Icyshadow |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I was not sure where to place a session recap, but I recently started a Carrion Crown campaign with myself as DM. I had a preparation thread for it here.
And now, the recap itself!
Father Grimburrow and his gravediggers buried the dead professor, while a tiefling priestess named Sotiria gave the last rites to the man before stepping aside and letting the people in attendance give a speech. The four saw a man in fine clothes give a speech, respectfully referring to professor Lorrimor as a good man and an even better teacher, informing the group that he must depart to attend to something right after. Kendra holds a speech of her own, and then explains that the man they saw was Adivion Adrissant, a nobleman and wizard who was a student of Petros back in the day. She seemed as confused about his presence and sudden leave as they were, but then invited the four over to read the professor's will.
While waiting for Councilman Vashian Hearthmount to arrive, the player characters had some food and drinks while introducing themselves to each other. Dampérenovich insisted that he simply be referred to as Dampé due to the length of his name, but Malthazar remarked that if they learn his name well enough, he shouldn't worry about needing to have it shortened every time. As the councilman arrived, he found himself bemused by the fact that all four of these guests were clearly not human, but then proceeded to read the will, letting the four pick up the key while he kept reading. After finishing the job, he bows and takes his leave. Kendra then brings the chest that the key goes to to the table, letting the four check its contents.
They open the chest to look through its contents, with Malthazar picking up the professor's journal and reading the circled entries. Funny enough, Lorrimor's handwriting caused people to take turns reading the journal, with Celeste and Dampé taking turns while Maeve glanced through the other books, putting them away in disgust once they realized the contents of the dark tomes. After they had checked through them all, Kendra decided to call it a night, as she had run out of steam by that part. Maeve did the same, and the other three soon followed after trying to do some research concerning the Whispering Way.
Once dawn arrived, the four wasted no time and quickly went to do some more research on Harrowstone, the Whispering Way, and the Five Prisoners, making good use of the Temple of Pharasma as well as the Town Hall, both of which they got to with a bit of luck and rolls. Not only did they get the last bits of info they were looking for, but they also discovered the name of Warden Hawkran's wife Vesorianna, which coincided with the mentions of a bloody smear in the shape of a "V" letter marking the local stone monument to the guards of Harrowstone. They then proceeded to fetch the items from the False Crypt, having received permit from the clergy of Pharasma. While one of the giant centipedes managed to surprise Maeve, nobody was seriously harmed in the encounter. As evening began to set in though, strange things have begun to occur, a song about murder related to the five prisoners echoed in the wind, and many have noted that the air around Ravengro feels strange.
At the end of the session, the four inheritors of the professor's will had found a locket that belonged to Vesorianna herself, and decided that they will try and find who's behind the blood ritual (since they realized it seems oddly similar to the Splatter Man's method of killing and Vesorianna's the only person who's name starts with a "V" associated with Harrowstone), as well as perhaps preparing for the trip to Harrowstone itself.
Evil Finnish Chaos Beast |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
For those who didn't check the preparation thread, here are the player characters.
- Maeve Oakwind, Elf Ranger. Lawful Neutral.
- Celeste of Jalmeray, Aasimar (Normal) Cleric of Irori. Lawful Good.
- Malthazar Therahel, Aasimar (Archon-Blooded) Zen Archer. Lawful Good.
- Dampérenovich, Dhampir (Moroi-Born / Svetocher) Kinslayer Inquisitor of Pharasma. True Neutral.
And on a side-note...
Maeve and Dampé have no plans to multi-class or take Prestige Classes.
Celeste plans to take levels in Monk and Paladin so she can become a Champion of Irori.
Malthazar aims to take a level or two of Sorcerer (Archetypes possible) and become an Arcane Archer.
Lastly, the tiefling priestess of Pharasma, Sotiria Spiros, was meant to be a DMPC back when we only had three players for the campaign. Once the fourth joined, she was changed to an NPC.
Icyshadow |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Last session was yesterday, and thanks to sick leave (I caught a flu or something similar last evening it seems), I can give you folks a recap.
