After calming down, Thordan shared what little news he had heard. So far, word of Anna’s “kidnapping” had not reached this part of Highrock. They wouldn’t be treated as fugitives quite yet, but there was no telling how fast the news was traveling. Also, Cedric had reported that there was some sort of political scandal in Revo. Perhaps Emmon, the Outcast they had sent to wrest control of the duchy from his brother, was making his move?
There was one other piece of business to deal with before they left the shrine: protecting Lorwyn Unghart, who remained in a magical sleep, hoping to stave off the effects of the soul sickness. Ardwyn pulled out the protective amulet that Anna had provided them and showed it to Thordan, but Ralnur grabbed it out of her hand mid-sentence and put it around his adoptive mother’s neck. They stared, but nothing seemed to happen. “Should we wake her up?” asked Ardwyn. Thordan gave her an uncomfortable look. He explained that it would probably not do any harm, but he thought there was a small chance that it would cause Lorwyn to get worse. It would be safer, he thought, to wait until they dealt with (or at least understood) the underlying cause of the disease. Regretfully, they agreed to wait. “If we woke her up just to make things worse...” mused Ardwyn, “I’d probably become even less talkative and even more... drunkydrunk.”
Thordan asked where they were heading next, and they told him that they planned to make a daring raid on the Treasury. He told them that their best bet was talking to Davros, the gnome who ran the Treasury in the past, but who had been pushed out of his position by the Regency. He now lived in a cottage just outside the city. “You can’t miss it!” Thordan assured them with a smile.
They climbed out of the shrine’s basement and stepped out into the rolling hills and wide fields of Highrock. After spending the previous days in the cramped darkness of a cellar, the fresh air and sunshine were a welcome change. They set out on the small road south toward the city.
After a day’s travel, Ralnur spotted a worrisome scene about a mile up the road. It looked like a Seraph and two scouts were standing outside a small cottage alongside the road. The Seraph had a halfling shoved against a wall and seemed to be engaged in a less-than-gentle interrogation. He consulted with the party, and they all quickly agreed to deal with the problem head-on.
Adamir started by casting Pass Without Trace, shrouding the party’s movements as they crept quickly toward the cottage. They were able to reach a small ridge nearby without being seen. The Seraph was still manhandling the halfling, while the two scouts were leaning on the walls of the cottage, looking bored. They were not prepared for what came next.
Ardwyn launched herself from her hiding place, rushing straight toward the Seraph. He barely heard her approach before her battleaxe smashed into him, cutting deep below his armor. Ralnur followed up next, going into a battle rage and throwing two javelins at once. He launched them both with incredible force, but, sadly, they thudded into the wall of the cottage instead of their intended target. Tessel charged in, swinging her longsword, and Valra followed up by casting Entangle, sending vines shooting out of the earth to grab the feet of the scouts. (Adamir, meanwhile, had been a bit distracted when the others had signaled the attack, and was left flat-footed on the ridge.)
The scouts reacted quickly, trying to kick away the vines entangling their feet. One of them struggled in vain, but the other one was able to jump clear of the vines and fire a flurry of arrows toward Ralnur. One of them struck flesh, but the barbarian, deep in his battle rage, barely even felt it.
The Seraph, badly hurt by the sudden ambush, was not in a much better state. He drew his greatsword and slashed twice in quick succession, but none of his blows were able to get through Tessel’s thick armor. He stumbled away from his assailants, but his escape was slowed by Valra’s magical vines. Looking back on the party with hatred, he reached for a silver locket that hung at his neck... but Ralnur rushed in and grappled with him, crushing his hands and wrenching them away from the locket. Tessel ran to the other side, surrounding the Seraph and cutting off his escape route before landing two cruel hits with her sword.
Ardwyn let the bigger fighters enjoy their battle, turning away and climbing onto the low roof of the cottage. Stepping nimbly over the thatch, she rushed over to the far side of the cottage, where one of the scouts had just broken free of the vines and hidden behind the far wall. Ardwyn jumped over the unsuspecting scout, swinging her battleaxe around in mid-air and beheading the archer in one hit. She landed deftly, but soon saw the other scout firing a longbow in her direction. Two arrows struck her before she could react.
By then, Adamir had entered the fray. Taking careful aim, he fired his own arrows toward the Seraph, landing a solid hit. “Nice of you to join us!” called Ardwyn. Valra then shifted stealthily into the nearby blueberry bushes before casting Faerie Fire, igniting the remaining scout with purple flames. It was no trouble for Ardwyn to close the distance and strike down the scout with one more mighty chop.
