Leech, after giving a note from Judge to Angel, runs into a situation between a vanderman and an older lady, who were playing Sheer, a game close to chess. The woman’s eyes have milky clouds in them, and despite having the vanderman describe the board to her, she wins anyway. The man is angry at the woman, calling her a thief and a cheat. Leech tries his best to deescalate the situation and luckily members of the local guard notice the commotion and come help. When they realize that Leech bears the Prince’s seal, and is a member of The Chain, they believe his side of the story. They are thankful for leech and The Chain for what they are doing and state that with “war coming” they are happy The Chain carry the princes seal and are “on their side”

Afterwards the woman asks Leech to help her set up the game. They discuss its Kamaran origins. Suddenly, she stops talking, and the milky fluid in her eyes drains, and for a moment her brown eyes are visible, then she blinks, and her eyes turn solid sapphire.

In a different voice, she says “Fascinating game, these Terrans play, very similar to the game the gods play, but their pieces are infinitely variable. Do you play, Leech?”

“You know my name?” he asks. “Of course,” she responds, “I’ve known your name for a long time.”

Leech asks who she is, she can’t answer as it’s against “the rules”.

When Leech says he is unfamiliar with the game in front of them, she says, “I will play for both of us then. Very important, in situations like this, that we obey the rules. So far, I have managed not to break the rules. No… vulgar displays of power, no outright instructions, but we are allowed to choose our pieces. I know it’s been difficult for you, living in exile, but I’m afraid it’s going to get much worse. I chose you, all those years ago, because I wanted someone serving me in the senior command of The Chain of Acheron. You see, I chose you for a purpose, for the same reason I created the Sapphire Sky. this purpose… it’s the most important thing in the world, and as unlikely as it sounds, it depends in part, upon The Chain of Acheron.

“For thousands of years, I’ve known a moment was coming. A Battle. A battle between what is, and what cannot be. Now, this is a battle that has been fought several times, and every time our enemy wins, the board is wiped clean, and we have to start over; but this time I’m playing, I and some of my friends, and we intend to win. My friends have their pieces… I have you. Until now, I have watched and been pleased. It is very dangerous for me to act in any way, even this conversation takes... enormous effort to conceal. But I’ve been content to watch from afar; everything’s gone according to plan, until now. Something’s gone wrong, or it’s better to say that something unexpected has happened, and that’s very unusual for me. You see, I’ve been to a place which you call the future. In a sense, I’m there now, and it is not one place, but many places. And every place where this battle happens, there are victories and defeats, but in every instance, The Chain was led there by a man you call King. Now, there are many pieces on the board -- the Chain of Acheron is only one, led by a King I thought I knew how to play. But now, the Judge stands in his place. The judge is powerful, but less predictable -- not my playstyle, frankly. Usually I’d sacrifice a judge to save my king, but I have to play the board in front of me. Make do with the tools at hand. You see I still intend to win. So, within the boundaries of the rules, we’re going to play a game. I’m going to ask you questions and if you answer them correctly, we keep playing. It has to be you that comes up with the answers, you understand?”

“I do,” He responds.

“Opening move: when did you first start working closely with the senior command of the Chain of Acheron?” He answers during the underdark job.

“Very good, very good, here, let me,” and she moves one of his pieces. “Now, what was it The Chain was supposed to do down there?”

“Retrieving a crown from the lord of madness to return to the undead lawyer… we were retrieving the crown.”

The woman then asks how they recovered the crown, and Leech explains there foray into the Lord of Madness’s lair with Leech’s imp stealing the crown.

She asks who the imp stole the crown from, and he replies that it was stolen from the illusion of the dead husband of the dead lady, though he cannot remember the dead man’s name. She is disappointed in this answer being incomplete and Leech losses a piece.

She asks of Ringwell and its purpose, to which Leech replies its a place where powerful artifacts have been locked away to be kept from the wrong hands.

She asks of its most prominent features. Leech mentions its architecture and its circular design. The woman presses further on this issue and what makes it important and unique, apart from its architecture. Leech talks of its fortified wards, how hidden it is, of the history on its walls, of the fortified rooms, before being asked how it is guarded. His response to this is about the necrophage, the vampiric mists and other what he describes as “traps.”

She responds, “I’m sorry, ambush”, and moves her piece.

She then asks, “Are you free to move through Ringwell”. Leech says yes through the unlocked areas. She says, “What about the other areas, think carefully, are you free to move through Ringwell?”. Leech says no we have not opened every avenue.

“Are there avenues in ringwell?” she asks. “Doors, barriers,” he responds.

She responds positively moving his piece and saying “Counter ambush”.

When Leech is asked if all these rooms are alike, he explains no there are sealed doors. The lady asks what happens if you try to open it. Leech says he tried once and they had to fight their way through. When she asks what they had to fight, he describes fighting a “giant clock”.

She sighs happily, and says, “My son, my son, how far you’ve come. Now, we enter the endgame, this is the final move, think carefully, it will win or lose you the game: Who, or what, in your opinion, is the greatest threat to the Chain of Acheron right now?”

Leech responds, “There are many threats, the greatest right now.. Ajax” This isn’t specific enough for the woman. “That covers quite a lot, he has many allies, could you be more specific?”

Leech, after taking a pause, answers, “I am unsure. Ajax is a threat, yes he has many allies, but he is the greater threat to The Chain.”

The woman sighs sadly, reaches over to Leech’s side of the board and knocks over his king piece.

“I am sorry Leech, you were doing so well. I realize now I ask too much of you, too much of The Chain. It’s just that... I had so much hope for this world. There was strife, and pain and injustice, but there is beauty and love. I suppose Ket was right, but maybe not… maybe not. The real game has yet to begin.”

“If you knew the answer,” Leech asks, “what do you want from me?”

“Goodbye Leech,” she says, and the old woman’s eyeballs go from sapphire blue back to her normal brown, and then the milky film returns.

She thanks Leech for helping her, and offers him some muffins which she had baked for lunch, which he accepts.

Episode 27 - The Book of Judge

When last we left our heroes, the command of The Chain had just passed from King to Judge. They freed Lady Violentia from the trap in the godblind in Ringwell and she divulged to them how they can get past the sealed door. We left them trying to decide how they were going to cope with the death knight’s demand that Zorj hand over the rod of Count Rhodar von Glauer and which house to rob to find a key to the rest of Ringwell.

The episode that aired on 9/4/19 was the players making the characters that Angel has recruited for the Heist.

Pieces maneuvered on the board. The King falls, but the game continues while the Judge is still in play.

The Duchess Valetta sends Lady Czorgan, a Death Knight under the control of the codex mortis to threaten the Knights of the Word if they do not produce an artifact recovered from Ringwell.

Lord Prospero Alvaro sits and watches, wondering if he’ll be congratulating Twelve Dragons, or condemning them as rogue agents. Will the Red Falcons surrender? Or die?

Lord Marco Vorona waits to see which way the game will go. Ready to back whoever is most prepared to win. While Lady Shirome waits and wonders, will Vorona stop her from defending the Stays, or side with House Navarr and start a war over the island?

Capital prepares for civil war. Thousands will die. Their only hope, a new Prince emerges to unite the city before Ajax arrives. Meanwhile the hardbitten officers of the Chain of Acheron prepare to fight death...with death.

We catch up with The Chain at the Dancing Minstrel, about to leave to deliver the letter that Lady Shirome gave them for Marco Vorona. Before they leave, Spendthrift shows up with his notebook. He approaches their table, closes his notebook, puts the pencil on top of it and says, “Hello. My commanding officer is convinced that you people have whatever this death knight wants. We’re sure you’re obligated to pretend you don’t have it. Maybe if you didn’t have those seals… Maybe if she hadn’t threatened him… But I know my man. He won’t say anything.”

Boots says, “You’re right. If we’re going to carry the Prince’s seals, we need to do the work of the Prince’s men. Before the time period expires, we’ll make sure the situation is taken care of and no harm comes to your commander.”

Spendthrift is relieved. He says he’s not equipped to be in charge, but as the second in command he’d have been required to if Zorj is killed. He asks what their plan is. Boots says he hopes it doesn’t come to a fight, but they’re prepared to take that route if that’s what’s required. They’re unimpressed by Lady Violetta’s assumption that she can send an errand girl to threaten the commander of the prince’s men in this sector. Boots says he doesn’t appreciate this behavior and they’ll stand by Commander Zorj.

Spendthrift says they’re in the process of clearing out and renovating the old courthouse in this neighborhood and suggests that they station their men there in order to protect the innocents in this area and to use that location should it come to a fight with the death knight.

Boots agrees, once again to Spendthrift’s relief. Boots suggests they keep a small force in addition to the rankers from The Chain in the courthouse, in case a show of force might help to avert an all out war over the rod. Spendthrift says he’ll suggest that, but he’s not sure what Zorj will decide to do. Boots reassures Spendthrift that they’ve faced undead before and if Lady Czorgan summons an undead army, they should be able to handle it, especially if Zorj will assign some extra men to the area.

In preparation for their meeting with Marco Vorona, Leech turns Odie invisible and instructs him in casing the house. They plan to use this meeting to get more information about where a house might keep an ancient key to Ringwell.

They embark on their trip to deliver Lady Shirome’s letter. It’s located in a noble district of the city. As they approach the house, they see a lot of coming and going. There are guards at the gates, checking lists against who wants access. The guards are carrying muskets, another indication that House Vorona has exclusive access to gunpowder.

After presenting their letter of introduction, they’re escorted into the grounds. They see Trident House, the naval headquarters, and what appears to be a castle in the distance -- the castle of House Vorona, residence of the family. Rather than being taken to the castle, they’re escorted to the Admiralty and into a largely empty room in which is a tall, older man who appears to be in his 70s. He has a large, bushy white mustache and many medals on his chest. He’s standing in front of a huge, irregularly shaped table, almost like a capital I or sideways H. It’s expensively made, with lapis lazuli and gold thread. All of the empty space is land and the rest represent the seas of Orden. The edges of the table mark the edges of the oceans. As they enter, the man dismisses the others in the room, who appear to be naval officers, who were engaged in a war game. Most of the model fleets are in Higara. The fleets of House Vorona are protecting Higaran ships getting into and out of the area, securing shipping for the Empress’s fleet against the forces of Ajax.

The man sees them enter and turns, “Capital. Capital. I wondered when you would arrive. I gave you enough hints, didn’t I? Do you have something for me?”

They give him the letter from Lady Shirome. He reads it and is amused. “Lady Shirome. You thought you were moving a King, but it appears you moved a Judge instead. What did you think of the little lady who runs the big island?”

After some other small talk, regarding their intentions to speak at the Academy, he asks how they got to Capital so quickly from Blackbottom. Slim shares that they have an illithid dreadnought. He asks about the armaments on the Dark Dream and Slim says they use psychic energy, powered by prisoners. Vorona is confused about how that works and asks, but Slim doesn’t really illuminate him as to the particulars.

He asks what they think of the 12 Dragons. Judge says he sees a force overstepping themselves. Vorona says he’s curious to find out what de Corona is up to. Boots asks what Prospero might think about the 12 Dragons and Vorona says he thinks it will depend on the outcome. If de Corona is successful, Prospero will be happy to claim the victory as his own; if he fails, Prospero will be pleased to cut him loose and claim he was a loose cannon.

Boots asks what Vorona thinks of the impending war. Vorona says it’s clearly coming and they would like to be on the winning side. He wonders who has been talking to them and whether someone is trying to maneuver The Chain into striking first. They tell him that the Dragons already tried to instigate a fight with them, but it didn’t work. Vorona says he’d hate to see Prospero take The Pellet. He says if it were up to him, he’d be happy to send the 12 Dragons packing. Vorona mentions that they’ve already helped The Chain by getting the Green Boots to them in good time and suggests that The Chain might be useful in evicting the 12 Dragons from their roost. Boots agrees that it would be in keeping with their status as prince’s men to enforce his authority in The Pellet. Vorona says, given that they’re the prince’s men, perhaps some marines could escort them help Lady Antonia and the Red Falcons to roust the 12 Dragons. They all agree this sounds like a reasonable plan.

He says the prince’s territory, the “neutral” territory, is up for grabs and it won’t be neutral long. Slim points out that it’s only neutral so long as there’s no prince and he agrees that this is true, but the question is: Who will be the prince?

Judge suggests that maybe it’s not a great idea for Vorona to send troops with them to The Pellet: the optics might be bad and it’s best if The Chain simply brings the Red Falcons and The Word to oust the 12 Dragons. Vorona makes it clear that he’s talking about only a small force, which might be enough to turn the tide if necessary, but one small enough to provide plausible deniability.

Vorona wants to know how things are going on Collingsgate (where the butcher shop is located).

Dodging the question, Boots asks what Vorona thinks about Lady Valetta. He thinks she’s just brooding over her deceased husband and waiting to see what happens. Boots tells him that Lady Valetta sent a death knight in broad daylight to threaten the city guard with a brain melting. He takes a very dim view of this, saying “This is Capital, not Blackbottom,” and says he’ll look into it. He activates a bell pull, summoning a guard. Vorona says, “Lord Crasco, get me Gavotte.” The guard nods, turns, and walks away. He says, “I’ll have my men look into this. If Lady Valetta wants to sit in the dark and brood, that’s one thing, but if she’s going to interfere with the prince’s men, that’s something altogether different.”

Boots explains that the death knight was demanding some kind of heirloom and that she was coming back within the day. Vorona wants to know who Lady Zorgon was demanding this heirloom from and Boots says it was demanded of The Word, and specifically Commander Zorj. Vorona wants to know if The Chain knows anything about this and Boots indicates they were “just passing through.”

After a moment, a hidden door behind a bookcase slides open and a young lady wearing a professional looking outfit steps out. She approaches Vorona and he demands, “What do you think about this, Gavotte?” She says, “If I were being threatened by a death knight in control of the Codex Mortis, I’d probably hire a mercenary company to deal with it.” Vorona says, “What would you have them do?” She says, “I’d have them kill her. The Codex Mortis doesn’t have the power to maintain a death knight here indefinitely. If they killed her, it would be a month, I estimate, before she could be resummoned. In a month, I think the landscape of Capital will be greatly changed.”

Judge says he doesn’t think death knights should be walking around in the streets, that it’s not safe at all. Vorona agrees, then sends Gavotte away.

Vorona indicates that his forces are doing his best to support the Empress and keep Ajax occupied on the other side of the world.

Boots asks what Vorona thinks Shirome will think of a pairing between The Chain and his house. He thinks she won’t like it much, but who cares, really?

Slim asks who House Vorona would see on the throne? Vorona, taken aback by such a straightforward question, hems and haws a bit. He says it would have to be somebody whose priority is the security of the city as represented by their navy. He says Capital is the center of trade because of the free trade his navy allows everyone. Slim asks who, specifically, and Vorona says he’s certain they could find some distant cousin who would serve.

The Chain takes their leave of Duke Vorona and head back to Collingsgate and the Dancing Minstrel. Leech asks Odie to report what he discovered while casing House Vorona. Odie didn’t find anything particularly interesting in the building where the meeting took place.

Boots writes something epic and profound for Angel to release to the broadsheets demanding that Prospero Alvero remove the 12 Dragons from The Library and giving him a deadline, at which time The Chain will be there to remove them, forcibly if necessary.

As The Chain prepares to deal with Lady Zorgon, the death knight, they realize that this may provide some cover for their specialists to try to remove the key to Ringwell from House Valetta. They instruct Angel to case House Valetta when he’s done giving their press release to the broadsheets.

In the morning, they make their way through The Purses to the courthouse where they plan to meet Lady Zorgon. As they walk through the neighborhood, traffic in the streets is picking up. They notice a fair number of the Knights of the Word sort of lounging around, waiting to see what will happen.

Zorj wants to know why they’re there. Boots says, “Well, Zorj, as you said, if we’re going to carry these seals we need to do the job.”

Zorj is pleased, “By the gods, she can’t just come in here and order us around! We’ll fight her to the death!”

The courthouse building has clearly not been used recently and shows some disrepair, but the inside is clean and empty. While they wait for Lady Zorgon to arrive, they prepare themselves to fight her. Judge prays for guidance, asking what the outlook for The Chain is if Boots were to use the rod of von Glauer in the coming battle against the death knight. The answer is that the outcome will likely be favorable.

As Judge and Zorj discuss the outcome of the augury, some soot on the ground begins to dance around and materializes into the shape of Lady Zorgon. In life, she was a queen of the Gol and her appearance reflects that. She demands, “The rod.”

Zorj begins trying to stonewall. “Listen here.” He invokes the name of Lady Valetta and begins to berate her. Lady Zorgon holds out her hand. The implication is clear -- place the rod there or the brain melting will begin.

Boots steps up next to Zorj and tells Lady Zorgon that she can’t just come here and threaten a civil servant with death without consequences. If she wants to send a message to Lady Valetta, they can handle this in a more civilized manner, but otherwise she needs to depart. Her eyes flash red. She says, “The book commands me. I must obey.” Boots performs some feats of verbal acrobatics to keep her occupied long enough for Slim to study her and try to discern her weaknesses.

Lady Zorgon’s sword begins to glow with ultraviolet energy as she prepares to burn out Zorj’s brain. Boots says, “Enough, you miserable pile of armor. Have at you!” and attacks. She parries his attack with her greatsword. Boots repositions and attacks again, slipping past her guard this time and pushing her away from Zorj, then edges around her to box her in. Copper casts hunters mark and shoots, but his first arrow misses. His second shot finds its mark, sliding in through an opening in her armor. Bigcat also attacks, her blows landing. Leech orders Odie to help him, then casts and eldritch blast at the eldritch knight. The celestial beam of energy wreathes Lady Zorgon in ethereal blue light. Slim steps forward to confront Lady Zorgon, hitting her with his greatsword twice and distracting her to give the next person a better chance to land an attack. Taking a breath, Slim’s sword blurs forward into two more attacks, though only the first one lands. Judge orders Slim, “Finish it.” He attacks one more time. Each time his blows land, his sword digs into her armor, until she’s suffused with ultraviolet light and she explodes.

There’s a beat of silence as everyone’s ears ring with the sounds of battle. Zorj points to where the death knight had been standing and shouts, “Yes!”

Members of The Word show up to help and are surprised to find it’s already over. Zorj is eager to tell them the tale of what happened when Lady Zorgon crossed swords with Slim, the Pilot of The Chain of Acheron.

Later in the day, they receive a report from Angel with intelligence from House Valetta, which we’ll hear all about next week.

Episode 26 - No Confidence

When last we left our heroes, Boots -- AKA Deo Bertone -- had been invited to a meeting of the Bookbinder’s Club, to be held that night, the invitation to which had been delivered to the sausage shop. Interestingly, none of the employees of the sausage shop are members of The Chain, which means someone’s intelligence is excellent to have ferreted out that the store is a front and whose front it is. And also, King received a message from angel via the diplomat’s pouch saying that ‘the college kid’ wanted to meet up.

When Marcellus Scipio sees King enter the Dancing Minstrel, he tells King, “We need to talk, but not here.”

“Sure, lead the way.”

Marcellus Scipio leads him to a carpet, which ultimately takes them to a much nicer tavern which Marcellus refers to as ‘The Cup of Blood’ but the sign outside of said tavern says “the Wine Chalice”. Scipio tells King that he believes the problem of Lady Orozivaar has been solved by the moon elf. He’s not entirely sure exactly what happened, but he petitioned the Pale Light for help and Lady Orozivaar was gone.

King wants to know what he means, gone. Scipio says he’s not sure, but he thinks Pale Light moved Lady Orozivaar through time, maybe for weeks, maybe months. They don’t know how far ahead, but Lady Orozivaar will come back. Scipio says he wants King to know that he thinks they did the right thing by not just eliminating Lady Orozivaar, but that bringing her to the Sapphire Sky wasn’t the best next course. That’s not really their purpose. They’re dedicated to eradicating evil, no matter where it’s found, so they couldn’t countenance doing evil to protect The Chain.

Scipio tells King to be careful not to tell Vile Silencer too much and that they need to not bring a problem like Lady Orozivaar again.

Scipio asks how it’s going in Ringwell. King catches him up on the most recent developments in Ringwell, including the viral autophage and the Cauldron of Xorronon [sp]. King gives Marcellus Scipio a copy of the map and says that the floor they’ve explored seems to be primarily have been used to store items of great evil.

King tells him they’re currently blocked from further access to Ringwell. Lady Violentia, currently trapped in the godblind, appears to be their only lead for getting further into Ringwell. He says as far as they know, the only way to free her is to either gather several gemstone dragonborn together or to use Slim’s stone to bring the wall down.

Scipio says he’ll talk to the Vile Silencer to see if they can find a replacement for Slim’s crystal so they can be free to let Lady Violentia out of her trap, in the hopes that she’ll tell them the way into Ringwell. Scipio orders food, then asks King, “Let me ask you a personal question. Why did you join The Chain? You could have killed Lady Orozivaar and I’m going to guess, based on what I know of the senior command of The Chain, at least one of them must have lobbied to take the easy path and silence her forever, and you said no. Why does somebody like that join The Chain? If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”

King says, “No, it’s okay. I didn’t have a home to go back to. I met a senior officer of The Chain and he showed me that even when there’s no home to go back to, you can make one. He eventually became the Commander of The Chain.”

Scipio wants to know, “Why couldn’t you go home? No, never mind. That’s none of my business. I’ve vouched for you and now, having seen some of you, if you ever need somewhere to go, come to me.”

They discuss how best The Chain can use what they find in Ringwell and Scipio says, “You’re looking for ways to stop Ajax. It’s not my place to tell you your business, but perhaps you should leave what’s good to us.” The subtext is that they should keep what’s evil to use in their quest.

They part ways, with Scipio agreeing to try to find a replacement for Slim’s crystal. He’s pretty confident that, with the resources of the Vile Silencer and the Sky, that they’ll be able to find something that makes everyone happy.

****************************************

Boots had received a cryptic invitation to the Bookbinder’s Club. At the Dancing Minstrel, he learns where the Bookbinder’s Club is located in a very posh part of town (called Castor gate?). Boots recalls that the Bookbinder’s Club, while not famous, is known to be a gentlemans’ club. It’s a place where rich Riojan nobles go to hang out.

Boots changes into his fancy clothing in preparation for his date and uses prestidigitation to make himself even more presentable. Boots chooses to take a coach, so he arrives looking very fashionable. As he exits the coach, he sees an old, tall multistory building with an open book on the sign. It’s well lit inside, with warm light coming through the frosted glass. He can see people moving inside.

Boots approaches the door and knocks, which opens immediately. A butler or majordomo opens the door and says, “Sir?”

Boots presents his invitation.

“Ah, this way, sir.”

He leads Boots through rooms filled with nobles. There are quite a lot of knick knacks from all over the world decorating the rooms, remnants of empire. There are noblemen walking around, having after dinner tea, talking to each other. There’s a thick layer of smoke hanging over the whole place. The servant leads Boots to a small table, almost a coffee table, in a nook separate from everyone else. He says, “Lord Latimer will be with you shortly. Would you like something to drink?”

Boots orders a coffee, and in short order a slim noble with white hair approaches. As he’s about to sit with Boots, someone approaches him, “Lord Latimer.” Lord Latimer makes his excuses to the noble and plans to speak with him later, then sits down with Boots.

They exchange introductions. Boots is curious as to how and why Lord Latimer caused the invitation to be delivered. Lord Latimer offers compliments for Angel, who is quite good at what he does, but not quite as good as their organization. He says, “We know you’re working on something. We know it’s big, and we want to help.”

Boots says, “Yeah? Go on.”

Latimer says, “We’re lacking on details, but we’re fairly certain you’re working to stop Ajax. You don’t seem terribly concerned about what happens to Capital, but if there’s any way for us to help, we wish to help. We lack specifics, but if there’s something my organization to do to help you,, that would be a wonderful opportunity to trade favours.”

Boots asks for and receives a cigar from the servant, and relaxes into his chair to continue the conversation. Latimer says, “My organization has quite a lot of resources in the city and if there’s anything we can do, we’re here to help.”

Boots says, “I’ve been out of the city for a while. What, exactly, is it your organization does?’

“Oh, how rude of me.” Latimer takes a card out of a silver case and hands it to Boots. It says, “Lord Latimer, City Manager, Acteon School.”

Latimer says something about their interests overlapping and Boots agrees. Boots suggests that there is a problem with there not being any unified military forces in the city.

Latimer agrees and enumerates the forces The Chain has at their disposal. Boots says they’re not politicians and perhaps that hinders them somewhat, but that may change. He tells Latimer that they’re concerned that when Ajax arrives, if there’s no unified force to oppose him and if the city is fighting against itself, things might go badly, but that if the city had been unified -- perhaps behind a prince -- the odds might be more in their favor.”

Latimer asks if Boots has any ideas who might be eligible for such a position. Boots takes his own card out of a silver case and slides it over to Latimer, making a small joke.

Latimer asks what they’re doing in Collinsgate. Boots says they’re doing a bit of excavation. Latimer assumes, “Ah, into the Layers.” Then he wants to know, “If Ajax were to arrive here, and given the current situation in Capital, who would The Chain back?”

Boots prevaricates a bit, saying that they haven’t had audiences with all of the players in the city. Latimer mentions their meeting with Lady Shirome and the Twelve Dragons. Boots says that was a nice refresher. Latimer says that these political waters must be rough seas for mercenaries. Boots agrees, then says that not only do they lack knowledge about the political players, but that it doesn’t really matter much to them who is ultimately in charge, as long as someone is.

Latimer offers Boots a literal blank check, saying that if there’s anything they can do to help, he hopes The Chain will come to them.

Latimer asks about Boots’ family. Boots asks if Latimer knows about the current whereabouts of Boots’ father or family. Latimer says they don’t, but he imagines that would be fairly simple to discover. Boots mentions that he’s been out of the city for a while and it would be useful to know what happened to his family.

Latimer wants to know what kind of outcome Boots hopes for. Boots says they’ve been looking for any unclaimed strongholds or lands in the city. Latimer says it can be difficult to come by those things without making enemies. Boots says, “We find it easier to deal with enemies than with real estate.”

Boots asks, “If you were to choose someone to be the prince, who and why?”

Latimer says, “Tricky to say. If I had my own way, I’d want the old prince back, but if I were a betting man, I’d bet on House Alvaro.”

Boots asks, “Why?”

Latimer replies, “Well, because I think we’ll win.”

Boots asks, “Would you say that, in your estimation, the military force of House Alvaro is the strongest among the Houses in Capital?”

Latimer replies that they frequently run war games and that they’ve found that a single house is seldom powerful enough to win, but via alliances they can put together a world beater. It all depends on how the game plays out.

Boots agrees.

Latimer asks, “This digging operation you’re mounting in Collinsgate, am I safe to assume that it furthers your goal of pursuing Ajax’s wizard?

Boots says, “In a way, yes. It should provide us allies and tools to help us carry out this job.”

Latimer asks, “Is there any way we can help?”

Boots says, “I’m sure there is. Again, Lord Latimer, you’ll have to forgive me. I’m rusty at politics. In the hypothetical situation where you were to have a military force to move into an unclaimed part of the city, what would the ramifications of that be?”

Lord Latimer says, “That’s not an unknown situation here.”

They discuss the Twelve Dragons attempted takeover of the Pellet, then Latimer says, “I imagine the answer to your question would depend on who tried to take over said unclaimed territory and what their alliances were.” Lord Latimer intimates that they would turn a blind eye towards The Chain if they were to take over a territory if they were allied with House Alvaro, but if they thought The Chain was allied with, for instance, Lady Shirome, they might expect some pushback.

Boots tells him that this is an apolitical third party they’re undertaking the project in the Collinsgate for, which Latimer doubts, calling the idea of an apolitical third party something of a unicorn. Latimer tries to dig for more information about who this third party might be. He asks if they’re trying to fulfill a contract or engaging in this digging operation for themselves.

Boots says that it might be a bit of both, but that they’re playing things close to the chest. Latimer says that they might be inclined to turn a blind eye to what The Chain is after if The Chain is frank with them and says, for instance, if they were to divulge the name of what they’re digging after.

Boots is reluctant to say much, but that they call upon them at need. Latimer says that he’d hoped to come to some understanding among gentlemen. Boots notes that he’s literally been given a blank check and says that some reciprocation is probably appropriate. Boots asks if Latimer has heard of the Sapphire Sky and says, “That’s the name of our unicorn.”

Latimer says that the Sapphire Sky’s goals must align with The Chain’s. Boots says that they do for the most part at the moment, but that it’s more about some people not being interested in sullying their hands with things that The Chain might be more willing to do.

Latimer says a lot of words that boil down to he understands that The Chain might be willing to go a bit beyond the letter in order to fulfill their prior contract to eliminate Ajax’s wizard and that he hopes they will be able to be of some service to The Chain in the future.

