#76 - Cold Prophecy (Part 2)

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

Storrgrimm kept swinging his axe and telling me that I was not worthy to wield Haurach, the great bone-maul. I was smashing away at his legs with my old Seren mace but I just couldn't land a real blow. His wolf kept after Clarion and I both and we were all getting worn down. Clarion kept taking immense amounts of damage, but his hewed-up armored body seemed to keep going. The snow around me with spattered with my blood, flowing from slashes. Each cut would have taken off a limb if I wasn't as fast as I was. But through my rage I still felt cool, and the pain was minimal.

Eventually with another swing of that mighty axe, the frost giant sent Clarion crashing into the snow. I can never tell at first if a warforged is actually dead or just—as Cypher calls it—"disabled."

At the same time, something seemed to happen to Aleae, as if the fey (Faye?) had taken her away in some way. She had the Wand of Wonder in her hand but she seemed to flicker in and out as if she wasn't really there with us. She managed to focus herself enough to revive Clarion with a spell, and she used her wand to conjure a torrential downpour on all of us. Not useful in any way, but that is what she did.

Simel was holding his own against the wyvern and the air elemental, which was attacking both Simel and the wyvern. The fighter somehow managed to bend his rapier when he thrust it hard against the ground and at a bad angle. (I think I would rather use my fists than a rapier...)

Surprisingly, both foes gave up and flew away. The wyvern was badly wounded by arrow and blade, and without the witch to lead them both, they just lost interest. Lucky for us they did flee, because Simel was bleeding pretty well now, too.

Storgrimm landed a shot that knocked me flat. Another chop from the axe would have cut me in two, but I awoke mere seconds later when Clarion, still badly compromised, had used a healing spell to revive me. Storgrimm seemed happy to have me back in the fight. If he weren't nearly twenty feet tall and clearly preferred colder climates, he could have been a Bringer of Fire like me. His anger, his lust for battle, and his desire for a foe worthy of challenge was admirable. But he still needed to die, so we fought on!

Clarion stood up. Storrgrim snarled at him and hacked him back down with two swipes of his axe. Once more the warforged crashed into the snow and lay still. At one point Simel called out to me, shouting his encouragement, and it reminded me that I was not here alone despite the power of my foe.

I dodged around the giant and drank what healing draughts I carried, buying a few precious seconds. If I was to be slain this day, I would prolong it. Red dragons and their heirs last. The potions did make me feel better and I chose to slow down a bit. It was time to make my blows count and to stop being so reckless.

Simel started loosing arrows at Storgrimm and the giant blocked a few with his shield. With that distraction, I finally landed a good shot as he overreached and he leaned down within my reach. I swept my mace straight across his face, breaking teeth and filling his mouth with blood. His smile disappeared. The winter wolf instantly went over and attacked Simel, breathing out a blast of frost like a small white dragon.

A few more swings between Storgrim and I passed. I was almost done. I was bleeding badly and staggering around light-headed.  Suddenly, I saw an opening and got a great overhand shot direct to his chest.

He looked startled. He said, “You surprise me, Seren,” and his eyes lost all semblance of the life and vigor of battle. His wounds vanished even as his body reverted into icy mist, reminding me that he was somehow more spirit than giant. Even the winter wolf dissolved into mist again. As the fog rolled back in, I could see the bone mace lodged in the snowy ground in front of me. I yelled out that Clarion was down and needed healing. Simel limped over and poured a potion into whatever passed for the warforged's throat, waking him up. Clarion, of course, set to healing us as well.

I picked up Harauch again. This time I could feel it. I had earned the ability to not only carry it but to wield it. Storgrimm was there in the mace, a grudging ally who would be observing me. Was it his ghost, or just an echo of his spirit? I could sense that he was unfettered by time. He had been a chieftain in his time thousands of years ago...and so this weapon was just as old.

