Session Report 41 - The Boneclaw & The Holy Man
General Summary
"We dwarves call it a konchenklau. Definitely not the kind of thing you want to have to deal with."
-Gunther
Discoloured Trail
With night coming in, The Drifters decide to gather the entire crew belowdecks on the ship, making sure that there are enough people on watch that everybody is accounted for and that there's no risk of a shadowy intruder. Some hours into his watch, Ramone hears a creaking on the deck. He rushes up after gathering some support, but nothing is there. Turning his eyes briefly to the village, he sees a shadow where one wasn't before, then blinks to find it gone. He wakes Locke, asking if they should follow it, but the captain, still not yet recovered from the day before, elects to wait for the morning.In the morning, the group heads to the village, this time accompanied by Graham, to find evidence of discolouration on the ground where Ramone saw the shadow, and various patches of barely-noticeable patches of it spaced roughly every 50 feet and usually in alleys. Near the village's tavern, The Last Breath, the group comes upon a large bloodstain close to a spot of discolouration. Then the discolouration, alongside smaller spots of blood, moves to the rooves, where Gunther follows it, eventually leading to an alley where there is evidence that a body was dropped - and that the body was likely wearing armour. The group is left to conclude that a guard was killed and reanimated. The group informs the village guard, then moves on, following the discoloured patches until they abruptly stop on a street close to the barracks. Gunther uses his holy powers, sensing the presence of an undead in the basement of a small house.
Boneclaw In The Basement
Locke picks the lock of the house, entering it with the group. It's a small but immaculately tidy place made in gnome size. The upstairs features a bedroom with two separate beds for husband and wife, and the downstairs has a small and uninteresting dining room, fireplace, and tightly pulled curtains.Locke throws a magical light down into the basement, and the crew descends. The creature hiding inside is an elongated skeletal figure with oversized feet and incredibly large and sharp claws, cloaked in a miasma of swirling shadow. Gunther recognizes it, and his eyes go wide. The creature attacks, using its elongated claws and the necrotic energy of its shadows to great effect. Laire and Grov take particularly harsh beatings, though most everybody takes a hit or two. The fight concludes as the creature uses the shadows to teleport upstairs in flight. Locke pursues it and shoots it with his flintlock. It collapses into a pool of shadows and disappears.
While the group begins to patch up their wounds, Gunther explains this is a being mentioned in dwarven legends - a boneclaw, a creature which failed to become a greater undead and instead was bounded as a servant to a living being. The takeaway is this: this thing will be back unless the group kills the person controlling it.
Interviewing the Guard
Members of the guard arrive a couple of minutes later, bringing the group to the barracks for healing and to ask a few questions. After telling the guard the general story of what happened, the group asks whose house they were in. They are directed to an incredibly muscular Bodari, Kroksnappir, who knows basically everybody in the guard. Gunther has to buy him a couple of drinks before he talks, but Krok eventually relents and says that the house belongs to an unfriendly gnome named Joddingnab - who the party begins to realize is the same one from the day before. After inquiring where he might be found, Krok points them toward the library.Library Showdown
The unfriendly gnome Joddingnab is indeed in the library. Gunther confronts him, though the gnome initially denies it. He is baffled that the group actually admitted to his face that they broke into his house, and is more than eager to have them brought to the guard and thrown out of the town. However, as the accusations mount and the gnome grows more annoyed, he eventually decides enough is enough. Gunther mentions that the boneclaw will return in a matter of days or weeks to which Joddingnab replies simply, "It only takes a couple of hours". The lamps go out and the room is plunged into darkness as the boneclaw emerges and Joddingnab attacks.The fight is intense. Laire, Ramone, and Locke take cover behind some bookshelves while the other three attack in melee. Joddingnab uses his holy magics of war to terrifying effect and smites Gunther with brutally effective swings of the maul. Meanwhile, the boneclaw uses its shadows to hit the back line, heavily damaging Locke. After a bit of healing, Locke retaliates with a barrage of fire against Jodding, and Ramone follows it up with some star magic. Gunther continues the streak, injured as he is, and hits Jodding with his scimitar. Finally, moving away from the boneclaw he was attacking before, Grov takes a massive swing of his sword and decapitates the gnome. The boneclaw, seeing its master's life being severed, reaches forward and tries to draw up one more attack with its shadows, but falters and collapses into a puddle of shadow, leaving its skull as evidence of its true death.
Resolution
Mere seconds after the boneclaw collapses, three guards rush to the doors, just too late to be useful. Seeing their decapitated comrade, they are understandably concerned, and bring The Drifters in for questioning. After four hours of gruelling interrogations, The Drifters are eventually let go, though the guard refuses to compensate them beyond a bit more healing.Back at Ikh'nil's house, the mother is pleased with the results, though she is surprised that Joddingnab was the culprit. She brings out her promised reward, which turns out to be a magical axe which Grov gladly takes. In addition, she lines up her children and the party takes the third oldest, Mitzlan, a male bodari of around 35, to join them. He is eager to be rid of his mother's control and though as of yet unskilled, at least brings with him the fortitude of a Dread Sea native.
The Flying Flagon departs Oblau's Shallows, sailing away from The Dread Sea and towards Libertalia.
Report Date
08 Apr 2023
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