the emperor's sanctuary, and friendly ghosts

[cellio]

February 17 (Tuesday)

Agondre's bane is a vampire, and he's now got Weeping Wounds (and taken it to the center of the land to the north, presumably). This is not good. But we know more than we did, and we've now talked with the emperor's guards and learned more about how they were keeping the sickness at bay. If we can just recover that dagger -- and find and invest someone self-sacrificing enough to be emperor! -- we might just keep things from getting worse. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The enchantment wore off of Tobin and the others this morning. (Yay!) They told us that they had found a chapel with the familiar dragon statue in it, and there was a prominent heart in the form of a gem. Tobin examined the statue more closely and then all of them felt a powerful command to guard the chapel for a week and a day. They heard it as a voice but it was more powerful than words, they said. They were not able to disobey. This apparently happened when Tobin touched the heart.

The room itself was also shaped like a heart. Yup, Cardior is the heart of Agondre. This sounded like something we had to investigate, if we could just avoid being commanded ourselves.

I asked Tobin if they had found any slime pools while they were exploring the city and he said no. They must be there somewhere, though, because of the monsters we encountered on the way in.

We decided to return to the chapel, and Tobin's party agreed to come along. Captain Jorvik did not object. We found our way to the hallway where we fought -- none of the statues lining the hall are dragons, by the way -- and then stepped into the chapel. I saw a powerful magic aura coming from the statue (I hadn't realized from Tobin's description that it would be so large!), along with residue from the enchantment. Prolix noticed that there was a secret door in the statue; the heart is the catch. We didn't want to touch the heart, of course, so Prolix magically opened the door. The chest swung open and we saw a passage leading to a circle of runes just like those we saw in the emperor's quarters. So that's where he hid the gateway!

I didn't know if there was some intelligence behind the statue, or perhaps someone monitoring the room, so I spoke to the statue and said I was there to help and meant no harm to Agondre. I held up Sunrise, gift of Agondre. Turok did something similar, and I think so did Liandra. Then we walked through and found ourselves facing a ghost in the emperor's chambers.

There were actually three ghosts -- Brennan, a bard, Delyan, a wizard, and Charlos, a knight. They are all that remained of the emeperor's guard -- well, they and the two vampires raised from other guards, but the ghosts had been keeping them at bay and it was thus a simple matter for us to end their suffering.

We asked what had happened, and Brennan (a bard, still holding a ghostly flute) told us that a single attacker had appeared while they were in the temple preparing the monthly ritual. The attacker came in via teleport, it appeared -- which, given who it turned out to be, makes sense as he'd been there before. The attacker had sharp claws, wicked teeth, and piercing purple eyes, and Brennan said he went through them like butter, killing all the guards and other attendants. The people preparing the ritual had been holding a glass-encased dagger; the attacker grabbed it, smashed the glass, and said "Agonadryl, I have come for what was mine!". Then he stabbed the emperor, and as we saw, he deteriorated over several months with sickness. (Agonadryl was the emperor at the time of the last cataclysm, Brennan said. The most-recently late emperor was Damoskenes. I assume they are related in a more-or-less direct line, but perhaps it's something more literal and Agonadryl's spirit somehow lived on in his heirs.)

Tobin asked about the ritual. Brennan told us that, once a month, the emperor went down to the dragon and assumed as much of the dragon's disease onto himself as he could bear. The others did their best to care for the emperor afterwards. The dagger, Weeping Wounds, was used in this ritual, so now even if we had an emperor we could not resume the ritual -- that's why the land has been getting worse since the emperor died and Garrett stole the dagger.

(Yes, that Garrett. The bastard.)

I asked the ghosts if they are bound here. Brennan said he didn't think so, though he feels a strong tie to the place and obviously something compelled the three of them to return as ghosts. Someone mentioned seeing someone named Jandra as a ghost, but if so she is gone now. So it might be possible to leave, though they are not inclined to. I can see their point; even though the place is in shambles now, it seems wrong to just abandon the emperor's chambers (and body).

