Session 32

RUMOURS OF WAR

Sunstrong 15 - Thistleburn 5, 4433
10 days passed during the session
2 subjective days passed in your most recent trip into the Forest of Dreams

Characters:

Gorr, ranger 5
Daqqa-Jin, barbarian 4
Robert the Unconstitutional, fighter 5
Eric Withakay, cleric 5
Salzige Brauen, necromancer 2
Lord Fesgate, fighter 4 (NPC)

Smuggling

The group headed out of the Forest of Dreams, ready to sell their ill-gotten gains in Viridistan. The Night Wolf Inn was as normal: some red-skinned Altanians and pale, fiercely painted Amazons were drinking in the tavern. Salzige attempted to interact with the warrior-women but was rebuffed, amidst the jeers of the eastern barbarians.

On the way back to Viridistan, a great traffic jam of farmers, merchants & travellers had formed outside the Great Wall. Daqqa-Jin went up to the gate and learned that due to a distant war, Emperor Seheitt was instituting new taxes. 

The party split up. Gorr, Fesgate and Salzige remained in the Forest of Dreams for a few days. Fesgate still had a broken leg, and Gorr's sanity was beginning to fray after many battles with the undead! Robert and Daqqa-Jin went through the gate on foot and proceeded into Viridistan.

In the Emerald City, everyone was talking about THE WAR! It was clear that news of the disaster on the sacred mountain [Session 18] had finally reached the general populace. Many rumours swirled. The most significiant: Shah Kijdawr is stretched thin and has few troops available to counter this new threat. Everyone is waiting for the Emperor to step in and send one of the Vasthosts north, but so far this has not happened.

Prices are up! Metal ores, lumber, wine & other goods have increased in price, leading to overall higher cost of living. Temples are sending priests & magic to help deal with the threat, increasing prices for religious services, spellcasting, scrolls, etc.

At Seven Visions, mistress Zvezdana Ozi had news. If the group wanted, she could call in that favour and put them in touch with some 'scary characters' who would be happy to buy some of the strange magical items they had recovered a few sessions ago. They decided to table this for now, and worked out a plan to smuggle their treasure into town.

The party brought their treasure to Targnol port [last seen in Session 2] where they contacted a shady character named Tilki who put them in the hold of a logging boat with a nice bribe to the captain. When they got to Viridistan they were picked up in a small dinghy and brought into town by one of the boat-people, a strange folk who live their whole lives in connected networks of boats & rafts on the waters of the Nereus Firth. This got them into the heart of town and past the guards at the Great Wall, for a simple 10% cut to their patron, Zvezdana.

She identified some of the group's items (including a robe of eyes, sweet) and they did a few errands in town & caught up on the news. Patchey, the proprietor of the Dragon's Eye Inn, gave them a letter that arrived a few days prior, which said only:

Meet me at the Green Lion statue at mid-day this week. The pelagic argosy sights land.

Knowing this was their Inquisition contact, Daqqa-Jin and Robert went to the meeting by the Green Lion, an ancient statue in the middle of a wide plaza by the sea. A shifty viridian who called himself Bolivar greeted them. He wanted to know what they had discovered about the Night Wolf Inn, but Daqqa-Jin didn't tell him anything he really liked. Some haggling (and subtle or not-so-subtle insinuations) followed. Bolivar said if they could give him something really useful about the Inn Master, or the overall agenda of the Guild, he could maybe see about helping them with a special gate pass to bypass the tax-collectors at the Great Wall.

Return to the Moonlit Zone

The group caught up with Rain in the Night Wolf Inn's smoking room. They saw a strange enigma - the animal heads on the walls animated and chanted in an unknown language. 

The elven bard explained the workings of the magical Four Winds Bar and the command words to activate it. She once owned one of these rare & powerful magic items, but traded it many years ago for her magical mandolin. The finding of this item seemed a respectable achievement. Rain listened with interest to the group's plans for the future and offered advice about the Inn's cellars.

Back in the Forest of Dreams, the group progressed further into the Moonlit Zone. They passed through the ruins of an old town now overgrown with trees. They passed by an old structure decorated with the sign of a red cross and two snakes, only glancing inside briefly. 

Coming to a clearing littered with buildings, they were spotted by a group of tall humanoids with the heads of snarling jackals & black eyes, covered in silvery fur. Battle was joined! The humanoids charged while a few of their fellows fired bows from cover.

