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The Union of Fenwyck and Waer fantasy role-playing campaign

Adventure synopsis: Act 2. Lines and Circles

My dinner with Kighvoron

Act 2 Scene 1
21 to 28 Wiram III 986
(Session 11, 13 December 1997)

Eofor, Kaliya, and Watkyn travel a few hours along the road to Gyfren, across the Fenwyck River from Rising Sun, arriving at an acre-sized homestead, enclosed by a low stone fence and dominated by a stone tower, roughly 40 or 50 feet high and conically peaked. They are "greeted" by Onadhmhaí, his metallic form no longer concealed by robes or mask. They are led into the tower, and pass time catching up with Melea as Kighvoron tends to other business. At dinner, the group (Girovon is absent) are served by Owen and Onadhmhaí. Kighvoron directs the conversation along the lines of the PCs' feelings about and thoughts on the current state of the Union, Watland, monarchy, self-rule, and racial harmony and tensions. Towards the end of the evening, he presents his proposal: journey to the top of the hill at the center of the Spider Wood, where they will find some sort of ruin (a stone ring, a henge, a barrow), and await Kighvoron's teleportation to their location. He offers each of them $1000 up front, and an additional $1000 upon completion. They will be accompanied by Melea.

After spending the evening in the cottage attached to the tower, the three decide to accept Kighvoron's proposal, with the condition that he tell them all he knows about the starstone on their return. They depart with Melea and return to Rising Sun in the late morning. Upon entering through the North Gate, the party narrowly avoids instigating a race riot when Watkyn breaks up a fight between some Human and Gnomish children. Pelted with stones by some Gnomish men returning home for midday meal, the PCs let the matter drop and go about outfitting themselves for their journey.

They leave via the South Gate, and after a few days of mostly rainy travel arrive in the Frowen village Lough Gur, where they are warmly received by Hnaef and his sons. The party stays the night, dancing, singing & celebrating with the villagers. After a few more days & after skirting around the Wood, they plunge into the gloomy forest. Twice they are surprised or attacked by Memory Spiders, both times along a game trail, but escape completely unharmed (the same cannot be said of the one Eofor sank two arrows into). After several miles, they reach a clearing, at the center of which is a large, round mound. It has an opening in the northeast, partially blocked by a carved stone.

The opening leads to an upward-sloping passage, with a few alcoves along the way. It appears to be devoid of all debris, despite being open to the outdoors. No sooner has Watkyn stopped to examine the alcoves, when he receives a horrifying vision of being dissolved to death. Just a few feet further in, the clean stone of the corridor abruptly changes to a brownish, glistening color. The PCs exit, resting and discussing the situation in the clearing. Venturing back in, Kaliya discovers the brown area has advanced to the entrance -- and it suddenly drops from the ceiling on top of her conjured panther. In under half a minute the magical feline is killed, and the oozing creature retreats back up the corridor.

The party decides it's best to wait for Kighvoron in the clearing, which they do for a few hours. He eventually appears, materializing in a puff of smoke and shimmering blue light next to Melea. Seemingly unconcerned about the entrance to the barrow or the creature inside it, he climbs the mound and takes measurements with instruments reminiscent of Sagart Deven's equipment. After about an hour of measuring, marking, and noting, Kighvoron suggests that if the party wants to explore the barrow, they would be wise to employ fire to destroy the creature. Alternatively, he is capable of magicking one of the PCs into a shadowy form, impervious to the creature's attacks. He gets angry and departs when the PCs start debating whether or not to do it and to whom it should be done.

Left to their own devices, and apparently expected to return to the civilization the same way they left it, the PCs head back into the mound. They discover the passage ends in a domed chamber with large stone cube at the center. Above it, on the ceiling, is the oozing creature -- which the PCs surmise to be a "Reek" or "Ekelig" (based on the Bestiary). As Eofor's torch fills the passage with smoke, Melea incinerates the creature with judicious use of some Fire spells.

Kaliya discovers the block not only conceals some sort of entrance below, but is somehow enchanted. Attempts to move the block are in vain, including filling the basin/depression on top with water. Eofor discovers a small opening above the entryway; after clearing it of dirt with the help of Watkyn, it is evident that there is a direct line of sight between the opening and the stone block. Eofor postulates some sort of solstice ceremonial significance.

After unsuccessfully trying to unravel the magical enchantment of the block, the PCs retire for the evening, planning to start their return journey in the morning, on the 29th of Wiram.

Time flies....

Act 2 Scene 2
28 Wiram to 5 Artusum III 986
(Session 12, 24 January 1998)

Despite the long day and Kaliya's failed attempt to divine the nature of the stone block in the mound, Melea decides to try her hand at magically removing a plug of stone from the floor, hopefully creating an opening to whatever lies below. Over the objections of Watkyn in particular, she does so with great effort but without problem. The hole opens into a chamber below the one they're in; after some bickering about light sources, they descend and discover the ceiling is supported by columns and arches with carved vines and other natural designs, and the ceiling itself is stuccoed black and studded with quartz, apparently in imitation of the night sky (but with no recognizable patterns).

An exit leads to a narrow stone passage which descends further into the earth. After one or two hundred feet, the passage leads to a ring-corridor, apparently around the perimeter of the mound. In each direction, the stone and earth walls are the catacombs for maybe one hundred or more ancient corpses. Halfway around the ring, another stone passage leads down. After a hundred feet or so, it widens and dead-ends in a strange smoky disk ten feet in diameter, surrounded by a silver ring with unknown golden symbols or writing. The disk is the source of a soft bluish-white illumination. Upon closer inspection, shapes of trees and a footpath are evident through the swirling mists of the disk.

