Four - Half a World Away

Mission Log: Entry Four

It has been eleven days since I have seen my home. I find myself wondering if anyone else of the order has traveled as far as I have. Much excitement, fear, and danger has occurred in such a short time.

We met with Argamir, Gran Dorwellan, Baron Bogardus, and Sagrath and devise a plan to infiltrate the Temple of Bahamut. I volunteer to allow Sagrath to render me invisible for several hours as I sneak about the temple after a disguised Lady Almareth leaves a false assassin summons in the offering as described in our prisoner's interrogation. The name on this order was her personal guard Amigo Ogima.

Later, we venture to the temple as Lady Almareth, in the guise of an ordinary townsman, deposits the order. I follow a priest a short time later who collects the various offerings left during prayers. Through many doors and hallways within the complex, I follow the priest. Finally he comes to a small room concealing a hidden door which revealed a staircase leading downward. A guard stood watch beyond the stair's landing, nodding as the priest passed.

In a plain apartment, beyond yet another hidden door a human man, ornately adorned in the trappings of Bahamut clergy sat at a desk studying some paperwork. Barely acknowledging the priest, the man took from him two scrolls, one of them our order, but did not open them.

Still magically concealed, I pocketed the other scroll as the man stood to leave the room. Surveying the room, I notice an interesting book entitled "Kua'toa" which I also take just before following the man out into a common area where clergy sat about reading and lounging.

I followed by quarry here where he began reading from a book entitled "On the Nature of Morality Disorders", specifically a section titled "Regarding Symptons Appearing at Times of Day." Curious of this topic, I took this book as well when it was unsupervised.

A lady entered and spoke to the man, referring to him as Malik. They briefly discuss how Baron Bogardus assured that Shigga's spear, taken by Madam Oliphant, will be returned but is needed for an important mission.

I followed the man a bit further before seeing a priest leaving the area with our scroll. I turned my attention to him and follow him out to the street, where I sneaked over to Lady Almareth and the others and drop off the items taken from the temple.

Onward I stalked the priest, into a wealthier district and a lavishly furnished brothel whose sign displayed an ornate "M".  I followed him down a set of stairs into the basement where I stood amongst a throng of nearly sixty well-armed warriors dressed like our would-be assassin in the street. No doubt the den of the Guild of Death.

The basement had tunnels on each wall which appeared to be part of the city's sewer network. Perhaps this was how they moved about the city.

The priest delivered the scroll to a man, who I walked from person to person displaying the scroll, with each of the guildsmen shaking their heads. The assassin was obviously asking if anyone knew the name, to which it appeared none did.

The man left the basement in a hurry, down the street to a nearby tavern where he sat with a man Sehl would later tell me is named Margala, sliding him a gold piece and asking to find the name on the scroll before quickly leaving. This routine appeared so rehearsed that I wonder how many orders came through these men.

As Margala left, I nearly lost him. Though I do not think I was noticed or suspected, I feel he was a professional in his ability to go disappear into his surroundings, but a moment of investigation and perhaps blind luck led me to find him at a local bathhouse. Here he set aside his clothing and satchel as he questioned another man in a bath.

I took this chance to rifle through the satchel, taking care not to prick myself on the needles within that seemed to be a trap for pickpockets. At first, I draw a scroll of signatures, finding many familiar names, such as Lady Almareth, Baron Bogardus, and Baroness Winona. Unfortunately, as I drew a book from the bag, Margala heard the noise and I was forced to flee. Though he followed me into the street, I easily evaded his pursuit and met back with my companions, with whom I returned to the castle as my enchantment began to fade.

The Baron and Sagrath met us and looked over the documents I retrieved. The signature sheet appeared to be forgeries for an unknown purpose. The book was a list of names and gossip about various people which meant, no doubt, to be used to blackmail those whose names were written.

Shocked and angered by these revelations and, satisfied that we had found the guild's hideout, the baron ordered an assault upon the brothel to be organized, pledging again many of his soldiers to aid in the attack.

Noting their possible use of the sewers, I ask Sehl if we would be able to prevent their escape from below as the city guards moved into the brothel. His recommendation was to speak with the Scoffers, his familial network of thieves.

Following Sehl through the city, we meet a few of his contacts in a darkened alleyway where he relays his intent. They agree to take us to see "The Elusive Man" and proceed to blindfold us and move us erratically throughout the city, through several teams of Scoffers.

Finally, our blindfolds were removed, revealing a rooms whose size and contents were intentionally obscured with mirrors and bright lights where silhouettes flitted around between pockets of darkness. A figure, obscured by the tricks of light, prompted Sehl to explain out presence. After a brief explanation of our predicament and Sehl's perceived insubordination, the figure agreed to offer assistance in preventing the Guild of Death's escape through the sewers when we attack in exchange for a large sum of money from the Baron to which Prince Locklear agrees.

They then take Sehl away, claiming he is to be executed for his disobedience and treasonous actions towards the Scoffers. Appalled at this barbarism, we protest his treatment and insist that his actions have exposed a great evil in the city and has potentially saved them all.

