Dungeons and Dragons and 1D - PART 16

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for being late once more. I have finally moved to my new flat, though all my things are still in boxes, at least until I have a place to put them. Anyway, I wanted this part to be as good as possible, since it contains a lot of plot crucial items. The pace is picking up, as you will be able to tell by the end of the chapter. Enjoy.

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Flamerule, 16th

For the first time in months, Liam didn't insist on keeping watch. He felt comfortable, safe and it wasn't the divine aura of protection permeating the shrine of Kelemvor that made him feel that way.

No, the warrior was calm due to sir Cowell's proximity. Although the knight was nothing more than a spirit now, the mere notion of him being close was enough. The bond between the two, that was severed with the paladin's death, has now been reestablished. It brought back memories of countless nights spent camping under the open sky during many of sir Cowell's missions that they undertook together.

Days, tendays, months... years of training, learning and questing, all under the watchful eye of the caring knight. Liam once again felt like the little boy that was let into this new world of opportunities. He once again felt the joy of adventuring. He once more felt the reason for helping the weak and protecting the innocent.

He felt at home.

And yet...

There was something at the back of Payno's mind, like a shadow of a thought or a faint whisper. Ever-present, but at the same time elusive... hidden and unidentified. It kind of resembled the ominous presence he sensed back at Elisandre's, but slightly stronger, seemingly closer.

All was quiet when Liam woke up, except for an occasional grunt from Niall. The blond was a bit restless, tugging on his blanket, but still deep asleep. Louis was sitting silently in the corner of the chamber lost in thought, as Harry meditated with his back against the altar.

„Did you get any sleep at all, Lou?” the warrior asked, sitting up.

„Oh, you're awake. Yeah... yeah, surprisingly.” the rogue nodded with a shy smile. „Given we're in an underground mausoleum, surrounded by corpses, I'd say I slept remarkably well.”

„What's up with Nialler?” Liam gestured towards the bard, who was fidgeting in his sleep, tangling himself in his duvet more and more.

„He's been like that throughout most of the night.” Harry responded suddenly, finishing his meditation. „And I don't blame him. You sensed it too, didn't you?”

The companions looked at each other solemnly. A silent nod was enough to confirm that indeed they all felt something dark lurking about.

„It seems like Tymora is trying to communicate with the young one.”

The three men turned, noticing sir Cowell's spirit entering the shrine.

„What do you mean?” Hazza asked, as he stood up and aproached the sleeping blond.

„You all felt it in your dreams. The growing darkness.” the ghost replied quietly. „The goddess of fortune wants to bestow her disciple with further knowledge, but... he doesn't accept himself as her cleric.”

„Maybe you can tell us more about it then, sir Cowell.” Liam said with a grim expression. „What is it, that we all felt?”

„A threat.”

„Any chance you could elaborate?” Tommo sighed in annoyance.

„It is still far and hidden... out of sight even for Kelemvor...”

„Well, do you at least know if it's a threat to Neverwinter, sir? Or us?” Payno inquired.

„I cannot tell for certain...” the spirit replied, slowly fading away. „But it does seem like everything that's happening along the Sword Coast is turning around it. Drawn to it.”

The companions stood there in silence for a moment, contemplating sir Cowell's words.

„We should get going.” Liam exclaimed firmly, kneeling by Nialler. „Niall... Niall, wake up.”

The blond opened his eyes wide in fear. He looked around, slowly taking in his surroundings before sighing in relief.

„You okay?”

The bard simply nodded.

„Get yourself ready, we need to get going.”

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After a walk back down the corridor and up a long series of stairs, the adventurers arrived at large copper doors.

„Okay, lads. This goes out to the main courtyard. The stairs up lead to the palace Throne Room and the Royal Quarters. The path down – to the citadel gates.” Liam explained, as the others listened intently. „What we want to do, is get to the other side of the garden and past the castle barracks into the Chambers of the Nine.”

