Episode 12: Crescent Nightmare
General Summary
Kasek climbs the ladder leading up to the wooden trap door and attempts to make out what the voices are saying. He only hears sound consistent with commands or shouts in a language he doesn't understand. Celindriel climbs the ladder and Kasek makes room for her to get close as well. The voices are distant from what Celindriel can hear, but she is fairly certain the voices are speaking in elvish. Kasek gently pushes up on the wooden door, which stops after rising a half-inch from being latched from the other side. Kasek peers through the crease and sees where the trap door is latched. Carefully taking his shortsword, he guides the tip over to the pin holding the door latched, and manages to knock it free. The group begins to stealthily make their way up the ladder and into what appears to be a cellar.
As Kasek goes to exit, Celindriel's foot slips one rung on the ladder, and she reaches out instinctively to grab hold of something to keep herself from falling. She grabs Kasek, who places his hand down on the now open trap door to regain his balance, which raps loudly against the stone floor. Feadog shushes the group, but does so a little louder than he intended. Meanwhile, Ceona successfully ascends into the cellar, being careful not to rattle her Chain Mail shirt. She glowers at the rest of the group for being noisy, but then begins examining the room.
The room appears to be a basic cellar with some barrels lining the wall, and an open door is seen leading to a set of stairs that ascends from the cellar. Voices are no longer heard, though the party isn't sure if it's due to the noise made while entering. Celindriel shares with the group that she suspects they're in the Elven District, and Ceona immediately begins to suspect that they're in the basement of the Crescent Dream Inn, though she can't be positive. Kasek whispers to the group that they should move quickly if they are indeed on the trail of suspects, but as they're talking, Kasek and Ceona detect a faint flicker of torchlight reflecting off the stone walls from the sewer below. Kasek decides to descend the ladder half way, and peers back to the entrance mouth of the sewer tunnel. He detects voices echoing, and hears splashing consistent with footsteps. Approximately 60 feet down the tunnel where the tunnel drops into the larger sewer tunnel, he sees someone raise a torch and the silhouette of a head is seen peering in. After a moment, the head and torch disappears, and it sounds like whoever was looking in is moving away.
Kasek relays what he saw to the group, and the group decides to descend back into the sewers and follow the people carrying the torch. They make their way back to the main sewer tunnel, and begin following the splashing noises and torchlight. While attempting to be sneaky, Ceona's foot slips and she regains her balance by splashing into the center canal of shallow water, making a loud splash. The sounds of footsteps stop, and the torchlight no longer looks like it is moving. The group freezes in their tracks, uncertain about what will happen next. Weapons can be heard being drawn, and the torchlight begins to grow brighter down the curvature of the tunnel as it become apparent that the individual(s) that they were following have obviously detected them and are approaching. On a hunch, Feadog calls out "Friends, have you found them?" A moment of quiet goes by, when at last three figures come into view, and a voice is heard saying "Celindriel? Kasek? Is that you?" The group breathes a sigh of relief as they see Barriltar Bhandraddon, Ivoire de Montauban, and Frig Rhaegnhal approach.
Barriltar asks the group "What in blazes are you doing here?" Kasek tells them "It's a long story, we're looking for somebody who fled the scene." Barriltar says "So are we, we're trying to locate the arsonists. We found two sets of multiple footprints outside the Memorial Atheneum and the Temple of Pursuance, one leading in this direction, and one leading more to the east of the city. We chose to follow these." Feadog begins to explain that they were following tracks that led into the Elven District, and then heard Barriltar and his group and decided to investigate. Kasek comments that they should head back to the cellar they had discovered earlier. Barriltar tells the group whatever choice they make, they need to make a decision soon since they feel like they were relatively on the heels of whoever fled the scene. If these set of tracks lead to a dead end, then perhaps they can pick up the trail of the other group heading east. Barriltar states that he saw people flee into the sewers after they arrived on the scene, and followed them into the sewers and fought their way up to this point. The group agrees to return to the cellar, and Barriltar and his team follow.
They return to the small sewer tunnel with the ladder leading up to the wooden trap door, only to find the trap door closed again. The group realizes that whoever is on the other side of the trap door is obviously aware of their presence, and Celindriel and Ceona begin fretting over wounds they had sustained in previous encounters. Barriltar steps forward and casts Cure Wounds on both, bringing them back up to full health. Barriltar asks what this place is, and Celindriel explains they're not quite sure, but they fought a Grick at this spot. Celindriel shows Barriltar the manacles chained to the wall, and says she suspects whoever resides above brings people down her to feed to the Grick. Barriltar sets his jaw, and comments that they need to get to the bottom of this. Celindriel quickly fills him in on also finding the five Sestatrean Guards being picked over by Kobolds. Ceona climbs the ladder and finds the trap door locked and with something sitting on top of it. Frig Rhaegnhal climbs the ladder as well, and positions herself next to Ceona, indicating that she'll help Ceona bust through the door. Kasek climbs and takes position behind Ceona and Frig, then looks over to Barriltar and says "You should know that the King is dead, that's why we're down here." All the color drains from Barriltar's face, "Dead? How?" Celindriel informs him that the Midnight Tears (Silver Raven Blend) poison killed him, the Queen is safe, but she suspects the fires were set as a distraction to get the Order of the Golden Lions out of the Temple of Torm's Coming. Barriltar tells the group that there may still be hope, but he has to return immediately to the Keep after they handle whatever lies in the cellar above. The group readies themselves, and Ceona and Frig make an attempt to bust open the door.
The Crescent Dream Inn (Audio 00:42:15 - 01:56:10)
The first hit on the trap door is woefully under-powered, and the trap door remains secure. Frig sets her jaw, and counts to three with Ceona. The second hit sends the trap door flying off its hinges, and the group pours into the cellar ready for action. Once again, they find themselves in the dark dank cellar, along, with an open door leading to a staircase that ascends to another door. Feadog immediately searches the room for anything sign of life or anything of interest, and merely finds an empty bucket and a broom covered in spiderwebs. Kasek ascends the stairs and places an ear against the door at the top of the stairs. Frig Rhaegnhal follows behind, Ceona after, along with Celindriel, Ivoire, Feadog, and Barriltar. After a moment of listening, Kasek doesn't hear anything, and decides to slowly open the door. He immediately witnesses a flurry of crossbow bolts being fired at him. At this point, the group enters initiative.
Crescent Dream Inn - Ground Floor by SirElghinn
The party discovers 5 Drow fighters, along with Xalyth T'arr. The party struggles with the fight finding the Drow and Xalyth to be dangerous foes, but the party is encouraged and bolstered by having Barriltar and the Golden Lions present. Both Ceona and Celindriel are knocked unconscious during the fight, but are returned from the threat of death by Barriltar and Feadog. Xalyth manages to escape out the front entrance, and the group runs after her.
1:00 AM - 14th of Vlaihr, 2272
They exit the Crescent Dream Inn and fail to locate her immediately. Kasek immediately attempts to track her using his Ranger skills, but given the fact that they're on city road that is well-traversed, Kasek is unable to make out her tracks in particular. Kasek then runs down to the stables and retrieves the Wolfhound and brings him back to the Crescent Dream. Kasek tells the Wolfhound to follow Xalyth's blood trail, and the Wolfhound goes to work sniffing. After a moment, the Wolfhound picks up her trail, and leads the group down a smaller road to an intersection. The group hears shouts and noises coming from the center of town near the docks, and a faint glow can be seen -- presumably from the fires that were set. At this intersection, Kasek and the Wolfhound attempt to pick up Xalyth's trail again, and successfully do so. The group chases after with weapons drawn.
As they run, Barriltar asks for more information about Xalyth. Ceona tells him that she's obviously a Dark Elf, and that's reason enough to capture her. Celindriel tells Barriltar that Xalyth had told her that she received a letter of recommendation from her father, Ardreth Bryleth, which allowed her to purchase the Crescent Dream Inn. Celindriel tells Barriltar that she suspects that Xalyth T'arr they are chasing is an impostor, who slew the real Xalyth T'arr, and took her place as a way of infiltrating the city.
The party reaches another intersection, and both Kasek and Wolfhound lose the trail. The group spreads up and checks each road branching from the intersection for signs. After a bit of back-tracking and re-checking areas, Kasek and the Wolfhound pick up the trail which leads to an open plaza behind some buildings. A quick glance of the open plaza area, the party detects a grate that looks like it was placed haphazardly back in place. The group immediately rushes over to the grate, pries it loose, and begins to descend back into the sewers.
Barriltar heals the party members to full health before telling them that he needs to return to the Temple of Torm's coming immediately to check in. He tells the party to be careful and wishes them luck. Celindriel reminds Barriltar to grab the poison antidote and use it appropriately. Ceona also tells Barriltar to begin brewing the antidote and give it to the Queen daily until they get the problem resolved. Barriltar nods and tells the party to try and find out what happened with the set of tracks that led to the east of the City. He worries that there are multiple groups and needs more information. Kasek tells Barriltar to place some people around the Deep Pearl Shrine since the Temple of Valkur in Hirane was a front for a cult member. Barriltar says it will be done, and then runs off with Ivoire and Frig back to the Temple of Torm's Coming. The party descends once more into the tunnels, and begins to track Xalyth.
Back into the Sewers
The group finds themselves entering the southern branching tunnel of the sewers in the Elven District. Kasek struggles bringing the Wolfhound into the sewers, and topples over into the water while holding him. They both get up, clean themselves off, and begin tracking. The party follows the series of tunnel that leads them due east, underneath the Temple District. They reach an intersection and decide to take the northern tunnel, which takes them beneath the Trade District. Kasek detects Xalyth T'arr's tracks, as well as multiple footprints heading east. The party races down the eastern tunnel which takes them under the Noble District. The party continues following the tracks until they come upon a large circular cistern roughly 60 ft x 60 ft, with multiple tunnels flowing into it which lies beneath the Industry District.
As the group approaches the cistern, the party detects a noise that sounds like something crunching bones. Everybody attempts to be stealthy, and slowly peers into the cistern. In the center of the room, they witness a large looking creature that appears to be sitting in the shallow water, and feeding on multiple corpses. Celindriel, Feadog, and Kasek study the creature as it eats. Multiple corpses are strewn about, some wearing Laskean Guard Uniforms, and others that the party doesn't recognize. Kasek thinks the creature might be Troll, but can't be certain because this one is quite large and the skin coloring is somewhat different than what he remembers from having encountered one in the past. Celindriel theorizes that the creature might just be doing cleanup, and perhaps the Guards and whatever other group killed each other.
As the group discusses, Ceona, not being able to see, stumbles into the back of the party causing a commotion. The Troll immediately raises its head, and begins sniffing and looking around the room after hearing the noise. Kasek whispers to the group that "That thing could kill all of us handily". The party decides to back up out of caution of being discovered, and Feadog and Ceona begin scheming on a plan to get around the Troll. Feadog uses his pan flute, and casts Minor Illusion, making it appear to resemble Xalyth. He places the image in one of the southern tunnels of the cistern. At the same time, Ceona casts Thaumaturgy, making it sound like Xalyth is being obnoxious and taunting the Troll. The Troll stands to its full height, turns, and releases a terrifying roar, and begins running after the image at a dead run. The group sneaks along the northern wall of the cistern to make their way to the tunnel that continues east to the coast.
Enemies Escape
The sewer eventually dumps into the ocean along the eastern coast of the city of Sestatrea. As the party emerges from the tunnel, they find a beachhead on either side of the tunnel. A skiff is seen beached on either side of the tunnel, and one skiff appears to have two bodies draped over it. As the party looks out over the water, with the help of the little bit of moonlight shining in the clear night, they spot small pinpoints of light coming from a ship anchored off shore approximately 600 yards out. Two smaller skiffs can be seen rowing towards the vessel approximately 450 yards out, and Xalyth can be seen swimming in the water also headed for the ship approximately 50 yards out from the party's current location. Kasek immediately recognizes the ship as the Greward Hewe, which belongs to the Privateer Eneth Ratcley, the same ship that abandoned Levkaria Yumaia in Hirane. Ceona immediately launches one of the skiffs with the party climbing on board, and all begin rowing to catch Xalyth. As they approach, Celindriel begins firing on Xalyth in the water, eventually hitting her. The party gets to her, and pulls her unconscious form into the boat. Ceona and Kasek work together to stabilize her in the boat, and she is alive, but unconscious.
