DW Session 37: Poroshenko's Sewer Troubles, Pt. 1

General Summary

10/1/897 At the end of the last session the Royal Knights Brigade had its first face-to-face conversation with the Sunken God. The monstrous deity used this talk to distract the party from the ship collapsing around them, and the RKB barely escaped the burning vessel before it sank into the sea.   Swimming back to the piers, the party checked on the lone elven merchant to survive the sahuagin massacre of his shipping vessel. His name was Aito from the Kiri-Kawa Territories, and he said that the sahuagin must have boarded the ship after they docked at the Sardivelian trading post of Silvio. The party was suspicious that Aito may have been turned into a Deep Scion like members of their own ship had, but they let him leave while they headed with Helena to city hall to speak with the town's leader.   Vadik, the aged elven leader of Poroshenko, said that he was going to put the city on lockdown until all of the Sunken God's sahuagin were removed from town. Beleren approved of the decision, and Vadik gave the RKB the political authority to freely roam the city and investigate crimes. In order to keep a low profile, the party agreed to call themselves 'The Royals' while they explored the city.   After such a chaotic start to the day, the party settled in for a night of drinking at a local tavern called the White Kraken. Beleren ordered a sweet limoncella from Sardivelia, Flora and Helena tried a Glacian type of wine with a surprisingly minty and cool flavor, and Jax and the others tried some local versions of dragonshine (a lot creamier, still strong). The group debated different ways to investigate the city and stop the town's sahuagin, and when Jax fell asleep for the night he had a vivid dream of Yo-Na, nature goddess and the source of his barbaric Totem of the Bear powers.   Yo-Na condemned Jax for his failure to glorify his deity's name in everything he did, choosing to focus instead on political squabbles and the needs of the flesh. Jax promised to be more faithful in the future, but as punishment for his lapse Yo-Na stripped him of many of his barbaric resistances. He would still withstand an arrow's strike of a sword's blade, but he would have to be more careful around spellcasters and elemental attacks going forward.   The next morning the RKB woke to the shouts of a murder on the city streets outside. A woman was found clawed to death and left to bleed out into the nearby gutters, the party immediately recognizing the markings as those of a sahuagin. Kacie's history of scouting the woods of Hakon helped her determine that 15 sahuagin had been around the body, and Jax communicated with a lobster before it was boiled to learn that the sahuagin were carrying stout barrels and planks of wood. Flora cast the spell 'Speak With Dead' to try to ask the woman about the sahuagin, but her throat was so torn apart that she was barely able to answer yes-or-no questions.   As the investigation was underway a stern elven man showed up with a large detachment of Poroshenko's town guards: Bratomil, chief of the city's defense. He argued that the RKB was interfering with his crusade against the sahuagin, and he announced later that day that he would be storming Poroshenko's sewers with 90% of the town's guard to flush out the monsters from the city. The party thought that this was a horrible idea and cautioned Bratomil against sending so many men down into the sewers, but he refused to listen and stormed away after growing tired of arguing with the RKB (he also insulted Flora's new thri-kreen form).   The day dragged on into the late evening, and the city was awash with rumors of Bratomil's campaign in the sewers. In the meantime the RKB explored Poroshenko to look for clues and update their arsenal of weapons. Flora, Asdis, Beleren, and Kacie all went to the docks to purchase armor and weapons for future encounters with the Sunken God. Beleren helped Kacie pick out a powerful longsword, and the two of them discussed the effects of magic and dying multiple times. Asdis wanted the RKB to help her purchase some sturdy plate armor, but Flora chose to buy it for herself while Asdis would have to wait three weeks for a new set to be made. This did not improve their relationship.   Afterwards Beleren found the town's Shroud hideout inside a cigar shop to speak with the local contacts. In a surprise twist, the man behind the counter was none other than Oleg Svetson, the hedge wizard the party let escape from Oblast after he was manipulated by the Sunken God to steal Nikolaj's skull. Over cigars Oleg explained how Baba Yaga transported him all the way to Poroshenko in a matter of days, and for several weeks he worked as a spellcaster-for-hire. A sleepless week of guilt and regrets convinced him, however, that he needed to do more to fight the Sunken God and prevent him from tormenting more people. So Oleg came across The Shroud and joined its ranks of anti-occult agents, keeping an eye on the ships that traveled through one of southern Pescat's busiest cities. Beleren was pleased to see the change in attitude from Oleg, and he offered him a chance to join the RKB as they investigated the sahuagin in town and beyond.   While Flora visited the Temple of Aurithrym and learned about the wintry two deities, Jax and Helena visited a library to search for any records that could help the party investigate Poroshenko's sewers. Margaret came along as well, which made it awkward for Jax given his romantic history with both women. In a bout of inspiration, Jax discovered a map of Poroshenko's ancient tunnel system dating back to the 2nd Cycle, combining this with Helena's findings to discover some hidden chambers and dungeons where the Sunken God's sahuagin may be hiding. Afterwards Margaret and Jax sparred with each other at a local fighting pit, and Jax once again left the ring undefeated. Helena confessed to Jax that she'd never be a good fighter like everybody else in the RKB, but she was thankful that Jax was willing to help with her research and reading every night.   That evening the party reunited at the White Kraken to go over their findings and discuss the next plan of action. Almost a full day had passed, and nobody had heard anything from Bratomil's troops in the sewers. The party was initially surprised to see Oleg in the flesh again, but they quickly got him to admit that he was currently in the service of the Shroud. Helena was suspicious of the Shroud and how its founder Medraad could still be alive after dying at the Battle of Faouzia, but Jax was fine with Oleg's career change since Medraad had saved him and the rest of the RKB from the New Year's Massacre in Kassadeia.   After some more debate, the RKB decided to take Oleg and Kacie with them down into the sewers to search for the sahuagin on their own while Helena and the others would do more research at the White Kraken. A couple of elven guards stood watch at the entrance of Poroshenko's major reservoir, but Beleren's silver tongue convinced them to let the party through and investigate the sewers.   After more than an hour of traveling down dimly lit passageways the party made it to an antechamber that split into several directions. Jax muscled his way through a door that was closed shut, but once it was opened he discovered that the corpses of dozens of elven guards were pushed up against the opposite side of the door. It was Bratomil's town garrison, but Bratomil's body was nowhere in sight. The party traveled deeper into the sewer passageway, working their way past some dangerous barricades and fighting a giant crocodile before finding themselves surrounded on all sides in a battle with a horde of sahuagin. Kacie was nearly killed by a sahuagin priestess' 'Spirit Guardians', but Beleren managed to patch her up with a healing potion before she died from her wounds. Oleg proved to be a useful ally with some powerful attacks and spells that could slow down the party's enemies.   After Jax delivered the killing blow to the last sahuagin in the tunnels, the RKB took a short rest inside a half-empty reservoir to heal themselves. A small sahuagin had fled through a door on the reservoir's southern wall, and the room was covered in wooden planks and stout barrels filled with a mysterious substance. The party vowed to investigate the matter further, but first Kacie thanked Beleren for saving her life with a quick hug.

Rewards Granted

• Flora obtained Plate Armor (AC 14 -> AC 18)
• Kacie obtained a Longsword (1d10, two-handed)
• Oleg joined the RKB
• Kacie leveled up a to lvl 6 Fighter

Missions/Quests Completed

The party investigated a horde of the Sunken God's sahuagin operating under the city of Poroshenko.

Character(s) interacted with

Vadik, Bratomil, Aito