Campaign: Dominion of Adventure 20/10/22

With the end of the festival fast approaching the Renegades gathered to plan the final details of their incursion into the Grand Library’s vault, as the lead team in the Emerald Crown heist they knew the Crimson Blade would be creating a diversion once the celebrations began, but they still needed to decide how best to sneak into the library itself.

“We could climb the walls and get into the courtyard from the rear” suggested Gunnar, confident in his ability to scale the building with ropes from his time at sea

“We could, but why bother when we can just walk in?” asked Navarro

“I don’t want to be anywhere near Magda and her crew in this – they’ll take any opportunity to shaft us” explained Gunnar, realising his companions still seemed to be underestimating the Blade’s penchant for causing trouble and no doubt their desire to see him dead at the earliest opportunity

“Well, we could just go in during the day and then hide somewhere inside?” suggested Iivan reasonably

This suggestion was met with approval from the others and it was agreed that they would enter the library as usual then sequester themselves somewhere after it closed until the fireworks began. At Navarro’s direction Hamlet gave a rousing speech that meandered through a number of topics – lauding their combined prowess and somewhat confusingly the importance of grooming and the benefits of cat ownership. Still, despite their confusion the magic user’s words had an uplifting effect on the party and quashed any remaining doubts that might be lingering. Finally, it was agreed that Balasar and Luther would attend the celebrations, Luther’s absence would be far too noticable after he’d won the Golden Harp the previous night after all.

The others spent the next few hours preparing their equipment or praying to Helm for divine aid, all except Hamlet who managed to summon Kevin back from wherever he had been for the past few days. Returning to the room Navarro and Gunnar walked in on Hamlet seemingly in deep conversation with the cat

“Ahh, Boots is back” noted Navarro, while Gunnar reached out to give the cat’s head an absent minded but good natured ruffle

“Meow” said Keving eyeing them from his position on the bed, but neither warrior appeared to register that the cat had said meow rather than actually meowing at them.

“Are you ready Lieutenant?” asked Navarro as he gathered his gear

“Yes, and Kevin is going to help us too – as long as we can keep him safe” explained Hamlet happily, the man’s attitude towards his strange cat seemingly changed beyond recognition over the last few days

“Of course” agreed Navarro somewhat nonplussed by the question “all who travel with me do so under my protection” he finished, while Gunnar rolled his eyes at his companion’s bombastic ways

“Ah, purrfect then” replied Hamlet, Gunnar could have sworn he heard a snigger coming from Kevin but shook his head – cats didn’t talk, and they certainly didn’t laugh at bad puns – maybe he’d caught a few more of Magda’s punches than he’d thought in the fights.

Together the joined the rest of the party and made their way to the Grand Library, the locals were buzzing with anticipation for the evening’s celebrations and the good mood seemed to energise them as they walked the streets to their destination. Inside they decided to split up, Gunnar, Navarro and Dorian decicding to try and find somewhere on the third floor to minimise the amount of sneaking needed to access the main tower – Gunnar’s previous experience with clerics and heavy armour weighed heavily on his mind, along with Navarro’s habit of sounding his horn at the most inopportune moments.

Iivan led Fayd, Hamlet and Kevin to the second floor where they tried to hide away among the books of a less frequented annex. Meanwhile on the floor above Navarro located a room in the corner of the building that was a short distance from one of the covered walkways leading to the tower. While Dorian and Gunnar carefully shifted several bookcases out from the wall and squeezed into the gap created the knight took some parchement and wrote an official looking notice that the room was off limits on the orders of the Chief Librarian, hung this on the outside of the door and then sat – almost daring any scholarly underling to enter the room and question his presence.

For Gunnar, Dorian and Navarro the wait proved uneventful, the biggest challenge seeming to be keeping Navarro from dozing off and surpressing sneezes triggered by the years of dust which had accumulated behind the book cases where Dorian and Gunnar lurked. For Iivan and his team though there was a moment of concern, the sounds of an approaching warden – likely drawn by the noises Fayd was making as he tried to build a pile of books to hide behind and Iivan’s hissed imprecations at him to stop. Hearing the guard approach they ceased their bickering and froze, Iivan slipping a wicked looking blade from a hidden sheath on his wrist while Fayd hefted a huge club and moved to stand by the door, clearly planning to bludgeon any interloper into unconsiousness if the need arose. Hamlet broke the tension by opening the door a crack and allowing Kevin to slink out into the corridor, straining their ears they heard the cat’s pitious yowl and then the muffled voice of the guard talking before Hamlet closed his eyes and nodded to the others

“Kevin’s drawn them off, we should be fine now” he assured them as they returned to their silent vigil.

the hours passed slowly before they finally heard the distant crackle of fireworks and the roar of the crowds

“Time to go” whispered Iivan, leading them silently down to the ground floor to crouch in the corner of the courtyard for the remaining wardens to be drawn off by the Crimson Blade’s diversion.

