(Dec 29 2016)
After the party makes camp the first night on the journey back to Timore, Kadich leans closely in to Sheriff Colburn, sharing a whispered conversation about escaping into the swamp. Some of the party overhear, particularly Moira and Alena. Colburn refuses, ready to face judgment, stubbornly insisting he did nothing wrong.
After two days the party returns to the city. Before entering the city proper, still wading through the shanties and tents of all those gathered for the wedding, the gypsy fortune teller that gave Talthus his initial tarokka reading emerges from the crowds and throws herself at the bard’s feet, begging for forgiveness. She pleads with him to remove “the curse,” describes the horrid hardship that has befallen her and her daughter in the past few days, and says cryptically “I would have never tried to dupe you if I knew you were of the Shivanti; I promise to never abuse the tarokka again!”
Turns out she was never a legit sooth-sayer, just found the deck of cards one day on a dead traveller, and has since been hustling useless trinkets to the weary after giving them false readings of doom and gloom. This opens up a panoply of questions for Talthus – what of the Shivanti, and what about the vivid vision related to her reading that he experienced? Was it just a hallucination from the influence of swamp gas? Talthus goes to the ashes of her now burned-out tent and takes the mysterious deck for his inquiries, noting it radiates no magic aura, but was miraculously untouched by the fire.
The Heroes of Scarsburg are met at the City Gates by guards, who escort Colburn, Kadich, Jormun, Laremy and Gnarl away, asking that the party venture to Karfax Castle in several hours to give testimony at the Court Martial. Talthus mentions that he was the “Officer Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” and when one guard notes he is not in uniform, Talthus replies that he is “under cover.” This elicits from the other guard, “I told you the Sol Inquisitors were still around!” and conspiracy gossip ensues throughout the city guard ranks to the delight of The Bastard.
The party takes a moment to reconvene at the Sweetbutter Tavern. Yoshy wants to take a break, and pulls up a seat next to the other road weary adventurers. Shea has no interest in “court politics” or more accurately court authority, being a thief, and will justifiably sit this one out.
Moira steps out briefly to find a wedding gift for the Duchess. She finds a sassy tailor, and while she disagrees with the steep prices for the gowns, even contemplating a bit of larceny, eventually decides to legally procure a fine set of azure silk gloves.
The party arrives at Karfax Castle. With little time to take in the layout of the castle, they are lead directly to the Throne Room where the Duke & Duchess await. Guests have been received here all day, but now it is time for the trial. Volg the dwarven ambassador is there, along with Captain Murphy, Magistrate Ocho, Treasurer Charlton, the Duke’s manservant Alfred, and the Duchess’s maidservant Nishta.
Each in the party gives their own testimony, some more colorful than others. The Sheriff’s two lead deputies, Kadich & Jormun, give the exact same 3-line phrase, the terse and uninformative “Our number is few, our errand is dire, we do what must be done.” Sir Gallen is among the few who go into great detail, and his regret and remorse is evident. Still, along with Talthus, he vouches that while Colburn was misguided by rage, his fate should be tempered by mercy.
And so Jim Colburn is demoted, no longer Sheriff, exiled north to Pitchfork Pass to be a common guard under the command of Captain Benedict there, for a probationary period of no less than one year. Captain Murphy promotes Deputy Josh Catain in his place as the new Sheriff of Timore’s West Ward.
Duke Lapis then addresses Gnarl, and for Colburn’s transgressions, offers a hefty recompense to assuage the Turtle Tribe and retain peace [the details of which can be seen here]. Charlton the Royal Treasurer seems disquieted by the generosity, but keeps his counsel amicable and subtle, simply noting that the wedding is already straining the royal coffers considerably. The Duke insists, but adds that it will be paid after the wedding. Gnarl is not ungrateful, and mostly hides any misgivings he may have about Colburn’s light sentence.
After the disgruntled Colburn is lead away and the official matter of the trial is over, Captain Murphy addresses the party directly. He says Timore needs extra help guarding pilgrims and travelling merchants, as goblins and orcs have been seen along the Shield Road, and there will no doubt be a number of dissenters among the ranks of the West Ward guards who were loyal to Colburn. The Duke also asks Talthus, Moira, and Volg to stay at court awhile, to join his personal guard, entertain, and assist in the wedding preparations for tomorrow. It is then Sir Gallen, Gnarl, and Alena who go to help reinforce the town guard.
The party splits.
In the next hour Moira is partying with the peasant folk in the kitchen when she notices a servant girl acting strange, creeping suspiciously down from Magistrate Ocho’s Tower. The other cooks and servers say, “Yeah that’s Tilda, a new girl; she’s the replacement since Ocho’s regular maid recently fell ill.” Nothing seems to be amiss, so she rejoins Talthus in the Throne Room. Duke Lapis inquires as to Moira’s Calistrian training, at which Duchess Lazuli blushes and discretely changes the subject.
Outside the city walls, the guards are alerted by way of their communication amulets that a contingent of goblins, orcs, and bugbears is attacking villagers! Alena, Gnarl, and Sir Gallen head to the rescue. They quickly find the band of more than a dozen foes, including a few nasty wargs.
