Rise of the Runelords Recap # 32 [RPG]

[11 Neth 4707 continued]

Artemis reports in at the Arvensoar, an enormous tower that looms over Magnimar and serves as home both to the city’s military garrison and the City Watch.  Captain Gibble Fank, Artemis’ immediate superior, is surprised to see him, as he sent orders via courier to Sandpoint just yesterday to recall him!  Artemis reports his progress in investigating the murders in Sandpoint: how the immediate culprit (Aldern Foxglove) was killed while resisting arrest, and how clues point to the involvement of co-conspirators here in the city.  Fank shuts the door to his office and tells Artemis surprising news: murder victims marked with seven-pointed stars on their chests have also been discovered several times in recent months in Magnimar, but the authorities are keeping any connection to the murders from the public in order to prevent a panic!  Fank explains that there’s enormous pressure from “above” (the Council of Ushers, Lord-Mayor Grobaras Haldemeer, and the Justice Council) for the City Watch to put a stop to the murders.  To that end, he authorizes Artemis to retrieve the sealed crime scene files from the records room and to make use of his “irregulars” (allies from Sandpoint) in continuing the investigation.  But, when Artemis requests the files from a clerk in the record room, it turns out that the records are missing!

The Eyes of the Hawk is one of many magical monuments in Magnimar.

Meanwhile, Artemis’ “irregulars,” having just visited Founder’s Honor, are unsure what to do next or how to find him.  Bey suggests trusting in fate, picking a direction randomly, and seeing where they end up.  The others go along with her and eventually find themselves in Dockway District at the foot of a monument depicting twin wizards destroying monstrous spider-like aberrations.  Bey’s interest in all things Thassilonian allows her to explain that, almost a century ago, the pilings of the massive bridge known as the Irespan were quarried for stone—but doing so revealed ancient chambers inside the pilings, and from out of them hundreds and hundreds of creatures called Shriezyx poured forth and nearly overwhelmed the city until an adventuring party known as the Eyes of the Hawk stemmed the tide and saved the city!  Kang studies the intricate carvings on the monument for several minutes and realizes they provide clues on how to fight such creatures and their ilk.

The newcomers to Magnimar decide to ask a passer-by how to get to the City Watch’s headquarters, but Bey’s off-putting manner is taken the wrong way and the surly sailor tells a bald-faced lie: he sends them all the way to the summit of the massive cliffs looming over the city, into Alabaster District.  The scruffy-looking adventurers are clearly not welcome in Magnimar’s most exclusive and wealthy neighbourhood, and are turned away by private security guards who, when asked, point out the Arvensoar down below.  After another long walk, the weary adventurers are told by one of Artemis’ Watch friends where he lives.

For his part, Artemis checks in at Deadeye Lodge, the city’s temple to Erastil, and learns from Father Orgell Fendus that Artemis' wife (a priestess of Erastil) is at home, as she’s a little under the weather.  Artemis’ subsequent reunion with Miryana Lahs is a joyful one, especially since she wasn’t expecting him back so soon.  Artemis explains that he’s back in Magnimar investigating a series of murders that hold links to both the city and Sandpoint, and that he’s been accompanied by a handful of locals who have been assisting him.  Miryana says they’ll have to host “Artie’s” “friends” for dinner, and says that little of interest has happened since he’s been away, apart from news that Artemis’ cousin Fillias has gotten himself into legal trouble in Turtleback Ferry and will be serving a stint at a nearby fortress in lieu of a jail sentence.

When the others arrive at the Lahs home, they make quite an impression, but not necessarily a good one!  Kang simply strides in and makes himself at home, Bey talks incessantly about the apocalypse, and Arnald is silent as a stone as he clips his toenails at the dinner table!  Only Briza, despite her Shoanti background, seems able to observe the common courtesies.  Artemis is clearly embarrassed by his allies’ behaviour, but Miryana takes it all in stride and welcomes everyone in.  “Any friend of Artie is a friend of mine,” she says.  After dinner, the adventurers talk about the next steps in their investigation.  Artemis tells them about the files being missing, and Bey speculates that if a cult is behind the murders, they may have agents in the Watch.  Artemis says that he’ll see what he can dig up about Aldern Foxglove in the morning.  He directs the others to a nearby inn named The Green Lobster.  The common room smells as awful as the inn’s name would imply and the food is disgusting, but the prices are quite reasonable and the adventurers settle in for the night.

