| Bjørn Røyrvik |
I know I know, I said I wouldn't do any more of these but hear me out, OK?
...
...
Right, I don't really have any good excuses for this one. I do have a bad excuse , however: it's a good start for a mini-campaign and a variant of the eponymous ritual is perfect for what I have in store for Tomokato, and this is definitely the highest personal stakes for one of the PCs even if it isn't the worst thing that could happen to the world at large.
Tomokato's first two reincarnations went well but his third came to a sticky end. When trying to sneak around a temple in Oenkmar he was caught and sacrificed to Atzanteotl. The evil Immortal recognized the soul sent to him as something far more interesting than the weak kobold it thought it was. He realized it was a powerful spirit on the Path of the Polymath. Even better it belonged to his hated rival Ixion. Being able to stop a petitioner from becoming a Matter Immortal is prize enough but Atzanteotl loves corruption so he attempted to corrupt "Longjaw". He confronted the kobold persona and said he would return the kobold's heart if he just did a little job for him. Longjaw, knowing no better, agreed. Had Longjaw kept to the new bargain, not only would Atzanteotl have corrupted a powerful minion of Ixion, he would have guided a new petitioner to Immortality in the Sphere of Entropy. This would have been an immense win for him. As it was, Longjaw got a little hint that keeping to the bargain with Atzanteotl was a Bad Idea and was put on the right path again. Atzanteotl failed to corrupt Longjaw but was left with the beating heart of the kobold and as such a powerful spiritual connection to Tomokato's essence and soul. He could just kill the cat and be done with it and it would still count as a win but his ego wants him to press for a bigger win.
He invents up the Carrion Crown (or Charnel Crown, depending on the translation) a method of forcibly corrupting a powerful servant of good into his service, and sets his minions out to gather the necessary ingredients.
The Vaults of Pandius were rapidly emptying. The necessary meetings were done and few bothered to hang around and chat. Atzanteotl, in the shape of a handsome elf, lounged conspicuously in sight of Lokena and Ixion, two of the few who had some more business to conduct before heading to their home planes. When they cast a glance his way he tossed a little object insolently into the air and snatched it again. A small heart, still bloody.
Ixion, old and experienced, showed no sign of caring but Lokena could not hide her discomfort. Atzanteotl grinned a grin that could start blood feuds and sauntered over. "Looks like you both lose. My condolences" he said with a politeness made blatantly false by the look on his face.
Ixion shrugged slightly. "Mortals die. Even great heroes are not always cut out to become Immortal. It's a minor loss, all things considered."
Lokena kept her mouth shut but could not hide her shame and anger. Atzanteotl's grin widened. "For one of your age and stature maybe, but it is a sore failure for such a young one as this," he gestured dismissively towards Lokena. "Perhaps she was a bit too eager in taking on a petitioner when she has barely become Immortal herself."
"Perhaps." Ixion seemed ever so slightly bored with the situation.
Unable to contain herself, Lokena said: "You had a perfect set up to coup Tomokato and you failed in less than a month."
"Thanks to Ixion stepping in and ruining things. No matter how you look at this, any successes on the rakasta's part are in Ixion's favor and you are merely trying to steal credit."
"And you merely lucked out by having Tomokato fall in your lap with a perfect set up to make him fall and you spectacularly fumbled the corruption attempt. You couldn't corrupt him so all that is left is killing him, a poor consolation prize." Lokena managed to avoid shouting at the older and more powerful Immortal but could not avoid heaping scorn on the statement.
"But a prize nonetheless, one that cost me nothing and is, no matter how you look it, a loss for you two."
"And that is how you win these days, is it? Doing nothing and hoping fortuitous situations just happen upon you?" Lokena
"That is the meaning of 'fortuitous', is it not?" Atzanteotl laughed. "Tell you what. I can see this means a lot to you so I will be nice for once, young godling. I will give him, and you, a chance. He will be given a chance to finish his little quest but he will do so with no interference from either of you. No direct help, no conveniently placed minions with a vague impulse to aid, no favors from anyone else: only him. For my part, I will keep his heart but I will not kill him flat out. I will slowly forcibly corrupt him and your minions will not be able to directly oppose him afterwards. If little Tommy can figure out what's going on, find out how to stop it, and regain his heart and live at the end, I will consider it a loss. Any other outcome is a Sting against you both."
Ixion's eyes burned harshly for a moment then returned to normal. “It hardly seems like good odds for us, knowing you.”
“But there is a chance. Do you want to do the sensible thing and give up or put way more importance on your morals than they deserve?”
