The guests are next led to the basement, where kid of cockfighting pit has been arranged. The Fabler offers two rings to be worn by combatants who will control their proxies in the pit. The prize – a large 1,000GP golden egg – goes to the winner who creates the most ornament. A dozen ferrel cats are released and frantically dart around the little arena. Two cockatrices are presented to Zeech and Zeek, who stand up as champions for the fight. The rings go on and their concentration now channels through the cockatrices. Cat after cat, the two birds strike and battle to turn them to stone. The Prince’s cockatrice is simply not as adept, nearly every one he attacks he either misses or fails to turn to stone. Zeek’s cockatrice, quick to take advantage of the confused cats, moves into flank and charges, and makes an impressive collection of stone cat ornaments. The crowd, including Zeek’s own party, gets a bit concerned and agitated at the Prince being bested twice, but Zeek and Zeech are oblivious, locked in battle. After a long battle the two birds turn against each other with Zeek finally turning the Price’s bird to stone. The Prince rips his ring off as the battlers receive polite but not overly enthused applause from the audience. Prince Zeech looks distinctly displeased now, and the party looks on anxiously, remembering the Professor's comment that the Prince is nothing if not capricious. But the irrepressible Zeek, with a self-deprecating laugh, says by way of explanation, "Well, you know, I've no doubt had a lot more practice than you...at playing with a small cock!" Somewhat molified, Zeech leaves the room without ordering Zeek's immediate dismemberment. The Omimous Fabler buys Zeech some cooling off time by recalling a ridiculous tale while walking the group to a twilight garden on the north side of the palace.
Here a rack of differently coloured skulls is waiting for the party, and a black one in the hands of Prince Zeech. In a kind of bocce game where the Prince’s black skull serves as the pallino, the guests each throw their skulls. While the party does their best, Captain Vularis is easily makes the finest shot, winning Zeech’s offered price of a necklace with a small silver skill with ruby eyes worth 2,500GP. Talis chats with Maris Quemp, the handsome half-orc barbarian, who becomes charmingly enamoured with her. Vasco looks to get a sense of Lord Kilraven is, but feels closed to his seriousness. Zeek and Vulras strike a rapport on the way to the banquet. Toris, the little gnome they had met a few days earlier, chatters annoyingly and proudly about the achievements of his brethren kind.
The feast is then brought out over four courses; a feast of worms; a four and twenty blackbird pie; a roast of tojbasarrirge; and finally a purple worm aspic. Vasco bumbles through the grace of eating a formal meal but no true social gaffs are made, with each course being eyed and endured. The goblets of green worms are merely tasty scrubgrus, the blackbird pie is enhanced by a wonderful illusion of flying birds, the Tojbasarrirge – a meaty but rotten invention of the price – is attempted and dismissed; and the purple worm aspec – potentially instantly fatal, is first attempted by the night’s champion Zeek, who announces it is fine. Talis and the Fabler spar to entertain the group with story and music. Talis is a far better musician than story teller. Nadroc, hoping to impress with a tale from the age of the Wind Dukes, digresses into detail that finally gets cut off by Zeech’s jester (before the rest of the table falls asleep)! As the final desert is brought out, the likeness of Zeech topples, and the Fabler, Talis and Zeek all make good humoured jokes to lighten what has become Prince Zeech’s foul mood.
Zeech retires alone to his throne in the hall after the banquet is cleared, and the guests are left to mingle amongst themselves. Talis and Maris Quemp continue to rapportée, through the evening, with no serious intent, and Maris (who Vasco reveals already has two wives) is clearly popular amongst the other nobles. Vasco and Kilraven end up in the corner having a serious chat about honour and duty to the kingdom. Here Kilraven reveals that he hopes to see Alhaster freed from Zeech’s rule and believes that the majority of the citizens are honest folk. He doesn’t ask for help staging a coup, but asks to stay in contact as things advance. Zeek and Captain Vulras, the commander of a band of rangers in the northern watch continue their good rapport. They also get to a quiet discussion where he hints that if Zeek and his friends ever move against Zeech, they would certainly get the support of the Captain and his men.
Talis takes the opportunity of a moment where Lashonna is free to be in touch with her. Lashonna appears genuinely interested in a meeting, piqued by the antics of the group and the feast and the sense of compelling need for seriouis talk expressed by Talis. She agrees to meet them in her mansion in a weeks time, for a private meeting.
Vasco tries approaches the half-fiend Hemriss – rumoured to be Zeech’s illegitimate daughter – and asks after the heritage of her fiendish looks. Completely offended by being a woman spoken to simply about her looks, she storms off to the Prince’s thrones to exchange familiar whispers and hostile gestures back to Vasco. The Prince seems unimpressed (as usual) with his daughter.
