Hurst was excited when the party went to get there next assignment. He had heard from Taveck, Cleric Boyden and Gem via some sort of magic communication. They had finally discovered the ancient capital, Symbar, and had all survived--somehow. They now needed the rest of The Returners to come to progress further into the ruined city. Hurst had one last assignment for the party, and said it was important. They needed as much support for the upcoming expedition into Davokar as possible, in terms of manpower and gold (for supplies and more manpower). Hurst asked the party what groups they thought could possibly help. Maddox mentioned some factions who they were on good terms with:
- The Reformists
- The Iron Pact
- Possibly even the Queen (who they believed to support the Reformists, based ) - Hurst agreed with this theory - whilst the militant Church of Prios were critical to her success in winning the great war and founding Ambria, a peaceful church would now be a lot more welcome. The Curia were getting out of control, with too much power.
Hurst agreed to begin getting to work on gaining support from these.
He mentioned two others who would be joining them on the mission, though they were native Ambrian's, so did not know the true nature of the organisation. Rather, they were hired help. He then introduced Orlan the Pansar, who previously reported to the queen herself, and Brunt, also a former employee of the queen, though in more shady circles. Meanwhile, Wulf was out of action, with some sort of sickness bug. Fenya the goblin also turned up, after spending months in the forest with fellow goblins.
Hurst had a letter from a Father Ombardo from Ravenia, who pleaded for Hurst to send help, but he wouldn't say why, only that he was in danger and that it somehow Duke Ynedar (the Queen's nephew) was somehow linked. The letter mentioned Ombardo was friends with Huberdo and also referenced the "Light Giver", which the party recognised as an old term for Prios - it seemed clear Ombardo was a member of the Reformists. He also offered 1,000 Thalar. This was a perfect opportunity to cement the support of the Reformists and get some good coin. It could even help get on good terms with the queen - by supporting the Reformists and her nephew.
Hurst gave some background on Ravenia:
- Duke Ynedar was a sympathiser with barbarians and witches, and it was the most populated and open city in terms of those peoples.
- It did have a reputation for close links to the pantheon of young gods / The Many.
- There had been news a couple of days back that the First Theurg Armanda had been murdered. She was a hardline loyalist to the Church of Prios, who had fought in the great war, and continued to slaughter barbarians of clans Karohar and Vajvod on arrival in Ambria. Perhaps this was linked to the mission?
- Ravenia's Black Cloak leader, Brother Galdam was a close second to Armanda, and just as extreme.
- As well as the mound (the rich area), the middle class South Town and the lower class North Town, there was also the Barbarian town, outside of the main walls.
The journey was uneventful. On arrival, they had to cross the river by the ferry raft. Here, Orlan already used his clout as a royal Pansar to bypass the hour long queue. They found the town was in the middle of the annual celebration of it's founding. However, there was a strange feeling in the air. It soon transpired that there had been two murders the night before last. Talking to the locals, it transpired that one of them was the very man who sent the letter, Father Ombardo, and the other was a man-witch called Yarmar.
So it seemed Ombardo's fears had been correct. The party decided they needed to investigate. They first went to the main sun temple. The liturgs there (one beinga barbarian - extremely rare) told them where to find Ombardo's house, but also revealed that First Theurg Armanda's successor, Leandro had been arrested, possibly in connection to the murders - however, they were sure he was innocent.
They then headed to Ombardo's house. They had no trouble getting in. Inside, they found evidence that he had been burned alive, and also that all of his belongings had been cleared out. The only other thing was a blank pad of paper. Brunt saw indents on the pad, and used charcoal to reveal what had been previously written on it. There was a note which talked about how Ombardo had been visiting the chapel of the Many in the Barbarian Town with "a friend" and how he was accepted there.
They were interrupted then by members of the city watch. Again, Orlan used his status to get them out of trouble (when they were asked why they were investigating), and demanded to see their commander, so they took the party to the town watch building. The captain, Burlio, stated that the Duke had taken full command of the murder investigation and that Burlio was not to look into it at all (much to his frustration). He even said in clear terms that he would appreciate someone outside of his watch looking into it for him--off the record. To that end, he gave them some leads:
- Ombardo's was well liked, though there were rumours he was in league with Father Sarvola of the Reformists. He had been burned to death in his house. There were signs of torture from cuts on his body too. Ombardo had also reported a burglary the night before, when he was not at home.
- Yarmar was also well liked - burned in the same manner in his home in the Barbarian Town
- There had been an unexplained burglary at the clan Vajvod envoy's house in The Mound.
- The First Theurg Armanda had indeed also been murdered, two weeks prior, though in a different manner - killed by magical grubs bursting forth from her insides. Perhaps there was a link? Especially if this was a feud between the loyalists and reformists / witches.
They had already been to Ombardo's house, so it left three leads. They split into groups to investigate.
