Where Things Stood at the End of Session 2
- The Bow of Murder is still missing.
- The Acolytes of the Domain of Nature are almost all dead in the City of Glass. It’s only a matter of time before the water in the city stops flowing.
- City Guilds and Groups were already on edge before the events of the assassination happened. Things were not likely to improve.
- The Blue Fox Adventuring Group is still mourning the loss of their brethren, still have no idea what happened to them (the Party still has the insignia and haven’t returned them yet), and are deeply paranoid.
- Thanks to Esynth, Zenaris knows his Anti-Armor sword is broken, but can be fixed with a little magic and some very expensive materials, and that when working can be activated to shift between corporeal and incorporeal depending on the type of foe.
- Dren has the two Darkling daggers.
- The Fey have it out for the Domain of Nature (or at least those of the Temple of Farrin in the City of Glass) and nobody knows exactly why.
- Esynth is very weird, and the party doesn’t know what to make of her.
- Two Fish is distraught over the murder of two customers in his own in. Given time he’ll likely recover.
Characters:
Kaderin – High Elf Bard and Official Leader, Colgrim – Mountain Dwarf Barbarian, Dren – Tiefling Rogue, Esriame – Scourge Aasimar Cleric, and Zenaris Wheelwright – Rock Gnome Wizard
Two of the characters are out this week (Dren and Zenaris) so I figured it was time for a little one-off adventure.
A Favor Called
The party survived the blast. Briefly blinded when their sight returned they saw that only they, a Dragonborn, a Kobold, and a Tiefling survived. Everyone else was dead. The Tiefling immediately bolted from the temple in a panic. Colgrim went to the doors of the temple and opened them up to the arrival of Paladins of Ustus, who’s temple was the closest. Kaderin and Esriame introduced themselves to the Dragonborn and Kobold. The two were a deep purple color with white frosted tips on their scales and golden eyes. The Dragonborn’s name was Wraciar Accun,
Wraciar is just past middle aged, his scales are a shimmery purple with a white edge near the tips. His head is strongly ridged and dragonlike, with golden eyes. He stands 6′ 1/2 feet tall, and around 250lbs. He wears a simple long black robe with a belt that holds what looks to be a component pouch. He is dusty, and always looks heavily traveled. His demeanor is serious and worn down, like the weight of the world is on his shoulders.
He wears a necklace with a small but deeply magical Amethyst Brooch attached to it. There are tiny sigils and Draconic text glowing from within. For those who read Draconic It says “deto dâun tâimâmân vo nuopâ” (Use in greatest of need).
the Kobold’s name was Kiv. His physical coloring was the same as that of Wraciar. However, even after the explosion, his well fitting attire of a simple black thobe and pants was spotless and impeccable. Wraciar and Kiv were just at the temple to gain a blessing before they set out on a dangerous excursion into the sands.
The Paladins of Ustus (easily identifiable by their heavy black armor and raven engraved on their shoulders) were appalled by the sight of all the death and destruction that greeted them as they stepped through the door. The Paladin Captain, a tall muscular elf named Corvin, gathered the survivors together and demanded to know what happened. Upon hearing the Party’s tale, he determined this was way beyond his pay grade and requested the survivors come with him to the Temple of Ustus, to tell their story to the Archpriest Aolis Urnelis. On the way, Wraciar asked a question, “Where are the Clerics and Paladins of the Gods of Nature? Why was a mere Acolyte becoming the Archpriest in the first place?” The party hadn’t noticed this before and hadn’t really given any thought as to why they had been hired to stand watch as opposed to a Nature Paladin Order. They don’t recall ever seeing an actual Cleric or Paladin of the Nature Domain in the city. When the question was posed to Corvin, he couldn’t think of any time earlier than a year and a half ago, mostly because he rarely gave any particular attention to the numerous other Religious Orders around the city, and they never really had need to go to any other temple or encroach on any other religious business but their own.
The Temple of Ustus is a simple, unassuming place made of a somber grey stone with a hint of gothic architecture. It handles all the funerary/mortuary needs of the city, and watches over the graves of the deceased to ensure the bodies of the dead remain undisturbed. Upon entering the Temple, the party stands in a large, comfortable hall/sanctuary. Simple chairs are ordered throughout the hall, designed for those who come to pay last respects. At the front is a simple grey alter for the Last Rite of the Dead. To the side of the alter is a large stairwell going down, presumably to the morgue. Branching off from the main hall are various offices, rooms, etc. necessary to running the Temple. Corvin sits the survivors down and goes and gets the Archpriest Aolis Urnelis.