The possessed and cranky farmer lunged at Dampé as he stood closest to him. His razor dealt a nasty cut to the dhampir's face, and the four soon started to pummel Gibs with non-lethal damage, though Maeve shot him in the knee with an arrow. Dampé then lifted his scythe, smacking Gibs with the blunt end of it. He rolled a critical hit that dealt enough damage to leave Gibs one HP away from actually dying outright. Celeste quickly casted Stabilize on him while Malthazar called for the sheriff, who proceeded to take Gibs away.
After a quick break to recover, the four began to make their way towards Harrowstone. Before they could pass through the doors to the courtyard, a group of six skeletons approached them, haunted by the spirits of the prison's guards. Two of them were clad in armor and armed with swords, their bodies partially in flames. The ensuing battle was catastrophic, as both sides rolled a critical fail multiple times. Just for laughs, we used the GURPS critical fail table (I had the GURPS GM Screen up instead of the usual D&D one) which led to a rather hilarious kill.
Malthazar swung his quarterstaff, which flew off his hands. While that was a result of a critical fail, the staff then hit one of the flaming skeletons and critically hit it, turning the unlucky roll into a lucky one unintentionally. The group got a good laugh as Malthazar stated bluntly "I meant to do that!" before fetching his staff. Dampé took a few heavy hits and Maeve got a cut, but they managed to put the skeletons to rest. One of them managed to say "No, the warden is already..." before falling apart, leaving its sword behind.
The four carefully approached the prison complex itself, running into a few haunts on the way to the first floor (and attempting to gain a bit more information with the Spirit Planchette by using it at the warden's house) and giving the second floor a quick glance before they began searching for the ghost of Vesorianna. After dodging some animated manacles and the branding iron haunt, they walk into the workshop to find Vesorianna's ghost, who seemed surprised that they knew her name and proceeded to explain her predicament as well as tell them how she could help in defeating the unruly ghosts haunting Harrowstone.
However, before the four heroes could set out to search for the items that belonged to the five prisoners, they realized they had not prepared as well for the ordeal as they had thought. The session ended with the player characters planning to return to Ravengro before getting back to work on the prison.
Next session is planned on next week's saturday, unless I recall incorrectly. I am looking forward to how things will develop from here. Harrowstone is a surprisingly large area.
Icyshadow |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Okay, I had been taken down by illness once more, but now it's time for a recap!
Once they arrived, they found the town hall to be rather crowded despite it being rather late. The councilmen were having a meeting concerning the haunts, and they ask the player characters to tell what they've found at Harrowstone thus far. Then the ghosts strike, setting the building on fire. Malthazar immediately started directing people out, while the others went about to put out the fires with the help of the sheriff and some Create Water spells courtesy of Dampé. The flaming skulls that flew into the building injured the sheriff mildly, but were no match for the four heroes, going down within a few rounds of fighting.
Their troubles weren't over yet, though, as the locals noticed that Kendra was absent for the whole meeting and for most of the evening in general. Recalling that her safety was part of the professor's will and that there were rumours of undead roaming about, Maeve rushed ahead to check on her house, the other three quickly following suit. Outside her house, banging on the doors were two ghouls and two zombies, which the four managed to surprise and quickly slay before getting in. Kendra stepped over to greet them, exhausted and with stains of blood on her dress. On the living room floor lied a zombified Petros Lorrimor, whom she asked to be buried again after this tragic mess.
With the corpses disposed of, the heroes rested for the night before heading off to the local stores for supplies. During said trip, they were handed over a Flesh Golem Manual belonging to someone at Lepidstadt, and managed to buy some items they would find useful on their hunt for some undead. They were also told by Sotiria that since there were subtle signs of a certain nercomancer cult called the Whispering Way playing a part in all this, they should expect worse things to come on the horizon.
Returning to the haunted ruins of the prison, they carefully checked through the first floor a second time, finding the entrance to the lower cells blocked. This led them upstairs, where they found the ghost of a certain Piper floating about. His dirge paralyzed Maeve, and he soon moved into drain her blood, but was stopped as the heroes blasted his haunt into submission with magic, causing Vesorianna to seal him away. Not soon after, the haunt of Father Charlatan tried to sneak up on the heroes, only to be undone by one of the spare Haunt Siphons they had left, though Vesorianna's presence made sure he wouldn't come back either way. The giant stirge hiding in the room also attacked them, but they pushed it back, causing it to get caught in the web of the spiders that had made their lair at the chapel. The two spiders the players had spared proceeded to devour the blood-sucking bug.
