RealmsToowoomba Recap # 81 [RPG]

[30 Flamerule 1372 continued]

Within Mellia’s conjured mansion, El Capitan calls out from the mephit’s playroom where he has been ensconced as a prisoner. While Ralkin heads off on his own errand, Cain and Mellia respond and El Capitan tells them that he would appreciate it if they could let Pietro, the young boy he has befriended, know that he is alright. He claims that the boy is trustworthy and can keep a secret; however, Mellia and Cain are reluctant to trust anyone with the news that they have knowledge of El Capitan’s whereabouts. As an alternative, the cat man says that he arranged to exchange messages with Pietro by leaving notes under a stone near the ale tent. He asks his captors to check the spot for messages later in the day. Cain and Mellia agree to consider his request and leave him in the care of the mephits, who taunt and tease the prisoner, with Mupit showing off a new diorama with a cowering feline figure that, in a certain light, could resemble El Capitan.

Meanwhile, Ralkin seeks out Jygil Zelnathra.  The Civil Leader of New Nesme has her hands full treating an injured refugee, but is able to talk with the kenku nonetheless.  Ralkin inquires about the tunnels under Nesme she discussed with Markus, saying they might come in useful for a future attack on the city.  The cleric of Waukeen draws a crude map, showing how the tunnels run from near where the Gilded Spire (now the Aurilites’ temple) stands to a hidden trapdoor approximately two hundred yards northeast of the city.  Jygil explains that the tunnels were secretly built almost a decade ago as an escape route or a way for defenders trapped inside the city during a siege to route the attackers through a surprise strike at their unprotected flanks.  Because only those who served on the Council during construction know of the tunnels’ existence, the Aurilites are unaware that they may be vulnerable.  She cautions Ralkin to use this information only when it can do the most good to undermine the Aurilites’ hold on Nesme, as they will surely track attackers back to the tunnels and guard against further entry.  Ralkin thanks her and returns to the mansion.

Mellia takes the opportunity to talk more with Cain about his upcoming duel with Felix Ruul. She inquires why the Red Wizard hates Cain so much, noting that she finds the timing suspicious. Could Felix be in league with the Aurilites? Cain says that if that were the case, the Red Wizard would die. However, he believes that the reason for the duel is a lifetime of insults traded back and forth between the two men that have finally reached ignition point. Cain confirms that if he is healed of the sickness brought on by the spell that binds him to his vow to destroy Nesme, he will face Felix in the duel. Mellia says that in that case, they should prepare by finding out more about the rules and what they can do to augment Cain’s arsenal.

Mellia changes the subject back to their conversation in the stables, asking Cain how long he knew that their conversation was not private. Cain admits that he knew El Capitan was there for some time, but given her reluctance to speak, he decided not to say anything. Mellia regrets that a suspected serial killer is one of the only people who know she is pregnant. Cain reassures her that El Capitan will not harm them. If he is the Smiling Man, he will die for his crimes.  Mellia brings the conversation back their upcoming wedding. They have yet to decide any details, including when and where it will take place. She asks Cain to explain the wedding customs of Kossuth to her, and he does so.   Mellia admits that though she never planned to marry, when she did imagine it she never expected to be pregnant at the same time, and she is afraid that people will think they are marrying only out of obligation. Cain intuits that she would prefer to get married sooner, rather than later and Mellia confirms his feelings.  She says that she has every confidence that Cain will soundly defeat Felix during the duel on Shieldmeet, but that if something were to go terribly wrong, she would prefer their unborn child to be considered of legitimate issue. They agree to a wedding the next day, on the Midsummer Holiday. Discussion turns to the difficulty in securing another priest of Kossuth to perform the ceremony. Mellia suggests a shopping trip to Silverymoon and looking there. She also suggests that Cain put Felix to good use for once, demanding that Felix deliver a priest of Kossuth to Startop Mountain tomorrow in exchange for Cain’s participation in the duel the day after. Cain agrees to do so that evening, once he can prepare the spell, though he makes it clear he does not want the Red Wizard to attend the wedding.

Mellia suggests that the two of them should talk to Ralkin and then seek out Jygil Zelnathra. She also mentions wanting to contact Gideon about stopping by the Oracle’s Circle. Finally, Mellia notes that Markus will be very excited and will likely want to throw Cain the party he had spoken of previously. Though Cain is far from enthusiastic he does not protest the idea vociferously. When approached, Ralkin is surprised to hear that his friends will be getting married the next day, but gamely agrees to accompany them to Silverymoon, rather than remaining on Startop to keep an eye on the others. Mellia leaves a note for Markus and Urist that advises that the others will return by sunset, that they should stay off the lake for the time being, and that Cain and Mellia will marry tomorrow. Mellia adds a post script noting that tonight would be the opportunity for Markus to throw Cain a party.