The party then turn their attention to the Greward Hewe, and notice the anchor has been raised, and the sails unfurled. The ship begins moving away before the skiffs rowing to it have reached it. The ship appears to be sailing in a south-eastern direction into the Qretith Sea.
People can be seen jumping from the skiffs attempting to reach the ship before it sails off. The party decides to row back to the sewer exit, and as they row, Celindriel hog-ties Xalyth taking extra precaution to make sure she's secured. As they approach the beach and sewer tunnel, they see a corpse fall from the tunnel into the water. The party beaches the skiff and begin looking at bodies that have begun to pile up. They find 2 Sestatrean Guards, but the other corpses are humans dressed in various armors. The party detects some minor features of their garb that leads them to believe that, even though their armor is different, they are obviously part of a specific organization. One interesting feature is that each of these individuals are wearing masks which cover their faces completely. Celindriel searches her memory and recognizes the individuals to be followers of Mask.
1:45 AM - 14th of Vlaihr, 2272
The party decides to load the bodies into the skiff and decide to row around to the Dock District, keeping a lookout for any Town Guard that they could immediately interact with. They eventually pull up to a dock near where the Temple of Pursuance once stood. The fires that were started have completely destroyed the Temple of Persuance and the Memorial Atheneum, and all that remains are glowing embers which several guards and citizens are working together in an attempt to extinguish. The party begins calling out to the guards to give chase to the Greward Hewe, and the guards, somewhat confused, don't take their demands seriously citing that they have a fire that is their immediate concern. Kasek tries to tell the guards that the King has been killed, and this confuses (and somewhat panics) some of the guards further.
As the party makes dock, a guard Captain approaches the group demanding to know more information. Kasek attempts to quickly tell the Captain that they were on a secret mission through the sewers, and were sent by the Queen to find the King's killer, and they should dispatch word immediately to Barriltar Bhandraddon. The Captain looks suspicious, and tells the party he will have to verify their story, and they currently are involved in a situation themselves with the fire. Kasek begins arguing with the Captain while a frustrated Ceona begins looking around for a horse. She spots a guard moving drow corpses that has a horse nearby, and she immediately rushes over and jumps on the horse and takes off at a dead run towards the Temple of Torm's Coming. She pauses long enough to allow Celindriel to climb on as well, and then goes into a full gallop.
As Celindriel and Ceona move from the plaza, they witness the ashes of what was once the Memorial Atheneum and the Temple of Persuance. Multiple corpses are seen lying near the ruins -- Drow, Guards, Civilians, and Maskarrans. Celindriel reaches down and grabs a Maskarran mask as they ride by, and continue on their way. Meanwhile, Feadog and Kasek continue to argue with the Captain attempting to get him to dispatch a military ship to pursue the Greward Hewe, but are unsuccessful. The Captain asks that Feadog and Kasek either move along, or lend assitance with the fire. Kasek and Feadog proceed to gather bodies to stack, and Kasek tries searching them for any useful information. To his surprise, the bodies are clean, in such a way to give Kasek the impression they purposefully intended not to take any incriminating evidence into their coming battle.
To Be Continued in Episode 13
Rewards Granted
- 4 Maskarran masks
- Celindriel gains 1 Maskarran mask
Missions/Quests Completed
- Discovered Xalyth T'arr and her residents are in fact Drow.
- Successfully tracked Xalyth T'arr through the sewers
- Captured Xalyth T'arr
Character(s) interacted with
- Barriltar Bhandraddon
- Ivoire de Montauban
- Frig Rhaegnhal
- Xalyth T'arr
- Wolfhound
Click here for an audio recording of the session.
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Celindriel Bryleth
Feadog Mhor
Kasek Bonebrewer
Ceona Haloren
Report Date
29 Aug 2018
Primary Location
Barriltar Bhandraddon
Ivoire de Montauban
Frig Rhaegnhal
Ylgr by L3monJuic3
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