Story 11/23

The group started the evening at the edge of Thalstead at a smugglers tunnel. They were going to use the tunnel to enter the city from the North and avoid going through the North gate. Amaras is taking is 150 men and attempting to enter the city from the East. The group enters the tunnel and travels into the city without issue. The tunnel is obscured on the other side by rubble from a burnt down slum house.

Once on the other side, the group begins to fan out and search the area for clues about what is going on. They find lots of evidence that people are abandoning their homes. Some evidence shows that certain individuals haven't left. Klon finds a city guard soldier who has been flayed and is dying. After learning a bit about the attackers, After a few minutes of discussion he dies, and Klon burns his body.

Monashe finds a small garden with a pile of dead townsfolk on it, and his spirit wolf finds a small patch of dirt that has been dug up and reburied several times. Khaelis finds a frightened woman and her son. After a mix of intimidation and careful diplomacy, he is able to find out that nefarious folks (humans, bladelings and few other humanoid races) have been pillaging the city and killing lots of people. He learns the woman's name is Joolia, and her son's name is Joolia's Child. Joolia was waiting for her husband (a dock worker) to return home, and he never showed, so they were hiding in their shack. Joolia knows a bit about the docks and the typical resource movement throughout the city, and Khaelis offers to protect her and her child. Klon bashes through a baracaded door, and finds a couple cots and a pegboard with papers/maps on it. Klon's actions draw the attention of Cember and Apolly.

Erevan finds a basket of 12 vials containing a blue smokey liquid. He also ends up finding a decrepit homeless man whose intestines are spilling out. He tries to help the old man, but the old man cannot be helped, and Erevan ends his misery and burns the body. Aeowyn finds a locked door and breaks it down, but unfortunately there is a trap behind it and she takes some damage. Beorn is on the roofs of the houses and finds a well that has a black water releases very hot steam. Khaelis also finds some vials of blue smokey liquid, and decides to ingest some. He surges in strength and ability, but takes a penalty to defenses because of it. Monashe finds a locked door and breaks it down, and finds a trap door leading to a tunnel. This draws the attention of Cember.

Aeowyn eventually springs a 2nd trap (the dice were not in her favor that night) and the group is attacked by 2 stalkers and 2 cultist guards. The stalkers are nimble and can shift more than 1 square, and the guards can teleport to each others location. The enemies knock Aeowyn unconscious, but the group is eventually able to kill them (with Erevan drinks a blue vial), leaving the immediate area safe for the time being.

Meanwhile, Monashe emerges on the other side of the tunnel and startles a person who was sleeping. The other side is a small shack, and this person was holed up in the shack. Monashe says he knows Cember and Apolly, and that he was sent to check out the area. The person is ecstatic to hear Monashe knows Cember and Apolly, and introduces himself as Codak. Codak explains that he is an associate of Cember and Apolly, and he thought they were dead. He has been hunkered down and not really sure what to do, but now he wants to meet back up with Cember and Apolly. He also explains that there is a guard barracks about 25 yards away through the slums, but that outside of his hut is likely dangerous.

Back on the other side of the tunnel, the group searches the area a bit. Erevan and Khaelis find that the blue vials exhaust them a bit after the effects wear off. At the well that Beorn found, they find that there is definitely something up with the water. It is steaming like crazy, but not bubbling. It dissipates when thrown against a wall. They decide to take a few samples of it. They find a drug stash with green liquid vials, and empty vials near dead bodies in the area. Beorn goes YOLO and drinks a green vial. He feels a short rush, followed by nothing. The group doesn't find much else of note, but they hear Hawkmoon squawking and find the tunnel that Monashe used. Aeowyn, Klon and Khaelis go through the tunnel, while Beorn and Erevan hang back.

Once on the other side, they discuss the situation with Codak. Monashe doesn't want to pass up the opportunity to check out the guard barracks that is only 25 yards away, but Codak doesn't want to leave his shack (out of fear) and wants to meet up with Cember/Apolly. Khaelis is a bit conflicted, he ultimately wants to get Codak and C/A together though and go from there. Klon learns that the dwarf he has been searching for is killing people who drink the green vials, pretyt much on the spot. Klon and Khaelis are trying to mediate between Monashe who wants to take advantage of the opportunity, and Beorn who is skeptical of the situation and the tunnel itself.

Beorn starts to develop random sores on his body that aren't from battle wounds. The group suspects the green vials might have something to do with the undead, and Beorn is really starting to freak out. Klon heals him a bit, which seems to slow the process but not stop it. Beorn refuses to go through the tunnel, but decides to attempt a stealth route through the slums to get to Codak's place. The rest of the group takes the tunnel. On our next sesh, we will see how well Beorn stealthed through the city, and finally get Cember, Apolly and Codak in the same room.

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