The Returners

Janiven - second-in-command, female human ranger. Stern and reserved most of the time, but passionate about the city of Westcrown and the cause of the Returners.

Arael - leader, male half-elf cleric of Iomedae. Arael desires nothing more than the toppling of House Thrune and an end to the Infernal presence within Cheliax. He is wise enough to know that this is a very long-term goal, and is content to inspire the Returners to act as the "people's heroes" and change the culture of Westcrown by example.

Amaya - female Tian human. Amaya is a well-mannered glassblower and and incredibly beautiful woman who's somewhat self-conscious about the effect her appearance has on others - she dresses plainly as a result.

Ermolos - male Chelish human. Ermolos is incredibly muscular, a physique the result of an apprentiship as a blacksmith. He walks with a slight limp.

Fiosa - female halfling. Fiosa is a house servant of Rokkek Ingerr (a merchant in the Adventurers' Quarter) who is friends with many halfling slaves; she takes advantage of her freedom to help her kin as best she can.

Gorvio - male Chelish human. Gorvio works for his uncle Jacovo, a horse trader in the Adventurers' Quarter, but has increasingly grown curious about his ancestry - his vibrant amber eyes make him suspect that somewhere in his past lurks the blood of a tiefling or two.

Larko - male Garundi human. Larko lives a simple life as a dock worker, but daydreams of his childhood in the hills east of Westcrown and hopes someday to be able to afford to move out of the city and live a hunter's life.

Mathalen - female Chelish human. Mathalen is a thin a wiry woman who worked as a porter but found the job dreadfully dull. She got through her days by making sure to take frequent breaks to meditate and purge her mind of "the poisons of menial labour." This attitude struck her employer as lazy, and she was recently fired from her job and thinks of the Returners as her new calling.

Rizzardo - male Varisian human. After stowing away on a Chelish ship, Rizzardo found himself more or less stuck in Westcrown years ago. He earns his keep working at odd jobs as an unskilled labourer, but has to switch jobs frequently as a result of his temper and impatience at following orders from one person for too long. He enjoys the company of Ermolos immensly, and considers him akin to a brother.

Sclavo - male Garundi human. A soft-spoken yet intractable (if secretive) worshipper of Iomedae, Sclavo has worked as a scribe for one of Westcrown's courts. He longs for a day when the laws of Cheliax can be reformed.

Tarvi - female Chelish human. Tarvi's parents own a prosperous garment shop in Westcrown
- Bertuccio's Clothiers in the Adventurers' Quarter. She's worked there for years, but is far too witty and intelligent to do the job well. In those years she has engineered no less than a dozen attempts by her parents to get her married into nobility. Her true passion is studying magic, and hopes someday to be able to create and sell magical clothing.

Vitti - male Chelish human. Vitti is a strange, eccentric man who dyes his hair green and refuses to eat any food he doesn't grow or catch himself. A talented woodcarver who works for Dino Caravello (owner of Caravello's Equipment in the Adventurers' Quarter), he prides himself on the fact that he only carves wood that's been harvested from deadfalls and other trees that died of natural causes.

Yakopulio - female gnome. Of all the Returners, noisy and irreverent Yakopulio is the least religious - she wears her athiesm proudly, and her eagerness to contradict often sparks arguments among others in the group. She works as a bartender at a tavern called the Bruised Eel.

The Bastards of Erebus - Session 4: The Purloined Press

Dramatis Personae

Alizander - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Croso Galen - Human fighter
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue
Orem "The Ser" Galt - Human (Chelish/Kellid) fighter (formerly in the service of Iomedae)
Slavé – Tiefling (appears human) rogue
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue

Moonday, 9 Rova, 4708 A.R.

Vaeden, Croso, and Oren strip the Hellknight Signifier of his full plate armour while the other party members race back towards Westcrown. Slavé speaks to Arael during the ride and asks how he came to form the revolutionary group. They eventually meet with Janiven and the other Returners on the road. At Gorvio’s insistence the party heads to Jacovo’s stables to return the horses upon reaching the city, while Arael and Janiven head straight for the Returners’ safehouse.

