RangerWickett
Legend
The lion's share of the credit for the giant riders of the apocalypse is owed to Cartoon Network and Brendon Small.
ZEITGEIST Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
- Thread starter Tizbiz
- Start date
Session 65
A battle of wits
Without making any further sound, Gabriel ambushes Komanov from the ice ridge and attacks her fiercely with his Kukris. Meanwhile, Auryn turns his attention to the giant warlord so that he cannot intervene for his mistress at the last second. While it engages with her, trying to defend against her nimble strikes, the giant utters a low call and something deep inside the ice responds with a loud cracking sound.
Komanov clenches her teeth in pain and stumbles, trying to call forth divine energy, but the worm inside the ice reacts first. With a burst of frost and shattering ice shards, it lunges outward in defense of its ancient master and Komanov. The maw of the creature clamps down on Gabriel’s shoulder, piercing his shoulder, dragging him sideways across the ice. Fortunately, the worm's bite loosens long enough for Gabriel to return to Komanov and strike her before she is able to unleash her terrible magic.
Already weakened, the priestess reaches for a potion offered by her acolyte, but Gabriel is faster. With a slash of force energy, the vial shatters in her hands, and the liquid splatters to the ground. Komanov stares in disbelief at such a quick strike, then collapses in a heap.
Behind them, the undead warlord roars, swinging a twisted morning star. Auryn ducks beneath the swings, parries a few others, and retaliates with precise rapier strikes. It doesn't take her too long to fell the giant, who collapses in with a shuddering groan.
The worm fares little better. Now exposed, wounded, and leaderless, it becomes prey. Auryn and Gabriel dispatch it swiftly, leaving its shattered remains twitching on the frozen ground. They also make sure that the tongueless servant of Komanov finds his way to the Absurdist Web.
We agree to next take Komanov's weapon, in which we suspect the Eye of the Voice of Rot is located, to safety. So we teleport the wicked object to Slate and hand it over to the capable hands of Harkover Lee, whom we instruct to treat the thing with the necessary caution and take it apart. We also take care of the dead giant, freeing him from all necromantic influences. After that, we return to Heid to discuss the army still besieging the city.
Back in Bhad Rhyzhavdut, we meet again with Philosopher Heid, whose eyes are shadowed but unbroken. The siege continues, though the army of the end has grown more confused in the absence of its prophet. Together with the philosopher, we agree that it is probably best to dismantle Komanov’s cult not with blades, but with words.
“She cannot be allowed to become a martyr,” Auryn explains. “We don’t just defeat her - we unmask her, strip her of every ounce of false glory right before the very people she sought to mislead.”
“The faithful must watch her doctrine fail, publicly,” Gabriel adds. “They must see that she was not a prophet of the End. Just a woman with too much power and ambition. And with one terrible Titan master.”
Heid, ever the stoic philosopher, nods after a moment of reflection.
“Then we shall debate.”
So we agree that for this, it is probably best to place Komanov in an anti-magic field, so that she cannot use any dirty tricks or run away by magical means, and then dismantle her philosophy in a debate. We ask Heid to take a prominent role in this, as the people of Drakr consider him a philosophical luminary, and we agree to support him with arguments.
So we publicly declare that we will challenge Grandis Komanov in a traditional Drakran philosophical debate to gain the attention of both the public and the army of the end. One by one, Soldiers, citizens, cultists, and philosophers alike gather in uneasy silence. Komanov, now being healed up enough to debate, bound in enchanted manacles, is placed within a circular anti-magic field, a soft blue aura humming around her like the eye of a storm. Her face is gaunt, but her gaze remains burning, unrepentant and unwavering. We tell her that we have come to challenge her in front of her people, and it appears as though she is... almost happy to enter the debate. Komanov then explains her philosophy of the end:
“I do not fear judgment, for I have seen what waits beyond the veil,” she says, her voice clear, carried by sheer force of belief.
“The world is ending. Not metaphorically. Not eventually. Now. And because of that truth, nothing you do matters anymore. There are no consequences for your actions anymore. So why pretend otherwise? Why not embrace it? If our stories end, let them end gloriously. According to our own will”
Secondly, she states, history and traditions are shaped by personal experiences, so everyone should fulfill their own great destiny.
"And the corrupt - those in power who never feared consequences - feared me. And rightly so. Because I gave the people the freedom to form their own end. It is them who should .be brought down, as they only chain us to mediocrity."
She then gestures towards her army:
“And them? They were farmers, fishermen, widows. Broken people. Now they are warriors.People who can acieve greatness and form a fine end for their own story. Just like in the stories of old."
Komanov then points first at Vlendam Heid and then at us.
"You, Heid, you hide behind questions, fencing with elaborate words and thoughts. Lulling the people just like those weak politicians. And you, Risuri, hide behind your order and righteousness. You think those values will save you? You are merely delaying the inevitable while giving people false hope. I am no villain. I am the ice that clears the murky waters. And you are the damp ash of an age already dead.”
Auryn responds in return, calm but fierce.
“I know you’ve seen the end... but you misunderstood its ontext. You say nothing matters. We say everything does. The world isn’t dying because it is time- it’s dying because someone tried to rewrite its laws. That was the Obscurati’s doing, and we are undoing their damage. We’ve seen the cracks, we've learned their ritual and we know how to undo it. Our world has a future”
She takes a step forward.
“You chose to give up. We choose to fight.”
Then Gabriel raises his voice next, steady, but almost gentle.
“You speak of great destinies as though they belong to all - but most of your so-called heroes were, as you just elaborated, once people with quiet, honest lives. Fishermen who fed their neighbors. Farmers who braved the elements to keep others alive.
