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Thronehold
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A few weeks after the 2nd mourning Khorvaire is in chaos. No one knows
the truth behind the it. Everyone blames whoever they happen to hate
most. In his secret hideout in Krona Peak Moriarty receives reports from
his agents. The biggest news he hears is that a new religion has sprung
up all throughout Khorvaire almost overnight. The Church of Galifar
preaches that the great kings from the kingdom of old Galifar have come
back as gods and that both mournings are a punishment because of the
fighting and division of the old kingdom. The Church of Galifar preaches
that if the wars aren't stopped that further mournings will happen until
all are killed, however they also preach that if the continent is
reunited then the mournlands will be cleansed and restored to their
natural beauty.
Moriarty also continues to receive reports from some of his agents that
were located in Sharn before the 2nd mourning. They report nothing out
of the ordinary as if nothing has changed in Sharn, there is not even
any mention of the mourning. He doesn't know if they're lying,
subverted, or something more mysterious going on in the new mournlands.
He does notice the only ones continuing to report in like this were all
originally posted to the upper levels of Sharn, especially the Skyway.
New Galifar is pushing hard to have all the nations join them and
recently the dwarves of the Mror Holds have been mentioning that it
might be a good idea.
The fighting continues between Thrane and Aundair.
The airship data from Zergiot in Darguun is finished being analyzed and
his technicians have enough information to start building his own
airships. He sends back the plans to Zergiot and orders airships to
start being built.
His agent in the Lhazaar principalities and Zellos have maintained their
subterfuge and report no one questions their rule of the Lhazaar
Principalities. They give a preliminary report of the amount of taxes
and tribute likely to be received, this is higher then what he would
have earned selling materiel. They also report a plan to open company
stores in order to increase profits. Moriarty decides to go "public" as
the Umbrella Corporation and have them open the company stores.
The Iron Council announces that it will be voting on whether or not to
join New Galifar. Because Moriarty had replaced the leader of Clan
Doldarun with one of his agents some time ago he knows that based on the
terms from New Galifar the Mror Holds would have to be unified under a
single leader who would become a member of the oligarchy that rules New
Galifar. Because of this, the vote to join New Galifar is really a vote
to dissolve the Iron Council and make Torlan Mroranon head of all the
clans who would then use his new executive power to join New Galifar.
Moriarty decides this is a chance to take control of the Mror holds. He
has the leader of Clan Doldarun propose himself as head of all the clans
instead of Torlan, running on the platform that he would maintain the
independence of the Mror Holds. Clan Mroranon is of course opposed to
this but the Iron Council agrees they will vote on this in a few days.
Because this would be such a drastic change to how all the clans were
governed this would not be a direct vote by the Iron Council. The Iron
Council would vote like normal but representatives chosen by the common
members of the various clans would choose to support or reject their
leaders vote. Representatives that chose to support their leader would
add weight to their leaders decision while representatives that chose to
reject their leaders decision were disregarded. The number of
representatives would be based off the power and prestige of the various
clans. Also, House Kundarak would be given the same voting privileges as
if it were just another clan. House Kundarak immediately voices it's
support for Torlan however the other clans say they will consider the
options.
Moriarty gives orders to The Agent in Krona Peak telling him to make
certain that the leader of Clan Doldarun wins the election. Moriarty
also assigns Bellos and Loragmeth, whom Moriarty had recently hired, to
help him. Moriarty also orders The Agent to stay away from the abandoned
Clan Noldrun building which is located in the Council District of Krona
Peak where The Agent will have the most influence over the various
clans.
The center of the council district is main council building where the
Iron Council meet. Surrounding it are 13 buildings, one for each of the
clans, that function as minor embassies for each clan so visitors doing
business with individual clans can do so from the capital. The building
for Clan Noldrun is abandoned, boarded up, and rumor state it is
haunted. Some clerics have tried cleansing it from outside with no
effect. Dwarvish tradition states no one can enter a clan embassy
without permission and with Clan Noldrun gone there is no one to give
permission so the Dwarves forbid anyone from going in.
Each Building, except for Clan Noldrun, has at least one guard in front
of them and most have more. The building for House Kundarak, Clan
Mroranon and Clan Soldorak have the most guards. The council building is
surrounded by elite guards from all the clans.
