In the court of the Goblyn King, the Duke of Nought has come to offer his report. He seems hesitant. The Goblyn King, gaunt and gruesome, gorges himself on something that is best not described. The Duke waits on his master to finish his snack, which is enough food to feed a city of men.
The Duke reports that the Tower of Thirteen Cradles was compromised; not only have heroes infiltrated the keep, the golden unicorn is running amok and killing goblyn knights left and right. However, the crones have done their job, and the Duke hands his king a vial of Prince Phillip Augustus's royal essence, which will allow him to endure through the "coming storm".
"And I also filled the prince with an unnatural attraction toward other men!" the Duke boasted. The Goblyn King seemed not to care.
"There is one other thing I want!" the King replied. "Bring me the act-or!"
Meanwhile back at the tower, our heroes had finally arrived in the chamber with the Prince. It was as the Duke of Nought described to his king — except for three hags who rocked the cradle.
Durn wants to negotiate with the hags, but they attack instead, insulting them in rhyme. They inflict grievous wounds and bespeak foul curses, and the Dragon Romany finds himself half transformed into a frog. Nonetheless, they turn the tide after a hard fight. The hags are slain or flee, and Durn befriends the unicorn. The beast is a sacred protector of France which first appeared at the crowning of Charlemagne. They are pursued by black storks, demonic birds that roost on the top of the tower, but they manage to escape. Performing kind acts to one who deserves them not (mostly to Alton), the heroes open the gate and return to France, with the prince in tow.
Arriving in Paris, the heroes are delighted to discover that even a papal envoy's procession will give way to the Golden Unicorn of France. The papal envoy, Cardinal Spinoza, is not pleased; he's been sent to investigate allegations of blasphemy and obscenity after a prominent knight, Sir Martin Beaumont, a champion of the Masonic Brotherhood, was excommunicated for heresy. The company arrives at the palace and is immediately taken to see the King.
The heroes are told about the strange disappearance of the King's confessor, and one other bit of troubling news. Tired of the efforts of a vigilante group, the Secret Tribunal, the Lord Constable of France has taken a force of knights and surrounded a tribunal stronghold and has it under siege. Sir Miles Montagu is there. Once he's captured by Simon De Neauphle Le Chateau, he'll be able to interrogate the tribunal and give names to those in the organization.
Two of those names are Durn and Alton.
The two, realizing what trouble they'd be in if their activities were suspected, begin to make plans. Durn turns to Quentin and the Dragon Knight for help. Quentin is agreeable, but the Knight is extremely reluctant, not wishing to interfere in the normal affairs of French justice. Nonetheless, they eventually prevail on the friend to help. After spending time in prayer, the Dragon Romany determines that they should sneak into the fortress on the Sabbath, when the army is resting, and use the cloak of night to rescue Montagu. They execute this plan, but unexpectedly run into Alton in the stronghold. Using Alton's spells and the Dragon's sorcerous abilities, the heroes succeed in rescuing Miles Montagu and protecting their reputation.
They return to the French court to discover the Raven Knight has escaped from prison. The company is assigned the task of returning him…
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