Enemies On All Sides

Enemies On All Sides is the 44th Chapter in the SKT Saga.

## Short Summary

TWG tries to steal Sansuri's conch, but find themselves out-maneuvered.

## Characters

* The Wayfarer's Guild
	+ Almond
	+ Benedikt
	+ Lox
	+ HD
	+ Yenedril

* Arch mage Cassian Claude
* Sansuri
* Unnamed male cloud giant
* Loki

## Timestamps from Recording

DM: The first rays of the morning sun pierce the thin veil of mist enfolding the summit of Mount Hamaarhast. Those of you that need to sleep wake up and go about your morning routines. A very sore Almond uses assorted ingredients from the Yikaria food stores to make breakfast.

While you’re enjoying some pleasantly warm stew, you receive word from Arthas via Sending Stone. “Got lucky. A friend was already in that area. She should be arriving right about now. She’ll bring the children here.”

Yen, who was lying on his back looking at the clouds, suddenly points up. The rest of you see follow his gaze to see a small shape in the sky, rapidly growingly larger. A few moments of staring reveal it to be a person, seemingly in free-fall. The figure descends swiftly, body straight as an arrow, cloak billowing out behind them, head pointed down, aiming at the centre of the village.

About 15 feet shy of hitting the ground, slivers of metal, each a little longer than a forearm and three finger widths wide, with pointed tips on either side, shoot out from beneath the stranger’s cloak and fly around to hover over their back. The slivers, 10 in total, fan out in a rough approximation of wings and seem to slow the person’s momentum with a sudden jerk. The stranger flips forward and lands on the ground in a practiced motion, metallic wings still spread out.

You finally managed to get a good look at the person’s features. Long black hair, tan skin, high cheekbones, full lips, and eyes that are mostly deep brown almost black, except for a halo of gold around the pupils.

As she straightens up, the floating slivers seem to fold in on themselves until each is a less than a foot long. Four of them fly back into the folds of her cloak while the remaining six fly up behind her head and float there, reminiscent of the petals of a sunflower, slowly revolving.

She studies the five of you for a few moments, and then turns her head to take in the mostly demolished village. There is still plenty of blood on the stone and the smell of charred meat lingers where multiple enemies were burnt alive. She seems to take this all in, her eyes lingering on the blood, before doubling over and promptly throwing up.

00:05:49 – The winged lady is horrified at the sight until the party tell her that the villagers were slavers, and killed their slaves. They take her to the other side of the village where there is no blood.

00:09:55 – The gang asks her if she can transport 4 yakfolk, and she confirms that she can. The gang tells her in detail what happened in the village. She is satisfied with their reasoning, and introduces herself as arch mage Cassian Claude, magical historian. The gang introduce themselves to her. They also inform her about their mission to Lyn Armaal. Cassian tells them that going up there is the same as suicide, as cloud giants are very accomplished spell casters, and that there are multiple giants in the castle which is where they are at their strongest. She also tells the party that their magic is different, and the castle probably has a power source which keeps it afloat. The gang asks her about the fire giants, and she again reminds the party that the mission is dangerous. She reviews the party’s plan, and gets even more worried. The gang makes a bet with Cassian, and she bets 100 gold that the party will die.

00:23:52 – Cassian offers the party a way to go up there undetected (invisible). She also estimates that there are about a dozen giants in the castle, along with magical traps and animated objects. She also informs the party that fire giants are less powerful than cloud giants. HD and Al notice movements in the sky, and Cassian magically hides the party. Two giant figures are seen from the castle, both dressed in ornate robes and wearing silver masks (one male and one female). They descend from the castle and disappear near the summit from the mountain. Cassian tells them that now that the two giants are gone, this would be the best time to infiltrate the castle.

00:40:08 – Cassian takes the Yakfolk prisoners (along with Butter and Lamp) and leaves after making the party invisible. The party polymorphs Al and HD into giant eagles. As they get closer to the castle, they notice that there isn’t anyone visible in the castle. The gang approaches the tallest tower from the behind and go near the roof near the window. The giant window is closed and latched, and is not barred. They don’t see anyone inside. The interior shows that it is a bedchamber; massive golden bed covered in gemstones, a plant, chair, desk, wardrobe 60 ft. in height, and decorated with paintings.

44 PT.2

00:01:01 – Lox uses misty step to go into the room. He is now un-invisible. He takes out the ladder from the robe of useful items and places it near with windowsill, climbs it and then opens the window. HD doesn’t (can’t) come into the tower. Al helps Ben and Yen climb into the room. Yen gives Lox an invisibility potion and he drinks it. The three party members inside the room hold hands to keep track of each other. They then use the wand of detect magic to walk around the room and try to find magical items. They get a twinge of magic from the headboard of the bed.

00:17:47 – Upon further investigation, they discover that the gems on the bed are arranged to form an arcane lock. Yen casts dispel magic on the gems, and a small rectangle opens up and pops out from the headboard. There is a small bejeweled chest in there. They take the chest and try to open it, but there are no seams or locks on it. Detect magic shows that the box is under a transmutation spell.

00:28:14 – The three of them climb back up the ladder and get back on the eagles, Ben has some difficulty and slips. As he is invisible, the party doesn’t see him fall. Ben uses pixie dust and gains the ability to fly and gets back on an eagle.

00:37:00 – The party flies back into the village as the invisibility and polymorph spells both wear off. Cassian contacts Lox to ask if they are still alive, and the party informs her that she lost the bet. Lox creates a tiny hut inside one of the unburnt huts in the Yakfolk village. He then casts identify on the box, which reveals that the box is under a transmutation spell which can only be dispelled by the person who cast it.

00:43:54 – Ben uses ray of frost on the box, and Al tries punching it. Neither works. Ben polymorphs into a giant bird and carries Lox and the box 500 ft. away from both ironslag and the cloud giant castle. Lox casts knock on the box. It doesn’t work. They return to the hut. The party is frustrated at the box, and at their inability to save the dragon in the castle who they think is Lorenzo.

00:54:39 – The party decide to ask Arthas for help in going back to Neverwinter, figuring out how to open the box and then have Cassian transport them back to Hammerhaast. They also consider going back to the castle to retrieve their ladder. The other option is to stay behind and confront Sansuri, or bribe/blackmail her. They consider to go back up to the castle and gather dirt on Sansuri. They eventually decide to run away, wait a day, have Ben cast enlarge on the box and retrieve the conch by using a window from the robe of useful items.

01:12:59 – They send a message to Arthas, who informs them that there is no one available to send as help right now.

01:16:35 – The party hears a voice on the other side of the village gate. “Hello there! Is anyone there? Hello? Were you not told of our arrival?” Al recognizes the voice as his old friend Loki.

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