Session 23: Interim

Dramatis Personae

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

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

Toilday, 9 Abadius, 4709 A.R.

Boecca’s interrogation of Jancen nearly leads to blows between the two, but Jancen decides to step away from the conflict once several other party members enter the argument, deciding compromise over conflict is in his best interest at the time. Jancen gives the Morrowfall to Carlos, who begins to work out the capabilities of the artifact.

The Returners finish their exploration of Delvehaven, returning to the cellar level where they discover the secret lounge and several interesting artifacts still remaining there. They exit the lodge in the late afternoon, just prior to sunset, and make their way back to the Returners’ safehouse before it gets dark. There, they confer with Ailyn Ghontasavos, who is overjoyed at the success of the group in infiltrating the abandoned lodge and ridding it of most of its undesirable squatters. She gladly thanks them for the news of Bisby’s unquiet spirit and the evidence of Master Liriam’s passing before indicating that she plans on leaving for the great city of Absalom in the coming days, where she hopes to bring her case to the Pathfinder Society and return with a group to reclaim old Delvehaven. She expresses her hope that the Returners find success in retrieving the Totemrix – the shadow-half of the Aohl – from Ilnerik Sivanshin, and that they are able to merge it with the Morrowfall and put Bisby’s spirit to rest, as well as eradicating the shadow presence from Westcrown. That, she says, will cement their influence with the populace if nothing else will.

Wealday, 10 Abadius, to Sunday, 12 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

Rumours of the Returners successful infiltration of Delvehaven ripple through the city, spread in part by the supporters of the Returners. Alizander, Carlos, Tavo, Vaeden, and even Boecca are recognized on the street, especially in the Adventurers’ Quarter, where support of the Returners’ revolutionary ideals is strongest. The groups’ old friend Nagiphax reports increased patrols of both dottari and Order of the Rack Hellknights in the Adventurers’ Quarter, although she points out that the Hellknights were the more belligerent of the two, and in fact some of the dottari professed a certain respect for the Returners – after several pints of the Beer Golem tavern’s strongest oatmeal stout, on the house of course.

The party members return to a semblance of normal life during this period. Carlos begins plans for a magic and curio shop of his own, even convincing Vaeden and Boecca to return with him to Delvehaven to retrieve the remains of the model frigate in the Mariners Museum room. Alizander makes a return to Delvehaven himself, and successfully frees Mirrorskin the water elemental from its bonded state in the vanity room before dismissing it back to its home plane. Slavé, ever the black sheep of the group, dissociates himself from the Returners for a time and reports back to Pontia Runario at the Order of the Scourge headquarters. Pleased with Slavé’s observations in Delvehaven, she tests his loyalty by giving him a new task: track down and deliver justice to one Marduzi, a Hellknight armiger who was recently caught with contraband material (personal items related to the worship of Cayden Cailean). Rather than face punishment, Marduzi deserted his post and sealed his fate. Slavé tracks the deserter several blocks from the Red Duchess tavern in the Rego Crua and, after a brief exchange with his young wife, tricks Marduzi into believing he is a friend. Inviting Marduzi for a drink at the Red Duchess, Slavé delivers Hellknight retribution to the poor berk in the form of a poisoned shot of whiskey and a dirk in the back.

Toilday, 14 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

As the sun sets in Westcrown the streets grow silent. Wiscrani shutter their windows and lock the doors at night; the shadows remain an everpresent threat in the city, and fear keeps the citizenry out of the streets. Dottari patrol the main streets, carrying large halorans to light the way and keep the shadows at bay.

At mid-evening a terrible thunder tears through the city, rattling windows in their frames and knocking books from shelves. The Returners – some sharing stories at the safehouse in the Rego Sacero (Priest Sector), others at the Beer Golem tavern in the Adventurers’ Quarter – rush out into the night to witness a disturbing sight. A ball of fire and smoke rising into a mushroom-shaped cloud rises to the south, more or less directly above Lord-Mayor Aberian Arvanxi’s sprawling manor. Several party members notice something particularly unsettling – as the ball of fire and smoke rises into the sky, it seems at times almost to resemble a leering devilish face, with eyes of hellfire and teeth of white-hot ash. The initial explosion is over soon enough, but what remains behind is even more unusual. Fire pillars of fire, like stationary tornadoes of flame, spiral up into the sky around the explosion site, trailing into the dark night sky and lighting the southern view with an infernal radiance.

