Second Ptolus Campaign Journal, #52
The 15th of Birth
Today Calista’s special teleport item is ready — it’s a special stone enchanted to make me weightless to someone casting a teleportation spell. I’m so excited to no longer be a burden when teleporting! What a great gift.
Also today, the Killraven troglodyte Durant sends us a message. He wants to come visit us at Pythoness House tomorrow. Wow, that was fast. I guess his boss really wants that information we have from our visit to the future.
Calista casts a few more repair spells in the house, and we do more general work on the place. That evening we have dinner in Delver’s Square. After dinner, as we’re walking through Midtown it occurs to me that it’s been a week since Malkeen Balacazar came to see us — that means it’s been about a week since he said we had about a week until the Covenant vampires regroup to come after us.
As I recall that, we see three figures waiting for us on the street: One is a City Watchman, one appears to be a knight, and one is a cleric of Lothian. But they’re glassy-eyed and don’t respond to our calls. They sure seem dominated to me. Their weapons are drawn, and so are ours. Then we hear a strange apelike noise behind us. I turn to find two horned dire apes on top of me. A couple swings dispatch them, but our three blank-staring foes attack us next, and battle is joined by a big dire mountain lion that pounces on me. Meanwhile, people start shooting arrows at us too. It’s a nicely planned ambush, I’m sorry to say.
As we’re embroiled with our many foes, the true architect of all this appears: the hulking litorian vampire named Kobann. He has two mighty swords that seem to thrum with heat, and he wears wicked-looking armor. A nasty voice taunts us from the shadows: the voice of Zachean, the dark elf vampire! Ah, so they’re ganging up on us now.
Kobann lets out a low growl and rushes Diethan, while Zachean sends magical skulls of power against me. After he takes a particularly bad strike from Calista, Kobann grabs her and prepares to bite her. Diethan and I wallop him in retribution and a surprising thing happens: a creature of amazing fiery power surges out of Diethan’s ring of fire protection. It wreathes itself around the misting vampire and consumes it utterly. The fiery creature picks up the vampire’s two swords and looks meaningfully at Diethan’s ring. Then it dissipates, and the swords clatter to the ground.
Zachean utters an exclamation in Dark Elvish. Apparently he is so alarmed at this display of power that he teleports away. “How did you do that?” we demand of Diethan.
He looks baffled. “I don’t know!”
In the aftermath, we revive the dominated vampire thralls, and they all seem okay. The two elves who had been shooting at us turn out to be very nice people. Inspecting the swords left behind by Kobann, Diethan can see they are of elven make. Our new elf friends, Saenith and Vaenasa, point out that perhaps Doraedian Mythlord could tell him more about them and their apparent connection with Diethan’s ring (one he took off a dead guard in the fortress of Kaelist, the cursed elven city where we saved a sylvan woman from being burned in a demon-bugbear’s furnace).
Doraedian Mythlord, master of Iridithil’s Home? Let’s go, Diethan says! So we walk to Emerald Hill and enter the gates of Ptolus’ elven refuge. Mythlord sits down with us and is very polite. He recognizes me as one of the elder Titans and speaks to me a few words in Hu-Charad! He even says he’s honored to have one of the Hu-Charad in Iridithil’s Home. Wow.
He seems impressed to hear of Kobann’s death. When we tell him that Zachean was there too, he raises an eyebrow — apparently they are centuries-old enemies. “It was I who originally slew him when he was a mortal dark elf,” he says. He adds that Zachean was not bitten by a vampire but gained vampirism through some sort of magical contingency. “He is not a normal vampire.”
We tell Mythlord the whole story of our slaying of Medre and then show him the ring and swords of Kobann.
“These are very old, even by my standards,” he says. He explains that long, long ago — before Ptolus, before even Dwarvenhearth was built — there lived a mighty elf wizard named Aevotha who specialized in flame. He dwelled in Kaelist, the cursed city we visited in the Moonsilver Forest. He had a ring that served as the focus of his power. He never died but allowed his body to be consumed in magical flame. His spirit lives on and, according to legend, he placed a portion of it within his ring. It could be awakened only by a preset condition. Mythlord says he thinks that condition might be reunion with the swords.
To ascertain whether this is truly the ring of Aevotha, Calista casts some loresight spells on it. She learns its creator is Aevotha and it was created in Kaelist and it is seven thousand years old. The ring is designed to command the element of fire and has many fire-related abilities. I guess Diethan somehow awoke the spirit of Aevotha.
Before we leave, Diethan asks Mythlord to safeguard Insight for us. It’s something Hadrien Runihan wants and now that the remaining Covenant vampires are seriously after us, it’s best kept out of our hands.
