Of Men and Machines Session 2
General Summary
Murder at the Beach
The group woke up the next morning in the comfort of The Smiling Crab Tavern and could hear the roosters calling in the distance. One by one, the group got up and grabbed breakfast. All except for Tim the-not-so-tiny who decided to go for his morning run. He hadn't gone very far when he encountered a large crowd gathered around a pair of homes. Guards were working extra hard to keep the crowd at bay and Tim could hear various people saying how there'd never been a murder in Beachdenn, that Victyr deserved it, and random accusations. Tim pushed his way through the crowd where he met with Kobril Dersk, the young sergeant of the guard. Kobril recognized Tim as one of the rescuees from the day before. He had heard that Tim and his friends had had a run-in with Victyr, the deceased, the previous evening and that it got violent for a moment. Kobril continued to question Tim about his interaction with Victyr the night before. It wasn't long before the rest of the party joined him after eating breakfast in the tavern. Having seen a few dead bodies in his time, Malark offered to assuage the concerns of Kobril by taking a look at the crime scene himself. It wasn't long before he noticed that the tracks in and around the body showed a pair of tracks with feet smaller than the victim's. Further examination revealed a small but precise stab wound in the victim's chest right between the ribs, suggesting this was the work of someone skilled with a blade. Keck took a look at the body as well, and noticed that none of the victim's valuables had been taken and that there was a small tattoo in the shape of a rose between his shoulder blades. Fel'Shu recognized this mark as being the symbol of The Society of the Silk Rose. He recalled, just barely, that it was only ever discussed in hushed whispers in the darkest corners of the seediest taverns in the land. It was apparently some kind of secretive cabal whos influence ranged far and wide. Malark and Keck both thought the same thing: the killer must be someone smaller than Victyr; must not have been regarded a threat; they must be a skilled assassin. They immediately both thought that it was probably Natalya Danamark, the talkative saleswoman who left shortly after. However, they also reasoned that Damaceus Serechor, the tiefling that got into a fight with Victyr, may also be a suspect as he also was smaller than the victim, and he had a reason to attack Victyr. Kobril thanked the group for their investigation and their keen insights. He ordered two of his men to go find Damaceus and Natalya and bring them in for questioning. Meanwhile, the party returned to the tavern so that Tim could grab a quick breakfast before they all headed off to the Veleta Stone Circle to return this dagger of theirs.It'd be Easy They Said...
The party headed east, skirting the edge of Gilmeny Lake and the Comrock Forest, until they finally arrived at the border of the Veleta Wood. The hills and the trees rose in front of them and they began to continue heading eastbound into the forest. After about an hour of searching, they finally saw the ancient stone structure standing atop a hill. The sun gleaned off the massive stones and carvings could just barely be made out in them. Damakos knew that they were likely the same language as was carved on the dagger, but he was unable to read it. They searched the grounds briefly and were able to find the entrance that Saemuel Fletcher had mentioned. They also saw that there were plenty of tracks in the general vicinity, not all of which were recent. This area appeared to be fairly heavily traversed, which made sense given the significance of the site. They opened the hatch and peered down into the darkness. That's when they realized that none of them had any rope. Nevertheless, Damakos took the lead and jumped down into the abyss. It was a 20 foot drop and he hit the ground pretty hard, but was mostly unscathed. He found the rope, backpack, and torch that Saemuel had mentioned leaving behind. He tossed the rope up to the rest of the party and they secured it to one of the stones. The rest of the party, save for Fel'shu, climbed down. Fel'shu opted, insted, to stand guard up top. The silence inside the crypt was deafening, punctuated only by the constant drip drip drip of the moisture from above. All around the party were four hallways headed off in each of the cardinal directions. Assuming that one held as much chance of being right as the next, they headed north. A round room with a rusted brazier sat in the center of the room with doors on both the east and west sides. Damakos lit the brazier, which still had oil in it miraculously. An eerie blue flame lit up the room as they approached the eastern door. Damakos gave the door a shove and it opened fairly easily. Before him lay a narrow hallway which abruptly cut to the left some distance ahead of him. He entered and was followed by the rest of the party. As he rounded the corner he could see a skeleton standing in a room down the hall behind some rubble which had fallen. The skeleton stood and gazed at him through the blackness of where his eyes would be. It let out an empty call and attempted to clamber over the fallen stone. Upon righting itself it loosed an arrow at Damakos which missed and shattered against the wall behind him. Damakos charged the creature and struck him with his axe, shattering bone and rending its armor. Keck swiftly navigated his way through the crowded hallway and joined Damakos in the fray. He struck the skeleton with a rock and shattered its empty orbital socket, garnering its attention. Before it could retaliate, Damakos let his axe swing with such force that the skeleton completely collapsed. The battle over, Keck collected the rusted longsword belonging to the skeleton as well as a bag of bone dust. There was little else of interest in this room, which appeared to be a dead end, so the group headed back out and to the next door. Meanwhile, up on the surface, the monk Fel'Shu spotted a black-sailed vessel out in the distance from his perch atop a nearby tree. Feeling his blood boil at the sight of such a thing, as well as possibly seeing a smaller boat pull away from it, he decided to head out after it. He judged from its trajectory that the smaller boat could make it to Fesca in about 30 minutes, or possibly Beachdenn in an hour. He made a choice and headed towards Fesca since that was closer. No pirates would run rampant on his watch. In his haste and fury, Fel'Shu lost track of his heading, and ended up walking north for 15 minutes. It didn't take him long to realize that he had been going in the complete opposite direction that he intended, so he turned around and headed back to the stone circle. The group down below had begun their exploration of the second door, much the same as the first. Although this door was harder to open, it eventually gave way. Damakos and Keck encountered yet another skeleton, but this time it gravely injured Damakos with an arrow to his shoulder. Keck managed to finish it off swiftly and the group recovered a second rusty sword and 24 silver pieces. This second room, however, also held two sarcophagi. Thinking that discretion was the better part of valor, and taking into account their wounded state, the group agreed to deposit the cursed blade into the open tomb and call it a day. They all headed back toward the entrance. Malark had no difficulty climbing up the rope, where he ran into Fel'Shu who was making his way back from his detour. The others, though, had a harder time.I've Got a Bad Feeling About This...
Keck's attempt to climb out resulted in him losing his grip at the top and sliding all the way down. The pain of the rope burn on his hands was immense, and he would find it difficult to wield a weapon or do anything particularly dextrous. Damakos's didn't fair much better; he slipped off the rope and ended up spraining his ankle, limiting his mobility a bit. Tim just didn't have the strength to make it up, apparently still being tired from the day before. At that moment they all felt the same thing: a chill in the air, and the hair on the back of their necks rising. They felt this sense of unease, as though something unnatural were nearby and approaching. They decided to give the rope another try. Tim went first. This time he managed to pull himself out with such gusto that he practically sailed right up. Damakos was next. This time he fell on the back of his head and ended up becoming dazed. Keck tried again, but was unable to make it. They could all feel the unease rising, and now they could hear a very deliberate set of footfalls echoing in the distance. Damakos tied the rope around him, since he knew he couldn't make it on his own. The group up top pulled him out with a swiftness. Keck did the same. As he approached the exit, though, he could see a pale, gaunt figure in the shadows. It stared at him with malice and contempt in its eyes, a sword in his hand, and a booming word in his mouth. He accused the adventurers of interrupting the rest of the Phasnosh. That their lust and greed to make their sacred artifacts into their trinkets would not go unpunished. Keck tried to explain that they were putting something back, but the malevolent being would not have it. Keck was pulled out, and the group yanked up the rest of the rope.
Rewards Granted
- 50xp per player for returning the dagger
- 20xp per player for defeating the skeletons
- 1 Inspiration point for Fel'Shu for being obsessed with finding pirates
- 24 silver pieces for the party from the skeletons
- 2 rusted longswords
- 2 pouches of bone dust
Character(s) interacted with
Related Reports
Report Date
10 Mar 2023
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Characters
Comments