Session 20: The Late-Night Visitor

General Summary

Morning, 11th of Drawingdown - After Midnight, 12th of Drawingdown

Kaiess, Conor, and Claire are led into the interior of the Crowhill Citadel, past rich tapestries depicting battles with monsters of the forest and guards walking mastiffs with studded armor like Falcor’s. The hallways are narrow and winding, but you eventually stop before a pair of tall wooden doors. There are no windows nearby, and it feels as though you have come close to the center of the fortress. The doors open.
The group is shown into a long chamber. At the rear of the room, near the doors they entered through, is a large hearth and a roaring fire in the hearth to dull the draft seeping in from the chilly stone corridors outside. The room is large, as though it was built to accommodate a small crowd, but at the moment, it is almost empty.
At the head of the room is a raised dais. An aged man, big and brawny perhaps in his youth but now somewhat deflated, sits on a heavy wooden throne. His hair and beard are mostly gray, but keen eyes can still see traces of blonde at the temple. He watches the group carefully as they enter. A guard is positioned behind him on the dais, and a second stands off to the side before a door.
On either side of the Duke’s throne are two other chairs. The one to the right is smaller but still intricately carved, designed to mirror the Duke’s like a seat made for a Duchess. It’s empty. To the left, and further away than the smaller throne, a plain chair, as if taken as a spare from a dining hall.
As the group enters, Sadon Farlight and Councilor Alons bow their heads to the Duke, who very slightly nods back. His eyes do not leave Conor, Claire, and Kaiess.
The guards carry the head of the Dog into the chamber and place it on the floor between the group and the dais. A puddle of fluid dribbles onto the carpet. The guards step back, close the doors, and stand at attention. Sadon and Alons approach the dais. Sadon stays off to the side, a respectable distance away, and Alons climbs the steps to the dais and sits in the empty, smaller throne beside the Duke. He leans over and says something quietly into the Duke’s ear.
Straightening up, the Duke looks out at the group and says, “Tell me how you came to bring this head into my hall.”
Kaiess steps forward, giving a short bow, and explains that they were in the Darkwoods hunting monsters for the bounty when they were attacked by the beast and killed it in self-defense. They took its head, felled a few more monsters, and came back to Crowhill to claim the prize. In total, it had taken about a week and a half. He also explains that he had seen the Dog before, and had mentioned it to Sadon Farlight the first time they had come to the Citadel with heads for the bounty.
The Duke asks Sadon to confirm the story. Sadon explains that yes, the group had told him of a dog-like monster in the woods, and had given him its quills as a sample, but he had no way of connecting those stories to the Ophiro as he had never seen it before or been given a description of it. Kaiess helps Sadon out by mentioning that as he had been running for his life the first time he had seen the monster, the description he gave to the First Scholar was probably flawed. Councilor Alons reminds the Duke that the Ophiro was not supposed to kill humanoids, but it seems to have tried to anyway.
The group hears voices outside the door, like a muffled argument. Kaiess tells the story of how they first learned of the Ophiro’s existence after finding signs of its rampage through the Darkwoods—gashes in trees and a swath of dead animals in its wake—while hunting down the Owlbear that had killed a man from the Lost Pine Outpost. He leaves out the part about finding the Owlbears in the rook already killed.
The doors swing open and a man clad in gleaming plate armor and a blue cape strides inside. His bald head glinting in the firelight reminds the group that they have seen him before, watching from above the city gates on the day they first came to Crowhill—Kaiess had double-checked to see if he was hot, and he wasn’t. Up close, the group sees that not only are his colors different than the Duke and his people, but the emblem is different: a gold-stitched lion on rich blue.
