The Sixfold Trial - Session 14: The Asmodean Knot, Part IV

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

Oathday, 29 Neth, 4708 A.R.

The Returners proceed through the heart of the Asmodean Knot, wending their way through its impossible angles and infinite staircases until they finally make their way through and into the final stage of the demiplane. Moving past half-finished areas of the Knot, the party meets a formidable challenge in the Flawed One – the mummified and animate corpse of a former servant of Dargentu Vheed. The Flawed One surprises the Returners in an old storeroom within the Knot, and gets a solid strike against Vaeden before being eliminated. Vaeden’s arm turns an ugly purple where it was hit by the Flawed One, and the weakness spreads quickly through his body, bringing Vaeden to the verge of death.

Finally, the party enters the final chamber created within the Asmodean Knot by Avengen Doskivari – the Crux Sanctum – a huge cavern half-filled with a nauseating grey-green sludge. The party fights the guardian of the Crux Sanctum, a strange and rare creature featuring traits of both a bearded devil and a sewage-loving otyugh. Szasmir recognizes in the creature certain characterstics of an old colleague, the bearded devil Molikandus, another former servant of Dargentu Vheed who betrayed his master long ago. Molikandus sends a small retinue of lemure devils against Tavo, Carlos, Vaeden, Jancen, and Alizander, all of whom are experiencing significant fatigue after their trials in the Asmodean Knot. With the help of Szasmir the group manages to defeat Molikandus and his lemure servants, and at last discover the object of their quest into the Asmodean Knot – the Chelish Crux. The Chelish Crux appears as a wooden and metal dodecahedron that measures about six inches in diameter. Each face of the 12-sided crux is carved with a different rune, and when one looks upon the thing, the observer has the unsettling sensation that he can see too many or too few sides at once. Alizander tosses the crux on the floor in an attempt to discern the method of opening it, to no avail. Exhausted after their time in the Knot, the party makes its way out of the complex. Szasmir takes his leave of the Returners, declaring their contract to be fulfilled, for now. Tavo, Vaeden, Carlos, and Alizander use a room discovered within the Knot that allows them to instantly teleport to their respective homes, while Jancen (Slavé) decides to make his way back through the Knot and into the Lord-Mayor’s villa. Jancen is confident that the revelers of the previous night will likely be still at the mansion, either comatose or just coming to following the night’s events, and wishes to speak to return the bust of Asmodeus to Crosael and speak to the majordomo regarding Sian Daemodus.

So ends The Sixfold Trial, part II of the Council of Thieves.

Treasure

· Rope of climbing (from the Flawed One)

· From the Crux Sanctum:

o +1 keen short sword

o +1 defending short sword

o +1 cold iron light mace

o +1 returning javelin

o Necklace of fireballs III

o Ring of protection +1

o Ring of feather falling

o Wand of cure moderate wounds

o Wand of rusting grasp

o Golembane scarab

o Scroll of contagion (CL 9^th)

o Spellbook with 30 spells

o 1300 gp

o Andoran philosophy book (worth 200 gp)

o Illustrated book on Osirion (worth 230 gp)

o Libra Malfactum (3 volume work on the teachings of a spirit naga) (worth 400 gp)

o Ivory box (worth 800 gp)

o The Chelish Crux

· From earlier exploits in the Asmodean Knot:

o Pearl of power II (recovered from dead elf, formerly unidentified)

Experience Awards

· The Flawed One (mummy) – 1600 xp

· Lemures (4) – 1600 xp

· Molikandus, the Outcast King (barbazu-otyugh amalgam) (reduced for assistance from Szasmir) – 2000 xp

· Story Award (recovering the Chelish Crux) – 4000 xp

· Story Award (fulfilled contract with Szasmir) – 1500 xp

· Total – 10,700 xp

· Per PC (5) – 2140 xp

· Fame Points (infiltrating the Knot without direct observation – rumours that Aberian’s Folly has been “cracked” by a group of insurgents spreads over the next couple of months) – 2 points

Current XP Totals per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 15,695 xp each

· Tavo – 15,040 xp

· Nagiphax – 9135 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 10

The Sixfold Trial - Session 13: The Asmodean Knot, Part III

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

Oathday, 29 Neth, 4708 A.R.

