Difference between revisions of "The Return of Malphas"

Latest revision as of 05:19, 11 December 2014

About the Saga

In late CY 586 the Blackrazors' second guildmaster, the wily elf Malphas, fell under the influence of several evil magical items and curses. In a fit of insanity, he murdered two guards at Greyhawk's Golden Phoenix while battling his fellow Blackrazors over a perceived slight.

He was later convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years hard labor, but before he could serve any time he was teleported to the Concordant Opposition via Killian "The Red" O'Brian horded limited wish spell.

Killian was given a four-year prison sentence and lost his ranger status for the incident. Most assumed the wily, cursed elf was dead.

He survived and thrived on the Planes, and returned to the Prime with a crucial bit of information -- the location of the missing Blackrazor Kalib Ironfist.

Timeframe

• Greyhawk Date: Good-month 9, CY 587
• Real World Date: 08/08/1998
• 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

Notable Quotes

• None.

What Has Come Before

In the fall of CY 586, the then-leader of the Blackrazor Guild, an elven mage/thief named Malphas, killed two guards at the Golden Phoenix Inn in Greyhawk. After being subdued by a member of the Circle of Five, as well as the mage-leader of the Guild of Wizardry, Malphas was tried and convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years hard labor in the city's prison system.

Just after his sentencing though, he was teleported to the Concordant Opposition via a limited wish used by a ranger-colleague named Killian. Killian -- who said that Malphas should be judged by his God, and not by the courts of man -- was immediately imprisoned.

Several months ago, Kalib -- a cleric of Trithereon -- was attacked by unknown agents and forced into hiding. Officials in the city, hoping to confuse his attackers, replaced him with a su-doppleganger named Su-quan -- a fact that was unknown to the rest of the Blackrazors. During a fight with some hill giants, the agent's identity was revealed as he was knocked unconscious by a boulder. After explaining the situation, he was allowed to keep up his "act." (Read The Treachery of Su-quan)

More recently, the leaders of the Blackrazor Guild, at the request of certain officials in the city, were sent on a quest to free a "sleeping god" from the hills of the Pomarj. Their mission turned out to be a trap sprung by their one-time friend, Su-quan. The fate of these leaders is unknown.

And now, Malphas, long thought to be dead, has returned to the Prime Material Plane. His god, Ralishaz, has given him a vision of Kalib's true condition, and has been ordered to release him from it.

• Read the previous saga

The Saga

Good-month 9, CY 587

The Return

Malphas, the silver tongued and infamous guildmaster of the Blackrazor Guild approached the Free City of Obsidian Bay. He appeared as a no-name merchant with plain features thanks to a simple spell. It hid his true appearance – that of a slender albino elf wearing a simple black cloak that hid a blade on his belt and two metallic bracers clasping his forearms.

Thanks to that little understanding back in Greyhawk, it had been more than a year since he had walked Obsidian Bay’s streets, or ruled over his guild. And all he’d tried to do was talk a little sense into Kalib, the Trithereon priest who had sown so much discontent among his servants in the guild. But would Kalib talk? Would any of them talk? No ... they had attack him.

But he’d fixed their little red wagon.

With Kalib ensnared behind a hemisphere of force, he had handedly defeated Calvin Cloudmore, the insufferable priest of St. Cuthbert. Falgar was only a minor distraction and the new recruit, Lemet, wisely fled. The sounds of fighting drew the attention of the guards of the place where they were staying: Greyhawk’s Golden Phoenix Inn.

He incapacitated the guards with a well-placed web spell that caulked both ends of the corridor. He then sliced their throats for good measure. As their bodies slumped lifeless in the webbing, that aggravating bastard Kalib managed to break through the floor of the room and dropped to the first floor below. Malphas wasn’t overly concern, since Kalib’s abilities are so amateurish and ineffective.

At that point though, things took a bad turn.

