Council of Thieves, Part 6: The Twice-Damned Prince - Session 44: Courting the Hellknights

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

Starday, 30 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

After a thorough investigation of Walcourt, Slavé and Alfred decide that razing the Council stronghold is the only prudent action, and proceed to burn the guildhouse to the ground. Outside it is approaching early evening, and as the Returners get their bearings they realize that Walcourt is not the only structure on fire in Westcrown. Across the Adivian River they see several plumes of smoke rising into the darkening sky from the city’s mainland. Alfred flies above the city to get a better look, but the view is mostly obscured by cloud and approaching darkness.

Alfred, Carlos, Boecca, Tavo, and Alizander use magic to travel swiftly to the Shrine of Aroden, the Returners’ safehouse. Slavé, meanwhile, uses his newly-acquired boots of teleportation to teleport to the Hellknight Order of the Scourge barracks in the Rego Cader.

At the Returners’ safehouse the group meets Janiven and Arael. Janiven tells the group that the situation in Westcrown deteriorated considerably in the hours that they were investigating Walcourt, with several gangs of Council thugs attacking citizens in the streets and setting fire to buildings. Despite the mounting chaos, Janiven and Arael believe the attacks may be indicative of the Drovenges’ desperation in the face of the Returners’ ongoing foils – forced to put their final endgame into action prematurely. In addition, rumours suggest that the Queen Abrogail II in Egorian has taken notice of the turmoil in Westcrown, and has ordered General Vourne to travel to Westcrown and establish order, by whatever means necessary. The Returners have the attention of many Wiscrani already; solidifying the citizenry’s support now is of utmost importance. Janiven suggests contacting the Mhartis family, whom the Returners’ have already aided in the past. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that many of the art objects the group retrieved from Walcourt’s treasury belong to the Mhartis family. She indicates that the surviving Mhartis’s are currently residing in a wing of the Ciucci family vira, not far from the ruined estate of Aberian Arvanxi.

Slavé arrives to find the Order of the Scourge headquarters in ruins. He finds a number of dead Hellknights in the ruins, along with several remains of undead attackers. Pontia Runario, leader of the Scourge Hellknights in Westcrown, is found barely alive in the catacombs beneath the old Church of Erastil. Slavé revives Pontia with a draught of healing potion. She describes an attack by a force of undead; the Scourge Hellknights were taken by surprise and cut down. Pontia escaped into the underground lair. She describes the leader of the attack as a skeleton-like undead with a strange fetal creature residing in its empty ribcage, called by name as Irimeian by several of the morhg attackers.

Pontia admits defeat and suggests the Order of the Scourge is finished, for the time being, in Westcrown. She admits that regaining control of the city now will be difficult without assistance from the other powers in the city – the Order of the Rack and the dottari. She suggests speaking to the Paralictor at Taranik House and trying to somehow enlist the aid of the Order of the Rack. Of the dottari she admits to knowing very little, except to suggest speaking to the chief dottari, Iltus Mhartis.

Slavé decides to head to Taranik House immediately, with Pontia by his side. Arriving at the bunker-like Order of the Rack headquarters late in the evening, Pontia convinces the hesitant guards to let them inside, where the two meet with Paralictor Gonville Chard, a hard looking man in imposing armour who looks like he hasn’t removed it in days. Slavé extols the virtues of the Returners as a force for order in Westcrown; amazingly, the Paralictor is inclined to agree, éand bids Slavé come back in the morning with the rest of the Returners.

Tavo, meanwhile, uses the recently-acquired carpet of flying to head towards the shrine to Pharasma established in the Massacre House in the Rego Crua. There he finds Jano, a member of his flock, who describes an attack similar to that experienced by the Order of the Scourge – groups of undead, morhgs, zombies, and so on – who assaulted the shrine and overwhelmed the few clergy in the building. Most of the flock managed to escape, but Tavo does find the body of one in the structure. A quick examination indicates that the cleric was drained of blood upon his death, corroborating Jano’s description of the attackers being led by a blond, red-cloaked vampire.

