The King is dead - long live the Kin!

Gathering up the demonologist's scattered equipment, the four retreated back to their lodgings. There, Hildraft made use of a Daylight spell to determine which items were going to evaporate, and then Kobort Identified them.

Left over were a necklace pendant, black and made of an unknown metal, shaped in the form of a spider, and radiating strong clerical divination magic; a bronze Fae Mhor house insignia - a nightmare's head - 15 pistol crossbow darts, the tips smeared with what Sack's nose told him was a preparation of fungal origin; a cased set of three more darts, which the spell determined were of Slaying; and a wand of Hold Person.

Hildraft, examining the spider pendant, discovered it to have a snatch of the Service to Lolth inscribed on the back;

"Quarval-sharess Lolth, al'yorn mrigg-wun, ninta xund"

He discarded it quickly, and Sack likewise dropped it back to the ground, but Surya seemed intrigued and picked it up again, slipping it into a pocket.

This settled, they retired for the night. Sack went to visit Billy the bear, still living more or less contentedly in his pub cellar, and experimented with an armoured harness. The great ursine was comfortable enough with the harness but not at all happy with the armour plates, and rolled over to dislodge them.

(City of Karennal, Trialt, 18^th January, 1601)

The next morning, they considered their options. The Prophecy and their conversation with Mazahir indicated they should seek the Fae Mhor in the ruins of Gadûhvrás; the notes in the Mazahir diaries seemed to show that the might of the Erlyid Empire could be coming under the covert control of the Vampire Clans, doubtless something the Renders would want investigating; and there remained the problem of the Temple of Kord here in Karennal, threatened by the fragment of the Dragonrealms that still controlled the place.

Concerning the quest of the Prophecy, Sack confessed to qualms; the idea of engaging on a quest like this without being hired. Surya, unbothered, opened his pouch and spilled out three or four thousand's worth of cut gems. "How's that ?" he asked. Sack indicated that this was fine, and that was settled.

Of the three leads, the latter seemed the easiest to clear up. They discussed a few options, and finally settled on a straight forward frontal approach. Collecting Sigred and preparing a few props, strolled through the city to the grim, louring castle the Dragonarmy had built to control the capital of Trialt. Approaching the main gates across the open cobbled killing ground, they were stopped by the four guards.

"An urgent despatch for your master," explained Surya, as Sack brandished the envelope he'd prepared, thick parchment with Skufruss' name and "Eyes Only" written on it, three gold coins inside, and an impressive but slightly blurred seal on the back.

The soldiers seemed a bit baffled by this, and summoned an officer (a sergeant) to deal with it. He was flatly contemptuous of the group's assertion that they were Dragonrealm couriers. Sack shrugged, flourished the envelope with its' writing before him once more and struck a light, preparing to burn the letter. The sergeant shook his head, obviously not beliveing he'd do it. "You know the penalty for destroying Empire communications?" he said. "You would have your tongue torn out!"

Sack gaped at him to show the lack of a tongue - and burned the letter.

"Shit." muttered the sergeant, and finally, grudgingly, agreed to let them deliver their message. Then things started to go downhill.

"Pile your weapons there," he said, followed by a disdainful look at Hildraft and "Everyone except the vermin."

Hildraft's response was immediate. A flick of his hand, and a dozen ants that had been crawling across the cobbles suddenly found themselves the size of terriers and seized with a desire to eat the strange plated insects they were facing. As the four guards became absorbed fighting these monsters, the party quietly slipped through the doors,

The sergeant had noticed, however, and once into the inner courtyard they were once more confronted with guards, around fifty this time. The lieutenant in command of them demanded to know what was going on, and the sergant told them some of it, including the line "..a letter with, um, a gold piece in it," which he handed to the senior officer.

There was some more argument, capped off when the officer demanded their names - and was given them. He was incredulous that the Wyrmsbanes should actually present themselves at the front gate like this, but the argument which erupted between Hildraft and Surya as to who had damaged Varkar the most clearly unsettled him. He decided to place the party under arrest, and his soldiers advanced.

Kobort invoked his cloak's Web, and suddenly the lieutenant found himself alone, sword drawn, facing Surya of Tellare, who had drawn his swords and was starting to smile rather hungrily. The officer looked at the dark shadow of Tormentor, looked at the bloodstained Sword of the Dead Legions, and then looked down at his own sword, plainly aware of its' inadequacy. With a sigh he put his weapon up, and offered to guide the party as far as the Lord's Chamberlain, who would decide what to do with them.

As he marched them through the fortress, he was challenged by the guards, and had to give the password. Despite his attempts to subvocalise, both Sack and Surya managed to overhear the rather prosaic word, "grapes".

