The Twice-Damned Prince - Session 47: A City in Turmoil

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

Sunday, 1 Gozran, 4709 A.R.

Alfred Eredel finds Boecca and Jon Disaster as they prepare to dimension door to the rowboats offshore, presumably carrying the kidnappers and their ill-gotten booty. Boecca and Jon disapperate and reappear in the centre of one of the rowboats, sending the craft rocking. Jon loses his balance and falls into the dark waters of the Adivian River, but manages to grab on to the side of the rowboat before sinking beneath the current. Boecca takes on the two thugs in the rowboat himself, while Alfred, flying, skims the surface of the water and throws a colour spray in the faces of the two thugs in the second boat. With surprise on their side, the two Returners and their new companion defeat the kidnappers and rescue the kidnappee, a teenage boy named Roya. After interrogating one of the captured thugs, Boecca learns that they are part of a larger group calling itself the Blacknapes, who have a lair on one of the small docking islands between the mainland and the Parego Regicona island. The Blacknapes have been terrorizing the nearby area for several days, causing discord and kidnapping young men for recruitment and others for ransom, all at the behest of a larger criminal organization promising the Blacknapes riches and power under a new regime.

Further south in the Rego Pena, Carlos and Slavé make preparations in the contest between Carlos’ clay golem and Rolan’s automatons. Slavé, always wary of a trick, manages to obfuscate himself out of the situation and convince Carlos to cast a silent image spell to make it appear as if he is watching the proceedings. While invisible, he sneaks into Rolan’s shop, looking for anything that might deactivate the automatons. Apart from several personal belongings and treasurers, Slavé finds nothing that seems connected to the animated objects.

Meanwhile, Carlos’s clay golem makes short work of Rolan’s automatons. When the dwarf tinkerer attempts to rein his creations in, the automatons disobey his commands and begin to advance out of the barricade and into the surrounding crowds. Carlos and Slavé manage to subdue the automatons. Rolan is beside himself, but Carlos and Slavé eventually manage to console the dwarf. Rolan agrees to remove the barricades and recalibrate all of his automatons. He promises to create two automatons for the Returners as an apology for recent events, and tells them they will be ready by the end of the week.

Experience

· Blacknapes (4): 6400 xp

· Story Award (aiding Rolan the Tinker): 6400 xp

· Total: 12,800 xp

· Per PC (4): 3200 xp

Fame/Popularity

· Fame Check bonus: +32

· Fame Points Spent (curing Rolan of his delusions and gaining his help): 2

· Fame Points Remaining: 20

· Popularity Points (curing Rolan of his delusions and gaining his help): 1

· Total Popularity Points: 8

Current XP Total per PC

· Slavé: 168,569 xp

· Carlos: 166,169 xp

· Tavo: 158,724 xp

· Alfred: 155,414 xp

· Boecca: 149,394 xp

· Alizander: 127,784 xp

The Twice-Damned Prince - Session 46: When you stare into the abyss....

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

Sunday, 1 Gozran, 4709 A.R.

In Guxer Ciucci, the Returners find a man broken and destroyed. Unkempt, dirty, dressed in a sweat and urine-soaked suit of padded armour, Guxer glares at the party through a cracked-open door. Paranoid and suspicious, Guxer accuses the Returners of coming to kill him, sent by his treacherous brother Arten to silence him. Much as they try, the Returners have to resort to magic to calm Guxer to the point where he lets them inside his room. Through Boecca’s psychoemotional spells, Slavé’s skillful diplomacy, and Tavo’s curative magic, the Returners finally succeed in having a conversation with Guxer. The story he relates is one of betrayal and woe.

Between bouts of sobbing and paranoid fits, the Returners learn that Guxer found his wife Cecelly dead and beaten, his brother Arten standing over her covered in blood. Arten escaped the scene before Guxer could restrain him. In the week since, the household has descended further into despair. Guxer’s daughter Delilee has revealed that Arten seduced and ravished her several times in the weeks before murdering her mother, and Guxer swears that his dead wife has been visiting him in the dark of night. As he speaks of his dead wife, Guxer lapses back into a paranoid state.

