Knight and CastleKnight and Castle |
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As Tallan, Siân and Baron Irarj continued to discuss the suspicions about Mandalar and his tower with Vistuvius, Kry'Ojenix wandered over to where the brown bear Ferrus sat contentedly near his druidic master. Casting Tongues, the battlemage tried to speak with the beast, expecting to fail; but rather to his surprise, he discovered that the bear had enough intelligence for the spell to work.
"So why are you staying with these losers?" asked the dwarf, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the druids, who were waiting off to one side, clearly uninterested in the doings of others. The bear looked at him for a moment. "He's a good companion," it said in a gentle rumble, "He helps me find food, heals me when I need it, and cares for the natural order of the woods. So few of you two-leggers do that." Baffled by such motivations, Kry'Ojenix turned away.
After some conversation, the party decided to visit Rigsworth Keep before investigating the sorcerer's tower, and duly headed off across the valley, crossing the river at Knight's Bridge and heading north. A little to their surprise, the journey went without incident - most probably because the valley's main source of monsters had been expunged by their own efforts - and towards the end of the day they came in sight of the keep.
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Rigsworth Keep was a small, blocky stone castle with four small turrets on top, a moat surrounding it and bridged by a drawbridge, leading to a lower curtain wall lined on its' inner face with outbuildings. As they looked at it from the edge of the trees, three sharp whistles went up from an unseen watcher on the walls, and soon ten horsemen were riding towards the party.
Tallan and Kry'Ojenix reached for weapons, but relaxed a little as they realized that the approaching warriors' spears were all resting on stirrups and held upright. Their leader halted his men and rode a little closer to address the travellers, greeting them politely and inquiring their names.
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He named himself as Captain Davin of the Rigsworth Guard, and his eyes widened when the party recounted their defeat of the raiders who had been racking the valley. He urged them to come and speak to his lord, Sir Arvin, who would doubtless want to thank and reward them for such a heroic act.
As they turned and began to ride towards the keep, Tallan couldn't help noticing that Captain Davin's eyes kept coming back to her. It was too long since she had fed, she reflected. The dark charisma of the vampire was beginning to escape her control, though she was pretty sure Davin had not recognized exactly what she was.
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It was not long after their arrival at Rigsworth that Sir Arvin came to meet them, and he was effusive in his greetings. The party were rather scathing in their opinion of the effectiveness of his efforts. True, Arvin had sent patrols looking for what he had believed to be bandits, but it emerged as they talked that he had only done so during daylight hours. He never came out and said it, but soon there was no doubt; Sir Arvin Rigsworth was afraid of the dark. Maybe, mused the noble baron Iraj, this was why the knight was living in such an out-of-the-way little backwater like Dalethorpe.
Of course, he wasn't the only person in the valley to feel this way - the villagers and inhabitants of Gregor's Farm had also justly feared the dark and what lurked in it. But the party seemed to feel that Sir Arvin should have held up a higher standard.
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All this aside, Arvin insisted on extending his hospitality to the heroes, and feasted them royally. The battlemage Kryo'Jenix requested the use of Rigsworth's library and a plated dinner, however, and Arvin told off a page to direct him to the library.
Across the Iron Realms, libraries of towering scope had been founded by the baby-eating archmage Azimar. This was not one such place; it was a modest country noble's collection. However, a stack of books on demonology and wizardry had been collected on a table, evidence that Arvin had been exploring possibilities already. Mutton sandwich in one hand and cool pot of ale nearby, Kry'Ojenix settled down to his research.
Arvin had told him that he'd already deduced that this sort of creature didn't just appear; a worker of magic had to summon them. The dwarf rolled his eyes at this rather obvious conclusion.
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Back at the table, Tallan was trying to exert her inhuman charms on Sir Arvin, but while he appeared unmoved, Captain Davin was unfortunately becoming more and more attracted. Over a hearty meal of roast beast and local cider, he tried to monopolize her conversation, slightly to her irritation. There was no way she could succumb; he'd be missed if she fed on him. To make matters worse, it appeared that the castle chaplain had recognized her for what she was; she knew that look in the eyes of a mortal.
