“Excuse me! Halia?”
The woman’s attention was captured and she glanced in Seraphina’s direction with shocked recognition, but turned away swiftly, shuffling in an attempt to distance herself in the crowd.
“Halia Thornton?” Seraphina called out again, louder this time
“I am not Halia Thornton, Seraphina!” Came the hollow retort.
“Uh…,” Seraphina stopped her advance, confused, “who are you then?”
“I am Katarina Barrelmaker… I run The Green Rest, of course.” Halia replied forcefully, but she had stopped moving away. Her lips were now pressed tightly together as if she were pondering some inevitably unpleasant conclusion.
“Ok, Katarina, how are you here?” Seraphina asked in earnest, trying to understand how this could be possible.
“Look, if you’re here to kill me, let’s just get it over with, hmm? There’s no need for this pretense.” Halia muttered darkly, yet she made no move to protect herself.
“I am not here to kill you. Why would I want to kill you?”
“You’re not here to kill me?” Halia repeated incredulously. “They didn’t send you to find me?”
“What? No. Who? You’re running an inn? How long have you been doing that?”
Now it is Halia’s turn to look confused. Her lips tighten even more than before and it’s surprising that’s even possible.
“I have been running The Green Rest for about five years now. Peacefully.” She says at length.
“Five years?” Seraphina exclaims, “What! How is that possible? Has it somehow been five years since we restored Wave Echo Cave?”
“Wave Echo Cave? No, that was reopened eight years ago, right at the same time Count Alistair disappeared. The Rockseekers never had much to say about it, but I always assumed he died while clearing the mine for them.”
“Eight years!” Rilos exclaimed from off to the side, startling Halia as she realized the dragonborn and several other people were listening intently to her conversation with Seraphina.
Seraphina waved off Halia’s obvious concern and persisted, “What happened eight years ago?”
“Well… after Count Alistair disappeared, a drow named Magmar Philiom arrived and struck a deal with the Rockseeker brothers so that he could take up residence in Wave Echo Cave. He wasn’t known to most people in the town, but I had direct dealings with him on behalf of the Zhents. It wasn’t much of a public affair, but the Longfangs had long chased the favor of the drow community. Naturally, I was tasked with becoming a liaison to Magmar in the hope of strengthening our position with the drow. I helped him settle and ensured he had the resources he required.
“I am loyal to the Zhentarim, don’t mistake me, but we were fools to think the drow could be allies to us. We invited them in, thinking we could draw strength from the alliance. You have to understand that the drow have no need of strength. They truly, and perhaps accurately, view the rest of us as inferior. The best we can hope to be to them is a tool for their goals. We understood that a little. We thought we could also make them our tools, but we couldn’t have been more wrong.
“I struggled to make the connection work, I really did. My hopes for the region had been tied more to Count Alistair than I was willing to admit. His disappearance was a blow, to be sure. So, for three years I tried to make things work as they were, but the Zhentarim were changing. I was watching the drow infect our entire organization. They subsumed the leadership and replaced us, systematically hollowing us out until the Black Network became a vehicle for their plans. And that’s all they wanted: the Black Network. The rest of the Zhentarim meant nothing to them.
“The Longfangs disappeared one by one and then our orders started coming directly from matron mother SiNafay - tests of our loyalty. I knew we’d been fighting an insidious battle which we’d apparently lost. The things the drow wanted to do with us - these didn’t serve the goals of the Zhentarim. We weren’t consolidating power, we were becoming serfs for the drow to use however they saw fit.
“I became consumed with rage and… indignation. I went straight to the source, thinking if I could assassinate SiNafay then it might not be too late to save the network. But I failed and was forced into hiding.”
Halia stopped talking abruptly as if she hadn’t realized she was delivering such a complex monologue. The words had spilled from her mouth as if she’d been holding back a torrent of bitterness for years.
“I tried to convince them I was dead,” she said at length, still standing before Seraphina with uncertainty, “but I just assumed you were here to kill me - that somehow they’d gotten to you as well.”
“Where is SiNafay?” Tross blurted forcefully, pushing closer to Halia. She shook with a small start and looked at Tross suspiciously. Tross took a breath to regain his composure.
“I must know, where can I find SiNafay?” Tross repeated, with marginally less aggression. Halia took a few steps back.
“I have no idea. That was a long time ago.”
“Tell me what you know,” Tross persisted, but Halia continued backing away.