We went into the temple, which contains the doorway to Agondre -- not just a physical door but a spiritual one, Charlos said. We learned how to open the door (which I will not record here); the risk of doing so, of course, is that if you're lucky you crawl out half-dead.

Each month the emperor would go down -- sometimes with a companion as he got weaker -- and say "I bear the dagger that injureed you, and come to lift the burden". By pointing the dagger first to the dragon and then to himself, he was able to transfer the sickness. At this time, the ghosts said, Agondre was calm, not thrashing about and breathing fire as he is now. When the emperor returned each month he would crawl into bed exhausted; his bed, we saw, has strong healing magic, and that allowed him to take on more than he would have otherwise. What a horrible existence -- to be nothing more than a bandage, not actually healing the wound but just drawing some of the poison off into yourself, for the rest of your life. No wonder emperors aren't seen after they ascend the throne. And it seems obvious that the dukes now warring for the position do not have any clue what the winner is in for.

According to some ancient journals we found here, Renard and Agonadryl began this ritual during the last cataclysm. Renard died before being able to tell Agonadryl all the details of what was happening, however. The journals do not record what became of Garrett, but we can see some of that outcome.

The journals do not record what caused the cataclysm, but we know that Garrett had a dagger we think was Weeping Wounds, that he was not himself after acquiring it, and that Agondre was injured with Weeping Wounds -- and that after 500 years a vampiric Garrett returned to claim his dagger and kill the emperor. It seems obvious that Garrett dealt the first blow as well, though how he got away from Renard and why he waited 500 years to return are mysteries to me. (For that matter, why he dealt that blow is a mystery to me. What was, and is, that idiot thinking?!)

We consulted Elys'. After she put Prolix in check, she confirmed Garrett's bright purple eyes, and we told her what we had learned of his activities. She said that the last time she saw Garrett the four of them were all together, Garrett had the dagger, and the cataclysm had not yet begun. Elys' also said that Garrett was very quick and nimble, and could be in and out of a fight before his victim could react.

Garrett didn't really believe in anything, Elys' said, and certainly didn't believe in the literal dragon Agondre the way Renard did. (Elys' said that until now she had thought it metaphorical as well.)

She didn't have any advice for tracking him down and neutralizing him. If he's a vampire now that's dangerous enough; a vampire bearing Weeping Wounds truly frightens me. We will have to take him on, and it appears that merely capturing the dagger will not be enough. We are going to have to kill or capture Garrett somehow. Eventually. Eek.

Of course, recovering the dagger is only part of the job. We need an emperor who is willing to assume this burden. How do we legally get a new emperor, given that the current one did not appoint a successor before dying? Can any volunteer fill this role?

I'm scared. I knew that there was someone out there responsible for this, but somehow I hadn't imagined that it would be one of the ancient "heroes" -- obviously not so heroic -- or that he would be so powerful now. We are truly living in dark times.

February 18 (Wednesday)

Today we investigated the situation with Agondre. The ghosts showed us how to open the portal, and I was immediately overcome with a strong stench of corruption and sickness. Turok stepped in alone, and almost immediately he was attacked by a hellish, fiery hound. The rest of us fanned out around the portal, and when he and the hound came through we were ready for them. In combination with Kotara-nar, my new circlet saved the day and killed the hound.

As in our dream, the hound was quite unnatural. Turok said he had been in a corridor and could see a familiar opening ahead. Turok heard other monsters in the corridor, and we closed the portal quickly. They did not manage to come through.

We talked about whether we can do any good down there. Can the rituals Liandra has used to heal slime-pools help with the largest, central pool of sickness? She said she has been researching this and that the library in this sanctuary has some useful information, so we are going to stay here for a day or two and research it.

I spent some time talking with Tobin today. He's accomplished so much since I last saw him! Brion has been good for him, and he is a remarkable fellow in his own right as well. While I've had little to do with it, I still feel a sense of pride in him. And to think that when I met him he was a hungry, thieving, rat-kin of low communication ability. And now look at him! An upstanding member of the army and the clergy, who has seen the light of Pelor and developed into quite the young man! He's now fully fluent in our language, except for an odd tendency to use words I don't know to describe various aspects of cheese, and he has grown strong in spirit and strength. I wish he didn't have to go back to the army so soon; I would like to spend more time with him. But, duty calls. He will stay with us another day to help Liandra with her research, but then he must return to his duties.

