The City of Aasla - Part Three
Time was pressing, and the imminent arrival of the Inquisitors from Revenge or the red dragon Infyrandax meant the group needed to act quickly if they wished to avoid increased resistance at the Temple of Alphatia. Karnus cloaked the group in invisibility as they approached the cathedral, the wizards travelling on the carpet and Alvion via the magical flight granted by his Travel spell. Thus the group managed to arrive unseen and without making a sound, wary of the window on the sole remaining spire where Hakrukar was reputed to have his personal chambers, or so Dakral had revealed.
The Church of Alphatia
The cathedral was the grandest structure any of the four had ever laid eyes upon, or at least its former grandeur was apparent. That much was clear despite the blackened exterior, the cracked statues on the outside and the three toppled spires. The party landed to one side of the immense structure and discussed their options in hushed tones. After lengthy discussions, Teldon sent a Wizard Eye through one of the massive cracks in the building's exterior and reported back in grim tones that the party's coming had, clearly, been foreseen. Teldon etched a drawing in the ashen dirt to show the interior of the church, and how its occupants were widely spread out within. Ten innocent victims had been apprehended to allow the ceremony to raise Shetruna and were standing with knives held to their backs by the clerics of Alphaks. Teldon had counted no fewer than twenty individuals in all, spread evenly throughout the vast interior. They appeared to have been maintaining their positions for some time and all looked extremely bored.
Alvion whose Travel spell was still in effect assumed gaseous form and flew into the Temple through same the crack Teldon had used to send in his Wizard Eye. The wizards watched through their scrying devices and heard him issue a challenge to an armed individual before the main altar, which bore a sculpted effigy of the Roaring Demon, Alphaks. Shetruna's corpse was laid out before the altar. Alvion accused the clerics of worshipping a forbidden Immortal, and proclaimed that he would reclaim the cathedral in Alphatia's name. The armed individual laughed scornfully at this proposal, demanding of Alvion how he intended to tell the clerics of Alphaks apart from the kidnapped prisoners. For not all those wearing robes were clerics, and vice versa - the clerics were deliberately seeking to confound their foes.
With the element of surprise more or less gone, Lana and Karnus flew in through the roof and lost no time loosing their magics, taking care not to harm the innocent hostages. Phantasmal attacks proved useful. Lana was forced to release a number of charges from her Wand of Enemy Detection in order to identify the true foes. Karnus for his part had singled out an armour-clad individual who had come running from Hakrukar's spire onto an upper gallery. Laughing wildly, the dark cleric swung his warhammer in an arc causing his body to become swathed in flames. Karnus polymorphed the form of a small bird, drew to within feet of the pyromaniac, then assumed ogre form and landed a punch into the man's midriff. The force of the blow was intended to send the man off the side of the gallery however he managed to retain his balance. Karnus resumed normal form and used the Staff of Hutaaka to deflect the man's hammer blows. To his horror, the flaming weapon caused the end of the cedarwood Staff to catch fire and blacken. Karnus channelled his fury into an upward blow with the Staff, forcing his opponent backwards off the gallery to land with a sickening crunch dozens of feet below. Karnus then resumed bird form, flew down to the statue by the altar, and returned to ogre form to force the statue of Alphaks onto the ground where it shattered on impact, startling a number of nearby combatants.
Lana expelled a charge from her Wand of Fear to send a pair of clerics running out of the cathedral's front doors. Hearing chanting nearby, she turned to see the image of a grinning skull being projected along a beam of blackness from the fingertip of a nearby cleric. The beam was aimed directly at her heart. The magic caught her in the chest but she shrugged off the magic without ill effect, blasting her assailant with a barrage of amber shards.
Movement then caught the eyes of both Karnus and Lana as Patriarch Hakrukar made his appearance. Emerging from the base of the spire, the cleric was flanked by two armour-plated lizards, which had presumably been summoned by unholy magic. Karnus lost no time releasing a Dispel attack, causing both creatures to vanish back into thin air.
Teldon, seeing that the tide had turned against the clerics appeared to have had enough of the fight. Uttering a single word of magic, he caused the air around Hakrukar to erupt with colossal force. The cleric cried aloud in pain, dropping to his knees and clutching his head in his hands. It proved an easy feat to apprehend him and bind him to one of the central pillars along with the other clerics the party had managed to subdue.
Thankfully, all the hostages had survived the fight and none bore any serious wounds. As Lana began administering first aid on those who had sustained injury, Karnus set about interrogating Hakrukar in a bid to find out more about the Order of Alphaks and their plans for Aasla. The Inquisitors were expected to arrive soon, the party already knew that much. In his weakened and pathetic condition Hakrukar brokered a deal with Karnus - in return for the wizard agreeing to end his life and spare him from the Inquisitors' punishment, he would reveal all he knew of the hidden base known as Revenge. For a highpriest of Alphaks this turned out to be surprisingly little. He spoke of the Inquisitors, and the Black King and Queen, with fear and respect audible in his words. Revenge was located within Alphaks' Volcano - a strange island which had appeared off the Empire's western coast several years ago, shrouded in dark clouds which made sea or air travel to the island impossible.
