Safe to Dance
The Silver Ravens return home after closing the Menador Gap. This decisive blow to Thrune interests in Kintargo will prevent any reinforcements by land, and so the Silver Ravens set about planning how to defeat Barzillaiâs current compliment of Dottari and Devils.
Before they get very far in that planning process, they realize that someone is missing from their Silver Council meetings: Hetamon. He has not been seen for several days. The Ravens rest briefly, and suit up to find him. Searching all of the city with Location spells, tracking skills, and questioning any/all who know him, they learn some details of his tiefling heritage.
Hetamon was raised by his human father. He has never known his mother, but has learned enough about her through is father to know she is to be feared. A powerful demon called a Succubus, she possesses dangerous mind-control powers among a host of other spells and abilities.Â
When the Silver Ravens catch up with her, she is in hiding in the ruins of the old Silver Star, Shensenâs instrument shop that burned to the ground on the Night of Ashes. The demon has defiled the former temple of Saranrae to her own purposes, and holds captive several clerics including her son.
They free Streya Vestori, a skilled rogue who fell victim to the Succubusâs powerful domination. She tells them that Natsiel is in the next room, performing a complicated ritual to turn the life force of the captured clerics into energies forming a powerful undead version of her hag servants.Â
Gabriel, Caleb, Nigel, and Streya storm the former temple and slay the hags and Natsiel, freeing the clerics. Hetamon is overjoyed to see his rescuers, and introduces them to his fellow prisoners, Morfak, dwarven cleric of Torag, and Chucko, Tengu cleric of Erastil.
Morfak is a talented craftsman and Chuko runs a magic item shop and sparring arena in Northern Kintargo. Streya is a deadly rogue. All three gladly join the Silver Ravens. Rumor has spread through Kintargo of an upcoming event with a very exclusive guest list. The âRuby Masqueradeâ will be the first ball held at the Kintargo Opera House since Barzillai Thrune took it as his home when he arrived in the city. It will feature many musical & dramatic performances, as well as a dance contest and of course a lavish spread of food and drink.
Invites are difficult to secure, and quickly a pattern emerges. Only Thrune supporters are invited, from Noble to Commoner alike. No Silver Ravens or those sympathetic to their cause have received invites to the event.
Through further investigation, the Silver Ravens learn that dozens of suits of armor have been commissioned, constructed, and purchased with a very similar look and style to theirs.Â
They employ the greatest stealth and powerful magic to steal several invites and Caleb scouts the Opera House himself. There he sees fortifications on every exit, cages for Barzillaiâs three pet Cockatrices with a release switch to turn them loose on the crowd in an instant, and most of the office and storage space has been converted to temporary barracks.Â
The Silver Ravens theorize that Barzillai will impersonate them and murder civilians, even those loyal to him, to frame the Ravens for a heinous attack on the city. They gather all of their allies and hatch a plan to thwart the Lord Mayor.
They split into teams. Teams will communicate via the message spell, castable by Rexus, Caleb, and Nigel. One team will infiltrate the Opera house as guests, stashing or concealing whatever gear they need. Another will pose as Dottari. The Hellknights and other armor wearers will use waterbreathing spells to hide in the bottom of the pond in Aria Park, directly across the street from the Opera House.
Their ultimate plan is to breach the Opera House while Thrune forces are attempting their purge and rescue as many civilians as possible, but the Pond Team discovers something that alters their trajectory.Â
Azwraith, trudging through pond-muck, trips over a wide, circular, metal panel. They examine it further and discern that it is a door to a secret, submerged tunnel into the Opera House basement. They message this to the rest of the team and open the door.
Through Morfak the dwarfâs stonecutting expertise and Calebâs âlocate secret openingâ spell, they find more secret doors within, guarded by a large hellhound they quickly dispatch.Â
They soon realize they are in an area of Kintargo that Barzillai himself has not found, the Silver Vault. A tomb and treasure trove of the original Ravens. They find tens of thousands of coin, several magic items, and a piece of their own history. They dub this area: the tunnel of wizard porn.
Once this area has been thoroughly searched and salvaged, they move on to the secret doors that exit into the Opera House basement. It is here that they stumble on Barzillaiâs torture room. What once was a room full of finely made musical instruments is now filled with cages, shackles, and racks. Among the horrors they find a statue that seems a bit too lifelike.Â
Remembering Femmikâs dream where he saw through Shensenâs eyes as she fought was captured by Barzillai Thrune, the Silver Ravens use a scroll of âStone to Fleshâ they found in the Silver Vault and Shensen is restored. She is weakened so that she can barely stand, but she urgently whispers a word over and over: âSuriel!â
Slowly she realizes she is free again, and she thanks them for saving her. She hungrily takes in recent events and their present situation, resolving to help in whatever ways she can.
As the music starts, the Ruby Masquerade begins. The inside team mingles and sneaks away from the party to investigate what lies in store for the guests. The pond-tunnel team prepares to fly into action literally from down in the orchestra pit!