With both the main floor and the upper floor checked, the players now had to find a way to the lower cells and to the three ghosts that remain.
We have the next game scheduled for the 10th of October.
Icyshadow |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Alright, we got to the end of the first book.
They then found the Oubliette, where the Lopper leaped at them. He managed to dance around their attacks and make the party bleed, but they eventually managed to bring him down as well. They then decided to check out the other prison block, and to their horror, they found a torture chamber not too far from there. The Haunt inside was dispatched with a Haunt Siphon, and the warden's belongings were taken carefully from his remains. Maeve noticed a secret passage in the room, which the party stepped into.
There, they found a member of the Whispering Way plotting something. To his misfortune, the haunts had ravaged him while he was doing his research, and a surprise attack by the four quickly killed him off. While he had little to offer aside from a scroll of Control Undead, he did have a letter ordering him to remain at Harrowstone to monitor the undead presence there. After this, the four confront the Splatter Man at his cell (which was called the Nevermore if I recall right), destroying his Haunt and forcing him to appear as Malthazar tears a page from his old spellbook.
Confused and cornered, he could have put up a better fight but was defeated with a mixture of Ghost Touch Arrows and holy magic. However, the ghost taunted the heroes about being late to stop a bigger threat, laughing madly as he faded away in a blue light. Vesorianna soon arrived, asking the heroes if they had found her husband's badge. They offered it to her, and she purified the hauntings of the prison before fading away, thanking the four for their aid. The four departed from Harrowstone as saviours, but not before deciding to give both Hawkran and Vesorianna a proper burial.
We'll probably start the next session with an epilogue of sorts.
Icyshadow |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
So, Haunting of Harrowstone is over. We are now in Trial of the Beast.
Once the month was over, the four took a carriage towards Lepidstadt, hearing rumours of strange occurences and still having the books they needed to return to the place. On the way there, the party was ambushed by none other than Spring-Heel Jack, who was enraged by the fame the party had garnered as he was planning to attack Ravengro to strike fear into the hearts of the villagers. Injuring one of the drivers, he was quickly defeated by the party, shot down with an arrow before he could jump away. Cutting his head off and taking his dagger as additional proof of their victory, they arrive at Lepidstadt to see people celebrating the Beast's capture. They then consult the judge about things, and decide to defend the golem in court.
Things get interesting when they meet the Beast itself. Malthazar quickly realized that despite it's appearance and mannerisms, the Beast is confused about it's predicament and likely not the culprit of the things it was accused of. The other party members feel equally sympathetic, and decide to name him Gregor. Unsurprisingly, the golem was moved by this gesture, cheering up a bit as it found four new friends. Soon after, they moved to find clues regarding the real culprit from Morast. Being a perceptive lot, they find the evidence left behind by Vorkstag and Grine after a fight with the local manticore, and quickly deduced that many things didn't add up in the area.
During the first court hearing, Malthazar stepped up to present the evidence in Gregor's defense. He brought up the surgical tools, the lack of a scar on the Beast after the alleged blood caiman attack, the Darkvision draught that the golem would have no use for, the robbed graves that the golem hadn't touched, and finally the stolen face of the poacher Klebem. While the court was impressed, the locals were less than pleased. The session ended as the four had stepped into Hergstag and found out about Brother Swarm, intending to end the Wraith's haunts before going back with more evidence to defend Gregor with.
I really didn't expect them to actually name the Beast of Lepidstadt, but considering they are a Good-aligned party, I am happy with how the session turned out.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Alright, a bit late with this one. Real life issues been in the way.
The court case continued to the second day, with the heroes presenting any evidence they could provide in addition to getting Elssa to speak up on their behalf using Speak with Dead. While the crowd was outraged at first, the party did their best to keep them from having doubts about Gregor's innocence, among other things. Once the hearing was over, Malthazar heard the dispersing crowd still whispering about their plans for the beast. He then got up and publicly denounced the mob, calling them out on their thirst for blood even when every bit of evidence has shown the Beast to be innocent. With that, the mob justice event was thorougly averted as most of the people actually felt shame and perhaps a bit of guilt while thinking of the dead children of Hergstag.