There is nobility in the simple. The quiet. Not everyone needs glory to find meaning.”
(ah yes, the perfect argument for a former butler)
A murmur ripples through the crowd.
“You mock weakness, Komanov. But we call it humanity. And those with true strength, those with power, should not rule through fear. The best leaders are those who listen. Those who lift. Heid never ordered armies. He inspired thought. That is what power should do. Not commanding armies, pushing their people towards death, making their lives a living nightmare”
Auryn then brings forth the next counter-argument:
“Yes, there are corrupt politicians. Yes, Drakr’s leadership failed its people. But for every corrupt leader, there's at least one who is honest and sincere. Some of them stood against the tide, like Heid, who stayed in Bhad Rhyzhavdut, or King Gabriel of Risur, a supposed enemy, who came to Drakr's aid despite your nation's pact with the Obscurati. They subjugated Drakr to the Obs, ignoring the will of the people, just for the sake of securing their power, yes. But philosophers like Heid have always used their power to guide with wisdom, and he opposes the Obs."
She also explains that there is nothing wrong with admitting one's weaknesses and growing from them, as not everyone in the world has to be a warrior, just like King Gabriel already said. A wise leader, she explains, takes the weak into consideration and gives them a voice instead of oppressing them.
Gabriel then picks up the train of thought to finish our argument:
„We came here, knowing that we'd most likely face adversity. We risked our lives not for glory, not for conquest, but to protect the people of Drakr, a country whose leaders would probably rather see us dead, from your 'End of the world'. That is not cowardice. That is conviction. "
Komanov laughs bitterly in disbelief.
“You think they’ll believe you over me?”
But the crowd is already shifting. A few of her followers are whispering, while some look uncertain.
“I gave them strength... the strength to choose their own end”, she hisses.
Auryn meets her gaze, slowly shaking her head.
“No. You gave them permission to despair. You wrapped oblivion in philosophy and sold it as salvation.”
It seems that our arguments are winning out over those of Komanov, as one by one the army of the end lay down their weapons. And with their conviction gone, the blizzard, and the hivemind are gradually dissipating. Then something strange happens.
The energy starts flowing southward, a current of invisible thought trailing through the dimly lit sky.
Hours pass. The city's defenses are rebuilt in places. Meanwhile, Asrabey leads sweeps through the frozen wastelands with local troops, chasing down loyalists and routing the last of the Vsadni, the undead horsemen. With Komanov captured, and her philosophy dismantled, the morale of her followers has collapsed.
(no dwarven implosion here since Komanov was pretty much shackled and shielded from magic.)
Then, a sudden pulse of arcane energy flickers as a small contingent of well-armed, well-uniformed Drakran soldiers teleport to out site. They bear the crest not of warlords, but of the official government of Drakr. Their commander delivers a simple message: “The Vice-Chancellor of Drakr wishes to meet with you. Your presence is requested in Trekholm.”
We exchange nods with Heid, who seems both curious and wary. Without hesitation, we agree to take the philosopher with us and teleport to Trekholm. There, we learn that the vice-chancellor has apparently distanced himself from the Obs.
"We underestimated the influence Grandis Komanov and her cult had. We did nothing, our eyes clouded, and our so-presumed 'allies' uninterested in the pleas of the north,” he admits, plainly. “But you, who were supposed to be our enemies, listened. You came. You helped our people to get rid of the icy scourge of the end. And for that, Drakr owes you more than words.”
He also commends Heid for his unwavering voice during dark times.and instead thanks Risur and Heid for their courageous intervention in the north.
King Gabriel then steps forth to make an announcement of his own:
“Then today indeed marks the end of the old world. Not through destruction, as Grandis Komanov believed, but through unity. The cold war between Drakr and Risur is over at last.“
He then glances at Auryn and nods in affirmation
„And this end, this change is not a threat. It is a glimmer of hope for a broken world.”
As if to underscore the shift, an arriving Danoran military train carrying soldiers is sent back to Danor. Though the Danorans make no protest, their silence feels intentional as if at least some of them are grateful to not be caught up in the conflict.
Unfortunately, his good mood is immediately dampened when Gabriel receives a sending from Harkover Lee. With a fair amount of shock on his face he turns to Auryn and the rest of the crew.
„I'm sorry... I know this should be a moment of rejoice... but I just got terrible news. Herkover Lee just told me that Lord Price-Hill has been found dead on his estate.“
(If you know our party, then you'd maybe already guessed that we formed our own counter-arguments against Komanov. And yep, this kind of “philosophical encounter” is what makes this adventure path so interesting. As for the philosopher of the End... it might have been more engaging if we had someone with a Drakran background in our party or if we had the opportunity to get to know more about Komanov or meet her in a previous adventure, but I know that this is hard to pull off without the PCs trying to get a hold on her immediately
As for the message of Price-Hill's demise... that really came out of nowhere and was a huge shock indeed. Especially as the leader of the RHC was such a beloved character. We'll see where this is going next time )
A battle of wits
Without making any further sound, Gabriel ambushes Komanov from the ice ridge and attacks her fiercely with his Kukris. Meanwhile, Auryn turns his attention to the giant warlord so that he cannot intervene for his mistress at the last second. While it engages with her, trying to defend against her nimble strikes, the giant utters a low call and something deep inside the ice responds with a loud cracking sound.
