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Korvosa.
The largest city-state in the undeveloped frontier land of Varisia. The Empire of Cheliax built the city 300 years ago upon the ruins of a much-older city during its last great expansion. Yet, Cheliax abandoned its claim to Varisia after a mere half-century of fighting the indegenous people. As internal strife forced its focus inward, the Empire left the city to rule itself. Today, in the year 4704, Korvosa thrives as a rich trading port, with merchantmen sailing to the far corners of the Inner Sea and beyond.
Yet, strange things are happening in the less-affluent district of Old Korvosa. A forgotten curse threatens the people of the city. Only a band of stalwart adventurers stand between this ancient evil and disaster!
Champions of Old Korvosa will be an ongoing campaign using the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game rules, set in the Inner Sea Campaign Setting. The campaign will be incorporating several published adventures, including The Reaping Stone by TPK Games.
The campaign will begin in March 2014.
I plan to cross-post the Campaign Journal on both the main campaign site and here.
Session 0
23 March 2014
It looks like we will have have six players in this campaign. Several players are new to Pathfinder, and one is new to D&D 3.x. We're all guys in our late 30s to mid-40s, and most of us are married and/or have kids. This is brand-new group: We have never all played together before.
The majority of this session was spent in character creation, including backstories. The latter didn't need to be too elaborate, but did need to explain why the PCs tend to hang out in the Stirge and Hammer Inn and Tavern in the Garrison Hill ward of Old Korvosa.
I also went over a the home rules (as presented on the campaign site), and talked a little about my play style and philosophy as a GM.
The Players:
Player T: I've played RPGs a few times with T, most recently in a short Savage Worlds campaign he ran a few years ago. T GMed a long-running D&D 4E game, but has never played PFRPG before. T was also my tutor on how to effectively run a remote game via MapTool when one of my Runelords player moved out of town but wanted to keep playing. T designed a half-elf sorcerer named Don. Don is an occasional employee of the Stirge and Hammer, but usually tries to hide the fact that he was born with the gift of magic.
Player E: I originally met E through our kids-- we have children in the same grade in the same school, and they've been friends for several years. E was an avid AD&Der back in the day, but hasn't sat down for a tabletop game in decades. This is his first time playing Pathfinder. E made the half-orc rogue Turgrox. Turgrox is a bit of a bruiser with shady connections.
Player R is a friend from work who's played Pathfinder for a couple of years. We've never played RPGs together before. R came up with the human wizard Extranius, who is smitten with the head barmaid of the Stirge and Hammer (who is also the owner's daughter), which is one reason he tends to hang out there.
Player B is another friend from work, although he and R work in different departments and hadn't met before. B has been running Pathfinder Basic Box adventures for his kids, but hadn't yet graduated to the Core Rulebook until now. B designed Zak Mumbles, human barbarian. He tried to be a barber, but loses his patience a bit too easily, and decided that he might do better as a sellsword instead.
Player J is one of my closest personal friends, and someone I've been playing various RPGs with for decades. J is the most-experienced Pathfinder player at the table, and had been one of the players in my aborted two-year-long Runelords campaign. J brought the Vudrani human Darshan Oza, an urban druid. Darshan knows a lot of people, and is old friends with the owner of the Strige and Hammer.
Player S wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it.
After the characters were pretty much complete, I ran a short encounter: a barroom brawl! What else?
I'll start the campaign journal in earnest tomorrow.
Session 0: 23 March 2014
Rumble at the Stirge and Hammer
Starday, 17 Gozran 4704
The raindrops of an evening shower pelted the cobblestones of Old Korvosa, washing away the day’s grime. Despite the warm spring day, the air took on a chill soon after sunset. On Garrison Hill, above the teetering shanties of Bridgefront, a bard’s merry song defied the last gasp of winter. Warmth beckoned from within the friendly inn. The sign read, "The Stirge and Hammer."
About a dozen people socialized within the tavern, under the friendly yet watchful eyes of owner Vasaro Cazynsic. His comely daughter Basila tended bar while the former Sable Company marine took orders from the barroom. In the backroom, a down-on-his-luck half-elven kid named Don swept up. Standing at the bar, a recent graduate of the Academe who calls himself Extranius chatted up Basila, but seemed to be getting nowhere. Huddled in one corner, a mysterious-looking Vudrani man named Darshan Oza nursed an ale. A burly, green-skinned man with a severe underbite sat at another table, surveying the scene. The half-orc went by Turgrox. And sitting close to a gnomish bard seranading the crowd was the well-dressed and enthusiastic young man called Zak Mumbles. It seemed to be a pleasant evening at the bar.
But not long thereafter, a group of young men of Varisian extraction came into the tavern— and they already seemed a bit inebriated. They bought some drinks and started playing cards with a group of Ulfen sailors. Within half an hour, the newcomers began to be abusive, and one hurled a particularly vile oath at an Ulfen man. It doesn’t take much to set off an Ulfen, and the two came to blows. Unfortunately, the friends of the Varisian started fighting the friends of the Ulfen, and the friendly atmosphere of the Stirge and Hammer quickly turned sour. Vasaro attempted to intervene, but the toughs ignored him. Basila ducked under the bar— presumably to grab the loaded heavy crossbow that the regulars know she keeps ready.
An innocent bystander got drawn into the fight, and one of the other toughs took a swing at Vasaro when he tried to break it up. That’s when several other patron jumped into action. Between the magic of Don (drawing a “nice spellcasting!” comment from Extra), the wrestling moves of Turgrox, and a well-aimed axe hurled by Zak, (“Um… Yeah… I MEANT to miss him!”), the Varisians were ejected and the bar restored to its friendly state. Vasaro bought the house a round, and the evening ended well.
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Session 1: 06 April 2014
St. Caspieran's Salvation
Moonday, 19 Gozran 4704
It was just two days after the barroom brawl at the Stirge and Hammer Inn. In the late afternoon, while Darshan, Turgrox, Zak, Extrarius, and Don were all enjoying a beverage, an unlikely duo walked up to the bar, and asked Basila to speak with the owner. One of the pair was a short, wiry man of Varisian descent, wearing a somewhat shabby-looking formal business suit and a bowler hat. The other towered well over six feet in height, and appeared to be of Ulfen descent. He also wore a ill-fitting formal business suit, and leaned on a heavy oaken cudgel… which he did not appear to need as a walking stick. Basila got her father Vasaro.
The shorter man introduced himself as Mr. Gordo and his taller friend as Mr. Stubbs. “While we ouselves are not officials of the Cerulean Society, it is my understanding that your annual premium is due later this week… Oathday, I do believe." He paused and grinned. “Now, I don’t know your financial situation, but I’m sure you know what happens to honest businesses like yours if they fail to pay the Cerulean insurance fees. Now, I’m offering my own policy— a sort of insurance on the insurance, if you will. For the incredibly low price of just 5 ducats a week for the next year, we will guarantee payment of your insurance payment.”
Vasaro reacted poorly, and told Gordo precisely where he could put his insurance premium. Gordo smiled, and replied, “Well, I’m sorry that you feel that way. We’ll be in touch.” They two swindlers left.
Darshan spent an hour asking his Sczarni friends about these two. He learned that Gordo and Stubbs were members of a Sczzrni-affiliated gang called the Old Dock Boys, who mostly worked the Old Dock ward of Old Korvosa. The connections told him that the Old Dock Boys kept several hide-outs, but recent turf wars with Rat’s Teat Boys have greatly thinned their numbers, and they’ve mostly been keeping low. The Old Dock Boys are led by an ex-Sczarni known as the Splithog Pauper, a con-man who usually dresses like a beggar. He took his street name from the Old Dock Boy’s former headquarters on Splithog Alley.
Later, Darshan spoke with some of the rats that lived in the basement, asking them to let him know if those two guys ever showed up again—especially at night.
Wealday, 21 Gozran 4704
In the middle of the night, Darshan felt something furry brush against his nose. He woke to find a large rat sitting on his chest, staring at him. Darshan then followed the rat downstairs, and was surprised to find that the entrance doors to the Stirge and Hammer were ajar. Darshan called out a warning, and a few minutes later, Vasaro walked downstairs, wearing a dressing-gown. “What’s going on, Darshan?” asked the innkeeper, and Darshan pointed out the open doors. Vasaro then went into his office, and a moment later shouted, “We’ve been robbed!” He told Darshan that the inn’s strongbox had been stolen— and it contained the insurance premium he had planned to pay the Cerulean society on the day after tomorrow!
The following morning, Darshan and the other adventuring regulars were trying to figure out how to help their innkeeper friend, when Gordo and Stubbs had the gall to show up again. Gordo pitched his “insurance on the insurance” offer again, but now the premium had increased to 20 gp a week! Vasaro reacted even less charitably that the previous time, pulled a knife, and told the “Sczarni scum” to get out of his establishment. The two retreated, dropping smokestick in the bar on their way out. At that, Darshan, Turgrox, Don, Extra, and Zak all followed them.
A chase through the streets of Korvosa ensued: The swindlers dashed through traffic, slipped through a noble’s procession, darted through a crowded marketplace, and tried to lose their tails in the warrens of Old Dock. But the party managed to follow them down an alley that dead-ended at a run-down building. Squatting halfway down a muck-smeared alley, sandwiched between a derelict wainwright’s shop and a sad-looking bakery, stood the dilapidated mission house. A crooked belltower rose from the building’s rear, and a half-dozen grease-smeared, cracked, and boarded-over windows gazed out from walls that might have once been painted white. A small sign hung over the the building’s battered oaken doors: “St. Caspieran’s Mission. All Welcome.”
The place had heavy oaken front doors, flanked with two smaller doors at right angles to the main doors. The back of the building had a large stained-glass window depicting the goddess Sarenrae, although several individual panes were broken or missing. Wooden panels filled the gaps in the windows to keep out the rain. Behind the mission sat an overgrown, trash-strewed courtyard surrounded by a low stone wall. A lone, overgrown oak tree dominated the courtyard, its branches hanging over a second-floor balcony. A back door into the building appeared to be boarded over and nailed shut. Don volunteered to climb the tree and check out the balcony, while the rest of the group went around front.
In the front of the building, A sign on one of the side doors read, “Flophouse: Upstairs and take a left.” Someone had scratched out the word “left” and scrawled “hike” above it. The other side door read “Flophouse: Upstairs and take a right,” but a note had been tacked below the sign: “Flophouse full: No vacancies.”
Darshan spiked one of the side doors shut, and opened the other door. Wooden stairs led to the second floor, and Darshan ascended them. Turgrox followed him. Meanwhile, Zak and Extrarius opened the main doors.
Through the main doors, Zak and Extrarius beheld a sorry sight. About half a dozen unfortunates sat or wandered through a large room that smelled strongly of boiled cabbage, smoke, and urine. A carved marble font decorated with grease-stained Sarenite carvings held about a gallon of scummy water. One of the unfortunates was missing both legs below the knees: he sat on a wooden plank affixed with small wheels, and dragged himself across the floor with his hands. A young woman rocked herself on a pew in the sanctuary an mumbled incoherently. An elderly gentleman dressed in shabby clerical vestments sat next to her, seemingly trying to speak with her. From a side room, a hoarse female voice shouted, “Hey Jhonas! We’re out of cabbage! Get off your lazy ass and buy some more or we won’t have enough for dinner!” A man with an eyepatch and a scraggly gray beard looked up from a solitaire card game, and asked Zak if he could spare a few pence. Gordo and Stubbs were not, apparently, in the room.
As Darshan ascended the stairs, a gruff voice called out, “Hey! The flophouse is closed! Get your ass outta here!” The voice belonged to a Sczarni-looking guy who approaced Darshan menacingly. Darshan responded, “No rooms at all? I’m just looking for a place to crash…” as Turgrox slipped by him in the dim light, and clonked the guy in the back of the head with a blackjack. The guard crumpled to the flloor with a loud thud. That seemed to alert others in the flophouse, who came out of their rooms to check out the commotion, and seeing intruders, attacked! Darshan called out to Zak and Extra for some help.
Meanwhile, as Don climbed the tree he saw some motion from an open window. He then heard the thunk of an arrow embed itself in the tree a mere inch from his left ear! Looking back at the window, he saw the shadowy silhouette of an elven archer nock another arrow. Don scrambled to the balcony, where the archer wouldn’t be able to get a bead on him without leaning far out the window. He tried the door into the building, but it was locked. Peeing into the door’s window, he saw a grizzled man asleep on a pallet. A large square birdcage sat on the balcony next to the door, and three pigeons cooed from inside. Don knocked on the door, but the man didn’t awaken.
From downstairs, Zak and Extra heard the sound of a thump from upstairs, and also head Darshan calling for them. So they exited the mission and ran up to the flophouse, where they found Darshan and Turgrox fighting several men armed with daggers. One guy emerged from a room down a side corridor holding a wooden crate. He threw the contents of the crate at Zak— and out flew a scorpion the size of a housecat! The scorpion hit Zak square in the chest and then fell to his feet, where it attempted to sting him. Fortunately, the stinger wasn’t able to penetrate Zak’s leather boot— yet.
Don tried to break down the door to no avail, so he then took a running jump into the open window that the archer had been shooting from. The half-elf made it through the window, but landed awkwardly in the room, sprawling on the floor. This surprised the archer, who dropped his bow and drew a longsword as Don got to his feet. A flash of recognition passed between the two: they had known each other as boys back in the Mierani Forest, although there had been no love lost between them. The archer grinned, and said, “Well, half-breed, looks like this is the end for you,” and he slashed Don severely with his longsword. Gritting his teeth through the pain, Don cast a spell, and his hand crackled with necromantic energy. He touched his old enemy, and the elf recoiled in pain. Don then circled around the elf, toward the door out of the room.
Back in the hallway, the party was overcoming the den of thieves that had taken over the flophouse. By now, several lay unconscious on the floor, and two more of the giant scorpions menaced party members and thieves alike. Darshan opened the door to the room where Don and the elf squared off. With the aid of his friend, the two managed to knock out the archer. In the last room of the flophouse, the party discovered Gordo and Stubbs. Stubbs swung his cudgel at Zak, connecting, but Zak managed to shake off the blow. The former barber swung his own greatsword at the thug, slashing the Ulfen hard across the belly. Clutching his bowels, the Ulfen fell to the floor in a pool of blood. Seeing his muscle fall after a single strike, Gordo’s face went white, and he dropped his rapier and raised his hands in surrender.
With the fight over, Darshan tended the wounded enough to ensure that none of them would die. They tied up all of the Old Dock Boys and stashed them in one of the rooms. Turgrox then questioned Gordo and learned the story: Under orders from the Splithog Pauper, Gordo and Stubbs had been offering “insurance” on the protection money owed to the Cerulean Society. Yes, they did know that this gambit was risky— that targeting those protected by the Society could draw the wrath of the Society, but they said that the Pauper was planning to give the Society their regular cut of the proceeds. “It’s been tough for us since the Rat’s Teat Boys took over half our territory— and half our members. This seemed like a good con.” Gordo said that he had indeed broken into the Stirge and Hammer and stolen the inn’s strongbox, but he wasn’t able to open the lock. He gave the whole box to the Pauper. When asked where the money was now, Gordo replied, “I don’t know! You think we’re trusted with knowing where the Pauper keeps the gang’s tresaure?” At that, Zak punched him out, and they stashed the unconscious Gordo with the others.
Exploring the rest of the flophouse, the party found the Pauper’s bedroom, and looted it. While they did find some valuables and useful items, Vasaro’s strongbox wasn’t there. They did find the stash in the lower floor of the belltower: Vasaro’s strongbox (still locked) plus a bunch of other valuables. Climbing the ladder to the belfry, Turgrox found a grappling hook affixed to the inside of the window, and a hemp rope dropping down to the courtyard. While the party did recover Vasaro’s money (plus some extra for themselves), the Splithog Pauper got away.
Don and Extra found Father Padrick, the proprietor of the mission house, and explained that it appeared that the Old Dock Boys had effectively moved in to use the mission house as their lair. Padrick, a man well into his seventies, and blind, sighed deeply at the news. “I’ve been running this place for twenty years, but I’m getting too old to do it any more. Since I went blind back in ‘99, I’ve been relying on my caretaker, Jhonas, to handle the day-to-day affairs. Jhonas, did you know about this? Jhonas…? Hey, where’d he go?” Padrick said that he would petiton the main Temple of Sarenrae for more assistance to run the mission house, and that it was probably time to retire.
The party returned to the Stirge and Hammer with Vasaro’s strongbox. Opening it up, the innkeeper was relieved to find that all of his money was still inside. Vasaro opened up the bar for a couple of rounds in celebration.
