Another rousing evening at the Crossed Staves allowed the party to canvas some of the locals about the Kelds and the falling stars over the last few months. Many people remembered seeing the falling stars in Reynir and Alor, and noted that the frequency, violence, and destructiveness of the Keldon raids had definitely increased in mid-Alor following the second Starfalls; this information supported much of what the seneschal relayed the next morning as he reviewed the freshly-inked map with the party, pointing out several points of interest: specifically the villages of Camor and Padun, and the location of the razed community of Datun. He marked several landmarks of importance as well - the Bear King's Gate and the Scar along the trail to Hul Lodir to the north, and the Thunderhead - a storm-clung rock formation to the northwest of the city in the rugged foothills of the Northsea Mountains. He also noted the Barrowdowns, a series of caves in the eastern foothills of the mountains; he recommended the party avoid that area if they could, as the dead had a habit of not staying so in the downs. The final points he marked were two spots in the nearest reaches of the Northsea Mountains where reports indicated the falling stars had likely landed. Considering recent raids, the seneschal also suggested that if he were a betting man, he suspected the Kelds were holed up in the eastern reaches of the mountains north of Kilingi.
After a brief discussion on strategy, the party headed north, intending to reach Hul Lodir, procure a guide, and then head into the mountains east of the Hul to the site of the first Starfall that happened back in Reynir. Their journey north was surprisingly quiet, with wonderful weather; travelers were few with the threat of raids, and even the small thorps along the route were quiet. The party passed through the Bear King's Gate on their first day north, reaching the edge of the forests and camping before heading across the Scar the following the day, crossing into the foothills. After another night under the stars, the group made the last push through to the Hul, arriving at the Great Gates as twilight approached.
Their arrival was met with armed guards in full plate, wielding pikes. After a brief exchange with Vondal and Malva, the guards agreed the party indeed appeared to be safe and ordered the opening of the Gate. Due to heightened security, he escorted the party through the Gate District to an inn for travelers and merchants; he explained that due to the raids, the Gate District had been quarantined from the city proper - some of the guardsmen had been bitten by seemingly-rabid Kelds, and had themselves experienced a growing madness... these guardsmen needed to be put down, as nothing seemed to quell whatever this affliction was. The guard promised to bring an official from the city to meet with the party in the morning to answer their questions and see about getting them passage into the rest of the city if they needed it.
That evening, as the party rested, Arvind sent a message - "Alvilda and troops from Steinbjorn are visiting Varheim. I use the term visiting loosely."
In the morning, the guard returned with Skila. Cephandrius and Vondal asked about stories of rabid Keld and guardsmen being bitten, which Skila quietly acknowledged. He also said that there was some unrest in the rest of the districts of the Hul, as many were uneasy with being quarantined from the Gate District. The party also asked about the falling star incidents; Skila told them the tales from the local area, how the city had prepared for earthquakes when the stars were sighted, but no fire, no explosions, no noise, and no quakes had followed when the stars had been seen. They asked if Skila could find them a local guide to lead them into the mountains to investigate; about thirty minutes later, Skila returned with Hilda, a soft spoken Dwarven woman dressed in sturdy leathers and armed with a scimitar.
Heading out that morning, the weather turned to drizzle as Hilda picked a path through the foothills and into the crags. Leading the party through the valleys, Hilda and the party looked for signs; as evening approached, Hilda led the party into a symmetrically round, basin like valley. At the far end sat a fantastic sight: a ship in the shape of a giant dragonfly made from wood, metal, and glass, setting lithely on spindly legs in front of the entrance to some sort of structure carved into the mountain side. The party approached the ship cautiously, calling out to see if anyone responded, but were met with silence. Viktor said a prayer to the Old Gods for guidance, but did not sense the presence of any unnatural or evil creatures nearby, although the ship was indeed magical. A ramp was open from the rear of the vessel leading up inside - after calling out again, the party slowly made their way up.
Inside, the ship was much more reminiscent of traditional sailing ships in appearance; the first room was obviously some type of hold for cargo, although largely empty save a pair of bowls for a cat. Making their way onto the lower deck, the party investigated the captain and crew quarters, also finding a large ornate chair at the front of the deck near the eye-like windows. Viktor read through what appeared to be the captain's log as the others made looked through the crew quarters, reading seemingly mundane shipping entries until the more recent entries, which made reference to a familiar crystal and indicated the crew had made landfall an indeterminate time ago and had entered the ruins nearby, leaving "Church" to guard the ship. As Cephandrius looked over the log, Viktor took a seat in the ornate chair... his senses swam as they expanded to fill the ship, and the vessel lurched unexpectedly upwards. Viktor managed to pull himself from the chair and remain conscious, and the ship landed abruptly again, jostling everyone inside and drawing the yowl of a cat from the crew quarters.
Malva remembered stories from the Druids Dyne and Thogi about some people who had exhibited an affliction similar to the one caused by the crystal they now carried... and how those people had spoken, seemingly crazily, of a talking cat. As Viktor rubbed his throbbing temples, Cephandrius and the others rushed into the crew quarters and saw the shuffling of a splooted cat trying to get back under one of the bunks... when he called out the name Church, everyone heard a decided "Dammit," from under the bunk. A black short-hair with adorable little wrappings on his front paws and the base of his tail and a glimmering green gem on a collar around his neck sauntered out from under the bunk and hopped up to sit on it so he could more easily regard the party, then greeted them with a friendly "Hello."
While the lurching of the dragonfly ship had not been enough to upend their guide, apparently the sight of a talking cat was more than Hilda was prepared to handle for the day, and she promptly fainted. Vondal managed to deftly catch the woman before she hurt herself. Church proved to be very friendly, if not possibly a little starved for companionship, as his crew mates had been gone for quite some time; he had even gone out to try and find them, but there had been many dangers, so he had returned to wait for them again. He tried to explain a few details from the captain's log that the party had questions about, especially things involving the crystal mentioned. Church told them Shimmer, an 'archaeologist', had been researching very old cultures and had found a ruin on another world where they had found the crystal, and they had used their crystal to have someone called an Arcane to build them a device to find the other crystals - apparently another crew member named Fie had gotten afflicted by the crystal like Branon and had seen similar visions involving six-armed monsters, and the numbers six and ten, so they had figured there must be more of these crystals. Church showed them the top deck and the device his crew was using to track the crystals. The party discussed briefly if showing their hand here was appropriate... and decided to show Church their crystal. It took the cat a moment to put it together that they had the crystal his crew was looking for, but he did and then further explained how the device worked.
When Viktor placed their crystal into the device, a map unlike any the party had ever seen appeared showing ten red markers, two here in close proximity on their world, but spread across near-countless worlds that Church referred to as Spheres - a word the party had heard before from Kveða Musa when they interrogated him in Skara. Church also mentioned some of the worlds nearby were once ruled by an empire of wolf-men he called the Vodoni... which also gave the party further concern, as his descriptions fit well with the tales the Dwarves had told of the rabid Kelds. The map faded as Viktor retrieved the crystal from the device... and then he and the others sat to ponder their small place in the vastness. Cephandrius said he intended to enter the ruins - Malva and Viktor agreed, although Vondal thought they should return to the Hul and tell the Dwarves there what they had found. Everyone else suggested that despite the very solid evidence they had here, had they not seen it with their own eyes, they would think it lunacy, and Church, while a very convincing cat, could be easily dismissed as a wizard's familiar or trick... which would be even worse given the North's regard for the arcane. Thus, a plan was hatched - Church agreed to come along and assist the party in exploring the ruins nearby if they would agree to help him find his crew mates or find out what happened to them.
After pulling up the gangway and setting themselves up to rest for the evening on the ship, the party had an overall quiet evening save a disturbance from the entrance to the cave early in the evening - screeching noises, flashing lights, and other unfamiliar sounds, but nothing ever exited the cave. The display lasted for less than an hour and then ceased, leaving the rest of the night clear, quiet, and with a night sky full of stars without measure, and not even the hint of a breeze in the valley, as though the world itself was holding its breath.