Led through gates and courtyards, towers and hallways, they were eventually presented to a richly-robed, rather corpulent man with quick, intelligent piggy eyes, addressed by the lieutenant as "My Lord Chamberlain". His eyes roamed across the group, as the officer told him who they claimed to be.

"Your courage impresses me," said the Chamberlain, "to come into the heart of Lord Skufruss' fortress, with such a price on your heads." Surya raised his eyebrows, and the Chamberlain indicated him, Hildraft and Kobort. "Fifty thousand each for the three of you, and if - as I suspect - that is Sigred of Narthal over there, even he is worth five." The conversation was interrupted at this point as Surya and Hildraft started complaining that they were insulted by the low reward, and Sack began frantically indicating that he had captured the other four and was here to claim the reward.

Rolling his eyes, the Chamberlain ushered them through into the presence of the City Lord.

The chamber they now entered was dominated by a heavy table piled high with scrolls, books and papers. Hurrying servants were crossing back and forth between the table and the far door, bringing in or taking away more paperwork.

Behind the table was seated a figure matching the description Sack had got from the Thieves' Guild. Tall, agonizingly thin, with an elongated head, and grey skin almost seeming to blend into his nondescript grey robes, Lord Skufruss looked pretty unimpressive as he bent over the documents he was working on.

As they approached his table, Hildraft quietly worked a Detect Magic, and was unsurprised to discover that Skufruss radiated very strong magic indeed. What did surprise him was that the instant he did so, Skufruss' head snapped up and he stared straight at Hildraft, clearly aware of what he'd done.

The impact of his red-eyed gaze was like a sledgehammer between the eyes. Instantly, Hildraft knew without question why Skufruss was Citylord here; his will was like iron and he was entirely accustomed to control and authority. The force of his personality was such that the dwarf missed his stride and stopped dead in his tracks for a moment, before catching the others up as they arrived at the table.

While the others stood where they were expected to, in front of the table, Sack wandered off across the room, peering at things, acting the dimwit. Skufruss looked across at him, and rapped, "You there! Come here." Much to his surprise, Sack ignored him (though he felt the pull on his will) and sat down instead. A guard stepped quietly closer to him as Skufruss raised a surprised eyebrow and adjusted his opinion of him.

The Chamberlain indicated each of them to the Citylord, stating their names and ending up with the half-orc, who he referred to as "Bag, or something". Skufruss waved him away and gave his attention to them.

"Why should I believe you are who you say you are?" he asked Surya. Meanwhile, Sack was arguing with his guard, who took exception to the half-orc whittling pieces off the chair. Skufruss broke off, and snapped his piledriver gaze onto Hildraft again, who was trying to start another spell; "Don't do that." he said flatly, disturbing the priest's concentration and spoiling the spell. "You will do no magic here without my permission," he finished.

At this point there was a loud crash. Sack had pushed his guard over, in an attempt to defuse the tension, but had overdone it, and the man was groaning in a heap against the far wall with a broken collarbone. "Can't you control him?" said Skufruss to Surya. "Can you?" asked the warrior. Skufruss smiled thinly and conceded the point.

"What gives you the right to tell us what to do?" continued Surya contentiously. "I am the Citylord of Karennal for the Dragon Empire," responded Skufruss, "this whole city, and the land of Trialt, is my domain."

"The dragon's dead," commented Surya bluntly. "Maybe," responded Skufruss, "but we Kin remain, and we will hold this land. Yes, we conquered, yes there was war, but now there is order; this is a peaceful kingdom".

His hands moved slightly, and Hildraft felt a mild magical pulse. "In any case," continued the Citylord, "You can't be Surya of Tellare. There are no Tellarans; haven't been for centuries." "There's one." returned the warrior, "we came from your past. We are the Wyrmsbane."

"Remarkable. You speak the truth; you are who you say you are. But why did you come here?" said Skufruss. Hildraft jumped in. "Your troops keep attacking my temple. It's a real nuisance, we've had to kill a hundred and fifty or so already."

"For that you should be arrested," said Skufruss, "but as you are the Dragonslayers, I'm not wasting my soldiers trying it. And as you can see, I'm not one of my sword-waving brothers; they're starting to thin out. So I won't try myself. I see you have met some of them; you carry Hrothgault's sword, and is that the Dyvka? My my."

"Your King is dead," Surya continued. "My Father," corrected Skufruss. Surya nodded. "The King is dead; Long Live the Kin." he epigrammed. "So your policies don't have to follow his whims. Religious freedom won't harm your rule, it'll strengthen it, your people will be happier."

"I suppose you want me to allow.. " he changed the word at the last moment, ".. dwarves in again?" he said. "My father was a very dragon; and dragons and dwarves have never got on."

"Who was your mother?" someone asked. "A human." he answered shortly.

"Very well." he said "I will issue orders that Kord's temple is to be unmolested, and allowed to operate, and that Dwarves are to be permitted again, though I warn you it may be a while before all my men get the hang of that. But: if any rebellion or subversion is raised by the temple, it will be ground to dust."

