Session 4 - Life as We Don't Know It
General Summary
On their third morning in Port Nyanzaru, while making their way to find their other contacts the party spotted a posting from one of the Merchant Princes, Kwayothé, on a notice board. It offered a small reward for anyone willing to volunteer for a small job at her villa. Curious, the party headed there to take the job. It seemed like it would be a simple one, Kwayothé wanted them to clear out some vermin in the basement and as payment she would give 5 gold each and some insect repellant. When asked for more information she stonewalled the group, asking only if they would accept the job and showing clear disinterest in any further conversation. The group agreed.
Kwayothé ’s servant Nestique escorted the party through the villa to the basement in question. Before sending them down she explained that the other servants had reported seeing scurrying shadows and hearing skittering sounds, probably giant rats. She said that her mistress had been working on a new rat repellent to sell, and promptly sprayed them with the compound before they even had a chance to question it. It smelled horrible, like a cross between skunk spray, rotten cabbage and burning corpses. She gave the group a torch to provide some light in the dark cellar.
In the cellar the party quickly found that the vermin were not in fact rats, but rather it was an infestation of crawling claws. Undead hands that skittered along the shelves and walls. The claws quickly descended on the group, and a fierce battle ensued. Caspian was brought to deaths door twice, only to be saved by his comrades who quickly found themselves on the verge of death as well. Ultimately, they prevailed and managed to exterminate the infestation. Furious they had been lied to; they went back to confront Kwayothé. However, she only seemed interested in knowing if the repellant had worked and wouldn’t listen to anything else the party had to say. She shooed them out of her villa but did provide them with the promised payment. 5 gold pieces each and one vial of insect repellant.
Baldur attempted to inform the guards of what had happened, and though they claimed that they would bring the complain to their superiors it was clear they had no intention of doing so. After all, The Merchant Princes are ultimately their boss’ boss’ boss.
Badly injured and low on resources, the party retreated to the Thundering Lizard to rest and recuperate. After a full day of licking their wounds, the group ventured out once again into the rainy evening. This time to Malar’s Throat to find Screaming Wind and The Emerald Enclave.
They found Screaming Wind mid battle with some Pterafolk on one of the bridges in the Throat. After dispatching one of the Pterafolk, the other fled and Screaming Wind turned to greet the party. She explained the series of odd threats coming from the jungle, believing them to be connected to the strange death curse somehow. The foliage had become overgrown with diseased brush and blighted flora in recent weeks, overtaking some homes at the far end of the ravine. Undead had made their way into the region. And on occasion the Pterafolk would swoop into the area attempting to abduct some of the locals, though they had only succeeded a couple of times. With the Citizen’s Brigade as their only defense, it has become difficult to keep the residents safe. A rescue party was sent out the day prior to search for any survivors but they hadn’t yet returned.
Screaming Wind was convinced that these occurrences are linked and asked the party to investigate the area and help her find the rescue party. She offered them 50 gold as reward. Screaming Wind led the party through the ravine and into the jungle to the last known location of the rescue party. She offered a suggestion of a possible path they had followed and told the party she would shadow them from a distance in case they were followed.
The party forged on through the jungle, narrowly avoiding a swarm of diseased insects (other than Snakebit and Caspian, who got a few bites and experienced a minor dizzy spell and some blurred eyesight for a brief period) before stumbling upon a makeshift path of mud and dead foliage. There they found an Elf woman and a Tabaxi tangled in some brambles. The Tabaxi was unconscious and the Elf was struggling for her life, she was able to get out a few last words before being dragged into the undergrowth to her death. “The Pterafolk sing us as offerings”
As Caspian and Elijan attempted to save the Tabaxi, a group of twig and needle blights ambushed the party. A short battle ensued resulting in some serious wounds to the Elijan, and a slaughtering of the blights. The Tabaxi managed to free himself just in time for the battle to end. He introduced himself as Ashen Rock, one of the members of the rescue party. He was not sure what happened to the rest of his group but knew that Pterafolk don’t usually venture into the city districts. This small pack must have been drawn by something. He had learned very little of the Pterafolk, save that they appeared somewhat crazed and were stealing citizens as sacrifices to the twisted plant creatures. He did know that most Pterafolk had died away and believed they may be afflicted with the death curse. After being informed that Screaming Wind was tailing the party, Ashen Rock fell back to meet up with her.
The party forged on down the path and found a small group of Grung surrounding a small stone block set in the center of a small pool of water. The Grung motioned for the group to come closer. Elijan and Snakebit went to investigate, and the Grung gestured to the altar. On the altar was a small mostly metallic half-moon object with a black leathery substance decorating the center. As Snakebit and Elijan got close to the altar, the Grung chanted, and a burst of magic came from the metallic half-moon. Snakebit found himself enthralled by its magic; he had been charmed.
The Grung took this opportunity to attack. Though they were not strong enough to take the party down. Their leader managed to trap the party in a thicket of magical vines, but it only prolonged the inevitable. The Grung were defeated. The party claimed the metallic half-moon, which upon further inspection was clearly a piece of the relic known as the Dreamer’s Amulet; it’s ridges lined up perfectly with the shape of the snake head trinket they obtained from Sanuya. They also found some gold, a jade ring, and a letter written in some language they didn’t understand.
