The Children of War
Following the lead received from Heliel Cadwell, the party decided to visit the meeting between the leaders of Tempus' Legion. Borghur Gro-Baruuk used a connection in The Unseen, a Halfling spy known as Dirt, to learn where the meeting would be taking place. He learned that there had been a lot of activity going in and out of the old temple of Tempus.
After learning this the party entered the abandoned church and were faced with a towering statue that stood in front of three doors. The statue resembled a hammer wielding warrior, with a broken blade on his side who stood beside a large metallic wolf with glinting teeth. The doors were marked by a different banner that hung above each door. The three banners showed symbols of a broken sword, a fang and a hammer. When examining one of the doors, the party found no keyhole. Instead there was a flat metal plate that lay just beneath the handle. When trying to open the door, the party discovered it didn't budge. However, the room began to rumble, and the statue almost seemed to move. After trying the door again, it became clear that something was wrong and that the statue was about to come to life. Borghur decided to press his bear fang pendant against the metal plate on the door with the fang banner above it. As he did so , the shaking stopped, the statue settled back into its original position and the door opened.
Upon passing through the door, the party moved into a large room where they found themselves looking down onto a triangular table with banners behind each of the three sides. The banners matched the ones above the doors and the party realised they represented the different orders of Tempus' legion. At the table there were three chairs on each side with the one in the middle much further forward than the others. The central chairs sat the Champion of each order and beside them their two commanders. Behind them stood a collection of captains and other significant positions within the legion.
Under the banner of the Hammer was a projection of Griegor Stonehand. On either side of him sat a muscular male blue Dragonborn and a male Half-Orc in blacksmiths gear.
Under the banner of the Broken Sword sat Rayth Mallus with a heavily armoured male Dwarf and a robed Dark-Elf woman. Standing to the side of Rayth was a small, bookish Dark-elf the party identified as Milos. He was suffering the effects of Semi-undeath due to Rayth and was clearly out of place in the meeting.
Under the banner of the Steel Fang was Tarin Newguard. Surprisingly for the party he was not sitting in the champions chair, in fact no-one was. In the chair next to Tarin was a High-Elven man with shining blue eyes and a suit of elegant plate armour. Standing beside him was a tall and beautiful woman, with flowing red hair who introduced herself to the room as Lady Erin.
When the party entered, the meeting had already started and they just managed to catch the tail end of an argument between an order of the hammer captain and Lady Erin. He was scolding the followers for allowing themselves to be allied with her, claiming 'we are warriors, not spies and diplomats'. Erin calmly reminded him that they were all on the same side and that her organisation would do all the espionage work and that the Legion were not being asked to assist her. Tarin took Erin's side saying that they needed all the help they could get. The captain scoffed at this claiming Tarin's weakness was the reason he wasn't chosen to replace Simiro. This enraged Tarin who said that the champions chair would remain empty as long as Simiro remained in memory. Tarin didn't want the title of champion as he felt it would be a disservice to the man that had taught him so much and would detract from his mentor's legacy to simply have him replaced after all he had done. Erin reminded the captain that this was no way to speak to his superiors and suggested that if he were better at following orders, then perhaps his brother would still be alive. The captain drew his weapons in anger and dared Erin to fight him, saying 'let's see how far your spying gets you when you face a real warrior.' Erin agreed to the challenge and in an instant, a shadowy duplicate of her appeared behind the captain, punching a hole through his chest. After the body of the captain hit the floor, the duplicate vanished. With permission from Tarin, Rayth raised the captain and moved him from the hammers, to the broken sword. Throughout the whole exchange, no one else in the room said a word.
Tarin then addressed the room saying 'I understand the late captain's point, we aren't spies, we're soldiers. We fight with weapons, not words. We thrive on the battlefield, not the shadows, but we need resources if we are to win this war. Look around you, what do you see? An army? No, we are little more than a group of washed up veterans and starry-eyed recruits. If we tried to fight now, we would lose. But, with Lady Erin and her organisation on our side, we can grow. We can build ourselves back up again and make a difference in this world. Thanks to Lady Erin we already have one incredibly wealthy and powerful ally, but it isn't enough.' At this Lady Erin cuts in and takes over, 'On the 10th there is to be a great party celebrating the passing of Tymora's Comet. However, an inside agent has told me that thanks to a group of adventures, it is to be a fundraising night for the town of Sanctuary . As a result, many of the Isle's most wealthy and influential people will be there to support their cause. My organisation plans to be there to gather support for our cause. There is another potential lead but it is unconfirmed, so only time will tell if it is anything to work off of. My people will do all the work and you don't even have to be there. You see? You don't work for us, we work for you. We both want the same thing, to make a difference. We are stronger together than we are on our own.'
