Armour and Assassins

(Erean Mountains, south of Gloiran, 30^th September, 1600)

Travelling between Gloiran and Kobur, the party once again used the dwarven watch-towers as places to stop each night, using the warrant given them by Hrolf Earthstar as a pass. During the first night's rest, Sack unpacked his bundle of loot and passed the magical items to Kobort for identification. [Click here for the list]. Sack himself retained the Bloodfang, the ring of Chaemelon Power and the Bag of Holding. Hildraft took the Hedradaring, but didn't want to try wearing it; he added it to the fine chain he wore around his neck to hold his ring of Water Breathing.

Vollun was muttering and clearly unhappy about Sack's burglarious activities, and the others' - especially Hildraft's - acceptance of them. Hildraft, however, reminded him of certain realities, such as the requirement of the individual to remain alive and therefore well-equipped, and of the necessity for keeping tales of certain dwarvish acolyte's abject panic in the face of certain dragons from becoming public in Kobur. Vollun subsided.

As they passed from tower to tower along the road, the band noted that the garrisons were bigger and better prepared than they had been the first time they'd come this way. At each stop, the dwarves would eagerly ask them for news of the Battle of Gloiran, and our heroes soon learned that an hour spent telling a good rousing account of the events was well repaid in hospitality from the dwarven soldiers.

On the third day, Sack noticed something different when he awoke. Blinking, he realized it was a smell... or the lack of one. He thought about it. Rusty armour, sweat and leather, bear, all were there. Rot was not. The distinctive smell of the decaying remnants of Artila's head still adhering to the inside of his helmet had vanished. Sitting up abruptly, the half-orc swiftly scanned his equipment, piled against the wall of the tower where he'd left it. No; the magnificent, peculiarly-shaped helmet was exactly where it had been when he went to sleep. He picked it up and examined it. Inside, not a trace remained of the decayed residue...

The Helmet

Finally, five days after leaving Gloiran, they reached the northern gates of Kobur and gained admittance.

(Kobur, 4th^th October, 1600)

The group were welcomed back by Hildraft's clan, and once again were provided with a suite of fine chambers for the duration of their stay. They hdan't been in them for very long when the visitors started to arrive.

Ivhold Crusher

The first to appear was the clanlord Ivhold Crusher. He, too, was keen for news of the war, but he also had news of his own for the travellers. Summoning Cadrag and Grispere Crusher, he guided the group down into the clan's private armouries, where he unlocked a carefully sealed vault. Inside were two things. A tall stand supported a suit of glimmering black plate armour, and on a soft silken cushion rested a mighty forging hammer.

Grispere dismissed the armour, describing it as a test-piece, and drew the group's attention primarily to the hammer. Inlaid with glittering mithril, its' shaft and head were the same gleaming black metal as the armour, and suddenly the heroes realized what it was. It had been forged from the adamantite bars they'd brought back from Lantalaure and left with the two forgemasters, along with the Journals of Elverandil which were the only possible source for the secret of working the stuff.

Grispere's Hammer

Grispere spoke in hushed tones, describing how the armour had been his test piece, but the hammer was the real masterwork. Contructed after detailed study of the Journals, the hammer embodied some of Elverandil's deepest lore. In breathless tones, he explained that, to the best of his knowledge, the hammer he'd made was the only power currently available in the free lands capable of destroying the sword Mergil.

Surya had already hefted the hammer and was reaching for the backpack where the blade was stored, when Grispere continued, "unfortunately, I have been unable to calculate the exact radius of the probable blast..."

"Blast?" queried the Tellaran, pausing.

"Yes," confirmed Cadrag, "all the magical energy stored within the Sword - and probably the hammer - would be released in the process." He sounded a little embarrassed. "The smith would certainly be killed."

Grispere's Hammer went into the bag of holding pending a situation desperate enough to use it...

Cadrag disappeared to another section of the armoury for a moment, and returned with an oilcloth-wrapped bundle. Opening it, he displayed proudly the "sleeve gun" that Sack had asked him to make during his first visit. Pleased, the half-orc asked if Cadrag could whip up a few extra darts for it; silver ones, with hollow lattices he could pack with garlic. The half-orc was quite clear that his next meeting with Mazahir was going to be his last. The fact that he was planning to pack some of the bolts with poison instead he kept quiet.

Now that the ability to work the adamantite was proven, the heroes made up their minds what they wanted to have made from it. Each requested a set of Bracers of Defence constructed from the metal; Surya, Kobort and Sack also ordered an adamantine mailshirt each as well. Cadrag and Grispere consulted, and concluded that the construction process would take around a month to complete. With this in mind, the band made up their minds to take some much-needed rest and recuperation; after all, they were quite safe and welcome here in Kobur. And so they settled in for an extended stay in the dwarven city.