“I… have to get back to my… things…” Halia stuttered as she swiftly melted into the crowd and disappeared. Tross scanned the heads of passers-by intently for a few moments as the rest of the party stood uncomfortably contemplating this encounter. An awkward-looking priest approached, drawing a deep breath as he did so, launching immediately into his prepared speech.
“Hello, my name is Brother Brem, as you may recall from the scary rescue you just finished. You rescued me from the temple. You probably don’t need this, but after all of your help…”
Brem shuffled his feet in silence and looked intently at the ground once he secured our heroes attention.
“If I had anyone else to ask, I would have… I just… nobody here wants to deal with it. I mean… it was before my time and I’m not even sure how important… but it’s not like they ever dealt with it, but… it is a big deal because part of what attracted me to the temple was the library, but I can’t really be sure… and it’s such a shame, but... “
Brother Brem trailed off, panting for a moment, his round form sagging from the exertion. Tross moved as if to walk away, but Rilos offered the priest a glimmer of hope by speaking up, “What are you trying to say?”
“What I mean to say is that the temple needs help. While it is empty. It needs help while it is empty. Which it is, right now. Not forever, but for now. Quite empty.”
“What help?” Rilos persisted and Tross rolled his eyes.
“The library, of course. The library in the temple of Chauntea. Well… the crypt anyway. It IS a library, but now it’s just a crypt. Well, it’s really nothing right now… nobody goes there any more. I don’t even know how to get there.”
Brother Brem looked confused but then his face brightened.
“I want you to go down into the crypt of the temple and… well… clear it out. I mean… if there’s anything down there to clear out. I don’t think there is. I’ve been in the temple every day and there’s no sign of anything wrong. Of course, I don’t really know how to get into the crypt. But that’s not the point. I am sure the entrance is obvious if you know where to look.”
“Ok thanks.” Shay interrupted dryly, ushering the party away at the same time.
“Thanks!” Brem called after them
Shay worked her way to the parapet, finding Governor Nighthill gazing out over his town.
“Is everyone accounted for?” She asked, glancing at the sea of raiders milling around outside the walls. Governor Nighthill made a quick mental tally and stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment.
“No, there are many still missing.” He said at length. Rilos came huffing up next to them.
“So there is some kind of library beneath the Temple of Chauntea?” The dragonborn prompted.
“What?” Governor Nighthill looked genuinely confused at the inquiry.
“Is there a library in a crypt under the temple?” Rilos repeated.
“Hmm…. yes, yes there is.” Nighthill responded warily. “It’s from before my time, but, yes, I have heard that there was a large library under the Temple. Something happened with it, though. Yes, there was quite a fuss about it many years ago. I seem to remember reports of zombies attacking, but some of the priests fixed the problem I think. I am not sure what they did, but I guess nobody goes there any more. It must have been pretty bad..”
“So, you’d want the library to be made safe, for the sake of the town, right?” Rilos led, none too subtly.
“Well…. I suppose…” The governor seemed unsure. He hadn’t thought about this before.
“But would you rather save the lives of your friends and neighbors or have us look into the library?” Shay spoke loudly, pushing herself between Nighthill and Rilos.
“Oh the people of the town, of course!” Nighthill exclaimed with a bit of relief in his voice. “I am not sure anyone even remembers the library anyway.”
“Great.”
Shay and Rilos rejoined the party, glaring silently at each other.
“So, we’re going to save some more townsfolk, right?” Shay asked matter-of-factly.
“Agreed.” Tross replied, completely of the same mind as Shay for the first time that evening.
“We could stop by the temple again on our way…” Rilos interjected.
“Why?” Shay scoffed, “We’ve already cleared through that part of town and it is unlikely we would find any residents still hiding there.”
“We’d be helping the priest, though.” Rilos persisted.
“With what?” Came Shay’s incredulous response. “With some library they don’t use that nobody else cares about? That’s not important. I don’t even know why we’re here, but checking on some old library is definitely not the reason. I am not going to risk our lives for that. If we must be here, we’re going to do something useful like saving lives.”
“We haven’t checked on the northern edges of town or near the marketplace.” Tross said with finality, clearly not interested in continuing the argument, “We should head that way.”
“I am just saying that it is probably on our way and it wouldn’t take that much time.” Rilos spoke to nobody in particular as Shay had already left the courtyard on her way back into the old tunnel with Tross right behind. Seraphina looked back and gave a slight shrug before she turned again to follow.
