Session 8. - Shaking Hands with the Devil
General Summary
24th of Last Light, 1439 A.P.
Morning came and the party decided not to stray too far from the Inn. They felt that they needed to lay low to avoid any agents of The Hand that may be looking for them. Angrar went back to the docks to work and chose not to inform the others of his interactions with the city watch the previous evening. The others took their leisure within the inn itself, refreshing themselves while they waited for the evening's events at The Sinspire. At some point during the day, they remembered to check on Deadeye, but found his room empty. When they enquired with the innkeeper, he said he'd seen their feathered friend leave several hours ago and was sure he overheard him say that he was going shopping.
Angrar eventually returned from the docks after a very uneventful day. They shared a quick meal together before heading out. They briefly checked and discovered that Deadeye had yet to return from his shopping trip but as it was early they weren't too concerned. They made their way through the winding streets of the Seaside district and soon were back in the Court of Blossoms, the city's center of gambling, debauchery and vice. If the Court was the center of the city's vice, then The Sinspire was its heart. It's tall, central Elderglass spire elegantly towered over the rest of the district. It was lit colourfully (and magically) from below while also reflecting the setting sun. Together it created the effect of a glittering shard of crystal and could be seen from almost everywhere in the district (and city). The broad, white marble steps screamed opulence and were already filling up with the great and near-great in attendance for tonight's events. The party waited in line with the rest of the crowd as it slowly made its way inside. When they got to the front, they were met with a mountain of a Half-Ghrym almost twice Angrar's size. He, along with a slim, dark-skinned elf, worked the door and crowd, allowing some in, denying others almost arbitrarily. As Angrar and his friends approached, the elf eyed them warily and after a quick glance at a hidden scroll, welcomed them warmly on behalf of the Spire's master. The party was very overwhelmed by everything. The glamour, lights and opulence were all beyond anything they'd experienced yet in their lives. When the elf directed them to the weapons check-in, they were all so overcome that none of them even attempted to hide a weapon on themselves. After depositing their weapons, they moved into the vast central room that occupied the ground floor. A large bar dominated the central part of the room with various games of Hazard, Three Dragon Ante, Asirah's Temptation, Karfe, Calis' Wheel, and Liar's Dice spread out among the many tables that scattered across the floor. The tables were all packed despite the early hour and servers, security and dealers were all visible and working hard. While some of the clientele drifted to the tables, most headed to the staircase that led to the upper floors. The party went with the crowd and when they emerged on the second floor, half the room was set up similarly to the first but the far side of the floor was set up like an amphitheatre. with raised seating that looked like it extended up into the third floor, surrounding an a sandy arena floor. The arena itself was seperated from the seating by a flexible chain mesh that covered the entire ring and didn't obscure vision at all. Angrar used his size and muscled the group to a table very close to the arena floor. They ordered drinks from one of the servers circulating and did some crowd watching while they waited for the event. The tables close to the arena were filling up fast, mostly lower class folk with a few merchants and minor nobles slumming for the evening. The seating class of the clientele seemed to rise with the seats with the upper crust of nobility reserving the seats farthest away from the arena itself. Arbor and Oorr both caught glimpses of shadowed noble faces peering down at them through bejeweled opera glasses. They didn't have to wait long before a gong rang throughout the building and a hush fell over the crowd. An impeccably dressed individual entered the arena from a hidden gate on the far side of the arena and addressed the crowd. He spoke Elven in a clear, resonating voice and welcomed everyone to tonight's special events. Angrar provided a low-key running translation for the others. As he spoke, a large metal and wooden contraption was wheeled out into the center of the arena. It was a cylinder approximately 20 feet high, and covered with numerous amber coloured hexagonal shaped cells each about 10 inches across. A low level humming could be heard emenating from the contraption. Pulling their attention away from the machine, they tuned back into the master of ceremonies as he continued his explanation of the event. The contraption was filled with deadly (and illegal) Stiletto Wasps. The beasts, known for their aggressive behaviour, frenzied at the smell of blood and would become increasingly so as more of them were killed. The machine would randomly open between one and six cells every 30 seconds. Each cell may or may not contain a wasp. The challenger would have to survive 10 minutes in the cage with the wasps. As the crowd processed this