Session Recap - 20 March 2009
From Loranon
| Session Recap | |
|---|---|
| 20 March 2009 | |
| Start Date | 13 March 1332 |
| End Date | 14 March 1332 |
| Adventure Locations | Xalo (The Dregs) |
| Previous Session | 17 May 2008 |
| Next Session | 27 March 2009 |
| Image:Session Recap - 20 March 2009.png | |
Participating Characters
Tristram Shandy, Taliesin Caradoc, Conhar Cowmilker, Saint Exquisite, Garthen Earthmender, Mikeal Orcaleone
Introductions at the Buckets
Taliesin Caradoc
After Manuel left Taliesin Caradoc's office, the detective went about making himself presentable. As he was about to leave, he heard the familiar sound of a cocking hand crossbow.
- Taliesin Caradoc (narration):
- This is not the first time someone has burst into my lodgings, as my door is a tattered drape. I keep meaning to get a real door; doors are expensive. Keep getting mugged. Despite being 185 years old, I can't seem to get more than 35 gold at a time. It's a gambling problem, see. I like to gamble.
- Thug:
- Jonny's lookin' fer ya.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- Jonny? What's Jonny want?
- Thug:
- He wants that gambling money you owe him.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- I keep gambling, and I'm out of money. I have a job. I'm, uh… looking for someone.
- Thug:
- How soon are you going to get paid?
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- As soon as I find him. I'm pretty good at finding people.
- Thug:
- I don't think Jonny can wait that long.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- Jonny's going to have to wait.
- Thug:
- I dunno. Jonny said that if you didn't have the money here right now that I was supposed to shoot ya.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- I'll give 15 gold now.
- Thug:
- 15 gold? I don't think that's going to be enough. What ya got in that backroom that you just locked up?
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- Uh, a bunch of used journals.
- Thug:
- Used journals? No, I need money. Gold. Jewelry.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- I have 15 gold. I have 15 gold. That's all you're going to get.
- Thug:
- I'm sorry to hear that.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- You're my trusted ally now.
- Thug:
- You bet. I'm sure there's some way I can work this out with Jonny.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- Can you pay the debt for me?
- Thug:
- You owe a lot of money. I don't even have that kind of money.
- Taliesin Caradoc:
- You got to help me out of this. Jonny's sending hit men after me!
- Thug:
- You bet he is. He told me to kill ya if ya didn't have the money! He'll send more next time! You give me that 15 gold and I'll try to make it good with Jonny.
After ushering the thug out of his abode, Taliesin moved to the Buckets o' Beer tavern.
| Taliesin charms a thug trying to collect a gambling debt. |
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Tristram Shandy
Tristram Shandy arrived in The Dregs in search of Annie Stollbuck upon the advice of the detective Taliesin Caradoc. The detective informed Tristram that Amelia, a server at the Buckets o' Beer tavern, knew something about Annie's disappearane. Tristram kept his distance from the celebration that was underway. Apparently, the Amelia woman had recently birthed another little proletarian. He attempted to bide his time to speak with Amelia, but was accosted by various patrons, including the prophetic Garthen Earthmender.
Mikeal Orcaleone
Mikeal Orcaleone presented himself to his sister, Amelia, to celebrate the recent birth of her baby. He offered gifts from their father to her and upon hearing that the child was a masculine child, offered her more.
Garthen Earthmender
After arriving in Xalo, Garthen Earthmender made his way to the Buckets o' Beer tavern to find the people from his vision. He attempted to endear himself to the people, but was largely rebuffed. Several women were scared away by his conversation.
Conhar Cowmilker
Conhar Cowmilker sat by the door of the Buckets in wait for The Detective. He was in need of red leaf snuff, and he hoped that The Detective could help him locate some.
