With the cambion dead, Hunter, Zinovia, and Fox joined Lonn and I in the chamber where Alden had found Lady Corstela. She seemed entirely unaware of what had gone on downstairs, or even the fighting in the hallway and other rooms outside where she sat. Alden seemed to fear that she had somehow been affected by it, but after a few moments he appeared to become less anxious. We introduced ourselves to her, as she seemed unaware of who we are even though she had invited us. She did admit she had issues the invitation.
After Hunter took the lead and began to explain what had been happening downstairs, Lady Corstela exclaimed that the party hadn't begun yet, taking all of us by surprise. Hunter questioned her and soon revealed that something must have happened to her to render her unconscious or perhaps like the servants and staff in the kitchen who had been unaware of their surroundings. Not until she was encouraged to look out a window did she believe that it was much later than the early evening she believed the hour to be.
We narrated the details of the evening to her, assisted by Alden so that she would take our tale more seriously. When Fox mentioned the cambion she stated that he was her assistant, much to our surprise. Zinovia even dragged the cambion's corpse to the door of the room to prove what we said. We still don't know how or why the demon turned against her and disguised himself as Alden, though perhaps we shouldn't be surprised as he was a demon after all.
Fox asked Lady Corstela if she had trapped Sir Roderic's ghost in the study downstairs where we'd encountered him. She admitted that the Peacocks had used magic to prevent the ghost from appearing in his own home as it was a nuisance to them, but she suspected he'd appeared in the marketplace because the Horned Fangs had associated themselves with the Runelord of Wrath. Sir Roderic had the Sword of Wrath, and this had affected him. Someone new had recently come to town and taken charge of the Horned Fangs, giving them the symbols of Wrath that they'd begun to wear as badges, and this seemed to have aroused the ghost's anger. Lady Corstela didn't know this new leader and couldn't advise us how to find them, but she suspected this new leader might have come into possession of the missing Sword of Wrath.
Lady Corstela also expressed surprise when she was shown the false Sword of Pride we'd taken from the sinspawn imposter. She revealed that she herself had possessed the actual Sword of Pride since childhood, gifted it by her parents, and she had never unsheathed it in the presence of anyone else so there was no way that anyone could have copied it in such detail. When it wasn't with her it was locked in a case. She believed the sinspawn had all died out with the Runelords during Earthfall. She didn't believe that our mentors had actually fought a living Runelord. This was when we told her we had all been sent to Roderic's Cove by the invidividuals who have come to be known as the Sihedron Heroes. She mentioned that she'd written to Hunter's mentor and the only response she'd received was a command to give her sword to Hunter.
This part of the conversation led us to realize that if there were Runelords who had survived Earthfall then some sinspawn might have been able to survive also, and perhaps the copy of the Sword of Pride had been made by someone who had personally seen the real sword. That thought still chills me.
Lady Corstela handed over the sword, explaining that its proximity had gradually begun to affect her. She seemed dismissive when we suggested that the influence of the sword had led her to murder several people. She wasn't concerned that she'd been seen committing the murders. They had been members of the Horned Fangs and had refused to answer her questions, and though she acknowledged that they didn't deserve to die for refusing her, she showed little remorse. The sword may have made her too proud to admit any fault.
Zinovia had the gauntlets that would protect the bearer from the sword's influence, and she took it when Corstela relinquished it. When it was explained that the sword would try to influence the people around it even when it wasn't being carried, she complained that she'd have to sleep in the gauntlets.
After all this discussion was over and we'd given our apologies for having killed most of her guards, we left and went back to the inn. Zinovia admonished Fox for being so proud of killing the Roadkeepers. We'll have to remember that Fox had a very peculiar upbringing, raised as a slave to a mage who used him as a kind of circus performer, so he doesn't understand all the nuances of social behavior.
We all felt very tired and a bit confused after everything that had happened at the manor. It seems that the territories of Pride and Wrath must come right up against each other in very close proximity to this town, which has led to so much of the strife here. We still don't know who killed Sir Roderic, only who killed his family that came to claim his estate. I wonder if that has anything to do with the Peacocks not wanting to give up their meeting place. Surely they couldn't be so petty, but with a demon as a servant who can say? Lady Corstela also gave us the surprising information that former mayor Cassias, who we had been told by the current mayor was responsible for the death of Sir Roderic, had left Roderic's Cove six months prior to his demise.
In any case we've decided that our next step is to seek out the Horned Fangs and see if we'll have any more good fortune in questioning them than Lady Corstela did.
As we have done since we first met him, we breakfasted with young Kynae. He claims to have no knowledge of who the members of the Horned Fangs are, so we left him in charge of Grumble the peculiar goblin and went in search of people wearing the rune of Wrath on their shoulders. Fox has discovered a new spell in whatever way sorcerers do, and cast it on us all so we could communicate with him and he could relay our words if we became separated.
