Bog remains elsewhere.

You go to the Archon’s walled fortress and quickly pass through to the main building where a servant directs you to a waiting hall, finely decorated with murals and paintings of past city rulers, and with a table at the far end where a little food and drink are for self-service. A few other groups are there waiting, and one by one the servant ushers them out and others in. While impressive, the hall is dark, unwelcoming, austere and ominous. A presence looms. Boamund is a little unsettled. The others are comfortable enough or even pleased. But the wait is long; about 2 hours. Finally the servant comes for you, takes you down halls to the great doors of the Archon’s audience chamber, and guards there open them, so you go in, with an introduction from the servant.

Archon Nikos Waldradas stands nobly before his throne, hand on hilt of his greatsword which perches on the tip of its blade. This seems to be a pose he favours. “Come forth, heroes and adventurers. It is well time we exchanged news. I have awaited yours with anticipation.” You come forward and take respectful poses before him. Boamund gives your greeting and he moves on, “I have a summary of events at Ridalstead, some of which, you may have guessed, I was more aware of than most, until a tragic event. But I’d like a deeper insight. Do you know why the Wizard-Sages of Sentanos sought the belongings of Ornovar One-Foot?”

Boamund says you’re not sure. The one Wizard-Sage you interrogated simply said that Archon Erenzagor of Sentanos sought magics, and you know she continues to pursue her power-hungry quest to embody Arkat. The Archon says he thinks this question is more important than it may seem, and he’ll investigate it too; in addition to pursuit of the one missing Wizard-Sage (of whom you discuss whether he was killed by horse-monsters or the blizzard, or if he escaped to civilized lands). The Archon notes that he has had the city watched for the missing man (named Wizard-Sage Jeonmon Singsong) and he has not surfaced.

Boamund gives a brief explanation of other events on your Ridalstead investigation, but the Archon doesn’t delve deep into the facts. Fraud expresses his sadness over the death of the (spy) serpent Snard, whom the Archon mentions, but little more is said of that. He soon stops and smiles with lips pursed, surveying you and then focusing on Fraud. “Is there other news of your escapades that I might not know?” Fraud hurries an answer to the negative, which the Archon doesn’t push further on, but says, “Your secrets are safe with me. You may have no love for the Galanini but I am not one of them, although I count them as friends. You have told that you come here seeking friends, and they are amongst the most powerful in Ralios.” Fraud senses the edge to this comment.

Boamund moves the topic quickly on to the murders, saying that you’d like to pick up where you left off. The Archon notes the change of topic and says that events truly have moved on. “Estali City has had another grisly murder while you were away. Well, two murders, in one go. It is a shame, and a sensitive topic, for the victims were well-liked citzens, by the views of many of us in Estali. And again, this has happened along the waterfront.” He goes on to describe the event. Sorceror-sage Marthedes and friend the Dark troll Bozjarn were the victims (you recognise these as the 2 star-seers you’d saved from a sky-cat-demon in their villa and it’s mirrored chamber!). They were found in their bed in the morning by a servant trollkin. Each had thick gummy pratzim (Krarsht web-mucus) across their eyes, nose and mouth. They suffocated to death while blind. But that’s not all. They also bled to death. Their stomachs were slashed open all the way across, and five five pointed stars were stuck in as if they were rows of teeth. It may be that they were poisoned and paralysed, too. A bedroom window was left open; a likely entry/exit; and of course unusual to have open in the severe winter. There were no witnesses. This happened 5 days ago; corresponding to the day (night) you returned from your Winter-King quest. The Archon remarks, “We are trying to keep these murders quiet. The city is worried enough now that word of the first three sets has spread.” But, he says, Krarsht’s suspected involvement has not crept into the rumours in the city, and it should be kept that way.

But Fraud has heard enough. These horrid murders have shaken him to the core. Now Krarsht could be anywhere, stalking him as the next obvious target. He cowers in terror [having criticalled his Fear Krarsht, giving him a +6% in it!].

