Episode I: Origins - Act V "Loose Ends"

Scene I - 14th of Olarune (just past midnight)

Their previous encounter with the assassins still fresh in their minds, the companions approached the battle with caution and dilligence, which paid off quickly. After a brief-yet-deadly melee, both of their foes were dead or dying. They stabilized one to question later, and proceeded to break into Talovar's office. Inside, they found several items of note:

*The cypher that Fergus wanted, which they confirmed was United Trade Coalition property.

*Correspondence from one Kato Orendel, a dwarf who Morgan identified as a wealthy businessman who controlled most of the metalworking trade in western Karrnath. In the first letter, dating back to Sypheros 997 YK, Kato alluded to the arrival of UTC in Rekkenmark, and suggested that they would need to be 'convinced to leave'. Evidence that Talovar and Kato were business partners was established in this letter, and Kato also mentioned having other associates who he seemed to respect. Near the end, Kato also told Talovar that he had something else he wished to tell him, but only in person. He looked forward to doing so at the 'Zarantyr conference'.

The second letter was much shorter, and dated near the end of Zarantyr. Kato seemed somewhat angry that Talovar was 'not interested in their current venture', and that Talovar hadn't told him personally. The letter also contained a veiled threat towards Talovar if he were to act on 'certain information garnered at the Zarantyr conference.' Both letters bore a seal with a crown and a ring in the center of it, which Morgan immediately recognized as the seal of the Aurum. He explained to the others that the Aurum was a loose confederation of extremely wealthy entrepreneurs interested in ancient relics and history. Born and largely based in the Mror Holds, the Aurum was more a fraternity than a chain of command, though some sort of chain of command apparently existed.

After brief speculation, the four adventurers came to some solid conclusions about the exact sequence of events. They agreed that Talovar and Kato (plus Kato's 'associates') had conspired to eliminate the United Trade Coalition's presence in Rekkenmark by violent force, using some sort of outside agency (which the assassins must have belonged to). Kato had learned some sort of senstive information pertaining to the UTC which he didn't want to discuss even in correspondence. He spoke with Talovar about it in the Zarantyr conference, and shortly after Talovar pulled out of the deal in a way that caused Kato to threaten him. On the night of the raid, Talovar must have sent some of his own men to intercept the cypher which was now in his office. Gerard suggested that perhaps the cypher and whatever documents it had been keyed to were the subject of interest at the Zarantyr conference. This seemed logical in context of the letters.

*The third item was a correspondence from Ermana Kessler, and it was pretty damning of Talovar. The companions knew they had their evidence for Sigo at this point. This letter mentioned by name an agent of the Emerald Claw who would be attending Talovar's gala - Alorais. It didn't ring a bell. It also mentioned that most of the undead soldiers had been sent to the 'Greywood Ridge' facility.

They went back outside and woke the surviving assassin to inquire about his employers, but he apparently had some poison in an alchemical tooth, and he used it to kill himself rather than betray his organization(s). The companions found the place where the assassins had first entered the castle (an arrow slit that had been magically widened). They climbed down the wall, walked right into Mandar Rath to get their horses, and were soon riding away.

Scene II - 15th of Olarune (evening)

The next evening, they were traveling across a bridge at dusk, just before they were planning to camp for the evening, when they were ambushed. The scarred man in full plate who had been asking all of the questions about Xen'Drik crawled out from under the bridge, greatsword in hand, as the companions reached the other side. Crossbowmen stood out from the foliage ahead and started firing, and a light-footed, gangly man with a shortbow began moving from tree to tree on the other side of the creek, firing arrows. The fight was draining and deadly - Morgan and Gerard both lay dying by the time all enemies were down, but they were revived by Esan and Ganitari before their souls could pass on Dolurrh.

