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In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 37B: An Uneasy City

April 24th, 2024

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

SESSION 37B: AN UNEASY CITY

May 9th, 2009
The 20th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

Elestra hit the streets. Rehobath’s claiming of the “Holy Palace” had become common knowledge. It turned out that Rehobath owned legal title to the Palace, having quietly acquired the property rights six months ago. (“Sneaky bastard!” Tee said upon learning the news.)

But Elestra also learned that the Commissar wasn’t pleased with Rehobath’s maneuver, seeing it as an attempt by Rehobath to consolidate a non-religious base of power in Ptolus. Earlier that morning the warrant of arrest for Sir Kabel had been publicly annulled, a move that was commonly seen to be the Commissar sending a message to Rehobath.

While the news of Rehobath particularly caught Elestra’s attention, it wasn’t the story at the forefront of public thought: Open war had come to Tavern Row. The night before, frustrated Balacazar enforcers had encountered Killraven recruiters on the street. The confrontation had turned to blows and attracted some other low-level enforcers. In the end, nearly two dozen gang members engaged in open violence on Tavern Row before scattering in response to the City Watch.

ASKING QUESTIONS

Meanwhile, Tee had gone down to the Docks. Speaking with the Dockmaster’s staff she learned that the Freeport’s Sword was likely to dock in the early afternoon of the next day.

Ranthir spent the morning hours at the Administration Building, seeking records of Alchestrin’s Tomb.

Unfortunately, most of that time was wasted as Ranthir was shuffled fruitlessly from one ministry to another. He eventually found his way to the Ministry of Public Works and a relatively friendly older woman who showed him to what she thought “might be the proper room”. It was stacked high with moldering stacks of yellowing, unorganized parchment. In some ways, it was Ranthir’s perfect heaven… but it still left him stymied in his search for the Tomb.

Shortly thereafter, Tee caught up with him, assessed the situation, and made a quick circuit. Leaving a few greased palms in her wake, Tee was able to secure him assistance in sorting through the papers. This sped his task somewhat, but despite the help he was no closer to finding the Tomb by the time he had to leave.

THE FURTHER TROUBLES OF ILTUMAR

Agnarr had gone to the Bull and Bear with the intention of finding some armor for Seeaeti. But when he arrived he found Hirus looking pale and wearied behind the counter, with large black pools beneath his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” the barbarian asked.

“Master Agnarr!” Hirus cried. “It’s Iltumar!”

“Of course it is,” Agnarr said. “What happened?”

“He’s gone! Last night I found this note in his room.”

Thank you for everything you have done for me. I go now to live a new life with a new body. I’ll make you proud. I’ll make everyone proud.

—ILTUMAR

“I came up to the Ghostly Minstrel to see if I could find Sir Tor or Mistress Tee, but you weren’t there. Lavis was, though – that’s another lass that’s a friend of Iltumar’s. She promised to find him. And maybe she did. She sent word by messenger that she had tracked him to some warehouse in Oldtown. But I haven’t heard from her since. I don’t know what to do!”

“I’ll look into it,” Agnarr promised.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

FALSE FEARS IN WELCOMING EARS

Tor, meanwhile, had ridden up to the Holy Palace. The three-story tall walls were crafted from baroque white marble and topped with crimson-red shingles. Doors two-stories tall parted without touch to give him admittance into a wide, long entrance hall.

He sought audience with Rehobath and was quickly granted it, being ushered into a grand throne room of sorts. Although the throne itself was only of plain wood, its opulent surroundings spoke loudly to Tor’s eyes.

Rehobath looked up at him as he entered. “Sir Tor. It’s a pleasure to see you.”

Tor bowed and smiled. After congratulating Rehobath on his new abode, however, his face drew in seeming concern.

“I’m afraid I come with bad news.”

“Oh?” Rehobath said.

“Dominic is gone.”

“Dominic is… gone?”

“Yes,” Tor nodded. “He didn’t come down to join us for breakfast. When we went to his room, most of his things were gone. We don’t know where he is.”

Rehobath seemed completely baffled by the news. He questioned Tor in particular detail, but there was little more to tell (and Tor was pleased to find that he had gotten through the ordeal without ever telling an actual lie).

“I actually came to see if perhaps you had summoned him. Or if he had contacted you.”

“No,” Rehobath shook his head. “But perhaps he went to the Godskeep. You should speak with Sir Gemmell at once.”

Tor agreed and excused himself. Leaving the Holy Palace, he mounted Blue and rode straight to the Godskeep. There he found things in total disarray – knights were packing, rearranging, and generally discombobulated.

