An Unexpected Truth

cy 4850 Sepos 2nd - 5th

Amblay, Axe, Aravan, Darrogan and Graz Tak stare at the new skyline of the Hurlis ruins. A tower has sprouted from the rubble and casts doubts as to when they are…Axe knows the solution and leads the party back into the sewers. Before he commenced the last time-travelling excursion he deposited the Nadir greataxe in the crypt so that he could be sure what time they were in. Aravan searches each of the sarcophagi carefully. She realises that one of them has been recently inhabited…she, like her companions, fear vampires.

Once in the sewers they hear footsteps. Small groups of men scurrying around under the ruins. Amblay stretches out his telepathy and finds a Darim mind; a soldiers mind. Through his eyes he is able to see other Darim soldiers all wearing blindfold, each man with katana in hand. A small earthquake – one of many in the far south of Grayhawk – causes the Darim soldier to panic. He momentarily removes the blindfold and screams; "I have seen her!"

Axe cautiously leads them back into the crypt, to his relief he finds his greataxe under rubble and knows for certain they have returned to the present. Amblay feels the Darim’s mind die instantly, seconds later the minds of his unit die with him. The Marraq casts Improved Invisibility as Axe sneaks into the shadows to hunt the slayer of the Darims.

The dark tower penetrates the rubble and is grounded in the sewers. As Amblay approaches he senses powerful magic, the natural aura of the thing is overwhelming to his highly tuned senses. Without warning the tower vanishes leaving a twenty foot diameter hole that opens up the sewers to the light of a cloudless sky. Meanwhile Axe makes a grim discovery. He finds five dead Darim soldiers each with katana in hand and none of them seem to have put up much of a fight. He is trained in the arts of death and recognises instantly the work of brutal strength; four of them have broken necks but it is the fifth that concerns him most. A small puncture wound to the neck and the absence of any trace of blood is telling. He returns to his friends.

Amblay leads them all to the time-travelling well in search of answers. Instead he finds twenty severed Darim heads bobbing horrifically in the water. An echoey voice fills the dark tunnels of Hurlis. "I hate Darims!" It is a woman’s voice…the voice of the killer. "Seek out the slayer of my husband. I have put him in a cave by the remains of the west wall."

Amblay decides to rest and wait until daylight before searching for the man. The party discuss the possibilities as they wait for dawn. Is the woman the queen? Is the man imprisoned in the cave Julran?

As daylight floods the ruins the party make their way over to the west wall. Amblay searches out the mind and under his guidance Axe and Darrogan locate a frail white haired man…it is Julran. Amblay interrogates his peculiar mind and realises the talented old man has compartmentalised his mind into three parts to protect himself from the queen’s torture.

Julran admits to a deception fifty years earlier. He tells them that he Julran was the king and that Kular Rockspawn was in fact the chancellor. Furthermore he tells them that he is descended from the first king of the Tileans; such descendents of True Kings are rare on Grayhawk – these men are the closest representation of the true identity of their race. He explains:

"The deception was necessary because assassins were everywhere. I had long suspected that King Vir had designs on my kingdom but without help there was little I could do to avert a war. His chancellor (that awful Muziel) drove the king on to attack. My chancellor (the original Julran) began to take his role as king too seriously – I suspect he had been visited by Muziel who obviously implanted the idea that it might be better for all concerned if he killed me. That is why I strangled him. The doppelgangers were perfect…even the queen cannot bring herself to believe that I am (or was) her husband. She became one of Dathor’s puppets after the war and all the humanity in her faded. She cannot accept that I would deceive her in such a manner…you are here to confirm or deny what she fears…"

Amblay decides to cast fly on each of his companions. The spell duration is enough for almost two hours of flight, enough time to escape the clutches of the Daywalker queen. As they pass over the barren lands that once was the land of the Tileans they see the queen, her head in her hands she sobs uncontrollably. Before they can react Julran flies down to be with her.

Amblay draws the Darkbow as Aravan, Graz Tak and Darrogan descend to help Julran. Axe lurks in the shadows and tries to avoid the mesmerising eyes of the beautiful Daywalker.

Aravan and Darrogan lunge at the woman whose agility and strength surprise them all. With one hand she grabs Aravan by the scruff of the neck and Darrogan by the lapels of his tunic and lift them a couple of inches off the ground. Graz Tak knocks an arrow but hesitates for fear of hitting his friends. Amblay takes careful aim but his first shot goes wide. Aravan hefts the magical blade of menace and opens a large gap in her skull. The Daywalker squeals in pain as the wound burns with hidden fire. In anger she casts a Death Spell into the Elenorian warrior and the blade in her hand flares up brightly. Aravan breathes deeply as she survives the attack unharmed.

Graz Tak hesitates further, unable to chance a shot that may hit his companions. Axe sneaks ever closer to the Daywalker and lifts the longsword called Hellath above his head. She turns and jabs two fingers into his eyes, her face cannot hide her disappointment as the stoneskin saves Axe’s life. Amblay continues to shoot – and miss – with his Darkbow. Darrogan realises the Daywalker can only be hit by magical weapons so tries to grapple the woman instead. After two unsuccessful attempts the Daywalker casts a second Death Spell into Darrogan and he is slain instantly.

Aravan opens another wound in the Daywalker’s stomach and pain courses through her body, her eyes fade as her power seeps away. In desperation she lashes out but the robust stoneskin offers them immunity from her touch. Graz Tak finally launches an arrow, the head wrapped in cloth, soaked in oil and ablaze; it thunders into her chest and the wooden shaft cuts her vulnerable heart in two. She falls and dissolves into the earth.

Julran and the party head toward the lands of Kulland, where Jarik Saal (the lord of balance) led the Darklanders and what remained of the Sundered Isles to a new homeland. Though the Kullish realm his gone the thriving kingdom would be a good place for Julran to take stock and work out what he will do. A helpful patrol of Darim soldiers point out the best way to reach Kulland – a lonely mountain pass used by merchants – they head north on foot.

As the party camp for the night Axe goes in search of horses. Before long he comes upon a Darim fort, an outpost in the wilds garrisoned by nearly three hundred soldiers. Merchants and other travellers use the forts so Axe is not out of place amongst the Darims. A few other Nadir kinsmen are present but it is to the stables – via a gambling house – where he finds some decent horses.

A friendly sergeant sells him six excellent horses.

Next morning the party make better progress. Into the Kull Hills they come upon hundreds of hill men, a cross between Tilean and Darim stock. Wild and largely uncivilised the hill men are curious about the party and try to buy their horses for a few hundred copper pieces but eventually let them through toward the towering mountainous border of Kulland. During the journey they learn that Julran (or Kular as he was known) is actually one hundred and two years old. Despite his advanced years the man is hardy, he possesses an iron constitution that belies his age…