Saint Exquisite
Saint Exquisite came to the Buckets for one reason: to slap the bitch Amelia for giving her the evil side-eye two months ago in Nacho. Unfortunately, Amelia was surrounded by various scary people since she arrived at the Buckets. Saint Exquisite waited.
| A large group of people celebrate the birth of Amelia's baby at the Buckets o' Beer tavern. |
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Attack on the Buckets
After taking on a job to find some red leaf snuff for Conhar Cowmilker, Taliesin introduced Tristram to Amelia. Just as she was about to answer the question of Annie's whereabouts, the door to the Buckets shattered open to reveal a squad of Jasidin Purple Guards.
One of the guards restrained Clarissa Bioden, the barmaid, after she confronted them. The rest of the guards set up a line across the tavern, weapons drawn. A wizened mage of the Order of Night's Breath, a Wee-Jasian order responsible for scrying and divination duties in the "protection" of Xalo and Daromir, entered the tavern. After looking around the room, he remarked the presence of Amelia and moved to a door connected to the main room of the tavern. Amelia jumped from her seat, screaming and lunged across the room. Mikeal failed to stop her, and she was slammed to the ground by the Purple Guards. Mekor entered the room through the door. As the door is closed behind him, the crying of baby was heard.
After a brief confrontation, Mekor left with Amelia's baby. Moments after Mekor and his squad left the Buckets, sounds of combat were heard from the street. Garthen and Taliesin moved outside to investigate. They saw Mekor grasping at his throat, unable to speak with the fingers of his hands contorted into strange positions. Amelia's baby was not in sight. A number of the Purple Guards were on the ground, dead. The sound of combat faded as a huge bank of fog enveloped the scene. Taliesin looted the bodies before the fog faded. He investigated the scene and uncovered a brooch stylized in the fashion of the symbol of the philosophy the Way of Libertas.
Back in the tavern, Amelia cried hysterically for her taken baby, and Clarissa silently wept with her head on the bar. Conhar took up the bar tending duties.
After a time, Garthen Earthmender attempted to gather the people from his vision to save Amelia's baby. He was eventually successful, though he had a very difficult time getting the group to commit to the search. It was late, so the party decided to begin the search in the morning.
| Mekor, a wizard of the Order of Night's Breath kidnaps Amelia's baby as Jasidin Purple Guards keep the crowd at bay. |
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Chronos
Just before waking, Tristram received a message in his sleep.
Hello, Tristram Shandy. I have waited a long time to speak with you. The first rule that you are required to obey is that you do not tell anyone about my visit to you. If you decide to break this rule, undue amounts of harm shall be visited upon your parents and your sweet love, Annie. Yes, I know of her current situation. She is alive but not well. Do not mistake me, though; I am not responsible for her current plight.
You may refer to me as Chronos. I am here to offer you guidance. But do not mistake my words for benevolence. In the coming days, your friend Alex will approach you and tell you of a tomb not far outside the city. He will tell you that it contains powerful magic items. You must explore this tomb, though do not go alone. You may not find the items that Alex speaks of at first, but keep looking. They are there. And you must find them.
I leave you with following warning from the Diran Prophecy:
The Mezran Twilight will be like a falling tear,
Glimmering with the last light of the days.
Featempla unleashed, the Shadow born,
The Forge of the World cold.
When the night falls, there will be no tears left to shed.
Let's Go to Candy Mountain
Based on the Libertas symbol clue that Taliesin discovered, he decided to speak with followers of the Way of Libertas, a pro-liberty philosophy. He lead the party to Candy Mountain, an area of The Dregs heavily influenced by the illicit drug and sex trades.
The party first spoke with Charlie, a drug dealer. Taliesin first tried to procure red leaf snuff, but Charlie informed him that kind of drug was high-class stuff and only available in the Arcane District. Upon mentioning Taliesin's gambling debts and trouble with Jonny, Charlie informed him that he had been crunching some numbers lately and determined that gambling doesn't work because the odds seem to be in the favor of the house.
After asking about Amelia, Charlie made several remarks concerning her promiscuity, attractiveness, and the fact that she is no longer "preggos". Insulted, Mikeal aggressively interrogated Charlie to get the answers that they sought. Unfortunately, he was not able to provide any useful information.
