The Seventh Sword
Session Forty-One of the Notoriety of Kings Campaign

Zephday, 17 Kindlesmoke 204 [continued]

"I don't know," says Elias as he draws the bard close to him. "I don't know." They stand in the middle of the cobbled street, entwined in a tight embrace that neither seems particularly keen to break. Occasional passers-by give them strange looks, others smile knowingly. Some wink. Elias can't begin to order his thoughts, but looking down at Alessandre he doesn't want to be anywhere else.

At Jenkin's Wharf, Nicos and Brack continue to listen to the protestations of the oarsman, Samuel, who is now explaining to two members of the town militia how Raza stole his boat and committed suicide. "I've no truck with these adventuring types," says Samuel. "He terrorised my family and then he steals my boat! It's just not on!" Nicos shrugs and wanders over to Samuel and the militia. Brack watches him remove the scroll of authority given to him by Captain Holstein. Nicos does have a way with people, the dwarf surmises as the two guardsmen hold Samuel back from smacking the fire cleric in the face. But his mind is not really on Nicos. Brack instinctively knows that Raza has gone to the Master. He feels jealous and fingers the sharp of his blade with a callused thumb.

The Vampire of Sorgar looms over Raza de Luna. The monk cringes despite of himself. "You are unique, Yisweran Larrien," the creature rasps coldly. "You have the power to resist my mental commands, and you can speak to the moon gods. You intrigue me. That is what is keeping you alive." Raza sneers at the Vampire and replies in the most offensive terms he can think of. "You must let me go," the monk then says. "I must complete the mission." – "What mission?" the Vampire asks, "The destruction of the demon Karatath?" Raza nods, but now it is the Vampire's turn to sneer. The outcome of a great war between the creatures of light and darkness is of supreme indifference to him. Regardless of who is the victor, he will endure. More interesting by far, is to get to the bottom of Yisweran Larrien. He will have his answers, either by co-operation or vivisection, it's really up to Raza.

"What is your name?" Raza asks. The Vampire stops for a second. "I am asking the questions of you, meat creature," it says. Then it adds. "My name is Altara." Suddenly the vampire shakes his head, as if distracted by something. "What is the matter?" Raza asks. "Your friends are searching for you," the Vampire replies. "They will not find you here, I will see to that." – "What? You're just going to kill them?" – "I thought you cared not for them." – "I don't, but I need them to complete the mission." – Altara laughs and reaches out into Brack's mind.

"This line of enquiry may lead to me. Cease this investigation. If your companion persists, kill him." Brack imperceptibly nods to the voice in his mind. Although there's something inside telling him that slaying Nicos isn't a good idea, but he can't think of a reason why this would be. As he walks over, Nicos comes toward him, wearing a broad grin. The fire cleric explains that Raza stole Samuel's boat, rowed into the middle of the bay and jumped over the side. Nicos wants to go out and retrieve that boat. "Raza might have left a clue," he explains. "Then we can go to the Coral Palace and get the sisters to have a look under the water for him." Brack nods grimly. He trepidatiously follows Nicos down a jetty at Jenkin's Wharf, where the cleric has commandeered a boat. Samuel is dancing from one foot to the other and pointing, as the vessel Raza abandoned is floating out into the main shipping lanes and is in danger of being crushed by a passing vessel. Samuel demands that it is retrieved. "It cost me sixty… no! a hundred and sixty crowns!"

Brack takes the oars and begins to row into the bay. He is thinking over his master's words, and how best to implement the vampire's wishes. They soon reach Samuel's boat. While Brack holds everything steady Nicos leaps across, but his momentum makes the boat float away. Eventually Brack throws him a rope and the pair reach the safety of dry land. Samuel is glad to have his boat back, and a little repentant. Nicos is having none of it and impounds the boat.

When the fire cleric declares that he is off to the Coral Palace to get help in looking for Raza, Brack knows he must act. "Quick Nicos, over here!" the dwarf says gesturing to a dark and foreboding alleyway. Nicos shrugs and follows Brack, after all the dwarf would never do anything to hurt him. "What is it? Have you spotted someone? Where are they? Is it Boudewijn?" Nicos asks, turning his back on Brack. This proves to be a fatal mistake. Two very sharp axes bury themselves in Nicos's spine and he staggers around to see Brack plant a third one in his stomach. "Brack?" Nicos asks weakly. "What the feck are you doing, Brack?" A fourth axe answers that particular question and Nicos falls to the ground lifelessly.

