Arcanis: Gonnes, Sons, and Treasure Runs (COMPLETED)

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 10 – The Black Room

Ebony paint covered the walls and ceiling of this room. A sable carpet covered the floor. The scent of henbane, assaofetida, and hellebore root filled the room. All the furniture in the room was lacquered black.

A hulking black monstrosity with a string of gleaming yellow eyes dotting either side of its head lunged at the open door.

Beldin rushed forward, driving his shield into the thing’s mouth to keep it bay. Vlad came in quickly behind.

They were trapped in a stalemate. The beast’s massive claws threatened Beldin, but it was too distracted by the shield lodged in its mouth. Its jaws were massive and corded; Beldin’s shield groaned under the weight.

“Do something!” shouted Beldin.

Sebastian hesitated. Hurling an orb of acid might his friend. He opted instead of a bolt of magical energy, but the thing shrugged it off.

Vlad drew his crossbow, aimed, and fired. The beast ignored the bolt sticking out of its head.

The door on the opposite side of the room opened and closed. Then suddenly someone yanked hard on the carpet.

Losing their footing, Beldin and the creature flew up into the air. But where Beldin landed on the floor, the beast smashed through a trap door that led to a forty-foot drop.

Kham was visible at the other end of the rug.

“Where have you been?” asked Vlad.

“Talking to the flaming-haired dwarf in the red room. Nice enough, but not very helpful.”

“You could have helped us,” said Sebastian. “Instead of setting off all the guardians at once.”

“You’re alive, aren’t you?” said Kham. “I consider that being helpful.” He lowered himself through the trap door.

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 11 – Magical Letter Square

A large square grid was painted on the floor in the middle of the room. The grid was five ten-foot by ten-foot squares long and wide, a total of twenty-five squares. A huge capital letter was painted in the middle of each square. There was a door on the other side of the room, but to reach it they would have to step on several of the painted squares.

Sebastian mulled it over. “It’s all in Hasturic: Gohen, Orare, Hazah, Eraro, and Nehog.”

Kham peered at the letter in front of him. “And that means…”

“Eraro means shapeshifters. That’s all I know.”

“Great, so I don’t want step on Eraro.” Kham swigged a potion. “In fact, I don’t plan to step on any of them. He took a running lead in the hallway before the room.

“No, wait!”

Kham leaped, clearing the room and slamming into the door on the far side of the wall.

“He made it,” said Beldin with relief.

“Oh sure,” Kham called out behind him. “I just can’t see anything.”

“Blind again?” asked Vlad. “One day I’ll teach you how to blind-fight.”

“Yeah, thanks, that’s helpful. I’m going to keep going.”

“But you can’t see!” shouted Sebastian.

“Skiz will guide me. SKIZ! Wake up!”

Kham felt his way out of the room as his pet rat poked its head out of his haversack.

Sebastian sighed. “I will fly over it, perhaps that will make a difference.”

He flapped across the room, landed, and turned around. “I don’t feel any different.”

“I’ll try a different approach,” said Vlad. He ran across it diagonally. No effect.

“Beldin, maybe you should…” began Sebastian.

Beldin walked straight ahead in the same path Kham had taken.

“Or you could do that.”

The dwarf smiled at Sebastian. “It takes more than words to blind a dwarf.”

 

[talien]

Castle Amborse: Part 12 – Cells

They passed four dungeon cells. The back and side walls of each cell were made of stone. The front wall was a grid of iron bars. In one cell was a longhaired man holding a paintbrush and a bucket of paint. He was huddled in the corner of the room, staring rapturously at a highly realistic painting of the moon on the back wall of his cell.

Vlad battered the lock open.

“What are you doing?” asked Beldin.

Then Vlad stepped inside the cell with the man and stared at the painting of the moon.

Sebastian looked away. “Don’t look at it!”

Kham felt his way back to the cell. “What’s going on?”

Beldin frowned. “Vlad seems to be enchanted. He’s staring at a painting of the moon.”

Kham reached into his haversack and pulled out a can of paint.

“Where?”

“Straight ahead of you.”

“Not going to have much use for this paint anyway,” Kham muttered to himself. Then he pulled back and threw the bucket.