Komanov clenches her teeth in pain and stumbles, trying to call forth divine energy, but the worm inside the ice reacts first. With a burst of frost and shattering ice shards, it lunges outward in defense of its ancient master and Komanov. The maw of the creature clamps down on Gabriel’s shoulder, piercing his shoulder, dragging him sideways across the ice. Fortunately, the worm's bite loosens long enough for Gabriel to return to Komanov and strike her before she is able to unleash her terrible magic.
Already weakened, the priestess reaches for a potion offered by her acolyte, but Gabriel is faster. With a slash of force energy, the vial shatters in her hands, and the liquid splatters to the ground. Komanov stares in disbelief at such a quick strike, then collapses in a heap.
Behind them, the undead warlord roars, swinging a twisted morning star. Auryn ducks beneath the swings, parries a few others, and retaliates with precise rapier strikes. It doesn't take her too long to fell the giant, who collapses in with a shuddering groan.
The worm fares little better. Now exposed, wounded, and leaderless, it becomes prey. Auryn and Gabriel dispatch it swiftly, leaving its shattered remains twitching on the frozen ground. They also make sure that the tongueless servant of Komanov finds his way to the Absurdist Web.
We agree to next take Komanov's weapon, in which we suspect the Eye of the Voice of Rot is located, to safety. So we teleport the wicked object to Slate and hand it over to the capable hands of Harkover Lee, whom we instruct to treat the thing with the necessary caution and take it apart. We also take care of the dead giant, freeing him from all necromantic influences. After that, we return to Heid to discuss the army still besieging the city.
Back in Bhad Rhyzhavdut, we meet again with Philosopher Heid, whose eyes are shadowed but unbroken. The siege continues, though the army of the end has grown more confused in the absence of its prophet. Together with the philosopher, we agree that it is probably best to dismantle Komanov’s cult not with blades, but with words.
“She cannot be allowed to become a martyr,” Auryn explains. “We don’t just defeat her - we unmask her, strip her of every ounce of false glory right before the very people she sought to mislead.”
“The faithful must watch her doctrine fail, publicly,” Gabriel adds. “They must see that she was not a prophet of the End. Just a woman with too much power and ambition. And with one terrible Titan master.”
Heid, ever the stoic philosopher, nods after a moment of reflection.
“Then we shall debate.”
So we agree that for this, it is probably best to place Komanov in an anti-magic field, so that she cannot use any dirty tricks or run away by magical means, and then dismantle her philosophy in a debate. We ask Heid to take a prominent role in this, as the people of Drakr consider him a philosophical luminary, and we agree to support him with arguments.
So we publicly declare that we will challenge Grandis Komanov in a traditional Drakran philosophical debate to gain the attention of both the public and the army of the end. One by one, Soldiers, citizens, cultists, and philosophers alike gather in uneasy silence. Komanov, now being healed up enough to debate, bound in enchanted manacles, is placed within a circular anti-magic field, a soft blue aura humming around her like the eye of a storm. Her face is gaunt, but her gaze remains burning, unrepentant and unwavering. We tell her that we have come to challenge her in front of her people, and it appears as though she is... almost happy to enter the debate. Komanov then explains her philosophy of the end:
“I do not fear judgment, for I have seen what waits beyond the veil,” she says, her voice clear, carried by sheer force of belief.
“The world is ending. Not metaphorically. Not eventually. Now. And because of that truth, nothing you do matters anymore. There are no consequences for your actions anymore. So why pretend otherwise? Why not embrace it? If our stories end, let them end gloriously. According to our own will”
Secondly, she states, history and traditions are shaped by personal experiences, so everyone should fulfill their own great destiny.
"And the corrupt - those in power who never feared consequences - feared me. And rightly so. Because I gave the people the freedom to form their own end. It is them who should .be brought down, as they only chain us to mediocrity."
She then gestures towards her army:
“And them? They were farmers, fishermen, widows. Broken people. Now they are warriors.People who can acieve greatness and form a fine end for their own story. Just like in the stories of old."
Komanov then points first at Vlendam Heid and then at us.
"You, Heid, you hide behind questions, fencing with elaborate words and thoughts. Lulling the people just like those weak politicians. And you, Risuri, hide behind your order and righteousness. You think those values will save you? You are merely delaying the inevitable while giving people false hope. I am no villain. I am the ice that clears the murky waters. And you are the damp ash of an age already dead.”
Auryn responds in return, calm but fierce.
“I know you’ve seen the end... but you misunderstood its ontext. You say nothing matters. We say everything does. The world isn’t dying because it is time- it’s dying because someone tried to rewrite its laws. That was the Obscurati’s doing, and we are undoing their damage. We’ve seen the cracks, we've learned their ritual and we know how to undo it. Our world has a future”
She takes a step forward.
“You chose to give up. We choose to fight.”
Then Gabriel raises his voice next, steady, but almost gentle.
“You speak of great destinies as though they belong to all - but most of your so-called heroes were, as you just elaborated, once people with quiet, honest lives. Fishermen who fed their neighbors. Farmers who braved the elements to keep others alive.
There is nobility in the simple. The quiet. Not everyone needs glory to find meaning.”
(ah yes, the perfect argument for a former butler)
A murmur ripples through the crowd.
“You mock weakness, Komanov. But we call it humanity. And those with true strength, those with power, should not rule through fear. The best leaders are those who listen. Those who lift. Heid never ordered armies. He inspired thought. That is what power should do. Not commanding armies, pushing their people towards death, making their lives a living nightmare”
Auryn then brings forth the next counter-argument:
“Yes, there are corrupt politicians. Yes, Drakr’s leadership failed its people. But for every corrupt leader, there's at least one who is honest and sincere. Some of them stood against the tide, like Heid, who stayed in Bhad Rhyzhavdut, or King Gabriel of Risur, a supposed enemy, who came to Drakr's aid despite your nation's pact with the Obscurati. They subjugated Drakr to the Obs, ignoring the will of the people, just for the sake of securing their power, yes. But philosophers like Heid have always used their power to guide with wisdom, and he opposes the Obs."
