Adventure 2005 May 30

Belsaday, Belsamer 15, 150AV, morning of the day of the ball

Telryn is furiously memorizing spells before the ball. Paks goes to find him; she has a piece of rope that the Huntsman of Vesh left behind at one point. She asks Telryn to take her to Delmaron to ask him to do some scrying with it. They get to Delmaron's tower and ring the bell, but nothing happens.

Miriel goes to the temple in the morning to help with devotions, then asks around for information about the current political situation and notables who might be present at the ball. As noted before, there is a strong schism in the temple in support of the candidates; the Order of the Morning sky prefers Juvenal.

When we get back together at lunch time, Telryn tells Miriel that he has discovered a spell, Revivify, which she might find useful at the ball. She agrees to study it. Darmaon spends the afternoon getting familiar with the area around the Hall of Command, where the ball is being held.

Paks drops off a number of weapons at the Hall of Command beforehand. She checks the distance to see how long it will take her to get to them and back.

Goldpetal is out in the woods with the other druids he can find, doing rituals for the holy day. Stone is nowhere to be found. The rest of us take a nap in the afternoon, then have a brief meal at the Sleeping Dragon Inn, as Miriel's parents don't feel that the food at the ball will be substantial or good enough. Telryn casts Mage Armor on everyone, just before we leave.

Saraya appears to go to the ball with Telryn. Darmaon has "altered" Goldpetal's invitation to seem to be for her. She is dressed as a cardinal, and looks very fetching in her red outfit. Telryn tries not to drool.

The Hall of Command is packed when we arrive. Paks rides up on her horse, who is led away by waiting grooms. There are Vigilant wizards at the door waving what Telryn tells us are detect magic wands over everyone. Security seems especially tight. We're ushered into a large ballroom, 65x70 feet. The ceiling is supported by tall columns, and there is a huge skylight through which we can see the full moon.

Thorn makes a big show of welcoming us and thanking us for our support. As we come in, the band starts playing "The Heroes of Kratys Freehold." Darmaon spots the Duchess Solari in her gorgeous green dragon costume, with the Eye of the Dragon on her breast; it's the largest emerald anyone has ever seen, and he thinks to himself "That's a beautiful jewel, but it's going to be hard to fence!"

Thorn is in a group with many of the civic leaders. There are trade unionists, guild masters, members of the provisional council. There are guards wandering around with detect magic wands. Miriel looks around for someone to dance with; as she does, a dashing young man comes up and asks her to dance. He is Captain Wallis, and he compliments her costume, which is naturally calculated to attract a seafaring man. As they dance, she asks him about his travels. He starts spinning yarns about how great his life is; he's just been to Freeport and has come back with a cargo of black sand; he doesn't know much about it, but he had to smuggle it out. He brags about how he has a second hold under the first one.

Telryn dances with Saraya. After the dance, Miriel asks Telryn about the black sand from Freeport, and he tells her he would have to look at his books, he remembers something, and knows it is very rare and expensive, but he doesn't remember the properties. She asks Darmaon, but he's never heard of it. She receives more invitations to dance, and is happy to spend the whole evening dancing.

Paks mingles through the room, open to the presence of evil, but she doesn't feel anything particularly evil. She mostly tries to stay near Thorn, and he's enthusiastic about this, introducint her around.

Chuck talks to the spymaster, who tells him he is on duty. He gives him a very hard time about the duck costume, particularly how non- inconspicuous it is. He's clearly not happy about it, even though he seems to be joking.

Telyrn gets some refreshments for himself and Saraya. Darmaon keeps watching Duchess Solari, who is with her husband and some of the old guard of Vesh. They have a personl bodyguard with them, in addition to the guards provided by the Hall. He can't figure out how to get hold of the gem. He checks out the bar and gets himself a few glasses of Shalizari wine. They even have some rare whisky from Darrakene.