“I agree,” Lokena said instantly. “You failed once, now you will just fail faster.”
Ixion was silent a moment, studying the face of his hated opponent. “No allies for any of us, no outside interference, no information to Tomokato, only his own skills and experience and spells granted, minus Commune or similar direct contact magics.”
“And he must figure out what is going on and stop my minions and retrieve his heart within a month,” Atzanteotl.
“It seems very nice of you, giving him such a long time to win,” said Ixion. “You will cheat.”
Atzanteotl looked insulted. “Of course I won’t. I won’t need to.”
Everyone knew he was lying but there was not anything more to be said and Ixion excused himself and Lokena. “This is a foolish thing you have gotten yourself into,” he said once they were alone again.
“I know, Hierarch. It’s just…”
“You are still young. You have only barely become Immortal yourself. You grasped too greedily at attempts to improve your standing without considering the risk. Everyone here has had candidates fail their attempt to join our ranks. I have lost count of how many of mine have failed. Far better to conserve your strength rather than allow someone like Atzanteotl Sting you.”
Lokena stared defiantly back at the immeasurably older and more powerful Immortal. “So why did you agree?”
Ixion’s eyes flared. “Because I want him to fail. And because I can suffer a Sting better than you can in the attempt.”
Lokena brought up a scrying window. It showed Tomokato training youths at the orphanage he ran. An eclectic bunch of pupils filled the ranks, learning how to fight from one of the most skilled warriors in the world. “He will get no help from us shall keep his bow. It is his, not ours.”
Ixion frowned. “Atzanteotl can make a case that is violating the terms of our agreement.”
“And I can make a case it isn’t. That combined with whatever he is going to try to pull will let it slide.”
Ixion did not sigh but that was only because he had never gotten into the habit. “I suppose Tomokato does have a decent-ish chance of succeeding, even if the odds are against him.”
...
He awoke to a cacophony of thoughts and impressions. His ears were wrong, his eyes seemed to have spectacles with warped lenses on, his nose was not sensitive enough and his body felt wrong and misshapen in every way. He squeezed his eyes together and tried to make sense of things. Slowly, interminably, he began to understand. Four different sets of expectations and muscle memory were trying to make sense of a fifth, unknown body. Four different voices tried to make themselves known in his head, four different personalities. Aral, the human wizard who had found the Heart of Winter in the far north. Jaques, the rotting lupin who had taken the horn of Zargon. Longjaw, the kobold who had taken soul stones from the Shadow Elves’ City of Stars. Firstly, lastly, and most importantly, he was Tomokato Katamura, whose deeds were too numerous to list. He was all of these and now he was…he did not know.
His hands roamed over his face and head and quickly noticed the unmistakable ears of an elf. He opened his shirt and saw the gaping hole where a heart should be. So. Atzanteotl still had it. That was a pretty good indication of what he needed to do. Still, first things first: he now needed to know where he was.
He turned his attention to the outer world. He was standing on a small dirt road, somewhat muddy. He breathed in trying to learn how his new body worked. The sky was cloudy and the air was damp and cold and the woods it ran through was damp and the smell of rotting leaves exuded from it. Autumn, then. Wet leaves and….blood. He spun around and saw a corpse lying a few feet away from him. His hands shuddered for a second as four instincts warred on what to do: ready a spell, draw a bow, draw a rapier or draw daggers. He went for the weight he felt hanging on his back and drew his bow. That, at least, was familiar even if it felt subtly wrong in his new body. Seconds passed and no enemies showed themselves. He relaxed minutely, and turned his attention to the dead person. It was an elf, male. About Tomokato’s size, apparently killed by a heavy cutting blow through the neck and into the chest. The blood was semi-coagulated, only kept from fully drying by the damp mud. Several hours had passed since his death, Tomokato estimated. He looked over the dead man’s belongings, finding a small purse with coins, a sack full of nice, somber clothes and two letters inside his coat that had miraculously mostly avoided being soaked through with blood. One well-read, the other read only once or twice. Tomokato opened the well-read one.
Dear Silmeran
I know it has been many years since we last spoke and that we parted on poor terms but I hope you will at least finish reading this letter before you decide what you will do with it. I admit you have good reason to dislike me but I regret nothing of what happened between us because regret would mean I was wrong and I cannot believe that. In spite of this I beg you to set aside what resentment you might still bear for me and hear my plea.
I do not wish to say much in a letter in case it is intercepted or falls into the wrong hands but I can say it has to do with our work with the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, a secret I was certain we all would take with us to our respective graves. Either someone has come across this secret independently of us or - and I scarcely dare think the thought - one of us has given in to the temptation to use it for personal gain.