„What kind of resistance can we expect?” Niall asked sternly.

„I won't be lying to you, it's gunna be hard.” Payno sighed heavily. „The troops that reside in the barracks here are no mere foot soldiers. Knights inhabit the palace grounds and even further in the grounds is the headquarters of the Paladin Order. Not to mention the Royal Guard frequently patrol the perimiter.”

„Those spellstones you use would be great about now, Haz.” Louis added, turning to the wizard.

„Unfortunetely, I used them all up during our recent adventures.” the elf exclaimed sadly. „It's gonna take time for me to craft a new batch.”

„Time I don't think we have.” Liam continued, looking at sir Cowell's ring on his finger. „I get a feeling something bad is brewing around.”

„Well, I can always try and charm any soldiers we encounter with one of my songs.” Niall pointed out.

The warrior shook his head.

„The entire castle has many protective spells and wards in place, rendering a lot of magical abilities useless. I'm not sure your enchanted lute would retain its mind control powers.”

The blond dropped his head in disappointment.

„Sitting here and deliberating won't do us any good.” Tommo said with a smug grin. „If you're all ready, I think it's high time to sneak into a former knight's sleeping chamber.”

Without further ado, Liam pushed the copper doors open and the companions entered the palace grounds.



Surprisingly, the courtyard was very peaceful and devoid of people. Most peculiarly, there were only a few guards on duty. Even so, the adventurers treaded carefully, hiding behind thick bushes and marble pillars to avoid being seen. The lack of troops in the castle grounds made their job relatively easy, though it troubled Payno greatly. If the heart of the kingdom was so poorly protected, then times for Neverwinter were dire indeed.

As much as they knew they had a task at hand, Harry and Niall couldn't help but admire the beautiful flower beds and elaborate plant arrangements. Add the awe-inspiring architecture and one could easily see, why Neverwinter was called the Jewel of the North.

Before they could pass another hedge of rose bushes, Louis gestured for them to stop and be silent. Further down the path, partially obscured by a dragon-shaped shrub, a purple robed man was standing, seemingly talking to himself.

„_{... is almost ready on my part. You should prepare yourself as well, so we can make our move when the time comes.}”

„What's that in his hand?” Niall asked in a whispering voice, poiting to a barely visible glass orb the mysterious male was holding.

„I'm not exactly sure...” Harry replied quietly. „But from what I gather, it's some sort of a speaking stone. Wizards use them to communicate with one another.”

„_{... no, I will notify the general myself. You take care of creating and maintaining the connection to... wait. Someone's coming.}”

The man hastily put the crystal ball in the long sleeve of his violet robe and turned towards the figure casually approaching from the other side of the garden. The other male was wearing a similarly looking dress and had a golden chain around his neck with both the emblem of Neverwinter and the holy symbol of Tyr attached to it. The companions recognised him immedietely.

„Ah, Lord Baras! Just the person I wanted to see.” the mysterius male exclaimed.

„Greetings, sir. How may I be of service to you this fine morning?” the bailiff replied, shaking the man's hand.

„I wish I could say the same, but every day that criminal walks around freely is a day wasted, Lord Baras. His mocking of Tyr's holy justice is a horrendous blasphemy and cannot be tolerated any longer. I shouldn't have to remind you, that you were personally charged with capturing the murderer Payne and you WILL be held accountable, if he doesn't pay for his crimes soon, Lord Baras!”

„But what can I do, sir? I've already sent dozens of troops to scour the countryside, patrols are working day and night to find him.”

„Fortunetely, the High Council sees your predicament and wishes to help you. More soldiers should be deployed in search of this dangerous criminal.”

„More?” the magister said shocked. „Sir, we've already enlisted every footsoldier in the barracks, every mercenary in the city. We even called upon the help of the wizards' guild and sent several of our best knights to assist.”

„What about the Paladin Order and the Nine? I'm sure they should be desperate to bring justice to the person who killed one of their own.”