*************************************

The rest of The Chain went back to the Dancing Minstrel while King and Boots kept their dates and everyone spends the night. Boots slaps down the black check on the table where the rest of the senior officers are sitting and says, “Anyone want to buy this district?” Boots explains that it came from Lord Latimer, member of House Alvaro and what happened during his meeting with Lord Latimer.

Slim takes the check and looks at it. To his eyes, it looks like a very short contract. Slims clarifies, “You can write in any number you want.” Boots agrees. Slim says, “What kind of lascivious act did you have to do to get this?”

Boots explains that Latimer wants them to cause the war that ultimately they’ll use to put a new prince on the throne.

The morning broadsheets says, “Twelve Dragons refuse to vacate City Building; Red Falcons surround them.”

Lady Antonia is quoted in the article saying that the Twelve Dragons have no authority in the Pellet and that if need be, the Red Falcons will evict them.

Boots suggests that they might be able to help Lady Antonia by siccing Lord de Corano on the Twelve Dragons.

A package is delivered to King. It’s wrapped in butcher’s paper, tied with twine. It says, “From Marcellus.”

Slim says, “Why would we do that? We don’t owe the Red Falcons anything.”

While they discuss what, if anything, they’re going to do about the Twelve Dragons, King opens the package and finds inside some silver bracers of Gith origin that would do approximately what Slim’s crystal does. The “Silver Bands of Vlackith”. He hands them to Slim and says, “We can keep those if we use the psionic crystal to take down the barrier and free Lady Violentia.” Slim says, “It’s really up to you. You gave me the crystal to use. If you want to use it to free Lady Violentia, then that’s what we’ll do.” Slim hands the crystal back to King in exchange for the bracers.

Boots says if they could leverage his new relationship with Lord Latimer to encourage de Corano to get the Twelve Dragons out, they might be able to take it over as their stronghold in Capital. King initially hinks they’re better off staying close to the entrance they found to Ringwell, but then starts thinking about how defensible the Library is and the wealth of information available there -- and that it would hinder Lady Shirome’s ability to access the information within.

Leech asks King about his meeting with Marcellus. King starts to explain their discussion, then says they shouldn’t talk about it here. Zorj and his lieutenant walk into the Dancing Minstrel. Zorj looks around the common room, sees their table, then walks over with his lieutenant behind him. He says, “The Chain of Acheron, lately decamped from The Stays and now staying in our district. How lucky for us. Killed that dragon though. Did they have to do that?”

His lieutenant says, “Sir, no they did not.”

“No they did not. And stopped that FUNGUS was eatin’ everyone, stayed to help clean

up. What do you make of that?”

“Very civic minded, I’d say sir.”

“Very civic minded indeed.”

“But your men, five of your men, get drunk and in a fight with some bofrom House Alvaro.

[he spits] Eh, I take ‘em down to the jail, give ‘em a slap on the wrist and LET ‘EM GO! A

favor! Between the Prince’s Men! But who’s men are you really?”

He says that Lady Antonia seems to be a very good judge of character, but, “Hey! Don’t look at him, look at me! I’m the law here! Law is the only thing keeping this city together. Seems to me like we need some kinda...agreement, if you’re going to set up SHOP in my district. You wear the Prince’s symbol and you need to do the job, same as we do. Do you intend to stay, helping to clean up, enforcing the law?”

King says, “Sure, we can spare some men for that. We’ve been cleaning up where we’re staying.”

The senior officers say their men who were disturbing the peace will be disciplined. Zorj says if they want to stay, they’re doing to have to do the work. They carry the Prince’s seal, which isn’t just a pretty ornament.

King asks what he wants them to do. Zorj starts listing off problems that have happened within the city: break-ins, theft, murder.

Leech suggests they attach the five rankers who disturbed the peace. They’ll need to provide community service as their punishment. Zorj verifies that they have six seals of the Prince and says he wants six members of The Chain for his force.

The doors to the Dancing Minstrel and a dark and evil presence enters the room. Her boots leave burned, smouldering marks on the wood floor as she walks in and approaches Zorj. She’s wearing black armor, with a black cloak over it, and is dressed as a chivalric knight. Her face shows eons of decay. There’s black smoke slowly emanating off her her shoulders. She walks up to Zorj, who recoils. People in the inn start filing out.

The death knight says to Zorj, in a hollow voice that sounds like it’s coming from a great distance, echoing from a mausoleum, “There is an item here in the city, in your district. My lady demands it.”

Zorj turns to Spindthrift and says, “Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?”

“A rod. This long. Black and gold. A hawk’s head atop it. Find this thing, deliver it to me, and live. You have one day.”

Zorj looks at her and says, “You don’t come into MY city like you’re the prince himself. Who are you? And who is your master?”

She walks toward the door, then turns back and says, “You have one day, dwarf, or I will burn out your brain.” After delivering this threat, she dissolves into black smoke.

Zorj and The Chain bicker a bit about the appearance of this death knight and who she was, then he tells them where the police station is and King says they’ll have the rankers report to him for community service. Zorj leaves and The Chain decide to go to the candle shop where they can discuss what just happened confidentially.

They enter the candle shop clandestinely and King says, “I made the call on Lady Orozivaar. I wasn’t okay with the idea of just killing her. She hadn’t done anything wrong. I mean, I didn’t like her, but that’s not… I have a hard time seeing the rod of Count von Glauer as just a tool. I think it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous to us. That disease, whatever it is, is dangerous to everybody, innocent people., and it should be destroyed. Maybe we need things like that to fight Ajax. Probably we do, but if it’s up to me, that’s not how we do things. That’s not how we win. So maybe it shouldn’t be up to me. The Chain needs to be able to do what’s necessary. Forget what I think. And I’m not the Commander. I guess I’m not by any means necessary, so according to the by-laws of the company, I’m calling for a vote of no confidence. According to the Chronicle, it requires a majority of the senior officers to vote no confidence, and the Commander doesn’t get a vote. That leaves four senior officers, which is not enough for a quorum, so Leech, you’re promoted to senior. Welcome to the command structure of The Chain.”

Angel, who was in the candle shop when they arrived, says, “I think I’d better go.”

They debate a bit about what to do with evil artifacts, if finding these items causes conflict with, for instance, the undead organization. Slim wants to know what King would do if a new commander ordered him to kill Lady Orozivaar. King says, “I think I’ve already answered that. I’d let her go. I don’t think it would be right for The Chain because we’d make enemies of the next largest organization in the city. The Chain is my family and I will do what is best for The Chain.”

Judge thinks they need a commander who can ride the line in the middle and votes no confidence.

Boots votes no confidence. Copper votes for confidence. He feels that King provides a necessary balance to keep The Chain from going too dark. Slim says The Chain is a mercenary company and the survival and well being of the company should come before any sentimental feelings. He votes no confidence. Leech abstains from voting, since the decision had already been reached. He says, “Commander, it’s been a pleasure to serve under you.”

Now they have to choose a new commander. King nominates Slim. Slim says, “I will be a magnificent commander and lead you all to battle!”

Judge nominates Boots. In the name of diplomacy, considering they’re in Capital-- Slim interrupts, “Boots spilled the beans! He’s got diarrhea of the mouth!” -- and that this is his home town and he is more familiar with the politics, his knowledge is useful.

Leech seconds the nomination for Boots.

Copper seconds the nomination for Slim.

Slim says, “I’m new here. I would like to see what Judge can do,” declining the nomination.
The nomination is then down to Judge vs Boots. The chronicle says that a vote for a new commander must be done by a secret ballot. The result of the voting is that Judge is the new commander of The Chain of Acheron.

Judge continues Boots as the lieutenant. Leech tells Odie to celebrate Judge’s ascension to commander, so he dances around Judge’s shoulders, “All hail the new commander.” Then he goes back to Leech and says, “Judge is going to kill you. He’s always hated you.”

Slim says to Judge, “Do not disappoint us.”

King says, “Commander, what are you orders?”

Judge says he believes they should still go release the woman wearing the guise of Lady Violentia. Leech asks Odie what happened when he went to poke the contents of the cauldron. Odie whimpers, “Eyes, teeth, AH!” Leech says, “You were terrified?” Odie confirms that he was.

Judge asks King about what happened with Marcellus Scipio. Gives her more information about that meeting and that Scipio said they need more lore and that The Chain should not rely upon them to take care of problems like Lady Orozivaar.

They ask Leech what happened to the worm they took from the autophage. He brings out the vial and they see that the worm itself appears to be dead, but there is still a floating mote in there, which was the precursor to the formation of the worms. They talk about telling the Sapphire Sky about the autophage and decide against it. King wants them to take it back to Ringwell, the only safe place to hold it, but Judge says other people are coming for Ringwell and they don’t want anyone else to have it. King says, “I’d be more comfortable with it in the bag of holding than with Leech.”

Judge asks King to bring Angel back. King sends him a note in the diplomat’s pouch. Angel comes back quickly, smoking. Judge informs him about the change in command and that Boots will continue as lieutenant and asks him to take the news back to the company. Judge musters the senior officers to go back to the godblind and use the psionic crystal to free the woman trapped there.

Because the woman in the godblind has already lied to them about who she is, Judge suggests they take precautions before letting her go. Copper and Boots block the exits. Once they have their assignments, everyone enters the godblind. When they walk in, she stands up. Slim says, “Be prepared to move out of the circle. I don’t know how long the wall will stay down.” She says, “Ah. I wondered when this would happen. What can I do for you, Commander?”

Judge explains that they have a crystal that should free her and they need her to be ready to move. Judge says, “I believe we had an agreement that upon your release we would talk about where you are from and how to get through the door.”

She replies, “I recall telling you that I’d help you get through the door, but I don’t believe we discussed me telling you where I was from, but we do have interests that align.”

Slim steps up and says to the woman, “If you betray us, I will gut you.”

She says, “I believe you would.”

Slim activates the crystal, which glows. It wreaths his sword in energy. As the crystal glows more brightly, the wall goes down. When the wall disappears, the light in the crystal goes out and Lady Violentia steps out. The ward in the floor fizzles out and turns dull, so that it’s almost impossible to tell that it’s there.

Lady Violentia bows and says, “I am in your debt. What do you want to talk about?”

Boots takes a water skin out of his pack and offers it to Lady Violentia. She says, “I think the charade of me pretending to be human is no longer necessary. What do you want to talk about?”

Judge asks how to get through the door without a wish. She says that the Emperor gave all of the heads of the Houses a key. She says she believes the Houses are still in possession of keys, but that they don’t know what they have. She says the keys are probably locked away with a bunch of curios and should be trivial to steal for the greatest thief in the world.

Leech asks if she’s the greatest thief in the world. She says, “Modesty prevents me from saying. Say better that I am the cause of thievery in others.” She leads them to the door and explains how the door works. The key will turn off the seal to allow them to pass through the door. “All you have to do is decide whose house to burgle.”

Judge asks, “So what happens to you now? Do you go back to the Blackiron Pact to join their ranks again as an infiltrator?”

Boots says, “Or you join The Chain!”

She replies, “For me it’s back to business. I think my relationship with the Blackiron Pact is at an end, but I imagine yours is not. I’ll give you one more piece of information out of the goodness of my… what do they call it?... heart. The Blackiron Pact operates out of their own manifold, which can be accessed through one of their rings.”

Boots asks how you access the manifold with one of the rings. She explains how it works.

Leech asks why she infiltrated the Blackiron Pact. She says, “Leech, let’s be professional. I wouldn’t ask you why you joined The Chain of Acheron. That’s personal.”

Slim asks, if she’s so in with thieves, if she can get them a key. She says that most people try very hard not to do business with her, and that she’s sure that they have some quite good thieves in their employ, but if they try and fail they can talk to her. She has a diplomat’s pouch they can use to get in touch with her.

They take their leave of each other as she says, “Normally when the head of an organization is indisposed, there is a war of succession. I need to go.”

They spend some time deciding if they want the key enough to steal one -- they do. Next they discuss which House they’d want to burgle. They realize that if the Emperor gave keys to all of the great houses of his time, there may be more keys out there in the possession of descendants after their houses collapsed. They discuss going to the Library to find out who those families might have been.

King brings up that there’s one other problem, regarding the rod of Count von Glauer. They discuss a couple of plans about how to save Zorj without necessarily giving up the rod. Boots suggests that they might be able to lure the death knight into the god blind and trap her in the same place Lady Violentia was. King points out, “She named Zorj and threatened his life. If you do this, he’ll be in our debt. It might be to our advantage to have him in our debt and to unify two factions of the Prince’s men.”

Episode 25 Redux - The Great Game

After driving off the mindkiller, who was frightened back to the astral plane by Slim’s menacing attack (retcon), they continue exploring the area. King heals everyone post-battle. The cells they peek into are empty and the doors are standing open. The room that had been behind the door sealed with gold runes -- the gold from which is in a melted but cooled puddle on the floor -- isn’t full of dust like the others. The only other difference in this area is what appears to be a shattered jade door on one of the cells, but there’s nothing to indicate what might once have been held in that cell.

King checks the Chronicle to see if he can find any information on how to defeat an iron golem, but isn’t able to quickly put his finger on the information they need. They investigate the construction of Ringwell to try to find some hints about how it all works, but they don’t really find anything useful. Judge puts down a ball bearing to see if the floor is straight and finds that there’s a slight dip in the middle of each corridor, sloping down from the walls.

Leech sends an invisible Odie down one of the corridors to scout. He finds crates and tools in a 20 foot circular room and sees blood on the ground. There are exits from this room into further corridors. The blood looks fresh, but not wet. Odie examines the tools and reports back what he’s seeing, which are ancient Caelian tools. There’s one crate of rusted nails. Most of the rest of the crates are empty of everything but dust. The blood trails into the room from the corridor, then stops.

Exploring further, they find another room with tables, upon which are some preserved vellum documents, one of which appears to be another map of Ringwell. There are a handful of journal notes there too, but as they pick documents up, they begin to disintegrate from age. They find some documents with partial text they can read:

“...thinks they were obsessed with curves and arcs. This may be. But I think they built this place

for much the same reason we need it now. To keep something in. And the complete absence of

straight lines, and lack of any symmetrical axis is part of the containment geometries. Of course,

there is now way to…”

“...has agreed to remain here, as the final seal. Immortal, unending, to ensure the power within

remains sealed away. Realizing the sacrifice his friend was making, the Emperor wept. We

forget sometimes we are in the presence of a god.”

“...much debate we agreed the Greater Wards would be sealed inside the other vaults. Should

this forbiddence fail, the future should not change.”

“...work is done. Future generations will not know our sacrifice. I believe law and civilization will

eventually lead to utopia and equality. I care not overmuch for the history of three thousand

years the Emperor seeks to protect, but we live longer and enjoy more freedoms than our

forefathers. Must we be destined to fall into barbarism? All it will take is sealing away the

knowledge, and eradicating the cult of . This we have done. These words should pass

unread into eternity. If any read this, know then that we failed to….”

“...engineer disagreed, but speaking for the Gods, I agreed we would collect the evils in this

level. Their proximity to Ill’ios, even in his prison, may restrain them further.”

The new map they found mentions the Cauldron of Xorannon and an autophage. Tracking the blood trail back, they realize that it must be the tracks of Lady Orozivaar following her battle with the Blackiron Pact. Odie scouts further and finds a silver door blocking the way forward. They follow Odie carefully to the silver door, which is runed, but doesn’t have gold in it, nor does it appear to have had. There’s no writing around the door or friezes like they’ve seen in other rooms. Boots cautiously reaches out to touch the handle to see if it’s trapped. When nothing happens, he opens the door to see what’s inside.

Behind the door they see a room with about a dozen mummified corpses in various stages of contortion. Most of them are riddled with holes. There’s another exit on the opposite side of the room. There’s a distinct, musty odor in the room that Bigcat reacts poorly to. They see dust particles glinting in the light from the corridor that seem to be conglomerating, growing from motes to worms and from worms to man sized creatures made of worms.

Copper escapes nimbly away from the creatures attacks one of the creatures. As he hacks into its body, worms go spilling all over the place. Bigcat attacks the same one Copper did and bites it. Slim edges around Judge to a better position and slices through what would have been the neck of the creature, but being made up of many worms, it is not beheaded. On his second attack, Slim distracts the creature to give the next person to attack it an advantage. The phages that were attacked look to be struggling to maintain a human shape.

One of the phages tries to claw at King with hands made of twisting worms, but can’t gain purchase on King’s armor. It stops and flexes an arm. There aren’t any actual muscles there, but the worms move as if they were muscle tissue, which causes one of the worms to be flung at King. King’s unable to evade the worm and it crawls around his face, looking for a place to burrow. The phage next to Leech claws him, then begins to convulse and spits a worm onto him, which also crawls around him looking for a place to gain entry. Judge is surrounded by phages. As he’s clawed, he also dodges to evade the flung worm from the first phage. Two more phages claw him and this time he’s unable to evade the slap that deposits one of the worms, which begins to burrow into Judge’s ear. One more phage attacks Judge and misses with his claw, but lands another worm on him, which begins burrowing under Judge’s armor.

Judge casts a hellish rebuke on one of the phages, which is now barely maintaining a human form. Another phage attacks Bigcat and also deposits a burrowing worm. Two phages claw Boots and also deposit a worm. The remaining phage misses Slim with its claws and leaves a worm behind. Boots scrapes the worm off himself, shaving it off his skin with his rapier, then says, “Gross,” as a healing word.

Leech orders Odie to remove the worm from him, then casts blight on the phage that attacked him, then casts a healing light around Judge. Judge digs the worm out of his ear, then casts shield of faith. King casts a fire shield on himself and then moves down the corridor to stand next to Copper. Copper casts a hunters mark on a phage and shoots it twice. Bigcat grooms herself and uses the hook claws on the inside of her tentacle pads to scrape the worm off her body. Slim attacks the phage that attacked him, killing it with his first blow and ignoring the worm that’s trying to burrow into his body. Slim moves closer to Judge and lands another blow on one of the phages. Slim’s menacing attack frightens the phage. The worms that make up the form ripple and shudder in a wave. Slim takes another step forward and attacks the phage next to Bigcat, calling upon his second wind. His attack is so ferocious that this phage is also frightened, then hits it again. Slim feels the worm on him bite and everyone can see the worm disappear into a burrow in Slim’s skin.

The phages attack, clawing Copper twice and depositing a worm. The frightened phages move away from Slim. He swipes at one of them as it passes, hitting it. Leech also gets clawed twice and another worm lands on him. Another phage also claws Leech, who goes down and a second worm lands on him uncontested. Odie pops out of existence. The second frightened phage is unable to hit Slim, but spits another worm on him. Bigcat is hit by another claw and picks up another worm. The attack on Boots is successful, but he dodges the worm. Judge dodges two attacks from the phages and slaps away the worm attack, but he had one worm burrowing into him under his arm.

Boots disengages and runs down the corridor. As he passes Leech, he says a healing word and taps Leech to get him back up. Leech stands up, disengages and moves away from the creatures. The two worms on him burrow into him and everyone can see them moving around in lumps under his skin. Judge disengages from the fight and moves away from the phages. Judge feels the worm inside him draining his life essence and has an overwhelming sensation that the problem is his skin and that the only thing that will fix it is by peeling off and eating his own skin. King casts a fireball down the corridor, bathing the autophages, Slim, Copper, Judge, and Bigcat in fire. Two of the autophages die in the fire.

Copper draws his bow, waiting for a clear shot and yelling at Slim to get out of the way. Slim withdraws, dodging the claws of the phage next to him, then attacks another. Once again, the ferocity of his attack frightens the phage. Slim’s blow also lands. Copper steps back and calls Bigcat to him. The phages around her swipe at her, clawing her twice. Once she’s clear, Copper shoots a fireball arrow, once again bathing the phages in fire and killing two of them. The remaining two are no longer humanoid masses of worms, but are only small piles now. One of the remaining phages, still afraid of Slim, backs up to the door. The other one claws Slim and deposits another worm on him.

Boots steps up next to Judge and Slim and hits the phage in front of them three times, killing it. Leech casts a healing spell on himself, then also casts a healing light on Boots. He has two worms inside him, eating him up from the inside, which nearly cause him to pass out again. Judge feels something inside him churning and a biting pain in his gut from the worm inside him. Judge casts a lesser restoration on himself, channeling the infernal power of Asmodeus through himself, and feels the worms inside him to wither and die. King casts toll the dead on the last phage and kills it. Slim scrapes the worm on him off, but still has two more inside him, still eating him from the inside.

Bigcat spends a bit of time healing herself. Copper casts a healing spirit over himself. Copper is damaged by the worms inside of him. Boots, realizing his comrades are in discomfort, plays a healing song for Leech. Leech tries to cut the worms out of himself. He finds one of them, slicing between his ribs and stabbing one right next to his heart. The other worm remains and continues to eat him. Judge casts lesser restoration on Slim, killing the worms inside of him and curing his desire to eat his own flesh. King performs the same service for Leech. Copper, still bathed in his healing spirit, heals a little bit, as the worms continue to eat him and Bigcat. Boots casts another healing spell on Copper to keep him alive while the other healers try to deal with the worm problem. King and Judge cast lesser restoration on Copper and Bigcat, destroying the worms inside them.

King feels a sudden weight in the diplomat’s pouch. When he looks, he sees a message from Angel saying, “That college kid wants to talk to you, Boss. “

Leech uses a ritual to resummon his familiar and Odie pops back into existence as the group takes a quick breather. Many spells are cast to try to get everyone back up to snuff. King decides that Leech should take the rod of Count Rhodar von Glauer. Leech spends some time with the rod trying to attune to it, but nothing seems to happen. King suggests that Leech say, “I do the devil’s work.” He repeats the phrase and becomes attuned to the rod, gaining the ability to summon vampiric mists; command, summon and create undead; to command or to persuade people. It will also allow him to change his form, but he’s not sure what forms are available to him. Nocturnal creatures seem appropriate.

As a result of attuning to the rod of Von Glauer, Leech also realizes that he can no longer cast eldritch blast and that his link to his patron is gone. Realizing what he’s lost, Leech returns the rod to the Commander, but nothing changes. King gives the rod to Boots, who says, “I do the devil’s work.” Leech’s connection to his patron returns and Boots is now attuned to the rod.

They send Odie into the room with the mummified bodies, where he finds another silver door, but he can’t open it. King enters the room with the mummies, ready to cast another fireball if anything looks to be materializing. When he opens the door, he sees another room similar to the one he’s standing in. Sitting in the middle of the room is a giant cauldron. There is a metal ladder that reaches to the lip of the cauldron. There appear to be images carved around the outside of the cauldron. Leech sends Odie in to fly over the cauldron. Odie reports back that there’s something inside it. Looking through Odie’s eyes, Leech sees a membranous, slowly writing, pulsing, moist surface. It’s yellow, almost like skin, and white snaking fibers that crisscross back and forth. Odie looks at the images on the cauldron, which appear to be depictions of slimes and molds.

Leech orders Odie down to touch the mass in the cauldron, which quivers. Leech tells Odie to poke it again, and his connection to Odie snaps. There was some reaction by the mass in the cauldron and Odie disappeared.

They decide to go back topside. When they emerge in the candle shop, Angel is there waiting for them. He says, “Boss, this,” and he holds up a blue card with gold edging, “someone came into the sausage shop and left this for you. Boss, none of the people in the sausage shop work for The Chain.”

King reads the invitation and says, “Boots, you have a date.” King hands the invitation to Boots, who reads, “The Presence of Deo Bertone is requested at the Bookbinder’s Club, 27 Iter Corollo,

tonight, the 13th of Pianta, at 8 o’clock. Please present this invitation and you will be

granted admittance.

After-dinner coffee and tobacco service will be provided, but the kitchens will be closed.”

Episode 25 - The Builders (aborted due to technical difficulties)

When last we left our heroes, they had engaged in a brief -- and ultimately fruitless -- combat with a mind killer. Driven out of Copper’s mind by Slim’s identification of it and ferocious attacks on the body it inhabited, it vacated Copper and disappeared from their awareness. The group suspects it’s taken possession of someone else -- but who?

Episode 24 - The Devil’s Work

When last we left our heroes, they were in a showdown with Lady Orozivaar, who was insisting on returning to her church to tell them about the existence, location of, and her experiences in Ringwell. The Chain had blocked her exit from the candle shop next door to the butcher and the outcome of this standoff was unknown.

Lady Orozivaar says, “You know, for a moment, I was ashamed that I didn’t trust you. But I was right not to trust you, wasn’t I?”

King says, “Have you no honor, Lady Orozivaar? You’re going leave that woman to starve in a trap? She may be an enemy, but nobody deserves that. We carry the Prince’s seal and we intend to bring the Blackiron Pact to justice and that woman is our best chance at intel for that. Speaking of this place will only cause chaos in the city and strife for the common folk. A discovery like this will draw the eye of Ajax and causes the Houses and Guilds to further escalate the war that is brewing. Are you willing to be the individual who causes that suffering to the people of Capital?”

In her left hand, Lady Orozivaar holds a shield made of fallen starmetal and her other hand is on the hilt of her sword. She considers King’s words for a moment and replies, “I do not accept lectures on honor from mercenaries. What is the woman behind the prismatic wall to you?”

King explains that as far as they know, that woman is their best source of information about Ringwell. She says she’ll tell her superiors in the Church what’s going on there and that her Bishop will free the woman.

Judge wants to know what kind of knight she is and she says, “I am a Knight of the Falling Star, a Knight of Saint Isabella. I think you have mistaken me for one of your mercenaries.”

Despite their best efforts at persuasion, she refuses their arguments and leaves.

King orders Boots to find Angel and report to Scipio, in particular to tell him about Lady Orozivaar and her stated intentions, so they can deal with her as they see fit. Boots casts a spell to disguise himself so he can walk more freely through the street.

They also make plans to guard the butcher shop more closely, since the word of Ringwell is about to get into the city.

Boots goes to the Dancing Minstrel in search of Scipio. It’s nearing the end of the day and the tavern is quite busy. After a brief pause to assess the room, Boots spies Scipio at a table near the stage where a bard is performing. Boots asks Scipio if he can join him and sits down. Scipio seems a bit taken aback, until Boots returns his family sword. “Are you done with this?”

Boots says, “Yes. I found a better one.”

“Ah, Ringwell already yields its secrets.”

Boots catches him up on what they found down there, including their run-in with the Blackiron Pact and that there were reports that one of the Blackiron Pact may have been deeper in Ringwell even than they were able to access. Scipio says that this is a situation above his pay grade and asks Boots to come with him. On the street, Boots tells Scipio about Lady Orozivaar and her confrontation with another Blackiron Pact party, and also about the imprisoned woman who they believe may have been an agent for someone within the Blackiron Pact.

He asks if they identified themselves as members of the Sky, and Boots says they didn’t. Scipio wonders if that woman might be one of their agents. As Scipio tries to make sense of all of this, he spins his ring and he and Boots are transported to the sapphire realm.

Angel arrives at the candle shop just a couple of minutes after Boots left. He says, “What are we doing in here, Boss?”

Lars says, “Not drawing attention to The Chain being in the butcher’s shop.”

Angel says, “Why aren’t you at the Dancing Minstrel?”

Lars tells him they need to return as soon as possible and catches Angel up on recent developments. They discuss that Mudd and the Green Boots might be able to rearrange things below ground to confound Lady Orozivaar if she returns. Angel also offers to go capture Lady Orozivaar. He suggests that if there’s a room in Ringwell that the gods can’t see, they can dispose of her there with no one the wiser.

Back in the Sapphire Tower, Scipio takes Boots to the Vile Silencer. After waiting a few moments, Vile Silencer comes into the room, putting the finishing touches on putting on his armor. Once again, Boots relays their experiences in Ringwell and that they encountered the Blackiron Pact there. Vile Silencer asks Boots to be his eyes and ears and brings out a quill and paper and begins taking notes. Boots draws them a sketch of where they found the entrance and what they found.

Vile Silencer is impressed when he learns that they fought six of the Blackiron Pact and only one escaped. They’re also intrigued to hear about the woman trapped in Ringwell who appeared to be a member of the Blackiron Pact and about Lady Orozivaar’s encounter with the advance team of the Blackiron Pact. He explains she intends to go back to her church and tell them all about her fight with the Blackiron Pact and the location where it happened.

Vile Silencer says he wished he knew more about the Falling Star. He says they’re an obscure order. He says he’s not sure what is more important, the woman they trapped or the one they failed to trap. Vile Silencer wants to know if they ever referred to their location as Ringwell around Lady Orozivaar. Boots says to the best of his memory, they didn’t.

Vile Silencer asks Boots to lead him through the area they explored, room by room, and begins taking notes.

Vile Silencer asks about the trapped woman and Boots explains that they did try to free her, but were not successful. The people in the Sapphire Tower say that the wall appears to be made of mental magic. There’s a knight there who says that all of the gemstone dragonborn are many generations removed from their the time under, but that with enough gemstone dragonborn, they might be able to bring the wall down.

