Session 21: Fair Fight

Bearsday, 10 Sunfall, 998 Y.K.   The flight from the Arcane Congress was anything but quiet. Aundairan aerial cavalry criss-crossed the skies above Lake Galifar, searching for the vessel on which the party had fled, but Zer's field of nondetection kept the Squallchaser hidden from view. One of its pilots, d'Lyrandar Ilien, kept the ship turning this way and that, hoping to wear down the patrols without giving away their destination; while the copilot, his spouse Hjelle, helped the party stay as comfortable as they could while Aundair's military continued their pursuit. It took several hours -- and all of Zer's concentration -- to shake Aundair's squadrons of gryphon-riders.   Millimax and Medya collapsed in a bunk shortly after lift-off, but by early afternoon had recovered enough to roam about the ship. The unicorn found the ladders leading to the observation deck and helm above, and the ballista platform below, too treacherously narrow, but a few hours later, she had a working set of shoes of the spider to make traversing the walls and ceiling as easy as the floor. While she worked, Bell worked on repairing the rest of the party, while Spark roamed the halls and Relic meditated on his newfound memories.   Most of the Squallchaser was made of fire-proofed Aerani soarwood, which provided the lift to the bound air elemental's thrust, but near the center of the galleon was a secure hold of enchanted hardwoods, reinforced with iron. Dangerous cargo could be safetly stored for long flights within, and Rakela quickly repurposed it as a brig after launch. For most of the flight, the half-elf remained motionless, seated on a chair just outside the hold's door, staring intently at an etched brass coin dangling from a bit of wire from the handle. A few hours into the flight, any who came too close could, from time to time, hear Sykes mumbling to himself from within. A few moments later, the door would begin to rattle on its hinges, as if a knock spell were fighting to break through the wards, but then suddenly the brass coin would ping and jump on its chain, and the Cyran mage would fall silent for a while more.   This rattle-ping echoed throughout the ship as the hours dragged on and the Squallchaser finally began making its way towards Xandrar, a Brelish town near the Aundair border that had seen more than its share of violence during the war. To help distract from the disquieting sound, Hjelle wheedled the party for stories of their adventures, including what they had been doing in the Arcane Congress that commanded the attention of the Brelish crown. Normally if they were being hired for Citadel business, payment would come from Rakela's superior, Gerthi Lanarak. This time, however, payment came directly from Gerthi's boss, Vron. Even for something as important as bringing a wanted war criminal to justice, the Chief Commissioner's direct engagement surely meant something important was aloft.   Rakela, for her part, offered little else, her attention wholly upon the brass coin that bounced every time Sykes attempted to exit his prison. Eventually, conversation turned from the present to the past, as Hjelle regaled their and their husband's guests with tales of their own exploits during the war. The previous Squallchaser had been a sea-galleon, and Hjelle and Irien had helped ferry Brelish troops both into and out of combat at several points during the war. When Darguuni warbands sunk the Squallchaser during a midnight raid on Warden Keep, the crown put in a good word for them with their house for services rendered. They'd blessed their new airship in honor of their old one and agreed that if Breland called, they'd answer, which brought them here.   As the Squallchaser neared Xandrar, however, Rakela suddenly jumped from her seat and called over Zer's mental rapport for someone to send Hjelle to her and for the rest of the party to assemble in her quarters. She instructed the pilot not to take their eyes from the brass coin, and hastily joined the party, where she pulled a sending stone from her pocket and rapped it on the cramped table built into the wall. "Whisper Four, you are on echo. Repeat in clear."   The sound of rushing wind poured from the stone, almost wholly muffling a deep voice on the other end. "Two days ago, a supplier came by our camp in Greenblade. She dropped off fresh gear — clothes, masks, some food — and said something about new orders. This morning, eight members — including Whisper Nine — all left camp heading east. They took their armor, some rations, no warning. A few hours later, I searched their tents and found notes. They’re headed to Xandrar, and they don’t plan on coming back. Every note was the same. Same words, same phrasing. This isn’t like these people. They’re angry, scared. They’re not murderers. Whisper Nine is not a traitor. I need you to believe me: I can’t prove how or why, but I think they’re under geas. I think someone is manipulating the Swords of Breland, and Whisper Nine is another victim."   