Paks continues to chat with the people around Thorn. A few, who are backing Juvenal, drop hints that she's "just an adventurer," but most seem quite impressed with her. At one point during the ball, Juvenal's uncle the Count Regis Juvenal shows up. Lazlo stands up on a chair saying "I have an announcement to make!" Chuck moves towards the weapons.

JOSH - Juvenal's speech RE: restoring clock tower

Everyone cheers and applauds.

The ball continues. Miriel hears all sorts of crazy rumours from her partners - that the Duke Solari has a bastard half-orc son, that Talisa has female lovers, etc. From one partner, who was a rich cement merchant, she hears that he just sold his factory to a mysterious northerner for much more than it is worth. She asks more about the man, and eventually gets a description of him, but he is no one that is known to the local merchants.

She dances with the guildmaster for Mechanic's Guild. He's pretty bitter about Lazlo Juvenal and the clock tower, because they didn't hire any local people, which certainly isn't good for the economy. She commiserates with him, talking about how her parents are local tradespeople, then asks if they did a good job on it. He says that they haven't let anyone see it. She talks to him more and finds that he brought people in from Rika and beyond, where the Juvenals come from.

She also hears that a lot of people are worried about the huntsman, and they feel that Thorn could not protect them from orcs and rat men if he can't protect them from the huntsman. In between dances, she communicates this all to her companions. Telryn asks her to seek him out a half an hour before midnight.

Darmaon gets an introduction to the Duchess Solari. She talks about how good a Home Commander her husband will be. He compliments her on her costume, and she talks about the history of her family and the gem. He flatters her some more, and she waves it off, but she is clearly pleased. She asks him how he knows the heroes of Kratys Freehold, since he isn't in the song. He tells her something of how they met. They discuss wines; he prefers Shalizari, she prefers Solari. He asks her to dance and she is delighted to. He inspects the jewel closely as they dance. Saraya points this out to Telyrn, who is appalled, and tells Saraya to keep an eye on him.

Half an hour before midnight, the party joins Telryn, and he casts Message, which includes them all and allows them to communicate with each other via whispers, from wherever they are. Miriel notices one of the vigilants with the Detect Magic wands starting to stride towards us, but Deleon intercepts him and sends him away.

Darmaon suggests that we split up the candidates. Paks is with Thorn, Telyrn is with Falcono, Chuck takes Talisa, Darmaon takes Count Solari, Miriel takes Juvenal. She goes and starts to approach Juvenal, flirting with him from a distance, then when introduced, telling him how much sympathy she has with the Order of the Morning Star. He knows who she is when introduced, and just says political stuff, then introduces her to his uncle, who she also is flirtatious with; she tries to get him to dance with her, but he is distant and brushes her off.

Chuck goes to hang out with Talisa, and they rag him about the duck costume. He blames his friends, and they say that his friends must be very lucky, because everyone around him seems to get killed. They semi-jokingly say they may not want his support, since they don't want her to end up dead. Her bodyguard actually seems to be keeping him away from her. They are annoyed about the time and money spent on the ball. Chuck asks if they know anything about how the clock tower restoration was paid for, since that family doesn't have that much money. They recognize this as a good point, but they don't know.

Telryn tries to introduce himself to Falcono, and with a quick bit of diplomacy, manages to make his way through the the crowd and make the introduction. Falcono is a big broad-shouldered guy, balding, affable. He offers Telryn some food, slaps him on the back, introduces him around to wealthy farmers and trade representatives. They're complaining about Juvenal as well, not using local labor. Telryn says he's just trying to put money where his talent doesn't lie. They discuss how little real claims to position Juvenal has. Then they start talking about the black knight. Telryn tells them that he's seen him, but haven't been able to get close or find traces of him.

Miriel goes and fetches Saraya and takes her to talk to Juvenal, to see if she can make any progress. Just as they reach him, however, the clock strikes midnight, the crowd parts, and a crone in black walks in. Paks immediately recognizes her as evil and whispers this to the group. Miriel whispers back that she is the priestess of Belsameth. As she works her way to the center of the hall, the candles are extinguished, and, everyone avoids her. When she is in the center of the circle of moonlight, she begins her invocation. Even those who do not worship Belsameth are showing deference. Miriel quietly touches her holy symbol of Madriel and says an inconspicous prayer.