„Sir Belvedere strongly objects to using the Nine of Neverwinter as hounds for tracking down a single wrongdoer.” Lord Baras exclaimed. „He claims the forces we have should be more than sufficient for our needs.”

„Then perhaps you should remind him of his failure to apprehand the traitorous Payne. This alone should be proof enough, that the Nine need to take action.”

„I... I will bring this to the attention of the king.” the bailiff said with a sigh.

„I hope you will. For the sake of Neverwinter... and your own. You are dismissed, Lord Baras.”

The two men parted ways. Lord Baras turned back towards the Throne Room, while the mysterious male disappeared behind a hedgemaze, heading to a nearby building complex.

„What was that all about?” Louis asked, when the coast was clear.

„No idea...” Liam replied, urging the others to press on. „But as far as I can tell, something bad is heading our way and we're running out of time.”



Getting into the Chambers of the Nine was a bit more tricky. Although the place was just as unguarded as the rest of the palace, it was hard not raising an alarm with all the servants scurrying about their daily chores. At one point, the adventurers thought they saw sir Belvedere walking down a hallway, but decided not to draw his attention, since they still didn't have any proof of Liam's innocence to present him.

When they finally reached the entrance to sir Cowell's chambers, Payno found them just the way he last saw them. They were still sealed, like on the day when investigators finished their job of searching the rooms for clues. Harry made quick work of dispelling the magical wards, while Louis took care of the heavy padlock on the door. Upon entering, the companions were shocked at what they saw.

The insides of the room weren't as untouched as the door outside. It looked like a hurricane came through. Various papers and documents were strewn around the room, furniture was knocked over, drawers open. Even the mattress was torn to shreds.

„Whoever did this was pretty desperate to get their hands on whatever they've been looking for.” Nialler said, his eyes wide open in astonishment.

„Let us hope, they didn't find anything.” Payno exclaimed, making his way further inside, trying to avoid the mess on the floor. „If I remember correctly, sir Cowell's secret stash is somewhere over the mantelpiece.”

The warrior searched around the fireplace for a way to open the hidden compartment. Looking closer, he noticed a small circular engravement in one of the stone bricks. Liam quickly took sir Cowell's ring off his finger and placed it in the hole. A part of the wall in front of him slid aside, revealing a small shelf.

The companions crowded to see what was inside. The stash contained sir Cowell's journal, along with a batch of letters and a scroll. Payno scanned through the entries in his liege lord's diary, while Harry browsed through the missives.

„Sir Cowell's handwriting... it's so long since I saw it last...” Liam sighed wistfully, as he put the journal into his bag. „He detailed all his endeavours and discoveries in here. That's bound to be enough to convince the Nine of Neverwinter, that I'm telling the truth and I don't think even the magistrates can undermine this as proof.”

„No shit...” Hazza replied, his eyes getting wider, with each letter he read. „These are either telling of bribes or are blackmail... seems like half the nobility in Neverwinter is involved.”

„Guys, you should check out this scroll...” Louis said with a grimace, as he bit his lip.

At first the text looked like gibberish, but the adventurers soon realised that it was either in a foreign language or some sort of code. The letter wasn't signed, but there was a black stamp at the botom. It was the symbol of Shar, goddess of darkness and patron diety of the Netherese Empire.

„So Netheril is indeed scheming against Neverwinter.” Nialler said solemnly. „That's really bad. They've been plotting to take over Cormyr for years and were the reason for much of its people suffering.”

„Who was this missive addressed to?” Liam inquired.

„Some bloke called Nak-Varr or something like that.” Tommo shrugged.

„Anauruk Nak-Varr?” Harry exclaimed in shock.

„You know him?” Payno asked, though he was afraid of the answer he could get.

„Know him, no. Know of him? Half the magical world wants to capture him. The other half wants him dead.” Hazza replied nervously. „He had defected from his wizard's guild and joined the Cult of the Dragon. Climbed their ranks pretty fast as well, at least according to rumours.”