There is also a tent set up near the Clan Mroranon building for the New
Galifar delegation. A group of believers in the Church of Galifar have
also been congregating near the council building shouting to all that
pass by to repent and stop all fighting before the mourning spreads to
cover the whole land. A group of dwarvish guards are surrounding the
Church of Galifar members, keeping an obvious eye on them, but aren't
interfering with them.
The Agent told Bellos to go check out House Kundarak and Clan Soldorak
buildings and see what he can find out about them to encourage them to
vote for the leader of Clan Doldarun as leader of all the clans. He
starts suggesting that Loragmeth go off but Loragmeth cuts him off and
points out that while The Agent and Bellos are dressed up in very rich
fancy clothes to fit in, his skills don't lean that way and didn't
bother trying to disguise himself like the others did. He said he'd fit
in much better pretending to be a bodyguard for one of the other two.
The Agent agreed and had Loragmeth follow him
Loragmeth and The Agent went to the Clan Narathun building. There was a
single guard standing outside. The Agent started chatting up the guard
to collect some information first. He found out a lot of useless
information, however the guard did mention he was overworked due to a
staffing shortage. The Agent tried to subtley hint to Loragmeth that he
should ask for a job there but Loragmeth didn't get the hint. Frustrated
The Agent then told Loragmeth to ask for a job there. Loragmeth looked
at him strangely wondering why The Agent didn't say this later when they
weren't right in front of the guard. The guard also asked the obvious
question why The Agent was asking his employee to come work for him. The
Agent made a lame excuse that he didn't want Loragmeth to work for him
anymore. The guard said if Loragmeth was that bad of an employee then
maybe they weren't as understaffed as he thought and didn't really have
any job openings for guards. Loragmeth and The Agent walked away, once
out of earshot Loragmeth told The Agent maybe he would be better off on
his own and was going to go back.
Loragmeth went back to the guard claiming his old employer was a foolish
aristocrat who was always demanding he do stupid things. Loragmeth
claimed he'd been putting up with it for awhile now because of the pay
but that this was the last straw and the pay was no longer worth it and
had just quit and was looking for a more steady job. The guard was
completely taken in by Loragmeth's lie that not only did he hire
Loragmeth he made him supervisor of the night shift. Loragmeth was given
a Clan Narathun tunic to wear over his armor, he was responsible for his
own armor and weapons, and given a bunk in a barracks. Loragmeth,
knowing he'd have a long night guarding tonight, went directly to sleep
to prepare for his shift.
Bellos went to the Clan Soldorak building first, simply because it was
the closer of the two. Entering the Clan Soldorak building he found it
was large and "looked like a bank". A Clan Soldorak worker came up to
him and asked if he could help Bellos. Bellos told him he represented
the Umbrella Corporation which was interested in investing more with the
dwarvish clans and wanted some information on what he could receive from
Clan Soldorak. The worker gave him some general information on their
current interest rates and it turned out Bellos had gone to a university
in the past to study finance and economics before deciding to join the
family business and become a bard so he actually knew a lot about
finance and understood what was being told to him. He knew that he would
need more details but got the idea that the return on his investments
would be good but the investments themselves were risky. Bellos knew he
would really need to speak with a higher ranking official and so he made
an appointment for a few hours later.
Bellos then went to the House Kundarak building. Again he met with a
worker, explained he represented the Umbrella Corporation which was
looking to invest some money. He discovered that House Kundarak would
provide lower returns on their investments but they were mores solid.
Bellos made another appointment with a higher ranking official of House
Kundarak. While doing so the worker found he had been talking with Clan
Soldorak as well and they told him if he chose to go to the appointment
with House Kundarak first they would give him a special gift, even if he
didn't choose to invest with them. Bellos left the House Kundarak
building. Once outside, the worker from Clan Soldorak ran up to him and
said he had noticed that he was also talking with House Kundarak and
promised Bellos a gift as well if he kept the appointment with House
Soldorak first instead of House Kundarak. Bellos said he was currently
considering all options and left.
As he walked away a random person bumped into Bellos. Bellos felt
something had been slipped into his pocket. He pulled it out and found a
bag of holding full of platinum pieces and authorization for Bellos to
invest 5000 platinum pieces on behalf of the Umbrella Corporation. There
was a 2nd note for Bellos himself stating it was his decision who he
should choose to invest with.
