With all preparations finished, it's finally time to escort Miogimo to the House of the Planes for the meeting of the five gangs. Miogimo tells you to meet him at the entrance to the House of the Planes at midnight, the time set for the meeting to begin. He wants you to protect him during the meeting, promising that he’ll tell you about how he escaped the Black Whale afterward.
If there's any preparations you want to make before the meeting, now is the time to do them...
"If only we could get dressed up like we did before." Dora says wistfully, thinking back to the evening she met Reginald.
"I suppose that is not what we want to be thinking about going into this meeting tonight. What do we need to think about before heading in? I can't imagine all of the plots that they have been making if all five gangs will be in one single location at one single time."
"I for one have a hard time imagining that Miogimo is going to keep to his word. He's going to double-cross us, I just know it! We need to be prepared for that. We're going to need a way to get the information from him if he goes back on his word."
"Well we can explain how he plans to take over. Anyway, I should go separately. They know Sawbones there and that means I can be an extra set of eyes Miogimo doesn't need to know about."
That night, Jack makes his way into the House of the Planes ahead of the rest of the group. As midnight approaches, the bulk of the crowd filters out as the representatives from Absalom's largest gangs gather in the central Pharasmin room. A 20-foot-long table crafted from a single piece of fine dark lumber has been placed at the center of the room for the meeting. The owner of the club, Jeremin Hoff, has agreed to oversee the meeting and has arranged security. A powerful antimagic ritual prevents all teleportation magic within the speakeasy. The ritual also grants all creatures in the building the benefits of a see invisibility spell.
Hoff's currently lounging atop the throne of Pharasma in the center of the main room. Six bouncers are gathered around him, watching the room for trouble.
The dwarf Wilifred Stoneburrow of the Argent Syndicate sits at one end of the table with four of her bodyguards. Alzuna of the Garrote Sisterhood and her three best assassins (including Cass Hamish) are in attendance as well. Sad Liza, Twisted Jack’s twin sister, represents the Bloody Barbers at the meeting along with five goons. The left half of Sad Liza’s body has the appearance of a red-scaled demon with the demon half of her face warped into a permanent frown.
Miogimo meets the rest of the party on the streets above the club at midnight, and together they descend into the House of the Planes.
The huge main room of the House of the Planes looks packed with all the gang leaders and their posses present. The atmosphere of the club is one of dour sobriety—the meeting’s attendees so quiet that the slow drip of water from another room has become audible. “Well,” begins Miogimo with mock cordiality as he sits at one end of the long table, “it is so nice to get old friends back together. How unfortunate that Mother Venom couldn’t make our little gathering, though. What’s more, my contacts tell me that the Straight Edge was attacked last night—that’s some bad luck...”
With her face twisted into a snarl, Sad Liza rises to object before a sudden explosion and shouts from above drown out her words! The door at the bottom of the stairs bursts inward as dozens of agents of Starwatch begin storming into the club! "This is a raid!" announces the strong, commanding voice of Captain Asilia of Gyr. "Do not resist or we will respond with force!"
As the Starwatch guards charge, the criminals flip over tables, try to flee, or begin attacking, creating utter chaos and a massive free-for-all! Jeremin Hoff quickly runs for the kitchens!
"Dammit! Somebody must have tipped them off!" Miogimo curses. "Get me out of here! Find another exit!"
Jack, being no fool, cased the exits beforehand and now heads for the kitchens in pursuit of Hoff. The owner will definitely have the best escape plan. Hopefully the rest of the group is smart enough to follow his blood-red figure without any actual prompting.
Luckily for the Doctor, Dora is indeed smart enough and makes haste after Hoff.
You quickly make for the kitchens, pushing past a few Bloody Barbers who get in your way. Fortunately, Jack did a good job at hiding your involvement in Twisted Jack's demise, so Sad Liza doesn't personally come for you. You make it out of the Pharasma room moments before an explosion fractures the ceiling, dropping enormous chunks of stone into the middle of the melee! The smoke and dust provide good concealment, allowing you to make your escape!
