Talsil 17th -18th
Tea and Trouble
(placeholder)
Experience: 1600 xp each (50,458 total)
Mercy, 800
Fending Off Wolves, 3200
RP Bonus, 800
Magic: n/a
Coin: - 70gp (Izzy, phantom steed ritual)
Loot: n/a
New NPCs
Gravoss: Dire wolf hunting in the Svalich Woods, most likely only one of his forms. He promised Isabella a reward for information on Diana's whereabouts.
Sir Remi D'Flores: Knight of the Ravens, handsome and rugged, passionate about protecting Barovia and his sworn charge Burgomeister Ireena Kolyana. The two seemed to have formed some sort of romantic relationship, and he lives in the manor to always be close to her. He's the brother of Dame Ashyln.
Stenn Belmont: A tall, broad mountain man with many scars and a full beard. He keeps a holy artifact belt around his waist, a vampire slayer, woven with salted thongs and silver lace, etched in holy symbols Diana identified as... worrisome. He seeks his niece Christina, willing to brave warring Othyr in order to train the young girl in the family business. Diana promised to help, but it may just be words.
Nan: Young farm girl who snuck off into a Barovian alley to await her childhood crush. Isabella met her there instead...
New Hooks
The Old Curse: Vampires in Barovia are suffering from the old afflictions prevalent in their race before The Demon War: weakness in sunlight, violent allergy to silver, inability to enter a house uninvited or look in a mirror, and the list goes on... The longer one is exposed to the Sunsword, the more pronounced these symptoms, only night providing relief. The Dark Three are convinced the source of these curses comes from The Temple of the Wheel, hold of the Sunsword and headquarters of the overzealous Children of Light. Diana already has her suspicions of the Kalindian extremists, but what is to be done?
Next Session
80b: The Dark Three ride hard for Castle Ravenloft, a hundred wolves, dires among them, snapping at their heels. If they survive, perhaps a meeting with the countess and a trip to Saspien via the magic wardrobe.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
80a: The Deep Breath Before the Plunge
Talsil 17th
The party, having secured an alliance with the Free Guilds of Edmark, were given a day to enjoy as they saw fit before the battle cries were sounded. Most chose to spend the time shopping, some explored new abilities, and others cleaned their new hideout for the sake of having some sanitary baths and sinks to wash up in.
Narra had woke up and set to check the wares of an Azerbadian merchant, who surprisingly did not refer to her as an Angel, as most the party and several people they'd met had a habit of doing. She found herself enjoying the look of a tiara, the merchant more than happy to place it upon her head and say it was fit for a princess. She certainly looked the part! With that purchase, Narra returned to the hideout.
Meanwhile, Tyvis had returned from his shopping trip with Anita and was resting in a chair within the operating room where the rescued children slept. Gens was playing his new violin in the same haunting melody he had heard many nights ago on the night air.
The pair discussed their purchases and their mutual friendship, as well as future plans. Gens wished to travel and find where the Silverwood Kingdom was and Tyvis wanted to do something in town he didn't go into detail over, something that he had to do alone.
Anita returned with her purchases during this and went upstairs to give Kaylan the things she had asked for. When the rogue got up she discovered Kaylan wearing naught but a sheet and a pleased look on her face as she quickly found and put on her crimson dress. Anita had bought the prophet and herself each a hat that could disguise themselves, and discussed the potential for starting a liberation of the elves.
After a discovery of a particularly interesting feature of Kaylan's ears, Anita was expelled from the room and sent downstairs. Narra had returned by now, and the rogue entered Tyvis and Gens' conversation about the Silverwood Kingdom:
A timely arrival of Anita allowed Tyvis to temporarily change the topic. Anita informed the group that Kaylan was in great spirits, and much to Gens and Tyvis' shock, commented that the prophet had very sensitive ears.
Gens ran up the stairs to his friend's room.
Anita, Tyvis, and Narra discussed what to do about the remains of DeWitt's men when the battle was over. Anita suggested dressed them up in clown costumes to leave for DeWitt to find, springing forth painful memories in Tyvis of Kaern's remains.
The newly coupled Anita and Tyvis got cozy and comfortable with one another, prompting Narra to comment that she would give them space and went to go look after the children.... in the same room. Anita cleaned her gun, Tyvis thanked Kalinda for the luck of finding her, and Narra headed upstairs to give them proper alone time.
Tyvis and Anita talked about their childhoods somewhat, and declared they wouldn't let the other be lost. Anita spooked Tyvis by using her new hat to turn into the Archdruid himself! It was around this time the pair began to hear the tell tale rhythmic squeaks and moans directly above them through the ceiling.
The pair determined the bard and gone up to see Kaylan indeed, though there was some concern if he had taken Thamior's form or not in order to get the Prophet into bed. Neither wanted to check, unable to believe Gens would take advantage of his best friend like that.
The conversation turned to the talk of finding a boy for Narra. Tyvis had little to add to that, so he and Anita went up to talk to Narra directly on the matter. They found the blue-haired angel (even the summary guy calls her that) exiting her room with a blush on her face from the... sounds in the next room over!
Anita questioned Narra on her preference of hair on a man, while Tyvis and Narra each stood dumbfounded at the question. It wasn't until Anita and Tyvis explained they had noticed Narra was uncomfortable being around the two of them that they wanted to set her up with someone, wanted Narra to feel welcome. Narra stated she didn't mind being the new girl, and it was fun to be with such interesting people.
Gens soon came out of Kaylan's room looking oddly sad, much to the surprise of the three standing in the hallway. The bard said little, and quickly went down the stairs to watch over the children. Narra asked if this was a normal reaction after that particular act, and Anita said the right of it:
Much like the night before, Gens' song filled the base, but this time it was one of sorrow and sadness that had Narra, Anita, and Tyvis all begin to get teary eyed, and embrace each other together, stating that they all needed to stick together even in the sad times.
The song ended and the three went down to see Gens, slumped over in a chair and looking quite depressed. He confirmed their thoughts: He had slept with Kaylan and does not regret it. But also knowing that she was married to a man who loved her and she loved him, Gens decided he couldn't be the man who tore apart a marriage like that and determined his last night with Kaylan was to make the sweet memory for the two to share for all time.
Talk returned to the Silverwood Kingdom, Tyvis stating that the Queen was "quite the hottie" much to his own embarrassment. Gens asked if Tyvis would go with him to the Wild to search for his home, Narra commenting she might like to go as well. Tyvis stated he would go happily, but he needed to free his father first, to which Gens offered his help to.
As the time for battle approaches, one has to wonder if the morale of the party has dwindled any, or if they'll banded closer than ever to combat their enemies and deal a major blow to DeWitt. Only time will tell.
~From the Codex of the Legacy Wars (Gens)
Experience: apology boost (47,000 xp total, LEVEL UP 14)
Magic: Please list in the forums under the appropriate thread...
Coin: Update on your sheet...
Loot: n/a
New NPCs
Azerbadi Smuggler: An ugly southern smuggler operating in Edmark and friend to Tom Barber. He sold Narra her new tiara and was very quick to flatter.
Next Session
Session 81a: As the hour draws closer, the party meets with the guildmasters and devises their route to The Sly Flourish in coordination with the main force's attack. From there it's a matter of negotiating water, piers and boat decks in search of the high priestess, and in the process attending to Osenth "The Duke" Shydeln and DeWitt's second-in-command Crematia.
The party, having secured an alliance with the Free Guilds of Edmark, were given a day to enjoy as they saw fit before the battle cries were sounded. Most chose to spend the time shopping, some explored new abilities, and others cleaned their new hideout for the sake of having some sanitary baths and sinks to wash up in.
Narra had woke up and set to check the wares of an Azerbadian merchant, who surprisingly did not refer to her as an Angel, as most the party and several people they'd met had a habit of doing. She found herself enjoying the look of a tiara, the merchant more than happy to place it upon her head and say it was fit for a princess. She certainly looked the part! With that purchase, Narra returned to the hideout.
The Tiara itself is rather intricate, having two large dragon talons looking as though they were gripping the sides of it. Between them a dragon's head roaring out the teeth painstakingly detailed as well as small patterns to make up the dragons scales. Small elegant emeralds were set as the dragons eyes as if ever watching.
Meanwhile, Tyvis had returned from his shopping trip with Anita and was resting in a chair within the operating room where the rescued children slept. Gens was playing his new violin in the same haunting melody he had heard many nights ago on the night air.
The pair discussed their purchases and their mutual friendship, as well as future plans. Gens wished to travel and find where the Silverwood Kingdom was and Tyvis wanted to do something in town he didn't go into detail over, something that he had to do alone.
Anita returned with her purchases during this and went upstairs to give Kaylan the things she had asked for. When the rogue got up she discovered Kaylan wearing naught but a sheet and a pleased look on her face as she quickly found and put on her crimson dress. Anita had bought the prophet and herself each a hat that could disguise themselves, and discussed the potential for starting a liberation of the elves.
After a discovery of a particularly interesting feature of Kaylan's ears, Anita was expelled from the room and sent downstairs. Narra had returned by now, and the rogue entered Tyvis and Gens' conversation about the Silverwood Kingdom:
Tyvis clears his throat again. "It's in the wilds. Supposed to be a paradise, with silver trees and bubbling springs, and nymphs and dryads prancing about..." CHANGE TOPIC. "...but anyway, recently they've supposedly been at war with centaurs and maybe even a green dragon or two."
Gens rose an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, back up alittle. I'm the prince of a land where NYMPHS and DRYADS live?"
A timely arrival of Anita allowed Tyvis to temporarily change the topic. Anita informed the group that Kaylan was in great spirits, and much to Gens and Tyvis' shock, commented that the prophet had very sensitive ears.
Gens ran up the stairs to his friend's room.
Anita, Tyvis, and Narra discussed what to do about the remains of DeWitt's men when the battle was over. Anita suggested dressed them up in clown costumes to leave for DeWitt to find, springing forth painful memories in Tyvis of Kaern's remains.