Sir Gemmell, it turned out, was less than pleased with Rehobath’s sudden (and unexpected) move to the Holy Palace. But he was faithfully gathering together the final elements of the honor guard that would serve him there. He was short on patience and seemed to care little for the whereabouts of Dominic. So Tor, after making sure that he should come to the Godskeep for his training the next day, took his leave.

TRUE REPORTS FOR UNHAPPY HEARERS

Tee had confessed to the others that she had spoken to the Commissar on the eve of Rehobath’s convocation and warned him of what was coming. For similar reasons, she felt it important that the Commissar be warned of Dominic’s denunciation of Rehobath.

Somewhat to Tee’s surprise, everyone quickly agreed that it was a good idea. So while Ranthir returned to the Administration Building (with little success) and Elestra went looking for the word on the street regarding Illadras (there wasn’t any), Tor, Agnarr, and Tee went to see the Commissar.

When they arrived at the Dalenguard, Agnarr volunteered to wait outside while the others went in to meet with him. After only the briefest of considerations, Tee and Tor agreed that was for the best.

The Commissar, looking up from various papers spread across his desk, greeted them with a small smile and a nod of his head.

After exchanging brief pleasantries, Tee got to the heart of the matter. “May we speak safely here?”

“Of course.”

At this, Tor nodded, reached up, and removed the red sash hanging from his shoulders.

The Commissar became suddenly solemn. “I.. see.”

“We’re here to talk about Rehobath,” Tee said.

“So I would assume,” the Commissar said.

Having made their loyalties as clear to the Commissar as possible, Tor and Tee quickly went over the details of Sir Kabel’s plan. The Commissar said he had been aware of the approach of the new Silver Fatar from Seyrun, but he was surprised to learn that Dominic planned to denounce Rehobath.

“I don’t think Dominic has ever supported Rehobath,” Tee said. “He had no idea what was going to happen at the convocation.”

“Sir Kabel’s hope – our hope – is that, once the Silver Fatar arrives, this matter can be decisively resolved.”

“I would frown upon anyone seeking to take the law into their own hands,” the Commissar said. “We have had enough bloodshed in the streets of Ptolus of late.”

“Sir Kabel believes that – once the Silver Fatar arrives – many of those loyal to Rehobath will… see the error of their ways,” Tor said. “If Sir Kabel’s strength is large enough, I think bloodshed can be avoided.”

“Are you aware that Rehobath is hiring mercenaries?” the Commissar asked pointedly.

“Mercenaries?” Tee asked.

“And barracking them in the ‘Holy Palace’,” he said. At this revelation the room filled with silence. The Commissar let it rest there for a moment before continuing. “I want no disturbance of the peace. That, above all, is my duty.”

When they left the Commissar’s office, they found Agnarr dicing with the two guards who were supposed to be on duty outside. Although their meeting had been short, Agnarr had already managed to lose 23 gold pieces. He was in good spirits about it, though. He was beginning to truly enjoy the riches they were earning (or, at least, finding) here in Ptolus.

As they were moving off, however, Tee’s sharp ears caught the guards chatting amiably about what to do with their winnings that evening.

“With this run of luck we should head to the White House.”

“I dunno. There aren’t any dumb barbarians at the White House.”

Running the Campaign: No, But… – Campaign Journal: Session 37C
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

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In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 37A: Dominic Departs

April 17th, 2024

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

SESSION 37A: DOMINIC DEPARTS

May 9th, 2009
The 19th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

Ptolus - Map of the Chaos Temples Locations (Monte Cook Games, edited by Justin Alexander)

At the gates of the Necropolis, Tee stopped and spoke with the Keepers of the Veil. She inquired after records of those buried in the Necropolis, hoping that they might indicate the location of Alchestrin’s ancient tomb. The knights didn’t keep records of that sort, but they suggested that one might inquire at the Administration Building in Oldtown.

When they returned to the Ghostly Minstrel, a figure wearing a dark green cloak with the hood raised high about its features detached itself from the corner of the common room and came to them. The figure pulled back the hood slightly, revealing to them the face of Sera Nara. Pulling her hood back down, Nara accompanied them up to Elestra’s room where they could speak privately.

“Why are you here?” Tee asked.

“I bring bad news,” Nara said. “This afternoon Rehobath appointed Prelate Adlam as the Silver Fatar of the Cathedral and moved his own retinue into Orridar Palace.”

“Orridar Palace?” Tor asked.

