A New Horizon Sessions 11 - 20

Session 11 The party set out on a wet, stormy morning to stir up more trouble; noting a few additional postings having been added to the board. In particular, Avo Bank's request for exterminators caught their eye. On their way to the bank, however, they encountered a commotion outside of a New Horizons Co construction site: the laborers had fled the building and congregated in the rain, claiming that the house was haunted. After inquiring, the site foreman promised them compensation were they to go in and deal with whatever spooked the men.
True enough, the old boarding home undergoing renovations appeared to be haunted. As the party poked around, they were met with cold spots, barely perceptible whispers, and an errant bucket or book being hurled at their heads. They learned that the decrepid home used to belong to a woman called Aveline King, who prided herself on looking out for the poor and downtrodden. As they continued to pry, the specter made it clear she didn't want anybody changing her old home. In the cellar, Flea even found old documentations, a last will and testament it seemed, dictating that the boarding house should continue operations even after Aveline's death. Unfortunately, the party was not vacating the premises quick enough for Aveline's liking, who moved to oust them herself. As Tess stared at an old portrait of her, Aveline possessed her, using her to tell her friends to leave and reporting to the men outside that the house was beyond saving and they needed to leave immediately. Despite this, the party stuck around until Tess began attempting to pull them out forcefully, resulting in a few errant stab wounds from Snips.
Ultimately though, the party opted to move on and leave the NHC people to figure it out, at least for the time being. Once they were well away from the site, Aveline released Tess, who profusely apologized for not acting like herself. Despite this revelation, the party decided they'd had enough of this nonsense and continued on their way to the bank (with a minor sidebar for Snips to retrieve his dagger that had been lost in the house). At the bank, they met with the poster of the listing, Eustace Caley, who escorted them to the infested premises.
The bank believed the evidence of infestation they found simply pointed at oversized rats or other such pest, but the party quickly found far more sinister creatures at play: demons had found their way into the home. They cleared away the dretches and quasits that manifested in the cellar, but a quick investigation revealed a small dumbwaiter shaft that led farther down into the depths. Further examination revealed a few more dretches down there along with a humanoid-looking creature with a decaying ram's head for a face. The party blocked off the shaft and took a quick rest to regain some strength before endeavoring to deal with the remaining demons. They quickly dealt with the creature attempting to bypass their barricade and then descended the shaft themselves. Zuno used a recently acquired bomb to soften them up and then the rest of the group engaged. The dretches and the bulezau sapped their strength with noxious and necrotic auras, but fortunately for the group, they were able to keep the bulezau from fighting at full strength; first incapacitating it with a hideous laughter and then with Tess grappling it to the ground. After that, it was simply a matter of besmirching the old summoning circle left behind by some kind of cult many years ago. After reporting back, Eustace said that the bank would merely need to send people to verify their encounter and then they would be paid (with a bonus for going above and beyond dealing with demons).
With a successful day under their belts, most of the party retired to the Roasted Chestnut (Flea went out to do some further investigations into the workings of the black market while Snips pursued a petty bounty). Tess and Zuno hung out on the rooftop keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any signs of the Demon of the Landing, which they did indeed find in the light of the full moon. The screams of their musical pal Machi led them to a scene of another murder. The minstrel had been out and about with the son of the Governess, who now laid torn apart on the cobblestone streets. Machi revealed that the assailant was a hulking man with gleaming eyes and an elongated face; something that rather neatly described a werewolf.
Once again, Snips picked up a trail of blood, as well as tufts of matted, mangy fur along the way. This time, the trail led to a quaint home in Edgereach where they discovered a bestial footprint pointing towards a second-story window left ever-so-slightly ajar. The party bribed a neighbor across the street to let them camp out in their bedroom (this was at 3 am, naturally) in order to stake out the house they believed harbored the killer. They watched closely with no signs of trouble throughout the night. It wasn't until broad daylight that Tess witnessed a woman exit the front door with a big mastiff on a leash. From here, they conspired to search the house and learn all they could about the residents of this quiet home (meanwhile, Lir found some success in searching for pearls and chatting with whales)…
XP earned: 450 each
Session 12 The party split to both follow the woman and poke around the house. Zuno and Flea gave the woman a loose follow as she walked her dog while Tess and Snips broke into the home through the still-open window on the second floor. Within, they found tracks that seemingly led to a locked attic hatch that Snips was able to pick open with only toppling off of Tess's shoulders once. While Tess went downstairs to look for hearts or other grizzly remains in the cellar, Snips quickly learned that the attic was occupied. Along with the strange sight of a rough-looking bed with a shackle chained to the foot was a grizzly looking man with fierce eyes who was quite insistent on Snips hasty departure. Not wishing to push a fight, he and Tess complied (the latter of whom had decided to help clean up the house a bit, for some reason, after not finding any signs of the killer herself).
