Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 12 [RPG]

 [28 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

After defeating their vicious ogre-kin jailor, the Harrowed Heroes are able to set free six prisoners held in the disgusting pits.  Whether through luck or fate, one of the prisoners is Phaeton Skoda’s cousin, Tiora!  She testifies that her ship was intercepted at sea, and she and many of the passengers were held in captivity aboard another vessel called only the Black Ship before someone came to buy them.  Another prisoner, who had been in captivity in the pits even longer, says the derro kidnapped him from an alleyway near a sewer entrance, and that a man seemed to be their leader in the catacombs.  The old man says the prisoners were used as experiments in necromancy and disease, and that he was lucky he was deemed too old to be a good test subject.  The Reckoner gives each prisoner some gold and leads them to the surface and safety.

However, Yraelzin, Goldcape, and The Reckoner know that they’ve only recovered a portion of Gaekhen’s remains.  They continue exploring the subterranean warrens and come across a chamber that can only be a dumping ground for body parts the derro were no longer interested in.  Wallowing in the reeking mud is a sewer beast, and it slobbers “Warm food!” as it lumbers forward to attack.  Goldcape sends Rocky in to attack and sinks an arrow into the monster’s side, while The Reckoner charges forward with his battle maul.  The battle is over quickly, but both Rocky and The Reckoner display open wounds where the sewer beast’s disease-filled maw bit into them.  Fortunately, it was worth the effort, as the last remnants of Gaekhen’s body are found.

Although Goldcape urges the group to leave and Yraelzin is ill from the grisly scenes, The Reckoner is determined to clear the warrens.  He leads the group down an unexplored tunnel and into what must be the derros’ sleeping quarters, but here the pale cavern-dwellers have readied themselves against attack and shoot poisoned crossbow bolts the instant they see an intruder!  There’s a brief archery duel before the attackers close in, and Yraelzin performs heroically by spreading healing magicks (and the word of Razmir) while under fire.  The derro, although hardy, are eventually overpowered and slain.  The Reckoner follows a narrow tunnel some distance until it intersects with Korvosa’s sewer line before returning to the others.  A thorough search of the warrens show no signs of further inhabitants.
The group exit.  Goldcape takes Gaekhen’s remains to Skaldwood, where the Shoanti are preparing their departure.  Thousand Bones expresses his deep gratitude for being able to put his grandson’s spirit to rest, and promises that he owes Goldcape and her friends a debt of honour that will be repaid.  He prophesises they will meet again during another time of great turmoil.

Later, Goldcape joins Ralph at Citadel Volshyanek.  They learn distressing news—the trial of Trinia lasted only two hours before she was convicted and her sentence pronounced: she will be executed, tomorrow!  Field Marshal Kroft is distraught at having erred so grievously, and admits she may have misjudged Queen Ileosa’s commitment to justice.  She asks the group to attend the execution, as Trinia deserves to see some sympathetic faces in the crowd amidst all the hate.  Outside, Ralph asks Goldcape if they could use Rocky to rescue Trinia—perhaps taking advantage of rioting.  However, Goldcape says it would be far too dangerous for everyone involved.

Ralph walks over to Hedge Wizardry and sees that Phaeton is overjoyed at his cousin’s safe return.  Goldcape visits with Old Lady Cloggins and warns her about the “friend” who tried to visit previously.  Old Lady Cloggins says there’s been some good news as well—it seems like the Hellknights are leaving her house, and may soon be withdrawing from the city altogether!

[29 Gozran, 4708 A.R.]
In the morning, Ralph mingles with the crowds heading toward the palace courtyard where the execution is set to take place, while Goldcape circles overhead, flying on Rocky’s back.  Ralph gives Majenko some hand-written anti-Ileosa pamphlets to drop at a pre-arranged signal in the hopes that if there’s a sufficient distraction, he might be able to rescue Trinia.

It’s clear the impending execution is not an affair to be missed, as the toast of Korvosa is in attendance in garish gowns, fine capes, and enough jewels to blind the common citizen.  Queen Ileosa emerges amid a great flourish and pomp as heralds announce her arrival with a fanfare of music and drums; she wears a green and white silk dress attended by a small army of guards, including one in a striking brand-new suit of grey full-plate armor with a closed helm sporting a flowing crimson plume.  Ileosa takes her seat in a high throne-like chair at one end of the public courtyard, while at the other end is a towering, muscular man wearing an executioner’s hood and idly holding an immense axe.

An ominous drum begins beating, and the gawkers fall silent; the drum sets the pace for a hooded prisoner’s procession to the executioner’s block.  As they reach the block, a guard removes the prisoner’s shackles and hood, revealing a very frightened Trinia who is trying to hold back tears.  The portion of the crowd sympathetic to the young artist cry out in anger, and Ralph gives Majenko the signal to drop the polemics to inflame them further.

Queen Ileosa addresses the crowd:  “Fellow Korvosans!  You have suffered greatly these past few weeks.  Homes have burned, family members have died, and fortunes have been lost.  I feel your suffering, for not only have I lost a beloved husband, but with each act of anarchy that followed, my heart bled more.  This has been a trying time for us, yet the torment is at an end.  Before you is the source of your anguish and pain.  Do not be deceived by this murderer’s timid nature—she is a black-hearted assassin.  I offer you her death as a salve against the hatred and hurt you have suffered.  And so, without further delay, let us usher in this new dawn with justice.  OFF WITH HER HEAD!”

But just before the executioner can lower her head into the block, he cries out in pain as a hurled dagger embeds itself in the back of his hand! A cry echoes through the crowded courtyard: “By the gods!  It’s Blackjack!”  An instant later, a man dressed in a hooded cloak and black mask springs up to Trinia’s side; using a dagger, he cuts the bonds on Trinia’s wrists and then throws the same dagger down to pin the executioner’s left foot to the wood platform.  He then turns to address the shocked crowd.  “Yes indeed, my queen!  Let us usher in justice, but let that be justice for Korvosa, not this shambles you call a monarchy!  Long live Korvosa!  Down with the queen!”

The crowd erupts, some demanding he release the assassin, while others call for the queen’s resignation!  Ileosa seems stunned before whispering something to her armored bodyguard and then quickly fleeing back into the castle, with her entourage guarding her retreat.  The remaining guards in the courtyard move to apprehend Blackjack, but the crowd makes it difficult to move.

Yet in his apparent delight in having forced the queen to flee, Blackjack has momentarily forgotten the executioner behind him!  The shadow of a heavy axe falls over the vigilante, his doom assured, but then Ralph intervenes!  He smashes the executioner in the legs, throwing him off-balance so the axe thunks harmlessly into the wooden stage.  Blackjack and Trinia clamber up a hanging banner to a nearby wall, and he salutes Ralph with his rapier before the pair leap down and disappear into the safety of the city’s alleys and sewers.  Fortunately, in all the chaos of the crowd rioting, Ralph’s actions were unnoticed and he’s able to slip away safely as well.

In the days that follow, the city returns to a semblance of order and normalcy.  But just below the surface, raging undercurrents of pro- and anti- Ileosa sentiment surge, with both sides asking the same question:  What will the next chapter in her reign bring to the city?
--------------------------------------------------
GM's Commentary

The reference to the "Black Ship" in the first paragraph is to something I had prepared in case the PCs wanted to use the black market to purchase items that were illegal or beyond the city's purchase limits.  I had a fun idea for a creepy ship that was always anchored in a different place somewhere off the coast, but have never had the opportunity to actually show it in game.