Tavo returns to the Returners’ safehouse with the terrible news, arriving soon after Slavé. As Slavé and Tavo relate their stories, the Returners decide there is little time to waste in countering the Council’s attacks and discovering if there is a connection between the Council and the undead attacks in the Rego Crua. When Slavé mentions contacting the dottari leader, Janiven relates that Iltus Mhartis was recently found dead, presumably assassinated. She believes his body is currently being held by the Mhartis family. The group decides to head to Taranik House in the morning, followed by a visit to the Mhartis and Ciucci families in an effort to secure the aid of the noble families.

Sunday, 1 Gozran, 4709 A.R.

At Taranik House, the Returners are introduced to Paralictor Gonville Chard. Although ethically opposed to the Returners methods, Chard expresses a grudging respect for the groups’ tenacity and uncanny ability to unearth and oppose the criminal element within Westcrown. Paralictor Chard seems positive to the prospect of an alliance between the Hellknights of the Order of the Rack and the Returners, but first insists on taking the group aside and speaking to them privately, implying that if the Hellknights throw their support behind the Returners, it is only reasonable that they help him with his own problem. Chard says that the Order of the Rack has recently experienced a schism within its ranks, a rift he suspects was engineered by the Council of Thieves.

The recent assassination of the dottari leader Iltus Mhartis has the appearance of being Hellknight work. Chard does not believe this was the case, but is unable to prove it yet. When the accusations rose, Citadel Rivad (the main Rack citadel located outside of Westcrown), shut its gates by order of Lictor Richemar Alamansor, who immediately began an inquisition of those Hellknights sealed within the citadel to ensure that all within remained loyal and trustworthy. Paralictor Chard knows it is only a matter of time before Alamansor orders Hellknights in the field back to Citadel Rivad for their own reckonings. This is what precipitated the recent schism within Taranik House. Cut off from support and supplies from Citadel Rivad, Taranik House quickly succumbed to infighting and bickering, all inspired by one Ara Verennie, a powerful signifier (a Hellknight spellcaster). According to Chard, Signifier Verennie proposed an alliance with the Council of Thieves, believing they would be successful in their powerplay to take over the city. Paralictor Chard saw this proposed alliance as treachery to Citadel Rivad and the Hellknight code, and declared Signifier Verennie a traitor. A brief but violent fight broke out in the grand hall of Taranik House as a result, and while Verennie and a dozen of her loyal followers (including Aritil Sevarn, Taranik’s respected armoury commander) escaped, the event left Chard and his loyalists understaffed and shaken. Chard says that the schism is not common knowledge in the city yet, and it would be best to remain so. He wants to capture the traitorous Signifier Verennie and bring her and her followers to justice before word spreads, and asks the Returners to help him in this task in return for his Order’s support.

The Returners agree to be on the lookout for Signifier Verennie. Paralictor Chard takes the group on a tour of the facility in the meantime, introducing them to a curious goblin woman named Jinkoo in Taranik House’s cellar level. Jinkoo guards the sewer entrance to Taranik House and fancies herself a Hellknight, a novelty most of the Order’s members are willing to tolerate. As the group tours the cellars and prison, Slavé is shocked to see the tiefling Crosael held within one of the cells. Chard explains that she is being held on charges of treason against the city for her presumed role in the destruction of Aberian Arvanxi’s estate and attempt to set free the pit fiend trapped beneath it. Slavé and the other Returners manage to convince Chard that she did not have a role in releasing the archdevil Liebdaga. In a rare act of ignoring proper legal proceedings, Chard agrees to expediate Crosael’s processing and set the tiefling free once her history and details have been recorded. Slavé manages to speak with Crosael for a moment. The tiefling seems relieved to see Slavé, and tells him that she has discovered very little about Chammady’s or Ecarrdian’s whereabouts in the last couple of weeks. She does indicate that she may have information on several of the Council’s old hideouts, and tells Slavé that she will be in touch if she is released from Taranik House.