Tee answered. “It’s located in the Nobles’ Quarter. It was originally built by Shay Orridar during the founding of the city. Its construction ruined the Orridars. With the Orridars bankrupted, the other merchant houses squabbled over possession of the palace. It was viewed as a preeminent position of power in the city and the infighting for control was fierce. It became known as the Palace Trade Wars. Eventually, the merchant houses agreed that none of them would ever occupy the Palace. Various people have tried to make it their home over the centuries, but it’s been abandoned for decades.”

“That’s right,” Nara said. “But now Rehobath has dubbed it the Holy Palace and named it as the seat of his false novarchy. Unfortunately, that’s not the worst of my news. We have been gathering our loyalist knights to Pythoness House, as we discussed. Earlier this afternoon, however, we discovered that one of them was a doppelganger. An agent sent by Rehobath to impersonate the knight.”

“What happened to the knight?” Tor asked.

“We think he’s dead.” Nara grimaced. “We killed the doppelganger, too. But we don’t know if he had a chance to send word back to Rehobath or not. If he did, then it’s likely that Dominic’s plan to denounce Rehobath may be known.”

“What about the rest of us?”

“We think you’re safe. Your involvement was only known to a few of us. But preparations were being made for Dominic’s denunciation. It was common knowledge among the knights who were arriving.”

“So… what does that mean?” Dominic asked.

“It means you’re in danger,” Nara said, taking a step towards him. “We need to take you to a safe place as soon as possible. Secure you.” She turned to the rest of them. “The rest of you may come to Pythoness House if you want, but Tor should stay away.”

“That was already my plan,” Tor said.

“Good.” Nara nodded. “It’s impossible to know now how widely known Kabel’s presence at Pythoness House is now known. Or who might be watching.”

Dominic gathered up a few of his belongings and they made their tearful and heartfelt farewells at this sudden and unexpected parting.

And then Dominic was gone.

THE SECOND MEETING OF ALL THINGS

The rest of them labored long into the night. Tee and Ranthir produced voluminous papers – lore of the Banewarrens, chaos lorebooks, prophecies, alchemical manuals, stolen correpondences, and the like. They sorted, compared, and studied these until their minds were numbed and their sense of purpose overwhelmed.

They had an almost impossible number of possible courses to pursue. First, there were the Banewarrens: They had been hired by Jevicca to seal them and by Rehobath to retrieve the Sword of Crissa.

“Why does he want it, again?” Agnarr asked.

“It’s a religious relic. He’ll use it to solidify his claim to the novarchy,” said Tor.

“Just like he used Dominic,” Tee said with a slightly wistful tone.

“Then we’re not going to do it, right?” Elestra said. Tee nodded.

In some ways, however, it felt as if they had been stymied in the Banewarrens.

The green-skinned creature that had escaped through the sealed door into the deeper portions of the Banewarrens had not returned and, short of mounting a round-the-clock watch, there didn’t seem to be anything else they could do about that. And their only other solid lead pointed them towards Alchestrin’s Tomb, which they were somewhat wary of approaching without Dominic’s divine strength.

Then, of course, there were the myriad activities of the cultists and the strange prophecies of the Night of Dissolution. Tee couldn’t quite shake the feeling that they were somehow responsible for it. (“Or were we supposed to be stopping it?” Elestra asked. “Is that what we were doing?”)

They knew of at least three active cultist sites: The unexplored depths of the Temple of Deep Chaos in Oldtown (which had almost certainly been reinforced since their assault), the Temple of the Ebon Hand, and the Temple of the Rat God. There was also the matter of the Dwarvenhearth Research and Aknar Ratalla research they had discovered. And where was Wuntad in all of this?

Nor could they afford to ignore the strife within the Order of the Dawn. The entire affair seemed to have swallowed up Dominic, the true Silver Fatar was on his way from Seyrun, Kabel was gathering loyalists at Pythoness House, and there didn’t seem to be anything any of them could do about it.

On top of that, they had the matter of the Iron Mage’s letter (telling them to meet the Freeport’s Sword, a ship due the next day), the opening of their Hammersong Vaults within the week, the missing Idol of Ravvan, and the need to find new housing. (“Everybody knows where we live,” Tee said.)

Ranthir then reminded them of what Ribok had done to the researchers from House Erthuo. He wanted to claim vengeance on the Surgeon in the Shadows. Tee was somewhat skittish of getting involved with someone they knew to have connections with the Balacazars, but she agreed that a debt was owed.

And – above it all – there was always the omnipresent loss of their memories.

