The Dauntless III: Revenge of the Sith

"Right," Antoinette replies. The group proceeds to gather the treasure. Afterwards they make their way out of the cathedral to the ruined castle of the old king.

There is a distinct difference in the air when you return to the surface, lighter and less stale. The sense of constant unease as you travel through the streets is also lesser, and you no longer feel as though you're constantly been watched.

The Hall of the Old King is as you left it, ancient and decrepit. King Harral sits on the throne behind his honor guard of Graveknights, leaning forward intently. Though he still emanates a sense of power and presence, you can no longer feel his connection to the city.

"... Ah can sense yer task is complete. Ya've done Saggorak a great service. It's been saved in a way it never was before. Ah have but one task remainin' before Ah finally meet mah rest. Champion, step forward."

Suki leaves the head with the others before stepping forward and kneeling.

"Ya've done as Ah asked. Yer debt is paid, and yer mortality is returned... in a manner o' speakin'." The Old King hangs his head slightly. "As the king o' the undead, Ah cannot fully give the gift o' life, even by returnin' the piece o' yer mortality Ah held fer collateral. But Ah can offer as close as ya can get. Ah bestow upon ya the honorary title o' Saggorak's emissary ta the livin' world, and name ya a knight o' Saggorak. Ta fulfill yer obligations, Ah bestow upon ya this blessin', ta bring ya as close ta life as ya can get." A small ball of light appears in Harral's hand, and flies towards Suki, embedding itself in her armor. In an instant, it shifts slightly, turning black with red and green trim, and Suki's eyes momentarily glow with the same eerie green of the king's eyes. With this done, Harral takes in a deep breath, though he clearly does not need it, and releases it. "Mah work upon the mortal world is done. Ah will no longer curse the livin' with mah presence beyond death. Fer this, Ah owe you all a debt that Ah can truly never repay." His eyes close, and after a moment, he slumps over, and his body rapidly turns to dust.

One of the knights, the one standing nearest to the throne, nods. "With the king's death, the people of Kovlar will attempt to reclaim the city for themselves. You have done a great service for the kingdom, and one of you is one of our own. For this, we will not interfere with your departure. We ask that you inform the Court of Regents of our intent to stop them, and otherwise stay out of the coming conflict between living and dead."

Dorrak watches the proceeding carefully, then nods to the knight that speaks. "I believe our business in Saggorak and Kovlar is nearly finished. I hope the conflict to come is not too costly for anyone," he says. "We will tell the Court of Regents everything that has happened here."

Suki nods gravely, returning to her feet. "I hope there is not too much conflict, this city has seen enough suffering on both sides."

With that, the Dauntless return to Kovlar, dragon's head and horde in tow, hoping to speak with the Court one last time.

As luck would have it, when you arrive the Court of Regents is in session when you arrive, and you enter as Forgemaster Halrig is nodding to each of the other regents, seeming about to end the session. Kolarun Chiselrock's seat is currently occupied by a surly looking young man with a twirled moustache, who sits quietly and seems uninclined to interject, while the Archmage's seat is temporarily filled by an older muttonchopped woman who seems just as excitable as him. Halrig acknowledges you as you enter. "Dauntless. Ah was just 'bout ta wrap up business fer the day. Y'all got somethin' urgent ta share with the Court, or can it wait till the tenth hour tomorrah?"

"You'll want to hear this immediately. Saggorak's curse has been lifted. Undead still populate the city, but no longer will they continue to rise," Dorrak explains, wanting to get across just why the matter is so important.

The notion of being able to hear a pin drop is often considered an exaggeration, or a literary embellishment. It is now very clear to all of you that that is a real phenomenon, as the Court chambers fall dead silent. Then, Sentinel Stoneborn speaks.

"... explain. From the beginnin'. Now."

Dorrak nods solemnly, understanding the gravity of this matter. "As you know, we pursued the Scarlet Triad from the Droskari forge. The tunnel led through another base of theirs, and then into the dead districts. As we explored the dead districts, we were approached by a wraith in peace, and he took us to the old throne room. There, we met King Harral, who persisted as a lich-like being who, rather than being tied to an item like most liches, was tied to the entirety of the city. He enlisted our aid and offered his own, as his crown had been stolen by a magma dragon, Veshumerix," Dorrak gestures to the head Suki carries, "Who had also slain many of his undead followers and ravaged the buildings of the city before settling in volcanic caverns beneath the Temple of All Gods. He aided us on our quest to bring in Embermead in exchange for us slaying the dragon and returning the crown. To summarize most of the trials that took us there, we fought our way through the temple, apprehended Embermead, then proceeded down a long staircase that took us into magma caverns, where we slew Veshumerix. Upon returning the crown to King Harral, he gave us his thanks, then finally went to rest, ending the curse upon the city. His crown remains on his throne, and there it must sit until the entire city has been taken back, lest King Harral return."