The group leaves Taranik House at this point, making their way through several blocks towards Ciucci Vira, current residence of the Ciucci and Mhartis families. After speaking with Paralictor Chard, several of the Returners believe it may be worth attempting to resurrect Iltus Mhartis as a way of securing the aid of the dottari and the noble family at the same time. Upon arriving at the vira, the group knocks on the entrance of the north wing (the wing currently housing the Mhartis family). The knock is answered by a Mhartis guard, who suggests the family is too busy grieving for Iltus and desires no visitors. The Returners insist, and are eventually shown inside. They are ushered into an office to the left of the entrance hall. The attitude of the guards inside the entrance hall seems tense, and puts the Returners on guard. Alfred notices an odd hole in the ceiling of the office, and at the same time Slavé hears the telltale sound of a key being inserted into the office door. Before they can be locked in the room, Slavé charges the door, slamming it open and knocking the guard behind it to the floor. The other guards within the entrance hall draw their weapons and shout an alarm down the hallway.

Experience

· Story Award (securing the aid of the Hellknights): 9600 xp

· Total: 9600 xp

· Per PC (4): 2400 xp

· Fame points (returning 75,000 gp worth of treasure from Walcourt): 5 (total Fame Score: 32)

Fame/Popularity

· Fame Check bonus: +32

· Fame Points Spent (to broadcast Hellknight alliance): 5

· Fame Points Remaining: 27

· Popularity Points (securing the aid of the Hellknights): 3

· Total Popularity Points: 3

Current XP Total per PC

· Slavé: 138,169 xp

· Carlos: 135,769 xp

· Alfred: 135,614 xp

· Boecca: 135,594 xp

· Tavo: 131,524 xp

· Alizander: 127,784 xp

Mother of Flies - Session 39: Walcourt Raid, Part II

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

Oathday, 21 Pharast, to Fireday, 29 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

The brawl in Walcourt spills over into multiple maze-like chambers. Alizander and Boecca deal with the remaining dark stalker guildsmen in the Council offices. Carlos stands guard in the main guardroom, prepared for any other intruders to come through the four as-yet-unexplored doors. Slavé peers through the arrow slit into the dark hallway beyond the brutal spear trap he discovered. Alfred floats invisibly into the same room and collides with the also-invisible Slavé, who luckily manages to maintain his composure and continue manning the spear trap. Soon enough, three Council thieves make their way down the hall, and Slavé activates the trigger mechanism on the trap, sending a wall of spears through the flimsy wall, pinning the first thief to the wooden wall behind. The other two thieves push past their dying comrade and into the trap room, to find it apparently empty as they are unable to see the invisible Slavé and Alfred. Slavé sneaks back down the hallway he came from, hearing the sound of dark folk through one of the doors in the hallway.

The dark folk storm into the trap room, shouting at the two Council thieves in their strange, unknown language. The Council thieves back away from the dark creeper footpads, wary and perhaps afraid of the dark folk. Alfred, meanwhile, sees his time to strike, and invokes a choking cloudkill spell to waft over the tightly packed gang of dark creepers and Council thieves. The deadly cloud sends all of the dark creepers and thieves into violent convulsions as its poisonous vapours penetrate their lungs and bloodstreams. The dark folk die in flashes of bright light; a blinding series of brilliant white flashes, momentarily illuminating the halls and rooms of Walcourt in stark light and defined shadows.

Beocca and Alizander, meanwhile, discover what appears to be a Council conference chamber, outfitted with a massive slate table, leather chairs, and a number of what appear to be fine works of art on the walls. Alizander retrieves an ebony tinderbox from the table; it contains a small amount of ash that radiates a faint magical aura. Boecca jerks to attention when he notices a small, plum-sized semi-transparent sphere float very quickly through the air in the hallway behind him. Neither of the adventurers are fast enough to exit the conference room before it is engulfed in a series of chilling cold blasts from small nozzles hidden in the walls. Alizander and Boecca leave the room promptly after the trap is sprung, neither of them eager to face its frosty bite again.

Slavé heads downstairs, following several escaping dark folk, where he encounters a swarm of strange rats, more shadow-stuff than rat. He runs from the creatures and manages to avoid them, heading south through the east wing of the maze-like guildhouse.

