Zephday, 17 Mizzle Month 204 [continued]
Fenton Pryde politely leads the Chosen of Narramac from his study
and down a short corridor into another room. The room is plushly
upholstered with no windows and no natural light. A heavily polished
desk of dark wood is found at the centre. Leaning against the wall
of the room is what seems to be a pile of rocks – at least,
that is how it appears until it moves. “May I introduce, Mr
Stone,” says Fenton Pryde.
The creature that stands to its full height is not the same ‘Mr
Stone’ the party met last Suntask. At six feet in height, it
is notably shorter, but it is also six feet across the shoulders
and of such a girth that Arvan could not throw his arms around its
waist. Its skin looks like rough sandstone, and they are certain
that it feels stonelike to the touch as well. The face, although
humanoid, is unnaturally broad and strangely chiselled. It is wearing
loose-fitting clothing of a light brown. “Mr Stone will be
aiding you in your investigation. His skills will come in extremely
useful, I am sure.”
The Chosen appraise their new ally. They might have known that
Pryde would have someone to keep an eye on them. “I think you’re
a hired goon,” says Nicos to Stone in his best diplomatic matter.
Stone lurches and eyes Nicos suspiciously. He says in a voice that
sounds like a crate of gravel being tossed down a mine shaft, “I
am a business associate.” Nicos snorts. “Goon,” he
repeats. “Mister Stone,” muses Raza. “What’s
your first name?” Stone gives the monk a firm look. “Mister,”
he replies slowly.
Pryde glides across to the far side of the room. There he takes
a large key from his pocket and inserts it into the wood panelling.
He turns it and a well-concealed cupboard swings open. The space
is just large enough for a hobbit, if sufficient force were given
to ramming him into it. However, it contains only a small box that
Pryde removes and sets upon the table. Opening it he says:
“Due to the interest of certain parties we were not able to
examine the safehouse as thoroughly as we would have liked. These
items of jewellery were recovered however. I think you fill find
them intriguing.” Pryde throws back the lid of the box. Inside
are two objects that seem to be made of the finest silver. One is
a bracelet of seamless design. The other could once have been a
matching necklace, only it is melted almost beyond recognition.
The party crowd into look at the items. Stone watches impassively
from the back of the room. Brack is first to the scene. His hand
darts out instinctively and snatches the bracelet. “This isn’t
silver,” he says in awe. “This is mithril!” A quick
reappraisal is necessary. Mithril is an extremely precious ore mined
only by dwarves. It is very rare and has unique properties. Mithril
is an extremely good conductor of magic, and is often used in the
creation of devices of wondrous power. Ravenna calls on the power
of the Weave and detects magic in the room. What she discovers is
very disturbing.
Both the bracelet and the ruined necklace have feint traces of
necromantic and abjuration magic about them. However, they actually
type of magic is what gives her pause. It is the same magic that
she sensed in that watery hand that tried to throttle Arvan yesterday.
The same magic they discovered when they tried to look for her mother!
Can it all be connected? Alastor Helm, Jhasik’s disappearance
and her parents? Could she have finally stumbled on a lead after
more than a year?
Ravenna calms her excitement and passes her gaze over Stone. The
bracers on his wrist are protective magic of some sort and the large
two-handed warhammer that is strapped to his back radiates a strong
evocation enchantment. Such things are always worth knowing. She
picks up and handles the bracelet. It is two small for even a child
to put on, and there seems to be no catch with which to open it.
However, there is one indentation along its length. It is as though
something was connected to the bracelet, and has been snapped off.
Something thin and cylindrical. That is all she can tell.
Pryde explains that these items were simply found lying on the
floor in the warehouse at 17 Bridle Walk. Nicos remembers Bridle
Walk from when he was a child. It is a serious of abandoned warehouses
at the point where the Gutterhive backs on to the Uri. They’ve
never been used for anything apart from places for children to play
in, or criminals to meet, or street gangs to wage their wars. Lovely
place to grow up, the Gutterhive.
They need to check this safe-house out. They decide not to talk
to Dellan Gant immediately, but to retire to the White Suite and
try some scryings to see if they can find more information. Pryde
nods. “As you wish he says. If you will excuse me, I now have
some matters to deal with. If you wish to interview Dellan Gant
at a later stage, Mr Stone will give you all the help you need.”
It is obvious from his demeanour that Pryde has now completely washed
his hands of this whole affair. The party lives and dies on its
own wit from here on. “Keep me informed,” Pryde says to
Stone and moves to the doorway. At the door he pauses and turns
to the group.
Pryde says, “Bear in mind that this is a group of rogue wizards.
On would assume that the Arcanum Incognita would be keeping a close
eye on this matter but they are not. This could mean many things,
but the most obvious conclusion to draw is that they are in some
way involved. Be cautious.”