Ravenna's head snaps back and then comes down with a crack on the table. The visions never cause any pain, but they do always take her by surprise. She stands up quickly. "We have to go, now!" she tells to Arvan, and races to the door of the inn. "What? What is it?" says the druid running to keep up. "Nicos is in trouble. I think he's dying." – "What happened?" – "Brack attacked him." – "Brack? Where?" – "Somewhere near the Coral Palace. In an alley." Arvan glances to Caius who nods disappears in a puff of magic. "I'll go on ahead," says the druid wildshaping himself into a bird and taking to air.

"Kill him," the voice is telling Brack. Nicos lies in a crumpled heap in the alleyway, the dwarf hefting his axe mere inches above the head of the cleric. Brack takes a swing and then stops. This is Nicos, he thinks to himself. I can't kill Nicos. His hand begins to shake as his dwarven will fights vampiric domination. He looks down at Nicos's body and knows that if he stays any longer he will hack at it until it is little more than a damp smudge. Brack retreats into the streets of Sorgar moments before Caius materialises protectively over Nicos's inert form.

The eagle that is Arvan spots Caius minutes later and touches the cobbles with half-orcish feet. "He seems to be stable," Caius says to the druid. "One more blow and he would have been dead. I wonder why Brack stopped." Arvan doesn't reply, reaching into the ether and drawing sufficient energy to funnel healing magic into Nicos. The fire cleric groans and opens his eyes. "Arvan? Arvan listen. I think I've done something to really piss off Brack."

By the time Arvan has tended to fire cleric's remaining wounds, Ravenna and Snowy have reached the scene. She and Arvan quickly compare notes and conclude that Brack too must have been possessed by the Vampire. At the third asking, they tell Nicos what is going on, and that both Raza and Brack have been possessed by the Vampire of Sorgar. As they talk Ravenna casts a dispel magic at Arvan to check that he isn't possessed as well. Arvan is a little angry that Ravenna did not trust him. Once Nicos has also been verified, Ravenna reveals her plan of tracing the Vampire using Raza on the same principles as her pendant. Nicos says that he'd need to have a look at the pendant, but he reckons he could whip something up. Arvan says that he suspects the Vampire has called Raza to him, that's the only explanation as to where Raza has gone, and why Brack tried to kill Nicos. The simple fact is that they have to find Brack. Ravenna turns to Nicos.

"The mirror?" The cleric smiles. "Sure, I'm never without that!" A quick frisk of his pockets reveals that Nicos has left it back at the inn. Ravenna shakes her head despairingly as Arvan and Caius search the ground for tracks. "I think I can find him," says Arvan. "Follow me." The druid wildshapes into a bloodhound and begins to track after the dwarf.

Elias and Alessandre arrive back at The Willow hand-in-hand. They release one another at the doorway to the inn. "We're not telling the others about this yet are we?" the bard asks. Elias nods and enters. The innkeeper tells them that their "strange friend with the garlic fixation" climbed out of the window and ran off through the town earlier. Then the fire cleric and the dwarf left, then the half-orc and the girl ran out like someone was dying. Elias sighs as he and the bard turn around and head out looking for the others.

Brack Ogrebane is sitting in the porch of a bricked up tenement deep in one of the poorer districts of Sorgar. He looks out on a small courtyard and the four narrow streets that lead off from it. He can still hear the commands of the Vampire in his mind, and it is all he can do to resist the urge to return to Nicos and finish the job. For all he knows, Nicos may be dead anyway. Then he looks up. A bloodhound has waddled into the square. Odd, it's looking for something, and Brack's ranger senses tell him that it isn't acting like a normal dog. Brack stands and walks out into the courtyard.

In the square surrounding the Astornis Fountain, Elias and Alessandre encounter Samuel who tells them all about Raza and Nicos impounding his boat. He says that his boat is worth 200 crowns, and wants some recompense. Elias pays him three times what he normally makes in a day to shut him up, and Alessandre chases the man away. "Where are they?" asks the bard, almost to herself. Elias sends Hedwig up into the air above the city to find Ravenna and the others.

Arvan returns to half-orc form and strides to meet Brack. Ravenna comes around the corner and hurries after him. Nicos remains hidden for the time being, just in case Brack decides to carve him up again. Ravenna points at Brack and sends a dispel magic that fails to force out the Vampire. It does succeed in getting them noticed. The Vampire of Sorgar, despite Raza's protests, orders Brack to kill them all.

"Nicos!" yells Ravenna falling back. "Dispel at Brack!" Nicos pokes his head around the corner. "I thought we needed him possessed to find Raza?" Arvan draws his sword and wades into single combat with Brack. "We don't have that luxury!" the sorceress calls. Arvan and Brack throw themselves on each other. The Blades of Hope and Fortitude meeting in a desperate display of violence. Ravenna steps back and readies another spell.