The Returners upstairs notice the flying transparent spheres several more times, but hesitate to investigate their source. Alfred recognizes the spheres as the result of a spell called prying eyes, a powerful scrying spell. Carlos, eager to find the basement, decides to unleash his newly-created clay golem. The massive golem begins pounding on the floor, eventually finding a weak point and falling through to Walcourt’s first floor, directly onto a large oaken table holding the body of a badly-mutilated victim. Moth-eaten curtains of red velvet drape the walls of the square chamber; low-burning torches burn in sconces mounted between them. Carlos, Alizander, Boecca, and Tavo follow the golem – Tavo brandishing the Morrowfall before him.

Alfred makes his way back to the room with the spear-trap that was sprung by Slavé, and heads down the hall from whence the Council thieves came. Through several empty rooms later, Alfred comes upon another group of Council thieves, these ones waiting beside a narrow, cramped shaft leading to the first floor below, one of them wielding a noose as if to hook something from the shaft. Realizing five thieves could probably overwhelm him in direct combat, Alfred sickens them all with a stinking cloud and descends through the shaft to the first floor below, finding himself in a narrow secret passage between the outer wall and the rooms of Walcourt. At the bottom of the shaft is a collection of 13 hats of assorted sizes and styles hanging on pegs – none of them radiate magic, and their purpose is unclear.

In the curtained room, Alizander, Carlos, Tavo and Boecca are attacked from secret doors behind the curtains. The Returners make short work of the novice thieves attacking them, and send most of them running. The clay golem smashes through the set of double doors in the room, exiting into Walcourt’s grounds. The other Returners examine the body on the table and realize after some investigation that it is none other than Vassindio Drovenge. The Drovenge patriarch’s lower jaw has been torn away. Tavo determines that the grandfather of Chammady and Ecarrdian Drovenge was tortured for some time before he was finally granted death. The Returners all remark on the strangeness of the room – a torture chamber as one’s first welcome through Walcourt’s front doors.

Treasure

· From the Dark creeper footpads

o Masterwork daggers (10) (worth 1500 gp total)

o Black smear poison (15 doses) (worth 2700 gp total)

· From the Dark stalker guildsmen

o Masterwork short swords (6) (worth 930 gp total)

o +2 Leather armour (3) (worth 6540 gp total)

· From the Council thieves

o Coins and jewelry (worth 900 gp total)

· From D11. Nightmaster’s Office

o Council documents (worth unknown)

· From D10. Daymaster’s Office

o Council documents (worth unknown)

· From D15. Council Chamber

o Tinderbox containing magical ash (worth 100 gp for ebony tinderbox; ash unknown)

Experience

· Dark creeper footpads (10) – 12000 xp

· Dark stalker guildsmen (2) – 9600 xp

· Novice thieves (4) – 1600 xp

· Council thieves (3) – 2400 xp

· Wasp arrow traps (2) – 12800 xp

· Cone of cold trap – 12800 xp

· Spiked pit trap – 6400 xp

· Total – 57600 xp

· Per PC – 9600 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 101,902 xp

· Alfred – 99,347 xp

· Boecca – 99,327 xp

· Tavo – 95,257 xp

· Alizander – 93,917 xp

· Fame Points - 21

Mother of Flies - Session 37: The Counsel of Flies

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

Wealday, 20 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

Alizander leads the assault from the air, using the wand of quench to douse the bonfire burning near the leader’s camp, before heading quickly to the north towards the next closest fire. The large bearded man, who was conferring with a group of three tall, pale-skinned rag-shrouded folk, is momentarily surprised by the sudden dousing. He soon gains his composure and orders his men into action. The thieves and dark folk in the leader’s camp begin scanning the trees for signs of attack, and the Returners are only too happy to bring it to them. Dog’s Tongue is the first to issue forth, charging from the dark forest into the clearing, screaming obscenities as he slashes at a duo of dark creepers with his heavy scythe. The Returners make their moves in turn – Boecca firing his crossbow from the tree-cover; Slavé making his way to the east side of the leader’s camp under cover of the forest; Alfred and Carlos laying down spell artillery from the air; and Tavo issuing from the forest as if to take on the entire force of Council thieves by himself.

