Chapter One – Message from the Past

Over the next few days, we get a much deserved respite from our recent adventures. We spend some time selling the items we’d procured, and turning our profits into new items. I trade my weapons in for some solid Dwarvish-made weapons: a Dwarven long-hammer and two maul-axes. Oddly, though, one of my throwing axes disappeared before I could sell it. I inquire with Das Korvut at the smithy about this, but he tells me hasn’t seen it. All I can figure is that I must have dropped it on the way back from Thistletop.

After upgrading my weapons, I search around for some better crafting tools, discovering a set at the local locksmith. The fellow who runs the joint is a shifty Dwarf who goes by the name of Volioker Briskalbeard. As we exchange tools (my old, worn set for his newer, sturdier one), he sees me eyeing his many keys hanging on the back wall, then winks at me knowingly and states, “I also make all the locks in town.” I smile back at him, but decline to comment on it, instead making a mental note to bar the door to my room at night. Later, I return to Hagfish Tavern but I am again defeated by the disgusting Norah, so as it turns out I didn’t need to lock my door since I ended up on the beach once more.

I spend the next morning recovering from my second encounter with Norah then meet the others for lunch at the Rusty Dragon. Devin states he has done some research about Barghests. Apparently, these creatures feed on innocent while on the Material Plane. Being trapped for Torag knows how long, Malfeshnekor likely went mad from hunger. Philippe went to Chask’s bookstore where he spoke to both Chask himself and Cyrdak Drokkus, a flamboyant character who manages the theater. He asked about Thassilonian history, but neither had much to offer.

Ash discovered a talktative old man, the local historian apparently, named Brodert Quink.

“He seems to think this Sihedron Rune, as he calls it, represents the seven virtues of rule,” she says as she tosses the 7-pointed star we found below Thistletop onto the table. “Of course, he also said there are many who think it represents the seven deadly sins.”

I pick it up to take a closer look, but can make nothing more of it. “Perhaps it’s both,” I say and put it back down.

“Did this Brodert Quink have anything else to say,” Devin asks.

Ash shrugged. “Only that he believes the lighthouse is a remnant of ancient Thassilon. He’s been studying it for some time, and seems quite convinced. He also seems a little cooky,”

“You’d believe it too, if you’d’a seen it!” a man from across the bar shouts as he rises shakily to his feet. His words are slurred and his balance unsteady. “As big as a dragon, it were!”

“T’were not!” calls out another man eliciting a round of laughter at the first man’s expense.

“Bah!” says the first man. He gestures dismissively at no one in particular then begins to stumble toward the door. His path takes him directly past our table, and as his eyes fall upon us I see a glimmer of recognition.

“You! You’re the heroes of Sandpoint, ain’t ya?” He doesn’t wait for a response before continuing. “There’s a beast out in those fields.” His eyes go wide, almost sparkling in the light of the hanging lanterns that adorn the tavern. “Body of a horse, wings of a bat, and the tail of a serpent.”

He begins mimicking someone creeping through the darkness. “It only comes out at night, and only to feast on the sheep. It doesn’t attack goats,” he says, a conspiratorial look in his eye. “Some say it’s part goat, too.”

“Oh, go on!” someone shouts at him. “Leave them alone, Larz.”

Larz straightens up and glowers around the room with indignance. “It’s true, I say. I seen it with me own eyes. It’s the Sandpoint Devil or my name ain’t Larz Rovanky.”

“More like Larz Romonkey,” someone murmers. The crowd laughs.

Larz huffs, then turns around a few times until he finds the door and stumbles his way out into the night.

“A strange fellow,” I remark between sips of mead.

“Don’t go paying him any mind,” a familiar voice from behind me causes me to start and spill some of my drink.

I turn to look up at Shalelu with a scowl. “Now see what ye made me do?”

She smiles apologetically, “you can suck it out of your beard later when you run out.”

I pause for a moment, dumbfounded by her vocal jab, then laugh heartily and raise a toast to her. “Nice to see you do have a sense of humor after all, lass.”

“I’m no lass, Dwarf. I’m older than you.”

I shrug and finish off my mead before giving careful consideration to her suggestion.

Shalelu turns to address the whole table. “Sheriff Hemlock and Mayor Deverin would like us to return to Thistletop tomorrow. There appears to be a strange magical illusion repeating some kind of message . They’re hoping we can shed some light on it.”

“We’ll be there,” Philippe says.

— to do —

The next day we return to Thistletop to try and understand the illusion we discovered previously. Devin casts Comprehend Languages on himself, and manages to translate the speech. It turns out to be a fragmented sentence on repeat “…is upon us, but I command you remain. Witness my power, how Alaznist’s petty wrath is but a flash compared to my strength. Take my final work to your graves, and let its memory be the last thing you…” It appears to us that the man depicted in the illusion is, or was, communicating with someone stationed here from far away, though who he or Alaznist may be is unclear.

Upon returning to Sandpoint, the mayor finds us and urgently requests we meet with Sheriff Hemlock. The sheriff informs us of a gruesome murder that took place at the sawmill. There were two victims, Banny Harker, the miller, and a woman named Katrine Vinder, the sister of Shayliss (who I’m now being told is who seduced Devin the night before he ended up on the beach) and daughter of Ven Vinder (the man who put Devin on the beach). Ibor Thorn, who operates the mill, discovered the bodies that morning. It was the second set of murders this week, with the first being a trio of con men outside of town. Sheriff Hemlock hands me a note left on Banny that was addressed to me. I open it and read it aloud, “I do as you command, master! — Your Lordship”. I stare at the note for a minute, then look up to see the others staring, almost accusingly, at me. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, I shrug and place the note in my pocket.

It is getting on towards evening and we are tired from our trek to Thistletop, but given the urgency of the situation we head over to the mill to investigate the scene. There is a large crowd around the mill, and the nervous energy they exude is briefly replaced with cautious excitement as we approach. We have a brief discussion with a few of the townsfolk, and they tell us the mill is very loud and was running throughout the night. Any screams would have been drowned out by the noise of the mill. We step up to the door, where two guards remain stationed. They nod silently as we approach, but do not attempt to block our entry. There is no sign of forced entry.

We open the door, and inside we see signs of a desperate struggle and a nasty stench. The mangled remains on the lower floor appear to have been run through the mill, and are likely the remains of Katrine. We tear off pieces of cloth from our clothes to cover our mouths before we enter. Stepping through the gruesome scene, we head upstairs to find the second body, that of Banny Harker, nailed to the wall. He is missing his lower jaw, and a Sihedron rune is carved into his chest. A gore-covered axe lays a few feet away next to a lone set of footprints leading to a window at the back of the mill. The axe is caked in rotting meat and bone fragments, and stinks of rotting meat. The footprints are those of a bare-footed human. Ash and I follow the tracks to the window and look out to see a small pier a level below. We head out the back and discover entered the mill by clambering up the wall from the pier to the window above. The footprints disappear into the water at the end of the pier.

We consider checking out the area across the water, but decide to wait until morning, and after a bit more examination of the murder scene, we return to the sheriff. He tells us more about the first murder. The three men (Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe) were from Galderia, and were killed in an abandoned barn along a river. They were lured there by a note from “Your Lordship” that proposed a lucrative business venture. They each had runes carved on their chests, like Harker. Their bodyguard, Grayst Sevilla, survived but has been brought to Habes Sanatorium on account of insanity. He also informs us that Banny and Katrine were lovers. He has Katrine’s father in custody, so we try to talk to him, but when he sees me he becomes too upset to talk. Considering I’ve never seen him, I find this quite odd.

The next day, we split up. Philippe and I headed off to investigate the far side of the river, searching for tracks in the marsh. After some searching around, we find a dry spot across from the mill that shows tracks leading to and from the river. The area is hidden by low banks of nettles, and is a prime location for spying on the mill. Later, we brought Shalelu there and she told us the tracks suggested a creature larger and stronger than a regular human, perhaps supernatural in nature. Between that and the stench of rotten meat surrounding the tracks themselves, we surmise the creature may be undead.

Meanwhile, Devin and Ash went to see Shayliss to try and find out more about Katrine’s involvement. Devin didn’t want to go alone due to concerns she would attempt to seduce him again, but Ash waited outside figuring she might be more open to talk to Devin if they were alone. Shayliss told Devin that Banny Harker had been cooking the books to get back at the Scarnettis who owned the mill. The Scarnettis are a local source of villainy, racketeering and hired thugs. There was concern the Scarnettis may have found out about Banny’s bookkeeping, but no proof. Katrine was helping with the books, and Shayliss was also benefitting from it. Devin then extracted himself before things got too intense.

