RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Mahasi finds that the ghoul was wearing a ring of protection +2
Mahasi tries to understand the literary work, skimming through the heavy pages, but they are in an ancient script he cannot decipher natively. With Owai and Varian's help, they understand that it is Aklo, but given the various scribbles and notes, this appears to be a copy of whatever this original text was.
In the inside cover, though, there is handwriting in Common. "May we, the Keepers of the Oldest, prevail over the scourge of simplistic thought and lesser men." Written below that are five signatures.
Keeper Marshan
Keeper Baskerwhel
Keeper Myre
Keeper Hyve
Keeper Crove
Going back through the book, you can tell that there are references to numerous gods of old, names you have not heard of before in any sane writings.
Nyarlathotep. Azathoth. Shub-Niggurath.
One name stands out repeatedly, though: Yog-Sothoth.
Yog-Sothoth is known as among the most powerful of the Great Old Gods, lost away in the Dark Tapestry. A being supposedly manifested of time and space, its appearance is thought to be that of many conjoined lights, like stars of the galaxy before they die out. Its motivations are unknown, but its worshippers push agendas of desecration and madness in subservience to this distant god.
One page is lined with a red silk bookmark; spidery script lines the pages with various annotations.
The section and annotations are notes regarding how to use special rituals to open portals in key locations. Written in the same handwriting as Keeper Crove, the notes discuss using the rituals in the book to open a portal in this location, dubbed the Sunless Grove, and contact a spawn of the Dark Tapestry to further their knowledge of forbidden magic and arcane secrets.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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@Mahasi: You have no idea what this particular tome is called... but you do understand some pages after the bookmark. While a cursory glance would convince someone that that the energies of those conducting the ritual are used to fuel the portal, you can tell that it is a warning that binds the souls of those ritualists to whatever comes out of the portal and that "the entity may make hideous use of this soul essence by consuming it, growing more powerful in the bargain, such that only the end of such essence can challenge the intruder's rights upon your world." Thus, if this thing kills those who summoned it, its power grows. Likewise, if some other agent kills the conjurors, the potential energy will be lost to the planar entity.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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From the main room, wire grates block the exits from the outlying tunnels, except one of them is partially pried open and the stench of ghoul is still fresh. Knowing that Yarresh fled his pack, it is deemed unwise to continue in that direction.
The man's house who was collapsed and you just went through is Old Man Marshan...
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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The party scouts the tunnels briefly, finding no more of the black slime stench or any other evidence of this strange cult or the behemoth it brought into Carrion Hill.
Returning topside, the rain has only increased in density and the dozen crows surrounding the crime scene have been reduced to three. The body parts littering the floor are now gone, but a wagon loaded with a large sack and three other human-sized wrapped cloths answer the first question. Two Crows are about ready to head out to a Desnan temple for rites when you emerge from the rubble. "Thank the heavens are alright! We were worried about you after you didn't return after an hour. Did you slay the beast?". After your answer, the men look downtrodden. "Things have gotten bad up here; riots are taking place all over town and people are panicking now."
Indeed, as you turn to look around, you see people in the streets, parents yelling at their children to follow them along. Men are breaking into buildings, looting supplies and taking what they can as guards approach and try to impose some semblance of order.
As the party makes their way to Mayor Heggry's to report, traffic jams of wagons and horses fill the streets with the stables and coach houses the epicenter of this travel disaster. The worried anger of the populace is thick in the air and the heavy rain continues to beat down a warm water upon the ground as little streams of sidewalk debris start flowing downhill.
The mayor's house is madhouse itself as several scared citizens try to make their way into to see the mayor. "What's being done about the monster?", shouts one of the men, being held back by the same trio of Crows you say earlier. They let you in, much to the dismay of the small mob, and fail to slip in after you.
"What have you found?", Mayor Heggry asks, a weak smile on his lips as he sees his city slowly falling apart.
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Mahasi produces the book and displays the inside cover.
