Return to Ilmar

Destiny on her newly acquired demon horse, Lyshal. Figure by Ral Partha Europe, very recently painted.

After disposing of Theleb K'aarna and Syphax, the characters regroup. This post is written impersonally for a change, and this time I'll intersperse umpire's comments when required.

The day after the happenings at the henge sees some strange events taking place. First of all, the characters are awakened by a visit from Hamilcar the shaman, along with one of the women of the tribe (Sophonisba) and her seven year old daughter (Selene). Selene has been permanently blinded after the great outburst of force the previous night, however Hamilcar takes everyone back to the henge. Inside the circle, Selene's eyesight returns, but her irises are now silver. Not only can she see clearly in this location, she can glimpse the spirits and more. "For the first time in many generations we have now been blessed with the emergence of a seeress. I have been praying for guidance in seeking the next shaman of our tribe, but this is much more than I was expecting. It is the duty of every shaman to find and train his or her successor, and Selene will be much greater than I," explains Hamilcar. [As umpire I had decided that there should be some permanent effects of the encounter at the henge. After all, there was a demon summoning, a spirit vision and an exceptionally powerful example of Sir Blanque's talent, and all at the same time too - the combination should have some lasting importance. I also ruled that Sophonisba had lost her husband at the Nikorn estate to tie things in neatly. Just as a point of information, I've been using Carthaginian and Numidian names when a Weeping Waste NPC needs a bit of flavour.]

Jorthan, Destiny, Sir Blanque and Marion then all saddle up for the ride back to Ilmar. Ehlessa stays behind to take on her duties as the new Chief Rider of the Pure Horse tribe. A good fifty warriors were lost in the Pan Tang sorceror's attack on the estate, and the tribe needs time to recover. [I rolled in front of the players for the relationship between Jorthan and Ehlessa. His roll was quite a good one, but hers was a fumble, a 20 on a D20. So by way of explanation I felt that her sense of duty would be stronger than her feelings for Jorthan, although his are different - he is still somewhat smitten. He does see the good sense in her decision, though, especially since he will need the tribe as allies for the future. Besides, he has Bomilcar as a link; Ehlessa's brother is still with the Ilmioran navy. So Jorthan heads off with a bit of a heavy heart.]

The party passes through Karlaak and then heads northwest along the trade route. As expected, the charismatic bandit chieftain Bow Merren makes an appearance, and leads them to his current campsite. Along the way, there is a great deal of wrangling about what to do with Pilarmo, who still doesn't know what has been happening. The group decides to keep him alive and present him and the letters to the Duke of Ilmar upon their return. Their arrival scares the hell out of the treacherous merchant, who is nervous at the best of times. They mount him on Destiny's spare steppe pony, and then have to put up with his whining all the back to Ilmar. "Everything was Tormiel's idea, honest! We didn't know that the sorcerer had his own reasons for the attack. We didn't know about his feud with Orelius. He went way over the top. It was only meant to be business; nothing personal." And so on ad nauseam. He finally shuts up two days later when Destiny growls at him from her demonic steed.

On arrival at the city gates, Jorthan asks to see the guard captain. He fills him in enough to get him to send a couple of men directly to the Duke's estate, and the captain tells them about the rumour mill that has been swirling in their absence. The two couriers return with orders to escort everyone to the Duke's Estate. He welcomes the war hero Sir Blanque and expresses condolences to Jorthan; he also courteously greets Lady Destiny. Marion gets a quick nod.

Arturo Lorandon, shipping magnate and Duke of Ilmar, head of the Consortium and Senator of Ilmiora, waves a meaty fist at the terrified form of Pilarmo. "What were you morons thinking!" is the mildest thing he says. He then throws Pilarmo out and orders him to await the Consortium's pleasure at his townhouse. He turns to the player characters and expresses his gratitude for uncovering a major plot, explaining that the political situation is delicate, to say the least. "A senior member of the Consortium, a senator, is dead in the rubble of his estate because of a Pan Tang sorceror, with another (Pilarmo) fled. We also have no idea what is going on with Tizun Thane, the other senator beside myself and Nikorn - Thane hasn't been seen for at least a month or so. The people are getting restless, and want to know what is going on; more to the point, what am I going to do about it." The party members exchange surreptitious glances; Tizun Thane's estates and holdings are to the north of Ilmar, near the area where the raiders put ashore before skirting to the north of the Ilmar region on their way to the Nikorn estate. This is more bad news.

