Chapter VII - Conclusion
In Which Our Friends Talk Their Way Out of a Host of Troubles and
End Up Changing the Course of History
(GM's Note: This game session which concludes The Bursar's Tale shows how players can completely alter the expected course of a story by taking unpredictable actions. My group tends to prefer very direct action (and lots of violence) to solve problems. In this case, they opted for an uncharacteristically subtle approach, completely upsetting the plans I had for the adventure's conclusion but resulting in what I found was a far more interesting ending that is a springboard to further campaigns.)
Upon exiting the Museum, the group finds themselves surrounded by the better part of the Elven army, led by King Beowen the Bard himself. At his side is Malcor. It is obvious that Malcor was Beowen's ally and had assisted Beowen in overcoming the Invisible School's defenses.
The group obeys the command to drop their weapons. They seek a parley with the King and are quite open about coming from the future and as proof present the two Arch-chancellors (past and present). Malcor argues that the King should not trust Reichfield and his strange companions but is disconcerted by the obvious proof of their time-traveling. The King agrees to hear the party out and they are taken to the Administratium for a more secure audience.
(GM's Note: Mechanically, the debates with Malcor and the King were handled by contested Will rolls at which the PCs had remarkable success, including rolling several natural 20s.)
Ril recalls that there is an old Elven prophecy that "The Great King will face his doom when first he meets the Slayer of Wraiths." He tells Atlantia to feign being a simple apprentice which she does. Secretly, Ril realizes that he is at a turning point of Elven history and becomes determined to save his people.
Malcor attempts to convince the King that the party is hostile to him. However, they say they know the future and that the King will be victorious and want to support him.
In reality, they know that King Beowen will soon be defeated by an alliance of the Goblin Kingdom and the Empire of Muetar at the Battle of Muscater. Although his army is defeated, Beowen will survive and in bitterness turn to scorched earth tactics that will cause enormous amounts of destruction and suffering to Minaria. This will go on for several years in which Beowen will unleash a genocidal fury against all non-Elves within the reach of his forces. It will end only when the allied kingdoms conquer the forests of Neuth and destroy the ancient Elven city of Ider Bolis, killing Beowen and his sons at last.
Hoping to avoid this, the party tries to lure Beowen into a rapid march to Muscater where he will face a greater defeat that may then avoid the terrible consequences of war that the party knows.
Intimidating the Arch-chancellor (present) into confirming their story, Beowen is convinced and orders his army to make an immediate march against what he thinks will be the divided forces of his enemies. Over Malcor's vehement but ineffectual objections, the King appoints the party as the acting Grand Council to the School in his absence.
Left alone with the party, Malcor faces the group. An'varr quietly says that there is one thing he wants Malcor to know - that Beowen will be doomed now that he has met the Wraith Slayer. Reichfield then shoots Malcor dead.
This is not enough for An'varr who uses his Speak with the Dead spell to summon the spirit of the just-killed Malcor. An'varr launches into a tirade that he knows Malcor's spirit will try to come back and seek revenge. An'varr tells that the party will come back and destroy him and obliterate his spirit. He dismiss the bitter spectre of Malcor's soul.
Ril says that he will use the King's apparent trust to continue their deception, he will go with the Elven army. Given the long lives of Elves, he will meet the party again in seventy years. An'varr, being a member of Muetaran nobility, gives Ril advice on how best to ensure the destruction of Beowen's army, giving him a detail description of Muetaran tactics, especially as used in the Battle of Muscater. Ril departs to join King Beowen.
The group is suddenly aware of a new presence in their midst. It is the head scribe that they had briefly met when first they arrived at the Invisible School. He looked exactly the same now as he had then, seventy years in the future, completely non-descript and ordinary.
The scribe says, "You have accomplished all as I intended. Defeated Malcor's rebellion, caused the Elven army to evacuate the Invisible School, and retrieve the artifacts that will help destroy Malcor's spirit when it returns some seventy years from now."
"Who are you?" asked An'varr.
