Narrative

Day 12, Saturday 27th Dec, began with the party heading to the shield pylon. The pylon looked like a gold ring with a crystal set in a claw, with runes around it. Two guards stood outside the keep. A rumour said something was walking through a chicken farm at night. The barrier flickered for about one second at a time, and this happened often. It was said to come from Dunhold Cache, but only for the last few weeks. Rain followed, and the flickers were only noticed near the pylon.

There was commotion at a temple, with guards carrying a female elf out. A public warrant was current at 08:00 for indecency and corruption. The temple had a cross shape, vast archways for doors, and a circular altar in the middle. A priest said the council had fabricated some charges. The priest thought the Architect was using dark magic to make himself smarter, though the Architect worshipped light gods. The Architect was on his fourth term and was named Ilmen Thion. Bright was noted as possibly the only temple in Pentacity, a goddess of luck and trickery. Hartha was also noted as a possible god or divine name. A boxed list recorded Riv grave 2 yr, dead dwarf 3 yr, Riundil, Ilmen Elf 4 yr, Council, and “9/1 1g horse.”

The council issues were identified as the barrier and water elementals. The public forum was in row 1, ring 3 from the centre, and met Thursdays at midday for four hours. Representatives met Monday and Friday.

The party placed bets. The Big Bad Beauty, My Missing Hangover, two runes, “from another world travelled from another world,” two men acting as a shell company for the Guild, 4/1 odds on all, and The Truffle Hunter were all recorded around the betting and race context. In a side street, the party heard a yelp. Iakaxi, a goblin, had been following them. He told the party to stop letting him follow them and gave them a job on a piece of paper. The goblin scam would keep following them because the party might have skulls. Dirk said they could leave one for him at his house, and Iakaxi took the party there. His house was described as minty, with rat droppings and three skulls. He would meet his master when he had eight skulls. The rate was 5 silver for skulls. The party considered whether cadavers might work and returned toward the inn via a temple to see if they could locate skulls.

At the fire temple, dedicated to war, justice, and the hunt, three people in the congregation listened to a priest recite poetry about a battle against Soot the dragon. Young priests then had the congregation pick up wooden swords and start practising.

Brother Caskus said there were problems in town. The water elementals were not killing people, but he had heard that deputies had been found drowned near the cliffs with fresh water. Rivers and lakes within ten miles were back; previously, water came from wells and then gradually went back. The party wanted to check the skulls for water differences while trying to obtain some for Skum. One skull was about 50 years old, showed coughing sickness, no signs of damage other than burning, and some malnourishment at an early age. Another was about 25ish, showed damage to the vertebrae from stabbing, and nothing else obvious. Public records would be available at town hall, fourth ring waterwise, at 10:00. The party went back to the inn for Isabella and heard elves in the city, with people very finely dressed.

The party attended races in Section C. In race 1, they bet 5 silver on Wimpy Cheese at 4/1 and lost. In race 2, they bet 5 silver on Where’s Gravy at 5/1 and lost. In race 3, they bet 5 silver on The Galloping Salesman and lost. Race 4 was dogs; they bet 5 silver on In It for the Sugar at 3/1 and lost. Race 5 had already been bet. The entrants or associated figures included a sphinx style entry tied to the Stonemasons Guild, a unicorn called Forever 1st that took first place and was linked with vodker, a rot horse from Payne horsebreeders, a gryphon/chicken from the Rotund Rooster Rooster associated with chunky chicken casserole, a nightmare on hire from the Night Candle Inn, a wooden barrel from Bad Barrel Makers tied to Big Bad Beauty, and a gryphon/owl possibly first for My Missing Hangover. The party won 9 gp. The Truffle Hunter won, with mice noted.

After the race, an announcement said the town was almost finished and the walls were up to strength. The water problem was also being looked into, along with worrying rumours about council members; people were referred to forums. The announcement seemed odd, out of place, and formal.

The party went to find Isabella’s friends. They knocked, and the door swung open. Inside the middle-class house, there was blood on the parlour floor. Two halflings were hanging from the ceiling by their feet. The male’s intestines were across the floor, possibly in a pattern. The female looked at the party, but though her body was upside down, her face was right way up. The party suspected someone had used the intestines for a divination spell. The victims had not been dead long but were not warm. The front door had been broken open by engineered force. A candelabra had been physically pushed over. There had been movement, but no evidence of a struggle. No active magic remained, but divination had been used, of the same type as at Everchard.

The party heard heavy wing beats. A six-foot gargoyle appeared, looking as if it were made of clay and not usual for the town. Isabella said it was from her aunt and that it was one of the family guardians. It dropped a bag containing 50 platinum and flew off with Isabella.

