(Written by Phil, player of Bartholomew Pettibone, concerning a recent expedition and earning Bart 100 xp per level)
From the Journals of Bartholomew Pettibone, of the House Pettibone
A Purveyor of Enchanting Sorcery
25 April 2021 – Behind The Green Doors (part 3)
The Masquerade of the Immortal Dead is passed, and as is usual for this time of year, sea-born storms have begun a steady assault on the land. The skies are almost continually clouded now, and cold rain falls in driving sheets as the storms assault the ancient city-state. A number of us who call ourselves the 'Survivors', and our good friend Durham of the Ringing Anvil, were gathered in the Under-star tavern, amiably chatting about the state of affairs in the city, while alternately downing rounds of ale and regaling each other with stories of our past deeds.
As a new round of drinks were brought to our table, a tall, striking man of middle-age, and well-dressed in the attire of a well-to-do man-at-arms, approached our group and inquired if we might be the legendary 'Survivors'. He was obviously out of his league – entreating with 'commoners' – and quite well-trained, He seemed used to being in a position of great command. While he tried to hide his association with the Great House of Khalid, his attempts were useless, as he could not help himself from being over-boastful. He also did not appear to be one to trifle with. However, he seemed to want to keep his identity and affiliations with one of the Great Houses somewhat secretive, so we played along with his amusing ruse.
He introduced himself as Teleb, of the House al Khalid, the right-hand man and former commander in league with Lord Dalinar al Khalid of the Great House Khalid. Teleb brought us a proposal from Lord Dalinar – he wished for us to attempt to gain an audience with a renegade Kzin named Red-Cloud, and to initiate some form of 'diplomatic' communications. Teleb seemed to be against this course of action, and obviously believed his superior was entering into folly – both by attempting to hire us (barbarians), and thinking that Red-Cloud could be reasoned with. After some heated discussions, Sesel dismissed Teleb with a counter proposal and a tentative acceptance of Lord Dalinar's request. I must say here that Teleb was wholly unimpressed with us, and seemed to regard us with contempt (being unclean barbarians). We reminded Teleb that it was his Lord, Dalinar al Khalid, who would make a final decision, and pointed out that, being a highly regarded former military general, he likely had a better understanding of our prowess and potential than did his foot soldier. We made it clear that it was certainly unwise to antagonize a potential ally. In the end, we accepted Lord Dalinar's proposal, provided the reward was increased by a fair amount, and sent Teleb away.
As Teleb departed, and we began chuckling and jibing amongst ourselves about his uppity-regal manner, a member of the city guard (in full, ceremonial garb and regalia) entered the Under-star establishment. Out of the pouring rain he appeared, bowed his way past Teleb as that other was departing, strode up to our gathering, and inquired if he were speaking to the 'Survivors of the Tel'. We seemed to be the group of the day around Cothon.
Sesel welcomed the guardsman, and answered that he was the speaker for our humble group, and asked how we may be of service. The guard, who did not appear terribly happy about his present task, retrieved a highly decorated scroll from his side pouch and handed it to Sesel. As he did this, his voice rang out clearly throughout the tavern as he intoned, 'To the Survivors of the Tel, I serve you this edict. You have been summoned to appear at the esteemed and just Court of the Moon, to answer for – evasion – of toll-taxes levied against you by the Most High House of the Barcedai'. It was obvious that the fellow serving the summons believed it was a farce, but a legally enforceable farce. After handing over the scroll, he was also dismissed, and Sesel read to us the contents of the summons.
Indeed, the Barcedai had accosted us lately, demanding a toll-tax, as we passed by their holdings outside of the Fisherman's Gate (a thing we and others had done countless times before). Apparently we had slighted them, by refusing their nonsense, and so now they were suing the 'Survivors' for a hefty and ludicrous sum of 10,000 gold sovereigns!
Much discussion ensued, and we were lucky enough to have a representative of another great house (al Rashid) present to help provide insight and ideas. Here is the catch: we are 'barbarians', and as such cannot represent ourselves at the Court of the Moon – only citizens have that right. So, we must either hire an advocate (likely to happen), choose a 'trial by combat' in the arena, pay the absurd fine, or hand ourselves over to the Barcedai as indentured servants (slaves). A course of action was decided upon, including potentially stalling in court while we investigated several avenues of corruption associated with the Barcedai (to use as bargaining leverage against them), before accepting a trial by combat. We also considered several clandestine, but friendly 'raids' against the Barcedai stronghold and their businesses – light, political harassment. After all, we are 'barbarians'.
With our general business concluded, our little study-group broke apart, with most of us heading out to various, individual engagements. However, Ravna and I, with our good friend Durham, decided to hike ourselves back to the Weirding caves, in order to glean more information about the 'Green Doors'. Gan joined us, as did Pako, and Ix (a klackon hireling, friendly with Ravna). We were not to be disappointed in our adventure. And I must say, some of the information we gleaned is both exciting and perhaps 'empire changing'! Some of what we learned I will not write here, for public consumption, and I have leaned upon my fellows to keep our learning close to our vests.
