Scene 11 – Warehouse
Once they are all outside, the lad leads them to a warehouse in the merchant district. It is dark, and raining, but Solsus can just make out the name above the entrance – “Auyamg Family Warehouse”.
The entrance itself is a large set of double doors, which are closed securely against the night. However, inset in one of the doors is a smaller door, which is suspiciously ajar. Solsus peers inside, but the interior is unlit and he can’t see very far.
“Seems normal enough,” he whispers. “Crates and boxes, mainly. No sign of any people.”
Ambar heads around the side of the warehouse to see if there are any other entrances. Solsus, Agatha and Gribron head inside. Gribron pulls out a magical torch which illuminates the entrance, but the rear of the warehouse remains in darkness. Jonathan waits outside with the boy, his crossbow loaded in case of treachery.
Solsus call briefly upon the power of nature, and a stone in his hand glows with light. He hurls it down the far end of the warehouse. There are more crates and boxes, but the warehouse is far from full. Trade has no doubt been suffering due to the war and the blockade. However, the light also reveals a shadowy figure stood at the far end.
“Welcome,” says it says in a melodious voice. “I believe you owe me some money.”
It is Jess. Quickly, Jonathan raises his crossbow and fires … at the boy. He can’t miss at this short range, and the lad collapses with a crossbow bolt in his throat.
“What was that?” says Gribron, alarmed.
“Nothing to worry about,” says Jonathan, wheezing slightly as he drags the corpse into the warehouse and deposits it in a corner.
“Jonathan Farrier,” says Jess. “You owe me two thousand gold pieces. The book was a fake.”
“I spent a lot of time on that fake,” replies Jonathan. “In fact, when you add up the labour involved, you probably owe me money. Also, we’d like our case back, please.”
While this conversation is going on, the party have advanced towards Jess. Solsus is in the air, trying to keep various beams and support structures between Jess and himself. He’s not entirely convinced she can’t see through his invisibility. Agatha has climbed one of the side walls and is watching Jess intently.
Suddenly, Jess’s form shimmers. Wings sprout from her shoulders, horns grow out of her scalp and a gleaming sword appears in her hand. With a snarl of rage, she hurls herself towards Jonathan, using her wings to help her leap over the various crates in her way. She moves with frightening speed, and before Jonathan can react she slashes him with her sword.
Crying out in pain, he backs off away slightly, and calls upon the power of dreams. He creates a scarf like mass of ectoplasm, and hurls it with his mind at Jess. It strikes home, and covers her in the sticky goo.
He also recognises her real form. “She’s an erinyes!” he yells.
“Must be a type of devil,” thinks Solsus. He hurls a sling bullet at her. In her current state she finds it difficult to get out of the way, and the bullet strikes her in the forehead – only to bounce off harmlessly. Most types of devil are resistant to mundane weapons.
“Let’s see how you cope with this,” says Agatha, and fires a blast of eldritch energy at the devil. It strikes home, and Jess snarls in pain. She seems to be somewhat resistant to Agatha’s blasts as well.
Gribron casts a spell, and nothing obvious happens.
Jess steps forward and swings twice at Jonathan. She is hampered by the goo, and both her attacks go wide. Jonathan retaliates by blasting her with electricity. The devil has a supernatural resistance to magic of all types, but Jonathan manages to penetrate her defences.
Solsus flies back to Jonathan and uses the healing wand.
“You’re next Solsus,” says Jess, looking straight at the invisible pixie. Then she is rocked by another blast from Agatha.
Gribron fires off a black ray at Jess. It strikes home unerringly, with much greater than usual accuracy thanks to Gribron’s previous spell of true striking. Jess stumbles, and cold seems to seep into her muscles, robbing her of some of her usual grace of movement.
Once again she is distracted by the effect, and misses Jonathan with her sword. He takes careful aim and blasts her once more with electricity. This time it strikes her in the head, and she takes considerable damage. However, she is tough and determined, and fights on.
Gribron fires a ball of fire at Jess. As a devil, she is immune to the fire effect, but at the heart of the ball is a rock which should do some damage. Unfortunately, as the others have realised, she is resistant to mundane weapons and the rock also fails to hurt her. Cursing, he starts to summon a celestial creature to aid in the fight against the devil.