I really liked how the AP handled the Trinia execution/Blackjack rescue scene.  Doing it as a purely cinematic, rules-free event kept it fast, tense, and exciting, while still allowing the PCs to influence the outcome.  It worked out great at my table, and was a fantastic way to end Chapter 1.

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Curse of the Crimson Throne, Chapter Two: "Seven Days to the Grave" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

I had a blast running "Seven Days to the Grave."  It's a well-written, memorable adventure that is definitely something different from the norm.  It does an excellent job continuing the overall AP storyline while simultaneously giving the PCs the chance to see how their efforts are making a difference.  I'll have a lot more to say below, but for now, we'll just cover the non-spoilerly back matter.

The back matter consists of five parts:

* "Plague and Pestilence: Diseases of Fantasy and Reality" (6 pages): This section contains a discussion of how diseases operate in Golarion and similar quasi-medieval fantasy worlds.  Much of it is fairly general, but it's well-written and interesting.  On the crunchier side of things, there are rules for how common "plague doctor" equipment functions and descriptions & stats for several diseases (both real ones and completely fictional ones).  

* "Abadar: Master of the First Vault" (8 pages): We get a thorough overview here of the Church of Abadar--including its tenets, temples, myths, holidays, the role of clerics and paladins, and even a sample temple layout.  I like the idea of the First Vault (it reminds me of the concept of Platonic forms).  A new prestige class is introduced, the Justiciar, but, oddly, it only has three levels to it (some cool features though!)  Although I'm sure a lot of material in this entry makes its ways to books like Inner Sea Faiths, there would be some parts that doesn't for space reasons--so these original overviews are still valuable.

* "Pathfinder's Journal: The Bloodworks Incident" (6 pages): Pathfinder Eando Kline's quest to see where his mysterious magical compass is leading him continues.  In this installment, Eando finds himself in the anarchic orc city of Urglin because he wants to find a guide to help him safely traverse the Hold of Belkzen.  The story features the Bloodworks arena and is really exciting, as the action scenes come alive and are suitably brutal.  Beyond that, the story does a great job describing Urglin and providing a feel for the city--a valuable resource for a GM.

* "Bestiary" (12 pages): This issue's bestiary starts with a random encounter table for Korvosa's crypts.  It then introduces five new monsters, each of which receives a two-page spread.  The first (and my favourite) is the leukodaemon, a daemonic harbinger of disease.  The artwork is awesome, and the creature serves a clear role in the setting and has some cool abilities (like the "breath of flies").  Next up is the Daughter of Urgathoa--a solid concept, but the anime-style artwork lets it down.  Third, we have Giant Flies & Giant Maggots; pretty simplistic, but I'd guess they'd be useful for something like a visit to the Worldwound or Abaddon.  Fourth, we meet the Herald of Abadar, the Lawgiver; Golarion doesn't seem to do much with heralds compared to the Forgotten Realms, so this is of limited usefulness.  Last, we get nosferatu--ancient, less "civilized" vampires--a good addition to the game.

* "Characters" (2 pages): Here we see Level 4 versions of the four Iconics in CotCT: Ezren, Seelah, Lem, and Harsk.

It's a strong collection of back matter, with a lot that's useful in and beyond the adventure itself.

SPOILERS!

Did you know the entire genesis of Curse of the Crimson Throne started with a pitch about doing a module centered around disease?  I had no idea until I read James Jacobs' fascinating foreword.  He writes about how disease often isn't a major factor in D&D stories because of how slow it spreads and the presence of magic that can easily cure it.  So the challenge facing Wes Schneider was how to make a disease-themed adventure viable, and that then inspired everything else around it.

The in-game background to "Seven Days to the Grave" involves Vorel's Phage--the supernatural toxin that plays a minor part in Chapter Two of Rise of the Runelords (I love subtle interconnections like this).  It turns out that after buying the poison that killed her husband from the Red Mantis, Ileosa has hired them again to help "cleanse the city of undesirables".  The Red Mantis have had one of their disease specialists, Reinder Davaulus, work with the Cult of Urgathoa (the deity of pestilence) to modify Vorel's Phage into a virulent disease called "blood veil."  In this chapter of the adventure, blood veil is released in Korvosa, and it's up to the PCs to try to discover a cure as more and more bodies rack up every day around them.  Was it a bit weird to run this adventure in the midst of a real-life pandemic?  Honestly, I never really thought about it at the time . . .

In Part One ("Infection"), the PCs are expected to enjoy some downtime after the events of Chapter One and continue to build their own connections with residents--a great idea to help make them care about Korvosa.  The adventure proper starts with a ship being sunk in the harbor because it arrived at night and ignored signals to stop.  Soon after, the PCs are contacted by Grau Soldado with an urgent request for help because his niece has become sick with a mysterious disease and the family can't afford to buy a magical cure.  Assuming they're willing to try to help, they'll meet a cleric of Abadar who has become worried because additional cases of the same illness are popping up around the city.

Part Two ("A Damsel in Distress") has Vencarlo Orisini contact the PCs for help in smuggling Trinia Sabor out of Korvosa.  I guess the idea here is to keep Vencarlo in the group's mind, but there's no real risk or drama with smuggling her to safety, so it's a relatively minor part of the adventure.

Part Three ("Outbreak") shows blood veil becoming a major threat across the city.  There are crazy rumors about how the disease spreads and how it started, people turning on each other, quarantines, quack cures, doctors getting sick themselves, hospitals overrun, supplies exhausted--oh, and all that happens in the adventure, too!  The PCs meet, for the first time, the "Queen's Physicians" (suitably creepy in proboscis-like plague masks) and Ileosa's personal army, the Gray Maidens.  It should be noted that the risk of the PCs themselves catching blood veil is very real, and this isn't a disease that's easy to cure.

Part Four ("Pestilence") has the disease intensifying.  This section is my favourite because it contains five different encounters that can be run in whatever order the GM wishes, and with hooks that are easy to personalise to the group.  There's an encounter against vampires taking advantage of all the bodies in the streets to mask their own feeding, a perfumery selling fake cures, wererats planning reprisals after being blamed for the plague, a fun little "zombie movie" set piece in a fancy manor, and an underwater exploration of the sunken ship (I'm still a bit fuzzy about the bad guys' plan here, but it made for an interesting challenge for the PCs).  Having multiple potential adventure hooks active in a dynamic environment around them means there's absolutely no concern about "railroading" while still giving the GM some structure to work with.

Part Five ("Epidemic") contains the big climax of the chapter.  The PCs will have suspected that the Queen's Physicians are actually spreading the disease, not trying to contain it, and will have learned their headquarters is the "Hospice of the Blessed Maiden".  But they have a lot more than fake doctors to contend with, as underneath the building, a Temple to Urgathoa has been secretly constructed!  This is definitely one of those situations where, if the PCs just kinda bust in, they'll alert various scattered defenders and turn a series of small encounters into a few very large and more dangerous ones.  One encounter I particularly liked was with a nosferatu who isn't actually interested in fighting, and very willing to make a deal with the PCs to leave peacefully--but if the PCs insist on fighting him, they'll be very unpleasantly surprised by how tough he is; it's a good reminder that sometimes non-violent ways to resolve encounters are smart.  The big boss battle, against the head priestess of the temple, has one of those sequences common in video games but very rare in tabletop RPGs: when the priestess is killed, she's reborn, a round later, as a "Daughter of Urgathoa" that's even more dangerous!  It's not a trope I would want to see often, but it was a fun surprise here.  Interestingly, Rolth (the necromancer) is present here, but this is before the hardcover collected edition turned him into "Rolth Lamm" and gave him a link to Gaedren Lamm.

