Chapter 3-18 - The Resistance
In the late afternoon, the following day, the road crested a hill and suddenly the vista opened up before them. From their vantage point the party looked down across a wide rust coloured scrubland. In the distance lay the shimmering crystal blue of the ocean, spread beneath the horizon. To the north and south two large rivers curved inwards and combined. The land between the rivers teemed with whispering grasses and lush bushes; an enormous verdant furrow across the dusty plain. At the far end of the valley the ground rose steeply into a wide mesa. Atop this hill, at the confluence of the two rivers, stood the city of Verani.
The city dominated the horizon. All eyes were naturally drawn to the central spire; impossibly tall and slender it rose over a hundred metres toward the clouds. It seemed impossible that such a delicate tower shouldn’t collapse under its own weight. Three huge metallic rings encircled the top third of the tower, each slowly orbiting the pinnacle. Three massive stone bridges arched upwards from the city below, terminating in a wider ring around a quarter of the way up the tower itself.
The city around the tower was no less impressive than the central spire. Built in three concentric rings, the innermost ring was constructed on an elevated platform around the same height as the end of the stone bridges. A huge stone wall separated the inner city from the next ring. The middle tier of the city was built on the top of the mesa. A sprawling expanse of densely packed buildings filling the space between the edge of the mesa to the foot of the innermost wall. Three bridges provided access from the valley floor to the top of the mesa, each with a large stone gatehouse capable of sealing the city off from potential invaders.
Scattered across the valley floor, on the outskirts of the city, stoof a sparse collection of buildings. Mostly farms or villas surrounded by large estates; or smaller shanty towns built outside the city proper.
"Don't worry. We're not going into the city. We have a safehouse out here in an abandoned villa just ahead." Aurora reassured the party, as she led the group along what appeared to be the main approach road to the city, running directly through the landscape towards the southwestern gatehouse and bridge.
After an hour, the Tabaxi swung off the road and along a worn dirt track. The trail led along between fields full of livestock and crops, and past beautiful stone houses. Up close, these houses had a similar appearance to the tunnels of the Kanaalden and the Kanaalden Mort. No obvious joints in the brickwork, each looked as though the whole structure had been formed complete from living stone. However, unlike the utilitarian feel of the fortress, these had been decorated with beautifully detailed stone murals and statuettes.
The dirt road spiralled in towards the base of the mesa, running at a tangent to the stone cliffs. As they drew closer, the fields began to thin out and gave way to grassy meadows and carefully cultivated clusters of trees and orchards. Aurora pointed to a large stone villa a few hundred meters ahead, nestled in the shadow beneath one of the massive arched bridges. It looked abandoned, the trees surrounding it had started to encroach on the building and the grass around the base had grown wild, interspersed with thorny brambles,
"That's where we're going" she said, audibly relieved.
Looking closely, Miaug’s keen eyes spotted movement around the base of the villa. Suddenly a glowing orange streak fell from the sky overhead and struck the building with a thunderous blast. The building itself withstood the impact, but flames immediately sprang from the point of impact, racing across the ground and bathing the scene in a dancing orange glow. Aurora's face dropped in horror as the conflagration spread outwards.
Another glowing object struck the same point. Ryoko realised to her surprise that the meteors hadn’t actually impacted the building. Instead they appeared to hit an invisible barrier around six feet from the surface of the building and explode in a shower of blue sparks, and droplets of molten flame.
Aetilius scanned the scene, observing a small contingent of Verani soldiers arranged in an arc in front of the villa. Motionless in the flickering light of the fire they stood with their weapons raised. Floating twenty feet above the assembled force, hung a humanoid figure suspended inside a sphere of crackling silver energy. The figure had four long slender arms, and two legs. Its skin had a smooth metallic sheen, and a face devoid of any feature besides two glowing silver deep set eyes. Silver lightning arced from its skin to the sphere of energy surrounding it. With a wave of its hand, another meteor streaked across the sky and hit the barrier. A booming voice echoed across the scene,
"Stop this foolishness. You cannot hope to prevail against us. You are outmatched, your shield will soon fall. Surrender and you will be put on trial for your crimes. Continue and I will kill you all myself"
A sudden flurry of arrows loosed from the upstairs windows of the villa sailed across the gap and glanced harmlessly off the figure's metal skin.
Clootie unslung Kulog and was about to rush towards the front of the villa, when Aurora grabbed her by the hood and pulled her back,
"Don't be stupid" Aurora urged, "That's an Exalted. We can't face them head on. But there's another way in"
Aurora led the party to a thicket behind the villa. Pushing aside the branches she revealed a set of lichen encrusted wooden cellar doors set into the ground. The doors swung open to reveal a narrow stone escape tunnel.
