Titus had put his sword away after the zombie crumbled, and he then listened with growing concern as the prince's men relayed their news to him.

When they were done, the fighter shook his head. "Alright, I say we get the, um... our royal leader back to the castle as quickly as we can. It's the safest place for him now--even if that's not saying much--and we can regroup and plan there." He hesitated, not quite sure of his next words. "I suspect this Vindicator might listen to reason. Might. If we can show that he really is being deceived and used, it may prove enough of an insult to his pride to sway him. If not..."

He glanced over towards Fuego. "...then it would probably be wise to keep that blade handy, just in case. If nothing else, from what I understand, having a bit of his blood makes it easier for magic to track him."

(The Nightmares are disguised as normal horses right now)

"In case you're wondering, I'm still the prince, my brother is to be king. He is a good man, although perhaps a little prideful. I assume they'll crown him" "Well, Is your wagon still intact? We did bring a spare one just in case. It's identical to the one you came here in." "You have his blood?" "Yes, they do." "My uncle is an alchemist. He could examine the blood and see if we can track him with it. Or maybe find a weakness."

The prince decides to enter the new carriage just in case. Following Titus' advice, they decide to leave as quickly as possible.

Titus, glancing at the nightmares, then shrugging at his companions, hopped into the new carriage.

Phait eyes the nightmares and follows suit with Titus. Two dead kings now. Perhaps our uninvited guest was at work before, he thinks. He says to the one guard, "An alchemist uncle? Most fortunate."

Fuego:

"If there is nothing else to be gained here, we should leave," says Fuego, adding, "Unless someone can read Celestial or has enough paper to take rubbings of these runes--they may be of use in our investigation."

"We have supplies in the wagon, I'll get parchment." One of the soldiers states, grabbing an empty scroll and copying down the runes. "I have all the large ones written down. There are hundreds of small runes though. I'll take this to a scholar as soon as we get home." "And I'll take the blood to my uncle as soon as we get back. Although he lives in Adenguard, so It'll be a while."

(Is everyone in the wagon ready to leave, or is there anything else you want to do?)

(( Titus is concerned about the prince, but he's in no serious rush; he just has nothing else he wishes to do. ))

(Fuego has done what he could think of to do.)

Thrudor stands listening and looking at the cave system "This is an unfortunate series of events....A king slain in the north, an unusually early winter that is unnatural, a frozen prince, a hag, and now this celestial who presumably has killed another king.....Yes let's head back"

(The nightmares are horses to everyone and it doesn't seem like Thrudor would suspect the horses being anything but them...soooo Tallyho!)

Cunning takes in what he has seen and heard. "It looks like we could be about to live in 'interesting times'. I guess we should get moving."

You begin riding back home an pass by many soldiers on the way, scanning the area for potential threats. After a while, you arrive at the castle. The Queen is waiting outdoors, guarded by a dozen bodyguards. "What news do you bring me?" She asks mournfully.

Phait steps out of the carriage and bows, "My condolences to you in your time of sorrow, majesty. But hopefully I can comfort you with that knowledge that your younger son is safe and here." He stands tall. "However there are pressing matters that may be better discussed in private."

"Thank you for coming. Follow me." She leads you into a large meeting room inside the castle. It's mostly empty, containing only the crown prince, a few intellectuals, half a dozen nobles, a few military leaders, and what appears to be a bounty hunter. This group is mostly from this city but some appear to be from the north, based on their heavier dress. They're circled around a table, arguing over a map. "There's an old temple near the north, said to be a warlock temple. We break the altar there, we break that creature's connection with this world." A dwarven noble suggests. A young elven intellectual scowls at this idea. "No, no, terrible idea! That will only anger him. We send sacrifices. Appeasement, we could never defeat him-" "Oh, so you're helping it now?" "No!" The room breaks out into complaints before a human general intervenes. "Peace, my brothers. We gather all the magic in the region into one elite strike force and slay him." "If he wins against the strike force, all hope is lost. We hide out in the mines and harvest resources to flee this region." Says a halfling noble, and the room grows silent, watching the Queen enter. "I have Adenguard's heroes with me. Let's discuss the plan, shall we begin?" "My queen, in all due respect," the elf says calmly, "we already lost 34 men to our cause and we don't intend to lose even one." "If we send them through the mines, they'll get lost." "But we don't need the mines. The goal is to get to the far north and find his base." "But we need stealth to get there." "Go along the river." "Heroes from Adenguard, what would you advise?" The room goes silent.

Quote from KingOrc >>

"Heroes from Adenguard, what would you advise?" The room goes silent.

