Dramatis Personae
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
Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter
Oathday, 16 Calistril, 4709 A.R.
While Boecca dallies with a succubus elsewhere in the Spiral, the other Returners continue on, finding a second cooling chamber much the same as the first. This one, however, is populated by a gaggle of mischievous steam mephits who flit about the room, and within the pool of Stygian water float a number of bloated, decapitated bodies.
Tavo and Alizander lead the assault on the steam mephits in the second cooling chamber; most of the creatures fall as Tavo channels life-draining negative energy in the name of Pharasma. With the mephits eradicated, Jancen and Carlos get to work shutting the cooling chamber down by manipulating the crystal valve. Tavo examines the bodies floating in the pool of Stygian water and suspects that the decapitations were performed after their deaths. All of the bodies wear Wiscrani finery, suggesting they come from wealthier families. Telltale signs suggest that the victims were drained of life-energy somehow. The absence of bite marks do not point to vampire predation, and the fact that the bodies were decapitated after death suggests that the Stygian water wasn’t the cause of death, as they would likely have been decapitated prior to being placed in the water. The cause of the victims’ death remains a mystery for now.
Once the cooling chamber is shut down, Carlos attempts to aid Tavo’s investigation by casting detect undead, suspecting the presence of some variety of life-draining undead creature. Curiously, his first several attempts to cast the spell fail, as if they were countered somehow. The spell does eventually succeed, but Carlos does not detect the presence of any undead within the spell’s range.
The party continues past the second chamber into a curving hallway much the same as the one that led from the first cooling chamber. About halfway down the hallway they encounter the shambling corpse of Dargentu Vheed, former mayor of Westcrown. Vheed’s corpse is a hideous thing, his flesh hanging in tatters, his entrails spilling onto the floor, and his eyesockets empty black holes. Vheed spouts a litany of curses at the Returners, bemoaning their intrusion upon his domain, demanding they give him their magic, and inquiring as to the whereabouts of his favourite plaything, the twisted vulpinal Jezeletrix. The Returners mete out destruction on the former Lord-Mayor of Westcrown with a vengeance. The undead Dargentu Vheed attempts to absorb and recast many of the spells visited upon him. Alas, it is not enough, and the lich-shade falls under the Returners’ onslaught, nevermore to burden the city of Westcrown.
Meanwhile, Boecca attempts to elude the succubus vixen by heading down the tunnel she came from. He finds himself in a well-appointed cavern, hung heavy with fine silk brocade, strewn with jewels and heady with exotic, Abyss-touched perfumes and incense. The head of a tiefling, perhaps Veladness, the tunnel rat leader Lord-Mayor Aberian Arvanxi alluded to, is pinned to the headboard of a bed with a finely wrought stiletto. Several bodies lie in another corner, all dressed in noble finery. One of them, a woman, moves slightly in her bonds.
The succubus strides slowly into the room, her long legs glistening with oils, her black hair framing her almost angelic face. The dirty, unkempt tiefling tunnel rats follow close behind, obedient to the succubus’ whim.
“Come now, I can sense you in my bedchamber. No need to hide from me. Have you come for my playthings?” She glances at the nobles in the corner. “Really, there is no need for this to end in bloodshed. As you can see you are sorely outnumbered. These tieflings are brutish, and uneducated, but they know their way around a blade. Of course, the one whose head you see on the bed, the one who summoned me, presumed too much. I killed him for his insolence; he was a disgrace to our goddess, the great Nocticula.”
“But I digress. Please, show yourself; as I say this need not end in bloodshed. Indeed, I may be able to help you in some way, if you only tell me why you are here. All I ask for in return is some companionship. I have been rather bored, and was considering another foray into the city. But such a trip is unnecessary with you here.”
Mesmerized by the succubus great beauty and honeyed tongue, Boecca does reveal himself. He talks with the succubus, called Joraviah, and through their conversation comes to learn that she possesses one of the objects the Returners are looking for – the Stygian Keyrod. She pulls it from under the mattress on her bed; the keyrod is a two-foot long, rod-like device shaped like a weird twisting knot of metal branches and coils.
“This is what you were looking for?” says Joraviah. “Oh my, I’ve been using it for something else.”
“Well, I guess you can have it. But if it’s that important to you, surely you’d be willing to part with something in return?”
Boecca agrees that of course such an exchange would only be fitting. He agrees to pay Joraviah 2000 gold, and willingly accepts something she refers to as “the angel’s gift”. Boecca receives a long, lingering kiss from Joraviah, one that seems to go on forever. He feels himself falling suddenly from a great height, through layers of earth and fire into a blinding white light. Joraviah’s voice fills his head like a mantra, seeping into every crevice in his brain and coursing through every vein. He awakens suddenly; Joraviah stands before him. Curiously, her dark red leather corset is on the floor. She is naked, smiling.
“That will do Boecca. Now, go back and find your friends. Don’t bring them here. You help them find whatever it is they’re looking for, and go back to the city. We’ll see each other again, I promise.”
Treasure
· From Dargentu Vheed
o Ring of protection +3 (worth 9000 gp)
o Ring of wizardry I (worth 10,000 gp)
· From Joraviah
o Stygian Keyrod (value unknown)
Experience Awards
· Steam mephits (6) – 4800 xp
· Dargentu Vheed, lich shade – 6400 xp
· Story Award (deactivating cooling chamber #2) – 1600 xp
· Story Award (negotiating with Joriavah) – 10,000 xp
· Total – 22,800 xp
· Per PC (6) – 3800 xp
Current XP Total per PC
· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé – 53,335 xp each
· Alfred – 50,800 xp
· Boecca – 50,580 xp
· Tavo – 49,590 xp
· Nagiphax – 31,657 xp
· Damien Hellbent (cohort) – 22,360
· Total Current Fame Points – 15
No comments:
Post a Comment