The newly coupled Anita and Tyvis got cozy and comfortable with one another, prompting Narra to comment that she would give them space and went to go look after the children.... in the same room. Anita cleaned her gun, Tyvis thanked Kalinda for the luck of finding her, and Narra headed upstairs to give them proper alone time.
Tyvis and Anita talked about their childhoods somewhat, and declared they wouldn't let the other be lost. Anita spooked Tyvis by using her new hat to turn into the Archdruid himself! It was around this time the pair began to hear the tell tale rhythmic squeaks and moans directly above them through the ceiling.
Tyvis looks up at the ceiling, and frowns. "That sounds like... wait, you don't think... didn't Gens go up to see Kaylan?"
The pair determined the bard and gone up to see Kaylan indeed, though there was some concern if he had taken Thamior's form or not in order to get the Prophet into bed. Neither wanted to check, unable to believe Gens would take advantage of his best friend like that.
The conversation turned to the talk of finding a boy for Narra. Tyvis had little to add to that, so he and Anita went up to talk to Narra directly on the matter. They found the blue-haired angel (even the summary guy calls her that) exiting her room with a blush on her face from the... sounds in the next room over!
Anita questioned Narra on her preference of hair on a man, while Tyvis and Narra each stood dumbfounded at the question. It wasn't until Anita and Tyvis explained they had noticed Narra was uncomfortable being around the two of them that they wanted to set her up with someone, wanted Narra to feel welcome. Narra stated she didn't mind being the new girl, and it was fun to be with such interesting people.
Gens soon came out of Kaylan's room looking oddly sad, much to the surprise of the three standing in the hallway. The bard said little, and quickly went down the stairs to watch over the children. Narra asked if this was a normal reaction after that particular act, and Anita said the right of it:
Anita waits for Gens to be out of earshot. "Guilty, I think... Kaylan's married."
Much like the night before, Gens' song filled the base, but this time it was one of sorrow and sadness that had Narra, Anita, and Tyvis all begin to get teary eyed, and embrace each other together, stating that they all needed to stick together even in the sad times.
The song ended and the three went down to see Gens, slumped over in a chair and looking quite depressed. He confirmed their thoughts: He had slept with Kaylan and does not regret it. But also knowing that she was married to a man who loved her and she loved him, Gens decided he couldn't be the man who tore apart a marriage like that and determined his last night with Kaylan was to make the sweet memory for the two to share for all time.
Talk returned to the Silverwood Kingdom, Tyvis stating that the Queen was "quite the hottie" much to his own embarrassment. Gens asked if Tyvis would go with him to the Wild to search for his home, Narra commenting she might like to go as well. Tyvis stated he would go happily, but he needed to free his father first, to which Gens offered his help to.
As the time for battle approaches, one has to wonder if the morale of the party has dwindled any, or if they'll banded closer than ever to combat their enemies and deal a major blow to DeWitt. Only time will tell.
~From the Codex of the Legacy Wars (Gens)
Experience: apology boost (47,000 xp total, LEVEL UP 14)
Magic: Please list in the forums under the appropriate thread...
Coin: Update on your sheet...
Loot: n/a
New NPCs
Azerbadi Smuggler: An ugly southern smuggler operating in Edmark and friend to Tom Barber. He sold Narra her new tiara and was very quick to flatter.
Next Session
Session 81a: As the hour draws closer, the party meets with the guildmasters and devises their route to The Sly Flourish in coordination with the main force's attack. From there it's a matter of negotiating water, piers and boat decks in search of the high priestess, and in the process attending to Osenth "The Duke" Shydeln and DeWitt's second-in-command Crematia.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Bah!
I lost my blog template... Going to need some time to fix things, so for now enjoy the new and accidental look!
78b: Long Last Barovia
Talsil 17th
Goodbyes, Anubian Devices, Back to Barovia
The Dark Three said their goodbyes to Drelzna and made for the Planar Nexus. However it was not so easy as stepping through a portal, rather stepping through a portal into the bowels of the Underdark and entering an alien artifact about the size of a castle. A little investigative work revealed the nexus to be an Anubian device, akin to the jade Tesseract in the Wild, the one Diana had so much luck with…
Entering the device, they eventually found their ways the command console and Diana, thanks to Strangeheart, was able to diagnose this ship broken. It could no longer sail time, but could transport someone to any designated corner of Creation.
With a little luck, the sorceress successfully operated the nexus and The Dark Three were transported to the hills outside Barovia. Izzy, previously banished, fled into the Svalich Woods to find her mistress, while Diana and Renato went into town in search of Ashlyn. All the while the vampires felt strange, weak, ill, in the presence of the Sunsword's artificial daylight.
Izzy went off to experience the brutality and love only Mara could give, and she charged the slave princess with an important new mission for the betterment of the devil.
Diana and Renato found Ashlyn near Ignac's Bridge, now fashioned the Lady Raven, in charge not of the Lightbringers but the newly-formed Raven Knights. With the backing of the nation's burgomeisters, Ashlyn had successfully formed a sword and shield for the people and their representatives to count on. They'd severed all ties with The Children of Light, who continue their crusade against the Dark with surprising success, having cleansed miles upon miles surrounding their new headquarters: The Temple of the Wheel. Ashlyn and her order were actually in the midst of building their main keep around Barovia Village.
As luck would have it, Diana came to the right person first before announcing her presence to anyone else. It seemed as if strange persons were asking about the vampire with the purple gem in her belt across the mountains, what Ashlyn feared were members of the Kargat, the agents of the lich-king Azalin Rex of Darakaan!
Experience: 1600 xp each (48,858 total)
Operating the Planar Nexus, 4000
RP Bonus, 800
Magic: 3 rituals level 14 and under (Izzy), +2 magic weapon x 14 (Renato), +2 magic armor x 14 (Renato)
Coin: n/a
Loot: n/a
New NPCs
Zarephath the Guardian Star (mentioned): An aasimar [also known as deva or half-angel] left in charge of the Temple of the Wheel and by extension the Barovian Children of Light. Friend of Templar Giers, he hails from Etheria, and is rumored to be strikingly beautiful to behold, with a voice like the clarion trumpets of heaven itself.
Ferranifer Moross (mentioned): A powerful vampire necromancer and candidate for the position of Hecate's exarch. She founded the Bleak Academy in the ancient shadow city of Moil, but after its fall three hundred years ago has claimed asylum in Saspien. She maintains many connections with House Lorein, where she taught well into its decline, and keeps The Dim Triad as her personal guard.
The Dim Triad (mentioned): *ask Renato*
Azalin Rex the Lich-King (mentioned): The undead sovereign of Barovia's northern neighbor Darakaan, he is undeniably the most powerful wizard in all the Cadaveran Kingdoms. He was a hated enemy of Count Strahd von Zarovich, and remains an unknowable power looming just beyond the Balinoks. He commands the largest army in the realms, as well as an order of spies known as the Kargat.
Updated NPCs
Dame Ashlyn D'Flores the Lady Raven: Formerly the head of the Lightbringers, Ashlyn has severed all ties with The Children of Light and formed The Raven Knights to guard the village of Barovia. She's quickly become one of the most important figures in Barovia, the militant backing of the burgomeisters across the nation. Thus far she's managed to keep Barovia safe, and intends on expanding once her keep is built. More impressive, thus far she's managed to keep her integrity.
New Organizations
The Raven Knights: Formerly the Lightbringers, the knights have severed all ties with the more fundamentalist Children of Light and shifted away from a strictly religious order. They are led by Dame Ashlyn D'Flores, The Lady Raven to some, and are dedicated instead to the protection of the people and settlements across the nation, less on crusades against the Dark. Supported by Burgomeister Kolyana and the other village leaders across Barovia, they've begun inducting town militia and knights errant to their cause. They're working on a walled keep in Barovia Village to act as their headquarters. Their numbers consist mostly of humans, but also extend to several non-human races. Their symbol is a black raven on a bright yellow field, and hauberks and banners include crimson and navy to easily distinguish from the white-and-gold of their Kalindian counterparts.
The Kargat: Little is known of this cadre dedicated to the Lich-King Azalin Rex, save they are a dangerous group, some lycanthropes, others surely undead, acting as the Lord of Darakaan's eyes and ears. Their activities nearest Barovia seem aimed entirely at Diana.
Hooks
Hunted (Diana): The Kargat of Azalin Rex is seeking Diana, inquiring about the sorceress across the mountains and along the canyon trails. No doubt word of her adoption spread at least as far as nearby communities, but all the way to the lich-king's ears is uncertain. Azalin had always been an enemy of Count Strahd and by extension Ravenloft, and this could be simply an ill-timed coincidence. Worrisome too that Ashlyn continues to organize The Raven Knights, and The Children of Light cleanse the evils nearest them without signs of slowing. Yet it still begs to question, why Diana, and why do they so readily mention the purple gem?
Suffer the Children (The Dark Three): Diana begins her second major political foray in the lands of Barovia, attempting to position her and her allies in a place of power over the Children of Light, all the while keeping their hands 'clean'. It begins with a mole in The Temple of the Wheel, and potentially baiting Children into threats and violence. If both parties can work out their differences at the table, it would establish new zones of control and a lasting peace, but more likely the failed negotiations would give The Raven Knights, The Dark Three and Castle Ravenloft just cause enough to launch some sort of assault (likely because the Children would have launched their own). However with this grand level of manipulation, putting the relatively calm status quo in jeopardy, it's a wonder if everyone will see eye-to-eye with the young vampire. Is she willing to go against the wishes of some for the sake of all Barovia? Is that the duty of a future Countess?
Ferranifer Must Die (Izzy): Mara has given Izzy a new purpose, assassinating the witches of the worlds who might challenge the devil for the position of Hecate's exarch. Scrying each place Hecate's avatar, The Maindenmother Crone, visited, Mara was able to form a hit list which the two of them will manage. Izzy's first mark dwells in Saspien, the necromancer Ferannifer Moross, no easy kill but a necessary fatality if Mara is to achieve her destiny.
Goodbyes, Anubian Devices, Back to Barovia
The Dark Three said their goodbyes to Drelzna and made for the Planar Nexus. However it was not so easy as stepping through a portal, rather stepping through a portal into the bowels of the Underdark and entering an alien artifact about the size of a castle. A little investigative work revealed the nexus to be an Anubian device, akin to the jade Tesseract in the Wild, the one Diana had so much luck with…
Entering the device, they eventually found their ways the command console and Diana, thanks to Strangeheart, was able to diagnose this ship broken. It could no longer sail time, but could transport someone to any designated corner of Creation.
With a little luck, the sorceress successfully operated the nexus and The Dark Three were transported to the hills outside Barovia. Izzy, previously banished, fled into the Svalich Woods to find her mistress, while Diana and Renato went into town in search of Ashlyn. All the while the vampires felt strange, weak, ill, in the presence of the Sunsword's artificial daylight.
Izzy went off to experience the brutality and love only Mara could give, and she charged the slave princess with an important new mission for the betterment of the devil.
Diana and Renato found Ashlyn near Ignac's Bridge, now fashioned the Lady Raven, in charge not of the Lightbringers but the newly-formed Raven Knights. With the backing of the nation's burgomeisters, Ashlyn had successfully formed a sword and shield for the people and their representatives to count on. They'd severed all ties with The Children of Light, who continue their crusade against the Dark with surprising success, having cleansed miles upon miles surrounding their new headquarters: The Temple of the Wheel. Ashlyn and her order were actually in the midst of building their main keep around Barovia Village.
As luck would have it, Diana came to the right person first before announcing her presence to anyone else. It seemed as if strange persons were asking about the vampire with the purple gem in her belt across the mountains, what Ashlyn feared were members of the Kargat, the agents of the lich-king Azalin Rex of Darakaan!
Experience: 1600 xp each (48,858 total)
Operating the Planar Nexus, 4000
RP Bonus, 800
Magic: 3 rituals level 14 and under (Izzy), +2 magic weapon x 14 (Renato), +2 magic armor x 14 (Renato)
Coin: n/a
Loot: n/a
New NPCs
Zarephath the Guardian Star (mentioned): An aasimar [also known as deva or half-angel] left in charge of the Temple of the Wheel and by extension the Barovian Children of Light. Friend of Templar Giers, he hails from Etheria, and is rumored to be strikingly beautiful to behold, with a voice like the clarion trumpets of heaven itself.
Ferranifer Moross (mentioned): A powerful vampire necromancer and candidate for the position of Hecate's exarch. She founded the Bleak Academy in the ancient shadow city of Moil, but after its fall three hundred years ago has claimed asylum in Saspien. She maintains many connections with House Lorein, where she taught well into its decline, and keeps The Dim Triad as her personal guard.
The Dim Triad (mentioned): *ask Renato*
Azalin Rex the Lich-King (mentioned): The undead sovereign of Barovia's northern neighbor Darakaan, he is undeniably the most powerful wizard in all the Cadaveran Kingdoms. He was a hated enemy of Count Strahd von Zarovich, and remains an unknowable power looming just beyond the Balinoks. He commands the largest army in the realms, as well as an order of spies known as the Kargat.
Updated NPCs
Dame Ashlyn D'Flores the Lady Raven: Formerly the head of the Lightbringers, Ashlyn has severed all ties with The Children of Light and formed The Raven Knights to guard the village of Barovia. She's quickly become one of the most important figures in Barovia, the militant backing of the burgomeisters across the nation. Thus far she's managed to keep Barovia safe, and intends on expanding once her keep is built. More impressive, thus far she's managed to keep her integrity.
New Organizations
The Raven Knights: Formerly the Lightbringers, the knights have severed all ties with the more fundamentalist Children of Light and shifted away from a strictly religious order. They are led by Dame Ashlyn D'Flores, The Lady Raven to some, and are dedicated instead to the protection of the people and settlements across the nation, less on crusades against the Dark. Supported by Burgomeister Kolyana and the other village leaders across Barovia, they've begun inducting town militia and knights errant to their cause. They're working on a walled keep in Barovia Village to act as their headquarters. Their numbers consist mostly of humans, but also extend to several non-human races. Their symbol is a black raven on a bright yellow field, and hauberks and banners include crimson and navy to easily distinguish from the white-and-gold of their Kalindian counterparts.
The Kargat: Little is known of this cadre dedicated to the Lich-King Azalin Rex, save they are a dangerous group, some lycanthropes, others surely undead, acting as the Lord of Darakaan's eyes and ears. Their activities nearest Barovia seem aimed entirely at Diana.
Hooks
Hunted (Diana): The Kargat of Azalin Rex is seeking Diana, inquiring about the sorceress across the mountains and along the canyon trails. No doubt word of her adoption spread at least as far as nearby communities, but all the way to the lich-king's ears is uncertain. Azalin had always been an enemy of Count Strahd and by extension Ravenloft, and this could be simply an ill-timed coincidence. Worrisome too that Ashlyn continues to organize The Raven Knights, and The Children of Light cleanse the evils nearest them without signs of slowing. Yet it still begs to question, why Diana, and why do they so readily mention the purple gem?
Suffer the Children (The Dark Three): Diana begins her second major political foray in the lands of Barovia, attempting to position her and her allies in a place of power over the Children of Light, all the while keeping their hands 'clean'. It begins with a mole in The Temple of the Wheel, and potentially baiting Children into threats and violence. If both parties can work out their differences at the table, it would establish new zones of control and a lasting peace, but more likely the failed negotiations would give The Raven Knights, The Dark Three and Castle Ravenloft just cause enough to launch some sort of assault (likely because the Children would have launched their own). However with this grand level of manipulation, putting the relatively calm status quo in jeopardy, it's a wonder if everyone will see eye-to-eye with the young vampire. Is she willing to go against the wishes of some for the sake of all Barovia? Is that the duty of a future Countess?
Ferranifer Must Die (Izzy): Mara has given Izzy a new purpose, assassinating the witches of the worlds who might challenge the devil for the position of Hecate's exarch. Scrying each place Hecate's avatar, The Maindenmother Crone, visited, Mara was able to form a hit list which the two of them will manage. Izzy's first mark dwells in Saspien, the necromancer Ferannifer Moross, no easy kill but a necessary fatality if Mara is to achieve her destiny.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
79a: The Prince and the Barber
Talsil 16th - 17th
Relocating to the Barber-Surgeon Guildhall
Over the next three hours, the party managed their way back to the hideout, some drenched in river water after an escape on Neverba, others soaked with sweat after a drawn-out chase with Crematia and her manhunters.
Hammon rolled over in his refuse and regarded them with a nod and a fart, a fine welcome back to an enlivened Beggar's Street. Taverns, brothels, an opium den and brawlers' pit were the main sources of attraction, street meats roasted over alley fires the meal of choice, and a steady collection of sailors, ruffians and harlots the citizenry. Lowborn Edmarkians mingled in the warm evening breeze, pungent with the smell of marshy riverbanks and fluted with the sounds of night birds.
While a rattled Narra regained her compsure after having watched men burn and melt to death, and Dynan in his guilt went for a bottle of amber rum, Gens fell over a table suffering an increasing stab of pain in his back. Kaylan's examination revealed an infected abscess which, upon bursting, appeared the result of a foreign object lodged deep in the tissue. Once cleaned to the best of her ability, the cleric plunged her hand inside the widening wound and removed a shard of cold iron.
Instantly Gens began to change, losing his handsome features and muscular definition, thinning and elongating and taking on an ashen complexion. Narra recognized some change triggered by the remove of the shard, but Tyvis recognized Gens' true nature to be fey, a changeling more specifically. All the long years since he was found wounded by a sword, the many times his back ached, had kept him frozen in the form of a half-elf.
Kaylan tended the wound and spoke with her friend in private, while the rest of the party distributed mousy hostages on vacant upstairs beds. Tyvis restored them, and the group marveled at the curious collection of various races and ages from fifteen to twenty-five. The only one with any light to shed was the eighth mouse, Ceress, who had a seat beside Dynan in the largest of the bedrooms and explained what she could piece together from four months of playing possum.
These eight, and others before them, were stolen from the north with the intentions of being sold or exchanged. However it did not sound like the hostages were long to live once such transactions were made. DeWitt was planning an important meeting on The Devil's Due to deliver the children once he returned to the city, which included a man from Noran and another from a place called Malbolge. However the party had foiled any chance of that with their daring rescue, of which she was very, very thankful of.
Gens and Kaylan joined the others long enough to catch the gist of Ceress's account, but the prophet was taken aback by the presence of a tiefling boy, eventually leaving the room entirely when Dynan labeled her a bigot. Narra followed after her, and the two shared a meaningful dialogue, however one-sided, in which Kaylan spilled all her grief and guilt. The Nors comforted her as best she could, the confession to and compassion of an imperial rather ironic. The two became better friends for it and Kaylan slept.
Around the same time, Gens got to know Ceress a little better, and the two shared a pleasant conversation and a few lovely songs, ones which reminded her of her father (truly a monumental compliment for any bard). Gens also recieved the wordless blessing of Dynan, who'd taken to the changeling even more with the discovery of his unusual heritage. The oracle agreed to help him uncover his past, teasing at his royal title, but also warning that the angels who sent her visions did not do so on her whim. Still, she hoped during the night some new revelation might come to her, and when Gens dipped to kiss her hand, she playfully pulled it away and assured him she wasn't that easy.