information, bookies slowly started circulating throughout the amphitheatre collecting bets and feeling out the crowd. There was a hushed awe as the MC introduced the first challenger: a dark skinned bald headed man dressed in traditional sailor's garb. The party waved off the goblin bookie as he passed. They were more interested in the challenger as everyone other than Angrar recognized him as one of the crew of the Frostmaiden, though none of them could remember his name. The sailor initially fared well, managing to be fairly lucky with the first few cells only opening one at a time and only two wasps emerging which he dispatched fairly easily. With each kill the humming and buzzing within the "hive" increased dramatically. When the fourth round of cells opened, his luck changed and 4 wasps emerged at once. They were already frenzied and immediately swarmed him. The group watched in horror as he quickly collapsed under their incessant assault. There was a brief silence as he fell and then the arena went wild with cheering, almost as frenzied as the wasps themselves. The clean up crew emerged to wrangle the wasps and remove the body while the MC waited in the wings to announce the next contender. As the crew stepped out onto the arena several things happened that threw everything into chaos. A sole, dark robed individual stepped out of the crowd and literally walked through the metal mesh as if it was nothing more than a silk curtain. The crowd cheered at first, thinking this was the next contender. It took several moments for people to realize that he'd managed to walk through an impervious magical barrier. The robed mage stood at the center of the arena and removed a wand from his sleeve and pointed it at the "hive". In seconds, the hexagonal cell doors melted away and a vast swarm of wasps emerged in a buzzing, angry frenzy. As the wasps emerged, the mage then turned and unleashed the same magic on the mesh curtain as well. It melted like wax before a candleflame. The crowd's cheering suddenly stopped and for a heartbeat all was silent before they erupted into panicked screams. The crowd surged towards the exits and the party paused, torn between what to do. Suljurn and Oorr both headed towards the fallen sailor, hopeful that they might be able to help their erstwhile crewmate but unsure what they could do about the wasps or the mage without their weapons. Arbor, Urith and Angrar at first let the crowd push them towards the door, but as the wasps swarmed throughout the crowd, they changed their minds and headed back to the arena. Arbor squared off against the mage while Suljurn called on Ogham to smite the nearest wasp. Oorr smashed a nearby chair and made an makeshift club out of the legs and then decided to toss the glowing green orb he'd been carrying since the shark attack at the nearest cluster of wasps. It surprisingly erupted into a dome of force that occasionally sparked with electrical discharge and trapped 3 wasps inside. Arbor continued to cast spells at the mage in an effort to slow him down. Suljurn grabbed the scimitar from the dead sailor and took a swing at another wasp as it came near, thankfully downing it but enraging the others nearby. Angrar and Urith grabbed everyone's weapon chits and slowly headed down to collect their weapons. Angrar made easier progress through the crowd due to his size and strength while Urith struggled at first before slipping into his friend's wake. They eventually made it to the weapon check and after a few hasty searches, tracked down their weapons and headed back through the crowd. By the time they'd got back, one of the wasps had angrily made pincushions out of Arbor and Suljurn while Oorr took swings at the mage who seemed unhurt. Once they retrieved their weapons, the tide of the battle changed. Urith was able to sharpshoot the trailing wasps while the others focused on the mage who blasted the party with evil green hellfire. The battle was fierce with several of the party receiving burns and wounds. Eventually, the mage went down, felled by a stab from a manically laughing Oorr. The last of the wasps seemed to have been dealt with as well and the party stood in the middle of the arena, the room around them in charred shambles. In the aftermath of the fight, the group were collected by a tall pale elf with purple tattoos across half her face. She took them to a private lift and said that the master had requested their presence. When they exited on a much higher floor, they were in a private office bedecked with luxurious carpets, intricately decorated furniture and several plinths and stands displaying various art pieces and statuary. Shortly after they arrived the man, they'd identified as the Master of Ceremonies from earlier entered the room. He was still impeccably dressed and showed no sign that he had recently been in (or near) a fight. He again spoke in elven with a calm, educated voice that, while not warm, was genuine and put the party at ease despite the language barrier. When they didn't respond easily and he realised their lack of comprehension, he effortlessly switched to goblinese without hesitation. The harshness of the language did not detract from his manner. He introduced himself as Hamsa al Rakeen, the master of the spire. He also introduced the tattooed elf as his majordomo, Selendari. He offered his