Characters: Julian, Anthony, Randal, Tulgar, Cael.
NPCs: Yimluth Elkmoon: The Elk Father (Druid of Silvanus), Peter the Triad Priest (Tyr), Father Akkul the Triad Priest (Illmater), Hensley the Triad Priest (Torm), Mellomir: The Sage of Arabel, 5 Estate Guards (Lord Idool), 3 Vile Blink Dogs, 6 Baulder's Gate Blades, Priest of Waukeen, Lord Kynston Illance, Lady Felicia Illance, Lord Kisbin Idool, Chapel Organist, 4 Royal Purple Dragon Knights, Warwizard of Cormyr, Lord Thond.
L 15 Mirtul 1374 - E 16 Mirtul 1374
6550 XP
Grim had Teleported Anthony Manton's remains to the Fortress of the Faithful where he was Resurrected by their priests. The three High Priests were overjoyed that Anthony had returned back to Ferun amd gave him a warm welcome back. Anthony spoke with Father Peter, Akkul, and Hensley concerning his spirituality, recent trials, and concerns and then Grim and Anthony Teleported back to Cormyr where they met with their party in the Hullack Forest. Meanwhile, after the great battle with the Hagunemnon the party spoke with the Elk Father concerning the poem they had found in Wellstar's tower. The Elk Father seemed of no help. Having no memory of recent events or a writer's mind the Elk Father could only guess as to what the poem's purpose might be. His only suggestion was that perhaps there was more to this poem than simply researching its historical references. The party's investigation of these events was a timely and incredibly difficult task; one that seemingly led to nowhere. What Wellstar and Alaphandar were up to the still could not say, more prove. Perhaps the monks of Candlekeep had already found the answer?
With their last lead dead in their hands, the party decided that they would seek out the great diviner Sage Mellomir. A long time resident of Arabel, Baron Thomdor had appointed him to watch over Arabel in the party's absence. Anthony Manton remember him as a dry, dapper man with neat trimmed hair. Also, Mellomir was a powerful wizard, whom foretold the fall of Bhall and Myrkul before the Time of Troubles. Most recently, Mellomir was famous for having survived several kidnappings, and single-handedly destroying an entire Westgate family after it tried to assassinate him. With Cael's expertise the party was Greater Teleported back to Arabel. Before they sought out Mellomir the party went to the north gate and saw that a massive stone wall had been raised to replace the previous one, the work of a wizard no doubt. Arabel's civic guard and remaining Purple Dragon Knights were overjoyed to see that Pinehill's adventurers had returned.
The party then went back to Arabel's western wall district where they easily found Mellomir's old tower standing just one block away from Wellstar's. The two buildings could not have been more opposite, Wellstar's was a modern design and purely functional. It's only decor came from the odd mechanical contraptions which hung outside its windows. The tower's roof, a massive steel bowl guarding a great telescope which peered into the night sky. Mellomir's however, was one of Arabel's oldest structures, an architectural gem adorned with elegant stone reliefs carved into dragons, kings, and cavaliers. As the party approached the Sage's tower the door came flying open, a man in his forties wearing the robes of an apprentice greeted them and welcomed them in, Mellomir had been expecting them.
The apprentice brought the party into a lavish chamber furnished with card tables, a magical lanceboard set, plush purple furniture, and an animated harpsicord which filled the room with music. After several minutes Mellomir and an old hawk entered; he greeted the party as if they were old friends. The Sage ran through the party's names as well as a list of heroic accomplishments as an animated bar began to float drinks into their hands. The party asked Mellomir about the poem they had found in Wellstar's tower, their recent encounters concerning Ironvine, the Grey Knight's Lance, and of course The Elk Father. In addition, they also spoke to the Sage about the suspicious announcement that Lady Felicia Illance was to be married to the vile Lord Idool Kisbin. Alaphondar had little positive to say about Wellstar and mentioned his surprise concerning Alaphondar's disappearance. To the questions of the poem he told the party that while he was not aware of anything more detailed than what they had already encountered; they were not the only people whom were investigating the poem. He was not positive the identities, but he was sure they were most devious indeed.
This discussion landed the party into the inevitable and taboo subject of the Knights Draconis. Who could also be involved? Mellomir felt that while what the party had found was genuine historical evidence, that the Knights Draconis organization had died out some 500 years ago at least. He noted in his own personal study of them long ago that there were tell-tale changes in the Cormyrian court, King's personal guard, and composition of the royal bloodlines that would mark the end of the Knights Draconis as active participants in the Cormyrian royal line. He also mentioned how genius it was that they had put all their history into one place in which the only access would be granted once a year for just 24 hours. Even if one was to study intensely for all the 24 hours there would be no possibility to achieve even a fraction of the knowledge hidden within its walls. The powerful magical presences within the Knights Refuge had indeed forced the party into that exact dilemma. Mellomir told the party that whomever was behind this, it did not have to do with the Knights Draconis. In fact, it may have been the perfect wild goose chase the true criminals would need in order to tie up such epic adventurers such as they.