Later, as a group, we visit the curiosity boutique owner, Hayliss Korvaski upon Ash’s suggestion. She tells us that the Skarnettis are corrupt and hire thugs to collect protection money, but they are also one of the founding families of Sandpoint. The three murdered con men were associated with them.

From there, we decide to investigate the barn where the con men were murdered, but we find it burned to the ground. I do find some old footprints similar to those from the mill near the river, but there doesn’t seem to be any further evidence, so we continue on to the Sanatorium. We approach the three-story building in the afternoon, and head straight to the front door. Two hulking, if dim-witted, orderlies answer the door and admit us. One heads off to fetch Erin Habe, the doctor. We attempt conversation with the remaining orderly, but he just stands there staring dumbly at us while blocking he door.

Erin arrives, and he seems nervous, eager for us to leave. After a brief discussion, he retrieves Grayst for us. Grayst is pale and does not look well. Erin explains he is suffering from ghoul fever in addition to insanity. He is rambling nonsense words such as “too many teeth”, “razors”, and “the Skinsaw man is coming”, but when he see me, he suddenly stops, and speaks the following: “He said….he said you would visit me. His Lordship. The one that unmade me said so. He has a place for you. A precious place. I’m so jealous. He has a message for you. He made me remember it. I hope I haven’t forgotten. The master wouldn’t approve if I forgot. Let me see… let… me… see… The master said that the bodies you are finding are signs and portents, that when he is done, you shall be remembered forever and the misgivings shall be your throne!”. Before I can ask what he’s talking about, he breaks free of his bonds and attacks. Never one to be taken completely off-guard, I quickly respond with a blow to the head from my hammer, and he is knocked unconscious. Erin is furious with us, and he has his orderlies escort us out. I’m prepared to attack them, but Devin strongly suggests we comply.

So we leave, but I cannot shake the feeling that something more is going on here. As we are heading back to town, we spot a farmhouse a short ways up the road, and it being late, I suggest we stop in to see if there’s anything they can tell us. The others agree, and the family there recognizes us as the “Heroes of Sandpoint”, welcome us in, and offer us dinner. We graciously accept, and have a pleasant conversation with them. Devin notices a small statue that resembles the larger one we saw off the north coast on our way to Thistletop. They tell us it is of Ylimancha, an Agathion lord. After sundown, I convince the others that we should return to the Sanitorium to investigate. Devin protests, but both Ash and Philippe agree something fishy was going on, so we head back.

Under the cover of darkness and heavy winds, Ash sneaks up on to the wooden veranda, and makes her way to a secondary door further back of the Sanitorium. She picks the lock and sneaks inside. After seeing that no guards are about, she beckons us in. The Veranda creaks under my weight, but fortunately the wind picks up at that moment, drowning out the sound. We make our way through the entryway and into a workroom where we find three tables. A door on the right appears to head upstairs, and one further along that same wall has been left slightly ajar. Ash sneaks over and peaks in, then indicates it leads to a basement. Three other doors lead to bedrooms and a storage closet. Ash heads off down the hall to make sure there is nothing else of interest. Suddenly, bursting through the door leading upstairs comes a human-like rat wielding a scimitar. Devin shouts for us to leave the rat alone, but it attacks me, seeming to ignore the others. Devin curses under his breath something about us invading this creature’s home, but then four zombies stumble out of the basement door. Faced with the undead, Devin quickly calls upon his god’s favor and destroys them while Philippe and I deal with the rat. Ash returns just in time to see the zombies turned to dust.

Session 8 – Revenge of the Scarecrows

Shortly after the rat-creature is killed, Phillipe examines a cut on his arm then promptly passes out. We’re not sure what to make of this, but his pulse is strong, so we drag him into one of the bedrooms and close the door before heading downstairs. In the basement, there is a laboratory of sorts, with two bodies draped in sheets laid out on slabs and various surgical tools about. I cover my mouth with another torn piece of cloth, and head in first, carefully edging past one of the bodies to a nearby door covered in blood and gore. There is a lock on the door, but it was left slightly ajar, so I open the door to reveal a blood and gore-stained closet. It seems likely the four zombies were held here until they were sent upstairs. I turn back to the others and point towards the only other door leading out of this room to indicate it is likely someone is in there. As I begin to head around the tables, I catch a glimpse of something moving under the sheet. I point to Ash, and indicate she should move up and remove the sheet while I ready my hammer. She does so, but it only reveals the body, preserved and lifeless, of an old farmer. We move past the first table, preparing to uncover the second body when the far door suddenly bursts open and a foul-smelling green mist flows into the room.

The noxious fumes are no match for my Dwarven constitution, but Devin and Ash are forced to retreat. I rush forward to confront our unseen assailant. The room beyond is equally filled with mist, and an older man stands in the middle finishing another spell. Suddenly multiple versions of himself appear around him. Forced into close-combat tactics, I struggle to fight effectively against the wizard, but the man is equally challenged. Just as things seem to be locked in a perpetual stalemate, Philippe comes charging into the room. Together, we take down the wizard, but we leave him alive for further questioning back at Sandpoint. Once the mist clears, we see that this room has no other exits, so we had back into his laboratory. Rummaging through his belongings, we discover his name is Caizarlu Zerrren. We find several parchments and maps of the Sandpoint hinterlands with markings that seem to be tracking ghoul activity and note an increase in the southern part near Foxglove River. There is also a journal about patients and a note about how a ghoulish source had recently risen to prominence.

We head upstairs, leave Caizarlu tied up in a secure room, and proceed to the second level. Using a key we found on Caizarlu, we unlock the door at the top of the stairs. It leads to a cell-block where one blind, old farmer is hooting and another appears to have a tenacious grip on life. The key opens another door up the next set of stairs. One of the cells up here holds Grayst, who is thrashing about and pointing at me while rambling nonsense. Another cell smells of rat, and beyond the cells we find a room with the orderlies. After a brief attempt to negotiate with them, Ash and I attack and knock them unconscious. Searching the area, we find a secret panel that slides aside to reveal Erin Habe cowering in a small room. We retrieve him, round up the rest of the people in the Sanatorium and head back to Sandpoint.

Upon our return, we head to the sheriff’s office to hand over the prisoners and inform the sheriff of our findings. Maester Grump, a local farmer, is there explaining that he and several others went to the Hambley farm to investigate a situation involving “walking scarecrows”. Only Grump returned. We agree to head there ourselves to investigate, and the sheriff decides to send four guards with us:

• Eugeni Scarnetti, a cheerful fellow with a wide mouth and a dull look in his eyes
• Kazar Lint, who seems eager, but keeps repeating that he hopes we see angels, so he might be insane
• Carmina Raxton, the youngest of the group, is distant and spend a lot of time picking her teeth
• Old Nurm, an elderly man of Taldan descent with huge sideburns who happily proclaims himself to have once been an artist

I am uninspired by the group, but Sheriff Hemlock insists, so we take them along hoping they don’t get themselves killed.

We pass by other farms on the way that have been deserted, and what few farmes we do come across keep bringing up the “mis-givings” at Foxglove Manor. When we finally arrive at Hambley Farm , the first thing we come upon is a scarecrow at a crossing in the fields. Remembering what Maester Grump said, we decide to investigate it. Philippe starts by throwing a rock at it and Nurm pokes it, but it does not react, so we move on. At the next juncture, we find a group of three scarecrows. Still unsure of what we’re dealing with, we remain cautious. As I approach one of the scarecrows, a second one leaps off its perch at me, slashing at me with its claws. The third groans loudly, causing Ash to sling a bullet at it from her staff-sling. Just as the first scarecrow begins to leap down, Devin channels divine energy, blasting both scarecrows to dust. We check on the third that Ash struck, only to discover that the person inside was still alive. Ash blushes, and apologizes, but Devin suggests he was likely doomed anyway as his case of ghoul fever was quite advanced.

We come to another scarecrow, and upon examining it we find he is still alive. We cut him down, and give him food and water. He explains he is a stable boy, and we promise to return for him. We discuss what we’ve seen, and determine that these people were local farmers being strung up as scarecrows and given ghoul sickness. Once they die, they turn into ghouls. As we continue to wind our way through the fields, hoping to find the farmstead, we encounter more scarecrows, killing those that attack us. Myself and Nurm get bitten by one of them, but Devin doesn’t think we contracted anything. A final scarecrow is covered in blood, but turns out to just be an actual scarecrow.

Finally, we reach the homestead and barn. I suggest we investigate the barn first, and as we approach, six ghouls leap out and attack us. We work to dispatch them, but more come in from the surrounding farmland. After a seemingly endless assault of scarecrows, we finally defeat all of them but I was bitten a second time with both Devin and Philippe also getting bitten. There is no time to examine the wounds, though, for the main house remains.

