been filed against Sergeant Kratos regarding his behavior in the incident the other night wherein Nowhere Jones was caught in the act of attempting to light a fire. The fact that Nowhere Jones may be the city’s arsonist is another issue for General Argos, complicating his defense of the other members of the party. And he really doesn’t have time for this nonsense!
But I cannot simply let this slide, the general tells himself. This city has a long, proud tradition of civilian rule. If the military does not handle its affairs appropriately, the city will step in- and I need to gain their full support in order to avoid an insurrection when I declare martial law. And when the Six-Fingered Hand gets too close, I will have to declare martial law. This politicking must stop; it will kill us all if I let it. He sighs. No, I must move immediately to investigate this alleged arson situation. If Nowhere Jones is truly the culprit, he’ll hang, just like anyone else would. And if not, he’ll be freed.
***
In a shabby cold small wet cell, Nowhere Jones sits with his back to the wall.
Damn. They caught me. And when I was going to help Kratos with his lady friend, too- all I wanted to do was to help him look good to her family. He grins inwardly. Well, and to compromise Kratos. Maybe frame him for the other fires. More evidence, along with the candlesticks that I stole from the upper class house I lit and then passed on to him. Make him take the blame.
He glances at the cell door. Well, so much for that. Now I’m caught. I’ll maintain my innocence, but if they can find any evidence- or worse yet, if Kratos talks- I’m a dead man. I guess it wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had to light those fires, but they were so pretty...! And the sound of all the screams was so sweet, it was like a symphony. He sighs. I guess what they say about tieflings is true.
Too bad I’ll never see my play.
***
In order to ensure that the investigation is performed by trustworthy and impartial persons, General Argos has assigned some members of his staff that don’t know Nowhere Jones (or the rest of our heroes) to investigate the accusations against him; he orders the rest of the party to stay away from the investigation, except when required by the investigators, at which time they are to cooperate fully. Sergeant Kratos is fined 100 gp and a demerit is applied to his record due to the seriousness of the complaints against him. The general warns him that a second attempt to take the law into his own hands will be dealt with very harshly. General Argos warns them all sternly that the people of Fandelose barely tolerate the military presence here due to decades of heavy-handed mismanagement by his predecessor, General Urgrid. “I’ve spent the last two years trying to rebuild trust with these people, and I won’t have you ruining my efforts.”
Finally, he tells our heroes that he is working on the issue of Councilor Willow’s man Martin’s brief imprisonment, but it would be best if the party was absent from town until a resolution can be reached; that way he has time to ensure that no heated moments cause an unfortunate arrest. If the city guard does try to arrest the party, they are to surrender peacefully in accordance with the laws of the Empire and Fandelose- and to insist on a military trial.
“This is ridiculous!” Kratos exclaims. “We just saved you from an unjust death, and you tell us to get out of town?!”
Sternly, General Argos answers, “There are things that need to be taken care of to ensure the safety of Fandelose, and not all of them are within the city walls. I have assignments for you.”
Sergeant Kratos shuts up, but he’s seething inside. 100 gold piece fine! Damned if I’ll pay that!
“What can we do outside of the city?” interjects Heimall before Kratos can get in any deeper trouble.
“There are several things. First, there is a forward observation post above the Black Gorge, atop the edge of the top of the canyon. It’s an old military tower, but it has been abandoned for almost half a century due to issues of manpower and funding. Frankly, I would be surprised if nothing has moved in and taken shelter there, so you should be prepared for trouble. It’s even possible that you will find advance agents of the Hand. I’ll send in a force to relieve you as soon as your legal situation is resolved to my satisfaction.”
“General, how long do you think that will take?” asks Vann-La.
“I believe that I can resolve it within a week. If I can do it sooner, I will. We need every man we can get for the coming battle, and we especially can’t afford to let politics interfere with the defense of Fandelose. But in the meantime, if you are here, you will only complicate matters. I need room to work.”
Heimall nods. “Yes, sir.”
Hkatha says, “You said that there were several things we could do to help out. What are the others?”
General Argos replies, “The second thing that you can do is help resolve the firestone situation. Fandelose needs its firestone supply- not only is it the main source of fire for the city, we need it for the forges and foundries. Firestone comes from the dwarves in the Black Gorge, but our supply is threatened. The Firestone clan of dwarves, who are in charge of the dwarven operation in the Gorge, claim that they haven’t received several of the most recent payments dispatched to them. Normally, the dwarves receive it at a small fort at the end of the gorge called Fort Duran Khazad. We have sent the payments, and dwarves have received it; but according to the Firestone dwarves, their couriers never returned.”
“It could be the Hand,” muses Heimall.
“Or bandits,” suggests Cook.
“Or they could have just run off with the money,” adds Torinn.
“It doesn’t matter,” Argos says. “We need to find out what happened and return that money to the dwarves. The city can’t afford to pay it again; we need every copper piece for upgrading the city’s defenses and training and arming the defenders. We need to retrieve that money.”
“Hey, remember those dead dwarves that the ants were eating?” Torinn blurts out. “I wonder if they could be the dwarf couriers.”
“We should definitely take a closer look at them,” nods Kratos.
“Is there anything else?” Hkatha asks the general.
“Yes. There is one more thing.” Argos takes a deep breath. “Somewhere in the Gorge is a secret place called the Cathedral of War. It is said that there are 250 very powerful weapons that wait there to be awakened. Do not mention this to the dwarves. They would not help, and might seriously hinder, your search for it. Be very careful about what you say around them.”
“What are these weapons?” asks Kratos.
”I don’t know. It’s an old legend, but one that the people of Fandelose put a lot of credence in, and the old histories seem to imply some truth to it.”