As we entered, we found the caverns quiet, dank, and dark – as always – and with Pako's keen senses we had no difficulty arriving to the Green Doors. The musky, not unpleasant, aroma of the erotic vampires lingered. Aside from the doors being closed, we noted no obvious, recent disturbances. During our previous sojourn here, we had left in a great hurry, being pursued by a strange, floating, many-armed creature. I was certain we had left the doors open, but as I mentioned, we found them closed upon our return.
Expecting more 'vampires', we impregnated face-cloths with foul smelling garum, and wrapped them around our faces to deaden the scent of those foul beasts. Durham and I availed ourselves to continue further studies of the glyphs, sigils, and runes framing and on the massive panels of the Green Doors. Ix, after consult with Ravna, attempted to open the doors using force and determination, as the doors refused to open when Durham laid his hands upon them.
We gathered many new rubbings, etchings, and copies of the runes about the door. Durham looked for direct story-lines attributed to Taharqu, while I searched for more pointed information relating to the construction of a specific watercraft associated with Taharqu. We were not initially successful, but did come away with increased information.
Ix was able to slide the doors open, wide enough for us to pass through with little difficulty. The entrance chamber was as we left it, strewn with detritus and rotted corpses left by the vampires. However, happily, there were no signs of those wretched foes. Our small group searched through the mess, piling the refuse in a corner, and cleaning the room as best we could. Initially, Gan and I inspected the doors and their close surroundings in order to determine how they might be worked open and closed. Unfortunately, our research on that was unsuccessful. Afterward, he and I maintained a watch on the only other exit, a hallway that led off to the east and west, out of the northern side of the chamber.
It was not long before Pako alerted us that creatures were approaching down the hallway. Gan took a peek around the corner. As well, Durham used his detecting device and was able to discern that three living beings were moving toward us. As they came into view, I recognized them as creatures I had seen with Sakkra in the past. They were human in basic shape, their skin a uniform grey color, and only as tall as young children. Their heads were almost comically large, and their eyes were massive, dark pools as black as obsidian. They each had short swords slung on baldrics, and wore odd-looking harnesses. Something about them seemed very much out of the ordinary.
Having seen us, the three grey men stopped, looked briefly at each other, then one began to depart quickly back the way they had come. The other two remained where they were, staring at us. I made a hasty decision, and wrapped the arcane ether around them, attempting to drop them into slumber, rendering them harmless. However, they were mostly able to shrug off my arcane attack – fortunately the retreating grey man crumpled to the floor in a deep sleep, but the remaining two immediately defended themselves.
The grey men stood perfectly still, and their eyes, even as impossibly large as they were, widened further. A moment later I found myself leaning against the wall, sweating, with my head feeling like all the recent sea-storms were swirling inside of it. Durham was in a frothing rage, attacking Ravna, and Ravna was defending with all of her might – and losing! Pako was repeatedly imposing himself between Durham and Ravna, trying to defuse Durham's odd berserker rage without causing harm.
After Durham was quieted, and the rest of us were nursed back to the here-and-now, Ravna explained what had happened. The grey men are apparently telepathic to some degree, and were able to shut our mind's down – all except Ravna and Pako. Luckily, the grey men were not that sturdy, and Ravna was able to distract them with her superior mental abilities. Pako, recognizing that Durham was not himself, nipped him on the shoulder, hoping to break him from his trance. It worked – but not quite as expected. It was at that point that Durham flew into a rage, attacking our aggressors. The grey mentalists were easily subdued, but Durham raged on, and attacked Ravna. You know the rest.
Having had his mind completely ravaged three times now, here at the site of the Green Doors, Durham declared that he was fit to leave, and never return. I must say, at that moment I heartily agreed. However, he made one final sweep of the area with his detection device, and we were rewarded with a potential finding that I cannot fully write about here. To be brief – near to our location was an amount of metal that was almost inconceivable, and an apparent energy source that was stronger than all of the lightning from a century of sea-storms!
Pako stealthily trundled down the hall to make a quick investigation and returned post haste, unharmed and with very interesting information. He had come into a very massive chamber, with two exits to it's north, and an apparent egress in the southern portion to the oceans beyond – a large part of the chamber was filled with seawater sloshing in and out. There was also a dizzying array of metal cages and structures (Pako could not reliably describe them). As well, there was the floating, tentacled beast that had chased us out of the caverns during our previous excursion.
I reached within the arcane realm and was able to link my sight with Pako, and then I made him vanish from our sight – adding increased stealth to his unique abilities. Pako then returned to that large chamber to make a more thorough investigation – and with me able to observe all that Pako saw.
The chamber was large, the beast was indeed present and patrolling, and within the water was something I cannot fully describe. However, it is of my opinion that the source of metal and energy that Durham discovered lay there, before Pako, submerged. I beheld it through Pako's eyes, and I am convinced that we must arrange a more concerted effort to secure this location and it's holdings!
As the four-limbed, floating beast seemed to be taking notice of Pako, he departed, unseen or detected, and returned to us. We gathered all we could find that appeared to be of value, and made our way out of the caves. Upon returning to Cothon Under-star, I immediately searched out Hey-Jo, explained all that had transpired that day, and then sent a written missive to Sesel, via Gan. Based on this new information, there is much that needs to be discussed and planned. Perhaps the 'Survivors' might soon become a singular force to be reckoned with.
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