Session 26 - Revelation in the Rain (11/19/23)

Desnova 9, 1423.

Nebol'shoy is pressed for answers, literally, against the wall of the hovel in the Drenches, and Rucia is ripping mad. Aldren latches on to the dragonborn's arm and Mockleg tries to talk sense from the rage, noting that the gnome has helped save their lives many times. Nebol'shoy is restrained while Bjork takes some of the former prisoners to the church of Sanctos where they can be cured. Rucia storms about outside, cooling off, but encounters a mysterious young girl who compels him with a sob story to save her brother from the dreaded crayfish Old Marrow on the Jaggerhead. Once the party is regrouped, Nebol'shoy tells them of his dark secret, that he once belonged to a club with these former Naturalists, each a specialist in a different field or element, but under the leadership of Csunori and her love interest they began delving into dark arts in private, culminating in the necromantress deciding to kill and raise her entire tribe. The gnome didn't go along with the plan, but was knocked out before he could escape (by who it is unknown). The rest is known to Rucia, who came back to find his tribe slain or missing...

Nebol'shoy fills the party in on whatever other information he knows about the group, dead or alive, and eventually Rucia decides to forgive him, for Nebol'shoy admits that he joined the party in the first place to help the paladin as a sort of penance. The party also tries to get some information out of the other freed prisoner, Sludd, who claims he owes the group a blood debt but would be more useful if he could get his fingers back. Bjork casts a shelter to protect the group while they sleep, and they rotate some watches, interrupted late in the morning when a mercenary comes to collect taxes from the hovel. Aldren pays for the back taxes and then sells the building to the Bluecoat for a gold coin! The PCs decide on a course of action before heading over to Old Bloodwalls.

Desnova 10, 1423.

After waking up in the afternoon, Nebol'shoy, Bjork and Sludd travel to the Silversmith Zmiev to get a spell component for the druid. Sludd seems happy with the place, and produces a silver pipe once the shopping has ended, claiming its from his papi. The other PCs go to the Blinking Kettle to gather the rest of their belongings with Mockleg and settle accounts. They then proceed to the Gravers Guild to speak with Ser Arkimedes Oldwater, and Nebol'shoy figures out the pattern to knock on the door by the flickering of torches on the building-front. He signs up the four PCs and Mockleg in the Guild Register and assigns them a cachet of equipment they can bring to explore the Crumblemoor, saying that the 50% donation to the Guild from found goods will have to be on the honor system as he is short-staffed. They take the cache back to the boat and depart from Arkany to Omutny.

En route, they encounter a swirling cloud of bats above the lake that also seems to contain what appeared to be a humanoid figure, but it moves off and doesn't harass them further as they row to the eastern shore of the Jaggerhead. They arrive at the Herring House and send a request to Sister Roil to regenerate Sludd's fingers, and also that Captain Condor has been rescued. Condor claims that he thinks the Berg sisters have sold his scalp-map off to the Lay Blades, the notorious pirates who are hiding out inland away from their usual coastal raiding, and might have stolen St. Flume's sacred Pearl of Embertides. They head over to the local Inn to get a room, and set some watches.

Desnova 10, 1423.

During Nebol'shoy's watch, a girl arrives and asks for more money for the next day's lodging, also asking about Rucia. Soon after, the innkeeper herself also shows up with the same request! They return to the Herring House, where Sister Roil offers a regenerate spell for some large donations to her Church, which the party ends up paying in a large amount of gems and a ring of swimming. Sludd's fingers return, and instantly he produces some rings from his belt and adorns them, seeming quite happy with himself. He claims he lost them attempting to rob the Berg sisters, which is how he and Condor wound up in the same flooded prison below Arkany. After some goodbyes, Bjork and Aldren equip the roguish D'vryn with what they can, despite the latter's distrust and animosity. In fact, the half-elf uses a sending to inquire with Olena Sallowmoon about the fellow, who doesn't speak highly of him, but claims that a blood debt is a blood debt. Mockleg is morose that more expense wasn't made to regenerate his missing leg, but understands that Sludd's injury was fresher, and that he is more attuned to his own handicap.