[12 Neth 4707]

A chilly morning greets the adventurers, and they make a special stop to buy warmer winter clothing before beginning the day’s tasks.  From the letter found in the caverns under Foxglove Manor, the adventurers know the rough location of Aldern Foxglove’s townhouse, and Artemis uses land records to narrow it down further.  When they arrive at the address in the “new money” Naos District, they notice that the windows and back door have been boarded over.  Although the place looks like it could be abandoned, a knock on the front door leads to a startling sight: Aldern Foxglove and his wife, Iesha, look to be alive and well!  The couple ask the adventurers to come in as Artemis explains that they’ve come to investigate some macabre happenings in Sandpoint.  Iesha prepares tea in the kitchen as Aldern leads the visitors to a dining room.  He disclaims having any knowledge of the unusual events the adventurers have encountered, but as the questioning persists, Iesha enters with a kettle of boiling water and suddenly hurls it right at Arnald!  Luckily, the sellsword manages to duck in time.  “Aldern” and “Iesha” suddenly transform into hairless, leathery bipeds with featureless, grotesque heads!  Artemis, having fought them before shortly after his arrival in Sandpoint, knows they’re so-called “faceless stalkers”.  One of the creatures lashes out and cuffs him in the head, but Briza adroitly leaps onto the table and cleaves the other with her greatsword.  Kang expertly shoots the other one with a crossbow bolt (drawing upon the insight he gained from his study of the Eyes of the Hawk) and Arnald easily finishes it off.  Although taken by surprise, the adventurers make short work of their attackers and are mostly unharmed.

Nualia returns!

The adventurers discuss what to do next and decide to search the rest of the rooms on the first floor, until they hear an angry shout from above: “My patience grows thin!  Face me if you dare!”  Briza challenges the speaker to come face them instead, and the adventurers take up battle positions as they hear footsteps charging down the stairs.  The figure comes around a corner, and Arnald recognizes the person responsible for killing Felix and Nedrin: the silver-haired devotee of Lamashtu named Nualia!  The mastermind behind the goblin attack on Sandpoint just months prior has grown even more demonic in appearance and growls a profane curse as she charges Briza—but this time, fate has decreed a far different outcome to the battle.  Nualia’s wild swing, which Briza ducks, knocks her off balance and she hits the ground hard!  Before she can get to her feet again, Briza, Arnald, and Bey launch their attacks simultaneously.  With Nualia’s death, the culprit behind the Swallowtail Festival raids is finally brought to justice.

The victorious combatants take the time to carefully search the remainder of the townhouse, and Kang’s careful attention to detail is rewarded when he notices a small keyhole on an upstairs fireplace mantle.  Artemis manages to pick the lock, and a secret panel slides open to reveal a safe.  Inside are hundreds of platinum pieces, but perhaps more valuable are two documents.  The first is a ledger, the close inspection of which reveals several suspicious payments over the past months labelled as “Iesha’s Trip to Absalom,” each indicating that Aldern was paying someone or something named “B-7” over 200 gold pieces a week, with payment delivered every Oathday at midnight to a place called The Seven’s Sawmill.  The second document is the deed to Foxglove Manor, written in 4624 A.R., intriguingly indicating that Vorel Foxglove financed construction of the mansion with loans from the “Brothers of the Seven” on the condition that the building and its grounds would transfer to the Brothers of the Seven after a period of 100 years.

Discussion turns to whether the authorities should be notified about what just happened and the discovery of the documents.  Bey asks if Artemis could delay informing his superiors since the Brothers of the Seven could have influence with them; she cites the missing crime scene records as evidence that the City Watch may not be secure.  Artemis says he’ll discuss the matter with someone he knows he can trust, his immediate superior, and give a recommendation that the results of the investigation to this point be a closely held secret.  Unfortunately, when Artemis later raises the suggestion with Captain Fank (while the latter is on an inspection in the Lowcleft District) Fank says it’s too risky: if either he or Artemis are suspected of some sort of cover-up, it could mean their jobs, if not worse.  He says he has no choice but to pass the results up the chain of command.

Deed to Foxglove Manor

After some early stumbles, the adventurers are making steady progress in their investigation into Aldern Foxglove and his connection with a mysterious organization in Magnimar.  But are they moving fast enough to stop more killings?  And what if Bey’s fears that the City Watch has been compromised proves true?

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Director's Commentary

In a world without cell phones, it's a bad idea for a group of adventurers to split up in the city without making plans for where and when they'll meet up again!  Fortunately, after some juggling, it all worked out okay in the end.

The reference to Artemis' cousin, Fillias, having been sent to Turtleback Ferry killed two birds with one stone: Fillias was Artemis' Contact (we used the Contact rules from Ultimate Campaign) and planted a seed for a storyline that would develop in Chapter Three of the AP.  Speaking of Artemis, I was really happy with how the role-playing for his wife, Miryana, went; it's stressful to run an NPC that is so integral to a character's background but the RP rapport seemed immediately natural.

We all had great fun with the disgusting, spoiled seafood restaurant/inn called the Green Lobster.  I was proud of myself for making the concept up on the spot after using the Gamemastery Guide's random tavern name generator.

After Nualia's victory at the end of Chapter One of the AP, I thought her reappearance at the Foxglove Townhouse would be an exciting surprise.  But even though I bumped her levels, she went down like a chump and it was almost humorously anticlimactic.  The best laid plans of GMs . . .