A man named Willas Gunderson showed up at the capital, claiming to be a famous scientist, explorer, and reknowned expert in artifacts demanding that they deal with “criminals” who had stolen his treasures.
Jubilost apparently already knew the man – who paled when he realized the gnome was present. “So many titles for such a singular mediocrity”, was Jubilost’s comment. It eventually came out that the “treasures” Gunderson had lost were on the Isle of Candlemere, in the middle of the lake. Where they had laid unclaimed for centuries… Gunderson spun a tale of restless spirits which had ambushed his hired party, who had abandoned him for their own pursuits upon arriving on the isle. Jubilost,however, noted that the “expert” had hired an undead hunting Cleric and Paladin pair, because he couldn’t tell the difference between an undead “spectre” and a fey “will-o-wisp”. Regardless, Darius agreed to look into the matter – bringing Jubilost along for his expertise.
They could see eerie lights dancing near an old tower on the island for some distance away. Jubilost warned them to be prepared. “You may have encountered Wisps before, but there are many varieties in the Court of the Lantern King. Some far stronger than others.“
Sure enough, the soon encountered large numbers of what Jubilost termed “War Wisps” – magic resistant, difficult to hit, and packing a mean wallop. Angelique was reasonably well protected from their lightning by her wind spirits, but had difficulty damaging them in turn.
Jubilost, however, had his own solution for that dilemma. One with which the wisps of the Isle had little experience and did not know to fear…
On the tower they found a dirty priest in ragged robes, seemingly in a trance. And Darius could sense something deeply wrong with the entire area. When Darius attempted to talk to the man he grew increasingly agitated, claiming his god – Nethys, the twin-faced lord of Magic – had commanded him to defend the tower. Darius pointed out that Nethys was famous for *never* communicating directly and straightforwardly with *anyone*… which caused the priest to stop, stammer, and slowly shake his head and regain his composure.
His name was Rimsel, and he had come to the island seeking ancient knowledge. Instead he had found voices calling him, telling him to “open the gates”, claiming he was the Chosen of Nethys and this is what his god wanted. Voices which had set him to slaying his own companions. But now, with his mind clearing, he feared what may come through the gate he had opened. As they prepared for its coming, a tear in space opened – and out came “Duke Dazzleflare” – an ancient powerful Wisp.
At this point, however, Darius had just about had his fill of Wisps.
Afterwards, Rismel chose to stay on the island. He said the barrier between worlds remained weak here. And he would atone by guarding it to prevent anyone else from re-opening a portal as he had.
On the way back to the capital they received an urgent message from Tristian. The Bald Hilltop had erupted once again! Maddened forest beasts had began attacking peasants and travellers, and there were once more lights on the hilltop ruins.
When they arrived, they found a number of large fey-corrupted beasts, as well as another Fey spellcaster of some kind. This one seeming to be some form of mad druid.
They stopped the initial incursion, but as before Darius suspected there was far more to come. Tristian and Johd estimated it could be as much as a year before the Hilltop re-opened a portal this time. But Darius was certain they had yet to experience the full consequences of the current event.
In the meantime, they still had large numbers of beasts and monsters roaming the land and making trouble. Kassil suggested contacting the “Embeth Travellers”. Embeth was a forest far to the south which naturally swarmed with dangerous creatures. As a consequence it had developed a very skilled and battle-hardened cadre of monster hunters – who often hired out for threats in other areas. He suggested allowing them to host a Monster Hunt, and use the opportunity to welcome representatives of some nearby ares to establish better diplomatic connections. In particular he suggested Mivon and Pitax. Mivon – a nation of Aldori exiles – was volatile but reasonably stable. Famous for their mercenaries and their love of dueling. Pitax was a troublesome and untrustworthy neighbor, but they were strong and it would not pay to intentionally slight them. And any diplomatic inroads they could might save them much grief down the road.
The Travellers were only to pleased to be invited. The leader of the band they sent was a veteran Hunter named Jamel Visser. He proposed they begin with a contest. Three large creatures – a rabid Owlbear, an ancient Wyvern, and a Venomous Hydra – had become
“alpha specimens” of their respective species in the area. Whoever came back with the most heads from these three would be the victor. Jamel would not participate in the contest himself. He appeared to believe that would be “unfair”. Instead he would judge the contest. And he insisted that Darius and his companions participate as well. Not wanting to offend the Travellers when they desperately needed the aid, Darius agreed.
Kwan was excited about the idea. Maja was… rather less enthused.
Mivon sent the sisters Julia and Edna Aldori – lesser nobles related to the ruling Swordlords. They were experienced duelists with quite a reputation… but it was unclear that they had the slightest idea what they were getting into with monster hunting.
Pitax sent the famous bard Annamede Belavarah and her retainers. It was not clear what she intended in the Hunt, as she was far more well known for intrigue than for battle prowess. Darius suspected both that her purposes leaned more towards espionage, and that her flimsy cover was merely flaunting that.
The Embeth Travellers also entered their own team – three hardened rangers who looked like they knew *exactly* what they were doing. Darius suspected they would be the most serious competition.
Once the hunt began they all rushed out their separate ways. Maja tracked methodically, and they soon came upon their first quarry. The duelists from Mivon had proven better trackers than expected… but had found themselves completely outclassed when it came to actually defeating their prey. Darius and his crew had to step in and save them before they were torn limb-from-limb.
Fortunately Maja was quite a bit more skilled at tackling wild prey. That made one hunt for Darius’ team.
Annamede from Pitax appeared content to picnic with her companions from a scenic overlook and watch the festivities. She invited Darius to stay and watch with her, but he would not be distracted so easily.
The Embeth Travellers, however, appeared to have the situation well in hand – having already cornered the ancient Wyvern and fending it off with spears while preparing nets and traps. That would likely be one successful hunt for them.
That left the Venomous Hydra – with Darius having a step ahead of the Travellers in hunting for it in the swamps. They were already aware of it infamous regenerative properties, but Kwan didn’t let that slow him down. Regenerating from axe and sword was one thing. Regenerating from an arcane-boosted flaming katana was quite another.
Darius received a standing ovation when he presented the Hydra head back at the lodge – winning 2 to 1 against the team from Embeth.
But the celebration was short lived. A servant in the corner began moaning in pain and taking on an odd hue. He lay back in obvious discomfort….
And then a huge owlbear burst forth from where his body had been!
There were enough hunters present to take it down quickly, but not before some guest were hurt. And the poor servant left little to even bury…
Kassil suggested they keep the matter quiet for now. Roaming beasts and monsters was one thing. Monsters which burst from within you? That was a different matter altogether. And for all the panic it would cause they knew nothing they could tell anyone to protect themselves. The resulting panic would make managing the situation harder without making anyone any safer until they knew more. Darius hated the logic, but he couldn’t argue with it. They *needed* to know more – quickly. Kassil promised to to dispatch task forces immediately.
Back in town Darius tried to return some semblance of normalcy. He appointed Valerie their chief Diplomat – as she had more experience than any of them with noble families in the area. In her place he appointed Octavia as the new Regent – charged with keeping him aware of the needs and concerns of the commoners. She wasn’t native to the area, but she knew poverty and desperation – and he believed she had a good heart and a good head (when she chose to use it).
Before long, however, Tristian cam to him with another issue. A strange new cult had been spreading rumours of a “Savage Goddess” in the streets. There had been whispers of such before, but now – with the wild beasts on the heels of the spiders and Trolls – some were beginning to believe the whispers that the Baron was cursed and all who followed him doomed. The cultists were difficult to pin down. They melted away quickly when approached by the guard. But Tristian believed he had found a young woman who would talk to them – if Darius came alone and in disguise. Darius altered his appearance with minor illusions. Nothing too drastic. And met Tristian’s aquaintance in a back alley.
She was a young woman named Amalia – and did not appear to be entirely grounded in reality. She was also clearly somewhat infatuated with Tristian – who appeared to be either unaware or judiciously ignoring it. She spoke to them of the First Faithful – a wise leader who would show them how to serve the Goddess, cast down the false Baron, and give them new life in the beasts she would send forth from their bodies. This sounded entirely too familiar for comfort… Eventually she handed them an invitation. A pamphlet inviting seekers of wisdom to a meeting in the hills where all would be made clear. Darius nodded at Tristian. This they could not ignore.
The meeting was in a rocky gorge south-east of Tuskdale, held in the dark of night. As they approached they could see a crude camp and signs of many cultists. This was not an encouraging sign.
When they made their way to a central clearing, they found large numbers of villagers listening spellbound as a very familiar old man ranted and raved about the coming of the Goddess. It would seem Remus had returned to his old ways. Could he be the First Faithful? He had never seemed quite sane enough to organize and maintain an actual following.
