IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE
SESSION 15B: THE GHOSTLY MINSTREL PLAYS
January 12th, 2008
The 5th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty
THE BEJEWELLED SCARABS
They returned to the door at the base of the stairs. Tee was able to easily pick the lock and then swing it open.
The walls of the thirty-foot long chamber beyond the doors gently curved out and then curved back to a narrow open doorway. Everywhere Tee looked, the walls and floor of the chamber glittered brightly in their torchlight. It took a moment for her to realize that they were completely covered in the gleaming carapaces of large scarab beetles… and that each carapace appeared to be studded with large gemstones.
However, none of them were moving. It appeared that all of the scarabs were dead.
Unfortunately, appearances could be deceiving: As Tee crossed the threshold of the room, a metallic skittering filled the room and the layers of bejeweled scarabs began shifting.
One of them scurried out into the center of the room, stopped, and turned towards to Tee. Before she could react, one of the diamonds studded upon the scarab’s back flared with a blinding brightness.
Tee stumbled back, her eyes overwhelmed by the flash. Several of the others who had also been standing in the doorway were blinded, too.
Agnarr barged his way into the room and Tor followed, but the tight quarters made it difficult for them to find or hit the scarabs. Indeed, not all of the scarabs in the room were moving – only some of them. But these were now spitting painful acid and emitting blasts of impossibly cold air which withered the skin where they touched.
After several minutes of complete disarray, it seemed as if they were beginning to get the upper hand. Several of the scarabs had been smashed, and the frequency of their attacks – and the blinding flashes of light – were decreasing as their numbers were thinned.
Unfortunately, the sounds of their struggle had attracted the attention of something else: A mechanical creature – lithe and angular with a body of smooth blue-gray metal – rounded the far corner. Vicious tines protruded from the joints along its arms, legs, and curved spine.
They were out of position and taken by surprise. Worse yet, the scarabs had not yet been vanquished – the diamond scarabs continued to emit their blinding flashes of light, leaving them painfully vulnerable to the construct’s slashing tines, crushing blows, and serrated fangs.
Agnarr and Tor tried to move into a defensive front – blocking the powerful construct from their more vulnerable comrades. Unfortunately, this proved disastrous. Every few moments the construct’s single eye – a malevolent green orb – would pulse brightly, and in that instant powerful telepathic waves filled with hate and rage would wash over those nearest to it.
Agnarr almost immediately succumbed to the telepathic assault, and immediately turned on Dominic – who was standing directly behind him. Tor shouted a warning, but before anyone could react, Agnarr’s greatsword had smote Dominic to the floor. The powerful blow dropped the priest to his knees, blood gushing from his chest.
Tor, convinced that Agnarr had been turned against them, turned on him: In such a condition, Agnarr’s powerful blows were even more dangerous than the construct itself.
But by turning on the barbarian, Tor was no longer able to stop the construct – which moved into the doorway and began pounding away at Tee, who tried to stumble back up the stairs to the upper level.
Agnarr, meanwhile, was recovering from the telepathic attack and was trying to convince Tor that he had returned to his senses while furiously parrying the methodical fighter’s blows.
Those who were still standing again felt the construct’s telepathic assault wash over them, but this time they were able to resist it. Agnarr and Tor turned upon the construct, but were frustrated to find that the creature’s bluesteel armoring seemed to constantly turn their blows aside.
Eventually, however, Agnarr realized that he could target the creature’s multitude of serrated joints. Focusing on these weak points in its armor, he – along with Tor – was eventually able to hack the construct apart.
RETREAT TO THE SURFACE
But they had been sorely hurt by it. Tee, Elestra, and Dominic had all been grievously injured. Blood was pouring from the dozens of deep cuts which criss-crossed Agnarr’s body. Tor had been caught in a smashing pincer between the creature’s arms – leaving at least half a dozen ribs broken and multiple puncture wounds which oozed blood. Worse yet, the construct’s telepathic barrage had left Tor’s mind painfully befuddled – the Barundian was clearly having difficulty piecing together coherent thoughts.
Elestra and Dominic did what they could, but the wounds were beyond immediate magical aid. The decision was made to retreat back to the surface.
Before they went, however, Ranthir – who was the only one among them who had managed to avoid the construct – took the time to quickly sift through the smashed wreckage their conflict had left of the room.
It turned out that the gem scarabs were, in fact, constructs, too. The bluesteel construct had been smashed beyond repair, but Ranthir suspected that he would be able to study these intricately structured scarabs and reverse engineer the secrets of their crafting. Not only were such techniques fascinating, but they could fetch a high price from the right buyer.