However, Mythlord is dubious that the remaining Covenant vampires will come after us. He thinks Zachean, for one, values his own existence more than revenge or loyalty to the remaining members. He supposes the dark elf will flee deep underground for a very long time. Also Mythlord has heard that Tabares’ appearance has changed; he may no longer look like the half-elf he used to be.
As we rise to leave, the master of the elven house stops us. “If you need refuge,” he says, pulling a ring from his finger, “show that at the gate, and you will be allowed in any time, day or night.” The ring says, “A friend of Iridithil.” We are very grateful. The silver runes on it glow in the moonlight.
We bid goodbye to Saenith and Vaenasa, the former thralls, and exchange words of friendship. They even offer to help us if we ever decide to fight the dark elf vampire.
On our way out, our old associate Celdore intercepts us. “I’ve heard you’ve had some interesting dealings of late,” he says. “I was surprised to learn that you have indeed chosen sides, after all our work together in the past to avoid such.” We explain that our decision was made when we decided to oppose the Balacazars’ allies, the Covenant of Blood. He renews his offer to serve as a neutral third party if we need assistance with the city’s criminal element.
When we return home, Barbatos is in a tizzy. “Where have you been! Castle Barbatos has been under siege! Vampires attacked while you were out carousing! A litorian vampire rattled my gates and cursed the name of Chellaster for the wards we have raised here. Of course, the Cobbledman and I were about to go out there and thrash him, but suddenly he left.” He only saw two human thralls with Kobann, but not Zachean. After a time we match up our stories, and he calms down when he learns that the undead litorian is no more.
16th of Birth
We treat ourselves to sleeping in, and before we know it, it’s time for our meeting with Durant. He arrives in the late afternoon with an ogre bodyguard, and we walk around to the back of the house with them to talk. “So, what can you do for us?” Diethan asks.
“We can do this!” Durant says, and in a flash the ogre produces an albino fiendish cat, hissing and scratching. “As you told me, the wards are down at the Balacazars’ manor house. It was a simple matter of teleport in, grab the cat, and teleport out.”
We are impressed, but Diethan knows he’s hiding something. When Calista tries to cast one of her energy spells on the creature, Durant sweeps the cat away from us. “First things first,” he says. So we tell him about the play that Menon will be attending in the future, giving him the date and time and explaining the assassination attempt that the Killravens initiate there at the Cloud Theater.
When he asks for details about Killraven’s situation in this future scenario, Diethan replies, “That information will cost you one cat.” So they give it over and Calista makes it explode from the inside out. Now Medre Allaconda really is no more.
Then Diethan continues. “The Killraven organization is going to fall apart when it is betrayed by the Shuul. Savane and his group are seeking something under the Foundry. When they find this thing, the Elder Brain, it will take control of Savane, and they will crush your mistress and her Crime League.”
Durant nods. “I believe this future can be changed, because things have already taken place that makes this no longer an issue.” From what he says, he seems to hate the Shuul just as much as Diethan does. The troglodyte concludes, “Should you make the Shuul your enemy, you will find no resistance from our organization.” And with that, he and the ogre leave.
Now we just have to hole up here at Pythoness House and see how long it takes the Balacazars to show up and demonstrate just how mad they are.
Session C – 17th of Birth to the 3rd of Wind
We settle into Pythoness House (which its owner continues to call “Castle Barbatos”) and keep a weather eye out for Balacazar reprisals. Things are quiet. We work on repairs at the house and train in new skills.
We hear a rumor that the disappearance of the Malkuth has made Gaen unhappy.
4th of Wind
At dinner tonight at the Ghostly Minstrel, a very short and stout man approaches us. “I think I have something that you’d like to hear,” he says, chuckling to himself. “My name is Finn Maas.” We recall that he’s a mid-level operative in the Killraven Crime League. He claims to know something about the Shuul that we do not. “I know what’s going on below the Foundry,” he says, “and without what I know, you’ll never succeed at stopping them.”
For the bargain price of 500 gp we learn the following from this simpering lackey: His position was eliminated a month ago when the Killravens parted ways with the Shuul. He says Savane shortly thereafter went into the Foundry and has not come out. Deep below the building is something called the Great Drill. We knew they were digging under there but not how far along they were. An aelectrical key (a two-part brass device that forms a circuit when activated) is the only way to get to the drill. Savane has one. Another is in the Tower of Science in Oldtown, near the top of the tower in a vault near the astronomy and geology labs. It’s well guarded by Shuul constructs and impressive locks. (The Shuul believe aelectricity to be the ultimate expression of technology.)
