Session XXII: Regicide and Sacrilege

Facing a motionless Gilgenon, Jacqualine, Del'Gado, and Imaros carefully approach, imbibing potions along the way. Jacqualine puts her hand on his shoulder and tries to speak with him, but only receives silence, and eventually nonsense, in return. The nonsense turns into rambling, during which Jacqualine backed away, and Gilgenon verbally terminated their status as Twilight Advocates for their "treachery and trespassing," warning that they would never again feel safe. Somehow, Del'Gado managed to get through his fickle mind by talking about Roxana, to which he sighed, stating that she simply lacked the support and goodwill to be crowned as sovereign and declared High Judge. The shortcomings of a not-quite-absolute monarchy, in his view. However, he then snapped and began vociferating about inevitable futility and drew arms: holding the familiar Gavel of Varnon in his left hand and the Sunlight Hammer in his right, which is a black-and-golden staff that manifests solid sunlight in the shape of a warhammer. He immediately cast down a wave of flame, caused by the hammer, in front of him, and the battle against the sixth King and High Judge of Akkon was a fact. Imaros rushed in and attacked him in melee with Izdubar's Shattered Dream, but was met by a furious onslaught by the King. Gilgenon tried to both disarm and knock him prone in a slick maneuver, yet Imaros held on to his dear weapon. Still, with the satyr cast aside, he moved forward to intercept Jacqualine. The two sparred briefly, and the King aimed a strike right at her noggin, intending to blind her: this did not succeed, although it still hurt quite a bit, and Jacqualine then dropped her shield and mace in favour of Lucia's Silver Glaive. However, after a potshot by Del'Gado, the King put away the Gavel, motioned his left hand, and a deeply unnatural symbol in yellow took shape that only Jacqualine and Del'Gado could perceive. As luck would have it, Jacqualine had already peeped horrors of that caliber, and Del'Gado had sacrificed some of his life experience to the Witchmarket for a permanent mind blank spell. Unfortunately, part of the effect did go through, giving him a tremendous fear of chandeliers. In response, Jacqualine retaliated by invoking the Greatsword of Iris, one of the Silverhallow spells, and sent the King to the threshold of death.   The party healed him just enough to try and talk to him. The first time, Jacqualine narrowly avoided a dagger thrust from Gilgenon, after which they tied him up. There was little in the way of useful information he provided. Jacqualine wished to know where the yellow book had gone, and the King merely suggested that she already knew the answer. After some back and forth, Caerlin dispatched a mindspike, which did not prove to be fatal, and after being rebuked, the party again tried to get the King to talk. After hearing nothing of utility for minutes, and having his belief in the righteousness of the Crown shattered, Del'Gado committed regicide; King and High Judge Gilgenon, Inheritor of the Mantle of the Builder, Defender of the Sun and the Lands Underneath, etc. etc., was murdered in the secret Adytum on the 16th of Chilling, 1304 AM. His last words were:  

In lost Carcosa.

