Session 01
General Summary
The crowd were loudly cheering the amazing exploits of Nex Pervenio in the arena. People
clustered all around, them congratulating them on their performance. They were presented with
their prizes and then escorted up to a private box and given seats of honour to watch the
concluding exhibition match. Fine foods and drinks were consumed as they sat back and relaxed
and watched the show. Giant scorpions they'd hauled back from the gnoll badlands stalked the
arena floor, twitching with barely restrained aggression thanks to the cocktail of combat drugs
they'd had pumped into them. The Scorpions made their entrance and the crowd acclaimed the
champions. They set to work demolishing their monstrous foes in a stunning tour de force of
martial excellence. Later that evening, the Moribundus Minotaur was packed and free drinks were
flowing. Shinobi spoke respectfully with the Scorpions, who commended him on his team's
performance. Oki hinted the wish to speak further.
The next morning, 23rd January, Shinobi had a quiet meeting with Oki. She said her breakthrough
had occurred. The Scorpions would soon be travelling to a dangerous place far underground,
called Maelbrathyr, which is a ruined city thousands of years old. A slave market is held there and
they'd managed to get official backing for the trip, ostensibly to check the place out and faciliate
some slave dealing. But the real reason is that drow frequent the place and Oki thinks there may
be information regarding the drow assassins they were after. Shinobi reminded Oki that if the
Scorpions died or disappeared down there, he'd fail his mission, a subtle Honshu way of saying
"be careful".
The team then reported to Sister Valerius for briefing. She first congratulated them on their
performance in the arena, that they had far exceeded expectations given they'd only been
gladiators for 3 weeks! The rest of the month was free time, to spend in relaxation, research,
training, etc. Then they would depart on their next duty on 1st February. This was to travel to the
frontier fort of Hommlet, to report to Sister Columba. Spurred on by recent events, there had been
investigations into the cult of Elemental Evil. There were concerns they were a grave threat to
Rodinia but this attitude was not shared by all officials, who were more concerned about
reinforcing the border with Honshu. However, there was a glimmer of hope as it seems the cult
may have overreached themselves. Emissaries have been despatched far and wide to try and forge
alliances with humanoid tribes and to try and recruit bandits and other criminals. Other forces are
busy in the ruined temple, excavating and searching. So it seems that now is an opportune moment
to strike at Lareth in his moathouse while his forces are spread thin. If left to fester, his defences
could soon be bolstered by humanoids and whatever horrors are uncovered in the temple.
Some downtime was invested in research in the extensive temple library as it would no longer be
accessible after departing for Hommlet. First topic was practical considerations of geography -
how to reach Hommlet and where the moathouse and fallen temple could be found. Checking into
the moathouse's past, it turned out to be of Rodinian construction some 200 years back and had
previously served as the region's command centre before that shifted to the fort at Hommlet. There
were even some architectural plans which gave an idea of the above-ground layout. Further
research into the temple suggested its site was significant due to possible links with locations in
the plane of elemental chaos and the abyss - presumably why the temple ruins were being
reactivated rather than founding a new site elsewhere. There was an attempt to research Lareth but
there was very little information available, other than the fact his rise to power was meteoric, he'd
come seemingly out of nowhere.
One evening, Dash sensed movement coming from the Deck of Many Things. It was shuffling
itself. Presently the top card flipped over, displaying the Comet. Dash had a feeling that this was a
positive sign, that the Deck was pleased with events.
On the night of the new moon, Shinobi headed into town. He left the school at a late but not
notably late hour, dressed in his usual adventuring gear, carrying staff and pack as usual. He
waved good evening to the guards on the gate as usual and strolled into town. When out of sight of
the guards, he started making a varied route across town, checking regularly to make sure he was
not being tailed. Eventually, he made his way to the poor quarter of Londinium and wandered into
a dark alley, making double sure he was not being followed or observed. He then quietly scaled
the walls of the alley and up onto the roof of the building, finding a shadowy nook out of sight.
Once ensconced, he changed into his black shinobi-shozuku (ninja suit). His usual clothes and tell
tale staff were left hidden on the roof. He then slipped quietly down into the alley, picked a very
dark place, and waited patiently. Soon enough he heard a door slam somewhere up the alley,
followed by some knocking. Seems like some pissed up fool took the wrong door when heading
for the tavern latrines and locked themselves out. There was muttering and the sound of someone
relieving themselves against the door, then the noise of someone stumbling through a load of
rubbish and heading haphazardly up the alley. Shinobi stepped out of the shadows and dropped his
victim with a single, mighty blow. He dragged him into the shadows, gagged him and patiently
waited in silence for a few minutes before climbing back up onto the rooftop and then hauling his
prey up by rope. Once on the roof it was time to get a dagger out, intone prayers to Zehir (the god
of assassins) and sacrifice him to that dark god. Then it was time to change back into normal
clothing and return home as nothing had happened, popping into the Moribundus Minotaur for a
night cap en route.
