Dai Caled
Session Twenty-Two of the Notoriety of Kings Campaign

Vítday, 1 Lollmeadow 204 [continued]

A nobleman gets struggles to his feet defiantly. "I know you!" he yells. "Bombastics! Servants of Calafax! It is the dark of your god, fools! You have no power here!" One of the Bombastics, a man clad indistinguishably from the rest, raises his arm and gestures at the noble. A gout of fire leaps from his fingers and engulfs the man. "Power enough to kill everyone of you here," he says coolly. "I want no more disobedience. You are all my prisoners. Understand that and you may live through this." The charred body of the noble falls to the ground, quite dead.

The party see Aylisha flinch in her seat. But there is a sword at her throat, and at the throat of Princess Celestine. She does nothing. Count Caled looks calm, although Dolanz and Rowena seem to be veering towards terrified. The leader of the bombastics introduces himself as Finch, and describes himself as a relatively affable chap with an unfortunate streak of homicidal mania. He warns no-one to cross him, or people will begin to die. The charred remains of the one person to speak his mind seems to more than back-up what he is saying.

"Now," says Finch. "Where is Baron Dolanz?" Dolanz swallows and gets slowly to his feet. "Ah good," says the cleric, taking Dolanz by the shoulder and leading him on a short walk. "You are the reason we are here Baron! You see," he points out Count Caled, "this snivelling piece of scum hired us to kill you" – Dolanz looks shocked – "It seems that he wanted to put an end to this marriage enough to invite a group of known terrorists into his home, nobble his own guards and leave you all at our mercy. But don't worry. I won't kill you unless I have to. I have every intention of betraying this sorry excuse for a human being. You see, now we're here we can gain a lot more than the money that Caled was willing to pay us. We have hostages galore, including the lovely Princess Celestine," he bows with mock reverence. "Thanks very much, Count, we couldn't have done this without you."

At this it would seem that the mood of the room takes some what against Count Caled. The Count looks a little shifty and goes as far as calling Finch a "Treacherous Dog" before being kicked in the stomach by a large bruiser who he thought was working for him. The Chosen look at each other with some concern. The only other person down there who is up to a fight is Finda, and he is surrounded by bombastics and likely to be filleted any moment. They need a plan, and they need one now.

In the courtyard outside, Ravenna pads silently through the rain. She has cast invisibility on herself and Snowy and is looking around to see any thing suspicious. The two young men walking towards her are more than a little suspicious. Dressed in the same clothing, they appear completely identical in every way. They are talking loudly to each other, each finishing the other's sentences. "All laid?" "All laid." "No-one coming here." "I should say not." They grin at one another. Ravenna gets a little closer. They are wearing no special symbols or marks that denote who they are, and she is certain that they are not part of either the princess' or the baron's retinue. One of them moves to open the door, while the other begins to mutter something. He is casting a spell, a magic missile spell.

The muttering twin turns and unleashes three magic missiles directly at Ravenna. Instinctively the sorceress uses her magic to counter-spell the effect. The twins look at one another. "Impressive." "Quick on the draw, brother." "Pretty, too." Ravenna turns and races away from the pair. "She's running now." "Can't out-run magic." "True." The twins grasp each other by the hand; a magical glow briefly envelopes them as they let off a single lightning bolt directly at Ravenna. She tries to dodge out of the way, but the blast catches her firmly in the back knocking her to the ground. Fortunately she managed to shield Snowy from the impact. Ravenna shakes her head and gingerly gets to her feet. "She's a tough one." "Looks as though she could stand some punishment." "Shall we go after her?" "In the rain?" "I can't be bothered. Can you be bothered?" "I can't be bothered." "Fair enough." The two turn and head back into the Keep, leaving Ravenna wandering what the hell is going on.

