The Freeing of Kalib

About the Saga

Malphas has fallen to the conspiracy to take over Obsidian Bay. Who's next?

Timeframe

• Greyhawk Date: Good-month 10, CY 587
• Real World Date: 08/17/1998
• Read other Blackrazor Guild Sagas

Cast of Characters

• Malphas, the wily elf and former master of the Blackrazor Guild.
• Sven Kildare, terramancer
• Gnarth Binderstone, gnome illusionist
• Aesop, mage
• Demetry Hawkins, cavalier
• Tanevir Calywyn, ranger spellsword
• Calvin Cloudmore, billet of St. Cuthbert

Notable Quotes

• None.

What Has Come Before

Malphas -- the one-time master of the Blackrazor Guild -- returned to the city with the secret to freeing the cleric of Trithereon, Kalib Ironfist.

• Read the previous saga

The Saga

Good-month 10, CY 587

Waking From the Dead

When Malphas came to he was amazed to see that he was alive – and that his skin had been horribly burned by some catastrophe. His "friends" were gathered around him as were a number of the meddling clerics of St. Cuthbert.

"Tell us everything Malphas," Ironsoul said, "and this time, be quick about it."

Malphas thought for a moment, smiled, and then told them everything.

Betrayal

Jander Drachen’s betrayal and murder of Malphas had shocked the other Blackrazors and the clerics of St. Cuthbert as much as it had the elf. This fact, when combined with the mysterious mission their one-time friend had sent their senior officers on, made them wonder if the leaders of the Blackrazor Guild had been set up. If they had, there wasn’t anything they could do and they realized this. What they could do, however, was rescue Kalib.

Malphas knew that the cleric of Trithereon had been imprisoned in the former lair of Bachly the Dark, an ice elementalist archmage who had nearly succeeded in destroying the city single handedly before being killed by a group of adventurers. "Let’s get my equipment and rescue Kalib," Malphas said.

The party balked. Malphas was too dangerous to let him have all of his magical items back, but they agreed to give him some of them. The point was a mote one – when they returned to the guild hall they found that Malphas’ equipment had been stolen from the armory and that Damaculas was still no where to be found. They equipped the elf with what extra supplies they had and then let him learn certain less powerful spells from their spell books. They then set off into the sewers to find the lair of the evil ice mage.

The Lair of Bachley the Dark

No one had ever succeeded in finding Bachly’s lair after his defeat in CY 583. The lair, rumored to be filled with strange arctic artifacts, was hidden behind magically shifting walls and other stranger defenses.

Malphas’ magical vision, given to him by his god, ignored all of these minor annoyances. Quickly, and without any second guessing, he followed the glowing trail in his mind. He led the party down into the forgotten depths of the sewers and right up to the frozen front step of the archmage’s lair. Once there, his mystical vision of how to get to the place evaporated from his mind.

Water sloshed at the entrance, which was barred by two large doors – both of which were unlocked. The Blackrazors made their way past the door, and noticed two passage ways – one to the north and another to the south, as well as a small stream that flowed from the southern passage and then continued to the east.

They tried the northern passage first, but found it dead ended at a wall of black ice. When one member tried to touch it, the ice responded by trying to ensnare him with an freezing tentacle. The Blackrazors scrambled backwards and into a small room off the northern passage way. There they found the shattered remains of a stone golem that had apparently been enhanced with elemental magics of some sort. The thing was broken however, and it did not attack them.

They decided to head south then and came across a broken skeleton which, like the golem, showed signs of having been enhanced by some sort of ice elemental magic. On their way out, a water weird attempted to grapple Sven, but the terramancer easily dodged it. Using a powerful dig spell, he created a cavernous hole where the water weird’ pond had been, sending the creature plummeting a hundred feet downward.

With the water weird temporarily dealt with, the Blackrazors continued on, this time following the path of the now-empty stream. It ended at what had been – at least until a few minutes earlier – a water fall.

The cliff of the waterfall towered over a large cavernous room, the center of which was filled with an ice-crusted pond. The southern wall of the room was filled with black ice similar to the wall they had encountered in the northern passage way. They briefly considered attempting to dispel the ice’s obvious magic, but decided that could wait for another day.

Instead, they climbed down the ladder carved into the wall next to the waterfall, and made their way to the iron gate on the west side of the pond. The gate, unlike the door, was locked, but Malphas made quick work of it.

The Blackrazors slipped past the gate and found that the passage way branched to the north and south. They headed north and found a large circular cavern with a number of cells carved into its walls. Chained to the wall of one of these cells, looking haggard but not beaten, was a man.

It was Kalib.

Malphas cracked the locks holding the cleric in his cell and then made quick work of his bonds. At that moment, as Kalib tried to adjust to the twin shocks of his freedom and his liberator, the guards attacked.

Experience & Loot

• No experience and/or loot is available for this saga.