Soon enough it was 1st February, time to get back to work. Nex Pervenio headed out of
Londinium, following the road to the north east. They expected their journey to take about a week,
the first half of it through peaceful farmland. After that the road swung round to skirt the gnoll
badlands. A troop of legionnaires were also travelling towards Hommlet. They said they were
going to reinforce the garrison there but that the majority of the military forces were being
deployed westward to the Honshu border. They also muttered complaints about mercenaries being
employed in Hommlet, implying that they were inferior in quality and moral fibre to professional
soliders such as themselves. The surrounding countryside grew wilder and more rugged as the
journey neared its end. Nex Pervenio met a patrol who said the road ahead was safe and that, if
anything, the bandit activity was quieter than usual at the moment. Nex Pervenio had a clue why
that might be but kept that thought to themselves.
Hommlet was reached on the 8th February. It was a military fort though with plenty of civilian
comforts such as a friendly inn and various traders. Nex Pervenio headed directly for Sister
Columba to report in. She reiterated what Sister Valerius had mentioned during the briefing and
suggested that the situation remained much the same. Nex Pervenio declared they would begin
their assault on the moathouse the very next morning!
They then headed for the Inn of the Welcome Wench, to find their accomodation. Two wagons
with names painted on the side were parked outside the inn - Snug as a Bug Rugs and Bugmans
Brewery. The clientele were mostly off duty soldiers with two groups standing out - a troop of
heavily armed dwarfs and a tall human deep in conversation with an elf mage. There were
rumours going around the bar that drow had been sighted though with no real substance. A fake
argument about gambling debts was used as an excuse for Argus and Shinobi to go sit by the
mysterious figures in the corner. Turned out their names were Douwe and Dorian, retired
adventurers who were debating the morality of annihilating a lizardfolk village.
Argus went to the bar for a drink and was offered some Bugmans whisky which was very good. It
turned out the regular supplies of liquor had run out some time back due to the bandits and the
dwarfs were now very popular. Argus wandered over to speak to Bugman himself. He was a old
dwarf mercenary, said the whisky was more like a hobby than a business. He hailed from the
dwarven town of Forgehome, deep underground in the mountains to the north. He'd come to
Hommlet to offer his services as a mercenary, saying he was getting old and it was much safer to
ply his trade above-ground. He claimed to have visited such exotic (and dangerous) locations as
Erelhei-Cinlu (drow capital) and Anathema (yuan-ti city). Bugman also sang the praises of his
nephew, sat next to him, as a master of all things alchemical and explosive.
9th February saw Nex Pervenio heading out to find Lareth's moathouse. Not far out of Hommlet
they spotted a druidic circle - or what remained of it. A nearby shack had been ransacked and
there were signs of a fight within the past couple of weeks. This was the first time Mika had seen
any indication of other druids in the lands of Rodinia. Presumably the bandits were to blame?
The journey continued and soon the moathouse came into view. The upper storey was completely
ruined but the ground floor seemed reasonably solid. Narrow windows, sorry arrow slits, looked
out over an encircling moat. The obvious approach over the drawbridge was eschewed and instead
a pile of collapsed rubble was used to bridge the moat and provide a ramp up to a collapsed
section of wall. Beyond was a damp room with only half a ceiling. A locked door led into the
castle's interior. Shinobi easily picked the lock and eased the door aside a crack to peek through.
Many bandits were in the hall beyond. The time for stealth was over and Nex Pervenio burst out
of their hiding place and began mowing down the bandits. Reinforcements emerged from
doorways, including a fearsome rage drake. But none could withstand the well honed gladiator
tactics and soon all lay dead on the floor, with the sole exception of the leader who'd been barking
commands at his subordinates. He was merely knocked out and later brought round for
questioning. He said Lareth could be found below ground and that there were gnolls and undead
and more, though he said he never ventured down there. He was put out of his misery and then the
moathouse was searched.
Stairs led down into darkness. Argus led the way, down into a slimey L-shaped chamber filled
with the stench of death and rot. As they began to explore, torchlight revealed many doors and a
side chamber filled with torture equipment, mostly rusty but some used recently. Argus moved to
open one of the doors only to find shambling zombies beyond. More doors swung open and a
zombie horde emerged. A short while later, a hungry ogre charged into the fray having heard the
sounds of combat. Dash bore the brunt of his attention. As with the bandits before them, the
mindless undead were quickly slain and even the ogre didn't put up much of a fight.
Nex Pervenio's assault on the moathouse had been highly successful thus far. But what other
horrors awaited them here?
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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