The Golden Phoenix is widely known to be a favorite resting and dining place for the Free City’s elite, including the Lord Mayor and members of the Circle of Five. That night Ralishaz cast the bones and cursed Malphas with a complication: Circle of Eight member Jallarzi Sallavarian and her good friend, Master of the Guild of Wizardry Kieren Jalucian were on hand for a nice dinner. When they heard the sounds of fighting coming from above, and heard shouts that spells had been cast, they decided to investigate.

Surprise grabbed Malphas as his magical web dissolved into memory. It was followed by a barrage of spells from the two high mages, the end result of which was Malphas’ transformation into a small stone frog lawn ornament.

He was subsequently tried and convicted of a lengthy list of offenses – not the least of which being two counts of murder – and sentenced to 20 years hard labor in Greyhawk’s prison. Still, Ralishaz had bless him with a way out of that particular complication as the Unlooked For One as the ranger Killian used a limited wish he’d been hoarding to teleport his good friend out of prison and onto the plane of Concordant Opposition.

The journey home from that place had taken him months, but once again his mind crackled with power. During his time on the outer planes he had actually met an aspect of Ralishaz, who had given him a mission: free Kalib from his imprisonment below Obsidian Bay. A part of Malphas balked at this idea, but the larger part saw it for the opportunity that it was. This could cement his return to power in the guild hall...

Obsidian Bay’s walls loomed before him. On his way back into the city he’d used his spells to conceal his true identity, posing as a mere merchant instead. The news he heard was disturbing. An expeditionary force from the city had left two weeks ago to engage a humanoid force moving down from Highport. That much he’d heard when he’d stopped in that foul city. More threatening was the second army moving in from the Stonehiem. That force, rumored to have more than 8,000 orcs, goblins and worse was slowly making its way toward the city.

It didn’t take much to get past the city gates, just a few half-lies that easily duped the guard. After entering the Mudsitters’ District he turned invisible and approached the guild hall. Guards were posted everywhere – four at the gates, eight on the walls, two on the top of his tower. The tower ... Malphas grinned at the thought of it. He’d ordered the thing built and the others had agreed to it. Before he’d left with the others for Greyhawk, he’d secreted away a spare spell book and a cache of money and he doubted that any of the Blackrazors would have enough ambition or insight to explore the tower and find his hiding place. Muttering a spell, he turned himself invisible and snuck past the gates. Once inside he ran a quick survey of the building, recovered his items from his secret compartment, and plotted his next move.

His survey had revealed that the guild vault was guarded, and that most of the guild’s current membership was new to him. This was not surprising, given the guild’s turnover. Nor was the fact that none of the elite of the guild – his former friends – were around. They were undoubtedly off on some fool’s errand at the bequest of the merchant Lord Byron or some city official. In fact the only one at the guild whom he even remotely remembered was the guild manager, Gef Ironhold, and the mage Aesop, who had spent most of his time in Greyhawk near death. Rather than disturb Aesop, who was mostly an unknown element, he decided to pay a visit to the guild’s accountant, Amadeus.

To the Temple of Zilchus

The flight through the late night air to the city’s Temple of Zilchius using the powers of his cloak of the bat was a quick one. Once there he assumed his normal form and approached the temple’s front doors. He found two grunts standing guard there, each clad in chainmail, and armed with a long sword and shield. The doors they protected were closed.

Malphas approached and demanded to see the cleric Amadeus Aslaz.

One of the guards looked at him with narrowed eyes. "And your name is sir?"

"That is of no concern to you. Let me pass."

"Sir, it is late and the temple is closed. You may not enter. However, if you wish, I can leave a message for the one you seek. Your name?"

"Malphas," the elf said.

The guard balked. "That’s impossible. Everyone knows that he’s dead, teleported from prison to certain death in the world beyond. What you say is lunacy."

"So you say. What are your names?" Malphas asked, and the guards told him. "Good, I will be making a full report of this in the morning."

