Present:
- Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
- MARMALADING Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
- Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
- Grim Hand. Human Male Rogue from Porn City – Jason
- Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
- Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
- MARMALADING Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
- Willow Woods. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
- Kippy Hunt. Human Male Barbarian of the Central Plains – Ian
- Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl
by Ian
Five non-marmalading members of the group [at the start of the session] Kip, Cody, Munch, Ardern and Grim lounged in the barn discussing the approach moving forward. The options ahead settled on the following:
- Do they take on Otto and Emance together?
- Do they make sure that they are NOT together?
- What are the objectives? Who killed Vincent de'Thoak? Why was Vincent killed?
It was decided to NOT take them on together. There was a reliable window between 8 & 7 be'light where Otto was still at the brothel, cleaning and shutting up shop, and Emance was going to be in her cottage. That would ensure they would not take on both.
Therefore the next question was the approach:
- Through the alley-way secret door, proceed DOWN to the quarters that housed the guard dog and two sleeping guards - and Otto's office and bedroom.
- Proceed UP to the brothel lounge where Otto and the awake guards were performing the end of day duties.
- Enter the stone cottage and take out Emance the mage as the first step to negate her threat.
After much pipe-smoking and beard stroking, option 1 was the final decision. Mainly because the fighters were all lazy bums [ due to arrive at our session a bit later ] and option 1 seemed the most stealthy and least 'plan A'.
Otto's tunnels
At 30-afore 7 be'light [11.30pm] our brave party of six (Esme was now awake) and a bunch of day-dreaming hangers-on are in the street and at the secret door. A quick Detect Traps proved that there was a trap of some kind (understandable). Munch pushed his way forward, elbowing everyone aside.
"Leave this to me losers...I will disarm the trap".
Whoops ... Nothing obvious happens, but the trap 100% was triggered. Munch makes light work of the lock itself.
Esme takes the lead and carefully opens the door and they all creep in. They turn away from the upper levels and head down to the torture chamber area. No issues.
The group navigate the secret doors, rooms and corridors that Cody had previously discovered as a gaseous mist. They get to the guard-dog quarters and relieved to find they were empty.
The next room was the sleeping guard barracks and a silent inspection showed two sleeping guards as expected.
While Kip effortlessly and silently crossed the floor to insta-dispatch one of the guards, Munch dragged is feet and crunched a bowel of spilt cornflakes. Luckily, the target guard never roused and was dispatched instantly also.
The far exit of the room was to Otto's office and the door is locked. They will need some time to pick the lock, and they KNOW that the trap was triggered a few minutes ago??? Hmmm. What to do?
Kip was left to watch the corridor back to the upstairs area while the rest look at the lock.
Cody decides, wisely, to cast a Knock spell to speed things up.
Whoops. Critical fail.
Cody decides that boring locks were nowhere near as interesting as the rich, warm blood all over the dispatched guards. He focuses ONLY on the blood and covers his hands and digs into the victim's wounds. He paints his face and licks the red nectar from his hands...
Meanwhile....
Kip hears noise coming down the distant corridor toward the party. Seems the trap fail is being investigated.
"Dunno what that was but we can check down here??? Everything seems ok so far??"
Kip recognises Otto's nasal whine.
Kip returns hastily and hisses at the group to get ready. They all retreat into the last room and quietly close the door and wait.
After some noises in the dog room, the door eventually swings open and the ambush is sprung....
A guard that was assisting Otto was in the door, door handle still held. Otto and the guard dog behind.
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| Guard dog attacks |
Next the guard dog, whose leash was dropped by Otto, jumps at the door and the party. Tom (who wakes from his daydream finally), steps forward and gets in the way.
Tom proceeds to roll a critical hit and Esme assists with an additional massive hit that destroys the guard dog on one swift fight.
Otto rises from the floor and Ardern barks another Command to 'come' and Otto rushes forward to Ardern. Tom misses, gets hit by Otto's sword and saves vs. poison.