Back in the chandler’s, Judge casts an augury to try to determine the outcome for The Chain if they bring Lady Orozivaar back to the magicless chamber in Ringwell and kill her there. Asmodeus’s response is a sense of a wordless shrug.

Angel asks for his orders. There’s some concern that if they send Angel to whack Lady Orozivaar and something happens to him, they’ll have wasted a resource. Angel reassures them that he’s been an assassin longer than Slim has been in The Chain and that he won’t do the job himself; he’ll hire someone else to do it. They discuss the pros and cons of trying to stop Lady Orozivaar themselves versus the Sapphire Sky doing so.

Back in the Sapphire Tower, Boots is trying to determine how many gemstone dragonborn might be needed to free Violentia. The dragonborn says he thinks it would take four of them, but he doesn’t know three other Daughters of Time.

Vile Silencer and Boots discuss the Blackiron Pact who were in Ringwell and how they got in. They decide that the Blackiron Pact must have used wishes to get in. Boots tells them that Lady Orozivaar is the one who chased one member of the Blackiron Pact into Ringwell and sealed them in. Hearing this, Vile Silencer becomes more interested in Lady Orozivaar. Scipio offers to find her.

Vile Silencer asks more about the door they were unable to pass, the one that the Blackiron Pact used wishes to get past and Boots tells him what he knows.

Vile Silencer says he wants to talk to Lady Orozivaar and to the woman trapped in the godblind. He tells Boots that the wall is mentalics, the only kind of magic that will work in a godblind. They need an object of psionic power strong enough to bring down the wall.

Vile Silencer says the Church of the Fallen Star will want to gather more intelligence before sending anyone into Ringwell and that may give them another opportunity to intercept her before they go to Navarr.

Back in the chandler’s shop, Angel asks for orders and King says they can’t worry about Lady Orozivaar right now. They need to change up the tunnels leading into Ringwell to keep anyone from tracking them back. Angel asks how much money they want to spend to hide Ringwell and starts making plans to change up the area, buy some of the shops, and close up the original entrance. They authorize Two Shoes to give Angel as much money as he needs from the treasury. Angel walks out into the street and notices a sewer grate in the middle of the street. He opens the grate and goes down into the sewer, then a few moments later pops up back in the shop. He says, “It’s even easier than that. I think I just saved us several thousand gold. We can get into Ringwell from the sewers.”

Angel offers, again, to go collect Lady Orozivaar for them so they can dump her in the anti-magic room in Ringwell. After some discussion, King tells him to use the network to grab her.

Back at the Sapphire Tower, Vile Silencer and Boots decide that they’ll go back into Ringwell and see what they can learn from the imprisoned woman and try to figure out another way into the rest of Ringwell. Vile Silencer asks what the rest of the team our doing and Boots says he figures they’ve been talking to the head of their spy network to figure out a way to intercept Lady Orozivaar.

Vile Silencer asks about the rod they found and Boots explains it came from a centuries old vampire lord. Vile Silencer asks if it’s evil and Boots says, “Almost certainly.” Vile Silencer says, “Then we want it.” Scipio and Vile Silencer have a debate about whether the Sapphire Sky wants the rod or if they should leave it to The Chain to employ if it’s needed.

Vile Silencer says they’ll do what they can to intercept the Knights of the Falling Star, but says that The Chain might be more successful. Boots asks if there’s a way for him to contact them when he’s outside of their pocket realm. Scipio offers himself as their messengar. Vile Silencer remarks on Boots’s new rapier and asks to see it, then says, “You use this now?” Boots confirms that he does.

Boots tells them that upon his return to The Chain, they’ll be resting and going right back to Ringwell. Scipio spins his ring and they’re back in the alley. Boots disguises himself again and turns to leave. Scipio says, “Boots, be careful what you tell Vile Silencer. The more he knows, the more he has to act on. Sometimes ignorance is better.”

Scipio says, “I don’t know if it was obvious, but the Vile Silencer was impressed.”

Boots accepts the compliment and returns to the rest of the senior officers. When he arrives, Angel leaves to attempt the interception of Lady Orozivaar, and to pass on the orders to the Advancers to make changes to the tunnels that provide entrance to Ringwell.

They set up watches and prepare to spend the night. About a half an hour after they set their watches, Mudd arrives with her advancers to start their renovations of the tunnels. The night passes uneventfully, other than the sounds of digging.

In the middle of the night, three people -- two of whom they don’t recognize -- enter the chandler’s shop. Lady Orozivaar is passed out between the two people who carry her in. They say they were told she lives here and, after Boots thanks them for bringing her home, leave her there and leave. Lady Orozivaar has obviously been drugged. After some discussion, they decide to take Lady Orozivaar to the Sapphire Sky and let them deal with her. As long as she doesn’t wake up, she won’t know they were even involved. They send Copper to get Scipio to help him return stealthily.

It’s barely dawn as Copper travels to the Dancing Minstrel and Scipio isn’t there. There’s no one in the common room except for employees, who are getting ready for breakfast. Copper approaches the innkeeper and asks after Scipio. After verifying that Copper is from The Chain, the innkeeper tells him which room to find Scipio in on the third floor. Copper knocks, but there’s no response. The door is unlocked and Copper opens it to the heavy smell of alcohol. Scipio is passed out in bed. Copper draws the drapes to wake Scipio up. He groans and says, “I gave specific instructions to…. Oh. The goblin. Copper. What are you doing here?” He stands up and starts getting dressed. “I just talked to Boots last night. Is everything okay?

Copper says, “Yes. We need you...to come with me.”

“Ah,” he says, “I get it.” Scipio is taking time to try to coordinate his outfit and Copper tries to convince him that everything looks great, but Scipio -- taking in Copper’s outfit -- disregards his advice and finishes dressing.

Scipio and Copper return to the chandlers shortly after 6:00 a.m. to find Lady Orozivaar tied up and blindfolded. They tell Scipio that they heard Vile Silencer wanted to talk to her, so he needs to take her off their hands so they can get back to Ringwell. He gets ready to take her with him, then stops, turns, and says, “You could have killed her. Why didn’t you?”

Everyone gives different reasons, from “We need more dragonborn to bring down the wall,” to “Messy,” to “Vile Silencer said he wanted to talk to her.” Scipio peeks under the hood and says, “You can be good sometimes. I’d hate to see you when you’re bad.” He spins his ring and both of them disappear.

They discuss the rod they found in Ringwell and decide not to allow Judge to attune to it -- it would be too dangerous if Judge’s sword gains control. Boots and Buts also offer to hold the rod, but King chooses to keep it at this time.

They return to the godblind in Ringwell, where Violentia is still trapped. They discuss trying Slim’s gem stone to cast amplify on his sword and to break the wall. Violentia, hearing them, wakes and stands up. She sees his sword and says, “Good luck.” Slim takes a swing with his sword, dancing forward and hacking into the wall. They see the wall shimmer and grow brighter where Slim hits the wall. Slim feels as if he’s hit a solid wall and nothing else happens.

King tells Lady Violentia that they’ll come back and try to get her out. She wants to know what The Chain is doing here and offers again to negotiate. King says they’re here to keep the Blackiron Pact from gaining access to the artifacts held here and giving them to Ajax. She wants to know what their concern is with Ajax and they tell her that they intend to stop him.

She offers the information that Ajax’s wizard studied here at the Royal College of Sorcery. Boots asks if she’ll tell them anything about her agents and she declines. With some discussion, she admits that she was interested in what the Blackiron Pact were up to and that she infiltrated them about four days ago, taking the form of Lady Violentia. Judge asks if she gets out of here if she’d return to the Blackiron Pact as Lady Violentia. She says she doesn’t think they’d trust Lady Violentia again and that she’d have to suborn someone else to resume her infiltration.

Boots says if they could get in touch with her organization to help her escape, it seems that they have overlapping interests and perhaps they could cooperate with each other. Judge asks if she can communicate with her organization. She says she has to rely on her organization’s resources. She says her organization specializes in information and that she’s certain they could learn something that would benefit The Chain. Judge asks if she knows of any gemstone dragonborns that they could call on to help get her out. She says, “If needs must.”

Boots asked if she knows how to get through the door with the gilded runes. She says she does and that the Blackiron Pact does not. She says the Blackiron Pact used a wish to get through, but she knows how to open the door. She says she thinks that they can bring down the wall trapping her there with more power and she offers to purchase Slim’s stone. They say they’re worried about destroying the gem stone. She says given time she should be able to acquire another and that she’s highly motivated to get out of this trap. Slim, however, is not very willing to give up his gem.

She says, “Perhaps not money. Perhaps there’s something else you desire -- women, power, whatever it is Gith yearn for… Solace?”

“Mm, I’ll have to think about that.”

She goes back to sit down again against the wall, “While you’re thinking about it, make sure your stone is charged.”

They send a letter to Angel to see if he can find another gem stone. He writes back, “Boss. Oof. Angel.”

They check out another hallway in this area of Ringwell. They find a large room with seven silver doors leading out of it. Some of the doors are closed; others stand open. The door to the south has a melted puddle of gold in front of it, similar to what they’ve seen before. The door to the north is missing, but there is a pile of jade crystals in the doorway. The room seems to be some sort of archive or jail. As they’re looking around, Copper starts looking around a little shiftily. Judge notices him mouth something, but can’t tell what he says, then Copper attacks Slim.

Copper shoots Slim twice, then orders Bigcat to attack as well. Bigcat seems confused by Copper’s orders to attack Slim and, while she moves towards him, she doesn’t attack. Judge casts dispel magic on Copper, thinking he must be under some kind of magical effect and places a seal on him as well. Copper, convinced Slim needs to die, shoots him again. The first shot misses. The next arrow he grabs is the fireball arrow, which hits. A fireball erupts in the room, singeing everyone, but Leech in particular. Leech casts faerie fire, which lights up Copper’s armor, but doesn’t show any other figures in the room.

Slim realizes he’s familiar with something like this, but can’t recall exactly what they do. He advances on Copper and grumbles, “Argh, mindkiller,” then attacks Copper with a menacing attack, which causes Copper to be frightened. In response, they see a vaguely Gith-shaped figure exiting Copper and it moves out of the area affected by faerie fire. Using his hellsight, Judge finds the mindkiller standing near the doorway and places a seal on it, then points it out to the rest of the team and casts magic missile at it.

The mindkiller chooses a new target. Judge sees it move into the center of the room and suddenly it disappears, having taken possession of someone in the room again.

Episode 23 - Idle Hands

When last we left our heroes, they had encountered an imprisoned female in one room of Ringwell and, after spending some time trying to figure out how to free her, explored the area a bit more. They were beset by floating gray mists with red striations and three of them are enveloped.

Seeing his friends in danger, Copper tries to shoot the mists. The arrow disappears into the mist and there’s no outward indication that it had any effect. His second arrow misses. Bigcat also attacks. Her tentacles whiff through the mists and some clings to her paws and dissipates, but it doesn’t seem like she’s accomplishing much.

The mists, which have engulfed Judge, Leech, and Boots, do something that causes necrotic damage to Judge and Boots.. Slim, King, and Copper see the mists pulse and the red striations grow stronger, and the clouds resume their previous size. Boots wields his new rapier and starts attacking the mist around him. After the second blow, the mist around Boots dissipates. Judge reaches into the mist and claws back some of the life that was stolen, which causes the mists around him to diminish. Slim enters the room and attacks the mist surrounding Leech, whipping his greatsword through it and completely dissipating it. Leech is revealed inside, unconscious. Then he advances on the mist around Judge and misses. King casts toll the dead on the last mist, killing it.

Once all of the mists are dead, they continue down the corridor until it ends in a small, circular room. There is a scepter on a dias inside, surrounded by a ring of gold with runes engraved in it. Built into the pedestal is a small plaque. Buts leans over to investigating the glyphs in the gold to see if it’s some kind of trap. She says she thinks it’s a ward of some sort that might be triggered by touch. She accidentally touches it and is thrown against the wall by the resultant reaction.

Boots casts dispel magic on his mandolin, but nothing happens. Whatever this magic is, it’s more powerful than his attempt to dispel it. Slim uses a javelin to try to probe the ward. As soon as the javelin intersects the circle, he’s knocked back in the same way Buts was and is slammed against the far wall, suffering some pretty serious injuries. Seeing this, Boots plays a healing song on his mandolin. Remembering that Leech can read anything, they wake him up and ask him to interpret the writing on the plaque. He says, “Your idle hands are his tools. What work shall ye do with them?” King recalls reading something in the Chronicle and turns right to it. He turns to the passage in the Chronicle and reads it out to everyone:

In those days the Chain was in service to the Emperor Gaius VIII, third of the Five

Crusading Emperors, and 27th Emperor of Caelia. Gaius continued the crusades started

by his illustrious grand-uncle. Those were profitable days for the Chain, the Wheel, and

the Gate. While the other Helltroopers waded into the deserts of Khoursir and

Khemhara, we battled in the forests of Vaslor. We had it easy. I hate deserts.

Count Rhodar von Glaur waited until he was fulsome in his strength before trying to

extend his dark realm into Caelian territory. Thinking his vampiric power would save him.

But we know how to deal with Vampires. The black and gold standard of the von Glaur

family reads “ I do the devil’s work .” We can attest to that. We lost many souls to that long

siege, but in the end, we staked him. An old woman howled at us saying “he is the land!”

but we hear that stuff all the time. We sacked his castle, burned his forest/orchards, and

delivered his staff to the Emperor. That was harder than it sounds. Finger had to drop it

in one of his bottomless sacks to stop the mists from coming. What the Emperor will do

with it, I don’t know. I fear that staff may hold more than the power to make the mist.

Boots says, “I’m here to do the devil’s work,” and extends his hand towards the scepter. Nothing happens, so he takes the scepter from it’s pedestal. They wake Buts up and she asks how they got the scepter. They explain, and then Judge casts identify on the scepter. She learns it can summon vampiric mists and gets the feeling that it can do more, but her spell wasn’t strong enough to reveal what that might be.

It doesn’t seem to respond to Boots. Leech points out that it’s a vampire staff and is almost certainly evil. King asks Boots to give him the scepter so they can put it in their bag for storage, but Boots is reluctant. Leech says Boots seems overly protective and maybe it already has a grip on Boots, but he’d be happy to carry it. King insists that it go in the bag of holding.

They go back to the room where they fought the Blackiron Pact so King can sketch the runes into the Chronicle. While sketching, they hear Lady Orozivaar waking up. She sits up and says, “Commander.” King says, “Report, soldier.” She says, “I fear I was brash and hasty with you earlier. I apologize. I fear I was overcome with zealous rage. I’m better now.”

Boots tells her not to worry about it, they don’t like those guys either.

King tells her that they almost brought down the wall around Violentia and they need her help to get her out of her prison. She says she’d like to be able to take her back to her church, but she doesn’t know how. They suggest to her that she rest a bit to try to regain some of her psionic power and maybe they’ll be able to bring it down. She said that she didn’t fight the Blackiron Pact with the power of her mind. She spent everything she had against the wall and now she has nothing. If she rests, she’ll recover, but she used everything she had last time and she doesn’t think the outcome would be any different on another attempt.

They get Lady Orozivaar’s word that she’ll stay with them for now, though she says she will have to get back to the church. They go back to Lady Violentia’s prison, but nothing has changed there.

They decide to complete exploration of the area. While discussing which way they want to go, Lady Orozivaar asks King what The Chain is doing down here. Lars says they’re trying to keep the wards of the Emperor from falling into the hands of the enemy. She questions which Emperor, and he tells her. Judge asks Copper to look for tracks down the unexplored corridors. The only tracks he sees are their own.

Judge pulls King aside and asks how they know they can trust Lady Orozivaar. She claims she chased the Blackiron Pact, but how do they know her story is true? She might be a mole. Slim responds, “She is not a mole. She is a green dragonborn.”

They take one of the unexplored corridors and find another circular room. In the center is a large stone statue. They realize that it looks somewhat like Marcellius Scipio, perhaps just because the statue is dressed as a centurion. Looking at the statue from outside the room to see if there’s anything there that indicates the Scipio family. There is a heraldic device on the statue’s shield, but it’s old and they don’t know what emperor it might refer to. When they enter the room, the statue animates, points at them and speaks in a language they don’t understand, and charges. What appeared to be stone is actually the dust of ages and as it begins to move, they can see it’s actually made of iron. Leech hears its words as “The emperor forbids.”

It slams its shield into Boots, injuring him. Copper shoots the floor beneath the iron golem with his excavating arrow. It lands between the golem’s feet. Shards fly up from the floor as it disappears. The golem, falling, reaches out and grabs Boots, dragging him with him into the hole. As they land, Boots sees a statue of a Pegasus. King approaches the hole and, looking down, casts shatter behind the golem. Judge also approaches the hole and casts darkness around the golem, but leaving Boots able to see. Slim throws a rope down to Boots.

The golem slams into Boots again with his shield and and hits him with its halberd, knocking Boots out. Cooper shoots at the golem again and hears his arrows ping off the iron golem. King and Judge wait to act, as Slim casts mage hand to tie the rope around Boots. Judge and King pull Boots up, and they hear the ringing of metal on stone as the golem starts running. King casts a healing spell on Boots. Copper asks Slim to lower him on the rope so he can rummage through the rubble, but he doesn’t find his arrow.

King recites a prayer of healing and casts a healing spell on Lady Orozivaar. They retreat back through the corridors to the top of the ladder at the well to take a long rest, setting a watch. During their watch, King and Copper hear a grinding sound. Tunneling out of the ground, they see three strange creatures. They have toothy maws and a ring of eyes around their mouths. As they emerge, they see that the creatures have three arms and three legs.

Copper disengages and backs up, then plays his horn to wake everyone up (and, coincidentally, give them some temporary HP). Bigcat tries to attack one of the xorn, but misses. Slim advances on the xorn swings at it, but his sword bounces off the first time. He attacks with more ferocity the second time and hits. The xorn tries to eat Slim’s weapon, his mouth clamping around his sword, wrestling for possession of his weapon. One of the xorn sinks into the ground and moves underneath Boots. It doesn’t undermine him, but it does claw and bite at him, grabbing Boots’ ankle with its mouth. The last xorn attacks King, clawing and biting him as well, then burrows back into the ground until the only thing visible is its eye.

King advances on one of the xorn that’s still topside and attacks with his sword. He misses with his first attack, but hits with his second. Judge casts magic missile at the xorn that’s trying to eat Slim’s sword. Boots stabs the xorn on his ankle once, but his second attack misses. Copper shoots one of the xorn and Bigcat follows up with an attack on the one submerged by King.

Slim tries to wrest control of his sword away from the xorn, but fails at first. He yanks harder and gets his weapon back. The xorn is agitated at losing its meal and the inside of its mouth is scraped up from the wrestling match. It begins to vibrate, setting up a sympathetic vibration in the room, causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. One of them hits Boots and he goes down again. The xorn near King attacks, also knocking him unconscious. The third xorn burrow over to Judge and clawing him. Judge uses a hellish rebuke in reaction as it sinks into the ground. Leech casts blight, putting his hand on its head. Leech’s eyes glow with power as he draws life out of the xorn. King uses his ability as a commander to order Slim to attack again, but Slim’s attacks miss. King casts a spell to heal himself.

Judge moves over to Boots and uses infernal conduit to heal him, damaging himself in the process, saying, “Your work’s not done.” Judge also casts a hex on one of the xorn. Boots attacks the submerged xorn, enraged by being bitten, hitting it twice. Then he pirouettes and tries to stab it again, but misses. Bigcat attacks one of the xorn and Bigcat kills it, splitting it into three pieces, then Copper shoots another xorn. Slim moves to flank the xorn near Judge and stabs at the buried form, hitting it with such ferocity that it’s terrified of him. The frightened xorn disappears into the ground. Slim spits on the ground as it disappears. The remaining xorn attacks Boots, missing with both claws, but biting him again, then submerges again.

Leech casts blight again at the submerged xorn, draining the life from it until it’s a withered husk, flopping half out of the earth, and turning from a healthy, ruddy color to a dusty gray.

Boots walks over, picks up his bag, throws it over Bigcat and drapes himself over Bigcat’s back, immediately falling asleep. They decide to go back topside to rest, but as they make their way back, they are met by two guards, members of the Chain. Frost and Soot. Frost is blonde, long hair, blue eyes, looks like a young Ajax. He has a scar across his cheek. “Can’t go up this way, sirs. Angel says no senior officers in the Shop.” You’ll have to follow us.

Judge wants to know why and they say, “To keep up appearances.” They take the senior officers up another metal ladder and into a neighboring store. It used to be a chandlers. It’s dark, dirty, and also abandoned. The junior officers check the alley and say it’s safe to leave. As they approach the sausage shop, they see that it appears to be a going concern, with customers and everything. They decide to rest in the chandlers. Frost asks what message he should give Angel and King says he should just tell Angel to come to them here.

Lady Orozivaar says, “I need to go report to the church,” and The Chain intervene. She says, “For a moment, I regretted not trusting you, but I was right not to, wasn’t I?”

They don’t want her to report back to the church about the existence of Ringwell and where the entrance is. They try to convince her to stay and finish the mission. She says, “You can finish whatever mission you’re on. I’ll finish mine.” She puts her hand on the door knob. “Am I leaving?”

King tells Slim to stop her; Slim he puts his hand on the door to keep her from opening it.

Episode 22 - The Daughter of Time

When last we left our heroes, they had battled a faction of The Black Iron Pact and barely prevailed, with the wizard member of the opposite party escaping at the last moment. A dragonborn paladin walked into the crypt and demanded, “Who are you?”

The dragonborn is chewed up, as if it’s just been in a massive fight. She looks exhausted, and leans on her sword momentarily, before saying, “Six of you! The gods shit on my pillow as I go to rest my head!”

Judge suggests that she put down her weapon, that they just want to talk. The dragonborn replies that she knows blackguards when she sees them. She points to Judge and says, “I’m no newly hatched babe. I know the signs of evil.”

Boots demands, “Who are you? We just took out seven or eight of the Black Iron Pact trying to break in. We’re the good guys.”

She says, “A Gith and a hell knight. We have a saying here in Capital, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ These are strange times. What happened here?”

They continue arguing back and forth as they try to decide who should be answering to whom, until they finally convince her that, as the Chain of Acheron, the last of the hell troopers, they do not oppose her. She tells them there’s one of the Blackiron Pact left hiding in Ringwell who cannot escape. They ask if it was a wizard and she says she killed the wizard. She says she fought them in this room and since then has been away, recovering. She’s examining the bodies and says these are not the same villains she fought. She said these are the ones they sent after they discovered what the first group found. She says that of the ones she fought, one escaped, one she slew, and one went into Ringwell, using a ring to get through the door.

Boots asks if she knows a way through the door so they can chase. She says she doesn’t know how the witch did it. They ask if maybe one of the vanquished here has a way to get through the door. She replies that they can plunder their kills after this has been sorted out and stomps off, saying over her shoulder, “I’m not a mercenary.” Judge sets Buts to looking at the door to see if she can figure out a way through. King and Boots follow her out of the room, while Slim, Copper, and Judge stay with Buts and loot the bodies. King leaves Slim in charge.

On the bodies, they find: a magic breastplate +1; magic leather armor +2; a magic rapier named Dancer (a +2 rapier. If two of your attacks against one creature hit in one turn, you gain one extra attack against the same target) -- all made of black iron. They also find a vial of silvery oil, a potion of what appears to be embalming fluid, and a spell scroll containing circle of death. They also find an ornate ring with a blue gemstone set into it. It bears signs of having been made in Alloy. Judge casts identify on the ring, which reveals itself to be a ring of air science (ring of elemental command).

Leech casts find familier and Odie returns. “Ha ha, I’m back! Are you a zombie?” and starts pulling on Leech’s ears. Leech offers Odie a taste of the silvery vial and he appears to disappear, becoming more and more transparent until he can’t be seen, and then popping back into existence. He also offers Odie a taste of the embalming fluid and he goes, “What? What? No!” and points at Leech. They appear to be potions of etherealness and detect thoughts.

Buts is very interested in the door. In the course of her investigation, she determines that the now empty geometric channels used to contain the gold, which is now on the floor. Around the door is a frieze. In one of the arcs in the frieze are inscribed words. She calls over Leech, who has demonstrated an ability to read ancient languages. She tells him she thinks it’s old Caelian. The first sentence is written forwards; the second sentence is written backwards. As he reads them, there is an explosion, throwing Buts away from the door, sliding along the floor. Leech is thrown further, into the diamond dust. A bright light appears

A giant robot looking thing appears and says, “This effect cannot be uncaused.”

Meanwhile, King and Boots are trying to talk the paladin. “What are you vagabonds doing down here?”

King says, “We’re trying to stop the Blackiron Pact.”

“The deuce you are.”

They ask what she’s a knight of and she says she’s a knight of the Falling Star, sponsored by the Church of Saint Ysabella, the judge, the Bright, the Even Handed. She says she works for House Navarr and that they’re happy to have them as patrons.

Boots suggests that, as the enemy of one’s enemy is one’s friend, perhaps they should work together to defeat the Blackiron Pact. She pauses in front of a closed door, sighs, and says, “Are you ready to fight?”

King replies, “If we must.”

“ There is no time to rest. Let us see where this fell creature went.”

They try to stop her from opening a door, telling her that perhaps she should take some time to rest and let them heal her. Boots asks if she knows what’s behind the door. She says that she knows somewhere in the complex is another member of the Blackiron Pact and if they escape she’ll be shamed. They confirm with her that she saw one of the Blackiron Pact go through the door in the other room, which she closed behind them. She says that she was guided by the hand of Saint Isabella to close the door, that it being open was wrong, and that the other surviving member must be somewhere here.

Boots is holding her hand to keep her from opening the door. She demands, “Let go my hand or it is battle between us.”

She opens the door and makes a triumphant sound of discovery, drawing her sword. Behind the door is a circular room, about 30 feet in diameter. The walls, floor, and ceiling are made of glittering marble, with another door on the opposite side. In the center of the room is a glowing glyph, surrounded by a shimmering wall of light, similar to the prismatic light that they’ve seen surround Slim’s sword. Inside the prism is a human female, who has also been in battle. The knight says this is the escaped combatant. She seems well composed and somewhat wary. The dragonborn knight runs in. “This is our quarry,” she shouts.

King, from outside the room, casts hold person on the Blackiron Pact member inside. Nothing happens. The dragonborn knight swings her sword, hacking at the prismatic wall. They can see that it hurts her, as if she’d swung her sword into a solid metal wall. There’s a spark of energy, but otherwise the barrier is unaffected. When the knight recovers, she hacks at it again and again, but nothing happens.

Boots says, “Lady Knight, stand back.” She stops, but it’s not clear if it’s because Boots asked her to or if she’s exhausted herself. Boots asks her to ready an attack in case this works, then he plays the mandolin to cast dispel magic, but it sounds different. Normally it’s a full and entrancing sound; today it sounds more plinky and boring, and the spell he tried to cast fails. Boots steps backwards behind the knight so he’s not in the light and tries again to play the mandolin, with the same result.

The woman behind the prismatic wall raises one eyebrow and says, “Perhaps I can negotiate with you.” The knight yells, “No!” and attacks the wall again. Boots says, “She’s not in a talkative mood, but I’m always down for a chat. You appear to be the last one left.”

She replies, “I may be the last one here, but I doubt I’m the last one left.”

Boots asks if she created this wall or if she was trapped her. She says she was trapped. Boots hassles her about walking into a room with a glowing glyph. She says it wasn’t illuminated like this when she walked in. She says, “Perhaps there a payment can be arranged.”

Boots says, “Well, I am a mercenary,” and the knight spits on the ground at his feet. King reminds Boots that if she’s Blackiron Pact, she works for Ajax. She says everything may not be as it seems and invites King into the room, but he declines.

She tells Boots that she might have information of great value to them, depending on who their employer is. Boots walks a step foward and touches the wall. It sparks, but it feels like solid glass, and buzzes slightly, like a Van de Graaff generator.

The woman asks Boots, “Who do you work for? Who pays you?” She invites King into the room again, and again he declines. She says, “You’re the Chain of Acheron. I’ve read the broadsheets. I know you need allies.”

Boots says, “We’re not exactly ally material. You work for Ajax.”

They banter back and forth a bit more and she says, “Is it this?” pointing to the ring, which she then removes and throws on the floor. Then she asks, “Do you have the means to bring this wall down? If you do not, there’s no reason for this and I may be trapped here forever.”

The action then cuts back to Judge, Slim, Leech, and Copper, who are facing the newly appeared Inexorable, who had just intoned, “This effect you cannot uncause.” Slim gets the sense that it is some kind of cop. Slim steps up to the inexorable, which looks like a wheel. The spokes of the wheel are all hands, which pull it forward in a kind of perpetual motion machine. As soon as he gets near enough to attack, he calms down. He feels like there was an edge that he didn’t even know he relied on that is now gone. Slim hits it twice with his sword. It glows for a second and it spins around in place and begins to vibrate. Leech sends Odie to harry it, then moves next to some other party members before casting eldritch blast. Both bolts hit it. Leech notices that his eldritch blast doesn’t look the way he’s accustomed to it looking -- now it’s got sapphire streaks in it and his sapphire rod glows. Leech also feels oddly calm and as if he’s lost his edge.

