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Message: <blockquote data-quote="skotothalamos" data-source="post: 6179887" data-attributes="member: 83398">The constables removed James from his shipping box and immediately starting asking him questions about where he had been and what had happened to him. He said he could recall being held in a room, being asked questions, and being asked to contribute healing infusions to help the injured, but not much else beyond that. He said he was having memory issues, and asked to be caught up on how the investigation was going. Cazara took the lead there, explaining what had happened since James had been taken, and how the constables planned to take Nevard to Cauldron Hill in a matter of hours. The constables gathered gear and made for the Nettles. With guards stationed on all the roads and paths up Cauldron Hill, the constables had to make their own way through the underbrush. The climb was exhausting, and the bitter cold of Cauldron Hill – even in Summer – ground down the endurance of all but Ironpeak, who seemed quite at home on the mountain. Finally they reached the top, where there were two flat areas with scattered menhir. Most of the stones had fallen, but a number of them were still arranged in a convenient circle on one of the plateaus. Nevard said he like the look of that place the best, and the group headed there to make a camp while Nevard looked skyward for signs of the future. Ad Nevard was studying the sky, a spectral red curtain appeared atop one of the menhir. The curtain opened and Nilasa stepped out, warning the group that her murderer – a man made of shadow – was approaching. It wasn’t long before the spooks of Cauldron Hill made their presence known. Ironpeak saw them first: various ghosts and otherworldly figures slowly drifting toward the fires the group had built for warmth. Then she spotted the dark shape on the far rise. A man seemingly made of shadow. He could be none other than Detective Roger Porter. The shadowy figure activated a sunrod and hurled it toward  the group, drawing the attention of the crowd of strange beings on the mountaintop. Ironpeak batted it out of the air and over the mountainside, but Porter sent other lights toward the group and soon they could not hold back the tide of strange spirits and beasts. Nevard only needed a few minutes to finish his visions, and the constables held out as best they could. Malkie ended up in an awkward position with a hag who kept vomiting worms down the vampire’s throat. Ironpeak fought a snake-maned lion and an incarnation of death itself.  Mort protected the skyseer until finally Nevard said he’d seen enough and was ready to go. With his borrowed vigor, Nevard managed to lead the escape from the mountain while Malkie fumbled about with a sunrod to no effect. Most of the group was running and/or tumbling back down the mountain, and most of the dangerous creatures had been destroyed, but Ironpeak was locked into a duel with Death. Neither would back down and the two matched each other swing for swing, parry for parry. Ironpeak finally summoned up some primal energy and rooted the apparition to the ground. It responded with a wicked slash of its scythe that dropped the goliath. The victory was short-lived, however, as Ironpeak’s primal spell destroyed the apparition a moment later. Cazara leapt back up the mountain to revive Ironpeak and help her make the decent off the horrible peak of Cauldron Hill. The night was far from over, however: Nevard and those who took part in the Bond of Forced Fate ritual had seen an urgent vision. Heward’s Alkahest factory was the next target of the arsonists in Parity Lake, and the factory would burn before sunrise. As they descended the mountain and made their way to Heward’s factory, Nevard shared his visions with the group: “I saw a dark figure, standing atop Cauldron Hill, towering over our city.The sun set, and he cast a shadow across Parity Lake, stretching northwest,into the sea, beyond the horizon. He is born in our city, but his ultimate goalis elsewhere. And also things moved in his shadow—indeed, his shadowmoved before he did, for while he was mighty, he was controlled by others. “I saw smoke hiding his face, for he was made mighty by industry. Inmy vision, a king chased him out to sea and defeated him by slicing himfree from his shadow. But the cauldron had already shattered, and manythousands were drowned and devoured in its roil. “I saw three birds alight on the peak, the first of black silk, the secondof black steel, both weeping blood. But the third was made of stars, andit sang many songs. “I tell you this: Cauldron Hill is not safe. Twice will danger arise, andtwice will we be deceived into thinking it is safe to return, but we mustavoid the place and avoid being tricked. I will arranged shelter in theCloudwood, where people can be safe until the darkness passes.” Nevard also saw other visions, but he’s less certain what these mean, sohe did not plan to tell them to the public: A woman sat on a leather couch in a waiting room, surrounded byred curtains. She held a gold coin and rolled it across the back of herfingers. A pick lay against the side of the couch. He asked her what shewas waiting for, and she answered in a language he didn’t know, saying,“The place I’m going isn’t here yet.” A trumpeter carried a lantern onto the stage of a darkened theater, andthe people gathered for his performance applauded, then lit lanterns oftheir own. The theater never got bright enough for him to see their faces. One man tore himself in two, and his twin selves fought over a woman,tearing her into three, who ran away. Mice skittered around them, collectingcheese fallen amid the rails of a trainyard. Then a train roared down thetrack past him, but it had no one driving it. In the distance it derailed, andcrushed two of the women, but which of the three survived? A man carrying a bronze staff with three keyholes is assailed byswords and arrows and fire, but nothing kills him. He began to take offhis robes, revealing tiger fur beneath them, while stars fell from the skyall around him. Then the sky was dark, and when the sun should haverisen, instead a pale glowing cloud floated in the dark. Finally, tyrant and murderer languished in prison, hanging fromtwelve chains and hooks that pierced her feet, her legs, her thighs, hershoulders, her arms, and her hands. But the thirteenth hook that sealedher mouth swung loose, and it fluttered in the breeze as she whispered amap that led everywhere. The constables arrived at Heward’s factory in time to prevent a pair of dragonborn brothers from lighting the place on fire. One of the brothers, Valando, died in the fight, caught unawares by Mort’s pistol shot. The other brother, Eberardo, was arrested and taken back to RHC headquarters. There was minimal property damage from one of Valando’s spells, which ignited some accelerants planted on the roof. Cazara toppled the factory’s water tower to put out the fire while Mort made sure to evacuate any employees. Nevard parted ways with the constables, but not before informing them that he was already planning a gathering for the following day, where he would share his main vision with the public, and let them know about the evacuation arrangements in the Cloudwood. The gathering would be at Dawn Square, an open space in Bosum Strand that could hold up to 10,000 people. As it was around 5:00 in the morning by the time the constables finished their day, which had begun before noon, Delft once again told them to head home and get some rest. Other constables would handle the interrogation of Eberardo.  The constables were so tired that each of them slept the entire day away, not rising again until sunset. Mort dealt with Danoran affairs at the consulate. James checked up on his tavern. Malkie had a snack and then went to work for her “other job.” Ironpeak and Cazara followed up on a loose end. The next morning, James sent a message by courier to all the others, saying that he believed that Roger Porter was planning an appearance at Nevard’s rally. He asked the investigators to meet him at Dawn Square as soon as possible to investigate. The group gathered, but there was a new face. Cazara and Ironpeak introduced a skyseer who would be joining the investigation: Yoku had been freshly deputized that morning.</blockquote>

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