Inside the villa was a scene of carnage. Thick black smoke choked the air. People scurried back and forth carrying bundles, or buckets of water for the fires. Orders barked in Verani held an undercurrent of barely disguised desperation. A repurposed dining room appeared to be the Resistance’s base of operations. The table was strewn with battle plans, scribbled notes and arcane devices which a number of panicked individuals were desperately gathering into thick woolen bags. Out of the shattered windows stood the Verani forces, arrayed and motionless just beyond the flickering blue barrier.
The grass on either side of the barrier was ablaze, and the flames threatened to spread towards the building. A tall thin man with a long greying ponytail, a young lad with a shock of black hair; and a young woman with tight brown curls all stood facing the windows. Their hands were outstretched, manipulating a swirling cloud of icy fog, a second barrier to hold back the worst of the raging heat.
Through another door, six figures sat cross-legged in a circle; two of them reduced to smouldering corpses. An orb of crackling blue energy hung suspended in the air between them, connected by a pulsing beam of blue light to each of the still living figures. A crashing sound outside, as another meteor struck the barrier, flames spilling down the mystical surface like a pyrotechnic waterfall. The glowing orb pulsed, and one of the figures in the circle let out a stifled scream. Flames poured from his eyes, burning deep tracks down his cheeks, and he pitched forward into the middle of the circle as the flames engulfed his head.
One of the figures at the dining table looked up to see you, a tall thin man with a hooked nose and short blonde hair, "Aurora! We thought you were dead. No time for introductions. Quick! Help us pack up, or soon we all will be!"
The party sprang into action. Miaug and and Badger took up positions at one of the windows, and Miaug immediately loosed a charged shot at the floating automaton Aurora had referred to as an Exalted. The arrow struck the creature’s shield, lightning crawled across the invisible surface, but the Exalted as unscathed. But Miaug’s keen eyes spotted a momentary fluctuation in the surface, exposed by the dissipating arcs of electricity. She immediately readied another arrow, pouring the energy from her Storm Bow into the shaft and releasing it. Before the arrow had even passed through the window, Miaug had a second arrow nocked and fired. The charged arrow crackled with power as it streaked through the air like a lightning bolt, once again striking and dissipating on the shield. But an instant later, Miaug’s second arrow struck the exact same point on the shield. The shield shattered, and the arrow struck the Exalted in the chest. It glanced ineffectively off the creature’s metallic skin, but Clootie took advantage of the moment. She raced towards the window, whirling Kulog by its strap. Gracefully she spun past Miaug, like a practiced dance step, and hurled the hammer through the open window. It struck the Exalted in the face, and with a booming explosion discharged its thunderous wave. The Exalted rocked backward in the air, and a deafening cheer erupted from the Resistance members in the villa.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party was helping the survivors of the Resistance to pack their supplies and equipment, and ferry them down to the escape tunnel in the basement which the party had entered through. Aurora grabbed Arina,
“Arina, we need your help. When the last of those abjurers falls, the soldiers and the Exalted will sweep in and eradicate us. Can you help keep them alive long enough to buy us some time?” Arina gestured at the five remaining figures sitting encircling the glowing sphere,
“Of course” Arina responded. She stood just outside the circle, channeling healing energy through the remaining abjurers as, outside, the Exalted redoubled its assault.
The last of the supplies moved to the basement, the hook nosed man wiped soot and sweat from his brow and smiled grimly at the party,
“Thank you for your help” he said, then held out his hand, “The name’s Etgar”
Aetilius shook his hand,
“Aetilius. What next?”
“Now we need to ferry this stuff out through the escape tunnel. Then Alper and Jane are gonna blow this place to hell” he gestured at a suspicious looking pile of leather bound packages in the corner,
“You guys want to help them set the bombs?”
“We’d be delighted” Ramas grinned, a little too enthusiastically.
Minutes later, in spite of her best healing magicks, four more of the abjurers had been reduced to smouldering corpses. The majority of the Resistance had escaped through the tunnel, loaded with supplies. Etgar took one last look around, then shouted,
“Everybody - that’s us. Get out now!”
As Etgar waved the final stragglers out of the doomed villa, Arina channelled the last of her magic into the remaining abjurer. He briefly opened his eyes, his expression strained and locked eyes with her,
“Thank you. Now go! Don’t let this all be for nothing.”
Arina ran.
Letho realised that they’d need some form of distraction, to allow the survivors to escape before they were spotted. He scanned the terrain outside the shield, his practiced military eyes picking out clusters of Verani troops outlined by the dancing flames. He grabbed Miaug, pointing her at a particularly large cluster of soldiers. Miaug grinned evilly as she pulled her last explosive arrow from her quiver. A moment later, another explosion rocked the battlefield, tearing a hole in the middle of the enemy forces. Hoping this would be enough of a distraction to cover their escape, Miaug and Letho raced downstairs and into the escape tunnel.