The group met light resistance as they moved through the town once more. Shay led them past The Cat & Squirrel, the taphouse they had attempted to sneak through while first making for the keep. They moved toward the north end of the town, dispatching a small group of raiders. It was clear the bandits expected little resistance from the town this far into the raid. They had just passed Anthony’s purveyor of fine charcoals when three kobolds and an ambush drake set upon the group.
Unka charged in with fury, ending the existence of a kobold before it had time to understand what was happening while Seraphina set herself to an ambush drake which had failed to ambush anyone. Shay moved to attack, but was suddenly overwhelmed by a light so brilliant that it overcame all of her senses. She saw sparks and stars as though something had struck her very hard upon the head. Shay stumbled forward for a step and then fell prone in the middle of the thoroughfare. The familiar voice of Zophiel, Shay’s angelic guide, spoke to her in an imperious tone, echoing within her suddenly aching skull,
“You arrogant fool! You think yourself a goddess that you would grasp at immortality?”
Shay lay dumbstruck upon the ground and one of the kobolds struck her mightily, causing the paladin to cry out in pain and confusion. She curled defensively on the ground and the rest of the party moved to her aid. All of the kobolds moved in to attack the fallen paladin, breaking upon the defensive ring of her allies.
“You are no goddess, chosen one, you are descended from angels and should never forget it. You may cling to claims denying ill intention for dipping your toes into the pool of immortality, but you should know that you have aligned yourself with forces far greater than you could have known.
“If you be true and honest, then complete this task: There is one who calls herself Saph. She seeks to aid the children of Oghma. You shall help her do it, or I will know your heart to be full of deceit of the most foul kind. For I see only good in you still, even though your actions say otherwise. And if you can deceive me, then perhaps you are an enemy worth destroying.”
Rilos and Tross doled out death to the reckless fiends while Seraphina finished off the ambush drake. By the time they had finished with their enemies, Shay was roused to her feet once more. The Aasimar was confused by her message from Zophiel, who had never yet treated with such aggression. Even so, Shay was anxious to prove her devotion to righteousness and urged the party to continue forward that they might aid the girl from her vision.
Indeed they found a lovely person seated peacefully before the door to Grant’s Quill, which had been locked tight, doubtless as Grant Markguth flew to the keep in response to the raider incursion.
“I have come to your aid.” Shay declared as she approached the young lady.
“Oh?” came Saph’s bemused response, “Thank you.”
“What are we helping her with?” Asked Tross, eyeing the raider forces arrayed before the walls of the keep only about 150 feet away.
“Maybe we need to get her to safety?” Rilos offered.
“Oh I couldn’t leave,” Saph interjected, “ I must protect the painting.”
“What painting?” Shay wondered aloud.
“There are three paintings in Grant’s Quill. I cannot risk them falling into the hands of the raiders.” Saph replied matter-of-factly.
Tross furrowed his brow. “Why?”
“Oh. Well... “ Saph appraised the group carefully, then shrugged to herself, “I believe one of them is a child of Oghma.”
At the name “Oghma” Tross shivered involuntarily and started mumbling to himself, but it was Shay who asked, “What does that mean?”
“Have you heard of Oghma’s Whispering Children? It is my mission to free them.” Saph has a glint in her eye and does not pause to hear if the group has an answer to her question. “Long ago, Oghma charged 22 of his children to devote themselves to the complete study of a particular subject. The subjects they chose were Artifice, Abjuration, Chaos, Cities, Conjuration, Death, Divination, Enchantment, Evil, Evocation, Forging, Good, Illusion, Knowledge, Life, Nature, Necromancy, Order, Weather, Transmutation, Trickery, and War. However, as they delved into these concepts, Cyric lured the children away from Oghma and transformed each of them into portraits, where they’ve been trapped ever since. My mission is to locate each of these portraits and free Oghma’s children. I am very certain that one of the paintings held in this very building is the Nature portrait, containing Kaax. These art dealers are quite careful, but the raiders cannot be trusted. I won’t risk them taking the painting and damaging it.”
“Ok, grab the painting and we will take you back to the keep.” Rilos said once the woman was finished.
“Oh, I could never steal.” Saph replied simply.
Frustrated, Shay began discussing possible methods of keeping Saph protected, unsure of how to address the obviously dangerous situation they found themselves in. Meanwhile, Seraphina quietly unlocked the doors to the business, slipped inside and opened the locked storeroom within. She returned a moment later to get help from Unka, who reluctantly grabbed the only three paintings in the building and hauled them out into the night air.
“Got paintings,” She snarled, “Let’s go.”