Bellos and The Agent met up with each other outside all the buildings
and compared notes with each other. They decided that since Bellos had
some spare time before meeting with either House Kundarak or Clan
Soldorak that he should vist Clan Laranak while The Agent visited Clan
Toldorath. Bellos went up and started visiting with the guard outside
Clan Laranak. He quickly got an earful about how horrible Clan Londurak
is and all terrible things Clan Londurak does. He went in and met with
an official of Clan Laranak and again heard more about how bad House
Londarak was. Bellos slyly mentioned that his group might be able to
help them strike a blow against Clan Londarak in exchange for support of
voting for the leader of Clan Doldarun. No official agreement was made
but Clan Laranak seemed interested. Bellos left the building.
The Agent went to the Clan Toldarath building. He found that not only
was it right next to the Clan Tordannon building but that they had
actually been expanded into each other and there was only one entrance
for both of them. The Agent went in and again started chatting up the
guard outside. The guard started telling him about the plight of the
Jhorash'tar orcs, how misunderstood they were by the other clans and how
they deserved to be given full clan status. The guard also gave The
Agent a spiel about how he could sponsor a poor orc child for "only 23
coppers a day". The Agent went into the building and met with a worker
telling him the Umbrella Corporation was interested in the charity work
they were doing. He was given much the same information about their
charity work as he got from the guard outside. The Agent also noticed
the walls were full of pictures of sad looking orc children. At the end
The Agent donated 10gp to the "orcish relief fund" and said he would
probably come back later but first needed to consult with his boss
Bellos and The Agent compared notes of what they had learned. The Agent
decided he would talk with Clan Laranak again while Bellos would
disguise himself and check out Clan Londurak next. Bellos bought some
less expensive clothes, went somewhere private to disguise himself with
magic, then went to the Clan Londurak building which surprisingly was
right next door to the Clan Laranak building. Speaking with the guard
out front He got almost the exact same speech he heard from the Clan
Laranak guard, just reversed. Going inside the worker that met with him,
seemed more dismissive, probably because of his clothing. This time
Bellos claimed he was looking for work as an accountant, using his
knowledge of finance and economics. The worker told him there was an
opening for an internship if he wanted to fill out an application.
Bellos did and at the end found there was an essay requirement. The
subject for the essay had to be "Why Clan Laranak is so horrible".
Bellos wrote a beautiful essay that implicated Clan Laranak as the cause
of the Last War as well as being behind both of the mournings. Bellos
also implicated New Galifar as working with Clan Laranak and they caused
the 2nd mourning together. The Clan Londurak leaders were impressed with
Bellos' essay and wanted him to enter it in an esssay contest between
all the clans tomorrow. Bellos also noted that the clan leaders talking
amongst themselves if they should support New Galifar or not while
leaving.
The Agent met with Clan Laranak leaders. They eventually made a deal
where in exchange for assassinating a certain Clan Londurak leader they
would support Clan Dolduran during the upcoming vote. The Agent left
promising it would happen tonight.
Bellos, realizing it was close to the time for his appointments with
House Kundarak and Clan Soldorak chose to visit House Kundarak first. He
was given his promised gift of 300 gold and a voucher for a free horse
and carriage that could be redeemed at any House Kundarak allied stable.
Bellos talked finance with the House Kundarak dwarf however House
Kundarak kept offering very low returns on his investment and were very
condescending to him. He tried impressing the clerk with the large
5000pp investment but it was obvious he didn't consider that an
exceptionally large investment. In the end Bellos chose not to invest
with House Kundarak and left to talk with Clan Soldorak.
The House Soldorak employee smirked when he saw Bellos walk in "they
weren't willing to give you an honest return on your investment were
they?".
Bellos admitted that was the truth. The Clan Soldorak employee seemed
much more interested in obtaining Bellos' business and offered him a
very good deal. Bellos indicated that the real reason he didn't go with
House Kundarak was because of the upcoming deal with New Galifar which
the Umbrella Corporation has reservations about and the reason he wants
to bank with the dwarven clans is because the Dwarves have a long
history of reliability when it comes to finances and if they join New
Galifar he's worried Kaius might take control of the banking system for
his own use. The Dwarf seemed very interested and said he would bring
the matter up to the clan leaders but couldn't make any official
promise. Bellos left and seeing it was getting late went back to his
quarters and went to bed.
