It\u2019s comforting to know that, no matter where you are, you can always find someone who will shatter your faith in people.<\/span><\/p>\n We considered Citadel Altaerein. A hole in the crumbling south wall was large enough for us to walk through, which gave us our choice of entrances. And if there\u2019s anything I learned from Annet and Jaangu, it\u2019s that nothing good ever comes from breaking in through the front door. We chose the hole in the wall.<\/span><\/p>\n We spread out in what was obviously a combat training room for the Order of the Nail. As I watched Gath discover a secret door leading to an equally secret room\u2014and nearly get impaled by a spring-loaded spear trap\u2014it occurred to me that what we were doing was actually dangerous. It also occurred to me just how many dangerous situations I had, naively, been in before, where we managed to avoid any consequences like this, until, of course, the day we didn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n I don\u2019t really know what point I am trying to make here. I guess I\u2019m just complaining that I didn\u2019t sign up for this. <\/span>Someone else<\/span><\/i> signed me up for this. But I was there, and he was hurt, and I had a spell that could heal his injuries\u2014not all the way, but enough\u2014so at least I was useful.<\/span><\/p>\n We also learned that we weren\u2019t the only ones here: we found an honest-to-Magdh Hellknight in the former Hellknight Citadel. Well, a Hellknight in training, but, eh, close enough.<\/span><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know much about Hellknights as we didn\u2019t have them back in Druma. From what I\u2019ve heard, they are a lot like the Mercenary League, just with added layers of zealotry and doctrine. Both are highly trained. Both are well-funded and well-equipped. Both are considered elite fighting forces. But of the two? Hellknights are less likely to get hung up on trivialities like morality and ethics.<\/span><\/p>\n This hellknight, whose name we later learned was Alak, was fighting with a pair of imps. Given that the final test of Hellknights-in-training, according to Liberte, involves summoning an actual devil just to kill it, this was a less surprising development than it appeared. The only odd thing about it was, <\/span>neither <\/span><\/i>of them should be in a castle that was abandoned nearly a decade ago.<\/span><\/p>\n The last time I used my bow, I was shooting at small game animals. In fact, the <\/span>only<\/span><\/i> times I\u2019ve used my bow, it\u2019s been against small game animals. The imps were larger, and thus easier to hit, but for some reason, they were much, <\/span>much <\/span><\/i>harder to injure. Liberte said something about needing a silver sword, which shows just how much I don\u2019t know about what we are doing, and Gath used the one he found shortly after being impaled by the spear to make quick work of them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations!\u201d I said to Alak afterwards. \u201cYou\u2019re officially a Hellknight!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo, not quite yet,\u201d Alak answered. \u201cBut, thank you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So, what was a Hellknight in training doing at the citadel abandoned by the Order of the Nail? It\u2019s a good question, which is why I asked it. The answer was unsatisfying and boiled down to \u201cpersonal business\u201d. Which is exactly the sort of vague non-answer <\/span>I<\/span><\/i> usually give to people, and Nine Hells is it annoying to be on the receiving end of it.<\/span><\/p>\n He asked us the same, and Iskaryn would be proud of me for not only telling the truth, but telling the truth <\/span>with details<\/span><\/i>. It\u2019s too bad she wasn\u2019t in here to witness it because I could use the victory.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a tribe of goblins up on the battlements, apparently being held prisoner or hostage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Which sounds like exactly the sort of thing a Hellknight would oppose. Alak didn\u2019t disappoint. But I wasn\u2019t going to trust someone I just met just because he said what I wanted to hear.<\/span><\/p>\n As much as I hate to admit it, Iskaryn can be a good judge of character. I wanted an extra set of eyes on Alak just in case, ones that weren\u2019t as distracted as ours, so I tugged gently at the bond. She would come if she wished. If it were an emergency, there would be no question, but otherwise? I let her decide for herself.<\/span><\/p>\n We made our way to the central courtyard, which is where several things happened at once.<\/span><\/p>\n First, we found the goblins, who were up on the battlements directly above.<\/span><\/p>\n Second, we found Calmont, who was holding one of the goblins at knifepoint and obviously threatening them.<\/span><\/p>\n Third, we were attacked by a large, draconic creature with a nasty disposition. I didn\u2019t know what it was, but I knew it was big, mean, and had a lot of very sharp teeth. It had been trying, and failing, to find its way up the collapsed stairs to the goblins, and since we were on the ground floor with it, we were much easier targets.<\/span><\/p>\n Last, Iskaryn found us. \u201cYou wasted no time getting into the thick of trouble, I see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I ignored that\u2014this wasn\u2019t the time for bickering\u2014and asked her to watch Alak while we dealt with the dragon thing.