Some game notes...
Player R (who ran Extrarius) had to resign from the campaign due to changes in his family's schedule. He told me he no longer has the spare time to be in a second RPG.campaign.
I had to change the regular game time due to changes in my schedule. This change is going to result in a bit of a shift in the player roster...
Player B (who ran Zak) can't meet regularly on the night that the majority of the rest of the players can.
Player S hadn't been able to join us at the previous time, but will be able to join us at the new time. I don't think that he's designed a character yet.
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Note: This campaign journal contains spoilers for PFS Scenario 4-01: Rise of the Goblin Guild.
Session 2: 28 April 2014
The Goblin Guild, Part 1
Fireday, 23 Gozran 4704
A few days after the party’s successful recovery of Vasaro’s stolen strongbox, a group of three wizards from Theumanexus College came into the Stirge and Hammer, looking for Extrarius. They brought with them a sealed letter from the college administration offering Extra a position as a lecturer. Extra was overjoyed to receive the job offer, and bought everyone a round before gathering his things to head off to his new job.
Toilday, 27 Gozran 4704
Late one evening a few days later, the party was enjoying the evening at the Stirge and Hammer. Darshan thought he heard the sound of breaking glass upstairs. Heading upstairs to investigate, Turgrox, Zak, and Don followed. Approaching the door to Darshan’s room, the party heard something clunking around inside. But just as they were about to open the door, the sounds stopped abruptly. Opening the door, the party found a single goblin wearing surprisingly well-kept leather armor climbing out through the window! The room had been completely tossed. The goblin threw a glass pellet at the floor, and the room filled with sickly yello smoke, obscuring vision.
Turgrox made it to the window, and saw the goblin’s feet swing up onto the roof of the inn! He followed, as did the rest of the party. The goblin led the party on a chase through the Shingles above Bridgefront. It bounded through narrow passageways, up rickety ladders, and at one point ran straight through somebody’s flat. (The owner required some fast-talking to allow the PCs to pass!) While running through a wooden archway, the goblin turned and tossed a flask of alchemist’s fire at the party. Turgrox and Zak ran through the flames and caught the fleeing goblin, while Darshan and Don stopped to put out the flames before a major fire engulfed Old Korvosa.
The captured goblin turned out to be a female named Ekkie. After a bit of persuasion, she told the party her story (both in first-person and through the skull-puppet of her brother “Plarg,” whom she seemed to think was actually still alive.) She told the party that she was from the Wind Whisper tribe of goblins that lived in the Mushfens, well to the west of Korvosa. She said that she had a falling-out with her tribe:
“Chief BigGuts not smart. I tell him his idea to hunt the bear-with-owl-head was stupid. Didn’t I Plarg?” She held a goblin skull in her left hand and jiggled it while saying, “Oh, yes! You told him it dumb to hunt monster that could eat him in one bite!” She looked up, “But he hit me, and say that I was calling him coward. And then what happen, Plarg?” The puppet responded, “He come back with arm almost chewed off, no sacred horsechopper, and ten less warriors. What you tell him then?” Ekkie continued, “I tell him, ‘See! I told you not to go fight monster like bear-with-owl-head!’ And he then hit me again and tell me to get out or he feed ME to bear-with-owl-head! So Plarg and me left the Wind Whisper Tribe.”
Darshan then asked why she had broken into his room. She replied, “Oh! We sent out to find shinies and take them from longshanks! We have to find ten shinies, and they have to be good enough for Versevosh, or he not let us join Night Marauders!” Upon asking about the Night Marauders, she looked around carefully, and whispered, “They powerful goblin guild! Live in the tunnels right under longshanks city. They rob the longshanks and get rich. They sell stuff to other goblin tribes.”
The PCs looked at each other, and realized that this was not good. Korvosan sewer goblins had a reputation for getting into places thought impregnible, but they were scattered and constantly fighting among themselves. An organized goblin thieves guild would be a very bad thing indeed. Turgrox asked why the party should do anything about it— isn’t that a job for the city guards? Darshan replied, “Think of all the loot they must have stockpiled so far!” That got Turgrox on board.
Ekkie agreed to lead the party to the place where she was supposed to meet up with other members of the Nightsoil Marauders in two more days. It was located near “the horse-killing place,” but Ekkie could not describe it well enough for the PCs to find it. Ekkie agreed to lead them there. Walking through Korvosa with a goblin in tow would attract the wrong kind of attention, so they hid the 25-pound, two-and-a-half-foot goblin in a backpack.
Ekkie led the team to a run-down butcher shop called Marik’s Knackery. Casing the grounds, the burnt-out shell of an outbuilding (possibly a stable) led the party to conclude that the goblins may have extorted the use of the place. Ekkie led the team to a bulkhead door in the back of the butcher shop, through a seldom-used storeroom, and to a metal grating in the floor. “That go to sewer-tunnels, and I know how to get to Marauder camp!” Zak pried up the grating, and they descended into the Vaults.
Still tied up in the backpack, Ekkie led the party through the maze of tunnels in the Vaults to a large, vaulted opening into a side-passage. “They in there! Right, Plarg? Yep! Right!” Darshan doused the lantern. Turgrox, who can see in the dark, crept toward the opening. Inside, he saw three goblins playing some kind of game that involved a live rat and a board with nails stuck out the end. The goblins were so engrossed in the game that he was able to sneak behind one and cut its throat. The other two attacked him with dogslicers. Turgrox dropped back into the sewers, leading the goblins into an ambush. The rest of the party quickly disposed of the remaining two goblin guards before they were able to raise an alarm.
[To be continued… next week!]
Note: This campaign journal entry contains spoilers for PFS Scenario 4-01: Rise of the Goblin Guild.
Session 3: 5 May 2014
The Goblin Guild (Part 2)
Toilday, 27 Gozran 4704, late night
After defeating the three goblin sentries, the party rifled their pockets for change and dumped the goblin corpses into the sewer channel. Turgrox scouted ahead… and managed to trip a concealed pit trap, falling ten feet into a pile of disgusting rotting garbage. Or, at least he thought it was garbage until it rippled and lashed out at him with a tendril of goo! The half-orc quickly scrambled up out of the pit. Meanwhile, Don found a hand crank sticking out of the wall, and discerened it was a means of closing and locking the pit. Zak turned the crank and set the safety once Turgrox was safely with them.
The hallway was made of worked stone with ceramic tiles. Darshan identified the passages as construction older than the main sewer tunnels. “There are parts of the Vaults that were here before the city of Korvosa was built. This seems to be one of those areas,” he commented. Exploring the passage, the party found an abandoned barracks that seemed to house about a dozen goblins. A passage from that room led away from the lair and back into the sewers. Heading deeper into the complex, the party next found a chamber that seemed to be a thieves practice room filled with locks, humanoid dummies festooned with bells, and an obstacle course. Finding nothing of value, the party pressed on. Darshan asked Ekkie what was ahead, but she replied, “Not go farther than here. Versevosh not let us in. Right, Plarg?”
Hearing the guttural voices of goblins ahead, Turgrox warned the rest of the party to be quiet. He crept ahead in the shadows and observed a room that appeared to be some kind of alchemy lab. Two goblin apprentices toiled at workbenches while a third seemed to watch them listlessly. That room had partially collapsed, effectivly forming a split-level. Torchlight flickered from the upper chamber, but the half-orc couldn’t see what was up there. Reporting back to the rest of the party, they decided that bursting with surprise would be the best course of action.
Zak led the charge, running for the goblin overseer, swinging his greatsword in an arc above his head. While charging, Zak noticed that the goblin didn’t look so good— its eyes were milky white, it shambled more than walked, and its flesh seemed to be rotting. It groaned at Zak as the barbarian’s sword connected solidly in its midsection… and then it exploded in a burst of black blood, rotting eviscera, and putrescent vapors! Its guts pelted Zak with great force, and he got some of it in his mouth. (“Ugh! Yuck!”) But Zak managed not to get sick from the foulness.
The fight was on! The goblin apprentices flung flasks of alchemist’s fire at the party, and something on the upper ledge threw other explosives. Yet, between the combined forces of Zak’s greatsword, Turgrox’ light blades, Darshan’s cudgel, and Don’s spells, they party made short work of the goblins. They captured the goblin alchemist, who was knocked out in the fight. While waiting for the alchemist to come around, the party searched the lab. Don realized that the equipment in the lab was actually high in quality. “I’d guess that the goblins must have stolen… or extorted… this equipment from a local alchemist. It’s much highter quality than goblins could make!” Turgrox found some other treasure, and Darshan emptied the alchemist’s pockets. They turned up some strange things, including an unholy symbol of Urgathoa (a goddess rarely worshiped by goblins), a human-sized plague doctor’s mask, and a strange empty vial. After the alchemist came around, Zak and Turgrox questioned him. He identified himself as Yarak, the alchemist and healer of the Nightsoil Marauders. Turgrox questioned the goblin, frightening him into compliance. About the human-sized items, he replied, “They come from longshanks who came in here days and days ago. She wear scary bird-mask. We kill her and take her stuff. She very tasty!” When asked how he made the goblin zombie, Yarak replied, “Hmm! Bird-mask-longshanks have potion. Versevosh tell me to take potion and tell him and Inoklar what it is. So I give to apprentice to tell me what it is. Apprentice open potion, and it turn to steam and he breathes it, then gets sick. Very sick. In week, he dead, but he not stay dead- he get up and try to eat other goblins. I not able to make more of potion. But I say, ‘Why waste good zombie? I use to guard lab!’ Until you kill him again!” Turgrox then asked who these Versevosh and Inoklar people were. “Versevosh was warchanter for Houndgutter tribe, but he make song about chief that cheif not like. He have powerful magic he throw at longshanks. You better not mess with him! Inoklar leader of Night Soil Marauders. She is scary bugbear. Not like her much, but she very strong in battle.” Satisfied that the alchemist didn’t have anything more to tell them, Turgrox punched him out and left him tied up in the lab.
Continuing to explore the complex, the party found another abandoned barracks, and then a room with the sounds of both machinery and goblins talking. Turgrox scouted that room, and found it to be a sewage pumping station. Sewage drained into the room, and machinery pumped it into other pipes. Across a stone bridge over the sewage channel that bisected the room were three goblins: one riding a disgusting creature that resembled a mangy ratlike dog. The goblins didn’t seem to notice Turgrox, so the party decided to try to lure them closer. Darshan cast a spell that allowed him to speak with animals, so he called out in goblin dog, “Hey! Look at all this meat! There’s so much! I won’t be able to eat it all!” The rider appeared to have to work to keep his mount from trotting over, but he told the other goblins to go see who let a goblin dogs out and to get it back to the corrals. When the two goblins turned the corner, the party ambushed them, dropping them quickly. Seeing his comrades fall, the rider cast a spell making the area around the bridge slippery, and started taunting the party members with satiric comments. Darshan, Zak, and Turgrox then ran at the rider, jumping over the sewage channel, while Don hung back and cast spells. After missing a few times, Zak connected with a mighty blow that sent the goblin’s head flying across the room, bouncing off Turgrox’s leather breastplate, and rolling into the sewage channel. Darshan slew the goblin dog.
After rifling through the pockets and saddlebags of the fallen goblins, the party returned to retrieve Ekkie, whom they had left behind. But Ekkie wasn’t there! All they found was the sack they’s stashed her in and the ropes they’d bound her with.
[To Be Continued… Next Week!]
Nice stuff here, Haladir! Keep it up! So has Player S designed his character already? Seems like the group needs a new magic user, doesn't it?
Player S has decided to take over Zak the barbarian permanently.
It turns out that we've got a pretty traditional party: warrior (Zak), priest (Darshan), magic-user (Don), burglar (Turgrox).
I hope to get the write-up for Session 4 posted shortly.
Note: This campaign journal contains spoilers for Pathfinder Society Scenario 4-01: Rise of the Goblin Guild.
Session 4: 12 May 2014
The Goblin Guild (Part 3)
Toilday, 27 Gozran 4704, late night
Disappointed that their prisoner had escaped, Darshan followed Ekkie’s tracks trhough the complex. They seemed to head back out into the sewers. The party decided to let her go, and pressed onward. One passageway led to a heavy oak door that was barred from the party’s side. “That kind of bar is to keep someting out!” exclaimed Turgrox. Looking at the door, the party saw goblin scrawling in lurid red paint. Several goblins seemed to be running away from a big square, that seemed to have a goblin inside it. Darshan exclaimed, ‘That seems to depict a gelatinous cube! Let’s not go in there!’
Heading deeper into the complex, the group found a room that appeared to be a goblin dog kennel, but with none of the foul beasts. Poking around the room, Turgrox disturbed a pile of straw, and out of it exploded dozens, if not hundreds, of rats! The rats swarmed over him, biting him through his armor. Turgrox staggered back into the hall, and the rest of the party threw flasks of alchemist’s fire they’d recovered from the alchemy lab. The alchemical fire did the trick, and what rats that didn’t burn scurried away.
Another door opened into another kennel, this one with two goblin dogs. The goblin dogs immediately started making a lot of noise: an unsettling cross between a bark and a ratlike squeak. Zak and Darshan quickly put the creatures down before their noise could alert anyone.
Turgrox crept ahead of the rest of the party to explore further. After following the wide corridor through some twists and turns, he saw that the passage opened up into a very large chamber, about 40 feet wide and 80 feet deep, lined with ornatelly-carved pillars that suppored a vaulted ceiling. Torches burned brightly on four of the pillars, illuminating most of the room. At the far end of the room stood a dias. Upon a throne on the dias sat a bugbear, who was apparently counting coins. She didn’t seem to notice Turgrox hiding in the darkness. Turgrox returned to report to the party.
The party decided to creep as close as possible to the room while avoiding detection. Turgrox would attempt to slink along the shadows between the wall and the row of columns. If he encountered trouble, or when he got behind the bugbear, he’d shout a signal and Zak would charge in full-tilt, while Darshan and Don would enter and use their spells on any other resistance that showed up.
As Turgrox crept around the third column, he was surprised by another goblin that was itself hiding in shadows! He was quick enough to parry the goblin’s blade, and the goblin was unable to say the same, but it still stood. Turgrox shouted the signal, and Zak charged in. The bugbear, however, was alerted and managed to stand ready with an impressive-looking horsechopper. As Zak ran toward the throne, he broke through some false flagstones, setting off a trap that was meant to entangle any attackers. This made him angry, and he flew into a rage. However, the barbarian was nimble enough to catch his footing before stepping in the pool of tarry goo below, and charged the bugbear. She managed to strike him with her horsechopper as he closed, but he still slashed her hard across the right arm with the blade of his greatsword.
Meanwhile, the goblin danced out of the way of Turgrox’ strikes while managing to nick the half-orc a few times. Don attempted to ensorcell the goblin into a state of passivity, but the goblin shook off the effects of the spell. Darshan, out of magic, circled around behind the goblin, striking at him with his oaken cudgel. At that time, another goblin appeared out of the shadows, firing arrows at the party fighting his friend.
The bugbear stepped off the dias to get enough room to strike Zak, and connected again, ripping a terrible gash across the former barber’s chest. While still conscious, Zak’s vision was starting to tunnel, and he to concentrate hard to keep fighting— which was good enough, as he landed a solid blow on the bugbear’s chest. In response, the bugbear thrust her horsechopper at Zak, striking him in the face, and he went down.
Don managed to ensorcell the goblin on another try, allowing Turgrox and Darshan to rush to their friend’s defense. The bugbear herself retreated down a side passageway, but shouted out, “I killed your friend, and I’ll kill you too! Leave now or face my wrath!” Despite the threat, the goblins saw that their leader had retreated, and they did the same, scurrying back out the main entrance.
Darshan used his wand of cure light wounds to bring Zak back around, while Turgrox and Don chased the bugbear down the corridor. She had positioned herself about twenty feet down the five-foot wide corridor, menacing with her horsechopper. It would be difficult indeed to get around her! Don cast a black magical ray at her, draining away some of her strength. Afraid of getting too close, Turgrox threw a dagger at her, which managed to stick in her armor. With Darshan’s ministrations, Zak came around. He quaffed a potion of cure light wounds, and Darshan expended another charge of his wand. Feeling much better, Zak ran down the corridor to engage the bugbear in hand-to-hand combat.
The bugbear struck Zak with her polearm again as he closed, but he shrugged off the wound and slashed her across the chest with his greatsword. Turgrox threw another dagger at her, and manged to graze her cheek. Don attempted to cloud her mind, but she retained her focus. As she stepped back to strike Zak with her horsechopper again, Zak struck her first, and the bugbear collapsed to the ground. Turgrox jumped in and cut her throat, and the leader of the Nightsoil Marauders was no more.