Silmeran, I beg of you, come to Ravengro and speak to me of this matter. I am an old man and cannot travel far or fast, and I must watch Harrowstone; else I would have come to you in person to plead my case. I would not tear open old wounds without good cause but there is something terrible afoot. You are the last person I would imagine breaking their word and in case one of our colleagues is involved in this matter we must work together to stop them. In any case, the Order must be warned and you are the only one I can trust.
With deepest humility,
Petros
Ravengro, 5 Ambyrmont
The second letter was much shorter.
Dear Silmeran Ovne
It is with heavy heart that I write to you to inform you of the death of my father, Petros Lorrimar. He died yesterday in a terrible accident. The burial will take place three weeks from today and I hope to see you there as there is something I must discuss with you.
Kendra Lorrimar
Ravengro, 12 Ambyrmont
The language was Thyatian, probably a Glantrian dialect. He was unfamiliar with Ravengro but the name could indicate Glantri as well. Better keep his divine abilities and worship a secret, then. Tomokato put the letters inside his coat and took stock of his possessions. His bow, a weapon as mighty as any he had encountered in his lives, with a quiver of arrows. Daggers, a rapier, a pack with some food and rope. Nothing else. He took a deep breath and use his daggers to dig a shallow grave for the hapless elf. Done he wiped off his hands and choose a direction on the road and started walking. There would be at least a 50% chance of heading to this Ravengro if his assumptions were correct. As he walked his thoughts drifted to his current position. Previously he had been given an audience with Lokena and then reincarnated. Granted he didn’t remember the audience or his previous life at the time but this time he remembered everything, just not any preparation by his patron. Tomokato….frowned. Tomokato was the wrong name now. He thought of the languages he knew, well over twenty, and tried to find the most esoteric and unknown of them and realized his native Myoshiman tongue was the best. Taking the name Saigo, he traveled on hoping to find more of a clue to where he should go.
The trip went quickly as he spent his time pondering his ultimate goal. Getting back his heart seemed the obvious endgame but he could not rule out there was something else going on. Hopefully once he found out precisely where he was he could get some hint about what he should do. No last meeting with his patron and the presence of his bow, a weapon powerful enough to make up for his clumsiness as he assimilated four sets of skills and retrained them to a new body. He was somewhat surprised he was allowed to keep it. Perhaps that was in itself a clue.æ
Some time after midday he came to a small town, smaller even than Melnir in the Thunder Rift where he had spent so much time. It looked a sleepy, bucolic town with plenty of fields of grain and grazing sheep. His eyes were soon drawn to the foreboding building on a hill just outside of town. “I know bad news when I see it,” Saigo said to himself. “Time to meet the locals.”
Said locals stared at him as he entered town, many blushing when he smiled at them. In the center of town he came upon an old man, almost comically wizened and grumpy. Introducing himself, Saigo inquires if this is indeed Ravengro. The old man confirms the suspicion and directs Saigo to the Lorrimar residence without any more inquiries needed. Upon answering the door, Kendra instantly assumes Saigo is Silmeran. Saigo corrects the misunderstanding and informs her of the corpse found on the road, and hands over the letters. Kendra thanks him and offers him the hospitality of her home. Not having suitable clothes for the funeral being held the next day nor having any connection to Petros, Saigo decides to enjoy Kendra’s hospitality the rest of the day and take a look at Obvious Bad Place when she’s at the funeral the next day. Though she doesn’t say anything outright, Kendra is obviously troubled by her father’s death and the death of Silmeran who she mentions she met only once years ago just before her family moved to Ravengro. She is equally obviously somewhat smitten by the handsome and charismatic mysterious stranger who showed up on her doorstep. Small talk and small tales of Saigo’s least interesting and important experiences are enough to keep the two up fairly late.
The day if the funeral is bright and cheerful, dimming even the impressive presence of Harrowstone. When Saigo mentions his intent to check the place out, Kendra begs him leave it alone and promises to speak to him about it after the funeral. Saigo respects her wishes and goes for a walk instead. He quickly notes the ruffians who go to bother the minimal procession (only Kendra was there as a mourner - the rest were pall bearers and chief Grimburrow). Saigo intercepts the ruffians, tries to talk them out of their intended actions, and rolls a nat 1 on his first roll of the campaign - an auspicious start. The ruffians turn to violence but Saigo easily disarms them even without Improved Disarm and dodges every attack they make. Faced with obvious superior skill, they mutter and leave. The rest of the funeral proceeds without interruption. Escorting Kendra home, Saigo is present for the reading of the will, which strictly speaking does not apply to him. Lacking any other recipients, Saigo offers to take care of the books for Kendra.
