07 - 05/01/23 : Anger Burns

 

---

  Uriel's unit awoke for their assignment for the day, with the war drawing closer to a definitive conclusion. Zarr led them to the library, which was maintained by Dagult's mother Excella, and sat with Dagult for their briefing.   Dagult mused briefly about the war reaching its end, and asked what each member of the party wanted in recompense for their service. Elandriel only wished to destroy the crown and continue to serve in this regard, to which Dagult assured she would be one of the first to be knighted in his service. Stikx repeated his desire to only help those in needs. Uriel, as expected, stated his desire to officially take the Ambermantle name as the heir to the crown.   Satisfied with these answers, Dagult turned to the nearby window to look at Caer Tinigal, the Palace of Pontus Tinigal and the final bastion of the Crown's power in the civil war. Although Almanza Citadel was close to falling after being starved out in recent sieges, the war would not be over until the palace was captured, and it was protected by an aurora-like force field. The field would need to be brought down in order to field a large enough force to take the palace.   Commander Viktorina Ashcroft revealed that the rebellion's diviners had detected the force field's source was hidden within the Temple of Dame Torren, a goddess of Bard's Gate that Dagult despised. Specifically, the field was emanating from an unknown device or artifact that would need to be destroyed, and possibly studied before the fact to determine the nature of its construction.   The diviners had also detected that the magic creating the force field was draconic in nature, and was present in great magnitude. This, combined with evidence gathered by the rebellion's spies (such as discarded topaz scales and abandoned dragon dens dotting the island), led Dagult and his advisors to believe that the Crown had a dragon among its defenders. For reasons yet unknown, this dragon had yet to be unleashed, and the certainty of dealing with such a creature weighed heavily on the rebellion war council.   The fact of the matter remained that the field around the palace would need to be dealt with, and so Dagult outlined the plan; while a force of soldiers attacked the Temple of Dame Torren from the main landmass of Pontus Tinigal, Uriel's unit would cross the narrow bridge from the High Market in the west and engage the small but powerful defense guarding the temple's back entrance.   The defense in question was confirmed to comprise of Flint Farlock, a powerful dwarven mercenary infamous for his brutal weapon of choice (a high-powered firearm called the Silent Treatment), as well as a pair of agents from the vigilante organization from Revelmoore known as the Masquerade; Renaer Ambermantle and Bonziel Ramrider, the former being Dagult's estranged son.   Uriel relished the opportunity to face his half-brother in combat, and prove once and for all the dominant heir to the Ambermantle name. With their orders set, the party set out for the bridge as the evening sun sunk over the horizon.   Upon the torchlit bridge to the Temple, Uriel's unit came face-to-face with Renaer, Bonziel, and Flint, as well as a small contingency of Crown soldiers. Renaer demanded the party identify themselves; Uriel, atop his celestial tiger mount Rubicante, proudly proclaimed his name to his foes.   Renaer recognized who he was about to fight, and pleaded with Uriel to escape Dagult's cycle of abuse as he did. Uriel rebuked Renaer, angrily proclaiming that he acted not out of loyalty to Dagult, but out of anger at Oceanus itself for the life he had lived, and his subsequent desire to take what the kingdom had refused to give him. Reaner sorrowfully drew his blade and bade Uriel & his companions to prepare themselves.   The battle began, with Uriel rushing forward to engage Renaer while Stikx and Elandriel carefully pushed their way down the bridge. The group was hampered significantly by Flint Farlocke's deadly rifle shots, and Renaer's stalwart defense and magical shield proved difficult to break through. Uriel was seriously wounded while dueling his half-brother, and in a bout of desperation to save the party, Stikx pushed his spellcasting to its limits and sacrificed a piece of his own life force to restore Uriel to a fighting state.   Eventually, Renaer and his allies were pushed back to the bridge's gate, and when Bonziel suffered a wound, his clear worry for her well being tipped Uriel off that the two cared for one another. Uriel began to target Bonziel with his offense, prompting Reaner to redirect his focus to wrestling his half-brother into a grapple. Once Uriel was grasped, Renaer flung himself and Uriel off of the bridge, plunging thirty feet down; however, before striking the ground, Renaer said simply "see you at the palace" and crushed his own wedding ring, causing him to teleport away to safety. Uriel survived the fall, though both he and his pride were wounded.   With Renaer gone, Bonziel similarly crushed her own wedding ring, disappearing and leaving Flint with only a few soldiers. Elandriel and her pet bear continued to push forward while Stikx utilized dimension door to get Uriel back onto the bridge, and the party was finally able to corner and slay the dwarven mercenary. Elandriel claimed Flint's hat and rifle, and the party cleaned up the opposition before proceeding to the temple of Dame Torren.   The party discovered the relic within; a large topaz gemstone grasped by a metallic dragon claw. Uriel utilized his divine sense to check the area, finding it to be consecrated as was the case with most temples. A holy symbol flashed before his eyes, but it was one he did not recognize; it did not, however, match with the symbol of Dame Torren present on the temple's iconography. Unable to indentify anything concrete about the relic, the party noted the holy symbol Uriel saw and then destroyed the relic, subsequently watching the aurora around Caer Tinigal dissipate.   Uriel's unit returned to Ambermantle Manor to lick their wounds after a difficult battle, and reported on what they saw. Zarr, the mysterious githzerai in service to Dagult, identified this symbol as the holy symbol of Sardior, the god of gem dragons and secrets. He took this as firm confirmation that a gem dragon was present in some form within the crown's holdings.   Dagult bade the party prepare for the siege on Caer Tinigal, which would commence as soon as possible with himself leading the charge. Elandriel tried to convince him to stay back and not risk being targeted, but Dagult firmly insisted that he be there on the ground with his forces to personally execute King Roderigo. With the discussion over, the party went to rest before the final conflict.   Meanwhile, Almanza Citadel had been lit aflame by the rapidly advancing rebel siege forces. Frel's Unit braved the increasingly thick smoke and met with the King in the command center.   Roderigo asked the party if they trusted him, to which they (mostly) agreed; in response, the King gave them their final mission. He asked for them to take his daughter Cordelia and escort her through the secret escape tunnels below into the Pontus Tinigal sewers, where they would then deliver her to agents of the Akadian Pact to be ferried to safety away from Oceanus. Afterwards, the party was to double back through the secret passages and join Roderigo at Caer Tinigal, where they would put up a final stand against the forces of Dagult Ambermantle. Given the near-certainty of death, Roderigo wished no ill-will to those who might choose to disobey this final order and leave to save their lives.   Eleanor embraced the king and thanked him for everything despite the crumbling of his regime, and together the party entered the secret passageways with Princess Cordelia in tow.   As they navigated the dark passageways, Cordelia brushed against a piece of old metal shrapnel and suffered a minor cut that tore part of her dress, revealing a small patch of topaz scales beneath that glimmered in the party's magical light sources.