Pryde’s departing words do little to fill the party with confidence
as they return to the White Suite. Stone hasn’t been in the
palace before and is surprised at the luxury the Chosen of Narramac
dwell in. It is still raining so they retire to the garden, for
Arvan to start scrying. However, Arvan can only scry one person
an hour, and as such Nicos’s mirror is still useful. The fire
cleric is happy to be useful as it seems Arvan is now more of a
fire cleric than he is.
“So what happened to the original Mr Stone?” Ravenna
asks to the walking mountain. Stone looks at her solemnly. “He
is dead,” he replies. “Killed by this Alastor Helm?”
asks the sorceress. Stone nods. “So this is personal?”
Ravenna asks, and takes Stone’s silence as confirmation of
that. While this is happening Nicos and Arvan begin to do their
scrying thing.
They cannot find Alastor Helm – hardly surprising. Nicos scries
Drasha and discovers her in a meeting with Squire Driskal. Elias’s
note would not have reached Umbria yet. On a whim Nicos tries to
scry Kelton and Rembrandt. He figures that they might be useful.
He conjures an image of them in Sorgar. They are seated in a gondola
being punted through the narrow canals, looking up at the fabulous
architecture. They are drinking wine. If Nicos didn’t know
better he would say that they are on holiday!
Ravenna asks Arvan to scry for her uncle again. The druid does
so and reveals Jhasik again on the rack, but not currently being
tortured by a demonic nasty. Her uncle does not look in the best
of spirits and at least one of his arms is dislocated. Ravenna curses.
After her own experience at the hands of the Mannenites, she does
like to see anyone tortured. Arvan tries to look more at the cave
this time to see whether or not they can tell where it is. It is
definitely a natural stone cave, with an exit but there is no telling
where the tunnel goes. Panning across as best he can Arvan catches
sight of another figure chained to a nearby wall. It is a woman.
A woman that Arvan recognises.
“Rio Shai’ir,” says the druid. Nicos looks down
into the puddle. It certainly seems to be Rio. But Nicos couldn’t
scry her when he tried a few days ago. He pulls out his mirror and
searches for Rio, but he cannot find her. His mirror is telling
him that her presence is being obscured by magic of some kind. Then
a thought hits him. “Her sister….. Show me Alicia Shai’ir!”
Nicos commands. The mirror flickers into life and Alicia is revealed.
She is chained to a wall not far from Jhasik. Now it is Nicos’s
turn to be confused.
“Maybe someone has confused Alicia for Rio,” says Elias
sagely. “But why would Alastor Helm want Rio or Alicia?”
asks the perplexed fire cleric. “Maybe there’s some connection
between you and Ravenna,” Brack says. “Maybe you are related!”
Ravenna gives the dwarf a searing look.
“What about Derriac?” Ravenna asks, and another scrying
takes place. Derriac is walking along an Hadradan road with a company
of seven dwarves. One of them is Blaine and one is female which
probably points her out as the Maker, Halbeara. Brack is curious
to see what they look like. “Is this all really necessary?”
asks Stone irritably. “We’ve been sitting here for three
hours. We are losing daylight, we need to move.” Raza agrees.
He has no-one to scry and no magic of his own. It is time to move
on.
They head back inside where Lucien provides them with a hot drink.
Ravenna looks though the list of Jhasik’s creditors absently
and two more names leap out upon her. The first is Argesteine Fletcher.
She sold Jhasik some mithril ore. Very odd. The second is Edoran
Galchen. According to her Uncle, Galchen had been hired in the past
by her father to find her mother when she went missing before. Jhasik
said he hired him to do the same job in the future. He owes Galchen
almost three thousand crowns. And there is more. Following her torture
at Mannenite lands a memory of Ravenna’s earliest years was
unlocked. Galchen was known to her parents. He visited them. “Lucien,
have we tried to pay Edoran Galchen any money?” Lucien nods.
“Yes, madame. Most peculiar. He refused any payment from me.”
“Who’s this Galchen?” asks Stone. “A friend
of my parents,” Ravenna replies. “How is this relevant
to finding Helm?” – “My parents are missing?”
– “And?” – “They are connected to the same
magic I detected from the jewellery found at Bridle Walk. Magic
I had never found before. It is connected.” – “I
see. And what is that?” Stone indicates the list of creditors.
Ravenna explains that it is a list of people owed money by her uncle.
Alastor Helm, Edoran Galchen, Dellan Gant and Argesteine Fletcher
all appear upon it. “Oh, and it also has their addresses,”
says the sorceress absent-mindedly.
“You have Helm’s address?” storms Stone with a mixture
of anger and incredulity. Ravenna says that it is unlikely that
Helm is going to be there, but of course they will check it out.
