Year 33

“Shit, these fucking orcs don’t die like they should.” You say after putting two more shots in a large greenskin trying to get back up.
“Don’t think it matters boss, this brothel’s fucked, and not in a good way. Just bout every whore in here is dead.” Warts says.
“All of them?”
“Well there were a couple survivors, but I think their whorin’ days are over.”
“Damnit, that’s another one destroyed.”
“An wez lost a few purple wish houses and sum gambling dens too. Hopefully we can save da rest before we don’t have anything left.”

You look around at the destruction of the brothel you’re currently in and try to temporarily ignore the loud chaos going on outside as you gather your thoughts on what to do next.

“Damnit.” You say seeing a familiar woman on the floor with an axe wound in her head.
“Wat?” Warts asks.
“I know this whore or rather I did. Name was Naji. She was that girl that I rescued back when you talked me into ripping off Reginald’s house.”
“Sheesh, dat wuz a long time ago boss. Yer memory iz good if you can member whores. I can’t even member when my weddin’ anniversary is, though I wuz drunk at the time an’ Snuffit reminds me anyway.”
“Well she was a bit special for awhile, but as you might know my heart always really belonged to Tanya. I knew Naji was still whoring, and after we got the Nocturnal League set up I made sure she always had a job in one of our brothels, but I never did speak with her again in person. Always thought about it sometimes, but just figured I could get around to it when I wasn’t busy. Guess it’s too late now. Seems rather pointless that I even rescued her given that she just wound up dead anyway.”
“Well look on da bright side boss, it looks like she got a cleaner death with a quick axe strike as opposed to wat dose cultist fuckers woulda did.”
“I suppose. She also was Rook’s cousin, which probably saved me from him killing me. In any case, I’m having serious concerns about this attack.”
“Well yeah boss, da whole cities goin’ ta shit again.”
“No, I mean why the fuck are we even being attacked? I mean yeah I get orcs tend to be enthusiastic about their marauding, but something about the fact that OUR businesses are getting attacked like they were military targets seems really fucking suspicious.”
“Mebbe dat Peter knew we weren’t really gonna help him.”
“Well that’s definitely possible, but it still doesn’t explain why we would be targeted so much and so accurately. I would think he’d want to focus his forces on taking the palace or taking out the mage school. Also his invasion force was a lot larger than first reports mentioned.”
“I guess Vera wasn’t too successful in convincin’ other pirates to not join her ex-boyfriend.”
“I’m a little concerned about her too, since the last message we got was six months ago from her and she said she was having some success in her endeavors.”
“Well she must be okay, because we wuz still gettin’ da cut from her even last month.”
“I suppose, but at the rate shit is going down here, we might not even be able to pay the pittance that the ECS asks for every month.”
“You sayin’ you don’t have a secret personal stash?”
“Of course, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to part with my shit to pay the damn ECS. I’m sure you’d feel the same way about your stash.”
“Pfft, I ain’t got no personal stash. Snuffit takes it all. Speakin’ of her, I think I’ll be getting back to her. Seems like this city is a lost cause an’ if you’re smart you should just get the hell out too.”
“What the fuck Warts. You’re just gonna abandon everything?”
“Well yeah. I don’t exactly have some bond with dis place. I mean it wuz fun while it lasted, but looks like its come to an end. I mean maybe dis place will be better again in a couple years or so. An’ didn’t you make plans to retreat to Jicol is shit started to go wrong?”
“Yeah, but again, I’m still not sure if everything there is okay.”
“Bah, Vera’s fine, she’s probably just really fuckin’ busy. I mean you know how it is. Look dis iz the ways I sees da situation…”

Warts steps over a couple bodies before addressing you again. He gives you a more serious look than he normally does.

“Youz gotta be the luckiest Yag blessed bastard I know, beside myself. You shoulda died so many times, Yag musta been rollin’ loaded dice. However, an’ don’t say dis offen but dere iz a time ta step away from da table and dis iz one o’ dem times. I myself have stayed alive as long as I have cuz I knew when ta walk away.” Warts says.
“And you think this is one of those times, you don’t think there’s still a chance to turn this around?” you ask.
“Well yeah, there’s always a chance, such are the whimsical ways of Yag, but the odds just ain’t lookin’ good enough for me to take da risk, so I’m off whether you’re sticking around or not, but I’d rather you leave with me, because…”

Warts coughs a bit and looks away. You hear a sniffle.

“Warts…are you crying?” you ask.
“NO! I’m not cryin’ like sum sissy elf! It’s all dis dust bein kicked up due to da battle! Anyway, we’ve known each other a long ass time, made a lotta coin, did a lotta stupid stuff, an’ in sum cases even saved me from getting’ killed. Sometime youz waz an asshole, but you still were better than most an’ especially anyone in da Spiderfang Tribe. Yer, the closest thing I’ve had to a friend, an I’d rather our parting of ways go with me knowing dat yer on yer way ta Jicol rather than dying here over nuthin’.” Warts says.
“So you wouldn’t be coming to Jicol?”
“Nah, too far. I’ll probably just find work in Spider Fang territory, open a tradin’ post maybe. Most of da folks dat hated me are dead now anyway so it ain’t like I gotta worry bout bein’ a halfbreed anymore. I should be closer to my family anyway. In fact dat’s another reason youz should go to Jicol. Start a family with Vera, I know you likes her. Forget dat demon girl that’s still plaguin’ yer mind, she’s gone.”

Warts doesn’t really know the whole story to that of course, and you don’t really have time to go into it right now, but despite all that, Warts does raise some good points.

You’re not out of the fight yet though and you’ve been through two city upheavals already, you can easily survive a third as long as you’re smart about all this. You ran away from home once before, you’re not doing it again, especially not now when you’ve built a life here. Might not be ideal to most, but it’s yours.

“Warts, you do what you gotta do, but I’m gonna do what I gotta do. Just remember whether the Nocturnal League survives or not, I’m still going to be here if you want to work with me again the future.”

Warts shakes his head while giving a slight broken tooth grin.