At the stables Alizander, Nagiphax, and Carlos have an altercation with Thesing Umbero Ulvauno, a moderately famous actor and tenor, who they find arguing with Jacovo over the horses the party borrowed earlier that morning. Carlos and Alizander flatter Thesing while Nagiphax apologizes for not returning the horses in time, which appears to mollify the egotistical actor. Nagiphax, in particular, receives special attention from the Thesing, who seems fascinated by the cyclops-kin unusual but fetching appearance. The three PCs attend Thesing’s performance of The Elopement of the Dowager Princess later that evening, which suffers a minor setback when one of Jacovo’s horses kicks an actor on stage and interrupts Thesing’s solo aria.

Meanwhile, Vaeden, Croso, and Oren return to Westcrown with the stolen Hellknight armour, which they decide to bury about a mile west of the city. The three PCs head to the safehouse and speak to Arael and the Returners. They are eventually joined by the rest of the party, including Slavé. The Returners celebrate Arael’s rescue and talk about what their next step might be. The rise in banditry both on the roads leading to the city and within Westcrown is discussed. Sclavo tells the group about an abandoned printing press that he has learned is stored in a dottari warehouse near Taranik House, the Order of the Rack compound. The printing press is said to be a former government press that includes the stamp of Aroden, marking anything printed as official government copy. Seeing an opportunity to spread Returner propaganda under an official guise, the party decides to mount an operation to retrieve the printing press the following night. Sclavo provides the party with a scroll of shrink item to facilitate removal of the press.

Carlos, Vaeden, and Alizander each fall ill during the evening. Arael examines them and asks them about their activities the day before, suggesting that they may have contracted some ill humours while escaping the Hellknights in the sewers. Carlos and Vaeden manage to fight off the worst effects of the illness, but Alizander’s fever worsens to the point of nausea and dizzy spells.

Toilday, 10 Rova, 4708 A.R.

Slavé returns to the dottari guardpost in the Adventurers’ Quarter in the morning and, using his dottari identification, performs reconnaissance at the warehouse containing the printing press. He convinces the guards to let him into the facility and takes account of the press’s location and the number of dottari that guard the warehouse during the day and night. Slavé feigns interest in another crate in the warehouse before leaving and heading to the safehouse to inform the rest of the group of the guard complement and building layout.

That night, the party mounts a stealth operation at the warehouse. Carlos and Alizander succeed in rendering two of the dottari and their guard dogs unconscious with sleep and colour spray spells, while Nagiphax and Vaeden use their saps to good effect on the other two dottari. Carlos successfully shrinks the press while Nagiphax breaks into several of the crates to make the break-in appear to be a random robbery. She examines some of the furniture held in the crate that Slavé showed interest in while scoping the place out earlier in the day and happens upon a pouch of 100 gp hidden within the upholstery of one of the chairs. The party returns to the Returners’ Safehouse with the invaluable printing press.

Treasure

· 100 gp

· De-commissioned printing press

Experience Awards

· Story Award (horse drama) - 1580 xp

· Dottari guards (4) - 540 xp

· Guard dogs (2) - 400 xp

· Story Award (the purloined press) - 2100 xp

· Total - 4620 xp

· Per PC (7) - 660 xp

· Fame Points (the purloined press) - 1 Fame Point

Current XP Totals Per PC (after session 4)

· Alizander, Carlos, Croso, Orem, Slavé, Vaeden – 2875 xp each

· Nagiphax – 2355 xp

· Tavo – 2215 xp

The Bastards of Erebus - Session 2: Escape from the Sewers

Dramatis Personae

Alizander - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Croso Galen - Human fighter
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue
Orem "The Ser" Galt - Human (Chelish/Kellid) fighter (formerly in the service of Iomedae)
Slavé - Tiefling (appears human) rogue
Tavo - Human cleric of Pharasma
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue

Sunday, 8 Rova, 4708 A.R.

