Session 68 - Execution, Trial, Travel
12 Sviftmont 1010 - 25 Sviftmont 1010
General Summary
The party finds itself among a large crowd gathered at the town square just outside the council hall, as Seraphina is escorted by Eliander up the steps onto the gallows. Everyone is shocked that it could have possibly come to this. After all the good Seraphina and the party has done directly for the council of Saltmarsh, the region, and even the nation of Karameikos, here she was being brought out for a public hanging!
Not willing to accept the impending outcome, Stavos and Tork jump up onto the gallows to intercede. Tork knocks the hangman off the platform, trying not to harm the townsfolk and guards, but this probably won't last long. He uses the rest of his action to try cutting the rope of the noose, but it seems magically warded against damage. Elincia moves to the back of the large crowd and climbs some crates near the docks to get a clear view of the action. Stavos shoves Eliander away, but this doesn't change the latter's determination to hang Seraphina. Leo tries to cast his new spell Scatter but, much to his surprise, Keledek is nearby in the crowd and counterspells this 6th level spell. Seraphina tries casting Misty Step, but this is somehow fizzled by some sort of warding - she briefly finds herself some 30 feet away but then reappears back in position with the noose around her neck. Then things get stranger yet!
Wellgar Brinehanded is near the gallows platform and throws his staff down onto the ground in front of Stavos, where the staff twists and wriggles, turning into a Giant Centipede! Elincia casts another spell, and Keledek counterspells this too. At this point two False Hydra heads pop out of the sewer grates, and move to attack Elincia. Stavos is now fully engaged with his nemesis the Giant Centipede. The Hangman flips the lever to release the trapdoor below Seraphina and pulls off his hood, revealing the snarling visage of Langdedrosa Cyanwrath who should be dead! Luckily the rope does not snap Seraphina's neck and Tork pulls her up, sets her on her feet next to the open hole. Leo, realizing the False Hydra may be worse than all the rest of this horrible scenario, casts Banishment on both heads, and they pop out of existence. Meanwhile, Leo has become surrounded by guards, who have no issue striking him, and pretty soon he is going to be forced to hurt them (badly). Elincia also is now getting attacked by guards, and casts a new spell which summons a Draconic Spirt, terrifying the guards, as it scoops her up into the air, where she has the dragon breathe acid on the guards attacking Leo.
To Seraphina's horror a figure appears at the open hole - the half-decayed visage of Lindir, who reaches out as if from a grave and wraps his arms around her legs! At this, the gallows pole elongates and the noose lifts the pair of them some 20 feet into the air by Seraphina's neck; Lindir's added weight causing Seraphina's windpipe to crush as she thrashes futilely.
Is has been two days since Seraphina was arrested; the party awakens to find that it was some sort of shared nightmare. Leo confirms that he had nothing to do with this, but everyone agrees that it was a lifelike, if hard to imagine, scenario.
The morning prior Aubreck was the first to learn of Seraphina's arrest after she missed a scheduled brunch with him. Horrified at this development, he offers his service as her representative in court. He sets out to inform the party members and vent his wrath at members of the Saltmarsh Town Council.
Aubreck does not find the party members at this time, as most (Leo, Stavos, and Elincia) have set out to keep an appointment to visit Ynyr. Leo takes the lead explaining the scenario up north with all the strange and coordinated activities undertaken by the Hill Giants, as well as the letter carried by their chief asking about progress. Leo shows Ynyr the clockwork mechanism (Chronolometer), and describes the disturbing altar they found with the matching shape. Ynyr agrees all of this sounds strange, especially the activities of the Hill Giants and their apparent search for this object. He asks if he can keep the Chronolometer for further study and to contact the party if he learns more. Meanwhile, he has learned all he can from the sword they left him before; it's Baatorian Green Steel, a metal that holds a fantastically sharp edge and readily takes enchantments, though this sword is not magical. Once they've returned to town, Aubreck informs everyone of Seraphina's arrest.