Another meteor struck the shield. The final abjurer opened his eyes and sighed, as flames erupted from his eye sockets and engulfed his skull. The shield shattered, and the meteor tore through the upper landing. Flames danced around the devastation until they found the first explosive package.
The villa erupted into a cacophony of heat and sound. The first explosion set off a chain reaction which raced through the building, dancing between explosive packages the Resistance had placed. Each blast was accompanied by a thunderous roar, and tore huge chunks of stonework out of the building, which rained down in all directions causing chaos in the Verani ranks. The whole event took less than a minute, and by the end the devastation was complete. Nothing remained of the villa but a pile of scorched debris and burning grass.
A few hundred meters away, over the brow of a small hill, Etgar turned to survey the little group of survivors. He shook his head sadly as he hoisted a big bag of supplies up on his shoulders with surprising ease given his emaciated looking frame,
"Ok everybody, keep your heads down and follow me. We need to get out of sight before they realise we've left. Tanika, Morth - bring up the rear. Make sure we're not followed, and do your best to hide our tracks."
Etgar led the weary group in a wide curve north, taking great care to keep the bulk of the hill between the survivors and the Verani forces picking through the remains of the villa. After a short distance the group slipped into the dense thicket surrounding the villa's estate. The thick foliage offered much needed cover and allowed the group to increase their pace. Etgar guided the survivors through the dense brush, towards the north-western bridge. Ryoko caught up to Aurora, looking concerned,
“Are we going to sneak into the city?” she asked, confused. Aurora laughed,
“No. There’s a safehouse near the bridge”
Ryoko looked up the road atop the massive stone bridge far overhead, currently swarming with Verani soldiers. She was growing increasingly nervous about this whole proposition. Etgar dropped down into the shallow channel running along beside the edge of the stone bridge, and placed his hand flat on the smooth stone of the bridge support. With a whisper, a small stone portal formed in the wall, and a rush of stale air swept out from the darkness beyond. Etgar turned around and started to help the group pass down the supplies.
The hidden doorway opened into a long narrow room running along inside the bridge support. In the centre of the room, a long stone table seemed to flow unbroken, like a natural outcrop from the floor, like much of the Verani furniture you had seen. Along either wall, shallow stone shelves lay empty, other than a thick layer of dust. The survivors of the villa busied themselves swiftly unpacking the equipment recovered from the villa onto the table, while others rummaged around in the supplies and started laying out bedrolls along the edges of the room.
Etgar approached the party,
"This is one of our first safehouses. It's been unused for a long time, but I don't think anyone in the council is aware of it. Thank you all for your help back in the villa - I'm not sure we could have gotten everyone out we did without you. You risked your lives for us, and you didn't need to. If there is anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to ask..."
Letho looked at him curiously,
“There’s no way that should have worked” he shrugged, “They didn’t even encircle the villa. You could have just strolled out the back door. Don’t you think they might have let you escape, and they’re tracking you back to the rest of the Resistance?”
Etgar laughed mirthlessly,
“The rest of the Resistance? This is it my friend. We’re all that’s left. They’ve systematically rounded us up and wiped us out for months now. But that’s also the reason we were able to escape back there at the villa. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve already won. They don’t view us as a threat any more, if they ever did. They placed wards around all the exits to the villa, so that anyone attempting to enter or leave would be disintegrated, and never even bothered to look around enough to find the escape tunnel. They’re so confident in their own superiority, it probably didn’t even occur to them. So no, I don’t think they’re secretly tracking us. I genuinely believe they’re confident they destroyed us utterly. And that might be just the advantage we need”
Oghar then turned to the rest of the Resistance,
"Right everyone, settle down. Raeburn, can you get the Kabani Crystal set up? Everyone else - get some rest. There's no guarantee we're safe, but we're almost ready to move against the council. So I need you all at your best! I'll take the first watch. Aurora, are you up for relieving me in a few hours?"