She also explains that there is nothing wrong with admitting one's weaknesses and growing from them, as not everyone in the world has to be a warrior, just like King Gabriel already said. A wise leader, she explains, takes the weak into consideration and gives them a voice instead of oppressing them.
Gabriel then picks up the train of thought to finish our argument:
„We came here, knowing that we'd most likely face adversity. We risked our lives not for glory, not for conquest, but to protect the people of Drakr, a country whose leaders would probably rather see us dead, from your 'End of the world'. That is not cowardice. That is conviction. "
Komanov laughs bitterly in disbelief.
“You think they’ll believe you over me?”
But the crowd is already shifting. A few of her followers are whispering, while some look uncertain.
“I gave them strength... the strength to choose their own end”, she hisses.
Auryn meets her gaze, slowly shaking her head.
“No. You gave them permission to despair. You wrapped oblivion in philosophy and sold it as salvation.”
It seems that our arguments are winning out over those of Komanov, as one by one the army of the end lay down their weapons. And with their conviction gone, the blizzard, and the hivemind are gradually dissipating. Then something strange happens.
The energy starts flowing southward, a current of invisible thought trailing through the dimly lit sky.
Hours pass. The city's defenses are rebuilt in places. Meanwhile, Asrabey leads sweeps through the frozen wastelands with local troops, chasing down loyalists and routing the last of the Vsadni, the undead horsemen. With Komanov captured, and her philosophy dismantled, the morale of her followers has collapsed.
(no dwarven implosion here since Komanov was pretty much shackled and shielded from magic.)
Then, a sudden pulse of arcane energy flickers as a small contingent of well-armed, well-uniformed Drakran soldiers teleport to out site. They bear the crest not of warlords, but of the official government of Drakr. Their commander delivers a simple message: “The Vice-Chancellor of Drakr wishes to meet with you. Your presence is requested in Trekholm.”
We exchange nods with Heid, who seems both curious and wary. Without hesitation, we agree to take the philosopher with us and teleport to Trekholm. There, we learn that the vice-chancellor has apparently distanced himself from the Obs.
"We underestimated the influence Grandis Komanov and her cult had. We did nothing, our eyes clouded, and our so-presumed 'allies' uninterested in the pleas of the north,” he admits, plainly. “But you, who were supposed to be our enemies, listened. You came. You helped our people to get rid of the icy scourge of the end. And for that, Drakr owes you more than words.”
He also commends Heid for his unwavering voice during dark times.and instead thanks Risur and Heid for their courageous intervention in the north.
King Gabriel then steps forth to make an announcement of his own:
“Then today indeed marks the end of the old world. Not through destruction, as Grandis Komanov believed, but through unity. The cold war between Drakr and Risur is over at last.“
He then glances at Auryn and nods in affirmation
„And this end, this change is not a threat. It is a glimmer of hope for a broken world.”
As if to underscore the shift, an arriving Danoran military train carrying soldiers is sent back to Danor. Though the Danorans make no protest, their silence feels intentional as if at least some of them are grateful to not be caught up in the conflict.
Unfortunately, his good mood is immediately dampened when Gabriel receives a sending from Harkover Lee. With a fair amount of shock on his face he turns to Auryn and the rest of the crew.
„I'm sorry... I know this should be a moment of rejoice... but I just got terrible news. Herkover Lee just told me that Lord Price-Hill has been found dead on his estate.“
(If you know our party, then you'd maybe already guessed that we formed our own counter-arguments against Komanov. And yep, this kind of “philosophical encounter” is what makes this adventure path so interesting. As for the philosopher of the End... it might have been more engaging if we had someone with a Drakran background in our party or if we had the opportunity to get to know more about Komanov or meet her in a previous adventure, but I know that this is hard to pull off without the PCs trying to get a hold on her immediately
As for the message of Price-Hill's demise... that really came out of nowhere and was a huge shock indeed. Especially as the leader of the RHC was such a beloved character. We'll see where this is going next time )
RangerWickett
Legend
That is really well-said.
Shadows of the past
Auryn's face turns a pale bronze, as she looks at Gabriel in utter disbelief. Both she and the King exchange grim looks, and without further discussion they conclude the arrangements with the Drakrans, offer Heid a final bow of gratitude, and then teleport back to Slate in an instant.
Lee looks just as if he'd expected us no second later, as he greets us in the palace with a face lined by more worries than usual. His report is clinical, but there is a nervous tension beneath it.
„Tell me.“, Gabriel states with a kind of sternness that's barely enough to hide what might be going on inside of him.
“Shot in the head,” Lee explains. “A pistol in his own hand. Every fact points to suicide… except that none of it feels right. This is Price-Hill we're talking about, not some emotional fool”
“We’ll see for ourselves,” Gabriel growls. „After all, examining crime scenes is still one of our specialties...“, he adds, while sounding more uneasy this time.
(well yeah, it is different when you have to be ready to examine a dead confidante.)
We head straight to the Lord's estate to examine the scene of the crime. As we're ready to move in, we see RHC agents guarding the perimeter as if afraid to enter the site where their Lord Commander found his end.
Inside, Auryn moves swiftly towards what's left of Lord Price-Hill. As she kneels beside his body, her brow creases.