The Conclusion gauges how many citizens the PCs saved by their efforts through a sort of success chart, and provides them with rewards accordingly.

All in all, an excellent adventure that feeds organically into Chapter Three.

Pathfinder Module: "We Be Goblins Free!" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

We Be Goblins Free! is, as the pun-ishing title indicates, the third Free RPG Day module featuring the famous goblin "heroes" of Reta Bigbad, Chuffy Lickwound, Poog, and Mogmurch.  I played Mogmurch (the alchemist) in a play-by-post game and while it was fun, I think the silly antics of goblins really come across better in a more immediate setting.  Anyway, this fourteen page adventure (plus a table of contents and ads) is handsomely illustrated and in full colour.  It's a solid experience, but I think the writer over-estimates the damage output of these little goblins which leads to some surprisingly tough encounters (especially if players are trying to get into the spirit and not taking optimum actions every round).

SPOILERS!

Since they last appeared in We Be Goblins Too!, our famous band of goblins have becomes chieftains of the Birdcruncher tribe!  (and the famous Squealy Nord is an animal companion)  But being the boss gets a bit boring after a while, so the rank-and-file have put together a series of amusements to keep their new leaders occupied.  The scenario starts with some low-risk, low-reward games, like an obstacle course, a firework-shooting competition, a bizarre head-chopping-off, and the classic "killgull" (played with a vulture, naturally, because the seagulls were accidentally eaten).  It's all rather silly (especially the decapitation!), but a good way to get players into the spirit of being goblins.  In the game I played in, each of us insisted we were *the* chieftain and it was pretty fun. 

The middle part of the adventure has the first real encounters.  The goblin chieftains are on the hunt for truffles, but a wagon of Scarzni (Varisian bandits) are in the way.  The PCs have the advantage of surprise and the four bandits are only CR 1/2 each, so there's an opportunity to do some goblinesque things like setting fire to their wagons, attacking their dogs and horses, and so forth.  It was good.

Next up are two more battles over truffles against an assassin vine and a harpy named Isidra.  This is where the difficulty of the module ramps up significantly, as assassin vines can easily grapple and do constant damage to a character, while the harpy can captivate targets or do flying hit and run attacks that are hard to counter.  The goblin PCs just don't do much damage (even Reta, the fighter, does only 1d4+3 in melee) so it takes a *long* time to wear down opponents with hp in the 30s (assuming the attacks even hit in the first place).  For an adventure that's supposed to be kinda relaxing and humorous, easier encounters would better foster the mood and encourage more creativity by players.

The last part of the module has the PCs return to their village after gathering truffles only to find that an effigy made in their honour has suddenly become animate and is attacking!  I like the explanation that the skull of Vorka (the cannibal goblin druid from We Be Goblins!) was used in the effigy and that's where its dark power has come from.  This thing has 52 hit points and hardness 5, meaning that really only the alchemist's bombs (if he saved them) or Poog's channeled energy (if he figures out they'll work on the effigy despite it being a construct) can harm the creature.  Again, a really fun, cinematic idea brought down by an unrealistic expectation of what the goblins can handle.  Hopefully, GMs will be flexible and get into the spirit of the adventure by allowing some alternative solutions to the problem--otherwise, a TPK is very possible.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 11 [RPG]

[28 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

The Reckoner, Yraelzin, and Goldcape enter another chamber to find wooden tables stacked with vials, beakers, funnels, cauldrons, and everything else necessary for a working alchemical laboratory.  A lone derro, cleaning up a spill, reacts in confusion at first but then calls upon his race’s innate magic to create an ear-ringing sonic burst in the room.  But The Reckoner and Rocky are undeterred, and they make short work of the pale blue humanoid.  A thorough search of the room turns up a veritable treasure trove of potions, poisons, alchemical salves, and more. It is obvious experiments in alchemy and dark necromancy have been practiced in this underground labyrinth for quite some time.

Adjacent to the alchemical laboratory is a door that has been boarded over—quite recently, by the looks of it.  The Reckoner suggests leaving it alone, as anything the derros wanted to lock away is probably quite dangerous.  But Goldcape is intent on exploration, and her lithe frame masks surprising strength—she puts her shoulder to the door and breaks it down.  On the other side is a room that was obviously once a pantry, but is now prison to a lurching mash-up of rotting flesh, jagged bone, and coarse hair reeking of death and decay.  In one of its hands it clutches a severed arm marked with distinctive Shoanti tattoos!  The smell is nauseating, but the repulsive creature is no match for The Reckoner’s battle-maul.  The search to recover the scattered parts of Gaekhen’s body has met with another gruesome success.

Further exploration finds another grisly reminder of the work conducted in these halls of horror.  One chamber contains a large table supporting a massive, seven-foot tall humanoid-shaped thing stitched together from a patchwork of different bodies.  Apparently, an attempt to build a flesh golem!  The inert creature’s head is crowned with brown hair and bears a distinctive scar up on its left cheek—poor Gaekhen’s head.  Just as Goldcape realises this, The Reckoner has already moved to destroy the creature, fearing it will rise.  An inadvertent mutilation of Gaekhen’s corpse is added to the terrible blasphemies already done to it.

Another chamber is a library of books and scrolls—mostly treatises on necromancy or the art of crafting golems, but also a surprisingly large number of books about diseases and plagues.  There’s some disagreement within the group about what to do with the collection, leading to an eventual decision to take some of the books while burning the ones on necromancy.

The search through the sprawling underground complex continues, with the way fortunately lit through phosphorescent moss.  One chamber holds a large four-poster bed and a simple writing desk, with a full-length mirror propped up against one earthen wall.  But the group’s lack of stealth has given early warning to an adjacent chamber’s occupant: a derro necromancer with fearsome arcane power!  The derro launches an array of magical attacks while shouting epithets inspired by a lunatic’s rage.  The Reckoner is temporarily weakened by one attack, Rocky is struck with magical fear, and Yraelzin’s and Goldcape’s archery proves largely ineffective against the flying foe that is fully prepared for battle.  The battle turns on a knife's edge as The Reckoner finds his muscles completely locked up to the point he can only stand and watch helplessly as the derro conjures a zombie from thin air!  Yraelzin turns from futile attacks with his crossbow to healing The Reckoner to keep him in the fight.  But if anyone is the hero of the hour, it’s Rocky—the roc returns when the magical fear wears off and slashes zombie and derro alike until, finally, the necromancer is unconscious and floating in mid-air.  Both The Reckoner and Goldcape take out their anger on the derro in a lethal way.  It’s the closest the party has ever come to utter defeat, and a startling reminder of the dangerousness of their efforts to aid Korvosa and its inhabitants.

In the aftermath of the battle, two important discoveries are made.  In the derro’s chamber is the result of his latest experiment—the torso and right arm of Gaekhen, animated in a sad mockery of life.  In the chamber with the four-poster bed, the desk contains a curious, broken knife with a key-shaped blade.  The Harrowed Heroes immediately link the blade to the one found in Gaedren Lamm’s hideout, and suspect this could be a sign his son has been here!

Weary and battered, the brave explorers continue their search for Gaekhen’s lower body.  They enter a cavern boarded on three sides by ten-foot-deep pits, from which waft the rancid smell of excrement and decay.  But the room is guarded by a hideously deformed brute who yells “You go in pit now!  Me feed you later.  Maybe!”  The Reckoner charges into battle and gets punched hard in the face for his troubles, but Goldcape cleverly conjures a trio of dogs to nip at the brute’s heels, distracting it enough for The Reckoner to land a powerful series of blows.  When the dust has cleared, a look around the room reveals something important—there are prisoners, still alive, in the pits!

