The_Ninja_DM's Carrion Crown

Game Master Spiral_Ninja

@Vertielle: good point, he is a bit hard pressed.

concentration: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

CR 23

He made it.

"In my Lord's name I Send you to the after life"

channel(harm undead): 2d6 ⇒ (6, 6) = 12
Will save halves it, DC:14

Zhiden stepped back from the surprise of being hit. When he recovered, a wild look crossed his face, and he flipped through the book, shouting "What's this, summon animals? What kind of wizard has a picture book for his spell book?" He grabbed a handful of pages and tore them out, going to great length to shred them. "I guess you won't be using that again," He added.

All the while he was dodging here and there to avoid the rat. You can have him move wherever you want, he's not really concerned with where he's going so long as the rat stays away.

Will_save: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

"Is that the best your measly deity can offer?" he taunts, then as Zhiden shreds those pages of his rotted spellbook, his eyes go wide, his image shifts to that of a horribly burnt corpse and as he wails "Nooooo, I can't fall to such weak...." he fades into nothingness and his final judgment.

@Wood: His distruction also removes the curse.

You win. And no one died -darn it- er, I mean good.

*pant**pant**pant*"Heh, hehe, heeoooooowwwwwwwww. Dem dot hurts."

Gkirkhan looks down at where the missile of arcane energy struck him and sees a welling bruise that's going to leave him black until it heals.

"Everybody hokay?"

Fatigued for the next four rounds.

Dandy, Vertielle calls, already searching the cells.
perception: 20 + 12 = 32

You find no treasure in the cells. While poking around you do see some shapes at the bottom of the oubliette, however.

You also find a secret door in the large northeastern cell.

"Dat's it? Big bad splatterer gone dis fast? Yeesh, wa' passes fer a villian dese days."

How deep is the obulette? I can just reach in and fish things out..or swim, without my plate.

Hmm, maybe we shouldn't have taken that level up?

Zhiden felt a well of pride that he hadn't experienced before. Sure, he'd helped fight the Lopper, and some of the other undead beasties that had infested this prison, but he had been the one to kill Splatterman, supposedly the worst of the bunch. Maybe that would be enough to earn him some respect from the elf mutt.

Coming out of his reflection, he noticed that the others were already searching for loot. He decided he would join in the fun, but before that he asked no one in particular, "So what do I do with this?" He held up the book, there were pages missing, but apparently it was now perfectly good, uncursed wizard's spellbook, which Zhiden assumed was worth a decent amount of money.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Vertielle uses sift on the Oubliette before anyone risks going down.

"That was incredible. I didn't get to counter one spell and you destroyed him in no time. The final blow was magic destroyed rather than magic created."

Wood impulsively ruffles Zhiden's hair. "Guess we can sell that book and add to the party treasure. I have copied all the spells I need from it."

"Although he was a powerful opponent, he was a poor tactician--the victim of overconfidence and arrogance. We should learn from his mistakes."

Wood detects magic to help locate any further treasure.

Sorry for the delay, medical appointment day.

@Vertielle: you detect a longsword, a dagger and a ring laying at the bottom of the 30' flooded oubliette.

"Don't sound so dissapointed, every dog has his day." Zhiden said, smiling. He was in a good enough mood that Wood ruffling his hair as though he were a child didn't even bother him. Before he forgot, he added "By the way, what did clearing out the prison have to do with Professor Lorrimor? And why was Splatter Man after that girl that he mentioned? I missed the funeral, so I don't think I got the whole story."

"Dere is some cult ov nekkymancers dot vants to do sometink dot iz bad for de town. De Professor found out so de keeled hem."

Gkirkhan looks around at everyone else before scratching his head where his hat rests.

"Hy tink dot iz right, anyvay."

Pretty much, yeah, Vertielle chimes in, her head over the oubliette.
With a few deft movements, she manages to retrieve the longsword with her whip.
Pretty sure the rest of this you can mage hand up, Wood.

@Vertielle: No. The oubliette is 30' deep. That's THIRTY FEET. You cannot reach anything at the bottom with your whip. Someone is going to have to go get it. Or Mage Hand it out. You can read it wiht sift becasue you can place it near the bottom. But you cannot reach the items there with your whip.

Oh bugger, that's deeper than I thought. Very well...
She whistles as she looks down into the hole.
Don't reckon anyone should go down there, she says absently, and draws a length of twine from her pack. Lowering it down to the bottom, she mutters a few words and the twine twitches as if alive. After a moment, she reels up the thin cord, the longsword delicately entangled on one end.
I figure this'd be too heavy to mage hand, but, that wasn't so hard.

Animate Rope.

What now? Are you going to give Vesorianna the badge now?

I thought we did that already.

I'll use my rope to help haul out the loot. We can visit V on the way out.

What now? Are you going to give Vesorianna the badge now?

I recall suggesting it,

You stopped by and spoke to her, but no one mentioned giving her the badge.Hm. She wouldn't have been able to ue it properly until the Splatter Man was defeated, anyway.

