Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 60 [RPG]

 [Fireday, 24 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

It’s a hot summer’s day in Korvosa when the Harrowed Heroes, having spent several days apart to tend to their own affairs, reunite to continue planning their voyage to Castle Scarwall.  The meeting takes place at an abandoned building in Old Korvosa repurposed by Goldcape to house her own resistance cell.  After some confusion and banter over code words and security, the three get down to business.  Goldcape shares some information about The Harrower’s final words and that Yraelzin is leaving the Cinderlands after helping to repulse the giant army.  The Reckoner shares his discovery that Marcus Endrin is still alive and kept in a secret cell in Deathhead Vault, and adds his suspicions that the new “hero” Trifaccia is really an agent of the Queen.  He also informs them that Kroft and her band of rebels are safe and are awaiting reassurances before revealing the location of their new headquarters.  Anorak says he hasn’t learned much, as he’s been busy upgrading Plate to make The Reckoner more mobile on the battlefield; the only side-effect of the process is that the intelligent suit of armor seems to be growing confident and outspoken.  Although Plate is ready, Anorak says he wants to spend at least four more days in Korvosa to prepare himself for the journey, and the others agree.  The three agree on a signal for future meetings, with Anorak to hang an old towel outside his workshop and Goldcape to put an old mattress against the wall outside if either wish to talk.

As The Reckoner and Anorak are leaving Goldcape’s new quarters, the two discuss how Glorio let slip that a spy was watching the dwarf’s workshop.  The Reckoner explains it’s probably one of the strange gnomelike creatures that he and Goldcape once scuffled with, as they seem to lurk all over as hidden agents for House Arkona.  Talk slides into how such a spy could be detected or captured, and suddenly a plan is hatched.  Deciding there’s no time like the present, the two make their way to Anorak’s workshop.  The dwarf returns to work normally, while The Reckoner (invisible) hides in an alleyway watching.  Soon, he spots the spy crouching on the workshop’s roof, barely visible in the shadows of the chimney—the creature must be watching Anorak through a chink in the roof tiles!  Anorak later leaves and finds The Reckoner in the alleyway.  With the help of a memory-enhancing spell, he recognises the “gnome” as a type of rakshasa called a dandasuka.  The spell alerts the dandasuka to the presence of hidden watchers, but before it can flee, Anorak uses a short-range teleportation spell to take him and The Reckoner to the roof.  There, with one mighty swipe of his hammer, The Reckoner knocks the creature unconscious.  Fortunately, the fight was so fast that no one appeared to notice, even in broad daylight.

After the pair haul the unconscious dandasuka into the workshop and bind him securely, The Reckoner uses a wand to heal it back to consciousness.  The creature seems surprisingly unconcerned by its dire predicament—perhaps even happy to have some excitement, and readily admits it was spying on Anorak and reports to Glorio Arkona’s majordomo every morning.  It gleefully insults its captors for what it sees as a ham-fisted attempt at interrogation, and cheerfully volunteers to become a double agent for them, while noting that it could just as easily become a triple agent.  Perhaps flummoxed by the creature’s attitude, The Reckoner and Anorak decide to gag it and lock it in a chest until they can decide what to do with it.

Since he’s already in the workshop, The Reckoner decides to put on Plate.  The sapient armor is so enthused about his new abilities he shows off by lifting his wearer into the air without being asked—much to the vigilante’s consternation.  The Reckoner and Anorak discuss what to do with their captive, and eventually hit upon the idea of ensuring its loyalty through a contract—but no ordinary contract, a magical contract that coerces signatories to observe its terms!  Disguising himself as an ordinary day labourer, Ralph Blackfeather leaves the workshop with a plan to buy the contract at Hedge Wizardry, but then remembers there’s only one land crossing left between Old Korvosa and the rest of the city—and it’s guarded by the Gray Maidens!  Fortunately, Anorak is able to teleport him just across the river so he can make the rest of the journey on foot.

At Hedge Wizardry, Phaeton is dismayed when Ralph discloses who he really is underneath the disguise—which means the storekeeper will have to list him as the purchaser for anything he buys.  Ralph decides to go ahead, and scrapes together almost seven thousand gold pieces—nearly the last of his funds—to buy the magical contract.  A tip from Phaeton directs Ralph to a bookstore in Midland where the proprietor, Costa Serimus, has the legal skills to write out the terms that Ralph wants it to say.  It’s going to be quite an elaborate document, as Ralph and Anorak spent a long time thinking of loopholes the dandasuka might try to exploit.  One issues that Costa points out is that the contract will only be binding if entered into voluntarily (not through force or duress), and so Ralph should think of what he will offer in the way of consideration (value).  The nominal sum of 1 gold piece per month is decided, and Costa says he’ll have it ready the next day.  As Ralph is leaving, he notices a handbill posted by Costa offering a reward to anyone who can cleanse his store of a ghostly presence.  When asked, Costa explains that whenever he’s alone in the building, spooky things start to happen—he hears noises, feels chills, and find things have moved from where he left them.  Ralph says he might look into it.

