Mother of Flies - Session 41: Walcourt Raid, Part IV

Dramatis Personae

Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer

Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker

Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma

Starday, 30 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

The Returners continue searching Walcourt for the entrance to the basement, finally discovering a long, downward-spiralling staircase on the second floor near the opulent chambers reserved for Sandor the Strange. After pilfering the diviner’s effects, the party makes its way down the stairs, Slavé scouting ahead. The air becomes noticeably cooler and more humid as they decend down the long staircase. The air is reasonably fresh to most of the Returners, though Boecca notes the slight scent of sewer.

At the bottom of the stairs the Returners come to a stone landing overlooking a dark cavern pool. A flat-bottomed boat with a pole for pushing it is moored to the platform’s edge. Parts of the north and west walls are mortared stone, but the rest is a natural formation and extends eastward around a bend in the flooded tunnel. The ceiling soars twenty feet overhead through a maze of stalactites. To the north, a ten-foot-high water-filled tunnel exits past a set of rusty bars. Boecca indicates that the scent of sewer emanates from the northern tunnel.

The party begins to cross the pool – Tavo and Boecca in the boat, Alizander levitating just behind it, tethered with a rope, Carlos just out of the water atop the clay golem’s back as it wades through the pool, Slavé levitating and pulling himself across the ceiling, and Alfred flying in amongst the stalactites. About halfway across the pool, the group is ambushed by three 8-foot tall lobster-like monstrosities, tiny eyes gleaming above mouths full of writhing tentacles. One of the chuul’s grabs Tavo in its massive claw and feeds him into the tentacles mass. Tavo feels his muscles and joints seizing uncontrollably as he is coated in a glistening substance coating the tentacles, and just barely manages to fight off the paralysis. Boecca, too, is grabbed by one of the chuuls, but is dropped when the chuul is struck by a lightning bolt cast by Alfred. Carlos’ clay golem pulverizes one of the chuuls into chowder, and the other two are eventually dispatched by the other Returners.

Alizander sends a group of summoned water elementals ahead in the tunnel. As the elementals round the bend in the east, a horrible baying and howling reverberates through the cavern. The water elementals return and describe the pool ending in a pebbly beach around the bend in the east, which leads to a grotto featuring several chairs and tables. The Returners recognize the baying echoing through the chamber – shadow mastiffs. Rounding the bend, the group confronts the mastiffs from the shore, confident the beasts will not advance into the water. With spell and arrow they defeat the mastiffs, and head into the guard landing. The Returners realize that they need to regroup and recover after the last couple of hours exploring Walcourt, but are concerned that the mastiffs’ baying has alerted the rest of the dungeon’s denizens. Slavé decides to scout a little further and opens the door leading north from the landing. In the short hallway beyond, Slavé catches sight of a green, misty form just before it disappears through another doorway to the north. If there was any question about whether the dungeon’s denizens knew the Returners were here, there is no longer.

Treasure

· From D19. Abode of Sandor the Strange

o Scale model of Walcourt (false vision focus) (worth 2000 gp)

o Varisian Harrow deck of enameled wooden plaques (worth 500 gp)

o Silver mirror (worth 1000 gp)

o Brass orrery (worth 200 gp)

o Diamonds (5) (worth 2500 gp total)

o 880 gp

o Sandor’s spellbooks

· From D17. Stiglor’s Chamber

o Assorted gems (worth 5780 gp)

o +2 Shadow studded leather armour

· From F1. Hidden Grotto

o Sparkwake starknife (worth 10,824 gp)

Experience

· Spiked pit traps (3) – 7200 xp

· Lightning bolt trap – 2400 xp

· Chuuls (3) – 9600 xp

· Shadow mastiffs (4) – 6400 xp

· Total – 25,600 xp

· Per PC (6) – 4267 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 112,969 xp

· Alfred – 110,414 xp

· Boecca – 110,394 xp

· Tavo – 106,324 xp

· Alizander – 104,984 xp

· Fame Points - 21

Mother of Flies - Session 40: Walcourt Raid, Part III

Dramatis Personae

Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer

Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker

Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma

Starday, 30 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

Alizander, Carlos, Boecca, and Tavo are ambushed while investigating the body of Vassindio Drovenge from the floor above. An invisible spellcaster unleashes a fireball in the room, engulfing the group in flame. The Returners respond with spells of their own – glitterdust to reveal the spellcaster followed by black tentacles to halt his escape. The attacker is shrouded in a veil of gold dust, but manages to evade the grasping tentacles and glides out of sight.