Most of the group moved to the edge of the room and tried to rest. Aetilius however watched fascinated as Juliana and Etgar began to help Raeburn; a short, heavyset man with thick bushy beard; who was in the process of setting up an intricate bronze mechanism on the table. Juliana and Raeburn carefully positioned and aligned four bronze pillars in a square. Raeburn touched each one in turn, and the pillars began to thrum with energy. Etgar carefully positioned a rhombic crystal in the air in the centre of the four pillars, and as he pulled his hand away the crystal remained floating, resonating with the same low drone as the pillars. Aurora tapped the big tiefling on the shoulder,
“They’re just waiting now. Best get some rest. We can discuss everything in the morning”
The majority of the room slipped into a paranoid but exhausted slumber for a few hours, until the crystal in Raeburn’s device began to pulse and thrum in a peculiar pattern. Ryoko woke with a start as the crystal began to spin slowly and emit flashes of different coloured light. Juliana roused herself from her doze and quickly joined Raeburn at the table, then began to furiously scribble notes. After around ten minutes, the crystal stopped spinning and settled back to its low frequency vibration. Juliana looked up from her notes, her face triumphant,
"Got it. The Grandmasters are meeting the night after next, in the penthouse of the Order of the Chain."
Etgar punched the air in exaltation,
"Wonderful! Although, we have a lot to do tomorrow. Alper, Jane, where are we with the explosives?"
Jane, a tough looking woman with a short buzz cut rubbed her eyes and growled,
"We've got enough to pull together four bombs. But they'll not do us a lick of good without some way to hide 'em from their scrying"
Etgar nodded,
"Dyrk and the others got captured on the way into the Blue Shield warehouse. I assume that the Karo Gems are still there. We'll need to organise another raid"
Tanika, a frail looking grey haired woman, looked up alarmed
"Are you kidding? There's only eleven of us left. We can’t possibly spare enough of a force to break into the Blue Shield encampment and also scout the Order’s tower. There’s just not enough time"
Aurora turned to look at the party, her face pleading,
"My friends, I know we've already asked so much of you. But this may be our last chance. Can you help us?"
Ryoko nodded at the Tabaxi,
“What do you need us to do?”
Etgar grinned widely,
“Thank you my friends. I don’t know where you came from, or how you fell into Aurora’s company, but we already owe you a great debt. Your arrival may very well have turned the tide in our favour."
"Ok, let me explain the plan.
In Verani society, we are all tested at a young age for magical aptitude. Most of us show a natural ability in one of the eight schools of magic: abjuration, conjuration, evocation, illusion, transmutation, divination, necromancy and enchantment. We are then assigned to train and work as members of one of the eight magical orders. I myself was a member of the Order of the Pyre, we specialised in evocation magic. Juliana here was a member of the Order of the Hammer, transmutation magic. Those with no magical aptitude become Robazun, menial labourers or slaves with no status in society. On the opposite end of the scale, those with particularly strong abilities are sent off for advanced training and become Magi. The Magi are in charge. They run the entire republic. The rest of us, even journeymen or adepts, have no say in our own lives. We do the work we are ordered to, live the lives we are told to, marry who we’re instructed, and bear the children we’re instructed. And these children become the property of the state on their eighth birthday; when they are sent for testing. Families try to keep in touch, but it becomes difficult. It’s forbidden to maintain contact with those who become Robazun; but even those who become Magi, many are never heard from again. Any hint of dissent and people just disappear, probably into black holes like the Kanaalden Mort.
There are different levels among the Magi. The Exalted, like the one who led the attack on the villa, are among the most powerful wizards in the city, and they make up the inner circle of each of the Orders. But the single most powerful wizard in each order is known as the Grandmaster. Together they form the ruling Council of Verani, and those eight people have total control over the populace of the entire republic. Every month, the Grandmasters meet. This location of each meeting is a secret, but we have long suspected that they take place in the Order towers. Each Order maintains a tower in one of the sectors of the city, where the administrative functions of each order are housed. And from the communication Raeburn just intercepted, it appears the next meeting will take place in two days, in the tower of the Order of the Chain. This means we know when and where we can find all of the Grandmasters. We can use this opportunity to kill them all at once. That will plunge the Magi into chaos, but more importantly, it will show the people of the city that the Council are not invulnerable. It might be just the spark we need to start a real rebellion.
Alper and Jane here can make enough explosives to obliterate the Council’s meeting room and everyone in it. But it’s of no use if we can’t keep them hidden. The Exalted will scan the tower before the meeting, so we’ll need some way to ensure they remain hidden. Dyrk, one of our old associates, had identified a stash of Karo gems in the Order of the Shield encampment outside of the city. These gems act as natural wards, and can render a location impervious to scrying magic. They’re well used in military and espionage operations for that reason. We need to break into the encampment and liberate a few of these gems. We also have evidence that Dyrk and the rest of his team are being held somewhere in the encampment. Part of the mission will be to locate and rescue them. We don’t leave people behind.
We also need someone to sneak into the Order of the Chain tower, locate and scout out the meeting chamber. We need enough information that we can find somewhere to plant the explosives that can guarantee we take out the entire council at once. Realistically, we shouldn’t have much of a chance here. But we have the Council’s own hubris on our side. They believe themselves completely untouchable. And that gives us our opening. Will you help us?”
Ramas grinned devilishly,
“Well that sounds fun”
Next: Chapter 3-19 - The Order of the Shield
Previous: Chapter 3-17 - Leaving the Kanaalden
The city dominated the horizon. All eyes were naturally drawn to the central spire; impossibly tall and slender it rose over a hundred metres toward the clouds. It seemed impossible that such a delicate tower shouldn’t collapse under its own weight. Three huge metallic rings encircled the top third of the tower, each slowly orbiting the pinnacle. Three massive stone bridges arched upwards from the city below, terminating in a wider ring around a quarter of the way up the tower itself.
The city around the tower was no less impressive than the central spire. Built in three concentric rings, the innermost ring was constructed on an elevated platform around the same height as the end of the stone bridges. A huge stone wall separated the inner city from the next ring. The middle tier of the city was built on the top of the mesa. A sprawling expanse of densely packed buildings filling the space between the edge of the mesa to the foot of the innermost wall. Three bridges provided access from the valley floor to the top of the mesa, each with a large stone gatehouse capable of sealing the city off from potential invaders.
Scattered across the valley floor, on the outskirts of the city, stoof a sparse collection of buildings. Mostly farms or villas surrounded by large estates; or smaller shanty towns built outside the city proper.
"Don't worry. We're not going into the city. We have a safehouse out here in an abandoned villa just ahead." Aurora reassured the party, as she led the group along what appeared to be the main approach road to the city, running directly through the landscape towards the southwestern gatehouse and bridge.
After an hour, the Tabaxi swung off the road and along a worn dirt track. The trail led along between fields full of livestock and crops, and past beautiful stone houses. Up close, these houses had a similar appearance to the tunnels of the Kanaalden and the Kanaalden Mort. No obvious joints in the brickwork, each looked as though the whole structure had been formed complete from living stone. However, unlike the utilitarian feel of the fortress, these had been decorated with beautifully detailed stone murals and statuettes.
The dirt road spiralled in towards the base of the mesa, running at a tangent to the stone cliffs. As they drew closer, the fields began to thin out and gave way to grassy meadows and carefully cultivated clusters of trees and orchards. Aurora pointed to a large stone villa a few hundred meters ahead, nestled in the shadow beneath one of the massive arched bridges. It looked abandoned, the trees surrounding it had started to encroach on the building and the grass around the base had grown wild, interspersed with thorny brambles,
"That's where we're going" she said, audibly relieved.
Looking closely, Miaug’s keen eyes spotted movement around the base of the villa. Suddenly a glowing orange streak fell from the sky overhead and struck the building with a thunderous blast. The building itself withstood the impact, but flames immediately sprang from the point of impact, racing across the ground and bathing the scene in a dancing orange glow. Aurora's face dropped in horror as the conflagration spread outwards.
Another glowing object struck the same point. Ryoko realised to her surprise that the meteors hadn’t actually impacted the building. Instead they appeared to hit an invisible barrier around six feet from the surface of the building and explode in a shower of blue sparks, and droplets of molten flame.
Aetilius scanned the scene, observing a small contingent of Verani soldiers arranged in an arc in front of the villa. Motionless in the flickering light of the fire they stood with their weapons raised. Floating twenty feet above the assembled force, hung a humanoid figure suspended inside a sphere of crackling silver energy. The figure had four long slender arms, and two legs. Its skin had a smooth metallic sheen, and a face devoid of any feature besides two glowing silver deep set eyes. Silver lightning arced from its skin to the sphere of energy surrounding it. With a wave of its hand, another meteor streaked across the sky and hit the barrier. A booming voice echoed across the scene,
"Stop this foolishness. You cannot hope to prevail against us. You are outmatched, your shield will soon fall. Surrender and you will be put on trial for your crimes. Continue and I will kill you all myself"
A sudden flurry of arrows loosed from the upstairs windows of the villa sailed across the gap and glanced harmlessly off the figure's metal skin.
Clootie unslung Kulog and was about to rush towards the front of the villa, when Aurora grabbed her by the hood and pulled her back,
"Don't be stupid" Aurora urged, "That's an Exalted. We can't face them head on. But there's another way in"
Aurora led the party to a thicket behind the villa. Pushing aside the branches she revealed a set of lichen encrusted wooden cellar doors set into the ground. The doors swung open to reveal a narrow stone escape tunnel.
Inside the villa was a scene of carnage. Thick black smoke choked the air. People scurried back and forth carrying bundles, or buckets of water for the fires. Orders barked in Verani held an undercurrent of barely disguised desperation. A repurposed dining room appeared to be the Resistance’s base of operations. The table was strewn with battle plans, scribbled notes and arcane devices which a number of panicked individuals were desperately gathering into thick woolen bags. Out of the shattered windows stood the Verani forces, arrayed and motionless just beyond the flickering blue barrier.
The grass on either side of the barrier was ablaze, and the flames threatened to spread towards the building. A tall thin man with a long greying ponytail, a young lad with a shock of black hair; and a young woman with tight brown curls all stood facing the windows. Their hands were outstretched, manipulating a swirling cloud of icy fog, a second barrier to hold back the worst of the raging heat.
Through another door, six figures sat cross-legged in a circle; two of them reduced to smouldering corpses. An orb of crackling blue energy hung suspended in the air between them, connected by a pulsing beam of blue light to each of the still living figures. A crashing sound outside, as another meteor struck the barrier, flames spilling down the mystical surface like a pyrotechnic waterfall. The glowing orb pulsed, and one of the figures in the circle let out a stifled scream. Flames poured from his eyes, burning deep tracks down his cheeks, and he pitched forward into the middle of the circle as the flames engulfed his head.
One of the figures at the dining table looked up to see you, a tall thin man with a hooked nose and short blonde hair, "Aurora! We thought you were dead. No time for introductions. Quick! Help us pack up, or soon we all will be!"
The party sprang into action. Miaug and and Badger took up positions at one of the windows, and Miaug immediately loosed a charged shot at the floating automaton Aurora had referred to as an Exalted. The arrow struck the creature’s shield, lightning crawled across the invisible surface, but the Exalted as unscathed. But Miaug’s keen eyes spotted a momentary fluctuation in the surface, exposed by the dissipating arcs of electricity. She immediately readied another arrow, pouring the energy from her Storm Bow into the shaft and releasing it. Before the arrow had even passed through the window, Miaug had a second arrow nocked and fired. The charged arrow crackled with power as it streaked through the air like a lightning bolt, once again striking and dissipating on the shield. But an instant later, Miaug’s second arrow struck the exact same point on the shield. The shield shattered, and the arrow struck the Exalted in the chest. It glanced ineffectively off the creature’s metallic skin, but Clootie took advantage of the moment. She raced towards the window, whirling Kulog by its strap. Gracefully she spun past Miaug, like a practiced dance step, and hurled the hammer through the open window. It struck the Exalted in the face, and with a booming explosion discharged its thunderous wave. The Exalted rocked backward in the air, and a deafening cheer erupted from the Resistance members in the villa.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party was helping the survivors of the Resistance to pack their supplies and equipment, and ferry them down to the escape tunnel in the basement which the party had entered through. Aurora grabbed Arina,
“Arina, we need your help. When the last of those abjurers falls, the soldiers and the Exalted will sweep in and eradicate us. Can you help keep them alive long enough to buy us some time?” Arina gestured at the five remaining figures sitting encircling the glowing sphere,
“Of course” Arina responded. She stood just outside the circle, channeling healing energy through the remaining abjurers as, outside, the Exalted redoubled its assault.
The last of the supplies moved to the basement, the hook nosed man wiped soot and sweat from his brow and smiled grimly at the party,
“Thank you for your help” he said, then held out his hand, “The name’s Etgar”
Aetilius shook his hand,
“Aetilius. What next?”
“Now we need to ferry this stuff out through the escape tunnel. Then Alper and Jane are gonna blow this place to hell” he gestured at a suspicious looking pile of leather bound packages in the corner,
“You guys want to help them set the bombs?”
“We’d be delighted” Ramas grinned, a little too enthusiastically.
Minutes later, in spite of her best healing magicks, four more of the abjurers had been reduced to smouldering corpses. The majority of the Resistance had escaped through the tunnel, loaded with supplies. Etgar took one last look around, then shouted,
“Everybody - that’s us. Get out now!”
As Etgar waved the final stragglers out of the doomed villa, Arina channelled the last of her magic into the remaining abjurer. He briefly opened his eyes, his expression strained and locked eyes with her,
“Thank you. Now go! Don’t let this all be for nothing.”
Arina ran.
Letho realised that they’d need some form of distraction, to allow the survivors to escape before they were spotted. He scanned the terrain outside the shield, his practiced military eyes picking out clusters of Verani troops outlined by the dancing flames. He grabbed Miaug, pointing her at a particularly large cluster of soldiers. Miaug grinned evilly as she pulled her last explosive arrow from her quiver. A moment later, another explosion rocked the battlefield, tearing a hole in the middle of the enemy forces. Hoping this would be enough of a distraction to cover their escape, Miaug and Letho raced downstairs and into the escape tunnel.