Copper shoots him with a hunters mark, then Bigcat also attacks, biting it. Judge tries to place a seal on it, but it doesn’t work. Then he attacks with his greatsword, slashing the thing twice. They realize that when they’re near this thing, they can no longer take bonus actions. Judge backs up and the thing tries to slam into him as he moves, but misses. As he retreats, he feels his normal edge return to him. The inexorable, Time, follows Judge and this time the attacks land. It slams into Judge three times. It speaks again and says, “The forms must be obeyed.” Judge tells it that they’re there on behalf of the Sapphire Sky to protect what the Emperor warded. It responds and says, “Nil nisi nullius.”

Back with Boots and King, the knight continues to seethe with anger and righteousness while Boots speaks with the trapped woman. Boots asks, “Who are you and why would we help you? Are you a member of the Blackiron Pact, as it would appear?”

The knight grabs Boots by the shoulder and says, “Do not speak to this woman. She is the enemy. She will beguile you and lie.”

Boots says, “I know.” The knight pushes away from him in disgust. Angry with his baiting, she sheathes her sword.

The woman says, “Why don’t you invite your friend in?”

Boots replies, “Because. Appearances can be deceiving. Who says he’s my friend?”

She says, “Is he your friend or your commander?”

Boots says, “Some of column A, some of column B. You’ve asked a lot of questions and answered none of mine. Who are you? Are you a part of the Blackiron Pact?”

She says, “Violentia de Ellezano. I answered one question, not it’s your turn. Do you have the means to escape this trap?”

Boots says, “If I did have the means to take this wall down, what is to stop this crazed dragonborn from cutting you to pieces?”

She says, “She can only do so if I grant her the ability.”

Boots says, “Maybe the three of us will gang up and jump you.” She says, “You can try.”

Boots asks if she’s actually part of the Blackiron Pact or if this is a disguise. She says it’s a disguise. Boots asks what she is and she says a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. She says that their enemies are her enemies in almost all ways, then observes that it seems they don’t have the capacity to free her. Boots agrees that it appears they do not.

At that point, she essentially calls an end to the negotiations and turns her back on them, sitting on the other side of the cage.

Back at the fight, Slim attacks the inexorable of time. He actives the psionic crystal to amplify his sword, which is wreathed in prismatic power. Then he attacks, slashing it twice again. He distracts it with his second attack, making it easier for the next attack to land. It turns and slams into Slim in retaliation. Leech tells Odie to keep harrying the inexorable of Time, then shoots some sapphire infused eldritch blasts at it, which miss. Leech cries out, “The words said, ‘The cycle must be broken. The cycle cannot be broken.’” The inexorable turns to face Leech.

Copper activates his healing spirit, then attacks, hitting it with two arrows. Then Bigcat attacks. In response to Bigcat’s attacks, the mechanisms keeping it operational begin to fly off, then it seems to be sucked away, maybe into another plane.

Meanwhile, Boots sees King gesturing to him and walks out of the room to talk to him. King tries to recall if the Chronicle has any reference to a prismatic wall like this prison seems to be, but can’t recall anything. Boots says that this creature is being weird and he doesn’t think it’s human. It seems to actually be stuck. If this was a trap, it had ample opportunity to spring it. King points out that it seems to want to get all three of them into the room. Boots suggests King try to see what he can get out of it. King says to the knight, “You said you thought it was some kind of god-father.” She says, “Some priest of Ajax.”

King says he’ll go talk to her, priest to priest, and see what he can learn. She says, “Very well. I will accompany you.” King says, “Do you really think she’ll talk in your presence?”

The knight says, “She’ll talk.”

Boots asks the knight what her name is. She says her name is for her friends. He introduces himself as Boots. She says, “You may call me Knight,” since Boots still didn’t actually give her his name. Boots tries to distract her by asking if she’s ever seen something like that and casts a hypnotic pattern. She says, “Yes, it’s a lute, or a mandolin. The distinction escapes me.”

Then King points her at the prismatic wall and asks if she’s ever seen anything like that. She says she hasn’t. King asks if the knight thinks the woman is actually trapped. She says she thinks the woman is using that barrier to protect herself because she knows the knight would cut her down.

The non-human members of The Chain continue examining the door into Ringwell to examine the frieze around it. They represent a story. It shows the rise and fall of civilizations, and after the first two falls, what appears to be the establishment of a cult. After the first fall, the figures appear to be worshipping a figure on a burning pyre. The second cult reveres a gravestone with a figure buried under it. The third empire, which appears to be Caelian, worships a mausoleum with a figure inside. After the first two cults, there are images of some kind of barbarians arriving and wiping them out. After the third cult, there is no barbarian invasion -- instead it shows the building of Ringwell. The words that Leech deciphered are written in Draconic and, as he related, say, “The cycle must be broken. The cycle cannot be broken.”

The seal on this door still appears to be intact and about five feet off the ground is a hole in the door. Leech asks Odie to look through the hole in the door and uses his eyes to see that the hole is some sort of tube with nodules and holes, which they deduce is a keyhole.

King goes inside the room to talk to the priest to see if he can get more information from her and asks the knight to stay outside. She says, “Fine. I yield. What is your name?” King introduces himself. She says, “I am Lady Orozivaar, Knight of the Falling Star, and this is my lot.”

King asks why she’s down here and she explains that she heard about a haunting. She saw three members of the Blackiron Pact sneaking around and she followed them down here. She asks why they’re here and King tells her that they’re to stop the wards of the Emperor from falling into the hands of the Blackiron Pact;. She’s confused by this, as there hasn’t been an emperor for years. Boots tries to explain to her that they’re the good guys, but she doesn’t recognize any of the organizations involved and she doesn’t believe their badges of knighthood.

While King goes to talk to Violentia, Boots stays in the hallway with Lady Orozivaar and plays a song of rest. She leans her head back against the wall and doesn’t complain.

When King walks into the room, the gem stone floating around his head plummets to the ground. He picks it up and puts it in his satchel. He notices that the smell of magic that always hovers around him is gone. King casts light, but nothing happens.

He tries to speak with the woman, who wants to know if he can dismantle her prison. He says he’s the closest thing to it she has. She thinks that sounds like a “No,” and says she doesn’t think they have anything to talk about. She says she doesn’t think the means to allow her to escape lies within these walls. King asks what she’s doing here and she says she ran and was trapped her. He says that’s not what she was asking and she says she knows. King examines the glyph on the floor and recognizes it as some kind of anti-magic trap.

She asks what their interest in Ajax is. King says he killed their former commander and his friend. She says, “If you can find the means to release me, then we can bargain. Until then, we’re wasting our time.” King and Boots depart, but Lady Orozivaar stays behind. They rejoin the rest of The Chain in the sun elf’s prison room, where they’re still examining the keyhole in the door. Buts comes to. King and Boots explain what they found. They put the armor and breastplate in the bag of holding and Boots asks if he can see the rapier, which he decides to wield.

Buts says she doesn’t think that the cylinder turns the magic off. She thinks the magic is permanent and that whatever goes in the keyhole will just allow them to go through the door.

They discuss the anti-magic trap and think maybe Slim is the only one who can make a change there since he’s psionic. They go back to the anti-magic room through a curving corridor. Slim examines the wall and finds flecks of mica in it, which reflect the prismatic light from the barrier in the middle. The woman says, “A Gith. Welcome,” and stands up, approaching him.

Slim says, “Quiet, creature,” as he examines the wall. As he’s thinking, the woman says, “I applaud your industry.”

Slim touches his gem to the wall. The gem glows, then fades. She watches him with interest. “You carry a piece of dragon, cut from its flesh. I’ve never seen that. How did you come by it?”

Slim doesn’t answer, busy examining his gem to see if there are any changes to it.

The dragonborn paladin walks into the room and stands next to Slim as he examines the cell. She says, “I am Lady Orozivaar. What manner of creature are you?”

Slim doesn’t respond; he thinks it’s a dumb question.

Slim uses his psionic mage hand to try to trace the inner circle. It manifests, but it can’t pass through the circle. It also can’t manifest inside the prison. If he tries, it manifests outside. Slim tries to misty step inside the prison, but instead he reappears on the other side.

Lady Orozivaar walks out of the room, saying, “The Church must be told of what’s happening here.” Realizing they don’t want the paladin to tell anyone where Ringwell is, Judge places a seal on her and then casts suggestion to try to convince her to stay and help them. She turns around and says, “You are quite helpless. You might need my aid.”

Judge disarms himself, leaving Exile in the hall, then enters the room. Judge wonders if the dragonborn paladin might be more successful using the gem against the prison, but Slim isn’t willing to give her the gem to test it. He says she can place the tip of her finger on his gem. She touches it and, uneasy, asks, “Where did you come by that? It fills me with unease.” After Judge explains what they’re trying to do, Lady Orozivaar concentrates for a moment. The prismatic wall seems to thin, but then Lady Orozivarr passes out.

King says, “It now appears we may have a way to bring down this wall. Do you want to talk to us now?”

She says, “You’re awfully optimistic.”

Eventually, she tells them that she had sent agents to infiltrate the Blackiron Pact, but they failed, so eventually she did so herself, masquerading as one of them.

Slim asks the Navigator on the Somnium Tenebris if it knows anything about a wall like this. It replies, “The barrier you describe registers as a type 5 mentalic shield.” Slim asks how that can be dissipated and the Navigator says, “With psionic energy.”

Slim holds the gem up and he uses the psionic energy from the gem. His eyes glow and the energy blasts the wall. The whole wall in the area of the blast reacts wildly in response. King says they’re doing to keep working on this problem and they’ll be back. She says, “I believe in you.”

Boots checks the door on the other side of this room, which leads down a corridor to an empty room. King carries Lady Orozivaar as they explore. They find a silver door that’s ajar. The room behind it is made of metal. It looks as though there are bumps and uneven surfaces throughout it. Closer inspection reveals that there was once something here, but the metal has been pounded flat. As they enter the room, Judge notices that it’s starting to get cold in the room. The temperature drops dramatically. A mist materializes around Boots, Judge, and Leech, who entered the room.

Episode 21 - Ballisantirax Dreams

When last we left our heroes, they had just encountered an opposing party that had teleported into the former prison of the solar celestial as they investigated the large diamond, apparently just outside Ringwell. Each of them was wearing a ring that identified them as members of the Blackiron Pact. During a face off, Boots lost a command challenge against the Master of Jackals and battle is about to commence!

Wounded, low on spells, the Chain of Acheron face their greatest foes. Ajax’s Strike Team in

Capital: The Black Iron Pact. Back against the wall, the Chain of Acheron are not without tricks

of their own, and allies accumulated over ten years adventuring across the Timescape.

The warlord says, “Kill the Higaran priest first. No resurrections.” As they get into position, the wizard says, “Mercenaries?” She spits, and the spittle turns into copper, which bounces on the ground. “That’s what you’re worth.” The warlord, a heavy-set muscular Riojan in heavy armor, moves catlike to face Copper and attacks with his greatsword, hitting Copper twice. The Master of Jackals, a monk, positions himself to attack Leech. He’s wearing black iron bands on his forearms, but is otherwise unarmored. Four of his strikes land, which causes Leech to become disoriented and he can’t concentrate on spells. King casts hold person on the eldritch knight and the assassin. The assassin is held. The monk hears King praying to Akemitsu and casts a spell at him as a reaction. King feels a hand choking him and is unable to speak. The monk says, disparagingly, “The Chain of Acheron.” King pulls out his staff of command in preparation for an attack. The wizard casts a spell at Slim, but Slim shakes off the effects. The eldritch knight, whose skin seems to be made of iron, attacks King and knocks him prone. Copper tries to disengage and move away from the warlord, who reacts and knocks him prone. Copper stands back up and uses his battlefield ability to give everyone some temporary health. Bigcat tries to bite the warlord, but misses. The wizard says, “Is this the best the Sapphire Sky has?” and the warlord says, “We’ll send the Sapphire Sky their heads when we’re done.” Boots stabs the cleric with a whirling thrust that pushes the cleric away from him, then as a bonus action casts a healing spell on Copper. “Don’t let someone so much smaller than you push you around.” Judge puts a seal on the wizard, who shouts, “They have an illrigger!” The warlord says, “He will die like the rest.” Judge then attacks him with his greatsword, but the wizard casts shield and the blow bounces off. Buts casts stinking cloud at the cleric. The assassin, still held by King’s spell, can’t act. The warlord barks an order at the assassin, “Shake it off!” The assassin struggles against the hold person spell and is able to free himself. Slim uses charges from his gem stone to empower his sword, then action surge to attack. His first blow is ineffective, but on the backswing he whirls his vorpal blade around and lops off the warlord’s head. The members of the Blackiron Pact gasp and look at their priest. Slim casts misty step to position himself right in front of the priest. Boots, Copper, Bigcat, and Leech get caught in a giant pillar of flame summoned by the cleric. Copper and Bigcat seem less affected than the others, but Leech is just barely hanging on. The cleric then heals himself a bit. Leech heals himself a bit, then casts blight on the cleric. The wizard sees him casting a spell and says, “Stop,” casting a counterspell. Leech tries to absorb the counterspell with his sinmetal rod, but fails, as does his blight spell. Odie pops out of existence.

The warlord attacks Leech, who is clearly the most damaged member of the party, and drops him with his first strike. Upset by the death of his leader, he pummels Leech over and over, until Leech’s rib cage explodes and he dies a complete death. The warlord then moves to confront Slim and hits him twice. King petitions Akemitsu, beseeching him for help. “We face the minions of he who threatens Higara. If these heathens deliver the emperor’s wards to him, the sun will set in Higara. I call upon your fire to cleanse the shadow from this land and to deal a grievous blow to those who would desecrate Higara.”

Someone answers King, but it’s not Akemitsu. It’s the Lady of Brass. Her voice rings out, ““ The scribbler! You always spoke so well of me in your Chronicle. Ah I miss those days.

Days of high adventure. When you were loyal. Before your Commander betrayed me on

the word of that infernal Tiefling. In memory of those days, and your fine words, accept

this boon.”

A High Templar of Dust appears and says, “The Lady of Brass sends her regards. Death to Ajax.” Upon his appearance, the Blackiron Pact rogue is injured. The templar then makes four halberd attacks. Fire and lightning leap from the blade. The rogue dodges one attack, but the rest land. She seems surprised, but not as badly damaged as she might be. King then manages to free himself from the mystical choke hold that was keeping him silent. The wizard casts fireball, which blasts around King, Buts, and the High Templar of Dust. Buts takes the brunt of the fireball; King saves and the Templar is immune to fire. The eldritch knight calls upon Saint Ajax, “Grant us a boon against these, your greatest enemies.” In response to his plea, Maladar Dictum appears in the room. It attacks King, hitting him once, and then tries to bashes him. Maladar Dictum looks around the battlefield and says, “This would be an excellent place to rule.” Copper shoots the rogue in an attempt to take another enemy out of the fight, then Bigcat uses her ferocious strike ability and hits the rogue with a flurry of attacks, clawing, biting and hitting the rogue with her tentacles. Copper uses a nimble escape to disengage and move away from his opponent. Boots touches Slim and turns him invisible. Judge moves away from her opponent and casts interdict iteritas (sp?) to put seals on every opponent, then throws two javelins, but both whiz past the rogue. Buts casts another stinking cloud centered on the wizard, which also catches Maladar Dictum, but neither one seems to be affected. The rogue calls upon the power of Ajax and she and the monk turn into living shadows. The Templar attacks the assassin as he runs past to stab Boots in the back. Boots falls. Slim winks back into existence. He is surrounded by enemies. The Master of Jackals says, “What is it?” The priest answers, “A filthy Gith, washed up on the shores of our world.” “The Master of Jackals says, “Let’s send it back.” Slim feints and hits the priest, then takes advantage of the opening to hit him again. King order Slim, “Hit him again!” Slim’s final attack against the priest kills him. Slim edges around the stinking cloud, taking a hit in passing from the rogue, to position himself near Judge.

The monk sees Boots’ unconscious form and kicks him twice. Boots’ head explodes and he’s dead. The monk advances on Slim and hits him twice, but the third strike misses. Slim ripostes, slashing at the monk, who turns at the last moment to keep the hit from landing as solidly. The templar turns into a sandstorm and blows through the eldritch knight, who seems unaffected. The templar then attacks with his halberd and hits the knight. King moves next to Leech, kneels next to him, and casts revivify. Calling upon the god Akemitsu, Leech’s wounds knit between King’s hands and he kneels up and almost wordlessly calls out to the cosmos for aid. A tiny, spinning flash of light appears in the room. As it grows large, they see that it’s floating sapphire. Camera cut to the moon elf, who opens her eyes and speaks. Darengar Vilesilencer translates, “Ballisantirax Dreams. She dreams worlds, and worlds within worlds…. What does that mean? Does anyone know what that means?” Back in the vault, the mote briefly appears to be a sapphire dragon, who quickly takes the form of an angel, who speaks, “Terrans! Always turning to Sin, you are not to blame. It is your nature. But you know it cannot be permitted.” His eyes glow and a blast of psionic energy bathes the rogue, the monk, and Maladar Dictum in rainbow fire. Finally, the rogue falls. The wizard, who is in the stinking cloud, shakes off the poison again, then runs over to the priest and pulls out a small marble, which she throws at Judge. The marble explodes, but everyone is able to dodge the area of damage. The eldritch knight attacks Slim, knocking him back and prone, and Slim falls unconscious. Leech dashes across the battlefield to Slim and uses some quick field medicine to wake Slim back up. The sapphire dragon turns his gimlet eye on the monk and says, “Believe.” The monk looks at the sapphire dragon and says, “I understand. I was wrong.” Copper shoots two arrows at the monk, then Bigcat attacks the eldritch knight, clawing, biting, and hitting him with tentacles in a frenzy. Judge casts revivify and red tendrils of energy surround Boots. His eyes flash open and they can hear him breathe again. Buts casts acid splash towards the eldritch knight, but he dodges out of the way. Boots stands up and advances on the monk, hitting him twice. The monk falls and Boots says, “How does this go towards paying that debt?” then casts a healing spell on himself. Slim attacks the eldritch knight, but he has a fire shield which blasts back at Slim, who goes down again. The Templar of Dust attacks the eldritch knight, killing him, and Maladar Dictum disappears. King casts shatter at the wizard. Leech casts agonizing blast at the wizard. The first one hits, but she casts shield and the second blast misses. The sapphire dragons reaches into the mind of the wizard, say “Mortal memory is so faulty,” and tries to pull some spells out of her mind. The wizard resists, pulls out a small piece of wood, snaps it, and disappears.

Judge uses hellsight to see if she’s turned invisible, but she’s gone. The high templar turns to King and says, “Concordant, our queen commands me aid you, and this I have done. This world of

yours is pain for us. Do not ask more of me, for I have no more to give. I leave.” King expresses his love for the Lady of Brass and the templar disappears.

The sapphire dragon in the form of an angel says, “Arise, time raider,” and Slim’s eyes open as he’s fully healed. The rest of the party also realizes they’re fully healed. The dragon says to Leech, “you have made powerful enemies and Ballisantirax’s patience is not infinite. Make use of the time she has given you.”

The Chain searches the bodies and finds several interesting items as Slim takes trophies from each of their enemies. From the Master of Jackals, he takes the tattooed skin. Judge investigates the diamond to see if he can determine what was inside it and realizes that this was the sun elf’s prison. As soon as Judge touches the diamond, it crumbles to powder, and continues to disintegrate to powder.

A heavily bloodied dragonborn paladin walks into the room and says, “Who are you?”

Episode 20

When last we left our heroes, they had just entered a butcher shop, which appeared to have been a part of the route taken by the solar celestial when it escaped from Ringwell. While exploring this building, they found someone in an abandoned mess hall who was trying to hide from them. Leech cast faerie fire to reveal the hidden person and the shape of a drow was revealed. Some of the party realize that there is something odd about him, but only Slim can tell that half of his face is an unnatural pale white and the other half is a more normal drow shade. He’s crouched on top of a small counter in the corner and is wielding an intricately mechanized crossbow.

Leech speaks to him in drow and says, “We can all see you here. You’re uncovered. Your invisbility no longer works. Surrender to us. We just wish to talk to you.” He replies in the same language. In response to what he says, Leech casts an agonizing blast at him. The drow recovers, then invokes the power of Lolth. Everyone but Slim, Odie, and Copper is wrapped around by heavy white spiderwebs and held in place. Slim attacks the assassin, hitting him twice and distracting him. The drow removes some kind of bag from his pouch and shoots it with his crossbow. It explodes in dust, but has no other obvious effect, then casts another spell and misty steps to a new position, where he shoots his crossbow at Slim. He fires three shots, all of which hit. Slim feels his blood begin to burn as the poison from the arrows begins coursing through his body. Leech orders Odie to take up a position next to the assassin and help Judge. Judge puts a seal on the assassin then breaks free from the nest of webs that were holding him. King casts a spell at the assassin and, in response, the Hlan casts a curse at King. King sees a bunch of spiders emerge and begin crawling over him, but he’s not bovvered. Copper shoots the assassin twice, then Bigcat moves forward and pummels the assassin with her barbed tentacles, killing the assassin, who now appears to be a man, not a drow.

Judge searches the corpse to try to figure out who this person is and finds some vials of poison, but no identifying documents. Boots takes the assassin’s hand crossbow, which can fire three shots at once. King examines the corpse to try to figure out his race. He appears to be human, but still has bi-colored skin. Judge looks to see if the Hlan has a mark of Lolth on him, which he does not, but he finds a black iron ring on his hand. Boots tries to remove the ring, but it won’t come off. Boots slices the finger off and as he examines it closely, he can see that there are filaments exuding from the ring into the finger, holding it in place. They search this room for secret doors, finding none, but recall that they passed a door in a previous room.

This door leads to a stair down with a very low ceiling. It empties into a basement. Upon inspection, they find that one of the walls is a false wall. It’s not stone, just loose rubble that’s been piled up. Boots strums a chord on his mandolin and it shatters the false wall, leading into an unnatural looking pathway that looks like it goes off under the city. Slim goes back upstairs to try to secure the entrance to the butcher shop while King sends a message to Angel through the diplomat’s pouch, instructing him to send some guards to the butcher shop and take steps to re-open it as a business.

Boots casts light on one of his beads so he can see where he’s going and King does something similar. The tunnel is made of limestone and chalk. Examining the walls, it appears to be recently made with very primitive tools. The tunnel they’re following opens up into a large room smelling of compost and offal. They see a large pile of garbage in the middle of the cavern that seems to be the source of the smell. Leech approaches the pile to see if there’s anything there of interest and some large figures with tentacles emerge from the pile. The trash elementals, after climbing their way out of the pile, attack Leech, pummeling him, grappling him, and puncturing him. Judge puts a seal of Asmodeus on one of the elementals. Odie, the quickest to recover, conceals his glee at Leech’s predicament and bites the elemental, as ordered and doing more damage than expected with his poisoned bite. Boots uses his lieutenant ability to give King the next attack, which he uses to cast a fireball into the cavern. The fireball does profound damage to two of the creatures, singes the third, and knocks Leech unconscious. Copper shoots the creature holding Leech twice, then asks Bigcat to try to take Leech away from the elemental. She manages to grab Leech and pull him away from the Otyugh. Slim activates his crystal and rainbow energy crackles along his blade. He advances towards the otyugh, skilling one on his foreswing, and then slashing a second one with his backhand. As he hits, Judge consumes his seal to wound it further. Boots plays a quick tune and swirling lights appear on the air above the excrementals, which causes both to be dumbfounded by the lights and unable to react. Boots then says a healing word and Leech rejoins the fray. Leech convinces Bigcat to let him go, then casts an agonizing blast at the more gravely wounded otyugh. One of the blasts misses, but the other hits. Slim hears a voice in his head, speaking some kind of snarly and slimy sounding language, and the otyugh that Leech woke up with his agonizing blast tries to grapple Slim, but he ripostes the attack and kills it. Judge attacks the remaining otyugh and hits it twice and consumes his seals. Buts conjures a bubble of acid at the otyugh, causing it’s flesh to burn and boil.

Leech orders Odie to harry the excremental and help whoever attacks it next. King casts toll the dead and does some more damage to the creature. Copper shoots it twice and the second arrow kills it. Leech immediately casts a couple of healing spells on himself, then the group decides to take a short rest in this cavern. Copper looks around the cavern for tracks, but doesn’t see anything. Boots is looking at the cavern and determines that maybe it was dug out by something with claws or teeth that could dig. Leech orders Odie to dig through the midden pile, but he doesn’t find anything of interest, except that in the offal they find chunks of earth.

After their short break to recover, they decide to take the tunnel to the left, which comes to a dead end after about 50 feet. Judge finds a small pile of gems near one of the walls as he looks around to see if there are any secret doors. Most of it is quartz, but they do find a few tourmalines. Boots examines the dead and and finds that part of the wall there is a very different texture. The rest of the walls are roughly hewn limestone, but this wall -- while the same material -- is smoothly rippled. Boots guesses that maybe some creature has dug out these tunnels. Boots points it out and Judge examines it, but doesn’t see any evidence of secret doors. Boots tries kicking the smooth wall and finds that it’s very solid.

They decide to turn around and check another tunnel. King and Slim decide to check the tunnel to the right. It leads to another large cavern, in the middle of which is a large depression. The bottom of it is very smooth and about three feet deeper than the rest of the floor. Judge picks up a rock and tosses it into the middle of the depression, but nothing happens that he can tell. Boots walks around the perimeter of the room, but he doesn’t really see anything that catches his interest. Leech orders Odie to go investigate the depression. He stands in the middle of the pit and does a little dance, but nothing happens. Slim looks for directional scratches on the surface of the smooth stone, but he doesn’t see any sign like that, except that the surface of the depression grows smoother closer to the middle. Boots walks all the way around, but nothing happens. Boots ties a rope around himself, has Slim hold it, and leaps into the middle of the depression and nothing continues to happen. Copper suggests that maybe this is just where they were digging to try to find Ringwell. Judge also walks all the way around the perimeter of the cavern, showing the demon in his sword, when suddenly the ground begins to shudder and a purple worm breaks through the floor, right under Boots. Boots manages to evade the gaping maw of the purple worm and does a flip, landing lightly on the floor beside it.

Boots uses his lieutenant ability to make some changes to the order of operations, then Copper shoots the worm twice. Bigcat moves up to also attack the worm, but misses. Judge puts a seal on the worm and then casts a wall of fire, encircling the purple worm with the hot side towards the worm. Judge then repositions himself to try to get out of the reach of the worm. King cast a cantrip at the worm, but it misses. The worm strikes through the wall of fire and swallows Slim. Out of the ground next to Judge, the barbed end of the worms tail emerges and hits him. Judge isn’t able to maintain his concentration and the wall of fire dissipates, but he is able to cast a hellish rebuke in retaliation. Buts casts a stinking cloud, but the worm doesn’t seem to be affected. Slim tries to fight his way out of the worm, using his martial prowess to distract the worm from the people outside. On his second hit, the worm begins to retch and vomits, ejecting Slim and most of the contents of its stomach. Boots runs up and stabs the worm twice and, with a defensive flourish, prepares to defend himself. Odie repositions himself so he’s not inside the stinking cloud but continues to harass the worm. Leech throws agonizing blasts of energy at the worm; both hits, one seeming more effective than another.

Copper shoots and another arrow sprouts from the worm’s side, then Bigcat attacks it with her tentacles. Judge steps down into the pit to get close enough to attack the worm with Exile, striking it twice. Buts steps forward to get line of sight and casts acid splash at the worm, causing a portion of his hide to smoke and bubble. King also steps up and slashes at the worm. He hits it and it slumps over, dead. King orders Buts to see if she can harvest anything from the corpse of the purple worm. Slim removes two of its teeth for a trophy while Buts locates its brain. She starts carving her way into the body. She makes a hole and starts pulling out internal organs, then widens the hole a bit and sticks her head in. They can hear muffled talking, then she comes out and said, “I thought it was dorsal, but actually it’s…” She dives back in and all they can see are her boots kicking. When she backs out, she has a couple of handfuls of brain and says, “I thought I had it, but I don’t think this will work.”