Archpriest Aolis Urnelis is an elderly elf, with white hair and dark eyes. He wears a simple white robe and a black belt and the symbol of Ustus embroidered on the chest. He’s a somber quiet elf, and has a hard time believing the tale the party tells. So he tells Corvin to return to his duties, and then creates a zone of truth. After which he questions each of the party, the Dragonborn, and the Kobold about the event, why they are in town, whether they had seen or met any other Darklings, etc. It was during this questioning that the Wraciar tells the Archpriest that the reason they were in the city was to pay a debt to an old undead, and had come to the temple to seek a blessing before heading out into the desert, where they were going to clear out some cultists.
The mention of cultists immediately sparked the interest of the party, and Wraciar invited them to come along. Archpriest Aolis was satisfied everyone was telling the truth, and that they may leave. He mentioned he was going to have to alert Arkturis about what has transpired, and let the other Archpriests of the city know, in case they too were being targeted by the Fey.
The Party, sans Dren and Zenaris (who each went elsewhere), set out with Wraciar and Kiv to the house of the Undead named William Riles. William Riles was an old skeleton, one of the few remaining original human undead. He was a little eccentric, but lived in a nice house with white rock walls and red brick roof, and spent most of his time sitting on a rocking chair in his front porch. His eyes glowed blue, and he wore a simple, but thick grey robe that hid most of his skeleton and thick, well worn, leather boots. A few simple gem studded rings on skeletal fingers gave an air of understated wealth and power. After greeting everyone, and offering to pay Colgrim, Kaderin, and Esriame 5 gold each to come along, he explained his mission. Ages ago, when he was a young man, and not yet undead, he encountered one of the Instruments of Nethys (the Goddess of Music), a gigantic Pipe Organ of incredible wonder and complexity and heard it play. It was a life-changing event, one that drove him to become a bard and learn music. To adventure, in an attempt to find it again. He had been writing a piece of music specifically for it, should the opportunity arise, that he kept stored safely in his ribcage. And now, he has discovered it again, out in the desert not even a day’s journey away. However, when he approached it, he discovered Cultists had also discovered the place, and they drove him away. So he called in his old favor with the Deshen Clan, so together they might drive the cultists out, and he could play his music. And now that they were all here (or as many as could be sent), everyone would set out the next morning after an evening’s rest to recuperate from the previous days.
The next morning they went out to the edge of the city, where the rest of the Deshen group was waiting. They numbered 24, with 6 heavily armed steampowered spiderwalking machines. Each machine was armed with two ballista, and held a crew of four. Wraciar, it turns out, was the leader of this expedition, and invited the others and William to take places in the front walker. And everyone set out into the heat of the desert sands. Each walker had a Dragonborn in charge, and three kobolds manning the ballista and running the engineering/navigation of the vehicle.
Upon reaching the place William guided them to, they saw a cathedral, sitting alone in the sand. It was surrounded by cultists, who when they saw the approaching war party, formed up defensively. Wraciar’s walker led the charge into the group, trying to break through and get into the cathedral. However, it overheated and was not able to get all the way through. It remained stationary while the engineer tried to get it sorted out. The kobolds manned both ballista, and fired into the crowd of cultists, as the Party held off boarders. The other walkers engaged the cultists, drawing off fire from Wraciar’s walker, and providing distraction. William, seemingly impervious to the wild combat around him, and the spells flying through the air leaped from the walker and ran toward the entrance of the Cathedral. Wraciar leaped after him, casting spells to defend William and draw off the cultists who were turning their attention his way. The rest of the party worked at thinning out cultist ranks and repelling boarders from their walker, as the Kobolds fired the ballista as fast as they could.
William made it inside the cathedral, Wraciar some ways behind him. Colgrim, after suitably thinning out the ranks followed after, leaving the Kiv, Esriame, and Kaderin to guard the Walker and finish off the remaining cultists that were around it.
As William approached the Great Instrument, pipes of different sizes and metals filling the whole back wall of the building, his eyes changed from blue to white, the green of his spiritual muscles shimmering white instead of green. He laid skeleton fingers on the keys, and began to play. It was clear, loud, and beautiful. The music echoed throughout the building and outside. Radiant energy healed the wounds of the party as they fought. Colgrim stood guard at the door, Wraciar stood inside guarding William. Kiv, Kaderin, and Esriame remained outside, though Kiv also tried to get into the cathedral and was almost caught out by approaching cultist reinforcements. Cultists appeared over the dunes by the dozens, joining the fray in a frenzy, driven to stop the song being played. As William played his music, a shimmering form of a woman began to take shape above and behind him. She glowed with a soft white light. And as he played, she took more and more corporeal form, and stood behind him, placing her hands over his guiding him as a teacher might a student. His skull was a blaze of white fire, as were his fingers. White flame shot through the pipes of the organ. The longer he played, the more intense the radiant energy coursed through the room. Holy power was radiating from the being, from the instrument, and from the music. It coursed through the party, granting them incredible holy power (by the end of the song it was up to 1d4 extra radiant damage on hit, two attacks per round or two spells per round, and +5 to hit). In the midst of the chaos, as the music was nearing a crescendo, an Aboleth exploded out of the ground inside the Cathedral near the entrance, drawn either by cultist summoning or the presence of the deity. Wraciar hit it with the full force of a fireball and it barely flinched. The Kobold engineer was able to get the Walker moving again, and it crashed through the side of the cathedral, still carrying Kaderin and Esriame, and splatting a cultist in the process. They proceeded to engage the Aboleth.
