Took a while, but here's the concluding bit from our last session. And a little bit at the end about what should be upcoming for next session.
* * * * * *
The skycoach returns to the Gray House first, where Nameless and Six disembark. Gareth, however, says to Lalia, “I will see both of you home and return.”
While Lalia nods, Tasra smiles at Korm and says, “I saw you pick up a fair bit of food on the way out. Think I could share some?”
“Of course,” Korm replies, beginning to reach for the bag he put the food in, but Tasra reaches out a hand to stop him, her smile turning roguish. “Maybe we could have them for breakfast?”
“Huh?” Then realization strikes, and Korm grins broadly and says, “Of course,” before turning to Nameless and Six and adding, “I’ll be back tomorrow.” Six, also having realized what happened, lifts a hand. “Can I come along and take …”
“No!” says Korm, while Tasra giggles and adds, “A warforged who likes to watch. Great!”
“Just let them go, will you?” says Nameless, turning to head for the house, and Six reluctantly follows. As the skycoach rises into the sky, they cross the skybridge, greet the two warforged on guard, and enter. Inside, they meet Fett, who says that Luna came back a while ago, grinning from ear to ear and saying that she needed to get some sleep. “What’s she been up to?”
Nameless shakes his head. “You tell him. I really need some sleep too.” As he heads up to his room, Six tells Fett, “Come along. You’re going to have to decipher a couple of things for me, but I think I can safely say these guys – and especially Luna – have been undiplomatic.”
* * * * * *
At Lalia and Tasra’s apartment, the latter and Korm wave a goodbye and disappear up the stairs towards her room. Once they are gone, Gareth notices time slowing down, his heart pounding, and his face flushing. “Lalia,” he says, as seriously as he can, feeling just a trifle more nervous than when he was facing two rakshasas inside a volcano, “I have something very important to ask. Please sit down.”
Lalia looks surprised, but she complies and pats the couch beside her. Gareth sits down and then reaches out to take one of her hands, looking deeply into her eyes at the same time. Lalia smiles and reaches forward to kiss him, or tries to, because he quickly says, “Wait – first let me say what I have to tell … ask you.”
“What is…,” she begins, but Gareth silences her with his index finger. “Don’t speak, Lalia – please listen.” Gareth pauses for a moment, a thick lump in his throat, and then says, “I have known you for a number of months and have come to grow very fond of you. You have been helpful to me and my friends, and have shown much kindness towards us. You have come on holy quests with me, saving my life numerous times. You have also helped me explore a great portion of this city and explore portions of my heart that I have never known. No woman, none whatsoever, has ever captured my attention and my heart, but you have. You are beautiful, kind, caring, strong, and simply ... perfect.” Gareth’s hands start to shake a little, but he forces himself to rise, and then drops to a knee.
As he does so, Gareth reaches into a pocket to produce a small box. He opens it to display a beautifully carved, if slightly ostentatious, diamond ring. “Lalia d’Deneith, I love you with all of my heart and ask you to be my wife. Will you marry me, Lalia?”
If Lalia had looked surprised earlier, her expression now is at a whole other level, making her look remarkably like a goldfish. Her mouth opens a couple of times without any words emerging, and then she swallows and manages to say, “Gareth, this is going to sound really clichéd, but I really had no idea. And I don’t know what to say.”
Say, “Yes,” thinks Gareth, but he manages to remain silent.
After an awkward couple of seconds, Lalia continues, “As you know, I’m very, very fond of you, but I really hadn’t considered marriage right now. I mean, I have my work … and, as you said, we have known each other for only five or six months, and … I need to think about this. Would you give me a little time to consider this before answering?” she squeezes Gareth’s hand gently, now looking as concerned, if not more, as surprised. “Please?”
Feeling like he has just swallowed his tongue, Gareth manages to say, “Certainly, whatever time you need.”
The pair of them sit there awkwardly for a few moments, till Gareth begins, “I should leav…,” at the same time as Lalia says, “It’s getting la….” There’s another uncomfortable pause and then they rise together. Lalia accompanies Gareth to the door and, after an awkward hug and kiss, says goodbye. As she returns, she notices something she missed earlier. Gareth has left the ring on the table. Pensively, Lalia picks it up and walks up the stairs.
When Lalia eventually reaches her room and lies down, sleep takes a long time to come. It might be because of the complicated question that Gareth asked her. Or it could be because of the unsubtle sounds of Gatekeeper-on-Sentinel-Marshal action coming from next door.
* * * * * *
Cedric looks up from the book he was reading at the loud knock on his door. Who would it be this late? “Come on in,” he says.
The door opens to reveal a slightly haggard looking Gareth. Cedric lifts an eyebrow. “Hi. Come on in.”
Gareth walks over to the closest chair and drops heavily into it, before lifting a very slightly shaking hand to his face. Then he lowers it and says, “I could really use a drink.”
Cedric lifts his other eyebrow, but he says nothing. Only after he rejoins Gareth with a bottle and a couple of filled glasses does he ask, “Okay, what did you do now?”
Gareth doesn’t answer, first lifting a glass and taking a large gulp, which immediately causes him to choke and splutter for a few seconds. Cedric waits patiently until he recovers. Gareth sighs and lowers the glass. “See – there’s this girl ….”
* * * * * *
Luckily for Gareth, Cedric isn’t the only distraction around. A couple of days later, the group is back at the Burning Ring for their next set of matches. This time, according to the message from Hoas Junter that had been delivered to the Gray House, Nameless is to engage in a spellcasting battle, while the other four are to take on a large group of enemies.
The method of finding the new location is the same as before, the waiting guide leading them to a particular building, underground, and then up again to the final location. The arena this time is in Firelight, and unlike the previous one, where it was a large rectangular one in the middle of the room, this is roughly a semicircle in one corner. It is also especially deep, a good thirty feet in depth. Hoas explains that it’s especially well-suited to a magical duel.
He also says that Nameless will be up against three mages, since one of the four that Hoas had originally asked declined at the last moment, when he discovered who the opposition was. Evidently he’s a member of the Guild of Starlight and Shadows who knows of Nameless’ abilities.
The other three enter the arena with Nameless, and all of them are given some time to cast preparatory protections. Noting that the others only use magic up to the third valence, Nameless considers using a globe of invulnerability, but decides not to do so, in order to make the duel interesting. The others set themselves in a loose semi-circle about thirty feet from him, all hovering off the ground, having used fly spells, and eyeing him nervously.
As Hoas gives the starting signal, spells fly back and forth. Though his ring absorbs a dispel, the combination of a ray of enfeeblement and a lightning bolt shake Nameless enough to disrupt his first spell.
To the amusement of the spectators, one of the other mages tries to take advantage of Nameless’ enfeebled state to fly forward and wrestle him to the ground, but even though he is barely stronger than a significantly ancient gnome at this point, the alienist fights him off and manages to throw up a field of black tentacles to seize his unfortunate enemy.
More spells fly back and forth, with Nameless not using his most powerful ones, in case he kills someone. Instead, he simply slows his remaining pair of enemies (the one in the tentacles spending all his time screaming and being squeezed, despite a helpful grease from an ally) and suggests they surrender before he gets nasty.
Perhaps made overconfident by Nameless’ choice of spells, the others continue to hurl damaging spells. Finally hurt and irritated enough, Nameless mutters, “All right – you asked for it!” He casts one of his strongest spells, and a swirling mass of air appears beside him, stretching almost twelve feet in height. As it forms, Nameless quickly says in the rumbling tones of Auran, “Don’t kill them. Just knock them out.” The large air elemental rumbles back in the same tongue, and then lashes out, slamming one of the mages backwards.
The other mage cries out in alarm and rushes at Nameless, gabbling the words of a spell as he comes. His hand glows faintly black as he touches Nameless, who – to the continuing merriment of the cheering audience – promptly freezes in place, a comical look of surprised irritation on his face.
“Ghoul touch?” says Korm, looking down in mingled amusement and surprise himself. “He got taken out by ghoul touch? Isn’t there a law against us being affected by spells of the second circle?”
“Darn mages!” Gareth shakes his head. “So, does that mean he’s lost?”
“Not yet,” says Luna. “He has to be unconscious, I think. And the elemental’s still in there.” With a smirk, she adds, “It’s a little puny. Mine are bigger.”
Below, the mage who the elemental just hit tries to fly forward and reach Nameless, but a pair of airy fists intercept him in mid-flight, and he is quickly pounded unconscious to the floor. The other mage squeaks in terror, pulling a dagger from his belt and hammering Nameless over the head with the pommel. Somehow, the helpless alienist remains upright.
The elemental turns swiftly towards this one remaining target. It swings powerfully – and barely misses the mage. He squeals in alarm and again bashes Nameless in the head. This time, the blow finally works and Nameless keels over. The crowd cheers and Hoas begins, “And the winne….” Before he can finish, the elemental swings again, and the unfortunate mage is knocked head over heels, to land unconscious beside Nameless.
The next few seconds are spent with healers quickly reviving the four unconscious combatants and Nameless dismissing the elemental. His three battered enemies are declared the victors, and collect their winnings, before painfully staggering away. Nameless joins his companions and is promptly given a painful ribbing for having lost the bout.
“I think your reputation at the Guild may suffer a bit,” says Six. “Maybe that’ll lead to more challenges from members there.”
Feigning unconcern, Nameless says, “Big deal. It was just an arena match and you know I wasn’t trying my best. If someone else wants to challenge me, that’s fine too.” There is, however, a dangerous flicker in his eyes, indicating that the next person or persons might not see as much indulgence at his hands.