Tarin then asked for the champions to report on their orders' progress. Rayth first commented on the success of rallying support from the Drow and that they were looking for The Crucible as he spoke. Rayth stated that despite this, progress was slow. He said that Althaea, the Matron of Sorcery, was resisting his magic but he was confident she would break soon, they always do. He then handed off to Milos to inform the Legion of their next moves. Milos pleaded that the Legion focus their efforts on finding the lost city of Aetheria, claiming that its technological marvels would make the search for the Crucible irrelevant. After a quick threat from Rayth, Milos decided to stick to the script. He spoke of an Anex Society member, Salen Stronoch, who knew more information on the location of the Crucible. He was investigating the ruins of Gullstown with a group of Grimseekers. Rayth had made plans to send a force to intercept Salen and learn what he knew.
For the Hammer's report, it was mostly delivered by the half-orc that sat beside Griegor. He said that the design for the item was complete and all that remained was finding the forge and building it. He said that one of the most complex pieces of the design were the Rune Keys. Though it would be possible to make them, it would be incredibly time consuming. They had heard of a set of Rune Keys that lay in Darmith Citadel in The Underdark. At the mention of the citadel, Milos began to warn against it saying that it was a cursed place and that any who entered were doomed. Though he was initially told to be quiet, the Dark-elf women next to Rayth took his side, agreeing it was too dangerous. Tarin offered his own troops, as did Rayth to account for the extra danger.
Tarin then asked if the Aetherium he had taken from Easthaven would be enough to build the item, to which the orc laughed. He explained that the safe had been filled with very intricate fakes and that Tarin's plans had crossed with a plot to humiliate Amoss Dexter. He then produced the notes written by the party that they had left in the safe and slid them across the table. One of the captains then questioned if this meant the Legion had a secret ally, to which Tarin replied 'Dexter has an enemy, that does't mean we have an ally, but this could still be useful'. Lady Erin had taken extreme interest in the letters and asked if she could hold onto them, claiming that she could use them down the line. Rayth mentioned that this effected him as he needed Aetherium to power the Crucible when he ultimately found it. Tarin apologised to both Griegor and Rayth, saying that he would personally see to it that both groups would get their Aetherium. He said they're was a seller in Eastport who had enough Aetherium to fund both the Hammers and the Broken Sword. He was hosting a party on his boat on the 13th of Sky, a perfect opportunity for business.
With everything covered Tarin thanked everyone for their service, he made it clear that change was coming and that this was the beginning of something great. He told troops to report to their captains and to listen out for their next move. After the meeting was over, the party were able to slip out of the temple with the other soldiers and drifted out into the streets unnoticed.
After learning this the party entered the abandoned church and were faced with a towering statue that stood in front of three doors. The statue resembled a hammer wielding warrior, with a broken blade on his side who stood beside a large metallic wolf with glinting teeth. The doors were marked by a different banner that hung above each door. The three banners showed symbols of a broken sword, a fang and a hammer. When examining one of the doors, the party found no keyhole. Instead there was a flat metal plate that lay just beneath the handle. When trying to open the door, the party discovered it didn't budge. However, the room began to rumble, and the statue almost seemed to move. After trying the door again, it became clear that something was wrong and that the statue was about to come to life. Borghur decided to press his bear fang pendant against the metal plate on the door with the fang banner above it. As he did so , the shaking stopped, the statue settled back into its original position and the door opened.
Upon passing through the door, the party moved into a large room where they found themselves looking down onto a triangular table with banners behind each of the three sides. The banners matched the ones above the doors and the party realised they represented the different orders of Tempus' legion. At the table there were three chairs on each side with the one in the middle much further forward than the others. The central chairs sat the Champion of each order and beside them their two commanders. Behind them stood a collection of captains and other significant positions within the legion.
Under the banner of the Hammer was a projection of Griegor Stonehand. On either side of him sat a muscular male blue Dragonborn and a male Half-Orc in blacksmiths gear.
Under the banner of the Broken Sword sat Rayth Mallus with a heavily armoured male Dwarf and a robed Dark-Elf woman. Standing to the side of Rayth was a small, bookish Dark-elf the party identified as Milos. He was suffering the effects of Semi-undeath due to Rayth and was clearly out of place in the meeting.
Under the banner of the Steel Fang was Tarin Newguard. Surprisingly for the party he was not sitting in the champions chair, in fact no-one was. In the chair next to Tarin was a High-Elven man with shining blue eyes and a suit of elegant plate armour. Standing beside him was a tall and beautiful woman, with flowing red hair who introduced herself to the room as Lady Erin.