Slim starts carving on the worm and King investigates the purple worm debris, but doesn’t find anything useful. King casts some healing spells, as does Copper, to help Slim and Judge recover from the fight. The exit from this room goes about 40 feet and then splits left and right. Copper looks for tracks and finds some humanoid tracks that go off to the left. Leech orders Odie to turn invisible and scout down the other corridor, which goes about 60 feet to a carved out room, with a large hole in the ground and a metal ladder leading down. Leech sends Odie down through the hole, which is about 30 feet deep. It opens into another large natural cavern and a corridor running to the south. At the bottom of the ladder, Odie notices a pack sitting on the ground. Leech orders him to inspect it. He finds a basic dungeoneering pack and a note inside. Leech asks him to look at the note. The writing inside is a thin spidery script that says, “Merranath- Be wary. We do not know what a forbiddence looks like, it may be a door, or it may be

something unrecognizable. Use the first W to defeat the forbiddence. It will regenerate,

so move quickly. We have no idea what you will find inside. But the Stone will probably

be in the Core and it will take time to find it. Use the last W to get out. Signed, Zed.” Leech orders Odie to bring the note back and takes it from him upon his return, then sends him down the other tunnel. The other corridor goes to the right and ends up in another room, similar to the first Odie found, but with no hole down.

Copper leads the way and helps the rest of The Chain sneak down the corridor and down the ladder to the pack. Copper notices that the wall the ladder is against is rippled and smooth, similar to the previous wall they’d seen above. King notices that the wall looks more like the results of a stone shape spell than a normal carved wall. One by one, they climb down the ladder: Slim first, then Copper. Boots leaps into the hole and lands soundlessly. Judge, King, Buts, and Leech follow, with Bigcat jumping down behind Copper. The pack, when they see it, proves to be a standard adventurer’s pack. They spend some time debating their order of march and figuring out how they can send Odie in front of them and keep Leech moving along. They ultimately decide to send Odie out at the edge of Leech’s vision, and the rest of them follow behind, with Boots guiding Leech. Odie eventually reaches another large room. It’s octagonal and has been worked. The walls and ceiling are covered in bas relief, but they’re so old and worn they can’t make out what they used to be. The floor is a mosaic tile, where flecks of paint are still visible, but again, it’s too worn to make out what it represented. There are doors in the north and west walls. The one to the west stands open, but the one to the north is shut.

The open door on the west wall is carved with runes. There is a pool of now solidified molten gold on the floor. Buts examines the runes on the door to see if he can figure out if they were magical. She says it was definitely a forbiddance. She says it was definitely a power word, but not death or others they know. She says these have to be ruins of the Shauraseni Empire. It’s too old to be anything else. Judge shows Buts the note they found in the pack to see if she can figure out what the “W” it refers to is, but she can’t quite figure it out. She thinks it’s magic, but she doesn’t know what it might be. She’s trying to connect the dots and make a guess.

Boots examines the gold and finds that it’s cooled. Slim peeks around the door, but it’s dark inside and he can’t see. King looks at the closed door and finds that it also has runes on it. It’s closed and there’s no evidence of gold on that door. Buts says, “I think these runes are different than those. I think there was something in here working that stopped.” She opens the door, “I was right.”

Judge says he thinks if this was the forbiddance and it’s currently inactive they may need to hurry through before it regenerates as the note says it was. He guesses that there might be someone already in Ringwell and they’ll have the item they need to get back through the forbiddance. Copper reads the tracks in this area and sees some large humanoid footprints coming out of the door on the north wall and small humanoid footprints going in the door on the west. They decide that the large prints were probably the solar celestial and follow the smaller prints.

They walk into the tomb of the sun elf. There’s a 15 foot tall diamond that is brittle and has a large humanoid hole in the front of it. There is glittering diamond shale strewn across the floor. There is another door in the western wall of this room, as well. It has runes on it and those runes are sealed with gold. Judge asks Buts to look at this door and, while she does that, Judge uses his hellsight to see if there is anyone hiding in this room. He doesn’t see anything. King also looks around and doesn’t see anyone. They hear voices, sort of distant, but becoming louder and louder. Six figures materialize around them and seem as surprised as The Chain. They’re all kitted out differently. One of them is wearing a symbol of the ram astride the world. Another has a symbol of a pack of jackals. The Master of Jackals recovers first and forces a command check against Boots. The Master of Jackals barks a howling command,almost like a hyena, and his comrades -- each one wearing a black iron ring -- move to attack.

Episode 19(sp

When last we left our heroes, they had just defeated a sun elf in Collinsville (sp?). A captain of the prince’s guard in this district, a dwarf, comes around a corner, stops, and demands, “What in god’s name happened here?” Behind him is a halfling, also wearing the uniform of The Word. King explains that a sun elf was loose in the district. The captain demanded to know who King was. He replies, “The commander of The Chain.” They explain briefly to the captain what happened, that they fought and defeated the sun elf.

“Chain? What are you talking about? What Chain?”

“The Chain of Acheron,” King says. “We are a company of soldiers now under the prince’s employ.”

“What? No? You’re lying to me. I would know if you were knights of the prince.”

They show their seals and without pause Captain Zorj says, “You are knights of the prince!” He introduces himself and his lieutenant, Spendthrift. King explains they have been residing in The Stays and were just traveling through, stumbled upon this scene, and took care of the problem. Captain Zorge is distraught that it wasn’t a member of The Word who killed the sun elf.

He’s pleased that The Chain is willing to stay and help with the clean up. The captain wants to know what they’re doing as knights of the prince if they’re not members of any of the district administration and King says they want to unify the prince’s forces to preserve his lands. King says that when they’re traveling and they see something happening like this, they take care of it. He’s impressed with their sense of civic duty and wants to know how to get in touch with them if he needs them and they give him their addresses in The Stays.

They ask where they can freshen up after the battle and Spendthrift gives them directions to the Dancing Minstrel. The Dancing Minstrel is a three story tavern. There are a lot of people staying there, but there are rooms available. There’s a bard in the common room on a small stage. Most of the people staying here are Riojans. It’s a relatively well-to-do clientele, all human, and almost all Riojan. When The Chain walks in, everyone stops -- except the bard -- and after giving them a once over, go back to what they’re doing, desperately trying to ignore The Chain. The innkeeper gives them rooms and asks if they want to eat.

The common room is quite large, big enough to fit 80 people. The guests at one of the tables get up to give them a place to sit. During their rest, Slim suggests that King try to contact Sumat Pol to see if he knows what the message the sun elf gave them might say. King writes and note and puts it in the diplomat’s pouch, but nothing happens, indicating that Sumat Pol doesn’t have a diplomat’s pouch -- or not one that’s attuned to them. King writes another note, this time to Angel, and tells him what happened.

Leech spends some time calling up a familiar and hopes that he won’t get Odie again, but of course he does. The rest of the afternoon and evening passes uneventfully. Boots joins the bard, who is serviceable, but not great, and improvises a tale about how they defeated the sun elf. The bard, Edwardo, is interested in their story. He’s read the broadsheets and knows who they are. At some point during the night, King casts divination. King shares with the rest of The Chain what he’d asked. He wanted to know if Shirome’s note would cause them problems. The response he got was, “The Raven cannot break The Chain.”

The next morning, while they’re preparing to leave, somebody walks in. There are fewer people here for breakfast than for other meals. He’s dressed similar to a Roman centurion (someone from the military of the commonwealth.) He orders a drink and then approaches The Chain’s table and points to a chair, asking if he can sit. They invite him to and ask who he is. He says, “Before I introduce myself, I want to confirm you’re The Chain.” They say they are. He says, “Almost victims of a black dragon attack and then you solved other problems?” The say they did. Slim says, “It was a glorious battle.” The centurion introduces himself as Marcelus Scipio (sp). He’s appears to be about 20. He says he’s read the broadsheets and wants to know if they have too? King confirms they have. He says, “Everyone’s wondering how you got a displacer beast? Did you raise it from a pup?” Copper says he did. Marcelius spends some time figuring out who is whom in The Chain.

Judge says he’s the weaponsmaster and Leech introduces himself as the surgeon. Marcelus says, “I wonder,” and looks at King, “do you think he’s really invincible?” King replies, “Not at all.” Marcelius inquires about their day yesterday and then wants to know if they’re currently under contract. King confirms that they’re opposed to Ajax due to the events of Blackbottom and Marcellus asks if they’re really interested in defeating Ajax or his wizard, Mortem. Scipio says, “Suppose that Mortem died of old age? Would you consider your contract null and you would have no interest in Ajax?”

Boots says that yes, if Mortem died the contract would be null. Mortem wants to know if they would still be opposed to Ajax at that point and Leech wants to know, “What business is it of ours to look for the answers to this question?” He says, “Good question. I’m surprised you didn’t ask it earlier. I’ve been a student of war at the war college and my family has a long tradition of public service.” Judge asks if he’s on a school assignment and he says, “You could say that. It’s interesting to meet someone who has been in the broadsheets and to find out if they think the same as my friends and I. I think I’d like to introduce you to my friends.”

King says that Ajax is no friends of theirs and that he has made an enemy of The Chain. Judge looks to see if Scipio is wearing the Old School ring, which he is not. King rolls an insight (well) to see if Scipio seems genuine. He does, but he also seems to have a secret that he just can’t wait to share, a present that he can’t wait to give them. He seems to want to tell them, no matter how they answer. Scipio says he’ll tell them about his friends, but they want to meet The Chain in person. Scipio asks Judge where he was from originally, and Judge tells him Alloy. “So, in other words, Hell.” Judge says, “It depends on whose asking. As far as you know, it’s Alloy.”

Scipio takes off his ring, which proves to have a solid sapphire band. He spins the ring and Judge becomes concerned that he’s trying to cast a spell. Judge wants to cast a counter spell and slams his hand down on the ring to stop it spinning. “What are you doing?” When they look around, they realize that they, along with Scipio, are standing in another world. Scipio grabs the ring, which is now hanging in air, and puts it back on. They recognize that this as similar to a pocket universe. The sky appears to be solid sapphire. It’s not like a normal sky, appearing more like a solid gemstone stretching from horizon to horizon. There are green hills, and they’re standing in front of a thin white tower. Scipio says, “I have some friends I want you to meet.” He lays a hand on King’s shoulder and says, “You’re not alarmed, are you?” Judge says, “Don’t touch him.” King says, “Well, we’re here now. Tell us about your friends.” Scipio says, “She will.” King asks who “she” is and he Scipio says, “One thing at a time.”

Scipio says, “Please don’t be alarmed. This is what you might call a pocket realm. I know that you served in Alloy for a while, but they haven’t told me everything. Please follow me.” As they walk into the tower, Scipio asks about yesterday’s battle with the sun elf, making small talk. Judge suggests they should wait until they get where they’re going so they don’t have to repeat themselves. Boots starts signing part of the song he composed last night. Scipio wonders if the sun elf said anything to them and then says, “Don’t tell me. Don’t tell me. Wait until we get where we’re going.”

There are a lot of people working inside the tower, which appears to be a wizard’s tower. They pass libraries and people of most races except for tieflings. After they climb several flights of stairs, they find a pool similar to the pool on the Isle of Madness. Behind the pool is a silvery being -- similar to the sun elf -- that appears to be meditating. They notice that, despite all of the humans here, they fit in. There are all kinds of races here, including an orc. He looks older and is wearing a breastplate with a dragon on it. Scipio calls out and the orc turns around and says, “Ah-ha, it worked!” Marcellus says, “I was very persuasive.” The orc steps forward and introduces himself to King as Darengar Vile Silencer.

Slim asks about the silvery creature and Marcellus tells them that’s their patron. Darengar says that the sun elf was quite mad and that they just had the bad luck to meet into him after he escaped from Ringwell with an artifact. Darengar welcomes them to the Tower of the Moon and the resistance. He says, “The downfall of Ajax starts here. Marcellus has been bringing me the broadsheets.”

King asks what drove the sun elf mad and Darengar sends Marcellus off for refreshments, saying this would take a while. Darengar said that the sun elf had agreed to be interred in Ringwell because he was a good friend of the emperor. We think we’ve found Ringwell and believe you were very close to the entrance to it yesterday. Ringwell was a dungeon that Octavious Maximus cleared out long before he became the emperor. After he became the emperor, he went back to where he started and stored many items there. He was the emperor of the Caelian empire.”

Boots says, “You believe Ajax is breaking these wards and taking items from Ringwell?” Darengar says, “We thought so, but we recently learned that the jade hand was not in Ringwell.” They hand the note with the words the sun elf spoke to Darengar and he translates it. He says, “In The Sun Reflecting Off and Lover’s Eyes perspective, it has probably only been a short period of time and that he was trying to find his friend, not knowing that the emperor has been dead all these centuries.” Slim asks about the seals. Darengar says that the emperor, wanting to preserve the empire, sealed Ringwell and its contents from the world and from memory. They think the sun elf was one of the power sources that kept the wards powered. Now that the sun elf is no longer there, they think the wards will begin to fail. King asks where the jade hand was. Darengar says that the pharaoh had it. They’ve been operating on conjecture, since they don’t know exactly what is in Ringwell.

The Chain wants to know what broke the seals. Darengar says they don’t know. It could be that they degraded naturally, but that seems unlikely. He says that he thinks Copper, as a ranger, can probably help them find the entrance. Slim wonders if they couldn’t just destroy the entrances and Darengar says not without breaking the seals and making Ringwell accessible to all.

Judge says, “Just to be clear, you called yourself the Resistance, but who against?” Darengar says that at this time, Ajax presents the greatest threat.” King asks how is in charge here and Darengar gestures to the moon elf and says her name is Pale White Light Glitters Off the Ripples of the Pool.. Judge asks if they want to find Ringwell just to keep those items safe. Darengar says they hope they can be employed to defeat Ajax and names off some items believed to be inside that might be helpful.

Boots wonders what they should do if and when they find the entrance. Darengar says they want the items brought to this tower. Without Sunlight Reflecting (the sun elf), there’s nothing to repower the seals. Boots says, “If we bring all those items here and use them to defeat Ajax, there’s no reason to seal Ringwell away again.” Marcellus leans forward and says, “There is always evil and even now Ajax’s allies in the city may be what caused the seals to fail.” King asks if they know who his allies are and Marcellus says, “They are protected from our oracles, but we know they employ shadows in Capital.” Boots recounts to him the events at the Prince’s Footstool.

The iron bar on the floor causes a reaction from Scipio and Darengar. They say, “We believe they call themselves the Black Iron Bat.” They want to know what The Chain knows about Ajax. They say they know he went to the war college and graduated top of his class with Alvaro, that he killed Good King Omen, and other deeds.”

They ask about the moon elf and if she’ll wake up and what their connection is to Ringwell. Darengar says the Knights of the Golden Cross are sworn to oppose evil. She stayed here to give them a base when the rest of the elves left to live with their god in Arcadia. The sapphire realm is nested within and concurrent with the city.

Slim asks Darengar to define evil. Darengar says, “Cruelty, selfishness, questing for power with no limit.” King tries to clarify why the moon elf opposes Ajax and Darengar says he can’t really say, except that the Knights of the Golden Cross quest across the world to stamp out evil. Slim says, “Maybe Ajax’s vision is for the good.” Darengar says Ajax would wash the world in blood. Slim seems confused by someone who would want to rule a world destroyed and asks if Ajax is mad. Darengar says, “Not yet.”

They spend some more time clarifying each others’ motivations. King says, “We are interested in this job, but we’re a mercenary company. We have a contract for Mortem, but if we assist you we’d need some recompense or aid for our time.” Darengar says, “We’re not in the habit of paying people to do the right thing.” Judge says it might be useful to split up the powerful items to keep any one person from having access to so many powerful artifacts. Darengar shakes his head and says, “Our only concern right now is stopping Ajax.” They talk a bit, negotiating the terms of the contract, until Boots says, “If we help you, will you help us kill Mortem?” Darengar says, “Yes.”

The moon elf’s eyes open and she descends from her dias. She stops, looks at Judge, and opens her mouth. The sound that emanates from her sounds like someone playing a wine glass. Darengar listens and then says, “You are the first member of the Order of Desecration to enter our tower. Many other members of the order have died trying. We hope we have not made a mistake allowing you here.” Judge has a feeling of an engine in his mind that had always been there winding down and then he has a moment of clarity. He relives a number of memories, from his early days through joining The Chain. The moon elf speaks and Darengar says, “Your grace, I’m sorry to have doubted you.” Judge says, “I’ll allow it this once.” The moon elf retreats and goes back to her dias. Darengar says, “This is not news to you, I’m sure, but your friend derives his power from the antithesis of our patron.” Boots says, “Well, he doesn’t know what he’s doing with it anyway.” Slim says, “Does that not make him your enemy?” Vile Silencer says, “As long as Judge serves The Chain no.” Boots says, “Well, when someone joins The Chain, they leave their past behind. Isn’t that right, Judge?” Judge says, “Mm-hmm.”

Marcellus looks at the orc and says, “The Order of the Golden Cross has been known to turn a blind eye to people’s pasts before.” The orc just smiles. Slim says, “Well, you don’t need to do that with me. Let me tell you about my past and all the great things I have done.” King suggests they do that after they deal with the open door.

Vile Silencer says, “I’d very much like to go myself, but should I do so -- if any of us should so so -- the Black Iron Pact would know. The less they know about what we’re doing, the better. It would be wiser for us to employ you, given you’ve proved yourselves capable by defeating the sun elf. If you need anything, just ask Marcellus.” Marcellus agrees and says he has to attend class still, but he’ll make himself as available as he can. Mostly I can act as a conduit for information, given my access to Pale White Light.”

King asks Marcellus if he has a diplomat’s pouch and Marcellus says he doesn’t. Judge says it will probably take them a couple of days to get their things together, but is voted down, considering that they appear to already be close to the entrance. Judge points out that they still have a letter to deliver. Boots suggests they give it to Angel and have Grumbles deliver it. King says Grumbles has also been tasked with keeping an eye on the blacksmith who is making their weapons and armor.

Darengar says, “As I said before, our power lies in our knowledge. This may be the last time you’re here. Is there anything else you want to know?” Boots asks what kind of force they should take and he says they probably should take a wizard. King asks if they know if any of the lords of Capital are on Ajax’s side. Darengar says, “You should count on some of them being on his side.” Slim wonders if they can provide any insight about who they can trust and how to rebuild their numbers. Darengar says they seem to be doing a decent enough job of that on their own.

King says, “if you get any more information about the Black Iron Pact, please let us know. They’ve attacked and killed some of our men and have made themselves our enemy.” Darengar says, “Pardon me, but it’s more likely you’ll learn more before we do.”

Judge wonders what they’re getting out of it and Darengar reminds them that there will be artifacts in Ringwell that they can keep to employ against Ajax. In the short term, they’re most concerned with keeping these items out of the hands of the Black Iron Pact, who is probably having a meeting just like this one and might be responsible for the seals being broken. They realize it’s a race and determine that they need to get to Ringwell ASAP. They can deliver the letter when they have a chance.

King sends notes back to Angel explaining this meeting and asks him to send Buts to the Dancing Minstrel so they can meet up with her and take her with them into Ringwell.

The Chain asks if they know what’s in Ringwell and Vile Silencer says they don’t, that the emperor kept that all secret. He tells them that the emperor had many powerful allies and they got together to cast a spell to remove the memory of Ringwell from the world. King asks if they know what artifacts Ajax might have and Vile Silencer gives them a list. They wonder if Ajax might have a sky elf helping him and Vile Silencer says they wouldn’t be surprised. King asks if they know Mortem’s true name, but he says that Mortem’s wards broke the last Oracle they employed to try to get that information. If they knew that information, Mortem would already be dead.

Boots says the last time he saw Capital, there wasn’t a whole sector ruled by the undead. They tell Boots that Lady Valetta holds the Codex Mortis and tried to resurrect her dead husband, but failed. After some more conversation and questions about power and possible allies Ajax might have in the city, they ask who the other lords of Capital are, and Vile Silencer tells them. King asks how does one become part of their organization and Vile Silencer says someone has to sponsor you or it can be hereditary. Judge asks how large the resistance is. Vile Silencer says she doesn’t tell him everything, but he is sure they’re not alone. They think Ballasantrax is on their side, but Ballasantrax sleeps.

King asks if they can get the word out to Kamara that they’re looking for recruits and he says they don’t really have anyone there who could spread the word. King asks about the Crown of the House Valetta. Vile Silencer says it’s worth a lot of money and that, aside from its value, there’s nothing really special about it. Leech wonders if they have any items that might help them in Ringwell. Marcellus asks Boots if he can use a short sword. Boots says, “Certainly.” Scipio gives Boots his grandfather’s short sword and says he’ll need it, that the things in Ringwell will laugh at his rapier. Scipio says he’ll want it back. Judge asks if they have anything two handed that would work for him. The moon elf’s eyes open and Vile Silencer translates, “Does this make sense to you? Bring the demon’s heart.” They make it clear that if The Chain brings the sinmetal and the demon’s heart, they can quickly make the items The Chain will need.

Scipio says, “Let me show you around while we’re waiting for your friends.” Scipio gives them a tour. It’s a combination library and magical lab. Vile Silencer takes over the tour while Marcellus goes to meet Buts, who is more than a little freaked out by the location. She says, “I think we’re in a gemstone.” Marcellus and Vile Silencer smile at each other and say they’ve chosen the right wizard. She wants to know what she should do with these items and King tells her to give them to Marcellus. She says, “Is that a moon elf?” When they confirm that it is, she’s excited. She yells, “Wow,” and runs over to the dias. Buts tries to talk to her, but nothing happens. Judge says, “Sorry, Buts, but she only talks to me.” Slim says, “She doesn’t really talk. She sort of squeaks.”

They catch Buts up and she says, “Did you ask about Lady Sariel? Did you ask about what happened to Nails?” Buts has a whole list of questions. King asks about Lady Sariel and the Teeth of the Dragon. They say that they believe Lady Sariel is dead, destroyed when the Master Sword was destroyed.” King tells them briefly about Nails. They say The Pale White Light told them about it. They explain that his latent natural power just went into overload and that there was nothing they could have done. If they hadn’t stopped him, it would have destroyed him and he’d have gone mad. They say they saw something similar on the streets of Kings Cross, with the sun elf. Vile Silencer says, “The difference between what your sorcerer was becoming and a celestial would have been undetectable. If he had been an elf, he might have been able to handle it.”

The loremasters convene to make Judge’s sword. They put the components in the pool and the moon elf’s eyes open. She converses with the loremasters and asks if they know what they’re doing. They tell her that they’re making tools for our servants, if she wills it. She closes her eyes and the pool turns black with a glowing red center. Out of the pool rises a glowing, demonic hand holding a sword. It’s still Judge’s sword, but in the pommel is a stone with a cat’s eye in it. Judge takes the sword and feels the power of the entity in the sword attack his mind, but he’s been trained to resist and the demon’s power bounces off. Judge gets the impression that the demon in his sword hates other demons and wants to slay them. Just to be sure, Vile Silencer warns Judge, “When you are weak, the sword will try to take over.” Judge says, “He can try.” Vile Silencer clarifies, “The weaker you get, the more likely the sword will take over. As long as your purposes align, you’ll be fine.”

They turn to Leech and asks what tool he needs. After some discussion, they make him a pact rod.

Vile Silencer reminds them that they’ve just invested a lot in them and that they’re the first team and he hopes they can be counted on. He says that anyone who is an enemy of Ajax is an ally of theirs. Marcellus takes his ring off and spins it and they’re back in the Dancing Minstrel, exactly where they had been to begin with. Marcellus says, “I really stuck my neck out for you. Please don’t let me down.” They reassure him that they won’t. He wants to know where they’re staying and King says they’ll either be here or the Pharaoh's Dream.

They find some traces of the sun elf’s blood on their weapons and give Bigcat the scent. She’s focused on the scent and lead them through the town, which freaks out the residents who either give them a wide berth or turn around and go the other way. They shortly find themselves alone in an alley. Bigcat searches up and down the alley, but seems confused, like the trail might be old. Copper uses a spell that gives him a sense of where the sun elf may have come from and heads off in that direction. Bigcat follows him as Copper follows the trail, which leads to an abandoned butcher shop that’s boarded over. Boots looks through the window. Everything is old and dusty. There’s a big marble counter for cutting and dressing meat and hooks hanging from the ceiling. King tries the door, which appears to be locked as well as boarded up. King removes the boards and passers-by give them a strange look. Boots says, “We’re going to reopen the shop.” The townsfolk are like, “Really?” He convinces them and they’re super interested in having a butcher shop open here again soon. Eventually Judge gets fed up and says, “Keep moving,” and the people scurry away.

Boots tries to force the lock, but Slim misty steps in and opens the door from the inside. He hears a sound from somewhere else in the butcher shop, but he’s not sure what that sound was. He says, “Be careful, I heard something.” Copper asks Bigcat to guard the door because she’s too big to fit into the shop, then looks around for tracks. He sees humanoid tracks that lead right up to a door on the right hand side of the shop. Copper stealthily leads the party to the door, which opens into the back of the shop where there are storage rooms. They follow the tracks to a mess hall with food on a plate and a place setting. They determine that the food is still warm and Leech recognizes it as drow food. Leech uses faerie fire to see if anything else is here, because they’re suspicious that someone else might be here. When he’s done, outlined in the faerie fire is a drow assassin hiding in a corner.

Episode 18

When last we left our heroes, they had just completed their library job and done their best to gain an audience with Shirome, the leader of the Fulcrum and were planning a few individual projects like armor crafting and reading books.

The Right Honorable Persevant approaches the group at the Pharaoh's Dream and says he’s gotten them an audience with Lady Shirome. He leads them through The Stays to a huge building with large archways leading into it. On the ground floor of the building is a gambling den. There are large gambling tables in the middle for cards and dice, plus one on one tables along the edges of the room performing, essentially, Tarot card readings. The half elf ignores all this activity and leads them to the second floor.

The second floor is the headquarters of the Fulcrum, full of people engaged in the business of running the economy. They make their way through and emerge on the third floor, which almost looks like a manor house. There are guards wearing the symbol of a golden hammer striking a coin. They’re armed with sword and shield. They recognize the herald as he reports to a pair of guards at the double doors and Persevant says, “I’m sure she’ll see us,” as one of the guards goes inside to announce them.

After a short time, the guard comes back and says, “Her Grace will see you.” Lady Shirome’s office is what you expect from a Riojan noble. She’s dressed in the fashion of a Riojan. She’s talking to a knight wearing a golden breastplate that has the same heraldry on it. She has long black hair that’s pulled back in a pony tail. She’s sitting behind a large desk covered with the impedimenta of business. The office is opulent, with expensive carpeting and stained glass windows. As they walk in, they hear her say, “Whose side is he on?” The knight replies, “His own, probably.” She said, “He stopped Alvaro from taking The Pellet.” The knight says, “Did he?” She said, “Maybe we can find out,” as the Chain approaches. The knight wonders if he should leave and she tells him to stay.

The knight walks up to King and says, “Well done on the Pellet. Well done! May de Corano be covered in a thousand infected wounds.” King says, “We agree with that, but he’s still on the Pellet.” The knight says, “But for how long?” Shirome greets them and offers them refreshments. She says, “The herald said you wish to speak with us.” King explains that they were bringing a request from the commander of the Red Falcons for an audience. She says, “You met Lady Antonia? What did you think of her?” King says, “She seems like a good soldier.” Shirome wanted to know if that would be enough and King says, “No, she’ll need help.” Shirome asks them what happened and King briefly explains that the Twelve Dragons tried to take them prisoner because they thought The Chain was trying to take The Pellet for the Fulcrum.

Shirome wants to know what their experience with the Twelve Dragons was and Leech says, “They need to be eliminated.” King tells her that in his opinion the Knight Commander is a real piece of trash. She confirms they’ve retrieved the document in question and King explains that they want to talk to her about that. They have a Riojan noble in their ranks and think it would profit them more to install him as the noble in charge of The Pellet. She is curious if they think that would benefit them, if they can take on the Twelve Dragons. King explains they’d partner with the Red Falcons, because the Twelve Dragons have slighted The Chain, the Red Falcons, and the Prince.

She wants to know what their plans are and King explains that as far as they know, the Red Falcons will help them oust the Twelve Dragons. She turns to her knight and wants to know what his read is. He says Lady Antonia is an excellent officer and is likely to bend whichever way the wind blows. King also tells her that the Knight Commander had cut down Lady Antonia.

Copper, while all this conversation is going on, is eating like a raccoon from a big cereal bowl.

Shirome asks her knight, Sir Deodato, if he thinks Lady Antonia will throw in with them and he says again that he thinks she’ll wait to work with the winners.

She wants to know what the Chain’s interest is in Capital, when as far as she knows their contract is to eliminate Ajax’s wizard and King explains that Capital is likely to be the last bastion to stand against him and that they can’t stay neutral because of the actions of Alvaro. She says she’ll do what she has to do to preserve Capital. She says the sooner the issue of the Prince is resolved, the sooner they can turn their attention to saving the city from Ajax.

Boots points out that if Capital is at war with itself, it can’t mount a coherent defense against Ajax. She agrees that’s true and says she’ll have to speak with Lady Antonia. Boots inquires if she thinks that the document they retrieved will force the Twelve Dragons off The Pellet. She says she thinks there is an opportunity to embarrass de Corano off The Pellet, because she’s heard he’s working on his own authority.

King also suggests to her that they’re not opposed to working with them, but they’d prefer not to work through intermediaries like Persevant Illithwith. King says they’re aware that the Fulcrum has lost some other territory. The knight blusters a bit and says that will likely be only temporary.

She asks about the Chain’s relationship with the Marquis de Masco and points out that he delivered the green boots to them on The Pellet. She says he’s the one reinforcing the troops at the Citadel -- or at least not making it difficult for them to reinforce themselves -- which is making it difficult for them to maneuver and oust the Church from the Citadel.

She asks if they’ve met Duke Verano. King says he hasn’t yet, but he’ll be giving a speech at the university and he hopes to meet him at that time. She’s written a note and asks if King would be willing to take a note to Duke Vorona and King agrees. Judge wants to know if there’s anything in the note that will get King in trouble for delivering it. She says, “I very much doubt it.” Lady Shirome says she thinks House Vorona has been keeping them at arm’s length to provide themselves with plausible deniability. She gives King directions to Vorona’s manor house.

The knight asks if they’d be interested in helping them to take back the Citadel. King says depending on payment, yes. King circles back to the information Shirome has about the Twelve Dragons working on their own authority and wants to know if she knows anything else about them not having the authority of House Alvaro for their actions. She says she’s only received that much information.

She says she’ll need to consider if they can get the Twelve Dragons off The Pellet without going to war. She also says if they’re willing to help clear the Citadel they’ll be happy to meet their financial requirements. She again asks King to deliver her note.

Judge asks Lady Shirome who she’d be interested in seeing on the Prince’s throne of Capital. She says she liked the prince. King asks about what happened to the prince. They say it was an assassin’s guild, but they don’t appear to know which guild. King says he’s more interested in knowing who hired them. She says, “That’s not easy information to obtain.” King says, “But sitting on the council, you’d know who his enemies were.”

She gives them a letter of introduction to the head of the broadsheets if they’d like one. She suggests that they’ll be well served to give the appearance of neutrality in the war between the factions and be careful who they’re seen with because there are spies everywhere. She points out that they have the prince’s badges and they need to be very careful. She turns to her knight and says, “Isn’t there something we could do?” He says, “Yes, we could give them our livery if they helped us. It would be a thin ruse, but it would provide plausible deniability.”

Boots says, “And in a similar way, the knights of the Fulcrum need not be seen helping The Chain against the Twelves Dragons and House Alvaro.” Slim worries that Alvaro might have been listening in to this whole conversation, but Shirome says, “No, we have wards.” As they’re taking their leave of each other, she invites them to bring Bigcat next time and then asks if she can have a taste of Copper’s goblin brew. She chokes and hands it back.

She says, “Thank you for coming by. I look forward to seeing you again. Please do give His Grace, Lord Vorona, my regards.”

Ithillwith gives them directions to Duke Vorona’s family mansion, so they can deliver Shirome’s note.

They make their way to his neighborhood, which seems to be in an older part of Capital. The streets are narrow and twisty and the architecture is clearly an older style. They hear someone call out, screaming in agony, then distributed screams and people begin running away from a small courtyard.

They see a dragonborn on the ground, heaving, his whole body wracked. He sits up and screams again. His whole body twists, his skin ripping and tearing apart. Horns erupt from his head and wings from his back. His scales, which were darkly complected, become black. When his transformation is done, there is a black dragon in the courtyard threatening everyone around him.

Copper shares with King that as the dragon was transforming, he saw someone in a robe running away. Copper can still see him, but he quickly turns a corner and moves out of sight. King reminds everyone to be careful about casting spells, but they notice there aren’t any guards nearby.

Boots casts bane while shouting derogatory words at the dragon, then strategically retreats. Leech’s eyes roll back in his head as he casts blight on the dragon. It shudders, muscles rippling, and becomes slightly desiccated as the spell hits. The dragon takes flight and lands behind the party, then uses its acid breath. It kills Odie straight out and drops Boots as well. Leech uses his reaction to revives Boots. Copper puts a hunters mark on the dragon, then shoots it twice using fury of the small. Bigcat leaps forward and attacks, but misses. The black dragon whips its barbed tail around and attacks Bigcat with it. King turns around and shoots a fireball at the dragon while channeling divinity, then dodges under some cover. Judge notes that he’s never seen a dragonborn turn into a dragon before and, believing there’s something hinky going on, casts dispel magic on the dragon. As he watches, the dragon turns back into a nude dragonborn, who falls to the ground, unconscious.

Boots steps up and casts cure wounds on the black dragonborn, who wakes up very confused. “Who are you? Where are my clothes?” Boots gives him his cape. Boots says, “We’re the Chain of Acheron, knights of the Prince.” Judge says, “You were just a dragon. Were you bitten by a dragon?” The dragonborn doesn’t understand, “Where are my clothes?” Boots tries to explain that he’d turned into a dragon, but the dragonborn pushes him away, denying what’s being said. Judge tries to point out the acid damage they took and King says, “I know this is strange, but it’s true.” The dragonborn pulls the cape around himself stating, “I have to get to the church.” In the course of the conversation, the dragonborn introduces himself as Caroset (sp?). Everyone takes a bit of time to heal themselves up.

As they finish up, they hear dozens of people screaming, similar to what happened when the dragonborn transformed. They quickly follow where the cloaked figure went, which seems to be the same direction. King says, “The guy who did this to you ran that way,” as he takes off. “The Chain of Acheron saved you.” Copper and Boots lead the charge after the cloaked figure. They’re the first to see a horrific sight. There were a lot of people here, but a huge area of the street is covered by bodies dissolving into a giant red, furry mold. Most of it is already complete. Some people are calling out, screaming, trying to reach help even as they dissolve into the mold, which is writhing and spreading throughout the area. Once again, they notice a figure and people are pointing saying, “It was him! It was him!” The figure appears to be about ten feet tall, almost twice as tall as an average person. Copper notices a glint of metal flash as the figure pulls his cloak away from someone trying to detain him.

Boots tries to dispel magic on the soup of people, but nothing happens, then books it across the mold. As a result, Boots is forced to cast crown of madness on Copper. Copper shoots at the cloaked figure with an ensnaring strike, but it the spell dissolves before it hits the figure. The arrow, and its follow-up, both hit. King urges Boots to attack again (using his commander ability). King also casts haste on Slim. Boots’ attack hits the figure and as it spins around to confront him, Boots sees a glimpse of it under the cloak. Boots begins to transform. Erupting from his clothes are vines that sprout leaves. His skin begins to change into a green, leathery substance. He rips out of his clothing and, when the transformation is complete, Boots is a shambling mound. A pseudo-pod of the russet mold hits Bigcat and leaves behind a patch of mold on Bigcat’s shoulder, reducing Bigcat’s constitution. Two more pseudo-pods also try to hit Copper and King, but miss. Leech attacks the mold, which has begun growing over a house. The radiant golden energy of his agonizing blast hits it twice and scours some of the mold away in patches. Slim runs through the mold, then misty steps to emerge behind the cloaked figure and turns the Cuisinart on. Slim tries to frighten him with his first attack, but the figure seems unaffected, but then absorbs four more blows from Slim. His robe disintegrates and his wings unfurl. Slim can see that it’s bleeding silver and its skin is golden. It shouts at Slim in a language he can’t understand. Slim recognizes it as a sun elf. Judge casts dispel magic on Boots, turning him back into a real boy, though naked.

As soon as he emerges from the shambling mound, Boots picks up his mandolin and rapier and tumbles past the sun elf, coming to his feet behind him. Boots attacks with his rapier, but it doesn’t seem to do as much damage as he expected. Copper shots a brass headed arrow and disappears, reappearing where the arrow landed. He picks up the arrow, backs up a little, and shoots at the sun elf, but misses. Bigcat climbs to the roof. King runs through the mold towards the fight, picking up a bit of the mold. The mold begins climbing over another building and the walls begin to collapse as it eats away at it. The sun elf makes a gesture and summons a swarm of insects, which swarm around Boots and Slim. Leech runs forward, then casts fly to try to get in a position to be effective, then actives his healing light for Boots. Slim continues attacking the sun elf ferociously and its wounds begin to glow. The sun elf forces King to cast a spell against Slim, but nothing happens. However, the swarm of bugs around Slim do injure him. Judge advances through the mold safely and uses his invoke authority to assist his spellcasting. Boots attacks with his rapier, hitting and pushing the the sun elf back five paces, then jumps down off the roof to get away from the insects. Once out of the swarm, he throws a knife at the sun elf, which sinks to the hilt. Copper shoots his sulfur tipped arrow towards the sun elf. When it hits the wall, it explodes in a fireball. It wreathes the sun elf in flame and more light starts to pour out of his body. It puts a hand on Slim’s shoulder and looks into his eyes and Slim hears a voice in his head. The sun elf’s body tears apart, blinding everyone except Copper and Bigcat. They blink furiously to clear their vision and when they can see again, the sun elf is gone.

Guards begin showing up. On their shields is a scroll. Now that the sun elf is gone and, with help, they’re able to take care of the mold. Slim shares with them what the sun elf told them: “The forbiddances fail! The seals are broken! The emperor must restore them!”

Episode 17

Seven factions vie for control over the city of Capital. Open war is inevitable, but each faction wants the war on their terms, so for now they maneuver their pieces. It is a war of spies fought in shadows, until the arrival of a legendary mercenary company. Beaten, diminished, they are outnumbered and outmatched, forced to rely on tricks and schemes and dirty fighting. Situation normal for the Chain of Acheron. Now five factions converge on the dead prince’s territory, each convinced the others are trying to take it for themselves. The city of Capital is about to explode.

When last we left our heroes, they had just received a communication from Angel telling them that the job they were on was not what it appeared to be. They sent the document they’d been sent to retrieve to Angel through the diplomat’s pouch and were trying to figure out a way off the island, whether by bluffing their way past the troops being sent to detain them or to fight.

The Chain sent more messages (while ofline) to Angel and instructed him to leak that the 12 Dragons are coming to take The Library -- instead of what they’re really coming to do, which is to apprehend The Chain. They also asked for a fake contract saying that the library job was to rescue the courier, instead of recovering the document. Angel’s response was, “Stall.”

Leech sends an invisible Odie out of the Mausoleum to the front of the Library to scout around, but he’s stymied by the closed metal door that separates the rest of the library from the mausoleum. He’s able to open the door -- though slowly -- and makes his way towards the front door. Oddly, as he flies through the library, he notices that it’s now empty. He sees the librarian talking to some knights dressed in the uniform of the Red Falcons, the prince’s army. There are about six talking to the librarian, the same one who led them to the Mausoleum. Leech asks Odie to go closer to eavesdrop.

They’re asking the librarian for admittance to the library so they can go look for The Chain of Acheron. She asks if that’s a book that she can help them locate. Odie sees a couple of people with hastily assembled stacks of books and papers hurrying out the door, trying to get out of the library before all hell breaks loose. Odie flies out the doors and sees that there’s a bit of a crowd gathering outside, muttering, trying to figure out what’s going on. He also sees more Red Falcons heading for the library. There are more guarding the outside of the library. The Red Falcons inside are stopping and searching the peopel trying to flee the impending chaos.

King feels a shift in weight in the diplomat’s pouch and finds inside the requested forgery for a job to find and rescue the courier. They head for the exit of the mausoleum. Judge uses infernal conduit to make the courier pass out to bolster their forged job. Leech calls Odie back.

They exit the mausoleum and return to the library at about 4:00 in the afternoon. When they reach the foyer, they see the librarian standing on top of the counter, rapier draw. She’s pointing it at the Red Falcons, who have their hands up and are laughing at her. She shouts, “If you have a request, you’re going to have to fill out a request form!” One of them reaches for her and she stabs him.

They see the party and quickly lose interest in the librarian. She says to them, “I suppose you’re the Chain of Acheron.” Boots confirms that they are. A woman, who appears to be in charge says, “Who commands you?” King replies, “Me.” She poimts at Bigcat, “Is that thing tame?” Copper confirms, “Yes.” The leader of the Red Falcons draws King aside.

She wants to know what they’re doing here? King tells them they were here to rescue the courier. She says, “You know it’s illegal to have weapons here in the city. You don’t look like knights of the city. I’d recognize you.” King tells her they were granted temporary knighthoods so they could carry out their mission. She asks to see their badges and he shows them the courier badges. She says, “If I’m being charitable, you’ve been deceived.” She asks for proof of their job and King shows her the forged contract. She shows it to another Red Falcon and he says it looks like it’s in order. He says he doesn’t think the Hell Troopers would try to deceive her, that they’re rough, but honorable.

He hands her the contract back and she sees that they were hired by The Fulcrum. She wants to know why The Fulcrum hired them, specifically, instead of other mercenaries. They respond that it’s because they’re the most effective. She wants to know what they’ll do with him now that they’ve recovered him. They tell her they plan to get him medical care. She confers with some of her officers, then says, “Well, whatever you might have been up to or whyever you were hired, you’re not knights. You’re heavily armed for couriers. There’s going to be a fine to be paid. You can either come back to the station for questioning or we can escort you off the island.” King says they’ll take the escort.

She finishes conferring with her lieutenant and draws King and Boots even further away. She says, “There isn’t anything you want to tell me, is there?” Her lieutenant introduces her as Capt. Antonia. Boots says, “As a group of mercenaries, it behooves us to have an ear to the ground. We’ve heard that Prospero Alvaro is making a play for The Pellet and is sending the Twelve Dragons.” She wants to know how reliable the intelligence is. Boots tells her that as far as they know, it’s watertight. He says, “We don’t want to be here to find out.” She’s not sure she believes the message. She thinks they may have misunderstood something, because she doesn’t think Alvaro would be that precipitous. Boots says, “Regardless, we don’t want to be here if they show up.” Her lieutenant whispers in her ear and she wilts a little. “You aren’t equipped to take the Pellet, are you?” King confirms they are not and that it’s not a job they would take. She turns and says, “Follow me. You’re safe as long as you’re with us.”

Copper is disappointed that he can’t get that book on displacer beasts.

Her lieutenant turns to the rest of the knights and says, “Falcons, we are escorting these people off the island.” As they exit the library, the crowd gasps and silence falls. Boots announces to the crowd, “Worry not! The boy is safe and we’ll take him to get the medical care he needs.” The crowd surges forward a bit to try to get a good look at the crazy people who belong to The Chain. The Falcons manage to keep the crowd back. They hear someone call out, “Look!” In the sky, they see something that looks like a descending bird. As the come closer, they realize it’s 12 mounted knights. The leader is riding a blue dragon; the rest are mounted on Falcons. Lady Antonia says, “We’ll lead you to the dock.”

The leader of the Twelve Dragons dismounts and his men follow suit. The dragon sits upright and the gryphons hide behind it, as if the dragon is in charge. The leader approaches the group. As The Chain looks around, they realize they’re surrounded by dozens of Red Falcoms. The leader casts a spell as he approaches them. It creates a dome and when it retreats they see a heavily armed unit of light infantry in its place.

He addresses Lady Antonia. “How now. Who are these people and why are they in your company?” She says, “We’re escorting them off the island. Why are you here?” King gives the party Chain sign, “Don’t talk to them.” The leader says, “Couriers, hrm? You seem heavily armed for couriers.” King says, “I’ll defer to my handler.” He says, “If you won’t speak in your defense, we can just arrest you now.” He accuses them of being wastrels, criminals, and rabble and points out Slim. Slim says, “Take your manes and begone.”

After some back and forth, Lady Antonia says, “They’re in my charge, not yours. Whatever you think is happening here, isn’t.”

The knight commander takes a step forward, “Who do you take your orders from, Gith?” Slim says, “I am the pilot for the Chain of Acheron.” The knight commander wants to know if the rest of the Chain are Slim’s men. Slim says King is the captain. The knight commander wants to know why the Chain would have been hired to be in the Pellet. King refuses to answer, deferring to Lady Antonia. She says, “We’re arresting them for bearing illegal weapons, etc.”

The knight commander challenges Lady Antonia, “The Falcons! The pigeons more like! Useless even when the Prince was alive! Why don’t you go back to your family farms, stop pretending to be knights. What knights would be led by a woman. Lady Antonia. A faint echo of your great father. I knew your father.”

Lady Antonia replies, “You knew my father. Tell me, did you know your own?” The Knght Commander throws down his gauntlet and Lady Antonia quickly writes a note and hands it to her lieutenant saying, “If I die, make sure my husband gets this.” She draws her sword and in a flash, the knight commander cuts her down.

The Red Falcons surge forward, drawing their weapons. The infantry unit stands fast, waiting for orders. The blue dragon stands up, inhaling. King tells Slim to pick up Lady Antonia. He does and tells the lieutenant, “We will help her.” The lieutenant tells the Red Falcons to stand down. He’s holding the note she gave him like it was Lady Antonia’s last orders. The knight commander puts away his weapon and says that he hopes the new commander of the Red Falcons will be more reasonable.

The lieutenant approaches King, pointing at Slim, and says, “What are you doing?” Slim says, “We’re going to help her,” and King confirms. The lieutenant steps forward and says, “They know you’re not knights. If you cast a spell, they will cut you down.” He hisses at King, “Do nothing, but hang onto her.”

The commander of the Twelve Dragons says, “Now, let’s be reasonable. Come with me and we’ll visit the Duke. I think it’s time for a more reasonable administration of the Pellet.” The lieutenant turns around and says, “This is still the prince’s land and we are still its administrators.” Slim’s displeasure with the situation is apparent and the lieutenant says, “In case you haven’t noticed, we are outnumbered!” The crowd splits as a voice calls out, “Says who?” as the last of The Chain infantry make their way towards the confrontation. Corporal Mudd approaches King and says, ““Sir. We figured Sweet would retreat to Capital. We made our way here as fast as we could. Sorry it took so long. Still not sure how you got here before us.” King says, “There’s a lot we need to tell you.” She says, “Where’s Sweet?”

King says, “He passed away with Nails in the Astral Sea.” Judge confirms, “King is our new commander.” Mudd claps him on the shoulder and confirms, “We’re rested, fed, and ready for a fight.” She looks at the Knight Commander and his men and say, “Who are these assholes?”

He steps forward, demanding to know who these new armed people are and how The Pellet can be this lawless. She says, “Navy guys let us in.” This gives the knight commander pause. She says she intended to go somewhere else, but House Vorona told them they were due here and she wasn’t interested in arguing, figuring they knew something she didn’t. The Twelve Dragons says, “We’re going to stay here for a while.” The lieutenant of the Red Falcons says, “We’re going to escort our prisoners off the island.” The Knight Commander says, “I wish you a speedy journey.”

There’s a huge crowd now surrounding all this action. The Red Falcon lieutenant says, “We’ve got to get out of here.” King says, “We need to find a place out of sight and we’ll help her.” King revivifies her and Judge lays on hands. She grabs King and says, “How many were killed?” King says, “Just you… None, now.” She says, “It’s a miracle.” She orients herself, realizing that the situation has changed a bit. She extends her hand, “Thank you. I owe you my life.” King says, “We owe you ours. It’s the least we could do.”

Her lieutenant says, “The Twelve Dragons are staying. It’s the best we could do,” and explains what happened after she was cut down. She says, “So this isn’t over?”

Corporal Mudd wants to know who those guys were. They start to explain things and then tell her that they’ll catch her up later. She says the navy intercepted them and them brought them to the Pellet, saying they had an appointment.

The Red Falcon lieutenant says, “We have to get you off the island.”

They tell her she better lay low a bit, that if the Knight Commander realizes she’s not dead, he might try to kill her again. She says, “Honor has been satisfied,” then stops dead. She says, “Maybe you shouldn’t leave the island. If there’s going to be war, I want to be on the winning side.” King says they don’t really want to take any more jobs for the Fulcrum and that the Red Falcons seem honorable. She says, “Maybe we’re arresting you after all. You’ll be safe in the jail.”

When they arrive at the jail, she makes it clear that they’re guests and offers them refreshments. King tells her that they have information that there are spies in her organization. She says, “Welcome to Capital.” She asks if they have evidence and King says they don’t right now, but might be able to get some. She scoffs, “Spies. They have wizards and many other ways of gaining information.”

She takes them to a breakroom and makes them welcome. She waits until she and her lieutenant are alone with the Chain and wants to know how many men they can muster at need. They tell her they have one small unit of medium infantry and another, fully armed, unit -- and a very large squid ship.” She doesn’t know what that means and Slim says, “It’s an Illithid dreadnought.” She says, “Who ARE you people?”

Slim observes, “Your death was very messy. We should train.” She says, “I don’t know how much training would be necessary to defeat Knight Commander de Corano.” They discuss the jobs The Chain has done and Lady Antonia confirms that their first job was for House Alvaro and then the Fulcrum. She says, “The Fulcrum has a lot of money.” King wants to know what she thinks of them. She says, “I think they’re rich and they’re not House Alvaro. I carry the Prince’s crown and I have to think of what he would want -- and he would want the Twelve Dragons off this island.”

Boots wants to know if they were able to establish authority, what would she do and where would her allegiance lay? She says, “My allegiance is to the Prince. There’s only one way to do it, blood.” She shakes her head and says to her lieutenant, “When you left the hill, you left them in charge, which means you’ve just given him the Library.”

Lady Antonia and her lieutenant leave the room to give the Chain a chance to chat. They debate how to handle the situation for a while. When she comes back, she’s carrying a bag, out of which she takes six seals. She says, “I owe you my life and I think we should be allies.” She hands them each a seal saying, “That’s the Prince’s seal. With it you can go anywhere in the city. I don’t know how much difference this is going to make, but…”

King says, “If you need to get off the island, we’re in the Stays.” She says, “I took an oath to defend the Pellet with my life.”

Boots levels with her. “The job wasn’t the courier. We have a document that gives a legal claim of this island…” She says, “What document?” “That we were sent to retrieve from the Library.” Lady Antonia sais, “That you claim exists?” He confirms, “Yes.” Boots says, “This document gives legal ownership of the island to House Burnadetti. If we fulfill this contract, it will mean war.”

“War,” she says, and motions to the lieutenant, who hands them a broadsheet. On it is the largest headline they’ve seen yet that says, “War.” In the article, it says that the ownership of the Library has gone to the Twelve Dragons, the Red Falcons retreated, and other districts have changed hands. During the lull, King had asked Angel to send the document back, and he hands it over to Lady Antonia. She says, “Well, we knew you weren’t here for the courier. Commander King, what would you do in my shoes?”

King says, “Let me tell you a story about Blackbottom. It was destroyed by Ajax and we retreated. You may need to retreat with your men in order to fulfill you job. If you give ground, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost. It means you still have a chance.” She says, “What about the prince? I don’t know why we’d retreat. Whoever wins will likely be declared the prince and we’ll work for him. At that point, the war would be over.”

Judge says, “The thing about this document is that it does legitimize the ownership of this island. There would be no dishonor to you in relinquishing control and there would be room for you -- and your men -- in the Chain.” She says, “If House Alvaro and Lady Shirome go to war, whose side would you be on?” King says, “We want to take the right side this time and not work for assholes.” Lady Antonia stands up, pulls herself together, and says, “I guess I need to talk to Lady Shrome. When you fulfill your contract, let her know. Remember that now, no matter what happens, you carry the Prince’s seal. We still have to get you out of The Columns. Assuming the Twelve Dragons don’t make problems, it should go smoothly.” She escorts them to the gate. Everything seems to go smoothly and everyone appears to be carrying on business as usual, despite the change in administration.

At the docks, she’s taken aback by their ship. She wishes them luck, reminds them that she’d like to talk to Lady Shirome, and says, “I hope we don’t end up working for the Twelve Dragons.”

Two Shoes is on the ship and welcomes them back, along with the advanced scouts. Mudd says, “I think there may be more of us out there.”

After a long rest, they get in touch with the herald and tell him that they’ll only give the document to Lady Shirome or her spymaster. Judge intimidates the herald into taking them back to the Heraldic Society so they can speak to whomever has the power to get them an audience with Lady Shirome or a duly appointed representative.

Episode 16

When last we left our heroes, they had been exploring the Mausoleum under the Library in the Pellet District. They had just narrowly escaped being eaten by a gelatinous cube and a giant mimic and determined which direction they needed to continue down the passageway on their quest to find provenance for a member of a noble family.

Before proceeding, they spent a little time getting themselves back up to snuff healthwise. Before taking the stairs down, first they checked the skeleton that was in the gelatinous cube to see if they could discover anything about it. It looked old, with ancient rings on its fingers, a bronze torque around its neck, and a primitive belt buckle. Leech took one of the rings and put it on. Leech imparted to the rest of the group that the skeleton appeared to have been there for some time.

Everyone but King and Slim decided to check into the alcove at the end of the corridor. The marble, gold foiled sarcophagus in the tomb had an enameled depiction of a noblewoman and an engraving. The engraving identified the occupant as Lady Sibelius. There were a lot of scrolls in the room. A spot check indicated that they were getting further away from their serial number.

King examined the torque that the skeleton was wearing and determined that it might be magic, so Slim kept it. The stairs were ten feet wide but the ceiling was low, leading some of the party to feel like they need to duck to make it through without braining themselves.

Slim led the way down the stairs. It was 25 feet long and emptied into a corridor going north and south. All along the corridor, there were dead bodies on the floor. From a distance, they appeared to be old and dessicated. Slim and King, who were leading the way, notice that on the wall directly opposite there are three lines of text that appeared to be written in the same script as that on the sarcophagus above.

In the space immediately in front of the stairs, the floor was clear of bodies. There were paths that wound between the bodies in the dust on the floor. In some places, footprints were visible in the dust. King called Copper to the front to see if he could identify the footprints or see if there is a trap present. He determined that the footprints were mostly human, but also some elves and dwarves. Some appeared to be a few hours old. They all seemed to be walking normally, not shambling. There was definitely heavier traffic in one direction than in the other. King felt the hair on the back of his neck rise up, indicating the presence of undead.

Boots approached the wall and used comprehend language to read the script engraved there. It said, “Bow your head, visitor, for you enter the family tomb of a noble house. Those interred here were greater than thee in life and more stately in dress. When he turned around, he saw that the columns holding up the archway were carved in the shape of caryatids. Boots bowed to the statues and said, “I think this is what the Librarian meant when she said there are still creatures here who are invested.”

They chose to go first to the doorway that appeared to have the most foot traffic to it. Inside appeared to be a tomb of a noble knight and was full of scrolls. They chose another room. Inside are paintings, vases, and other works of art. There were piles of scrolls and parchment all over. A spot check of scrolls in each room indicated that the first room had scrolls closer to their number.

They went to the end of the corridor and opened a door into a huge room with a vaulted ceiling. At the base of each of the pillars holding up the ceiling were a bunch of records. Boots bowed again before entering the room and checking the records there. Slim followed Boots into the room, saying, “Slim bows to no one!” --and roll initiative.

Two statues came to life and appeared ready to attack Slim. Cooper went first and attacked the leftmost statue, but missed. He shot again and invoked hail of thorns when he hit . Bigcat also attacked the same target, but didn’t seem to do much damage. Slim maneuvered around to get an advantage and hacked at the same stone creature with his greatsword. Judge attacked a golem and hit it, causing big chunks of stone to break off. Golem number one cast slow on Judge and Slim. Golem number two punched Slim. Leech ordered Odie to turn invisible. He says, “They’ll never see me!” Leech instructs him to go flank Judge and Slim and do what he can to help. Boots noticed a humanoid figure (bodak) in heavy robes organizing some of the documents about 40 feet away from him. Boots called out to him, “Hey, who are you? You there!” The figured appeared to turn, but Boots couldn’t make out any features. It screeched at him, then turned back to its task. Boots said, “As you were,” then advanced to attack the first golem, hitting but doing little damage. Then he sang a song of inspiration to Slim. Leech threw an agonizing blast at one of the golems, chipping some more stone off. King used his ability as the Commander to give Judge an extra attack, but Judge missed. King cast a spell, but it also missed.

The corpses around the party started to glow and the light from inside began to emerge. Six terrifying figures (spectres) seemed to be pulled from the corpses and attacked. One behind Copper reached out and he felt a bone chilling cold, as if his life force was being drained away. Another attacks Judge, who saw the figure reach towards him, its arm going through his armor and, again, draining his life force away. King also came under attack from one of the figures and was also drained of life force. Another walked past King to attack Leech, allowing King an attack of opportunity. Leech was also damaged by one of the figures and his health was permanently reduced.

Copper used his bonus action to disengage from the golems and shot a stone arrow at the first golem, which hit. The siege arrow detonated when it hit the golem and several members of the party were injured slightly by the concussion. Copper shot that golem again, and then Bigcat also attacked it. Boots saw the hooded figure go to another column and begin tidying the scrolls below it, revealing long, withered hands from the cuffs of its rob. Slim, who was slowed, hit the first golem and was successful in shaking off the spell that was slowing him down. Judge, also slowed, hit a golem. He tried to free himself from the spell, but failed. One of the golems attacked Judge, punching him twice, knocking him out. Slim tried to riposte the golem that attacked Judge, but failed. Leech ordered Odie to retrieve Copper’s arrow, which he did. Boots cast hypnotic lights, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on the caryatids or the spectres. King saw the strangely hypnotic pattern of lights appear on the ceiling and was transfixed. Boots saw that King was caught in his spell and revoked it, then poked his head through the hole in the statue and tells Judge, “Get up, slacker! (healing word)” The bodak is still busily organizing the documents. Leech put a finger on the foreheads of the two spectres flanking him and hits them with eldritch blast. King advanced and turned undead -- which all of the spectres failed. They returned to the bodies they came from and the light dimmed.