Loragmeth woke up, a few hours prior to his shift and went to check in
with The Agent. The Agent told him about his agreement with Clan Laranak
and that he wanted Loragmeth to do the deed. Loragmeth figured he would
still have time before the start of his shift. He got the instructions
on where the target was along with a vial of poison The Agent had and
made his way. He found it was a very large house on the outskirts of
Krona Peak. In front of it was an enclosed courtyard though there was no
gate or guard on entrance to the courtyard. He carefully snuck in and
took a look around. He saw two doorways at the ground level and a pair
of stairways going to a balcony with two more doors up above. He saw
some movement in front of the two lower doors which he assumed were
guards and he saw another guard on one of the stairs he was slightly
closer too. He assumed there was another guard on the other stair as
well. Seeing how close the guards on the lower floor were too each other
Loragmeth decided to try going for the balcony. Loragmeth pulled out his
bow and shot the guard on the stairs near him. He struck the guard right
in the throat, killing him instantly and silently. Loragmeth dragged the
body into a corner of the courtyard where he hoped it wouldn't be
noticed. He then went up the stairs. He soon spotted another guard near
the top. Again he pulled out his bow and fired. The arrow missed and
clanked noisily against the wall. The guard raised the alarm and
Loragmeth was quickly spotted. He intentionally muttered New Galifar
wasn't paying him enough to throw suspicion on them and sped away out
the entrance while the guards followed. He ran around the house and in
the back saw an open window. Thinking this is what he should have done
before he raced up the wall and into the window.
Inside Loragmeth was in a storeroom that he determined was empty.
Peeking out the only door he saw two large guards in front of a door. He
saw some other doors but that was the only one guarded so he assumed his
target was inside. He drew his bow and shot one of the guards. He hit
the guard but didn't kill him. The injured guard drew his axe and began
moving towards Loragmeth. Loragmeth again said New Galifar wasn't paying
enough for this and dashed out the door and went down the hallway away
from his target and towards the front of the house. Reaching the front
he opened a door and saw he was out on the balcony of the courtyard. The
courtyard was empty, apparently the other guards were still looking for
him outside. He saw the injured guard was running down the hallway after
him though apparently the uninjured guard wasn't seen. By this point
Loragmeth had seen enough of the house to realize the inside hallways
were a square around the room being guarded where he assumed his target
was. He ran outside, closed the door behind him, then sprinted to the
door on the other side of the balcony. Loragmeth waited until he saw the
door he came out started to open and then he slipped through the other
door. He knew both doors were visible from each other on both the inside
and outside. He hoped by letting the guard see him go out one door, not
be visible inside at the other door, and slipping in right as the guard
went out that the guard would think Loragmeth was trying to escape. Not
certain if his ruse was successful or not Loragmeth slipped down the
hallway back towards where the guarded room was.
Loragmeth wasn't surprised to see the last guard remaining at his post.
Loragmeth carefully snuck up silently to the guard and stabbed him
before the guard knew he was there. The guard was very badly hurt but
not immediately killed. He swung at Loragmeth who nimbly dodged out of
the way. Loragmeth stabbed the guard with his knife and this time the
guard collapsed. Loragmeth carefully opened the door and went inside.
The room inside was dark but there was enough light for Loragmeth to
make out a large bed in the center with three bodies in it. Loragmeth
carefully applied his poison to his knife and crept to the bed. The
center body in the bed sounded lower pitched then the other two so
Loragmeth stabbed it with his knife. His knife struck true and the voice
of a male dwarf yelled out. He heard two female voices cry out in
confusion and a light suddenly came on in the room. He saw that he had
stabbed a male dwarf who was gurgling and becoming to froth at the mouth
from the poison in bed with two women who's race Loragmeth didn't
notice. Seeing his job was done and that the woman couldn't stop him
Loragmeth ran out the door while the women started to scream. He ran
back to the storeroom, out the window and out into the night.
Loragmeth put on his Clan Narathun tunic, then reported in for his first
shift. He and a few other guards stood in front one of the vaults
watching for signs of intruders. Loragmeth didn't mention this but he
loved the idea that he was getting paid twice, once by Clan Narathun and
again by Moriarty to just stand there. As the night passed uneventfully
Loragmeth pretended to show interest in his new job and struck up a
conversation as if he was trying to make friends with his coworkers. He
found out that while the pay wasn't bad the guard that hired him had
overstated the benefits and they just laughed when he asked about the
dental plan. Seeing a possible in Loragmeth talked to his co-workers
about the possibility of unionizing and that he knew someone that could
probably help them with this. The others were very interested in the
idea and after their shift was over invited Loragmeth to a local tavern
where they had a few drinks together. Afterwards Loragmeth checked in
with The Agent and told him what had happened and suggested he show up
tonight and pretent to be a union leader and see what he could do to
influence the workers. The Agent agreed it was a good idea and they
agreed to meet that evening befor Loragmeths shift. Loragmeth ran a few
errands and then went back to his barracks to sleep for the day.
