Sapphire:Sessions:20180922
Shawna takes the "monster" to the Temple of Yasseph and assists the priests there in "reverting" the creature back to its natural form(s). She reports the Mercenary Guild to Crown authorities for illegally hiring out to PDG.
Neville visits the Temple of Aakbarath to learn more about the goddess' aspects of Hardship and Strength.
Alastor goes out picking herbs and is able to locate some rarities. He feels he's being watched by different animals, including two rats and several pigeons.
On his way to his manor, Chalker is being followed by a couple of different groups. One group he recognizes as being from Greater Bicarn. He beckons to the other group he doesn't recognize and asks, "Who do you represent?" One of them, Donald, speaks up and claims "We represent merchant investors from over the sea." Chalker gives them 2sp and says, "Go to the Temple of Asseraah and tell them I apologize for what happened earlier."
Chalker checks Alastor's aura; there's a "vague mark" left from his handling the spiders. Shawna has her falcon Berenel capture one of the spying pigeons. It was given "enhanced perception" and compelled to "watch a certain thing" by "a mage with 'spiritual awareness'." The effect dissipates. Alastor feels the attention on him "slashed away."
The group rides toward the manor of Baron Travis Phelps. To assure himself that the mercs have stood down, Neville approaches one of the horsemen. "Do you know who I am?" "Yes, Sten got here fifteen minutes ago. We have orders from the guild master. We will be paid triple until you release us." Neville tells them, "Go inside and bring Torrez out. Is Tate Patel here?" "Yes. It could get messy. There are others in the house, some of whom we don't know. Sten didn't go inside." Chalker steps up and tells the merc to leave.
Neville will go in the front, Chalker behind Neville, Alastor through a back door, and Shawna through a garden door. Chalker loans Alastor his +2/+2 poison dagger. Shawna invokes Santash, Solash, and Yasseph, the protectors of Sapphire. Neville senses the influence of Aakbarath. Chalker feels that somehow the place has been turned into a temple.
Chalker goes in and starts up the stairs. A merc tells Alastor there are two mercenaries outside the ballroom to the left, and to the right are the family quarters. Neville steps deliberately on a four-inch-wide strip of darkened floor; nothing happens until he steps off again, then he hears a click and the walls on either side of him explode inward. Neville rolls forward as the walls slam together.
Shawna enters the ballroom. The ceiling is two stories high and the ballroom is overlooked by balconies. Standing on a six-inch-high platform is Descott Helron; she is glowing dark blue and faced away from Shawna. There are nine other people positioned around the room, all armed. Helron turns to face Shawna, who says, "Easy or hard?" "Given our allegiances, hard -- unless you wish to surrender." "Evil witch," snarls Shawna, attacking.
Alastor notices two sets of runes in a hallway, at waist and eye level. He takes down a wall hanging and tosses it into the hallway; fire and lightning shoot out from the middle pair, and Alastor dives through.
Neville cracks his knuckles and tells two mercs, "You're relieved."
Shawna strikes Helron a heavy blow, but most of the bleeding stops right away. "Neville's Door Removal" destroys a door; he bursts into song and fires his crossbow. Chalker hooks a knife from a man wearing a bandolier of knives; some kind of power comes back at him and Chalker immediately lets go. Alastor throws a poison blade into a man who turns pale.
Helron moves away and heals herself again. Shawna throws a Sunbolt which Helron dodges, then strikes with her sword. Alastor's stab is parried; he draws his Delsa knife. Neville drops his crossbow and punches a man. Shawna dodges a lightning bolt from the sword of a man standing near the kitchen door.
Chalker grabs "Sparky's" sword and thrusts it toward the man. Helron teleports to the balcony beside Chalker and grabs at his shirt; Chalker acrobatically dodges off the balcony. Neville, while taking his harpoon in hand, kicks another man. Calling "Santash, bless us!" Shawna strikes a man and dodges a bolt from another lightning sword.
Helron teleports to Chalker again. Chalker fast-draws Magekiller and Helron dodges. Shawna, saying "Solash, bless us!" kills a man. Another man grabs at Magekiller; Chalker parries and the enchanted blade peels the man's arm open. With his harpoon, Neville strikes down one of Shawna's attackers. Alastor yells "Son of a bitch," stabs twice, and kicks a man's arm.