Copper shot a golem and chipped some more stone off, then shot the stone arrow with his second shot at caryatid number two. There was another detonation; once again, Boots, Slim, and Judge were caught in the concussion. Bigcat attacked and continued chipping away at the first golem. Slim attacked with his greatsword and after his third attack, it shattered, pieces flying everywhere. He redirected his last attack to the remaining golem, chipping away at it some more. Judge stepped up and critted the last golem and shattered it.

After the battle, the party went back upstairs for King to cast a prayer of healing for everyone and to take a short rest. After spending some time catching their breath, they went back downstairs. The bodak was still engaged in its task. Boots checked a scroll and found the number was much closer to their target. The scrolls are piled up very neatly at the base of the columns. The pillars in this room were painted with old Riojan nobility. Boots addresses the bodak. “Pardon me, Curator,” and bows. It turned around and Boots was taken aback by its appearance, but gathered his courage and asked if it could help him find this scroll. The bodak turned around, looked down, looked back, and screeched at Boots (he failed his persuasion check). Its eyes glowed red and Boots had to save against...something -- and it’s initiative again.

King definitely got the sense that there are still undead in the area. Boots undertood that the bodak was upset with him and cast a spell, but the bodak was unaffected. Boots took some damage as a result of being close to the bodak (“It’s so undead that it’s making me dead.”) Judge also saw the bodak’s eyes glow and got the sense that he was in the presence of death, which did some necrotic damage. Everyone hears indistinct whispers coming from the corners of the room. Leech cast invisibility on himself and tried to edge around the bodak, but also was injured by being too close to the bodak. Slim turned to approach the bodak to attack it and saw its eyes -- and dropped unconscious.

The camera cuts to the librarian who is talking to a co-worker who asks who the party was. The co-worker says, “Did you tell them about the Archivist?” The librarian gasps and covers her mouth.

The camera comes back to the party, who realize that if they can see the bodak’s eyes, they also could be knocked unconscious. Leech immediately reacted to Slim falling down and attended to him, waking him back up. Slim stood up and activates his gem, which caused his sword to glow with psychic energy. He screamed out a curse and attacked the bodak -- critting. He missed with his second attack and then misty stepped away, reappearing near Boots. King cast spirit guardians, then ordered Boots to attack. Boots stabbed the bodak with his rapier and the bodak is injured by the spirit guardians. The whole party was slowly being killed just by being near the bodak, but continue fighting, trying not to look at it as they attack. Copper shot it with a regular arrow and it died. Before the party could do anything, wraiths stepped out of the pillars. Those that stepped into the spirit guardians were damaged. The wraiths nearest King attacked, one of them connecting and his max HP are reduced by 18. A wraith attacked Boots, who is injured, but not permanently. Leech ordered Odie to hang around and help Judge. “I’m helping!” Judge landed a solid hit with his greatsword (crit). Boots stabbed a wraith and it’s pushed five feet away from him. Boots followed up and attacked again. Every time Boots cut through it, some of the wispy, sooty vapor comes away from the wraith. Leech used healing lights to give Slim back a bit of health, then moved to get a clear shot with his eldritch blast at a wraith, but misses. Slim, whose sword is still wreathed in psychic energy, attacked a wraith and sliced into it twice, then used his second wind to get some hit points back.

King cast spiritual weapon and attacked a wraith, then channeled divinity to turn undead. Only one of the wraiths was frightened. Copper shot the first wraith and it evaporates. Copper turned to shoot another wraith and hit it, then Bigcat stepped up to attack the same wraith, but missed. The wraith that was frightened is injured by the spirit guardians, which caused it not to be frightened any longer. The other wraith passes through Boots (and incidentally, the spirit guardians for more damage) and both of them attacked Judge. Judge retaliated by whacking one with his sword until it dissipated. Boots, turned around to stab the wraith that just moved through him, poking it twice, and obliterating it.

The hair on the back of King’s neck stood down now as soon as all of the undead are...more dead.

The party spread out to look for the document they came for. Odie dug through a pile of documents and found a secret door. The numbers on the documents are much closer to what they’re looking for. Leech called out, “Sirs, I found a secret door. Perhaps someone more able, with a weapon, should go first.” No one else found anything particularly notable in this room.

Behind the secret door, Leech found a pretty big room. It looked like someone had turned it, at one time, into a reference room. There’s a desk in the center of the room and documents all over. The numbers in this room don’t seem to be in any order. The first document he looked at appeared to be a marriage license from a couple hundred years ago. Under the desk, Leech found an ancient, rusted lock box. Judge uses his sword to try to wedge the padlock off the box (and crits). There were a couple of letters in the box, a book, some boots, a gem, and a sword. The boots are soft soled leather boots and each one has a stylized cat’s eye on it. Boots immediately claimed the boots and put them on.

Judge read the letters and discovered that these are the items they ordered from Sumat Pol. Judge plays the kid at Christmas, handing out presents to the rest of the party.

They searched through the rest of the room, sure that the scroll they’re looking for should be here, but it’s nowhere to be found. They spent another hour resting before exploring the other end of the corridor. They opened the door and hear a gasp. It’s dark in the room, but they heard boot scrabbling away. They saw an emaciated human figure trying to hide behind one of the crates, pointing a dagger at them. He said, “Begone spirits! Shades! I do not wish to join you!!” Boots tried to reassure him, “I am not a shade. I am simply a handsome Riojan man in fancy boots.” The boy looks relieved and then passes out.

Leech attends to the boy to try to bring him around. Immediately recognizing what was wrong, that the boy was suffering from extreme malnutrition, Leech gives him some water. The boy woke up and was terrified of Leech. Leech tried to pacify him and he slowly began to calm down. He explained that he’d been down here for about ten days and had been trying to stay away from the unquiet dead. He said he’s a courier who had been sent here to retrieve a document. The party explained that they also are looking for the document and asked if he’d found it. He said he looked the whole time he was here but hadn’t found it. He said he was starving and Copper gave him some cheese to eat.

They ask the boy to show them where the scroll would be found. He said he’d like to help, but he’s in no condition. Slim put him on Bigcat’s back and he led them to the next room. He stopped, groaning, then tells them, “I’m fine. I’m fine.” King gives him a food ration. He pointed at the next room down the corridor. They opened the door and found it to be intensely cold in the room as compared to the rest of the mausoleum. They instructed the courier to stay behind them and not go far in case there are more spirits about. He said, “Be careful!”

King decided to cast haste on Slim before they all enter the room. Judge, realizing some preparation is a good idea, uses the wand to make his sword magic again. They see a matronly looking ghostly figure dressed in a much older version of the Riojan fashion, who seems to be engaged in document organization, much like the bodak was. Slim walked into the room -- and initiative.

Slim, being in front and hasted, got the first attack(s) and hit the ghost five times. Copper puts a hunter’s mark on the ghost and shot her twice, then moved around it so the next person through the door can hit her. Bigcat hit it with a tentacle. Boots bounded into the room, “Have at thee, librarian!” He hit her twice and then gives Slim bardic inspiration. Boots heard a whoosh and Copper saw what looked like a shadow (black pudding) on the ceiling extend a pseudopod down. Slim succeeded on a save versus possession. King fired a fireball at the top of the pillar towards the pudding and channels divinity to maximize the damage. Fire erupted and rippled across the pudding, then went out. King then orders Slim to attack again; he does and kills the ghost. Leech cast an eldritch blast at the pudding and hits. Judge used his bonus action to cast loquelic interdict to place seals on the pudding, then threw a javelin at it, then consumed the seals from the interdict. Big chunks of the black pudding start falling down from the ceiling. Where the javelin hit, there was a fissure and now there are two distinct puddings on the ceiling.

Slim searched through the room, almost immediately found the scroll they’ve been looking for, and left the room. The courier said, “Did you find it?” Slim confirmed that they had. The courier kneels before them all and said, “You have succeeded where I failed. I would pledge my service to you.” He introduced himself as Illario. Slim named him Grumbles in honor of the noises his stomach was making when they met him.

Judge noticed that the diplomat’s pouch on King’s hip glowing and King felt a shift inside the pouch. King reached in and removed a letter. It’s from Angel. “Boss, Something big is going on. I think someone’s gonna try something while you’re in the library. Maybe hold off on this contract until I can get more intel.” King responded that the job is done. Angel responded, “Fuck, ok. Welp. Shit.” King wrote back again, and then received another response from Angel. While King was reading, the courier got familiar with the rest of the party. King sends a message back to Angel to send the ship over to the Island for a quick escape, then fills in the rest of the party on what Angel said, that the Red Falcons think they’re here to try to take the island. House Alvaro also thinks they’re making a play for the island and are sending Duke Prospero’s best knights, the Order of the Twelve Dragons, to come up with an excuse to arrest them -- and the weapons they have with them are technically illegal. He also said that the document they were sent to retrieve would prove that Burnadetti owns this island and that he’s in the Fulcrum’s pocket. Neither the Red Falcons nor the Dragons will allow this to happen.

The party tries to figure out a way to get off the island and proposed putting their weapons -- the most likely pretext for their arrest -- in the bag of holding. The courier said, “That won’t work. They’ll just kill you and plant weapons on you anyway.” King suggests putting the document in the bag of holding and trying to rush past the opposition by saying that the courier needs immediate medical attention and trying to get to their ship. The courier said that aside from the docks, the island’s margins are all broken rock and that the ship may be wrecked trying to retrieve them.

Ultimately, they decided to put the document in the diplomat’s pouch and try to bluff their way past. Angel confirms that the document proves that the Prince gave the Pellet to House Brunadetti and asks what they want him to do with it. King told him to get to the ship and stash it there.

Episode 15

First Speaker : The Chain of Acheron

Second Speaker : The Helltroopers, dread sovereign

First : Mmm...once formidable.

Second : Now reduced to a rabble.

First : Regardless, be they ten or ten thousand...they have stolen something of ours.

Second : A grievous insult, it must not go unanswered.

First : I'm glad we agree. Go then, and retrieve what is rightfully ours.

Second : I will teach them the meaning of pain.

First : So long as you return what was stolen, we care not.

When last we left our heroes, they had just completed a shopping trip and received Angel’s report about the state of Capital. They returned to the Pharaoh's Dream (everyone but Boots) and/or the Footstool (Boots). Voz comes to Boots’ table and gives him a big tankard of ale, on the house, and apologizes for Gront’s reaction to the attack. Boots confirms that some segment of The Chain will stick around to help in need. Voz says they have earned the acclaim of The Stonebreakers. That was their company, back in the day, before they retired to run the inn. There are a few regular customers, but most of the patrons in The Stool are The Chain. They make some small talk. Boots makes a play to recruit Voz and Gront, but Voz declines for themselves. Boots asks Voz to keep an eye out for likely recruits, which he agrees to do.

Back at the Pharaoh’s Dream, King wants to have Ox look for the other articles about the Shadow attacks. A pregnant Riojan introduces herself to the rest of The Chain. Slim is taken aback at her size and says she must have 30-40 eggs in her belly. She works for the Office of Exchange Integrity. She says her job is to make sure that sales on the island are above board and no one rips the others off. She tells them about the occupation of the Citadel by “a few ratcatchers” and tries to recruit them to kick out the Shooting Star. Slim asks if they’ve exhausted all other avenues and she says they have. She doesn’t want to wait too long, because the army may take an interest.

When they begin discussing payment, she asks that they want and King tells her they’re looking for a base of operations -- if not the Citadel, something similar. She says she can’t make the deal immediately, but she’ll go back to the Director and see if they can come to an agreement.

King says he’d rather take a different job in an unclaimed part of the city.

Back at the Footstool, a young woman with a rapier at her hip comes in and sits down with Boots. She says a “Guardian Angel” sent her. She introduces herself as Orlandria de Gietti. She says that the Society work for the Fulcrum. They make their money inventing noble lineages for high-ranking guildmembers so they can get into nicer parties. Boots asks about the Library Job, retrieving a document from the Library. She tells Boots that the Library was built on top of a mausoleum and that if they try to clear it out they’ll be facing a lot of undead. She also says that the Society will almost certainly offer them knighthoods if they ask, but then they’d be beholden to Shirome. She won’t exercise that influence right away, but she’s sure that Shirome will eventually call in the debt and threaten their knighthoods.She says the Pellets are administered by the Red Falcons, the prince’s military. She said there are libraries throughout the city and that it’s an important civic resource. She offers to take information back to Angel. Boots asks about forged knighthood credentials and she says those will be easy to come by, but they won’t stand up to close inspection. They should be enough to let them move throughout the city, though. She asks if Boots wants her to obtain some and he says maybe wait for now, that their courier seals may do the job for now.

She says she’ll go back to the Guardian Angel, puts her hat back on, and leaves. Boots finishes his lunch and heads back to the Pharaoh’s Dream. Boots catches them up on the conversation he just had with Orlandria. They hear a voice that they recognize call out to them from the hanging garden and a herald starts to announce a nobleman, who just walks in and waves the herald off. It’s the Marquis Demasco. He’s wearing a naval uniform. He comes in and sits without asking. He asks, “How have you been finding Capital?” Boots says, “Well, it’s right here.” King says it’s okay for a city.

The marquis asks King if they’d be interested in coming to the academy and giving a presentation. King asks on what topic and the marquis leaves it open ended. They’re seasoned warriors and know what would be acceptable. He says the Chronicle is a remarkable piece of history, but they could talk about whatever they wished. He says Slim, as a Gith, must have some unique information to share.

Boots wants to know if they agree to lecture, can they basically recruit in the academy. He says they can try to recruit, though most of their graduates will likely have their sights set on something a bit loftier than a mercenary company. If they’re doing something exotic, though, they’d probably have some takers. As he’s getting ready to leave, he pulls some tickets out of his vest and says he was given tickets to the opera, but he can’t stand it. He throws the tickets on the table and says, “I’m told one hasn’t seen Capital until one has been to the opera.” King picks up the tickets before Boots can and some negotiations look to be about to take place between the two of them.

They discuss the merits of agreeing to give a lecture and do a Q&A. He didn’t offer them any money, but the boost to their cred may be worth it. King suggests that the fall of Alloy may be a good topic.

Later that evening, the half-elf herald shows up. He looks out of sorts. He approaches King and says, “I assume you’ve considered the job?” King says they’re looking at taking the job, but they need to discuss terms. Boots says they just fought a lot of undead for 20k gold and that he thinks that would be a reasonable price for a similar job. The herald says 20k gold is more than he can put his hands on and asks if there’s some other payment they’d accept. He says that their research into a minor noble house only costs 12k. King says finding a title for them could be part of their payment, but they’d expect some gold on top to fight undead. The herald seems confused by this talk of undead and King reminds him that the library is built on the mausoleum.

They discuss the possibility of proving Boots to have a noble-enough lineage to a minor noble house to smooth their way in Capital and be able to give out some knighthoods to members of The Chain. The herald says they can find a forgotten noble lineage for Boots. Boots realizes this may be a way to find out what family he might still have kicking around, too. King is concerned that if they opt for a minor house that they might be aligning themselves with an unknown house and that might have implications. He finally offers them 3k gold and proof that Boots is from a minor house, or 8k and prove that he’s a noble of a lesser house. They decide on the 3k and minor house.

The herald tells Boots to come to the heraldry society for an interview and they’ll get started on their task.He gives them the wax courier seals that they need in order to accomplish this job. He gives them a serial number for the document they need, which will prove the legitimate heir to house Brunadetti. King wants part of their payment to be that the heir knows that The Chain helped to prove his claim.

The herald leaves and comes back with a contract for the Library Job. There’s no NDA in this contract, just a straightforward “Get this and we’ll pay you and provide documents demonstrating the providence of House Boots.” He signs it and hands it to King for his signature. He offers them some pleasantries and leaves.

They go back to the Pharaoh’s Dream and meet with Buts to give her the components for Leech’s armor and the demon heart to investigate trying to make Judge’s sword magical. Slim says he makes excellent weapons. Judge says, “I’ll be the judge of that, as weaponmaster.” After passing on their wants and the materials to make them, they decide to take the ferry to the Pellet.

It takes them about a half an hour on the ferry to get from the Stays to the Pellet. The Stays are very metropolitan. The Pellet looks like it’s built on Commonwealth (Roman style) ruins. It looks mostly residential, very suburban. On their way to the Library, they pass lots of civic buildings, restaurants, and housing. After about a two hour walk, they get to the gate that separates the Olive and the Columns, the two districts in the Pellet. With their courier badges, they’re easily able to get through the gate, bypassing the line. There are more civic buildings in the Columns than in the Olive. In both districts, they see a lot of the Prince’s army, who act as cops for the Pellets. After a short time, they come to the Library.

The Library has huge double doors at the top of a large set of stairs. Most of the people going in and out are Riojan. In the interior, there are wings to the left and right. There’s a large reference desk behind which sits a woman with a bunch of rolls of parchment spread out around her. King approaches her and she startles, believing they’re Red Falcons, but quickly realizes they aren’t. King says they’re there to pick up a document. A courier had been sent to pick it up before them, but went missing, so they were sent. She says, “I had nothing to do with it. Am I under arrest?” They describe the courier and ask if she spoke with him. She doesn’t recall seeing that specific person. King gives her the serial number of the deed. She checks a card catalog, then disappears behind the counter and checks another one. She says that the deed they’re looking for is in the basement. King asks if she can guide them. She says she can take them to the entrance to the basement, but then they’re on their own. She says some of the documents down there have a mind of their own and that books are dangerous things. She has to unlock the basement for them, so she accompanies them. She says she doesn’t have a map and isn’t sure what happened to the last person who tried to map the place.

Slim asks if anyone has been by to look for this document and she says she doesn’t know. Slim asks if anyone else has been to the basement recently and she says a few of the senior staff has been down there recently, but no non-staff that she’s aware of. She says that there are documents in the basement that certify noble houses and that the nobles of those houses have taken steps to ensure the security of those documents.

Judge asks about her weapon and wonders if she’s armed because they have problems with people trying to steal documents. She seems shocked at the idea, but says that if she caught someone trying to steal a document, of course she would defend it with her life.

She takes them to a huge bulkhead door with a heavy key. When she unlocks it, they hear an intricate system disengaging. Judge asks about the possibility of encountering undead down here. She says that there are noble houses that have a vested interest in protecting their documents that are stored down here. She says she’ll wait for them at the top of the stairs. She explains their filing system, to the extent that there is one down here.

Boots casts light so they can see down here. They march down the mausoleum, following the librarians directions. They come to a large round room. Boots’ spell illuminates the room with stark shadows. There are three sarcophagi in the room and the walls are lined with bones and scrolls. Slim examines a scroll to see if he can find a serial number, but they’re just rolled up and shoved into random spots in the room. King opens one of the scrolls and finds a number on it, but it’s not one close to the number they’re looking for. They see what looks like it would be a secret door if it were closed, but it’s hanging open.

Slim grabs Boots by the scruff and holds him in front of the door so his light shines into it. Boots turns one of Slim’s hair beads into his own personal flashlight. Beyond the door, they see stairs leading down. Judge examines the sarcophagi and finds nothing but bones. Leech sends Odie to find another scroll. It appears the same kind of document as the first, but the number isn’t near what they’re looking for.

They go down the stairs behind the not-so-secret secret door. At the bottom they find another room with alcoves, each of which has a statue inside it. There are scrolls piled up around the feet of the statues. Slim picks up a scroll to look at the number. It’s closer to the one they’re looking for, but it’s obvious they have a ways to go still. One of the statues looks like its face has been chiseled off. Boots examines one of the statues to see if he can tell what it is. It’s a statue of two gods and one of them is who has its face chiseled off.

There is a corridor leading out of this room and they come to another large room with two sarcophagi decorated like lovers reaching for each other. There are more alcoves leading off to the north and south. They check scrolls for numbers to see if they can tell which direction they need to go. Judge, King and Boots check one direction, Leech and Slim the other. Coming from down the hallway towards Judge, King, and Boots is a glowing skeletal figure that looks like it’s floating off the ground. They don’t notice it until it’s almost on top of them. And it’s initiative time!

Judge casts magic weapon on his sword and steps forward to attack, but he encounters a clear, gelatinous membrane (gelatinous cube). He quickly frees himself from the membrane and attacks with his sword, hacking at it. His sword slices into it and some liquid starts spilling out onto the floor. As Boots reaches out to grab a scroll, scrolls start erupting out of it and it grows teeth (mimic). Boots attacks the mimic with his rapier, then tries to reposition, but the mimic bites down on his sword arm and stops him. Leech casts an eldritch blast at the skeleton, striking it twice. The blasts splash into the cube and a sheaf of liquid pours off the cube. Copper shoots two arrows and hits twice. Bigcat also attacks and does some damage to the cube. Odie is highly amused by everything happening here, rolling on the floor laughing and kicking his legs. Leech orders him to advance to assist King. The cube advances and engulfs Judge, Boots, King, and half of Bigcat. Judge reacts with a hellish rebuke, doing some fire damage. King is able to power himself out of the cube with Odie’s help. Slim uses his action to move and activate his psionic crystal.

Judge attacks from inside the cube and hits it twice. The mimic attacks Boots for some more damage. Boots has to make a choice about which monster to try to get away from first. Boots opts to try to free himself from the cube and manages to wrench his sword arm away and then casts some healing on himself. Leech blasts the cube again and then moves to a more strategic position. Copper fires two more arrows, but one misses. Bigcat muscles her way out of the cube.

The camera view cuts away to the librarian who says to herself, “Oh, I should have told them about the cube. Nah, they’ll be fine.” The camera then cuts back to the fight, where Judge is the only one left inside the cube. Leech orders Odie to move next to Slim and offer him help. The cube moves into the alcove, re-engulfing Boots and now the mimic is also inside as well. Judge takes some digestion damage. Those outside the cube see Judge’s skin and horns begin to bubble. Slim steps up to the cube in preparation to rock its world. Slim attacks and multicolored sparks fly from his psionically enhanced sword. The cube quivers and splooshes all over the floor, flooding it with digestive fluids. Slim redirects his attacks to the mimic, hitting it once. King orders him to attack it again. On the second attack, Slim slices into it. The tongue sticks out, turning purple, and the pieces of it turn back into something looking sort of like bits of a sarcophagi.

After the fight, they quickly look at scrolls and determine they need to go the other way.

Episode 14

When last we left our heroes, they had just met with the revenant attorney to make the exchange of the crown for a check and a card with the Curator's address. Judge learned about the attack in the Footstool in the broadsheet and declared, "We need to leave, NOW!"

Leech tries to get out of going with them to The Footstool on the basis of staying out of the sun, but King says they want him to accompany them, so Odie deploys the parasol, but indifferently. When they arrive at The Footstool, there's a crowd outside. They see Boots and Two Shoes in the crowd, along with the stone giant owner, and a gold button that they recognize from their first day in Capital as Captain Cinzia. King tries to get to Two Shoes for a report, but another of the gold buttons holds him back, saying he'll have to wait until the Captain is done questioning them.

Nero, the reporter, is also here and delighted to see The Chain. He says, "What happened here?" The stone giant gives an account and Nero tries to get more information from Boots. After Nero moves on, Captain Chinzai also asks Boots about what happened and he gives his account of events. She wants to know if he saw anyone suspicious; he says nothing stands out. She asks about the broken window and other soldiers tell her that the window was broken overnight. They found it that way after the battle.

She asks how many shadows there were last night. Boots pulls her aside to speak privately. Boots explains that he saw another specter arise after he witnessed a ranker be killed and explains that he thinks they shadows were created from the other dead patrons. She wants to know who was the last person The Chain really upset asks where the Chain was yesterday and what their last contract was. Boots is reluctant to reveal who they'd been working for or what their task had been. She says that it's most likely that the person behind this is someone upset about their last contract and tells Boots to contact her if he can share more information about it. Graunt, the stone giant, is still upset, stating that it will be the death of his business. Boots makes a pitch to Gront that maybe they can help each other. The dwarf comes up behind Gront and tells him not to do anything stupid, saying that they just need to hire better guards. The cop leaves them to their negotiations and then the rest of the Chain is allowed to join Boots. Boots tells them he thinks they owe Gront a bit of a favor, since it seems their presence there last night may have played a part in what happened.

Captain Cinzia asks King to come inside with her and interrogates him about where they've been. She wants to know who they were working for and King informs her that they signed an NDA, but does tell her that they went to the World Below. Then she asks who they pissed off. King tells her that the most recent people he can talk about are the people whose jobs they turned down. King wonders if someone they turned down might be responsible. She says she doesn't know, but she'll be asking a lot of questions and they might not know until something else like this happens again. Then a voice says, "You won't have to wait long," and a church official walks past the brass buttons and into the inn. The captain greets him as Commander Donagall and the two of them begin having a conversation, not very pleasant, about what happened.

After some back and forth with the Captain and Two Shoes, Donagall tells them this has happened twice before recently, once in a library and the other in a church, where all of the occupants were killed and shadows were a factor. Boots speaks with him and learns that he's with the Church of Saint Polarius the Aspirant. Boots wonders if Commander Donagall thinks this happened because the Chain was there or if it was unrelated to them. Donagall says, "Why do any cults do anything?" and confirms there are dozens of cults in Capital, but that he doesn't really know that a cult was responsible. After exchanging some more unpleasantries with Captain Cinzia, he leaves and Leech sends Odie to follow him. The Chain wonders if Commander Donagall might have been involved, considering how quickly he was on the scene. Captain Cinzia says she

doesn't believe The Chain is responsible, kind of glossing over their question, but is still trying to figure out if it happened because they were there or if they were just in the wrong place as the wrong time.

She tells Gront she'll have her men clean up. She asks King if the Chain will be staying there and Gront says, "Yes." His dwarven co-owner says, "Looks like we have new guards."

Odie follows the Commander to a church, but he can't enter, so Leech calls him back.

After Captain Cinzia leaves, some gnolls show up and start cleaning the place up. The dwarf engages in negotiations with the Chain to hire six of their rankers to protect the inn for the next two weeks and offers them free room and board in return, then starts picking out the rankers he wants. At this point, Angel shows up dressed like a short Riojan noble. He says, "We are not working for House Valetta." Two Shoes confronts him about not checking in and Judge tells him that in future they expect him to check in daily. They decide to go back to the Dark Dream so they can speak with Angel privately. When they arrive at the ship, Leech slips off to check on her.

Angel starts pulling out a bunch of notes and gives them a huge info dump about the political situation in Capital. (Best to look at whatever notes Matt puts up, there's too much to transcribe here.)

Angel says they need to be careful because pretty much everyone in the city is a spy and reveals that he thinks they were actually working for House Alvaro to get the crown, which Alvaro seems to want to use as leverage against House Valetta to get their support. The Dead Lady won't take any action because she seems to think Duke

Maximo is still alive and responds to all requests with, "When my husband returns..." Angel also tells them that the church took the Citadel and now it's full of pirates. Angel says they need to stop thinking as much about jobs and start thinking about positioning themselves as a power in Capital if they want to recruit more members. King asks what it would take for Angel to start building their own spy network in the city and Angel lays it out. Boots says they need to know what pieces move when they take actions.

King also says they need to make sure Alvaro knows they're no friends of Ajax and Angel says he can get that done. Angel also says he thinks that the kids who sell the broadsheets also act as spies for the guild that runs them, but he might be able to work them around.

After their meeting, they return to the Pharaoh's Dream and sends a message to the Herald to talk to him about their next job. In the evening, Boots plans to return to The Footstool and wait for Angel's next report. Judge spends time in the Pharaoh's Dream people watching and confirms the willingness of people from different factions to talk to each other on the basis of both having graduated from the Academy.

The evening passes uneventfully. The business in The Footstool is light, but present. The next morning they have an appointment with The Curator, which is in the city proper. They decide to take a tapestry. The cops look them over thoroughly to make sure they're not carrying weapons, then give them magical coins spelled to take them to the district they wish to go to.

They board their tapestries and see the whole city spread out below them. It's the largest city any of them have ever seen. They fly over the coliseum on their way to the Blues, one of the richest parts of the city. The building where The Curator is located is a nice brick building with double doors and steps up to it. It doesn't look like a building; it looks like a nice home. Inside is a small foyer with a heavy

wooden door opposite. A bell situated inside the front door rings. Once all of them are inside, the door closes and they hear the front door latch behind them. They open the door to the Curator's club, and it's disorienting. The building they walked into was two story, but through the heavy wooden door it's bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. There is a figure behind a counter, one in the stacks, and one on a ladder. The figure behind the counter is about 12 feet tall and looks like a giant tree.

