Session 19 Report

General Summary

The next day was a slow late morning that saw the party stagger awake in intervals. Their guest, Merrywind Onyx, was awake before all of them, prompting Titta Morco to ask if he was simply accustomed to drinking so much or if his inebriation the night before was acting. Merrywind responded, “Yes.” They learned that Merrywind would be leaving for West Andaria, Kainan, shortly after breakfast. Before they bid each other goodbye, he mentioned Lady Dyora Albyn’s frog collection, implying that they are former enemies transformed by her magic. He also shared the rumor he had heard that the Black Glove Society recently lost its leader, the Asp, and that Lady Dyora has a new frog. After he left, they worked out a plan of action to search for adventuring leads. They would split up around town into two groups to dig up promising rumors. But as they continued finalizing the details there was a knock on the door. Belpher Burrows opened the door and welcomed a lady in named Sulin Cornwall. Sulin pleaded with the party a desperate case of bandits attacking her lakeside villa and taking her husband, Morgen Cornwall, and their two servants, Terrius and Willa Vandark, prisoners. Their household guards had been killed, but Sulin managed to escape on horseback and rode with haste to Rowadin to seek help. In the course of the conversation, she revealed a desire to keep the authorities clear from this matter. It involved her husband’s brother, Bremmen Cornwall, who was involved with a cult that prayed to an “evil being,” and she did want to besmirch the Cornwall name which held weight amongst high Rowadin society. The party eagerly agreed to help her and she offered to pay them 500 crowns for their trouble. The Cornwall villa was approximately ten miles down the west road from Rowadin, situated along the Great Lake. The party ventured towards it on foot, hustling for as long as they could. When they reached the villa, they veered off the road and approached it from the side under the cover of the trees and bushes surrounding the grounds. They snuck up to the villa successfully and saw four armed men standing guard outside. Two of them were watching the path up to the house, the other two watching a path down to the lake. Auren Sylynn and Titta attempted to sneak past these sentries to get around the corner of the building, from which to spring a surprise attack, but they were spotted when a rock was accidentally kicked into the side of the house. The sentries reached for their weapons and ordered the intruders away. Titta and Auren attempted to buy some time making up an excuse for being there. But then the men saw the rest of the party hiding among the trees and prepared for combat. One of them banged on the front door of the villa, alerting whoever was inside. An Entangle spell by Ladigo Farthon held two of these men fast. The other two were closer to the edge and either evaded the grasps of the writhing vines or broke free and worked their way out. Those two were cut down first as Haymin’s Heroes attacked. A swing of Pyzar Zim's greatsword felled both men in one broad swipe, prompting Titta to call for Ladigo to drop the Entangle. Once he did, they rushed the other two. They did not last long and the party worked their way to the front door. The front door opened and another bandit was there. Three others rushed through the front of the house. Two of these took cover behind the windows with their crossbows. By then several of the party were working their way inside, the first man having been cut down quickly. It did not take long for there to be only one left alive. This man dove through the window, luckily evading Auren’s kukri strike as he did so. Then this bandit ran in the direction of the lake path. Mogi Delvin gave chase, as did Pennig and Titta. Ladigo also summoned a wolf into being with his magic and the man was surrounded with two wolves literally on his heels. Titta called sternly for his surrender and the bandit dropped his sword, dropped to his knees, and raised his hands. Inside the house, Pyzar found the servants tied up in a room. He and Selia Roselyn Maxwell freed them while Titta interrogated the man outside. They learned that Bremmen came here to conduct a ritual out by a cave just off the path towards the lake. He took his brother, Morgen, as a sacrifice to the Eye. They tied the bandit up, Pyzar knocked him out, and they left him with Terrius Vandark. Then they hurried to the cave. Just off the lake they found the entrance. From inside they heard a chanting voice who then called out to the Eye to accept