The group decides to leave the chain-room and heads up the stairs into the room labeled ‘Observation’. There they encounter Livia, an unusually talkative (and perhaps half-mad) imp and former familiar of Darghentu Vheed. Livia claims to have been continuing Vheed’s work since his disappearance decades ago, and bids them enter the phobia rooms and retrieve ‘prizes’ from each for her. In return, they will find themselves cured of their insanity (of which they were unaware they were suffering from….) and she will answer for them six questions. Alizander, Jancen and Szasmir head into the phobia rooms, facing several creatures (vipers, spiders, stirges, and small fire elementals) while Tavo stays behind with Livia.

Szasmir speaks to Jancen, indicating that he knows that he carries a heavy burden (the runecurse), and that he knows of a way to be rid of the curse altogether. Jancen seems interested, and Szasmir says that he will tell him how to get rid of the curse if he will locate a person for him, a young girl he once had the pleasure to meet in Westcrown by the name of Amra Tailor. Jancen suggests that Amra may be dead, or very old, by now. Szasmir smiles and says, “Indeed, her body may have aged, but the soul remains the same.” Jancen agrees to help find her location and inform Szasmir when he finds out. Szasmir, pleased with the agreement, tells Jancen that the surest way to remove the runecurse is to turn it back on its creator by tricking them into accepting it. Szasmir says that he recalls the grey-skinned, red-haired woman who let Eliandru free referred to the elf as an ideal carrier, and believes that she may have been referring to the runecurse, in which case she could have been involved in its creation.

Meanwhile, Carlos, in disagreement with Alizander’s decision to parley with the imp, leaves the Observation room and heads further into the Knot, with Vaeden following. Carlos and Vaeden find a large cavern featuring a small lake of rank water, filthy with sewage and detritus. Carlos reads a magical aura on a small island in the middle of the lake, and succeeds in using magic to transport the item across the lake without venturing into the putrid water. Carlos and Vaeden are attacked by a elemental presence within the and Vaeden is hit by a watery appendage before the two manage to escape the room and leave the elemental behind. Carlos examines the item recovered and discovers that it is an unholy symbol of Asmodeus. As he analyses the symbol, he can feel a brooding intelligence within it, and is somehow possessed of the sure knowledge that the symbol contains a fragment of the spirit of its creator, Avengen Doskivari, the first mayor of Westcrown after the Thrune Ascendency and a powerful priest of Asmodeus. Carlos senses that he could communicate with the intelligence if desired, but quickly pockets the unholy symbol instead.

Alizander, Jancen, Szasmir and Tavo are successful in retrieving Livia’s ‘prizes’ (small gemstones) from the phobia rooms, and Livia rewards them by using magic to commune with dark powers. Jancen, Alizander, and Tavo ask her a number of questions and learn several items of information, including: that the shadow creatures stalking the streets of Westcrown were brought into existence by the breaking of an artifact called the Aohl into its twin components – the Morrowfall and the Totemrix; that the writhing chains in the room nearby hold a creature called a kyton and that it powers the Asmodean Knot by acting as a conduit to the Nessian Spiral below Aberian’s villa; that there are three fragments of Avengen Doskivari’s spirit in the Knot – a red crystal glaive, a book about a drowned adventurer, and Avengen’s unholy symbol; that the Chelish Crux (the object of their quest in the Lord-Mayor’s villa) is located in the Crux Sanctum, through the heart of the Asmodean Knot; and that one of the obstacles the party may face in retrieving the Chelish Crux is a creature called the Flawed One, which may be distracted by one or all of Avengen’s spiritual fragments. Finally, Jancen asks where he might find the woman Amra Tailor, and learns that she still lives in the Rego Sacero region of the city. Jancen gives this information to Szasmir, thus ending the deal made with the bearded devil.