“Suppose I shouldn’t expected any less from ya. Youz haz a death wish. Always haz fightin’ dangerous groups of cutthroats, goin’ head ta head with religious fanatics, fucking demon bitches… youz gonna get yerself killed one day and it ain’t gonna be a pretty death when it happens. But guess I gotta respect all dat. I hope Yag’s still usin’ loaded dice, cuz yer gonna need ‘em.” Warts says.
“We’ll see each other again Warts.” You respond.

Warts nods at your confidence which you return before he takes his leave.

Now alone, you briefly check the rest of the brothel for any remaining survivors. You don’t find any, but you do tell the couple that Warts mentioned to go find a better place to hide if they can.

While you could just start jumping back into the action, you’d still rather have some back up and the only place you’re going to be certain to find some is back at the Nocturnal League’s headquarters where you’re probably going to find the rest of your remaining members hiding or attempting to wait this out. Good thing you’re already not in the greatest of moods because you don’t imagine it getting any better when you have to deal with your “employees.”

When you get back, most of them are a bit on edge, but others are just lazing about playing cards or just generally doing nothing.

“Oh, uh hey boss. You’re alive.”
“Yeah well I can see you’re really glad that I am. Why the fuck are you assholes sitting around playing cards, you do realize there is a siege going on and our businesses are getting all fucked up right?” you say.
“You said we should guard this place.”
“I said SOME of you and as I remember, you weren’t one of them. In fact, most of you should be up there defending our interests. I’m not even asking you to be a fucking hero or defend the city because I know damn well that’s a pointless endeavor.”
“Boss, I don’t see why we should risk our lives when we can just wait shit out down here.”

And there it is. The excuse you’ve been expecting.

“Oh this should be good. Go on about why you feel this way…whatever the fuck your name is.”
“I’m really not trying to be disrespectful boss, but it seems like we can just pick up the pieces after all this is over. If anything we’ll be in a stronger position since the populace won’t be in any condition to oppose us and it’ll take awhile before the new ruler imposes any sort of order. And this Peter is another Varsakken right? He’s probably not going to be any better than his sister, so it’ll be business as usual.”
“That’s a nice thought. I see you really thought this out while sitting on your chair playing cards and drinking your ale. Here’s another thought though. While we’re sitting here playing cards, telling jokes and jerking each other off, all of our business interests are getting fucked up. All our Purple Wish dens? Destroyed. That’s a shitload of our income right there and it can’t be easily made up. Our whores? Slaughtered. Again can’t easily be made up, unless you lot are gonna start selling your asses to make up the loss and I guarantee it wouldn’t. Our protection rackets? Well you can’t extort corpses, and that’s what A LOT of them are right now thanks to orcs just killing everything in sight. I mean fuck, we ARE supposed to be protecting these hapless suckers if not out of the goodness of our hearts then at least for our own pockets! Shit, that’s the whole damn point!”

Your voice continues to rise as you walk around the room admonishing your people.

“This idea that we’ll just pick up everything after everything is over is laughable, because there won’t be that much left and what IS left, Peter Varsakken is going to be establishing order over, and I’m telling you right now, whether he’s as corrupt as the rest of his family or not isn’t the issue. The issue is, we DON’T have a good working relationship with him like we do with his sister. Shit like that takes time and trust, both of which we are in short supply of. And to top it all off the ECS is going to still be breathing down our necks telling us we better pay up by the end of the month. How are we going to fucking do that if all of our income has turned to fucking rubble? Is ANY of this getting through or am I talking to a bunch of fucking retards?”

Suddenly another one stands up.

“Well gee boss, why don’t you get your precious hobs to fucking do all this shit?”
“Because most of the hobs are fucking dead that’s why, which is another loss since a lot of them were our best pit fighters. And I highly recommend you take it way down, before I take YOU down.”

Now several others stand up to join the troublemaker. Though a few of them look unsure. Some don’t take a side and just quietly slink back into a place where they might be safe from the fighting.

One thing you are noticing is nobody seems to be siding with you. This is worse than you thought. You already have your hand on your weapon.

“No! You’ve been bossing us about for months getting prepared for this fucking invasion and none of us see why we should even be involved. You do this ALL the damn time, dragging us into these unnecessary conflicts instead of just staying the fuck out of it. You did this with the religious faction war, you did this with the Felians, who were supposed to be our allies and now you’re doing it here. And who is on the losing end of all of this shit? US! That’s who! We’re the ones fucking dying! Well no fucking more! We’re all staying down here and riding this out, and if you don’t like it, tough shit, because if you haven’t noticed by now, you’re fresh outta friends and you don’t even have your filthy hob scum to protect your ass anymore.”
“Seriously, you ALL feel this way? You fuckers are the most short sighted assholes ever if you’ve decided that right now would be the best time to pull a double cross and MORE fool you that you didn’t kill me right away.”
“Well we can take care of that right now, and you don’t have enough bullets to kill us all.”
“I don’t need to kill you all, I’m just gonna kill you and I don’t need hobs to do my work.”

The troublemaker’s eyes widen and he goes for his own flintlock, but he’s too slow of course and you’ve already killed him and three others before everyone has taken cover. Nobody else is returning fire or attempting to attack, which means you’ve probably asserted your dominance once again.

“That’s what I thought. Now contrary to this dead fucker’s words, I’ve been risking my ass more than ANY of you since day fucking one! Who the hell was it that was leading the damn charge when we took out the Joachimites and Felians? As I remember it was me. And what the hell have I been doing while you lot were hiding like cowards, I’ve been trying to keep this organization together by defending our shit! So don’t give me this bullshit that I’ve been leading from the back. Maybe the real problem is you shitheads have all gotten lazy because you have no regular opposition. Scared of a real fight. Y’know what? Fuck all of you. I’m going back up there to try to salvage what this organization still has left. The rest of you can either help or get the fuck out of the way, but what you can’t do is stay here. Because when I come back, I find ANYONE still here, you’ll be joining these troublemakers on the floor.”

With those last words you leave.

You have no idea if you’re even going to have an organization left if you survive all this, but that doesn’t matter right now. Right now you’re going to do something even more foolish and find out what the hell’s going on with Heather and her crew of wannabes because if you can get the wizards to help you in this chaos, staying here will have at least been worth the effort.

