The Tol Vehara Story Hour

[Pacio49]

History and Introduction:

Tol Vehara is the so-called Last City of Free Magic. When the merchant marines of the Jewelled Cities discovered the continent of Brace, they found the place sparsely populated, and proceeded to settle, with each of the Jewelled Cities and families that bore their names jockeying for power and a way to put their multitudinous ‘second sons’ and bastard scions to good use. In the process of settling, the explorers found their way over the White Mountains and found the source of a rather large river which they soon found to have many names among the many races and cultures whose lands they passed through. The land seemed devoid of human civilizations -- apart from a few tribal bands of horse barbarians roaming the lands south of what became known as the Gold River, the humans mostly encountered demihumans. The nomadic halflings and their colorful wagons crawled across the lands to the north, the gnomes and their pastoral farming communities were south of the Gold River to the east. Although rare, the explorers found Dwarves among the mountains and hills of the far east. And in the great forests to the north of the Gold River were the lands of the elven Queen.

The first exploring bands returned with strange tales of the Dwarven lands to the east, on the shores of an unknown ocean, with strongholds of stone, mines and quarries, foundries and workshops where they crafted exquisite goods of metal and stone. Above their cavernous clan halls and family holdings were the manicured and well-maintained gardens and fields of the gnomes -- expert with all things living, growing exotic crops in abundance and masters of the textile arts. They had a strange substance, light and strong yet soft and supple, that the explorers had never encountered before. The explorers said the gnomes called this ‘silk’, and despite many attempts and promises to obtain the secret of its manufacture, the gnomes would not be persuaded to impart this knowledge.

The explorers also told the Overlord of the Diamond Throne that the gnomes and dwarves were more than willing to trade with the humans, and the fine craftsmanship of the manufactured items and the exotic spices which the gnomes were growing were all brought back to the Jewelled Cities, creating an instant demand for a steady supply of these items. The new settlers made a trail of trading outposts that soon became small towns in the ‘frontier’ lands, to allow for the trading of manufactured goods with the eastern lands. The only problem to it all was the elves. The gnomes and dwarves were a bit insular, and they effectively closed off trading with the humans except in the town called ‘Outpost’, which soon became a thriving trade town. The elves, however, controlled the river and its trade, and soon saw the money to be made by charging tolls for rights to the river.

This matter of paying for the trafficking of the eastern goods soon led to resentment from the human traders as the elves’ fees cut into their profits. Greed ruled the humans’ hearts, and they all petitioned the Overlord of the Diamond Throne for an army to be sent. The Overlord, long worried at the prospect of the independent Grand Duchal families that ruled each of the Jewelled Cities were fast becoming richer than the Overlord of the confederacy, saw the armed excursion as an excuse to install his troops as unquestioned authority in the area, which would allow him to enforce tariffs and taxes on the goods both before they left the continent of Brace and when they were brought onto the shores of the Jewelled Lands. The Overlord graciously agreed.
He issued his muster, but also turned to the famous Knights of the New Order. Founded at the very early part of the history of the Jewelled Cities, the Knights of the New Order rescued the life and reign of the first Overlord, Lord Tyrant I (it was his great-grandson, Tyrant IV, who was to lead to the word ‘Tyrant’ and ‘Tyranny’ holding the negative connotations they do now). As a result of this, the Knights were given an Imperial Edict to go about their work, answering to none but the Diamond Throne. Since it was a band of evil spellcasters who had threatened Tyrant I, the Knights of the New Order quickly set about to regulate the use of magic in the lands. They did so in a very brutal and very efficient manner, absorbing those arcane spellusers who were willing to join the Knighthood, and destroying those that did not. If not for the powers of the clergy of the Jewelled Pantheon, they would have soon absorbed any divine spellcasters as well. In time, with the Imperial Edict, the Grandmasters of the Knights of the New Order managed to create a stranglehold on all magic in the Jewelled Cities. They erected towers of white stone in every city and topped each of the pinnacles of the tower with crystalline structures of various hues that mimicked the gemstone for which each of the cities was named. It was from these Towers, open only to the Knights, that all magic power flowed. All magical items were dependent on the flow of magic from the towers, and so the Knights prospered as they sold items for everyday use and then charged a monthly magical usage fee on top of that for anyone who used their energy. They tithed regularly and heavily to the Diamond Throne, and thus they were able to keep their Imperial Edict throughout history. Magic in the Jewelled Cities was extremely common, but extremely regulated, and arcanists who operated outside of the New Order were quickly found and destroyed.

The Knights were happy to provide the use of their standing armies for the Overlord, and using their powerful magics the martial and magical warriors of the Knights were sent to Brace to ‘negotiate’ with the Elven Queen. When they arrived, their diplomatic offers were rejected, and the Knights of the New Order proceeded to instigate a brutal war against the elves. The elves, however, proved much more resourceful and magical than the Knights had anticipated, and so despite all efforts of the Overlord’s Armies to the contrary, they were unable to capture Queensholm, the capital city of the elven nation. Heavy losses were incurred on both sides, and months turned into years, years turned into decades, and the Overlord grew old and died.

With the ascension of the new Overlord of the Diamond Throne, the Knights put pressure on the crown to sue for peace with the Elves. The distance between the frontier and the elven lands was formiddable, even for the magically capable Knights, and the spirits of the land seemed to conspire against the invading forces. Those who had begun the battle with rancor and greed were now mostly dead and gone, while the elves themselves were beginning to tire of the incessant fighting with the foul-tempered human foreigners. The new Overlord, Davin III, consented to the suit for peace, and sent the Lady Gillian Varese, one of the minor offshoots of Grand House Amber, to lead the diplomatic negotiations. The Lady Varese was a shrewd choice : already in her 50’s by human standards, she had in her veins the bloodline of a gold dragon, the hereditary claim of House Amber, and it made her unnaturally long-lived. She had the respect of the Knights, and she was a good negotiator.

The Lady Varese appeared in the elven court under flag of parlay, bringing gifts and tribute from the Overlord and the Nine Crowns of Friendship, silver circlets set with the gemstone from each of the nine major Jewelled Cities: Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Garnet, Amber, Onyx, Opal, Topaz, and Aquamarine. The elves were equally gracious, but the gifts they made to the approaching party of humans were not disclosed to those outside of the group. The elf Queen, Saristraiya Misterelle, and Lady Varese worked out what became known as the Accords of Tol Vehara. Representatives from the gnomes, halflings, and dwarves later ratified the Accords themselves, bringing peace and order to the region once more. And humans.

By the accords of Tol Vehara, the westernmost city of the elves, Tol Vehara itself, was ceded to the humans. They gained all control of the forests and lands north of the Gold River and west of the North River (as it became called... the elves called it Silver Stirring Pools, but all except the elves now refer to it as the North River). The humans were granted control of the bridges into Tol Vehara across the North River in a mile radius as well. All prisoners of war were exchanged, and both parties agreed to the nullification of all restitution efforts. The humans were required, as a show of good faith, to construct a stone wall 20 feet high and 10 feet thick minimum, running parallel to the river no more than 10 miles south of it. The elves insisted on this wall, and that it be manned by the humans, because the lands far to the south of the area described were known to be tainted by some miasma of evil. Occasionally this spawned monsters which swept north in bands, and the wall was intended as a way to deter these raids and give the humans and elves some peace from the raids. In exchange for this, the elves ceded any authority over the river traffic itself (an item which led to the grateful ratification of the Accords by the other races), and the new national boundaries were affixed in perpetuity.

All was in accord, and the Knights of the New Order saw to magically enhancing the creation of the wall. Scouting parties which ventured to the south, however, either never returned or else came back sickened by the effects of the Taint on the lands. Tales of monsters and ruins filled with items and treasure became commonplace, but the insidious effects of the Taint made it nearly impossible to venture within those lands.

20 years after the treaty was signed, Tol Vehara began to come into its own as a multi-racial and -cultural trading center. The tree city of the elves and their graceful, living sculptures of vines and treeforms among the middle and upper branches of the Ancient Elvish Trees provided a canopy for the city that began to spring up on the ground between the roots and trunks of the city’s trees. The Knights of the New Order finished one third of the length of the wall under the overseer Lord Hegen of House Aquamarine when a strange storm kicked up from the southlands. Animals fled before it, and a strange feeling fell over those who ventured even as much as a mile to the south of the wall... the Tainted lands had unexpectedly expanded northwards, eating a huge swath of lands. Suddenly, Hegen’s Wall, as it became known, became a tactical necessity as well as a sheer impossibility. The laborers rebelled against their working contracts. Those who had previously volunteered to man the watchtowers reneged on their oaths, and those who had been providing the magical power to expedite the creation of the wall (the Knights) suddenly found themselves recalled to the Jewelled Cities on an urgent matter. They left, and have not returned since.

The Lady Gillian was rewarded for her negotiations and made Governor and Viceroy over the fledgling city. With the disappearance of the Knights, the magical ties with the homelands were effectively severed. Without a Tower nearby or the Knights to bring portable energy sources, there was no way for the magical items and household luxuries to function in the city, meaning that cooling breeze stones and portable heat-boxes no longer functioned. The technology level of the city quickly reverted to one that did not rely on magic to survive, breeding a sense of self-sufficiency among those who lived there. Lady Gillian, bereft of immediate communications and gifted both with longevity and nearly absolute authority, set about to instill order in the new city by her own devices and plans. The Knights’ edict against magic use was immediately lifted. Instead, the Law of Dispersal was installed, stating that arcane users were allowed to function, but anything resembling a magical school or organization was strictly prohibited. Any arcanist found teaching someone beyond the rudimentary instruction of their arts (e.g. 3rd level) would be stripped of name and title and sentenced to execution by hanging OR life sentence serving as a Warden on Hegen’s Wall. A militia was quickly raised and armed and construction began on the temple of Povra, God of Warfare and chief deity of the human pantheon. To prevent the further loss of those building and manning the Wall, Lady Gillian decreed that the oath of service to Ward the Wall was binding for life. Those who swore the new oath would be pardoned of all crimes, but could never leave its service. She made the unpopular move of allowing the elves who owned property in the treetops to maintain that property, if they chose to become citizens of Tol Vehara and abide by those laws. Many left, but some remained.