“First of all, we should see this Edoran Galchen. Where is
he Lucien?” The efficient servant tells Ravenna that he is
dwelling above an inn called The Unborn Calf at the edge of the
Gutterhive. That is their first destination. Or it would be if they
did not have a visitor. There is is a knock at the door and Ralyon
Artusi is shown into the White Suite.
Artusi swaggers into the room looking resplendent and carrying
a highly polished cane. “Ravenna! I am so pleased to see you!”
he says and moves to embrace her. Ravenna is having none of it and
squirms out of the nobles grasp. “Sit down, Ralyon,” she
says so sharply that nobleman instantly obeys. “Where is my
uncle?” she demands. Stone is a little surprised by this turn
of events. He knows Ralyon Artusi is one of the contenders for the
Crown and that he has been romantically linked to Ravenna, but what
has he to do with this?
“Your uncle is missing?” Artusi stammers. “Why that
is terrible, Ravenna. What can I do to help?” – “You’re
telling me you know nothing about this?” – “No! Nothing,
how could I?” – “Alastor Helm,” says Ravenna
flatly. Artusi’s face falls a foot. “Do you deny that
you know him?” – “Of course not. He is an alchemist,
I have had some business dealings with him in the past. Do you believe
he has something to do with your uncle’s disappearance?”
Ravenna tells Ralyon (and everyone else) of the evening in Heathaze
when she overheard the conversation between Ralyon and the messenger.
There must be more to their relationship that customer and alchemist.
Ralyon shakes his head. “If you did overhear you will remember
that I sent the messenger away with a flea in his ear. Helm is a
very insistent man – a perfectionist, but I was not to be at
his beck and call. He wanted to see me about some work he was doing
for me – some elixirs and such like. I saw him the following
day. Ravenna, I want you know that I’m hear to help you. I
have certain resources, I can see if I can find your uncle for you.
I can give you Helm’s address if you want it. I will send your
servant to my townhouse to retrieve it.”
Ravenna and the others do not know what to make of this. Artusi
seems sincere, although he is a consummate politician and may be
deceiving them. Ravenna seems to take his word for it. She kisses
him and apologises for her behaviour. She is rather shook up about
her uncle’s disappearance, she says. Ralyon tells her that
he understands. He will leave her to her business. He invites her
to dinner at his townhouse this evening and she gratefully accepts.
On his way out they ask Artusi whether he knows of any cave systems
around Uris, but he does not. Ralyon leaves as quickly as he came.
Ravenna explains Ralyon to Stone. Stone wonders if he could be
the contender to the Crown that is working with Helm. It seems likely,
but there’s something about Ralyon that makes it difficult
for Ravenna to believe he is part of a grand conspiracy. “He
hasn’t the wits,” says the sorceress.
Leaving the White Suite, the Chosen of Narramac and Reuben Stone
head towards the merchant district to check out Alastor Helm’s
address. Ravenna wanted to go immediately to The Unborn Calf, but
Mr Stone was not to be gainsaid on the matter. They trace the address
to a well-appointed shop in the merchant district. In the street
of traders the party come across a shop that has the sign of a smoking
bottle, gold and fire, and the word “Alchemist” for those
that can read. The rain hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of the
traders who are continually hawking their wares.
The entrance is on the first floor and they must mount a flight
of steep stone steps. Inside the pungent aroma of a hundred strange
chemicals assault the group. As their eyes become accustomed to
the gloom they can see shelves upon shelves of elegantly blown glass
bottles filled with suspiciously coloured liquids. Other strange
jars and odd herbal assortments dot the shelves. There is a long
wooden counter against one wall. A man stands on the far side.
The man begins to look down his news at the party, before he recognises
Mr Stone as an enforcer for Fenton Pryde and becomes the most helpful
man the group has ever encountered. His name is Norris Hemlock,
and he is running the shop for the owner, Alastor Helm. Helm used
to live the rooms beneath the shop, but now they are used for storage.
He is happy to show Mr Stone and the others around. The Chosen are
a little surprised but Stone is used to people jumping at his presence
and doing as they are told. Even the heavy, Luska, employed by Hemlock
to guard the stock does not even consider getting in Stone’s
way.
The apartment below has not been lived in for some considerable
time. The party search it for nearly an hour and come up with nothing
for their trouble. Hemlock has no forwarding address for Helm, and
has not heard from his employer since he left. The group gets the
impression that Hemlock is secretly glad of this because he gets
to be his own boss. Hemlock cannot say whether his employer was
an arcanist, but Ravenna points out that knowing about alchemy doesn’t
exclude Helm also being a wizard or a sorcerer.