Afterwards, the four heroes were asked to investigate the third crime scene, the ruins of the Karb Island Sanctuary. They soon find the blind and somewhat absent-minded Karl living nearby, the man welcoming them with generous hospitality to his humble abode. When questioned, he told of the slow descent to madness that afflicted Doctor Brada, the man he once called his mentor. He mentioned a large shambling beast of a humanoid leaving the fiery building, finding it hard to imagine that it was anything but the Beast of Lepidstadt. The heroes pointed out about a possible culprit, a claim Karl chose not to dismiss. He warned the four of the ghouls that dwelled in the area, which may be guarding whatever evidence they are looking for.
Descending to the ruins, the four soon find more information leading them to Vorkstag and Grine, the enigmatic duo who were related to some of the evidence in Morast as well. Going down to the lower levels, they soon encounter the four ghasts and make quick work of them, the session ending as they soon find the lifeless head of Doctor Brada in the room, alongside yet another piece of evidence; an empty vial that reads "Vorkstag and Grine, Chymickal Bleach" on it.
No idea when we have the next session planned, but this was quite something.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sad to say Rakshaka, but that didn't happen.
Now, the next part is what surprised me. They rounded up the evidence, asked around for what people knew about the duo, and set about ringing their doorbell in the evening. Grine came up to respond in a terse tone, only to have cold sweat running down his brow as Malthazar calls him out and says they're going to arrest both him and Vorkstag due to the evidence pointing at them as the culprits. Thinking long and hard on this, Grine offered to have himself spared if he handed Vorkstag over. The heroes agreed, though Dampé chose to cast Invisibility and sneak over to see what was going on after Grine tossed an unconscious Vorkstag to Malthazar. Grine, desperate to get out of the line of fire, began dousing the workshop (minus his and Vorkstag's rooms) with gasoline, grabbing his belongings before trying to run off.
Realizing this thanks to a few quick moves by Dampé and Malthazar, the heroes manage to stop the fire from destroying any more evidence AND capture Grine as he tried to escape with his research documents in tow. In the end, the trial ended up with the Beast judged innocent, though the heroes were then asked to check the Schloss Caromac, where the Beast had headed a bit later.
On the road, the four meet a band of Varisians, with a Harrower willing to read their fortunes for them. To keep things simple, I only asked them to draw one card. Unless I recall wrong, Dampé drew the Rabbit Prince, Celeste drew the Uprising, Malthazar drew the Marriage and Maeve drew the Mute Hag. With that done, they reached the gates, which they promptly climbed up after Maeve managed to get the trollhounds to quiet down and not raise the alarm with a well-rolled Wild Empathy check. Reaching the top of the gate, they then saw some trolls messing around with some goblins, proceeding to ambush and kill the former. The latter, happy to have their abusive masters disposed of, warned the four of a golem and the boss of the trolls lying ahead, and the session ends there.
So yes, a few unusual twists and turns, but an interesting session either way. Also, Maeve is now a DMPC due to the player having to leave to finish up stuff.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And now, the conclusion of the second book.
The golem and other beings (the apparatus) left the party be as they were mistaken for guests. They checked the rooms carefully, choosing not to loot the place since that would be stealing, finding the engineering notes and other hidden clues to what's been going on. After checking through the rooms, they approached the ruined workshop, killing one of the Rust Monsters and scaring the two others off. Before they could get to face the most annoying / deadly encounter of the book, they found the trap on the bridge and disabled it, avoiding the fight against the erinyes. They then enter the private museum, dispatching the mummy and bargaining with the mimic before running into the blind golem and its homunculi helpers, whom I figured could be dissuaded from attacking due to the guard uniform.
Learning of what happened to the lord of the castle, they then entered the drowned menagerie, where they fought the vargouilles and climbed up to the upper levels. Once they find their way to the last tower, the four-armed guardian is dispatched by a critical hit from Dampé's scythe and a few arrows from the others. At the upper levels, the heroes first have a brief chat with the homunculus Waxwood and sift through the notes regarding both the Bondslave Thrall and the Storm Caller. They then step into the top floor and fight the Aberrant Promethean, with help from Gregor / Beast of Lepidstadt, whom Dampé proceeds to control with the Bondslave Thrall.
