4th Arodus 18 - The Fate of the kingdom lies in Miros hands! Help us all!!

As he is a part of Nyrissa, born from her empathy, Emissary is compelled to follow her instructions and cannot refuse her bidding and so must act against the kindom of Dragonmere and its rulers.  Her latest demands are that Emissary confronts the PCs and retrieves Briar, preferably out of their cold dead hands.  Luckily, like a lot of fey-based bargains, demands and orders, there are loopholes and it is via these that Emissary has decided to choose his time and location to confront the group, knowing that it will be his demise rather than theirs, but he has grown fond of the material plane and its inhabitants.  Though he is unable to divulge further particulars about Nyrissa and the upcoming blooms, the fey nobleman again reaffirms that their best chance in stopping her lies in the weapon she so sorely seeks and they must not give it up for any reason.  Miro agrees to hang on to the artefact, willing to bare such a heavy burden such as wielding a powerful blade - tis a truly heroic sacrifice he will gladly make...

The rulers offer Emissary sanctuary and try and find alternatives to the fey's fate, but in the end he and they must cross swords, death is the only way out for him as any fey that perishes when not in the First World proper can never be brought back - Emissary suggests that the guards and other assembled mortals should keep to the chamber's perimeter to avoid becoming collateral.  Vaneer nods in understanding and thanks Emissary for his honesty before ordering all the guards in the hall not to attack Emissary no mater what happens as they prepare for the fight.  The rulers cast several buff and protective spells before they begin the fight

Vaneer starts off first and swings his morningstar at Emissary but misses, as the fey displays the characteristic levels of dexterity and nimbleness that his kind are known for.

Miro attacks and hits,

Hugo attacks and hits,

Emissary attacks Miro with a slender sword and scores a hit, the fey then vanishes and reappears behind Miro, slashing at the Halfling again but fails to penetrate his defences.  Four more Emissaries appear next to the original, each armed with a foil-like sword.  Curiously, yhe original does not disguise himself amongst his copies.

One attacks Vaneer but misses,

One attacks Hugo and hits twice,

One attacks Miro and hits him 3 times causing the halfling to become blinded,

One attacks Natalia and hits once,

Otto casts greater dispel magic to weaken Emissary's talents and then a quicken magic missile,

Boss shoots multiple times but only hits once,

Bob bears his teeth and attacks one of the Emissarys but misses,

Natalia changes into the form of an earth elemental and strikes a copy of the fey,

Vaneer drops his morningstar and grabs hold of the staff of healing and uses it to smack Miro over the head to remove his blindness,

Miro attacks what he thinks is the real emissary and hits all three times with the sword Briar which seem to guide his blows and greatly weakens the fey in very quick succession

Hugo attacks the emissary and hits,

The original Emissary attacks Miro and hits twice,

Another one attacks Miro again and hits twice,

One attacks Hugo and hits,

One attacks Natalia and hits,

One attacks Otto and hits twice,

Knowing what is about to come, Emissary gives a final word of advice.  Should Nyrissa's ritual fail on the 29th day she will unleash her fey army onto the mortal plane to march against the cities and will send her greatest champion to directly attack the rulers, wherever they are.  A month later the queen will be able to retry her ritual.
 

Otto casts finger of death which strikes the real Emissary and brings his life to an end.

Cheers erupt around the hall as Vaneer sets to healing the group.  The group then orders the council to send out messages throughout the kingdom to look out for and report any blooms to Wyvernshore ASAP along with any other signs of oddness.  They also make plans for burying the fallen fey man.

**********

As the crystal clear waters fade to blackness, Nyrissa gasps in anger having seen her one-time ally fall so easily to the mortals - though she could not hear what was said through the scrying, that Emissary had folded without dispatching at least one of her enemies was worrisome indeed.  Grabbing hold of a nearby fey maiden the mad fey queen spent the next hour slowly plucking out the eyes of her beautiful nymph victim, allowing the cries of agony to wash over her like beautiful music and slowly soothe away her anxieties.