But out of the morass of information they also began to draw some conclusions:

Ranthir postulated that the bone-rings identified members of the Brothers of Quaan based on two facts: First, they had found a letter written by Ibulli (who had worn one of the rings) addressed to the Brothers of Quaan. Second, because in the letter she had written, “I think it truly possible that we have gained the key for both subjugating the scum of the natural races.” “And,” Ranthir explained, “We haven’t seen the rings on any human. Lamias, beholders, orcs, spider-things… (Platypuses.) No humans.”

Agnarr raised the possibility of following up on Demassac Tovarian (assuming that Jevicca hadn’t already done so). They knew he was experimenting with chaositech. “He might even be the one who supplied the items that let the bone rings into the Banewarrens,” Ranthir said.

Based on other letters they had found and their interrogation of Uranik, it seemed as if “Illadras” was running the Temple of Deep Chaos. If that was the case, where had she been when they were tearing up the place? How substantial were the parts of that complex they hadn’t explored?

Could the Freedom’s Key from Pythoness House be used to open their bank vault sooner? They also discussed the possibility of using the key to open the sealed door in the Banewarrens or the bluesteel doors in Ghul’s Labyrinth, but were stymied by the fact that those doors lacked keyholes.

And they’d also concocted a rough plan of action.

THE DREAMS OF TEE

While they had worked, Tee’s thoughts had returned to the conversation she had had with the Commissar on the walls of the Dalenguard. She new that he would want to know what Sir Kabel was planning.

So when the others had gone to bed, Tee slipped out of the Ghostly Minstrel and headed to the Dalenguard, intent on meeting with him. Unfortunately, the hour was late. Too late, in fact. The Commissar was abed and his guard would not disturb him for Tee.

Resolving to return in the morning, Tee returned to the Ghostly Minstrel. Settling upon her bed, she turned her thoughts to meditation and cast them into the Dreaming.

She sent her thoughts abroad, using her recent training with Doraedian to reach out for the dreams of Wuntad. She hoped to spy upon them and glean some insight into his plans or thoughts.

She found them – or at least she felt she did. But she found those dreams wrapped in a fog of black fury and blue lightening. They were blocked to her.

Disappointed she returned her thoughts to her own body and awoke.

Running the Campaign: The Adventure Not Taken – Campaign Journal: Session 37B
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

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In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 36D: Crypt of Webs

April 10th, 2024

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

SESSION 36D: CRYPT OF WEBS

January 24th, 2009
The 19th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

Being tethered to the Banewarrens – effectively limiting their actions east of Oldtown – was becoming completely untenable. Their affairs in the Banewarrens required them to seek out Alchestrin’s tomb, but the Necropolis was well out of the range.

To solve the problem once and for all, Ranthir spent the next couple of hours tracking down several scrolls which described the arcane creation of a small missive token that would allow its holder to communicate a brief message directly to his ears… no matter the distance between them.

In short order, Ranthir was able to give one of these tokens to Kalerecent. If Kalerecent’s guard upon the Banewarrens were disturbed, he could instantly summon them.

“Oh, good,” Dominic said. “And we’ll only be a quick half hour away. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Tee shrugged. “That’s no worse than what we were doing before.”

“The only other option,” Ranthir said, “Is for us to camp in the Banewarrens until the green-haired hag comes out.”

That didn’t sound like much fun. And there were too many other things demanding their attention…

CRYPT OF WEBS

It was only a couple of hours before dusk and the sun was already low in the sky, but they felt they had already wasted enough time. They headed to the Necropolis, aware that they would need to finish their work there before darkness fell.

Once they had reached Darklock Hill, Dominic used his connection with the gods to fixate upon Alchestrin’s sigil and locate its nearest occurrence. He led them to a crudely built crypt with thick walls built from heavy stone slabs. Elestra recognized that these slabs were, in fact, repurposed stone sarsens. Several of them had the distinctive – yet heavily worn – sigil of Alchestrin worked into them.

Alchestrin's Sigil

On one side of the crypt there was a badly rusted iron door. It was, in fact, rusted shut. Tee and Agnarr were able to pry out the hinges and lever out the door with a minimal amount of fuss and noise. On the other side there was a flight of gloom-shrouded stairs leading down about twenty feet.

Tee led the way into a long entry hall strewn with rubbled stone from the broken walls and ceiling. Thick cobwebs were strung from the walls, although there was a more or less clear path to the heavy door of stone that hung half-open – its bottom smashed apart – at the far end of the hall. Four open arches led off form the hall, two to the left and two to the right.

Choosing at random, Tee headed towards the first arch on the left. It opened into a small burial chamber, with an upright sarcophagus standing against the far wall. The sarcophagus itself had been smashed apart. The corpse of its former inhabitant lay on the floor in the middle of the chamber – thick webs seeming to manacle the dried husk to the walls. The chest of the corpse appeared to have been ripped open.