Lorandon suggests three possible routes of action. One: unmask the conspiracy and let the people loose on the perpetrators. They might be lucky to escape with permanent exile. Two: he could authorise a War of Assassins between Jorthan and his enemies. Or, three: a compromise. This one is promising. He says, "Apart from the Consortium's members representing our interests in Bakshaan and Karlaak, we are seriously depleted. Your father's death and the disappearance of Thane leaves me facing the four men who were responsible for hiring that Pan Tang madman. A possible way out of our dilemma would be to blackmail them; keeping them in our pockets would mean that anyone else on Pan Tang who knows about this would not realise we have full knowledge ourselves - in other words, use the four fools as double agents." Sir Blanque approves of the third option, although he would like to see the law take its course. Lorandon nods his agreement; "Perhaps a combination of these options would suffice. It would also allow us to divide and conquer the merchants." With this, the group leaves for the Nikorn family's townhouse in Ilmar.

On arrival, they find that a message is waiting for them. The four merchants have suggested a meeting to Iron out our differences. The phrasing has Kelos' slimey words all over it, according to Jorthan. Off they go to meet the opposition in the Purple Dove tavern in the caravanserai outside the city walls. [Non-metal armour is acceptable, as are side weapons, at least for those of high rank and their retainers. Shields, two handed and distance weapons are not. Ilmar is civilised, after all.]

Pilarmo is nowhere to be seen, which is no great surprise, but the others are all there. The party notes that Deinstaf looks and smells as though he has been drinking more than is good for him, considering the situation. Tormiel says very little. Kelos does all the talking as usual, a more unctuous version of Pilarmo's wailing. Jorthan tries to maintain his calm and starts to reply, and this is where Deinstaf loses it. Rant on: "Shut up, Kelos! Nikorn lost because he hired the lesser sorcerer, that's all! An old man, a priest of Law, had no chance against the might of our man! Okay, he was from Pan Tan and made a bit of a mess, but he still got the job done." He turns to Jorthan, "As for you, you young turd, I've had enough of you and your family. I formally challenge you to a duel, right outside and right now!" Jorthan replies, "Yes, alright then." The other two have been desperately trying to pull Deinstaf down, but to no avail. They give up in disgust and head homewards. Destiny decides to follow them at a distance.

A few of the locals have come to see what all the commotion is about, and act as witnesses to give the results of the duel legally binding status. A small area of land outside the tavern now becomes the site of a formal challenge, and Deinstaf squares up against Jorthan. The merchant is slightly faster and gets in the first blow, which Jorthan parries. He returns the thrust, which Deinstaf parries in turn. He has the reputation of being a fair swordsman, but his skills are suffering a bit due to the alcohol he consumed before the party arrived; he really was working himself into a rage. He misses his next pass because of this, and then fails to dodge Jorthan's return, a good solid hit to the right leg. Deinstaf goes down heavily and dies almost immediately from the shock. Jorthan thinks he must have been really weak for some reason, and not just the drink; "I've seen men survive much worse than that!" [This is correct; according to the scenario on which I'm basing this, Deinstaf has been slowly dying from a brain tumour for years - hence his erratic behaviour. In a sense, this is at least a clean and honourable death. His Constitution was only 6.]

Jorthan Nikorn. This is an old Julie Guthrie figure (I think) with a recent touch-up job. Her figures were very delicately detailed, and often had something slightly unusual about them; this particular guy is left handed.

However, this is when everything really kicks off. As Deinstaf breathes his last, two fighters come round the corner of a nearby building with weapons drawn; one has a knife, the other a sword. At the same time, Jorthan feels a dull thud as an arrow strikes him in the back; fortunately the penetration is relatively minor. Sir Blanque races to intercept the swordsman, drawing his own weapon as he does so, while Marion heads for the knife fighter: like for like. There is a momentary standoff as Sir Blanque and his opponent exchange strokes, with the large man he is facing complimenting Sir Blanque on his style. Marion swiftly disarms her guy. Jorthan turns around to see that there are two archers behind the group; the one who has already struck is starting to nock another, while the second looses, catching Jorthan in the right leg. He staggers back, then manages to duck into an alley between buildings to put himself out of their line of sight. They were deliberately aiming at him, picking him out from the general melee.

