Session 08

## Rymes

The session began in Rymes, with the party preparing to leave the city for Oronia. Having researched possible fae that the party might encounter, Lilliana discovered some warnings about fairy circles and circles of bubbles in the sea. She read up on the city of Misclap, finding that it is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, city in Arrnonland. The city has survived sunderances due to its position on the coast. Lilliana also visited Henoch Eaholm to ask a few questions about Tobias Gold. She asked for records about Tobias and possible family members entombed in the crypts, but Henoch was hesitant to reveal any information. However, he offered her the opportunity to study with the Order of the Bonekeepers, offering her a four-year period of study and a ten-year apprenticeship. Lilliana kindly declined. Henoch did reveal that Tobias was often seen around the graveyard, “poaching” the families of the recently deceased for whatever ends.

A few days passed, and after exiting the Church of the Forging Father, Salibar, Ciarán, and Lilliana were confronted with a well-built half-orc by the name of Titus Kiyth. An eye-shaped clasp on Titus’s cloak drew the party’s attention, and the half-orc revealed himself as part of the Order of the Eleventh eye. Titus revealed that he had recently returned from Grimordia. He had been attempting the scry on a magic object that was previously blocked by some kind of shield. The party’s interference in Grimordia seemed to remove this barrier. Tracking the party, he was able to intercept them outside the church. He revealed that his order was searching for a ring that was previously on the Hand of Malediction. The ring supposedly held a shard of some reflective surface. Salibar attempted to recall whether the hand had initially worn a ring, but his memory felt unclear – as if it had been tampered with. The party were aware of a slight indentation on the hand that suggested a ring could have previously been worn on the hand. Salibar, who had the hand on himself at the time, attempted to deceive Titus into thinking that the hand was in storage at the university. Titus then followed the group back to the university. However, after failing a sleight of hand check, it became evident to Titus that Salibar had had the hand the whole time. He remarked that such deception was unnecessary. Upon querying about a possible link between the mirror that the party glimpsed in Clean Falore’s vision and the shard in the ring, Titus grew suspicious, questioning the party about what they knew of the mirror. After revealing what they knew, Titus seemed satisfied that they didn’t know “too much”. Titus then immediately teleported away, leaving the party scratching their heads.

Next, the party visited the university guards, inquiring about the necromancer they had imprisoned at the university. The university guards revealed that they had turned the necromancer over to the city guard after they had confessed to committing murders. The party then travelled to the guard barracks and asked to speak with the necromancer. The guard on duty denied this request. Not wanting to push the issue further, the party decided to leave, but not before taking a look at the bounties posted on the board in the barracks. They saw a few bounties, including the bounty for a cult, but the bounty that caught their eyes the most was one of an extremely regular-looking woman. There was very little context on the poster, but her aggressively normal appearance seemed … strange.

The party then decided to visit Layla to see how her treatment was progressing. The individuals taking care of the werewolf revealed that the treatment was progressing, but it was a taxing process. Finding Layla resting, they did not wish to interrupt her sleep, instead asking that she be told that they had visited.

## The Devil of Newpole

The party finally left the city of Rymes behind and headed through the greenwoods towards Oronia. Upon arriving at the seaside city of Port Corsus, the party was met with a guards at the front gate, who informed them that the city was closed to incoming and outgoing sea travel due to a workers strike. The gate guard also told the party not to travel at night, warning that there had been murders in the city. Inquiring who to ask concerning the murders, the party was pointed towards Baron Elsdir’s manor.

Upon arriving at the manor, the group was ushered into a room where a meeting was occurring. Here the party was introduced to the baron, his chief mage Victor, and the head of his forces, Captain Drake. The party learned about the so-called “Devil of Newpole,” whom the investigators presumed to be responsible for the murder of 11 people in the poorer, northern suburbs of the city. The victims were of all backgrounds, genders, and races, with the only uniting factor being that they were on the street at night.

The party then followed Victor to his office, where they were able to look over the case notes and were invited to inspect the most recent body. They observed the rather imprecise removal of limbs on the body, concluding that the killer was not scientifically or medically trained. The party then followed Victor to some recent crime scenes. Salibar noted some new details that Victor and his team had overlooked, such as some orange clay that had been left at one scene and a blade mark at another. Leaving Victor, the party decided to question a nearby furniture maker about the case. After following him inside his house, the party had a quick discussion with the individual, who provided very few details.

The party then split, with Lilliana and Ciarán travelling to the docks to speak with the striking workers. Speaking to the leader of the strike about the cause of the action, the pair learned a little bit about the socio-political situation of the region. The leader revealed that there had been unrest on the east coast of the Jarrish Coast, with a figure who had appointed themselves “Justice” creating an army of followers. Presumably, a servant of the Judge, Justice was said to wield a great hammer. However, the conversation took a turn when the leader asked whether Lilliana was an elf. He revealed that a gnome had passed through the city and had told him that a trio of individuals matching the descriptions of Salibar, Lilliana, and Ciarán would be passing through. This gnomish figure was described as having a distinctive moustache and called themselves “Lewis Cypher”. Ciarán, in particular, took an interest in the workers’ strike and agreed to try and discuss a wage increase with the baron.

