Rise of the Runelords Recap # 99 [RPG]

[7 Pharast 4708]

The adventurers wake to a clear, cold day in Magnimar and plan another round of shopping and errands: Erik manufactures dozens of bullets for his firearm, Kang purchases a shirt made from finely-woven mithral links, and Jinkatsyu buys a magical pink blouse and a “lucky horseshoe.”  But it’s Ava who makes the most interesting discovery.  She passes an alleyway and sees several members of the Bloody Knuckles gang lying on the ground, battered into unconsciousness.  In their midst is the prone form of a young girl slowly stirring, her fists covered in blood.  Ava rushes to the girl and casts a healing spell before helping the stranger to her feet.  The girl has a strange demeanour and talks little, but says her name is Morgiana and explains she’s been in Magnimar by herself ever since leaving her family’s farm near Sandpoint.  Ava decides the girl needs protection, and escorts her back to the Blasted Ferret inn.

Morgiana is clearly 

more than she appears!

While Morgiana is in the bath, Ava explains to the others what happened.  There’s grumbling about “bringing home strays,” but just as Morgiana emerges from the other room, excitement can be heard in the corridor outside.  It seems the tombstone in the common room of the Blasted Ferret is no affectation: the former owner of the inn really is buried in a grave under the floorboards, and every so often his spirit manifests and harmlessly goes through the motions of serving customers!  The adventurers get caught up in the spectacle, but just minutes later the adoring crowd is stunned into submission as a burly dwarf throws open the doors and proclaims that, in the name of Pharasma, the earthbound spirit must be banished to its eternal fate.  The inn’s patrons, many who came just to see the apparition, get angry, and it looks like violence is imminent.  Ava cleverly forestalls bloodshed by erecting a magical cone of silence around the dwarf, so that his ritual of banishment can have no effect.  The zealous worshipper of the Lady of Graves stalks out in a huff, shaking his fist.

Back up in their room, the others confront Ava about apparently promising Morgiana that she could travel with them.  Kang gives a forthright, but admittedly condescending lecture to the girl about the dangers that the Heroes of Varisia intend to face (while staying vague on the details of their quest).  Morgiana captures everyone’s attention, and instantly sways their views, by revealing a surprising secret: she’s actually a hobgoblin!  Her appearance as a little human girl is aided by a magical cap.  However, she wasn’t lying about her (adopted) parents living on a farm outside Sandpoint, and says they found her orphaned at a young age and took her in, showing her only kindness and love.  But now that she’s become a teenager, she wants to see more of the world than Sandpoint has to offer—thus, her journey to Magnimar and eventual run-in with the Bloody Knuckles.  Any lingering suspicions that she might be a spy or plant are put to rest when Erik uses divination magicks to discern that Morgiana holds no malice towards them in her heart.

 

[8 Pharast 4708]

 

A frustrating day is spent in Magnimar.  Kang faces anti-tiefling prejudice when trying to purchase the formula for a potion to see invisible creatures, Erik and Morgiana find the catalogue system of the Founder’s Archive too bewildering to locate anything on Mhar Massif (the legendary mountain said to be the site of Xin-Shalast), and, in the middle of the night, everyone’s sleep is interrupted by the return of the Pharasmin and a botched banishment ritual that turns the otherwise-peaceful spirit into a malevolent threat to all around it!  Kang is forced to vanquish the spirit with an explosive made from pure force, and, when members of the local watch arrive to investigate, Jinkatsyu tries to have the Pharasmin arrested only to see them take the dwarf’s side.

 

[9 Pharast 4708]

 

The adventurers split into two groups for another day in Magnimar.  Given false information about the location of a scribe specializing in scrolls of arcane magic, Kang, Jinkatsyu, and Erik find themselves in a quiet area of the docks—quiet because of the presence of a sargassum fiend nearby!  The massive conglomeration of animated vegetable matter exudes hallucinogenic pheromones to draw prey to it, and both Kang and Erik approach within reach.  But it proves no match for the three experienced adventurers and soon its inert mass begins to sink beneath the waves.  Kang, however, suspects that organs containing the hallucinogenic musk might be salvageable, and he dives into the water after them.  He emerges with four small bulbs, and even concocts a method to preserve them.

 

Fate has brought the Heroes of Varisia another member, but no prophecy in this Age of Lost Omens can foretell whether it will be enough to triumph over the challenges ahead.

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

Director's Commentary

With Yuzo's player gone for good, it was time to introduce a new player to keep us at five.  Enter the final new PC in the campaign, Morgiana.  As we'll see, Morgiana used a hat of disguise to disguise herself as a child or a gnome, but was actually a hobgoblin.  The character specialised in combat maneuvers and could sometimes do some impressive things, but also proved to be something of a liability when push came to shove.

The bit with the ghost in the tavern stemmed from a random roll on a special table (I think from the GameMastery Guide) and then improv from there.