Session 26 - Chasing the Skinsaw

General Summary

The Warning

As the party returned from their fight with Tiberius Dragonhammer, Geoff was rushing out of The Rusty Dragon with Ameiko Kaijitsu in tow. He was frantically looking for any help he could find. The halfling led the group to ruins of the Old Light. A crowd of townsfolk and town guards had assembled. The party pushed through the crowd and found a bloody Brodert Quink standing in shock, hands trembling. He told the party that he had been speaking with Kadrus Shieldwalker when the hobgoblin mercenary Sereg appeared out of thin air and quickly beat the unsuspecting elf unconscious. Brodert, shocked at what he was seeing, watched in horror as Sereg took Kadrus' left hand and destroyed it with several powerful fist strikes, commenting “This is what happens to thieves.” The hobgoblin then looked at Brodert with an expression of barely perceptible anger. Runes flashed in the air in front of Sereg, and the hobgoblin vanished. A weak and barely conscious Kadrus suspected that Sereg knows the party has the Communication Ioun Stones as well as the Shard of Pride. Father Zantus had healed Kadrus, but did not have the magic to save the hand. He carefully removed the ruined flesh and pulverized bone to make the stump look presentable. Kadrus was able to summon his mage hand over the stump and handed Kumiko a spell scroll he scribed from his mysterious spellbook. Clerics loaded Kadrus onto the back of a wagon and took him to the Sandpoint Cathedral to be monitored.

The Mighty Maid-Inn

Sheriff Hemlock donated horses for the heroes to travel to Magnimar. He also gave them 50gp to purchase rooms on the way, and at Magnimar itself. And, should a bribe be necessary, the gold could be used for that as well. "I don't need to know what you use it for," said the Sheriff, "as long as it helps with the case. If the people in Sandpoint are still in danger, I need to know who is being targeted." Kaye Tesarani, the owner of Sandpoint's brothel, The Pixie's Kitten, asked if the party could drop off a book at a place she referred to as "the ship" on their way to Magnimar. She had borrowed it a month ago and this would save her a trip. She also invited them to come by the Kitten sometime in the future. "We have something for everyone," she said, "except judgment." Twenty miles down the road, the Saviors of Sandpoint came to the The Mighty Maiden, a ship-turned-tavern. Inside they met the "crew" - Captain Joseph Lorune, "assistant" manager Serena, bartender Ungur Anvilhand (formerly Second Mate), Nirman (formerly Bosun) w. Security Construct Piko. The captain inquired about the exploits of his sister Vionne, and Kilgor bluffed about her slaying a red dragon. Lorune had Piko add "slay a red dragon" to his list of "heroic things to do". When asked how the ship came to be so far inland, the Captain quickly changed the subject. The book Kaye borrowed was a romance novel named "The Damned Priestess". She borrowed it from Ungur, who sheepishly accepted it.

Return to Magnimar

Arriving at the front gates of Magnimar, the party noticed a small lineup of people waiting impatiently to enter the city. About a half dozen guards were posted at the gates, with a handful checking everyone coming and going from the city - examining bags & carts, asking questions. When the heroes finally reached the front of the queue, a city guardsman began questioning Jayvielle - where they were coming from, what their business was in the city, how long they planned on staying, and so on. As the lead guard asked questions, two more guardsmen walked down the line and carefully study everyone. Kumiko noticed they looked quite uneasy and tense about something. A guardsman took notice of Kilgor's sihedron medallion and began questioning him about it. Others became aware of the questioning and circled the Saviors of Sandpoint. They were instructed to dismount and come to the guardpost for further questioning. The heroes namedropped Sheila Heidmarch and claimed to be working with the Pathfinder Society. Sheila was sent for to verify their story. About an hour later Sheila Heidmarch arrived at the guardhouse. She told the guards that as allies of the Pathfinder Society she could vouch for the party. She explained that the sihedron is a symbol of Thassilonian civilization, the very bones that Varisia is built upon. The party has been working on some ancient Thassilonian sites and came across the medallion. The party was permitted to leave with the Venture-Captain.

Heidmarch Manor

Shiela brought the party to Heidmarch Manor. Prince Mandali answered the door. Sheila told him that they would be speaking in private and to ensure they weren't disturbed. Once they were in the library, Sheila told the party that her contact in the Order of Magnimar Security gave her information about the other people who were bidding on the Runecarved Key. The heroes had been curious, thinking that one of them may have been the "Purchaser" for the Shard of Pride that they had come into possession of. The other bidders were:

Maiveer Sloan, head of Magnimar’s chapter of the Aspis Consortium.

Dymal Rinks, the squat halfling, dressed in plain clothes, a regional merchant’s arbitrator. Over the past decade, he’d traveled throughout most of Varisia and had made hundreds of business contacts. Rinks was a compulsive gambler and spent the past three months in Magnimar betting on the bullfights at the Matador’s Lodge. The halfling had run up a sizable debt with the lodge’s sadistic proprietor Master Basaale Minvandu, a sadistic and ruthless businessman who likely wanted to break the halfling’s legs. Given that he had been dragged out of the auction, Rinks was probably no longer "on the table" so to speak.

