| Session Date | December 17, 2022 |
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| Base XP Gained | 12222 |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
The next morning, the party was rested and recovered. Hans used the crystal ball to scry on Alcibard. He looked like he was getting dressed in a bedroom. Given the lighting in it, Hans believed the room was not east or south facing. This was not much to go on, so the party tried to learn what they could from the Thief With No Name. He told them that Alcibard’s residence and surrounding streets were well guarded by the mercenaries he’d hired, perhaps a dozen outside at any given time with more certainly inside. There was a possibility he’d even hired a wizard for additional protection. The building adjacent to it were all owned by “Old Order” families (i.e. the remnant nobility of the old Lormyrrian Empire).
The party also learned that those Old Order families were generally opposed to capitulating to the Giant King. However, after his surrender to them, Alcibard had apparently convinced them that, under the new regime, their ancient privileges would be restored (the real power in the city had been the Traders Guild, which the Old Order looked at as upstarts, even while envying them their wealth). These privileges had not materialized and there was apparently some grumbling about that. Regardless, Alcibard remained at least the face of the occupation authority and he could be expected to make his semi-regular trek to the Citadel any day now.
The party decided that they would attempt to abduct Alcibard and spent a great deal of time plotting and planning this, focusing their efforts on the Upper Bridge. Deaglan and ZZ mad their way to a tavern between the New Gate and the bridge to scout while Sirius, Dane, and the Thief became invisible and conducted a reconnaissance of the bridge from above and below to examine it for traps or magical wards of any sort. Although the bridge seemed imbued with some form of magic, it did not appear to be trapped or warded in any way. However, while finishing this up, the adventurers saw Alcibard himself and a large entourage of mercenaries and others coming their way. The party let him pass though staying close enough that Sirius’ detect magic spell determined that the former general, now governor, was well equipped with magic items!
With Alcibard heading to the Citadel, the party regrouped and finalized pans to snatch Alcibard on his return. A few hours later he began his return transit to his residence and the party hit him at the bridge. The short version (since there were so many moving parts) was that a passwall from Hans’ wand created a temporary hole in the bridge through which Alcibard dropped into a waiting web spell. The spellcasters all threw things to hide the party, hold Alcibard, and otherwise generate mass confusion. It worked quite well, despite the complexity! The mercenaries were utterly flummoxed and had no idea what to do, or even who to fight! In the complete chaos, the party managed to extract Alcibard and eventually make their way back to the safe house.
There, they interrogated Alcibard. He very strongly believed he had done the right thing in surrendering. Had Manston resisted to the last, they would’ve been destroyed utterly. Now, at least, there was some hope that the Giant King might eventually be beaten by some other force (Dwarves or Elves, maybe, though he bitterly resented their lack of help thus far) and Manston freed with its populace still alive. He was appalled by the clerical insurrection that had been lately crushed. He opined that, if they’d retaken the city, the Giant King would’ve simply moved an army back and crushed them utterly. He called them fools, not the least reason being that the city was crawling with spies, Lycanthropes and others.
Regarding the enemy, he reinforced that the real power was Glumnir, the Fire Giant. Alcibard claimed to have no real power and was a mere figurehead, typically bullied and bossed around by the giant. Beyond him, there were Trolls, Ettins, other Giants, and more in the Citadel right now. There were also three powerful spellcasters, adventurer-mercenaries sent to back up Glumnir. This alarmed the party when they realized that a locate object spell could easily find the safe house and might even now be happening. In a rush, the party prepared to flee. The Thief With No Name, usually quite a passive fellow, grew suddenly passionate and said the party should kill Alcibard right then and there. The party refused and the Thief was clearly angry at this.
The party now fled by sundry means, regrouping across the Blueflood at the little horse encampment run by Dane’s squire. Feeling more secure now, the party continued to question Alcibard. The Gnomes had indeed resisted the Giant King but had themselves been crushed and fled into the hills to escape. He told them that Jarl Vostok had been going to gather additional forces for the Manston garrison because of the party. He also had heard a rumor that the Giant King himself might be coming to Manston, though when Gulliveg might do so was unclear.
The party seemed to come around that perhaps Alcibard was not the full villain they’d thought and might be useful in some way. So, they broached an idea to trade him for the six Dwarves still being held (and Hans’ ship). A message was duly dispatched top the city and a response came swiftly that, yes, a trade was acceptable. The following day, envoys of the occupation formally traded the Dwarves and the ship for Alcibard. His last words had been that, though they had much different methods, their goals were the same. The trade completed, the party and six rather thin but happy Dwarves sailed on to Far Andor. After a brief stay there, the party and accompanying Dwarves made the long journey back to the city of Kazakh, in the Dwarf Kingdom of Khwarizm
A side note, the party kept a number of Alcibard's magic items surety for his behavior. This included a Drow-made shortsword named Black Sting,a gift from the Giant King. The blade was clearly sentient and evil so the party broke it (after some effort).