Telryn watches the priestess closely to see what she is doing, but it seems to be just a normal ritual invocation. The ritual takes about 15 minutes. No one looks at her directly, nor does anyone look to see who might be Belsameth worshippers in the crowd; it is allowed, but not sanctioned. As it finishes, we hear a large crash, a body falls through the skylight, and falls next to her. It looks like the body of a guard, with his throat slit. Darmaon moves to shield the Duke. Chuck moves towards the weapons cabinet. Miriel rushes forward to see if she can help the guard. Paks readies her weapon. Telryn prepares a Dimension Door to the roof. Everyone looks up and sees the Huntsman in the skylight. He tosses four axes and four guards die. "I am the curse of Vesh". JOSH SPEECH

After his speech, the Huntsman runs off out of viewing range. Telryn moves towards Paks and casts Fly on her. Miriel apologizes to the priestess for intruding, then casts Bless on all allies in the hall. Darmaon tells the guard to watch the Duke and Duchess and heads for the cabinet. Paks draws a sword of pure light and flies up to the broken skylight. She sees the Huntsman across the roof, fiddling with something on the edge. Chuck reaches the weapons cabinet; it is locked, so he invokes the tattoo of his short sword.

Paks sees the huntsman jump off the edge of the roof. Telryn Dimension Doors to the roof, sees Paks hovering above the skylight, and asks where the huntsman went. She points, and he moves towards the edge of the roof. As he looks around, he sees a number of dead guards with axe wounds. Miriel tries to help calm people down, but it has no effect. She moves towards the weapons cabinet as she tries. Darmaon takes out the tattooed short sword and tosses it to the bodyguard. Paks tosses the key, but it lands in the crowd. She summons her horse and flies to the edge of the roof. She sees the Huntsman on a zip line, over the wall and into an apartment building in Vesh. She follows. Chuck waves Darmaon to open the cabinet.

The Huntsman gets to the end of the line and goes through an open window into the building. Telryn cuts the line, but too late. Miriel sees the key in front of her and manages to grab it without getting her hand stepped on. Darmaon tries to pick the lock, but it's going slowly. Paks flies after the Huntsman. As she flies, she whispers about the building to the party, and directs her horse to circle it as well. Chuck helps Darmaon pick the lock.

Telryn calls for Chester and keeps flying after Paks. He also asks the party to send guards to the building. Miriel arrives with the key just as Darmaon and Chuck succeed in opening the cabinet. Everyone grabs their stuff, and Chuck pockets the lock. Paks reaches the window and looks in to see if she can see the Huntsman. She sees a small, sparsely-furnished room with an open door, a bookcase, no fire in the fireplace. No Huntsman. She whispers to Telryn to watch the doors.

Telryn flies to a corner of the building to watch for the Huntsman from two sides. Miriel suggests we head for the building, and asks Darmaon if he might know a better way than the main way out of the building, and he says yes, he knows a back way out which we can use to get there quickly. He explains what we're doing to the Duke and Duchess, and tells them to stay away from the building we're going to, but offers to take them out the back way; they agree enthusiastically. Paks cautiously enters the room, which turns out to be empty. She moves through the door, glancing both ways down the hallway, but sees only closed doors of other apartments. She moves to the staircase; she is on the third floor. She looks down the staircase to see if she can see or hear the Huntsman. She thinks she might glimpse him at the bottom of the stairs, but there is not a lot of light. She messages to the group. Chuck takes a quick look at the main hall before we go, but it's just mayhem.

Telryn continues to watch. Darmaon leads the party through the kitchen, through frantic cooks and party guests trying to hide, and out the back way, giving a running commentary to Paks as we go. Paks hears a door slam and dives down the staircase, flying as quickly as she can. She reaches the bottom and sees five closed doors, one of which looks like it goes to the outside. She reports, then selects one of the four doors that does not go to the outside and tries it. It's locked, and as she slams into it, she bruises her shoulder.

Goldpetal had expected to meet the druids deep in the forest, far away from town, but instead, he learns that the head druid's tradition is to perform the ritual in Tanil's Park: because nobody else is out during the darkest hour on this night. Denev and Tanil have a good relationship, and the druids have gathered together tonight to offer Denev's blessing on the capital city.

Consequently, Goldpetal is in the middle of a ritual, and hears a commotion arise from the direction of the Hall of Command. As he realizes that he can depart the ritual without breaking it, the druid issues a terse command, using the short form of Goldpetal's name - an indication of the urgency. 'Go, Goldpetal. This may be the very situation we are here to prevent.'

Shifting to the form of a panther, he disappears into the night.

Telryn sees Goldpetal and calls to him. Goldpetal starts to race through the crowds towards the building. Chuck and Miriel follow Darmaon out of the Hall of Command. They see Telryn and hear him yelling to Goldpetal. Paks tries another door, which is also locked, but she manages to break this one open. It opens into an empty apartment, with some doorways out of the room, but she can't see anything much of interest. She reports.

Telryn keeps watching. Goldpetal keeps running. The others are in the courtyard outside the kitchen, with the Duke, Duchess, and bodyguard. He asks the guard if he can take the Duke and Duchess to safety, and he nods and says "I can take it from here." Miriel asks Paks and Telryn to give us more specific directions, since they are on the scene. Chuck realizes that the candidates are unguarded, and decides to go back in and check on Thorn. He tells the rest of us. Paks flies into the empty apartment and searches it, then back to the hallway, to knock down another door, opening to another empty apartment.

Telryn, Goldpetal, and the horse all report that they see nothing. Goldpetal goes in through the front door, finding Paks and two broken doors. He knocks down another door, and falls down the stairs to the basement.

Darmaon drinks an invisibility potion and follows the Duke and Duchess. Chuck goes back through the kitchen. Miriel heads for the building alone; she tries to climb the intervening wall, but slips down again immediately and decides to go around. As Chuck gets in, Deleon grabs him and sends him after the Huntsman, saying they will take care of Thorn.

Telryn follows Paks down into the basement. She directs the horse to the windows of the fourth apartment. He sends Chester to watch. Goldpetal follows to the basement and tries to see tracks in the dust and clutter of the basement. He manages to find some footprints, one of which is etched in limestone. The tracks lead to a corner of the room that is not so cluttered, and they just seem to disappear. Paks whispers this out. The group in the basement search for a hidden door, with little initial success.

Chuck asks from outside what direction the footprints are leading. Paks asks Goldpetal, then relays the information. Miriel gets into the basement and helps to search, finding a stone that opens a trap door. There is a ladder going down into what smells like a sewer.

Meanwhile, Darmaon follows the Duke's party, invisibly. They are moving slowly, as the Duchess is in no shape or outfit to move quickly. He finally decides to make a try for the jewel; she is in such distress that he manages to slip it off quite easily. He runs off to join the rest of the party.

Darmaon reaches the party to find them around the hole to the sewer, which Paks has flown down. It smells awful. She tells the party it is 20 feet down and tells them to come down. There is some flowing water, but it's otherwise quiet. Goldpetal climbs down and searches for tracks; he finds a footprint, and Paks heads off fast in that direction, with Goldpetal ahead tracking. Chuck asks for direction again and heads south-east on the surface. Paks sends her horse to him; it nudges him and he mounts. The horse follows Paks, and Chuck tells them to let him know when the tracks stop.

