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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cypherblade" data-source="post: 9774713" data-attributes="member: 7048389">The players surpised me by not going to the lighthouse, but going directly to the keep.So I had to improvise.[spoiler]We descend the hill toward the fort. If the walls contain gold, we won’t be able to use passwall.Suddenly, we hear voices—Danoran, and occasionally something else. There are about ten people, equipped with pickaxes and helmets with lamps. Some of them are dwarves. Kane says we’ve come to neutralize the terrorists. He asks if there’s a secret way in. There isn’t, but the dwarf confirms that the walls do indeed contain gold—except for one corner where there wasn’t enough precious metal during construction. He shows us where the gold is missing. Inside the inner wall lies a magical maze. He also shows us where the teleportation circle is (a permanent one), and where the lighthouse stands that controls the sea gate.Kane asks for a tip on how to get through the maze. The dwarf says something is guarding it—a sort of plant creature. There’s probably a passphrase, but he doesn’t know it. A certain Lieutenant Marseine of the Danoran army currently commands the fort.A little farther ahead, there’s reportedly an automaton wandering around without a head, about ten minutes from here. Pipistrella goes to scout. She spots an iron golem indeed—headless, but without the purple runes the previous one had. The giant stumbles around disoriented, leaking dark fluid.The first light of dawn breaks as we try to sneak past the golem—and succeed. Kane feels strange chills as he nears it; the black oil comes from the Bleak Gate. This golem looks older than the one we fought earlier.When we reach the fort, Pipistrella scouts again. There are Risuri inside, dressed in a somewhat hippie-like fashion. On the walls, a few guards patrol (four on each of the five ramparts). More are stationed inside. We turn invisible and carefully move to the side of the wall that lacks gold. Through Pipistrella, Ayleen selects a spot next to some small houses and casts passwall from the scroll. As she works, we suddenly hear commotion—gunfire, footsteps, shouting! We take advantage of the confusion to cross the courtyard and rush to the inner wall.From around a corner, a super-agile intruder suddenly leaps over the wall with a flaming sword. At the last moment, the sword shifts into a long burning whip. An elf—using fey magic! His powers must be tied to the Vekeshi Mystics, the cornerstone of eladrin ideology. Sarïa recognizes the weapon from long ago; it’s venerated within a certain order. Felix notices the elf bears a shield with a lion’s head—an emblem from a war 200 years past. The shield of Asrabey, the infamous elven warrior who once fought to free a woman. If the halfling remembers correctly, that warrior was eventually captured by a Danoran general.Under cover of Ayleen’s fog cloud, we use another passwall scroll on the inner wall. We arrive inside the maze, where the hedge in the far-left corner is on fire. The growth is thick, about four meters high. We approach the burning section, where Staf starts banging on the hedge. On the other side, the plant creature appears, shouting angrily that we won’t outsmart it like our “fiery friend” just did.We pretend to try putting out the flames, but when that fails, a short fight breaks out. The plant-being retreats, frustrated. Thanks to the fire, we gradually carve a path through the hedges. We reach the tower and find the front door ajar. Inside, the floor is littered with dead soldiers, burned and slashed. We head upstairs, where an intense conversation is underway. Ayleen sneaks ahead and spots all sorts of skyseer instruments—telescopes and such. The former duchess sits on the ground beside a tiefling; the elf with the flaming sword stands before them, furious and threatening. Around them lie smoldering corpses of well-dressed followers—hardly fighting types.Ayleen eavesdrops on the conversation. The duchess pleads with the elf not to interfere, but he refuses to collaborate with kingslayers and devils—as he calls the tiefling. She has disgraced the name of the fey with her attack on Axis Island, which, in the public eye, appeared to have fey support. The elf lashes at the tiefling with his whip as the latter tries to explain, furious also at the duchess. The king will never listen to her again after she allied with tieflings. Dame Ethelyn speaks of a threat to Risur and the Unseen Court, but when she fails to reach him, she bares her neck in resignation. The tiefling asks the elf whether he is related to someone named Varal, who had recently visited the mines. Mentioning that name only enrages the elf further.The duchess says the tiefling is an ally, that she wanted to warn her brother, but he wouldn’t listen. The room falls silent. Felix steps in, trying to negotiate. The king wants his sister brought back alive to Risur—only then can war with Danor be avoided. The elf hesitates. The duchess insists; she says we don’t understand the full picture. The tiefling, Nathan Jierre, turns out to be Lya Jierre’s cousin, seeking asylum in Risur. He has vital information he wishes to share with the Risuri court. “No asylum seekers!” Staf blurts out. Nathan tells us to look through the telescope. Sarïa does—and sees a blue sun. According to the duchess, Nathan has made important discoveries regarding it. Recently, a rare constellation appeared, and Nathan can explain its meaning. (DM note: a reference to something I put in the newspaper)We ask Lord Asrabey for permission to take the two of them. The Varal Nathan mentioned—could she be Asrabey’s wife? She was here recently, together with a Crisillyiri man—the same wizard we met with the wine glass, Leone Quital!Lord Asrabey agrees, on the condition that we clear the Unseen Court’s name: they were not involved in this terrorist act, except for one woman on the fish, a certain Beshala. The elf grants us custody of the two prisoners and departs. We gather up all the papers and shove them into a bag.The duchess asks if we can protect both her men and the tiefling. Ayleen insists on learning more about Nathan Jierre’s research. He’s seen signs pointing to another dimension—findings with potentially far-reaching consequences. Magic might even return to Danor because of it (DM note: a lie to save his skin). His cousin Lya Jierre knows of his work and will surely be eager to claim him as her prisoner when she arrives.We decide to keep Nathan out of Lya Jierre’s hands. Sarïa and Staf escort him back to the Impossible, across the mountain ridge, so he can secretly reach Flint—where he’ll report his findings to Risur instead of Danor.Dame Ethelyn remains in the fort with Ayleen, Felix, and Kane. She ensures her followers surrender. We pile up the corpses and let them burn further, as if cremated, erasing traces that could point to Asrabey and sparing us Lya’s questions.We open the sea gate and fire the signal flare during the last hour. The five waiting ships storm the fort, but meet no resistance. The captured terrorists are loaded aboard. Danoran soldiers imprisoned on the island are released. Shortly after, a Danoran ship arrives—with Lya Jierre on deck, flanked by a half-elf and a half-orc. The half-elf wields two staves; the half-orc wears a helm. They look dangerous and give us a bad feeling.When Lya asks whether we’ve seen her cousin, we deny it—though she can clearly read the lie on our faces (DM note: epic failed deceptions). She wants us to sign a statement condemning the actions of the former duchess. We reply that political declarations are not our mandate and suggest she deliver it to the RHC. The Danoran minister senses she won’t get more from us and lets it go. In the end, we’ve done exactly what she asked: captured Dame Ethelyn alive and opened the sea gate for her fleet. She bids us farewell—perhaps we’ll meet again next year… at the wedding. Farewell.We board our ships and depart, wondering which is harder to navigate—the tangled web of conspiracies we’ve been drawn into, or the political scheming behind it all.[/spoiler]Indeed a nice discussion around the table about politics and intrigues.</blockquote>

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