Beneath Citadel Altaerein, Breachill; Neth 22, 4719 AR

Two weeks had passed since the goblin raid on Breachill, and the town was pulling themselves back together. The Guardians had opened their hearts and loosened their coin purses to provide for the small village. Two weeks of mourning, repair, and fear. Greta Gardania was still missing. Roxie Denn, still dead. The spectre of what loomed beyond the town walls still haunted the simple villagers.

A quick, sharp rap at the door of each hero awoke them. Renali spread the message that there was a meeting being held in the newly renovated council chambers. Within, Rorsk was carefully detailing the massive stone table that he had passionately lobbied to be put in the room. He looked up happily, but moderated his expression quickly. "Aye, lads, glad ta see yer up and ready to go." Uhn carried around his shabby looking lumber axe almost obsessively now, especially after he discovered that Choppy was leaving the wood in no proper shape for construction. Wrin wore clothes much more suited to working with his hands, his newly purchased skull-shaped mask tucked away. "We had a visitor this mornin'," Rorsk said cheerfully. "Well," he added, "two, actually. But let's take this one at a time. Have a seat!" The Guardians followed their seneschal's advice and took their seats around the rune-inscribed stone table.

Nketiah walked in from the courtyard stairs with a strange man in tow. With light brown skin and mane of white, wild hair he stood apart from the typical Isgeri in the area. In his hands, he held a hefty blue and silver spear that he cradled against his similarly colored robes. "This man," Nketiah spoke, "arrived at our doors this morning. His tale is... Ah, perhaps it is better if he tells it."

The man stepped forward, thinking of the best way to explain his presence. "My name is Kyrillos, and I have felt that there is something deeply wrong that requires my attention." Wrin raised a skeptical eyebrow while Inagra's eyes narrowed. Uhn nodded along diligently. "There is something that calls to me. I have traveled far from the north, from Irrisen, to come here. I know not why, however. The gifts within me tell me that there is great darkness here." It was Nketiah's turn to show surprise. She glanced warily to the gathered Guardians.

Inagra stood up and crossed the room to Kyrillos. She clasped his hand and gave it a firm shake. "You'll have to forgive us. We have been through much lately, and your calling certainly isn't wrong. We are slow to trust, but we are more than happy to have more hands around here." The dwarf glanced back to her companions. Wrin scowled while Viggo drummed his hands on the table. Uhn nodded enthusiastically and gave the cleric two thumbs up. She turned then to Rorsk. "You said there were two guests?"

The over-loud slapping of Helba's feet echoed down the stairs. She made mock trumpeting noises with her mouth as she entered with a halfling beside her. He wore simple travelers clothes and a beaten looking hat that partially concealed his eyes. "Helba found this one hiding around the secret entrance last night!" She smiled proudly.

Viggo stood up from the table, shocked. "Jub Jub?" All eyes in the room fell on the alchemist.

"Heh, yeah," Jub Jub chuckled. "Surprise. I came lookin' for ya, buddy."

Wrin glared hard at Viggo. "You know this man?" His voice was flat, but the room fell colder by degrees.

"We go way back," the halfling responded.

"I didn't ask you." Wrin didn't let his gaze leave the half-elf. "The story. Now."

"We go way back. We were kids together in Edras. We came together after the Scarlet Mist tore through the town and I...," he paused. "After I lost my parents." Jub Jub nodded solemnly. "Anyway, the town was in real bad shape, but we started working together. I began selling my inventions-"

"Bombs," cut in Wrin.

"Right. My inventions. Well there was a gang of guys causing trouble for Edras, and it just so happened that they were using my inventions." He looked over to Jub Jub. "Sorry that I had to leave, but I couldn't let them getting away with dragging my name through the mud like that."

"Yeah," the halfling muttered, eyes low. "I heard what you did to 'em."

"I gave the Jabbers, the gang, a little taste of what my inventions could really do. I took them all out before I fled Edras for good."

Everyone in the room stared. Inagra was the first to speak. "You were an arms dealer? For bandits?"

