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
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