Wishery: Sessions 1 & 2

THROUGH ULTAN'S DOOR

16-17 Meadowlark, 4433

Characters:

Two-Faced Humphrey, human spy 1 (Tim)

Avala, human elementalist 1 (Brielle)

Octavian the Bloody Fist, human spy 1 (Tim)

Krull the Barbarian King, human fighter 1 (Brielle)

*****

Two-Faced Humphrey and Avala, shaken by their bizarre experiences in the Drydale monastery [way back in Session 1] returned to Viridistan for a while. Humphrey spent his time greasing palms & trying to start criminal schemes, none of which panned out. Avala worked on artistic endeavours. Soon they craved further adventure and joined with a sinister spy named Octavian and a buff fighting-man named Krull with the grandiose title "The Barbarian King." They all decided to investigate rumours circling in the Bazaar of a magical door to Wishery, the land of dreams, beneath a printmaker's shop.

Finding the shop in the shadow of the Great Aqueduct on Market St was no problem. The owner Ultan was a stooped & ancient man with ink-stained fingers. The shop was cluttered with tools, wood blocks, and handsome framed prints on the walls. Ultan demanded 10 silvers up front per person before anyone could even see the door. Avala tried to haggle but the old man stood firm on his price. After business was concluded, Ultan's nephew Samir conducted the group into a back room. In a narrow basement closet beneath the stairs was the door:

Painted sky-blue and adorned with gold leaf in swirling, elaborate patterns. Its handle carved into an elegant, arching swan's neck. Nothing like this door is known anywhere else in the Viridian Empire. Now convinced the stories were true, the party proceeded through into the land of Wishery!

The First Expedition

They entered Wishery in a dark room that smelled like a sewer. A hallway led to the left into a larger circular space, and a door to the right was blocked by something. Octavian and Krull pushed hard against it, and with a mighty heave they shoved through!

Inside were two pale, emaciated men with white hair and black-stained mouths, accompanied by a hideous doglike creature with a horse's skull for a head. One of them ran away while the other reached for his weapon. The group offered food to the strange man and attempted to parley. He turned out to be mute, which made communication difficult. He could understand the party's questions, but only gesture with his hands and make "uh, uh" noises.

At this point they heard a flapping sound behind them. From the other direction, two black bundles of feathers & wings flapped into view, like scrambled ravens with one large, central eye. The odd beasts flew towards the group, and even meeting their monocular gaze caused deep cuts to well up on Humphrey's face!

The whole group piled through the door over the mute's protests, slamming it behind them. Another tense stand-off occurred when a crew of five more pale mutes arrived to investigate the commotion. Offering more food, the party managed to avoid hostilities. They gleaned some clues with more charades:

-These mutes are outcasts of some kind, accursed by their society.

-It was shocking to the mutes that the group didn't wear masks, which are commonplace here for everyone except them. But, mask-wearers are dangerous.

-There is a city far away, and high above their heads.

-Pig-nosed bipedal creatures infest the area, and the mutes want them destroyed or driven out.

After the conversation, the mutes made it clear that the group couldn't pass through their territory. Hoping the winged eyes were gone, the group left the way they had came, and proceeded back through the door to Viridistan.

The Second Expedition

After Humphrey had recovered from his wounds, the group went to Hightown to buy masks for themselves. In a store called Hawk's Antiques they found four for sale: two hideous ghoul's faces, an elegant feathered domino, and a squid with tentacles for a beard. Prezerus Hawk the proprietor said they were all the rage at social events this season. He also had an elegant carved urn for sale, made by the Mycretians living in the distant Holy Cities of the desert. Nobody was really interested, and the group returned to Ultan's.

Avala tried to negotiate again, but Ultan was having none of it and demanded his 10 silver, the group grudgingly paying.

This time they explored a larger domed room, finding hanging corpses wearing robes and hooked plague-doctor masks. They brought the corpses down to search, narrowly avoiding the rusted bear-traps hidden in the straw beneath. Searching through ruined bedrooms, they found a small gold pin in the design of a web.

They followed a red-tiled hallway lined with broken stained glass screens, came through a rusted portcullis and saw the source of the smell: the sewer river. A handsome boat was moored at the wooden dock, but Octavian fell through the rotted boards into the foul water before he could reach it! Only quick rope-work on the group's part saved him. 

While Octavian was stripping off his filthy armour, another group of pale & stained mutes surprised everyone, emerging from a locked door. These were hostile, so the group hurriedly jumped in the boat and floated downstream.

The sewer river was an old brick tunnel about 50' across. Metal pipes discharged effluent at intervals. The smell was horrible. After about an hour, they heard buzzing up ahead: on the sewer's surface three huge flies skipped, their eyes glittering like jewels. They doused their lights to avoid the flies, which still followed the party at a discreet distance for a while.

Soon, a light up ahead revealed a slick of viscera, blood & fat on the water's surface. Giant flies and moths buzzed around it. The stench of death was near-unbearable. Regular bursts of gore flowed from three huge gaping faces carved into the tunnel wall. Between them, two staircases led upwards and into the sinister red light.

