Cy 4850 Juniand 20^th to 24^th

As another warm summers day begins at Chateau Malethrax two more visitors join the party. One is a Myrid called Zavien Scurge, an assassin from the north. The second is an elf, a Muhaki sorcerer called Fray Sool. Malethrax greets them both warmly.

Just after breakfast Malethrax’s hawk, Breeze, spots a lone rider approach the chateau. The thooligans, who are working in the fields, can smell the stench from the scraggy-faced man. Danat Peres is the first to greet him; the man is called Rell, a Talik mercenary captain from the south who asks to speak to the owner. Soon Malethrax greets the stranger (with an ESP running) and offers food and lodgings and – most importantly – a place to bathe.

Rell tells them that he is in the area because of the trouble in the borderlands. "Wars are good for business," he tells them. "I am looking to put together some men and sell their services to the highest bidder." It is an idea that inspires Malethrax – always on the lookout for a business opportunity – and the two men make plans to travel to Dros Goran to find mercenaries for Rell to train. The mercenary captain tells the party that he has been fighting (as a mercenary of course) in the employment of Illeum Runesabre, whose forces are locked in a civil war with the forces of Korven the sorcerer.

Meanwhile Fray Sool casts Find Familiar on a barn owl. The bird is charmed by the spell and the Muhaki sends it forth to scout the chateau and grounds.

The next morning Malethrax, accompanied by Rell and Zavien, head for Dros Goran. On the way Malethrax sees something that disturbs him. A farmer and cart are laden with equipment…it is clear that the man has abandoned his home and heads for the city walls and safety. "You would do well to pack up and leave," the farmer tells the Menelothian, "the soldiers are building a barrier to repel the hordes of the god’s army. All my neighbours have fled. You don’t want to be in the open when the Rosens come."

Dros Goran is crowded. Soldiers are everywhere. Gone now is the pretence of quiet mobilization for every able-bodied man and woman is being enlisted into the service of Drenai. Rell leads Malethrax and Zavien into the more dangerous parts of the city – a place where he hopes to find a band of reasonable mercenaries. Zavien senses soft footfalls behind him. His keen hearing and attuned perception spot a hidden follower. A spy? An assassin? He lags behind the two taller men and instinctively Malethrax and Rell know what he is doing.

Zavien waits until he is in shadow before leaping acrobatically backwards onto a ledge ten feet above the street. There he waits for the inevitable sneak to pass him. When the tracker passes him Zavien Scurge leaps down behind him, knife in hand. The sneak spins quickly and flashes steel at the young killer. Zavien dodges and turns to flee…only to slip on the cobbles! He awaits the death blow…

Malethrax glides across the distance, his deadly katana is like a gust of wind as it leaves the scabbard. He reaches the sneak in a heartbeat and splits his skull in two with a blurred strike. Such is the force of the blow that he drives the steel deep into the dead man’s chest cavity and as he sheathes it the street is silent once more.

"For a sorcerer you have an astonishing skill with a blade," Rell adds. The mercenary had not even drawn his blade halfway from the scabbard before the fight was over. Malethrax just grins and the three men enter a tavern. Zavien rapidly searches the man and hands Malethrax a scroll case, which he secretes for later.

Rell goes about his business efficiently in the tavern. He gathers many mercenaries about him promising them wealth and fame if they gather in the courtyard at first light.

In their room at the Wallside Tavern Malethrax examines the scroll case and is shocked to see a wanted poster with his name on! The reward is one thousand pieces of gold alive and was issued by the local magistrate Stormil. He is a little aggrieved by the low price.

Next morning Rell, Malethrax and Zavien are pleased to see one hundred prospective mercenaries ready for the short journey to Chateau Malethrax. The leave immediately.

The mercenaries are set tasks by Rell to rebuild the outer barn, construct barracks, practise ranges and generally help to build themselves a place to train. By early evening the distinctive sound of a hundred horses canter down the lane towards them. An elite band of Drenai cavalrymen stop at the chateau and their leader, a lieutenant called Akromar, speaks to Malethrax.