With the locals running around in circles screaming a lot, the fight suddenly stops with a whistled signal from one of the bowmen. The two of them vanish into the night, followed by the sound of hoofbeats heading off into the distance. The two foes against Marion and Sir Blanque surrender. The heavyset swordsman shrugs, and then offers to shake Sir Blanque's hand; "I am Evvers of the Mereghnn, as are we all. We were contacted to take out Jorthan over there, but now that we have not succeeded in our mission we offer our parole to you. I believe you are the war hero they call Sir Blanque?" He answers in the affirmative, thinking, "I like this guy." Marion and Sir Blanque let the two would-be assassins go, with a promise of aid in the future from Evvers. They patch up Jorthan as best they can, and then take him to a nearby church of Law for some more healing, for an appropriate donation of course. They leave him there, and then the pair head off in the direction Destiny was last seen. [Marion rolled a critical attack with her dagger, and although her opponent parried, his own weapon was knocked from his grasp because of the force of her attack.]

Destiny on foot. Figure from Bad Squiddo games, very recently completed.

In the meantime, Destiny has followed Tormiel and Kelos back towards the city gates, managing to keep out of sight. She sees them part company before the walls, with Kelos heading off inside, presumably to his house, while Tormiel makes for a rather untidy looking wooded area about a mile away. At this point she hears a commotion behind her from the direction of the Purple Dove tavern where she left the others, but decides to follow Tormiel, and sees him enter a ruined old church of Law, with its holy symbols recently defaced. A conversation starts inside, and she moves closer to make out some of the details. She hears Tormiel speaking with a man he calls Opluk, along with words such as "demon summoning" and "water elemental". After a quick debate with herself, she heads back to link up with the others. [Destiny rolled a critical success on her hearing, along with a good series of hide and move quietly rolls.]

Now that all three of them are together again, the characters debate what to do. They are unsure of what to do next, so they sleep on it after collecting Jorthan on the way home. They are all woken at dawn when Jorthan's steward appears, saying there is a gentlewoman at the main door asking for entrance. The characters gather in the main room, and a lady called Trevinka is ushered in; she is the wife of Kelos. She is extremely sharp, and quick to the point: "That worthless man went ahead and did what Tormiel wanted without consulting me first. I know Kelos is thick, but this is really too much." It turns out that she is the brains behind the success of the flashy merchant. "I can't allow him to destroy everything I've built up through him. We have an eleven year old son who takes after me, but unfortunately our daughter (six) is an airhead like her father. I will not allow my son's future to be jeopardised by a feud with the house of Nikorn by his stupid father." Jorthan asks what she proposes, wincing from his still fresh wounds. "I will undertake to make sure that whatever you want to be done on the Consortium will be backed by Kelos. I will take every opportunity to remind him that he is lucky still to be alive after this; after all, you people have already taken care of the Pan Tang sorcerer, and so you are obviously not to be trifled with; the presence of a Melnibonean will see to that'." Trevinka might be a ruthless social climber, but she is obviously a very effective one! The deal is agreed and she leaves, obviously relieved.

Jorthan is in no fit state to do much more for the moment, so the other three decide that now they are up and awake, they may as well make a dawn trip to the old church that Destiny found. After a very careful approach, they enter through a formerly impressive set of double doors and see the remains of the inside. This place was dedicated to Lord Donblas the Justice-Maker, and a few paintings of him still exist, albeit defaced with Chaos-themed graffiti. They move up to the second level, which turns out to be similarly empty. Here, though, a freshly inscribed Chaos octagon sits on the floor, and Sir Blanque immediately renders it useless. Marion says she hears the sound of hoofbeats. They stop at the rear of the church, and a couple of minutes later she hears someone coming up the stairwell. Sir Blanque moves to intercept, and scares the hell out of a much older man who is wheezing his way upwards. He turns and runs, obviously trying to get back to his horse. Marion, with a little help from Destiny, squeezes through a gap at the rear of the top floor onto a surrounding balcony and then jumps off, landing in the saddle of the horse below. The man gets another fright when he rounds the corner, only to be confronted by Marion. Sir Blanque appears behind him and he surrenders.