They made the journey swiftly and quietly back to the keep, finding a few straggling townsfolk along the way. Saph followed, keeping a close watch over the paintings until Unka relinquished them into her care within the keep. She departed to speak with Grant. Shay stood off to the side, eyes closed, searching for more direction from Zophiel. However, only silence greeted her inquiries.
“We should probably check into that crypt.” Rilos spoke up hopefully.
“We should save more people from the town.” Shay countered.
“We’ve been through the entire town. Surely we rescued everyone who needs it.”
“Then we should stay here and help defend the keep.” Shay retorted.
“Aren’t we here to help?” Rilos said in a mocking tone.
“You don’t want to help, you just want to see if there are any trinkets to be found in the library.” Shay accused. At the word, library, Tross snapped to attention once more.
“It won’t hurt for us to look into it, as long as we aren’t needed anywhere else.”
“Sounds interesting.” Seraphina interjected.
“You want to look through some books instead of fighting?” Shay directed toward Unka.
“Or maybe kill some zombies!” Rilos countered quickly. Unka licked her lips in anticipation, but simply shrugged in response.
“There is time to sneak through before dawn.” Tross agreed, taking the lead in heading for the old tunnel once more.
To nobody’s surprise, the group was ambushed when approaching the Temple of Chauntea, a fact which inspired many accusatory glares from Shay, who chose to tag along despite her better intentions. Despite the element of surprise, the ambush party had little success driving our heroes near desperation. Five cultists and two ambush drakes met their end outside the walls of the embattled temple.
Despite the caved in main door, broken open by the earlier siege, the stout temple appeared undamaged by the attacks of the raiders. The majority of the inside area was dominated by a large altar to the god, with smaller worship areas arranged around it. Tall bookshelves separated each of these areas and Rilos almost immediately noticed an irregularity in the floor beneath one of the shelves. There was a trapdoor mostly hidden by shelf’s bulk, but Unka easily pulled it aside to reveal the long-hidden entrance. After a tug, the hatch opened and they cast light into the dark and musty space below, the path to which was choked with cobwebs.
Cautiously, the party descended into the library, finding it impressive indeed. Tross gazed with fascination at row after row of shelves lined with scrolls and books, unable to turn his gaze until he physically shook himself away. They were very thorough in their examination, expecting some source of resistance from the sealed room, but nothing disturbed the stillness of the dark quiet. Near the western edge of the crypt, they found the only item of significance, a strangely out-of-place chest, wrapped in chains and heavily inscribed with holy symbols.
“Hmm…” Rilos grumbled at last, his focus furrowing his scaly brow. “This is a powerful book indeed. A deathly power has been fused within and it fights against the very boundaries of the pages.”
Rilos stared long at the book while his companions waited for his final thoughts.
“This cannot be controlled,” Rilos said at last and held the book out to the others, in case any wanted to examine it. Tross took the book for a moment, but quickly handed it back and wiped his hands instinctively after doing so. “I think it should remain locked away. I cannot imagine anyone being able to safely make use of an item of such power.”
“Can we destroy it?” Shay spoke at last.
Rilos shrugged and hurled a firebolt at the book in his hand, but the magic flame was merely absorbed into it without any effect. “I lack such skills. Does anyone else know how to destroy an artifact of necrotic power?”
Unka’s face blanched for a moment, but ultimately nobody speaks up.
“It has remained locked away here for many years without incident. This seems to be the best course of action.”
“Except for Brother Brem,” Shay noted. The paladin struggled with an internal monologue over how this new power might be utilized to lay waste to the raiding interlopers besieging the city, but cannot find any reasonable action which could lead to a favorable outcome. “We can bury it.”
“I think it was locked in this chest for a reason. Wouldn’t the zombies start appearing again if we merely buried the book?” Seraphina observed.
Rilos dropped the book back into its container and Tross helped him refasten the locks.
“Let’s bury the whole chest.”
They dragged the box to the very edge of town and buried it deep in the ground along the treeline, carefully smoothing the dirt to hide their efforts. Surely there would be no benefit in anyone using this item. Exhausted, the group made their way back to the keep to check in with the Governor in case new issues required attention.
Governor Nighthill is worn, but looking somewhat relieved. Though not everyone from the town has been saved, he walks with the group to the parapet and points to the wagons, now loaded, near the southern edge of the main raider group. It appears they are preparing to leave before dawn’s first light.
