Upon returning to Tuskdale, Darius immediately organized an expedition to the island of Lake Candlemere. If Fey Beasts were once more crossing over into his lands, it needed to be dealt with *immediately*. And he had a strong suspicion that following this thread could bring him closer to understanding both the Guardian of the Bloom, and his former advisor Tristian. He set Ekundayo to the task of taking a band of scouts and searching for signs of the Tomb of Armag. He set Jubilost and Storyteller to researching anything they could learn about it in the archives. And then he set forth to Candlemere.
Upon arriving on the island they found it, as advertised, crawling with fey intruders – from evil trees to enhanced bears.
Making their way back to the ruined tower on the island’s peak, they found Rismel dead and the portal open! They had a brief vision through the portal of an overgrown forest temple with Elk horns before it vanished…
And then large numbers of teleporting dweomercats began appearing and assailing them from all sides!
Once they fought off the ambush, they quickly made their way to the Temple of the Elk – which they had cleansed so long ago to clear the fog concealing the Stag Lord. They found it much as they had left it… except for a large pack of fey Manticores preventing access.
After defeating the Manticores, they found an open portal at the top of the temple stairs – in the same spot they had originally met Tristian…
Stepping through the portal they found themselves in old ruined corridors overrun with odd vegetation reminiscent of the First World. The place was crawling with ambushing RedCaps.
And just enough of the old chests and bookcases turned out to be Mimics to keep them on their toes while exploring and looking for clues.
They found many rooms full of scattered tomes and manuscripts. Strewn about as if someone had abandoned them in frustration not finding what they sought.
Eventually they came upon a dusty bedroom… with a Defaced Sister. And not just any sister, but they very same one they had rescued from the Cyclops Tomb. Rather than fighting, she wished to talk. She told him that the Defaced Sisters really were sisters – they had once all been nymphs in the First World. They were bound to the strongest Nymph – the Guardian – and she had made them into the Defaced when she “shared” her Curse with them.
She told them that Trisitian had been similarly ensnared and enslaved. He had once been a Deva of Sarenrae, not merely a divine-blooded human. She had stolen his divinity and held it hostage to force his cooperation. His task was to aid in both Darius’ rise to power and then his fall. But through creative interpretation of her orders he had managed to repeatedly defy her intentions. So she forced the issue with Voredekai’s Eye and brought him back to her.
She did not know why her sister had been cursed and exiled from the First World, nor the details of her punishment. Only that she had now spent centuries raising kingdoms and then destroying them – in the process herself slipping from cheerful and gentle to arrogant and cruel.
The Sister said that Darius had been expected, and she had been tasked with using a rune-stone with an Imprisonment Spell to permanently remove him. But she did not wish to use it. Since she was bound to the Guardian’s will, she instead asked Darius to free her by helping her die…
Darius looked at her for a time, turning this over in his head. Finally he offered her an alternate solution. Use the Stone on herself. She would be similarly out of the Guardian’s reach, but would retain a chance at eventual freedom. One day, after the Guardian had been defeated or turned from her path, there was still the possibility that someone could free her. The Sister stared at him for a moment in shock, and then agreed. She used the stone, and vanished.
After further exploration, Darius came upon a large Iron Golem, lifeless and frozen in place. He studied it for a time, and then recalled something he had read while searching the old libraries.. He closed his eyes, intoned a few words, and revealed the control command for the sleeping giant. It promptly awoke, and obediently began to follow!
Further exploration brought them to a large, ornate chamber with another Golem, a kneeling Tristian blindfolded and praying in a seeming trance – and the lead Defaced Sister! The Sister claimed the “mistress” was searching for what Vordakai’s Occulus could show her, while she had remained behind to rid her of her no longer useful minions. And she referred to the Guardian by name. Nyrissa.
Darius insisted he had come for Tristian, and they need not fight if she turned him over. Tristian appeared to be completely entranced – unable to hear or respond. The Sister bragged about how Nyrissa had manipulated Armag into trying to conquer a kingdom. About how little it had taken to lure in Darius himself to found a Barony. And about the lies with which Nyrissa had taken control over Tristian. That last perhaps, she should not have mentioned…
At that word, Tristian broke out of his trance. “Lies?… So that was all lies?!?!” he exclaimed angrily. And his hands began to glow with flame as he started to rise…
The battle was on! The Sister gestured to a large, shiny bronze golem and smirked as it strode forward… until Darius’ own new recruit entered the room to match it.
Tristian assailed the Sister with holy flame.
Hidden Redcaps leapt in from all angles to join in the fray, but by now Kwon was fed up with them. No more taking the time to take them down one at a time.
Darius worked to deactivate the other Golem.
And Angelique ensured *this* Defaced Sister would never again be twisting anyone or anything.
Once the Defaced Sister was defeated, Tristian attempted to explain himself. He was no longer sure what to believe. Nyrissa had clearly done *something* to him – she had taken his wings and his immortality. And he could no longer feel a direct connection to Sarenrae. But he was no longer sure that all was quite as she had led him to believe. How much had been real and how much had simply been sabotaging him with doubt and tricking him into compromising his faith?
He didn’t know why Nyrissa wanted Vordekai’s Occulus. He said he had done his best to obey the letter of Nyrissa’s commands rather then the intent – stretching their meaning as much as he could to mitigate their effects and help where possible. But he still considered himself a traitor. And he believed that the Goddess Sarenrae herself had blinded him for his treachery. She was the Goddess of the Sun, and he could no longer look upon it.
Darius was not so sure. He had seen the way Nyrissa could twist minds and lie with the truth. Whatever Trisitian was and had been, Darius believed he was still trying his best to serve his cause. He welcomed him back to the fold.
Further exploration brought them to large oak doors which led outside… revealing them to have been inside the very abandoned keep to which Nyrissa had invited and ambushed Darius at the beginning of his barony. It was time to return to Tuskdale, consolidate, and see if any progress had been made locating the Tomb of Armag.
Author’s Notes:
Things are starting to accelerate towards the endgame now. As more layers of Nyrissa’s plotting get pulled back the connections become clearer. Now we just have to sort out who is pulling *her* strings….
Leave a Reply to atcDaveCancel reply