Screaming Wind caught up with the group. Initially she urged them to destroy the half-moon immediately, but soon recognized it as something described in one of her contracts. She then asked them to bring it to Soggy Wren . With the help of Ashen Rock and some of the party, Screaming Wind gathered the bodies of the rescue party and citizens that had been sacrificed, so that they could be brought back to the city for a proper burial.
Kwayothé ’s servant Nestique escorted the party through the villa to the basement in question. Before sending them down she explained that the other servants had reported seeing scurrying shadows and hearing skittering sounds, probably giant rats. She said that her mistress had been working on a new rat repellent to sell, and promptly sprayed them with the compound before they even had a chance to question it. It smelled horrible, like a cross between skunk spray, rotten cabbage and burning corpses. She gave the group a torch to provide some light in the dark cellar.
In the cellar the party quickly found that the vermin were not in fact rats, but rather it was an infestation of crawling claws. Undead hands that skittered along the shelves and walls. The claws quickly descended on the group, and a fierce battle ensued. Caspian was brought to deaths door twice, only to be saved by his comrades who quickly found themselves on the verge of death as well. Ultimately, they prevailed and managed to exterminate the infestation. Furious they had been lied to; they went back to confront Kwayothé. However, she only seemed interested in knowing if the repellant had worked and wouldn’t listen to anything else the party had to say. She shooed them out of her villa but did provide them with the promised payment. 5 gold pieces each and one vial of insect repellant.
Baldur attempted to inform the guards of what had happened, and though they claimed that they would bring the complain to their superiors it was clear they had no intention of doing so. After all, The Merchant Princes are ultimately their boss’ boss’ boss.
Badly injured and low on resources, the party retreated to the Thundering Lizard to rest and recuperate. After a full day of licking their wounds, the group ventured out once again into the rainy evening. This time to Malar’s Throat to find Screaming Wind and The Emerald Enclave.
They found Screaming Wind mid battle with some Pterafolk on one of the bridges in the Throat. After dispatching one of the Pterafolk, the other fled and Screaming Wind turned to greet the party. She explained the series of odd threats coming from the jungle, believing them to be connected to the strange death curse somehow. The foliage had become overgrown with diseased brush and blighted flora in recent weeks, overtaking some homes at the far end of the ravine. Undead had made their way into the region. And on occasion the Pterafolk would swoop into the area attempting to abduct some of the locals, though they had only succeeded a couple of times. With the Citizen’s Brigade as their only defense, it has become difficult to keep the residents safe. A rescue party was sent out the day prior to search for any survivors but they hadn’t yet returned.
Screaming Wind was convinced that these occurrences are linked and asked the party to investigate the area and help her find the rescue party. She offered them 50 gold as reward. Screaming Wind led the party through the ravine and into the jungle to the last known location of the rescue party. She offered a suggestion of a possible path they had followed and told the party she would shadow them from a distance in case they were followed.
The party forged on through the jungle, narrowly avoiding a swarm of diseased insects (other than Snakebit and Caspian, who got a few bites and experienced a minor dizzy spell and some blurred eyesight for a brief period) before stumbling upon a makeshift path of mud and dead foliage. There they found an Elf woman and a Tabaxi tangled in some brambles. The Tabaxi was unconscious and the Elf was struggling for her life, she was able to get out a few last words before being dragged into the undergrowth to her death. “The Pterafolk sing us as offerings”
As Caspian and Elijan attempted to save the Tabaxi, a group of twig and needle blights ambushed the party. A short battle ensued resulting in some serious wounds to the Elijan, and a slaughtering of the blights. The Tabaxi managed to free himself just in time for the battle to end. He introduced himself as Ashen Rock, one of the members of the rescue party. He was not sure what happened to the rest of his group but knew that Pterafolk don’t usually venture into the city districts. This small pack must have been drawn by something. He had learned very little of the Pterafolk, save that they appeared somewhat crazed and were stealing citizens as sacrifices to the twisted plant creatures. He did know that most Pterafolk had died away and believed they may be afflicted with the death curse. After being informed that Screaming Wind was tailing the party, Ashen Rock fell back to meet up with her.
The party forged on down the path and found a small group of Grung surrounding a small stone block set in the center of a small pool of water. The Grung motioned for the group to come closer. Elijan and Snakebit went to investigate, and the Grung gestured to the altar. On the altar was a small mostly metallic half-moon object with a black leathery substance decorating the center. As Snakebit and Elijan got close to the altar, the Grung chanted, and a burst of magic came from the metallic half-moon. Snakebit found himself enthralled by its magic; he had been charmed.
The Grung took this opportunity to attack. Though they were not strong enough to take the party down. Their leader managed to trap the party in a thicket of magical vines, but it only prolonged the inevitable. The Grung were defeated. The party claimed the metallic half-moon, which upon further inspection was clearly a piece of the relic known as the Dreamer’s Amulet; it’s ridges lined up perfectly with the shape of the snake head trinket they obtained from Sanuya. They also found some gold, a jade ring, and a letter written in some language they didn’t understand.
Screaming Wind caught up with the group. Initially she urged them to destroy the half-moon immediately, but soon recognized it as something described in one of her contracts. She then asked them to bring it to Soggy Wren . With the help of Ashen Rock and some of the party, Screaming Wind gathered the bodies of the rescue party and citizens that had been sacrificed, so that they could be brought back to the city for a proper burial.
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