Deprimer heads to the Vallaki city square in the late afternoon. His rest, though uninterrupted, has left him nearly as weary as before. He climbs to the top of the speaker’s platform and looks out over the dour faces of several hundred citizens of Vallaki. Steeling himself, Derimer asks that the citizens with the greatest need line up so that he may better know what must be done first within the Vallaki.
The first in line, a grim-faced man, introduces himself as Jesper Hasbellov. He lets Deprimer know that his family desperately relies on funds once shared by the old Burgomaster. This small amount of money, a pittance, really, keeps his children from going to bed hungry. And they have not eaten since “…before your eminence came to power,” Hesbellov says, almost apologetically.
Gulping, Deprimer lets the man know gently that he will do his best, but that contributions of money will likely end, at least for now. Habellov goes away angry, and loudly gathers a crowd of equally hostile seeming people at the side of the crowd. The muttering overheard is that things worked under the old Burgonmaster, but no longer work under the new.
Next, an older, heavyset woman appears before Deprimer. She introduces herself as Izobel Steinmetz, a stonecutter. She explains she has six employees depending on a contract that Baron Vallakovich made to enlarge the Burgomaster’s mansion. That will go forward, will it not?
Deprimer, bracing himself, tells Steinmetz that the contract must be postponed due to the low funds in city coffers. “Do you have other work?” he asks gently.
The woman’s eyes flash, “I am supposed to repair the fountain in the center if the square, ruined by your friend, the large hairy one! A bill also to be paid by the city of Vallaki!” Izobel Steinmetz gives Deprimer her back and storms away, obviously furious.
Giving up, the druid turns to Dunlar, and orders that names and needs continue to be collected. Then, Deprimer addresses the crowd yet again. He begins to speak eloquently about the empty coffers left by the former Burgomaster, and the necessity of belt-tightening measures.
The crowd boos, and a rotten cabbage flies from a knot of people, striking Deprimer in the chest. With silent dignity, Deprimer brushes the worst of the mess from his cloak. He steps forward and states, “I ask the people of Vallaki, those who have extra that they can part with, to donate to a fund to support Vallaki’s neediest. I myself will give to this fund…”.
From the back of the audience, a voice bellows, "How much are you giving?”
Deprimer holds up his purse for all to see, “I pledge the only gold I currently have, 5 gold pieces. I will give more after I sell some of my things.” There is more booing as Deprimer leaves accompanied by two watchful two guards.
The small group head to a pawn shop. Deprimer is disappointed to find that he can get very little gold for the sword, the masterwork dagger and the ring that he leaves in the keeping of Dragomir Corbatek, the pawn broker.
He is met back at the Burgomaster’s mansion by a ragged old woman who presses, 5 copper pieces into his hand. “I am Elena Bellinski. For the poor, she tells him, and the blessings of Goth be upon you!” she rasps, then totters away.
“And upon you!” responds Deprimer, amazed by generosity of someone who appears to have so little herself.
The ruling of Vallaki is proving to be a more complex puzzle than he might ever have dreamed.
⚔
The search of the tower continues. After dispatching yet another massive spider, Komzin finds a eyepatch that has a faint glamour to it. He discovers that it extends his vision in the dark. Useful. He also tucks away a quiver of 15 very finely made hollow steel arrows fletched with red feathers. These also shimmer with arcane power.
One room over, Rakthe opens the low door on the south wall to find a very spare room with two small beds. Beneath one, they find a tower shield. It carries a blazon of a snowflake upon it. They take it, pleased with the heavy, six-foot-tall, gracefully arcing steel plate.
At the top of the central stairs, Friedrich the dog begins barking.
Krelldutt moves to comfort the animal, and tells him he’s going to head up the small, circular staircase in the washroom to check out whatever is bothering the dog. Friedrich whines, as if threatened. Krelldutt rethinks his plan, and calls out, “Does anyone want to check out the floor above us for valuables?”
“Valuables?” Duster bolts out of the room he’s been searching and dashes up the stairs. Immediately, he becomes very aware of the growing stench of brimstone. As he reaches the top of the circular stairs, he sees a scarlet glow from an enormous summoning circle. One side of the circle has been erased. Whatever was called is now loose and in this world.
