Introduction
At the center of Absalom, a new heart beats. It drinks in the lifeblood of the city and returns that red river...somehow darkened. But it doesn't stop in the City at the Center of the World. There are other symptoms in places far flung.
The arcane and the scientific merges at a rate unheard of in history. What does it mean? What is its significance?
The intricate weavings of a spider's web, the focus in Absalom where all strands can be watched.
The heroes find themselves taking one step onto the docks and the next one into the midst of a growing mystery. There have been forces at work in their lives, machinations reaching back to even the years before the tragedy that took their parents' lives. For decades now, they've been moved along a game board, two of the most important pieces in a grand game. Now, only time will tell if they can survive long enough to even see the board...
----The Crystal Daggers----
Siblings, a cousin rejoined and a hodgepodge group of adventurers were thrust into a dark investigation centering on a set of crystal daggers. The weapons prove to be no ordinary pieces of curiosity as they learn their true purpose.
Form & Function:
The heroes have uncovered that the blades are conduits. Once buried within the body of a victim, the daggers become part of that person, disappearing to become a magical relay. Whoever controls the daggers is able to draw the life force of the victim and channel it elsewhere.
Only briefly, some of the heroes were exposed to a chasm of Chaotic darkness that threatened to shred their minds and spirits. Just what is behind this evil?
Clues & Stories:
As the heroes have conducted their investigations, they've uncovered some clues along the way...
Story of the Stone of Zamnahd Ur This clue details the finding of a rock by adventurers in Geb, the land of the undead. On the rock were etchings of strange symbols. The only word decipherable was “Zamnahd Ur”… Of the 8 person group, only one of the adventurers survived the experience. All of the adventurers were from Magnimar, survived the return trip from Geb, all but a man named Jorg were driven to madness and suicide. Jorg had been on the run, a homeless pauper surviving on the streets of Magnimar, the stone from Geb still in his possession.
No one knows what befell of Jorg or if he still lives...
Fir’umil thinks it has a link to an ancient evil named Xhamen-Dor. A creature thought to have been awakened during the cataclysm of Earthfall, little is known outside the insane cultist who worship him.
What little Fir was able to glean from Beleg’s and Caleb’s libraries lends Xhamen-Dor the power to create of undead. The is also a strong following in Geb of this particular creature. Comparing the symbology found on the crystal daggers and that found on this stone from Geb, there are some similarities.
There was an image Fir’umil found that purportedly gives form to Xhamen-Dor. When viewed, whether for the first time or for the 100th, it causes a disquieting feeling of dread and hopelessness...and sometimes nausea and fear in those who look upon it. For this reason, Fir’umil has it (the image) sealed away in a warded scroll case, not certain of the types of magics worked into the ink or vellum.
Driven by curiosity, Fir delved the drawing and came away with the surety that the ink used to put the image to the vellum is actually blood drawn from multiple sources. After this viewing, the elf has been reticent about pulling the drawing forward again.
---
Book on Mwangi Spirit Faiths The book gives more insights into the rumors out of the Mwangi Expanse of a rite designed to provide the spiritual leader of a village with the strength of the faithful during times of war. The use of the rite must be approved by all the village, not just the elders or chieftains. The reason being that those whose spirits are drawn forth run the risk of not returning to their bodies. Even worse, they could be banished to the Shadow Plane should the one casting the rite fall. Left behind are the empty husks of the sacrificed, but those husks do not remain empty for long. There is an old Mwangi story, an oral telling, warning of wandering spirits looking for homes to possess. These wandering shades - at least according to the oral traditions - are malevolent in most cases.
--
Varisian Etchings Fir’umil pulls a vellum scroll from the bag of holding, the item rolled and bound in a horse hair tie that fastened with a tiny brass clasp. The wizard unrolls it to its full 12 x 3 ft dimensions. On it is the depiction of a rubbing, probably transferred from the thin material used by whomever had acquired the original. The first thing that draws the eyes is an ancient rune, Thassilonian in origin according to Fir’s research. Then there is the writing. Fir'umil indicates that his research led to older forms of Shaonti and Varisian to get a rough approximation of the language being used. The words arch from the rune on both sides, those appearing clearly, but only half the rune on the vellum.
”If I don’t miss my guess, this is a rubbing from an old temple, the tympanum to be precise.” With the vellum rolled out, it’s easy to see that the width of it could easily depict a mighty over the double doorways of a temple. He points to the word right below the half rune. ”Here, this is a name, Lixxahla I think it says. On either side, it repeats a phrase...something to the effect. ’As one we give, endless Lixxahla, as one we give...’”
He speculates it to be used on thralls to inspire unwavering loyalty and adoration as they enter the temple for worship..
Only a few days into their stay and they are being asked to leave the City behind. At least for a while. The open sea calls to them as the elven siblings and their new allies seek to make restore stolen souls of a group of Ragathielen clerics.
They set sail aboard the Lucky Slip, a beautiful galleon under the command of the even more beautiful Windsinger Onura Limnestti.
Crew of the Lucky Slip:
Cedrik Onx-eye He’s a one-eyed, middle-aged sailor and harsh disciplinarian. He keeps the crew in line, famous for saying “You’ll learn it thru the ear or thru the rear…” and he has the cat o’nine tails to serve as a handy reminder. Normally Cendrik leads the boarding parties when they are alongside ships.
Years ago, Cendrik was a brash young thief in Riddleport. During one of his many adventures, he and his gang infiltrated a temple to the god of thieves and assassins, where he slew several priests and looted the temple of its sacred relics—including the talisman that he currently wears.
Seeing some potential in him, Onura took him on as a deckhand 15 years ago when he was running from what passed as the law in Riddleport. He’s shown his truer quality in the years since, working his way up in the crew.
Cendrik lost his eye in a barroom brawl eight years ago and hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol since.
Kraken Kraken is a half-orc who'd left his birth name behind years ago, growing up in Absalom as a street tough and eventually a low level labor enforcer on the docks. He’s a powerfully built half-orc with a sharp crewcut, feral red eyes, and a grotesquely cauliflowered left ear. A medal he earned wrestling at the Grog Pit, a tavern of ill-repute just down the docks a ways.
He bares tattoos of intertwining dragons, sea serpents, sharks, and nude women leading from his neck leading down his arms and torso. A particularly well rendered tattoo of a magnificent kraken covers his entire back.
Kraken is easily the largest (7’-4”, 340 lbs.) and strongest crewmember on the ship, but he’s also somewhat dim-witted and prone to fits of rage. He wields a greataxe in battle and rarely wears more than a dingy, yellowing breechclout and sandals when on board. Currently he’s got color-washed, bronze colored breeches that end just past the knees.
Velryssa She is a willowy-thin female of Tuan descent, her almond eyes full of mystery and adding to her reputation as the ship’s best card player. Velryssa is normally tasked with distribution of goods, negotiation with locals on costs, and finding the best places to drink and gamble. The woman moves with a surety and measured control indicating she knows very well how to use the rapier at her hip.
Rumor has it she still dabbles in the darker corners of her past in order to leverage information for her employer.
Croaker Croaker is another human, this one looking to have a horrendous scar at his neck where he had suffered a sword blow to his throat years ago and now can only speak with a hoarse whisper. He is a tall (6’-5”), gangly man in his mid-forties with a pockmarked face, greasy brown hair, and an unkempt beard. His mouth is a ruin of broken, brown-stained teeth. Croaker's shipmates know him for three things: his deplorable hygiene, his remarkable whistling ability, and his self-crafted necklace of shrunken monkey heads with which he sometimes holds disturbingly amorous whispered conversations. It’s clear that Onura’s own pet familiar is not fond of the man.
Scribble Scribble is old, even for a dwarf, and has seen many strange things in his decades as a sailor. Though he sports a severe limp, Scribble can still out-think most of his fellow crewmembers and can still swing his warhammer better than most humans who are just a fraction his age. Scribble is also mute and gets his name from having to write on the chalkboard he wears around his neck in order to communicate. Scribble is the ship’s navigator and is 3rd in command on the Lucky Slip under Cendrik.
Liar's Fives:
Rules
- 5 Dice / 1 Cup per player
- Take the bones, shake them 'round and slam the cup down but hide your results.
- Then you view your own roll on your turn, careful not to allow other players to see the roll
- You call out how many fives or higher you've rolled, this may be the truth or it may be a lie. (roll a bluff check) 5's and 6's count as all fives. If a tie, then 6's will break the tie.
- The bluff check you roll is the target #for other players to hit with a sense motive check.
- Each round, you place your bet, and you can alter your bluff; raising or lowering the number of fives you claim to possess
- When there are only two players remaining the two "walk the plank"; a house roll us made in the open.
- Then you reveal you results, whoever of the the tools had the most fives wins.
- If it's the house roll, then the pot is carried over to the next game
Journal of Professor Vossian Velsurian:
Journal of Professor Vossian Velsurian
(96 Days Ago) - We found the island today, only 2 weeks from Cassomir! I noted some unusual specimens by spyglass. They are vastly different than what my brother had intimated in his letter. I've decided not to record the navigational coordinates in case this log falls into the wrong hands. I'm forming a landing party for tomorrow's trek across the island. If my brother Wendell is right, there are great discoveries to be had!
(90 Days Ago) - How very exciting! We've found what appears to be some sort of flesh-eating ooze that has bound itself to a mound of green slime. This hybrid mound produces strange spores and has consumed most of the vegetation around it as well. It definitely warrants closer examination in the lab; perhaps U. can be of assistance with it too. Though it can be troublesome, Wendell’s provision of U. increases my research abilities 1,000 fold.
(80 Days Ago) - Just when I thought the finds on this island could get no better, we've discovered a veritable city of this hybrid slime dwelling in a strange subterranean ruin. It seems that the slime, from wherever it originated, has taken control of the indigenous population of the island. The natives seem to wander around as if to some unheard tune. The silme, once it takes hold of them, alters and has a strange olive green color so for now I've dubbed them "Olive Slime Men."
(76 Days Ago) - It is my sad duty now to report the loss of 9 good crewmen. The risk to further life and limb is far too great and we've abandoned trying to capture a sample of the "Olive Slime." U. seems agitated of late, risking harm to itself to try and depart the ship and go ashore. It’s been worse at the announcement that we are leaving the island behind. Of late, my dreams have become darker and full of dread. Wendell, in what kind of controversy have you gotten me involved?
(75 Days Ago) - We've departed the island, sad to say. The crew is in low spirits, but I've assured them double pay for the return journey. That should pretty much guarantee no mutiny due to our losses. Still, I'm not looking forward to speaking with their families. Any less than I look forward to seeing my brother in Absalom. Our confrontation will be more aggressive than usual!
(60 Days Ago) - Sareeka seems to be missing. We didn't take her to the island and U. doesn't sense her presence on board. It really is a pity. I've had that blasted cat through many misadventures. U. has been quiet the last two weeks, it seems that I’m the only one lighting the candle. Even then, only a minimal effort to answer my inquiries. I get the sense that he is in deep contemplation.
(55 Days Ago) - Taeros and Xenen are missing now, after last night's storm. I wish there were some way to undo the losses we've seen this trip. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever see port in Absalom. I have a few choice words for my brother for sending me on this "little side trip"! Here I am, slogging away on a ship in a storm, people disappearing, my cat gone and my brother Wendell is probably safe as houses in the City at the Center of the world! If I survive this...
(52 Days Ago) - Something is definitely wrong with members of the crew. They seem to be enchanted and under the control of the olive slime from the island! They shamble to and fro, still maintaining the necessities aboard ships. But they don’t sleep. All they do is keep the ship on course for Absalom. I'm not entirely sure how the slime managed to slip aboard but I suspect rats. Every ship has them. Poor Sareeka. My brother, I wonder, did you know?
(51 Days Ago) - The three paladins from Magnimar that accompanied the caskets killed themselves today. Their leader, Raeph, told me it was the only way. They would bind themselves to their task. Something about their sacrifice keeping the caskets sealed. If not for me seeing their determination, I’d think they were seeking a way out.
(50 Days Ago) - Gods forgive me! Forgive all my accursed arrogance and curiosities! The crew, the possessed crew are at the door to my quarters. I’ve done what I can to block their entrance. I tried to stop the ship, used a few phials to attempt sabotage, but their inexhaustible stamina meant the damage was repaired quickly. I tried to contact U., but it no longer answers me...I only see the endless black.
(45 Days Ago) - I’m out of food. I never realized what was at the center. I never imagined the black. The black. Always the black! It’s worse than my hunger pains. I felt a great shuddering in the ship today. I think they managed to open one of the caskets from Magnimar. I’ve heard chanting on the decks outside my quarters, they call out for something. I cannot form the name in my mind. I hear them say it, but it won't form in my throat, like my body rejecting a pungent elixir. And when I try, nightmares come unbidden to my eyes. I think I will end this tonight. At the least, I can cast my soul to pharasma, perhaps seek her forgiveness.
Credits for Dead Seas:
Some elements of the Dead Seas chapter adapted from "Ship of Fools" by TPK Games"