Meanwhile, Tyvis and Anita had been drawn downstairs by a hard rapping at the door. It was a dapper Nors man of handsome cut who turned out to be none other than the guildmaster of the barber-surgeons, Tom Barber. In light of the party's stomping of some of his toughest men, and the mysterious attacks on The Devil's Due, he felt inspired to accept the invitation Tyvis had offered the retreating barber two days prior. The Archdruid and the rogue were willing to listen, and in fact cut Tom's intended dissertation short by identifying Deloth DeWitt and 'The Duke' Osenth Shydeln as common enemies. Tom went on to explain that their combined corruption and untouchable links to the Consortiums had exacted crippling tolls and tribute from all the free guilds, to say the local guilds. Their racket had become too much to bare and prevented the rise of the burgeoning middle class (to say the local guilds and their artisans). The poor were destitute and the wealthy disgustingly so.
Tom represented a number of different free guilds and the crews of seventeen ships dedicated to changing things, dedicated to a street war (which clearly wet Anita's appetite). They had the numbers to combat the alliance of street gangs, and to hell with Osenth's connections with the watch and nobility. What had really prevented them from ever moving against the pair was their inability to combat DeWitt's supernatural arsenal. That's where the group came in. If they could ensure Crematia, Osenth Shydeln and Deloth DeWitt did not survive, the free guilds could actually be free.
Since DeWitt's riverboat was still two days out (under the guard of two gun ships and a personal dragoon) and a surprise attack so soon after the rescue would be most unexpected, a plan was drawn for an all-out attack against The Sly Flourish, DeWitt's second ship. That's where Crematia and Osenth now holed, and it was guarded by the whole of the gangs. If the high priestess was anywhere, it was on that ship, the most heavily guarded hold in the city. Unless, of course, this was all an elaborate trap, some last grasp at recollecting some of the hostages DeWitt had lost and with luck a few rescuers too. It was a risk the pair decided to take.
Making formal alliance with Tom and the free guilds, he felt compelled to warn them of a known Inquisition informant lurking about their place, a two-timing bum, Hammon. He also asked if they'd performed any wizardry lately, offhandedly commenting how the magehounds were able to track such things. As the notion inquisitors and city watch could descend upon them in force at any moment, the group hurriedly packed up and shouldered the sleepers downstairs.Tom offered to send a wagon to 'protect his investments', then jogged off into the night. It was a tense span of uncertainty, made worse with the knowledge they were truly vulnerable.
Kaylan and Ceress were woken, the former unwilling to leave. Rather the cleric preferred to stay and take them on, give them something to capture so suspicions would be allayed. Anita called it suicide and cuffed their wrists together. No one disagreed. When the wagon rolled up, everyone was loaded and fled Beggar's Street for the safety of the Barber-Surgeon Guildhall.
It wasn't far, and the party was unloaded around the unassuming side of the wood-shingled-and-high-gabled-building. They'd noticed a perpetual line out the door, men and women without proper funds for the Physician's Guild in need of teeth pulled, wounds sewed, amputations. The party found these things were offered with limited skill, as they entered through double doors and caught glimpses of the operating room. Dull instruments, red-stained splatters over the floor and walls, a pile of cadavers waiting morning pickup by the undertakers were unnerving enough, but when the unconscious children were placed inside for safe keeping, Gens objected and eventually decided to stay with them despite the room's strong smell of oils and preservatives.
Kaylan offered to stay with him, but after all that had transpired, Gens needed time alone, and Anita wasn't letting the prophet out of her sight regardless, not until she was safely chained to her bed. Tyvis intervened, demanding the trust and commitment of either woman, but it remained to be seen how effective that was, as Anita stormed upstairs and Kaylan clammed up on the common room couch.
Tyvis couldn't help but cringe, and not just from the confrontation, but the room itself with its mounted animal heads made mockery of with fashionable haircuts and mustaches. He somehow found it in himself to thank Tom for his hospitality, and the guildmaster sent refreshments before heading off to bed himself. Big day tomorrow, followed by a bloody night...
The Archdruid headed up to bed, and Narra stayed up a little longer in efforts to council Kaylan. The cleric was much less responsive than she had been earlier, fallen into another dark place. The gloom was pierced, strangely, by an older-looking barber carrying a platter of sweetbreads and livers. Narra sampled some, which were exceedingly delicious, but the cleric understandably declined.
Those awake and in view of windows, and Anita who'd climbed up onto the roof to think, could see an orange glow in the distance, and hear the galloping fury of the fire brigade as they flew by. A great fire had caught on Beggar's Street, exactly where one might place the old hideout. It was enough to send chills as the flames cast a bloody haze over the adjacent docks, for the party had just narrowly escaped what surely would have amounted to a deadly struggle.
Yet Gens could not see the fires on Beggar's Street, removed as he was in the dark and dismal operating room, accompanied by seven sleepers, some younger and older than himself, breathing heavily. To break the eeriness, or perhaps just to help him think, he played upon his flute a music more lovely than mortal words could describe, as if it were unlocked with his fey nature. The sound so pastoral and moving drifted through the sleepy guildhall, granting all who heard it the sweetest dreams, and those awake a span of mystified respite.
The notes were so profound, they overwhelmed a certain halfling, short and dark of hair, pear-shaped, who hopped off the table and sleepily said her good morning to Gens before wandering into the common room and practically into Narra's lap. The blue angel watched with a hint of amusement as the halfling curled up in an armchair and went back to sleep, but not before absently sneaking a liver from the tray.
Experience: 2280 xp each (44,733 total)
Gens' Revelation, 3500
Inquisitor Battle (bypassed), 4400
RP Bonus 3500
Magic: (see below)
Coin: 20,000 gp credit toward purchasing 'guild wares' next session
*Special: These items must have flavored origins tied to one of three themes:
1. Citadelean: Dwarves are second-class imperial citizens who provide the empire with nearly all its magic arms and armor. Especially valued in times of war, their items help level the playing field when combating wizards, warlocks and priests of the heretic gods. The free guilds of Edmark have particularly strong ties with the Citadeleans, and count the exclusively dwarven Gunsmith's Guild one of their number. The dwarven merchants often house with free guilds when visiting port and, as of now and with much difficulty, remain autonomous from the Iron Consortium so eager to envelop the stout smiths into their fold. Some of the best generalized items (to say not commissioned by someone of imperial influence) out of Citadel would be available to the group via the free guilds, stylized as typical dwarven products would be: sturdy, geometric, hinted with Norse elements.
2. Azerbadian: The swarthy men of the south belong to a loosely unified collection of city-states not even the Emperor dares challenge. Theirs is a land filled with magic and artifice, ruled over by Sorcerer-Kings. Unconcerned with matters north, and largely an isolated people, only their merchants ever venture further than the Sea of Chantico. They deal in exotic spices and textiles, rare gems, strange engines and of course magic. However the Sorcerer-Kings are very selective regarding what is sold and more often than not the potency of their wares is negligible compared to the products of Citadel. This leaves Edmarkians very wary of Azerbadi that linger too long in their city, as they prove little use for weapons and many are suspected spies and thieves. That said, smugglers do exist, willing to peddle powerful items for exorbitant prices. These smugglers are very rare, however, and very, very good, hunted by their own people for their betrayal and the Nors hoping to glean secrets of crafting. Tom Barber knows one such smuggler who is willing to sell several rare magic items, stylized with a typical desert civilization flare, be it Arabian, Egyptian or Turkish.
3. Edmarkian (mundane and low-level items): The largest port in the Heartland is an eclectic joining of cultures, largely Nors, to be sure, but influenced by Azerbad, Tolerna, the Umabi and Otezum. Overpopulation leaves much of the city veneered in grime and smelling overripe. Disease is common, and crime even more so. All of this is reflected the typical Edmarkian product. Things are greasy and have a slight smell to them, materials range the urban wilderness, to say hide and leather can be anything from pig skin to a stray dog pelt, bits and pieces might be shaped teeth or bird skulls or woven rat tails. The river provides a lot of reeds, river rock and fish bones which are incorporated into products. That's not to say these items are lacking, the good stuff is comparable to any city guilds' quality, but Edmark's has a slightly grizzly edge.
New NPCs
Tom Barber: Master of the Edmarkian barber-surgeon guild, a dapper and trimmed Nors more concerned with coin than race or creed. He represented the free guilds and aligned with the party to wage street war against DeWitt and Shydeln. The two had been stealing far more than their fair share from the guilds for years, preventing a middle class from rising.
Quest
Enemy of my Enemy: The group accepted Tom Barber's proposal of alliance, finding common enemies in Deloth DeWitt and Osenth Shydeln. Tom and the other free guilds (to say local guilds not under the tyranny of the Consortiums) are tired of the poor being truly destitute and the wealthy being exorbitantly so, numbering Consortium bureaucrats and their criminal counterparts. Edmark's unchecked corruption prevents a middle class from ever rising and keeps the free guilds in a constant state of struggling. With the arrival of the group, however, comes a means to combat DeWitt's wizardry, and the united guildmasters' are confident their boys can handle the rest. It's not a matter of race or creed, but of coin, what most in the bustling port value most.
Session 80a: Equip and prepare for the impending street war during that day, then enact a surprise assault on The Sly Flourish riverboat that night (a day before DeWitt, his dragoon and gun ships arrive). The free guild army tackles the united gangs, while the party infiltrates the boat itself in efforts to kill Crematia and Osenth Shydeln, then escape with the high priestess.
Relocating to the Barber-Surgeon Guildhall
Previously...
The group took DeWitt's bait, journeying across the empire to save High Priestess Finduilas before she was made a gift for the Emperor. The famous Savior of the North had been beaten into submission by some mechanical terror salvaged from the God War, and only two had escaped to tell the tale, Templar Giers among them. While the ethrey fled back to Etheria for reinforcements (stirring all kinds of fundamentalist sentiment no doubt), the party flew via spirit eagles over the Dormud Mountains. Along the way they gained a new ally in the Liscari rogue Anita, who nearly got the group killed over a golden gremlin idol.
