I have created the campaign now and this will be our gameplay thread for our Play by Post game in the PbP Gameday 3 event! We will be playing #5–09: The Traitor’s Lodge and we begin on November 1, 2014.
Please feel free to dot in so you can see updates on your campaign tab. A little description of your character's appearance is always fun. There will be opportunities to shop for gear before we proceed, if need be.
Let's have a good game! Explore, Report, Cooperate! ^_^
It has been weeks since the siege of Nerosyan, when demonic hordes from the Abyss surged forth from the region known as the Worldwound to assault the capital city of the crusader nation of Mendev. Brave Pathfinders stood side-by-side with the city’s defenders, managing to push back the attackers and ensure Nerosyan did not fall to the demons.
Venture-Captain Jorsal, the Society’s principle representative in Nerosyan, took charge of the Pathfinder defenders and since the siege has deployed numerous groups on missions throughout the region. Having left Nerosyan to survey the devastation of Kenabres, which fell to the demonic offensive—Jorsal ensured some of his agents remained behind in Nerosyan to guard the Starrise Spire, the local lodge. Earlier this morning a messenger arrived with a sealed letter from Jorsal, signaling that more work remains to be done.
Esteemed Pathfinders,
I trust this letter reaches you without incident. I remain in Kenabres, assessing the damage dealt by the demonic offensive that struck all along Mendev’s western border. Although the city is devastated, the fiends lost momentum and failed to maintain their advantage, and several particularly brave crusaders have rallied the scattered forces for a counterattack.
Since the siege of Nerosyan, I have mulled over a most troubling discovery. I received reports from Pathfinders involved in the siege implicating Thurl, Nerosyan’s other venture-captain, of knowing that the demons would attack and when. What little evidence I have goes so far as to suggest that Thurl assisted the demons in planning the assault against us.
Following the attack, I sent several Pathfinders to investigate Thurl’s lodge, and though the ground floor was bare of any further incriminating evidence, the lower level were inaccessible. Thurl left many magical wards to keep out intruders, and until we could investigate further and confirm whether or not my dwarven colleague had engaged in dire mischief, the Decemvirate has ordered that I not publicize my suspicions. I received word only an hour ago that those wards appear to have faded.
I have kept you at Starrise Spire not for mundane guard duty but because I can trust you to finish the investigation of Thurl’s lodge. Go there, enter its basement, and find what evidence you can that implicates Thurl in activities against the Society. Once you have explored his lodge thoroughly, report back to Starrise Spire and await my return.
The Pathfinder Society must know for certain whether Thurl has betrayed us and to what extent our trek to Jormurdun — to say nothing of the Mendevian Crusade—has been compromised. Our efforts shall mean nothing if sabotaged by a traitor, and the sooner we know, the less damage he can inflict.
Inheritor guide your hand,
Venture-Captain Jorsal of Lauterbury
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Random impatiently shifts from one foot to the other as he waits his turn to read the letter. When it comes to him, he looks at it for a while before his eyelids begin to get heavy, and then close. He snaps awake when his head drops to his chest. "Ah! Right! So, in summation, we go somewhere and do something, then?" He hands the letter off to someone with more patience, *sigh* Those goody-two-shoes always think there's so much to say...
Shamak grunts and catches the letter from the hand of Turk*. He reads it very quickly and then hands it back to Delphinia.
He yells to Turk* "Yep! I met ol' Thurl before."
Shamak has heard quite a bit of talk about Thurl during your time at the Starrise Spire.
Some agents suspect that Thurl has not been entirely honest when dealing with the Decemvirate. Agents who work for him tend to have short life expectancies due to the dangerous work of exploring the Worldwound at his behest.
Venture-Captain Thurl is perhaps the most dedicated scholar of demonic anatomy that the Society has, and several times in his career he has discovered a physiological or psychological weakness of the fiends that granted the crusaders a small advantage. A group of Pathfinders who finished a mission in Numeria was later assigned to review Thurl’s work and notebooks, but those agents have not been heard from for several months.
Thurl’s Lodge is a modest structure that lies in the Egelsee district of Nerosyan. Once known as a contract site for cut-rate mercenaries, the building rarely sees visitors from the crusader host now. A single front door provides ingress, and any other doors or windows that might have existed long ago have been long since removed during Thurl’s renovations. A blacksmith and a local brewery flank the lodge.
As the party arrives, four other agents that you have seen around recently are loading the last of the ground floor library’s books into a cart for transport back to Starrise Spire and later analysis.
"Ah, Jorsal sent word that a team was coming to check out that basement door. The magic that kept it sealed shut has faded like the duration of the spell finally wore off a day ago, before then it practically glowed with Abyssal runes. We gathered up some items for you that might be of help, here. Good luck down there!" The fellow hands you a box containing a potion of cure moderate wounds, a scroll of perceive cues, an elixir of vision, and an antitoxin.
Their work done, the other Pathfinders start back to Starrise Spire, leaving you to your task. There is little else of interest on the ground floor. The heavy iron door that leads into the basement is undecorated and unlocked.
The group works together interviewing the people and learn that some Pathfinders who took part in the recent siege of Nerosyan and searched for Thurl claim to have found evidence that directly incriminates the dwarf. They found letters that indicate a link between Thurl and a known demonologist and enemy of the Society, Tancred Desimire. Such a link would no doubt mean that Thurl has powerful demonic allies and is somehow important to Tancred’s future plans against the Society.
Thus prepared, your group opens the heavy iron door. A long set of dusty wooden stairs leads down into an equally untidy archive of tall shelves populated by crates, bins, and tomes. A handful of folios lay scattered about the room, concentrated most heavily near a large table that stands only about two feet tall.
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Gronk is a large Half-Orc as well. Not quite as tall as Shamak but has more meat on his bones. His skin is likewise covered in all sorts of intricate tattoo's, although the best looking one is not visible with his breastplate attached. He also carries a falchion, but his claws look equally deadly. For all intensive purposes he and Shamak could be brothers..
He carries no wayfinder and has no visible ties to the Society.
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Turk looks to be of Ulfin descent, or perhaps even Hallit. He has long blond hair and ice blue eyes. He is handsome in a rugged sort of way but not quite striking. A few inches over 6 feet he looks to be reasonably muscled and wears an agile breastplate with little trouble. A greatsword and shield are on his back and he carries a long pole arm that is headed in black metal. His smile is catching in a way that people want to hang out with him. A wayfinder swings at his neck.
He applies himself to examining the archive. and will cast Detect Magic as he looks around. He is more than willing to assist those who seem more skilled in any area he has expertise.
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Delphina is dressed in the typically Varisian garb much like Seoni with one slight difference. Her arms are covered in gloves that reach well passed her elbows. She wars a simple Harakami that only covers her abdomen. Her armaments are a simple staff and a dagger at her waist. She bears no symbol of the Society though try as you may you might be able to find one amongst her numerous tattoos.
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Random's delicate features contort as he scrunches his nose in the shabby library.
"Really! Necromancers, demonologists... as often as they conjure up slaves, why don't they ever give 'em a duster? Spruce up the lair a bit!"
The thin, olive-skinned Taldan snaps his finger. "Oh, yeah!" He leans his longbow against some shelves and produces a scroll and a torch wrapped in black leather from his pack.
He completes the spell with some command words, "nvisibleiway quiresay!" and then holds out the torch to the unseen servant around knee-height. He waves it around impatiently, "Take it, you little..!" Finally completing the handoff, he takes the leather off the torch, letting the everburning torch add some light to the dank library.
He picks up his bow again, and starts perusing the books on the shelves.
You spend some time pouring through the books and documents kept here. Some are innocuous but the majority of the works are of a darker nature detailing studies of demonic anatomy, surveys of the southeastern corner of the Worldwound, and Sarkorian relics tainted by the Abyss. Several entries suggest Thurl resorted to unsavory business practices to obtain what he wanted. There is substantial evidence of misconduct on Thurl's part in this room alone.
The only immediately apparent door in this room is the one that leads back the way you came to the stairs; it was already open when the you decended. From the stairs’ side, the door appears unremarkable, but from the archive’s side, the door’s surface is decorated to match the stone wall into which it is set. Gronk notices this feature and moves around the walls and after a few minutes of searching, he locates a secret door, nearly completely hidden when closed.
Turk's detect magic spell picks up a lingering aura of abjuration magic from whatever spell warded this room but finds nothing else beyond his companion's gear. Soon a voice interrupts your searches, a woman's voice so strange that almost sounds like more than one person is speaking in unison. The speaker lurks in a darkened corner, as if afraid to come out into the light of your torches. Her voice booms with terrible power sometimes or drops to the hiss of a threatening whisper as she speaks.
“Pathfinders? Yes, I knew they would send someone to help... I am Valais Durant, the Venture-Captain of this Lodge now. The traitor Thurl built a hidden workplace past this room, and that is where he performed his most VILE experiments. If the Society is to understand just how FOOLISH he is, someone must uncover his terrible schemes and bring them to light. That’s where you come in, Pathfinders. There is a hidden door against that wall.” She steps forward and motions toward the door Gronk has already found, waving a crimson claw toward the reading table. “Beyond you shall find his lair. ANY QUESTIONS?”
As your lights fall upon her, you understand why she hid herself at first. A human eye gazes at you from a ghastly, inhuman face. Rough stitches bind human skin, the color of fresh cream to leathery red, slimy meat and vivid violet flesh. The creature before you is a patchwork nightmare with with asymmetrical horns and mismatched legs.
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On what athorieee are you venture-captainnn? You'll underssstand if we're a bit sssuspissious. Demons are good liarsss.
A dark green skinned Nagaji, covered in black dragonscale full plate and a darkwood shield. Standing about 6 ft, and looking very much like a fierce warrior, his face is serene and contemplateive with very little hint of anger. He only carries a club at his side though, and his visible scales are etched with indigo inks in some arcane symbology. A mottled green boa constrictor squeezes into a 5 ft square in coils, looking bored.
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Random stares at the woman, fascinated, wondering how much of her is human, and how much is not, especially internally, since so little of a woman appears to be left on the outside.