I now had his permission to use the mace, but its full power would come as his opinion of me improved. The more I seek out the enemies of Vensheratryx and his rakshasa servant, Avashad (the Defiler), and work to resurrect the Winter Coalition, the more powerful the mace would become. I don’t know if the images in my mind are promises of things to come or of things the mace had already done. At one point, it felt as though I was Storgrimm in another time, or one of the others who carried Harauch. I knew that with time and commitment, I could awaken deeper powers within this artifact. I could summon the winter wolf, Warlazz, and conjure storms of ice. I might even be able to invoke Storrgrim incarnate. I need more time and some advice to understand this new tool. I wonder what Cypher will think of it.

Luckily, Cypher, Kard, and Dar soon arrived as the four of us were standing around in shock and looking for our horses. On their way here, they had seen the fleeing wyvern. Cypher had blasted it with a magic missile, and Dar used some crazy moon magic to knock it out of the sky. It crashed to the ground, slain at last.

Everybody was patched up into a fighting state and the site was explored. I was spent. I wanted to get back to the Royal Bear Inn and rest and talk to my companions about what had happened here.  They agreed and we want back to Wroat, talking the entire way.

Excerpt from the Cypher's Codex: The Scrawlings of a Warforged Scholar

In the wake of Magnus's battle with the "entity"—a frost giant, truly?—of his intriguing and re-awakened weapon, there was still the matter of the wyvern-riding sorceress which presented a minor mystery to us. She had been slain by Aleae, not with a spell of her own but from, as I understand it, a curious discharge of gemstones. [Annotation: The Wand of Wonder is indeed just that, a great wonder. If only Aleae could spare the Wand for a few years to allow me to study it.]

We knew that the air elemental-conjuring sorceress was in league with Drazul, for we had fought with her outside of the Dragonwood. But how had she found us? Wroat is no small community, and to have eyes on every gate is highly impractical.

Kard, however, had the means to extract some answers. Using a clerical spell of necromancy, he forced the dead wyvern-riding sorceress to answer five specific questions.

We learned that her name was Unatiss and she was a mercenary or bounty hunter allying with our enemies for the gold it would earn. She claimed to not know the names of others who are hunting us. When asked how she would have proved to collect the bounty placed on our heads by Governor Trazzen ever since our time in Droaam, she answered: "I would bring the heads of Rendar d'Tharashk and Magnus to Glyphstone Keep." This further proved that our enemies—or some of them—reside in that ruin.

Three, the King's Protector

I was curious to notice the omission of my name from the bounty hunter's re-animated lips. Was this another example of latent warforged racism, indicating that my corporeal dome is not worth as much as that of a human's or half-orc's? Does not my ghulra not uniquely identify me, as the face of a flesh-and-bone creature can identify him? Was my involvement in this plot even known to Governor Trazzen?  Perhaps this could be used to our advantage, seeing as I am the one in possession of the Emporer's Key and the schema from the body of Claviger.

Upon our return to the capital city of Wroat we were informed that Three had returned and we were summoned to the Citadel for our debriefing. After asking for our trust in Dar, Kard, and Simel, he met with all of us. Three confirmed for us that appropriate emissaries of the crown would be sent to meet with Sorethyress as she had instructed us. The King's Protector also said that he had sent a missive to King Boranel himself on our behalf to make him aware of us and our actions. I informed my companions of the great honor we have had to serve the King, although Kard didn't seem as interested in the honor. I was happy to have served the crown in such a satisfactory manner.

Three informed us of some other events that had been occupying his time. There have been strange occurrences in the region. No one of these, he said, were so concerning, but all of them together are.

In addition to an unusual number of wyverns spotted in and around the Bear's Wood, reports of strange winged beasts have been coming in around outlying farms. There were attacks mostly on cattle. The winged creature or creatures are reported to breath fire (based on the scorch marks or charred remains), fight with their claws and bite, and they tear apart their prey, but they are decidedly too small to be dragons. Of the many cattle that are killed, only some are eaten, which seems to have confounded the agents of the Citadel, for most creatures large or numerous enough to kill livestock do so for food.