A little after midnight, she took her leave of her host, leaving Baron Iraj asleep on the table and Siân swapping outrageous stories with Arvin's castellan, and retired to her room to wait for the castle to quiet down. About an hour later, a soft knock on the door announced Captain Davin trying his luck. She waited in silence, having firmly barred the door. A second knock came, followed shortly by slow, disappointed footsteps moving on up the spiral stairs. A few moments later, a dark bat flittered out across the rooftops of the Keep.
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Tallan was struck by the number of lamps and torches that had been set up. She'd never seen any building so lit up at night, and she had some nervous moments dodging out of line of sight of the many guards. Finally, she was away and flying south down the valley.
Half an hour later, she was perched on the roof of a farmhouse; Kyle Farm according to her memory of the map the barman had drawn in Dalethorpe village. Closing her eyes, she let her senses range out until she found the occupants' heartbeats - five in all, and one of them very strong. Even better, it was alone in one of the tiny rooms. Resuming her natural shape, she went into Wraithform and drifted down through the ceiling into the room.
A man, in his late twenties probably, lay asleep in the rough bed, his muscled chest rising and falling easily. Solidifying, Tallan moved in close and woke him with a touch. His sleepy eyes opened straight into her red ones and his will crumbled as she sank her fangs into his jugular. The ecstasy of feeding flooded her as she drank, her victim's soul blended with the rich red blood, but with a mighty effort of control she restrained herself from taking his life. Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and retraced her path, flying away a distinctly heavier bat.
The next morning, Sir Arvin pressed breakfast on them, and in answer to their slightly unsubtle references to the rewards due the slayers of demons, instructed his castellan to resupply them with anything they needed. There were some sour looks at the provision of - well, provisions - instead of treasures, but the party accepted the supplies graciously, and prepared to head out towards the tower of Mandalar.
"I shall send some of my men with you," said Sir Arvin, "to report back to me what happens, and hopefully to assist you where they may." The party rolled their eyes a bit at this, more so when it became clear that Captain Davin was to lead two men in this duty. The enamoured Captain nearly didn't recognize the object of his desire when Tallan appeared; from her former rather skinny and drawn appearance, she now appeared sleek, well-fed and toned, her hair flowing and a bit longer, a bright gleam in her eyes and a vibrant energy in her movements and speech. Only the castle chaplain eyed this with a dark frown, his worst suspicions confirmed.
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By the end of the day, the party had reached the south end of the small valley in which Mandalar's tower stood. In the gathering dusk, they could see the structure quite clearly, around a mile away, a few lights twinkling from windows. It was surrounded by a dry moat, though there seemed to be no source of water to fill it, but otherwise stood alone in the middle of the flat, grassy valley floor.
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Making camp, the party unpacked the supplies Arvin had given them, and had to admit he'd done them proud. There were several finely-made tents, light to carry but sturdy and weatherproof; an assortment of good-quality foodstuffs and dried rations, and some very above-average cooking equipment. Interested by this, the dwarvish ranger Baron Irarj Ren-Yen Clea settled in to prepare dinner. The campsite had been carefully prepared to be shielded from direct sight from the tower, and soon the party were tucking into an excellent meal. Iraj had never cooked before in his life, but he'd enjoyed it - and there was a strong possibility that the others were going to leave him to do it whenever possible.
Kry'Ojenix used ESP to check the motivations of their companions, just in case; but apart from Captain Davin's lustful musings regarding Tallan and one of the soldiers' worries in case anyone discovered he was gay, there was nothing secret in their surface thoughts. He grinned and let the spell drop.
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As the rest of the party settled to sleep, Tallan went bat again and zipped over to scout the tower out. The drawbridge was down over the oddly empty moat, but the heavy oaken doors were firmly shut and some kind of demon stood either side of them. They were eight feet tall and both scaly and feathered, anyway.