Above them the sounds of revelrey had reached Navarro and his companions and they began to sneak along the corridor to the walkway connecting the upper floor with the central tower, as Gunnar feared the chink of Dorian’s iron mail echoed down the hall. Ahead of them Navarro turned and loudly shussed the barbarian, who in turn repeated the gesture to Dorian as they made their entirely unstealthy way along the darkened cloister miraculously without incident. Looking down into the courtyard they could see the wardens below in animated conversation, before they all hurried to the main gate. Together they entered the tower and began to creep down the stairs to the button Navarro had discovered the previous day.

“Wait!” hissed Dorian as Navarro made to trigger the mechanism, the Dwarf moved forward and knelt down to better examine the dwarven machinery “As I thought, this is fine work but with something of this scale it’s going to make a lot of noise when we activate it”

“Can we oil it or soemthing?” asked Gunnar, exhausting his rudimentary grasp of mechanical engineering

“No, but if you give me a moment I should be able to mask the noise” replied Dorian smugly

Iivan, Fayd and Hamlet chose that moment to enter the tower and were met with more surprisingly loud shushing from Navarro who hadn’t seemed to entirely grasp the concept of stealth yet

“You’re late Lieutenant” he hissed at Hamlet “No doubt this Elf slowed you down eh” he continued, nodding at Iivan who merely rolled his eyes before turning to keep an eye on the guards gathered by the main gate. Dorian extended his hands and murmoured a prayer to Helm, and suddenly all the sounds of the celebrations, fireworks and indeed their own voices vanished – leaving them all in total silence. Iivan and Gunnar began flashing hand signals between themselves, while Navarro stomped on the button and watched as the floor began to descend below groud level, a credit to the Dwarven artificers who had built it. Seeing the floor stop it’s descent Navarro waved his hands in what he must have thought was a similar manner to Iivan and Gunnar and began to march down the spiral stairs, the others following in silence. On reaching the now revealed lower levels they found a single door. As expected it was locked.

“Open this” ordered Navarro to Iivan pointing at the locked entranceway, Navarro then paused and ran back up the stairs until his footsteps no longer made any sound, there he took his horn from his side and blew a long and powerful blast – in complete silence. Smiling smugly to himself he then sauntered back down the stairs, ignoring the confused glances his companions directed his way.

A loud snick echoed round the chamber and Iivan pushed the door open before bowing to the rest of the group “After you, please oh exaulted commander” his voice dripping with sarcasm. Sarcasm which was entirely lost on Navarro as he strode purposefully forward and into a large chamber, lit only by a faint shimmering light covering the only other exit – and illuminating two large statues of armoured warriors flanking it to either side. Approaching warily, they gathered by the door

“Should I check if it’s magic?” asked Dorian quietly

“Of course it’s fucking magic” replied Fayd “we do need to know what it does though, does anyone have a stick or something?”

Without a word Navarro pulled forth a rod from his pack, muttering a word of command it extended into his familiar spear and before anyone could stop him, he pushed it into the swirling arcane barrier. Immediatley a strange grinding of stone on stone reached their ears

“Fuck” groaned Fayd and Gunnar in unison as they saw the two statues slowly swivel their heads towards the party

The magically animated stone warriors then raised the huge mauls they carried and brought them crashing down on their shields together, a shockingly loud blast of sound errupted from the the statues and engulfed the party in a cacophany of crashing masonry, rattling their brains and causing a trickle of blood to appear from Navarro’s nose. Snarling the paladin roared in pain and a blast of fire leapt from his hand to engulf one of the stone figures, wreathing it in flame before pressing forward to strike it with his spear. Shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears Gunnar moved to flank the statue and swung his sword in savage arcs, sparks spraying from the impact on the stone as he hacked chunks of rock from it’s body.