The party finds his daughter Delilee in another room down the hall. Her room smells strongly of lilac perfume, but Boecca recognizes another scent, obscured by the lilac. He can’t identify the scent, but can tell that it is coming from Delilee herself and that it is decidedly not human in nature. As the Returners investigate further, Delilee’s true nature eventually reveals itself, and she sheds her human form to reveal a lithe, pale-skinned alien form – a doppleganger that has taken the shape of Guxer’s daughter. The doppleganger is overwhelmed by the Returners’ greater numbers, and the party learns that Zeravaxus, as the creature is called, murdered Delilee months ago and has been using her form to sow grief and madness in the Ciucci family ever since, including murdering Cecelly Ciucci in the shape of Guxer’s brother Arten.

The Returners put an end to the psychopathic doppleganger and continue trying to cure Guxer of his paranoid delusions. They manage to track Arten Ciucci down in a hovel in Magnimar; using teleportation magic they return the disgraced brother to the family. Tavo finds the body of Cecelly Ciucci and brings her back to life with powerful resurrection magic. They discover the body of Delilee in the crypt under the house, but are unable to bring her back due to the age of the corpse. Cecelly Ciucci takes control of the situation and gives the Returners her thanks; she promises all the resources necessary if the Returners can find a way to bring Delilee back to the family.

Later that evening, Boecca witnesses a gang of thugs abduct an individual from a darkened alley near the Adventurer’s Quarter. He tracks the gang to the dockyards where he is accosted by a swarthy dockworker named Jon Disaster. Jon tells Boecca that the men belong to a gang calling themselves the Blacknapes living on a small island in the Adivian River. Boecca convinces Jon to accompany him and take care of the thugs.

Meanwhile, Carlos learns from Rhialto that an old friend, the dwarf tinkerer Rolan, has been causing a scene in the Rego Pena. Carlos, Slavé, and Tavo head to the district and find Rolan has barricaded the streets around his shop, and has his mechanical automatons patrolling the area, knocking intruders senseless. The Returners confront the eccentric dwarf and attempt to appeal to his sense of community, pointing out that his creations have been causing havoc among the neighbours. Rolan is resistant at first, insisting that his automatons are cleaning up the city as it falls into chaos, but does concede that several of his creations have acted out of turn. He agrees to pit his automatons against Carlos’ clay golem in a competition, and promises to scale back the barricades and recalibrate his creations if the golem wins.

Treasure

· From Zeravaxus, doppleganger

o +2 Buckler (worth 2082.5 gp)

o Ring of protection +1 (worth 1000 gp)

Experience

· Zeravaxus, doppleganger: 12,800 xp

· Story Award (saving Guxer Ciucci and convincing the Ciuccis and Mhartis to work together): 12,800 xp

· Story Award (raising Cecelly Ciucci): 9600 xp

· Story Award (exonerating Arten Ciucci): 6400 xp

· Total: 41,600 xp

· Per PC (4): 10,400 xp

Fame/Popularity

· Fame Check bonus: +32

· Fame Points Spent (securing the deal between the Ciucci and Mhartis families): 5

· Fame Points Remaining: 22

· Popularity Points (recruiting the Ciucci family): 2

· Total Popularity Points: 7

Current XP Total per PC

· Slavé: 165,369 xp

· Carlos: 162,969 xp

· Alfred: 152,214 xp

· Tavo: 158,724 xp

· Boecca: 146,194 xp

· Alizander: 127,784 xp

The Twice-Damned Prince - Session 45: A Noble Cause

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

Sunday, 1Gozran, 4709 A.R.

