The Returners

Janiven - second-in-command, female human ranger. Stern and reserved most of the time, but passionate about the city of Westcrown and the cause of the Returners.

Arael - leader, male half-elf cleric of Iomedae. Arael desires nothing more than the toppling of House Thrune and an end to the Infernal presence within Cheliax. He is wise enough to know that this is a very long-term goal, and is content to inspire the Returners to act as the "people's heroes" and change the culture of Westcrown by example.

Amaya - female Tian human. Amaya is a well-mannered glassblower and and incredibly beautiful woman who's somewhat self-conscious about the effect her appearance has on others - she dresses plainly as a result.

Ermolos - male Chelish human. Ermolos is incredibly muscular, a physique the result of an apprentiship as a blacksmith. He walks with a slight limp.

Fiosa - female halfling. Fiosa is a house servant of Rokkek Ingerr (a merchant in the Adventurers' Quarter) who is friends with many halfling slaves; she takes advantage of her freedom to help her kin as best she can.

Gorvio - male Chelish human. Gorvio works for his uncle Jacovo, a horse trader in the Adventurers' Quarter, but has increasingly grown curious about his ancestry - his vibrant amber eyes make him suspect that somewhere in his past lurks the blood of a tiefling or two.

Larko - male Garundi human. Larko lives a simple life as a dock worker, but daydreams of his childhood in the hills east of Westcrown and hopes someday to be able to afford to move out of the city and live a hunter's life.

Mathalen - female Chelish human. Mathalen is a thin a wiry woman who worked as a porter but found the job dreadfully dull. She got through her days by making sure to take frequent breaks to meditate and purge her mind of "the poisons of menial labour." This attitude struck her employer as lazy, and she was recently fired from her job and thinks of the Returners as her new calling.

Rizzardo - male Varisian human. After stowing away on a Chelish ship, Rizzardo found himself more or less stuck in Westcrown years ago. He earns his keep working at odd jobs as an unskilled labourer, but has to switch jobs frequently as a result of his temper and impatience at following orders from one person for too long. He enjoys the company of Ermolos immensly, and considers him akin to a brother.

Sclavo - male Garundi human. A soft-spoken yet intractable (if secretive) worshipper of Iomedae, Sclavo has worked as a scribe for one of Westcrown's courts. He longs for a day when the laws of Cheliax can be reformed.

Tarvi - female Chelish human. Tarvi's parents own a prosperous garment shop in Westcrown
- Bertuccio's Clothiers in the Adventurers' Quarter. She's worked there for years, but is far too witty and intelligent to do the job well. In those years she has engineered no less than a dozen attempts by her parents to get her married into nobility. Her true passion is studying magic, and hopes someday to be able to create and sell magical clothing.

Vitti - male Chelish human. Vitti is a strange, eccentric man who dyes his hair green and refuses to eat any food he doesn't grow or catch himself. A talented woodcarver who works for Dino Caravello (owner of Caravello's Equipment in the Adventurers' Quarter), he prides himself on the fact that he only carves wood that's been harvested from deadfalls and other trees that died of natural causes.

Yakopulio - female gnome. Of all the Returners, noisy and irreverent Yakopulio is the least religious - she wears her athiesm proudly, and her eagerness to contradict often sparks arguments among others in the group. She works as a bartender at a tavern called the Bruised Eel.

The Bastards of Erebus - Session 6: Taking it to the Bastards, Part 2

Dramatis Personae

Alizander - Human (Varisian) sorcerer – works and performs at Cayden’s Blessing
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard – works at Rhialto’s Tonics and Talismans
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue – works at the Beer Golem Tavern
Slavé – Tiefling (appears human) rogue – detective in dottari employ
Tavo - Human cleric of Pharasma – employed as a mortician and coroner
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue – former nobleman, often seen at Alfred’s Smithy

Oathday, 26 Rova, 4708 A.R.

The Returners continue their assault on the Bastards of Erebus’ hideout within the former Church of Erastil. They follow the fleeing tiefling thugs downstairs to an underground crypt, where they meet more Bastards reinforcements. The Returners defeat the tieflings in the crypt after a long battle in the tight quarters of the crypt, but are hampered on moving further into the underground complex by the sound of rabid dogs on the other side of the north door, and a pair of what appear to be large dog or wolf skeletons on the other side of the east door.

Meanwhile, Slavé drags one of the unconscious tieflings from the initial assault into one of the abandoned shops near the church. Slavé binds the tiefling and interrogates him once he wakens, using violence and intimidation to learn something of the so-called Bastards of Erebus. Slavé’s prisoner reveals that the group consists of only tieflings, all of whom work for one who calls himself Palaveen, who is described as goatish in appearance, with large branching horns, pointed ears, and the icon of Asmodeus – an inverted pentacle – branded on his brow. The prisoner says Palaveen pays the members to enter the city at night to steal and cause mayhem. If citizens get in the way (like the weaponsmith, or the patrons sleeping at Quintos’ tavern) then it is their own fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Slavé’s prisoner shows little remorse for his actions, and claims to know nothing of Palaveen’s motives, and cares only that he pays good coin. When pressed further, the prisoner reveals that several of the buildings in the area are connected through underground tunnels, and that Palaveen controls several wolf skeletons as guards and servants within the underground facility.

Soon Slavé notices the sound of digging outside the building. Several moments later a huge tiefling with massive, clawed hands roars out of the rubble just outside the building. Slavé slits the throat of his prisoner and rushes upstairs, while the other Returners, just returning above ground to regroup and consider their next move, rush in to face the clawed tiefling. A few tiefling rogues follow the digger from the hole and face down the party. One of the rogues and the clawed tiefling are taken down, and the other two jump back through the hole and into the underground complex in an effort to escape.

Treasure

· Studded leather armour (14) – from tiefling thugs and rogues

· Light mace (14) - from tiefling thugs and rogues

· Light crossbow (14) - from tiefling thugs and rogues

· Crossbow bolts (120) - from tiefling thugs and rogues

· Dagger (13) – from tiefling thugs and Ostengo

· Short sword (2) – from tiefling rogues

· Thieves’ tools (2) – from tiefling rogues

· Mithral shirt – from Ostengo

· Tanglefoot bag – from Ostengo

· Potion (unidentified) – from Ostengo

· Potion (unidentified) – Dravano the Digger

· Masterwork breastplate – Dravano the Digger

· 400 gp – from thugs, rogues, Ostengo, and Dravano

Experience Awards

· Tiefling thugs (9) 1220 xp

· Ostengo (tiefling sorcerer) 400 xp

· Dravano the Digger 400 xp

· Tiefling rogue 200 xp

· Total 2220 xp

· Per PC (6) 370 xp

Current XP Totals Per PC (after session 6)

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 3815 xp each

· Nagiphax – 3295 xp

· Tavo – 3155 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp

The Bastards of Erebus - Session 5: Taking it to the Bastards

Dramatis Personae

Alizander - Human (Varisian) sorcerer – works and performs at Cayden’s Blessing
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard – works at Rhialto’s Tonics and Talismans
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue – works at the Beer Golem Tavern
Slavé – Tiefling (appears human) rogue – detective in dottari employ

Tavo - Human cleric of Pharasma – employed as a mortician and coroner
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue – former nobleman, often seen at Alfred’s Smithy

Wealday, 11 Rova, to Oathday, 26 Rova, 4708 A.R.

The party members resume their daily lives for a time. During this period, the party members continue to meet with Janiven, Arael, and the other Returners, doing what they can to promote the group’s aims in the city. Slavé and Tavo are first to learn of the series of break-ins, robberies and murders that have occurred in the city in the last eight weeks. Slavé’s investigations and Tavo’s examination of several bodies associated with the robberies in question reveal clues that tie the break-ins and murders to a group of tiefling bandits called The Bastards of Erebus. In each case, the Bastards leave a calling card in the form of a wooden token featuring a devil’s head visage associated with the cult of Mammon.

On the morning of Wealday, 25 Rova, several party members return to the Adventurers’ Quarter from a meeting at the Returners’ safehouse to find a crowd of citizens and dottari amassed in front of the Beer Golem Tavern. Within the tavern are the bodies of three dead patrons who had stayed the night after missing curfew. Investigation of the scene points to the Bastards of Erebus as the culprits. On the following day, the party takes the fight to the Bastards of Erebus in their home turf, and tracks them down to an abandoned church of Erastil within the ruins and slums of the Rego Cader, the dead sector. The party approaches the church individually and in small groups of two. Alizander is spotted by a lookout in the church bell-tower and draws her crossbow fire while the rest of the group manages to approach the church undetected. Slavé attempts to bluff the tieflings in the church that he is there to purchase illicit goods but fails to convince those inside. A fight breaks out at this point, and the lookout rings the church bell as the size of the group around the church becomes apparent. The party does battle with two tiefling rogues who emerge from another building nearby the church; Nagiphax manages to break into the church through a boarded-up window and draws the attention of the four tiefling thugs within. Tavo breaks through the church’s front door with a makeshift ram, while Vaeden’s dog scuffles with the tiefling thugs’ mangy mutt. Several of the thugs fall under the party’s blades and spells, and the two remaining tieflings manage to escape down a stairway leading to a basement under the church.

Treasure

None – session ended mid-combat.

Experience Awards

· Story Award (investigating the Bastards) - 2415 xp

· Tiefling thugs (3) - 405 xp

· Tiefling rogues (2) - 400 xp

· Scabby (guard dog) - 200 xp

· Total - 3420 xp

· Per PC (6) - 570 xp

Current XP Totals Per PC (after session 5)

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 3445 xp each

· Nagiphax – 2925 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp

· Tavo – 2785 xp

The Bastards of Erebus - Session 4: The Purloined Press

Dramatis Personae

Alizander - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Croso Galen - Human fighter
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue
Orem "The Ser" Galt - Human (Chelish/Kellid) fighter (formerly in the service of Iomedae)
Slavé – Tiefling (appears human) rogue
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue

Moonday, 9 Rova, 4708 A.R.

Vaeden, Croso, and Oren strip the Hellknight Signifier of his full plate armour while the other party members race back towards Westcrown. Slavé speaks to Arael during the ride and asks how he came to form the revolutionary group. They eventually meet with Janiven and the other Returners on the road. At Gorvio’s insistence the party heads to Jacovo’s stables to return the horses upon reaching the city, while Arael and Janiven head straight for the Returners’ safehouse.

At the stables Alizander, Nagiphax, and Carlos have an altercation with Thesing Umbero Ulvauno, a moderately famous actor and tenor, who they find arguing with Jacovo over the horses the party borrowed earlier that morning. Carlos and Alizander flatter Thesing while Nagiphax apologizes for not returning the horses in time, which appears to mollify the egotistical actor. Nagiphax, in particular, receives special attention from the Thesing, who seems fascinated by the cyclops-kin unusual but fetching appearance. The three PCs attend Thesing’s performance of The Elopement of the Dowager Princess later that evening, which suffers a minor setback when one of Jacovo’s horses kicks an actor on stage and interrupts Thesing’s solo aria.

Meanwhile, Vaeden, Croso, and Oren return to Westcrown with the stolen Hellknight armour, which they decide to bury about a mile west of the city. The three PCs head to the safehouse and speak to Arael and the Returners. They are eventually joined by the rest of the party, including Slavé. The Returners celebrate Arael’s rescue and talk about what their next step might be. The rise in banditry both on the roads leading to the city and within Westcrown is discussed. Sclavo tells the group about an abandoned printing press that he has learned is stored in a dottari warehouse near Taranik House, the Order of the Rack compound. The printing press is said to be a former government press that includes the stamp of Aroden, marking anything printed as official government copy. Seeing an opportunity to spread Returner propaganda under an official guise, the party decides to mount an operation to retrieve the printing press the following night. Sclavo provides the party with a scroll of shrink item to facilitate removal of the press.

Carlos, Vaeden, and Alizander each fall ill during the evening. Arael examines them and asks them about their activities the day before, suggesting that they may have contracted some ill humours while escaping the Hellknights in the sewers. Carlos and Vaeden manage to fight off the worst effects of the illness, but Alizander’s fever worsens to the point of nausea and dizzy spells.

Toilday, 10 Rova, 4708 A.R.

Slavé returns to the dottari guardpost in the Adventurers’ Quarter in the morning and, using his dottari identification, performs reconnaissance at the warehouse containing the printing press. He convinces the guards to let him into the facility and takes account of the press’s location and the number of dottari that guard the warehouse during the day and night. Slavé feigns interest in another crate in the warehouse before leaving and heading to the safehouse to inform the rest of the group of the guard complement and building layout.

That night, the party mounts a stealth operation at the warehouse. Carlos and Alizander succeed in rendering two of the dottari and their guard dogs unconscious with sleep and colour spray spells, while Nagiphax and Vaeden use their saps to good effect on the other two dottari. Carlos successfully shrinks the press while Nagiphax breaks into several of the crates to make the break-in appear to be a random robbery. She examines some of the furniture held in the crate that Slavé showed interest in while scoping the place out earlier in the day and happens upon a pouch of 100 gp hidden within the upholstery of one of the chairs. The party returns to the Returners’ Safehouse with the invaluable printing press.

Treasure

· 100 gp

· De-commissioned printing press

Experience Awards

· Story Award (horse drama) - 1580 xp

· Dottari guards (4) - 540 xp

· Guard dogs (2) - 400 xp

· Story Award (the purloined press) - 2100 xp

· Total - 4620 xp

· Per PC (7) - 660 xp

· Fame Points (the purloined press) - 1 Fame Point

Current XP Totals Per PC (after session 4)

· Alizander, Carlos, Croso, Orem, Slavé, Vaeden – 2875 xp each

· Nagiphax – 2355 xp

· Tavo – 2215 xp

The Bastards of Erebus - Session 3: Arael's Rescue

Dramatis Personae

Alizander - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Croso Galen - Human fighter
Orem "The Ser" Galt - Human (Chelish/Kellid) fighter (formerly in the service of Iomedae)
Slavé - Tiefling (appears human) rogue
Tavo - Human cleric of Pharasma
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue

Moonday, 9 Rova, 4708 A.R.

The party mounts a daring rescue of Arael as he is being transported from Westcrown to Citadel Ravid, the impenetrable headquarters of the Hellknight Order of the Rack. After discussing the rescue with Janiven and the Returners, the party decides to make their ambush at a small stone bridge crossing the river Athua about 12 miles west of the city. Janiven takes four volunteers from the Returners – Sclavo, Ermolos, and Gorvio – to mount a mock ambush on the bluff several hundred yards west of the bridge in order to draw away as many Hellknights as possible from the prison wagon. Gorvio borrows horses from his uncle Jacovo back in the Adventurers’ Quarter, and the group heads out for the ambush point

Slavé accompanies Janiven and the other Returners, while the rest of the party lies in wait at the bridge, hidden behind boulders and the main bridge supports. Alizander casts a spell to appear as a Hellknight recruit and waits at the old campsite on the east side of the bridge. The prison wagon approaches, flanked by 13 Hellknight armigers. Nine of the armigers are on foot, four are mounted, and one drives the two horses pulling the wagon. Their leader, a Hellknight Signifier named Shanwen (according to Pontia Runario) stands at attention behind a large crossbow mounted atop the wagon. Alizander plays the part of an armiger from Citadel Ravid who has been guarding the bridge against bandits as a penance for bad behaviour and is invited to join the transport for the journey back to the citadel. As the wagon crosses the river, Janiven and Slavé begin their false ambush atop the bluff, and are successful in drawing away the mounted armigers. Janiven and the other Returners scatter caltrops across before the mounted armigers reach them and flee into the surrounding bush and scrubland. Slavé heads the opposite way and steers his horse back towards the Athua.

Meanwhile, the party hiding near the bridge makes its attack as the armigers begin to cross the bridge. Croso is the first to show himself, taunting the armigers. Shanwen order the armigers attack while the wagon moves forward. Orem attempts to trip the attacking armigers with a crude trip line set up between the bridge supports, and a fierce battle ensues between the party and the Hellknight recruits. Alizander finds himself in a bad spot at the back of the wagon and is beaten down by the armigers, but is eventually aided by Slavé, who comes back around the east side of the bridge and avoids the main combat. The party is eventually successful in bringing the recruits and Shanwen into submission, and using a key found on Shanwen they rescue Arael, the half-elf cleric of Iomedae, from the prison wagon. Arael is suspicious of the party’s motives at first, but after hearing about Janiven’s involvement is satisfied the party is not a group of lawless bandits. Slavé bids Arael join him on his horse for the ride back to Westcrown.

Treasure

Potion of Cure Light Wounds (5)

Prison carriage key

Heavy mace, with Hellknight stamp

Full plate, Hellknight style

Light crossbows (10), and 120 bolts

Longswords (10)

Experience Awards

Hellknight Armigers (10): 1350 xp

Shanwen (Hellknight Signifier): 200 xp

Story Award (rescuing Arael): 2000 xp

Total: 3650

Per PC (7): 520

Fame Point (rescuing Arael) - 1

Fame Point (not killing any Hellknights) - 1

Current XP Totals per PC (after session 3)

Alizander, Carlos, Corso, Orem, Tavo, Slavé, Vaeden (2215 xp each)

Nagiphax (1695 xp)