You make it to Miogimo's safehouse without further incident. There, the gang leader breathes a sigh of relief. "That didn't go as planned. But you pulled me out of the fire, and for that, I'm grateful. I gave you my word I would tell you how to get into the Black Whale, and now I will fulfill my promise."
Miogimo tells you how he bided his time in the Black Whale and memorized the layout of the prison. Through the guards, he learned about the curious magical properties of Stormholt, the demiplane that encapsulates the Black Whale, and secretly studied the demiplane’s powers for potential weak points. He needed a way to circumvent Stormholt’s powerful wards to escape the Black Whale, and he found a solution by befriending another prisoner named Atla the Runecaster, who had strange powers over runes, symbols, and tattoo magic. Gifted with inspiration, Atla discovered the runes necessary for escape. She inked a full-back tattoo on Miogimo, creating an unfettered mark in the process. Although unable to use his normal magic, Miogimo nonetheless won the trust of one prison guard using nothing but honeyed words and deception. Pretending to seek atonement, he convinced the guard to enter his cell and then strangled him. Miogimo took the body, re-locked his cell door, and then slipped over the side of the boat into the sea, leaving a baffling puzzle behind for guards the next morning. He used the fallen guard’s corpse to distract the hungry sea monster patrolling Stormholt and swam back to Absalom with the aid of his unfettered mark.
The crime lord teaches you the unfettered mark ritual. Additionally, he sketches you a full map of the Black Whale from memory.
"And with that, our business is concluded. Good luck. I hope we do not see one another again anytime soon!"
RARE ABJURATION
Cast 1 hour; Cost rare inks and needles worth a total value of 100 gp × the spell level × the target’s level (see text);
Secondary Casters 0 to 10
Primary Check Crafting (master) or any (legendary); Secondary Checks any (see text)
Range touch; Targets 1 creature or self
Duration 24 hours until the magic fades; the tattoo is permanent
You tattoo the target with rare inks and create a magical tattoo called an unfettered mark. This particular version of the unfettered mark grants the target special powers to escape from the Black Whale and Stormholt (the demiplane that overlaps with the Black Whale). While Crafting is the easiest method for creating this tattoo, the artistry is less important than maintaining a feeling of freedom in your mind while performing the ritual. Because of this, you can use any skill as long as it holds a special significance to you. A ranger who is at home in the woods, for example, could use a Survival or Nature check while creating the tattoo. If the target already has a successful unfettered mark currently active, the magic fades from the old tattoo and is replaced by the results of the new ritual.
The ritual can be performed alone or with the aid of up to 10 secondary casters. Each secondary caster must tattoo themself with their own tattoo and pay the full ritual cost to participate. Creatures currently held captive in the prison have a special relationship with the ritual: for each month they spend drawing memories of home on the walls of their cell, they can reduce the total cost of the ritual by 50 gp.
Critical Success: The target and primary and secondary casters all gain the ability to leave Stormholt. To do so, they must leave the prison by swimming through the water or by riding in a vessel that is in contact with the water (such as a rowboat). When they reach the great whirlpool, they are pulled under as normal, but instead of being transported
to the Flotsam Graveyard in Absalom, they are immediately transported (as teleport) to a location in Absalom of their choice. They also gain the benefits of water walk, water breathing, and resistance to electricity 10 for the duration of the ritual.
Success: As critical success, except the affected creatures don’t gain the benefits of water walk and water breathing.
Failure: You create the tattoo but fail to imbue it with magic.
Critical Failure: As failure, but the tattoo also creates an unwholesome bond with the demiplane of Stormholt. For 24 hours, the target and the primary and secondary casters gain a fishlike appearance and are covered in a slimy membrane. They gain the ability to breathe both water and air, but their skin quickly dries out when on land. After 1 hour on land they become drained 1 and fatigued, conditions that can be removed only if they reenter water. Additionally, the membrane conducts electricity well, causing them to gain weakness 10 to electricity.
