Broken Faith
Here's an update, though I'm sure it will be lost amidst the flood of 4E posts...
--------------------------
It wasn’t until the group was safely ensconced in the Happy Half-Ogre, and had ordered a round of Grog’s best ale, that they began to fill in Kyle on their journey into the past. Kyle took the news that he had come close to never existing fairly well. The party did decide to leave out certain uncomfortable details, such as the changes in relationships that had come about because of the Scion-Watchers’ meddling.
“We’ll need to stay here about three days,” Osborn said, changing the subject. “Grog has our people looking into the activities of these so-called Ladtans, and can give us details once he has their report.”
“Well then, we may as well take advantage of the hospitality,” Autumn said.
The Legacy took some time to explore Dagger Rock. The town itself was larger than before, now numbering nearly a thousand people rather than the three hundred it had been. The town had seen significantly more merchant traffic come through the town, and attracted the types of businesses that support trade. The party wondered how much of that had come about as a result of Grog’s work as Osborn’s second.
Grog had done well for himself in the years since the Legacy’s first visit to Dagger Rock, when they were all still enrolled in classes at the Tower. He had expanded the Happy-Half-Ogre, and added a more few rooms to rent out. His prices had gone up a little since their first visit, but were still quite reasonable. The party introduced Yuri to Grog, after first clarifying that she was unrelated to the Yuri who had tried to frame him and run him out of town. The party’s end of the conversation was quite brief, as Grog already knew all about their activities.
“The Dagger Rock Tavern’s got a new owner,” Grog told them, as he wiped off mugs at the bar. “About a year after Yuri went to the gallows, a young elf-touched lass from Freeport came to town and bought the place from the Council. She’s a decent sort,” and Grog gave a slight nod to Osborn that said
I’ve checked her out, “a lot more so than Yuri ever was. Of course, the Witham family still owns the Hearthfire, though the elder Withams have passed on, and their son runs the place now. The three of us have an understanding that keeps us all in business – the Hearthfire goes for the older folks in town and the high-class travelers, the Half-Ogre attracts the more… boisterous crowd, and the Tavern… well, she’s got her own draw.”
To the curious looks of his friends, Osborn explained, “The Tavern’s a brothel now.”
“This town really
has grown up,” Arrie mused.
* * *
After three days had passed, the Legacy gathered in one of Grog’s back rooms to discuss the intelligence that had been gathered.
“There have been several attacks on villages in the southern part of Targeth,” Grog explained. “They seem to target small towns, no more than two hundred souls. The pattern has been the same; these towns start to experience a sharp rise in misfortune – accidents that maim people, locusts devouring crops, that sort of thing. Then these ‘missionaries’ come in, and tell everyone that the reason this is happening is that they don’t worship Ladta. They work to convert everyone in the town, and once that happens, they put all of the people to the sword, and move on. Whatever’s left standing seems to get wiped out by a natural disaster of some sort.”
“I can simulate a natural disaster,” Tolly commented.
“You
are a natural disaster,” Arrie quipped.
“As are you.”
“What are you talking about? I’m an
unnatural disaster.”
“Are they even authentic Ladtan priests?” Osborn asked.
“It appears so, even though they aren’t part of the official church, as much as one exists. Ladta’s worshipers don’t really have an organized hierarchy like the more lawful churches, and so every community has a different interpretation of how to worship her.”
“But surely Ladta wouldn’t approve of this twisted worship,” Osborn argued.
“I think she’s a bit preoccupied right now,” Grog said. “and Ladta’s not the only god who’s had some of the faithful stray a bit off the straight and narrow, you know. Why, just a few days ago, there was some Eritan cult sniffing around here.”
While they were talking, another figure entered the room quietly and sat down next to Grog; since the fire-touched tavern owner didn’t react to this, the Legacy assumed he was supposed to be there. Looking at the figure, they realized that they’d seen the face before… in a manner of speaking.
“I thought you worked for Keth,” Kyle said to him.
“Grog pays better,” the Faceless One replied.
“Any idea where they’re heading next?” Osborn asked.
“Their targets appear random,” The Faceless One said. “At least there’s no pattern I’ve found.”
“Why are they doing this?” Yuri asked.