“Lee was right. This was no suicide.“, she says after taking just one look at the hand that's still holding the pistol.
“His wrist is broken,” she adds quietly, before touching said wrist gently. “Pretty badly. He couldn’t have held a pistol steady, let alone fired it.”
Gabriel nods swiftly, taking one glance at the RHC agents, but biting his toungue as he represses to openly ask the question how they could have possibly missed what was so obvious to his partner. He then inspects the room with proper respect. The clues he gets as he sees dust displaced, and a couple shelves strangely bare in places, adding more evidence to the obvious.
„Missing inventory. Maybe the murderer was after one of Price-Hill's secrets? But what could it...“
Gabriel's monologue stops suddenly as both he and Auryn get a glimpse of someone familiar at the same time.
„He's in the mirror! He's... still here!“ Auryn almost shouts in surprise as she takes out her pocket mirror, while Gabriel feels the familiar, unnerving presence of the recently deceased.
Gabriel closes his eyes and reaches out with practiced calm, letting his mind slip into the flickering twilight of the dead. A familiar, silvery silhouette forms in front of his inner eye, dignified even in death, yet wracked with guilt.
“Your Majesty…” Price-Hill whispers. “I am sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Gabriel answers softly. “Tell me what happened.”
The Viscount’s tale unfolds like a nightmare. An ambush. Abducted into a vault of stone and shadow. His servants - all Deva - dragged away from him into darkness by strange eladrin captors with cold, bright eyes. And finally, being returned to his own home, a gun pressed into his broken hand, compelled by some unknown force magic to pull the trigger.
“I failed them,” Price-Hill says, voice shuddering. “My RHC agents… and all those who went missing over the last couple of months. I should have reported the disappearances sooner. I shouldn't have just kept the intel inside my safe, trying to solve the puzzle on my own. I should have known better...”
“Viscount,” Gabriel replies, firm yet gentle, “you have not failed. You stayed because you believed your duty wasn’t finished. Rest assured that we will find the missing people and your agents.”
As he senses that Price-Hill's spirit is a bit relieved, he ends the connection and bids the Lord farewell.
We then search for Price-Hill's safe and the aforementioned files and find a tightly bound dossier. It contains reports, dozens of them, detailing missing Deva across Risur. Among them two from Flint. Gabriel’s expression hardens as he realizes that one of the two is someone he knows personally.
The curator of the museum,” he says, tapping a name. „I... wanted to share a good bottle with him once matters would quiet down a bit.“, he states with regret, pressing his lips.
(Remember when these two met back in adventure #3? It was a brief, but sweet and melancholic moment. Impactful enough to affect Gabriel personally.)
„And I fear that this pattern might point to someone far more familiar: Eddie. We know that he tried to take Srasama's essence from me. He made it look like an assassination attempt on the Vantrys family back then. He's making it look like Price-Hill has committed suicide over having dark secrets now.“
Auryn nods quietly in agreement and puts her hand on Gabriel's shoulder.
„We'll find the Deva. This will stop. I promise.“
Just as we return to RHC headquarters to begin preparations to track down the “dark vault,” another message from Lee arrives.
“Your Majesty,” he says, “sorry to interrupt, but you have a visitor. Betronga of Elfaivar. He claims it is urgent.”
„One moment I may spare...“ Gabriel mumbles, as he leaves the RHC and asks Delft to take over the leadership of the RHC on an interim basis.
Back in the palace, we receive Betronga and what appears to be his 'entourage'.Betronga stands tall and proud in the audience chamber, adorned in ceremonial armor of the children of Hewanharimau, flanked by two guards who grip a bound prisoner: a wiry Eadrin man covered in marked with devilish tattoos.
“This man,” Betronga begins stiffly, “is Anduin Haldyr. A defector from the Kingdom of Vardanis. He demands asylum. I have brought him here because the old King said he'd protectorate our lands and Elfaivar thus honors Risuri law....“ he then pauses, gives a quick, cat-like grown and adds „...even though I do not like it and would gladly rip out his throat.”
(just a quick note for the odd naming inspiration. Anduin should be known from both LotR and WoW, while Haldyr is the name of a character from our old guild. He was a dwarf rogue though
)
We quickly explain to Betronga that an honest defector could be extremely useful to us, right before we turn to the Eladrin to ask him about the reason for his change of heart.
He reports that he was one of King Vardanis' favourites and a candidate for 'ascension'. However, his companion, an Eladrin Deva named Lina-Even, recently disappeared. Shortly afterwards, the king set off for the Eternal City, promising to grant ascension to thousands of Eladrin, which seemed highly suspicious to him.
“You know, ascension has always been the privilege of a chosen few.“, Anduin explains with a sense of pride.
„But everything changed after his alliance with the prophet, the 'gray eminence', whose whispers lead to a cult-like circle of followers, especially in these weakling colonies. And those who vanish… do not return.”
He takes a deep breath ask the memory of his companion appears to be too painful, even for a fel-touched Eladrin like him.
„A bit late for that kind of revelation, but... sometimes it takes the pain of love to open your eyes“, Auryn states, giving her approval in that matter to Gabriel with a slight nod.
So we grant him refuge, but we insist that he is to be placed in a secure “guest cell” until we know more. Anduin Haldyr accepts the confinement with a bowed head, though he does not seem too happy with this development. Betronga grumbles openly, however.
“I had hoped for the opportunity to bite his head off...”, the warrior mutters.
Gabriel gives him a wry half-smile. “You may yet get the chance... if he’s lying and this turns out to be another trap that is.”
Betronga narrows his eyes but says nothing more.
