It has been nearly a year since I wrote an installment in Tallavanor’s Tales, and with the time allotted by summer break and a desire to get back into writing, I’ve taken the opportunity to compose some more of this tale. We’ve had quite the adventures in the past time, so summarizing it will be tricky, but hopefully I’ve done the last year’s events justice. (part 1 of 2, since it’s longer than I anticipated!)
Dearest cousin,
It’s certainly been a year since I last wrote. At first, events got away from me, but now, it is the simple truth that I’m not certain I trust the judgement of my leadership. Any communication I make to my superiors is likely monitored at best, or at worst, given to our enemy.
So what has happened? The worst, dear cousin, the worst. Out investigations have taken us far afield, and yet we end up back in Lorenzo. That sniveling city of pompous bureaucrats and effete nobles, always fawning over the latest luxury or socialite. If it weren’t for their navy and their pocketbooks I’d doubt the usefulness of any of them. Unfortunately, both of them are now firmly within the grasp of Count Magnus, who we believe is no longer fully mortal. We had known he was a vampire, but now we have solid evidence, brought to us by the visions of Albrecht and the evidence we uncovered within the mansion of one of Lorenzo’s most powerful socialites.
But let me start back at the beginning. When last I wrote with you, we had rescued some of the occupants of the temple within Apamea. Unfortunately, it seems we rescued the wrong people – the outward holy priestesses were secretly followers of the Black Goat, an evil deity committed to murder and deviancy. Naturally, It was only when the citizenry started stringing up the escaping priestesses on their own volition that we figured it out later. We made our escape from Apamea through a contact of the newly met Albrecht, a wizard of some renown in Mulhussen, a situation that would continue to plague us for many weeks after, including a late night deal with a burghermiester in the town council, an impeachment trial in town hall, and my eventual investiture as a special investigator and parole officer for the city of Mulhussen (along with a substantial payday, which was, to put it simply, well warranted for the current business chasing the clone of the once headmaster of the Wizard’s College around.)
Between chasing this lead and dealing with an explosion on the docks where a mysterious fog made from alchemical supplies killed people after we raided the Guild Hall, we were incredibly busy. But it was here that Maxwell, a stout, if inconsistent, companion since our earliest encounters in Mulhussen, turned traitor. Evidently, with the Zhentarim breathing down his neck for his actions about the boat where he stole the Annals of the Yellow King, he made a deal with them and, thorugh them, to Magnus. Turning on us late at night, in our own hotel, we barely managed to escape with out lives facing him and our turned former companion Gregario. How we survived I’m not certain. But with the inn in flames and Maxwell dead at the hands of Ibrahim, we fled through the streets of Mulhussen. We were saved only by the intervention of a group of knights from the far east, the Order of Taranbar, led by one Khusaru, a paladin of Paylor. A stout and terrifying fighter, but also an arrogant son-of-a-bum.
Recovering from this betrayal made us reassess our situation. We talked to a few contacts, allowed Albrect the opportunity to spy on, well, everyone. Eventually, our leads pointed to Lorenzo, where we encountered the true threat to the realm.
Upon arrival in Lorenzo, where the western powers were gathering their political leadership in conference to debate what to do about the slow progress of the eastern empire, I met up with some old friends. They were supposed to be guarding Baron Brightwater the younger, but instead had been left in town. The baron and his friends, including their host, a count named Ludovic, were staying outside of town. The baron should be protected at all times, especially with someone as dangerous as Count Magnus and his vampire coven floating about somewhere. But somehow this Ludovic had convinced the baron that he was perfectly fine at his place. I was instantly on guard – this behavior screamed manipulation to me, and my investigator senses told me that something was off about this whole situation.
Unfortunately, this person is also a close friend and ally of Baron Brightwater, the younger. In my pursuit of keeping the Baron safe, I became blinded to the risks around me. With his escort left in the city of Lorenzo, I fully believed that the Baron would be the target of some type of assassination efforts. I tried to convince him to return to the city, or at least bring his guards here to the countryside mansion, to limited avail. The house seemed to be full of revelers at all times, a hedonistic display that was a bit concerning for a war-time military gathering. Yet the actions of Ludovic were tinged with suspicious coincidences. The eastern philosophers similar to those that we had encountered in Apamea and other places, the large maze with a foreboding tower that was ‘off limits’ in a place where seemingly nothing was off limits.
Naturally, we investigated the maze on the grounds. At first, everything appeared fine, if creepy. Until we started finding the bodies. My…connection…with Amarenzu, the eastern spirit of the desecrated temple in Apamea, gave me warning about the things that lurked in the maze. Sure enough, we were attacked by the vampire spawn that we encountered in Apamea. They had been transported to his maze, a sure indication that Magnus was somewhere nearby, and somehow connected to the this Ludovic. Facing down against these spawn was tricky, even more so when the dandy’s guard attack us for being in the maze in the first place. Dealing with this…. distraction… proved more difficult than I would believe. Surely Ludovic had the money to pay for talented guards, but I held back, trying to limit our damage and negotiate our way out of this. Eventually we were left with no choice, and had to flee the manor.
That’s where we’ll end part one! In the meantime, if you want to learn a bit more about my steampunk novels in the world of the Steam Empire Chronicles, check out my Amazon page or check out my TTRPG materials at my DM’s Guild Page.
Modern Papyrus 