"Ah, Kelton! Rembrandt!" exclaims Finch as the twins walk into the main dining area. "Everything set." The twins say that of course everything has been set. The castle is fully warded and no-one is likely to get in alive. "Any problems?" their leader asks. The twins grin at each other. "No," they say. "No problems at all. Feeling a bit drained, though." Summoning their reserves (and still holding hands) the pair begin to use their vampiric touch on a number of nobles. They kill no-one but drain sufficient energy to counter their fatigue. Finch then suggests that they use their spell to remove the only real threat that they have. The twins agree, and as he is held down Kelton and Rembrandt drain all the live from Finda, killing him. Celestine is distraught, many are outraged and Aylisha is looking particularly frustrated. It is then she spots the party.

"You must be steadfast, not rash," is the telepathic message that appears in the mind of each of the Chosen. It was Aylisha's voice, but how was she able to communicate such a thing?

"Right," says Finch, "to business." He says that he is sure that he has convinced everyone in the room that he has a man not be trifled with. As he speaks, emissaries of the Bombastics are delivering a set of demands to Chamberlain Alberdark in Uris. In return for the release of Princess Celestine, a number of Bombastics must be released from the "inescapable" dungeons of Northmeet Castle. "In the meantime…. Five parties of four…. two Bombasts, two warriors. Search the rest of this place out and report back to me. I think we have everyone here, but I don't want some pathetic serving lad playing the hero and getting everyone killed."

"Finch, we're missing six." The voice comes from a graceful woman standing over the places where the party were sitting. "Wren?" Finch asks. "I can't imagine these are spare bowls of soup." Finch stamps his foot in anger. "Who are they! Who was sitting there!" he screams at the room, his calm demeanour evaporating. Snarling, he grabs Count Caled by the scruff of the neck. "Who is missing?" he demands coldly. "I will tell you nothing!" the Count defiantly announces. "Oh dear, I suppose I'll have to find a new way to motivate you!" Finch throws Dai Caled to the floor, reaches out and takes hold of Rowena. Dolanz is halfway from his seat before he is pulled back down by strong hands. "Don't do anything stupid, baron!" Finch calls as he draws a knife that he holds up to Rowena's throat. "Now, Count! Tell me who they were or I'll cut out her wind-pipe and beat your other children to death with it." Caled looks about the room for support, but everywhere he glances his friends look away. At length he stares defiantly into Finch's eyes. "The Chosen of Narramac!" he says.

Finch grimaces at the news. Many bombastics and warriors look at eye other in worry. Even Kelton and Rembrandt spare the time to raise an eyebrow. Eventually Finch explodes. "What!" he yells. "What were you thinking inviting them? You didn't know I was going to betray you! What crossed your mind, you old fool? Did you want to make all this more sporting?"

"I didn't invite them! He did!" Caled points at Dolanz. "Oh, of course, that makes everything all right." Finch kicks the count heavily and releases Rowena. "Dolanz," he says trying to regain some composure, "you'd better keep quiet, you're not on my list of favourite people. Right…. five parties of five! An extra cleric in each one. I want you to find these Chosen of Narramac and I want you to kill them." He looks at the disbelieving faces of his men. "They're mortals same as you and me! Now, get Celestine into that room over there. See she's well guarded. Kelton, didn't you and Rembrandt see anything outside?"

"Oh yes." "Met a spellcaster." "Probably the Ravenna girl." "Very pretty." "Fast runner, too." Finch looks to the ceiling. "And you didn't think to tell me this?" Rembrandt shrugs. "More fun not to." "Got to see the look on your face." Finch raises a hand to the twins, but then thinks better of it. "Get going now," he says to the five groups of five; Wren is amongst them. "You hear any noise out here, she dies, you understand? Chosen of Narramac? Ha! Bring 'em on I say."

Finch's speech only goes so far to hiding the obvious worry he feels at the Chosen's presence. Things are evidently not going to plan for him. However, the party do not think that they can defeat these bombastics on reputation alone, and move cautiously back in the direction of their rooms to tool up with large amounts of armour and weaponry. Brack has been feeling practically naked without his chain mail.

On the walkway straddling the courtyard the group encounter Ravenna. She dismisses the invisibility and tells them what she happened to her. As they race to their rooms Elias informs the sorceress of the events in the dining hall. Things are obviously going from bad to worse, Elias says, as he scrapes the ice off his shield while ferreting for his weaponry. The Chosen spend a few minutes in their rooms collecting their things and their thoughts. "This is the first place anyone would look for us you know," says Arvan, and Brack can hear footsteps coming up the stairs toward them.

