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After many days of travelling through the countryside of Telastin, the group came upon the city of Berth. True to his word, the maps that Chancelleor Vidane had provided them allowed them to find a gap in the guards posted around the city. By this time, Xanthorn was thoroughly sober, and he didn’t enjoy it one bit. The group scaled the time worn walls of the city with relative ease, but found themselves distinctly uneasy upon landing on the opposite side.
The city of Berth lay before them, and was completely deserted. Not only were there no people, but as they stood there, they noticed that they saw a distinct lack of rats, and that birds didn’t seem to fly overhead. Even the air in this place felt flat and dead, with not a whisper of wind. Steeling themselves, they decided it was best to get this over with as soon as possible, and as a group decided that the most likely place to find what they were looking for would be the seat of power that once existed in this barren wasteland, so they set off for the [[Duke's_mansion?|Duke's mansion]] that had been marked on their maps.
As they travelled through the city, their sense of oppression did not lift, the city seemed strangely preserved for having been deserted for hundreds of years. They did find occasional signs that people or animals had been here more recently, but these were definitely the exception, not the rule. As they traveled, they felt that they should be feeling something watching them, as there were deserted houses all around, but the most unnerving thing of all, they found, was the lack of such a feeling. Surely, somewhere in this unusual, dead place, there must be something that would take notice of their passing?
The better part of the day passed in this fasion, and they began to wish that even some small animal might attack out of hunger, simply to prove that there were still things that lived here, when they came upon the manor. The house was larger than those surrounding it, with a walled couryard that had a large gate in it, apparently to allow horses and carts to enter the yard. The manor was in good shape for something hundreds of years old, but there were vines and creepers that had worked their way through the walls, and ivy had grown up around much of the house.
Preferring to take the road less travelled, the group entered the courtyard, rather than heading in through the front door. On entering the couryard, they found, off to their side, a stable, as well as an apparent vinyard deeper in the back.
Xanthorn and Valin cautiously opened the doors to the stable, still a bit unnerved by the quiet lifelessness of the city around them. When the light entered the stable, however, they found that they were not alone in Berth after all. From the opposite side of the stable, in one of the holds, a pair of glassy, black eyes, opened and glared back at them. The light illuminated a grim stare, with a vicious beak snapping in quick, furtive gestures. The creature began to stand, and revealed a horse-like body, heavily muscled, and obviously irritated by the intrusion. Several stirring noises from the stables beside the doors told the party that more of the creatures were hidden out of sight. They quickly, but quietly, re-closed the doors, and hurried further into the yard. The creatures must have simply wanted them out of their nest, as they did not follow.
The team, shaken by this massive sign of life after so long in the quiet of Berth, determined to be cautious heading forward, apparently the [[Duke's_manor?|Duke's manor]] was not deserted.
Further in the yard, near by the vinyard racks, which still drooped with old, grey vines, the party found a raised deck which lead to a double door entrance to the back of the house. The deck, like everything else, was covered in ivy and other vines. Worried that the slatted, wooden deck might be rotten after so much time, Valin headed up onto the three-foot platform by herself to test the strength before the rest of the group. When she found that the wood was sturdy enough, she turned her attention the the glassed double doors into the mansion.
While she was eximining doors, the rest of the group was at first puzzled, then horrified to see the vines behind her rising up through the gaps in the deck and forming a humanoid shape just behind her. Xanthorn and Baern both shouted a warning, and Valin whirled just in time to see the creature swing a massive arm at her, formed of wood and vines. She mananged to duck the blow, but the creature silently thrust its arms down through the gaps in the deck, and instantly, a forest of vines shot up through the deck to surround Valin, and began wrapping her up tightly as she fought.
The others rushed to help her, but Caelynna’s sharp eyes caught movement as they ran, and turned to see that the vinyard racks were all moving, the vines shrinking down to the end nearest the party, and forming three more of the creatures. More of the vines came shooting out of the ground, surrounding many of the other party members. Chaos ensued, as the group, cut off from assisting eachother, each hacked and slashed at the vines that were threatening to smother them, and drag them under the earth. The creatures, though very strong, were slow however, and the group eventually managed to tear themselves free, and with the assitance of some magical fire from [[Gylddran?]], destroyed some, and drove the rest of the creatures underground. The group caught their breath, again shocked by the sudden attack, and even more, by the continued unnerving silence. The creatures had not made noise, and the battle had been fought in a surreal quiet for such a desparate struggle.
After spending some time regrouping, the party entered the house. The room that they had entered through was a huge ballroom. There was a long table, obviously used for banquets, and a slightly raised wooden platform, presumably for dancing, off to one side. There was also a huge ornate stone fireplace, which passed through into another room on the other side of the wall. The entire place continued to be strangely unmarked, as if it had only been abandoned decades, rather than centuries, ago.