4th Arodus 18 - The Age of Exposition

 At the designated time Emissary the fey nobleman apparates into the main hall at Wyvernshore palace, where the group are awaiting his arrival along with the council, key citizens and armed guards, all of whom are keen to hear what the fey has to say.

Emissary has arrived to tell them a true tale, make his confessions, bid his final farewells and face them in combat.
He serves Nyrissa, a Fey Queen from the First World who fell in 'love' with Count Renalc, an Eldest (god-like fey who can affect the environment and magic around them), who used her as an experiment, granting her a significant growth in power born from shadow magic. But as a result Nyrissa grew arrogant and incurred the wrath of others as she attempted to carve out her own section of the First World and turn herself into an Eldest. Offended by this, the eight Eldest Fey punished the ninth who had granted the upstart an increase in stature and then tore from Nyrissa her Love (which they formed into a sword), her Greed (which they infused into a mortal land) and her Vengeance (which was moulded into a lesser version of her and imprisoned in a demi-dimension). They then reduced and isolated Nyrissa’s domain from their own and cast the queen out into it, to wallow in her misery and loss.

It took many centuries before Nyrissa was able to pull herself up and start to look to the future. Because of her power she is able to manipulate her realm of Thousandbreaths to suit her moods and has gathered more power and allies as she attempts to reclaim her full power and status before she was cast down.

Nyrissa wishes to free her Vengeance and merge with it. This will increase her magic abilities and mental manipulations, become more commanding and able to form armies instantly at her behest. However, the group of heroes have defeated the personification of this Vengeance when they destroyed the Shadow Queen many years before and so this step has been delayed for the time being.
Nyrissa wishes to obtain the sword, Briar, which was born from her Love and subsequently could be used against her to hurt her. Wielding it she would become more physically powerful and able to withstand more effects and damage. To complicate things for the queen, the Eldest hid the sword from her sight and it was foretold that this blade would one day fall into the possession of heroes who would end her life! This sword is currently in Miros hands...
Nyrissa wishes to gather up her Greed and present it as a gift to the eight Eldest Fey in the hopes of getting back some of her standing and gain face.
Nyrissa voluntarily parted from her Empathy, giving it the form of a purple fey male known as Emissary, sworn to do her bidding. Whilst Emissary might grow to like those he works with and colludes against, his first duty is always to Nyrissa and no magic on Golarion can alter that.
To achieve her goals, Nyrissa kept the land which harbours her Greed a wild and untamed place (the humans have named this region the ‘Stolen Lands’ due to the lack of ownership over it) so that she could wear down the boundaries between her domain, Thousandbreaths, and the mortal Stolen Lands until such a time where the border is thin enough that she can send energy and life from her domain into the mortal lands in the form of ‘Blooms’. This energy will suffuse with the mortal land and will allow Nyrissa to ‘bottle’ the land up and present it as a gift to her peers. This starts tomorrow!

Over the next 28 days blooms of natural, nature and magical energy will spill out into the nearby kingdoms as the queen conducts a ritual. Magical oddities and powerful minions will spill out of breaches during this time, marking the location of the blooms which weaken the boundaries between worlds. On the 29th day, Nyrissa will then be able to gave all the energy up from everyone and everything in groups piecemeal kingdom leaving only a barren husk behind. The more blooms and minions that remain in the kingdom, the greater her chance for success. The leaders of Dragonmere have two options:

• quickly gather several bloom remnants and take the fight to the fey queen early before she can complete the ritual and risk almost certain death due to the number of allies that would populate her domain, or
• face down the blooms and fey intruders as they appear in the material plane and then take the fight to the queen after that; this does pose a timy amount of risk from the queen possibly succeeding in her ritual (and any blooms missed would only increase that liklihood) but the upside is that the PCs would be able to deal with her strong allies at a more sedate rate and as a consequence will find it easier to reach and defeat her in her own realm.

Briar will start to grow in power for each bloom and strong ally of the queen that is defeated in its vicinity. It may even regain all its powers and would be the greatest tool to fight Nyrissa and her allies.

Emissary informs the group that in the north of Pitax's largest forest are ruins that mark the thinnest boundary to Nyrissa's relam of Thousandbreaths. With remnants from destroyed blooms and a powerful artefact such a Briar they will be able to breach realms and enter the fey demi-plane.