The party launches out across the lake once more, to the far shore along the Flailing Marsh, where they encounter a broken craft that has a large piece of pale caparace lodged into it, which Bjork wants to take and transform later. They set out across the pale grasses and reeds of the wetland, and after a brief jaunt see some Will-o-the-Wisps off in the distance, which they do not steer towards at Rucia's warning. The lights shift around in the distance, but eventually the PCs are distracted when they find a pit that contains a corpse and some oily-black colored, hard-shelled spheres. They appear to be eggs, and some have already hatched. Arrows and fire do little to damage the things, so Bjork uses a mage hand to whisk out the corpse's staff, and Rucia heads down in the pit to begin crushing the eggs with his maul. As the dragonborn cracks one of them, there is a high-pitched, awful squealing that emits from within, soon joined by another, much louder, amplified scream from across the Marsh...

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

NPCs

Triina (human female): a young girl with dirty blond pigtails that she wears under a russet cloak and cowl, she speaks in a sad but whispering voice that commands a great amount of sympathy and power.

Session 25 - Seeing Red (10/10/23)

Desnova 8, 1423.

After battling and defeating several cave fishers in the natural cavern, our heroes decide to go up past the red door, which leads into a humble hovel in the Drenches ward, seemingly abandoned, but there is some mildewy furniture and they find a lose brick in the unlit hearth. Behind that, there is some sort of prisoner manifest, with many names listed and crossed off, but on the right column there is surely the name of Condor, as well as some others: Meriam Smelt-Heart, Kvister Rabovich and Sludd. As it's dark and rainy outside, they get their bearings before returning down into the flooded cellars.

Desnova 9, 1423.

They backtrack to the subterranean river and decide to ford it back in the opposite direction, finding numerous rocky outcroppings that contain multicolored phosphorescent mushrooms, which Nebol'shoy is quick to claim, as well as a wooden hand and a rusted key bearing the name of a ship long lost to sea, known as the Saltgrinder. Some lore-thinking connects the key to the wooden hand, which might have belonged to the amputee-captain Rajana Stassov. But what is it doing here? They find a muddy landing off the river which they haven't searched, and then some mudded slopes which lead to a large area, and as it turns out, the prison they have sought! Several shapes, alive and dead are chained in shallow pools of water surrounded by the rubble of collapsed walls, and several of the PCs sneak along to see if Condor is among them. 

This alerts the prison guards, a gang of shifty wererats, large frog-like abilities with the ability to step through shadows, and a watery hag, which all join the melee to protect their charges. A brutal combat ensues, one which the PCs emerge from victorious thanks to some lethal spell-work and keeping the enemy divided. After searching their corpses, they do indeed discover Condor, who is disoriented but happy to see them, as well as another trio of prisoners which still draw breath. They try to mend the prisoners, some of whom are quite insane with pain or grief, and then having a last look around at a vine-choked smaller chamber, they slowly bring the quartet back to the natural cavern and up into the domicile beyond the red dwarf. 

Rest is needed, so the group spreads out over the moldy furniture and a watch is set. A shifting, sliding sound is heard nearby the hovel, and they spy what appears to be the loose flesh of Turtle, some sort of undead conjuring from Csunori that invites the PCs to Old Bloodwalls within a weeks time where they can hash out their differences, the necromantic message is particularly targeted at Rucia and Nebol'shoy, openly revealing that the gnome has some connection to the villains! The dragonborn paladin wants answers and grabs up the druid to have them!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

NPCs:

Sludd the Advantageous (d'vryn male): A lanky man of some 30-40 summers with an unkempt beard and raggedy hair the consistency of straw. His fingerless hands are wrapped in soggy bandages and he's clearly feverish.

Session 24 - Up the Crabs (8-20-23)

Desnova 7, 1423. 

