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[15 Neth
4707]
A light
drizzle falls over Magnimar on the morning after the celebration of Artemis’
promotion to Lieutenant. At breakfast,
Artemis tells the other adventurers about what he found in Underbridge the
previous day: clues that the mysterious “Xanesha” can fly and might be
frequenting an abandoned clock tower.
Although Briza, Bey, and Arnald are enthusiastic about visiting the
clock tower immediately, Artemis says cautious investigation is the order of
the day, given the group knows almost nothing about Xanesha’s abilities or the
clock tower itself. The party agrees to
do some research and then come up with a plan before approaching the tower
directly.
But first,
Artemis follows through on a promise to lead Kang to a nearby martial arts dojo
consecrated to the god of bodily purification and self-perfection, Irori. Kang’s request that the dojo’s master provide
him with the most sacred scriptures of the faith is rebuffed, but instead the
tiefling receives an invitation to meditate and train. Kang is somewhat reluctant, but perseveres
and is invited to visit again.
Meanwhile, Artemis persuades one of the city watchman still trailing him
while “undercover” to ask locals some questions about the old Underbridge clock
tower.
After a
brief visit to the Arvensoar, the adventurers are directed to a nearby museum
to find historical records on the clock tower.
Perhaps the premiere repository of historical information in western
Varisia, the publicly-funded Founder’s Archive contains the output of
generations of scholars along with city records and personal journals of
preeminent Magnimarians. With help from
his allies, Artemis has little difficulty finding out that the Underbridge
clock tower has been abandoned for decades, that the crumbling wooden steps
inside led to several deaths and the nickname “The Terrible Stairs,” and that
the 180’ high tower is topped by the onyx statue of an angel whose crown nearly
touches the bottom of the Irespan above.
When the guard that Artemis sent to gather gossip about the tower
returns, he reports that locals in the area report seeing a shadowy bulk almost
twice as big as a human lurking near the base of the tower!
 |
| Ol' Mam Grottle |
The
adventurers begin discussing possible assault plans, and the consensus is for
Kang to drink an alchemical concoction to turn himself invisible and provide
him with the ability to lift Arnald to the top of the tower armed with nets
covered in alchemical glue to drop on Xanesha before she escapes. The group travels to Dockway District in
order to buy some nets and, while looking for a place where Kang can spend a
couple of hours working with his flasks and beakers, stumble into an
establishment Arnald has been in before.
Although the sellsword only barely remembers, he once did a great
service to Ol’ Mam Grottle, proprietor of a barnacle-covered harborside tavern
named The Old Fang, by returning the body of her husband and the corpse of the
giant barracuda that killed him. Grottle
gives Arnald a warm welcome and provides him and his friends with a private
table and drinks on the house. As
someone who hears almost all of the rumors going around Magnimar at one point
or another, she’s even able to relate what some former patrons said about a
serpentine shape seen slithering around the roof of the so-called “Shadow
Clock” some nights ago. Briza ingeniously
puts two and two together and reaches a startling conclusion: Xanesha is a lamia matriarch, a snake-bodied
queen of a hate-filled race cursed to display both human and animal characteristics!
The
adventurers walk back to Deadeye Lodge, having decided that it would be too
dangerous to assault the tower in the rain.
Although no one there has heard of lamias, Arnald manages to persuade
two of the Erastil faithful (archers and members of a private street patrol) to
accompany the group on the morrow’s planned mission.
[16 Neth
4707]
 |
| The Shadow Clock |
In
the morning, the adventurers gather their two new archer allies and proceed
towards Underbridge District. As they
pass along the piers of Dockway, however, Briza, Kang, and one of the new
recruits suddenly stop and turn towards the water. Briza shouts “a child—he’s drowning!” and
takes a flying leap off the dock only to land on what looks like a barely
submerged mass of seaweed. Kang,
believing he’s seen a master alchemist known for concocting incredible
formulae, rushes to the edge of the pier to speak with him. And the new recruit, believing his wife is
calling for him, runs in the same direction. But all have been fooled by the hallucinogenic
pheromones of a so-called sargassum fiend, a semi-intelligent aquatic plant
creature known for luring entire ship’s crews to their deaths! Before the others can react, the plant
monster wraps tentacles around Briza and starts to crush her to death. Briza struggles vainly as her ribs shatter
and death seems certain, but Arnald’s greataxe is her salvation: with a mighty
swing, he cleaves the writhing creature nearly in two! It releases Briza and dives to the bottom of
the harbor, barely alive itself. Still,
it was a close call and perhaps the nearest Briza has been to death since
joining the adventurers in Sandpoint.
Bey’s healing conjurations and Kang’s revitalizing elixirs are enough to
bring her back to fighting shape and, after some discussion, the group decides
to press forward towards Underbridge.
 |
| Xanesha! |
There,
among the slums and blackened pilings supporting the massive Irespan above, the
adventures cautiously survey the Shadow Clock from a distance. The teetering, decrepit structure of
weathered stone, wood, and rusted metal appears deserted. The adventurers decide that Kang should scout
first while flying and invisible. Kang
downs his magical elixirs and heads toward the structure and then ascends along
its outer water. Peeking through gaps in
the worn façade, his innate ability to see in the dark reveals mounds of rubble
and plaster on the ground floor along with several rooms obstructed by
barely-hanging doors. A rickety-looking
wooden stairway climbs along the walls.
When Kang gets several dozen feet above ground level, he sees through
another gap in the wall that the stairs lead to an area where a timber
framework supports four massive bronze bells affixed to the timbers by
rope. But lurking near the bells are a
trio of something Kang has become quite familiar with: faceless stalkers. Kang continues flying upwards, past ancient
scaffolding, exterior stairs, and the frozen clock face until he reaches the
top. There, under the grimy features of
the angel
statue, he sees a nest of cushions, silk sheets, and several
small chests. But what most catches
his attention is the creature reclining in the nest: a lamia matriarch that
could be none other than the mysterious mastermind behind the Skinsaw
Cult: Xanesha!
Kang
silently flies back to his allies and tells them everything he’s seen. Bey suggests collapsing the frail tower, but Artemis
says that then Xanesha could just fly away and escape. Another suggestion is to start the tower on
fire (perhaps pinning Xanesha to the roof with an alchemical-glue soaked net),
but Briza points out that such a fire could easily spread through the slums and
claim innocent lives. A third proposal
is to try to knock the statue over on her, though it’s not clear how
well-affixed it is to the roof. The
adventurers decide their original plan is best, with Kang to lift Artemis and
Arnald to the top (one by one) so they can confront the lamia matriarch
directly.
The murders
of Banny Harker and Katrine Vinder in a Sandpoint lumber mill started the
adventurers on a trail that led through Foxglove Manor, the sewers of Magnimar,
a murderous cult’s headquarters, and now to an abandoned clock tower in the
foreboding slums of the Shadow. Will the
adventurers triumph or falter in this climactic moment?
-------------------------------------------------Director's Commentary (18 February 2018)
This was very much a research and planning session, as the players figured out the location of the Shadow Clock and talked about how to launch their assault. Sending Kang to scout, flying and invisibly, was pretty smart and, as we'll see next time, helped them avoid a lot of the obstacles that the Shadow Clock poses.
Arnald persuading some of the NPC archers of the church of Erastil to join them on the raid was pretty smart--players rarely take advantage of the opportunities they have to bolster their numbers (perhaps because they think they'll automatically get shut down)
The sargassum fiend was a random encounter that turned out quite well. It was definitely something different (with the illusion angle) and quite exciting.
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