As one, the Chosen ready themselves behind the door and with a flurry burst out on their pursuers. They stumble into a group of three swordsmen and two clerics, and the fight immediately goes badly for them. One of the bombastics uses a command spell to lay Brack low, while his companion takes the opportunity to stab his nice long sword into the dwarf's liver. When the dwarf finally gets to his feet, he and Arvan face an individual with a two-bladed sword who looks on the verge of making short work of them both. As it is, this doesn't happen as the tide inexplicably turns in our hero's favour, and within half a minute all their foes are either unconscious or dead. Elias shakes his head, regarding the magic Arvan is having to deplete to put everyone back together again. "That's just one group of five," he says slowly, realising that regardless of their magic weapons, the six of them are going to lose a war of attrition.

The group decides to scope out the castle and get an idea of the strength of their foes. Ravenna casts invisibility on Raza so that the monk can more easily scout ahead for them. With Raza in the lead (somewhere) the Chosen cautiously descend the antique stair case that spirals up the centre of the guest wing. They can hear no movement or other voices from the building, and soon emerge into the unseasonal drizzle of the evening. The courtyard in front of them is dark and deserted. There are no lights burning in the servant's quarters, the guest wing behind them or the gatehouse or any of the guard towers. The main gates are closed up tightly and the portcullis has been lowered.

Turning away from the main entrance, the party approach the north-eastern guard tower, to get some idea of what they are up against. Raza leads the way into the ground floor of the three-tier structure. This levels is completely empty. They are about to ascend the ladder when Elias feels a wet splat on his face. Touching his fingers to his cheek he discovers a spot of blood. Racing up to the next level the party discover three bodies slumped over a badly crafted wooden table in the centre of the room. They wear the livery of Count Caled's guard and were evidently individuals who could not be bought or persuaded to work with the Bombastics. Slightly more alarming that this, however, is the way that the ladder up to the roof is coated with frost, and how the floor is slick with melting ice.

The blades given to them by Narramac remain silent, convincing the group that whatever unnatural menace they faced before is not present in this place. Nicos moves to the doorway leading onto the battlements when Ravenna calls to stop him. The doorway has been warded by powerful magic, probably by those two twin sorcerers she met earlier. She and Elias believe that the glyph can probably be circumvented by knowing a particular command word, but without it, stepping onto the battlements is likely to get one fried. Nicos thinks that he would much rather stay in one piece.

Leaving the tower, the group head cautiously over to the stables. They see no more movement, but are sensible of the fact that crossing between the buildings makes them visible from many of the well placed windows of the tower. There are far more horses packed into the stables than there were before. Tok the badger is still present, and is digging himself a cosy set beneath the hay that is piled up around him. Elias believes that the best chance they have is to stay out of sight for as long as possible. They agree to head to the servant's quarters and see if they can find anyone who can help them.

Raza remains outside as the rest of the group cross swiftly to the discreet entrance to the low building. Ravenna uses her new knock spell to gain entrance to the magically locked door and they enter. A long corridor stretches into the room, with a small maze of rooms and corridors leading of it. It doesn't take long to find the servants. They are spread out all around the room, including the servants that the Chosen brought from Uris. They are all unconscious. Arvan determines that they have been drugged. Without the antidote they will probably sleep for another day at least. He thinks that a good dose of healing magic would revive them, but his magic is at a definite premium and he doesn't want to waste it. They are safe as they are.

But not safe for long, perhaps. In the courtyard Raza has seen two groups of bombastics converging on the servant's quarters. One group of five heads up to the doors, while the second (led by Wren) position themselves on the battlements looking down at the entrance. Raza is unable to act before Wren casts a spell. A small fire elemental appears before her and roars forward into the building.