Over the next couple of weeks, the heroes rested, mended their gear, and generally bummed around the dwarf city. Hildraft proudly displayed the Axe of Durgeddin to his relatives, and his already high prestige was further increased.

One day, Hildraft and Vollun went down to the Motherhouse of Kord to renew their devotions. Strangely, Sack accompanied them; curious, Surya went too. Sack stood quietly while the dwarves made their prayers, and then went with Hildraft to speak to the High Priest, Cardinal Axeedge. Using Hildraft as an interpreter, he asked the priest to examine his hand's eldritch transformation. The old dwarf examined it carefully, turning it over, casting divinatory magic on it, and so on. "Does it hurt?" he asked. Sack shook his head.

The cardinal confirmed that it was a Sending originating from the orc elders Sack had seen in his visions, and warning him that they and their suggestions were not to be trusted. He also implied that not only could they channel their power and will through the hand, but that Sack's whereabouts were almost certainly there to be seen by those orc magi. Finally, he told Sack that, though he had not fully accepted their suggestions and instructions, he had been "tempted", and only if he could fully throw off their influence could he reverse the Sending.

Surya, standing back and observing, realized that his hip and leg, on the side where the Sword of the Dead Legions hung, was cold; preternaturally, uncomfortably cold. This feeling vanished abruptly when he left the temple. Grimly, he gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Meanwhile, Kobort was deep in study, reading through the Journals of Elverandil in search of information on the Dyvka. The elven mastersmith had indeed seen weapons of this type, which he noted were named katana in their native land. It didn't appear Elverandil had ever been there, or was especially clear where precisely it was. But he had spoken at length to a master of kenjutsu, and had the opportunity to examine the weapons the man carried and see the techniques of their use. He appeared greatly admiring of the forging methods and the resulting watered steel blades. Finally, he appended descriptions of the fighting styles used with such weapons, with pictures, and Kobort's eye was caught by one diagram of a warrior using a katana in his right hand and a similar, shorter sword - a wakazasi - in his left. Something clicked in his mind, and he was suddenly very sure that the feeling of "something missing" that he'd felt while holding the Dyvka; it was one of a set. But where was the other blade....? One thing was for sure, he couldn't ask the previous owner!

(Kobur, 6th^th October, 1600)

A few days later, the band were abruptly woken rather earlier than their usual by heavy knocking on the door of their suite. To their surprise, they found a large group of the Iron Guard - king Hrolf's elite troops - outside. These were perfectly polite, but point-blank refused to allow the group to leave their chambers, as all outsiders were to be held until questioned.

Hildraft pointed out that, as a resident of Kobur, this shouldn't apply to him. Much to everyone's surprise, the guards agreed to this straightaway and released Hildraft - within his own clan's boundaries, a move which reassured the others that this wasn't some dark plot. They did take some precautions though. Mergil, and all the loot from Gloiran, was put in the bag of Holding, which Kobort then turned Invisible and attached to Hildraft's belt. Sack kept the Bloodfang, though, on the grounds that he was known to have it and to have got rid of it was even more suspicious. Hildraft made a bee-line for his clan palace.

Once the problem with Sack's muteness had been explained, Arnfinn started again with a different tack. He asked them all the following questions:

1. Were you here in this suite all last night?
2. Did you kill King Hrolf Earthstar?     (!)
3. Do you know who killed King Hrolf Earthstar?

Surya grilled Arnfinn for more information about the killing, and then offered his services to discover what had happened. He described, briefly and without certain important details, how he had the power to ask such questions of the dead themselves. Blanching, Arnfinn said such a decision was beyond him; he would have to put it before the regency council. At that moment, the rolling peal of the Deathwatch Bell sounded throughout the city for the first time in a thousand years, calling the clanlords of Kobur to form the Regency Council.

Meanwhile, Hildraft immediately went to see Ivhold Crusher. The Clanlord was on the verge of breakdown, frantically rushing people hither and yon to gather information, but sitting on the fence himself to see what the other clanlords were going to do. Hildraft gave him a stiff talking-to, suggesting that he put the aversion of civil war and the ongoing war outside as higher priorities than petty clan politics. Ivhold got a grip of himself, and set off immediately for the palace, taking Hildraft with him.

On his arrival, Ivhold went to the long-sealed Council chamber, and without any hesitation sounded the Deathwatch Bell. The single shattering peal of the magical bell sounded throughout the city, the ancient summons to the Clanlords in the event of the king dying without an heir.