Easter Special

THE SEVEN KNAVES

Meeting on the Road

Three wanderers ambled along a cliffside highway after sunset:
Tarasz Lobodou - a handsome Cossack wearing expensive boots and a feathered hat;
Wilhelm Rudd - a sure-footed, sharp-eyed Dutchman with a crossbow, at home in the wilderness;
and 
Zenzi - formerly an innkeeper, this German was now pursuing his education in arcane sciences, while carrying a sack full of grenades.

Tarasz, introducing himself: "People outside Zaporizia can't pronounce my name very well."
Zenzi: "Yes, and those inside don't want to!"

Having just been turned out of Oberwalden village by the sullen residents, they were on their way to the next town and the next adventure when they came upon an old moss-covered stone cross by the roadside. A dishevelled vagrant slept beneath it, his hat over his face. Tarasz shook him and he woke with a start of fear, only relaxing when he noticed the group wasn't hostile.

The tramp introduced himself as Bernard, explaining that he had been begging for alms at a house up the road when he was set upon by a gang of toughs who took what little money he had and gave him a thrashing for his troubles - they posted a few guards on the road by a stone arch, so he wouldn't come back. 

Moved by the poor man's plight, Tarasz gave him a few coins [+1 Virtue]. The group thought they might investigate these ruffians to see the truth of his story.

But first, Wilhelm's keen eyesight spotted a distant red glow in the nearby forest and the group decided to investigate, with Bernard in tow. Walking along a narrow path through pine forests that have never known a woodsman's axe, they came to a small patch of glowing red mushrooms with fireflies dancing above. Each adventurer took a piece, and the glow persisted after they had been picked.

The forest path continued past the mushrooms until the group came upon a small mountain lake (more of a pond, really) surrounded by rushes. A cave opening in some rock formations was visible beyond. Peering into the water, Zenzi noticed a yellow glow amongst the weeds at the lake's bottom. Wasting no time, Tarasz stripped to the waist, set his sword & pistol carefully aside, held a dagger in his teeth and dove into the water.

Lucky he was to bring a weapon, as the brave Cossack was immediately attacked by a gigantic man-eating frog! The horrid beast almost swallowed him whole, and only swift action with his main-gauche allowed escape. Meanwhile two more of the creatures leapt towards the group on the shoreline, one almost swallowing Bernard whole.

While Tarasz swam for dear life, a keen-eyed crossbow shot by Wilhelm and a blast from one of Zenzi's grenades taught the other amphibious predators a lesson. Making it to the shore just ahead of his pursuer, Tarazs managed to put a final bullet in it a split-second before it bit him again! After the fight, Tarasz swam down and recovered a glowing golden cross from the bottom of the lake while Wilhelm managed to treat Bernard's wounds [a very lucky Medicine roll!].

In the cave was a tomb, showing an armoured man and an inscription: Von Oberwalden. Part of the carving was movable and had a place for a key or signet of some kind. Zenzi made an impression of the symbol, but lacking any such key the group moved on.

The House

Emerging from the woods, the party espied a moss-covered stone farmhouse across the road. Cheery light shone from its windows and the sounds of song & merry-making could be heard. Further back up the highway, a stone arch was visible against the starlight.

Deciding on a 'divide-and-conquer' strategy, Wilhelm snuck through the woods while the rest of the group walked up the road with a lantern towards the stone arch. Lurking in the trees, Wilhelm could hear the two guards playing dice and grumbling about their posting.

Tough 1: "We have to sit out here, watching out for that bum! Meanwhile Raoul and the lads are drinking in a nice warm cabin. Pfaugh!"
Tough 2, notices the party appraching: "Oh, what's this? Mayhap we've got some relief after all."

But it was not to be. As the party got close enough to recognize, Tarasz whipped out a pistol and the game was up. Caught by surprise, they considered their options but were thoroughly demoralized to see Wilhelm emerge from the trees at their flank, crossbow levelled. The toughs were forced to admit they had robbed Bernard, were interrogated, then bound & gagged and left in a roadside ditch. The beggar was overjoyed to get his handful of coppers back [+1 Virtue for everyone].

Tough 1: "As a good Christian, you wouldn't shoot an unarmed man?"
Tarasz, brandishing pistol: "Mayhap I'll send you to G-d and let him be the judge of that!"

The group learned very little except the gang's leader was a rich gentleman named Raoul, and something important was happening tonight. 