The next morning, Church, Hilda, and the party entered the surprisingly well-preserved ruins. Inside a smoothly carved stone foyer, they encountered a pair of black metal doors mounted to slide into the walls beside them instead of hinged like most common doors. The metal was unfamiliar, but the inscription upon the doors was in the Elder Futhark, the script of the Cireans:
The doors were smooth-sliding and gave way into their wall-spaces easy with a push by Cephandrius and Church. Beyond the doors lay a long hallway leading into a domed circular receiving chamber with dais at the center, atop which sat a sarcophagus of stone closed with a metal cap-plate. The mosaic tiles of the walls, floors, and ceilings of both the hallway and receiving chamber were small, intricately carved and set smoothly to each other and the floor, creating beautiful waves of color spreading out of the hallway and up and around the receiving chamber. Around the dais were several small benches where one could sit and reflect on Illarian in his presence. The party did inspect the dais and the sarcophagus, but could see that at some point in its history the cap-plate had been moved and reset, so they decided not to further interrupt the king's rest. Preceding across the receiving chamber, the party inspected another set of sliding doors, these ones inscribed in the Futhark as well:
Beyond this door was a smooth hallway, the walls, floor, and ceiling of which were a uniform blue color. The material was unlike the previous hallway, and also did not appear to be a coating on the walls; in places where the wall was scratched or chipped, the color went down all the way into the blemish. At the end of this hallway were another set of sliding doors, but these doors were already ajar - odd pulsing lights could be seen flashing through the parted doors. Making their way through these doors, the party found themselves in a square room with the same blue walls, floor, and ceiling as the previous hallway. On the far wall, covering most of the ten foot height and fifteen foot length was an amazing apparatus covered in levers, lights, flashing panels made of glass, and buttons of all manner. The language on this device was not the Futhark however - it matched the weird writing the party had found on the letters from the dead halfling soldier they had investigated about a month ago back in Framenturn. On the floor in front of this apparatus was a large disc, black as obsidian and smooth and hard as steel, rising maybe a half-inch in thickness off the floor. As Viktor attempted to decipher the script on the machine, the others inspected the other oddity in this room - a half-circle shaped portal on the right-hand wall of the room, lined in an arch of symbols like those on the panels of the apparatus, its opening looking out into a field of beautiful stars... much like the first Tear they had encountered in Hnigalimar.
By accident, Viktor discovered the "Activate" button for the apparatus, while Cephandrius, Church, and Hilda were standing on the black disc. When he pressed it, the three were transfigured, turning incorporeal. The effect only lasted for a few moments, but it was enough to terrify Hilda enough that she again fainted. Cephandrius and Viktor worked together on the apparatus, working through patterns until they noted they could change lever and button positions to cause the symbols on the portal's archway to also light up - through a few minutes of trial and error, they were able to energize all the symbols on the archway. Viktor, Branon, and Church volunteered to see what would happen now, stepping onto the black disc while Cephandrius activated the machine. Both men were transfigured, and then drawn into the portal by some unseen force, vanishing. Cephandrius, Malva, and Vondal waited a few uneasy moments and then followed.
As the rushing sensation subsided and the incorporeality passed, Viktor, Branon, and Church found themselves in a circular domed room, beautiful teal tiles on the floor, an odd pedestal in the center of the room, and ten foot high black metal walls circling the edge. The domed roof, however, was perfectly transparent and looked out into a field of brilliant stars and a... moon? No... not a moon - it was green and blue, mountains and rivers... beneath them slowly spun their world: Vandalmál. They barely had time to fully realize what they were witnessing before a monstrous mass of metal across the room began to unfold its six metal arms, eye-like green protrusions on its smooth top surface, and a variety of other bits and bobs of many different shapes and lengths from ports all over its round body. It hovered towards them, making noises in an unknown language. Viktor addressed the monstrosity in Sylvan; as he spoke, the clicks and whirls began to cycle as though trying to match Viktor's speech. Viktor tried again in Common, and the beast quickly adapted its language to match this time. Lights flashed from the metal monster, and it began to ask simple questions about how Viktor's master was and why he was here. Unsure how to answer the question, Viktor tried to ask questions in response, which only aggravated the monster. Out of ideas, Viktor showed the metal monster the crystal, which triggered an alert status within the beast, its green lights flashing red.
Arriving abruptly to see Branon, Church, and Viktor trying to converse with a menacing six-armed hovering metal monster, all flashing red lights and ominous calls of "Exterminate!" Cephandrius, Malva, and Vondal advanced to help their friends. The months of Cephandrius' working with heat metal finally paid off as he flung a fireball at the beast, catching it off guard. Branon put down a hail of spikes to slow the Dissembler's advance, while Vondal and Church took the beast head on. The little cat showed that he could punch far above his weight class, and the mighty blows of Vondal's hammers send the monster crashing to the floor, darkening its klaxons and ending its thrashing.
Surveying the wreckage of the beast, the party were able to retrieve a handful of unusual, possibly useful items; Vondal looked over the metal construction, finding it both light and incredibly durable. As Vondal and Branon discussed how best to carry out the largest portion of the Dissembler, Cephandrius and Viktor checked another set of doors at the far end of the room. The first set opened with a touch, revealing a small alcove and another set of doors; this alcove had completely clear walls, showing that indeed hung suspended in the black field of night. Tempted, Viktor decided against trying to open the second set of doors.
Everyone assembled near the pedestal in the center of the room, which had a space about the size of the crystal Viktor carried. Placing it into the indentation, it began hovering gently in place; as the crystal rotated slowly, the entire facility began to rotate, bringing the world below into a full view. While very disorienting, this shift in perspective was not accompanied by a shift in gravity; their feet stayed on the floor as the world spread out above them in the clear dome, but technically below them geographically. Once properly positioned, markers appeared on the dome in locations on the "map" of the world above/below them. Two of these markers were in familiar places - one at the base of Roc Mountain, another in the mountains of northern Einmanudr, where the party believed Hul Keghrim lay. There were three other markers, though - one that appeared to be near the Imperial capital city in more central Einmanudr, and the remaining two on Eyrii - the desert continent in the south. One of these markers are positioned on the Sandspire, believed to be the tallest mountain on Vandalmál, and the other in the very center of the continent. Cephandrius noted there was a pair of buttons on the pedestal below the floating crystal; pressing one, the view changed, showing a spiderweb of pulsing yellow lines crisscrossing the entire surface of the planet, but all appearing to originate from this central spot on Eyrii.
Retrieving the crystal, the images faded and the platform known as the Balcony gently rotated back into its previous orientation so that the stars and the world below were visible. Branon pulled out his ritual book and conjured a disk to load the wreckage of the Dissembler onto, but that still left the party uncertain how to return back to the Blue Chamber. Viktor presented the crystal to the archway they had originally appeared through, and it sprang back into operation. The party moved back through the archway quickly, cat and wreckage in tow. As Viktor regarded the night sky in the clear dome once more before leaving, he said a little prayer, and was met with a response from the voice he had heard back through the Tear in Hnigalimar:
"Perhaps you would do better to pray to the Forger of the blade, instead of the blade itself."
As the party exited the tomb with the husk of the Dissembler on Branon's disk, Cephandrius noted they had not seen the columns Hilda had mentioned. Perking up, she nodded and showed the party a secret panel she had discovered when hiding in the tomb's entryway during a rainstorm some months ago. Branon deposited the broken monster in the hold of the ship, and then all assembled headed down behind the panel, which hid a rougher-hewn passage that lead down and around the structure of the tomb into a large natural cavern. Along the right-hand wall of this cavern jutted a massive cylindrical structure some fifteen feet tall, running the entire length of the cavern and possibly farther as it drove into the rock wall. Machined smooth and regularly space with tall "columns" of Ancient script inlaid into the surface in translucent stone, regular pulses of light ran down the length of this massive cylinder, lighting up the inlays in a regular pattern. Cephandrius suspected this structure had something to do with whatever powered the apparatus in the Blue Chamber but could not be completely certain.
Before leaving the tomb, the party decided to further investigate the sarcophagus. The lid, though reasonably thin, was incredibly dense and heavy, made out of metal resembling the metal that made up the doors and the black disc in the Blue Chamber. Between Vondal and Viktor with the aid of Branon's prayers, the paladin and the barbarian were able to get the lid off... and found the crypt empty: only bedding and shroud remained - no trace of a body. Viktor could see residual magic within the interior, so Branon consulted his ritual book, examining these auras - the bedding and shroud had a faint aura of necromancy, enchanted with gentle repose to preserve a corpse, while the interior of the sarcophagus itself retained the auras of planar magic. Viktor retrieved the crystal from the bag and brought it closer to the sarcophagus; as he did, the domed room began to pulse with light along the mosaic, culminating on the crypt itself, and as he drew nearer, a swirling silver and magenta portal opened within the interior. The initial whoosh of its appearance nearly caught Viktor up, but he maintained his balance. Cephandrius recognized the coloration as that of the Astral Plane - the space between all things. Cautiously, Viktor returned the crystal to the bag, and the pulsing energy in the room ebbed, collapsing the portal and returning the domed room to darkness.
As they left the tomb, the party pondered what they had seen within - the Blue Chamber, the Balcony, and the planar portal within the sarcophagus. Had Illarian's corpse been sent to another plane? Had he returned and left himself? Could the portal be programmed to go to somewhere other than the Astral? Could the portal in the Blue Chamber possibly be reprogrammed to connect to some place other than the Balcony of Night? Regardless of the answers, one thing was certain - a deeper understanding of the language of the Ancients would be necessary to even attempt to answer any of these questions. Also, should the party find themselves stranded in the planes, knowing of the portal in Illarian's tomb might prove useful as a way back. Hilda asked whether the party would like to head east straight away into the mountains or return to the Hul first and then proceed into the mountains; a vote determined it seemed prudent to return to the Hul first, then head up into the mountains. As the party discussed these questions, Branon continued consulting his ritual book, calling forth a familiar; while he expected his ritual would summon forth a hawk, in its place appeared a raven.