"You do that sir," the lead guard responded.

Malphas thought for a moment. He didn’t have time for this sort of nonsense. The guards would have to go. He took two steps away, then turned suddenly and blasted the men with a spray of magical color that dropped them instantly. Further down the street a man shouted out in alarm and screamed that he was going to get the city guard. Malphas let him run and then advanced on the door. It was locked so he whipped out this thieves tools and easily defeated it.

Too easily. A poisonous gas surged outward from the door, enveloping him. It had no affect, and Malphas moved to open the door only to find that it was barred from the inside. Malphas hissed in frustration and then transformed himself into a bat through the power of his cloak. He looked for an open window: no dice, they were all shuttered. He flew up to the church’s chimney and then dove down it. There he was thwarted again: a thin metal mesh covered the opening to the fireplace, and the chimney was too narrow for him to assume his true form. Cursing, he withdrew from the temple and returned to his tower to pout and plan yet again.

A Warning from the Guard

Aesop woke to a steady pounding at his door. With his fellow senior members of the guild gone, and Guildmaster Damaculas Everton unaccounted for, Aesop found himself in the unenviable position of being the guild’s ranking officer.

Actually, of being the guild’s only officer. Which would, of course, explain the rapping at his door. Aesop reluctantly climbed from his bed, put on a robe and went to the door. Opening it revealed two concerned looking City Guardsmen. The more important looking of the two – whom Aesop recognized as being the guardsman in charge of the city’s North gate – spoke first. "We are here with a most urgent message sir. May we speak in private?"

Behind the guards Aesop could see the terramancer Sven and the new recruit, Gnarth. He nodded to the guards and led them to the library. Sven and Gnarth followed them, hoping to attend the meeting, but the mage shut the door on their eager faces.

Inside the library, which had been reduced in size by half thanks to the construction of Malphas’ tower, the lead guard spoke. "Sir, we have disturbing news and while it may be a hoax, we though that you and yours should know about it. An individual calling himself ‘Malphas’ showed up at the temple of Zilchius demanding to see one of the clerics – specifically, your accountant Amadeus. When the guards refused to let him in, he blasted them unconscious with some sort of spell and picked the lock on the door. That triggered a trap that failed to incapacitate him; he was stopped from entering the church by a bar across the door.

A citizen alerted the city guard, but of course this individual was gone by then. I know that it is unlikely that Malphas could be back in the city after what happened in Greyhawk, but if he is back, he certainly has a grudge to settle with a number of his former guild members. Thus, we felt we should warn you."

"Yes, yes, thank you," Aesop said. "This is most disturbing..."

"We must go now sir, but if Malphas does show himself here, please alert us at once."

Aesop nodded, and then led the guards out of the building. With the guards gone he called in Aesop, Sven and Gnarth and told them about Malphas.

"This is not good," the mage said and shook his head slowly.

Confronting Gef

Malphas sat in his unused tower and thought. Aesop was an unknown element – he’d adventured with him for a handful of days back in Greyhawk, but only long enough for the mage to be killed ... and killed twice. First by a water weird, then by trolls. His ring of regeneration saved him in both cases, but in Malphas’ mind, the incidents only proved that the mage was a marginal player.

So who could he approach? Who could he approach. There was only one answer: Gef Ironhold, the guild’s manager and trainer. Malphas quickly wove a spell to hid his identity, and entered the guild hall.

When the disguised elf approached Gef, the grizzled former city guardsman snorted. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Karl. I’m ... a new member. May we speak?" Malphas asked.

"Well I don’t remember testing you," Gef said. "Get out on the mat."

Malphas paused for a moment. This wasn’t going at all according to plan. He’d forgotten about Gef’s charge of "evaluating" each new recruits battle prowess, which usually mean beating his opponent unconscious. This man had beaten Ragnar ... no small task. Gef was picking up his trusty quarterstaff, and Malphas, seeing he had no alternative, stepped onto the mat. Immediately wagers began flying around the room. "One round, I say he lasts one round!" someone shouted. "No way, I give him two. Any takers?" said another.