Tracking them down is fairly easy because it’s the part of the city that EVERYONE is avoiding, lot of explosions, debris flying in the air, fire, strange lights and even stranger noises in general.

When you arrive in the general vicinity, you finally get a good look at what’s going on. You see several creatures that remind you of some sort of demonic dwarves since they’re about the same height, and pretty stocky. They’re attacking a group of wizards wearing purple robes which you’re guessing are Heather’s people though you don’t see her.

Heather’s people are holding their own, but the problem is the demons don’t stay dead or rather as soon as one is killed another one materializes. They can’t possibly keep this up forever. A little bit in the distance you also catch sight of a man in a shabby brown robe. You’re guessing this is the one summoning the demons. He must have some strong protection up, because demons aren’t known to enjoy being summoned by mortals.

You also see two figures battling it out on top of one of the few standing buildings left in the area. You see all manner of magic being thrown about and most of it hitting nearby parts of the city. You can’t quite make out the figures, but you’re guessing one of those might be Heather.

The way you see it, you can either climb up the building to try to help Heather or try to help her students.
> You help her students
Heather’s a powerful wizard and can probably take care of herself. Her students on the other hand you’re not so sure of and you’re going to need all the magic help possible if you’re going to turn back this invasion.

If you can take out the opposing wizard, that would probably break the stalemate and then you all can help Heather if still necessary. You figure if you can sneak in range and get off a shot, you’ll kill the wizard and dispel the demons he keeps warping in.

Well that’s the ideal plan anyway.

You sneak around a few buildings trying to stay away from the direction of the fighting and getting closer hoping the whole time nobody notices you. Eventually you go into a partially destroyed building and get to the third floor of it to take your shot since you figure you’ll at least be out of immediate danger of the demons suddenly turning around and attacking you.

Taking aim, your pull the trigger and shoot the wizard in the back. You were aiming for his head, but it seems to have done the trick anyway as the wizard goes down. All that magic and you figured he neglected a protection spell against more mundane dangers.

Whether the bullet killed him or not doesn’t really matter since the demons warping in aren’t under his control anymore and instead of immediately getting themselves killed by the students, a couple of them attack the easy prey on the ground instead. You watch a couple of them take chunks from the wizard and go bounding away.

The students make quick work of most of the remaining demons that do insist on continuing their attack. Meanwhile, you’re making your way back down to go meet up with the students now that the demon threat is over with.

You exit the partially destroyed building and still see that Heather is fighting her opponent on the roof of the intact building. She needs help fast and you begin shouting at the students when you get closer to them.

“Hey! Hey! I’m on your side! Heather needs help! Look!” you shout pointing up and towards the roof.

No sooner have you done that, when they start shouting back and it looks like they’re prepping spells.

“What the fuc…shit!”

Feeling in danger you immediately start firing at the students. A couple of them go down, cuasing the rest to scatter a bit and a few magic bolts go wild in your direction missing you.

Unfortunately they also miss the demons they were trying to hit behind you.

Your shouting caused the escaped demons that you thought left the area to come back for seconds on another easy target. You hear the growls and turn around just in time for one of them to almost be on you.

The last thing you see are inhuman jaws enclosing on your face followed by a sickening crunch sound.


Year 32

It’s been awhile, but it’s good to see Vera again even if she’s just here for a visit. She’s got some strong opinions on some of the changes that have happened recently though.

“I still can’t believe the Felians are gone completely. I mean I just remember them always being here. Then again, so were a lot of groups I suppose. Still, sort of surprised you managed to gain an alliance with the Dornans.” Vera remarks.
“Don’t see why it’s really all that surprising. Heather helped us in the past and she’s running things now. The Dornans aren’t even very religious anymore; they turned their temple into a school of sorts. Don’t think they’ve got many takers yet though.” You say.
“Hm. I’m also still a little concerned about what you did with the Syndicate though. Might have been better in the long run to just pay their price.”
“Are you kidding me Vera? You didn’t see what they were trying to extort from us. Besides, we’ve been okay so far and they haven’t even suddenly tried to raise the rate.”
“I dunno. I know you have a lucky habit of getting over on the Syndicate, but I feel like this is pushing it. I have to think they must know something, but they’re biding their time to lull you into a false sense of security before they strike.”
“Oh trust me, ever since I stepped foot into this city, I’ve been on my guard constantly. Don’t really know any other way to live at this point. However I’m going to soon be hiring a lot of cheap muscle in the form of all the hobgoblins, so I’m slightly less concerned about the Syndicate.”
“What? You can’t seriously be considering recruiting MORE hobs.”
“Why not? They’ll actually be perfect for this. Most of them either come here just itching to break someone’s legs or they go join the fight arena. Though a few odd ones join the Holgard Watch instead, go figure.”
“Maybe, but I’ve noticed a severe increase in hobs in this organization since I came back to Holgard. Just don’t want this place turning into the Roach Leg Tribe.”
“It’s Spiderfang Tribe actually and they’re still far outnumbered for that to happen. Well, for now at least. In any case, most of them have been migrating to Holgard quite a bit over the years. I guess most are learning that city life isn’t all that bad and you can still be just as much of a violent asshole here as you can out in the wild and get routinely paid for it. Hmm, actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I guess it makes sense that a few of them join the Holgard Watch after all.”
“Well your call I guess, at least I don’t have deal with them. Dealing with Warts was enough for me. Though I’m not convinced a bunch of unruly hobs are going to be the end all of extra protection.”
“Hence why we’re also close allies to a group of wizards.”
“You seem pretty confident in our new wizard allies. Just how friendly are you with this Heather? I mean are you fucking her or something?”
“No I’m not actually.”
“Ah, so you’re TRYING to fuck her.”
“Actually I’m not, but I’m not sure what difference it would make to you if I was.”
“None I suppose, though I was just trying to figure out what might have been the motivator to throw your lot in with trusting this sorceress and her adepts. But if you say it was purely a practical and strategic move for the good of the League, then that’s good enough for me.”
“Speaking of fucking, who was that big dark skinned guy who you were reluctant to leave when you were getting off the ship?”
“Oh, that’s Zamed. He’s the captain of the Traveler. He’s a Hessla pirate, we tend to have business with a lot of them in Jicol, but Zamed’s been about the only one I’ve really taken a shine to lately. Still, it’s just as well as he’s a pirate. Don’t think I’d want him around ALL the time. Best to keep these sort of things free and flexible.”
“Interesting. Though I thought Jicol was supposed to be pirate free.”
“Eh, it’s pirate free in that the city doesn’t have to worry about them ever attacking the place, but that doesn’t mean they can’t stop there for supplies as long as they behave. Besides, Zamed’s been more of a privateer recently, though I suppose it’s a thin line. He’s been doing a lot of work for the Delantium Kingdom in their war against Nichan. Which is something I sort of want to bring up with you because it could possibly affect the League.”
“Well guess I better hear it then.”

