Posts
[19
Abadius 4708 continued]
A
tentative foray into the catacombs under Sandpoint continues, as Nerissa drops
intangibly through almost thirty feet of rock to find herself in a small, dark
chamber that contains a spiral staircase wrapped around a pillar. The staircase literally leads to nowhere, as
tons of fallen rock have destroyed wherever it originally led. Trusting her uncanny ability to see in the
pitch blackness of the underground area, she moves along a short corridor to
find another chamber of worked stone.
This one contains a circular stone pool of rippling water lined with
skulls. Wary of a trap, she lobs a rock
into the pool only to see it sink to the bottom in a perfectly normal way. Meanwhile, on the surface, the others hear
the sound of cheering coming from the northeast. Kang’s keen hearing picks up chants of “Nisk!
Nisk!” and he can’t resist investigating.
Ava uses her abilities to slip through dimensions to drop down to the
catacombs and retrieve Nerissa, and everyone leaves. Brodert Quink is annoyed at the interruption,
saying he’s spent a lifetime trying to learn more about the ruins of ancient
Thassilon in and under Sandpoint.
 |
| Nisk Tander isn't much of an alchemist, but he's excellent at self-promotion! |
When the adventurers reach the sound of the
cheering, they see an odd sight: two
large, flatbed wagons have been lashed together and are being pulled by a team
of oxen, and their cargo is a bound and unconscious stone giant! And even more surprisingly is that local
alchemist (and Kang’s hated rival) Nisk Tander is standing on the giant’s
rock-hard stomach receiving the plaudits of victory! Walking easily alongside the wagons is elven
scout and bounty hunter Shalelu Andosana.
The adventurers pull her aside and she explains that she was in Galduria
a few days ago when Nisk (her source of knock-out poison for her special sleep
arrows) suggested an audacious plan: by leaving a cartload of sedative-laced
alcohol out on the road for the giant raiding parties to “stumble upon”, they
might take one of them prisoner for interrogation! Shalelu recounts that, surprisingly even to
herself, the plan went off without a hitch.
She says, however, that Sandpoint wasn’t the only place raided in recent
days—many towns and ruins in western Varisia were targeted, with the giants
usually making off with stones, treasure, and wealthy merchants or
moneylenders. As Shalelu finishes her
tale, Nisk sees Kang in the crowd and smugly announces that he’s done what even
the “Heroes of Sandpoint” have failed to do by taking one of the attackers
prisoner. And more, he says that after
hearing the adventurers’ “tale of woe” about altitude sickness on Hook Mountain
that he’s personally perfected a formula to make mountaineers immune to the
danger. “Nisk Tander’s Elixir of the
Peaks” the formula will be called, he says, and adds that if the adventurers
had a competent alchemist among their number, their battle with the ogres would
have been much easier. Kang is
predictably outraged by the comment, and his allies come to his defense.
When
Sheriff Hemlock arrives, he orders the odd procession to continue on to the
Garrison. He tells the adventurers that
they’ve earned the right to take part in the interrogation of the stone giant
if they wish. Nisk Tander begs off,
claiming he has important matters to attend to at his shop (even though it’s a
Sunday). As the others enter the
Garrison, Ava sees a trio of young nobles standing across the street at the
Town Hall. They wave her over with kind
smiles on their face. “I’m Nagol Scarnetti,
president of the Sandpoint Welcoming Committee,” one of the men explains. “And we’d like to welcome you to leave
Sandpoint, freak!” He and his cronies
start chanting “People Not Freaks!” and handing out fliers for their new
campaign as the grippli’s face widens in shock and anger. Salma and Jinkatsyu come to her aid, but the
verbal altercation doesn’t end until Ava summons a gout of water to douse
Nagol. “This isn’t over, you freaks!” he
shouts, before storming off in a huff.
 |
| Tuvarok of the Valissgander Tribe has no fear of humans. |
In the courtyard of the Sandpoint Garrison, the unconscious stone giant
is starting to stir. Hemlock calls out
several guards in case even the thick steel chains tying the giant to the
wagons aren’t enough. Shalelu nocks an
arrow and points it right at the giant’s neck.
When everyone is ready, Ava conjures a gout of water to spray the giant
in the face. Deeply hungover and still
partially drugged, the giant moans, flickers his eyelids, and tests the chains
holding him in place. The stone giant,
who proclaims his name as Tuvarok of the Valissgander Tribe of the Plateau
People, doesn’t seem frightened at all by his predicament. He arrogantly explains that his lord,
Mokmurian, has mastered the lost arts of powerful magic and has assembled
several tribes to sweep down into the lowlands and rule Varisia as the giants
once did in ancient times. At first he
refuses to say more, but Nerissa persuades him to expand on his earlier
statements by appealing to his weakness: strong human ale! When she rolls a keg of Two Knights beer over
from the Rusty Dragon, Tuvarok laughs, says he will take her as his personal
slave when the true invasion comes, and then starts to talk. He explains that Mokmurian has gathered at
least seven tribes under his command, with each tribe numbering in the
dozens. In addition to stone giants,
lesser kin—ogres, hill giants, trolls, ettins—have flocked to his banner, as
have several lamias, followers of the Mother of Monsters. When asked why the giants raided Sandpoint,
Tuvarok says he doesn’t really know. The
leader of the scouting party, Teraktinus, mentioned having a special mission
from Lord Mokmurian, but didn’t tell anyone what it was. Tuvarok explains that his people have a
special way of prying secrets from the stones, and that perhaps one of the
stones knew something that Lord Mokmurian wished to learn. When asked about Jorgenfist, Tuvarok says
it’s a mighty fortress constructed by Mokmurian around an ancient place that is
taboo to his people: the Black Tower in the Iron Peaks. “Lord Mokmurian is too powerful to fear
blasphemy!” Tuvarok shouts proudly.