"Let me try something," says Alessandre. The Bard closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Ravenna, where are you? We are searching for you," she calls. The words are taken from Alessandre's lips in a breath of wind and float out through the city hunting for their target. Before long they have found Ravenna's ear, and the sorceress shouts back so Elias can hear. "Brack is trying to kill us! Get here now!" – "Where are you?" asks Elias. Ravenna dodges back from a sweep of Brack's axe and looks around. "A tower with three steeples," she says. "I know where that is," says Alessandre. "We'll be with you soon." Elias smiles. "You're more effective than me." Alessandre shakes her head. "No I'm not. I haven't a clue where that tower is, I was just trying to make her feel better. We'd better hope Hedwig can spot it."

"The hell with this!" calls Nicos after his second dispel magic has failed. He steps back and sends an arrow of flame into Brack's chest. The dwarf staggers backward, but is enveloped with a blue glow. "The little bastard's got fire resistance!" Nicos curses, and steps back to cast Haste on himself. In single combat, Arvan has not the skill to stand up to Brack. Even though he doesn't want to kill his friends, he seems to be doing a very effective job of it. Now Ravenna is tasting his steel. "Are we desperate, yet?" calls Nicos holding up his mortar. "I have ten meaty fireballs in this little baby, but you have to clear the area." Arvan and Ravenna do not think they will be able to pull back far enough without Brack following them. Nicos curses and hurls two flaming arrows at Brack. This seriously hurts the dwarf. Nicos throws two more but only succeeds in setting fire to the surrounding buildings.

Brack shakes his head, and calls upon the power of his axe. Instantly all his wounds are healed and jumps into the fray once more. "Now we're desperate, right?" Nicos yells. Arvan jumps back and tries to get clear of the area but Brack cuts him down with a back-handed swipe of his axe. "Nicos! No!" Ravenna calls. "Fireball now and you'll kill Arvan." A badly wounded Ravenna turns and faces Brack alone. She throws another dispel magic at him, but even augmented by her sword nothing happens.

Suddenly, Elias runs into the courtyard, Alessandre hot on his heels. He yells to get the dwarf's attention and runs over his sword drawn. "Brack!" Alessandre cries, but her voice is strange, and magically amplified. "Brack, what are you doing? These people are your friends! Put your axes down!" Alessandre's suggestion squirms its way into Brack's mind. Before Elias is halfway to him, Brack has started to comply, and lays one of his weapons on the ground. Then he stiffens.

"Elias!" Alessandre yelps, falling to her knees. "There's something else in his mind! Something, terrible! I…. can't….. control…. him…." Elias spares Alessandre a concerned glance as he reaches the dwarf. The Vampire of Sorgar and Alessandre each vie for possession of Brack's mind, and in the middle Brack is trying to seize it back for himself. The Vampire is winning, but Brack is resisting with all his strength. This distracts him somewhat. Elias takes a pouch of coins and heavily coshes Brack around the back of the head. He slumps to the ground unconscious. Alessandre falls to her knees with blood running from her nose, Ravenna races to help Arvan. Nicos flame arrows Brack once more to be safe.

After wounds have been tended and clerics of water summoned to put out the fire that Nicos started, the group adjourn to The Willow. Brack is trussed up like a turkey while the rest of the party compare notes. After hearing from Elias, all believe that this Eckerbar is the murderer, but he is not the creature that Arvan tracked, nor the creature that Raza was looking for information of in Libras. Nicos says that he will modify Ravenna's pendant to try and trace Raza, using Brack as a material component. There is nothing they can do but wait until Nicos is finished.

In the meantime the Vampire, Altara, continues to question Raza. The monk is determined that the Vampire must let him go. "My friends will come looking for me, and then you will be revealed. There will be more death. You must let me go." Altara doesn't see it himself. "Tell me again of the voices you heard. What were they saying?" Raza shakes his head and says that he cannot remember. He turns away, but twirls back as Raza groans in pain.

Raza falls onto his side and bunches up into a tight ball. A terrible, icy pain stabs at his chest and he screams in abstract agony. A brilliant white light sears from his eyes and mouth. The Vampire steps back as a burning silver fire explodes in Raza's chest and he writhes uncontrollably on the floor. He can sense the Vampire attempting to wrest control of his body, but there is some force keeping him out. The domination clouding Raza's mind is destroyed. Suddenly, what pain there was increases tenfold and Raza flips onto his back, and tries to bury himself in the stone floor. A molten light, the silver of the full moon, erupts from Raza's body. He can feel the marks on his chest as if someone was running a white-hot knife across them. The light from Raza casts the rest of the room into darkness, and projects on to the ceiling images of moons and stars. Finally the monk understands. The marks are indeed a map, but they are more than that; they are also a guide. A guide for him to find the moon gods, to communicate with them. It is an overwhelming desire. Raza feels he must to follow; he must go to them. After a few moments the light is extinguished, the pain disappears and Raza lies on the cold floor of the lair of the Vampire of Sorgar.