The Brelish agent acknowledged the message and stuffed the stone back in into an inner pocket of her jacket. She explained that Whispers Four and Nine were agents of the crown under deep cover within the Swords of Breland, and that she had known Whisper Four from an earlier assignment. She said that Whisper Four had been broadcalling, hoping to reach any known sending stone within range, the desperation of such an action revealing its urgency. She began to explain some of the Swords' latest raids on Ardev and Starilaskur, but before she could get much further into her explanation, a sound echoed through the airship that stopped all conversation cold: the rattle of a door on its hinges, followed by the sound of a brass coin bouncing off the wooden floor and rolling.   "Sykes is loose!" Millimax's words were instant. Rakela rushed to the door of her quarters and yanked it open in time to see Hjelle fly backwards as the hold door blew wide. A fire elemental rushed from the room and smashed through a glass porthole, flying rapidly towards the great ring around the Squallchaser to wrest control of the vessel from its bound elemental, and thus from the pilot. Almost immediately the airship began to pitch towards the ground. In the hold itself, a shirtless Sykes gripped a bound spellcrystal in his hand, runes across his chest glowing and his eyes ablaze.   Spark was first to the fray, directing Bell to the ballista platform below and Milli and Medya to the observation deck above to deal with the elemental while they rendered Sykes inert again. Unicorn and gryphon went up, and dragon down, Bell taking aim at the fiery beast while Medya hurled shatter grenades and Milli did her best to hold the elemental in place for the others to hit. Spark and Relic, meanwhile, found Sykes an easy target, thanks to Zer's successful hold, but neither of them could pierce the armor enchanted directly into Sykes' flesh through the attuned tattooes. The fight seemed to be at a standstill, while the airship plummeted towards the ground.   Seeing the stalemate, Zer switched his techniques, releasing the hold and forcing as much of his will as he could into dispelling the armor around Sykes. This disrupted his hold as well, but the mage's reflexes were no match for the monks', and soon after they had knocked the war criminal senseless. With its master unconscious, the fire elemental fled back to its native plane, and the airship righted itself, its lowest aileron just clear of the surface of Lake Galifar. To stop Sykes from escaping again, Relic bound his hands to his head with rope, wrapping it between his teeth, then called upon the power of ironsilk to render the rope as hard as steel. He could breathe through his nose -- barely -- but it was likely he'd spoken his last words for some time.   After the party helped Hjelle back on their feet, the rest of the flight to Xandrar passed in awkward silence, and soon the airship was pulling carefully alongside a Lyrandar skytower, one of the few structures in Xandrar that had managed to survive the war intact. Within minutes of the group debarking, however, a human woman wearing Breland Watch colors approached and identified herself as ir’Oeskai Yassiv, captain of the King's Shields of Xandrar. She demanded to know what business the group had in her city, arriving unannounced and docking without permission.   While Rakela rapidly explained her position with the King's Citadel and assured Captain ir'Oeskai that the dock would be clear within the hour, but that she had need of assistance from the Watch for a matter of dire importance. The watch captain seemed disinterested at first, but seeing the state of Sykes and the motley group that had brought him in, she agreed to hear Rakela out in her office. With that, she escorted the group down from the ship and to her office in a building nearby. While the party waited outside Captain ir'Oeskai's office, however, a gnome barely taller than Milli stormed past the group and began demanding answers to many of the questions Rakela had been in the middle of explaining.   Once Captain ir'Oeskai introduced Mayor Garrit Tomraan, she asked Rakela to continue her tale, but as soon as the Brelish commissioner mentioned the Swords of Breland, Mayor Tomraan began to sputter with rage. In rapid succession, he blamed the Swords of Breland for many of the demolished buildings around Xandrar, accused them of being in open rebellion against the crown, and threatened to gibbet the lot of them for treason if they set foot in the city. Rakela pled for understanding, citing Whisper Four's fear of escalation, but the mayor would offer only that if they never made it to Xandrar, what happened to them was none of his affair, but death awaited any Sword of Terror who stepped inside Xandrar. Further, he forbade the Watch to leave the city, saying they were vital to its defense, and that if Rakela needed this done, she could do it herself.   