Fayd leapt for the other statue in a rage, his claws slashing deep gouges into the hardened stone in a frenzy as Iivan cursed him for upsetting his aim before beginning the process of reloading his crossbow. Behind them Dorian summonded a ghostly club and directed it to swing for the statue fighting Gunnar and Navarro before calling down a holy fire on it, whilst beside him Hamlet sent arcing blasts of power from his hand to slam into the creature’s body. Reeling from the party’s combined assault the statues rallied, one striking it’s shield and sending waves of sound to punish the intruders – while it’s twin launched a crackling lightening bolt towards Gunnar, but the hulking barbarian was surprisingly nimble for his size and managed to dodge the worst of the strike at the last second.

Navarro was swaying on his feet from the ringing in his ears but thrust out with his spear again, summoning Helm’s power to surge through his spear and into the beleagured statue – the raw power proving too much for the magical construct to withstand and blasting it apart in a shower of rubble. Leaping over the collapsing remnants of Navarro’s kill, Gunnar charged into the second statue blade singing in his hand as he cut into it’s fellow. Fayd bellowed in rage and his jaws elongated as he began tearing off chunks of crumbling stone from it’s arm. Another volley of magical blasts from Dorian and Hamlet sent the lumbering giant thudding back against the wall, where Navarro’s mighty spear thrust pinned it, until it collapsed into a pile of dust at the paladin’s feet. Pausing only to heal themselves with magic and some of their dwindling potion supply they pressed forward knowing their diversion would only last an hour at most.

They entered into a long narrow chamber, as they stepped over the threshold torches flared into life around the room – clearly a magical trick of some kind, but when no other threats materialised they quickly spread out to investigate the doors radiating from this main hallway. Navarro opened a door to find a glowing amulet suspended in a glass display case, turning slowly even though there was no wind to speak of down here. Gunnar chose a door further down the right hand side and was humming a sea shanty about buried treasure as he opened his door, a rough burlap sack in his hand ready to be filled with the plunder he hoped to find. He was dissappointed to find the door opened onto a small chamber containing nothing but a strange obsidian staff, his eyes were drawn to a large ruby that appeared to be floating at it’s tip – reaching for the gem he was surprised to find it was attached in some way to the black staff, shrugging he grabbed the staff and slung it across his back before returning to the hallway. Fayd emerged from the doorway opposite him

“You find anything good?” called Gunnar

“Na, just an old dead guy on a fancy chair” grumbled Fayd “but I did get his old trumpet at least, maybe Luther can find a use for it” turning to head for the next door along Fayd didn’t notice Navarro’s head snap up at the mention of a horn before the knight gathered himself and feigned indifference to the discovery.

“I think this might be useful though” grinned Dorian, holding aloft a strange metallic disc with three spherical openings – surely the device they’d learned of which might contain the power of the Promise and it’s fellow orb stones.

At this point Iivan sauntered out of the chamber he’d chosen with a broad grin on his face, the others found their eyes drawn to a circlet of gold, dotted with fine cut emeralds that the rogue was casually spinning around one elegant finger “One emerald crown, as requested” he quipped before slipping the valuable heirloom under his robes.

“Ok, we need to get out of here then” called Hamlet, who had been keeping watch while the others searched the vaults

“Patience Lieutenant, we still have time to check these last rooms” answered Navarro heading for the far end of the hallway and gesturing for Iivan to check the other doorway there. Navarro’s room contained nothing more than a deck of playing cards, probably left by a bored guard he thought to himself as he pocketed them. Iivan meanwhile had found a black shortsword, with the hint of some kind of writing along it’s sinister looking blade, reaching for it he stopped himself at the last minute – remembering the Promise and it’s unfortunate habit of destroying magic items and he made his way back to Dorian to secure the orb in it’s place within the magical disc the Dward had discovered.

Seperated from the others Fayd examined the small room he had chosen, finding a dusty old grimoire with the words “A Treatise On Leadership” picked out in golden filigree across it’s cover, he reached out and pulled it from it’s pedestal before turning to leave when a flicker of movement caught his eye. A viscous black liquid was dripping from the ceiling, his eyes followed it upwards and he saw an amorphous black shape poised above him. Hesitating he slowly backed towards the door, eyes fixed on the strange ooze when it suddenly bunched, rippled and launched itself at him – tendrils of the black substance lashed out at him, and he felt a burning senstation when they made contact with his skin, he span round and almost ran straight into another of the creatures, his armour caught the worst of it’s attack, but he could see the metal pitting, discolour and dissolve where the ink black pseudopods landed. Frantic now he gathered himself and leapt for the doorway, black tendrils reaching for him as he fled, he caught a glimpse of Gunnar and called out a warning before sprinting back towards Hamlet in the hallway.