We quickly head up to the house, and we are greeted with a foul and sickening stench upon opening the door. A larger, more grotesque ghoul, likely a ghast, emerges and assaults us. Carmina gasps, and yells “Its Rogors Craesby!” Ignoring the stench, I strike quickly at the creature. The others pounce as well, and we quickly dispatch the creature. Carmina then explains that he was the caretaker of Foxglove Manor. I search his body and find a key to the manor in his possessions. Inside the house, we find the body of farmer Hambley with a Sihedron symbol carved on his chest and addressed to me:

The four guards traveling with us stare at me with suspicion. I snarl and growl at them, “Look, I have no idea what’s going on. This must be some kind of sick joke.” They head back out of the house hurriedly. The others laugh at me while I grumble and head off to search the rest of the house. In the master bedroom, I find a loose floorboard hiding a coffer containing many pouches of silver pieces, but there isn’t anything else of interest. We decide to send the four guards back to town, along with the stable boy and enough silver pieces to pay for Father Zantus to cure him. We then spent the night at the nearby Bilsby Farm, and while there gather some information about Foxglove Manor. A tragedy struck, decades ago, at the manor, and it has since been abandoned. Voral Foxglove died of disease. His son, Traver murdered his own wife and committed suicide. Their children, including Aldern whom the party saved in the goblin attacks on the town, were sent to Magnimar. They believe Aldern has returned to the manor, which was previously cared for by Rogors Craesby.

The family offers us the barn to sleep in that night, and we accept. Ash wakes me during her watch and explains that she saw a strange light and heard the sound of hooves scraping on the roof. We head outside, where I help Ash climb onto the roof. After disappearing over the edge for a moment, she returns and explains there are some broken boards that may indicate recent animal activity. Rumors of a strange, bat-winged creature and the stories of the Sandpoint Devil spring to mind, but if anything was up there, it is gone now. Ash climbs back down and we go back inside.

In the morning, we enjoy a quick breakfast courtesy of the Bilsby family, then head out towards Foxglove Manor. We travel along a narrow path that follows the Foxglove River. A few sea birds circle the sky above us, calling to the sea as we travel along. As we approach the manor, however, things change. The ground becomes thick with thorn bushes, and the trees are bare of leaves. As the manor looms into view around a corner, the cold sea wind howls in our ears. The manor is dark and twisted, and the roof sags in several places. Strangling vines climb the walls of the place, rapping upon the windows as if seeking some kind of prey inside. The burnt out remnants of an out-building darken the mood even further. To the east, a stone well is partially collapsed. We move to investigate it, and Ash drops a stone down. After a moment, we hear the splash echo back, and we estimate it to be about 80′ deep. All around us, sickly ravens perch high on the branches, cawing at us. A few attempt to fly, but do so clumsily. Its unclear if its their own inefficiencies or the prevailing strong winds. The house itself has two entrances, the front door and a side door, as well as plenty of boarded up windows. We cautiously approach the side door, weapons drawn, ears and eyes searching for signs of danger. I try the handle, but its locked, so I take the key found on Craesby’s body, and insert it. It fits perfectly, and I open the door.

Session 9 – The Misgivings

We enter the mansion through the side door. The doors are rotten, and hard to open. Inside, it is dark, but my eyes quickly adjust. I can see an oblong chamber with a grand piano in one corner and a fireplace along the wall to the right. A branch scrapes against the thick window pane, adding to the eeriness of the place. Devin casts light upon Ash’s staff, vanquishing the dark. Once my eyes adjust, I decide to investigate the fireplace. As I approach, I can hear the flapping of wings echo down the shaft. The sound is ominous, but I stick my head in and peer up the shaft, but whatever is causing the sound is too far for me to see. Philippe is standing in the doorway keeping the door from closing, so I look around for something to jam the door with. The piano appears to be in some disrepair, but all the keys are present, though in incorrect position. The bench seems solid enough, so I reach for that, and upon touching the seat, the piano starts to play. I jump back, startled, then glance back to see if the others saw what I saw. Devin, though, is not looking at the piano. Instead he is staring at Ash, who has suddenly begun to dance, but the look on her face suggests it was not her decision and she seems incapable of stopping. Thinking quick, I pull out my hammer and try to smash the piano. Piano pieces fly everywhere, but the music doesn’t stop. I smash it again, splitting the piano in two, but again the music continues. Philippe and Devin remain motionless, seemingly entranced by Ash’s dance. Her face has become peaked, so I abandon the plan to smash the piano and instead throw down my hammer and grab Ash. My action seems to break whatever enchantment had befallen her for she finally stops her dancing. Devin seems to finally break from his trance as well, and as the music stops we are able to catch our breaths. As I turn to check on the others, though, I notice Philippe is gone and the door is closed. After making sure Ash is ok, I head over to the doorway. The area on the floow where Philippe had been standing is now moldy, which is something I hadn’t noticed before. I scrape the mold with my axe, and its stains the axe head of my maulaxe. The door itself has swelled in place, and is now stuck in place. I grumble, already sick of this place.

There are two doors, one is damp, the other rotten. I move to the damp door and open it to reveal a washroom. Inside the tub is some kind of weird shrieking rat. I take out my frustrations my smashing the creature with my hammer. The shrieking ends, and suddenly I feel a little bit better. There is a second door leading out of this room, but we decide to check out the rotting door first, which turns out to be stuck. I take my hammer and smash the door, spraying green goop everywhere, particularly on Devin who was standing just a bit too close. While Devin attempts to clean himself off, I ignore the goo and peer into the darkness beyond the door. A corridor that runs adjacent to the washroom, exposing the other side of the second door we saw earlier. A door lies immediately to the right inside the corridor and a third door lies at the far end. We open the closest door to find the main hall where many strange animals are on display, including a large manticore in the middle. The room smells damp, and everything is stained with mold. While standing in the hall, I hear scratching in the washroom that sounds distinctly like that of a rat. No one else seems to hear it, so I choose to ignore the sound and we continue to the end of the corridor. The handle on this door is cold to the touch, but Ash opens it. Beyond is a lounge with a couch covered in white sheets of wispy fungus. Despite an absence of airflow, dust swirls along the floorboards near the fireplace. Ash touches her hand to the floor, and reports she can feel vibrations in the floor as though someone were walking here, though certainly we see no one.

I pull out an axe and step towards the fireplace, expecting to confront an invisible opponent. Suddenly, I experience a brief flash of memory – a woman’s memory filled with worry about what her husband might be doing on those late nights spent in the basement. I become convinced that Ash is my daughter, and that I must get her out of the house immediately. I replace the axe at my waist, and grab hold of Ash with both arms, lifting her bodily off the ground. “We must get her out of here!” I announce to Devin, who seems taken aback by my sudden outburst but is only too eager to comply. He rushes back down the corridor, leading the way. Knowing the way we came in is stuck fast, he turns into the main hall at the end of the corridor. Suddenly, he screams in fright, and falls to the ground flailing about as if he were on fire. Ash squirms out of my grip and rushes to help Devin. Intent on protecting her, I rush forward, standing protectively over her and peering into the main hall. I see nothing that could have attacked Devin, and just as suddenly as the urge came over me, the feeling to rescue Ash fades. Devin gathers his wits, realizing that he is not, in fact, on fire. He insists that the manticore spewed a gout of flame towards him when he ran into the room, but both Ash and I peer at him uncertainly. The manticore seems no more capable of spewing flame than it does strolling out the front door.

We return to the lounge rather than facing the risk of a fire-breathing manticore. I ask Devin to remain at the first door to make sure it doesn’t close behind us while Ash and I investigate the door at the far end. Aside from the fact that the door is locked from the other side, we discover that the door feels cold to her, but when I touch it it feels the same as any other door. I turn back to tell Devin onlyfind him standing away from the other door. When I question him regarding this curious decision he acts as though he has no idea what I’m talking about. Chalking it up as another oddity of this increasingly strange place, I turn back to the matter at hand. Ash and I work to remove the pins on the hinges, and then I put my shoulder into the door, knocking it down. Beyond the door is a dining room with two fireplaces, several stained glass windows, and a large mahogany table with chairs.

