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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 1761758" data-attributes="member: 9626">Pre-Trial Planning, or Tal's Boo BooA few hours later, the party was trapped in jail, waiting for their legal council to arrive.  Jarrle was separated from the group at some point, and has yet to return, and the others are concerned that something might have happened to them.  Tal was already getting suspicious; this whole thing felt like it was more than simple paranoia, especially after Galeron pointed out that Khaspar mentioned Bas had agents in Methosilang.  Most likely, there was a traitor.  Of course, they were also concerned about the giant, scaly half-ogre who they were sharing the cell with them, especially the way he was just staring at them, grunting occasionally.Meanwhile, Zethar was still watching the house.  For now, the guards left to ensure that the party was taken to their cell safely and won’t try anything funny, but the house will likely be examined soon.  Using his inherent magical powers, he turned invisible, and then snuck into the manor.  His first concern was Venym, which was still petrified in the middle of the mansion.  Zethar used an alternate form of magic to render her invisible as well, and then began the long, painful process of dragging her out of the city.  Fortunately, his ability to fly and turn ethereal sped the process up a bit.  Once safely out of the city, Zethar briefly pondered just destroying the wretched being right there.  But no, he couldn’t.  His goal was to watch over and help the heroes, and he won’t betray their trust so easily.  Plus, as they said, they did largely owe their lives to this creature.  Sighing, he worked his magic and undid the petrification effect.Venymaran recovered almost instantly, and was just about to continue attacking Khaspar when she noticed that he, the rest of the party, and the Manor itself were no where to be seen.  She grew suspicious, and then hostile when she saw Zethar.  Before she could attack him, however, he spoke up, “Do not worry, demon, I am not your enemy today.”Venym calmed slightly, but she was still clearly suspicious.  “Who are you?  What happened to me since I was transformed?”“For starters, you had your vengeance.  Khaspar is dead, and his Manor is likely a ruin by now.  Fortunately for you, the heroes of Methosilang decided your help make you worth saving, and took you to Methosilang with them.  However, they have run into some legal trouble, and no longer can protect you.  In fact, your continued presence near the city would have endangered both them and you, so I acted in their stead to remove you before that could happen.  Now, go, before you endanger us further.”Venym bristled at this claim.  “Why should I trust you for this?  I know you kind to lie before.  My deal with the party was that they would protect me further following the death of Khaspar.  If Bas discovers me, I’m as good as dead.”This just seemed to make Zethar angry, however.  “Now listen, fiend.  You’re not dealing with the party any more, you’re dealing with me.  The only reason I decided to save you and let you leave alive was because I respect the heroes and their choices, but if you insist on causing a problem, I will do what I must.  Now go protect yourself if you can!”Venym was still angry, but Zethar had his sword out now, and she knew she couldn’t defeat him in a straight-up battle.  “Very well,” she hissed.  “But this isn’t over, between us or the party.”  With that, she flew off to the west, and out of sight.  Zethar prepared to return to Methosilang, and keep watch over Tal’s house.Back in Methosilang, Damien was at the guild house of the Arcane Order, where he has residence despite not actually belonging to the order.  Since the arrest, he has been thinking about the party and what they found on their journeys.  He was getting suspicious.  The increasing paranoia of the city, the rise of so many factions that are opposed to Methosilang, yet seemingly have no allegiance with the orcs or undead, the splitting of old allies, and the increasing arrests of people at all social levels were just too much to be coincidence.  And when he thought about it, many of the problems started a few months ago when those two Malefactor drow allegedly defected.  Everything was tied together, and the heroes of Methosilang seemed to be the only people who were actively stopping it.  He decided it was time to enter the game himself, and went out to speak to the party.Speaking of the party, they were finally ready to meet their defense attorney for their trial.  They were given objects which bound their magical powers, and led out to the courthouse itself.  What they saw there wasn’t exactly heartening.  