GREYHAWK, THE GOLDEN ERA CY963: CHAPTER THREE

[MacConnell]

Lathir-bear goes from standing to all fours. Lumbering away from the others a bit before shaking like a dog to remove to goo from his fur. The acid burns begin to close and disappear as he heaves his enlarged body back to a standing position.

OOC: Lathir, as a non-combat action, calmly casts cure light wounds on himself while still in bear form.

Taking an awkward couple of steps back toward where he had been seated the, no-longer-bear, druid hunches his body forward slightly as his gait changes to that of a man allowing his long hair to fall across his face. He calmly climbs back over the courtesy railing and retrieves his hat from his seat, pulling back his hair and placing the hat on his head.

As he lifts the halfspear from the seat it retains the appearance of a walking stick and indeed is used as such by the slightly thinner man that turns to walk through the proper exit from the railing. His hair is now grey, his freckles look like liver spots, his clothing is no longer brown and green, but rather shades of grey. All the changes were so subtle it would be difficult for even a deliberate observer to notice what had just occurred.

Lathir continues on slowly and with a slight limp out the doors exiting the courtroom to wait, leaning partially on the wall and partially on his walking stick.

~Demons in the middle of a city courtroom. Sigh. I knew full urbanization to be the bane of mankind.~

 

[Sylvar B.]

Sylvar is happy that his song worked so well. He gathers his things and walks out of the court house. He stands next to Lathir on the courthouse steps waiting for the rest of the party. Staring in the direction that Lord Margull and Vega flew off in. He whispers in Crusski, "Odin, all father, and one eyed wanderer. Keep watch over Vega for she is a brave warrior, if it is her time to die, guide her to her brothers and sisters in Valhalla , where the brave may live forever."

GM: Margull flew off with Vega, not with Vale, LOL

 

[Diarmadhim]

Looking to my right, I see the broken window and shake my head, "That was such a nice window too." Using Prestidigitation, I clean the ichor off of myself, the others, and then the courtroom. "So... That staff of the lord mayor's was something else, eh! Looking back, I wonder why no geas was cast on them to ensure situations such as this don't happen. Perhaps that's something you will want to institute in the future," I suggest, looking to the judge. "Regardless, that could have turned out much worse than it did. I truly need to focus on increasing my accuracy. As is, fully two-thirds of my attacks missed. That's just unacceptable." After a moment's pause, I ponder aloud, "I wonder what the lord mayor wanted to speak with Vega about..."

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Judge Fenwick replies: "They WERE geased. I'm afraid their brainwashing was deeper and more comprehensive than we estimated. I have seen this before; such level of brainwashing, as to resist such a spell, speaks of dark, powerful magicks. I am glad that Lieutenant Benquist had the good sense to keep Mr. Crestwall away from this portion of the hearing. He is a principle witness in this whole affair, and now that we have proof of the accuracy of his claims, we can begin to take the necessary precautions against future occurrences of this sort of thing. Bureaucracies move slowly, when it comes to changes in the law, unless something of this sort occurs. It's a great day, because no one was hurt, and our laws will now change; but it's a sad day as well, for we have learned that Dyvers has a new enemy, who is well-funded, well-armed, and whose network is well-hidden."

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

The Judge Offers To Help

GM: Respen's Questions (From Facebook OOC Channel): 1) May the party have leave of Dyvers authorities? Are all duties and obligations to Caltaran, Denby, Benquist, Beringer, or Court, etc. fulfilled? 2) Is everybody else pretty well squared away supply-wise? 3) Is it easy to courier a message to Margull's lair, I mean tower, such that Vega receives it?

The Judge replies: "Your party was to provide testimony against the Captain. Since he is now dead, your purpose here is moot. You are dismissed from further responses to these proceedings. I have access to Margull's office; it is NOT a lair, and I think it rude of you to refer to it as such. My lord has a difficult task set before him, single-handedly ruling over a city of this size, which seems bent on its own destruction. If he wanted to talk to that lass, he had a good reason, I can assure you. If you'd like, despite your rudeness, I could relay a message to him, personally. Simply write it out, and seal it if you like. Then hand it to me. You can even sit here, at my bench, to do the writing."

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

XP AWARD TRACKING

GM: XP Awards: Individual: Sylvar = Performance (500) Vale = Storytelling / Roleplaying ("Able" Scene) (500) Vega = Activation of Margull's staff (500) Whole Party: Excellent Roleplaying in General: (750 each party member) Careful Planning for the Threat at Skorane: (500 each party member) Combat in the Courtroom: (900 each party member) Enjoy!