Tee quickly inspected the corpse, but found little of interest. (Perhaps if she had recognized the damage to its chest as an exit wound they might have had some warning of what was to come.) She turned back to the others to report, but spotted movement in the webs of the opposite room. Acting on pure instinct, she whipped out her dragon pistol and fired.

The shot harmlessly blasted away a patch of web, but a moment later a carpet of large, reddish spiders poured out of the room. In the entry hall, Agnarr, whirling towards the spot Tee had shot, was suddenly covered in the things – they bit him repeatedly, sending a rush of painful venom into his bulging veins.

With a roar of rage and a mighty cry, Agnarr swung his flaming sword through the spiders, using the flat of his blade to crush those crawling up his legs.

Elestra, thinking quickly, dropped a ball of magical flame into the middle of the spiders, but they swarmed away from it and over the top of the others – biting at every bit of exposed flesh they could find.

Dominic ran for it, heading back up the stairs and escaping the worst of it. But by the time Agnarr was able to scatter the swaming mass, Ranthir had been badly hurt – the painful, fist-sized welts leaving him gasping for breath.

But when Elestra laid her hands on him and sent a burst of healing energy into his body, Ranthir screamed in pain and collapsed.

Dominic, who was coming back down into the crypt after hearing the all-clear from Agnarr, heard the scream and hurried down the last few steps. “What happened?”

“I don’t know!” Elestra knelt next to Ranthir, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. But her further ministrations only made things worse. Even the slightest touch of positive energy raised vicious welts and gaping wounds on the unconscious mage.

But even as she was focusing on Ranthir’s dilemma, Elestra was using the back of her mind to guide her flaming sphere into one of the other web-choked crypts.

As the webs began to burn, a web-wrapped mummy stumbled through the crypt’s arch and attacked Tee from behind. Agnarr charged the sudden foe, shoving Tee out of the way, even as a second web mummy emerged into the entry hall.

Agnarr made quick work of his first foe: His sword cleaved the mummy’s chest in twain. But no sooner had the top half of the mummy fallen to one side than more of the crypt spiders began to pour out of the severed torso. Tee, in a panic, fired at the already dismembered corpse. This had little effect, but Agnarr – thinking quickly – plunged his blade into the mass and used it to create a sudden pyre.

But with his weapon thus preoccupied, Agnarr made an easy target for the second mummy – who clubbed him over the back of the head. As the barbarian fell, however, Tor moved to block it from attacking the others. As he shifted into position, the mummy brought both of its hands down on the kinght’s shoulders in a crushing blow. Tor could feel his spine compressing under the sheer force of the blow, but gritting his teeth he bore the pain and swung his sword strong.

The mummy’s head flew free… and spiders began to crawl out of its neckhole.

Tee, however, had retrieved a flask of oil from her bag of holding. She tossed it at the decapitated mummy’s corpse while Tor scooped up Agnarr’s sword and lit alight spiders and mummy alike.

SPIDER’S CRYPT

Now, however, the unconscious Agnarr was exhibiting the same symptoms as Ranthir. Any attempt to heal his wounds was backfiring.

However, Dominic – finally given the breathing room to give the afflicted a proper examination – was able to determine that the effect was being caused by the venom of the crypt spiders. Their mystical poison was creating an inversion of positive and negative energy, foully turning the life-touch of the gods to injurious pain.

Fortunately, Dominic knew a simple spell to suppress the effects of the venom. And the mystic properties of the poison were rapidly burning up in any case. It wouldn’t be long before those afflicted could be healed normally.

While Dominic was restoring Agnarr and Ranthir, Tee finished searching through the outer crypts. She found another corpse with its chest torn open (this one with a ruined shirt of mithril which had been torn asunder by the spiders) and in another sarcophagus she found a magical sword.

After much deliberation, however, they decided to leave these tombs (and their meager treasures) undisturbed. The strange, corpse-inhabiting spider swarms had already done enough to disturb the rest of those who had been buried here.

Tee therefore turned her attention to the door of broken stone at the end of the entry hall. Looking through it she could see an antechamber. A mosaic of glittering lapis lazuli depicting a bursting star had been worked into its floor. Twin statues with red gemstones in their eyes flanked a farther arch leading into the tomb beyond. Each of the statues was raising its right hand before it, as if to ward off trespassers. In the tomb itself she could see an iron sarcophagus worked in the likeness of a knight with a sword and shield laid upon its chest. Thick webs were draped from the sarcophagus, shrouding the far corners of the crypt in darkness.

