The Spider Wasp Chronicles Chapter 8: Rescue Mission
The air of Thamasa feels sad as Kobo the Halfling, led by Kyle the Bard, walks through its gates. They soon find two of their companions at the small service being held for the late Vahnya. Oshanda and Tsul quickly recount their adventures in the magical city thus far. Anor the paladin, they report, was badly injured in the last fight and recovering in a clinic under Kai’s loyal watch.
On his end, Kyle reports that through his guild he has learned that the country of Iro has declared war on the Moon Elves. The bodies of Iro and Moon Elven soldiers found in Greenwood forest was the last straw, and the country now prepares for battle. Consequently, Princess Kereniel is to be executed within three days. Kyle’s organization believes that Kereniel is a valuable asset and as such has assigned Kyle the mission of extracting her from Kuma Prison before it’s too late. He’s been given a map of the prison and a bulb that when shattered will teleport up to two people. Kyle asks the others for help. Just then, a tall, strong elf with red hair who had been brooding over Vahnya’s grave approaches the group. He introduces himself as Lars, Vahnya’s twin brother who had been raised by the Barbarians in the North ever since he was but a child. He had come down to Muras to rejoin with his sister but had barely missed her. Swearing revenge on the Spider Wasp, he offers to join the group in rescuing the princess.
The adventurers ride hard and two days later they arrive at Niso, the city of the Burning Tree, capital of Iro. The city is in a somber mood as its citizens prepare for the oncoming war. Someone cleverly remembers that ever since Stonebridge, and later Madrigal, there are many members of the group who are wanted by the King’s men. Using Kyle’s disguise kit, the party infiltrates the city incognito.
The team splits up to do some reconnaissance. Tsul, Kobo, and Kyle stake out the different entrances to the prison to see which one will be easier to enter. Lars and Oshanda wander on to the Rolling Wheel to chat with the locals. The barbarian quickly bonds with the neighborhood smithy over a keg of ale and discovers that Kereniel is to be executed at the ancient Coliseum at 10am the next day. She is to die in an epic gladiatorial battle, though whom she will fight is known only to the one in charge of the execution, who is none other than Lord Nobu. The citizens of Niso are naturally excited about the event. Princess Kereniel, aka the Moon Huntress, is a feared warrior, so whoever goes up against her will need to be of equal or greater power. Who could that be? Regardless, the slut who destroyed Shallowshore will get what’s coming to her. Pots as high as 50,000 gold pieces will go to the man who can correctly bet how long it will take her to die.
Meanwhile, as Oshanda tries to work the room, she is stopped in her tracks when she hears “I told you to come find me next time you were in Niso.” She immediately recognizes Bern, the leader of the assassins employed by the Spider Wasp to steal the sprite in the spa (Chapter 1). The makeup might have changed your face, but that badonkadonk is recognizable anywhere, he says. In truth, they had been spotted by one of his men as they entered the city. Bern assures her that despite the bounty on her head he’s not going to turn her in. After a brief chat in which Bern mentions that he has front row tickets to tomorrow’s show, he offers his headquarters in case they need a place to crash. “Remember: I’m a problem solver. If you have a problem, I can make it disappear.”
The adventurers reunite in a back alley and discuss what to do next. No one has come in or out the secret door to the prison that Kyle and Kobo have been scoping out, and Tsul reports no significant movement out of the main door, which is guarded. After a little bit of back and forth, Oshanda leads the others to Bern’s inn, so that they can at least try and get more information.
It is just after dinner time and people are feeling boisterous. The ground floor is full of young dancers bopping to the rhythm of two large men playing the drums. Oshanda goes to the barman and asks him where the ducks go in the winter. Recognizing the password, he leads them upstairs to a large room where Bern is writing up some documents. He greets them and steps outside quickly to grab their drink orders, only to come back with a crossbow and six armed men. Bern cannot believe our heroes were stupid enough to actually show up.
A crazy battle ensues. Hoping to neutralize the firepower held by the heroes who tend to hang back in a fight, the six rogue assassins split up and engage each of the characters, while two of them stay to take on the barbarian. All area of effect spells now useless, Kyle magically suggests to his attacker that they are in fact friends and that the assassin should fight Oshanda’s opponent instead. Rising up to the challenge, Oshanda casts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on her attacker, so for the next minute we see a weird scene where an assassin is hacked to pieces by his erstwhile friend, paralyzed by a fit of the hysterics [note from DM: let’s ignore them rules for now. It makes for a weird image and this was not a main part of the session]. Meanwhile, Kobo isn’t having a lot of luck with his own foe, and Lars’ barbarian abilities make him stronger but leave him exposed to his attacker’s deadly knives. Tsul fires arrow after arrow, wearing the assassins down. Kyle, slightly spent from the battle, draws his whip “for old times’ sakes” and starts flailing it around.