  Jacqualine concealed the King's corpse by fusing it inside a classical Hyxian sculpture. The party then plundered the location of all notable items: Gilgenon's Sunlight Hammer, the Gavel of Varnon, a set of Hyxian legionary armour, a half of a golden disc, and the Golden Plate and Heraldic Cloak of Akkon. Further, they took a long time off to heal their wounds, and then prepared to ambush the Sunguard patrol bound for the subterranean vaults of the Thesapolis.   The adventurers' plan was simple: Caerlin would pretend to be a senile old woman whilst the rest hid in the nearby alcoves. The Sunguards approached and wondered who this woman was. Caerlin, wasting neither time nor words, unleashed a devastating spell that crippled the fighting capacity of the patrol. Still, the captain and a resilient soldier immediately immobilised and restrained Caerlin, but the rest of the party eliminated the royal guards in short order, killing the captain before any more damage could be done to Caerlin. Del'Gado assumed the role of the captain and the party decided on a reasonable explanation for the absence of the sixth guard. Jacqualine, utilising stoneshape in an unusually effective manner that can likely not be done again with just one spell slot, entombed the six bodies in the wall. Then, they prepared for the night shift at the Thesapolis. The previous shift captain had a short fraternal talk with Del'Gado, asking for his opinion on the arrests that had taken place earlier in the day: of course, Del'Gado and his Sunguard shift had been sleeping and were not caught up on recent events. He explained that the Elysian Court had issued a number of capture orders to the Sunguard targeting the palatial staff including some against members of the lesser nobility. He then briefed him on a nocturnal visit: a team from the Karapanate had formally requested access (and been granted it) to the Vault of Sovereign Records and for some accursed reason they were undertaking it in the middle of the night. This was not appreciated by the king's own, and the shift captain asked Del'Gado to make it abundantly obvious to their visitors that their little nightly excursion was not appreciated by the Sunguards. And also to make their visit as difficult as possible: all the while maintaining an aura of civility, of course.   During their shift, the party prepared for their guests. First, Del'Gado, Caerlin, and Imaros went to locate the Records Vault whilst Jacqualine and Alazim stood guard. Then, Caerlin and Imaros switched with Jacqualine and Alazim. Alazim would stand behind the gate to the Thesapolis, and the gatekeepers would knock on the door when the Karapanate arrived, which would signal Alazim to gather Jacqualine and Del'Gado. This pair were now set to open the Divine Vault, which they managed to locate quickly. The massive white-gold doors were foreboding, they both agreed. Nevertheless, the copy key functioned and they managed to slowly open the vault. Inside, they saw a modestly sized semi-circle room only containing cabinetry. Three ornate boxes were the only other items here. Del'Gado immediately went for the boxes, and felt pure good energy emanating from the artifacts they contained. Indeed, these boxes contained the Regalia of Heaven, coronation jewels of Akkon; and for some strange reason, the boxes bore the faded holy emblem of Iomedae.   Meanwhile, Caerlin and Imaros were now accosting the Karapanate investigators, stonewalling them on their way in. Once they granted them access, they offered them subpar escort services on the way to the Sovereign Records, granting Alazim time to gather Jacqualine and Del'Gado. The full party observed the mobad and his assistant herbads enter the vault. They requested some privacy due to an undisclosed sensitive aspect, but since they lacked this in writing, captain Del'Gado posted one Sunguard inside to keep watch. The clerical investigators were systematically gathering scrolls and documents from the archives. The leading mobad also collects a box, opens it, and uses a scroll on something inside it, but Caerlin is unable to ascertain what spell was used in the process. The adventurers were not planning on letting the clergymen leave the Thesapolis alive. They would turn on them once they were done, in the midst of the antimagic-warded corridors of the vaults. Without access to their divine magic, the holy investigators were cut down mercilessly, and the party began interrogating the mobad about their purpose here. The mobad correctly assumed that his captors would not let him live through this. According to Del'Gado, it was a matter of a slow or quick death. During this wonderful conversation, Jacqualine inspected the small box that the mobad had recovered. It bore the monogram of Varnon the Lawgiver, second King of Akkon. Inside was a journal or diary beside an obviously infernal symbol, though they could not determine exactly which archdevil it signified. Nevertheless, the mobad, apparently trying to appeal to his executioners' sense of duty, informed them that the Karapanate's investigation into the doppelganger infiltration of the Order of Hyron had broadened significantly, now suggesting that something was amiss in the highest echelons of Akkon's rulership. Even the slightest mention of fiendish association in relation to the Crown could have severe implications. Del'Gado and Jacqualine tried to get him to reveal who he reported to, but the mobad staunchly refused. Del'Gado promptly executed the helpless clergyman of the Karapanate. After this ordeal, Jacqualine and Caerlin went back to the Vault. They found other boxes bearing the monograms of past monarchs (save for Akkon and Gilgenon): all contained amulets displaying the radiant sun and eagle of Easivra. Jacqualine tried to use dispel magic against Tammon the Unrelenting's amulet, but nothing happened. They collected these royal keepsakes and rejoined the others, who had placed the bodies all around the Thesapolis in a manner which suggested an armed standoff between the Sunguards and the Karapanate investigators, making it look like the Sunguards had made it off with the Regalia of Heaven in the process. This would certainly fulfil the conspiracy's request. The party assumed that the Karapanate would resurrect their own at some point, and left Morrowfall Redoubt the same way they had entered, handwaved by a presumably bribed official. Caerlin (and the party) thought it was fitting to have some peace from friendship, and were transported to Izdubar's Palace of Remembrance.