From the darkness, a creature strode into the dim light of the dying fires around the keep. Although it was shaped like a human, it was at least seven feet tall, its skin was covered in blue scales, its fingers bore wicked claws, and its face had the muzzle and reptilian eyes of a dragon. The creature stopped about eighty yards from the main gate of the keep and scanned the walls. A line of kobolds fanned out behind it. With their spears, they prodded four human prisoners into the dim light. There was a woman, a teenage boy in a blood-soaked tunic, and two children. Then the half-dragon creature hailed the keep.
“Defenders of Greenest! This has been a successful night, and I am feeling generous. Do you see these four pitiful, useless prisoners? We have no need for them, so I will trade them back to you. Send out your best warrior to fight me, and you can have these four in exchange.”
A commotion and yelling came from below. Governor Nighthill descended quickly to find one of the town watch, Sergeant Turin Markguth, struggling against two others who were fighting hard to hold him back. The captives were his sister and her three children.
“You are no match for such an opponent, sergeant,” Nighthill scolded, exchanging worried glances with Castellan, “we can’t afford to lose you too. I…”
Governor Nighthill looked about desperately before settling his eyes once more on our heroes, now descending into the courtyard.
“My friends,” he called out, “you owe us nothing, we know. But please! We have a meager force as you’ve seen. If anyone can teach this tyrant a lesson it would be one of you. It is much to ask, but we can pull you back if the fight goes poorly. If you’re willing… save our man and his family from these brutes…”
Tross’ face darkened and he gripped his sword tightly, rage overwhelming his rational thought. Shay also took a deep breath, visibly bracing herself to be the champion of Greenest keep. Unka quietly unslung her axe and began to walk toward the front gate. Rilos took a few steps back toward the shadows. However, it was Seraphina who strolled forward first, waving her friends off.
“Looks easy,” She winked and headed out through the gate. Shay managed to cast a quick blessing on her retreating form.
As her companions raced back to the parapet to see what would happen, it took the half-dragon more than a few awkward moments before he realized the halfling strolling toward him was the challenger he had requested. Just as Seraphina stopped within thirty feet of the hulking warrior, it shouted loudly,
“I asked for a warrior and you send me a child?” He laughed heartily. “I would be insulted that you think so little of Langdedrosa Cyanwrath except that you mewling cowards probably don’t have anyone better to offer than this. I’ll be sure to make it quick.”
Langdedrosa drew his greatsword with much show and assumed his battle stance, opening his mouth to shout some new insult. But he was interrupted when, in a blur, Seraphina launched herself forward, savagely tearing open a gash just below the base of his neck with her shortsword and staggering the arrogant half-dragon, who weakly parried a second slice from Seraphina’s other hand before the halfling disappeared to the other side of the ring in a dash.
Stumbling another half-step backward before catching himself, Langdedrosa crouched low as Seraphina prepared another strike and then pushed himself onto all fours, opening his mouth and unleashing a bolt of lightning at the halfling. Seraphina rolled to the side, avoiding the brunt of the attack, but still stumbled slightly from the jolt of the electric surge. She shook it off only just in time to parry a thunderous blow from the half-dragon who had sprinted across the ring to attack. Again he struck, whirling the great blade and clipping her in the side as she dodged away. Langdedrosa roared furiously and swung again and again, testing Serpahina’s resilience.
Seeing an opening at last, the rogue buried her sword once more into the freshly opened gash, widening it garishly before using a vicious swing from her other sword to propel herselfaway. Cyanwrath stumbled forward blindly, rushing Seraphina on uncertain legs and sending his sword singing through the air at her midsection. She twisted, brushing the blade aside easily and then stepped back as a second strike cut the air inches from her face, leaving the half-dragon’s sword buried into the ground between them.
Seraphina stepped lightly forward, launching herself skyward off the edge of the resting greatsword to ram her own shortsword the rest of the way through the wide gouge she’d been working into the beastly warrior’s chest. Her blade cut through sinew and bone, finding its way out the back side of his body as she twisted acrobatically over him and finished the attack by brutally tearing the blade up and out, severing his shoulder from his body. Langdedrosa fell backward to the ground with a crash and his kobold entourage rushed around him as Seraphina dodged out of danger. She heard cheering in the distance and turned to see her companions dancing and hugging each other recklessly on the keep’s parapet. Bethany Markguth had gathered her children in the confusion and was running for the safety of the gate. When Seraphina turned back toward her opponent, she saw him being dragged hastily away by the dutiful kobolds. She also returned to the safety of the keep.
Governor Nighthill, who struggled to put his gratitude into words, had little more to offer than two healing potions and a place to rest, both of which the group gladly accepted. Finally, the trial of the attack on Greenest was at an end.