Justin: "Just call me Michael Vick!"
DM: *laughs in horror*
Chris: "Not exactly, you didn't cast charm on them and make them fight each other!"

It didn't take long for the group to defeat their foes, with the last two jackal-men casting themselves on the group's mercy.  

Jackal-man: "We surrender! No kill!"
John: "This isn't a no-kill shelter..."

Chris: "I'll fire at the fleeing archer." *volley of arrows hit, the jackal-man dies*
Justin: "Gorr's arrows sent that one to a farm upstate!"

The group interrogated the survivors, learning a handful of details about the region and the name of their master, a moon-man named Kucmalôg.

Other Things That Happened

Gorr rested in the Forest of Dreams in the boughs of Grandfather Tree for a subjective 5 months! [recovering 5 fear points in this time] The wise tree spoke of many obscure & ancient things through the sighing of branches and the whistling of the wind. The ranger can't remember much, but perhaps in time this lore will come back to him...

Gorr is still suffering from madness at this time - he is capable of fighting at a distance with a bow but if things get too stressful or monsters/strangers get too close, I will have to make a roll to see if he loses his composure!

Salzige has been learning spells! The stone idol of a winged, monkey-like humanoid speaks to him in his dreams. After a few weeks, he awoke feverishly one morning and transcribed the spell chill touch into his spellbook. A few days later, he had terrible nightmares. Although he could not afterwards recall them, he was so shaken that for two days, even ordinary tasks were quite difficult [if he had been adventuring some penalties would have applied]

Monsters Defeated:

10 white gnolls - 8 killed, 2 surrendered (470 xp)

Treasure Found:

none

Treasure Turned In:

giant gold statue of Ahmon-Ibor
2x purple gemstone eyes (Robert kept these)
2x crimson incense (Eric kept for tithing)
silver grave trinket
silver plate set
2x silver scimitars
9x jewelry from Tannoch crypts (Gorr kept a red cross medal, Daqqa-Jin kept a gold chain)
glass-fronted scroll case (magic scrolls inside were kept)
scroll of sanctuary

Money Awarded:

Young Joe Spruce: 801 sp 

Cost of Living:

[I didn't want to spend time calculating this during the session. I will remind each of you next time]

Gorr: 235 sp
Daqqa-Jin: 97 sp
Eric: 163 sp
Robert: 168 sp
Salzige: 40 sp
Cassia: 11 sp
Xénos: 27 sp
Joe Spruce: (already deducted above)

Experience Totals:

Daqqa-Jin has reached level 4!
Robert the Swift has reached level 5!
Young Joe Spruce has reached level 3!

Session 23

FOLLOWING IN SESTO'S FOOTSTEPS

Warmshade 20 - Sunstrong 3

Characters:

Gorr, ranger 5

Suba-Jin the Three-Handed, cleric of Hextor 4

Robert the Swift, fighter 4

Xénos, spy 1

Lord Fesgate, fighter 4

Leaving the Mansion

The party emerged from the garden hedges to see a group of 10 mandragoras between them and the exit. With Lord Fesgate badly hurt, low on hit points and spells, drastic measures were required:

"That's it" Suba-Jin growled, brandishing a bottle of herbicide in one hand and his pistol in the other. "Every one of you get outta my way!" The short little plant-men were so baffled that they didn't even move. Hustling through the statue garden, he tossed a handful of the brown powder in one's face and it collapsed, shrieking in its vegetable-y way.

On the way out, Sesto's work crew wanted to know how things had gone. The party showed them a golden disk they had looted [last session]. They left Lord Fesgate to recuperate at the Dragon's Eye, then proceeded to Seven Visions for some much-needed R&R. They spotted a surly pimp and a few cruel-looking guards selling foreign dancing-girls in the Bazaar on the way.

They showed the golden disk to Zvezdana, who identified it as a type of odd-shaped trade bar used by rich families in the past. She took it off their hands for 2000 silver pieces!

