Hammer 20, 1489
Dre'zel my love,
With Naerth waiting at the bottom of the stairs, surrounded by his guards—some clearly frightened and others frost-bitten and staring blankly—it was clear that Skath had led us into a trap.
Two balistas were aimed at the stairs, which I leaped off of and onto the ceiling while drawing my shortbow—a better weapon for these enclosed quarters—and knocked an arrow. Knowing that this could be my last chance to put an end to the Pagophil, the ghost who had possessed me and many others, I called upon Mielikki, as I had done when facing the chardalyn dragon, to enchant my weapon. Then everything seemed to happen all at once.
As the balistas shot, one tearing into me, a web from Taimen’s wand burst over some of the guards.
As JoJo leaped ahead to engage Naerth, some of the guards turned to flee, but Naerth waved his arms and they froze in place, literally.
Nazareth summoned snow golems, and two Coldlight Walkers climbed out of a frozen well. From the corner of my eye, I recognized one as Keegan.
As a saber-toothed tiger, Rowan engaged the snow golems.
Suppressing the pain from the balista bolt, I loosed my arrows as fast as I could, targeting Naerth whenever possible, who Misty Stepped around the cellar turned dungeon, flinging ice daggers and JoJo and Taimen. The dragonborn was engaged with Skath, who had pushed her down from the top of the stairs.
Then JoJo struck Naerth down, carefully pulling back to avoid cleaving the Zhent in two, and Pagophil emerged. Seizing the opportunity, I uttered, “Draeval ulu k'lararl saph xar'zith pholor chath, pagophil. Gulu'da nindol phreng nau mzild lueth yutsu ulu lil' delmah d'lil frostmaiden vel'klar nixm'io ulnin thalra dos,” as I struck the ghost, expelling it from this plane.
The remaining enemies, led by Skath, or their ties to Auril, continued to fight. Talyth was struck by a balista, the guards calling her “defiler” and claiming, “You don't know what you risk awakening!”
Skath, frustrated by his failed attempts to pierce Taimen’s new armor, dove into the frozen well, presumably in some failed attempt to raise another coldlight walker, but drowned. Ambrose cast Gentle Repose on his body to prevent its raising.
Once our remaining enemies were slain, Taimen laid hands on Naerth, who looked remorsefully into Taimen’s eyes, claiming he was forced into the killing and sacrifices by the ghost. He said most of the city guards went along with the murders, with any objectors imprisoned. He promised to have the dungeons cleared and put an end to the sacrifices, wanting nothing to do with Auril. He admitted to being a member of the Zhentarim, clearly unaware that this was already known to us.
I asked Sssusssannah to fly to Cora and inform her of our success, not wanting her to worry about us.
We brought Naerth to the town hall, where he publicly resigned as speaker and nominated Ma to replace him. He indicated his intention of eventually returning to the south, given the opportunity. Accepting the position, Ma ordered the arrest of the remaining Aurilite guards. She promised Talyth that she would ensure they were treated justly, based on their involvement in the sacrifices.
We returned to the shrine Pagophil had created in the back of the dungeon cellar so Talyth could attempt to commune with Auril and consecrate the area. As did the rest of our companions, I was concerned for Talyth, but more than ever before, I was confident that she could handle any challenge she encountered in her endeavor.
As she touched the frozen altar, she seemed to freeze herself. But she lived, and I believe she was communing. All we could do was wait, which we did for what seemed like a long time. Then, before I could stop him, JoJo touched Talyth's shoulder, and she woke. The altar and the surrounding corpses shattered, and the icy magical energy that had engulfed the place quickly dissipated.
Talyth was very tired, and Rowan, in bear form, carried her back to Ma’s tavern, where we would all join them to rest for the night.
Despondent, Talyth secluded herself in a Tiny Hut while the others rested about the room.
Grateful citizens approached JoJo and rewarded him with a collection of 1,200 gold coins for saving the town. True to form, JoJo asked them to help the people of Easthaven, if possible.
While my companions rested, I slipped out into the night and returned to Naerth’s room at the Luskan Arms Inn, where I easily flipped the latch of a closed window and entered without attracting any attention. Naerth was sprawled over his bed, passed out from the toll the many days Pagophil’s possession had taken on him.
I quickly moved to the cage, eager to offer the flying snakes their freedom. But all I found in the cage were the corpses of two deceased flying snakes, one red and one yellow. Examining the cage further, I saw the carcasses were emaciated, and there were no eggs. Saddened by the discovery of more victims of Pagophil’s cruelty, I looked around the room. Naerth's desk was strewn with papers. Looking through them, I could decipher various correspondence, all more than week old, with Naerth’s contacts throughout Ten Towns, including August in Termalaine, Prudence in Easthaven, and approximately ten other agents scattered throughout the Dale, including a man named Shandar in Good Mead who was apparently being blackmailed by the Zhentarim and forced to make a play for the speakership. Besides the political scheming and the discussion of possible Harper agents in the area—chief among them a woman in Bryn Shander named Beldora and none other than Soupmeister Steve—most of his efforts seem to be focused on encouraging the other towns to purchase fish from Targos as opposed to other competing towns. Determined to examine the missives in more detail later, I carefully gathered the papers, quietly placing them in my cold-weather gear-lined sack.