When the party entered, the meeting had already started and they just managed to catch the tail end of an argument between an order of the hammer captain and Lady Erin. He was scolding the followers for allowing themselves to be allied with her, claiming 'we are warriors, not spies and diplomats'. Erin calmly reminded him that they were all on the same side and that her organisation would do all the espionage work and that the Legion were not being asked to assist her. Tarin took Erin's side saying that they needed all the help they could get. The captain scoffed at this claiming Tarin's weakness was the reason he wasn't chosen to replace Simiro. This enraged Tarin who said that the champions chair would remain empty as long as Simiro remained in memory. Tarin didn't want the title of champion as he felt it would be a disservice to the man that had taught him so much and would detract from his mentor's legacy to simply have him replaced after all he had done. Erin reminded the captain that this was no way to speak to his superiors and suggested that if he were better at following orders, then perhaps his brother would still be alive. The captain drew his weapons in anger and dared Erin to fight him, saying 'let's see how far your spying gets you when you face a real warrior.' Erin agreed to the challenge and in an instant, a shadowy duplicate of her appeared behind the captain, punching a hole through his chest. After the body of the captain hit the floor, the duplicate vanished. With permission from Tarin, Rayth raised the captain and moved him from the hammers, to the broken sword. Throughout the whole exchange, no one else in the room said a word.
Tarin then addressed the room saying 'I understand the late captain's point, we aren't spies, we're soldiers. We fight with weapons, not words. We thrive on the battlefield, not the shadows, but we need resources if we are to win this war. Look around you, what do you see? An army? No, we are little more than a group of washed up veterans and starry-eyed recruits. If we tried to fight now, we would lose. But, with Lady Erin and her organisation on our side, we can grow. We can build ourselves back up again and make a difference in this world. Thanks to Lady Erin we already have one incredibly wealthy and powerful ally, but it isn't enough.' At this Lady Erin cuts in and takes over, 'On the 10th there is to be a great party celebrating the passing of Tymora's Comet. However, an inside agent has told me that thanks to a group of adventures, it is to be a fundraising night for the town of Sanctuary . As a result, many of the Isle's most wealthy and influential people will be there to support their cause. My organisation plans to be there to gather support for our cause. There is another potential lead but it is unconfirmed, so only time will tell if it is anything to work off of. My people will do all the work and you don't even have to be there. You see? You don't work for us, we work for you. We both want the same thing, to make a difference. We are stronger together than we are on our own.'
Tarin then asked for the champions to report on their orders' progress. Rayth first commented on the success of rallying support from the Drow and that they were looking for The Crucible as he spoke. Rayth stated that despite this, progress was slow. He said that Althaea, the Matron of Sorcery, was resisting his magic but he was confident she would break soon, they always do. He then handed off to Milos to inform the Legion of their next moves. Milos pleaded that the Legion focus their efforts on finding the lost city of Aetheria, claiming that its technological marvels would make the search for the Crucible irrelevant. After a quick threat from Rayth, Milos decided to stick to the script. He spoke of an Anex Society member, Salen Stronoch, who knew more information on the location of the Crucible. He was investigating the ruins of Gullstown with a group of Grimseekers. Rayth had made plans to send a force to intercept Salen and learn what he knew.
For the Hammer's report, it was mostly delivered by the half-orc that sat beside Griegor. He said that the design for the item was complete and all that remained was finding the forge and building it. He said that one of the most complex pieces of the design were the Rune Keys. Though it would be possible to make them, it would be incredibly time consuming. They had heard of a set of Rune Keys that lay in Darmith Citadel in The Underdark. At the mention of the citadel, Milos began to warn against it saying that it was a cursed place and that any who entered were doomed. Though he was initially told to be quiet, the Dark-elf women next to Rayth took his side, agreeing it was too dangerous. Tarin offered his own troops, as did Rayth to account for the extra danger.
Tarin then asked if the Aetherium he had taken from Easthaven would be enough to build the item, to which the orc laughed. He explained that the safe had been filled with very intricate fakes and that Tarin's plans had crossed with a plot to humiliate Amoss Dexter. He then produced the notes written by the party that they had left in the safe and slid them across the table. One of the captains then questioned if this meant the Legion had a secret ally, to which Tarin replied 'Dexter has an enemy, that does't mean we have an ally, but this could still be useful'. Lady Erin had taken extreme interest in the letters and asked if she could hold onto them, claiming that she could use them down the line. Rayth mentioned that this effected him as he needed Aetherium to power the Crucible when he ultimately found it. Tarin apologised to both Griegor and Rayth, saying that he would personally see to it that both groups would get their Aetherium. He said they're was a seller in Eastport who had enough Aetherium to fund both the Hammers and the Broken Sword. He was hosting a party on his boat on the 13th of Sky, a perfect opportunity for business.
With everything covered Tarin thanked everyone for their service, he made it clear that change was coming and that this was the beginning of something great. He told troops to report to their captains and to listen out for their next move. After the meeting was over, the party were able to slip out of the temple with the other soldiers and drifted out into the streets unnoticed.
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Main Story
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