They reported back to the other two, who made their return after realizing the woman was only taking the dog out for a walk around the block, and together they decided they needed to make a move now to avoid risking the man running off somewhere while they went to get guards. This did not work out particularly well. They again approached the house and knocked on the back door and were "greeted" by the woman and her angry dog. She clearly was aware of the party's antics and wanted them gone, even threatening to sic the dog on them. A tense standoff followed, with Tess barely being able to talk her down enough to keep the dog restrained. Meanwhile, Flea snuck off to find guards, but in her haste to get them to follow quickly, she attempted to strike one right in the crotch, and failing that, firing her gun in the air. This succeeded in getting them to chase, but now they were squarely interested in arresting Flea. Upon seeing that guards were chasing their goblin friend back, the woman slammed the door shut. In a panic, Flea bodied the door and managed to break the knob, leaving only the chain bolt keeping it closed as the woman inside screamed and the dog began barking and snarling incessantly. As the situation had already deteriorated, Tess delivered another swift kick to the door and broke it fully open. Zuno and Snips rushed in as the guards closed in and hollered for them to stop. The former dropped the dog with a barrage of magic missiles, much to everyone's horror, while Snips "non-lethally" incapacitated the woman. The man, who had been watching from the steps, flew into a rage and attempted to beat back the party. Meanwhile, Snips zoomed his way upstairs and retrieved the bloody and fur-covered sheets of the attic bed as evidence.
The guards again commanded everyone to get on the ground, and now with evidence in hand, the party complied. The guards swiftly relieved them of their weapons and bid them come with them to the barracks to sort this whole mess out. They could rest assured that guardsman Jonathan would stand watch over the couple. At the barracks, the party was placed in an interrogation room where they explained the situation to the captain of the guard. Ultimately, the captain agreed to conduct a full investigation of the Thorne's abode. Meanwhile, Lir was found and brought to the barracks as well to provide character testimony and catch up with the rest of the group. Ultimately, the guards let the party go on bond and assured them that the situation was well under control; if it was definitively proven that Jack or Isabelle Thorne was the killer, the party would receive their reward.
With their freedom restored, the party went out to unwind. Snips and Zuno went carousing (separately, of course) with the latter meeting a young girl who had also snuck away from her chaperones to explore the city, and the former made an enemy while out gambling: an angry drunkard called Lawrence who swore to one day reclaim the 5 gp he believed Snips stole from him. Lir, having not been personally involved in the day's nonsense, went to check out the crime scene for himself. He convinced the guards to let him poke around to talk to the Thornes, learning that Jack was a sailor and Isabelle was a seamstress. The former also claimed to have not encountered any supernatural entities and did not otherwise set off any alarms with Lir's divine awareness. The paladin requested something silver he could use to conduct a little test, and left with the intention of returning in the morning.
The next day, the party attended to some shopping and then intended to revisit the crime scene to see what, if anything, the guard had turned up. Flea visited Zero Sum Alchemy and acquired a few more healing potions, Snips went to annoy the guards back at the barracks to see if they had anything to report, Lir went back to the crime scene, and Tess and Zuno went to visit Eqora only to find that she had been called to lend her magical talents to the investigation. Eventually, they all reconverged on the crime scene. Lir learned a bit more about the Thornes, with Jack claiming the fur and blood were byproducts of their dog (despite the hairs being clearly different lengths and textures) and that the shackle-bed in the attic was to help him cope with night terrors. Additionally, his test, which involved pricking Jack with both a silver and steel razor, seemed to result in identical wounds, which Lir promptly healed. Both he and Eqora acknowledged that it would be very difficult to suss out whether he was cursed with lycanthropy with simple magic or tests. Lastly, Eqora allowed Zuno to poke around her library for information on lycanthropes, where he learned that the curse can be transmitted both by bite and by birth, with the latter being all but impossible to cure. He also learned that while the cycles of the moon play a part in a werewolf's aggression, it is not integral to the transformation process.
Ultimately, it appeared that the guards would simply keep a close eye on the Thornes for the time-being. With an auction the following day in which the party was really hoping to have the reward money for the killer case to attend, they opted to again stake out the house on their own to see if they couldn't catch the Demon of the Landing in the act after all…
XP earned: 150 each
Session 13 The party took careful watch over the Thorne residence alongside the guardsman that patrolled the area (save for Zuno, who did a spot of dumpster diving and came away with a broken silver platter for his troubles). However, despite the party's perceptiveness, the Demon of the Landing was sneakier: nearly succeeding in getting the drop on Snips. Quickly, the rest of the party sprung into action, joining the fray on the rooftops as Snips attempted to fall back having already received some deep wounds from the werewolf. They soon realized that mundane weapons were entirely ineffective against the werewolf, but luckily, they still had some options. Lir used radiant smites and magic bullets to hamper the creature while Zuno utilized magic missiles and other spells to overcome the werewolf's healing factor. Snips coated a few bullets in acidic weapon grease while Tess used her grappling prowess to keep the beast in one spot. Finally, Flea took the broken platter and turned it into a pair of crude shivs. The guards did their best to help, too, such as they could (i.e., not much).
Together, they were able to wear the werewolf down to the point where its desire for blood was eclipsed by its sense of self-preservation, and it fled. A chase ensued across the rooftops with Flea, Lir, and Zuno following along while Snips pursued from the streets, unsure if he'd be able to jump the gap between the roofs (Tess did her best to not die, as the wolf was able to knock her out). Despite the obstacles of an urban chase, the werewolf was unable to lose his pursuers, and ultimately he was stopped by a successful hold person spell cast by Zuno. The werewolf made one last stand against the party, but their combined might proved too much, and he was felled with a final blow from Flea with her silver shiv. Curiously, they noticed strange maggots crawling around from within one of his cranial wounds. Zuno attempted to extract a sample to look at later.