As Otto passes through the room toward Ardern, Tom hits him. Esme hits him. Cody casts Sleep (Otto saves) and Ardern Commands 'cum' this time.
Between the massive damage Otto took from Esme and Tom, along with his own fumble, where Otto casts his one handed blade across the floor, Otto falls unconscious in a bloody heap. The party make sure he is not going to bleed to death and tie and gag him securely. They search and extract his magic blade and ring, along with a useful set of keys. That should make things much easier!
There is another door off the office that Cody had not explored as gaseous form. There is a key that matches the lock and they look inside. Rather than a storage room, it is a corridor that heads off into the dark.
The group then gather their thoughts and decide that the office is a critical objective and we must investigate having come this far.
Munch protests "THERE IS NO TIME FOR THIS. We must go now and abandon the office. Nothing good will come of this!!!!".
He is ignored as the group step into Otto's office and look around.
A Detect Magic reveals nothing magic in the office. Ransacking as much as they can, the group gather a bunch of paperwork, some vials and a bag of gems.
They move to the adjoining bedroom and another Detect Magic reveals a simple looking backpack in the corner that is quickly gathered by Cody. Contains a rope and a belt with some cool looking lockpicks, amongst other simple travel gear.
The decision is quickly made to follow the newly discovered tunnel and avoid everything to do with Emance or the Brothel.
The tunnel extends for a long distance in a straight direction that seems to be away from the premises. It ends in a short ladder up to a trap door. Grim bravely climbs, lifts the heavy door (seems to have something heavy-ish on it?). All is quiet and a heavy rug is pushed to one side. The group enter an empty, dusty residential house of some kind. A quick look out the window shows the house is across the street from the brothel.
They gather up the unconscious Otto and head into the street. A cold dense fog has descended over the village [a 1 on a party luck roll] and the party enjoy a well-hidden exit from town to the safety of the barn.
Otto's Interview
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| Otto |
Back in the barn, Cody reads through the office documents and valuable clues are uncovered:
- Otto is associated with the Sancho Assassins Guild
- Otto has been expelled from the Porn City Thief/Assassins Guild
- Documentation on the hiring of Curtis Donk and Magnus.
- There is an instruction letter from a 'Da'vid Moorn' of Sancho as to hiring a local to look for the spear and deliver to Vincent. The smoking gun the party were looking for!!!.
Otto is stripped naked and the expert 'interviewers' set to work attempting to extract further information. Otto shows remarkable fortitude and does not offer anything new or that is not obvious. He repeatedly threatens that killing him would be a BIG mistake as he is so well connected. The party laugh in his face. He does not care about Emance or any threat to her.
Tom eventually has a break through [spending 1 luck to succeed] and Otto says that Da'Vid gets messages delivered to the Castrated Virgin in Sancho.
They ask many questions about Emance and the well-dressed horsemen from the other day and Otto does not reveal anything interesting. One thing was confirming the riders name was 'Conrad' and not that nonsense Kip had remembered.
After several hours, Tom notices that Otto bites down heavily on something. He brings something to the front of his mouth and SPITS at Tom's close face.
Luckily, Tom spots this and raises his large shield to avoid the projectile. Meanwhile Otto starts retching and foaming at the mouth. Ardern quickly casts Slow Poison to not let Otto have his own way! Still... the clock is now ticking....
The torturing continues as the party take turns. During the early hours of the morning, Otto passes away....
Interview continues
His passing offered an opportunity that the party eagerly take advantage of: Speak with Dead. They discuss a series of questions, knowing time will be short.
