Session 13: Ghashrukkar Clan Report

General Summary

After retrieving the Umbral Stone from the vault beneath the Mayor's Manor and receiving the thanks of Captain Perrin, the party headed back into the town to seek out Ragna. They found him toward the shore in a small residential courtyard of mostly destroyed buildings. He was performing a ritual around a pile of corpses and the players let him continue without interruption. After about 30 minutes he finished and raised a shambling group of zombies under his command which swayed back and forth moaning as he chatted with the party.   Ragna was surprised and impressed they managed to get the Umbral Stone so quickly, he expected it to take days. He insisted on finishing his work cleaning up the town before leaving. While they could attempt to ressurect Varuna here, he didn't like their chances of success since he needed secondary casters and the party wasn't particularly experienced in such matters. His suggestion was to wait for him to be done, then either travel to Mount Foss which was a magical convergence point where any rituals should be easier, or if they really want their best shot at success head the Whispering Hollow deep in the Shifting Seas. At the Whispering Hollow, the line between this life and the next is its thinnest and that was their best chance at successfully resurrecting Varuna.   They decided it was best to heed his advice and wait to travel with him to the Whispering Hollow. He asked for their help in collecting the dead for his rituals in order to speed up the process. They declined but said they would see if they could convince the local gaurd to help. Ragna said that was fine, but not to mention him to the townfolk as most people get far more nervous around him than the party does. Houdini questioned him some on what he was doing with the undead he was raising and he once again told them he was returning them to the sea because the sea requires sacrifices. He commanded his most recent troupe of zombies to walk to the docks and into the Cloud Sea, then went back to gathering more corpses. Curious, the party watched the zombies from a distance and indeed they did walk right off the docks into the Cloud Sea, like lemmings off a cliff. The party went back to their ship and sleep a peaceful night amoung the wreckage of all the other boats and smell of sulfar and decaying flesh that carried on the wind from the destruction of the town.   The next day, they headed back to Captain Perrin and with Torph convincingly intimidating monologue of all the horrible diseases that could come from not dealing with the corpses, they managed to convince him to have one of his patrol groups start stacking bodies down by the docks in groups of 20. Torph told Captain Perrin that he would safely dispose of the bodies by taking further out to the sea and dumping them at night. Captain Perrin seemed grateful and didn't want the details, as long as the job got done.   He did request that they help do the normal job of his patrols though, and collect taxes from the surviving locals to help rebuild Eekle and have the funds to purchase nessasary supplies. He didn't care how they managed to collect the taxes, as long as they got everything that everyone left has squirrled away or looted since the city fell. He warned them not to kill anyone or damage their trade tools, he still needed them to work to rebuild the economy, but short of that he didn't care as long as he got any valuables they had left.   Using various tactics, the most successful being Houdini's charm and the least successful being Mulush's fists, they spent the next five days "collecting taxes" for Captain Perrin and got to keep their 10% cut from their work. The guards also managed to make many piles of bodies during the day which were always gone when they returend the next morning. The town was getting cleaned up, the citizenry was getting poorer, and the party was in the thick of it.   When returning to the ship on the fifth day, and orc stepped out of the shadows and greeted Mulush. He spoke in length to Mulush in orcish which no one else understood, although Euthen stood nearby and chuckled whenever they did, always a slit second too late. After clasping hands, the orc departed and Mulush rejoined his group. He informed them the orc was a fellow member of the Ghashrukkar Clan named Ug'nak and he had brought an orcish raiding party to overthrow the gaurds and claim the town. Mulush said he would be joining them, assuring Houdini that they had no intention of hurting the townsfolk as long as they complied. Mulush would, however, do whatever was neccessary to claim this island for his clan now that he had troupes at his disposal. Ug'nak had also told him that a ship of gnoll slavers was seen leaving a few days ago, so time was of the essence to seize and fortify the town for the arrival of the Ghashrukkar Clan before the gnolls returend with their own warband. The party agreed to help Mulush seize the town.   The next day, they used some clever ploys with the help of the orc warband to eliminate two guard patrols without Captain Perrin realizing what had happened. They were preparing for an assault from the rear of the manor as soon as night fell, but weren't sure how to create a distraction in the front. Someone had the inspiring idea to see if Ragna would be willing to lend them a few zombies to draw attention away from the rear. They luckily remembered to tell him that no orcs should be attacked, and asked him to head through town in an obvious fashion at nightfall. The party found good hiding places around the manor house and waited for night to come.   Shortly after the last rays of light faded from the sky, Houdini and Euthen who were hidden out front heard it coming. Not one, not two, but a herd of zombies which filled the entire street shambling and moaning toward the manor house. Ragna limped along with his staff in the middle, smoking his pipe and cackling to himself about how he hadn't done this in ages. As they approached the house, Euthen when running toward the manor house in a convincingly mock panic shouting about zombies coming. The guards let him in and Captain Perrin ordered everyone to the front to defend; a perfect distraction for Mulush and his orcs.   As the hoard crested the torchlight in the sweeping yard surrounding the house, Captain Perrin cursed in fear. Eight shambling, mindless, half rotted, corpses stood across the yard. Their eyes empty of intelligence, empathy, and humanity. A deep crushing fear struck the guards as they opened fire with arrows and the zombie hoard spilled toward the manor house like a wave of flesh. Nothing could stop them. Arrows barely slow them. Doors and windows collapsed at the sheer weight of the mindless bodies slaming against them. Zombies fell through windows, piled through doors, and tore into the guards like a starved wolf tears into a rabbit. It was over in moments. The guards were being devoured by the time the orcs even reached the back door.   Still feigning surprise, Euthen and Captain Perrin retreated into the main office. Mulush and Ug'nak soon reached the door and battered it down with their axes. As Mulush stood over the cowering Captain Perrin, all he could do is look up at the orc he thought a comrade and mutter "Why Mulush, why?". Mulush looked at his weak form with disdain and said, "Eekle belongs to the Ghashrukkar Clain now." and struck with both weapons, cleanly beheading the Captain for his collection on his belt.   In the following hours the undead carried off their kills, leaving the orcs and the party alone as Ragna stood in the yard smoking his bone pipe and cackling about how he hadn't had that much fun in years. The orc warband ransacked the house, searching for any valuables. Mulush, Ug'nak, and the party headed into the vault where Mulush agreed to let each member of the party select a single item as spoils for their great victory. He also gifted them the Demon Mask as a gift for Varuna when he was finally risen, since he would have to stay behind and prepare Eeekle for the arrival of his clan.   The rest of the party returned to their ship victorious and without a scratch on them. They had helped a companion achieve his goals and find a new home for his displaced people. They had a path forward to ressurect their fallen companion Varuna. They had helped Ragna clean up the bodies of the victums of the kraken attack. As they drift off to sleep thinking of all the things they had accomplished, they hear a small nagging voice in the back of their head say, "...but at what cost?"

Rewards Granted

Houdini: +1 Shadow Leather Armor
Annie: Darkling Halo (custom relic ring) - Obscure gift
Euthen: Wand of Continuation
Torph: +1 Striking Ghost Touch Dagger
Varuna: Demon Mask
175 GP each of gemstones