Devin takes a closer look at the windows, which he discovers depict fanciful creatures (one may be necromantic). To the right, a short corridor leads back to the main hall. A moldy rug lies on the floor of this corridor, between two closed doors. Ash moves to a door on the other side of the room. This door leads us to a library where an open book lay on the floor, and a scarf rests neatly on one of the two chairs. A bookend in the shape of an angel with butterfly wings lay in the fireplace. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the scarf move, and suddenly an image appears of Aldern Foxglove wrapping his hands around my throat. I get the sudden sensation that I am Iesha Foxglove, Aldern’s wife, as she was being strangled by her husband, and then all goes dark. I awaken some time later in the dining roo, next to Ash and Devin. I am weakened from the ordeal with the scarf, and the others appear groggy as well. As the others begin to stir, I perform a quick search around the room and discover some tracks on the moldy rug that match Philippe’s boots.

I grab a chair and use it to move the rug, revealing a dark, moldy stain in the shape of a spiral. I step past the moldy section to the door on the right and open it to reveal a staircase leading down. I close the door and return to the others. We estimate it to be morning, so Devin decides to pray for his spells. Not wanting to split the party too much, but wanting to continue my scan of the area, I step past the moldy section of floor and head back towards the main hall, prepared to fight the manticore if need be. The manticore, though, does not attack, so I move towards  a door to the left that just beyond the short hallway. This door leads to a drawing room and a door in the left-hand wall likely leads back to the library. I move towards the curtained window on the opposite wall to take a look outside. When I draw the curtain aside, I catch a the image of a dark, Varisian woman with shiny black hair reflected in the window. The vision passes leaving behind a dark window too covered in mold to see through. I head back out, returning to the dining room, but Ash and Devin are gone. I search the area, but there are no signs of them beyond where I left them. However, the other door in the hall between rooms is open, and beyond is a staircase leading up. I follow them, my footsteps echoing as if someone is following me. At the top, I come to a 10′x10′ landing with a door covered in cobwebs. It appears to not have been opened for a long time, if ever. I search the walls, finding nothing of consequence, before heading back downstairs. On my way back down, I hear the sound of the piano music echoing  in the distance.

Back at the bottom of the stairs, I find a large hole in the floor where I had pushed the rug away. It looks as though someone may have fallen here. Before I can examine it further, a piercing scream emanates from the library. I rush over, fling open the door to, and nearly get blinded by a flash of white I recognize as Devin’s divine power. Once I regain my vision, I see Devin and Ash standing in the room, the scarf lying on the floor between them. I pick up the scarf and toss it into the fireplace, where a fire is rather curiously burning. While Devin and Ash tend to their wounds, I perform a cursory scan of the room, discovering a small pile of flies that have been meticulously placed upon a window sill. I inform the others about the staircase leading up and we decide to investigate what may be beyond the door at the top.

We get to the top and open the door, revealing a hallway with warped floors and awkwardly leaning walls. We cautiously step forward, and stop at the first door we come to. We open the door and enter what appears to be a child’s bedroom complete with a child-sized bed, a chair, and a toy box. A large stone fireplace adorns the far wall. As soon as I enter the room, my senses are assaulted with the vision of my parents attempting to kill one another. My mother wields a torch while my father, whose visage is covered with tumors, threatens with a long knife. I rush forward to try and stop them, but the vision passes. I am left reeling and winded from the vision, though I quickly realize the people I saw were not my own parents, but those of another. I explain to Ash and Devin what I saw, but we can make no meaning of it. We scan the room, finding only some rudimentary drawings that appear to have been made by a child in the fireplace.

The next door we come to leads to a musician’s gallery featuring two padded chairs and a long couch facing a wide alcove lined with stained-glass windows. Each window depicts strange sights, with a large pale scorpion in one, and a gaunt man with a dozen bats flying out of his mouth in another. Another shows a moth with a strange skull-like pattern on its wings. As we are examining the windows, Devin suddenly figures out their meaning, and explains that each window depicts a classic spell component. He points to the window showing a tangle of plants with bell-shaped flowers and indicates the component belladonna. Given the nature of these ingredients, Devin believes they are necromantic in nature, perhaps tied to lich apotheosis formulae. I shudder, finding the image of a young maiden straddling a well while a spider descends behind her particularly unnerving.

Across the hall from this room lies another set of double doors. We open them to reveal an art gallery.  Paintings covered with a thick sheet of dusty cobwebs line the walls on either side. We brush aside the cobwebs to reveal portraits of several members of the Foxglove family. Name plates reveal who they are, and their relation to others.

On the north wall we see:

• Vorel Foxglove: A clean-shaven middle-aged man with a nobleman’s clothes
• Kasanda Foxglove: A stern-faced brunette; Vorel’s wife
• Lorey Foxglove: Vorel and Kasanda’s daughter

I recognize Vorel and Kasanda as the couple I saw in the child’s bedroom attempting to kill each other. It seems likely that I viewed them as Lorey may have once upon a time.

On the south wall:

• Traver Foxglove: A tall thin man with a thin mustache who looks a bit like Vorel
• Cyralie Foxglove: A red-headed woman; Traver’s wife
• Aldern Foxglove: Traver and Cyralie’s son
• Sendeli Foxglove: Aldern’s sister
• Zeeva Foxglove: Aldern’s sister

None of the portraits resemble the dark Varisian woman I saw in the window downstairs.

Suddenly, the room becomes cold, and the portraits begin to change. Vorel’s explodes with fungus, filling the room with rot and decay. Kasanda and Lorey turn into slumping, tumor-filled and misshapen corpses. A long cut opens in Traver’s throat, and his skin turns pale. Cyralie blackens and chars, and her body twists as if broken in a dozen places. Aldern flesh darkens with rot, and his hair falls out. Only Sendeli and Zeeva’s portraits remain unchanged. We quickly exit the room, back into the winding corridor.

Putting together some of the visions we have seen, we get the feeling that Cyralie was probably the one who burned down the out-building, and probably attempted to burn down the manor as well. Given how things have gone so far, we are inclined to agree with that particular course of action. Still, there’s the matter of locating the killer of Sandpoint, so we continue on. The next door is covered in with a spiral of mold. The bedroom beyond was likewise immersed in mold. As we are peering into the room, I feel my face begin to itch. As I go to scratch it, I see Devin doing likewise, but Ash is just staring at us in confusion. Our faces appear to erupt in boils and tumors, but given Ash’s (lack of) reaction we quickly ascertain it is likely just another illusion.

The next room we come to is another washroom with another shrieking rat. Glad to finally confront something that is actually real, I stride into the room prepared to smash the creature into oblivion. The house, though, has other ideas, as the floor falls out from beneath my feet. Both myself and the tub fall to the floor below, which happens to be the other washroom. The tub smashes into its mate, and the rat scurries out. I quickly jump to my feet and smash the rat into a squishy mess. With no easy way to climb back up to the room above, I run back through the house and up the steps, but when I get back to where I left Devin and Ash, they are gone. There are no signs of their departure, so I sit and wait, hoping to hear them.

An hour passes with no sign of my companions, so I decide to continue exploring in the hopes that I come upon some sign of them. I approach the next door, and open it to reveal a once-master bedroom. The furniture has been smashed, the mattresses torn apart, and several paintings lay it tattered ruin. The walls are covered in slash marks, most likely made by a sharp knife. One painting, however, remains undisturbed but facing the wall. A quick examination of he destruction suggests no recent activity despite the clear signs of struggle. Not wanting to disturb things further, I exit the room and peer down to the end of the corridor. There, I see Devin and Ash standing at a closed door, but the sight of Ash sends me into a sudden uncontrollable fury. I charge to attack my halfling companion, but fortunately she is able to turn aside my assault just enough to avoid serious damage. Devin, thinking quickly, unleashes his divine power which removes my fury just as suddenly as it appeared. I quickly apologize to Ash, and check her for injuries. She appears to be no worse off than before, and, given the nature of this place, is willing to forgive and forget the incident.

After explaining that they never actually left the area by the washroom until just a few moments ago, we all shake our head in disbelief and return our focus to the door in front of us. Ash attempts to pick the lock, but the lock proves stubborn. I quickly prove that the stubbornness of Dwarves outweighs that of a lock by smashing the door down with my hammer. I find the experience to be quite cathartic. Beyond the door is a stairwell leading up. We take the stairs and find ourselves in yet another winding corridor. The first door opens into a workroom with some repair equipment. I look over the items here, but don’t find anything of real value. The next four doors all open into storage rooms containing linens, boxes, crates and even some furniture. Thinking back to the few times we have needed cloth, Ash and I each take a set of linens and stuff them into our backpacks.

