Session 10 - Cults Fall Apart
General Summary
Previously on...
Through questioning, Kadroth told you he was not officially in charge of the Knights of the Black Sword, but had appointed himself de facto leader. You took a sidebar to discuss his proposal of alliance, and thought it might ultimately cause more detriment than supplement, so you asked more questions of Kadroth. How much help could he give you? Four cultists as soldiers. How many cultists are in the Keep? Sixteen, plus a kennel boy, a servant, and a cook. Why are they at the Keep? Levistus told them it would be an easy conquest for shelter, and the Speaker was not well-regarded anyway. What would the cult do after Xardorok was disposed of? Levistus has not revealed that to them. How do they communicate with Levistus? He speaks to them telepathically, but they cannot speak back to him; Kadroth lied and told you he alone could speak back.
Alif's detect thoughts spell, by this point, found that the late seer Hethyl had told Kadroth that Levistus "hated his guts," and he didn't know how many other cultists she had told; that he fears Avarice as a rival to his leadership; and a glimpse of 5 dead cultists in a cistern. This provoked further questions. Avarice has no real dealings, nor anything more than a tangential affiliation, with the cult; she mostly stays in her quarters, speaking to no one on the rare occasions she leaves or returns. Two tendays ago there was a small battle for the Keep, in which 5 cultists died and were taken to the cistern since the ground is too frozen for burials. They are trying to gain personnel by recruiting in Ten-Towns.
Altering the torchlight and having asked about things he hadn't told you frightened Kadroth to a breaking point. Lucian told him to gather the cult and leave the Keep, to which he replied he could personally leave, but couldn't convince the cult to follow, but in either case it would be better for him if you killed him. He agreed to take you to Avarice to ask her to order the cult to abdicate their current headquarters, and on the way to her dwelling in the cistern, ordered a goofy cultist called Thoob to inform the rest that they may be leaving before long. You saw 3 more cultists on your way to a trapdoor, leading down a ladder, ending in the cistern; a narrow tunnel with 8 feet of water in the center, with smaller, darker tunnels off each side. Kadroth said Avarice would be first on the right, through the shrine (don't touch the altar), and to the right again.
As you approached, those with darkvision saw that she was writing at a desk in the dark, a raven perched on one horn, and apparently reading along with what the tiefling was writing. Without looking up from her work, Avarice told you, "Get out." She was evasive about what she is seeking, and bitingly retorted to Alif questioning her certainty that it was truly Levistus who favoured her. The party proclaimed her under arrest, in the name of the people of Ten-Towns. Lucian shoved Kadroth into the altar (where he was consumed by brown mold), and approached Avarice, attempting to search & restrain her. When she resisted, he landed a hit with his booming blade. As soon as she was damaged, fwip! Lucian was banished to an extradimensional space of ice, and incapacitated. Arrakas asked what was happening, and Avarice replied, "You're losing!" Styron ran in with a critical sneak attack, and as he disengaged, Avarice flicked one wrist and ascended into the low ceiling.
Lucian escaped and tried to pursue, finding nothing on the main level. There were cultists gathered in the courtyard ready to depart, and on being asked, said they rarely see Avarice, and certainly hadn't today. Lucian ascended to the upper storey, finding a comfortable room with a sleeping cat inside. He asked Arrakas to fly above and look for their quarry, while Alif made his way to the courtyard. Alif instructed Thoob to lead his cult out in search of new lodgings, which he did. When Arrakas found no sign of her, he climbed into Kadroth's former room and shot the cat with his crossbow. Immediately afterward, the servant girl, Mere, entered, carrying her personal belongings, hoping to claim the room as her own.
"You killed Touche?!? I didn't want any reminders of Kadroth in my new quarters, but I wouldn't've killed the cat! You'll be the one to take him down to the cistern!!"
Lucian & Alif began searching instead for Speaker Crannoc Siever, finding him across the way from Mere's new room. A guard named Yajath was convinced by Alif to usurp Thoob as the new leader (and in the process distracted the klutz into falling off the cliff), and Speaker Crannoc was more annoyed that his shitting was interrupted than he was grateful to be liberated.
Questioning Mere later, you learned that she had been an urchin begging in the streets when Kadroth found her. He took her into his service, but treated her badly, and she lived in fear of him until now. Mere related that all of the cultists who weren't recruited off the street told the same story: they'd been on the verge of freezing to death in the tundra when Levistus reached out to them telepathically, offering to save their lives in return for their allegiance, and upon agreeing they'd noticed a chardalyn amulet, shaped like a sword, within arm's reach. Once they'd grasped these amulets, they were no longer cold or hungry until they reached the relative safety of Ten-Towns. Though the effects wore off then, they continued to wear the amulets.
And no one brought up the Runaway Author thing...