In the meantime, Salibar met with Captain Drake, the strong, red-haired leader of the city’s forces. Drake showed Salibar the apron found at the scene of the seventh murder. She revealed the working theory that the murderer had accidentally left the apron behind. Salibar remarked on the curious bloody stains on the apron, noting that it was strange that the apron was so bloody, as magic had been used to clean blood from the recent crime scenes.

Deciding to try and intercept the killer at night, the party rested for some time, setting out towards the north side of the city in the early hours of the morning. As they began to head towards the agreed meeting place, they noticed the sound of strange singing. Ciarán sent his pseudodragon Fionntán to follow the sound, and the pseudodragon located two black-clad individuals: a dwarf and a tall humanoid. Ciarán recalled Fionntán, and the party began to approach the location where the pair were spotted. However, they found nothing, and the singing seemed to bounce between locations as if someone was casting an aural illusion. Ciarán sent Fionntán out again to find the figures. However, the taller humanoid quickly noticed the pseudodragon, and a chase ensued. Ciarán and Lilliana fell behind, but Salibar deftly navigated the streets and corned the pair.

Salibar attempted to question the men. But the pair, who revealed themselves as Japser and Horace, gave evasive answers and began to brandish their weapons, threatening Salibar. Undeterred, Salibar revealed his greataxe, intimidating the pair into standing down. The next moments were a blur as the two fled from Salibar, climbing onto rooftops and disappearing into the rabbit warren of streets. By this time, Ciarán and Lilliana had caught up. Despite the group attempting to cast spells to catch Japser and Horace, the pair escaped into the night.

Hiding in an alley, the party waited for some time. Ciarán sent Fionntán to track Victor, but he found nothing suspicious about the man’s actions. Then, a blood-curdling scream cut through the air.

Running towards the source of the sound, the party found a pool of blood and words painted on the wall in red ink. The message read: “*By my hand, the pestilence will be cured*”. Ciarán noted that some of the script seemed almost elvish, indicating a non-native speaker of common wrote the words. Salibar found more of the clay at the scene. Lilliana, on the other hand, in rushing through the streets, ran into a kenku who was running in the opposite direction. After a brief scuffle, the kenku magically paralysed Lilliana and vanished into the dark. Lilliana noticed some orange clay on her arm where the kenku had run into her.

When the party rejoined, they tracked the trail of orange clay left by the kenku. The trail abruptly ended in an alley where Victor and a group of guards were crowded around a door. Having heard the scream coming from a different direction, Victor and the guards had headed to a different location than the party. Ciarán raised the similarity between the illusion used by Japser and Horace, but Victor assured the party that they were harmless. Here, the party found the final victim dead behind a door. A detect magic spell revealed that some kind of magic had been cast in the location, strangely, a combination of necromancy and conjuration. After some discussion and a return to the blood pool, the party decided that their best option was to attempt to track the apron that Lilliana saw the kenku wearing.

Tracking the apron to an abandoned warehouse, the party approached with stealth, sending in Lilliana with invisibility. After she scouted the location of the kenku, the rest of the party joined her and approached the room where they presumed the kenku to be. Opening the door, Lilliana was confronted with a laboratory of sorts. Two arcane pillars seemed to be powering some potent magic and in the middle of the room was a table, upon which lay a distorted figure constructed of the body parts stolen from the murder victims. Unfortunately, the party was too late to stop the golem from being animated. A fight quickly ensued, wherein Lilliana trapped the Kenku and the golem in a web. The party downed both enemies easily, but Salibar felt something was off when his greataxe sunk into the kenku’s head. Inspecting the body, he discovered that the kenku was some kind of simulacrum-like construct filled with straw. A “Wickerman,” the party would learn. Inspecting the laboratory, the party found a device called “The Equalizer,” a magical black concoction called “The Ichor,” and a magical knife. They also found two trapped Wands of the War Mage and four Gems of Spell Power. Victor allowed the party to keep the gems as compensation.

Most interesting, however, were the two books that the party found. Marked “I” and “II,” the books seemed to deal with strange magics and bore an odd crest of wheat. At the front of the books, the party found a message unmistakably written in Tobias Gold’s hand. The message read: “*You paid well for this, see you don't forget you owe me a favour. The powers you seek can be found with the knowledge contained in these three tomes. The cost may be more than the price*”. The party found no third tome.

Having resolved the murders, the party returned to the baron, who offered them a gift in return for their services. Salibar asked for a weapon and received the Axe of the Waters. Lilliana simply asked for passage from the city, which the baron agreed upon. Ciarán tried and failed to gift their payment to the workers, misunderstanding the complexity of the negotiations. The party briefly visited Victor, now revealed to be named Victor Frankenstein, before leaving for the docks.