Keeping a lookout for the local mercenaries and soldiers, the PCs examine the waterway entrance into the Drench ward cellars beneath the merchants' building, and they finally manage to wrest the grate off. A guinea pig is sent ahead to hold his breath, tied to rope and find a way through the first few flooded rooms, some of which are choked with wet cloths that make it difficult to see. Eventually the rest of the party swims in, finding little of interest in the first few areas but a stairway that leads to a dry chamber that is a combination of family tomb and vault. The sepulchers in the room are empty, but they find a child's wooden shashka sword that appears to be stained in blood, with the names 'Ratko', 'Perun' and 'Dobroslav' carved into its side. Using a combination of wit and sorcery, they manage to break open the vault and find some wealth stored away in several chests.

Heading south, they find some sunken, obscure shrine with a hideous statue, but the area is not unoccupied, and a combat ensues with a couple chitinous, tentacled shellfish abominations and some sort of slime that messes with their minds. The PCs emerge victorious, but not before several are brought to within and inch of their life, including little Nebol'shoy who is nearly pincered to death. Other than these adversaries, the room yields little of interest other than a fishing knife which radiates magical enhancement. They circle back around and swim to a chamber with some large flat stone surfaces which turn out to be vaults, and in one of them they find a unique object that seems to change shape to hide itself with its wearer.

Nearby is a submerged wine cellar and storage closet, in which they discover some curious bottles, objects and recipes that they take along with them, including a bottle of continual flame. Beyond this area they find what might have been the occupants of the sarcophagi from earlier, a number of aquatic ghouls that paralyze with a touch. Despite this dangerous ability, the party makes rather quick work of them and then ends up in a smuggler's lair with a pile of old stores and some more chests. Rucia struggles with one of the chests, and a trap is sprung from another, but they find more riches inside, a scroll, a potion, and some gems. They travel back through the flooded winery to find a dry, natural cavern area, quite large, which ends at a single red door! Still no sign of Captain Condor...

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 23 - Are you not entertained?! (7-23-23)

Desnova 6, 1423.

While Aldren's companions return to the Blinking Kettle to recover from their recent infighting and prepare for the 'flash pit fight' that Turtle is putting together, he is surrounded by a trio of criminals who attempt to abduct him. He puts up a chase, spelling off to the rooftops, but an additional trio of masked thugs with insane acrobatic skills pursue him. Eventually, he gives up once he enters the Blinking Kettle's 'location' and finds it isn't there, and turns himself over to the group. They blindfold him and lead him off to some undetermined safehouse cellar, where they are introduced as Sober Jo, Skretchid and Rembolt Fuddlemuzz, the latter an individual they were seeking out after finding a note referencing him in the Deepwood Barrows some weeks before. Aldren's kidnappers are clearly 'Brothers Dimm', and they interrogate him about who else his party is seeking in Arkany, a mutual quarry. The half-elf learns that Condor was in possession of all his fingers, meaning those left behind in Zolozhny weren't his after all!

It is decided that they need information and communication with other members of the party, so Sober Jo guides Aldren to the Eskranade where Turtles' impromptu pit fight is being held to draw out Beryl Berg. The gnome and shapeshifter demand that all his gear be left behind other than a few coins. The rest of our PCs assemble and head off to the Eskranade after night falls, where Turtle has paid off a few mercenaries for 'crowd control'. Apart from himself, it is decided that Rucia, Sober Jo, a Giant Snake (summoned by Nebol'shoy), a wrestler named Approximas, the bard Cinnamon Frills, and a nearly unequipped Aldren will compete, alongside Beryl Berg, who does indeed show up to test her prowess against this field. Bets will be placed before each individual fight and Turtle will randomly select the pairings. 

Desnova 7, 1423.

Rucia draws the first lot against the Giant Snake, which he rather handily defeats, and then Turtle man-handles Aldren, though the half-elf makes a good account for himself, impressing Sober Jo. Beryl Berg makes quick work of Cinnamon Frills, and Approximas takes down Sober Jo to set up the second round. Before the semi-finals, Sober Jo is introduced to Rucia and the other PCs to once again share some information between them and the local Brothers Dimm. More bets are placed, and after some healing, the second round begins, in which Rucia manages to defeat Turtle, and Beryl Berg impales Approximas after a rougher brawl than her first fight. Further bets are made, and then the finale is set up between Rucia and Beryl Berg. It's a close one, but with a little help from his healing abilities, the paladin manages to outlast Beryl's own endurance to take the overall victory!