His journey back to Old Korvosa is initially stymied by the Gray Maiden’s barricade of the bridge.  His first plan to rely on Plate’s ability to fly fails (after its resounding battle cry of “For the good of Korvosa!”) because the armor has already exhausted its magic for the day.  Fortunately, the resourceful vigilante combines invisibility and amazing physical prowess to scale the barricade without being noticed by the guards.  After a brief stop at Anorak’s workshop to share the news about the contract being drafted, The Reckoner goes to inform Goldcape of what they’ve been doing.  Once there, the two hear from Clenkins that House Arkona guards arrested several people nearby just minutes ago.  Goldcape and The Reckoner are alarmed to hear the news (fearing Glorio may be emulating Ileosa’s authoritarianism) and decide to investigate under the cover of invisibility.  But a pleasant surprise is awaiting them: the guards have only arrested a band of street robbers unlicensed by the Cerulean Society.  And more to the point, the criminals were bound and waiting for the guards after Blackjack foiled their brazen daylight attack on residents of Old Korvosa!  The return of Korvosa’s foremost hero is sure to improve morale in the neighbourhood.

After easily foiling an attempted theft by a strange spider-like humanoid creature called an ettercap, the Harrowed Heroes teleport across the river to investigate whether the city’s largest bookstore is haunted.  They perform a careful search using means mundane and magical, but fail to turn up signs of any spectral infestation.  Remembering that Costa said the haunting only occurs when he’s alone in the building, Ralph offers to spend the night alone in the bookstore, but Costa reluctantly declines—there are just too many valuable tomes in the store, and he just met Ralph hours ago.  Ralph is understanding and returns to his safehouse in Northpoint, while Anorak teleports Goldcape home and then returns to his workshop.

[Starday, 25 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

It’s just one bell past midnight when Anorak wakes from a sound sleep with tremendous pain—something is trying to tear out his throat!  As his life flashes before his eyes, a sudden burst of strength allows him to push the attacker away.  But the situation somehow becomes even worse, as the dwarf realizes there’s not just one attacker, but three, and they’re not remotely human!  Flame-red mixtures of insect and reptiles, the attackers have four arms and mandibles dripping with what must surely be poison.  As Anorak throws off the bedclothes, turns himself invisible with a mystic intonation and scrambles to his feet, one of the intruders breaks open the chest where the dandasuka is held, but snaps it shut and kicks it away.  The sound of breaking furniture in an adjacent room reveals another has found what it has been seeking: the box left by Mortimont!  Despite being invisible, the dwarf’s attacker has a rough idea of where his prey must be and continues clawing and biting.  Nearly succumbing from his wounds, Anorak makes the desperate decision to grab the box, throw open the door, and race out into the night towards the one source of aid nearby—Goldcape’s resistance cell.  As he runs—not knowing whether the creatures are following—he feels a peculiar sense of ownership over the box and the knowledge that it would let him open it . . .

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GM Commentary

This was the first session of Chapter Five, and some of the players used their 3d6 days of Downtime to gather some very handy bits of information that they shared to each other in the first scene.  During Downtime, I guarantee to players that there will be no combat interruptions and all ticking clocks in the background will be paused, but I also tell them if they want to continue Downtime activities after the 3d6 days is up, everything is fair game.  Anorak's player wanted to keep crafting, but it's hard to craft when xill are after the box you were supposed to ditch!

The idea of capturing one of Glorio's spies and turning him into a double-agent took me completely by surprise but became a pretty important subplot!  The Reckoner invested not only a substantial amount of money in that contract, but a lot of time trying to avoid any legalistic loopholes.  I tried to make the effort worthwhile in terms of the information received.  I had to improv the dandasuka's personality on the spot and came up with this crazy/creepy/enthusiastic vibe that really hit a chord with the players; he was voted the best NPC in the game when the campaign finished!

The stuff about the bookstore being haunted was my attempt to implement a reference from the Guide to Korvosa, but it didn't really pan out well.  I didn't have anything prepped.  Sometimes improv goes great, and sometimes it falls flat!