Road to Kebnegard, Chapter Four
Polotskian Intrigue, Of Which We Want No Part Of
Sunday, January 1st, 988 AD
We ride the two sleighs that the Prince lets us borrow through a light snowfall. We pull into the town of Vitebisk at night. During second watch, Ivan hears a bloodcurdling scream out in the street and sees a man drug into a house about two doors down. Ivan jumps out of his second story window and runs to the door. He walks into the house and asks what's going on. There are two men there, one seemingly unconscious.
Ivan: What's going on?
Berno: Who are you?
Ivan: A concerned citizen. I heard a scream and came to investigate.
Berno: Oh, not to worry. I'm Berno, a merchant. This is my friend, Kutobor. He's--
Reynaldo, Jean-Claude, and Conrad rush in]
Reynaldo: What's going on?
Berno: Who the hell is this?
Ivan: My friends, also concerned citizens.
Berno: I'm calling the watch.
Ivan: You don't have to do that. We know Prince Vladimir.
Berno: A little out of his jurisdiction, don't you think?
Ivan: I thought he was the prince of all the kingdom.
Reynaldo: Dude, you have to translate.
Ivan: He wants to call the watch. I'm trying to convince him otherwise.
[ Edward rushes in]
Edward: What's going on?
Berno: Oh come on. I'm calling the watch.
Ivan: Wait, just explain what happened and we'll be on our way.
Berno: Kutobor is drunk. He hallucinated some rats.
Edward: Nonsense. He's lying.
Ivan: You don't even know what he said.
Edward: Doesn't matter. God told me.
Ivan: Apparently, you're lying.
Berno: For fuck's sake. Watch!
Edward casts Hold Person on Berno and his friend Kutobor, who is suddenly not unconscious and is trying to garrot JC. We truss them up and gag them and Edward ends the spell. When the watch come in, Ivan explains to them what happen and they let us go with a warning. Reynaldo stays behind to see whats what. JC stays near the outside of the house to see when Reynaldo emerges. A few minutes later, JC sees Isabela slink out of the house, he flies to her and sees a note in her collar. It says, "Secret staircase. Following them." JC goes back to the inn and tells the rest of them. Thalia decides to leave Reynaldo behind. Everyone starts to pack up, except for Ivan, who remembers that Reynaldo saved his life at great risk to his own, and Conrad, who knows where his paycheck is coming from. About a half hour later, Reynaldo arrives through the window and says, "You guys going somewhere?" We leave town immediately.
Riding
Monday, January 2nd, 988 AD
We ride until lunch time, when Reynaldo regales us with his solo mission.
Reynaldo: So no shit, there I was. The rest of you had left and I hid behind a couch. The watch and the two guys start yammering on in Russian, so I can't understand a word they're saying. The watch just leaves and the two guys go down this secret staircase. I figure that's where they hid the body of the screamer, so I write a note and send Isabela out to find you guys so you know what's going down. I make my way down the staircase as quietly as I can, pulling my hood down so as to hide my face in case I was detected. The bottom of the staircase leads to a door with a sliding viewer. I try to edge the viewer aside to see in, but I guess I wasn't quiet enough. The guys catch me in the act and I rush back up the staircase. The secret door is locked, so I bust my way through with my axe. I run out the back door, barely avoiding a spell cast on me, probably Hold Person. I rush off in the opposite direction of the inn so as to not attract trouble to all of us. I just run, hide, double back, and do all sorts of other thievish things. When I was sure I wasn't being followed, I came back to inn to see you guys about to leave me behind. Jerks.
After Reynaldo's tale, we ride until reaching Biyonyuk, where we rest. The drivers of the sleighs try to commandeer a house, but Ivan insists on sleeping in a barn. When the drivers aren't looking, he sneaks the peasants a silver piece.
The Capital of Polotsk... Also Named Polotsk
Tuesday, January 3rd, 988 AD
We leave Biyonyuk and ride for only a few hours. We reach Polotsk and head towards the palace. We meet with the Prince who tells us about his dreams. He says he saw a man with a red dog collecting stones and knew that we had hurt him, but also done him a favor. He also saw a woman with her head cut off, and he knew that we had hurt her, but not done her a favor. He also shows us the power of the Spear of Cleitus, which turns Ivan's armor into paper. The Prince has his men make Ivan a new set of armor. After our meeting, we split up: Anna and Edward look for a church, Ivan and Nicolae go shopping, Thalia and Wong go hunting with the Prince, and Reynaldo, Jean-Claude, and Catarina go to the library to study, with Conrad watching their backs, just in case. Ivan, Nicolae, Anna, and Edward manage to sell the golden cross we had made for 950gp, then Anna and Edward look for an orphanage. Ivan and Nicolae manage to buy some adder stomachs. Reynaldo is the only one to find anything of note in the library and it's a note on the worthiest swords. Edward joins the hunters and they kill a wolverine. Dinner is served and the winter wolf coats are prepared. We rest at the end of the day.
Library Research
Wednesday and Thursday, January 4th and 5th, 988 AD
We find a few more texts in the library, one of which we already had. On the fifth, we let the Prince know we'll be leaving the next day, who warns us not to go to close to the Black Tower near the border.
Giant Attack Near the Novgorodian Border
Friday, January 6th, 988 AD
We ride on the sleighs again after buying some rations. After a few hours, we travel through an icy gorge until giants attack us from the front and from above. Reynaldo cast Fly on Ivan so that he could take on the giants up above us. Nicolae cast as many Blinds as he could. Everyone else fought as bravely as they could until all the giants were felled. The most miraculous thing about the fight was that the two drivers stood by their sleighs. We continue on our way, seeing the Black Tower in the distance, until we reach Anuzia, which is across the Polotsk-Novgorod border. The drivers bid their farewell, and we sleep in a barn, realizing we've forgotten the tanned Winter Wolf coats. We make plans to go back and get them.
Tailed Attack
Saturday, January 7th, 988 AD
During third watch, we notice the barn we're in is burning. We vacate with the animals and Ivan warns the owners. A strange voice from the sky says 'Wing' and the flail starts to kick Anna's ass. Strange stones wrapped in paper fall from the sky while Jean-Claude looks through the True-Seeing Gem and sees a bird-like creature fly away. We help the villagers put out the fire, give the owner some money, gather up all the stones with paper, and head into the woods. Jean-Claude casts Detect Magic on the stones and sees that they are not, so we read the papers. They all say the same thing: "Enjoy waiting till next New Year's Eve to get your flail active again. What did you do with the silver club? Return to your homes, this fight is not yours." We put two and two together and realize that the Fear Stick Heloise lost in Scotland is the same one Esthalin had. She probably got it through the Hell portals the two locations share. Catarina them remembered some information on the Black Tower. Apparently, it contains a wizard from the time of Christ. He grew old in the tower and faded away until nothing but a shadow remained. We rested during the day.
End Chapter Four
Previous: Road to Kebnegard, Chapter Three
Next: Road to Kebnegard, Chapter Five
