Aphonion Tales (New posts 6/13, 6/15, 6/19)

[Cerebral Paladin]

Lady Constance looked at Dame Brionna. “Do you wish to kill him, or shall I have my minions take care of it?”

Dame Brionna inhaled. “I think it best that you take care of it. I will wait outside.”

After Dame Brionna left the room, Lady Constance gestured to her young men, whose glamours faded to reveal horned devils. The devils leapt upon the bound tiefling and tore it to pieces. Lady Constance watched impassively, waiting until she was sure that it could not remanifest, and then drew forth a golden apple for each of the horned devils. “Take these to your mother with my thanks. I am ever in her debt.” As the devils disappeared, Lady Constance leaned heavily on her cane. “That took more from me than I would have expected. He was most powerful, for a tiefling. With your grace’s permission, I will retire to rest.”

“Of course, and with our thanks. May we ask one of your apprentices to perform some research for us?”

“They are all at your disposal,” said Lady Constance, bowing and exiting.

The coven apprentices stepped forward and performed kneeling bows.

“Research Daliana. I want to know anything that we can learn about her, but especially the identity of any molydeus brothers she has.”

“How can the molydeus be a brother of a marilith?” asked Dame Brionna. “Why are they different demons?”

Dame Agatha, one of Lady Constance’s apprentices, replied, “There is no set form in the abyss, and to be siblings does not mean the same thing as it would for humans. It simply means that they were grown from larvae together by the same master breeder or demon lord.”

“Still, records should include mentions of their ‘family’ connections, and that will allow us to find out more about our enemy.”

The coven apprentices hurried off to the library to begin their research, and the Council turned to organizing the strike teams. They had four targets: the three brothels and the bladelord in the Great Crypt. The first three teams all consisted of elite troops, backed by elves from the Eldar’s retinue to handle any particularly powerful drow assassins. After much discussion, they decided on sending a large group of paladins and rogues-- drawing on the best of the Knights of Valor and of Kit’s rogues to pick people who could be expected to keep their nerve and fight well in the tight quarters of a crypt. They also carefully drilled recognition signals-- the tiefling had said that the assassin could not shift forms but no point in taking chances. A group of elite mages and priests accompanied them, to provide magical support and to cut off magical escape. Finally, Alistair sent a large group of about 100 ordinary elite troops to surround the graveyard as a last check to make sure that the bladelord could not escape. They also sent a runner to the City Guard, asking them to pick up and detain all 230 of the people on the list of controlled innocents. There would be time to sort them out and investigate them individually after the crisis had been averted.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

While they waited for reports of the results of their strikes, Dame Brionna met with the Lady Mayor to discuss the Seachen. It was nearly midnight as they talked.

The Lady Mayor smiled at Dame Brionna. “Thank you for the honor of dealing with these people. They are an odd bunch. They had no objection to leaving the dire elephants outside the City, and the Chief Engineer only brought about 40 servants and guards into the City with her, leaving the rest of her retinue with their mounts. They were most grateful for the litters, which they used closed, and that they were met by a female noble.

“I believe this woman is here for good purposes, not ill. She came on her own and on behalf of an old Seachen mage. But I’m not sure if she is an ally of this mage, or as a servant. She was unclear, and I thought it impolitic to pry.”

Dame Brionna spoke carefully. “Do they understand that Alistair is male and the Archduke? If serious negotiations prove necessary, she will have to meet with Alistair.”

“Yes. That is why the mage did not come herself. I think both the Chief Engineer and the mage are more flexible than most of the Seachen, but that the Chief Engineer is substantially more flexible than her ally or patron. As for their purpose-- they have brought a gift, but they seem most concerned that one of their own, or more than one, has taken a very wrong turn on the Path.”

“The Path?” asked Dame Brionna, unfamiliar with the term.

“The Path is their method of restoring their dead gods. But the Chief Engineer and the mage believe that one of their own is not restoring a dead god, but something else. At least, that’s my understanding-- she wishes to inform us of this, but she’s doing it in such a convoluted manner I can’t be sure of anything she has to say.”

“How do you recommend that we proceed?”

“I think we must set up an audience with His Grace. She presumes that she needs to meet His Grace, but she’s frightened of him. Because he’s male. She expects him to…” The Lady Mayor paused as she searched in vain for a more delicate way to phrase her statement. “She expects him to attempt to rape her.”

Dame Brionna nodded. “From what I know of the Seachen, they expect all men to be rapists. They would assume that a male monarch would be among the worst offenders. We’ll have to construct the audience carefully to set her as much at her ease as possible.” After confirming that the Lady Mayor did not have any additional insights into the serious political matters, Dame Brionna indulged her curiosity. “What is the gift, anyway?”