After crossing The Great River and the shallower side of the Soveros Forest, narrowly skirting disaster at Bleachbone and avoiding the wolves of the Howling Hills, they entered Edmark (with difficulty) and obliterated the Dead Dogs gang. In the process they gained another new ally in the blue-haired Narra, and lost Thamior, who was forced to reconcile his fractured halves before they consumed him and the ones he loves. Tina also left, at least for the moment, with the young noble Percy for the safety of Wright Manor.
The party claimed the dogs' run-down hideout in the slums of Beggar's Street, a... moderately secure base of operations. In the gang leader's office was a private letter describing how DeWitt pulled strings with the city crime lord Osenth Shydeln to have his docks protected by the combined likes of the city's toughest thugs. What else but the priestess could warrant such protection?
Before they could investigate properly, the remnants of the Dead Dogs and choice members of the Barber-Surgeon Guild attempted to take back the old inn base, but were either killed or sent packing (Tyvis slipping a subtle message to one of the barbers on his way out). During the attack, an eerie corpse-like antagonist with powers akin to Narra's found her most interesting, but turned out to be a puppet for a much larger psychic entity.
Their suspicions of the riverboat were only further ignited by a dregoi escapee named Dynan who sought their help in rescuing hostages held on the upper deck. A dragon sorcerer and son of a powerful mage and ally of the Saviors, he seemed trustworthy and the party agreed to help.
Hoping this might lead to Finch, the freedom fighters stormed the guarded riverboat and absconded with eight humans and demihumans kidnapped much like the royals and nobility had been at the onset of the campaign. They too were the children of important northern figures, among them the prophetic daughter of King Matthias. Drawing the ire of DeWitt's second-in-command Crematia, the party barely managed escaping back to their base.
Over the next three hours, the party managed their way back to the hideout, some drenched in river water after an escape on Neverba, others soaked with sweat after a drawn-out chase with Crematia and her manhunters.
Hammon rolled over in his refuse and regarded them with a nod and a fart, a fine welcome back to an enlivened Beggar's Street. Taverns, brothels, an opium den and brawlers' pit were the main sources of attraction, street meats roasted over alley fires the meal of choice, and a steady collection of sailors, ruffians and harlots the citizenry. Lowborn Edmarkians mingled in the warm evening breeze, pungent with the smell of marshy riverbanks and fluted with the sounds of night birds.
While a rattled Narra regained her compsure after having watched men burn and melt to death, and Dynan in his guilt went for a bottle of amber rum, Gens fell over a table suffering an increasing stab of pain in his back. Kaylan's examination revealed an infected abscess which, upon bursting, appeared the result of a foreign object lodged deep in the tissue. Once cleaned to the best of her ability, the cleric plunged her hand inside the widening wound and removed a shard of cold iron.
Instantly Gens began to change, losing his handsome features and muscular definition, thinning and elongating and taking on an ashen complexion. Narra recognized some change triggered by the remove of the shard, but Tyvis recognized Gens' true nature to be fey, a changeling more specifically. All the long years since he was found wounded by a sword, the many times his back ached, had kept him frozen in the form of a half-elf.
Kaylan tended the wound and spoke with her friend in private, while the rest of the party distributed mousy hostages on vacant upstairs beds. Tyvis restored them, and the group marveled at the curious collection of various races and ages from fifteen to twenty-five. The only one with any light to shed was the eighth mouse, Ceress, who had a seat beside Dynan in the largest of the bedrooms and explained what she could piece together from four months of playing possum.
These eight, and others before them, were stolen from the north with the intentions of being sold or exchanged. However it did not sound like the hostages were long to live once such transactions were made. DeWitt was planning an important meeting on The Devil's Due to deliver the children once he returned to the city, which included a man from Noran and another from a place called Malbolge. However the party had foiled any chance of that with their daring rescue, of which she was very, very thankful of.
Gens and Kaylan joined the others long enough to catch the gist of Ceress's account, but the prophet was taken aback by the presence of a tiefling boy, eventually leaving the room entirely when Dynan labeled her a bigot. Narra followed after her, and the two shared a meaningful dialogue, however one-sided, in which Kaylan spilled all her grief and guilt. The Nors comforted her as best she could, the confession to and compassion of an imperial rather ironic. The two became better friends for it and Kaylan slept.
Around the same time, Gens got to know Ceress a little better, and the two shared a pleasant conversation and a few lovely songs, ones which reminded her of her father (truly a monumental compliment for any bard). Gens also recieved the wordless blessing of Dynan, who'd taken to the changeling even more with the discovery of his unusual heritage. The oracle agreed to help him uncover his past, teasing at his royal title, but also warning that the angels who sent her visions did not do so on her whim. Still, she hoped during the night some new revelation might come to her, and when Gens dipped to kiss her hand, she playfully pulled it away and assured him she wasn't that easy.
Meanwhile, Tyvis and Anita had been drawn downstairs by a hard rapping at the door. It was a dapper Nors man of handsome cut who turned out to be none other than the guildmaster of the barber-surgeons, Tom Barber. In light of the party's stomping of some of his toughest men, and the mysterious attacks on The Devil's Due, he felt inspired to accept the invitation Tyvis had offered the retreating barber two days prior. The Archdruid and the rogue were willing to listen, and in fact cut Tom's intended dissertation short by identifying Deloth DeWitt and 'The Duke' Osenth Shydeln as common enemies. Tom went on to explain that their combined corruption and untouchable links to the Consortiums had exacted crippling tolls and tribute from all the free guilds, to say the local guilds. Their racket had become too much to bare and prevented the rise of the burgeoning middle class (to say the local guilds and their artisans). The poor were destitute and the wealthy disgustingly so.
Tom represented a number of different free guilds and the crews of seventeen ships dedicated to changing things, dedicated to a street war (which clearly wet Anita's appetite). They had the numbers to combat the alliance of street gangs, and to hell with Osenth's connections with the watch and nobility. What had really prevented them from ever moving against the pair was their inability to combat DeWitt's supernatural arsenal. That's where the group came in. If they could ensure Crematia, Osenth Shydeln and Deloth DeWitt did not survive, the free guilds could actually be free.
Since DeWitt's riverboat was still two days out (under the guard of two gun ships and a personal dragoon) and a surprise attack so soon after the rescue would be most unexpected, a plan was drawn for an all-out attack against The Sly Flourish, DeWitt's second ship. That's where Crematia and Osenth now holed, and it was guarded by the whole of the gangs. If the high priestess was anywhere, it was on that ship, the most heavily guarded hold in the city. Unless, of course, this was all an elaborate trap, some last grasp at recollecting some of the hostages DeWitt had lost and with luck a few rescuers too. It was a risk the pair decided to take.
Making formal alliance with Tom and the free guilds, he felt compelled to warn them of a known Inquisition informant lurking about their place, a two-timing bum, Hammon. He also asked if they'd performed any wizardry lately, offhandedly commenting how the magehounds were able to track such things. As the notion inquisitors and city watch could descend upon them in force at any moment, the group hurriedly packed up and shouldered the sleepers downstairs.Tom offered to send a wagon to 'protect his investments', then jogged off into the night. It was a tense span of uncertainty, made worse with the knowledge they were truly vulnerable.
Kaylan and Ceress were woken, the former unwilling to leave. Rather the cleric preferred to stay and take them on, give them something to capture so suspicions would be allayed. Anita called it suicide and cuffed their wrists together. No one disagreed. When the wagon rolled up, everyone was loaded and fled Beggar's Street for the safety of the Barber-Surgeon Guildhall.
It wasn't far, and the party was unloaded around the unassuming side of the wood-shingled-and-high-gabled-building. They'd noticed a perpetual line out the door, men and women without proper funds for the Physician's Guild in need of teeth pulled, wounds sewed, amputations. The party found these things were offered with limited skill, as they entered through double doors and caught glimpses of the operating room. Dull instruments, red-stained splatters over the floor and walls, a pile of cadavers waiting morning pickup by the undertakers were unnerving enough, but when the unconscious children were placed inside for safe keeping, Gens objected and eventually decided to stay with them despite the room's strong smell of oils and preservatives.
Kaylan offered to stay with him, but after all that had transpired, Gens needed time alone, and Anita wasn't letting the prophet out of her sight regardless, not until she was safely chained to her bed. Tyvis intervened, demanding the trust and commitment of either woman, but it remained to be seen how effective that was, as Anita stormed upstairs and Kaylan clammed up on the common room couch.
Tyvis couldn't help but cringe, and not just from the confrontation, but the room itself with its mounted animal heads made mockery of with fashionable haircuts and mustaches. He somehow found it in himself to thank Tom for his hospitality, and the guildmaster sent refreshments before heading off to bed himself. Big day tomorrow, followed by a bloody night...
The Archdruid headed up to bed, and Narra stayed up a little longer in efforts to council Kaylan. The cleric was much less responsive than she had been earlier, fallen into another dark place. The gloom was pierced, strangely, by an older-looking barber carrying a platter of sweetbreads and livers. Narra sampled some, which were exceedingly delicious, but the cleric understandably declined.
Those awake and in view of windows, and Anita who'd climbed up onto the roof to think, could see an orange glow in the distance, and hear the galloping fury of the fire brigade as they flew by. A great fire had caught on Beggar's Street, exactly where one might place the old hideout. It was enough to send chills as the flames cast a bloody haze over the adjacent docks, for the party had just narrowly escaped what surely would have amounted to a deadly struggle.
Yet Gens could not see the fires on Beggar's Street, removed as he was in the dark and dismal operating room, accompanied by seven sleepers, some younger and older than himself, breathing heavily. To break the eeriness, or perhaps just to help him think, he played upon his flute a music more lovely than mortal words could describe, as if it were unlocked with his fey nature. The sound so pastoral and moving drifted through the sleepy guildhall, granting all who heard it the sweetest dreams, and those awake a span of mystified respite.
The notes were so profound, they overwhelmed a certain halfling, short and dark of hair, pear-shaped, who hopped off the table and sleepily said her good morning to Gens before wandering into the common room and practically into Narra's lap. The blue angel watched with a hint of amusement as the halfling curled up in an armchair and went back to sleep, but not before absently sneaking a liver from the tray.
