Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 55 [RPG]

 [Toilday, 14 Erastus 4708 A.R. continued]

Deciding that breaking into Hedge Wizardry is a bad idea, The Reckoner instead changes into his alter ego as Ralph Blackfeather.  He heads west, across the mostly deserted streets of the city, towards a white marble building on a hill: the city’s Temple of Sarenrae.  He’s about to duck out of an alley and head for it when an instinct keeps him in hiding—something small and invisible is flying around the temple!  Realising that the government may have set an imp spy to watch who goes in and out of one of the few buildings not under its control, Ralph waits for the imp to fly to the far side of the building and then dashes in.  There, he sees that the recent crackdowns and Gray Maiden-led arsons have led to many casualties, as the temple’s wards and corridors are filled with victims.  When Ralph tracks down the fast-talking ratfolk priestess Wiquita, one glance tells her he’s been the victim of a poisoning.  Although the temple has exhausted its supply of lesser restoratives, she’s able to sell him some more powerful magical scrolls that will have an instantaneous effect.

Another well-timed sprint sees Ralph make it safely out of the temple and back into the sewers to once again don the guise of The Reckoner.  Still, almost two hours have passed by the time he finds his way back to where he left Anorak and Goldcape.  He finds Goldcape unconscious from the strange monster’s poisonous gas, with Rocky looming protectively over her.  A scroll from the Temple of Sarenrae draws the poison out of her body.  Anorak says he’s come up with a plan: he wants to use some minor illusion magic to lure the monster closer to the steel grate and then attack from a distance.  At first, the plan works—conjured lights and sounds draw out the beast, allowing the dwarf to launch a powerful fireball—but the explosion washes over the creature with no effect!  The creature retreats back into the darkness.

The Reckoner lures it out again by throwing his voice like a master ventriloquist, something that has the side effect of waking Goldcape up.  The vanara conjures magical hailstones that pummel the monster, but Anorak makes the mistake of getting too close to the bars and takes a hoof to the face!  The Reckoner closes in a bid to finish it off, but it exhales another cloud of noxious gas that weakens him.  Still, with an incredibly powerful swing of his battle-maul, The Reckoner smashes down the bars and crushes the beast’s skull!  He uses the last scroll purchased from the temple to neutralise the poison coursing through his veins.

Further down the tunnel, they find the secret door exactly where Boule said it would be.  But what they find on the far side is certainly a surprise: a makeshift tavern, complete with a wooden bar, rickety chairs, and dusty tankards.  Sitting on the bar with its little bandy legs hanging over the edge, a goblin smiles and welcomes everyone to “The Sewer Brewer!” and offers them drinks on the house.  But Goldcape’s nature magic reveals that they’re poisoned, and they rush the goblin.  Before they can reach it, it steps into a magically-conjured doorway and disappears!

A door behind the bar leads to a winding tunnel that terminates at a thick cloud of yellowish mist.  Anorak recognises it as a type of magical dispelling field, and manages to dampen its effect for a few seconds so everyone can dash through safely.  Past the mist, the tunnel opens up into a wide cavern with high ledges looking down on a rocky floor covered with softly glowing blue fungus.  On the ledges are a pair of women that Goldcape recognises as members of the now-disbanded Sable Company, and they call out for rescue, saying they’ve just escaped from the derro.  But The Reckoner spots a Red Mantis hiding on the far side of a pit at the southern end of the cavern.  Working together quickly, Goldcape sends Rocky to carry The Reckoner toward the assassin, and the foe is easily dispatched.  But when Goldcape and Anorak go to help the stranded women climb down from the ledges, a trap is sprung!  In life they may have been Sable Company Marines, but now the two are foul undead creatures!  One leaps down to claw the would-be rescuers, while the other emits a supernaturally terrifying screech that sends Goldcape running for her life.  Fortunately, once Rocky and The Reckoner fly back into the fray, the two monsters are destroyed, and the effect on Goldcape wears off.

The Harrowed Heroes have managed to overcome some early obstacles and push forward, but has the passage of time—and the escape of a potential sentry—given their foes time to rally?
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GM Commentary

The Reckoner always kept his Perception score maxed out, which sometimes allowed him to even notice invisible creatures like the imp!  From a game perspective, the downside is that maxing out that one skill means you never have to worry about ambushes, disguises, someone sneaking up, etc., which can make the game less exciting.  That's the trade-off that I can never seem to get players to understand: the better your characters get at something, the less excitement the game has to offer in that area.
One thing the AP doesn't cover is the role of the Church of Sarenrae after the Queen's rise to power.  We're told that the Churches of Asmodeus and Abadar quickly throw her their support (as she is, ostensibly, the lawful ruler of the city) and we know that the leader of the Church of Pharasma supports the rebels.  Sarenrae is a goddess with multiple dimensions (healing, redemption, destroying undead, etc.), and I could easily imagine a more active role for the Church in the story.  But I went with them serving primarily as a hospital for all those sick from Blood Veil, injured in the rioting, beat up by the Gray Maidens, etc.

The weird creature behind the gate was a catoblepas.  I had never used one before, but it ended up being very dangerous for the party with its poison gas breath! It's funny how much something like a metal grate can increase the threat of a creature if it means the PCs can't get it to as easily.

The plan was for the underground entry to be a surprise attack timed exactly with a main attack on the surface to draw away defenders.  As the last line of the recap foreshadows, because the PCs had to retreat and come back, that timing is off and they'll face a much harder time of it.