Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 78 [RPG]

[Oathday, 6 Arodus 4708 A.R. continued]

 

There is no rest for the weary in Castle Scarwall—as soon as one wave of necromantic abominations are cut down, a second assaults the group’s campsite.  More skeletal monsters and rotting corpses are dispatched, but although Yraelzin calls out that the Castle has found them, the group decide to stay in the same place.  Before long, spectral apparitions glide through the walls and plunge icy hands into the Harrowed Heroes, sapping their lifeforce.  The battle is won, but Yraelzin looks like a parched old man when it’s over—and even worse, Anorak is missing!

 

[Fireday, 7 Arodus 4708 A.R. continued]

 

Somehow, after a long night of enduring Castle Scarwall’s vented fury at their trespass, three intruders live to see dawn.  Lorien expends several hundred gold pieces’ worth of diamond dust in a ritual to restore everyone’s drained life energies, while The Reckoner expends the last vestiges of magic in a healing wand to address their more obvious physical wounds.  Having prayed on the matter overnight, Lorien feels that if he can just glimpse the strange chained ghost again, he might be able to understand how to defeat it.  The trio hatch a plan involving giving a lit lantern to one of the walking dead they’ve managed to take magical control over, and having it advance toward the dais in the throne room to illuminate its bound resident for Lorien.  But although the plan starts well, Lorien’s inspiration deserts him at the crucial moment, and he remains unsure of what the spirit is or how to defeat it.

True illumination comes not from a lantern, but a much more bizarre source: the apparition from ancient Azlant that has repeatedly appeared to level its disapproving stare at Yraelzin!  Reluctantly translating from the Old Azlanti tongue, Yraelzin says his chastiser claims even a feebleminded street urchin would deduce that the ghost chained to the dais can only be permanently banished by first depriving it of its spiritual anchors—four creatures somewhere else in the castle that serve to bind the chained ghost to the Material Plane.  With a sigh, Yraelzin says the apparition claims he’s missed his destiny by abandoning a planned expedition to try to find the remnants of Azlant in the sea.

If the apparition that Yraelzin serves as interlocutor for is correct, there seems no alternative than to hunt down the chained spirit’s anchors one by one.  The trio of adventurers decide to explore one of the many chambers off the long, twisting corridor that runs through Castle Scarwall’s second floor.  The door opens to reveal a room with furnishings that leave no doubt as to its original purpose: racks, iron maidens, cages, and other implements of torture abound, all in fine working order.  A not-quite-human figure dressed in a long dark coat and tall hat exudes an almost palpable aura of horror as it looms over a table that contains an unconscious Anorak! “More toys!  How delightful!” chuckles the figure in a disturbing voice that sets everyone’s teeth on edge.  Controlling his fear, The Reckoner advances and quickly cuts down the monster before freeing Anorak.

Continued exploration on the second floor turns up a garderobe and a bedroom with rotted furniture.  Not long after extracting a keyring from under a decomposing writing desk, The Reckoner suddenly hears a now-familiar voice in his head: Bishop Keppira d’Bear, his connection with Cressida Kroft’s resistance band in Korvosa.  The message, constrained by the limitations of magic, is short:

 

“Good: Triffacia unmasked by Grau as efreeti working for Crimson Throne.  Bad: Dozens/hundreds of civilians dying spontaneously.  Dark blood magic.  Factions discussing Palace assault.”

 

As the Harrowed Heroes explore Castle Scarwall, the world outside isn’t standing still.  What will they find when they finally emerge?

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

GM Commentary

The idea that the spirit controlling Castle Scarwall had located the PCs and was targeting them wasn't exactly subtle, but the players were determined (or stubborn) to stand their ground and fight off the waves of attacks.  They all survived it, though it did drain a lot of healing and restorative resources.

The bit with Lorien and the lantern was because they wanted the PC to make a Knowledge (religion) check vs the chained spirit but (due to the the light levels in Scarwall) they needed him to get close enough to see it.  From the result, I'm guessing the player rolled a natural 1 or something similarly awful on the check.  Fortunately, Yraelzin's ancestral spirit was there (discussed in my previous commentary) because, mechanically, it allowed him some sort of free check or bonus on Knowledge attempts a limited number of times per day.

I'm guessing Anorak's player was either late or absent, thus the kidnapping by the monster (a boogeyman).

Having Grau defeat/unmask the "vigilante" Trifaccia (secretly an agent of Ileosa) was to further one of my guiding principles: don't make it seem like every NPC is helpless and the world just sits around waiting for the PCs to drive events forward.  Plus, I really wanted each of the three "rebel leaders" (Kroft, Grau, and Glorio Arkona) to have some successes and reasons for supporting them, so that the decision which to ultimately back would not be obvious.