Another meteor struck the shield. The final abjurer opened his eyes and sighed, as flames erupted from his eye sockets and engulfed his skull. The shield shattered, and the meteor tore through the upper landing. Flames danced around the devastation until they found the first explosive package.
The villa erupted into a cacophony of heat and sound. The first explosion set off a chain reaction which raced through the building, dancing between explosive packages the Resistance had placed. Each blast was accompanied by a thunderous roar, and tore huge chunks of stonework out of the building, which rained down in all directions causing chaos in the Verani ranks. The whole event took less than a minute, and by the end the devastation was complete. Nothing remained of the villa but a pile of scorched debris and burning grass.
A few hundred meters away, over the brow of a small hill, Etgar turned to survey the little group of survivors. He shook his head sadly as he hoisted a big bag of supplies up on his shoulders with surprising ease given his emaciated looking frame,
"Ok everybody, keep your heads down and follow me. We need to get out of sight before they realise we've left. Tanika, Morth - bring up the rear. Make sure we're not followed, and do your best to hide our tracks."
Etgar led the weary group in a wide curve north, taking great care to keep the bulk of the hill between the survivors and the Verani forces picking through the remains of the villa. After a short distance the group slipped into the dense thicket surrounding the villa's estate. The thick foliage offered much needed cover and allowed the group to increase their pace. Etgar guided the survivors through the dense brush, towards the north-western bridge. Ryoko caught up to Aurora, looking concerned,
“Are we going to sneak into the city?” she asked, confused. Aurora laughed,
“No. There’s a safehouse near the bridge”
Ryoko looked up the road atop the massive stone bridge far overhead, currently swarming with Verani soldiers. She was growing increasingly nervous about this whole proposition. Etgar dropped down into the shallow channel running along beside the edge of the stone bridge, and placed his hand flat on the smooth stone of the bridge support. With a whisper, a small stone portal formed in the wall, and a rush of stale air swept out from the darkness beyond. Etgar turned around and started to help the group pass down the supplies.
The hidden doorway opened into a long narrow room running along inside the bridge support. In the centre of the room, a long stone table seemed to flow unbroken, like a natural outcrop from the floor, like much of the Verani furniture you had seen. Along either wall, shallow stone shelves lay empty, other than a thick layer of dust. The survivors of the villa busied themselves swiftly unpacking the equipment recovered from the villa onto the table, while others rummaged around in the supplies and started laying out bedrolls along the edges of the room.
Etgar approached the party,
"This is one of our first safehouses. It's been unused for a long time, but I don't think anyone in the council is aware of it. Thank you all for your help back in the villa - I'm not sure we could have gotten everyone out we did without you. You risked your lives for us, and you didn't need to. If there is anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to ask..."
Letho looked at him curiously,
“There’s no way that should have worked” he shrugged, “They didn’t even encircle the villa. You could have just strolled out the back door. Don’t you think they might have let you escape, and they’re tracking you back to the rest of the Resistance?”
Etgar laughed mirthlessly,
“The rest of the Resistance? This is it my friend. We’re all that’s left. They’ve systematically rounded us up and wiped us out for months now. But that’s also the reason we were able to escape back there at the villa. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve already won. They don’t view us as a threat any more, if they ever did. They placed wards around all the exits to the villa, so that anyone attempting to enter or leave would be disintegrated, and never even bothered to look around enough to find the escape tunnel. They’re so confident in their own superiority, it probably didn’t even occur to them. So no, I don’t think they’re secretly tracking us. I genuinely believe they’re confident they destroyed us utterly. And that might be just the advantage we need”
Oghar then turned to the rest of the Resistance,
"Right everyone, settle down. Raeburn, can you get the Kabani Crystal set up? Everyone else - get some rest. There's no guarantee we're safe, but we're almost ready to move against the council. So I need you all at your best! I'll take the first watch. Aurora, are you up for relieving me in a few hours?"
Most of the group moved to the edge of the room and tried to rest. Aetilius however watched fascinated as Juliana and Etgar began to help Raeburn; a short, heavyset man with thick bushy beard; who was in the process of setting up an intricate bronze mechanism on the table. Juliana and Raeburn carefully positioned and aligned four bronze pillars in a square. Raeburn touched each one in turn, and the pillars began to thrum with energy. Etgar carefully positioned a rhombic crystal in the air in the centre of the four pillars, and as he pulled his hand away the crystal remained floating, resonating with the same low drone as the pillars. Aurora tapped the big tiefling on the shoulder,
“They’re just waiting now. Best get some rest. We can discuss everything in the morning”
The majority of the room slipped into a paranoid but exhausted slumber for a few hours, until the crystal in Raeburn’s device began to pulse and thrum in a peculiar pattern. Ryoko woke with a start as the crystal began to spin slowly and emit flashes of different coloured light. Juliana roused herself from her doze and quickly joined Raeburn at the table, then began to furiously scribble notes. After around ten minutes, the crystal stopped spinning and settled back to its low frequency vibration. Juliana looked up from her notes, her face triumphant,
"Got it. The Grandmasters are meeting the night after next, in the penthouse of the Order of the Chain."