Assuming that you did pass the badge on to her, you hear her voice. "Thank you. Please come to me. I have a gift for you. Then I can go as well."

"Vell, let's not keep de loverly lady vaitink!"

Gkirkhan gives the others a grin and moves towards where Vesorianna is waiting for them.

You enter the old workroom to find Vesorianna waiting, clutching the warden's badge in her ghostly hands. "Thank you for your help. You have allowed me to free those souls trapped here for so long. I, too, can pass on to Pharasma's judgment. However, my husband's soul is still missing. I will grant you his badge, and it's power, so that you may track down those monsters who did this. If you can, please, find and free him."

She sees the items you are carrying.

"Those were my husband's things." she says, pointing to the items you pulled up from the Splatter Man's oubliette. "Use them as you see fit. If, by chance, they help you find and free him, all the better. May they serve you better than they did him"

She smiles sadly as she starts to fade, the badge dropping from her incorporeal fingers. "Thank you again. Good luck, and my blessings go with you forever."

As she fades, you realize you do know what the items are.

+1 keen longsword
+1 mithril dagger
+1 ring of protection

The badge now glows softly and, you realize, functions now as a rod of lesser ectoplasmic metamagic.

And finally as you reach for the badge, one of the Harrow cards you have been carrying rises from the backpack it's stowed in. You recognise the card as The Uprising. It begins to spin, sending of a spiral of blue-tinged white light that touches all of you before the card vanishes.

Everyone gains a permanent +1 Strength as if you'd leveled up and taken it. This is in addition to any other add you took at level up.

Gkirkhan gives a bow to the lady as she fades, sweeping his hat off and brushing the ground with it with a flourish.

"Ve vill. No vun deserves to be bound in chains after death."

He replaces his hat and looks much more somber than normal.

Well that changes where that point from fourth level is going now. >:)

Wood speaks up and bows, "Thank you lady. Your help and these final gifts will aid in the struggle against the Whispering Way."

Wood takes the badge unless someone objects.

"I think this badge will help me modify my magic. The other items are for those that risk themselves on the front lines."

"I think the dwarf 'n town could change th' grip on dis dagger, and make it a gladius fer Zhiden. Silver 'n magic's a good step fer 'im."

The revolving door of longswords continues to spin...

Oooh, it's a nice sword.
Vertielle collects the longsword. Her own will go to anyone who might want a slashing back-up, or sold for party wealth.

"I was thinking the same." Zhiden said, before he added, "So who wants the ring? If no one else wants it, I can take it, and then we can give this back to whoever it belongs to." He pointed at the Ioun stone orbiting his head as he spoke.

He approached Wood offered him three vials of holy water, saying "I don't really like owing people, so take these and we'll call it even, for now."

Unless the GM is willing to let Gkirkhan wear it as a roguishly jaunty earring, you can have it. (all yours unless someone else wants it.)
Gkirkhan looks confused for a moment then his eyes light up at a revelation.

"Oh, right. Ve haff stuff to give bach."

Go ahead and level?

We leveled before the splatter encounter.

Oh right I think I for got to do that. I'll get that squared away.

You all head back to town, feeling much better. Even the air seems clearer with the curse on the prison lifted.

Kendra greets you as you return to the manor. "You're back! Is everyone all right? What happened?"

Let me know what you want to do in Ravengro. If you want to interact with any of the NPCs go ahead and play it out. Once everyone has caught up and restocked themselves, we'll move on to the next module.

Vertielle spends the rest of the requisite month in town researching the whispering way and finishing her book on the necromatic creatures of ustalavic ruins. She intends to sell the manuscript in Lepidstat when she picks up her inheritance, and use that money to fund further research into Varisian scryptology.
For the moment, however, she is most content to relax in town, occassionally having tea with Kendra, or brunch with the local wizard, and a sense of unconcious ease settles back in her demeanor, and she can often be found with ink stains up to her elbows, laughing unapologetically at Gkirkhan's antics.

"De splatterman vent splat. Hehe."

He's bloodied, but nothing so bad as to hurt the swagger in his step.

Gkirkhan spends his time in the bar, which means he starts a few barfights and spends a few nights in jail. He revels with the rest of them singing bawdy tavern songs and drinking the others under the table. When he's not at the local bar, he spends his time getting to the Lovely half-elf that captured his attentions.

That night at dinner, Kendra says to Rova and Zhiden "Please stay for a while longer. Father left a sum of cash, 100 platinum each, in his will for those of his old friends who came, as long as they stayed with me for 30 days after his death. There is a task associated with the bequest. There's a box of books he wanted delivered to two people in Lepidstadt. I would have no objection to including you in the bequest if you chose to stay."

Rova spends some time researching with the townsfolk what the items we gained are worth, so he can figure out what the shares will come to. He also gets that tarnished spot on the borrowed mace tended to.

Zhiden promised to stay. He would have even if there was no money involved, but he didn't say that, because even if he would do it for free, it didn't mean he wouldn't accept payment. He spent his time familiarizing himself with the town, and it's inhabitants, likely asking all sorts of incessant and annoying questions about where his comrades came from, and how they know the Professor, though he always managed to deflect if that last question was asked of him.