Exhausted, they regrouped with the guards to announce their triumph. They were assured they would receive their reward in the morning. Meanwhile, the other guards searched the Thorne house to ensure this was indeed Jack. The screams and cries of Isabelle confirmed this to be the case. The bereft woman insisted that her husband was innocent; that he had been born with his curse and had managed it for decades now. He had never hurt anyone and clearly, he had been framed. In her eyes, the party were murderers. The party briefly protested, but quickly concluded this was not their problem and left to finally sleep.
Snips was up at the crack of dawn, forgoing a full rest, to go and receive their due reward. Unfortunately for him, he was informed that the Governess wished to thank the party personally, and they would need to go to the funeral wake being held for her son at Seawatch Castle to receive it. Begrudgingly, Snips went and got the rest of the party. First, they stopped at Eqora's tower and paid for a few castings of remove curse in order to alleviate those that were bitten by the werewolf of lycanthropy (they did not wish to find out the hard way if they had contracted it). On the way, the encountered a dragonborn calling out for help as a Ba'shad orc stood over him. The party seemed ready to leap into action until the orc explained he was a bounty hunter and the dragonborn was wanted by the Palaxi Dominion. This satisfied the party, save for Flea who seemed strangely determined to help out the dragonborn. Fortunately, Lir dragged her away before things got too heated.
At the wake, the Governess made a toast to the heroes who avenged her son, gave them their reward as well as her late-son's Ring of Protection. In addition, she also confided in them her belief that a greater conspiracy was afoot and that she wished to hire them on as retainers who could work with greater reach than her guards or garrison. The party seemed mostly interested (especially at the amount of money that was offered), but ultimately gave her a "maybe" for now. While there, they also encountered the minstrel Machi who informed them of a way to get into the shadow auction happening later in the day. He could precure them entrance in exchange for them aiding in a bid for a particular instrument up for auction. The party agreed, and once evening fell, arrived at the Warren Flint Auction House.
At the proper auction, Zuno was able to successfully bid on a Cloak of the Manta Ray, which he had been hoping to acquire. True to his word, Machi, and his "associate" Gerald, was able to get the party into the invite-only shadow auction. There, they realized just how expensive magic items could be. A few items caught their eye, but none were affordable once the bidding took off. However, they still kept their word, and aided Machi in winning the Fochluchan Bandore. Lastly, the circlet that had attracted Flea to the auction was announced to have been rescinded prior to the auction. Worse for her, she was confronted by the two fellows she had followed to the Isles as to what she thought she was doing here, revealing to the rest of the party that she had some kind of purpose in coming here, but it was not at the behest of whatever this organization was. Despite their haughty nature, the fellow goblin and half-elf requested that the party inform them should they learn anything else about this circlet or the dwarf that possessed it. Meanwhile, Snips did his best to acclimate himself to Flint and his men, hoping to increase his standing in the underworld. Ultimately, he made a connection with a nobleman who won the Dagger of Venom Snips had hoped to acquire. The nobleman assured him that if they worked together, Snips would work his way up the ladder in no time.
With the Demon of the Landing seemingly dealt with an the auction concluded, the party was once again faced with the age old question: Where to from here…?
XP earned: 400 each
Session 14 After mulling over the Governess' offer, the party opted to quietly decline for the time being, not wishing to be tethered to any one obligation (though they'd happily continue to take freelance jobs if the pay was good). In the morning, the group was approached by a messenger sent by Lord Ambrose Blackwell, the shady noble Snips made the acquaintance of at the auction. He had for them a simple job: retrieve a lockbox intended for him from the wreckage of the HNS Road Less Travelled, which was run aground during a freak storm off the coast of Soros. After Snips drilled into the heads of the rest of the party that the package was to be left unopened as the missive requested (in addition to receiving this first payment, it was of vital importance to get into the good graces of this noble, and by extension, the crime lord Flint), they made their way to the docks to see if their favorite solo ship captain was able to ferry them to their destination. On the way, someone who remained unperceived snuck a piece of literature by the "Witnesses of Aevilok" in Lir's pack. Puzzled over who did this, but seeing it as all but harmless, they simply disposed of the pamphlet and continued on their way.
Captain Ransford of the Damnation of the Tide was more than happy to aid his pals again and was ready to ship off whenever they wanted. Before doing so, Flea took one of the magic beans she purchased from a shady curio seller and planted it. From the ground sprung a nest holding four pristine eggs. Zuno used the identify spell and learned that the eggs had the potential to increase a person's weakest ability if consumed. Unfortunately, they also had the possibility of exploding upon ingestion. Tabling that for now, Flea simply retrieved a secure container to carry them in, and the party set sell.
Not far from the coast, they witnessed first-hand the brutal circle of life. On the nearby coastline, a flock of birds was swarming over a clutch of newly hatched turtles. Moved to aid, Zuno and Tess jumped ship and attempted to swim to shore, much to the chagrin of the rest of the party. The swim proved difficult for Tess, and by the time they got to the beach, they were only able to save a handful of the turtles. Despite this, they were still met with a sense of inspiration from having done the right thing.
