Session 56: The Chains of the Operation
General Summary
18th Misuthar 836PD As Sabali advances into the room, using the cover of shadows to aid his approach and lend the sting of surprise to his blows, the unknown tiefling mage retreats into an antechamber, casting a spell in his wake which thickens and fouls the air, making both sight and breathing difficult. Raphael, Orlando and Tarathiel all give chase but are reduced to fits of retching in the corrupted air and are unable to raise a weapon or even shape the gestures of a casting. At the foot of the stairs, Simeon summons his holy khopesh, and strikes at Sartis. Warding himself from the blow, Sartis stands and lashes out at Enessa, eventually landing a nasty strike, lunging upwards with his spear. She winces for a moment as the spear pierces her armour, but then smiles, raises her bow and looses several arrows at close to point blank range. Once she is done, Sartis’ chest is bristled with arrows like a porcupine’s quills. Zeni, standing back as much as the small room’s dimensions will allow in order avoid the stench from the cloud, forms a devastating chromatic orb and launches it at Sartis, who falls, his skin still crackling with the aftermath of the deadly lightning. In the antechamber, as Tarathiel and Orlando look on helplessly, the enemy tiefling casts dimension door, and simply vanishes from sight. Merritt finally shakes himself free of Raphael’s hold person spell, but immediately falls victim to the foul air which persists even in the absence of its caster. Doubled over and coughing, he tries to make a dash for the door, but is instead punched in the head by Sabali and stunned. Simeon dispels the stinking cloud, and then, with a minute gesture of his hand he sweeps the khopesh in for an attack, as Zeni’s briny grasp snakes around Merritt’s legs, pinning him in place. For good measure, Orlando shoots twice, reducing him to near death. In the antechamber, Raphael disguises himself as Merritt and steps out into the corridor, indicating to the guards that all is well, and that he requires privacy. He looks for the tiefling, but does not see any sign of him. Sabali coats his blade with chatterbox poison, and draws the point of the knife slowly down Merritt’s face, drawing blood and making sure that the toxin starts to make its way into his system before knocking him out with a sharp punch to the throat. The battle over, the party moves quickly to tie Merritt up in preparation for questioning. In the process of searching the man for items which might pose a threat, Zeni spots a strange tattoo on his left shoulder. It depicts an uneven pentagram made of chains, and the area of skin around it is scarred and puckered as if someone has tried to remove or deface the image, with only partial success. Both Zeni and Tarathiel recognise this as the symbol of Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion. Merritt is then stripped to his underclothes, as is Sartis, but no further tattoos are discovered. We locate the book which Zeni had previously seen Merritt studying, but it’s charred remains do not yield any further information. Tarathiel casts invisibility on Enessa, who moves silently to stand outside the door and watch for possible interruptions. The prisoner is brought back to consciousness, and Raphael speaks menacingly to him, demanding answers on pain of death. Merritt looks sick and conflicted, but at length he begins to speak. Almost at once, a dark power seems to claim him, his eyes rolling back in his head and a black fluid leaking from his nose and ears. A quick inspection confirms what was already obvious, the man is dead, killed by a curse of some sort which triggered when he began to speak. Zeni was monitoring his thoughts up to the moment of his death, and reports that Merritts overriding emotion was fear, both of the party and of the fate which might await him should he choose to speak. As soon as he reached a decision and opened his mouth, the magic started to devour him. After a few minutes of discussion, Simeon casts revivify, Zeni whispering in his ear as we watch the diamonds in his palm turn to dust. The dark fluid which streaked Merritt’s face seems to flow back on itself, sucking back into his ears and nose. After a long moment of uncertainty, Merritt lets out a tortured gasp and opens bloodshot eyes. Simeon lays a hand on his forehead and prays for the curse afflicting Merritt to be removed. For a moment, as these spells are cast, divine energy bathes the room and everyone in the party feels a sense of relief and easing of tension. Then the questioning begins. Merritt is initially, and understandably give the events of the past few minutes, reluctant to speak, but is eventually coaxed and threatened into doing so. He tells the party that the tiefling was known to him as Azeyeroth (which we later realise might loosely be translated as Lock-Breaker - a most ominous name in the context of the Chained Oblivion). The