Episode 23 - Answering the Call

General Summary

While aboard the Shadowrunner, Shen emerged on deck. He had been trapped in the disc after Khaylin wouldn’t let him out. All Shen could do was watch while his friends died.

Upon returning to Riddleport, Hugo departed with the Ashen Order in hopes of finding answers about his gauntlet before the apparent infection gets worse.

The Guardians (Godric, Ella, Reh, and Shen) along with Belidas, traveled to Korvosa with the remains of Valarius and Sakali. They returned to the Bastion and met with Paralictor Werensei who agreed to have Valarius and the wayfinder of Alyuin (since her/Ardura’s body is now gone) buried in the Warrior’s Field cemetery.

Alythin the druid came to collect Sakali’s body. She shed a tear and said she would have a private ceremony for him. A faint essence of jam hung in the air as they departed.

Valarius was buried. Old acquaintances were there, along with his mother Yavanna. Master Loong fired a bolt of lighting from an ancient bow. It traveled into the noonday sky, shining like a star before fading.

The Guardians asked around Korvosa and managed to track down Bertox Ulous at a teahouse late in the day. They sat with him while he told them about the poor position Lasdow had now found himself in. The man had no allies, no power, and very few options. The noose was closing around his neck. When he was asked if they should be concerned about retaliation, Bertox assured them that Lasdow’s sense of self-preservation is stronger than vengeance. He will not risk himself.

As the heroes returned to the Bastion for the evening, they were led to the Warrior’s Field. One of the guards said that a few men saw a figure wearing grey robes standing at Valarius’ grave. By the time the guards got there, he was gone. However, a circular marking with a wavy line through it was etched into the tombstone. It was revealed that it was the symbol of the Akashic monks, resembling the chakram discblade that Khaylin had once used.

The next day the party returned to the docks, and boarded a ship back to Riddleport. On board, people seemed to know who they were. A man, identifying himself only as “B”, approached the group and made some small talk. He seemed to really connect with Godric, but that connection may have been a bit one-sided.

Two weeks later they arrived at Riddleport. They were met at the docks by Hank, the halfling enforcer who worked with Kenoshi, with gauze wrapped around half of his head and covering one eye. He told the Guardians that the Gold Goblin was gone. Burned to the ground a few days after the Guardians left town. Three men showed up and fireballed the building to Hell. Five big brutes wearing skull masks stood on the street and fought the gendarmes while the three men killed everyone who tried to escape the building. Kenoshi came out, badly beaten, and killed one of the men by snapping his neck like a twig. He started attacking one of the brutes when one of the men had a sword materialize in his hand and stabbed Kenoshi in the back. They dragged Hank out of the wreckage of the Gold Goblin and into the street. They held him while the man with the sword, a guy with blue hair, cut Kenoshi’s head off. He then plucked out Hank’s eye and told him to tell the Guardians that they were even now. The man with the blue hair and his accomplice vanished into the night, leaving behind the brutes to be slaughtered as they tried to leave town. Three of them were killed, but two of them were snatched up by Clegg’s men. Hank thinks they were probably taken to Zincher’s Arena.

He also told them that someone had sent word that they were looking for the Guardians of Golarion. He would be waiting at the Grey Gryphon. At the Grey Gryphon, the Guardians met with a man named Proteus. His sister was one of the cyphermages that perished on the Devil’s Elbow. Proteus feels that his path aligns with the Guardians and wants to help them.

B confided to Godric that his name was Buck, but still remained tight-lipped about himself.

The next day, the Guardians went to Zincher’s Arena to speak to Clegg. When asked about the brutes, Clegg assumed they were part of whatever was involved with the dark elves. He feels slighted by the drow and wished to take our his displeasure on their cronies. He tried questioning them but they weren’t too chatty. He had his people question them real, real hard. When they wouldn’t tell him anything he had them killed.

Clegg wanted to give them something to show his appreciation with the whole Devil’s Elbow “incident.” He knew who Reh was, or had heard of her at least. Said that he suspected that her father Darian had been killed by a burglar named Jack the Grin. Back then, Jack wanted to get involved in a crew. He came to Clegg, who told Jack that he wouldn’t even be given a second look unless he came back with two stacks of gold coins piled as high as a minotaur’s horn, and do it in 24 hours. Jack did, and Clegg found out later that he got the money by robbing Reh’s father. But Clegg felt the kid was going to be trouble. After sending him on a few jobs, Clegg sent him with four men to Kaer Maga to collect a gambling debt from a priest. Clegg said they were going along to back up Jack but they were really going to kill him instead. They returned to Riddleport, job done. Two weeks later, all four men were killed in a single night and the skin from their lower jaw was removed, giving them all big skeletal smiles. Naturally, Clegg assumed Jack was back. He had his men look, but no one could find him. Word spread but Jack was a ghost. Other murders took place across Varisia – Riddleport, Sandpoint, Mangimar, and even as far east as Ashenvale and Kaer Maga. They all had the same signature – skeletal smiles. Nothing recent though.

After leaving the arena, the Guardians noticed a gray hawk that seemed to circle overhead. Proteus touched a tattoo on his shoulder, producing a large wasp that flew up and followed the hawk. This led them to Kwava, waiting on the outskirts of the city.

Kwava asked them about their recent adventures and was told about the drow and their journals. Kwava asked them to do him a great favor. His employers, the Shin’Rakorath, had only recently revealed to him the full extent of the drow menace in Celwynvian. They ordered him to remain in the Riddleport hinterlands to keep watch for any further drow influence. But they had also expressed interest in hearing from the Guardians of Golarion directly. He asked them to take the journals to Crying Leaf, a small camp in the eastern reaches of the wood. Take them to Eviana, the leader of Crying Leaf, as soon as possible.

Kwava – The tanned elf, member of the Lantern Bearers, seems to want to help more in the battle against the drow.

Clegg Zincher – People all over Riddleport seem to know of the Guardians of Golarion. Word must have gotten out about their deeds, and it is suspected that Clegg is the one spreading it. Building goodwill with the new heavy hitters in town perhaps? Or just another sign of appreciation?

Report Date

13 Jan 2019

Primary Location

Riddleport