In the streets of Sorgar chaos reigns. Just as Raza collapsed into a foetal ball, as the moons rose across the city. Then darkness fell, as if some tremendous something passed between the moons and Iourn. Falling over themselves to get to the window, the remaining Chosen of Narramac look up to see the crescents of the moons Terranor and Zephyre shining out around the sides of this celestial interloper. "What the feck has Raza done now?" Nicos mutters. Then he turns to his companions. He is supercharged, as if it were the full moon. He feels he can do anything. Then, just as quickly as it came, the shape moves away. Nicos can feel the power draining from him.

The event engenders much discussion, and the Chosen can hear riots starting in the city outside. Alessandre wants to know why this sort of chaos follows them where-ever they go? Everyone replies: "Raza." Elias is using Nicos's mirror and commands it to show him Eckerbar. Miraculously, the command works and Elias finds him staring at a face that once human, but is now undead. Eckerbar promptly seizes control of Elias's mind and tells him to smash the mirror. Nicos and Arvan manage to wrestle Elias down and Alessandre ties him up (she seems to enjoy that). Now they have two possessed party members, each by different vampires! What are they to do?

Ravenna comes to a decision. They have to find Raza first. After all the panic he has created with various eclipses and the like they have to get him where they can keep an eye on him. She uses her magic to free Elias from domination, and the group has to rely on Nicos to come up with a means to trace The Vampire of Sorgar. Something no one has ever been able to do. The fire cleric reckons it will be a doddle.

"What happened?" Altara whispers to the monk. It is a question this time, not a demand. Raza looks up, babbling. He heard the voices again, they were calling to him. They were calling for help. "Free us!" they said. They wanted revenge. They want him to go to Mount Korvast, but he can't go to Mount Korvast. He has a mission. He must retrieve the seventh sword and destroy Karatath! "You must free me now before my friends arrive!"

"Easy, Yisweran Larrien," says the Vampire, in a relatively kind tone. "You are in no condition to go anywhere this evening." He lifts Raza gently from the floor. "You will sleep, and with the new day we will talk about the events of this evening." Raza is too weak to resist as Altara carries him from the cold room.

Caladay, 18 Kindlesmoke 204

By lunchtime Nicos has cracked it. Ravenna's pendant is in two halves, one around the neck of the restrained Brack and the other in the fire cleric's hot little hand. After Arvan has healed everyone of their wounds, they follow Nicos out into the afternoon sunshine in the search for Raza and the Vampire of Sorgar. Nicos leads them straight to the docks, and from there to a boat and then out to sea.

Arvan pulls effortlessly on the oars as the boat Nicos impounded yesterday heads beyond the sound. Brack sits balefully at the bows, unmoving and unblinking. The Master has not commanded him further, and the dwarf's own mind is wrestling his vampiric domination. Elias glances worryingly over his shoulder as Sorgar becomes smaller and smaller in the distance. Much further and they will lose sight of the mainland all together, he fears. But Nicos is undaunted. He knows where he is going and is confidant that it isn't much further.

"They are coming," says the Vampire of Sorgar. Raza opens his eyes and rises from the rough cot on which he has spent the night. "They are using the dwarf to trace me. Very imaginative." – "I have to go to them. If they get here they will discover you." – "Do not worry yourself, Yisweran. They will not leave here alive." Raza stops in mid sentence and gazes on Altara. He has little doubt that the vampire can succeed where many others have failed and slay the Chosen of Narramac. "You can't kill them," he says. The Vampire regards him coldly. "Why not?" Raza babbles again about the mission and opposing Karatath. "Is that still all you care about? What of the gods and the marks on your chest?" Raza is silent. He can feel the call of the moon gods. He so wants to drop everything and rush to Mount Korvast and speak with them; but he will not. He wants to know more about them first. He wishes that Zookie were present; the gnome could be extremely helpful right now. And then there is the Brotherhood of the Black Rose. Raza doesn't doubt that they would have noticed his brief conversation with the gods, something that he promised the female elf in the Dreamheart that he wouldn't do. The elves want him dead, the party probably want him dead, Karatath certainly wants him dead, and the moon gods want to use him. "It is all I care about," he tells Altara simply.

