Curse of the Azure Bonds chapter 1: Tilverton

[Eva of Sirrion]

Here we are. And here are the goodies I promised. I obtained them from the security checkpoint at the Gondarran temple. The rogue redistributes your weapons and gear. Stay close to me as we walk. I don't think your bonds will be invoked right now, but I've seen too much of those dratted things to take any chances. He uncorks a potion and drains it down, and a silvery aura surrounds him momentarily then vanishes. As I said before I'm the head of the local thieves' guild, name's Mcgill. I know at least one of the parties responsible for putting the bonds on you: The Fire Knives Assassin's Guild. They have a rather ingenious operation going, they assassinate without having any of their members present. They just put the Azure Bonds on some poor sod, he does the job, then has no memory of ever doing it. The first time they used 'em was 15 years ago, in a plot to assassinate King Azoun. I was there when it happened, just a kid back then. Helped the original hosts escape, just like I'm doin' now. Since then I've spent every waking minute learning how those things work. The one who puts the bonds on can activate them at anytime just about anywhere, and implant a command in your head that you're forced to carry out. But, their control on you weakens over time; the more times the bonds are activated, the weaker their magic becomes and the better you're able to resist. That's their weakness. I've never met anyone who's been able to resist them on the first invocation; you'd have to have some mental toughness and maybe Tymora on your side.

In fact this is the first time I've ever talked to hosts that are still bonded. Hosts are what the Fire Knives call their bonded subjects. All the hosts I know have either been executed for murderin' or had glowing blue eyes and were comin' at me with a blade.

 

[Scotley]

Charum

"We are deeply in your debt McGill. You have not only freed us, but given us more information than we've been able to find on our own as well as returning our gear. Can you tell us anything about the whereabouts of the Fire Knives Assassin's Guild or how we might remove or disable these bonds?"

 

[Falkus]

"If we're going to go after an ASSASSIN's guild," Dominic said, heavily emphasizing the word assassin. "We're going to need a plan. And preferably some method of countering these sigils. I mean, let's face it. They've got a means to take control of us planted on our arms. If we find them, they'll just be able to snap their fingers, and stop us in our tracks, right?"

Dominic was mildly flattered to meet the local chief thief, though, and actually have him take a personal interest in their affairs.

 

[Thanee]

Dawn

“That's most interesting, Mcgill. Looks like we have found one of the best sources of knowledge about our little dilemma here, just as we were facing most dire circumstances. Tymora surely is with us these days, even though I would rather thank Mielikki for giving me the strength to fight against the mental command given, and succeed. Not that it helped us any, but it's a good feeling, nonetheless. What I would like to know is... do they know what happens around us? Surely, if these tattoos are meant to control our actions, they will also have the means to watch us. We need to be extra careful then.”

 

[Voadam]

Xi-Selorn

"These Fire Knives have acted against Cormyr in the past then. Can you tell us more about them and their allies or employers? Are they a cult of the fire god?"

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

The Fire Knives got started about three decades ago, started up by a disowned member of the Cormaeril clan, Kybor his name was. Had an axe to grind with the royal family and the royal houses somethin' awful, thought he and his weren't gettin' their due. When he knocked off an elder of the Crownsilver family they banished him from Cormyr. He set up shop down in Westgate trainin' thieves and mages for pullin' hit jobs. Typically they sent in the thieves to knock someone off, and then have the mages use fire magicks to torch the place afterward, hence the name Fire Knives. My understanding is they didn't do much business back then. Westgate already has an assassin's guild and they handled most of the business. Then 15 years ago they found another weapon: the Azure Bonds, which can make anyone an assassin. They found a human lass, a dracha paladin, a mage and a bard, had them try to knock off the king, and the rest is history.

There aren't many magicks that can protect against the power of the bonds, best I know of is the protective circle. It won't prevent a command from being issued to you, but it does let you ignore it as long as you're protected. Also there's the enchantment breaker, which can cancel any command you're given.

Pardon me for sayin' so, but you lot don't look like you've got Vangerdahast or Gharri in your company at present. I'll see what protective circle items I have left back at the HQ, but I had to fend off some Fire Knife messengers with those not too long ago, so my stock ain't much.

The Fire Knives run their business from the Grossman mansion on the north side of town. It's been boarded up and thought abandoned since Old Man Grossman bought it 15 years ago. You'll never get in walking up to it, they'll spot you 100 yards away. Only way in is through the sewers. I have good maps of the sewers at HQ, but my information on the Grossman mansion is most likely out of date. But I figure the Azure Bonding devices and Tagreth Cormaeril, the leader of the knives and Kybor's kid, are both probably there. If you want any shot of gettin' out of Tilverton alive you gotta get your hands on those devices and get Tagreth to remove the Knives' mark from you. You can either force him to say the word to release the bond, or kill him, but if you do the latter, you gotta do so with your own hand: no spells or bows or the like. The one who strikes the final blow on him learns the word to release the bond and then he can release it.

 

[Scotley]

Charum

Charum makes a fist and smacks his palm. "I would be my pleasure to slay this one with my own hand for his crimes against me and the wedding party. You are a font of wisdom sir and I shall never look at a thief the same way again after our meeting. We would be most greatful for a look at your maps and any items to provide a magic circle you could provide."

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

You can each hear Xi's stomach grumble as you move along. It's escaped your realization to this point but the sun has set and now those without low-light or darkvision are beginning to notice.

Guess I really should've brought some food along with the keys. Worry not though, we're here. McGill knocks on a seemingly-normal wall in an alley. Before your eyes, 2 glowing white runes appear, over a dotted line.

Password. McGill mutters as he removes a circular piece of paper from his pack. He fiddles with it for a bit, grumbling. Whatever posessed me to put the passwords on this blasted code wheel I'll never know. Ah here it is, dragob!

No response from the door.

Blast it, I have the wheel lined up right, dragom!

Again nothing.

Oh for the love of Tymora, dragon!

Finally the wall opens up.

Happens every time, and by Tymora's eyes I can't say why.

 

[Voadam]

Xi-Selorn peers inside, his eyes piercing the darkness.

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

Our hideout entrance, mind your heads. McGill leads you inside. About 90 feet you come to another blank wall. He knocks again and again the runes appear. Using his decoder wheel he looks up and says, E? in a bit of a questioning tone, but the wall slides open.

First time this week I got it on the first try. Welcome to our hideout. Pull up some chairs, make yourselves cozy. Davison! Are all the wards in place?

Yes master, just as you requested the entire guildhall is under protection circles.

You can move about freely during your stay. Once you're in the sewers though, you'll need these. He places three bottles on a table. Be mindful of how long they last, 50 minutes apiece, and you'll have to stay close to one another. Shouldn't be too hard once you're in the sewers as you'll find out. At this point he lays out a parchment map divided three ways. The first is mostly featureless with some RT initials in various places. The middle and right-hand sections are dotted with Fire Knife symbols and hazard markings. The sewer tunnels are only 20 feet wide, and each sublevel is 1000 yards long. The first sublevel is under our control. The RT marks are our checkpoints. They know you're coming so they won't pay you any mind. The second and third? Not so much. Fire Knives run patrols and checkpoints in those areas, and they have a bunch of other critters too, things like crocodiles and big dire rats. If you're gonna employ fire magicks in the sewers be careful. Sewer gas sometimes collects in pockets, and it can go boom if you start tossing fire spells about.