After some tentative probing, Eofor, Kaliya, Watkyn, and Melea step into the disk, and with a slight numbing sensation and a tug, they find themselves on a footpath among unfamiliar trees, the landscape lit by a sky filled with stars ten times as numerous and as bright as usual. More astounding still, landscape appears to end on the side of the disk opposite the path -- a star-filled sky, unbroken by any horizon & continuing below their feet greets the PCs. Down below, a bright yellow orb floats above a non-descript plane or surface, of indeterminate distance away.

Returning to the path, the PCs find three strangely dressed humans collapsed on the ground, apparently sleeping, tens of yards from a clearing which contains one of the strangest and largest trees they've ever seen. Kaliya spots two figures sitting among the massive roots of the tree. Eofor returns after investigating, reporting that the strange figures told him that their time is not yet come, and that he should leave. As Watkyn busies himself attending the unconscious figures, Kaliya and Melea go to see these other people in the tree. They see a man and a woman, with fine, long features, golden and silvery hair, closed almond-shaped eyes, pointed ears, not young and yet not old, wearing dark blue robes with yellow piping and decoration, but no other ornamentation. Addressing the two figures, Kaliya and Melea hear replies directly in their heads; yet the two seated figures show no evidence of stirring. Referring to the three sleeping figures: "Their time is past." Referring to the PCs: "Leave now, my children, before your time also is past." And to themselves: "The time of our awakening is not yet come."

Beating a hasty retreat back down the path to the misty disk, Watkyn and Melea pause to carry out two of the sleepers. Kaliya collapses in a slumber halfway to the disk, but is spirited out by Melea and Eofor. On the other side, back in the stone corridor under the mound, Kaliya seems OK, merely in a deep slumber. The two newcomers seem to be waking, their breaths coming more rapidly, slightly stirring. As Watkyn tends to them, everyone watches in horror as their breathing becomes more and more rapid, they begin to turn red, and their stirrings turn to twitchings and finally to convulsions. Their spastic thrashings continue as the two spontaneously combust, erupting into flames! Their bodies quickly consumed, the ashen husks lie still only briefly before the two abomnations rise to their feet and attack Watkyn. Thanks largely to Eofor's martial skills, the two are defeated, but not before severely burning Watkyn. Melea makes a mess and evokes the scorn of Watkyn when she sifts through the ashes, looking (unsuccessfully) for the silver jewelry they were wearing.

Back outside the mound, the PCs return to camp to find the sun high in the noon sky and their campfire weeks old. Surmising that they've somehow missed at least several days in the outside world while on the other side of the "portal," they collapse from exhaustion and depart the next day. Contrary to Melea's wishes, Watkyn expertly reseals the hole leading down to the catacombs.

After a few days travel, the PCs arrive once again in Lough Gur, this time a day before the Summer Solstice festival on the 47th -- and finally they realize they've "missed" two weeks of time. They stay for the festival, which goes from sunrise to sunset (and a little after), drinking, singing, dancing, eating, and making merry (or is that making out with Mary?).

On the 4th of Artusum they arrive to a Rising Sun yet more divided, with segregated gnomish and human town guards, little travel between Gnometown and the rest of the city, and tolls and taxes on goods & travelling into and out of the South Gate and along the Western Road to the Ligden Hush.

In Kighvoron's Tower, before receiving the rest of their payment for their trip to the Spider Wood, Kighvoron offers dinner and describes to the PCs what he knows of the starstone, with promises of more information tomorrow at the cartographic office back in Rising Sun. Returning to Rising Sun the next day, and after an uncomfortable meeting with Sagart Albert, Kighvoron shows them an enormous map of the Union, with a web of criss-crossing lines similar to those seen on the dearly departed Sagart Deven's maps. Kighvoron explains these are the súfacht, magic lines of power where mana flows in the earth, common in Tír na Mór, common but largely unmapped and almost completely unknown in the Union, unheard of elsewhere. For those who know how to use them, they are a source of magic power even for those who are normally unable to cast spells. This is the great project of the Covedí and the Cartographic Office, a secret project to be revealed only to those who can be trusted, lest Wattish agents discover their power. Kighvoron, uncharacteristically gracious and seemingly convinced of the PCs' abilities and loyalties, offers to teach them how to use the súfacht at his tower over the next couple of weeks.

Returning to the Wulfsstunde for some refreshment, the barmaid Michaela informs the PCs of some of the recent events in town. In particular, the recent Common Council meeting resulted in many of the apparently racist measures currently in effect, after a boycott by the Gnomes and their council representative. Without the gnomes there (why they didn't attend isn't entirely clear), their human friends and advocates were rather silent or intimidated at the meeting.

Gnomes are a blast!

Act 2 Scene 3
5 to 23 Artusum III 986
(Session 13, 21 February 1998)

After a brief respite of a couple of days, Eofor, Kaliya, and Watkyn join Melea at Kighvoron's tower for daily tutoring in the use of the súfacht. After a few weeks, they will have learned enough to actually begin employing their knowledge. Their training initially consists mainly of learning how to meditate and clear their minds. This is because using the súfacht requires "attuning" oneself to the mana flow, feeling and sensing the lines in order to draw power from them. Training continues for about two weeks, up until a couple of days before new moon, and is scheduled to resume after new moon. During this time, the PCs (except for Melea) are teleported back to the outskirts of town every afternoon by Kighvoron, saving them the journey back -- and with only one mishap, which in the end was not much of a problem.

In the meantime, Michaela, barmaid in the Wulfsstunde and niece of its proprietor, Conrad Wolf, seems to have taken a liking to handyman Watkyn. Watkyn, Kaliya, and Eofor maintain their lodgings at the Wulfsstunde, and go about their business around town in the afternoons, occasionally accompanied by Melea. They discover that the gnomes did not attend the recent Common Council meeting as a form of protest, but according to Baarda (whose printing press is almost up and running) this was in retrospect a foolish idea. She has every intention of attending the upcoming Assembly of the Pencader Hundred, an assembly of delegates from Rising Sun and surrounding communities (a hundred is an administrative unit, similar to a county).

