Players
* Mersit Of The Raging Tree, catfolk swashbuckler - [Aaron Collins]
* Taarn, Kellid barbarian - [Mick Hodorek]
* Ashen, elf bladebound magus - [Mike Horrigan]
* Ashen, elf bladebound magus - [Mike Horrigan]
* Rupert Silvermoon, elf wizard - [Jonathan Hood]
* Esdar (Dar) Aerril, half-elf cleric - [Alex Nutall]
There's a bit of awkward silence as the cleric seems to be simply staring at a section of a wall (which he claims to be an illusion). Esdar finally mans up and walks straight through the illusionary wall section. Once he walks through, this breaks the illusion for the rest of the party (we knew it all the time obvs). We confirm that after all the twists and turns and stairs and attics that we are only two stories up from sea level at this point. The room opens up to a U-shaped ledge/balcony with windows to the outside and a view to the boats below (2 left after the third one was destroyed by falling rogue). Esdar searches the area for shit to steal.
In the areas we search, we come across some interesting stuff that belong in a museum (the name for our portable hole).
Stuff that Taarn starts filling up his hole:
- Tables 900g for table stuff
- Furnishings worth a 1000 gp.
- Books/Journals Varisian
Esdar discovers another secret room behind another illusionary wall: it appears to be a bedroom with a four poster bed (kinky). Rupert looks into the room from the balcony window and notices a fluttering wind effect in the room. Rupert detects some magic that is moving around the area (we are not alone). The effect heads toward the front curtain where Ashen is watching guard. The curtain then parts ever so slightly right next to Ashen.
INISH
Taarn goes to finish her off; explaining that his targets fall into two categories (I'm paraphrasing): "The dead and the soon-to-be-dead".
Ashen is able to shrug off the poison though it leaves a black line mark. He then ties her to the poster bed (while our eyes widen... I told you it was kinky).
Loot:
The usual garbage: 3 tangle foot bags ;Masterwork studded leather;Arrows ;Masterwork short bow ; Climber's kit; Grappling hook; Masterwork thieves tool; Silk rope; 2nd floor harness
Plus:
Scarf (magic) +1 bladed scarf
Vial of poison
150 gp
Esdar considers trying to "cure" the WRat but after "checking her out" he realizes she is most likely a natural wererat (born of other wererat). We do not know nor want to know what he had to do to come to this conclusion.
Ashen skims through the journals (Rupert helps a bit but has trouble with the language). We find out these are the personal notes and diary of the WRat (Mersit is surprised it isn't written in excrement).
Her name is Alaya Jabeski and ... (INSERT NOTES HERE FROM SHAWN)
The gist of all the info is that she has a history of moving up the crime chain through deceit and murder (in particular to her mentor, Ziphrous (a crime lord WRat).
Rupert tries to pre-cog the Shard again to get a vision and he does get some clarity. He sees the irespan, the Crow, a statue of "ranseur" lady (but not the one we already saw). He says that the way to the Shard lies beyond the double doors in the next room.
Esdar notices a locked box under the bed so Mersit goes to examine it for traps. He doesn't find but finds that it opens easily enough. Inside is some cash and gems:
25pp; 187gp 475sp; 40 gems of diff sizes
Mersit uses his smelling salts (last used on Rupert) on the WRat to bring her to consciousness. She awakens to find an assortment of warriors expecting answers.
Mersit: "My friends have questions."
Ashen: "Tell us about those double doors."
Alaya: "Don't know about the doors. Never when through them. Don't know about the runes. Don't know how to open them up. Don't nothing about birthin' no babies."
Rupert: "We read your journal so we know about you."
Ashen (aside): "I read it.. He just helped."
Rupert: "You're not trustworthy. You stabbed your mentor."
Ashen: "You can't be trusted because of that."
Rupert: "Ttell us about the underworld scene!"
Mersit:(sotto voice): "Ask the rat about those people who've gone missing."
She knows nothing useful about the disappearing people.
Esdar: "What do you know about Natalya."
Alaya: "That bitch - what about her!" (she goes on about her betrayal but no new info)
After a bit of time, it's because obvious we are not going to get much else out of the WRat so there are knowing glances around the room as Ashen, Mersti and Esdar head out to check the double doors.
Taarn and Rupert stay behind. Esdar watches intently as Taarn does the coup de grace on Araya ending her miserable vermin life. Adventuring tip: nat born WRats are still vulnerable to silver weapons!
We go into the next room and take a better look at the door. As we noticed earlier, it is a big double door made of silvery-looking siccatite (a sky metal found in Taarn's neck of the woods) covered in eye images and runes. The eyes are pointing to the runes which are arranged in two sets - a set on each door. Annoying there are no door handles. From our earlier detect magic we know there's a faint effect of hot & cold on the doors (like the McDLT).
The runes are Thassilonian and spell the word LISTEN on the left door and THE EYES on the right. The runes looks to be moveable within each door side so we assume we have to re-arrange the letters to spell out the password (we guess it's not the dwarven word for "friend"). Taarn looks at all these letters like they're bullshit and goes back to polishing his axe (not a metaphor). The rest try to discern the answer.
Mersit figures out you can spell SILENT from LISTEN while Ashen figures out THEY SEE from "THE EYES". We task Rupert with doing the actual puzzle solving. The wizard goes to rearrange the letters to the solution and takess some mild fire damage each time he re-arranges a letters. Luckily he doesn't have to switch too many letters and as he puts in the solution the double doors open up! Yeah!
Beyond the doors we see a twenty feet wide area going to the left (north) marred only by some cobwebs (foreshadowing). On the walls were more Thassilonian murals in pristine shape as if created yesterday. The images in this hallway are one of Giants and Peasants working together building structures (Eastern style).
Mersit is not impressed: "I don't like Giants and I FUCKING hate peasants!"
We walk down the cobwebby corridor to a set of stairs and proceed downward (vertigo type stairwell around a square pillar). At the bottom landing, the webs have cleared and we see a small U-shapep corridor leading into another area. The 10x20 corridor opens up to a larger room with a balcony to the south with stairs on either side. We walk on and avoid a scum covered pool. We also notice that the walls are covered in bat guano... Lots and lots of bats guano... Like a lot... Picture a lot... Then double it... A lot.
In a side wall (east?) we see a crevasse that leads to another room but looks too small for any of us to squeeze (time for weight watchers). Rupert asks to pause so he can perform another Shard session. He may be getting addicted but we wait for the info. Rupert reveals the same basic info plus that the west corridor is the way to go. He's a elven compass. We head west (hugging the wall to avoid the pond scum water) and go beneath the balcony stairs. We get a batter view of an eastern corridor that is even more filled with bat guano than the other area (and that's a lot of guano).
Rupert's amulet then suddenly goes warm revealing an illusion somewhere. He detects magic and finds a moderate illusion in the pond. It is an illusionary wall revealing the outside through an open window. This explains the fresh air (not fabreeze). Taarn & Ashen make Perception checks: directly to the west they spot a spiral stairs going downward and in that same area hear a faint noise. Someone or something is creeping nearby. We continue down the western path and go past an antechamber in a north wall - with murals of crops on our way. T & A realize by this time that they've stepped in a pool of snot. Gross. There is also a trail going down the stairs - Taarn does some barbarian survival stuff (NSFW) and lets us know it's fresh.
Around this time Mersit accidentally finds a secret door! Don't ask what he was doing rubbing up asking the wall, he's just that good. The door open up to a small room (15x15 square) and and a 10' corridor heading south. We can also smell sea water in the distance. Mersit feels the pangs of the open sea after all this dungeon crawling. Ashen & Rupert try their dungeoneering skill to figure out our position withing the Crow. They figure that the boats are on the east side and we are likely on the west side. There doesn't seem to be a direct connection to & from each side that they can tell.
We come upon a much cleaner area - no murals, no webs - that opens up to large pool. A ledge on the east side leads to a woooden plank that crosses part of the pool to a stone plynth (10x15) in the middle of the pool. On the plynth is a bucket (otherwise the plynth cannot be described accurately). We call tell the water is salt water so it's not a fancy swimming pool. Rupert casts detect magic but does detect anything. Esdar examines the wood used and finds that the wooden planks are fairly recent and not the kind used to built ships. Definetly built within the last 5 years.
Mersit and Taarn go acrosss the plank to the plynth to check out the bucket which is filled with grinded up bat corpses. Esdar is reminded of a chum bucket. We figure this whole area is some kind of fishing hole... but fishing for what? Time to experiment. T & M decide to find out what likes to munch on bat chum. Ashen & Esdar stay on the wooden ledge while Rupert waits at the stone entrance.
Mersit dumps the chum into the water… how could this possibly go wrong? The chum sinks and we see some walls go down (don't ask). After a short time we get a response in the form of giant aquatic spiders are coming up the pillar from the watery depths.
Mersit: "Uh guys, we got spiders."
INISH:
* Esdar (Dar) Aerril, half-elf cleric - [Alex Nutall]
 |
| Please forgive the crudity of the diagram. |
In the areas we search, we come across some interesting stuff that belong in a museum (the name for our portable hole).
Stuff that Taarn starts filling up his hole:
- Tables 900g for table stuff
- Furnishings worth a 1000 gp.