Xanthorn hurried onward, reasoning that if this was a banquet hall, the kitchen must be nearby, and he was still parched from not having brought any ale or whisky with him. Hoping to find something to quench his mighty dwarven thirst, he slammed through the large double doors at the end of the hallway, knocking one of the swining doors right off of it’s hinge.
He had found the kitchen alright. So had a massive swarm of rats! As the glittering eyes glinted in the first sunlight to penetrate this room in perhaps two hundred years, hundreds, if not thousands of rats swarmed out of the room, climbing over and chewing on anything in their way. Two huge rats, particularly seemed intent on attacking those who had disturbed their rest. As the rats swarmed past the party, several of the group went down under their unbelievable numbers, and as the blood started to flow, some of the rats decided that the food that had come to them was of more interest than escape. The group’s weapons seemed to be of little use, as soon as they killed one or two of the rats, more swarmed in to take their place. Glyddran ended up resorting to scouring the room with fire to kill many of the rats, and drive off those that remained.
Unfortunately, Glyddran didn’t reign in his fireburst, and managed to catch much of the room on fire, as well as drive off the rats. The group quickly tore down the remaining curtains, and set about beating the fire out before it could consume the entire house. They managed to get most of the fire out, but found that a ten-foot section of the ceiling was still burning, threatening to burn through to the second floor. Deciding that they couldn’t afford to have the house burn down before they could search it, the group thought quickly, and used the water they had brought with them to put out the fire, eliminating one danger, but raising another, as they used up all the water reserves they had brought with them.
Exhausted from their adventures up to this point, the party decided to rest before travelling onward. As they rested, Baern and Xanthorn both started to realize that the heat they felt had nothing to do with the aftermath of the fireblast. Both of them were running a fever, and as the night progressed, Xanthorn’s became significantly worse. They realized that they had both been bitten by the larger rats, and that they must have become infected with some virulence that they carried. Despite the first aid measures that they employed, Xanthorn’s fever became steadily worse, to the point where he felt distinctly weak when the group decided they had rested enough. Not wanting to lose time and hold the rest of the party up, however, Xanthorn insisted that they continue with the inspection of the house, as they needed to complete this search, and then start looking for more water.
The group headed into the front hall of the house, which turned out to be a large audience chamber. There were stairs heading up to the second floor, a raised stone platform that some old, rotten, throne-like chairs sat on, and a door, that on inspection proved to be an extremely secure door, that was only made to look like wood, but instead was actually made of steel. D'Haren spent a great deal of time trying to turn the lock, finally admitting that the lock was beyond his ability to bypass.
Finding nothing of note, the team moved to the staircase, where they found a concealed door that they determined must lead to the stables. Not wanting to disturb the creatures nesting out there, they headed upstairs.
The landing above was closed in, with portraits that had decayed, but nothing of any worth. They continued on through a set of double doors into an apparent library. The shelves were still filled with books, although at a glance, it was easy to tell that they were in terrible condition.
In the center of the room, there was a reading stand, and a very ornate book lying open on it. When the group looked at it, they found that it was written in common, but complete gibberish. The words simply didn’t make sense. Glyddran studied the book for a moment, and realized that it was magically concealed. He asked for a little time, and gazed at the book, entering a trance. After a few minutes, he raised his hands and placed them, palms down on the two pages of the book. Letting a trickle of his arcane power flow through his hands, and into the book, he stared intently at the pages. The others began to wonder what was going on, when they noticed his lips moving slightly and his eyes running side to side as if he were reading, though the book still read as nonsense to the rest of them. Gradually, he came out of his trance-like state, murmured “Interesting.” and absently closed the book.
On the instant the book closed, a huge blast of flame shot out in all directions, severely damaging Glyddran, Xanthorn and Baern. Valin managed to jolt herself back out of the way of the fire, just as the flames, rather than dissipating, coalesced into three figures made seemingly of lava. Valin lept forward and immediately crushed one of the creatures, a lobster-like rock monster, between her blades, and the rest of the party shortly dispatched the rest.
After Xanthorn brought Glyddran back to his senses from his near encounter with death, Glyddran returned to the book, and found that no matter how hard he tried, he could not turn the pages. Either it was closed, or opened to the page he had already read. The trap had been sprung, and was no longer a danger, but still, it refused to give up its secrets. He knew that there was more to what he had read, but that it would take time to coax the information from the book. His companions were all looking at him, and he realized he had to decide how much of what he had just read they needed to know.