As we come to end of this stretch of hallway and round the corner, we hear a woman’s shriek echo from the far end. We skip past the door immediately to our right and head down to the end, bypassing a second door on the way. The hallway ends at a pair of doors facing each other. From the door on the right, we can hear the sounds of sobbing. Ash examines the lock, and deems it beyond her abilities. Thinking that smashing down the door might not be the best way to make our appearance, we decide to check the door on the left, and find it to be unlocked. Behind it is a large study containing statues, sculptures, scroll cases, and books. In one corner rests an empty birdcage. In searching the room, Ash finds a painting of a bull fight, and says it could be worth around 600gp in the market. The books appear to be journals detailing a variety of expeditions taken by Traver. I wrap the painting in some linen and place it in my pack. As I finish this, memories of Traver’s adventures suddenly fill my head, and a wave of regret over having married Cyralie fills my heart. The next thing I know, I awaken in one of the storerooms with Devin leaning over me looking as though he just finished casting a spell.

Devin and Ash tell me we spent the night there, but the sounds of the woman’s sobbing and wailing kept them restless. Even so, once morning came, Devin was able to recover his lost spells and bring me back from unconsciousness. I suggest we finish what we came here to do and get out of here as quickly as possible. To that end, we return to the sobbing woman’s room. Ash takes another look at the lock and has an epiphany about how to open it. She picks the lock and opens the door. Inside, we find a twisted and mutilated woman sobbing in front of a mirror. “It’s Iesha,” Ash gasps, then lets loose with a sling to smash the mirror.

Iesha suddenly lets loose with a baleful shriek and cries out, “Aldern! I can smell your fear! You’ll be in my arms soon!” Ash and I back away in fright as she brushes past us, the smell of death heavy upon her, and we find ourselves rooted in place. Devin follows Iesha out as she rushes out. Several minutes later he returns and uses his divine energy to free us from our fear-driven paralysis. Once we’ve all regained our wits, Devin explains he followed Iesha down a back stairwell that led to the main hall, but the manticore breathed on him again, singing his arms, and he was unable to follow further. As we examine the burn marks on his skin, the door to the study creaks open slowly, seemingly of its own volition. We eye the door suspiciously, then glance at one another. With a sigh, I heave my hammer up and prepare to investigate the study once more.

Session 10 – The Curse of Immortality

We enter the study, but there does not appear to be anyone about. The birdcage rattles as though a soft breeze came through. It lies in a corner with no window, making this more than a bit curious. I cautiously approach the area, and look for any cracks in the wall that may have let in such a breeze. All that I find, though, is a loose brick. I remove it to discover a small hollow containing a coin purse, a couple vials of liquid and a copper key. Nothing else seems to happen, so we leave the room and follow the ghost of Iesha Foxglove back downstairs.

We take the back stairs down to the main hall. Ash and I enter first, with eyes on the Manticore. It does not budge, and a quick examination reveals no mechanism for allowing it to move. Devin cautiously steps into the room, staying close to the wall. He breathes a sigh of relief when nothing happens, so we follow Iesha’s path towards the downward-leading staircase.

We descend the stairs and at the bottom we find ourselves in a kitchen that has seen better days. A large oaken table covered in moldy stains and rat droppings sits in the center of the room. A large fireplace takes up most of one wall near the table, while the rest of the walls are filled with broken shelves. A pair of large cracks indicate further erosion of the house’s structure. We search the kitchen, finding a nice silver salver and a set of crystal decanters. Thinking these will prove valuable back in town, we wrap them carefully in some linen and place them in our backpacks. In searching the chimney, I discover a hidden nook containing a small urn. Inside, there are a trio of purple. As I pocket the gems, the walls suddenly begins to swell. As I’m about to investigate the cause for this, the wall bursts, and a swarm of rats explode into the kitchen, biting and clawing at us. Ash and Devin try to back away, but the rats pursue them. I shake off several of the vile creatures and leap atop the table. As Ash and Devin try to fend off the swarm, I leap off the table again, and swing my hammer at the legs, smashing them to pieces. The table crashes down on top of a large section of the swarm, smashing several of them to a gooey paste and trapping others. With the swarm reduced, we are able to more easily dispatch the remainder before catching out breath.

There are several doors exiting the area, so we investigate each of them in turn. The first opens to reveal a tidy bedroom that likely served as a servants’ quarters. The second opens into a wine cellar where broken glass littered the floor. I’m about to suggest we leave when Ash thinks she spots something. She climbd up one of the sturdy-looking shelves and searched around near the ceiling, finding a secret compartment containing eight bottles of wine from a famous vineyard in Cheliax, Vigardeis Vineyard. I complement her on her keen eyesight, and we move on to next door, which opens into a pantry that has clearly become a giant rat’s nest. We quickly close the door again.

The final door opens into a long corridor that ends in a 90-degree left turn. We follow it to the end, which takes us to an iron locked door. Ash is about to try picking it when I remember the copper key we found earlier. I try it, and sure enough, the lock clicks open. Behind it is a workshop. A workbench along one wall contains a few soggy books. Some birdcages stand next to the workbench, each holding a dead rat. Stained-glass windows overlook the cliffside, peering out to the ocean beyond. The windows depict a man undergoing some kind of transformation, with the north window showing him drinking some kind of foul-looking liquid, and the south window showing him as a rotting and decayed corpse turning to smoke and spiraling into a seven-sided box. Ash examines the books, and though they are in poor shape she quickly ascertains that whoever was using these books was attempting to become a lich. Devin nods in agreement, having come to the same conclusion while examining the windows. After some consideration, we believe it to be Vorel who was attempting to become a lich, but he ultimately failed and his essence now haunts the manor. The man in the first window seems to sneer at me, so I smash it with my hammer, bringing some much-needed daylight into the musty room.

There is one other door leading out of this room which leads us down some stairs and ends in a pit room. Ruined pick-axes line the wall, and the floor in the middle of this room has been torn up to reveal and ancient set of steps. As I approach the steps, I am struck with a vision of Aldern digging away at the stone floor, grunting “For you.” while he works. I can sense those words are for me, though its not clear why. Then, suddenly, a horde of shrieking ghouls emerge from the hole and cast their eyes upon me. Just as they are grabbing for me, a flash of brilliant light casts them away. I blink my eyes, and as my sight returns, I see there are no ghouls. Devin places his hand on my shoulder, but I shrug it off and plunge into the darkness of the pit. At this point, it is clear that Aldern has been leaving those messages, and is almost certainly the man behind the murders. What isn’t clear, though, is why.

The stairs end at a mold-covered limestone cavern. Three passages lead away from the cavern, one of which appears to be recently dug out. We opt for one of the older passages, which leads us to a small carved out area housing several pickaxes thickly covered in yellow mold. One of the axes appears to have weathered the conditions well, so I move to grab it, but accidentally kick up a cloud of yellow spores in the process. After a fit of coughing, I am able to grab the axe and we quickly move past this section. In the large chamber beyond, the second tunnel out of the entry area meets up with our current path. Three ghouls stand watch here and move to attack as soon as we enter. I step up and hurl one of my axes, clipping one of the ghouls on the shoulder. The other two charge in too close for me to use my hammer, so I draw out my flaming sword and quickly slice them down. The third moved towards Ash and Devin, but before they could bring him down, I switch back to my hammer and smash in its head.

Beyond the chamber, a corridor leads into an even larger cathedral-like cavern. A large pool of foamy seawater froths at the bottom of a spiraling ramp some fifty feet down. The treacherous surface of the ramp is made all the more daunting by the presence of four goblin-turned-ghasts standing guard around the chamber. I waste no time, step into the room and hurl an axe at one of the foul creatures. The axe embeds itself in the creature’s skull, but somehow it manages to keep its feet and darts across the slippery ramp towards me. The others close in on me as well, so I am forced to use the sword to fend them off. Ash slips in behind one of them and attacks with her staff, felling the creature. Devin begins to cast, but is suddenly attacked from behind as four more of the undead appear from another corridor behind him. The battle becomes hectic as we fend them off while also struggling to maintain our balance. Devin’s divine power is all that prevents his assailants from tearing him apart as he blasts the creatures time and again. Ash takes a few hits, then retreats past Devin’s assailants into whatever chamber they came from. She finds a small opening there from which she is able to sling a few bullets that help me take down the trio of goblins around me. Finally, we finish them off, then Devin and I move to join up with Ash. The chamber she found is a foul-smelling cave heaped with bones, scarred by the scraping of teeth. We can only presume that this is where these ghoulish creatures ate. Ash spots something glinting in the pile, extrudes it and we discover it is the remnants of a statuette that matches the bookend we found in the library. Caked-on blood and bone indicate it may have been used to bludgeon someone.