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDealing with it\u201d was not so easy. Even with all of us on it, and my performance to give us a boost, Tarsius took a nasty bite and dropped right in front of us. The kind of drop where you wouldn\u2019t expect to get up again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For a moment I thought we\u2019d just watched him die. But Trip and Kyira were close enough to pull him clear and heal him before he succumbed to his injuries. It was a close call.<\/span><\/p>\n With the dragon out of the way, we could turn our attention to Calmont. And let me tell you, he is a vile piece of work. Today\u2019s disappointment. If I had to choose between spending time with him or spending time with my mother, I would actually have to think it over.<\/span><\/p>\n Our presence was obviously unexpected, which meant Calmont\u2019s plan, and I use that term loosely, was not going to plan. If he started improvising, this could get very ugly, very quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n He yelled at us, yelled at the goblins\u2014with a generous helping of racial slurs\u2014and demanded they help him find a way down below so he could retrieve a ring. He threatened to kill them and literally cut them to pieces.<\/span><\/p>\n I watched Trip fade into the shadows by the collapsed stairs. I doubted we could talk Calmont down, but we could buy Trip some time. After sending Iskaryn up to keep an eye on him in case he tried to run, I stepped into the courtyard.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no need to threaten these goblin people. If you want to find a way down there, let them go and we\u2019ll help you find it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He was practically raving. \u201cThese little freaks know what I\u2019m after! They lived down there for years, they must know! The catacombs or vaults or whatever the hell you call them. I just want Alseta\u2019s Ring!\u201d We didn\u2019t know what that was, but he told us it would make him rich.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be reasonable about this,\u201d I said as calmly as I could. \u201cIf you hurt them, you lose all your leverage. We can help you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d be surprised what pain can achieve,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Fortunately, he didn\u2019t have a chance to carry out that threat. I couldn\u2019t see where Trip was, but she had gotten close enough to hex him, and he fell unconscious. And that was that.<\/span><\/p>\n Once he was manacled, we checked on the goblins and made sure they were safe. Turns out, Calmont wasn\u2019t the only one to visit the Citadel. The lizard-dragon we killed was one of <\/span>two<\/span><\/i>, and they both came with a group that called themselves the Cinderclaws. Who are The Cinderclaws? No idea. They moved in a few days ago, and declared that they now owned the place. This is what initially sent Helba and her tribe up onto the battlements, and the reason for the red smoke.<\/span><\/p>\n Fortunately, the dragon lizards were too heavy for the stairs. They collapsed, burying one in the rubble, and effectively cutting off the stairs to the lower level. The goblins still knew a secret way down, but they weren\u2019t going to admit this to Calmont. They only told <\/span>us<\/span><\/i> about it because we came with a message from Warbal.<\/span><\/p>\n We took Calmont back to town. He talked the <\/span>entire time<\/span><\/i>. We were going to gag him, but it turned out he was a gold mine of \u201ccan\u2019t shut up\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long for a sad portrait of the man to form: one of a small-time criminal who was gifted with grandiose dreams but none of the resources to realize them. He was also, without a doubt, in completely over his head and too dense to know it. He was trying to bargain with us, or form a partnership, even though he had literally nothing to bargain with.<\/span><\/p>\n He was a very angry man with a long list of grievances, and he was especially angry about his boss. \u201cShe thinks she\u2019s everything, all \u2018Calmont, wash this! Calmont, bind that! Calmont, that\u2019s not how you pronounce Norgorber!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Excuse me?<\/span><\/p>\n I knew that name, and knew it meant bad news. I asked Iskaryn, quietly, \u201cWhat do you know about Norgorber?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNasty piece of work. He\u2019s the god of assassins.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That was something to file away for later.<\/span><\/p>\n I played along with him and let the conversation run its course. What he was looking for was something called Alseta\u2019s Ring. Why? Because <\/span>Voz<\/span><\/i> was looking for it, and he wanted to find it first, and take control of it. He said it was capable of moving people or things, possibly moving even entire <\/span>armies<\/span><\/i>, across<\/span> great distances. It would make him <\/span>rich<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>Very<\/span><\/i> rich.<\/span><\/p>\n And because I am dense, I had to ask Iskaryn if she\u2019d ever heard of such a thing.