Before leaving the Dragonfly, Cephandrius wanted to see what Viktor had experienced when sitting at the helm. Sitting down, he felt the ship draw his energies forth and felt his senses swim as they expanded suddenly to encompass the ship; he managed to maintain his focus and was able to bring the ship up gently from the ground, maneuvering it steadily. The feeling was akin to walking through liquid: moving the ship was like moving his body, but just much more slowly and heavily. Malva climbed into the crows' nest of the ship and was able to spy the Northsea to the west on the edge of her view, but east was just more mountains given the tomb's location in a valley in the western reaches of the mountain range. Debating whether they should use the ship to speed their journey, most everyone decided that it would be ill-advised to pilot the ship into areas where it might be seen. Cephandrius landed the vessel and everyone disembarked save Viktor, who pulled up the gangway and then stepped away from the top deck, vanishing and reappearing safely on the ground.
Hilda picked a quick and confident road back down from the mountains to the Hul, and the journey was blessed quiet and under good weather. As the party neared the Great Gates near dusk, they heard the sounds of battle; crossing over the last ridge, they saw several Kelds running away back towards the mountains eastward, but the dwarves were still putting the few that remained to the pike. A frothing, wild-eyed Keld, impaled at the end of a spear, dragged himself down the end to bite at the face of the dwarf wielding it; Vondal broke away, rushing to aid his fellow dwarf, but the warrior was bitten before he could crush the rabid Keld's skull with Oathkeeper. Cephandrius used the magics of his lute and Branon called on the will of Gatris to prevent whatever infection might have happened, and Viktor too called on the Old Gods while trying to convince the panicking dwarf that everything would be alright. Cephandrius also retrieved his songbook and sang the hymn of rest over the dead to ensure they would not rise again. As they surveyed the dead, several dwarves commented on how these raids were getting worse; previously, the rabid ones had only been Kelds, but now... there were several others amongst the afflicted that appeared to be from the forest and foothill settlements. The head of the defenders brought the party into the Hul and ordered reinforcements to the gates; Viktor and Branon went to stay with the bitten dwarf to see if he had indeed been infected, Vondal and Cephandrius took a few hours to see if they could run down any information on a rumor they had found in Skara about a runaway Dwarven brewer from the area named Vonbin, while Malva, Hilda, and Church settled into the inn for the evening.
Cephandrius and Vondal were able to find some information on the brewer, finding a possible distant cousin; he had a cousin named Vonbin, but that part of his family lived in Hul Golgrim to the southeast. He hadn't seen his cousin or heard that he might have arrived in the Hul, so likely, if he had returned to Biarmia, he must have gone to his ancestral Hul. Satisfied for now, the two also returned to the inn to rest.
Viktor and Branon's night, however, deteriorated rapidly - Branon noted a few hours into their vigil that faint red lines - telltale signs of infection - were spreading out from the bite mark on the dwarf's cheek. Viktor and Branon attempted further intercessions to their gods on the dwarf's behalf, but the mark remained ugly and unchanged. As Branon stepped out to keep watch and send his raven to try and find any traces of the Kelds who had escaped earlier, Viktor retrieved the crystal from the bag and slowly brought it closer and closer to the dwarf until he touched it to him. Near instantly, the red marks began to spread rapidly from his bite, but so did the weird burn-like marks the party had seen on Alvin and Branon when they had been afflicted by the influence of the crystal. Both afflictions took hold almost immediately, ravaging the poor dwarf's body; he began to babble in the unknown speech that Alvin and Branon had fallen into, all the while beginning to froth, near screaming the words as he began to thrash and rave. Viktor pushed the dwarf down onto the bed and placed the immovable rod firmly against the thrashing man's chest, activating it to hold him in place. As the crystal's afflictions spread over his skin, his red-rimmed eyes glazed over as Alvin and Branon's had, but as he struggled against the rod, his form shifted into something more bestial, more wolf-like, as his teeth sharpened, his ears pointed, and his hands become more claw-like. Viktor tried to focus on what the dwarf-wolf was shouting in its raving, calling on the knowledge granted by his Pact to know the tongues of men... but even this magic was only partially able to untangle the words, as there were two different languages mixed within the rantings. The first language, pieces of the meaning could be picked out - something about undoing and redoing - but the words of the second language being spoken... Viktor's mind could not hold onto them, as if they were trying to burn themselves out of his memory and taking with them some of the meaning otherwise from the first language.
Viktor retrieved Branon, who whispered a calming prayer to soothe the crystal-mad dwarf-wolf long enough for the two men to tie their patient down to the bed before he returned to struggling. The two kept watch through the night, lest their patient slip or break his bonds and attack someone; while moments through the night were tense, fortunately the ropes held. In the morning, their reserves renewed, Branon attempted a new prayer, entreating Gatris to break whatever curse might hold the dwarf: while ultimately successful, Branon found himself in a pitched battle with whatever evil force had entered the dwarf, but in the end the feral manner fled the dwarf, leaving only the affliction of the crystal. Knowing that Viktor had been able to previously thwart the influence of the crystal through the power of the Old Gods, he laid hands on the dwarf... and his prayers were heard. The bizarre markings faded and his eyes returned to normal, but he did not stir nor could the two rouse him: he was visibly healed but comatose. Unsure how to proceed, Branon and Viktor determined they would keep the worst of what had happened from the dwarves, then found the guard captain and his men to give them the good news - Gatris be praised, this affliction was not a disease, but a curse... and thus could be broken, as Branon had done for their friend through Gatris' power. The gathered dwarves were sorely amazed and glad for this news, and themselves wondered if perhaps the gods of other races could indeed be worthy of the praise of dwarves given this display of their power. Their vigil complete, they quickly made their way to the rest of the party and headed out while the day was still young.
As they started north into the mountains, Branon's raven returned, bringing news of a group of Kelds heading southeast into the mountains north of Kilingi, which is where many believed the Keldon camp was hidden. Hilda asked if they wished to pursue these barbarians east, but the party insisted on still heading north towards the other reported Starfall: these retreating Kelds had nearly half a day on them and were very knowledgeable about the terrain, making it highly unlikely the party would be able to catch up to them. Hilda agreed, and began leading the party into the higher elevations north of the Hul. As they made progress, she explained that it was likely, if the second Starfall was similar to the first and made up of a ship or ships, then it would likely have sought out a place to land... and the best place she knew of was the "fabled" ruins of a Frost Giant city in a glacial rift high enough in the mountains that it was always snow-covered; she said "fabled" because the leadership of the Hul made light of such things to keep curious dwarves away, making them out to be wild stories. However, they employed dwarves like her to keep an eye on such places like the ruined city and the Tomb, in case anything unusual happened there.
About mid-day as the party made their way through the passes and ravines of the higher mountains, Hilda held up a sign for the others to keep quiet and slowly approach; as they rounded the corner of a switchback in the mountains, they could see what had caused her concern: the weakly smoldering remnants of a fire in a hollowed out space in the rock just deep enough to provide some protection from the winds and now-lightly falling snow. Viktor and Branon scouted a bit ahead to look for tracks while Vondal, Cephandrius, and Malva investigated the remains of the campsite. The halfling and the paladin did indeed find several sets of tracks - the leather booted feet of men - heading north. Branon sent up his raven to try and catch a glimpse, and the familiar was able to sight the group: a mix of maybe ten barbarians, some moving in an unnatural mixed gait, were maybe a few hours ahead of them on their way to what Hilda suspected was the same place she was leading their group - the frost giant ruins - based on Branon's information. She surmised the Kelds would reach the Icefall by nightfall and if they kept pace through the night would make the ruins well before the party would.
The findings at the campsite were also unusual... and grisly. There were the gnawed remnants of bones strewn about the site... some of which were definitely the bones of men. While unnerved by this finding, something more unusual caught Cephandrius' notice - the markings of the stone in this hollow in the rock was unlike that of the nearby stone: it was almost as if something had scooped or melted this hollow straight out of the rock, but there was no evidence of lava or volcanic activity here, nor were Branon or Cephandrius aware of any common magic that could melt stone. Even magics that move or manipulate earth or stone do not vaporize or melt it... but these findings reminded the group of the stories they had heard from Floshem's seneschal about the ruins found in Datun, where stones had been melted to the ground. Perhaps the wizards of the Empire might wield magics powerful enough to accomplish this feat... but how could Keldon barbarians... and if this group were headed to the ruins, might others be following them?