In the end, he lasted four rounds before his fell to the ground. As he slipped into unconsciousness, his spell faded and his true identity was revealed. The last words he remembered hearing were "good Gods, it’s Malphas."

Face to Face with the Blackrazors

He awoke tied to a chair and held in place. He was surrounded by faces he didn’t recogonize, and those he did looked angry. Very angry. "Why the hell are you here Malphas?" Gef growled at him.

"I’m on a mission, a very important one, and you’re interfering with it," Malphas said. "Release me."

Sven Kildare moved forward. He’d never met Malphas, but knew he was dangerous. And lethal. "Come on Malphas, why are you really here? Why would did you come back here? You must have known that no one would be happy to see you."

"That’s none of your business," Malphase said. "Release me," he said again, with more force.

They continued to ignore him and demanded again to know why he was here.

Finally, Malphas said "I’m here to rescue Kalib."

The others didn’t believe him – or didn’t here him – and decided to summon the City Guard.

In the Hands of the Guard

Twenty guards answered the call, and when they found that Malphas really had been captured, they immediately summon 30 more guards plus magical assistance from the Obsidian Tower. With the mage-thief properly manacled, the Blackrazors and the City Guard made their way to the Citadel, where Malphas was locked into a small, windowless interrogation room.

Once there he refused to elaborate on his mission until he saw that his old mentor, Jander Drachen, had arrived. Malphas leapt at the opportunity. "I want to speak to Jander alone," he said.

The elite intelligence officer looked to the Blackrazors. "Do you mind?" he said.

The guild members left the room, and as soon as the door was shut and locked by Drachen, Malphas launched into the story of everything that had happened to him since he had been banished to the outer planes from the City of Greyhawk.

Finally, he told Jander that he had been given a mission by his god, Ralishaz, to track down and free the imprisoned Kalib.

"So you know where Kalib is?" Jander said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I do," Malphas replied, eager to be freed from his bonds.

"Hmmm," Jander said. He then drew a dagger and before Malphas could even scream, he slit the elf’s throat and stabbed him through the chest. Jander quickly removed Malphas’s manacles, and threw the body to the floor. He then breathed deeply and threw open the door to the hallway.

The Blackrazors looked in and saw Malphas’ slumped form on the floor. "I ... I can’t believe it," Jander gasped, sweat appearing on his brow. "Malphas got free of his chains and tried to kill me. I ... I had to defend myself," he said, and staggered from the room.

"Well, that’s consistant," one of the Blackrazors said. Shocked and tired, the Blackrazors decided to make their way to the Church of St. Cuthbert, where they hoped that they could find a cleric willing to cast speak with dead on Malphas’ corpse.

The Temple of St. Cuthbert

When they arrived at the temple of Cuthbert of the Cudgel, the Blackrazors were hurriedly ushered inside by serious looking guards at the front gate. They were immediately taken to see the church’s leader, Ironsoul. As they walked into the room they saw that the holy man was in mid-conversation with another cleric of his faith – Calvin Cloudmore!

"B-b-but you’re supposed to be at Blue!" Sven sputtered.

Cal stood, his crisp blue robes reaching to the floor. "My friends!" he said and ran forward to greet them. "I wanted to come speak with you, but Ironsoul said that would not be wise. He said my life was in danger – that all our lives were in danger!" He quickly brought the others up to speed, explaining how he and the rest of the senior members of the guild had returned from the Battle of Blue only to be sent on a secret mission for Justiceseeker – the city’s ranking priest of St. Cuthbert – and Jander Drachen.

"Hmmm ... Jander eh?" Sven said.

"Yes," Cal said. "Only Luc – who’s still dead – and I stayed behind. I wasn’t in very good shape, I’m afraid, and now Ironsoul says that something bad is afoot in the city. In fact he says that Malphas has returned!"