This was the 5 questions prepared:
1. Was Emance involved with the plot to assassinate Vincent with the spear?
2. What Group or Organisation does Emance belong to?
3. Was Conrad involved with the plot to assassinate Vincent with the spear?
4. What Group or Organisation does Conrad belong to?
5. What is the Group or Organisation that Da'Vid belongs to?
Ardern steps forward and casts Speak with Dead [spends 4 luck to succeed]
The dead, raspy Otto replies followed:
1. No - Emance not involved with plot
2. None - **Emance is my sister**
3. No - Conrad not involved with the plot
4. Conrad is associated with the Porn City thieves guild
5. Da'vid is associated with the Sancho Thieves guild
Back to Porn City
Otto is buried well away from the barn where no one will find him. Just as the last of the sods of dirt are put in place, Willow wakes up and wanders out of the barn.
The party ponder the danger of leaving Emance alive after killing her brother? Cody reminds us that the Wizards Guild stated outright that she was to be left alone _{technically 'don't mess with her' but Cody beefed up the message to the rest of the party}_. The decision was made that she was no threat if we leave for Porn City now and never come back.
A short round of rebuilding spells and hit points and the group head off to the Porn City direction way station. Nothing untoward happens and the party safely arrive back in Porn City.
Cody checks in at the Porn City Wizards' Guild and updates Thespian on everything the group has discovered.
Thespian barks: "So????? Why are you telling me know when you don't have the answers??? Why aren't you on a boat to Sancho????"
Cody grumps back under his breath... "you bloody well kept asking for updates prat"
"What was that?? Never mind.. Get out of here scum. I am sick of you".
Thespian casts a spell and as Cody returns to the party. They see he is vastly better looking at average now. Unfortunately it did not last long.
Loot
Tickets to Sancho were secured aboard the Squalid Seagull. Departs in four days. The party take time heal, restock and to audit the loot and divvy up:
1. Otto's magic short sword (1H sharp) - +1 to Hit and Poison (2D4 damage) - Passed in
2. Magic Dagger (1H Sharp) - Ignore armour and cauterizes wounds (auto stop-bleed without needing to maintain pressure) - Passed in
3. Otto's magic Ring of Protection+1 - Willow (Chris)
4. Otto's magic Pouch of Holding (200kgs) - Esme (Shane)
5. Otto's magic Lock Picks +2 - Munch (Darryl)
6. Otto's magic Rope of Climbing (10m) - Munch (Darryl)
The gems were used for the identifies and change added to the party treasury. The vials are poison (of course). Probably nasty at that.
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| Sancho |
Sancho
Captain of the Squalid Seagull is Tobias Pemmet - Pensive Islander of firm but fair disposition. He runs a well-managed ship and two and a half weeks later, the party arrive safely in the horror that is the grand city of Sancho.
As the party has plenty of loot, they check into the hotel Sable Lilly, in the 'nicer' part of town known as the Spire District.
The party settle in and start gathering information from the various guilds and organisations that might help. Munch fails miserably at the Thieves Guild the moment they learn he is from Porn City. "Bugger Off" was as good as he got.
Cody checks in with the Wizards Guild. The WG run this city are are immensely powerful. Cody discovers the whereabouts of the Castrated Virgin down in the 'veins'. An underworld where anyone can buy anything you can possibly imagine. As if the above ground streets were not bad enough.
Esme checks into the Soixante Neuf temple and joins the perma-orgy. She befriends a worshiper that seemed to be a member of the Thieves Guild. She enquires on how to recruit thieves for a mission.
"Oh easy, just post on the TG notice board"
Esme digs a bit into the infamous Da'Vid as "I heard he was a top operative and worthy of hiring?"
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| More Sancho |
Esme and crew head to a guild known as the 'Whispers'. They are the gossip and information guild and a good place to go. After a healthy donation, an older gentleman appears in the room.
"Yes... I am very familiar with the Castrated Virgin and its history. Been owned by Da'Vid for the last couple of years, after a few different owners. Da'Vid is a member of the Ebon Circle - the assassins guild. Tends to be a middleman or fence that is a conduit, rather than direct operative. Sits as middle tier in the guild. Not a bunny, but not a senior either. We don't have any information on known associates at this stage, but if YOU find anything we would love to hear"
Esme quickly responds; "Well, we could tell you for a healthy donation!"....
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