Ravenna shows Hemlock the mithril jewellery, but he does not recognise
the workmanship. He tells them that it is mithril, but then they
all ready knew that. Hemlock is politely pretends to be intimidated
by Nicos for Stone’s sake and looks through his register to
see if he can tell them the exact date Helm moved out. He can. Helm
left on the fifteenth of Brightday this year. There’s a date
that rings a bell.
The party leave the shop and a terrified Hemlock and head to the
Gutterhive and The Unborn Calf where they hope to see Edoran Galchen.
They pause at a weapon-mongers so Brack can buy a lance. From there
they will head to Bridle Walk and see what they can find at the
warehouse. As they near the Gutterhive the buildings become increasingly
tatty and the streets are closer together.
The Unborn Calf is situated on a crossroads in the least desirable
part of the New City, on the very edge of the Gutterhive. They enter
the dilapidated inn to find it very small. At a push it could hold
only fifteen people, fortunately it is mid-afternoon – tool
late for lunch and too early for the evening drinkers. The only
person in the bar is an extremely imposing woman who looks as though
she could bench-press a shire horse. She is running a mop across
the rutted floor and looks up at the party when they enter. Her
eyes fall upon Mr Stone.
“I’ve paid my mark,” she says with none of the fear
and deference of Norris Hemlock. “You have no reason to come
here.” Elias shakes his head. Pryde runs an extortion racket.
Elias is a paladin and he is associating with a man who runs an
extortion racket. Stone steps forward gravely. “We are here
on a different matter,” says Stone. “We have come to see
Edoran Galchen.”
“Really,” says the woman folding her arms and standing
in front of the stairs. “And why do you want to see him?”
Ravenna steps forward. “I believe he knew my parents. They
are missing. I’m hoping he can help me find them.” The
woman regards Ravenna closely as if trying to weigh up if she is
speaking the truth. “I see,” she says at length. “Megan!”
At the woman’s shout another figure emerges through a curtain
behind the bar. It is Alessandre. The Chosen are gripped in shock.
Elias’s jaw hits the floor with a resounding thud. But it is
not Alessandre. The resemblance is uncanny. The two could be more
than sisters. Every nuance of Alessandre’s face has been captured.
They are the same height, the same build. Their hair is the same,
but Megan is younger. She is probably only Ravenna's age.
“Mother?” asks Megan. The innkeeper says, “Go and
rouse Galchen. Tell him he has visitors.” The girl nods and
moves to the stairs. Elias’s eyes follow her like a hawk. Megan
raises an inquisitive eyebrow at him. Exactly the same gesture Alessandre
used to use. Elias glances at his companions. He is not mad, they’ve
seen it too. But they are willing to put it down as a coincidence.
Yet how can it be? She is so like her.
As Megan heads upstairs Brack heads outside and walks around the
alley at the rear of the building. He thinks Galchen is going to
make a run for it. A minute later Megan bounds back down the stairs.
“Did he owe you money?” she asks the Chosen. “Because
he left through his window.”
Stone and the Chosen explode into action. Outside Brack gives a
shout. He can see Galchen pulling himself up onto the roof of the
inn. Brack mounts up on Shredder and starts to pursue on the ground.
Raza uses his magic boots to spring up onto the roof and give chase.
Stone begins to climb the wall, Ravenna cast spider climb and follows.
Nicos runs along after Shredder. “Show me Galchen!” he
commands the mirror, and races along following the action in the
mirror. Arvan turns into a gull and takes to the air. There is no
escape for Edoran Galchen.
Elias watches his friends go and judging that the full plate he
is wearing stops him from climbing walls and running very quickly
he sits himself in a corner and asks for a drink. At least this
way he can study Megan more closely.
The Unborn Calf is at the end of a terrace of similar buildings,
divided from other terraces by narrow alleyways. Galchen seems to
know the roof-tops and dodges left and right with consummate skill.
However, Raza is both dextrous and is travelling at amazing speed.
He can turn all the corners and make the leaps between terraces
that Galchen can. He is closing on the man. Stone and Ravenna are
neck and neck. For a pile of rock Stone seems quite spry and he
easily makes a leap over an alley way, even if he does land on the
other side with almost enough force to go straight through the roof.
Ravenna misses the leap and feather falls to the ground, curses
and then spider-climbs up the other side.
Galchen eventually comes to the end of the road. A wide street
that he cannot jump. He stops at the edge of the wall and looks
back at Raza only a few yards behind him. He steps off into space.
Raza bounds after him using his monkish skills to slow his fall.
He passes Galchen who is hanging onto a window sill. By the time
Raza strikes the ground Galchen his pulled himself up and in to
a room above a fruit-mongers shop. Arvan is having none of this.