Agnarr and Tor were able to wrench open the door. Convinced that the lapis lazuli floor was dangerous, Tee used her boots of levitation to reach the ceiling and pull herself across to the arch on the far side of the antechamber. Lowering herself to the floor there, she proceeded cautiously into the crypt on foot.

She had not gone far, however, when a gob of web suddenly flew through the air and clogged up the exit. Tee whirled to look at it, even as one massive, chitinous black leg descended from the ceiling above…

It was followed by seven more, encircling her completely. Looking up, Tee saw the bulbous, befanged body of the spider whose legs nearly filled the entire chamber. With a lurching leap, she narrowly dodged the venom-dripping fangs – each of which was nearly as long as her arm.

Seeing the spider descend, Agnarr leapt across the antechamber (barely clearing the lapis lazuli) and used his burning greatsword to quickly cut his way through the web.

But even as Agnarr came up on its flank, the spider continued its attack on Tee – its head jutting towards her again and again, until it finally succeeded in sinking its monstrous fangs into her flesh.

The saucer-sized puncture wounds alone might not have felled the elf, but the venom of the arachnic horror rushed to her brain and swallowed her in blackness. As she fell, the spider was free to turn its fury upon Agnarr.

But by now Tor, too, had leapt across the lapis lazuli and moved to flank the creature – catching it between the party’s warriors. Although their blades had difficulty cutting through the thing’s chitinous hide, and even though Tor was caught fast in another entangling gob of web, they were eventually able to hack the creature apart.

As Tor plucked his blade from the creature’s head (leaving it to collapse in a shuddering pile), Dominic uttered a short prayer to Vehthyl and – seeing that the floor of lapis lazuli was not, in fact, magical – walked across it bravely (crossing his fingers in the hope that there would be no mundane traps). Using his skills as a healer, he was able to apply his curative spells to Tee in a way which avoided triggering the inversive properties of the spider’s venom and soon had her on her feet again.

FALSE CRYPT

Barely sparing the spider’s corpse a glance, Tee quickly turned her attention to the iron sarcophagus. With the help of Agnarr and Tor she was able to leverage it open, revealing the undisturbed corpse of a knight. The knight wore fine chain of elven make. Upon his chest a sword of fine craftsmanship was laid under a shield bearing the heraldry that both Tee and Tor recognized as belonging to the Knights of the Golden Cross.

“It’s not possible that the Knights would have had anything to do with Alchestrin or the Banewarrens,” Tor said.

Tee frowned. While the others replaced the lid of the sarcophagus (not wishing to disturb the rest of a knight), Tee began a scouring search of the small crypt that lasted for the better part of an hour.

But, in the end, she found nothing.

“I don’t get it,” Elestra said. “Why would Lord Zavere send us here?”

“I think I have the answer,” Ranthir said, coming back down the stairs from above. “The stones on which Alchestrin’s sigil is marked are stone sarsens – originally designed as part of a stone circle. They must have been scavenged to build the walls of this crypt.”

“Then how are we going to find the actual crypt?” Tee asked. “Would there be any records kept?”

“I don’t know.”

But now the sun was getting low in the sky. If they were going to escape the Necropolis before night fell, they would have to leave now. Uncertain of what their next action should be, they headed for the gate.

Running the Campaign: Missing the Obvious – Campaign Journal: Session 37A
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

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In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 36C: Hunting the Hunters

April 3rd, 2024

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

SESSION 36C: HUNTING THE HUNTERS

January 24th, 2009
The 19th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

Newspaper Masthead: Midtown Crier

CATCHING THE HUNTER’S SCENT

While the others had gone to Mahdoth’s and the Hammersong Vaults, Elestra had been walking the streets of Oldtown. Two stories were competing among the newssheets, the rumor-mongers, and the tavern-hangers. Headlines proclaiming “Blood in the Bathhouse” and the like led stories relating to the events in the Row Bathhouse, while “Vile Rites Performed in Oldtown” spoke of what the City Watch had discovered in the Oldtown apartment complex used by the cultists.

Their involvement in both affairs were not the subject of wagging tongues, but there were other whispers circling through the city: People were asking all over town for “Laurea” (the pseudonym Tee had used with the cultists).

It was nearing the time when they would need to refresh the alarm they had placed on the door in the Banewarrens. Ranthir volunteered to do so and remain behind, freeing Elestra to return to the Ghostly Minstrel with the others.

On the way, they returned the golden key to Tee’s vault and stopped by the Temple of Asche to relieve the en it had placed on her soul. When they reached Delver’s Square, Tee let the others head into the inn ahead of her while she went down into the Undermarket to check in with the Delver’s Guild. There she found waiting for her a message to “Laurea” from the cultists:

YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE IN KIND.

Grimacing, Tee went to join the others in Ghostly Minstrel. But even there they discovered that Iltumar had been asking around the common room earlier that day for “Laurea”.

“Oh, Iltumar…” Tee murmured.

HUNTING THE HUNTERS

They needed to deal with this before it got out of hand. The good news, at least, was that Tee’s true identity hadn’t been discovered. At least not yet. But they feared it was only a matter of time. “They’ve got descriptions for all of us,” as Elestra put it.

They headed back up to Oldtown and gathered Ranthir from the Nibeck Street mansion. From there they retraced Elestra’s steps, rapidly tracking the query-laden trail of the cultists who had been asking after “Laurea”.

They caught up with them in the Boiling Pot, a small tavern in the southern end of Oldtown. There were five of the cultists – easily picked out from the crowd by their prominent tattoos depicting black hands. Each also appeared to be marked by some horrible deformity or mutation. They were scattered throughout the crowd, asking their questions.

Tor and Tee, having barely stepped through the door, turned to look at each other – forming a plan of action in less than a glance. They split off from the others (who were left somewhat confused near the door). Tor headed into the crowd, quietly warning people that they should leave. Tee, meanwhile, palmed a dagger and headed towards a cultist who was draped over the bar, favoring a hideously twisted arm.

Tee tried to strike up a conversation with the cultist at the bar, trying to get some sense of whether the cultists were still asking after “Laurea” or if they had some inkling that it was a false identity.

Tor’s ministrations, however, didn’t go unnoticed. One of the cultists, seeing what he was doing, started crossing the tavern towards him. As the cultist’s hand landed on Tor’s shoulder, however, Tee sprung into her action – her palmed dagger easily gutted the cultist in front of her.

Confusion instantly exploded from one side of the tavern to the other. Two more cultists rushed her from either side, but Tee slit the throat of one while drawing her rapier to run the other through.

Tor meanwhile had drawn his own blade with preternatural speed and leveled it at the throat of the cultist who had approached him (taking advantage of the confusion Tee had created on the other side of the room). “Yield.”

The cultist went for his sword and Tor cut open his throat. The last cultist came running up behind him and was almost instantly cut him down as well.

The entire blood-soaking confrontation had taken only seconds.

Tor turned to face the remaining patrons, who were mostly frozen in shock. “Sorry about that. We were hoping to get you out of here before what needed to happen happened.”

The bartender was incensed. “Who’s going to clean up all this blood?!”

Tee dropped ten gold pieces onto the bar.

The bartender immediately scooped them up. “I’m going to clean up this blood… Now if you wouldn’t mind leaving before the watch shows up.”

Tee quickly had Ranthir write a note (using his great skill with pen and ink to scribe it in a different hand):

PAYMENT NOT NECESSARY.

Using a common dagger, she fastened it crudely to one of the dead cultist thugs.

Running the Campaign: Group Chemistry – Campaign Journal: Session 36D
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

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In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 36A: The Knighting of Tor

March 21st, 2024

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

SESSION 36A: THE KNIGHTING OF TOR

January 24th, 2009
The 19th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

Going downstairs, Ranthir discovered that he had overslept – it was now midmorning on the 19^th. Tellith had yet another letter for them, this one having arrived earlier that morning.

NOTE FROM ZAVERE

I have at least some of the information you requested. Attend me at Castle Shard at your leisure.

– Zavere

He returned to the others, who were still awaiting his return in the antechamber of the Banewarrens. While Elestra refreshed the alarm spell on the sealed door, they discussed their plans for the day: They gave up on the idea of tracing the teleport (concluding that too much time had passed for a useful pursuit to be raised), but they still needed to follow up on the letters from both Zavere and Mahdoth’s Asylum. And, of course, Tor was to be knighted.

They decided to split up.

THE KNIGHTING OF TOR

The Godskeep

Tor left the others and rode Blue to the Cathedral of Athor. There, at the doors of the church, he was met by Sir Gemmell. From the Cathedral he was taken to the Godskeep and through its double-gates.

A pavilion had been raised in the square north of the Godskeep. Twenty red-sashed members of the Order had been gathered in two flanking ranks, facing a raised dais onto which Gemmell and Tor emerged. The knights raised their swords in salute, and kept them raised.

Atop the western and eastern towers of the Godskeep stood the great statues of Athor the Father and Crissa the Mother. With the knights of the Order saluting him, Tor watched as priests poured holy water across the feet of the twin statues. This water passed down through channels crafted into the bas reliefs upon the northern wall of the Godskeep and caught in vessels of the true silver, mithril.

Into these vessels were first dipped cups of the true gold, taurum, and these were brought forth.

Sir Gemmell gestured for Tor to kneel. “Squire, will you take the oaths?”

“I will.”

Sir Gemmell dipped his fingers into the water touched by the Father and upon Tor’s brow drew the sign of the Knight’s Cross.

May my purpose be governed by the wisdom of Athor, Father of All Things.

Tor repeated the oath as it was said to him.

Sir Gemmell dipped his fingers into the second cup and drew the Arms of the Mother, Crissa’s holy ankh.

May my service be shaped by the compassion of Crissa, Mother of All Things.

The twin vessels of mithril were taken to the statues of the other gods, and some slight amount of it poured over their feet and into similar cups of taurum. And these, too, were brought forth.

The Sword and Chalice…

May my blade be guided by the honor of Itor, Warrior Unparred.

The Daggered Cross…

May my mind be honed by the cunning of Itehl, that my sight never be clouded.

The Wheel of Night…

May my heart be opened by Sarathyn, that my actions be true.

The Wheel of Light…

May my life be blessed by Sayl, that my service may be long.

The Crescent Moon…

May my soul be resonant with the touch of Tohlen, that my works may nurture.

The Eye of the Veil…

May my fate be true to the will of Bahl, that I take no life in vain.

And in this way, Tor did service upon the Eight Stations and swore the Eight Oaths. The gathered knights lowered their blades and Sir Gemmell laid his own blade upon Tor’s shoulders.

“Rise, Sir Torland.”

A procession was then formed, led by the priests and followed by Sir Gemmell and Sir Tor. They passed through the gates of the Godskeep and then into the inner passages. Tor was guided by a secret way into the basement of the keep itself, and there taken to a chamber where the Statue of Vehthyl stood.

Here the last of the water from the cups of mithril were washed across the feet of Vehthyl and into a final cup of taurum. And from this Tor drank deep.

May I be held worthy in the eyes of silver mastery, that my path may stand as one with those of the Nine Gods and the Church Which Is Their Voice.

And from the wall Sir Gemmell drew down the Sword of the Order and approached Tor to perform the True Knighting.

But as he did, a figure appeared from out of the shadows. “I would be honored if you would allow me to finish this ceremony, Sir Gemmell.”

It was Rehobath. Sir Gemmell yielded the sword to him, and Rehobath placed the blade lightly upon Tor’s shoulders.

When Tor had risen once more, Rehobath smiled at him. “Sir Torland, I am glad to see the ranks of the Order so quickly refreshed. The treason of Sir Kabel has hurt us grievously, and it is good to see one of those wounds begin to heal.”

“Thank you, milord.”

“If there is any favor that I might do for you, name it.”

“There is one thing,” Tor said hesitantly. “I would like my daughters to know that I have been knighted. If word could be sent to them…”

“I will see to it.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, I know that both you and the Chosen of Vehthyl are busy about the business of the Church. And so I shall let you return to it.”

Rehobath left. And after Sir Gemmell and several of the other knights assembled had given him their own congratulations, Tor left as well.

THE THIRD LORD OF CASTLE SHARD

The others, meanwhile, had headed up to Castle Shard. Kadmus, of course, was waiting for them at the end of the drawbridge when they arrived. As they passed through the entry hall, they saw that the bas reliefs had changed once again. They now depicted, on one side, squat figures bearing a heavy boulder and, on the opposite side, winged figures chained to a boulder by chains.

“That’s ominous,” Tee said.

But Lord Zavere greeted them with his familiar smile.

“Have you had any luck questioning Tavan Zith?” Tee asked.

“No,” Zavere said. “He remains quite mad. And uncooperative.”

But Zavere had looked through the archives of the Castle for information on the Banewarrens. Like Jevicca, he told them about Alchestrin, who had once been the Third Lord of Castle Shard. “He became obsessed with the hidden secrets of the Spire and bent all the power of the Shard towards discovering its secrets.

“Unfortunately,” Zavere went on to say, “Most of the actual lorebooks and artifacts he collected are missing from the archives. It’s possible, given the… poor circumstances under which he left the Castle, that he took these resources with him.

“I know little of Alchestrin’s fate after he left the Castle. But I do know that his tomb is located in the Necropolis, somewhere on Darklock Hill. It’s reputedly a rather large complex, but I have no record of where it might lie precisely. However, it would have been marked with Alchestrin’s sigil.”

Alchestrin's Sigil

Running the Campaign: Using Rituals – Campaign Journal: Session 36B
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

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