'Thaum was unwell following our last meeting with you. So unwell that we had, at great cost, to secure the services of a High Priest. It left Thaum a pauper.' Cassandra may be suggesting that he has been brought back from the dead, or perhaps that he was near mortally wounded. She goes on: 'There are many dark places in the Rift in which to hide. There is no telling whom you might meet, Avenger, in the everlasting darkness.' Then: 'I will answer no more questions, but I will tell you this. When you reach the fourth tier, take the narrow way. The Way of Thrones has been baited as a trap for you, Avenger, a trap that even you cannot hope to survive.'
Ughhhhh, look Mark & Jamie, I know this is openly your homebrew D&D world, but you can't just casually drop high priests bringing back the dead for money into your setting. Avenger's fucking
name is about the consequences of irrevocable death. All the emotional weight of the personal losses and daring assassinations in this series is badly undermined by commercial rezzing. Pay better attention.
It would mean certain death for Glaivas, if he still lives, were you to detain Cassandra, so you tell her that she is free to leaveand forbid her to enter the city again on pain of death. If you have Cassandra's sword, you may decide for yourself whether she should be allowed to depart with it.
As she leaves, she says 'We may yet meet again, Avenger, or are you too craven to take up the quest?' Now you must decide what to do about the plight of your poor friend Glaivas. Any action you make should be taken quickly, lest Cassandra be spending her time brewing some terrible trap or ambush for you in the Rift.
To take the Sceptre into the Bowels of Orb is to expose it and yourself to the gravest danger. Yet you remember how Glaivas has already indebted you to him many times over. If it were not for the warning of Glaivas that fateful day on the Isle of Tranquil Dreams, your god Kwon would have been incarcerated in Inferno. Today you would probably not now be Overlord of the city, as he risked his life for you in battle against the Legion of the Sword of Doom. Your course is clear: you will risk all to save your friend.
You cannot ask another o share with you the dangers of the Rift. Foxglove must come with you as punishment for deserting her city in its time of need. She may be useful to you. But there is no point in taking an armed band. No matter how large, it would be outnumbered by the denizens of the Rift. Stealth will be your greatest asset. You take the Sceptre and swathe it in black cloth, then hide it inside your ninja costume.
Leaving Gwyneth orders to publish the news that you are journeying to meet two saviors of the city, you prepare to set off to that darkest pit of evil, the Bowels of Orb. one other artefact you take from the royal armory, Torch of Lumen, an ebony rod topped by a cone of alabaster. When the alabaster is touched, it gives off a constant light that will be invaluable in the eternal darkness of the Rift. It was enchanted by your father's most powerful sorcerer and looks to all but its bearer as an ordinary brazier.
If you have been injured, you can receive healing before you depart. Restore your Endurance to 20.
If there's a reason you can't just leave the Sceptre safely at home, I missed it.
The Rift has been a cauldron of evil since time immemorial. All manner of wicked and unnatural creatures spawn there, giving rise to an endless stream of evil pouring from the dark chasm across the lands of men. Dark Elves, sisters of Nullaq, Orcs, Old Ones, Sons of Nil, Plague-Trolls, these are but a few of the denizens lurking in the unending darkness.
The chasm itself is like an immense gorge surrounded by a honeycomb of natural tunnels and carven halls which stretch to the very center of Orb. A man could walk for a lifetime in the Bowels of Orb and still not trace every catacomb and vault. You decide to make for the northern end of the Rift.
Foxglove retrieves a few of her old clothes before you leave and you have to keep her from packing an entire trousseau. She rides out behind you on a white mare which you hold on a leading rein, wearing scarlet and black, kept warm by a sable cloak. you leave the city under cover of darkness and camp the following evening, by which time Foxglove is complaining of exhaustion, though she has ridden and you have walked. You are not far from the River of Beasts.
• Stay up all night in case she tries to escape?
• Sleep soundly and trust to your alertness to awake you if anything is amiss?