Rucia holds on to the wanted dwarf's two blades until later, and it is arranged that a large party of most of our PCs, Turtle, Approximas and Beryl Berg and her many admirers will head out to celebrate at a nearby tavern, The Three Hounds. There the entourages drink, and whilst Bjork and Cinnamon Frills perform an epic, lengthy duet, deals are made between our heroes and the Brothers Dimm. In return for their information, the rogues will assist them in any future assaults against the ex-Naturalists who have been tormenting them (and the region), while Aldren's gear will be dropped off at the Eskranade just around dawn. They also reveal that they are the ones who dropped off Condor at a local site where 'problems are brought to be forgotten', but neither at their own hands or the Berg sisters...

Speaking of which, it is agreed that they'll let the dwarf criminal go in return for her own information that she is planning to auction off the skin map she tore from the drunkard captain's skull. Rucia returns to the Blinking Kettle with Turtle, Approximas and Mockleg, while Aldren heads back to the pit fight area with Bjork and Nebol'shoy to retrieve his gear. Rembolt delivers it at dawn and stashes it away, and the PCs meet up outside the Blinking Kettle, and then head to the Tzarswald Trading Co. in the Drenches district, where they were told there was an entrance to the flooded tunnels where Condor had been stowed away. After purchasing some fried eel chunks (which are quickly ejected by their digestive systems), they learn from a cleaning girl that there are several entrances to the abandoned storerooms beneath the business. One is filled with rock in the basement, but there are grates in the nearby waterways which used to allow some air into the place. They move to investigate.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

NPCs:

Approximas (human male): A bronze-skinned, heavily muscled man who responded to the call for the clandestine Pit Fighting contest at the Eskranade in Arkany. He's a wrestler who leads with a single gladius blade, bedecked in a grapplers' outfit and golden visored helm. Befriended Rucia after being granted hospitality to heal his wounds.

Rembolt Fuddlemuzz (rock gnome male): A rock gnome in stylish black leather armor with a shock of spiked white hair and sideburns. Other than a bit of the creased skin his kind are known for, he is quite smoothly shaven and handsome, and gazes about him with a half-smile. A hooded gray goatskin cloak hangs on his back, and he wears cut-off black gloves. Various pouches and pockets, sheathes and scabbards occupy his armor and belt, but all are difficult to make out too closely due to the colors of his garb. A small, leather-bound book is fixed to his side with a chain, and a teensy chipmunk with coppery fur chatters at you from its perch in the gnome’s hood.

Sober Jo (d'vryn female): A burly, tall woman with similar, swarthy features common to most D’vryn males, she wears her long, flat black hair back under a crimson bandana, with a large but humble silver hoop pierced through each of her ears. Though not unattractive, she maintains a serious, straight face which makes her look as if she might well be able to handle the pair of broad shashkas at her waist, one pummeled with ebony, the other ivory. Her sleeves are hiked to her upper arms, revealing ample muscles that almost seem restrained by the series of black leather bands she has strapped about each.

Session 22: Mad Cow Disease (6/22/23)

Desnova 6, 1423

Much time is spent bantering and bartering with Orglo, but few deals can be reached despite some rather generous offers and trades for some of the party's magic items. However, they agree to meet again once the objects have been further considered. They next head to the local tavern to dig up some more information on the Berg sisters, known to frequent it, and possibly the cult of antagonists that the party has been slowly dispatching over the last several days.

Soon after settling in a rooftop booth at the Cup & Quill, the PCs meet their server, a curious bloke named Turtle who has some information about the group's quarry, the former ex-scholars and Naturalists who met at the establishment to discuss their plans. Csunori, Borya, and Sadomator in the least were involved, and there was mention of a 'Quagmov' and 'Razakhel' though the server doesn't recall their presence. Upon learning that Turtle boasts of being a 'pit fighter', they wonder if he might be able to draw out the Berg sisters, one of which is also a renowned street fighter for cash. As the server is about to head off to get the PCs' orders, Bjork makes an off-hand comment about Rucia's tribe which results in a punch!