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou mean, Alseta, the goddess of doorways and portals?\u201d she replied.<\/span><\/p>\n And that was the moment.<\/span><\/p>\n I knew why I had been sent some 400 miles to some remote town in an isolated corner of Isger. Why the <\/span>seven <\/span><\/i>of us had been sent there.<\/span><\/p>\n How a large group of cultists no one had ever heard of had just appeared one day, with two huge monsters, with not so much as a hint that they were coming.<\/span><\/p>\n There was a working elf gate under Citadel Altaerein.<\/span><\/p>\n The town council paid us a reward for our successes yesterday. I wish I could get excited by this, but I just can\u2019t. Most people count their gold and silver in absolutes, but to me, it\u2019s all measured in time. It\u2019s a habit I formed after Kerse, and one which I fell back on after leaving the Forest. I can live off the reward money here for two to three months. As many as six if I get desperate.<\/span><\/p>\n For the moment, though, I am in no danger of starving.<\/span><\/p>\n Calmont is now the city\u2019s problem, and good riddance. We chose not to reveal our suspicions of an elf gate below Citadel Altaerein, but I imagine they\u2019ll hear about it from him soon, if they haven\u2019t already. The man just doesn\u2019t know when to shut up. The only question is whether or not they\u2019ll believe him. My gut tells me that\u2019s a \u201cno\u201d. He comes across as a conman and a schemer at best, and a raving lunatic at worst.<\/span><\/p>\n Is there really an active elf gate down there? My excitement and confidence from last night have tempered. What we have right now is guesswork and hearsay from Calmont\u2014enough said there\u2014and a theory that happens to fit what we know. This is not the same as proof. But the evidence is growing: this morning, Liberte told us that the dragon creature was, in fact, a distant offshoot of dragons called a grauladon, and they literally should not have been there. Not in the \u201cdraconic lizards don\u2019t belong inside castles\u201d sense, but the \u201cthey live in swamps, and there isn\u2019t one for hundreds of miles\u201d one.<\/span><\/p>\n This theory also raises a number of <\/span>other <\/span><\/i>questions that we don\u2019t have answers to. Did the Order of the Nail know about the elf gate? They must have. The odds of them choosing a construction site that was directly above one entirely by accident seem ridiculously remote. Alak said there was no record of such a thing, but so what? It sounds like the sort of thing they\u2019d want to keep secret.<\/span><\/p>\n Assuming they <\/span>did<\/span><\/i> know, was it active when they built it? My limited understanding of elf gates is that there aren\u2019t many of them left that still work, though that could just be propaganda from Kyonin. If it <\/span>was<\/span><\/i> active back then, you\u2019d think word would have spread\u2014that\u2019s not the kind of secret that stays buried for long.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Which means it may have only been activated recently. By the Cinderclaws. And they brought their pet grauladons with them.<\/span><\/p>\n We know from Calmont that Voz suspected the gate was there, too. Is <\/span>she <\/span><\/i>connected to the Cinderclaws? No idea.<\/span><\/p>\n Whatever connection exists between Voz and Norgorber is also a mystery, and one the town council isn\u2019t in a hurry to solve. Obviously, we don\u2019t have evidence of anything nefarious there, but it seems like one coincidence too many to me, so I don\u2019t understand why they aren\u2019t taking it more seriously. They all but blew off the news, pointing out that a dealer in rare books is likely to have texts that reference any number of unsavory figures. Can they really be that naive? Probably. This whole town is detached from the rest of the world in that way. It exists as a storybook version of itself, and it seems perfectly content to stay that way.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re headed back out to the Citadel shortly, and taking Warbal with us so she can reconnect with Helba. The rest of us, which includes Alak because we\u2019re adopting strays now, will explore the rest of the ground floor, then ask the Bumblebrashers to show us the way down.<\/span><\/p>\n No one even stopped to question the fact that we were hired to do a job, did the job, and then got paid for it. Which means everything from here on out is on our own coin.<\/span><\/p>\n Deep down, I think everyone realizes what that means. This elf gate is what we were sent to find. Now we need to figure out <\/span>why<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arodus 1, 4719 Breachill Evening It\u2019s comforting to know that, no matter where you are, you can always find someone who will shatter your faith in people. We considered Citadel Altaerein. A hole in the crumbling south wall was large enough for us to walk through, which gave us our choice of entrances. And if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-5432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aoa-journal","tag-aemi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5432"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5435,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5432\/revisions\/5435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Arodus 2<\/h1>\n
Breachill<\/h2>\n
Morning<\/h3>\n