She is grateful and after having composed herself again - it has been a heart wrenching farewell for her - she allows Saigo into her father’s study. He looks at the books and understands why they are locked away. Religion is outlawed in Glantri and even religious texts are viewed with suspicion. Holy books of Thanatos, Alphaks and Orcus are even more naughty than most. The Palatine Eye book piques his interest but he doesn’t open it. He quickly spots a hidden door which reveals a small collection of potions, scrolls and arrows. The scrolls and potions are labeled as containing clerical magic, which makes them illegal.
Saigo reveals his discovery to Kendra and she claims ignorance of it and is more than happy for Saigo to take the things and get them out of the house. She has no need of arrows and does not want to have contraband in her house. She is surprised that her father even knew how to get this stuff. Kendra then tells Saigo everything she knows. She knew her father was fascinated with Harrowstone. Harrowstone started as a workshop started by Hawkran McGregor, a small twig on the family tree of the Klantyre’s ruling clan. McGregor was interested in using magic to treat criminals to prevent them from breaking the law again after being caught. He wanted a more permanent solution than a spell which could be dispelled, so founded Harrowstone and used it as a prison-laboratory. The rumors of what went on were unpleasant [think A Clockwork Orange only less family friendly] but things were pretty calm for the villagers. One day a fire broke out and killed everyone there. It soon became apparent that the ruins were haunted but soon after the fire another McGregor came and put up wards which limited the spirits to the grounds of the prison, unable or unwilling to lay them properly to rest. Since then Harrowstone has been a creepy but harmless feature of Ravengro. Children dare one another to spend the night there but few even make the attempt. No one in the town has actually been bothered by the spirits though plenty of people like to blame it for any bad luck they may experience.
When Kendra was a child she and her father moved here and he exhibited a great interest in Harrowstone. His interest and his outsider origin caused some friction with the locals, as evidenced by the ruffians at the funeral, but Kendra had no inkling that it was anything more than academic interest until just before her father’s demise. He had suddenly become very serious and spent a lot of time in his study or at the ruins, neglecting almost everything else, including food and sleep. Finding him dead only a few days after this sudden change in behavior was suspicious but Kendra found no one else interested in trying to uncover a possible murder - the rest of the town was more than happy to write it off as an accident and leave it at that.
Now that Saigo is so conveniently here and seems so trustworthy, she asks if he could possibly help her. Seasoned adventurer as he is, Saigo says he’s way ahead of her, stocks up and heads to Harrowstone.
He spends a few minutes outside trying to interpret the remnants of the arcane sigils on the walls and correctly identifies both the now broken necromantic wards that kept the spirits trapped and the newer ritual that summoned and trapped a specific spirit. He uses one of the Hide From Undead scrolls and makes his way through Harrowstone. The spell dulls most of the haunts as well as prevents him from being seen by undead. Sadly this does not help against stirges so the second scroll goes as well after that fight. It also doesn’t help against the gray ooze but instead of fighting it he just leads it out into the rest of the complex and lets it handle most of the lesser corporeal undead before it finally dies.
He sees the more powerful undead like the headless burning skeleton and decides he does need to clean things out but now that he knows to a large extent what he is facing he feels more confident in attacking things head on. With Hide From Undead still active he pulls a bed from another cell and blocks the room where the burning skeleton is pacing and then attacks. The first arrow deals about one third the creature’s hit points in damage. The skeleton turns and moves after Saigo but crashes into the barricade and spends its round getting past. The second arrow hurts it even more and the skeleton’s axe fails to connect with Saigo. The final arrow fells the fell dead and Saigo is immediately set upon by the Lopper. The Lopper hurts Saigo a bit but is no match for ghost touch arrows and a smite. Saigo cleans out the rest of the haunts and undead and nothing else comes close to harming him thanks to his good saves and powerful weapon. He converses with Vesorianna and learns the details of Petros’ death and the abduction of Hawkran’s spirit. With hostile spirits defeated and a a proper priest performing last rites and bathing the place in holy energy, the haunts of Harrowstone are no more.