You reflect on the deaths of the two star-seers. These murders have now crossed your path; you were there not long ago. It’s sad, too; they seemed like decent chaps. Old info from starseeing they did for you: “Mmm. That doesn’t sound good at all. The stars speak of you standing around pieces of a, or the, Sun Horse. Your fate lies in what you do with them, or about them. The stars don’t say if the broken horse is a problem you have caused or solved, but it is a problem you should encounter, if I have spoken well with the twilight sky.” As for why the cat-sky-demon attacked them? “We’re not sure what brought the demon upon us. We have been studying certain changes in the stars since the Boat Planet rose, and applying some secret knowledge to understand them. We have noticed something unpleasant in those changes, and directed some of our studies toward Tyram the Sky Tyrant, with great caution. So it may be no coincidence that a demon of the skies of Hell has come to us, but who sent it is the question. The demon did not come on its own accord. We asked the stars and learned nothing. Nothing in the sense of a frightening nothingness in the result.” That nothingness, surely is very much a part of the nature of Chaos.

You raise the topic of the person you’ve been pursuing named Pehraln. Boamund emphasizes that this is personal for him, because you’ve pieced together that Pehraln was with an adventuring party that went to the sunken city of Erenplose, where he betrayed and murdered them, leaving Boamund’s old friend as a wandering ghost that Black Eyes found. Last you met with the Archon, you asked him of that name Pehraln and he said he’d investigate, and he had done so. He has news, some of which matches what you learned from Madam Magthyra, such as the location of the ship The Effervescent [which also matches/builds on prior info from Admiral Grandscar] and the warehouse nearby. Of the ship: it is magically protected from spells and spirits; some strong sorcerous enchantments. It has numerous armed sailor guards and ship weaponry; indeed it is a singular warship. Its Captain Wat Daham has never been seen to leave the ship. Thick black smoke has been seen to come from the ship from time to time. The crew are professionals who do not go drinking, whoring, gambling or otherwise when they go ashore. They are efficient and professional. Of the warehouse: It is also magically protected in the same way, and has regular guard patrols. It is unclear what cargo goes in or out; simply containers are seen, and what records (written or verbal) exist are mundane. It’s likely that people are paid off to look the other way and the Archon has not pressed on that. The Archon says he cannot act against Pehraln without evidence. If someone procured evidence, that would be much appreciated. So you agree to see what you find.

Then there is the topic of Tinaros and its looming threat, which might be connected with the murders, the Tomes of the Seven Eyes That Opened (which you discuss with the Archon, and he remembers hearing of these). It may be that the Tomes are sought to call forth a god, maybe Krarsht or Tyram? The Archon is collating information. He knows there is some new threat. There are omens in the sky that his allies have watched.

The Archon expresses his gratitude then claps and servants come through a secret door on one chamber wall, bearing items you recognise. Fraud’s iron shield, and Bog’s lead maul are now fixed. He asks, are there other repairs, services or aid that he can help procure? No, Boamund says, that’s all for now, but the Archon adds, that’s not all. Another servant holds forth a lovely golden necklace [PIC] adorned with runes, gems and animal icons, and the Archon holds out the tip of his sword to accept the necklace, then pivots the sword-tip to Boamund, who takes the necklace in this formal gesture. “A Galanini chieftainess who knows of the help you’ve provided us with sends this as a reward.” He explains that this enchanted necklace provides access to the Folk Magic spells of Magnify and Ignite. Boamund happily keeps it for himself.

You finish your business with the Archon and depart, promising to bring news back. (He doesn’t give Fraud another serpent, but Fraud has a funny feeling about things that is itching in one corner of his mind)

Shrett goes to the nearby Lightbringer Temple and two Ralian guards address him, answering some questions and acting rather gruff. They laugh at the inquiry of whether Orlanth has a shrine inside; this is the king of the gods and leader of the Lightbringers; of course! As for Valind, no way, he is not welcome there; he remains aloof in his northern glacier fastness, ignoring the plight of the real Orlanthi here in Ralios. But yes, Odayla has a shrine here, but no, Shrett may not go pray there. They can tell he’s no initiate and the temple is purely for initiates. This is a common thing in theist religions, you’re coming to realise, that their temples are places of cult secrets and not open to many visitors who do not share the faith.

You leave for the inn and rest, awaiting Bog’s return, which isn’t too long as it’s already mid-afternoon, and he comes back by nightfall. You discuss things. Can the Archon be trusted, is he or someone making the murders look like Krarsht caused them? You doubt it; the murders – or assassinations really, because they seem to have some agenda linking them – are so brazen, indicating that they are not intended as covert but rather as statements of power and stimuli for fear. Shrett asks if you should call on that new “friend” Estent for aid but you decide that you don’t know them well enough yet or don’t know of a specific thing they can help with, so this will be left alone for now.