The group spent a few days healing and partying at Seven Visions (and everyone failed their carousing saves) - Suba-Jin remembers destroying something in the night, but not what it was or where. Gorr recalls letting some important information slip while in his cups. Xénos got a nasty surprise when he awoke one morning with a dead elf in his bed! After some deliberation he brought this to management's attention, and Zvezdana agreed to handle it for him, saying only "You arr varry lucky you arr such goot cahstomers,,,"

The only clue to the elf woman's identity was a halved skull tattoo: the symbol of Galishma, a goddess of dark places & hidden things as well as protectress of women. The group had their suspicious but without much to go on they decided to drop the subject for now.

Disappeared!

The party met up with Sesto's crew, ready to brave the mansion again. But nobody had seen him for several days! The crew was getting worried, and the party decided to look into it.

Life in the Old City

There was no information at the Dragon's Eye, so the party ventured into Old City to look for Sesto's neighbourhood. They stopped into Eternal Flame, the bar where they'd first met him [a few sessions ago]. A rose-gold metallic building sized for beings much taller than humans, it was kept quite warm by a cheery ever-burning fire, now used as an oven. The barkeep hadn't seen their quarry for almost a week which was unusual since Sesto stopped in for an after-work drink most days. The party managed to learn where he lived (amusingly, on the Street of Stones).

At the corner of the Street of Stones, Robert spoke to an old man selling pickles out of a barrel. The vendor had noticed a few cloaked, shady types asking around for Sesto and one of them had a strange tattoo on the back of his neck:

Then the old pickle-monger pointed out the Sesto family's residence on the second floor of a nearby brick & concrete apartment block, of the run-down style commonplace in the Old City. 

The dwelling had been ransacked, and there didn't seem to be any clues to the perpetrators. Mattresses were slashed, boxes opened up, all the poor family's meagre possessions were thoroughly rifled.

Suba-Jin interviewed a frightened neighbour (who wouldn't even open her door) and got some interesting gossip. A few nights back, the woman had heard men's voices raised in anger, and the sounds of breaking furniture. "I thought it was a domestic. Common around here, you understand. Then one of the men said some funny things - 'Ah, you'll be fit for a coffin after this! We'll get the iron toads on it, you wait' and then 'By yurdle-murdle'... or maybe it was 'yer-doomlel'? Some funny word, anyway." With a sinking feeling, Suba-Jin thought he knew the word she had overheard...

They party headed to the Bridge district to find evidence of the Coffin Masters gang, thinking that was who had grabbed up Sesto and his family.

The run-down shacks on Bridge were usually covered in graffiti, most of it not relevant. Symbols of gangs & local crews. Occasionally the logo of a deity, like Galishma's half-skull. Occasionally a strangely clean and well-written message saying "THE SEQUENCE - ALL WELCOME - OTHERSIDE."

After an hour of searching they noticed a familiar horned logo in white paint. They made the acquaintance of a local salt vendor named Thando who was ready to leave the city and seek his fortune elsewhere. He was tired of paying protection money to the Coffin Masters. The party bought his entire stock for cheap and sent him off with a magic acorn in his pocket for good luck.

The party spread news among the locals that a new salt vendor was in business! Xénos posed as the vendor and the rest of the group hid in ambush. As the night wore on, the group awaited the Coffin Masters' arrival.

Just before midnight, a group of six thugs showed up and tried to shake down the "helpless merchant." Xénos played dumb and then ran off down an alley, leading the thugs a merry chase. Just as they cornered their "victim" Suba-Jin, Gorr and Robert fell upon them from behind and slayed five quickly. Their leader surrendered after he saw his crew cut down. 

The group sweated him for information on Sesto and the location of the Coffin Masters' home base. "I can't tell you that. You know what they do to traitors? I'll get flayed alive!" Suba-Jin indicated the corpses of the underlings being tossed off the side of the Bridge, plummeting hundreds of feet to the Nereus Firth below. The man realized his predicament. He claimed to know nothing of Sesto but agreed to lead the group to the gang's hideout and teach them the 'secret knock' in exchange for his life and a small payout - 100 silver, enough to leave town. He led them deeper into the Bridge district, walking for almost an hour through winding alleys.

We left the group debating their next move - they are standing on a darkened corner, looking at a dead-end alley. According to their prisoner, the building at the end covers a passage downwards into the semi-mythical tunnels inside the Great Bridge!

Enemies Defeated:

1 mandragora (39 xp)
6 thugs (335 xp)

Treasure Obtained:

none

Treasure Sold:

golden disk

Money:

Gorr, Suba-Jin, Xénos, Robert, Lord Fesgate: noted during play

Young Joe Spruce: 333 silver, 33 copper

Session 22

A TRADE IS MADE, AND FURTHER GARDENING

Warmshade 18-20, 4433
About a day and a half passed during the session.