thanks to the party for their prompt handling of such an unfortunate incident and asked what reward they felt would be worthy. Angrar described their troubles with the city watch and al Rakeen said he had some influence with the watch and he would ensure that the matter would be dealt with by morning. al Rakeen then noticed the necklace that Urith wore and demanded to know how he got it. After an initially disjointed telling of the tale that led them to his doorstep, al Rakeen asked several clarifying questions and coaxed the full story from the group. Once the story was told to his satisfaction, al Rakeen, showed the group a complete version of the same necklace and expressed an interest in buying it from them. He then hesitated briefly and expressed his interest in ancient artifacts before asking if they had anything else that could be of interest to him. Arbor pounced on the opportunity and explained that they had several items of ancient provenance that they hadn't had the opportunity to identify yet and if he could assist them, perhaps he could find something that would interest him. al Rakeen agreed and sent Selendari to collect someone to assist. She returned far sooner than expected with a small, white-haired gnome in tow. He had a stern no-nonsense face that held very little humour in it. He begrudgingly accepted all the items that the party had yet to identify and managed to provide suitable details on their origins. While none of the magical items were of interest to al Rakeen, he was interested in the scroll case that Arbor had been carrying. He offered them a princely sum of 200 gold and was grateful that they accepted. He dismissed the small gnome with a brief nod. The conversation turned to the evening's events and al Rakeen displayed the first hint of emotion or anger that the group had seen all night. When they inquired as to what had happened, al Rakeen spoke of The Hand with distaste, describing them as a cancer that had sprouted up in the city recently. He explained he was the master of Sin within Cìrdan and held little with their extortionist tactics. He felt that a message needed to be sent and he decisively concluded that the party was the perfect messenger. al Rakeen hinted broadly that the mission should be considered an audition of sorts and their success would ensure further employment, perhaps even an expedition to collect some of these lost treasures they were so apt to find. al Rakeen was emphatic that a message needed to be sent, sooner rather than later, and he expected results. He was able to give the party some information about a warehouse and an Inn, The Velvet Glove, both in the Market district that were known to be associated with The Hand's operations. After he provided the information, he dismissed them and they headed back downstairs. It wasn't until they were dismissed, that they realised that they'd all agreed to do it and hadn't once discussed being compensated for their troubles. While they stood on the near empty steps in front of The Sinspire, they debated some strategies and tried to decide whether to approach the inn or the warehouse and whether to rest up or head out now. While the majority consensus wanted to head out immediately, Oorr decided for the group by heading back to the inn and getting some rest. The others were a little exasperated at the decision but they followed along, realising the benefits of being well rested. In the morning they continued their debate on which target to attempt. With the warehouse eventually winning out. They headed out fresh in the morning, without even checking to see if Deadeye would join them. After a brisk morning gondola ride they landed in the market district once again and headed to the warehouse. The warehouse was a large non-descript building near the central part of the market. Workers could be seen loading and unloading boxes and sacks into wagons in the yard. The party approached one of the workers and attempted to get some information from him. They were directed to the foreman's office. Arbor started questioning him, thinking that he was a Hand flunky and so was very heavy with the threats. The conversation didn't go as expected however and they discovered that the foreman and his crew had already been threatened by The Hand and paid off to ignore a section of the warehouse. Arbor encouraged the foreman and his crew to take the rest of the day off and they went to investigate the area that had been described. After a quick search, the crates and boxes turned out to be empty, but were hiding a stairwell that descended into the ground (presumably into the sewers). The group descended and found that they did indeed lead to a sewer complex beneath the streets. Damp, dimly lit and slick with years of civilization's waste, the corridor was narrow, barely five feet wide and opened to a chamber containing a large swirling cistern of water and waste. Two other corridors led off from the room and the group decided to press on through the northern passage, however as Angrar passed through the room, the water in the cistern coalesced into a large snakelike elemental that lashed out and pulled him into the water. Oorr leapt forward to assist and literally leapt into the water. In the dim light he thought there was a grate over the water, when in fact it was just a shadowed reflection