The dark creepers and dark stalkers seek to control the battlefield by shrouding it under a cover of magical darkness that they seem to be able to see through without hindrance. Tavo manages to dispel the blackness using the Morrowfall on several occasions, blinding the light-sensitive dark creepers and stalkers as a beneficial side effect. The bearded, axe-wielding leader attempts to circle around the battlefield, avoiding the magical darkness, Alfred’s choking cloudkill, and Carlos’ deadly wall of acid, in an effort to come up behind the attacking Returners. His efforts are, alas, futile, and the huge man, someone Slavé recognizes as a former member of the dottari, falls under the relentless efforts of the Returners.

In time, the group of dark creepers, dark stalkers, and Council thieves fall to the Returners. Alizander continues to douse bonfires throughout the besiegers’ camp, sowing discord and confusion and he makes his way around the massive trunk of the Maggot Tree. With each bonfire that goes out, strange birds and insect swarms issue form the tree to attack the besieging force. The other Returners deal with another group of Council thieves, ogres, warhounds and a hill giant before the Mother of Flies finally shows herself, issuing from the shrouded canopy of the Maggot Tree in a cloud of swarming wasps, flies, and worse.

With the Mother’s presence, the siege finally breaks, and the remaining thieves, ogres and hill giants flee the battlefield. The Mother of Flies approaches the Returners, dismissing the black clouds of insects as she gets closer. She is a hideous crone indeed. Her face is a grey mass of wrinkles, warts, and scars beneath a mop of coarse, bark-like hair. Her eyes are dark and sagging, but lack any indication of colouration – they’re flat black orbs. She leans heavily on a large gnarled staff and wears filthy rags and dozens of bone and stone fetishes. Perhaps worst of all is the layer of maggots and crawling flies that cover her. With every step, the flies take flight, only to land on her body again when she comes to a rest. The Mother of Flies cackles in unrestrained delight as she observes the Returners.

“My sweeties, yes what a gorgeous delicious bunch of darlings you are. So kind of you to help an old spinster; what would I have done without you, my lovelies? So pretty you are, covered in sweat and blood. Oh dear we shall have to wash you. Oh goodness, my flies seem to like you; don’t mind them.”

The Mother of Flies grandmotherly attitude continues for several minutes; the chaos of the surrounding clearing – Council thieves dying, strange birds and insects devouring their half-living remains, the Maggot Tree seeming to swell with life as the smoke clears – seems to exist in a different place somehow. The Returners are drawn in by the hideous crone’s incongruous nature. As they listen to the Mother of Flies, she begins to relate the story of her dealings with the Drovenge family. She tells the story of Sidonai Drovenge, the son of the patriarch of the family, Vassindio, came to her and her sisters (there were once three – the Mother, the Sister, and the Daughter of Flies) in 4686 AR, seeking an infernal heir. The Flies were only too happy to oblige, and procured a coin from the archdevil Mammon’s own treasury, instructing Sidonai to swallow it before bedding his wife. Little did Sidonai know that by accepting the gift, he was cuckolding himself – the coin in fact held the possessing spirit of Mammon himself, and the heir would not be Sidonai’s but Mammon’s own son, begat upon the world through a mortal coupling. When Sidonai’s son was born a fiendish freak 9 months later, Sidonai’s father Vassindio flew into a terrific rage. He ordered the deaths of all involved – midwives and house staff alike (the mother escaped this fate by dying herself from complications in birthing the infernal heir). While Vassindio tempered his rage when it came to his son (exiling Sidonai rather than executing him), and in the end could not bring it upon himself to destroy his fiendish grandson, whom he named Ecarrdian, the Flies did not escape his wrath.

Of the three hags, only the Mother of Flies was away when Vassindio’s forces stormed the Hagwood with a deadly combination of fire, assassins, and charmed giants and fey. The Mother learned of Vassindio’s rage and, nursing her own grudge against the Drovenges for the deaths of her sister and daughter, relocated deeper into the Hagwood and began the process of creating a new Maggot Tree. To gird herself against further Drovenge vengeance, she sought and found an unlikely ally among the dark fey of the Court of Ether hidden within the upper reaches of the Darklands. Her alliance secured, she set out on the slow process of slowly learning about her foe – Vassindio Drovenge, de facto leader of the Council of Thieves – and the many secrets of his criminal order.

