In Haven, Elenya Lindale elects herself speaker of their party, and etiquette instructor arrives to teach her how to speak with the council. The first rule is to never, ever, talk directly to the Chancellor. Elenya prepares a speech hoping to cover all the facts and convince the council to join the cause.
Back at the isle of Benlag, Sibyll Demier and Anton Esio make their way to the fishing village to secure supplies for the capitol city, which they surmise is by now under siege. As the sun sets, they see smoke off the road. They sneak over to it to see what it was.
They find a unit of Icurnas troops, dead in their own camp. They notice shadows moving from corpse to corpse. They move forward to get a closer look, and realize the shadows are in fact nimble, cloaked figures.
A bow is pulled taut behind Anton's head, and he feels an arrow being pointed at his head. When they turn and face the bowmen, they realize that the man is drow. As the drow's allies arrive, who all appear to be drow themselves, Anton (and Sibyll, who had remained hidden, but reveals her presence) determine that they are all on the same side.
The leader of the drow, Garif, introduces his company as the Shadows of Valor. He and thirty drow are on a quest to bring the legacy of the drow out of darkness and into the light through acts of valor and heroism. Though not formally invited, the Shadows of Valor learned that Benlag - a people that hold an ancient grudge against the drow since the First Drow War - were under attack and decided to render aid. He explains they have been attacking Icurnas scouting parties, though he didn't know the enemy by their name until Sibyll and Anton told him.
Sibyll and Anton accept the Shadows of Valor as allies, and together they head for the fishing village to pursue their mission. When they arrive, the village guards are wary of a platoon of drow, but a missive from Benlag, the man himself, made them accept their allies. They made preparations to lead a convoy to the capitol in the morning.
Back at Haven, Silvertooth Dreadwind waited until the evening to search out Admiral Krakenjaw, the notorious pirate. He heads the the inn in the note, and finds an orcish man with a smashed jaw, white kraken tattoo, and hair like spikes. He approaches, but before he could speak with the man he believed to be Krakenjaw, a blue gremlin steps out and challenges him to a fight. It does not go well for Silvertooth, but the man he knew to be the admiral stopped the fight.
Silvertooth tells him he knows who he is, and that he wanted to thank him for killing Silverfin One-eye. Krakenjaw tells him to buy him a drink of Sulfur Grog, and Silvertooth orders him two. Krakenjaw rests the second one on the blue gremlin's head, and drinks the other. Silvertooth and Krakenjaw get to talking, and Silvertooth tells him about his ship, the Dread Mist. Silvertooth spots Krakenjaw lying that he had never heard of it. When he exposes the lie, Krakenjaw tries to get him to wager the ship in a game. Silvertooth declines, and tries to pitch him the idea of joining an attack on Icurnas. Krakenjaw doesn't see anything in it for him. Elenya arrives and almost derails Silvertooth's efforts with her matriarchal ways, and almost attacks Krakenjaw after the orc grabs her rear.
Seeing that they were only getting into trouble, Silvertooth decides to take his leave. As he turns to exit, Krakenjaw prompts him to sell the Dread Mist, saying to name his price. Silvertooth questions his desire for it, and believes that it once belonged to Krakenjaw. Krakenjaw tells him that he has a glorious flagship, the Equator. Silvertooth recalls rumors that he had a ship of fire, and wonders if the stories were true. Hoping to keep al ine of communication open, he says that he wants to think on whether or not to sell his ship, and at what price. Krakenjaw tells him he'll be here until tomorrow night.
In the morning, a caravan of three wagons, loaded with fresh fish and seals, is ready to make for the capitol. Sibyll, Anton, and the Shadows of Valor - plus a squad of Benlag warriors - escort it. In the evening, Sibyll and Anton (whom had been going ahead to scout) spot a small Icurnas war party, many of them mounted on dire wolves. They return to the platoon, and set a trap from the Icurnas. The Icurnas spring it and the Shadows of Valor dispatch the enemy without much problem.
By nightfall, they reach the siege. The capitol is surrounded by Icurnas, who all chant in a demonic tongue to disturb the defenders. Sibyll and Anton try to think of a way to break the lines. Garif says he and his men could cut a path through, but it will only make it harder to do it in the future, as they will be ready for them next time. Anton spots a small herd of mastodon in the north, and they make a plan to use the mastodon as distractions.
Sneaking up on the mastodons, Sibyll uses her cloak of flames to frighten the mammoths into a stampede, straight at the siege line. As the mastodons cause havoc, they slip in and dispatch a small section of the line and get the carts through, rejoining with Kirin Drakos within the capitol's palisade walls.
No comments:
Post a Comment