Kaliya, magically disguised as a merchant, goes to see what she can learn from Braddock Shipwright, Shippers' Guild head and local representative, who according to Conrad was all for the measures passed at the Common Council meeting. She manages to get a short audience with him in his home, learns that he's fond of Goblin fashion and/or merchandise, but more importantly sees him parting company with a greasy-haired, shifty-looking man as she awaits her meeting.

It is this same greasy man that Kaliya, Eofor, and Melea see entering the fort, where the Armsmen's Guild and the City Guard are headquartered, as they are leaving after unsuccessfully trying to see Lem, Captain of the Guard, under the pretense of hiring guards for an expedition to find long lost relatives. Kaliya returns to the vicinity of the Fort to watch for his exit, but she is either too late or he eludes her attention, since Melea spots him in the Wizard's Guild shortly thereafter.

The days go by, and the nights at the Wulfsstunde go by, with frequent musical entertainment by Watkyn and Kaliya, much to the delight of the customers (and Conrad's cashier's box). Kaliya discovers, through some spellcasting, that the sword she took from the underground caverns in the Gap was forged several hundred years ago, in the current lunarum, by a dwarven smith, and was used to kill many dwarven enemies, beast-men that fit the legendary description of the Orcs.

Melea reveals that she has somehow obtained information about the people who were transformed into ash-fiends in the Spider Wood barrow. They were priests, gone in to pay tribute to the spirits and glean wisdom from the gods, entering the realm beyond the portal during the reign of King Aeloc -- who the hell King Aeloc is is another question.

As Watkyn is leaving the Wizards' Guild after completing a transaction, he spots a greasy-haired, darkly-dressed, shifty-looking man leading a horse & cart away from the Guild, apparently having left moments before. On the cart is a box or crate. Recognizing the greasy man from Kaliya's recreation of him through an illusion earlier, Watkyn follows, successfully shadowing the man into Gnometown, where he makes his delivery to Corbek, Baarda's cousin. This only strenghthens Melea's opinion that Something Bad® is going on. They have the suspicion that there's some scheme underway involving black powder.

The 21st is the last day of instruction until the 26th; the effects of the new moon reach their peak on the 24th, the day of the Assembly of the Hundred. Melea accompanies the others to town in order to do some research in the Wizards' Guild's library.

The following day, Melea suggests a trip to the Theater of the Moon, Eofor and Watkyn join her, and Michaela accepts Watkyn's invitation to join them. Playing is the story of King Hamhlaobh ("Hauleef"), who was betrayed by his sons. They return and find Kaliya waiting up for them in the Wulfsstunde. She reveals a vision she had of the greasy man, grinning sinisterly, at his feet bodies and broken masonry, nearby Baarda, crying. This galvanizes the PCs to action: the Assembly is going to be blown up!

With several uses of the Seek Earth spell, they discover the nearest significant source of gunpowder (aside from the Fort and the Wizards' Guild) is a house in the mercantile district. Rather than break in, the PCs return to the Wulfsstunde, awaiting the daylight. Unfortunately, when they awake, the spellcasters discover that the imminent new moon has already begun to drain the mana away. Eofor hits upon the brilliant plan of bursting into the home, looking for the gunpowder under the pretense of searching for his cheating wife. The plan works, but reveals that the source of gunpowder is the occupant's gun collection....

Kaliya and Eofor keep an eye on Assembly Hall, in the Official District, as Watkyn and Melea go to Gnometown. Further use of Seek Earth, while difficult under the new moon, reveals the presence of black powder in Corbek's residence, and its absence in Assembly Hall. Watkyn and Melea go to see Baarda, and discover that the entire gnomish delegation to the Assembly have food poisoning. Baarda's apprentice, Rary, shows them in to Baarda, who does appear to be ill. The PCs' suspicions grow when they discover that Corbek was somehow involved in the preparations for the meal at the meeting of all the gnomish representatives the previous evening.

Eventually the party decides to confide in Rary, who calls upon two gnomish guards, friends of his brother, to search Corbek's home. They enter, alone, emerging minutes later only to scold Melea and Watkyn for making false claims against a prominent citizen, and showing them the quickest way out of Gnometown.

Evening arrives, and the PCs return to the Wulfsstunde for dinner. They can settle on no clear course of action. Two extremes are discussed: direct confrontation by the PCs, vs. informing the city guard or others for an official inquiry. The problem boils down to whom to trust, and how long to wait.

Tired of talk, Melea heads for Gnometown, followed by the others. In front of Corbek's home, they are surprised to discover, again through magical means, that instead of in Corbek's home, black powder can be found in the gnome Temple/Meeting Hall, which is near Assembly Hall. Fearing some terrorists are digging a tunnel from the gnome Temple to the Assembly Hall in order to place explosives, the party heads to the Temple. There, as Eofor sneaks around looking in windows, two gnomish guards (the same two friends of Rary's brother) exit the front doors and confront the others, shooing them off. One gets extremely upset as Melea tries to spell him to sleep, and fails.... Eofor pokes his head around the corner, and although he has an easy shot at both guards, decides to take the opportunity to enter the Temple. In the meantime, an illusory reproduction of the greasy man (courtesy Kaliya) approaches, to the further consternation of the guards.

To Eofor's dismay, there are a half-dozen gnomes in the cellar, none of whom appear very happy to see him. In a display of acrobatic prowess and excellent bowmanship, Eofor skewers a couple of them with arrows (one in the eye -- ouch), wrestles with others, knocks one down the stairs, and leaps from pew to pew upstairs to evade pursuers -- but at the cost of some vicious dagger wounds.