The knight calls out in a booming voice, “Your grace, I see you’ve decided to start without me.” He climbs the dais and takes a seat in the spare chair. Looking over at Alons, he says “And I see you have your steadfast friend beside you, as usual. Well, what did I miss? Who are these people that have slain the Ophiro?”
Kaiess begins to introduce himself, and is cut off by the knight who demands the Duke be the one to introduce them. The Duke looks uncomfortable and tired, and asks the group to introduce themselves to the newcomer, Sir Gervas.
Kaiess introduces himself as “Kaiess Knollton, from Ostabek,” Claire as “Claire Blackwell, a Cleric from Steepwick,” and Conor simply says, “I’m Conor.”
The Duke tells Sir Gervas that the case is a simple one, and pretty much over: the bounty specifies that coin will be given in exchange for monster heads, and as the Ophiro is a monster, the group should be paid and sent on their way. Sir Gervas insists that the Ophiro was a protective measure put in place to fix the Duke’s mistake, and as the Duke has lost the trust of Varellia, he questions the wisdom in his paying the Ophiro’s killers.
Sir Gervas demands that Sadon Farlight explain how he knows Conor. Sadon explains that he brought Conor to the Citadel to interview her about her time living with a colony of Dwarves in the Darkwoods. Conor confirms, saying that yes, she lived there, but it isn’t really a settlement, only a small group of about five Dwarves camping out in tree roots.
Sir Gervas stops her and exclaims, “There is no need to continue this charade. We have the information we need. We cannot let this threat sit idle, Your Grace! Look what happened in the next Duchy over, in Redcrest! Need I recount the deaths, Your Grace? A city councilor and his wife, slaughtered. Two judges dead, one in his home and one in court! The captain of the guard murdered in his office! The city is in chaos, Your Grace, and reports say it is Dwarven rebels behind it! Do you want such a band of malcontents lying in wait just outside your walls?”
The Duke sighs and says, “I assume you want me to send my men to clear them out, then?”
Sir Gervas tells him that no, he doesn’t want the city guard deployed—he wants the Crownsguard to do it.
Unsure of what to do or say to stop this, Conor just stares at Claire in a panic.
The Duke tells Sir Gervas that his plan to send the Crownsguard to slaughter a group of five refugee Dwarves sounds excessive, but Sir Gervas scolds him, telling him that as his daughter has already caused so much chaos to the Kingdom of Varellia, he doesn’t get to decide what is or isn’t excessive.
The Duke cuts him off saying, “My daughter didn’t do this. Now, the Ophiro seems to have done its job. There are far less monsters in the Darkwoods now, so perhaps the Crownsguard will feel safe enough to patrol there. We’re done here.”
He tells his guards to go fetch Cleves, as he’ll have to see this sooner or later. For a few minutes, there is only awkward silence in the chamber. Then, faint wailing is heard in the hallway outside. A short, stocky halfling man is brought in by the guards. He’s dressed in simple grey robes with splits up the sides, and cotton trousers underneath. He wears a heavy leather apron and thick spectacles. It’s hard to pin an age on him, given how bald and fleshy his head is. He looks both like an old, old man and a baby.
When he sees the Dog head on the ground, he rushes forward and begins to weep. He calls its name over and over again, caressing the rotting head: “Ophiro, Ophiro, Ophiro.”
Tears spilling out from behind his thick glasses, he turns and calls out to the Duke, “Your Grace! Who has slain my Ophiro?” Looking around wildly, his eyes lock onto the group as he yelps, “Was it… Was it these three, Your Grace?”
He begins to raise a hand, ice crystals creeping down his fingers.
The Duke shouts, “Cleves, we talked about this! Stand down.”
The halfling hesitates, then drops the hand. He does not drop his gaze and continues to glare at the group.
The Duke begins to question Cleves, telling him the Ophiro tried to kill humanoids. Cleves seems to be in denial, saying only that Ophiro wouldn’t do that as he’s a good boy. The Duke tells Cleves that he is going to contact the Regent with the bad news, and orders him to return to his lab and stop work on any current projects. Cleves stiffens, tells the Duke to go ahead and burn the head of the Ophiro, and leaves the chamber.
