Ill-prepared for the task at hand and with no clue of exactly what we were intended to accomplish, we entered the blood-reeking tunnels... We were soon assaulted by all sides by scary insectoid monstrosities, critters able to play the hit and hide game to almost perfection: the kruthiks.
As we proceeded further into the bowels of the earth, I pondered Sionas' words... what secret was he hiding from me? Could the caverns hide some powerful ley lines that would empower rituals conducted in the caverns? Was he summoning devils to his command, his red swollen eyes being a clue to his infernal interactions? Was it an area of wild magic, where no spell would work the same as usual? I decided to do some tests, out of the eyes of the spying guard that Sionas had sent to "protect" us... I started with silly cantrips and petty tricks but, soon, not seeing any effect to my spells, I decided Sionas had probably duped us, his demands not to use magic only some kind of twisted humour, and I decided to use any of the spells I had at my disposal.
And it was in due time, as in those caverns we almost found death at the claws and fangs of a Kruthik monstrosity, a gargantuan hive mother, surrounded by her horrific brood. The spy Sionas had sent with us died in that cavern, and we all could have perished, had we not used all our available resources in the difficult battle.
When, bloody and beaten, we exited the tunnels to tell Sionas of our success, the tricky wizard received us with anger and malice. He yelled at us, called us incompetents and told us that our use of magic had destroyed his experiments, a work of at least 30 years. He would not let the slaves free, even when we offered him more help to eradicate the Kruthik infestation and information on the wonders we had discovered during our travels.
We left Sionas' tower, intent on freeing the slaves using trickery, considering he would not free them otherwise. In the next days, the Halflings kept working in the tower, probably Sionas did not want to end abruptly his works at the tower, so that he would not angry them. We decided our best bet would be to make Sionas feel insecure by finding ways to make his position in Poisson uncomfortable.
So, while some in the group started spreading rumours that his treasure was false and running out, others tried to investigate further, but the only strange events were a couple of disappearances and some Halfling husbands cheating their wives: as days passed by it became clear that most Halflings, at least in Poisson, are cheaters by nature, and that their love of their Barrel of Ale god is lesser than their need to rip their visitors off. They overcharged us for everything: the food, the drinks, the rooms, the information they gave us...
We were desperate and clueless on how to proceed, when the slave that had helped us in the Kruthik lair, Leonardo, found us. He had been able to escape and had a plan: he would discredit the Wizard further and dupe the Mayor into calling Sionas for a meeting. With the wizard far away from the tower it would be easy enough to free the slaves. Tyrion then proposed using a cart to, disguised as merchants, enter the tower.
The plan seemed sound enough, so we gave it a try. Leonardo told the mayor that the wizard was running out of money, and convinced him to call for a meeting with Sionas.
In the morning, while the wizard rode to Poisson to meet the mayor, Tyrion, Leonardo and Vistra approached the tower disguised as merchants.
Unluckily for us, while approaching the tower, Leonardo was recognised by the guards at the entrance. It was not a big problem, as the guards were not in the mood for a fight, but Sionas had protected all doors magically and, unable to break them down easily, we aborted the attempt.
The plan had an unexpected effect, though, as Sionas grew paranoid. He decided that, as his works in the tower no longer had any sense, he would better leave before the Halflings realised that he was indeed running low on money. One day after a payday, and while the Halflings were paying attention to their Big Beer Barrel, Sionas packed his treasure and equipment and left the tower.
Part of the group had been monitoring the tower. When they saw the wizard leave, they waited some moments for him to get away, approached the tower and freed the slaves. The guards and Mandin decided to accompany us to Fort Eyrie, as they were now unemployed and would take Aygon's job offer.