"Well he’s right there," Sven said with a sigh. "We captured Malphas this morning poking around the guild. We took him to the Citadel, where he was being questioned by Jander when suddenly the fool elf tried to kill him! Jander had to kill the Malphas in self-defense."

"Really?" Ironsoul said, rising from his desk. "How interesting." The cleric’s salt-and-pepper hair was shaved close to his scalp, and as he walked toward the Blackrazors, he did so with an ironwood cane. "I think we’d best talk to Malphas and see if we can determine what happened in that room," he said.

Fight at the Citadel

It didn’t take the Blackrazors long to get back to the Citadel. When they arrived at the front gates they were greeted by the Warden Allorn, the keeper of the prison. He quickly told them that Malphas’ corpse had been taken to the Citadel’s make shift morgue, where bodies were stored until they could be buried or destroyed.

The Blackrazors and Ironsoul made their way down to the morgue only to find two men who had just loaded Malphas’ body into a crematory. The two men whirled around as the Blackrazors entered the room and fired two crossbow bolts at them. One of them struck Aesop, who suddenly convulsed, died and fell to the floor.

The fight that followed was short as the Blackrazors easily subdued their opponents. Sven and Gnarth ran to the crematory and pulled Malphas’ body from it before it was incinerated. Meanwhile, Ironsoul tied up their prisoners. As the ropes tightened, both of the men went into convulsions and a purple foam began bubbling up from their mouths. Ironsoul acted quickly, casting a poison nullification spell that saved one of the men. The other died and slumped to the floor.

The Blackrazors were in shock. Who were these men? Who did they serve? And why the hell were they trying to burn Malphas’ body. The fighting drew the attention of the prison guards and its warden, who was surprised to find that two strangers had infiltrated his citadel. "This concerns me deeply," he said. He glanced about and then drew the Blackrazors and Ironsoul aside. "I fear that Jander may be in on this. This is very ... unusual. First Malphas escapes from unbreakable chains and Jander kills him. Now two men try and destroy the mage’s body?" The warden closed his eyes, and fiddled with the miniature silver cudgel that hung from a silver chain around his neck. "If I can not trust Drachen, I can trust no one. I can not guarantee your safety here, Father Ironsoul. Please, take your people and return to the temple. I will send come there if I discover anything."

With that, the Blackrazors grabbed the bodies of the fallen, snared Malphas’ charred remains, and hurried back to the temple of St. Cuthbert.

Raising the Dead

At the temple, Ironsoul and his acolytes laid out the bodies of Malphas and Aesop. One of the cleric’s lieutenants began casting the raise dead spell to bring Aesop back to the land of the living and the mage decided to accept the invitation.

They then turned their attention to Malphas. Calvin cast a speak with dead spell on the elf

"Malphas," Cal said in a soft, patient voice, "why have your returned to the city?"

"To rescue Kalib," the soul of Malphas responded.

"Do you have a map to Kalib?" Cal asked.

"Yes."

"Where is that map?"

The spirit paused for a moment and then said: "In my mind."

The Blackrazors and followers of St. Cuthbert looked at each other. The elf’s responses had been cryptic and hardly illuminating.

Ironsoul sighed. "Even in death, this one tells us little." He leaned on his cane. "I can bring Malphas back, but while the raise dead spell was powerful, it is not powerful enough to return an elf to this world. I have a scroll – a scroll of resurrection." He paused for a several long seconds. "I am loathe to use this scroll to bring back one such as Malphas and yet you have all served this city well in the past ... and we must know what happened to him, how he died, why he died and the true location of your friend Kalib."

With that the old cleric left for his office and returned with a scroll in a golden case. He slipped the parchment out and with one hand holding it and the other resting on Malphas’ head, he began speaking the spell that would return to the elf to the world.

Experience & Loot

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