Shawna says, "Santash, aid us!" and strikes a man in the vitals. An Apport spell fails to pull Magekiller out of Chalker's hand. Neville kicks a man's groin and rips his harpoon back out. Alastor kills a man with his poisoned blade. A man prays "Lord heal me," steps back from Chalker, and fast-draws two knives. Chalker gazes into Helron's face and says, "You have pretty eyes," then pulls his sword into her and runs toward Shawna.
Shawna shouts "Vengeance is mine!" and kills another man. Alastor runs across the room, swinging wildly. Neville attacks Helron with his harpoon and she Blinks away; he kicks a man, who falls. Chalker pushes his sword further into Helron's body, then runs a pick around Shawna, looking back.
Helron says something inaudible. Chalker sees a black aura "extrude" six feet around Helron; her hands are raised, and his sword disintegrates. He hooks Magekiller (which is still Apported) and throws it at Helron, who dodges. Neville retrieves his harpoon and kicks at Helron; he takes minor damage from the black aura. Alastor stabs a man in the kidneys, killing him. Shawna cries "Solash, burn her!" and casts another Sunbolt.
Chalker pulls Magekiller into Helron, but it spins around inside the darkness. Neville grabs Magekiller's hilt. Shawna cries "Delsa, curse her!" but Helron dodges wice. A black metal sword appears in Helron's hand; she swings at Neville but misses. Alastor stabs a man in the vitals.
Chalker fast-draws "Dink-Dink's Brother", swings, and strikes Helron. Shawna shouts "Solash, burn her!" and strikes twice. Helron steps into Neville and strikes him in the chest with her palm, uttering a Death Touch spell. Alastor, figuring he can't hit Helron, goes out toward the main house.
Helron, still with the dark field around her, appears on the balcony. Shawna is struck by a man, and in response turns and kills him. Chalker calls, "Let knife go!" Alastor yells at Helron, "Elvish orc-tard!" Neville yells "Chalker!" and releases Magekiller, then turns and hurls the harpoon at Helron; it strikes the wall behind her, but he immediately pulls it back into his hand. Chalker throws Magekiller at Helron, but the blade spins in the black field.
Chalker pushes Magekiller at Delron's chest. Shawna shouts "Solash, strike her!" and hurls a Sunbolt; Helron dodges, but the dark aura vanishes. Helron grabs Magekiller's hilt. Alastor yells at Helron again, and she glances down at him. Neville drops his harpoon, jumps up and grabs the edge of the balcony, then flips himself up and over, striking Magekiller and barely pushing it into Helron's flesh. Chalker says the magic words, "One Less Mage," and destructive energy surges through Helron's body. The balcony starts to collapse, and Shawna realizes "a spiritual event is happening"; Helron has called upon Vengeance and invoked a Death Curse.
Shawna: "Santash, shield us!" Chalker: "Talk to you later, V." Alastor dives under the balcony through a door. Neville grabs Helron by the throat and slams her to the floor. A dark nimbus appears over Shawna and Chalker, then disperses. Chalker retrieves Magekiller.
Alastor goes looking for anyone else who might be in the house. Chalker checks Helron's body, finding holy symbols of Aakbarath and Asseraah, a pouch of manastones (almost all of them burned out), herbs, dead spiders, and several rings.
Alastor finds Torrez bound and gagged in an upstairs bedroom; he alerts the others, then cuts off the gag. "Thank you, thank you," Torrez gasps. "I am the caretaker. I don't know why I aided Patel... They were setting a trap for the Protector.... I tried to ride to warn the royals, but they caught me." Alastor tells him, "I have no reason to trust you. Give me a reason not to kill you." Torrez starts babbling in panic. Neville: "Who was in charge? What did he sound like?" Torrez imitates a peculiar, gravelly voice.
Chalker finds Tate Patel's ID on one of the bodies in the ballroom (the man who had tried to grab Magekiller and gotten his arm sliced open). He searches the bodies, leaving their PDG insignia prominently displayed.
Alastor: "Do you know anything about Caleb Bond?" Torrez: "Not really. I've heard the name. My records are in my office in the city. I know of all the places Patel set up in Sapphire" and he lists them. Neville: "What do you know of a conspiracy against the apothecaries of Sapphire?" Torrez: "Nothing." Torrez's aura is "messed up", as he was under Mind Control and Loyalty spells.
Alastor wants to burn down the manor; the others talk him out of it. He expresses concern that he is now a "marked man" due to his association with the group.