Characters:

Gorr, ranger 4
Robert the Swift, fighter 4
Suba-Jin the Three-Handed, cleric of Hextor 4
Young Joe Spruce, druid 2
Xénos, spy 1
Lord Fesgate, fighter 3 (NPC)

The Hand Off

Eric Withakay was resting up after his brush with death. In the meantime, the group met up with a Viridian named Xénos, a distant contact of their old companion Two-Faced Humphrey.

After getting a letter from Lothos at the Dragon's Eye Inn [last session], the group debated their next move. Should they inform the Inquisition, or lead them astray? Finally they left a message scheduling a meet with Lothos the next day at a nearby dive bar amusingly called Cold Beer. At 9 bells the group sat down in the taproom smelling of coffee & local brews. The proprietor Dirman Green-Hand bustled between tables, telling stories & laughing with his customers as he delivered their drinks.

A cloaked figure sat down near them, garbed & masked as a priest of Nephtlys. He introduced himself as Daetris and seemed to be elven. After confirming that the group had recovered the treasures from the sacred mountain [a few sessions ago] he passed along an envelope and left as quickly as he arrived.

In the letter, Lothos asked them to meet at sunset in the center of the Bridge district, in a beer hall called Metod's where the exchange would take place. Meanwhile, Xénos tailed Daetris back to the Street of the Gods and into Nephtlys' temple, a great black stone sphere. Inside were many priests all dressed & masked alike, making it impossible to tell who was who.

Suba-Jin & Gorr went to Seven Visions and asked Zvezdana to identify his strange metal weapon [obtained last session] and get a history lesson. 

They gleaned a few clues:

- Demonology in the Empire has a long history. It has come in & out of favour over the years with the ruling classes and the sorcerors of the Gloaming Tower. Currently it is suppressed by the Inquisition who attempt to block magic-users' political power at every turn. Still, it is never clear what the nobility are up to, especially since every Viridian Emperor is usually a powerful sorceror - Emperor Hautulin Seheitt being no exception!

- The monster with two ape-like heads and tentacles for arms is the demon lord Ahmon-Ibor. The last time it appeared in the mortal realm was a battle called The Demon Siege, a millennium ago: Tharbrian raiders and hosts from the City-State of the Invincible Overlord were stopped by the Imperial Legion assisted by Gloaming Tower wizards. They summoned a horde of demons led by Ahmon-Ibor, who so devastated the enemy that the City-State resumed paying its tribute and the Tharbrian hordes never again rose to challenge Imperial dominion.

Ahmon-Ibor

That evening, the group walked through the poverty-stricken slums on the Bridge. They almost collided with an ugly old crone pushing an evil-smelling cart of ancient jars, but let her pass on by without incident.

The centre of the Bridge was a wide-open square with no buildings across its entire 200' width. Hustlers, gang members, drug addicts, panhandlers, mutants & other lowlifes clustered around the area under the uneasy peace enforced by the vicious Bridge Gangs.

Metod's was a loud, dim beer hall frequented by poor Tharbrians. Long trestle tables ran the length of two floors. Songs & clanging cups rang out from the already-drunk patrons. The group posted up in a back corner and ordered a few strong brews - the local favourite "Centaur Melter" was particularly potent!

After half an hour, the party was joined by a group of four armed elves. The leader wore chainmail and a holy symbol of Nephtlys. After some curt greetings and a few questions (which Robert declined to answer) they got down to business, paying the agreed sum and a bonus. Suba-Jin also sold off the two glass globes filled with liquid time essence.

Before departing, the elves' leader relayed a rumour heard from Targnol port: a distant contact named Komang who put the group onto the robbery of Philotheos Sten's mansion [way back in session 2!] had been found dead in the gulf, his body horribly beaten & scarred. Whoever did it had clearly tortured him beforehand. Who knows what this means?

The sound of a brawl beginning downstairs could be heard and both groups decided to make their exit.

Back To The Mansion

The next morning, the group met Sesto and shuffled into Cliffside with his crew. They resumed exploring the gardens surrounding Issachar Dimorites' mansion.