The Seraph was still standing, but wasn’t faring much better. He swung wildly, striking a glancing blow against Ralnur before hitting the cottage wall at an awkward angle and losing his grip on the huge sword. It clattered to the ground. With his face finally showing fear, he reached once more for the locket, but Ralnur recklessly swung his greataxe with all his might. It crashed down onto the Seraph’s chest, tearing his armor apart and killing him instantly.
They took a moment to catch their breath and survey the battle scene. Tessel walked around to the closer side of the cottage, where the badly-beaten halfling had slipped away during the battle. She found him with his back up against the wall, an alarmed expression on his bruised face. “Um, hello!” he said, sounding more cheerful than he looked. “Thank you for that! Ah... are they, ah, all dead?” Tessel told him that he was safe and introduced herself politely before asking him about what had led to his unfortunate situation.
The halfling’s name was Teppo, and he claimed to be a local who grew some crops and raised some sheep in the fields nearby. The Seraph had arrived not long before the party had found them. Teppo hadn’t suspected any trouble, but the Seraph quickly became aggressive and began demanding information about Ralnur. Teppo knew the half-orc vaguely (“The dwarf’s boy! From the village! Right?”), but didn’t like the Seraph’s tone, and he had refused to give up any information. “We halflings are tougher than we look,” he said with more than a hint of pride.
Tessel smiled brightly at him. “Ralnur,” she called out, “do you--” She cut herself off as she looked around the corner and saw Ralnur standing over the Seraph’s corpse, his eyes entirely black, while blood slowly dripped from his axe and his body. Ardwyn was walking up to him with the heads of the two scouts in her hands. “He got anything good?” asked the dwarf nonchalantly. Ralnur turned his head towards her slowly and he smiled wildly. Suddenly, he bent down to the corpse and violently ripped the silver locket off the dead man’s chest before letting out a raucous “CAAAAWWWWWW!” Then, just as suddenly, he fainted and collapsed to the floor.
Tessel turned back to Teppo. “He’s busy.”
Adamir busied himself by going through the travel sacks that the Seraph and his goons had been carrying. There wasn’t much of value inside, but he did stumble across a short letter that appeared to be written in some sort of cipher. He peered intently for a long moment, but it was clear that he would need to devote a good deal more time if he wanted to have any hope of decoding it. Valra, meanwhile, decided to unwind with a post-battle snack of fresh blueberries, sharing some with Ardwyn and Ralnur as he slowly recovered from his battle trance.
Teppo greeted the rest of them warmly, giving his thanks for the timely rescue. Valra stared at him suspiciously, but after a long and insightful look, she concluded that he was exactly what he appeared to be: a kind farmer who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. After moving the bodies to a spot where Teppo claimed he could hide and bury them, they picked a few more blueberries and set off again on the road.
That evening, they sat around the campfire and tried to decode the letter together, with Valra calling upon her druidic Guidance to assist Adamir and the others in the task. However, even with all of them bending all of their intellectual prowess to the task, they didn’t make much headway. They fell asleep with a feeling of disappointment, taking turns keeping watch, as usual. Past midnight, as Valra sat awake, staring into the hills, the others dreamed a strange dream. They slowly became aware of the other party members standing near them, and in front of them stood the unmistakable figure of Baldric.
“So it’s true,” the vision of Baldric said with mild surprise. “You live. I honestly didn’t believe it.” He looked at each of them in turn, as they alternately thought up clever insults or wondered whether any of this was real. “Mephisto told me that the Hand of Belial was ‘an artifact of power beyond price’. And yet here you stand.” His face twisted into an ever-so-slight grimace. “I was a fool to trust his gifts.” And with that, he faded out of the dream, and they returned to a peaceful slumber.
When they woke, they quickly realized that they had shared the same dream, but beyond that, they didn’t know what to make of it. They set off again toward Highrock.
As they approached the walls of the low city, Ralnur saw that there were few guards, only occasionally spying one walking the ramparts. To the side, just in front of the walls, was a tiny cottage built into the ground. Ardwyn and Valra went ahead to scout. They saw the little gnome, Davros, sitting in a comfortable armchair and tinkering with a tiny pair of spectacles. The others walked up to the door and knocked. Startled, Davros looked up and saw Valra staring at him through the window. He scowled and opened the door. “Can I *help* you?” he asked with a thin veneer of courtesy.
