The Bloodsworn Vale is about 2 miles wide by 4 miles long. The plan is to head to the valley and do several flyovers on pips' carpet with Leo trying to locate object. As you are preparing for the trip (food, maps, equipment, etc.) you receive a sealed note. It is from Neferet. She has information about the third bidder - the one with the nasty scar. He is most likely Count Julistar. Not known much in these parts, but he is infamously known further south (closer to Mirvia) as a mercenary. He has several known associates including a half-orc thug, a female sage and a halfling spy. He is not known as a collector or for any interest in arts or antiquities. He is thought to be involved with a demon worshiping cult.
- Until Next Time.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Four Pharaohs - Session One
The group welcomes Powduc, as no one has really seen him for nearly a year. Pleasantries are dispensed and you all get to business. Turns out that Powduc has a benefactor, or rather may have one. All he needs do in order to receive the assistance is a small job - act as hie agent at the Sothis Antiquities Market. Powduc does not seem to trust this philanthropist completely, even though Pip did his best to dig up any dirt.
As the market is coming up quickly, the group, sans Zoltan, sail off to Giorandi. You reach Sothis and see clearly that the city is abuzz about something. It doesn't take much skill to find out that the market is three days away. However, there is still the issue of invitations.
Powduc checks in with an old family friend and is able to secure five tickets, which are enough because some of you can enter as guards for the 'invited.' The day of the market arrives and you all head to a huge blue tent that has been erected. Inside are scores, if not hundreds of tables filled with all manner of items: swords, sculpture, tapestries, gems and jewelry, scrolls, knick0knacks, and more. Realizing that you don't really know what you''re looking for, Pip scouts the place. He returns knowing the area with items purported to be from the time opf the pharaohs. Once there, you realize once again that you have no good idea of which items are real artifacts and which might be fakes. Everyone reaches deep into their knowledge and with little success. A woman approaches Powduc and says "Not everything is as it seems." He introduces the group to Neferet Anu, the family friend who arranged your invites. She helps narrow down your choices to six key items.
The auction begins. You are quickly able to size up the opposition. There are four other people seriously bidding on items from this time. The first is a bookish looking man in his late 60's wearing non-descript clothing. The second is a wealthy looking man in his 40's with a look of someone who spent much of his youth outside. The third is a tall man dressed in black and reds with a scar across his face. The last is a lavishly adorned woman with a large entourage. The first three are the most serious bidders. You split up the task of bidding on each of the six items to avoid drawing any attention to yourselves. Each time the bidding comes down to yourselves and the third man. You place the winning bids on four of the six items: a set of seven gold coins, a set of charcoal rubbings, a jade figurine, and a set of papyrus scrolls.
Pip does a little reconnaissance and notices the man with scar is accompanied by a halfling and up close the scar is quite nasty. It is actually three parallel scars, as if from claws, that run from his hairline, mid forehead across his right eye to below his right ear. Some of you notice the halfling appears to be reconnoitering you. Pip follws him but loses him in the crowd.
A little nervous about this scarred man and any potential companions, Powduc asks Leo to try to scry him. Leo teleports off to his temple to try. Powduc searches out the contact his benefactor had arragned for some help in determining who these other bidders were, and the rest of the group tries to figure out what it is you bought at the auction. The charcoal rubbings are a series and after you arrange them in order, the text (via a helm of comprehend languages) has numerous references to the Four Pharaohs and refers to a funeral mask. The scrolls are pages and pages of mathematical formulas. Leo returns unsuccessful and explores the city a bit. He finds the Sothis Exhibitory (think Smithsonian). Inside he finds several employees/curators busy in one section of the museum. He finds out that they are preparing the exhibits for some newly acquired items. He also sees on his visit a prominently displayed golden, full-face mask with gold and onyx inlay and a cobra head. The whole thing is ringed by many exotic looking feathers.
Powduc follows the directions and waits contact. The group determines that the scrolls with the formulas are actually very complicated star charts and 'prove and predicts' a very rare celestial alignment that occurs every 56 years. According to the charts, this alignment is presently occurring. Leo returns and reports what he found.
The next morning as the group heads to the main room for breakfast, Neferet is there to meet you. She says to Powduc, "We should talk." Turns out she is also his arranged contact and was not as open earlier because she didn't know exactly why Powduc was at the auction. She aggrees to help find out more about the other bidders and connects you with someone who knows much more about the pyramids of the Four Pharaohs than anyone else.
