Rise of the Runelords Recap # 82 [RPG]

[10 Calistril 4708 continued]

In Sandpoint, a trio of heroes reach the Cathedral and see Father Zanthus consoling the son of Bosk Hartigan, the guardsman who is presumed deceased.  The boy takes his grief out on the adventurers, blaming them for not rescuing his father.  Jinkatsyu stills the tirade when he mentions that they’ve lost one of their own—the fire mage Salma.

After speaking with Father Zantus about the makeshift shrine to Sinashakti (being erected in a spare room), Ava begins hours of prayer to try to restore her damaged connection with her god.  She eventually realizes that she’s been blaming herself so much for what’s gone wrong that it’s as if she believed she had control over everything—and thus were presuming too much power and responsibility over the fates of the mortals in her care.  The revelation leads her into a deeper connection with Sinashakti, and she emerges, hours later, stronger for the crisis.

Erik, a devotee of Milani, was lucky enough to 

stumble upon a pistol one day while adventuring!

Meanwhile, Jinkatsyu and Kang walk to Cracktooth’s Tavern, where Yuzo is still telling stories—including one about wrestling a crocodile that has everyone rapt!  The three talk about what to do, with Yuzo bemoaning the fact that he left his collapsible bathtub in Jorgenfist and may have to sleep in the river.  Around dinner time, Brodert Quink comes into the tavern, having searched everywhere for the adventurers; his bag is packed, and he’s ready to go on the grand adventure to explore Thassilonian ruins that (to his mind) Kang promised him!  Brodert introduces his grand-nephew (his sister’s grandson from Magnimar), whom he says is quite a worldly fellow with a fondness for a peculiar contraption invented in faraway Alkenstar.  The young man, whose name is Erik Armos, is one of the rare heaven-blooded mortals known as aasimar.  Kang recognizes the “peculiar contraption” as a firearm, and says he once knew a goblin who carried one twice as large!  Erik talks with the others, and they agree his skills could be useful; but Brodert’s presence remains a concern and leads to much debate.  Eventually, Brodert negotiates a deal: if they take him to the ancient library of the Therassic Monastery, he’ll “lend” the adventurers Erik’s aid in securing the tunnels below Sandpoint.

Salma shared little of her past with her allies.

Later that evening, the adventurers return to the Cathedral to find Ava praying over Salma’s body.  They fill her in on the plan, and she agrees.  While there, Kang and Jinkatsyu notice a startling fact: Salma’s body is smouldering despite no source of accelerant or flame in the room!  When the body suddenly bursts into flames, Ava uses her magick to suppress the effect.  Elsewhere, far beyond the ken of mortals, Salma’s spirit refuses a surprising offer.

[11 Calistril 4708]

In the early hours of morning, while most of Sandpoint slumbers, Erik stays awake, crouching on the roof of the Cathedral like an angelic gargoyle.  He notices a lanky Varisian male carrying a small, clinking bag headed toward the north part of town.  Erik is suspicious, but the figure realizes he’s being watched and disappears into the shadows.

Dawn breaks.  Jinkatsyu, who had slept on a hard stone pew in the Cathedral, is awakened by Sister Giulia, who enlists his help in making a breakfast far larger than the two of them could possibly eat.  At the Rusty Dragon, Kang tries to help Yuzo, who has become sickened after spending the night out of water, something inimical to his gillman ancestry.  Erik, from his vantage point on the roof, sees a contingent of grippli approach from the north, singing a mournful song and carrying a bundle wrapped in a sheet; when asked, they say a great sadness has come upon them and they need to see the Light of Sinaskahti.  In the shrine, Ava finds them unwrapping the body of Elder Chief Cragpawmpum.  The grippli explain to her that he died in his sleep overnight—not a surprise given his advanced age, but still a sadness for the tribe.  Sister Giulia arrives with words of comfort and the food that somehow she knew to prepare in advance.

Knowing that the grippli will spend a full day and night taking turns to be in the presence of the elder’s body, Ava tells the others that she knows she can’t be distracted from the adventurers’ quest to discover what evil lurks in the tunnels below.  Following through on the plan agreed to the previous night, Kang is left behind as she teleports the others (including Brodert Quink) to Jorgenfist.  The staging ground for Mokmurian’s planned invasion of Varisia is now silent as a tomb, as the stone giants have withdrawn completely.  The journey to the subterranean ancient library is uneventful, save for Brodert recognizing the massive cauldron in a chamber near it as a legendary “Runeslave Cauldron” used to turn the corpses of giants into the thralls of the masters of ancient Thassilon.  When asked about the magic of the empire, Brodert explains that each of the seven schools of magic it recognized (divination was deemed unworthy) was understood not through the type of magical energy it manifested as but, instead, in the context of the sin that often drove it.  Eventually, each of the seven Runelords identified personally with one aspect of so-called “sin magic” and ruled one part of the empire that often warred with the others.  Thus, Sandpoint stood on the border between the domain of the Runelord of Wrath (exemplified by evocation magic) and the domain of the Runelord of Greed (exemplified by transmutation).

Once inside the library, Brodert is boggled by the site of so many thousands of tomes and scrolls untouched by human eyes in millennia.  The others provide him with food for six days and ask him to start by looking for information about the tunnels underneath Sandpoint, anything about this “Runeforge” that was written on the walls therein, and, finally, about Karzoug, who apparently spoke to the adventurers after Mokmurian’s defeat.  Erik says goodbye to his great-uncle, promising to return before long, and then accompanies the others back to the old hide-out in the “deathweb cave.”  After a brief magical conversation with Kang confirms that all is well, the adventurers prepare to teleport to Magnimar to sell their accumulated spoils of war.

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Director's Commentary

This session is most notable for the introduction of Erik, the new character for Salma's player.  Erik would stick around until the very end.  Having the character as Brodert Quink's grand-nephew worked well.  I never got a firm handle of Erik's personality apart from a fondness for jokes.  His gunslinger's ability to hit Touch AC (like Kang) proved very useful in taking down some of the bigger targets in the campaign.

This was mostly a sort of "in-between" session to set up the next big part of the campaign (Runeforge).  I started one of the last subplots of the game here, with the sudden and surprising death of the senior Grippli in Sandpoint.  Was it really natural causes or perhaps . . . murder!?

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