THE PLOTS THICKEN
Longrass 17-20, 4433
Characters:
Gorr, ranger 4
Suba-Jin, cleric of Hextor 4
Robert the Swift, fighter 3
Eric Withakay, cleric of Solaris 4
Meep, dwarf fighter 3
Lord Fesgate, fighter 3
Seven Visions
Carousing at the high-class Dockside establishment went quite well, all things considered.
- Eric Withakay went on a drunken spending spree, buying 100 sp worth of useless trinkets from a street vendor.
- Robert the Swift spoke too freely in his cups and let slip some vital piece of information to another reveller, but he can't remember what.
- Regetus Rex also went on a spending spree, and bought 200 sp worth of things he didn't need or want. He didn't have the money on him, and now owes the merchant.
[Both of you who bought things, feel free to make up what they are or I'll roll for it later]
A few rumours were gleaned in the night:
- The boat-people fished the body some smuggler out of the Firth last night with a bloody spider carved into his chest!
- The Gloaming Tower is having a special event in two days. A new sanctioned apprentice is undergoing the test to be raised up to full rank, and everyone is going down to the river to watch.
In the morning, Robert the Swift was woken by his mechanical bird singing him awake in a lovely woman's voice. The sounds of argument drew him downstairs, where the madame Zvezdana Ozi and her bouncer Hakan were arguing with someone at the front door.
"We're paid up this month! What's the problem?"
"Sorry Lady, new orders. We're doing a spot-check!"
"What is this bullshit?"
 |
| "Filthy cop," pfffffffff "'Eyy em trying to run ey beez-ness!" |
Realizing the guards were probably coming in, Robert woke up the group. They were preparing to jump out the window but a few of Zvezdana's girls took pity on them (Suba-Jin's coins didn't hurt) and hid the group in their rooms. After the guards left, the gang had Zvezdana identify a few magic items - some bracers of defense AC 13, a potion of longevity and a scroll of Invisiblity, 10' radius.
She bought the potion for a princely sum (she's getting on in years), and asked them for a favour. One of her girls (named Etelvina) joined a theatre troupe at The Theatre of Sutrali Khibari in the Old City. In the past week, nobody had heard from her and Zvezdana was starting to worry. Was she OK? Had she started working somewhere else? What happened? The group agreed to check it out.
Around Town
The group split up and did a few things throughout the city, bought gear, went to the Night Wolf Inn to pick up some of their savings, etc.
Robert & Gorr investigated the theatre, a dingy place beneath Uugen's Market in the Old City. A staircase beside a statue of the pangolin-armadillo goddess of luck Kettkí led down below, infested with beggars and strewn with garbage. The ticket-taker told them that a skeletal apparition with glowing eyes had kidnapped Etelvina right off the stage at the climax of a performance! The play was a lurid romance called "The Bleeding Skeleton." Since then business has boomed as folks hope to see a repeat of this thrilling & macabre event. That play wasn't on that night, so they moved on.
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| Uugen's Market, Old City |
Suba-Jin gave his tithe at the church of Hextor and was urged to deal with this "Inquisition Problem" by Votgauum, his immediate superior. He went to Fort Penitence and managed to get a bit more information on why Eric's name was on wanted posters around the city [Session 1 - No Salvation For Witches].
That night the group went down to the docks and watched the wizard's initiation. It turned out that the apprentice was none other than Lothos the Undesirable himself! He walked and acted differently since the group last saw him. Gorr called out his name, but he didn't appear to notice. As the sun set, Lothos demonstrated his newfound magical power - stepping off the docks onto a sparkling bridge of lights, walking up & over the water and into the Gloaming Tower itself before the whole scene faded from view.
The group returned to the theatre the next day while it was closed. Banging on the door brought the attention of Barzhánu, a mean & imperious-looking woman. She introduced herself as the impresario and allowed the group to come in and explore the "alleged ghost problem" if they didn't disturb rehearsals. The actors were an ill-favoured lot, clearly drawn from the city's unfortunates.
Behind the stage was a carving on the wall of a madly dancing skeleton clad in wild rags. This seemed somehow related to the haunting but they didn't get around to investigating it, instead exploring a backstage storage room with a spiral staircase. Downstairs was a deep basement area that showed no signs of travel.
A great stone face of a scowling, helmeted warrior blocked passage forward. After a few tries opening it, Suba-Jin wondered if the content of the play might be relevant. Barzhánu said "The Bleeding Skeleton" was about a cursed warrior named Kadurghán - when the name was uttered, the stone face opened with a great grinding sound! A pastel rose-coloured mist issued forth, smelling of flowers and causing a light-headed dizziness.
The Realm of Kadurghán
This soporific mist was also poisonous - a few of the group tied wet rags around their mouths and this helped a little bit, but they still felt their strength slowly ebbing as they progressed through the tunnels.