“A walking tower; a work of her engineering. It is like a non-sentient golem in the form of a 40 foot tower.”

Dame Brionna asked puzzledly, “What does building walking towers have to do with raising dead gods?”

“I don’t know. I could ask…”

Dame Brionna shook her head. “If it happens to come up, I would be curious, but no need to press the issue. Oh, and you should take steps to make sure your sons don’t go anywhere near the portions of your palace where you are housing the Chief Engineer. Since they expect all men to be potential rapists and castrate most of the men in their society, I wouldn’t want any danger of your sons meeting the Seachen and a tragedy happening.”

“Don’t worry, I’m well aware of the risks. I’ve had the entire wing closed to all of my household except the female guards that watch it and myself.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Dame Brionna returned to where the Council awaited reports of the results of the strike teams they had dispatched. The Eldar Farsensor had joined them, since he had sent some of his retinue with the teams.

“This is most unusual,” said the Eldar. “I’ve been consulting the journals. There has not been this much activity connected to one of your coronations in 600 years.”

“What happened 600 years ago?” asked Dame Brionna.

“Someone thought it was a good idea to invade and then to sneak up on the capital during the coronation.”

Kit spluttered. “How did they not see that coming?”

“There was a great scandal about that. According to the journals, it led to the creation of someone called ‘the Mouth.’”

Kit’s lips twitched a little at that, but she felt no need to help the Eldar’s confusion about what the Mouth was.

Finally, the reports began coming in. The forces that attacked the brothels reported first. The fighting was heavy, but the Archduchy’s troops prevailed. They eliminated eleven more of the harlequins, but a few-- four by the Council’s count-- escaped, fleeing into the sewers and then slipping away. The troops also reported having taken the corrupt madams prisoner.

The battle in the city of the dead lasted longer. There was much clashing of blades, hewing of flesh, and spraying of acid, but the Eshen lord quickly realized that his only hope was to escape and made his way to the street level. Out of the crypt and passed most of the strike team, it looked for a time like he would escape until the sheer weight of the elite heavy infantry positioned as a last resort bore him down, leaving him crushed beneath a mass of humanity and safely contained. Despite the acid burns, the troops continued to hold him, and they took him alive, carefully binding him with heavy chains to the point of riveting the chains to his ankle bones. Remarkably, so focused was he on escape, that not one of the people sent to defeat him perished, although many of the acid wounds in particular would take time and much care to heal. All told, he placed about 30 people in the infirmary with serious wounds.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

The rogue who carried the report back to the palace on behalf of Kit’s people also gestured to a pallet that had been brought back. “We also recovered his things. We have yet to open his chest-- I would recommend caution, ma’am.”

Alistair said, “Let’s have Aunt Cecilia look at the ratlord. I want to make sure that there is no trickery.”

Princess Cecilia made her way to the holding cell and sniffed a little at the repugnant creature before her. “Oh, it’s definitely as it appears, horrid creature.” She paused for a moment. “I did not know that was possible… it has acid on its claws and blades, that has a divine power creating it, but is not divine magic. How odd.”

“Thank you, Aunt Cecilia. Can you tell anything about the chest?”

“Only that there is strong chaos.”

A team of Kit’s people carefully examined the chest. First, a mage scryed on its contents, noting many daggers; a host of holy symbols, all different; vials; parchment; paintbrushes-- too thin for paint, yet too thick for ink; a vial of liquid lead; robes; and a magical marble, the only magical thing in the chest. The mage confirmed that the marble had some sort of divinatory magic on it and was profoundly chaotic, but he could not figure out more of its functions without examining it more directly. Kit personally confirmed that there were no psionic effects on the chest.

After that, a team of rogues began searching the chest for traps. The first carefully removed a trap that would have sprayed a deadly gas into the area around the chest. The second rogue was less fortunate, triggering a splash of a vile liquid that liquified part of his face. Dame Brionna’s fast healing saved his life, but he would never be called handsome again. Still, at least he did not suffer the fate of the third rogue, who released a spray of needles. Her wounds seemed superficial at first, but then her body literally fell apart, with limbs and portions of limbs crumbling off. The fourth rogue startled as the chest itself lunged forward and bit at his head, decapitating him cleanly. Like all but the first rogue, the fifth and final rogue triggered a trap, but he leapt into a split in the air with lightning reflexes as a crossbow bolt shot forth from the chest at about waist-level, embedding itself several inches into the stone wall behind him.

