After the rest, the curing of the disease and the reversing of Tienarth’s curse, Tienarth and Elaria spent the afternoon scrying into their crystal balls. Based on meeting her long ago, Tienarth reached out to spy on Talanashta. He saw her reclining in a lavish room, seemingly staring off into the distance. Based only on Ghevont’s description of his dream, Elaria scryed the statue before a glowing archway. The entire chamber was illuminated by a ghostly, ethereal green light that seemed to radiate from numerous fist-sized glowing stones embedded erratically in the mortar of the carved walls.
On the south wall, directly opposite the entrance, stood a tall marble statue of an Elf inside an archway with no passage beyond it. The statue’s hands were clasped tightly over its chest. That section of the wall radiated a powerful, shimmering green light and the air directly surrounding the figure pulsated faintly.
Before the statue stood a desiccated form wrapped in layers of finely woven linen. His eyes burned with an unsettling emerald flame, and he wore a heavy gold amulet inscribed with ancient script. The mummy, undoutedly Kheset, seemed to gaze directly out of the scene with unnerving intensity. Flanking the chamber, positioned near the walls, were three sarcophagi. Standing motionless beside these massive tombs are three mummy guardians. Closer to the high, vaulted ceiling, Elaria saw two translucent spectral figures floating silently. Near the mouth of the passage, a pale woman wearing tattered cult robes stood defensively, clutching a silver censer. A branded ankh tattoo was visible upon her cheek.
Elaria concluded that the statue was not Talanashta, that the vampire queen was not the one trapped in statue form.
The scrying was interrupted by rapping on the door. Aderian opened it to face a golem who introduced himself as Carnelius. He asked them to come with him to visit Amalgus, and they complied. Before long, they were back in the heated room within the forged, face to face with the immense golem. He stared at them for a moment before beginning a short speech, the gist of which was that the Raiders were losing focus and falling prey to Ithusar’s lies.
He explained that Carnelius was newly-constructed from the bodies of the cultists slain the day before, and that the golem would follow them going forward. Nate and Ghevont prevailed upon the group to interview Bremlai. They left to call upon Ithusar once again.
The vampire greeted them warmly, as before. And once again, he served them a sumptuous meal. In the course of conversation, he was happy to learn of the second entrance to the tomb, the one through a sewer pipe. After some negotiation, they formed a plan to assault the tomb from two directions. Ithusar’s forces would enter from the rear. The Raiders would enter through the front, the portal in the lower lever of the Ebon Spire. Ithusar explained that the mummy had placed a sun elemental there, a proof against any vampire. The vampire asked for 12 hours to make arrangements.
In the mean time, he brought them to speak with Bremlai who was chained to a wall of a small, sparse room. At prodding, he reiterated the the vampire’s story, that he’d begun the project of digging up the elf tomb in a rash attempt to save the town from the recently-arrived werewolves. He admitted his guilt and indicated he accepted punishment.
The party asked to speak with Bremlai out of the presence of Ithusar, who agreed. He told them he’d leave it to the humans to decide Bremlai’s fate. Nate stepped into the room, and his aura provided a relief from the charms of the vampire over the former mayor. Bremlai was questioned again. He blamed all the trouble on Ithusar. He said he’d been working with the green dragons to protect St. Orlan during a time when it was threatened by the war, but soon after werewolves showed up, the dragons were found to be enthralled by Ithusar. The mayor was powerless to stop the threat and soon after the mist enshrouded the city.
Jerker, unable to contain his rage, drew his crystal sword, Ithush. Nate, guessing his intent, leaped on the warrior and wrestled the sword from his hand, but the next moment, Jerker drew a dagger and plunged it into Bremlai’s neck. The old man gasped once, then collapsed into silence. They freed him from his chains and took the body with them. They delivered it to the forge where they hoped Amalgus would put it to use in creating another golem. They also delivered a plan for the golems.
After the vampire’s forces entered the tomb, the golems would follow. The raiders would be entering from the opposite end, thus trapping the the foes between them. Amalgus agreed and began making plans for an assault force.
With eleven more hours to wait, the Raiders went to make contact with the werewolves. The former residents of the homestead, still sheltering in the temple, directed them to the east odoriferous district where it was known the werewolves ruled over the slums. Fortunately, the first location they investigated happened to be controlled by the lycanthropes. They conversed with the guards who eventually arranged for a meeting with Lyra Bloodhowl, their leader. They required six hours to fetch her. The Raiders loitered in the street over this duration.
Lyra was a lean, fierce woman in her thirties, with wild silver-streaked hair and piercing amber eyes that betrayed her lycanthropic nature. Clad in tattered leathers, she wore a pair of curved daggers. Jerker laid out the situation and asked for her cooperation. The offer was received with skepticism. She asked if her crew would be allowed to continue harvesting humans when the vampire was destroyed. The answer was no. By all indications, the werewolves did not seem inclined to join in an attack on the vampires.
Five hours remained until the Raiders were expected to return to the Ebon Spire.
End Notes
- Days
- 9/6 Afternoon Inside the mist-shrouded St. Orlan
- Treasure: none
- Combat: none
- Characters
- Aderian
- Elaria
- Ghevont
- Jerker
- Nate
- Ollie
- Tienarth