05
The Veiled Society
The Cast:
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Graywalde, Dwarven
Locksmith. "...so rarely have I
seen a creature of more determined greed or willingness to wield a
battleaxe..." |
Lueryth, Wandering Paladin. "...counterpoint to
Graywalde's temper, the paladin is slow to anger and steady with his crossbow..." |
Elisavetta, Crusading
Priest. "...hot-blooded,
never hesitates to speak her mind or act out against evil, regardless of consequence..." |
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Luscious, Gnome Illusionist. "...singularly annoying
fellow, able to see the humor in any situation, so long as no one else is
enjoying himself..." |
Eldorn, Ranger of the Eastlands. "...come to us with
a mission, to be his allies in a campaign against the creatures of the
Eastlands..." |
Cellie, Urnst Pickpocket. "...anything to
avoid a confrontation, but quick with her knives to pierce the back of a foe,
not a soul to be taken lightly..." |
Chapter One, The Veiled
Society:
From the Journal of
Celindra Dovan of Urnst
It strikes me as not the least
bit odd that we all came together on the Fool's Day. The adventures we agreed
to undertake are nothing short of madness. Inspired by the virtue of a ranger
from the Eastlands, fueled by a cleric's passion to see evil quelled, and
driven on by a dwarven locksmith with an eye for nothing but gold and gore, we
will surely find ourselves traveling among the most horrid elements of society.
The six of us met in one of the many inns outside of the city of
"There are creatures in the
Eastlands that the forces of the Heartlands cannot hope to defeat," he
said, "for they approach Chaos in terms of regiments and batallions. One
priest with a pair of wererats could surreptitiously spell the end of the Keep
on the Borderlands while it could hold for an Age against a frontal assault of
orcs and hobgoblins." To some of our number he added, "And these
creatures hold in their possession the pillaged gold and magic of a lost era.
The beautiful civilizations of the Eastlands lay just beneath the encampments
of the humanoids. Enough to become kings of your own lands."
Before going on, though, we
determined to enter into the city of
The city of
Through the streets snaked a
procession led by priests and an effigy of the saint after whom the festival
was named. This procession halted before the gates just as the guards stepped
aside from us. At first we thought that the procession paused for some
ceremonial reason, but then the crowd parted, and we saw the truth. Two men,
apparently minions of the powerful Radu family, stood in the path of the
procession, refusing to allow it to go on.
At the front of the procession
was a priest from the Torenescu family. Though rough-clad and unshaven, the man
represented the Festival of Lucor. Yet he struck first, dropping one of the two
men into the mud. We had to make a split-second decision, whether to become
involved...and on whose part?
I could see that Lueryth and
Elisavetta would side with the Torenescu priest, but Graywalde was looking more
sympathetically towards the other men. And, of course, Luscious just stood
there, smiling broadly at the trouble around him. Luckily, we paused long
enough for help to arrive. Men clad in green tunics, bearing the insignia of
the Vorloi family, broke up the conflict and saw that the parade continued,
though along a slightly altered route. It seemed, then, that we had the day to
move about the city.
The streets were very crowded
due to the festival, and throughout the day we found that not a single inn
could provide us a room. Still, we took the opportunity to equip ourselves for
the journey eastward. We also stopped in at several taverns to pass the time
and learn of events in the city.
In the taverns we heard of the
Veiled Society, which seems to be some sort of thieves' or assassins' guild
within the city. Most talk revolved around the events of this morning, though.
Some men support the Torenscu, others the Radu. Very few kept their opinion to
themselves; the city felt on the verge of an explosion.
As night fell, we feared that
we would be forced to leave the city to find shelter. Luckily, though, a room
opened at Mistress Liddy's Resthaven, just inside
It seemed, though, that fate
had one more event before us this evening. A scarred man named Theosius
confronted us and informed us that he, too, was looking for trustworthy souls
to perform duties for him. He assured us that none of his activities would be
illegal, and he would pay in advance. We had to tell him no, though, as we
intended to leave with the end of the Festival. Of course, our adventure was
only beginning.
