Session 10

MORTHEVOLE'S CELLARS

3rd Longrass, 4433

Cast:

Gorr, ranger 3
Suba-Jin, cleric 2
Robert the Swift, fighter 2
Tullius Jr./Sir Karavon, fighter 3

Eric Withakay, cleric 3

Young Joe Spruce, druid 1

Ted, Fred & Ned, men-at-arms

New Friends & New Adventures

The group followed up a lead from the Church of Hextor: a down-on-his-luck merchant was asking for help. Joined by Young Joe Spruce, a druid in the city for the first time. Accompanying him were three men-at-arms, bound into servitude for a month for trespassing in the forests (for two of them, the servitude would be much shorter than that!).

The group met Morthevole the merchant and asked for information. He gave them the key to his shop and a crude map of part of The Nest. Gorr took a short detour to the pleasure-parks and boulevards in the south of the city to plant one of Grandfather Tree's acorns.

Entering the Nest is like walking into a dungeon. The borough is almost completely sealed off, with only three well-known entrances. Buildings stack on top of each other, blocking out the sun and rendering it a dark & confusing three-dimensional maze. The group startled a few prostitutes as they wandered, but saw no other living beings. They were able to follow their map and not get lost.

The Tunnels

The group explored Morthevole's dingy pawn-shop which had been cleared out in a hurry. They found a crack in the basement wall, leading into some rough limestone caverns, hewn into the very rock the city rests on. These tunnels were low & cold, filled with ancient calcifying skeletons stowed here long ago for unknowable reasons.

The first encounter was with some feral, emaciated humans resembling ghouls or vampires, with yellow phosphorescent eyes and sharpened canines. These ragged beggars lost their nerve after a few casualties, and were chased down & slaughtered to the last. The group descended further and searched through many rooms, fighting some undead priests with knives instead of hands, and turning over many ancient skeletons slick with minerals, stacked or sitting or sometimes piled haphazardly wherever they would fit. 

In a small shrine, they found a bronze statue of a buxom woman called Shriwar the Slicer. Behind it stood a chart of the world's three moons (Sky-King, Vanis & Howla) in relation to each other, showing certain conjunctions and alignments. Robert the Swift narrowly avoided death when he attempted to gain the trapped statue's treasure, but with Tullius Jr's assistance a glittering ruby was recovered from its chest.

At the bottom of the vaults, the group lit two skull-lamps with scented oil to open a great iron door. Inside, they disturbed a group of 12 knife-skeletons and were set upon by a strange foe: a skeleton with glowing crystal bones, which drew the very breath from poor Ted and Ned.

A Conversation with Morthevole

Returning to the merchant led to a few clues. He was endlessly grateful for the party's help, and they learned that the tarry substance found in his shop was called BLACK, an addictive substance rubbed on the throat, producing an energetic high and sense of self-confidence. He kept it in case of shakedowns: when black-throats come visiting, one had better be prepared to give them something. 

Gorr asked about the myserious amulet recovered from Eralion's keep: Morthevole recognized the symbol as one used by a local gang called the Coffin Masters to mark their territory.

The group pressed Morthevole to keep his shop open to them if they needed to fence stolen goods, or find a place to hide out. He seemed nervous about the prospect but reluctantly assented. He recommended a few out-of-the-way places to lay low for a while, since the group were nervous about the wanted posters they'd seen around town.

Night in Viridistan

The party visited the burning-ghats, at the base of the great bridge. Priests of the fire-goddess Kale Kala with sooty orange robes conduct cremation rites there for a fee. Joe Spruce paid 40 silver each for Ted and Ned to be prepared, while Suba-Jin and Eric administered a warriors' last rites - the latter stumbling over the liturgy, as he had only learned it a few days prior.

From there, they took back streets to Seven Visions. It turned out to be a well-appointed, upscale whorehouse. Soft music, plush carpets and incense pervaded inside. The madame, an elegant Tharbrian named Zvezdana Ozi whose office was decorated with appalling pornographic paintings, said she could rent rooms & provide any entertainments desired - and was herself a sage, well-versed in many topics of inquiry. The gang laid their money down and got ready to enjoy themselves while hiding out!