Jack nods and leaves Miogimo's hideout without another word.
It's not until the four of them are safely sequestered in an anonymous dive bar that only Sawbones has ever visited that he speaks again.
"So, we have a way in. We'd best move soon - the Starwatch will have used most of their resources on that raid. If we can move quickly enough then we'll likely face fewer problems. Dora, can you perform the ritual?"
Dora, looking as uncomfortable as ever in such a bar, shuffles on her seat. "I think I could give it a try, not that Im keen on the idea of tattooing." She says, her voice trailing off disapprovingly. "It's pretty expensive, but I do not think we have a choice in the slightest. Jack, do you think you can procure the items we'll need? I want to think over the ritual just to make sure I get it right the first time? I suggest we perform the ritual at the break of daylight tomorrow."
With a bit of trial and error, Dora successfully tattoos everybody with the unfettered marks needed to escape the Black Whale. Now that you have your way out of the prison, it's time to decide exactly when and how you would like to get onboard.
Over the Waters: Perhaps the most difficult way to reach the Black Whale is swimming, due to the razor-sharp coral that lies just a few feet below the surface of the water for 100 feet around the prison. A successful DC 35 Athletics check is required to Swim over the coral. On a failed check, the character takes 1d12 slashing damage.
Using magic to fly to the prison is another option, although doing so during the day will surely draw the attention of the guards both on the Black Whale and at Fort Tempest.
By Boat: Unscheduled boats approaching the Black Whale draw immediate attention and put the guards on high alert. However, official boats with newly convicted prisoners regularly arrive at the prison. Conveniently, prisoner boats are operated by a number of guards equal to the number of agents, making it possible for the agents to stage an ambush onshore, incapacitate the guards, recover their uniforms, and then escort the prisoner to the Black Whale themselves. Upon arrival, they may have to fool their way past the warden.
"Given that we have a map I propose we simply teleport into the prison." Jack suggests. "If need be we can procure a boat from the other end but I think we want to make this as simple as possible, and a one way trip if we can. Dani and I should be able to talk our way past most guards, but even so, the fewer people who remember us the better."
When everybody is ready, you use the scroll of teleport to instantly transport you across the harbor and into the demiplane of Stormholt that surrounds the infamous prison known as the Black Whale!
Built to house the most dangerous prisoners in Absalom, the Black Whale is a floating prison made of six ships chained to razor sharp reefs in the Flotsam Graveyard on the perimeter of Absalom’s harbor. None of the ships are seaworthy anymore, hollowed out and restructured to better accommodate prison cells. The ships are surrounded by storm-tossed waters and rainy skies.
You appear on a ship called the Scorching Marie, lashed to the northeast corner of the reefs. A large capstan is set onto the front deck of this ship. A series of chains connects the device to similar capstans on nearby ships, seemingly connecting all the ships into a single complex pulley system. There are no guards posted here.
Jack immediately moves to a sheltered corner and extends his vampiric senses, looking for the rats he fully expects to be present on the ship. Summoning one of them with a pulse of power he waves the rest of the group into cover while he waits for the creature he hopes will be his spy to examine the ship.
Several rats come to Jack's call and squeak to him. They tell him that this ship has many guards, as well as a boggard who lives in the kitchen. The largest ship (E) has more guards, weapons, and a strange crystal. Another ship (F) is the lair of scary witches, so they stay away from it! The next ship (G) only holds a stinky troll. The remaining ships (H and I) hold the bulk of the prisoners.
Jack does his best to communicate Starborn to the rats and find out if they've seen him.
The rats have seen a man that looks like that in one of the last ships. (H)
Jack thanks the rats and offers some crumbs from his pockets as a concrete thanks.
"It seems as that Stormborn is in that ship." He says, gesturing towards the ship that is, naturally, as far away as possible from where they are now. "Lots of guards here and on the next ship so they should be avoided. Those two are irrelevant. A troll and some witches. Dani, could you move us across to the right ship? Lets avoid any fights we don't need."