The rest of the three day voyage proved uneventful, and the party reached the wreckage of the Road Less Travelled as well as a handful of other ships of varying ages that had been washed up upon the jagged rocks. With nowhere safe to dock, the party dove into the murky waters (with some cool flips for the lore) and made their way to the ship's husk (Tess forwent her armor this time to make the swim easier). Unfortunately, the party was not the only group interested in the ship. A shiver of sahuagin and their shark thralls were lurking within the ships ruins, and were none to pleased to have their scavenging interrupted. They leapt upon the party and nearly overwhelmed them. Lir, Zuno, and Tess attempted to fend them off in the water while Flea and Snips took potshots from the "dry" portion of the deck. They were able to slay the sahuagin priestess, a few of the warriors, and one of the larger hunter sharks, but in the process, Lir and Zuno were badly injured and Tess was knocked unconscious. Fortunately, they were all able to retreat onto the exposed upper deck, and the sahuagin did not pursue, contenting themselves to maintain a threatening presence within the water and keeping the party trapped on the deck.
The party rested and recovered from the fight while they plotted their next move. They knew their prize was likely in the cargo hold at the deepest part of the ship, but the sahuagin were lurking within the ship themselves (Snips learned this after retrieving a magic boomerang from the air pocket of the lower deck and attempting to see what was further in beneath the water). Ultimately, they opted to try to use the murky water to their advantage and slink by. Lir, Zuno, Flea, and Snips made their way back into the depths while Tess waited above, believing herself to be more of a hindrance than an asset in this situation. The group was able to sneak by the first pair of Sahuagin (they noted one of them had found a pair of bracers that still gleamed despite having sat underwater) and made their way to the hold where three more shark men poked through the debris. There were numerous points of interest within the hold, including a large, empty safe with its door torn off and damage to the hull that didn't line up with a simple beaching. There were also a number of smaller chests and boxes, including their target. Unfortunately, one of the sahuagin was right in front of it, sifting through the other containers. Snips attempted to cause a diversion while Zuno grabbed the box, but he was spotted in the attempt. Despite this, Zuno grabbed the box as well as a spell scroll he spotted nearby, and the rest of the group fought their way out. Two of the sahuagin were able to disengage and ostensibly go for reinforcements, but the party was able to make it back to the surface with their prize in tow (they were even able to retrieve the bracers, which were revealed to be bracers of archery).
Now all that was left was returning to the Damnation of the Tides, which was still blocked by now swiftly circling sharks. Fortunately for the party, a group of sea elves mounted on giant seahorses had been pursuing the sahuagin, and were able to clear them off just long enough for the party to make it back to their ship. The elves left them with a cryptic warning that they believed the sahuagin portended an awakening of the Deep Dwellers, horrific creatures of legend that slumbered in the deepest parts of the ocean, and that land dwellers would do well to prepare. Keeping that in mind, the party set course to return to New Providence and claim their reward…
XP earned: 450 each
Session 15 On the return trip to New Providence, the party encountered the Boundless Vagabond, a massive leisure ship catering to the rich and influential, sending out a distress signal. Upon investigation, they found a mysterious man called the Cleric aboard, who calmly informed them that there had been a murders (or rather, several). Trepidatiously, the party boarded and met the rest of the crew and guests all gathered within the main casino floor below deck. There, they learned that 6 people had died on the hour of every hour since midnight; each of them claiming to see a zombified creature approaching them that none of the others present could see. What's more, the ship's helm and rudder had been sabotaged. With the next hour fast approaching, the party split up to search for clues. Some of the guests, like the servant of the first victim, seemed like they could have motives, but none appeared to be casting any spells or had the means of summoning ghosts. Likewise, none of their rooms held anything of clear importance. As for the Cleric, they learned he was only a "cleric" in name, and had appeared mysteriously on the boat shortly before the first murder began. Inspecting the victims revealed clear signs of necrosis, but no visible wounds.
At the top of the hour, another victim was revealed, as a Famine Knight of the Aonian Church began shrieking about a ghoulish creature approaching him from the stairs. Again, no one could see this apparition bar one notable exception: Zuno could see it. This caused something to click for the Cleric, who used a reflective surface to reveal the Skulk to the rest of the group. Now visible to everyone else, the apparation was dispatched and the man was saved. The Cleric explained that Skulks are entirely formless under normal circumstances, but children specifically could see them. What's more, they also take on a vague likeness of those who summon them. It then became clear that one of the deceased had summoned the monster. A second search of his room revealed that unlike the other portals on the ship, his had been unbolted so as to open. Lir examined the surrounding sea water to search for the origins of a dark spirit or signs that the man had thrown incriminating evidence overboard. Meanwhile, Snips happily performed an "autopsy" on the man and found larvae behind his eye identical to those found in the werewolf they fought previously. This time, both he and the Cleric took samples in glass vials to study. With Lir's investigation turning up very little and Tess finding no signs of further attacks while she hid in the victim's room, it became clear that the danger had passed. In thanks, the remaining guests drummed up 200 gp to give to the party as thanks.
Soon after, the HNS Falling Star came to the Boundless Vagabond's aid. The navy ship, crewed by the same crew of the HNS Guiding Light that the party first arrived to the Isles on greeted the group and let them know that they were hunting for the pirate lord Iron Eye in case they were interested in teaming up again. With that, they all made their way back to New Providence (Zuno witnessed the Cleric "depart" via some kind of magic door below deck before they reached the city) and arrived as night fell.