They reintroduced themselves, and he invited them inside (though they had to stoop to enter, and he took the only chair for himself. When they proposed their idea to break into the Treasury, he seemed skeptical at first, telling them that although he “had built the finest institution this land has even known,” the security had been improved even further since he had been unceremoniously kicked out. There was now a two-stage gate to enter and exit, and “no living person has set foot in there for decades.” Instead, magical constructs carried everything in and out. Ardwyn looked him dead in the eye and made her best pitch. “You’re clearly a professional,” she began, and she explained that they were seeking to depose Baldric, the regime that had thrown him out of his job. Perhaps once they succeeded, he could once again take his old position?
Davros seemed to be swayed by her arguments. “It would be utterly impossible for anyone to steal from the Treasury,” said Davros. But a wicked grin was slowly spreading across his face. “Unless...” he continued, “unless the gnome who designed the Treasury’s original wards left a gap in its defenses...” Adamir nodded in understanding. “And will you tell us about this... gap?”
Davros became serious again and opened a drawer by his side. He pulled out another small pair of glasses. “Take these. Take them to my friend Belden. He runs an inn inside the city called the Peregrine. He will know what to do.”
He seemed ready to see them leave, but they took a moment to inspect the glasses. They appeared to make magically enchanted items glow with a blue light when viewed through them; apparently Davros’s tea kettle and several other pairs of spectacles were enchanted. He explained that he sold the glasses, and he showed them a couple of other pairs. Tessel decided to spend 100gp on the Sun Glasses, which helped the wearer to see in both darkness or bright light. Davros did not welcome any negotiation or haggling.
They departed his cottage, but they did not immediately try to enter the city. Instead, they traveled nearly a mile outside the city, toward a thinly-wooded area that would offer them a modicum of shelter. There, they set up camp, rested, allowed their wounds to heal, and discussed their plan.
The next day, following Davros’s advice, they approached the city from the west, not wanting to try their luck with the guards at the main gate. First, Ralnur used his crow vision to wait for a moment when the guards wouldn’t disturb them. Then, after reaching the wall, Adamir used his climbing gear to ascend to the top. He then threw down a rope, and the others hurried to follow him up the wall and down into the city. In no time, they were inside.
This part of the city was full of the low hillside dwellings that were common in the city. Though it had less pedestrian traffic and surface stalls than most, they were still able to find someone that they could ask for directions. A friendly halfling told them how to find the Peregrine, happily telling them that he really thought they were going to like it there. They found the inn shortly thereafter.
Inside, the found a tap room with dozens of casks and hundreds of bottles lining the walls in shelves. Two of the small tables were covered in tiny tasting glasses, while small groups of dwarves and halflings chatted excitedly around them in quiet voices. Belden, a pale gnome standing on a stool behind the bar, grinned and called out a greeting to them. “Weeelcome to the Peregrine! How can I help you today?” He laid out a thick scroll for them and opened it to reveal an enormous menu, assisting them in picking out drinks.
Tessel conspicuously set Davros’s spectacles on the counter, but Belden didn’t seem to notice them until after the drinks were served. His face turned quickly from giddy excitement to nervousness. “Ah... right. Davros sent you? So it’s finally time, eh?” He gestured for them to follow him into the back before pausing. “I suppose we’ll need some privacy... wouldn’t want anyone to find out that we’re up to something,” he said anxiously. He hopped back onto his stool and shouted to the handful of customers at the tables. “HEY! WE’RE CLOSING EARLY! GO! GET OUT! GOODBYE! WE’RE CLOSED! GOODNIIIIGHT!” He gave a satisfied smile as they filed out, grumbling and shooting dirty looks at the party.
Belden led them down into a cellar that was filled with even more casks. He pulled out two spell scrolls and looked at the party nervously. “Okay. This is a two step process.” He put on Davros’s glasses and looked around the cellar, his eyes eventually settling on a spot on the floor beneath them. He held out one of the scrolls and read the arcane words on it, casting the Passwall spell.
The scroll dissolved suddenly. So did the floor. All of them began falling deep, deep beneath the earth. “STEP TWOOOOOO!!!” called out Belden as he opened the second scroll. He spoke a word, and the Feather Fall spell took hold of them, gently guiding them to the ground. When they landed, they looked around and recognized that they stood in the deepest recesses of the Treasury. “Thank goodness for step two!” quipped Tessel.
Belden scratched his head and looked up sheepishly at the hole in the ceiling above them. He smiled awkwardly before looking around at the adventurers surrounding him. “I, ah... In retrospect I think maybe I was supposed to stay up there?”