Relenting, they agree to release him for another bounty of coin and ask that Sehl be accepted by the city as a new noble house. The prince agrees once again and, prompted to pick a name, Sehl declares himself of House Nilo. The Scoffers then disown Sehl, causing the elf to quietly sob as we discuss our plans further.

The pain of rejection from one's family must be painful. Still, Sehl is better off without these criminals abusing the idea of family. I will pray he finds peace. Though it is petty, part of me wishes that the Scoffers get their comeuppance.

Blindfolded again, we are led away from the Scoffers and released back into the city to rendezvous with Sagrath and the others to finalize out plan. He cast another incantation, linking himself, Lady Almareth, two guardsmen, two Scoffers, and myself in a telepathic union so that we may coordinate our offensive.

Heading for the sewers, we decided to solicit the help of the Emerald Serpents. While our relationship is quite strained, it is evident that we share a common enemy. However, they were unable to offer services beyond the use of a few buildings in the area of the brothel that we could use as a staging area for the assault.

As we descended into the sewers and began to travel the tunnels to the brothel, we notice some etchings in the stonework which we cannot decipher. I decide to copy some of the writing onto some paper, but it is soon made clear that it was a ward of some sort, as Prince Locklear became impaled upon a bent and twisted steel grate which magically reforms as he passes into the tunnel.

We called out to Sagrath for help, but it would take some time for him to respond to the prince's plight, so we were forced to march onward, comforting a distraught Lady Almareth as best we could.

Further down the tunnel, as Sehl and I stealthily flank the river of filth, I stumbled headlong into a fish creature from Malik's hidden apartment. As the Kua'toa spoke to me in an unknown tongue, I asked Sagrath to translate. Hearing that he creatures beckon me to name the god of death, I deny them in the name of the Seldarine, witnessing again the strange and unexpected force which I am somehow able to summon. The creatures, reeling from my invocation, were no match for us, but a monstrous creature from beneath the sewage proved to be more of a challenge. Reaching up from the muck with its tentacles and horrible mouth, it lashed out at Sehl and Madam Oliphant before Lady Almareth blasted it with her magic.

Fearing for the prince, Sehl returns to see that he is unconscious, but breathing.

As we press further, a great sound is heard emanating from deeper in the sewers. We fear it may be an alarm, but continue onward. We finally came to a door to the brothel and, after a cursory inspection, decide to open it and proceed inward. As the door opened, however, Sehl is assailed with crossbow bolts, fired from a waiting group of our enemies.

Though we tried, we were unable to progress further into the brothel's basement, as our enemies kept us pinned down within the tunnel. Seeing a great force beyond the door, we called to our allied to begin the assault.

The assault did not go well, as the bodies of our enemies rose in undeath after their fall. Fire and Jessicat's spear were all that subdued the dead. Even with the forces we gathered pressing in from all sides, the losses were heavy.

We noticed a gaunt and wicked figure amid the enemies as Sagrath appeared behind us. He called out to the figure with familiarity, referring to him as Zorasis just as the apparent leader began to conjure a portal through which to escape. Sagrath urged us to follow Zorasis as he cast a spell to slow the portal's closing.

Fighting through our remaining enemies, we lept through the portal along with two of Sehl's scoffer friends and four of Lady Almareth's guards. It is hard to say how long the transportation lasted, but it felt like ages. It was like diving in to a great void with distant points of light and no reference to gauge their distance or size. Finally, though, we arrived in mountainous terrain where we noted hoof tracks in the snow. Our enemy had escaped.

In the distance was a village, apparently abandoned, with many of the structures destroyed. Boulders and tree trunks lay strewn about, as if some great calamity befell the people living here. Beyond the villages, and in which Sehl claims to have seen someone moving about, sat a large castle with five tall spires. The tallest of which stood in the center of the castle and was coated in an unnatural shade of black.

Our link to Sagrath persisted briefly after our transportation. He told us Prince Locklear was poisoned and to search for the cure here in what he told us was Castle Dreknar in the nation of Denmok. He will keep the prince in suspension until we return, but we do not have more than a month, he warned. After finding the antidote, we are to travel south to Northwarden and seek out the Baron Stovokor.

Sagrath also explains that Zorasis was the resident wizard of Denmok, which was destroyed in an avalance 25 years ago. I had never heard of this, rather being taught that it was the legendary 42nd from Merkemia which liberated Denmok from the evil forces of Dreknar. I was taught that the nation was overseen by its steward, Corath, while Alyana Denmok was missing.

Talking with the others, we do recall the tale of how demons appeared on the northern border of Merkemia and the forces of Northwarden have been holding them back over the years. I wonder if these things are related.

Night is upon us, and we have taken refuge in the deserted town, awaiting morning when we plan to enter the castle and search for the cure for what is killing the prince.

I still do not understand the forces which work through me or much of what has transpired in the day, but pressing matters do not afford me the luxury of ruminating on questions to which I know not the answers. I am still dedicated to the safety of Lady Almareth and will aid her in saving her betrothed.