Carlos and Vaeden rejoin the group at this time and the party continues its journey through the Asmodean Knot. They soon come to the heart of the Knot – a series of endless shafts stretching into oblivion above and below, with twisting stairs up and down that impossibly lead back to each other. Each circular chamber features several stone archways that are either open or sealed shut with stone masonry in random patterns, depending on when the party enters each chamber. As the group makes its way through the puzzling Knot’s Heart, they hear a raspy, female voice, “I see you managed to convince someone to set you free devil. Well, it is their mistake.”

“And who are you, anyway? Did Crosael send you? She has been far too concerned with my doings these last several weeks. I’m sure she wonders where I have been for the last two days. No matter, I shall dispose of you, learn whatever secrets you have discovered in here, and get out of this place. Crosael can put her mind at ease.”

The owner of the voice is none other than the grey-skinned, flame-haired tiefling woman spoken of by Szasmir. She attacks out of the darkness of the shaft, accompanied by a shadow companion. The party attempts to manoeuvre around the narrow steps to fight the woman and her shadow companion. Jancen decides to play the coward, and recoils from his attacker. He removes his backpack and tosses it to her, “Here, take it, you can have what we’ve found in here, just don’t kill me!”

The woman catches the backpack and slings it over her shoulder, spitting at Jancen in disgust before slashing at him with her barbed short sword. “You sniveling fool, stay there on your belly while I take care of your friends. I’ll deal with you momentarily.”

The tiefling woman dances around the confined battlefield in a dazzling display of swordplay. Finally, however, Jancen’s daring play comes to fruition. The runecurse in the backpack takes effect on the woman, and the bone devil Nyxervex steps from the fiery pit of Hell to claim its victim. The tiefling gasps in dismay, looks over her shoulder at the backpack slung over her shoulder, then to Jancen. Her screams echo up and down the infinite shaft as Nyxervex tears her into shreds before disappearing from whence he came, leaving little behind except the few items she carried.

Treasure (from Sian Daemodus)

· Spider venom (5 doses) (save Fort DC 14, frequency 1/rnd for 4 rounds, effect 1d2 Str damage, cure 1 save)

· Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2)

· Potion of Gaseous Form

· Potion of Invisibility

· +1 Leather Armour

· +1 Short Sword

· Masterwork Hand Crossbow (19 bolts)

· Hat of Disguise

· Bejeweled bust of Asmodeus (worth 800 gp)

Experience Awards

· Giant spiders (2) – 800 xp

· Stirges (6) – 1200 xp

· Small fire elementals (1/2 normal due to help from Szasmir) – 600 xp

· Story Award (parleying with Livia and earning her aid) – 1500 xp

· Story Award (retrieved Avengen’s unholy symbol and avoided water elemental) – 800 xp

· Sian Daemodus (tiefling woman) – 3200 xp

· Story Award (avoided runecurse by turning it back on Sian Daemodus) – 4000 xp

· Per PC (5) – 2420

Current XP Totals per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 13,555 xp each

· Tavo – 12,900 xp

· Nagiphax – 9135 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 8

The Sixfold Trial - Session 11: The Asmodean Knot, Part I

Dramatis Personae

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

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

Wealday, 28 Neth, 4708 A.R.

The party takes some time to discern the properties of the items taken from the dead elf. Alizander is shocked when he realizes that the tattered parchment he withdrew from the backpack is in fact the vehicle for a runecurse – an insidious curse that subjects the one who accepts the cursed item to some future calamity (often a hostile visitor from Hell or something equally as undesirable). The infernal text on the parchment indicates the name of an osyluth devil – one Nyxervex – as the one to carry out the curse. Alizander pockets the parchment, knowing that unless he can somehow get someone else to accept the item, this Nyxervex will come for him.

After consoling the shaken Varisian, the party continues into the Asmodean Knot. The hallways beyond the entrance are guarded by a trio of large, spine-covered hellish hounds that bray a maddening, incessant howl. The howlers send Alizander into unconsciousness before finally being dispatched. In the shadowy hallways that the howlers prowled, the party finds a collection of books focused on methods of torture (both as a means of interrogation and entertainment). One book in particular stands out for its relative newness and lavish illustrations – Drowned Jabe and His Miserable Brothers and Sisters. Jencen (Slavé) peruses the work; it tells the tale of a thief and his companions who came to the Asmodean Knot and drowned there, only to live on after death as ‘Drowned Jabe.’