Saigo returns to Kendra to inform her of his findings and make ready his next move.
| Bjørn Røyrvik |
Considering his options, Saigo asks Kendra's permission to peruse the books he has volunteered to take back to the University. She gives him permission only slightly reluctantly: she wishes to honor her father's requests but is more interested in finding whoever killed him and this is the best lead they have. The holy texts of Orcus and Alphaks are dark reading but nothing he isn't already familiar with, at least in broad strokes. The cook on the Outer Beings is more interesting but it is quickly apparent that it is little more than a few vague hints and tidbits with a lot of supposition and assumption. Frankly, it’s hard to determine how much of this is useful and how much is nonsense or worse. The Palatine Eye’s scrapbook is at first glance less interesting, once he cracked the code. It too is little more than a collection of odds and ends of various mystic rituals and beliefs, some of which Saigo knows more of than the writers, some which is entirely new to him. He is initially inclined to write the whole thing off but catches a passage that references an expedition not listed in the manual. In itself this would not be a major issue but it took place just before Lorrimar moved to Ravengro. With this as his only lead, he heads to Lepidstadt, a small town in the principality of Aalban.
Though bigger than Ravengro, Lepidstadt is still quite small and he wonders how it can be big enough to be home to a university, his major points of reference being the University in Sundsvall or the Great School of Magic. When he sees the ‘university’, he understands: it is little more than a manor that has been turned into an academic institution with a name bigger than its size. Professor Crowl is welcoming and taken aback at the death of Lorrimar and Ovne. He is grateful for the return of the books - the religious ones are not exactly illegal in Glantri but definitely frowned upon so it’s good to have them back where there is a veneer of an educational institution to protect the keepers. When Saigo shares the contents of Lorrimar’s last letter, Crowl seems to know what his old friend was afraid of and wants to do some fact checking and confer with the remaining EOPE members in town before sharing anything with Saigo.
After excusing himself from Crowl, Saigo heads to Judge Daramid. She too is shocked and saddened by the deaths of her friends and privately is somewhat insulted that Petros even suspected her of nefarious deeds. Like Crowl she wants to talk to the rest of the EOPE before informing Saigo on what precisely Petros was afraid of. She is also somewhat suspicious of Saigo showing up unannounced like this and digging into secrets they had thought hidden. Kendra’s letter of recommendation is only partially successful in assuaging her fears. Since she is busy with the Beast’s trial she can only devote so much time to other matters. Hoping to keep Saigo busy a while and perhaps even making her own job easier, she drops hints about the matter and sees what he does. She does not have the highest opinions of Kaple’s abilities and has her doubts about the Beast’s guilt, and would appreciate someone else doing some digging.
As any good PC, Saigo picks up on the dangled plot hook and goes straight to the courthouse. Barrister Kaple is less than happy to have outsiders butt in to his business but more than happy to have people to whinge at. Golems and other constructs are hardly news in Glantri, he informs Saigo, but what makes this case more tricky is that this is to all appearances a sentient golem - any other monster or rogue construct would have been killed out of hand. A sentient being is entitled to a trial - hence the hullaballoo in town. He thinks the case is open and shut, has made a perfunctory investigation, talked to the witnesses, and ignored the Beast’s protestations of innocence. Saigo is a decent sort and after interviewing the Beast is of the opinion that Kaple is not doing a good enough job but for various reasons cannot
Being good at gathering information, Saigo learns of the town’s opinion of the Beast - blamed for lots of misfortunes, a few people claiming it’s nice, and a lot of prejudice because it’s ugly and a construct. Being too good at gathering information, he learns of the rumor that Count Caromac is the creator (after all, who else but a notoriously reclusive, powerful spellcaster would make a golem like this?) and decides to head straight there instead of investigating the other elements of the trial.
He gets to Scloss Caromac which, like the University of Lepidstadt, is far too small to be worthy of the name. He easily overcomes the little opposition - he may not have Fly and Invisibility at will but he does have constant True Seeing and Detect Thoughts, the Fly spell and an amazing bow. He clears out the main keep and the lab and the storerooms, leaving only the towers when we end the session.
Fast progression through the AP. Since we run milestone leveling Saigo starts this book at level 4 and is supposed to be 6th by the time he gets to Caromac, so he jumps right past 5th to 6th. So far this is going a lot faster than Mummy’s Mask but there is a lot less dungeon crawling in CC than MM and this player is good at making sensible decisions and getting on with things instead of waffling around in indecision.
