#4-13 Fortress of the Nail

[Richard Loh]

Within a private booth in Korvosa’ Shoreline Drinkhall, Sir Canayven Heidmarch—one of Varisia’s two resident venture captains— begins his briefing.

“We have a serious problem,” he says gravely. “As you may have heard, a month ago, Paracountess Zarta Dralneen disappeared. The Chelish diplomat was vital to the Pathfinder Society’s operations within Cheliax, where members of our order are strictly forbidden. Without her political connections opening doors for us and distracting watchful eyes while we operate within Cheliax’s borders, we will be set back a hundred years in terms of our exploration of this nation, a region of great interest to the Ten. We must therefore reinstate the paracountess in Absalom.

“Here’s the good news: We’ve located her—she is alive, though she is imprisoned for seditious acts she did not commit. We also possess evidence we can use to exonerate her and ensure her release.

“The bad news is that the paracountess is being held in Citadel Vraid, home to the Hellknights of the Order of the Nail. Convincing those totalitarian mercenaries that the paracountess must be freed is going to be quite a challenge.”

Heidmarch continues to explain that inside the Chelish Embassy, a team of Pathfinders discovered proof that Tancred Desimire, the paracountess’ biggest enemy and a member of the Thrune government, forged letters apparently written in Dralneen’s hand. These fictitious letters hinted at a rebellious alliance between the paracountess and the house’s political enemies. Further, the Pathfinders discovered the paracountess’s personal travel logs, which prove she was away from Absalom at the time when the letters claim she met with her conspirators in the Petal District. Heidmarch passes this evidence to the party. It must be shown to the Hellknights, he says, if there is any hope of recovering the paracountess alive and safe. He continues:

“While the Order of the Nail has earned its reputation as a cadre of ruthless mercenaries, its Hellknights are still bound to uphold the law. I’d wager that the order’s leaders would release the paracountess if they can be convinced they’re holding her unlawfully. You, Pathfinders, must do that. Get custody of the paracountess and escort her here. I’ll make sure she gets back to Absalom safely.

“One more thing: I know some of you may not like the Hellknights or what they stand for, but this is a diplomatic mission and not the time to air your personal grievances against the Order of the Nail. There are over four hundred Hellknights in Citadel Vraid, and you’ll be in their home. Getting Dralneen out is your sole priority, and since the law is on our side, you should run into no problems doing so provided you behave with reasonable caution and restraint. Do not take this warning lightly—you cannot take on the entire citadel in combat. Appeal to their sense of law and leave them to their business.

“Any questions?”

GM: Richard Loh

[Daryl Kong]

Hellknight Inquisitor Anferno, of the Order of the Gate, steps up and receives the evidence required to free Paracountess Zarta, opens his backpack and keeps the evidence safely. He then turns back to face Heidmarch and stares him down intensely.

"Who else knows about our mission?"
"Any word on the traitorous Tancred Desimire? Is he dead? On the run? Is he going to show up and stop this mission?"
"Are you absolutely certain this evidence I have will clear Zarta's release?"
"Is there an extraction plan for us or do we have to come up with one?"

Anferno also rolls his knowledge check (and succeeds!) on find out more about the Order of the Nail, their citadel's location, the safest route and any background information.

[Richard Loh]

Heidmarch falters a little under Anferno's intimidating gaze, but regains his composure quickly as he straightens himself fully and explains:

"This is a secret mission and nobody else knows of this evidence that you now carry in your backpack. As such, we should not be expecting any interference from that scoundrel, Tancred.

The last we checked, in Ostergarde Manor itself, our Pathfinders have found that he intended to use the manor as a spring board to hatch his devious plans but apparently, he left when he knew that the Hellknight Damian Kastner gave the Blakros family the Manor as a wedding gift. He could be anywhere now, the Worldwound, Bonekeep itself? Who knows where he is unless we send more Pathfinders after him, but I digress. The issue is at hand. Paracountess Zarta must be escorted out of Citadel Vraid.

The evidence itself is sufficient to clear her name, but knowing the Hellknight's reputation..", Canayven continues uncomfortably "convincing them will need some work. Appeal to them, even flatter them if you need to, I hope that we will not come into conflict with such a powerful organisation. As of now, the Society needs more friends, not enemies."

Taking a sip from his tankard of watered down ale, Canayven remarked: "If all goes to plan, an extraction plan should not be needed as getting her out of prison is legitimate. Once you have her in your hands, bring her to Korvosa and the Society will take it from there to escort her back to Absalom."

