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.
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