Burning it all down

 Sneaking past the amateur guardsman with Sweet Sunnivas help is easy but as a result she is left behind. All alone in “her room”. Most unfortunate. I really don’t like it when she paints herself into corners like this. She is more than capable but Ilike it when I can keep an eye out.  I could just incinerate that fool of a guard. No trace but ash and no one the wiser if they come looking. A neat pile swept under the carpet. Sure the building might go with him but who cares? Anybody working for the dowager cannot really be good can they? Pure of heart? I feel my insides slowly turning and as flames drip from my fingertips when my thoughts are rudely interrupted. Johanna presses on and ushers everybody into the Gosser family crypts. Dark and ghastly, faint smell of mold and death seeping in all around. Slowly we sneak inwards and downwards into the bowels of the crypt. The whole place has apparently been refurbished from Niske to Gosser. Could’ve done a better job though. More torches and colors wouldn’t have hurt. Uncanny to see the various plaques and statues blessing the dead.  Death aside, there is clearly something very foul here. I can feel it. Deep inside it me it tugs and grips my very soul. All around strong magical eddies form in the winds. This distinct feeling emanates from deeper down, below in the lower floors of the crypt. I sense it clearly. Dark magic. Dhar. Strong and powerful. It is unusually strong perhaps, embedded with much evil and chaos. The dowager baroness’ regular trips down here at night is clearly not to pay her respects to the dead but something else... Her involvement and culpability is now beyond any doubt. Something very foul is at play. 

Torgil hears voices down below in a stairwell and we send him in down, sneaking closer, to be able to see. Its the dowager. She is in a lower crypt conversing with someone or something! 

A huge, sleak and glistening yet hulking figure with leathery wings and a beak! Very unexpected this turn of events. I guess Torgil must have been a bit shocked or surprised at this because as he turns to convey this sight to us, he trips on himself and makes a frightful rattle with his quiver of arrows. 

Clearly, the element of surprise is gone. A strong surging wave of Dhar clash down on me. Startled I push and we quickly rush down the stairs and come to his aide! With swords drawn, guns, and bows at the ready we pour into the lower chambers. I quickly start channeling forth the searing winds.  

The dowager is indeed a ghastly sight. Twisted, contorted and severely mutated. But this is not what catches our eye the most. For terror instantly grips all of us. The realization that she is standing alongside a Greater demon Prince of Tzeentch (!) is simply too much. Feelings of immense despair and fear of death oozes from him and fills the chamber like thick wet smoke. These immensely powerful and monstrous beings can lay waste and destroy even the best prepared. Here we are rushing in without our best armor without any preparation. I wish I sooner would have harnessed the winds to give us all the fiery courage of Aqshy.  

Losing the element of surprise and becoming a bit surprised ourselves becomes painfully evident as both Johan and Victor are suddenly gripped by intense fear and contemplate both retreat and unconditional surrender. They turn deathly pale with hands trembling for a second or so… 

We seemingly hesitate until Johanna suddenly cries out and interrupts the silence by blasting her guns, landing two rounds squarely into the dowager. They hit hard and deep. One to the head and one in the chest. She falls to the ground at once with a sickly thud. Arrows fly. I harness a scorching torrent of the wind to imbue us all with more unity and courage but it is easily pushed down by a dark powerful force and utterly quenched! Dispelled by the demon prince! He is very powerful. Perhaps even a match for me in the arts of magic. With my hands smoking, hair on fire and shucking off sparks from my robe I cannot do much else but start channeling again. We hit him hard on the battlefield however. He effortlessly soaks up the damage but I see that he is slowly diminished and a little reduced by each blow of the sword and each piercing arrow and bullet. I sense the Dhar in him weakening al little. 

Whilst laughing maniacally a hideous purple electrical jolt flies through several of us and the pain is excruciating and severe. Nauseated by corrupted magic, flesh sizzling in places and mere inches from death, both Johanna and I hang on by our fingernails. 

We manage to inflict a couple more hard blows and there is some oozing now from his wounds. It bleeds! If it bleeds it can die... We regain a little hope to defeat this thing yet. 

