Session Log: Sewers, Shows and Shitty Situations

General Summary

17th Day of the Month of Winds

  Awakening to the not-so-subtle sounds of cooking; Galen, Peter and Freja find themselves on the floor of a compact living space belonging to Galens kindly old grandparents. The gang are treated to a simple brunch of roasted rat portions before the smaller than usual party set off to find Hatise, and most importantly, a jug of water. Making their way through the Riverside and Cursewood districts - avoiding the street toughs that charge the peasants for the right to drink from their wells - the trio arrive at the Shadow Slayers Guild to begin their simple investigation.   With a sly hint from Bellas, they inspect the bounty board to see if Hatise had taken any jobs at all. It becomes clear that only two additional bounties have been taken down since last they were here: the sewer clean-up job, and the diplomatic mission to visit Trypuul. Figuring that Hatise probably wasn't insane, or at least not insane enough to go meet a dragon, the trio decide the sewer job is the most likely choice.   They set off for Tempest Stink Island, the heart and soul of Bingtowns complex sewage system, hoping to find Hatise before they get themselves killed. But first, they of course decide to make a payment to Sonia Stubt on their debt. After the barest professional courtesies, a payment of 20 gold is made, which just about cover that weeks interest and brings the new debt total to 781 gold, 9 silver, and 6 copper. A whole 4 silver and 4 copper less than the initial debt. While they're here, they ask if Sonia has Hatises home address, which she produces very quickly from a pile of papers on her desk. Since they were in the area, it was decided they should check there before the sewers.   Upon arrival at the address they were given, they find a quaint carpentry workshop producing quality cursewood furniture and curios. An older middle aged man inquires into why they're asking around for Hatise. Revealing himself as Hatises father, he reveals that they aren't there, and is in fact surprised to learn that Hatise was in any sort of legal trouble in the first place. The trio decide to swiftly move on, before dropping any more unexpected truth bombs.   After a short trip across the town, they catch a whiff of Tempest Stink Island and cross the wooden bridge to the industrial complex, marvelling at the engineering of the Sewerworks. Passing through the towering arches of the compound and reaching the courtyard, they spot a stout looking human wearing a filthy jumpsuit and a hard looking hat. He appeared to be directing people around, so they decided he was naturally the one to ask about Hatise and their whereabouts.   A brief conversation takes place, with the Foreman informing them that "a small lass with a red poncho" had signed up to escort some engineers deep beneath the island to fix a clog in the bilge pumps. The trio, deciding the 60 gold reward was a clear indicator of difficulty, decided instead to complete simple bounty work in the safest sewer district: Northpoint. Foreman gave them a quick rundown of the numerous do's and don'ts of sewer work, which put an appropriate amount of fear into the heart of the trio.   Travelling to Northpoint being the easiest part of the job, it didn't take long until they ended up in the sewers. It also didn't take long for their decisions to be proven both right and wrong: they were right not to bite off more than they could chew with the other sewer job, and very wrong to think the sewers weren't more than they could chew in general.   Initially, the sewers seemed well within the scope of what they could handle. Galen even obliterated a rat through too much magical exuberance, earning him Frejas ire as he left no proof to hand in to the Foreman. This trend continued, until their first encounter with sewer slimes. A hard fight that resulted in an almost completely rusted dagger, and severely damaged armour. Luckily, Galens cleric training had taught him to mend equipment magically, even if doing so did leave the whole significantly weaker, at least until new raw material could be moulded into its form.   After fighting the slimes, the trio decide to make their way back, with a slight time pressure as their valuable Gray Essence was eating its way through Galens waterskin. Naturally, this rushing led to a pack of four giant rats finding them. A brutal battle kicked off, with Galen eventually being overwhelmed by the rats and Freja once again failing to have her healing magic connect to his spiritweb. With Galens pale corpse acting as a distraction for the rats, Freja stepped up and finished the job, and was therefore pretty surprised when said corpses hand started glowing and Galen began screaming in pain.   A few moments of alarm, confusion and general distrust pass, before the trio decide to just deal with this later and return to the surface world. Upon returning to the land above, Galen runs off to cry in an alleyway, while Freja and Peter hand in their sewer bounties and earn themselves some silver. Eventually, they all reconnect at the Shadow Slayers Guild, with Galen being tended to by Bellas. Here, Galen attempts to make sense of what occurred, with Freja insisting that he certainly seemed to have died. In a sombre mood, Peter plays for their room in the Guild and depresses everyone in the process.  

