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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pogre" data-source="post: 7152955" data-attributes="member: 6588">Episode NineThe Saga of Lucius Victorium GnaeusEpisode NineThe journey back from the wizard’s tower to the ship was uneventful. Aboard ship I quickly copied the correspondence from Lord Fabrece to the wizard, which implicated him in a plot to overthrow Drax. This correspondence, along with a letter of introduction, I sent with the farmboy, Marco, to deliver to Senator Cember. A couple of hours later Marco returned with the copies of the letters and a message from the senator stating that the senator would arrange a meeting with Lord Fabrece at his manor. He also warned me that Lord Fabrece was Consul, and to be very wary in my negotiations.I prayed long and hard to Kord. Here I was, hip-deep in the gutrot politics of the city. It was the very thing that I had left to avoid. I was sorely tempted to crassly expose the Consul at my father’s trial, but the light of Kord tempered my vengeful heart. Backdoor channels and secret entreaties are how things get done in Rel Astra. Lord Fabrece had served as Consul virtually every other election and even had been granted exceptions for consecutive elections at times. A Consul was only supposed to serve one year and step down, but Lord Fabrece had almost become a fixture at that position. Fabrece was no pedlar, he was one of the most powerful men in the city.The Heart filled with Kord has no place for the things of Man.A short time later a message arrived from Senator Cember with directions to Lord Fabrece’s manor, which was an hour away. We traveled down the coast and found the manor. It was a remarkably austere and restrained edifice, particularly in comparison to its neighboring estates. We took one of the small boats and accompanied by Thock and Shen - we began the climb up the marble stairs towards the main house from the private dock.*****The Consul’s manor was surrounded by a low garden wall topped with clay tiles and the only sign of movement was a gardener working on some beds. The villa was well kept but not ostentatious in the least. There were no signs of security and the lack of safeguards gave the impression of a man supremely confident in his safety and position. I went to the simple front door and knocked.A large human slave open the door and invited us inside with a simple hand gesture. He did not speak. We were left in a foyer while the slave left, assumably to inform his master of our arrival. The interior of the house revealed the wealth of Lord Fabrece. Expensive objets d’art decorated most of the interior. The paintings, small statues, vases, urns, furniture, and other curios revealed this place to be the home of a wealthy man.The slave returned and led us across the polished marble floors to a study. Seated, wrapped in a blanket, was an elderly gentleman next to a small fire.“Ah, young Lucius Gnaeus, welcome to my home. May I offer you some refreshment?” Lord Fabrece asked.“Thank you, no, my lord,” I replied.“Sit, sit, young Lucius,” Lord Fabrece ordered, gesturing to a small sofa arranged facing his chair. “You are here no doubt concerning your family’s predicament?”“I am my lord,” I replied.“Please,” Lord Fabrece said. “My Lord, House Cranston has fabricated charges of treason against my father. The charges have brought our family to the brink of ruin and you now must judge the case. I know this is not a simple matter of deciding guilt or innocence, but one in which there are political implications. I further am informed that the House Cranston has considerable influence with your lordship and I fear my father may not get a fair trial.” I stopped to take a breath. I could see none of this surprised the elderly Consul.“My Lord, I have brought you these,” I held out the packet of copied letters to Lord Fabrece. “These are copies of correspondence that I recovered in exploring the wizard’s tower. The wizard was a person, these letters, written by your own hand, reveal was in conspiracy with you to depose Drax. My Lord, I must insist that these outrageous charges against my father be dismissed. Such a judgment would enable me to exercise the greatest discretion in the handling of these missives.”The Consul let out a low chuckle, “Young Gnaeus, you have learned a thing or two about politics I see.” He took a deep breath and continued, “It is true that House Cranston has become a powerful rising house. They are what you young people call ‘movers and shakers’.”“My Lord, I only seek to have my family returned to its rightful place. I am not interested in destroying other houses the way Cranston has.”