“It seems that they think they’re saving the world. Now that Ladta is the only goddess left, they believe that the only way she can maintain the cycle of life and death that Erito used to oversee is if enough souls devoted to Ladta pass on to the afterlife.”
“Cocky bastards,” Yuri commented.
“I think we need to put an end to this,” Tolly said.
“Yes, immediately,” Osborn agreed.
“There is something you should know,” The Faceless One said. “They aren’t killing everyone. They’ve been sparing the very young and very old. But just because they’re showing a modicum of mercy doesn’t mean they’re any less devoted to their cause. The ones who aren’t killed are taken away to serve them.”
“Any idea how many?” Kyle asked.
“Somewhere between three and eight core members of the group,” replied the Faceless One. “It’s rumored they’re building a fortress somewhere, but I’ve not been able to locate it. If you manage to find it, I won’t be surprised if you find their walls defended by ten-year-olds.”
“Do you have something that belongs to them?” Tolly asked. The Faceless One shook his head.
“You might find something at the last village they attacked,” he suggested. “It’s a long shot at best – they left the place a week ago, and it was razed just like the others. I can show you on this map.” He produced a parchment map from a pocket.
“Mark the locations of the other villages that have been hit, too,” Kyle said. “Perhaps there’s a pattern to the attacks we just haven’t seen yet.”
The Faceless One unrolled the map and made a few marks on it with a stub of charcoal, then handed it to Osborn.
“Thank you,” the hin said. “Compensation will come in the usual manner.”
“I know it will,” he said. “That’s why I work for Grog and not Keth.”
* * *
They teleported into the middle of an inferno.
Flames leapt up from the ground all around them, sending out waves of heat from charred piles of rubble that were improbably still burning. As soon as they arrived, both Arrie and Kyle sensed the presence of a Dream Realm overlay nearby. But the thing that drew the most attention was the screaming, writhing form in the middle of the village ruins.
The creature was a marilith, her six flailing arms clutching burning longswords in a white-knuckled grip. But unlike most demons of its kind, this marilith looked as though it were burning from the inside out, or else composed of fire entirely. Flames burst from every orifice and from various places on her scaled flesh, wrapping around her body like a shawl. The marilith’s eyes were glazed over in a rictus of pain and insanity. The moment she detected the party’s presence, she raised her blades and rushed at them.
Autumn quickly leapt forward and met the marilith’s charge, the gleaming blade of Faithful Avenger meeting three of the demon’s flaming swords. Arrie and Yuri were a half-step behind, their longspears thrusting forward into the demon’s flesh. Osborn invoked Ladta’s power, surrounding himself and his allies in a protective aura.
“Hey, what kind of metal do I want here?” Arrie asked as she slashed at the demon and noticed the wounds were not as deep as they should have been.
Kyle looked over at Arrie. “You want cold iron!” The warrior nodded as the composition of Anyweapon changed. “And you want axiomatic, too!”
“I can’t do axiomatic!” Arrie complained.
Kyle, moving off to the flank, fired a
polar ray at the marilith, but the ray barely missed, shooting off into the distance and striking a pile of burning debris that was instantly extinguished. He was about to hurl another spell, but then paused, looked around at the situation, and dropped his arms. He began circling around the battle and heading for the far side of the village.
“Where are you going?” Tolly shouted at him.
“I’m going to go check out this Dream rift!” he shouted back. “Make sure there aren’t any surprises!”
The party returned their attention to the screaming marilith, who was slashing furiously at both Yuri and Autumn. Flames leapt from the demon’s skin and curled around Autumn, causing the sentinel to burst into flames herself. As Yuri leapt over the marilith again, stabbing her spear into its neck, Tolly summoned a large boulder in midair and caused it to slam into the demon, smashing into her midsection with a satisfying crunch of bone.
The melee continued unabated. Despite being insane with pain, the marilith was still a cunning and nimble opponent, and many of the Legacy’s attacks missed. The demon’s coils looped around Arrie, and pulled her in close, crushing her, but her psicrown allowed her to slip out before too much harm was done. Kupa, who had been circling around looking for an opening, darted in quickly and tried to bite the demon, but his jaws closed on air.