"There!" says Nicos pointing to a black pinnacle of jagged, volcanic rising from the sea. They are ten miles from Sorgar. Arvan and Elias on the oars are exhausted, but now the real challenge begins. Arvan steers the boat sharply in a bay and badly scrapes the vessel on the rocks. Getting out the Chosen drag it up the beach. The island is small, no more than a hundred yards across. No sea birds dwell here, however. After a short search, a dark tunnel is visible heading downward. "I say we release Brack from the Vampire now," says Ravenna. "We know where we're going." Everyone agrees and she uses her magic to snap the link between Brack and the Vampire. Miraculously, this time it works. The dwarf shakes himself as he is untied. "I was possessed," he says, by way of explanation. "We know," says Ravenna. "That's why I didn't kill you."

The six walk to the entrance to the dark cave. Nicos mutters something about hating caves and all underground shenanigans. Everyone ignores him. Ten paces into the darkness Alessandre slips her hand into Elias's. He grips it tightly without looking at her. The volcanic ash cracks under their feat, and the air is warm and stuffy. The five drawn blades of virtue shed a light as effective as any spell, casting everything else in to shadow. But this place is not deserted. Arvan pauses to look at the ground. There are footprints here. Arvan identifies the same prints he found back on the Isles of the Dead.

As they move deeper, Brack tells the party what really happened in the Isles of the Dead. He explains how Raza was dominated by the Vampire of Sorgar, what the creature looks like and how it killed Tobin M'Kesh. No-one is very pleased to hear that story. Nicos, Brack and Arvan see Elias and Alessandre are holding hands. Nicos nudges Brack and smiles. "Don't tell Ravenna," he whispers.

"I must prepare to meet them," says Altara to Raza. "You should stay here. You are too weak to travel." – "No!" says Raza. "I will defend my family," says the Vampire. "No-one must be allowed to jeopardise that." Raza says that the Chosen must be left alive to retrieve the seventh sword and destroy Karatath. "Your quest. Is that the only reason you want these people to live? Can it be that you care for them?" Raza thinks for a moment. "Yes," he says slowly. "It is the only reason." Altara laughs. "I have all ready told you that the war is irrelevant. We will endure regardless of who holds dominion over this land. I will keep you safe for as long as you are of interest to me. There is no reason to save these creatures." – "Not even the druid?" Raza begins. "You care for the druid?" – "No. But he's useful." – "Let your past go, Yisweran. And stay here."

Elias, Alessandre, Nicos, Ravenna, Brack and Arvan find the tunnel narrowing and the air growing hotter the deeper they go. They have explored several side passages to no avail and are now squeezing their way through cracks little wider than the bard. Eventually they can see a pair of roughly-hewn columns, standing guardian to an arched doorway at the end of the passageway. Beyond his darkness, and a terrible sense of space. They must be a significant distance below the sea here, and by the temperature they are descending into a volcano. Elias releases Alessandre's hand unwillingly, and raises his shield. She draws her own sword. "Is it magical?" asks Elias. Alessandre nods. "I won it," she adds enigmatically.

"Can you contact Raza with the spell you used before?" Ravenna asks Alessandre. "I can try," says the bard, "but I don't know this place." Alessandre calls out to Raza, sending the words magically on a whispering wind. They do eventually find Raza's ear. The response she gets from Raza does little to calm Alessandre's nerves. "The vampire is coming to kill you," he says, "You must leave him and leave this place." Alessandre turns to the others. "He's a minion," she says simply.

Elias is therefore of the opinion that he must be rescued. By the light of the Blade of Prudence he steps through the archway. The rest of the group quickly follow. Together, the blades shed light in a sixty foot radius, beyond that is the darkness of a vast room. Elias, Nicos and Arvan are uncomfortably reminded of the incident on the Barrowmoors at the beginning of summer. This time, of course, they are not facing wights. They are facing vampires. Brack picks a stone from the floor and throws it into the darkness. It strikes something organic. Elias shudders. He takes a stone, casts a light cantrip upon it and throws it beyond the range of the light shed by the swords. A crowd of pointy toothed vampiric nasties are illuminated by the magic, and they are coming nearer.

Raza weakly swings his legs off the cot and stumbles after the Vampire. He has no way to see in the dark and must follow the footsteps of Altara. Eventually he catches up. Altara turns angrily. "Wait!" says the monk. "Perhaps…. perhaps I do care for them." Altara gaze is particularly searching. He can tell that this omission has cost Raza a degree of his self-control. Every thing that has happened over the last few months has taken a great toll on Raza. The appearance of the Brotherhood of the Black Rose, Arvan's death and subsequent return, the return to his monastery and Zookie's opinion of him, the torture he suffered in the Dreamheart and the all that has happened in Sorgar. More than enough to shatter the mind of someone as young as Raza. But, with the help of the Blade of Temperance, he has pushed it all from his mind. Concentrated on the quest Narramac gave them. He doesn't particularly want to admit to having any emotions.