The Duke stands, thanks the group, and begins to leave. Kaiess speaks up to offer him their services as they head northeast. The Duke wishes him good luck as he heads home.
Kaiess says, “Good luck with the whole security thing, it seems like there’s a lot happening with that.”
The Duke ignores this comment and leaves with Councilor Alons. As he passes through the door behind the dais, the group hears him tell his guards to burn the head and have the floors scrubbed.
The group is led back out into the hallway. Favian Mowbray is waiting outside, and takes Sadon aside to tell him something quietly and pass him a parcel. The guards lead them out into the courtyard past the Citadel doors. They are given back their weapons and Falcor is led out to them. Sadon walks the group outside of the gates and, once out of line of sight of the group, slips a small bag into Conor’s hand.
Conor quietly asks Sadon to not let Sir Gervas kill her people. Sadon looks strained, and tells her he isn’t sure what he would be able to do to stop that. Conor reminds him that only her group, Sadon, and Peronell Ashglade know the exact location of Birch Grove. Sadon contemplates this for a moment, and after confirming where she and her group plan to stay that night, tells her to expect a courier from him at Traders' Hall that night.
Walking back to the inn, Claire and Kaiess share memories of homemade food. Claire introduces him to the concepts of Thanksgiving and a turducken. Kaiess is fascinated. They also discuss the merits of getting Conor a dummy holy symbol.
At Traders’ Hall, the group reserves two private rooms on the third floor. Claire and Conor are to room together with Falcor, and Kaiess will sleep alone. Once alone in the privacy of their rooms, they open the bag Sadon handed them. Inside, they find 90 platinum pieces. Kaiess feeds the group with three castings of Goodberry, and brings the remaining twenty-plus berries downstairs to leave in a bowl in the bar for people to take as snacks.
Kaiess and Claire head up to the public baths on the third floor while Conor stays behind in the room with Falcor. Kaiess’s scrub-and-shave is quick and he finds himself back in the room in no time. Finding the bath basin filled with water too grimy to tolerate, Claire casts Create Water six times to fill the basin and takes a luxurious bath until noon.
The group goes downstairs for a lunch of boiled root veggie stew. While they eat, a person dressed in the green of the Crowhill crest enters the tavern and scans the room, seemingly looking for someone. Kaiess shifts his weight to hide behind a tall man on the bench beside him.
The messenger approaches and gives Conor a sealed envelope that they tell her is from First Scholar Sadon Farlight. Conor tips them 1 SP. The courier bows, thanks her, and leaves.
Examining the unaddressed letter, they see that while it is sealed shut with wax, the stamp used was blank. After they finish their lunch, they go up to their rooms to open it. Inside are three pages cut from a book—Peronell Ashglade’s interview with the guards and the hand-drawn map. Conor keeps it.
The group heads over to the Temple of the Harvest Mother where Conor purchases a holy symbol. The necklace features two crossed golden scythes on a fine chain.
They return to the inn for dinner. Kaiess notices a person across the room watching them as they eat. After a moment, the person leaves their table and heads upstairs. They are dressed in dark traveller’s clothes with a hood pulled low over their face. Kaiess notices their movements seem to be a little too fast and smooth to be entirely natural.
The group goes to their rooms and divides their newly-gotten money amongst the three of them. Conor grants Dark Vision to Kaiess, and Claire insists that Falcor stay in the room with him. They all go to sleep for the night, with Conor sleeping on the floor in her bedroll.
A few hours later, Conor is awoken by the sound of a faint click. Through the darkness, she sees the door handle turn. She casts Daylight on her sword, waking up Claire who immediately begins trying to don her armor. Conor approaches the door and slowly pushes it open. As light streams between the slats of the floor and ceiling, the pair hears noises of annoyance and surprise from people in the rooms above and below them.
