Vardar Peacock

The group rested overnight at the Renders' motherhouse, and early the next morning Sack was off, Teleporting across Alair to summon home the scattered members of the Order.

Surya had spent some time wielding his small but useful wizardly powers, and now revealed to Hildraft what he'd discovered about the equipment they'd captured from the vampires in the warehouse. It was something of a shock.

• Black Plate Armour: +3, Encasement
• Greatsword: +4 Greatsword, +10 vs Good Clerics and Undead Hunters
• Black Glass Plate Armour: Armour, created by Niotanv, tainted by the Hand of Drok
• Black Glass Battleaxes: Axes, created by Niotanv, tainted by the Hand of Drok
• Scimitar: Thirst. A +5 weapon which dehydrates its' victims.

The terms didn't mean much to Surya, but Hildraft felt cold fingers clutch his soul. Drok was the shadowbrother, the dark reflection of Kord in the souls of the dwarven people. Where Abbathor was a power of random destruction, Drok was a calculated, manipulative evil. The Church of Kord was aware of the existence of the dark counterpart, but tended to keep quiet.

Where the Hand of Kord was a roistering, brawling hero, wielding axe and spell for his faith, the Hand of Drok was chosen as a silent, deceitful assassin. Down the millennia, each faith would choose a mighty champion from among the faithful to be the Hand of the God. In this place and time, Hildraft was the Hand of Kord; clearly there was a Hand of Drok somewhere as well.

Hildraft had cherished hopes of redeeming the armour, which he had somehow deduced was linked with his axe in some way; but the scale of the problem was daunting. Although a dwarf and therefore not unskilled with metal and forgecraft, he was not a specialist smith, and knew well he could not oppose the taint on the armour on an arcane level; he would have to combat it on a moral level, placing the power of his faith on the scales against the dark power that had warped the armour.

He needed advice.

The greatest authority he knew of on armour and weapons was Elverandil the Smith, and he decided to contact him first.

The Mastersmith of the Elves was busy when the magic linked them, busy forging weapons. The elves were gearing up for war, preparing their answering stroke to the Elf Hammer launched against them by Skufruss of Tarlanor.

He greeted Hildraft, and succinctly answered his questions. The Encasement enchantment, he revealed, was one specifically developed for vampires; armour so treated would protect a vampire from the lethal effects of the daylight sun.

Barely reassured, Hildraft next communicated with his superior, Cardinal Axedge. Asked if he could redeem the armour, the Cardinal was dubious; "maybe in the Sanctum," he opined. "You may be able to do this; you have gone beyond your teachers, my son - you must make your own decision."

The next day, Sack whisked Hildraft back to his mountain home, where he was left in Hildraft's old quarters while the dwarf went to see his superior. The Cardinal led him down into the depths below the temple, to where he said the cursed equipment would be safe while it was examined and challenged.

Hildraft picked up the other news of the city. The new King, Berrin Ironfist, was making a fairly good job of ruling the underground city, although he had levied taxes on the clans which had not been demanded in centuries. Clan Bogadun had been forced to surrender some of the precious adamantite (though not the secret of its' forging). Rebuilding after the abortive invasion by Varkars's armies was well under way.

Returning to the sparse quarters he'd occupied as a novice, the dwarf noted Sack grinning innocently. He immediately concluded the crafty half-orc had been up to something in his absence, but Sack whisked them back to Narthal without comment.

The next morning, Surya was breakfasting while Hildraft dressed in the Renders' motherhouse when there was a ferocious hammering on the door. They heard the guards open it, and then were surprised to hear the sounds of armoured men forcing their way in - and being allowed to.

Bowl in hand, Surya ambled out into the passage to see what was happening. He discovered a good dozen men, wearing the livery of the King of Stryre, occupying the hall unchallenged by the two guards. Leading them was a burly individual with cat-quick eyes, who swung around to face the Tellaran with a cry of "There's one of them!".

His men immediately assumed ready-for-trouble positions. The leader drew his sword, identified himself as Ingamin, a captain in the Royal Guard, and demanded that Surya surrender himself, as there were warrants issued for the arrest of himself and Hildraft, Sack and Kobort of Tusmit, on charges of Breach of Crown Contract.

Surya instantly drew his own sword, and allowed it to make its' presence felt. The soldiers behind Ingamin promptly broke and fled, but the captain stood firm as Surya forcefully refused and in turn demanded Ingamin drop his own weapon.

The guard captain in turn refused, and suddenly the pair were fighting. Hildraft, watching over the bannisters, was impressed; this Ingamin was almost Surya's match. They fought until each had received wounds - Ingamin's fairly serious - and then Surya stepped back and lowered his guard, offering a parlay. The captain responded, and Hildraft promptly startled him by working a Mass Heal, erasing both his and Surya's wounds completely. With new respect on either side, negotiations restarted.

Surya and Hildraft agreed to accompany the guard to see the King, but as guests not prisoners, and not disarmed. They denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of Sack or Kobort, knowing that the half-orc would be listening, and would know to come and look for them if they didn't return.

The royal palace of Narthal was an enormous building, but it was not at the top of the hill upon which the

city was built. That honour was reserved for the Basilica of Aderra, and the fact was the first clue to how things probably stood with the king called Vardar Peacock.

The basic architecture was very reminiscent of the Imperial Palace in Thornal - reasonable, as Stryre had been an Imperial Province until 1415 - but the decoration was noticeably different. While the Imperial Palace was strong, masculine and tasteful in its' richness, Vardar's palace was garish and overdone. Excessive and rather tasteless decoration abounded, and the corridors were packed with so much conspicuous wealth and treasure that it struck quite the wrong note.

Likewise the thronehall. Wheras the Emperor of the Erlyid had received them in plain surroundings, Vardar's court was a blaze of courtiers, priests, soldiers and so on. Mailed guards lined the approach to the throne, and a mighty warrior, wearing sparse but magical-looking armour and bearing a massive greatsword across his back, stodd beside the throne.

The king himself was a bit of a surprise. He was ... well, rather short really. He greeted the pair angrily, demanding to know why they had reneged on the deal he - through Archpriest Delloch - had struck with them for the return of Mergil. It was clear he had expected to use it to slay the Dragon, for the greater glory of himself, and was incensed that the glory had been "given" to the elves (a 'forgotten race who should never have returned' as he put it).

Surya tried to explain that they had succeeded in the greater mission, saving Vardar's kingdom, and that there was now a different threat in the form of the undead army in the Fens of Korvux, but Vardar was not listening. He demanded a sword of comparable power to replace Mergil in his regalia, and Surya contemptuously flung a dagger onto the floor in front of him.

The muscular champion was poised, ready to draw and fling himself at the Tellaran at a moment's notice, but Ingamin muttered swiftly in his king's ear, and the Peacock motioned for a pause.

Scorning further conversation, Surya and Hildraft turned and left the thronehall, and soon emerged from the palace. The Tellaran was fuming, and Hildraft rather expected him to abandon Stryre to its' troubles.

"Get the horses," snarled Surya at last. "We've got a job to do."