Meanwhile, outside, Watkyn and Melea have been wounded by the guards, who are now contending with Melea's fire spells and Kaliya's conjured panthers. Two more gnomes exit the building, fiddling with something in their hands, as the two guards are vanquished. They are promptly surrounded, then engulfed in flames. Jumping down from the stairs at the entrance, they toss two large, round objects at the PCs -- hmmm, what could they be? Rather than sticking around to find out, they retreat. Seconds later, the grenades explode, killing Kaliya and wounding or killing some of the gnomes trapped by Kaliya's panther. Eofor exits the Temple, and races towards the others. One of the grenadiers, engulfed in flames by Melea, explodes, killing himself, another gnome, severely wounding Eofor, and showering everyone with gnome-chunks.

Outside, the only gnomes left alive are the two badly wounded guards, and possibly three or four are alive inside the Temple as the city guards and the fire engine arrive.

Corbek comes clean

Act 2 Scene 4
23 to 25 Artusum III 986
(Session 14, 28 March 1998)

The city guard, lead by Lt. Liona Aschl, arrive on the scene and take brief statements from Watkyn and Melea. First aid is given to the survivors, and as the guard keeps the growing crowd at bay, the PCs are taken to the nearest jail -- a rather well-kept facility in the fort. Lt. Aschl formally charges them with conspiracy to commit an act of terror, and assault of agents of the Union. Stripped of their possessions, they are left to spend the night.

Eofor regains consciousness by morning, in time for breakfast slop. Lt. Aschl returns, informs them they'll have to be held for at least another day while the matter is investigated (the remaining gnomes are still holed-up in the cellar of the meeting house). She seems to believe their story, however. Shortly thereafter, Sheriff Oxnard enters the jail to hear the PCs' version of last night's events. During the course of the interview, Oxnard informs them the two gnome guards perished from their wounds overnight. Watkyn is for the most part strangely quiet -- when pressed about it later, he accuses himself and the others of having participated in the deaths of several people, including Kaliya.

In the late morning, Sagart Meryck of the UCAO arrives with Brother Edwin, a healer, who takes care of most of the PCs' remaining wounds. Meryck informs Melea that Sagart Albert is at this very moment riding out to Kighvoron's tower. Arrangements for Kaliya's funeral will be made by the Church. The jail quickly takes on the air of a club as, later in the afternoon, the PCs are visited yet again, this time by Meryck and Micheala Wulf, who brings some stew and bread from the tavern. Things are looking bad in town -- news of the attempt to blow up the Assembly has spread through town, and sporadic violence along the border to gnometown threatens to spill over into the rest of the city. The Assembly had convened as scheduled, but apparently just long enough to call for a recess until order is restored.

Early in the morning, on 25 Artusum, the PCs are released -- their story seems to check out. The remaining gnomes in the cellar of the meeting house have been taken care of. Personally, Aschl feels the PCs should probably be recognized as heroes, but for the time being, as loose ends are tied up, they are not to leave the city. They collect their belongings on the way out -- meticulously itemized by the turnkey -- but find Eofor's quiver is missing. He makes a bit of a fuss, of course, but as everyone's jewelry and moneys are accounted for, the guards can hardly be accused of stealing a measly quiver....

On their way out of the fort, they are passed by a small squad of soldiers heading into town. Outside they are met yet again by Meryck, who is accompanied by an armed and armored man, Bleys de Rejk -- who is apparently also in the employ of the Cartographic Office. Together they walk to the Wulfsstunde to get cleaned up and get acquainted, when they are attacked by a group of a half-dozen or so thugs; the leader yells, ``there they are! Let's get them!'' as they attack. Eofor, either still light-headed from his recent wounds, or else overcome by his sense of freedom after being locked up, jumps into the fray as Bleys takes a defensive posture in front of Melea, saying ``Stand back, lady!'' Meryck heads back the way they came, in search of the city guard. As Eofor is knocked about the head with a hard object closely resembling a wooden board, Melea magically dazes one thug, Watkyn conjures up an illusory town guard, and Bleys disarms another (practically lopping off his hand). As the thugs press in, nearly doing Eofor in, and dispelling the illusory guard, Watkyn conjures up a choking sulpherous cloud, and Bleys plays piñata with the head of the thug dazed by Melea.

Realizing they are outclassed by the PCs, the ruffians take off, leaving one fallen comrade (courtesy Bleys) (to whom Watkyn immediately attends). Meryck returns with three guards, who take statements and take custody of the unconscious prisoner.

Finally back in the relative comfort and safety of the Wulfsstunde, Melea, Watkyn, and Eofor clean up and join Bleys in the common room. Bleys is from Onderberg, and as it turns out is acquainted with the brother of the dearly departed gnome guard Broc. In short order, they are joined by Meryck and Kighvoron, who have a cartographic proposal for the group: exploration and mapping of the underground passages in the eastern end of the Gap of Dunloe -- especially the deep artificial passages -- beginning in a few weeks' time (provided, of course, that the Assembly Hall business is satisfactorily resolved). Melea's fate is sealed when Kighvoron expresses great interest in the project, and Bleys and Eofor agree to join on as well; Watkyn seems reluctant, but perhaps he is merely distracted by Michaela's absence.

Later, everyone reconvenes for dinner, after an intense conversation between Bleys and Eofor regarding Social Order. Melea informs the group of her trip out of doors this afternoon, seeing roving gangs in town and a few plumes from burning buildings.

Unbeknownst to the others, Watkyn heads off to a secret rendevouz with Corbek at sundown -- quite a dangerous proposition, as it turns out. Corbek is found by Watkyn, bound and gagged in an abandoned warehouse, and wired to explode with four grenades. The fuses ignite from a common knot as Watkyn approaches and produces some illumination. As he frantically cuts the fuses, a woman standing in the side entrance says, ``why don't you just stay right there,'' and casts some sort of spell on Watkyn, which thankfully fails. They high-tail it out and back to the Wulfsstunde, where Corbek spills the beans about the attempted Assembly Hall bombing.

