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

What Lies in Dust - Session 22: Delvehaven, Part V

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.

Vaeden is the first to react, and strides confidently into the room to confront the cloaked figure. As he crosses the threshold, he catches something out of the corner of his eye – another figure in the room, clinging to the high ceiling like a spider. Vaeden calls back to the rest of the group to let them know there is another enemy in the room before advancing on the cloaked figure. Vaeden holds a string of garlic bulbs before him as he advances. The cloaked figure recoils from the garlic, averting his red-glowing eyes from the hated substance and brandishing his barbed short sword in defense.

The vampire spawn on the ceiling spits a curse at Vaeden and orders him to step away from Master Jair. Vaeden ignores the undead thrall’s compelling voice and continues to rebuke the cloaked vampire – Jair. Jair, meanwhile, steps away from the repellant garlic and invokes a prayer to Norgorber, the Keeper of Secrets: “By Norgorber’s will, the world shall evermore be hidden from you, its secrets forever dark.” Vaeden senses a dark shroud covering his eyes and is struck utterly blind.

Carlos pulls out the scroll of sunburst from its case and shouts for everyone to get out of the room and behind cover. Before the vampires are able to react, he reads the words on the scroll. The letters flare into brightness as he reads each word. As he finishes the scroll, the illuminated letters grow more brilliant, until the brightness seems to coalesce into a single blinding bead of intense light and heat. Jair and the vampire thrall look on in dismay as the bead travels into the room. The bead reaches the far corner of the room and seems to implode upon itself, growing suddenly dark before exploding into a supernova of blinding, burning light. As the Returners eyes readjust to the dim light of the vault, all that remains of Jair and the vampire thrall are two human-shaped piles of grey ash. Jair’s short sword, chain shirt, and golden unholy symbol of Norgorber lay on the floor near the ash.

Jancen, meanwhile, continues exploring the vault at the end of the hallway, and retrieves several other items from small plinths in the circular room. These include a mithral rapier identified as “Whisperlash, the dueling sword of Baron Augustine II, the Cold Veteran of Oppara”, a well-preserved, five-fingered, long-nailed mummy’s hand identified as “Hand of the Pharoah of Nagas, Osirion”, and an exquisite chess set of alabaster, ebony, and mother of pearl identified as a chess set gifted from Taldor to Cheliax in 4315 AR. As Jancen is examining the finds, he sees a figure coalesce out of red mist nearby. Luckily, Jancen imbibed a potion of invisibility before advancing into the vault and remains unseen by the figure – a ragged-looking vampire thrall.

The thrall spends several moments in the vault, looking for evidence of the one who managed to retrieve the Morrowfall and stop its erratic bursts of light. Jancen quietly makes his way back up the hallway. Meanwhile, Alizander leaves the room with the remains of Jair and his thrall, and makes his way towards the vault. As he rounds the corner he notices the thrall heading back down the hallway. The battle ensues once more, and Boecca, Vaeden, Tavo, and Carlos rush toward the vault as they hear Alizander in combat. As the fight against the single vampire spawn continues, two doorways to either side of the stairway leading back up to the cellar open to reveal two more vampire spawn, and another vampire leader – this one broad-chested and wearing little more than short breaches and an extensive array of swirling, maze-like tattoos. The vampire steps out of the door opened by his vampire thrall and fires two shots from a massive repeating crossbow at Carlos and Alizander. The brutish vampire spits a wad of sticky, clotted blood when he sees Alizander: “Filthy Varisian, you’ll be the first to feel my teeth tearing into your flesh; I’ll suck you drier than an Andoran spinster.”

Thankfully, for Alizander, the tattooed vampire’s threats do not come true, and the Returners defeat the remaining vampires lurking in Delvehaven’s vault. They follow the vampires’ retreating mist-forms to their nearby crypts – hastily established in the old Delvehaven mausoleum. Under Tavo’s advice and instructions, the party drives a wooden stake through the body of each vampire and grisly remove each vampire’s head in order ensure that none of them will return to haunt the halls of the old lodge ever again.

With the vampires destroyed, Jancen finally makes himself known once again. The group quickly searches the rest of the vault level, discovering several ancient treaties in one of the rooms. Boecca, new to the group and unused to Jancen’s devious methods and habit of striking out on his own, confronts the limping rogue, demanding to know where he was and if he had to do anything with the bursts of light suddenly ceasing.

