Treachery!

 After defeating Kikonu and finally getting some sleep, the party had elected to explore the tower above Kikonu’s study. Bella led the way, and found herself facing a harpy at the top. Unlike everything else they’d met in Brinewall, she did not attack; instead she held out her left hand in a supplicating gesture, while with her right she pointed to her mouth and throat, miming that she was mute. Bella, however, could only see the sharp claws at the ends of her fingers, and backed away. Sawyer and Marie climbed the stairs and the harpy turned her silent entreaties to them.

Marie decided to ask a few questions first, choosing ones that the creature could respond to with yes/no answers. “Did someone in this castle steal your voice?” The harpy nodded vigorously. “Was it the red-skinned man, Kikonu?” More nods in the affirmative. “We killed Kikonu last night,” Marie divulged. The harpy appeared surprised, then broke into a broad smile and redoubled her efforts to get Marie to take her hand.

Marie finally relented, and tentatively reached out for the harpy’s hand. As soon as they touched, Marie heard a voice inside her head. “Thank you for trusting me. My name is Zaiobe, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am to hear that you killed that awful creature, Kikonu. Some of the inhabitants of the castle are loyal to him, but most hate him, and would like nothing better than to see him overthrown. But they fear his power, and serve him out of fear. I’ve been all but his prisoner. He stole my voice, and it delighted him to keep me here in this tower, free to leave at any time, but knowing I would never do so while he held my voice hostage. You can’t know what a blessing you’ve given us.

“But you must be careful – the other inhabitants of the castle might be like me, and not realize that he’s dead. They’ll attack you on sight assuming he’s still in control. And, as I said, some are loyal to him, and will want revenge for his death.” Marie relayed all this to the rest of the party, who began to discuss what to do. Perhaps if they brought Kikonu’s body with them, the other inhabitants would see they had killed them and switch their allegiance to them. But then they remembered that Kikonu had transformed from his red-skinned human form into his Tengu form – would the others in the castle even recognize it was him? Maybe they should take the body of the dire corby priestess along as well.

Zaiobe was listening to all of this, and interrupted in Marie’s mind. “The dire corbies had no love for Kikonu – he tormented and humiliated them too much – but their priestess, Nevakali, was his ally and they were loyal to her. If they knew you’d killed her, they’d treat you as enemies, but otherwise I think I could convince them to come to your side. The party asked about any other inhabitants of the castle, and Zaiobe started ticking them off. “The ogrekin are simple-minded, and supported Kikonu only because he fed and housed them. The troglodytes in the dungeons worship him as a god. And the quickling, Buttersnips – she’s extremely dangerous, and even more mad than Kikonu. Let me help you. I’ll go to the courtyard and gather some of the inhabitants who I know hate Kikonu as I do. Meet me there, and I’ll tell them that you are their liberators. Then they can help you clear out Kikonu’s loyalists.”

The party liked this plan, and quickly agreed. Zhustin was suspicious, but didn’t have any concrete objections so he kept his concerns to himself. Zaiobe gathered the bow that was leaning against the wall behind her, then leaped off the balcony and flew off towards the front of the castle. Marie decided it was better to be safe than sorry, and read the Scroll of Restoration they’d found the day before, restoring Sawyer’s lost level. Maybe it would have come back on its own after 24 hours, but then again, maybe he’d need it before then.

The party decided not to take any chances with the largely unexplored ground floor, and instead went to the defiled chapel, where a pair of double doors led to a broad bridge over the courtyard below to the parapet. As they exited, they saw Zaiobe perched atop the roof of one of the towers over the gatehouse. Three dire corbies stood on the platform below her and the two ogrekin in the courtyard had also wandered over, staring dumbly up, hands shielding their eyes from the morning sun. When Zaiobe spotted the party she smiled warmly and waved them over. The dire corbies also saw them, and seemed confused, swiveling their heads from the party to Zaiobe and back again. Zaiobe soon dispelled their confusion – she whipped out her bow and buried a pair of arrows in Sawyer’s chest.