The only notice the others receive of the approaching menace is the terrible smell of burning that greets them a minute before the elemental explodes into the room. The fight is short and brutal, but in the end the Chosen are victorious. However, victory comes at a price. The servant's quarters are on fire, and the group must beat back the flames if they are going to safe the unconscious servants from a certain death. As they are doing just that, the party can hear Wren's voice as she calls to them from her position of superiority.

"Come out an surrender! If you do not I will burn the entire building to the ground. Do you want the lives of all those servants on your conscience?" Brack is all for racing out there and twatting the lot of them. Ravenna and Elias point out that as soon as they leave the building, Wren is probably going to fireball them, and there is very little that they can do about being reduced to a pile of ashes. Brack takes their opinion on board, but it does little to stop him from hefting his axe and charging for the doorway while screaming blue murder. Nicos manages to cast a spell of protection from fire on the dwarf as he runs off, and after casting it again on Elias the two charge after their pugnacious friend.

The second Brack puts his head outside the door he is struck by an ball of fire, and a succession of arrows. Thanks to the protective magicks of Nicos he isn't immediately burnt to a cinder, and instead turns and charges at the nearest figure he doesn't recognise with the intention of burying his axe in the man's spinal column. The remnants of the fireball rattle down the hall of the servant's quarters. Elias and Nicos throw themselves to one side just in the nick of time, but the magic does little to quell the fire in the area.

Nicos and Elias burst out into the rain. They can smell burning Brack, but the dwarf doesn't appear to be allowing his own half-cooked nature to affect his axe swinging. Wren readies another fireball for Elias and Nicos. "Stop, you cretins!" she yells. Elias hurries on northward to engage more bombastics, but Nicos stops dead. He knows that voice. The way she stands, the way that she moves. He looks up into Wren's face, almost completely covered by the red mask that all the Bombastics wear. Almost inaudibly he mumbles, "Rio?"

Arvan and Ravenna head out onto the concourse and rush to help Elias. They zip past Nicos who is standing transfixed at the woman. "Nicos!" yells Elias as he is soundly perforated, "A little help here!" Wren rains more fire down on his companions, and suddenly Nicos snaps back to the present. "What do you think you're doing?" he yells to Wren. "Get down here, woman!"

Wren stops and looks at Nicos uncomprehendingly. She pulls a ball of pitch from her pocket and prepares to throw it at the fire cleric. Nicos sheathes his sword and looks up at her. He tells her that she knows him, that she is a woman called Rio Shai'ir, that she was a cleric of the church of fire. She is disbelieving. "I've never seen you before." Nicos is insistent. "You have. We were friends, we were more than friends. Try to remember." One of the bombastics near to Wren insists that she throw down a fireball onto Nicos, killing him where he stands, but she stays her hand. Nicos focuses on Wren's eyes, trying to summon any glimmer of recognition from her. She looks at him as a furrow runs across her brow.

In the meantime, Brack has made heavy weather of his two opponents, but they are finally down. The dwarf is frustrated that he cannot get up to the battlements and give the rest of them what-for. Elias, Ravenna and Arvan are fairing less well. The battle is short and brutal, and although Elias and Ravenna are standing at the end of it, Arvan has fallen, and with him their healing magic. Skreet, who pokes his head out of Arvan's sleeve at this point, decides that parties are definitely not for him. "Nicos!" yells Elias. "We need you hear. Toasty healing!" But Nicos is still standing transfixed at Wren.

"You can't do it can you?" he calls. "Come down here!" Wren looks at Nicos, and from Nicos to her fellow Bombastics. She seems momentarily torn, then she hot foots it off along the battlements as quickly as she can. Nicos gives chase immediately on the courtyard. He runs past Elias, yelling "It's her!" at Elias' protests. Elias looks at Ravenna, shrugs, and then gives chase. Moments later, Brack also charges past after Elias. The rest of the Bombasts on the wall retreat into one of the towers to regroup. Ravenna and Raza carry Arvan back into the servant's quarters. They takes the druid down to the lowest level where the entrance to the tunnel back to the main keep is located. Over the next ten minutes they are able to extinguish most of the flames in the building, and break a number of the small casement windows to disperse the smoke.