He swoops in through the window turning back into a half-orc in
mid-flight and landing on top of Galchen. The man curses.
Brack, Shredder and Nicos arrive at the front of the fruit shop
and bound in. They ignore the protestations of the shop keeper and
head upstairs. Galchen throws Arvan off and desperately tries to
open the door onto the landing, but the druid is blocking the doorway.
He is trying to wrestle Arvan out of the way when Raza bounds in
through the open window, following moments later by Reuben Stone
swinging down from the roof. Stone takes much of the wall with him.
Arvan gets to his feet and Galchen moves back towards the door,
which is thrown open from the landing by Brack and cracks Galchen
painfully in the back of the head. The man staggers. Holding his
head he sees he is surrounded by Nicos, Brack, Stone, Raza and Arvan.
He sighs. “You can’t escape!” says Ravenna spider
climbing her way in through the window. “Surrender.”
Galchen raises his hands. “You go me!” he says. The party
now have their first good look at Galchen. He is not a young man,
he could be fifty seasons of age. “Do you know me?” Ravenna
asks. Galchen says that he doesn’t. “I am Ravenna Tannesh.”
Galchen obviously knows that name. Ravenna tells him that she is
looking for her parents, and that he wants him to help, but first
“Why did you run?”
Galchen says that he’s taken a few jobs on recently that could
have got him a couple of enemies. After some cajoling he is made
to reveal that he was employed by a nobleman called Jeb to retrieve
a sword that was stolen from him. The problem being that it was
stolen by Samuel Brine. The Chosen have heard of Brine, he’s
also a nobleman, and not a very pleasant one. Galchen did the job,
but fears reprisals. Ravenna believes Galchen’s explanation.
“What did my uncle hire you for?” she asks. Galchen looks
momentarily confused, and then says, “What do you think?”
– “To find my parents?” – “You got it!
But I couldn’t find them.” – “And that’s
why you refused the money offered to you by Lucien?” Galchen
nods. “Please tell me your relationship with my parents.”
Galchen sighs. This encounter is certainly not going as he feared
it would. “Let me see,” he muses. “I was a long time
ago. You were only a nipper. I think it would have been about Mizzle
Month. Yes, exactly four years ago – how about that? I had
a reputation for finding people back in those days. I was good at
it. You Dad came to me and said that his wife, Alhanna was missing.
She’d run away. Well we looked and looked. Took us nearly three
weeks to track her down in New Galys. Took your father quite a while
to persuade her to come back. She was scared.”
“Why?” Ravenna asks quickly. Galchen shrugs. “I’m
not rightly sure. I was guessing that the Arcanum Incognita were
somehow involved. Your mother was a wizard or something I think.
I was sorry to hear she was missing again, and your Dad too. You’ve
grown up into a fine girl, though.”
Ravenna thanks him and kisses Galchen on the cheek. She has a little
more information about her mother than she did before, but the involvement
of the Arcanum Incognita in all of is not something she is pleased
about. Galchen says that he knows nothing of a man called Alastor
Helm when Stone asks him. Stone then placates the owner of the shop.
She pays her ‘insurance’ to Fenton Pryde he assures her,
and therefore this damage will be taken care of with no expense
to her. Stone explains that Pryde is in fact doing a service to
the community. He is, in fact a very reliable man.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” Megan asks Elias, pausing
in her sweeping of the common room. “You just remind me of
someone,” says Elias wistfully. Megan laughs raucously. “I’m
sorry,” she says. “I haven’t heard that one in a
while.” Elias bristles, the girl obviously thinks he is trying
to pick her up. “It’s true,” he says. “All right.
I look very like a friend of yours.” She goes back to her sweeping.
“What’s your name?” Elias asks. Megan smiles mischievously
to herself, as if she knows Elias better than he does. Elias has
seen that look before. “I am called Megan Karn.” –
“How long have you lived here?” – “All my life.
Born and bred in the city. I hope to leave it one day. My mother
did. She was a famous adventuress in her day, you know.” –
“You’ve never left the city?” Elias is dumbfounded.
How can this Megan look so much like his Alessandre?
“Who are you anyway?” asks Megan. “I am Elias Raithborne.”
Elias watches as Megan rolls the name around in her mind. “The
Elias. The Chosen of Narramac?” Elias nods. Now he has her
interest. She wants to know everything about their adventures and
their palace life, but Elias is more interested in finding out things
about her.
“Can you play an instrument?” he asks. Megan shrugs.
“A little,” she says. “I like to play the whistle.”
Elias reaches into his robe and pulls out Alessandre’s flute.
“Could you play this?” Megan takes it in her hand reverentially.