The bidders were first the Arch Docent - head curator of the Exhibitory and second The Crook-bearer, a private individual, wealthy and an art collector. It is rumored that the Crook-bearer has a funeral mask matching the description and identical to the one Leo saw in his own collection. The other two are unknown.
She introduces you to Reagos, an odd man who wears a blindfold, has a paper phobia, and moves around his house by following a web of string. He tells a story of actually being at the main pyramid 56 years ago. The mask must be worn to bring the main pyramid to the material plane. When his group was inside, they noticed the place was covered with ancient inscriptions. According to the inscriptions, the four pharaohs had declared that all intruders would be doomed to live out their existence as eternal guardians of the tomb. Apparently, anyone who saw the four symbols of the pharaohs’ namesakes would forever become enslaved monsters.
They ignored them think it merely a scare tactic. Not so. the party bowman, suddenly cried out in alarm, warning the rest of us to avert our eyes—he had seen the fourth and final rune. Moments later, Seraton transformed. He became a withered husk, like the embalmed bodies we had expected to find. And he was filled with a terrible, smoldering anger. I remember Seraton driving his entire arm through the group leader’s chest, exploding him into dust. The mask fell and he grabbed it and ran. he was the only one to escape. He eventually sold the mask to an unknown merchant.
Neferet arranges a meeting between the group and the Arch Docent two hours after the museum closes for you to find out more about the mask (thinking there is adventure to be had). Leo and Potenzia ports of to Saltmarsh to get Zoltan. You all reach the museum to find the fron tcourtyard gate open. As you approach the building you notice two bodies lying on the ground - they are dead. The main doors are locked and there is an unsuccessful attempt to force them. Pip opens the lock and another unsuccessful attempt. Potenzia 'knocks' the door and they open. The group moves in to painfully discover the floor covered with 'spike stones' and the hall to the Four Pharaohs wing blocked by a 'wall of thorns.' Several forced their way through and Leo moved ethereally until Zoltan dispelled the wall. You 'found' a bout a half dozen, mean-looking fey creatures grouped around the funeral mask display. You started to overpower them when three of them created an area of obscuring mist. This only made things a little harder, but bought them some time. Pip understood one to say "I have the mask, make for the ropes."
They weren't much of a threat to any of you but were not complete push-overs. A couple targeted Alorian with some sort of suggestion. They spoke to him in elvish. After the fight was finished and the mist cleared, the mask was gone and one fey remained unconscious. No one spotted anyone leaving. One thing you did notice was that about half of the fey had bandages on one ear (some left, some right). Looking under the wraps you see that they were missing an ear - cut clean off and were at various stages of healing.
Realizing the trouble that you could be in after confirming that the Arch Docent was one of the dead figures, Powduc and Pip set off to find Neferet. The rest stayed and guarded the museum. Ten minutes later Neferet approaches the gate and see you. She shakes her head in disappointment. Someone states "It wasn't our...." and gets cut off. She say "I know. You need to go. Now!" Leo begins to say "I can cast.." and gets cut off. He continues "raise dead..." and get cut off again. She urges you all to leave and you will talk tomorrow. "What about the fey-in-the-bag?" someone asks. Neferet says she'll take care of it.
The next day you are informed that if your offer for raise dead is still good, that much can be smoothed over. You are also told that the Crook-Bearer's estate was robbed in a similar manner last night and only one item seems to be missing. The little beasties are known as blood sprites. They are quite rare native to only one location - the Bloodsworn Vale (a two day ride). Leo raises the Arch Docent (and is reimbursed for the cost). Leo attempts to locate the mask (object) with no luck.
-End of Session One
As the market is coming up quickly, the group, sans Zoltan, sail off to Giorandi. You reach Sothis and see clearly that the city is abuzz about something. It doesn't take much skill to find out that the market is three days away. However, there is still the issue of invitations.
Powduc checks in with an old family friend and is able to secure five tickets, which are enough because some of you can enter as guards for the 'invited.' The day of the market arrives and you all head to a huge blue tent that has been erected. Inside are scores, if not hundreds of tables filled with all manner of items: swords, sculpture, tapestries, gems and jewelry, scrolls, knick0knacks, and more. Realizing that you don't really know what you''re looking for, Pip scouts the place. He returns knowing the area with items purported to be from the time opf the pharaohs. Once there, you realize once again that you have no good idea of which items are real artifacts and which might be fakes. Everyone reaches deep into their knowledge and with little success. A woman approaches Powduc and says "Not everything is as it seems." He introduces the group to Neferet Anu, the family friend who arranged your invites. She helps narrow down your choices to six key items.
The auction begins. You are quickly able to size up the opposition. There are four other people seriously bidding on items from this time. The first is a bookish looking man in his late 60's wearing non-descript clothing. The second is a wealthy looking man in his 40's with a look of someone who spent much of his youth outside. The third is a tall man dressed in black and reds with a scar across his face. The last is a lavishly adorned woman with a large entourage. The first three are the most serious bidders. You split up the task of bidding on each of the six items to avoid drawing any attention to yourselves. Each time the bidding comes down to yourselves and the third man. You place the winning bids on four of the six items: a set of seven gold coins, a set of charcoal rubbings, a jade figurine, and a set of papyrus scrolls.
Pip does a little reconnaissance and notices the man with scar is accompanied by a halfling and up close the scar is quite nasty. It is actually three parallel scars, as if from claws, that run from his hairline, mid forehead across his right eye to below his right ear. Some of you notice the halfling appears to be reconnoitering you. Pip follws him but loses him in the crowd.
A little nervous about this scarred man and any potential companions, Powduc asks Leo to try to scry him. Leo teleports off to his temple to try. Powduc searches out the contact his benefactor had arragned for some help in determining who these other bidders were, and the rest of the group tries to figure out what it is you bought at the auction. The charcoal rubbings are a series and after you arrange them in order, the text (via a helm of comprehend languages) has numerous references to the Four Pharaohs and refers to a funeral mask. The scrolls are pages and pages of mathematical formulas. Leo returns unsuccessful and explores the city a bit. He finds the Sothis Exhibitory (think Smithsonian). Inside he finds several employees/curators busy in one section of the museum. He finds out that they are preparing the exhibits for some newly acquired items. He also sees on his visit a prominently displayed golden, full-face mask with gold and onyx inlay and a cobra head. The whole thing is ringed by many exotic looking feathers.
Powduc follows the directions and waits contact. The group determines that the scrolls with the formulas are actually very complicated star charts and 'prove and predicts' a very rare celestial alignment that occurs every 56 years. According to the charts, this alignment is presently occurring. Leo returns and reports what he found.
The next morning as the group heads to the main room for breakfast, Neferet is there to meet you. She says to Powduc, "We should talk." Turns out she is also his arranged contact and was not as open earlier because she didn't know exactly why Powduc was at the auction. She aggrees to help find out more about the other bidders and connects you with someone who knows much more about the pyramids of the Four Pharaohs than anyone else.
The bidders were first the Arch Docent - head curator of the Exhibitory and second The Crook-bearer, a private individual, wealthy and an art collector. It is rumored that the Crook-bearer has a funeral mask matching the description and identical to the one Leo saw in his own collection. The other two are unknown.
She introduces you to Reagos, an odd man who wears a blindfold, has a paper phobia, and moves around his house by following a web of string. He tells a story of actually being at the main pyramid 56 years ago. The mask must be worn to bring the main pyramid to the material plane. When his group was inside, they noticed the place was covered with ancient inscriptions. According to the inscriptions, the four pharaohs had declared that all intruders would be doomed to live out their existence as eternal guardians of the tomb. Apparently, anyone who saw the four symbols of the pharaohs’ namesakes would forever become enslaved monsters.
They ignored them think it merely a scare tactic. Not so. the party bowman, suddenly cried out in alarm, warning the rest of us to avert our eyes—he had seen the fourth and final rune. Moments later, Seraton transformed. He became a withered husk, like the embalmed bodies we had expected to find. And he was filled with a terrible, smoldering anger. I remember Seraton driving his entire arm through the group leader’s chest, exploding him into dust. The mask fell and he grabbed it and ran. he was the only one to escape. He eventually sold the mask to an unknown merchant.
Neferet arranges a meeting between the group and the Arch Docent two hours after the museum closes for you to find out more about the mask (thinking there is adventure to be had). Leo and Potenzia ports of to Saltmarsh to get Zoltan. You all reach the museum to find the fron tcourtyard gate open. As you approach the building you notice two bodies lying on the ground - they are dead. The main doors are locked and there is an unsuccessful attempt to force them. Pip opens the lock and another unsuccessful attempt. Potenzia 'knocks' the door and they open. The group moves in to painfully discover the floor covered with 'spike stones' and the hall to the Four Pharaohs wing blocked by a 'wall of thorns.' Several forced their way through and Leo moved ethereally until Zoltan dispelled the wall. You 'found' a bout a half dozen, mean-looking fey creatures grouped around the funeral mask display. You started to overpower them when three of them created an area of obscuring mist. This only made things a little harder, but bought them some time. Pip understood one to say "I have the mask, make for the ropes."
They weren't much of a threat to any of you but were not complete push-overs. A couple targeted Alorian with some sort of suggestion. They spoke to him in elvish. After the fight was finished and the mist cleared, the mask was gone and one fey remained unconscious. No one spotted anyone leaving. One thing you did notice was that about half of the fey had bandages on one ear (some left, some right). Looking under the wraps you see that they were missing an ear - cut clean off and were at various stages of healing.
Realizing the trouble that you could be in after confirming that the Arch Docent was one of the dead figures, Powduc and Pip set off to find Neferet. The rest stayed and guarded the museum. Ten minutes later Neferet approaches the gate and see you. She shakes her head in disappointment. Someone states "It wasn't our...." and gets cut off. She say "I know. You need to go. Now!" Leo begins to say "I can cast.." and gets cut off. He continues "raise dead..." and get cut off again. She urges you all to leave and you will talk tomorrow. "What about the fey-in-the-bag?" someone asks. Neferet says she'll take care of it.
The next day you are informed that if your offer for raise dead is still good, that much can be smoothed over. You are also told that the Crook-Bearer's estate was robbed in a similar manner last night and only one item seems to be missing. The little beasties are known as blood sprites. They are quite rare native to only one location - the Bloodsworn Vale (a two day ride). Leo raises the Arch Docent (and is reimbursed for the cost). Leo attempts to locate the mask (object) with no luck.
-End of Session One
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tilth Adventure - The Four Pharaohs
The main group in Rastgoth agrees to meet in Saltmarsh in five days time to work out the details of a short trip to Sothis, Giorandi. Iam and Zoltan finish up a few meetings with the Merchant Prince and a few other minor nobles. Potenzia completes some trade deals he had in the works. Pip disappears into the streets to do whatever it is he does. Alorian, Leo and Schweitzer head off overland to Saltmarsh via Marnot to check on the harvest. Leo says he'll do a sending to Powduc to let him know the group is planning a trip to Giorandi.
While the splinter group is in Marnot, Leo casts his sending to Powduc.
The fifth day arrives and some are already in Saltmarsh and some are just arriving. The group gathers at the Saltmarsh Inn over drinks. Leo informs everyone that Powduc has said he will be here. After a few drinks someone asks, "Where in the Nine Hells is Pip?"
Someone else looks out the window to see a skiff under sail come up to the docks down the hill. Two familiar shapes disembark and head up towards the inn.
[We'll pick up roleplaying from here.]
While the splinter group is in Marnot, Leo casts his sending to Powduc.
Planning a trip to Giorandi - Sothis Antiquities Market specifically. Not sure of your availability. Reply with interest.The reply is:
Interested and have information. Contact me again tomorrow with your schedule.After a day in Marnot the party members finish some inspections and start traveling to Saltmarsh. Leo casts another sending:
Headed to Saltmarsh to meet in two days. Can you make that timing?The reply:
Saltmarsh in two days. Confirmed.Those in Rastgoth finish their dealings and sail and/or teleport to Saltmarsh. Someone remarks: "Anyone seen Pip?"
The fifth day arrives and some are already in Saltmarsh and some are just arriving. The group gathers at the Saltmarsh Inn over drinks. Leo informs everyone that Powduc has said he will be here. After a few drinks someone asks, "Where in the Nine Hells is Pip?"
Someone else looks out the window to see a skiff under sail come up to the docks down the hill. Two familiar shapes disembark and head up towards the inn.
[We'll pick up roleplaying from here.]
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