Unfortunately for the group of warriors that face his allies, the other four provide no indulgence whatsoever. There are twelve of them, with Hoas having evidently made sure that there would be a good variety, featuring lightly armored axe-men, plate-wearing former soldiers with sword and shield, archers, and swashbucklers flourishing twin blades.
With the three-to-one odds, the Angels take no risks. They set themselves in a corner of the arena with Gareth in the center actually beginning with spells (much to the disgust of the Endless Blade, which harangues him for not getting his “shiny ass in there, wussy boy!”), while Luna, Korm and Six form a loose semi-circle around him. As soon as the battle begins, after the first couple of arrows fly in, Gareth throws up a wind wall across the entire front of the Angels, making the archers irrelevant.
This forces the enemy to charge into melee combat en masse, which suits the Angels just fine. There is a moment of acute embarrassment as a flail-wielding warrior manages to snag the rear ankle of Luna as she rears up to hug an unfortunate target, and actually manages to trip her, but other than that, the Angels face little real difficulty disposing of their foes. Six has an especially good time, the reach of his spiked chain letting him take advantage of the multiple enemies and the way they get in each other’s way.
After less than a minute, ten of the twelve are down while all four Angels remain standing, and the remaining two enemies quickly concede defeat. More surprisingly, despite the immense power being brought to bear by the Angels, only one of their enemies is actually dead, the result of a not unexpected flame strike employed by an irritated Luna.
Just as unsurprisingly, the large melee is extremely popular with the audience, and the Angels’ victory is greeted with a volley of cheers. On the way out from the arena, they are also congratulated by a few of the warriors waiting to take part in subsequent bouts, though there are also a few who stay at a distance and eye them suspiciously. After they emerge onto the audience level, Hoas tells them, “That was really impressive. Of course, it makes it a lot more difficult for me to find someone – or some people – to challenge you. But I’m sure I can find somebody, and the audience really likes you, so I’d like you back next time, which should be in about 4 days. How about it?”
“Certainly,” says Gareth. “I’m enjoying this. We’ll be here. Same method?”
“Yes.” Hoas tells them where they should meet their guide and bids them goodbye.
“Let’s show them a little more power,” says Nameless. “Hold hands.”
“Won’t we need to use the portable hole?” asks Six.
“Nope. I’ve got better. Hang on.” Nameless speaks a quick string of arcane syllables, causing nearby audience-members to turn and look. Their curiosity turns to momentary alarm, as the Angels disappear from view.
A second later, the five of them reappear in the main hall of the Gray House. “There you go,” says Nameless. “Just in case the Boromars, or anyone else, were planning to mess with us on the way back.”
“You jokers are really paranoid!” comments the Endless Blade, from Gareth’s back.
“No,” says Six sadly, “It’s not paranoia if they’re out to get us, and they are.”
* * * * *
Handled between sessions:
Between the Tain Gala (6th), the last vist to the Burning Ring (9th) and the next couple of days afterwards, a number of developments occur:
* Flim Turen: Flim visits on 8 Sul, two days after the Tain Gala, to ask about what happened there. He says that he heard somebody went into the living areas without permission and some guests mentioned the Angels being asked to speak to the security there. He also brings a copy of the Sharn Inquisitive with him (see below).
* Article in Sharn Inquisitive: The Sharn Inquisitive has an article on the 8th on the Tain Gala, entitled “Break-In at Tain Gala!” It says that one or more members of the Guardian Angels broke into the living areas of Tain manor. While details are unclear, the SI believes that this may have something to do with the Angels, who have recently become Brelish citizens and are believed to have had dealings with the King’s Citadel, spying on Hass ir’Tain in order to curry favor with the Citadel. This is just more proof of the lengths to which the Citadel and the Brelish Crown in general are willing to go. While evidently quite powerful, adventurers like the Angels need careful watching. The article mentions Nameless, a “mage whom fellow-members at the Guild of Starlight and Shadow (itself a guild with somewhat shady elements) have described as very powerful and unstable, dabbling with dangerous secrets that nobody should,” as threatening Haftak ir’Clarn, the editor, when he met them at the Gala.
* Invitation/Meeting with Hass: 2 days after the Tain Gala, the group gets a note from Hass ir’Tain asking them to meet with him in Ambassador Towers in 3 days time.
* Message from Hoas: Hoas sends a message saying that he’s had a hard time trying to get individuals willing to fight them, so he thinks it would be a great sell for them to have a couple of them duel the other two (this is for the four warriors, so not Nameless). This fight will be on 13th, as planned.
* Meeting with Balan: Balan also sends a message asking the group to visit him on the 11th. The message mentions that Silaena has preparations well under way and would like to meet them the same day.
* Bounty: Fett returns one day and says that the news in the Sharn underworld is that someone has put out a bounty on the Angels. The bounty is for 2500 galifars per individual, and 15000 for all five. He hasn’t yet managed to find out who put out the bounty or if anyone has taken it up.