 

[Aust Thale]

GM: Respen's Questions (From Facebook OOC Channel): 1) May the party have leave of Dyvers authorities? Are all duties and obligations to Caltaran, Denby, Benquist, Beringer, or Court, etc. fulfilled? 2) Is everybody else pretty well squared away supply-wise? 3) Is it easy to courier a message to Margull's lair, I mean tower, such that Vega receives it?

The Judge replies: "Your party was to provide testimony against the Captain. Since he is now dead, your purpose here is moot. You are dismissed from further responses to these proceedings. I have access to Margull's office; it is NOT a lair, and I think it rude of you to refer to it as such. My lord has a difficult task set before him, single-handedly ruling over a city of this size, which seems bent on its own destruction. If he wanted to talk to that lass, he had a good reason, I can assure you. If you'd like, despite your rudeness, I could relay a message to him, personally. Simply write it out, and seal it if you like. Then hand it to me. You can even sit here, at my bench, to do the writing."

~ Rude of me, eh? Impolite? City bent on its own destruction? What's this about? ~

Respen, to the Judge, in a rare lengthy and slightly indignant (while still respectful) response: "I beg your pardon, but did you witness the same thing we did? If I want to speak with someone, I walk up to them, and I ask to do so. I don't crash out a window several stories high and summon a person, catching her in mid-air and fly off with her; do you? I understand that the courtroom is compromised (looking over at Vale, well-covered in exploded green goo and grimacing), not to mention in need of a good cleaning. And the Lord Mayor's conduct may be normal to you. However, whatever the merit of his reason, she is with us, and I find his, for lack of a better word, theatrics, without explanation, confusing at the very least. Your Honor, he flew off with our friend; to the average person, the reason scarcely matters. And as for this city, I think we've sufficiently demonstrated our willingness to assist you in those matters, albeit largely by accident. And I'll say this to you, we were headed to Skorane to attend to the rumors that the Lord Mayor proffered himself. If you or the Lord Mayor feels that you could use our assistance here to keep this city from 'its own destruction', point the way, and I for one will assist you. "

Before the Justice replies, Respen continues, walking toward the opening that was the window and looking toward (if sightline permits) and thinking of Margull's office from when he wandered near it during his movement in the city, "Respectfully, your Honor, I can reach her myself. Thank you for your offer." Respen puts his hands to his mouth and whispers an arcane message into the wind, "Vega, it's Respen. We...I...wait at Inn or Dewydd's. Judge says you safe. I am worried. Come for you if no return tomorrow. "

OOC: Respen casts Whispering Wind toward Margull's office. The message will remain in the wind in the vicinity around the Lord Mayor's office until received by Vega.

To Dewydd, Sylvar, Vale, and Lathir: "I don't want to leave Vega unless she no longer wishes to come with us. And given what the Judge (looking at him) has disclosed, I think we might have an opportunity and perhaps even a duty (again, looking at him)."

To the Judge: "Your Honor, would you care to elaborate on what you meant by city bent on its own destruction? "

 

[Aust Thale]

The Defense Rests - Vale Recovers From The Courtroom Melee

Looking to my right, I see the broken window and shake my head, "That was such a nice window too." Using Prestidigitation, I clean the ichor off of myself, the others, and then the courtroom. "So... That staff of the lord mayor's was something else, eh! Looking back, I wonder why no geas was cast on them to ensure situations such as this don't happen. Perhaps that's something you will want to institute in the future," I suggest, looking to the judge. "Regardless, that could have turned out much worse than it did. I truly need to focus on increasing my accuracy. As is, fully two-thirds of my attacks missed. That's just unacceptable." After a moment's pause, I ponder aloud, "I wonder what the lord mayor wanted to speak with Vega about..."

~ Foul creatures. Nasty and ugly business. ~

Vale retches before Dewydd begins his prestidigitation spell, spitting into the goo that was the fiends. He observes the results closely, and he mentally files away some of the details of the fight, including what worked on the devils (amazingly susceptible to Dewydd's attack and not so much by magic), how the tattoos worked to open the Gate spell, the blood magic, and especially Margull's staff. He looks down at his axe, absent of color. Eliminating the possibilities in his mind, he settled on the Lord Mayor. Either he was undead, or he was pretending to be. Either way, it wasn't a good thing. The city had problems so the Judge said? No wonder. The Lord Mayor might well not be alive. Clearly this would make governing a bit tricky.

OOC: Per DM, the axe no longer glows blue.

Vale, to Dewydd: "Thank you for helping clean me up. Your initial attack is withering. Glad we are on the same side. You'll need to be withering if we are indeed to confront the undead. In Skorane or anywhere else..." Vale's voice trails off.