"I didn't know they were going to use them for anything bad!" Viggo shouted back.

"They're bombs! BOMBS!" Wrin exploded. "Did you think they were planting trees with them?!"

"It's not my fault," the alchemist huffed. "They're multipurpose inventions and it takes a sick mind to use them as they did."

Uhn nodded emphatically.

Turning from her companion, Inagra addressed Jub Jub once more. "So why are you here?"

The halfling gave a broad smile and spread his hands hopelessly. "I'm here on the behalf of the Scarlet Triad. Y'see, we know the location of someone you may be interested in." Not for the first time that day, everyone exchanged looks once more. "However, we are still a business, and we would be willing to trade the location of this person for information about a woman named Voz Lirayne." Again, silence.

Uhn broke the quiet, saying, "Wait. Is that the one I cut the head off of and then we fed to spiders?" Inagra's hand slapped against her forehead.

Jub Jub was clearly shocked, but he recovered quickly. "Ah, well... I suppose these sorts of things happen. Look, my employer is really interested in her notes more than anything. If you bring them to him, I'm certain he will tell you where this Greta Gardania is."

Wrin stood up, his hands slamming against the table. "Viggo, take your friend and watch him. Uhn, you watch Viggo." He strode over to Inagra and pulled her in conspiratorially. He waited for the three to leave before he pulled out a few sheets of parchment and threw them to the table. "Forge the notes, Ironbeater. I don't know what's going on, but I don't trust anything from the Scarlet Triad. Their name has come up too often for my liking."

The dwarf nodded, "I was going to say the same thing. Don't worry, I have a steady hand." She went to work immediately creating a document that denied the existence of Alesta's Ring. Just another fairy tale grown out of control.

When she finished, Wrin called for the three to return. "Take us to her, and we'll give your superiors her notes." Jub Jub looked at him askance, but asked no further questions.

Kyrillos stepped forward, having silently watched everything that has happened until now. "I would be honored to join you. I feel a deep pit in my stomach that speaks of betrayal." Inagra stared hard at the Irriseni, but finally nodded. The man exuded a calming influence, like a cool breeze.

"He refuses," Uhn jumped in. "My impugning words carry weight."

"Perhaps the Mad Bomber could speak for himself? The Triad is offering you a 300 gold piece retainer on a monthly basis. You will given your own laboratory and assistants. Complete and total privacy as you pursue your work. We only ask for a little advice every now and then." The man stroked his mustache and watched Viggo carefully. "We can do real good with your inventions."

Viggo looked around at the people who he fought the Cinderclaws with; the group he just spent the last two months fighting side-by-side with. He was tired. So very tired. He turned away from them, stepping towards the pale man. Jub Jub guided his friend towards the back exit, but not before the alchemist took one last look at the Guardians, knowing that he no longer carried that title.

Inagra stomped on the ground, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "If we meet again as enemies, Viggo, we will not go easy on you." The half-elf lowered his eyes, nodding, and stepped out of the building.

The room was dead silent after the door closed, broken only by the soft steps of the pale man as he paced in front of the Guardians. "My name is Heuberk Thropp," he said after a long pause. "As you heard, I represent the Scarlet Triad. I have a few questions for you."

"No questions until Greta is let go." Wrin's typical mask of apathy had slipped long ago, and now he seemed only moments away from leaping across the room and tearing Heuberk's throat out.

"The deal is Voz for the woman."

"Dead," Wrin deadpanned.

"Hacked her head right off!" Uhn emphasized, waving Choppy around. He kept glancing at the back door in hopes that Viggo would burst back through.

The man called Thropp didn't seem too shocked by the new information. "Her notes, then, perhaps?" Wrin held up the forgery that Inagra had created. Thorpp tilted his chin towards a nearby lathe. "Over there. Neutral ground."

The sorcerer stepped up to the lathe, notes in hand. "You get these, and you let Greta go."

Thropp shook his head. "After I see that they're the real thing." Inagra held her breath, feeling the key of Abadar hanging heavy around her neck.