Alvion was pleased that the fight to reclaim the Church had proven successful, and he lost no time beginning a lengthy ceremony to re-sanctify the place. He assured the three wizards that he would suffer no harm while he remained in this place, and that the clerics of Alphaks would not cause him any bother. Therefore the wizards took their leave for a while to report back to the blue dragons, Izularyt and Ukkrinza. Passing by the street where the day before the party had witnessed the fierce clash between the Jennites and the Norwolders the wizards were unsettled to note that not a single corpse still littered the streets. No doubt whatever undead force was active in Aasla had animated the bodies overnight.
The dragons expressed pleasure that the clerics of Alphaks would cause them no trouble in the future, yet it took an explicit request from Lana before they were prepared to reward the three wizards for their efforts. Reluctantly, the larger dragon lazily picked up something from the hoard with his immense claw, tossing the item in Lana's direction. A scroll of rolled parchment landed at her feet. Seeing a single item drop Karnus looked at Lana, not allowing his expression to betray what he was thinking but spoke quietly to his companion in the Thyatian tongue, knowing the dragons could not follow. "Is that all? Surely they can spare more." Lana could only agree. The dragons were too haughty to express verbal gratitude for the service the three wizards had provided but they were still highly intelligent creatures and no doubt were acutely aware how the scales of balance had shifted that day as a result of the Karameikans wizards' efforts. After further negotiation with the dragons, it was made clear that additional service would be needed for further reward. The gathering of information, on the whereabouts of the red dragon Infyrandax for example. Patriarch Hakrukar was therefore brought before the dragons, and subjected to further interrogation before meeting a grisly demise at the wyrms' hands. A further scroll was tossed down, this one substantially longer than the first. Lana drew a breath before she begging the dragons' further indulgence to stay the night in the dragons' lair. There, at least, they would be protected from other forces such as the undead and the impending arrival of the Inquisitors. The dragons gestured lazily toward a corner of the old museum which appeared dry and sheltered from the draught. The three wizards made camp for the night, watching the dragons' many wards come and go all reporting to their masters in the Alphatian tongue, all seeming oblivious to their protectors being anything other than mortal men.
The next morning, returned to the Church of Alphatia, where Alvion was close to completing his reconsecration. He mentioned that he had given thought to destroying the structure with an Earthquake, to avoid the cathedral being put to further ill use, but ultimately decided no such violence would be contrary to his Lady's pacifistic ways, or at any rate her traditional ways. Alvion expressed his intention to return home to Theranderol through use of a Word of Recall spell. He had Quested the remaining followers of Alphaks to return to civilisation and confess their misdeeds to the Alphatian authorities, whereupon they would be tried and sentenced according to imperial law. The cleric thanked the wizards for their assistance in redeeming the ancient temple, and wished them well for their onward journey. Without further ado, the wizards bid Alvion farewell and mounted their carpet.
The University of Aasla
The urgency of their duties to the Duke pressed on their hearts and minds yet the wizards were loathe to leave Aasla without visiting one last site they had seen marked on Zeloxar's map the University. From Dakral and other sources the three had heard that the highly aggressive Norwolders had made the campus their home. The thought of illiterate barbarians having no use for paper riches irked the wizards greatly. The carpet soared over the university walls which had crumbled in many sections. They firstly alighted atop a tall silver tower, with a tiny hut at its the top. The doorway of the hut housed a dark portal through which the wizards passed into a far more vast interior than had been expected. The night sky appeared magically overhead with all of its stars and heavenly bodies. Both Karnus and Lana pocketed magical wands which seemed to have been used as light-emitting pointers. The levels below appeared bare apart from infestations of giant beetles. The wizards decided to examine other buildings within the campus walls. Karnus summoned Invisibility to cloak the carpet and its riders, allowing them to draw close to each structure without being noticed. Investigating a long building which ran along the side of the campus wall, signs of life through windows indicated that the Norwolders occupied what was suspected to have once been halls of residence. Those buildings showed significant activity and were left well alone.
Turning their attention upon a smaller building in one corner of the campus, the three wizards' eyes lit up as they spied bookshelves through a series of expansive windows... Evidently, this building had once housed a library! A Knock spell forced one of the windows ajar and the carpet sailed into the interior. All the bookstands stood empty, evidently having been cleared when the residents of Aasla chose to relocate. Karnus drew forth charcoal and a sheet of parchment and began plotting the layout of the interior as the carpet made its way down several levels and along many winding corridors. Staring around in confusion some time later, Karnus believed he had uncovered a staircase which appeared to occupy space he had already mapped. As Lana directed the carpet down the staircase, magical light the wizards had summoned fell on shelves filled with books at the bottom. At that very moment Karnus winced, as the Powers of Neutrality visited a precognition upon him. In his mind's eye Karnus saw a wizened arm protruding from tattered robes, clutching a staff The invisibility he had summoned earlier remained intact, shrouding all three wizards and their carpet from view as they approached the books. Now a shuffling sound could be heard, interspersed by tapping, as a humanoid figure approached. The figure came into the partys magical light a stooped, vulture-headed creature. Clad in ancient robes, it clutched a wooden staff in one age-spotted claw. It called forth in the Alphatian tongue, demanding to know who trespassed in its domain. Lana called forth in Thyatian and received a response in the same tongue! The creature accused the three of seeking to steal its 'knowledge'. This prompted Karnus to whisper conspiratorially with Teldon in their shared Traladaran tongue, though it turned out the creature spoke that language also and could participate in the discussion.