“This is an amazing piece of work!” she exclaims. “It
must be worth a fortune. Who’s is it?” – “It
belonged to my…. friend.” – “The one I look
like?” – “Yes.” – “So where is she
now?” – “She died.” – “Oh. You want
me play a dead woman’s flute?” – “Is that a
problem?” – “I’m just not very good, I won’t
do it justice.” Elias smiles at Megan, “Try.”
Megan glances at her mother who doesn’t seem to be watching
and places the flute to her lips. She plays a bawdy tune worthy
of Alessandre herself. Her playing is exquisite. Elias closes his
eyes and pretends that it is Alessandre he is hearing. Again uncanny.
Far more of a coincidence. At the counter Megan’s mother pauses
to listen to her daughter. She stares at her with love and pride.
Megan finishes the song and hands the flute back to Elias. “Wow,”
she says. “I’ve never played like that before.”
Elias is about to say something else when the mother chides Megan
and tells her to get on with the sweeping. Elias continues to watch
the girl until Edoran Galchen comes in, smiles sheepishly and heads
up to his room. He is followed a minute later by rest of the Chosen
and Stone. Ravenna tells Elias everything that happened. Then Stone
speaks. “While we were running across the roof-tops we were
being watched by a man in a black cloak on a building across the
street. We should check it out.”
Elias stands and leaves with his friends. He doesn’t really
want to leave Megan, but duty calls. He bids her farewell –
she is a mystery that he intends to solve. They cross the street
to the building Stone indicates. Inside the building is simply a
shell. There is nothing on the ground floor and some rickety steps
lead upward. This place has been abandoned for some time. Then it
hits the party that they have been here before. On 14 Suntask, on
their way to see the destruction of Scaldarnus first hand, they
were ambushed by a group of me in plate armour, and attacked by
a Watcher wielding a spiritual weapon. It was the first time they
used the Blades of Virtue. Strange that they should be drawn back
to this place again. A coincidence. Elias doesn’t like coincidence.
There are too many coincidences around here recently.
They head up onto the roof but there is no sign of a black-cloaked
figure. Neither Arvan nor Brack can find any tracks, but Stone is
convinced that he saw someone. Arvan volunteers to cast speak with
plants on some moss that is growing on a nearby wall. The moss is
pure Gutterhive moss, and has a “what’s in it for me?”
attitude to Arvan’s questions. The druid promises to cast a
plant growth spell upon the moss if it helps. “All right, what’s
your problem?” the moss says. The moss can tell them that a
human was very recently on the roof top, but he appeared and vanished
in a manner that could only have been achieved by magic. Arvan thanks
the moss and casts plant growth as promised. By this time next season,
the moss will cover the entire roof. Stone, who hasn’t worked
with a druid before, is a little surprised by Arvan’s methods.
The party head into the Gutterhive to find 17 Bridle Walk.
The weather has driven most people from the streets as the group
traverse the Gutterhive. A wide street (wide for the Gutterhive)
that shows only a small hint that it was once cobbled, winds through
tightly packed slum housing of inferior design and quality. Buildings
are juxtaposed so tightly, and the walls are so thin that there
is no privacy here. The alleys that occasionally appear between
the houses are too narrow for Stone for enter. The dwellings are
one story and crumbling. Tattered tarpaulins cover open windows,
and flap noisily in the wind letting rain into the home.
Bridle Walk is the name of a series of abandoned warehouses on
the north bank of the Uri where it runs through the Gutterhive.
They’ve been abandoned for years except for criminals and gangs
of youths. There was no one using them when Nicos was a child running
around the slums. 17 Bridle Walk is much like the others. A one
storey building perhaps 80 feet wide and half that high, sits in
the centre of a row of five identical buildings. It is low and simply
made of crude stone. Six windows and one door on this side are recently
boarded up with ill-fitting wooden slats.
The place was boarded up by the city watch that is (of course)
in Fenton Pryde’s pocket. Stone and Brack move to the door
and start ripping down the boards. Inside the warehouse looks as
though it has been the centre of a massive battle, and indeed probably
has. The interior has been completely gutted. There are four boarded
windows and a door on the river side. To the right was once a warren
of smaller rooms and offices, but the walls have been blown in with
some force, and now the floor is covered in rubble and detritus.
There is an unwholesome smell about the place. From the lines on
the walls it was certainly flooded during Heathaze. Beyond that
are the tell-tale signs of heavy amounts of fire magic being let
off in close quarters.
“Try and find some ash,” says Nicos. He plans to cast
the clue of ash spell to work out what happened in this place. Slowly
the group begins to move out an explore. It is not a pleasant task
picking their way through the filth in on the floor. Ravenna chances
a detect magic spell but there is no success. Brack finds something
shining in the light and stoops down to retrieve a small lump of
mithril. It’s little bigger than a half-penny and seems to
be a solidified drop of molten mithril that dripped from somewhere.