Indeed, Tuvarok is so confident in the superiority of his master and the
assembled tribes that he even offers to lead the adventurers to Jorgenfist so
that they can witness its majesty firsthand.
The interrogation concludes with a promise from Tuvarok that the true
invasion force will come in less than a month and will sweep through all of
Varisia.
Afterwards,
the adventurers discuss what to do.
Nerissa says that it sounds like the giants are planning to march en
masse even if they didn’t get what they came for in Sandpoint. Jinkatsyu says that if the giants are coming
for a particular stone, the adventurers could find it first and take it away,
thus sparing the town. Kang notes that
if they do find the stone, it could be a useful bargaining chip with the giants. He says that the first thing to do is find
whatever it is the giants were looking for.
Conversation turns to what should be done with Tuvarok. A consensus is reached that the giant poses
too much of a danger to Sandpoint and should be killed. However, when the group broaches the idea with
Mayor Deverin, she’s adamantly opposed and says that murdering sentient
prisoners of war would be illegal, immoral, and likely to make tensions with
the stone giants even worse. She says
she’ll arrange things with Magnimar so that Tuvarok is detained safely until he
can be tried for his crimes. The
adventurers do succeed, however, in persuading the quite reluctant mayor to
give them permission to enter the catacombs.
She reminds the group of her concern that if there is anything down
there, it’s best to leave it safely contained rather than stir up trouble. After meeting with the mayor, the group
settle on a plan to explore the catacombs for a few days and, if nothing of
interest is found, to plan an expedition to Jorgenfist.
The
adventurers spend the next few hours on various tasks. Having been told by Sheriff Hemlock that
Miryana Lahs has been seeking information on how her husband died, Kang pens a
very matter-of-fact letter about Artemis’ death. Jinkatsyu and Salma head over to Nisk
Tander’s shop, Bottled Solutions, in the hopes of obtaining a sample of his
“Elixir of the Peaks” so that Kang can replicate it. Salma adroitly plays to Nisk’s ego, but can’t
persuade the alchemist to part with a vial for less than 3,000 gold
pieces. The two leave,
disappointed. Nerissa runs into Sister
Giulia and is asked, in a circular and absent-minded way, if she and her
friends could put a stop to the “haunting” of a local cemetery, Paupers’ Graves,
because Madame M’vashti always wanted to be buried there. Nerissa says that the defense of Sandpoint
has to come first, but that, if there’s time, they’ll try to get to it. In the middle of the afternoon, everyone
assembles at The Way North, the small map shop run by Jinkatsyu’s friend
Veznutt Parooh. The shop is open,
despite it being a Sunday, and Veznutt delivers the promised map of how to
reach Jorgenfist. When asked about a map
of the catacombs, however, he says the adventurers who previously explored it
never revealed enough details to create one.
The excitable gnome offers to go along as party cartographer if there’s
a new expedition, but Kang distracts him by mentioning some maps of the Hook
Mountain region he recently donated to Ilsoari Gandethus.
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Director's Commentary (March 4, 2019)
Even though I'm running the campaign, I'm still surprised in retrospect at how some NPCs really come alive and take on significant roles, while others fade away into the background quickly. Shalelu, for example, is a major NPC with her own subplot in the AP, and stats are given in case she becomes a cohort or permanent member of the group. But in this campaign, Shalelu never really formed strong bonds with anyone and quickly faded in importance after Fort Rannick--I think perhaps this session is her final appearance. On the other hand, minor NPCs that only receive a couple of lines' worth of attention--like Veznutt Parooh and Nisk Tander--gradually develop into significant allies or rivals in a very organic way. I have as much fun as anyone in seeing where the story will go, and it's why I love to drop little scenes and subplots (such as Nisk Tander's Elixir of the Peaks and Ava's verbal assault by Nagol Scarnetti) into the game even though I don't know how they'll be resolved.
I didn't know if the PCs would take advantage of having a prisoner to interrogate, but it turned out to be a good decision. It allowed them to learn a lot about Mokurian and his fortress, for me to drop some back-story and lore, and for the sense of urgency that comes from knowing something is going to happen on a fixed date (such as the invasion in one month). As I write this, Chapter Four is long in the past and the sense of urgency has unfortunately disappeared because an abstract danger that will occur at unknown some point in the future doesn't seem all that pressing.
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