Hoping to get as much out of
the Festival of Lucor as possible during our last day in Specularum, we awoke
at dawn. Elisavetta spent an hour in devotions, and Luscious studied his book
of spells for nearly as long. Then, we stepped out into the taproom, where we
first saw how much the city had cleared out overnight.
As we ate, an elderly woman,
one Goodwife Thanato, burst into the Resthaven, babbling about demons in her
root cellar and begging for someone to help her. Lueryth and Elisavetta were on
their feet even as Mistress Liddy helped the woman to a chair. Before I knew
it, the two of them had volunteered all six of us to go to the goodwife's root
cellar and investigate her "demons." One look at Eldorn convinced me
that I would need to go along if I ever intended to quest for the riches of the
Eastlands.
Amid Graywalde's mutterings we
followed Goody Thanato to her home, and she showed us to the trapdoor that led
to her root cellar. Our investigation did turn up something odd, though. An
earthen passage led off to the north, apparently freshly dug to connect the
cellar to other places in the city. The tunnel led to a cellar hung with hams
and sausages, where two dark-cloaked men worked at burying a bundle. We watched
a bit, but they spotted us. They attacked in a fury, wielding longswords, but
Lueryth was ready with his crossbow and felled one. Graywalde and Elisavetta
slew the second in melee, as he attacked with only a moment's hesitation.
Entering the room, we
discovered that the men were attempting to bury the body of an attractive young
woman. Fearing that the blame for her death could be dropped on our heads, I
quickly looked about for clues. Luscious spent the whole time staring at me
with an odd grin. The woman clenched a bloody knife, as if she had wounded
someone before she died. Strands of red hair were stuck under her fingernails.
Also, among her blood, was a dried, brown liquid--A very strong wine. I kept
the knife and hairs as clues, in case we should find ourselves pleading our
case before the authorities of Specularum.
Looking about the cellar, we
found that the exit from the root cellar had been locked from above. We also
located a second exit in the northeast wall. Even Graywalde seemed intrigued,
now that he had reason to swing his axe, and so we continued through the
catacombs beneath the city.
What we found beyond that exit
was a terrible chamber where three half-naked men were forced to work under the
lash of hobgoblin overseers. A ferocious battle ensued, and Graywalde and
Elisavetta were both knocked unconscious. Eldorn came through in the end,
felling all three of the beasts with his broadsword. With the hobgoblins
dispatched, we went about bandaging our friends and speaking with the three
workers.
Apparently, they were captured
by the hobgoblins over a year ago, and forced to dig for all that time. They
did not know why, nor where they even had been underground. The three stayed
with us, begging for us to take them to an exit. Nothing would have made me
happier, but on the way back to Goody Thanato's root cellar we took a wrong
turn.
We wandered, lost. Graywalde
fell again in battle when a group of kobolds ambushed us. All six of us likely
would have fallen prey to them, but Luscious put half the creatures to sleep
with a spell. I'll never forget the look in his eye as he giggled and crushed a
fistful rose petals--his spell components--between his fingertips. We carried
Graywalde until we came to a third cellar.
In this cellar, timbers were
piled neatly. A wheelbarrow rested to one side. As we looked about, uncovering
a suspicious mound of bloody bandages, the trapdoor opened and a dark-cloaked
man climbed down the ladder. Not being in a position to confront him, we
watched him from the shadows, noting that he walked out through another doorway,
and then we turned our eyes to the ladder.
Overcome with excitement, the
three men we freed from the hobgoblins rushed up the ladder and vanished. We
followed closely after them, Lueryth and Eldorn hauling Graywalde. Above, we
found a guesthouse. I looked about for clues, convinced that the men behind
this operation used this guest house as a base of sorts. I found a bottle of
thick, heady wine, and the seal bore the mark of the Trouscan estates, sold
only on the waterfront. I also found a black leather hood with several red
hairs in it. The man who murdered the woman had been here!