The last rogue swallowed, aware of how lucky he was to have survived. “We think that’s the last trap, ma’am.”

Alistair shook his head. “Check it again. We need to be certain.”

The rogue nodded and carefully went over the whole chest again, paying particular attention to the lock mechanism. After a good minute of searching, he grimaced. “There’s a spring in the lock, leading into the interior of the chest. I should be able to cut it.” He carefully inserted his sharpest, thinnest blade into the seal between the top of the chest and its front panel, then nodded and withdrew the knife. “Now to see what all the fuss was about…”

As he reached to open the chest, Dame Brionna held up a hand. “Your grace, if you would be so good as to step out of the room. Just in case.”

Alistair nodded and withdrew, bringing Kit with him, and Dame Brionna signaled the rogue to proceed. At this point, the chest opened easily.

The rogue sighed deeply, happy to have survived, and then he gestured at the vial of liquid lead. “I don’t know what’s in that-- it would be difficult to tell, what with the lead and all, but that’s what the spring linked to. If I hadn’t cut it, the vial would have emptied.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

The mage moved back to the front as Alistair and Kit returned. "Hmm. The holy symbols are gilt, but not actually gold. In fact…" he scraped at a sundisc of Glor'diadel and nodded, "they're made of lead-- tainted lead at that, infused with chaos. Quite a collection-- I'd say there's just about every significant god I can think of except for Whimsey."

Alistair nodded. "It makes sense that she would be excluded. If the purpose was to have spoiled holy symbols that would appear functional, the chaos would have no effect on her followers. She embodies chaos in her own way. What about the Mad God?"

They rummaged through the collection. "No, no symbols for him, either."

"Nor Berta," added Dame Brionna.

"So they're missing the chaos gods, but have the rest," said Alistair. "Although there's the smiling face of Manumist, who I would certainly classify as a god of chaos."

The mage looked at the marble. "It has divinatory magic on it, but I can't figure out what it is. It could be related to a crystal ball, but how would it be targeted? Perhaps it's used by the assassin to cast spells upon his targets, or to allow a limited gate to within 30 feet of the target-- I've heard of magics like that. But I still can't figure out how it would work."

"What about the parchment?" asked Dame Brionna. "Both the marble and the parchment radiate strong evil."

"It's a list of names," said the mage. "I can't say what good it is."

Kit glanced at it. "Hey! My name is one of the top ones on the list." That, at least, she could read without sounding out the letters.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

“Let me see the names,” said Alistair. “Hmm. The names vary a great deal. I know all of them, but I’m not sure why the names are on the list. Mommy Cupcakes, one of the stablemen in the palace… I’m not sure how the names were chosen, except that they are not political targets. None of the people listed are of particular political importance-- the two of you are about the most highly placed people on the list,” he said, gesturing at Kit and Dame Brionna. “And there are a few family members at the bottom of the list, but I wouldn’t say that they are particularly relevant to succession concerns.”

“Close contacts of yours, your grace?”

“Perhaps.” Alistair noted but neglected to mention that none of his more casual sexual partners had made the list. “All of the people are people I feel at least affection for, although some are people I haven’t had much contact with since childhood.” He looked at the list more closely. “Odd… there are two skipped lines. Otherwise, the spacing between the names is very regular. But I don’t see even remnants of old writing.”

The mage cast a quick spell. “How odd… There definitely were two additional names, but I can’t determine what they were. My spell should have revealed that as well…” He frowned. “I think I’ll put the scroll back in the chest, if I may. Holding it makes me feel a draining sensation-- most unpleasant.”

Kit spoke up. “Perhaps the Farsensor could tell us more about it?”

When the Eldar saw the marble and scroll his eyes widened, his usual placid expression replaced with a look of shock. “I go away for a while to see how my men are doing, and you discover a Thorian artifact set.”

“You recognize it? Do you know what it does?”

“Yes. Are any of the people on this list dead?”

Alistair scanned down it again and pointed to a name. “One. He was my old riding-master, and he followed my grandmother.”

“Observe.” The Eldar rolled the marble across the name. As it rolled, the name disappeared-- not as if erased or scraped off, but as if it had never been there. “Now, then. What name was written there?”

“Why, it was…” Alistair paused as he struggled to remember the name. “My old riding-master… I think… I must have had a riding master?”

Kit said, “But you were just talking about… somebody…”

Dame Brionna looked at Alistair. “Can you still ride well?”

“I can ride some, certainly. I would not say I’m particularly well-trained, but…”

“So it’s not just the people, but what they taught you that is lost as well.”