"It seems that the lesser minds who perpetrated this madness have writ their own confession."
He directs the Mayor's attention to the relevant list.
Keeper Marshan
Keeper Baskerwhel
Keeper Myre
Keeper Hyve
Keeper Crove
"What do these names mean to you? We also dispatched an undead names Yarresh, who had become a ghoul."
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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"Yarresh, I am not familiar with that name.", the mayor answers. "But the others I am familiar with. Marshan is the person whose house you went through. I am unfamiliar with Baskerwhel. I believe Myre is a business man... Hyve and Crove escape me, though. You believe these men are responsible for the monster's attacks?"
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Deaglan nods "I guess that our next step will be to pay a visit to Myre then. We also found two bodies in the room where we found the book, you might want to send in some crows to retrieve them."
Ring of protection +1,
Ring of protection +2,
Ring of swimming
Wand of chill touch with 15 charges remaining
Bracers of armor +1
+1 scimitar
I would like one of the rings of protection.
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"The big question would be, why would anyone want to summon one of these things, especially within town?" she wonders aloud. "What did they have to gain?"
Looking over at the mayor she continues, "You may want to send a working party down there to seal off that room. Perhaps that will help stay another such use."
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Owai spends some time in town asking about the keepers and comes up with some interesting information. However, before he leaves, the Mayor hands the party with a large sack of coins. "Here is the promised reward for the information." He looks down, sighs, and once again pleads to the party. "While I understand that your goal is to furnish a new location for a lodge, if this thing is not defeated, then your efforts will prove fruitless. Please, save our city. While I cannot condone murder, the men who you asked about are apparently responsible for this destruction, and the beast's power is tied to their demise by its efforts. Punish them with the will of the town and remove them from the equation before that thing becomes so powerful that all in Carrion Hill is lost. Besides more coin, I will offer a piece of property for your Society to use, and to aid you on your quest, if you do accept, I can further offer some magical resources to keep you strong on your race against the beast."
He pulls out a wooden crate with a number of vials and scroll tubes.
Sulm Marshan is a goggleeyed man said to have moved to Carrion Hill recently from the coastal town of Illmarsh; he owned and lived in the
house in Slipper Market that was destroyed this morning.
Glem Baskerwhel is a hunch-backed hermit who lives in the Wrythe about a day’s travel east of Carrion Hill. The swamp druid is nonetheless
well known in Carrion Hill as a potion-maker, and he visits the city often, always staying with his friend Arlend Hyve at the Elm Way Church on these visits.
Waldur Crove is well known as the warden of Crove’s Asylum, a building located in the Crown that the Crows have long used to dispose of lunatics and the insane too dangerous to keep in regular prisons.
Arlend Hyve is an authority on regional history and lore, a sage who dwells in an abandoned church of Aroden on Elm Way on the southern
slope of the Tangles. There are whispers that he dabbles in the black market poison and drug trade.
Rupman Myre is a middenstone baron. He owns a large vathouse down in the Filth along the river banks, and is rumored to be involved with illegal necromancy, but to date the Crows have not been able to
find enough evidence to arrest him.
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Looking at the others, Shilyn reaches up to re-do her pony tail. "Well, I think Myre should be our first stop," she says as she finishes tying her hair back in place. "If he's involved in necromantic practices, it would be beneficial to both prove his involvement in both as well as met out a bit of justice. We would then kill two birds with one stone and the town would be much better off."
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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The panic the air is as evident as the hard rain pouring down on you as you make your way to the west side of Carrion Hill known as The Filth. You pass by a two men coming to blows over the last of a shop's lantern oil, a Crow trying to separate them. "Doomed! We're all doomed!", calls out a pair of doomsayers as reports of another house being demolished from below.
You finally arrive at the Vat house, a 40-foot-high single story building looming over the river's edge. The walls are constructed of middenstone, the material the vats produce.
