2024/04/24: Defending Zyth Part 8 Report

General Summary

Buzz, Knight, Kal'vus, Terana, Zaran   The session started with some debate over whether Terana had outfitted James with a communications device that lets him read data off nearby computers and send it to Terana for perusal. The DM eventually made the executive decision that she had, whether she or anyone else remembered that or not. Convenient!   As we return to our heroes, it's 7 or 8 in the morning and the sun is rising. It's time to try to find some solid information on where the concert is actually happening.   The party was driving around familiarizing themselves with the city (which for Knight meant making maps from the back of the van). After some discussion, they headed for city hall. The Chamber of Commerce should have at least some hand in the concert setup. Outside the building, they found several soldiers, with one in power armor directing traffic. After brief questioning, he directed the party to a parking area. The group disembarked and headed for the Chamber of Commerce.   The party found their way to the Hall of Records and managed to get themselves a business license and (with a wink from the clerk) a file full of records from the administration of the concert. Apparently this file was intended for a promoter for the concert. The information suggests that the government was pulling a switcheroo, paying the penalties with local merchants for cancelling the original time and venue but keeping all the suppliers on retainer for a location and time to be announced. It seemed the whole thing was in the middle of the cancellation phase.   The event was originally planned to be at "The Brook". While that's one of the bigger venues in the city, it's by no means big enough for what the documents suggest they're planning.   The party headed to the Brook to take a look around. It was mostly occupied by contractors in the process of transforming the place into something bigger and better-appointed. The contractors seemed annoyed and the businesspeople were conciliatory but mostly helpless. One woman did catch Kal'vus's eye: A highly skilled samurai type. Then he realized that a lot of the businesspeople were armed and possibly armored. It seemed they were soldiers in disguise.   After some chatting with the people in charge, the group got a folder with some contact information and other details to work from. While Zaran, Kal'vus, and Knight were talking to them, Terana was building a radar dish into the wiener on the wienermobile. Buzz linked his tricorder to it to look for any signs of Necrosa's cybertech anywhere nearby.   Terana, Knight, and Ngel Sfet went looking for information on local magic-users. Locally there are two powerful wizards, at least of the Vancian variety. They're Osifer (who lives out in farm country and is one of the local lords, if perhaps a lazy one) and a corporate wizard named Taradin (a powerful necromancer).   Buzz's scanning, against all odds, got a single hit. It was in the city and relatively close. Specifically, directly behind the car (where they were driving away), inside the Brook.   After some discussion, the party headed back to the Brook. Terana, Kal'vus, Azhar, and Knight, the only sneaky party members, went in to take a second look. Unfortunately, the scanner wasn't precise enough to locate where exactly the blip was, and the sneaky folks didn't have Necrosa detectors. Amidst the many devices on the roof of the building, the party decided they didn't have the equipment and knowledge they needed for this. They turned back and headed for Osifer's house.   The house was not particularly welcoming. After much knocking despite the "do not disturb" sign, a 7-foot-tall wood golem answered the door. It slowly got its questions answered and told the party to wait. Eventually a man in a green robe, blatantly hung over, came down to figure out who these people were and why they were here. Terana healed him. He was much more cooperative after that. Terana got to talking to him about teleportation spells and a way to be sure the party could teleport back to Renedge as needed.   After some spell-trading, Terana got what she needed and headed back to Renedge with Kal'vus to find reinforcements. From the Grey Lands, she ended up with a somewhat young boy and girl elves who are skilled with hardware and software. They're sort of rivals. Tevitarian and Levistiana, elven hackers. Being Grey Lands elves, they are extreme noncombatants.   After a while of concentrating and connecting, Terana managed to teleport herself and her compatriots back to Halloran. While the techie elves got to work on the tech radar, the party dropped Shelly off at home (or near it, at least). A call to check in with Miles got the response that something serious had come up and the "thing we talked about" would have to be postponed indefinitely. It was made deniably clear that things were going down and the party should definitely stay well away from the caravan for the time being.   Needing somewhere to stay, Terana used Divine Inspiration to find somewhere to go. The party found themselves driving to a quaint little farmhouse in the countryside. The place was a little overgrown, there was the smell of something cooking, and there were no sounds and no response when Terana went to knock on the door. In concern, Terana broke in. She found an old wizard/witch lady unconscious on the floor, still wearing her witchy hat and socks and with her double-barreled shotgun broom nearby.   She wasn't doing well. A stroke, a fall, whatever it was, Terana used a heal on her. Her eyes popped open immediately: She had azure, almost purply eyes.   She caught up very quickly. It helped that with the heal, she was feeling better than she had in years. Terana explained the situation. Apparently the goddess who had guided Terana there owed the witch a favor. Terana asked about a place to say, and the witch explained that she had one, but there was a problem.   The witch introduced herself as Auntie Edna. She said she is a proprietor of several strange magics, though unfortunately healing is not one of them. She's been the caretaker of this particular house for some time. There's a portal to hell in the basement. She hasn't found a permanent solution, but clearing it out will usually keep it clean for 4-5 years.   The demon in charge down there has been killed repeatedly, but he always eventually comes back. Still, the harder he's overkilled, the longer it takes him to return. While the party went to check out the wonderfully soft beds, Terana and Knight set about concocting a plan to make sure this demon would be gone for a long, long time.

Rewards Granted

2 xp

Character(s) interacted with

Ngel Sfet, Azhar, Miles Gargos, Shelly, Osifer, Tevitarian, Levistiana, Auntie Edna, friendly records clerk, samurai businesswoman