Monsters Defeated:

14 feral beggars (70 xp)

2 knife-ghouls (142 xp)

12 knife-skeletons (156 xp)

1 glowing crystalline skeleton (350 xp)

Treasure: 

270 gold coins (divided during the session)

silver comb (650 sp)

scented lamp-oil (240 sp)

ancient amphorae of camphor oil (1440 sp)

old ritual headdresses (nobody seems interested in buying these)

Total - 388 sp each

Treasure Kept: 

hammered gold shield (Suba-Jin kept)

crystalline bones (still glowing faintly)

corpse's hair (detects as magical)

Shriwar the Slicer's ruby "heart"

Carousing:

Robert - girls 100 sp

Suba-Jin - carousing 270 sp

Eric - carousing 300 sp

Gorr - carousing 1000 sp

Joe Spruce - carousing/girls 400 sp

The results of carousing will be detailed next session.

EXPERIENCE TOTALS:

Party To-Do

-Suba-Jin reached 3rd level, Eric Withakay reached 4th. A few other characters are spitting distance of leveling as well. Gorr might be close to leveling, but I don't know how much XP he needs (Chris, please send me a chart).

-The first 3 people to contact me with the passphrase "Yredelemnul" will get 250 bonus xp. [Expired]

-For each encounter with undead, your character's sanity is affected. Many members of the group have accumulated 2 or 3 fear points by now.  Once your Fear equals your WIS score, you suffer a blow to your sanity.  These points are not easily removed: for 20 days (one Imperial month) spent in a calm, civilized setting without any danger or strenuous activity, you may remove 1 point.  How you manage this mechanic is up to you. 

[Setting] The Imperial Calendar

Balozkinar's Corrected Commoners' Calendar
(BCCC for short) has been adopted throughout the Empire.




It uses 5-day weeks and 20-day months.
The days of the week are: Airday, Waterday, Earthday, Fireday and Spiritday.

The months of the BCCC Calendar are:

Month	Day	Season Begins
Thawmist	1-20
Dewsnap	21-40	Spring
Flowerbloom	41-60
Sweetrain	61-80
Meadowlark	81-100
Longrass	101-120	Summer
Warmshade	121-140
Sunstrong	141-160
Thistleburn	161-180
Harvestime	181-200
Goodgrove	201-220	Fall
Blackmoon	221-240
Willowind	241-260
Redleaves	261-280
Maggotfeast	281-300	Winter
Coldrain	301-320
Shadowrath	321-340
Gloomfrost	341-360
Year's End	361-365\366

Because Year's End is a 5- or 6-day month, the days of the week are the same every year (ie. Thawmist 1 is an Airday, Coldrain 19 is a Fireday, etc)


Holy Days:

Every religion has its own holy days, and some have more than one. With 137 Imperial gods, at least a minor festival or celebration is happening somewhere in Viridistan every day. There are far too many to list!

History:

A small selection of notable events throughout the years:

4433 - Today

4431 - The Deepwater Rebellion - towns & cities around Trident Gulf revolted. Ruthlessly put down by Viridian troops (including some PCs if they were in the Legion - fighters, rangers, spies, etc)

4284 - The Great Slaughter of Pain - massacre of the Mycretian religion, Viridian garrison placed in the Holy Cities in the desert.

4283 - Hautulin Seheitt becomes the current Green Emperor

4105 - An Imperial army destroys a rebel host from the City-State of the Invincible Overlord

3075 - City-State of the Invincible Overlord founded

2400 - The Holy Cities achieve independence from Viridistan

120 - City of Valon founded

101 - Viridistan founded

0 - "Corrected" Creation Date adopted to harmonise various calendar systems. Not everyone agrees on this.

-8603 - Creation Date of many religions

Session 9 Downtime - Viridistan

Suba-Jin

Reports to the great Battle-Dome of Hextor on the Street of the Gods to make his devotions. The dark edifice looms over nearby buildings. It is surrounded by statues of warriors and adorned with stained-glass windows, friezes and murals featuring scenes of historic battles against goblins, elves, monsters and just about everyone else. The clanging of weapons, shouts of battle and cracking of whips ring out at all hours. He passes by Hextor's red-robed priests & soldiers, naked slaves, and the familiar if unnerving skeletal temple guardians to the sanctum of his superior Votgauum, a severe & scarred Viridian.