- Books/Journals Varisian
Esdar discovers another secret room behind another illusionary wall: it appears to be a bedroom with a four poster bed (kinky). Rupert looks into the room from the balcony window and notices a fluttering wind effect in the room. Rupert detects some magic that is moving around the area (we are not alone). The effect heads toward the front curtain where Ashen is watching guard. The curtain then parts ever so slightly right next to Ashen.
 |
| Redrum! Redrum! |
INISH
- Ashen: "There's something moving in the curtain!" he warns. The parted curtain immediately closes.
- Taarn: Drops the hole .
- Esdar: Moves into the room and casts Gozreh’s Trident.
- Rupert: Moves into the room and readies an action (two scorching rays attack - one missing the other hitting)
- Mersit: Double moves into the room and brushes against "someone" on his way in He freaks out. "I think it's that filthy rat!"
- Ashen: Pulls aside the curtain and strikes blindly successfully connecting to something. We hear an "Ooof!"
- WRat: Hits Ashen and becomes visible. It not only hurst but also burns where she hits (poison!?). She then tries to leave the battle, getting hit by Ashen (Mersit misses) before going through the window to the ledge.
- Taarn sees the hybrid rat bitch come in through the bedroom window and so moves in to attack. Alas in his excitement to fuck up the vermin, he misses.
- Esdar moves up to hit with his little watery trident but his pathetic sea god abandons him and he misses.
- Rupert: the magic user hurls magic missiles at the WRat. She drops unconscious and turns human. (don't be fooled)
Taarn goes to finish her off; explaining that his targets fall into two categories (I'm paraphrasing): "The dead and the soon-to-be-dead".Ashen is able to shrug off the poison though it leaves a black line mark. He then ties her to the poster bed (while our eyes widen... I told you it was kinky).
Loot:
The usual garbage: 3 tangle foot bags ;Masterwork studded leather;Arrows ;Masterwork short bow ; Climber's kit; Grappling hook; Masterwork thieves tool; Silk rope; 2nd floor harness
Plus:
Scarf (magic) +1 bladed scarf
Vial of poison
150 gp
Esdar considers trying to "cure" the WRat but after "checking her out" he realizes she is most likely a natural wererat (born of other wererat). We do not know nor want to know what he had to do to come to this conclusion.
Ashen skims through the journals (Rupert helps a bit but has trouble with the language). We find out these are the personal notes and diary of the WRat (Mersit is surprised it isn't written in excrement).
Her name is Alaya Jabeski and ... (INSERT NOTES HERE FROM SHAWN)
The gist of all the info is that she has a history of moving up the crime chain through deceit and murder (in particular to her mentor, Ziphrous (a crime lord WRat).
Rupert tries to pre-cog the Shard again to get a vision and he does get some clarity. He sees the irespan, the Crow, a statue of "ranseur" lady (but not the one we already saw). He says that the way to the Shard lies beyond the double doors in the next room.
Esdar notices a locked box under the bed so Mersit goes to examine it for traps. He doesn't find but finds that it opens easily enough. Inside is some cash and gems:
25pp; 187gp 475sp; 40 gems of diff sizes
Mersit uses his smelling salts (last used on Rupert) on the WRat to bring her to consciousness. She awakens to find an assortment of warriors expecting answers.
Mersit: "My friends have questions."
Ashen: "Tell us about those double doors."Alaya: "Don't know about the doors. Never when through them. Don't know about the runes. Don't know how to open them up. Don't nothing about birthin' no babies."
Rupert: "We read your journal so we know about you."
Ashen (aside): "I read it.. He just helped."
Rupert: "You're not trustworthy. You stabbed your mentor."
Ashen: "You can't be trusted because of that."
Rupert: "Ttell us about the underworld scene!"
Mersit:(sotto voice): "Ask the rat about those people who've gone missing."
She knows nothing useful about the disappearing people.
Esdar: "What do you know about Natalya."
Alaya: "That bitch - what about her!" (she goes on about her betrayal but no new info)
After a bit of time, it's because obvious we are not going to get much else out of the WRat so there are knowing glances around the room as Ashen, Mersti and Esdar head out to check the double doors.
Taarn and Rupert stay behind. Esdar watches intently as Taarn does the coup de grace on Araya ending her miserable vermin life. Adventuring tip: nat born WRats are still vulnerable to silver weapons!
We go into the next room and take a better look at the door. As we noticed earlier, it is a big double door made of silvery-looking siccatite (a sky metal found in Taarn's neck of the woods) covered in eye images and runes. The eyes are pointing to the runes which are arranged in two sets - a set on each door. Annoying there are no door handles. From our earlier detect magic we know there's a faint effect of hot & cold on the doors (like the McDLT).
The runes are Thassilonian and spell the word LISTEN on the left door and THE EYES on the right. The runes looks to be moveable within each door side so we assume we have to re-arrange the letters to spell out the password (we guess it's not the dwarven word for "friend"). Taarn looks at all these letters like they're bullshit and goes back to polishing his axe (not a metaphor). The rest try to discern the answer.
Mersit figures out you can spell SILENT from LISTEN while Ashen figures out THEY SEE from "THE EYES". We task Rupert with doing the actual puzzle solving. The wizard goes to rearrange the letters to the solution and takess some mild fire damage each time he re-arranges a letters. Luckily he doesn't have to switch too many letters and as he puts in the solution the double doors open up! Yeah!Beyond the doors we see a twenty feet wide area going to the left (north) marred only by some cobwebs (foreshadowing). On the walls were more Thassilonian murals in pristine shape as if created yesterday. The images in this hallway are one of Giants and Peasants working together building structures (Eastern style).
Mersit is not impressed: "I don't like Giants and I FUCKING hate peasants!"
We walk down the cobwebby corridor to a set of stairs and proceed downward (vertigo type stairwell around a square pillar). At the bottom landing, the webs have cleared and we see a small U-shapep corridor leading into another area. The 10x20 corridor opens up to a larger room with a balcony to the south with stairs on either side. We walk on and avoid a scum covered pool. We also notice that the walls are covered in bat guano... Lots and lots of bats guano... Like a lot... Picture a lot... Then double it... A lot.
In a side wall (east?) we see a crevasse that leads to another room but looks too small for any of us to squeeze (time for weight watchers). Rupert asks to pause so he can perform another Shard session. He may be getting addicted but we wait for the info. Rupert reveals the same basic info plus that the west corridor is the way to go. He's a elven compass. We head west (hugging the wall to avoid the pond scum water) and go beneath the balcony stairs. We get a batter view of an eastern corridor that is even more filled with bat guano than the other area (and that's a lot of guano).Rupert's amulet then suddenly goes warm revealing an illusion somewhere. He detects magic and finds a moderate illusion in the pond. It is an illusionary wall revealing the outside through an open window. This explains the fresh air (not fabreeze). Taarn & Ashen make Perception checks: directly to the west they spot a spiral stairs going downward and in that same area hear a faint noise. Someone or something is creeping nearby. We continue down the western path and go past an antechamber in a north wall - with murals of crops on our way. T & A realize by this time that they've stepped in a pool of snot. Gross. There is also a trail going down the stairs - Taarn does some barbarian survival stuff (NSFW) and lets us know it's fresh.
Around this time Mersit accidentally finds a secret door! Don't ask what he was doing rubbing up asking the wall, he's just that good. The door open up to a small room (15x15 square) and and a 10' corridor heading south. We can also smell sea water in the distance. Mersit feels the pangs of the open sea after all this dungeon crawling. Ashen & Rupert try their dungeoneering skill to figure out our position withing the Crow. They figure that the boats are on the east side and we are likely on the west side. There doesn't seem to be a direct connection to & from each side that they can tell.
Mersit and Taarn go acrosss the plank to the plynth to check out the bucket which is filled with grinded up bat corpses. Esdar is reminded of a chum bucket. We figure this whole area is some kind of fishing hole... but fishing for what? Time to experiment. T & M decide to find out what likes to munch on bat chum. Ashen & Esdar stay on the wooden ledge while Rupert waits at the stone entrance.Mersit dumps the chum into the water… how could this possibly go wrong? The chum sinks and we see some walls go down (don't ask). After a short time we get a response in the form of giant aquatic spiders are coming up the pillar from the watery depths.
Mersit: "Uh guys, we got spiders."
INISH:
- Esdar: the cleric casts Spell of Joy like it's going out of style.
- Spider1: Sees Mersit holding the bucket and appears to ignore him (you don't bite the hand that feeds you?). It then moves to attack Taarn but misses.
- Taarn: Rages and easily crushes the spider into arachnid mush.
- Mersit: readies an action (ex: drop the bucket).
- S2: Moves so Mersit drops his bucket and slices at S2; The spider then tries to attack the catfolk but misses.
- Rupert: from the safety of the entrance throws some force missiles at the spider #2.
- S3: Moves up the side to Mersit but misses his attack.
- Ashen: Moves across the plank to attack S3 and hits the monster.
- Esdar: Casts an icicle spell attack hitting a spider.
- Taarn: the raging barbarian hits S3 for damage! It is dropped but not in pieces; Taarn then shifts and crushes S3 then swings back to destroy S2 pushing off the plinth. We watch it slowly slide off the pedestal.