Paks and the others find themselves in a dank sewer. Paks goes to the intersection and looks both ways. She doesn't see any movement and heads to the left at random. It goes on for another 60 feet. She messages back to the group. Goldpetal keeps looking for tracks, and spots a scuff mark to the right. He shouts to Paks to take the other tunnel and follows it. Miriel comes down and starts following Goldpetal. Chuck and the horse try to keep up; it's easier than it should be because no one is on the streets, even though the sewer does not exactly follow the path of the streets.

Miriel lights up her spear. We follow the path again and Goldpetal finds a footprint to the right when we reach another branch. After another 30 feet we reach a 4-way intersection, and the tracks go off to the left. Paks keeps flying ahead at random, then rejoining us. Reaching another intersection, Paks flies off to the right while Goldpetal is still looking, and she hears splashing. She reports back, but Goldpetal doesn't hear and follows the tracks. Telryn tells Goldpetal and then follows him. Paks reaches the point where she heard the splashing, but doesn't see anything. Miriel follows Goldpetal and Telryn, while Darmaon, still invisible, follows Paks.

Darmaon tells the other half of the party to leave a trail. They turn around and catch up while Goldpetal is searching for tracks. Paks watches above for openings, but doesn't see any. Eventually we reach what seems to be a dead end - the passage continues, but there is a metal gate blocking the way. Goldpetal sees tracks on both sides, so Darmaon searches for a way to open the gate, with everyone's help. While everyone else is looking, Darmaon just pushes a cut section out of the gate. At the end of the next passage, it seems to be bricked up. The bricks seem new, and the water is pooling. Telryn does a detect magic, but there is nothing magical about it. As we look around, Telryn spots the outline of a door in the bricks, and we open the door, which opens towards us. Paks is in front, and sees a 15x15 room, filled with rocks.

Paks walks in, followed by Telryn and Paks. Goldpetal follows and searches for footprints. Miriel follows everyone in, and the door slams shut behind her. Chuck hears a whisper "Belsameth be damned!" and the horse accelerates.

Darmaon tries to see a way to open the door. Goldpetal casts Shape Stone to open a hole in the door. Telryn uses his prepared Dimension Door to exit the room. He sees a tall, thin man, pale skinned with long blond hair, wearing a cloak, boots, and a loincloth, plus a bandolier of daggers. He's about 10 feet down the hallway. He's heavily tattooed. Telryn whispers back to us. The man is startled - he presses against the wall, a door opens, and it closes behind him. Paks steps through the door and tries to find the opener for the door the blond went through. Miriel goes back out through the hole in the door. As she leaves, the whole room starts to shake. Goldpetal and Darmaon dodge the rocks that start falling from the ceiling and Darmaon dives through the door. He helps Paks search, but doesn't find anything. Goldpetal comes out and searches as well, but can't find anything.

Telryn comes over to point out where the latch was and presses it. We see a metal ladder going up, and Paks flies up. She reaches a trapdoor and pushes it up. As she pushes it up, she is attacked with five daggers. Four hit her, with very precise blows. She swings in return and hits, doing a small amount of damage. Miriel pushes forward and touches Paks' foot, healing her almost to full health. The noise from the trap room increases tremendously, and we can see it tilting. Darmaon whispers to us to let him through, as he is invisible. He waits for Miriel to get out of the way.

Telryn waits until he can fly up. Paks pushes up and finds herself in the quarry. Chuck arrives at the quarry on the horse. Paks whispers to Chuck about the quarry and the blond and the huntsman. We see that the room that was tipping is actually tilting down to a set of huge rollers; it is a stone crusher. The Huntsman is at the controls and says "Curses, you escaped my trap!"

The Huntsman pulls out a horn at his belt and blows it. The blond throws knives at Paks and hits her hard again. Paks flies back against a wall of the quarry and attacks the blond, hitting him once. Miriel climbs out of the hole. The blond hits her. She casts Hold Person on him, but he resists it. Chuck charges up to the quarry and dismounts. Darmaon climbs up - he recognizes the tattoos as those of a Shalizari knife fighter, and probably a very good one. Darmaon moves across the floor carefully, towards the Huntsman. Goldpetal climbs up and swings at the blond with his scimitar. Telryn holds until the opening is clear.

