Elygios has the uncanny ability to invariable intrude on my meditations when they’re at their most crucial point. He once again chose to exercise this knack this morning, as he mentally summoned me to his villa. The matter that he wished to discuss? Doppelgangers. He had apparently befriended yet another group of freelance adventurers, or possibly muggers, claiming to have uncovered a mischevious doppelganger, trying to besmirch them in a local tavern. While I myself might have been more inclined to dismiss the story as an elaborate cover for an incompetent crime gone awry, Elygios has a far more indulgent imagination, and sent them to the warehouse district looking in disused buildings.
Well, after a repast of excessively spicy food, it seems Elygios had a vision (hallucination, more likely) of this larcenous band meeting with some vague peril, and he wished me to assist them, or at least recover their bodies. Now many of my kin might consider taking orders from humans to be beneath them, and now that I think on it, so do, usually, but Elygios has done me a favor or two at times, and it would not be meet for me to seem ungrateful to him, so I assented, and went into Sodden Hold, looking for a gang of human mercenaries in an alleged den of shapechangers. What could possibly go wrong?
In true swashbuckling style, my quarry had left a wake of destruction behind them that was easy to trace, and I caught up with them just as they were picking over the remains of one of their hapless comrades. They claimed he had been throttled by a giant octopus, and while the floor and walls of the chamber we were in were somewhat damp, I didn’t think it likely that such a massive specimen as they had described could have made its home in so little liquid. Once I made my presence known, however, they hastily quit looting the corpse while introductions were exchanged. Carl, who was Elygios’ primary contact with the group, seemed to a practitioner of the art, which would explain Elygios’ insistence on his survival. Kandu, who seemed to be the leader of the group, was a short but truculent wench whose apparent brawn kept the rest of her thugs in line. The other two were a pair of apparent scoundrels, one who identified himself as Vogol, and the other would not even give his name.
My appearance making further depoiling of their comrade unseemly, Kandu began barking orders to Vogol, instructing him to open the stout iron door which blocked further progress into the doppelgangers’ lair. Sullenly, he assented, and we proceeded into a T-shaped hallway with several doors along its length. Brief bickering ensued as arguments were had over which door should be opened first. They needn’t have bothered, however, for as soon as one door was opened, a pair of doppelgangers howled in fury, and the remaining doors were flung wide, and soon we were beset by over half a dozen of the aberrations.
The battle, however, was short and brutal. While Carl was beset by three of the creatures, Kandu promptly displayed the reason for her defacto leadership of these brigands, singlehandedly killing four of them. We dispatched the rest of them in short order, and then proceeded to inspect the rooms from whence they came. They seemed to be simple barracks, with bunk beds, footlockers and curiously varied wardrobes, no doubt used to aid them in their manifold disguises.
The double doors at the ends of the hallway had remained unopened, and we opened one set to find a command center of sorts, a room of map covered tables, books and notes. Brief inspection of these showed that they were pertaining to a massive conspiracy to control varied aspects of Fangsfall’s civic functions, including guilds, important families, and parts of the government itself. Ok, fine. Elygios was right, and while I’m not necessarily convinced that these fellows aren’t hoodlums, there’s definitely something to their doppelganger conspiracy.
While Carl and I stayed behind to collect and catalogue our find, the rest of the group impatiently proceeded to explore the other set of doors. No sooner did they reach the far end of the hall then we heard Kandu yell in alarm, and as I turned, I saw here disappear into a pit at the end of the hallway. Rope was produced, and Kandu was hauled out before Carl and I could come over to investigate. She looked no worse for wear.
With no more doors to open, a search was made of the area for hidden exits, and fairly soon, Vogol uncovered an illusory wall which led into an adjoining chamber where a fairly interesting sight presented itself. The entire party of adventurers was shackled to chairs in the center of the room, complete with a live version of the corpse I had seen in the room we had left behind. What was going on here? Was this entire charade some sort of mummer’s show for my benefit? A trap? I hung back, not sure what to do.
Kandu was suffering no such doubts. She immediately set on the nearest manacled simulacrum she could reach, and proceeded to bludgeon him with her flail. No sooner did this happen than several of the shackled figures burst their bonds, and set upon the party, shouting protests that we were the imposters. I must admit, I was relatively uncertain as to how to act. How could I know which of these humans was the bona-fide version, and which a doppelganger. Moreover, did I really care to get myself hurt in the process of working out who was who?
As it turned out, I needn’t have bothered hesitating. From behind me, I heard the unmistakable whoosh of a fireball approaching, and nearly instantly leapt aside to avoid taking the brunt of the flames. As i turned to look behind me, I saw Vogol, standing in the doorway with a too-innocent look on his face. At that point, I was decided. I didn’t care whether this jackhole was a doppelganger or not, he was going to die.