18th Day of the Month of Winds

  The next day is spent in the library of the Shadow Slayers Guild, after some shrewd negotiating with Bellas to let them in on the promise of one day being members. Each of the trio had a different focus for their research. His mind focused on the show he would be performing tomorrow, Peter chose to read the various tales and legends of other noteworthy bards, and eventually stumbled upon the travels of Ethan Fong, a master bard from the Eastern Isles. Outrageous tales of Hydras, Chimaeras and damsels in distress filled the rest of Peters day. Freja, given her hobbies, decided to look into organ preservation, and by extension corpse preparation. It didn't take long for her to find several necromantic texts, with key instructions that should be followed when preparing a mummy. There is also a passing mention to the Onyx Skeletons, an ancient form of skeletal preparation that actually transmuted the bones of normal skeletons into beautiful gemstone structures.   Finally, Galen spent a large chunk of his time researching the Shadow Magics that appeared to be common to Bingtown, or at the very least more common than elsewhere in Drass. These readings ultimately made him feel uncomfortable, with casual references to the Curse and the Gift, almost interchangeably. From the writing, he gathered that some sorcerers were able to harness some powerful effects from their Bingtown bloodline, manifesting as some sort of "shadow magic" rather than as the typical Changeling Curse. He eventually closed the book with disgust and a sigh, then went for a walk. Far from clearing his head however, this walk led him directly to the city walls on a night when a newborn babe was to be exposed beyond the walls, punished for the crime of being born a Changeling.  

19th Day of the Month of Winds

  Finally, the morning of the show had dawned, and Peter was a ball of excitable energy with a small but noticeable core of nervousness. Eager to get started, Peter leads Freja and Galen to the Swollen Lass, a decrepit and filthy bar that had actually sunk into the land it was built on. The bar owner, Torg "Scornjaw", seemed confused as to who Peter actually was for a while. Eventually, an accord was struck, and the show could go on! Peter sent Galen and Freja out to find improvised instruments, and they returned with manhole covers, rawhide and large sticks with strings attached to each end. Peter declared it was perfect, and readied himself for his public.   Just before the show was due to begin at 6pm, Jeremy Notkragmar arrived with his dwarven scholar club and Amelia Tanbrow. They greeted Peter jovially and seemed genuinely excited for the show. This excitement made up for the lack of enthusiasm from Ulysses Fairview, who came out of a polite obligation and also to ask the party to meet him at the museum tomorrow to hear about some potential work he had for them.   The show started with a lot of acrobatic flair as the small halfling seemed to fly around the bar, hoisted into the air by his legion of unseen servants. The first song was marred by an accidental dismissal of a servant, but aside from that the crowd were certainly enjoying themselves. Ulysses, true to his word, left after the first song. Galen set out to follow him, but froze in his tracks at the sight of Heathcliff and Heimlich. Immediately, he disguised himself as a regular, and attempted to sit near them and gather information. Peter looks up just in time to see what looked like Galen walking out of the bar, and seemingly not coming back.   The rest of the show goes down without a hitch, and many of the crowd are very exuberant in their praise. After all, the majority of the audience were drunk dwarves.   His performance complete, Peter finds himself confronted by Heathcliff and escorted from the premises, followed swiftly by Heimlich. Galen grabs Freja, explaining quickly that they need to follow Peter. As they emerge outside, Peter seems to go stiff with fear as he subtly indicates a nearby alleyway. Galen looks up just in time to see a horrifying creature emerge, skin sloughing from its ruinous bones. As Heathcliff and Heimlich continue dragging Peter in the creature direction, Freja recognises the beast for what it truly is.   The acid drenched body of the bard, Fairtongue.

Rewards Granted

40 silver in return for 2 ounces of Gray Essence
25 silver in exchange for five Giant Rat tails

Missions/Quests Completed

Quest Completed: Clearing out the Sewers (Northpoint)
Quest Completed: The Triumph of Peter Piper Pippin Potts: A Stage Musical
Quest Failed: Not Dying, Galen

Character(s) interacted with

NPC's met:   Foreman - The Foreman of Tempest Stink Island
Torg Scornjaw - Owner of the Swollen Lass