------------------------------

GM's Commentary

In the sessions I've been running recently (near the end of Chapter Four), Goldcape is the cautious one and The Reckoner is always pushing to explore further--but in this session, it's the exact opposite!

I've put in my review of Chapter One that I think the "body part scavenger hunt" is a bit too video  gamey, but apart from that I think this sequence is well-designed.  This session has the battle against the closest thing to a "boss" enemy for the chapter, the derro sorcerer.  That battle came surprisingly closes to a TPK.

Doctor Fate # 31-41 (DC Comics) (1988) [COMICS]

Alright, the final stretch of the 1988-1992 Doctor Fate.  Bill Messner-Loebs finishes out the series as writer, continuing to take the book in a very different direction than it had been under DeMatteis.

Issue # 31 is fantastic--probably the best of the run.  Inza has a talk with a woman she saved, and the conversation centers around how super heroes never seem to use their powers to make enduring societal improvements.  It's a powerful critique of inequality and corporatism, and casts super heroes as maintaining the status quo and never really being agents of change or progress.  Inza decides to respond by transforming a huge skyscraper into public housing, and (by altering his memories) a real estate tycoon into a homeless man.  But is she exercising too much power?  Much more interesting than the vapid spirituality of DeMatteis' run!  

Issue # 32 has kind of a goofy cover, and is a War of the Gods tie-in.  Wonder Woman comes to the neighborhood looking for Fate, and together the two battle an Egyptian god and defeat it.  Meanwhile, Kent, frustrated, by what Inza has been doing to the neighborhood, heads off on a dig.  A note on the letters page emphasises that issues # 1-24 were DeMatteis' story, and the series is off in a new direction and won't likely revisit the characters and themes from it.

More War of the Gods hits Issue # 33.  In a surprisingly fun take, the gods of Egypt band together to take on Fate.  It turns out that it's their collective doing that has kept Kent from becoming Fate, on the theory that Inza-Fate would be easier to defeat.  But they're wrong, and she manages to bind them mystically.  In a continuing subplot, the tycoon from Issue # 31 (Tommy Bridge) gets his memories back, and boy is he peeved!

A cool cover to Issue # 34.  An evil goddess named T'Giiaan tries to kill Fate.  This is an issue full of surprises, and really enjoyable.  There's a tragic moment as a jobless man that Fate was too busy to help commits a murder-suicide, really hitting home the idea that even super heroes can't solve everything.

Issue # 35 sees Kent getting back to New York and seeing just how widespread Inza's magic has reshaped the neighborhood.  In her efforts to make a veritable utopia, has she started suppressing free will?  And then . . . the helmet swallows Inza?

With Inza gone, there's panic in the streets in Issue # 36.  Kent becomes the classic (?) Fate.  There's some good humor in this one.

Issue # 37 has Inza break free from both the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos, drawing power from the people of earth to fuel her independence.  It's a bit cheesy, but a nice resolution.

We get a fill-in issue in Issue # 38 by a different creative team.  It's a flashback story involving ghosts assaulting the residents of Salem.  Fate is drawn to 1910 by a psychic medium who is his mother!?  It's a weird tale, but okay.

Issue # 39 is sadly realistic, as Congressional hearings into everything Inza accomplished for her neighborhood is twisted and distorted to sound bad.  Fed up, she delivers a stirring rebuttal.  When the President asks her to sign a sort of loyalty oath, she refuses.  It's really good, original stuff for comics!

Issue # 40 has Kent and Inza working together as Fate.  They decide to test their powers by cleaning up a lake, only to uncover a sea monster.  Wonder Woman comes by just to chat, which is cool.  Inza is thinking of having a baby, but in a refreshing twist, decides not to.

As the final issue for the series, Issue # 41 has to wrap up some subplots.  There's sort of a new cosmic beginning for Fate which is hard to describe, and I'd rank the issue as okay, but not great.  I do like how the neighborhood is better off, and continues to improve even without Fate's active involvement--an optimistic view of humanity.  There's a nice farewell in the letter column.

Overall, the series can be neatly split into the DeMatteis run (# 1-24) and the Messner-Loebs run (# 25-41).  For some reason, comics fans seem to fondly remember the first one, but in my opinion, it's really the second one that deserves acclaim.

Pathfinder (GameMastery) Compleat Encounters: "Dark Elf Sanctum" [RPG]

 SPOILERS

Dark Elf Sanctum was the first of Paizo's "Compleat Encounters" line of products, each of which includes three miniatures, four gridded cards that form an encounter map, an encounter key, and artwork and stats for some new NPCs, monsters, and magical items.  From a name like Dark Elf Sanctum, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect with this one: drow!  More specifically, the idea here is that the sanctum is that of a drow cleric named Sarthessa Zyltaris--she's pretty much a stock drow with cliched goals.  Her sanctum is guarded by a much cooler monster called a Horned Demon that wears a special belt made from human faces that can cast spells separately while it's fighting.   The set also features a new artifact called the Dread Portal of the Maw, but it's pretty much a plot device only as, once a year, it can send 500 evil outsiders someplace for an hour!

There's not much of a story here.  Sarthessa plans to use the artifact to invade the surface world somehow, but her plan doesn't really make sense.  I did use this adventure in a campaign.  A few vague adventure hooks are included to lure the PCs to attacking her sanctum, but the encounters within are pretty basic, and the whole thing is forgettable.  To me, the best part of the set is the artwork by Wayne Reynolds.  My set didn't come with the actual miniatures, but the Horned Demon one looks great in the pictures.  As for the map tiles, I couldn't really figure out how they were supposed to go together, and everything is too cramped to really have separate encounters.  Overall, I'd have to call this one a miss.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 10 [RPG]

 [27 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

Outside Citadel Volshyanek, Goldcape and Ralph Blackfeather continue to discuss what to do with the fugitive Trinia Sabor.  Goldcape has put together a plan to smuggle her out of the city by boat, but Ralph says they need to turn her over to Field Marshal Kroft or risk getting in trouble themselves.  When they return to the safe-house, they persuade Trinia that the Korvosan Guard will ensure she gets a fair trial and that the Hellknights won’t get hold of her.  Ralph uses some make-up and hair dye to make Trinia look several years older and they escort her the short distance between the safe-house and the citadel.  But Trinia’s disguise doesn’t hold up against the casual glance of a farmer who had seen a sketch of the fugitive, and he shouts and starts drawing attention.  Ralph decks the man and hurries Trinia inside.  Although she’s safely turned over to the Korvosan Guard, it won’t be long before everyone in the city knows her new location.

Thousand Bones

From there, the Harrowed Heroes split up.  Ralph visits Hedge Wizardry and tells Phaeton the information he’s gathered about the Scrag Fisher—that it hasn’t arrived.  Phaeton expresses his hope it’s simply mundane sailing delays.  Meanwhile, Goldcape flies on Rocky to the Shoanti campsites in Skaldwood to talk with Takota.  But bad news awaits—Takota has been seriously injured and is unconscious!  Apparently, he and a Shoanti brave named Gaekhen were in the city when rumors spread that Shoanti were harbouring Trinia.  They were chased by a mob and badly beaten, and Gaekhen was killed!  Takota is now under the care of Thousand Bones, a newly-arrived Shoanti shaman who is also Gaekhen’s grandfather.  Thousand Bones says that Takota will recover in time, but the Shoanti have decided to leave Skaldwood.  The nomadic people have decided the risk of remaining while the city is in such turmoil is simply too high.  But Thousand Bones has a request of Takota’s friends.  The elder explains that his grandson’s body has not been recovered, and that until given a proper ritual burial, the young warrior’s spirit will not be at peace.  Thousand Bones says his auguries have given him a vision of the body laying somewhere within a vast field of the dead, under a stone house with a shattered stone demon nearby.  Goldcape promises that she and Takota’s other allies will assist.

