Session 3: The man who loved too much

Quest: The Man who Loved too much
Quest Giver: Matthias
Time to Complete: One night
Completion Location: The Tower of the Inquisition

You have been hired by Matthias, a Cabal Sorceror, to kill Althea, one of the leaders of the Cabal and head of the Cabals secret police. He assures you that she will be found in her chambers in the northern Tower at midnight tonight.

Matthias has made arrangements for as many of the Cabal members present in the tower to be away that night. While Althea will not be alone there will be far fewer sorcerers present. He is also able to provide a number of amulets which will allow you to pass through the outer gardens surrounding the Tower without being molested by its guardians.

Matthias has agreed to negate the wards which Althea keeps on her private chambers and to lay a spell of silence outside of her room so that she will not be alerted to any disturbance. He explains that he cannot assist you directly as he is bound to her by certain blood oaths and tattoo magic, bindings he hopes to break by killing her. Matthias has provided detailed information on the layout of the Tower and its guards. There are four stories above ground and three below ground.

On entering the Tower you will find yourselves in a large circular meeting hall. Twin staircases wind their way up either side of the walls terminating in a large balcony and doors to the first floor. Guarding these doors is the demon Taltos, a mass of clawed tentacles, misshapen eyeballs and a vicious hooked beak. Taltos will only permit initiated members of the Cabal beyond this point. Assuming none of you wish to be initiated into the Cabal then you must overcome him. He has prodigious strength but is a slow moving creature. Be warned, he can detach smaller parts of himself to pursue his enemies much more closely.

On the first floor you will find the Chamber of Summoning. Here is where members of the Cabal seek to draw their guardian creatures from the minds of tormented dreamers. The room is unlikely to be in use but if it is beware the ritual candles. They produce incense designed to facilitate the travel of the mind to the outer realms of dream where demons lurk and will overcome those with weak wills. You will find a demon bound in this room. It is a creature of lies and deception, do not listen to it if you value your souls.

The second floor contains the personal chambers of the various ranking Cabal members living in the Tower. Currently this consists of Matthias, Korina and Yannis. All three will be out of the Tower that night on Cabal business. You are warned not to enter the various chambers on this level as many contain dangerous traps or bound demons. The third floor contains Altheas personal chambers. Matthias cannot tell you anything of this floor as Althea permits no-one in here.

Below the Tower lie two levels. The first level contains the guard and slave quarters. The demon Jacurutu is master here and very dangerous. He infuses the more violent prisoners with a fraction of his demonic might granting them great strength. He also holds the keys to the second level, The Punishment Cages. Jacurutu is personally bound to Althea and she will instantly know if he is slain.

On the second level are kept the various prisoners of importance to Althea who are not shipped off to the Walls for being too dangerous. It is here that Artemis will find his sister if she is still alive. The prisoners hang in cages, exposed to the darkness and below them lies a great fall into the depths of the City’s underways. Sometimes things crawl up from below to seek out the prisoners and one of Jacurutus tasks is to drive them back down. If you are cut off from the main entrance you may be able to escape this way.

Be warned that you may find slaves of all nations and types anywhere within the Tower. Few are likely to cause you any inconvenience. Mostly they are kept sedated with a variety of powerful narcotics.

Finally be aware that once Althea is dead the other leaders of the Cabal will become aware of it. They are linked to each other by sorcery. Both Darius and Belmondo will move to find out what happened, each suspecting the other of duplicity. It is likely they will arrive at the tower with reinforcements within 10 – 15 minutes. You must be out of there before they arrive or you will die.

The Grub has promised his assistance. This will be in two forms. Firstly he will raise a sorcerous cloud across the City, one which will prevent magical contact across the entire City as well as blocking most forms of divination. Secondly he will have people stationed outside the Tower. They will be able to intercept any human trying to escape with news of what is happening. If one of the guardian demons gets out then he cannot help you and you must cut short your stay accordingly.

Quest Rewards:

5000gp
The spell books of Althea the Sorceress
Kallista Antarion
Any other loot you manage to pry out of the place