“Are you going to help or not?” Tolly shouted at Kyle, who was on the other side of the battle and heading out of the village.
“Oh, you’re fine,” he called back. “It’s one marilith, for Erito’s sake. You guys just took on dozens of ogres and trolls, three crusaders, and a lich!”
Tolly, scowling, turned and invoked another spell, hurting the marilith with divine power that also healed his friends. Osborn’s daggers flew through the air and struck the demon, though most of them bounced off her scaly skin. Yuri was the next to be grappled by the snake-like tail, and unlike Yuri had no easy escape. The marilith squeezed, and the edges of the dragoon’s vision went gray. Suddenly Yuri found herself standing out in the open, and Arrie was enveloped in the coils.
“Thanks!” Yuri shouted as Arrie once again slipped free thanks to the psionic power in her crown.
Screaming, the marilith turned her attention to Autumn, slashing at the aasimar furiously with all six swords and leaving several deep wounds. Furious, Autumn swung back just as furiously, sending boiling hot demonic ichor flying. Weakened, and now surrounded, the marilith managed to focus long enough to teleport a short distance away, but not far enough. Autumn flew in, Faithful Avenger raised, and buried it in the demon’s skull. With a short cry, the marilith collapsed in a heap, and the flames went out.
Autumn mopped sweat from her brow as the others ran up to her, Tolly with healing at the ready. She kicked at the marilith with her boot.
“It should have vanished,” she said. “Summoned demons return to their planet of origin when killed.”
“Perhaps this one was not summoned,” Tolly observed. “It could have been gated in, or somehow arrived here bodily.”
“Let’s ask Kyle,” Arrie suggested.
They found him staring at the region of dream overlay, which appeared as a shimmering curtain in the air.
“Are you guys finally finished?” he asked.
“No thanks to you,” Yuri grumbled.
Kyle waved off the complaint. “This appears to be a portion of the Nightmare Realm,” he said, looking at the rift. “One that had to do with dreams of fire and burning.” He didn’t mention that when he’d approached, he’d been struck by the siren song of creatures within the rift, beckoning him to join them in the warmth. He’d shaken it off easily.
“That explains things around here,” Autumn said.
Kyle nodded. “The marilith was infused with dream-essence from this rift, much like the goristros that attacked Vargas.”
“The marilith wasn’t summoned,” Tolly said. “The body remains.”
“She may have come through this rift,” Kyle said, “or been pulled through.”
“Whatever the case,” Tolly said, “there is nothing left here that will connect back to these false Ladtan priests. Perhaps we should try and search for their fortress.”
“I want to check out the other villages,” Kyle said.
“Why?” Osborn asked. “If they’re in the same shape as this one…”
“That’s exactly what I want to check,” the wizard explained. “This village ended up with a Nightmare Realm rift opening practically on top of it. What if there are similar rifts at the other villages? What if there’s a connection to this Ladtan cult? What if they’re somehow using these rifts, or can control them?”
“A good point,” Tolly said. “We should go soon.”
“I only prepared one
teleport,” Kyle said. “I have my emergency scroll, or we could wait a day.”
“Or,” Arrie suggested, “we could walk.” She looked around. “If there are other dream overlays near these villages, I really don’t want to jump into the middle of them. And I can’t imagine that being close to the rifts will help up avoid one of those magic mishaps. I love you all, but I really want my bits and pieces to stay my bits and pieces.”
“Fair enough.” Kyle consulted the map. “We should head that way. It’s three days’ walk to the next destroyed village.”
* * *
Kyle spent most of the next three days with his nose in a book. Several books, actually, though after an unfortunate incident where the wizard nearly walked off a bluff, Autumn restricted him to only keeping one open at a time.
“And what exactly are you doing, anyway?” his wife asked him, as he took a few notes in the book hovering in front of him.
“Field research,” he replied. “Just making some observations about the Dream overlays and about the properties of that oneiric marilith.”
“What’s ‘oneiric’?” Autumn asked.
“It’s a term I made up to describe creatures that have been suffused with the properties of the Dream Realm. It’s an adjective, like you use ‘celestial’ to describe creatures infused with the essence of the good planets, or ‘axiomatic’ to describe order-infused beings.”