All was well. The Wardens of the Wall thinned in numbers due to attrition to the point that not every watchtower on the wall can now be manned, but because the sentence for violent crimes in the city involves a choice between death or enslavement at the Wall, crimes became less frequent. Tol Vehara became a thriving trade city, and its numbers were supplemented by the fact that it attained the reputation for being the Last City of Free Magic “in the world”, according to the humans’ point of view. Overlord Davin III’s death left the succession in question for a bit, and after two years of political infighting, Overlord Kestrel I, originally Grand Duke Marthek of House Opal, ascended to the Diamond Throne. Kestrel was happy with the tithes that were sent regularly from the taxes Lady Varese collected, and he saw fit to leave Tol Vehara pretty much alone, focusing instead on using his reign to consolidate power and found a dynasty to follow after him.

With the Taint so nearby, though, the farmers to the south of the river soon began to fall ill. Strange transformations came over them, turning them bestial, mottling the skin, hardening nails into claws and changing the pupils of the eye into vertical slits that glowed red in the dark. Insanity claimed many, who struggled out of their sickbeds and ran like madmen to the south. Those who could breach the Wall did so, scrambling into the Blasted Lands never to be seen or heard from again. Not just humanoids were susceptible to it, though. In fact, it soon became apparent that all organic material exposed to the Taint became Tainted itself, meaning that horses, saddles, clothes, shoes, and food that had touched the Blasted Lands could make anyone sick, or begin the process of Tainting those who interacted with it. A wave of paranoia infected the city, with the whole population becoming hyper-sensitive to the concept of ‘purity’. The upper classes began to wear veils to separate themselves from the commoners and therefore make it so that they could not become Tainted. Government officials came into being to certify that items bought and sold were ‘clean’, and those unfortunate enough to contract some measure of the Taint were ostracized, forced to live on the South Bank of the Gold River, which quickly became a slum that was full of crime and despair. All attempts by the Clerics to cure the effects of the Taint were unsuccessful.

The Taint affected elves as well, but in a slightly different fashion. Elves who were exposed to the Blasted Lands eventually contracted a strange rotting disease, known as the Bane. They did not suffer the insanity or bestial transformations that normally occurred with the Tainted Ones, but they did find themselves in a leprosy-like progressive and infectious disease that killed within weeks of contracting it in a gruesome and painful way. After the strange storm and the advance of the Blasted Lands, the elf Queen declared a Quarantine on all elven lands. The borders were officially closed. Communications were sent via drum codes from city to city, and anyone approaching the elven lands would immediately be attacked with intent to destroy. The elves who were left in Tol Vehara found themselves locked out of their own homelands, and cut off from their kind. Stranded, they settled in to endure the Quarantine as best they could.

The one group that ended up benefitting from the Taint and the Bane, though, were the half-elves. All children of war, sired usually by force, or the descendants of those sired by violation, they were considered at best cause for pity, and at worst, a scourge and reminder of all that is evil within the human race. However, the mixed heritage of the half-elves was discovered to have a kind of odd advantage. The human heritage was resistant to the Bane, and the elvish heritage was resistant to the Taint. Half-elves were rather immune to the cumulative effects of the Taint. If they ate Tainted food, drank Tainted water, or slept on Tainted ground, they would feel terribly ill (-2 to all rolls for each day of exposure, cumulative) but once they returned to an area without Taint, they would recover (at a rate of one day’s recovery per day’s exposure). Furthermore, a half-elf didn’t seem to be capable of passing on the Taint to those they met, making them by default a ‘pure’ race. Suddenly, the downtrodden and despised half-elves found themselves in top jobs as Seneschals, Butlers, Valets, and Servants to the rich and powerful who wished to preserve their ‘purity’.

They also began to explore the Tainted lands, making forays into the area and grabbing as much treasure as they could, dodging whatever monsters were to be found and making a run out again. It soon became apparent to the early explorers that there were pockets of ‘normalcy’ within the Blasted Lands, places that for some unfathomable reason were free of the Taint. These became known as Havens, and as the knowledge of these spread, more and more of the other races began to plunder the ruins of the Blasted Lands. The Wardens of the Wall would grant them access to the lands to the south, and they named these folks ‘Dust Riders’, for the clouds of dust that their mounts would kick up as they made a run for the Wall, chased by whatever monsters or nastiness they couldn’t handle. (Dust Rider is a prestige class, stats to be posted.) A thriving business was set up as certain folks would make jaunts out into the Blasted Lands as their career, bringing their haul back to the city of Tol Vehara where they would invariably turn it over to Agents, sort of like a legal Fence, who would credit the Dust Riders’ accounts for the loot they returned, and then see to ‘purifying it’ and selling it on the open market in Tol Vehara. Agents grew to positions of economic importance and some political power for the services they provided. They saw to the supply of fresh mounts and equipment after every jaunt for the Dust Rider, gave them housing in a hostel or compound if they needed it, and disposed of any items that were Tainted for them. Agents became the sellers of items and knowledge, lore and history, and became a valued asset in the city.

It’s been 54 years since the Taint moved north following that odd stormy night. Tol Vehara is the city of opportunity -- the frontier city that defines the very edge of human ‘civilization’, without the amenities of magic-enhanced quality of life, far from the reach of the Overlord of the Diamond Throne, perched on the brink of possible destruction should the Taint move suddenly north again, thriving with trade and a stronghold of independent arcane magic, yet under the ever-present shadow of the possibility of a return from the Knights of the New Order. Tol Vehara is the place between places, rooted in the heritage and culture of the Jewelled Cities, yet growing organically among the demihumans. City of threats, city of intrigue, city of chance, city of prosperity. Fortunes are made and lost in Tol Vehara in a way not possible anywhere else in the known world.

And it is here that our story begins. . .

 

[Pacio49]

Meet the Party

Our cast of heroes came together after receiving the rudimentary training in their chosen classes (3rd level). The party was given the dossier on Tol Vehara and some other information, and this is what they brought to the table. (NOTE: This game is running under 3.0 rules with an eye to converting one of these days to 3.5)

VALAR Half-Elf Male CG Rogue

Valar's player brings his 13 year-old son RL to the table (see Skalar) and his adult half-brother (see Tanin/Tybok). This isn't the only family relationship we have going on, as Arien and Marcus who RP brother & sister in game are a married couple IRL. Although this is the first time this particular group has gathered, most folks knew each other from work or play already.​

Valar hails from the streets of Tol Vehara. A second-generation half-elf, he adhered more to the elvish side of his parentage (given the fact that he was born when it was already known that half-elves were immune to the Taint) and as such, he came to the group already a part of the powerful elvish rogue's guild (one of three in the city) known as the White Masks, a fact that his other party members are still not aware of wholly in game, although they know he does have some kind of connections to the "underground".

ARIEN Half-Elf Female NG Druid (now LN, you'll see it in the story)
Arien and her brother Marcus adventured together for the beginning of their short career. Also natives of Tol Vehara, Arien has grown up drawn like many by the allure and mystique of the Dust Riders and the Taint to the south. As such, she has already begun to study the Blasted Lands wilderness lore and begun to take the correct steps necessary to study as a real Dust Rider prestige class once she attains the necessary prerequisites. Arien is a whole lotta common sense, and a good dollop of natural diplomacy. She's older than her brother, and grew up caring for him even though they're close in age, so Arien naturally mothers others close to her age as well.

MARCUS Half-Elf Male CG Wizard
Marcus is part of the social resistance movement that dares to study arcane lore, even with the threat of the Knights of the New Order lingering above. He is quite interested in finding new scrolls and attaining the best magical resources he can. If not for the persistent ministrations of his sister's caregiving he'd often forget to eat, sleep, and bathe in the pursuit of his desire for the mysteries of magic. Left on his own, Marcus might have managed to obtain a fair level and then set up shop for himself, but drawn off into adventure with his questing sister, he finds himself on the fast track for adventure and notoriety.

SKALAR Half-Elf Male CG Ranger
Skalar is stalwart and true, very interested in honing his ranged attack skills and learning the most that he can about being a ranger.

What more can I say? Skalar is 13 years old in real life, and although he seems to enjoy the game a lot, he's a bit on the sullen side as part of the normal growth and maturation process for American teens. I'm going to have to sit down with him and retool his character slightly. Although he didn't know what he wanted to play like when he started, he seems to have finally found a desire to become an Arcane Archer. Unfortunately, his feats and skills don't optimize for this, so I'm going to give him a break and let him switch over his stats to the 3.5e ranger and optimize his feat selection to give his player the mechanics to play the character the way he's developed the preference for. It's not like Skalar's current feats or abilities have ever been the sole turning point of a battle or skill contest, so it wouldn't create messes retroactively.​

YOVAIRE Human Male NG Fighter
Played by EN's beloved moderator, Eridanis, Yovaire was the only character whose player had the guts enough to start him out not automatically immune to the effects of the Taint. Although later it was revealed to be due to an oversight from the onslaught of information that came with joining a homebrew'd game several years into development, he's gotten some rewards based on that initial courage. Yovaire specializes in 2 weapon combat using the Double Sword form of fighting. He's quite the honorable sort, despite an alignment that allows him a fair amount of wiggle-room, and quite personable. Aside from a predilection to drinking fairy wine (all in good time), Yovaire's rather straight and narrow, and he tends to keep the party alive in combat. Together with the cleric Laeka, they have dubbed themselves Hack (Yovaire) and Slash (Laeka).