After stripping the bugbear’s corpse for valuables, the party searched the southern passage. It led to a lavishly-furnished bedroom, although the occupant did not treat the furniture particularly well. At the foot of the bed was a locked chest. Turgrox successfully picked the lock, but felt the sting of a jab in his hand when he unlocked it. A fiery pain shot through his arm, and he felt suddenly sick— poison! The poison coursed through his system, seriously weakening him. Darshan attempted to apply medicinal herbs to the wound, but he didn’t have the appropriate antidiote to this particular poison. After a few painful minutes, Turgrox stabilized, although he remained weakened.
Inside the chest was the collected treasure of the Nightsoil Marauders. The party collected the various coins, gems, jewelry, and valuable objects. Don cast detect magic and found a false bottom in the chest, which contained several potions. He also found a magical javelin hidden under the bed.
After checking out the remainder of the complex and finding it empty, the group returned to the Stirge and Hammer with their loot, satisfied that they had rid the city of another menace.
[The story will continue… next week!]
Note: This journal entry contains spoilers for "The Reaping Stone" by TPK Games.
Session 5: 19 May 2014
Chapter 1: Veil of the Scythe Mother
Part 1: Mayhem at Midnight
Moonday, 11 Desnus 4704, just before midnight
It was the rainy season in Korvosa. Steady rain had fallen since midafternoon on this brisk spring day. The weather produced a slow evening at the Stirge and Hammer, and a thin early crowd left the tavern early. With few caravans or merchants braving the late spring muddy roads or stormy seas, few guests had booked rooms for the night either. Now just before midnight, only three regular customers sat in the taproom in the waning firelight; they were also the only overnight guests: the druid Darshan Oza, the barber-turned mercenary Zak Mumbles, and the half-orc wanderer Turgrox. In the inn’s stable-turned-brewery, the sorcerer and part-time alchemist Don toiled into the night completing a batch of alchemist’s fire in his makeshift alchemy lab. Vasaro the innkeeper was just about to lock up for the night, as the sounds of approaching travelers neared the door.
The look of hopeful expectation on Vasaro’s face at the prospect of a profitable night quickly turned to alarm as four people and a goblin burst through the door, all of them wearing the birdlike masks of a plague doctor ! All wore red-and-black robes that appeared fine at the shoulders, but tapered to rags at the bottom. Three of the men bore heavy scythes, while the other human and the goblin held sickles. One of the humans, obviously a woman even through the mask and robes, shouted, “For the glory of the Scythe Mother! Your deaths prove her might!” She then lobbed a glass vial into the middle of the barroom, which exploded in a burst of sickly yellow vapor that quickly filled the whole room. One of the men and the goblin advanced into the barroom, while the woman stood near the door, flanked by the two remaining men.
Surprised, Zak got to his feet, flicking out the blade of his war razor. Turgrox dove for cover behind the central fireplace, and got out his bow. Darshan prayed for the blessings of Abadar, and his allies felt the strength of the Keeper of the First Vault upon them, bolstering their courage. The innkeeper’s daughter Basila ducked behind the bar, and rose with a loaded heavy crossbow. And the inkeeper himself dropped a tray of tankards and pulled an orcish shield and scimiar off a nearby wall. “Get out of my bar!” he shouted.
The goblin giggled, and with a huge toothy grin cast a spell. A fan of flames shot from his fingertips, immolating Zak and Basila. Fortunately for Basila, she was mostly protected from the goblin’s magical flames by the bar. Zak slashed at the goblin, but the creature nimbly bounced out of the way. Turgrox fired an arrow at a cultist from behind the fireplace, and the arrow found its mark— a solid hit , as the cultist hadn’t noticed the half-orc’s position. The cultist shouted a warning to his fellows, and slashed a heavy scythe at Zak, who blocked the slash with his arms. Blood seeped from the slash. Hearing the commotion, Don burst into the room, standing next to Basila behind the bar. He cast a spell at the goblin, attempting to cloud its mind to distraction, but the goblin seemed to shake off the enchantment. She fired her crossbow at the cultists, but the bolt bounced harmlessly off the armor the cultists wore beneath their robes.
His cover blown, Turgrox dropped his bow and entered the fray, attempting to assist Darshan against the goblin. Darshan called the power of Abadar into his cudgel, which now glowed with a faint golden shimmer, and he stepped forward to strike at the goblin. Don cast a spell, and a crackling ray of black necromantic energy shot at the female cultist, draining away some of her strength. And Zak, realizing that this fight was more serious than a barroom brawl, dropped his razor and drew his greatsword, attempting to separate the cultist’s head from his shoulder. But the cultist parried the blow, as sparks lept from the clash of blades. The leader cast a spell, and a bolt of dark energy blasted Zak in the chest. He could feel some of his life-force ebb away, but he managed to resist most of the spell. The goblin cast another fan of flame, this time catching Darshan and Turgrox in the fire. Though singed, the two fought on. The goblin parried Turgrox’ dagger, but the half-orc’s shortsword broke through the goblin’s defenses. The goblin’s grin left its oblong face, and it shrieked in pain like a wounded animal. Vasaro stepped beside Zak and slashed the cultist across the face while the cultist’s blade was engaged. The cultist screamed in pain as blood flowed into his eyes. Parially blinded, he didn’t see Zak’s thrust, and felt his guts on fire as the former barber impaled the cultist through the belly. The cultist’s last act was to try to gather his spilling guts before falling to the floor.
The leader of the cultists sent her two guards into the battle to engage Vasaro, Darshan, and Zak. Seeing an opening, Turgrox somersaulted past the cultists’ blades, and positioned himself behind them. Finding himself suddently surrounded, another cultist fell to Darshan’s enchanted club followed by a stab in the back by Turgrox. The goblin lobbed a flask of alchemists fire at Don and Basila, but his aim was off, and the two defenders were spared the worst of the blast by the bar. Basila fired at the goblin, striking it in the chest. Don cast a spell causing necromantic energy to surround his hand. He leapt over the bar, and struck the goblin with his glowing hand, killing it. Seeing the tide of battle suddently turn against her, the cult leader held up her unholy symbol, shouting, “By the Scythe Mother, curse you all!” A barely perceptible shimmer of unholy energy radiated out of the cult leader’s unholy symbol, like ripples on a pond. Everyone in the room felt a sharp tug on their very souls, as their very life essence drained away— including her remaining guard. The guard then collapsed, leaving her alone against the heroes. Unfortunately for the heroes, Turgrox also fell to the spell.
Now heavily wounded and running on adrenaline alone, Zak pressed the attack, with Darshan and Vasaro both at his side. All three struck the cult leader, as Don closed and pressed his glowing hand against her shoulder. Still standing, although barely, the cultist called forth a malediction from the Scythe Mother again, and another wave of negative energy hit all who stood in the room. Barely able to stand, but still going, Darshan realized that Turgrox and Zak would die if she managed to call a third time, so he pressed the attack, striking her again with his glowing cudgel. As his vision tunneled to black, Zak summoned all of his remaining strength to make a final lunge at her— and his strike was true! His blade impaled the cult leader, and she stumbled backward through the doors of the inn onto the rain-soaked cobblestones outside. Zak collapsed forward, falling atop her.
The rain continued to fall, washing away the cultist’s blood as it poured onto the street.
[To be continued… next week!]
Note: This campaign journal entry contains spoilers for the module The Reaping Stone by TPK Games.
Session 6: 26 May 2014
Return to the Vaults
Moonday, 11 Desnus 4704, after midnight
Darshan and Vasaro ran outside to check on Zak and the cult leader— Zak was still breathing, but the cultist was not. They dragged them back into the bar, and Vasaro locked the door, flipping the sign to “Closed.” Basila and Don helped Turgrox to his feet. Basila surveyed the damage to the barroom. “Well, aside from the blood, it doesn’t look that bad.” She paused, putting her hand to her head. “Ugh. I don’t feel so well. What was in that smoke bomb they threw?” Zak gave Vasaro a look of appreciation and said, “Wow! You know your way around a fight!” Wiping the blood off the scimitar, Vasaro replied, "Glad my old training from Sable Company came right back to me. You’re not bad in a fight yourself!"
Darshan and Turgrox searched the corpses of the dead cultists, turning up some useful gear and a few coins. One of the cultists has a very crude map, which Darshan recognized as possibly being of the Vaults. “Hmm. I can’t tell where it ends:only intersections are marked with no scaling. But it looks like it starts at a nearby alleyway. They must have used the sewers to travel undetected.” Turgrox found another troubling item: the cult leader had a second vial of the substance she’d thrown into the bar— and the vial exactly matched the one they’d recovered a few weeks earlier in the goblin lair. Don recalled that the goblin alchemist had told them that whatever had been in the vial turned one of its apprentices into a zombie! He shared that information quietly with Zak, Darshan, and Turgrox, so as not to alarm their hosts. Vasaro chimed in, “We really need to report this— disposing of four bodies and a dead goblin is going to raise a few questions.” Darshan left to find his “aunt” Portia Jeggare, captain of the Old Korvosa Regiment of the Korvosan Guard
An hour later, Darshan found Captain Jeggare, looking worried. “The Stirge and Hammer, too? I have four other reports of similar attacks: The Sticky Mermaid, Jeggare’s Jug, the Travelling Man, and Exemplary Execrables. The attackers got away at the other sites. We’re treating this as a possible armed insurgency.” Darshan quietly explained the party’s fears about a possible plague being spread by these cultists, and Jeggare’s eyes widened in horror. “A plague?” she whispered, “Sarenrae save us! Look, if there’s going to be a plage outbreak, I’m going to need every one of my men on the streets to keep public order.” Darshan took that as permission to the party to launch its own investigation. Not long therafter, a body cart arrived to haul away the corpses. Guards took statements from everyone, and Vasaro sat down with one to fill out paperwork.
Toilday, 12 Desnus 4704
The next morning, everyone except Don woke up with a mild fever. Turgrox checked in with some friends in the underworld, but didn’t find any leads. Zak slept in. Darshan went out to buy more healing supplies— he suspected that antiplage would shortly become in short supply. After that, he went to the Bank of Abadar to speak with church officials there. Archbanker Tuttle was indisposed, but he was able to meet with the Ecclesiastical Librarian. Researching the name “The Scythe Mother” and the altered holy symbol of Urgathoa, Darshan made a disturbing discovery: a splinter cult that calls itself the Cult of the Scythe Mother. While the Church of Urgathoa does concern itself with spreading pestilence and supporting undeath, members generally have a great lust for life. In contrast to the main church, the Cult of the Scythe Mother has a unifying objective: to spread the “gift” of undeath to every living thing in the world...whether they want it or not!
Unwilling to open the vial of plague himself, Don decided to ask for some assistance from the Church of Sarenrae. He headed across town to The Heights to the main Temple of Sarenrae and asked for an audience with the High Priest. After answering a few questions, he was shown in to the office of Fahter Viorec Korvaski, High Priest of Sarenrae in Korvosa. Korvaski offered some tea, which Don accepted. Don noticed a faintly-glowing bejeweled scimitar hanging on the wall behind Korvaski’s desk— it was exquisitely decorated in Qadiran style, but was most certainly not purely decorative! Korvaski listened attentively to Don’s concerns. “If what you’re telling me is true— and I have no reason to doubt you— that a plague has been released in the city, the clergy who work out of the temple will be overwhelmed with treating the sick. Unfortunately, I don’t have anyone I can send with you to chase down a hunch. However, the Church of the Dawnflower may have a few things you may find useful…” The priest walked to a cabinet and brought out a few wooden boxes and coffers. He gave Don four potions of cure light wounds, four vials of holy water, four doses of antiplague, and a potion of lesser restoration. Don thanked Father Korvaski for his generosity and took his leave. On the way back to Old Korvosa, Don paused before a gated mansion in The Heights, fighting mixed emotions. He removed a blank scroll, a pen, and some ink from his satchel, and penned a letter to Lord Panev Thorval, warning of a possible plague outbreak in the city. Don sealed the letter and pressed his signet ring into the soft red wax: the signet ring of House Thorval. Calling over a guard, he asked that the letter be delivered to Lord Thorval, and the guard agreed.
Meeting back at the Stirge and Hammer that evening, everyone shared what they’d learned and done for the day. (Don, however, decided not to mention his trek to his estranged family’s estate.) They decided that they would rest for one more night, and follow the cultists’ map of the Vaults in the morning. As they climbed the stairs to their rooms, Darshan heard Basila cough loudly several times. He went back downstairs and administerd to her another dose of antiplague.
Wealday, 13 Desnus 4704, morning
After a quick and no-nonsense breakfast at the inn, the four adventurers found the manhole entrance to the Vaults in an alleyway less than a block from the Stirge and Hammer. A rusty cast-iron ladder led 25 feet down into the fetid sewer lines. “At least it’s been raining: the extra water helps flush away some of the stench,” remarked Darshan. The ladder led to a 10-foot wide secondary sewer line. Following the map, they quickly found themselves in 15-foot main tunnel. The group followed the map’s twists and turns for about three quartes of an hour, until they noticed that a blockage in the sewer channel ahead was backing sewage onto the walkway.
Darshan was surprised to see the source of the blockage: the bloated corpse of 12-foot-long crocodile was stuck on a pipe, and debris had started to pile up behind it. As Zak and Turgrox approached to free the blockage, the half-orc noticed something moving in the debris pile. Suddenly, out of the crocodile’s rotting abdomen burst a 10-foot long green and yellow multilegged worm! It surveyed the party with red multifaceted eyes the size of dinner plates, and menacingly waved six tentacles that ringed its pincer-like jaws. It lashed at Zak and Turgrox with its tentacles, missing Zak, but catching Turgrox across the face. The half-orc felt a wave of lethargy come over him, but he quickly shrugged it off, stabbing at the vile beast with his sword and dagger. Enraged at the intrusion of a disgusting giant worm, Zak drew his greatsword and swung mightly at the beast, cutting across five of its body segments. Having no spells at hand that would affect such a creature, Don dug a flask of alchemist’s fire from his pack and lobbed it at the creature, but is throw was long and the vial plunked into the sewage downstream from the blockage. "A carrion crawler!," shouted Darshan, “Be careful— they paralyze their prey before they eat them!” Darshan quaffed a potion of spider climb, and walked up the tunnel wall, positioning himself above the beast.
The creature continued to fight, lashing at Turgrox, Zak, and Darshan. All three were hit by the thing’s slime-covered tentacles. Zak and Darshan managed to resist the creature’s paralytic poison, but Turgrox felt his muscles begin to freeze up, and found that he could not move! Darsan smacked the creature with his cudgel, and Zak landed a second mighty blow: this time, slicing off at least ten of its legs! Stinking green fluid gushed from the creature’s side, but it pressed its attack. Don then drew a dagger and hurled it at the beast— and his aim was true. The dagger embedded itself into one of the creature’s huge eyes, and it collapsed, sliding off the dam of debris and washing downstream. Darshan cast detect magic just to see if there was any magical reason for this dead crocodile to be there. He didn’t find that answer, but he did notice a magic wand that was mixed in the debris. He managed to fish it out from the debris pile before it was washed away. Examining the wand, Darshan determined it to be a functional wand of magic missile, and gave it to Don.
After clearing the dam of debris, and waiting for Turgrox to regain control of his muscles, the party continued to follow the crude map of the sewers. About ten minutes later, they heard squeaking and chittering behind them, and realized that they were being overtaken by a swarm of sewer rats! Don turned and threw a flask of alchemist’s fire at them, and many of the rats exploded in flame. The rest of the rats pressed on, swarming over Don and Turgrox. After being doused with a second flask of alchemist’s fire, the rat swarm broke up and scurried away.
After another half hour of negotiating the sewers, the party came to a large sewage cistern, where four primary tunnels intersected. A stone bridge spanned the foul central pool of sewage. Rotting against the wall in a corner of the platform across the bridge was a five-foot tall, ten-foot wide pile of putrescent flesh crawling with maggots. Spying a decaying tentacle in the mess, Darshan reckoned that it was the remains of an otyugh, one of the many filth-eating creatures the city uses to keep its sewers free of debris. A rat the size of a mastiff feasted on the flesh of the dead monster, but as soon as the party entered the room, it turned its head toward the party. The rodent squealed loudly— a challenge?