You agree that it’s time to go to that warehouse and see what facts you can discover there. You get a little rest then head out around 1am. Knowing that the winter has frozen the lake solid but only the shores, to variable extents, of the Jrimb River, you are unsure how you can reach the ship but the Archon noted that it is frozen in place. It’s going nowhere until there is a thaw, and none is expected this Season; indeed, the river will only get more frozen on its surface. One cannot, though, safely walk across the ice to the ship, nor is a dinghy like the one the ship has of any use. Shrett casts his Stalking sorcery on everyone so you can easily hide in the deep shadows of the night.

The warehouse is, as you’d been told, a simple 1-storey, 1-chamber building, with a large door at the docks on its west side, and double doors at its front entrance to the east. It has no windows. Shrett approaches first and easily spots the four guards (mercenary types; somewhat nondescript) patrolling the perimeter; 2 nearby and 2 further off, to the west. He uses Sense Sorcery but cannot sense anything around the building; clearly its magic is diverting that (but clue enough that it is sorcerously protected, although the Archon had already told you that). You creep close and are not spotted. You try the doors but on closer examination, they are heavily fortified and barred from within, with no locks or other easier ways in. You consider smashing the doors but this would make a huge ruckuss.

Instead, you decide to take out the guards, all four of you taking one each at the same time using shield-bashes to the head. And this proves easy. They’re only armoured in bezainted (3pts), carrying round shields and broadswords, and caught completely unawares. Soon all four are gagged, tied, and unconscious, and you fortunately are able to drag them all to the docks and down to near water level where they’re out of sight. Bog can’t help himself and crunches on the index finger of the right hand of one for a snack.

Now you have the warehouse to yourselves, it seems, with no attention drawn. Shrett climbs atop the roof, finding snow and thick ice covering the tiles. Bog climbs up too, invoking Melt Ice to expose the tiles, and then quietly removing them to expose the roof and open an entry. Inside it is lit by a few oil lamps but generally shadowy. It is one single room. Most of chamber appears to be mundane stores which give it a semblance of normality. There’s a wide variety of trade goods. Many valuables. Wine, cider, kafl leaves, dyes, spices, etc. Lots of shelves and such, which along with containers like barrels, crates and sacks make it quite a cluttered area with reduced line of sight. You can hear movement but not see it. Shrett drops down and sees another guard right by him, and quickly takes him out with another shield-bash. He uses a Night Dragon spell to then go completely invisible. There are two more guards seen inside the warehouse, and two other people at the far end, near the double entry doors. One is seated at a long desk; another is standing. They are alert, especially now that there’s been a loud smack and slump of a shield and body.

These other two figures match descriptions of the assassins spotted in the garden (ornate black leather armour; crafted like it’s a sort of exoskeleton; and a heavy hood that hides their faces in unnaturally deep shadows). Bog, having cast Fly and Darkwalk, whooshes in and slinks over to the one in the desk and utterly splatters his head in. The other draws a broadsword and moves to investigate, soon casting an eerie magic that makes his form waver and warp. There is a guard nearby that Bog takes out next, each time flying in invisibly, killing, then going back invisible and flying up and away. The second assassin then, with Bog hovering aloft on wintery winds out of reach, speaks in Tradetalk (Shrett hears this as something like, “Krarsht will consume your soul!”) and his voice garbles as, from out of the hood, horrible jaws distend, forming a great circular maw ringed with triangular bladed teeth! Now their nature as Krarshti is clear. And with that, the third guard, near Shrett, invokes the same spell but is quickly taken out as he approaches Shrett to investigate the fallen comrade. Shrett opens the door for Fraud who was waiting there. Boamund climbs up and jumps down from above in time to do final cleanup, cutting the head off a guard, as Bog floats down behind the second assassin and smashes his head in, too. The warehouse is yours! Fraud, seeing the carnage and victory, strides in with more confidence (he fumbled his Fear Krarsht, reducing the passion by 1%), but commenting that it’s great to have the human cultists all dead now, but where are the monsters? Those are the worst things. You have to agree. Where are they?