„What is the Cult of the Dragon?” Liam asked, quirking an eyebrow and earning a sigh of disappointment from the others.

„I'll explain it in as easy a way as possible.” Niall said, shaking his head in resignation. „Imagine an evil dragon. Now make it undead, like the skeletons or zombies that chased us in the graveyard. These guys worship such creatures as gods and want them to rule the world.”

„In other words...” the elf continued. „There's a crazy-ass cultist-wizard running around Neverwinter, plotting with the Netherese Empire, who are world renown arcanists dabbling in black magic, worshipping the goddess of shadows and are apparently poisonmasters and assassins as well.”

„Oh, gods...” Payno exclaimed sitting down, all this information too much for him to handle. „Sir Cowell was right. King Uther needs to know right away.”

„I wonder why he didn't notify the king himself when... when he still could.” Louis said. „Or tell you for that matter, Liam.”

„He probably wanted to dig deeper and root out the ringmasters of the Cult here in Neverwinter first. Maybe even capture Nak-Varr himself or whatever he's called.” Payno replied wistfully. „As for me, I'm sure sir Cowell knew how dangerous such knowledge was... by not informing me, he was trying to protect me.”

„It didn't work, did it?” Nialler pointed out. „A mere suspicion that you might know anything was enough for them to try and dispose of you as well, cleaning up any loose ends at the same time.”

There was a moment of silence, the dread of the situation hanging heavily in the air. Suddenly, Liam stood up.

„Lets go.” he barked out, heading for the door.

„Where are we going?”

„The Throne Room.”



„Liam, you can't just barge in to the Throne Room like that! That's suicide!”

The warrior was deaf to all warnings. He was pushing onward, not caring about being seen anymore. The few guards the companions encountered along the way were either quickly knocked out by Payno or incapacitated by one of Harry's spells.

The adventurers have now found themselves once more in the courtyard, going up the marble stairs towards the Royal Quarters. Unexpectedly, a group of people were heading down, so lost in an argument, that they hadn't noticed the party.

„This is preposterous, Lord Efialtes! You have no right sending my men on your petty little missions!” a knight, who they recognised as sir Belvedere, shouted angrily.

„Our Sovereign seems to disagree with you.” the man with a somewhat familiar voice, Lord Efialtes, stated, his purple robe flowing gracefully as he went down the stairs. „The High Council has been given full command over the Paladin Order for as long as necessary, sir Belvedere. Lord Baras is in the Order's Headquarters as we speak, making the last preperations.”

„I will not allow this! I will make King Uther see reason!” the paladin bellowed.

„Are you suggesting you're going to force your will upon our righteous ruler?” the magistrate replied with a sly grin. „You should be careful with the words you use, sir Belvedere... that almost sounded like... treason.”

„You dare...”

„Please, calm down, Cedric!” a heavily armored woman with long blond hair pinned up in a tight bun interrupted the knight. „This isn't helping.”

„See? Even Lady Adele agrees with me.” Lord Efialtes exclaimed with a chuckle.

„Oh, I wouldn't jump to such conclusions, Lord Efialtes.” the female said with a menacing glare. „I'm simply pointing out, that it doesn't befit a paladin to argue with a lowly snake...”

The magistrate gritted his teeth. He was about to say something, when his gaze fell upon Liam and the others. His face turned pale.

„T-The Traitor! Q-quickly! Kill him! Kill him in the name of Tyr! Knights of Neverwinter, I order you to kill the murderer!”

Alerted by Lord Efialtes' shout, nearby guards gathered around, halberds and pikes at the ready.

As his companions looked around, trying to find a way out of this mess, Liam slowly drew his blade...

… and dropped it at his feet.

„I am here to surrender myself to Neverwinter's justice.” Payno exclaimed loud and clear, then turned to his friends. „Lower your weapons, lads.”

Louis and Niall followed suit, dropping their daggers and rapier.