To be fair I have ignored a number of minor encounters like the Crooked Kin because they are there merely to give XP and don’t fit in with the general Glantri vibe so we are going straight to the fun stuff. I also had to alter the circumstances of the Beast and the reason for the trial - rampaging wizardly experiments is hardly news to Glantrians and trials for monsters is not the norm. Judge Daramid is the one who saved the Beast from immediate destruction by invoking the law that demanded serious crimes be investigated before a sentence is passed. Another change is the ban on magic in the trial has become a restriction on types and circumstances of spells cast.
| Bjørn Røyrvik |
The only encounter that inconveniences Saigo on his continued journey through Alpon Caromarc's home is the leech swarms. He has no way of dealing with them so he uses his last Fly spell to just get out of their range. The vargouilles, girallon flesh golem and the blind flesh golem are just meat to the grinder. The Promethean is something else and very nearly kills Saigo, who survives only because his awesome bow has the Transformative quality, which allows him to use it as a dagger. I think I forgot one instances of constrict somewhere in the fight but the player assures me that was no problem on his account. He levels to 7th, frees Caromarc from his imprisonment.
The count is grateful and drinks some offered water but declines the healing potions offered - he follows Glantrian law to the letter but is willing to overlook Saigo's possession of contraband in light of current circumstances. He digs out a potion of his that temporarily gives him a boost of energy so he can try to salvage some dignity in the situation and after changing clothes entertains Saigo to the best of his limited ability. He admits to being the creator of the Beast ("little Adam," as Caromarc refers to him) and acknowledges that he may well be guilty of various murders but he has no knowledge of these specific crimes. He has little interest in the Beast itself since it was a failure but does not wish said failure to reflect poorly on himself. He offers to pay Saigo to keep the origin of the Beast secret and do what he can to free the golem.
Returning to Lepidstadt, Saigo then realizes that the trial is the next day and in his eagerness to go straight to the obvious source of the problems neglected to interview the witnesses used against the Beast. Running low on energy and spells but refusing to let the giant child die , he rushes to the site of the child massacre and quickly gets to the bottom of things there. Luckily for him the sun is still shining brightly when he discovers Brother Swarm and wins the initiative and gets out of the little cave. He buffs himself to the gills with his remaining spells, lobs a Fireball in, then Divine Illumination and moves in and uses his last channel, then shoots the wraiths to death. After a round they pinpoint his location but his AC meant only 20s hit so he only lost a little Constitution. He recovers the skeletons of the lost children and gets new testimony from the three sisters/witnesses.
This however is all he has time to do before the trial so he heads back to Lepidstadt, feeling very weak and tired.
| Bjørn Røyrvik |
The trial initially goes as the mob desires: a litany of crimes are laid at the Beast's feet, but it is on trial for three specific crimes. Kemple presents the evidence to a chorus of protests from the crowd. When Judge Daramid asks if anyone has any final evidence or testimony they wish to enter, saigo stands up and presents a new written testimony from the sisters at Hergstag.
The Judge compares the two written testimonies and declares that since Saigo is not a member of her team, Kemple will ahve to return to Hergstag and confirm Saigo's findings. The trial is put on hold until two days hence. The mob is not happy to hear this but Saigo easily avoids a confrontation with them.
Now having a little more time to work with, Saigo visits Sanctuary and Morast and rather easily finds the clues that lead to the chemical works. Tomokato was rather blunt and since the rakasta is the primary and dominant personality in Saigo, the new-born elf is also blunt. When Grine comes to answer the ringing bell Saigo asks "I want to know why you were buying bodies from Sanctuary." Grine looks shocked, is gone a few minutes, then comes to let saig through the gate. Saigo knows an ambush when he sees one and warns them not to try it. The chemists and their mongrelmen minions attack anyway.
The encounter is over quickly and Saigo only takes two hits, even after I buffed the opposition. The mongrels run away once Vorkstag goes down and Saigo has little interest in allowing undead to continue roaming the earth. He finds the final bits of evidence he needs to at least draw the Beast's guilt in the Sanctuary and Morast cases into question and returns to Lepidstadt.
The trial ends with the Beast being aquitted of the charges brought before him. Saigo easily calms the angry crowd and escorts the Beast back to Caromac. The count is in much better condition now than he was the last time Saigo saw him, and is a little more forthcoming asbout why he was found in such dire straits the first visit. Caromac was a member of the Palatine Eye though recently he has drifted away from them. "These days they are too fond of talking and lazing about instead of doing actual work," he says disdainfully. Vrood came to get hold of the Seasage Effigy, an item Caromac had in his possession for a some years before donating it to the 'university'. Like Crowl at the university, Caromac thought the statue queer and slightly discomfiting, but it did not radiate magic so he considered it of minimal interest to his work and gave it away. Obviously someone thinks it rather important and with the capture of the spirit in Ravengro, Saigo begins to suspect someone is collecting 'things' for an unknown purpose. Caromac agrees and hypothesizes that Vrood has some information from one of the Order's members, one working on outdated info. In interests of safeguarding his future peace and getting revenge, Caromac is happy to let Saigo go after Vrood and writes a letter of introduction to the Ascanor Lodge, a gathering place for the Order where they ostensibly meet to discuss matters of arcane interest but these days is more of a gentleperson's club than a place of work. Saigo notes how Caromac dismisses the Beast with little interest now that it is free and how the Beast seems despondant and forlorn. As I expected, Saigo tells the Beast that he should head to the Thunder Rift to seek a new home where he will find acceptance.