-----

Anferno recalls the following tidbits of information when he was indoctrinated into the Order of the Gate.

Citadel Vraid: Citadel Vraid is the fortress-headquarters of the Hellknight Order of the Nail constructed by the city of Korvosa in an effort to move the Order to Varisia. It is located about 15 miles south of Korvosa on a narrow plateau in the edges of the southern Mindspin Mountains of eastern Varisia named for Montlarion Jeggare. This huge gothic structure dominates the entire area and serves as an intimidation to those whose the rule of law.

Built upon orders by Queen Domina of Korvosa in 4682 AR, Citadel Vraid is the newest of the hellknight fortresses. The fortress owes much of its defensiveness to the ruggedness of the Mindspin Mountains. Even so, the elaborate demonic faces leering down from its ramparts in addition to the numerous steel-shod towers protruding upwards like pikes from the citadel’s heart do their own part to deter attacks.

Order of the Nail: The Order of the Nail is an order of Hellknights based in Citadel Vraid near Korvosa. The Order of the Nail concerns itself with quelling "savage" practices and bringing their idea of civilization to the inhabitants of the wild frontier. One of the original seven orders of Hellknights, the Order of the Nail was coaxed to relocate to Varisia in 4682 AR by the Korvosa's Queen Domina.

[Stephen]

Venino appreciates the fact that the rendezvous takes place in a drink hall. Salutations to Cayden Caileen don't seem to be part of the proceedings though so he mutters the blessings quietly and takes a draught. As the seriousness of the briefing becomes apparent his brow furrows and the draught gets deeper until he's suddenly staring at the bottom of his tankard. Quietly he leans out of the booth and gestures to a passing serving girl for a refill.

Simple diplomatic mission he wonders to himself; I bet! Just present the evidence and everything will be peachy my arse. Venino glances at the Hellknight Anferno. What a conundrum that guy is. Never seen him this anxious about anything before though; this goff chick must be something.

"Erm, Sir Heidmarch, this evidence we have: I hope you don't mind me asking, but are we able to claim that it was legitimately acquired? I just worry that it may not be be deemed permissible, say, if someone alleged, heaven forbid, that it was stolen from the Cheliax Embassy?"

"I had a couple of other questions too. How should we expect our status as Pathfinders to be received? Since as you say the order is strictly forbidden in Cheliax proper, aren't we likely to be similarly turned away from the Fortress? I assume we're to be upfront in declaring our affiliation? And, do you have any contacts in the Fortress at all or any useful names we can drop?"

[Richard Loh]

SUMMARY
The PCs meet in Shoreline Drinkhall, a tavern in Korvosa’s East Shore district, with Sir Canayven Heidmarch—one half of Varisia’s husband-wife venture-captain duo. Heidmarch has commissioned a wagon to transport the
PCs to Citadel Vraid. Upon their arrival, the PCs meet Field-Maralictor Elixia Makorios, a junior officer who
serves as attendant to the order’s leaders: Lictor Severs “Boneclaw” DiViri, Mistress of Blades Maidrayne Vox,
and Paravicar Acillmar. Once the Pathfinders convince the Hellknight order’s leader that they are unlawfully
holding Dralneen, the enraged lictor instructs the PCs to retrieve Dralneen from the order’s oubliette and
escort her out of the citadel. During the course of their mission, the PCs are free to explore several rooms within the citadel—including the Hellknights’ library, which contains several rare and valuable books.

When the PCs reach the oubliette, they realize Dralneen is not there. Rather, Maralictor Ganden Heriphis, the
Hellknight in charge of the oubliette, has traded her to the Infernal Duke Losarkur, Beastlord of Avernus, for
access to kennels of hellish hounds. Determined to keep his illicit deal a secret, Heriphis and his helldogs attack the PCs. While in the oubliette, the PCs encounter a Korvosan rogue (who is an ex-Pathfinder) and a traitorous Hellknight armiger, both of whom they can free should they choose to do so.

The PCs then use an onyx figurine found in Heriphis’s personal room to open a gate into Losarkur’s prison fortress in Avernus. They soon find Dralneen, who is imprisoned in a hanging cage. A powerful infernal canine tasked by Losarkur himself to ensure the prisoner remained in the infernal duke’s keeping guards her. Once
the PCs have dispatched the beast, they can free Dralneen, and escort her back to Citadel Vraid and on to Korvosa.