It appeared that there was a struggle between the attorneys, who were each trying to get out of defending these “lost causes.”  The party watch in despair for a few minutes, when the doors behind them burst open, and in strode Lancaster Stael himself!  As usual, he was riding his pet/mount black stag, and didn’t even seem to notice the outrage this was causing.  He looked to the party, smiled, and said, “I will defend these innocents personally.”The other attorneys certainly didn’t have any trouble with this, and were still shouting their thanks as he led the party out of the room to plan their strategy. Tal was the first to speak up.  “Your majesty, thank you for helping us.  We believe that we are the victim of some elaborate attempt to frame us, and that there might be a traitor that is leading the entire plan.”Lancaster looked troubled by this possibility, “Who do you think it could be?”Tal shook his head, “At this point, I wouldn’t trust anyone below the king and queen.”Lancaster was suddenly even more disturbed.  “Well, I didn’t want to even consider it, but there is my younger sister, Hestine.  She never really seemed to care about the kingdom, but in the last few years, she has been getting worse.  Consorting with strange people, sneaking out of the palace at random hours, and who knows what else?  Some even think she has ties to the Thief’s Guild!”The discussion continued for hours, with the heroes thinking of every ally and scrap of evidence they knew of.  They asked for Lerissa, the drow noblewoman they rescued so long ago, and Setisth, the lizardwoman who once served the orcs, but had long ago defected.  They asked for Quercus’ sister Shekuldellstra, and for the half-dragon orc paladin that apparently had ties to Facetous.  They even asked about Rothaire, the sailor they hired on their expedition to the south, and Shedell’s friend Fenthrip, who helped the party throughout much of that expedition.  However, while Lancaster promised to try and find Shekuldellstra, Rothaire, and the paladin, the rest of their suggestions were less promising.  Lerissa, as they already knew, had been arrested, and Setisth had long ago been considered military property.  As for Fenthrip, he had also been arrested months ago, and he already been tried…and executed.Galeron, who personally knew Fenthrip through their religious studies, was beside himself.  “Executed!?  For what?”“Treason,” Lancaster said sadly, and then said, “The same as you.  And most likely, over far less evidence than your conspirators might have fabricated for you.”The party prepared to rest for the night, and try to think of some way to save themselves, but Tal had something to say before then.  For the first time, he despaired about the trial, and though it meant breaking a very important vow, he decided that he had to let Methosilang know about one of the few allies they may have.  “Lancaster, I have to tell you something…” he began.Before long, he had told him everything about Dragovigis, from its location to Facetous.  He also told about the eggs that the party had helped Methosilang steal from the orcs, and that he did some research on while in Dragovigis.  “Those eggs that we recovered, they’re not normal eggs,” he began.  “The large ones belong to a couple species of special dragons, which rarely if ever can be found on our plane.  The dragons are extremely powerful, and a fully-grown one could defeat even the most powerful of the dragons from our plane.  The others are even stranger.  The multi-colored ones are apparently part of some strange breeding project, which tried to combine the powers of multiple types of dragons into one being.  The ones that radiate evil actually are from dragons from the planes of the demons and devils, and are just as fiendish as the other natives of those planes.  I implore you to destroy the eggs, especially the ones of the fiendish and multi-colored dragons.  And the others may be too dangerous to keep around as well.  If the creatures in them hatched and they proved unfriendly, they could decimate much of Methosilang even as hatchlings.”Lancaster nodded when Tal finished, and said, “Don’t worry.  I will guard this news with my life.  And I’ll make sure that those eggs never fall into the wrong hands.  I vow as a champion of the city that I will keep them safe.”Satisfied, Tal returned to his cell.  However, in time, he would discover that speaking of things he vowed to keep secret would be his greatest mistake.OOC Notes: Yes, breaking a vow to a god who also happens to control an army consisting off all the good and neutral dragons on a planet and who also have access to advanced technology is indeed a very bad idea, though I’ll save the reason why for another day.</blockquote>

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