The dour Shag Solomon, the affiable Professor Montague Marat and the annoyingly gregarious gnome Toris make a trio of hobnobbers that evening, trying to shmooze better positions in the high society of Alhaster. They seem at neither well respected nor unliked by anyone, and make efforts throughout the night to keep it that way. Toris continues to celebrate his common gnomish heritage with Zeek, to the point of searching for some fictive kin connection. Zeek is highly sceptical of any of those claims but does not deny them so not to make offense.
Both Mahuudril and Mischen Michwillow – female sorcerers are approached by Vasco and Talis. While Mahuudril bails on any conversation, saying that she too is feeling ill, Mischen engages a rapport on the ins-and-outs of the economics of the magic trade, having retired from adventuring to partake in the profits of that market.
Yldar tries to speak with B’Kruss and V’juss, but they are both rather non-responsive for this kind of engagement, both saying they are feeling some ill effects of their indulgence at the meal. A sly health check by Yldar leads him to believe that they may have been poisoned at some point, but he quietly takes his leave of his formal rivals.
Zeek steels an opportunity to speak with Prince Zeech himself. He is in a completely foul mood, feeling like the grand feast in his honour was something of a string of failures. He is momentarily interested in making the briefest of small talk when Zeek gets to the point by discussing the architecture of Zeech’s Great Project. Clearly this is a monument of pride for the Prince who says it is to become the cultural centre for Alhaster, Redhand, and perhaps one day the lands beyond. Following that Zeek is summarily dismissed and the Prince shortly after takes his retire.
As they trays are begin swept away, the hard-drinking and eating dwarf Hoff is literally following the food out the door. Talis strikes up conversation, and Hoff plays up a challenge of his own – to an arm wrestle with Hoff, who appears to be the strongest of the group. Best two out of three. Talis looses all three bouts, though not without trying, and Hoff is humoured and impressed by her serious effort and invites her and the others to join his mercenary band – anytime they like, they have a place with Hoff! With that, Hoff leaves with a tray of food.
The great feast honouring 20 years of rule by Prince Zeech comes to a close. The skeletons who have clattery danced through out the evening help the servants whisk away the remanets of the party, and the grand carriages take all the guests back to their lodgings. With a final trumpet bast offered by the Ominous Fabler, the celebrations are closed. The party observes that the revelling in the streets – the common party that corresponded to the banquet, broke early and festive city has retired to their beds. The party leaves the feast feeling successful and more ensconced in Alhaster society. They are now known in the streets and amongst the aristocracy as skilful but not perfect, heros with humility, powerful but (for the most part) dignified. It is little wonder that talented folk like Kaydence have sought to become followers of this party. They truly are something.
Indeed, with their presence in Alhaster brightly sung, the party receives +12 Authority Points, to be used soon enough...
* * *
The next morning the party wakes to ill effect little other than what one would expect from having dined and drank at a feast for the Prince. But more pressing matters are at hand. They decide to take what they have learned back to Magepoint and discuss matters further with Manzorian, taking advantage of the access to his library and the wisdom of his counsel. Manzorian suggests that indeed the time is ripe to have swift effect of the remnants of the Ebon Triad that come from the itinerary secretly hidden in the pages from the Triptych Well. There is a week before their meeting with Lashonna, and this time can be used to better effect than musing around Alhaster.
So, each pair supported with followers of Manzorian, Zeek and Talis, and Vasco and Yldar split off and infiltrate these final cult members. In stories the bards will sing another day, the remainder of Ebon cultists are hunted down and destroyed. In the act, there are encounters with a few other Wormspawn that the cultists have been conspiring to bring the Age of Worms into the world. Zeek and Talis disrupted a group of ninja heretics infiltrating Garalenn in the County of Urnst with several infectious Spawn of Kyuss. Yldar and Vasco went to Ixworth on the edge of the forest in the Horned Society kingdom to take down cultists who managed to liberate Wormspawn almost as powerful as those found below the Spire in Kuluth-maar. On the way back, they also had another encounter with a pair of bone devils who teleported in to try and seize information that would lead them to the party’s fragment of the Rod of Many Parts. In the end, the party broke these critical cells of the Ebon Triad, and captured their assets. The Ebon Triad had 50,000 in gems, platinum, gold, and vial art, and the following magic items:
- +4 shocking shuriken
- +4 ring of protection
- +3 amulet of mighty fists
- +4 bracers of armour (x2)
- +2 gloves of dexterity
- wand of charm person (22 charges)
- scroll of plane shift
- wand of dispel magic (14 charges)
- +1 merciful quarterstaff (1d6+1 plus 1d6 non-lethal)
- potion of cure moderate wounds (x3)
- potion of cat's grace
- potion of mirror image
- potion of invisibility
- wand of stoneskin (19 charges)
Following this, the party has a short time in Magepoint, where all sorts of magic is to be had to help level up for the next encounters, and there is wide access to Manzorian's library for study.
They return before the week’s end, feeling more mature and experienced from the whole effort, and find themselves back at Alhaster on the morning of their meeting with Lashonna.
