Part Three - Trolanport Masquerade
The Wandering Wolves slowed and stopped, letting Lucan's carriage ride ahead so they could plan. After some debate, they decided that their best course of action would be for Pel to disguise himself as an orc and ride ahead, and they would pursue, getting ahead of the carriage so they could cut it off.
With that decided, they were back on the road. Pel rode ahead, spurring his magebred horse to run, and as he passed, he saw that the driver was a human woman with harsh features and long red hair. She glanced at him with disgust as he passed. Then she turned and saw the other riders, and began spurring the horses to drive the coach faster. Brand and William rode up ahead, both trying to force the horses and carriages off the road. Brand was unable to get into position, but he helped provide cover so that William could, and the carriage came to a stop in the King's Forest alongside the road.
The driver cast a mage armor spell on herself and then loosed a fireball, hitting all of the Wolves and their horses, save for Tock. The Wolves responded with arrows and crossbow bolts, infused with magic by Tock, and Lysander managed to wound the woman. Then, from the woods, the Wolves heard the howling of a pack of wolves, and Brand surmised that there were about a dozen, close, and that they were on the hunt. The Wolves quickly guessed that the vampire had summoned them.
As William advanced on the driver and tried to climb up, hindered somewhat by his heavy plate armor, she used a wand to cast darkness over the area. Tock countered it with the Everbright Lantern from Heward's Handy Haversack, and William climbed up, but the woman cast a spell and vanished. William swung his sword, but didn't hit anything where she had been. The wolves emerged from the forest, and Brand and Lysander used entangle and sleep spells to keep a number of them at bay, while William, Tock and Pel defended themselves from the wolves that broke through. After about six of the wolves had been killed or incapacitated, the others fled into the woods.
After Pel used a flask of alchemical fire to set the driver's position and the coach on fire, Lysander used his mage hand to open the coach door, revealing an open (and empty) coffin within. Pel jumped in and did a cursory search, finding nothing of note, and Brand did another search after Pel had finished, confirming that there was nothing in the burning carriage. The Wolves took the horses from the carriage with them and rested that night off the road, healing from the damage they had suffered from battling the sorceress and the wolves.
Four days later, on 27 Rhaan, the Wolves rode into Trolanport, the coastal capital city of Zilargo. While most of them went and secured lodging at a House Ghallanda inn called the Traveler's Rest, Pel went to the shrine of the Traveler in town and met with a gnomish cleric there. He told them of the vestments he had found, and was informed that Brother Markos from Sharn had been on his way to Trolanport, and they figured out that the vestments, scroll and other items had probably come from him. The cleric expressed to Pel that it had been the Traveler's will that he find the ogres and avenge Markos, and then spent some time instructing him in holy rites of the Traveler. Pel gave a tithe of 30 gold.
Pel changed identities again so that he could sell the draft horses from Lucan's carriage and the jewelry they had found in the ogres' cave. He gave some of the gold to William and asked if he could buy a magical scimitar, the weapon of his god, and gave the rest to Tock to put into the Haversack and buy himself an Arm Blade.
While William and Tock shopped, Pel, Brand and Lysander went out seeking information. Brand bought some fine maps from the expert cartographers in Trolanport and ran afoul of a pair of Sahuagin rogues, which with the help of Whitehearth he managed to drive off back into the watery canals. The Trolanport watch asked if he was ok, and wound up giving him a card if he wanted to check in with the local watch and help deal with the Sahuagin problem.
As he was buying clothes for disguises, Pel saw that many of the gnomish tailors were crafting masquerade costumes. He asked about it, and was told that there was a Masquerade Ball at the Aundarian embassy that night, and that many of the nobles in town were attending. The tailor told him that probably every tailor on the row was full of costumes for the masquerade, which was a big social event.
Lysander, independently asking around, managed to get even further information on the Masquerade, talking to an elven bard who was playing in the band that night. He found out that it was invitation only, and that there was an Aundarian diplomat named Neya ir'Krell at the party, and that was probably the "krell" that Lucan had mentioned in his notes. Lysander inquired about playing at the party, and the bard told him that he couldn't get him in, but if he got in on his own, the band leader might be open to letting Lysander sit in on a set or two.