Setting a more purposeful pace, Branon set his raven to scout behind the party for stragglers, occasionally throwing an eye northward to keep sight of the Kelds, while Viktor and Hilda kept a watchful eye as the group continued north. Although the light snow broke over the day, as dusk neared and the temperature began to rapidly drop, Hilda sought out and found a small cave the group could take safely shelter in and managed to gather enough shrub brush to start and feed a small fire at the mouth of the cave... and just in time; as night fell, the weather turned foul. Howling winds and driving snow raged through the night, dropping more than a foot in the passes by morning, but through the night, the party was safe. By the light of the small fire, Viktor told the others of what he and Branon had seen with the dwarf who had been bitten back in Hul Lodir as the storm raged, all the while admiring the wolf carving he had received from Ormr.
In the morning, as the squall slowed and the party began to dig themselves out of the cave, Cephandrius received a message from Arvind via the stone:
Cephandrius pondered this turn of events with the others for a moment - what events could have transpired in Varheim to drive Alrek II the from the city? Freythor had only sent a small contingent of soldiers with Alvilda - how could they have caused so much trouble? Keeping this counsel, and the fantastic events they had so far witnessed, to themselves, Cephandrius then replied:
As the party broke camp in the cave and loaded up their horses, Hilda gave them a rundown of what to expect as they ascended further into the mountains - steadily thinning air, potentially aggressive local wildlife, increasing winds, and likely additional snowfall, which proved true within the first few hours of their ascent. The snowfall helped making tracking the Keldons easier, but made the passage slower. The weather continued to deteriorate, and howls of wolves could be heard in the wind as the party sighted the edge of the rift, above which swirled even darker clouds tinged with occasional strokes of lightning.
As they reached the summit marking the edge of the rift valley, the party discovered a different style of ship, its prow shaped like the head of a wolf, resting in the snow on the ledge overlooking the rift. The tracks of the Keldon continued into the rift, not stopping to investigate this ship; the party, however, dismounted and took stock of the vessel. There were no signs that the ship had moved in quite some time - no tracks leading in or out, and heavy snow and icing were evident on its sleek body. Securing the horses to the skids of this ship, the party decided to continue into the valley to follow the Keldon on foot.
The first descent proved to be the most tricky - while Hilda, Church, and the others were able to navigate the slope to the first ledge, Branon slipped, tumbling unceremoniously into a heap at the bottom, picking up a few bumps and bruises. As the cleric collected himself, Hilda warned the group of possible yeti in the first set of caverns on this ledge - she had entered quietly on a previous foray into the rift and had heard several of the beasts within. Making their way quietly and carefully along the narrowing path, Hilda led the party to a tight, icy trail leading down further into the belly of the rift; with steady snow and whipping winds limiting visibility to only a few yards ahead, the party was able to make their way without further issue to the bottom - a field of icy stalagmites, drifting, swirling snow, and heavy icy mounds scattered across greeted them along the floor of the rift valley. Branon, tiring of the treacherous weather and terrain, remembered that he had something that could assist; with a brief prayer of aid to Gatris, the party found they could move along the snow as if it were dry land.
Within the rift, the winds slowed some, and almost immediately they ran into another wolf-prow ship resting deep in snow; the Keldon's tracks did not stop at this ship, either, instead heading directly passed it eastward into the valley. A few moments later, the party knew why - they found the assembled Keldon: a female ranger, several warriors with wolf-warped Kelds held tightly on leashes, and a robed Keldon spellcaster arguing in their native tongue by an entirely different-looking ship: a smaller, sleeker vessel in the style of a mosquito. Fortunately, these warriors were so engrossed in whatever argument they were having that they did not notice the party; Malva, Church, and Branon made their way back to the second wolf-ship and scaled the side to access a mangonel they had noted atop the ship. Cephandrius and Viktor utilized magics so that they might be able to speak with the Kelds; as Vondal and they approached the tribesmen, Hilda took cover behind a snowdrift a ways back in the rift.
Walking out openly to parlay, the female ranger moved quickly to place herself between the three strangers and the leader. When he turned to face the group, his visage was one of horror - his nose and ear had rotted away, and his flesh was pallid and taut, like a corpse. As Cephandrius and he started to speak, the Keldon first addressed his ranger companion - Camilla - and she retreated to his side; Cephandrius told the Keldon that the party had entered the valley investigating the Starfalls from a few months ago, and the Keldon told the three of the wolves from the sky, foretold by his masters, that would bring great strength and power to the Keldon so that they might bring about the end foretold for all things. From his robes, a sharp, black obsidian shard lined with crimson veins floated, coming to light in front of him menacingly as he continued proselytizing. Cephandrius asked if they had seen others, and the Keldon confirmed that they had indeed - a man of metal, a woman, and an other... they had captured them as well as the sky wolves, and had taken from them a most holy relic again foretold by his masters... he then also noted that Cephandrius, Viktor, and Vondal would make great additions to his pack... at which point Cephandrius gave Malva the sign and begins playing a hypnotic song on his lute; all of the Keldons are caught spellbound by the magic of his instrument. Branon hurled a guiding bolt at the leader, highlighting him for the others... but breaking him from his reverie. He retrieved another crystal from his robes - one that looked much like the one Viktor possessed - and spoke an ancient, reverberating word of power.
Even with the magic Cephandrius and Viktor employed to aid in communication, neither can hold onto the meaning of this utterance, as it hurtled towards Cephandrius, blasting the drifts of snow aside, tearing into his mind, his body... his very essence. As Cephandrius stood locked in place by the word and the energies coursing through him, the Keldon also stood racked by the effort, the flesh of his hand and arm scorched and peeling back away from the crystal. Viktor tried to fell the Keldon, but he stood firm, almost locked in place by the crystal... at which point, Malva launched the boulder from the mangonel. It struck the spellcaster square, but he remained erect, his fingers wrapped in a death grip on the crystal. Vondal landed a stout blow with Oathkeeper, and the Keldon finally crumpled to his knees, the crystal in his hand and the black shard hovering before him skittering into the snow.
The remaining warriors tightened their grips on their spears as their wolf-warped brethren strained at their leashes. Cephandrius, still reeling as the ringing cleared from his ears, asked Camilla if this - the warping of her tribesmen, the dread magics, the violence - was what she wanted... and she did not; she ordered her warriors to stand down. She had not come here for bloodshed - much the opposite; she had come here in search of her mate, Gaius, who had been sent on his trial to prove his mettle against a beast known to lair in the rift - a remorhaz. She had convinced Aurelius, now dead, to accompany her with these warriors to either assist Gaius or retrieve relics he had been given to aid in his trial - a ring and a Keldon sword made from ebonwood.
Much had changed for the Keldons in the past few months - with the first Starfall and the capture of the visitors, Aurelius had taken the crystal. He was a spiritual leader of a doomsday cult - the Followers of the End - who worship entities from beyond that are prophesied will bring about the end of all things and create a new age; on his trial, he had found the black shard, and it had given him great power... but it had scourged his flesh and driven him to madness. He had used the crystal taken from the visitors to level a nearby village affiliated with the city and annihilate villagers, leaving naught but cracked bones and melted rock. With the second Starfall, the sky wolves had arrived, their bite bringing on the malady seen in the leashed Kelds, the crazed attackers at the Hul, and the unfortunate dwarf that Viktor and Branon had cured. Whereas Camilla saw the malady as a curse, their chieftain and Aurelius had seen it as a gift, a blessing to wage war on the Imperial-tainted Biarmians of Meadoros and the villages... a feud started by the former chieftain and the last Overseer of Meadoros that her tribesmen and the citizens of the city and villages now suffered for.
Cephandrius asked if Camilla could help them find the visitors from the first Starfall, to which she asked what he would do with these visitors; he answered he would help them be on their way. Camilla said she could help the party find the visitors if they would help her find Gaius... or his remains. Hilda had warned the party about the remorhaz, which made its lair at the northern end of the rift valley; she was not amused by the idea of heading headlong into that part of the valley whatsoever... but had sworn to lead the party through the mountains. Camilla ordered her warriors to retreat to one of the caves on the first ridge while she and the party trekked into the northern part of the valley.
Hilda and Viktor led the troupe, the paladin extending his mystical senses outward, looking for any traces of magic or otherworldly creatures. As they continued north, they found yet another wolf-ship nestled in the snow (thus a total of three such ships), and made their way between the vessels, the drifts, and the spears of ice into the narrows of the valley, where they spotted a great dome of snow and ice. Hilda hung back as Viktor quietly (for a paladin anyway) crept forward until he sensed the presence of magic from within the dome. The others (save Hilda) slowly made their way forward, but many were caught unaware by the beast as it erupted from the snow and ice beneath them; apparently, it had burrowed out from its den as Viktor had approached. Battle joined, Malva skittered forward to stab the beast, the heat from it blasting her as she did, then retreated to a safer distance. Vondal and Viktor were already near one another and the beast itself, as it had burrowed out from beneath the ice just before them; Vondal hammered the beast with his maul, and the massive centipede-like creature bit hard into the dwarf, dragging him deep into its mouth. Viktor swung his sword in a vicious arc in response to his friend's danger, separating the remorhaz's gnashing maw and head from its body before it could swallow the barbarian whole. The rift valley fell silent, save the wind.
