Game 03 - The Scars of Destiny

Sunday, 3rd day of Calistril, 4711 AR

The ladder in the fireplace lead down to a short corridor: one end had been inexpertly nailed over with planks and drumming music could be heard comeing from beyond them, while at the other end was a double door with silver runes written in celestial that read "Let Not Restless Spirits Pass."

Once the party had dealt with the problem of lowering a tiger down the shaft, they were ready to explore. Deciding to try to find Gwumbi they tackled the plank blocked exit; a couple of hefty kicks from Miria and Garmidius opened the way. The corridor led to further tunnels that were evidently connected and part of the sewers; the smell alone confirmed that.

Following the sound of the music, the party ventured onwards. Nearing a door outside which three figures stood or sat, Garmidius approached them and asked if they had seen a small construct pass by! The men were revelers of some kind, enjoying a smoke away from the music and frivolity beyond the door. Slightly taken aback by the question, they were even more taken aback when Lucciola and Dio emerged to join Garmidius. A short and somewhat futile conversation ensued - the revelers knew nothing, and just seemed more awed and confused by the disparate group of figures that had unexpectedly appeared from the sewers.

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The heroes went back to the rune marked doors and Lady Helena used the key from Gwumbi to open them. Further passages led into darkness, and a nearby door bore a plaque saying "Here Lies Leyana The Crestfallen At Peace Finally And Forever." Passed the door along the passage was glimpsed a larger chamber with some kind of pile on the floor. It was here the group explored next.

The chamber contained a huge pile of refuse, deposited from various chutes high up in the walls. A giant cockroach scoured the waste; it spent a few moments looking at the heroes before burrowing into the pile. The adventurers moved in to inspect the refuse, when suddenly the giant cockroach burst from the mound and attacked. It was dealt with in short order, finally slain by Miria, but no sooner was it dead than two more giant cockroachs flew in and attacked. The fight continued, but the giant vermin were outmatched, and one was killed by Garmidius with a well placed shot and the other dealt a particularly devastating blow by Lucciola.

Lucciola spotted a glint from atop the refuse mound and closer inspection showed a kind of jewel clutched by a dead hand. Heedless of the mess Miria scrambled up the pile followed by a curious Adyel, who took the crystal suspecting it to have psionic qualities. Miria dug out the body from the filth, finding just a few coins on it. The body had suffered a major rend to the chest and she rolled it down the side of the mound for others to inspect. Descending the refuse, Adyel slipped and fell face first in something very unpleasant! Fortunately Miria's magic soon had them both cleaned. Further investigation concluded that some kind of dark magic had killed the gem-holder, but more than that could not be determined.

The heroes next elected to explore Leyana's tomb. Garmidius opened a series of locked doors that led to a small chamber occupied by a sarcophagus decorated in a leaf motif. The sarcophagus bore the inscription "Armed Against The Eternal Darkness." An adjacent chamber held a wire casket in which flickered a continual flame and suspended in this by a wire was a vial. Adyel claimed the potion as it turned out to be a healing potion.

Most of the heroes wanted to open the sarcophagus, with only Lady Helena and Miria finding it distasteful and disrespectful and deciding not to assist. Kisarra was hit by a poison trap during the opening and needed one of the antitoxin potions found earlier in the mansion. Unsurprisingly inside were the skeletal remains of Leyana, adorned with a matching golden necklace and ring, which were taken.

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Leaving Leyana's tomb, the heroes next explore the nearby narrow passage, with Garmidius scouting ahead. Suddenly the floor collapsed beneath him and the gnome disappeared from sight. A moment later, webbing spins out from ahead, enveloping Miria and Dio. In a feat of strength the magus bursts the sticky bonds but her success at freedom is rewarded with misfortune as the fragile floor sends her and Lucciola into the pit to join Garmidius. Their foe proved to be clinging high to the walls either side of the corridor and pit: a pair of giant spiders, while scuttling around in the pit were numerous smaller versions of the arachnids.

In a somewhat desperate move, Lucciola cast a spell of Create Water to try and dislodge one of the spiders, and to the surprise of all fortune smiled on him for the brief deluge did indeed dislodge the giant arachnid and sent it tumbling into the pit. A couple of mighty blows from Miria saw the vermin dead.

In the meantime, Dio had clawed himself free of the webs, while Garmidus had scaled the pit and adjoining walls to get closer to the second giant spider. Lady Helena's eidolon had also managed to close on the spider and provide flanking for the gnome and they were able to injure the arachnid. At Lucciola's command, Dio joined the attack by leaping partially over the pit and up the wall to reach the spider. The tiger's claws gouged into the walls to give the big cat sufficient purchase and allowed him to land a powerful bite to the spider, killing it. With the giant spiders dead, the smaller arachnids scurried away.

