# 31_20201212 Sarthos asks for help ## Session Summary Leaving the teleportation room, Ka'ira forces open the door to the Alchemist's Lab, where Xio stuffs her pack full of alchemical reagents to make potions and finds a scroll that would allow her to purify water. We then attempt to leave the castle through the Great Hall, intending to tell Madame Rosene what we've learned in the castle. However, we are met by 50 Mintarn mercenaries that demand the crown, and attack us when we refuse to hand it over. We flee into the Great Hall and bar the door, and hear the sounds of mercenaries dying to a mysterious cold force. Most of the mercenaries flee, leaving five of their dead behind. One of them, however, stays to talk to us. It is Sarthos, the leader of Neverember's guard, and the formidable foe that we faced in [[01_20200919 Ambush at Broken Arrow Taphouse]]. He tells us that he is under a compulsion spell that Sabine placed on him using her sword. He asks us to free him from the compulsion by taking or destroying her sword. Wanting answers, we ask Hill to scout ahead for us to see whether there are mercenaries camping at the bottom of the hill. ^summary ## Recap ![[30_20201211 Getting out of Castle Never#^summary]] ## Log - There are rooms that people have moved through, and there are some signs of scratch marks on the walls or furs that have been added since we were last there. - The ghosts of the soliders seem more solid. They're brighter and a bit easier to see. - The [[Ettercap]] next to the [[Alchemist's Lab]] has been eaten. It looks like it was eaten by an insect. - Ka'ira tries to open the door. It opens! It's a metal door that has been reinforced. She's able to peel the metal off the door hinge. - Smell of chemicals assaults our nostrils. - Tables and flasks and jars of different alchemical reagents. There are some books and notes, like somebody was not prepared to leave when this room was left. Some of the flasks have been burnt because the flames underneath them were left on. - Alchemical laboratory and source of reagents - The notes are from someone who has been trying to create alchemical formulas of various kinds. Hard to understand them without a feat for Alchemy. - Alchemical notes! But I can't really carry them all. I should probably just go back when I can. - Coins weigh 50 gp per pound - 2052.50 gp worth of Alchemical Reagents - 2058 gp - Except one scroll that is arcane. - Scroll: [[Purify Water (ritual)]] - [[Great Hall]] - The ghostly servants have started to clean it - they can affect things now. - The door to the north is still closed. - The Great Door is wide open - This is probably because the [[Spire Spider]] skittered from the spire, through the [[Servants' Entrance]], and out of the [[Great Hall]]. If so, it's quite smart - it was able to unbar it. - The ghosts there are a bit more solid. - 50 [[Mintarn mercenaries]] are waiting for us outside Castle Never! - A black-bearded human seems to be leading the group - Ka'ira tries to talk to them, but they're just mercenaries-- they don't care about who's the rightful heir. They just care about getting paid. They begin to charge at us. - We rush back into the castle and bar the door. We hear yells from the other side of the door as something attacks the mercenaries. "So cold!" This is likely the [[Spire Spider]]. - We hear sounds of the mercenaries leaving ("We need to tell [[Sabine]] about this!"). When we open the door again, we see that five of them are lying on the ground. - I Sacred Flame the five bodies, to be sure. Not sure if they were dead before, but they're certainly dead now... - Familiar-looking guy stayed behind - [[Sarthos]]!!! - I failed on a [[Truenaming (feat)]] check for him - [[Sabine]] is compelling him to obey. She controls his will through her sword. He is an unwilling servant. - He is unarmed and wants our help: destroy or acquire her sword. - She controls him - Sarthos - humble duelist - Sabine's sword is unnaturally sharp. It can decapitate with one hit. Or just sever limbs. - ''[[Tempus]] bless you." - I gave 3 topazes to HIll -