Back at the castle, the good Wizard Neff comes seeking audience with the Duke & Duchess. He’s the guy who supplied the city guard with those fancy communication amulets. Everyone welcomes him, and he makes a bit of a show of his entrance with little motes of light and soft music. He comes merrily bearing more gifts for the happy couple: this time a curious puzzle box, which as he presents it to the lady, says in a sing-song voice, “If one can solve its mysteries, it may grant many wishes, such as everlasting beauty, or increasing the wealth of your nation by your weight in gemstones!” The other folk at court are quite taken by the performance.
Meanwhile, the fight with the orcs and goblins rages on outside the city walls. The various goblinoids are being rallied by a goblin shaman of sorts, hanging back and calling out orders. The wolves seem to be herding the fleeing pilgrims away, and funneling the party toward the cluster of fierce orcs and bugbears. Goblin archers and dagger wielders pick off stragglers. Alena returns fire, dropping a few. Gnarl is quickly surrounded, but as a superior swordsman with scales as thick as armor, is able to hold his own. Sir Gallen bravely takes down a bugbear, his Auratine Blade glowing with full glory in the heat of righteous battle.
In the Throne Room of Castle Karfax, the guardsmen look on as the Duchess bemusedly fondles the puzzle box given to her by Neff. Talthus doesn’t like the sound of things, especially the wording of the gift, and tries to protest – but finds that he can barely move! Moira too is held entranced. All slows, sound warps, and the very air itself takes on a sinister quality. They all watch on in horror as the Duchess solves the puzzle. In a flash of crackling energy, the puzzle collapses into many pieces, and as they fall to the floor, an unearthly light washes over the royal couple turning them into sapphire statues. Neff sneers, flinging open his cloak. As it unfurls, a swarm of fiendish bats spills forth, and his disguise melts away revealing his true infernal form, the vile Nerrak.
Back on the battlefield, Alena continues loosing a volley of arrows, Gnarl cuts down a few orcs, and even Dog goes toe-to-toe with a much larger wolf. Sir Gallen, intoxicated by the thrill of finally having a truly deserving foe, calls upon Sol to witness his righteous deeds.
It is then that three goblins come charging toward him, sent from the goblin shaman. They don’t appear to have weapons, but are just waving their arms in the air as they race toward Sir Gallen. Filled with zeal, Sir Gallen cuts them down without a second thought, cleaving one nearly in twain. That is when the illusion fades, and it is readily apparent that Sir Gallen has just struck down three human children. The three children, in fact, that they had spent days in the swamp searching for. The goblin shaman cackles with delight.
Matters back at Karfax Castle grow worse. The fiendish bats fly toward the puzzle pieces; it is clear they intend to retrieve them. Moira breaks the fascination spell and kills 3 of the bats with a burning burst of flames. Talthus also breaks free and dives toward the pieces, grabbing one in each hand. The guards still stand entranced. While everyone else is distracted, Nerrak stretches his wings, and makes an aside to Moira “If only we had met under other circumstance, my darling,” then vanishes in a waft of magic. Volg too breaks free of the enchantment, but is too late to land a blow on the fiend.
Moments later, a stained glass window across the room shatters as the invisible enemy presumably escapes.
The fight with the orcs and goblins outside grows dire.
Sir Gallen looks at his bloody weapon and drops The Auratine Blade on the ground, muttering, “I do not deserve to wield this.” He then falls to his knees at the body of the child he killed, attempting to lay on hands, but a light has left from his eyes. The frey continues around him. One of the nearby guards with a Neff medallion then speaks in a curious monotone, “While you were out here killing kids, the sovereign you swore to protect has just been petrified.” Gallen’s face goes from grief stricken desperation to complete despair, then terror. While everyone is distracted by melee, Gallen leaps on his horse and rides North in a panic.
Alena moves in fast to grab the abandoned Auratine Blade, and uses it with surprising ease to send a looming bugbear to his early grave. When she turns from her victory, however, she sees Gallen is already out of sight.
Inside the halls of the Castle, the rest of the guards and officiaries recover from their fugue. Magistrate Ocho is the first to make sense of the horrid situation. “Quick now!” he orders a servant.
“Go to my tower, and retrieve my emergency scroll of break enchantment; it is on the bottom shelf second from the left. We have little time before this curse takes full effect. I may be able to fix this.” The servant moves with alacrity, and minutes later is back with the scroll. “Everyone stand back; this is a powerful spell.” He prepares himself for the casting and opens the scroll… only to have his face contorted into terror at what he sees.
As soon as the scroll’s seal is broken, a large fiery green skull emerges, engulfing him, expanding out almost 15 feet, and sending out a circle of rippling negative energy. Magistrate Ocho is rapidly desiccated before everyone’s eyes and crumbles into a pile of dust. The poor servant too, standing too close by, is caught in the devastating ring of green fire and consumed by the malign tide issuing forth from the symbol of death. A brief shocked silence falls over all within the Throne Room.
The party pushes further into the midst of the goblins, orcs, and bugbears, but their goblin shaman leader has called a retreat. The wolves mostly run off in scattered directions, only two staying behind to thwart the party. Half the other monsters flee, while those already engaging the party close ranks to finish the job. In the distance, the goblin shaman assumes the form of a hyena and runs frantically into the woods beyond.
In Castle Karfax, the sovereigns have been turned to stone, the devil responsible has escaped, and the only magic wielder capable of curing them is now dust blowing in the wind.
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