Rescue Me

The Curse of the Crimson Throne

Part 16: Rescue and Retreat

Vimanda the rakshasa stood among us, laughing. She was finally in control of House Arkona. She boasted about how she would rule over the people of Old Korvosa as her brother had done. An evil demon lording it over part of Korvosa. It was more than Reg and the others could stand. So, with swift movements, Vimanda was cut down, her reign ending before it had even started.

We now had to return to the Vitrified Labyrinth and find Neolandus. Now knowing how the labyrinth worked, we were able to bypass the many traps and manipulate the rotating areas with ease.

We unlocked a throne room, and came face to face with the monster of the labyrinth. It was a half woman, half lion, with large, demonic horns, clad in spiked armour. The creature roared at us and attacked. She was a fearsome opponent. Her claws were lethal, as Adam was to discover. With a sudden swipe of her hand, Adam's chest was opened. With a look of horror and a gurgle of breath, he collapsed dead to the floor. Sabelle used her magic and sent the creature back to its home plane. Once it was gone, Baster called upon the power of Sarenrae, goddess of healing, and returned the life back to Adam's body.

We heard a weak cough from a dark corner, and we turned to find the real Vencarlo Orisini hanging by manacles attached to the walls. He managed a weak smile as we released him and healed his wounds.

Once he was rested, Vencarlo told us that Neolandus was being held in the torture chamber beyond an illusory wall. We followed the old swordsman through the wall and into a large room. Strapped to a rack was Neolandus, Seneschal of Korvosa, the only man who could officially end Queen Ileosa's reign over Korvosa. However, standing by him was a tall, beautiful woman. This woman was another Vudran devil, as she had six arms and three faces! She attacked us, each arm wielding a lethal scimitar. But she was no match for the group, and soon she had vanished back to the Abyss from whence she came.

With Neolandus rescued, Vencarlo suggested we leave the city. We were all considered fugitives, and the Queen's allies would no doubt be looking for us all. So, we stole a boat, and in the cover of darkness, we sailed away from the city and began our journey to the town of Harse, where Vencarlo knew of a place we could hide while we worked out what to do next.

A few days later, we arrived at a ranch just outside Harse. There, Neolandus told us what had happened in the Palace. Queen Ileosa had been a spoilt brat of a girl, horrifed about being in Korvosa. But then she had emerged from the basement of the Palace wearing an unusual crown made of bones, and with a completely different personality. She was cruel and manipulative. She killed the king and took over his reign.

Neolandus believed that Ileosa had found the Fangs of Kazavon within the basement, and had been taken over by Kazavon's spirit. Kazavon was an evil being who had lived over 300 years ago. He had eventually been killed, and his bones scattered across the world and hidden. His teeth had been buried within an ancient Shoanti pyramid, and guarded by the Shoanti tribes for generations. However, the Chelaxians had then come along, driven away the Shoanti, and built Korvosa, with the Palace built on top of the pyramid.

Our task was clear. Kazavon had been defeated before, so could be defeated again. We had to find the weapon the killed Kazavon the first time, and use it against him again. But the only people who knew of the history of Kazavon were the Shoanti barbarians who guarded his tomb.

So, the following morning, Vencarlo and Neolandus headed for the dwarven city of Janderhoff to plan their next move, and we said goodbye and headed into the Cinderlands to seek help from the Shoanti barbarians...