Viktor escorted Camilla into the creature's den as Cephandrius and Branon began examining the remains of the remorhaz; within, they found the recently dead remains of a Keldon warrior, a ring on his decaying finger and a dark wood blade nearby. Camilla gently retrieved the relics, leaving her fallen mate's body where it lay.
"He failed," she told Viktor, her voice hard, low... but wavering. "Had he still lived, plotting from one of the caves... it might be different... but he does not deserve a warrior's burial."
Searching the den, Viktor found several gems frozen within the ice of the floor as well as a headband and a bottle, both with faint auras of magic... and two unhatched eggs. Branon, Viktor, and Cephandrius were able to collect some of the creature's blood and a large section of its carapace without significant damage; these items might prove useful in the hands of Solva and Asyn back at the manor. Her mission complete, Camilla agreed that she would keep her end of their bargain and lead the party back into Keldon territory to find the visitors; traveling with her, the other Keldon would not attack the party without her or the chieftain's order. She went to join her warriors to rest, while the party made their way back to one of the wolf-ships in the valley; Malva scaled up the edge onto the deck and managed to pop the frozen hatch leading inside with a crowbar. She was able to lower the gangway and let the others onto the ship, and Cephandrius was able to power up the ship by taking control at the helm. A warm place to rest secured, Hilda and Malva made a sojourn back up to the wolf-ship on the edge of the rift, lowered the gangway, and safely secured their horses inside before rejoining the group on the ship in the valley to rest.
In the morning, Viktor set off to investigate the mosquito-shaped vessel that had no apparent openings as Cephandrius and Malva set to searching through the two wolf-headed ships in the rift valley. Although largely emptied as though their previous occupants had left in a hurry, they were able to find a potion mistakenly left behind and a snake-headed staff left on the bridge of the other ship.
Viktor trudged through the snow around the strange vessel, investigating it for any signs of entry points. Finding no obvious ladder ports or gangway, he attempted to use the various crystals to see if he might interact with the ship. The crystal he already possessed did nothing, nor do the similar-looking one they had retrieved from Aurelias. Viktor decided to interact with the crimson-veined black shard... and was immediately met with resounding cacophonous of voices beating against his mind. The whispers asked him if he would do the bidding of the End - the force attempted to push into the paladin's mind, but he stood firm and refused. For his insolence, the shard stuck him senseless, leaving him paralyzed. Vondal had been watching Viktor in case anything happened, and after a few moments of Viktor standing completely still, Vondal went to check on him. As he tried to rouse Viktor, Malva and Branon also arrived. Vondal knocked the shard from Viktor's hand, but it did not change his paralysis. Malva carefully retrieved the shard as Branon assessed the paladin, ending the paralysis with a brief prayer to Gatris.
Viktor immediately demanded the return of the shard so that he could attempt to smash it; initially Vondal agreed, but as Cephandrius and Malva pointed out, they knew nothing about the shard - it could be the prison of something terrible, and smashing it might simply release whatever was inside. Viktor was insistent, but once Vondal began to waver as well, he relented, storming away to cool off on a nearby snowdrift. Malva stowed the shard into one of her many pouches, and then she and Cephandrius showed Branon the potion and the staff they had found.
Seeing the Branon with his ritual book out, Viktor also brought over second crystal, as they had gotten some information when Branon had studied the first one. Cephandrius and Viktor steadied the cleric before he began, and together, Branon was able to penetrate the magics of the crystal without being afflicted as he had been with the first one. Branon saw images of Aurelias using the crystal to melt buildings in Datun and kill villagers, to a black dais pulling out rapidly and wildly through darkened passages to a grand pyramid like structure, and again the overarching sense of sixes and tens. As he worked, a word reverberated in his mind, forming and dissolving over and over... the cleric managed to speak it aloud, and the crystal fired a powerful blast of energy, melting a hole into the cliff face of the rift valley, but also severely damaging his hand and arm. Viktor attempted to heal the injury, but it did not respond to his magic - the wound was much more grievous than could be mended with simple curatives.
The shattering sound of the crystal's release drew Camilla and her warriors from their cave, but seeing everything was under control, she sat down with the party to discuss their plan. Entering Keldon territory, Camilla could guarantee their safety only until they entered the village; once there, their chieftain's orders would override any protection she might be able to grant them. Cephandrius had other plans, however; he intended to pilot one of the wolf-ships to the village and take the advantage from the sky. Once there, Cephandrius wanted to effect the removal of the current chieftain, and asked Camilla if she would be interested in taking her place... or if not, how might they accomplish such a coup most effectively. Camilla said that the most efficient way to remove Octavia would be to challenge her in single combat, but Octavia was a very skilled fighter... and Camilla was uncertain she could best her in single combat. If the party were to kill her... the clan elders would put forward champions and the infighting might tear about the tribe. Unsure exactly what might transpire, though, they collectively decided to use the wolf-ship on the rift valley edge to travel to the Keldon village. Cephandrius took the helm, feeling his senses expand throughout the ship and outside the ship, and commanded the ship to ascend.
Able to maintain a steady altitude and reasonably smooth flight, Cephandrius took the wolf-ship above the storm clinging and swirling above the rift valley. Now able to see the region from the air, he was able to note that the storm was large and swirling above the rift valley separate from any other weather pattern in the mountains. Continuing his ascent, he took the ship well above the mountain peaks and began heading southeast, following the line of the Northsea Mountains. He was also able to note the Thunderhead and its storm, smaller than the one hovering above the rift valley but just as distinct against the otherwise clear skies of the foothills, to the south of him as he guided the ship with Camilla's directions. Wending their way into the southern reaches of the mountains, Camilla was surprised she could recognize anything from the air, but she could; soon, they began to note huts and foot-worn paths leading into the valley where the Keldon village currently rested.
The tribesmen initially began hurling spears and firing arrows, but the ceramic shell of the ship was unfazed by such primitive small weapons. Cephandrius' landing was a bit rough, but overall safe. As they prepared to disembark, Camilla told the group to follow her down the gangway and let her do the talking. As the gangway lowered, the collective might of the tribe advanced on the ship, spears in hand, with a tall, battle-scarred and tattooed blonde only a few lines from the fore - Octavia. Camilla strode confidently down the gangway, tossing down the darkwood sword and the ring from the remorhaz den as she made the ground.
"I have completed the trial set for Gaius - I have slain the remorhaz and retrieved the artifacts he had taken with him. I have mastered the sky-wolf's ship. I challenge you, Octavia, for the right to be chieftain."
Octavia demanded trial by combat, as her right as chieftain, but the elders strode to the front as the tribesmen began to circle. Viktor began an illusory chant low in the crowd of Camilla's name, gaining some adopters, as the elders discussed between themselves what was transpiring. As things began to deteriorate, Cephandrius and Viktor made note of several structures that appeared to be prison pits and cages, and could make out what appeared to be wolf-men within - true hybrids of wolf and man, not simply feral looking and bestial like the afflicted they had so far seen. A battle-scarred, older man - Marcus - interrupted the growing circle - Octavia's demands were only allowed if the elders still held confidence in her right as chieftain... and they did not. Marcus reminded Octavia that Gaius' trial had been to claim a place by her side - a feat she herself would not complete. Octavia demanded they stop prattling and cast their lots then on who should lead then, so that she could finally proceed to kill both Camilla and Marcus for their insolence.
Three elders cast lots for Camilla, and one for Octavia; as there were only five, the fifth elder's vote did not matter, and thus he did not speak. Octavia demanded her right of spoils, but none of her tribesmen came to her side. Marcus reminded her that her sword as the symbol of the chieftain, and she should remove it and leave quietly... and she did.
After claiming the chieftain's sword and talking with the elders, Camilla returned with Marcus to speak with the party. True to her word, Camilla promised that the Kelds would assist in driving the Eladrin into the sea, and that their raids on the villages and Meadoros would cease. She also led the party passed the cages to some smaller huts that have been barred from the outside; ordering the guards open the huts, the party could hear a voice from inside say "Church?" as the cat made his way inside...
Entering the structure, the party found three people in a sparse but sturdy building - a blond woman in leathers, a nondescript pale humanoid with grey hair, and a towering mountain of plate armor that moved of its own accord. Church had already hopped into the blond woman's lap and was explaining how he had made new friends who had flown one of the wolf-ships to the camp to rescue them. Greetings and introductions exchanged, Cephandrius asked about their fourth member - Shimmer; Sabrina, the blond woman, explained a horrible man had dragged her off several weeks ago when she refused to answer questions about something he had found on their person: the crystal.