Falrig Sneve, an eclectic, wealthy, and extremely superstitious merchant and artifact collector from the Capital District. Falrig Sneve was incredibly superstitious, so much so that it often hindered his ability to function in normal society. His obsession with collecting strange artifacts was only matched by his sometimes crippling superstitiousness.

Zimandi Kaddren, the current matriarch of one of Magnimar’s founding families. Among other things, the Kaddrens were noted for sending their scions to study the arcane arts in the Inner Sea’s most prestigious schools and were known supporters of the Golemworks. Zimandi only recently inherited her position after her parents vanished during an expedition to the mysterious fortress known as Viperwall in central Varisia. Kaddren blamed the disappearance of her parents upon the Pathfinder Society.

Doctor Ernst Landis, curator of Magnimar’s publically funded Museum of Ages. He put out feelers among philanthropists and other well-to-do Magnimarians for private donors to bolster his personal funds. One such patron, who had remained anonymous in all dealings with Landis, came forward with enough funds for the doctor to feel confident in his ability to win the auction. Doctor Landis felt obligated to purchase the key and accepted the anonymous donations to ensure he could do so.

At that point, the party presented Heidmarch with a second shard. Sheila identified it as the Shard of Envy. She used a dusty rose prism ioun stone to neutralize the curse, then carefully took possession of it and said it would be stored where no one would find it. To show her appreciation, the Venture-Captain awarded Associate status to the party and gave each member a Pathfinder wayfinder. The discussion then turned to the communication stones. Sheila was unfamiliar with how it worked, only that it was clearly arcane in nature. She assisted Kumiko in operating them. The three stones floated into the air and formed a triangle. Inside the triangle, the image of a stunted stone giant appeared. He demanded to know where Roglas Gorestorm was. When he was told Roglas had been killed, the stone giant chuckled and the communication ended. The party told her about Xanesha and the Brothers of the Seven. Sheila told the party where Foxglove's Townhouse was and told them she would reach out to her contact about what they had told her. They could reconvene in the evening and she would pass along any information that she came up with.

Foxglove Townhouse

The townhouse was located in the Grand Arch District, not far from Starsilver Plaza. It hadn’t been lived in for months, given its state of disarray. The windows were all boarded up, as was the back door. The front door, however, was only locked. Jayvielle had a key and was able to open it easily. Inside the party surprised a pair of noble teens who were drinking wine at the dinner table. They claimed they were just hanging out in the home because it looked like it had been abandoned. They said two of their friends were upstairs "fooling around". Grog and Jayvielle remained downstairs while Gallious, Kilgor, and Kumiko went upstairs to retrieve the frisky youths. Once the party had been split up, the youths changed shape into formless aberrations and attacked. Despite the surprise attack, the four shape-changers were soon dismantled. The Saviors of Sandpoint spent hours searching the house. A secret cache was hidden in the fireplace mantel on the third floor. The mantel was decorated with two roaring lion heads at either end. Jayvielle recalled one of the keys found in Foxglove Manor had a similar lion on it. Inside the cache was a bag of 200 pp along with a shallow wooden case containing a number of legal papers pertaining to the townhouse, as well as the deed to Foxglove Manor. The deed indicated that the Foxglove family only financed two-thirds of the manor’s construction 80 years ago; the remainder was financed by a group called the Brothers of the Seven. The deed also bore an unusual clause near the end that indicated that after 100 years, ownership of Foxglove Manor and the lands within a mile “around and below” reverted to the brothers. Under the case was a thin ledger. The majority of the entries were mundane, but at the end of the ledger there were nearly a dozen entries from over the past 3 months labeled as “Iesha’s Trip to Absalom,” each indicating Foxglove was paying someone referred to as “B–7” 200 gp a week for her “trip,” dropping off the payment every Oathday at midnight at a place called “the Seven’s Sawmill.” Seeing as how Iesha was dead, this seemed suspicious and was deemed worth checking out.

Rewards Granted

400pp (already split amongst the party)
Deed to Foxglove Manor
Wayfinder

Missions/Quests Completed

Sereg attacked Kadrus for stealing from him and destroyed his hand as punishment.
Sheriff Hemlock gave the party horses and gold for their trip to Magnimar.
Kaye Tesarani asked the party to deliver a book to "the ship", an inn between Sandpoint and Magnimar.
The heroes visited The Mighty (Maid)Inn and met the owner Captain Joseph Lorune, "assistant" manager Serena (formerly First Mate), bartender Ungur Anvilhand (formerly Second Mate), Nirman (formerly Bosun) w. Security Constuct Piko. The captain inquired about the exploits of his sister Vionne, and Kilgor bluffed about her slaying a red dragon. Lorune had Piko add "slay a red dragon" to his list of "heroic things to do".
Arrived at Magnimar, questioned due to Kilgor's sihedron medallion. Ritual murders had been taking place in Magnimar and the sihedron symbol was the common marking on all the bodies.
Sheila Heidmarch gave the party information about the bidders at the auction for the Runecarved Key. She would speak to her contact at the OMS and try to get information regarding the Brotherhood of the Seven and Xanesha. In return, the heroes gave Sheila the Shard of Envy for safe-keeping.
The heroes went to Foxglove Townhouse and were attacked by four shapeshifters disguised as teens.
They found legal paperwork as well as a leger discussing payments that were delivered, at midnight to a place called the Seven's Sawmill.