Alfred hears the battle from the secret passageway within the outer wall and finds a secret door leading to the Walcourt grounds. He exits the secret passage, flies over Walcourt and dispels his slowly creeping cloudkill spell, then joins the rest of the group.

Slavé continues to explore the rooms in the lower east wing of Walcourt. He finds a secret door leading to a long-disused section of the building consisting of dusty storerooms and closets. In one of these storerooms Slavé comes across the desiccated skeleton of an old resident of the complex. Always wary, Slavé uses his bag of many tricks to conjure a sodden dog and sends it into the room first. The skeleton springs to life as the dog enters the room; a long, thick, disgusting tongue appendage shoots out of the skeleton’s mouth, biting the dog and sending into paralytic spasms. The skeleton lurches out of its chair with alarming speed, searching for the invisible Slavé. Slavé leads the undead creature on a wild chase through the dusty hallways, managing to get in several devastating attacks on the thing with his crossbow, even pinning the skeleton’s distended fanged tongue to the back of its skull with one well-placed bolt. The creature attempts to escape, but ends up running directly into the path of the other Returners, who waste little time destroying the murderous undead.

Meanwhile, the party is set upon once again by the invisible spellcaster, this time from the Walcourt grounds just outside of the room containing the remains of the Drovenge patriarch. The spells fly between the attacker and Carlos and Alfred. The attacking wizard is once again revealed by a glitterdust spell, and Alizander makes a daring decision to charge. He slams into the attacker and succeeds in pinning him to the ground. After several more hits from the Returners, the attacker finally submits and reveals himself – a handsome wizard with dark hair and beard, wielding a staff carved in the likeness of a coiled blue dragon. Through interrogation, the Returners learn that the wizards name is Sandor, sometimes called the Strange by the other Council members. He has been working as a guild wizard for the Council for some time, first under Vassindio and then under Ecarrdian and Chammady following the coup. He professes to being an opportunist, only working for the Council to fund his interest in astronomy and astrology. The party is almost ready to believe him, especially after he reveals that the dungeons below Walcourt hold the Returners’ likely target – the Lord of Shadows, a powerful vampire that controls the shadows and night terrors of Westcrown. Something about him unsettles Alizander and Boecca, however, and the half-orc inquisitor uses his arts to wrest the truth out of Sandor – that he is secretly a member of an organization called the Night Heralds who has quietly been keeping a watch on the stars for his true masters to return from beyond the Dark Tapestry. Sandor’s speech becomes increasingly mad as he spouts prophecy of the Dark Tapestry and the far realm, until he is finally silenced by Boecca.

Treasure

· From the Dark creeper footpads

o Masterwork daggers (5) (worth 750 gp total)

o Black smear poison (5) (worth 900 gp total)

· From C10. Dining Room

o Note/Invitation

· From C21. Forgotten Storage

o Assassin’s dagger (worth 5302 gp)

o Potions of invisibility (3) (worth 450 gp total)

o 12 citrines (worth 2400 gp total)

· From Manus Undiomede (mohrg)

o Gold eyepatch (worth 150 gp)

· From Sandor the Strange

o Scroll of shadow walk (worth 825 gp)

o Bracers of armour +4 (worth 8000 gp)

o Headband of vast intelligence +2 (Use Magic Device) (worth 2000 gp)

o Key

Experience

· Council thieves (6, from session 39) – 4800 xp

· Shadow rat swarm (from session 39) – 1200 xp

· Dark creeper footpads (5) – 6000 xp

· Dark stalker guildsman – 4800 xp

· Guillotine trap – 6400 xp

· Manus Undiomede (mohrg) – 4800 xp

· Sandor the Strange (diviner) – 12,800 xp

· Total – 40,800 xp

· Per PC (6) – 6800 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 108,702 xp

· Alfred – 106,147 xp

· Boecca – 106,127 xp

· Tavo – 102,057 xp

· Alizander – 100,717 xp

· Fame Points - 21