The fighter staggered back, and collapsed into the chapel, barely clinging to life. The rest of the group decided that wasn’t a bad plan and also began to pile back into the building, while Zaiobe flapped her wings and took to the air. The dire corbies set off at a dead run after the party, while below their last glimpse of the ogrekin showed them rushing for the doors to the throne room below. Marie cast Cure Moderate Wounds on Sawyer, bringing him back into fighting trim (and extremely grateful for the restored level that had kept him alive). He whipped out his own bow and let fly an arrow that scored a critical hit on the harpy. Sandoval began singing, then cast Grease on the floor of the bridge directly in front of the doors. Sawyer slammed one of the two double doors closed, providing some cover for those inside.

The dire corbies initially nimbly kept their footing on the greasy floor, and one slammed into the closed door, knocking Shinjiro back and partially opening the door. Shinjiro threw his shoulder against it to hold it closed, and at that point the dire corby in front of it lost his footing on the slippery surface and fell to the ground. His buddy behind him tried to help him up, and also went down. That left only one standing, and Sawyer stepped up to engage him, taking his chances with incoming fire from Zaiobe. Marie cast Spiritual Weapon, and a starknife appeared in the air next to the harpy, slashing at her. Bella and Sandoval took advantage of arrow slits in the chapel to add arrows of their own, while Zhustin cast Acid Arrow.

Zaiobe began to resemble a pin cushion, and it looked as if the party might be getting the upper hand. But then she cast Entropic Shield on herself, and some of the incoming attacks began to be deflected. She quaffed a couple of Potions of Cure Moderate, and seemed to be ready for anything the party could dish out. She began to maneuver around to try to stay out of range of Marie’s summoned starknife, taking advantage of her superior flying speed to make hit-and-run attacks against whoever was visible in front of the open doors, dealing significant damage with each hit.

Through all of this, Nicki had been worrying about the missing ogrekin. He began piling the chapel’s pews in front of the doors leading to the dining hall, keeping them open just enough to allow him to cast a spell. Sure enough, a few rounds into the combat, he saw the two ogrekin come pounding up the stairs and charge down the hall towards them. Through the gap in the doors, he cast Color Spray, and one of the ogrekin did a face-plant into the floor, unconscious, blind, and stunned for the duration. His partner was unaffected by the spell, and crashed into the closed doors, sending pews flying. Marie rushed forward to help out, and Nicki cast another Color Spray, but he again resisted.

Sawyer killed the dire corby in front of him, and Shinjiro flung open the other door to use his Flurry of Blows against the one lying on the ground. The two fallen dire corbies managed to regain their feet, but the fighter and the monk were too much for them, and they quickly followed their mate into death. Deciding that Zaiobe’s arrows were too much of a threat, they slammed both the doors to the chapel, and everyone turned to focus their attention on the ogrekin at the other door.

But Zaiobe wasn’t out of the fight yet. She demonstrated that arrow slits can work both ways when she flew up to the wall and planted a pair of arrows in the unsuspecting Zhustin’s back. Badly injured, the young wizard whirled and cast Summon Monster, and an eagle appeared in the air next to the treacherous harpy, screeching as it slashed at her with talons and beak. Nicki sent a pair of Magic Missiles through the arrow slit into Zaiobe, and she crashed to the ground below, dead.

With everyone now able to focus on the lone ogrekin he didn’t last long, and Bella hurried out into the hall to slit his unconscious brother’s throat. As people took turns pulling arrows out of each other and Marie dispensed much-needed healing, they discussed what to do next. “I think we should get back to the caravan and check on Ameiko,” Marie offered, and everyone agreed. After all, when they’d left yesterday, they said they were just going to ‘check things out’, and didn’t expect to be gone long; their friends would surely be fearing the worst by now. They needed to let them know what they’d found, and see if Ameiko had recovered from her coma.

They cautiously opened the doors that led onto the ballroom’s balcony, and when they’d determined that the coast was clear, headed down the stairs. In the ballroom, a pair of double doors led west, back into the throne room where they could head out to the castle’s courtyard and gate. Next to them was another small door, while another pair of double doors led east to parts unknown. Bella, with reconnoitering now in her blood, immediately went to the eastern doors and pulled them open. She found herself in a vestibule, with another pair of double doors at the other end, flanked by smaller doors to the north and south. She went in and the rest of the party, plan apparently forgotten, followed. She checked the door to the south and found what had once been a storeroom, now filled with trash and broken crates and barrels.