"There's NO way we're going up there!" Avala said.

The group turned their boat around immediately. They paddled back upriver past the dock and still further, seeking a way upwards into the city they'd heard of. Another hour of rowing past a few side branches brought them to a stone dock and a wide cavern opening above them. Distantly, they could see a bright point of light in the cavern's ceiling. Could it be daylight?

The Leprosarium

The cavern was huge, but illumined faintly by the light from above. It held some kind of ruined underground city. The houses were once fine, with multicoloured paint now dusty and chipping. Nearby the group heard the sounds of conversation and chains creaking.

Humphrey and Octavian snuck forward amongst the buildings to see what was happening. Some people were gathered around a wooden platform with an open-fronted cage on it. All wore masks. A few armoured men stood guard, while a huge shirtless laborer cranked some kind of windlass attached to chains that hung from high above. A woman in robes was climbing into the cage, which was lifted off the ground by the chains. They watched the elevator dwindle high into the distance, towards the light at the roof of the cavern. This was definitely a way out!

The guards were baffled at seeing strangers here that they hadn't brought down on the elevator. They asked to see the group's tongues, and didn't like what they saw. "First time down here?" asked a guard. "No way you're getting back up to Zyan without a dose of Bluetongue. Get it at the Temple, and don't come back to me until you do." He indicated the a huge stone building at the back of the cavern.

The temple was guarded by silent armoured soldiers with smooth, eyeless helms. Petitioners in filthy rags crowded the entryway outside, begging admittance. The guards must have liked the look of the party though, and stepped aside to let them in.

Inside they spoke to the proctor, a man with leprous skin and red robes. He explained this place was a colony for those afflicted with the Walking Plague. Without a dose of the blue medicine, visitors could not return to the city for fear of spreading it. Humphrey tried to bribe him, but didn't have nearly enough money.

In the Leprosarium's small marketplace, a half-dozen infected men sold strange medicines:

 - Bluetongue - 100 gold - inoculates against exposure to the plague in the last 24 hours

 - Graydream - 100 silver - brings pleasant dreams of dead relatives

 - Hole - 100 copper -  relieves feelings of grief

None in the group could afford the Bluetongue necessary to pass up to the city. However, Octavian managed to convince one of the lepers to gamble him for it, and won with his set of loaded dice! They got what looked like a pot of blue paint, and each party member slathered some of the sparkling paste on their tongues. 

Returning to the elevator, the guards now allowed them passage upwards. After a slow ride, they emerged into daylight. They were finally in Zyan!

Treasure:

Golden web brooch

Enemies Defeated: 

none

Session 1

NO SALVATION FOR WITCHES

1st Meadowlark, 4433

Characters

Aladar IX, half-elf magic-user 1 (Alex)

Tullius Jr, human fighter 1 (Jake)

Lothos the Undesirable, elf 1 (Mike)

Eric Withakay, human cleric 1 (Foulds)

Avala, human elementalist 1 (Brielle)

Two-Faced Humphrey, human spy 1 (Tim)

Funeral For a Friend

The characters met at the funeral of James Blake, an old army buddy who died under mysterious circumstances. They assembled to pay their respects on the way to Drydale Priory where longstanding rumours suggested heretical activities and/or valuable treasure.

A neighbouring farmer was the only other attendee. He was confused that Bishop Gray hadn't sent at least a junior priest to officiate and worried about Blake's missing 11-year old daughter Deotina. He also mentioned a group of tax collectors had been asking questions, and asked the group to find out anything they could. A search of Blake's home turned up little except his old Legion gear and a scrap of paper torn from his diary about the taxmen. There were signs someone had packed and left in a hurry.

At the caravanserai, the party found human bodies everywhere killed and mutilated in the most horrible ways. The only two people left alive were a terrified, useless traveler named Arrerand and the concussed woman Naniela, who was beyond his power to help. She mumbled and raved about "red lights in the sky... the dancing woman with skin of diamonds" and clutched her bleeding head wound. Eric healed her injury and she became more lucid. The two helpless travelers were interrogated about the tax collectors and recent events but didn't know much. The party sent them on their way.

The priory itself was unreachable, covered by an impassable dome of lambent red light. Leaving it for the moment, the group proceeded to Drydale for clues and found the citizens in the middle of a witch trial! Leading the event was a thin, intense man named Kynnakon. Four women had already been killed and a fifth cried upon the scaffold, pleading for mercy. At the back of the village, a strange glow similar to the red dome could be seen.

Thinking quickly, Eric stepped in and engaged the man in a discussion about witches and their verification. As a man of the cloth his words carried weight on these matters and he convinced the crowd to disperse. Without his mob, Kynnakon was less confident. He released the "witch" Mertysa to the party's care and told them a strange story: six women had passed through towards the priory a few days ago armed and armoured, dressed in strange clothes. Since then all their livestock had died and they blamed witchcraft.