Gabriel’s expression, though superficially calm, is set like iron. Every new thread of evidence points toward the same conclusion.
“Eddie is with Vardanis,” he says quietly, almost to himself. “And if the Deva are vanishing in both Risur and Elfaivar… then he’s collecting them. Their divine sparks. Srasama’s sparks.”
He then quietly clenches a fist while staring blankly into the distance, stating without words that this is his responsibility. That he might have prevented this, had he just given his own tragedy more priority.
Auryn rests a hand on his arm. “Whatever Eddie is trying to do, it cannot be allowed to continue. He is both a threat to the Deva and to Elfaivar. And even worse, he is twisting our goddess to his will. So whatever path you take, I'll walk it with you.“
“It doesn't matter what he intends to do. The divine sparks belonged to Srasama. She has sown them into us we she died. They are not meant to be ripped from us and used for whatever his twisted mind is dreaming of. I take it on me to free them so that Srasama can choose her own fate.”
He then adds that it would be wise to take all we've learned from Eddie's failed ritual on Gabriel with us – just in case we have to try and take his essence in return. In addition to the ritual, Auryn suggests that we take more pieces of the fallen white star of Srasama with us, as it was seemingly able to strip Stanfield of his divinity.
Gabriel allows himself a thin, approving smile. “You are right, it was as if Srasama herself took back what she had granted. We’ll bring them.”
Next, we meet the RHC team from Slate at an old estate in the forest, as they followed the tracks of the attackers in the mean time and found out where Price-Hill and his servants were held captive.
Delft, in his interim-command coat, scratches the back of his head.
“It’s quite creepy and damp in here. Whole place feels like a mausoleum. Found scorch marks. Something got summoned or dismissed here.”
We're quite surprised to see Delft over here, but realize that the Chief must have had his own connection to Lord Price-Hill and took it onto himself to search for clues. Even though it is quite obvious that he hasn't been out in the field for quite some time.
Auryn takes one quick look at a fading circle carved into the floor. “Not summoned,” she murmurs. “Departed. A teleportation ritual of considerable power. And it seems eerily familiar. Looks quite like the one Asrabey and Kasvarina used on Axis”
Gabriel rolls his eyes with a sigh, as he knows exactly what comes next.
So we teleport back to Slate to go find Asrabey, who is far more eager to join up with King Gabriel again.
“Asrabey,” Gabriel calls, taking a deep breath, “You navigated deeper into the Eternal City than any living explorer. The teleportation ritual you and Kasvarina used back on Axis island came from there. We need you as our guide down there.“
Asrabey accepts the request with a broad grin as he finally has an opportunity to leave Slate again and get into action.
As we understand that we'll most likely need more support this time, we also take Margit and Betronga with us. As a first step, we teleport to Sawyer to gather more information, and to keep an eye out for other Eladrin who have already been to the mysterious Eternal City.
(Asrabey-Margit-Betronga is one tem we'd not expect to see anytime soon before this episode. Taking two Eladrin felt pretty logical, and we knew we'd needea cleric in a deep, dark dungeon cough)
Sawyer is tense. The markets are active, yet there’s a shadow over every conversation. Betronga takes his time to speak with a veteran captain while we ask around about the missing Deva. We quickly learn that basicaly all of the remaining Deva in Elfaivar have also disappeared, and that there have been attacks there as well. We also ask the local scholars about anyone who might’ve entered the Eternal City recently or in the past, be it a veteran, an explorer, even a smuggler.
Their answers form a consistent refrain: None went as far down there as the Dreadnaught did. None returned with more than fragments of memory and the sense that something terrifying must be hidden down below the Eternal City.
Asrabey looks at this news with a sense of pride. “Then we waste no more time. You bring me there. And I'll show you how I snuck inside last time.”
We set off as quickly as possible and teleport to the outskirts of the Eterny City. Unlike last time, it appers to be less fortified by the forces of Rationalis and Vardanis. Still, we agree that it would be wise to not draw attention so early. Fortunately, Asrabey is able to find his secret entrance, allowing us to bypass the Feladrin and Danoran guards.
We descend a narrow stairway until it opens onto a massive stone gate carved with spiral motifs, leading deeper into the buried vaults of the Eternal City. To our surprise, we find a body lying in front of it. We instantly see that this was a Danoran soldier, twisted unnaturally, his armor crushed inward.
“He stepped on the wrong stone. A pressure rune.”, Margit states dryly.
Asrabey crouches, tracing the ancient inscriptions. “Old defenses. The city was designed to protect its secrets, even from our kind.”
With the practiced hands of both an RHC agent and a trap-savvy alchemist, Gabriel disarms the remaining trap lines and pushes open the colossal gate.
“Then we tread carefully. As always.”, he states while gesturing forward.
(This is pretty obviously going to be a more personal episode for Gabriel. We had no idea whether Tiz would wrap up the Eddie story eventually, and, well... it escalated more that we'd thought. So yeah, this is going to be a good detour from the original story.)
Auryn's face turns a pale bronze, as she looks at Gabriel in utter disbelief. Both she and the King exchange grim looks, and without further discussion they conclude the arrangements with the Drakrans, offer Heid a final bow of gratitude, and then teleport back to Slate in an instant.
Lee looks just as if he'd expected us no second later, as he greets us in the palace with a face lined by more worries than usual. His report is clinical, but there is a nervous tension beneath it.
„Tell me.“, Gabriel states with a kind of sternness that's barely enough to hide what might be going on inside of him.