Jess finally frees herself from the goo, strikes at Jonathan again. This time manages to wound him. However, she leaves herself open to his counter, and yet again his blast strikes true and defeats her spell resistance. Jess staggers backwards, and then collapses.
Gribron’s celestial dog appears, wanders over to her corpse and sniffs at it.
Agatha comes down from the wall, and joins the others at Jess’s body. Gribron concentrates, and identifies that Jess’s sword and her large hair clip are magical. Curious, he pulls the clip from her hair, and is somewhat surprised when it turns into a hat in his hand. With the “hat” removed, a collar appears around Jess’s throat, inscribed with the familiar G motif.
“Someone has a lot of devils to call on,” says Jonathan. “I wonder why she didn’t teleport away when she started losing the fight. There’s more to this town than meets the eye.”
The party head for the Lyceum, and arrange an urgent interview with Simeon in the morning. He needs to know of Jess’s reappearance, and the murder of the boy (although not the name of the murderer). As it happens, Simeon was going to contact the heroes anyway – the council meeting is scheduled for the afternoon, and he’d like them to attend.
Act Three - Lyceum
January 31st, 2 pm
The council is meeting in the Aurad Tower. Once again, it is raining, but students have been stationed at the tower entrance and they use magic to dry off the guests.
Our heroes are among the first to arrive, and while they wait they pick up a few rumours about the progress of the war.
As they heard from Ambar, Gabal and his wizards attacked the Ragesian second army camp at Gate Pass once the inquisitors had been lured into the city. Ragesian losses are reported at nearly two thousand. Unfortunately for Gabal, one of the inquisitors made it back out of the city and dispelled his magical protection from fire. A mighty fire-breathing dragon had accompanied the Ragesian army, and incinerated the mage.
The party remember the wave of fear which washed over them after leaving the Inn in Gate Pass on New Year’s Day and several of them cannot suppress a shudder. However, they seem to remember someone telling them that a local druid eventually managed to slay the dragon.
Encouraged by Gabal’s death, the Ragesians counter-attacked, and are now in possession of the City’s westernmost First District. However, the Shahalesti are aiding the city by providing supplies from the east.
The Ragesian first army is still in Sindaire. It is believed they are hoping to link up with a Ragesian fleet which is en route to the Sindaire capital, but whether the fleet will be used to withdraw the troops, or simply re-supply them, is anybody’s guess.
The third army is massing on Dassen’s northern border. They may be intending a full scale invasion of Dassen, or possibly will simply cut through Dassen on their way to the Fire Forest. The fact the Fire Forest is mysteriously no longer burning means it provides another route from which to attack Gate Pass.
The fourth army is attacking northern Shahalesti.
It is not clear what Leska is attempting to achieve by this strategy. She has split her forces, and is occupying vast swathes of territory which she cannot hope to hold. There is no word as to the fate of the hundreds of mages captured by the Scourge.
Once all the guests have arrived, Simeon calls the meeting to order. He has made no concessions to the occasion, and is still dressed in his usual vets and pants. He doesn’t look much like a mage, let alone a leader of mages.
He introduces all the guests. The party have met many of them before. As well as Simeon, his Dwarven associate Kiernan Stekart is here. Somewhat surprisingly, the fire mage, Katrina, is also present and smiles at the party. They have also met Lee Sidoneth, the water-loving druid, and Xavious Foebane, the dwarf leader who handily defeated Jonathan at the game of conquest. Also, Laurabec Adelsburg, the holy warrior is here; however, she is not accompanied by the giant eagle, Takasi.
The ones they don’t know are Lorb Votberd, a dwarf magistrate, a flamboyant wayfarer called Giorgio, and ambassadors from Ostalin, Sindaire and Dassen. (Although technically Keifer Numhaut, the Dasseni, is an envoy, not an ambassador, since Seaquen is nominally still part of Dassen.)
Simeon starts the proceedings with a speech about the need for everyone to pull together and fight the Ragesians. “In conclusion,” he says, “our goal is to stop the Scourge, to drive back the armies of the Ragesian Empire, to dethrone Leska, and to ensure our families and homelands are safe. Now I hope you all have some idea how to do that. My ears are open.”
He then invites each of the guests to speak in turn.
First up is the Dwarven magistrate, Votberd. He uses the occasion to bring up a long list of grievances against the refugees, who he accuses of bringing crime and chaos to Seaquen. He is also convinced that there are Ragesian agents among the refugees. His plan is to systematically bring in every refugee for questioning, and lock up those who appear in any way suspicious.