The party continues through the sewers of Westcrown, following the faded path illuminated by the marks left by Janiven and Arael and moving in a generally southwest direction, according to Alizander’s wayfinder. A few hundred feet down the maze of passageways, the party enters a large junction with a number of tunnels and sewage channels running into it. Several members hear the telltale skittering legs of torbles before eight of the gelatinous, vermin-like creatures come into view. Nagiphax gives a fearsome shout and waves her arms at the torbles, stunning them into quivering uncertainty. Four of them scuttle away, while the other four are joined by more torbles from behind and merge into a rolling swarm of acidic ooze bugs. Meanwhile, three undead skeletons rise from the sewage and attack with rusty scimitars. A battle ensues, the skeletons mindlessly swinging their swords, the torble swarm rolling over everything in its path. Vaeden and Alesandre are overrun by the swarm and tumble into the sewage channel while trying to remove the biting, acidic creatures. Tavo commands one of the skeletons to attack the other undead, and Orem and Corso attack the uncontrolled skeletons. Carlos attempts to slow the swarm with a force missile, while Slavé and Janiven protect Morosino and manage to burn the torbles with a well-placed oil lantern and thrown torch. Alesandre, once out of the sewage, makes a desperate manoeuvre by jumping into the torbles and casting a shocking grasp spell, jolting the swarm and ending its attack.

The party quickly moves on, and Tavo sends the commanded skeleton to draw out any enemies ahead of the group. The party avoids an encounter with a mysterious creature in a side passage, something Vaeden believes might be something called a gibbering mouther from the faint muttering sounds echoing down the passage. Finally, the group arrives at the exit indicated by Janiven’s and Arael’s mark, and manage to escape the sewer. The party moves quickly down the alley, which grows dark as dusk turns to night, and enters an old temple to Aroden that appears to be abandoned. Slavé, however, takes his leave and heads back to the dottari guardpost in the Adventurers’ Quarter, staying to the lit streets in order to avoid the ever-present shadow beasts that stalk the streets of Westcrown.

Back at the dottari guardpost in the Adventurers’ Quarter, Slavé finds his contact in the Order of Scourge, Pontia Runario, and learns from her that Arael, the half-elf cleric of Iomedae, was captured by the dottari earlier that afternoon. The dottari have agreed to transfer Arael to the custody of the Hellknight Order of the Rack, who plan to move Arael in an armoured wagon from Westcrown to Citadel Ravid the following day. Pontia indicates that it is well-known that there are groups of bandits operating in greater numbers within and outside of Westcrown, and that she feels the criminal element within the city is becoming more brazen. Perhaps by infiltrating a group like the one led by Janiven and Arael, Slavé will be able to get closer to and be able to expose the more dangerous and organized criminals operating in the city. She tasks Slavé with continuing his investigation into Janiven’s and Arael’s organization, and then takes her leave.

Meanwhile, within the temple to Aroden (which has clearly been in use for some time, despite its decrepit exterior) is a group of people that Janiven introduces as the Children of Westcrown. At least, she explains, that is one of the names they have been calling themselves. Several of the members are familiar to the party from the Adventurers’ Quarter. The party talks to the Children of Westcrown for a time, most of whom are inexperienced citizens of Westcrown who seek to make changes for the better in the city. Arael’s capture by the dottari is discussed, and the party agrees to assist in rescuing him from the dottari. Meanwhile, the party becomes quite involved in the discussion of bringing about change in Westcrown and doing something about the tyranny of the House of Thrune and the local government. A new name is chosen for the group – The Returners – and the members agree to identify themselves with a white armband featuring a stylized ‘R’ in red.

Experience Awards

• Torbles (4): 200 xp
• Torble swarm: 600 xp
• Skeletons (3): 420 xp
• Story Awards (escaping the sewers): 1500 xp
• Total: 2720 xp
• Per PC: 340 xp