As the party returned to the house, the Oberwalden church bell tolled ten o'clock. The sounds of merriment still issued from inside. Listening carefully, Wilhelm felt sure there were no more than six men inside. The stables held only a fierce-looking, night-black warhorse nobody dared approach. The party decided to lie in wait for a while, reasoning that after all this drinking somebody would have to come outside to relieve themselves.

Half an hour later, their patience was rewarded when a shabbily-dressed thug stumbled out towards the forest. Tarasz and Zenzi crept up on him carefully, the latter preparing to cast a spell on him: The Mirror of Narcissus.

Zenzi's player: "And just as he whips it out, I step forward and meet his eyes..."
Tarasz's player: "I take some small steps back from the scene."

Failing his Temptation save, Witless Heinz (for so he was called) saw Zenzi for a simple rogue just like himself, happily having a few drinks. He spilled the whole story: Raoul was a tough & fearsome leader who sometimes ventured into the woods all alone and showed signs of knowing magic (his boots were shoed in reverse). He had told the gang that an important visitor was arriving tonight, commanding them to return to the house at eleven o'clock. The group sent Heinz back inside with a commandment to keep silent about them [he made a Temptation save to keep his mouth shut, another of the company's lucky rolls this night!].

The group heard Oberwalden's church bells ring out eleven as they deliberated on their next move. Finally they decided on the direct approach: Zenzi threw a grenade through the window while the rest of the group charged in through the stable door! There was the crash of gunpowder, screams of agony & fear, fire and smoke. Tarasz spotted the rogue Raoul standing in the front doorway, lace spilling from his cuffs. The black-clad Spaniard held up a crystal globe which seemed to absorb Tarasz's mind, drawing his whole consciousness towards it - but the Cossack's will was stronger than this black magic and he resisted. Inside, Wilhelm cut down some Frenchman who tried to blast him with a blunderbuss, while Bernard went wild with a club in the confusion & smoke.

Seeing things were turning against him, Raoul tried to flee down the highway, but Tarasz managed to hit him with a flying tackle, knocking the crystal sphere from his hand just as Zenzi came around the corner! Together the two of them subdued the rogue.

As the smoke cleared, Wilhelm saw that poor Witless Heinz had been laid low by Bernard in the latter's zeal to punish the ruffians who robbed him. Taking pity on the fool, he saw to his injuries [another great Medicine roll, and +1 Virtue!].

The Visitor

With the villains subdued, the group searched the house and interrogated Raoul. They found a few Pfennigs on the ruffians, and Zenzi took Raoul's spare set of fancy black clothes, putting them on so he resembled the dashing criminal.

Searching Raoul was illuminating: the party found a catalogue of grave sins (murder, arson, etc), each one signed by himself and another called Goodfriend. The man was tough-minded and resisted interrogation, but the group did manage to get a few details out of him - the mysterious midnight visitor was to be the Devil himself, with whom Raoul would make a bargain most foul!

A plan began to form. The group tied Raoul to a tree outside and cleaned up the house as best they could. Zenzi carefully cut Raoul's moustache off and stuck it to his own lip. 

As midnight tolled, the clatter of wheels and neighing of horses could be heard. An elegant black carriage pulled by four fierce chargers pulled up to the small country house. Its driver was obscured by a cloak & broad hat, with clouds of red sparks issuing from beneath as if exhaled by a furnace. Stepping jauntily out of the coach, dressed in an elegant vest & monocle was the sooty-faced Devil, horns and all! 

He rapped sharply on the door and Zenzi invited him in. "Ah, nice to see you again Raoul. Do you look a bit different...? No matter." Whether Zenzi's hasty disguise had fooled the demon [another fantastic roll this night!] or all men looked much the same to him was unclear.

"You have the papers?" Zenzi produced Raoul's paperwork and Goodfriend reiterated the terms: worldly fame, wealth, magical power & skill at the Devil's Bible (playing cards) in exchange for a sequence of heinous crimes... and one immortal soul! After signing the contract, Zenzi really didn't feel any different, but Goodfriend said the changes would take effect the next day. He offered to do deals with the rest of the group, but when they weren't interested he bid everyone farewell, jumped into his carriage and was gone with a clatter of hooves.

Return to the Crypt

After this, Raoul gave up some of his secrets under intense pressure from Wilhelm [torturing a captive, uh oh, -1 Virtue!]. The group was able to recover his treasure - a lockbox with some coins and a signet ring showing a snake coiling around a sphere - the same symbol as in the Von Oberwalden tomb.