Startled by his friend’s sudden appearance Gunnar sprang into action, whatever had sent Fayd running for his life could only be bad news and he threw his weight at the door slamming it shut moments before a loud thud announced something heavy slamming into it from the other side. He backed away across the hallway toward Fayd bringing his master crafted shield to face whatever might emerge from the doorway. Hamlet reached into his pouch and pulled out a clay stopped flask, he flung it at the door, smashing it and covering the door and floor before it with a thin slick of oil. Glancing behind him Gunnar saw the entrance they had arrived in had vanished, and only a blank wall stood in it’s stead.

“We’re cut off!” he called out to the others, knowing it was probably a waste of breath but hoping one of the others might have found another way out.

Dorian and Iivan slotted the promise into it’s place on the disc, a strange magical aura materialised, surrounding it and holding it in place. Iivan grunted in satisfaction and left Dorian admiring the craftsmanship of the intricate device as he made his way back to retrieve the black blade – a hint of a memory nibbled at his thoughts….something about that sword seemed strangely familiar to him. Behind him he could hear Fayd and Gunnar yelling at each other, always making so much noise those two – such amatuers he thought to himself as he lifted the blade from it’s resting place. As he turned to leave a strange feeling crept over him, he turned back and his mouth fell open as he saw a figure coalesing out of the air, a massive red hued, heavily muscled creature was staring at him, becoming more solid with every second – it raised a curved sword, it’s blade wreathed in flame to point at him and slowly grinned at him.

“Well, fuck that” muttered Iivan to himself, turning and sprinting back to his companions and pulling the door closed behind him “Navarro! Demon! There!” he called out to the paladin and pointing frantically to the room he’d just left.

“A Demon? Fear not Drow, I shall smite this beast and then we shall depart” cried Navarro as he ran past the fleeing rogue.

At the other end of the hallway the weakened door finally gave way and the two black puddings slithered across the flagstones toward the gathered party, their passage scouring any dirt and dust from the flagstones of the hallway as they passed. Fayd and Gunnar began hacking at the creatures, though quickly found that blows that would have cleaved a man in two merely cut the large puddings into two smaller beasts that still proved just as fierce. Hamlet was cursing the creatures and blasting at them with his powerful magic, Dorian backed away from them hands held out in prayer as they called down Helm’s blessings on his companions. Gunnar roared in triumph as he managed to kill one of the smaller puddings, stamping the last semblance of life from it in his fury.

A thunderous crash announced the arrival of the now fully formed demon as it smashed through the door as if it were paper, Navarro’s eyes narrowed and he rushed forward thrusting his spear deep into it’s chest and imbuing his strike with Helm’s fury. Before the demon could retaliate, the paladin uttered an arcane phrase and teleported away from it. Roaring it’s frustration the beast turned it’s bulk to follow, raising it’s flaming blades it launched a ball of fire across the hallway, the flame seeming to grow and take a vaguely humanoid shape when it landed, cutting off Navarro’s retreat.

Seeing this new threat Hamlet began sending lances of pure energy into the fiery apperition, Gunnar closed the distance with it and forced himself to ignore the intense heat radiating from it to bring his sword down in a flurry of sweeping arcs, grunting with satisfaction as he felt his blade bite into the flaming mass. Iivan having removed himself from immediate danger unslung his long arm and quickly snapped off a volley of shots that punched holes in the flaming beast. Seeing Fayd could barely stand Dorian rushed to the barbarian’s side and used his powers to heal him, yet even shielded by Fayd’s body the Dwarven Cleric could feel the heat warming his chainmail as he did. Facing the creature Fayd looked up and saw a wall of living flame about to engulf him, bracing himself for the worse he closed his eyes….but no searing agony engulfed him, instead when he opened his eyes he saw the quivering tip of Navarro’s spear inches from his face and the heat and flames dissapating and fading into smoke that was blown away into nothing.

“Get some! Get some you fuckers!” keened Hamlet, blasting away at the remaining black puddings and finally exerminating the last of the acidic beasts, looking up with a wild eyed stare he saw the demon launch another flaming orb at his companions, the blast when it hit engulfed them all in a ball of roaring flame. Through the heat shimmer he could barely make out the distorted shapes of his allies. But he thought he could make out Fayd leap through the air to sink his fangs into the neck of the demon before leaping nimbly aside as Gunnar barrelled forward with his sword to join his fellow orc. Hamlet finched as a sharp crack announced Iivan was still sniping at the massive beast, his well placed shots barely missing his allies as he picked his targets through the melee.