The clergy finds the mournful, ethereal scent from the Forest of Dreams a bit sensitive, but are pleased at Suba-Jin's diligence & piety for bringing treasure wrested from his enemies. Votgauum also suggests Suba-Jin consider choosing one of the "arms of Hextor" to become proficient with, and he selects the falchion. Votgauum presents him with one as a gift to the promising acolyte.

[Offerings of roughly this value are expected from crusading clerics such as yourself regularly. As you donate more, Hextor will favour you with other benefits: special one-use abilities, magical buffs, guidance, followers or even magic items.]

Votgauum also passes along a request: a seedy-looking pawnbroker in the Old City named Morthevole has asked the church for help, saying his shop was taken from him unlawfully. Suba-Jin found him staying at a bar in the Old City (a lower-class district against the northern city wall. Filled with crumbling tenements, narrow alleys and outlandish structures left by the city's original builders, whoever they were). "The White Egg" is a lousy dive bar on the Avenue of Power, in the shadow of the great aqueduct. It's only made tolerable by a few tough-looking serving girls who work the crowd for tips. The pawnbroker probably picked it because it isn't very busy.

Morthevole is a wienery-looking Antillian in once rich, but now shabby clothes. He looks scared shitless. He is evasive about questions. He says he didn't have dealings with "the things," but that they are so dangerous he fears returning to his shop. They came up from a hole in his basement, and there are at least six or seven he's seen - but he has heard the sounds of more. He wants this whole thing kept secret, and says if nobody finds out, you can keep any treasure you find. His shop is in a part of town called The Nest. It's a district of adobe & brick structures built on top of each other in layers upon layers, until it forms a 3-dimensional maze. Most of the neighbourhood never sees the sky at all. As you would expect it is populated with criminal gangs, scum, mutants & drug fiends. Morthevole can give you directions & the key to his store which is not too far inside, but doesn't know the district well other than that. 

["A hole in his basement" is significant. It is commonly believed that dungeons exist underneath the city. But everyone knows it is illegal to explore below, on pain of death.]

Lothos

Studies magical tomes. From The Starless Stars, Lothos is able to decipher several spells easily: charm person, allure, shocking grasp, jump, scare & arcane lock are added to his spellbook.

To decipher the encoded text of Obliteration Without Glory, Lothos locks himself in his tiny rented room in Otherside, poring over the ancient & forbidding tome for three days straight! At the end of the third day, his efforts bear mixed success. He has decoded one of the spells, but its magic is unusable to him - it requires a spellcaster devoted to the forces death! 

There are several more spells to be deciphered, and each attempt will take three days. There is no guarantee which ones will be usable by elves and magic-users, and which require a dedicated necromancer.

Vanished!!

When you are done resting and get ready for your next adventure, Lothos the Undesirable is nowhere to be found! The rooming-house where he stayed does not remember when he left. With him go the two aforementioned spellbooks, as well as the mysterious engraved staff lifted from Eralion's tomb, and the 'talking book' Pheldrazash.

His whereabouts are unknown. Amongst the indifferent masses of the Emerald City, a determined elf could hide for a long time. Perhaps you will see Lothos again, perhaps not. I am sure you can all guess what might have happened. Mike will need a new character for the time being.

Spotted Around Town

On the third day, you spot some parchment handbills posted around the city:

Unlocking New Character Classes

When player-characters die, this is my gift to you. Each unique death will unlock a new playable character class or sub-class. Lothos didn't exactly 'die' but was taken out of play, so it's close enough for this purpose. For being 'killed' by a magical effect, this class is now available to everyone:

"The Incantrix"

A dimensional guardian specializing in divinations, wards and metamagic. Viewed with suspicion by established magic-users for their dangerous spell-stealing ability.

Requirements: INT 9, WIS 12

Casts a mixture of Magic-User and Illusionist spells up to 7th level

17 INT to cast 6th level spells, 18 INT to cast 7th level spells

Special Abilities:

1st level - charge healing - Drain charges from magical devices to heal (2d4 hp per charge). This takes a full round and does not work on artifacts or items without charges. This can raise hp above max, but these phantom hp last for only 10 rounds.