As the mayor talked, Zer became aware that something within the gnome felt... touched. There was no presence within him, but there was clear evidence that his bile had been stoked far beyond the norm. His anger felt palpable, almost tangible, a miasma of rage that clouded the air around him. Unsure of what to make of this, he relayed his feelings to the group, but there was little enough time to do more than note his concerns. With her hands tied, the most Captain ir'Oeskai could offer was a pair of carriages and two teams to pull them. If the party could intercept the raiders before they reached Xandrar, lives might yet be spared. Turning the party, Rakela said that if they could help her with this, this would be more than ample support for official commendation, and that she would owe them a personal favor in return. The group agreed, and with the watch's carriages, the party rode rapidly through Xandrar and across the river separating it from the ruins of what had once been the city, before it was blasted to ruin during the war and rebuilt on the far shore.   The forests west of Xandrar had been cut back from the road, a good twenty feet to either side to clear the way for troops and reduce the risk of bandits along a poorly patrolled route. Here and there, among the trees, swaths of burnt wood and stretches of scorched earth reminded everyone that this had not so long ago been the site of many battles, and that some actively sought a return to violence. The weight of the fragile peace hung in the air all around the group as they traveled on, until they came to a bend in the road where a few trees had survived the clear-cutting, where they lay in wait for approaching riders.   The group had not long to wait; within the hour they could hear the advance of many sets of hoofbeats. However, as the riders approached, the air around them began to carry a heaviness quite unlike before, and yet familiar to Zer -- and, of note, to Milli -- that shook both of them to the core. Moments later, Zer and the others could hear across the psychic link the chittering whisper of something foul and precious, calling to Àtẽsh, the "second soul" bound to Zer’anthalis at birth. "We have been waiting for you. We miss you, Atẽsh."   With that, the sky fractured, and the air seemed to swell with emnity. Something foul, made of eyes and claws and chitinous tail, manifested on the road, while eight riders, their faces shrouded in maskes dyed a brilliant vivid Brelish blue, bore down upon the group now locked in fear. Seeing the world shattered, something deep within the unicorn whispered the word winterwolf, making her freeze in her tracks. Only ZerÀtẽsh, possessed of an ancient soul that recognized the quori for what it was, seemed free to act, and so he did: he blinked from the space and filled the air around the tsucora with ice, freezing it in place. Though it lashed out with its mind at the ancient soul bound to Zer, it struggled to pierce through its encasement, while Relic and Spark both threw burning hands to spook the horses and slow their assailants' advance. Two of the mounts turned and fled, throwing their riders in the process, while the rest reared back, leaving their riders to leap free and continue on foot.   While one of the riders -- presumably Whisper Nine -- was quite capable of holding her own, the rest of the group were simply unprepared for such a mismatched fight. Even outnumbered, without the quori supporting them, the Swords of Breland were barely better than untrained soldiers, and they fought as a mob would, without skill or finesse. However, when Spark struck one of them hard enough, he sank to his knees and let out an ear-splitting wail. The air around him rippled as waves of destructive thought poured from his mind before he crumpled to the ground. The monk staggered in response, while everyone else clapped hands over their ears and struggled to regain focus. Suddenly their threat to die attacking Xandrar seemed much more serious, as any of them might suddenly do the same.   