The can collided with the wall, spraying black paint everywhere. The moon was covered.

The man in the cell blinked. Then he immediately set to scrubbing off the paint.

Vlad shook his head in confusion. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” said Beldin. “Kham was finally being useful. Let’s get away from here before that guy starts painting another moon.”

Beldin was focused on Vlad. Vlad’s eyes were still adjusting from the enchantment. Kham was blind. And Sebastian had little peripheral vision due to the Pallid Mask. So none of them saw Drak Scarbelly and his two companions, bound and gagged in a corner of one of the other cells.

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 13a – Alchemistry Laboratory

Sebastian looked around. “Looks like an alchemist’s laboratory.”

The room had long wooden tables and myriad wood shelves filled with strange flasks and glassware: alembics, calcinators, sublimators, athanors, retorts and distillation apparatus.

The door slammed shut behind them.

Kham turned. “What was that?”

Vlad tried the door. “We’re locked in.”

There was a soft hissing noise.

“What’s THAT?”

Beldin’s voice was resigned. “That’s a black powdery cloud being released into the room.”

The cloud moved as though it were alive. They struggled to cover their nose and mouths.

Kham collapsed.

“Black lotus!” shouted Sebastian. “It can make your dreams come…” He collapsed before he could finish.

Vlad reached one hand towards Beldin, as if trying to convey some desperate message. Then he fell backwards off the table to the ground.

Beldin looked around and, frustrated and helpless, bellowed in rage. “It’ll take more than that to stop a—“

Then he too, fell prey to the black lotus.

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 13b – Alchemistry Laboratory

Kham dreamed of Camilla, Cassilda, Naotalba and Aldones.

Camilla entered the throne room, her nightgown dirty and torn, her hair stringy and damp. She held the Stranger’s robe tightly to her breast.

Her gaze wandered until she saw Aldones. She smiled broadly, paused a moment, and then danced around the room, waving the robe in the air like a flag.

“As if summoned, she appears,” said Naotalba in wonder.

“Great joy, father,” shouted Camilla, “for the Yellow Sign is found! Great joy to all who see it! Great…”

“Traitor!” snarled Aldones. “You sell us to the priests and the mob! What price your treachery? What profit your crimes?”

Camilla stopped, uncertain and confused. “Dear father…”

Aldones turned to Cassilda. “It is a simple matter, your majesty. If she is mad, that’s one thing. But if she simply acts of it, if she is indeed a traitor, then we must stop her.”

Cassilda eyed her daughter as she spoke to Aldones. “Your explanations wheel like a flight of sparrows, Aldones. I am growing impatient.”

“Hardly,” said Aldones.

Naotalba ignored him. “Did she not see Carcosa’s rising tide?”

”No one sees it now, priest,” said Aldones.

“She, like her brother before her, has dropped your dynasty’s veil behind,” he responded to Aldones. “So crossing from your destiny to mine.”

“So she’s with you, then?”

“Surely she has chosen madness wisely—”

“Riddles!” shouted Aldones. “Riddles! While war wages about us, ruin closer by the minute, you rhyme and preen and gloat! I’ve had enough!”

“I am content to wait,” said Naotalba. “The time cannot be long in coming.”

“But father, how is Uoht?” asked Camilla. “I had him arrested…“

Aldones interrupted her. “The traitor admits it!”

“…as you asked me,” she finished.

“Calm yourself, Aldones,” said Cassila. “She sounds to me as though her madness retreats a little, if such a thing were possible. Hear her out.”

“If you will not defend your dynasty, I will!” Aldones grabbed a musket from a guard’s hands and aimed it at Camilla.

Naotalba dove to the ground. “Save us!”

Cassilda rose to her feet and screamed. “No!”

Aldones fired. The musket flashed with fire and smoke and Camilla crumpled to the ground. As the explosive sound echoed away, absolute silence reigned.

“So. ‘Tis true. ‘Tis all true,” said Cassilda, resigned. “After a fashion.”

Aldones seemed to be stunned after what he’d done. “Cassilda…”

“Only ‘twas you.” Cassilda calmly drew her sword. “’Twas you who sent Uoht to the tower, to his death. And now…”

“Dear wife!” exclaimed Aldones.

