IDROTF C1E10: Fishing for fishermen Report

General Summary

The party made their way to the White Lady Inn in search of Rinaldo the Bard. They found him there, entertaining the crowd and earning his room and board. During one of his intermissions the group invited him over to share a drink and inquired about the murder(s) he had witnessed. He explained that he had been drinking right here in this very inn one night and had gone out to relieve himself. When he did so he stumbled across a scene - the wizard immolating a poor adventurer who was relieving himself and then the ensuing battle between the adventurer's companions and the wizard - ultimately resulting in the capture of the wizard. This story felt all too familiar to Andove Littlefoot, who had had a very similar experience in Targos with Sephek Kaltro.   After some additional drinks, courtesy of Zinlis Arosath, Rinaldo shared with the party that he was planning a séance in hopes of summoning the spirit of the White Lady herself. He recounted the tale of the White Lady, a woman who supposedly had drowned on the Lac along with her miserly husband when his chest full of gold that he carried with him everywhere overbalanced their small boat and sent them into the frozen depths.   After some deliberation and discussion about the motives of summoning such a spirit, the party agreed to participate and they all went to the back room of the inn. Rinaldo began the séance and called out to the White Lady. The air grew chill, ice began to form on the INSIDE of the window and all could feel a presence. Rinaldo beseeched all those present to call to the spirit and urge to come forth and speak with them. As each spoke in turn, they could feel the spirit coming closer and closer and it seemed that the séance would work. That is...until Zinlis Arosath spoke. Somehow, perhaps his Triton heritage, he insulted the spirit that had drowned so long ago in the Lac. She came forth, but as a vengeful poltregeist.   The party fought well, and vanquished the spirit; but, they were unable to learn anything from it before doing so. Angry at Rinaldo for summoning a vengeful spirit that attacked them, the party demanded that he take them to the town hall so that they could get further information about the wizard's belongings that Rinaldo had mentioned were confiscated. Arriving at the town hall, Rinaldo escorted the party through its hallways towards the speaker's office. Along the way they encountered a large hall in the center of the building and in the middle of the hall stood a ship's figurehead, fashioned from that same black ice that Saryeras  had eventually wrapped in a blanket and placed in his pack. Tied to the figurehead was a woman, clad in tattered clothes and with long white hair falling forwards over her face.   As the party approached to see if she was okay, and determine why she was tied up in such a way, she threw back her head to reveal a horrible visage - striking fear into Rinaldo and Zinlis Arosath' hearts. Kadgrith  bravely charged forward to meet the threat, but nearly as soon as she revealed herself, the ghost disappeared. Moments later it became clear to the companions what had happened, for Kadgrith  got a strange glint in his eyes and began to swing his greatsword at his friends! A hectic fight ensued, where the rest of the party attempted to incapacitate the possessed Kadgrith  without doing irreparable harm. Eventually, they succeeded in vanquishing the spirit - for the time being at least.   Once they had caught their breath the party proceeded to the speaker's office where they admonished him for keeping such dangerous relics unguarded in the open. He explained that the figurehead had recently been raised from the depths of the Lac by another adventuring party, and that he knew the substance to be possessed of demonic energies so could not simply leave it be, but also could not safely dispose of it since destroying it would just create hundreds or thousands of smaller pieces that would be even more dangerous. He did point out, however, that the ghost was much more likely the doing of Rinaldo's séance than anything else.   At this point the party asked about the wizard's possessions and they were advised that a book had been taken from him (under the assumption it was a spellbook) and stored in the library. After an exhaustive search (the librarian was nowhere to be found) Saryeras  came across a tome that seemed likely to be the one but which contained only poetry. Andove Littlefoot was able to confirm that it emitted a magical aura, however, so Saryeras  kept it and determined to study it further.   The party retired for the night at the White Lady Inn and determined to leave in the morning in search of the lost fishermen.