The bard's weapon (cursed, unknown to the rest of the party), forces him to retaliate, and a brutal brawl results right on the very roof! Patrons in neighboring stalls depart quickly, while the PCs attempt to break up the in-fighting! Nebol'shoy tries unsuccessfully to blind his party members, and the two are only finally broken up once a web spell is imposed between them and the server NPC, Turtle, showcases some of his grappling skills to keep forcing the minotaur to a distance, at which point his weapon's influence ceases. Meanwhile, the gnome and Mockleg have talked Rucia down out of his own rage. After Schlensky the White, the proprietor arrives and threatens them all with arrest, they quickly shelve their differences and decide to leave in two groupings. Nebol'shoy takes advantage of the chaos to follow Beryl Berg, who herself leaves from a downstairs booth at the commotion. The gnome notices that she appears to be carrying some sort of hairy, textured 'scroll' or document in her hand, which might be made of flesh!

After the altercation, the PCs make their way back to Orglo's Oddities, but the goblin is confused why they are bringing their problems in his direction and asks them to promptly leave if they have no further business. Nebol'shoy, in gaseous form, follows behind Beryl Berg but soon loses her as she leaves the Skolareum district to the West entrance. The gnome notices that other individuals appear to be smitten by her very presence, and not even the local Bluecoats ask her to remove her weapons as she moves towards and through the guardhouse! The party's new acquisition, Turtle departs to set up a pit fight at the Eskranade as the PCs have asked him.

While his companions return to the Blinking Kettle inn, Aldren decides to case the surrounding block for any note that he's being followed. He does indeed find the human 'scholar' Jezhe in a neighboring alley, but when he approaches to question her, notes that something is off, and she transforms into a humanoid rat thing! As our hero is about to engage, he notices that several other hidden figures leap out behind him...



PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Beryl Berg (dwarf female): Lithe and tall for a dwarf, of an almost human stature, is this attractive woman with fiery-colored, knotted braids that run half-down her back. Greased bangs cling to her cheeks in sharp patterns, and she carries a quaint smile beneath wide hazel eyes. She wears a unique set of leather armor which is strapped into strips above the waste and down her arms, ending in cut-off leather gloves that clutch onto a pair of fine golden scimitar hilts.

Schlensky the White (elf male): A tall elf of indeterminate age, with skin the color of ash, offset by a head of long, pale white hair, and a bright robe to match. He wears a golden-framed bifocal lens over one of his pale green eyes, and his scholarly attire is trimmed with strange silver runes. His right wrist has a twitch to it which he tries to quell by clutching a pair of inscription tools: a raven-bone quill and a cherry-tinted vial of ink.

Skretchid (??? male): This bipedal rat stands just under 5’ tall, with an unsightly mix of brown and gray-patched fur, and covered in a thick gray robe which looks as if it’s been gnawed and stained, but nevertheless covers much of the creature. On occasion a roach will emerge from the cloak, or some pouch or pocket on the figure and race about its fur, only to be snatched up and devoured. The rat’s beady green eyes seem to glow with curiosity, and it hobbles along on a half-broken sword-stick on which the concealed blade is partly exposed.

Turtle (human male): A doughy man of 30 summers wearing a tunic, apron, breeches and clogs that befit a serving-man at the Cup & Quill, his hair is fashioned into a mullet of dirty blonde that looks more of a stylistic choice than sloppiness. Despite his apparent lack of physique and his dreary city drawl, he has proven quite a strong individual with both striking and grappling skills using his bulk and fists.