“To cover your lies…”

“Not true!”

“Aldones,” Cassilda said deliberately. “It is you who are the traitor.”

Aldones dropped the musket, almost throwing it away. He shook.

“You lied to me, you slack-brained piece of human filth. How long were you lying to me? How long? Just today? A week? A year? When have you not lied to me, to all of us?”

“No! I… I…” Aldones looked about wildly. “Naotalba. Yes, Naotalba…”

Cassilda took a step down from the throne, growing in her anger as Aldones shrank. “What?”

“He bewitched me.”

Cassidal took another step. “Try again.”

“I…I was mad.”

She stepped off the dais. “No.”

“It’s not my fault. I…”

“Draw your sword.”

“But she was a…that is she…ah!”

Cassilda swung her sword at Aldones. He backed away hurriedly and drew his own blade. She swung her blade in a wicked arc at his head, and Aldones only barely blocked the blow.

“Murderer! Liar!” She wounded Aldones. “You have destroyed us!”

“I sacrificed the present,” shouted Aldones, “for the future!”

“Tell me—was it ambition or just a natural sense of cruelty that drove you?” She struck another blow.

Aldones recovered his poise slightly and mounted a stronger defense.

“Destiny drove me.”

“Please…”

“It was always my destiny to repudiate your dismissal of me. You’re such an idiot, Cassilda. You never had the will to do what was politically necessary.”

“Necessary?” Enraged, Cassilda drove him back. “Necessary? What was necessary?” She slashed Aldones’ arm. “Was Camilla necessary? Was Uoht necessary? Our children; our future, that was your sacrifice, for your anger and your ego. Were all the murders necessary?” She slashed his other arm. “The lies?”

Aldones retreated, afraid. “Cassilda!”

“The torture—was that also politically necessary? Or did you just enjoy it?”

“Cassilda…”

“Why won’t you die?” She lunged and stabbed him through the thigh.

“I…I only wanted…to save us.”

“See how you have condemned us?”

Cassilda knocked Aldones’ sword from his hand and he fell against the throne. She raised her sword for the killing blow and struck.

Even as the breath left Aldones’ lungs, spells that had been in place for just such a contingency went into effect.

“He is dead, your majesty,” said Naotalba.

Cassilda was still shaking in her rage. “Is truth so easily dispatched?”

“What shall we do now, your majesty?” asked the priest.

“I don’t know.” Cassilda paused. “Dispose of the body.”

“It…it seems to have vanished.”

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 14 – Bobbing for a Key

In the center of the otherwise bare room was a ten-foot deep sunken pit filled with liquid. A thin glass sphere floated in the middle of the pit. Inside the sphere can be seen a large silver key.

“In Carcosa, the black lotus can make dreams come true,” Sebastian explained as they entered. “It is likely that Kham’s dream took him somewhere else. If he did not return by the end of the dream, then he is still there.”

“We’ve been in the Dreamlands twice before,” said Vlad. “Hopefully he can find his way back.”

“I dreamed I was falling,” said Beldin. “Fortunately, it didn’t come true.”

“I dreamed…” Vlad shuddered. “Let’s just say I don’t want to sleep out in the forest anymore.”

Sebastian sighed. His wings were covered in feathers. “I dreamed Illiir gave me the gift of flight. Only I already have it. I woke up with these feathered wings.”

“Who was behind that amber-colored light?” asked Beldin. The light had healed all their wounds while they slept, and it faded as they awoke.

“Aldones, I think,” said Beldin. “I believe he is watching over us somehow.”

“And here’s another silver key.” Sebastian pointed at the glass sphere. “Perhaps we need more than one.”

Beldin flipped a silver piece into the pit. It sizzled and disintegrated. “Acid.”

Vlad peered into the pit. “I suppose if you tie a rope to me I could try to…”

Sebastian made a gesture. The glass sphere floated past Vlad and landed at Sebastian’s feet.

“Oh. Right.”

Sebastian stomped on the glass and it broke easily. He snatched up the silver key with a flourish.

“Beldin, let me see your key.”

Beldin held up the first silver key they had found. They appeared identical.