LAEKA Human Female NG Cleric of Povra, God of War
Laeka is a cleric of Povra, the God of War and chief deity of the pantheon. It says something that the human pantheon places War in their chief slot, but the cosmology bears this out. Of the five major gods, there are two sets of twins, each diametrically opposed (Iola, NG Goddess of Life, and Zaal, N Goddess of Death; and Ferenthal, LG Lord of Light and Good, and Shardal, LE Lord of Darkness and Evil) and ruling their interactions and therefore the power that churns out all existence is Povra, N Lord of War and Conflict.) Povra's temple compound in Tol Vehara are two 60' tall crenellated towers that are connected by a complex at their base and two different bridges connecting the upper stories. Once a month, the services of Povra are enacted, where Laeka and the other faithful don magical headbands and use illusory weapons to enact a pitched battle with no actual hurt, only the illusion of injury (maintained by the headbands) and appropriate temporary immobilizations. Some are general melee, some are themed combats or scenarios, some are two teams vying for control over the towers, other times there are illusory creatures set up for the faithful to battle. Laeka is your average, run-of-the-mill spiked-chain favoring hot blonde cleric who can tease with the best and defend herself quite well, from fisticuffs to formal rapier duels. Laeka came to the party drunk, and often finds herself intoxicated or in some form of altered state of consciousness while adventuring as well. (I'm not sure if Laeka's player knows about the Drunken Master prestige class or not. I'll have to run it by him.)

...and, finally...

TANIN Half-Elf Male CG Fighter (and pet dog).
At the time of this writing, Tanin is no longer with the party, having drunk impetuously from a forbidden cup. But for the beginning adventures, Tanin was a rather odd sort of fighter, given to picking on lone, immobilized kobolds when giant-types were still wading through the thick of the party doing massive damage. His tenure with the party has been short, but his method of exiting has set up a rather promising plot twist for the future that the players still haven't encountered yet.

If you've played D&D long enough, eventually you'll run into a poor victim of the dreaded Animal Lover Spirit. It's not something that afflicts every player all the time, but occasionally this dreaded spirit possesses otherwise normal and rational players and turns them into a teeth-clenching ornery burden on the party. Tanin was one of these -- more worried about his dog than his party, taking things personally when his dog was accidentally caught in an area-effect spell, and in general not liking the fact that his dog was more effective on the battlefield than he was, due largely in part because Tanin never took any risks. Once Tanin was gone, the Animal Lover Spirit quit the player's body, because his replacement character has been just fine. -- Adam​

And those are the heroes of this story of Tol Vehara. Since I'm playing catch-up to the party's current state, I'm in the process of gathering information from my back notes and maps. If any details stray, it's because I tend to GM with a loose sketch of information jotted down, a few key maps, and the best of intentions, and then just think on my feet and see where it leads, to later come up with more notes and twists and threads based on the previous sessions as needed. It's organic, but my players certainly seem to be enjoying it, and so am I.

Next, on with the story!

 

[Pacio49]

A beginning.

Our tale begins in the usual way, with a bored group of people who loosely know each other from around town and a favor being asked for by a friend. After all, what could possibly go wrong with helping someone out?

Arien had just finished her training for 3rd level when she was approached by a friend of hers and Marcus', a human Expert (Farrier) named Tobias. Knowing Arien's reputation for goodness and taking care of folks, the thin man immediately thought of her as a possible way out of his current bind. He asked for the favor and promised to meet them at the party's impromptu headquarters in town, the Howling Wolf. Tobias had said to bring some friends, so Arien turned to the others in what became the party and got them all to help out.

Tobias appeared and quickly explained his problem. His reputation as a Farrier (a blacksmith who specializes in horseshoes and shoeing horses) and his tireless work at his craft have finally paid off. He's in the employ of several of the more well-to-do houses, and even has a full-time gig at the Sapphire Manor, the local holding of one of the great families from the Jewelled Cities back home. He's successful enough that he has taken on apprentices, and that's where things begin to get complicated.

One of his apprentices, a young man by the name of Vair, has managed somehow to meet the young Lady of the Sapphire household, Ymanoura Sapphire (Yma for short). At first, Tobias let their little dalliance go on, since Yma and her family recently arrived in Tol Vehara and there was nothing sinister about two youths having a bit of fun. However, in the recent weeks, it has become serious. Ymanoura and Vair started pining for each other, and now, a week before her father, Lord Sappire, is due to return from a business trip to the Gnomish Outpost, the two have disappeared. Eloped, according to one of the house maids that Tobias was on friendly terms with. Tobias did some investigating on his own, and he knows that Vair has a brother, Balek, who is a ne'er-do-well sort hanging out with the wrong crowd, a juvenile gang that sometimes met at the Wilted Rose, a tavern in the South Banks. Tobias suspects that Ymanoura and Vair will turn to Balek in order to get assistance in getting away from the city, but he lacks the muscle power to make a confident foray into the shady neighborhoods of the South Banks against a group of "young hoodlums". Will the party help? They've only got a week before the girl's father returns, and she just disappeared the day before.

After a quick consultation, the party decides that they've got nothing better going on, so they might as well take a look. After an aborted attempt to try and gather their own information by gaining admittance to the Sapphire Manor, Valar (our trusty rogue) checks in with his White Mask guild contacts, finding out the general location of Balek and friends are indeed in the neighborhood of the Wilted Rose, a Gold Riverfront tavern in South Banks. The party arms themselves and makes the long trek to the South Banks on foot, crossing the Gold River to do so.

As the party travels, Valar reveals that the 'hoodlums' that Tobias had spoken of were really a minor gang of thugs with a bad reputation for causing trouble called the Death Hounds. Nothing serious, according to what little information there was to be had about them from the White Masks, just one of many little bands of thugs that roamed the comparative lawless area of the South Banks. The party manages to arrive at the Wilted Rose in the late afternoon, and while they make discreet (or so they think) inquiries as to the whereabouts of Balek and his bully boys, one of said Death Hounds slips out into the back alleys and manages to alert the locals that there's something afoot.

The party gets ambushed by the Death Hounds as they exit the tavern to go toward the building that the barkeep mentioned might be where they were holed up. Although the rogues in the Death Hounds are well hidden in rooftop perches, they're really no match for the trained party (albeit only at 3rd level), and the party quickly dispatches them with only minor damage to Valar, the supposedly-nimble rogue who can't dodge for anything.

One of the rogues breaks off from the attack and makes a beeline for his hideout (what can I say, they're only 1st level rogues and not too bright to begin with or they wouldn't be living in the South Banks). Skalar, the ranger, makes an astonishing Wilderness Lore check to track and manages to pick up their trail among the dusty alleyways. Not that it's necessary: as it turns out the rogue led them straight to the building that the barkeep had talked about. The party approaches carefully, and circles around toward the back when they are surprised by a second ambush from the rooftops from the 'security detail' that the Death Hounds keep posted. By now, Marcus points out that for a group of bully boys, they've certainly got a handle on street fighting tactics. This suggests to him that they may be more organized than everyone on the street thinks.

The party quickly overcomes the token resistance from the security detail and gains access to the Death Hounds' headquarters without too much fuss, only to find that the place has been hastily abandoned. As it is, after much poking around the rundown two story Victorian-esque house they manage to find out that the lower levels were abandoned in a hurry, but the upper levels look as though they've been carefully vacated in the recent past. Valar manages to find several minor traps by setting them off, and with a slightly numb leg and hand from pin traps he finally locates a trap door in the ceiling of one of the rooms. Pausing to listen while no one else is in the room, Valar hears the obvious sounds of someone moving about up in the room above.

Gathering the party, Valar manages to get a boost up to the trapdoor and cautiously opens it. However, the party has been making noise too, and whoever's in the room has been waiting for this. With a THUD the occupant lands on the trapdoor from behind and slams the poor rogue back down into the room below with a nasty bump on his head. Marcus casts mage hand and flips the trapdoor open, and Yovaire the fighter makes a wonderful jump/climb check and manages to vault himself into the room...

...only to find that there is a rather upset-looking, dishevelled youth with his legs shackled to the wall with a length of heavy chain. The youth cringes, expecting punishment, and his dirty face shows signs of tears. Quick questioning reveals that this is none other than Vair, the star-crossed lover who spirited Ymanoura away. The party begins to question him fully, and finds out that he was indeed the one who had stolen Ymanoura off, because they were in love and she said her father would never approve. Ymanoura managed to get away because she was a sorceress, and they turned Invisible and simply walked out of the compound via the treetop routes while the guards watched. Vair's brother, Balek, had talked him into bringing her to the Death Hounds "for safety reasons", but then had kidnapped the girl and imprisoned his brother up in the attic when Vair refused to be swayed to Balek's sinister plan.

After they unlock him, Vair continues to inform the party that Balek had the unfortunate luck of making a bad run into the Blasted Lands, getting caught without a haven around, and had come back with the beginnings of the Taint affecting him. He doesn't show it exactly yet, but those who know what they're looking for can see the change starting to affect him, if only in his eyes, whose pupils are slightly narrower than they were before. In a hyper-sensitive Taint-fearing society like Tol Vehara, it's just enough to brand him an outcast. It turns out that all of the Death Hounds have just the beginnings of exposure to the Taint, something that isn't to the point where it will progress on its own, but enough to brand them all outcasts. And Balek, a sorcerer himself, is quite resourceful and visionary.