Lanky and Fenya headed to the witch's house, where they found the burnt out shell of his house. Nearby, they found his sister, looking extremely distant and unresponsive. The pair managed to get her to warm to them by offering some dragon's breath whiskey they had sourced on the journey to the town. She revealed that Yarmar was much loved. His main hobby was researching the similarities between the Church of the Many and the ancient religions of the barbarian's of Davokar. The chapel to the many in the Barbarian Town was an open secret, and Yarmar frequented it, often with a priest from the main town.
At the envoy's house, the party met the Vajvod chieftan's daughter, Molgara. She was happy to help, and explained that some valuables had been taken, but later she realised three books from her archives were also gone:
- A trade report on Vajvod good sold in the Ravenia market
- A report on the number of people visiting the Chapel of the Many
- A record of members of barbarian clans who had moved to Ravenia
This was the third link to the chapel that had popped up now.
On investigating Armanda's large and expensive house, also on the mound, they found it was being inventoried and emptied out. They spoke to a snooty woman who was Armanda's assistant before her death. The woman was a loyalist to the church, and stated how Armanda's methods were indeed very extreme, but that heretics deserved this treatment. She gave an account of the night of the murder. The death did indeed seem to be caused by witch magic (maggots coming from within), and the doors and windows were still locked and not broken - possible use of magic to get in. She also mentioned that Armanda had seemed more cheerful recently, and that she had had some sort of good news.
The party decided it was time to see the duke and ask him some questions. As they headed to the fortress, they saw a carriage heading the same way, and it bore the livery of the Whip of Prios, the extreme sect of the Black Cloaks, known for cracking down hard on heretics. If they were here, then it meant Brother Galdam must have hired some more help to find Armanda's killer. Fenya jumped on the back of the carriage, getting into the main grounds of the Duke's fortress. The four or five people inside the carriage entered the building. Fenya decided to scale a wall stealthily, to try and see or listen to what was happening inside.
The others walked straight in through the gate and approached the door, and tried to arrange a meeting with the Duke. The adjutant, Belia, said he was too busy to talk, and took a rather stern view of the party. Orlan tried to get his way, using his status as a Pansar, but this time it didn't work, she was having none of it and told them to leave. Orlan was upset by this and started to threaten her, to which a dozen guards appeared. He realised that killing the guards to the queen's nephew probably wasn't the best course of action. She told them the Duke was investigating the murders, and they needed to leave it alone, so they then left.
Meanwhile, Fenya heard some of the meeting between Duke Ynedar, and a woman who was apparently the leader of the Whip of Prios group. It seems they had accusations against the Theurg, Leandro, and wanted to speak with hum. The duke agreed a meeting between himself, Leandro, and the woman speaking. But Fenya didn't catch where or when. He then left to catch-up with the others as they left.
it was now dark, but not quite time to sleep. There were many leads pointing at the chapel of the many in Barbarian town, so some of the party headed there, but the others decided to find Brother Galdam, to get some information out of him. When Orlan arrived at the Black Cloak head quarters, he pretended he was interested in helping Galdam find heretics. The Black Cloak guards said Orlan was too late, and that Galdam had evidence of who murdered Armanda, and that they were in the Chapel of the Many, and that he was already on his way there, intent on killing everyone there! Orlan shouted "Long live Prios" and legged it to try to warn the others.
Meanwhile, the other half of the party, headed by Maddox, were already at the chapel, there before Galdam. They spoke to the priestess there, convincing her that they were there to help bring the murderers of Ombardo and Yarmar to justice. She trusted them, and led them down to the basment, and into a secret room, where a witch, Algaya was hiding. Algaya immediately confessed to the murder of Armanda, stating that she had deserved it for all the evil she had visited upon her people. She had used her magic to get in and kill her painfully. She also admitted that the backlash from the church had meant the death of her friends, Ombardo and Yarmar.
Suddenly there was a scream upstairs. Algaya cast dimension door and disappeared into it. Maddox and co rushed upstairs to face the Black Cloaks. At the same time, Orlan and his crew arrived behind the Black Cloacks as they headed into the church, meaning they could sneak in and attack from behind.
The group was Brother Galdam, a second in command, and seven other Black Cloaks. Galdam asked where Algaya was, then said he was going to kill everyone inside, the same way he had slaughtered Ombardo and Yarmar. So now they party knew who was responsible for all the murders.
A quick but vicious battle ensued, to which the party had absolutely no trouble in winning. Lanky laid about with his new sword, killing three or four. Maddox used his burning sphere to great effect. Orlan was useful with his massive flail. Fenya and Brunt played their part too. In less than half a minute it was all over. The innocents in the church were safe.
There was now evidence and witnesses to Galdam confessing to the murders. Despite the fact that he was a Black Cloak, and that he was seeking vengeance, he was not above the law. The church manager said that his crimes needed to be reported to the city watch commander. As they left the church however, they heard talk of something strange. The duke's famous annual address to the town had been cancelled. This was something that had never happened before...