Back in Lepidstadt Daramid thanks Saigo for his efforts and reveals some secret EOPE matters, specifically the results of an expedition to Davania some years ago which uncovered some ancient pre-Blackmoorian ruins. In addition to some interesting relics they found the Carrion Crown ritual (or Charnel Crown - the scholars argue about the exact translation) which can forcibly and permanently corrupt any being to a dark master. Saigo instantly picks up on the danger he's in. The actual verse of the Carrion Crown is poorly translated because Lorrimar - who took part in the expedition that discovered the ritual - had an unfortunate need to translate everything into Thyatian rhyme at the expense of accuracy.
Upon the ashen pathways tread
Softly, as the whispered dead.
Walls of the world rot and fail
To the one beyond the pale.
A spirit gone from true to false
Be rent and sown as soured ash.
Soft the spiral song reverses,
Judgment lost, damnation surges.
Keeper of the damned's soul take,
With packlord's heart the beast shall wake
And flesh be wrought in disarray-
Sanity’s cocoon, the blessed decay.
A hundred slain lie innocent,
Grind bone and marrow to cement.
Craft now a skull of splintered graves;
Unmake life to make the slave.
Hallowed words no more spoken,
With whispered oath faith lies broken.
Beyond fear, life, pain, and time,
Eternity shall never be thine.
Blood spilt atop the Iron Thorn
Invokes that which cannot be born.
Serve the Tyrant, you newly bound
Bearer of the Carrion Crown!
In any case, the capture of Hawkran's spirit probably fulfills the second verse, since Hawkran's initial lofty goal of rehabilitating criminals quickly turned to horrible torture of the inmates of Harrowstone.
Daramid never looked too much into the meaning of the verse but she knows that other members of the Order were more interested it than she was. She co-signs Caroamc's letter of introduction to Ascanor Lodge and gives Saigo directions thereto.
So now Othariel will have a talking flesh golem show up and say Tomokato sent him. Some discussion among the players about whether Othariel will try to make a paladin out of the Beast as well.
| Bjørn Røyrvik |
The trip to Ascanor Lodge was uneventful (I usually ignore the encounters that are nothing but xp padding) and Saigo Diplomacies his way past Belik. He puts Duristan in his place when the boy rudely demands that Saigo join him, declines the rephrased invitation, and enters to get some dinner.
He arranges to meet with Estovion the next day and after spending some time in the common room getting some curious looks from the members - no one bothers to introduce themselves at the moment. He is just about to retire for the evening when he hears a bloodcurdling scream from the woods. Grabbing his bow (now a dagger) and rushing out without his quiver which was left in a closet in the entry of the Lodge, he heads out with the rest of the guests looking on curiously. He is not impressed by the werewolves despite this being the first time any of his lives has met a lycanthrope and tells them to get lost. They warn him and the Lodge to not get involved in their affairs him and Saigo decides to avenge the dead servant lying on the ground. He easily kills the first lycanthrope and gravely wounds the second. It runs off.
Saigo returns to the lodge and plans to follow the tracks the next day once he has had a meeting with Estovion. The next day Estovion manages to Bluff Saigo and not seem suspicious when he says he has to arrange a few things before bringin Saigo into the loop with the EOPE. Saigo easily follows the wounded werewolf's trail despite its attempts at wiping the trail, and gets to the Stairs of the Moon. Here he easily defeats the first few lycanthropes that attack him but has to cast Fly and get out of melee after the Silverhides and Mordenacht get in a few good hits on him. After this he is basically untouchable and manages to get the werewolves talking with him. They want the humans at the Lodge to stop messing with werewolf ancestor spirits. Saigo assumes they mean Auren Vrood but they say no, that guy came through a day or so ago and the spirit problem has been going on for some time. Saigo agrees reluctantly to end the spirit summoner at the Lodge in exchange for the werewolves leading him to Vrood.