Apparently, there's been a rumor circulating that a method exists by which the Taint can actually be reversed. Balek has subscribed to the conspiracy theory that those in power in Tol Vehara know this secret, because they successfully cured the Elf Queen of her infection with the Bane several years ago. It's an old chestnut... the drums spread the word that the Queen was stricken with the Bane and that she was offering great rewards to those who were able to discover a cure. The quarantine was relaxed a bit at that point to allow the Queen to benefit from the supposed cures. Many tried, and supposedly somehow a cure was effected (some say Wish spells, others say she kissed a kobold and that cured her, others say she died and has been replaced by a doppleganger, but those same folks tend to believe that the world is flat and that the moon is made of cheese). After this, the quarantine was reset in place, with no explanation.

Balek was convinced that the cure existed, and he was enough of a social activist to be filled with the freedom and opportunity for upward mobility that Tol Vehara represented. He claimed that it was all a plot by the nobles to keep the common man down, grinding them away to nothing by tempting them to make get-rich-quick jaunts into the Blasted Lands, jaunts which ultimately kill off the ones who fall for it. Understandably, Balek is bitter, but apparently he's too intelligent for his own good and without enough common sense.

It was Balek who convinced Vair that he should throw caution to the wind and follow his heart where it led him, and it was Balek who filled Vair with the courage needed to approach the equivalent of a visiting Princess of their homelands in the first place. As the party continued to question Vair, it turned out that from his perspective, it was all Balek's fault to begin with. And Balek, it seems, has gone mad. He kidnapped the Lady Ymanoura with the help of his Death Hounds, and they're planning on bringing her out into the Blasted Lands and forcing her to be exposed to the Taint. Once that's done, they'll send a ransom note to Lord Sapphire and demand that he deliver the cure for the Taint into the hands of the common folk, or else they'll complete the process of exposure and make Ymanoura Sapphire one of the Lost Ones who go completely bestial and feral and run off into the south.

When the party questions the wisdom of such an action, since Lord Sapphire is invariably powerful enough that Laeka said something to the tune of "Even his household farrier can summon up a party of adventurers to go and hunt them down," Vair reveals that Balek's already thought of that and off in the land of misplaced ideals. He's going to deliver the ransom note to the Halls of Lore, the local bard college, and spread the tale throughout Tol Vehara, letting everyone know that Ymanoura Sapphire has 'broken the veil' (lost her cultural purity status), and if she manages to recover, "the people will see that the leaders have been keeping us oppressed."

Vair knows where the Death Hounds would most likely go to do this without further jeopardizing their own health. There's a haven that they know of to the southwest. They'd be able to get there in a day's journey into the Blasted Lands, and Vair has been there once before. He offers to lead them to the haven so that they can save the girl and he can look like a hero, or at least redeem himself in her eyes as not being part of Balek's madness. The party discusses the best course of action among themselves, and they're wary of Vair's potential duplicity in this plot. However, calmer heads prevail (and Vair makes a pouty declaration that he won't help them find the haven if they don't trust him), and Vair and party decide to set off for the haven the next morning.

They spend the night back in the city at the Howling Wolf, make a few trips to the market for supplies. Laeka checks in with her superiors at the Temple of Povra, Valar checks in with his handler for the White Masks, Marcus carefully prepares his spells, and Arien makes picks up some potions from an herbalist friend who keeps a stall at the great marketplace. The night passes peacefully, and on a balmy April morning, the group sets out. They ride to the southern bank of the Gold River and proceed out of the town altogether, then follow the river to the west for the remainder of the morning and swing south when Vair directs them to. Hegen's Wall is falling into disrepair in this section, and there's a pile of rubble leading up to a breach in it that was under repair when the Taint overtook the buffer lands to the south half a century ago. The party makes their crossing and enters into the Tainted lands.

There's general discussion about the fact that the Tainted lands look harmless enough. In fact, there's disappointment that it's not a sere and cracked landscape. Birds still sing in the trees, flowers still bloom, and the plant life is beginning to come into full verdancy like usual. Still, the cleric, ranger, and druid all feel uneasy in the Tainted lands, and point out small places where the natural order is beginning to twist. Roses with thorns that drip some viscous substance, bees that are as large as a human thumb and quite aggressive. Birds that get attacked by squirrels that sit in ambush among the branches, vines that rustle slightly without any wind going through them. Tiny signs that get more and more noticeable the farther they go to the south.

As the party is marching along at brisk pace through the Blasted Lands, the group is surprised by a sudden attack on the middle of the party by a pair of ankhegs. The ankhegs burst from the groud to the right of Marcus's horse and manages to grab the mage and reduce him to just above 0, but also to successfully grapple him and begin to retreat back down into the tunnel. The party makes short work of the ankhegs as best they can, but the damage has been done. Poor Marcus is now in pretty dire shape and Vair has also sustained massive damage in the conflict. The cleric and druid heal Marcus as best they can, but healing isn't enough for poor Vair and his wounds fester slightly from the Taint. (Marcus had made his save). Vair needs shelter, but luckily they're within easy distance from the haven he's been leading them to.

The haven that Vair is leading them to looks rather picturesque. On the hillside there's a large farmhouse that someone has been maintaining in good repair, with a spring-fed pond and several orchard trees that aren't in season yet. The thing that's strange about the place is that there's a bonfire going on piled high with bodies, and there is a pallisade of stakes around the place with various heads stuck upon them. Upon getting closer, they see that the heads are mostly orcs, ogres, and even a burnt troll-head. Arien, who's been studying to become a Dust Rider, mentions that this violates the code of the Dust Riders.

"All quarrels are set aside upon entering a haven. No one can be denied access to the haven, and no one is to interfere with another group entering or leaving the haven. To do so is to invite a reputation that will eventually lead to all other Dust Riders and adventuring groups in the Blasted Lands hunting you down and exacting vengeance upon you, putting out your eyes or cutting off your ears. Stuff like that."

Still, the party approaches warily. In the evening's twilight, they really want to enter the respite from the oppressive feel of the Taint upon the Blasted Lands, but if the Death Hounds have taken out the monsters that are arrayed so gruesomely, then they don't want to rush in like fools. Eventually, though, they decide that there's nothing to be done for it... they either enter the haven or risk the Taint for Vair, Yovaire and all of their mounts.

As they approach the actual haven itself, they are greeted by a pair of adventurers of a most bizarre description. One is a dark haired human of swarthy complexion, the other is a minotaur. They don't offer any names, but they welcome the group to the haven under the code of the Dust Riders. When Arien asks what happened there, the man explains that the monsters were stupid enough to violate the sanctity of the haven, and he and the minotaur "had to take care of them." They mention that so long as the group doesn't do anything stupid, they'll be on their way the next morning. The man and the minotaur have been making deeper jaunts and their mounts are inside the farmhouse laden down with treasure. There's a second floor to the farmhouse, and the group quickly puts Vair into the bed, where he is ministered to by the Druid (whose Heal score is higher than the cleric's) to nurse him through the night in the bubble of normalcy that the haven provides. They'll attempt to deal with the disease in the wounds on the following morning using Long Term care, but it becomes evident that they'll have to bring Vair back to the city where they'll have someone who can assist him with magical healing.

Valar spends some time eyeing the mounts and the magical haul of loot that the minotaur and his friend have amassed, and although his fingers itch to try out his thieving, the sobering reminder of the heads and bodies of the fallen prove to be caution enough. Instead, he tries to be friendly and asks for information from them. The man mentions that when they arrived at the farmhouse haven the monsters were already attacking the folks who were shacked up here. There had been some kind of slaving or raiding party of orcs and kobolds led by the ogres. The minotaur had decided he rather liked the idea of fighting inside a haven without losing the privileges or gaining a bad reputation, so the pair of them had waded into the thick of things and beaten off most of the raiding party. However, they were too late to save any of the group within. They did see a slaving party run off to the west from there, and they guessed that they would be heading to the ruins of Dorecan Manor, an old human settlement that has long been abandoned and picked clean by looters so close to the edge here.

Valar gets the distinct impression that he's not welcomed at the camp of the other pair, so he goes outside to wander the perimeter, learning the feeling of what a haven's boundary does. As he does this, he runs into an old man in the moonlight, walking by the shores of the pond. He greets the old man and the man nods and returns the welcome, saying that it's been a while since he and the missus had nice guests. The last lot has been particularly nasty, but he overheard the mean ones say that they'd be moving on in the morning, and now that there's a druid here the group can't be all that bad. Valar chats with him, and learns that the man's name is George. His wife, Martha, is back up "at the house" dealing with that sick fellow they brought. George is evidently a ghost, and the moonlight makes him seem real enough that he can manifest and interact with the living. George says that he and Martha died in a war long ago, and that on the anniversary of the war the house burns down, but appears the next morning as it is now (some nice folks restored it in thanks for their help).

Valar thinks to ask George about the folks who were here before the monsters invade, and George confirms that it was Balek and his bully boys, and they had a captive woman with them. The girl got taken first by the invading monsters, and then they made short work with all of the 'sick men' (Valar guesses correctly that George can somehow sense the Taint on the guests who are afflicted with it). George gives his blessing on their use of the haven, asks them if they could to please take down the severed heads once the other two are gone, and bids Valar good night, then walks off into the darkness to go 'walk the fields' and disappears when he reaches the edge of the haven.

Up at the house, Arien is visited by Martha herself, an older woman with a sharp face and a no-nonsense attitude. Martha tells Arien to get some rest, she'll keep the watch over Vair tonight and see that he comes to no harm. Arien feels at peace with Martha, who asks her idly if she'd mind blessing the cows in the morning for them, which Arien promises she'll do, but thinks that the cows may be gone. Martha confirms that, sighing at her own empty-headedness "this late in life. Of course, I'm dead now, but that doesn't seem to have fixed my memory problem." As Arien turns away, Martha reminds her to bless the cows before she goes.

The party rests that night with a watch, and the evening passes peacefully. The next morning the pair of unsavory adventurers leaves at first light on their way back to town, and they express dismay that the minotaur didn't get to teach the thief to keep his hands to himself and not on their treasure. The party takes down the spiked skulls and Arien decides that Vair is well enough to convalesce under the watchful presence of Martha, whose presence she feels by the bedside but cannot see. He's apparently out of the danger of infection thanks to the heal check she made, but he needs his rest.

The party forms up and decides that it's time to investigate this 'abandoned Manorhouse' they've been told of, and off they go to try and rescue Ymanoura before she takes on more of the Taint than is necessary. Odd that Balek would die unexpectedly at the hands of monsters yet still manage to see his plan set in motion. Ymanoura is most likely already Tainted because she will soon sleep or pass out in the Tainted lands, but the party hopes to be able to rescue her before more damage is done.

 

[Eridanis]

Hooray! Good to this is in B&W pixels.

 

[Pacio49]

Yah, but I've got a whole lotta 'splainin to do.
Even summing up will be a while to catch up with the party.

 

[Pacio49]

The next morning, the party heads out with Martha's deceased spirit in the haven left to look over the recovery of Vair. They head west from the haven through the fields and woods of this hilly country of the Taint, and eventually they break through the overgrowth and emerge into the sight of the ruins of Dorecan Manor. Originally several stories high, the building is still large and, in spots, well preserved. The top stories have not fared so well, and now only the ground floor remains in any kind of functional space.

Out from the tangled weeds and briar vines comes the sudden reappearance of a wide, paved, and curved road approaching the manor. An old fountain, dried now and choked with weeds, sits before the palatial entranceway to the old manor. A strange motif of winged female humanoid figures without carved faces can be made out over the portico and at the tops of the pillars. To either side of the entryway is an intricate pattern of stained glass, still in perfect condition and apparently untouched by the ravages of time.

Marcus makes an excellent observation, that the ruin and decay seem to only have affected anything above the ground floor. He suspects some kind of powerful enchantment, since there is a clearly visible line below which no rot, breakage, or weathering has set in, 15 or so feet above the landing of the portico. Oddly enough, the remaining bases of two squat guard towers flanking the entry approach have not been so well preserved, and look as though the only reason that there is anything left of them is because the walls settled and fell inwards, leaning upon each other for support.

The party advances cautiously, and as they approach between the two guard towers several orcs swarm out from the entry and two details of kobolds, one from each tower, also attack. The party is soon into initiative, and although the kobolds' light crossbow bolts are tipped with something, it isn't long before Yovaire and Laeka make short work of the ambush. Upon closer investigation of the bodies, Tanin and Skalar notice that the bucklers of the kobolds have been painted with a random pattern of small red dots with trailing tails behind them. Other than that, there is nothing much of value on them.

While the group is stripping the bodies of salvageable weaponry and armor (not much), the rogue Valar and ranger Skalar investigate the dried up fountain. They quickly find the well in the middle that has also dried up, and Skalar uses his skill with ropes to rig a harness for Valar to sit in and ride down to the bottom of the well. Or at least, the length of rope. Valar stops every so often to Listen, but hearing nothing and feeling nothing except the cool dampness one expects from a well, he makes it about thirty feet down and finds the water level. Aside from some crumbling mortar and obvious damage of time and neglect, the well is apparently rather boring. Valar grumbles a bit for a while because of it, thinking that if he were going to go through the trouble of setting up camp in an old set of ruins with a dried-up fountain in the middle of the courtyard, he'd certainly put something interesting at the bottom of it.

The party took a more cautious approach to things at this point and did some reconnaisance around the perimeter of the ruins. They found some back entries and other glass windows and stained glass windows as well, but nothing more. Except Skalar, who at three quarters of the way around the building, came across some telltale worg spoor and tracks, and correctly identified them.

Gathering their courage, the party ventured forth inside the main entrance, figuring that the guards had already come out and been dealt with. Inside the main door was a vaulted entry hall with a balcony and balustraded grand staircase of marble. The place was in disarray, and from the rotting rafters hung the tattered remains of different pennants and banners, most moth-eaten and faded to fragile nothingness, their devices unable to be deciphered. The stone of the walls and floor was severe black basalt, and pillars of winged and faceless caryatids held aloft the staircase. At the top of the balcony the invisible line of ruin and decay was crossed, however, and a pile of rubble and the debris of nature was visible where the upper storied roofs gave way and let in the elements.

Below the balcony two hallways split off, each leading into a different wing of the manor. The scale of the place was colossal, and Marcus proffered a guess that the trappings of the entryway alone spoke of more than just a country manor-house. This was something more in keeping with a king's palace. Marcus predicts that when they investigate further, they'll find that this is more like a palace than a simple manor. (Marcus was right.)

There's little more time for talk and speculation, however, as a host of goblins comes teeming out from both side passageways, and another troop comes out from a smaller doorway to a chamber immediately to the left of the entry hall. The party begins to work together to respond to the threat. Marcus stretches forth his hands and summons into being a flaming sphere, while Arien readies her sling and steps into the middle of the party. Laeka unhooks her spiked chains and begins to wade into the goblins, leaving corpses as she goes. Valar positions himself well to be out of the way and begins to look for opportunities to dart into battle and use his sneak attack, while Skalar steps besides Arien and begins to shoot arrows into their foes. Although a couple of times Tanin gives pause from his destruction of the goblins he faces as one of Skalar's arrows narrowly misses hitting the fighter, the party quickly becomes used to the fact that Skalar is an extremely Precise Shot. Tanin swings blindly at one of the goblins near him and misses as the green gruntling ducks under his blade. Yovaire is just about to enter into the fray besides Laeka when a roaring voice is heard coming from a chamber whose entry is beneath the grand staircase.

"Who dat knockin' on Jaduk's door?" calls out the filthy giant creature which comes out to confront the party. "Ogre!" calls out Skalar, "Just another filthy giant. Soon to be one less in the world, and good riddance." "How do we kill them?" asks Tanin. "Just stick your sword in him!" replies Marcus, watching as the mighty creature bears down on Laeka and bashes the cleric with a huge greatclub and doing a sizeable amount of damage, leaving the cleric of Povra shaking her head to clear it, and growling.

Yovaire finally unfreezes, and changes tactics completely, turning to rush at the ogre, but unfortunately the ranks of goblins are in the way. He quickly executes a double attack on the nearest one, and the little glubgluk goes down.

(Hate to pause mid-battle, but such is life. To be continued...)

 

[Pacio49]

(Continuing...)

Marcus uses his flaming sphere to wipe out one of the ranks of the goblins and affords Yovaire a chance to head in to deal with the Ogre. Marcus then softens the Ogre by letting loose magic missile . Tanin wades forward into the left flank of the attackers and begins to lay about, dealing deathblows to the gobs one by one. Meanwhile, Laeka and her spiked chain close in to within 10' and begin to whale on the ogre. The ogre manages to return a blow or two, but when Yovaire joins the melee the monstrous humanoid goes down. With Arien casting cure spells she's memorized and Tanin's work at hunting down the little buggers, the room is quickly cleared of the remaining enemies.

The group does some preliminary exploring in the rooms to either side of the entryway, and manages to find a cowering goblin in a crumpled and stained white puffy hat and greasy apron. He claims to be the chef for his group of goblins. The party spares his life and interrogates the green cuisine master, and discovers that the ruins of Dorecan Manor are home to all sorts of nasties. They are led by a female named Tammishka Li, and the Chef doesn't know who or what she is, except for the fact that she's always watching them, and you never know what she's going to look like. He confides that the upstairs are divided among the different goblin and kobold tribes, with each tribe not generally getting along with the other, and claiming various portions of the house. The Eaters are his tribe, and they guard the front door. The kobold tribe on the guard towers calls themselves the Hailstones because they hide behind the battlements and chuck sling bullets and dump rocks sometimes.

The party ties up the Chef and raids the empty rooms, finding mostly silver and copper in small quantities, a lot of goblin-sized crude weapons and filthy living space. The party then sets out to do some recon and takes the passageway to the right of the grand staircase, following it down the hall slightly. Beyond the entryway, the look of the interior changes drastically. Whereas the entry and outer walls were made of forbidding black basalt and gray granite, the inside have perfectly preserved and generally untouched marble walls, oaken doors, and 15' tall ceilings. Even inside the couple of abandoned rooms they poke their heads into (and proceed to search through... greedy folks that they be) the walls have well-maintained plaster over them. Marcus uses detect magic to investigate the walls and finds that indeed as suspected there is some strong yet latent Abjuration magic within the structure of the place. It seems to be fading, draining in color the closer to the top that he looks before his spell's duration expires. He communicates this to the party and the group decides to poke their heads into one of the smaller rooms on the right side of the passageway.

