The Keys of Telku / The Final Key pt. 9 / Kith the 24th through the 25th, 3593 CE / 3-27-22

The Adventurers have retired for the night to their quarters in the palace of the Overlord of Pandona, Lord Kitaya of House Dracus. They have come to warn the Overlord of Tarrus the One-Eye's plot to open a Chaos Gate using the artifacts known as the Keys of Telku. But the Overlord has problems of his own, as a rival house, House Eichon, has declared Vendetta, creating a blood feud between the two houses. And now there are reports that Lord Tarrus himself is in Pandona, and the Adventurers wonder if he is there to conspire with House Eichon against his former allies in House Dracus. As the party attempts to rest and recuperate, Rados, who has magically kept himself awake in order to study his spells, is alarmed to see a masked assailant enter his room. The assassin is likewise surprised to find Rados awake at this late hour, and a scuffle breaks out. Meanwhile, more assassins have begun attacking John, Marrow, and Koragar, attempting to strangle them to death. As Marrow and John fight off their attackers, the rest of the party becomes alerted to the danger. Adrienne emerges from her room and wades into battle while Moss uses spells to disrupt the enemy's attacks and Baijo and Stele cast healing on their allies. Soon all but one of the assassins lay dead, but unfortunately, so is Koragar, strangled to death in his sleep. Master Sun arrives with House Dracus guardsmen. He identifies the assassins as Doomknights, freelance assassins working for the highest bidder. The party questions who might have sent them, as the Adventurers themselves seemed to be the target, and House Eichon has no reason to hide their involvement. As the bodies are dragged away, Master Sun expresses little hope of getting any information from the surviving Doomknight, even through torture, due to their fanatical dedication to their oath of silence. Following this train of logic, Moss executes the prisoner. The party returns to an uneasy rest. The next day, they confer with Master Sun and Night over breakfast. The group is alerted by an Amita K'un scout that Lord Tarrus was also attacked by assassins in the night at his inn, but a shadowy warrior came to his aid. Deciding to investigate further, Baijao and John head to the inn. Rados attempts to put a plan in action to discredit the Lord of Liem, finding a bard named Raskin in a local tavern who agrees to sing a satirical song the magus has written. At Tarrus's inn, the wary innkeeper tells Baijao and John that the Lord of Liem has already checked out and that she did not observe the battle, just the aftermath, when she had to remove 5 bodies from the room. Going upstairs to investigate, they find the window broken out and signs that one of the assailants may have fled onto the roof. They also find a magic dagger discarded or lost under one of the beds. As the party regroups at the Overlord's palace, Night begins to lay out plans for a mission to infiltrate the palace of House Eichon to gain information on their enemies, and perhaps even catch Tarrus there. The party wonders, if indeed they are able to confront the Lord of Liem, if they will have the power to defeat him.