2nd level - spell steal - The incantrix can steal a memorized spell from another spell caster. The spell to be stolen is determined at random and the incantrix knows nothing about the stolen spell. This special ability by-passes magic resistance and there is no saving throw. The stolen spell may be cast by the incantrix immediately or held for later use, and can be cast without any material components. When cast, the spell functions as if cast by the being it was stolen from (with regards to level). Any spell already in the process of being cast cannot be stolen. 

The incantrix can erase the spell from her mind and inscribe it on a scroll or in a book with the Write spell, though this does not allow her to use it if it is forbidden by her class. Only by such scribing can the stolen spell be identified. The incantrix may use this special ability 1/day at levels 2-4, 2/day at levels 5-6, 3/day at levels 7-8 and so on at a range of 10'/level. There is a small chance of spell-steal victims being mentally damaged in the process, especially after successive strikes.

3rd level and up - other abilities which help fight ethereal & undead creatures, etc.

Session 9

THE SAGE OF LUNE 

15th-18th Meadowlark 

Characters: 

Gorr, Ranger 2
Suba-Jin, Cleric 1
Robert the Swift, Fighter 1
Eric Withakay, Cleric 3
Lothos the Undesirable, Elf 2
Meep, Dwarf 2 

The Trade

Continuing from the cliffhanger last session, Lothos & the 'talking book' Pheldrazash discussed using the crone statues so that the book could use Lothos' body in exchange for teaching the elf some of its magic. After discussing it back and forth, they asked the statues to go ahead. There was a pause, and then they said "IT IS DONE!"

Lothos felt a bit dizzy, but not that much different, and the group decided not to press the issue further. Many odd wonders were discovered on the second floor of the temple:

-Talking wooden statue holding up the ceiling, covered in graffiti. It offered to explain the workings of a few rooms, and asked for an offering in return (explanations are written in the room descriptions). After some sullen negotiations, Eric threw it a few of his (fake) gold coins.

-Candlelit room with a tiny coffin, filled with severed skeletal hands & arms. Pictographs showed a man severing his own hand in a ceremony of some kind. The ceremony allows anyone to make contact with a true Power of the universe (god or demon), at the cost of a hand or limb.

-Room with illusionary walls of a dense, sunlit forest inhabited by naked, giggling nymphs. They responded to the players. Gorr managed to convince one to come closer and take one of his magical cherries and an acorn from Grandfather Tree. He asked it to come out of the wall, but it seemed too scared.

-A bare room with a 4' crystal sphere in the middle, filled with churning smoke. Once in a while, a great golden eye would press itself against the glass from the inside.The group tried rolling the sphere around, but ultimately decided to leave it here for the time being.

In the room with four pillars, Meep the dwarf discovered a hidden switch on the pillar guarded by the brass soldier. It opened on a set of stairs, leading upwards. The group managed to distract the brass man enough that almost everyone could dodge past.

Meeting the Sage

Lothos, Robert, Suba-Jin and Meep climbed the stairs. At the top, a broad cupola was dominated by a pool of still water reflecting the moon. Nine brass soldiers stood at attention, but took no notice of the group. A (real human, not a shadow!) woman wearing delicate robes and ornate jewellery (a gem-studded silver ring, a silver sceptre, silver brooch and an engraved brass bracelet) greeted them warmly, apologizing for any mistreatment by the mechanical soldiers.

Her manners were welcoming, but little details were odd. When she walked in her thin slippers, her feet made a ceramic clack-clacking on the stone floors. Close up her face looked inside-out or inverted, like an optical illusion or something.

The Sage of Lune said that she almost never received visitors and offered to show the group visions in the reflecting pool of past and present things:

Suba-Jin asked about the origin of the land's curse and how it might be stopped: 

This land was once held in balance between the sun and moon. A cultist of Uthummaos, the God of Empty Darkness, drew that evil deity's attention to our world. This grim god spread his demons and shadow creatures throughout the land, and has plunged the world into a perpetual twilight, with no day or nighttime. I do not know how to break the curse, but Uthummaos has four demonic lieutenants in this world who enforce his will. If anything is at the core of the curse's power, it is them. The pool showed a man with indistinct features at the candle-lit shrine, cutting off his own hand and throwing it in the small coffin. Then hordes of shadowy monsters climbing forth from the deep, misty crevasse below Wakelinus' Folly (session 4).