“Shot in the head,” Lee explains. “A pistol in his own hand. Every fact points to suicide… except that none of it feels right. This is Price-Hill we're talking about, not some emotional fool”
“We’ll see for ourselves,” Gabriel growls. „After all, examining crime scenes is still one of our specialties...“, he adds, while sounding more uneasy this time.
(well yeah, it is different when you have to be ready to examine a dead confidante.)
We head straight to the Lord's estate to examine the scene of the crime. As we're ready to move in, we see RHC agents guarding the perimeter as if afraid to enter the site where their Lord Commander found his end.
Inside, Auryn moves swiftly towards what's left of Lord Price-Hill. As she kneels beside his body, her brow creases.
“Lee was right. This was no suicide.“, she says after taking just one look at the hand that's still holding the pistol.
“His wrist is broken,” she adds quietly, before touching said wrist gently. “Pretty badly. He couldn’t have held a pistol steady, let alone fired it.”
Gabriel nods swiftly, taking one glance at the RHC agents, but biting his toungue as he represses to openly ask the question how they could have possibly missed what was so obvious to his partner. He then inspects the room with proper respect. The clues he gets as he sees dust displaced, and a couple shelves strangely bare in places, adding more evidence to the obvious.
„Missing inventory. Maybe the murderer was after one of Price-Hill's secrets? But what could it...“
Gabriel's monologue stops suddenly as both he and Auryn get a glimpse of someone familiar at the same time.
„He's in the mirror! He's... still here!“ Auryn almost shouts in surprise as she takes out her pocket mirror, while Gabriel feels the familiar, unnerving presence of the recently deceased.
Gabriel closes his eyes and reaches out with practiced calm, letting his mind slip into the flickering twilight of the dead. A familiar, silvery silhouette forms in front of his inner eye, dignified even in death, yet wracked with guilt.
“Your Majesty…” Price-Hill whispers. “I am sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Gabriel answers softly. “Tell me what happened.”
The Viscount’s tale unfolds like a nightmare. An ambush. Abducted into a vault of stone and shadow. His servants - all Deva - dragged away from him into darkness by strange eladrin captors with cold, bright eyes. And finally, being returned to his own home, a gun pressed into his broken hand, compelled by some unknown force magic to pull the trigger.
“I failed them,” Price-Hill says, voice shuddering. “My RHC agents… and all those who went missing over the last couple of months. I should have reported the disappearances sooner. I shouldn't have just kept the intel inside my safe, trying to solve the puzzle on my own. I should have known better...”
“Viscount,” Gabriel replies, firm yet gentle, “you have not failed. You stayed because you believed your duty wasn’t finished. Rest assured that we will find the missing people and your agents.”
As he senses that Price-Hill's spirit is a bit relieved, he ends the connection and bids the Lord farewell.
We then search for Price-Hill's safe and the aforementioned files and find a tightly bound dossier. It contains reports, dozens of them, detailing missing Deva across Risur. Among them two from Flint. Gabriel’s expression hardens as he realizes that one of the two is someone he knows personally.
The curator of the museum,” he says, tapping a name. „I... wanted to share a good bottle with him once matters would quiet down a bit.“, he states with regret, pressing his lips.
(Remember when these two met back in adventure #3? It was a brief, but sweet and melancholic moment. Impactful enough to affect Gabriel personally.)
„And I fear that this pattern might point to someone far more familiar: Eddie. We know that he tried to take Srasama's essence from me. He made it look like an assassination attempt on the Vantrys family back then. He's making it look like Price-Hill has committed suicide over having dark secrets now.“
Auryn nods quietly in agreement and puts her hand on Gabriel's shoulder.
„We'll find the Deva. This will stop. I promise.“
Just as we return to RHC headquarters to begin preparations to track down the “dark vault,” another message from Lee arrives.
“Your Majesty,” he says, “sorry to interrupt, but you have a visitor. Betronga of Elfaivar. He claims it is urgent.”
„One moment I may spare...“ Gabriel mumbles, as he leaves the RHC and asks Delft to take over the leadership of the RHC on an interim basis.
Back in the palace, we receive Betronga and what appears to be his 'entourage'.Betronga stands tall and proud in the audience chamber, adorned in ceremonial armor of the children of Hewanharimau, flanked by two guards who grip a bound prisoner: a wiry Eadrin man covered in marked with devilish tattoos.
“This man,” Betronga begins stiffly, “is Anduin Haldyr. A defector from the Kingdom of Vardanis. He demands asylum. I have brought him here because the old King said he'd protectorate our lands and Elfaivar thus honors Risuri law....“ he then pauses, gives a quick, cat-like grown and adds „...even though I do not like it and would gladly rip out his throat.”
(just a quick note for the odd naming inspiration. Anduin should be known from both LotR and WoW, while Haldyr is the name of a character from our old guild. He was a dwarf rogue though
)We quickly explain to Betronga that an honest defector could be extremely useful to us, right before we turn to the Eladrin to ask him about the reason for his change of heart.
He reports that he was one of King Vardanis' favourites and a candidate for 'ascension'. However, his companion, an Eladrin Deva named Lina-Even, recently disappeared. Shortly afterwards, the king set off for the Eternal City, promising to grant ascension to thousands of Eladrin, which seemed highly suspicious to him.
“You know, ascension has always been the privilege of a chosen few.“, Anduin explains with a sense of pride.
„But everything changed after his alliance with the prophet, the 'gray eminence', whose whispers lead to a cult-like circle of followers, especially in these weakling colonies. And those who vanish… do not return.”
He takes a deep breath ask the memory of his companion appears to be too painful, even for a fel-touched Eladrin like him.
