Session 18 - The Son's Vendetta

Back at The Bard's Lute, half-elf cleric Arindrake sheltered himself from the eye of the hunting Justiciar while half-elf druid Percival waited for news of his companions. The bard Merryweather joined him with a mighty hangover and they spent their afternoon playing tiles.

The heroes at the Arcane Academy had finished a meeting with Archmaster Erenae and half-orc fighter Phryne decided she would impress some of the students to her cause to get information from them. Half-elf bard Haeven took out his lute and made up a song on the spot about "Phryne Fighting the Flesh-Golems," but it was not well received.

Phryne turned around and promised the first round was on her, and she soon had a half dozen students returning with herself, Haeven, the half-air spirit Aubrey and their dog, Shelley.

Caught up in his game, Percival was unaware that the New Church of Apexion had found him until Major General-Cardinal Zariel was on him. Zariel, flanked by two soldiers, arrested Percival by the power of the New Church and the new King of Malex. Outside Percival's keen eyesight saw a handful of guards, three attack dogs, a warhorse and two archers on the rooftops above with lighted arrows. He was manacled and chained to the back of Zariel's warhorse.

The others came on the scene with the young apprentices in tow, and when Haeven tried to dash away into the alley the soldiers noticed him and alerted Zariel, who demanded they throw down their weapons and surrender. Aubrey sprang forward and blasted one of the guards who had Percival with his Fist of Unbroken Air, and Percival transformed into a giant toad and leapt away into the window of the inn, interrupting two gentlemen at their evening exertions.

A fierce battle followed. Phryne, after warning the apprentices to stay back, charged into battle with her dreaded obsidian sword Mildred. Shelley the dog charged forward, snapping and biting at the enemy hounds. Haeven lobbed web spells at the enemies while Percival blasted the hounds and soldiers from above with a spell of elemental ice blades, decimating the enemies, now standing naked above. Zariel ordered the archers to fire on the inn and burn it to the ground before Aubrey threw the horse to the ground and honed in on the attackers. The archers lobbed flaming arrows at the inn, setting the front on fire.

One by one the heroes picked off the New Church soldiers and dogs. Haeven healed and raised the greatly injured warhorse, while Aubrey calmed the steed and claimed it. Percival transformed again into a fierce wolf and leapt below, biting and clawing his way through the battle, Haeven lulled Zariel to sleep with a might spell, and then went after one of the fleeing archers, while Percival took the other. Percival used a spell of friendship to bring the guard back and have him forfeit his armour to the naked half-elf, while Haeven lulled the other guard to sleep before sticking him to some web. In the heat of the battle, Shelley the dog had run off after one of the fleeing hounds. Phryne ordered the apprentices forward to do what they could with the fire, and a couple of advanced spellcasters summoned great clouds of rain that began to quench the flames.

Smoked out of the inn, but safe, the friends and fellow boarders now crowded into the street with a furious innkeep. Zariel awoke, and charged Phryne as a murderer, eventually revealing that she'd murdered his father, Merriglen, at the western New Church settlement. She relieved him of his gold and armour, and Aubrey even tried to trample the man but eventually had to settle for knocking him out and stripping him, with plans to extract information from him.

Giving some gold to the innkeeper before advising her to flee town for fear of reprisal from the New Church of Apexion, the heroes slaughtered the last of the soldiers before repairing with an unconscious, naked Zariel to the Palace of 1000 Pleasures. Aubrey left them to their task to search on horseback for their lost dog, but was unsuccessful as night fell over the city.

At the House of 1000 Pleasures, The Lady gave the heroes access to an unused prop room in the basement. They threatened and tortured Zariel, attempting to get information from him. They learned that the New Church believed spellcasters of the Arcane Academy to be evil and wished to purge the city of them, and that Zariel believed the New Church were the true power of the city, and that Grand Cardinal-General Ixis Wrenwrath was more powerful than the king. He called the half-humans "filth" and "abomination." Realizing they could get little information from him, despite his high position in the Church, they resolved to murder him, carve the symbol of the "Half-Moon Dragon" into his forehead and leave the corpse in an alley. Upon bringing the corpse to an alley in the docks, Haeven noticed there were no cats or dogs in the streets, and that a few of the more desperate eyed the corpse hungrily, so they resolved to turn the corpse of Zariel invisible and leave it in the Plaza of the Faithful where it would eventually be discovered.

Haeven spoke to the Lady (and Ella) of matters of safety, Phryne retired with a much impressed and lascivious Merryweather, and thus concluded the heroes' second day in the city.

ACTIVE QUESTS

-Phryne is allowed to request a boon from the worshippers of Excelsion

-Figure out the source of the undead in the Port-of-Utopia Cemetary, perhaps speak to some of the Arcane Academy's students about Zachar and Olli, or Head Archivist Eko about the missing tome, or else investigate the Necropolis further

-Gain an audience with the Elven Senate of Elysium to present what they know of the goblin activity (perhaps using Lady Aevara of Victor's amulet)

-Investigate the encroaching dark forces from the East for the forest spirit (party thinks that the magical and destructive properties of tealstone, these goblin factories and Ghazek from Gobelton have something to do with it)

-Escort Edlee to Elysium