Sensing that he is preparing another horrible spell, I quickly harness all my Aqshy power, and with a decisive maneuver swirl it together into a single fireball-like counteractive blow. This spectacular counter spell successfully stops his next action. The air is thick, sticky and pungent with the sense of death. The smoke is sharp and the smell stings our mouths and nostrils and waters our eyes. I know not precisely what evil incantation this was but I know it would have been disastrous. The measure drains me but I press on. 

More bullets rain from Johanna and this time they sink in deep and he winces somewhat. 

He casts forth a new spell. Unable to counter it this time, we are all affected. Like a dream, we are drawn into an alternate reality where our deepest desire is tempted. I am told later that Johanna could save her son. I am given ultimate power if a pick up the dead wizards’ crown. Torgil could have become an elf. Johan is offered the keys to the city as guild master and de facto crimeboss of Salzenmund. Victor could have justice served at last. 

It seems like several minutes pass but in reality it must not have been nothing more than a mere half second. 

We all resist the temptation and the severe backlash to the minds ensue.  An awful pain and gut-wrenching damage to the very soul floods over us. It could be all over for both Johanna and me, our bodies too weak and too damaged to endure this foul magic. But Fate it seems, fortunately had other plans, and somehow we are miraculously unscathed.   

In the next moment, in one last horrendous barrage of blows where Victor, Johan and then finally Johanna again, all do solid damage the demon starts roaring and dissolving. As he implodes he is drawn into a magical vortex that rips open right in front of us. Drawn back probably to the evil place whence he came. He is defeated. 

Foul magic and insidious corruption fills the room as pure unhindered Dhar radiates strongly to all near. When it is all over, we are spared any mutations but our souls are grossly stained. 

Dowager is dead. The Demon prince is gone. It all happened so quickly. We heal up with potions and my magic and bind our wounds. Searching the dowager, we retrieve some trinkets from her body and an amulet seemingly seething from dark magic. 

There is another path here, going up. It leads to her tower. We enter a very private and perhaps unknown room. It is clearly shielded from the surrounding world. A room where no servants or guardsman is given access. I doubt even her son knows of this place. The place is filled with papers and arcane books and artifacts. 

The one other door to the room is thoroughly locked from this side. Debating quickly if to retrieve sweet Sunniva we decide to wait and pour over the findings for the next several hours. 

Oh, the things we discover. 

In short, the Dowager was the dark master. Fierce was her hate towards the priests of Morr. She was searching for the lost books of Nagash and the secret library. Like manty before her she wanted eternal life.  

She was the one who made the potions that made the revenant “vampires”. She tried to get the chalice but by mistake released Hierkeit instead. Initially this seemed like a nice diversion but secretly she hated it more and more. Hierkeit was and is a disturbance. 

Chalice was probably stolen by lich-wizard Hellsnicht. They both seem to think that the chalice somehow is connected to the library. The revenants she created answered to both her and him and this is why she suspects that he stole it. 

When she discovered the prophecy of the Valkia cult she initially used it as a diversion. We took the bait and squashed it. But Wulfrich realized this and as he sensed her through her powerful Tzeentch magic connection he believes that she is responsible for foiling the prophecy. This is probably why and how he managed to amass such forces of chaos to march south. This in why he is coming to Salzenmund.  He is coming not only to lay waste to the city but to kill the dowager. 

The dowager felt it when we destroyed the books and she hated us for it. She wanted us dead. She came to kill us when she killed the astromancers that night. 

Her son, von Gosser, is a mere tool. He is a means to an end and simply a useful idiot. She does not fear him but she is wary of his son who seems to be imbued with more intelligence. 

Uri, her trusted wizard, is a powerful cult member. Not to be trifled with. 

She dabbled directly with the demon prince and thus with Tzeentch but was not given eternal life. She was instead given great magic and became a powerful wizard but was full of mutations as a result. She was secretly disposing of other wizards and was glad to be rid of the silly Astromancers. 