They happened to check a notice board before returning to their rooms at the Roasted Chestnut and found a particularly notable notice: a missing child missive for Zuno. Despite the fatigue of the long journey, Zuno nearly sprinted to the Silver Cloud Inn to find the man who had made the posting with Snips in tow. There, they found that the man, Darnell Clerk, had managed to get himself kidnapped, leaving his three mercenaries more or less stuck without a means of getting paid or a message back to Clerk's people. Upon investigation of his stuff, Zuno found an illusionist wizard's spell book and several correspondences addressed to Adius Ilonitor, who Zuno recognized as a member of a prominent family of wizards back in Archaios. Opting to rest before following up on this, the pair returned to the Roasted Chestnut.
Meanwhile, Flea decided now was a good a time as any to consume the magic eggs yielded by the magic bean she planted a while back. Unfortunately, she proved unable to withstand the magic and nearly killed herself twice over before Lir stabilized her and confiscated the remaining two eggs. Not yet satisfied, and barely standing after the damage she sustained, she planted another bean and was rewarded with a geyser of hot tea. In so doing so, a few more strands of Tess's golden fur likely turned gray in response. Despite this, the party was finally able to fully rest and revitalize themselves.
The following day, the party went about tying up loose ends and doing some shopping. Lir and Snips visited Eqora to share with her the worms they had collected and commission some work (specifically, Snips wanted a second bracer of archery to complete the set he split with Flea) and then collected the reward for the still-sealed lockbox retrieved from the Road Less Travelled. Flea collected her explosive ammunition from Corybar and Lir commissioned a moon-touched longsword. Flea also dragged Tess with her to find the mysterious merchant Marcucio in order to buy more magic beans (they were successful, and Flea became the proud owner of two more magic beans). Finally, as evening again began to fall, the party turned their attention towards saving the bumbling wizard who had come in search of Zuno…
XP earned: 250 each
Session 16 The party made their way towards the Maudlin Mermaid in search of the man searching for Zuno, but before they could make much progress, they were approached by a clearly distressed fairy. The creature, Leigh-la, was seeking help in finding her friends who had been kidnapped by pirates and recognized the party as a group that generally did good things (even if for less than scrupulous motives) and sought to travel with them. The party did not openly object (indeed, Tess was quite welcoming), and thus a new member of the party was added.
At the Maudlin Mermaid, the party was rather conspicuous in their approach. Flea made the first attempt at contact and made it clear that she was with a group. Lir tried a more domineering approach and was eventually successful in intimidating the bartender into pointing out the contact who awaited them. Meanwhile, Snips scouted out the private rooms and found what appeared to be a locked room holding a group of men; one of whom sounded as if they were gagged. Lir approached the contact, who made it quite clear their would be no deal unless the party coughed up the ransom. Not willing to part with such an insane sum, they opted instead to check out what Snips had found. Naturally, the contact and his accomplice pursued, and a fight broke out in the stairwell, at which point Snips blew the lock off of the door to the room holding the captive.
The pirates in the hallway were easily subdued, with Leigh-la bottlenecking them with a moonbeam and tearing the throat out of one in direwolf form while Zuno barraged them with magic missiles. The remaining pirates held firm in their room with the captive, and eventually a standoff unfolded. The lead pirate made it clear that the money the party sought was safely aboard their ship, but offered to hand both it and their captive over if they all just took a nice, friendly walk back to the docks. The party refused, and insisted they hand over the hostage and whatever cash they happened to have on hand. Ultimately, the pirates relented and freed their captive as well as tossing over a wallet with a handful of bills within. Satisfied, the party left and took the now freed (but still gagged) Darnell Clerk back to the Silver Cloud Inn where is mercenaries remained.
Back at the inn, Darnell was decidedly coy about who he was and why he was here, despite his gratitude for the party's aid. He insisted he was hired by Zuno's mother and that they had "worked out a deal" to explain the premium reward for his safe return. The party was not satisfied with his explanations and did not feel comfortable with him taking the boy, who for his own part, was insistent that he would remain here as he "became a powerful wizard." Darnell relented and made it seem he and his men would return to Archaios, as they had no means of offering the promised reward. However, Zuno remained for a while; concealed by an invisibility spell. There, he learned that while Darnell would send his men home and ensure they were paid, he would remain in New Providence to keep an eye on the boy.
Finally returning to their own inn well into the night, instead of doing the sensible thing and resting, Flea decided it was time to plant more beans. For her trouble this time, she was greeted with the sudden appearance of an extradimensional archway that led down into a cold, pitch-black tunnel. Not curtailed at all by the quickly mounting aura of terror, Flea descended into the depths and found a great stone door emblazoned with abyssal runes. Attracted by the quaking of the tavern, most of the rest of the party also joined in the investigation. Zuno, who was familiar with abyssal for some reason, was able to read the text: a dire warning written by an ancient people urging that this place be left alone at all costs. In addition to this, Lir's use of divine sense nearly toppled him with such an intense awareness of the desecration and undead nature of what laid beyond the door. Fortunately for the party's well-being, they opted to not attempt to open the door. Further, come morning, the archway had disappeared.