Jonathan is incensed by this, and acts to speak next. “As a healer,” he says, “I have first hand experience of the horrors of plague. Disease is already spreading in the refugee camps, and the town itself is at risk. Our priority should be to improve conditions for the refugees, not treat them like criminals. Only when the town itself is safe from plague will we be in a position to make plans to fight a war.”
Laurabec speaks next, and agrees with the points Jonathan has made. Her speech is very, very long winded and her audience, particularly Votberd, grows more and more irritable.
Next up is Lee, the druid. He is looking as relaxed as ever, and gives a brief rundown of the naval situation. The north harbour is full, so ships are now docking in the south harbour. His plan is to wait and build up Seaquen’s strength, rather than engage in rash action.
Gribron speaks next. “I take it from what you’ve said, Lee, that we have no navy to speak of, just a few fishing boats and refugee ships. I suggest that we build ships of war, so that we can defend ourselves from an attack from the sea.”
The dwarf commander, Xavious Foebane, is keen to forge alliances with all the other nations. He also has a theory about the strange activities of Leska’s forces – they are looking for something, presumably the Torch of the Burning Sky. Xavious explains that the torch allows armies to be transported instantly to anywhere in the continent of Sarlonna; it would be a great blow to the war effort if Leska found it but a great victory for Seaquen if they could find it first.
Xavious considers that, heavily outnumbered as they are, Seaquen’s best hope is to form mobile teams of experts to carry out strategic missions. He has just such a force in mind – the elite knights of Dassen. Unfortunately, Seaquen would need to persuade King Steppengard to lend them.
Katrina speaks next. “I’m sure these knights of Dassen are fine fellows, but we have all the heroes we need in this very room.” She points out our heroes. “These brave souls rescued me from the witches in the swamp, and have faced down two devils sent by Ragesia to defeat them.”
“Three devils,” mutters Jonathan. “An imp still counts as a devil.”
“I have been in contact with my brother Rantle,” adds Katrina. “He has become a key figure in the Gate Pass resistance, and he too speaks highly of these heroes. You could do a lot worse than entrust your missions to them.”
Next to speak is the wayfarer, Giorgio. He ahs little to offer the council, but states that the wayfarers might be persuaded to set aside their traditional position of neutrality. He invites everyone present to tomorrow night’s premiere of their performance of “The Spectacular Trial of Toteth Topec”. He emphasises how important it is for Seaquen’s morale that everyone makes a show of unity and attends.
He moves around the room handing out tickets. He seems somewhat surprised when he reaches Jonathan.
“You seem somewhat familiar. Have we met, sir?” he says.
“That’s not likely,” says Jonathan, who doesn’t recognise Giorgio.
The envoy from Dassen speaks next. He states that King Steppengard is displeased that Seaquen’s offer of sanctuary has let to so many refugees flooding through Dassen. He also feels it is this which has made Dassen a potential target for Ragesia. It is the king’s policy to seek a non-aggression treaty with the Empire.
Ambassador Snord, from Sindaire, is more supportive of Seaquen’s cause, but explains that with the Ragesian first army already in their country his people are reluctant to openly oppose Leska. What his people need is a sign that the Ragesians can be beaten.
“So basically, you’ll join us once we are winning,” says Gribron sarcastically.
The ambassador ignores his heckler. “As for the Torch of the Burning Sky, presumably that’s with the dead emperor. He died at a place in Sindaire called Castle Korstull. A storm of fire has rained down from the sky ever since, killing everything it touches. Nothing could have survived the firestorm to take the torch – and I don’t see how you could manage to retrieve it either.”
Finally, ambassador Lonam is the last to speak. She says, self-importantly, “Khagan Onamdammin, our ruler, deeply regrets that his neighbours might be endangered by the Ragesian army, but is willing to lend his elite, fierce armies if his neighbours are reasonable. Ragesia intends to conquer your entire nation. Would it not be reasonable to trade us one third of your land, so that you may keep the rest from the greedy, cruel Ragesians?”
This does not go down well, to put it mildly. Everybody starts yelling at once. Amidst the confusion, the door opens and a human mage rushes into the room. Kiernan, the Dwarven abjurer, quickly casts a spell and the luckless mage is hurled backwards out of the room. This has the effect of quieting the assembly.
