Session 290 - The Order of Lothrim

General Summary

16^th to 20^th of Kelen (Spring) 726TR

The Story So Far

A mysterious noblewoman has requested that the heroes investigate the Zeniris Chantry of Arcane Lore; she believes something sinister has happened to it.

At Zeniris, the party has found it has been destroyed and is in the process of being looted by some unsavory characters. They have killed the looters and are following the trail of the remaining raiders.

This is the continuation of Session 289 - Looters.

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Location - The forest north of Nerda Castle, in the Kingdom of Kaldor.

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Part 1 - Foulspawn Ambush

A band of orcs spots the party. Five Common Orcs charge forward while three Small Orcs maneuver onto a ridge at the party's flank and open fire with arrows. The mismatched group of foulspawn fight efficiently; however, they are no match for the heroes. Valeria catches most of the larger orcs with a Grim Tendrils spell which rips at the gargun's flesh and causes several nasty bleeding wounds, while Rycon lets out a ferocious battle challenge causing the typically bloodthirsty orcs to hesitate. The orcs fight through grievous injuries, but eventually, all are slaughtered.

Part 2 - The Raiders Camp

Half a mile in the distance, the characters spot a camp and sneak up to spy on it. It is the raider's campsite, comprising of a half a dozen magic users of all descriptions, protected by humans and orc guards. Creeping up as close as he can, Dryueh overhears several conversations. The wizards discuss the various pillaged objects and their uses. One of the leaders receives instructions, via some magical communication device, to take the most valuable of the plundered loot elsewhere. He tells his companions that he plans to depart tomorrow morning.

Dryueh sees his opportunity and sneaks into the camp at night, narrowly avoiding being noticed by one of the guards, and enters the tent of the sleeping leader. He silently opens a small, locked chest and finds three books and, wrapped in a silk cloth, an orb made of an almost indestructible black shiny stone. Satisfied, he takes the items, puts his calling card, a symbol of an eye, into the chest, then makes his escape.

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The heroes put some distance between the camp and themselves as fast as possible while Dryueh expertly conceals the party's tracks. However, their return to the City of Tashal is not without incident. Passing a small river, a pair of River Drakes lie in wait, vomiting corrosive mucus of the party, but they a quickly disposed of. Valeria's plans to track them back to their lair fails miserably.

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Location - City of Tashal in the Kingdom of Kaldor.

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Part 3 - Stolen Goods

Back in the city, the party examines the objects Dryueh pilfered. These include;

 

An Earthmaster Artifact - A Shiny Black Stone Orb.

Three books

- The Spell Book Lady Alyon Kolarney.

- The Travels of Osgyth of Botrid.

- An Orc Anatomy Manual.

Refer to the sidebar for more details.

Part 4 - Lady Bresyn

The party finds a note under the door of their tenement. It is an invitation to dine at a residence just across the road from the city's guild of Arcane Lore. Rycon does not recognize the water-fox coat-of-arms symbol on the white wax seal.

As it happens, the mysterious invitation is from Lady Bresyn Risai, a wealthy widow from Kingdom of Melderyn. Lady Bresyn, the same mysterious woman who asked Dryueh to investigate the Chantry at Zeniris, listens with rapt attention as the heroes describe what they found at the ruins and the events at the raider's camp. They also describe the circumstances they found at the Tuzmyr embankment (refer to sessions Session 278 - Norlak's Tower and Session 280 - Secrets of a Lost Laboratory). Lady Bresyn also seems very forthcoming with the information she knows and why she has called upon the heroes for help.

The organization she represents, the Order of the White Hand, is dedicated to dealing with renegade wizards is in conflict with an evil organization called the Esoterical Order of Lothrim, a collection of arcane magic users who are plotting to create a new mage-ruled empire, supported by orc army. Their leader, known as the Daughter of Lothrim, is believed to be a powerful renegade wizard. Lady Bresyn also believes they plan to destabilize the human kingdoms as part of their schemes to seize power.

However, she is in a "pickle." The enemy has come into possession of a powerful Earthmaster artifact called the Ring of Domination, which allows the user to control anyone completely against their will. She believes members of her organization may have been corrupted and are now sleeper agents for the Order of Lothrim. She has no choice but to employ people that one would never consider to be White Hand agents and employ free agents such as the heroes.

The party, in Lady Bresyn's opinion, will need to become more powerful to contend with the Order of Lothrim successfully. She uses her contact in the Wizards Guild to enchant or improve some of the hero equipment, and soon she promises she will have an important mission for them.

To be continued.

NPC Interactions

Lady Bresyn Risai - Agent of the Order of the White Hand.

Challenges

Valeria learned information about the mysterious book.

5 x Gargu-Hyeka (common orc) and 3 x Gargu-Araki (small orc).

2 x Water Drakes.

Rewards

The PCs equipment is improved.

Created Content

Esoterical Order of Lothrim.

Related Reports

Lothrim the Foulspawner.

Order of the White Hand.

List of Renegade Spellcasters.

The Plots of Lothrim's Daughter.

Dyalne Dulye.

The Earthmasters.

Player Characters

Valeria - Human Magical Experiment - L4 Shadow Sorcerer - Beastmaster.

Rycon - Human Rebel Knight - L4 Fighter - Liberator Champion.

Dryueh - 1/2 Elf Scout - L4 Thief Rogue - Vigilante/Medic.

Next Session

Session 291 - Rat Poison.