The Returners fight a close-quarters battle with the Mhartis ‘guards’ within the confines of the vira. The fight spreads from the entrance hall into the dining room and upstairs, but it is only a matter of time before the Returners best their less-experienced foes, despite the guards’ greater numbers. During the skirmish Slavé and Carlos stumble upon the Mhartis family, at least what is left of the once proud house, bound within an upstairs storeroom. The Returners free the surviving four Mhartis family members – Ganefini, the depressed and defeated patriarch, Lonosete, the rotund and shrill matriarch, Lodros, the eldest son, and Recinni, the youngest. They learn that the Mhartis ‘guards’ are in fact low-ranking agents of the Council of Thieves who infiltrated the remnants of the family following the assassination of Iltus Mhartis, Duxotar (commander) of the Wiscrani dottari.

After learning from Lodros, the most level-headed of the surviving Mhartis, that the body of Iltus Mhartis lies at rest in the cellar, the Returners decide to use powerful magic to bring the duxotar’s soul back to the material plane, and hopefully gain the support of the dottari in the process. Tavo’s powerful divine magic brings Iltus back from the grave and, after a stiff drink or two from the depleted stores, Iltus pledges dottari support to the Returners. He promises to work more closely with the Hellknights to avert the Council of Thieves threat, although he does indicate that many dottari will chafe at such an order.

The Returners shift their focus from the Mhartis to the neighbouring Ciucci family. Lodros tells the Returners that the wall of their holding cell shares a wall with the Ciucci side of the vira, and that of late there has been very little activity coming from the other side; once he recalled hearing the sound of sobbing and personal anguish, but little else.

Within the Ciucci vira, the Returners find themselves embroiled in a tragic mystery. The Ciucci butler, Hortan, first attempts to turn the party away by claiming Guxer Cuicci is sick and is receiving no visitors. Hortan’s monotone voice and darting eyes leave the Returners unconvinved and suspicious, and after prying they are ushered inside the house. Dark, musty, and ridden with dust, the house reflects the desparate demeanour of its butler. The Returners learn that the few remaining servants in the house – Hortan, Berlanda the cook, and Amalee the maid – have been entangled in what appears to be a disastrous love triangle rife with gossip and deceit. Of the Ciuccis themselves, Hortan says that only Guxer and his daughter Delilee remain in the house. Guxer’s wife Cecelly was recently found dead (and now lies at rest in a nearby morgue, awaiting burial in the family crypt below the house). Accused of the crime was Arten Ciucci, Guxer’s brother, whom Guxer claimed to have seen escaping the scene of the crime covered with blood. Arten has not been seen since, says Hortan, and Guxer has locked himself in his bedroom, emerging rarely to procure food from the kitchen, and heard muttering to himself that he must stay in his bedroom to await his nightly visit from his dead wife.

Determined to get at the bottom of the situation, the Returners bid Hortan to lead them upstairs that they may speak with Guxer themselves.

Treasure

· From the Council thieves

o Potions of cure moderate wounds (15) (worth 2250 gp total)

o +1 Studded leather armour (15) (worth 8812.5 gp total)

o Coins and jewelry (worth 4500 gp)

· From the Council thief captains

o +2 Studded leather armour (2) (worth 4175 gp total)

o Short swords +1 (2) (worth 2310 gp total)

o Composite short bows +1 (+2 Str) (2) (worth 8525 gp total)

o Human slaying arrows (3) (worth 3433.5 gp total)

o Blue whinnis poison (6 doses) (worth 360 gp total)

Experience

· Council thieves (15): 12,000 xp

· Council thief captains (2): 19,200 xp

· Ankleslasher traps (4): 12,800 xp

· Story Award (rescuing the Mhartis family): 9600 xp

· Story Award (resurrecting Iltus Mhartis and gaining the trust of the dottari): 12,800 xp

· Total: 66,400 xp

· Per PC (4): 16,600 xp

Fame/Popularity

· Fame Check bonus: +32

· Fame Points Remaining: 27

· Popularity Points (gaining the trust of the Mhartis family): 2

· Total Popularity Points: 5

Current XP Total per PC

· Slavé: 154,769 xp

· Carlos: 152,369 xp

· Alfred: 152,214 xp

· Tavo: 148,124 xp

· Boecca: 135,594 xp

Alizander: 127,784 xp