It seems the gods have brought them together for a reason. Or maybe the people of Telastin just think they look funny. Six wanderers, with vastly disparate goals, found themselves staring at eachother from barred cells in the dungeons of Fort Methis. They had no idea why they had been captured, and even less of an idea of what was going to happen to them. As they stood in their cells, they watched the others with mistrust and suspicion. Each had been brought here against their will, and none of them were inclined to trust the others. They made a motley group, two dwarves, two eladrin, a human, and an elf. They were just as obviously from estranged backgrounds. Some wore haughty expressions, some were angered, one was hung over. They waited in their cells for some time, some of them patient, while others desperately searched for a way out. All they knew was that for some reason, they had been singled out for persecution, apparently for some misdeed that none of them remembered.
They had been left alone, with nobody to guard them, for some time when a commotion started up on the stairs leading to freedom. A man decended the stairs, dressed in the garb of a noble. He walked silently between the cells, moving with a nervous gait, although seemingly with purpose. Just when they began to think that this newcomer was a mute, he tenatively started out:
“I am Chancellor Vidane. I am deeply sorry that you are in this position, it was beyond my control that you were detained here. Lord Kormin has orderd your arrest on charges of attempted assasination of himself, on the word of Sorcerer Mithas. I do not believe you are guilty of such plotting, but I have little influence on the matter. Lord Kormin has been assured by Mithas that you are a great danger to him, and he will not at present allow you to be released.”
At this, the group loudly protested that they were indeed innocent, indeed, that some of them were not even from Fort Methis, in one case, an Eladrin who was quite obviously a woodslander, stated that she had never even BEEN to Fort Methis before she was arrested.
Chancellor Vidane rasied a hand, replying nervously, “I know, I know, I understand your situation better than you know. I too, have been maligned by this new advisor to Lord Kormin,” he looked slightly sheepish, “although of course, not to this degree. Unfortunately, Lord Kormin has recently put a great deal of trust in the Sorcerer, and I cannot convince him otherwise.” He paused, as if slightly embarrased, and not knowing how to proceed. Hesitantly, he continued, “I would like to help you, but as I said, my influence is not what it once was. However, it so happens that I have need of assitance of a group of disparate talents such as you all posess, so I am hoping that we can come to an arrangement.”
The prisoners were rightly annoyed that justice should have to come at a price, when it should be free to all, but they allowed him to continue.
Again, he seemed hesitant, but pressed on resolutely, “By taking you into my confidence, I am potentially signing my own arrest warrant, so I hope you will trust me. I have a need for people who can find an item for me, an ancient amulet that was a signet once of my family. Unfortunately, it was lost many years ago in the fall of Berth.” The name of the lost city of Telastin made some of the prisoner’s ears perk up, and sent a chill down the spines of others. “My ancestors there were in much the same position as I am now, advisors to the Duke.” He stopped for a moment, as if realizing that history might not have been the strong point of his entire audience, “At that time, city leaders were considered to be part of the royalty, instead of simply Lords. Either way, my grandfather, or rather my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, but it doesn’t really matter, worked in an advisory position for the Duke, and at the time, my family was very well known. Berth was, although not the capitol, possibly the greatest of the cities of Telastin, and my ancestor’s name was known far and wide, as well as respected greatly.” His eyes became downcast as he spoke. “Unfortunately, fate decided that we were not to continue on with such renown.”
He looked back up at the prisoners. “Of course, no official record of what happened to Berth still exists, and even to speak of it in the vicinity of royalty will earn you the ire of the entire court. However, my ancestry is very important to me, and I wish to reclaim what I can of it. My grandfather carried a locket that was the symbol of the head of my family, an item that has some monetary value, but for the most part is only of historical, and sentimental, significance. I believe that this locket still exists, and would desperately like to retrieve it as part of my inheritance.” He had begun to look wistful as he spoke of his ancestry, and the herloom, but then sobered as he continued, “The King has decreed, as have those before him, that none shall enter Berth. The history of what happened there is unknown, at least to me, and I have access to most royal records, but for whatever reason, the line of royalty of Telastin has stated that Berth is off limits for whatever reason. I can assure you that whatever happened to Berth originally, it is not a danger today, as there are records of Royal expeditions to the site, with no ill effects, although the last of these was nearly thirty years ago.”
His gaze grew intense, although the nervousness still showed. “As I stated, I still have a small amount of influence with Lord Kormin. If you will agree to undertake a mission for me to retrieve this locket, I will use that influence to have your sentence changed from execution to exile. It will damage my standing greatly to do so, but I fear this may be my only opportunity to retrieve this precious item from my family’s history. I apologize, I know that I am extorting you, and I am ashamed that I have to go to these lengths, but only in this way can I regain some of my heritage, which is desparately important to me.”