The scarred man in fullplate was also revived after Morgan found a letter in his pocket, also from Ermana Kessler. It indicated that Ermana knew Talovar was dead, and that someone associated with the Silver Flame had done it. She ordered him to 'intercept and kill the agent if at all possible'. It also mentioned something about mercenaries being hired to cover an evacuation - she referred to the mercenaries as 'sisters'. So they were naturally interested in conversing with him. He supplied his full name when he was woken - Alorais ir'Vognir. Morgan recognized the Vognirs as a prominent Karrnathi noble family residing in Atur. At first, Alorais tried to bribe them for his freedom, but after they made it clear that they were not interested, he instead offered to 'completely sell Ermana out'. They learned a few things from Alorais:

*Ermana was interested in going to Xen'Drik, to retrieve something that had recently been discovered. He does not know what, exactly.

*The raids on Aundairian villages were just cover for what Ermana was really trying to do - capture the retired archaeologist Paetric Kendig without arousing suspicions. Kendig was sponsored by the Morgrave University in Sharn, and he went to Xen'Drik several times.

*Ermana Kessler was evacuating the sea cave complex west of their location. He gave an exact location of the complex, and confirmed that it had been the base of operation for the raids in Aundair.

They bound Alorais and the other surviving Claw soldier and took them along to Rekkenmark.

Aftermath - Olarune 17th-19th

Sigo was very happy about the results of their mission, and gave them the rest of their reward without any reservations. He also arranged for them to receive bounties for the captured Emerald Claw soldiers, but didn't want them to linger in Rekkenmark long. They were ushered to a covered wagon and taken to Korth, a trip that took a day and a half. When they arrived in Korth, they were taken aboard an airship (the Cloud Destiny) without any awkward questions asked. That night, Gerard was dropped off in Flamekeep, while Esan and Morgan continued to Sharn, where they would go their separate ways.

Episode I: Origins - Act IV "Talovar ir'Mandar's Last Gala"

Scene I - 13th of Olarune (early evening)

The trio arrived in Mandar Rath at dusk, just as the other late arrivals were filtering through the keep's main doors. Morgan was posing as an eastern Karrnathi noble visiting Rekkenmark on business, while Gerard and Esan went as his men-at-arms. They left their horses in a stable on the edge of town, knowing full well that they might have to reach these mounts in a hurry if things went badly tonight. Traveling up to the castle was an eerie experience, as their path was flanked on both sides by ghostly balls of light that hovered just a few feet off the ground. Morgan recognized the arcane trick quickly. When they reached the entrance hall of Mandar Keep, they were dismayed to see that the door they knew they would need to breach to begin their grim business had a guard posted directly in front of it. Even invisible, they would have a difficult time overcoming that obstacle. This problem lingered in their minds as they entered the adjoining Great Hall. A polished white marble floor reflected the light of hundreds more of the dancing lights that had illuminated the path to the castle. Perhaps eighty people sat or stood around the large room in clusters or alone, and servants in the livery of House Mandar moved among them, trays of hors d'oeuvres and wine glasses in hand.

They immediately began looking for the mole in Talovar's inner circle, a local noble named Halas ir'Jaimar. Sigo had indicated a passphrase for them to use when speaking with Halas to let him know that they were with Sigo. When they found the youthful lord, Morgan asked him about his 'encounter with the fierce bullette'. When Halas denied the rumor, and wondered aloud where it had first sprung up, Morgan replied that he had heard it from 'some drunken fool in Wynarn's Retreat'. Minutes later, Halas excused himself to the privy. While all this was going on, Gerard listened in on the prideful recounts of adventures in Xen'Drik by the famous explorer Thrush Xivdrad. Thrush was a special guest of honor at the gala, for his exploits were well publicized in the local rags. Gerard noticed a tall, heavily scarred man in plate armor listening intently to Thrush's tales, and asking pointed questions about survival techniques and local lore of the lost continent.