The fight has both severely injured, but with the Promethean killed by an arrow to the head from Maeve. Once they free Caromac, the heroes find out that the Whispering Way is heading towards Shudderwood. Deciding to leave the professor be, the heroes are given a goodbye hug from Gregor, and then head to have a chat with Daramid, who asks the heroes to give chase to the Whispering Way and offering the help of Order of the Palatine Eye in addition to the gold she had promised. Dampé and Celeste seemed curious about the order, Malthazar didn't want to join but does want to exchange help for info, while Maeve had no interest whatsoever. Before they head out on the road, Daramid sends an agent of the order to help out, who turns out to be Sotiria, the tiefling priestess from the start of the campaign.
I will be having another session today, so the story isn't about to slow down.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, the start of Broken Moon went surprisingly fast.
They then found a lone tower in the distance, deciding to check it out. The weaverworm residing inside did not take kindly to the intrusion, but it was soon put down by a flurry of blades and arrows. Much to their horror, the monster had already claimed a few victims, and they gave them a proper burial before venturing on. Someone had laid a trap near a suspected werewolf, but they disarmed it without much of a fuss.
Soon enough, their journey led them to the lodge itself, where their invitations are initially rejected and their motives immediately called to question, though they are eventually led inside. Estovion, while initially jovial, quickly withdrew and let the heroes chat up Duristan instead, even though the braggart werewolf hunter was the one who was willing to turn them away at the gate. Once he found out that the four were experienced monster slayers, Duristan brightened up and asked the four to accompany him on a little hunt in the Shudderwood, to which they reluctantly agreed.
Once there, things went fine at first, but then the had a run-in with the Vollensags, a local tribe of werewolves who did not take kindly on the intrusion. They told the heroes to stay out of werewolf business, while also expressing confusion at Maeve's accompanying of the crew, saying that she's "one of them" and such. This revelation shocked the hunters, but the adventurers found no reason to judge Maeve by her heritage.
When they returned to the lodge, the four had realized something was awry. I do not recall the exact details, but they rather quickly figured out Estovion had quite the skeletons in his closet, and managed to apprehend him before he could wreak havoc with the Vilkacis he claimed to control. After finding the trail of the Whispering Way, the session ends with the heroes heading to an abandoned temple of Desna.
The next session is this weekend.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This part ended as quickly as it had started, surprisingly.
Also, because Malthazar had given his word that he'd find out who killed the previous werewolf packlord (and because Maeve is a werewolf too, sort of), the patrolling Vollensag Stalkers let them through. The other werewolf guards didn't spot them, and they soon confronted Mathus, who was speaking of his next move as the new leader with Cybrisa. Malthazar presented the evidence against him, and denounced him out loud so every werewolf in the area could hear of what had happened.
The fight against Mathus was short-lived, and Cybrisa backed down from fighting fairly quickly, offering to take up the title of packlord, only to be stopped as the Prince's Wolves arrived at the scene with their leader, the roguish Rhakis Szardo. He tells the heroes of what the Demon Wolves and the Whispering Way were up to, then asks them to step back while he and Cybrisa fight over Mathus' heart and the title of packlord.
With news that the Whispering Way was heading towards Feldgrau, the heroes quickly made it back to the Ascanor Lodge to get some steeds, and heard that a werewolf patrol had attacked the building. While Duristan managed to fend them off with his crew, he was bitten and soon disappeared from the scene. As it was a full moon, the heroes were understandably a bit annoyed with the hunter's antics, but soon set out towards the ghost town. On their way there, a mysterious mothman soon floated over to them, filling their minds with visions of things to come before disappearing into the darkness.
During the trip, they ran into the now-infected Duristan, but quickly subdued him and gave him Wolfsbane to cure him. They dragged him back into the lodge, where Sotiria casted Atonement, clearing that subplot rather quickly but leaving Duristan himself rather disillusioned with himself.
Once they set foot to Feldgrau itself, Maeve quickly recognized the nearby tree as a Hangman Tree, with four werewolves hanging from its vines. The four set the thing on fire and kill it before settling in the farmhouse, though they soon encountered a few of Rhakis' spies, who mentioned that the Demon Wolves and the Whispering Way have been scouring the village and seem to have set their bases to the south. With that, they then left the heroes to sneak around.
After sneaking past some patrols, they found the Demon Wolves hiding in the mill. They dealt with Adimarus and his men rather quickly (and Malthazar was uncharacteristically enraged when confronting them), the werewolf being confused as Celeste's fists pierced through his tough hide thanks to her Smite Evil and Flurry of Blows combo as a Champion of Irori. Once he was downed, Maeve cut the demon worshipper's head while Malthazar destroyed the Unholy Symbols they were carrying.
The hunt for the leader of the Whispering Way in Feldgrau continued, and the heroes soon found themselves in the haunted inn, where the morose ghost of a man named Ulcris Sedmir resided. Malthazar managed to talk the man down, and he told them that the ghosts of the village need to be put to rest after the dread necromancer Auren Vrood began desecrating the graves of the locals. He also offered to rip the memories out of his head, both as revenge as well as to help the four. He tells them of his small treasure stash before telling them that the old watchtower might be where the enemy is hiding.
With stealth, skill and a dash of magic, the four (as well as Sotiria, who chose to come along since Feldgrau was said to be haunted) arrived at the tower, sneaking in and opening the door only to trip Auren Vrood's alarm. He taunted the heroes and told them to come face him, which they soon did. The fight was rather devastating despite being short-lived, as Auren Vrood's Circle of Death spell killed Malthazar, while the necromancer himself was killed by a maximum damage critical hit arrow to the face from an angered Maeve, who just happened to have humans as her second Favored Enemy. Malthazar was brought back to life with a conveniently placed scroll courtesy of Sotiria, who then attended to the dead of the village to make sure their souls would rest in peace. However, she also did something to Vrood's soul, which unnerved the four who went on to report their success to Ulcris.
Honoring the deal they had, the ghost pulled out the memories from the necromancer's head (which Maeve had cut off), showing them that the Whispering Way has been gathering ingredients and sent a rider towards the town of Thrushmoor...
I am still trying to process how we managed to end Broken Moon in just two sessions. Either way, not sure when we're starting Wake of the Watcher.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Better late than never, I guess.
On the way there, they ran into an unusual scene by the lakeside. An aged man was on a raft with a strange device, ready to crash into the rocks as the waves had gotten the better of his vessel. They rescued the man and his works, and he introduced himself as Horace Croon, a local workshop owner and scientist of sorts (Amusingly enough, the players called him either Horus or Horatio since his real name was apparently too outlandish). He told the players to tread lightly, and had little to say about the Dark Rider itself, as he was focused on his invention for the most part.
The heroes made their way into the town itself, where the locals were kind of gruff and distant, as well as having an oddly fish-like pallor to them. Their investigations soon led the four into the mayor's office, where they quickly used a mix of Diplomacy and Sense Motive to find out that the town did indeed have a few skeletons in its closet, which mostly traced over to the local church and the associated noble house. The mayor asks the player characters to find out why locals have been disappearing, as it may have a link with the poor fortune the village has been having in general.
While they took up the task, the heroes did not immediately set foot into the Hall of the Recondite Order of the Indomitable Sea (as in, the local church) as something began to stir at the docks. An overly large octopus, infuriated by something or someone, attacked the locals at the bay, but the heroes stepped in and managed to kill it off before it could kill anyone or run away. After doing the quick good deed of the day, they set their sights on the mysterious church, ending the session as they stepped in.
And by part 2, Maeve has left to track down the second Rider, and a new party member joins, hired by someone to help the town out in secret.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The campaign has been advancing in a relatively straight-forward manner.
Due to the strange occurences in town and the local church's failure to respond to them, the mayor asks the heroes to help him out, taking down the clergy so he can have more of a say in how the town should be run, and also in finding out just what exactly is going on behind the scenes. When they arrive, the lobby is empty aside from an extravagantly dressed man named Antonio Romano, who informed them that he's at the church at the behest of the mayor. He had been promised a reward for helping out with local issues (and keeping an eye on these strange folks coming down from Thrushmoor), deciding to join the group due to mutual interests.
Malthazar, Celeste and Dampérenovich explained the scope of the situation to Antonio, the Whispering Way's plot and the fact that a man working for them happened to get into the town itself. Afterwards, the four teamed up to investigate the church itself, where they were met with hostility from the local clergy. Beating them down, they soon found out that what appeared to be a church of Gozreh was actually a temple of Dagon, a demon lord of the seas. They soon confronted Caleb Voltiaro, one of the cult heads and defeated him, finding signs of a disturbing deal between the locals and some type of fish people in town after also slaying the local guardian chuul, the Scion of the Sea.