After we’ve caught our breath, we head back out to the cavern and carefully step past the ramp. A door on that side of the cavern has been smashed open. Inside we find what appears to be some kind of laboratory reeking with a horrific stench of decay, brine and mold. A table filled with empty bottles, bits of clothing and other debris lines one wall. The wall at the rear is covered in black mold, and kneeling before it is our companion Philippe who appears to be eating the mold. In the middle of the room, Aldern, or what was left of him, is doing battle with the revenant of Iesha. Aldern’s features have twisted and his skin gone pallid, as he has clearly turned into a ghast. Aldern slices through Iesha with his razor, then turns to regard us as he licks blood and gore from his weapon.

Aldern’s eyes fall upon me, and brighten just for a moment as he speaks, “You live! Well and good, for now I shall the reward of tasting your heart while it is yet warm…”. He then places a mask upon his face, which twists his features until he looks like me, and then charges straight for me. I dodge his initial strike, and race across the room. With his focus solely upon me, I lead him on a chase around the room while Devin and Ash deliver strikes from behind. Whenever possible, I swing my hammer at him, striking him more than once. After a time, he falls to his knees, dropping his razor, and burying his face in his hands. We stop, and watch the wretched creature. When he lifts his head back up, he has removed the mask, and his face appears almost as Aldern once again. “Please….kill me,” the words escape his lips in a harsh whisper. Recognizing an opportunity, I take a moment to try and find out what drove Aldern to this madness. His eyes harden for just a moment, then turn sad as he tells us about how his grandfather Vorel tried to become a lich, but failed. His essence is now within the house, and in order to destroy it, we must burn the black fungus on the wall behind him. He goes on to talk about something called the Brotherhood of the Seven, an organization his grandfather helped found. It was through them that he was able to regain his manor. He tells us we must find his home in Magnimar if we are to stop them.

We try to press for more about this brotherhood, but Aldern’s face breaks into a wide grin as he slowly gets back to his feet. His eyes have taken on a look of hatred once more, and he growls at us, “I wonder how your deaths shall affect your friends. What things might you have done that will go unfinished? What will those broken promises spawn? How will your murders shape the world?” He then attacks again, this time with even more fury. I step aside of his charge while Devin and Ash strike at him, dazing him for just a moment. I then whirl my hammer, a threatening whistle emitting from it, and smash in his chest. The creature stares down at his chest for just a moment before crumbling to the ground in a heap, finally giving poor Aldern the peace he so needed. With Aldern defeated, Devin channeled his divine energy to beat back the fungus, which caused Philippe to collapse on the ground, unconscious.

We examine the room, and find a few things of interest, including my missing throwing axe and a lock of my hair, which I don’t recall losing. In addition, there are charcoal drawings of me being killed, and a painting of Iesha with the skyline of Magnimar in the backgound poorly redrawn into my likeness. We find a few other things as well, including a chime that Devin determines is a Chime of Opening, and a silver key ring with two rings. We also find a letter addressed to Aldern:

We gather what we can, then I pick up Philippe and we head back towards the staircase leading up to the manor. When we get there, Ash decides to investigate the newer tunnel. Devin and I hang back until we an unearthly screech emanate from the tunnel. I drop Philippe and charge down the tunnel to find a large bat swooping down to attack Ash. Ash hurls a pair of bullets at the creature with her staff-sling while I try to hit it with my hammer. The bat swoops in, grabs hold of Ash, and flies off down the chamber. I chase after, hurling one of my axes at it, and clipping its wing. I pull out my second axe, and just the creature is about to make its escape up a tall shaft and into the night sky, I strike the creature full on the back with a second thrown axe, and bring the creature to the ground. I rush over and smash the creature for good measure, then make sure Ash is ok. The cavern we find ourselves in reaks of rotten meat, and corpses litter the floor. We look around, and find a few items worth taking, such as an adamantine sword, and a hat that appears to have some magical property. We return to Devin and Philippe, climb the stairs and head all the way up to the top floor. Devin suggests we rest here so that in the morning he can pray for a stronger spell that will destroy the fungus once and for all.

We locate an observatory on the top floor, a room we had not previously explored. In it are a pair of stained-glass windows depicting famous wizards who most likely were an inspiration for Vorel’s attempt at lichdom. One is Arazni, the Harlot Queen of Geb, and the other is Socorro, the Butcher of Carrion Hill. A trap door in the ceiling here leads to the roof, but it is too slanted for proper rest, so we spend the night in the observatory. The next morning, Devin casts a consecrate spell down in the laboratory, destroying the fungus and Vorel’s grip on the house. We then leave, and after a brief debate, decide not to burn the place down since there are still Aldern’s two sisters who may want to reclaim the place.

On the path down towards the river, we are attacked by a swarm of crows, but we easily fend them off. We then return to Sandpoint, where Ash, feeling a bit peculiar, heads off to see Father Zantus. He tells her she is suffering from Vorel’s Phage, a nasty disease that will cause you to rise as a ghoul should you die from its effects. Devin and I report to Mayor Deverin while Philippe heads home to rest. Devin uses restorative spells that night and the next morning to heal Ash of her disease, and the next day we book passage by ship for Magnimar.

Session 11 – City of Monuments

The following morning, just as we are about to board the ship bound for Magnimar, Shalelu arrives. With Philippe still ailing, she decides she will join us on the trip. We welcome her aboard, and the ship sets out. The trip is short, and we arrive by midday. The sight of the grand city is striking, grander than anything any of us have ever seen, save perhaps Shalelu who seems to enjoy the view but not be awestruck. A great bridge, known as the Irespan, juts out from the Seacleft, measuring at what we estimate to be about 300 feet wide. Despite the fact that it has somewhat fallen to ruin, it is no less inspiring. Immense stone pilings measuring 100 feet in diameter hold the magnificent bridge high, overlooking the great city and the surrounding views. So enraptured of the bridge, we hardly hear the ship’s captain explaining that we are coming in to Dockway, a district in the lower section of the city. It is located at the base of a large ramp that leads up to the Summit. Magnimar is largely human-based, and most non-humans live in Ordellia at the southern tip of the Shore. The Lord-Mayor is Haldmeer Grobarus, and the city’s most powerful political group is the Council of Ushers. The city watch is based on the Arvensoar, the tallest structure in Magnimar. In addition to the watch, there are members of the Hellknight Order of the Nail, which hails from Korvosa. He sternly warns against getting on their bad side. We thank the captain for the advice and safe voyage before disembarking at the bustling Dockway. As we leave, I notice Shalelu pull her hood over her face, hiding her features.

We spend some time checking out the merchants lined up in Dockway, and Ash asks one particularly friendly fellow for suggestions on where to stay. After he looks over our group, he suggests the Rose and Rake Inn in Ordellia. Thinking to secure boarding before long, we start heading southeast out of the Dockway. Along the way, we pass by a Varisian camp whose inhabitants resemble that of traveling gypsies. One woman ducks quickly into a tent while some of the men nearby give his hard, threatening stares. I smile and sarcastically wave, but the others hustle along. We then come to an intersection at the entrance to Lowcleft where some flirtatious women call to us from in front of a dive called the “Shucked Oyster”. We ignore them, and move on. Next, we come to the Seerspring Garden, a park at the northeast corner of Keystone. A bronze statue of a strikingly lithe woman stands in the center of a spring, the water within clear. There is no sign to indicate who the statue may be representing, but a woman kneeling in prayer nearby cheerfully tells us she is a spirit who keeps those who pray in good heath.

We continue south and pass by a spherical building shaped like a diving helmet. A small gnome sitting outside calls to us, clearly recognizing us as visitors to the city. Intrigued by the sight, we head over, and he offers to show us around his Aquaretum for a silver piece each. We hand over the coin, and he introduces himself as Nireed Wadincoast as we follow him inside. Inside, he introduces us to some of the strange underwater sights one might see around Magnimar. A reefclaw, some bizarre mismatch of a lobster and an eel. He explains that reefclaws are quite common in the waters of Varisia, and not something to be trifled with. Next he shows us a picture of a Vydrarch, some mythical fish-like creature with two heads. Legend tells of a Paladin known as Alcaydian Indros who battled this creature and drove it away some 100 years ago. The Vydrarch was thought to be a unique creature, but some reports from traveling sailors would have you believe otherwise, or so Nireed explains. The rest of the place seems relatively benign, and we thank him for the tour as we leave.

Once back outside, we decide to look for food. We find a tavern located in Beacon’s Point called the Pig. Calling it a tavern turns out to be something of high praise for this hole in the wall, though I find myself enjoying the atmosphere quite a bit. My companions enjoy it less so, though Ash minds it less than the others. Conversation around the tavern turns to a recent spate of murders in town. The most recent occurred in Lowcleft, and one customer mentions a 7-pointed star was seen carved into the victim’s body. We exchange glances with one another, but do not join the conversation. We quickly finish our meals and leave, heading straight for Ordellia. The path to Ordellia takes over a small island at the mouth of the Yondabakari River called Kimber’s Islet, which is home to several tanneries and lumber mills. We quickly find our way to the suggested inn, and book ourselves some rooms for the night. After a brief discussion, we decide to head back north to Naos, a wealthy district in the Summit, and where we will find Aldern’s townhouse.