The next morning when news of the murder of the Clan Londurak leader was
announced, Clan Laranak announced it was supporting the Clan Doldarun
candidate. Clan Soranath on the other hand announced it was going to
support joining New Galifar.
Bellos went to the essay contest that Clan Laranak wanted him to
participate in. He was randomly chosen to go last which he thought would
be the best place. The contest was mostly boring with many of the clans
representatives giving essays on mining, finance and banking. The Clan
Toldorath and Clan Tordannon entrants gave essay's on why the
Jhorash'tar should be given clan membership. Clan Droranath gave an
essay on why the Jhorash'tar should be exterminated completely. Clan
Mroranon gave an essay on the benefits of joining New Galifar. Clan
Londurak gave Bellos' essay, but pointing the finger at Clan Laranak.
Bellos of course gave his essay on behalf of Clan Laranak. The judges
and audience just shook their head over it and Clan Londurak's essay
muttering this was typical of the two clans. Bellos didn't win the
competition but he did impress the Clan Laranak leaders and they started
asking him questions about it and his idea that Clan Londurak was
working with New Galifar, they also let him know he was hired for the
accounting position he had applied for.
The Agent went back to the Toldorath and Tordannon building, claiming to
want more information on the Jhorash'tar possibly donating more to the
"orcish relief fund". While talking the subject of New Galifar came up
and the representative mentioned that they were thinking of supporting
New Galifar since they espoused the ideals of the old Kingdom of Galifar
where all the races lived together in harmony. The Agent pointed out
that while the old Kingdom of Galifar may have tried bringing equality
for all races, New Galifar has not. They pointed out that while they
appear welcoming to the major races such as elves, dwarves and
halflings, they have been working with the humans in Q'barra to drive
back the lizardfolk living in Q'barra. If New Galifar is that uncaring
about the lizardfolk then why would they be any more accepting of other
monstrous races like the orcs? The Agent was so eloquent in his speech
that by the end he had not only convinced the two clans to support Clan
Doldarun but to also start expanding their charity efforts to include
the lizardfolk of Q'barra. The Agent left after donating another 100gp
to the fund.
As The Agent left the Toldorath and Tordannon building he was accosted
by a gruff looking dwarf.
"I've seen you around talking to them orc lovers" the dwarf growled "You
should leave them alone if you know whats good for you."
The guard in front of the Toldorath and Tordannon building came up to
assist The Agent and seeing the two of them he backed down. The Agent
started tailing the dwarf and tracked him to the Clan Droranath
building. The Agent chose not to follow him any further and press the
issue.
It was getting late so The Agent and Loragmeth met up outside, away from
all the buildings, prior to Loragmeth introducing The Agent to the Clan
Narathun workers. They agreed that Loragmeth would start his shift,
bring it up to the workers and if interested would signal The Agent and
invite him in. As Loragmeth walked back to the Clan Narathun building he
was approached by two strangers he had never seen before. They were both
human, one was tall and thin, the other a bit shorter and stockier.
"Excuse me a minute, I would like to..." the taller gentleman started to
say.
"Sorry, I'm busy and need to get to work" Loragmeth interrupted.
The older gentleman did something and Loragmeth lost consciousness.
Loragmeth woke up an unknown time later tied to a chair in an room he
didn't recognize with the same two men. Loragmeth was still wearing his
armor and weapons though he couldn't reach them.
"Ah, you're awake" the taller man said.
"Let me go!" Loragmeth demanded.
"Not yet," the man replied "I have some questions about your employer."
"I just started working for Clan Narathun yesterday!" Loragmeth
protested.
"Come now, I'm talking about your real employer" the taller man said
"There is no use lying about it to me."
Loragmeth assumed he was talking about The Agent "What real employer?
Are you talking about that fool of an aristocrat I was working with
before? That guy was an idiot, always giving stupid commands. That's why
I quit and started working for Clan Narthun!"
Loragmeth discreetly slipped his hand out of their ropes and quickly
grabbed his dagger and slashed at the taller man. Loragmeths blow was
clumsy and the man easily dodged out of the way. Loragmeth was still
trapped in the chair so the man stayed out of range. Loragmeth started
cutting the ropes binding him to free himself.