It was Relic who cracked the secret, snatching the mask from one of the riders. Instantly, it was as if a cloud had passed from his mind, and he looked around in confusion quickly turning to horror. Realizing the masks were the secret to their possession, everyone in the party began working to expose their attackers and, hopefully, clear their minds. As Zer and Àtẽsh finished sending the quori back to its native plane, the rest of the group worked to disarm their assailants. Two more Swords would unleash their inner rage in waves of destructive energy before all was said and done, leaving Whisper Nine babbling and crying, the rest wandering about the small clearing in a daze.   The group gathered the fallen and escorted the fallen Swords back to Xandrar, and Captain ir'Oeskai met the group at the gate. The five who were conscious each swore alliegence to the crown as they passed within the city, while the three who could not were taken to the chapel of the Sovereign Host, where the priests could tend their souls and the watch could observe them. With the immediate threat resolved, Rakela asked the party to follow her back to captain ir'Oeskai's office. There she wrote out letters of commendation for everyone in the group, acknowledging them as "recognized by Brelish authority" and requesting that foreign governments contact her supervisor, Gerthi Lanarak, before arresting them. This, she explained, should at least give Senna Redeker pause before trying to arrest them, once they returned to Aundair.   With that, Rakela thanked the group once more and said that they truly had gone above and beyond the call of duty, and that she personally owed them a favor for their help. With that, the Brelish agent took her leave, and her prisoner, and left for Starilaskur by way of Drum Keep. The party, meanwhile, decided that rather than return to Fairhaven to meet up with Morran, they would prefer to at least get a night in their own beds first.   Thus decided, Zer asked to make one brief detour, and used his amulet of teleportation circle to travel to the High House of Light. There he informed the elder guardians of his monastery that the ancient foes had come to Khorvaire, and that they could join the fight or cede more lives to the darkness. That done, he returned to the group, then carried the party under his own power back to the Heart and Hammer for a night of well-deserved rest and recovery.   Once back in Sharn, Spark immediately sent word to Lead Design to ask them for a meeting about their "experimental victims," sensing a possible connection between Cinnabar, Codex, and the forged's search. She then went to see Gears, noticing in passing that the Sands of Time had announced their reopening. Stepping briefly inside, she asked the proprietor, Girder, if they'd gotten any more dust. Girder shook their head and told spark of ash, a new replacement that had started showing up in dust's absense. They warned Spark to clear her afternoon if she wanted to try it, as ash could render a forged nigh-useless for a short time. To the grown, though, ash was little more than an expensive poison, and so there was little risk of addiction among them.   Spark picked up three doses, then caught up with Gears briefly, chatting about the successes of the Pit at Malleon's Gate. Gears spoke proudly of the new money his fights were drawing, as the goblins starved for entertainment wagered their coppers at Gears' spectacle matches. Finally, she paid a visit to Lem, who told her that connecting one of House Cannith's mana reservoirs to the Mabaran obsidian fragment recovered from Cinnabar's crossbow had produced a small but steady trickle of raw on which he could work. He said that if the Spark found any more fragments like that one, he might be able to squeeze similar results from them, but in the meantime, mass production of dust was still a far-off dream. He also said that while he didn't see anything in ash that really bothered him, he hadn't really had much of a chance to study it yet, and he'd heard it was way stronger than dust could hope to be.   Back at the Heart and Hammer, as Bell had Transom catch her up on the work to be done, she noticed that Cazha's maul, a prize they'd taken from the floor of that same pit after the harpy had thrown herself repeatedly on Relic's blade, had been stolen from above the mantel. In its place was a note, written in Draconic, that read let them return the claw of anger to the peaceful heart, and signed with an R. Millimax, having accepted a package and a Sivis-sending from Transom that had arrived in her absence, wearily pronounced the R to be short for Raelvan before retreating to her room.   The package contained a clay pot of reedpaste, stamped on the bottom with a rose-and-thorn motif, and a note saying "From the Tender's private reserves, courtesy of House Tharashk," signed by d'Tharashk Krayg. The Sivis sending came from the Arcane Congress, informing Milli that her paper had been updated to status "Provisional-Pending" and asking her to contact the college at her earliest opportunity.