Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 26 [RPG]

With the city falling apart around them, many desperate
 residents of Korvosa have flocked to a powerful new leader.

[27 Desnus, 4708 A.R.]
 
The slums of Old Korvosa witness violence on a regular basis, and no resident—even if awake past midnight--bats an eye as the Harrowed Heroes find themselves brawling in the streets against a gang of ruffians loyal to the self-proclaimed “Emperor of Old Korvosa.”  The thugs start with fists, knees, elbows, and headbutts, but The Reckoner responds with a battle-maul!  But his eyes adjust slowly to the moonlight, and his initial powerful swings miss foes entirely.  Goldcape recalls the acrobatics of her youth swinging along jungle vines, as she darts and dodges to get into a better fighting position.  With a whistle, she calls Rocky into the fray, but the roc has trouble maneuvering through the narrow, garbage-filled alleyways.  Suddenly, a stranger intrudes on the brawl!  A pale, slim armored figured on horseback gallops in, knocks out one of the thugs with the flat of his blade, and then subdues a second that tries to escape by climbing up a brick wall.  The Reckoner and Rocky dispatch their opponents in a far bloodier manner, and the fighting is over in just seconds.

From his curious weaponry and armor, it seems clear the newcomer is not from Korvosa—and when he removes his helm, it becomes apparent he’s not even exactly human!  Complex blue markings across his skin reveal him to be a sylph, a reclusive race descended from both humans and beings of elemental air.  The sylph gives his name as Katash and makes no secret of his antipathy toward the Emperor of Old Korvosa and his minions.  The Reckoner is surprised the sylph hasn’t heard of his crime-fighting activities, while Goldcape and Yraelzin are suspicious Katash could be a spy planted by the queen.  Nonetheless, they agree to the newcomer’s suggestion to drag those ruffians still-living into a nearby abandoned building for questioning.  

After some magical healing, one of the men returns to consciousness, groggy but defiant.  When asked, he says everyone knows the Emperor’s Palace is in the Old Dock neighbourhood on Silk Street.  He goes on to brag about the crowds that come to watch the Tall Knife (which seems to be some sort of guillotine operated by a one-eyed gnome), Blood Pig (some kind of competition where teams score points by feeding live pigs to wolverines!), and the grisly theatrical plays performed against backdrops painted by the most famous artist in the city.  Katash has designs of assembling his own private army to overthrow the Emperor and tries to convert the man to his own cause, but gets spat in the face for his trouble.  The decision is made to leave the prisoners tied up in the building for now, and dispose of all their weapons and other gear by throwing them in the nearby river.

Discussion is had about what to do next, as Katash is very interested in confronting the Emperor of Old Korvosa but the others remember Field Marshal Kroft’s request that they find out what happened to Vencarlo Orisini and his promised information about the missing seneschal and the queen’s dark powers.  Vencarlo’s fencing academy and home are both in the Fort Korvosa neighbourhood that is under the effective control of House Arkona, and it’s not clear whether guards will forbid access to the area.  Goldcape, mounted on Rocky, scouts from above.  She notices the area is patrolled by liveried guards and looks much safer than the rest of Old Korvosa, but also that strange gnome-sized humanoids hide in darkened corners near many entrances to the neighbourhood.  But even Fort Korvosa obviously hasn’t been completely untouched by the arson and violence that’s spread throughout the rest of the city: Vencarlo’s academy has burned to the ground!

How are the Red Mantis connected to Vencarlo's disappearance?

Goldcape returns to the others to share what she’s learned.  Guessing that Rocky is just strong enough to carry two people, Goldcape and The Reckoner turn themselves and the growing roc invisible using the wand given to them by Kroft.  They then fly over the wall and land next to the charred rubble of the academy.  Vencarlo’s home is nearby, and it looks to have survived the fire unscathed.  Leaving Rocky outside, the pair venture inside an unlocked front door to find everything in good repair but seemingly deserted.  Searching carefully for signs of Vencarlo’s whereabouts, the two advance into a living room.  Goldcape is distracted by the fact that a fire is still burning in the hearth, but The Reckoner spots a shadow where it shouldn’t be—something is hiding in a nook under a staircase!  When the figure emerges, the flickering light reveals a figure clad in red and black leather armor and a full mask and cowl resembling an insect.  It can only be one of the dread assassins of the Red Mantis league!  But instead of attacking with the group’s trademark sawtoothed sabre, the assassin throws a vial into the fireplace and it explodes!  The Reckoner is caught in the blast, and a second later the living room is on fire though the assassin seems completely unaffected.  But despite the organisation’s fearsome reputation, the assassin is no match for The Reckoner in one-to-one combat and quickly slumps to the floor with broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder.  Goldcape uses ice magic and The Reckoner beats at the flames, and together they succeed in putting out the fire before it can spread further.