The party moves deeper into the Asmodean Knot, navigating through a mind-numbing series of rooms featuring shafts and stairs that, impossibly, seem to twist and turn back upon themselves. The party narrowly avoids the undead shadow beasts that guard this bewildering place. Indeed, Tavo succeeds in bending one of the shadows to his own control, and bids it follow them as they leave the looping shafts and enter an old, forgotten prison are of the Knot. Within the prison, the party finds only one surviving inmate – a leering, rambling, somewhat insane bearded devil gone mad from years of imprisonment. Jencen is the first to spot the barbazu, and immediately thinks the runecursed parchment may be linked to the devil. Alizander (still somewhat delirious from the howlers’ braying, and increasingly distraught by the runecurse) offers the parchment to Jencen, who, in a moment of addled wits, accepts it, and thereby transfers the curse from Alizander to himself. Alizander skips happily away, eager to leave the devil behind and continue into the Knot. Jencen, realizing his error, watches as Alizander disappears down the hall, his eyes like black daggers. Tavo, Vaeden, and Carlos come down the hallway and join Jencen. They turn their attention back to the barbazu.

The devil holds and caresses a strange, red crystal glaive. He slips in and out of lucidity, one moment shouting in rage at ‘Lord Vheed’ (whom several party members recall as the former mayor of Westcrown, prior to the current Lord-Mayor Arvanxi) for some past slight, and another begging for release. The party learns that the barbazu’s name is Szasmir. Tavo, Jencen, Vaeden and Carlos debate over the wisdom of making a deal with the devil, while Alizander leaves the prison and continues downstairs, arriving in a large and dank room featuring a large pool of churning, muddy water. Alizander fires a bolt of electricity into the water and is answered by a trio of rotting, waterlogged ghouls dressed in tattered rags that burst out of the muck. The three undead creatures are followed closely by another, larger drowned man with empty, black eyes. The stench that emanates from the larger one is overpoweringly horrid. Alizander bolts from the room and runs upstairs, waving his arms and gesticulating wildly before slamming hard into the half-orc Carlos. The drowned undead quartet follows close behind.

Treasure

· Book – Drowned Jabe and His Miserable Brothers and Sisters – 400 gp (grants +2 competence bonus on Knowledge (religion) checks made on topics relating to undead)

· Handy Haversack – from session 10

· Scrolls (chill touch, command undead, ray of exhaustion, vampiric touch, false life) – from session 10

· Wand of Restoration – from session 10

· Runecursed parchment – from session 10

Experience Awards

· Howlers (3) – 2400 xp

· Shadows (2) – 1600 xp

· Total – 4000 xp

· Per PC (5) – 800 xp

Current XP Totals per PC

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 10,455 xp each

· Tavo – 9800 xp

· Nagiphax – 9135 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 8

The Sixfold Trial - Session 10: The Cornucopia

Dramatis Personae

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue/barbarian
Slavé – Tiefling (disguised as a human named Jencen) rogue

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

Wealday, 28 Neth, 4708 A.R.

Janiven and Arael provide the group with several healing and restorative potions, unsure of what they might face if they are successful in gaining entry into the Asmodean Knot while at the Lord-Mayor’s party.