Actually, at this point the group decides that rather than poke their own heads into the room, they should poke Valar's head into the room to let the rogue earn his keep by taking the risks that the rest of the (cowardly?) wary party wouldn't like to. Valar, unfortunately, has the worst of luck at the worst of times and chooses a door that leads to a room whose occupants are still within. Valar finds the small room to be neatly kept and full of dried herb bunches and small dessicated animal corpses and parts in jars. A cauldron sits over the banked hearthfire and a small curtain divides the room to afford the bed some warmth in the chilly springtime. There is a goblin waiting for him, however, and at just the opportune moment the goblin (an adept of the Eaters tribe) pops out and lets loose a scare spell. Valar fails his save miserably and runs screaming out of the room, past the surprised party and down the hall, making it all the way down to the entryway before Tanin manages to tackle him until he calms down. The rest of the party, wondering what could possibly have scared the rogue so badly, charges in to deal with the threat...

...and finds themselves face to face with a goblin who has no useful spells or intimidating combat abilities left for the day, and who promptly dies at the hands of Yovaire. And the jokes at Valar's expense begin.

(Next... one narrow miss and one lucky find.)

 

[Pacio49]

Lucky Miss, Lucky Hit

While getting comfortable within the somewhat bizarre chambers of the goblin adept whose corpse oozes quietly on the previously-clean-swept floor, Arien reminds the party gently that while finding a base of operations would be nice they are still located within the Blasted Lands, well within the oppressive miasma of the Taint. Several party facepalms and groans later, the group decides that they need to retreat to allow their spellcasters to power up again and to heal a number of minor injuries. Loot in tow, they return unmolested to their base of operations at the nearby haven where George and Martha's ghosts from the past are caring for the recovering human, Vair. Vair should be better in another day or two, so the party plans to sleep the night, restock on spells, and go back into the manorhouse the next day.

In the meantime, Laeka is busy settling in the goblin Chef they took with them in his new quarters. The farmhouse in the haven has a small smokehouse nearby, not currently in use, and it is there that Laeka tells the Chef to set up for his own. The Chef is quite agreeable to this situation, and she gives him a lecture on the benefits of choosing to be good, in the hopes that he'll slowly begin to abandon his evil ways. The Chef begins to make the effort, knowing that if he does not, he'll be killed.

The next morning, the Chef tries to feed the party what he's cooked up the night before, a la green cuisine style, with a nice rat & rotting turnip stew with roasted cockroaches sprinkled on top and the floating remains of the weevils that infested the rotting turnip. The party thanks him, but says it prefers to eat the iron rations they have, and they depart, leaving the goblin behind in the smokehouse, locked up.

On their return trip to Dorecan Manor, they are surprised by an ambush of gnolls and a pair of goblins on worgs. The party quickly closes ranks as best they can, yet despite the hurried advice of Marcus for the group to focus all their strength on one worg and rider at a time, Tanin begins to go after the gnolls. The rest of the group takes light damage from the scuffle, and Marcus uses his magic missiles to great effect in weakening the goblin/worg riders. Skalar tries to use his precise shots with the longbow to wreak havoc, but only accomplishes minor damage. Laeka and Yovaire together are the tank of the party and manage to wipe up the worgs and riders, and then focus on the gnolls. Tanin of course doesn't fare so well and is down to about half by the time the rest of the party begins to seriously wipe out the gnolls. The rest of the battle goes quickly, and betweek Laeka using her cleric spells and Arien with her memorized cures the party is back in fighting shape again, albeit a few more spells short.

They make it out of the undergrowth and between the two ruined guard towers and are subjected to another kobold ambush. This time the group decides to clean out the towers for good, and thanks to spells like flaming sphere, magic missile, and summon nature's ally I the kobolds are quickly overrun and dispatched as they begin to pour out of the tower. Valar and Skalar return the slings and stones fire with long and shortbow volleys, quickly dispatching the kobolds on the roof. Laeka and Yovaire are just about to wade through the tower interiors leaving only death and destruction in their wake when one of the kobolds who has managed to survive a heck of a lot longer than the rest gives a signal to the rest of his troops. There's a pregnant pause among the party as they look to see what new devilry the kobolds will do, and are quite surprised when the remainder of the Hailstones tribe surrenders.

The stronger kobold is their tribal leader, and his name is Pook. Pook offers a deal to the party, who is talking about dispatching them anyway. If they will spare him and the rest of the hailstones, and leave them be in the towers, then Pook will swear not to bother the party coming or going again. Plus, it they agree not to specifically target kobolds in the rest of the Manorhouse, Pook will vouch that the kobolds in the manor will only give half-hearted resistance to the adventurers, enough to keep up appearances for the other monsters that live there and who would hurt the kobolds if they didn't.

The party discusses it and decides that since they can so easily clean up Pook and his tribe anyway, there's nothing for them to lose by agreeing to it. Pook is relieved, and the party is let pass inside the manorhouse, trailing Pook with them as a hostage to ensure no doublecrossing. Unfortunately for the party, while Pook knows the general layout of the interior, the Hailstone Kobolds live outside in the guard towers exclusively. He knows where the other tribes are, and where the stairs are to the lower levels of the Manor, but he doesn't know how each of the other tribes of goblins, kobolds, orcs, or Ogres have split up their own territories. He just knows which doors lead to which tribal areas, and who's feuding with whom among the goblins just now (every tribe, with every other tribe nearby. Proximity among the goblin tribes breeds contempt, apparently).

So, with a hostage who's little to no help as a guide, the group goes back to the adept's room and checks in to see that the body has been cleaned up and it looks like someone's been rifling through the jars and herbs, plundering off of the goblin adept's components and wares. They know that their foray has not gone unnoticed, so they end up pressing forward anyway, seeking for Ymanoura before the Taint can take permanent hold of her and turn her bestial.

Since learning from the past takes a little while at lower levels of training and experience, the party decides that the best thing for them to do is hole up in the adept's room (and out of the hallway) while their rogue, Valar, does a little sneaking & poking about on his own. Valar makes some surprisingly decent rolls for the first time in his gaming career and slinks about the hallways nicely. He also stops and listens at several points, looking around corners and beginning to get a sense of just how large a place the Manorhouse was. Finally, on his return to where the party is ensconced, he stops at a set of double doors and makes as though to open them, but then changes his mind and listens instead. He hears the sounds of combat through the doors, and resists the urge to poke his head in, listening instead for another round or two. He realizes that the sounds of combat don't sound like an active battle, and he hears goblin voices yelling out occasionally, answered by the sounds of weapons being drawn, fired, or sparring. Valar guesses that this must be one of the combat training rooms, or else that at the very least there's a military unit of some kind on the other side.

Valar pauses for a moment to decide, then takes out a length of his rope and saws it off with his dagger, and proceeds to roll natural 20's on his Rope Use skill (and still maintain a decent Move Silently check) and he ties the handles of the doors (which open out into the hallway/antechamber) together, so that even if the alarm sounds they'll have a hard time opening the doors from the other side. Ingenious.

When the rogue returns to the party he tells them of his scouting, and their hearts sink. The place is so large, they're going to need some kind of help, or else some dumb luck. Pook offers to lead them to one of the other kobold tribes and see if he can get help from them, but the general distrust of the party is such that they won't allow him to go off on his own, nor will they follow him to any specific room, in fear of a trap. Pook shrugs and goes along for the ride.

The group wanders down the hallway some more until Tanin gets bored and decides that he's had enough of waiting for the group to do something. He opens a door at random and steps inside. . .

. . . only to find that he has been incredibly lucky, for he's in some kind of prison, with several humanoids chained to the walls in places, and instruments of torture located on the tables in the middle of the room. The party goes from berating him to congratulating him, even as they rush in and quickly dispatch the goblin guards. They survey the prisoners and find that a few of them have succumbed to the Taint and gone absolutely feral, snarling at the party and snapping wildly, thrashing against their manacles even past the point of self-injury.

Of the group of prisoners not completely overtaken already they find several gnomes and dwarves, ambushed and taken captive from a caravan about to return to the eastern lands, and a human female who obviously looks as though she hasn't worked a day in her life. They question her identity and rejoice at having found Ymanoura. They quickly free the prisoners who can be freed and mercifully kill the ones who are Lost. Then, captive kobold in tow, they make tracks back the way they came.

True to their word, Pook's folks have not raised any alarm, nor do they make any move to stop the party as they pass back out again. Pook is returned to the towers, but he asks the group to take two of his kobolds with them, since they are near death from the attack, and will not last long in the manorhouse. The party agrees, accepting them as hostage until they are well, and heads off.

Although several in the party feel that they are somehow getting away with things a bit too easily (suspicious lot, aren't they?), they do manage to get to the haven, where Laeka puts the two kobolds in with the goblin Chef, and tells them that they can practice being Goods with each other. Chef offers to cook again, but the party tells him that until he learns to be a Good he can't practice any other craft or profession. The Chef sighs and goes back to the smokehouse to continue learning his lessons with Yovaire, Laeka, and Arien taking turns talking to the three.

All is not well in the haven that night, however. Vair, who up until then has been slowly and steadily recovering has a relapse and doesn't look well at all. Laeka has her sleep interrupted with a very troubling dream with visions of women made of sand, crying tears of water that wash them away as time slowly continues forward. She knows it's a significant dream, because it feels the same to her as when she prays to her god, and she asks the party for help in interpreting it. No one has really any clue what it means.