Vera takes a drink of the rum she’s brought with her from Jicol before continuing.

“Okay, I guess I’ll start at the beginning. Let’s see…what do you know of Peter Varsakken? Youngest son of Vlad.” Vera asks.
“Um, nothing actually. Didn’t know there was another one of Vlad’s spawn running around. Wait, is this another one of his bastards, like you?” you ask with a smirk.
“Oh no. He’s very much legitimate. It’s just that after he had a disagreement with his father and fled the city, all records were pretty much erased of him. He’s basically been living in exile in the Delantium Kingdom. Peter’s disagreement with his father involved the whole breaking away from the Delantium Kingdom in the first place. Peter was the only one who saw it as treason and remained loyal to Delantium. Over the years Peter has been trying to amass an army to take back the city.”
“It’s my understanding that the Delantium Kingdom hasn’t exactly been in a big hurry to retake this place. I mean it’s been decades hasn’t it?”
“Well they’ve been sort of busy with other things, like their recent war with Nichan for example. While the ruling class over there doesn’t want to spend their resources and treasury to take this place back, they certainly won’t turn down someone else willing to do the job, and that’s where Peter comes in. He’s of noble birth, loyal to the kingdom and would be an excellent governor for this city and absorb it back into Delantium’s fold.”
“I see, and how do you know all this?”
“As I said Zamed has been privateering for the Delantium Kingdom and he was contacted by Peter who is still trying to amass a conquering force of men and ships to take back his birthright. In fact Zamed is supposed to be organizing the majority of a flotilla of Hessla privateers”
“And you trust this pirate?”
“Of course not, but I trust the fact that I know how to lay it down good enough that he told me all this stuff in the bedroom without me even asking.”
“Okay, I don’t need details on that part.”
“Anyway, Peter’s been at this for years ever since he got exiled. He’s suffered many set backs in his quest to retake Holgard. Every time he’s been on the verge of being ready, something has happened. This was partially thanks to the Ebony Claw Syndicate sabotaging his efforts in Delantium, and sometimes even the Temple of Fel would hinder his efforts as well. However, since things have changed drastically over the years in this city, he’s in the best position he’s ever been in to retake this place.”
“What makes you think he won’t get sabotaged again by either group? I mean the Ebony Claw might not have a direct presence here, but they’re still making some coin from us. Same is some what true of the Felians, though different reasons. They’re allies with the ECS, so they tend to help them.”
“I don’t think they care this time. I mean thanks to your magical shenanigans they don’t make enough from us for it to make much difference either way I suppose. If the League suffers severely from this invasion, the ECS will most likely just come in directly and finish it off.”
“Well that’s presumptuous that we’re going to get the shit kicked out of us. As long as we don’t stand toe to toe with an invading force and stay out of the damn way, I imagine we’ll get through it. Hell, it isn’t like we don’t have routes out of the city if need be. Honestly though unless this Peter is bringing the full force of the Delantium army, I don’t see him winning. Ludmilla counts wizards among her allies and has a strong fleet of her own, so I question if this Peter is even going to succeed. And say Peter does win, then what? Is this guy some law and order fanatic? He’s a Varsakken and from what I can tell every single one of their family members are corrupt. So it would just be a matter of coming to an understanding with him so business continues as usual.”
“Well that might be easier to do if we dealt with him now then. In fact I sort of wanted to address that idea.”
“Oh?”

Vera goes into the explanation that from the information she’s gathered from Zamed, Peter is most likely going to win. While he doesn’t have the Delantium army at his command, he does have several orc mercenary companies along with a few wizards that he’s managed to make friends with from the Delantium magic university.

She also has heard that while Peter isn’t exactly a Joachimite purity zealot, his time in the Delantium Kingdom has probably given him more of an appreciation for a more orderly society as opposed to one that embraces rampant corruption so readily. So he’s most likely not going to look favorably upon the Nocturnal League.

However, he’s still pragmatic enough that he’d probably give leniency to a group that actively helped him and a deal could very well be made as you said. Vera goes on to say she truly believes that this is the best chance for the Nocturnal League to survive in Holgard.

“You seem to have given this some thought, and while I do often appreciate your input on things, the one problem I have in this case is you’re getting all of this information second hand from a pirate. Now I know you said your vertical smile caused the guy to go all stupid over you, so you’re certain he’s on the up and up. However, HIS information might also be mixed with rumors, half-truths and outright lies that he’s overheard. I mean if you were fucking Peter Varsakken himself and getting this information from him, I might believe the situation is as hopeless as you’re saying.” You say.
“I thought you might feel that way, so how about this then…Peter Varsakken is meeting Zamed. We could go to this meeting as well and we could hash out our demands.” Vera remarks.
“Wait. You’re telling me that you were planning on going to meet with this Peter without me?”
“No! Of course not! I came here first because I wanted to see what your decision would be on this. I mean look, I understand what you’re saying, but based on everything I’ve learned, the outcome seems grim even if we managed to keep our head down during the initial invasion. But, you’re right too, I am getting all this information second hand, so maybe it would be a good idea to actually talk with this Peter in person, before coming to any sort of decision. If we did, you and I could both make an assessment of whether to throw our lot in or not.”
“I dunno…(Sigh) yeah I suppose it couldn’t hurt, though I’m just wondering about the people we already have alliances with. I mean pissing off the Holgard magic school isn’t something I exactly want to do, also you mentioned the ECS has been thwarting this guy’s efforts for a long time, and I’m still not convinced that they won’t still do that even if they haven’t done it yet. By siding with Peter, we could piss them off which wouldn’t be any good either.”
“Well…it’s your call I suppose boss. I just don’t want us to get swept away in the flood of this upcoming conflict. I want to see us survive.”
“Pretty sure we all want that.”