Their conversation began to round 2am when the topic changed to that of Lady Illance and Lord Idool Kisbin. Mellomir had been so busy managing the affairs of Arabel and divining into the future troop movements of the orcish and parliamentarian armies as well as the party's history that he was surprised by this news (not surprisingly). The drinks had begun to slur the conversation of all those present by this point and Mellomir offered the suggestion that they pay this wedding a visit (as they were official Emmisaries of the Steel Regent), just to make sure all was indeed right. The party jumped to their feet with a wobble noticing the wedding was probably in progress if not already over by now as it had been scheduled for this very evening. Mellomir stopped the party as they were about to run out and gave them each a potion to drink. Immediately they were sharp and sober as if they had slept for a full 8 hours, then the great Sage Teleported them off to Lord Idool Kisbin's personal mansion just outside the wall of Suzail's Gardens.
Though there was some light in the night sky the party had a difficult time seeing past Lord Idool Kisbin's gate. Idool had ordered his mansion designed by architects from Halruua; it's dark stone walls were punctuated by small dimly lit windows. Fortunately, due to the fact Lord Idool was only a Lord of Cormyr by gold and not blood he could not build his unsightly (and Un-Cormyrian) estate within the Gardens of Suzail. With his marriage to Lord Illance's duaghter however, all of that was about to change. Suddenly, the party was nearly shaken by the sound of a great organ playing a dreadful song from within the mansion's chapel. For Julian, whom had just recently lost the girl he had longed for, this was enough. He cast Improved Invisibility upon himself, activated his magical equipment and Blinked through the stone wall, marching silently towards the chapel. The rest of the party stepped forward and made their appearances known to the Estate Guard standing at the gate's entrance. The guard initially refused them entrance but when Anthony Manton and Randal gleamed their Purple Dragon Knight Rings and adventuring charter signed by the Steel Regent herself, he gathered together 4 other Estate guards and opened the gate. The party was escorted by the 5 guards along with 3 large black dogs. Cael thought that they resembled Blink dogs except they were too large and surrounded by an aura of evil. The Estate Guards however, did not resonate with the same tinge of darkness.
Julian had reached the Chapel's windows by the time the party had just gained entrance by the guards. Looking in he saw it was dedicated the Waukeen: the goddess of commerce. However, while the chapel kept true to the symbols and design of Waukeen's temples, it had a darker style than those he had previously seen. A Cleric of Waukeen was stating the opening gospels infront of Lord Idool Kisbin and Lady Felicia whom was dressed in a black wedding gown and sobbing. Lord Illance was seated in the chapel's first small pew with two menacing guardsman dressed in black platemail. Julian recognized them as the same personal guard from Baulders Gate that Lord Idool had been surrounded by after the Council the previous night, the Baulder's Gate Blades. A total of 6 of these guards were positioned around the Chapel ensuring that everything went just as their client desired. The organist, a lone old man with greyed hair sat in starchy bulter's clothing as if half asleep. By the time the party had arrived at the chapel door (which was barred twice over), Julian knew their time was running short as the Cleric had finished the opening gospels and was now asking for the couple's vows. Julian began looking for signs of entry and noted that the entire chapel had been sealed within multiple Walls of Force, as well as other protective spells he would need to avoid. The Estate Guards outside rapped upon the door and shouted that the Steel Regent's Emmisaries had arrived demanding entrance at once. Lord Idool Kisbin ordered his Elite Mercenaries to kill the party no matter what, and to resume the ceremony as quickly as possible. For Cael, Tulgar, (and even Anthony and Randal) they had heard enough. Randal unleashed a flurry of incredible blows into the door with his holy fists, the Estate Guards ran in all directions, their Blink Dogs cowering in fear. At the instant it shattered, Tulgar, Cael and Anthony saw into the Chapel and Dimension Doored in, the Elite Guards were waiting however, drawing their black bladed katanas and striking in the same motion. Julian Dimension Doored in as well and initially attempted to overtake Lord Idool's mind, however Idool was protected (he had payed quite a sum of gold to ensure nothing like this would happen). Anthony appeared behind the Cleric of Waukeen and cast a powerful spell, stunning the Cleric and stopping the ceremony. Lord Idool grabbed Felicia forcing a knife to her neck, she stopped struggling immediately.