The giant spiders defeated, the group managed by various means to climb and crawl to the other side of the spiders' trap. Here they found a number of webbing cocoons, all of which contained the withered remains of giant cockroachs except for one, which contained the desicated remains of some unfortunate halfling. A search of the demihuman's body found quite a few possessions including armour, weapons, potions, and other items, several of which proved to be magical.

The party explored further and discovered the corridor came to a dead end in which rested a broken coffin. Inside, thorugh the hold in the lid, could be glimpsed a large sword and a shield. The heroes decided to open the coffin - again with Lady Helena and Miria unhappy with the graverobbing - and in addition to the sword and shield, they found a shard of black crystal.

It was now late in the day, a day already filled with trials and dangers, and yet there seemed more to explore. However, after some dicussion, it was decided that it would be best to rest up, heal wounds, and replenish their powers and abilities. Agreeing the safest place to rest was Leyana's tomb, Garmidius locked the tomb entrance door behind the party. And so it was they rested until the next day.

Moonday, 4th day of Calistril, 4711 AR

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The heroes returned to the chamber with the waste pile to continue their search, and headed toward a cavern they had glimpsed the previous day. This turned out to be an hourglassed shaped space with a sloping-edged pit in each of the two larger sections. A light seemed to shine from the second pit. Barely had the party entered - with Garmidius and Miria leading - than something started to emerge from the lighted pit. It was a strange insect like creature with waving antenna: a rust monster.

Again battle was joined, and again terrain with pits proved problematic; Lucciola and Dio, as well as Kisarra soon tumbled into the first pit as they tried to move forwards, failing to safely skirt its edges. Miria wasted no time and attacked with her sword landing a sold blow, but the blade's metal became corrupted from the contact with the creature. The rust monster was irresistably drawn to the metal wielded and worn by the female magus, and it struck her sword reducing it to ruin and leaving Miria weaponless. Now realising her peril, Miria managed to dodge past the creature, intent on reaching the rust monster's pit lair in the desperate hope of finding something she could use.

Confusion reigned at the rear with Ziyana also falling into the pit that already contain so many others of the party. Lady Helena sent her eidolon Kordex forward, and it fortunately was able to navigate around the pits to join Garmidius and attack the rust monster. Garmidius's crossbow and the eidolon's claws saw the creature slain luckily before it caught up with Miria and could feast on her chain shirt.

The pit with the light proved to be the monster's lair and was filled with various items along with the remains of a body. A search revealed wooden hafts (that had likely once borne axeheads), a quarterstaff, a strange silvery dagger, a cloak, a small bead, a wand, a skullcap that was the source of the light, and another shard of black crystal. The items were recovered - and some discovered to be magical.

With everyone pulled from the pit, the search continued once more. The only remaining avenue of exploration was the passage leading from the other end of the waste pile chamber, and so the heroes ventured forth. The passage was long and winding, and lead down flights of steps on three occasions. It emerged into large cavern that contained an underground lake with a small island. A series of spikes partially blocked the sloped way into the chamber; they seemed to be arrayed as some form of protection for the cavern.

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In the waters around the lake island were a number of chanting piscine figures. Upon the island there seemed to be some kind of coral-like structure. A brief discussion by the adventurers on the information in Jorak's journal decided that Adyel and Kisarra would go to entreat with the creatures as they might well be the ones Jorak talked about having traded spearheads with. Adyel and Kisarra were secured by ropes so they could carefully negotiate the sloped entrance to the cave and avoid impaling themselves on the spikes.

Adyel and Kisarra tried to negotiate with the locathah fish people, hoping to trade the silversheen dagger. They tried to make it clear they had come in place of Jorak - who they mimed was now dead - but the language barrier seemed to be too great. The negotiations got more tense. The pair offered the dagger on the magical shield that had been found earlier, floating them to the locathah, but the message was still not clearly getting across. The mood began to sour and the locathah became unfriendly. It was only with a demonstration of how the dagger blade might be used, and the hurried offer of another five daggers collected from any of the heroes who had them, that a trade was finally agreed. The blades were exchanged, and the locathah presented the party with another black crystal shard that they retrieved from the coral altar on the lake island.

Examination of all the shards showed that there was still at least one more piece of the crystal missing, and yet the heroes had explored all of the catacombs and sewers that were the likely safe places in which Jorak had hidden them. So where might the remainder be?

The heroes elected to return to the mansion to further explore. Garmidius emerged from the fireplace entrance first, and was confronted by the sight of a well dressed man sat in a chair with a glass of fine brandy. He introduced himself as Lord Callow, asked Garmidius who he was and asked after his friends. Garmidius tried to bluff Lord Callow that he was alone, but his deception was unsuccessful.