The taller man made no move to stop Loragmeth and said "I fear you may
be misunderstanding me. My name is Holmes, my companion is Watson. We
have been tracking a criminal mastermind that we know you are working
for. We aren't going to harm you, you notice we haven't taken any of
your items. We only want to ask you questions about a man known as
Moriarty. The only reason we tied you up is because we know how fast you
can move and were afraid you would run off. Once you have you will be
free to leave."
Loragmeth finished cutting his bindings and considering his options he
decided his best option would be to talk a bit. He honestly told Holmes
he didn't know anyone named Moriarty and then continued to maintain his
story that he only worked for Clan Narathun now, had worked for a fool
of an aristocrat before that, and prior to that had grown up in a
monastery in Adar. Loragmeth was believable enough and included enough
truth that he managed to bluff Holmes.
"I don't understand," Holmes muttered "I'm never wrong. Very well, I am
a a man of my word. You are free to leave."
Loragmeth left the building he was in. He soon managed to find his way
back to the Clan Narathun building only an hour or so late for his
shift. He reported that he had been accosted by a human who was looking
for information on his employer. He made it sound like Holmes might be
trying to get information on the Clan Narathun vaults. He mentioned that
he saw no dwarves during with his abduction and that he doesn't believe
other clans are involved but that it is a human organization. During
guard duty he brought up the idea of unionizing with his coworkers, they
had him hush up about it and said they would talk about it in the tavern
in the morning. Loragmeth continued his shift without incident.
In the morning Loragmeth met a very tired disguised The Agent. He
explained the dwarves wanted to talk in the tavern. They went there and
found the dwarves Loragmeth had talked with had invited others and there
was a large group. The Agent spoke with the workers and convinced them
that if they joined together and stood up for themselves they could
force their leaders to provide better pay and benefits. He suggested
they go together and make their demands known and if they weren't met
they would threaten to strike. The dwarves asked The Agent why he was so
interested in them. He claimed it was partially friendship of Loragmeth
but also because he had come to the Mror Holds from Karrnath because the
leaders there cared so little for workers they were starting to replace
them with undead, not just soldiers and he didn't want that to happen
here. The dwarves murmured amongst themselves about this. The Agents
seed of doubt appeared to take root as someone mentioned that New
Galifar was really run by Karrnath and if they weren't careful then
maybe the undead would take all their jobs. The dwarves went back to the
the Clan Narathun building chanting the word strike over and over again.
As they came to the building many other workers that hadn't been to the
meeting heard what was happening and began joining in. The clan leaders
came out to see what the fuss was about and were shocked to see the
workers organized demanding better pay and a dental plan better then
simply not ever providing sugar with meals. Afraid that the strike might
spread past this one small part of the capital the clan leaders began
informally negotiating with them. The Agent and Loragmeth tried acting
as a "neutral" party to help both the workers and leaders come to a
resolution. In the end the only thing the workers received for not going
on strike was an agreement that they wouldn't be replace with undead
workers and that the leaders wouldn't allow Karrnath to replace the
workers with undead either. The Agent could tell that the leaders had
never considered the idea of replacing their workers with undead but
they found the idea interesting. However The Agent had gotten what he
wanted, if the Clan Narathun leaders voted in support of Torlan the
workers would see that as a violation of the agreement not to allow
Karrnath to replace them with undead and would strike. He could tell the
Clan Narathun leaders weren't very interested in joining New Galifar but
were interested in preventing a large scale strike and was confident
they would vote his way. Afterwards the clan leaders fired Loragmeth
identifying him as the source of this trouble. Loragmeth accepted this
without question feeling his work with Clan Narathun was done anyway.
As they walked away from the Clan Narathun building they passed the Clan
Noldrun building and saw it's doors had been broken open and some of the
Iron Council guards could be seen just inside the building. A number of
bystanders were outside and talking with them they found that someone
had broken into the Clan Noldrun building last night. The guards were
investigating the break-in and the Dwarves couldn't believe that anyone
would violate the House Noldrun building like that. Rumor also said that
the guards had found evidence that people had been secretly hiding
inside the building but had no information on who had been living in the
building and who had broken into the building.
Loragmeth, Bellos, and The Agent got together and considered their next
target. They only had one day left before the vote tomorrow and decided
their best option was to focus all their resources on House Kundarak.