Before they left, the group split up in two to investigate. Malthazar and Antonio found a young couple of locals (Rufus and Irma), whom Malthazar explained the situation to after calming them down. They told that they had given their child away to the cult, as was the tradition in town. While at first in disbelief of the truth, they realized what had been done and broke down, asking that the four get their child back. Meanwhile, Celeste and Dampérenovich found a room with headless corpses, an unusual sight which almost proved their undoing, as a few worm-like monsters jumped at them. The duo cut them down, noticing something very wrong with them and informing the other two of them before leaving.
With all that they had found out, the four consulted the mayor once more, and he said that the house of the local nobility might yield more answers since the odd happenings at the church seemed to answer none of the current ones while also raising a few more questions of its own. The session ended with the heroes getting ready to enter the nearly decrepit House of Undiomede.
We had the third session today, but I'll have to do that recap a bit later.
Icyshadow |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, between being busy and exhausted, I have not updated in a while, but we recently wrapped up Wake of the Watcher.
While traveling there, the heroes ran into a gorgon, which managed to petrify Dampérenovich temporarily before being cut down. They then walked inside, tricking the Marsh Giant guarding the area before swiftly moving to deal with the rest of the cultists in the building.
Much to their shock, Albor Voltiaro's battle was interrupted by his head exploding into a mass of writhing tentacles, but the spawning abomination was slain by them nontheless. Rescuing the baby that the cultists had kidnapped and finding out that the villagers seem to have made some sort of pact with the local skum (while also clearing through a skum tunnel beneath the mansion), they return to Illmarsh only to find that the mayor, along with a few other people, have disappeared.
Antonio is soon given a new deal by the sheriff, who promised to pay him if the mayor is unable to do so. The heroes then consult Horace Croon, who mentions having just finished up his submersible not too long ago. He offers to help by letting the four use it, since the village's safety (and more) might be at stake.
Taking the submersible down, the group was ambushed by Dhauggota, but the monster was forced to retreat after repeated stabbings from Antonio left it badly injured. The skum scouting the area didn't spot the submersible (rolled bad Perceptions all around), while the party soon found the hidden entrance, choosing to enter the tunnels from there.
Fighting their way through Mi-go and Skum troops alike, the heroes then confronted the heretical head priest of the fishfolk before finding a few more Mi-go to cut down. Picking up a relic of Pharasma's church, they then found the brains of the lost villagers in some alien containers, including that of the Mayor. While some were begging for death and others waiting to be taken away, Antonio decided to take the Mayor's head along in hopes of restoring his body and mind later.
The heroes then stepped into the domed lab of the Mi-go, where they were soon confronted by the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath. The creature's powerful abilities, its high AC and Malthazar's horrid luck with attack rolls made it a long and grueling fight, but the heroes ultimately prevailed, foiling Shub-Niggurath's attempt at entering the Material Plane. The four then returned to the surface with treasures in tow, including the stolen Seasage Effigy as well as the information they were seeking; One of the two Dark Riders is dead, while the other is heading to Caliphas.
Sotiria, as a representative of both the Church of Pharasma as well as the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, promised that she'd find a way to restore the Mayor's body and sanity, making well on that promise before offering to hire Antonio to help the rest of the crew in stopping the Whispering Way's plot. She also granted honorary membership in the Order to Dampé and Celeste, as the two had requested it earlier. However, she made it clear that they will not be instantly given rights beyond those of an acolyte, and there was still much more work to be done...
So, I had to condense this to a larger recap due to passing by a few earlier ones, and because I might not be able to give one in a while. I do not have the last two books of the adventure path (yet), and there are some other issues that need addressing. Mostly of the IRL issue variety, but also some party composition issues along the lines of "when can I get everyone under the same roof on time" and such.
Evil Finnish Chaos Beast |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And a post from behind the scenes.
I had to change a thing or two in Wake of the Watcher to keep things interesting. One of the Skum still had a shred of sanity left, and tried to help the party a bit before taking a chance to get the hell out of the caves near the end.
The Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath spawned earlier due to Antonio Counter-Songing the chanting of the Mi-Go and the humming of their machinery. Even without having another fight in-between the encounter, the monster did pose a serious threat if it had a chance to get the Fighter/Bard out of the way.
Also, due to the Order of the Palatine Eye having a direct agent linked to the PCs, I figured the Mayor got a better ending than on print. However, since Antonio (and the others) forgot to pack the other brains along, those are probably still in their jars under the lake. I don't know if they'd stay down, or start to slowly rise up to the surface.
Lastly, I never bothered with the Sanity checks. I had a lengthy discussion about the topic with my players, and we all agreed that if the campaign WANTED to make use of such, they should have been introduced from the get-go. After seeing ghosts, zombies, skeletons, werewolves, and many other horrors, the tentacular brainfarts of Lovecraft aren't THAT horrifying in comparison.
I made only one Sanity check for the players, and that's when they saw Shub-Niggurath attempting to enter their plane of existence. They all succeeded, though they were understandably a tad shaken in-character regardless, though Antonio was quick to make a taunting quip at it, as he often tends to do.
I have been having fun running this campaign. I hope I get to introduce the character-specific side-quests soon, so I can tie up some loose ends.
Icyshadow |
And after a long wait, I finally bring the beginning of the next book.
Soon, they come across the mysterious murders in the city, and quickly deducing something isn't exactly right with the corpses, with bodies turned to ashes and wooden stakes involved. While pondering over the possibility of vampires, the four upgrade their gear, check the local gossips and eventually find their way to the Order of the Palatine Eye in their hideout at the Haraday Theater. While Abraun Chalest and Lucinean Galdana proved polite in the eyes of the four, they found Edjureus Modd's attitude grating. Despite this, they managed to win him over and got to check the order's library for clues to the situation in Caliphas. By mere happenstance, they find the way to activate the Whispering Gargoyle with the Moribund Key they had looted from the dullahan, and just barely avoided activating the trap placed upon the statue.
The heroes, making their way to the Quarterfaux Archives where the Whispering Way hideout was supposed to be (according to the hidden message in the gargoyle), find the place abandoned aside from one dhampir who turned out not to be a Whispering Way member. He was a vampire hunter named Quinley Basdel, and though he was not a Pharasman hunter of the undead like Dampé, he was willing to aid the heroes in solving the mystery of the recent killings. Quinley confirmed that the victims thus far were all vampires, and one of them was his mother, whom he wishes to avenge.
After a few more revelations, and a few more fights, the heroes find their way to the lair of the local vampires, and soon enough, the hunt for the culprit begins...
There was a lot going on for one session's worth, so I'll have to split the first session into two parts.
Icyshadow |
University starting for me has kept me away from the forums for a while now, but here's a shot at a recap.
The vampire lord greets the heroes warmly as they didn't make much of a mess on the way in, though he found the group's attitude to be surprisingly audacious. Telling them of a prionser he suspected to be the culprit, he directs them to Ramoska Arkminos, a nosferatu who seems to have been betrayed by the Whispering Way. He claims innocence to the recent murders, and the PCs find his story believable, offering to help him clear his name by finding the real culprit. Wasting no time, the group investigates the area thoroughly, and eventually comes upon the clues that one of the nobles of the court, Radvir Giovanni, was the real culprit, having been making deals behind Luvick's back. Going to the vampire lord with this info, they are given the deal to bring Radvir to him and putting an end to whatever plans he happened to be brewing up.
Locating his workshop, the heroes soon corner him and bring him to his prison, only to realize some of the local nobles had something to do with a coven of witches whom Radvir had been working with. Figuring the witches might be linked to the Whispering Way's operations, the heroes fight their way through their lair, freeing a vampirized Paladin of his curse along the way. After the troubles in town had been cleared up, the freed Ramoska sends a letter to the heroes a few days later, revealing that the Whispering Way had kidnapped a noble for the purpose of forcing him to drink the Carrion Crown elixir and bringing Tar-Baphon back from his prison to wreak havoc once more.
Apologies for the somewhat rushed job with these last few recaps. My memory has been starting to fade since these sessions happened a while back. I'll try and get Shadows of Gallowspire recaps written within the week.