February 19 (Thursday)

Liandra told us last night that she thinks she knows how to adapt her healing ritual for Agondre's pool, so we decided to try it today. The good news is that we made a difference; the bad news is that we've made all the difference we can right now, and Agondre is still quite sick.

We assumed that reality would be like in our dream -- the dragon Agondre surrounded by a pool of slime from which monsters emerged. We also found some references in Renard's journal to large slime monsters that are resistant to fire and cold and that inflict damage that's hard to heal. We decided that everyone should be invisible and flying; Liandra would heal the pool as best she could and the rest of us would protect her. The ritual involves casting a spell at each of four points around the pool, then in the center, and then (back to an edge) as much healing magic as can be managed. Prolix planned to use a wall of force to protect us all when we get to that last part.

We decided that the strategy of having others ready to intercept anything that followed us out was a good one, so Turok, Viggo, and Karameikos waited in the temple while Liandra, Kyle, Prolix, and I went in.

As we expected, the monsters coming from this pool were quite grotesque. There were fire-breathing gargoyles, a slime-man that seemed invulnerable to everything except my magic missiles (Prolix contained it in a wall of force), a rotting, filthy monstrosity that stuck close to the ground, swarms of stinging insects, and more. Many of the monsters were vulnerable to fire, and I did quite a bit of damage to them that way. Prolix used illusions to distract some of them, and Kyle was quite effective in fighting them.

The dragon Agondre is even more fearful in real life. He was writhing in pain, completely oblivious to us, and spitting fire in random directions. The pain he obviously felt, and the stench of disease in the room, wrenched me in the gut. I was able to fight, but it was quite disturbing and I felt queasy the whole time.

Liandra completed the ritual and we could all see some clearing in the pool. Liandra was completely wiped out, though; I thought we were going to have to carry her out. We all made it back to the portal and Viggo was waiting right there to carry Liandra to a resting place. We decided, after some discussion, that it would be appropriate to use the emperor's bed (after moving the emperor, of course). I hope that speeds Liandra's recovery.

I wonder if further repetitions of the healing ritual would aid Agondre further. I wonder if Liandra is up to doing this again.

Tobin asked me what it was like to be that close to Agondre's sickness, and I told him as best I could. We also talked about my (new) connection to the land and to Agondre, and I told him of our dream and how I came to have Sunrise. He said he has not heard of this sort of thing happening before, and he seemed to be very impressed. He said that if it were not for his duties to the army he would follow me anywhere, which I found very touching. I told him that when his duties to the army and our duties to the rescue of Agondre are completed, I hope he will return to me. I'm going to miss the little guy in the meantime.

After that, he left with Karameikos to return to Captain Jorvik. Karameikos said he seeks glory and cannot imagine spending any more time cooped up here in the sanctum. Olver, on the other hand, said he can think of nothing better than spending time in the library here, turning pages for the ghostly inhabitants and conducting his own research, and he does not intend to return to the army soon.

I asked Tobin to carry our regards to Captain Jorvik and to tell him that we are alive, not geased, and pursuing clues about what happened here. Also, that monsters still walk the streets here, and he might not want to send the army in just yet.

Comments

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

Commentary and clarification:
- Garrett came in by the teleportation circle.
- Agondre is spitting fire in random directions, yes, but his primary target is himself.
- Tobin would, if asked, leave the army to follow you. He would feel guilty about deserting the army, but he would do it.

[cellio]

Garrett came in by the teleportation circle.

Which he presumably wouldn't have known about if he didn't have prior experience with it. Sorry for the ambiguity.

Tobin would, if asked, leave the army to follow you. He would feel guilty about deserting the army, but he would do it.

Larissa would never ask him to, and would be unlikely to let him do so if he offered. She might help him find a loophole within the promise he made if it were really, really necessary, but she would not have him reneg on a commitment. Promises are promises.