The three mercenary guards are unexceptional, but the two assassins have hidden tattoos of Hunger and Chaos; Krarsht runes; and bear nets (Krarsht weapons), several five-pointed stars coated in nasty paste that must be poison, and some vials of ill-looking liquid. You destroy this all. You brim with confidence, having slaughtered these Krarsht cultists with barely breaking a sweat. Yet they are just the minions…

Bog ensures that all captives are now dead and hidden below the icy river by the docks. Shrett explores the chamber while Boamund keeps watch and Bog sniffs around for hidden Krarsht-holes; finding none. Shrett soon spots a half-sealed barrel of raw chunks of Blue Stone, having spotted their glow peaking from under a lid. Aha! This begins to connect things. You find a cart to haul it away in. Fraud comes in, and hurries to the desk where you’ve found a locked drawer that is unlocked with a key that the assassin had. Inside are abundant documents in Safelstran, which Fraud takes; these surely will take hours to pore through. Yet there is also a little statuette of dirty, mottled gold, crudely crafted as a monstrous form with feathery wings, jaws, talons, etc. It could be Tyram, Fraud figures. Now there may be some dots connected…

You debate burning the place but this would hurry discovery of it. Best to leave it as a mystery for enemies to discover later. Indeed, with The Effervescent anchored just 35 metres offshore, a fire here would soon be spotted. You sneak away and hurry to the Archon’s palace where you ask for, and are speedily given, an emergency audience with the Archon, who attends in his fine night-robes. You explain what you’ve found. He’s convinced; Krarsht is truly part of this plot, and Pehraln at the root of it, and so he can do more to act. You want to go to the ship as soon as you can, taking advantage of time. He offers a strike-team of marines and you accept them as backup to cover your rear as you go in. Boamund proposes the plan to walk along the river-floor to the anchor-chain of the ship and break through the ice there as you climb up it, then scale the chain to the ship and assault it. It’s a cold idea that Shrett likes, at least. The Archon says that the crew uses sledges that double as rafts to go back and forth (as is common along the river/lake) and he will make one of these (easily fitting you four) available. The backup team will have their own. The Archon eagerly awaits the attack’s outcome. Now is the time. The Blue Stone suggests that Pehraln and any conspirators seek to use it, maybe with the Tomes and more, to open a gateway to bring a Chaos-being(s) into the world and cause havoc in Estali. This is a direct threat. Moreso that the Archon agrees, being shown it, that the golden statuette is of Tyram, so there is some link between two Chaos cults, Tyram and Krarsht! Very unusual, as Tyram mythically only acted in the Sky Realm, whereas Krarsht only acted underground and in the civilized lands. Their paths never crossed; they have no reason for allegiance.

You go back to the inn and rest for two hours while Fraud reads through the boring documents, although he finds very interesting tidbits that keep him going. The inventory log is mostly mundane stuff but an entry stating: “Blue Stone, transaction with Unn Starseen” recently is notable. There are also multiple mentions of Rollo; Othona; Makris; Heather’s Edge – so the places you went to down south in Estali and Darran are definitely all caught up in this conspiracy spanning most of the Jrimb River down to Estali City. There is, very disturbingly, a recent note on transporting persons “boy” and “scholar” from here, but their destination oddly is not mentioned. [This, you fear, is the Thanatari Doom Lord Rolthor, and the “Chaos-blessed?” boy Nemiast who escaped near Drom]

As a new surprise, much business around Estali/the Jrimb River is with Artukan Goldminder and his ship the Mistress of Doldrums; including the latest business receiving goods from them. While that business seems legit on the surface, you come to the realisation that now a plot is revealed that extends all the way south to Handra! The ship The Paralos, anchored there, was ravaged in the Ramalian war, with demons coming there and slaughtering the crew. But the captain was found with Krarsht-stars stuck in him. And the cargo was very disturbing: all manner of nasty things; some Chaos-affiliated; including a Nysalorian Riddle artifact. The manifest that the Harbourmaster had recorded this ship’s cargo, which Handra destroyed, was bound for “The Mistress of Doldrums” ship in Ralios. And now you know where that is, in Estali, and that a very weathy and powerful Guild member, merchant and now enemy, Artukan Goldminder, is involved, presumably as co-conspirator. Here, though, the tangled plot of your foes gets more difficult. He would be a formidable adversary politically, surely having many allied/blackmailed/bought people in prominent positions in Estali City. Fraud delivers this bad news to you. But for now, it changes nothing. You go to take on The Effervescent, its crew, and its mysterious “Captain Wat Daham”…

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