Session 21: Crunchy Pillows and Sharp Lanterns (5/21/23)

Desnova 5, 1423

The PCs are fetched to the Herring House, where Sister Roil reveals her vision, Captain Condor is being stowed away somewhere near water in a dark space beneath Arkany. They do a final sweep around Omutny, meeting Orekh Stormbeak at his aviary, and then they traverse the Jaggerhead Lake towards the city. En route, Mockleg nervously blasts a giant frog with a lightning bolt so that it won't attack them, and then they decide to visit the Rowers' Point lighthouse, where they inquire about Old Marrow's last sighting, the giant crayfish that was rumored to devour a horse in recent days. It turns out that the fate of the horse's rider is unknown. They say their thanks and row south into the Drenches district, paying a mooring fee and leaving their boats at the docks. They look about the marketplace and then travel further south into the city across The Straight bridge, spying the temple of Sanctos on their way. Once they arrive at The Gentry district, Rucia heads out the gates to summon his steed back, and the PCs speak with some soldiers and other NPCs until Mockleg leads them blindfolded to The Blinking Kettle, an inn that seems magically hidden from its surrounding neighborhood. They speak with the proprietor and meet a curious scholar/student named Jezhe who invites them for a tour of the Skolareum while they're in the city.

In the evening they head out for some further exploration, meeting with Zmiev the Silversmith and also making the acquaintance of a dragonborn bard named 'Cinnamon Frills', who is interested in Bjork and warns him about the nasty duo of bards that make Arkany their home turf. The PCs retire for the evening back at the Blinking Kettle.

Desnova 6, 1423

In the following morning, the PCs make the acquaintance of Sir Arkimedes Oldwater of the Gravers' Guild, who invites them to potentially join, and gives them more information about a duo of adventurers that disappeared in the Flailing Marsh, possibly related to the rumor of Old Marrow. He says he'd love to help them arrange an expedition to local sites like Old Bloodwalls, where the PCs might soon be headed. They decide to further explore about Arkany, and ask about for where Condor might be stowed away. Eventually they end up at the gates of the Skolareum district, where they turn over (most of) their weapons and are allowed access. To their dismay, the girl Jezhe is nowhere to be found, and the guards of the college don't even seem to know of anyone with that name. Perplexed, our heroes make their way to Orglo's Oddities where they wish to trade and/or purchase some magic items, and they get quite a lot of information from the wise old goblin who runs the place, a self-professed contemporary and rival of Old Smite-Eyes hisself, who notices the lantern that Aldren is carrying and knows something about it...

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Aarakocra PCs unlocked



NPCs

'Cinnamon Frills' (dragonborn female): A shapely brass dragonborn female wearing a fine, forest green leather tunic over equally fancy pants, her snout and ears are bedecked with as many gold and silver piercings as they can support. She carries a large sack slung over her shoulder, which occasionally seems to shift about, and a large birchwood-carved lute with double the normal amount of strings over the opposite. A rapier with a fat pommel sits in her belt, and the hilt of a knife is tucked in her left boot.

Ilaryon (human male): A welcoming old man with a wide grin that reveals a full set of copper false teeth, his dark gray hair is set into a series of  what has been described as ‘cornrows’ atop his head, braided against his pale scalp. He wears a loose, glittery blue robe that seems to leave a shimmering residue wherever he steps, and what appears to be a miniature winged monkey flutters about his person, occasionally clutching to the man’s robe or braided beard. The middle finger on his left hand is covered by a talon-like black ring, and at least three wands of varying designs are wedged into a silver sash about his waist.

Jezhe (human female): A rather plain but congenial girl of her teen years, with an auburn bowl cut and cream-colored robes that seem scholarly but understated. Aldren notices a disparity with the girl, as if she's a disguise being warn by someone else, and when the PCs inquire at the Administrat in the Skolareum district, the guards claim such a girl doesn't exist.

Kapitan Ilin (human male): A lithe, tall soldier stricken with albinism, his one good eye glares a hazy red, and his other sits dead in the middle of a scar running from his forehead to his lower left jaw. His yellowy-pale long hair is tied into a tight ponytail, and he has a number of silvery hoops in his right ear to mask that it’s been partly chewed off. He keeps his Soverat duster, boots and pips in excellent condition and wears a tricorn hat wrapped in a band of beaver skin. An arquebus hangs from his shoulder and a shashka is tucked into his belt.