They knew House Kundarak would be hard to convince to vote against
Torlan but they were so large it would do more good if they could pull
it off then working on any of the others left. After a brainstorming
session the best option they could think of would be trying to replace
the House Kundarak council member similar to what they had heard had
happened in the Lhazaar Principalities. They learned this wasn't a
practical solution as since House Kundarak never had an official
representative on the Iron Council and the patriarch Morrikan d'Kundarak
couldn't be reached for consultation the decision on how to vote fell to
a board of directors. There were 5 board members and the vote would be
determined by a majority vote between them. Currently all 5 of the board
members appeared unified in their decision to vote for Torlan. While The
Agent and Bellos might be able to replace 2 of the board members
Loragmeth flat out told the others he has no practice at impersonating
others and was certain he would be identified as an imposter. They also
realized that while The Agent could probably replace a board member on
his own, Bellos would probably not be able to withstand scrutiny. They
decided that tonight Bellos would assassinate one board member and The
Agent would replace him in the morning. The Agent would try to seduce
another board member who was married and then use that to blackmail him
into voting for Clan Doldarun. Loragmeth then assassinates a 3rd
which would result in a tie forcing House Kundarak to abstain from
voting. While not as good as having them vote for Clan Doldarun it still
would be more useful then trying to secure the vote of the last few
undecided clans. The party was out of poison so that would not be an
option, however they were all given some funds from Moriarty in order to
buy some extra equipment. The party went to bed early so they would be
ready for that evening.
All the board members had apartments in Krona Peak that they were
staying in. All of them were obviously guarded but not fortified. The
Agent bought the equivalent of a portable camera and some female dwarf
clothes. He used his shapeshifting abilities to turn himself into a
female dwarf. He then "happened" to meet the board member at a public
tavern. He successfully managed to seduce the board member and was
invited to his apartment for a night of "fun". Although he was
successful in taking the picture of them together the board member was
not intimidated by the threat and refused to be blackmailed. The Agent
also ended up getting pregnant because of this encounter.
Bellos went into the apartment of his target. Inside were two guards
talking to each other. Seeing Bellos they asked him what he was doing
there. Bellos showed them his whiskey jugs and said he was giving free
samples. He then started playing the jugs in order to cast a sleep
spell. One of the guards succumbed but the other managed to withstand
the effects of the spell. Seeing what Bellos had obviously done he
attacked with his sword. Bellos was hit but he managed to use his
whiskey jugs to cast a sound burst spell which hurt the guard and also
stunned him. Bellos attacked with his short sword and got in another hit
on the guard. The guard attacked but Bellos managed to parry the blow.
Bellos struck again this time killing the guard. He quickly dispatched
the sleeping guard then took his uniform and tried to disguise himself
as a guard. As he went further into the complex he found a door that was
guarded which he assumed was where his target was. There was only 1
guard on this door and Bellos tried to bluff his way in but was almost
immediately spotted as an intruder. Bellos cast a fear spell on the
guard who ran away in terror. Bellos went inside the room where he found
the board member had already been awoken by the shouting of the guard
who had been affected by the fear spell. As Bellos went inside he saw
another guard towards him down the hallway, apparently having been
alerted by the frightened guard. He attacked the board member who
managed to evade the attack while both the frightened guard and a
comrade of his burst in. Knowing that while he might be able to kill the
board member and escape he had to kill the guards as well if he was
going to replace the board member. He didn't know that The Agent had
failed his mission though and was determined to complete it. He tried
fighting the guards but it was obvious he was outmatched by the three of
them. Bellos had planned for such an eventuality though and brought out
a scroll of fireball he had purchased earlier. Although this was a form
of magic he was unfamiliar with he successfully managed to activate the
scroll and a fireball detonated in the middle of his opponents.
Unfortunately he didn't realize he himself was within the range of the
spell and he blew himself up. One of the guards survived but the board
member, Bellos, and the other guard all perished in the explosion.
Loragmeth scouted out his building first and while he didn't find any
open windows he noticed there were not guards on the roof. He got an
idea and used his funds to purchase a scroll of soften earth. Although
he didn't know much about magic he successfully used it on a random
section of the stone ceiling and then scooped away the clay to make a
hole. Looking down he saw that the hole opened above a hallway corner
where a guard was standing. He also saw the shadow of another guard from
one direction of the hallway towards the entrance. Loragmeth positioned
himself facing the hole towards the front of the building, focused his
mind for a minute, and started running. He ran down the hole and when he
reached the end he continued running so he was now running upside-down
on the ceiling down the hallway going away from the entrance. As he ran
down the hall he moved towards one of the walls and ran down it
diagonally until he reached the floor so that he wouldn't fall from
staying on the wall or ceiling too long. When he reached the end of the
hallway he stopped and looked back to see if either of the guards were
following him. He didn't see anyone and assumed he hadn't been noticed.