In addition, unnatural phenomenon—that Three did not describe—have also been reported in the King's Forest by the Knight Rangers. The Knight Rangers, I have learned, patrol the borders of that forest to counter the actions of poachers and bandits and work to keep dangerous monsters from venturing out to endanger the Brelish people.

Three said that the Citadel is sending an envoy deeper into the wood to take counsel with the Shadows of the Forest. This is evidently a rare occurrence. Dar told Three that she was affiliated with the Shadows, the quasi-legal force of druids active deeper inside the King's Forest where even the Knight Rangers do not go. Three surprised her by indicating that he knew something of her history. The necessity of Dar acquiring identification papers in this city will have had something to do with that.

Three then mentioned that Princess Haydith, Karnathi royal and sister to King Kaius III who resides in King Boranel's court as part of the foreign exchange of royals, has also gone missing. However, he abruptly moved on from that topic to talk about the recent theft at the Wroat Exchequer's office. Later, Aleae speculated that Three may have told us about the princess accidentally, although I find it hard to believe such a noble warforged would make such a mistake.

We told Three about our recent inquisitive work on behalf of the crown, such as our encounter with Lord Szen and how that led us to the forger Sylvander. I told Three everything about the last week, including the fact that we made a deal with the Sivis excoriate in order to secure a map of the secret meeting place of the Blue Wraith at Glyphstone Keep. Three asked me why we would not bring a criminal directly to the Citadel, and instead hand one over to the impartial Carnival, but I assured him it was for the greater good of Breland. His reaction and opinion of this response was unclear.

Based on our own intelligence, Three then made a request of us. He asked if we would investigate Glyphstone Keep, for unsubstantiated rumors and signs have been reaching him regarding that old ruin and he wished to either (1) dismiss them or (2) confirm that there is something there worth considering. What we learned from Sylvander regarding a conspiracy against the King was still only secondhand information, but if valid, worth investigating. If evil druids, the Order of the Emerald Claw, or any other agencies bent on regicide are conspiring there, then as First Sergeant of the Brelish Engineers Brigade, I would see them removed.

Three informed us that gargoyles had also been sighted perched or flying around the spires of the keep. I waited for Kard to share with Three about the encounters with gargoyles on the open plains of Breland, but instead Magnus told the story. None of the other recent events—the wyverns, the unknown winged, fire-spewing beast, the missing princess—pointed directly to Glyphstone, and therefore Three cannot actively counsel King Boranel accordingly. If, however, we were to discover a true threat there, he would have the evidence he needs to take military or governmental action.

Glyphstone, he explained to us, is considered something of a memorial to the descendants of Dhakaani. And in fact recently a small encampment of goblins has been seen growing around the base of the keep. Some came from Wroat, but most were migrants from Darguun. So far they have made no attempt to enter the ruin and they have broken no laws, so again, the Citadel is hesitant to take any action.

Of course, we immediately agreed to go to Glyphstone Keep. We had already resolved to do so for purposes of our own. Before he parted company with us, Rendar told us he knew with certainty—through the mystical connection he had to his dragonmark—that Governor Trazzen resided there now. Kard, too, had come seeking our help in entering the place.

But because for Three the troubles concerning Glyphstone Keep were only a matter of speculation thus far, we would not be working as inquisitives for the Citadel. Rather, we would be doing so as a favor to him.

Three waited for us to agree, and then told us he would like us to speak with the Darguun diplomat Irakas. She is a hobgoblin and a dirge singer (a bard among Darguun culture), and we had met her before on the same day when we first met Three. She and her companions had been especially interested in the Emperor's Key then, but we had managed to avoid concluding potentially hazardous discussions with her. She had come to Three as a delegate of Darguun seeking permission to enter Glyphstone Keep, where the Brelish government does not allow trespass. Most importantly, Three said that Irakas would know more about Glyphstone Keep and its history than anyone.

Now that I have had a chance to brew potions for the party and enhance Rungo's abilities, I am eager to travel to this ancient fortress on behalf of my country. But yes, we must first gather information.