2nd Arodus 18 - It's all about the Fish

Over the course of the month there have been reports of occasional 'wierdness' and unexplainable oddities befalling the kingdom and other nearby lands; rainfalls consisting of frogs and crickets, meat starting to talk with steaks mooing at their would-be diners, singing fish and jumping sausages.  There has even been several immaculate pregnancies with no divine cause.

A noble that the group scathingly name "Lady Poncy-Ponce" contacts the rulers and offers to sell them a text book that she was once told would be of great value to them.  Her terms are that three statues and a theatre are to be built and dedicated to her, however the group negotiated this down to a single statue (with an elongated nose) and a small play-hall (and possibly a brothel) to which she agrees, on the added condition that if her book is vital to their cause in the near future they must public acknowledge her greatness to their citizens without sarcasm or insecerity (something they agree to, doubting that they will ever need to take such an action).

Six weeks after King Irovetti's defeat and the stabilisation of Pitax, the rulers receive a missive from Emissary; he sought an audience with them!  After a long conversation and much debate the group decide that they should allow the fey man a chance to explain his involvement in the various actions that both helped and harmed them and their kingdom.  They send back a time and a date to Emissary and await his arrival...

19th Desnus 18 - Winged Bears!! What ever next!

The group head towards a place known as little town in the north west.

They soon realise that it is actually a little town surrounded by farms some of which are locked up from the inside.

In the town square the group find quite a mess, their best guess would possibly point at a gathering of people into the square where they were then slaughtered possibly by Wyverns given by the claw marks in the stone. Plus, the fact that Natalia spotted the body of a dead wyvern spotted in nearby field.

Vaneer checks the wounds of the creature and giant claw marks seem to explain why it was missing most of its chest, but she isn’t sure as to what creature had done this to the Wyvern.

Natalia uses her druidic ability of commune to sense what creatures are in the area. 

After some time, Natalia discovers that there is the odd dotting of people here and there whilst in the woods to the South West there is a single powerful unnatural creature. In the woods the west she also sensed a pair of unnatural creatures.

The group head west into the nearby woodland and make their way towards the pair of creatures.

As the group approaches the area they slow and prepare for whatever they are to find ahead.

The sounds of a waterfall could be heard as the group find themselves emerging into a large open glade. Around the outskirts of the glade they noticed many damaged trees and tree stumps that scatter the area.

The damaged bark shows signs of claw marks from either a large creature or creatures.

Before they can speculate to what they were tracking they hear excited hooting quickly followed by a second and closer hoot as a gigantuous owl bear with wings (winged owl bear) rushes into the clearing towards the group.

Winged Owl Bear (WOB) 1 – attacks Otto and hits one of his mirror self’s,

Vaneer casts destruction on WOB 1 but it resists,

Hugo moves into attack WOB 1 and hits,

Miro tumbles round WOB 1 attacks but misses,

Natalia casts finger of death but fails,

Bob attacks WOB 1 and hits,

WOB 2 reaches Miro where it attacks and hits,

Otto steps back, casts hold monster which holds followed by a quickened haste,

Boss shoots at WOB 2 and hits,

Vaneer casts mass inflict critical wounds on the WOB1, WOB 1 breaks the hold,

Hugo attacks WOB 1 hits with 2 critical blows,

Miro attacks WOB 1 hits 4x killing it with 3 critical strikes,

WOB 1 collapses,

Bob attacks WOB 2 and hits,

Natalia casts a spell,

WOB 2 attacks Miro and hits once,

Otto casts hold monster on WOB 2 which takes hold,

Hugo attacks WOB 2 and hits twice,

Vaneer attacks WOB 2 and hits twice,

Hugo attacks WOB 2 hits x4 (1 critical),

Miro attacks WOB 2 hits and kills it with a critical.

Otto and Miro teleport back to Pitax with one winged owl bear corpse to sell to the merchant who offers the group a further 4k of gold for the second corpse that the party has.

When the pair return Vaneer heals up the party of all their wounds.