Then Stone makes another discovery.
Along the eastern wall of the warehouse (to their left as they
entered) are a series of regular grooves in the floor, as if something
heavy had been resting there. Whatever these objects were they were
carried and dragged out of the warehouse down to the door by the
river. There were about twelve feet long and three feet wide. What
could they have been.
Suddenly Shredder starts to bark. He has found something buried
underneath the rubble and begins to dig frantically at the ground.
Elias, Stone and Brack move into help the orc-hound, while Ravenna
concentrates on the area with a detect magic spell. There is certainly
something down there.
While this digging is taking place Arvan draws Nicos’s attention
to something he has discovered at the foot of the frame of the southern
door. Tobacco. Ash from a pipe. Nicos is very pleased. He can use
the powers given to him by Calafax to view the last few minutes
of the tobacco’s existence before it burned away. Arvan can’t
do that.
Nicos squats down and works his magic on the ash. He then collapses
backwards as the vision over takes him. It is very dark, then stubby
fingers take him out of a tobacco pouch and begin ramming him into
a pipe. Through the round hole in the top of the pipe Nicos can
see two men. From the description they were given by Pryde, one
of them is obviously Alastor Helm. The second – the man with
the pipe – is a pug-nosed, greasy haired individual, whose
main identifying feature is his staggeringly ugly face. This man
raises the pipe to light it and Nicos sees more of the warehouse.
It is a sunny day, and the door to the river is open. There is
a barge out there, at the end of a short jetty. Down the eastern
wall where Stone found the grooves in the ground are a series of
silver cages. At least Nicos thinks they are silver – they
could be mithril, but if they are they are worth a king’s ransom.
The cages are packed with people, all of them human and all of them
looking as though they haven’t had a square meal in some considerable
time. Around the rest of the warehouse are a number of well-dressed
men and women that Nicos assumes are allies of Helm. There are also
other, frightened individuals, who seem to be packing clothes and
equipment. These must be Dellan Gant’s group, and Nicos certainly
recognises the slug-shaped Hurg, and Honour. He is sorry to see
her here.
“You’re sure you want to move now?” the ugly pipe-smoker
says to Helm. “You know I have no choice. With Dellan Gant
gone the security of this place is compromised.” Helm’s
voice is clipped and confident. From the accent Nicos suspects he
is a native of Uris. The ugly man shrugs, “Your decision. I
just thought you had to stay.” – “You ask too many
questions,” Helm says threatening. The ugly man raises his
hands in a conciliatory gesture. “All right. All right. I don’t
need to know. Just making conversation.” – “Don’t.
Now, shouldn’t you be helping your men?” The ugly man
swears, and knocks his pipe out against the doorframe. The vision
ends and Nicos returns to reality.
While he has been away. Much has happened in the warehouse. The
goal of Shredder’s digging is discovered to be something particularly
macabre. Two bodies, that are little more than skin. They have been
buried for at least three weeks and there are sign of decomposition,
but that cannot mask what was done to them. It is as though their
insides had been completely liquefied. There is nothing more than
a human-shaped bag of ichor. Shredder immediately begins to chow
down.
Ravenna has seen this before and says as much to her companions.
In that strange dream she had while they crossed The Plains of Acheron.
This is what she dreamt had happened to her parents. Everything
is connected, but it is not immediately certain how. Then Raza and
Arvan give a shout.
While everyone else had been examining the bodies, they saw a strange
green slime rise up through the rubble in the north-eastern corner
of the warehouse and begin to slide forward. A strange gelatinous
form, that looks much a like a viscous puddle with attitude is rolling
over the ground towards Raza. It lashes out towards him. Raza backflips
agilely out of the way. Ravenna steps forward and hurls a lightning
bolt at the creature. She neatly splits it in half. Now there are
two monsters, one heading towards Raza and a second slithering towards
the rest of the party. Ravenna curses.
Arvan calls upon new found druidic might and summons a column of
flame above the monster pursuing Raza. The fire comes into being
about twenty feet above the ooze and explodes both up and down,
striking the creature and atomising a portion of the roof. The flame
strike does not seem to harm the creature, but it does slow its
advance on Raza, the monk is easily able to keep ahead of it, although
he cannot get to the front door and escape onto the street. He does
not think that punching or kicking this brute would be a particularly
good idea.
Brack steps forward and hurls two throwing axes at the monster
oozing towards them. They strike and are absorbed into its bulk
to no seeming effect. Stone seeing that Arvan’s fire at least
slowed the monster tosses a flask of burning oil at their attacker,
wreathing the front of it in flame. Two slowed monsters, but not
a dent on them yet. Ravenna steps back and considers this problem.
This isn’t a natural creature.