Robert the Swift asked about these four demons and where they might be found:

I know three of their names, but the fourth eludes my sight. Eralion, who dwells deep beneath his old fortress in the moonlit zones. Varthatov, who presides over the First Temple of Uthummaos, somewhere beneath Wakelinus' Folly. Vashundara, the snake-demoness. The vision showed first Eralion's fortress, then the ruined colosseum again, then a woman with coal-black skin sleeping on an opulent bed covered with cushions, wearing only golden jewellery. A gold key hung on her necklace, and her belly was bulging and distended.

Lothos asked a question, but the Sage required a kiss in return. He was unwilling to do this, feeling the situation was too suspicious.

Meep asked about the crystal sphere filled with smoke, and the group learned about the cave squid inside and the ancient cult which once worshipped it. Finally, the group asked if the Sage had any useful items or magic that might assist them in their quest - she mentioned the shrine to Usham Ta, the lucky cat, might contain some treasure if they made the right obeisances, which she demonstrated for them. Not everyone had asked a question, and the Sage begged them to return later so she might grant them further visions.

Investigating the cat shrine on their way out, the religious gestures opened a secret compartment with a chest and a message: 'Tis better to give than to receive! Donate, so the chest never remains empty! They looted some valuable bricks of incense, and left some silver coins and an ornate dagger.

Return

That night when they camped, Gorr felt seized by a blind, unreasoning fear, and could not figure out its source.

Eric had a vision during the night: The forest was light by bright sunshine, and an armoured knight with kindly eyes reached out to him. He knew this was Solaris, the almost forgotten god worshipped by Shandril and a few others. Solaris praised his valour and wisdom in wielding the enchanted mace Lua Saka, asking Eric to abandon his current faith and follow a new path. Eric shook his outstretched hand feeling a sense of joy, acceptance and relief. The god departed, fading into the overwhelming radiance.

After returning to the Forgotten Village, Shandril showed Eric the rites of his new religion and the group decided to return to Viridistan with their loot. 

Returning found the Night Wolf's tavern packed with strange people from the far corners of the world. A stage-hypnotist was performing for the crowd. Eric spotted a group displaying a solar insignia and went over to talk. They followed a deity called the "Unconquered Sun," spoke with strange accents and said they called The Wardale Rogues from Verulamium. They had never heard of Solaris, but seemed friendly enough.

Returning to Viridistan by the coast road, the group passed through the Moon Gate in the great wall and over the Emperor's farmlands. Entering on Market Avenue, they were back in familiar territory for the moment: the greatest city in the empire, beckoning adventure from every door and alleyway!

Remember, temporary bonuses such as the +1 luck from the cat shrine have long expired now. 

If you haven't already gotten back to me with downtime actions (carousing, studying, rumours, etc) please do so!!!

Treasure: 

A huge amount of treasure was redeemed from the last 7 sessions in the Forest of Dreams. Having arrived in Viridistan, it can easily be offloaded & converted to local currency in the city's grand bazaars.

220 electrum coins (worth 3 sp each - 660 sp)

3846 silver

10 copper (1 sp)

50 gold (500 sp)

ancient china tea set (400 sp)

gilding pried out of skeleton's helmets (300 sp)

7 bricks of Forest of Dreams incense (3500 sp)

animal pelts (1100 sp)

coat of chromatic peacock feathers (700 sp)

ivory Y 'crucifix' (1000 sp)

scented Forest of Dreams woods (1000 sp)

cracked quartz disk (400 sp)

TOTAL LOOT VALUE: 13,407 sp

I've deducted cost-of-living (1% of total xp) from your awarded loot automatically, since we're starting next session in the city.

Per character

Suba-Jin: 2289 sp

Robert the Swift: 2287 sp

Gorr: 2128 sp

Lothos the Undesirable: 2075 sp

Eric Withakay: 2081 sp

Meep: 1563 sp

Aladar IX: 500 sp

Viegar Thricescarred: 157 sp

Current XP totals

Gorr, Suba-Jin and Robert the Swift have gained levels! If anyone wants to carouse, let me know before next session.