Only 250 weapons? thinks Kratos. That is not enough to make a difference in a war such as this. And besides, how would we carry them?
“Be ready to leave at sun up tomorrow,” General Argos says. “That leaves you in town for the rest of today to take care of any affairs you need to.”
Oh, good, thinks Torinn. Our tickets to see Nowhere Jones are for this evening’s show- we’ll still get to see it.
“Stay out of trouble, and keep a low profile. Any questions?” After a moment of silence, General Argos nods. “Thank you again. Now go see the quartermaster and get fitted for new uniforms- you have fought long and hard in your present ones. Dismissed.”
***
The quartermaster, whose name is Flash, is most appreciative of the party’s heroics. He thanks them for freeing Argos, and he talks as much smack about General Pythock as the party does. He fits them for new uniforms and issues them any supplies that they need that he can. Each of them receives a minor magic item.* Flash is happy to issue them rations, basic supplies, climbing kits- “Whatever you need, if I got it, it’s yours.”
Then they go to see the play.
***
The play Nowhere Jones began making the rounds of the theater circuit in the countryside of the County of Jercie. The South Street Theater Troupe saw it while touring and loved it, and are now performing it themselves back home at the South Street Theater, on South Street, in the smoke-choked slums of Fandelose. The building is sturdy and of good make, but it is clearly the result of resourceful poor people working to improve the place for decades, rather than a well-to-do person spending a large sum at once to erect a beautiful place. The South Street Theater’s beauty is more like the confident, battle-scarred beauty of a Vann-La than the youthful, blushing, unblemished loveliness of a Livia Dierfli.
“It’s too bad Nowhere Jones couldn’t be here,” whispers Torinn as he takes his seat.
Heimall shrugs. “Yeah, I can’t believe that he would be so stupid as to light a bunch of fires in a city that’s on a war footing.”
“Do you think he was guilty?” asks Cook.
Heimall shrugs again. “I don’t know. There were a lot of things about him that were suspicious...”
“What, the fact that he was a tiefling?” asks Hkatha Ilmixie ironically.
“No. The fact that he killed several of our goblin prisoners- defenseless prisoners!- for no reason. I don’t know... I just don’t trust him.”
“Well, we’ll see,” replies Sta’Ligir. “He’s on trial now. If he’s found guilty, we’ll know. If not... we should be on the lookout for an arsonist.”
The lights are doused, the windows are shuttered and the play commences. It centers around the Jones family, which is a common name in Jercie, where the initial scenes take place. It follows a typical country family of father Tallin, mother Joy, two brothers (Vantray and Roland, who is a tiefling throwback) and an uncle (Kandor).
In the initial act, we meet the Joneses in their rustic country abode. Most of the act is just getting to know the family- all seem to be good people, though Roland has only a single friend outside the family (Andrew) and has quite a temper, and Kandor is rather withdrawn and negative. In the last few scenes of the act, Vantray, the younger brother, goes missing. Roland (the other brother, who is a tiefling) is accused and flees. He escapes the rest of the family and flees towards the city, vowing to rest nowhere until he has cleared his name and taking the name Nowhere Jones to represent this.
In act II, Nowhere Jones journeys to the city of Porthios Nax. There, he falls in with a rough crowd on the streets after being beaten by watchmen and mostly starved; he is taken in by a gang. Meanwhile, back at the pastoral house, Joy weeps and grows ill while Tallin and Kandor go off to try to find Nowhere Jones.
Then, at the beginning of Act III, Kandor returns alone, weeping and claiming that Nowhere Jones slew his own father. Joy is heartbroken and demands to be escorted to her family in the hills of Verdevane. Kandor consents, and preparations are made, including the sale of most of Joy Jones’ possessions, netting a hefty amount of money. Then, in a soliloquy, Kandor reveals that he, too, has tiefling traits, and he gloats at how his plan is succeeding- to get everyone else that might have a claim to Joy’s fortunes out of the way and then claim them for his own. Meanwhile, Nowhere Jones returns to health and becomes a moderating force within the gang. Yet the mystery of what happened to his brother torments him. Over the course of a year, he climbs high up the ladder of leadership of his gang, and finally he sends a group of young, anonymous humans to search for the answers to the mystery of his brother’s disappearance.
In act IV, Nowhere Jones’ agents find Andrew, his boyhood friend, who tells them that the house has been sold, along with most of the possessions of the mother, and that the father is dead nigh a year now, supposedly killed by his own son. They obviously know that this cannot be true, since Nowhere Jones was with the gang at that point, and with additional questioning, they (and Andrew) figure out the true story, and Andrew realizes that his old friend Roland is the “Nowhere Jones” that sent them. As a group, they return to Porthios Nax as quickly as possible. There, Nowhere Jones and Andrew are reunited, and quickly set out on fast mounts to catch his uncle before it is too late. Meanwhile, Kandor and Joy approach the hills of Verdevane, and in another, extremely villainous soliloquy, he admits his plans to ravish her and imprison her once he slays her elderly father- her last living relative, other than himself.
Act V is very brief. It consists of but a single scene. Nowhere Jones and his childhood friend Andrew approach Joy’s family estate in Verdevane. They sneak up to the gates, but have not yet gained entrance when they see the wagon carrying Kandor and Joy enter via a higher road on the mountain.
And that’s it. It ends with tense music in the air. The sophisticates of the city love it; most of the common folk (of which there are few in the audience) hate it.
“We waited in line for hours for that?” complains Iggy.
Next Time: Above the Black Gorge!
*Each pc got his choice of a +1 weapon, implement, armor or necklace of protection.