„Quick, quick! Kill them now, while they're defenseless!”

„These men are unarmed prisoners, Lord Efialtes!” sir Belvedere said sternly. „They are now under custody of the Nine of Neverwinter and no harm shall come their way!”

Seeing as he had no more say in the matter, the magistrate backed down. „Fine then. Escort these criminals to the dungeons. We shall make their trial and execution swift.”

„Not so fast.” Liam interrupted. „I would like to use this chance to present the representatives of the Nine with proof of my innocence for safekeeping.”

„This is outrageous, this... this...”

Lord Efialtes looked on helplessly, as Payno passed the journal, letters and scroll to sir Belvedere.

„This is Simon's... I mean, sir Cowell's handwriting! Leading all the way up to the day he died...” the female knight exclaimed, checking the diary.

„Forgeries! More proof of this mongrel's mocking of our judicial system!”

„How did you get all this?” sir Belvedere asked, astonished.

„I found it in my liege lord's chambers, in a secret compartment. I used this to open it.” Liam replied calmly, showing the paladin the obsidian, nine-starred ring.

„Breaking in! Burglary! And... is that the Ring of the Nine? Graverobbing!” the magistrate howled in fury. „Oh, you shall pay for your blasphemous ways, Payne!”

„Silence!” sir Belvedere shouted angrily. „You should be well aware, magistrate, that the enchantment on these rings prevents them from ever being stolen. They turn to dust, unless given willfully, by their rightful owner.”

„But... but...”

„That is enough!” the paladin exclaimed sternly. „Lady Adele, won't you take a couple of these guards and escort these four men to the Chambers of the Nine, where they will be held under house arrest, until the proof they provided can be verrified, at which point they will face trial.”

„This is an outrage! You will all pay for this!” Lord Efialtes cried out, storming down the stairs.

His rageful curses could be clearly heard, until he left the courtyard, heading for the outer citadel. The four companions sighed in relief, as they were met with a smug smile from sir Belvedere and Lady Adele.

„I don't know how you accomplished all this, Liam, but I'm proud of you.” the knight said, patting Payno on the back.

„It wasn't easy, but it's actually all thanks to you, that we're still alive.” the warrior replied.

„I'm glad I could be of help... by the way... how have you come in the possesion of that ring?”

„Sir Cowell's spirit told me to take it from his grave.” Liam exclaimed. „There's more we discovered in the crypt. Sir Cowell was actually poisoned, prior to being stabbed in the chest.”

„Are you sure?” Lady Adele asked and continued upon receiving a confirming nod from the companions. „That is dire news indeed. We will have to be extra careful, to keep you all alive until the trial.”

„That is why you should all head with Lady Adele to our chambers. You should be safe there.” sir Belvedere stated. „Meanwhile, I'm heading to the Paladin Order Headquarters. Now that you are here, I should be able to stop the...”

The knights words were interrupted by the heavy sound of bells ringing throughout the castle. The noise sounded dire, filling everyone's hearts with a feeling of dread.

A lone soldier ran through the courtyard and up the marble steps, stopping in front of the group.

„Sir... the city... we're under siege!”

„What?!” everyone exclaimed in unison.

„By whom? And how many of them are there?” sir Belvedere asked, seriousness in his voice.

„They fly no banner. Thousands of them... with siege weapons.” the recruit replied.

„How is this possible?” Lady Adele said in shock. „There are troops and scouting parties all over the countryside right now! How did they not see an army that size coming?”

„We don't know, but we desperately need assistance, there's only a handful of defenders on the walls.”

„Every man who can bear a weapon is ordered to defend the city!” the knight commanded. „Round up the militia... and notify the Paladin Order!”

Both knights and the guards started running down the stairs. The companions were about to follow them, when Liam suddenly heard a faint whisper. It sounded like it came from sir Cowell's ring on his finger. As he put it close to his ear, he could barely make out one phrase.

”Protect... the king...”