The party moved on to the Square Bar to speak with Darrell, another follower of the Way of Libertas. The party learned that another new mother recently had her baby snatched. Upon visiting her, they learned that it was more Jasidin Purple Guards that took her baby.
Visit to the Arcane District
Tristram decided to visit some of his contacts in the Arcane District. Before Tristram could question his friend Alex Danver, Alex jumped to inform Tristram about a conversation he had with their common master, Ignacius Alvers. Apparently, Ignacius spoke of a tomb not far outside the city that has housed a dead wizard for over 1000 years without being disturbed. Alex proposed to grab some mercenaries from the Falcon Company and visit the tomb. Tristram passed on the offer for now and asked questions about the missing babies. Alex stated that he had heard about the Order of Night's Breath kidnapping babies for weeks. He dismissed that the baby-snatching was important to stop but he did speak with Tristram at length about what experiments they might be doing that required newborns. After a time, they settled on the idea that the Order of Night's Breath must be constructing some sort of Baby Golem.
After leaving Alex, Tristram went to speak with his master, Ignacius Alvers. Ignacius didn't know exactly why the Order of Night's Breath would steal babies, but he did go on at length about the capabilities of a Baby Golem.
Searching for Amelia
Upon returning to the Buckets, the party discovered that Amelia had gone missing. Investigating, Taliesin discovered that that Amelia was last seen leaving the area with a well-armed, blonde-haired elven woman.
After asking around, the party found themselves in front of a warehouse that the elven woman had gone into. They were confronted by sentries, but they were able to knock one out and charm the other. The charmed sentry led the party into the basement of the warehouse where they found Amelia, her baby, and the elven woman in a room with lead sheets covering the walls, ceiling and floor.
The woman introduced herself as Whisperwind, a member of the Order of Libertas, a resistance group operating in Daromir who follows the Way of Libertas. She claimed that her order was protecting Amelia and her baby from the Order of Night's Breath. She explained that the Order of Night's Breath had been kidnapping babies in Xalo for the past two weeks. At first, she thought they were kidnapping the babies to construct a Baby Golem, but that the Order of Night's Breath wasn't kidnapping enough to construct the golem. Even though she is not certain of what their motive is, she explained that her order often opposes the oppressive ways of the Church of Wee Jas and the Daromir government.
As Garthen attempted to offer the party's assistance in working against the Order of Night's Breath (which the party opposed), the group came under attack by Jasidin Purple Guards. Whisperwind handed each of the party members one of the lead circlets and some doses of Mageblight Poison.
After a long fight, the party made it out of the warehouse and rushed towards the secondary safehouse.
| "They must have scryed on you while you were unprotected! You led them to us!" --Whisperwind |
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| The player characters fight their way through the warehouse, getting Amelia and her baby to safety. |
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Player Contributions
PC Info
Taliesin's Journal - March 13, 1332
Amelia had her baby this evening. Another body added to the teeming mass that is at the rotting foot of this city. The child seemed unremarkable enough, at first -- but the evening has be wondering if I might be wrong.
Evening started bad, got worse. One of Jonny's thugs came by, small time crook, wouldn't be worth mentioning if he hadn't tried to kill me. All this over 50g. I used to throw that kind of money at whores before Pentulius. Now some thug is trying to kill me over it. Jonny won't like it when I get my hands on him. He is going to think he is covered in spiders until he dies. I don't think Jonny likes spiders. I don't remember. Doesn't matter. Spiders it is.
Dealt with thug, Jonny should know better than to send someone so weak willed after me. Maybe he shouldn't. No way for him to know, he wouldn't have learned anything about me. He is a thug typical of this city. Lacks finesse, intelligence, method. Wouldn't be worth my time if it wasn't for the threat. Will kill thugs next time. Send Jonny a message.
Need to learn to be more on guard, could have been from Moriartea -- that might have ended differently. Seems like I need a real door.