That’s how Zak took it, and he charged the beast, drawing his greatsword. Unfortunately, as Zak ran past one of the intersecting tunnels, another giant rat leaped from the shadows, biting at his legs! Zak ignored the second rat and threw all of his weight in a mighty swing at the first one… which scurried out of the barbarian’s way at the last second. Zak’s greatsword slammed into the dead otyugh, sending a spray of decayed flesh and living maggots through the room. He also disturbed a colony of rats that had infested the dead monster, which swarmed out and over the former barber.
Turgrox drew his bow and fired at the giant rat. With a very luckly strike, the arrow felled the oversized rodent. Don decided it was time to try out his new wand, and discharged two magic missiles at the remaining rodent, killing it as well. Darshan then threw a flask of alchemist’s fire at the rats, striking the swarm dead center. Many of the rats burst into flame. Zak maneuvered out of the swarm of rodents, and slammed the flat of his greatsword at the colony, crushing several dozen. Between his blow and the flames, the rats scurried away in different directions.
While clenaing himself up, Zak noticed the strap of a leather backpack under the corpse of the otyugh. He pulled it out, and while the pack itself was decayed beyound use, inside were several items wrapped inside an intact oilskin: several flasks of holy water and alchemist’s fire, some silk rope, a coin purse with some money, a leather map case, and a quiver of arrows. Some of the arrows were tipped with silver arrowheads. Darshan cast detect magic, and realized that a handful of the arrows were enchanted! Inside the map case were two divine spell scrolls as well.
The party gathered these treasures while Zak finished cleaning his wepon, and they continued their way through the Vaults.
[To be continued… next week!]
Note: This campaign journal entry contains spoilers for the module The Reaping Stone by TPK Games.
Session 7: 2 June 2014
From the Vaults to a Cellar
Wealday, 13 Desnus 4704, late morning
After defeating the giant rats, the party continued to follow the cultists’ map through the Vaults beneath Old Korvosa. After following the mazelike complex of sewage-filled tunnels for another half hour, the party heard faint rumbling of machinery and swiftly-flowing water ahead. The primary sewer tunnel opened up into a large rectangular cistern, allowing the sewage to pool. A gigantic pumping apparatus rose like a column from floor to ceiling in the center of the pool. It was the apparent source of the mechanical sounds that reverberated through the chambers. Somewhat cleaner-looking water spilled into the cistern from a pipe in the ceiling fifteen feet above the surface of the pool of sewage. The sound of the waterfall plus the sounds of the pump filled the chamber with enough noise to make it hard to think.
Turgrox scouted into the room, looking for traps. While he didn’t find traps, he did notice two more giant rats hiding behind piles of refuse scattered over the walkway and maintenance platform— and they attacked! The half-orc landed a lucky blow on one, as the other leaped over the trash to attack him. Zak ran in to join the fight, followed cautiosly by Don and Darshan. While the four adventurers fought the rats, Zak heard the woosh and thunk of an arrow hitting its mark, immediately followed by the shock of impact and the pain of being shot. Spinning, the heroes saw a man holding a bow emerge from behind another trash pile— and that man had the head of a rat! Darshan shouted, “A wererat! Be careful— according to legend, only weapons made of polished silver can affect a wererat! Other weapons won’t affect them!”
Zak broke off the attack on the dog-sized rats and charged the wererat. It merely grinned, as it dropped its bow and drew a nasty-looking shortsword. Zak threw his whole weight behind the blow with his greatsword, and the wererat’s grin changed to a shocked expression of worry as its red blood spillled onto the stone platform. It returned the favor and stabbed Zak with its sword, then leaned in to bite him. Darshan shouted, “Don’t let it bite you! It can turn you into a wererat!” Fortunately, Zak was able to heed the advice. Don cast a spell at the wererat, and a ray of black energy shot across the chamber, striking the creature. It staggered back a moment, as if weakened. Meanwhile, Darshan turned his attention to the giant rats, striking one with his cudgel, knocking it to the ground.
The wererat hissed in frustration as Zak parried its blade and stepped out of the way of another bite. Don discharged two magic missiles from his wand, both of wich struck the wererat. Turgrox managed to circle behind the wererat and stab it in the back with his silver dagger. It cursed Turgrox in Varisian. Darshan cast a spell, and a blast of water shot at the wererat at hight pressure. Unfortunately for the party, the wererat managed to keep its footing, and didn’t end up in the pool of sewage.
Now seemingly desperate, the wererat attempted to fight defensively as it tried to put some distance between it and the adventurers. It managed to nick Turgrox, but the half-orc stabbed it again with his silver dagger, and the wererat squealed in pain, dropping to the floor. Zak swung his blade at the now-prone creature, and neatly severed its head from its shoulders.
Darshan determined that the wererat’s shortsword was magical. Turgrox claimed the weapon. The wererat also had a set of high-quality lockpicks, hinting at what the creature did for a living. The party then dumped the body of the wererat and the giant rats into the cistern while Darshan used his wand of cure light wounds to heal the wounds of those who were injured.
Pressing on, the party continued to follow the cultists’ map through the Vaults. Not far from the cistern, they noticed a three-foot-wide hole in the wall of the sewer channel— it appeared to be the entrance to a small cave that intersected the sewers. After a brief discussion, they decided to check it out. The tunnel was small enough that the adventurers had to crawl through a narrow, twisting stone tunnel. Turgrox led. After about twenty yards of crawling, the tunnel opened up into a kidney-shaped natural cavern, about fifteen feet long and ten feet wide, with a cieling bareley five feet high. The chamber was littered with odds and ends, refuse, and other junk… and then the party realized that the pile of fur at the far end of the chamber was alive: the largest rat anyone had ever seen! The rat was at least six feet long and probably weighted close to 300 pounds! It hissed a challenge, then approached the party. Fortunately for our heroes, the rat seemed to be extremely fat, and could barely move. Zak drew his greatsword and swung it in a horizontal arc, neatly bisecting the creature and killing it instantly! Searching through the refuse, Zak found an unlocked wooden chest, and Turgrox found an improbably matching pair of boots. Darshan cast detect magic, and relayed the information that the boots were magical, as were several objects in the chest. The chest contained some coins, a wand of snowball strike, and a few potions.
Pressing on, the party wound through the maze that is the Vaults for about another half-hour, when they came to the end of the map. A rusty iron ladder led up 25 feet to a manhole cover on the street. However, a recently-dug hole in the wall about eight feet up caught the party’s attention. Darshan thought that the map indicated that they should go down the tunnel.Turgrox investigated. The hole was roughly circular and about three feet wide, and looked like it had only been there for the past few months. Turgrox crawled down the rough-hewn passage, which went about 20 yards before opening up into a small room, about 10 feet in diameter, with a five foot ceiling supported by wooden beams. Another ladder was propped against the far wall, leading to another hole in the ceiling. Turgrox thought he saw a wooden trap door at the top of the passage. The rest of the party followed.
After climbing up the wooden ladder, Turgrox opened the door a crack and looked in: It appeared to be a dark storeroom filled with dusty and broken furniture. He gave the all-clear, and everyone else climbed up. The room was indeed a dusty storeroom, apparently in the basement of a building. The flloor was made of packed earth, two of the walls were the stone foundation of a building, and the other two walls were wooden. One door led south. The ceiling, barely six feet off the floor, was wooden, supported by what appeared to be floor joists. Turgrox made a quick search of the room and noticed that one desk drawer had a false bottom— in which was a dagger in a bejeweled sheath. The half-orc claimed that. Darshan cast detect magic, and told Turgrox that the blade was indeed magical.
Listening at the door, Turgrox thought he heard the sound of something moving around in the next room. Arranging themselves for battle, he threw open the door: and the party faced a ghastly sight! Four bare human skeletons stood in the room, each wearing rusty tatters of chainmail. Pinpoints of faint red light glowed in their fleshless eye sockets. The skulls turned on their spines as if to look at the party, and then they immediately attacked! Zak was ready for the attack, and slashed one with his greatsword. The pinpoints of light in its eyesockes blinked out, and the skeletion fell to the ground as a pile of bones. Don cast a spell, firing a ray of anti-necromantic energy at another. Several of its bones fell away, but it kept approaching. Turgrox stepped in and stabbed at one with his shortsword and new dagger. Unfortunately, his weapons seemd ineffective at a fleshless foe. Darshan activated his newly-acquired wand, and a hard-packed ball of ice and snow fired from the wand, knocking into the skeleton Don had damaged. It also fell to the ground in a pile of bones. The remaining skeletons clawed at Zak and Turgrox, ripping gashes in the flesh of both men. After another moment of fighting, however, the party destroyed the remaining skeletons.
This room was larger, and bare of furninsings. A singel door led east, and Zak opened it to take a look. The moment he opened the door, a necrotic fist slammed into the former barber’s face! A foot kicked the door open the rest of the way, and three decaying human corpses with milky-white eyes shambled into the room! They grunted and moaned incoherently as they approached the party. Fortunately for our heroes, the zombies were very slow-moving. Zak cleaved one in two, and Turgrox and Darshan cut down a second with their blades. Don summoned the power of the grave and hit one with his necromantic touch. The zombie’s face animated a bit as if it were alive— miming a look of fear! It stepped back from the party, as Zak cut that one down as well.
The next room was damp and humid. There was a well of apparently-fresh water in the northern corner, and several barrels of brown and stagnant water stood on the south wall. Zak noticed something behind one of the barrels, and he and Turgrox moved it aside to take a look. Behind a skewed stone in the wall was a dust- and cobweb-covered leather cloth— it had been an oilcloth, but was now brittle, and broke apart as Turgrox unwrapped it. Inside were six potion bottles— all labeled “Healing” in Common. Darshan cast detect magic, and verified that the labels were true.
With some sense of trepidation, the party eyed the door to the east.
[To be continued… next week!]
Note: This campaign journal contains spolers for the TPK Games module The Reaping Stone.
Session 8: 9 June 2014
Ambrik House
In the strange cellar filled with now-defeated undead monstrosities, Turgrox listened at the door to the east. Hearing no signs of cultists, he tried the door, bur found that it was locked. Using the exceptionally fine set of lockpicks he’d liberated from the wererat earler, he finessed the door open a crack and peered inside.
The room beyond was unlit: a workroom of some sort with a workbench of alchemy tools and two stone tables in the center. He thought he saw a body lying on each table. A stone stairway ascended to a landing and seemed to continue up behind a stone wall. He pulled the plague mask over his face and pushed the soor open wide. As he entered, the half-orc thought he spied movement on the landing. Pushing open the door, he motioned for the others to follow. Darshan’s lantern filled the room with lamplight.
Turgrox and Zak approached the landing, calling out, “Who’s there?” A female voice cried, “Oh no! More of them!” A young woman of Garundi ancestry stepped out from behind the wall, brandishing a broken table leg as a weapon. “Please, don’t hurt me!” she pleaded. Turgrox pulled off his mask, and said, “Hey, it’s OK. We’re not cultists. Who are you and why are you here?” The woman, still threatening with her table leg, said that she had been abducted by “a madman— who wore one of those masks!” and had been locked in this cellar for days.
Darshan and Don pelted her with questions, and her answers were a bit evasive. She said that she had been an apothecary and had been abducted while walking home from her shop. But she demured when asked where her shop was, and the date of her abduction. Don said, “We’ve been tracking death cultists who have killed a lot of people, and we found you in their hideout. I’m sure you be able to beat the charges.” “Charges?” “Yes,” Darshan continued, “for collaborating with criminals. These people are trying to spread a plage that will turn people into zombies.”
“A zombie uprising?” Her face turned into an evil grin. “Good!” At that her appearance shifted: Instead of a young Garundi woman in street clothes wielding a broken table leg, she suddenly became an animated skeleton in a black robe embroirdered with skulls. Her table leg became an iron-and-brass rod tipped with a brass skull. A floating, disembodied skeletal hand hovered near her shoulder. She cast a spell, and the floating hand suddenly crackled with electricity. She pointed at Turgrox, and the hand flew toward him, discharging the energy. Turgrox felt like he’d been struck by lightning and stumbled back. “Arise my children!” she shouted, and the two corpses on the tables shuddered to unlife, swinging themselves off ther tables. One of the zombies stood dangerously close to Don, and the other near Darshan.
Don pulled out his wand of magic missile and fired at the undead spellcaster. Zak charged her, slicing her with his greatsword. Darshan attacked the zombie near him with his magical sickle, cutting a decent-sized chunk out of it. Turgrox, shaking off the shock, ran up the stairs and rushed her, but she dodged the half-orc’s attempt at a body slam. Stepping back, she cast a spell at Turgrox, and a black ray of evil energy shot over his shoulder, missing hom. Both of the zombies tried to bite their targets, but only Don was bitten. “Watch out!” shouted Darshan, “Zombies don’t normally bite people!”
Darshan slashed at the zombie again, and it fell. Don cast a spell, and his hand glowed with blue necromantic energy. He approached the skeletal spellcaster and attempted to touch her, but she evaded. The undead wizard stepped out of the way of Zak’s blade and cast a spell. Turgrox and Zak both were filled with fear, and fled the room! Darshan then produced one of his wands, and used it to shoot a chunk of ice at the spellcaster. This managed to be her undoing, and she collapsed to the floor in a pile of bones. Zak and Turgrox ceased running and turned their attention to the remaining zombie, dispatching it. They all thanked their gods when the zombie didn’t explode!
With the hostiles all taken out, the party examined the room. The shelf contained alchemical equipment, equivalent to a traveling alchemy lab. The shelves above held various chemical reagents, along with two books: a spellbook, and a strange text called Serving Your Hunger. Also Turgrox found four worn leather backpacks under one of the tables. All were water-soaked, and full of low-quality, mundane equipment. One of the backpacks contained a waterproof leather map case. Inside were two documents. One was a map of Old Korvosa. Five buildings were marked on the map with a red “X,” with one of those circled. Examining the map, Darshan determined that the circled location showed the Stirge and Hammer Inn. The others locations corresponded to Jeggare’s Jug, Exemplary Execrables, the Travelling Man, and the Sticky Mermaid— the other businesses targeted by attacks by the Cult of the Scythe Mother! The second document was a letter, and it was even more chilling.
Sister Tirendra,
The time of our vengeance upon this city is at hand. Your cell’s target is an inn called the Stirge and Hammer. Bless all therein with the Reaping Sickness, so that the Scythe Mother can claim their bodies and souls. Return to the safe house afterward for the next phase of our plan. The city’s dead shall rise up and turn Korvosa into the Necropolis of the Pallid Princess.
— The Abbess of the Scythe
Turgrox ascended the stairs, and found himself at a landing behind a locked door. Faint sunlight seemed to come through the crack between the door and the floor. The lock proved no match for the half-orc and his lockpicks, and he cracked open the door and peered inside. The room beyond appeared to have once been a dining room. A warped table surrounded by wooden chairs dominated the room. The dusty remains of a brass chandelier lay smashed in the center of the table, covered with cobwebs. Much of the plaster cieling has long since collapsed, revealing blackened and scorched cieling timbers from a long-ago fire. Feeble sunlight streamed in from two south-facing windows that had been haphazardely boarded up. The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, but Turgrox saw that several sets of footprints led from a door to the west to the doorway he stood in. He signaled the rest of the party, and they all filed in. Another door led north.
A moment after all four were in the room, the light appeared to dim. The scorched cieling suddenly glowed red, as if again on fire, and everyone smelled the stench of burnt flesh. Six ghostly child-sized hands descended from the cieling, each apparently engulfed in orange flames! One hand flew toward each member of the party at an unearthly speed; the other two flew toward the western door and passed through it! Zak, Darshan, and Turgrox managed to dodge the ghostly hands, but one passed through Don’s chest! He felt searing pain— as if a burning hand pressed against his flesh like a branding iron! At that, the room returned to normal. “I think this place is haunted!” noted Darshan.
Turgrox listened at the western door, and hearing nothing, opened it. Zak stepped through the doorway and beheld the building’s foyer. It smelled damp and musty, with long lines of yellow-brown mold streaking the walls. Three more boarded-up windows let in dim light from outside. On one wall, barely visible through a layer of mold and grime, was a faded mural. It depicted about two dozen smiling children standing around a smiling, heavy-set man with a full white beard. Faded gold letters above the mural spelled the words Ambrik House Orphanage. Zak also noted the same set of footprints led from the entryway, across the floor, and through door in which he stood. He noted that no footprints led back out.
