Berrik looks pensively out the window of the Bloodied Axe. He can't imagine why his people would be this far north, let alone camped outside the city of a tyrant. He wonders if it would be prudent to do some recon there. The rest of the party look slightly concerned - Berrik's face is right up to the glass of the window, his breath fogging it up as he narrates his thought process. They know Berrik's tribe is a good lead, but something hella weird is going on in Suite 2. How do we just ignore that? What if it also contains a lead? Lotty's unsure, everyone's unsure. The Ashen Company really doesn't want to make a decision here that would lead to the demise of their families or the mission.
We re-up our Non-Detection and take a break from fretting about our next steps. Flynn reaches out to Derrik, who says he's arrived but has yet to meet up with Vi. He sends Latharial an update too, and she responds that she is on the move. Null is concerned that Vi hasn't linked up with Derrik yet. Berrik picks up on this and kindly contacts Vi, who says that she is doing something for Remmi first. Weird, isn't Remmi unconscious right now? And wasn't the whole "Go to the Lands of Desolation to find Ezra" thing his last request to Vi? Everyone would love to follow up on this, but we need to conserve spell slots and focus on the mission at hand. Finally, everyone agrees to go check out Berrik's tribe. We pat ourselves on the back for finally coming to a decision and start thinking about logistics. However, our priorities quickly change as we hear thudding in the hallway outside Suite 2.
A quick check of the hallway reveals no culprit, but it's evident that more boards have been added to the blocked entrance of Suite 2. Nevermind! The tribe will have to wait. We move from our room on the second floor up to Suite 3 on the third floor. Since Suite 3 is right next door to Suite 2, Berrik uses Passwall to make us an entrance and Flynn dispels the magical darkness inside. We find a room glowing with an eerie green light that has been reinforced with several feet of stone on all sides. Humanoid bones and cobwebs adorn this small chamber. In the centre is what we presume all the fuss is about: a floor-to-ceiling carved stone totem around 4 feet in diameter. Arcane runes and generally spooky design elements cover the thing. Null, astute as ever, believes the totem to be necromantic. Duh. Berrik and Flynn ruminate on the best way to figure out what the totem is without triggering it. Dispel Magic? Identify? Lotty thinks we're moving too fast and wants to talk to the barkeep before we do anything to the totem. Null volunteers to go with her, and the two head downstairs to the main floor. Meanwhile, Berrik and Flynn Detect Magic on the totem and realize that it contains: necromancy, transmutation, adjuration and conjuration magics.
Downstairs, Lotty and Null find neither hide nor hair of the barkeep. They go to the basement kitchen and the larder, finding a bedroll and muddy footprints inside the larder. The footprints lead to a ladder under a locked hatch. Lotty sends Boobrie through a small opening and confirm that it leads outside. Guess we're alone here. The pair return to the main floor and receive a message from Flynn, who is getting very impatient. Lotty tells him that the bartender is gone and we're going to spend ten minutes or so seeing what we can dig up. Lotty and Null eventually find a locked cabinet under the bar that even Null (who rolled a 20, +2 from Lotty) cannot open, despite her belief that she was reliably talented in such things. Surely a very high value item must be inside to warrant such an intricate lock! After some back and forth, Null produces a crowbar and elects to force the cabinet door open. As the wood splinters slightly and the door slides back, Lotty and Null see a magical white thread break, Lotty clocks this as an Alarm spell and knows very well now that they have to skedaddle. Closed shutters have suddenly appeared over every window. They grab the contents of the cabinet: a paperback socio-economic manifesto and a leather-bound volume which turns out to be the guest ledger for the inn. They rush back upstairs.
With Lotty and Null's return, Flynn is relieved to finally be able to do something! We do a quick skim of the ledger and realize that Suite 2 has been "Out of Order" for over a year and the Ashen Company are the first guests to stay in over 2 months. Berrik and Flynn still don't know what exactly the totem is for, but we all agree that it's bad and should be destroyed. Lotty and Null confess that we'll have to hurry, as an alarm spell was somehow tripped downstairs through absolutely no fault of their own! We agree on a plan: Berrik will cast Antimagic Field to suppress the totem (this will also affect Passwall due to the small space) and Flynn will enter a Dao form and smash the thing to bits. Null volunteers to be a lookout and warn them of any incoming danger.
Null posts up at the top of the stairs, while the other three get to work. Berrik casts Antimagic Field and Flynn takes on his Dao form, complete with giant hammer. Null hears movement downstairs. Listening, she discerns that the panicked barkeep and many guards are downstairs looking for them. Null activates Ghost Walk and tries to walk through the boarded up doorway, but it doesn't work. Frustrated, she tries to quietly scratch at the board to get the attention of her friends and goes on to tell them they need to hurry - we have company downstairs and they're on the way. The trio inside gets the message and Dao Flynn proceeds to smash deactivated totem to rubble. Null floats up to a small crawlspace and hides, just out of view of the troop ascending the stairs. Long silent seconds pass and Null soon finds her crawlspace filled with smoke. She drops back down to the third floor and finds the hallway aflame. She moves to the boarded up door and bangs on it, yelling that there's a fire and we need to go NOW. Null (now on fire) floats up again, this time all the way to the roof (which is also on fire). She quickly pats the fire out and moves to a nearby rooftop to hide, waiting to make sure her friends exit the inferno.