As knowledge of the explosion spreads, the city descends into chaos. Wiscrani rush into the streets, heedless of the dangers of wandering shadow-spawn. The Returners head toward the location of the pillars of fire as fast as they can, but the going is slow through the choked streets. Tavo gathers several of the lesser-known Returners (Sclavo, Amaya, Vitti, and so on) and sets up several first aid stations en-route to ground zero to assist citizens in need – those with broken and twisted ankles, broken bones from flying debris, and worse injuries from looters and the still-present shadow-creatures. A dottari duxotar (captain) recognizes the party and asks them to be on the lookout for the Lord-Mayor, as the dottari desire very much to question him on the explosion. The duxotar insists that if he is found that he be delivered to the dottari, as they suspect the Hellknights would transport him to Citadel Ravid, never to be seen again. The party members hear several other rumours as they make their way to the Lord-Mayor’s estate, including one that Sascar Tilernos, of House Tilernos, has gone missing since the explosion, and another that the Mhartis family home, located near Aberian’s estate, is apparently “cursed”, and perhaps the disappearance of guards and servants at the Mhartis estate has something to do with the explosion.

As the group comes closer to ground zero, both Slavé (as Jancen) and Boecca notice someone watching them from a dark side alley. Before they can react, the figure steps into the light and reveals itself to be the Lord-Mayor. Aberian is in terrible condition – his clothes are filthy and torn, blood cakes his head and hands and stains his clothes, and his expression is one of fear and terror. He beckons the party closer, moving back into the alley to stay hidden.

“I must warn you of something of dire importance. I know you don’t believe me, but I tell you the truth when I say that I love this city. I haven’t been the best mayor, and those who hate me have reason to, but what’s happening up the hill will ruin everything. You’ve doubtless heard the rumours – that there’s a devil imprisoned under my home and its infernal power is the source of my manor’s extravagances. Those rumours are correct. The devil’s name is Liebdaga the Twin – he’s an infernal duke from Avernus, and the House of Thrune put him there. But now something’s gone wrong. I caught my majordomo, that bitch Crosael, trying to steal the contract that details the conditions of Liebdaga’s imprisonment from a hidden safe in my chambers, and now the ruins of my home are crawling with devils, thugs, diabolists, and worse. Seems Crosael’s more than she appeared – not only is she actually a damnable tiefling, but she’s been working for the Council of Thieves all this time!”

Aberian begs the party to venture into the dungeon under his ruined manor – a place called the Nessian Spiral – and keep Liebdaga the Twin from escaping. The party learns that Aberian has a copy of the contract consigning Liebdaga the Twin to the dungeons under Aberian’s manor – a place called the Nessian Spiral – and that he is willing to sign partial ownership of the contract over to them. Aberian insists that this should grant the party a bit of leverage against Liebdaga when they confront him, and they might even be able to use their ownership of the contract to bypass some guardians and traps in the Nessian Spiral. He points out a clause that states: “The undersigned shall be considered bound by this contract, and shall be granted access to the Nessian Spiral’s workings should the need for repairs or adjustments arise.” The contract mentions a method of shutting down the infernal engine within the Nessian Spiral safely – somewhere in the Spiral are five cooling pools, where waters from the River Styx are drawn in from the Great Beyond to regulate the infernal energies drawn off of the pit fiend, and in the event of a cataclysmic failure, the flow of the waters from the Styx can be shut off with the application of a device called a Stygian Keyrod once kept by the Spiral’s Keepers. Shutting off this flow of unholy water should throttle the engine’s energy output, and while this could cause the engine to falter and fail, it is a much preferred solution than the destruction of the engine and release of its occupant. The contract itself closes with a notation that “This contract remains binding and legal for all perpetuity so long as the consigned component of the infernal engine be a viable source of power, as witnessed here by Signatory Vaccha, Kolyarut of the Scriptures of Adamantine.”

Aberian says he knows little of the Nessian Spiral, save that it is maintained by a group of tieflings that live in indentured servitude in the dungeon known as the “Spiral’s Keepers”, though Aberian prefers to call them “tunnel rats”. The tunnel rats currently serving there are the fourth generation, and Aberian remembers when Thrune agents arrived to install them and take the old ones away. He recalls the tiefling priest who Thrune selected to be the commander of the keepers – Veladness, a dark-eyed, evil-looking mongrel with glowing spidery stripes along with sides of his head and whose grating voice sent chills down the mayor’s spine. Aberian left details of shipments of food and supplies to the tieflings to his majordomo, Crosael.