Went to the Bucket's to unwind after the thug, Manuel had said something about celebrating another mouth to the teeming mass of the city. Doesn't matter to me, Amelia's nice enough. Going tonight might keep her trap shut next time someone comes looking for me. Obviously didn't tonight. She sent everyone to my office, none of them paid.
Brat from noble house, wizardish type -- untrained, no power, no manners. I could kill him. Might need to kill him, attitude might get in the way. Came looking for Annie again. I sent him to Amelia once, she's where the trail ends. I follow trails, I don't fight. Explained this, brat didn't understand. Showed him Amelia again. Met another client, Conhar -- he's going to pay me to find him drugs. Seemed desperate, should be easy enough to find his weed. I look forward to taking his money. Some hippy dwarf druid also was in the Buckets. It was a weird night, I think -- hippy druid kept spouting off about a prophecy and how we were all destined to work together. I suspect he had been hit in the had a few too many times, making quick associations in his head along with delusions of grandeur. The only reason we were in his dream was because we happened to be at the Buckets. Don't care too much, he came in handy when things got bad.
Then things got bad.
Jasidin Purple Guard stormed into the Buckets, led by Mekor. They overwhelmed the bar, took the kid. Don't like it when people mess with the Dregs, when the powerful lord it over the underclass. Typical of the mageocracy, no regard for any non-magic user, or anyone else that doesn't play into their system. I was there, I played that game. Didn't like it. Don't like them. Mekor is an upstart, obviously working for someone else. More than I can handle on my own. Tried to handle thugs, but there were too many and I was too few. Had help from Amelia's brother. Human crimeboss -- fleeting influence, illegal trade. Normally he would be my enemy. Need his help to preserve order.
Mekor took the child, knights moved out of the Buckets to the south. Some kind of supernatural fog appeared, obviously a wizard's doing. Probably Mekor, maybe not. Several knights were dead there. Checked their pockets, got 16 gold. Up 1 gold for the day after paying off Jonny's thug. Also found a Brooch.
Went to Candy Mountain to find out about the brooch. Talked with Charlie, introduced him and Conhar -- made some progress finding weed for Conhar. Need to go to noble area of Xalo. Charlie sent us to Darril at Square -- the man/woman thing that was at the Bucket's seemed right at home here. Didn't find much out here, unfortunately. Ended up going back to the Bucket's -- sent the brat back to the Mage Academy to see if he could find out why Mekor was nabbing babies. Convinced brat that best way to find his woman was by helping us. Idiot bought it.
At the Bucket's, made new friends that suggested we follow some elf that was seen with Amelia. Followed elf to a warehouse. Made good friends with a guard at the door, dispatched other guard. I like it when my new friends stop cutting on me. He led us inside. In a classic twist, we found Amelia in the warehouse being guarded by some rogue follower of Libertas. Name was Whisperwind or something like that.
Jasidin Purple Guard began to pour into the basement, swarming in like flies to the carcass of a dead hooker. I knocked several out, the people I was with took out several others. We forced our way out of the basement. My companions lack subtlety, but had somewhat effective abilities.
We got Amelia to safety, but the purple guards took the warehouse. Got the kid to safety too. Whisperwind and at least 6 Libertas rogues were left behind -- we lived though, thats the important thing.
I don't know what is coming next, I seem to have gotten myself caught up in something foul though.
From the journals of Tristram Shandy
13 March 1332
Continued search for Annie today. Visited the Dregs for the first time. Far more disgusting than I envisioned.
First sought out the Buckets o’ Beer. Not what I’d consider a fine establishment. Seemed to be a party going on, so I opted to find Taliesin’s office to have him introduce me to this Amelia girl.
Taliesin's hovel also more disgusting than imagined. Surprising number of dwarves at the party, though none of them seem to know the girl. Dwarves more disgusting than imagined.
Jasidin Purple Guards interrupted the party and took the girl’s baby. Powerful-seeming wizard with them. Chances of extracting meaningful information out of Amelia seeming bleak.
Smellier dwarf somehow convinced me to go along with a fool-hardy plan to save the proletarian baby. Seeing an entirely new side to Xalo. Perhaps we can purge the proletarian areas of the city?