By the time we make our way to Naos, we find ourselves once again seeking out a meal. We find one at an establishment known as the Rag and Garter, a themed restaurant where the waitresses dress as vagrants to allow the wealthy to feel as though they are “slumming it”. There is more talk of the recent murders, including one victim known as Henry. After dinner, we head over to Aldern’s townhouse. The sun has begun to set, and the streets are a bit more empty than before. The windows of the townhouse are boarded up, but we see a light showing through the cracks on the second floor. We approach and knock on the door. After a few moments of waiting, no one has answered, so I pull out the key we took off Aldern’s body, and I unlock the door. As I am doing this, a trio of Hellknights walk past, eyeing us suspiciously. I show them the key, and they seem placated. Turning back, I open the door and enter the townhouse. Inside, we are surprised to see Iesha Foxglove, who seems equally surprised to see us, but she welcomes us pleasantly before calling up to Aldern.

Aldern comes down the stairs, and smiles when he sees us, then excitedly informs Iesha that we are the heroes of Sandpoint, and it is us who saved him from the goblin raiders. He then introduces us to Iesha, who we try to pretend we don’t already recognize. They then invite us in for dinner, and though we have already eaten, we politely accept. As we are sitting down to dinner. Aldern asks us what our business is in Magnimar. We explain that during our investigation of a murder in Sandpoint, we visited the manor. Iesha drops a plate as we mention this, but quickly cleans up the mess. Aldern bades us to continue, so we explain that we came to Magnimar because we had heard rumors of similar murders here as well. At this point, the couple exchange glances, and just as we are about to ask about his recent past, they attack us. Iesha moves in behind Ash and tries to take her out with a quick strike to the throat, but the diminutive rogue easily avoids the attack. Not one to be caught unawares, and dive out of the way of Aldern’s attack then jump to my feet to face him. Shalelu strikes out with her sword at Aldern, and the blade slices through his chest, but the wound almost immediately closes back up. Seeing this, I pull out my hammer and begin swinging it at our not-so-gracious host. After one particularly viscous hit, Aldern’s features fade away to reveal a faceless creature with leathery skin. The creature roars and charges me, but a quick strike from my hammer fells him. The other one escapes out the window into the alley below, but I race down the stairs and out into the streets. The creature, slowed by its wounds, is unable to get away before I track it down and cave in its chest.

The body begins to dissolve, so I leave it there and return to the townhouse. Inside, the others are already searching the place, so I head upstairs. On the third floor, the mantel above the fireplace displays two roaring lion heads which match the lion head carving on the bronze key we plucked from Aldern. I examine one of the lion heads closely, running my fingers along its features. Near the back of the lion’s neck, I find a tiny keyhole. I insert the key, turn and secret cache opens in the wall nearby. Inside, I find a bag of coins, and a case containing papers. As I remove the items, I discover a small ledger sitting under the case as well. I call to the others, and by the time they arrive, I have already started going through the documents. Most of the papers are legal documents pertaining to the townhouse, but there is also the deed to Foxglove Manor which indicates the Brotherhood of the Seven was involved in its ownership. The ledger contains mostly mundane entries, but near the end are some entries of interest. Nearly a dozen entries marked “Iesha’s trip to Absalom” indicate Aldern was paying someone referred to as B-7 200 gp a week for her trip. The payments were being dropped off every Oathday at midnight at a place called “the Seven’s Sawmill”. Ash remembers seeing a sign for such a place on Kimber’s Islet. We decide to spend the night here, much to Devin’s discontent, rather than head back to Ordellia. Ash seems rather excited by the prospect, perhaps because of the gaudy furnishings the townhouse has to offer.

A few hours into our rest, we are awakened by the sounds of children singing…”mumble mumble scarecrow, find us something good to eat”. I push open a window and peer out into the night, but I see no signs on anyone. The singing ends, and we go back to sleep, though perhaps a bit less fitfully.

We set out early the next morning, stopping only to admire a remarkable plinth in the streets with astronomical signs glinting in the bright sunlight. After a quick breakfast, we head south to Kimber’s Islet. Ash leads us to the sign she noticed the day before, and we make our way to the southwest corner of the island. We notice several disciples of various temples and some Hellknights wandering the streets. We stray away from them without making it obvious, and finally come within sight of the Seven’s Sawmill. The building sits on massive wooden pilings driven into the riverbed at the mouth of the river. A wooden boardwalk wraps around the northern rim, and a flight of stairs head down. We decide to take the stairs.

We enter the door at the base of the stairs, and walk into a large room with massive churning waterwheels. Powerful pistons along the south wall pump with the energy of the river, and the sounds of heavy machinery fill the air. Three workers busy themselves caring for the machinery. As we approach, they signal for us to halt, and ask our business. I cheerfully inform them that we are seeking to discuss business with the owner. The men look at each other quizzically, then tell us we shouldn’t be here, and if we want we should contact the manager upstairs. I thank them, and we exit the building before heading back up the stairs to the walkway.

We entered the first floor through a door on the walkway. Inside, we come to a large loading bay. An opening in the ceiling is filled with the tangle of rope and pulleys, but no one is around. We ascend a set of stairs found just inside the doorway. Up the stairs, we come to storeroom behind a closed door filled with stacks of timber, firewood and other finished lumber products. Four thin, malnourished workers prepare the items for shipment. They are surprised by our appearance, but smile at us as we approach and ask about the manager’s office. One of them suggests we leave a note with him, but I decline and turn to continue up the stairs. The others follow, exchanging nervous glances, as I bound up the stairs. The next floor has another pair of doors, but I choose to ignore them, counting on the fact that the manager’s office is on the top floor. I continue up the stairs, finally arriving at the top floor. Here, workbenches lay cluttered around the room, and a pair of workers wielding saws, hand drills, and other tools suspend their work as they stare in disbelief at our arrival.

I scan the room, noting a set of double doors. “Aha!” I declared loudly. “That must be the manager’s office everyone keeps telling us about.” I stride confidently up to the doors, and try to pull them open, but they are locked and hardly budge. I put on a look of disappointment, then turn to the workers. “Manager not here then? Too bad. We’ll return later.” I then turn to head back down the stairs, towing my companions behind me. At the floor below we encounter a group of individuals wearing strange masks and flamboyant robes. The pair of workers above race to the top, and one of them orders the other to report our intrusion to the town guards. He races off down the stairs, and we do not interrupt his passage. I turn to regard the robed figures ahead of us. “So sorry for the intrusion. We will be leaving now.” As each of them pull out a nasty looking war razor, I get the sense they tend to disagree with my assessment.

Shalelu reacts first, practically flying down the stairs, working her bow as arrows sizzle through the air. She races around to the rear of the stairs where she takes up a defensive position, albeit one without a means of escape. I wade into the group of cultists swinging my hammer to drive them back before swinging around the base of the stairs in an attempt to follow Shalelu. She is far too fast for me to keep up with, though, so I settle for stationing myself just around the corner from her. Devin and Ash head for the open doorway across from the stairs, but I lose sight of them as a number of cultists press in on me. Given the close quarters, I drop my hammer and draw out my flaming longsword, slashing at the nearest enemy and emptying his stomach of its last meal. His death does little to deter his companions, but their attacks prove largely ineffectual, producing no more than a few superficial scratches. Suddenly, a giant spider appears, seemingly out of thin air, and strikes out at me, its venomous fangs sinking into my skin. I fend off the poison, but the wound slows me. The cultists, having realized they can’t do much damage with their weapons, begin bombarding me with the divine energy of their evil god. I growl through the pain, and continue hacking away, now focusing my attacks on the spider.

From up the stairs, I hear the sounds of casting, and a magical blast emanates from the base of the stairs as Ash screams out. I work my sword furiously, and the spider squeals in pain as the fire of my blade cuts through it. Ash screams out for help. A pair of arrows slice through the air from behind the stairs and through an open door across the hall from me, followed close by Shalelu as she dives and tumbles past the cultists blocking the path. The sounds of battle echo out from the room Shalelu dove into as I strike down the spider at last. The final pair of cultists before me close in, but I strike out with my sword, and fell them. As they fall, a man dressed in gaudy robes and wielding a wicked-looking short sword comes around the wall, blasting me with negative energy. I sheathe my sword and retrieve my hammer, and begin to move away from the new magic-wielding threat.