This new revelations shatter our perception of the world. With this information we could reshape the future in this region if we play our cards right,  

We have to expose the dowager for what she was. We have to eliminate Hierkeit. We can topple the ruler or cement his position 

Debating the best course of action, we choose to support von Gosser. It is less controversial . This way there is no regime change. We can get Uri and Hierkeit in one blow. 

We fetch Sunniva by enthralling the idiot guard. Sweet Sunniva is among us again. She is of course shocked at the news. She then goes through a series of emotions from angry, for not being involved sooner and sad for us being in danger without her there to help. She finally turns happy that all went well and that we are alive. 

Our plan is simple now. We must tell Von Gosser what we know and nudge him in the right direction. 

We call for Von Gosser and summon him to the tower. 

Showing up in his undergarments, he is severely shocked and genuinely surprised to see us. Sweet Sunniva puts him at ease and manages to convince him to listen to what we are about to tell him. We explain slowly. Checking each nuance in his face to see his level of involvement. He seems innocent and unknowing. We show him all. 

We tell him about his corrupted and mutated mother. We show him papers and scribbles from her room proving her involvement. We show him her body.

We tell him the real story behind the of the death of the Astromancers. 

We tell him of Uri and his involvement in all of this.

We tell him about Hierkeit and her true form

We tell him about the secret library and of the books of Nagash and their destruction. 

We tell him of the demon prince of Tzeentch. 

We tell him about the reason Wulfrich is coming. 

We tell him of the chaos that is about to ensue when the elite soldiers in the catacombs launch their attack form within the city. 

We tell him that we are on his side that this is not a ruse, some twisted form of blackmail or a trick. 

We have no ulterior motive. 

We tell him we don’t want money or titles but we want to be exonerated, bounties lifted and that we simply want to help him do the right thing for Salzenmund and for Norden. 

He is quite pale and falls silent for a moment. It is really a lot to take in. 

The leader in him shines through thogh and he starts to ponder. Sharing his thoughts with us,  a Plan forms. 

Johanna is at once reinstated as WH general. 

The truth surrounding the death of his mother and the delicate details and circumstances are best kept quiet. We agree to control the narrative and say that she died in her sleep and that Uri will be blamed for everything. He is to be the real mastermind and the von Gossers fell victim to his foul plans. 

With this in place, We issue a order to get Uri quickly arrested. An hour later he is bound, beaten and gagged awaiting public burning. The world will know he was the mastermind behind a plot to overthrow the elector count and give the city to the enemy. 

We simultaneously summon Hierkeit to the palace. Upon her arrival she is surprised by awaiting riflemen and blasted to bits by over 40 guns. Johanna then swiftly beheads her and I promptly produce a fitting burning pyre of Aqshy.

Wulfrich it seems could sense the demise of dowager and swiftly retreats North.  

Order is restored! 

But there is much work to be done and the elector count needs friends he can trust on his advisory board. 

Sweet Sunniva becomes a noble with all titles and the trusted advisor of the elector count himself. What other favors she gives I hope she doesn’t tell me as it might cause stuff to ignite in the grand halls. 

Johan is awarded the post of mayor of Salzenmund and then effectively has control of the city. 

Johanna and Victor return to the WH headquarters and continue to chase down chaos where it can be found

Torgil brokers a deal with the elves and concessions are made by the elector count whereupon landis returned to the elves and the Laurelorn forest. He is given access to the forest and reunites with his father. 

I… Well… I get the old Astroclowns tower. It is a dump. The land is good though and the structure of the tower is quite sturdy. Fine architect as I recall. First order is melting down the trinkets on top, shaping them into a metal chimney of sorts. Smoke now billows out beautifully for all to see. Next I conjure up several near everlasting fires that surround the walls. A nice, warm and red-orange atmosphere encapsulates it, casting dancing shadows in the evenings and throughout the nights.  After some additional refurbishing (that involves a lot of burning of horrid blue tapestries, weird furniture and lame trinkets) and a tremendous deal of red paint it looks quite respectable actually. 

I think even my old master in Altdorf would agree. I should invite him.  At least it is good enough to host and hold the northernmost and most powerful Bright wizard guild in the empire!  

I will have no problem having a fire burning for whatever the future holds.