IWoS 4: Strike by Dark

General Summary

Heather Rowling recklessly bowls through the crowd in the marketplace of the city of Astina in an attempt to get at the manservant of the lady Alida ar'Zara. However, the throng of people is thick enough that she can't make it through as fast as she hopes, and the manservant notices her approach early. Eyes growing wide in surprise, the manservant fumbles in his pocket for something and takes out a bright blue stone that Heather recognizes as a Gate Stone. Before she can do anything, the manservant disappears in a puff of blue energy.   Frustrated, Heather quickly looks around the crowd as Plays for the Stars catches up. She explains that the gate stone is one half of a pair, and possesses the ability to transport the holder of one half to the holder of the other. She reasons that the manservant must have teleported nearby, mentioning that there must be some range to the stone's ability. But with no other leads, the two decide that the Drybranch Estate is probably the best place to look for answers.   On their way there, they encounter Izha Mostana who has just arrived in Astina looking for the party, having gone ahead to Tan'Ayya in order to procure the list of names that the party is owed. Before they can discuss the list, however, Izha agrees to see what is going on with the current situation, which Heather explains on the way to the Drybranch Estate.   Once there, they are greeted at the door by the head servant Aldission Teraeus, who does not seem at all pleased to see them again. In her usual brusque fashion, Heather demands to be let in, but Aldission refuses, stating that it is his job to keep rabble from the streets from entering the estate willy-nilly. Heather asks if Aldission wants to go through this again and asks him to go inside and talk to the lady ar'Zara, to get them entry, at which point Aldission informs them that the lady is not present in the estate at the moment.   When they press him for answers, Aldission states that the lady ar'Zara left a few minutes past to do some humanitarian work. Aldission says that he doesn't remember where she said she was going, if she had even mentioned it, and tells the party to go look elsewhere in the city if they wanted to find her. The party, disappointed and frustrated, leaves the Drybranch estate empty-handed, at which point Izha asks if they can get the rest of the group together to discuss the list of names that she had managed to retrieve.  

The List

Regrouping at the Wainwright's Clamp, the party discusses the list. Izha explains to the newer members of the group that the list defines the handful of people who have the authority to command the Shadewalkers, the secret police that should be serving the wellbeing of the Ayyanesha caliph. Izha points out that one of the people on the list knows them, this person being Shiq'an ar'Alaam, the Ayyanesha ambassador to Madras.   Looking at the list of names, Heather realizes that the second name is that of the lady ar'Zara and speculation runs rampant at the table. At first, the party suspects that the lady ar'Zara had something to do with the assassination attempt on their lives, but Heather says that it doesn't make any sense, especially if she was attacked by the assassins, herself. Izha speculates that the lady ar'Zara's current absence is the result of her changing locations following the attack.   The party wonders if the Stormcaller is one of the names on the list, and the notion that the Stormcaller might be invested in getting rid of the rest is raised. At this point, it appears that Izha is willing to discount at least one name: Shiq'an from being the Stormcaller. She mentions that she doesn't think it's the lady ar'Zara either, but at this point in time, they can't be sure about that.   Once they've gone over the list, the party takes a step back to reexamine their present circumstances. They consider whether it is worth it to spend the time and effort that they need to in order to track down the lady ar'Zara and the missing manservant, or whether they will be better served by heading immediately to Serpent's Cove. The party decides that they don't have time to waste, and they set their sights on Tan'Ayya.  