"They are your family?" Altara asks. Raza nods. The Vampire of Sorgar seems to have some bizarre misplaced affection for the vampires he has created on this island. He seems to act to protect them. In admitting that the other members of the Chosen are like a family to him, he is touching something in Altara that the vampire can understand.

Nicos pulls his mortar from out of his robes. "We can take them," he says unconvincingly as a hundred vampires begin to converge on the party. Brack swings his axe at one of the vampires that comes too close and it jumps back again. Nicos begins to swear incessantly, without drawing breath. Suddenly they can see a greenish light that illuminates a balcony high above them. A tall muscular, blue-skinned and heavily-finned creature that must be the Vampire of Sorgar, appears on the balcony. He steps over the edge and begins to levitate to the floor. He walks slowly toward them, the crowd of vampires parting reverentially before him.

He stops ten feet from the party, well within range of all their weapons, but he doesn't seem to care. He radiates a certain presence enough personal power to tell the party that any fight they start, he will probably finish. Plus he has a hundred vampires to help him. "If you wish to prolong your lives, follow me," says the Vampire in a cold voice. He turns without waiting for a response and strides back across the chamber. The Chosen look at one another and then run along behind him, in the gap that has opened up in the phalanx of vampires.

The Vampire of Sorgar leads them down a dark tunnel and into a cold room, lit by small guttering flame. There, sitting on a cot is Raza de Luna. He has definitely seen better days. The Vampire stands in-between Raza and the rest of the group, so they cannot approach him. Raza does not say anything as they approach, and before they can speak Altara turns to the newcomers.

"Yisweran tells me you are on a mission he considers to be of great importance," there is a hint of sneer in the vampire's voice. Elias says that this is the case. "What is the nature of this mission?" Elias shrugs and tells the vampire that they are travelling to the Hadradan Empire to find information about a seventh sword that may be used to stop the demon who cannot be named. "Yes, I know of Karatath," says Altara, the name echoing around the stone chamber. "So you each hold one of these magical blades, as Yisweran does. What is she here for?" he gestures at Alessandre, "Is she to wield the seventh sword." – "If that is what is to be," says Elias.

"If this mission is so important," says Altara, "Why are you wasting your time hunting vampires?" Ravenna explains about Iltilmus and the fact that they have been tasked with hunting down and killing this murderer. She is quick to add that they do not believe that the Altara is the killer. Elias tells the vampire what he discovered and mentions the name Eckerbar, at which point Altara hisses evilly. "You are correct, of course. Eckerbar is the killer you seek, although I will not permit you to see your mission through."

"You said you would let them live!" Raza exclaims. The vampire denies that he said anything of the sort. "These interlopers have discovered my home. Discovered my family. They will undoubtedly reveal it to others. Fortunately, they came here without telling anyone where they went. I can end the danger by ending their lives."

"Who is Eckerbar?" asks Ravenna, quickly changing the subject. The vampire looks at her. "You are as impudent as Yisweran." Altara is unused to conversing with any one as equals and he seems a little unsure of himself. Ravenna can sense a barely suppressed blood frenzy just bubbling under the surface. "Eckerbar was a mistake," Altara finally admits. "There are many members of my family on this island, for the most part they cannot leave. I do not have the time or the inclination to find food for all of them, so I create progeny who can move through the water as I can. Eckerbar was once a cleric of one of the human sea gods, that link perseveres in death. He was cast out by his church, imprisoned. I came to him and offered him a chance to leave his old life behind. He readily accepted. But there was something wrong. A mania that gripped him. A desire for revenge, far beyond anything I have felt in centuries. He was able to break my hold over him," he eyes Raza, "something that is happening all too often recently."

"That must have been just before the twelfth of Midsummer," says Ravenna. The vampire nods. "Eckerbar is consumed with hatred for the high priest of the church of water. He will do anything to see her dead. He is circling closer and closer to their Coral Palace."

"If he is discovered, then he will lead people back to you," says Ravenna. "The Watchers." – "I do not fear the Watchers," says Altara. "I will find and destroy Eckerbar before they do." Ravenna snorts "You haven't had much success so far. Let us return to Sorgar and destroy him for you." Raza steps forward, and stands perilously close to the vampire. "We won't reveal you," he says. "You have my word."

"Won't you?" says the vampire looking straight at Elias. "I know the reputation that the Vampire of Sorgar has in the city. It is interesting fiction, and one that makes me smile but it is far from the truth and you know it. I killed the Watcher you were friendly with. An unavoidable sadness. Will you simply forgive and forget that?" Raza says they will but Elias's silence speaks volumes. "I thought not."