As per Rova's suggestion, he asked the blacksmith about altering the dagger they'd found so that he could use it as a shortsword without difficulty.

Vertielle contributes 115 platinum, 7 gold, and 5 silver to the party fund from the sale of her longsword.
She suggests the purchase of wands, potions, and scrolls; but it could just as well be used to get a shinier crowbar.

Rova's research into the items shows the following full cost for them:

+1 keen longsword: 8315 g

+1 mithral gladius (refinished dagger:) 555 g (includes 40g to convert)

+1 ring of protection: 2000g

Warden's badge [Rod of ectoplasmic metamagic (lesser]): 3000 g

As you start dividing up the treasure, Serisia (Mama Gkirkhan) will comment "You folks do have an even split rule, don't you? I want to make sure my Gkirky gets his fair share."

She'll check out any items you show her. "You know, I can enchant, and since it looks like you folks have to stay here a while more, I'd be willing to help out. You can pay me up front or -as Gkirkhan's friends- I'll let you pay later. With interest, of course. A gal's got to make a living, after all."

"Mutter, ich habe nichts dagegen immer einen geringeren Anteil. Ich war für einen Tag gegangen, um Sie mit diesen Kobolden in der Speisekammer zu helfen."

Over next month, Gkirkhan is embarrassed, harassed, and smothered by his lovely, but overbearing mother, and you start to see why the half-orc takes more than a little glee in a good fight and tends to drink more than most.

That was great!

Anyone gets anything they can use, then we split up the rest of the share however makes sense after that, I guess.
Vertielle gains a pensive disposition.
I never gave it much thought, really. I mean, it's not like we're mercenaries, here.

Kendra looks at all the stuff you've dragged back from Harrowstone at various points. "I'm not even sure there's a call for this stuff here in Ravengro. After all, we barely have 300 people here."

Serisia comments "Maybe I can help with that. You folks all pick the stuff you want...much like our bard here wants that longsword...and give me the rest. In exchange, I'll undertake to enchant items for the group to bring everyone up to a reasonable power level. For example, if you're going to keep chasing ghosts and thses necromancr thugs, someone might want ghost touch. After all, the elf lady isn't the only one who can use that thing."

She looks over Rova. "This big boy might have some problems with it, but I know Gkirkhan can use it. And, from what's been said, he's more a front line fighter than you. And I know many clerics can use them as well."

Vertielle's eyes narrow.
Hören Frau, ich kenne deine Absichten sind gut, aber ich kenne dich nicht. Sie wurden nicht von meiner Seite gekämpft haben diese andere. Es ist ein großzügiges Angebot für unsere Produkte im Handel akzeptieren, aber es ist zu überschreiten zu diktieren, was wir mit unserer Beute machen. Sind wir verstehen, gnädige Frau?

Kendra speaks up. "This is getting a bit out of hand. I gather you really want that sword, Vertielle. Rova, just what do you want? Also Wood, don't you have to return the ioun stone and the ring of feather fall to the Silk Purse?"

I messed up the math, the actual amount for equal shares per party member is 1319 g 16 s plus a few coppers.

While the ladies argue, Gkirkhan slips out of the house and to the tavern.

"Gots enytink for vimmin troubles?"

After some reasonably amusing math, I've learned it's actually fiscally more efficient to trade the +1 keen longsword to Serisia in exhange for her adding "keen" to my current weapon.

Here's the breakdown:
+1 keen longsword trades for 4157.5
+1 longsword add keen costs enchanter 3,000gp and 6 days.

I'm assuming, however, she is NOT offering to enchant items at cost, rather offering the services OF an enchantress, hiking the cost to 6,000gp.

Wood, when you go over there, see if they'll let go of the Ioun stone for a price. We've got some spare cash, and I'm sure one of you could use the thing.

"Wah do I wan'? Hmm, I wan' adamatine full plate, preffably in a folding format, like the steel set I saw a noble wid. 'm gonna need a large adamatine nodachi, magical o' course. I ALSO don' expect ta get any o' tha' here. Nor do I 'spect it ta fall outta a tree, or turn up in some slug's treasure horde. My life taught me a bunch o' stuff, an' th' one thing I can always fit is I gotta WORK fer wha' I want. An' it ain't workin' iffn I don't get paid. It's charity. So wha' do I want? Wha' we agreed on - an even split o' the cash. I'm gonna hav' ta save up ta get th' stuff I wan'."

Kendra blinks. "Well, you seem to have your goals well thought out. Father mentioned you as a very talented fighter with an unusual history. He also said you were a lot smarter than even you realized."

Serisia nods at Vertielle. "I understand your being annoyed at strangers trying to tell you what to do with your haul. I also know that adventurers can often come up a little short on funds. Hm. How about this. We do the trade as I suggested. Your items for my enchantment services. As a compromise on funds, how about cost plus 10%. So, to bring up your blade to the same status as that one would be 3600g, leaving you with cash for those of the group who want to save for other things. That work better for you?"

Vertielle blinks at Serisia.
Wha?