[1
Calistril 4708 continued]
 |
Few
live long enough to recount
seeing a Red Mantis assassin.
|
At the Founder’s Archive in Magnimar, Kang, Nerissa, and Jinkatsyu
decide to focus their investigation on the mysterious crimson insect-like mask
that they found hidden aboard the boat belonging to Nerissa’s would-be
assassin. During their day at the
library, Kang accidentally knocks a dusty book on murder-cults off the shelf
and it falls open on a page with an illustration that exactly matches the
mask! Underneath the illustration is the
caption “Red Mantis.” With the library
about to close, they head back to the Black Shield inn to find Ava and Salma
staring at the front of the establishment intently to help fix it in their
memories for future spellcraft. When she
hears about the book they found, Salma explains she’s heard a little about the
mysterious organisation of assassins known as the Red Mantis: she says membership
is by invitation only, that they’ll accept contracts to kill anyone except
heads of state, and that they have means of assassination that keep the victim
from being raised from the dead! Salma
says she could put feelers out to try to get in contact with them, but Nerissa
says it’s too dangerous. The group
speculate whether there is a contract out on Nerissa and, if so, who placed
it. Although the library surely holds
more secrets about the Red Mantis and perhaps the key to deciphering Nerissa’s
mysterious journal, the group decide that the priority has to be stopping the
giants of Jorgenfist; a decision is made to teleport there in the morning.
[2
Calistril 4708]
 |
Unsurprisingly,
Merrymead has become
one of the most "holy" days for
devotees of
Cayden Cailean.
|
As the adventurers assemble for breakfast in the common room of the
Black Shield, a general hubbub alerts them that something unusual is going
on. Kegs are being lined up against a wall,
bottles of wine cover an entire side table, and the place is surprisingly
crowded at a time when most people would be heading off for a hard day’s
work. Having been far too busy to glance
at a calendar, the adventurers quickly realize that today is a holiday:
Merrymead! Originally a day to share the
last of the previous year’s mead with one’s fellows, the holiday has since
evolved into a general day of heavy drinking, frivolity, and (more often than
not) outbreaks of drunken violence.
Nerissa is overjoyed and immediately starts to partake while the others
hunch around a table examining the sketch-map of Jorgenfist they obtained from
the scout Veridian. Various
possibilities for teleportation are discussed, but the consensus is to try for
one of the caves on the cliffside under Jorgenfist, overlooking the river. It’s not long before the shouting, spilled
drinks, and pushing and shoving start, something that drives everyone but
Nerissa into the alleyway behind the tavern.
Ava barely manages to persuade her to come with them and, as they walk
out into the bright light, the grippli realizes that Nerissa’s shadow sometimes
disappears completely and other times points in the wrong direction given the
angle of the sun! Ava points this out,
quite concerned, but Nerissa explains it’s always been that way and isn’t
something to worry about.
 |
Even
being near a deathweb
can nauseate the living.
|
A
cold wind swirls around the group in the alleyway as Salma makes a final study
of the special teleportation scroll sent to the group by Magnimar’s army
commander. Salma sighs as she realizes
that the magic in the scroll isn’t powerful enough to take everyone along;
someone will have to stay behind and be picked up later. Nerissa is quick to volunteer for the role,
and happily heads back inside to keep drinking.
Salma reads the complex runic magic on the scroll flawlessly, and an
instant later she and the remaining adventurers appear in a cave almost 250’
above a narrow beach and river below.
Countless bloated, many-legged insects trample one another on the floor
of the cave, creating an unnatural susurrus of a million clicking bug
legs. The rear of the cave is blocked by
fallen webs and occluded by darkness.
Ava
starts snacking on some of the bugs while Jinkatsyu lights a torch so that he
and Kang can investigate the rear of the cave.
As they approach, thick ropy strands of webbing shoot out from things
hidden in the mass; Kang dodges out of the way, but Jinkatsyu finds himself
entangled! From the rear of the cave,
stocky, partially-decayed spiders the size of a horse advance as thousands of
living spiders fall from their bodies like drops of blood. Kang shouts “deathwebs!” and hurls a
makeshift explosive just before getting impaled by a sharp, serrated leg. Jinkatsyu cuts his way free from the webbing
and starts attacking, but begins to feel sick as some sort of necromantic venom
courses through his veins. Ava works out
a plan with Salma, magically silencing the rear of the cave so that Salma’s
massive fireball creates no noise when it explodes. Two of the monstrous creatures are fried in
the explosion, and Kang manages to finish off the last one.
Jinkatsyu
uses his torch to burn away much of the webbing and finds a surprisingly large
collection of skeletons enmeshed within, many still wearing armor and grasping
weapons. Salma appraises whether any of
it is worth keeping while Jinkatsyu continues investigating—at Kang’s
suggestion, he looks to see if there is a secret door, and is astonished to
realize there is one! The adventurers,
having established a beachhead in their invasion of Jorgenfist, decide to rest
for the night and collect Nerissa in the morning before moving further in. Meanwhile, Nerissa is having an adventure of
her own as the patrons of the Black Shield turn into a mob when the barrels and
bottles are emptied—they rush off to ransack a nearby wine cellar, and Nerissa
narrowly avoids being swept up in the riot and arrested by the city guards. She makes her way back to the Black Shield
and helps the grateful proprietor clean up.
[3
Calistril 4708]
 |
Redcaps
are malevolent fey
who delight in mass murder.
|
Salma teleports to the front of the Black Shield first thing in the
morning, but has the bad luck to manifest while a horse and carriage are
speeding down the road! She gets knocked
brutally into a nearby snowbank that’s still covered in vomit from those who
drank more than they could handle the night before. The now-filthy half-elf heads inside and,
after some effort, manages to rouse a very hungover Nerissa. When they return to the cave near Jorgenfist,
the others are ready to see what lies beyond the secret passage. The adventurers head through to discover a
veritable maze of narrow tunnels. Wisely
staying to what seems like the main branch, they navigate deeper and deeper in
until Ava and Salma realize the adventurers are not alone—creatures have used
the various side tunnels to surround them!
The snarling, gnomelike figures wear metal boots and blood-red pointed
caps while wielding large scythes, and their eyes are filled with the
anticipation of blissful sadistic slaughter!
Ava shouts a prayer to Sinashakti while Salma doesn’t hesitate to fill
the caves with a massive fireball. The
affray is fast and confusing as the attackers slip in and out of the side
tunnels, but the adventurers stand their ground and eventually kill all but one
of the attackers who slips through a tunnel so narrow the others can’t easily
follow.
The
adventurers have stumbled onto a potential way into Jorgenfist that could allow
them to bypass many of the fortress’ outer defences. But with their penchant for setting off thunderous
explosions, will they remain undetected for long?
----------------------------------------------
Director's Commentary (June 2, 2019)
Merrymead was another one of those holidays on the calendar that I went ahead and implemented just for some local background color. Nerissa's player really took to it, and had great fun getting her PC enmeshed in the festivities.
Of every possible location on the map of Jorgenfist the PCs could teleport to, they just so happened to pick the one cave that offers a perfect hiding place/staging area and a secret route that bypasses all the dangers on the surface (while taking the unusual action of explicitly searching for secret doors). Maybe it's just really good luck, but sometimes I suspect someone may be reading something they shouldn't!
The redcaps felt a bit out of place--kinda goofy fey that presented absolutely no threat to PCs of this level. They were more a nuisance than anything.
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