Session 160 - "Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?"

General Summary

Where the Fellowship continues to defend itself against an assault of ghouls, discovers the fate of their man Swany, and that there is a member of the Old Cults hiding in the most mundane of places.  

Oathday, Gozran 28, 4711 AR

The Broken Compass

12.51p

The Unworthy Soul, terribly sickened by foul water from the ghoul's lungs, fights against his paralysis and is able to regain control of his limbs. He moves to block his enemy's path and is able to dig one claw into the ghoul's flesh, aiding by the flanking Kelath. To the south, the ghoul facing X slashes across his chest and digs in for a handhold. To the north, the ghoul steps beside Kelath and rips into his neck with its jagged teeth, tearing deep into the meat of it. Steeling himself, Velexander feints an attack against his foe, rendering the undead creature blind to the vicious double strike he follow up with. Nyrrk comes forward and savagely sends bolts of magic missiles into the ghouls, finally bringing them down.   X drags one body in as Kelath and the Soul come in from the north. Kelath begins tending to the party's wounds.  

1.01p

There is a sudden knock at the north door followed by a voice asking if everyone inside is ok. Quickly deciding to go with truth for the most part, Kyrrn opens the door to four city watchmen. The watchman apologizes and introduces himself as Ovor Drunst, the watch captain of this area. Kyrrn names herself and the Fellowship, however X appears outraged by the attack. Drunst offers to talk to Dena and take care of their stay at the Silver Inn. X begins searching the corpse of Clanartus while the guards go about clearing out the crowd that begins to gather. He finds that the corpse's lower jaw has melted off, a clear indication of the Whispering Way. There is also a small quail egg which at first glance appears ceramic, but is actually black marble. He hands it to Kyrrn. She notices that it has a small seam on it and that it is non-magical. She picks up feelings of a general hatred of life, suffused with a kind of reverence from the odd artifact.   Kelath notices that the middle stall does not have a horse within it and he spies a fresh bloodstain on the floor under the door. Peering closer, he also notices signs of something being dragged within. He opens the door and finds that quite a bit of blood has been spilled within, now dried, but still relatively fresh. There is also a body that has been hastily covered by straw. With some trepidation, he moves the straw aside and finds their man, Swany Tort, his throat and jaw torn out.  

1.11p

X calls out to Drunst and points out Swany's corpse to him. He explains that Swany was working for the Fellowship and that maybe the guard can give them some information about the dark riders. X confesses that he doesn't think the mercenaries are being completely forthcoming with information. Kyrrn examines Drunst's aura as they talk and he appears friendly and open. Drunst asks to be given an hour to see what he can find out. X asks to be pointed in the direction where they can have Swany's body cremated. Durnst begins to examine the area and Kyrrn follows behind him looking for any resonant objects. Kelath also begins to assist Ovor with his investigation.  

1.21p

Kelath deduces that Swany was initially taken by surprise and knocked out here in the stables. He regained consciousness and then became engaged in a fight that ultimately killed him. The jaw mostly likely was removed post mortem. In the course of their examinations, they find a secret inner pocket sewn into Swany's tunic within which is a small, tightly bound piece of parchment about 3 inches long. Drunst begins to look at the parchment, but then out of respect decides to give it to Kelath. Kelath asks him to step back as he begins to carefully examine the find. Unrolling it, he finds fairly mundane appearing writing which appears to be a short journal entry:     There are short dated entries which start right after he was hired and detail his movements. Two of the entries near the end are of especial interest:  

  It appears the note is referencing Gaster Lucas, the old relic merchant Swany was sent to find. Drunst asks if he may see the paper, but Kelath tells him that it isn't pertinent to his investigation. The guard concludes that he will meet them again in an hour at the Stain.   Neferu also finds two magical rings and a short sword on Clanartus.    

The Silver Wagon

1.31p The Fellowship makes their way over to the inn to wait on Drunst and to examine the objects they discovered. Kelath continues healing as Kyrrn looks over the items. The gold and iron bands are Doubling Rings. The short sword is +2 striking weapon. Kelath looks over the egg and finds that it unscrews into two halves. Inside is the embossed and engraved symbol of the gagged human skull of the Whispering Way. Kelath dons the rings as X straps the short sword to his side. Kyrrn repockets the egg for further examination later.  

The Stain

2.31p

Meeting up with Drunst, the watchman says that it does appear the Dark Riders did visit the Broken Compass where they changed horses. He also says he spoke with Ollie, a hired hand, who said that the horses they took are part of a group that bear a certain brand, the Winged Duloop, which resembles a figure 8. The riders had been in town four days previously.   Concluding their meeting with Drunst, who makes arrangements to take care of Swany, Kyrrn gives him a few silver pieces to buy a few rounds of ale for him and his men in appreciation of their assistance. The Fellowship then sets out to find the New Chapter Bookstore, which is most likely on Scholar Row.  

New Chapter Bookstore

2.51p

The group makes their way to a busy thoroughfare with bookstores, parchment makers, paper sellers, inkers, and anything else of use in the making and publication of books and tomes. Inside the store are high disorganized stacks of books. Following a high, reedy voice they find a hunched man with sort of spinal defect. He is dressed drably and sports long black, oily hair who appears to be older than his apparent 50's. His face is thickly creased and he wears a pair of reading glasses on a gold chain. Kyrrn immediately begins fawning over him and all the dusty tomes as he begins pointing out books of interest, specifically about the festival and the Watcher in the Bay.   X attempts to not appear completely bored, while Kelath focuses on their conversation and Neferu begins to somewhat browse around. Ravisterr explains that the Festival of Lanterngeist is local to Versex, but is more popular in the south, especially in Baytown, which is the original name of Illmarsh. The purpose is to ward off the influence of evil spirits in the coast lands and the ancient Kellids mostly likely had a similar festival and is a continuation of that tradition. It is further characterized by lighting lanterns, especially in the town square, followed by a huge bonfire at its culmination. There is much food and drink and dancing, all of which must be held under the light of the lanterns. The day of the festival actual changes year to year and depends on the positioning of certain celestial bodies, but it is generally the same time of year in the autumn.   The information Ravisterr offers on the Watcher of the Bay, however, is no different than they have already heard. And when Kyrrn brings up about the Count's interest in the Watcher, he suspiciously begins to quickly downplaying any aspect of that. Kelath thinks to Kyrrn, "I think I have stumbled upon an evil alter here in the shop... we may have a yellow robed man on our hands here."   Upon hearing this news, Kyrrn turns to the bookkeeper and asks in that strange, mind-twisting language:     Ravisterr stares at her with bulging eyes, but she does not break the sudden silence. He places the book down that he was holding on a nearby stack before finally responding,     Kyrrn mentally smiles and sends out a thought to her Fellows, "We got a live one here." She responds,     The shopkeeper begins to shake and tremble in barely repressed excitement,     Kyrrn quickly glances over at her friends. X has drawn his twin swords in anticipation, while Kelath and Neferu have taken up more advantageous positions. She looks back to Ravisterr,     The man begins to rock back and forth, a visage of elation overtaking his features,       Ravisterr instantaneously stops rocking back and forth and puts his arms at his side. Kyrrn has unknowingly given something away. He replies,     He reaches down towards the book he set down previously. Kyrrn curses herself and acts almost without thinking. Hoping to pacify the man without violence, Kyrrn unleashes an agonizing despair. She expects the cultist to be driven into a stupor. Instead he utters a howl of guttural ecstasy. Blood begins spurting from his eyes... and his head explodes. Scalding brain matter splatters Kyrrn's shocked face and she dimly notices what appears to be small pieces of flint mixed within the congealing mess.     Suddenly, the bell over the door rings as a well dressed woman enters the store and calls out to anyone present. X quickly sheathes his weapons and advances towards the woman. In an awe-inspiring display of smooth guile, Velexander is able to fulfill her wish to find a book on Kellish history for her father-in-law and make a little coin at the same time. Purchase complete, he ushers her out the door and then quickly locks and closes the store...