The gnomes, including the two guards Broc and Dorbin, were indeed intending to blow up the Assembly. The plan was to drive a wedge between the human and gnome citizens, which would somehow lead to civil war, dissolution of the Union, and a separate Ligden Hush. Despite failing to actually blow up the Assembly and its representatives, Corbek is hopeful that the current riots will lead to the intended effect anyway. Their fellow conspiritors are Captain Lem of the city guard, a wizard named Hazel Brenner, and the merchant Braddock Shipwright (whom Corbek has not personally met). His main contact with the others has been a man named Gavin, who meets the description of the now infamous ``greasy man.'' Baarda is exonerated from having anything to do with the whole mess, as is Liona Aschl. Melea heads across the town square to get Kighvoron at the temple, as the others contemplate informing Lt. Aschl.

Do you smell brimstone?

Act 2 Scene 5
Evening, 25 Artusum III 986
(Session 15, 4 April 1998)

Melea goes to see Kighvoron at the Temple, where she quickly fills him in on Corbek's story. Kighvoron hurriedly gathers the UCAO sagarts and their bodyguards, and they decide to split up in search of Lt. Aschl; Melea is to sit tight with Corbek and the others. Just as she is returning to the Wulfsstunde, a dozen or more city guards are arriving, at both the front and back entrances. Melea ducks inside before they reach the doors, and warns the others of this development.

Two guardsmen enter the tavern. One is well-kempt, with black hair, close-trimmed facial hair, long robes, a steel corselet and a staff; preceding him is a burly man with a few days' stubble, wearing chain mail and carrying a shield and a scabbarded broadsword. The swordsman identifies himself as Sergeant Ranulf, and demands Corbek be delivered into his custody by order of the city guard, threatening arrest for anyone aiding the gnome.

Melea keeps an eye on things from the back of the room, and Eofor and Watkyn seem intent to not interfere, whereas Bleys steps between Corbek and the sergeant. The PCs quickly settle upon the idea to wait for Lt. Aschl, delivering Corbek into her hands only. Ranulf and the other man slowly exit the tavern; outside, they are seen consulting with a black-haired, balding, broad-shouldered soldier with an eyepatch. Meanwhile, Corbek is visibly upset, a little wild-eyed, and shaking; Bleys keeps a hand on his shoulder to keep him from bolting. Conrad pleads for the safety of his bar, his patrons and employees, asking that Corbek be turned over to the guard.

Sgt. Ranulf and the well-kempt man return after a couple of minutes, and again demand that Corbek be turned over. They comply, and Bleys assists in wrenching Corbek away from the table; two more guards enter, and drag the gnome out, with Ranulf close behind. The well-kempt man slowly backs out of the tavern, keeping an eye on everyone. Outside they are joined again by the man with the eye-patch, and surprise of surprises, a beautiful, curly-haired blonde -- Hazel Brenner.

As things wind down inside the Wulfsstunde and the guards outside march off, two off-duty guardsmen, Geert and Frederick, find out what just happened from the PCs, and inform them the man with the eyepatch was none other than Captain Téanoc Lem. Unsure whether the situation has gone from bad to worse or from bad to totally screwed, they just begin debating whether or not to pursue and make sure Corbek isn't found floating in one of the canals when Kighvoron, Aschl, and six guardsmen arrive at the tavern.

They hastily head to the fort, assuming that's where they're taking Corbek, splitting up in an effort to surround or outflank them. Unfortunately, their prey has a significant head start. Just the PCs and Kighvoron reach the road leading up to the fort gates and the fort comes into view, they see two six-man units, led by Ranulf and the well-kempt man, heading down the road to meet them, and the others (presumably including Corbek) heading into the fort. Aschl and her men are fast approaching from a side street. The first squad closes in on the PCs with weapons ready. With a tactical use of an earth-moving spell, Watkyn trips up two guards, who go sprawling into the road.

Kighvoron produces some ensorcelment which calls forth shadowy figures to attack some of the oncoming guards. Bleys stands his ground, positioning himself between the enemy guards and the others, with weapon still sheathed, as Eofor readies his bow and Melea maneuvers a flaming patch of ground towards the guards from her levitating perch. As Watkyn occupies one of the fallen guards with repeated attempts to bury him, Melea singes others with fire, Eofor is trying desperately to put an eye out (preferably someone else's), Bleys stands his ground and calls for surrender, and Kighvoron magicks more shadowy figures to harass the guards, Liona's unit and the well-kempt man's unit approach. As the enemy unit approaches, it splits to outflank the others, and the well-kempt man discharges a brilliant flash of light which temporarily disorients nearly all of his opponents.

Eofor's bowshot glances off of the enemy mage's corselet. Bleys rushes around to join Aschl's group, as most of the nearby enemy guardsmen have been incapacitated by (including Sgt. Ranulf) or are still engaged in battle with the shadows. Kighvoron produces a huge billowing cloud of smoke which envelopes several enemy units, who break formation and scatter. Melea continues chasing guards with her flames.

Aschl calls for the surrender of the opposing guardsmen and their sergeant, the well-kempt mage, whose name is Everard. Fighting slows as each side sizes up the other, feinting and waiting to see who will make the first move -- with the exception of Melea, who tries to burn anyone standing still for more than one or two seconds. Everard casts a spell, causing panic in the allied ranks, inducing Liona, Bleys, and a few guards to turn tail flee; Kighvoron somehow counteracts this spell for Liona and Bleys, who return to the fray; Melea prepares to concentrate her fire on Everard, just as he releases a missile spell into the party's midst -- which is caught, inches from the ground (and detonation), by Kighvoron.