Natalia scouts the area to the south west to see whilst in bird form of any indication of what the ‘other’ presence is in the woodland. Though after not finding anything she returns to the group to relay the disappointing information.

The group decide to investigate the area further just incase the quarry was hiding amongst some thick tree or bush growth.

Though they soon find that the deeper they travel into the woodland the thicker it got so it takes just over a day to get to the area by next morning.

Natalia checks with her commune again and discovers that the creature had moved ½ mile away from them, so they continue making their way towards the new area.

Before they can take in their surroundings a creature attacks Vaneer and hits,

Miro misses,

Otto and hits,

Natalia misses,

Hugo misses,

Boss misses,

Something beneath the ground drags those that were hit across the floor by what appear to be roots,

Vaneer casts command plants telling the creature to release the party and show its self which works,

A Tree to the right opens its awe of a mouth in a show to reveal itself as commanded,

Natalia recognises it as a “Quick wood” a carnivorous and intelligent tree,

Quickwood uses its fear aura affects all except Vaneer and Miro causing everyone else to flee in terror,

Quickwood then attacks Miro 6 times but luckily all attacks miss,

Miro chickens out of the fight and waits for Vaneer to do something,

Vaneer tells the tree to frick off elsewhere and it obeys the command as it shambles deeper into the woods,

Rest of party soon return as Miro and Vaneer try to bluff that they destroyed the tree, but tree was too slow to vacate the area.

Otto teleports the group to the white rose hill abbey and they make their back way to the tunnel entrance and through to the pool where Evindra has been awaiting their return.

The group spend some time giving Evindra an update of current events and the fight with the king of Pitax.

Miro soon races into the water with the shawl and briar bearing a smile almost as big as the pool.

Evindra thanks the group for returning Briar and her shawl as she informs them of its history.

Briar belonged to the fey and it influences the surrounding area which is why the wine that use to be produced here tasted great. Evindra was given the duty to look after the sword and to keep it out of the hands of a fey queen. 

Briar can be a vorpal weapon to the right wielder and change its appearance, but its power has faded over time.

Evindra is happy to stay put for now whilst the pool under the hill remains hidden and a secret from the world.

The group agree to keep the pool quiet and decide that they would reinstate the monastery above to help keep it a secret once they return to Wyvernshore.

On the way out of the tunnel most of the group minus Otto hear a strange noise from behind them and so they rush back to the pool only to hear a scuffle as they get closer.

As they emerge into the pool cavern they see 3 fey-like creatures attacking Evindra and attempting to steal the sword Briar from her.

Otto Shouts “See You!” As he casts finger of death at fey1 who is trying to steal briar but now drops to the floor dead,

Otto casts a Quickened haste,

Boss shoots at fey2 and hits multiple times,

Miro sneaks up to fey3 and stabs him in the back,

Hugo attacks fey3 and hits,

Vaneer casts dimensional lock to prevent anyone escaping with Briar,

Natalia casts baleful polymorph on fey 4 turning it into a rabbit,

Bob rushes for the rabbit and critically strikes it,

Rabbit attacks Bob but misses,

Fey3 tries to cast a spell but nothing happens,

Fey2 attacks Bob and hits,

Fey5 attacks Hugo but misses,

A large creature with wings of darkness reveals itself,

Creature casts prismatic spray at Vaneer, Otto, Boss and Natalia,

Vaneer saves vs poison,

Otto saves vs insanity,

Boss saves vs Death,

Natalia fails vs fire and takes little fire damage,

Otto casts another finger of death but this time at the winged creature and kills it,

Otto then casts a Quicken scorching ray fey2 and hits for small damage,

Boss shoots fey2 and hits twice killing it and hits Fey5 thrice,

Miro attacks fey3 and kills it,

Hugo attacks fey5 and hits 4 times which kills it,

Vaneer attacks fey4 and hits,

Bob attacks fey4 and hits,

Natalia attacks fey4 and killing it.

The nature “friendly” members are watched in horror by their cohorts as they stomp, skewer and rip apart a harmless rabbit.