They passed a few old storage rooms filled with couches, rotting clothes & a lady's makeup table, but didn't look inside. Next was a large hall with the words "THE NARCOTIC THRONE: THE COURT OF KADURGHÁN" carved above the doorway. Within the richly decorated & marbled hall, an imposing figure in blue-black ceremonial armour sat on a brass throne, lost in thought or asleep. The party's spellcasting caught his attention and he demanded to know their purpose here.
They explained their search for the missing girl. He told them the monster they sought was called Uromén, the Chortling Death. Its domain was deeper into the undercity, but more than that he didn't know. Kadurghán (for it could only be him) said he did not harm women, and sought only the heart of a powerful warrior strong enough to beat in his own chest - indicating a small hinged panel on his armour. After some more chatter he made it clear the party would pay dearly for disturbing his repose, while a pack of sinister horned ghosts coalesced out of the red mists.
The battle was short and furious. Kadurghán didn't even join, only exhorted his ghostly minions from his throne. The poisonous mists began taking their toll and the group decided to flee. Meep the Dwarf was knocked out by a ghost's parting strike but Gorr carried him, and everyone made it up the stairs.
Back in the Theater
Upstairs, a tense stand-off occurred with Barzhánu's guards while Robert the Swift dragged her downstairs to prove how dangerous the Undercity was. When Suba-Jin went down to see how it was going, he found her shoving Robert's lifeless body down into the mists! A Light spell and the sudden appearance of a pack of horned ghosts kept her busy, while Suba-Jin dragged his friend back upstairs. It seemed that she had stabbed him with a poisoned dagger, but the lucky use of a Neutralize Poison spell stabilized Robert for the moment.
The group explored the rest of the theatre shooing out the scared players and sullen thugs, none of whom had much reason to stay with their employer gone. They found the bloody clothes of some former lover in Barzhánu's room, along with her stash and some treasure.
Two bricked-up archways in backstage rooms led to parts unknown and Gorr used his mining tools to smash a few bricks out. On the other side of one was a ratty-smelling room with some veiled figures wearing soiled black and purple robes. They were priests, and this the Temple of Sürü Miklári. Entry was forbidden but they were willing to offer oracles about matters in the city from "the little brothers" for one talent of silver (500 coins). They insisted the door not be knocked down further, but reluctantly allowed for a small hole through which communication could be made.
After exploring the theatre, they took Robert to the church of Hextor for more healing and the poison was finally over with. Votgauum again urged Suba-Jin to deal with Eric's legal troubles. They decided to turn Eric in to the Inquisition, claim the reward and hope that the priests' magical abilities discerned the truth of events.
Fort Penitence
"We got him!" Gorr cried when they walked into the Inquisition's headquarters. Once he was identified, Eric was quickly ushered away. The rest of the party were given their reward and ushered by a large group of guards through twisting tunnels underneath the Fort. They quickly got lost and were finally ushered into a large interview room -- where Eric himself was sitting! After a few minutes of uncomfortable waiting an imposing Viridian with piercing eyes entered the room. The guards seemed afraid of him and made themselves scarce.
A long conversation ensued with the man, Phaidros Imad, covering many topics:
- He had enough dirt on the group to have them all condemned. For the Drydale Massacre [back in Session 1], possession of contraband, their trips to the Undercity and possibly more he wasn't saying.
- The Inquisition knew about Bishop Gray all along, and wanted his magic book. The party told him about Lothos carrying it and the attribute-trading statues [Session 9]. He was frustrated by the book moving out of his reach, for now.
- His main concern at the moment was the Night Wolf Inn. All his attempts to place agents in the Adventurers' Guild had failed. Now that he had the group in his power and most of them were already members, he wanted to learn more about the place. He didn't believe for a second it was a "simple adventuring guild."
His questions included:
Who runs the Inn?
What are his or her capabilities, resources, goals, agendas?
How long will the Inn be operating outside Viridistan? Is it intended to be permanent?
What else is inside the inn?
Who else is a member of the Guild?
What kind of agenda is driving the Guild's activities?
Any other information on the Inn itself, the Guild and those involved with it.
Phaidros spoke with narrowed eyes, in an ominous whisper: "I don't have to tell men in your position that there is a war going on... behind things." He would be watching the group carefully but they'd only meet him again if they did extremely well or extremely poorly. Their next contact would be known by a password: "The Pelagic Argosy Sights Land."
He cautioned that they were not official Inquisition troops and he was neither willing nor able to help them out in future. After this stern dismissal they were escorted out of a side-exit from the Fort. Back in the city and free of the manhunt, the party contemplated their next move, and the renewal of hostilities with that mysterious bastard Kadurghán...
*****
Monsters Defeated:
3 horned ghosts (240 xp)
Treasure:
silver & gold coins (divided amongst the group)
a gilded theatre-mask
some bloody clothes
Experience Totals:
