An Unexpected Happening
After waking to find that Tanin had fled with the onyx cup, harming a party member in the process, Laeka revealed that she had been sent yet another dream. The urgency of her past nighttime visions had dwindled, and she watched as a tree in the shape of a woman slowly rotted, shook, and then exploded to release thousands of venemous insects. She felt a sense of loss and regret, and she knew empathically that the party had somehow failed in their rescue mission of the daughter of Lord Sapphire. Finally, after many days of pursuit, the girl had succumbed at last to the evil of the Taint from the Blasted Lands, and Laeka found herself secure in the confirmed knowledge that they had unleashed Tammishka Li on the Sapphire Family.
When she brought her observations to the party, Marcus thought for a while and used his knowledge of the Arcana to puzzle out that Tammishka sounded much like an Ogre Mage. If that were indeed the case, then Marcus and Arien both counselled that the party was not ready to pursue her, especially not if she had somehow ingratiated herself into one of the most powerful families in the city of Tol Vehara. And then, too, with her ability to assume shapes of others, Tammishka could very easily have removed and then taken the place of someone else in the city. No, at their current level of experience (5th by this time), the party was not yet ready to engage that foe.
Valar decided that he needed to return to Tol Vehara and make a report to his superiors about Tammishka and the Sapphire family, but that meant leaving the Dorecan Manor. Preferrably without ogres and trolls, goblins and orcs and kobolds swarming on their trail. The party gathered their gear, took their spoils from the inner chambers (minus the sword that Tanin had made off with and the onyx-like cup) and opened up the door leading back out into the Mirror's ruined chamber.
As they stepped out into the oppressive weight of the Tainted Lands once more, they all became aware of the sound of approaching drums and hunting horns and a ruckus coming from the ballroom they had all vacated the day before. Deciding to investigate, Valar scouted ahead and quickly returned to summon the rest of the party to watch, unobserved, from just outside the balcony's entrance as a strange scene unfolded below.
The room was still in disarray, with the bodies of the goblins and ogres having been removed with trails of bloodstains leading off into the enclosed gardens where they had been dumped and left to rot in the springtime sun. More ogres and their goblin and kobold servants were gathered, and the sound of the drums and horns continued to approach. They were joined at the top of the stairs by one of the black-tunicked kobolds, who spoke to them softly.
"The hunters return with their quarry. They have captured the ant-man like Tammishka had ordered."
"What's an ant-man?" Skalar asked.
The kobold shrugged. "He has eluded them recently. Tammishka saw his approach and ordered that he be captured, but he has many powers which made it difficult. For almost a month they have tracked him, and by the sounds they make they have succeeded. I must go. I am known to be a kobold clan leader. If I do not answer the summons to the great room then I will be missed and my clan suspect. I advise you to be cautious. Do not begin a skirmish unless you think you can win. My people will not be able to support you openly in such a battle."
Skalar nodded, and watched as the kobold scurried down to take his place among the ranks and representatives of several of the tribes and clans of goblins and kobolds. As the party watched, several gnolls and ogres came in carrying a stout tree they had felled. Tied to the tree and shackled by strange manacles of dark metal whose planes and angles defied the eye's ability to follow them clearly was a large sized humanoid ant man, unconscious. The manacles apparently pierced through the carapace of the ant man's limbs, or else they were somehow magically binding, since he lacked anything that might be considered a wrist or other impediment to keep him from simply slipping his limbs out of them.
As the party watched and Skalar gave rough translations in a hushed voice, the ant man was dumped on the ground still attached to the tree trunk, and the ogres consulted with each other as to what to do with it now.
"They're trying to decide what to do with him, since Tammishka hasn't been seen in a while. Since the raid on the ghost house," Skalar whispered. More commotion below was followed by his shushed commentary, "They're going to go and prepare a room below for him. For now, they'll leave him to be guarded here, while the hunting group goes to bathe. Apparently, Tammishka insists that they bathe before entering her presence." He shrugs at the odd looks. "That's what they said."
"Well," Yovaire whispered back, "if they're going to go bathe, maybe we can use this opportunity to rescue him."
"Rescue him? Why in blazes would we want to rescue him?" Laeka asked.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Valar answered. "Now shush before they hear us."