Alizander, Carlos, Nagiphax, Slavé (as Jencen), Tavo, Vaeden, and the rest of the main players in The Six Trials of Larazod arrive at the Lord-Mayor’s party in full costume, and are ushered into the monstrous villa’s main hall, where they are introduced to the Wiscrani elite. The party – called The Cornucopia – unfolds in a series of six decadent courses, featuring ever-more exotic dishes and increasingly intoxicating wines and spirits. The group trades gossip with several of Westcrown’s most decorated citizens, including members of the nobility (the shrewd Eirtein Oberigo, the lush Sascar Tilernos, and the beautiful but dangerous-looking Chammady Drovenge), General Vourne (the Commander of the Gemcrown Fleet, based out of Egorian), Crosael Rasdovain (the Lord-Mayor’s most knowledgeable majordomo) and the Lord-Mayor Aberian Arvanxi himself. From these individuals the party learns several important pieces of information, including:

· that the rumours of the Lord-Mayor’s villa being powered by an imprisoned pit fiend in the dungeons below the manor (the so-called Nessian Spiral) are purportedly true, and that the pit fiend was a gift from House Thrune to the first Lord-Mayor (of the Thrune-era) 70 years ago;

· that the Lord-Mayor is concerned by the minor glitches and troubles he has been experiencing with the powered lights, running hot water, and fireplaces in his villa of late;

· that the wine and narcotics being served at the party are especially potent and that if they wish to remain sensible by the party’s end they should pace themselves and eat with caution;

· that Crosael is concerned about one of the newer hires – a servant by the name of Sian who’s been missing for two days now along with a valuable bust of Asmodeus;

· that the Asmodean Knot is said to be a pocket dimension that is accessible from a special mirror hidden somewhere in the house, and that it is likely guarded by devils and shadowy undead; and

· that Sascar believes the stories that Aberian Arvanxi has a sick, deformed son locked in the attic.

As the 40 or so patrons of the Cornucopia partake of the final course and reach a state of orgiastic, inebriated oblivion, the Returners head surreptitiously upstairs and begin looking for the entrance to the Asmodean Knot (Vaeden ensures that Calseinica, his costar in The Six Trials of Larazod, is safely asleep in her room before heading out). It doesn’t take them long to find the special mirror located in a secret room in the attic. Merely touching the metallic surface of the mirrors whisks the party-members into a long, corridor paneled in an unusual, polished grey wood – the entrance to the Asmodean Knot. At their feet in the hallway is the corpse of what appears to be an elven man wearing old, tattered wizarding robes. Alizander picks up the dead elf's backpack and begins rooting through it for clues and information.

Treasure

· Potions of Cure Serious Wounds (6) – from Janiven and Arael

· Potions of Lesser Restoration (6) – from Janiven and Arael

· Backpack (unidentified, moderate conjuration) – from dead elf

· Pearl (unidentified, strong transmutation) – from dead elf

· Scrolls (5 – unidentified, all radiate necromancy) – from dead elf

· Wand (unidentified, moderate conjuration) – from dead elf

· Tattered parchment (non-magical, not yet examined) – from dead elf

Experience Awards

· Learning Gossip (Lord-Mayor Aberian Arvanxi) – 800 xp

· Learning Gossip (Crosael Simiin Radovain) – 800 xp

· Learning Gossip (General Vourne) – 800 xp

· Learning Gossip (Eirtein Oberigo) – 800 xp

· Learning Gossip (Sascar Tilernos) – 800 xp

· Finding entrance to the Asmodean Knot – 3400 xp

· Total – 7400 xp

· Per PC (6) – 1200 xp

Current XP Totals Per PC (after session 9)

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 9655 xp each

· Nagiphax – 9135 xp

· Tavo – 9000 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp

· Total Current Fame Points - 8

The Sixfold Trial - Session 9: The Six Trials of Larazod

Dramatis Personae

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Nagiphax - Cyclops-kin rogue
Slavé – Tiefling (appears human) rogue

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

Moonday, 26 Neth, 4708 A.R.

The actors are paraded through the streets of Westcrown, from the Parego Spera to a barge on the eastern shore which ferries them across the River Adivian to the Parego Regicona, the fortress island that houses the nobles and elite of Wiscrani society.

The troupe is transported with much fanfare to the Nightshade Theatre, a colossal theatre dressed in Egorian black and red; Lord-Mayor Arvanxi’s most recent architectural paean in honour of excess and extravagance. At four o’clock sharp, Robahl Nonon welcomes the audience, Visbarontess Delour sings an aria introducing the Six Trials of Larazod, and the curtain rises.