“And you just decided you get to make up your own words, eh Kyle?” Arrie teased.
“Right now, dear sister in law, whether you believe it or not, I am essentially the world’s foremost non-psionic expert on the Dream Realm. So yes, I do get to make up my own words.”
“What does all this have to do with these books you’re reading?” Autumn asked again.
Kyle paused, and closed the book he was holding. “Up until recently, magic couldn’t affect the Dream Realm except for in very crude ways – didn’t even recognize it existed as a place at all. That’s changed. So I’ve been looking into ways to tap into the Dream Realm, to get information about it in a way that doesn’t involve actually going there and fighting creatures with extra tentacles.”
“Any luck so far?” Arrie asked.
“It’s slow,” he admitted. “It’s not like there’s a huge body of research out there to draw on. Most of these books are about planetary metaphysics, and I’m just taking a stab at figuring out if the same concepts apply to the Dream Realm.”
The Legacy was well outside the next village when the scent of death hit them. Carrion birds could be seen circling overhead, wheeling and dipping down. When they finally caught sight of the village, they knew that even though death had come for these people just as swiftly as it had in the last village, it did not come through fire.
The partially dug holes on the outskirts of town were proof that at first, the villagers had tried to bury their dead. A smoldering pile of blackened wood a short distance away gave an indication as to what they had resorted to when they’d started dying too fast to dig graves. In the end, though, people had simply dropped dead where they lay, sprawled in the dirt.
Tolly pushed over a body with the toe of his boot, which rolled over stiffly, sending the vulture that had been pecking at it flying off with an irritated squawk. The man’s eyes and nose were crusted over, and dried, bloody foam clung to his lips. His leathery flesh was marked by several large boils and greenish splotches. Tolly looked up, and saw Arrie looking at him.
“No kids,” she said. “No elderly.”
Meanwhile, Kyle and Autumn were examining a much large corpse in the center of town. It looked like nothing more than strips of diseased flesh surrounding a skeletal frame, with two tattered, leathery wings on its back.
“An angel of decay,” Autumn said. “Like the one we saw at Morladim’s castle.”
“I can’t tell how it died,” Kyle said. “But now we know what caused the rest of the village to die.”
“Over here!” Osborn called, leaning out from the door of the town hall. The others followed as he made his way to a room at the back of the hall, where a small shrine to Ladta sat. The shrine was newly built, but had seen heavy use.
“Something’s not right,” Autumn and Osborn said in unison.
“What do you mean?” Yuri asked. In response, Osborn pointed to the engraved image of Ladta’s totem animal, the cat. “Look at the eyes,” he said. “The pupil slits are horizontal, not vertical.”
“And the shrine is inlaid with platinum wire,” Autumn said. “A village this size couldn’t afford that. This was built by people from the outside.”
“I think,” Yuri said, “that I’m going to patrol the perimeter, just in case.” The Sargian shouldered her longspear and walked out of the town hall.
Tolly looked at Arrie. “Will you help me carry the bodies to the pyre? Whatever plague killed them still infects them, and though I can purge the disease from our bodies, whoever stumbles on this place next may not be so lucky.”
Arrie nodded her assent, and followed the Ardaran outside. The others came out soon afterward.
“We should kill those scavengers,” Autumn said, looking up at the circling vultures. “They’ll carry the plague away from the village.” She pulled a crossbow out of her pack and began loading it.
“You fly up and hit them from above,” Osborn said, pulling out a pair of daggers. “I’ll get the ones that fly in low.”
“Want to help, Kyle?” Autumn asked.
“Actually, I’ve got something else I want to look into.”
The party worked hard the rest of the afternoon, burning corpses and shooting down vultures. As the sun just started to touch the horizon, they finished their work. Eyes red from smoke, they came to the center of the village and found Kyle, sitting cross-legged on the ground, in the center of a white circle drawn with fine sand.
“What’s this?” Autumn asked. Kyle did not respond.
“Hello?” Arrie said, a little louder. “You fall asleep in there?” Still no response. The party exchanged worried looks.
Yuri reversed her longspear, and being careful not to step into the circle, poked Kyle in the shoulder with the butt. He shifted slightly, but did not react. At this point they noticed that Kyle’s eyes were filled with a rainbow of swirling colors.