I warned my companions, and we
left the guesthouse cautiously. We found that the guesthouse lay behind the
butcher's shop. We pumped the man for information, but learned little. Needing
a place to rest, we left onto the main streets of the city.
Mistress Liddy met us at the
door as we returned to the Resthaven. She had heard rumors of a dead body
turning up, and rightly suspected we may have learned something of the matter.
She strongly suggested we approach the constabulary before nightfall, for by
then the officers would surely learn of it on their own. She held our room out
of gratitude for our service to Goody Thanato, but made it clear that she
wanted no trouble with the law. We rested quickly, but Lueryth and Elisavetta
gave Luscious no chance to study his books. They insisted we hurry to the
constabulary.
With priests to detect the
truth of our statements, we were told to explain what we knew. After several
hours we were sent to the noble district in the company of a tribune and a pair
of priests. Along the way we learned more of the Radu and Torenescu factions,
the most important bit of knowledge being that both hate only the powerful
Vorloi family more than one another. The dead woman was Lucia Vorloi.
As we moved through the Vorloi
basement, looking for the entrance to the root cellars, I picked up more clues.
A piece of blood-stained hemp rope. A Torenescu signet ring, which seemed a bit
too prominently placed.
In the basement we found the
body, though the corpses of the two cloaked men were missing. The tribune took
in the scene, then ordered Lucia's body to be removed for burial. As we turned
to leave, I noticed that letters had been scrawled in the woman's blood, likely
by her own dying hand. It could have been "BAD," "RAD," or
"RAO."
On our way back up the ladder
from the root cellar, Graywalde noticed a bit of pitch on the ladder. In the
otherwise immaculate area, the pitch certainly seemed noteworthy. Still, the
hour was growing later, and we were getting tired. The tribune accompanied us
back to the constabulary, and then set us free to walk the streets of
Specularum.
By the time we returned to
Liddy's Resthaven to sleep, the streets were filled with angry men and women,
all speaking of the tribune's report. Apparently, the presence of the Torenescu
signet ring was damning evidence against that family, and men spoke loudly of
rallying in the east markets against the Torenescu. We even heard men mutter
that the Torenescu were the masterminds behind the Veiled Society.
Liddy still held our room, and
we rested for several hours, but no one felt comfortable at the Resthaven while
such drastic events were unfolding. Graywalde smelled a fight, but Lueryth was
not sure the right people were being blamed. The signet ring was placed so
clearly on the basement floor, and Lucia could well have been trying to spell
"Radu" when she died. Before I knew it, we were walking through the
streets in the middle of the night, headed for the east market.
We arrived in time to find an
orator stirring up dissent against the Torenescu. Men growled and raised fists
in agreement. When soldiers arrived to confront the mob, it took only a single
cast stone to incite the commoners to riot! We found ourselves trapped in the
heart of a melee between peasants with knives and poles, and armed city
watchmen! The sudden attack left most of the riders dead before they had a
chance to call for reinforcements, but the cry went out, and more men were on
the way.
Elisavetta spotted the orator
fleeing from his riot, and she shouted loudly enough for us to hear over the
din of battle. Reunited, the six of us chased the man to a small, closed shop.
Inside, the building was empty except for a trapdoor leading to an underground
passage that led to the waterfront. We chased the man and caught him on the far
side of the tunnel. Graywalde made him talk.
The man turned out to be
everything we needed to solve the mystery. He told us that the Veiled Society
had hired him to stir up trouble for the Torenescu family. He was given two
hundred pieces of gold by a man named Akarios, a red-haired man who was behind
the entire operation. The Veiled Society, the orator told us, had a meeting
hall concealed behind the Blue Water Mead Hall. We took his pouch of gold and
kicked him out into the street.
On the waterfront, we found
ourselves contacted by the Veiled Society. A dagger hurled from somewhere
within the crowd carried a message ordering us to meet them at Vinter's Lane.