Titus looked over the assemblage at that. He knew his party had been tasked with finding out what was going on, and dealing with it if they could... but advising all these people? Including royalty? He glanced at the others silently, deferring to the more learned members of the crew.

Cunning looks around the room, noting who looks like they may have practical advice.

"First, you need to stop squabbling amongst yourselves like children", over a chorus of complaints he continues with a voice amplified by Thaumaturgy "that will only help our enemy!" At the sound of his amplified voice the others stop in shock.

He continues at a normal volume "Before we go any further I would like each of you in turn to say what you know; not what you've heard, not what you've guessed, but what you know from direct observation, or reliable sources."

He turns to the Queen "Majesty, could we have a scribe or two to record what we get from this activity?"

He turns back to the assembly and addresses the General "Sir, would you like to tell us what you know? From there we can move clockwise around the table." There is muttering about the table to which Cunning responds "You're right, I have no real authority here, but somebody needs to get a grip; and as you asked us what we advise, this is what you get! "

He looks at Fuego winks, and says quietly "I've done the bad guard, feel free to jump in as the good guard if you need to."

Fuego:

”We have clues ourselves from the fallen Angel—runes yet to be translated and a sample of its blood, shed by a faithful guard protecting the prince.  Let us speak plainly what information each one of us has, then we can assemble a strategy from the revealed puzzle pieces,” advises Fuego.

Persuasion if needed:  16

"Here is what we know thus far....If I am forgetting anything please add your thoughts

1. A king was slain in the north
2. An unusually early winter that is unnatural has descended from the north
3. The prince was frozen only to be rescued through magical means
4. A hag wanted to create chaos by killing spice merchants
5. This celestial who was an angel, fallen from grace and adopted by a demigorgon is now on a mission to kill the unworthy...He presumably has killed the Northern King and your king."

"Oh, so you think you can-" "Hush. I have found nothing directly from the Demogorgon, he isn't focused on this. But the celestial is getting help from somewhere. Ice is not the Demogorgon's thing, nor is it his. The winter is there either as a distraction from the real problem. I apologize for saying what I've only suspect, but Shadowglass Sea has always had strange weather and rumors of mythical beings. What I know though is that many ships have disappeared there over the years. Perhaps the creature is there." "I wouldn't be so quick to say that. Serpents Sea isn't just suspected but known to contain powerful creatures. We should search there." "But not of legendary power."

"I have the translation!" Shouts an Air Genasi running into the room. "The celestial runes. They say this." He places the runes on the table. "Some are very old and in pure celestial, others were added as notes in an infernal dialect of it. Here are some of the runes, as accurate as we could get them. Most of the names of demons and devils imprisoned couldn't be translated."

• Cavern of Witherblessed. Entrance to the prison of demons.
• Jyklyssi was imprisoned in the forty-second angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Rival slain.
• ??? was imprisoned in the forty-second angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Loyal to Demogorgon. Released to the Abyss.
• Zreaille was imprisoned in the forty-third angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Rival slain.
• ??? was imprisoned in the forty-fourth angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Made fake alliance with and betrayed.
• ??? was imprisoned in the forty-fourth angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Rival slain.
• Rythlane was imprisoned in the forty-fourth angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Not a threat. Released to the Abyss.
• Syslisi was imprisoned in the forty-fifth angelic era. Currently imprisoned.   Removed from prison under conditions.
• ??? was imprisoned in the forty-fifth angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Rival slain.
• Crrethil was imprisoned in the forty-fifth angelic era. Currently imprisoned. Remains imprisoned.
• Prison guard project abandoned. Should be secure. Security breached. Added replacement security to prevent mortal interference.

Phait stifles a chuckle as Cunning projects his voice over the crowd. Indeed how nobles could squabble. It was good to see a man shake some sense into the lot.

He mulls over the translation. "Cavern of Witherblessed. I must wonder if that's where we were. Did we not see iron bars and hear the grinding of metal? If he's been delving through it then it would make sense for his mirror to be there." He adds, "And perhaps a weakness of his may lay guarded there too, though I sincerely hope the other avenues we've discussed such as the scimitar Fuego took bear fruit. I am loathe to get into the dealings of fiends if it can be avoided."

Titus read over the translations, trying to deduce the implications. Phait sounded correct... this seemed like a series of journal entries, and that only made sense if the place where the found the runes was the one with the security breach. Meaning it had to be the Cavern of Witherblessed.

"I agree with Phait. The Vindicator's appearance at the cave was just the break we needed, even if it did cost us someone. I recommend we return and investigate; it's our best chance to find any further clues."