“They seem more ornamental than anything,” said the dwarf. “There’s not enough teeth in these keys to make them of much value, but they are made of solid silver.”

Vlad nodded. “Then we’d better find the lock. Let’s go.”

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 15 – The Demon of Death

A pentagram surrounded by a circle was painted in white on the floor in the middle of the room. An amber colored candle burned at each point of the pentagram. A hunting horn of amber hung from a peg on one wall.

Vlad was filled with dread. “What is that?”

There was movement in the darkness in the center of the pentagram.

“Hello, Vlad Martell. We meet again.”

Standing in the pentagram was a ten-foot tall humanoid covered with a dull gray scaly skin. Its gaunt body was hairless. Ivory fangs protruded from its mouth and its fingers ended in metallic talons. Its eyes glowed like smoldering coals and two huge bat-like wings grew out of its back.

“The Honor of Cadic,” said Vlad.

Beldin looked from the devil to Vlad. “You two know each other?”

“Please, call me Urumeh,” said the devil.

“Don’t listen to him,” said Sebastian. “He’ll say anything to get out of his prison.”

Urumeh looked bemused. “An interesting irony, given your mask and wings.”

“How do you know this thing?” Beldin asked Vlad.

“We…” Vlad fumbled for words. “Took the Chalice of Midnight from him.”

“Don’t you mean stole?” asked Urumeh. “I fought hard to save that world, but it was lost to the Unspeakable One’s minions. Knowing that I could not so easily be destroyed, they imprisoned me here. And now that Aldones Stefan Ambrose has arrived, Carcosa is being built anew.”

“So it was Ambrose who caused all this!” exclaimed Beldin.

Vlad just glared at the devil prince.

“You have two keys. You will need three to escape this prison. Release me and I will tell you where the third key is.”

“I doubt that sincerely,” said Sebastian. “You are not to be trusted.”

“And you, who attacked your friends, are? You, who even now wear a mask that conceals your features? You, who shares the very same ichor that runs through my veins? Set me free. We are brothers, you and I.”

“Enough! I won’t listen to this any longer.” Sebastian stalked out of the room. “Let’s go.” With a grunt, Beldin followed after him.

“Consider carefully, Vlad,” said Urumeh. “My troops lost the fihali homeworld to the k’n-yan. You nearly lost your own to the King in Yellow. You are alone in this world. Only I am powerful enough to resist its bonds.”

Vlad turned towards the door. As Urumeh saw his potential rescue chances diminish, his voice became more urgent.

“Decimus made a deal with Losknek! He traded far more than my Chalice!”

Vlad hesitated.

“He traded free—“

Vlad slammed the door behind him.

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 16 – Entrance to the Land of the Ghouls

Vlad composed himself. “You’re sure it’s in here?”

“We’ve been over this,” said Sebastian. “The key can’t be anywhere else. We dealt with the hellhound kennels and the great worm. Neither of them had it.”

Beldin made a face. “I practically swam through that worm’s entrails looking for it too.”

“But…does it have to be ghouls?”

Sebastian sighed. “We will make this quick. On my count, I will unleash my most destructive magicks. Clean up whatever still moves when I’m done. Ready?”

“Ready,” said Beldin.

“I guess,” said Vlad. “I can smell them through the door.”

“One.”

Vlad gripped his sword and shield. He had nearly been turned into a ghoul, dragged by the things in Freeport into their warren.

“Two.”

It took all of Father Peg-Leg’s magic to reverse the curse. It was a painful process.

“Three!”

Beldin kicked open the door. Six hideous ghouls, ears cocked to listen, were caught unawares. Flames from Sebastian’s fingertips washed over them. The stench was overpowering.

Vlad gagged, unable to continue. The ghouls’ bodies burst like rotten fruit under the intense heat, leaving nothing but split carcasses behind.

“Stay here,” said Sebastian. He dove into the pit.

A few moments later, he flapped out of the hole with a chest in his hands. He placed it before Beldin.

The dwarf bashed it open with one blow from Windcutter. He eagerly opened the chest.

Beldin held up a silver key. “The third key.”

“Thank gods!” said Vlad.