“Kiernan,” says Simeon carefully, “that was Johund you just attacked.”
“Better safe than sorry,” replies Kiernan.
The luckless Johund climbs back to his feet, and enters the room in a somewhat more circumspect fashion. “Elves! A group of elves have flown over the wall and are headed this way. They fly the flag of Shahalesti.”
At this point, the elves arrive. There are seven of them, and their leader is a female elf in expensive sliver armour.
“Declare yourself,” snaps Simeon.
“I apologise for this intrusion,” replies the elf smoothly. “I am Shalosha, daughter of Shining Lord Shaaladel of Shahalesti. I bring you word from my father.”
“Very well,” says Simeon. “You may address the council.”
Shalosha reaches into her pouch and pulls out her prepared speech. She seems to be uncomfortable reading some of the phrases; it is clear this is not a speech she herself has written.
“I come with an offer of safety and salvation for your city, and those who shelter here. As you know, Shahalesti is the shining jewel of civilization, and now we are attacked by the armies of Ragesia. For every loss we suffer, the progress of all nations suffers. We are the only power strong enough to drive back the fires of Ragesia, but even for our greatness, victory is not assured.
“My father, Lord Shaaladel, knows that some of the nations whose ambassadors stand in this very hall would like to see Shahalesti fall, for they don’t realize that in so doing they are wishing for their own doom. Even the most trustworthy here can admit that it is difficult to have faith in the leaders of other nations when the most they can do is send a few diplomats to the banner of Seaquen.
“Shahalesti sends a fleet. Seventeen of our ships sail now to this peninsula, surrounding it from all directions to protect it from hostilities. By this we show our devotion to the fight, and – so my father believes – we prove that it is our nation who should lead that fight.”
“You’ll have to dock in the south harbour,” mutters Gribron.
The beautiful elven princess ignores the interruption and continues with her prepared speech. “We invite you to join with us in the war against Ragesia. Many potential allies have found their way to your city, and so we have come here to meet them. However, we will not risk betrayal on any scale, nor would it be wise for you to risk it. So we ask that you hand over control of Seaquen to the Shahalesti fleet, so that we may begin checking the purity of your allies’ spirit. Admiral Telshanth will serve as provisional governor of Seaquen ..”
At this point, the envoy from Dassen begins yelling about how his country will never hand over its territory to a bunch of elven cut-throats, and the rest of her speech is drowned out. Simeon manages to get the Dasseni calmed down.
Gribron is not impressed with the speech. “You speak of alliances, but what you are proposing is conquest, the same as the Ragesians. You cannot defeat the Ragesians on your own. You need our help, and the sooner you realise it the better you’ll fare.”
Shalosha turns to him. “I appreciate the wisdom in your words. However, my father is adamant. Unless you agree to my father’s terms the fleet will blockade the town. I will speak to my father and try and arrange a compromise, but it will take time.”
The elves leave, and Simeon declares the meeting is over. However, he asks the party to remain behind as he has something further to discuss with them.
“We are proposing sending a diplomatic mission to King Steppengard of Dassen,” he says once everyone else has left. “The support of Dassen is crucial to our undertakings, and there is a very real possibility that they will sign a non-aggression pact with Ragesia. Not that it will do them much good in the long run.
“Do any of you have any diplomatic skills?”
The party shake their heads. Diplomacy is not their strong point. “No matter,” says Simeon. “I have someone in mind I can send as an envoy. The court of King Steppengard is a hotbed of intrigue at the best of times, and these are far from the best of times. What I would like is for you to accompany our envoy, and protect him form those who would do him harm. Are you agreeable?”
The party accept, and agree to accompany the envoy to Dassen. The expedition is not due to set out for a week or so, they can still go to the theatre.
Act Four – The Storm
February 1st, 7pm
The play takes place on the Wayfarer’s ship. The crew have finished repairing the damage from the ship’s last, disastrous teleport attempt. The wayfarers have laid on a ferry service, and Guildmistress Larkins greets all the guests personally. A burly man holds an umbrella to keep the inevitable rain off the Guildmistress.
She too seems to recognise Jonathan from somewhere, but he has never met her. The rest of the party, however, spot a distinct family resemblance between Jonathan and the Guildmistress.