Suddenly, a pack of wolves with red glowing eyes and an infernal stench appear. They bite at Goldpetal, one connects and tries to trip him, but fails. One tries to bite Paks, but misses. One tries for Miriel and misses. One bites Darmaon and hits, trying to trip him, but fails. The Huntsman puts his horn away and shouts, "Katar, finish them! And meet me at the apppointed time!" He takes out a potion, drinks it, turns to gas, and disappears.

Katar swings at Goldpetal and hits him hard, then tries to tumble out of the way and succeeds easily, tumbling over behind the wolves. Paks flies up and bullrushes Katar from the air, trying to knock him into the crusher. He hits her as she flies in, and she falls to the ground; her sword winks out. Miriel casts a flame strike on Katar and the wolves. Three wolves are fried immediately, one is injured. Katar dodges and is unscathed. Goldpetal dodges but is seriously injured. Chuck moves in and fires at one of the wolves, hitting it. The horse trots and a attacks a wolf with a kick, missing. Darmaon attacks one of the wolves, winking into visibility, and hits it. Goldpetal moves aside to cast Cure Moderate Wounds on himself. As he moves, Telryn flies up and over the wolves, one of whom bites at him but misses. He shoots two magic missiles at two wolves each, killing both injured wolves. The remaining wolf bites the horse, injuring it, and then tries to trip the horse, but the horse is quite stable.

Katar throws a dagger at Goldpetal and hits, then throws another and hits, knocking Goldpetal out. He throws a knife at Darmaon and misses, throws another and misses again. Paks bleeds. Miriel steps forward and casts a Healing Circle to heal all her allies. Paks and Goldpetal are conscious again. Chuck steps to the side and shoots two arrows at Katar, past a remaining wolf. One shot hits, grazing him. Darmaon jumps behind the last wolf and slits its throat. The horse moves over and steps between Katar and Paks, pushing Paks out of the way. Telryn shoots a magic missile barrage at Katar.

Katar steps over and stabs Goldpetal twice, knocking him out again. He throws two daggers at Miriel, hitting her twice. Goldpetal bleeds on the ground. Paks lays hands on herself, hiding behind the horse. Miriel casts a Searing Light at Katar, hitting him. Chuck shoots two arrows at Katar, but he dodges them. Chuck shoots again and misses again. The horse attacks Katar with hooves and bite, hitting with two hooves, but missing with the bite. Darmaon moves behind Katar, flanking him, and gets a critical hit. Telryn shoots another barrage of magic missiles, knocking him out.

Miriel heals Goldpetal, and he heals himself as well. Paks bandages Katar's wounds, while Darmaon rifles his stuff. The 10 daggers are all masterwork. Goldpetal gives Chuck some rope to tie the unconscious Katar up thoroughly. Darmaon also finds bracers and a pair of punching daggers. Miriel says we should get back to the Hall. Chuck turns off the stone grinder. Paks wants to interrogate Katar. Darmaon wants to stop back at the inn. Miriel wants to head to the hall as fast as possible. Chuck tries to figure out why Darmaon wants to go back to the inn, but finally believes his story that he is going to pick up our stuff. Telryn flies back to the hall to try to check on Saraya. Paks flies back above the party, while the rest of us walk through the streets, with Katar thrown over the horse.

When we get back to the hall, people have calmed down, but they're looking for the eye of the green dragon and pat us down. They ask about the prisoner and Paks calls for Thorn and the spymaster, tells our story, and asks them to interrogate the prisoner to find out where he was meeting the huntsman. Goldpetal asks for his rope back. As they interrogate him, they find he does not have a tongue. After some discussion, Goldpetal suggests scrying. As we go upstairs, we run into a horde of Juvenal's followers, who demand to execute the prisoner now. Paks refuses, saying he is her prisoner. They start pounding at the doors to the dungeon area, while the Veshan guards try to push them back. Paks tries to quiet the crowd. Chuck gathers the axes and goes outside with Goldpetal to scry. Paks helps the guards keep the mob out of the dungeon, while Telryn casts sleep on the mob. The guards carry them outside. Goldpetal scries, but learns nothing. Paks asks Thorn to make sure the prisoner is not killed by the mob.