Yet the Mother of Flies may have taken too long in plotting her revenge, for now things have changed in the Council of Thieves. Control has passed to the infernal heir, Ecarrdian, and his sister, Chammady. The Mother seethes with bitter anger towards both Vassindio and Ecarrdian – in many ways, he owes his very existence to her, after all! The Mother sees in the Returners her chance to visit vengeance upon the Drovenges, and relates her knowledge of the Council of Thieves secret guildhalls – one called Walcourt, in particular – and also says she has information that may drive a wedge between Ecarrdian and his strongest supporter – his sister Chammady.

The Mother tells the Returners that while the Council maintains numerous secret guildhalls throughout Westcrown, it is the one known as Walcourt that may house their greatest asset – control of the night. Walcourt is located at the eastern edge of the Rego Laina, in a former guild lodge once dedicated to the followers of the Founder Crucisal. Falling into ruin over the years since the god Aroden’s death, Walcourt was used briefly as an orphanage and then later as a flophouse – both secretly serving as fronts for the activities of the Council of Thieves and overseen by none other than Sidonai Drovenge. Most recently, she’s come to believe that Walcourt has been given over to serve as the lair of one of the Council’s most dangerous leaders – and one of the greatest allies of the Drovenge siblings – a mysterious figure known as the “Lord of Shadows.” According to the Mother’s research, this Lord of Shadows controls the movements and actions of the shadow beasts that plague Westcrown’s nights, and the fact that he’s been allied all this time with the Drovenges explains a lot as to how they and their treacherous allies could move about the city unseen and unmolested at night. An invasion of Walcourt could not only reveal much of the secrecy surrounding the Council of Thieves but also give the Returners the opportunity to lift the curse of shadows from Westcrown’s nights.

About the Drovenge siblings themselves, the Mother says that their greatest strength is their complete devotion to each other – between Chammady’s guile and Ecarrdian’s prowess in combat, the two are a formidable pair. Yet it may be possible to sow the seeds of anger between them.

Unbeknownst to Sidonai Drovenge, when he willingly swallowed the gold coin of Mammon gifted by the Flies, he entered into an infernal pact with the archdevil. The seal for that pact is Ecarrdian himself – the fruit of the pact’s execution. As a resul, Ecarrdian’s very existence is a link to his infernal pater familias, embodying his very traits of lust and greed. The infernal pact created a connection between Ecarrdian and his closest familial tie – not his father Sidonai, but his devoted sister, Chammady, the only family member to show him any love and affection during his painful childhood. Ecarrdian’s very existence is bonded with that of his sister. With each personal success and increase in power by Ecarrdian, Chammady’s soul has become entwined further and further with Mammon’s, such that if Ecarrdian truly comes to rule Westcrown, as seems to be his goal, Chammady’s soul will be eternally forfeit to the Infernal Court of Erebus, a plaything for Mammon’s every whim. Chammady’s loyalty to her brother is great, but the Mother of Flies suspects that not even her filial ties to her tiefling brother could overcome her desire to not succumb to such a fate – a fact that could very likely create an irreparable rift between the siblings.

“And then,” the Mother says, “things should get very interesting. We are, of course, speaking about a pact created in Hell, and as with all things originating in Hell, copies exist in triplicate. The pact between Ecarrdian and Mammon will exist in written form, signed and sealed.”

With that, the Mother of Flies bids the Returners farewell, promising them safe passage out of the Hagwood, but delivering a stern warning that they may not receive such a warm welcome if ever they return.

Treasure

· From the Council thieves and Stiglor

o Potions of cure moderate wounds (4) (worth 600 gp total)

o Coins and jewelry (worth 1600 gp)

o Breastplate +1 (worth 675 gp)

o +1 Cold iron battleaxes (2) (worth 4620 gp total)

o Masterwork composite longbow (+3 Str) (worth 350 gp)

o Cold iron arrows (20) (worth 1 gp total)

o Belt of mighty constitution +2 (worth 2000 gp)

o Key

o Papers and documents outlining Stiglor’s orders

· From Dark Creepers and Dark Stalkers

o Black smear poison (24 doses) (worth 4320 gp total, black market only)

o Masterwork short swords (4) (worth 620 gp total)

