And at last...
Wolf's Company:
Wyshira runs amidst Burl's convoy of guards, still pretending to be utterly terrified, and then chaos is unleashed. A sleep spell from Kaerval and a sneak attack with two saps by Kale begins the fight, and as soon as Burl realises these are the right mercenaries he uses his scroll as well. Combined with a timely and effective cause fear from Wyshira, and five of the eight guards are already down, two now arrayed against Wolf and one against Kale. The heavy rain, thunder and appaling visibility means the defenders are demoralised, confused and more than a little scared - yet the party has been successful in not killing any.
As Wyshira grabs Burl to pull the necromancer off the street, there's the zip of crossbow bolts. The guard fighting Kale falls to the ground dead, bolts sticking out of his throat and chest, as three cloaked figures slink out of a nearby alleyway. Seeing the newcomers, Wyshira makes an obscuring mist descend over the battle.
With this cover, Wolf yells to the others to run, and they do so. There's a moment that would have been comical if it wasn't for the potentially lethal seriousness of the situation, with Kale yanking Burl in one direction and Wyshira pulling the porr wizard in the other. Once they get themselves sorted out, they just run - Burl knows the new cloaked figures are definitely not the people he was expecting because they killed a guard, and the next victim might well be him.
Arriving at the north-west gate to Iril, with no apparent pursuit, they meet with Wolf - who took a different path to get there. Kaerval has already disappeared off into Iril to begin the latest part of his career at the Iril opera house, so they quickly get a move on out of the city.
Wolf explains he has booked passage upriver on a boat that's waiting for them, and they set off immediately, some conversation occurring as they go. Burl finds Kale to be rather blunt, focused on the matter at hand - getting away from Iril and staying alive, rather than with politeness and pleasantries. Wyshira on the other hand is more talkative to the young wizard. Kale, for his part, finds the man's unfailing politeness somewhat odd, and he finds it hard to believe Burl's story of his part in the destruction of the village of Irlain, unless of course the man really is as naive of Iril politics as his story portrays him to be.
They head down to the banks of the Saphrin river, boarding a barge vessel, and to the shock of the party members (except Wolf, who remains quiet, calm and focused all through this), a large, rusty metal engine at the rear of the boat kicks into action with a growling chug and begins to push the boat against the current, crew feeding in fuel to keep the boiler running. At first Wyshira is appalled but it doesn't seem like she has much other choice so she quickly settles down.
They spend the night protected from the rain by the covering of tarpaulin hung over some of the crates. Wolf is the first awake the next morning - Kale wondering whether the man slept at all, and the gray light of the new day finds heavy mists over the Saphrin river, fine drizzle pouring down.
Some tea is garnered from a big pot being heated over the boiler engine, and Burl goes to take a better look at the machine. As he does so he encounters Ungor Ferechan, the dishevelled and grimy gnome engineer who keeps the machine running, introducing himself as a 'metallo-thaumaturge'. This is much to Kale's disappointment - he liked the big steam engine for having a certain down-to-earth honesty, and now he finds out that it appears magic is involved even in this. Ungor explains to the inquisitive Burl that it's a Huronese make basic steam engine, though he's made his own 'enhancements' to it - though he admits they make it a little more, ahem unstable at times.
Then the party sits down for some serious business - the future. Wolf explains that they'll enter the Sapphire, a large inland lake in Corinthia, in a few hours, wher they'll stop at the town of Halstath on its shores. From there, they'll arrange for means of travel across the Drakkath into Naseria.
Burl asks what is to become of him now, a question that has been on the minds of all the party members. He mentions that he has an idea to visit Fayen in Naseria, and Wolf proceeds to make him a proposal. They're going to Naseria anyway, for mercenary work for a sorceror called Ecurius - and a mercenary party can always do with a wizard. Burl mulls over this with a bit, chatting with Kale - who points out to him the dangers of a mercenary life. Eventually the mage realises that if he wants to find the answer to his question - do I accept Wolf's offer? - he just needs to look at what has happened on this short boat trip. He's learned a little about metallo-thaumaturgy, and encountered a new race (he found out that Wyshira was a water genasi). Who knows what else awaits him?
He decides to accept.
During this conversation, it comes out that Burl is a necromancer, initially provoking negative reactions from the others. The horrific Dread March a century ago is still indelibly ingrained in peoples minds. Yet he quickly makes it clear that he simply searches for a better understanding of the process of death, and while the others are a little unnerved, they accept it.
Kale is troubled though - why did Wolf make the offer to the wizard in the first place?
A while later, the vessel docks in Halstath...
More to come later
)
LOL