The actors proceed through the seven acts of the play, enduring ever more dangerous and deadly trials as the show progresses. The plot and background of the play are as follows:

Larazod receives a vision from Asmodeus in which the dark god unveils a prominent Chelish magistrate—the sinister Paraduke Montigny Haanderthan – as a traitor to Cheliax, who has compacted with demonic powers and plans to bring the worship of Asmodeus to a sharp and brutal end. Burning with unholy justice and diabolical purpose, Larazod, along with his stalwart companions, sets out to expose the highly placed traitor Haanderthan. They are greatly overmatched, as Larazod is a minor scion of a piddling noble house whose influence lies tattered in the wake of Thrune's seizure of power in Cheliax. Undaunted, Larazod vows a smoldering blood oath to Asmodeus to see the traitor fall before Haanderthan's actions bring the dark glory of Cheliax low.

Larazod's actions swiftly bring him to the attention of the Paraduke, who has the young tiefling scooped up in the crushing grasp of the law and brought before his dark tribunal for questioning. There, a dire confrontation ensues wherein Larazod reveals his vision and heaps accusations upon Haanderthan in full view of a well-attended tribunal session. Outrage and scandal threaten to topple the order of things, and Larazod's enemies grow in number. Only one high-placed member of the tribunal takes his part—a beautiful daughter of House Sarini and rival of Haanderthan named Ilsandra. A sultry love affair between Ilsandra and Larazod develops as the pair seeks to topple the treacherous Haanderthan.

Haanderthan, using the awesome influence granted a man of his stature, forces Larazod to undergo six trials to prove the truth of his accusations, stating, "If Asmodeus truly granted you this vision, then his almighty black hand shall shield you from dismemberment and disembowelment in the trials we've planned. Surely your faith does not waver?" Larazod agrees to the trials, blasting the magistrate with unholy oaths to see his foolish plans undone.

The trials follow. Combat with foul beasts and grievous tortures leaves Larazod and his companions brutally maimed both in body and soul. At its climax, though, Larazod emerges unharmed and is vindicated as Asmodeus himself drags the nefarious magistrate to Hell.

The party survives the deadly play – suffering through torture and self-mutilation, immersion within an acid-filled statue of a vast serpent, and battle with demon-spawn and skeletal beasts – to the great amusement of Lord-Mayor Aberian Arvanxi and his fawning audience of nobles. Arvanxi thanks the troupe before their exit, and tells them to expect formal invitations to a party to celebrate the success of the once-banned play at his villa in the coming days. The troupe makes its way back to the Limehouse theatre in the Spera, arriving soon before nightfall. Thesing leaves early (clearly perturbed by the party’s popularity), and Delour makes her exit excusing her need for beauty rest. After several bottles of Robahl’s best vintage, Vaeden and Calseinica explore their budding relationship further. The other party members celebrate the success of the play well into the early morning hours, returning to the Adventurers’ Quarter only after the sun has risen over Westcrown once more.

Treasure

· Payment after completing the Six Trials of Larazod - 1500 gp per PC

Experience Awards

· Act II – Trial by Torture - 800 xp

· Act III – Trial by Pleasure - 1200 xp

· Act IV – Trial in the Belly of the Beast - 1200 xp

· Act V – The Birthing Trial (5 lemures) - 2000 xp

· Act VI – Trial by Combat and Love (2 troll skeletons) - 1600 xp

· Story Award (surviving the Six Trials of Larazod) - 4000 xp

· Total - 10,800 xp

· Per PC (6) - 1800 xp

· Fame Points (based on Popularity points garnered) - 3

Current XP Totals Per PC (after session 9)

· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 8455 xp each

· Nagiphax – 7935 xp

· Tavo – 7795 xp

· Croso, Orem – 2875 xp

· Total Current Fame Points - 8

Nagiphax as Ilsandra the Erinyes

Nagiphax - Rogue 2 / Barbarian 1 - in costume as the sultry erinyes devil Ilsandra, in the play The Six Trials of Larazod.

Artwork by Luis Boisvert.

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