You swear if it isn’t a rebellion or faction war, it’s a fucking invasion in this city. It’s enough to make you want to pick up and just leave everything behind rather than deal with this shit. However, you’ve built something here, so you’re not doing that until all else fails.

Whether or not you can strike a good deal with Peter or not, there is one very personal reason you’d prefer to stay loyal to your current allies and that’s the fact that so far Heather is your only sure lead on getting fixed from your curse. If you backstab them and live, you’re still fucked because there goes a potential cure. It’s selfish, but it’s a pretty strong motivator.

While Vera has said that Peter has wizard connections as well, that’s not a sure thing that you can get help from them. They’re assisting Peter and have no reason to do the same for you.

About the only thing you can do is try to see if Heather and her people might join Peter’s invasion. Hell, if that’s the case then you’d definitely be willing to help Peter as well.

Of course doing that might not go over well either and you’d tip your hand pretty severely. Might be better to talk to Peter first and get all the information from him and then go speak to Heather so you’d at least have something that might be useful to her if worse came to worst in your meeting.
> You talk to Peter first
Vera’s usually got good instincts, if she’s saying that you should at least speak with Peter, then you probably should do it. You can always speak to Heather after you come back depending on how the meeting goes.

“Alright Vera, I’ll meet with Peter. However, I want you to stay here.” You say.
“Wait, why?” Vera asks.
“Because if anything happens I want to make sure someone competent is still in charge of the League. I trust Zamed will be fine in taking just me correct?”
“Yeah, I’ll talk to him, though I really think it would be better if we both went.”
“Again, as I said, I want someone in charge around here. I certainly can’t entrust it all to Warts can I?”
“Hah, guess not. Okay, I’ll speak to Zamed that went he leaves, you’ll be coming with him and he can come pick me up when you return.”
“Yeah, and tell him to make room for ten hobs as well. No way in hell I’m going without at least some back up even if this Peter’s got a whole army behind him.”

Vera nods and leaves to go presumably talk to Zamed. Meanwhile you’ve got to get ready for your first trip aboard a ship.

When you finally board the Traveller, Zamed greets you and shows you to where you’ll be staying on his ship.

“This will be fine.” You say.
“I should certainly hope so, these are the quarters of some of my own crew. As a favor to Vera, I have allowed you to bring aboard your…greenskins and provided comfortable accommodations. I certainly hope your savages don’t get sick all over my ship.”

Zamed’s comments are enough to draw some mean looks from your hobs.

“I’d watch your choice of words if you want the greenskins to remain less savage.” You say.
“Pfft. This is MY fucking ship. I’ll speak how I please. You all had best remember that.” Zamed replies.
“And YOU had best remember that if anything out of the ordinary should happen to me on this trip, you’re not going to survive long enough to enjoy it.”

Zamed now gives you a look like he wants to do something, but instead spits near your feet and walks away. You tell your hobs to keep close to you and be ready for anything.

You certainly hope your meeting with Peter goes better.

Your time aboard the Traveller goes by slowly as there isn’t much to do except wait. You don’t interact much with Zamed and the rest of the crew for obvious reasons. The only thing Zamed tells you is you’re heading towards an island with a small fishing town called Seabreeze which is under Delantium dominion. Peter apparently wants to keep major meetings with criminals away from the mainland for whatever reason.

Hobs are great at protection, but not much for conversation (And unfortunately most of them DO get sick on the trip, apparently hobs don’t take well to sailing), so you mainly just do a lot of thinking about what you’re going to say to Peter when you finally meet him.

After a couple weeks pass you finally get to your destination. An even larger ship is in the all too small harbor of Seabreeze. That one must be Peter’s. Between his ship and the Traveller, there’s barely any room for the small fishing boats to squeeze in.

Eventually you disembark and several armored men equipped with muskets and swords meet you and Zamed.

“You are Zamed, correct?” one of the higher ranking looking ones asks.
“Yes.” Zamed answers.
“The rightful Baron Peter Varsakken has half of your payment ready. You will receive the other half afterwards as agreed. If you follow these men, they will take you to it. Your men will stay here.”

Zamed doesn’t look too concerned about going by himself and just shrugs and follows the Delantium soldiers. The one who was speaking now turns to you.

“You can return to your ship. Your captain will be back shortly.”
“He’s not my captain. I came here on behalf of the Nocturnal League organization in Holgard.” You say.

The man is taken aback.

“I see. I did not know that such a meeting had been arranged.” The man says.
“Neither did I, this was sort of sprung on me at the last second. I was however told by a subordinate that Peter…” you start to say before you’re interrupted.
“BARON PETER.”
“…the Baron…was looking for all the allies he could get in his quest to take back what was rightfully stolen from him.”
“Hmm, indeed he was seeking out potential allies on the inside. I was not however aware that it was more criminals. We have enough of that lot with these pirates masquerading as privateers. Still, Baron Peter Varsakken is a pragmatic man and will listen to what you have to say. Your greenskins will have to stay here and you will turn your weapons over to me obviously.”

You really don’t like this idea, but you’re here now so you might as well go all the way with it. However, you’re not giving your weapons over to this Delantium tight ass. You instead hand them to one of your hobs and tell them to go back to the ship. This is fine with the Delantium solder and he tells you to follow him.

You take a brief walk through the small town of Seabreeze which seems like this is the most attention it’s received in a long time. The inhabitants watch everything.

Soon, you stop at a run down little tavern called the Jolly Lobster. (A much happier sounding name than taverns in Holgard that’s for sure) Surprisingly the place is filled with more Delantium soldiers not doing much of anything except enjoying their drink. Among them is a regal looking man who is probably about your age. You’re guessing that’s probably Peter. He doesn’t look quite how you expected. He seems like he would be more than capable in a fight.

The soldier who escorted you here explains to Peter the situation and his attention is immediately caught. He tells the rest of the soldiers at his table to clear so that you may sit and talk.

As you do so, Peter is already studying you. Delantium soldiers sitting nearby also stare at you.

“You nervous?” Peter asks.
“I’d be a fool if I didn’t have some concerns about my current situation. Though I wasn’t really here to insult you or show disrespect, I was here about a potential alliance. My intentions are nothing but positive.”
“Your intentions are nothing but self serving. You sense change is coming and you want to be on the right side when it comes. It’s perfectly understandable. You are the leader of the infamous Nocturnal League correct?”
“Yes.”

Peter nods.

“I don’t have much information on you, but I do have enough to know that you have an uncanny knack of survival. The Ebony Claw Syndicate provided some of that information.”
“Hm, from what I heard, you weren’t exactly friendly with them.”
“Well, let’s just say things change. Sometimes old antagonists can be new allies, or at least non-antagonists. In fact you happen to be one reason why the Syndicate isn’t actively sabotaging me this time. Indeed, when I liberate Holgard, some of the orc mercenaries that the Syndicate provided will be actively targeting the Nocturnal League. They aren’t exactly happy with you for some reason.”

Well this is news. You aren’t sure if you should be happy or uneasy that Peter is so freely admitting this.

“I have an idea of why, but what I don’t understand is why you would tell me directly.”
“Because I have no real love for the Syndicate. Honestly, I’m just using them for their help in taking back Holgard. I really don’t care if they succeed in their petty revenge against you. That being said, I don’t care about you either. Your organization, if it survives will be a thorn in the Delantium law I intend to re-establish in Holgard and will be dealt with eventually anyway. With this information you could stay and fight which will result in your death either during or after the liberation or you could leave to save yourself. Either way, your organization will not plague Holgard.”
“Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”
“Not at all. You’re here so I figure you have something to say. Perhaps you can convince me of your worth.”

Peter looks at you and leans in.

“So convince me.”

You take a moment to gather up some of the things you thought about saying to Peter and then throw out most of it before you speak.

You tell Peter that a criminal element will always exist in some way in a city as large as Holgard. Better that he deal with a friendly crime lord who can maintain order over it rather than wasting time attempting to stomp it all out. You also remind him that without you around, the Syndicate will definitely attempt to re-establish a presence back in the city and they engage in activities much worse like slave trading than your organization does.

You also say you can easily provide skirmish support as your group is very familiar with the city and the sewers in particular. You’d be able to help pick off Ludmilla’s troops.

Peter seems in intrigued by your arguments, but he doesn’t show any positivity in your favor until you mention that you might be able to get the mages in Holgard on his side.

“If you manage to do that, I will certainly take your organization’s right to exist in Holgard into consideration.”

And that’s about the best you do with Peter. The rest of the discussion is mainly him going on about what he intends to change and similar things. He surprisingly doesn’t ask you much about Ludmilla even though you mention that you met her.

Soon, he says that he has more important business to attend to and dismisses you at which point several soldiers escort you out and most of the way to the Traveller.

The only thing going through your mind during this is that you’d probably be better off not allying with Peter. Even if Heather is receptive to the idea of switching sides, it’s still no safety guarantee for you.

The question remains if you’re going to stay in Holgard and fight or just run off to Jicol and run things there. It’s certainly the easier and safer solution.

When you finally board the Traveller, you’re getting harder stares than you normally are by Zamed’s crew. You also notice a few of them look a little beat up and their clothing is torn.

You chalk it up to perhaps some internal squabble and then when you return to your quarters that’s when you realize what’s happened.

The quarters where you and the hobs were staying at is a wreck. While there aren’t any bodies it’s obvious what happened with all the blood everywhere.

You immediately search the quarters hoping that you can find a weapon of some sort.

“It’s a good thing your hobs still weren’t feeling their best, might have been a more difficult fight. Looking for this?” Zamed says.

You turn around and see him holding your repeating pistol.

“Excellent workmanship. Not sure how you came across it, but rest assured it will be in better hands, much like Vera.” Zamed says.
“Is this what this is about? I’ve never even fucked Vera and never made a move on her!” you say.
“Perhaps not, but she talks about you constantly. Always goes on about how great you are. The way I see it, if you were so great then why the hell did she betray you?”
“What the hell are you on about?”
“Clueless idiot. Vera’s been in cahoots with the Syndicate for a long time now. In fact that’s what this is really about anyway. I’m turning your ass in to the Syndicate for a shitload of coin.”
“What? I don’t believe you. Vera would never betray me!”
“It’s of minor importance. However, you might be right, she might still be a little too sweet on you and I doubt if she’ll believe any story I come up with. Better to just not bother picking her up. Oh well. It was good while it lasted, but as for you, you’re on your way out.”

Zamed points your pistol at you and fires hitting you in the chest. You fall backwards and struggle to breathe for a moment until Zamed walks over and finishes the job by putting two shots more in your head.


The more you think about it, the more this makes sense in a ruthless pragmatic sort of way.

The temple of Fel here could very well become an arm of the Syndicate again, maybe not today or tomorrow, but when it happens, you’re going to be in a much more dangerous position.

You still aren’t exactly sure about the Dornans, but you’re willing to give Heather the benefit of the doubt that she has genuine intentions. This still could all backfire of course, but you’ll have to take that chance too.

However, being an ally is a two way street and Heather did say she would help you in any way she could.

“Okay Heather, I’m going to risk this, but as a show of good will I’m going to need something from you too.” You say.
“Of course. What is it?” Heather asks.
“There’s a representative from the Syndicate here as you know. Now I have to pay him an amount of coin that I don’t particularly want to before he leaves in a few days.”
“Wait, so you want me to kill him?”
“Well, you probably would be better equipped since I do have reason to believe that he’s probably highly skilled in shadow magic. While maybe with a bit of preparation my people could take him since he’s alone, but it wouldn’t be pretty. However, that wouldn’t really solve my problem. The Syndicate would just rightfully assume I killed him and then have good reason to be pissed at me and that wouldn’t be good.”
“So what are you asking exactly?”
“Any way you could alter his mind or something similar?”
“Well there are spells that can do all sorts of things, but again, did you have an idea of what you wanted exactly?”

You and Heather start to discuss each other’s plans. Your situation with Percy is easy enough Heather says, and assures you that she will be able to implement something with the help of her people.

Gloom and his people will be a little more difficult, but the pair of you come up with something that should work. It’ll just require a little bullshit on your part, but you’ve been doing that for so long that you’re definitely an expert in it. In any event, you’re going to go meet with Gloom while Heather plans to ambush Percy.

The next day you head to the Temple of Fel. Several Felians don’t even seem to be bothered by your intrusion, which would be a much different story if Shade or his predecessors were running things.

When one of them asks what your business is at the temple, you simply tell them that you wish to see Gloom at which point they go check to see if he’s available and fortunately he is so you can get this over with today hopefully. (Along with it going smoothly)

You walk through the dark temple and eventually to Gloom’s chambers where he sits writing something. When you enter he smiles and greets you. (You’ve always found his general friendly personality to not quite match his name, let alone his faith)

“Come in, come in, I was just finishing up my latest sermon. Have my faithful been providing an adequate job with your extra security? There haven’t been any issues have there?” Gloom asks.
“No, not at all. In fact I was going to tell you I won’t be needing them after all, seems I overreacted with the Syndicate visit.” You answer.
“Ah, I see. Well better safe than sorry. So how did your meeting with the Syndicate go?”
“Better than I hoped. Worse than I feared. So has the Syndicate been to see you?”
“Us? No. I don’t see why they would. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I figured while the Syndicate isn’t making a direct threatening presence, I figure they might still be snooping about and trying to stir up animosity between allies.”
“Ah, yes I can see where that would be a concern, but I assure you we have no dealings with them even if the Temple of Fel has been considered the Syndicate’s traditional ally. As you know while we are faithful to Fel, we believe in following our own path. We are your allies, not the Syndicate.”
“Yes, this particular temple has been engaged in the concept of flexibility for quite some time now. And I appreciate your dedication to our partnership, which is why I’m puzzled that you did not ask for our help on your own matter.”
“Our matter?”
“Well your attempt to wipe out the Dornans of course.”

Gloom drops his friendly persona, though not to a hostile expression, but more of a serious one.

“I considered that as a private conflict between faith and saw no reason to bother you with it, I know you’re very busy and all. Though I do wonder how you found out about it, since we’ve very good about keeping this quiet. The Baroness would come down on everyone if the two remaining religious factions in the city were openly fighting in the streets.” Gloom says.
“Because the leader of the Dornans came to me yesterday begging for an alliance. She wants me to turn on you. She even gave me one of these again.”

You pull out a solid black orb causing Gloom’s eyes to widen. He remembers a similar magic object was used during the final battle with the Joachimites. You continue to speak quickly before Gloom makes any rash moves.

“Don’t worry my friend, obviously I’m not here for treachery. Besides, I’m here by myself. Even without your magic I would never succeed so it would be a pretty poor plan indeed. I am however giving it to you. Just like I gave this to Shade when we fought the Inquisitor. Here you go.”

Gloom warily looks at you as he slowly takes the orb. When he finally grabs it, he seems to relax a little more, but he’s definitely not comfortable. Still he hasn’t killed you yet, so that’s a good sign. Meanwhile you’re doing your best to remain calm yourself under these conditions, so you continue to speak.

“I have to say I was a little surprised that the Dornan high priestess came to me though. I figured with all their magic they would be more than able to take care of themselves.” You say.
“They’re in a vulnerable state so they need all the help they can get right now. However, they’re still very dangerous. In fact I thought that with their new leadership, they would soon collapse altogether, but as it turned out they have proved more resilient than I thought. They’re attempting to rebuild and I’m not just talking about their numbers, I’m talking about their influence in this city.” Gloom remarks.
“What do you mean?”
“The Dornan high priestess or matriarch as her followers call her now, has made steps in meeting with Baroness Varsakken over the past few months. She obviously intends on gaining favor with Ludmilla and eventually get rid of us and that can’t happen.”
“Wow. Didn’t know that, but isn’t the Baroness a dedicated follower of Fel?”
“Eh, the Baroness has always been a dabbler. Her faith in Fel isn’t the most dedicated. Indeed she probably has always been more interested in learning shadow magic rather than revering Fel. Still, it was useful to have ruler that was friendly towards us. Unfortunately the new Dornan leadership seems have opened their own doors to teaching the ways of magic and Ludmilla is all too eager to jump on such an offer even if it means paying lip service to both gods.”
“Won’t one of these divine beings eventually punish Ludmillia for her fickle nature?” you say mildly jokingly.
“Perhaps, but it my experience the gods do things in their own time and as a mortal I can’t wait that long. In any case it would seem that perhaps Fel has assisted in the more direct destruction of the immediate threat that are the Dornans.”

Gloom examines the orb in his hand after his statement before continuing.

“So what exactly was the plan anyway? How did she even trust you enough?” Gloom asks.
“Oh, she was trying to prey upon my paranoia with the Syndicate, claiming that you would eventually turn against me and other shit. Also during that whole getting Dornan help against the Joachimites, I fucked her once.” You say.
“Truly?”
“Yeah, the Elder at the time was being sort of a dick to her and I bumped into her crying about it. Seeing an opportunity, I sort of reassured her of her worth and well you know how women fall for that sort of thing. One thing lead to another and I think she’s always been a little sweet on me after that. As for the plan, I was supposed to just come in here with my people, break the orb so you couldn’t use any magic and then make sure all of you were dead.”
“Hm, she might as well have placed her faith in Dorna rather than you for all good either would do her. The Dornans do have powerful magic to be sure, but they are poor fighters. Evening the odds with this object and they stand no chance. I’m going to personally enjoy this I believe and you’ve proven that our alliance is indeed a strong one. We will strike their temple in force. I want to make sure none escape, then we’ll destroy it.”
“Did you want the League’s assistance?”
“Well, you’ve done enough already and I never even asked for it. I see now that I probably should have though. I believe we can do this ourselves, however if you still wish to help, I will not turn it down.”
“I’ll be there with a few of my people. Couldn’t hurt.”

Gloom tells you that he’ll organize an attack in a few days, you tell him that works for you since you have some other business to attend to.

A couple days pass and that other business finally comes to pass and this is what you’ve been more concerned about.

You meet Percy at the same tavern with the payment. Once again he’s very friendly.

“On time as usual. Very glad that you value promptness as I am in a bit of a hurry. I believe I may have had too much fun here and I should be getting back. I thank you for your suggestions on where to go.” Percy says.
“No problem, so will you be back next month at this time?” you ask.
“Probably not me, but someone will. Probably of much lesser importance of course. I was just here this time to extend the hand and make the deal as it were. Still glad we came to one.”
“Yes, I agree. Better for business all around.”
“Yes! Yes exactly!”
“Anyway, I have your payment. Um, just so we’re clear how much was it again?”
“Oh come on now. You trying one last try at lowering the price? I told you I wasn’t here to haggle. You know it was a thousand gold pieces.”
“Yes, I knew, and I have it here. Just a poor attempt at a joke I suppose.”
“Hm, well jokes are fine, but never about the Syndicate business. I hope you remember that.”
“I will.”

You have two of your hobgoblin muscle show Percy a large chest of gold to which he nods and you tell them to load it on the carriage outside.

“And with that, our business is concluded. I bid you good day and wish you well in your future endeavors, especially if it’s going to make the Syndicate money!”

Percy stands up, shaking your hand and leaves.

You can’t believe that worked. You don’t know what the hell Heather did to him, but he actually believed he only asked you for a thousand gold monthly payment as opposed to the much larger sum he asked before.

You can imagine his superiors are going to be upset, but it won’t be at you, it’ll be at him for fucking up a deal that they’re stuck with now. Well at least you hope they won’t try to re-negotiate immediately. You’ve bought yourself a little more time at least.

Meanwhile, you still have to go stab the Felians in the back though you’re sort of wondering about still going through with that now what you’ve heard about Heather cozying up to the Baroness.

Seems like now more than ever she’s attempting to use you as a pawn. Granted she was allying with you for mutual benefit before, but this seems a little different now. What exactly is she planning?

Then again, if she is getting friendly with the Baroness, is it really going to make a difference to you? And Heather did just come through for you on the Syndicate thing.
> You change your mind
You got what you wanted from Heather as far as the Syndicate was concerned. It’s a shitty situation, but you’re doing what you got to do to survive it.

Not that you have some great love for the Felians, and you don’t even mind Heather, but who knows what the hell her real agenda is if she’s making friends in high places. Plus better the devil you know than the one you don’t.

All that remains is somehow warning Gloom about the orb. It’s going to be tough considering you convinced him to take it in the first place. Last thing you want to happen is to arouse suspicion from him.

Upon thinking about it you decide you’ll just have to take Heather by surprise when you accompany Gloom on his invasion of the temple. She’ll be expecting you to be on her side, so you should have the drop on her and her people. You’ll need to make those shots count and attempt to take cover immediately.

After the battle, you can claim ignorance about the orb and just tell Gloom that she must have been attempting to kill you by giving you a non-working one in the first place.

The night of the attack comes and you meet with Gloom just a few blocks away from the Dornan Temple, you have your usual hob retinue with you. (You’re really getting used to having these guys around nowadays) Gloom is with a few of his own people, but even without magic powers you can sense some are probably nearby in the shadows.

“Once again, glad that this is a joint effort though I don’t think it was necessary to bring as many people with you as you did. The orb is going to nullify all magic and when that happens, those Dornan priests aren’t going to be much match for us.” Gloom says.
“Yeah, well I want to be on the safe side. We’ll come in with your people.” You say.
“I appreciate it. This is something that’s been a long time coming. Honestly, it was foolish to believe they wouldn’t be a problem. Shadow Master Shade warned me to always watch them you know, just before he died. A few of his interpretations of the faith may have been a bit too restrictive, but he had his own wisdom on practical matters.”

With those last words all of you march towards the temple. The few wanderers still outside in the area immediately go find shelter when they see a group of mean looking hobgoblins and Felians walking down the street.

The Dornan Temple doesn’t even have their usual lookout standing outside, though you imagine the Dornans have some sort of magical detection going on and this plan has already been expected.

Gloom blasts the temple’s doors off their hinges with a dark magic bolt of some sort. Then he takes the lead, you tell your hobgoblins to rush forward for the kill as soon as the orb is dropped. They faithfully obey and you all enter with the crowd of Felians that are entering the temple.

Heather and her much smaller group are already there to meet the Felians.

“It ends today and the faith of Fel will rule supreme in the city at last!” Gloom shouts and throws down the orb. A bit more dramatic than you’d expect from a Felian, but then Gloom’s whole attack tonight is a bit more theatrical than a typical Felian would go about this. Good thing too, since if he behaved more like his predecessors he wouldn’t be going in so recklessly like this.

No sooner has Gloom made his announcement, a white light washes over the room and suddenly all of Gloom’s previously shadow cloaked people are now visible. Naturally Gloom just assumes this is just the effects of the orb, but he’s soon very surprised to learn that the Dornans have not lost any of their magic abilities at all.

Knowing what’s really going on, you waste no time in firing at Heather while your hobs rush forward to attack.

A couple of the Dornan acolytes are cut down as they were caught completely off guard by this, however your own attack has proven ineffective against Heather who apparently had a protective spell up just in case you decided to betray her.

In fact as the bullets fail to hurt her, she just turns her head and looks at you with a minor head shake.

“Shit…”

They may be a small group, but this temple is where their magic is the most powerful.

Most of your hobs are incinerated instantly by the remaining Dornan spells. A lot of the Felians too, before Gloom orders a retreat. He doesn’t make it out though before he’s brought down by some spell that causes him to age rapidly and then fall over dead.

You don’t make it out either. A spell freezes you in place and while you helplessly watch others escape or die in front of you, you can only imagine what grim fate Heather has in store for you after this is over.

As it turns out, Heather’s imagination is a lot darker than yours. She manages to punish you for a week before she contacts the Syndicate about your double cross on them and hands you over.

They’re more than happy to finish the job of putting you out of your misery.