Session0020

Episode 0020 - Followed By The Gallows
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**Setting:**

Hochstall - Orion's Crypt - April 24th-26th, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* The party arrives in Hochstall, at the border of the Alviren Empire, where they meet with the mercenary Chak-ik-cha, and uncover a barrow hag masquerading as a priestess of the Raven Queen.
* After restocking on travel supplies, the party sets out from Hochstall towards Orion's Crypt in pursuit of Duke Vincent Mason and Orion's Key.
* After a few days' travel through the wilderness, the party arrives at the border of the Golden Wastes, where they find Orion's Crypt.
* Scouting ahead, the party finds that the Crypt is occupied by a group of Hartwellian soldiers, including Duke Vincent Mason, who are standing watch and keeping a perimeter.
* Eventually, the party approaches the Crypt to confront the Duke, who offers them generous bounties in exchange for their assistance in apprehending Gragnok so that he can be executed for his crimes.
* The party battles the Duke and the Hartwellian soldiers, discovering that they are accompanied by elven followers of the Morningstar.
* After defeating the Duke and killing the remaining soldiers, the party stabilizes the Duke so that they can interrogate him about his presence at the Crypt.

## April 24th

In the morning, the party sets out to continue their journey toward Hochstall to meet with the mercenary Chak-ik-cha, who has agreed to aid them in dispatching Duke Vincent Mason. They arrive in Hochstall in the late afternoon, after a mostly-uneventful day of travel.

In Hochstall, the party heads to the general store to stock up on travel goods and food for their upcoming venture into the Golden Wastes, which Jack warns are very sparse on natural resources. Speaking with the store's shopkeeper, the party learns that the town's church, which is dedicated to the Raven Queen, has recently been taken over by a new priestess. Inquiring about Chak-ik-cha, they learn that a thri-kreen matching his description just arrived in town recently.

The party decides to stop by the Raven Queen church before looking for Chak-ik-cha. They find the church to be a secluded, relatively small establishment, surrounded by a graveyard. Inside, they meet with the priestess - a humanoid individual adorned in the black raiments and a porcelain mask customary to the Raven Queen's priests. Gragnok tells the priestess about his mission, and asks about how she came to serve in Hochstall. The priestess is evasive in her answers, and acts somewhat suspiciously, ursing Gragnok to move along and continue with this quest. Gragnok also notes an odor of rotten meat in her presence. Suspecting something to be amiss, Rye uses his ability to detect magical auras, and senses transmutation magic on the priestess.

Gragnok and Rye press the priestess for an explanation for her transmutation magic and her suspicious behavior. Eventually, she confesses that she killed the former priestess, and insinuates that her act as a priestess is just a ruse. She attempts to leave, saying that she will be on her way and leave Hochstall alone, but Gragnok attacks her before she can leave. As combat breaks out, the priestess reverts to her true form, revealing herself to be a barrow hag. The party battles and kills her. During the fray, the church's former priest - now an undead ghoul - emerges and attacks the party as well. The party subdues and restrains her, keeping her alive to prove to the townsfolk what has happened.

With the hag killed and the undead priestess restrained, Gragnok calls for the town guard. A pair of Hartwellian soldiers arrive, and the party explains what happened, and shows them the dead hag and the undead priestess. The guards retrieve some of the townsfolk to corroborate the story and to identify the former priest, and the shopkeeper recognizes the party and vouches for them. Meanwhile, a crowd of townsfolk gathers outside the church to see what the commotion is, and the party spots a thri-kreen among them - presumably Chak-ik-cha.

Investigating the body of the hag, the party finds a magic item and a potion. Odell recognizes the hag as a barrow hag, known for feeding on corpses and creating undead. They also discover that several graves outside the church have been unearthed, and they find partially-consumed corpses in the priestess' chambers.

After recording the party's statements and briefly investigating the scene, the guards tell the party that they're free to go, and they thank them for their public service. When asked about a possible reward, the guards allow the party to keep the magic items retrieved from the hag as their reward, and the party agrees to this arrangement. The guards also ask if anything can be done to heal or restore the former priestess, but Odell says that she is beyond recovery. Gragnok offers to execute her and end her suffering, and the guards agree, deferring to his judgment as a fellow follower of the Raven Queen. Afterwards, the guards depart.

The party finishes investigating the church, and finds a chest of currency in the priestess' chambers - seemingly tithes and alms collected by the church. With Gragnok's encouragement, the party takes the money. They also spend some time cleaning up the church and burning the dead bodies.

During this process, the thri-kreen from outside enters the church, introducing himself as Chak-ik-cha. The party introduce themselves and welcome Chak-ik-cha to stay with them for the evening, and Gragnok gives him his agreed-upon payment for aiding in killing Duke Vincent Mason. Though chak-ik-cha communicates mostly with body language and gesticulations, and doesn't speak other than to say his name, he seemingly agrees to stay with the party.