Cephandrius asked Camilla about this incident, and she shrugged... but Cephandrius confronted her - she had seen their raven while they were on the trail, and had taken a gamble that the party would interfere. She had taken Aurelias into the Rift to kill him under the guise of tracking down Gaius, as a play to weaken Octavia and remove her from power; she and several other elders had hatched the scheme, and it was providence that the party had intervened and killed Aurelias - it made the whole situation here in the camp cleaner. Cephandrius and Viktor were not pleased with having been kept in the dark, but Camilla countered that she had no reason to believe they would have been so keen to assist her if she had been more open about the plan. However, the current situation within the camp still required the party's assistance - while Aurelias was dead, the more fervent members of his cult were not, and as they had Shimmer (assuming she still lived)... the party would naturally wish to request her, thus solving Camilla's cultist problem and helping consolidate her power further. Surprisingly, Viktor and Cephandrius were not overly upset by her explanation, and everyone agreed that ending the cultists and recovering Shimmer was in everyone's best interest.
Satisfied, Cephandrius also asked about the wolves - "Vodoni," Sabrina corrected - and what Sabrina knew about them. She mentioned that they had been surprisingly docile here in captivity, and that the three bald humans with them were likely their Breeders: spellcasters of some skill, who were responsible for turning infected humanoids into true Vodoni. She had already tried to tell the Keldon that keeping them all together was dangerous, but no one had seemed interested in listening to her. She was also concerned that the party had just flown one of their ships into the middle of the camp. Everyone traded nervous glances, and Camilla set about having the Breeders gagged and separated from the group of Vodoni; as she stepped out, Sabrina sighed, saying she was at least better than the last chieftain: the blond one.
Sabrina, Fie, Church, and Bastion were keen to assist in rescuing Shimmer; all nine set out for the cave north of the camp. The verdant spring forests lining the path slowly gave way to stunted trees and an eerie quiet as even the birds abandoned the area surrounding the caves. At the mouth of the cave and lining the entry tunnel and walls of the first chamber were the remnants of the cult's last raid - broken wood, mangled metal and wheels: the broken body of a merchant's cart. Before the party could investigate the wreckage, they noted several mutated cultists talking quietly in Cirean: plans for contacting elders to consolidate Aurelias' and Octavia's power, working on converting more of their tribes-people, discussing the prisoner, and other recent events. Quickly discussing options, Bastion and Viktor moved into the room to pull fire, while Malva used her slippers to scale the walls and rain arrows and daggers down on the the cultists. Fie moved to cut off escape, while Cephandrius rendered himself invisible and snuck into the midst of the fray, sorrowing fear and disorder and cowing one of the cultists into surrendering. Branon hugged the edge of the cave wall as he chucked a guiding bolt into the fray, narrowing missing a cultist and began rummaging through the wreckage as the others handily put the cultists to the sword. Malva joined the cleric as he pointed out a locked chest, marked with obvious Dwarven Hul-marks from the nearby Hul Golgrim. Malva also found a badly damaged ledger nearby, riddled with Cant; as she popped the chest open, she realized why: a potion and an cold, snowy globe sat on top of a pile of Dwarven bullion - copper, silver, gold, and platinum. The money was meant as a payment for someone in Meadoros for something shady... and that money had not arrived.
Interrogating the one surviving cultist, he told the group that indeed, Shimmer was here. Cato, Aurelias' second-in-command, was overseeing rites in the chambers to the right at the fork ahead, but Shimmer was in the very back of the caves to the left. Cephandrius suggested the man leave and return back to his clan before anything else terrible happened to him... and he readily agreed, leaving quickly.
Moving cautiously into the next chamber with Bastion in the lead, the group found three cultists talking quietly amongst themselves while seeding some kind of foodstuffs into a large pool in the center of the cavern. Branon quietly called everyone together, speaking a prayer to Gatris to grant those assembled the ability to waterwalk again. As Cephandrius began moving invisibly around the pool's edge to the right, cackling to draw the cultists' attention. Fie crossed the pool to draw one of the cultists as well and was nearly dragged under by a pulsating mass of eyes, tendrils, and mouths that erupted from the water. The battle progressed quickly, with Vondal crushing one of the cultists as the Mouth of the End moved quickly towards him, gibbering loudly and madly and warping the very ground the barbarian stood on; the voices and shifting ground put the dwarf on his heels, as mouths formed around him from the very air, biting him as he tried to regain his focus. Bastion, Church, and Viktor quickly closed on the monster, as did Fie once putting down its first opponent. Sabrina and Malva, with Cephandrius' distractions, killed the third cultist as the other five fought valiantly, finally putting the Mouth of the End to the sword; it liquefied and boiled, fouling the water and ground where it had rested before dissipating completely.
Searching the two side caves off the large cavern, the group found Shimmer chained to a wall, unconscious, in an altar room - shelves on the wall were filled with all manner of odd implements of torture, but as Malva worked on the manacles and Viktor and Branon assessed her injuries, Sabrina and Fie were able to find most of Shimmer's belongings scattered around the room. Although Viktor was able to bring the Tabaxi around, she remained unresponsive; Branon could tell that what afflicted her was not physical, but mental, and depending on how deeply she had been damaged, it could take many days or powerful magic to help her recover...
Taking Shimmer onto their shoulders, Sabrina and Fie helped the unresponsive Tabaxi into the main chamber as Cephandrius and Malva scouted ahead. Seeing that their assault on the Mouth had drawn the attention of the others in the cave, Cephandrius, Viktor, Vondal, and Bastion prepped an assault, with Branon staying back with Shimmer as the others assisted. Malva drew the cultists' attention by dropping one of their number with a bolt from the ceiling as Viktor, Vondal, and Bastion poured into the passage to block their entry with Cephandrius chanting a terrifying dirge from his skaldic book. As the younger cultists quickly fell before the group, Cato, Aurelius' lieutenant, sensed the presence of the Shard amongst the intruders; as Malva made her way along the ceiling, she could hear it question if she would serve the End even from her pouch. When she did not answer it, the Shard cut its way through her pouch, trying to fly to Cato, but Malva was able to catch the stone before it could make it further than her belt.
Cato proved powerful, reviving several of his fallen cultists and grievously injuring Viktor, but the combined might of party and the Visitors proved too much for cultists of the End, and ultimately Cato was cut down as he attempted to flee the cavern. Finally, quiet settling over the caves, Vondal searched through the cultists, finding nothing really of value, as Malva investigated the remaining cavern; she found a ramshackle sleeping area and a small chapel. On the dais of this chapel was a lectern with a tattered tome in an ancient language; these were likely the scriptures of the End, but it seemed odd as none of the other Keldon so far had shown much in the way of literacy. Unable to read the text herself, she returned to the party and handed the tome to Branon, who retrieved his ritual book so he could begin decipher its secrets.
As the group returned from the caves, conversation turned to how the party had found their way to the camp with a Vodoni ship. Viktor described the ships they had seen in the glacier rift, including the smaller vessel that they could not figure out how to enter. Sabrina said the ship sounded like a Mosquito, but it must have been a custom rig, as most Mosquitos were very easy to enter. Viktor noted that Fie also seemed troubled by the description, but did not say anything. After some prompting and some second-guessing, she said the vessel sounded like an old story she had heard about, but it wasn't likely - there would be no reason for such a person to be here on Vandalmál... until Malva told Fie of the rumor of the Black Feather and the death of the head of the thieves' guild in Meadoros. Fie told the story she had heard, of a legendary interstellar drifter, a killer for hire - the Nightingale Blade. It was said she could be hired in one of two ways - somehow tracking her down directly or making an appeal to the Queen of Ravens... a name that the party was unfortunately familiar with.
Camilla and the elders gathered quickly when the group emerged from the forest path, bruised and battered but alive and carrying the missing Tabaxi. She asked if any of the cultists lived: Cephandrius assured her that all in the cave had been put to the sword. Pleased, she and the Elders welcomed their return to the village and asked whether they would like to speak with the Vodoni now, but the group understandably wished to rest after the horrors of the cave. As they headed towards the Vodoni ship, Cephandrius pulled Camilla aside and told her what they had overheard from the cultists - one of the tribal elders had been turned, but he did not know who, although he suspected it must be one of the elders who had not voted for her: Aelius or Tacitus. Camilla again thanked the bard for his continued contribution to their alliance - she would move to root out this traitor. Their work complete, the group settled into the unfamiliar Vodoni ship to rest for the evening... a rare warm, quiet restful spring evening, unlike those of the last few weeks.
In the morning, Branon whispered a prayer to Gatris, coaxing the comatose Shimmer back to alertness. She snapped to with a start, uncertain who many of the people around her were, until she recognized Sabrina, Fie, and Church. Her fear was quickly replaced with anger and admonishment as she realized that "natives" had become involved in her group's activities on this world... but she had little choice, once she fully understood how long she had been in the hands of the cultists and what had transpired in the intervening weeks: the arrival of the Vodoni, the possible presence of a legendary assassin, the cult of the End.... Still reeling, Shimmer did not have much time to discuss more - the Vodoni still waited outside in their cages.