At the moment we did not know where to find the Blue Water Mead Hall, so we
determined to find the Veiled Society where they chose to meet us. We went to
Vinter's Lane.
Aristo the wine merchant met
us and spoke to us until the Veiled Society arrived. The leader tossed us black
masks and ordered us into position. The target of our attack seemed to be a
nobleman surrounded by beggars. When the attack was called--as I
expected--Lueryth and Elisavetta led the strike against the Veiled Society,
immediately siding us with the beggars and their charge. Even with our help,
most of the beggars were slain. The Veiled Society fought well, and they were
led by a priest.
Then, no sooner were the
assassins slain, but the nobleman ordered his entourage to attack us! As we
wore the black veils, he assumed we were a rival faction among the Society.
Graywalde led us into the battle against the remaining beggars, who proved
warriors skilled far beyond their bedraggled appearance. Only Elisavetta's
skills as a healer saved Lueryth and Graywalde from death, and the nobleman
vanished into the night before we could question him.
We staggered back to the
Resthaven and slept through the night.
We seemed to have three main areas
to search in the city: The waterfront, the noble district, and the city around
The six of us stepped inside
and started to mingle among the sailors and merchants therein. As we turned to
leave, Graywalde leaned over to the bartender.
"We're looking for
Akarios," he said.
At the sound of his name, a
burly, red-haired man stood and ducked out through a back door. Spotting this,
Elisavetta charged past the dwarf and the bartender, bursting through the south
door in pursuit of the man in charge of the Veiled Soceity operation.
A priest and warrior jumped us
on the far side of the door, and only Eldorn and Luscious stayed on their feet.
I hit the ground soon after the priest smacked me with his mace; the last thing
I heard was Luscious cackling and chanting. I awoke at Liddy's Resthaven. We
had lost Akarios.
Even though the Festival was
now over--and the worst of the rioting put down--Liddy seemed to understand
that we were doing something that was inherently good for the city. She allowed
us to spend a day recovering, but that turned out to be a mistake on our part.
That day allowed the Veiled Society to regroup and strike back at us. When next
we stepped out of the Resthaven, we found ourselves set upon by assassins!
Chasing the men through the
city, we found ourselves in the middle of an elaborate attack. Every corner
held a new danger, and the riots were apparently not so finished as we
originally assumed. But we kept our sights on the man running from us, and we
refused to let him escape.
The chase ended at what seemed
to be a dead-end alley. Still, the end of the alley was guarded by a giant of a
man, bare-chested, wielding a two-handed sword. We cut him down when he
attacked us, and a quick search revealed a hidden passage at the end of the
alley.
The passage led to a secret
chamber, one I now assume lay behind the Blue Water Mead Hall. Had we not be
waylayed by the guards, we likely would have found this area two days sooner.
Dozens of black-hooded men and women stood together, addressed by their leader.
The sight was terrifying, leaving me to wonder just how many smiling faces I
saw during the day that wore such a mask at night. Luscious smiled more broadly
than ever.
At the end of the meeting, we
followed the leader through a secret door concealed by a large bronze gong. The
passage beyond seemed to lead only to a prison cell occupied by a badly
mistreated elf, but the elf was lucid enough to point out a secret door across
the hall.
His name was Estaish, and he
gladly took a weapon once Lueryth laid hands upon him. Then, we opened the
secret door.
What followed was a dizzying
bloodbath of flashing rapiers. In the end, we had severed the head from the
Veiled Society and left the Radu family crippled in the city of
We are leaving this morning
for the Eastlands. A week has gone by; Eldorn agreed to allow time for
Elisavetta and myself to train with our guilds before leaving. Elisavetta seems
even more willing to take on the forces of Chaos alone now that she has
trained. The gauntlets she took from the dead priest of the Veiled Society give
her the strength of ten grown men. Graywalde has been anxious to start the
journey, and likely he would have left on the morrow, with or without the rest
of us. For now, though, I am closing this journal. It shall be re-opened in
another two weeks, when we arrive at the Keep on the Borderlands.
