Part One - Job Offer:
During their downtime, the Wandering Wolves had been busy, both with personal business and with the growing duties and privileges of their adventuring band. Pel had adopted the identity of Gareth and hired a clerk to run a shop in the North Market called Gareth's Gear, mostly devoted to selling off the spoils of their adventures. They purchased or upgraded some of their own personal gear, and Tock toiled away in his workshop to create some potions and an amulet of natural armor for the group. They had even been interviewed for a feature in the Korranberg Chronicle. In addition, they had decided to join the Clifftop Adventuring Guild.
It was while relaxing in the guild hall in Upper Dura that they were approached by their latest employer. Early in the day on 11 Rhaan, a courier dressed in the blue and silver livery of House Orien delivered a package addressed to the Wandering Wolves. Inside the package were 5 platinum coins and a note that read "These coins have many friends that would like to meet you. Come to the northeast stairs of Myriad Tower, upper city, at noon. Bring travel gear and those you trust. Also bring your sense of urgency and knack for discretion. Give this parchment to the guard near the stairs, and he will let you ascend." The note was signed with a "V" and the black silhouette of a stylized lantern, which Pel recognized as the symbol of the King's Dark Lanterns.
After finishing their breakfast and gathering their gear, the Wandering Wolves made their way through the rainy streets of Sharn to Myriad Tower. The stairs were blocked by a heavy iron gate, but there was no guard in sight. There was, however, a beggar with a clay bowl. Pel moved in closer and dropped a silver coin in his bowl, only to be greeted by a gruff, very un-beggar-like "Wrong key." Pel quickly worked out what was going on and dropped in the letter from "V." He also hastily snatched his silver piece back, and the "beggar" grinned as he nodded and said "Go up." With that, the iron gate swung open of its own accord, allowing the Wolves access to the stairway within.
As they ascended, the Wolves noticed that it was growing warmer. When they reached the top, they found the reason, as the top of Myriad Tower was an immense greenhouse with a glass ceiling and jungle foliage throughout. Sitting at a bench in front of the man-made jungle was an old man, arranging orchids at a wooden table. "I am Viorr Maelak," he said in a whispery voice. "Welcome to my little piece of the wild.""I have a job for you," Maelak continued. "One that will make you quite rich." He began placing potion vials on the table as he spoke. "But if you'll indulge me, there's a bit of an audition first. There's a wild ape in my greenhouse. I'd like you to defeat it without killing it. Unconscious is fine, bleeding is fine, magically subdued is fine. Just don't kill it. These are healing potions. Use them however you like. Oh, and do be careful. The ape is carnivorous and quite hungry."
The Wolves, especially William, were not happy about this proposition, and thought Viorr was obviously mad, but they decided to play along. Brand and Lysander decided that the best way to handle the ape would be to use a combination of song and wild empathy, and they made their way carefully into the greenhouse. They spotted the ape lurking in a tree, waiting for an opportunity to pounce, and Lysander began his song. The ape became fascinated, staring in wonder at the bard. Brand then moved in to try and calm the beast, and almost succeeded, but unfortunately, it instead reacted to his presence with anger and fear, breaking Lysander's spell and attacking.
The ape mauled several of the Wolves during the fight, but eventually a combination of attacks brought it down, bloody but alive. Viorr was pleased with their efforts, and he made his way back to his table, and to a leather satchel placed on a chair near it. As he rummaged through, he explained himself to the Wolves, starting with his reply to their angry questions about why they had to fight an ape.
Viorr explained that he worked for the King's Dark Lanterns, and that a rogue agent named Lucan Stellos had disappeared two days ago, taking with him a powerful magic sword called the Soul Blade from a secure vault. He had been spotted leaving Sharn by the east road, and Viorr wanted Lucan back alive, and was willing to pay 2,000 gp each if the Wolves could accomplish that, plus 500 gp each if they also returned the evil blade. He offered a reduced reward if they were forced to return Lucan's body. He also revealed that Lucan had acquired some sort of abilities that he hadn't previously possessed.