He saw two doorways, neither of which were guarded. He tried the one on
the right but it was just a storeroom with no one in it. He tried the
other door and saw it was a bedroom with someone sleeping inside.
Loragmeth carefully crept, readied his dagger, and struck. Although he
struck true he didn't kill the person. His target yelled out and rolled
out of bed away from Loragmeth, a magical light was turned on while he
did this. Loragmeth saw the person he had stabbed was a male dwarf who
matched the description of of the House Kundarak board member he had
been asssigned to assassinate. Loragmeth leaped over the bed to take
another stab at the dwarf but was clumsy and missed. The dwarf continued
to yell for help and grabbed an axe that was situated next to his bed
and swung back at Loragmeth. Loragmeth's leather armor managed to stop
the blow though. Loragmeth cursed silently to himself as he heard the
sounds of guards running down the hallway in his direction. He swung at
the dwarf and managed to get in another slice but his dagger didn't do
much damage on his own however he kept managing to avoid the dwarfs axe.
Two guards burst into the room, axes drawn. They surrounded Loragmeth
and swung. Loragmeth dextrously dodged the attacks but he knew he was in
trouble. He tried moving so he wasn't in the middle of the group of
dwarves but he remained focused on killing the board member. He got
another good hit on the board member who was visibly starting to weaken.
All the dwarves moved with Loragmeth so they continued to surround him
and attacked. Although Loragmeth manage to block and dodge one of the
attacks the other two hit, hurting him pretty badly. He stabbed the
board member again and this time the board member collapsed to the
ground. The guards swung and again one of them hit Loragmeth. Loragmeth
was still in fighting condition but he was badly hurt and knew he
couldn't take another blow. Looking at the board member Loragmeth saw
that while he was unconcious and bleeding out that it would be very easy
for someone to staunch the wounds and save him. Not knowing that his
mission was futile due to the failure of Bellos and The Agent, he
decided it was more important to guarantee the completion of the
assignment rather then escaping with his life and he struck at the board
member one last time. The board member gurgled and Loragmeth could tell
he wasn't breathing anymore. The guards swung their axes at Loragmeth
and he got hit again. As Loragmeth collapsed he felt relief knowing that
although he had died he had still completed the contract and his home
monastery would still receive his pay for this mission. Loragmeth
collapsed to the ground, alive but unconscious and bleeding out. The
guards noticed him breathing and rather then give him a chance to
stabilize on his own they finished him off.
The next day the Iron Council met together to cast their votes. The Iron
Council members could choose to vote for Mroranon, which would mean
Torlan Mroranon would become leader he would choose to join New Galifar,
or vote for Doldarun, which would mean the leader of Clan Doldarun would
become leader and he would choose to remain independent, or they could
vote for the Iron Council which would mean nothing would change.
Clan Mroranon voted for Mroranon
Clan Doldarun voted for Doldarun
Clan Droranath voted for Mroranon
Clan Kolkarun voted for Doldarun
House Kundarak voted for Mroranon
Clan Laranak voted for Doldarun
Clan Londurak voted for the Iron Council, those nearby could hear them
mumbling that while opposed to joining New Galifar that Fernia would
freeze over before they shared a vote with Clan Laranak
Clan Narathun voted for Doldarun
Clan Noldrun was formally requested for their vote, to no one's surprise
the chair reserved for the Clan Noldrun Iron Council member was empty so
their vote was simply marked absent per tradition
Clan Soldorak voted for Doldarun
Clan Soranath voted for Mroranon
Clan Toldorath voted for Doldarun
Clan Tordannon voted for Doldarun
With the decision made by the Iron Council members as to how their clan
would vote, the clan representatives voted to either add weight to the
council members decision or not. While not a landslide, the votes for
Doldarun were definitely higher then the votes for Mroranon after they
were tallied up. The leader of Clan Doldarun was declared head of all
the clans. Doldarun immediately announced that Mror Holds would not be
joining New Galifar. Moriarty began considering what he was going to do,
now that one of his agents was leader of The Mror Holds.