Act 1 / Interlude 3 - Second Report to the Baroness (July 9, 2014)

As the party left the vicinity of the Blood Vow lair, they soon found the prisoners they had liberated earlier in the day -- Bophre Malak, and Carlo and Sela Bellathi -- emerging from hiding in the foliage on the north side of the overgrown road. The trio were tired, weak, ragged and had bruises on their faces and arms, but seemed to otherwise have been relatively unharmed; they expressed gratitude once more to their liberators, and were in good spirits given the imminence of their return to civilization and safety. Bophre, a young lady in her late teens, did most of the speaking on behalf of the group, and exhibited the most obvious resilience among the three.

Bophre Malak

The party and former captives stopped by Devy Manor on their way back into town in order to report to the Baroness. Lady Devy could not hide the discomfort of having blood- and mud-stained folk (and a fox) once again standing in her immaculate sitting room, but nonetheless instructed that the chamberlain provide refreshments to her guests. She was relieved that Bophre Malak and the two strangers had been rescued and that the party had neutralized the Blood Vow kobolds, but she was worried that a dozen or so of the kobolds had been spared and allowed to remain in the old quarry rather than being exterminated or driven off. 

Ultimately, she accepted the party’s assessment that the kobolds had been commanded against their better judgement by their chief, Roaghaz, and a newly arrived spiritual leader, to collaborate with the wizard Hunclay to engineer the collapse of the Witch Tower, and that Hunclay’s death was the result of a calculation error by kobold miners; the party believed that the kobolds had not intended to kill the wizard, and that they posed no threat to Belhaim. Indeed, one of the kobolds, Nighttail, was kept prisoner by Chief Roaghaz for voicing her opposition to his plans to work with the wizard and to bring about the collapse. Once the party released her, she helped them navigate the kobold warrens safely, and fought valiantly against the new cleric and Chief Roaghaz. Nighttail was now leader of the Blood Vow and promised that the tribe would once again be good neighbours, and the party deemed that it would be appropriate to allow the kobolds to redeem themselves... after all, was it not true that the town had known of their presence for years, yet never before had the draconic tribe behaved in a menacing manner? Upon further reflection, the Lady Devy agreed that the wizard ultimately was responsible for his own fate, and that it also was consistent with Abadaran teachings to resort to violence and extermination of potentially hostile neighbours as a last resort. Perhaps the kobolds did deserve another chance... yet she also made it clear that if the kobolds did not keep their promise, the consequences would be on the party’s collective heads. 

Lady Devy agreed that the companions had successfully completed this second commission, and commanded that they be paid the promised fee: a total of a dozen gleaming amethysts (worth 100 g.p. each). Arnholde made sure to remind them that Taxfest was just around the corner -- in just five days -- and that an Imperial Tax Collector would be coming to town.

The Lady was disappointed that the party had learned nothing about the fate of the Kells (the village’s absentee druidic guardian and his wife), but she and her son Arnholde went pale when the heroes relayed what the elderly Blood Vow cleric, Jakkol, had said to them before he died, concerning a “dread lord Aeteperax” and the bats he calls from the darkness as harbingers of chaos and lunacy, and how they would be “your doom as they have been ours.” They showed her the green and black dragon scales they had retrieved from one of Chief Roaghaz’s treasure chests; the black ones seemed a lot more faded and fragile.

“It... cannot be,” whispered Lady Devy. “You may not know this, but... Belhaim was founded more than a thousand years ago by Lady Tula Belhaim, a great hero and one of the Slayers of Nazili; the Slayers killed a black dragon by the name of Aeteperax in the nearby swampland, still known today as the Dragonfen. As a matter of fact, the old quarry sits at the edge of the Dragonfen. The Emperor had awarded Lady Tula the title of Baroness and the stewardship of the Verduran Fork region for her great deeds. Her legions of admirers followed and soon the town you now see was established, at the foot of the hill upon which she and her husband, Arturic Canteclure, one of her fellow Slayers, eventually built their castle... and which many centuries later was inherited by distant relations of Arturic’s. To my knowledge, there have been no dragons in the Dragonfen for more than a thousand years... at the very least, none that have made their presence known in a definitive or threatening way... Some villagers believe that dragons have always lived and continue to live in the Dragonfen, but there have been no confirmed sightings or any other concrete proof to support those claims...”

With renewed confidence, she added: “But who knows... perhaps the kobold chief simply invoked the name of the ancient dragon to instill fear and obedience in his tribe...” When the party affirmed that neither Nighttail nor any other kobolds admitted to having seen this Lord Aetperax, the Baroness’ became even more reassured.

Arnholde interjected that, “Bassy would probably remember a lot more of the details regarding local history since the time Lady Belhaim was granted her fiefdom.” With a laugh, he declared that Bassy “looks like a child, but she’s the oldest person in town. She even claims that her grandmother was a friend of Lady Belhaim.” Pointing at Shalora, Jiri and Akiro, Arnholde snidely remarked that “the three of you are bound to get along... she’s a Shelynite. And who knows, perhaps Jacoba Kivris at the Record Hall may have some documents pertaining to that historical period...”

Both Arnholde and his mother seemed to think that the notion that this new Lord Aeteperax would call on bats as harbingers of lunacy and choas sounded preposterous. They suggested that perhaps the kobolds themselves had succumbed to lunacy, perhaps by ingesting too many of the hallucinogenic mushrooms found in the woods?

“Either way then,” continued Lady Devy, “matters regarding this new ‘Lord Aeteperax’, whoever he is, if he exists at all, can wait. Assuming he does exist, he has made no threats or demands of Belhaim, and, Abadar willing, perhaps he got whatever it was he wanted from the wizard Hunclay and will not bother the village... let us not poke a sleeping dragon’s snout. And I kindly request that you refrain from mentioning this Lord Aeteperax to anyone else -- there is no need to cause an unnecessary panic among the villagers.” She asked that that the companions swear an oath to not suggest in conversations with the locals that someone claiming to be Lord Aeteperax was active in the region, save perhaps Bassy, if they questioned her.

“Perhaps we will find some answers in the wizard’s estate,” added the Baroness. “I dispatched a raven to Hunclay’s cousin in Yanmass yesterday afternoon -- if I have not received a response from her within a week’s time, then we may need to enter the wizard’s estate without her  express written consent. I will call on Jacoba Kivris at the Record Hall to provide me with a detailed account of my rights and obligations regarding the Hunclay estate under Imperial law, and in particular references to time frames and exceptional circumstances that I may not be aware of... this is the first time I have ever had to deal with this kind of... incident.”

Before taking their leave, the party reconfirmed their availability to investigate the Hunclay Manor at the appointed time, and also recommended the release of Sesserak from the village gaol; they would escort her back to the Blood Vow lair on the morrow. 

“Thank you again for your services,” stated the Lady. “I hope you will enjoy some well earned rest over the next few days... Tomorrow is Fireday, market day in the village. You may see a greater than usual number of folk about town, including many gnomish loggers down from the Wispil area, as well as some woodsmen and folk travelling the river. I will send word when we will be ready to discuss the matter of the Hunclay manor further... In the meantime, I request that you avoid venturing too far into  Dragonfen... I do not want to draw the attention or ire of this new Lord Aeteperax if we can avoid it...”

Arnholde (unable to conceal his interest in Shalora), would lead the party on a tour of Belhaim the next morning and introduce them to some of the residents and key business owners...