Wrin looked down on the lathe and noticed several hidden blades secreted around the device. He slammed the notes onto one of the knives, his lip curling derisively at Thropp. He stepped away as the human approached and pulled free the forgery. Thrope scanned the documents quickly, and snapped them away into a scroll case, seemingly satisfied. "She may go." In the room behind him, his thugs cut Greta free from her bonds and the bruised woman staggered past him and over to the Guardians.

Inagra cast a quick spell of healing while Uhn stared at the knuckle marks and shallow cuts that covered their friend. He couldn't imagine Viggo working for the Triad. "Greta," Wrin hissed. "Get out of here. We will handle things from here." The councilwoman looked conflicted for a moment before leaving. Her gaze lingered on Wrin for just a moment longer as she shut the door.

"Now...," Thropp began, "I have a few questions for you." Everything in the wainwright's office felt suddenly heavier. The light in the lantern flickered for a brief second. "And don't try to lie to me. I will know." The man ran a finger along his ear. His thugs had their weapons drawn, waiting for anyone to refuse to answer.

Wrin, still heaving with rage, managed to say, "Just ask already."

"First, what happened to Voz Lirayne?" He seemed disinterested in the question.

"I already told you, I cut her head off," Uhn interrupted.

"We fed her body to spiders." Wrin stared daggers.

The answer seemed to satisfy the Triad agent. "And these are her notes?" Inagra shot a surreptitious look to the half-orc.

"All of that information comes from what Voz learned, yes."

Thropp nodded disinterestedly before turning suddenly. His mood was suddenly quite intense. "And what do you know about Alesta's Ring?"

Wrin knew there was magic at play here, but he wasn't ready to give away their most valuable asset: their relative secrecy. "Nothing but a fairy tale," he said. "There's nothing beneath Citadel Altaerein." Behind his back, his claws were already growing out from his fingers, ready to dig into Thropp's throat if this went wrong.

The pale man stroked his ear and nodded, disappointed. "That certainly is a shame to hear," he said. He snapped his fingers and pointed out the door, and his henchmen slithered out. Thropp gave Wrin and the rest of the Guardians a curt nod before adding, "Thank you for the assistance." He gave a cruel smile. "Until we meet again." And with that, he followed the rest of his men, leaving Breachill... hopefully for good.

Uhn relaxed and slumped, dejected. "Did that really just happen? Did Viggo leave us?"

"To work with the Scarlet Triad, no less," Inagra added. Kyrillos looked to the Guardians questioningly.

Wrin scowled, his face seemingly permanently frozen in disgust. "Let's go. We have to make sure that Greta is okay."

Outside, back in behind the safety of Breachill's walls, Greta fingered the bruises on her face and arms. When she saw the Guardians approaching, she composed herself quickly and regained her former presence as the most outspoken councilor in the town. "Those people are wretched," she said before anyone could ask her questions. "Two weeks abusing me and asking me about that Citadel. I didn't say a thing," she quickly asserted before the Guardians could ask.

Uhn hefted the starknife, Eclipse, that hung loose at his side. "These bastards really want to know what's down there, huh?"

Hours later, the Guardians stood outside of Dreamgate within Alesta's Ring. Eclipse hummed and shook in the goblin's hand. "Now you're sure that you've got everything taken care of?" Inagra repeated once more to Rorsk.

"Aye, lass! I'm not daft!" he replied, waving away her concerns with a calloused hand. "Ye hired me ta be yer seneschal, and I kept this place together while ye went through tha' last gate. Everythin' is gonna be fine." He tried to give a warm smile, but it was clear that Rorsk still felt slightly uneasy. It was only weeks ago that he had to open the citadel to refugees, after all.

Wrin clapped the dwarf on the shoulder. "Just put your mind on your work. Nketiah and Renali are here to help manage things as well."

"Helba, too!" Uhn shouted, visibly vibrating as he held the portal key.

The half-orc ignored the goblin. "We don't know how long we'll be gone, but while we're away, you're in charge of the defense of this town." Rorsk nodded quickly before giving a stiff bow and leaving for his quarters.

