Part IV
The band of heroes emerges from the dark tunnels beneath the docks, narrowly escaping the dank tomb that would have been their final resting place, only to find that the Solce guards have surrounded the dockhouse and set fire to the building. Their only exit leads out to the pier, and they hurriedly dash from the encroaching flames towards a solitary longboat left behind. Paddling for their lives, they glide out into the bay. "Do ya think I have time to do some fishing?" jokes Zandor, trying to break the grim mood brought on by the spectacle of fire and death the party just witnessed.
Deciding that this town is a bit more trouble than it's worth, everyone agrees they should leave and head west. They can return for the forged weapon in two tendays. Unfortunately, Nameless had decided to stay behind at the warehouse to catch up on his rest after his long night of performing, so Aro-mon must sneak back into the town and re-unite him with the party. They all plan to meet up in the western hills just outside of Hilvada.
Aro-mon is able to navigate the town back to Nameless, and as the pair prepares to exit through the gates, the captain of the city guards, Sura Hilbane, intercepts them. He has a surprising offer for the band of heroes. The captain has his own spies in the city and knows that the party has been struggling against the mysterious Solce nobility since they arrived. He requests their assistance in trying to get control back from the nobles and the thieves' guild. If they will stay and help restore order for twenty days, then they will be allowed to move freely about the town. The timeline is no coincidence, he knows about the valuable forging taking place by Master Payter as well. Aro-mon and Nameless join everyone else in the hills to relay the captain's message. Bosnun knows this captain Hilbane has the marks of a good and genuine man, and the party decides that staying in Hilvada might be the best path available to them. The group is promised safety and succor at the Hilvada garrison, and they waste no time in accepting this boon from Sura Hilbane.
The next twenty days pass in a flurry of activity. Captain Hilbane is generous, but he expects hard work from the independent band. Every half tenday in the city brings a new challenge. With more work to do than hours available, they must make good use of their time and select their work wisely. The first five days are spent building the western battlements, helping the kingdom's garrison increase its power over Hilvada while the nobility is seen ignoring the people on the outside of the inner walls. They finish the week training with the garrison and increasing the security of the inner city, often clashing with Top's enforcers. The next week, the party wants to assist the healers in the Red District working with the injured and diseased. As this action might turn the people's regard away from the garrison, Bill asks Sura if they might be allowed to wear Kingdom arms and armor showing that their work is on behalf of the soldiers. Sura agrees to this proposal, and the party works as representatives of the kingdom's guards, improving relations even further with the citizens.
While working in the Red District, Eli spots a very familiar face walking along the crowd- the blackguard Jenos, the cur that brought them to Wayward with Kaylah and promptly disappeared when their heads were to be removed from their shoulders! Elisha tries to tail Jenos, but the man manages to spot the halfling and takes off down the crowded streets, the party in full pursuit. Bosnun pushes the team to chase Jenos wildly through the crowd. Loci, with supernatural grace scales a wall, deftly maneuvering around a massive stained glass installation. Zandor leads the group around a tight corner just barely rolling past a team of horses to close on the man they are desperate to question. They eventually draw upon him in a busy fish market, packed to the gills with people. To keep up pursuit, Eli has to make a quick decision. Channeling the rage and adrenaline of the chase, he bellows at the top of his lungs, "Everybody move!" The crowd parts, and the pursuers race on. Zandor realizes that Jenos is heading along a route with only one logical destination- the docks. They risk everything and dart down a shortcut and wait for him to arrive. As he turns the corner, they surround him. Knowing he is outnumbered, Jenos suddenly appears very amicable but deflects most of their questions. He claims that after dropping off the chest and party in Wayward, he returned with Ariath that night to Hilvada. Taking advantage of the party's confusion at this revelation, he slips a grapple from Loci, pushing the large minotaur into the party. Then away from the group he sprints for one of the nearby ships, the Shelly Mae. Inquiring where that ship is headed, the group is informed that it makes semi-weekly trips to nearby Jer, in the west. Satisfied for now, the band heads back to the Red District to resume their duties.
The twenty days are nearly over, and as their final job, they decide to hire themselves out to the city's western farms. As they work the fields, locals mention that they have noticed strange disturbances from the west. Stories of death moving towards Hilvada. Shadows walking in the trees of the Western Fold, and small farmsteads suddenly quiet.
Sura approaches the group housed at the garrison and informs them how pleased he is with the work they've done the past two weeks. They have fulfilled their end of the agreement and are free to take care of their own business. The party is also thrilled as the work brought rewards of gold and vital experience.
Their forged weapon is now ready, however the cost of the item is still a mystery. They all count their coins, hoping that their collective monies will be enough to cover the master forger's creation. Their work over the past two weeks has turned out to be most profitable, and they head to the artisan, confident in the size of their funds. Payter has nearly completed the masterwork, however he still needs, "Blood or bone!" to finish the grip of the beautiful short sword. Bosnun, hoping that his journey thus far has wakened latent power in his mixed blood, slits his arm and offers a pitcherful. The others pull from a small bag the femur of their fallen friend Vaaris. Payter measures the weight of the bone; he tastes the blood of the goliath. He will use the bone, however a barter of one hundred gold pieces is made on the flagon of blood. After some flurry of activity in the workshop, Payter presents the fully-imbued short sword. With no further hope of barter, the team passes the price of four hundred gold pieces to the, now disinterested, hands of the master artisan. "If you find more drow iron, please bring it to me; to have the chance to work it twice would be beyond my wildest dreams." The sword hums with power, and Elisha hurries off to attune his mind and body to the beautiful item. He leaves the shop a much happier, better-armed halfling.
Satisfied with the outcome of their final loose end in the city of Hilvada, the group decides to tell Sura Hilbane that their business in town is complete, and they will soon be on their way. As they approach the garrison, however, bells start ringing on the Western Wall. The tolls spread to the Northern Wall and, soon after, the Garrison. It is a call to arms, and soldiers start pouring out towards the western city gate. Sura motions for the team to follow. Arriving at the recently-fortified western battlements, Captain Hilbane barks orders at his disorganized troops then turns to tell the party that there are scores of undead making for the city. Their knowledge of this part of the line makes them prime candidates for holding its defense. With no time to refuse and flee, the party agrees to join the troops and strikes out to the farms. To drive the forces into rough terrain, they set key farmland ablaze. In moments, they see shambling undead cresting the horizon; ghasts and ghouls march behind a line of mummies.
Bill, Bosnun, and Eli take position behind the northern battlements, while Loci heads to the lower barricade to join Zandor, who supplies words of encouragement to bolster the faltering courage of the minotaur. Bill orders everyone to focus their fire on the mummies, who have advanced positions and are closer to the defenders. After a round of attacks that ineffectually harass the magically-imbued creatures' tattered wrappings, Bill changes tactics and shouts, "Ignore the mummies! Kill the little guys!" After a flurry of volleys, Bill has killed one of the ghasts, and Bosnun has slain a ghoul with one of his throwing axes. Zandor poisons another ghoul, while Eli runs up with his sling to finish it off before retreating again.
In the midst of all this battle, a cloaked figure appears. The necrotic sorceress stretches out her fingers, not against the heroes but towards the undead like invisible puppet strings pulling taught.
Bosnun kills another ghoul with an axe, and Zandor casts Faerie Fire, painting three ghouls and a mummy in a glitter of sparkling blues and greens. The army has approached too close for Bill and Eli's liking so they begin to retreat back to the others after taking out one more ghoul. The sorceress tries to cast a spell on Zandor to make him drop his weapon, but he merely shrugs it off, enraging the mage. Zandor casts his Hawk spirit on the sorceress before turning back to kill another ghoul. Meanwhile, Eli hurls flasks of lantern oil and alchemist's fire, lighting one of the mummies aflame. Loci fires two arrows in quick succession, damaging the sorceress, causing her to scream in fury. Bill runs up to stand behind Zandor and hits the cloaked figure with a devastating sniper shot. Clearly weakened, the sorceress reaches towards one of her mummies and orders, "Give." As the mummy falls to the ground, once again lifeless, she straightens her back a bit more and lifts her chin in defiance, rejuvenated with the lifeforce she stole from the undead creature.
One of the ghouls attempts to bite Eli, but its undead brain must have rotted a bit too far, and it ends up chewing on its own arm instead. Loci looks down at his leg to find one of the glittery ghouls there, chewing on the grass at his feet for some curious reason. Bosnun moves up next to Loci to smash the ghoul to little bits. Meanwhile, Zandor casts Thunderwave, knocking a ghast away from him. Eli reveals his shiny, freshly-forged short sword, swinging and slicing a shiny, little ghoul nearby. He kills a second ghoul with his dagger and retreats behind Loci.
The sorceress commands one of the ghouls to attack Loci with its claws. It misses, but another ghoul is able to slash through Loci's leg. Zandor Thunderwaves another group of ghouls approaching them from behind, sending one of them flying. Two ghouls are lined up in front of Eli, who decapitates the first one and flings a dagger at the one directly behind it. A mummy appears from around a corner and fixes Eli with a deathly stare, rendering him unable to move or speak. The sorceress takes a critical wound from another one of Loci's arrows, while Bill, again, snipes her from afar. Purple and black blood pour from her wounds, saturating the ground around her. She commands, "Give," once more, sucking away half the life force from another mummy. The team has dropped many of their foes back into the shroud of death, but, like a crashing wave, the claws and teeth of the undead army draw ever forward. There is precious little ground left to give. The battle hangs on a knife's edge!
Loci glances behind him to see his halfling friend lying on the ground, paralyzed and easy prey for two approaching ghasts. Shrugging off the putrid smells coming off of the enemy, he rushes over and easily lifts Eli's body onto his shoulders. The mummies' attacks are now directed at the minotaur, and he is soon overwhelmed and falls to the ground. Elisha's paralysis wears off just in time for him to climb nimbly out from under the falling bulk of Loci's body before he is crushed by the minotaur. The sorceress foolishly attempts to cast a hold spell on Zandor, but he dances around to avoid it again, twirling and laughing on the battlement. Bosnun shrugs off two ghoul attacks, countering and killing one then valiantly stepping between Loci's body and the second ghoul. Zandor finishes off the nearest ghoul. Eli swings his short sword at the now-crispy, incinerated mummy, ripping through it, and then retreats behind Loci's body, now serving as a last makeshift barricade to the advancing dead. Bill moves up, dropping his crossbow to the ground, and whips out two daggers, throwing them at a ghast that was too close to his friends.
Eli finds himself paralyzed once again, this time by the sorceress. With a burst of strength, he shatters the enchantment, and the final mummy dies of shock from the amazing feat. With no more puppets to control, the shrouded figure surrenders. Zandor and Bill work together to revive the fallen minotaur, and he wakes, chagrined to find that he had been beaten so badly in battle.
Captain Hilbane approaches the fighters in the field and demands to talk with the prisoner, revealed to be the eldest Solce sister. Kaylah screams, "Release!" and the captain moves forward in a daze to free her, but the party holds him back. Bosnun pins her shackled arms, and Bill threatens her with a knife at the throat. She relents. They notice a black obelisk hanging from her hip. The obelisk is attached to an over-thick chain that seems to run into and through her flesh. Kaylah swings wildly between a semi-lucid state, quickly babbling harsh, broken sentences in common or violently thrashing, looking for desperate escape.
The party stands in shock trying to interrogate and glean what they can from the wretch. Over and over again, when the darkness and violence isn't seizing her, she screams, "Release me, you have to release me! She lies! I did everything asked. EVERYTHING. I have nothing. She brought me here. Now, do it now! Use my daggers… RELEASE ME!" Suddenly her eyes glaze over while the obelisk thrums at her side, and Kaylah starts trying to bite her own tongue out. Frozen, the team watches as almost methodically Keen Bill slips a dagger from his belt and drops to his knee in the blood-soaked soil next to her. The dagger reverses in his grip, and he slides the hilt to her molars, stopping the violence. Bosnun aggressively searches her body, finding no sign of a dagger.
It's then that Eli is inspired to pull out the three ceremonial daggers they seized from the secret passage under the Solce dockhouse. Eli hands one of the wicked daggers to Bosnun, who drives it with all of his strength into the length of chain spilling out of Kaylah. The thrust pushes deep into the ground, and a loud snapping of metal can be heard. Pulling back the hilt everyone is amazed that the chain links remain whole while the dagger is a ruinous pile of shards. Kaylah slumps forward, back in control, spitting out Bill's grip and pleads, "No! Me! You have to release me!" Eli passes a second ceremonial dagger to Zandor to perform some emergency field surgery. With steady, practiced hands, Zandor aims the tip of the blade and starts to cut a shallow groove around the embedded chain link.
Suddenly, black tendrils shoot around her midsection and up to her heart, the skin burning away from the chain link. In a sickening, wet rush, three feet of chain slough out of the hole at her side. Too much blood starts exiting the wound, and they quickly try to stabilize Kaylah. Their effort buys her some time, but the cursed wound won't fully close. With moments left, she explains that after she learned necromancy from her father, Tillor Solce, she killed him… it was a tragic accident! She and her sisters were so lost. So empty. Kaylah would unmake the fate her father suffered. She sought out Drexx, the Master of Shelbol to ask for that power, willing to pay any cost. Denied, she stole from him what she needed. It wasn't long after that the master enacted his revenge. He took Ariath from the sisters. So Kaylah sought his end. The party of adventurers was to face him and kill him. Kaylah had put them on a collision course with the Tower of the Lily, using one of her clone vessels to entrap them. He would die, or the party would die. It didn't matter anymore. With her last breath and strength, she nods toward the obelisk and warns, "She lies. Don't listen to her. You... mustn't li…sten…"
Sura has heard enough. The town demands justice for the evil that Kaylah has wrought. The party steps back as he raises his great-axe above his head and swings it down upon Kaylah's neck. The sorceress will raise no more creatures from the dead this day.
While everyone stands around the beautiful corpse once again, trying to decide how to transport the obelisk away from here, Bosnun carefully slips the tip of his long sword through the last link of the bloody chain and holds it up, lifting the obelisk from the ground. The others watch the goliath warily, looking closely for any odd changes in his behavior. Everything about him appears to be normal, so they head back into town to cheering citizens, grateful to the warriors for saving their home. They are now Heroes of Hilvada.
Bosnun
Race: Goliath
Class: Fighter
Bosnun was born the only son of Kayle, who served as the Great Goliath Chieftain's blacksmith. Bosnun's great-grandmother was a Celestial. While this heritage granted both his grandfather and his father abilities, all it did for Bosnun was make him look human. if he were a foot shorter, nobody would believe he was a Goliath at all. His grandfather told him when he was young that, with help, someday his sleeping Celestial abilities may be awoken. At 15, he had become an above-average Blacksmith, but he had no passion for the job and left the mountains. In the first village he came across he joined the King's Army and rose through the ranks quickly. Shortly after his promotion to Captain, he realized that it did not matter how many battles he won for his king; the men of noble blood benefited while the rest of them did not. It was then he decided to leave the service and seek his own fortune. With his discharge papers safely stowed, our soldier sets out to seek his future.