Peering out, Conor sees a hooded, masked figure crouched on the ceiling clutching what looked to be three knitting-needle-sized blades. She smells Autunite.
Half armored and clutching her dagger, Claire holds her action to cast Sacred Flame if she sees something hostile outside.
Awakening the spores within her to give her strength, Conor turns to Claire and says, “Autunite.”
The creature scuttles in through the open door and jumps down to attack Claire with the knives—which she now sees seem to be part of its hands.
Kaiess bursts out of his room dressed only in his loincloth and begins swinging at the creature with his swords. His blades find metal underneath the being’s clothes. Falcor follows behind him, boofing at the danger.
People in nearby rooms begin to awaken from the clang of metal-on-metal and the bright gleam of Daylight. They hear confused voices from behind closed doors.
Claire attacks the creature with Sacred Flame as Conor first heals her friend’s wounds, then attempts to poison the creature with her Halo of Spores. It does not seem to have any effect.
Falcor rushes up, bites the creature in the shoulder, and pulls it off of Claire. It lands prone.
As the creature gets to its feet, it first slashes at Claire, which misses, then sinks its needle claws into Falcor. Kaiess continues to slash at it with his swords. As his blades cut away the fabric of its clothing, the group sees a body made of clockwork parts beneath. In the center of its chest is some kind of steel orb connected to the surrounding brass by delicate wires.
Outside, a small crowd seems to be gathering to watch the fight in the room through the open door. One person breaks away to run downstairs.
Claire pushes outside and runs into the hallway. The creature slashes her as she runs past. She calls Falcor to her side, heals him, then shouts at the crowd to run.
Conor flanks the creature with Kaiess and attacks it with Flame Blade. It pushes past them and they attack it as it slips between them. It stabs Claire with both hands. She casts Sanctuary and backs away, shouting at people peeking out into the hallway from the baths to hide. She dodges the creature’s lunge and tries to attack it once at a safe distance, but it is too fast to hit.
Conor heals Claire and does a final slash at the creature. It falls to its knees, seemingly dead, and the orb in its chest begins to spin. Conor lays on top of the creature as it starts to emit high-pitched hisses and whines.
Kaiess grabs the automaton by its legs and drags it out from under her body. He shoves it inside his room and slams the door behind it.
The gathered crowd starts heading downstairs, passing a few curious onlookers heading up from the 2nd floor to see what’s been going on.
Claire backs up further as Kaiess and Conor stand by the door, watching and waiting.
There is a loud blast and ripples of ethereal green and purple flame burst forth between the gaps between the planks of the wooden door. Kaiess suffers from radiant damage as the flames wash over him.
They hear a cry from the room next door. Kaiess pushes their room open and drags the unconscious bodies of a middle-aged couple out into the hallway. Claire rushes towards them, telling Falcor to stay where he is. Conor casts Spirit of Healing in the form of Falcor and brings the couple back to consciousness. Kaiess tells them to run downstairs and goes door to door telling anyone on the floor still hiding to get to safety.

Rewards Granted

Group: 90 PP
Conor: Peronell Ashglade’s interview, map to Birch Grove, Holy Symbol of the Harvest Mother

Missions/Quests Completed

Missions Completed
Meet the Duke
Hear Plotting Way Above Your Pay Grade
Get Paid!
Call in a Favor from Sadon
Get Clean (Kaiess and Claire only)
Fight in the (semi) Nude (Kaiess and Claire only)
Jump on a Grenade (Conor)
Realize Someone is Probably Really, Really Mad at You
Patrons Healed, Total: 2
Finally Knock Someone Prone! (Falcor)
World's Best Dog Award (Falcor, reigning champion)

Character(s) interacted with

PCs

Conor Oakenriver
Claire Blackwell
Kaiess Knolltun

NPCs

Sadon Farlight
Councilor Alons
Duke Tymor Darkwood
Sir Gervas of the Crownsguard
Cleves
Strange Hooded Figure
Survivors of the Traders’ Hall Explosion

Notes

I as the DM have realized I have a “type” and that is exploding constructs. Sorry.

Report Date

27 Jan 2019

Primary Location

Crowhill