But soon Remus gave way to another man. Younger. Larger. More forceful. This man spoke of the Goddess demanding a sacrifice for their sins, and then pointedly direct the crowd’s attention.. at Darius! “What do you say, Baron? Are you prepared to sacrifice your useless life for these people who you claim to care about?” Then the “First Faithful” ordered an attack!
Daris was in absolutely no mood to slaughter frightened villagers mislead by an opportunistic “priest”. Fortunately, he did not need to. He was perfectly capable of frightening away a crowd – unleashing a fearsome display scattering the villagers before him. The “First Faithful” cursed, stared at Tristian, and then fled before they could reach him – shouting “the Lady shall hear of your treachery!” as he disappeared. “Treachery”? Darius looked at Tristian, but he shrugged in return. He had no idea to what the priest had been referring.
Upon returning to the capital Tristian immediately began searching for more of the cult. But they appeared to have vanished with the First Faithful – the peasants and villagers melting back into their old lives. All they could do for now as continue the search and keep their eyes open. But there was worse news to come.
Kassil told him that many outlying villagers had begun to flee the Barony due to the beast attacks. And the numbers of peasants growing ill and spawning monsters of their own was beginning to rise… But it was not all bad news. The relative lull since the Hunt before panic began setting in had afforded him enough time to make a breakthrough. It seemed since the epidemic had broken large numbers of goblins had been appearing in the hinterlands. Goblins celebrating the chaos and praising Lamashtu – the Mother of Monsters – for its unleashing. He did not believe the goblins were actually responsible for the calamity, but they were benefitting from it. And he believe that they likely knew more than anybody else what was going on. And his agents had located a large goblin village dedicated to Lamashtu in the hinterlands… Its would seem another foray was at hand.
But first, Johd needed to speak to him. Johd looked exhausted and bloodshot. He clearly had not slept in days. He and Tristian had established a field hospital attempting to treat victims of the epidemic, but they still had no idea how to arrest the progression of the disease. It went from fever, to cough, to blood, to death within as little as hours. And then the bodies would spawn monsters not long after. The disease resisted all known cures – magical and mundane. And refused to even yield its secrets to divination magic. They believed that, horrific as it sounded, the only way to isolate the source would be vivisection of a living victim. They knew exactly what this meant, and claimed to have a volunteer for the procedure. Darius could not believe what was being asked of him. He also could not believe what he had to say next. “It so happens we have an expert on vivisection close at hand. Perhaps the only one who could give our volunteer a chance at survival. Send for Bartholomew Delgado”.
He would not ask this sacrifice – even of a volunteer – without speaking with them personally. The volunteer turned out to be a woman named Madla Stasek. She was a grandmother, who had raised five children of her own and had numerous grand-children past that. She knew what was in store for her. She knew the affliction was likely to kill her soon, and that the procedure would quite possibly do nothing but make her death more painful. But it was a chance. A chance for her to live, or failing that a chance to give them the knowledge they needed to protect the rest of her family and community. And so she was ready to face it. And Darius would not allow her to do that alone.
Bartholomew seemed almost excited at the prospect. Something new and different. A puzzle to be solved. He understood the gravity of the situation, but he could not help but relish the challenge. He started with.. Illusion magic? Making her skin and bones transparent. The affliction might resist Divination, but that was not the only magic which could provide information! He quickly determined the source of the problem was in her stomach, greatly limiting the degree to which he would need explore.
Before long he pulled out what appeared to be a large, spiky black seed, and put Madla in suspended hibernation so that Johd would have time to heal her injuries. He began to expound further, when the seed began to glow. He hurriedly tossed it to the ground…
Where it immediately spawned an owlbear! Darius had had *quite* enough of owlbears at this point, and immediately ran the beast through.
But now, now they knew. They knew what caused the disease – even if they didn’t quite know how it spread. But something in food or water seemed likely. This gave Johd and Tristian the first solid lead they had had, and together with Bartholomew they hurriedly began devising less invasive methods by which they could remove such seeds from other victims.
But as far as Darius was concerned, Madla would live, his healers had their path in front of them, and he had his. It was time to learn more of Lamashtu and her beast cult, from the goblins.
Author’s Notes:
I love the way everything in Kingmaker everything keeps building upon each other. Every action had repercussions down the road. Characters you meet in one Chapter play roles in others – often depending upon how you handled things the first time. It is far more difficult to ensure Madla’s survival, for example, if you freed Bartholomew’s Troll or drove him away whenh you met him earlier. And you never know which characters and areas are isolated sidequests, and which well echo down the road.
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