Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Nineteenth

General Summary

We met the Alley Sleepers in the beeping tunnel of danger, trying to figure out a way to maybe steal a very nice hat without completing disrupting the power hierarchy of Kinhall and assuring their doom in the process. Turns out, this is tricky! The Ominous End requested that our heroes retrieve a hat currently held by the Kinhall Custodians, which wouldn't be a huge deal if not for the fact that our crew recently aligned themselves with The Returned and to steal or otherwise purloin this item would be to break pretty much the only steadfast rule in the town and probably lead to a grisly death. All concurred that it was a hell of a time for Grex the Indomitable to go on a blink walkabout. Okay! So, bit of a pickle. Thoughts?

Of Hats and Haggle

Many ideas were floated and dismissed. Can't kill the End and just take the compass--the gang is under the protection of The Returned and would end in a different grisly death. Can't get caught stealing from the Custodians--aforementioned grisly death. What to do? Well, maybe the Masterbearer has some thoughts. It was decided to consult with Mauglath, martial master of The Returned, and see what he thinks. He pretty much confirmed all of their situational analysis, but did offer one useful option: maybe try just asking the Custodians for the hat? There will likely be a price, but it is probably more affordable than their lives. It was agreed that this was a sound plan.
The Custodians have offices in the Kinhall Tabernacle, so our heroes headed that direction. Triple M gave them a letter of introduction to present to Lapis, Kinkeeper of the Custodians, but before they could do that, they met the Elder of Kinhall, Exlith. They were previously told that the Elder of this particular town was more of a figurehead than anyone of power, but this meeting revealed that perhaps there is more to this individual than previously thought. Hama vu Farlight did his best to continually insult the old man, but he seemed to take that in stride.
Finally, it was time to meet Lapis, a shimmery blue earth Genasi who exuded confidence and care. After the exchange of some pleasantries, she offered them the hat if they would but agree to do one service for her: venture into the Ghostpool in The Snakeghost desert and kill the serpent/dragon/whatever that is found there. Apparently, many young adventurers looking to make a name for themselves have tried to do so and it has brought nothing but heartache to the town. She is willing to give them the hat to do this service and all she required in return was their promise that they would do this violence. Aletha of the Flintclaw, being Aletha, readily agreed. Rieta was also pretty stoked, fixating on something she kept calling "throat treasure." Rather than touch the hat--which is rumored to be deeply cursed--they arranged delivery and headed back to Featherstone and the End. He was all too happy to provide the compass in exchange for the hat. Nice! Now, all that remains is to head into the very dangerous desert and see about a Worm.

To the Snakeghost

Before heading into the desert, though, it was important to be properly outfitted. So the Sleepers visited a supply shop called Desert Goods that sold, well, desert goods. The owner, a curt woman named Dannelore, sold them what they would need to survive for any length of time in the desert, which included some sturdy tents, desert googles, and some special boots for traversing the great dunes. She declined to rent them equipment, however, as most folks don't come back from the Snakeghost and she believes this fate is likely for our Sleepers. Uh oh!
Whatever. Determined to prove her wrong, our adventurers headed into the desolation of the Snakeghost. Rieta led the way, consulting the rough approxmation of the map as best she could. It wasn't long before one of the dangers of the desert arrived, giant scorpions! These were dispatched without too much difficulty. But then anotehr danger arrived in the form of a sandstorm. Our heroes had different ways of dealing with this difficulty, with Svo'Kool and Hama wrapping the adventurers in one of the tents while Aletha and Rieta prayed for divine guidance or intervention. The punishing storm did some damage to the Sleepers, but they survived. 
Next, they encountered some tell-tale T-Rex tracks in the desert. But decided to let sleeping dinosaurs lie for the moment. Hopefully that was a sound decision. But there wasn't much time to dwell on it, as they also encountered a boat in the middle of a sand dune. Everyone was pretty exhausted by this point, so it was decided to just sample some of the goods discovered in the water barrels to "see what would happen." Some of the Sleepers benefitted from this ancient aquavit, while others suffered. D&D be like that sometimes.

Honorarrow Redux

Our explorers finally made their way to one of the key landmarks of the Snakeghost, the Ruins of Ixxalomi. Exhausted physically, emotionally, and perhaps spiritually, all they sought was rest. What they found was the vengeance of one Tolse Honorarrow, this time reincarnated as a brutal Boneclaw and bringing two mummies with her for kicks. A tough fight commenced, with Hama thankfully using his new cleric skills to turn the mummies.  Eventually, Tolse was yet again brought low, but it is now very clear--something has to be done to sate this spirit before she eventually becomes so powerful she'll overcome the group. With that lingering thought, the Sleepers bedded down to rest and to see what fresh terrors the morning might bring.
And that's where we left it. We'll see how the morning goes during our next session.

Character(s) interacted with

Mauglath Masterbearer Malukakanu, martial master of The Returned
Exlith, bookish Elder of Kinhall
Lapis, Kinkeeper of the Kinhall Custodians
Iyel Featherson, leader of the Ominous End
Dannalore, no-nonsense owner of Desert Goods
Tolse Honorarrow, vengeful spirit

Report Date

07 Feb 2021

Primary Location

The Snakeghost

Secondary Location

Kinhall