Campaign Chronicle 7: (Black Scales)
Duels and Dastards
After leaving the prisoners of Lord Blackwine to their fate the mercenaries fled to the safety of their inn above. From there they decided to do some research on Aldemar Blackwine and try to find out more about the contract they have been forced into. After consulting the Chronicle they feel quite certain based off the accounts of former Black Scales that the undead lord intends to betray them. This was further proven when Alda the pregnant woman plagued by her encounter with Aldemar stumbled into the officers chamber in a stupor. She began saying that “She says Blackwine will betray you. Lady Catrina Blackwine says he will betray you.”
Alda then fell into a fit of hysteria and was taken care of by Ole Skratch and Sister Eliwen. The Officers were intrigued by the new name and added that to their research list.
In the dead of night they made their way to the Tower of Silence to access the archives. On their way a duel broke out from an alley blocking their path. Needle, being a Maruvian had little time for games and the posturing of these swashbucklers and as the dust kicked up from their maneuvers they still had yet to strike. Needle demanded they hurry up and get out of the way. One of the rogues through down his glove at Needle and said that he would be next.
Needle egged on the other fighter and he lunged forward, he was swiftly parried and the rogue thrust his offhand forward in a fluid motion and a snake leapt from his sleeve and bit the opponent in the throat causing him to crash down and die dramatically.
The rest of the Black Scales began to bemoan the rogue for his lack of honor but was silenced by Needle pointing out that it was the local fighting style of Rioja to fight with a thin sword and a snake.
Needle readied his shield and sword and was mocked for his use of shield in a duel, but since this was not an officiated duel there was little the rogue could do besides spit.
It was a back and forth exchange of slashing and thrusts back and forth along the uneven street. Needle took a few knicks but manage to come out with clever and swift swordplay.
As the opponent fell Mutt nonchalantly marched forward to check the pockets of the recently killed. As he did his honed senses detected movement from the left and right. Men were moving forward in both alleys. Had they attempted to find an alternate route around the duel they would have been ambushed. These men lunged forward attacking with daggers and missiles. The man laying on the ground bitten by the snake also attacked catching Mutt unawares as he rifled through the man’s pockets. A dagger to the stomach sent Mutt to the ground bleeding.
Needle was appalled at the cowardly tactic of hiding an ambush in the sacred art of dueling and went forwards sword in hand to punish the cretins. Smoker and Good Stab joined him, although out numbered they fought ferociously. Mutt was dragged off by some of the cretins and healed, having been mangled in the face he struck out in rage and wounded one of the gangsters as he fled.
The Black Scales swiftly pushed on not wanting to be around with such a scene of carnage. As they went they saw graffiti all throughout the district, mostly gang colors and gang slogans but some particular words near the gate looked fresher.
”Curse the Black Scales, Drug Snakes go to hell.” beside it was a symbol of a skeleton with a spear stabbing a snake.
Escaping they went into the largely deserted sub-urbs which lead up to the hill which rests the Tower of Silence. Quickly gaining entry they met with the Gray Monk Avton.
The monk warned them that someone had recently inquired into the ownership of their abandoned inn.
The mercenaries then did research into the History of the Black Wines and Miranda Black-Wine.
From what they could gather she was a protege and socialite sent to the Great City of Ocrine to study at the Capital’s finest schools in a vast array of topics. Her brother Aldemar was obsessed with her to an unhealthy degree and during the fall of House Black-Wine had her brought to him at the Monastery of Saint Avitus. Aldemar and Miranda disappear from record after the Monastery was sacked while the loyalists of House Zaldivar hunted Aldemar.
Figuring that Miranda was still alive like her undead brother and somewhere in the crypts under their inn they delved below to explore passages they hadn’t yet unburied. They found a long winding passage filled with the bones of countless monks in ossuary’s as well as small shrines to well regarded crusaders who fought in the holy war alongside Saint Avitus.
At the end of this corridor they found a room cast in what appeared to be natural light. Unnatural shadows slinked along the floors and walls and as Mutt, Needle and Good Stab pressed forward the Shadows lurched in at them. The touch of the shadow upon their own drained their strength and without any magic their swords were useless. Dodging the slow moving shadows they followed the silhouetted figures back to crypts in the four corners of the grand chamber where they found skeletal hands with rings which they smashed killing the shadows.
Mutt had to flee when his strength fell so low that single touch would have drained his life and the door closed behind him as he fled locking in Good Stab and Needle.
Having defeated the shadows and only narrowly survived Needle and Good Stab approached the lavish coffin of what looked to be a high ranking crusader. As they opened it a lithe pale hand snaked its way along the edge followed by perfect flowing black hair.
A very dead woman sat up in the coffin as she had been laying alongside a impressively armored skeleton in glowing chain.
Miranda Black-Wine rose and took the hands of Needle and Good Stab to steady herself. She was wary at first but thankful and warned the mercenaries they had just made a powerful enemy in her brother. The mercenaries confirmed that they were already enemies although they still had a contract with Aldemar.
When asked how she had come to be in the coffin Miranda told them that her brother had used rituals taken from the Midnight Empire to turn her into a vampire and then when he had grown bored of her sealed her away. The ritual had failed on himself though and to save himself from being consumed he instead turned himself into a wight.
Theoretically she should be the more powerful undead, but she had rarely fed and hadn’t drank blood in a century, only kept alive by whatever energies were stored in the coffin with her.
Miranda agreed to help the Black Scales destroy her brother and help them with her vast knowledge set.
As she went to leave the room she twirled around and approached the coffin. She leaned down and gingerly kissed the cheek of the skeleton. “Saint Avitus, you have been a most caring and kind bed fellow.”