The adventurers exit the mansion and quickly find Jygil Zelnathra, who explains the rules of the duel to them. According to the ancient rites of Thayan magickal dueling, neither of the combatants are able to start with any spells actively cast upon them. As well, no magic items are permitted unless they have been in the exclusive possession of that person for a full ten days prior to the challenge being issued. Each person will take turns casting up to three spells on themselves or the battlefield (but not their opponent), before the duel proper begins.  Once it does, neither combatant is permitted to leave the field of battle voluntarily, and third party interference is strictly prohibited. If a combatant becomes incapacitated, their opponent must stop all offensive spells at the earliest opportunity and the incapacitated duelist is taken to have lost by submission.   If a combatant is killed, the winner is entitled to everything worn into the combat. Finally, Jygil explains that the results of the duel will be transmitted to sites of magickal learning, arcane and divine, throughout the North.

With that established, preparations for the day’s journey begin. Mellia begins to cast her sending spell to Gideon, but halfway through she interrupted by shouts of alarm. Ralkin runs ahead and observes a gigantic monstrous crayfish the size of a horse emerging from the lake and attacking some fisherman on a raft. The kenku draws his massive bow and quickly notches an arrow that pierces the armour of the attacking monster. Mellia allows her spell to fizzle and moves to a position where she can observe the attack. She quickly lobs a fireball which incinerates the creature. However, the disturbance is far from over. Three more of the creatures emerge and quickly scuttle onto land in search of prey. Ralkin quickly becomes the target of the nearest creature and finds himself caught within its huge pincers. Cain moves in to assist, also attacking the creature with a fire spell. Finally, Mellia is able to expertly target her next evocation so that only the creature is caught by the blast, killing the monster and freeing her friend unharmed.   Cain moves forward and spots another creature some yards away. However, the cleric’s attack spell goes awry and the creature scuttles towards him.  Before Cain can react, he is being crushed in its claws!  Still, the fire priest’s thick armor holds up and he manages to free himself with a powerful exertion of strength.  Once he’s free, Mellia incinerates the monster with yet another ball of fire.  Across the courtyard, the final creature is destroyed by the defenders of New Nesme.  With that excitement over, Mellia casts her sending again and advises Gideon she intends to arrive shortly. She also asks her former headmaster if his schedule would permit him a brief journey. She quickly receives his reply that she is always welcome, and in seconds, Mellia and the three adventurers disappear from Startop.

Across Faerun, in the shape of an eagle, the druid Rufus wings his way over the High Forest in the direction of the Evermoors. Suddenly, the sky some hundreds of feet away is torn open by a jagged rift and a golden chariot pulled by flaming horses appears!  In the wake of the chariot, two undead war elephants appear on the ground, each laden with zombie archers wearing ancient bronze armor.   The flying chariot disappears into another rift in the sky just as suddenly as it appeared. But before Rufus can investigate, he realizes the intended target of the attackers: a halfling hamlet which is nearly unguarded because its defenders were dispatched the night prior to fight off other incursions in the forest!  The assumption that the attackers would not return so quickly, or during the bright light of day, was clearly wrong, and only Rufus’ two elven friends--Teuveamanthaar and Reitheillaethor--stand ready to mount an armed defence.

Rufus circles at a distance and summons a being native to the elemental plane of air to aid him. While it manifests, Teuveamanthaar and Reitheillaethor take cover behind trees and ready their crossbows.  Although several of their bolts strike home, the war elephants move relentlessly forward, spraying noxious fumes from their trunks, while the undead archers carried on their backs shoot flaming arrows into the village and nearby trees!  Rufus’ summoned creature forms into a whirlwind and flies over the elephants, picking the archers up into its funnel and then scattering them all over the forest, crushing them against trees with bone-crushing force.  The war elephants, however, are unaffected and one of them carries out the orders given to it: it charges into the village, trampling everything in its path!  Teuveamanthaar bravely tries to stand in its path but is killed, as are some of the halfing villagers who couldn’t flee fast enough.   Rufus continues summoning outsiders from other planes of existence to fight the elephants while the remaining halflings flee into the forest and escape. In time, the undead abominations are destroyed.  Rufus speaks with Reitheillaethor, who is shaken at the death of his friend.  The druid of Silvanus notes that he seeks to destroy the one responsible for these atrocities, and could use allies on his quest. To that end, he is in search of a pack of dire wolves that he believes may be nearby.  The elf notes that all in the village would have died without Rufus’ intervention and tells him to search for the pack about three miles to the east.