Goldcape leaps onto Rocky and flies back toward the safe-house.  On the way, she has the good fortune to spot Ralph on the street below—his figure distinctive because of the house drake that always seems to be flying some distance above him.  When Goldcape lands nearby, Ralph explains that the drake is a freed prisoner from Eel’s End named Majenko who has, from a sense of honour, vowed to assist him for one year.  Goldcape shares what Thousand Bones told her, and the pair immediately reverse course and head back south toward the Gray (Korvosa’s cemetery district).  Ralph asks Majenko to keep an eye on the city for signs that the Hellknights are marching toward Citadel Korvosa or in any other way displacing the Korvosan Guard.

The Gray District is a mournful place even by day—one of the few areas of the city that is quiet and calm amidst all the recent civil unrest.  And nowhere is this stillness more evident than in Potter’s Ward, the final resting ground for Korvosa’s poor and homeless.  Mounds of unmarked dirt stretch far and wide, indicating sites of mass graves, while crumbling mausoleums from years ago dot the bleak landscape, forgotten and empty; there are no mourners here, and it’s clear that those buried in Potter’s Ward leave behind few who regret their passing.  Scouting from the sky, Goldcape spots a small mausoleum that has a broken gargoyle statue on the ground nearby—surely the “shattered stone demon” that Thousand Bones saw in his vision.  When the vanara sets down nearby, she notices a man’s tracks and a wheelbarrow trail leading into the mausoleum, as well as several smaller humanoid tracks—derro!  Many in the city have heard urban legends of sunless, insane, gnome-sized beings that live under the city and kidnap residents for strange experiments.  Realising they could be in for more than they bargained for, Goldcape and Ralph decide to return in the morning with Yraelzin in tow—although the cleric of Razmir can be annoying, there is strength in numbers.

Ralph and Goldcape split up again.  Ralph hurries to North Point before the dusk curfew and into a local armorsmith’s named the Stalwart Shield.  A trio of near lookalike brothers are inside, hammering away.  Ralph lays down several thousand gold pieces for a suit of custom armor made from mithral!  He’s told it will take five to six days, as the palace has put in an order for several suits of gray full-plate armor in a feminine cut.  Afterwards, Ralph walks over to the Burnt Honey Inn only to find a very drunk Grau Soldado apparently waiting for him.  It takes some time for the guard to make sense, but eventually his slurred speech is intelligible: he’s come to warn Ralph that someone is spreading around a lot of coin for information on who The Reckoner is.  Grau says he knows Ralph and The Reckoner must be friends, so he’s hoping the man can deliver a message to the masked vigilante.  Ralph promises to do so and arranges for Grau to sleep off his relapse in his room upstairs.  Meanwhile, all the way across town, Goldcape returns to Old Lady Cloggins’ house.  When her landlady explains that a friend came by looking for Goldcape while she was away saying that Goldcape “knew his father”, a chill suddenly runs down the vanara’s spine.  Did Gaedren Lamm’s son visit and deliver an implicit threat?!?  Goldcape tosses and turns that night.

[28 Gozran, 4708 A.R.]

In the morning, Ralph gets further information from a sober (but abashed) Grau.  Whoever’s interested in The Reckoner has asked around at the Longacre Building (where accused criminals are tried before the city’s arbiters), at Eel’s End (where a cross-section of the city comes to engage in vice), and, rumor has it, at an information broker named Gribbet.  Grau says that after taking part in raids on Lamm’s Old Fishery, the Cow Hammer Boys’ slaughterhouse, and the King of Spider’s ship in Eel’s End, The Reckoner is making quite a name for himself among the criminal element and needs to be careful.  After Grau leaves, Ralph heads down to Old Lady Cloggins’ house, keeping a close eye out to see if he is being tailed.  Once there, he and Goldcape exchange news and agree they need to figure out a plan to trap whoever is looking for them.  Ralph calls Majenko down and asks him to keep an eye out for ambushes.  Majenko reports that Trinia Sabor’s trial is set to begin today—a startling fast process given her recent apprehension.

With Yraelzin in tow, Goldcape and Ralph set out for the Gray District again.  They follow the trail into the mausoleum, but the place looks completely empty.  However, the outline of a poorly hidden trapdoor is easily spotted.  When opened, steps lead down into darkness.  Ralph changes into The Reckoner, and Goldcape enchants his battle-maul with light so he can see better.  The stairs lead to an ossuary, where pits of bones lie under a domed ceiling.  Goldcape heads towards the bone pits to see if Gaekhen’s body is among them, when suddenly the piles of bones begin to shift and sway.  Skeletal figures burst out of one, while a clearly dead owlbear bursts out of another!  Goldcape’s arrows and sap prove almost completely ineffective against the chilling undead foes, but Rocky’s hard beak and especially The Reckoner’s battle-maul smash them into pieces.  Yraelzin, who had little to add during the combat, heals some of his ally’s wounds, but Goldcape notices something strange—it looks like the cleric is secretly using a wand.  When confronted, Yraelzin denies the matter entirely, and even invites Goldcape to search him; the suspicious vanara does so, and finds no wand.  Goldcape starts to pursue the matter further, but The Reckoner reminds her that they’re on a mission and this catacomb could be dangerous.

Tunnels smashed and carved out of the walls of the ossuary lead further into darkness.  Following one of them leads the Harrowed Heroes to a gruesome site—the fresh body of a vagrant is being drained of its blood by a pair of stirges, while a lone little humanoid that can only be a derro toils nearby!  The derro shrieks and rushes into a narrow tunnel to escape, but not before opening a wicker cage and freeing two more stirges.  One of them swoops down and plunges its proboscis into Goldcape’s arm before the cat-sized mosquito-like creatures are dispatched.  The Reckoner gives thought to chasing the derro, but the tunnel it fled down would be difficult to squeeze through.

Necrophidius

Another tunnel leads to a corridor encrusted with dozens of yawning skulls, their mouths opening into dark holes in the walls.  Goldcape realises two of the skulls are part of some kind of trap, and destroys them with arrows fired from a distance.  But whoever placed the trap had a second layer of defense in mind, for when the trio enter the hallway, the sinuous skeletons of what first appear to be large snakes emerge from holes in the walls and attack!  Yraelzin shouts that they’re necrophidiuses and have paralysing bites!  The battle that follows is a long and difficult one, but once again The Reckoner’s battle-maul proves most effective and the skeletal constructs are destroyed.

It’s clear that what once seemed like the trivial matter of retrieving a corpse from a graveyard has turned into something far different—why are the derro here, and what’s become of Gaekhen’s body?

-----------------------------------

GM's Commentary

Goldcape was 100% right that it would have been better to smuggle Trinia out of the city than turn her over to the authorities.  Because Goldcape's player is a kid, the adults in the group often don't take his suggestions as serious as they should.