· From the Mother of Flies

o Potions of cure serious wounds (12) (worth 4500 gp total)

o Wand of restoration (14 charges) (worth 9940 gp)

o Wand of secret door detection (10 charges) (worth 75 gp)

o Scroll of resurrection (worth 6137 gp, 5 sp)

Experience Awards

· Council thieves (7) – 5,600 xp

· Dark creeper footpads (12) – 14,400 xp

· Dark stalker guildsmen (3) – 14,400 xp

· Stiglor – 6400 xp

· Warhounds (6) – 1200 xp

· Ogres (2) – 1600 xp

· Hill giant – 3200 xp

· Story award (breaking the siege) – 9600 xp

· Total – 56,400 xp

· Per PC (6) – 9,400 xp

· Fame Point (for breaking the siege and sending the Council army packing) - 1

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 90,835 xp

· Alfred – 88,280 xp

· Boecca – 88,260 xp

· Tavo – 84,190 xp

· Alizander – 82,850 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 21

The Infernal Syndrome - Session 28: Routing the Council Usurpers

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/assassin

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue (and Damien Hellbent, cohort)

Wealday, 15 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

Alas, Vaeden’s wits do not save him against the diabolist Avahzi Serafian. Under a spell of invisibility, Vaeden avoids the swipes and thrusts of the Council thieves’ rapiers and perches precariously in the corner of one of the small prison cells lining the hallway. The Council thieves are loath to enter the cells themselves, piled as they are with the fresh bodies of their comrades who failed to make it further into the Nessian Spiral. But Vaeden is unable to avoid the diabolist’s invocations to the archdevil Mammon. Time and time again she bathes the hallway in waves of vile, life-draining energy. Vaeden’s cohort, Damien Hellbent, manages to break through the two-inch wall of stone blocking the door to the hallway and valiantly attempts to save his leader, but he is too late, and both Vaeden and Hellbent fall under the diabolist’s relentless plague of death.

Avahzi’s imp companion, Novankia, continues to harry Tavo and Boecca in the main room, diving and weaving through the air and avoiding the shadows under Tavo’s control. Novankia casts a spell over Tavo, convincing him that it is in his best interest to send the shadows after the frightening half-orc (Boecca) nearby. Boecca suffers several draining hits from the incorporeal shadows before Tavo breaks the devilish imp’s mind control. As the two try to eradicate the persistent Novankia, Tavo manages to have a few shouted words with a bound thief that Hellbent discovered in the storage room just off the main chamber. In between dodging attacks from Novankia, he cuts the thief’s bonds and learns that his name is Jalki, and that he was bound by the other thieves because it was discovered he was a spy for the Council loyalists. Jalki claims that Avahzi and the other thieves in the Nessian Spiral are part of a splinter group intent on usurping control of the Council from the powerful Drovenge and Eberigo families that currently control it. This information confirms what the Returners learned from Crosael in the ruins upstairs. Jalki manages to escape from the Nessian Spiral while Tavo and Boecca are busy fighting with Novankia and Avahzi.

Alizander and Jancen continue down the other side of the complex, exploring the den of the cerberi. There they find two heavy, reinforced iron chests. Carlos isn’t far behind, but gets waylaid by one of the Council thieves who hid in an armoury off of the main hallway. As Carlos steps into the room, the craven thief stabs at him with a rapier. Carlos recoils in horror; the sudden movement beside him causes him to conjure a hemispherical shield of force almost without thinking, bending the thief’s foil almost to the point of breaking. Carlos retreats, while Jancen moves in and begins harrying the thief with his crossbow, eventually bringing him down.

Finally, the battle is over. Avahzi Serafian and her retinue of Council thieves are defeated. Tavo provides some healing to Damien Hellbent, but can do little for Vaeden Corleone, last surviving scion of House Davion, who fell whilst defending his comrades against the hell-fed power of the elven diabolist, Avahzi Serafian. Damien gathers up the body of his mentor and bids farewell to the Returners for now.