Orekh Stormbeak (aarakocra male): A crouched, avian humanoid wrapping his wings about him like a cloak, their colors splayed out in patterns of blacks, browns, grays and whites. Beady black eyes that swirl an occasional aqua tint from behind a yellow-brown beak. It wears a pair of faded green breeches torn at the knee-caps, and nothing on its feet, one of which seems curled and damaged, with several talons broken and cracked on each. It   leans upon a gnarled, ancient looking staff, dressed with its own feathers and those of different patterns, and what looks like the skull of a young wolf impaled upon the top. 

Orglo the Odd-Wright (goblin male): An old, crouched goblin with olive green skin, white hair and mismatched yellow eyes that glare at you from the din of his shop. The creature leans upon a wood-framed walker which dangles with all manner of charms, jeweled chains and other baubles that are either warding the fellow or being advertised to customers. It wears a thick red wool coat which helps puff out its natural, wiry frame, and leers at you with a mouth nearly void of teeth, and those which remain look like tiny carved effigies of bone.

Sir Arkimedes Oldwater (halfling male): A stout, humble halfling with a trim white beard, thick mutton chops and wire-framed spectacles. His youthful looking face and cheeks betray his otherwise apparent age. A stylish vest lies beneath a comfortable gray wool duster, and a quality feathered beret lies on his head. He leans upon a fancy bamboo walking stick with a weasel-skull handle, more for show than physical necessity.

Tavikh the Torch-Runner (human male): A calm man of 20-something summers with dirty blonde hair and a subtle smile, he wears thick bifocal spectacles and a practical set of white clerical vestments and cloak over the glint of a chain mail shirt. His white-gloved hands rest upon a brass-framed lantern and the pommel of a long sword, and a small, sealed book dangles from a chain about his neck.

Zmiev (human male): A hunched, elderly human wearing a humble white shirt and breeches beneath a thick leather apron. He bears an enormous white beard, tied off into a number of braids, each dangling a silver chime or bell, and yet he remains remarkable still and peaceful in disposition, almost as if to challenge himself not to make any noise while we works.

Session 20: Pinky Promises (5/2/23)

Desnova 3, 1423.

After showering the wild shaped gnome in gold, Rucia is joined at the docks by the rest of his companions. There has been no luck in locating Condor and his 'companions', but the PCs decide to go check out The Slack Mallard for any potential evidence. Nebol'shoy swims over and attempts to transform back to himself while leaping through the air, but just crashes into the hull, alerting the others who have arrived. Aldren and Rucia head belowdecks and discover that the holds are emptied, since the Trawler's Union is repairing the boat, and also a pair of severed human pinkie fingers on bloodstains on the Captain's sheets. They search further, and in Condor's emptied money-box, Aldren finds a secret compartment containing a compass which only points in a non-Northern direction.

Bjork conjures up a shelter for the night, but while on watch, Aldren hears a commotion from outside, and leaves to check on it. A trio of fishermen's bodies has been exsanguinated and discovered by Ekaterina Belov, who knew them all to some extent. There are no puncture wounds, and the corpses look surprised...

Desnova 4, 1423.

In the morning, the rest of the PCs examine them, after they've been moved to a cart by a local Soverat guard. Rucia purchases some salt from the Flapping Salmon, and then salts and burns the bodies after hacking them up. As they ready themselves to further investigate the disappearance of their friend, several of the PCs inquire with Lamplighter, the death priest, who they interrupt shaving after conjuring up a snake to distract his raised undead wolven guard-dogs. He reinforces that it doesn't sound like vampires, but rather some sort of curse or blood-magic. Meanwhile, Smoker tells the PCs that he saw a strange woman who was asking after some sort of 'lantern' bearer in the village.

The PCs (and Smoker the bouncer) check out the House of Drawn Veils just to be sure the Captain isn't around, and find a ghastly site, that the minstrels outside as well as most of the staff (including the Madame) have been drained of blood, the former then dunked into the fountain, from where Bjork fishes out their pockets. Aldren spies a strange red woman in one of the upstairs windows, but then followed up by screaming from within. Rucia and Bjork race up to confront whoever is doing this, and the rest of the PCs eventually catch up to face a tiefling woman composed of swirling blood, horns, and little by way of clothing. She seems to recognize Nebol'shoy, and also seems impervious to all physical attacks including those of magical weapons. She also nearly merges with Rucia but he resists her advances, and can fire off missiles of hardened blood against those in her vicinity. Energy does seem to affect her, and after a number of smites and spell attacks, she pronounces 'Now is not the time...' and disappears into a puddle of blood on the floor.