With that healthy dose of existentialism out of the way, the party opted to pursue a newly posted bounty on a now ex-member of the Colonial Merchants' Guild, a baker named Clarissa Cassy. Clarissa was accused of stealing from several fellow members of the guild and had gone to ground when they sent people after her. The party spoke with a clerk at the guild hall and got the lowdown on the situation. From there, they travelled to the bakery, For Goodness Cakes, and Clarissa's home. Both places were empty and clearly picked over, but they were able to find a few key clues that the others had missed: They were able to crack the bakery's safe, which held a good bit of money (that Snips slyly pocketed) and a registry of its employees. At her home, they discovered an old diary whose entries revealed her Aunt and Uncle's address. From the employees, they were able to learn that Clarissa had been spotted at a bar at the edge of town called the Crack Smile. Opting to divide and conquer, the party split; half going to the bar and half going to the Aunt and Uncle. Curiously, both of them found their quarry. They did not realize it yet, but they seem to have gotten caught up in some kind of doppelganger's plot…
XP earned: 325 each
Session 17 The half of the party at Clarissa's home seemed convinced of her innocence and returned to the Cracked Smile Tavern to fill in the rest of the group, save for Tess who remained behind just to keep an eye on things. Once they arrived, the doppelganger plot became clear. They moved to confront the "other" Clarissa in her room, with a very drunk Snips still managing to pick the lock when their knocking went unanswered. Inside, they found Clarissa's double, who was rather forthcoming with their situation: she was a changeling (Lir's use of detect evil and good, as well as Leigh-la's enthusiasm at meeting another fey creature confirmed this) looking to get out of New Providence and took advantage of Clarissa Cassy's standing in the Merchant Guild to "finance" her ticket out. If the party was willing to live and let live, she'd return some of what was stolen as long as she could still afford to leave. Ultimately, the party settled on getting her a ride on The Damnation of the Tides, and returned the stolen goods to the Guild, who offered 450 gp of the 600 gp after some convincing.
With that business concluded, the party pivoted to investigate (all except Snips, who wanted nothing to do with this and went about tracking a small time bounty followed by a night of carousing that culminated in a one night stand) something strange they had witnessed on the way to the docks: a scrawny young guy struggling to haul a heavy, misshapen burlap sack behind a florist's shop. Lir initially went to check this out and was able to confirm that what the boy claimed to be "plant food" was, in fact, a mutilated human corpse. However, when Lir left to grab a guard, the boy quickly made his way into the shop and locked the door behind him. The guards proved unhelpful, only assuring him that they'd "come back with a warrant." Meanwhile, Zuno investigated the front of the store and the woman manning it. He managed to worm his way into the back room but saw no signs of the man or his sack. Once the changeling was safely departed, the rest of the group returned. Leigh-la took to form of a cat and used all the charm at her disposal to get in the good graces of the woman, who even let her into the back room to "nap." There, she found an obscured hatch and slight blood stains around it. Assuming her fairy form again, she opened the back door for the rest of the party, who descended into the depths and found a massive Corpse Flower within that reeked of death.
The party confronted the woman, who seemed genuinely unaware of what was lurking in the cellar (as well as 100% onboard with the idea that the shop's owner had simply departed to visit his sister back in Archaios) and even agreed to lead them to the man's home, who had "called off sick" slightly after his initial confrontation with Lir. At his home, the party got the man to spill his guts: He insisted that the plant was talking to him and demanding he feed it corpses in exchange for it helping "better" his life. He seemed strangely adamant that he "owed" the plant and that he didn't want it to be harmed, but eventually relented and told the party they could go deal with it as they saw fit, if only to get them out of his home (and perhaps thinking the plant would simply devour them as well).
Back at the shop, they confronted the plant, which remained quite silent even as Leigh-la insisted it speak with them. It wasn't until the party attacked that the plant became alive, quickly dropping Tess with a flurry of poisonous tendrils. Despite its strength, and its ability to animate the corpses still residing in its buds, the plant was outnumbered and overwhelmed, with Lir landing the killing blow. Despite its death, the man still seemed to think it was speaking to him. Realizing something more may be going on here, they took him to the Crown Mage Eqora, who quickly realized the man was exuding the same aura as the brain worms the party had brought her from the Boundless Vagabond. The party left the man with her so she could run further tests.
After taking a well-earned rest, the party encountered a surprising crowd in the common area of the Roasted Chestnut. Survivors from a pirate raid had just returned to the city, having been rescued by the HNS Falling Star. It was clear that the perpetrator was none other than the Pirate Lord Iron Eye, and what's more, one of the pirates had been captured during the rescue…
XP earned: 450 each
Session 18 The party quickly made their way over to Seawatch Castle and schmoozed their way into the dungeon, where they met Commander Marshal and Lt. Palmer of the HNS Falling Star, who were using a combination of truth serum and detect thoughts to interrogate the captive pirate. Together, they learned that Iron Eye made use of an Atotakan ruin on a "secret island" as his base of operations. Of course, the lowly pirate was ignorant of where exactly the island was located. They also learned that the pirates often made port at Kamakisqa, which seemed to be their most promising lead. Leigh-la and Tess also made an attempt to appeal to the pirate's better nature, which appeared to be largely ineffective; though it did reveal that the hobgoblin and his mates seemed to follow some code (albeit a warped one) of justice as they believed the island of Soros had been stolen from them.
Afterwards, Marshal suggested that they team up to track down the pirate lord once and for all. A navy ship would be unable to get within 100 leagues of Kamakisqa, but the unaffiliated party could go there freely. They could even make use of the New Horizons Company's posting for security on a shipment bound for the "independent" colony to get there. Seemingly down with this idea, the party spent the rest of the day shopping, gathering supplies, and picking up commissions. Flea then went to end the day by finding a nice, secluded place to plant her last magic bean. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by a little girl asking for aid in finding her mother, who in turn had gone to find her husband earlier that day. Flea (and Leigh-la, who had followed) acquiesced and followed the girl to an entrance to the sewer, where they determined it would be best to get the whole group involved. All agreed (though Snips required compensation in order to reluctantly agree) and the party descended again into the sewers.