At last a deal was brokered if the three wizards agreed to perform a specific task, they would be permitted to share the creature's knowledge. They would be required to descend into the lowest level of the University to retrieve something which was missing. No further information was given however a gift of lore was offered as a pledge of trust the creature would answer any one question within its knowledge. Straightaway Lana believed she knew what question to ask, and after consulting Karnus and Teldon she demanded to know the name of the ancient Immortal, the Patroness of Death and Rebirth, who was worshipped in the Northern Reaches, whose followers had pursued the three wizards across the Sea of Dawn. The name of the Queen of the Dark Throne was indeed within the creature's knowledge ... Hel! The utterance of that name, discovered at last, sent shivers along the spines of all three wizards.
The Creature in the Deep
Descending a further set of steps, an old stone archway covered in runes appeared to show signs of having been damaged. Perhaps some protective field had been broken? An immense subterranean lake lay beyond, with nothing of note to be found on the shore. The decision was made to fly out across the water, and Lana telekinetically floated her magical light to investigate a huge white disc lying a short way beneath the water's surface. As the light grew near, a smaller black disc appeared, moving across the whiter disc. At once the three wizards realised the peril they were in, as a growl reverberated through the walls of the immense cavern and the surface of the water became choppy. The carpet sped back toward the exit, rocks and stalactites detaching from the ceiling and falling to impact on the carpet and on the three wizards yet they pressed on desperately, not daring to look behind. As the carpet reached the shore Karnus finally glanced back and in horror saw an immense cloud of gas billowing out across the lake, bound to reach the carpet within mere moments. Just as the carpet entered the passageway which led back into the University Karnus outstretched his hands and conjured a Wall of Stone with his magic, sealing off the passageway against the invading vapours.
The ground below the carpet continued to shake, and upon reaching the ground floor the Astronomy Tower was seen through a nearby window to collapse. The vulture-headed creature was tracked down and confronted, accused of having attempted to send the wizards to their doom. Karnus blasted the creature with magic missiles; in response, it merely glanced in his direction and the man's robes caught on fire. These were no illusion, and continued to burn on touch. Lana followed Karnus' attack with volleys of her own magic missiles and amber shards - before closing to do battle with her dagger. Resisting the creature's magical attacks for most of the battle, Lana was aghast when the enchanted dagger in her hand crumbled to rust. Angrily seizing her "spare", the creature was despatched a round later.
The wizards helped themselves to a pile of books the vulture-headed creature had stockpiled. Believing they had seen all the University had to offer, and still shaking from their narrow escape from the subterranean lake, they climbed onboard the carpet and took to the skies once more.
Flying north over the rooftops signs of movement caught Lana's eye and she directed the carpet toward where a group of individuals could be seen fighting a giant ants which had emerged from one of the great ashmounds. Two of the party had engaged the ants in hand-to-hand combat, a male dwarf and an armoured female, while three others stood watching impassively from a distance. Karnus took the opportunity to experiment with the party's newest magical acquisition Hakrukar's Staff of Commanding. Grasping the Staff he channelled his will through it, taking control of one of the ant's minds and directing it to attack its fellows. Lana and Teldon approached the bystanders, all of whom were female - an elfmaiden, a cleric of Alphatia and a wizardess. After a brief discussion, it transpired that the females did not wish to give away much about themselves, though they evidently seemed to be seeking something specific within the city walls. Teldon who happened to have an ESP spell in effect concentrated briefly and the image of a massive diamond entered his mind. It seemed this was what the party was seeking.
The party's dwarf had been badly injured in the fight therefore Lana stepped forward to administer first aid. Unfortunately her touch did more harm than good, drawing a howl of pain from the patient who grabbed his axe and hacked its blade into Lana's side. Again, his companions stood back and merely watched. As the dwarf retreated muttering insults beneath his breath, Lana resisted the urge to retaliate and the two parties went their separate ways without further ado.
Pressing on, the carpet rose high over the ashpits before heading north. Far beneath were further signs of movement a twenty foot tall bronze golem could be seen smashing through a wall, seemingly re-arranging the desolation. One of the guardians of Aasla no doubt, doing what little it could to restore the city to its former glory.
The carpet followed the mosaic-ed road north, again allowing its passengers to take in a bird's eye view of the intricately detailed path beneath. As the blackened mass that was Aasla grew smaller and smaller on the road behind them, the three wizards settled back and allowed themselves to reflect on the hectic events of the last few days and their noteworthy achievements.
Read the next instalment - The Road to Dovir