“Welcome aboard ladies and gentlemen,” says the Guildmistress. She turns to Jonathan and says, “Forgive me sir, but you remind me a lot of my son. Of course, he’d be a lot older than you.”
“Really,” says Jonathan. “Where is he now?”
“He died, tragically, in a fire.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” replies Jonathan, and the party head below decks to the theatre level. Surprisingly, the theatre is at least four times the size it should be; clearly the wayfarers have taken advantage of some sort of magical extra-dimensional space. Their seats are at the back, as befits their lowly status, and they can hear the wind through the hatch of the main deck.
“The wind seems to be picking up,” says Gribron. “I think a storm is brewing. Hopefully it will blow away this incessant rain.”
The lights dim, and music appears to come from nowhere. The curtain slowly rises and a man strides onto the stage. It is the wayfarer, Giorgio, in the costume of the tile character, the mage, Toteth Topec. He stares around him suspiciously.
“He’s got a very suspicious look on his face,” whispers Ambar. “He’s clearly up to something.”
“Hush,” says Jonathan. “He’s playing a part. He’s acting.”
A massive serpent leaps down from the ceiling. Toteth barely manages to dive out of reach of its snapping teeth. Toteth then somersaults back to his feat – Giorgio is clearly an accomplished acrobat – and grabs the serpent’s tail. He clambers onto its back as it whips around the stage, and cracks it in the teeth with his staff. The serpent vanishes, and Toteth falls twenty feet to the stage, landing nimbly on his feet.
The audience cheer and applaud. So begins “The Spectacular Trial of Toteth Topec.”
Act one shows Toteth seeking out great magic, pursued by the serpent, now revealed as a dragon, as he goes.
His journeys carry him to many foreign lands where he fights strange beasts, all the while pursued in the shadow by the dragon. He befriends three mages along the way, each helping him at a different leg of his journey with their control over flames, winds, and sea, but ultimately Toteth travels alone in a great desert, under the searing sun. Demons assault him, heat drives him mad, and he sees a vision of the Stormchaser Eagle (one of the four elemental spirits of Gate Pass) crashing to the earth before him. Toteth passes out, and the dragon hovers over him. But before it can strike, a beautiful, dark-skinned woman in green robes finds Toteth, falls across his body, and prays for help. Light beams from the heavens, and the dragon flees again to the shadows. As the stage fades to darkness, the woman carries Toteth to her home, and a deep percussive thrum shakes the theater, like the beating of a massive heart.
Toteth wakes in fits, light and dark represent many passing months as the woman tends to him. As he heals a romance forms between them, and the healing montage ends with a flamboyant love song and mock battle between Toteth and his love’s in-laws so he can marry her. The battle is interrupted at the funniest moment by a tremor, and people in the audience actually cringe in fear as the stage seems to crack and intense winds blow out of the deep. Toteth realizes the world is still in danger, and he recalls the vision he had of the Eagle. He sets out to find a way to save the woman he loves, leaving her behind, not realizing she is pregnant.
Another montage shows his incredible journey, as he faces riddling fairies, battles giant spiders, and braves a cursed pyre filled with evil spirits to find a gem that can seal the world. Interspersed during the odyssey are images of his love, growing slowly more pregnant, until finally she gives birth. When she does, she is visited by the other three mages who aided Toteth in Act One, and they bless the child, swearing to go join the geomancer’s quest so he can come home soon.
They travel through the aftermath of the various monsters and challenges Toteth has defeated, the ease of their journey a humorous counterpoint to the geomancers. But then they find him, and see him standing atop a shining peak, fighting the dragon of bright shadows. Toteth holds the gem high, trying to capture the dragon’s soul so he can take its power to heal the world, but the dragon is stronger. It bites him in half and the stage goes dark, the only thing visible is the gem, which falls and shatters.
There is an intermission, during which Katrina begins to spoil the rest of the plot. She also declares that the three play is full of obvious allusions to the current political situation. The dragon is Ragesia, the air mage is Ostalin, the fire mage is Dassen and the water mage is Shahalesti. Toteth is Sindaire and his love is Seaquen.
The party settle back down into their seats in time to spot Giorgio – free of the play because Toteth is now dead, heading up onto deck. Once again he has a suspicious look on his face.
“He’s not acting now, is he?” says Ambar.
“No, he’s not,” replies Jonathan.
“Then let’s follow him and see what he’s up to.”
