(G126 02/12/11 - BG - ON, GF(GM), AP)
DAY 102 (22nd Kythorn) (June)
Today Oz gathered lots of information about Vallex
This is what he found out:
Vallex seems to be the sort of person you either love or hate.
Some people think he is the best thing ever, while others are not
so sure.
Oz is told a tale of one time Vallex had a business partner that
quarrelled with him, then mysteriously sold him his share of the
business at a fraction of its price then disappeared. His name
was Iyn Quaster.
Oz is also told a story about how once his wife ran off and tried
to flee the city. Vallex found her and apparently convinced her
to stay with him. Her name is Enid Westling.
He is so rich because he is almost impossible to ring money out
of. He holds onto his debts until the last possible moment. Many men
have been killed for doing some of the things he does, but he always
seems to smooth over arguments with his cunning charm.
He has a reputation for being dangerous and slippery. There was once
a story that he had a man called Olvar Mullside killed. His sister
Tersa tried to prove it, but the case collapsed in court. This
was a year ago.
He is some kind of magic user, possibly a sorcerer!
Oz also asked around about Brian the Merchant and Cavu the Cursed.
He also found out that Vallex has a ship coming in 17 days from now called
'Father of Jack'.
That night he met Fenrir in a small outdoor drinking house on Lamp Street,
where Brian was said to drink as he lived on that street.
DAY 103 (23rd Kythorn) (June)
Today Oz asked around about Enid Westling.
Fenrir went to Diloontier's Apothecary and talked to Gleya Palonia about
possibly hiring an assassin. In very secretive tones he was told the next day
to come and talk to Dr Sloan.
Today Fenrir also went and talked to an amar at the North Ward guard post
where Giselle worked and set up a meeting with the senior civilar, a man
called Franse Taron.
Later Fenrir went to the Dragon Tower of Maaril to see if he could get a
better reaction. However he stepped right into 'the bag' and was escorted
through to the guard room and then down to some cells.
From the talk of the guards about how nice his girlfriend was he realized
that he had probably been magically scryed all day and that they had planned
this ambush once they had realized he was on the way.
While all that happened Oz checked out Brian's stall which was still closed
up, then went and rented a room at the merchant's building.
That evening he snuck downstairs and checked the two first floor rooms. In
the first he found none other than he assumed the personage of Brian the
Merchant, lying dead on the floor. He searched the room and examined the corpse.
He estimated it to be dead no more than a few days and most likely stabbed by
a skilful assassin.
He then checked out the second flat and disturbed a young woman reading
quietly. He explained to Mrs Loso the landlady and Mr Braithwaite a neighbour
that he had made a simple mistake and managed to smooth things over.
DAY 104 (24th Kythorn) (June)
That night, Oz set up a bed in the bedroom of his recently rented flat
and made it look like someone was sleeping there and then sat and waited
in the living room.
At about two in the morning he heard creaking from the window as someone
pushed the frame into the internal shutter. He crept to beside the window
and waited.
The window and shutters creaked and cracked open then a large grey scaly
claw pushed into the room. Oz cut at the arm with his knife, but the blade
seemed to scrape across the stony surface.
Oz fled the room as two red-eyed, winged gargoyles entered through the
window. They rushed after him down the stairs, throwing nets at him, which Oz
skilfully escaped and avoided.
However, when he rushed out into the courtyard of the flats there were two
more waiting and he was trapped in another net and hoisted into the air.
He got a good view of the city as he was lifted up and away, then eventually
deposited on the roof of the Dragon Tower of Maaril.
He was then escorted down to a cell next door to Fenrir!
In the morning, they were given a reasonable breakfast in the cells under
the Tower, then escorted by guards up to a high terrace not far from the top
of the tower, just under the snout of the stone dragon's head.
Maaril waited for them and Oz said 'You could have just asked me to come over!'.
Maaril hardly acknowledge Oz though and addressed himself to Fenrir, whom he
knew of. Fenrir explained the situation to the powerful mage. Maaril began to
talk about setting something up whereby they could sort things out and said to
Fenrir, 'Remember that wizards should control demons, not the other way around!'
Oz was the first to notice a dark smudge on the otherwise clear blue sky as they
stood on the balcony. They all watched it as seemed to grow in size and then
the features of a red flaming dragon could be made out.
As it grew closer they could see it was fiery with flames and spewing great
clouds of smoke and it was heading for the tower as fast as it could fly.
'A dragon? Ahghairon's Dragonward will stop it getting into the city', said
Maaril. But he was wrong because the dragon (if it was a dragon) crossed the
city limits with impunity and kept on coming.
'Impossible! The magic of the staff prevents it!' , cried Maaril a second
before the thing struck the tower in its middle. The whole building shuddered
and shook, shedding masonry everywhere.
Fenrir and Oz were thrown from their feet. Standing up Fenrir saw Maaril
levitate away then disappear into the smoke. Oz tried the door that they had
come in, but it was locked so they tried another.
This lead into a store room full of furniture, which then in turn lead to a
grand stair case. On the stair they were attacked by two confused gargoyles,
but Fenrir soon blasted them off with his ethereal magic.
Oz cut off a gargoyles arm to use as a weapon against them as they were
resistant to normal weapons.
They then went through the doors a the bottom of the steps which lead to
a corridor. It was full with smoke and strewn will fallen stone and bodies,
but they followed it to the left which lead them down some more stairs.