RPG Recap: Alar, 2012-01-21
Year 28 of the 7th Imperator, 5th of Declarations
With their only pressing business – the return of the obsidian statuette to Aranaius – complete, the gang’s next order of business was to deal with he Meek Servant of All, their surly, newly-acquired imp. Calliope had promised to get him out of his cave within five days, and the understanding was that if they couldn’t get him out by then, he’d spill the beans to Mariava about who stole him and where they were. There was more talk about trying to just off the little blighter, but Calliope held firm: she wanted to at least try to get the imp free. Her plan was to get Kossix to introduce her to the “stupid brother-in-law artificer” he had mentioned. Everyone waited around until Kossix showed up that evening to talk about what had happened.
He implored the group to continue in their efforts to help him expose Mariava’s fiendishenss. No one was interested, except for Calliope. “I’m an adventurer!” she said. “I’m always interested!” Kossix admitted that he didn’t have a new plan to suggest, but said he’d keeping looking for one and would be in touch. He reclaimed his codex and, just before leaving, told Calliope where his brother-in-law, Befil Feth, could be found. The group resolved to go see him because… well, they didn’t have any better ideas.
Year 28 of the 7th Imperator, 6th of Declarations
With only three full days left on the clock, the gang (Ayla, Calliope, Helga, Ignatius, Redorus, and Tilton) got an early start heading to the docks near the Montan quarter, where they found Befil at work in a shabby office with a half dozen other bookkeepers. He was surprised at the suggestion that Kossix would’ve sent anyone to see him, but thought he could help with the problem. He said it would probably run about five or six gold, but when Calliope explained that this was way out of their ball park, he said that they could probably work out some kind of exchange. Befil had some jobs that needed doing,truth be told, and he’d be happy to talk the situation over with the gang, one he got a little background from Kossix – and not at his place of business. He arranged to come see them, and the imp’s cage, after business.
Having most of the day to kill, the group decided that they’d better not squander their precious time. The leaped into action, finding an excellent spot for an early lunch down by the wharves.
With sustenance dealt with, they decided to head home and press the Meek Servant of All for more time. He was unimpressed by their request for more time. “You still have three days. Beg for more time when you really need it.” He was also unimpressed by threats of torture or death. “Oh, you don’t want to do that.” Frustrated, and with the day half gone, the sought other council: Ayla’s old mentor Flavius of the Lucii.
They went in only looking for some information about the dagger that Calliope had lifted from Mariava’s house (and subsequently sold to Helga). He was quite interested in the piece, and explained that it was a rare collector’s item: a Nexan warrior’s dagger, from before the collapse of some long-lost civilization. He said that other than the obvious effect on the wielder’s appearance, he didn’t know of any other rumored effects, but that he’d be happy to give it a further look. Disgusted to learn that it was good for nothing but turning blue, Helga demanded her money back, and Calliope complied.
Helga also decided that as long as they were here, they should ask for information on the imp and his cage.
Flavius didn’t have much information on killing imps, other than the suggestion that it was probably a really bad idea. He said a silver blade was the suggested technique, but he didn’t know much about it. Imps, he said, were vindictive and stuck together. Getting on their bad side (individually or as a group) wouldn’t end well. The cage, though, was another matter. After a series of questions, he postulated that the cage was made from a rare metal (or metal-like substance, but he tried to skim over the finder details) called “Enoriaster’s chain.” Probably their only hope to deal with the cage was to bathe it in moonfire, the rare substance of the lunar seas, which from time to time fell to the earth. The stuff burns just about anything but flesh, and is much too dangerous to keep in the city. Flavius suggested a few places where it might be found, including the Great Lighthouse, and that became the group’s next destination.
By early afternoon, a ferryman had been bribed and the gang landed on Ithek, the lighthouse island. The lighthouse entrance was guarded, and approached and pestered the guards until they told her to go talk to the priests. The priests, for their part, were baffled to have a bunch of surprise visitors show up, and even more baffled when Helga said they were there for the tour and Calliope begged for it in a cockamamie accent. Eventually, though, he realized that everyone was mostly interested in seeing the moonfire and, in a decision destined to haunt his future in the priesthood, said that something could be arranged.
He directed the “tour group” to take a seat at the nearby meeting area until a sample could be brought by. After about an hour and a half, he returned with an acolyte and a long wooden pole with a sample of the moonfire in a glass orb. Calliope asked whether it was hot to the touch, and was invited to feel the glass. When everybody gathered around, Ayla compelled the priest to hand over the staff and run, which he did, followed shortly thereafter by his acolyte, who knew that nothing good was going to come of this.
Calliope set down the imp’s cage on the dais and Ayla smashed the globe over it, setting the dais and her robe on fire. The silvery flame caused no burns, but quickly consumed her clothes and staff. Within seconds, she was engulfed in flame and, while the imp sat impatiently in his cage, she began to strip off her flaming clothes and bat at her hair. Redorus tried to help douse Ayla’s burning hair, but didn’t accomplish much beyond setting himself on fire, too. Piece by piece, his armor’s straps were burnt off and his armor fell away.
Calliope took a staff in hand and got to work prying open the bars of the now claylike metal. Though she began the work gingerly, trying to avoid the moonflame, it spread all too readily, and soon she was engulfed as well. She tossed aside most of her belongings, but managed to save very little. The imp slowly made his way out of the cage.
Helga and Tilton had tried to restrain the priests, in an effort to keep them from bringing the guards down on the group, but the acolyte slipped away and ran for the guards, screaming. In short order, everyone was sprinting back to the ferry, in various stages of undress, many cupping handfuls of silver pieces. When the two nearest gaurds began to catch up to the lagging Redorus, and Calliope was stricken by a thrown spear, Ayla sent one away in a confusion and Helga turned the other away with a well-placed and nearly fatal bowshot.
The six mercenaries, breathless and still running, clambered into the ferry and urged him back to the mainland while the ferryman mumbled to himself, not eager for the inevitable questioning he’d be receiving later.