Sensing the battle lost, Bern’s survival instincts kick in and he makes for the stairs down to the club area. Lars catches up to him, but a timely bolt imbued with a sleeping poison sends the barbarian crashing down. Oshanda fires a few magic missiles after Bern, and though they reach their target, the explosion creates a panic among the dancers. The crowd makes for the door, trampling Lars and enveloping Bern. Kyle tries to chase after, but by the time he is able to exit the inn Bern is nowhere to be found.
Wounded from battle and magic-spent, our heroes decide that it would be best to rest at a quieter place before attempting to rescue the princess. 8 hours later, just before sunrise, our refreshed adventurers creep up on the secret door in Kuma Prison, right under the large, black, coliseum. Kobo successfully deactivates the magical trap. Kyle creates a sphere of silence and invisibility around them, and the party enters the prison.
Kuma prison is large, and there doesn’t seem to be too many people. They stalk behind some patrolling guards and at one point they divert and go down a long corridor. The other end opens up to large circular area with a raised platform at the center. At the center lies an elven women draped in blue, her arms chained to either side of her, her face down as if sleeping. Oshanda attempts to contact her telepathically, but the lack of connection makes her think that there is some antimagic force at work.
The party finds the patrolling guards again and dispose of them quickly, but not before one of them is able to blow a horn that nearly renders them deaf. By the time some other guards arrive, the adventurers have hid the bodies, Kobo and Kyle have disguised themselves as two of the guards, and the other three pose as captured prisoners. A guard punches Tsul in the face in an effort to get him to talk, and given the lack of success, orders Kobo and Kyle to incarcerate them and report to Captain Ichi. As he is leaving, the guard notices makeup on his knuckles from where he punched the ranger. Our heroes brace themselves mentally for another fight, but the guard writes it off to some weird thief trick-of-the-trade and walks back to his post. Phew.
Kereniel’s execution draws closer and closer. The party goes down another corridor which also leads to the woman in blue. Still disguised as guards, Kyle and Kobo attempt to talk to her, but as soon as they cross the threshold they find themselves teleported to a random room in the prison. Bewildered, the pair find another corridor that leads to the opening and, after narrowly missing a trap that would have flattened them like a pancake, attempt to cross the threshold again. After reappearing in another random room a couple more times, they give up and continue to explore the prison. Kyle and Kobo chat with some other guards and verify that there is indeed an antimagic field surrounding Princess Kereniel as she is known to be a powerful spellcaster. After interacting with some other guards, the party decides to “report the prisoners” to captain Ichi. With his keen ears, Tsul overhears that Captain Ichi has just learned that the Madrigal Five have been spotted in Niso and might attempt to extract Princess Kereniel from Kuma. Imagine his alarm when seconds later two of his guards bring in three of the Five [genetically speaking this is correct- think about it]. Kyle offers to throw them in with the Princess for the battle. Captain Ichi replies that he cannot deactivate the field until it’s time, and doesn’t know if there is enough time to get Lord Nobu’s approval for this. As he mentions the field, he clutches at his chest.
The telepathic link between our heroes is unnecessary. The mission is clear: Kill the captain and grab whatever key he has under his armour. Unable to surprise Captain Ichi and his two guards, there is only enough time for Kyle to cast his magical suggestion on one of the guards to attack the captain and for another spellcaster to magically hold the Captain still. The other guard draws a dagger with a bear-shaped hilt and stabs himself in the heart. Seconds later he resuscitates as a giant stone bear. The party throws all they got at the bear, but his stone skin appears to make him immune to a lot of the damage he is receiving. Magically spent and with the barbarian not being able to take much more damage, Kyle takes the necklace from Captain Ichi’s now dead body and leads the hasty retreat. Luckily for them, the other guard, still under the effect of the Suggestion spell, attacks the bear, granting the adventurers enough time to escape. With minutes to go before the execution, they sprint down one of the corridors and press the button in the necklace. Kyle steps through on to the circular opening, the teleportation field now dispelled. To their disbelief, the platform starts to rise. Kyle slides back to the corridor and tosses the teleportation orb to a Kobo who jumps on to the altar to try and free Kereniel. He deftly unlocks one of the manacles but fumbles on the second one. As he tries again, the floor of the platform rises past the ceiling of the corridor and the remaining heroes lose sight of the Halfling and the princess. As Kobo manages to unlock the second manacle they are greeted by the roar of a crowd in the stands around them ready to see some action. Kobo tosses the teleportation orb at his feet. To his dismay, nothing happens. The teleportation field had been deactivated, but the anti-magic field is still there. As the other heroes rush out of the prison towards the Coliseum Kobo stands by the Princess in the arena as they await their final judgment.