Liona implores surrender: ``Everard, thith ithn't like you.'' Kighvoron threatens to throw the spell back at Everard; as the opposing guardsmen look to their sergeant for direction, realizing that they are now outnumbered, Bleys outflanks them and, drawing his sword, demands surrender. As one plants his sword in the ground, a handful of the others turn and flee to the fort; Everard is surrounded, and taken captive at swordpoint by Bleys.

Meantime, Eofor and Watkyn are mopping up the last opposing guard still conscious and fighting -- apparently enraged after being skewered by one of Eofor's arrows. Weaponless after Watkyn magically shatters the shaft of his mace, he is finally clubbed senseless by the two, who proceed to look over the wounded. None of the half-dozen or so men attacked by the shadows appear to be at all injured.

Everard is uncooperatively silent as the others try to interrogate him, until Kighvoron casts a spell and realizes he is under some sort of outside magical influence, at which point Everard springs to life in an attempt to choke Kighvoron. Restrained by the guards, Bleys removes Everard's gloves at Kighvoron's direction, and a ring is found on his right hand, which Kighvoron suspects to be the source of the influence. Bleys breaks Everard's finger as he wrenches the ring away from him; shortly after, Everard's eyes glaze over and he passes out.

Liona dispatches her remaining guards to fetch Sheriff Oxnard and to keep an eye on all sides of the fort. Everyone takes a breather, and Watkyn strongly suggests letting the lawful authorities handle the situation from here. Kighvoron agrees that rescuing Corbek is no longer such a pressing matter, especially since if he's not dead already, they probably aren't planning to kill him. As Oxnard and his men arrive, loading the unconscious prisoners onto a horsecart like logs, Eofor spies movement in the northeast tower -- the cannon is being loaded, and pointed in their direction! A second later, in a flash of blue light and amidst crackling sounds, Kighvoron vanishes; in the distance, on the tower, a brief flash of light appears and the guardsmen scatter. Kighvoron leans out and waves, then disappears from view.

About a half-dozen musketeers open fire from the eastern wall, but all their shots land harmlessly elsewhere, save from one which ricochets off Liona's corselet with a clang, denting it and knocking her off her feet. With a lispy ``let'th get them,'' she gets back up and charges to the gates, the others hot on her heels.

The fort's main gate is wide open, and in the twilight afforded by the crescent moon and starry sky, inside all is pandemonium. Guardsmen are running to and fro in the courtyard, and small bands confront each other. In the northwest corner Sgt. Oswald and a small group are trying to break into the signal tower; at first wary of the others, they return their attention to the reinforced door, as Watkyn first calls upon his arcane knowledge to burst the hinges, then switches tactic and reshapes the stone doorway, enlarging it and causing the door to topple. The first floor is unoccupied, containing only supplies, and Bleys, Eofor, Oswald, and a couple guards head up the stairs, finding the other floors equally deserted but the trapdoor leading to the upper floor shut fast. One of the guards begins attacking the door with his axe. Watkyn quickly surveys the other rooms and cellar, then rejoins the others at the top of the stairs.

Outside, Melea levitates up the side of the 100 foot tall tower, up to the signal platform, where, next to the signal lamp she finds Lem, Brenner, and Gavin in the center of a small pentagram; Brenner is obviously in the process of conjuring something foul, and a sulferous smoky form is beginning to take shape in front of them. In an attempt to destroy the pentagram, Melea unsuccessfully tries to magically shape the stone floor out from under it. She decides not to stick around as the vaporous form coalesces, opting to drop back down to ground level.

Foul smelling vapours seep through the cracks around the trapdoor as the tower begins to shake. The door suddenly bursts in from the top floor, impaling the axeman with a wooden fragment. The shaking stops, and a large black head, egg-shaped, hiddeously smooth and devoid of features save a gaping maw with white fangs and darting tongue, appears in the trapdoorway with a deafening roar. Watkyn, recognizing a Bad Situation^TM when he sees one, propels himself down the stairs, right behind Eofor and Oswald. Bleys, overcoming his natural good sense to get the hell out of there, pokes at the thing with his sword, but doesn't penetrate its hide. The monster, apparently taking offense at this slight, produces a mighty axe which is tries to bring down on Bleys's head -- fortunately for Bleys, the trapdoor limits the beast's swinging arc, and it only manages to shatter his sword. Bleys retreats, but the creature, twice man-sized, is too large to pursue him into the tower. Instead, it scales down the outside, digging its black claws into the stonework. Eofor, now outside in the courtyard, takes aim at the thing with his last arrow, which ricochets harmlessly off its hide.

Oswald and Melea are raiding the armory in the northeast tower for grenades. As the monster pursues its victims in the courtyard, swinging its mighty axe and cleaver, lopping heads and chopping people in two, Melea levitates overhead, preparing a bomb. She drops it down on the creature, who bats it away; it fails to detonate. The monster then scales the side of the armory tower, where two guardsmen are preparing the cannon. It cuts one in half, and the other leaps to the ground sixty feet below as the cannon detonates into the tower corner, blasting it and sending chunks of masonry flying. The thing, outpacing Melea, chases down guards along the eastern wall, heading for the southeast tower. Unable to keep up with it, Melea heads for the south wall to cut it off with her last grenade -- and below she spies a shadowy shape moving along the ground, tracking her.

Back in the signal tower, Bleys, Watkyn, and Eofor charge to the roof. Bleys is first on the signal platform, where he is met by Lem, brandishing a broadsword. Despite his broken weapon, Bleys engages Lem, feinting and slicing. A well-placed swing nearly catches Bleys in the head, but he deflects it and makes a wicked slice at Lem's swordarm, leaving the captain reeling from the blow.