"I'm all for avoiding fights." Dora agrees. "It'll be much easier when we're reinstated if we can prove we haven't hurt city guards."
She takes a moment to consider the distances involved. "Dani and I can both teleport over that distance, but you can't bring anyone with you with that kind of magic. I could make you both invisible for a while and then you could fly over? The spell lasts for ten minutes so if you're quick Jack you might even be able to get to Starborn and get him out again."
Completely invisible and quiet as a mouse, Jack flies over to the indicated ship, The Sable Skull. The ship is hewn from red timber and has a massive skull carved into the prow. A large capstan sits at the front of the ship, and nearby, a set of stairs leads below deck. At the rear of the ship is an ornate cabin decorated with carved skeletons in a macabre dance. Light comes from the cabin, and a man looks out the window, but doesn't see the hidden rogue.
Jack sneaks below deck into the cell hold. Several of the cells are occupied by prisoners. One cell is larger than the others, stretching to fill the entire back wall of the ship. Looking through the viewing window of the iron cell door, Jack can see a circle of glowing white runes inscribed on the floor light up the whole room. Wynsal Starborn sits within the circle, with a haggard but determined look on his face!
Jack works the door locks for a short while and then slips through the door as quickly and quietly as possible.
"Primarch Starborn." He says softly once inside. "My apologies for not being visible at the moment, but infiltraiting a renowned prison doesn't allow for good conversation. Do you wish to leave here? We have been sent to rescue you."
Dora stands nervously waiting for Jack to re-emerge, her weight shifting from one foot to another. "We needed a better plan of getting outta here....I have a really bad feeling about this." She wraps her arms around herself and clutches tightly as if she were cold, her face full of concern and looks to Devon and Dani for reassurance.
Devon drapes an invisbile arm over Dora. "Don't worry. We've made it out of tougher places than this. We'll be alright."
***
Though Wynsal cannot see Jack, he smiles triumphantly in the direction of the voice. "Agent Maturin. I knew I could count on you. I have been preparing for your eventual arrival, and I am ready to depart. But you'll have to deal with this binding circle first to free me. I've pieced together that there are three binding crystals powering the circle hidden throughout the prison. You will need to disable them so that I can escape. I believe the warden hides one of the crystals in his quarters, but I don't know the locations of the other two."
"What exactly does it bind?" Jack asks. "Are you unable to move? Or does it prevent the passage of all objects?"
"Those outside the circle can pass objects through it, but I am unable to leave," Wynsal says.
Jack turns his attention to the floor boards, looking to see if he can remove a board and thus disrupt the circle.
It looks like the circle extends beneath the floorboards as well. It won't be that easy to disable it!
Jack says some unrepeatable things in Necril when it becomes clear that simply breaking the circle is not going to do the job. Although the flasks of acid in his backpack might work in extremis.
"I will return shortly." He whispers to the Primarch, before returning to the upper deck, where he explains the situation.
"The power sources seem to be elsewhere." He says with an invisible frown. "Are there any other ways of getting him out?"
"If it's a wall of force then I can simply disintegrate it." Dora offers. "It might set off an alarm but at least we'd be able to get out quickly. Let's all go down, I'll blast him out and then we escape - immediately!"
Before enacting your escape plan, Dora painstakingly traces an unfettered mark on Wynsal Starborn (he asks her to to tattoo his bicep with an image of Absalom). Then, instead of attempting the subtle approach, you opt for the brute force method, disintegrating the walls of force and blasting apart the binding circle with magical might! Doing so destabilizes the binding circles across the Black Whale, and the prison is thrown into chaos as its most powerful prisoners break free from their cells!
The bedlam creates a good diversion for you to escape with Wynsal, rowing about across the waters of Stomrholt and reaching the whirlpool that serves as its exit! You emerge from the demiplane back into the waters of Absalom Harbor. Once you have moved Wynsal to a secure location, he explains to you what he knows about the frame job against you and him.