After concluding their business at the church, the party spends the rest of the evening resting and drinking in Hochstall, as the townsfolk herald them as heroes for killing the hag. Chak-ik-cha joins in the revelry.

During the evening, Rye and Malkoth talk about Malkoth's mother, Miriam Arkin, and the events of her death. Rye presses Malkoth for a detailed accounting of the events that transpired, explaining that he intends to make a legal case to exonerate Malkoth, and hold the mayor of Hillenbrook accountable. Malkoth agrees to this plan, and gives Rye a detailed recounting of the events of the bandit attack on Hillenbrook, and the deaths of his mother and Levi Sarlin.

## April 25th

In the morning, the party departs Hochstall, setting out toward Orion's Crypt. As they plan for the day's travel, Jack mentions a military checkpoint that they're likely to encounter at the border between Aerzen and the Golden Wastes, where they should expect to be searched and questioned. He explains that the checkpoint could be avoided by traversing the nearby forest, although the forest is dense and perilous. Gragnok explains that he's been stationed at this checkpoint before, and that it's only manned by a few soldiers. He suggests that the party should go to the checkpoint and subdue the guards, and interrogate them about the whereabouts of Duke Vincent Mason. The party debates the best course of action, and ultimately decides to avoid the confrontation, and travel through the forest. At Gragnok's request, Patches uses a *divination* spell to ask his deity if the Duke has recently passed through the checkpoint, and learns that the Duke passed through about 3 days ago, as expected.

In the late morning, the party arrives at the forest as planned, and begins traveling through. They slowly make their way through the forest, battling giant spiders and fording a wide river along the way. Meanwhile, Blakjak, keeping a lookout from above the forest, reports that there are actually a fairly large number of soldiers at the nearby checkpoint - many more than expected by Gragnok.

Around nightfall, the party reaches the northern edge of the forest, where they set up camp to rest for the evening.

## April 26th

In the morning, Rye plays the Psalm of Awakening, in preparation for the party's arrival at Orion's Crypt later in the evening. The party then sets out for the day's travel.

As the party proceeds northward over the course of the travel day, the terrain rapidly transitions from verdant grassland to an arid badland waste - the Golden Wastes. Jack explains that these were the lands that he grew up in, and warns the party of its potential dangers, including elemental and magic disturbances.

In the late afternoon, the party spots Orion's Crypt in the distance - a massive structure of black metal architecture. Blakjak scouts ahead to get a better look at the location. She finds that that crypt is occupied by soldiers, who seem to be keeping a rotating watch outside. The party decides to leave their wagon and mounts behind before approaching closer, in hopes of avoiding detection by the soldiers. Using large boulders and rock formations for cover, the party approaches the Crypt, and sets up their post about five hundred feet away from the Crypt entrance.

Searching for tracks in the area, Jack finds the tracks of six horses arriving at the Crypt about 3 days ago, as well as footprints from individual patrols scouting the perimeter over the past several days. The party decides to wait here until nightfall, in hopes of either sneaking up to the Crypt under cover of darkness, or possibly catching one of the patrols and interrogating them for information.

Around sundown, Jack spots a scout in a camouflaged cloak, spying on the party from behind a nearby boulder, before turning and beginning to sneak back towards the Crypt. Acting quickly, Jack, Gragnok, and Malkoth pursue the scout and grab them, but the scout manages to blow a loud whistle before they can silence her. Gragnok executes the scout, and the party searches her belongings. They discover that she is an elf, and that she bears a tattoo depicting the holy symbol of the Morningstar - the same symbol worn by the Inquisitors in Saltcrest.

As the party scrambles to decide how to proceed, Duke Vincent Mason steps out from the entrance of the Crypt. Using *thaumaturgy* to be heard by the party, he sentences Gragnok to death for treason, and offers the other party members 5,000GP each for their assistance in capturing Gragnok, if they choose to cooperate. The party briefly discusses how to proceed. The notion of accepting the Duke's offer isn't seriously entertained, in party because they doubt that he will honor his agreement.

Eventually, the party begins approaching the Crypt, using a combination of Jack's earth elemental magic and Patches *pass without trace* spell to make a stealthy approach. Once they're close enough, they spring from their hiding place and invade the Crypt. Charging inside, they battle and defeat the Hartwellian soldiers within, as well as a few more elven scouts that were hiding outside. As the fight turns in the party's favor and most of the troops are killed, the Duke attempts to surrender, telling Gragnok that he has information that the party will want to hear. Gragnok ignores this plea, and cuts the Duke's throat.

After the violence subsides, Rye manages to stabilize the Duke and prevent him from bleeding out, so that the party can question him about his business at the Crypt and associations with the elves. They take his weapon and his holy symbol of Erathis, and bind him.

Searching the bodies of the other soldiers, they find that all of the elf scouts are adorned with Morningstar tattoos. They check the Duke and his men for similar symbology, but don't find any. Odell also casts *identify* on the Duke to see if he is under the effects of any enchantment or mind-altering spells, but finds that he is not under the effects of any magic.