Strange Aeons / The Rushton Terror pt. 18 / Eire the 12th, 3592 CE / 1-13-21

General Summary

People are going missing in the seaside town of Rushton. A party of Adventurers have taken it upon themselves to investigate the troubles, and had traveled to Fort Hailstorm, home of the local magistrate, Phineas Patrick, to discover the fate of Lady Romana, an agent of the Blackguard, the secret police of Carthia. Lady Romana had previously gone to the fort to demand answers from the magistrate and town constable, Bryn Kessel, and had not been seen since. Winter, a cleric of Accuris and Lady Romana's companion, had asked the party to investigate Lady Romana's disappearance, and they agreed, hoping to they would also discover more clues to the disappearances of the other citizens of Rushton. To their horror, the party found that the fort's guards had been turned to zombies and the constable had been replaced by an other-dimensional creature who travels through mirrors. They battled the fish-men cultists who had taken over the fort, and, worst of all, found disturbing evidence that some of the missing citizens of Rushton may have been eaten. As the party prepares to depart Fort Hailstorm, Sholem, a young man they rescued from the Fort's dungeon, shows them a brooch he found. The party recognizes the soot-blackened shield as the symbol of the Blackguard. They return to the Temple of Accuris to confer with Winter and share the grim news, but on the way Esp excuses herself, stating she needs to some time to herself. In the Temple of Accuris, Winter is distraught to learn the probable fate of Lady Romana and the other occupants of the fort. She agrees with the party that their next stop should be Orchid Hill, the palatial estate of Baron Haver Lowell IV, the local lord and former employer of Hemlock and Esp, though Esp and Hemlock can recall no details of that time due the Baron apparently having had their memories wiped before interring them at Stonebriar Asylum. Baron Lowell has not been seen for some time, but the party hopes that the clues to help them solve mystery of the disappearances as well as retuning Esp and Hemlock's memories, can be found in Orchid Hill. Winter tells them that she will ask Cassandra Wren, a retired member of the Watcher's Guild, to send some of her investigators to Fort Hailstorm to try and identify the remains of the fort's captives. The party also asks Winter to exorcise the soul of Clyde Pratt, the murdered occultist who haunts the fort's basement. Before the party heads out to resupply, Winter shares one more bit of disturbing news; the woman Darla Coronet, the so-called Dream Witch whom Esp put into a coma during their battle before giving her over to the Church of Accuris to be watched over, has disappeared. The party asks around and locates the home of a local alchemist named Litness Roy, to stock up on healing supplies. The alchemist, who has stirred up trouble with the Temple of Accuris in the past, is surprised to see Trakir, a cleric of Ishtalar, among those purchasing his wares, but Trakir shrugs it off, knowing that he will need help from unlikely sources to see Ishtalar's vengeance done. As the party leaves the home of Litness Roy, the sky blackens with storm clouds and heavy rain begins to fall. As they make their way through the empty, storm-drenched streets of Rushton on their way to Orchid Hill, they see the figure of an old woman dressed all in black in the street ahead of them. The woman turns to confront the party with an evil chuckle, and is revealed to be hideously deformed, with strange alien growths protruding from her body. As she fades from sight, the party realizes with a start that the walls of this alley are covered in the strange charcoal drawings of an alien cityscape that Esp had previously identified as Carcosa. Momemns later, figures move through the landscape and burst from the walls to attack! Despite the attempted ambush, the party quickly gathers their forces to repel the assassins. They are joined by a newcomer, a young woman who appears to be a simple washer woman until she begins controlling the very rain that swirls around her and sending a freezing blast of air that fells one of the cultist killers.

Character(s) interacted with

Gleorn Bearheart, Sigvald of Northwell, Garrok the Brute, Trakir Firebrand, Desh Verai, Hemlock Shores, Esp Platyrhynchos, Sholem, Winter, Litness Roy, Nemira Lowell, refugees, cultists, a dog

Report Date

13 Jan 2021

Primary Location

Rushton

Secondary Location

Fort Hailstorm