It is at this point that Nicos wakes up. “You’re not
going be believe what I just saw guys,” he begins before he
realises what is going on. “Fire seems to slow them,”
Arvan says to Nicos as they watch Raza throw some holy water at
the original creature to no discernible effect. “Right then!”
Nicos yells, “Eat fire, Muddy Funkster!” Since he returned
to Norandor he has felt his link with Calafax to be even stronger
than before. Nicos feels he can try something that would only recently
have been beyond him. He surrounds the ooze with a wall of fire,
hopefully trapping it.
Stone tosses more fire at the second ooze, but it is obviously
not hurting it. It is time to get more martial. He draws his hammer
and strides up to the creature. At his side is Brack, holding Usslüs.
The pair hammer out striking solid blows on the beastie. However,
their blows are so powerful that they thrust their weapons into
the gelatinous mass. Although Brack manages to wrench Usslüs
free, Stone’s hammer is pulled from his grasp and can be seen
floating within the creature next to Brack’s throwing axes.
Stone isn’t happy.
Raza isn’t happy either. Nicos’s wall of fire, though
impressive and very useful for setting fire to the ceiling, does
not hold the beast. It flows through the flames and rising up strikes
Raza, burning him with acidic dribble. Then it attempts to drag
him inside itself as it did with Stone’s hammer, but the monk
resists. In the meantime Arvan summons two man-sized worms of elemental
fire and sends them against the creature attacking Brack and Stone.
Then Ravenna has a though. It’s not a natural creature, it
is construct – a golem. Something of a piece of work, she appreciates.
Golems are odd things. They are affected in peculiar ways by very
specific spells, but are otherwise immune to magic. “Try random
spells!” the sorceress cries helpfully.
Raza, without spells (random or otherwise) flees from the ooze.
The wall of fire are Arvan’s worms are slowing the creatures
but the group is having little other effect. It is only a matter
of time before they are whittled down by it. Ravenna casts a spectral
hand and begins unleashing touch spells from a safe distance at
the creatures. Chill touch has no effect on the beasts. Arvan is
now close enough to the second ooze to be attacked by it as Raza
was, but he is resisting being engulfed as he hammers away with
a flame blade.
Raza is running around like a headless chicken towards the river
door but it is barred against. Now the original ooze is flanking
Brack, Ravenna, Elias and Stone. Then Arvan tries a create water
spell on the one he is facing. The water strikes the ooze and there
is a spitting as the pure water merges with the toxic golem and
dilutes it. That certainly hurt the creature. They have a weapon
that works, even if it is only an orison.
“The river!” yells Elias. Try to lure them to the river.
They look at the boarded windows and doors on the river-side of
the warehouse. They will take time to unbar. There is a whistle
and an explosion as a well-placed fireball from Nicos blows out
all the doors and windows on that side of building. The fire cleric
smiles to himself.
Raza is the first one out of the door. He leaps up onto the roof
out of harms way and to keep a look for observers. Maybe the man
in the black cloak that Stone saw has followed them here. The monk
believes himself safe on the roof, although he has to dodge the
flames.
Arvan lets fly with more water as they back away toward the door
to the river. Stone is a little nervous. One step in the river and
he will sink like a…. well, like a stone. It’s a fear
that Brack can sympathise with. Ravenna chances her hand with a
shocking grasp spell. “So,” she says afterwards. “It’s
electricity that makes them separate, not the lightning bolt spell.”
Now faced with three of these creatures the group seem in trouble.
However, create water seems a surprisingly effective weapon, and
before they can strike out at the brave Brack, Arvan has washed
them all away. Stone reclaims his hammer. The magical weapon is
undamaged, but Brack’s axes are ruined by the acid. Arvan uses
his powers to put out the fire in the room (much to Nicos’s
annoyance) and Raza returns to report. “No one was watching
us,” he says myopically.
Brack returns to shredder who has no eaten one corpse and is starting
on the second. “How many of these things are there in the Gutterhive?”
he asks. “First it was that air elemental and now this.”
Elias says that he doesn’t think that this creatures presence
was a coincidence. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Ravenna tells the party that it was some sort of ooze golem, created
by powerful magic. Maybe by Alastor Helm himself.
The question is, what to do now. Nicos retells his story. They
can deduce that the cages were taken by barge down to the docks.
They could be anywhere now. Ravenna curses her inability to help
Honour. This entire matter seems to be getting more and more complicated,
but they still have several leads. Ravenna wants to speak to Dellan
Gant, and then there is this Argesteine Fletcher character to track
down. But it is almost dusk and she has a dinner date with Ralyon
Artusi. After checking that there is nothing else they have missed
in the warehouse (there isn’t) the seven return to the White
Suite.
Waiting for
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