Treasure:

· From Vahnwynne Malkistra’s body (elven vampire)

o 2^nd Wooden stake +1 (worth 1150 gp)

o +1 leather armour (worth 580 gp)

· From Father Jair

o +1 chain shirt (worth 625 gp)

o Short sword +1 (worth 1155 gp)

o Wand of inflict moderate wounds

o Masterwork hand crossbow (200 gp)

o 10 poisoned crossbow bolts (poison not yet identified)

o Gold unholy symbol of Norgorber (worth 200 gp)

o Master Liriam’s wayfinder (worth 250 gp)

· From The Mazeflesh Man

o Repeating heavy crossbow +1 (worth 1350 gp)

o 20 bolts (worth 1 gp)

o Golembane scarab (worth 1250 gp)

· From the Amber Arca (vault)

o Whisperlash, mithral rapier (magical, properties currently unknown)

o Hand of the Pharoah of Nagas (magical, properties currently unknown)

o Taldoran chess set (worth 3500 gp)

o The Morrowfall (minor artifact, properties currently unknown)

· From the Chamber of Treaties (values currently unknown)

o Treaty – Declaration of Haliad I, ca. 4138 AR

o Treaty – letter from Count Andachi, ca. 4042 AR

o Treaty – Minkai declaration of war, ca. 3616 AR

o Treaty – letter from Shadowcount Thenris IV of Nidal, ca. 4577 AR

o Treaty – Taldoran peace treaty, ca. 2133 AR

Experience Awards

· Father Jair, vampire cleric of Norgorber – 3200 xp

· The Mazeflesh Man, vampire fighter – 3200 xp

· Vampire spawn (4) – 4600 xp

· Story Award (securing the Morrowfall) – 9700 xp

· Total – 20,700 xp

· Per PC (6) – 3450 xp each

Current XP Total per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 30,745 xp each

· Boecca – 27,990 xp

· Tavo – 25,410 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 12

What Lies in Dust - Session 20: Delvehaven, Part III

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.

The Returners, now bolstered with the addition of Boecca, a half-orc inquisitor eager to mete out Erastil’s justice on a city of devil-worshippers, head back to Delvehaven and brave its dusty halls once again.

The group heads first to the Nautalica, where they faced the deadly shadow-infused triceratops skeleton. They find the massive aquarium has ruptured since their last visit, spilling its contents of mouldering fish skeletons across the floor. The party determines that several of the bones of the triceratops have been removed since their last visit. Upon further examination they discover several footprints throughout the now-sodden muck and dust on the floor. The footprints seem to appear and disappear without any obvious entrance or exit from the room.

The Returners gather what useful items they can from the detritus spilled from the broken aquarium before proceeding deeper into Delvehaven. They continue through the large double doors leading south and enter an open-air courtyard, where they fight a frantic battle with five unsettling children’s toys animated with malevolent soul foci. After defeating the soulbound dolls, the party examines an unusual blue-metal dais in the centre of the courtyard that renders anyone on top of it invisible. The presence of a number of weapon racks under the terrace along the courtyard’s outer wall suggests that the Delvehaven Pathfinders may have used the dais to practice their blind-fighting abilities.

The party leaves the courtyard through another set of double doors leading to the southern wing of the structure. Within the half-moon-shaped building is the former Delvehaven Council Chamber – a spacious room featuring a gigantic nightscape mural on the ceiling. The mural’s bands of stars stretch to form an outline of the Pathfinders’ famed Glyph of the Open Road. Wooden stairs lead up to a balcony circling the upper level of the Council Chamber, where another set of double doors leads back out to the courtyard and a rickety wooden bridge connecting the southern wing to the main northern wing of the lodge. As the party heads up the stairs towards the doors, they are set upon by a pulsating yellow orb. Several party members receive body-shaking jolts of electricity from the ill-tempered will-o’-wisp before the group manages to surround the alien creature and strike it down.

The party heads back to the northern wing of the lodge and explores the upstairs level, which consists almost entirely of guest rooms. One notable room contains a water elemental that appears to be bound to the pool in the room – perhaps the Mirrorskin creature referred to by the spirit of Venture-Captain Aiger Ghaelfin.

Treasure:

· From the Nautalica

o Ancient triangular coins (5) (250 gp – 50 gp each)

o Indigo jade bracelet (225 gp)

o Darkwood wolf’s-head scepter (20 gp)

o Continual flame gems (7) (840 gp – 120 gp each)

o Gray bag of tricks (waterlogged, but functional)

· From the Soulbound Dolls in the Rostrum of Vanishment

o Soul foci (3)

· From the Council Chamber

o Ornate lantern (450 gp)

Experience Awards

· Soulbound dolls (5) – 3000 xp

· Xyscerace (will-o’-wisp) – 2400 xp

· Total – 5400 xp

· Per PC (6) – 900 xp each

Current XP Total per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 22,655 xp each

· Tavo – 21,960 xp

· Boecca – 19,900

· Total Current Fame Points – 12

What Lies in Dust - Session 19: Delvehaven, Part II

Dramatis Personae

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard (deceased)
Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue

Starday, 29 Kuthona, 4708 A.R., to Moonday, 8 Abadius, 4709 A.R.