"We should also note that some of the more intelligent undead have asked us to pass on a message advising against the attempted retaking of the city. They will not hesitate to defend themselves and what they see as their territory," Suki adds.

"They can fuckin' try," Hammersong growls. As Dorrak was speaking he seems to have taken a napkin (it seems the Regents had dinner during this session) and begun scratching out preliminary battle plans on it. Halrig looks at all the other Regents, and their placeholders, and lets out a weary sigh.

"Overnight session it is, then. Dauntless, y'all've done more fer this city than any hero since Khaddon the Mighty, and if any of ya was dwarves, Ah'd prolly be puttin' forward a vote ta name ya King righ' now. As it stands, Ah can only offer ya honorary citizenship, comin' with the right ta petition any Guild fer membership-an' Ah can assure ya any Guild would have ya-and the protection o' Kovlar's walls whenever it's needed. Now, if ya'll'll excuse us, we've got a crusade ta plan."

"Thank you, we're honoured," Dorrak nods deeply to the court. "We'll leave you to your plans then, good luck."

"Oh," Halrig say quickly as you turn to leave. "And tell Nalruven ta get his ass back to the city."

"Will do," Antoinette replies on the way out.

When the group steps back out at Alseta's Ring the Archmage is still busy studying the ancient artifact. Antoinette walks over to him to get his attention. "Archmage Nalruven, sorry to interrupt, but I have some things I would like to discuss with you."

The Archmage looks up from his notes. "Oh. Yes, welcome back to you all. Your magical assistants have been most helpful. I believe they're at breakfast at the moment. In any case, there was quite a lot I wanted to talk to you about! Did you know you have a shard of an ancient and evil god locked away in this thing!?"

"We did, actually," Antoinette replies. "We learned it the first time we used the gate. An aspect of Dahak attacked us in the transition hallway. Probably should have mentioned that, but I suppose we were more focused on other things. I would love to hear more about what your research has uncovered, but I wanted to ask some things of you first. See we just killed a dragon in the depths of Saggorak and it has left us with some great things. First of all is the material to perform a combined alchemical/magical ritual that may be able to turn someone into a dragon. Suki and I have been discussing the theory a bit since we became aware of the dragon. The second thing is it left us with a lot of valuables in the form of its hoard. I was hoping we could arrange some teleports with your guild, and your involvement in our ritual plans, in return for monetary compensation and full notes, records, and learning of the ritual."

"Oh." Archmage Nalruven seems slightly disappointed that Dahak isn't news to you. "Well, that can certainly be arranged. I'll be happy to discuss the details with you in the morning... er, my morning that is."

"More pressingly," Dorrak interjects, "The Court of Regents asked us to send you back to them as soon as possible. We lifted the curse on Saggorak."

"Yes, I was getting to that," Antoinette replies. "I'm sure your immediate future is going to be a bit occupied, but do contact us when you next become available. You are free to come here any time and continue your study of Alseta's Ring."

"Oh my," the Archmage says, casting a glance at Jewelgate. "It seems that you've brought all kinds of excitement. Well, I'll be back at some point later. Must get myself home and deal with whatever kerfuffle Hammersong wants to drive up." With this, he snaps his fingers and vanishes in a flash of blue light.

You return on the 20th of Rova. Two days after this, the Swallowtail Festival, one of the most sacred Desnan holidays, comes to town. Django is immediately swept into preparations, while Dorrak heads to Akrivel to spend it with Nketiah. Though Dorrak's experienced a lot of Swallowtail festivals in his life, it being a decently popular holiday in Absalom, Akrivel's celebrations are wildly different from anything he's experienced, combining equal parts prayer and contemplation with wild partying and celebration of life. Throughout the entire thing, Dorrak and Nketiah have a blast, but he does notice that at times she falls strangely silent and pensive.

Dorrak greatly enjoys the entire festival, letting himself let go of all the stresses of the last adventure and get swept up in the moment for a little while. As the night goes on, in one of the quiet, pensive moments, he speaks up. "What's on your mind? You seem quiet," he asks, tone concerned but trying not to be too pushy.

"Hm?" Nketiah looks up, and puts a smile on her face. "Oh, nothing. Just... enjoying the festivities."

Dorrak nods and returns the smile. "If you want to share what you're thinking about, I'm here," he replies, not entirely believing that it's nothing but not wanting to pry either.