The girl led them deep into the twisting sewer networks beyond the shantytowns of the displaced, homeless, and drug-addled. Eventually, they picked up the trail of her mother and father and even found the former further in. The mom frantically asked for help, claiming that bizarre ooze-like creatures were chasing her husband further in. True enough, the party came to a cistern and found a man being swarmed by oblex spawn. The party leapt into battle against the oozes. Despite some poor shots and near-misses, the party seemed more than capable of dealing with the oozes until the adult oblex's deception was revealed. The oblex's puppet of the father cast a hypnotic pattern that incapacitated all but Lir and Zuno, who attempted to continue the fight just as a pair. Unfortunately, Zuno's wizardly mind proved a tempting snack for the oblex who swarmed the boy and brought him down, feasting on his memories even after he had fallen. These wounds proved to be too much, and Zuno perished before he could be stabilized. Lir, who had taken a few solid hits himself, suddenly realized how dangerous the situation was and laid down a fog cloud to cover his escape. He scooped up Zuno's body and snapped Tess out of her stupor. In the meantime though, the other puppets of the oblex, both the little girl and the mother, moved in on Flea as their next victim; slamming her with pseudopods and consuming her memories as well. This also proved too much for the goblin, who fell as well, though she was able to hold to life a bit longer than Zuno did.
With the ret of the party quickly coming back online, the oblex took the opportunity to withdraw, having been satiated on two succulent meals. Lir healed Flea enough to get her back on her feat, and the party made for a swift exit from the sewers, though not before a battered Flea heard a voice call out to her: a confused, raspy voice belonging to Thaldur Herthenn, the dwarf who had stolen the circlet Flea had come to the Talhani Isles to pursue. With little time to ask questions, Flea grabbed him and dragged him along with the rest of the group to Abnegation Cathedral, where the clerics quickly escorted them up to the office of First Cleric Isolde Whitewood who leapt into action to perform a ressurection ritual. Unfortunately, the raise dead spell was needed at this point to restore Zuno's life. Normally, a 500 gp donation would be needed to compensate the church for the needed materials, but the party quickly offered to undertake the job the church had posted about. With that agreement, the First Cleric successfully completed the ritual and explained to a freshly revived Zuno what had happened (to which he simply responded: Cool!). With that dealt with, the party turned to new matters: the First Cleric needed to brief them on what exactly they had agreed to do, Flea had many questions for Thaldur, and Snips had just received a notice that Lord Blackwell had need of his and the party's services again…
XP earned: 365 each
Session 19 The party departed the cathedral, promising to return once they rested to learn more about the job they now owed. Little did they know that they would be returning for a much funnier reason.
Flea had a stressful conversation with her "guest," the dwarf Thaldur Herthenn. While desperately trying to get Tess and Zuno to butt out, she learned that her old guild-member sold the circlet he stole to an older, pallid elf with a scar across his face. During all this, it was clear Thaldur was not all there. Flea risked leaving the room to grab Snips to see if he couldn't ID a drug or poison affecting him. Tess took the opportunity to learn about the Hellfire Legion of which Flea and Thaldur were members. Tess also asked if Flea was "a good person," to which Thaldur, half-dazed, replied "she's mostly just an annoyance." For his part, Snips confirmed he was on drugs, but couldn't tell what kind. Zuno suspected a more magical affliction, but detected no spell upon him. Ultimately, Tess bought the poor dwarf a room for the night and everyone went to bed.
In the morning, Thaldur was still barely lucid, but the party decided they had better things to do, like find out what Snips pal Lord Blackwell wanted from them. They travelled to his stately manor and learned that the pirate gang he sold the package the party previously recovered had skimped him on the agreed price. Blackwell wanted a message sent, first and foremost, and said that the remaining balance due of 600 gp would serve as the party's payment. With that, they went off to the docks in search of the Howl of the Damned, though not before another sneaky Witness of Aevilok tucked a pamphlet into Flea's bag.
Finding the ship proved simple enough, and Snips was even able to pretty successfully infiltrate it, walking aboard like he belonged there past the few men on deck passing the time by throwing daggers at the mast. Inside, he saw that there was at least one other kobold aboard. Additionally, he noted that they were all wearing red bandanas under their various hats. In order to blend in further, Snips grabbed a rag from the galley and quickly dyed it with his own blood. This disguise got him all the way to the ships gunpowder reserve where he encountered a hobgoblin doing inventory. Fortunately, he mistook Snips for "Riks" and just shooed him away.
Snips reported his findings, and together, the party concocted a plan: Snips would board again and use one of the bombs he purchased earlier that day to blow a hole in the hull for the rest of the party to slip through. From there, they'd smash and grab, with part of the group whipping up a diversion and the rest finding and taking the gold owed and any other they could find.
The first hitch in the plan was when Snips came face-to-face with the ships only other kobold. Both claimed the other was an imposter, and the drunken crew couldn't really tell the difference. And thus, they held a deck-swabbing contest to see who was the real Riks (who was famously very bad at fighting but very good at cleaning). Unfortunately for the real Riks, the pressure got to him and he choked, while Snips cleaned his half of the deck flawlessly. The real Riks was then summarily executed and tossed in the bay. From there, it was simple enough for Snips to traverse the ship as he saw fit and plant his bomb. That's when shit really hit the fan.