There's the introduction to Thousand Bones in this session, an NPC who will become very important in Chapter 4.  I'm glad I was able to tie in the Shoanti abandoning Korvosa.

The search for Gaekhen's body in the Dead Warrens is the last major part of Chapter 1 (apart from a more scripted climax).

Why would a cleric of the Living God need magic wands?  Goldcape must have been mistaken.

Pathfinder Module: "Crucible of Chaos" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

Crucible of Chaos by Wolfgang Baur is one of my favourite of the early GameMastery-branded Pathfinder modules.  I ran it some months ago in my “Roots of Golarion” campaign, and found it one of the highlights of the campaign.  Like another one of my favourites of the early modules (Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale), Crucible of Chaos gives the players a lot of agency.  There’s a wide variety of motivations, approaches, and goals they can have in this one, which makes it exactly the opposite of the clichéd railroad adventure.  And depending on how they play it, it could be the springboard for a whole new series of adventures.  Another advantage is that the location where this adventure occurs is left intentionally open, so the GM can slot it pretty much wherever they like without creating canon or story issues.  But it still provides a memorable addition to the lore of Golarion.  I’ll also add that the artwork (both the cover and in the interiors) is excellent, with some of it effectively scary!  All in all, this one’s a winner and is definitely worth tracking down.

SPOILERS!

In Crucible of Chaos, the PCs will discover the ruins of Ulduvai, one of the legendary flying cities of the ancient Shory civilization.  The adventure starts with the premise that the PCs have discovered the lost city high in an unnamed mountain range far from civilisation (allowing for GM flexibility on the precise setting) after following a new magic item called an Unerring Compass.  Exactly how or why the PCs came into possession of this compass is also left open for the GM to devise depending on what’s going on in the campaign, though a few suggestions are given.  This may require some advance planning for the GM, but is better than a “one size fits all” solution that may be anything but.

In Part 1 of the adventure, the PCs reach a valley in the mountains warmed by geothermal heat.  The valley has a sort of “Lost World” feel, with dinosaurs, lizardfolk, and even a new creature called “zothians” (a kind of lizardfolk-centaur!).  There’s a lot to explore in the valley, and the module provides both a list of random encounters and some fixed location-based encounters.  PCs might try to bulldoze their way right to Ulduvai, or they may gather information and treasure from the areas around it.  Again, it’s pretty open-ended.  PCs who manage to make peace with the lizardfolk and visit their village can gain some really useful tidbits that make success in Ulduvai itself more likely.

In Part 2, the PCs can explore Ulduvai in any way they wish.  The Lovecraftian-backstory to why the city crashed is key to understanding what’s happening there now.  Millennia ago, cabal of powerful wizards worshipping Azathoth (a god of mysteries and secrets) discovered a powerful artefact called the shoggoth stone and brought it to Ulduvai.  Thinking that a ritual would provide them power and immortality, they instead inadvertently transformed every living creature in the city into an immense, fleshly mass of fused viscera!  Although three of the wizards had enough magical wards to survive the experience and exist to this day as undead, the city has been infused by pure chaos.  For the PCs, this backstory plays out as an atmosphere of inexplicable and unnerving phenomena in the city.  Multiple sidebars and examples are provided to help the GM create this feeling of uncanny dread as the PCs explore, and as a sidebar mentions, it is atmosphere that keeps every adventure from becoming just routine battles with different scenery.  One of my favourite bits are the rules on getting lost, which has the GM secretly track where the PCs are going as if the map is turned 90 degrees!

There’s a ton for the PCs to discover in the ruins of Ulduvai, and what they’re interested in is left completely up to them.  Some groups may be keen to discover why the city crashed (once they realise it was a flying city to begin with), a goal that can be helped by the discovery of an extensive library (with several named texts), the chance of meeting the chief of the derhii (flying apes), or conversation with the three surviving cultist-wizards.  Each member of this latter group is fully fleshed out (pardon the undead pun) with their own motivations, domain, and artwork, and can serve as either “mini-boss” combats or as opportunities for intrigue and role-playing.  Another goal some groups may have is getting the city flying again, something which requires tracking down some scattered magical items, figuring out how they fit into the city’s unique architecture, and rebuilding some damaged parts.  This is the sort of thing that can make for a unique campaign, and sidebars provide the GM with advice on how to make this easier or harder depending where they want the campaign to go next.  The PCs I ran the adventure for decided Golarion wasn’t ready for the emergence of a flying city, and, perhaps wisely, left its location a secret.  Finally, some groups might be pure treasure-hunters, hoping to loot as much as they can and get out quick.  There’s plenty of valuables in the city to make it worth their time.

Apart from the all of the mysteries and dangers in the city—invisible bridges, electrical generators, trapped demons, etc.—the real threat in the city is the shoggoth, which is a CR 15 creature!  As the module is for PCs of Level 8, this is not a monster that should be fought, but instead used as a tool by the GM to invoke terror, drive the action forward and—if a lesson needs to be taught—grab up and consume a foolish PC.  As a potential big climax to the module, PCs can discover a ritual to destroy the shoggoth by destroying the shoggoth stone that summoned it, but it’s not easy and, one begun, has to be done quickly before the shoggoth arrives.  I used this when I ran the module, and it was fantastic—tense and exciting. 

I’ve been gushing about Crucible of Chaos, and some of that could be the hazelnut coffee talking.  But nonetheless, I think it’s a great adventure and a memorable campaign centrepiece.

Pathfinder Map Pack: "Tournament" [RPG]

 Recently I had to improvise a session's worth of adventure in a long-running campaign, and had no idea what to do.  Looking at my shelves, I spotted my never-before-used Tournament map pack and decided to go with a local festival and tournament.  It turned out to be great fun, and the map pack provided plenty of good activities for the PCs to participate in.  There's a fenced off area for some (wooden) sword fighting, a long area archery range, a field for jousting, tents that can be flavored at stalls or games, and wooden stands for the audience to sit and watch.  An interesting feature I've never seen in other map packs is that many of the tiles have arrows that show how they're designed to fit with others--quite handy.  Admittedly, tournaments aren't likely to come up that often in most campaigns, but this map pack is certainly fit for purpose.

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: "Elemental Planes Multi-Pack" [RPG]

 I've had the Elemental Planes Multi-Pack for a few years now, and I haven't used it as much as I thought I would.  That's not because it's bad, necessarily, but more because what it offers is pretty specific and not something that comes up often.  As a "Multi-Pack", it's two double-sided flip-mats in one cardboard sleeve.  The four sides are:

* A coral reef on the Elemental Plane of Water.  I really like the design and colouring on this one, and I could see using it in some sort of pirates campaign (looking for buried treasure on a remote atoll?) or some kind of shipwreck scene.

* A volcanic wasteland on the Elemental Plane of Fire.  You want lava?  You got it!  The colouring is great, and really pops from the mat.  Think Mustafar from Revenge of the Sith.  Alas, volcano-based battles just don't come up often enough.

* A cloud castle on the Elemental Plane of Air.  Not a fan of this one, as really any top-down castle view could be adapted to the same purpose.  I would have preferred something like floating islands amid the clouds for a livelier encounter.

* A stalagmite forest on the Elemental Plane of Earth.  I recall using this one in a Starfinder Society scenario, where it represented a generic underground area.  That being said, I like the huge chasm and the bridge, and if the stalagmites block movement and provide cover, it could be really interesting tactical challenge for a group.

Overall, I'd rate the Elemental Planes Multi-Pack as "fine."  It features sites that probably won't be used very often, but the design work is strong.