They battled a large pack of mandragoras in the garden passages. After striking down many and entangling the rest they interrogated the survivors, demanding treasure in exchange for their lives. The mandragoras pointed to their statue: a broken & defaced noblewoman holding a child, garlanded with flowers. Gorr searched it and found a silver necklace with a peridot gem under the garlands. One prisoner led the group to a root-choked sinkhole in the ground, indicating more treasure was down below before Robert shooed it away.

The group climbed down and began exploring the tunnels beneath the gardens. They investigated an unfinished tunnel with a bricked-up doorway, and met a group of 12 plant-women searching through the rubble of a storage room. They claimed that Issachar was their master and demanded to know the group's purpose here. The party's excuses fell on deaf ears. After protesting their good intentions, the plant-women gave them something else to do: their mistress Eilitheya (one of Issachar's wives) was a prisoner of Dushan's Dervishes. If the group could free her from captivity, the strange women would be grateful.

In a tunnel smelling of decay & rotting meat, they were set upon by surprise. A blur of white limbs & flesh struck down Lord Fesgate before anybody could react! It was a mountain of corpses raised into foul unlife, striking with its poorly-assembled limbs in all directions. Suba-Jin attempted to banish it with Hextor's power but the creature was too strong. A tense pitched battle was waged with Gorr and Robert swinging their axes and Joe Spruce throwing holy water while Xénos dragged Lord Fesgate to safety. With a deafening crash and a blast of smoke, Suba-Jin drew his Dragoon and blasted the abomination (only four shots left...). With a ringing in their ears the party saw it collapse under their assault into its component parts.

The group shook off the sense of doom that the undead monstrosity had induced (+1 fear point). Searching its disgusting lair revealed a heavy golden disk stamped with the word "DIMORITES". With one of their number badly hurt they decided to withdraw. On their way out they encountered another pack of mandragoras in the shadowed statue-garden, between them and the exit... 

A gentle word of caution from your DM:

I obviously use some well-known monsters, magic items, etc. in this campaign. Still, few things are as they seem. Don't assume that well-mined gaming tropes and old familiar D&D standbys will be the same in this campaign world. If you don't focus your attention on the clues you get at the table you may go astray and reach the wrong conclusions! Players to PM me the phrase "Fifth Head of Cerberus" will receive 300 bonus xp for reading this. [expired] Carry on!

 

Monsters Defeated:

9 mandragoras (351 xp)
1 mass of corpses (1060 xp)

Treasure Obtained:

silver peridot necklace
golden disk

Treasure Sold Off:

strange magic painting & golden cup (300 gold)
2 crystal spheres of time essence (80 gold)

Robert: 63 gold, 3 silver
Suba-Jin: 63 gold, 3 silver
Gorr: 63 gold, 3 silver
Regetus: 42 gold, 2 silver
Meep: 21 gold, 1 silver
Eric Withakay: 63 gold, 3 silver

Eric Withakay has reached 5th level!
Lord Fesgate has reached 4th level!

Session 18

ESCAPE THE DOOMED MOUNTAIN!

14-15 Warmshade, 4433

Characters:

Suba-Jin, Cleric of Hextor 4
Robert the Swift, Fighter 3
Eric Withakay, Cleric of Solaris 4
Meep, Dwarf 3
Gorr, Ranger 4
Regetus Rex, Illusionist 2 (thanks Nick!)
Lord Fesgate, Fighter 3 (NPC)

A Sticky Situation

The party was stuck at the top of a mountain, in a blizzard, surrounded by hordes of the restless dead. Many plans were suggested, debated and ultimately abandoned. Disguise? Skiing? Straight-up running?

Player: "Do we really want to gamble our lives on the judgement of some racist zombies??"

It was finally determined that Regetus Rex could call in his favour from the six-armed god Karttekeza. The group was picked up from the mountaintop by the giant prismatic riding peacock Praveena and whisked home on its back. Before leaving they loaded the magical harp, mirror and all the other treasure they had found on to the animal.

Back to Viridistan

After setting them down in a quiet place on the riverside (only a few children witnessed them landing), the peacock screeched and flew away through the spaces between the worlds.

Robert the Swift headed back to the Irregulars' Barracks, where a rumour came his way. Apparently a stonemason named Sesto working in Cliffside claimed to have discovered the lost mansion of Dimorites, a powerful magician of olden days. Any adventurer who could enter this long-lost building would have his pick of the sorceror's arcane secrets.