There were three types of scarabs – one using diamonds, another emeralds, and the third rubies. Ranthir collected the best sample of each type and then gathered up as many of the precious gemstones as he could find – there were dozens of them, with a total value of nearly 20,000 gold pieces.
When they returned to the surface, they had some difficulty in finding a carriage that would carry them in their battered and bloody state. As they were hobbling down Diamond Street, they were surprised when a strange figure wearing ornate, gilded armor suddenly appeared in front of them – as if it were stepping through an unseen door. At first they thought it was the Iron Mage, but it only took a moment to realize that this was something different.
The figure looked quickly around. Then it looked up quite deliberately to stare at the Spire, before stepping forward and… disappearing again.
The six of them exchanged looks with each other.
“Well, that was strange,” Agnarr said.
But they’d all gotten used to strange sights in Ptolus.
THE MONEY LENDER
As they headed into Midtown, Tee took her leave from the rest of the party. They were going to need money in the morning if they were going to deal with the mental damage that had been inflicted on Tor and she knew of a moneychanger in the South Market who would be interested in the jewels they had recovered from the gem scarabs.
The moneychanger was known as Edarth’s Loans. As Tee came through the door of the place, she found the proprietor engaged in a loud argument with a swarthy-looking man. Her snooping ears caught a snatch of conversation (“I know Korben’s avoiding me! You’d better tell him that—“) before they noticed her and abruptly cut the conversation short. The swarthy man left, glaring over his shoulder.
After inspecting the gems, Edarth said that he would be more than happy to sell the gems for Tee. He only asked for a ten percent commission. If she returned tomorrow, he would have the money for her.
Tee wasn’t happy about that: She wanted to be paid immediately. But Edarth simply shrugged and gave a crooked smile, “These are expensive gems. I don’t keep that kind of cash just laying around. And even if I did, I can’t afford to give you all my petty cash. I have a business to run.”
Tee eventually convinced him to pay her 1,000 gp up front, with the rest due the next day. It was the best she could do.
THE GHOSTLY MINSTREL PLAYS
When the others reached Delver’s Square they were surprised to hear loud and raucous noises pouring out of the Ghostly Minstrel. It was still late afternoon — still hours before a crowd typically gathered in the common room.
When they entered the inn, however, they quickly discovered the cause for the unusual crowd: The Ghostly Minstrel himself was playing upon his spectral lute. The music was beautiful, haunting, and unforgettable. It was easy to see why so many would come out of their way to hear him play. With smiles on their faces – and despite their wounds – they ordered drinks from Zade and settled down to listen.
Agnarr quickly found Jevicca in the crowd. He broke the news to her that they wouldn’t be accepting her commission to investigate Demassac Tovarian. She seemed disappointed, but not greatly concerned by the matter and they set about chatting idly… but mostly just listening to the Minstrel play.
It was only a few minutes later when Tee arrived (she always carried a spare set of clothes and was able to catch a carriage to take her to South Market and back). She actually met Mand Scheben at the door. He smiled and greeted her with a warm handshake. “Mistress Tee! A pleasure to see you! I don’t come here as often as I used to, but when I heard that the Ghostly Minstrel himself was playing… well, that’s a rare pleasure that shouldn’t be missed.”)
Tee – truth be told – had been gripped by a deep terror ever since she had woken up that morning to find Malkeen in her room. She had hidden it from the others and even denied it to herself. She had kept herself busy with everything they had done that day to stop herself from thinking about it. But now, with Mand Scheben in front of her, she realized that she desperately needed to talk to somebody about it. Doraedian wasn’t even an option. But maybe Zavere could help.
Of course, the crowded common room wasn’t the place to talk about such things, but Tee seized the opportunity to ask Mand Scheben if she could meet with him the next morning. He seemed surprised at the request, but readily agreed.
Tor, in his befuddled state, was becoming completely entranced by the Ghostly Minstrel’s performance. He began to dance and then to sing along – vigorously and loudly.
Tee, seeing what was happening, excused herself from Mand Scheben and pushed her way through the crowd to Tor’s side. “Tor! Tor!” She finally managed to get his attention. “Calm down! Look, I don’t really think you should be doing that right now.” She looked meaningfully at Tor’s acid-burned and blood-stained clothes.
Tor seemed to think about his seriously for a few moments… and then diligently began stripping off his clothes. Cheers went up from various people around the room.
“No!” Tee grabbed at him, but Tor was intent on getting his clothes off now. Looking around, Tee spotted Agnarr and urgently waved him over. Between the two of them, they were able to get Tor back up to their rooms and settled down.