Experience: 2280 xp each (44,733 total)
Gens' Revelation, 3500
Inquisitor Battle (bypassed), 4400
RP Bonus 3500
Magic: (see below)
Coin: 20,000 gp credit toward purchasing 'guild wares' next session
*Special: These items must have flavored origins tied to one of three themes:
1. Citadelean: Dwarves are second-class imperial citizens who provide the empire with nearly all its magic arms and armor. Especially valued in times of war, their items help level the playing field when combating wizards, warlocks and priests of the heretic gods. The free guilds of Edmark have particularly strong ties with the Citadeleans, and count the exclusively dwarven Gunsmith's Guild one of their number. The dwarven merchants often house with free guilds when visiting port and, as of now and with much difficulty, remain autonomous from the Iron Consortium so eager to envelop the stout smiths into their fold. Some of the best generalized items (to say not commissioned by someone of imperial influence) out of Citadel would be available to the group via the free guilds, stylized as typical dwarven products would be: sturdy, geometric, hinted with Norse elements.
2. Azerbadian: The swarthy men of the south belong to a loosely unified collection of city-states not even the Emperor dares challenge. Theirs is a land filled with magic and artifice, ruled over by Sorcerer-Kings. Unconcerned with matters north, and largely an isolated people, only their merchants ever venture further than the Sea of Chantico. They deal in exotic spices and textiles, rare gems, strange engines and of course magic. However the Sorcerer-Kings are very selective regarding what is sold and more often than not the potency of their wares is negligible compared to the products of Citadel. This leaves Edmarkians very wary of Azerbadi that linger too long in their city, as they prove little use for weapons and many are suspected spies and thieves. That said, smugglers do exist, willing to peddle powerful items for exorbitant prices. These smugglers are very rare, however, and very, very good, hunted by their own people for their betrayal and the Nors hoping to glean secrets of crafting. Tom Barber knows one such smuggler who is willing to sell several rare magic items, stylized with a typical desert civilization flare, be it Arabian, Egyptian or Turkish.
3. Edmarkian (mundane and low-level items): The largest port in the Heartland is an eclectic joining of cultures, largely Nors, to be sure, but influenced by Azerbad, Tolerna, the Umabi and Otezum. Overpopulation leaves much of the city veneered in grime and smelling overripe. Disease is common, and crime even more so. All of this is reflected the typical Edmarkian product. Things are greasy and have a slight smell to them, materials range the urban wilderness, to say hide and leather can be anything from pig skin to a stray dog pelt, bits and pieces might be shaped teeth or bird skulls or woven rat tails. The river provides a lot of reeds, river rock and fish bones which are incorporated into products. That's not to say these items are lacking, the good stuff is comparable to any city guilds' quality, but Edmark's has a slightly grizzly edge.
New NPCs
Tom Barber: Master of the Edmarkian barber-surgeon guild, a dapper and trimmed Nors more concerned with coin than race or creed. He represented the free guilds and aligned with the party to wage street war against DeWitt and Shydeln. The two had been stealing far more than their fair share from the guilds for years, preventing a middle class from rising.
Quest
Enemy of my Enemy: The group accepted Tom Barber's proposal of alliance, finding common enemies in Deloth DeWitt and Osenth Shydeln. Tom and the other free guilds (to say local guilds not under the tyranny of the Consortiums) are tired of the poor being truly destitute and the wealthy being exorbitantly so, numbering Consortium bureaucrats and their criminal counterparts. Edmark's unchecked corruption prevents a middle class from ever rising and keeps the free guilds in a constant state of struggling. With the arrival of the group, however, comes a means to combat DeWitt's wizardry, and the united guildmasters' are confident their boys can handle the rest. It's not a matter of race or creed, but of coin, what most in the bustling port value most.
- Kill Deloth DeWitt, two days from the city and under heavy guard (dragoon, 2 gun ships)
- Kill Osenth Shydeln, situated on The Sly Flourish
- Kill Cresha/Crematia, guarding The Sly Flourish with several hundred thugs
- Safety of the Barber-Surgeon Guildhall.
- Access to 'guild wares' drawn from dwarven merchants, Azerbadian smugglers and of course the guilds themselves.
- A small army of barbers, surgeons, dentists, gravediggers, undertakers, ratcatchers, candlemakers, dock hands, fishermen, carpenters, tailors, tanners, bakers, locksmiths, blacksmiths, chimneysweeps, and the crews of seventeen different vessels. They will handle the united gangs, so long as the group can kill Crematia and Osenth before they pull any wizardry.
- A chance to cripple DeWitt's plans even further, in light of his intended exchange of the hostages you rescued.
- Most important, a chance at rescuing High Priestess Finduilas Oranar.
- The risk of a trap.
- One or more of the free guilds proves untrustworthy.
- The danger of taking on Crematia, Osenth and ultimately DeWitt.
Session 80a: Equip and prepare for the impending street war during that day, then enact a surprise assault on The Sly Flourish riverboat that night (a day before DeWitt, his dragoon and gun ships arrive). The free guild army tackles the united gangs, while the party infiltrates the boat itself in efforts to kill Crematia and Osenth Shydeln, then escape with the high priestess.
Friday, August 6, 2010
77b: Queenmakers
Talsil 15th - 16th
Raising a Vampire Queen
Scooping up the fallen Isabella and the crippled Tamas, the party fled back to the dungeon with heavy clamor chasing at their heels. Hastily taking the secret passage, they narrowly avoided discovery by troll legionnaires, who instead found the corpses in the torture chamber and sounded the alarm.
Fleeing down the tunnel and into the kitchen, Renato and Diana managed masterful sneaks passed busy orc and goblin cooks, but the graceless Dude with Tamas over his back knocked over a tower of dirty pots before he'd taken three steps. The ensuing fight was quick, but thunderously loud, and in the process Diana was scratched by an infected goblin and contracted something nasty...
As Renato slipped into the feast hall, hoping the kitchen skirmish had gone unnoticed, he nearly walked head-into-chest of an investigating troll. The assassin managed to kick the creature into the waiting clutches of his allies and they made mince meat of the monster in no time.
Fleeing the feast hall, they came to the long stairs before the Wailing Door. Beyond lied the courtyard, the duergar, and escape, yet the narrow corridor was choked with frenzied trolls rushing in and out of the keep, mobilizing at a variety of check points and frantic to find their king. As they plotted ways to sneak beyond, Dude wished them luck and decided to try his luck with the treasury portals. After long, Tamas hobbled after him, but was spotted by the roving trolls and mercilessly chased.
Diana and Renato, Izzy over his shoulder, ducked and dodged their way to the wailing door, but Diana was spotted as they tore it open. She overcompensated for the discovery, mentioning assassination and king in the same declaration, and suddenly dozens of hulking monsters were clamoring to get her. She turned to mist at claws wrapped around her delicate frame, then, and silently wished the assassin well before spending the next day renegotiating the caverns back to Drelzna's door.
Renato used the distraction to slip into the dormitory and the sanctuary of the duergar's suite. After relinquishing the crown jewel, they were more than willing to help, stuffing the pair into one of their trunks and spiriting them out of the city (three hours of jolts, drops and several tense pauses).
Well-removed from Tsojcanth City, the vampire and his dark dwarven allies parted ways, but not before he gave them the mysterious ore, a down payment on its forging, and a little something extra for all their help. Clandash, Saspien and Barovia were now allies, and Izolda too once it was risen again.
Feeling accomplished, the assassin navigated the tunnels with ease and met back up with Diana the next day. Together they opened the great family tree and found the menacing, fly-ridden Fraz-Urb'luu waiting alone in the sanctum. After a tense parlay, during which neither vampire crossed the protected threshold, Fraz revealed the seneschal was his son (which may or may not be true).
Renato eventually entered within the demon lord's grasp for a chance to save the princess. In exchange, he was made to forfeit the location of the Planar Nexus. As Isabella slowly returned to her proper state of mind, the ancient demon taunted the wary Diana, still standing outside the chamber, by materializing behind her. He'd been capable of exiting the sanctum whenever he liked, it was the Caverns that were the real prison. Her inflated sense of security was nothing more than a figment. Once he vanished with a cruel chuckle, the vampires breathed a sigh of relief.
Drelzna was roused and thanked them for all their efforts, especially in locating the Planar Nexus. She wasn't perturbed in the least at Fraz's departure, and asked Renato to inform Nuq of the location as well, thereby allowing his freedom. She admitted that it was her intention all along to rid the Caverns of her rivals one way or another. In Baphomet's case, the party was able to defeat his host, but in the case of Fraz-Urb'luu and Nuq Qabib (who was really the almost cordial demon lord Pazuzu), there was no conceivable way for her or the party to vanquish them, so it was best to simply remove them from the equation. The only lingering challenge to her power was Seneschal Ervelis, and she was confident that his defeat was imminent.
Izolda would rise again thanks to her granddaughters' intervention and they would become her ambassadors to the 'new world'. Queen Drelzna promised to remind the vampire race of their proud heritage and honor her alliance with Saspien and Barovia. During their conversations, she took a real liking to Diana, even interrupting one of Isabella's stories to dote on her.
And once all three were gathered anew, and Renato had received the boon of Pazuzu's name, Drelzna insisted they rest in the sanctum while she procured a proper meal.
Experience: 4,233 xp each (47,258 total, LEVEL UP 14!)
Queenmakers, 5000
Escaping Jagged Keep, 3500
Nothing Short of Conspiracy, 3500
RP Bonus, 700
Magic: n/a
Boons: Pazuzu's Favor (Renato), Izoldanian Ambassadors (Diana, Isabella)...