Pathfinder Legends: "Curse of the Crimson Throne: Edge of Anarchy" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

Pathfinder Legends are full-cast audio plays produced jointly by Paizo and Big Finish, and they're available both on CD and via download.  This week, I listened to the CD for Edge of Anarchy, the first chapter of the Curse of the Crimson Throne set.  I thought it was fantastic!  A couple of years back, I listened to the Pathfinder Legends version of Rise of the Runelords and thought it was pretty good but pricey given the length; I think criticisms like that were taken to heart, because at least this chapter of Curse of the Crimson Throne is almost twice as long.  The voice acting continues to be spot-on (Valeros cracks me up), and the writer of the adaptation really understood all of the little nuances of the AP.  There are some differences, but they're honestly all improvements--I wish I had known and used some of them when I ran the first chapter of the AP last year!  Although sometimes the action scenes are still hard to follow (since there's no narrator), the professional music and sound effects keep things moving.  I'll go into more detail below, but the general takeaway is that this one is well worth the purchase.

The physical CD is a two-disc set with full-colour liner notes featuring cast credits and little introductions to the four Iconics that stand in for the PCs.  In Chapter One, these four are Merisiel, Valeros, Ezren, and Harsk.  The running time is given as 110 minutes, which sounds about right--there's not the super-lengthy filler music that was so annoying in Rise of the Runelords.  

SPOILERS!

In this section, I'll talk about some of the interesting similarities and differences to the story as presented in the original AP. The big plot points of the AP are tracked fairly closely by the audio play, and even some of the side encounters (like the street preacher of Groetus and the trouble with imps) are incorporated.  There's also some smart little name-drops of NPCs like Glorio Arkona, Zenobia Zenderholm, and others that will become important in later chapters.  However, a few key scenes are different, and there's an emphasis on some subplots over others.

One big difference right off the bat is that, since the protagonists are Iconics and already have backstories, no one has a personal connection to Gaedren Lamm.  Instead, they're in Korvosa because Kyra (the Iconic Cleric) is missing after coming to the city to investigate reports that a cult of Urgathoa was operating in it (foreshadowing!).  But things get back on track as Zellara summons the Iconics in the same way, offering to help them find Kyra if they deal with Gaedren Lamm.  An elegant solution.

When the Iconics return to Zellara after bringing Lamm to justice, she tells them to "follow the broach."  This is a clever way to highlight the importance of the object which logically leads the party to the queen, rather than the risk in the original AP that the party might never realise its importance.  The initial encounter with the queen is something I really wish I had done: she is completely overwrought, sobbing, and the listener feels real sympathy for her--so the later reveal of her cruelty and treachery have some real impact.  In addition, Sabina Merrin gets a major role in Chapter 1 as the one that organises the Iconics' missions.  The relationship between her and the queen is given a lot of attention, and even a scene where the Iconics aren't present.  It's great, and something I wasn't really able to accomplish while running the campaign.  

Highlighting Sabina does have a cost, however, as Field Marshal Kroft (the main liaison for the PCs in the AP) barely appears in the audio play.  On the other hand, Vencarlo Orisini is used to great effect, and I love a new scene where we witness him and Sabina having a verbal duel.  It really brings out their shared backstory.

The big Trinia Sabor chase seen is exciting, and culminates in the Iconics accidentally chasing her right into the clutches of Sabina.  This sets up the climactic execution scene where Blackjack appears.  He has a fun cockney accent, and I like how the Iconics help the rescue in small ways (Ezren makes duplicate Blackjacks to confuse the guards, Harsk sets chickens loose, and so forth).  I think Blackjack may be grooming Merisiel as his replacement, so I'll be interested to see how that develops in future chapters (and if Kyra shows up).

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 9 [RPG]

 [25 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

At the Shoanti campsite in Skaldwood, Takota excuses himself from the other members of the group to prepare a ceremony to welcome the impending arrival of a great leader of his people.  Yraelzin, Goldcape, and Ralph Blackfeather continue discussing the best way to discover why Ambassador Amprei has been making regular visits to Eel’s End.  Although they don’t reach a clear resolution, one decision is made: if they have to fight the “King of Spiders,” it’d be good to have protection against spider venom!  At the cluttered shop of miscellaneous magical goods named Hedge Wizardry, proprietor Phaeton Skoda says he knows an alchemist who prepares antitoxins for sale—though the man’s laboratory is all the way across the city, in Old Korvosa.  Like many in the city, Skoda has started to hear rumours of the curious group’s role in shutting down Gaedren Lamm’s criminal enterprise and the Cow Hammer Boys’ “murder for hire” business.  Thus, Skoda feels comfortable bringing one of his own troubles to the group’s attention.  He explains that his cousin, Tiora, was supposed to arrive in Korvosa on a ship called the Scrag Fisher some days ago—but she still hasn’t shown up and he’s worried.  Although there could be a perfectly mundane explanation, he promises the group a small reward if they keep their ears open about her whereabouts.

With time running out before the dusk curfew begins, the group decide to split up to accomplish some errands.  Ralph visits the wharfs and asks some questions, learning that the Scrag Fisher never arrived at the docks.  Meanwhile, Goldcape travels along the Shingles until he reaches the alchemist’s shop that Skoda told her about: a place called Ledbetter’s Apothecary.  The owner, an opinionated, racist, and generally grumpy old man, isn’t pleased to see a “monkey girl” like Goldcape, and overcharges her for the antitoxins.

That evening, rumors abound that King Eodred II was murdered!  According to the rumors, a member of the palace guard confessed to being in on an assassination plot, and that the king’s killer was actually a young commoner who painted his portrait across several weeks while secretly poisoning him!  The fact that the city’s various law enforcement groups are out in force may indeed be proof that they’re looking for a suspect.

[26 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

A new day dawns, and it will prove to be an eventful one indeed

Majenko

After reporting for work as a newly-hired member of Devargo Barvasi’s gang of enforcers, Ralph listens carefully to the conversation around him and subtly asks a question or two to learn more about the King of Spiders’ operation.  It becomes apparent that there must be several cabins below decks of the Eel’s End, and that Barvasi spends most of his time aboard the ship--apart from a periodic daily excursion into the city for meals.  The intelligence leads Ralph to decide on a new plan: instead of waiting for the ambassador’s arrival or hoping to overhear the information he needs, he’s going to search the lower decks when Barvasi is away!  Waiting until lunchtime, Ralph knows he has less than an hour before Barvasi returns to his “throne room.” He slips inside and starts looking around.  Noticing the staircase that leads below decks, Ralph is about to tip-toe down when he realises he’s being watched—by the caged house drake!  Ralph asks the drake why it’s been caged, and the drake says he was captured and given to Barvasi as a gift from one of his recent recruits.  The drake, whose name is Majenko, says Barvasi has been tormenting him for days.  Ralph says that if the drake stays quiet about his descent below and alerts him if anyone comes into the throne room, he’ll set him free.  Majenko quickly agrees.

Below decks, Ralph finds several cramped rooms, including a shiver lab, a foul-smelling (but fortunately empty) brig, and a hold stockpiled with food and water.  Hearing movement on the far side, he avoids opening one door that would lead directly under the throne room.  But another door leads to something more promising: Barvasi’s personal quarters!  Ominous creaking indicates movement on the top deck as Ralph quickly searches through the room.  He finds a wooden sea chest, but unable to pick the lock has to resort to loudly smashing it open.  Inside is a small treasure trove of jewellery and coins, plus two letters detailing a scandalous liaison between Ambassador Amprei and Verania Tvastiox, the young wife of his superior back in Cheliax!