Questioning reveals much. He is the man called Opluk who met Tormiel here the previous evening. He is a Chaos worshipper, and he and Tormiel are old friends. The plan was for Jorthan to be captured and offered up as the sacrifice for a demon summoning - some of the arrows that were used against him were coated with a paralysing drug. Jorthan, though, has a very high constitution, so the drugs didn't work on him. Having said that, another hit would have probably done the job one way or the other. This would then leave Tormiel in a commanding position on the Consortium as the next logical choice to replace Nikorn as senator, ready to work subtly for Chaos. It doesn't look as though Pan Tang has a hand in this part of the plot, though; Tormiel is doing all of this for himself. After these revelations, the characters drag Opluk back to the city gates and hand him over to the captain there. They then go to check on Jorthan, and decide to stake out Tormiel's house. Full weaponry is the order of the day by this point.

Marion hides in her nice comfortable shadows in a dark alleyway, but this time Destiny doesn't do so well. Tormiel spots her from inside his house, and simply comes out to confront her. Sir Blanque spots an eight-pointed arrow on the clasp of his cloak, and heads off at high speed to fetch the Duke and his troops. Destiny tries to detain the merchant as long as she can, arguing with him furiously and as publicly as possible; he still hasn't seen Marion. Eventually Tormiel's ears prick up as many hoofbeats can be heard approaching at speed - Sir Blanque got there in record time (having DEX 20 helps!). Turmoil then tries to head back into this house, and at this point Marion appears and throws a dagger at him with superb accuracy. It just sticks in his robe as he turns tail and runs. [Another critical hit from Marion has damaged his demon of protection.] He is relying on his unnatural armour to protect him as he tries to run back to the doorway, but then Sir Blanque rounds the corner at speed, aiming for the merchant with a shield buffet at full charge. Tormiel goes flying and ends up flat on his face right in front of the Duke, who is right behind. Surrounded by a large number of angry guardsmen, Tormiel surrenders - even supernatural protection will not save him from so many sharp swords. [I rolled a natural 20 fumble for Tormiel's dodge attempt.] The unlucky merchant is dragged off to prison.

Everyone convenes at the Duke's house. It turns out that Pilarmo has already left the city for permanent exile, which takes care of that loose end. Duke Lorandon says that he will need to take public action against Tormiel; there is no way that the fracas of the morning can just be explained away. "Besides, why should we? Tormiel deserves everything that's coming to him!"

It takes a few weeks for everything to be readied for a major trial for treason. Lorandon and the characters make a deal with Tormiel: if he pleads guilty, he will be sentenced to death, but the Duke in his mercy will commute it to a sentence of lifetime banishment. For his part, Tormiel will not mention the Pan Tang or Chaos connection because of the panic that will cause, and also of course because the players don't want to tip off Pan Tang or anyone else that they know about that part of things. The hope is that the disappearance of Theleb K'aarna in the Weeping Wastes will be put down to something nasty happening to him in a little-known part of the world, which in a sense is true enough. Tormiel agrees; these are relatively lenient terms, and a lot better than he could expect. He also has his own reasons, of course, for not wanting anyone on Pan Tang to know about his little sideline in independent Chaos. His friend Opluk is going to be placed in the capable hands of the church of Law, so his fate is certainly sealed.

All falls out as planned, and the people breathe a sigh of relief - the public show assuages their need for a resolution of all the uncertainty and rumour-mongering. Tormiel heads off to permanent exile, and the characters take a well-earned rest. Bomilcar rejoins them after his sojourn at the coast, and both he and Jorthan spend some time recovering from their various wounds. Destiny reads the first part of Theleb K'aarna's grimoire, and emerges after a couple of months with the knowledge of summoning water elementals, albeit at a low chance to begin with. [She was already almost fully trained as a magic user, and just needed a bit of a top-up to be ready.]

The players then discussed what they should do next. Much needs to be accomplished. Jorthan needs to visit the far-flung interests of what is now his business empire. This will entail visits to Raschil in Filkhar, where his father met Sir Blanque's father, and Aflitain in Shazaar (where he encountered Marion for this first time). He will also need to sort out some business in Bakshaan at one point. A more pressing item, however, is the continued absence of Tizun Thane, who as a member of the Consortium and a senator should have been present at Tormiel's trial. Thane's estate to the north of Ilmar isn't too far, so now that everyone has had a good break from their exertions, this is where they'll be heading next time. It also will give Duke Lorandon some more time to figure out what to do about his fractured council.