Distractedly, he manages to stay on topic for once, "We met Pathfinders outside. They didn't warn us, er, tell us that there was a new VC, or, anyone here, for that matter."
"He... He was the one who did you... that?" asks Shamak to Valais Durant, half surprized, half disgusted.
Valais nods sadly, her human eye wide with horror as she looks down at herself. A very human sounding sob escapes her monstrous maw, "Yes, Thurl, the , turned on me when he realized the Decemvirate had me investigating his operation. When one of his turned me in, he surprised me and knocked me unconscious. I awoke in one of the chambers below, and made my way here. And here I wait, in the shadows…” Her voice shifts and changes as she speaks as if more than one being is speaking at the same time. The human timbre of her voice recedes somewhat as one or the other seems to seize control of the mouthpiece.
On what athorieee are you venture-captainnn? You'll underssstand if we're a bit sssuspissious. Demons are good liarsss.
Valais stares blankly ahead, her replacement mouth gaping for a moment as if Sir Pentor's question has confused her. Finally she shakes her horned head roughly back and forth almost as if she wished to toss it from her mismatched shoulders. "I am not what I appear... No, not a I was a Pathfinder on an important mission. Thurl is a reckless and gone. I am the Venture- now! You are Pathfinder minions sent to serve me... I knew the Decemvirate wouldn’t abandon me! So I waited here and hid myself, just in case Thurl returned, I wanted to be ready to stab him in the back, then skin him alive. Don't worry, I am a committed V.C. I will even accompany you and fight by your side. Venture-Captains should take an active role in leading their charges. Will you accept my mission and my aid, Pathfinders?"
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Turk startles despite himself when he sees the woman.
Understanding something of this woman's plight Turk responds Yes Venture-Captain Durant. Glad to have you on the team. We are almost through cataloging the incriminating evidence against Thurl here and will soon be ready to proceed through the secret door you so cleverly identified for us.
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"Hmmm... I don't know. I don't think she's really a venture captain, y'all. But I suppose if you're going our way anyway..."
Random lets everyone else go ahead first. He tells his invisible, everburning torch-wielding servant to stay close to the 'venture-captain'. He draws an arrow and follows, with it nocked on his bowstring. "Hey! Do demons need some special kind of material to hurt 'em? Silver, or cold iron, maybe?"
Valais nods and takes her position in your marching order as you open the secret door and proceed on. The chamber stretches ahead and to either side as far as the eye can see. Wall segments stretch from floor to ceiling, as much resembling overgrown stalactites as architectural features, and chunks of shattered masonry and other rubble litter the otherwise even floor. Long since expired torches rest in sconces affixed intermittently to the walls. From any point in the area, you are rarely able to see more than 50 feet before a wall interrupts your line of sight. These wall segments range from five to 20 feet in length, sometimes extending in a straight line or
encompassing a corner, but the large gaps make it easy enough for to wind your way through the rubble and reach the other side without getting lost. Still, it takes some time to navigate your way through.
Valais growls softly in the back of her throat and sniffs the air, "Something watches us... LURKING, hiding in the dark..." She eyes the rubble warily and tends to stick to the path rather than pick her way over it with her mismatched legs.
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It sssseems this wass onsssse a maze. There's markings, and chitinous remains , bone and horn under some rubble.
I'll take a closer look. a resonnant susssurusss echoing slightly as he casts detect magic before walking over to the rubble, hissing at Nagini to guard as I bring the light closer and examine the rubble.
Valais shakes her head, hissing slightly and peering intently into the darkness. She gasps, her eyes fixed on something in a shadowy corner and you turn to look for what she has spotted. Gronk does indeed see it as well as Sir Pentor... a spectral face gazes at you from high up on the wall, but it notices your scrutiny and is gone just as quickly. Gronk catches only a fleeting glimpse, but Sir Pentor is sure he saw horns above that face.
Near the center of the maze stands a raised altar made of ivory-inlaid wood, its virtually pristine condition a sharp contrast to the shattered walls around it. At the center of the altar rests a statue of two figures locked in combat: a brass bull and an iron dwarf that grips the animal by a horn from over its shoulder while holding a warhammer aloft. Delicately incised words encircle the statue’s base, reading, “In my name is the strength of my history, my tradition, and my people. Speak your name into my ear, and I shall judge your worth.”
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it sounds like some iconic ssscene, perhaps from their hissstory or religion. The name we sssspeak is likely the key. The wrong key though...
possibly a mechanical trap, triggered by the acoustics of what we whisper... , he says, as he steps carefully, keeping an eye on the (apparently) very well lit floor.
Turk identifies the bull as a gorgon and Shamak feels sure the the dwarf represented here is Torag. A casual inspection of the scene suggests Torag is winning. But Gronk, Random and Sir Pentor view the scene a little differently, Torag’s apparent advantage seems to depict him most favorably but it is a ruse. On careful study, the gorgon’s perceived weakness is feigned, and the trio can see that Torag is off balance and that the gorgon is poised to strike. They also notice small valves through which something harmful might be expelled...
Valais still watches the darkness warily, paying little attention to the statue.