The party continues the fight against the powerful shadow-infused triceratops. Alizander, like Carlos, falls in the thick of battle, sacrificing his life in the effort to defeat the monstrous creature. In the end, Vaeden and Jancen manage to destroy the thing and retreat from Delvehaven with Tavo and the bodies of Alizander and Carlos.

Back at the Returners’ safehouse, the surviving members of the group consult with Arael, Janiven, and Ailyn. Ailyn agrees to purchase the nearly-complete set of the Pathfinder Chronicles from the party, and Vaeden, Tavo, and Jancen begin searching for the expensive material components to bring Alizander and Carlos back from the dead. Barella, the itinerant priest of Iomedae who assisted the Returners when Vaeden was ill with mummy rot, agrees to perform the ritual to raise the fallen heroes. With some coaxing, the spirits of both Alizander and Carlos are ushered back from the planes of their gods – Alizander from Cayden Cailean’s domain in Elysium, and Carlos from the realm of Nethys in the turbulent Maelstrom.

The Returners take the rest of the week to rest and recover before venturing back to Delvehaven to continue exploration of its storied halls. During that time, the group meets decides it could use some assistance during its investigation of the old lodge, and after some inquiring takes on an Inquisitor recently arrived in Westcrown.

Treasure:

· From the Library of Inducted Experience:

o Pathfinder Chronicles collection (75% complete) (5000 gp – sold to Ailyn Ghontasavos)

Experience Awards

· Shadowy triceratops skeleton – 3200 xp

· Orientation trap – 400 xp

· Story Award (rescuing Carlos and Alizander) – 1000 xp

· Total – 4600 xp

· Per PC (5) – 920 xp each

Current XP Total per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 21,755 xp each

· Tavo – 21,060 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 12

What Lies in Dust - Session 18: Delvehaven, Part I

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

Starday, 22 Kuthona, 4708 A.R.

The party uses two of the grave candles retrieved from the Chelish Crux to hold scéance with the spiritual fragments of Venture-Captain Aiger Ghaelfin and Coriana Heavenscape.

From Ghaelfin, the party learns some details of the layout of the old Pathfinder lodge:

“Delvehaven, yes, a great museum it was. A museum and a gathering place for friends and fellows. It was a great lodge, in its time. Delvehaven is comprised of four levels:

The ground level: a stately and grand place, featuring the great library, the grand vestibule flanked by the foyer of reflection on one side and the foyer of fellowship on the other. The Nautalica: a grand and exotic feasting hall. No feasting occurs there now, I fear. The Rostrum of Vanishment, where we often practiced our ability to fight unseen foes. And finally the illuminated Council Chamber, where we discussed matters of great importance – ventures to unknown lands, archaeological expeditions among the ruins of the ancients – under a blanket of stars and a permanent image of the Glyph of the Open Road.

The upper level: apartments, guest rooms, the vanity room where Mirrorskin awaited each of us every morning.

The cellar: featuring the tavern, where we traded stories of our travels and the finest elven vintage. The Mariner’s Display and the Insect Museum – featuring replicas of famous ships and specimens of the rarest insects.

Finally, the vault below the cellar: where we kept our most priceless treasures, and the most dangerous.

But we failed in protecting Delvehaven, and in protecting the city of Westcrown against the depredations of those who care naught for history. Those who would rewrite history in their own favour, and damn us all to Hell in the doing. Alas, I failed my Coriana…oh my Coriana….”

At that, Ghaelfin’s spirit is wracked by choking sobs and remembered anguish. The spirit is no longer responsive.

From Coriana Heavenscape, the party learns that her good friends Ilnerik and Bisby had a falling out in the lodge’s final months, and that Ilnerik left without a word several weeks before the god Aroden’s death, and that in the days after his departure it became apparent that he took half of the strange relic that he and Bisby had recovered in the Mwangi expanse. Bisby himself had grown increasingly paranoid and protective of the remaining half of the relic. Coriana saw the complete relic only once – it was gold and black, with two heads – a bird head and a bat head. As far as she knows, Bisby remained inside the lodge after it was sealed.

Coriana also tells the party that she helped Loremaster Liriam create the extradimensional space in Cutlass Cove, and that the keys left there can be used to open the doors to Bisby’s chambers, the Summoning Room, and the triple doors leading to the Gauntlet of the Sun (as Bisby began referring to it after retrieving the relic) in the vault under the cellar.