Meanwhile, in Nesme, Wrex continues his efforts to blend in with the populace by working to rebuild the city wall. Though the people of the city have been alarmed by the latest attack, the Priestesses of Auril have assured them that steps have been taken to protect them. While working, Wrex is vexed by an older worker, Raygor, who continues to glare at him and tell others that he definitely remembers Wrex as one of the attackers from the night the Temple was assaulted. Luckily for Wrex, the man’s claims go unheeded by the other workers who think Raygor is just being paranoid.

Arriving at the Oracle’s Circle in the Dalelands, Mellia notices that Cain appears a bit worse for wear after the battle with the monstrous crayfish. While waiting for Cain to heal himself, she sees that Gideon’s efforts to strengthen the tower’s protections appear to be proceeding. Glyphs and wards are evidence that the Oracle’s Circle is taking steps towards greater security. Entering the tower, they make their way towards Gideon’s office in the uppermost level, with a brief stop when Ralkin pokes his head into a classroom and tells the students to avoid polymorph, which causes a disruption the students’ teacher has trouble settling. When they reach Gideon’s office, the headmaster is hastily tidying his office and appears very pleased to see Mellia, though his face falls when he notices her companions, in particular when he sees Cain.  Mellia quickly informs her friend that she and Cain have decided to marry tomorrow during the Midsummer Holiday and she was hoping that he would journey back to Startop with them to be there for the ceremony. Gideon is astonished--both at her news and at Mellia’s growing magical strength. He is clearly reluctant to attend her wedding, pleading that he has much to attend to at the school. Mellia is disappointed and asks him if he won’t reconsider, as she feels that he is family and she would be saddened not to have him there to support her.  Having noted the awkward tension in the room, Ralkin takes this opportunity to ask Cain to show him the way to the kitchens.

Once the kenku and the cleric are gone, Gideon pours himself another drink. Mellia observes that she does not recall Gideon drinking so heavily, or so early in the day. The master diviner says that it is a bad habit that he picked up in Longsaddle. With Cain absent, Gideon tells Mellia that as a ‘member of the family’ he has concerns about her plans. Is she sure about this marriage? How long has she been involved with this fire priest? Gideon notes that he has been studying the lore of Kossuth and has been greatly concerned by some of what he has read. Does she truly believe that Cain will make a good father for Allia?  Mellia notes that she has known Cain for ‘some time’ and assures her friend that yes, she is sure that she wants to marry him. She is pleased that Gideon has been learning about the True Path, as she believes that everyone should. Gideon asks if she has done any divinations to determine if this marriage will have a positive outcome. Mellia begins to say she has not, then hesitates as she recalls that it was the use of her Detect Thoughts spell that revealed her pregnancy. She replies that yes, she has and the signs were definite and encouraging. Further, she says that she and Cain have discussed it and not only is Cain prepared to take on the role of a parent in Allia’s life, but she is ‘certain that fatherhood is in Cain’s future’.  She asks again if Gideon won’t change his mind and attend the wedding. Her former headmaster finally says that he would like to speak with Cain before making up his mind. Mellia agrees and goes to fetch her betrothed.

In the tower kitchens, Ralkin notes that Cain seemed very uncomfortable in Gideon’s office. Cain says that he knows that Gideon is important to Mellia and he wanted to avoid giving offense. The kenku shrewdly observes that in this situation, if anyone was giving offense, it was Mellia. However, Cain notes that unlike Mellia, he is fully aware of the situation. Ralkin shakes his head and notes how surprising it is that Mellia could be so unaware of something so obvious to everyone else. Just then, Mellia arrives and tells Cain that Gideon would like to speak with him, lamenting that she has been unable to convince her friend to change his mind. As Cain heads back up to Gideon’s office, Mellia, with Ralkin in tow, returns to her former quarters and picks up a family heirloom: her late father’s silver dagger. Ralkin asks if Mellia has a dress for her wedding tomorrow. Mellia says she does not yet, but hopes to buy something in Silverymoon. Ralkin offers his scarf of disguise as an emergency backup. Dawdling somewhat, to allow Cain and Gideon plenty of time to talk, Mellia and Ralkin slowly ascend the stairs.