of a grate far above. Arbor started casting against the elemental but his angle from the corridor prevented a great shot. Urith stayed back in the hallway behind the mage, firing arrows into the creature but with little effect. Suljurn swung his newly purchased halberd at the elemental, grateful for the reach it provided and glad he was out of range but it too had little effect on the magical creature. The water weird lashed out and quickly disabused Suljurn of his safe distance. The elemental hit hard and broke bones with it's crushing blows. Eventually, the damage they did was collectively enough to break the bonds holding the elemental together and it disolved into a mess of water and sewage. The party rested briefly and Arbor thought he would do some "fishing". He blindly cast his mage hand into the cistern, searching for something. He managed to grasp something heavy, and was just barely able to pull it from the water. The item turned out to be a suit of leather armour, wet and covered in filth from the submersion. Oorr did his best to clean it off and when he tried it on he felt it was comparable to what he was already wearing. The party continued north, following the sewer. The passage turned sharply east and they saw light up ahead and heard two voices speaking lowly. Angrar was able to understand them but couldn't pass along the message to the others without exposing them. Oorr couldn't wait. He silently crept forward and attacked one of the men with his rapiers. The fight was short-lived and both men went down relatively easily. A quick search of the area revealed a small amount of coin that the men had been carrying. The small room was some sort of pumping station and there was a lever on the floor that when pulled, slowed the flow of sewage. They pulled the lever back and forth several times before leaving it in the on position. The biggest oddity they discovered was the makeshift barrier that the thugs had created out of stray bits of wood, metal and an empty chest in an attempt to block against something further down the passage. As they examined the barrier, Angrar explained that the men had seemed scared and had been complaining nervously about something further down the passage, though they died before he could understand anything else. Suljurn decided to dismantle the barrier and looked down the tunnel. He could see torches further up the passage but couldn't see much beyond that as the torches were interfering with his darkvision. He was pretty certain that there was another tunnel branching to the north but couldn't see where it led. The group headed back to the cistern and decided to take the eastern passage. It narrowed back down to 5 feet before widening out into a forty foot square room. In the room the party could see two humanoids with ratlike features guarding a large curved doorway. Water and sewage could be seen flowing from pipes on the southern wall and another rat-man was also in another passage further down on the eastern wall. The party made too much noise as it approached and the guards attacked as soon as they saw them. Oorr ducked into the room, but the ratmen positioned themselves strategically enough to hinder the others from easily entering the room. The third ratman let out a weird high pitched squeak/whistle and several giant rats started pouring out of the pipes along with the sewage. Oorr was left exposed and bore several vicious attacks from both the rats and their humanoid companions. Angrar was bitten multiple times as well and Suljurn ended up being trapped and taking several hard hits before going down. Arbor cast what spells he could on the rats and Urith did the same but both their view of the room was severely limited. While Urith and Arbor took out the extremely vicious rats, Oorr and Angrar managed to take down two of the ratmen with the third fleeing out of sight down the southeastern passage. Rather than chase after it, the party let it go. They were exhausted, injured and low on options with only Urith being close to fully fresh. As soon as the ratman was gone, they quickly searched the two remaining ratmen and found a small leather bag that radiated magic and then broke into a heated debate about the need for setting up a camp and resting. Some felt that this main chamber was a good spot, though most felt it had too many entrances to defend. Others thought about going back to the small pump station but most felt it wasn't ideal either. They briefly thought about heading back to the inn but dismissed the idea almost immediately as they didn't want to have a repeat of last time, especially when one of the ratmen had escaped.Eventually they decided on using the pump station as their camp and set watches, hoping for a chance to rest...
Rewards Granted
- 535xp
- Magic Leather Armour
- Magic Red leather bag
- 70cp, 40sp, 5gp
Character(s) interacted with
Notes
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Oorr Rosetta del Hilltopple
Chaotic Good [Tar] Faun (City Watch / Investigator)
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 1
Rogue 4
Sorcerer 1
37 / 37 HP
STR
10
10
DEX
18
18
CON
12
12
INT
8
8
WIS
12
12
CHA
16
16
Urith Thane
Suljurn sah-Ghad
Arbor Nox
Angrar Ironbrow
Report Date
15 Apr 2023
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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