Although still annoyed at the circumstances, the prisoners agreed that although the method that the Chancellor was employing was somewhat dishonorable, it was still preferable to be exiled, rather than executed. They agreed, slightly reluctantly, to retrieve the amulet for the Chancellor.
The Chancellor brightened, although it was obvious that his decision to use people in this way, not to mention go against the King’s wishes, weighed heavily upon him. “I thank you most heartily. I will go to attempt to convince Lord Kormin that you are not enough of a threat to warrant death. Lord Kormin is not an evil man, and he dislikes executions, but he is concerned that there is no other way to ensure his safety. I will attempt to convince him that such a drastic measure is unnecessary. I will ensure that your belongings are returned to you, and that you have maps of both Berth’s guard and the city itself. I believe that if the locket still exists, and I dearly hope it does,” he clasped his hands over his heart, “it will be in one of three places. Either it will be secured in the city vaults, in my grandfather’s old residence, or possibly at the Duke’s mansion. From what I know of my ancestor, it is unlikely that he spent much time in any but those three places. The maps that I will provide you will show you routes to those locations once inside the walls. The fact that you will be exiled will mean that you cannot return directly to me once you have retrieved it, so I will arrange for the head of my personal guard to meet you in the woods north of Berth once you have completed the mission.” He paused, and his face sagged, “Of course, there is the possiblity, as much as I hate to think on it, that the amulet no longer exists, or that it was stolen or misplaced over the centuries. I must trust to your honesty and honor that you will make every attempt to find it if possible. However, if you should discover that it is nowhere to be found, I will understand. Bring to my guard items that proved that you searched the three most likely places, such as signets from the mansion, or an item from the city vault with the vault guard emblem on it, and I will know that you at least tried.” He turned in a circle, meeting each of the prisoner’s eyes in turn, pleadingly, “I am risking my position on this chance. Although I know that it may fail, and I will not blame you if it does, I implore you to honor our agreement, and do your best before giving up. I doubt that I will ever get a chance to have these locations searched again, and if I have imperiled my tenuous grasp on Lord Kormin for nothing…” He trailed off, his silence giving meaning to his desperation.
—
A day passed after his leaving, and there had been no word from him as to whether he had succeded or not in his efforts. Just before he left, the prisoners heard him chiding the guards at the top of the stairs that the prisoners were not to be spoken with. The meals that they had been served had been sufficient, if not exactly palatable, and served in silence, except for when one of the prisoners tried to speak with those who brought the food, and then it was returned with a sharp cuffing, and a muttered curse about those who would assasinate their Lord.
At the end of the day, another man came down the stairs, this one in armor, and obviously a warrior of some ability. He took in the group with some distate, and then set about unlocking the cells.
“Come with me, and be quick about it.” Was all he growled when the cells were all opened. He took them up the stairs, and in the guard chamber above, pointed to several sacks. “There are your belongings, bring them with you, but do not open the sacks yet. We want to avoid as much attention as possible.” When they had retrieved their items, they set off through the keep, exiting in a different way that they had been brought in. They immediately noticed that there had been no guards in the chamber, and the tunnels and halls that they now travelled were similarly empty. They kept quiet, hoping that they weren’t being led astray. Eventually, they emerged from a cellar entrance to the keep, far from the main entrance. They followed their guide through a portion of the city, and were brought to another guard house, this one built into the wall of the city. When they entered behind the Chancellor’s champion, they found it deserted as well. Their guide pointed to a door opposite the one they had entered, and told them, “That will take you outside the walls. I would advise you to be about your business as quickly as possible, the longer you delay, the worse it will be for the Chancellor.” His expression showed what he thought of people who brought trouble for the Chancellor, and his hand twitching on his sword hilt spoke volumes about what his solution to the problem would be, if given the option. “I will be taking a leave from the guard, and going on a personal hunting trip. I will be in the woods north of Berth for some time, but if I were you, I would not delay, I have no intention of being on this…” his expression soured even more, if that were possible, “…vacation, any longer than I must. There are maps to your objectives in your belongings. I would suggest that you stay inconspicuous as long as possible. The situation is…” he searched for a word, “complicated. Not all of the guard and pretty much none of the army are currenly aware of your status, and even if they were, exile is not supposed to mean you hang around. Many of them will delight in bringing back assassins, in any condition.” They weren’t sure, but they thought that a ghost of a smile surfaced on speaking of what might happen to them if they brought attention to themselves.
Not wanting to tempt fate any more than they already had, they collected their belongings and left.
—
Define external redirect: Duke's manor Duke's mansion Gylddran