Watkyn attempts two quick spells on the conspiratorial coterie, which both fail. As Eofor charges at Hazel in an attempt to knock her down or propel her over the edge of the signal platform, Gavin makes a slash at him, stabbing him with his shortsword. Eofor is then momentarily overcome by some wizardry as he closes in on Hazel, and Gavin makes haste for the stairs. Hazel's hold on Eofor is broken as Bleys knocks Lem down and backwards into her. Eofor pursues Gavin, shoving him down the stairs. With a second blow Bleys disables Lem, who draws his knife with his left hand. Returning to her feet, Hazel attempts a spell on Watkyn, which he resists and answers with a swift blow from his staff. Watkyn scuffs away the pentagram with his feet as he keeps a watchful eye on Hazel, on her knees and cringing before Watkyn's wrath. Lem surrenders to Bleys. Eofor collars Gavin, but passes out from his wounds, and the greasy man escapes.

The monstrous fiend, wielding its great axe and giant cleaver, is busy hewing and devouring on the south wall, as Melea hovers overhead and the shadowy form slides over the ground. She ignites her last grenade, counts down, and tosses it right between the thing's feet, where it detonates, ripping into the beast, blasting it off the tower and down thirty feet into the courtyard where it lands with a hard thump. A fragment of the grenade strikes Melea's right hand, injuring it but not too severely. As the thing regains its senses, the shadowy form in the courtyard rises up and materializes into Kighvoron, who, holding his staff high, prepares a spell. The creature, still reeling, brings its axe down on top of Kighvoron, who blinks to the side, leaving the axe embedded in the courtyard masonry.

With the words ``I send you back from whence you came! May Yeth confine you to the abyss!'' a vaporous vortex opens in the earth beneath the beast, surrounding it, drawing it in. With a final roar it vanishes, leaving only a smoldering crater where it stood. Melea's master, having spent himself in banishing the creature from this world, collapses to the ground, unconscious, pale, and gaunt.

Requiem for Kaliya

Act 2 Scene 6
25 to 27 Artusum III 986
(Session 16, 2 May 1998)

After the battle and the banishment of the demon, Kighvoron and Eofor are taken to the barracks and tended to, along with about a dozen other wounded, who are suffering mostly from the effects of melee -- all but one or two of the demon's victims have apparently perished at its hands. The main room of the barracks is roughly forty feet on a side, with a high ceiling, wall sconces, iron chandeliers, and several dozen beds. Captain Lem and Hazel Brenner are locked up in the jailhouse; Sgt. Oswald, responding to Watkyn's concerns about Hazel's abilities, cold-cocks her with the butt of his sword, leaving Watkyn to wonder how many teeth she'll be missing by the end of the week.

As the hours pass, the tolling bells are silenced, some semblance of order is returned to the fort, Bleys has retrieved the remnants of his sword (returned to wholeness by Watkyn), Watkyn has lent a hand to help the healers in the barracks, and Eofor regains consciousness. Melea successfully levitates the fitfully unconscious Kighvoron, and suggests everyone head back downtown to the Wulfsstunde. Melea sees Kighvoron is settled into the rectory of the Temple, and after waking Conrad to admit them into the tavern, the others retire for the night.

The morning of the 26^th sees the delivery via the Bellman's Guild of handbills printed by Baarda Printsmith:

Town saved by heroic Efforts of loyal Citizens
Conspiracy to blow up Assembly and sow racial Strife revealed for All
Téanoc Lem, Captain of the City Guard, named as one of the villainous Traitors
Others include Hazel Brenner, Mage,
and Merchant and Councilman Braddock Shipwright
Assembly to meet to-day to discuss Consequences

Conrad, Michaela, and some of the other patrons in the Wulfsstunde gather around the breakfast table to hear Watkyn tell the tale of how he and the others revealed the conspiracy to blow up the Assembly, culminating in the capture of (apparently) all of the conspirators, with the exception of Braddock Shipwright and Gavin, the ``greasy man'' (not to mention the summoning and banishment of the hideous demon -- complete with illusory tabletop replica), interrupted occasionally by corrections and additions from the others (Bleys is most vocal -- ``No, that's not how it happened; you're exaggerating'').

``Oh, Watkyn, that sounds so dangerous!'' exclaims Michaela. A blush, and a modest shrug from Watkyn. Sly looks and a wink from an old man listening to the story. As Watkyn finishes, the old man leans over, firmly shakes Watkyn's hand, looks into earnestly into his eyes, says simply, ``thanks. Really, thank you,'' and heads for the door. Melea, suspecting something's not quite right, quickly casts a spell to give her more insight, but doesn't learn anything.

The party go their separate ways in the late morning to attend to their various and sundry needs, and rejoin at the tavern for lunch. Melea finds Kighvoron is still fitfully sleeping, probably as a result overextending himself in banishing the demon.

Bleys returns just in time to see Watkyn and Michaela leaving, heading east across the square, towards the mercantile district. They wave as they pass by Melea, who is heading to the tavern from the Temple and joins Bleys, where they discuss some of the ins and outs of spellcasting. Within ten or fifteen minutes Eofor (with a fresh supply of arrows) and Watkyn (carrying an expensive bottle of wine) arrive for lunch, and it is immediately apparent something is amiss -- Watkyn claims to have been out all morning taking care of business, and hasn't seen Michaela since this morning.

Melea leaps to her feet, and remembering that Shipwright supposedly lives in the mercantile district, leaps to the conclusion that there is where they will find Michaela. They rush out and across the square, asking directions from passing citizens and merchants, and quickly find the house in question. Crossing the canal, they find two dazed city guardsmen, standing motionless and unresponsive, on either side of the open front door. Watkyn immediately rushes in, and hearing sounds, heads up the stairs in the foyer, followed by the others. They quickly find the source is someone in the back room on the third floor, who retreats down the back stairs, pursued by Watkyn and Eofor; Melea and Bleys head back down the front stairs to cut him off.