He warns them that by staying they risk being swamped by the forces of the god king. "The Rosens have specialists in the area; dark scouts up to no good. There have been rumours of sorcery also." The lieutenant then goes on to enquire about Drusor Luckwarden and the party sense a hidden agenda. There is clearly no love lost between the two men and when it becomes clear to him that he will get no confessions of wrongdoing from them he turns and leaves.

The next morning an old friend wanders into the chateau. Drusor Luckwarden is alone; after sharing pleasantries (and a couple of glasses of wine) with Malethrax he turns his attention to the mercenary captain. Malethrax casts ESP and listens intently to the conversation. There is a grudging respect from both men but it is not clear how well they know each other.

When Drusor leaves Rell tells the party that his great grandfather – a mercenary captain like him – fought against a great warrior called Drusor…he speculates that if that was the same man he would be nearly two hundred years old. "He might be a half elf," Fray Sool suggests. The party return to training.

The next visitor arrives that evening, just as the sun sets. A small one-eyed Rosen man called Nethar greets the party and asks to pray at the shrine. Malethrax, Hujal and Fray can sense a strong sorcerer. In the distance a storm can be heard trundling over the Lanik Range as it heads straight for them. Hujal remains close to the strange man as he prays. His interest in Malakar tweaked recently since his involvement with the priest Nyrond. He is shocked to see Nethar cutting his forearms and letting the blood trickle onto the shrine. Hujal rushes to the man’s aid as he topples over but the sorcerer stares at him directly and hisses; "Use the dagger." It can only refer to the dreaded Dagger of Asgar.

Nethar departs quickly then. Hujal is the first to sense the growing power within the shrine…his companions gather to see a small globe of pure blackness at the centre of the shrine. Worse it begins to expand slowly! The sorcerers sense an enormous power as the fabric of Grayhawk is been torn before them! Hujal tries to Identify the growing darkness but the power is so great he is catapulted fifteen feet back against the wall. The storm is now fully upon the chateau. Lightning bolts shower down upon them as the globe continues to grow.

When it stops expanding it measures ten feet in diameter and totally obscures what was the shrine to Malakar. Malethrax and the party hold a conference and the Menelothian slips his hand into the dark globe before anyone can complain. He withdraws it full of ice. The decision to enter is made quickly after that and Malethrax and Zavien volunteer to be roped together.

Once inside it becomes clear that the globe is a portal. It is a dark cylinder, roughly ten feet diameter, and the two men edge into it cautiously. The exit twenty feet further on…into a colossal stone cathedral.

Walls a thousand feet high and doors a hundred feet across dwarf them. In the very centre of the room is a raised platform with a globe identical to the one inside Chateau Malethrax. Through openings two hundred feet up they can see the storm. Malethrax wonders whether this place is Rosengrad – the god king’s capital. As Zavien scales the walls Malethrax Levitates to a portal and the two men witness a breathtaking scene. In a courtyard surrounded by huge walls are hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Ranks and ranks of them. Then they hear the voice of Malakar – the god king addresses his troops from above.

"We must go," Malethrax says, his face white. "And we must hide."

Back through the portal they drag provisions and all the mercenaries, thooligans and anyone else into the tunnels Nyrond built before his death. As a precaution Malethrax sends Breeze up into the air to witness the events, the Menelothian studies the scene through his familiar’s eyes carefully.

Above them a muffled chaos erupts. From the hawk’s eyes Malethrax sees the shrine and surrounding building collapse as winged creatures – as large as a vulture – soar into the air. To his dismay there are twenty more such outpourings from the surrounding area. Next come the soldiers. Like thunder above them the party hear many thousands of boots overhead as the ranks of the Rosen army form above them. Rell silences his newly formed band. Some of the less experienced soldiers want to flee.

"If they discover us we are all dead," he says solemnly…

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