Most of the group rested up at Seven Visions, the house of ill-repute where their contact Zvezdana Ozi had helped them out in the past. The next day they asked the sagely Zvezdana about many of the strange clues & items they'd accumulated on their trip:

- The name Yredelemnul mentioned in some old books and by Magrometh the Piper (last session) was an old alias for one of the greater demon-lords, usually called Orcus prince of the Undead!

- The magical mirror: it reflects only those of Lawful alignment.

- The giant painting that Lothos wanted: was not magical, and Zvezdana saw a different image - the same chamber, but full of human skeletons standing, walking or climbing around.

- The bronze axe which read "Execute The Weak" in the cult's writing: magical +1/+3 vs. helpless, slept, blinded, prone or otherwise disabled enemies.

- The serene golden mask: a tool of interrogation. When donned, it would catch the wearer's face with painful barbs until someone else touched them and spoke the words "I am done with him" or similar.

- The ugly wooden toothy mask: renders the wearer invisible to certain specific undead beings - most likely the Greater undead interred in Yredelemnul's shrine.

- The crystal spheres: contain a liquefied essence of time. When released, its effects are not completely predictable, but it might be possible to slow an enemy with it.

- The snow-globes: windows into alternative worlds, each slightly different from our own. Hence the differences in the condition of the fort, the weather on the mountaintop, etc.

- The golden cup shown in the painting: Zvezdana wasn't sure. It seemed to be of Elven make but even that was ambiguous and its magical properties were obscure. The group asked her to do further research, which may take a few weeks.

Some items (the masks, harp, the cult's books, etc) were too strange to sell at the Bazaar and the group didn't want such ominous items being traced back to them after the events on the mountaintop. Zvezdana said she would try to set up a meeting with "some people." She knew the party had no love for the city guard after her girls helped them during a raid (Session 15) so she was willing to go out on a limb, but once the group met these mysterious folks she wanted to be kept out of it. 

Zvezdana: *drag from cigarette* "Ey know zese types, ey em not vanting to get too friendly viff zem, understand?"

The group said they did and would await her message about such a meeting. In the meantime they sold all the mundane treasure they found in the shrine, including all the jewelry that Eric had looted from the time-locked undead.

Zvezdana had also heard the rumours about Sesto and Dimorites' mansion. She was keenly interested as well: during his lifetime, the sorceror was censured by the Gloaming Tower for dabbling in forbidden magics: Vivimancy & Necromancy, the powers of life & death. Zvezdana was willing to pay generously if books or materials on these subjects could be brought to her. After all, why bring them to the Inquisition who would only destroy the priceless knowledge forever?

Searching for Sesto

Robert the Swift & Suba-Jin spent some time at the great gates to Cliffside, trying to get acquainted with the guards. They got a description of Sesto, and came back at the end of the workday.

They followed the stonemason to the Old City where he stopped into a neighbourhood tavern for a drink. They sat down with him and struck up a conversation.

Sesto gave up the info quick. He regretted ever mentioning his discovery - he knew it was only a matter of time before some unscrupulous types grabbed him up, and then his fate was sealed! He was afraid to go home (he lived nearby) in case of endangering his family. The two adventurers told him they meant no harm and only wanted to know the path to the sorceror's mansion. Sesto said they would never find it without him - the district was full of nobles' estates with high walls which were constantly being knocked down, moved and rebuilt - not to mention a veritable maze of tunnels underneath the streets for servants. They had to keep him alive. He also demanded a fair percentage of loot recovered for the danger he had to endure.

A pair of shady types were observing the group from the shadows. Others were interested in Sesto as well...

Monsters:

none

Treasure:

A great deal of nonmagical treasure found in the fort and shrine was sold off.
Shares are as follows:

Robert the Swift: 1910 silver

Suba-Jin: 1910 silver

Regetus Rex: 1065 silver

Meep: 845 silver

Gorr: 1910 silver

Eric Withakay: 1910 silver

Experience Totals:

Robert the Swift has reached 4th level!

Regetus Rex has reached 3rd level!

Session 15

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.