The King of Spiders

But with the only staircase up leading to the throne room that Majenko’s loud fuss indicates is now occupied, Ralph is trapped.  He quickly decides on a dangerous plan.  Changing into his masked garb as The Reckoner, he hides in Barvasi’s bedroom for several hours, waiting to ambush the King of Spiders!  Sometime after midnight, the lord of vice walks in with an armful of business reports in his hands.  The Reckoner leaps out to attack, swinging his powerful battle-maul, but Barvasi ducks with uncanny speed and lashes out with spiked gauntlets glistening with spider venom!  It’s a one-on-one battle to the death in the tight confines of the cabin, as the Reckoner’s attacks are slower but bone-crushing and Barvasi’s attacks come fast and furious but leave only shallow cuts.  Barvasi finally calls out for his enforcers, as both men are left reeling to the point where a single blow would fell either one.  But back-up doesn’t arrive in time to save the King of Spiders, as a final massive swing from the Reckoner’s weapon crushes the crimelord’s skull!

When the enforcers finally arrive to find their employer dead at the feet of a bloodied masked marauder, they decide their lives are worth more than loyalty to a dead man.  The Reckoner strides past them, climbs the stairs, sets Majenko free (receiving a promise of a year’s service in return), and disappears into the night.  In a deserted alleyway, The Reckoner once again becomes Ralph Blackfeather.  It’s well past curfew, however, so the Harrowed Hero tries to slip quietly back toward his inn—only to be spotted by a Hellknight patrol!  But, hurtling out of the night, Majenko distracts the armored soldiers just long enough for Ralph to make his getaway.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day (at the same time that Ralph/The Reckoner was below decks of Barvasi’s ship), Goldcape is about to have an adventure of her own.  After Goldcape visits Citadel Volshyanek to inquire about the rumors of the king’s assassin having been found, Field Marshal Kroft arranges a secret meeting at a nearby tavern.  The head of the Korvosan Guard arrives dressed in a nondescript robe, and whispers to Goldcape that the suspect is a young artist named Trinia Sabor.  She explains that the Hellknights have been specially tasked with finding the woman, but that it’s unlikely she’ll receive a fair trial if they catch her.  Kroft says she’s just received a report from an informant that Trinia is hiding in a tenement at 42 Moon Street in Midland.  She would send the Guard to apprehend her, but word could easily leak out and result in the Hellknights—or even a vigilante mob—getting there first.  But if trusted, unofficial agents of the Korvosan Guard who have already proven themselves could catch Trinia and bring her directly to Citadel Volshyanek, Kroft says she could guarantee the suspect would be treated fairly and could be interrogated with magic to learn the truth about the accusations against her.

Goldcape takes the hint and leaves.  After finding Yraelzin, she tries to get in touch with Ralph, but has no luck and leaves a message at the Burnt Honey Inn for him to visit “the place where they first met” as soon as possible.  With time running out as the Hellknights knock heads and smash down doors in a house-to-house search for Trinia, Goldcape and Yraelzin decide to try to apprehend her themselves.  Arriving at 42 Moon Street, they see it’s an address in a densely built section of the city, a place where sunlight at ground level is a rarity due to the sprawling slum known as the Shingles built above them.  The residents of the tenement pretend not to know Trinia, but Goldcape gains their trust by promising not to harm her.  When Goldcape and Yraelzin knock on the door to Trinia’s flat, however, they hear clattering on the far side and then a window being opened!  Leaving Yraelzin there, Goldcape rushes to the nearest exit and leaps onto Rocky to fly around the side of the building.  There, sprinting across the Shingles away from the building, is Trinia Sabor!

Despite Goldcape’s sincere shouts that she means the woman no harm and just wants to help her, Trinia continues to flee so the vanara is forced to give chase.  The artist races along jury-rigged catwalks, across canted rooftops, under lines of laundry, through narrow gaps in boards, and more to increase her lead.  Goldcape’s ability to fly while mounted on Rocky doesn’t seem like much of an advantage at first given all the twists and turns of the Shingles, but eventually she manages to catch up when Trinia is trapped at a seeming dead-end.  Realising there’s no escape, Trinia breaks down in tears, sobbing that she’s been set up, didn’t kill the king, and doesn’t want to die!  Goldcape is compassionate and promises she’ll be safe.  The Harrowed Hero collects Yraelzin and leads a hastily-concealed Trinia back to the group’s safe-house. 

Trinia Sabor

That evening, Grau Soldado—the group’s ally who had visited the safe-house before--arrives at the behest of Field Marshal Kroft to see if they’d been successful.  Goldcape introduces Grau to Trinia, and says they’ll escort the fugitive to Citadel Volshyanek in the morning—assuming they can safely avoid the Hellknight patrols.  Grau is pleased that Trinia has been safely apprehended, but once out of earshot, he tells Goldcape he’s just no longer sure if Field Marshal Kroft can keep her word.  Grau says rumors are flying of shake-ups at high-levels, and that Kroft could be forced to turn Trinia over to the queen’s personal guard or to the Hellknights.  He leaves the safehouse with Goldcape and Yraelzin discussing possible alternatives.

[27 Gozran, 4708 A.R.]

Heavy rains fall, making for a gloomy day.  Leaving Yraelzin to watch over Trinia at the safe-house, Goldcape heads to Citadel Volshyanek to speak with Field Marshal Kroft.  In a happy coincidence, Ralph has gone to the same place to turn over the incriminating letters about Ambassador Amprei.  The group’s twin successes in finding Trinia and solving the dilemma with Amprei are rare pieces of good news to the exhausted, stressed Kroft.  She says she can send an escort of loyal guards to help escort Trinia back to Citadel Volshyanek, but Goldcape says secrecy would still be better and says they’ll deliver Trinia later in the day.

But as Goldcape and Ralph leave Kroft’s office, the two discuss how the way forward isn’t clear.  Should they keep their commitment to Kroft and turn Trinia over?  Should they give weight to Grau’s fears that even the leader of the city’s premiere law enforcement agency couldn’t keep the artist safe?  Should they try to keep Trinia in hiding at the safe-house until the unrest in the city calms down, or even try to smuggle her out to a nearby town?  Each choice seems to be a gamble, and the stakes are higher than ever before!

---------------------------

GM’s Commentary

No Takota again this session, and it pretty quickly became clear that the player wasn’t going to come back.  It was a bit disappointing as a Shoanti shaman would have been a great addition to the group (and really changed things in Chapter 4!).  I was really stressed in the initial months of the campaign because I had never ran one with so few PCs, so I kept second-guessing my GMing skills and thinking it was all going to fall apart.  But Goldcape’s and The Reckoner’s players were so enthusiastic, we just kept on keeping on and having fun.  What I took away was that every campaign is different, but you can still have a great time with just two players.

I really enjoyed role-playing the alchemist, Ledbetter.  I always think it’s good for PCs of the more exotic races to be noticed and have that reflected in how some people treat them (for better or worse).

Majenko has ended up being really useful the party as a scout and messenger that doesn’t provoke any notice from Hellknights, Gray Maidens, etc.

Ralph and Goldcape were split up for most of this session.  I jumped back and forth between their adventures in the actual session to keep everyone involved, but in the recap that would have been too confusing so I presented them sequentially.

I had Grau foreshadow the risk that Kroft might be mistaken about her ability to keep Trinia safe so that the upcoming execution scene wouldn’t come out of left field.  It led to some good role-playing about what to do and who to trust.