He signaled the rest of the party to enter. As they searched the room, Zak thought he heard something— a child sobbing, then pleading, “No, please, not again! No…!” followed by a bloodcurdling scream! Shaken, he frantically looked around for the source of the screaming! Turgrox looked at him quizzically, and asked, “What? Do you hear something?” Apparently, none of the rest heard the screams. Darshan said, “Ambrik House? I’ve heard of it! It was an orphanage— the only one in Old Korvosa. There was a fire there about 25 years ago— all of the children and the headmaster died before the fire could be extinguished. The locals consider the place cursed and completely avoid it… It’s just about the only building in Bridgefront that’s stood vacant for more than a year!” They found nothing else of interest in the room, returned to the dining room, and took the other door.
They found themselves in the remains of a kitchen. A collapsed wooden table stood in the middle of the room. Cabinets lined the walls, but several had collapsed. A large fireplace and oven dominated the northern wall, but much of it had deteriorated. A single set of footprints int he dusty floor ran from a door leading outside to a staircase leading up. The footprints seemed small— like those of a halfling, or a child. While searching the room, the party heard a boy’s voice from outside: “Hey, Mister, can you help us?” Three boys, all aged about 10 years, stood on the half-collapsed veranda of the building. They said that they had dared their friend Nathan to climb up to the attic and shine a lantern out the window. But Nathan has been gone for more than two hours, and he isn’t answering when they call for him. The boys pleased with Zak to find Nathan and bring him back out. Having a soft spot for kids, both Zak and Turgrox agreed. They ascended the stairs.
The stairs led to a second-floor hallway. The walls, cieling, and floor were all heavily damaged by both fire and water— the latter likely due to rain and snow. Turgrox noticed that the child-sized footprints led down the hallway and followed. Unfortunately, the floorboards of that section of the hallway had been heavily damaged by fire and wet rot, that Turgrox broke through the floor and fell to the kitchen below! At the sound of the commotion, a ghostly figure floated through the wall! It appeared to be the silhouette of a man engulfed by flames! It reached out a ghostly hand which passed into Darshan’s chest. The Vudrani druid felt a strange combination of cold as his life-force drained into the ghost, and extreme heat as his clothes burst into flame! Darshan stepped back and tried to douse the flames. “Ack! Some kind of wraith!” Zak swung his greatsword at the apparition, but its blade appeared to pass through the ghostly creature without effect. Don cast a spell, and his hand glowed with an erie blue light. He touched the creature, and the energy discharged. The creature screeched and then fled back through a wall. Turgrox re-joined the party, and the group went into a room from which the wraith had emerged.
A thick drape of dust- and ash-covered cobwebs concealed most of the open doorway leading into a fire-ravaged room. Beyond the webs loomed a dark room littered with small charred items. Poking through the rubble revealed a scorched porcelain doll’s head, some charred building blocks, and an assortment of half-melted tin knights, but nothing of any value. Zak said, “This is really sad— this must have been the play room.”
The party headed back into the hallway, carefully stepping around the hole where Turgrox had fallen through the floor. At the end of the hallway, another stariway headed up, and a doorway opened up to a dark room. As the party debated which way to go, two more spectral forms floated through the walls and attacked! One was the same wraith that Don had scared away, but the other was different: it took the form of a heavy-set man with a full beard and burning red eyes. It also seemed to be engulfed in ghostly flames.
It reached toward Zak, passing its hand into the barbarian’s chest. Zak felt the chill of death, but at the same time intense heat— and then his clothes burst into flame! Darshan shouted, “Only magic will affect these things! Zak— use your oil of magic weapon!” Patting out the flames with one hand, he poured the oil on his greatsword. Don pulled out his wand of magic missile, firing two bolts of magical energy at it. Darshan retrieved his wand of snowball strike, and fired a magical snowball at it too. The snowball sputtered as it vaporoized, and the bearded wraith shrieked in anger. Turgrox raised his blades and attacked the other wraith, and was pleasantly surprised that both his magic weapons seemed to affect the spirit. It attempted to rach into Turgrox, but the half-orc evaded.
With a now-enchanted blade, Zak swung at the bearded wraith, striking true. It hissed in anger. Don and Darshan used their wands again, and the creature hissed in anger, but it did touch Don. The half-elf felt the cold touch of the grave plus white-hot flames.. The wraith also seemed to lose more substantiality. Turgrox attacked the other wraith, and managed to connect with his magiclal shortsword. He also successfully avoided being touched by it. Zak hit the thing again with his sword, and the undead shade shrieked its last, disappearing as its unearthly wail echoed from beyond. With the destruction of the bearded wraith, the party felt the building shudder slightly and heard the distant laughter of children. Darshan and Don fired their wands at the remaining wraith, and it also flicked out of existence. Darshan suggested that, perhaps, the ghosts of the lost children may be freed now.
After healing themselves, the party explored the dark room. The charred remains of a four-poster bed dominated this burnt-out room. As soon as he saw the bed, Turgrox saw it instantly change before his eyes, becoming a clean and restful-looking canopied bed. The half-orc became overcome with an urge to take a nap on the bed. Before his friends could stop him, he lay down on the charred and dusty bedframe and closed his eyes. Turgrox immeditately had an extremely vivid dream: He himself was Marden Ambrik, headmaster of the orphanage. As Ambrik, Turgrox saw fragmented yet vivid images of himself doing brutal, horrific, and unspeakable things with the children of the orphanage. Those visions vanished, and then he saw himself, as Ambrik, falling asleep in this very bed smoking a pipe, which fell from his hand can caught the bed on fire. He saw the fire engulf the room and the entire third floor of the orphanage. He woke up with a start. And then the remains of the bed actually burst into flame! The half-orc jumped out the bed, somewhat singed, and the party beat the flames until they were out.
Disturbed greatly by the visions, Turgrox forced himself to perform a throrough search of the room to get his mind back in the game. The party discovered a fire-damaged wooden coffer under the bed. Inside was an alabaster statuette of two succubi entwined in an erotic embrace. Turgrox also found a secret door in the wall leading to a small, windowless chamber. Inside the tiny room was a small wooden desk and chair, and a ratty straw mattress. From two hooks in the wall hung two sets of masterwork manacles. On the mattress lay a dessicated child-sized skeleton, still chained to one set of manacles. The skeleton showed no evidence that it had been wearing anything. Hung over the mattress was a brass symbol. Darshan identified it as that of Belial, Father of Whores, Archdevil of Betrayal and Lust. At that, Zak took down the symbol and destroyed it beneath his boot. On the desk was a book bound in black leather, and a set of iron keys. The keys fit the manacles. The book was a journal written in Infernal, penned by Ambrik. The journal contained 66 poems and dozens of prayers dedicated to Belial. Under the desk was a small chest containing coins, two potions, a magic scroll, and a strange blue-and-red sphere that seemed to hover an inch above the ground. The party collected these treasures and headed upstairs to the attic.
The attic level was almost completely destroyed by fire: Bare, charred wall studs and roof struts still stood, but most of the interior walls had completely decayed. A huge hole in the roof let in sunlight, although the shadows seemed deeper in contrast. Darshan saw a the body of a child curled up in the far corner. Zak reached the child first, and fely for a pulse— the child was thankfully still alive, and seemed to be asleep, but the former barber couldn’t rouse the child. At that, an errie voice whispered out, “Want to play?” A figure resembling a fire-blackened, emaciated child stepped out of the shadows. It wore a cloak of dusty cobwebs. Most disturbingly, where the child’s head should have been, floated about a half-dozen rat skulls! “Let’s play!” it whispered, and suddenly everyone heard eerie unintelligible whispering, sobbing, and snippets of children’s nursery rhymes. The thing lunged toward Zak, and bit him! Zak gasped in terror as he felt the air leave his lungs! Don identified the creature as an attic whisperer— an undead spirit that haunted children. He cast a spell and touched it with necromantic energy. The whisperer then fled across the attic and cowered. The rest of the party surrounded it and smashed it to pieces: Its body was made up of bits an pieces of broken furniture, bones, dust, and discarded children’s toys.
Turgrox made a quick sweep of the room, and found two human skeletons, both still dressed in gear appropriate to burgars. The age of the the skeletons and gear indicated that they had been there for two or three years. The party quickly looted the burglars’ equipment.
Zak picked up the unconscious child, and the party returned to the orphanage kitchen. The other children still gathered there were both glad to see their friend Nathan, but horrified that he wouldn’t wake up. Don said that Nathan had been attacked by a spirit, but that the boy should wake up in a few hours and be fine. The party let the children lead them to Nathan’s family’s flat in the Shingles above Bridgefront, and explained who they were and where they found him. The frightened parents thanked the party, and the four returned to the Stirge and Hammer.
Back at the inn, the party expressed frustration that they had run out of clues. They decided to turn in for the night, and head out the next morning to do some more research on what they’d already learned.
[To Be Continued… Next Week!]
I've gotten three sessions behind with my campaign journal entries for this campaign. I'm hoping to get caught up over this weekend.
Note: This campaign journal contains spoilers for Pathfinder #7: Edge of Anarchy (Curse of the Crimson Throne #1 of 6), and uses some material published in Pathfinder #13: Shadow in the Sky (Second Darkness #1 of 6)
Session 9: 16 June 2014
In the Court of the Spider King
Fireday, 14 Desnus 4704
The party all decided to lay low for the day to recover from the previous day’s fight. Of concern was Basila’s persistent cough: Darshan was privately convinced that she was still suffering from the plague. He administered some medicine to her in an effort to cure the illness.
Starday, 15 Desnus 4704
Feeling much better, the party resumed their investigations into the Cult of the Scythe Mother. While the cult had been using the burnt-out Ambrik House as a staging area for its attack on the Stirge and Hammer, that wasn’t the main safe house for the cult, and the letter they found didn’t offer much of a clue as to where to head next. The letter did, however, confirm that the attacks were planned, and that the cult was deliberately spreading a plague called the Reaping Sickness. Darshan decided to check in with Captain Jeggare to show her more proof of the dangers facing the city, and found her later that day. She said that she would take this to her superiors and would do her best to muster resources to head off a major plague outbreak.
Don remembered that there was a shrine to Urgathoa in the Pantheon of Many down in South Shore, and he suggested that it might be a good idea to talk with a priest of Urgathoa to see if he could learn anything about the Cult of the Scythe Mother. Zak offered to tag along as a bodyguard in case the meeting went poorly. Posing as dilletantes that expressed some level of interest in the faith, they met with Zeldra Rallick, the Urgathoan priestess in charge of the shrine. Zeldra was an enthusiastic evangelist of the Pallid Princess, and told Don and Zak that the church stressed that followers should live life to the fullest, and to indulge themselves with as many pleasures as can be experienced. “And once you have experienced all life has to offer, then you can ascend to a different form, and experience a whole new set of pleasures, for as long as you wish to!” Don showed her the holy symbol that the party had recovered from the Scythe Mother cultists. She was curious where they had found the symbol, and explained that it was the symbol of a splinter-cult that didn’t represent the true teachings of the Pallid Princess. “They also venerate Urgathoa, but they call her the Scythe Mother. They worship her as a reaper of souls, and care little for life. They believe that the highest form of life is undeath, and they seek to spread undeath through the world whether people want it or not.” When asked what she thought of their philosophy, a disgusted look crossed her face. “Undeath should be a choice made willingly. It isn’t for everyone. And you shouldn’t go down that path until you’re ready. There are too many pleasures that only the living can experience, and transitioning to undeath is a one-way journey. Besides, if everybody ascends to undeath, what would we feed on?” Don was both impressed and somewhat horrified by the priestess’ answer, but pressed on with questions about the history of the church of Urgathoa in Korvosa. “Well, this was before my time, but Queen Domina had outlawed worship of Urgathoa for a while. I heard a rumor that she chased all of the faithful out of town and demolished the old temple.” Unfortunately, she had no idea where that old temple had been. Zeldra then invited Don and Zak to a worship feast that Wealday evening, and the adventurers took their leave.
Meanwhile, Turgrox decided to do some investigations of his own. He went to The Heights to try to speak with someone from the Cerulean Society to see if anyone had any news about the attacks in Old Korvosa. He successfully talked the guards outside the guildhall into an audience with Yono Tortney, the Guildmaster’s chamberlain. A regal, balding man with a full white beard, Tortney invited Turgrox for a drink to “talk business.” He led Turgrox around the corner of the guildhall to a side door and stepped through. Turgrox found himself in a small, nondescript barroom. Aside from a barkeep, the room was empty. The half-orc happened to glance up, and noticed several murder holes in the ceiling… and that Tortney showed him to a seat that was directly below one. After a pint of average-quality ale, Turgrox told Tortney that he suspected that a cult had released a deadly plague in the city, and that would be very bad for business. He suggested that the Society should have its local gangs be on the lookout for cultists and suspicious activity. Tortney nodded, and asked if there was anything else. Turgrox then asked for a job. Tortney smiled at that, and replied, “We don’t know you yet. You have to work your way up into the Society. Why don’t you talk to the Spider King in Old Korvosa. I hear he’s always hiring men of your skill set.” At that, Tortney concluded the meeting and walked Turgrox out of the bar.
That evening, back at the Stirge and Hammer, the party met to compare notes. While plotting their next move, Captain Jeggare came in and joined them. “We may have a problem, and I think you guys are the right tool to fix it. Over the past three days, somebody has been quietly been buying up all of the anti-plague medicine available in the city. My sources tell me that the people doing the actual buying have all been members of the Spiders— a gang led by Devargo Barvasi, a.k.a. the Spider King.” Turgrox shot a glance at the rest of the party, but Portia didn’t seem to notice. “Now, Barvasi knows me and all of the guardsmen, and he won’t let us get anywhere near him. But you four— you’re unknowns, and you should be able to get an audience with him. The city is prepared to pay up to 3,000 gold ducats for the medicine. That’s still a fair profit for him, but not at the price-gouging rates he’ll be charging. We need you to meet with him and secure the release of the medicine.” Darshan was able to talk her into releasing a letter of credit for 4,000 ducats, plus an agreement that if the party can talk him down from there, they can keep the rest. “One other thing,” added Portia, “he probably won’t agree to meet just anyone who walks in. You’ll need to get his attention in some way by patronizing his businesses.”
Later that evening, the party found themselves on the dock to Eel’s End, with 500 ducats in hand, and a letter of credit still worth another 3500. “Let’s win big!” said Turgrox. Five ships of questionable seaworthiness were lashed to the pier and to each other. The ships were the Goldenhawk, now serving as a flophouse; the Twin Tigers, a gambling hall, the House of Clouds, a low-rent brothel, the Dragon’s Den, a drug parlor; and the largest ship of this fleet of vice, the Eel’s End herself. The latter ship didn’t have any additional signage that indicated its function; Turgrox surmised that it must be where the Spider King held court.
The party decided to board the Twin Tigers, and attempt to get the Spider King’s attention by either winning big or losing big. The games seemed to be mostly typical: A few tables of bounder, several open tables of towers, and several people crowd in around an odd version or roulette, called “ghoulette.” The latter piqued the party’s interest. In the center of a spinning wheel was the severed, but still animated, head of a ghoul Instead of numbers, the wheel was divided into red and black sections labeled: “Your Brains,” “Your Family,” Your Charisma," “Your Hygiene,” “Your Skill,” “Your Stuff,” “Your Body,” “Your Profession,” and “Your Race.” A green section was labeled, “Something Nice.” The croupier took bets on either a color (red or black), or a section of the wheel. Winning the color paid out two-to-one; winning the wedge paid eight-to-one. When the wheel stopped spinning, the head of the ghoul locked eyes with whoever was standing in front of it and proclaimed an appropriate insult. To one dandy with a fancy rapier at his side, the ghoul proclaimed (after landing on “Your Stuff”): “Nice sword! Do you let your pet rust monster play with it?” To a dwarf, it said after landing on “Your Race:” “Well, you can always tell a dwarf. You just can’t tell him much.” After landing on "Your Profession," it said to a woman in a fancy dress: “On break from the House of Clouds? Gentlemen, she’ll be back there in an hour!” Turgrox played one round, but bet on the wrong color. The head landed on “Your Hygiene,” and asked him: “Do you raise swine or just smell that way naturally?” When Darshan spun (and lost), it landed on “Something Nice,” and it said: “Hey! I’d like to help you out! The door is over there.”
Below deck were arenas for bloodsports: mostly imp vs. pseudodragon fights and games of knivesies. No one was particularly interested in playing those.
After playing (and losing) for a while, Darshan approached the pit boss, and said that he had a business proposal for the Spider King. The pit boss tod him that Mr. Barvasi was very busy and to come back tomorrow to make an appointment. Darshan slipped him five platinum coins, and the pit boss said, “Well, I’ll see what I can do.”