“Think its best guessed that they know where the sword is now” sighed Vaneer.

It’s quickly agreed amongst the group and Evindra that the sword ‘briar’ would be best protected by the group to which Miro eagerly accepts responsibility of looking after it.

Group also offers Evindra sanctuary within the kingdom where ever she chooses, and she accepts under the fear of further assassination attempts should she stay in the pool.

The group then finally return to Wyvernshore.

18th Desnus 18 - A New Day A New Encounter....oooh that's gonna stain!

The next day the group awake refreshed to find some of the celebrations still ongoing.

Vaneer sets to work resurrecting their comrade Hugo back to the land of the living before turning his attentions to Miro’s daughter Mina whom had been cursed to take the form of a Gnome for something that her father had done to apparently someone unknown.

Unfortunately Vaneer’s attempts to break the curse were not to be successful but the cleric now knew that they needed at least the power of a limited wish to break the spell over Mina.

In the meantime Otto attended to Irovetti’s remains and disintegrated the corpse to prevent any foolish loyal followers from trying to bring the dead king back.

As the group headed out of the palace of Pitax the ground started to rumble and shake as a Remorhaz (giant monstrous centipede like creature) busted free from beneath the palace where Irovetti had kept his monsters for gladiatorial fights and started attacking the city.

The group sighed and rushed to stop the creature from eating all the citizens of Pitax.

Remorhaz uses its breath weapon over the group where only Boss, Miro and Otto manage to avoid the blast,

Otto casts force cage around the creature and traps it within,

Boss shoots at the Remorhaz and hits,

Natalia casts lightening and blasts the trapped creature,

Miro runs round to the other side of the cage and flanks the creature but fails to land a successful blow,

Hugo uses his new Halberd that was gifted to him from Irovetti and hits the creature,

Vaneer risks getting his hand bitten off as he casts harm on the creature,

Otto uses a quickened Stink cloud but misses and follows through with a melf acid arrow which hits,

Boss shoots at the Remorhaz which as it dies explodes causing a mass of juice and goo to fly through the bars of the cage covering the group and those curious nearby citizens.

To be continued………

17th Desnus 18 – Part 4 – The Irovetti Cancellation and the fancy sounding 'Council of the Nine'

The curtain hid more than the group had first realised, beyond was a large natural cavern where a glowing placid pool of water took up about a third of its right hand side.

Within were three occupants eagerly waiting the groups arrival, Irovetti being the coward he was, was at the far end of the cavern between him and the group stood General Jurrg and a spirit Naga was happily floating above the pool with menace in its eyes.

Vaneer tries to convince the General and the Naga that they need not participate in this fight but his words went unheard.

Miro takes the charge as he uses his ring of invisibility to tumble past the general,

Hugo charges at the general and manages to land two blows,

The general manages to cast a Haste spell,

The Spirit Naga casts chain lightening at the group hitting all except Miro,

Vaneer cast Holy Smite on both the General and the Naga,

Irovetti creates another image of himself and then they both start to sing,

Otto casts Haste,

Boss shoots at the general and hits him three times,

Bob bursts into a rage and charges the general hitting him hard,

Natalia starts casting a spell,

Miro attacks the general from behind with such surprise that all three of the halflings attacks find vital points killing the general instantly,

Hugo throws an alchemists fire over the General to make sure he doesn’t regenerate any of this wounds,

The Naga casts Baleful Polymorph at Miro but the spell fails to take hold and then followed it up with a quickened scorching ray which does hit,

Vaneer casts flamestrike on the Naga and hits for little damage,

Irovetti moves towards Miro, swings his sword at Miro’s rapier and destroys it completely leaving the Halfling standing in shock as he looks at the hilt still in his hands,

Otto casts finger of death at Engalladis (Spirit Naga) but the spell fails to affect,