“This isn’t good,” Arrie said.
There was a flapping of wings, and a large raven settled on Kyle’s head. Autumn was about to shoo it away, when she noticed the vibrant purple feathers over its eyes, which looked like small eyebrows.
“Violet?”
“That’s me,” Violet said in her raspy voice.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m afraid Kyle’s not home right now,” the raven said.
“What did he do?” Arrie asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
“It was an attempt to get some information from the Dream Realm,” Violet said. “It’s a divinatory spell he’s been working on – it contacts entities native to the Dream Realm. I’d explain it, but it’s way over my head.”
“Is it supposed to do this to him?” Tolly asked.
Violet paused. “I’m… not sure. I don’t think so.” She pecked at a fly that had landed in his hair. “His body still works, but there’s just nothing in there to drive it. But it’s not too bad – watch.” She turned and leaned over until her beak was next to Kyle’s ear.
“Kyle,” she croaked, “stand up and walk out of the circle.”
Kyle rose, his face blank, and stepped over the line of sand.
“You can give him simple directions to follow,” Violet said. “I’ve been testing it out. Nothing too complex, though – not ‘Kyle, cast that spell’ or ‘Kyle, fight that guy’, but the basics work. Sit, stand, walk, run, that kind of stuff.”
“How long will it last?” Osborn asked.
Violet did a slight shuffle that might have been an avian version of a shrug. “No idea. Maybe hours, maybe weeks. Maybe forever.”
“We can’t just leave him like this,” Autumn protested. “There has to be something we can do!”
“I know,” Tolly said reassuringly, “but we don’t even know what is wrong, and it may be something he recovers from on his own. And we have other pressing matters to attend to.”
“The Ladtan cultists,” Autumn said grimly. “I know. But Kyle’s not safe in this state.”
In response, Tolly unlatched a necklace around his neck, and placed it around Kyle’s. “This will provide him with air,” he said. “I suggest we place him in your
portable hole, and we can check on him periodically to make sure he receives food and water. It’s not the first time we’ve had to use it as a sanctuary for the comatose.” He glanced over at Arrie, who sneered at Tolly.
“Now what?” Arrie said, as Autumn folded out her
portable hole.
“We still need to find where these cultists went,” Tolly said.
“I think they may be heading toward the foothills to the south,” Osborn said, pointing. “I realized that we hadn’t seen any livestock in the village, and I thought that maybe the cultists herded them off for their own use. I found a trail, and followed it, but unfortunately it looks like the sheep were simply driven well outside the town to keep them from getting sick, and then slaughtered and butchered on the spot. The trail continued on to the south, but I lost it pretty quickly in the rocky ground.”
“Why not just herd the sheep to their fortress?” Yuri asked. “More efficient that way.”
“They may lack the capacity to manage livestock,” Tolly suggested. “And a simple
gentle repose spell would keep the meat fresh for days.”
“Can’t you just find them, like you did with those assassins that attacked me and Autumn and Arrie?” Osborn asked.
Tolly shook his head. “For that spell to work, I must have either seen the person I’m looking for, or I must have something that belongs to them. I was able to find the assassins because I had the poisoned dart they attacked Arrie with.”
“Toys,” Yuri said suddenly.
“I’m sorry?”
“Maybe you don’t have something belonging to the cultists,” Yuri explained, “but we know they’ve been taking children with them, right? Surely one of those kids left behind a doll or a top or something like that. Find the kid, and you find the cultists.”
“Of course,” Tolly said, climbing to his feet in excitement. “I hadn’t thought of that. Let’s look through the homes.”
The party was easily able to round up several children’s toys. Tolly picked out one, a battered rag doll, and told everyone that he would attempt the spell in the morning.
Clouds rolled in during the night, covering the stars and moons. The morning brought a light spring rain, but Tolly did not pause for a moment in his preparations. Within minutes, he had his answer.
“They are in the foothills,” Tolly confirmed. “It’s about two days from here.”
“Two days if we walk,” Arrie said. “What if we push ourselves a little?”
“Then we could get there by midnight tonight,” he replied.
“Sounds like a good plan to me.”