As Coriana speaks to the party her gaze lingers on Vaeden Corleone, and the spirit appears to have a moment of reflection:

“I know you. Nicolo? Nicolo Davion; is it you? Are we dead? Yes, we were killed together by those Thrune soldiers and that wizard, Commandra. Commandra Voxlay. Aiger tried to convince me to leave the city; told me that it was doomed to suffer under the Thrune ascendancy. But I could not leave, and your house, House Davian, bravely resisted the Thrune tyrants. But Aiger Ghaelfin was right, wasn’t he? We were powerless against Thrune, powerless against the might of Hell. I should have listened to him. No. I made my choice, as did you. It is good to see you, even in this cold place called death. It is not what I expected – death. No elysian fields, no golden host to greet us on white steeds. Perhaps the gods are a sham, and Hell is but a dream of our own creation.”

The spirit of Coriana Heavenscape vanishes into the ether. Vaeden recalls the stories told to him in his youth by his keeper, the elf Alfred. He remembers the name Nicolo as that of his great-grandfather, patriarch of House Davion at the time of Aroden’s death. Coriana’s words suggest that there may be more to the story of House Davion’s fall than Alfred has seen fit to reveal.

Starday, 29 Kuthona, 4708 A.R.

After spending a week in preparation, the party decides to take on the task of exploring Delvehaven. Although it has sat largely undisturbed for the past century, rumours of haunting, dangerous wards, and strange goings-on surround the place. The lodge itself faces the meandering Adivian Walk, the road that runs along the eastern shore of the Rego Sacero; the far side of the road at this point overlooks a 30-foot-high bluff that drops into the waters below. The party arrives at the site in the early afternoon. The area is generally not well travelled (the notorious building keeps folk away). The party has little trouble bypassing the seized and rusted gate barring entrance to the expansive and overgrown courtyard. Once inside, Carlos, Alizander, and Vaeden detect the presence of numerous magical traps warding the grounds. The party members gingerly bypass these areas and approach the front doors of the lodge. The sagging veranda, its columns think and mildew-spotted with age, adorns Delvehaven’s façade. Two huge oaken doors stand in the centre of the veranda, a carving of a road receding into the horizon inscribed within a circle decorating each portal. A wooden placard above the doors hangs precariously from rotting joints, its face bearing an inscription that reads:

To liberate the Past for the knowledge of Today

To live the maxim that fortune is earned by the bold

To prove there are no boundaries

Amazingly, the doors leading into the lodge are unlocked and slightly ajar. There is little evidence of activity on the threshold, and the party moves inside.

Approaching the Grand Vestibule, the party members take a moment to let their eyes adjust to the dim light before moving on. They move as a group through the Foyer of Fellowship and back into the Library of Inducted Experience, where the party members read several books that seem to draw the readers into their mesmerizing pages, leaving each of them shaken but possessed of new insights as a result of reading the strange tomes.

It is within the Nautalica, the old feasting hall of Delvehaven, where the party meets its first challenge. The animated and shadow-infused skeleton of a huge beast, some tri-horned reptile from a long forgotten land, steps from behind the murky waters of the Nautalica’s massive aquarium. Luckily, the cautious party manages to act before the beast attacks. Vaeden begins to circle around the aquarium, intent on sneaking up behind the creature. Alizander and Carlos hurl spells at their foe, while Jancen and Tavo retreat to safer positions. The shadowy creature responds by exhaling a greasy black ray towards Alizander, missing by inches. Another barrage of spells from Carlos and Alizander ensue before the two move back out of the room themselves. The creature follows, and Carlos receives the full-force of the beast’s central horn. The shadowy triceratops punches the bony horn through Carlos’ stomach, lifts the wizard off his feet, and slams him against the wall. Carlos slides off of the horn and into a bloody, lifeless heap.

Jancen manages to get in and pull Carlos body out of the way while Alizander gets the beast’s attention, moving backwards down the hall. In a moment of inspiration, Alizander summons a powerful gust of wind and physically blows the shadow-stuff off of the triceratops skeleton. The shadowy tendrils float behind the skeleton, inching through the air back towards the host. For the moment, however, Alizander is successful in rendering the creature bereft of its shadow-power. Vaeden continues to sneak up behind triceratops, hoping to get in a single, tactical strike.

Treasure:

· From the Library of Inducted Experience:

o Pathfinder Chronicles collection (75% complete) (worth currently unknown)

Experience Awards

· Story Award (scéance with Ghaelfin and Coriana) – 1500 xp

· Isolation sphere traps – 4800 xp

· Transposition trap – 2400 xp

· Total – 8700 xp

· Per PC (5) – 1740 xp each

Current XP Total per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 20,835 xp each

· Tavo – 20,140 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 12