Boss shoots at Engalladis but misses,

Irovetti attacks and injures Bob massively,

Natalia’s spell completes as a Dire Lion appears,

Dire Lion attacks Irovetti but fails to land a single blow,

Irovetti attacks the Lion and injures the creature severely,

Natalia casts Baleful Polymorph on Irovetti but the spell fails to take hold,

Miro uses his mace to attack Irovetti and manages to land two blows,

Hugo also attacks Irovetti but misses,

Irovetti attacks and hits Hugo hard,

Engalladis casts Wall of Force which blocks Otto and Natalia from entering further into the cavern followed by a quickened scorching ray at Vaneer which hits,

Vaneer casts Greater Dispel magic on Irovetti but the spell fails to take effect,

Irovetti attacks Miro twice dropping the Rogue to the floor in a bloodied mess,

Irovetti attacks Hugo and hits him hard as the fighter struggles to stay on his feet,

Otto casts finger of death on Engalladis but fails to hit the Naga,

Boss shoots at Engalladis and hits twice,

Bob attacks Irovetti but misses,

Natalia flamestrikes Engalladis which hits but does little damage,

Miro Gurgles as death circles ever nearer,

Hugo attacks Irovetti but misses,

Engalladis casts Heal on herself,

Vaneer moves in closer to Irovetti and casts Heal on Miro,

Irovetti attacks Vaneer but luckily misses,

Irovetti attacks Miro, Hugo and Bob in a whirlwind display hitting all three and drops Hugo to the floor,

Otto tries to cast Finger of death on Irovetti but fails,

Boss shoots at Irovetti but each arrow misses,

Bob foaming at the mouth still fails to hit Irovetti,

Natalia casts greater dispel magic on Irovetti which seems to do something as his double disappears,

Miro tumbles to behind Irovetti and lands a blow,

Engalladis casts chain lightening again getting all except Miro and Hugo,

Vaneer casts a healing burst,

Irovetti attacks Vaneer and Miro but misses both,

Otto uses dimension door to allow himself and Natalia to get past the wall of force,

Boss switches to his human bane bow and Shoots at Irovetti landing a hit,

Bob attacks Irovetti and hits twice,

Natalia cast dispel magic on Irovetti which appears to make the Pitax King look weaker,

Miro attacks Irovetti and lands three massive blows,

Engalladis casts scorching ray at Miro and hits followed by a quickened Magic missile which brings the Rogue to a stagger,

Vaneer takes the decision to cast cure critical on Miro whilst Hugo passes away with wounds too heavy to heal,

Irovetti attacks both Vaneer and MIro, hitting both but drops Miro back to the floor,

Otto casts chain lightening on Irovetti and Engalladis, hitting both,

Boss shoots at Irovetti where the arrow finds its target and drops the Pitax King.

As Irovetti falls to the floor the Naga’s demeanour changes to that of confusion as if it had been under some sort of enchantment or control, as soon as she sees the party readying weapons towards her she agrees to leave in peace.

Natalia and Vaneer then set to work healing the group as best they can with what spells they have left.

Before leaving Engalladis hinted at a secret door in the pool that might be of interest to the group, so once wounds were suitably healed the cleric casts Water Breathing on himself and enters into the pool.

After sometime the cleric does find a hidden underwater door which lead into an underwater grotto with white rose shaped crystals protruding from the walls and a long object wrapped in some sort of cloth was floating in the middle of the grottos water.

Looking at the crystals, Vaneer works one free from the wall as it then crumbles in his hands and so decides to leave the crystals be.

His attention now on the long object in cloth, Vaneer unwraps the cloth which he soon realises is the shawl that they have been asked to look for and wrapped within it was a magic sword that he did not recognise but soon discovers it is ‘Briar’ which also belongs to the owner of the Shawl.

Once Vaneer remerges from the pool and the others had finished checking the cavern and Irovetti’s room the group head up stairs in search of their off spring.

The group find the prison with ease and it is decided to send Natalia shaped shifted as a mouse and an invisible Otto down the stairs to the prison to see if they can pick off or lure some of the creatures guarding it back up to the rest.

The prison guards being a number of hell hounds and a ugly looking gargoyle are barraged with Black tentacle, confusion and fire breath spells which after a short period of time wipes them out allowing the prisoners to be rescued.

News is then spread of Irovetti’s defeat as the group lay his body to rest in public for a day as proof to the citizens of Pitax.