As the Lord-Mayor makes ready to depart, Boecca steps in to stop him, insisting that he tell the dottari the same story he told them. Jancen tells Boecca to let him go, and Aberian turns tail and attempts to run. Boecca casts a hold person spell, freezing the Lord-Mayor in place, while Jancen rushes up to him and drags him into a nearby building. Alizander watches, carefully weighing his options and wondering whether he should assist in capturing the Lord-Mayor or let him go.

Treasure:

- From session 22: Whisperlash, +2 defending mithral rapier (worth 4160 gp); Hand of the Pharoah of Nagas (as luckstone, worth 10,000 gp), 5 ancient treaties (750 gp - 150 gp each)

· From the Delvehaven Tavern

o Elven spirit wine (4 bottles, 4600 A.R. vintage) (worth 700 gp total – 175 gp each)

o Potions of cure moderate wounds (2) (worth 300 gp – 150 gp each)

o Potions of lesser restoration (2) (worth 300 gp – 150 gp each)

o Potion of levitate (worth 150 gp)

o Potions of mage armour (2) (worth 50 gp – 25 gp each)

o Potion of protection from arrows (worth 150 gp)

o Potion of reduce person (worth 25 gp)

· From the Private Lounge

o Pre-Thrune Chelish banner (worth 75 gp)

o Oil of daylight (worth 375 gp)

o Scroll of sending (worth 562 gp)

o Scroll of lesser invulnerability (worth 350 gp)

o Talisman of the Orc Mother’s Fury (worth 6000 gp)

Experience Awards

· Haunt – Bisby’s bickering – 2400 xp

· Story Award (releasing Mirrorskin – Alizander) – 2400 xp

· Story Award (returning to Delvehaven and retrieving frigate model – Carlos, Boecca, Vaeden) – 2400 xp

· Story Award (assassinating Marduzi, the Hellknight defector – Slavé) – 2400 xp

· Story Award (setting up first aid stations following explosion at Aberian’s Folly – Tavo) – 2400 xp

· Total – 12000 xp

· Per PC (6) – 2000 xp each

· Fame Points (for successfully infiltrating Delvehaven) - 2

Current XP Total per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 32,745 xp each

· Boecca – 29,990 xp

· Tavo – 27,410 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 14

Council of Thieves, Part 2: The Sixfold Trial - Session 8: The Shadows Lengthen

Dramatis Personae

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer – works and performs at Cayden’s Blessing
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard – works at Rhialto’s Tonics and Talismans
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue – works at the Beer Golem Tavern
Slavé – Tiefling (appears human) rogue – detective in dottari employ

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma – employed as a mortician and coroner
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue – former nobleman, often seen at Alfred’s Smithy

Fireday, 27 Rova, to Starday, 17 Neth, 4708 A.R. (2 months)

The party members return to their normal lives for a time. Tavo begins to repair and repurpose the ruined church of Erastil in the northern ruins, contending with squators, thieves, and the occasional bold goblin raid. Slavé attempts to curry influence with his dottari superiors in an attempt to increase his rank within the organization. Nagiphax, Alizander, and Carlos continue their work at the Beer Golem tavern, Cayden’s Blessing, and Rhialto’s Tonics and Talismans, respectively. Vaeden continues with his studies on the shadow creatures plaguing Westcrown, waiting for the opportune time to face one of the creatures in the dead of night.

Tales of the Returners exploits and success against the Bastards of Erebus grinds through the Westcrown rumour mill and becomes the topic of discussion in smoky taprooms and perfumed parlours from the Rego Scripa to the Regicona. As the weeks pass into months, talk of the Returners wanes to an occasional murmer, and Janiven and Arael begin meeting with the group again at the shrine to Aroden, under the shadow of the Arodennama.

Sunday, 18 Neth, 4708 A.R.