Loot: - magic ore (Renato)
Diseases: Gorgeworms (Renato, Advanced State), Tsojcanthi Fever (Diana, Initial Effect)
Gorgeworms
Ingested during an encounter with rat droppings, cave slime or some other foul substance, gorgeworms begin as small, white grub that nest in the small intestines. Consuming a portion of whatever the host eats, they quickly grow and multiply. The host's appetite increases in direct correspondence with the worm population, until which point he or she no longer benefits from anything they eat, no matter how much is gorged upon. Eventually the unsatisfied worms, about a foot long each, eat their host from the inside out and lay eggs in the rotted corpse.
Lvl 14
Endurance improve DC 23, maintain DC 18, worsen DC 17 or lower
Initial Effect: The worms are ingested and nest in the small intestines. The host finds his or her appetite increased.
Advanced State: The target takes a -2 penalty to Fortitude. The host requires three times as much food and drink as is normal, or else begins to starve. The target suffers bloating, stomach pains and a ravenous hunger.
Final State: The target dies as the matured worms eat their way out.
Tsojcanthi Fever
A deadly bacteria borne of the many vile fungi cultured in the Lost Caverns, it festers in open wounds, then infects the blood like fire, finally boiling the organs in their own juices, leaving the victim's insides entirely liquefied.
Lvl 16
Endurance improve DC 25, maintain DC 20, worsen DC 19 or lower
Initial Effect: The bacteria festers in the open wound, producing a pinkish foam and stinging something awful. The host's temperature is elevated and he or she loses a healing surge. This healing surge cannot be regained until after the disease is cured.
Advanced State: The host suffers Vulnerability 10 fire. All damage the target suffers gains the fire keyword in addition to it's other types. The host is burning with fever and suffers icy sweats.
Final State: The target dies as his or her insides are reduced to a boiling stew of bloody entrails.
New NPCs
Pazuzu (formerly Nuq Qabib): Demon Lord of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms, one of the most ancient of obyriths, a prince of evil creatures affiliated with birds, storms and sky. He was trapped by Iggwilv in the depths of the Lost Caverns, recently escaped upon the bidding of Queen Drelzna. Renato benefited from his favor.
Completed Quests
Queenmaker: The Dark Three chose to back Drelzna in her efforts to control the Caverns, putting down her opposition and releasing the rest thanks to the discovery of the Planar Nexus. Now in Drelzna's good graces, they have made a powerful ally and risen a budding, eastern power in Izolda. They are poised to enter Barovia on their journey toward Saspien.
Nothing Short of Conspiracy: Thanks to the help of the Clandashi duergar, The Dark Three were able to successfully infiltrate Jagged Keep, assassinate the possessed Rend and recover the Crown Jewel of Clandash. They have made a powerful ally of the eastern dark dwarves and helped established a unifying monarch out of Heliza.
Raising a Vampire Queen
Scooping up the fallen Isabella and the crippled Tamas, the party fled back to the dungeon with heavy clamor chasing at their heels. Hastily taking the secret passage, they narrowly avoided discovery by troll legionnaires, who instead found the corpses in the torture chamber and sounded the alarm.
Fleeing down the tunnel and into the kitchen, Renato and Diana managed masterful sneaks passed busy orc and goblin cooks, but the graceless Dude with Tamas over his back knocked over a tower of dirty pots before he'd taken three steps. The ensuing fight was quick, but thunderously loud, and in the process Diana was scratched by an infected goblin and contracted something nasty...
As Renato slipped into the feast hall, hoping the kitchen skirmish had gone unnoticed, he nearly walked head-into-chest of an investigating troll. The assassin managed to kick the creature into the waiting clutches of his allies and they made mince meat of the monster in no time.
Fleeing the feast hall, they came to the long stairs before the Wailing Door. Beyond lied the courtyard, the duergar, and escape, yet the narrow corridor was choked with frenzied trolls rushing in and out of the keep, mobilizing at a variety of check points and frantic to find their king. As they plotted ways to sneak beyond, Dude wished them luck and decided to try his luck with the treasury portals. After long, Tamas hobbled after him, but was spotted by the roving trolls and mercilessly chased.
Diana and Renato, Izzy over his shoulder, ducked and dodged their way to the wailing door, but Diana was spotted as they tore it open. She overcompensated for the discovery, mentioning assassination and king in the same declaration, and suddenly dozens of hulking monsters were clamoring to get her. She turned to mist at claws wrapped around her delicate frame, then, and silently wished the assassin well before spending the next day renegotiating the caverns back to Drelzna's door.
Renato used the distraction to slip into the dormitory and the sanctuary of the duergar's suite. After relinquishing the crown jewel, they were more than willing to help, stuffing the pair into one of their trunks and spiriting them out of the city (three hours of jolts, drops and several tense pauses).
Well-removed from Tsojcanth City, the vampire and his dark dwarven allies parted ways, but not before he gave them the mysterious ore, a down payment on its forging, and a little something extra for all their help. Clandash, Saspien and Barovia were now allies, and Izolda too once it was risen again.
Feeling accomplished, the assassin navigated the tunnels with ease and met back up with Diana the next day. Together they opened the great family tree and found the menacing, fly-ridden Fraz-Urb'luu waiting alone in the sanctum. After a tense parlay, during which neither vampire crossed the protected threshold, Fraz revealed the seneschal was his son (which may or may not be true).
Renato eventually entered within the demon lord's grasp for a chance to save the princess. In exchange, he was made to forfeit the location of the Planar Nexus. As Isabella slowly returned to her proper state of mind, the ancient demon taunted the wary Diana, still standing outside the chamber, by materializing behind her. He'd been capable of exiting the sanctum whenever he liked, it was the Caverns that were the real prison. Her inflated sense of security was nothing more than a figment. Once he vanished with a cruel chuckle, the vampires breathed a sigh of relief.
Drelzna was roused and thanked them for all their efforts, especially in locating the Planar Nexus. She wasn't perturbed in the least at Fraz's departure, and asked Renato to inform Nuq of the location as well, thereby allowing his freedom. She admitted that it was her intention all along to rid the Caverns of her rivals one way or another. In Baphomet's case, the party was able to defeat his host, but in the case of Fraz-Urb'luu and Nuq Qabib (who was really the almost cordial demon lord Pazuzu), there was no conceivable way for her or the party to vanquish them, so it was best to simply remove them from the equation. The only lingering challenge to her power was Seneschal Ervelis, and she was confident that his defeat was imminent.
Izolda would rise again thanks to her granddaughters' intervention and they would become her ambassadors to the 'new world'. Queen Drelzna promised to remind the vampire race of their proud heritage and honor her alliance with Saspien and Barovia. During their conversations, she took a real liking to Diana, even interrupting one of Isabella's stories to dote on her.
And once all three were gathered anew, and Renato had received the boon of Pazuzu's name, Drelzna insisted they rest in the sanctum while she procured a proper meal.
Experience: 4,233 xp each (47,258 total, LEVEL UP 14!)
Queenmakers, 5000
Escaping Jagged Keep, 3500
Nothing Short of Conspiracy, 3500
RP Bonus, 700
Magic: n/a
Boons: Pazuzu's Favor (Renato), Izoldanian Ambassadors (Diana, Isabella)...
Pazuzu's FavorCoin: - 13,000 gp (Renato)
You have done well, Lord Ruiz, and service to Pazuzu is not without rewards.
Lvl 13
Demonic Boon
Property: When dealing with Pazuzu's demons, allies and affiliates, receive a +5 item bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks. When dealing with enemies of Pazuzu, receive a -5 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks.
Power (Encounter): Move Action. You fly 7 squares.
Izoldanian Ambassadors
Go out, my granddaughters, and make ready the way, for Izolda rises again!
Lvl 13
Political Boon
Property: Gain a +1 item bonus to Charisma ability checks and Charisma-based skill checks (but not Charisma attacks).
Power (Daily): Immediate Interrupt. Trigger: You roll a Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check you don't like. Effect: Add a +5 power bonus to your roll.
Loot: - magic ore (Renato)
Diseases: Gorgeworms (Renato, Advanced State), Tsojcanthi Fever (Diana, Initial Effect)
Gorgeworms
Ingested during an encounter with rat droppings, cave slime or some other foul substance, gorgeworms begin as small, white grub that nest in the small intestines. Consuming a portion of whatever the host eats, they quickly grow and multiply. The host's appetite increases in direct correspondence with the worm population, until which point he or she no longer benefits from anything they eat, no matter how much is gorged upon. Eventually the unsatisfied worms, about a foot long each, eat their host from the inside out and lay eggs in the rotted corpse.
Lvl 14
Endurance improve DC 23, maintain DC 18, worsen DC 17 or lower
Initial Effect: The worms are ingested and nest in the small intestines. The host finds his or her appetite increased.
Advanced State: The target takes a -2 penalty to Fortitude. The host requires three times as much food and drink as is normal, or else begins to starve. The target suffers bloating, stomach pains and a ravenous hunger.
Final State: The target dies as the matured worms eat their way out.
Tsojcanthi Fever
A deadly bacteria borne of the many vile fungi cultured in the Lost Caverns, it festers in open wounds, then infects the blood like fire, finally boiling the organs in their own juices, leaving the victim's insides entirely liquefied.
Lvl 16
Endurance improve DC 25, maintain DC 20, worsen DC 19 or lower
Initial Effect: The bacteria festers in the open wound, producing a pinkish foam and stinging something awful. The host's temperature is elevated and he or she loses a healing surge. This healing surge cannot be regained until after the disease is cured.
Advanced State: The host suffers Vulnerability 10 fire. All damage the target suffers gains the fire keyword in addition to it's other types. The host is burning with fever and suffers icy sweats.
Final State: The target dies as his or her insides are reduced to a boiling stew of bloody entrails.
New NPCs
Pazuzu (formerly Nuq Qabib): Demon Lord of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms, one of the most ancient of obyriths, a prince of evil creatures affiliated with birds, storms and sky. He was trapped by Iggwilv in the depths of the Lost Caverns, recently escaped upon the bidding of Queen Drelzna. Renato benefited from his favor.
