Dramatis Personae
Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue
Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue
Oathday, 29 Neth, 4708 A.R.
Tavo, Vaeden, Carlos, and Alizander return to the Adventurers’ Quarter to recover and nurse their wounds. Tavo accompanies the weak and sickly Vaeden to the Returner’s safehouse and gets Arael’s assistance in attending the rogue’s deadly affliction. When their initial ministrations prove unsuccessful in removing the effects of the mummy rot, Arael scours the city for help and finds it in the form of Barella, a travelling cleric of Arael’s own patron, Iomedae. Barella, a stout and muscular woman with a soft voice at odds with her rough exterior, agrees to aid her fellow brother of the cloth in exchange for a place to lay her head for several nights (in addition to the cost associated with her spellcasting). Barella is successful in removing the mummy’s curse from the near-dead Vaeden, and also cures him of the dreadful effects of the disease.
Jancen, before returning to the Adventurers’ Quarter, finds the Lord-Mayor in his villa and confirms their meeting for the following week. He also finds Crosael and tells the majordomo of Sian’s treachery. Crosael expresses shock at the news and berates herself for not being more diligent when hiring Sian. She is grateful to Jancen for returning the missing bust of Asmodeus.
Fireday, 30 Neth to Wealday, 12 Kuthona, 4708 A.R.
The party takes care of several items of business during this two week period. Nagiphax the Cyclops-kin decides her community would be better served if she remains behind the bar at the Beer Golem Tavern where she can keep an eye on those close to her. She remains a member of the Returners, yet decides not to accompany the party on further forays out of the Adventurers’ Quarter. Carlos scribes several spells into his grimoire and works on crafting magic items; Alizander strolls about the Adventurers’ Quarter extolling the virtues of the Returners and coming dangerously close to running afoul of the dottari on several occasions; Vaeden keeps his ear to the ground and gets a sense of the latest feelings among the former adventurers and disenfranchised nobles in the Quarter; Slavé / Jancen meets with Pontia and is later informed by one of Aberian Arvanxi’s messengers that the Order of the Scourge has been given the permits to establish a small base in the former Church of Erastil in the northern ruins of the city (the former hideout of the Bastards of Erebus); Tavo continues cleaning up the old Church of Erastil until confronted by Hellknights of the Order of the Scourge. Through some careful diplomacy, Tavo manages to broker a deal with the Hellknights and is allowed to stay on at the site as a resident mortician. After all, the Hellknights figure they may rack up a body count being located in the heart of the Dospera.
During this time, the party also consults with Arael, Janiven, and the Pathfinder Ailyn Ghontasavos. Ailyn is overjoyed that the party managed to retrieve the Chelish Crux, and relates once again her story of the Pathfinder Donatalus Bisby and his chronicler, Ilnerik Sivanshin (see session 8 summary), encouraging the party to open the Crux and continue its investigation into the link between the shadow menace and Delvehaven, the old Pathfinder lodge.
Oathday, 13 Kuthona, 4708 A.R.
Alizander is finally successful in deciphering the Chelish Crux puzzle box. The item snaps open, unleashing its contents onto the floor of the Returners’ safehouse. One larger item the size of a chicken rolls under a nearby pew and emits a loud, offensive keening in a raspy female voice. Retrieving the object, the party finds itself in the possession of a disturbing relic – the severed, yet very vociferous and very much alive, head of some devilish female creature. Between curses and epithets screamed in the Infernal language of the Pit, the party learns that, once upon a time, the head was known as Khazrae Kuelata, and that she was a mighty erinyes assassin who ran afoul of her master – the archdevil Moloch. Rather than slay her, Moloch had Khazrae’s body destroyed, wings and all, and left her a talking head so that she could endure perpetual humiliation at the hands of her former comrades. Over the centuries, Moloch tired of the increasingly mad Khazrae, and she was eventually lost in a gamble to a mortal wizard – one Dargentu Vheed, who later became the Lord-Mayor of Westcrown. Khazrae was afforded a place of honour on display in Dargentu’s home, until she finally overstepped her bounds and informed guests of Dargentu’s more delicate indiscretions. Khazrae has languished within the darkness of the Chelish Crux for decades.
Between rage-filled diatribes against Dargentu, Moloch, and every other former associate of Khazrae’s, the party discovers that Dargentu resided within the Pathfinder lodge of Delvehaven, and that Khazrae has some familiarity with the site. Finally, the party tosses the erinyes’ head back in the Chelish Crux, closing it to silence her Infernal ramblings.
The other items found in the Crux include a portfolio (which contains several Delvehaven accounting ledgers, a list of several missing Delvehaven Pathfinders, and a poorly-written poem entitled ‘Cugny’s Wedding’ that Alizander discovers is a cipher leading to a hidden Pathfinder cache at something called the Wave Door), several scrolls and wands, and a silver box containing four grave candles – necromantic items that permit communication with the dead via their mortal remains.