The militia arrived to see what was going on. The party directed them inside, and the militia took the party to see the council at 17:00. The party stored their weapons in a chest before going in, including a medic bug. Elementarium, an elf, was present. He admitted the pylon was being interfered with. He needed the Justicar gone and asked the party to look into the pylon, saying the Justicar had ulterior motives. The party received access to the shield pylon. Elementarium offered 2,000 gp if the party kept the information to themselves, with 500 gp now and the rest on completion for solving the problem or providing information that helped solve it. Extra payment was available for water elementals. A note records 200 gp paid.

The party noted that Tri-moon barrier attacks had looked different. The flickers occurred every 5 minutes to 2-3 hours, only from the sea to Seaward, with nothing from the Everchard direction or Dunhold Cache, and other places stated that nothing was coming their way. The issue had started approximately three weeks earlier, and logs were being kept. Suspicion fell on half-[elf?] lings or pirates: the captain of a ship allegedly had a crew, but nobody had seen them. People went missing and turned up dead and magically disfigured. Elementarium’s aide was the Peridot Queen; the warning was “DO NOT PISS HER OFF.” She would help the party. Water spirits had usually made it through, but more were now making it through along with the other elements. The party were asked to keep the body count low.

At 18:00, the party retrieved their weapons, sorted the horses with one day paid, got rooms at the Scarred Cliff, and went to the barrier. At 19:00, guards showed them around. Gherison, the sage on duty, gave the party the book showing the times and durations of the flickers. The flickers had been happening for two weeks, were getting worse, and were increasing in frequency. The longest lasted three seconds. They were very random, with about a 9 am bout of outages and none around midnight. An alarm clock in the home for quarrymen was noted. It was unknown how far the flickering extended between Seaward and Dunhold Cache. The flickering happened toward the pylon, crawled in a horizontal pattern, and did not go past the pylon.

The crystal had thousands of tiny runes around it. None of the runes seemed to have been tampered with, and the crystal was very clean. Meteowolves sometimes came down. Geldrin touched the barrier, possibly with his crystal shard, and it went crazy. A guard said it looked like the flickering, but more intense and not as far-reaching. The Justicar had only checked the books and crystal with an eyeglass. The Peridot Queen was again noted. Iaxxon, a guardsman guarding the quarry, had seen water elementals rush past him like he was simply in the way, not as if they were attacking him.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

The shield pylon, Dunhold Cache, Seaward temple, the female elf under warrant, the council, the Architect Ilmen Thion, Bright, Hartha, Riv, Riundil, the public forum, the Guild, Iakaxi, Dirk, Skum, the fire temple, Soot the dragon, Brother Caskus, Isabella, Isabella’s aunt, Isabella’s friends, the militia, Elementarium, the Justicar, the Peridot Queen, Gherison, Geldrin, Iaxxon, the Scarred Cliff, the Night Candle Inn, Payne horsebreeders, the Rotund Rooster Rooster, Bad Barrel Makers, Stonemasons Guild, Everchard, and the quarry were all mentioned.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

The shield pylon consisted of a gold ring, a claw-set crystal, and runes. The party placed several 5 silver bets and won 9 gp. Iakaxi paid or offered 5 silver for skulls and needed eight skulls to meet his master; he had three. Skull examinations identified one about 50 years old with coughing sickness, burning, and childhood malnourishment, and one about 25ish with vertebrae damage from stabbing. The gargoyle dropped a bag containing 50 platinum before taking Isabella. Elementarium offered 2,000 gp for discretion and results, 500 gp in advance, with the rest on completion and extra payment for water elementals; a note records 200 gp paid. The party stored weapons and a medic bug before seeing the council, then retrieved them. They paid for one day of horse care and took rooms at the Scarred Cliff.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

The barrier flickers, water elementals, pylon interference, and Seaward council politics are central unresolved threads. The flickering began about three weeks earlier by one account and two weeks earlier in Gherison’s log, is increasing in frequency, has random timing, usually lasts up to three seconds, has a 9 am cluster, and does not occur around midnight. The flickers seem to come from the sea-to-Seaward side rather than Everchard or Dunhold Cache, crawl horizontally toward the pylon, and do not pass the pylon. Geldrin’s crystal shard caused a stronger but smaller version of the effect when touching the barrier. The Justicar may have ulterior motives, and Elementarium explicitly wanted the Justicar gone. The Peridot Queen is an important but dangerous contact. The murdered halflings, intestinal divination, right-way-up face on an upside-down body, engineered forced entry, and magic matching Everchard remain major mysteries. The skull-buying goblin scam, Iakaxi’s unnamed master, the need for eight skulls, and Skum’s interest in water differences remain unresolved. Isabella was taken by a clay-like gargoyle family guardian from her aunt after receiving 50 platinum, leaving her status and destination uncertain.