Returning to the forest cave, the signet ring unlocked a deeper passage inside. Descending the stairs, Tarasz just barely avoided a hidden spear-trap [lucky save!]. At the bottom was a large stone coffin with a carving of a bearded man with a mace & shield, while four moldering coffins lined the walls. 

Opening the sarcophagus revealed an ancient armoured corpse with a sword on its chest, holding a scroll-case. When Zenzi's Faithful Servant spell retrieved the scroll, the sword rose into the air and attacked! A tense struggle ensued but with Zenzi's quick thinking, a chunk of coffin-wood and Wilhelm's net, the sword was thrown back into the sarcophagus and the lid slammed shut.

Opening the scroll case revealed an ancient paper: The Testament of the von Oberwaldens. This ancient will seemed to indicate that anyone who held it and the signet ring is the true and rightful master of Castle Oberwalden and the whole valley around it!

With this new windfall, the group wonders what strange escapades might come next?

The Catalogue of Sins:

Tarasz - offered charity to Bernard (+1 Virtue)
Everyone - returned Bernard's stolen money (+1 Virtue each)
Wilhelm - showing mercy, healing Witless Heinz (+1 Virtue)
Wilhelm - torturing Raoul (-1 Virtue)
Zenzi - using Student spells (-1 Virtue)
Zenzi - making a pact with the Devil (-3 Virtue)

Tarasz: +2
Wilhelm: +1
Zenzi: -3

Zenzi's future...?

Experience:

Defeating 3 giant frogs (300 xp)
Defeating Raoul and his gang (550 xp)
Tricking Goodfriend (650 xp)
Unlocking the Oberwalden's tomb (250 xp)
Obtaining the Testament of the von Oberwaldens (400 xp)
Bernard survived the adventure (50 xp)

2200 total - 733 each

Treasure:

glowing golden cross
handfuls of Pfennigs, one gold Thaler
Raoul's crystal globe
looted blunderbuss
von Oberwalden signet ring
the Testament of the von Oberwaldens

Session 24

 A SAILOR'S LIFE FOR ME...

Sunstrong 3-7, 4433

Characters:

Gorr, ranger 5
Robert the Swift, fighter 4
Suba-Jin the Three-Handed, cleric 4
Xénos, spy 1

Late Night in the Hood

The group lurked on The Bridge, one of Viridistan's rougher neighbourhoods. They had subdued a thug from the Coffin Masters gang and browbeat him into showing them his hideout, in the hopes of finding the missing stonemason Sesto. 

Suba-Jin convinced a local drunk to let them into his home, and from that vantage the group surveyed the alley for the rest of the night, tracking the gang's activities. In addition to groups of thugs coming and going, some strange characters passed by:

- a tall, fat Orichalan whose breath fogged in the warm night, with 5 cloaked & masked figures following in lock-step;

- a tough-looking adventuring party (two fighters, two thieves, an M-U & probably a cleric) led by a tall, steely-eyed Skandik warrior in plate armour with piercing blue eyes and a frightening countenance;

- a short, wiry fighting-man covered in a cowl, with scaly reptilian skin.

The night passed fitfully for Robert, who couldn't sleep properly and was left tired and edgy [-1 to all rolls]. After watching this procession of strange characters throughout the night, the group decided that Sesto wasn't actually that big of a priority and they had business elsewhere.

Back to the Night Wolf Inn 

The group returned to the inn outside the Great Wall, bringing the recuperating Eric Withakay and Lord Fesgate along in their wagon. The tavern was packed full of patrons in the midafternoon: 

- snow-white warrior women with wild hair, black war-paint & minimal clothing [first met back in Session 7] 

- red-skinned, bare-chested Altanian barbarians from the edge of the Empire; and 

- a group of men wearing polished, elaborately fluted plate armour, sort of resembling Avalonians, with solar iconography on their equipment.

A floor show was absorbing the whole tavern's attention: a blue-haired elven woman of spellbinding beauty was singing ballads in a foreign language, accompanied with her mandolin. Her playing was masterful, even if many patrons were only enraptured by her looks.

The group mingled for a while. Gorr searched through the brick storage room behind the bar and found liquor bottles of every type & description, most of which he had never heard of before. He snapped up one that interested him, deciding not to explore down the spiral staircase to the cellars below.

When the bard's set was done to raucous applause, she left the stage to speak with the concierge. Robert and Suba-Jin joined their conversation. James introduced her as Rain, and the group noticed that her hair wasn't just blue but changed colours as the conversation went on, sometimes turning scarlet or pink.