He explains that someone left him a proof copy of the last issue of Eyes on Absalom on his private doorstep. When Wynsal decoded the message hidden in the paper’s headlines, he found the words “Harrowland
Tent.” The proof copy was dated before the issue’s release—a portent of things to come. When the acting primarch heard Lieutenant Lavarsus thank Reginald Vancaskerkin, the tabloid’s publisher, for tipping off the Edgewatch to Wynsal’s whereabouts in the tent, he knew there was little doubt that Reginald was behind the whole setup.
In the wake of Wynsal’s arrest, Reginald has hidden himself away in his stronghold in the Wise Quarter, which is surrounded by a host of hired mercenaries. Wynsal counsels that a frontal assault would be unwise. Many mercenaries with no involvement in Reginald’s crimes would likely be caught in the crossfire, and public sentiment would turn even further against the acting primarch if Reginald were arrested with no evidence against him. Instead, he asks you to dig up dirt on the Rumormonger. By proving that you were framed, you can gain back public opinion and hopefully prompt the mercenaries to desert their criminal employer.
To this end, Wynsal proposes that you investigate the following leads:
• Acting on a hunch, Wynsal’s advisor Harlo Doleen began investigating the disappearance of the machine Graveraker just before his death. Since the digging machine was used to frame Wynsal, he asks you to interrogate its creator, an Arcadian named Wakeiwa Atikak. If she can explain how and why the machine mysteriously disappeared, it would go a long way toward clearing Wynsal’s name. Even better, you secure her testimony, Wynsal can send it to his own newspaper contacts, helping sway public opinion.
• Wynsal was also framed for his friend Harlo Doleen’s death. He tasks you with visiting Harlo’s estate to see if they can find any clues as to how Harlo wound up in Harrowland.
• Finally, you were framed by a host of witnesses. If you can track down one or more of these witnesses and prove their testimonies false, it would clear your names and potentially implicate the Rumormonger instead.
Wynsal believes that the truth behind your betrayal can be found somewhere within these leads, and he tells you that once you find sufficient evidence to pin Reginald, you might consider turning it in to Starwatch in order to clear your names.
"Witnesses first." Jack proposes. "If I were a villain seeking to tie up loose ends I would eliminate the largest group first, especially since they are the least likely to take precautions."
"We should also warn this Atikak." Jack continues. "If she is aware of the threat she'll already be taking precautions but if not we might be able to save her life, or at least buy ourselves some time. Still, I think we need to clear our names first, that will give us that much more leverage when it comes to the rest."
In order to clear your names, you'll have to track down the witnesses that provided false testimony in order to determine the source of their lies. In a big city like Absalom, though, this may be easier said than done...
Jack, who is not the most personable of people, spends the day buying drinks and generally attempting to be helpful to the more socially adept members of the group.
Dora agrees wholeheartedly with Jack. "It might not be as easy as you think with these witnesses as they were likely either convinced of their cause of scared into testifying but we can at least try."
Unfortunately Dora is too caught up in her worries about being caught that she is much too subtle about her queries into the witnesses and nobody knows what she is on about.
Dani spends the day out and about as well. While her inquiries fall short initially, towards the late afternoon she catches one break after another and is able to successfully negotiate trading some favors for the witness list.
By the end of the day, you manage to track down one of the false witnesses, a woman named Iltani. Iltani is a successful spice merchant from Katapesh. She narrows her green eyes as you approach. "Oh, it's you. You have some nerve showing your faces here after what you've done."
Seeing that the witness is hostile, Jack lets one of the more charming people lead the conversation. Staying quiet gives him a better chance to examine the woman and her mannerisms anyway.
Dani reaches into her pack and pulls out a rather pleasant smelling bundle. Taking care to unwrap it, she reveals the assortment of goodies from the bakery they picked up on the way here. "Good day! I stopped by Abdul-Abadar's Delicacies the way here and it appears I picked up way too much! Since there is entirely too much here for us to eat alone. I was hoping you might have a few minutes to chat with us?"