Completed Quests
Queenmaker: The Dark Three chose to back Drelzna in her efforts to control the Caverns, putting down her opposition and releasing the rest thanks to the discovery of the Planar Nexus. Now in Drelzna's good graces, they have made a powerful ally and risen a budding, eastern power in Izolda. They are poised to enter Barovia on their journey toward Saspien.
Nothing Short of Conspiracy: Thanks to the help of the Clandashi duergar, The Dark Three were able to successfully infiltrate Jagged Keep, assassinate the possessed Rend and recover the Crown Jewel of Clandash. They have made a powerful ally of the eastern dark dwarves and helped established a unifying monarch out of Heliza.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
78a: The Devil's Due
Talsil 16th
Retrieving the Hostages
(placeholder)
Experience: 2140 xp each (42, 453 total total)
Rescuing the Hostages, 3500
Pier Battle, 6500
RP Experience, 700
Magic: n/a
Coin: n/a
Loot: n/a
New NPCs:
Tiefling Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a red-skinned tiefling with small, brass horns sprouting from his brow.
Half-Fel Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a dashing half-feladrin with white hair looking a little older than the rest of the hostages (25 abouts).
Halfling Female: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a heavy-set girl with short, black hair.
Human Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a well-built young man with a multitude of scars and only one eye.
Human Female: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a thin, gaunt young girl.
Human Female: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a voluptuous girl with curly, strawberry locks and pouting lips.
Half-Orc Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a tall, broad, muscular young man covered in totemic tattoos.
Retrieving the Hostages
(placeholder)
Experience: 2140 xp each (42, 453 total total)
Rescuing the Hostages, 3500
Pier Battle, 6500
RP Experience, 700
Magic: n/a
Coin: n/a
Loot: n/a
New NPCs:
Tiefling Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a red-skinned tiefling with small, brass horns sprouting from his brow.
Half-Fel Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a dashing half-feladrin with white hair looking a little older than the rest of the hostages (25 abouts).
Halfling Female: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a heavy-set girl with short, black hair.
Human Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a well-built young man with a multitude of scars and only one eye.
Human Female: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a thin, gaunt young girl.
Human Female: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a voluptuous girl with curly, strawberry locks and pouting lips.
Half-Orc Male: One of the hostages aboard the Devil's Due, a tall, broad, muscular young man covered in totemic tattoos.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
76b: The Mindkiller
Talsil 14th
Seeking the Treasury
The Dark Three snuck through Jagged Keep in hopes of finding the treasury and then escaping before something terrible happened. In the process they recruited two from the dungeons, a dwarf fighter who resigned to go by the name Dude and a Nors captain Tamas Martel.
The exhausted party split and soon after the treasury was found beneath Rend's bedchamber. After dealing with a guardian naga, Renato and Dude managed to spirit out as much treasure as they could, the assassin secretly pocketing a black diamond known to some as The Crown Jewel of Clandash (a symbol of rulership to Clandashi duergar). He also noticed two curious blue portals in the treasury, as well as a strange, blue stone held aloft by giant tiefling statues.
Meanwhile, Isabella and Diana undid many wards and braved two vicious traps guarding the seneschal's chambers, though once opened there was a terrible hiss as if an ancient seal had been broken. They stepped in sight of a giant, coral brain flickering with white fire and quickly became embroiled in a fight for their lives. The sorceress managed to break free and destroy the construct, but the shadow witch's mind was entirely erased in the ordeal.
Regrouped on the landing, even as the sounds of trolls snarl and scrape deadly near, the task now was escape, a hasty meeting with Heliza and the other dark dwarves, and a flight back to Drelzna in hopes of restoring Isabella and garnering a new ally.
Experience: 2183 each (43,025 total)
Fooling the Legion, 700
Lone Guard, 150
Sharavel, 2200
The Mindkiller, 3500
Magic: Hatespire (unique), Elemental Prism, Despicable Shard...
Artifact: Crown Jewel of Clandash: Very little is known to surface dwellers about this mango-sized black diamond set into a plain, mithiril band, priceless even as a mundane gem. However Dude explained its significance goes far beyond coin, a symbol of rulership for the duergar city of Clandash nestled under the roots of the Soveros. With it, a strong-willed dark dwarf could reunite the squabbling clans and surface as a new eastern power. It also shimmers with the promise of arcane power...
Coin: 6000 gp (from Rend's chambers, Renato) + 6950 gp (from the treasury), - 60 gp (2 knock rituals, Izzy)
Loot: n/a
New NPCs
Dude: Dwarven prisoner of Jagged Keep rescued by The Dark Three and taken on as a temporary partner of sorts. Skilled with the greatsword, harboring no love for the monsters of Tsojcanth City. His real name is unknown.
Sharavel (dead): Drow torturer of Jagged Keep, specializing in cooking her victims for troll feasts.
Tamas Martel: Nors captain kidnapped by duergar and sold to King Rend, where he was tortured by drow (slowly cooked alive). The Dark Three saved him and he joined them out of necessity, revealing himself one of the noble Martels.
New Hooks
Brain Drain: Izzy lies brain-dead after an encounter with an alien device. Diana and Renato are left to try and restore their friend, despite the device's destruction.
Seeking the Treasury
The Dark Three snuck through Jagged Keep in hopes of finding the treasury and then escaping before something terrible happened. In the process they recruited two from the dungeons, a dwarf fighter who resigned to go by the name Dude and a Nors captain Tamas Martel.
The exhausted party split and soon after the treasury was found beneath Rend's bedchamber. After dealing with a guardian naga, Renato and Dude managed to spirit out as much treasure as they could, the assassin secretly pocketing a black diamond known to some as The Crown Jewel of Clandash (a symbol of rulership to Clandashi duergar). He also noticed two curious blue portals in the treasury, as well as a strange, blue stone held aloft by giant tiefling statues.
Meanwhile, Isabella and Diana undid many wards and braved two vicious traps guarding the seneschal's chambers, though once opened there was a terrible hiss as if an ancient seal had been broken. They stepped in sight of a giant, coral brain flickering with white fire and quickly became embroiled in a fight for their lives. The sorceress managed to break free and destroy the construct, but the shadow witch's mind was entirely erased in the ordeal.
Regrouped on the landing, even as the sounds of trolls snarl and scrape deadly near, the task now was escape, a hasty meeting with Heliza and the other dark dwarves, and a flight back to Drelzna in hopes of restoring Isabella and garnering a new ally.
Experience: 2183 each (43,025 total)
Fooling the Legion, 700
Lone Guard, 150
Sharavel, 2200
The Mindkiller, 3500
Magic: Hatespire (unique), Elemental Prism, Despicable Shard...
Hatespire
This mage's staff is seven feet of imperious black marble like some grim parapet, topped with a smoky red crystal. Red veins pulse throughout its length.
Hatespire was the chosen staff of the Archmage Tsojcanth, the infamous son of Fraz-Urb'luu for whom the caverns are named. They were once his in the days before the vampires, before the Nors, in a time of relative peace. Being the most accomplished wizard in the east, a young Iggwilv came to Tsojcanth as an apprentice, learning his many secrets before murdering him in his sleep. It was the first of many widow relationships to powerful mages...
Though having no real intelligence of its own, some of Tsojcanth's outrage and hate festoons in the staff. Hatespite is desperate for a powerful and vengeful mage, altering to fit his or her capacity for hate. It wants to be the instrument of wrath and retribution. It wants to reach its full potential, though only the truly spiteful and vindictive might raise the spire its highest.Level: 15
Price: 25,000 gp
Implement (Staff)
Enhancement: +3 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +3d6 damageProperty: Unique (a unique item scales with level, becoming it's +4 version at lvl 20, +5 at 25 and +6 at 30).
Power (Daily): Immediate Interrupt. Use this power when you take damage from an attack with the fire, force, lightning, necrotic, or radiant keyword. You take half damage from the attack. You gain a +2 power bonus to attack rolls and +10 power bonus to damage rolls with your next attack that has the arcane and implement keywords.
-
Elemental Prism
This perfect, sharp and angular prisim shimmers with the myriad colors of the elements. Wedging it into one's forehead, palm or chest activates its power.Level: 16
Power (Encounter): Free Action. Use this power when you make an attack that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage. Change all your attack’s damage to a different type of your choice among those above. You gain resist 15 to your attack’s original damage type until the end of your next turn.
Price: 45,000 gp
Wondrous Item
-
Despicable Shard
A bloody shard of Hatespire's red crystal imbues a weapon with a terrible bite. The weapon develops a reddish sheen on the blade or head, and pulsing veins along the hilt.
Level: 13
Price: 17,000 gp
Implement (Shard Augment)
Property: You gain a +3 bonus to damage rolls with implement attacks that use the augmented weapon.
Artifact: Crown Jewel of Clandash: Very little is known to surface dwellers about this mango-sized black diamond set into a plain, mithiril band, priceless even as a mundane gem. However Dude explained its significance goes far beyond coin, a symbol of rulership for the duergar city of Clandash nestled under the roots of the Soveros. With it, a strong-willed dark dwarf could reunite the squabbling clans and surface as a new eastern power. It also shimmers with the promise of arcane power...
Coin: 6000 gp (from Rend's chambers, Renato) + 6950 gp (from the treasury), - 60 gp (2 knock rituals, Izzy)
Loot: n/a
New NPCs
Dude: Dwarven prisoner of Jagged Keep rescued by The Dark Three and taken on as a temporary partner of sorts. Skilled with the greatsword, harboring no love for the monsters of Tsojcanth City. His real name is unknown.
Sharavel (dead): Drow torturer of Jagged Keep, specializing in cooking her victims for troll feasts.
Tamas Martel: Nors captain kidnapped by duergar and sold to King Rend, where he was tortured by drow (slowly cooked alive). The Dark Three saved him and he joined them out of necessity, revealing himself one of the noble Martels.
New Hooks
Brain Drain: Izzy lies brain-dead after an encounter with an alien device. Diana and Renato are left to try and restore their friend, despite the device's destruction.
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