In the faint glow of the arcane conjuration magic, Duster can see the bodies of two deathly still figures on the far side of the great, round room. There, the crumpled forms of Izek Strazni and Ireena lay on their backs, unmoving. Blood has pooled beneath the lifeless Strazni, whose neck is crooked at an unnatural angle. A few feet away, Duster can see that Ireena’s chest rises, but only just. She is very pale.
Without warning, as if from out of nowhere, an enormous creature appears at Duster’s elbow. It towers over him, its misshapen form a grotesque blend of fiendish features. Its massive, muscular torso tapers into a canine lower half whose claws click against the cold stone floor. One arm ends in savage talons while the other bears an oversized, gnarled hand. The arm is so oversized that the muscular, clawed fingers reach nearly to the floor. Its bull-like head sweeps from side to side, nostrils flaring as it fixes Duster with calculating goatish eyes that sparkle with intelligence.
Its voice emerges as a disturbing blend of growls and precise, cultured speech: “I am Morach, devoted follower of Levistus, Lord of Stygia. Who are you?”
The kenku, using the mimickry granted to all its kind, responds, “I am Duster, devoted follower of Levistus, Lord of Stygia.”
The creature regards him closely, then asks, “Were you summoned here by Brother Strazni?”
Duster cocks his head to one side, then says, “No.”
Morach smiles, his lips peeling back to reveal hundreds of needle-like teeth. “Then welcome, Brother Duster! Strazni was a disappointment. He thought to summon me…me…to charge me with the slaughter of Strahd while our Master yet languishes in prison!”
The devil shrugs before going on, “How predictable mortal affections prove to be,” it rumbles, gesturing dismissively at Izek’s body. “This pactbound’s obsession with the Kolyana woman proved… inconvenient. His devotion to her clouded his usefulness to our cause.”
“No matter! My time on this plane grows short and I must arrange our Lord’s rescue. His patience is not infinite, even for one entombed in ice for millennia. Decide. Will you be the instruments of Levistus’ liberation… or merely another soul to fill his frozen halls?
The creature has begun circling the kenku with predatory grace, its doglike lower half leaving a trail of enormous, frosty paw prints on the flagstone floor. It is suddenly upon him, like lightning, bent over the diminutive kenku. The devil’s massive form casts a long shadow over Duster in the dim light of the conjuring circle.
“Are you here to accept the charge to free our Lord Levistus from his icy prison?” hisses Morach.
Without hesitating, Duster squawks unequivocally, “Yes!”
Morach straightens, giving Duster some space to back up. The devil continues, “Excellent, even from his crystalline tomb, our Lord sends his thanks that will reach across the planes.” The creature’s bull-like head lowers, bringing its horned visage again uncomfortably close. “Name your price.”
Duster withdraws the stick of chalk he found on the floor below and inscribes ‘50,000‘ on the tiled floor.
Nodding, Morach asks, “Are your foolish companions one floor belwo us going to accompany you on this most dangerous of missions?”
Duster thinks a moment, then nods, enthusiastically.
Again, Morach smiles his disconcerting smile. “Free our master from his prison, and the rewards will be,” Morach gestures to the number that Duster has written, “… substantial. Power beyond your mortal comprehension. Dominion over cold and darkness that would make even Strahd’s control of this pitiful realm seem trivial. I will even throw in the woman to sweeten the deal!” Morach gestures to the inert Ireena.
After a moment, the devil’s eyes narrow. “Fail, and you will find yourselves facing the boundless wrath of an archdevil. Your souls will know an eternity of torment beneath the glacial expanse of Stygia. Your party will travel to the Amber Temple, which holds the key to our master’s freedom. Ancient magics, bound in amber, waiting for hands bold enough—or perhaps foolish enough—to unleash them.”
Its oversized hand clenches into a fist, knuckles cracking with the sound of breaking ice. In its smaller hand, it holds a parchment, which it thrusts at Duster. Duster recognizes it is a contract. At its bottom, his own name, in his signature.
“Have your companions add their signature to the contract and you may go.”
Duster darts down the stairs, contract in hand, pausing to add the names of each member of the party with his skills as a forger: Krelldutt. Komzin. Rakthe. These join his own.
As a final thought, Duster adds 'Deprimer' to the bottom of the contract, now crowded with names that have begun to glow silvery blue.
He continues down the stairs to find his comrades.