With all of this information at hand, the Wolves met back up at Traveler's Rest and began to formulate plans. Pel scouted the area and discovered that no one was wearing armor or carrying weapons. Brand and Lysander used a charm spell to take the costume and invitation from one noble, discovering that the invitations were anonymous rather than specific. Pel then used the Karrnathi paper and ink from the Haversack to forge four more invitations, while Lysander and Brand went out and purchased costumes from gnomish tailors for everyone. They then stuffed all of their weapons into the Haversack.
Properly attired and carrying forged invitations, the Wolves approached the gnomish guards. They scrutinized the invitations, dropped them in the box at their feet, and let the Wolves into the party. One guard noticed Pel's wand of magic missiles, which he had tried to conceal on his person, but Pel managed to convince him it was "medicinal" and got in anyway.
The party was lavish and enormous, with about four dozen guests, food and drink, music and costumes everywhere. Lysander went over to join the band, while the rest of the Wolves circulated, looking for either Neya or Lucan. Lysander managed to charm his way into the band, but unfortunately he was out of practice with his instrument and gave a dreadful performance, quietly slinking back into the crowds afterwards. Brand eavesdropped, but heard nothing of note in the crowds. Pel, however, talked to one of the nobles and got a description of Neya's costume, which he used to locate Neya. He saw her speaking with another woman, who then went over to ask a man to dance.The man, whom Tock had spotted moments before, was Lucan, wearing a costume and another disguise underneath it. The woman went to dance with him, and Tock went to the other Wolves to warn them that he had spotted their vampire. Meanwhile, Pel sidled up to Neya and engaged her in small talk, each of them trying to ferret out what the other knew about the situation. After a few minutes of small talk and maneuvering, the woman dancing with Lucan tried to cast a spell and then recoiled. Lucan, enraged, summoned the Soul Blade from his Glove of Storing and attacked!
Pandemonium erupted in the crowded ballroom as forty-some guests tried to flood out the doors, overwhelming the gnomish guards. On the dance floor, a melee erupted, as two monks in costumes rushed to the aid of the woman battling Lucan, Lucan's female sorcerer emerged from the crowd and the Wolves made their way toward Lucan as well.
The Soul Blade cast a confusion effect over the area around Lucan, affecting Brand. Brand was defenseless as the sorceress used a scroll to fire a lightning bolt into him, his previous dance partner and William. In his confused state, he charged the sorceress with his dagger, wounding her, while William pulled his greatsword from the Haversack to engage Lucan. The monks, meanwhile, found their attacks ineffective on Lucan and grabbed him, but another confusion effect from the sword forced them to release and attack their boss, knocking her out cold.
William engaged in battle with Lucan, and Lucan struck a couple of deadly blows with the Soul Blade, avoiding William's counter-attacks. Lysander rushed to aid Brand, Tock closed in to help against Lucan, and Pel used his animate rope to entangle Lucan. Lucan and his ally decided to flee. The woman used a dimension door scroll to teleport away, and Lucan turned into a gaseous cloud to escape. Lysander used his dragonmark to make the ceiling appear covered with a holy symbol of the Sovereign Host, and Lucan diverted out the cracks of the walls and into the night.
With the battle ended, Neya dismissed the guards and told the Wolves to come with her. Neya informed them that the woman aiding Lucan was his sister, Grilsha, and that Neya had dealt with Lucan many times in the past, always as a friend. The Wolves confirmed what she had suspected when she sent Meena, the sorceress, to investigate, that Lucan was now a vampire. Neya confessed that she had given Lucan, a longtime friend, traveling papers, a letter of credit and a password to get onboard an airship headed to Karrnath that evening. She encouraged the Wolves to hurry, giving them the password and a hastily scribbled letter, marked with her signet ring, to give to the captain of the ship.
XP: 1240
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