Meanwhile, back at the abandoned house where the prisoners have been tied up, Yraelzin preaches the glories of Razmir to an unimpressed Katash.  Tired of waiting for the others to return, Katash ventures out into the streets towards the Emperor of Old Korvosa’s “palace”.  Picking his way through streets filled with refuse and rubble, the sylph hears someone shouting nearby and moves closer to discover a curious sight.  A man on a second-floor balcony, clad only in undergarments, is shouting and shaking his fist at the pre-dawn empty street below! Katash temporarily mollifies the man’s anger and learns his name is Olmere Bliersin, and he was a baker before the mobs ransacked his bakery.  Olmere complains about what the queen’s going to do about the Emperor’s mobs, when she’s going to repair the bridges, how long the quarantine will last, when the Arkonas will stop hiding in Fort Korvosa, and much more.  By carefully picking through the ranting, Katash learns that the self-proclaimed Emperor of Old Korvosa is actually a man named Pilts Swastel who once ran a notorious playhouse named Exemplary Execrables.  According to Olmere, Pilts is a cruel, bloody-minded, and insane despot who uses magic and fear to keep his toadies in line.

Back in Vencarlo’s house, Goldcape and Rocky carefully continue their investigation on the second floor.  Again, they’re ambushed by a Red Mantis assassin—this one cunningly concealed above a training room’s exposed ceiling rafters.  Again, the assassin starts by hurling alchemist’s fire, but this time the room’s walls, floor, and even furniture have already been smeared with the liquid, resulting in an instant inferno!  Goldcape saves the day by casting magic allowing both herself and The Reckoner to walk among the flames unharmed.  Both get wounded in the ensuring battle against the assassin, but they emerge victorious and even manage to stop the entire house from burning down.  Yet, frustratingly, a search of the rest of the second floor shows no clue to Vencarlo’s whereabouts. 

Over in the slums of Old Korvosa, Katash convinces Yraelzin to accompany him in gathering more information about the Emperor’s palace.  As they draw closer, even the moonlight reveals increasing signs of violence and degradation: vandalism, arson, brutalized bodies intentionally left on display, and more.  Seeing another group of the Emperor’s thugs lounging ahead of them, Katash gets Yraelzin to make a distraction to lure them into an ambush.  The resulting battle is a difficult one that leaves Yraelzin badly hurt.

A foray into the quarantined neighbourhood of Old Korvosa has resulted in violence and bloodshed, but still no clues as to Vencarlo Orisini’s whereabouts.  Perhaps, as a long night finally draws down towards dawn, answers will be found.  And as for Katash, who is this potential new ally, really—and are his goals the same as the Harrowed Heroes’?
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GM's Commentary

This session sees the introduction of a new PC, Katash, who would appear for the next few sessions.  Katash's player is the son of The Reckoner's player, and was a really fun addition to the game.  The main challenge the character had was that his primary goal (convert people to his cause) wasn't really supported by his mechanical skill-set (i.e., his Diplomacy skill wasn't high enough to achieve what he wanted).

The Red Mantis are a great part of Golarion and I was looking forward to using them, but here they just kinda flopped.  They're experts in stealth, assassination, and sneak attacking, but the encounters this AP features them in doesn't make great use of their abilities--they went down fast in combat, inflicting little damage.  I did have fun with the fire, swiping some rules for how it spread from a PFS scenario.  Surprisingly (considering how diligent they are about searching and The Reckoner's optimised Perception skill), the group didn't find Vencarlo's hidden stash of Blackjack gear!