Half an hour later, the party was escorted aboard the Eel’s End, and brought to the aftcastle, into a room that was originally the captain’s quarters. The room was dark, and the walls were covered with thick spider webs. Scores of spiders the size of a man’s fist crawled the webs. About half a dozen Sczarni-looking people sat around a long table. Sitting on a gilded wooden chair overlooking the room was a wiry, gray-haired man in leather armor. He wore leather gloves with half-moon shaped blades that were folded back. Turgrox noted that the blades were coated with a green substance. Several spiders crawled on his arms and torso, and he held a housecat-sized spider in his hands, which he stroked absently as the party members walked in. A brass birdcage hung from a stand next to the throne, in which cowered a sad-looking pseudodragon. He didn’t stand as the party entered, but grinned, and said, “Well, boys, you piqued my interest. They tell me that you have a business proposal for me. I’m a busy man, so let’s hear it.”
Darshan explained that they had been tasked by the city to buy back the larghe stockpile of medicine that Barvasi had been buying up. At that, Barvasi laughed, picked up a metal rod and struck the birdcage several times. Addressing the cowering pseudodragon, he said, “Hey! The city wants to pay me to not make a profit! How generous of them!” He turned back to Darshan, and said that he’d be happy to sell them back for 10,000 gold ducats, in cash, “because, that’s what I’m looking at getting for it when people start getting sick.” After several rounds of negotiations, Darshan said that the city’s maximum offer was 3,000 gp. “Tell you what… let’s make this exciting,” replied the Spider King. “If one of you can beat our current knivesies champion, then I’ll accept your 3,000 ducat offer. But if she wins, then you take your offer back to your ‘Auntie’ Captain Portia Jeggare and tell her that I want 10,000. I know she’s good for it.” Darshan looked a bit shocked at the revelation that Bavarsi knew who he was. The Spider King smiled, and gesturing with the cat-sized spider he still held in his hands, he said, “Let’s just say I have ears and eyes everywhere in this city. So, who’s going to be your champion?” Zak stepped forward.
Bavarsi clapped, stood, and rapped the birdcage with the rod again. “Oh, this will be fun! It’s your funeral.” He then sent one of his men to fetch the knivesies champion. While they waited, Bavarsi reviewed the rules of knivesies. “Have you every played before? No? Well, that’s a pity. So here are the rules...” At that, the rest of his men stood and cleared off everything from the table. “First, no weapons or armor. So, take off that hide shirt, my boy, and drop your sword and axes, and that razor you’re hiding in your boot.” Zak dropped his weapons, and started to doff his armor. At that, a burly-lookiing human woman strode in, wearing a tight-fitting sleeveless top and breeches. Her arms and shoulders were both heavily tattooted and well-scarred. “Ah, Zora. Welcome. You’ll be instructing this one in the art of knivesies, and I was just explaining the rules.” He continued, “Knivesies is a fight on tabletop. I will tie each of the contestants’ right wrists together. You each get a belt pouch. There’s one dagger,” and he pulled a dagger from a sheath, and with a flourish, stuck it forcefully into the center of the table. He then pulled out a handful of gold coins and dropped them around the table. “On the count of three, the game begins. The object of the game is to gather the most coins. The game is over when all of the coins on the table have been scooped up and deposited in each contestants’ belt pouch. Whoever has the most coins wins— the winner keeps half the total, the the rest are split between those who bet loor. on the winner. Oh yes, everyone can bet on who’s going to win— their bets are placed in the pile on the table, and then those who’ve bet stand on their contestant’s side of the table. The game also ends in two other ways. First, if any of the coins on the table fall onto the floor, the game is over. If someone deliberately kicks a coin off the table— judge’s discretion and I’m judging this match— that person loses. If one of the contestants falls off the table, that person loses. If one of the contestants blacks out or dies, that person loses. No outside help— if anyone interferes, then that side loses. Ohter than that, anything goes. Any questions?” Silence. “Okay, let’s start!”
Zak and Zora stood on the table, and Bavarsi tied their right wrists together with a leather cord. They seemed mismatched— Zak clearly had the size and strength advantage, but Zora seemed quicker, and had the experience of playing this game many times. Bavarsi counted down from three, and the fight was on. The contestants both lunged for the knife, and Zora was quicker. She slashed Zak in the arm after retrieving the weapon. Zak grabbed a few coins in the lunge for the knife, and then tried to sweep her legs out, but she anticipated his move and slashed him again. Zak tried to grab her knife and, but she managed to evade. At the same time, Zak managed to avoid getting slashed as they fought for several rounds. Finally, while beeding from several shallow slashes, Zak managed to knock her off balance, then punched her in the face with his left hand, momentarily stunning her. Finally, Zak managed to simultaneously trip and body-slam her, and she fell off the table.
Bavarsi slow-clapped, and said that it was a good fight. One of Bavarsi’s men tossed Zora a potion flask, and Darshan did the same to Zak. Now sitting next to each other next to the table, the two clanked vials and drank their potions of healing. Bavarsi cut the cord binding them, and agreed to sell back the medicine for 3,000 gold. As the party left, Bavarsi told Zak, “If you ever get sick of hanging out with those losers, let me know. I could use a guy like you.”
On the way back to the inn, Darshan observed that they had made a profit of almost 1,000 gold!
[To be continued… Next week!]
Note: No actual spoilers, but material for this adventure was adapted from Pathfinder #8: Seven Days to the Grave, and used the library research game mechanic from Pathfinder #81: Shifting Sands.
Session 10 23 June 2014
Chapter Two: The Body Thieves
Hungry Are the Dead
Moonday, 17 Desnus 4704
Still seeking leads on the safe house of the Cult of the Scythe Mother, the party figured that finding the location of the former temple of Urgathoa would be the best place to start. Zeldra, the priestess of Urgathoa they’d spoken with at the Pantheon of Many, mentioned that Queen Domina had ordered its destruction some time ago, so the party split up to maximize their investigations.
Darshan met with some of his old Sczarni friends to find out what they knew, but none of them had any idea. “Cults? We don’t really mess with those.” He then checked with his ‘aunt’ Portia, but she didn’t have any information either. “I’ve only ever served the Guard under King Eodred’s rule. His mother Queen Domina died when I was still a girl.” Hanging out at the Stirge and Hammer while waiting for the rest of the party to return, he asked Vasaro if he knew of any action against the Cult of Urgathoa when he was in Sable Company. Surprisingly, he did! “Oh, I remember that! Nasty business. I was fresh out of the Academy. Queen Domina ordered the expulsion of everyone associated with the Church of Urgathoa in the city— and their families. It was the Order of the Nail who led the mission— we were just on aerial support. It was the middle of the night, in winter— the Hellknights kicked in doors and pulled people out of bed: men, women, children. At least a hundred people all total, as far as I can figure. They were loaded onto wagons, and brought to Castle Korvosa, for ‘processing.’ We were told that they were all going to be exiled to Nidal or Cheliax by ship over the next few days. But then i was reassigned to border patrol, and I never saw what happened to them.”
Zeldra had said a few things that indicated that the old temple might have been in West Dock in Midland, so Zak and Turgrox went over there to check it out. Carousing in bars, and talking with many old-timers, they were able to confirm a royal decree a while ago that outlawed worship of the Pallid Princess, but dno one could recall whether there was a temple, much less where it was located.
Don Decided to head back to Theumanexus College to do more research there. While there, he crossed paths with Extrarius, whom he hadn’t seen in a few weeks. Shortly into his research, he realized that this library didn’t have a whole lot on the subjects of local history or religion, but we was able to piece tothether a few relavent points:
1. Queen Domina issued a royal decree in 4679 banning the Cult of Urgathoa.
2. There was a reference to a plague that seemed frighteningly familiar in a thousand-year-old commentary on the full chronicles of Imperial Taldor’s Second Army of Exploration into the land of Belkzen in the year 506. The commentator mentioned that the chronicler noted that a group of tomb specialists had returned to the main camp sick from some kind of plague. Those that died from the plague rose again as zombies.
3. A book on architecture mentioned a dwarven architect named Brentha Grimjaw, and listed the Temple of Urgathoa in Korvosa as one of her designs, erected in 4672. There was an artist’s sketch of the building itself, although no background or adjacent buildings were included in the drawing. Don did not remember ever seeing a building that looked like that in Korvosa. The article mentioned that the plans for the building were on file at the University of Korvosa.
Comparing notes back at the Stirge and Hammer, the party decided that their best course of action would be to head over to the University of Korvosa the next morning. As they discussed it, Basila’s cough seemed to have worsened.
Toilday, 18 Desus 4704
After a brief breakfast at the Stirge and Hammer, the party set off across town to The Heights, where the University of Korvosa stood. Unlike the Academae, Korvosa’s world-famous wizard school, the University of Korvosa offered general non-magical education on a variety of subjects, inlcuding literature, medicine, law, and engineering. Heading over to the library, the party was stopped by a librarian before they could enter the stacks. “I’m sorry— the University library is reserved for students.” After explaining what they were looking for, the librarian suggested that they should speak to Head Librarian Estelle Banoy to request a stack pass. After waiting an hour for an appointment, the party managed to talk their way into a three-day stack pass, their position bolstered by a 50-gp donation to the library.
After about eight hours of research, the party found the following details:
1. Someone had deliberately obscured references to architect Grimjaw. Specifically, the plans for the Temple of Urgathoa were not where they should have been.
2. Don found a reference to decree from Queen Domina in 4681 ordering the razing of the Temple of Urgathoa. That reference did not include an address or otherwise indicate where it might be.
3. Darshan found a second-edition copy of the full Chronicle of the Second Army of Exploration. In it, he looked up Don’s reference to the plague unearthed in Belkzen 3500 years ago. The chronicle did not include much more detail, but there was a drawing of the tomb entrance where the plague had been released, and that drawing had legible Thassilonian runes. Don was able to translate: “Intruders beware of the curse of the Reaping Stone of Gastash.”
While somewhat burned out by a day of library research, everyone would have kept researching, had the library not closed for the night. The librarians asked everyone to leave.
Toilday, 18 Desus 4704, early evening
As the party returned to Old Korvosa, they happened upon a patrol of the Korvosan Guard. Leading the patrol was the party’s friend Captain Jeggare, who asked to have a word with them. “Glad I found you. We’re stretched awfully thin right now— people have started to die from this new sickness you warned me about. We’re distributing the antiplague medicine you secured from Devargo Barvasi as best as we can, but there’s not enough to go around. The churches of Abadar, Sarenrae, Pharasma, Shelyn, and, gods help us, Asmodeus are assisting, but, again, people are getting sick faster than the healers can cure them. I’ve also heard some rumors that at least one of the teams running the body carts aren’t taking the corpses of the fallen all the way to Gray— instead they’re dumping them either in the river, or worse, an alley. We have reports I haven’t been able to follow up that corpses are piling up in Racker’s Alley in Bridgefront. If that’s happening, this plague is going to spread faster. Could you guys please check that our for me? Thanks!"
The high walls of the surrounding buildings threw the awkwwardly-bent Racker’s Alley into constant shadow— especially in the encroaching gloom of twilight. Although littered with garbage and filth, the refuse wasn’t the most stomach-churning trait of the rundown alleyway. Heaped against a bent wooden wall rose a pile of more than three dozen corpses, their faces blistered and flushed, dead eyes open and staring. The reek of death was overwhelming, accented by the buzzing of clouds of flies. Some of these corpses had lain here for days.
As the party approached, some of the corpses appeared to be moving— revealing themselves not to be corpses at all but four ghouls feasting on the carrion! The ghouls hissed angrily at the party, and one hissed, “Fresh meat! Get them!” The ghouls rushed to attack. Zak stood his ground, as as one ghoul rushed him, he swung his greatsword, separating the ghoul from its head. The rest fell on the party, rending at their flesh with scabrous, razor-sharp claws, and biting with mouths full of too-long canine teeth. As the party fought back, Turgrox was struck by a dagger coated in sticky red-black blood— the dagger hit him from unawares in the dark. Darshan spotted movement from a balcony overlooking the alley-turned-charnel house: A ghast, this one apparently female, was throwing daggers from the shadows! As Zak and Turgrox battled with the ghouls, Darshan and Don used their magic on the apparent leader of the ghouls, striking her with magic missiles and enchanged snowballs. As the last ghoul was about to fall, three of the corpses lurched to unlife and joined the frey. Zak broke off the attack and charged up the balcony stairs, but the ghast must have sensed danger, and retreated back into the building— a low-rent tenament. The rest of the party dispatched the zombies, as Zak gave chase to the ghoul leader. Chasing it through the tenement, Zak tripped over a cord stretched six inches above the top step of a flight of stairs, and he went crashing down. By the time he picked himself up, the ghast had left the building and disappeared down a manhole into the Vaults.
After defeating the ghouls and zombies, the party limped back to the Stirge and Hammer, alerting a patrol of Korvosan Guard that someone had been dumping corpses of plague victims in Rackers Alley, and someone needed to bury those bodied in consecrated ground as soon as possible, “or else very bad things will happen.” While searching the alley, the party found that many of the corpses had been piled atop a metal bulkhead door that appaparently led into the building’s basement.
Smarting from the fight with the ghouls and zombies, once the scene was turned over to the Guard, the party returned to the Stirge and Hammer for some much-needed rest.
[To be continued…Next week!]
Note: No spoilers per se, but this campaign journal is inspired by one part Pathfinder #8: Seven Days to the Grave and one part on the 1975 made-for-TV-movie Trilogy of Terror.
Session 11 07 July 2014
The Toyshop of Terror
Wealday, 19 Desnus 4704
Waking up to an overcast and rainy day, the party had a quick breakfast at the Stirge and Hammer and headed back to Racker's Alley. By now, the Korvosan Guard and some volunteers were wrapping up disposal of the stinking pile of corpses. "A couple of them started shambling, but we put them down again before they could do any damage. We're taking them to Gray, where we'll be having a huge funeral pyre," said the sergeant.
Once the guard and their wagons of corpses left, the party checked out the area. The coblestones and brick walls were still stained with sticky fliuds, and the reek of death still hung in the air, but far less than the previous night. "At least the rain is washing some of it away," remarked Darshan. The building appeared to be mostly used as a low-rent tenement building, with a single business at street level, which appeared to have been closed for weeks. An askew sign hung over the door, as one chain had broken. It read, "Giotorro's Toys."
The front window displayed a collection of dusty and sorry-looking playthings. Wooden marionettes with too-long limbs and too-wide eyes, lopsided plush horses pulling carts with not-quite-round wheels, and unbalanced tin kights holding unwieldy swords stared blankly through the grime-covered window. Behind the display, heavy curtains obscured the view of the shop interior. Turgrox checked the bulkhead they'd spotted the previous night: it was unlocked. Don cast detect undead while standing in the window, and after a moment, declared, "Hmm. There is at least one undead creature inside. Its force of unlife feels stronger than that of a zombie, but isn't the abyss of blackness of a spectre. We should approach with caution!" Seeing no one in the street, Zak, Darshan, and Don still shielded Turgrox as he picked the lock of the front door. The door opened easily, and a small bell jingled merrily, in contrast to the scene within.
Thin shafts of feeble light shone through holes in the curtain and dimly illuminated the dusty and cobweb-filled shop. Shelves and tables held scores of dolls, dressed in various stereotypical costumes, many bearing tiny weapons typical to their style of dress: tattooed Shoanti dolls with tiny hammers; Ulfen vikings with swords and shields; Mwangi warriors with spears and knives. Crimson kites hung from the cieling, and a dollhouse in the shape of Castle Korvosa stood on a table. A door in the back was marked "private." Turgrox threw open the curtains, letting in the overcast day's feeble sunlight through the grimy window. Suspecting the undead creature would be in the back room, Zak wound through the shelves of second-rate toys. As he approached the door, he felt a sharp pain in his back. With a shout of pain, he spun and pulled a dart out of his back-- it appeared to be a tiny replica of a savage's hunting spear. He then noticed motion on the shelf of dolls: a poorly-proportioned foot-tall doll of a Mwangi warrior raised its tiny arm, readying another tiny spear!
Turgrox roared in pain from the spear of a similar animated doll, while Darshan and Don each felt a spear whiz by thier ears! With weapons drawn, the adventurers returned the attack. The dolls were tough to hit due to their size and agility, but they were very fragile when a weapon connected. After a few exchanges of blows, the four animated Mwangi dolls lay in broken pieces on the floor. Turgrox then stomped them all into shards.
The half-orc then listened at the back room door, and reported that he heard the sounds of woodworking and indistinguishable muttering on the other side. The door was unlocked, and he threw it open. The room was filled with grotesque half-formed dolls of various sorts, their dead glass eyes glittering int he fliokering candlelight. A figure sat on a stool, hunched over a workbench. It wore a tattered and bloodstained smock. At the sound of the door opening, the figure turned. The withered flesh of its face stretched over its skull, a mockery of the features of the living. It still wore a scraggly, brittle-looking goatee and wisps of hair.
