Session 11. - The Aftermath
General Summary
28th of Last Light, 1439 A.P.
The party woke from their rest and were assaulted by a hideous smell. It was emanating from the carcass of the snail they had slept beside. It was pungent enough to cut through the general miasma of the sewers. They left it to rot and moved to the canteen to decide where they should head next. The debate started fervently with the party divided on whether they should leave and report what they'd found to al Rakeen or whether they should go and decode the valve puzzle. Oorr and Deadeye were the most vocal about seeing al Rakeen while Angrar and Arbor leaned heavily towards figuring out what The Hand were up to. Suljurn remained stoically silent and detached from the others bickering. Urith ended the discussion by reminding everyone that he'd seen a treasure room when he'd been chasing Talos the night before. Discussion on everything else stopped at the mention of treasure and the party immediately backtracked to the secret passage that Talos had taken. Expecting that it had been emptied while they were sleeping, the party cautiously stepped into the room. The others looked to Urith (and Angrar) to confirm if everything was the same as the night before. Angrar was ambiguous in his answer, still somewhat disconcerted at the lack of control he'd had. Urith was confident that everything was the same, even though he'd only managed to glance around the room briefly. With Urith's brief nod, the others started to snoop through the chests and piles of visible sparkle that caught the torchlight. Angrar went to investigate the spiral staircase that Talos had used to escape and was surprised when his hand didn't come away from the iron bar he had grabbed. He was even more surprised when the staircase morphed into a giant mouth that tried to eat him. The others moved to attack the giant mimic only to discover 2 more smaller mimics posing as chests within the room. The fight began with the party being at a distinct disadvantage early on as the mimics were able to pin down both Angrar and Suljurn. Thankfully Oorr remained elusive as always and slipped between the creatures with ease. Urith remained near the entrance to the passage and feathered the mimics with arrows while Deadeye summoned his companion drake. In time, they managed to dispatch the mimics while only sustaining a few moderate hits. With the beasts slain, they returned to cataloguing the loot they'd found. Arbor surmised that the loot was likely what The Hand had been extorting from the townsfolk above. After finding a rapier, some arrows and a shield that Suljurn said were all magical, along with several small statues, a book and several gems that he said weren't. The party were again faced with a choice: Follow the staircase upwards and try to pick up Talos' trail again or head back and solve the problem with the valves. Deciding that they needed to at least attempt to stop the Hand's plans before presenting al Rakeen with their information, they initially headed back down the secret passage. They had plans to backtrack through the maze of sewer vaults and tunnels towards the valve room. As soon as they exited the secret tunnel however, they realized that the large double doors beside them hadn't been opened. They were initially locked, but Oorr finally proved that maybe, just maybe, he was that type of rogue after all, and the doors were unlocked. They hoped that maybe in this room, they'd find the missing piece to the puzzle of what the Hand were up to. However once the doors were unlocked and opened, regrets filled everyone's hearts (and nostrils) as the smell that arose from the room was worse than Arbor's cooking. They found a large room with a huge pool of sludge. It was being fed by the sloped tunnel of sewage that entered the room from the other side. A rickety bridge crossed one side of the pool and several pumps and machines lined the walls with large pipes pushed into the sludge below. While investigating the machinery, Suljurn slipped and fell into the sludge. While the others tried to fish him out, an otyugh rose from within the pool to investigate the disturbance and, once it determined they were food, attacked. The fight was extremely tough, with the creature's rubbery hide resisting several of the group's heaviest hits. After a long, drag down fight, where the party were continually shocked at the otyugh's reach and resilience, the beast was finally slain. Suljurn, already covered in filth, volunteered to search the pool and after quite a few minutes wading through filth, discovered a set of scalemail buried in the muck. Once it was cleaned off, Oorr said he recognised the emblem on it. Explaining that it was the armour of The Rassani, a mercenary company from Tharos made famous in his favourite stories of The Baraquellan Cycle. Oorr implied that they were "The bad guys". Angrar however cared little for its history, claimed it, and was impressed that the suit fit his broad frame. After a quick cleaning session provided by Arbor, the party made their way back to the vaults with the valve. They searched for their "friend", Bolkaer but couldn't find any sign of him. They puzzled over the valves and the message and couldn't come to a consensus as to whether they needed to be opening them or closing them. Angrar took matters into his own hands and cranked the first valve indicated in their instructions to the open position. Then when the water flow changed only slightly, he cranked it back and stopped, unable to determine if they were affecting anything. They regretted not keeping better tabs on their mad friend and gave up on the problem. They decided that they'd come back in four days time, when things were supposed to happen, and prevent The Hand from accomplishing whatever they wanted to accomplish. They then came to the decision that they'd fulfilled al Rakeen's contract above and beyond what had been initially asked. Fed up and filthy, they headed back to the spiral staircase and headed up. Oorr and Urith led the way, sneaking ahead to ensure there were no surprises. After a long hike upwards, the stairs exited in the basement of a seemingly empty