Moving on, Jancen discovers a well-concealed secret door in the small room containing the iron chests. He opens the door and views a narrow, rough-hewn and low-ceilinged passageway beyond. The air wafting from the tunnel is moist, foetid, and rank with the scent of dog and feral animal. Jancen explores the tunnel under a spell of invisibility, and discovers that it opens into a larger cavern, although the ceiling still rises only four feet from the floor, forcing him to crouch uncomfortably. Squatting in a crude and filthy nest in the cavern is a feral-looking creature – a small humanoid with the figure of a woman but the features and fur of a red fox. The creature mutters to herself in several languages, Jancen picks out a few words in Infernal, Celestial, and Common, including several references to Dargentu Vheed, whom the fox creature refers to alternately as ‘sir’, ‘master’, and ‘devil-kissing degenerate’. Her ears perk up suddenly, and she begins sniffing the air. At first Jancen fears she has notice him, then the fox creature snatches a rat as it scurries across the floor and begins tearing into it with her tiny but razor-sharp teeth.

Jancen makes his way back to the other Returners and explains what he saw. From the description, Alizander believes the creature to be a vulpinal agathion, a bipedal race with animal-features from the plane of Nirvana. The creature’s actions strike him as odd, however, as his knowledge of the planes suggest that the vulpinals are a goodly and regal race. As the Returners talk it over, they come to believe that something terrible must have befallen the vulpinal in the cave for it to have become so feral and insane. Alizander and Boecca both express a desire to help the creature, and the party makes its way into the cavern to confront the vulpinal.

Jancen goes in first, invisibly, and situates himself nearby the vulpinal’s nest to observe the proceedings. Alizander comes in next, holding a light source before him, followed by the half-orc Boecca. Jancen notes that as the light source becomes evident, the vulpinal becomes very alert. She mutters an incantation and becomes invisible. Moments later, Jancen hears her utter another incantation nearby, and the image of a middle-aged man with a black beard and black robes appears near the nest, stooped over in the cramped cave. The bearded man’s features twitch nervously, his eyes dart to and fro, and a small rivulet of frothy saliva dribbles from the side of his mouth.

“Who goes there? Who dares intrude upon the home of the Lord-Mayor of Westcrown? Can you not see that I am busy? Impudence! Insolence! If I discover you are responsible for the tremors and rumblings in my home I will have you drawn and quartered. No, that’s too quick, better to soften you up first.”

Treasure

· From the Nessian Spiral - Treasury

o +1 Dwarven waraxe (worth 1165 gp)

o Wand of quench (11 charges) (worth 1237 gp)

o Clay golem manual (worth 6000 gp)

o 2400 gp

· From the Council Thieves

o Potion of cure moderate wounds (6) (worth 900 gp total)

o Leather armour +1 (8) (worth 4640 gp total)

o Masterwork rapier (8) (worth 1280 gp total)

o Masterwork hand crossbow (8) (worth 1600 total)

o Coins and jewelry (worth 2400 gp)

· From Avahzi Serafian

o +1 Shortspear (worth 1150 gp)

o Scroll of sending (worth 700 gp)

o Wand of cure moderate wounds (15 charges) (worth 675 gp)

o Wand of spiritual weapon (6 charges) (worth 270 gp)

o Masterwork breastplate (worth 175 gp)

o Light steel shield (worth 4 gp)

o Headband of inspired wisdom +2 (worth 2000 gp)

o Phylactery of negative energy channeling (worth 5500 gp)

o Gold unholy symbol of Mammon (worth 120 gp)

o Leather pouch containing unidentified herb

Experience Awards

· Council thieves (5) – 4000 xp

· Avahzi Serafian and Novankia – 4800 xp

· Story Award (permitting Jalki, a deep-cover agent of the Council loyalists, to escape) – 3200 xp

· Story Award (killing off Aberten Vittershins, Avahzi Serafian, and other agents of the Council usurpers) – 4800 xp

· Total – 16800 xp

· Per PC (6) – 2800 xp (including Vaeden)

· Cohort (Hellbent) – 2000 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 45,535 xp each

· Boecca – 42,780 xp

· Tavo – 41,790 xp

· Nagiphax – 31,657 xp

· Damien Hellbent (cohort) – 22,360

· Total Current Fame Points – 15