With Shimmer now coherent, the group gathered with Camilla and the elders outside the Vodoni ship to confront the Vodoni. Approaching the cages together, it only took a few moments to assess which among the wolves were likely in charge - two towering specimens, crouching in one of the cages, skulked forward as the assembly approached. Reciting a prayer to Gatris, Branon attempted to ensorcel the wolves, forcing their truthfulness, but one simply grinned fiendishly; the other, however, was bound by the spell and, after silently conferring with his companion, agreed to answer questions. He confirmed Fie's fears - the Vodoni were here hunting one called Adaka, the Nightingale Blade, for her part in bringing down their generals during the assault that lead to the downfall of Emperor Vulkaran and the fall of their empire. They had tracked her here on information from an Arcane broker, and while they had located her ship, they had been unable to locate her before the Keldon captured them. Cephandrius then asked what the Vodoni's intentions were for Vandalmál, drawing an odd question from the wolf - was Cephandrius what amounted to leadership for this world?
Saying yes, the Vodoni, named Remus, said if the group would help his men track and eliminate Adaka, the Vodoni would leave Vandalmál in peace and neither they nor others of their kind would return to attack or enslave the world. Discussing the situation with Shimmer and Sabrina, and then asking Camilla for her thoughts and permission (as the Vodoni were her prisoners), Cephandrius agreed to Remus' terms, thus striking the first known interstellar accord between Vandalmál and another interstellar power: the remnants of the Vodoni Empire.
With the details of the Vodoni squared away, Camilla appointed Marcus to travel with the party to represent Keldon interests in Freythor's growing army. The party then turned to how best to deal with the aftermath of the last several days, namely returning the Visitors to their ship, meeting with the Dwarves of Hul Lodir, and informing Overseer Floshem of the peace accord with the Kelds. With the Nightwolf at their disposal, such movements could be accomplished with previously unavailable speed, but presented a whole new host of challenges.
Cephandrius wanted to discuss the realities of interfacing and piloting the ship, and Shimmer explained the basics. As to movement around Vandalmál, Sabrina and Shimmer definitely recommended stealth, especially considering the presence of other off-worlders already and the likelihood of a panic, and the party agreed... for now. Remus recommended bringing one of their junior breeders with the party in the event they locate Adaka, as their breeders served as pilots for their vessels due to their knowledge of magic. Conferring with Camilla, Mauhul was released to the party to serve as their liaison to communicate back with the Kelds and Remus. Sabrina and Shimmer also agreed that immediately returning back to their ship could wait - all of the Visitors were curious as to the ways of this world.
With the framework of a plan, Viktor took the helm, managing a passable but shaky takeoff. The ship did move slower than when Cephandrius piloted, but still significantly faster than would be possible on horseback. With Hilda guiding, the party set down in a valley north of the Hul; Viktor's landing was a bit rougher, bending a landing skid, but not terribly.
Sabrina, Hilda, Mauhul, and Marcus accompanied Cephandrius, Malva, Branon, and Vondal down to the Great Gates. The party's initial approach was met with some trepidation, but several of the guards recognized them from their previous visits and ushered them in once word of their success with the Kelds began to spread, thanks to some subtle bardic magic. The Elders of the Hul, Baern Loderr among them, arrived shortly to greet them. Branon's work during their last visit had indeed helped quell the outbreak in the Hul, and the party bringing word of the truce was met with great happiness. The quarantine lifted and their gates secure, Baern agreed to commit his troops to the Freythor's cause.
Prior to leaving, Cephandrius and Vondal asked Hilda what she would like to do, now that they were back at her home and their work with her was largely done. To their surprise, Hilda requested to stay on with them, and they gladly accepted, as she had proven a decent tracker and guide, despite being a little faint of heart. Their work concluded at Hul Lodir, everyone set off for Meadoros; Vitkor's second landing in the forests west of the city proved much smoother than the first.
Their arrival at the western gates of Meadoros was much more tense - guards reacted aggressively to Marcus' presence, barring them entry until messages could be sent to the Citadel approving their admission into the city and escort directly to the Seneschal and the Overseer. A brisk ride into the heart of Meadoros, the assembly was ushered into Floshem's private study to discuss the details of peace with the Kelds. Halver asked Seneschal Wasanthi to escort Marcus out while he spoke with the rest of the group - he wanted to know the location of the Keldon village so he could order its destruction, and seemed intent on reneging on their original agreement if they would not provide the information. Branon and Malva attempted to appeal to the Overseer's better nature and the realities of the upcoming war, but Cephandrius took a different tack: he informed Floshem that the party had already received the assurances of the Dwarves from Hul Lodir as well, so if Floshem wished to renege on their agreement, Cephandrius could simply march the combined Keldon and Dwarven force on Meadoros first on its way to Steinbjorn, depose Floshem, and then acquire his cavalry forces that way. Obviously outplayed, Floshem angrily acquiesced, committing his forces to Freythor's cause.
Leaving the Overseer's study, the party met again with Seneschal Wasanthi, who apologized for Floshem's behavior and assured them he would see to it that Meadoros' forces would be in the field. The party also discussed rumors of a murder they had heard about: tell of the assassination of the head of the local thieves guild and a single black feather. Wasanthi was credulous on such stories, but there did seem to be some credence to this rumor, he said; he also gave the party information on the location of a front for the Mist in the city to help them track down some additional information on the thieves guild. He also paid the party for their services in helping with the Kelds from some funds he managed for the city.
While Branon, Cephandrius, and the others went on their way to the Crossed Staves to again secure lodgings, play a gig for the night, and run the card tables, Malva and Vondal went out to the lumberyards northwest of the city to scope out the Aldari Trading Company. While taking stock from a distance, Malva was unfortunately surprised to hear a familiar voice greeting her: Fredegar. Ushering her and Vondal inside the facility, he asked some questions about their recent exploits and answered some questions about recent events: unrest in Varheim, the death of the master of the thieves' guild here in Meadoros, some similar murders in Hul Golgrim, and other unsettling word surrounding Eladrin movements in the south. After a few minutes, he had an associate bring Vondal elsewhere for refreshments, as he did have a few things to discuss with Malva in private.
Fredegar's questions turned to Malva's father, asking if he had ever given her anything before he had been apprehended. After a few moments of cat-and-mouse between the young and old spies, Fredegar finally divulged what he was looking for - a dagger. He and her father had been an espionage team working behind the lines during the Last War, and each had been given a dagger to assist them in their work. Unbeknownst to Fredegar, Malva's father had at some point stolen Fredegar's dagger and now... it appeared that Malva had both in her possession. According to Fredegar, her father had been Shadow, the wetwork specialist, and he had been Whispers, the information man. As the two talked about the daggers and the past, Fredegar waffled on letting her keep both daggers, but ultimately did, though recommending she pick someone to give one of the daggers to instead of keeping them both herself.
After his rousing set at the Crossed Staves, Cephandrius made a series of moves to advance Hnigalimar's agenda; spending a fitful night of travel and planning and ending a bit weary and bleary in the morning, he also brought Skaeti back with him from the manor to assist in the party's travels. Before returning to the Nightwolf, Cephandrius and Viktor had several stops in the Guild and Market district. As Cephandrius stopped to retrieve Bjartrsteinn's response to his missive at the courier's office near the Citadel, Viktor met with the High Initiate at the Grove of the Old Gods in Meadoros; Finnan agreed to assist Viktor in retaining control of himself should he wish to commune with the Spriggan, considering that his last encounter with her in the Grove of the Green Mother and the Ancient One was so ill-fated. Continuing to the shops, Viktor retrieved the armor he had commissioned several weeks prior while Cephandrius stopped in to speak with Ervid and Ivar; the tailors assured him that they would be delivering their work in person to Hnigalimar in about two weeks.
Although Skaeti was skeptical of Cephandrius' description of the ship and how it flew, he did take the helm, and, to everyone's surprise, took to piloting like a bird. A clear summer day allowed for smooth flying eastward into the foothills just west of Hul Golgrim. As the landscape rolled out before them, the expanses of the Eastern Hobgoblin Reaches and the rise of the Central Mountains to the south spread out before them, Hilda managed to locate a safe valley in the hills about about an hour of west of the city's gates. Assuming the ship would be safe and with all the Visitors very curious about local cultures, everyone headed out together. Upon arriving at the massive gates set into the side of the mountain, Vondal and Hilda spoke with the guards as to the nature of their visit - Vondal's sister lived in the Hul: Artin Glanhig. Hilda and the guards recognized the clan name, and the guards gave some helpful directions on where to locate the Guild District. As the group headed into the outer ring towards that district, they met with one of the local patrolmen who provided more detailed information about a quarantine of several shops that had been put in place after the discovery of several bizarre deaths. He mentioned where they could find the Glanhig store (inside the quarantine zone) and Artin's residence, and who in the District guards could give them permission to enter the quarantine zone and investigate the store: Captain Orsik.
Branon, Sabrina, and Church headed off to meet with the guard captain while the others went with Vondal to meet with his sister. Their visit was pleasant enough - Vondal and Artin were on good terms last time they saw one another. She told the party of some of the goings-on with the dwarves found in her family's store and how her husband has been working hard to also figure out a robbery at one of their mines that occurred a few days after the grisly discovery. She also mentioned another name the party was familiar with - Vonbin. Apparently, he had known some of the victims and had come on at the store in the few weeks before everything happened. Vondal asked if they could investigate the store, and Artin agreed, saying she would accompany them.
Branon and Sabrina's meeting with Captain Orsik got off to a rocky start, as Branon told the dwarf the truth - they were here to investigate the odd rumors, but did not give him much reason. He also answered Branon's question about where the dead were being kept: the bodies of the dwarves had been removed to the temple of Moradin. Sabrina stepped in, telling Orsik that Branon was indeed a skilled investigator, giving the guard captain enough cover to draft up a writ to present to the patrolmen on duty at the quarantine posts, but he also told them they would need the Glanhig's permission to enter the store even with his writ. As they headed off with the notice, Sabrina gave Branon a few pointers on getting what he wants - "Lying helps if you can tell people what they need to hear."
Once everyone had met back up in the Guild District and after a brief chuckle from the guards at the exact wording on the captain's writ, the group found their way to Glanhig's Precious Stones, a well-appointed shop in the back of the district. The dust apparent on the floor and counters seemed to indicate that no one had been here in many days, but Malva could tell otherwise; someone had been here more recently, definitely within the time of the quarantine. Two of the dwarves - Dalgal and Delg - had fallen in the front of the store: one by the counter and one at a workstation, an unfinished ring setting still in tools. Another dwarf - Oskar - had died in the doorway leading from the front to the back of the shop. The last dwarf - Uraim - had died at the desk in the back. As Vondal pulled Artin aside to talk - to distract her, notably with the information he had discovered about their brother Travok still being alive - Malva and Viktor found a false bottom in a drawer, locating the "real" ledger, as Cephandrius worked through the shop with his skaldic book open, reciting a ritual to search for magical auras. On a counter in the front, he discovered one magical item, powered by transmutation: a single, sharp-edged black feather. When Viktor attempted to pick up the feather, it rapidly disintegrated into dust. Comparing the ledger on the counter to the book from the back, several entries stood out - specifically two marked "Hostile Takeover" that accounted for about 6,000 gold in early and mid Alor.
While trying to figure out who might have wanted to hurt the workers here, conversation turned to the Glanhig's reputation. While Artin initially defended her family's business, Hilda told a different story about how the Glanhigs managed to build their empire in Hul Lodir and Kilingi through fear, strong-arm tactics, and other more rumored practices far more violent and sinister... and Vondal's sister finally caved. While she insisted her husband treated her well, she knew some of the seedier realities of their operation. Begging Vondal to not tell their parents, she told them how her husband had put Uraim in charge of breaking into Meadoros' markets, but the thieves' guild in that city already had their fingers in the gem market... so Uraim had moved to take out the head of the thieves' guild. It would be the Glanhigs' big move into the city, on the back of the chaos that would follow. Her husband believed that something had gone wrong with this process - while the assassin had been paid part up front and the rest of the payment had been released after the death of the guild leader in Meadoros had been confirmed, Uraim and his colleagues were still dead and about 3,000 gold worth of gems had been stolen from one of the family's mines a few days after the bodies were found. Vonbin was also missing; her husband had been trying to find him and was beginning to believe he might have had something to do with all of this. Artin suggested that they speak with her husband, excusing herself to return to her home as the party headed deeper into the Hul to the Mines District.
Working their way cautiously back through the city, the group found Ulfgar Glanhig at the family's cutting and sorting facility near the entry to the mines. A seemingly mild-mannered, squirrelly dwarf, his demeanor turned harder once he started talking privately in his office. He had indeed ordered Uraim to oversee entering the Meadorean market, had put him in contact with Otambærhrafn (Wild Ravens), a small assassin's guild in Meadoros, and was aware that a deal had been struck and paid. Now, he had a missing ragamuffin dwarf, a quarantined shop, four dead workers, and a large theft from his operation here at the cutting shop. Ulfgar suggested that if the party would look into the whereabouts of Vonbin and/or the assassin, the Glanhigs would be decidedly grateful.
The mines of Hul Golgrim were largely known for their rich veins of iron, nickel, and manganese, but there were also ample veins of mithral and plentiful spurs of precious stones. The Glanhigs had worked hard to secure many of the more profitable spurs, contracting with a few smaller outfits to work any veins of metal ores found in their claims. The party decided to first rule out the mines as Vonbin's possible hiding spot; heading down into the deep, Viktor and Bastion quickly found themselves cramped in the shortening passages. Following signage and the helpful directions of passing workers, the party was able to locate the crux of the Glanhig's operation - after the thefts, they also found it much more heavily guarded.
Talking with the guards at the front, they remembered Vonbin as a weasel, useless - an errand boy for Uraim from the shop who appeared to pass messages to the foreman on what things customers might be looking to purchase. They also knew a bit of his history - getting shipped off my his parents, bombing out as a brewer's apprentice, and skulking back to Hul Golgrim and falling back in with his old friends. The guard said that Vonbin's mother also lived in the Hul still, but beyond that, Gilthur had spent much more time talking to him.
The foreman confirmed much of what the guard had said. He also indicated it was highly unlikely that Vonbin could be hiding in the mines this long - no one had seen him in weeks, and he would have had to sneak in and out several times by now for provisions. Gilthur also confirmed that Ulfgar had sent people to lean on Vonbin's mother - from what they could gather, he wasn't there nor had he been. Gilthur also remembered another group had come looking for Vonbin - a local offical named Svikja - but Ulfgar had not seemed too concerned about it. Cephandrius, Branon, and Viktor wondered if Gilthur could provide them a solid description of the missing dwarf, and using minor image, the bard managed to put a together a solid composite of Vonbin with Gilthur's guidance. As Cephandrius worked with Gilthur, Viktor sought out some of the local rodents to question about what has been transpiring in the mines and in the Hul lately. The rats he spoke with mentioned many "scaries" still near where the "talls died."
Between the minor image and the details from the rodents, the party felt they had enough to find the dwarf should he still be in the Hul. Murmuring a prayer to Gatris, Branon asked for guidance in finding Vonbin. Within the mines, Branon felt nothing, but as the party returned to the main cavern of the Hul, he began to feel the pull of his god back into the Market District. Working their way cautiously back into the quarantine zone around Glanhig's store, Gatris' guidance drew the party to a store nearby - Nurval's Cartography and Illuminated Manuscripts.
Malva checked the door (locked) and then quietly cased the rest of the exterior - several windows on the sides but nothing on the rear. Working around the windows, Malva was able to spot candlelight in the back storeroom and a thuggish looking dwarf. Quietly opening one of the windows near the front, Malva listened as Vondal knocked on the front door. The dwarf spoke to some people out of sight and slowly headed to the door as another took his place to watch. To everyone's surprise, when the thug opened the door, he appeared to recognize Vondal despite the barbarian's failure to recall ever having met him before. Combat rapidly ensued - Malva slipped into the window and took out the guard in the rear as Vondal wrestled the first dwarf to the ground. Another thug and another more concerning figure emerged - a dwarf in Kveðarok robes and heavy armor. Quick work by Viktor and Branon subdued the Speaker in clinging vines and a heavy net, while Vondal and Malva rapidly dispatched the other thugs.
Cephandrius and Viktor set to interrogating the Speaker while Malva snuck quietly into a door in the back of the shop; within, she saw a few more thugs and another Speaker before quietly sneaking back into the front. The captive Speaker, Svikja, was only a little surprised to see the party here, given that Birel had warned the Speakers to be on guard for the party's meddling. The Speakers had been told to capture Vonbin - he had seen the murders, which had been committed by someone who had "broken the sky," according to Svikja. Kveðarok had started spreading word of Vonbin's survival to try and attract the Nightingale Blade to return and finish him, so that the Speakers could employ her. Birel believed she might need someone of Adaka's skill to assist her in Hul Keghrim. Speaker Svikja then made an odd offer - Kveðarok and the party did not need to be at odds here; they could work together and draw Adaka out.
Cephandrius and the others conferred quietly, and then Malva retrieved Shadow. Wordless, she looked back to Cephandrius one last time, who simply nodded; she then slit the dwarves' throat. After Svikja's gurgles ceased, Malva also retrieved his Speaker's robes, as she could now call on his form from within the blade.