Dawn is breaking, so Paks and Goldpetal take time to pray. Paks prays for guidance. Telryn checks on Saraya; she is fascinated by his story. It is the Day of Atonement, so most people are at the temples. Miriel goes to the temple of Madriel to help the priestesses there.

There are only two topics of conversation at breakfast the next day, the missing jewel and how much Thorn's prestige has been lowered by the Huntsman at the ball. In addition, he's getting criticized for not killing the prisoner outright.

Paks gives a speech support Thorn, but Count Juvenal gives a counter-speech which is even more persuasive. We discuss investigating the clock tower. Paks asks Miriel to find out what Juvenal's background is.

Chuck gets an invisibility spell from Telryn, who also puts two more into the ring and gives it to him, then goes off to scout the clock tower. Chuck notes that the tower is of Ledean architecture, and marvels yet again at the beauty of the tower. There are about 10 guards around the entrance. It seems like overkill to him. Every once in a while workmen show up with big carts of bricks and carry them up. It looks kind of like rock from the quarry. He looks for limestone dust under the carts, and it certainly looks the same. Chuck sneaks in with one group of workmen. The first floor is a 110'x110'. There's a large wooden stairway spiraling up the inside wall of the tower. It's a long long way up, with men carrying up bricks. There are a set of clockwork weights hanging down, and there seems to be a floor about 100 feet up. There are slits in the walls of the tower which let a little light in, but it is still pretty dark. There are torch brackets, but there are no torches lit. There are big piles of brick in the center of the tower. It's actually quiet a lot of bricks, stacked higher than Chuck is tall.

Chuck notices that the bricks look darker than limestone, darker than the old bricks of the tower, and darker than the limesotne in the quarry. He steals one of the bricks when no one is looking. Chuck leaves, checking out the workmen as he goes - they seem to be from Rika, by their dress. He tracks the carts of bricks, and sure enough they lead right to the quarry, which, now that he sees it in the daytime, has a sign that says "Juvenal Quarry." Chuck goes to report his suspicions to Deleon. He shows him the brick and asks for a chunk of it. As they break it up, it sparks a bit, more than they would have expected from limestone. He asks about the interrogation of Katar, but so far they haven't found a way to get information from him.

Miriel finds out just that Juvenal's family has a lot of power out west, particularly with the Order of the Morning Sky, and their family made their money in textiles. No one knows where they came from. Darmaon says they showed up from nowhere in Riga 30 years ago. He's very very rich, almost seems to have endless funds. Telryn thinks that the black powder might be some sort of explosive. Chuck shows him the limestone chunk. He says it seems to have the black sand in it, but it is nonmagical. Goldpetal asks if there is any way to slow Juvenal down. Paks tries to visit Delmaron again, with no success.

The next morning we are awoken by a loud explosion. We run to Telryn's room and find that he has woken early to research. His face is blackened, his hair is askew, and he tells us the black sand seems to be explosive. Before Telryn leaves the inn, an urchin shows up with a message for him - it is from Saraya, and she says she's been captured by the Huntsman and we must meet him at the clock tower at midnight, just the party, or he will kill her. He tells the rest of us and says he thinks it's a trap.

We go to Saraya's house and Darmaon breaks us in. Goldpetal attempts to scry for Saraya using her musical instrument, but fails. Telryn researches to see if something can counteract the explosive, but he can't find anything. Telryn plans to turn himself invisible and Dimension Door into the tower, before midnight. At 10:38, we head to the clock tower. As we watch the clock, Miriel nudges Chuck and points out that the hands of the clock are moving! There are two large torches burning outside the entrance, there are no guards, though the door is closed. Chuck tells Telryn he'll go with him, and they should go up as high as possible. We think the clock will trigger the trap, but the door might do it as well. Paks suggests flying up, without being invisible and trying to get in through the clock.