Meanwhile, Wren has gained a few steps on Nicos. She has ran around the northern battlements, into the north-eastern tower, across the courtyard, into the guest wing and up the stairs toward the bridge. Elias is a whisker behind Nicos calling for him to stop, and Brack is falling farther behind. Wren looks behind her as she runs up the stairs. Concentrating hard she summons a flaming sphere and lets it roll down the stairs toward Nicos and Elias. They throw themselves out of the way, but the sphere bowls Brack over, slowing him down even more.

Nicos calls to Wren to wait, says that they have to talk, but she ignores him, intent on reaching the safety of Finch and the others. By the time Nicos has reached the top of the stairs, Wren has already crossed the bridge and is heading down to the dining room. But Nicos knows where she is going, and doesn't care if he has to wander straight into the middle of all the Bombastics in order to talk to her. At this point Elias catches up with him, and grabs him by the arm. "Are you mad? You can't just walk in there!" Elias screams. Nicos says that he has to, that he has found Rio again after all this time. He has to go. Elias tries to stop him, says that they have to regroup and go in together if they are going to succeed in rescuing everyone. "No," says Nicos finally. "I'm going in there now. It's her! I have to go!"

At this point Brack arrives, and the two of them together begin to manhandle Nicos back across the bridge. Nicos is not going quietly, and kicks and struggles, hanging on to everything he can find. Of course, he is not a match for Elias and Brack in terms of raw strength by he is very tenacious. He even tries to command Elias to release him, but Elias' sword helps Elias to resist the charm. "Guys!" Nicos yells desperately as he is hanging by his legs over the edge of the bridge. "Please, you have to let me do this!" Nicos looks pleadingly at Elias. "Did I sleep with Alessandre when I had the chance? No, I didn't. Please, I have to go to her!" Elias sighs. "We still need a plan," he says. It is at this point that swords begin to vibrate.

Such vibration alerts Ravenna and Raza to pending danger. There is a terrible cold air blasting up from the tunnel, and they can see ice forming on the floor. They look at one another worriedly, and stand over Arvan's unconscious form. Slowly a shape emerges from the darkness. It is Baron Dolanz! The humming stops as thought whatever threat sets the swords off departed from range. Dolanz sees Ravenna and Raza and rushes over to them. He is distraught.

Dolanz quickly says that he was released by Finch to come and find them all. Finch is furious that they have been successfully avoiding his clerics and says that if the Chosen do not present themselves to him in one hour he will begin executing the hostages, starting with Rowena. If the bombastics guarding Celestine hear any noise from the dining room, they will kill the princess. Dolanz is beside himself and does not know what to do – it's taken him half an hour to find them. Ravenna says that something will occur to her soon, she is sure, in the meantime they have to find the others. Nicos is the only one who can restore Arvan to consciousness. Dolanz sits down heavily, and then looks up with a small smile on his face. "I have a healing potion!" he says. "It's back up in my room. It's rather old, and I think it's separated, but it should work, shouldn't it?" Ravenna tells him to go and get it, and to hurry. Time is of the essence.

Simultaneously, Nicos had looked at his vibrating sword. Despite the incredible compulsion the sword has over him, Nicos shakes his head and hands his weapon to Elias. "This is more important," he says and prepares to be a part of a very stupid plan. The humming of the swords soon stops and Brack ties a rope around Nicos' waist. The plan is that Nicos crawl back to the balcony over the dining room. If there is any trouble then Nicos will tug on the line and Brack will pull him back up two flights of stairs and over the bridge. Nicos knows that it's not going to work, but he is willing to go along with anything that allows him to see Wren again. He smiles and heads off across the bridge, leaving Elias and Brack for perhaps the last time.

A few minutes later Nicos is crawling on his hands and knees toward the balcony. The first thing he sees of his enemies is a nicely polished leather boot as he bangs his forehead against it. Looking up he sees the sorcerers Kelton and Rembrandt staring down at him. They smile. "Going somewhere?" they ask. "I've come to see Finch," says Nicos. "Very brave," says Kelton. "We're most impressed," says Rembrandt, snipping the rope with a cantrip. Nicos gets slowly to his feet. The sorcerers smile at him benignly and gesture forward. "After you."