Wraciar, sensing there was no greater need, ripped the brooch from his necklace, said a magic word, and threw the crystal up in the air. The crystal grew in size from a couple inches to 10+ feet when it hit the ceiling of the Cathedral. Where it exploded and reformed into a fully grown Amethyst Dragon. The Dragon slammed down into the Aboleth, exploding out the front entrance of the cathedral. Colgrim barely managed to dodge out of the way in time of the two mighty creatures. With them grappling on the ground he was able to put his axe to great work on the Aboleth, hacking away at it, as the party hit it for everything they had. When it was almost dead, the Dragon finished it off by ripping it in half, black blood flying everywhere and covering anything nearby. As it did so, the final notes on the Great Organ played, and stopped. A massive wave of radiance echoed out of the Cathedral, as holy power incinerated the remaining cultists in the area. Fountains on either side of the Great Instrument broke and exploded upward in great geysers of water.
William, bones shimmering white, eyes a white fire, turned and looked up at his god. Esriame could just barely hear and understand the question asked in Celestial,
“Do I still have a soul?”
“Yes.”
“May I leave with you?”
“Yes.” She reached down, and touched his chest. In a quick bright flash, they both disappeared.
The Cathedral began to implode, sinking into the ground almost as fast as the water was trying to rise out of it. The dragon, taking humanoid form (long purple hair that came to white pointed edges at the end, purple eyes, an almost draconic forhead, and unnaturally white skin, wearing purple scale mail and black cloth pants) teleported onto the Walker. Joined shortly by the rest of the party, they made it to a safe distance, where they watched the final remains of the Cathedral disappear, to be replaced by a large lake of water, and the formation of a small river making its way to the sea. The dragon went to the edge of the lake and formed a tall amethyst statue of William Riles, as he looked before undeath and wearing his loose bardic adventuring gear, marking down in Draconic, “William Riles. A favor returned.”
When asked about what favor the Deshen owed, the dragon responded that William Riles had, back in his adventuring days, found an amethyst dragon egg. When it hatched, he had raised her and protected her until she was able to begin her clan, and such a thing she would never forget, and every time they spoke she had always reminded him that she and her clan would always be there for him in time of need, should he ever request it. She requested the party to keep her a secret. As there were very few in the desert that knew her true form, and none of the clans of the Draconic Empire ever knew such a thing as Amethyst Dragons existed, she would like to keep it that way. She also gifts the party with 5 gold each, and an ‘Invisible Hide Armor’ (Hide Armor, once worn, this armor turns invisible but not to the wearer).
The Deshen group dropped the party off amicably at the entrance to the City of Glass before heading back into the desert on the long return trip to their home in Oasis.
~~~~~
Where Things Stand
- The Bow of Murder is still missing.
- The Acolytes of the Domain of Nature are almost all dead in the City of Glass. However, the water issue may have been solved before it became a serious problem, thanks to a new oasis and river within a day’s journey.
- City Guilds and Groups are on edge, and either paranoid or attempting to take advantage of the paranoia.
- The Blue Fox Adventuring Group is still mourning the loss of their brethren, still have no idea what happened to them (the Party still has the insignia and haven’t returned them yet), and are deeply paranoid.
- Thanks to Esynth, Zenaris knows his Anti-Armor sword is broken, but can be fixed with a little magic and some very expensive materials, and that when working can be activated to shift between corporeal and incorporeal depending on the type of foe.
- Dren has the two Darkling daggers.
- The Fey have it out for the Domain of Nature (or at least those of the Temple of Farrin in the City of Glass) and nobody knows exactly why.
- Esynth is very weird, and the party doesn’t know what to make of her.
- Two Fish is distraught over the murder of two customers in his own in. Given time he’ll likely recover.
- The Party has earned the friendship of the Deshen Clan, namely the Dragon, Wraciar Accun, and Kiv.
- Archpriest Aolis Urnelis has taken charge of investigations into the Fey attacks, and has alerted Arkturis to the details of the matter.