"Then just take Elias," says Raza calmly. Whether he actually means it, or whether he is playing for time is not immediately clear to the others. "No way," says Alessandre stepping in front of Elias. "That is not going to happen!" An argument between the Chosen quickly ensues, in which everyone except Arvan participates. "Your honour is going to get us all killed!" Raza yells at Elias. The druid actually finds himself smiling apologetically at the vampire. "Hmmm," says Altara looking at the way Alessandre defends Elias. "Division. Division and affection."

"Silence," Altara says. His voice is barely above a whisper, but it cuts through the babble like a knife. "The point is academic. Were I to kill those of you who would reveal me, I fear those of you who would have held my secret would betray me in an instant. There is no solution there."

"What race are you?" asks Raza, happily leaping onto one of the tangents for which he is so renowned. Altara looks as if it is the most insulting question he could possibly have been asked. His face displayed a deep sorrow. "I am Shalarin," he says at last. "Do not wrack your mortal minds, you will not have heard of my people. I am the last of them. Their line ended a thousand years ago when the seas were destroyed."

"The seas were destroyed!?" Ravenna and Elias echo. Altara nods unwillingly. "All the seas north of the land called Belsinor's Girdle by the humans. Destroyed. The greatest stroke of the demon you seek to destroy." Ravenna is suddenly animated. "He destroyed your people? Your entire race? And you say that a fight against him is nothing to do with you? Don't you want revenge?" Altara growls angrily. Nicos points out that perhaps annoying the all-powerful vampire isn't a great idea, but Ravenna ignores him.

"I have no desires beyond the protection of my family. Karatath's minions made me who I am, but that is irrelevant." Ravenna isn't taking no for an answer and continues blindly on, heedless of the danger. "We will destroy the demon that killed your people, doesn't that mean anything?"

"You are extremely tiresome," says the vampire, moving so close to Ravenna that she feels the chill from his unnatural body. "You must trust me!" says Raza quickly. "If you let us go then I promise to return when I have finished my quest. We can kill Eckerbar for you. That must be what you want."

Altara, the Vampire of Sorgar, is left with something of a dilemma. Raza senses that parts of him wants to let everyone go. But how can he do so without risking his own position. His own family? The silence is a long one, Brack shuffles uncomfortably. "Very well," Altara says at length. "You are the Chosen of Narramac. Six swords, six brave souls. You oppose Karatath and his evil. I will free you from my power and allow you to return to my city, so you can find and destroy Eckerbar. I will do all this on one condition," he extends a bony arm and points at Alessandre. "You leave the girl here." A mutter goes over the Chosen, Alessandre turns white and Elias meets the vampire with a stare of utter hatred. "You are the Chosen. She is superfluous, you do not need her to destroy Eckerbar."

Ravenna agrees immediately, much to Elias's disgust. Then Raza has a condition of his own. "Once we have destroyed Eckerbar you must return her to us." Altara nods, "Of course. After you have slain Eckerbar you will take a ship to this Hadras. When you are two days from here, I will return her to you." Raza agrees, saying it is the only way forward.

"Shut up, Raza! Just shut up!" Elias explodes. "I have listened to enough from you!" Elias is utterly outraged by this turn of events. Altara is, but his own words, a cold hearted undead killer. How can they possibly be thinking of striking a deal with this creature. A deal for Alessandre's life? The Vampire says, "You asked me to let you go. To return you to the city with knowledge that could destroy my family. You are asking me to make a leap of faith, to trust where there is no reason to trust. If you ask me to do this, then I must ask the same of you. You must trust me with the girl." Elias points out that he made no such request from the vampire, and that he would sooner see Altara dead that come to any agreement.

"You believe that is a choice. You have two choices, morsel, You can leave the girl here and be allowed to return to my city and hunt Eckerbar, or you can refuse; I will then slay all seven of you without mercy and deal with Eckerbar myself. Decide, my patience wears thin." Elias moves forward. For a moment it seems as though he is going to wade into battle against Altara. Then a quiet voice stops him in his tracks.

ll stay," Alessandre repeats almost as quietly. Elias closes his eyes in despair and turns back to Alessandre. She looks absolutely terrified. "You don't have to," he begins but the bard shakes her head. "What choice is there? There is no choice." All the other members of the party are now looking at Elias. This seems their one chance of leaving this island alive. He knows it too, but he doesn't like it. Ravenna nods her head sympathetically at him. Finally he acquiesces.

