Rise of the Runelords Recap # 80 [RPG]

[9 Calistril 4708 continued]

Toff Ornelos has served in his post for almost 30 years

 and is among the most skilled arcanists in Varisia.

Having accepted an offer to take part in the Acadamae’s Breaching Festival, the adventurers find themselves teleported directly to the headmaster’s office!  Behind a large oaken desk is a wizened figure in robes whom the courier introduces as Toff Orenlos.  Upon seeing Jinkatsyu, however, Toff rises to his feet angrily and stomps over, literally tearing the mask from the swashbuckler’s face!  Toff berates Salma for letting her “servant parade around in a mockery sure to draw the attention of the real Red Mantis!”  Jinkatsyu stuffs the mask in his backpack, and Toff is mollified.  He returns to his desk, opens a drawer to retrieve one of several wands, and uses it to remove the memory of the incident from the courier, lest word spread and earn the ire of the notorious group of assassins.  

Toff then launches into a recitation of the history, purpose, and rules of the Breaching Festival.  He explains that it started back in 4551 as a means to test the defences in the Acadamae’s Hall of Wards, that it’s only ever been won once (and on a technicality), that the challenge requires contestants to enter one door of the Hall of Wards and exit through another door on the opposite side, and that the first person to do so will win over 15,000 platinum pieces.  Toff explains that Salma has been invited because diviners within the Acadamae identified her as one of Varisia’s most promising young wizards, and that her feats in slaying a red dragon in Sandpoint, devastating the ogres of Hook Mountain, and defeating the stone giant enchanter Mokmurian “in a wizard’s duel” has drawn attention far and wide.  The other adventurers are bemused to find themselves constantly referred to as Salma’s “bodyguards”, “servants”, or “entourage.”  At the end of his impromptu speech, Toff summons another of his assistants (a lanky recent graduate named Jandar Lilswin) to serve as their guide, reminding them that since the invitation has been accepted, they cannot leave the grounds of the Acadamae until after the Breaching Festival (which will start promptly one hour after dawn tomorrow morning).

Retrievers are extradimensional constructs often 

bound in service to powerful wizards or demons.

As Jandar leads the adventurers through the hallways of the administration building, he explains that a handful of other contestants have already arrived and are waiting in the guest dormitories.  But before the adventurers can exit the building, they hear a scream and a sudden thunderous crash coming from a classroom on the first floor.  Rushing to the scene, they see a student lying on the ground, dying from severe burns, while a demonic spider the size of a bull elephant rears up on its back four legs, its eyes shimmering with magical energy!  Jinkatsyu charges into battle with his rapier and stabs it multiple times.  It tries to bite and claw him in return, but he nimbly parries the blows.  But when energy courses out of its eyes in a random direction, it’s Salma who stands in harm’s way!  The fire mage doesn’t have time to dive for cover and is struck by the beam and instantly turned to stone!  Yuzo gives a battlecry and kills the strange beast (which Kang later identifies as a Retriever) with her falchion.  Ava rushes in and manages to save the burned student’s life and even bring her back to consciousness, only to be snidely rebuked for interfering.  Soon, Toff Ornelos arrives to investigate and quickly discerns the truth: the student, planning to participate in the Breaching Festival, had stolen a scroll far beyond her ken to summon demonic assistance.  Toff banishes the student to the kitchens, promising she’ll spend years labouring there to repay the damage she’s caused.  When the adventurers threaten legal action against the Acadamae if he won’t de-petrify Salma, he reluctantly agrees to see what he can do in the morning.

After much conversation about what to do with Salma in the meantime, the adventurers finally decide to just hoist her up and carry her to the dorms.  Jandar, who had been trembling in fear during the Retriever attack, quickly takes them across the campus and towards the dormitory.  On the way, the foursome talk about the contest.  Ava notes the rude selfishness of everyone they’ve met at the Acadamae, and speculates that maybe no one wins the Breaching Festival because a mad wizard murders them when they enter!  Kang speculates that maybe the headmaster is in on it, while Jinkatsyu raises that possibility it could be Karzoug himself!

Knur spent years working in Riddleport's gas works

 before moving to Korvosa

 and working as muscle for various street gangs.

When the group reach the dormitories, Jandar introduces them to the other contestants and then takes his leave.  A burly, confident dwarf named Knur tries to intimidate the group with a crushing handshake, while a nervous, rodent-faced halfling named Fatmire seems to be having second thoughts about the whole thing.  A scarred and bruised Varisian woman named Illia candidly admits she’s this year’s representative of the Cerulean Society (Korvosa’s thieves’ guild!), while an Ulfen wizard named Maganrad proclaims he is certain to win because he’s a student teacher at the Acadamae and has been studying the Breaching Festival for years.

After meeting the competition, the adventurers step outside to continue their discussion about how to win the contest.  Kang says that if the only way the Breaching Festival has ever been won is on a technicality, they should try to think of another technicality—he proposes a complicated plan involving entering and exiting the front door and then racing around the side of the building to enter and exit the back door, thus satisfying the condition of entering one door and exiting another! Yuzo, however, is reluctant, saying that plan would do terrible things to Salma’s reputation when the most prestigious wizards in Varisia will be watching.  Ava, however, backs Kang, saying they can’t gamble away their lives on a contest when Sandpoint needs them.  Jinkatsyu remains more optimistic that they could win the contest fairly, especially if they let the other contestants go in first to clear the way.  With no clear resolution to the debate, the adventurers return to the dormitory and rest for the night.

[10 Calistril 4708]

The adventurers and their fellow contestants are awakened at dawn by the tolling of bells.  A quick glimpse outside shows that, already, streams of people are pouring through the gates of the walled campus in order to get the best spots to watch the festival.  An irritated Toff Orenlos suddenly teleports into the room, casts a spell to return Salma to flesh, and then teleports away.  Seconds later, Jandar arrives with a set of disclaimers that the contestants need to sign.  But to the surprise of all, Salma tells them not to bother.  She explains that she doesn’t have the spells prepared that she needs for the Breaching Festival, and she doesn’t have time to prepare them before it starts.  Some conversation follows, but Salma remains insistent that it’s too dangerous.  So, with no further ado, the adventurers teleport to Sandpoint and leave the Acadamae behind.

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Director's Commentary

Most of this session went as I had planned, except for the big surprise at the ending.  There really was over 125,000 gp as a reward for a couple of sessions' adventure if the PCs succeeded in the module.  This was the second time in my gaming experience I had a hook to the module rejected, but I finally managed to run it a couple of months later for some of the players' back-up PCs--none of whom actually made an appearance in the main campaign.