Over the next week or two, the party is called at various times to testify on behalf of Seraphina. The town council is worried about the appearance of favoritism and the delicacy of the accuser being a refugee of Alfheim, and under King Stefan's reign those in positions of power or wealth are generally prosecuted more heavily. Because of all this they eventually lay down the full extent of the law on the most solid piece of evidence: Seraphina's letter is essentially a confession of her roadside threats against Lindir's sister, Tephysea. Fortunately, an assault offense is a much lesser crime than any kind of charge for Lindir's death. After much deliberation the council settles on a steep fine and time served. This fine wipes out most of Seraphina's share of the Giant raid loot but, other than that and a stern warning to stay away from Tephysea, she is clear of any further legal repercussions.
Ynyr sends a message that he has learned more about the Chronolometer - the full party visits this time. Leo, who has learned a new trick he can do with his Book of Ancient Secrets, asks Ynyr if he can put his name in the book for remote communication through his Far Scribe ability. Ynyr is familiar with this magic and agrees to his name being added to the list. He shares that the Chronolometer is just part of a larger device (which the party already had guessed), and that he was able to locate the other piece in the middle of the Cruth Mountains, which border the Republic of Darokin and are not too far northeast of where the Hill Giants had built their fort. Because Winter is approaching it will be very cold there at this time of year, but to learn more he suggests attempting to get the other half of the device. They may also learn who was behind the Giant's invasion of the lowlands. The party agrees this makes sense, but they have some loose ends to tie up in Karameikos before heading into the mountains.
Leo gets Captain Kazimir and Eliander to agree to adding their names to the book as well. Elincia explains another of her newly learned spells to the party, whereby she can give them all an amazing 300ft flying speed, though they can't do much else in this form. But, this spell lasts 8 hours, during which they can cover huge distances. This trivializes travel between the towns of Karameikos, giving them enough time visit several places within the region, mostly to see how things are going since the fall of the Black Eagle Barony, while still having enough time to reach Mirros well before the King's birthday. They start with a day trip to Greenest, where they find that the town is recovering reasonably well and verify the execution of Langdedrosa was carried out. They are given a hero's welcome and a free night at the inn, with lots of stories told.
The next day they visit Luln, but find that Sascia is away hunting rogue humanoids that are still causing problems in the area. Things have definitely improved, but the work is not done yet. The removal of Ludwig von Hendriks was an important step, but not the final step in restoring order to the region. There are some concerns that the young lord Milo Korrigan, castellan of Halag, may not be able to establish stability in the territory. The party takes a quick side-trip to help out the hunt on their way to Leeside, their final stop before Mirros.
In Leeside, the buildings may have been repaired, but there is still much sadness and distress. The loss of memory of obviously important loved ones is hard to get past, with some having moved away for a fresh start elsewhere. However, some people have moved into Leeside from the Black Eagle Barony, now that they are free to leave Halag, and generally things are getting better, but some wounds likely will never heal in this generation. They go to visit Waldhexe, who is pleasant enough, though they press her for more information about the Coins they placed for her. She merely thanks them for performing the task, without divulging why, but things turn sour when Seraphina casts a Zone of Truth. At this, Waldhexe sternly asks them to leave, brooking none of their questions - the party leaves with no more answers than before.
Finally, the party travels to Mirros. They ask for an audience with Alexius Korrigan, who is able to meet them in short order. They give him a fairly in-depth analysis of the activities in the Cruth Lowlands, as well as their map. He asks about their impressions of the receptiveness of the tribes to diplomatic relations and trade, as well as other activities that may come up within the region, such as mining interests. Tork takes the lead here and explains that the Tribes would likely be receptive to trade and outsiders so long as they are left to their freedom and nomadic lifestyles. This seems to satisfy Alexius. Seraphina asks if he can pass along her gift to the King, as they don't need to disturb him with his busy schedule, to which he agrees.
That evening the group receives an invitation to a party to celebrate the King's birthday on the 28th. The tone of the invitation is that they would likely have been invited already if their presence in Mirros was known sooner. As a result, the party will go shopping for attire (as desired), and plan to party on!
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