Before even the day was out or the group even fully recovered the four remaining noble houses of Pitax had each sent individual requests for audiences with the Otto and the group to discuss the future rule of the city.

The group knew there would be bickering and backstabbing going on so they arranged to meet all four houses at the same time in a show of honesty and openness to which they agree to.

In the meantime however Miro, Vaneer and Natalia take to the streets to talk to the populace about the houses and what their opinions are of them.

The Liacenzas family were tough by reputation and they also protected their interests first above all else, they were the previous rulers of Pitax for 40 years which had been earned through trade.

The Vascaris family owned the docks and shipping companies, they have quite a bit of influence because of their shipping ties.

The Strocalles family are apparently not to be trusted and are only interested in profits and are known to have criminal ties.

The Cattanei Family is a failing house, they would love to come to power so they could use it to revive their name.

Before the meeting the group gather and discuss their thoughts and opinions on the future of Pitax, the conversation doesn’t take long but they bring forth a plan that they feel is amenable to everyone’s interests.

The meeting is gathered in public and as expected the noble houses shouted and tried to back stab each other in hopes they would make themselves stand out as the next suitable rulers of Pitax.

Otto steps forward and waits for the crowd to quieten before announcing that Pitax would now fall into the Kingdom of Dragonmere but Pitax would not be ruled locally by one ruler.

“The Council of Nine” is what we call it,

The Nobel houses again argued and complained but the citizens cheered, again Otto waited for the noise to quieten before explaining further.

Pitax would be ruled by Dragonmere via Wyvernshore aka Otto, but generally rulership and day to day control would be controlled by the council of nine. The nine would sit in power for 4 years at which point if the council seems to work then it would remain.

The Nine are made up as follows,

1 representative from each of the 4 noble houses,

2 Citizens of Note and Trust (nominated by the populous of Pitax each year)

1 nominated citizen from the populous of Pitax (to be voted for each year),

1 representative from Wyvernshore which will alternate yearly from the groups offspring whom will remain here to form part of the cities protection, development and link to the council of Wyvernshore.

The Council will be headed by a chairperson nominated from the Nine but can only server as chair person for a year to prevent corruption and under handedness.

As expected the citizens where cheering in happiness whilst at least two of the noble houses looked a little pale and worried at what had been proposed.

Whilst the city celebrated in its new found freedom the group retired to recover from the strains of the day.

17th Desnus 18 – Part 3 – The Irovetti Encounter

The group make their way through the streets towards the palace where they soon encounter a group of five soldiers blocking their way.

Vaneer asks them to stand aside and allow the group to pass so they can continue their way to dispose of the King.

One of the wardens asks them if they intend to follow through with their promise and upon hearing the confirmation the soldiers step to one side and allow the group to pass wishing them luck.

As the group approach the palace eight gargoyles drop from the heavens and attacks them.

Vaneer casts a mass serious inflict wounds,

Gargoyles move closer,

Otto Fireballs and destroys all the gargoyles causing the flaming shattered stones to rain down over the area.

A flock of nearby peacocks become upset with the group for some unknown reason and chases them into the palace through the large open double door entrance.

As they get through the doors a messenger was awaiting them and though confused at the peacock situation informed them that King Irovetti was expecting them in the great hall along with General Jerg and Valamor Koth.

The group quickly find their way into the great hall, it was grand indeed! Large gold statues of the King and golden thrones, gold everywhere though what was also obvious was that they weren’t alone in the room.

Along with the King, Jerg and Valamor they were accompanied with four armoured trolls on the ground plus an additional six wardens and six heralds watching over them from the balcony running around the room above them.

King Irovetti gleamed at their arrival and his mouth began to open as he prepared to say something but seemed output when Vaneer put up his finger as a motion to wait.

Irovetti seemed even more annoyed that what Vaneer next said was not to him but his subjects.

Vaneer looked up to the balcony and said, “We are only interested in your King and your King only, if you leave now we promise that you will not be punished in anyway later but if you stay then we’re afraid we can’t promise your safety.”