Turning her attention to the double doors, she pulled them open. It was impossible to tell what this room may have originally been used for, as the walls and floor were decorated with countless preserved animals and creatures, ranging from small birds and forest creatures to fearsome predators. Many of the displays had been created from parts of many creatures, and had been posed in horridly disturbing tableaus. A human with sharp-toothed fish heads for hands was using his hands to devour a pair of rabbits. A pair of dire corbies with wolves’ heads were performing an unnatural act with a deer with eagle’s wings.

In one corner of the room was a dainty sprite-like creature with long twitching antennae and wearing a brightly colored dress made from butterfly wings and preserved wildflower petals. Her form blurred as she flitted through the air. This must be the quickling, Buttersnips, that Zaiobe had warned them about. She turned as Bella entered, and giggled happily. “Oh look, new playmates!” She tilted her head to one side, examining Bella appraisingly. “And such lovely red hair! Your head will look divine on one of my creations!”

In a flash, Buttersnips zipped forward towards the thief, then away, then disappeared completely. Bella didn’t even realize she’d been cut until she looked down and saw blood running from a slash across her arm. The cut burned, and she felt herself growing weaker. In a rare display of good judgment, she slammed the doors shut and leaned against them. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she heard the quickling’s voice chanting from inside the room. “It’s playtime!”

Nicki, Marie, and Sandoval had moved up into the vestibule after Bella, while the others hung back in the ballroom. While Bella held the door shut and the others debated what to do next, Sandoval checked out the door to the north; it led to a storeroom like the one to the south, but this one had another door that led out into the overgrown garden where Zhustin had been attacked by the giant beetle. He returned just in time to see Bella leave her place by the door. “Keep that shut – I’m going to see if I can find something to block it with.” The rogue began rummaging through the junk in the south storeroom. In her searching, she found an undamaged crate of masterwork cold iron arrows, along with another arrow wrapped in red silk. She made note of these, but kept digging for something large enough to blockade Buttersnips’ door. But Nicki had other ideas. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of his flasks of oil. Sandoval saw him, and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” he asked, but Nicki just grinned. Marie backed away.

Back in the ballroom, Shinjiro, Sawyer, and Zhustin were unsure what to do. They hadn’t been able to see what had happened up front, but they’d seen the bloody thief come dashing out of the room and slam the doors, and that didn’t look good. Zhustin readied a spell in case something burst through the closed doors.

So they were all taken by surprise when the doors behind them opened. There, in the throne room, were a trio of troglodytes, their stench wafting through the opened doors. The trogs seemed as surprised to see the party as the party was to see them. After a second, their leader recovered from his shock and screeched something in an unknown tongue, and all three turned and ran. Acting on reflex, Sawyer and Shinjiro gave chase. The trogs dashed across the throne room and through a door on the other side, slamming it behind them. Sawyer and Shinjiro continued to follow.

Inside, a large table was in shambles in the middle of the room, while crumbled suits of armor bearing decorations of dragons twisting around castle towers lay in heaps along the walls. The air in was stuffy and carried an eye-watering reptilian stink. A flight of stairs wound up along a curved wall to the north, presumably to Kikonu’s study upstairs. Another door was swinging shut in the south wall. Reaching it, they found a set of stairs leading down into darkness, and could hear feet pounding down somewhere below. Deciding it probably wasn’t smart for just the two of them to chase the troglodytes down into the dungeons, they shut the door and returned to the throne room, where they met Marie, who’d decided to follow in case they got into trouble.

Back in the vestibule, Bella emerged from the storeroom dragging a heavy iron weapons rack. She was just in time to see Nicki open the door to Buttersnips’ chamber. Before she could shout “NO!”, a brightly colored blur shot through the crack of the opening door and flew between Sandoval and Nicki. It was gone before they could react. It streaked into the ballroom, slashing at the equally surprised Zhustin before vanishing once again. Zhustin felt his strength begin to drain away. Bella dropped her now-useless doorstop, and stepped into the room to see if there might be anything of value. As she did so, something small came flying over her shoulder and landed with a crash and a burst of flame in the center of the room. “You might want to close the door on your way out,” Nicki said over his shoulder as he headed for the ballroom.

Buttersnips was loose, the denizens of the dungeons knew they were here, and the castle was on fire. So much for a quiet morning heading back to report to their friends.

The PCs earned 515 XP for their exploits, putting them at 7484 XP with 9000 required for level 4. We’ll be at Rich & Joette’s next week.