They introduce themselves as Sumat Pol. They make arrangements with Sumat Pol to get a diplomat's pouch and a bag of holding. Boots asks about a niftier rapier, then new boots, and finally seems to settle on some blue mercury, which he could use at a blacksmith to turn his rapier into a weapon of speed. Copper wants some magic arrows and they retrieve a box with five arrows that they offer to just give him -- burn, wall of ice, excavate, translator (a teleport spell), and web/entangle. Copper asks if they have star metal, but they don't. They do have "sin" metal, which will make it possible for people who are sensitive to light to walk around safely under the sun. Leech lays claim to that ore. Slim wants something to help protect himself from psionic attacks and ultimately settles on a Tome of Enlightenment. They give Judge the heart of the demon Za'az that he can use to turn his sword into a sword of demon slaying. King asks about the Blade of St. Akamitsu, but they don't know where it is. He asks about some other items, but settles for a new shield. King alos asks if they can get membership in the Curator's Club, but they say they're not looking for more members right now.

Slim asks about upgrading the Navigator on the ship and they're super intrigued about it, so they offer to look into it and do it for them for free.

They also offer to help The Chain find out information or lore. King asks about what other magical items Ajax might have besides the Jade Hand and they say they can probably find out. They also let it drop that Lady Sariel's father is the king of the elves. Odie tries to steal something on the way out and one of the Sumat Pols eats him in retaliation.

Episode 13

When last we left our heroes, they had just discovered what appeared to be a revenant wearing a crown (maybe the one they were supposed to recover?) and his corpse bride having tea next to an unearthly blue lit pool in a solarium in the Inverted Tower. Before barging in, the group decides to spend an hour resting up. Boots notices that after that hour, the revenant is doing exactly the same actions as he was when they

first saw him: pouring tea, offering cake to the dead woman, etc, leading them to expect that this is all illusion. Boots thinks the crown in this room may be a sort of trap.

There are mirrors in the room that look like ornate dressing mirrors. Leech sends Odie into the room to look into the mirrors. He sees a very handsome imp and nothing else. He then flies to another mirror and doesn't see himself, only a reflection of the rest of the room. He describes the reflection of the room, but there are things seen in the room that are missing, for instance a tree and the dead lady. The revenant in the other chair isn't wearing noble clothes -- instead, it's wearing wrappings and looks mummified. The officers spend some time also looking in the mirrors and see what Odie described. They try to move one, but it's immovable, like other items in the manor were.

Suspecting it's some sort of puzzle, Judge looks into another mirror to see if the reflections bounce and reveal something different. Boots confirms that the mummified reflection of the nobleman is wearing the same crown. The nobleman, as he goes to pour the tea says to Slim "Tell me, what is it like outside. Do the guilds still fight over money?" Slim replies that yes, they are, but he doesn't have much experience in this world. Slim asks the nobleman a question and in the ensuing conversation offends the nobleman, who accuses him of working for the damnable guilds and threatens to see him hanged for his insolence. Battle commences.

Slim attacks with a trip attempt, but fails. He tries again and fails again. Frustrated, he uses his action surge, but again fails to land a blow. After Slim's action, the nobleman takes notice of the rest of the party and shouts, "Damn you all, guild agents," which results in Slim being stunned. The nobleman's eyes glow and for a second Slim can see the reality behind the illusion, which causes him to be paralyzed. King summons his spiritual weapon and attacks, doing a bit of damage and then casts a guiding bolt at the nobleman mummy. Leech orders OD to move next to Slim and to become

invisible. Copper shoots him twice, but Bigcat misses. Afterwards, Duke Maximo turns into a tower of twisting sand, disappears, and reforms behind Boots. Leech uses Odie to cast invisibility on Slim, who disappears. Boots casts a spell, but the mummy lord doesn't seem to be affected. Judge casts hex on the nobleman, reducing his strength, then throws a javelin, which hits right where his heart would be, but it slides out the other side and doesn't appear to have done any damage.

The light in the room begins to dim. The only source of light was the pool and there's a large, dark shape that seems to be rising up in the pool and blocking out the light from below. Slim is still stunned and unable to act. The mummy lord punches Boots and does enough damage to get Boots' attention. Then his eyes glow again and Boots is frightened and paralyzed, but that frees Slim to act next time. King casts toll the dead on the mummy lord, which again doesn't seem to have any effect. Odie dashes to take up a station next to Boots. Copper shoots him again and has Bigcat move to within striking distance. Leech throws two eldritch blasts, both of which miss. Boots is still unable to act. Judge moves and uses the wand to make his sword magic.

Slim looks around and sees that the light is continuing to fail as whatever this is rises through the pool. Outside the glass walls of the solarium, all he can see is gray fog. He runs around the pool to also get within striking distance. The mummy lord picks up Boots and throws him in the water. As Boots begins to sink, paralyzed and stunned, he can't tell how far down the pool goes, but he gets the sense that it's quite deep. He sees a giant, pale green figure with three eyes rising up from the deep. It looks at Boots and he feels an overwhelming presence pressing down on his mind, but he's able to resist. King casts a spell, but the mummy lord resists it. The invisible Odie dive bombs the mummy lord and snatches the crown. Copper shoots the mummy lord again. The arrows slam into his body and he grabs at the arrows. The illusion dissipates and the mummy falls to the ground, collapsing into a heap of rags and bones.

Leech runs across the room towards the mirror where they couldn't see their reflection. He runs into it and disappears. They hear Odie put on a crown and celebrate his freedom as Leech vanishes. Boots climbs out of the pool and exclaims, "We need to leave!" and everyone begins scrambling for the mirror. Judge notices a large shadow now being cast on the walls of the solarium and hears a voice inside his head say, "You will become a featured player inside my puzzles." Slim sees Judge stop, turn to him, and move as if to attack. King notices this and orders Slim to throw Judge in the mirror, which he does. Judge hits the mirror and disappears. Leech orders Odie to fly through the mirror. Bigcat runs into King, pushing him through the mirror and Copper follows. Boots runs to the mirror, stops, and begins playing a song. Seeing that it has no effect, he quickly touches the mirror and disappears. Slim is the last one through.

Leech finds himself climbing out of the pool in the main temple, shortly followed by the rest of the officers. Leech takes the crown from Odie and hands it to King. They retreat from the temple of Anti-Sanity and make their way across the island and onto the ship. Slim gives the coordinates of Capital to the Navigator and they travel back through realms to arrive about an hour off the coast of Capital.

The Chain quickly make their way back through the docks and Customs. Everyone returns to the Pharaoh's Dream and Leech obtains a parasol that he makes Odie carry for him when they're outside. They arrange to meet the undead solicitor the following morning, then go to find Angel and the rest of the junior officers, most of whom are at The Footstool. Angel is not there and Two Shoes says he's been out and very busy. Two Shoes had left orders for everyone to check in at least once a day, but they realize they haven't seen Angel since the senior officers left. Despite the missing Angel, everyone gets down to celebrating the return of the senior officers. Boots plays the ballad he composed about the Underdark Job and everyone is suitably impressed.

Boots proposes that Slim be inducted as a full member of the Chain. Slim quizzes King about what that means, what the oath is, what rules he'd have to abide by, etc., then agrees. King makes plans to sell some of their loot in the morning.

After a night of carousing, Boots is awakened from sleep by three soot like forms coming out of the shadows in his room. They're only slightly more substantial than the shadows from which they are emerging. Boots grabs his mandolin and as his plays, his song creates a hypnotic pattern of lights in his room. All of the shadows appear to be incapacitated, so he quickly gathers his things and puts his boots on (but nothing else) and leaves the room. In the hallway he encounters other members of The Chain who are also engaged in battle or fleeing the shadows in their rooms. He charges to assist a ranker in another room who is beset by two shadows. The shadows overwhelm the ranker -- he falls to the ground and another shadow emerges from his body. Two Shoes rallies everyone to keep fighting. Boots hits one of them and kills it. The remaining two attack him, but they're unable to score a hit. Two Shoes turns undead and one of them is evaporated. Boots and the shadows exchange blows until eventually The Chain prevails.

There are bodies all over, but only a few of them belong to The Chain. The others were civilians who were also staying over at The Footstool. Boots finds that the front window is broken and there's an iron bar inside on the floor. The owners of The Footstool are angry that The Chain chose their establishment for their party, believing that The Chain brought this calamity upon them. In frustration, they send for the police and insist that Boots stay there until the cops arrive. Boots says he needs to leave to check in with the rest of the officers. Boots tries to convince the owner that leaving Ox, a junior officer, in charge there will be just as good as him staying. The storm giant is adamant, "No one leaves until the police get here."

Meanwhile, the remainder of The Chain is at the Pharaoh's Dream, having a wonderful evening. Leech is enjoying having a servant to lord it over. In the morning the other senior officers meet with the solicitor. He confirms they have retrieved the crown they were sent for and then writes them a note for their fee. He also gives them an address for The Curator.

The Chain discusses another job they'd been offered, to take over The Citadel. The solicitor says, "Haven't you seen the broadsheets?" Judge asks a servant to bring over a broadsheet and learns that someone else has taken over the Citadel. Judge also sees an article about 15 dead being found at The Footstool. He stands up and announces, "We need to go, now."

Episode 12

When last we left our heroes, they were standng in the Temple of Antisanity, being threatened by a derro and about to begin combat! The combat opened with King launching a Fireball into the room; two derro (#1 and #4) made their saves, the others failed. King used his Channel Divinity to maximize the damage. Then Judge dropped a Silence spell into the room to ensure that a gong in the corner could not ring. One of the derro has a psychotic break and lashes out in all directions, hitting each of the senior officers. Two more of the derro do the same thing, hitting Judge and Slim, and Big Cat. Judge manages to maintain concentration on the silence and places a seal on #3. Slim hits that one and the combination of Judge's seal and his attack kills it. Slim repositions to hit another derro and hits it twice, killing that one as well!

One of the derro priests casts Crown of Madness on Slim. Leech moves so he can see one of the derro and casts a couple agonizing blasts, which splash over the derro and corrode away his evil flesh. He also orders Odie to fly around and stay out of danger. King casts a spiritual weapon, which takes the form of the Sword of Red, which hits the derro priest in hopes of forcing him to drop the Crown of Madness, but he maintains his concentration.

One of the derro cast a fire spell, which catches both Judge and Slim. Copper shoots two arrows at the derro priest and hits with one of them, then Big Cat attacks. Slim shakes off the Crown of Madness thanks to the priest losing his concentration. Boots touches King on the shoulder and says, "You'll be all right." (healing word) Then he attacks one of the derro and kills it.

Judge casts drain life (illrigger skill) on the priest and feels the stolen life energizing his body. Slim attacks and attempts to trip his target, but misses. The priest banishes Big Cat. A gray hand reaches up out of the pool and then an insane derro follows. His shape is changing and morphing and he screams as his arm ripples and splits into tentacles. It grapples Boots. Leech attacks the derro mutant, wounding it. King attacks and drops the priest with toll the dead. The mutant also hears the bell, but shakes it off. Bigcat returns because the priest died and runs over to frantically greet Copper, causing him to miss all of his shots. Boots worms his way out of the grapple and heals himself quickly. Judge casts a spell at the mutant, but it fails -- so Judge places a seal on him. After a couple of not terribly effective attacks, the mutant wraps his tentacles around Judge and grapples him. He is restrained, blinded, and running out of air. Leech steps up into the doorway and orders Odie to attack. Odie gives it a halfhearted attempt and tries to convince Leech to give him more potion. King moves his spiritual weapon to attack the mutant, but misses, then casts toll the dead, which hits.

Copper casts a hunters mark on the mutant and shoots him, then Bigcat hits it a couple of times too. Boots uses a defensive flourish and attacks, doing some damage and boosting his AC, then retreats. Judge struggles to free himself, but fails. Slim attacks and kills the mutant. Judge goes to examine the gong to see if it can be removed to keep anyone from ringing it. King takes the time to offer a prayer of healing so everyone who was wounded can

heal a bit. Judge removes the gong from its mount, snapping the chain, and throws it out of the temple. King, thinking practically, searches the bodies. Boots attempts to dispel the ward, but is unsuccessful. Boots and King can sense the magic radiating from the middle of the room. King walks up to the pool of water, which is glowing a crystal blue. He can see through it, but can't see the bottom.

Leech orders Odie to fly over the pool and taste the water. He does and there doesn't appear to be any effect. Leech says he thinks this is the entrance. He tells them that there are great warriors who have come back from the inverted tower and have told tales that when you are in the Lord of Madness's tower, you're completely subject to his rules. They decide to take a short rest before entering the tower.

Judge jumps in the water and disappears. King orders Leech to jump, then he and Slim follow Judge. As soon as they're submerged, they can't be seen. Leech is reluctant and tries to talk Copper into going back to the ship. When he can't, he hesitantly jumps into the water, and Copper goes last. Judge finds himself in a corridor, damp, but there's no water there. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all made of a mother of pearl type substance, which

radiates a dim light. He's alone. He explores a bit and realizes that he appears to be in a maze.

After a short period of wandering, Judge meets up with the rest of the Chain in a central room, with an obelisk in the middle. King wants to know what took Leech so long to jump. Two sides of it have writing on it and the other side is blank. Boots looks at the obelisk and finds that one side has a riddle. Judge immediately believes the answer to the riddle is a mirror. Boots reads the other side and King says, "Is it also a mirror?"

There is a griding sound from the obelisk and the blank side opens up to reveal a mirror that reflects the walls, but not the officers. They order Odie to fly into the mirror. He complies and when he touches the mirror, he disappears. Leech looks through Odie's eyes and a celestial being sitting at a table with a game board upon it. Leech doesn't recognize the game. He addresses the being and says, "It is I, Leech. I have returned."

There is no response from the angel and Leech quickly comes to the conclusion that this is an illusion. Leech dismisses his find familiar spell and recasts it, bringing Odie back out of that portal. Boots believes that each of them will see a different illusion when they go through the portal, since that illusion seemed tailored to Leech/Odie. Slim decides to brave it and disappears as soon as he touches the mirror. The rest follow.

They find themselves an an idyllic scene on top of a hill. There is a deva staring at a blank board with nine models of trees on it. He explains that this is a riddle that he's trying to solve and it's driving him mad. He has to plant nine trees using only ten straight lines and with each line having only three trees on it. Judge offers a solution of ten lines all on top of each other, and it seems to anger the deva. "That's not it! You fool!" He begins pacing and growing increasingly frustrated.

King comes up with the solution and the deva shouts, "That's it!" and disappears. They then find themselves in a hellish landscape. It's a large stone room with walls that appear to be made of brimstone. They see a fire giant pacing between two huge iron scales. The first scale has four adult hellhounds on it and three pups on one side and a stack of boulders on the other. The other scale has three adults and four pups, with a stack of boulders on the other side. The first scale is 33 boulders. The second scale has 37 boulders. The giant wants to know, in boulders, how much each hound and pup weighs in boulders. King quickly arrives at the correct answer, the hounds are 7 and the pups are 3.

They find themselves next in the foyer of a palatial mansion, as if a nobles house. There are doors, windows, and stairs to an upper level. It's dimly lit by candles. It appears to be night outside. King tries to pick up a candle, but it doesn't budge. He cases light on his dagger and tries to open the front door, but the handle won't budge. Slim tries to blow out one of the candles, but it doesn't flicker. Copper concludes this is all illusion and tries to walk through the wall. **BONK** They go upstairs and find several more doors and halls. There are paintings on the wall.

They inspect them and they're clearly paintings of nobles, but when they look closely, they're just blobs of paint. Judge inspects the rest of the house more closely and determines that none of the furnishings are what they appear to be from a distance. King is able to open the doors upstairs and finds they lead to bedrooms, guest rooms, a master bedroom. There are clothes in the wardrobes, but when examined they're just spun thread with no form or color.

They continue to explore, but are unable to find meaning in it. They find another study and there are three figures sitting inside. There is a table in the middle and the three figures appear to be playing a card game. They recognize them as Red, Nails, and Sweet. When they enter the room, they hear whispering. Covering the bookcases is a red slime. They former commanders stand up and say, "Where have you been? We've been waiting for you." Red says, "You're in great danger. You must leave." Nails says, "Wait, before you go, take this," and pulls out a wand. Sweet says, "Why did you leave us?" The whole time, the whispering continues. Leech order Odie to take the wand that Nails offered - and roll initiative. There's a dark figure in the back of the room that appears to be made out of the red slime. There are thin tendrils reaching out from the figure to each of the former commanders.

Boots tries to sever one of the tendrils with no effect, except Sweet swings around and demands, "What are you doing?" Boots then tries to attack the figure in the back (elder oblex). He hits it and as his sword slices through it, it quivers. The three commanders yell, "Stop! Stop him!" King casts a fireball and, through his powers as a cleric, causes it to be maximally damaging. One of the commanders is revealed to be a gibbering mouther. The fire hits Odie too, and incinerates the wand he was holding. Leech casts some agonizing blasts at the oblex. Slim rushes the back of the room to help gang up on the oblex and hits him four times with his sword, with bits of oblex flying in all directions. He uses a menacing attack, but the oblex doesn't appear to be afraid.

The Chain continues to beat up on the ooze and the former commanders beg them to stop. It attacks Slim and Copper and does a lot of damage to them. Boots get memory drained and is down. Leech leaps over the table to each Boots and help him back up. The gibbering mouthers start to chatter and the ground in front of them begins to boil and shift. Boots attacks the ooze and hacks more bits out of it, causing it to collapse to the floor. The three commanders turn into the same kind of red ooze and dissolve. King uses toll the dead to attack one of the gibbering mouthers and Leech follows him up with two agonizing blasts that kill it. Slim throws javelins at a mouther, then takes his second wind to try to attack again, but misses. Judge attacks with his greatsword and does a little damage. Copper lets go a flight of arrows and kills the last one. After the battle, they spend a little time healing up, then resume trying to find their way out of this house.

There's a solarium on the lower level and, unlike the front and back doors which wouldn't open, there is a blue glow around the door into the solarium. Inside the solarium there's a natural bath containing a large, irregularly shaped pool of water that reminds them of the pool in the temple. The water appears to be hot; they can see steam rising from it. In short, it looks like a noble's bath. On one side of the pool is a table with a parasol. There are tea and cakes on the table and two people seated next to it. One of them is a rotting female corpse dressed in finery. The other is a man wearing a noble's outfit and a crown. He looks more than half dead and is offering tea and cakes to the female corpse.

And we'll see you next week!

Episode 11

When last we left our heroes, they were about to storm the skull head of the memory eater to try to stem the tide of skeletal minions and the Dark Dream was beached on the island. Slim had just come on deck to demand, "What have you done to my ship!?" After ordering Junior Officer Toad to muster the troops to protect the ship, the senior officers go charging towards the skull, smashing skeletons as they go.

Battle commences! As they enter the skull, the floor changes from rocky to covered with bones. The Balhannoth is inside the skull. Judge tries to attack it with no success, then disappears. Judge is surprised to find himself back on the ship. Boots dashes in and does a lot of damage to the Balhannoth... and now it disappears. Copper, the best ranger, is able to hit the invisible Balhannoth with one of his shots, allowing the rest of the party to see that it's still in the same place it was. Leech's attack, however, was unsuccessful, leaving Slim to try to figure out how to find the invisible foe. He decides to try to kick a bunch of debris through the area to see if he can find where it went.

That doesn't work, but it reappears on the ceiling above King, reaches down and and grapples him. They trade blows and the rest of the Chain continues to attack. Leech casts faerie fire to keep it from being able to disappear on them again. After a few more exchanges, a tentacles erupt from the ground and attacks Slim. Judge steps up to the memory eater and slams his greatsword through it, killing it. The skeletons all return to the mound and disappear.

The Chain search the cave and come up with a couple of potions, a couple of scrolls, a greatsword, and a bone bow. They then return to the ship and resume searching for the Isle of Madness. Once back on the ship, Leech gives them all more information about the Lord of Madness. He has many worshipers (derro) and is, himself, an Old One with many tricks up his sleeve. They should be prepared to have a hard time. They spend some time preparing weapons for their confrontation with the Lord of Madness and strategizing how to access the inverted tower.

Slim sets the course and orders the ship to stop a mile short of their destination so everyone can rest up prior to their confrontation with the LoM. After spending the night, they approach the Isle of Madness. It's relatively small and has seven tall, spindly alien spires reaching up from it, like seven fingers reaching to the sky. Leech reassures the senior officers that this time he's certain they're in the right place. He tells them many years ago it used to be the Isle of Magic and that there are eight towers on it, one of which is inverted. Each of the towers represented a school of magic.

Leech sends Odie to scout a place where they can storm the beach. Odie flies over and in the middle of the ruined city finds what appears to be a Roman-esque temple. From above, Odie sees the dome, a square building, and a bunch of pillars. Leech instructs Odie to turn invisible investigate the temple. There are a couple of heavily armed derro guarding the entrance to the temple.

When Odie enters the temple, he sees an elaborate alien symbol carved into the flagstones of the floor, a pool, and a number of derro. There's a large gong next to the pool. When Odie enters the room, one of the derro sniffs the air as if it's detected Odie, so Leech instructs him to leave ASAP. Leech recognizes the symbol. Leech then jumped into the water to see if he could spot another way into the tower, but was disoriented in the dark and was attacked by a kuatoa and rescued by the senior officers and pulled back up on the ship.

They draw close enough to the island for them to disembark along the tentacles. Leech warns them that the symbol he saw in the temple is a powerful symbol of magic that will induce madness. Then they make their way stealthily through the city towards the temple.

Boots tries to sneak as far as he can into the temple without risking detection and attempts to hide, but he's detected. Suddenly, he stands up and the rest of the Chain can see an iron crown over his head. Leech warns them all to stay away from Boots because he'll attack them. The derro who detected Boots go back inside the temple, so The Chain wait for the spell to wear off before taking any other actions.

They send Odie into the temple to try to trigger the symbol of madness, which they believe is a one-use ward. When Odie goes in there, they can hear the derro shouting. One of them says, "The alarm's gone off!" The guards move to attack him, but the symbol isn't triggered. When the guards move to attack the imp, King steps out to attack them with a fireball.... And we'll see you next week!

Episode 10

When last we left our heroes, they were offered a few jobs: One for the noble families, one from a monk, and one from an undead dude. They decided to take the job from the undead dude, which will entail them to go to the Underdark. They hope his connections will help them in the future and he'll pay them a lot of money. They're supposed to retrieve a crown. They have a list of supplies they need, so they send a message to an attorney representing the Dead Lady requesting a meeting.

He shows up with a couple more undead and a large chest. He says they asked for too much and he found it very amusing, but he did bring some equipment that he thought would be useful. Inside is a great sword (old, thin, really nice, made out of a weird purplish tinted gray metal aka star metal aka adamantium). He says they'll need it, but "don't ask me why." There are also a couple of scrolls of water breathing and wand. He presents a contract, which Judge and King review to make sure it's not hinky.

The only questionable clause is that The Chain will still be responsible for the quest if this party is unsuccessful in retrieving the crown of Veletta. King asks him about the Sunless Sea and if the crown is liable to be on the island. Judge wonders if there's any concern that they'll face repercussions from the other houses upon their return. He says they wouldn't dare. Boots asks if there are any other parties also interested in the crown that might interfere with their mission. He says there's a non-disclosure clause in the contract and if anyone asks he won't tell them that the Chain is currently working for them. King signs the contract and asks for a copy.

They call the rest of The Chain together and, once they receive their copy of the contract, they leave. They go to the Somnium Tenebris, confirm that the crew are present, and explain the mission. King announces that Boots is the new Lieutenant and says that the senior officers are going to the World Below and will also take Junior Officer Leech (OD) -- their resident underdark expert -- who is a drow warlock. They dismiss the rest of The Chain to their respective jobs. King asks if Leech knows where the Lord of Madness is. Leech says he's on the Isle of Madness and explains that he's very powerful. He's an Old One and an outcast and lives at the bottom of an inverted tower. As the ship's surgeon, Leech feels very possessive of the ST, which he's been caring for and feeding.

The ship prepares for embarcation. Slim connects with the Navigator and gives it instructions to go between worlds to get to the Underdark. The ship begins to glow, then everything turns blindingly white. When they can see again, they're in another world. The temperature drops and Leech says, "Sirs, we're here." Leech has a babbling imp named Odie who is very happy to be back in the Underdark and taunts Leech about his past. Judge thinks maybe they can ask Odie to try to find the Isle of Madness for them. Odie says, "I know where to go." Copper says he has some knowledge of navigation and wonders if he can help find the Isle. After about an hour of navigation, Leech alerts everyone that they're getting close to their destination. In front of them, they see an island with a pebble beach. There are seven towers on the island, which is fairly small. King and Leech see the image of the island dissolve and there's another, smaller island behind it.

On the island, there's a massive skull -- the size of the ST -- and what appears to be green hair growing down into the water. The strands of seaweed that make up the hair begin to writhe and reach for the ST. Coming out of the cavities of the skull and running across the water is what appears to be a unit of ghostly drow. Leech identifies the skull as a memory eater and recognizes the ghostly squadron as warriors of the Silver Scorpion. They are warriors of renown that went on a mission and were lost.

They fight the undead drow warriors (wights). In the midst of the fight, Judge earns the ire of the strongest wight and goes down. Leech immediately leaps over the railing to get to Judge. His foot catches on the rail and he starts to fall, but manages to turn it into a somersault and land on his feet next to Judge, and heals him. In returns for his healing, Leech takes attacks from the leader and goes down himself, but Judge brings up back up. Boots kills the wight leader and the rest of them fall to the deck of the ship, lifeless. The ship lurches dramatically as it's beached by the tentacles of seaweed. King and Judge lose their balance and fall over. From the skull on the island, a hoard of skeletons come streaming towards the ship. Judge says, "We need to figure out how to get rid of these seaweed tentacles."

Slim comes storming out of the ship demanding, "What did you do to my ship!?"

Episode 9 - At the Sign of the Dreaming Pharaoh

When last we left our heroes, The chain had just arrived in Capital, the Greatest city in This or Any age. Having gone through customs, they spent some time on the promenade, filled with a wide variety of people, and were questioned by a reporter. Then, a group of seeming kids stole the Chronicle, and the chain gave chase, and engaged in battle with them, before defeating them, capturing them, and retrieving the Chronicle.

Boots at first suggests pulling the legs off the automaton kid they’ve captured to get him to talk, since he can’t be charmed. Said automaton had been broken enough in the battle that his speech was stuttering. He revealed that a ‘grandmother’ told him to steal the chronicle. Judge finds a ‘maker’s mark’ on the boy that looks like a stylized gear with a ‘rasp’ or latch which stops it from spinning normally. The kid says he doesn’t know why grandmother wanted the book, and when asked, won’t reveal where grandmother is. Eventually, the kid’s face changes to that of an old woman, who apologizes to the chain. And says that she’ll return ‘the gentleman's’ money, and leave them to the more senior guilds. The chain speculates for a while as to whether they should find a more secure location for the Chronicle, but eventually decide to continue carrying it with them.

Then the cop from last episode (Captain Cinzia) comes running up and sees the Chain surrounded by the automaton corpses and gives them a knowing look. She asks to talk to King.

“Look, so a whole lot of people just saw you do a ton of weird stuff, and I don’t know whether you’re casting spells, and I’m not worried about that right now, and they were trying to steal your stuff, but the people I work for get kind of uppity when random mercenaries start trying to enforce the law, because, no offence, you guys tend to be a lot less circumspect about who gets in your way and what happens to them. Now, I don’t know you, but I’ve known a lot of people like you. Try to keep the spellcasting under control, and alleyway is probably fine, but out on the Promenade…? That’s just going to make your lives harder and my life harder.”

When prompted, she reveals that The Balanced Spring is a mid-level guild that doesn’t usually operate in the Stays. She seems surprised when they mention that the automatons were trying to steal the Chronicle. She knows that the ‘Watchmaker’ usually works for hire, not because she wants anything herself, and that the cops have a bunch of automaton parts back at the station.

When they ask her about possible places to stay, she mentions that she knows where cops go, and where the cops don’t go. The Shadow is a place cops don’t go, because it’s seedy.

Slim breaks apart the metal kids looking for valuables.
The cop explains that to get into the main city,they can go over one of the three bridges, but that they won’t be able to take their weapons into the city, unless they become a Knight (which there are a lot of in the city). King asks where the reporter Nero can be found, and she doesn’t know “sorry, I’m not a tour guide.” The cops then leave them to their business.

Judge recommends sending Angel to The Shadow, and Boots suggests sending Ox and Roach along with him.

They take a short rest, and Judge finishes off the advertisement that they plan to put in the Broadsheets. King casts Sending to Angel and tells him to grab the other two retainers at the apple cart. Then the party goes back to the promenade, while Judge goes back to the play that they had interrupted.