Inside, the trio sees the spooky totem crumbled at their feet. They heard Null's warning, so Berrik drops Antimagic Field. The Passwall hole appears again and they rush through in to Suite 3. Smoke is starting to swirl in under the door. Dao Flynn starts smashing at the newly shuttered window, trying to make an exit. As the shutter falls away, they look out the window and see scores of vikings and huscarls gathered below, waiting to stop them as they flee the fire. Lotty hears cries for help coming from downstairs - the barkeep must have been left for dead. She's a good person who likes to rescue people, but this guy might also actually tell us something worthwhile if we rescue him. Lotty casts Fire Shield on herself and goes downstairs to retrieve him, while Dao Flynn continues to break through the window. Lotty quickly finds the guy, unconscious and with his hands tied behind his back. She casts Enlarge on herself and cradles the barkeep, shielding him from the flames and casting Cure Wounds to keep him alive as she makes her way back upstairs.
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| Emily's been rewatching Grey's Anatomy, so this is the only cheesy, cool-guy fire rescue image she could think of at 12:30 am. |
Berrik and Flynn are relieved when they see a big Lotty bust through the door to Suite 3 just as the flames are starting to lick through. Flynn has managed to make a large enough exit at the window. Lotty and Berrik down Fly potions and Flynn elects to try to distract their pursuers. No one has time to be indecisive, so this is our plan. Dao Flynn jumps from the 3rd floor window to the alley below, using Earthglide to make his landing entrance more impressive. He pops up out of the ground in front of Calitrax's forces and barely has time to make his pitch about how he's the super powerful and intimidating being that has just escaped from the destroyed totem before every soldier in front of him attacks. As Dao Flynn is set upon, Berrik and Lotty (still carrying the barkeep) attempt a stealthy aerial escape. Unfortunately this doesn't go their way - shouts and alarms ring out as Lotty, Berrik and barkeep take flight. Back on the ground, Dao Flynn hears more voices shout - panicked this time. Crashing the party outside the burning Bloodied Axe are swaths of undead suddenly found to be out of the soldiers' control. Dao Flynn, seeing Lotty and Berrik take off, uses this opportunity to make his exit. He makes a couple quips that add to his lore about even more beings imprisoned in necromantic totems and then Earthglides to the safety of Urt the tanner's basement.
Null also sees Lotty and Berrik take flight. Before she gets a chance to follow, her friends are hit with a barrage from arcane ballistae. Berrik and Lotty to their best to outmaneuver them, but still take some hits. Lotty tries to shield the barkeep with her body. Null follows her friends towards the north(w)e(a)st wall of High Rock, but stays hidden and keeps her distance, not wanting to reveal herself to Calitrax's forces. As Berrik and Lotty fly across the city limits and move into the frozen wilderness, Null remains within the walls of High Rock and watches her friends for as long as she can. If she follows into the snow, she will be spotted and shot. Best to lie low and seek them later.
After some time, Berrik and Lotty find themselves outside of the range of the ballistae. They are relieved, but Lotty notices the barkeep has been killed in the onslaught. They quickly look for a place to land and find one, in a small sheltered outcropping on the side of a mountain. Berrik gets to work ritual casting Tiny Hut to get them some shelter, while Lotty uses a potion to revive the battered barkeep. He sputters, taking in air again before promptly passing out from shock. He's unconscious, but stable. Lotty intends to question him as soon as Berrik finishes the hut. Before long a flutter of Sending spells and Far Scribe messages go back forth between Flynn in Urt's basement, Lotty and Berrik on a frozen mountain, and Null on a roof somewhere. They all confirm their whereabouts and status. Null elects to go to Flynn since he is also alone in the city. Lotty and Berrik are filled with dread at the prospect of a Flynn and Null team up, but this situation has left them with few options.
Null downs a Fly potion, getting to Urt's quickly and stealthily. On arrival she checks her surroundings, noticing a broken window next to the exterior basement hatch. Null peers inside and her heart sinks - kindly Urt is lying dead across his shop counter with an axe embedded in his face. We did this. By talking to him, we condemned him to death. Null rushes downstairs and tells Flynn what she saw - Urt has been murdered and it's no longer safe to stay here. Where could we possibly go to be safe? The Grove? Flynn wonders aloud if Null managed to grab a soul token from Urt, but she explains that it's only something she can do if she's present when someone dies. She's doesn't like to talk about her spooky abilities - it makes her self-conscious. She anxiously fibs that she's a little like a priest, helping the souls of the dead move on. It's unclear to Null if Flynn believes her or believes some other Flynn version of her story entirely. All this talk about souls makes Null and Flynn wonder they could bring Urt back. Even if they can't, Null wants to search his pockets. They tiptoe upstairs and sneakily climb through the broken window. As they approach the corpse, the pair spots an arcane white thread strung across the front door of the empty shop - another Alarm spell. Flynn thinks the axe in Urt's face might interfere with a Raise Dead potion working, so he gets in position to hold Urt's caved head and asks Null to pull out the axe. As she approaches, the body twitches and a guttural growl emits from its throat. Surprised, both Flynn and Null take a hurried step back. They look on in horror as Urt's previously lifeless body sits up. Its eyes are shining with a familiar blue light.