Uhn touched Eclipse to the gate, watching as the stonework exploded into a torrent of colorful, magical butterflies that faded away. The Guardians stepped through...

...into a calming room of white marble. The walls were decorated with beautiful cavorting butterflies dancing among stars, appropriate enough for Desna, of course. Yet the Guardians could not take their eyes from the sight before them: a massive wrinkled body, arms spread and nailed to the opposite wall. From her head sprouted twisted and curled horns.

"Hag," muttered Uhn. Everyone turned to regard the sheltered goblin. "What?" he replied. "I've heard the tales. Skin as tough as nails, stealing souls and feasting on nightmares." He spit on the ground, possibly some ward against bad luck.

Kyrillos walked to the end of the room and spoke something that no one else could hear. He returned, his face serious. "I believe that this place is enchanted in such a way as to deaden noise. It's surreal."

"Like we're in a dream," Inagra added.

"Or a nightmare." Wrin was staring at the hag corpse. He shifted his gaze to the other two exits out of this room. Falling back into his arcane trance, he closed his eyes and grew silent for several minutes. The rest of the Guardians knew better than to interrupt him. When his eyes snapped open, his eyes were filled with grim determination. "We might be able to use these silent rooms to our advantage. We aren't alone here."

In the next room, a night hag muttered to herself, stopping only to pet the flaming mane of Coalgnasher, her trained nightmare. She crossed the room, another day in her little dreamspace. Suddenly a beam of holy radiance slammed into her chest, nearly sending her to the ground. Before she could regain her wits, shards of ice pounded through the chamber and her feet were swept out from beneath her. "Coalgnasher!" she tried to shout, only to watch as her favorite pet was banished back to Abaddon in a cloud of rolling ash. She tried to crawl to her feet, but the new arrivals were already rushing past her. One shouted something about "the rest of the coven!" as they took up positions near the entrance to her sisters' quarters. She called out to her magic, throwing a ball of illusory magic, only to have her throat caved in by a goblin with a ruby-tipped spear.

Wrin's mind whirled, and he spun quickly, a wall of fire springing up behind him. In the shadows of the fires, a twisted form could be seen. 'Impressive,' came a sinister voice in his head. 'It seems as though you four are no mere amateurs.'

"Cut to the point," Wrin grumbled, falling to one knee as the hags continued their assault.

"Hey, buddy? Buddy?" Uhn asked. "Who you talkin' to there?"

'These... creatures have hired me to protect them.' A mental chuckle bounced around the sorcerer's head. 'Yet the contract has not been signed, and their offering was quite paltry. I could be convinced to do quite the opposite... for a price.'

Wrin nodded. "Yes, yes, do it. I agree."

Inagra's eyes widened as a massive skeletal shape leapt across the battlefield, burying it's teeth in the neck of one of the hags. "Sister!" came the cry of the green hag. That was enough of an opening for Uhn to introduce Choppy to the creature's chest. The Guardians watched as the hags dropped to the ground, their black, ichorous blood bubbling and reeking. Then all eyes turned to the bone devil that stood before them. Wrin dropped a pouch of coins into the skeletal hand, happy to have the problem solved quickly.

The osyluth left in a burst of flame, the smell of brimstone, and the jingle of coin. After some investigations, the Guardians passed through the portal out of the demiplane. Salt-air, a chilling breeze, and a familiar scent greeted them. The four walked through the small cave that the gate deposited them in and found themselves on a hill overlooking a town on the bay. Smaller than Breachill, this little piece of civilization looked like a fishing settlement, with a bustling dock dominated by a massive ship that dwarfed all others around it. From the warehouses around the docks, smoke and fire wafted high into the sky.

"Where... are we?" asked Inagra.

Where have the Guardians arrived now? What will Viggo do with the Scarlet Triad? For that matter, how are the Triad involved in all of this and what do they want with Alesta's Ring? The adventure continues in a new land...

-Dungeon Master