Talk turned to a few odd events or characteristics of the Inn. Rain mentioned two points of interest:

- a trapdoor in the floor of the stage that led to something dangerous below, and

- some non-guild members who had attempted to force the eastern tavern door, not understanding that the Inn prevented unauthorized entry that way.

At this point Robert & Suba-Jin decided to come clean about the Inquisition's pressure on them to spy around the Inn. James was keenly interested, but didn't seem too worried. He appreciated the group's candour and told them to simply tell the Inquisition the truth - the guild was an adventurer's organization dedicated to mutual benefit, with no political goals. Whether High Inquisitor Phaidros would be satisfied with that is another matter...

Before she left, Rain mentioned that she was looking forward to the Midsummer garden party, mentioning some sort of card game called Evocation. The group decided to search for a book on the subject in the Inn's library.

They wandered through a few strangely decorated rooms, marvelling at the odd iconography of wolves, stars, and other features. They found the two-story library piled high with tomes of every possible description. Gorr spotted the statue of an exotically-dressed woman labelled "Nisbal the Immortal, luthier of the Sunset Palace." Suba-Jin managed to grab a book on card games which mentioned Evocation.

From there the group proceeded to:

Room IV - Restful Seas

Cyan & copper clouds scudded through a pale pink sky. Beneath, a bright turquoise ocean stretched in all directions. Searching the room uncovered some pirate costumes, a few cutlasses, more powder & shot for Suba-Jin's revolver - and a travelogue scrawled on weathered paper:

"We had been searching for sunken treasures in the gray sandbars that surround the room's furniture, following a rumour overheard in the tavern. A great storm came up from the ocean and drove us far off our course, to the north. During the storm, the huge glass lens Olayinka had picked up in the attic was swept overboard. She had been using it to study the stars, and was bitter about the loss.  

When the gale finally ended we found ourselves far outside the sandbars, in deep ocean. We patched up the ship, and traded our remaining goods at native villages along the shores of several islands. Some villages were friendly, but others were hostile and the natives attacked on sight. I suspect the hostile villages were filled with cannibals.

We skirted the coastline of a vast island, until we reached a peninsula cut off from the main island by a massive stone wall. We were well received by the natives of Tanoroa, the small village that guards this wall. The villagers call the larger island The Isle of Dread. Their own peninsula is known simply as "Home."

The villagers told us a tale about an ancient city in the central highland of the isle that was built by the same people who built the wall. The villagers call the builders "the gods", but I noticed that the names of the gods and the personal names of the clan ancestors were often the same, so I suspect that their ancestors and the builders were one and the same. I believe that the natives once possessed much more advanced culture and that the descendants of the builders have returned to a more primitive state.

The inland city is rumoured to be filled with treasure beyond imagining. In particular, I heard persistent tales concerning a great "black pearl of the gods" that still remains in the inland city. The island waters abound with excellent pearl beds, so the rumour of the black pearl may well be true.

The village contains a number of huge life-like statues of iron, bronze, and stone. Since no villager currently has the skill or the craft to make such statues, the tale of a lost city built by 'the gods' seems reasonable. I would have liked to explore inland to verify the rumours, but too many of my fellows died in the storm or by cannibal spears. Only five of us are left. I am the only experienced adventurer, the others are only hirelings. We can sail the small catamaran well enough but on land, in hostile territory, we would be helpless.

Once back at the Night Wolf Inn I should be able to recruit a party of professional adventurers, then I will return to claim the great black pearl.

One thing I managed to do before leaving: we sailed around the peninsula & the southeastern edges of the island and made the best map we could. We were afraid to land, since village fishermen had warned us that it was extremely dangerous to land anywhere on the main island and the coasts were rocky with no beaches. As a result, the map only shows the coastal areas we could chart from the ship. But it is better than nothing."

- Rory Barbarossa

A crude map was included:

After a night's sleep, the group took the catamaran and headed north to this mysterious and vast island. [It was around this time that my computer crashed.]

After most of a day sailing north, a few small islands came into view. Perhaps they were the southern islands shown on the map? The group made landfall at the smallest one and entered the jungle.

They encountered a group of svelte, ethereal women in the jungle with greenish hair and bark-like skin, speaking an unknown language. The group attempted to communicate. The women led the way to a cave in the jungle, indicating the group should enter.

Inside the cave, old dusty bones lay on stone blocks. In a low-ceilinged chamber decorated with violent cave-paintings, two smooth stone slabs covered ancient graves. Pulling the slabs aside revealed shriveled, mummified bodies wearing jewelry of beaten gold. The party looted these treasures and all was well for a moment - until a cold & sinister light shone in the mummies' eyes, paralyzing the group with supernatural terror!

One of them seized Suba-Jin and rapidly drained the life-force from the unfortunate cleric. Robert was struck by the other. The group beat a hasty retreat and fought a running battle, Gorr showering the mummies with holy water & burning oil from a tree. At the beach beside their boat, the final blows were struck and the last of the restless dead fell beneath the ranger's darkly glowing axe.

The party had obtained some treasure from the ancient graves, but at a heavy price: Suba-Jin was one of their most dedicated and experienced members. Standing on the beach, they pondered their next move.

Monsters Defeated:

2 mummies (1720 xp)

Treasure Obtained:

circlet, goblet & bracelet of beaten gold
gold earring w/ ruby chips

Updates:

- There is a lot of information to read through around here! To make things easier I created a new tag called 'message from the concierge' which collects informational posts about the Night Wolf Inn so they're easier to find!

- Suba-Jin was killed in melee combat, and by an undead creature.
That means 2 new character classes are available:

The Barbarian - halfway between fighter and ranger. 1d12 hit points per level, wilderness skills and better saving throws make him hard to kill, but begins the game illiterate and gains levels slower than a fighter.

The Necromancer - Raise an army of skeletons, but the whole Empire probably hates you!

There is a new version of the Auto-Filling Character Sheet that includes these classes and a few other bug fixes. You can get it in the usual place (on the sidebar).

The Last Will & Testament of Suba-Jin the Three-Handed

To those who travelled with me, I hope my death was in service to our cause and not falling off a horse drunk. It is my wish that if I fell in combat, to not be raised in agreement with my beliefs. I serve at Hextor's side now.

In my belongings at the Night Wolf Inn you will find a warded chest, the passphrase is "Ogedei Khan". In it you will find all my worldly monies. 

Give a one-third share to the Church of Hextor to burn incense, slaughter a bull in my name, say prayers and the like. 

Give one-third share to have a party in my honour at Seven Visions. Anyone who wants to say a word or give a toast, burn incense, have a fist fight, or wrestle in my memory can drink or whore from that share. The value of these toasts or feats to be judged by one from my companions. 

A final one-third share to hire mourners, burn incense and to buy enough firewood to light a signal fire to send me and my belongings to the next world. In addition, to hire an artisan to create a fitting last image of who I was, hired at your discretion - a bas-relief, a poem, a mural or a song, and to place it as publicly as can be done, ie. an engraving at the church if they will allow, a mural at Seven Visions, hiring a couple of bards to sing a song around town, etc.

Send all the worldly goods I was wearing & using into the next world with me, may it serve me better in the battles to come. The holy cherries and apples may be taken by any of my companions. My falchion, returned to the church. Any mundane travelling goods can be taken. If any family, or lacking that Tharbrians wish to lay claim to them, they may take my horse, saddlebags and morin khuur, may Jaagan serve you well.

As for Eric's debt to me, he can burn an offering or serve a night watch with my corpse and consider the debt cleared.

Anything not mentioned that is solely mine, throw on my pyre.

[DM's Note - Bonus xp can be had for doing extra in-game things like this. Good work!]

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 21

DEATH IN THE GARDENS
Warmshade 16-18, 4433

Characters:

Gorr, Ranger 4
Robert the Swift, Fighter 4
Suba-Jin the Three-Handed, cleric of Hextor 4
Eric Withakay, Cleric of Solaris 4
Lord Fesgate, Fighter 3 (NPC)

The Mansion

The group entered Dimorites Mansion though huge granite doors. Inside they found a huge chapel to 137 Undivided - the entire Imperial pantheon. Lamps and censers remained perpetually lit, filling the room with faint light and spicy smells. A huge painting of the 11 gods graced the ceiling. A great stone hand stood at the back, in front of another painting of a terrible battle: Viridian armies with wizards & demons fought against armies of Tharbrians and the Invincible Overlord's troops. A two-headed, tentacled demon towered over the scene.

There were ten pillars in the room, each carved with a hand making a peculiar sign:
a closed fist, palm foreward
middle finger
the horns

full hand palm-out

bottom 2 fingers folded, facing down

index finger pointing up
thumb & index in a circle, backhanded
V for victory
thumb across palm, outwards

thumb tucked in, backhand

Suba-Jin tried to touch them in an order that might correspond to the gods on the ceiling mural. After the first four (V, fist, bottom 2 fingers folded, horns) the censers emitted a purple gas which sapped the group's strength! He tried again, touching another four (thumb & index circle, pointing, thumb across palm out, thumb tucked in backhand), but it drew the same mists and he fled the room. 

The group moved on. The other chapel door was locked so they walked along the porch, looking for other entrances.

In a small garden clearing beside the porch, they spotted several makeshift graves but decided not to investigate. The next clearing held a few dead bodies that looked like Dushan's Dervishes. Their armour & weapons lay scattered around. Robert & Eric went down to search the bodies when Eric began acting strangely, yelling that he was "sinking" and frantically pulling off his chainmail. While Robert puzzled over this, a shambling plant creature emerged from the undergrowth!

Its initial attack caught Eric unprepared. The plant slapped him with a tendril, enveloping his face in a cloud of pollen. He began to choke as he fled. Lord Fesgate and Robert fought it up-close while a barrage of missile attacks from Gorr and Suba-Jin ended it. After a slow poison spell, Eric's breathing wasn't getting any worse, but it wasn't getting better either. He could barely stand.

The group retreated to the pavilion with the magical fountain (from last session). There they found a pair of giant butterflies who guarded their favourite hangout jealously. The butterflies were destroyed by a wave of missile attacks and a burning hands spell (Suba-Jin's gift from his patron god Hextor) but not before a cloud of glittering pollen had poisoned everyone seriously. The group was in rough shape!

Drinking from the magic fountain didn't cure Eric, but it did slow two of the other party members. There was nothing for it, and the group tried to get out so they could have Eric's condition cured. They hustled out of the gardens, barely pausing to speak with a giant talking worm with a fucked-up voice that called itself Germander.

They dragged Eric through the tunnels under the streets and back to Sesto's work crew. Seeing the dire state the group was in, Sesto lent them a few of his wheelbarrows and agreed to meet them later at the Dragon's Eye. They ran through the streets of Cliffside, hoping against hope... but it wasn't to be. Eric was dead before they reached the district gates.

(In all the confusion, the group forgot about ME! the piglet. Where did he end up?)

Back In The City

Eric Withakay was dead. They decided to visit the battle-dome of Hextor, to see if Suba-Jin could arrange to have him raised to life again. They were granted an audience with Maral Saqqaf, one of the higher-ranked priests in the temple. He said this thing was possible, but only Patriarch Dumitrescu could accomplish it. To command the Patriarch's time, a sizeable sacrifice was required: 7,500 silver pieces' worth!

The group asked for a few days to get the money together. Robert, Suba-Jin and Lord Fesgate headed to the Night Wolf Inn to retrieve some treasure.

While that was happening, Gorr took care of Eric's body - mainly by having several big tattoos commissioned in the rest of the group's likenesses! He also spoke to Sesto who came to stay at the Dragon's Eye Inn that night. The stonemason wanted 10% of the party's take going forward as a finder's fee & for helping them past the guards. Gorr gave him 50 silver and he seemed happy with it. 

[Chris, remind me how much Gorr wants to spend on the tattoos. It's going to cost 70-120 coins depending on the tattoo's workmanship. You pick how good they should be: dockside sailor quality will be brass coins, okay bazaar-grade is copper, good quality costs silver, top-tier gold]

At the Night Wolf Inn, the group spoke with the affable concierge James Everbleed. He was sad to hear about Eric's passing but hoped they could bring him back. Suba-Jin asked about the strange demon they had seen in the painting earlier, but he didn't know anything about it. Lord Fesgate joined the guild, got the black wolf tattoo and felt pretty good about it. 

The trio stayed in Room IV: Restful Seas. A small wooden cabana rested on a wooden raft, beached on a grey sandbar amidst an endless turquoise ocean. Copper & blue clouds drifted in a burning pink sky. Hammocks were strung between the palm trees. On the bedside table, Suba-Jin found a strange item. After some fiddling, it produced a deafening BANG! and a hole in a nearby palm tree. After this display, he took it for his own:

With this odd item and thousands of coins in hand, the trio prepared to leave. On their way out, James told them to make a point of returning on Midsummer's Day, almost two months from now. The Inn was going to have a garden party and all guild members, as well as interested non-members, were invited.

Back in Viridistan, the group spent 7,500 silver on holy oils, incense, candles, fatted calves & other sacrificial items for the church of Hextor. With everything prepared, the steely-eyed Patriarch Dumitrescu made his appearance, a hale man in his '50s. After much pomp, he cast the fearsome magick and Eric rose to life.

The group helped Eric walk back to the Dragon's Eye and ran into an aristocrat, lost in side-streets. Suba-Jin and Robert offered to escort him back to Hightown. After a run-in with some injured city guards that Suba-Jin helped with some cure magic, they delivered the man (Theodosio by name) to his family's estate. By way of thanks, he gave them his gold-capped walking stick, and the pair resolved to split the money from it two ways.

Back at the Dragon's Eye, the proprietor "Patchey" had a letter for the group written in a careful elven hand:

"Friends,

I hope your recent adventures haven't been too taxing. My sources have reported a great disaster in the Starrcrag Mountains and I can't help but fear for you. Surely you succeeded in retrieving the items asked for? If so please leave a message with the barkeep. I will send further instructions.

-Lothos"

Roughly 2 days passed during this session.

Monsters Defeated:

2 giant butterflies
1 ambulatory spore-plant

Treasure Gained:

gold-tipped walking stick

**LAST 3 SESSIONS SUMMARY**

Treasure Traded In:

5 gems: 4 small assorted & 1 larger spinel (530 sp total)
1 electrum crescent (250 sp)
gold-tipped walking stick (320 sp - Robert & Suba-Jin split it)
Suba-Jin couldn't find anyone who wanted to buy his monster trophies

Loot & Cost of Living:

Gorr:  -29 sp
Eric:  -5 sp
Suba-Jin:  178 sp
Robert:  170 sp
Meep:  -31 sp
Young Joe Spruce:  10 sp

Experience:

Session 20

THE WIZARD'S GARDEN

16 Warmshade, 4433
A few hours

Characters:

Gorr, Ranger 4
Robert the Swift, Fighter 4
Eric Withakay, Cleric 4 of Solaris
Suba-Jin the Three-Handed, Cleric 4 of Hextor
Young Joe Spruce, Druid 2
Lord Fesgate, Fighter 3 (NPC)

The Aftermath

The group was exploring the gardens of Dimorites the sorceror, overgrown with carnivorous plant creatures and other strangeness.

They headed north from the koi pond through narrow passages in the hedges. They first came across the remains of a battle: seven human corpses being picked through by a dozen of the gnarled root-men, who jumped to attention when the party arrived.

"We Mandragoras! This is our meat! You stay away!" one of them buzzed.
The group was trying to defuse the situation when Eric Withakay heard a faint, pained groan coming from the pile of bodies. One of them wasn't dead yet! While Young Joe Spruce attempted negotiations, Eric crept towards the sound to investigate.

One of the Mandragoras stood next to the body, guarding it from Eric. It seemed worried he would take its dinner.
"This is bad meat, fire-meat. If you eat it, it'll burn you!" warned Eric, and cast Light on the body.

Pandemonium erupted as the flash of light terrified the Mandragoras, who ran into the hedges with a chorus rasping cries and the shuffling of leaves. In moments, the group were alone with the corpses. They began a search and found a sack of 500 silver coins with strange markings: a woman with a crown on one side, a snake and a mask on the other, and the word Zur'Gonath. A few assorted low-value gems were found as well, and a spinel gem that seemed of decent value. All the dead men wore leather armour and had simple hand weapons. Strangely, they all had crude masks made of Papier-mâché or even twigs & leaves.

Eric assisted the groaning man who was only barely alive. After some healing magic the fellow managed to sit up and talk. He introduced himself as Joktan and asked the group what they were doing here:

"We're the backup. We just arrived, they said you would fill us in" prodded Gorr.
"With a priest of Hextor?" He looked skeptical. "Well, all right..." Joktan groaned out his tale of woe. "We got in here a few weeks ago with the magic door, from the neighbours' lot. We didn't expect all the monsters. We got pinned down in the baths and can't leave, because Petemnesthes the Lunatic has the key and nobody can find him! Sandar and Behrouz can't agree on anything, and we're being picked apart by the mirror-men!"
"What are those?"
"Didn't your mother ever tell you the story? They live on the other side of the mirror, and if you're bad they come for you. Never thought it was real... until now. They only hunt humans, that's why we wear these." He indicated his mask.

