DW Session 24: Where is Cereus Washere?

General Summary

3/3/897

• The party sails to Chernenko for next leg of the mission
• The voyage is a two-part mission:
• First, find a way to defeat the Sunken God
• Second, stop Cpt. Tarkov’s pirate raids
• The next leg of the trip deals with the latter
• Astrid tells the party on the way there about her contact in Chernenko
• She plans on using the contact to help overthrow Cpt. Tarkov and Myltevian government
• She also fills party in on The Butler, Iron Flask, etc.
• Cereus spends time with Flora, but there’s no chemistry :/
• The RKB arrives in Chernenko, a miserable fishing town with few conveniences or people
• The party meets with Nikolaj Baratov, High Priest of the Temple of Rexfur
• Everybody knows him as a hero and local legend
• He’s Tarkov’s half-brother, and he aims to wrest the crown of Myltev from him
• The question is, how?
• Let half an hour of debating commence
• Astrid prefers a subtle method of undermining Tarkov’s inner circle from within
• Kill Tarkov or his advisers, sow distrust, let it start unraveling
• Beleren suggests disguising as a new faction to get into Tarkov’s graces
• Jax wants a violent confrontation, summon a fleet of ships to attack Oblast
• Nikolaj doesn’t have a very large fleet though
• What if they convinced Tarkov to come to Chernenko?
• They’d have a home field advantage, and Oblast would be less defended
• Nikolaj could sail in while Tarkov’s away
• Astrid concedes that a meeting with Tarkov could be feasible
• Tarkov demanded her surrender and abdication several months back
• She sends a letter requesting the surrender to happen in Chernenko
• It’ll take a week for a response, two weeks for Tarkov to arrive
• In the meantime Cereus explores the wastelands of Faouzia
• He finds a gravemarker for a man named Grigori the Bold, vandalizes it
• Flora spends time with Astrid
• Beleren samples the local cuisine, investigates shipyard
• Of course, he badgers Astrid with unprompted suggestions
• Jax hooks up with Margaret while they're in town
• Finally, a letter from Cpt. Tarkov
• He agrees to Astrid’s surrender, and he’ll attend the surrender in Chernenko

4/1/897

• The party tries to find things to do while they wait for Cpt. Tarkov’s fleet
• Beleren poisons a barrel of wine
• He convinces the ship’s cook to sell him one for 100GP
• He stores it in the shipyard, takes an apprenticeship with the town's shipyard owner named Vanya
• Astrid seems ok with plan, but she’s skeptical that he’ll be able to get on Tarkov’s ship
• Maybe the wine can be distributed in the town itself?
• Cereus gets bored, tries hanging out with Flora more but to no avail
• Jax decides to go to a haunted island with Margaret
• Sure enough, it’s haunted by Grigori the Bold
• Chernenko’s founder, he was mauled by an owlbear a century ago
• A banshee-like yell KO’s Jax, Margaret flees back to Chernenko
• She warns the rest of the party about what happened to Jax
• So the party goes by rowboat to Grigori’s island
• An abandoned mansion looms over the small island
• Two ghosts frighten the party upon arrival, here to do Grigori’s bidding
• Beleren is aghast, ages twenty years in a few minutes
• One of the ghosts possesses Flora, starts attacking party
• Meanwhile Jax has to make death saving throws so he doesn’t die
• Cereus casts 'Thunderwave', collapses a piece of the mansion
• He sees Jax there, casts mass cure wounds to heal him
• But a ghost sees him and KO’s Jax again
• He then summons a pack of bears, who manage to kill one of the ghosts
• Beleren takes pot shots at the ghosts, tears one in half with his dagger of venom
• He also KO’s Flora so that she’s no longer possessed
• After this Cereus casts another cure wounds to patch up everybody
• That’s when Grigori shows up shouting for Cereus’ head
• Jax, enraged now, deals a wollop of damage with his magical weapon
• Cereus’ conjured bears finish the rest, the ghosts are defeated
• Flora, once revived, banishes the last one with 'Destroy Undead'
• The party makes it back to Chernenko, a little frightened but alive
• No lessons were learned, but ¾ of the party leveled up

Report Date

08 Feb 2020

Primary Location

Chernenko