The list of missing Pathfinders identifies some names of interest and possible leads for the party to investigate prior to entering Delvehaven. It’s contents are as follows:
“Mayor Vheed,
Presented below is what I have been able to piece together regarding the Pathfinders who escaped notice after they sealed Delvehaven during the initial riots in the pre-Thrune unpleasantness. After the passage of seventy-some years, it would seem likely that only Sivanshin still lives, and if you wish, I can send my agents north to Nidal to attempt to find him. The use of grave tallow to interrogate those who have been dead these past several decades ironically makes them more available to interview than Sivanshin – provided we can find their remains, of course. I am happy to report that I’ve made some progress in that area.
1. Donatalus Bisby: Leader of the Amber Privateers and one of only two survivors of a journey to darkest Mwangi – he has firsthand knowledge of at least one magical artifact that could serve our needs for control. It would seem Bisby was sealed inside one of Delvehaven’s vaults as the others fled, but I’m unclear if this was a voluntary sacrifice.
2. Ilnerik Sivanshin: Bisby’s chronicler, a half-elf, Sivanshin fled Westcrown a week before Aroden’s Fall. Evidence suggests he fled north, toward Nidal, and with a stolen relic.
3. Coriana Heavenscape: A Westcrown native and, if rumour is to be believed, an aasimar. Coriana remained in Westcrown and organized the Father’s Bulwark, one of many groups of rebels glorious Thrune smashed in the pursuit of establishing order. She was slain and her remains collected by the Sisters of Eiseth – I’ve got them sifting through their holdings in an attempt to find her.
4. Loremaster Liriam: Delvehaven’s master of lore – no other would know more about the vaults below. Alas, no evidence of his survival has surfaced – like Bisby, his remains might still lie within Delvehaven. I do suspect he was the author of “Cugny’s Wedding,” and if so, your suspicion that it is a cipher may well be correct.
5. Venture-Captain Aiger Ghaelfin: Aiger was certainly the one who ordered the sealing of Delvehaven. My earlier research indicated that he planned on fleeing Cheliax for Absalom, but further investigation revealed this to be false. He remained in Westcrown and fought alongside Coriana in the Father’s Bulwark, but was laid low by a Thrune wizard who petrified him and then smashed the resulting statue. Scuttlebut among the blood bookie circuit is that the remains of the man’s petrified body have been in the possession of one of the lesser noble houses involved in bloodsport, but I’ve not yet determined which family (I suspect the Luccas). These filthy has-been nobles play well enough when faced with Thrune’s agents, but without the direct aid of your allies, master, I’m afraid I won’t be able to learn more….”
With the evidence provided by the Chelish Crux, the party decides to start their search by investigating the Wave Door alluded to in the cipher within the ‘Cugny’s Wedding’ poem, hoping to find more information in the cache described by the cipher. With Ailyn’s help, the party determines that the Wave Door is located over the water in Cutlass Cove, about a quarter mile from Delvehaven and Rego Sacero’s eastern shoreline.
Fireday, 14 Kuthona, 4708 A.R.
The party purchases two rowboats and, after greasing the hand of a dottari port-guard, rows out to Cutlass Cove just before sundown. Even with the aid of Alizander’s wayfinder, It takes the group some time to find the location indicated in the poem – some 300 feet northeast of the black-sand beach on Wort Rock – and by the time they do find the spot, the sun is well below the horizon. Before Alizander is able to activate his wayfinder and recite the Delvehaven oath (one of the steps necessary to open the Wave Door), the group is attacked from below the (thankfully calm) waters by three undead shadows – clearly guardians of some sort. Tavo suffers the cold, life-sucking touch of the shadows several times, and falls utterly drained to the planks of the rocking rowboat. Alizander finds himself in the cold night-water, also weakened by the shadows’ deadly touch, before the undead are finally dispatched. Alizander is dragged back into the boat, and the party gathers itself for several moments before the sorcerer illuminates the now-dark cove with his wayfinder and begins to recite the Delvehaven Oath.
Treasure
· From the Chelish Crux:
o Erinyes’ head (Khazrae Kuelata)
o Scroll of heal
o Scroll of remove curse
o Scroll of scrying
o Grave candles (4)
o Wand of break enchantment
o Wand of death ward
o Delvehaven accounting ledgers
o List of missing Pathfinders
o Cugny’s Wedding (poem cipher leading to the Wave Door cache)
o Silver box (worth 250 gp)
Experience Awards
· Story Award (opening the Chelish Crux and recover the clues within) – 2000 xp
· Shadow – 800 xp
· Faded shadows – 1200 xp
· Total – 4000 xp
· Per PC (5) – 800 xp
Current XP Totals per PC
· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 16,495 xp each
· Tavo – 15,840 xp
· Nagiphax – 9135 xp
· Croso, Orem – 8200 xp
· Total Current Fame Points – 10
No comments:
Post a Comment