To the group at large, "So the lassie left us willingly? I agree the...means of her departure...leaves a lot to be desired. The Lord Mayor must indeed need to...speak...to her. I wonder why?"

OOC: Rolz.org Vale Religion Check: 1d20 = 19+8 = 27

As Respen spoke to the Judge and moved to the window, clearly casting a spell, Vale thought about what he knew about the Undead. Vale had heard of less malevolent, "honorable" undead, mostly liches, arch-liches, or vampires. Most were still evil, or gave in to evil over the decades. Even the best intentioned could not resist the bloodlust, the power-lust of a much longer lifespan, or the creeping necrosis in their souls. And if they did, simple time...or rather the abundance of it, gave them more opportunities to gradual surrender. Undeath came with its own challenges, even if one was able to resist the initial bestial madness of it. Then it dawned on him that the Lord Mayor Margull flew out of the room into the air on a sunny morning. During. The. Day.

~ He is a venerable undead indeed if he can stand the daylight. And if he allows her to realize it while she is in his company, the lassie will never be the same again. ~

Vale keeps his thoughts to himself. To the Judge specifically, after Respen's comments, "Yes, your Honor. What exactly is vexing Dyvers?" The intonation of his voice indicated he is genuinely interested, but it also indicated that Vale had an unshared opinion.


Postscript: Vale feels the vague tug of Able the Axe and recalls that the axe's need for energy wasn't done. He mentally commits to the energy that Able requires, but withholds the permission it requires for the moment. ~ Just wait a little while longer. I'd like to clean up a little more and have a drink. ~ He hopes that Able understands.
~ Indeed, you'll get more outings than simply this one.~

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

The Judge Shares Valuable Information With The Party!

To the Judge: "Your Honor, would you care to elaborate on what you meant by city bent on its own destruction? "

The Judge replies, "Crime is rampant here. We have thousands of guards in the city, and we still only barely manage to keep it in check. It's gotten so bad that Lieutenant Benquist has been making deals with Adventuring and Mercenary guilds, to take some of the pressure off. I don't agree with the idea, but it's technically within his power to do so, according to the Lord Mayor, who has not spoken out against that policy, at least not yet.

Now, it seems we are being attacked from all sides; this plot against Lord Sheriff Denby is evidence of that. Whomever is behind this has been planning these events for some time. If you fellows had not blundered onto their plans, and stopped them, who knows what might have happened?

There are those who say that The Scarlet Brotherhood is behind all of this, what with Mr. Crestwall's references to Scarlet Slayers and all. But the Fearless Five quelled their power, and sent them skulking back to their own lands, over 40 years ago.

Of course, 40+ years is a long time to recover and re-group; it's possible that they are once again waging a shadow war, in order to spread their influence across the Flanaess once more, as a pretext to another continent-spanning war.

But there is one difference; in the past, as sinister as their deceptions were, Scarlet Brotherhood agents were common thieves, assassins, and spies, with a few Clerics, Monks, and Wizards thrown in as middle management. They were not known to be in league with Hell Fiends, nor were they known for being so completely brainwashed as to be able to resist detection and geas spells. If we are indeed looking at the "New Brotherhood," then I fear that another continent-spanning war might be just around the corner!

And that's not all; the Lord Mayor has expressed concern that the Thieves Guild, which the Lord Mayor has long held in check through diplomatic measures, is becoming unstable, and is possibly on the verge of a schism, which could possibly lead to a series of gang wars. To complicate matters further, there are rumors of the Landed Gentry being involved! The Lord Mayor suspects that several of the noble families are allied with various factions within the Thieves Guild, for the purpose of expanding their influence and their profits. I thought that rumor to be a bit extreme, until I found out about Mr. Crestwall. Now, I am not so sure.

The reason I am telling you all of this is that you seem to be a very capable group of adventurers. I'd even go so far as to say that you're more capable than the Riverboat Boys were. So please, keep these things that I have shared with you confidential, and be careful how you choose to act on this information. We are dealing with dark forces here, and if you're not careful, you might suffer the same fate as the Riverboat Boys; you'll get in over your heads, and wind up dead.

And now if you'll excuse me, I need to retire to my quarters; I need to prepare spells that will allow me to restore this smashed window."

And with that, The Judge leaves, and the party finds themselves alone in the wrecked courtroom.

EVERYONE: What do you do?

 

[MacConnell]

EVERYONE: What do you do?

OOC: Lathir had already departed the courtroom, albeit in disguise, and was waiting outside but still in the building. He is not privy to this information.

GM: You are correct, and since Sylvar followed you, he is not privy to it, either. But fear not, I'm sure the party will have a pow-wow soon, and everyone will get caught up.