Chapter 9, Part III: All in the Cards
Written by Ben
The party awoke on the Dream Suite again, greeted by Adrian and Tiffany. No wait, it's Adalair and Trixie. The duo invited the party to listen to the murmurs of Concordia, which led to observing a group of six undead thralls of Zigorby playing an interesting card game, the name of which the team did not catch.
The game having finished, the party awoke (for real this time) in the Underdark caves of Concordia, with Hymarc watching over them. A brief discussion ensued on the options available, resulting in the party deciding to visit all of the groups under Zigorby and Hymarc telling the party where to start searching.
Beginning with the Deftdriders, the party found a door with a lightning bolt on the door. Knocking and convincing those inside to open the door, Xerxes and Vance led a discussion with their leader, Rickon, on the plan for defeating Zigorby. Rickon requested the party find a missing spy in return for information on Zigorby's weaknesses. The party agreed and the spy was described as "always wins first" whose real name was Chad but codename unknown. The party also had the thought to get the leaders of each group together to discuss a plan against Zigorby. Unfortunately, Rickon informed the party that, were the groups to come together against her in any way, she would use her enthrallment over them to turn them against each other. The plan then turned into getting as much assistance from the groups separately, followed by the groups all "patrolling" as far from Zigorby's throne room as possible, in case she calls on them when the party attacks.
Leaving Rickon behind and looking for the Webweavers, the party discovered and investigated a library. On the inside, there was a four-armed insect-like creature sitting on a couch. Upon approach, she introduced herself as Akara, the leader of the Webweavers. She also requested the party find their missing spy in exchange for extra defense against Zigorby's mind control, which the party again agreed to. This spy was described as Artistic.
Leaving Akara and heading to the final groups headquarters, the party discovered it was a large colosseum with thousands in the stands. A large beetle-like creature burst out of the ground as the party approached, and the debris of his explosive entrance landed squarely on Xerxes head. He introduced himself as Valien, the leader of the Iron Carapace, and immediately hit it off with Tagg. He told the party that his missing spy had information and knowledge on how to sabotage certain defenses within the castle. Valien attempted to tell the party the name of his spy, but could only remember that their name started with a vowel. The party again agreed, and quickly set to work finding the missing spies.
Upon leaving the colosseum, Nohki found a building that looked like a store. Inside, he found an undead thrall named Lenny Helms, who taught Nohki a new recipe using Concordian grapes, flour, sugar, and a drop of sheep's milk. The rest of the party briefly heard a slight commotion from near the store, which could only have come from the two adjacent buildings.
The party took a chance on the left building, and, within, Xerxes found a journal entry signed with the same signature as the letter from Lefty London that was shot into Drez when the party first arrived in Solendia. In the back of the building, the party discovered the exact people they saw playing the card game that Adalair and Trixie had shown them in the Dream Suite. The party used their new-fangled bracelets to turn into ghosts to pass through the rubble blocking their path.
The party's shocking appearance through solid rock, their transformation from ghosts into real people, and their less-than-smooth introduction led to a rather confusing and chaotic series of introductions. The party had to deduce which of the card players were the spies described to them. Unfortunately, the party only figured out two of the three, correctly sending Blair to Akara and Isosoles (Isosceles) to Valien, but incorrectly asking Grendelle to go to Rickon.
Returning to Akara first, Blair granted the party increased defense against Zigorby's mind control. However, Grendelle also returned to Akara, causing the party to realize their mistake and attempt to follow the three non-spies that were at the card game. Upon tracking the trio to a poison lake, a tentacle lashed at Vance causing the party to abandon their search and return to Valien, who ordered Isosoles to sabotage the defenses and warn them of the throne room. Last but not least, the party returned to Rickon with the unfortunate information that Haywood, the actual spy, was again missing. Rickon, therefore, informed the party that this likely meant Zigorby knew something was up.
All spies found and returned, or dead, the three groups under Zigorby followed their agreements and left to patrol as far from the castle as possible, and the party began their incursion upon the castle.
An intense search through the dining room, ballroom, hallways, armory, kitchen, chapel, and library led the party to find two more journal entries and a skeleton named Helena who was part of ORC from 200+ years ago who came to Concordia in search of the Nexus of Astral Tides, the connection between the Material Plane and the land of the gods. Helena explained, unwillingly, that she was part of Syla's branch of ORC (Syla being a vampire, hence the fanged mouth symbol), and that she and her squad are the cause of Zigorby transforming from the beloved ruler of Concordia for 1000+ years, into the cursed monster that sadly destroyed her own kingdom.
Most importantly, the three journal entries detailed the ideas of a Kraven Guard adventurer, explaining their anticipation of finding the Nexus themselves, and their suspicion that Zigorby herself IS the Nexus.