Our heroes search the rest of the brothel for survivors, finding only Lt. Strada tied up in a compromising upright position upstairs, and a pair of other concubines in the 'torture room' in the basement. Bjork loots the Madame's money-box, thinking the late whore-mistress will no longer require it, and then Rucia burns and salts the rest of the bodies outside the window that broke during the fight. Aldren and Nebol'shoy warn the Sallowmoon d'vryn about the slaughter, and ask if they could in turn warn the Ganelari family. At the docks, the others hear more rumors from one of the Trawlers that Condor was accompanied by not two, but THREE individuals, at least one of which was an attractive, tall female dwarf, and that they rowed off from the docks the prior afternoon.

The PCs leave Ekaterina behind and head south on the Skorbi River, crossing to the mouth of the Jaggerhead Lake. They spy some of the red-bannered bugbears, or at least scouts that are seeking out a riverside ambush but wisely avoid this group of heroes. They also find an overturned rowboat near one of the rocky Jaggerheads, and once it is mended and flipped, there is the lower half of a body stuck in some ropes, crawling with small crabs and parasites.

By nightfall, they have docked below the Herring House temple, and are welcomed by Brothers Elm and Beandip. After some donations and chat, and a sampling of Beandips famous corn-fish-paste-whatever, Bjork pulls the crank that causes the great fish mascot to spew fog out over the lake. A meeting is arranged with Sister Roil, who they tell all about the mysterious lantern Aldren has been toting around since the beginning. An agreement is struck that she will perform a divination with Condor's fingers to locate him better, if they swear they will free the unfortunate young spirit trapped within the lantern. As they wait for her results in the morning, they head to the Millward Inn, where they rent rooms and take a meal. A young kitchen scallion is sent out to perform for them, and his instrument is detuned...Bjork fixes the strings, and the boy plays an inspirational song that makes even the minotaur weep (and a little envious).

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

NPCs

??? (tiefling female): A well-proportioned, attractive red-skinned woman with a short, barbed tail and a pair of black horns, she seems to be able to manifest and dissolve herself into a pool or cloud of swirling blood, which she refreshes by draining humans and humanoids dry.

Brother Beandip (human male): A large, bald man wearing indigo robes, with a head of mere grey stubble that half-masks several elaborate tattoos of crabs, squids, and a swordfish pointing down the back of his skull to his spine. He seems rather well fed, and in fact carries a wooden bowl about with him which he is constantly stirring, that smells of corn, fish paste and other ingredients that don’t exactly greet the senses well. A mace is partly concealed by the folds of his cloak, and he has a large wooden amulet featuring a trio of crabs, two smaller clutching a large which in turns holds a bottle.

Brother Helm (human male): A hunched old man past 70 winters, with a few flecks of white attached to his bald-shaven scalp. He works the docks beneath the Herring House in Omutny, taking alms for those who wish to moor their craft during their visits to the church or village.

Sister Roil (human female): A short, middle-aged woman wearing billowing, layered robes of blue and green, her head is nearly shaven bald aside from a single oiled blonde braid that hangs from the very back of her scalp. Tattoos of wave patterns dominated her cheeks and meet upon her nose, with a solid band of blue just below her lips that covers her chin. A pair of sapphires set into miniature silver ship earrings dangle from her ears, and she wilds a bone trident fastened with bands of iron and straps of leather. A buckler carved like a white-striped, wooden crab is affixed to the opposite arm.

Svart (human male): A young man still in his teenage years, with misshapen teeth and a lopsided bowl cut of black hair. He wears a brown apron over a white tunic, and wields a cheap mandolin which he is often called upon to perform for the scant off-season crowds at the Millward Inn.