Etgar punched the air in exaltation,
"Wonderful! Although, we have a lot to do tomorrow. Alper, Jane, where are we with the explosives?"
Jane, a tough looking woman with a short buzz cut rubbed her eyes and growled,
"We've got enough to pull together four bombs. But they'll not do us a lick of good without some way to hide 'em from their scrying"
Etgar nodded,
"Dyrk and the others got captured on the way into the Blue Shield warehouse. I assume that the Karo Gems are still there. We'll need to organise another raid"
Tanika, a frail looking grey haired woman, looked up alarmed
"Are you kidding? There's only eleven of us left. We can’t possibly spare enough of a force to break into the Blue Shield encampment and also scout the Order’s tower. There’s just not enough time"
Aurora turned to look at the party, her face pleading,
"My friends, I know we've already asked so much of you. But this may be our last chance. Can you help us?"
Ryoko nodded at the Tabaxi,
“What do you need us to do?”
Etgar grinned widely,
“Thank you my friends. I don’t know where you came from, or how you fell into Aurora’s company, but we already owe you a great debt. Your arrival may very well have turned the tide in our favour."
"Ok, let me explain the plan.
In Verani society, we are all tested at a young age for magical aptitude. Most of us show a natural ability in one of the eight schools of magic: abjuration, conjuration, evocation, illusion, transmutation, divination, necromancy and enchantment. We are then assigned to train and work as members of one of the eight magical orders. I myself was a member of the Order of the Pyre, we specialised in evocation magic. Juliana here was a member of the Order of the Hammer, transmutation magic. Those with no magical aptitude become Robazun, menial labourers or slaves with no status in society. On the opposite end of the scale, those with particularly strong abilities are sent off for advanced training and become Magi. The Magi are in charge. They run the entire republic. The rest of us, even journeymen or adepts, have no say in our own lives. We do the work we are ordered to, live the lives we are told to, marry who we’re instructed, and bear the children we’re instructed. And these children become the property of the state on their eighth birthday; when they are sent for testing. Families try to keep in touch, but it becomes difficult. It’s forbidden to maintain contact with those who become Robazun; but even those who become Magi, many are never heard from again. Any hint of dissent and people just disappear, probably into black holes like the Kanaalden Mort.
There are different levels among the Magi. The Exalted, like the one who led the attack on the villa, are among the most powerful wizards in the city, and they make up the inner circle of each of the Orders. But the single most powerful wizard in each order is known as the Grandmaster. Together they form the ruling Council of Verani, and those eight people have total control over the populace of the entire republic. Every month, the Grandmasters meet. This location of each meeting is a secret, but we have long suspected that they take place in the Order towers. Each Order maintains a tower in one of the sectors of the city, where the administrative functions of each order are housed. And from the communication Raeburn just intercepted, it appears the next meeting will take place in two days, in the tower of the Order of the Chain. This means we know when and where we can find all of the Grandmasters. We can use this opportunity to kill them all at once. That will plunge the Magi into chaos, but more importantly, it will show the people of the city that the Council are not invulnerable. It might be just the spark we need to start a real rebellion.
Alper and Jane here can make enough explosives to obliterate the Council’s meeting room and everyone in it. But it’s of no use if we can’t keep them hidden. The Exalted will scan the tower before the meeting, so we’ll need some way to ensure they remain hidden. Dyrk, one of our old associates, had identified a stash of Karo gems in the Order of the Shield encampment outside of the city. These gems act as natural wards, and can render a location impervious to scrying magic. They’re well used in military and espionage operations for that reason. We need to break into the encampment and liberate a few of these gems. We also have evidence that Dyrk and the rest of his team are being held somewhere in the encampment. Part of the mission will be to locate and rescue them. We don’t leave people behind.
We also need someone to sneak into the Order of the Chain tower, locate and scout out the meeting chamber. We need enough information that we can find somewhere to plant the explosives that can guarantee we take out the entire council at once. Realistically, we shouldn’t have much of a chance here. But we have the Council’s own hubris on our side. They believe themselves completely untouchable. And that gives us our opening. Will you help us?”
Ramas grinned devilishly,
“Well that sounds fun”
Next: Chapter 3-19 - The Order of the Shield
Previous: Chapter 3-17 - Leaving the Kanaalden
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