The session began with the party in the common room of The Soft Ingot in
Gogh Ulum. They were speaking with
Krambek Bloodmantle who had first introduced them to the inn and brought them here earlier in the evening. He has returned looking for allies to fight against Sartuen who, he believes, has bewitched his father,
Theldur Bloodmantle, and his brother,
Khardek Bloodmantle.
Krambek wants assistance in taking down Sartuen and enlists the party to help him, seeing that they have a common foe, but does stipulate a few things in advance.
- His father must not be harmed
- Sartuen must die
- Khardek should not be harmed unless he refuses to turn against Sartuen
Laz decides to go the route of honesty and tells Krambek that his brother was killed during the destruction of his tower outside the city. Despite this news being potentially fatal to the party, Laz manages to convince Krambek that it was self-defense and inevitable. Krambek reluctantly accepts the explanation, turns to the barmaid Katri and nods. The short Dwarven womamn disappears and his replaced by a Half-Orc woman. Her name is Jangraedeth Blackheart but tells the party that they can call her "Janet." Despite her huge stature, Krambek identifies her as the "spy" he had previously referred to, and offers the party her direct aid in this mission, as he is unable to attack Sartuen directly. The party accepts the oddly ditzy Half-Orc into their number and chooses to wait until morning for their advance.
Morning comes and just prior to leaving the inn, Laz feels the tankard burn hot in his pack. He takes it out and suddenly Qira vanishes and a very dead Thark appears on the ground before them. A mere 10 seconds later, Thark's body disappears again, and one of the large gems on the tankard cracks and the tankard grows cool again.
Despite the odd happenings, Janet disguises herself once again and the party continues. She leads them past the entrance to the palace and to a sewer grate which she claims will get them into the palace unnoticed. They make their way through the sewer where they come upon a small guard continent whom they are able to dispatch with ease.
After a bit of a struggle, the party opens a large copper hatch in the wall before them and Janet steps into an ante-chamber behind the throne room itself. A trap is sprung and she is hit by a poisoned arrow.
The rest of the party enters the ante-chamber and Laz listens at the door to the throne room. He hears the King and Krambek speaking with Krambek trying to convince the King to ignore Sartuen. It is not clear if she is present. Xenik sends his sprite, Tink, in to investigate and she confirms Sartuen stands at the King's right hand, whispering in his ear. Xenik then has Tink land on Krambek's shoulder and relay that the party is "close, and ready." Krambek storms out of the hall with two guards following.
The party enters the throne room and begins the battle. Arlox casts spirit guardians which have moderate success damaging both foes and friends alike. Zalista is able to stun Sartuen, giving the party a huge advantage. The King knocks her unconscious in retaliation. After more struggle, Laz kills Sartuen (finally) with a well-placed Guiding Bolt. Xenik is then knocked unconscious by the still-charmed King. Janet attempts to grapple Theldur but fails to contain him. Laz is able to revive Xenik who revives Zalista in turn. Xenik screams to the party that "the necklace" is the key to the charm. Krambek re-enters the room and rips the necklace from the king, removing the charm.
After the battle ceases, Xenik approaches the King diplomatically, waiting for the fog to completely lift from the King's mind. He offers them a reward for freeing him from Sartuen's spell. He is clueless as to the nature of Sartuen's motivations but he knows that he needs to make peace with Burimm and the empire if he doesn't wish to further antagonize. He offers the party more coin if they can help broker peace and prevent revenge.
Xenik loots Sartuen, finding a strange pink stone.
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