Tan'Ayya

Upon arriving at the outskirts of Tan'Ayya, the party discusses whether they should take precautions in entering the city. Heather, in particular, is concerned that there may be more assassins lying in wait. Ultimately, they decide that it is not worth the effort to go through all the trouble of disguising themselves or rendering themselves invisible or coming up with convincing cover stories. The group rides through the gates, but they are stopped by the guards who examine their carriage.   While the examination is ongoing, Lykares Eskaon, in the disguise of one of the T'Hirab guardsmen at the gate, reveals himself by whispering to Izha that she owes him 1500 gold pieces, the second half of the price that they had agreed upon when he was first hired. He also mentions that he knows a private place to talk, asking them to accompany him to the guardhouse under the guise of wanting to ask them a few questions.   Once in the guardhouse, Lykares drops his disguise and discloses to the party the information that he managed to gather from the time that he spent in Serpent's Cove, saying that the location is a veritable fortress that is impossible to approach by land or sea. By land, he tells them of the four watchtowers that have no blind spots, each built atop the cliff faces that surround the cove, and of the grid of crystals that cover a mile radius out from the cove. The crystals are enchanted with magic that make them light up whenever their immediate vicinity is violated by intruders, and they are also able to counter invisibility, making it an ineffective method of approaching sneakily.   In addition, Lykares states that though he never really saw them in action, nor even got to inspect them during his time at Serpent's Cove, that there is a network of rooms and tunnels underneath the grid of crystals that are meant to release threats upon intruders on the surface. Lykares talks about the potential of an approach by sea to Serpent's Cove. He says that it is easier than an approach by land, but that the single entrance to the cove is often covered by an impassable chain that is lowered only to make way for the ships that arrive regularly with reinforcements and supplies.   Lykares states that as far as he could tell, the ships were checked for legitimacy via blood magic. The party considers its options and the question of whether Fatima ar'Assem would still have the necessary blood credentials to get past the check. Fatima states that it is a question of chance. She says that to her knowledge, the party was able to get rid of all the Hooded Eye operatives in Rasaak when they freed her, and that news of her defection was unlikely to have reached Haqo'ob ar'Sabbin before his untimely death. She says that she is uncertain whether the chaos has worked to their advantage and trying to enter via a ship would be something of an enormous risk.   Another piece of information that Lykares shares is that shortly before his departure, to avoid having his cover blown, a tussari stormcaller was assigned to Serpent's Cove. The party is afraid that it is the Stormcaller, but Lykares reassures them that it was a snake with brilliant blue scales rather than the obsidian black ones that still haunt Heather's nightmares.   Lykares points out that he has seen the birds that the party carries with them and states that if they have the ability to turn the birds invisible, that would be one avenue for approach. He says that although the cove isn't particularly vulnerable to an aerial attack, it would be unexpected, especially if they did so under the cover of night. The party mulls over the suggestion for a short period of time before deciding that it might well be the best plan of action.   Before they can discuss anything further, Lykares tells them that they should go and discuss elsewhere because they've spent long enough in the guardhouse. The party agrees and departs, spending a little bit of time in Tan'Ayya to stock up but otherwise not lingering in the city before pushing on through in the direction of Serpent's Cove.  

Serpent's Cove

Following Stalks in Shadow's directions, the party travels three days due southwest of Tan'Ayya before leaving the road and travelling in the direction of the western coast. Once they think that they are close enough, they leave their carriage behind, hiding it behind some of the hardy shrubs that dot the landscape before Izha takes to the skies on her stormrider to determine the exact location of Serpent's Cove.   Izha flies up and down the coast until, four hours later, she spots Serpent's Cove, eight miles due west of the party's current position. She returns and informs them of her findings and the group decides to take a rest to prepare for their assault. As the last light of day is fading, they take to the skies and begin their journey to Serpent's Cove, with Stars rendering the birds invisible once they get close to the cove.   Once they begin their descent, things start going wrong. For one, they spot a patrol on the area of the beach that they want to land on. Izha, throwing caution to the wind, pushes her stormrider into a dive, plunging through the air toward the beach and stopping just short of the sand. She spends the first few seconds after landing on slicing through the rope that had lashed them to the back of the stormrider to make sure that they didn't fall off once the bird was invisible before rolling off the beast's back and preparing for combat.   Dawn and his stormrider follow close behind. Though their final descent was sudden, the patrolmen are not caught by surprise, and as they join battle, the alarm bells of Serpent's Cove begin to ring. The group makes short work of the two patrolmen and as they catch their breath after the battle, Fatima tells the group that she will head to the training hall on the opposite side of the compound. When asked why she is doing this, Fatima says that, no offense to Stars, she thinks that she might be the one with the best chance of rousing the others to action.   She says that unlike Stars, she's been in the position of the captives, and she's managed to make her way out. She says that she shares their fear, and their rage, and that as a result they might be able to establish with her better. She says farewell to the group and wishes them luck before dashing away.   Soon after Fatima's departure, the back doors of the manor burst open and Hooded Eye operatives flood out. The party joins battle once again, with Heather taking a defensive position in front and Izha dashing to the side to take shots at the crossbowmen that flank the main group of fighters.   Hadrea, whose imaginary friend Mercher has been speaking to her in an increasingly cruel, vicious, bloodthirsty voice, calmly steps around Heather and unleashes an unholy cloud of toxic, poisonous gas on the enemy combatants. They choke and sputter on poison, a good amount of them sustaining heavy damage before they can counterattack.   The party slogs through the battle, taking down opponent after opponent, with Hadrea and Blood on the Dawnflower taking up offensive melee roles, while Izha continually took shots at the crossbowmen. Heather takes up a defensive role, but still deals damage on the side, while Stars takes the occasional shot from his crossbanjo and provides support for the party from the rear of the fight.   The party ultimately emerges victorious, and Heather, knowing that they have little choice but to rush the manor at this point, rushes up to the doors and kicks them open. She comes face to face with the stormcaller that had been assigned to Serpent's Cove, who claps, seemingly in admiration of the party's fighting prowess, before apologizing for the fact that it now needs to kill them.   With barely enough time for Heather to react to defend herself, the stormcaller unleashes a torrent of lightning at her, the crackling bolts leaping from her body to strike Dawn, who, without the protective magics that Heather was able to call forth, took the brunt of the damage.