Naturally, the blast drew the attention of the crew. Most of the party was able to hide themselves before the crew arrived, but Tess's golden bunny ears proved their undoing. She tried her best to play the part of just a normal rabbit, but when it became clear the crew was going to grab her anyway, a fight broke out. The party fought tenaciously, but the crew had a sizeable numbers advantage, with both Tess and Lir getting swarmed. Flea led some of the crew on a merry chase around the palisade, and Snips made it to the gunpowder storage to light a torch. During this time though, Tess was knocked out. Zuno raced to get her off the ship, but her wounds proved too severe, and just like Zuno not 24 hours ago, perished.
The rest of the party just barely escaped the blast. They did not stick around to admire their handiwork and high-tailed it back to the Cathedral, where the First Cleric made it clear that a conversation needed to be had about the inherent risk of their chosen profession and the scarce nature of materials needed to conduct a revival. All the same, the party was able to cover the cost of another ritual and agreed to undertake the church's quest pro bono. Once Tess was up again, the First Cleric explained the nature of the quest: the Holy Chains, a relic of the church, had been stolen by a member of the Black Sun pirate gang, who were based in Kamakisqa. With yet another goal within the remote pirate city, the party prepped to make the journey, though not before doing a little "salvaging" from the wreckage of the Howl of the Damned, where they found a few items of value as well as a Ring of Protection. Now all that was needed was a reliable means of reaching Kamakisqa…
XP earned: 500 each
Session 20 The party made their way to the New Horizon's Company HQ to learn more about their job listing, though not before Flea was again reverse-pickpocketed with a Witnesses of Aevilok brochure. At the HQ they learned the ship they'd be protecting would stay at Kamakisqa for five days where they'd be free to do whatever until it was time to depart. With that, they returned to the Roasted Chestnut for some much needed rest.
Except instead of resting, Flea, Zuno, and Snips all planted magic beans (as of course Flea restocked). This time, they managed to summon ten shrieking mushrooms, a hungry bulette, and a thankfully non-hostile treant, who helpfully aided them in fending off the bulette. Much to the guards confusion, who had been drawn to the sounds of shrieking, the treant simply asked if there was a forest nearby and wandered off in the direction pointed out by Snips. Then the party went to sleep.
In the morning, they went to the docks to set sail. There, they ran into Marshal, who gave them a sending stone and told them to look out for the Blind Scorn, the name of the ship their captured pirate hailed from. On board, the party looked entirely out of place, as the rest of the mercenaries aboard were grizzled, war-weary, old hands, including the last one to board who seemed to be keeping a keen eye on Zuno. During the voyage, Zuno spoke at length with him, believing he may have been one of Darnell Clerk's mercenaries. The man, John Clark, didn't seem to know of whom he was referring, but rather pointedly chastised the boy for being so reckless with his life. Also during the trip, Snips familiarized himself with his poisoner's kit and even crafted a dose of basic poison.
In Kamakisqa, the party's plan was to simply start laying the groundwork for the quests they had in the city, return and get paid with NHC, and then travel back with Cpt. Ransford (ideally with his lucky anchor in hand). They ventured forth and started getting the lay of the lawless, pirate city. Tess found a fence who could sell her a hat of disguise (so as not to stand out as seemingly the only harengon in town), Snips bought some fancy venoms and an almanac from a certainly upstanding vendor, and Flea discovered the old elf that Thaldur had sold the stolen circlet to.
While the rest of the party went to retrieve Tess's hat, Flea tailed the elf into a bar. She was able to glean the man was seeking a hobgoblin fortune teller, but not much else. Ultimately, she decided to chance it and try to rip the circlet right off of his head. Surprisingly, she was able to get the jump on him, but the circlet seemed to be rather stuck. After recovering, the elf uttered power word pain and forced Flea to disengage. Fortunately for her, the man seemed willing to talk. He explained he had no intention of parting with the circlet, he'd compensate her for the loss to the tune of 1000gp. Flea had a small existential crisis and excepted the cash. She then wandered off into the city, having no idea where her friends went, and ended up spending the rest of the day meditating with an enlightened tortle.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group acquired the hat of disguise and purchased some more helpful information from the fence. He confirmed the location of "the Magpie's Menagerie" and warned them that a password was required to enter. He also helpfully pointed them in the direction of "Ripley the Coward," the man who stole Ransford's anchor all those years ago. With that, they ventured off to the casino he frequented, where they found that he owed several people their money. They leveraged this to learn where he lived: an apartment building run by Owl Eyes pirates. There, Snips made friends with the door guard. Eventually, Zuno and Tess realized Snips wasn't getting anywhere and snuck in through the fenced-off yard in the back. Inside, they were able to track down Ripley's apartment and found a number of gambling and betting stubs, including from the Magpies Menagerie. Snips' patience ended up paying off as well, as he spotted Ripley himself coming home for the day. He pulled him aside and had a polite conversation; learning that he sold the anchor to the Black Suns boss ages ago, and that his base was located in one of the old boarding homes in Four Hearths.
With that, the party finally reconvened in their bunks on the ship to share what they had learned and plot their next move…
XP earned: 305 each