“Indeed,” said the Eldar. “The artifact erases all traces of its victims from history, as if they had never lived.” He thought for a moment. “They have made more in-roads in the forces of evil than I thought if they were loaned this artifact set.”

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

My apologies for the lateness of this post, and for missing yesterday altogether. A double length post to make up for it:

“What do you mean?” asked Kit. “Who could have loaned them this set?”

“There were six of these, one created by each of the servant lords of Borsh’tro, after he arose in the aftermath of our unfortunate kinslaying. Since they were given the use of one, they must have the direct support of one of the Six.”

“So what did I already lose? Who were the other two missing names?”

“Impossible to tell, your grace, until you need the knowledge.”

“How do we prevent them from erasing anyone else?” asked Dame Brionna. “We’ll try to keep these safe, but…”

“The papyrus could be safely burned. There would be no harm to anyone on the list without the use of the marble, and in any event the artifact can only affect the dead. However, if you destroy the papyrus, the marble will return to its creator within three days. I know of no force that could stop it. As long as the papyrus exists, the people on the list are in danger.”

“Is there any way to destroy it completely?” pressed Dame Brionna.

“If you take the marble to the Positive Energy Plane, it will be destroyed utterly. If you destroy this one, there will be four left. But that is the only way to destroy it-- one of the Noldar engaged in herculean efforts to find another method but failed.”

Alistair frowned. “That doesn’t seem very difficult.”

“It would be beyond my powers,” said the Eldar mildly, “although one who specializes more in the arcane arts would be able to open a gate fairly readily. I believe that your archmagi could do it. The difficult part is that you cannot simply open a door to the Positive Energy Plain. Or, rather, it would be like opening a door expecting to find another room and finding the ocean instead-- it would pour through and overwhelm what was on the other side.”

“Still, that should be possible if we choose to,” said Alistair.

“Do you know who the original owner was?” asked Kit.

“I cannot tell by simply examining it. If you wish, I will undertake the rituals. But you should know, even I cannot guarantee safety touching the mind of one of the Six.”

“Best not to take the chance, then,” said Alistair. “On a somewhat different subject, can you tell what the vial of liquid lead contains?”

“Certainly. It is filled with purified warpstone essence. It is well that it is sealed; if it were released in a room this size, it would overwhelm everything within the room in a wave of pure chaos.”

Dame Brionna boggled. “How can we destroy it? That’s too dangerous for us to store.”

“A simple enough matter. Teleport it to the mouth of any active volcano. I could probably do it safely, even though aportation is not one of my specialties.”

“No need. We can have a wizard who does specialize in such matters handle that.”

“Thank you, your grace.”

“Getting back to the artifact,” Kit said, “we need to figure out who was removed. I guess we should start with things you’re no good at…”

The Eldar leaned over to her and murmured, “You could start with psionics…” and then looked vaguely repentant at having made a joke.

Kit suppressed a giggle.

Dame Brionna asked, “Does it actually alter the past? Or just people’s memories?”

“I’m not expert enough to say.” The Eldar paused for a moment. “I now have a link to a colleague at the Steading of the Elven Lords. He should be able to answer more of your questions.”

“Wait!” said Kit. “I just realized the connection among the recent people. We’re people who’ve saved his life! That’s why Jet’s on the list, even though you’re not close to him… because he stopped the poisoning attempt. If we were killed and erased, would he die?”

The Eldar nodded sadly. “My colleague who is an expert on this sort of artifact says that it is possible that he would die. If his constitution is strong enough, it’s possible that his body would remain and only his soul would depart.”

“No one left on that list is going to be erased,” said Alistair firmly, looking straight at Kit as he spoke. “What of the people who have been erased? Is there a means to restore them?”

“There is one way, or at least was. Our fallen brethren were as concerned about these devices as we were, and one created a talisman that could reverse this effect, among other things. The talisman of stability.”

“Let me guess. That was the talisman stolen from the Archbishop of Tarsh,” said Kit.

“Indeed. If it were recovered, it could be used to reverse this artifact’s effects.”

“Do you have any other questions for my colleague? He has other matters that he must attend to for the next six months or so, but he will check in with you at the end of that time.”

Alistair looked at his friends and then shook his head. “Not at present, no. Please pass on our thanks for the boon he has granted us by answering our questions.”