Alizander receives a visit from Ailyn Ghontasavos, the Pathfinder Society member who suggested Alizander meet with Janiven on that fateful afternoon, months ago. Ailyn tells Alizander that she has been in Westcrown studying the abandoned Pathfinder lodge of Delvehaven, and that she believes that the key to stopping the shadow beasts stalking the night streets lies within the lodge. She suggests that they meet with Arael, Janiven and the rest of the Returners before relating her tale. At the shrine of Aroden, Ailyn tells her story to the group:

“In late 4605, a Pathfinder named Donatalus Bisby returned to Westcrown from a mission to the Mwangi Expanse – a mission previously believed to have been lost. Bisby’s unexpected return brought much celebration, despite the fact that of the dozens of Amber Privateers who traveled with him to the southern jungles, only he and his chronicler, the half-elf Ilnerik Sivanshin, had returned. Word soon spread that Bisby’s journals would revolutionize what was known about certain lost tribes of the Mwangi, and that he brought back with him a potent artifact. Yet before his journals could be published, the god Aroden died.

“Upon Aroden’s death, panic seized Cheliax. Details of what happened in Delvehaven are sparse, but it seems that the majority of the Pathfinders stationed in Westcrown – Bisby included – perished in the riots and mayhem. Worse, his journal and all of Delvehaven’s artifacts were cut off from the society for over thirty years. In 4674, many years after House Thrune seized control of Cheliax, they made a great show of reopening Delvehaven and inviting a select few Pathfinders back to run the lodge – but those choices were not the Grand Lodge’s to make. The House of Thrune only agreed to Delvehaven’s reopening if Chelish Pathfinders of their choosing were to manage the site, and the Society reluctantly agreed to the conditions. Securing an accurate list of what had and hadn’t survived in Delvehaven’s vaults was a political nightmare – the House of Thrune and their pet Pathfinders reported that nothing of value remained, but they were resistant to letting anyone from outside make their own inventory and exploration of the ruins. To the public, the lodge seemed to be run by the Society, but in truth we have very little idea exactly what was going on in Delvehaven during those years. The whole situation seemed to be coming to a head, with a full-on clash between House Thrune and the Society imminent, but as things worked out, Delvehaven didn’t remain under Thrune’s control for long. In 4676, something happened in Delvehaven that caused the deaths of all the Thrune Pathfinders and its subsequent sealing by the government itself. The House of Thrune has to this date refused to open Delvehaven or allow the society access to the lodge, and various conflicts with the Aspis Consortium and the House of Thrune in other parts of Cheliax have effectively distracted us from Delvehaven’s legacy. General consensus in the Society today is that Thrune looted Delvehaven to the root and that nothing of value remains within.

“But I’m not so sure. Over the past several months I’ve grown more and more intrigued by the unexplained mysteries of exactly what happened in Delvehaven. Of perhaps more interest to you and your friends, the group you call the Returners, is that I’ve learned a bit about the artifact Bisby returned with, an artifact that was in Delvehaven at the time of Aroden’s death and that hasn’t been seen since. Notes on this artifact are vague, alas, but from an initial report sent from Delvehaven just before Aroden’s death, it would appear that the artifact had ties to a dualistic religion of light and shadow. The fact that it was only a few weeks after the House of Thrune closed up Delvehaven that the shadow beasts first appeared in Westcrown can’t be a coincidence. I suspect they found this artifact in Delvehaven, but in so doing triggered the lodge’s defenses and caused something. I’m not saying that the source of the shadow beasts is hidden in Delvehaven – but in my experience, there are no coincidences.”

“Of course, there remains the issue of getting into the lodge. My studies in the libraries of Skyreach in the Great Lodge in Absalom have revealed that responsibility for guarding the site of Devlvehaven has been passed from the House of the Thrune to the mayoral office. Worse, the fact that the House of Thrune has been engaged in an act of rewriting history since its rise to power means that reliable information about Delvehaven has become incredibly scarce. I know that there are several powerful magical locks and wards on the lodge placed there by House Thrune to prevent entry, and my research has shown that keys to the locks and documentation relating to those wards exist in only one place – Aberian’s Folly, the palatial estate of Lord-Mayor Aberian Arvanxi. Further, the House of Thrune’s devotion to order and tradition all but ensures that these keys and documents are kept in a complex, twelve-sided puzzle-box container known as a Chelish Crux, and that if it has been secured anywhere within Aberian’s Folly, it is likely to lie within the manor’s vault – a place known as the Asmodean Knot. Unfortunately, my research hit a dead end after that, and regardless, I am at a loss at how to infiltrate the Lord-Mayor’s manor without attracting undue attention.”