Altara smiles triumphantly. "Then leave this place now," he says, "and take Yisweran Larrien with you." – "If you harm her in the slightest!" Elias postures. "Do not waste my time with empty threats. She will be returned to you intact," Altara's smile is not one to inspire confidence, "but here this: Once reunited you will never betray my existence. If you do, know that whatever power is bent against me will be insufficient to destroy me. I will survive and I will seek out everything and everyone you hold dear and inflict the pain I have suffered a thousandfold. Then I will hunt you down one-by-one and turn each of you into my eternal slave. Beginning with her."

The Chosen begin to leave the room. Altara bids Raza a special farewell and makes it clear that he expects the monk to keep his promise and return to him. "Perhaps I do trust you after all," the vampire says, playing with the alien emotion. Elias is the last to go. Nicos waits for his friend in the door. Elias can't take his eyes off Alessandre. She runs to him and he holds her in a desperate embrace. Altara takes her by the shoulder and pulls her back. "My family will not be kept from their food forever. Catch up with your friends, morsel."

Elias gives Alessandre another long look and then allows himself to be led away from the chamber by Nicos. "We've got to talk," says the cleric, but his jest is misplaced. Altara's family of vampires step away from them as they walk toward, but they still chatter and snap their teeth at the Chosen. Elias is utterly silent. On the surface, the boat is shoved back into the water and they make the long row back to Sorgar. Throughout the journey Elias remains silent. No-one is inclined to say anything. They have bought their freedom at a high price, and are relying on the word of an ancient vampire that Alessandre will not be harmed.

The boat returns to Jenkin's Wharf and Elias leads the way directly to the Coral Palace. As soon as he enters he grabs a priest by the scruff of the neck and demands to be taken to Rosemary Telesko. The cleric is shocked and angry, but he recognises Elias and the others. He explains that Telesko is currently performing a ceremony and will be available after dusk. Elias drops the man and storms through the crowds of petitioners that circle the enormous pool at the centre of the Coral Palace. Telesko is standing on the water in the centre of the chamber. She is speaking to the congregation, trying to explain the eclipse and trying to calm the restless minds of her parishioners. The group sits and waits for an audience.

Soon they are approached by the prim cleric Hester Marris. They quickly convey their certainty that Eckerbar is the killer. "Eckerbar?" Hester says. "How can he still move through the water. Surely Sharrash would have rescinded his divine powers if he has become a vampire?" Raza openly scoffs this remark. Elias lies and says that perhaps Eckerbar isn't a vampire, just pretending to be one. In any event they need to speak to Telesko.

Within the hour they are doing just that. Telesko, to her credit, spends only a few moments disbelieving their story. She is quick to spot the truth when she hears it. "There was no attempt to cover up what Eckerbar did, it is simply something we prefer not to mention. He was caught stealing money by the cleric Matisse. Matisse reported the matter to me. I was greatly saddened. Eckerbar was a powerful cleric, well respected and well-trusted, by me especially. I punished him most severely, by stripping him of all rank and sending him to clean out the main sewer into the bay. He hated me for it. I did not know how much. He killed Matisse. Hanged him in his quarters here in the Coral Palace. He did not make a good job of covering up the deed. He was tracked down and arrested, but he escaped about a week later. I remember that it was the first day of Midsummer when he came to the temple. He found his way into my private rooms and tried to murder me. I was able to hold him off long enough for help to arrive. It took eight members of the guard to restrain him."

Before they continue any further, Telesko summons Captain Janus. Janus is head of the guardsman in the Coral Palace. He is a man in his late-forties, bald with a beard, although his voice sounds that of a much younger man. They explain to him what is happening and he nods grimly. "We must expect an attack from anywhere then. Eckerbar knew the Coral Place like the back of his hand. Plus, we must assume that he still has access to the spells and powers granted to him by the Capricious Lady. He can teleport and appear anywhere he desires."

Elias sighs. This will not be easy. Janus and Telesko give the Chosen a quick tour of the tower, and it is decided that he Chosen should not leave the side of the Wavemistress. Many guard captains might resent their toes being stepped on, but Janus is only concerned with the welfare of Telesko. Telesko asks if they should contact the Watchers, and Elias finds himself lying again. He says that he doesn't think that it's a good idea, and the presence of the Watchers might frighten him away. Telesko consents. She wants to keep this quiet. If any link between the vampire and the Church of Water can be kept from the city, so much the better.

The Chosen spend the night sleeping on the floor of the Wavemistress's quarters. Janus and his guards are outside. Since acquiring the Blade of Fortitude, Brack never sleeps. Tonight he notices that Elias cannot sleep either. But the vampire makes no move this evening, and as morning dawns they have a painful day ahead of them waiting for Eckerbar.

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