Candy Mountain was an awful experience, but nothing compared to the Square bar. Hating this area more and more. These people should have gone to school, then they would not have to live in this slum! Why do we suffer those without arcane abilities to live? It seems obvious that they are inferior.
Wild goose chase to tranny town provides no leads. Apparently the detective found a clue (first detective work I’ve seen proof he’s done!) after a scuffle outside the bar, which is why we are running around in the first place. Something tedious about Libertas.
Heading home for the night. Bringing strange-sounding brother of Amelia and Amelia herself to the estate for the night, needed protection on my way out of this horrible place. Definitely putting them in servant’s quarters.
14 March 1332 (Revised)
Had a strange dream last night. Writing down the contents of the dream seems imprudent, as my last attempt ended in conflagration.
Not sure what that means. Going to have to research this later when we have time. Need to get ready to meet the others and get this wild goose chase over with.
Made it back to the Buckets o' Beer and they immediately send me back to the noble districts to gather information for myself. Why am I paying this filthy detective again?
Alex was really my only contact, so I stopped by his practice room. How is someone so much less talented than me so far ahead of me in his studies?
No useful information on the Jasidin Purple Guards from Alex, but he did mention that tomb. I wanted to pursue that line of thought, but we don’t have time yet. Looking back, perhaps those divination items he mentioned could come in handy with our current search?
Surprisingly long segway into Baby Golems.
Talked to the Master to see if he could shed more light on the Jasidin Purple Guards. He did not know much that I didn’t already know.
Another surprisingly long segway into Baby Golems.
Returned to the party empty handed. They had similarly poor luck. Amelia gone when I returned. Detective followed her to a warehouse. Heading that way now.
The Adventures of a Red Leaf Snuff Smoking Dairy Farmer - March 13, 1332
To milk a cow, it must first be lactating - a direct result of a cow having given birth to a calf. A productive dairy operation must therefore include both the the production of milk and the production of calves. Masculine calves are castrated and raised as steers for beef production or left intact and raised as veal. Feminine calves are raised to become calf birthing/lactating cows.
There is a great deal of variation in the types of dairy production world-wide. In Sasserine, my father Plagioclase ran a traditional moo cow dairy farming operation. In the Nomandi Desert Region, it is not unheard of to use camels for dairy production. In Daromir, they appear to run a non-traditional human dairy farming operation. This must be why my father's moo cow operation faired so poorly here in Daromir when I was a child. Human milk was in favor—not moo cow.
My observations of the non-traditional Daromir style of dairy farming began after finding the detective and commissioning him to locate a proper supply of red leaf snuff. A first calf heifer named Amelia was separated from her calf who was kept in an adjoining room. My father practiced the same strategy on our moo cow farm. A cow produces milk all day long and if let be, a calf will nurse all day long. In order to make your milking time worthwhile, you must first separate the cow and the calf for a bit and let the milk store up in the cow's udder. To speed up milk production, the assembled group was giving Amelia a horrible tasting liquid from buckets. In Sasserine, my father would make sure that our cows had plenty of clean water -- something they seemed to really enjoy and which would speed up milk production. When Amelia came up to me, I offered her some of the horrible tasting liquid from a bucket -- which she seemed to really enjoy and which hopefully allowed her to produce more milk.
A dwarf hating micky interrupted my observations of the Daromir dairy farming practices at this point. He presented a sack of something to Amelia in exchange for her calf. Upon hearing that it was a masculine calf capable of producing superior grade veal, he presented her with a second sack as payment.
A short time later, a group of Wee-Jasian veal appreciators entered the bar(n). One of the Wee-Jasian veal appreciators called Mekor appeared quite distraught that the dwarf hating micky had already purchased the future superior grade veal. Mekor took the young veal by force and a brief scuffle ensued which left the bar(n) tender injured and rattled. Sensing that no further dairy production or observations could take place that evening unless another bar(n) tender appeared—I took over duties as bar(n) tender.