Unfortunately for the party, while Vair needs more time to recover, Ymanoura has a slight breakdown of nerves when she finds out that the party means to stay an extra night. She wants to go home, and she wants to go home now. The group discusses it, and they determine that it's probably safe enough to leave the Chef and Vair to Martha and George's care, and to get Ymanoura home as quickly as possible. Valar, however, notices something that the others didn't... last night, George wasn't standing out by the pond in the moonlight like he normally does when the party's around, and no one saw Martha in the room with Vair. Valar remembered George saying that he and Martha only manifest for those they like, or those whose hearts are kind and good, and that they most certainly never reveal themselves when evil hearts are around. When Valar mentions this to Arien, she discusses it with Marcus and Laeka, who decide that most likely, it was because they had the kobold and goblin with them. This satisfies Valar for most of the ride back out of the Blasted Lands, but just as he's about to get to Tol Vehara, he manages to remember that George had actually visited him when the goblin Chef was there, and the kobolds they picked up both professed that they didn't care about much besides doing what they wanted without a care in the world (CNs).

Now the party is beginning to get suspicious. With such a relatively easy departure from the Manor, the fact that George and Martha haven't shown up since Ymanoura arrived, and the fact that Pook had mentioned that no one ever knew what their boss, Tammishka Li, would look like, Valar and Laeka begin to get nervous and doubt Ymanoura being who she says she is. They begin to question her on various parts of her life, hoping to trip her up. Ymanoura seems puzzled by the sudden feeling of passive-aggressive behavior, but she answers the questions truthfully. Luckily for Ymanoura, the aggregate amount of Taint that she acquired she manages to fight off (think of the Taint like negative levels that half-elves automatically will recover from but which other races must struggle against or have permanently. Everyone gets the "negative levels" for exposure to the Taint, but half-elves know that they will eventually recover fully). She promises the party a great reward if they can return her to her father's estate without it being noised about that she's broken the veil (lost her purity to the Taint).

Without proof against her, the party goes along with the return of Ymanoura. When they get to the bridge, Laeka, who has taken the two sick kobolds along with her, tries to hand over the kobolds to the bridge guards in South Banks. They look at her like she's crazy, and she explains that she wants them dealt with properly. The guards nod and say that they'll most likely turn the kobolds over to the Temple of Ferenthal, where they will be put to death. Laeka changes her mind and decides to keep the kobolds with her, to allow them to continue to learn how to be Goods.

The group makes it to the servants' entrance to the Sapphire Estates, and they are taken in to an audience in the treetop home of Lord Sapphire, who has come home earlier than expected and was about to raise the alarm at his daughter's disappearance. Lord Sapphire and his wife agree to receive the party in thanks for their assistance, but the party does have to follow proper protocol. They are received in a small audience chamber, with the lord and his wife on one side of a banner with a gate in it, both veiled and with veiled half-elf guards with pikes standing before the barrier. The party is made to well back from the group, and Ymanoura is the only one allowed to cross over and go to see her father. Lord Sapphire hears the story and mentions his upset at the foolishness of his daughter, but relief that she has been returned to him.

Valar interrupts for a moment and asks the Lord's indulgence. He begins to ask Ymanoura about her childhood, and asks the Lord if her story checks out. It does, and the party decides that they don't have any reason to stop her reunion with her family, although all of the players confess a sinking feeling in their stomachs that they've just done something wrong, somehow.

Lady Sapphire takes Ymanoura off to receive the bathing and scrubbing of her life, and Lord Sapphire then got down to business. He asked the party point blank how much they wanted for his daughter's return, and Laeka supplied "...and our silence, right? I'm surprised you didn't just tell your guards to kill us." Lord Sapphire gives a guilty start and coughs a bit, then shrugs and tells the group that the thought has, in fact, crossed his mind, but since he's new to the city recently he's not going to start out by making enemies. He'll do things the honorable way, but warns the party that he expects them to do the same. They agree, and they negotiate their price and rewards (I have to apologize here, because this was so long ago in real time that I can't really remember what they wanted and got, but suffice it to say that the party now had a magical item +1 at the very least, and some spending cash), and return to the Howling Wolf for some well-earned rest. . . kobold "converts" in tow.

 

[Pacio49]

Meta: A note of explanation of my GMing style.

As I reviewed The Tol Vehara Story Hour thus far today, I felt a small start of guilt at the fact that I don't have meticulous records immediately to hand to be able to tell you, for example, what items were doled out as the party's reward from Lord Sapphire. My brain seems capable of holding vast amounts of impractical data on a 'macro' level but when it comes to details of specific things I find myself jotting down notes prior to the game in question and customizing things to the immediate needs, but unless I'm throwing in a bona fide Plot Item, I let the players worry about those details.

Occasionally I find those jotted notes and reminisce, usually while trying to tidy the pile of game related information that threatens to take over my office unless I make due sacrifice to it of small rodents and burnt offerings. Erm, or not. When I do find those notes at the oddest times I tend to think of tiny ways to bring up something from the Wayback When and weave it into the Here and Now. Players who pick up on the return of past information are often awed and amazed since it gives the impression that I've somehow planned for the return of that detail's prominence from the beginning. What can I say? I allow it because it gives me D&D 'street cred'.

Essentially, I'm a top-down GM. I keep track of the larger motivations and events happening, and I find myself making broad sketches of places and areas and relying a great deal upon improvisation. It wasn't always easy, but I'm experienced enough now to understand how to control pacing and advancement 'on the fly' and contain the scope from expanding beyond a desired level.

Party Choices
Another aspect that makes writing this Story Hour difficult is the fact that I've been running Tol Vehara with one group or another for about 5 years now. Since the current party was a new gaming group that coalesced after a move to Connecticut, and the world is fleshed out more and more with each new group or adventure, I didn't do too much to force the group's hand one way or the other regarding plot development at first. I figured that the new group would want to explore the city some, explore the surrounding countryside some, and of course everyone makes a jaunt into the Blasted Lands just to see what the hoopla is about. From there, I listen to the table chatter and let the group select its own corner of the Tol Vehara stage and then slowly begin to design plot arcs to accomodate that.

The group has only marginally investigated the city of Tol Vehara itself. At this point in the storyline the players sat down and had a lengthy discussion about where they wanted to go. They could have shopped around for another city adventure, and I would have been happy to provide them with another adventure that allowed more exploration of their surroundings and detailing of the tapestry of life in Tol Vehara. They could have switched gears from a roll-intensive to a roleplay-intensive and gone off after the political arena, now that they had a minor 'in' with the suspicion of Ymanoura Sapphire and the mixed blessings of her father's gratitude.

Instead, the party decided that they liked the setting of the Blasted Lands. I reminded them that the deeper they go, the more vicious the land itself gets, with warped denizens and a stronger presence of the Taint. Marcus' player kept talking about trying to 'fix' the Taint and restore the Blasted Lands. I told him flat out that maybe after they had 10 or 20 Epic levels under their belt they might be able to begin that serious of an undertaking. Maybe. Arien's player decided that she really wanted to go back to Dorecan Manor to try and find some loot, and to give her the IC development which would lead to her becoming a prestige class Dust Rider. The others all voiced similar opinions. All except Valar's player, who wondered whether or not his rogue abilities would have a chance to develop well in the Blasted Lands.

So, while I expected there to be some kind of on again/off again interest in the Blasted Lands, the group wanted *stuff* and they wanted to play in the Blasted Lands some more. Out went the plans for the city-based adventure I had queued next in line, and back to Dorecan Manor they decided to go.

What's a GM to do? I had no preferences either way. Give me a situation and a party motivation and pretty soon the plot that develops from it and around it develops a motivation of its own. Action and reaction, plot adjustment and player adjustment all lead to a nice give and take for the storyline.

And, just for the record when we actually catch up to the party's current location, until I heard about 'ZPMs' from Marcus's player, I never bothered to watch Stargate: Atlantis. And until I had plotted out their stuff, I hadn't yet watched Babylon 5. (I have since then, don't fear.)

 

[Pacio49]

A week about town...

Flush with their newfound wealth and tantalized by their success at rescuing the damsel in distress, the party decided to take several days of rest and do the things that they do in town. Laeka went to the temple of Povra and joined in the festivities and religious celebrations, engaging in sparring and battles when she wasn't walking about town with her kobolds. She found them a home among the warriors of Povra, and to the best of her knowledge they are still offering religious classes to the young followers of the God of War by taking part in the non-lethal scenarios swiftly dubbed "kill the kobolds". Used to this sort of abuse, the kobolds think that they might actually be able to complete the journey toward goodness if it means they don't die permanently every time they're beaten up.

Marcus busied himself in the marketplace, looking for a set of new spells (Although Tol Vehara is the so-called Last City of Free Magic, the prohibition against training anyone past 3rd level so as not to invite the wrath or scrutiny of the Knights of the New Order means that wizards do not automatically gain 2 spells each level... they have to buy them). Arien accompanied him to a point and visited with several of her own contacts in the marketplace, looking for the possibility of locating and purchasing a weapon with magical abilities that the druid could use. Her friend Betta who is an herbalist/folk healer told her she'd check around with her merchant friends to see if there were any that could be scrounged up. While Arien was waiting, she decided to investigate the training that would be necessary to get her ready for being a Dust Rider.

Skalar and Valar, ranger and rogue, both decided to stake out the Sapphire manor in their own way, with Skalar watching the physical comings and goings of people in and out of the Sapphire manor via the streets, and Valar taking his time to poke around in the underbelly of Tol Veharan society. Valar manages to get the White Masks interested enough in his suspicion that they say they'll assign one of their spies within the Sapphire household to check out what's happening with the triumphant return of Ymanoura. They also reward his account with the guild for bringing them the political leverage that could possibly be gained by revealing that Ymanoura had broken the veil and actually been directly exposed to the Taint in the Blasted Lands, as well as the socially-sensitive matter that the daughter of one of the three 'noble' houses which maintained residence in Tol Vehara had run off with the farrier's apprentice.