Feeling the rope go slack, Brack and Elias see no choice but to return to the servant's quarters and see what the others are doing. By the time they return, Dolanz is there with a healing potion and a comfortable chair for Arvan to sit on. The druid is woozy, but awake. Ravenna and Dolanz are quick to tell them what is going on, and point out that they only have about fifteen minutes before the execution of Rowena. "We have to get in there," says Ravenna "Are there any secret passages in this castle?" she asks Dolanz. The baron says that there might be, but he doesn't know if there are. "Who would?" Dolanz speculates Count Caled and his family – and the master of servants of course! The master of servant is a man called Benson. Dolanz and the Chosen rummage through the unconscious servants until they find him, then Arvan revives the man.

Benson is at first shocked by the proceedings, but he soon radiates an aura of calm. There is a secret passageway leading to the room behind where Princess Celestine is being held. The wall between the two is just a partition and easily broken through. Dolanz says that saving Celestine must be the priority, but what about Rowena? Ravenna tells Dolanz to get back to the dining hall and stall for time as best he can. She and the others will then have time to into a position where they can do the most good. Dolanz nods and scurries off. Moments later, Benson leads Arvan, Elias, Ravenna, Raza and Brack on a mission to save the nobles and Nicos.

Nicos himself has been presented before Finch. Finch called on the cleric to remove all his weapons, which Nicos duly did. Finch asks after the magic sword, but Nicos says that he didn't bring it with him. "Are your friends going to surrender?" Nicos shrugs. "If they can't think of anything else to do they probably will." Finch smiles. "Well, let's hope they are not too imaginative," he says, stroking Rowena's hair. Nicos says that he wants to speak to Wren, and Finch has no objection as long as Wren doesn't. "Just don't try anything," Finch says. Nicos looks hurt. "I'm not going to try anything, believe me when I say I am a very, very crap cleric."

Wren is sitting away from the rest of the group, sitting alone and in thought. She is surprised that Nicos was stupid enough to come after her. Nicos says he would take even more crippling risks for her. Nicos tries to convince Wren that she is Rio Shai'ir. He speaks of Rio's family from Lartan Cross, tells her of Julian Maynard and Scaldarnus and the time that she spent there. He even mentions Boudewijn in the hope of jogging some memories, but to no avail. Wren says that she has no memory of anything Nicos is saying. Nicos maintains that she has been brainwashed by the Bombastics (probably by Boudewijn, the bastard!) and that she must try to remember – there must be something there, otherwise she would have fried him back outside in the courtyard. Nicos hands her the book that was recently returned to him from Castle Northmeet. He says that it is Julian's account of Nicos' life to date. He asks her to read it, and hopes that it will jog some memories. He leaves her to her thoughts and sits down with Gareth Caled.

A moment later, Lady Aylisha sits next to him. "Were I unkind, I would think you were here without a plan," she says curtly. "Oh, I have a plan," Nicos exclaims, "Only it's not a plan to get anyone out of here, sorry." Aylisha shakes her head. "We have to end this," she says. "Regardless of the cost, we cannot let innocents die."

"Right!" says Finch, it is time. He grabs Rowena and puts a knife to her throat. The countess tries to save her daughter, but the count holds her back. Rowena is too terrified for words or tears. "I like to think that I am a man of my word," Finch says. "Nothing personal, my dear!" He is about to draw the blade across Rowena's throat when Dolanz rushes into the room. "If you are trying to stall for more time, it will not work," says Finch. The baron says that he has seen the chosen and that they are on their way.

"I believe you," Finch says slyly, "but it doesn't matter. I am a man of my word, and I will not have my integrity questioned by my men" – the other Bombastics are grinning around him. "So I am sorry, but I just have to do this." Finch draws the dagger back. Nicos can feel a rush of power through Aylisha unlike any he has ever felt, but she stays her hand.

"Wait!" calls Dolanz. "Don't kill her, kill me instead!"

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