Beneath the desk was a small chest, locked and bolted to the floor. Glancing around, I did not see any keys lying about.
I searched through the desk drawers, the clothing hanging on the hooks by the door, under the cage, under the rug, and on Naerth's person, careful not to risk waking him. I did not find any keys, but found a small satchel of gold containing 11 gold coins and a set of thieves’ tools. Examining the tools, I found them to be far more robust and masterfully crafted than most I had seen. Pocketing the tools, I left the coin, not wanting to take the former speaker’s traveling money.
I made my way to the window, and after glancing into the night to ensure the dark was free of spying eyes, I had a last-minute change of heart and turned back around. Unpacking the newly acquired tools, I decided to put them to use and examined the chest for traps. Using the masterfully crafted tools, I bypassed the poisoned needle and cracked the lock.
Inside, I found a scroll lying atop a pile of gold coins, all stamped with the now familiar Zhentarim mark. Glancing at the scroll, I recognized the spell it contained and added it, along with the 218 gold coins, to my sack.
After running my hands around the emptied chest and tapping the bottom a few times, I found no hint of traps or a false bottom.
As stealthily as I had entered, I climbed out of the window and onto the roof, where I planned to look around one last time for the third snake, hoping it might return before I left.
Instead, I found the black snake’s corpse on the roof just above the window, where it undoubtedly waited in vain for the window to open. It had a letter tied to it with a leather thong. Unrolling the letter, I found that it was unsigned. Its author expressed frustration over the whereabouts of Speaker Crannoc Siever, once seen as a prime target for a Zhentarim blackmail campaign, now sequestered behind the castle walls of Caer-Dineval after inviting in a group known as the Knights of the Black Sword. The author planned to infiltrate the group to learn more of the speaker’s fate.
Adding the letter to the sack, I said a quick prayer to Mielikki to honor the loyal beast, and returned to Ma’s inn.
In the morning, I gave Talyth the scroll, suggesting that after our previous conversation, she could use it more than anyone.
After gathering our things, we met with Ma, who asked us to pursue the peace treaty with the goblins of Karkolohk, suggesting that they would be able to trade with Targos. She said she had heard their chief Yarb-Gnock was an amalgamation of flesh and steel. I wondered if their chief could be the Shield Guardian itself?
It was still early when we departed from Targos, and we traveled swiftly to Karkolohk, pushing ourselves to arrive later that same day without incident.
My companions seemed to be far more optimistic than I was that we could broker any lasting peace treaty with a tribe of goblins. Even if we could come to an amicable agreement with the conniving little creatures, I have every confidence that it is only a matter of time before they revert to their true nature. On the other hand, I had witnessed Taimen parley with an ancient white dragon and negotiate productive work arrangements with a band of kobolds. I would put aside my skepticism.
Karkolohk was worked into the spur of a mountain slope near the westernmost peaks of the Spine of the World. Situated at the top of a hill, I could see goblin eyes upon us from the advantageous lookout posts. Yet we faced no resistance until we reached the entrance and produced the note Speaker Shane had given us.
We were then led deeper into Karkolohk, which was a surprisingly well-protected and organized fortress. Hanging in the middle of what appeared to be a main hall of the fortress was what must be the shield guardian, dangling from multiple ropes like a giant marionette on display.
As everyone’s attention was drawn to the chief’s arrival, I slunk into the shadows, where I would bide my time and wait for the time to strike should things go wrong.
From the shadows, it was clear that Chief Yarb-Gnock was no goblin at all, but a rock gnome in a metal suit. As Taimen was attempting to parley with the chief, JoJo, as should be expected, burted out more than he should have, revealing that Yarb-Gnock’s disguise had been penetrated, potentially hindering negotiations! I swear I could see Taimen’s tentacle flex from where she had hidden it under her robes, no doubt reflexively wanting to lash out at the naive barbarian. He would indeed receive a verbal lashing from the dragonborn, and as he explained, would somehow find the merit in its giving. From the shadows of the upper corners of the hall, not far from the construct’s pulleys, I smirked as I shifted my aim from target to target.
At the chief’s anxious order, the goblins then vacated the chamber, leaving us alone with him. Removing his metal suit, he revealed himself to be Spellix Romwood, a gnome mercenary captured by goblins five years ago. He explained how he was able to escape imprisonment and subvert the tribe through chicanery.
But now it seemed subterfuge had backfired, and he had grown to despise the goblins even as he ruled over them. His entreaty for peace was nothing more than further skulduggery, and all he sought was an escape from his self-imposed prison, with no regard to the ramifications for the goblins themselves.
Spellix offered an egg-shaped chest that he said had fallen from the sky. Indeed, it resembled the gear we had seen in the nautiloid. He had no idea how to open it, as there was no lock to be picked.
As my companions debated the best course of action, I plotted the most efficient way to eradicate the goblins as they entered, should that course become a necessity. I also contemplated how the Shield Guardian could be released from its ornamental station with minimal damage.
Then the familiar face of Twig appeared, and the problem was quickly solved. JoJo would give him his Hat of Disguise so he could pose Yarb-Gnock and rule over Karkolohk while abiding by the proposed peace treaty.
He agreed to give us the Shield Guardian. Now all we need to do is figure out how to activate it and get it out of the fortress along with Spellix. The latter should not be an issue, but the Shield Guardian would not fit in our Bag of Holding.
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