Iron Realm Log Eight
Year of Darkness 1123
13th - 14th day of the Wolf
The demonic figure of Horatio Haddon surveys the four figures that have entered his domain, the hatred and anger at seeing his foe is written in every scowl and grimace. With a wave of the hand the ten elite palace guards turn into wraiths as the chancellor - Maldarus Knifehand - is totally in the thrall of the demon and turns to heft a slightly curved single edged sword.
Valorn the archer hangs back slightly as Isirion, Karnak the barbarian, and Plo'koon advance into the fight. But the demon is quickest, his red eyes flicker and Valorn feels the crushing weight of a death spell hit him full force. He staggers back, barely able to stand as the strength and vitality drain from him. The wraiths surround the party, blocking doors and windows, as the chancellor Maldarus launches himself at the party. Plo'koon fails to party a brutal strike and it is only the power of the Ring of Valour that saves him; a potential death blow is reduced to a scratch.
Isirion leads the charge by launching a fireball behind the demonic Horatio, but the fire is absorbed by the demon and seems to make it stronger. Karnak dispatches Maldarus easily, the greataxe takes the chancellor's head and for a brief moment the demon faces the barbarian king. But Valorn drops a wall of force from his magical arrow, a natural barrier between them and the demon.
He then turns to the wraiths and puts a couple of arrows into them; which immediately turn into their corporeal form...dead guardsmen!
Meanwhile Kysan'tel and Mallepus are with Elgir the librarian in the tower library and can see down into the throneroom where the bloody fight takes place. Mallepus starts to shoot arrows through windows and Kysan'tel the Wildling Battlemage uses her lightning bolt to pepper the fight.
Inside the throneroom Isirion perches upon the wall of force to face Horatio, who promptly dispels it with his demonic sorcery. Plo'koon advances upon wraiths and slaughters three of them before an errant arrow from Mallepus thunders through his ribcage and almost kills him. He, like the injured archer, stagger back to take on wraiths rather than face the might of the demon.
But when Karnak falls to a vicious backhand swipe from Horatio, Plo'koon is faced with leaving the vampyre sorcerer Isirion to face him alone. He hauls his near-broken body into combat and ignores the agony in his chest. Isirion trades magic with the beast and even manages to cut strips of flesh from the demon's eyes, but it is Plo'koon's greatsword that poses Horatio the greatest threat. The demon knows it too and turns his attention to the warrior, even though the troublesome vampyre has peppered him full of holes with magic missiles.
Steel upon steel rings out in the deserted inner citadel, but Plo'koon will not be denied. With a deft one handed strike he almost crushes the head of the demon. Horatio staggers back streaked with green gore and half a face.
He hurls death magic at the warrior but to no avail; Plo'koon's next strike snaps the neck of the demon and sends it's head spinning onto the floor.
But there is no time for jubilation. The very foundations of the rock beneath their feet begin to shake as a massive eruption from the earth tears apart the castle. A gaping hole measuring three hundred feet across emerges; the party have already fled to Elgir's tower but even that is not safe and the ancient librarian ushers them away from the citadel.
The entire citadel empties. On the way out to the east Elgir heals both injured parties - Plo'koon and Valorn, and the escape on mounts or on stolen horses or - in the case of the vampyre - as a bat.
The screams from the crowd herald the appearance of a massive creature, a gargantuan replica of the original Lord Haddon, but a demonic version that stands taller than the now-collapsing library tower.
From the north comes the largest dragon in the Iron Realms, possibly in the universe, with the dragonlord Tyrrion upon its back. Elgir leaves the party to go to the dragon and the two sides parley as the population flees for their lives.
They do not stop until night fall. Even at ten leagues distance they can still hear the thunder of magic and the flashes of lightning or raw power from the castle. As they make camp Mallepus is troubled by the scar on his right forearm where Karnak had made him a blood brother. Kysan'tel suggests amputation but the ranger ignores her; instead he pleads with Elgir and then to the dragonlord Tyrrion himself, but neither are experts in the magic of the Maelstrom.
Tyrrion suggests speaking to Avintar. "He looks a little busy right now," the ranger says sourly.
That night they are visited by Sumiar the Clocksman, who has come to regain the items he lent them for their quest. After a brief argument and a Wildling blade in the throat that kills him...again....Sumiar gathers the three watches and the cloak that renders him immortal. Kysan'tel is unconvinced by his help.
Sumiar shrugs. "I gave you the cloak to help you - the fact that you did not use it is your problem."
Before the party can attack the Clocksman again he is gone...forever.
Next morning they return to the exclusion zone around the citadel, to be informed that to even cross the boundary of the walls was death; this they see at first hand when a thief's body is seen on the walls.
They decide to amuse themselves - or in this case amuse Valorn - by finding Geoff, the irritating guardsman that denied them access to the inner citadel on many occasions. Isirion has extraordinary powers of perception and - as a powerful vampyre - she can feel his heart beat. It is distinctive.
Valorn is first to react when they spot him among a crowd of thieves, gangsters, and assassins. He puts an arrow of entangle to the left, then an arrow wall of force to the right to segregate Geoff. Add to that Isirion's darkness fifteen foot radius and the tables finally turn on Geoff.
But even Plo'koon cannot hit the dangerous guard, who moves quicker and without hesitation even in the darkness. Isirion has a major advantage as she can feel the blood pump through Geoff's veins. It is this fact that saves Valorn, who is being slowly and expertly throttled by Geoff. She dispels the darkness and Plo'koon's strike is enough to loosen the guardsman's grip, Geoff dodges the blow but allows Valorn to live.
But no further concerted attack is possible as Geoff is away into the safety of the now-panicking crowd.
"That's no guardsman," Valorn says bitterly.
The party agree; no mere guardsman could avoid attack so easily...or strangle a man so expertly.
They head up into the pass at Hell's Ridge, where there are many refugees scrambling to escape. From the height of the mountains they see the awful ruination of the castle, the dragon perched on an outer wall, and a large crater that goes straight down to the Abyss.
The crowds thin as they head up and - eventually - along the ridge itself. A painted shaman barbarian greets them and tells Mallepus that none of the other blood brothers of Karnak survived his death. Kysan'tel once again offers her services as a surgeon but Mallepus grumpily declines.
Once near the top of the ridge they are alone once more. Between Isirion and Kysan'tel they cast clairaudience and clairvoyance to find Geoff. Within minutes they spot him a mile down the path conversing with the painted shaman. To their surprise Geoff can speak the barbarian tongue fluently and it is obvious that he intends to track them...possibly to kill them.
"Who is this Geoff?" Valorn says bitterly as he rubs the red mark on his throat, a reminder of his last encounter with the ordinary guard.