It didn't take long for us to catch a glimpse of man wearing the Horned Fang badge. To our misfortune he spied us, but we managed to follow him. Curiously he led us right back to the inn, disappearing around the side of the building that's opposite the stables. It was Hunter who noticed the well-disguised ladder leading into a cellar beneath the inn. Prepared with spells and drawn weapons, we descended the ladder and entered the underground space.
Fox found two more concealed doors here. The first led into a short hallway that appeared to end in stone. Lonn examined the end of this passage and found yet another secret door, which he was able to determine how to open after a few moments of examining the mechanism. The other hidden door opened into what was either a small closet or a very short and narrow passage. We decided to go through the door at the end of the passageway first.
This door opened into a room containing several tables and chairs - and three women who immediately leapt up and moved to attack when they saw us. Zinovia attempted to dissuade them from fighting but they either didn't understand her words or didn't care. While Fox cast spells from the entrance and Lonn, Hunter and Zinovia moved into the room to engage them, I took a chance on slipping inside and casting spells from the opposite end of the room from where they were grouped. I completely forgot Zinovia's advice to always keep my staff or dagger in my hand. These women proved to be fierce fighters and entirely unwilling to yield. Zinovia leaped up on top of one of the tables at one point. I eventually worked myself a bit closer to the combatants, but because I'd foolishly failed to arm myself I couldn't lend my compatriots any aid other than with my magic, which the women as often as not shrugged off.
Zinovia was of course furious with me again when the three Horned Fangs were finally sent to whatever afterlife they believed in. I made sure to carry my staff in my hand after that. The others searched the womens' bodies and found some healing potions we could use, as well as magical potions that may be very helpful. Hunter also removed a ring he was wearing and gave it to Zinovia to grant her some magical protection as we expected that we'd meet more Horned Fangs.
Lonn found yet another hidden door leading into a small passage out of the room where the three women had been. Fox then went back out to the second concealed door he'd discovered before we entered that room and learned that it was a very short pass-through, leading out into another space. We decided to use this door to enter this other space, while Lonn went out through the door he'd found.
The fleshdregs had already bitten Lonn. He shut the door and swallowed a healing potion. I couldn't see what was happening in the large meeting room so I ran back around to the tiny passage. Hunter had cast a spray of colors at the two Horned Fang thugs and one of the fleshdregs, which caused one of the people to be immobilized but the fleshdregs were immune to the spell's effect. Zinovia cleaved the body of the fallen gangster but the tiny and agile fleshdreg darted out of reach of her blade. But she finally eliminated the fleshdregs, and then began to ask the surviving Horned Fang questions. He refused to answer even when she threatened him, so she punched him and left him unconscious.
I had realized by this time that when the fleshdregs bit Lonn they had imparted their sin scent to him, but even your researches haven't discovered a way to remove that, Master Taeral. We'll have to take care that it doesn't attract more sinspawn or fleshdregs to us.
There was a curtained area across the meeting room, and Hunter pushed aside the curtain to find an empty room. Lonn listened at another door and told us he heard a sound like heavy breathing, but no movement. We decided first to look into another doorway on the side of the meeting room opposite the curtained area.
This door wasn't concealed or locked. It opened into a large room that appeared to be a sort of tavern, occupied by four people, and shockingly a sinspawn standing behind the bar!
The sinspawn rushed at us first, encountering Zinovia. She dodged it and with a single slash eliminated one of the gang members. While Hunter faced the sinspawn, Lonn entered from another side door and crept up behind it to stab it, which led to him being attacked from behind by one of the other gangsters. I ran around through the entrance we'd used to access the meeting room intending to enter the bar through the same side door Lonn had used, but by the time I reached the passage Lonn had retreated into it and shut the door to the bar area. He was pressing against the door to prevent it being opened from the other side, and the passage was too narrow for me to squeeze past him even had he been willing to open the door for me.
Frustrated at having my plan thwarted, I ran back out and made my way back around to the bar entrance from the largest room, where Fox still stood firing his flames at the Horned Fangs inside the barroom. Lonn had come out of the passage by this time and was attempting to aid Zinovia and Hunter against their foes. Everything I could see inside the bar was only a glimpse through the narrow doorway. I don't know why there were so many concealed entrances in that place, or why all the doorways were so narrow that even a human of any bulk would have difficulty fitting through them.
There was a flash of flame from within the room as Lonn hurled a flask at one of the Hooked Fang members. In response the gangster attacked him with a club in each hand. The sinspawn collapsed as Zinovia dealt it a final blow. Then Fox sent another blast of fire into the barroom and the last of the Hooked Fangs slumped over in a scorched heap.
The fallen Hooked Fangs were swiftly stripped of their armor, weapons, and valuables as their fellows had been. There was yet another doorway leading out of the bar area, but instead of a concealed door taking us back into the room where we'd fought the three women, it was a small private meeting room. We had yet to investigate the other side of the largest room, as we had reason to believe there were more rooms beyond it based on the heavy breathing Lonn had heard when he listened at one of the doors.
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