Gerard and Morgan left Esan in the ball room to go to the privy. Here, they met Halas again. All pretenses dropped, Halas was told of their dangerous mission and offered to aid them however he could. He took the vial of poison from Morgan, which was designed to triple the effects of the alchohol that its drinker consumed. Halas was better positioned to slip such a thing in Talovar's drink without being noticed. He told them that the passphrases to the various doors of the castle had been changed. Halas also warned them that Talovar's cat had some sort of special link to her master, and was more intelligent than others of its kind. Morgan guessed that she might be Talovar's familiar, for they knew that Talovar had studied at the Twelve, and was an accomplished wizard.

Gerard and Morgan met back up with Esan in the ball room minutes later. They decided to wait until the main performance by Amira d'Phiarlan began to slip out of the room, for they knew that Amira's play would be loud, and likely to keep the attention of the audience. Soon, the elven woman was on the stage with her troupe of actors, and Morgan recognized some illusion magic being used to set the stage. They left the room.

Scene II

Morgan easily managed to get the guard away from his post long enough for them to get through the door; he used a minor wizard's trick to create some noise in Talovar's audience chamber on the other side of the entrance hall, and while the guard investigated, the three of them quaffed invisibility potions, unlocked the door, and slipped through. They made their way down to the dungeons without further interference. Esan crept down ahead of the group and killed the two guards posted at the bottom of the stairwell. Morgan jammed the alarm lever in the guard room and waited with Gerard there while Esan went to the cells to find the prisoner he had been sent to free. Ganitari was a mess, but she quickly shook some circulation into her limbs and followed Esan back to the guard room. She disappeared into a store room where her gear was kept, but before she did she warned them that Dashokoya Nurabo, her nefarious Inspired captor, might be coming down soon for her nightly interrogation.

Ganitari was right. While she was putting on her own clothing and gear, the footsteps of armored guards could be heard coming down the stairwell. The companions quickly set up an ambush in the hallway outside, a dangerous chokepoint. Soon, Dashokoya, her blade bearer and four Reidran retainers were in the guard room. They quickly spotted the bodies of the prison guards, but when one of the retainers asked his mistress whether the alarm should be raised, Dashokoya became overconfident. She believed that they could deal with the situation themselves. They stepped through the door and began dying. Esan and Gerard decimated Dashokoya's entourage quickly, Morgan blinded the Inspired woman with unorthodox yet highly effective necromancies, and soon Dashokoya was retreating up the stairs alone. Morgan recognized a psionic power used to circumvent her lost eyesight, but she apparently did not wish to fight when grossly outnumbered. Her unarmed bladebearer tried to block their way, but they plowed right on through him. Soon, Ganitari joined the fray. Cornered in the room just above the dungeons, Dashokoya succumbed to Gerard's relentless blows and the combined efforts of Esan and Ganitari. Right after Dashokoya fell, her bladebearer took his own life with a previously hidden dagger.

Scene III

Thankful that they had (miracurously) not yet raised an alarm, the quartet made their way up to the second floor once again. They changed their plan a little bit when they ran across a second manned sentry room; they would ambush Talovar in one of the hallways of the outer wall, which he would have to travel through on his way to bed. They ended up waiting for much longer than they had planned - apparently, the poison hadn't worked, because Talovar didn't stumble through their trap until the party was nearly over. They killed him quickly, using a silence spell to avoid notice as well as to prevent him from casting spells.

When they returned to the sentry post that had deterred them before, they were surprised to see that all of the guards were asleep. Esan killed them silently and they continued up to Talovar's private suite on the third floor. The third surprise of the evening, and perhaps the most dangerous yet, was that they were not the only ones trying to get into Talovar's study. Crouching in front of the late lordling's bedroom door was a man dressed all in black, with two swords in criss-crossed scabbards on his back. Another, dressed identically, stepped out from a shadowy corner, staring right at Gerard. As the sentry called out a warning to his twin, the companions wondered briefly if they would fare better against these assassins united and awake, with Ganitari at their side...