Lothos circled around the village to investigate the red glow. A small red sphere floated at head height, softly glowing. While the townsfolk were distracted he took it in his cloak and rejoined the group, who departed before the crowd's temper could change again. Returning to the priory, the small red sphere crumbled into dust, sympathetically bringing down the giant glowing dome and allowing entry. Unluckily for the elf, the sphere destroyed a few of his possessions as it vanished from the world - including his spellbook!

Inside The Priory

The party entered the grounds, avoiding the church for now. Searching the outbuildings revealed a succession of horrors - women giving birth to mutated children, a man and woman fused together while still alive and a puddle of fast-moving scarlet bile.

Outside the baths, they were greeted by an imposing figure - Sir Karavon, a knight in gleaming white plate mail. He demanded to know their business and claimed to serve the cause of Mistress Orelia. After all his tough talk, battle was inevitable. Lothos sustained a terrible blow from Karavon's greatsword but the group felled him together and stripped the body.

The group had had enough of these horrors. They barricaded the infirmary full of aberrant children and set the roof on fire. While they were debating their next move, Kynnakon arrived on the scene leading a small torch-and-pitchfork mob. The group took up ambush positions, Tullius Jr slipped inside incognito as Sir Karavon while Eric addressed the mob, whipping them into a witch-hunting frenzy.

Inside the church was a whirl of activity: dozens of peasant women dancing in a mad frenzy guarded by five heavily armed foreign women, overseen by two robed & hooded men and an ice-pale Avalonian sorceress in a red sash. Orelia called out to "Sir Karavon," asking the knight for a report. Tullius Jr indicated the angry mob outside and mobilized the warrior-women to battle, remaining indoors at Orelia's side in case of emergency.

Battle was joined in front of the church! The Five Bishops (as they called themselves) guarded the door in a wedge formation, bravely meeting the mob's charge. What they weren't prepared for was the party's vicious ambush: Humphrey ran up behind one for a backstab while Aladar and Lothos peppered them from a safe distance. The Bishops couldn't withstand this assault for long and began a fighting retreat into the church. This turned out to be a mistake, as the mob charged in and held the door open! Things began to happen very quickly. Tullius Jr showed his true colours when he struck Orelia by surprise with his greatsword, nearly killing her in one strike. Retaliation with her magic wand did not have its intended effect. Two-Faced Humphrey ran around to the back and climbed up to a window for a surprise attack. Eric began smashing windows which allowed Lothos, Aladar and Avala to take up firing positions.

In a deft use of magic, Aladar used his Unseen Servant to snatch Orelia's magic wand right from her hand before she could use it again. Tullius' greatsword finished her off after that. With magical support from Avala's earth elementine, a diving attack by Humphrey and a magical grasping fist from Aladar, the two robed figures were destroyed and revealed to be only the flayed skins of men animated by Orelia's witchcraft.

With all opponents defeated, the mob began dragging the dancers off the platform and the party felt the beginnings of a tremor run through the building. Thinking quickly they fled the scene just in time for the church to come crashing down in a blaze of light and magic, killing or wounding all inside! The rubble began to burn, but Eric and Humphrey dragged over a tub of water from the baths, buying everyone time to sift the wreckage, rescue a few townsfolk and recover some valuables and the mysterious book they originally sought.

Exhumation

The smoky priory grounds were visited by a new group - the much-talked-about tax collectors! Their leader was a turbaned Viridian named Irmugar, sent by the Padishah to investigate rumours that Blake had stolen or unreported wealth. They seemed not to know he was dead. The party convinced the taxmen to take the peasant survivors back to Drydale - Irmugar indicated Tullius Jr and agreed the situation was well in hand with a "Knight of the Cockatrice" present. But something else he said got the group thinking...

The adventure ended where it began with the party exhuming James Blake by torchlight. Inside his coffin with his body was a locked oak box. Prying it open revealed a battered knife in an old scabbard, a locket containing a single golden hair, Blake's diary and a strange leatherbound book called The Great Devourer.

Eric meanwhile was perusing the blackened tome he had found in the rubble and touched its faded pages with his bloodstained hands. They blossomed into fresh crimson runes and symbols, while words formed in Imperial: "Greetings. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

ENEMIES DEFEATED

Charles & Gwendolin
scarlet bile
Sir Karavon
"The Five Bishops"
Orelia
2 animated skin guardians

TREASURE

Sir Karavon's white plate mail & greatsword (Tullius Jr.)

Assorted armour, weapons and ammunition from the Bishops (various)

Orelia's ivory-tipped magic wand (Aladar IX) and red sash (Tullius Jr.)

A mysterious blackened tome (Eric)

Blake's diary (Aladar IX)

The Great Devourer (Lothos)

Locket with a golden hair (Eric)

Silver drinking horn, carved with runes and studded with garnets, slightly scuffed (640 sp)

A silver-gilt radiated brooch ringed with amethysts (1200 sp)

Solid-gold decorative phallus (800 sp)

Treasure value: 2640 sp

Each character gets 440 sp and 490 xp