Finn Maas explains that with the key, we’d need to find the secret door in the materials storehouse on the Foundry’s main level and go down to the experimental labs and Savane’s office. Past that is a door that the aelectrical key opens. Down from there, using a lift activated by the key, we can reach the drill.
He also claims the Shuul have been donating a great deal of money to the Brotherhood of Redemption lately. He thinks it’s in exchange for guardians that do not rely on technology Apparently they’re scared since the rumored discovery of some chaositech devices that render their tech useless. A man named Bergathor the Cinderpriest who dwells in the ruins of an old chaos temple has this chaositech, Finn says, and it’s capable of neutralizing both tech and chaositech. We’ve heard of this powerful ex-priest of chaos (back when we sought the followers of Maleskari — they tried to recruit him). He now follows Arachthon, Dweller in the Caverns of Cinder. When the cults fell apart a few years ago, the Cinderpriest apparently shifted his allegiance to a worship of failure. Finn suggests that Aprata Nachov (who first made us aware of the weapons beneath Pythoness House) could set up a meeting with the Cinderpriest.
Finn goes on to say that recent events have caused the Shuul to speed up their drilling timeline. We’re worried that they are close to reaching the Elder Brain. Certain segments of the Shuul disagree with Savane’s Great Drill plan, however, including a physicker named Thurston Mandrake. But Savane’s advisors encourage him to continue the project. These advisers include a woman named Nichala Gomath, an elf named Buelan Silvertooth, and a nobleman from House Abanar named Mallorn — an associate of Zorin Sar. (We recognize the first two names as the airship pilots who tried to kill us on our journey into the Moonsilver Forest. And of course long ago Zorin Sar tried to keep us from buying Myraeth’s Oddities by sending us troll fingers.)
Finn says the assassination of the High Priestess of the Temple of Teun has made Savane paranoid — it changed him. That’s probably why he’s so susceptible to the suggestions of his advisors. The snitch concludes by noting that Savane found out that Killraven had something to do with the death of the High Priestess and severed all ties with her crime league. Apparently the Killraven group was behind the failed attempt at bringing the Cult of Maleskari into the city, he reveals, and the cult was responsible for the death of the high priestess. Great. Now I feel really good about our deal with Durant, after the reminder that his organization murdered the head of my temple.
5th of Wind
We recall from talking with the future Rill that the mind flayers engineered the Shuul into finding their Elder Brain. They put so much energy into the power of the Elder Brain* that destroying it will mark the end of their race.
* They created the Elder Brain using the blood of the dead Galchutt. It was this corpse that also created a Vested of the Galchutt in Shigmaa Wuntad some time ago.
We also recall that Sallam, the litorian we raised, was the slave of someone named Cintric, who made him turn the Great Wheel beneath the Foundry. Cintric lives in the Guildsman District, and we know he really fears the Slayers of Feegus.
A disguised Barbatos and Diethan (err… I mean “Alatem” and “Devon”) go to case the Tower of Science — they pretend to be interested in taking some classes in clockwork devices. They meet another prospective student named Jorran Feldemar. They enter the Tower of Science and arrange with the receptionist, Zarsa, to audit the class today. “We believe that a well-informed and -educated public makes for a better society,” she tells them.
Jorran takes my friends up some stairs and into a large classroom where a bald technician dressed like Doctor Feegus begins a lesson. During the lecture, a bored Barbatos fakes a bathroom break to go sneaking around to reconnoiter the tower. He wants to find a place that he could teleport us all into. He decides that place will be the bathroom. (It’s a two-holer.) He also runs across a chapel to Teun, the Mother of All Machines, where he meets a woman in golden armor. She introduces herself as Priestess Assayra; Barbatos makes inept small talk for a moment or two, then heads back to the class. They endure the rest of the lesson and then high-tail it out of there.
Meanwhile, Calista and I head over to the Technicians’ Guildhouse in the Guildsman District to inquire about Thurston Mandrake, but we’re told that he has an office at the Herbalists’ Guild. Ah, that’s right, he’s a physicker as well as a Shuul official. But upon seeing my tools and other technical accoutrements, the doorman launches us on a tour of the facility. “My name is Amlaif Kannah, a third-rank member of the Technicians’ Guild.” He gives me a long spiel about what his organization can do for me, such as making available special tools not found elsewhere. He shows off some constructs under repair, and other technological marvels. Dues are 15 gp per year. I get the idea that I am probably knowledgeable enough already to be a third-rank member myself.