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:

Session 11

A RUDE AWAKENING

3rd-12th Longrass, 4433

Characters:

Young Joe Spruce, druid 1

Gorr, ranger 3

Robert the Swift, fighter 2

Suba-Jin, cleric 3

Meep, dwarf 2

Eric Withakay, cleric 4

*****

[DM's Note - Sorry guys, I waited too long to write this report because of the holidays & assorted things. My memory of the session is now a bit hazy. If I missed anything or got any details wrong, let me know and I'll correct it.]

A Night at Seven Visions

The gang blew a ton of money on gambling, wine, women & song. Most held their liquor, except for Robert and Joe. Their encounters with the courtesans of Seven Visions were bizarre & psychedelic, becoming ever more dreamlike and surreal as the night progressed, eventually becoming terrifying psycho-sexual dramas - their innermost fantasies come to life. Each was thoroughly scarred by the experience [gaining 1 fear point] and afterwards could never be sure how much was real and how much a bad dream, nor exactly how things ended.

During the night Fred, the last man-at-arms in the service of Young Joe Spruce, was overcome with fear at his companions' deaths and deserted the company.

In the early hours of the morning, while sleeping off their night of partying the group was ambushed in their beds by knife-wielding assassins. These rough-looking men with faces covered, wrapped in layers of ragged finery could take serious punishment. They were high on a drug called BLACK, the same tarry substance found hidden in Morthevole's shop. One of them was subdued and gave up Morthevole's name before he died of his injuries when the drug's effects wore off. Robert's arm was injured badly in the fight and would require a few weeks of bed-rest to heal.

The establishment's madame Zvezdana Ozi apologized for the mistakes of her security force and told the group she would compensate their next stay. Women, drinking, drugs, whatever they wanted. She used her occult knowledge to identify the ancient golden shield Suba-Jin found [a shield +1].

About Town

The group ran a few errands. First they found a jeweller in Hightown named Tibor Stefandis, who was wealthy enough to buy the ruby they found in Morthevole's basement. They settled on 370 gold pieces, a princely sum for a single gemstone! Stefandis recognized the ruby's design, and told them a strange story about it:

"This is a legendary gemstone. The Ruby Heart of Sanghé Shriwar the Slicer, a goddess long-ago fallen out of favour in the city. She was sometimes depicted as a beautiful dancing-girl in an overgrown garden, sometimes as a multi-armed vision of terror & destruction. She was associated with the moon, and vengeance. The center of her worship was in the Riverside district amongst several noble families. They may yet live in that area, but their fortunes have now fallen along with hers."

The group visited Morthevole at his shop in the Nest and sweated him (after fighting some albino monkeys on the way). He admitted that the "blackthroats" (as such addicts are called) came to his shop, and he sent them after the group for an easy score. Suba-Jin rubbed the last does of BLACK on his neck, and the group swept his shop before leaving him thoroughly terrified. 

To the Night Wolf Inn

Reasoning that it would be a great way for Robert to recover, the gang headed for the Night Wolf Inn, to rest up in the Forest of Dreams where time passes more swiftly than in the normal world. After a cramped (subjective) month in the Inn room, Robert's arm had healed up and the gang had mostly recovered from their encounters with undead in the crypts below the city [everyone lost 2 accumulated fear points].

At fighting strength, the group pressed on further into the forest. With Young Joe Spruce in their group, navigation was easy and travel swift. 

Returning to their allies in the Forgotten Village, they learned of more activity in the ruined castle of Eralion the wizard: a pack of ravenous shadow-hounds had been raiding from within the Moonlit Zone!

Venturing back inside that dark & cryptic region, they heard the baying of these spectral dogs in the distance but never encountered them. Creeping into Eralion's keep once more, they spied a man of elemental fire dancing madly in the courtyard. Defeating it with a combination of magic weapons and holy water, they suddenly heard the great doors of the chapel below their feet begin to creak open...

*****

Monsters Defeated:

Man of Flames - 370 xp

3 Blackthroats - 107 xp

Treasure:

40 silver pieces - 40 xp

3 gold pieces - 30 xp

selling off the Ruby Heart - 3700 xp

TOTAL:

91 xp each for this session

617 each for those who found the Ruby Heart

Many of you leveled up after last session. As usual, once you return to a safe area (in this case, the room's furniture) and rest a day, you can gain the benefits of your new level. Some of you had the experience after selling the ruby, but we ended last session in the middle of the action, so it doesn't make sense to do your levels right now.

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.