There were moments of shuffling feet and whispers from the balcony but seconds later the balcony was empty, and a very red-faced King was now aggressively clutching at his throne.

Irovetti then stood up from his throne chuckling to himself,

“Good, Good, yes yes! Don’t worry I won’t ‘harm’ them much after I’ve dealt with you just like I haven’t harmed your children”.

Otto casts a quickened Haste on the group followed by a finger of death at Irovetti which fails,

Boss shoots at Irovetti but the arrows just literally bounce off him,

Irovetti casts a spell and a duplicate image of himself appears which begins to sing,

Natalia casts a spell,

Bob charges in and attacks one of the armoured Trolls and hits,

General Jerg casts haste over the enemy,

Hugo moves and attacks another of the armoured trolls and hits,

Miro moves to flank Hugo’s target and hits it,

Valamor Koth charges at Miro and lands a well-placed blow on the halfling,

Otto casts Acid fog followed by a quickened Fireball centred on the Trolls which kills one,

Boss attacks Koth and lands a hit,

Irovetti cast another spell that fills the hall with a golden light,

Armoured Troll attacks Vaneer and misses,

Armoured Troll attacks Boss and hits,

Armoured Troll attacks Miro and hits,

Vaneer casts a healing blast followed by a quickened searing light,

Bob attacks an armoured troll and hits,

Natalia summons an Earth elemental,

Elemental attacks Koth and hits,

Natalia casts flamestrike on General Jerg and hits,

General Jerg attacks Miro and hits,

Hugo attacks another troll but misses,

Miro tumbles behind Hugo for a reprieve from combat,

Koth attacks the Elemental and destroys it,

Otto casts a quickened Fireball on the trolls followed by a chain lightening,

Boss rolls away from the combat,

Irovetti points his halbard at Vaneer which shoots something at the Cleric and hits,

Armoured Troll attacks Vaneer and hits,

Armoured Troll attacks Hugo and hits hard,

Armoured Troll attacks Miro and hits,

Vaneer casts a healing burst followed by a quickened cure serious,

Natalia casts a greater dispel on Irovetti,

Bob attacks a Troll and hits,

General Jerg casts a cone of cold which knocks out Boss,

Hugo attacks a Troll and kills it,

Koth attacks Miro but misses,

Otto casts Fireball over the enemy killing Koth,

Irovetti moves closer to the fray and casts a spell causing Vaneer, Hugo and Bob to start bowing to him,

Armoured Troll attacks Miro but misses,

Vaneer manages to break the spell that has him bowing to Irovetti,

General Jerg throws a swing at Miro but misses,

Hugo and Bob continue to bow to Irovetti,

Miro uses his ring to turn himself invisible,

Boss drinks a potion of Cure moderate,

Otto casts another chain lightening which drops the final armoured troll,

Irovetti moves to attack Vaneer and hits,

Vaneer casts a healing burst,

Natalia cast a wall of fire,

General Jerg moves through the wall and attacks Otto,

Miro attacks Irovetti and just as the rogues blade pierces the Kings flesh a look of realisation appears on Irovetti’s face followed by “Ah! That is a surprisingly annoyance” as he then vanishes into thin air.

Vaneer with his knowledge of spells instantly realises that Irovetti had obviously set up a contingency that if he was too injured then he would instantly be dimensional doored to safety,

Boss shoots at General Jerg and hits him,

Otto casts three scorching rays at Jerg but only one seemed to hit,

Vaneer casts a healing burst,

Bob continues to bow to an empty space,

Natalia casts a flamestrike down on General Jerg,

General Jerg follows suit of his ruler and dimensional doors himself away from the combat.

The dimension door spell had a limited range, so the group knew that their two escapees had to be somewhere in the palace and with all the other combatants now disposed of they made haste to search the palace.

After a couple of hours of searching the group eventually find a concealed door in the most unlikely and tucked away location which lead under the palace into an underground royal bedroom of immensely plushly richly over exaggerated decoration.

As the statues obviously gave it away this was Irovetti’s room the group immediately begin to investigate and behind a set of curtains they find the King awaiting round two of their fight fully healed and re-buffed.

To Be Continued………