Pathfinders:
Lv 5 Tiefling Wizard - Bai Yun
Lv 8 Tiefling Inquisitor - Anferno
Lv 5 Human Wizard - Garrett
Lv 6 Human Standard Bearer - Tassadar Zokan
Lv 8 Tiefling Invulnerable Rager - Kairon Frost
Lv 7 Human Rogue - Venino der Flinke
Lv 7 Dwarf Fighter - Gloin Greenleaf

Actions of note:
Kairon the Eloquent: Spoke intelligently for a barbarian, which assisted the party in securing the release of Zarta Dralneen.

Anferno the True Intimidator: Intimidated the ranking officers of the Order of the Nail into signing the Affidavits of Prisoner Release. Technically speaking, his intimidation alone is sufficient to make the ranking officers accept the evidence.

Baiyun: Made an excellent idea by letting the Paralictor Mykrina Delfieros examine the evidence which took a bit of time while the party quickly searched for the books required by the Lantern Lodge. This bought the party some time, otherwise they might need to steal it from under the Paralictor's nose.

Party fought hard against a creature known as a Edavagor, the guardian of Dralneen. At the very first round of attack, with Kairon readying an action to strike, the two-headed, six-legged beast breathed cones of fire with each of its two heads which caught Kairon and Venino unprepared. With Tassador Zokan instructing his team mates on how to handle its many weaknesses and instructing them on how to use the Broken Wing Gambit, the party, primarily Kairon and Anferno engaged the beast in a deadly duel while the tiefling wizard Bai Yun snuck off to rescue Zarta Dralneen herself.

With the rogue Venino almost dying from the beast's breath, he withdrew and healed himself as it strangely reminded him of the time he was eviscerated in Ostergarde Manor, again, facing another beast of Hell. Kairon maintain his battering against the beast with his famed Universal Key while Anferno invoked his holy power to infuse his weapon with magic, with Gloin pelting the edavagor with his arrows.

When it comes to the beast's attack, with a sweep of it's tail, it swept Kairon off his feet and the creature continued its savage assault, rending flesh from bone. With Kairon thrashing in terror, Anferno quickly moved in to rescue Kairon, but forgetting it's reach, Anferno fell victim to its tail sweep. Bashing the beast with his armour spikes, the fiend, Kairon tore some of its steel-like plates off and revealing such vulnerable weaknesses, Anferno drew his weapon back on the floor and plunged it into the beast with all his might rupturing its heart before it could rip Kairon to shreds.

All this is possible only with the instructions from Tassadar, without which, the party of Pathfinders who delved into Hell might probably never make it out alive.

Conclusion: When Paracountess Zarta Dralneen has been rescued, she hid behind a column as far away from combat as possible, exhibiting cowardice that wouldn't do favours to her reputation were anyone to learn of it.

When the party returned to Citadel Vraid, they may leave with Dralneen without further incident. If they choose to inform the Lictor of Heriphis’s abuse of his position, the severe Hellknight general seems concerned but remains calm, ensuring the Pathfinders that “the Order of the Nail will deal with its own.”
The Pathfinders can either hitch a ride with a contingent of Hellknights headed to Korvosa or make their own way back to the city. Either way, when they meet
Venture-Captain Heidmarch at Shoreline Drinkhall, he hastily instructs medics to whisk Dralneen away if she accompanies the party. The venture-captain thanks the party for a job well done. At the end of the conversation, the venture-captain reveals that according to the Society’s most recent intelligence, Chelish Queen Abrogail II has placed a bounty on the head of Tancred Desimire. It’s unclear whether his crime prompted this or if he angered the queen in another way.

Shortly after the party turns Dralneen over to the Pathfinder Society for safe passage back to Absalom, each Pathfinder received a personalized letter from the paracountess mentioning details of his or her character that the paracountess wouldn’t be expected to know. In addition to her profuse thanks and traditional innuendo, the letters also offers the Pathfinder a reward in thanks for their efforts, paid out of the paracountess’s personal wealth rather than the Cheliax faction’s assets.

[Daryl Kong]

"Worry not, Zee Zee. You were invisible when you strategically placed yourself behind a pillar. No one would have seen you, being in combat with that Edavagor... I am surprised that you would reveal this to me though. Is there... anything else you like to reveal?".

The speedy Bloodfang sails back to Absalom. Usually it would take under 2 weeks, but for this voyage, it strangely took almost 1 month.