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
Fireday, 21 Kuthona (winter solstice), 4708 A.R.
The party decides to investigate the goings on within the base of the Sisters of Eiseth, the so-called ‘Massacre House’, and retrieve the ashes of Coriana Heavenscape. The night of the winter solstice coaxes out the day and illuminates Westcrown under a waning gibbous moon. The city is uncharacteristically cool and crisp; it puts Alizander in mind of his own Varisia, far to the north yet always near in memory.
The Returners draw their cloaks more tightly over their bodies to keep out the cold. They creep along the ruins and black alleys of the Parego Dospera. In the distance, out of eyesight, a pack of feral dogs fight over some choice morsel. The orange embers of an abandoned fire pulsate in a sheltered alley, sputtering out their last breaths of smoke. There is little life on the streets of the Dospera after dark. Here, separated from the lit streets of the Parego Spera and the dottari patrols, the shadow menace of Westcrown is most keenly felt. Slavé, in guise as Jancen, leads the Returners near the old Church of Erastil, formerly the demesne of the Bastards of Erebus, now the Hellknight Order of the Scourge. The nearness of the Scourge headquarters offers some respite from the oppressive dark of the Dospera at night, well-lit and guarded as it is by Hellknight recruits in scarred breastplates and horned helms. The Returners head past the old church, keeping their eyes focused on the shadows. Every strange sound, every pair of cat’s eyes and glint of moonlight on wet cobbles draws the Returners’ attention.
Finally, the Massacre House looms into view, a six-sided building of black granite, whose slate-shingled roof comes to a sharp triangular peak. The gibbous moon sits atop the peak as if skewered. The Returners draw closer to the northwest entrance. A faint halo of light reveals itself around the heavy rosewood door set within the deep vaulted entryway. Vaeden slowly removes two glass vials from a fold in his coat. He drinks the first and disappears from view as if imploding upon himself. He drinks the second and becomes as the mist. Invisible and gaseous, Vaeden seeps under the doorframe and into Massacre House and enters a preparation chamber of some sort – a room featuring a pair of large tubs flanking a low metal table. Several doorways lead out of the room. Looking through the doors, Vaeden can determine that the central room, at least, is occupied. Two women in crimson and gold robes – one kneeling and praying at a low table, the other sitting in a spartan chair with a leather-bound book in her hands – occupy the room.
Vaeden moves back to the entrance from whence he came and becomes substantial once again. Still invisible, he slowly releases the latch keeping the massive door locked. The latch gives mighty click (at least in Vaeden’s mind) as it releases. He waits for a moment and, not hearing any noise from the room with the Sisters, opens the door. The door creaks on its frame.
“Did you hear that?” asks a voice from the central room.
“Hear what, sister?”
Jancen, Carlos, Alizander, and Tavo move into the room with Vaeden. Jancen stealthily glides into position near a second entrance to the central room. Vaeden moves, still invisible, near the primary entrance to the central room. Alizander steps lightly over the wide planks of the pine floor. Carlos comes in next, carefully testing each footfall so as to avoid any creaking planks, and promptly slams his shoulder into the door frame, causing the heavy rosewood door to swing open and hit the wall with a mighty thwack!
“That, I heard, sister.”
The Returners spring into action, ensuring they are in optimal position when the Sisters of Eiseth come out of the central room. A few moments go by with little happening; Vaeden and Jancen hear movement within the central room, and the sound of another door opening. Finally, Massacre House erupts with action. A crimson-robed Sister comes through the double doors near Vaeden to find herself staring down the double-barrel of Carlos’ wheel-lock pistol. Momentarily confused by the strange weapon, she is unable to avoid the magic missile that erupts from the weapon and takes a hit in her right shoulder. A second Sister follows her, and Vaeden strikes, pivoting around the open door in between the two Sisters. He lunges and stabs out with his short sword at the first Sister, plunging the blade through her spine. The Sister drops in a heap. In the same fluid motion, Vaeden backsteps and rotates the sword’s haft in his hands, jabbing the point behind him and into the hamstring of the second Sister.
A third Sister exits the door near Jancen, who, like Vaeden, responds instantly with a thrust of his short sword. The third Sister proves the faster, however. She rolls to the right out of the blade’s range, twirls in mid-air and loosens a long, bladed scarf from her gold and crimson robes. Still in mid-air, she snaps the scarf at Jancen and wraps its barbed length around his left leg. The Sister lands in a crouch and jerks the scarf towards her, pulling Jancen off his feet and onto the pine floor.
The battle continues for several rounds, with the Returners and the Sisters of Eiseth each seeking the upper hand. Three more Sisters join the battle, but they are no match for the well-prepared Returners. Finally, the Sisters of Eiseth fall under the blades and spells of the Returners.
Gathering their breath and wits, the Returners go about a thorough search of Massacre House. Another large chamber in the upper level of the house reveals the massive furnace used to dispose of the Sisters’ charges – the bodies of those they were hired to kill. The furnace’s denizen – a bound fire elemental – proves to be a practical-minded being. Although at first hostile towards the intruders, Alizander manages to calm the somewhat dimwitted creature by promising to provide more fuel for the furnace than the Sisters recently have, starting with the Sisters themselves. The fire elemental, mollified by its decades of bondage within the furnace, acquiesces readily and begins immolating the bodies of the Sisters as they are fed into the furnace.
Meanwhile, downstairs in Massacre House’s ossuary, Jancen, Carlos, and Vaeden search through hundreds of urns of ashes – the remains of the numerous victims of the Sisters of Eiseth over the centuries. The urns are catalogued by date, and it becomes clear that the Sisters were a force to be feared in the first couple centuries of its existence. The number of urns in the century since Aroden’s fall, however, drops off significantly. Finally, Jancen discovers an urn with the name the Returners are looking for: Coriana Heavenscape, date of death - Gozran, 4608 A.R.
Treasure:
· From the Sisters of Eiseth:
o Potions of cure moderate wounds (2)
o Potions of lesser restoration (2)
o Masterwork bladed scarves (6) (worth 936 gp total)
o Masterwork light crossbows (6) (worth 1005 gp total)
o Poisoned (black adder venom) bolts (18) (worth 1089 gp total)
o Black adder venom (6 doses) (worth 360 gp total)
o 250 gp
o Ashes of Coriana Heavenscape
· From Ailyn Ghontasavos
o 1000 gp (reward for retrieving Coriana’s ashes from Massacre House)
Experience Awards
· Sisters of Eiseth (6) – 4800 xp
· Story Award (retrieving Coriana’s remains and claiming Massacre House in the name of the Returners) – 3000 xp
· Total – 7300 xp
· Per PC (5) – 1560 xp each
Current XP Total per PC
· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 19,095 xp each
· Tavo – 18,400 xp
· Nagiphax – 9135 xp
· Croso, Orem – 8200 xp
· Total Current Fame Points – 12
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