Suddenly, Devin, looking a bit battered, reaches through the doorway at my back and fills me with his healing touch. Re-invigorated, I press forward against the evil cleric, and strike at him with my hammer. He strikes back with magic, but two more swings of my hammer pushes him back. Devin calls for help, and I rush into the other room. One of the cultists has Ash in his grip and is preparing to drop her into the log-splitter while Shalelu struggles with another. I draw out of my my maul-axes and let it fly, smacking the cultist square in the chest and freeing Ash from his grip. She scrambles out of the way, recovers her staff and quickly lets loose a stream of sling bullets that fells the larger cultist for good. I return to the main corridor to find the evil cleric regaining his strength. He peers at me with an evil grin, and declares “I serve her!” then rushes to the attack. As we trade blows, Ash appears in the doorway behind my assailant and bombards him with some sling bullets, and the man falls dead at my feet.

At long last, the battle is over. Devin tends to our wounds as Ash and I inspect the bodies for items of value. Once we complete this task we head back upstairs where we find the doors to the office open. We enter, finding ourselves in a macabre room decorated with the stretched-out skin of human faces. On the shelves, we find a spellbook, a book of fantastical creatures called The Syrpents Tane: Fairy Tales of the Eldest. Intrigued by monsters of all kinds, Devin takes that book. We also find a ledger and journal, and we find that the evil cleric we just killed is Justice Ironbriar, a member of the city’s Justice Council. The ledger also indicates he’s been receiving payment from the local assassin’s guild. Ash discovers a trap door in the ceiling which leads to a rookery above the office. There, she finds some messenger ravens sitting quietly in their cages and a table with a quill, ink and several pieces of parchment.

Given the nature of Ironbriar’s employment in the city, we decide its best to turn ourselves in and expose the Justice for who he is rather than face arrest at the hands of the Hellknights or some other group that may be less inclined to care about the circumstances. After a brief discussion, we settle on the Temple of Adabar as our best bet, but we also decide that Shalelu should leave the city for a few days so that should anything happen to us she can return to Sandpoint and seek aid. The rest of us make our way to the temple, and report the incident. They immediately lock us up, but they treat us well enough during the three days of our incarceration. On that third day, the Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobarus arrives seeking an audience with us. He informs us that they have looked over the evidence we provided and are willing to overlook the murder of a city Justice if we agree to an investigation of the Shadow Clock, where he believes this Xanesha is hiding out.

Session 12 – Enter the Shadows

As we leave the Lord-Mayor’s, he tells us that a representative of the city, a paladin by the name of Eliatris Dawnstalker, will meet us outside and accompany us to the Shadow Clock. Sure enough, as we emerge back out to the streets, a young, cheery woman dressed in shining army greets us warmly. She introduces herself as Tris. We then set off for the Dockway where we did a small amount of shopping at the bazaar and had some dinner. As we head off towards the Shadow Clock, which Tris explained has been condemned by the city for safety reasons, we can see the many pilings holding up the Irespan. One of the closest pilings, Tris explains, is called The Gecko due to the many carvings of lizards upon it.

While walking the streets of Underbridge, we notice that many cobblestones are missing. Sure enough, we soon come upon a few children in the process of prying one up. We decide to leave them alone, though Tris does give them a stern look. As we pass around the corner, we hear them start to sing “Mumble Mumble Scarecrow”, but when we turn back they are already gone…along with the cobblestone. Slightly unnerved, we press on in silence. Soon, a man in tattered rags, a former deck-hand by the looks of him, stumbles into Eliatris, and warns her not to continue. Eliatris struggles to push the man aside, but Devin reaches into his pocket, draws out a copper piece and tosses it to the man. The man grabs it greedily, inspects the coin for a moment, then tells us the Hellknights are raiding warehouses up ahead before stumbling away.

Ash offers to scout ahead, and after just a few short minutes she returns with confirmation of the man’s claim. We decide not to proceed forward for fear of getting caught up in the raid, and instead turn down a somewhat uninviting alleyway. Ash takes point, but in spite of that we are not far down this path before we are assaulted by three large spider-like creatures, later identified by Devin as shriezyxes. One of the creatures skitters off after Ash, while the other two come after myself and Tris. Devin races off to help Ash. The creature on me proves elusive, and manages to get in a few stinging bites. I switch to my sword, calling forth its magical flames. The creature before shrieks in fear, but before it can get away, I step up and plunge the sword into its backside, silencing the creature for good. I look up to see Tris struggling with her assailant as well, so I rush over, but before I get there the creature notices my flame-sheathed weapon and scurries off into the darkness. Ash and Devin return a moment later, having dispatched the third creature. Devin attempts to use a want we procured from Ironbriar, but its divine attachment to the god Norborger prevents its use by one of Devin’s faith. Instead, he casts a few minor healing spells to repair our wounds and we continue on.

We arrive at the Shadow Clock. A statue of an angel at the top is leaning, and appears near to falling. It’s doorway had been boarded up, but the boards appear to have recently been pushed aside. Near the door, a sign reads “Beware the Terrible Stairs”. Tris points to a nearby piling, and refers to it as the Harpy. Night has fallen, and the inside of the tower is dark, so Devin casts a light spell on Ash’s staff. Unconcerned with the darkness, I enter the tower first. The air is dusty and dry inside the spacious first floor of the tower. A wagon lies crumpled and broken straight ahead. Six partially collapsed offices, long unused, line the north and east walls. A wooden staircase ascends into the cavernous space above where four immense bronze bells hand from the crossbeams. The floor is littered with mounds of plaster and rubble, particularly to the left inside the doorway where lie a jumble of body parts and bloated humanoid heads.

I move into the room, followed closely by my companions. As Ash moves to examine he wagon, a monstrous humanoid creature bursts forth from  pile of body parts, sending them flying about the room. The creature looks something like a scarecrow, including a straw hat, but is far larger than normal and is wielding a scythe. We quickly form up against the threat, and Tris calls upon her deity’s favor to strengthen her attacks. Together, we take down what is, at our best guess, a flesh golem. Devin determines the creature was wearing a magical cloak, and is able to identify it as a Cloak of Elvenkind, which he offers to Ash. She then heads back to the wagon, and after a quick examination, uncovers a moldy sack underneath that contains a silver mirror and ring and some coins.

With seemingly nothing else of interest here, we head over to the stairs to examine them. Several steps are missing, and those that remain seem unstable at best. Ash, being the smallest and lightest, takes the stairs first. They creak a bit, but otherwise hold her weight. Devin follows, leaving enough distance between them to make sure the stairs supports don’t need to support too much at once. Tris goes third, and I go last, stepping slowly. We traverse the creaking stairs slowly, but successfully until about half-way up when one of the bells suddenly loosens and falls. The bell clips Tris, and smashes out an eight-foot section of stairs before plummeting to the floor below. Luckily, Tris was able to keep her footing, but she and I were forced to use rope to cross the gap. We continue up, and Ash reaches the top first, where three of the faceless stalkers we encountered at Aldern’s apartment are waiting for us. They have crossbow-like contraptions they use to fire ropes from one side to the other. One of them used this method to come up near me, but I make quick work of him with my sword. By the time I finish the thing off, the others had already taken care of the other two so we finish the climb and follow the stairs to the outside of the tower where they continue up a short ways further. At the top of this outer staircase, we come to a small ten-foot-by-ten-foot room with a boarded up door and a cabinet. Inside the cabinet is a messenger raven, which we ignore as I smash open the door with my hammer. This leads to a room with aged clockwork, and another staircase leading up to the roof.

Up on the roof, we see a nest of cushions and silk sheets under the onyx angel statue. There are also several chests behind the nest, but there is no sign of Xanesha or anyone else. Suddenly, a shrieking demonic creature appears in the sky from behind the statue and swoops to attack. I move to the side in order to flank the creature, but just as we realize it is an illusion, Xanesha emerges from her hiding spot and stabs at me with her wide-bladed longspear. The attack surprises me, but it does not land as deadly a blow as she seemed to expect. Xanesha, a lamia with a serpent’s torso, wears a mask and had cast a spell upon herself to make it appear as though there were many duplicates of herself. She climbs upon the slanted roof to give herself an advantage, but Ash, Tris and I give chase. Devin stays upon the flat section of roof, prepared to cast his healing spells for those who need them.

We check on Ash, and fortunately, she survived the fall. Devin heals her wounds, and she wakes up. The three of us then climb back up the stairs and gather up Xanesha’s treasure, which includes an interesting letter from her sister:

We report to Lord-Mayor Grobarus about the kill, and he rewards us with 18,000 GP each for our efforts. Then we decide to get some much-needed rest.