It hissed, "We're closed-- and this room is private!"
Darshan replied, "Sorry for barging in here. What are you making?"
"Toys. For the children," it hissed menacingly. It then sniffed the air. "Wait." It stood. "You smell... DELICIOUS!" It then lunched at Darshan!
Darshan evaded the things claws, as Zak struck it with his sword. Turgrox managed to get behind it, and stabbed it in the back with his shortsword. It half-hissed, half-shrieked in pain. Don fired a pair of magic missiles from his wand, and Darshan slashed it with his sickle. It collapsed in a heap, and then its flesh crumbled into dessicated chunks and fell from its skeleton. Searching the room, the adventurers found an inlaid wooden coffer filled with coins, and a key in the shape of the holy symbol of Abadar with the number 639 engraved into it. Darshan identified it as a key to a safe deposit box at the Bank of Abadar in North Point.
After a brief stop at the Stirge and Hammer for lunch, the party returned to the University of Korvosa. Presenting their library pass, they contnued their research into the location of the former Temple of Urgathoa in Korvosa. After four hours of searching through volumes which mainly confirmed what they already knew, Don made a fascinating discovery: Tucked into a treatise on the influence of Dwarven masonry techinques on Korvosan architecture was an envelope marked with the royal seal of Queen Domina. The seal appeared to still be intact, although Turgrox mentioned that it isn't all that hard to re-seal a letter. Opening it, the envelope contained a private royal decree toi a Col. Buros of the Korvosan Guard, dated 4679. It ordered the immediate arrest of all known members of the Cult of Urgathoa-- and their immediate families. Specifically named in the arrest warrant was High Priestess Arazna and her family. After another hour of research, Darshan found the text they were looking for. Rifling through the tome, he found the site plans for the Temple of Urgathoa: the building site was to be on Grove Street, on Garrison Hill, in Old Korvosa-- a mere five blocks from the Stirge and Hammer! A gloss in the margin of that text noted the destruction of the temple in 4681. Darshan knew the location-- it was now the site of the Grove Street Mortuary!
By now, it was late, and the University library was closing for the night. The party decided to turn in for the night, and check out the mortuary first thing in the morning.
To be continued... Next week!
Note: This campaign journal contains spoilers for The Reaping Stone by TPK Games.
Session 12: 14 July 2014
The Grove Street Mortuary (Part 1)
Oathday, 20 Desnus 4704
Not long after breakfast, the party geared up and made the short walk to the Grove Street Mortuary. Their research indicated that this building had been constructed on the site of the former Temple of Urgathoa. It was also the most likely candidate to be the location of the elusive safe house for the Cult of the Scythe Mother.
The mortuary was surrounded by an eight-foot-high wall of red bricks. The front gates were made of wrought iron. They were closed and locked. A brass sign hung on the gates: "Grove Street Mortuary. Est. 4685. Tirus Dreen, Prop. Our Family Helping Yours". A rope with a wooden handle hung next to the gates, obviously attached to a large brass bell. The adventurers walked the outside perimiter of the walls, and found a small back gate that led into an alley. That gate appeared to be latched, but unlocked. Using his magic boots, Turgrox leapt to the top of the walls to survey the grounds. He reported that the main house was one-story and made of brick, with a slate roof. The front gates opened into a carriage house, and there was a smaller cottage or shed near the back gate. The grounds appeared to have once been lush formal gardens, but were now overgrown and poorly maintained. After considering entering through the back gate and sneaking into the main house, they decided to ring the bell and pretend to want to arrange a funeral.
Returning to the main gates, the party rang the bell. After a too-long moment, one of the doors of the carriage house opened, and out stepped a huge, fearsome-looking man. He stood over seven feet tall, but was lean and wiry, weighing perhaps only 200 pounds. His head was small, with goatlike features. He had black, beady eyes that were too small, an upturned nose, and a too-wide mouth full of huge square teeth. He had a mane of black, stringly, hair that dropped to the middle of his back. His clothes were mangy and disheveled, with the exception of a fine gray cloak that hung at his shoulders. He had an oversized farrier's hammer in his left hand, but his right arm appeared to be withered and covered with scabs. He grunted at the party, "Yeah? What do you want?" The creature's reek assailed the adventurers' senses.
Darshan immediately recognized the doorman as an an ogrekin. "One of our dear friends has passed, and we would like you to prepare his body for the funeral," lied the druid. The ogrekin stared at eack of the adventurers for a moment, then unlocked the gates. "Up the gravel path straight ahead. Talk to Mr. Haddy." He watched the adventurers carefully as the filed past him, up the gravel path, and to the front door of the house. Turgrox tried the door, and it opened easily. The sound of jangling bells echoed off the marble floor through the vaulted cieling the large room beyond. Idyllic murals of sea, mountains, and forest decorated tge walls. On second look, however, the party notices the cobwebs around the chandelier and walls, and that the floor was marred by a layer of grime, indicating that it had not been swept or mopped in weeks.
After a few moments, one of the doors opened, and a halfling entered the room. He wore a dark suit, a gray cravate, and a a pair of _pince-nez_ spectacles. He appeared slightly surprised at the party's arrival, but quickly introduced himself as Mr. Haddy, and assumed the role of a mortician, offering condolences for the loss. Don took lead, explaining that a dear friend had passed in the night, and that they wanted to hold a funeral here, with public viewing of the body. The halfling led them through one of the doors to a cramped and cluttered office. While going through the business of organizing a funeral, Darshan noted that the halfling appeared to be distracted, and was rushing through the procedings.
Exchanging a glance with Zak, the barbarian asked if he could use the outhouse. The halfling shot him a quizzical glance and directed him to the side entrance. Zak feigned confusion, and Darshan said he'd help him find it, and they both left the office. Finding a set of stairs, the two descended to the basement, but they led to a locked heavy door. They went back upstairs, through the kitchen. Darshan noted that the pantry seemed to be stocked with enough food to feed a dozen men for weeks, which he thought suspicious. Another locked door led off the kitchen, but as Darshan tried it, he heard an old man's voice from the other side say, "Yes?" Darshan asked if he would open the door, and the man replied, "Well, you know I can't! Miss Firesta says I need to say in here for the day. I don't have the key, anyway."
"Miss Firesta?" asked Darshan.
"Yes! She's such a nice girl. She takes care of everything for me these days."
"I'm sorry," asked Darshan, "who am I speaking with?"
"Why, I'm Tirus Dreen, the owner of this establishment. Of course, I'm semi-retired now. Miss Firesta runs things for the most part now."
Darshan bade Dreen a good day, and went off with Zak to explore the rest of the house. This included a dusty, dis-organized coffin display room. A door from there led to an unused carpentry shop, which they didn't enter. Another door led to a back storeroom, filled with various odds and ends, and the back door to the house. The storeroom also had a ramp that descended to the basement level. Zak noticed bloody footprints leading up from the basement, across the room, to the back door. Following the footprints outside, they led to the small outbuilding next to the property's back gate. The outbuilding appeared to have once been a one-room cottage that had since been converted to a dog kennel, its door wide open. While the kennels held filthy straw filled with dog droppings, there were no dogs apparent. Darshan noticed a chain and lock lying on the ground next to the back gate of the property: the gate was latched but unlocked. The tracks indicated that the person who'd tracked blood through the house ran outside, released the dogs, unlocked the gate, and left without locking it behind him. Strange. The two returned to the house.
Meanwhile, Don and Turgrox continued to negotiate with Haddy over the fictitious funeral. Haddy fumbled through the scattered papers on the desk to find a ledger, which he started writing in. Looking at it upside-down, Don notived that the ledger had been meticulous until about four years ago, where the handwriting changed and the number of funerals dropped precipitously to barely one a month. When going over burial prices in the city cemetary, Turgrox noticed that the date of the price sheet was 3699-- five years ago! They also both noticed that Haddy was growing increadingly distracted, and started to evade questions, asking them to come back later-- after asking for a 20-ducat deposit.
Finally, Turgrox had enough. He took out the coins, started to hand them to the halfling, but deliberately dropped them, "Oops! Sorry!" As Haddy bent over to pick them up, Turgrox lunged at him, getting the halfling into a half-Nelson, and putting a dagger to his throat! "Look, there's something fishy going on here, and you're not leveling with us. Well, we're not leveling with you, either. We're not interested in booking a funeral. We're looking for the Cult of the Scythe Mother. Ever heard of 'em?" At that, the halfling seemed even more nervous. Turgrox told Don to tie the halfling's hands, which he did. While Don worked the knots, Haddy regained his composure, narrowing his eyes and warning, "Gentlemen, you have made a grave error. Be careful what you seek."
Turgrox then said, "Okay, Haddy, you're going to give us a tour of this place." He hauled the halfling to his feet and pushed him out of the office and back into the great hall. That's when they met Zak and Darshan, who were both shocked to see that Don and Turgrox had held the halfling prisoner! While debating the merrits of this plan, Darshan noticed that the halfling had loosed his bonds, and had drawn a dagger! Before he could shout a warning, Haddy plunged it into Turgrox' back! The halfling tumbled out of the party's way as they tried to cut him down, but it was Zak that struck him first. With a severe wound from Zak's sword, the halfling retreated to the door and threw it open, shouting, "Chomper! We're being attacked! In the house!" But Turgrox grabbed the halfling by the collar and punched him squarely in the back of the head, knocking him out. Darshan closed the door, but it needed a key to lock. As he fumbled through the halfling's pockets, the door burst open, and the ogrekin from the carriage house brought his farrier's hammer down upon Zak's head. Another melee ensued, but after a moment, the ogrekin was lying on the foor. Darshan attended to the ogrekin's and the halfling's wounds, but found that they were both dead.
Deciding that they needed to explore the basement, they returned to the stairs that ended at the locked door. Turgrox picked the lock, and they entered an underground chamber. The north wall of this basement room had once been made of brick, but someone had broken through the wall, revealing a much older chamber beyond: A semicircular room dominated by a statue of Urgathoa! Before the statue stood a low altar made of stone, and in the center of the room was a bloodstained dining table with eight chairs. However, the far end of the room seemed more urgent. In the southern end of the room, the walls and floor were covered in pooled and splattered blood. Seven corpses lay on the ground. Four appeared to be partly decayed and were hacked to pieces. Two were fresher, and wore the robes of a Scythe Mother cultist, and the last appeared to be of Varisian ancestry, and was dressed as a Sczarni street thug. After examining the scene, Darshan was pretty sure that the four decayed corpses probably had been zombies, and they killed the four humans. A corridor led off the room past the battle scene. This corridor was likewise covered with blood, and it ended in a heavy wooden door, barred from this side. Turgrox listened at it.
The distinct sound of groaning, punctuated with scratching and pounding on the door didn't require the skills of a rogue to detect. While debating what to do, the sounds of banging grew more intense, and then the door burst open! A dozen zombies lurched toward the party!
To Be Continued... next week!
I'm getting a bit behind on the campaign journals. I'm hoping to catch up shortly. We're set to play Session 18 tomorrow night.
Note: This journal contains spolers for The Reaping Stone by TPK Games
Session 13: 21 July, 2014
The Grove Street Mortuary (Part 2)
Oathday, 20 Desnus 4704, late morning
Standing in the basement of the Grove Street Mortuary, the party watched in horror as the barred oaken door to the next room burst open from the other side. A dozen zombies shambled into the room, seeking the living to destroy! The party fell back, using the narrow passageway throught which the zombies had to pass as a bottleneck. Zak stepped back, and threw his javelin of lightning down the narrow passage. With a crack of thunder, the javelin turned into a lightning bolt as it left the barbarian’s hand, which streaked down the corridor into the next room. Two-thirds of the advancing zombies fell to the electrical charge, and the party made short work of the rest.
Pressing into the next room, the party discovered a large cellar chamber with a huge oven set into the far wall. The floor and walls were slick with buckets fresh blood, and about a dozen bodies and severed body parts littered the floor. Several of the corpses seemed to be in a state of decomposition, while many of the fresher ones had been gnawed upon. Three more zombies attacked, which the party put down quickly. Searching the room, the adventurers found some salvagable gear and other valuables from the corpses. The ovens appeared to have not been lit in years. Turgrox noticed that it would be relatively easy to climb up the chimney to the mortuary’s grounds. A battered heavy wooden door led south, and an open passage led north. A ramp in the western wall led up to the storeroom above. Zak noticed a set of bloody footprints that headed up the ramp, and realized that it was the same set they’d seen earlier.
The northern chamber appeared to be a morgue. A dozen tables were neatly lined up along the walls, all bloodstained but empty. A few bloodstained tarps lay on the floor next to some of the tables. A shimmering silver seal was set into the floor, which Darshan determined was magical. Also in the room was a tarp-covered gurney. Under the tarp was a disturbing sight: a collection of body parts from small-sized humanoids: mostly gnomes and halflings, but some could have been from human children. Examining the seal on the floor, Darshan determined that if a corpse was placed on the seal for a minute, it would cease rotting for as long as it remained in the room. Don suggested that this room had probably been the embalming room when the mortuary was really operating as a mortuary. Searching through the room, Turgrox found a set of old surgical tools that still appeared to be in good condition, as well as several dusty bottles of embalming fluid.
Finding no other way out, the party returned to the crematorium, and Turgrox listened at the door to the south. He heard someone on the other side whisper, “Shh! I think they’re checking the door! Get ready!” The half-orc noticed that the door had no lock from this side, and was barred from inside. With his greatsword drawn, Zak gathered his strength and kicked the door in— surprising the three Scythe Mother cultists that were inside! Shouting, “Parise the Scythe Mother!” one of the cultists cast a spell as the other two defended him with their scythes. He targeted Zak with the spell, and stage-whispered, “Reap them!”
For an instant, Zak was filled with a desire to strike down Turgrox, but he quickly came to his senses and cut down one of the cultists instead. Positioning himself well, Turgrox buried his shortsword into the other cultist’s belly, twisting the blade on the way out. The cultist crumpled to the floor. Don blinded the spellcaster, who clutched at his unholy symbol to utter a malediction, as Darshan used a wand to hit him with an unnaturally cold chunk of ice. The spellcaster cursed the adventurers in the name of the Scythe Mother, and a pulse of dark energy pulled at their souls. Yet none of the heroes fell. Blinded, the priest of the Scythe Mother could scarcely defend himself against Turgrox and Zak’s attacks, and he also fell, cursing the adventurers.
Searching through the priest’s possessions, they found another crudely-drawn map of the Vaults below Korvosa. This map was similar to the one they’d found on the night of the initial attack. The target listed on the map was Exemplary Execrables, the theatre of the macabre in Old Dock that had also been targeted that night. On the back of the map was written, “Call the Watcher by name or face immediate death. Kneel before the twice-slain fool and lift your gaze to see the sign. Seek the Squire then touch silver to the second sign to find the way.”
Finding no other way out of the crematorium, the party returned to the main cellar, and took the open passageway to the south. They passed a side-passage, and followed the corridor for about 200 feet, where it connected to a secondary sewer line in the Vaults. “This must be how they come and go unnoticed,” offered Don. Returning to the side passage they’d walked by earlier, about 20 feet in, they found a ladder bolted to the wall leading up into a shaft. Turgrox climbed the ladder and found that it ended at a trap door about 20 feet up. The trap door was unlocked, and the rogue threw it open. The room above was lit by daylight, and he was assailed by the stench of sweat, urine, and rotting meat. Climbing into the room, the half-orc found himself in a filthy one-room apartment, apparently in the carriage house by the entrance to the grounds. A glance around revealed several stinking fetishes of bone rotting flesh hung from the cieling by twine or wire. A cloud of flies buzzed angrily through the room. Not wanting to search further, he retreated down the ladder, closing the trap door behind him.
As the heroes continued down the passage, they heard guttural moaning ahead, and the sound of many hands beating on and scratching at a door. They entered a room that appeared to be a ruined barracks, with bunk beds overturned and smashed. A dozen zombies were attempting to get through a closed oak door, and didn’t seem to notice the PCs behind them. The four adventurers each tossed a flask of alchemist’s fire at the zombies, and several caught fire and burned. The rest attacked. By now, the party had gotten pretty good at fighting zombies, and dispatched the shambling corpses while escaping serioud injury.
However, before anyone had a chance to catch their breath, a rope suddenly appeared, seemingly suspended from mid-air. Three Sczarni thugs slid down the rope, followed by an attractive dark-haired woman who appeared to be of mixed Varisian and Tien heritage.