„A bit late for that kind of revelation, but... sometimes it takes the pain of love to open your eyes“, Auryn states, giving her approval in that matter to Gabriel with a slight nod.
So we grant him refuge, but we insist that he is to be placed in a secure “guest cell” until we know more. Anduin Haldyr accepts the confinement with a bowed head, though he does not seem too happy with this development. Betronga grumbles openly, however.
“I had hoped for the opportunity to bite his head off...”, the warrior mutters.
Gabriel gives him a wry half-smile. “You may yet get the chance... if he’s lying and this turns out to be another trap that is.”
Betronga narrows his eyes but says nothing more.
Gabriel’s expression, though superficially calm, is set like iron. Every new thread of evidence points toward the same conclusion.
“Eddie is with Vardanis,” he says quietly, almost to himself. “And if the Deva are vanishing in both Risur and Elfaivar… then he’s collecting them. Their divine sparks. Srasama’s sparks.”
He then quietly clenches a fist while staring blankly into the distance, stating without words that this is his responsibility. That he might have prevented this, had he just given his own tragedy more priority.
Auryn rests a hand on his arm. “Whatever Eddie is trying to do, it cannot be allowed to continue. He is both a threat to the Deva and to Elfaivar. And even worse, he is twisting our goddess to his will. So whatever path you take, I'll walk it with you.“
“It doesn't matter what he intends to do. The divine sparks belonged to Srasama. She has sown them into us we she died. They are not meant to be ripped from us and used for whatever his twisted mind is dreaming of. I take it on me to free them so that Srasama can choose her own fate.”
He then adds that it would be wise to take all we've learned from Eddie's failed ritual on Gabriel with us – just in case we have to try and take his essence in return. In addition to the ritual, Auryn suggests that we take more pieces of the fallen white star of Srasama with us, as it was seemingly able to strip Stanfield of his divinity.
Gabriel allows himself a thin, approving smile. “You are right, it was as if Srasama herself took back what she had granted. We’ll bring them.”
Next, we meet the RHC team from Slate at an old estate in the forest, as they followed the tracks of the attackers in the mean time and found out where Price-Hill and his servants were held captive.
Delft, in his interim-command coat, scratches the back of his head.
“It’s quite creepy and damp in here. Whole place feels like a mausoleum. Found scorch marks. Something got summoned or dismissed here.”
We're quite surprised to see Delft over here, but realize that the Chief must have had his own connection to Lord Price-Hill and took it onto himself to search for clues. Even though it is quite obvious that he hasn't been out in the field for quite some time.
Auryn takes one quick look at a fading circle carved into the floor. “Not summoned,” she murmurs. “Departed. A teleportation ritual of considerable power. And it seems eerily familiar. Looks quite like the one Asrabey and Kasvarina used on Axis”
Gabriel rolls his eyes with a sigh, as he knows exactly what comes next.
So we teleport back to Slate to go find Asrabey, who is far more eager to join up with King Gabriel again.
“Asrabey,” Gabriel calls, taking a deep breath, “You navigated deeper into the Eternal City than any living explorer. The teleportation ritual you and Kasvarina used back on Axis island came from there. We need you as our guide down there.“
Asrabey accepts the request with a broad grin as he finally has an opportunity to leave Slate again and get into action.
As we understand that we'll most likely need more support this time, we also take Margit and Betronga with us. As a first step, we teleport to Sawyer to gather more information, and to keep an eye out for other Eladrin who have already been to the mysterious Eternal City.
(Asrabey-Margit-Betronga is one tem we'd not expect to see anytime soon before this episode. Taking two Eladrin felt pretty logical, and we knew we'd needea cleric in a deep, dark dungeon cough)
Sawyer is tense. The markets are active, yet there’s a shadow over every conversation. Betronga takes his time to speak with a veteran captain while we ask around about the missing Deva. We quickly learn that basicaly all of the remaining Deva in Elfaivar have also disappeared, and that there have been attacks there as well. We also ask the local scholars about anyone who might’ve entered the Eternal City recently or in the past, be it a veteran, an explorer, even a smuggler.
Their answers form a consistent refrain: None went as far down there as the Dreadnaught did. None returned with more than fragments of memory and the sense that something terrifying must be hidden down below the Eternal City.
Asrabey looks at this news with a sense of pride. “Then we waste no more time. You bring me there. And I'll show you how I snuck inside last time.”
We set off as quickly as possible and teleport to the outskirts of the Eterny City. Unlike last time, it appers to be less fortified by the forces of Rationalis and Vardanis. Still, we agree that it would be wise to not draw attention so early. Fortunately, Asrabey is able to find his secret entrance, allowing us to bypass the Feladrin and Danoran guards.
We descend a narrow stairway until it opens onto a massive stone gate carved with spiral motifs, leading deeper into the buried vaults of the Eternal City. To our surprise, we find a body lying in front of it. We instantly see that this was a Danoran soldier, twisted unnaturally, his armor crushed inward.
“He stepped on the wrong stone. A pressure rune.”, Margit states dryly.
Asrabey crouches, tracing the ancient inscriptions. “Old defenses. The city was designed to protect its secrets, even from our kind.”
With the practiced hands of both an RHC agent and a trap-savvy alchemist, Gabriel disarms the remaining trap lines and pushes open the colossal gate.
“Then we tread carefully. As always.”, he states while gesturing forward.
(This is pretty obviously going to be a more personal episode for Gabriel. We had no idea whether Tiz would wrap up the Eddie story eventually, and, well... it escalated more that we'd thought. So yeah, this is going to be a good detour from the original story.)
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