Joktan was able to walk, and offered to lead the party to his gang's hideout since they helped him. They were called Dushan's Dervishes, from the Bridge neighbourhood.

They didn't have to travel far. Back on the lawn, the party ran into a dozen armed thieves. They put their weapons down and stopped to talk once they spotted Joktan with the group. They confirmed what he'd said: the Dervishes were stuck in the gardens after their break-in went terribly wrong, and had barricaded themselves in the sorcerer's opulent bath-house.

The party offered to show them an exit and they followed along with interest to the grotto of sad black stone statues [see last session]. Robert the Swift insisted they blindfold themselves, which they were unwilling to do. After a tense moment that almost came to blows, the Dervishes shrugged and turned around, leaving the way they came.

"I never liked those guys anyway," said ME the piglet. "They're the ones who locked me in that shed in the first place."

Just to cover their bases, the group backtracked and warned Sesto's crew that others might be coming out the way they came in. Suba-Jin wrote on the wall above the stairs: "Go down the stairs, talk to the lookout, he'll get you out."

Exploring Further

The party progressed southwards toward the huge mansion (more like a palace) looming over the hedges. They entered an overgrown, scented garden, crammed with plants of every type colour & description. The trees and undergrowth obscured visibility except for a few narrow paths. The sounds of bees & tropical birds could be heard.

They immediately spotted a dark green statue of a bearded man holding a book, wearing the fine robes of a Gloaming Tower wizard. As they approached, a voice boomed: "Welcome visitors, to the manse of Issachar Dimorites!" Getting closer, they saw carvings around the base that someone had tried to scratch out: "Lord Issachar Dimorites, 4261."

They came to an artificial river of clear water running in a stone trough. Young Joe Spruce took the opportunity to look around for any plants that might be useful: he found a day-lemon tree, and harvested 15 of the fruits. When cut open they glow with a soft inner light, and are worth a few silver each. The others planted various seeds they were carrying with them.

A feline snarling from the south interrupted them. Two strange beasts emerged from the undergrowth: black & green panthers with huge bat wings and scars zig-zagging down their heads & backs. The group formed up for battle, and Joe Spruce's entangle spell caught the rear panther in its tracks. Meanwhile, Lord Fesgate was almost swallowed whole when the lead panther split almost completely in half, revealing itself to be a giant toothy mouth on legs! This one fled and the entangled one was dispatched, and the group was able to move on.

Next they came to a marble pavilion with a birdbath in the centre. Three giant butterflies flapped around, drinking from the birdbath or settling on the furniture. Suba-Jin approached and managed to distract one with a divine cherry [from back in Session 4]. The other two flew at him and he was paralyzed by the sparkling dust from their wings. One settled on him, licking his face with its poisonous tongue! The group came to Suba-Jin's rescue, shredding the butterflies with a hail of arrows & stones. After a few minutes the feeling came back into his limbs and he could move again.

The pavilion itself was held up by carved pillars. The floor was arranged into a mosaic of cavorting monsters, while the roof depicted a stern wizard launching blasts of lightning & fire from his hands and the word DIMORITES underneath.

Suba-Jin investigated the birdbath. It was dark green & yellow marble with a small jet of crystal-clear water bubbling in the center. He was the only one of the group willing to take a drink - immediately turning invisible! He bottled some of the water for later.

Outside The Mansion

The group decided to venture south, since the main structure was now very close. Passing through a narrow gap in the overgrown plants they were finally beside the huge mansion, over four stories high. They could see a wide pillared porch facing them, and another above it on the second floor. From nearby, they heard... singing?

An 8' tall blue man in voluminous robes was walking back & forth on the porch, strumming an oud and singing. His powerful baritone carried an otherworldly song, the melody and the language both alien to the group's ears. He stopped when approached and introduced himself as Marzaman of the East Wind. He said he had been summoned here to bless a wedding between Lady Lorca Dimorites and Lord Aeolus Adrestus. Something had gone wrong and the wedding could not be completed. As a result, he had been stuck here for one hundred years! 

"Look for yourselves," he indicated the grand doors behind him with a wave of his hand, holding a glittering gemstone plectrum. "Through the chapel, in the grand hall is the wedding reception. You'll see what I mean."

Who is this enigmatic blue man, and what secrets does the mansion hold?

Monsters Defeated:

1 winged panther-thing (820 xp)
2 giant butterflies (142 xp)

Treasure:

500 silver coins w/ odd markings
4 assorted small gemstones
1 nice spinel gem
15 magical day-lemons