Session 58

* Secret Daqanite League Safehouse
* The Citadel's Holding Tower

**Previously...**

## And Now...

Having completed the preparations to enter the Citadel and rescue Giana and Dondras, there is only one minor task to be seen to before the party can depart on their rescue mission. .

### Testing your metal.

Nyarduke decides to test his Seraphic Weapon, an ancient broadsword. When tested on a stuffed training dummy, a strike from the blade causes the stitching to unravel and the entire dummy to fall apart into a jumbled pile of cloth, leather stitching and straw. Attacking a small footstool has similar effect, creating a small pile of wood, nails, leather and cloth padding. A final test on a butterknife goes awry when the blade skates off the edge, nicking Gar, who was holding the knife.

Immediately, Gar was transformed into an odd, almost featureless humanoid - overtly neither orc, nor elf, nor human. As it develops, anyone struck by the blade - known as 'The Sword of Severance' - randomly and temporarily (it is to be hoped, anyway) loses something of themselves. Uncomfortable in his weird new form, Gar assumes his Dragon-Hybrid appearance, which appears unchanged.

### A Walk in the Park.

With that out of the way, the heroes, except for Goldie who remains behind to guard Lady Bellia, set off to the Riya District. Harper assumes shadow form using the Censer, and approaches from underwater, via the moat. Gar, Nyarduke and Leshrac make idle conversation in the guise of visitors to the city enjoying an afternoon in the park, and Dandy, in her disguise as elderly Kellosian devotee 'Ploppy Gaphershifter' attempts to befriend the city's duck population by means of pocket snacks and a leftover sandwich.

### Reconnaissance.

Harper is easily able to gain entrance without being seen, and proceeds to do a quick sweep of the entire tower. He determines the complete layout, if not in meticulous detail and is able to find where Giana is being held but wasn't able to locate Dondras. As he is preparing to escape and rejoin the others, however, the Wards preventing unauthorized spellcasting activate, trapping him inside.

Before he can be spotted by guards, he quickly finds a small storeroom where he can attempt to work unseen. He initially attempts to create a small breach in the Wards for him to slip out through, but eventually realizes that the network of wards is far too elaborate and intertwined for him to isolate any one part without triggering a tower-wide alarm and lead everyone in the citadel to him.

Realizing he's spent far too much time on this, he attempts the desperate move of trying to reassume shadow form and just brute forcing himself past the wards. Before he can gather sufficient energies, however, he's interrupted by a guard patrol, who swiftly draw swords and prepare to raise the alarm. Reacting on instinct, he is able to swiftly and lethally silence both guards before dragging them into his bolthole and grabbing their keys.

### Infiltration.

In shadow form, Harper rejoins the rest of the group and draws them into the Shadow Realm before they all enter the tower. Seeing the dead guards, Gar seems visibly shaken, but before they can linger, they move on. Sneaking invisibly through the tower's thick outer walls, they come to the room where Giana is being held. The room itself is sparsely appointed, with a guard outside the door. Two observers watch via some kind of magical scrying - a robed mage and a noblewoman, by the looks, but it is hard to see any details. Inside the room, Giana is being interrogated by a high-ranking Citadel Guard who is informing her that she'll receive no support or back-up from the Church of Kellos.

Harper attempts to cast an illusion to prevent the magical observers from sensing anything wrong within the room, but, in attempting to push past the wards, overexerts himself, creating scores of chaotic, kaleidoscopic images of Giana and the interrogator rushing and hurtling throughout the room, the floor and, as far as we know, the rest of the tower.

### Chaos was Always an Option.

Leaping into action, Nyarduke (still in shadow form) attacks the interrogator, while Gar (also in shadow form) knocks out the guard. Using her master key, Dandy reverts to solid form and, still as Ploppy Gaphershifter, bombards the Interrogator with a blistering array of acrimony, compliments, empathy, scorn and concern as a distraction, allowing Nyarduke to deliver a decisive blow. She also signals to the real Giana to identify herself from her array of duplicate images.

Leshrac addresses the two observers, assuring them that no harm is intended and that there are forces at work which they do not understand, but the warning falls on deaf ears. The mage casts a defensive spell over themself and the noblewoman and the pair enter the interrogation room. Beyond the veil of the scrying spell, the noblewoman is immediately identifiably as Baroness Harriet of Frest, one of the Daqan Lords whom many of the party had already had a chance to meet at Earl Castigan's party in Vynelvale (See Session 8).

She steps into the room, draws an ornate, bejewelled blade and commands everyone to drop their blades and stand down. The room falls silent.