Rise of the Runelords Recap # 33 [RPG]

[12 Neth 4707 continued]

Artemis returns to the others and reports the gist of his conversation with Captain Fank.  The adventurers decide to continue their investigation into the mysterious “Brothers of the Seven” by staking out a lumber mill owned by the organization on Kyver’s Islet.  The island, at the mouth of the Yondakabari River connected to the rest of the city by bridges, contains several lumber mills, and the Seven’s Sawmill outwardly appears to be no different than the others.  After a couple of hours in the cold pretending to fish, the adventurers decide to forge a message purportedly from Aldern Foxglove asking for the normal Oathday drop-off of funds to be moved up to tomorrow at midnight.  As they warm up in a tavern in Keystone District called the Burnt Nightcap, Kang does his best on the forgery and the group has a messenger boy deliver it to the mill.

In the early evening, the adventurers are just finishing a meal at the tavern when a pair of City Watch constables arrive and summon Staff Sergeant Lahs and his “irregulars” to meet with Captain Fank in Beacon’s Point.  When the adventurers’ arrive, they see that Fank and several members of the Watch have taken up positions near sewer grates in what is perhaps the city’s poorest neighbourhood, Rag’s End.  Fank tells Artemis he’s received orders stating that the persons responsible for the “Star Murders” are holing up in the sewers and that Artemis and his irregulars are specifically instructed to apprehend them.  Fank acknowledges it’s an unusual situation and that he has no independent way to verify the lead, but that “orders are orders.”  After Kang tries and fails to extract some payment from Fank, the adventurers follow through with the request.

Shriezyx, monsterous aberrations created as weapons in ancient Thassilon.

The pitch black sewer tunnels are lit by Arnald’s and Briza’s everburning torches, and the Shoanti warrior takes point as the adventurers trudge through tunnels slippery with muck.  After some minutes of walking punctuated only by the occasional splashes of rats, a junction can be seen up ahead.  Briza stops suddenly, having almost walked right into a thick, glistening spiral of webbing stretched across the corridor.  The decision is made to burn the webbing, and instants later, strange shrieking and scuttling sounds can be heard nearby.  Arnald pulls Briza back and raises his greataxe high as a quartet of oversized spiders with beady eyes and maws dripping green venom appear!  “Shriezyx!” shouts Kang, remembering his visit to the Eyes of the Hawk monument the previous day.  In the fighting and confusion, Bey finds herself at the front of the formation and draws upon her visions of the apocalypse to burst into flames!  The creatures are shaken but overcome their fears to wrap her up in envenomed webbing.  Arnald starts to put into effect a plan involving soaking his zebra-skin rug with wine, but before he can implement it Kang hurls a bomb that devastates the creatures and Artemis finishes the job with his arrows.  Bey, having been poisoned and suffering from a head wound in the battle, manages to recover thanks to her divinely-inspired magicks.

The adventurers discuss whether to proceed further, as the presence of Shriezyx combined with the strange way the mission has fallen into their hands leads them speculate they could be on a wild goose chase or even walking into a trap.  Kang offers to scout ahead after he quaffs an alchemical extract to turn invisible.  After some twists and turns, he hears splashing and sees a woman in a black bodysuit running down a tunnel.  She climbs a ladder and tries to lift off the grate cover, but is startled by a member of the City Watch maintaining the promised cordon of the area.  She jumps back down and runs away, disappearing into the darkness.  Kang returns to the others, and the adventurers decide the sighting is worth investigating.  As they pass by otherwise unremarkable tunnels, Bey suddenly stops and points to one side—she’s noticed that part of the fungus-covered wall is actually a fabric flap!  The adventurers are quick to investigate and find a large chamber cut out of the bedrock.  Inside are what appear to be two members of the City Watch sifting through a pile of garbage “looking for leads,” but the canny adventurers don’t fall for the trick for a single instant: they know they’re dealing with faceless stalkers!  Instead of being caught off-guard, the adventurers strike first, with Kang’s powerful explosives disintegrating the aberrations.

Thinking the combat over, the adventurers begin exploring for clues or treasure, little realizing that the stalkers’ leader was lurking, invisibly, the whole time!  She suddenly appears, extending her arms almost 15 feet to touch Kang with a spell that turns him from a genius to someone of but average intelligence.  “I’ve been expecting you!” the creature shouts.  Briza draws her greatsword and charges, but the sorcerer lashes out another limb and trips her!  Fortunately, even an explosives expert of average intelligence is still a formidable foe, and once again Kang’s bombs finish the fight.  The unconscious stalker is slain by Artemis.  A search of the caverns reveals thousands of gold pieces’ worth of stolen goods, which everyone except Kang votes to turn over to the authorities.  After leaving the sewers and reporting to Fank that it was a false lead, Artemis returns home for the night and the others get rooms at the Burnt Nightcap.

[13 Neth 4707]

In the morning, Bey closely questions the messenger boy about the previous night’s task, and he reports having dropped off the message successfully with laborers at the Seven’s Sawmill.  When the adventurers reunite after breakfast, Briza asks about hiring back-up for the planned midnight raid, but Arnald scoffs at the notion that they might need help.  The adventurers decide to set about on various errands in the morning with the intention to reunite at Artemis’ house at midday.

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

Director's Commentary (Jan. 14, 2018)

The PCs are entering the last third of Chapter Two in this session, but there was still time for a little twist.  To further represent the fact that Justice Ironbriar was in a position of authority and knew the Skinsaw Cult was being hunted by the adventurers, I had him arrange an ambush in the sewers under Magnimar.  The sewer trap comes from the "Ugothol Ambush" encounter in Volume 3 of the Pathfinder comic hardcover, while the shriezyx and the mysterious woman (a gang member or assassin, if I recall) were both random encounters.  The battles against the ugothols weren't much of a challenge against the canny PCs, as this was a period in the campaign when they were taking on all comers and winning handily.  Still, I liked how naturally it integrated in, story-wise speaking.  Next session, cultists galore!