this sacrifice. Inside they found four more men standing sentry, watching Bremmen Cornwall preparing to sacrifice his brother, Morgen. Morgen was naked and chained to a stone altar near the water where the cave opened to the lake. Two fish-like humanoids, kuo-toas, were just off the altar near the water, watching. Haymin’s Heroes rushed in before the bandits realized they were there. Titta cut down the closest one with a deadly swipe of her scimitar. Selia cast Power Word Pain on Bremmen, causing him to cry out in agony as the spell worked its punishing magic on him. The kuo-toas retreated to the water and began watching from a distance. When Fisher rushed them at the edge of the water, they swam away, not to be seen again. The party had finished off three of the bandits as Sinjin Fairchild closed in on Bremmen. In an act of desperation, the cultist eluded Sinjin’s grasp and cast a sleep spell that incapacitated Titta, Ladigo, Auren, and his last ally. Then he tried to run through the opening he’d created. Pyzar caught him, however, and cut him down with his sword. Selia dug through Bremmen’s pockets and found a key to the chains. She freed Morgen, and Titta gave him a cloak to cover up. They found his clothing tossed off to one side and he got dressed while the party sifted through the remains. Morgen thanked them and inquired about his wife. He told them Bremmen’s intention to sacrifice him to the Eye in order to impress the kuo-toas. The Doom Bringers were courting them to join their cause and this sacrifice was meant to appeal to them somehow. On Bremmen, they found a parchment map that revealed the Temple of the Eye somewhere at least fifty miles southwest of Rowadin. The bottom half of the map showed a diagram of what looked like a ravine with several caves along it, each labeled with a different type of creature. Towards the back of the ravine, one of them was labeled, “Temple of the Eye.” After clearing the bodies out of the cave and pushing the stone altar into the lake, they headed back to the villa. They carried Bremmen’s body with them so his brother could have him buried. The rest were tossed into the lake. At the villa, Haymin’s Heroes helped clear the bandit bodies there as well. They took them down to the lake with the help of their prisoner and burned them in a pyre. They spoke with their bandit captive and learned of the Temple of the Eye in the forest. The tribes of kobolds, goblinoids, orcs, and gnolls all worked for Pleponei Thenne, the Doom Bringer high priestess of the temple. She unified them in a tenuous alliance, having them cause chaos and destruction in the area. Other creatures also lived in the ravine, including an ogre, an owlbear, and a minotaur, their cave homes all labeled on the map. Haymin’s Heroes decided to let this man free, urging him to rethink his life choices. They gave him a shortword and let him walk away. He thanked them for his life and did so, heading east. Then the party reunited with Morgen and accompanied him to the city to collect his wife. In Rowadin, the couple embraced and thanked the gods for their fortune. The party accompanied Morgen to the Golden Vault so he could gather the 500 crowns his wife had promised them, then he gladly paid them. The Cornwalls and Haymin’s Heroes parted at the Green Dragon, the inn where the couple wound spend that night. Morgen Cornwall promised to spread their good name, both Haymin’s Heroes and Heroes for Hire, around his circles. The next day, Haymin’s Heroes visited the League of Extraordinary Treasure Seekers to speak with Lewis Cass, the owner. Belpher had informed them that he had called on them when they were out. At the guildhall of the League, they encountered the Gray Wolves, grown up and adventurers in their own right, working with the League of Extraordinary Treasure Seekers. Few words were shared between them, the animosity filling the room. When they spoke to Lewis Cass, he offered to buy Heroes for Hire from them. He offered up to 25,000 crowns to purchase their guild, promising to keep them in charge of it with preference on adventure assignments. After a short negotiation, Haymin’s Heroes declined his offer. They also warned him about the Gray Wolves and their past. Over the next couple days, Haymin’s Heroes made preparations to go to the caves and the Temple of the Eye. The spent all of the 500 crowns they had made in order to go in prepared. Their hope was that this next adventure would bring in considerably more reward than that. On Sunday, April 14, 498 AV, they were ready to depart.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists