A Marriage Contract

“Follow me, master.” The horned assassin, Shiori Heikkaki, turned to lead the party deeper into the caverns, taking them to her mistress, the Empress Amatatsu Maemi. The group had dodged a bullet when Nicki had Dominated the devilish creature after it had (temporarily) killed Shinjiro. But now everyone else was a bit uneasy seeing the deadly killer acting so subservient to Nicki. For his part, Nicki was feeling pretty pleased with himself.

“Just a minute!” Nicki called, summoning Shiori back to him. “Does your mistress have any other … servants ahead of us?”

“Yes, master,” she replied with a bow. “She commands an aerie of Erinyes.” Nicki nodded. “And what would their reaction be if they saw us approaching?” he asked. “I’m sure they would defend our mistress against intruders, as I did.” Shiori’s porcelain mask hid her features, so Nicki couldn’t tell if she was playing with him or not.

“Is there any way to get past them without being detected?” The assassin shook her head, but then suggested, “I may be able to persuade them to let you approach the Empress unmolested.” She left the group behind and made her way around the outcropping of rock into the darkness beyond. Bella crept to the corner to watch her go, concerned about a double-cross. She made her way across the next cavern, then tipped her head up, appearing to talk to the ceiling, but she was too far away for her to make out her words. Then she returned to the party. “They have agreed to allow me to escort you to our mistress.”

The group nervously followed Shiori into the next cavern. They found themselves in what looked like a mammoth courtyard, with huge basalt columns holding up the ceiling. A high balcony to the southwest looked down upon the room’s ivory-tiled floor. Imperial tapestries of green and gold hung from the balusters of the balcony as well as from the columns. To the south, a decorative overlook provided a breathtaking view of the waterfall formed as the waters of the lake poured into the misty depths below.

Shiori led them to the foot of the ledge, then flew up the forty feet to the balcony above, gesturing for the others to follow. They kept a cautious eye on the ceiling as they passed below, but could see nothing among the shadowy stalactites eighty feet above them. They had little trouble ascending to the balcony. Beyond its ornate railing was a scene of opulence. Delicate silk curtains hung from a forest of stalactites on the ceiling, and plush carpets covered the floor. A huge bed draped in satin sheets and a multitude of pillows occupied the rear of the chamber, behind a regal throne of carved jade. The scent of jasmine and lotus blossoms filled the air. A regal figure sat on the jade throne, a beautiful, ageless Tian-Min woman dressed in Minkai imperial regalia. She bore an eerie resemblance to Ameiko, save for the tentacles that writhed through her elaborate coiffure. A trio of female figures knelt around the throne. The Erinyes were all but nude, and had immense, bat-like wings (much like Nicki’s) growing from their backs, and sharp pointed horns sprouting from their foreheads.

The woman on the throne raised one hand in a gesture of peace. She looked at Ameiko and smiled warmly. “Welcome, Niece! Or should I say, Princess! It is an honor to see a daughter of House Amatatsu once again poised to ascend to the Jade Throne.

“I am Amatatsu Maemi, once Empress of Minkai, and your distant ancestor. I fear I was not a good Empress. I was vain and selfish, and brought dishonor upon our family. I would accept no husband, and died childless and alone, and the Amatatsu Seal passed to another line of our family. After my death, my soul was swept here, into the Well of Demons, and I have had these many centuries to contemplate the price of my vanity.

“And now, here you are. Another Amatatsu prepared to rule Minkai. You cannot ascend to the Jade Throne without my blessing, and how could I withhold it from one of my own blood?

“But Minkai could be so much greater. It should be so much greater! We have become one small nation among so many others, with our neighbors conspiring to keep Minkai poor and weak. With you on the throne, Minkai will grow stronger, it is true, but there is an opportunity for so much more. And you have brought that opportunity with you, without even realizing it!

“There is one among you who has hidden his true identity.” She extended her hand to Nicki with a flourish. “Allow me to introduce Lord Roderick Genterre. Since the deaths of his father and grandfather, he is the head of one of the most prosperous families in Korvosa. His mother was a child of House Jeggare, making young Lord Genterre part of the wealthiest family in all of Cheliax. But unknown to all but a handful, his unfortunate mother was also the illegitimate child of the brother of the current Queen, Queen Abrogail, who, sadly, is childless. Thus your travelling companion is also a scion of House Thrune, the ruling House of Cheliax.

“Cheliax – the most powerful nation on the far side of the world! What would an alliance between Cheliax and Minkai mean for our people? We could establish exclusive trade agreements between the continents, controlling trade across the Crown of the World. We could create a global axis of power that would force other nations to kneel before us.

“So yes, Princess Ameiko – I will happily bless your ascension to the Jade Throne. On the condition that you agree to marry Lord Genterre, and unite the ruling families of Minkai and Cheliax!”

Everyone was shocked into silence, jaws agape. Of everything they thought they might encounter in this place, this was surely the most unexpected. Nicki’s head reeled; the news of his father and grandfather’s deaths was a shock, as was the former Empress’s story of his mother’s heritage. But a slow smile spread across his face; he liked where this was going.

Smiling at the party’s slack-jawed silence, Maemi pulled a stack of parchment out from within her robe. “I am certain you will see the wisdom of this union. We’ve taken the liberty of drawing up the marriage contract. Usually these alliances take years to negotiate, but in this case both sides quickly saw the clear advantages they each would gain.” She proffered the contract with one hand and pen in the other.

Ameiko was the first to react. She was keenly interested in the contents of this contract, and took it from Maemi and began to read. The others clustered around her, passing pages from hand to hand as they hurried to read the document. It was lengthy, written in dense legalese, and took some time to read closely. As they read, they noticed that the ink smelled vaguely of rotten eggs. To their surprise, it was less of a marriage contract than a commercial trade agreement between Cheliax and Minkai. However, it did contain a clause, buried deep within the document, that states both sides’ willingness to extend the contract into a broader strategic treaty between the nations upon the vague event of “a future merging of the ruling bloodlines of our two nations”. Moreover, in the event of such a marriage, any offspring of that union would be eligible to inherit the thrones of both countries. The document was signed (in a rusty red that looked more like blood than ink) by Her Infernal Majestrix, Queen Abrogail II of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune, with a blank space for the signature of the “Divinely Mandated Ruler of Minkai”.

Zhustin looked up in the midst of reading the contract. “Wait a minute. How did this get down here?” He was thinking about the difficulties of reaching this island stranded between two planes of existence, and the difficulties of travel into (and worse, out of) the Well of Demons. And Maemi seemed to be awfully well informed on current events. But Maemi just smiled. “Oh, it was delivered by an intermediary who thought it was likely the Princess and Lord Genterre might be passing this way soon.” Zhustin shuddered.

The pages gradually were absorbed and passed back to Maemi, who waited patiently, pen in hand. There weren’t any obvious loopholes or traps that they could see in how the contract was written – but then they clearly weren’t as experienced with this sort of thing as the beings who had written it. Nicki suddenly dropped to one knee before Ameiko. “Ameiko – I know I have only known you a short time, but it would be the greatest honor and pleasure of my life if you would marry me!” He went on to expound in length about how he would serve both her and Minkai, of how loyal he would be, of the strength both he and the nation of Cheliax could bring to the union. For all that he often drove the others crazy, they had to admit that he could be an incredibly charming little bugger, and he was turning it all on now. But as he finished, Shinjiro gave a disgusted sniff – not a trace of romance!

When Nicki finished, Ameiko was wavering. She looked to the rest of the group. “What do you think I should do? We do need her blessing.” Sandoval stepped forward, and launched into an impassioned counterpoint to Nicki’s proposal. He opposed this marriage, and he used all his eloquence to make the case to Ameiko of the dangers inherent in any bargain with Nicki’s ilk. When he finished, the others all began to speak. They also all opposed the marriage. But perhaps they were intimidated to follow Sandoval’s flowery speech, because their arguments were fumbling and often incoherent. Bella simply sulked in angry (or jealous?) silence with her lip stuck out, but her body language made her opposition clear.

The last to speak was Marie. She had been oddly withdrawn since entering Maemi’s boudoir, and her eyes had a faraway glaze. She, too, urged Ameiko not to sign the contract, and like the others her words were stilted and halting. But there was something in her bearing, in her force of will, that seemed to carry more power than any speechmaker. When she finished, she touched Ameiko’s face tenderly, with an expression that at once combined great hope with inexpressible sadness.

Ameiko stood thinking for a long while, while all sounds in the chamber seemed to fall away. At last she raised her head. “When we started this journey, I was a simple adventurer-turned-innkeeper, and thought about little beyond having fun and making friends. Now, I’m about to become an empress. I’ve learned that my own desires, what I want for myself, aren’t important. I have to put the good of my people before my own wishes.” She looked at Maemi, then at Nicki, and gave a sigh. “Lord Genterre, I accept your proposal.”

Things seemed to happen in slow motion. Ameiko took a step forward, towards the beaming Maemi with the contract in one hand and a pen in the other. Sandoval, feeling the crackle of danger in the air, took one step to intercept her, even as he began to sing. And then a column of flame and searing holy light blasted down from the ceiling, engulfing Maemi and two of her handmaidens. All eyes turned to Marie where she stood, hand outstretched, her face a mask of grim determination. She had hoped to incinerate the contract with her Flame Strike, but Maemi's natural spell resistance prevented the flames from touching her (and, considering the origin of the document, it might not have mattered if they had). “This shall not be!!!” Marie cried, and charged at Maemi.

Erinyes Handmaiden

The devil assassin, Shiori, had sidled over next to Marie during the deliberations, and she clawed at Marie’s back as she left. An instant later, Shiori staggered from a pair of arrows that flew from Bella’s bow; the rogue had not let her pout interfere with being ready for trouble when it arrived. Sawyer, too, had expected the worst, and he now charged the Empress, only to be intercepted by two of her handmaidens. One of them quickly found herself nearly gutted by Suishen. Nonetheless, they slashed at the big fighter with their longswords, while the third whipped out a long rope that coiled and lashed at Bella, attempting to entangle her, but she danced away.

Shiori ignored Bella’s shafts and charged after Marie. Instead of striking with her naginata, she simply extended her hand and touched the cleric on the back of the neck. Instantly, Marie felt her lifeforce being sucked away, as the Vampiric Touch repaired the damage Bella had dealt. Shinjiro rushed forward to help the cleric; he managed a hit, but his attempt at a Stunning Fist failed.

Empress Maemi let out a shriek of unholy rage, and the crown on her head exploded in a flash of Searing Light. Somehow, Bella managed to blink at just the right instant, but everyone else was blasted. From the back of the room, near the balcony’s railing, Nicki wailed, “But Ameiko agreed to sign! She agreed!!” Then he vanished from sight. A moment later, a volley of Magic Missiles slammed into the back of Shinjiro’s head.

Zhustin summoned a trio of Huge Air Elementals that surrounded Maemi’s handmaidens, keeping them busy. Ameiko began to wave her Amatatsu banner as she huddled at the back of the room, trying to stay away from the battle. But then a chorus of screams filled the air of the cavern behind them. Another troop of Erinyes came dropping out of their hiding places along the cavern’s ceiling and came swooping to Maemi’s aid. They weren’t quite as buff as Maemi’s handmaidens, but what they lacked in prowess they made up for in numbers. Two of them reached Sandru at the balcony’s edge, and his scimitar flashed as he tried to fight off the attackers from Hell.

The room was filled with a display of colored lights as Sandoval’s Robe of Scintillating Colors began to flash in a cascading rainbow of hues. One of Maemi’s handmaidens was dazed by the flashing lights, as were several of the incoming Erinyes, two of whom were still in mid-air and plummeted to the cavern floor. Marie relaxed her vendetta on Maemi just long enough to cast Mass Cure Light Wounds on the rest of the party.

Sawyer squeezed between Maemi’s handmaiden bodyguards, and attacked with Suishen. The sword was fairly screaming at him: “Let me kill this abomination, this disgrace to the Amatatsu name!” When the sword made contact, her flesh bubbled and sizzled, despite her immunity to its flames, and it was clear she was especially vulnerable to her family’s own ancestral weapon. But before he could strike again, Sawyer was hit with a Word of Power that left him stunned and helpless before the Empress and her handmaidens. The source of the Word was unclear, but it had from come somewhere back towards the balcony, and the voice sounded suspiciously familiar.

Bella hit Shiori with three more arrows, but the assassin spun around and focused her next attack on Shinjiro, but missed badly. He retaliated with a flurry of blows that connected with her time and again, but somehow left her looking no worse than when he’d started.

Maemi trusted her minions to deal with the party; she needed to make off with the princess so that the marriage could still go off as planned. One minute she was pinned in against the back wall of her room, and the next she was standing behind Ameiko. Her tentacles lashed out at the princess as her kimono opened, revealing a cage-like mass of tentacles comprising her lower body. But before she could trap the princess and Teleport away with her, Zhustin stepped in. “Screw this,” he muttered, and pointed his Finger of Death at the devil empress. With a wet kablooie! Maemi exploded, showering everyone nearby with calamari-like debris.

Their mistress was gone, but her Erinyes servants showed no signs of surrender. The Air Elementals continued to harry the handmaidens; one of them fell to their blows while the other continued to hack at the helpless Sawyer. Ameiko retreated from the onslaught of Erinyes flying in from the cavern, and cast Heroism on Bella. Sandoval used his Jaunt Boots to stay close to Ameiko, and cast Slow on several of the new arrivals.

Bella fired more arrows at Shiori, but the shafts passed through her and ricocheted off the far wall. She and Shinjiro both realized that the figure they’d been fighting was an illusion. A moment later, Bella felt a hand on her back. Her muscles froze, and the paralyzed rogue began giving off a corpse-stench. Those standing near her began to grow sick from the stench. As Zhustin staggered away, retching, he realized that the assassin was now invisible and wreaking havoc in their midst. He tried casting Feeblemind at the spot where he hoped the assassin had struck from, but there was no obvious result. Marie cast another Mass Cure Light Wounds as the resource and numbers depleted group struggled to survive.

And what the hell was going on with Nicki?

No new XP this week, but you’ll get a bunch next week when you finish this encounter. We’ll be at Joette & Rich’s next Sunday.