At this point Sigred rasied his hand at the back. "Lord? I represent Aderra, a largely peacable goddess of Wisdom." His armour glinting under his cloak made this a rather questionable statement, but he pushed on blithely. "May we also establish a fane here?"

"Very well," sighed Skufruss. Then his gaze tightened. "But you yourselves are all outlawed within my realm. You will be left at peace for twenty-four hours to sort things out; if you are then found in my lands you will be escorted out, and if you return after that I will assail you with all the powers at my command." Despite his unimpressive frame, no-one was in the slightest doubt that he meant every word.

This presented no problems. The group told him where they were headed, explaining that the real threat to his city was the Fae Mhor, their terrible conspiracy, and the demons that were walking his streets. He seemed unsurprised, but strangely satisfied, that they were planning to seek out the Fae Mhor, though not terribly bothered about the revalation of demonsummoning within the city.

Emboldened, Sack requested permission to examine Skufruss' library for information on the Fae Mhor; the Citylord refused flatly, and summoned the lieutenant back to escort them out of the castle.

Once outside, they split up. Hildraft and Surya returned to the Temple of Kord. Surya stopped on the threshold; suddenly he didn't feel comfortable. Difficult to pin down; a sensation of being unwelcome. He'd not felt this last time he was here; then he realized - then, he had not drawn Tormentor... He went off to buy a horse for Sack while Hildraft interviewed his new congregation for a suitable deacon. Choosing the most promising, he made him a gift of the rather battered holy symbol once carried by his acolyte Vollun Crusher, slain in Vorsand by the Fae Mhor. They received this with great awe and reverence; the personal prayer-sword of a Dragonslayer himself! Albeit a lesser one.

Meanwhile, across town at the Thieves' Guild, Sack was passing on what he'd learned. When the guildmasters realized he'd been inside the castle - to the Lord's chamber! - they grilled him in great detail about the layout, approaches, guard points, structures, angles, everything. This earned him a tidy bonus. Before leaving, he paid up his dues for a year in advance and left a letter explaining his history and revealing his real name.

From there, he wandered off via some shops to say goodbye to his friends in the Relaxers' Guild. His friendship with the whores had begun when he accidentally rescued one from a rapist while chasing screams down alleys looking for vampires; he'd hung the man up by his equipment in the market-place. The Guild had offered a night's free as a reward, and he'd worked up some useful (and pleasant!) contacts from that beginning.

Now, as he was leaving town, he was saying his farewells, and making some presents.

Surya made his way to the Trade district, and enquired around until he found the city's best horse-trader, a man called Ned, sitting on a barrel outside his stable. As Ned watched Surya ride up on a genuine Red Dust stallion,

Surya explained that he was looking for a good tough riding horse for a man his sort of build, preferably trained to battle. Ned took him out back to the paddock, and produced three horses for the Tellaran to look over. He examined the mounts, and asked if he might ride one. Ned, glancing longingly at Surya's Dust stallion, replied that this would be fine; if he were to ride away on it, after all, he'd be leaving Ned with a horse probably worth more than his entire business.

The horse proved fine, a sound, well-trained light warhorse, but as he cantered around the paddock Surya noticed a small cordoned section at one end with nine horses kept in it; horses of notably higher quality than the one he was riding. Asking Ned what they were, he was told that these were the pick of the stock, reserved for the garrison by order of the Citylord himself.

"Oh; we've just met with him," commented Surya cheerfully, "he won't need so many for a bit, someone killed a load of his troops." Ned chuckled. "Pull the other one," he said, "next you'll be a Dragonslayer or something."

"I'll tell you what," he continued, "let me have a ride around the paddock on him," he gestured at Surya's horse, "and I'll let you buy one of them. I haven't sent a report of what's available this week yet. And I've dreamed of owning a horse like that."

Surya agreed, and the horse-trader mounted and rode expertly around the paddock for a good ten minutes, before returning, rather starry-eyed, and making a very fair deal for a quality warhorse at 400gp.

Meeting back up with Sack, the pair went off to find a good bowyer. Since acquiring the Brooches of Bulls' Strength in Kobur, the pair had been in constant danger of tearing their longbows apart, and wanted to get some custombuilt ones with a draw matching their strength.

Enquiring around, they finally arrived at the shop of one Aldwood Baravan, accounted the best bowyer in Karennal. He was deeply skeptical, and Sack had to go as far as to invoke the magic and draw a normal bow until it broke to get the point across. After that, the bowyer set to and created two mighty bows sized for the two heroes, and costing a whopping 1,200gp each. He explained that though he himself couldn't enchant them, they were apt for magic and could easily accept magical enhancement once they found someone capable of the task. Click here for details!