None of the windows were big enough to see much through, but she noted some curious chutes, spaced evenly around the tower at ground level, sloping down into the moat. They were about a foot square. She also noticed an almost invisible dome of some kind of energy, about a quarter mile out from the tower.
As Tallan walked back into the camp from her scouting mission, a tall figure appeared right in the midst of them with no warning at all. Several people reached for weapons, but the figure said impatiently "Idiots. I'm a magical projection."
Their visitor was an imposing man, over average height and dressed in red wizards' robes. His head was shaven and he wore a small black beard. He stood calmly and addressed the party.
“As you have guessed, I am Mandalar, master of the tower ahead of you. As you also will realize, I have made a mistake. Yes, I admit it freely. What was meant to be a simple summoning went wrong and a Fistula developed – a breach between this world and the one from which I draw my servants. Creatures of malice and power have come through, though only one escaped to trouble the lands about. I expect you have encountered it – hopefully slain it – as you’re here. I managed to get a Forbidding up to prevent anything else getting out, but I’m trapped in my own tower. Holding the Forbidding up is as much as I can do. If you can free me, however, I can aid you in wiping out the rest of the monsters – which I expect is what you’re here to do, yes?”
There was some competition to be the first to ask "What's in it for us?" but Kry'Ojenix got there first by a hair. Mandalar appeared unworried by the question. "I have gold," he said casually, "or if your taste runs that way, I can summon an item for each of you. You will also have the credit for ridding the Dale of the monsters," he said archly.
"So," said Tallan, "What's a Forbidding?"
"It's a dome of force. The demons can't cross it to get out. Holding that up is taking pretty much all my strength. However, if you can break into the tower and reduce the opposition enough, I can aid you. Only I can close the Fistula. Once that's done, the demons can't come through and we can mop up the survivors."
"Can you come with us like that?" asked Baron Iraj.
"Only to the Forbidding," said Mandalar. "I can't project myself inside it, so until you rescue me from my - ahem - refuge, you'll be on your own."
"What happens if the demons cross the Forbidding?" asked Tallan. Mandalar smiled grimly. "It will kill them," he said. "Or you, if you do so. I can open a doorway in the Forbidding for a few seconds. You’ll need to get through smartish. Don’t mess up; it’ll kill you if you do."
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The next morning, the party approached to the edge of the dome of the Forbidding, bristiling with protective magic. Mandalar had confirmed that inanimate objects like missiles could pass through the dome without trouble, and the plan was to shoot the demons guarding the doors from the safety of the other side of the dome.
Tallan and Baron Iraj had longbows, while Kry'Ojenix and Siân had slings. The three soldiers from Rigsworth had short bows, and it was a very long shot for those. On a count of three, they opened fire.
Tallan, Siân and Kry'Ojenix all hit the demon to the right of the door. Iraj's arrow missed it - because it wasn't there any more. Both demons had worked out where the missiles were coming from and had Teleported across the intervening distance, to 20' in front of the party. Startled, Iraj got another arrow off but it went wide.
Tallan slammed another arrow into it, and it staggered. The other demon reached forwards with its' talons, rotating its' hand in a pulling motion. The projection of Mandalar's eyes widened and he made a quick gesture, opening a doorway in the dome in front of the vampire. Tallan felt an invisible force pull at her body as the demon tried to Telekinese her into and through the deadly Forbidding. She shot again and the wounded demon fell.
Arvin, Siân and Kry'Ojenix rushed through the doorway, reaching for hand weapons. With battlecries they attacked it, gratified to find that Mandalar had told the truth when he had said that mundane wepaons would bite on them.
Using the greatsword of the demon Straboni for the first time, Kry'Ojenix dealth the monster a terrible succession of blows, bringing it down as the rest of the party hurried through the doorway and Mandalar vanished. So far, so good!
Session Date: 1st March 2016