Now he has to wrestle with his conscience about whether he should make a deal with evil werewolves at all, if killing them out of hand is a bad thing, if killing them after having fulfilled their bargain is better or worse than just killing them, and if letting them go is morally more acceptable than killing them.
| Bjørn Røyrvik |
I seem to have forgotten to update this thread.
After returning to the Lodge Saigo tries to suss out who is behind the ancestor summoning/enslaving. Estovion, though he rolled very well the last time the elf was here, fails his Bluff miserably and Saigo knows the man is hiding something. When he presses the subject, Estovion panics and cries bloody murder and casts a few spells. Saigo has nearly subdued the baddie when the rest of the people at the Lodge come and the circumstance bonus Estovion has on his Bluff against them wins against Saigo's attempts at covincing them that Estovion is a meanie. Plus, these are Glantrians we're talking about - they'd probably approve of Estovion's efforts.
The elf is now faced with a bunch of spellcasters and has to beat a hasty retreat. He hangs out in the forest for a day or so trying to sneak in an abduct Estovion but is stymied by clever magic users. He decides to cut and run and head towards the waiting werewolves and convince them to take him to Vrood. They are convinced, figuring that if Saigo can't hurt the wizards summoning their ancestors he can at least take out a few rival pack members. They lead him to Feldgrau and Saigo sneaks around until he finds Auren Vrood. The fight is brutally short and the poor necromancer barely gets anything done before dying. Saigo levels to 9th, loots the body and decides he needs to go find his heart now that the immediate trail is ended.
With Teleport now available, he heads to Darokin City to shop before Teleporting to Oenkmar, the place where he last saw his heart and his best lead he has. He lands outside the city that floats in a pool of lava, on one of the few tunnels that leads to it. He was foresighted enough to disguise himself as a local but not to turn up invisible, and he startles a group of orcs.
"What's the matter? Haven't you seen somsone Teleport before?" he demands.
They shake their heads.
"Well, now you have." He flies off into the city.
This was a bit of a mistake because wizard magic is rare and unknown orcs flying over the city attracts attention, so he has to get down and hide. With a comically exaggerated saunter and loud, discordant whistling, he walks away from his landing spot past the guards who come looking for him.
He makes his way to the temple where he lost his heart (literally). He browbeats the priest that tries to stop him going up and heads up. He only has a few moments before the locals gather their limited wits and come after him. He detects a large lingering aura of necromancy, divination and conjuration over the later where he was sacrificed and assumes it works as a portal to a pocket dimension, the one where he metthe nightwalker that held his heart in return for services his past life did not render.
Saigo calls on the power of the Tyrant, a DoMT cards he's been hanging on to for a while and demands the nightwalker show itself and return his heart. The nightwalker does so and Saigo quails at the sight before telling himself to buckle up and get fighting. The combat was over quickly. Winning initiative meant a full attack with a powerful bow, smite and full sneak attack from a 12th level dude (where did the last 3 levels come from? the GM following his established pattern of allowing the PC to level to the appropriate level when he reached the right geographical position). Had the nightwalker been straight out of the book it would have had 1 hit point left. It had 100 odd hp left since I don't always do things by the book.
The nightwalker summons a bunch of shadows which only manage to take 12 points of Strength from the former kitty. He manages to get Death Ward active which nullifies their attacks and the nightwalker failed to dispel it, so on the third turn the nightwalker dies.
Saigo picks up his heart, ignoring the ineffectual greater shadwos pawing at him. He brushes off the grime of the bloody, still beating organ and places it in his chest, wiggling it back and forth until the severed tubes reattach to their proper positions.
He shoos the shadows away, eradicating them and notices a portal nearby. He enters and comes face to face with Ixion and Lokena, his former patron and his sponsor. They welcome him to the ranks of Immortals. Some steps away Atzanteotl has a wry look on his face. He is too good a poker player to give away his true emotions but all the Immortals know Atzanteotl gambled and lost hard. Ixion is pleased nd Lokena won a major Stroke against an older and more powerful Immortal. Young Tomokato is now on the shit list of no less than three Entropic Immortals. I'm sure this will not bite them in the arse at a future date.
Much to Saigo/Tomokato's surprise, Ranya is standing by, bouncing with excitement and impatience while waiting for her turn. After an exchange with his two superiors, one former and one current, Tomokato turns to his old friend. "Welcome, Tommy. Wanna see how the others are doing?"
That's two up. Two remaining. I don't think I can find appropriate APs to brutalize for Othariel, but I've said this before.