The thugs pulled shortswords, and the woman said, “Nice work on the zombies. Sorry you have to die. Get ’em, boys!”
To be continued… Next week!
Note: This campaign journal entry contains spoilers for The Reaping Stone by TPK Games
Session 14: 28 July 2014
The Grove Street Mortuary (Part 3)
Oathday, 20 Desnus 4704, early afternoon
Surprised by the sudden appearance of a gang of Sczarni street thugs, the heroes were nevertheless prepared for battle. The thugs tried to stay between the heroes and the mysterious woman, and the heroes realized why as she cast a spell at Zak. Zak suddenly noticed that everything around him seemed to grow to be twice its size. Everyone else saw Zak and all of his gear shrink down to half his size, leaving him just three feet tall! “I guess we’re all looking down on you now,” quipped the sorceress. Don drew his wand of magic missles and returned fire, as Darshan drew his sickle and fought the thugs. Despite being half his size, Zak remained a formidable opponent, and found that he had gained a new advantage— he was now more agile and harder to hit! Despite not hitting as hard as he did at full size, Zak managed to drop one of the thugs, just as Turgrox successfully caught another thug off-guard and plunged his dagger between his shoulder blades. The sorceress cast another spell, engulfing half the party in a cone-shaped blast of flames. Unfortunately, her remaining guard happened to step in front of her just as her spell went off, and he was engulfed as well. The thug dropped to the ground, smouldering, but none of the heroes did. Turgrox then lunged at the sorceress, trying to pull her to the ground. She nicked the half-orc with her dagger, but Turgrox managed to pin her to the floor. Using the manacles they’d recovered from Ambrik House, they captured the sorceress.
The sorceress called herself Elleste, and claimed to be an apprentice to the wizard Ferista. She said that when she became Ferista’s apprentice, she had no idea that her master was involved in criminal activity. She said that she had been coerced into helping her cruel master into taking over this mortuary five years ago, under fear of her mistress removing her magical powers and selling her to orcish slavers in Kaer Maga. At first, she claimed to know nothing about the Cult of the Scythe Mother, save that cultists suddenly took over the mortuary a few days ago. Darshan was pretty sure she was lying, so Turgrox pressed his interrogation… at one point threatening to break all of her fingers so she couldn’t cast spells and then sell her to orcish slavers himself.
At that threat, she confessed, and told the real story: She really was a wizard and apprentice of Ferista. Ferista is involved in several criminal activities, and has been using the mortuary as a front for years. She said that Ferista has a gang of about 20 people that do her dirty work, which includes selling drugs and body parts. She claimed that Ferista charmed Tirus Dreen, the owner of the mortuary, five years ago, and that she keeps him as a willing prisoner in his own home. She said that Dreen now thinks that Ferista is his adopted daughter who managed the business now that he’s getting older. She said that Ferista let the cultists move in about a month ago, and they were the ones that found the statue of Urgathoa behind the false wall. When asked about the zombies, she said that the cultists made a few, but lost control of one and that one attacked one of the gang members. He got sick after a few days and died, so they stowed his body in the morgue with some other bodies. But earlier today, all of the corpses in the morgue rose up and attacked, and then those the zombies killed themselves rose up! She said that some of the cultists had barricaded themselves in a storeroom off the crematorium, Ferista is holed up in her own bedroom, and she herself had used a rope trick spell to save herself and a few gang members— she then cast invisibility on the rope itself so that the zombies wouldn’t know where they were.
At that, Turgrox thanked her for sharing, then clonked her on the head with his sap, knocking her out. He then picked her up in a fireman’s carry and took her along.
Opening the door, they found themselves in a finely-appointed lounge. The room was lit by three sconces on which continual flame spells had been cast. The walls were decorated by Varisian tapestries, and in front of the fireplace was a white bearskin rug. A comfortable-looking divan stood behind a hardwook coffee table. A cabinet with glass doors held a crystal decanter of brandy and four crystal goblets. A beautiful marble statue of a naked nymph stood near the doorway. Turgrox unceremoniously dumped the limp form of Elleste onto to divan.
Just as the unconscious sorceress hit the couch, the statue of the nymph animated and attacked! Darshan identified it as a caryatid column: a magical construct that tended to break weapons if struck with them. Fortunately, the party had collected a fair number of mundane weapons from fallen enemies, and used those to fight the animated statue. The statue managed to strike Zak several times, but the party was able to beat it into submission, at the cost of ruining several captured weapons.
While Darshan tended to Zak’s wounds, Don and Turgrox searched the room. They found a bookshelf that held about two dozen books on various topics, including a tome about the crafting of magical constructs like the homonculus. While tapping a fine hardwood coffee table for secret compartments, Turgrox found a wand taped to the underside. Don identified it as a wand of lightning bolt. The crystal decanter held about a quart of excellent whiskey. Turgrox was fairly certain that the decanter and matching goblets were valuable. Examining the alcove where the statue had stood, Turgrox found a secret compartment that held a locked coffer that contained cash and a few potions. While searching the room, the spell that shrunk Zak wore off, and he returned to his normal size.
At about this time, Elleste regained consciousness. Looking around the room, she said, “Well, I see you met our guardian statue. I was just about to warn you about that when you knocked me out!! Ouch, by the way.” Turgrox glared at her. Darshan asked her where the two doors in this lounge led to. She said the door to the south was her room, and the door to the east was Ferista’s. Turgrox listened at the eastern door, but didn’t see anything. Darshan cast detect magic, but didn’t see any traces of magic on the door. Turgrox then picked up Elleste again, as Zak kicked open the door.
The room beyond was a finely-appointed bedroom, with a four-poster bed, more tapestries, a mahogany writing desk, and a wardrobe. Sitting in an overstuffed armchair was a blonde woman in a frilly dress, her hair held in place by a tiara. She appeared to be in her late 20s, She also appeared to be unarmed. “Welcome to my inner sanctum. Of course, you could have just knocked.”
Turgrox threw Elleste onto the bed. “Ooh, kinky,” she taunted.
Darshan faced the seated woman, "You must be Ferista."
“I am. I see you’ve met Elleste. As you can see, I am unarmed and pose no threat to you. So, let’s dispense with the niceties. What do you want from me?”
Don then asked what she knew of the Cult of the Scythe Mother. Ferista shot a look at Elleste, still sprawled on the bed. Her apprentice shrugged. Ferista sighed, and told the party the following story:
“Yes, I know of the Cult of the Scythe Mother. My sister Arazna is their leader. About 30 years ago, Arazna petitioned the magistrates of the city to officially recognize the church of Urgathoa in Korvosa. They refused. She then petitioned Queen Domina herself for a private audience, and to her surprise, the request was granted. The meeting lasted several hours, but in the end, Arazna stormed out. The very next day, Queen Domina issued an order to arrest and detention of every follower of the Pallid Princess and their leaders— Arazna in particular. In the scramble to arrest all of the Urgathoans in the dead of night, my sister’s husband put up a fight while Arazna tried to escape. He was killed, along with their three daughters. The Church of Urgathoa was effectively destroyed that night. While Queen Domina claimed that all of the Urgathoans arrested had been tried, convicted, an exiled, in reality they were all locked in the dungeons below the Grand Mastaba and executed. The Church of Urgathoa in Korvosa was effectively destroyed that day. Or so I thought.
“A year ago, Arazna contacted me by magic. She told me that she had escaped the pogrom 30 years ago, and had been nursing her anger against Queen Domina and her city every since. Arazna said that she had discovered references to a Thassilonian artifact lost in Belkzen that would allow her to enact the vengence she sought: this artifact was linked to the Pallid Princess, and could be used to unleash a zombie uprising in the city. Once the zombies were raging enough to be a true threat, she would go to Domina’s son, King Eodred. She would offer to use the artifact to end the zombie uprising in exchange for being named the new Queen of Korvosa. I offered her the use of this mortuary to her and her followers, in exchange for her to name me as the Chancellor of Exchequer once she’s queen. Arazna and several followers showed up about six months ago and started their preparations.”
Don asked if she knew where they were now. Feriesta said that she’d overheard one of them taking about the “tomb of the twice-martyred fool,” which must mean the Reliquary of St. Alika.
While she was talking, Darshan cast detect magic, and realized that Ferista was under the effects of several spells— including one spell that could mask her actions. Seeing through the illusion, he realized that she wasn’t actually sitting in a chair or wearing a frilly dress: she was standing at the ready, clad in no-nonsense leather armor, with a rapier in her left hand! Darshan interrupted her story, and demanded her to drop the illusion, which she relucatntly did. Turgrox then confiscated her rapier and spell component pouch.
“I’ve told you what I know. Take what you want, just leave Elleste and me alive and intact. I swear that you’ll never see us again.”
After a short conference, the party agreed. As Turgrox tied her up, Darshan asked, “One more thing— how come you’re in charge of a mortuary?” Ferista sighed and explained that it was an excellent front for the black market in humanoid body parts. She said she had convinced Tirus Dreen, the owner, to take her on as a partner. When asked if she’d used magic to gain Dreen’s confidence, she unabashedly said, “Yes.” Having enough of her, Turgrox knocked her out with his sap. He then did the same to Elleste, who managed to get in a “Not again!” before blacking out.
Leaving the two wizards unconscious on the bed, the party ransacked the room, finding several valuables (although not Ferista’s spellbook.) Among the valuables recovered was a pair of magical eyeglasses They then locked the door from the other side, and Turgrox used his lockpicks to completely jam the lock. “It’ll take some doing to get this door open. Of course, they’re wizards, so they’ll get out eventually. At least they won’t be following us!”
On the way out, the party broke into Elleste’s room, and ransacked that as well. They found more valuables, including a few spell scrolls and Elleste’s spellbook. At that, the heroes left the mortuary and returned to the Stirge and Hammer to figure out what to do next. On the way back, they passed a pair of Korvosan Guardsmen, and reported that they had heard the sounds of a fight at the Grove Street Mortuary. “The guards should release Dreen and find those wizards we left behind,” suggested Don.
“Hopefully,” remarked Darshan.
To be continued…Next week!
Note: This journal entry contains spoilers for The Reaping Stone by TPK Games.
Session 15: 4 August 2014
The Reliquary of St. Alika, Part 1
Fireday, 21 Desnus 4704
The party woke up to a gloomy, rainy, and unseasonably cold spring day. Checking on Basila’s health, she seemed to have gotten no worse, but no better. After a quick breakfast, they headed back to the library at the University of Korvosa to find out more about the Reliquary of St. Aliika the Twice-Martyred.
After just two hours of research, they learned that the Reliquary had been completed in 4435, four years after the death of Saint Alika, using funds originally raised to conduct a resurrection of the fallen paladin. The documents indicated that there were crypts below the public areas of the monument, but only the Church of Aroden would have access to them. Today, with the deterioration of the Bridgefront neighborhood in which the monument stood, combined with the destruction of the Church of Aroden, the almost 270-year-old monument has fallen into a state of disuse and partial disrepair.
The heroes then headed back to Bridgefront to the reliquary itself. The monument was built of light gray marble and stood 60 feet tall. The building took the form of an Azlanti temple: rectangular, about 120 feet wide and 100 feet deep, with a triangular roof supported by marble columns. A wide stariway led to a 20-foot-wide open doorway. Inside, the roof was supported by many smaller columns. A large raised dias stood at the back of the reliquary, on which lay a stone sarcophagus. A 15-foot-tall bronze statue of St. Alika stood on a pedestal behind the sarcophagus. Unlit bronze censers stood on either side of the sarcophagus. Behind the dais was an open doorway to a second chamber. The reliquary was illuminated by several everburning torches in iron sconces affixed to several of the columns.
The party entered the reliquary and looked around. Frescoes of the deeds of St. Alika adorned the walls, and Arodenite symbols were everywhere. Don remembered the saying written on the map they’d found on one of the cultists the previous day: Call the Watcher by name or face immediate death. Kneel before the twice-slain fool and lift your gaze to see the sign. Seek the Squire then touch silver to the second sign to find the way. He had no idea what the watcher’s name could be, but he decided to follow the instructions. He walked up to the dais, and knelt before the statue.
As he knelt, the other members of the party gasped in fear: suddenly, silently, and without warning, a gigantic spider with a humanoid head appeared in their midst! It bit Turgrox in the shoulder, then disappeared!
Turgrox felt woozy for a moment, but managed to shake off the effects of the poison. Darshan recognized the thing as a phase spider: a creature that can hop between the material and ethereal planes at will— a dangerous opponent indeed! Weapons drawn, the party looked around for the beast, but couldn’t see any trace where it went. It materialized again, this time trying to bite Zak, but its fangs were repelled by the barbarian’s armor. Don began casting a spell, holding its last few words for when it appeared again. And when it did, he completed the spell before it could disappear. Don cursed the creature with blindness! Unable to see, it spat curses in common and then disappeared for a final time. “Wow! Neat trick, that!” said Zak.
Looking around, Darshan noticed something in large spider webs near the ceiling. Turgrox climbed a column to investigate, and discovered the dessicated corpses of several people— including one city guard, still in her uniform. He also found a small cache of treasure, presumably taken from the spider’s victims.
Don returned to the dais and looked up at the statue. For a brief instant, he saw a strange silvery sigil appear on the underside of the statue’s chin. It was unlike any symbol he’d seen before, but he would certainly recognize it if he saw it again. Examining the statue, censers, and sarcophagus did not reveal anything, so the party decided to explore the back room.
The back room contained a smaller shrine to Khundren, Alika’s squire, who fell by her side in 4431. The shrine consisted of Khundren’s sarcophagus, with a bronze effigy of the fallen paladin adorning the lid. When Don looked at the sarcophagus, he saw the same silvery sigil on the effigy’s helm. When he pointed it out, no one else could see it. Taking out his silver dagger, Don touched the blade to the sigil. Nothing happened. He then traced the sigil with the blade. The sigil winked out, and the party then heard a rumbling sound and the grinding of stone on stone. A section of the wall to the west descended into the floor, revealing a dark doorway to the east. Chilly, dank air wafted from the passage.
To Be Continued… Next Week!
Note: This journal entry contains spoilers for The Reaping Stone by TPK Games
Session 16: 18 August 2014
The Reliquary of St. Alika, Part 2
Fireday 21 Desnus 4704, afternoon
The party stood before the open passageway leading into darkness. Turgrox, who can see in the dark, entered first. He found a passageway that ran about 30 feet and ended in a spiral staircase leading down into darkness below. The rest of the party took out their light sources and followed. The stairway descended about 120 feet, ending at a small landing before a closed door made of stone. The door seemed that it was made to pivot on a central axis, but it appeared to be stuck. Turgrox and Zak threw thier shoulders into it, and the door slowly opened, making a loud grating sound. The party ventured into a large, high-ceilinged burial vault. The walls were lined with burial niches, from the floor to a height of about eight feet. The walls above the niches were decorated with carved symbols of Aroden, although several had been damaged. Eight stone sarcophagi tood in the room, their lids smashed on the floor beside them. Turgrox approached a sarcophagus, and an arm of blackened and rotting flesh shot out of it— and the rest of a ghoul bolted upright to attack! More ghouls rose from the other sarcophagi, and all sprang to attack the living. As the party fought the ghouls, four skeletal warriors climbed from burial niches and joined the fight.
The party was outnumbered, but they quickly realized that they outclassed the undead horde, and the battle soon turned in the party’s favor. After a minute of combat, all of the undead were in pieces on the ground.
Several passages led to other crypts. Following one, the party found itself in another burial crypt, full of niches cut into the walls. A single dessicated corpse sat on the floor, crumpled against the wall. As Darshan examined the corpse, it sprang to unlife and attacked, attempting to strangle the Vudrani druid. While it did manage to get its hands around Darshan’s neck, Zak hit it from behind with his greatsword, cleaving the thing’s head and left arm from its body, destroying it.
Another crypt contained more burial niches, and more Arodenite iconography that was partially smashed. While exploring this chamber, six skulls floated out of niches, and all swarmed Zak, biting at him with clacking jaws. Zak and the rest of the party were able to smash the skulls out of the air. In one of the burial niches, Turgrox discovered an interesting helmet that radiated magic, which he claimed.
The last passage out of the entry chamber led to another burial crypt with niches along all walls. In that room, Turgrox spotted a pressure-plate on the floor. He managed to disarm it, and realized that the trap would have triggered a hail of dozens of arrows that would have struck anyone in the room. After a few minutes of work, the half-orc managed to disable the trap, and the party explored the room— which turned out to be empty. A passage led to the south.
To be continued… Next week!