As bar(n) tender, I continued serving the horrible tasting liquid in hopes that other cows or first calf heifers might appear. I also investigated the kitchen and located a peculiar poultry dish which I was able to successfully sell for a tidy sum of silver.
With no further cows appearing and having lost track of the first calf heifer Amelia, I began to clean up the bar(n) for what would surely be a successful morning milking. I made sure that all of the buckets were in an orderly stack and swept and straightened to the best of my abilities.
The detective was kind enough to lend me his bed for the evening for I would need plenty of sleep for the morning milking. I shared the room with a star-eyed dwarf named Garthin. Garthin offered me some root but warned that it would give me star eyes too—it didn’t. I shared a few tokes from my red leaf snuff pipe with him as repayment.
In the morning, no one appeared for milking at the bar(n) and I resigned from my position as bar(n) tender hoping to find employment in a bar(n) where there was actual dairy work to be done. I signed on with the dwarf hating micky in the hunt for his stolen veal. He offered me a decent pile of silver each day and I knew that I would need plenty of silver and maybe even some gold once the detective tracked down a supply of red leaf snuff. The star-eyed dwarf, the detective, and some other riffraff appeared to also be in the employment of the dwarf hating micky in his veal hunt.
Along the way, I heard mutterings from my companions concerning a baby golem and that the Wee-Jasian veal appreciators might be attempting to construct one. I’m not sure exactly what a baby golem is, but it apparently takes at least thirty babies to produce. Hopefully, it is some sort of delicious veal pie that I might be able to sample someday.
The veal hunt eventually led us to another bar(n) named the Square Bar but there was sadly no milk production that I could see taking place. There did appear to be a large number of cows present but none of them appeared to be lactating.
The veal hunt concluded at a warehouse guarded by some faggy elves. I did not appreciate their fag talk and was able to beat one into unconsciousness with my quarterstaff. Another faggy elf that the detective had cast a spell on led us to a room in the basement of the warehouse. Both the veal who I had last seen exiting the door of the bar(n) with Mekor and the first calf heifer, Amelia, were there. An elf lady named Whisperwind appeared quite distraught that we had come to the milking without our milking tiaras and threw a quantity of them at us. The tiaras appeared quite important to the Daromir milk production process so I put one on my head eager to make further observations of the Daromir non-traditional dairy practices.
Soon we found ourselves under siege by the Wee-Jasian veal appreciators. The first calf heifer might dry up if separated from her veal for too long so I assisted in the extraction of her and the veal from the warehouse. During the ensuing battle, a non-lactating cow fell due to wounds from the Wee-Jasian veal appreciators. I picked her up and carried her from the battlefield. She might serve well for further observations of the Daromir dairy production traditions if I can find a bull willing to breed with her.
Organization Building; Viva Orcaleone
Xalo is rife with criminal activity. Its citizens have an appetite for it. We're going to own it all.
Jimi Tripod has some of the local hooers under his thumb, and is working on more. I plan to get in on some of that action. I know he's paying up the pipe, but if I invest and exert a little influence I can expect a taste.
Trying to find out who kidnapped my feeble-minded sister's bastard kid has led to some contact with the local drug trade. At least one dealer is soft, and should bow to the right pressure. The crazy mook even gave me a free bag of skunk weed, and I didn't even rough him up. I've got to let Jimi know, he'll make use of that. I also have heard that the nobles are big fans of the red leaf snuff, and will pay a pretty cool price for it. Will need to contact suppliers back in Sicilino.
At least three of my companions have problems that I can study to discover their origins. The less annoying dwarf is a big fan of the snuff, and seems intent on learning how to find it. I can let him do the work for me and exploit it later. The more annoying dwarf uses some kind of drug to induce visions. I'm sure I can get some and inject it into the local market. This "detective" seems to have people running him down for gambling debts. I wonder if I can purchase said debt. I can also find out where he's running them up, and look into the business to gauge its long-term value.
If Amelia can keep her head down, this can be a very profitable town indeed.