Most of the group is eager to do something about the shadow menace, even if armed with such fragile information. Several of the Returners recall seeing posters around the city advertising a casting call for actors in the Six Trials of Larazod, a notorious piece of Theatre Mortressci – plays where not only the cast’s reputations, but their very lives, are on the line during each performance – being produced by the Lord-Mayor himself. The Lord-Mayor’s love of theatre and opera is well-known throughout the city, and he is credited with the construction of many new and extravagant opera houses (all in the Asmodean black and red style popular in the capital city of Egorian), in addition to the introduction of progressively more violent and questionable entertainments. Lord-Mayor Aberian Arvanxi always invites his cast back to his villa for revelry following a production’s premier, parties that sometimes last for days, with the revelers lost in a drug- and orgy-induced haze – surely enough time to explore the mansion, find the Asmodean Knot, and retrieve the Chelish Crux without anyone – the Lord-Mayor included – being the wiser. The party agrees to audition for the play in the hopes of getting invited into the manor.

Moonday, 19 Neth, to Sunday, 25 Neth, 4708 A.R.

The party members audition for the play the following day under the severe eye and scathing insults of Robahl Nonon – the play’s director – a short and stout man sporting a silver-rimmed monocle. Each of the party members succeeds in obtaining a part in The Six Trials of Larazod. Vaeden takes the part of Tybain, the bumbling paladin of Aroden and comrade of Larazod. Slavé plays Drovalid, the torturer who has a change of heart and joins Larazod’s side. Tavo plays Dentris, the sharp-tongued wizard who has a knack for biting insults and a quick wit, who acts almost as a father figure to Larazod. Nagiphax takes the part of Ilsandra, the seductive erinyes and member of the judging Council who abandons her post in her lust for Larazod. Carlos the half-orc wizard is cast as Monris Blackward, a fiendish dwarf with blood-red eyes who frequently punctuates dramatic scenes in the play with blasts from his bagpipes. The role of Larazod, the tiefling accused of cavorting with demons, goes to Alizander. The party rehearses over the next week with their fellow actors: the insufferable Thesing Umbero Ulvauno, playing the part of the Magistrate Maleficarum – Montigny Haanderthan; the larger-than-life diva Visbarontess Delour Aulamaxa, the narrator and one-woman chorus of the play; the rising starlet Calseinica Nymmis, playing Ilsandra’s twin erinyes sister, Telphousia; and the stagehand and illusion-crafter, Millech the Hump. After suffering through the admonitions of Robahl Nonon, the thinly veiled threats and insults of Thesing, and the not-so-thinly-veiled contempt of Delour towards Calseinica, the cast gives a dress rehearsal of the play at the Limehouse Theatre near their own Adventurers’ Quarter to a crowd of rough and rowdy locals. Apart from a minor incident with a donkey, the dress rehearsal is a resounding success, and the cast is in high spirits for the premier of the original, uncut version of The Six Trials of Larazod to be held tomorrow night at the Nightshade Theatre in the noble district of the Regicona. That is, of course, until Thesing reminds them that The Six Trials of Larazod was banned after its first, and only, performance 200 years ago, and that it’s earned a reputation as the deadliest of the so-called “murderplays”.

Experience Awards

· Story Award (minimum 15 in base Popularity) - 900 xp

· Story Award (befriending Millech the Hump – Carlos) - 600 xp

· Story Award (befriending Calseinica – Vaeden) - 400 xp

· Story Award (befriending Delour – Slavé) - 600 xp

· Story Award (successful casting calls) - 2400 xp

· Story Award (dress rehearsal) - 3500 xp

· Total - 8400 xp

· Per PC (6) - 1400 xp

Frienship Benefits

· Millech the Hump – Non-offensive magical assistance during performance at the Nightshade Theatre (Carlos)

· Calseinica - +2 morale bonus on all skill checks during performance at the Nightshade Theatre (Vaeden)

· Delour – can name drop Delour Aulamaxa 1/day to receive a 20% price reduction on any item up to 500 gp (subject to GM discretion) (Slavé)

Current XP Totals Per PC (after session 8)

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 6655 xp each

· Nagiphax – 6135 xp

· Tavo – 5995 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp