19980619 Dirty

<H1> It's a Dirty Job, but Somebody's Got to do it... </H1>
<H2> Role Call </H2>
<TABLE>
<TR>
 <TH> Name </TH>
 <TH> Profession and Level </TH>
 <TH> Player </TH>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Kieran McTernan </TD>
 <TD> 5th/5th Half-Elf Cleric/Mage </TD>
 <TD> Ray Chiang </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Grackle </TD>
 <TD> 5th/6th Half-Elf Fighter/Thief </TD>
 <TD> Mark Whisler </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Borgar Evenhand </TD>
 <TD> 6th Dwarven Cleric </TD>
 <TD> Matt Miller </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
 <TD> Ansrak </TD>
 <TD> 7th Human Thief </TD>
 <TD> Robert Giedt </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<H2> Session Summary </H2>
Grackle is inducted into the Eyes of the Eagle (the Aquitanian intelligence
and security service). His first mission is a local problem presented to
him by Kenton Wyle (WHY-lee), director of Aquarna operations.
There is a local bodyguard service called the Iron Brotherhood out on the
East End on the King's Road. Wyle suspects it of being a front for a group
of assassins working for the Twisted Eye orc clan. It's possible that this
was a base of operations for the big assassination attempt on the palace
which first put Donner, Colin, Grackle and company on the run. Wyle doesn't
have enough evidence, however, to bring in the Red Eagles (the
constabulary) and start busting heads. He mentions that he'd prefer they
just "disappear," wink wink, but that the Eyes don't field that kind of
muscle. Grackle and his duly-recognized temporary agents, however, have
full legal authority to defend themselves if they find themselves
threatened in any way, if you know what I mean, nudge nudge.
(During the mission briefing, some geography of Aquarna is learned: the
river runs through town north-to-south; Castle Eyrie, the royal pad, sits
atop a massive bridge. The King's Road runs east-to-west, with most of the
traffic at the West Gate. This creates a "wrong side of the tracks"
arrangement, except it's more like "wrong side of the river." The East End
is the bad part of town.)
The Brotherhood apparently makes its living by "protecting" people who
didn't need protection before. A sample sales pitch: "We c'n make sure
youse don't get severely beaten today for, say, 50 gold." Wyle sees it as a
perfect front: since it's already shady, they're regularly raided by the
Eagles, so a "surprise" raid won't find much; and armed men are constantly
coming in and out of there at all hours, so there's no way to tell if
they're up to something more nefarious.
An early plan involves Borgar and Ansrak playing bait by going to the
Brotherhood and asking for their protection, claiming that while up on the
Plateau they have somehow gotten Grackle after them. Hopefully, they can
uncover something through their dealings with them. Also, if the
Brotherhood offers/tries to assassinate Grackle, that sorta tips their hand
as well.
After further discussions with Wyle, however, it becomes clear that the
Brotherhood really doesn't do much "honest" business. They're strictly
small-time hoods and shakedown artists. So the likelihood that a couple
out-of-towners would go straight to the scum district and look these guys
up is pretty small.
It is then decided that this will be a "B&E job." So they start asking
about the general neighborhood. There's a tack & harness shop across the
street, a tannery, some other stuff. Interestingly, there's an abandoned
potter's shop right next door. The potter died some 15 years back, and his
family hasn't showed up to claim anything yet.
Then they start asking about the sewers. Aquarna, being the capital of a
well-to-do kingdom, actually has underground sewers. They're laid out in a
grid pattern, with small feeders running down into main tunnels which then
dump into the river. The system is periodically flushed out by stormwater
and river tides.
Wyle has two sewer experts, one of which is available as a guide. Tuck, the
sewer rat, is assigned to Grackle's team. He is under strict orders not to
take any risks, however, since his knowledge is invaluable to the Eyes.
Tuck (who talks strangely like Sewer Urchin) takes Grackle, Borgar and
Ansrak into the sewers. Before leaving, they take the precaution of having
Borgar made invisible by Kieran, and of having Sacred Guardians placed on
each of them to alert the rest of the team back in castle Eyrie in case of
trouble.
Tuck unlocks the big iron grate over one of the main sewer outlets by the
river, giving a spare key to Grackle. He shows the group how to wrap
continual light coins in cloth so as to let out only a dim light - suitable
for finding your way around, but not so bright as to give yourself away.
"Yeah. Don't want them to see you coming. Very bad." He also stuffs wax
plugs in his nose for the stench, offering some to the group (they are
grateful).
He also explains that there are two kinds of people you meet down here:
crazies and killers. Apparently, there are a few people who actually live
down here, and they are quite mad. ("CHUD," says Matt.)
They creep through the twists and turns, eventually reaching a point where
Tuck will go no farther. "Go left, then right, then look for a cracked-up
part of the masonry on the left. It's near there. Yeah. I'll wait a while
for you," he says. "If you get lost, go downstream," he adds helpfully.
After the proper number of turns, they spot the broken masonry. On either
side of it are two smaller feeder tunnels. Ansrak and Grackle look around
for traps. Ansrak spots a tripwire across the far tunnel, 20 feet away in
the dark (01 on Find Traps).
Borgar: "First he cracks the vault in two seconds flat, now this." (shakes
head in admiration)
Ansrak takes a quick peek over the tripwire into the tunnel beyond, and
sees a cloaked figure huddled against the wall. Then Grackle peeks using
infravision (no light), and sees nothing. They decide to check out the
other tunnel.
The other tunnel ends abruptly in some newer masonry. In the ceiling above
is a small oval hole. Ansrak decides to go up and check it out. Grackle
boosts him up (silently deciding to "burn these gloves when we get back").
Ansrak, being small and agile, manages to squeeze himself through into...a
commode. He's just climbed up through the business end.
He creeps carefully about, kicking up some reddish dust. It turns out,
after a thorough search, that this is the abandoned potter's building. The
place was ransacked at some point (chairs overturned, drawers open, boxes
broken into), but nobody has been here in some time, as the dust seems
undisturbed except for Ansrak's activities.
He climbs back down. They opt for the second tunnel. Grackle peers ahead,
sees nothing, steps gently over the wire ("Gimme a Dex roll. Just don't get
a 20." <19>) and into the tunnel--
CRASH! CLANG!!
A cloaked figure wielding two blades leaps upon him from the darkness. As
it does so, several old, beat-up brass shields that were leaning against
the figure clatter to the floor. The fight is brief - 2 rounds - but is
enough to trigger the Sacred Guardian and wake up Kieran ("What the- oh, he
killed it.") as Grackle is cut badly. During the battle, the figures cloak
swirls away to reveal that it is a skeleton - one of the walking dead.
They unveil their continual light coins, figuring the jig is up anyhow. The
tunnel has a side passage with stairs going up (probably to the Brotherhood
building), and straight ahead is a room with a spiral staircase going down.
They can hear voices from below, now. From above, they now hear slamming
doors, heavy boots and gruff talk.
After a VERY fast whispered discussion, it is decided that a) they have
enough evidence to bring the Eagles, since necromancy is definitely
illegal; b) the targets of the investigation have no knowledge of who was
here - coulda been a sewer crazy, after all; and c) that sure sounds like a
lot of voices.
They wrap up their lights and flee. The pursuit is poorly organized and
quickly lost; our heroes hook up with Tuck and make their way back to the
castle for a long hot bath. Wyle, who has an office in the castle, is
informed of their discoveries and immediately starts putting together a
raid.
The raid goes well enough. The Brotherhood is busted, and the operation is
closed down. Downstairs, the raiders find an orcish shaman with several
skeletons. He is killed in the fight ("I saw 'im goin' for a weapon!"), but
on his body is a Gate scroll with a letter. The letter's text:
"Here is the means. Ask for Sarin II and he will end all your troubles. Do
not ask again."
After talking this over with the spellcasters in the group, it is
determined that a Gate spell is useless unless you have the name of an
entity you're trying to reach. The letter is obviously providing such a
name. Further, Kieran says that Sarin (SARR-in) was the name of Strahd's
right-hand vampire back in the early days of Ravenloft. Sarin was
destroyed, but Kieran can't recall right now exactly how. If this entity is
related, it may be Strahd's new top lieutenant. Kieran also recalls a relic
associated with Sarin...might have been a ring, maybe.
<H2> Foes Fought </H2>
<P>
</P>
<P>
Base Experience: 
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