“Now we just have to find the lock they belong to,” said Sebastian.

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 17 – The Gate of the Silver Keys

Beldin squinted at the amber statue of a lion. It stood between them and a silver gate with three large keyholes.

“I guess that’s the guardian,” he said skeptically.

The massive amber lion’s head turned to track Beldin’s movements.

“Yep,” said Vlad.

“All right then, let’s get on with it.” Beldin rushed forward.

The amber lion moved much quicker than the dwarf anticipated. It jumped into the air and pinned him to the ground with its bulk.

Sebastian gestured and searing rays of energy struck the amber lion, only to bounce off harmlessly. “It is immune to my magic!”

Beldin was pinned beneath his shield. “Try something else!”

Vlad hacked at the amber lion. Grungronazharr bounced off its hide, utterly ineffective. Still, it was enough to distract the guardian. The amber lion lifted its head in a mute roar at Vlad.

“I have something else,” said Sebastian. “Stand back!”

Vlad danced back. The lion turned its attention back to Beldin, preparing to bite his head off.

A pale blue sphere crackled in his open palm. He threw it at the amber lion.

The lion froze as the blue light spread from where the sphere struck it. Cracks formed in the amber. Seeing the guardian fracture, Beldin kicked upwards with his feet.

The amber lion collapsed into chunks. A scroll fell to Beldin’s feet. He tossed it to Sebastian.

Sebastian read it: “To Those Who Would Be Free: The secret that will break the curse surrounding Castle Ambrose and lift the gray mist is engraved on the inside lid of Aldones Stephen Ambrose’s casket. To summon King Aldones’ tomb from beyond space and time, four magical items are needed. The four items, The Enchanted Sword of Sylaire, The Viper Circled Mirror, The Ring of Eibon, and a potion of time travel, can all be found in Carcosa, our old homeland. Touch ring to viper’s tail. Anoint the sword with the potion. Shatter the mirror with the sword, and King Aldones’ tomb will appear. Search first for the Gate of the Silver Keys.” Sebastian looked up. “There are some scribbled notes as well.”

“Guess we know what to do next.” Vlad stepped over to a keyhole. “Hope Kham is on the other side.”

Beldin walked over to a keyhole. “Hope SOMETHING is on the other side.”

Sebastian took a position at the last keyhole. “All together now. One, two, three.”

They turned the keys in the locks.

 

[talien]

Castle Ambrose: Part 18 – The Inn of Bonne Jouissance

Thanks to Sebastian’s spell, he seemed entirely normal to the locals at the nearby inn. He looked like his old self, when they had first met him, sans wings. The other guests, a couple of traveling mercers, a notary, and two soldiers, acknowledged their presence with all due civility. Beldin, on the other hand, drew rude stares.

Vlad cleared his throat. “I’d like to introduce Beldin Soulforge, the key attraction to our traveling circus!”

There was a collective sigh of relief. Some patrons came closer.

Beldin glared at Vlad. “Am I some kind of circus freak now?”

Vlad chuckled nervously. “Of course! Why else would we be in a crowded inn where nobody knows us?”

“What does he do?” asked one local.

“He tosses men, of course!” Vlad said theatrically.

Beldin cracked his knuckles. “Want a demonstration?”

The local was undeterred and more than a little drunk. “Sure.”

Vlad pushed the man gently away. “Trust me, you don’t.”

After a couple of drinks at the bar, they moved to a table to talk in private.

“From what I can gather,” began Sebastian, “we are in the Inn of Bonne Jouissance. It lays on a road to Hastur and Alar. Hastur, Yhtill and Alar are the three major cities here, with Hastur being the capital.”

Beldin grunted. He was still unhappy about his role as a circus freak. “Those names match up with the notes on the scroll. What about Sylaire?”

“As in the sword, right.” Vlad sighed. “It’s due east of here. Sylaire is supposedly inhabited by an evil lamia that seduces men.”

“Let’s go.” Sebastian was about to cast a spell when Vlad grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t.” He looked around.

“Why not?”

“Arcane magic is an offense punishable by death.”

Sebastian dropped his hands at his sides. “Then I guess we’re walking to Sylaire.”