Session 28 - For Whom the Bell Tolls

General Summary

After killing the head of the Skinsaw cult in Magnimar, the Saviors of Sandpoint took the journal of Justice Ironbriar and returned to the Foxglove townhouse to recover for the evening. The next day, Jayvielle used his business savvy to sell the items looted from the lair of the Skinsaw cult without much resistance from the merchants. With gold in their pocket, they returned to Heidmarch Manor to speak to Sheila Heidmarch and get some advice about what to do with Ironbriar's journal. Sheila considered it and suggested two options - present it to the Hellknights, or to Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras. The party decided they would make a copy of the journal, then return it to Sheila and allow her to make a decision what is best for her, and for Magnimar. In the meantime, the heroes suggested that Sheila might want to let her contact in the OMS know that the fire at the sawmill was intentional, and there was something in the shed nearby that might be worth investigating. That evening, while Jatsu, Kumiko and Gallious deciphered the journal and made an abridged copy for themselves, Jayvielle took Kilgor and Grog to look for information on the Magnimar district of Underbridge, and the Shadow Clock that resided there. The following morning, the heroes returned to speak to Sheila. The Venture-Captain told them that she had passed along the information to her OMS contact the evening prior. The party gave her the journal of Justice Ironbriar and told her to use it however it would help her the most. Once again, they gave her their trust. From there, it was off to the shadowy district of Underbridge. The shadow clock was intimidating. The old clock towner was almost two hundred feet high, and seemed to sway in the breeze. It was not a matter of if, but when, that the tower would fall down. The locals had a betting pool going as to how many the tower would kill when it finally did collapse. The Saviors of Sandpoint were concerned that today would be that day, and that they would be among the dead when it fell. Trouble started on the main floor when the party were attacked by a mass of bodyparts using as much cow and horse as it did man. It was dressed in straw and rags, giving it the appearance of a great scarecrow. Once the scarecrow was slain, the party began the ascent up a hundred feet plus of rickety stairs. High above, four large brass bells hung from sturdy beams. But when the party was halfway up the stairs, one of those bells plummeted to the ground, bouncing off the walls of the tower. Kilgor was struck but shrugged off the impact. Gallious, however, was crushed against the wall but was able to grab the stairs and prevented his fall. Jayvielled dashed up the remainder of the stairs before another bell could fall on them. Up in the belfry, the party fought three Urgothols who bore sihedron stars as apparent holy symbols. They were dispatched before they could sabotage another bell. The stairs continued outside the tower. Up on the roof, a demon appariated in a cloud of smoke. The heroes spread out and attacked from several angles. From behind, Xanesha appeared and attempted to petrify Gallious. Grog attacked the demon and realized that the creature was actually an elaborate illusion. He shouted out the warning to Jayvielle, who was just about to leap onto the creature to attack it. The battle began to tip to Xanesha's favor and the heroes came close to death's door. But a mighty blow from Kilgor turned the tides, and with renewed hope the Saviors of Sandpoint pushed hard. Xanesha, now badly injured, was forced to flee and abandon not only her roost but her hold on Magnimar itself. Among her remaining treasures were two items of true value. One of them was a discarded note to Xanesha that read:

Xanesha— I trust your little band of murderers is doing well, gathering the greedy souls for our Lord’s rise? Has Magnimar proven to be as sinful as you had hoped? It may interest you to know that my plan to nurture greed here in this backwater has blossomed—the quality of greed in a soul is so much more refined when it is given the proper care. Are you still simply carving the Sihedron on them as they expire? How crude! My method of marking is so much more elegant. In any event, I’m sure that your plans for harvesting greed where and when you can find it “in the wild” are progressing well enough—I just hope that your raw, ungroomed, and likely inferior victims don’t interact poorly when mixed with the purity of my own subjects. If you tire of your little project there, know that you’re always welcome to come to Turtleback Ferry and serve as my assistant! Fort Rannick should be in our control by the time you receive this letter, in any event, so there’ll be plenty of room for you if you wish to take me up on my generous offer. Oh! Before I forget! Have you managed to harvest that lord-mayor yet? By all accounts, he might just be the cream of the crop in Magnimar—his soul might even rival several from my hand-grown harvest!

The other item of note was what looked to be the list of sacrifices. The party recognized a few of the names on the list as citizens of Sandpoint, as well as the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar himself! In the aftermath, Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras was so thankful that the heroes had twarted an assassination attempt on him that he awarded them 6000gp each as a reward.