## Aboard the Stout Skipper

The group then boarded “The Stout Skipper,” a ship under the command of Captain Eerie Proudfoot, a minotaur. As the ship began to leave the port, Salibar noticed two familiar figures on deck: Japser and Horace. Amongst the cargo was a prisoner, a forest elf with strange tattoos of vines, fruit, and aquatic motifs, who appeared to be a worshipper of the “Harvest Lord”. The ship set sail for Flotsam.

During the voyage, Ciarán attempted to communicate with the elf, trying to find out what they had done to end up in their position. The elf, being obtusely vague, revealed that they had done something that the authorities frowned upon. However, they insisted that they had harmed no one. During this conversation, the elf’s eyes began to glow green, and the ship began to lilt, with Ciarán just managing to hold on. The elf swung open the door, walked out, and failed to cast a command spell on Ciarán. Ciarán attempted to reason with them to stop them from harming others. The elf simply told Ciarán to stay out of their way. Not wanting to engage the elf alone, Ciarán grabbed the elf’s arm to ask for his friends' safety. In response, Ciarán felt a massive wave of force hit him.

Once on deck, Ciarán attempted to communicate telepathically with Lilliana to inform her of what had happened. However, Lilliana immediately noticed the danger and cast a powerful suggestion spell, forcing the elf to return to their cell and cease any harmful actions. Captain Proudfoot sent Jasper to restrain and gag the prisoner.

The rest of the journey passed uneventfully, and upon docking at the floating city of Flotsam, the relevant authorities escorted the prisoner from the ship. After disembarking, Salibar quickly spoke to Japser and Horace, with the pair revealing an association with the Hoods and offering Salibar a job if he met them in the tavern. The party headed towards this tavern, “The Squeaky Floorboard," a building constructed of a large galley. Outside the tavern, the party looked over a quest board pinned. They found a few interesting quests: two relatively vague postings and one more detailed post about subjects needed to test a new diving technology.

## Down in the Depths

Deciding to investigate this job offering further, the party found the location marked on the poster, where they met with a gnomish artificer and a tortle. After indicating their interest in the posting, the tortle asked to see their teeth. While Salibar and Ciarán bared their teeth, the tortle seemed interested in Lilliana, asking whether she was “Jensen’s daughter”. Lilliana confirmed that Jensen was her father; however, when the tortle enquired about his health, Lilliana revealed that her father was unwell with some kind of “affliction”. The tortle recalled sailing with Jensen and revealed that he had recently seen Lilliana’s sister, Erianna, in Flotsam. The party learned that it had been around eight years since Lilliana had seen her family. After this revelation, Ciarán took Lilliana aside and began to probe about her past, urging her to visit her sister immediately. However, Lilliana seemed hesitant to talk about her family or visit them.

In the meantime, Salibar was discussing the details of the job with the tortle, learning that they would be searching for the wreck of the “Harpy”: a legendary ship made of pure gold that sunk near the city. They would use experimental diving suits, which had never been tested on people, only rats. Salibar seemed interested in taking the job, and after discussing the prospect with the party, they decided to act as guinea pigs for the experimental suits. Perhaps against their better judgement, the party took the plunge into the depths.

Sinking to the ocean floor, the party was met with oppressive darkness. After walking for some time along the floor, they stumbled across the wreck of the "Harpy". Much to their surprise, the golden ship was exactly as the legends had described. Taking their pickaxes to the ship, the party attempted to recover some of the ship's gold plating. While Lilliana and Ciarán struggled, Salibar was able to retrieve the gold with ease. After some time, Ciarán began to feel uncomfortable, and scanning the darkness, he glimpsed the figure of the Stranger standing some distance away. The Stranger pointed behind Ciarán, and he turned to see two sharks approaching the party. Ciarán, unable to communicate with his companions, and sensing the danger, pulled on his chain and began to be hoisted back to the surface. Salibar and Lilliana, however, continued their work oblivious of the sharks.

After a few moments, the sharks attacked, piercing the glass helmets of the pair. Lilliana quickly mended the glass by turning the front of her helmet to ice, but Salibar began to struggle. Then, establishing a telepathic link with one of the sharks, Lilliana filled its mind with dissonant whispers. As she cast this spell, some terrible power seemed to manifest within her, and the shark fled in terror. In the meantime, Ciarán created a sound in the water to distract the sharks and attempt to buy the party time. Ultimately, both Ciarán and Lilliana were able to ascend to the surface without any issues.

Salibar, faced with the prospect of drowning and with no way of mending his helmet, seemed destined for death. However, in this moment of struggle, Salibar had a vision of a dead oak tree. A male voice, perhaps the voice of the tree, spoke to Salibar, saying: “*You have pledged yourself. Now prove yourself. Come and find me*”. Some power seemed to reach Salibar in this moment, teleporting him out of his suit and back to the surface…