Randy Newman

October 2nd - 3rd, Albanus 1

Once the shopping frenzy ended, Oshan teleported the band from Sobel Ka back to Viridistan.  And the next day they took Marius' nifty new wind-walking bead and gave it its first work-out.  With a thought, the young priest transformed his family into ghostly, ephemeral creatures.  After a bit of experimenting (and horseplay!), they got the hang of flying and headed, at sixty miles per hours, towards northern Rostilla and the county of Nimborus.

For the most part, the trip was uneventful.  The troupe stayed high;  out of sight of the land, but not high enough to enter the Elemental Plane of Air.  However as they passed over the Ered Hellain (the mountains that divide Bendigroth and Rostilla), they encountered something unusual.  A solid cloud, one they couldn't fly through.  One that glimmered softly with a silvery light.  Skirting around it, the band discovered that this mysterious cloud held a castle.  An enormous keep floating gently in the air -- large enough for giants.  Torn between curiosity and the need for speed, the band eventually decided to leave the giants for now and continue on to Nimborus and the dwarves.

They arrived above northern Rostilla in the early afternoon.  Nimborus was a wealthy, bustling town, full of beautifully painted houses and swarming caravans.  North of the city they spotted the great carved doors of Shadow Gate, the entrance to the Underdark.  A surprising number of dwarves warded it, many wearing the hammer and crossed lightning bolt sigil of the Defenders, the dwarvish paladins.

Instead of working through Count Nimborus, the party chose to approach the dwarves directly.  They hoped that Titus' status would get them an audience, since the dwarves were very fond of the Order of St. Cavallius.  As they precipitated, the dwarves leaped into a defensive stance.  Their leader, Thurrik, stepped forward and eyed them carefully.  But to the band's relief, the dwarf did indeed relax when he saw Titus' tabard.

Why were there so many troops here, the party asked.  Thurrik said King Morraddin knew there were problems and rebellion brewing in the upper world, and he wished to ensure that it did not spread to the Underdark.  The Defender was not inclined to allow the Surrexi into the Underdark -- until someone mentioned that the Sebetu were free.  Thurrik's eyes widened in shock when he heard that word.  The Sebetu, it appeared, were actually familiar to the senior dwarves.  (Thurrik told them a dwarvish motto, which they'd hear time and again over the next several days:  the dwarves don't forget.)

That news was dire enough that Thurrik decided King Morraddin himself needed to speak to the party, and he offered to take them to Erdan-Morrak (Earth's Heart), the dwarves' capitol.

The trip to Erdan-Morrak took two days.  The journey was peaceful.  They travelled down endless, perfectly straight roads.  Every now and again they passed troops of miners and traders.  (All male.  Dwarves apparently had a terrible gender imbalance;  ten males were born for every female.)  There was, however, one hint that all was not well in the Underdark.  Every few miles they passed small strong-rooms carved into solid rock.  And at night, when they camped, they stayed in these rooms -- behind heavily barred doors.  Things wandered, Thurrik explained.  Normally nothing terrible made it this close to the kingdom's heart.  But you never knew.

Finally the gates of Erdan-Morrak came in sight.  On the other side, they found an enormous, airy cavern.  Houses rose five stories into the air.  The city was centered around a crystal-clear lake.  Small canals branched out from it, creating a delicate web of water throughout the capitol.  Everything -- every corner-stone, every building, every arch -- was covered with carvings and decorations.  Thurrik led them to the royal castle and got them settled in airy, spacious rooms.  And a very short time later, they were summoned to an audience with King Morraddin.

Morraddin's throne room was lavish, even by dwarvish standards.  The king sat upon a golden, gem-encrusted throne with a mithril axe laid across his knees.  Two Defenders flanked him.  Behind him, on a raised dias, sat the king's female relatives:  his great-grandmother, grand-mother, mother, wife, and four daughters.  And, to the party's surprise, there was another human present:  Sir Celentarius Nimborus, an elderly paladin who was the uncle of Count Olivans.

Unbeknownst to most of the Surrexi, a small problem was developing.  For reasons she didn't understand, Leyna found it difficult to keep her eyes off Morraddin's great-axe.  It was beautiful... elegant... far nicer than any dwarf deserved to have.

Morraddin greeted the humans cordially, and listened with grave concern to their news of how the Watcher had been corrupted and the Sebetu were now loose.  Periodically the elder crones of the council interrupted with questions... until finally the king muttered, in dwarvish, "Could we at least pretend that I have some authority here?"  None of the women paid much attention to his complaint.

During these discussions, Titus noticed that there was a faint pall upon the dwarves;  not dissimilar to the shadow over the Order of St. Cavallius.  The dwarves eventually retired to discuss the news in private, and once the Surrexi were back in their rooms, the paladin warned them about this cloud.  Worse, he noticed that Leyna was shadowed as well.  Since she'd been clean before entering Morraddin's throne room, the band figured that must be the source of the problem.  Titus summoned Sir Celentarius and explained the situation.  With some reluctance, the old knight agreed to escort them into the now-empty throne room.

The royal guards weren't terribly happy with this idea either, though they acceded to Celentarius' wishes.  A quick search turned up nothing suspicious.  Then Severus, remembering that they suspected the Sebetu of Greed was here, asked one of the guards what he thought was the most wonderful of Morraddin's treasures.  "You probably can't tell, being a human and all," the warrior replied, "but that emerald there on the throne is priceless.  Flawlessly crafted, perfect color..."  It had been a gift from King Eidrik of the Southern Kingdom, he said, delivered about six months ago.  Eidrik had won it from a dragon and sent it to his Over-King, Morraddin, in homage.

While the emerald was certainly beautiful, there was nothing unnatural about it.  However the party recalled the elves' advice:  the Sebetu can hide themselves -- but not from those who touch them.  And so Titus, steeling himself, stepped up to the throne and detected evil on the emerald.

Immediately, the paladin's senses were overwhelmed by the foulness that rolled off the stone.  And Titus sensed something enormous opening its eyes and looking at him through the gem.  He snatched his hand back quickly and the feeling faded.  After that no one touched the stone again.  Celentarius reported their findings to the king, and with Morraddin's permission they pried the emerald off the throne with a knife and scraped it into a bag of holding.

But what to do with it?  No one -- either among the humans, elves, or dwarves -- had any idea what could safely contain a Sebetu.  In the end, the band chose to take it to the elves.  Dwarves were prone to greed, they reasoned;  this Sebetu would wreck the greatest havoc here.  The cool and distant elves might hold out better against its evil.  When Marius contacted them, the elves were reluctant to accept this burden.  Princess Kalindariel said that her mother foresaw that this Sebetu would be the doom of the Northwoods.  But Severus bitterly opined that it was about time the elves paid some of the cost of their failure to guard the Watcher.  Humans -- his family in particular -- had suffered grievously.

The Sebetu was delivered to the elves.  King Morraddin's great-grandmother accompanied it, to act as an emissary between the two kingdoms, and to ensure that the elves and dwarves began to speak to each other again.