03 - 01/09/23 : Iron Tears

 

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  With the tides of war battering roughly against his ship of desperation, King Roderigo knew that he needed to re-affirm his home territory in Pontus Tinigal; a task he could not carry out with the pirates of the Freedom Isles to the south taking the civil war as an opportunity to plunder and pillage. Action would need to be taken, and temporary alliances needed to be forged.   Summoned to Almanza Citadel, Frel's Strikeforce made their way to their meeting with the king to receive their mission. They briefly crossed paths with Flint Farlocke, a mysterious dwarven mercenary with a large high-powered rifle strapped to his back, who spoke little even after Frel's pestering.   Within the citadel's meeting hall, the party caught the ending of an argument between King Roderigo and his daughter, Princess Cordelia. She quickly shuffled away when the strikeforce arrived, though Cygnus did have a brief telepathic conversation with her via the message spell, revealing that the argument concerned the king's plan to send Cordelia into hiding on the Akadian mainland, a decision she did not agree with. Cygnus informed the princess that he trusted her insight.   the king introduced his agents to Captain Trask Vossler, an independent tiefling ship captain from the Akadian Coast representing 'certain interests' in the lands of the Akadian Pact. Vossler had experience with the pirates of Freedom Isles, having been born and raised in Santa Quint himself, and was to conduct a meeting with the leaders of the current pirate force terrorizing Oceanus. The meeting was to take place in an abandoned temple deep in the island's dense jungles, at the shore of an inland lagoon, and the party was tasked with escorting him safely.   The party accepted this task and departed soon after with Captain Vossler in tow, making their way to the abandoned temple. They soon gathered from engravings and other decorations that the temple was an ancient place of worship dedicated to Dajobas, The Shark God and dreaded Devourer of Worlds.   Further in, they encountered a large shark within a flowing river, which Frel attacked to scare off. Striking at the temple's protector inflicted her with a curse; one that granted her shark-like features such as a row of extra teeth, greater strength, and sandpaper-like skin, at the cost of years of her already short lifespan being shaved off when she performed particularly strenuous feats of strength.   After dispatching a mimic impersonating a giant clam, the party and Captain Vossler arrived in the central area of the temple, only to find it empty. They soon realized that they had been trapped, and the delegates of the pirates had already been murdered prior to their arrival. Soldiers serving Dagult Ambermantle soon made themselves known, led by a Topaz Dragonborn cleric of Anumon, God of Gates, Keeper of the Laws, and Overseer of Creation.   A tense fight broke out, in which the party locked down their assailants with debilitating spells and maneuvers. However, the cleric of Anumon managed to raise a dome of ice which separated Eleanor from her companions and Captain Vossler. Frel and Cygnus fought back and slew the cleric, but as the ice dome fell, Captain Vossler was knocked unconscious and taken away by the soldiers of Ambermantle via a Dimension Door.   Combat soon died down as the remaining Ambermantle soldiers fell, leaving the strikeforce alone with the murdered pirate delegates and no Captain Vossler in sight. Their mission was declared a failure, and they departed to inform the King of the ill tidings.  

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  Meanwhile, at Ambermantle Manor...   Having settled into their lodgings at the manor, Uriel de Rossi's unit were contacted by the mysterious Githzerai Zarr, who informed them that Dagult required them for a 'grim task', and instructed them to meet with their future king in the manor's garden. Within, Dagult was dismissing his agent Mallacht, instructing him to keep a close eye on the activities of his son Renaer.   Clearly in better health than before he received the healing waters of the Sahuagin fountain, Dagult engaged the party in a brief bout of conversation, praising their efforts thus far and asking if they were getting what they wanted thus far. It was then that he told Uriel about Renaer, Dagult's eldest son and Uriel's half-brother who was fighting on the side of the crown. Dagult spoke highly of Renaer's prowess and abilities, though asserted that due to their different paths in life that they would forever be enemies.   Moving to the matter at hand, Dagult informed their party of their task; some of his soldiers had captured an agent of the Devil's Hand, a secretive thieves' guild to the west with whom Dagult had a deep-running and hate-filled feud for their part in denying him the prize in the Vault of Dragons. Uriel, Stikx, and Elandriel's task was to extract vital information from this agent... by any means necessary.   In the dungeon below the manor, the party met with the captured agent; a tiefling ship captain named Captain Vossler. He proved to be flippant, resistant to intimidation, and highly mocking of his captors. However, a combination of Uriel's imperious insistence, Stikx's healing powers used to prolong his suffering, and knees full of buckshot from Elandriel were enough to compel him to talk.   Through tear-stained eyes and gritted teeth to fight back the pain, Vossler confessed that the Devil's Hand had a stake in the conflict and was being contracted to escort the princess out of the country to safety in the west. He also revealed that King Roderigo had a dragon in his employ somehow; a great dragon of 'mechanical bearing', seemingly forged of yellow crystals. Satisfied with what they learned, the party left the cell; save for Elandriel, who remained to see just how much more pain the captain could stand...