Skalar finally recalled that part of the wealth of the Sapphire family allowed for them to actually own several of the treetop dwellings in the canopy above their downside manor. He trudges off with a sigh of exasperation at having allowed his quarry to leave... if she did in fact leave. He returned to the Howling Wolf tavern and decided to stay there for a while.

Yovaire took some time to outfit himself better and practiced his skills patiently, awaiting the rendezvous date so that the party could actually get their shopping done. Tanin spent the time at the Howling Wolf and visiting the Gardens of Pleasure and the temples of Rathsha, the Love Goddess in her more ... scandalous ... nature. A few notches on the belt later and a good deal more poor, Tanin spent the rest of his time indulging his dog with bacon and milling and swilling at the Howling Wolf.

Arien and Marcus returned to the Howling Wolf after their days out and about and gathered the party together to go and pay a visit to one of the more prominent Agents in town. They took with them a map that they had recovered off of the body of the goblin adept from Dorecan Manor, to see if any of the Dust Riders could help them decipher where the map depicted and how to get there. (Something about the writing on the map that, when deciphered, spoke of a legendary magical sword being held there).

Arien and crew wandered blindly into the southeastern district of the city, known for its bustling economy almost totally devoted to equipping and supporting jaunts into the blasted lands. Even the beggars on the streets claimed to have treasure maps aplenty, and small independent entrepreneurs tried to establish themselves as bona fide Agents for the Dust Riders. Of all the Agents, however, only five had managed to turn their business into lucrative, sustainable wealth, and therefore there are only five Agents who run entire compounds. From the brilliant but quite insane Mad Madge's Agency, to the more serene Serdigo's Agency whose Dust Rider cadre seemed more interested in lore than wealth. The party, quite incidentally, ended up wandering into the first of these compounds they came across. . . Brindella's Agency.

Brindella's Agency is run by none other than the most famous of gnomish agents, Brindella Whipplethorpe Stockwhistle, grand-daughter to Paldinky Besmircher Stockwhistle, the gnome who enlisted with the human armies on the advice of a series of visions sent to him. Paldinky used his boon from the humans to buy the complex which became the cornerstone of his own wealth, and he was also one of the scandalous gnomes who went into business not in the moving and trading of spices and agrarian products, but in the supply and maintenance of 'those damned fool humans' who wanted to run off into the Blasted Lands and get killed. It turned out to be a good investment, as for every ten horses, saddles & tack, saddlebags and weeks worth of iron rations he lost, he would gain at the very least a wand or other magical item to sell. He wandered off after his granddaughter Brindella won the Agency from him by cheating at a card game. He was proud that the little gnompling he had dandled on his knee had managed to swindle the swindler, and bequeathed all of his wealth to Brindella before retiring into a gnomish kibbutz where, as Paldinky termed it, he would serve out the ignominy of farming to get a head start on the karmic penance he'd have to burn off in the next lifetime for having so much damned fun in this one.

But I digress. Brindella was a sneaky gnome and a savvy business-gnomwin, but she had a heart of gold and truly believed that good was the all-important motivation and ideal in the world (NG). Her roguery and skullduggery added to her reputation and soon, Brindella was a name well respected among the latter-day Dust Riders. Although her compound was built mostly for gnomes and others of normal stature in store, she did make concessions in the past few years to accomodate all the big folk by adding human-sized quarters inside her compound.

It was into Brindella's compound that the party walked, following Arien. A retired paladin now working as a blacksmith and with a noticeable limp from badly-healed adventures eyed them over and then nodded to the gnomes on the pallisade to stand down. "No evil here, be welcomed," he said, and then turned back to his work at his forge.

Arien was quickly met by Brindella, and when she began to ask about the map and becoming a Dust Rider, Brindella cut her off impatiently.

"Never seen the place, dearie . . . I hope you didn't pay too much for it."

"Oh no," the druidess replied. "I didn't buy this, I found it out in the Blasted Lands. In a place we think was called 'Dorecan Manor'."

Brindella sniffed and glanced over her spectacles at the woman. "Dorecan? Been abandoned for years, after Thornwattle and his boys done near cleaned the place out. You stayed at the Farmhouse, then? What brought you into the Blasted Lands? Heroism or wealth?"

"Both," grinned Valar, and was stared at by the others. "What?"

Arien told the story in broad strokes, and Brindella listened attentively, then said, "All right, if even half of your story is true, then I think we'll get along just fine. Standard contract includes mounts, lodging, organics, food, and fencing at 90 percent to the house. After you come back a couple of times and make it worth my while to invest more into you, we can talk. Whaddya say? And is it just you, hon, or is the whole lot of you?"

It took Arien a moment to understand what was happening, and then she realized Brindella thought she was applying to become a member of Brindella's Agency. She asked more about how that all worked, and Brindella, realizing that Arien wasn't applying, took the time to fill her in. Agents could handle things one of two ways. Either they did direct business with the Dust Riders, buying and selling with cash or credit, or else they signed exclusivity contracts with one Agency house and stayed with them. In exchange, the Agent housed them in between jaunts, provided fresh mounts and disposal of those mounts too Tainted to be used as food for the South Banks miscreants. It 'cost' 50,000 gp for the Dust Rider to 'buy into' the Agency, which essentially opened up a credit account. The Dust Rider brought back items that could be fenced off or sold, and of the 90% that the Agent kept of the money, half was considered to be applied to their back bill. A Dust Rider could buy out at any time, settling the accounts once and for all, or they could continue to make jaunts and bring back stuff to be cleansed and sold. Brindella kept the books, and everything was on the up and up, with signatures and witnesses and standard values set by an agreement between the five major Agents and approved by the Trader's Guild.

When Arien mentioned that she wasn't really a Dust Rider yet, Brindella nodded and said she knew, because those who were real Dust Riders were known by all the major Agents, herself included, by name if not by sight. Being an exclusive contractee to Brindella's agency meant that when the time came, Brindella would make sure that Arien received proper training and became a 'real Dust Rider'. She and anyone else in the party who met the exacting requirements to begin the training.

Arien also balked a bit at the price, not liking the idea of starting 50,000gp in the hole to someone. She was afraid of reneging on the deal or dying without repaying, and didn't want to saddle her brother with the debt. Brindella shrugged off her concerns, saying that true death cancelled all debts in cash, but multiplied those in spirit. "With all the spiritual repayment I've got coming to me, I should be born a saint." For Brindella's side, the risk was minimal. Lose a few mounts and supplies against the possibility that someone might not come back, but if you win then a competent Dust Rider who went beyond the Outer Fringe of the Blasted Lands (where the party has been 'playing', as she said), could easily bring back 50K's worth of magical treasure in a single jaunt.

She also mentioned that most of her best Riders don't come out for months at a time, and when they do they drop off mounds of loot that Brindella sells, and they rarely ask for any of it because after a week they're back into the Blasted Lands again.

"You can tell the real ones because they're hooked. Not like on the smokeweed or the bottle, but there's something in the very land itself that seems to speak to them. I wouldn't know. I'm just their Agent, but I do know that there are those who do it for the glory and gold, and they don't last too long. And then there are those who do it for something else, something personal between them and the Blasted Lands. You see the same thing with sailing gnomes. They can only survive if the conditions on the seas are right, yet they aren't happy at home. There's something vital missing from their lives when they're not on the seas. Same thing with my boys and girls. They come out with great riches and great relics from the past. Some, they keep, but very rarely do any cash out their account. Until they retire, and then they retire for good and travel far away from the Blasted Lands altogether. And when they cash out their accounts, they could live like minor princes every last one of 'em. After a while, they'd stop counting, and I hate temptation, which is why every credit transation and item appraisal is signed for and witnessed by two gnomes or a paladin. And besides... once you buy out your initial contract, I only keep 30 percent of the fence. Which means that there's quite a few of my boys and girls who I know are gone because the priests have told me so, but I can't bring myself to touch their accounts. I keep it in trust if I can't find the family or next of kin, but I always settle my debts."

Arien and the party spend the night with Brindella at her complex, enjoying her hospitality (and loving the fact that she has an everful keg of beer. The next morning, after more discussion, Arien decided that not signing the contract was more folly than doing so, and she signed on to become one of Brindella's Dust Riders (in training). Brindella taught her how to make claim markers, and instructed her in how to read them when she came across them. Every marker was tied to an Agent, and it was a matter of professional courtesy to respect the claim of another for one month of abandonment. Now that Arien had signed on with Brindella, she got her own markers and her 'finds' were under the protection of Brindella's Agency. Some might claim-jump, but when you had the markers which pointed to one of the major agents, most thought twice.

When asked what their plans were, the party used Brindella's dining room as a place to discuss what they were doing next. At that point, the group decided that they really wanted to return to the Blasted Lands and to revisit the Dorecan Manor to try and find any loot that the new monster occupants might have brought into the formerly 'abandoned' location in the Fringe lands of the Blasted Lands.

The party saddles up the next morning on fresh mounts provided by Brindella (and marked against Arien's account) and set off. As they crossed Hope's Bridge into the South Banks, though, one of the White Masks guildmembers managed to stop by and deliver a message for Valar. The intermediary didn't know what it meant, but said it was from Valar's handler. It said simply "The watcher in blue has been found asleep in the streets. Go visit your aunt." In the cipher of the White Masks, Valar understood that the spy in the Sapphire Manor had been found dead, and that his handler thought it best that he get out of town for a while. Since that was where the party was heading anyway, it was with a shrug and a grumble at the perfidy of the beings that ran these particular Cosmos that Valar headed out. When he informed the party of the news that his suspicions regarding Ymanoura were most likely correct, he said "The only thing that feels worse about being wrong is the fact that this time I was right."