Session 8: In Vornheim

February 15, 118 SE

As the party are led into the city, Dark Star tries to use his telepathic powers to confuse one of guards by mentally contacting him. It works to a degree, as the guard stops and tries to figure out where the sound is coming from, but when the other guards can't hear it, he shakes it off and ignores the voice.

A crowd rapidly forms around the party and the guards, who announce that they've captured the murderer of the Arch-Prelate. By the time they're several minutes past the city gate, the streets are practically lined with onlookers.

While the guards are momentarily distracted, a figure slips past the crowd and approaches the party. They can see that she is a short female tiefling, but her cloak hides her face. Keeping low and hiding among the six adventurers, she lowers Elvish's gag and asks him who he is and what happened. Elvish explains the situation and asks her, if they are unable to, to deliver their message to the King. By this time, one of the guards has noticed her, so she deftly slips past them and back into the crowd, shouting back that she'll "think about it".

The rest of the trip is uneventful; the party make their way through the New City, past the inner wall, and through the Old City to the Palace Massive, where the King resides. Kaplan is confused by this, as this isn't the normal location of the prison. The guards lead them through the palace, which is a gigantic, mazelike collection of towers and spires, until they eventually arrive at a small prison area, where the party is separated, with each party member locked in a separate cell. Once his gag is removed, Calanon demands to see a priest of Vorn.

Inside the cells, the party are able to talk with each other by shouting down the hall that connects the cells, but the guards can also hear anything they say, so they are unable to discuss anything of consequence. They also soon discover that the area seems to be warded against magic, as none of their magical abilities function.

Within an hour, a priest of Vorn arrives, and Calanon is escorted to an interrogation chamber. The priest casts a ritual that he claims will detect falsehoods, then begins questioning Calanon.

The priest is a lean, wiry middle-aged man named Aralakk. He first questions Calanon about the tenets of the Church of Vorn, intending to discover whether he really is a paladin of Vorn as he claims. Calanon is able to answer Aralakk's questions to his satisfaction. Next, he questions him about the events of the last few weeks. Calanon explains his side of the story.

Calanon is eventually able to convince Aralakk that his story is true, and that Kaplan could not have murdered the Arch-Prelate, as he was nowhere near the city at the time it happened. However, Aralakk informs him that Kaplan probably doesn't stand a chance anyway. With the death of the Arch-Prelate, the various Prelates under him are scrambling to fill the power vacuum, and the Prelate in charge of the gate watch, Gorith, intends to use his capture of the Arch-Prelate's murderer to shore up his position and prestige. Kaplan is almost guaranteed to not receive a fair trial. Furthermore, their message to the King will probably be useless. In the best of times, the King is a puppet of the Church of Vorn with little actual power; with the Arch-Prelate dead, the upper echelons of the Church are in disarray and are unlikely to be able to organize any significant assistance.

With this un-encouraging news delivered, Aralakk sends Calanon back to his cell, promising that he'll do his best to get the rest of the party freed, but explaining that he cannot get Kaplan freed.

Aralakk is good to his word - several hours later, the order arrives at the prison that everyone but Kaplan is to be freed, as they were not involved in the murder and simply had the bad fortune to be travelling with him. Their gear is returned, except their weapons, which are left at the city gate for them to pick up after they leave Vornheim. Calanon, as a paladin of Vorn, is allowed to keep his weapons.

It's now late afternoon, so the party have a few hours to make use of. They return to the area near the gate and find an inn to stay at, then split up to gather information.

Dark Star asks around about the mage they saw at the gate, wondering who he is and why he was there, but learns nothing. Grrrr Yip asks about the Master of Trials, the reclusive figure who presides over Vornheim's courts, but also learns nothing of consequence.

Calanon asks about the previous crimes that Kaplan was charged with a few years ago. He learns that Kaplan, or someone who looks like him, was accused of several crimes ranging from theft to murder. He underwent a trial in which he was dumped in the wilderness to the north with only a single item of his choosing, under the assumption that if he lived, Vorn must favor him and therefore he must be innocent. He survived and was cleared of all charges.

Ellyanna asks around about the circumstances of the Archprelate's murder. She learns that he was killed in public, while addressing a crowd in front of the palace. A man wearing a burgundy cloak appeared to come out of nowhere and run him through with a shortsword; the man's hood fell back during this act, revealing his face for hundreds, if not thousands, of onlookers to see. After this act, he managed to flee the city through the city gates.

Finally, Elvish asks around about the tiefling who they met earlier. He eventually encounters a street thug who claims to know her, who says for a few gold pieces he'll arrange a meeting tonight. Elvish agrees and pays him the gold.

After a few hours of information gathering, the party regroup at the inn and share their findings. Once the time comes, they gather their things and head to the location given by Elvish's contact.

The location given turns out to be an abandoned warehouse in a seedy part of the New City. Wary of an ambush, Dark Star stays outside to keep an eye on things while the rest of the party head in. Inside, they find about a dozen thugs, along with the tiefling, who introduces herself as "Ash-Daughter".

Ash-Daughter explains that she and her gang make a living by smuggling people and items into and out of the city; her job is to watch the gates and approach any potential customers who are rejected by the guards. When she saw the commotion with the party's capture, she was intrigued and went to investigate.

The party ask if she can help them free Kaplan, as it seems unlikely they'll be able to get him out via legal means. She says that she and her guild can help. The palace is a maze of corridors and strange construction, so it is definitely possible to sneak in and out. She demands 100 gold pieces for this service; the party negotiate her down in return for a future favor.

Ash-Daughter requests to speak with someone from the group in private; Elvish goes to speak with her. Heading to another section of the warehouse, she asks him for details about the undead threat that they came to warn Vornheim about. After Elvish explains in more detail, she offers to help them out - this time, at no charge. After discussing ways in which she could help, they decide that she will try to find a wizard or similar individual who can possibly help them understand what has happened.