house. After a quick search to determine if the house was, in fact, empty, Oorr stepped outside cautiously to see if he could recognise any landmarks. Thankfully he was able to see The Velvet Glove -- the inn al Rakeen had flagged as a hideout for The Hand -- further down the street. After realising where they were, he ducked back inside, suddenly paranoid that the building might be under surveillance, and hoped no one had seen him. The group were sure that The Hand were watching the place, even if they couldn't see them, so they took some elaborate precautions to stay unobtrusive while they were leaving. Arbor used his spellwork to clean most of the muck from their outfits and they staggered their exits and left in different directions, eventually meeting up at a market square Angrar said was nearby. Their precautions worked, as no one seemed to be following them. They made plans to head back to the inn as everyone was desperately in need of a warm bath and clean sheets. Once they arrived back at The Drunken Mermaid, all thoughts of a bath were quickly dispelled as they found several of al Rakeen's associates waiting for them there. They insisted that the party come immediately. Arbor (and the others) protested, arguing their filthy state and poor condition would not be something al Rakeen would appreciate seeing. The goons were non-plussed and they herded the party into an awaiting carriage and delivered them back at The Sinspire in short order. Al Rakeen was initially livid with them for disappearing for two days after spectacularly setting The Hand's warehouse on fire. He verbally ran roughshod over them, alternately praising their audacity and belittling their intelligence in the same breath. Arbor scrambled to take credit for the events, however Oorr's penchant for talking when he shouldn't, contradicted him and confounded events even further which in turn extended al Rakeen's invective. Eventually, Arbor was able to straighten out their story to al Rakeen's satisfaction and they informed him of the events that had transpired under the city. The master of the Sinspire apologised for his prior behaviour and was very appreciative of their efforts and quickly morphed back into the perfect host. He told them he would have his people look into the debacle in the sewers right away and asked if there was anything he could do for them as way of thanks. Arbor, never one to pass on an opportunity to get something for nothing1, asked if al Rakeen knew of anyone who could help identify some of the magic items they'd discovered while on their adventures. Al Rakeen, immediately spoke to a nearby servant who quickly ran off. He told them that someone would be available shortly, and only asked that he be given the right to first purchase, should any of the items catch his eye. Arbor and the others agreed and a wizened old man with a genial face appeared fairly shortly afterwards wearing what appeared to be simple peasant's garb. He looked at al Rakeen briefly who nodded politely and then group crowded around like children waiting for a sweet. In short order he had cast several spells identifying all the goods the party brought to him. Internally, Arbor was shockingly impressed - Not at the mage's talent per se, but at al Rakeen's power and wealth. To be able to have a mage on hand with the ability to cast so many of the same spell repeatedly without pause was mind-blowing. He quickly reaffirmed in his head that their employer was not a man to be trifled with. The master of the Sinspire had little interest in the swords or armour that the group had brought forth and showed a polite disinterest in most of them. However, when Urith brought out the jade cat statue, he perked up and offered to purchase it for several hundred gold. He even brought out a broken half of one that he'd accquired in the past. After some brief haggling, they agreed on a fairly generous price. If the party was surprised at his reaction to seeing the statue, they were absolutely floored when Oorr showed him the book they had found. He asked if al Rakeen was able to identify the language in which it was written. He was not prepared for al Rakeen's reaction. None of them were. Al Rakeen spoke of the book in reverent tones, shocked at how poorly Oorr was treating it. He explained that it was a first edition travelogue of Marcav Shadowspaw, written in the original Bhast tongue, and likely held the first stories that would eventually become The Baraquellan Cycle. Al Rakeen offered to buy it from Oorr for a ridiculous amount of a thousand gold coins, and when Oorr declined, immediately doubled it without hesitation. The others were not so attached and tried to convince Oorr to part with the book but he put his foot down though and refused to discuss it further. Al Rakeen was not so easily dismissed though and continued to push and plead as politely as decorum allowed, hoping to get Oorr to give up his prize but Oorr held firm that the book was not for sale. Disappointed, but understanding, al Rakeen advised that if Oorr ever changed his mind, to come and see him and he would make it very worth Oorr's time. With the loot all identified and his good mood dampened somewhat, he thanked them again, paid them what was owed, and advised that he'd likely have work for them again soon, but not until after the End of the Year festivities. Until then they were free to do as they pleased. As they left, al Rakeen casually invited them back for any of the new year festivities.
The party thanked him and they were escorted back to the Drunken Mermaid where they finally were able to scrub several days worth of sewer grime and muck from their persons before crawling into bed and falling asleep.
1: The 109th Rule of Trade.
Rewards Granted
- 413 xp
- An ornate magical rapier
- A quiver of 10 magical arrows
- A magical set of scalemail
- A magical shield
- A small Jade statue of a Cat
- A Book written in Bhast
Character(s) interacted with
Notes
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FNORD!
Deadeye Cliffhanger
Oorr Rosetta del Hilltopple
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 1
10
18
12
8
12
16
Urith Thane
Suljurn sah-Ghad
Arbor Nox