After the Wolves deciphered the clues and realized that Lucan had most likely become a vampire, Viorr laid out the rest of their mission for them. He gave them a portrait of Lucan and of the coach that he had been spotted traveling in. He laid out Lucan's abilities as a trained warrior and spy, plus his supernatural abilities of persuasion, wall-walking and limited invulnerability. He gave them ID papers that identified them as working for the King of Breland, and arranged for them to have magebred horses from House Vadalis at the east gate of the city. Finally, he provided them with a letter of credit from House Kundarak that they could use to draw advances from their salary, although he cautioned them from using it frivolously.
"We don't know what Lucan's intentions are, but we do have a clue based on a search of his living quarters. Based on some notes he made - notes he thought he destroyed - we know he's going to Trolanport, in Zilargo. The only other word we were able to salvage from the notes was 'krell.' We have no idea who or what a krell is."
The Wolves wanted to prepare for their battle against a vampire, but didn't have a lot of time, since Lucan had a head start of several hours on them. Viorr agreed to send them information on vampires from his agents via the Sivis message station in Trolanport, and Pel grabbed an old book on vampires from the library at Morgrave before the Wolves mounted their horses and headed out.
Part Two - The Road to Trolanport
Once on the road, the Wolves rode fast and straight toward their destination, hoping to pick up Lucan's trail when they got a little closer. About three hours outside of Sharn, they were riding down the road, which bordered the King's Forest, they heard a rustling from the trees, and were confronted by three centaur bandits, wielding longbows and demanding their gold. Predictably, William charged instead.
The fight was joined almost instantly by another centaur, the leader of the band, who leaped out into the melee. It was a very near battle, as the centaurs managed to grievously wound Pel, Tock and Brand. In fact, Pel was very near death, and had an encounter with the god he worshipped, the Traveler, who told him to go back, that he had a purpose and that he should listen for the words of the Traveler in all things.
Things became even more dire when William killed the leader, prompting an angry "They killed Ruarch!" from the remaining two centaurs. The centaurs closed on the dragonmarked warrior, and he managed to swing a deadly blow that felled the uninjured one in one shot. This gave the last centaur pause, and he fled into the woods. Lysander used his wand of cure light wounds and bardic spells to rouse Brand, Pel and Tock. Tock used his own abilities to repair the rest of his damage.
Brand lead the Wolves to the lair of the centaurs, where they found the loot they had been storing from previous raids. This loot included money, some art objects and a dented suit of full plate that William claimed immediately.
Battered and weary, the Wolves rode for few more hours until dusk, when they reached a roadside tavern bearing the seal of approval of House Ghallanda, a place called The Rusty Horseshoe. They paid five silver for a stay and basic food, and took time to rest and get up to full health. During the night, Brand's wolf, who he had named Whitehearth, emerged from the forest and snuck into their room, affirming his bond with his new master. In the morning, the Wolves once again mounted up and headed back out onto the road.
After traveling most of the day, they encountered three ogres crossing the road ahead. Anticipating a charge from William, Tock dismounted and fired his crossbow into the shoulder of one of the ogres, drawing a surprised and angry cry. The Wolves engaged the ogres in battle, making short work of two of them and forcing the last, deeply wounded from about four arrows and crossbow bolts, to flee into the forest. He got about sixty feet away when Brand retrieved his bow from the ground and managed to kill it with one final arrow.
Once again, Brand led the Wolves to the lair of the beasts, and Pel discovered that perhaps there had been a reason for this encounter. In addition to a massive amount of silver, they found the possessions of someone who had obviously been a cleric of the Traveler. He had fine jewelry, a couple of potions, a divine scroll and fine vestments of the Traveler. Pel picked up the vestments as part of his new role, and realized that perhaps the Traveler had already guided him, leading him to avenge the death of one of his followers.The rest of the journey was fairly uneventful, until the evening of the twelfth day, when the Wolves crested a low rise to spot Lucan's black coach on the road ahead.
XP: 880
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