two had come to an arrangement some years ago, under which Merritt would offer his arcane services in crafting the resonance, or gateway, stones, and Azeyeroth would facilitate his advancement in society and acquisition of political power and influence. Merritt is clearly still afraid of Azyeroth’s reaction to any disloyalty, and also holds out some hope that the tiefling will appear and rescue him. Zeni attempts to deceive him by imitating Azeyeroth’s deceased form, but he sees through the ruse. Merritt claims that the tattoo was not his idea, but refuses to elaborate further, saying that he would prefer a trial by the Council to arbitrary detention by the Unbroken. In response to this Sabali punches him unconscious once more. Tarathiel, who has been examining the contents of the bookshelves as this drama unfolds, discovers a volume which discusses the magic required for the construction of the boxes used to safely contain the stones, but nothing on the stones themselves. She places this book, and other interesting looking tomes, into the bag of holding for later study. It is time to leave. Simeon transforms himself into a giant eagle and ferries each member of the party down to the foot of the walls, including the unconscious and still largely naked Merritt. We head back towards Alura’s home, sending a message ahead to indicate our arrival and something of the circumstances. She is not best pleased, but agrees to admit us, and asks if we would like Palmer Cook informed of how matters stand. There is some discussion over this point, and some suspicions are voiced, but it is ultimately agreed that he should be notified. Cook meets the party en-route, instructing local guards to ignore what they have seen. He offers to imprison Merritt in his own cells, but the party insists on taking him to Alura’s house instead. He eventually consents to this proposal, requesting to be present if and when further questions are asked. We arrive at Alura’s, and wait for Cook to join us, which he does with twenty minutes, bringing with him the means to properly restrain the prisoner. He says that he would prefer to observe the interrogation than to participate, and stands behind the chair on which Merritt has been positioned. Alura, by contrast, seems happy to have her involvement known. Merritt is brought round, and Alura and Raphael open up with a combination of threats and promises of protection should he co-operate. He refuses, saying that Azeyeroth has assured him that should he betray whatever cause is behind this, his soul will be doomed to suffer in the Abyss, whereas should he die while keeping his faith, his soul will rest in peace. Tarathiel indicates that she believes this is at least within the realms of possibility, given what else we have seen. Merritt himself appears to believe it sincerely. Simeon indicates to Merritt that his best course of action is to side with the Unbroken, given our successes so far. He promises that we will hunt down Azeyeroth before the latter is able to harm Merritt further. Merritt does seem somewhat moved by these arguments, but has little of real worth to add. He says that he intends to ‘hedge his bets’, willing to suffer imprisonment while he waits to see if Azeyeroth emerges with the upper hand. Sabali asks him about the links to the fire plane, and when he admits responsibility, Sabali slaps him across the face. Others ask Sabali what he is doing, and Sabali indicates his frustration, gesturing at Cook as he does so. Merritt turns to see Cook with some surprise. Tarathiel asks him what he hoped to gain from the deal, and Merritt says that he had aimed in time to become Coin Master. Cook and Alura scoff a bit at this. Tarathiel queries the basically irrational nature of this sort of arrangement with a follower of Tharizdun, and Merritt indicates that he hoped the timeframe would be long enough for him to enjoy the fruits of his labour and that what might happen after that was not his problem. He reiterates that he does not intend to tell us more, and that in any case he doesn’t know much more. Focusing again on the specifics of the deal which Merritt has made, Tarathiel argues that, leaving sentiment aside, a quick death for Merritt while there is still a chance that he will not be judged forsworn would be by far the most merciful option at this point, given the stakes. Cook dismisses this suggestion on procedural grounds and instead removes Merritt into his own custody for further questioning. The party accepts this judgment. Unexpectedly, Cook informs the party that they will be expected to occupy Merritt’s castle. His motivations for this are not entirely clear, but after a good amount of time on the road the party is not inclined to look a gift horse in the mouth and agrees to take up residence, at least for the immediate future. Cook promises to visit the party there in a few days time to discuss the next move. The Unbroken reach Level 9! Linked Journals