“If I were to dismiss the charges against your father I would find myself in a very unfavorable position. There are two basic issues: First, House Cranston would see me destroyed for such an action, and second, I am very old and I have not much time left.”“But surely, My Lord…” I began.Lord Fabrece waved a finger at me, “Listen, young Gnaeus, you must fix these problems if we are to reach an agreement. I have two conditions for dismissing the charges against your father. One, I have no heirs, but I am not ready to die. I need a potion to lengthen my life. I have a lead on where you may be able to obtain such a thing. Two, the letters you have must be altered to implicate House Cranston in the conspiracy against Drax. I know an expert forger that can do so in a way that is undetectable.”“Where is this potion?” I asked.“In an old mine, north of the city.”“Is the mine guarded?”“I have no idea, but I am very confident the potion is there.”“My Lord, grant me a moment to get counsel from my companions,” I said. With an approving nod from Lord Fabrece, we left the house and traveled a short distance in the garden. After discussing the deal we agreed that I would make the deal with the understanding I might hold a letter or two back for insurance.”We returned to the study.“My Lord, we agree, I believe we have reached an accord.”A slight small crossed Fabrece’s lips, “Excellent! There is one minor detail.”I braced for the complication that the Consul was about to spill upon us. It was the oldest negotiating tactic in the world. You get to an agreement and then add a condition - the agreeing party almost always relented. This was a cagey negotiator, an experienced politician, and even with his vulnerability he was leveraging an addendum to the agreement.“The expert forger I spoke about is on the prison island. You will have to get him out,” Fabrece said.That was no minor detail! The prison island was surrounded by an ancient magical field that converted the living into the undead if they passed through it. The only way into the prison island I knew of was to be transported in the single protected cell on a ship crewed by the everlasting - an undead crew that went back and forth to the island from the city.“We will try,” I offered. “This is no minor detail My Lord.”Lord Fabrece shrugged his shoulders in response. He fetched a parchment that was a map that indicated the location of the mine he was certain contained the potion of longevity.We made a few more inquiries into how Lord Fabrece might help us with the prison break and asked whether he had any preference in what order we performed these tasks.“I leave it to you how to best proceed. I would remind you that it will take the forger sometime to alter the letters,” Lord Fabrece said.“We may send a boy named Marco with messages for you. He is a simpleton, but reliable,” I said.Lord Fabrece said that was fine and admonished us to use the greatest discretion. We reassured him we would and took our leave of the Consul.I shook my head on the way back to the ship. Somehow the Consul had managed to force us to share his vulnerability. It was an admirable piece of negotiation and was as natural to him as breathing. No wonder he managed to make the seat of Consul more or less his permanent office. Locking us in an illegal conspiracy made us bedfellows in this affair and the old bastard had assumed rightly I would be complicit for my family’s sake. If I had been immersed in the politics of the city it would have the potential of a magnificent coup with a dash of revenge. What the Consul may not have realized is that potential made it even more repulsive to me.*****“Did you kill him?” Faithless asked us as we reboarded the ship.“No, we reached an accord,” I replied.I explained the bargain I had struck with the Consul and the group voted to go to the mine first. At least this would give us time to consider further how we might break the forger out of prison.The journey to the mine was an uneventful trip, save for a bit of rough weather that forced us to take three days. We readily located the old mine and disembarked to explore the ancient shaft.Most of the mine shafts were narrow with areas of ore picked out. We entered a large chamber with brown streaks running through the walls. These proved to be iron ore deposits that were rusted. We continue exploring and found a large chamber with several egresses. Almost as soon as we set foot in the cavern creatures came scurrying out of the dark to attack us. The creatures looked like overgrown ticks with long flailing antennae. We discovered the creatures were most interested in our metal items. In short order, the blasted beasts had ruined my plate armor and warhammer.Pride in earthly items is the enemy of the Spirit of Kord.Faithless was taking serious damage from the rust monsters when Shen and Edgy noticed a cave troll was ambling up another corridor