We thank him for the tour and head over to the Herbalists’ Guildhall, a large three-story structure. It’s busy here, with people coming and going. Lots of sick people await treatment. Calista asks for Doctor Mandrake but is told he does not see patients (he’s a researcher). “He has done wonders for the guild and for all in Ptolus,” one of the attendants says proudly. After a lengthy wait, we’re led into a meeting room, where we have another lengthy wait. Finally three men enter the room. The oldest of them has a shaved head and wears long grey robes and a belt with syringes. His companions appear to be your standard begoggled Shuul agents, but they each carry a large bag filled with papers and books. The eldest of the three takes one particular file from one of the agents and opens it. I can see it contains our names and detailed physical descriptions of us!
So Calista decides to lay all her cards on the table. “We think they’re digging for something extremely dangerous,” she says, referring to the activities below the Foundry, “and its discovery will change Savane even moreso than he already has been changed.” Mandrake seems skeptical that the Great Drill could result in flayers taking over his organization (although he doesn’t seem too broken up about Feegus’ death). Even when we tell him about the Galchutt-infused Elder Brain that we learned of in the future, he remains skeptical that we have anything but antagonism toward his organization. Calista explains that we were only ever there to free the slaves (I get in a little dig by telling the doctor that the litorians are home now and are doing fine.)
Doctor Mandrake does acknowledge that the slaves were wrongfully taken and held illegally and credits us with trying to do good works (despite having killed Shuul agents). “Even though I don’t approve of your methods, I can’t help but think that in a better world we would be friends rather than enemies,” he says. “I have my own suspicions about some of the things going on in the Foundry. So the question that I am left with is: Why are you here?” We have no choice but to lay it all out for him: We need him to offer us information and a window of opportunity to allow us to get down to the Great Drill and destroy the operation — and the Elder Brain — before this whole thing goes so far that it cannot be undone.
He agrees to think it over and shows us the door. We regroup back at the house this evening and decide to help him make his decision by sending him Feegus’ journal — once Barbatos copies out the important passages. (He notes that Feegus described Mandrake in the journal as his greatest foe.)
We need to give Mandrake a couple days to think things over. Meanwhile, we think a little more about investigating the Ennin slavers. We know that Annagais (she? it?) of the Ennin worked with Chellaster, gave him the Blood of the Vampire book in return for three youngsters from Carper’s Bay. Annagais has some connection to Medre Allaconda (because the book used to belong to her cohort). We also recall that Teris Brunchart (who facilitated the sale of the litorians to the Shuul) gave us a location of a warehouse in the Docks but thought to himself that the Ennin guards would just tear us apart. To get a meeting with them, one normally sends a message and requests an appointment. A lot of them wear strange bone rings and seem to be even stranger nonhuman creatures, we recall. Teris told us that the highest-ranking member of the Ennin he ever met with was a human woman named Poselle.
6th of Wind
Today I do some research about the Pactlords of the Quaan at my Dad’s library. I discover:
* They are a group of nonhumanoids interested in destroying all humanoids and their power over the world.
* The Quaan is a half-plane island in the Ethereal Sea
* The Quaan was originally a tiny magical world created by one of the slayers of Eslathagos Malkith, Maeritha Moonrise. She also created the staff of shards. Her plane was corrupted into a bad place.
7th of Wind
This morning we hear some terrible news: Sir Beck von Tibbitz was assassinated last night. People already speculate that he was killed by an assassin named Derresh, one of the most infamous in the city (he is reputed to be able to get to anyone anywhere, ignoring all defenses). Apparently Sir Beck was killed in such a way as to make it nearly impossible to ever bring him back. The Balacazars had threatened revenge on the Keepers over the death of Medre — we wonder if this is it.
At the Siege Tower, our associates are on guard and upset. Phadian Gess has been up all night but seems glad that we are all right. She explains that Sir Beck and his entire party were killed only a few miles outside of town on his way back to Ptolus from Tarsis. She explains that the Keepers don’t know for sure that it was Derresh but they suspect he was the only one powerful enough to do this deed. Phadian said her divinations have been blocked. She supposes she is next — Menon Balacazar previously told Sir Beck personally that if anything ever happened to Medre Allacondra, he would wipe out the entire Keepers of the Veil organization.
Calista attempts a spell on Sir Beck’s body to determine his killer, but it was blocked just like Phadian’s spells. Apparently the killer is protected against divinations. Same result when she tries the spell on the body of a slain knight from Beck’s party. Calista does learn that their throats were cut. None of the deceased can return magically from the dead — even the horses. The bodies were also mutilated in a ritualistic way designed to prevent resurrection; assassins like the Vai know how to do these things, and the Vai are often used by the Balacazars.
I wish there was something we could do…
