Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 11 [RPG]

[28 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

The Reckoner, Yraelzin, and Goldcape enter another chamber to find wooden tables stacked with vials, beakers, funnels, cauldrons, and everything else necessary for a working alchemical laboratory.  A lone derro, cleaning up a spill, reacts in confusion at first but then calls upon his race’s innate magic to create an ear-ringing sonic burst in the room.  But The Reckoner and Rocky are undeterred, and they make short work of the pale blue humanoid.  A thorough search of the room turns up a veritable treasure trove of potions, poisons, alchemical salves, and more. It is obvious experiments in alchemy and dark necromancy have been practiced in this underground labyrinth for quite some time.

Adjacent to the alchemical laboratory is a door that has been boarded over—quite recently, by the looks of it.  The Reckoner suggests leaving it alone, as anything the derros wanted to lock away is probably quite dangerous.  But Goldcape is intent on exploration, and her lithe frame masks surprising strength—she puts her shoulder to the door and breaks it down.  On the other side is a room that was obviously once a pantry, but is now prison to a lurching mash-up of rotting flesh, jagged bone, and coarse hair reeking of death and decay.  In one of its hands it clutches a severed arm marked with distinctive Shoanti tattoos!  The smell is nauseating, but the repulsive creature is no match for The Reckoner’s battle-maul.  The search to recover the scattered parts of Gaekhen’s body has met with another gruesome success.

Further exploration finds another grisly reminder of the work conducted in these halls of horror.  One chamber contains a large table supporting a massive, seven-foot tall humanoid-shaped thing stitched together from a patchwork of different bodies.  Apparently, an attempt to build a flesh golem!  The inert creature’s head is crowned with brown hair and bears a distinctive scar up on its left cheek—poor Gaekhen’s head.  Just as Goldcape realises this, The Reckoner has already moved to destroy the creature, fearing it will rise.  An inadvertent mutilation of Gaekhen’s corpse is added to the terrible blasphemies already done to it.

Another chamber is a library of books and scrolls—mostly treatises on necromancy or the art of crafting golems, but also a surprisingly large number of books about diseases and plagues.  There’s some disagreement within the group about what to do with the collection, leading to an eventual decision to take some of the books while burning the ones on necromancy.

The search through the sprawling underground complex continues, with the way fortunately lit through phosphorescent moss.  One chamber holds a large four-poster bed and a simple writing desk, with a full-length mirror propped up against one earthen wall.  But the group’s lack of stealth has given early warning to an adjacent chamber’s occupant: a derro necromancer with fearsome arcane power!  The derro launches an array of magical attacks while shouting epithets inspired by a lunatic’s rage.  The Reckoner is temporarily weakened by one attack, Rocky is struck with magical fear, and Yraelzin’s and Goldcape’s archery proves largely ineffective against the flying foe that is fully prepared for battle.  The battle turns on a knife's edge as The Reckoner finds his muscles completely locked up to the point he can only stand and watch helplessly as the derro conjures a zombie from thin air!  Yraelzin turns from futile attacks with his crossbow to healing The Reckoner to keep him in the fight.  But if anyone is the hero of the hour, it’s Rocky—the roc returns when the magical fear wears off and slashes zombie and derro alike until, finally, the necromancer is unconscious and floating in mid-air.  Both The Reckoner and Goldcape take out their anger on the derro in a lethal way.  It’s the closest the party has ever come to utter defeat, and a startling reminder of the dangerousness of their efforts to aid Korvosa and its inhabitants.

In the aftermath of the battle, two important discoveries are made.  In the derro’s chamber is the result of his latest experiment—the torso and right arm of Gaekhen, animated in a sad mockery of life.  In the chamber with the four-poster bed, the desk contains a curious, broken knife with a key-shaped blade.  The Harrowed Heroes immediately link the blade to the one found in Gaedren Lamm’s hideout, and suspect this could be a sign his son has been here!

Weary and battered, the brave explorers continue their search for Gaekhen’s lower body.  They enter a cavern boarded on three sides by ten-foot-deep pits, from which waft the rancid smell of excrement and decay.  But the room is guarded by a hideously deformed brute who yells “You go in pit now!  Me feed you later.  Maybe!”  The Reckoner charges into battle and gets punched hard in the face for his troubles, but Goldcape cleverly conjures a trio of dogs to nip at the brute’s heels, distracting it enough for The Reckoner to land a powerful series of blows.  When the dust has cleared, a look around the room reveals something important—there are prisoners, still alive, in the pits!

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GM's Commentary

In the sessions I've been running recently (near the end of Chapter Four), Goldcape is the cautious one and The Reckoner is always pushing to explore further--but in this session, it's the exact opposite!

I've put in my review of Chapter One that I think the "body part scavenger hunt" is a bit too video  gamey, but apart from that I think this sequence is well-designed.  This session has the battle against the closest thing to a "boss" enemy for the chapter, the derro sorcerer.  That battle came surprisingly closes to a TPK.