Struggling back to their feet Dorian patted out the smouldering ends of their beard, eyes burning with hatred “You do not mess with my beard you…. you utter shit!” and with that they called forth a blast of divine energy that slammed into the demonic form. Glaring hard at the demon, Dorian unslung his mace and began to march forward spitting curses in Dwarvish when they saw Navarro materialise behind it and leap upwards, bringing his weapon down in a crushing arc that split the beast’s head in two, the momentum of the heavily armoured knight’s leap driving the cut deeper into it’s chest before finally bursting free of the cloying flesh to slam into the stone floor below. Navarro held himself perfectly still as he watched the two torn halves of the demon sway then fall to the floor before slowly vanishing, only then did he recover his weapon with a flourish back into a ready stance. The moment was only slightly spoiled by the faint sound of ironic applause coming from Iivan, still skulking at the far end of the hallway.

“Door’s back” the Rogue called out “I suggest we leave” he added hopefully

“Yes, our work here is done men” panted Navarro “come let us make haste” and he led the others towards the door, Gunnar moved to help the limping Fayd but the younger orc shook his head.

“Wait, we’re in no state to deal with anything else” called Dorian, concerned for his companions now their singed beard had been avenged

“He’s right, the Blades might be up there waiting for us” agreed Gunnar, who seemed to have come through the fight in good shape despite his lack of armour

They paused at the foot of the stairs long enough for Dorian and Navarro to use their powers to heal the worst of their wounds before creeping back up to the ground floor. Finding the gateway clear of guards and at Navarro’s insistence they made a dash for the exit, as they reached the street Gunnar paused to look at the riot which was still in full swing. He watched Magda towering above the crowd and felt himself torn between making good his escape and trying to take her down in the confusion, but it was a fleeting thought. Despite the carnage it was clear the Goliath bitch was clearly relishing her role in the Blades’ distraction and was in no danger of being injured, and there was no way he was going to try and take her down alone, shrugging he turned and followed the others into the night.

Back at the taven the Renegades were in high spirits, and food and drink was soon delivered to their table

“To a job well done” called Fayd, slamming his mug of ale into Gunnars with some force

“To victory and the banishing of that foul hellspawn” proclaimed Navarro joining in

“To getting paid!” added Iivan grinning

“To the Renegades” cried Hamlet and Dorian in tandem, before they all burst out laughing in delight and relief at having successfully completed their mission unscathed

“To more beer” shouted Gunnar, beginning to catch on and meeting the eye of the barkeep meaningfully

“Come lads, let’s have us a game” said Navarro when the others had settled down, he pulled the deck of cards he’d found from his pocket and dealt a card towards Hamlet – but as the card flew across the table it seemed to shimmer and shift, a loud thud drew their attention as the largest diamond they had ever seen rolled to a halt in front of the astonished Warlock.

“How the hell did you do that?” asked Gunnar incredulously, Navarro – who was probably a little flushed from the wine merely laughed and flicked another card onto the table – this time instead of one giant gem it split into twenty five perfectly cut gemstones that clattered across the table and a few spilled onto the floor drawing the attention of a number of the other patrons who gasped in astonishment at this strange sight.

“We shall split this bounty between us men” offered Navarro generously, the others quickly scooping up four of the gems each

“This one’s for you Gunnar” said Fayd, handing the older orc one of his stones in payment for the gold Gunnar had lent him, the bigger orc nodded his thanks around a mouthful of beer and pocketed the gem with his others.

“Should keep us in potions for a while” he grinned back at Fayd

“Third time’s the charm right?” said Navarro reaching unsteadily for another card

“I don’t think that’s how these things work” interjected Iivan, a slight look of concern on his elegant features.

Navarro drew a third card and flicked it onto the table, but this time there was no shower of riches – instead a burst of flame errupted from the card, consuming it – the flames seemed to form demonic visage that turned slowly to face the paladin

“Well, well well – we meet again” it leered at the rapidly sobering knight “I’ll be seeing you soon Navarro” it contined before fading away into nothing

“Ummm, perhaps that’s enough cards for one night” quavered Dorian reaching for Navarro’s arm and pushing it away from the remaining cards.