"I am the Bursar" was the reply. More than that, he explains, he is the last of the mages of the Lloroi, the highly advanced civilization that existed over 1300 1500 years ago. They had faced the fearsome Crimson Witch King and to defeat him, used too-powerful magics that resulted in the Cataclysm, of which the freezing of Frostgrave had been only a small part. The Pentangle was the last remnant of that field of dangerous magic. Malcor had wanted to take control of the School in order to fully open the secrets of the Pentangle, a prospect that could destroy the world. The party had helped the Bursar stop that and given an excuse to suppress the study of that magic.
In answer to their questions, the Bursar explains that the Lloroi are unable to travel in time but can sometimes "remember" parts of the future as well as the far past. However, the lesser races such as humans can use time magic and so they will be sent back to their own time to complete the defeat of Malcor's spirit. Reichfield decides that the future seems more interesting and will accompany the party.
They board the great Airboat of Armera which then flies into a magical storm cloud. In its midst is a tear in the planar fabric and they find themselves at the dawning of a day that they conclude is 70 years in the future.
Flying over the School, they begin to notice that, while the major features are the same and the aftermath of the "kegophant" riot is evident, there are subtle changes to the campus.
Suspicious, they land the Airboat nearby and walk onto the campus. They notice that much of the iconography on the buildings are different and that the Sigil of Beowen is included in a place of honor on some of the buildings.
They rush to the library to seek a history book that will tell them if there has been any significant change as the result of their actions. Upon reading a book about Beowen's War, they discover to their shock that the Battle of Muscater was not a great defeat they had known. Instead, Beowen had surprised the waiting Goblin and Muetaran armies with an almost preternatural knowledge of their tactics. Although outnumbered more than 2 to 1, the Elven army fought the allies to a standstill. At the height of the battle, Beowen was slain in the fighting. In the aftermath, Beowen's son, Prince Castian was able to negotiate an end to the war. All of the suffering of the next five years of war was avoided and the hatred between the races that resulted from that bloodshed never arose. Beowen was not remembered as the vicious madman but as a tragic hero who died in a misguided quest for glory. The shining spires of Ider Bolis still stood.
Ril, being loyal to his people, had told King Beowen the truth of the coming disaster and how it might be avoided.
As final proof of Ril's action, the party came across a painting of the Death of King Beowen. Ril is shown at his side.
"Well, that didn't quite turn out as I planned," the Bursar was suddenly before them. "I've been watching things go awry for the past 70 years. But perhaps the result wasn't entirely bad. Certainly a great deal less muss."
"If you are not a time travel, how do you know we changed history?"
"As I said all those years ago, I could remember the future. Now I simply have two memories. Of course, now and then I wasn't entirely sure which happened and which didn't. Hardly matters now, things are completely mucked up but there you have it."
"What of Malcor's spirit. We can fight him now that we have the three artifacts. " An'varr said. "But wait, why did you need us to go back to the past to get them? Why couldn't you just get them your self?"
"They had vanished during Beowen's occupation. At least I think they had. At least at one point. O, this is getting a bit confusing. In any event, you have them now when we need them most. Malcor's spirit took some sort of fright from your presence and appears to have fled to his master. That is who we really need the artifacts for."
"Who is his master?"
"Malcor is one of many dead mages coming back into this world. The Lich Lord that you dispatched in Frostgrave is another. I've traced the power that is raising them to the Shards of Lor, that is the area where, after its defeat, the Crimson Witch King was imprisoned. It appears that an aspect of that being has manifested itself. One small part but still horribly powerful."
"What aspect is that?"
"The Hand of Midnight. Even now, the Deep Shadow is spreading across the wasterlands of the North. It must be stopped. Good thing you have the weapons we need."
It was then that the party realized that Ril had one of the artifacts. They told the Bursar.
"That's not good. You'll just have to find him. Come see me when you do. And be quick about it!" With that the Last of the Lloroi was gone.
Bozidar and the rest of the party suddenly burst into the library. "Where have you been? We've been waiting outside the Bender for hours."
An'varr responded, "We traveled in time...It's a long story. Unfortunately, Ril didn't come back with us and we must find him!"
"Who's Ril?" Bozydar asked.
An'varr felt a nuzzling at his hand. At least the undead Greg the Bear was glad to be reunited with his master. Before Braanx could react, An'varr pulled the resurrection spell from his robes, the one he had tried to have Atlantia use to create a grimoire of the spell, and used it to return Greg to life.
The End