Iltani seems resistant at first, but the alluring smells coming from the baked goods cause her resolve to waver. "Hmm. Very well. I suppose I can spare a few minutes," she says, reaching in to grab a tasty pastry.
Despite her initial resistance, Iltani proves to be a rather friendly person. "I apologize for my initial rudeness. Several of the other witnesses who spoke out about your crimes have been killed in the past few days. I've been hiding to try to avoid a similar fate. I thought you might have been the ones responsible for their murders."
As the conversation continues, Iltani tells you she remembers seeing you commit the crimes you were convicted of. However, while she remembers the crime itself, she can't recall why or how she witnessed it. The hazy details suggest the memory itself is false. Jack believes it is likely that her memories were magically altered.
Pressed further about the gaps in her memory, Iltani tells you she remembers visiting an ink shop called Bottles and Blots, but she can't remember what she bought there.
"Thank you very much for your time Iltani, we very much appreciate it. I think we still bought too much food, and theres no way any of us can finish it. We'll leave it here with you and you can share it with your loved ones for supper." Dora lowers her voice a little bfore continuing. "Perhaps, given what you have told us about the other witnesses, you could consider a mini-getaway to an aunt in the countryside? Just until everything has blown over perhaps?"
Wishing the woman well before exiting swiftly, Dora suggests they do a little incognito shopping to learn about Bottles and Blots. "I don't think we have time to hang around. Dani, can you rustle up a disguise or two so we can check this place out? If a worker has anything to do with this, they would definitely recognise us."
Dani nods to Dora, a smile slowly spreading across her face as the word disguise brings back fond memories of their early Edgewatch days. "You bet. Let me get my kit and I'll get to work on making something up for us."
With just a few minutes of work on each disguise, Dani pulls together several outfits for the group that hopefully will hide their identities.
But apparently it's not her best work ...
You make your way to Bottles and Blots, an ink shop in the Wise Quarter. Large windows line the front wall of this shop. The store’s interior is lined with rows of shelves, which are all filled with jugs of ink and a variety of colorful ink bottles in every shape and hue. A merchant’s counter runs along the back wall of the shop. Near the counter, a metal hatch-like door stands on the western wall of the room.
An elderly dwarf with green eyes stands behind the counter. "Hello! Welcome!" he calls as you enter. "How may I help you today?"
Jack peels away immediately and starts examining the shop rather than the proprietor, although he notices the dwarf's green eyes and begins to wonder...
Dani looks around for anything of interest when they enter. Not finding much, she decides to keep the dwarf busy and allow Jack and Dora time to look around.
"Ah, yes. I was curious to know if you could show me any specimens you might have with a bright fuchsia pigmentation? I'm working on a commission and I need just the right shade and I can't find it anywhere."
Neither Jack nor Dani notice anything out of the ordinary. The shop certainly appears to be a legitimate business.
"Fuchsia, yes. Yes, of course! Right this way," the dwarf says amiably. He leads Dani down an aisle and shows her various different shades of the color for her to choose from.
Jack appears at the end of the aisle and points under his spectacles.
The eyes. He mouths to Dora and Dani. Look at his eyes.
Dora does her best to browse the shop with an appearance of light interest until he leads Dani down an aisle.
As soon as she can, she rushes behind the counter to take the quickest of glimpses at what is there.
Dora doesn't notice anything unusual behind the counter. The shop front seems perfectly innocuous.
After a few minutes, the dwarf snaps his fingers. "You know, I think I may have what you're looking for in the back of the shop. If you'd be so kind as to follow me?" He gestures to the hatch near the counter.
Dora rushes back from behind the counter so she isn't caught snooping. "Oh right. Fantastic." Dora says, trying to sound upbeat as her heart fills with dread, knowing what is likely to come.
"Well, after you - we will follow." Dora glances with concern at Devon, as the shop keeper turns away.