Telyrn and Chuck fly up, but they are invisible. They can't see immediately a way in. Chuck doesn't want to injure the glass of the clock, which is a priceless Veshan artifact, pre-Titan's War. Chuck asks Telryn to take him in through a Dimension Door. Goldpetal merges himself in through the stone. Telryn takes Chuck in about 60 feet up. They manage to get in just between all the weights. Goldpetal sees that the torches are lit all the way up the tower. Chuck looks around for some acid-dropping mechanism.

Echoing through the tower they hear the voice of the Huntsman chuckling over how the tower will explode. JOSH - SPEECH

Chuck can see where the Huntsman is talking from, on the platform above. He whispers to Telryn, then flies up. They see Saraya tied to a rotating wheel gear, and a big barrel next to her, and a gear will clearly crush both in about an hour. Chuck whispers to Telryn that he is going to try to stop the gears with his grappling hook, and Telryn should shoot Juvenal. Telryn says he'll dimension door the acid. Chuck says he'll kill her, Telryn says keep him busy. Chuck plans to get to a covered spot where he can shoot from.

As Chuck looks around, he can see where bricks were replaced in the walls with the new dark bricks. Chuck flies down and around the weights to get a good line on the Huntsman, then waits for Telryn to take the barrel. The Huntsman mutters to himself some more. Telryn Dimension Doors out with the barrel. Chuck fires on the Huntsman three times, hitting once. He becomes invisible as he shoots.

"Noooooooo! You've foiled my plot, but I'll still kill you, Chuck!"

The Huntsman moves over to attack Chuck with a thrown axe and hits him. Telryn dimension doors back with Paks and Miriel, landing on the walkway near the Huntsman. Paks casts Divine Favor on herself. Goldpetal moves to run up the walkway, turning into a brown bear on the way. Chuck ducks behind part of the clock, pokes his bow around the corner and takes a shot, hitting the Huntsman. Miriel blasts him with a Searing Light.

The Huntsman pulls out his horn and blows it. Telryn casts Haste on Paks. Paks moves over to the Huntsman and hits him with a smite, then taunts him. Goldpetal continues up the stairs, which begin to creak ominously, and he stops moving, shifting into panther form. Chuck flies down, drawing Hoarfrost and striking at the Huntsman. Miriel attempts to cast Hold Person on Juvenal, but fails.

Six wolves appear. One hits Chuck and tries to trip him, but fails. Another hits Paks and tries to trip her, succeeding in knocking her prone. Two wolves attack Miriel, but fail. The last two wait at the top of the stairs. The Huntsman sees Paks prone and attacks her, with a big black rune-covered axe and a hand axe, hitting her both times with the battle axe and once with the hand axe. She feels a wave of despair wash over her, but she shakes it off. Telryn hastes himself, then flies over the Huntsman and magic missiles him. Paks stands up and swings at the Huntsman, hitting hard twice and killing him. She knocks him down and his helmet falls off, and it is in fact Count Juvenal. Goldpetal comes up the stairs, noticing the wolves as he nears the top. As soon as he gets in range, they leap on him. One hits him and tries to trip him, successfully. He falls 90 feet and falls hard, but gets up yowling. Chuck draws his other sword and attacks a wolf with Hoarfrost, hitting it. Miriel casts Dispell Magic and dispells the wolves. They try to attack her as she does, but miss.

Miriel heals Paks and Goldpetal. Chuck searches the body. Telryn's clothes are smoking. He goes to untie Saraya. Chuck finds a giant axe, which Paks says is evil. He has great studded leather armor, his hand axe is good quality. He has a horn with wolf's fur on it, three vigilant medallions, a rough religious token with Vangel's symbol carved into it, which radiates evil. 50 gold pieces and 5 violet garnets.