Middenstone is a strange material made up of crushed carrion roaches, brick dust, bone, and gravel. The nauseating material is a sickening violet hue in shade and while heated it can be molded into sheets, bricks, or other useful shapes. When cooled, it's durability is that of wood but is far more resistant to fire and rot. The foul-smelling substance bears the odor of tar, oil, and graveyards and weathers poorly, requiring more upkeep than stone. However, this only produces more demand for middenstone.
The doors are also made of middenstone, and while the chimneys still churn smoke, all of the doors appear closed. A sluice gate, pouring waste into the water, seems accessible.
[ooc]Map updated!
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Pushing a wet strand of hair from her eyes, Shilyn looks up at the falling rain and mutters a string of expletives before turning to the door. "Well, let's see what I can do," she responds as she pulls her tools from her pouch.
More curses follow as the rain runs down her face and into her eyes, making it difficult to see what she's doing. Reaching up with a wet sleeve, she attempts to wipe the water from her face before giving it another try..
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Hearing the click as the last tumbler falls into place, Shilyn gathers her tools and carefully places them back into the oiled leather holder. Looking down at her shirt plastered against her skin, "Of all days to forgo wearing my leathers. At least it's a relatively thick shirt," she mutters with a frown. "To think we could be drying off in front of a nice warm fireplace with a cup of spiced cider in hand."
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Stepping inside with Owai, she smiles and says a quick thank you. Reaching up behind her head, she pulls her new short sword from its scabbard, its green crystal blade catching the light. "Well, let's see what we have in here eh?"
She slowly starts to move forward, keeping her eyes and ears focused on her surroundings.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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When Shilyn opens the door, a warm blast out foul smelling humid air hits her in the face. While the warmth is appreciated, the stench is not. Stepping inside, her soaked shoes slosh on the ground. A few scarlet shelled roaches skitter along the walls and rafters of the cavernous room, a mix of acrid chemicals, burning refuse, and bitter smoke tainting the air. A tangle of wooden beams and walkways support this large room while a network of chains, ropes, and pulleys runs through the timbers above. A single large square table covered with bricks and tools sit in the center of the room while two flights of stairs lead up to the north to a long room filled with fumes and wisps of smoke.
Finding nothing of interest in the immediate room, the party slowly makes their way up the stairs on either side to see what lies above.
Shilyn takes the lead after wringing her shoes out and approaches much more quietly. The stench is now overpowering and sickening as it is cloying and choking. There is no proper floor to this room, only a series of five-foot-wide middenstone walkways passing along over a series of pits ten feet below. The ground is obscured by a layer of foul-smelling, bubbling water through which a tangle of violet middenstone pipes weave. Numerous huge metal cauldrons containing a nasty, bubbling violet sludge simmer in the pits, each vat cradled in a nest of steaming pipes. Ropes and slippery ladders descend into the morass below every five feet along the edges of the slippery walkways, while to the north is a warehouse containing bins of coal, barrels, cages, and other supplies. Beyond this, a huge steaming furnace churns and roars under an upraised observation deck cloaked by a leather curtain.
Eight workers mill about, two loading coals into the furnace while another pair work on controlling pipes. Meanwhile, four more are in the pit, stirring the contents with iron rods. They seem to not notice Shilyn. The half-elf, though, can see that they are not normal... while they look human, their slugging movements and occasional grunts... they sound like zombies!
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"They do seem rather focused on their tasks... they may offer us no resistance. I do not condone their creation or existence, but I also see no reason to engage in a battle we don't need. On the other hand, if we fine Myre, and he controls them, then we might end up fighting them and him together, making a fight against him tougher than it needs to be. So we need to make a decision whether to destroy them or not now."
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Slipping her sword back into its scabbard, Shilyn pulls her bow from her back and steps through it to tighten the string. She casts her glance upward to see of there's a way to go over the zombies as she slips an arrow from her quiver and sets it to the bow.
"If worse comes to worse, the path looks narrow enough that we could possibly shield-wall it and use bows. Or just push them into the bubbly stuff."