Tulgar, Cael and Randal found their foes to be impressively capable in melee and soon were just as damaged as their foes. Tulgar stuck out and killed one with Gard, Cael cut through two more with Calinus Brumalis; an winter chill began to overtake the room. But Cael and Randal had cornered the last guard into the rear of the chapel when suddenly he struck out with a lash of steel. Randal pushed Cael away but the blade was quicker than he had anticipated; Randal's head fell to the floor with an ominous thud. Without even time to react to the first strike a second flash from the mercenary's blade hit Cael squarely between his helm and breastplate, his helm fell to the ground with a clang just a slit second after Randal's. Anthony turned and to the dire change of events and saw the mercenary standing with his katana drenched in blood, a vorpal. Anthony reacted by casting Revivify upon Cael; Julian saw this and used Greater Solarity to slow down time's passage and Replicated Anthony's spell Revivifying Randal as well. Cael had risen almost as fast as he was dropped, and a second later the awestruck mercenary was cleaved in half by his icy blade. Tulgar raged on as he wrapped Gar around another mercenary's chest and split him in two. Blood hit all four walls of the chapel at once. As the last of the guards were finished by the party, Lord Kisbin was slowly making an exit toward the broken chapel door; holding Felicia with a dagger at her perfect neck. Lord Illance was watching petrified in horror knowing that if he moved even an inch, Lord Kisbin would dispatch his daughter.The party turned to pursue, but the second Lord Idool had backed his way through the door they heard the unmistakable sounds to an arrow volley. Kisbin's beedy eyes lit up with pain as he fell to his knees allowing Felicia to break free. Behind him a squad of Royal Purple Dragon Knights lead by a Warwizard marched up with bows trained on the door shouting for all to stand down and drop their weapons. Randal whom was not armed rushed to Lord Idool as he took his last breath hoping to stop him from dying for just a few seconds longer. Kisbin's eyes sunk back into his skull and in his last exhale whispered, "The Lost King has returned again, you are powerless to stop him".
The party immediately went to Lord Illance and Felicia's aid and afterwords spoke with the Warwizard about what hapd happened. The Royal Warwizards had been keeping a close eye upon the Weave inside the Gardens of Suzail ever since the Eye Rippers had smashed their way into the Gesture of Fealty and had responded to the powerful magic use with a team of Royal Purple Dragons. Lord Kisbin expressed his eternal gratefulness to the party for not only rescuing them, but also for not abandoning their suspicions. After the party had finished their report with the Royal Purple Dragon Squad they escorted Lord Illance and his daughter back to his personal estate within the Gardens of Suzail. His castle was a perfect Cormyrian fairytale with high turrets, large windows, white-washed stone, and powerful patches of Ironvine that reflected his romantic heart. It was also the first chance the party had ever had to see Felicia so close. Even at this hour of night, in a dreadful black dress and tear smeared makeup running down her face, she looked absolutely breathtaking. As the talked for the next hour with her they found both Lord Illance and his daughter to be just as humble as they were noble, a remarkable trait indeed.After Felicia had gone to bed Lord Illance began to address the party's questions about the suspicious and irresponsible order he had given just days prior to move one of his largest caravans (the Dragoneye Dealing Coster) out of Arabel just prior to an orc attack. Lord Kisbin slowly began to explain everything. Almost three weeks ago Lord Idool visited his estate (tracking in mud and intimidating the servants) Kyston Illance refused to speak with a man so uncouth no matter how much business savvy his bank accounts showed. The next day Illance and his daughter were outside enjoying a walk when again Idool approached on horseback with two guards at his side asking to speak with Illance in private. Idool made vague references which threatened the welfare of Illance's trade routes and offered some "solutions" to prevent this at a price. Illance was not to be blackmailed and immediately withdrew with Felicia at his side. That very night Illance was awoken by one of his company men that a caravan into Suzail had not arrived and had not been seen in Jutesburgh, Bishop's Strattol, Kedalbee, or Windyhill (the towns just north of Suzail) either. Lord Illance knew the caravan's fate however, he had lost thousands of gold that night and could not prove Idool's guilt.
Over the next few days Idool's visits to Illance became stranger and more frequent. Ravens flew in with parcels, a former sailor turned ghost delivered news of when Idool was to be expected, and many other unusual things as well. In those two days Illance lost another caravan and a shop in the shipping district of Marsember, the local militia attributed the shop falling into the Sea of Shining Stars to "weathered timbers and cargo over the recommended weight". Illance found himself paying Idool increasing sums of money for his "expert suggestions" so that the Dragoneye Dealing Coster would remain profitable. Then one day Idool became bolder than even Illance would have ever suspected. Idool's interest had now shifted to Felicia. After a few misplaced words of affection to her, Illance lost his temper with Idool. Idool however would not relent and demanded her hand in marriage at once. Illance and his guards threw Idool out into his face, and for once Illance thought he had rid himself at last of the terrible Lord Idool. More wrong he could not be. For that night Illance was awoken by a freezing chill that had entered his sizable bed chamber.
When he awoke Illance saw a creature more terrifying than he could have ever imagined. A great skeletalized red dragon crouched within the room staring at Illance with two burning red orbs from within it's skull. Illance was instantly paralyzed with fear, the creature extended its skull over the bed and spoke in a hushed whisper. The creature told Illance that he was to agree to marry off his daughter to Idool or else she would meet a fate far worse than death. Lord Illance agreed to the terrible creature's demands and then in a flash it was gone leaving only a bitter chill and the smell of death within the room. Illance brought the party up to his bed chamber following the account where the party proceeded to search the room for any clues they could find. Julian found a place on the floor where the creature had been scratching with one of it's claws leaving a scar upon the marble floor. He gathered the dust remains within the cracked marble hoping that if there were any remnants of bone, Grim could analyze them in the future. The party thanked Illance for his honesty and after much thanks in return for saving his daughter from Lord Idool the party headed back to Lord Thond's manor for rest.