Melea and Bleys reach the ground floor and the main hallway just in time to see Watkyn come down the back stairs -- but they're not fooled. A chase ensues, in which the false ``Watkyn'' uses some powerful magic to command others (``drop it!'' ``lay down!'' ``leave!''), and reveals its extraordinary strength by tossing some of the others around like sacks of potatoes. Melea temporarily overcomes it with a magical daze, but it recovers as she attempts to further magically incapacitate it. Skewered by two of Eofor's arrows, sliced and bleeding from Bleys's sword work, and cornered in the dining room, ``Watkyn'' undergoes a rapid transformation, in which his clothes melt away, shrinking into his body, his skin turning jet black, powerful muscles bulging all over, eyes disappearing into its elongated, smooth head, its mouth now a gaping maw of fangs.

Briefly holding Melea hostage, but finding her unwilling (and the others unwilling to bargain -- or unwilling to trust it), the creature tosses her aside and makes a dash for the window and lands outside. As Eofor leaps through the window after it, it is waiting for him below. As Bleys makes short work of both its feet and one of its hands with carefully aimed sword blows, Watkyn traps it against the building with tactical use of the Move Earth spell.

Bleys calls for surrender from the badly beaten thing as Watkyn demands to know where Michaela is. As they watch, it undergoes another rapid transformation, its mouth becoming pincers, arms and legs lengthening, four more limbs springing from its now bulbous body, sprouting long black hairs. In its new arachnid form the creature begins scrambling up the side of the house, only to be finally slashed to death by Bleys.

Watkyn finds Michaela, in a hypnotic daze but apparently unharmed, in the cramped cellar. Terrified and confused, she is taken back to the Wulfsstunde by Watkyn; once there, Conrad sits Watkyn down for a little ``chat.''

The others tie up some loose ends. The guards are roused and filled in (one exclaiming, ``ah, the barbarian hero and his friends!''), and send for their superiors, and Eofor, Bleys, and Melea poke around in the cellar where they find what turns out be a shallow grave, containing the partially skeletal remains of a tall man. Melea's uncovering of the grave throws Eofor over the edge and into a rage, in which he backs her up against the wall, blade in hand, hand across her chest. As Bleys starts to verbally intervene, Eofor succumbs to one of Melea's spells, leaving him temporarily entranced, during which time Melea and Bleys exit the cellar.

Melea heads back to the Temple to check on Kighvoron, but Bleys stays and searches the master bedroom, finding an open strongbox and various papers scattered across the desk -- letters from Braddock's family. Eventually Sgt. Oswald returns with a few more guards, who secure the house.

Back at the tavern, tempers flare and Eofor slugs Melea in the face (but does no harm). Things calm as Conrad demands civility. Melea leaves to check on Kighvoron again after lunch, and later finds a sage by the name of Gareth in the Mage's Guild who knows a thing or two about dreams and agrees to see Kighvoron. Bleys finds Lt. Aschl at the Assembly Hall, and finds that the party has been summoned to appear before the Assembly tomorrow morning at ten. Meanwhile, Eofor and Watkyn discuss literacy, Eofor expressing an interest in learing how to read. In the evening, as everyone returns for dinner, Eofor and Bleys revive their discourse on society, discussing the nomadic life, land ownership, living in cities, family and clan membership, and the roles of the governors and the governed.

Next morning, Gareth's magics have apparently prevailed in giving Kighvoron a peaceful night's sleep, who finally awakens. With a monstrous appetite, he heads straight for breakfast at the Wulfsstunde, where he is filled in on the previous day's events. At ten, Bleys, Eofor, Melea, Watkyn, and Kighvoron meet at the Assembly Hall. The master of ceremonies leads them into the Hall, dominated by one large room, two stories high with a second level balcony, with windows all around, and a hundred delegates with desks and chairs on the main floor. At the front of the room, behind a lectern on a raised platform, stands Edmund Abbottson, mayor of Rising Sun.

Led down the center aisle and up to the platform, the mayor proclaims the gratitude of the Assembly, the Union, and the city of Rising Sun for the brave actions of these heroes of the Union in uncovering the plot to blow up the Assembly and sow racial strife. As the master of ceremonies calls their names, each in turn receives a medal from the mayor, accompanied by applause from the delegates. The medal is a round bronze medallion with the engraved image of a wolf, on a blue and gold silken ribbon. On the obverse is the enscription:

With Gratitude to a loyal Hero
of the Union and Rising Sun
III 986 Artusum 27

Even now they are not quite able to completely relax, or even bask in the adoration of the masses; for this evening finally Kaliya's soul will be put to rest. As night falls over the town, the PCs gather in the Temple along with the UCAO sagarts, Kighvoron, and a few others. Kaliya's body, wrapped in a white shroud, rests on a palette on top of the altar, surrounded and covered by summer flowers; candles and candelabra provide illumination.

Under the waxing moon, and preceded by the sagarts with lanterns on ornate poles, Eofor, Watkyn, Melea, and Kighvoron carry Kaliya out of the Temple and to the cemetery, followed by Bleys, where they are met by the mayor, Conrad and Michaela Wulf, and a few unknown others. Under the direction of the undertakers, Kaliya's palette is place on the ceremonial funeral bier, a stone structure consisting of a raised platform, altar, and roof with chimney supported by six pillars. The undertakers prepare the wood and kindling as Sagart Meryck chants the funeral rites, committing Kaliya's soul back to the Dream of Réva and her body back to Feorha. Kighvoron and Watkyn say a few personal words, Eofor places his hero's medal on Kaliya, and the pyre is set alight.

After several minutes, as the sky begins to cloud over, and a slight breeze picks up, bringing a chill to the air, the assembled mourners gradually depart, heading their separate ways.

Union campaign adventure synopsis: TOC

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Union: Main Info Cast Story Extras News

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