“He was pleased by that message. My colleague is the Sage of the Great Library of the Steading of the Elven Lords, a member of the House of Starfall, and a finer elf you will never meet. Mind you, he can be a little arrogant.” The entire Council wondered at what could make the Farsensor, whose enormous ego they had seen themselves, describe a fellow elf as arrogant.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Dame Brionna spent some time scrutinizing the list. “Your grace, who was your military strategy instructor? I cannot find one on this list.”

Alistair thought about it. “I never had any formal instruction about strategy. I learned some from conversations with my father and listening to him discussing strategy with his advisors, although I must admit some went over my head because of my lack of grounding in the basics.”

“Impossible. Without wanting to question your grace’s memory, a lord of your rank could not possibly have been left completely uneducated in strategy. If you had had a tutor who had done poorly, or remembered avoiding your lessons, perhaps.”

“So that’s one of the missing two,” said Kit, as Alistair nodded in agreement. “Now, who could the last one be?”

“There are no other obvious holes among his grace’s teachers,” said Dame Brionna. “The other missing name is low on the list, near your family members. Perhaps it was one of your grace’s relatives?”

Alistair thought for a moment. “Dame Brionna, what do you know of my mother?”

“She was of noble birth but not married to your father. And she died when you were young.”

“Yes, but what family was she from? Was she high in the nobility, where only my father’s pre-existing marriage prevented them from wedding, or a younger daughter of a manor lord? How did she die? Violence, disease, a surprise misfortune? And when I was an infant, or when I was six, or just before I left Canberry?”

“I… I don’t know, your grace.”

“But you can remember your mother, right, Alistair?” asked Kit anxiously. “You have your childhood memories of her, right?”

“I know I had a mother. But when I think about her, that’s all I can recall. There was mother. But no happy memories of her, or sad or bitter ones for that matter. And no memories of the details about her that surely were carefully taught to me-- who her family was, how and when she died.”

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Just got caught up with the last couple of weeks' posts and wanted to stop by to say how much I am still enjoying this storyhour - a very different take on D&D, but it certainly makes for good reading.

Keep it coming ...

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Thanks, HOHB!

----

“Oh, Alistair,” said Dame Brionna. “I’m so sorry…”

“But… but… they can’t have erased your mother!” said Kit, more out of denial than a real belief. “Wouldn’t that have caused you to die?”

The Eldar shook his head sadly. “Not if he had taken on a sufficient independent existence. Erasing someone who saved his life recently could kill him. But erasing someone whose connection to his being alive was many years ago, with much independent action since… that will only affect his memories and personality.”

Alistair breathed heavily as he thought about what had been taken from him. “Then we need to make sure that we get back the Noldar talisman.”

“I’m working on it,” said Kit. “Don’t worry… we’ll restore your mother.”

“And it’s more than just personal. Dame Brionna, I have several older siblings. Why is my claim stronger?”

“They are older, but their mothers were most unsuitable, whereas your mother… oh.”

“Exactly. By erasing my mother, they both hurt me and also destabilized the succession. And it’s another way in which I’ve endangered those I care about.” Alistair gestured at Kit. “I only hope they didn’t kill her because of me, like they were planning on killing you… but there’s no way to know.”

“We all understand the risks we’re taking for you, Alistair,” said Kit stubbornly. “And we accept them willingly. It’s worth it.”

“I’m not so sure of that. I never wanted any of you to get hurt… I just couldn’t abandon Canberry.”

“No, you couldn’t. And we can’t abandon you, or Canberry. It’s not your choice. It’s ours.”

Alistair had nothing to say in response to that.

“Is there a limit on range?” asked Dame Brionna. “Would people further away still remember his grace’s mother?”

The Eldar responded. “There is no limit, per se, but it spreads like a ripple in a pool. At first the effects are local, then regional, but it continues until the whole pond has rippled.”

“So the effects would be worldwide,” said Alistair.

“Yes, but it would take months to spread the whole distance.”

“We can contact our ambassadors in distant lands, your grace, have them record everything they remember of your mother.”

“Until their records fade as way… it’s not just our memories that are affected.”

“But perhaps they can find a way to preserve the records. And it’s only until Kit can recover the artifact.”

“It’s worth a try. We can also try having them write records and move them off plane-- perhaps the effect is limited to the Prime…” But while Alistair’s words suggested hope, his tone was despondent.

[Incidentally, this was one of my favorite reveals in any campaign I've played in. From the beginning of the game, the DM had only given the vaguest information about Alistair's mother, and I had assumed that that was just a matter of not having worked out (or looked up from other documents where it was written down; the DM has thousands of pages of notes, so ...) the details. But then when we were discussing this artifact, I had a sudden "wait a minute" moment. It was pretty emotional and very cool.]