After waking to find that Tanin had fled with the onyx cup, harming a party member in the process, Laeka revealed that she had been sent yet another dream. The urgency of her past nighttime visions had dwindled, and she watched as a tree in the shape of a woman slowly rotted, shook, and then exploded to release thousands of venemous insects. She felt a sense of loss and regret, and she knew empathically that the party had somehow failed in their rescue mission of the daughter of Lord Sapphire. Finally, after many days of pursuit, the girl had succumbed at last to the evil of the Taint from the Blasted Lands, and Laeka found herself secure in the confirmed knowledge that they had unleashed Tammishka Li on the Sapphire Family.
When she brought her observations to the party, Marcus thought for a while and used his knowledge of the Arcana to puzzle out that Tammishka sounded much like an Ogre Mage. If that were indeed the case, then Marcus and Arien both counselled that the party was not ready to pursue her, especially not if she had somehow ingratiated herself into one of the most powerful families in the city of Tol Vehara. And then, too, with her ability to assume shapes of others, Tammishka could very easily have removed and then taken the place of someone else in the city. No, at their current level of experience (5th by this time), the party was not yet ready to engage that foe.
Valar decided that he needed to return to Tol Vehara and make a report to his superiors about Tammishka and the Sapphire family, but that meant leaving the Dorecan Manor. Preferrably without ogres and trolls, goblins and orcs and kobolds swarming on their trail. The party gathered their gear, took their spoils from the inner chambers (minus the sword that Tanin had made off with and the onyx-like cup) and opened up the door leading back out into the Mirror's ruined chamber.
As they stepped out into the oppressive weight of the Tainted Lands once more, they all became aware of the sound of approaching drums and hunting horns and a ruckus coming from the ballroom they had all vacated the day before. Deciding to investigate, Valar scouted ahead and quickly returned to summon the rest of the party to watch, unobserved, from just outside the balcony's entrance as a strange scene unfolded below.
The room was still in disarray, with the bodies of the goblins and ogres having been removed with trails of bloodstains leading off into the enclosed gardens where they had been dumped and left to rot in the springtime sun. More ogres and their goblin and kobold servants were gathered, and the sound of the drums and horns continued to approach. They were joined at the top of the stairs by one of the black-tunicked kobolds, who spoke to them softly.
"The hunters return with their quarry. They have captured the ant-man like Tammishka had ordered."
"What's an ant-man?" Skalar asked.
The kobold shrugged. "He has eluded them recently. Tammishka saw his approach and ordered that he be captured, but he has many powers which made it difficult. For almost a month they have tracked him, and by the sounds they make they have succeeded. I must go. I am known to be a kobold clan leader. If I do not answer the summons to the great room then I will be missed and my clan suspect. I advise you to be cautious. Do not begin a skirmish unless you think you can win. My people will not be able to support you openly in such a battle."
Skalar nodded, and watched as the kobold scurried down to take his place among the ranks and representatives of several of the tribes and clans of goblins and kobolds. As the party watched, several gnolls and ogres came in carrying a stout tree they had felled. Tied to the tree and shackled by strange manacles of dark metal whose planes and angles defied the eye's ability to follow them clearly was a large sized humanoid ant man, unconscious. The manacles apparently pierced through the carapace of the ant man's limbs, or else they were somehow magically binding, since he lacked anything that might be considered a wrist or other impediment to keep him from simply slipping his limbs out of them.
As the party watched and Skalar gave rough translations in a hushed voice, the ant man was dumped on the ground still attached to the tree trunk, and the ogres consulted with each other as to what to do with it now.
"They're trying to decide what to do with him, since Tammishka hasn't been seen in a while. Since the raid on the ghost house," Skalar whispered. More commotion below was followed by his shushed commentary, "They're going to go and prepare a room below for him. For now, they'll leave him to be guarded here, while the hunting group goes to bathe. Apparently, Tammishka insists that they bathe before entering her presence." He shrugs at the odd looks. "That's what they said."
"Well," Yovaire whispered back, "if they're going to go bathe, maybe we can use this opportunity to rescue him."
"Rescue him? Why in blazes would we want to rescue him?" Laeka asked.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Valar answered. "Now shush before they hear us."