And so the remainder of the party emerged from the catacombs back into the mansion, and as each did Lord Callow introduced himself, asked their names, and offered them some brandy. Miria steadfastly refused to give her name so casually. The nobleman's air was confident, and he seemed well informed as to what it was the heroes were searching for. He offered wealth and prestige if they simply handed over the shards of crystal, giving over a small ruby as demonstration of what would be given.

But the heroes were no so easily bought, and Lord Callow made hints at what might happen should they not give him the crystal shards, of how difficult life would become in Absalom with him as an enemy. Miria could not tolerate the nobleman and his promises and threats any longer; drawing her sword she casually flicked his bottle of brandy onto the floor. Lord Callow's patience ended with a vile curse and he dispensed with the disguise he had worn, revealing that he was in truth a shape-changing kuwa oni.

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And so the two sides engaged in battle, the kuwa oni using its powers to trick and confuse the heroes. It seemed victory was at hand when one of Lady Helena's summoned creatures killed the false lord, when a figure wearing a hideous mask appeared up on the balcony and used magic to create a pit that nearly ensnared Miria, Lucciola and Dio. The heroes rallied to engage this new threat, and the masked figure conjured more pits to delay and trap them. Garmidius was hot of the figure's heels but he was unable to leap over the final pit between him and the masked conjurer, and fell in. This magical pit had been cleverly placed at the top of the stairs to the balcony and proved an effective barrier. Undaunted, Miria managed to make the leap that Garmidius had not. Ziyana used her powers to create a translucent light across the top of the pit and allow Lady Helena and Dio to cross, affording the now sealed-in-the-pit Garmidius a unique view of Lady Helena's bloomers!

As the masked figure was pursued, Adyel was convinced the kuwa oni Lord Callow was not completely slain and could recover from its wounds. With Lucciola, she discovered that it was indeed not dead, but now also hidden with invisibility and trapped in the first pit created by the masked figure. Using a potion of Fire Breath, Adyel was able to burn the kuwa oni such that its regenerative powers could not save it, and the false Lord Callow was finally slain.

The masked figure had fled, and when its pursuers caught up outside of Jorak's master bedroom, only the mask remained, an animated thing engaged in combat with another of Lady Helena's summonings. The mask was a spirit oni. It was killed, but when Miria entered the bedroom she found an open window through which the figure had seemingly escaped. She emerged and reported her findings, and it was just then that Dio uttered a growl. Without pause, Miria re-entered the bedroom and strode back to the open window - then with a whirl she lashed out mightily with her sword! Her blade struck something invisible, and the figure they had witnessed suddenly appeared and slumped dead on the floor.

Examination of the body found notes that revealed the figure was K'Shah - a fetchling - and Jorak's traitorous assistant, while the spirit oni mask was Jorak's familiar, which had also betrayed its master.

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The notes on K'Shah appeared to be a disorganised mass of the hateful scribbles by a jealous apprentice who lusted for power but had little understanding of the device his master sought. They confirmed that he managed to hide one of the shards from Jorak when they were first discovered on some far flung expedition, causing the mage great trouble as he didn't realise he was missing a piece, which was what had prevented him from joining them together by any means. When K'Shah saw how important this item was, he plotted to usurp his master and take it for himself, joining forces with the two oni in a deal which promised them freedom and power respectively. The mask would be given flesh form, while K'Shah would use his inside knowledge of Jorak's noble line as well as his trusted status as Jorak's apprentice to enable the other the opportunity to secretly murder and then mimic Lord Callow, who was the most senior member of Jorak's noble family. K'Shah would get the strange gemstone to examine at his leisure and inherit Jorak's mansion once his master was murdered, and of course the false Lord Callow would see to it that the murder was never properly investigated.

Amongst K'Shah's other belongs was found a small piece of crystal shard. The heroes gather together to examine the shards but suddenly when the pieces were all in close proximity they were irresistibly drawn together and the crystal was magically reformed in an explosion of light rays. The beams lanced in all directions, and each of the heroes was pierced by a ray that left behind a scar: a Scar of Destiny!

The mission completed, the heroes returned to Fantasimo’s shop. He was delighted to hear of their success and took the now re-joined tubular shaped gemstone with a greedy curiosity, expressing no interest in anything else that had been found. His congratulations were warm, saying that he had had every confidence in their abilities, and since they had proven themselves capable sorts, he even offered to introduce the party to the Pathfinder Society, and to vouch for their success and trustworthiness to the dockmaster Erik Brekbow.

Their debt to the city paid, the heroes were free to discover what awaited them next in the City at the Centre of the World.

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