Cain politely knocks on Gideon’s door before entering. Gideon closes the door behind him before offering the Cleric a drink. Cain demurs, but Gideon downs a few more shots of liquid courage, while continually glancing between the window and his imposing ‘rival’. At last, Gideon begins to speak.  “I understand you are to wed Mellia.” At the cleric’s acknowledgement, Gideon asks point blank if Cain loves Mellia. Cain asserts that he does love her and Gideon presses on. “Are you prepared for the responsibilities of being a husband?” Cain makes a point of adding “and a father” before assuring the other man that yes, he is ready to take on both roles. Gideon continues to probe.  Where will they live? How will Cain support and protect a wife and child? Cain continues to offer carefully worded assurances, noting that he has long planned to continue honing his skills as a blacksmith and would be open to a quieter life, if that were something that Mellia wanted. Gideon is surprised to learn that Cain has the skills of the blacksmith and promises that he could provide quarters for them (and Allia, once rescued) at the Oracle’s Circle so Cain could set up a forge (currently lacking) while Mellia could take up a teaching post.  Such a life would surely be safer for everyone involved, he adds, than a hard life on the road adventuring, and Allia could grow up with a community of people who have always cared about her.  Cain says that if that is what Mellia wants, he will support her in that path. Gideon takes Cain’s statement as full agreement to his proposal, and seems to relax.  The diviner says that although he doesn’t understand Mellia’s choices, he just wants her to be happy.   Unprompted, he offers Cain his blessing to marry Mellia and agrees to attend the wedding, confident that Cain will fill Mellia in on their new life plan.

On the steps outside, Cain and Gideon encounter Mellia and Ralkin. Mellia is ecstatic at the news that Gideon has changed his mind and will attend the wedding.  Gideon continues to be amazed at Mellia’s magical strength as she tells him they will ‘pop over to Silverymoon and then back to Startop’ where there is accommodation in her conjured mansion. Gideon excuses himself to gather his things and speak to Procul, who will be in charge during his absence.   Heading to the courtyard, Mellia happily asks Cain what he said to get Gideon to change his mind. Cain merely tells her that Gideon is a ‘reasonable man and that after some discussion of the future, he agreed to attend the wedding’. They discuss the arrangements they will need to make for the wedding and Mellia brings up the wedding night, asking Cain if he would like to plan anything special apart from an attack on Nesme.  With Gideon approaching, Cain suggests that this is a subject best saved for private conversation. Now joined by Mellia’s oldest friend, the adventurers teleport to Silverymoon.

Back on Startop Mountain, as is their custom after a night of drinking, Markus and Urist have slept late. When they finally rise, Urist offers to fetch Markus breakfast in bed which the swordsman happily agrees to, and in so doing the dwarf comes across find Mellia’s note. Markus is excited at the prospect of throwing Cain a party and excitedly rushes off to begin his preparations. Urist attempts preparations of her own to make a ‘dwarven style wedding dress’ but is stymied at the lack of metal sheeting available on Startop. Markus’ party planning expertise allows him to pull together an event on short notice. He secures a venue (a rented tent with furniture), meat (‘pre-cooked crab meat’ sold to him by an enterprising lad) and entertainment (the acrobats, Nik Nak and Nok). Tymora’s luck almost runs out, however, when he seeks out alcohol, the camp having run dry. However, Markus doesn’t give up easily. Searching through the alchemical supplies of the still-absent Shirloch, Markus manages to track down a few bottles of nearly pure alcohol. He is also able to secure a promise of a bottle of Elven mead from Jygil Zelnathra, who tells him she is grateful for the intervention of his friends that morning.  With supplies in hand, Markus goes in search of Tunak and asks his friend if he has any fruit with which to make ‘punch’. Though Tunak misunderstands at first, shaking his head and telling Markus ‘no violence’, he agrees to help once Markus explains what he actually has in mind. Tunak provides Markus with a magic box that provides food and Markus happily departs, after informing Tunak about the party that evening.

During his busy travels across the camp, Markus observes Sir Triandial Truehammer emerge from El Capitan’s tent with a bloody knife in hand, noting “It is as we thought - he must be the guilty party!” As Markus watches, search parties head out looking for the “cat man”, now widely suspected as the Smiling Man Killer.   Still unaware of El Capitan’s presence in the mansion, Markus is pleased that his party plans seem to be coming together—at least until shouts again fill the mid-afternoon air as almost a dozen nightmarish undead abominations have come slithering out of the lake!