towards the cavern. The Tabaxi attempted to take up an ambush position against the troll. Shen prepared to cast a spell and I tried to fend off the rust monster munching on my plate mail. Edgy attacked the troll and Shen unleashed Shen’s Scorching Rays on the troll. Edgy’s attacked was mostly shrugged off by the huge creature, but Shen’s attack took a toll. The troll with an almost casual swing of its club knocked Edgy out. I left the rust monster combat and finished it with a Mighty Spiritual Hammer of Kord and tried to interpose myself between the troll and Shen.The troll ambled over to our position and attacked Shen. The monster’s attacks nearly knocked the sorcerer down. Shen quickly retreated and prepared another spell. I made a feeble attack with my now-damaged warhammer to little effect. I was now the only available target for the troll and I braced myself for its onslaught. When the great blow came it crunched into my damaged armor and my knees buckled. My head was swimming and I was struggling to stay upright. I made a feeble attack that had little effect as Shen poured more Scorching Rays into the troll.I heard a flapping noise and then saw a creature, the size of a rat, with bat-like wings, and an enormous proboscis flying at me. Too late to avoid the creature it slammed its needle-like nose into my neck and sucked my blood. I fell…*****Darkness*****The first sensation I felt was the lukewarm liquid with a slightly sweet tang flowing down my throat. I flooded back to consciousness and saw the figure of Thock hunched over me cradling my head. The healing potion took full effect and sensation came back to my limbs and I slowly sat up. I cast Kord’s Light and became witness to a scene of destruction. The troll lay dead in a burned pile not far from me. Squished and bloody stirges littered the floor. The rust monsters were gutted and lay still. I shook my head to further clear my senses and then cast healing prayers over Faithless, Shen, and Edgy.Challenges and failures sharpen the sword of Kord.We limped back to the ship for a long rest.*****We returned to the mine after our rest and found a few interesting items in the Troll and stirges’ lair, but not the potion we were looking for. We continued exploring the mines and found an unexplored passage that led to a large chamber. The place appeared empty and I was disheartened that we may have been led on a wild goose chase. Suddenly, sticky thick strands came down firing at us from above.There was a ledge fifteen feet above us that held a trio of cave fishers! Thock, Shen, and Edgy were stuck by these long sticky strands. The ambush had occurred at the entrance tunnel of the chamber and our maneuverability was limited. I cast Bless because my visibility was limited, I hoped the prayer would help the others in some way. There were combats on both sides of me, to the front and to the back. The creatures had descended from their lofty perches and were now attacking directly. I saw Faithless fall, then Edgy, and then Shen. Thock and I managed to chase off the cave fishers, but they were only wounded, not dead.As I ran over to check on my fallen comrades, it was clear Edgy was dead. The other two I cast healing prayers over. A search of the cavern revealed nothing and we did not find the potion we were looking for. The only remaining possibility if it was in the mine was the cave fisher nests up above. I was nearly out of spells, but Shen, who had been knocked out of the combat fairly early had a fair number yet. “We kill them now,” Thock demanded.“Edgy is dead and Faithless and Shen would not withstand a single assault,” I countered.“I do have this,” Shen said holding a gem aloft.”We could unleash the air elemental on them.” Shen had found the gem of elemental air in one of the chambers we had explored earlier.“If we leave, they will have a chance to heal,” Thock added.I relented and we prepared our assault on the cave fishers.Courage brings one closer to Kord’s heart.Shen broke the gem and a mighty air elemental emerged. Quick instructions to the elemental had it swirling up and delivering devastation upon the cave fishers. Shen and Faithless also helped with ranged spells and in a short time the beasts fell. Mission accomplished the air elemental took its leave.A search of the cave fisher nest yielded some treasure, but most importantly, the potion we needed. We picked up Edgy’s corpse and headed back to the ship.*****Going through Edgy’s personal items we found a massive gem he had hidden away. When we got back to the city we sold the gem and used the proceeds to have Edgy raised. We then settled in on a brainstorming session on how to break the forger out of the most dangerous prison we had ever seen.</blockquote>

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