Through questioning, Kadroth told you he was not officially in charge of the Knights of the Black Sword, but had appointed himself de facto leader. You took a sidebar to discuss his proposal of alliance, and thought it might ultimately cause more detriment than supplement, so you asked more questions of Kadroth. How much help could he give you? Four cultists as soldiers. How many cultists are in the Keep? Sixteen, plus a kennel boy, a servant, and a cook. Why are they at the Keep? Levistus told them it would be an easy conquest for shelter, and the Speaker was not well-regarded anyway. What would the cult do after Xardorok was disposed of? Levistus has not revealed that to them. How do they communicate with Levistus? He speaks to them telepathically, but they cannot speak back to him; Kadroth lied and told you he alone could speak back.
Alif's detect thoughts spell, by this point, found that the late seer Hethyl had told Kadroth that Levistus "hated his guts," and he didn't know how many other cultists she had told; that he fears Avarice as a rival to his leadership; and a glimpse of 5 dead cultists in a cistern. This provoked further questions. Avarice has no real dealings, nor anything more than a tangential affiliation, with the cult; she mostly stays in her quarters, speaking to no one on the rare occasions she leaves or returns. Two tendays ago there was a small battle for the Keep, in which 5 cultists died and were taken to the cistern since the ground is too frozen for burials. They are trying to gain personnel by recruiting in Ten-Towns.
Altering the torchlight and having asked about things he hadn't told you frightened Kadroth to a breaking point. Lucian told him to gather the cult and leave the Keep, to which he replied he could personally leave, but couldn't convince the cult to follow, but in either case it would be better for him if you killed him. He agreed to take you to Avarice to ask her to order the cult to abdicate their current headquarters, and on the way to her dwelling in the cistern, ordered a goofy cultist called Thoob to inform the rest that they may be leaving before long. You saw 3 more cultists on your way to a trapdoor, leading down a ladder, ending in the cistern; a narrow tunnel with 8 feet of water in the center, with smaller, darker tunnels off each side. Kadroth said Avarice would be first on the right, through the shrine (don't touch the altar), and to the right again.
As you approached, those with darkvision saw that she was writing at a desk in the dark, a raven perched on one horn, and apparently reading along with what the tiefling was writing. Without looking up from her work, Avarice told you, "Get out." She was evasive about what she is seeking, and bitingly retorted to Alif questioning her certainty that it was truly Levistus who favoured her. The party proclaimed her under arrest, in the name of the people of Ten-Towns. Lucian shoved Kadroth into the altar (where he was consumed by brown mold), and approached Avarice, attempting to search & restrain her. When she resisted, he landed a hit with his booming blade. As soon as she was damaged, fwip! Lucian was banished to an extradimensional space of ice, and incapacitated. Arrakas asked what was happening, and Avarice replied, "You're losing!" Styron ran in with a critical sneak attack, and as he disengaged, Avarice flicked one wrist and ascended into the low ceiling.
Lucian escaped and tried to pursue, finding nothing on the main level. There were cultists gathered in the courtyard ready to depart, and on being asked, said they rarely see Avarice, and certainly hadn't today. Lucian ascended to the upper storey, finding a comfortable room with a sleeping cat inside. He asked Arrakas to fly above and look for their quarry, while Alif made his way to the courtyard. Alif instructed Thoob to lead his cult out in search of new lodgings, which he did. When Arrakas found no sign of her, he climbed into Kadroth's former room and shot the cat with his crossbow. Immediately afterward, the servant girl, Mere, entered, carrying her personal belongings, hoping to claim the room as her own.
"You killed Touche?!? I didn't want any reminders of Kadroth in my new quarters, but I wouldn't've killed the cat! You'll be the one to take him down to the cistern!!"
Lucian & Alif began searching instead for Speaker Crannoc Siever, finding him across the way from Mere's new room. A guard named Yajath was convinced by Alif to usurp Thoob as the new leader (and in the process distracted the klutz into falling off the cliff), and Speaker Crannoc was more annoyed that his shitting was interrupted than he was grateful to be liberated.
Questioning Mere later, you learned that she had been an urchin begging in the streets when Kadroth found her. He took her into his service, but treated her badly, and she lived in fear of him until now. Mere related that all of the cultists who weren't recruited off the street told the same story: they'd been on the verge of freezing to death in the tundra when Levistus reached out to them telepathically, offering to save their lives in return for their allegiance, and upon agreeing they'd noticed a chardalyn amulet, shaped like a sword, within arm's reach. Once they'd grasped these amulets, they were no longer cold or hungry until they reached the relative safety of Ten-Towns. Though the effects wore off then, they continued to wear the amulets.
And no one brought up the Runaway Author thing...
Lucian A'Thuit
Alif
/
Mórag
Report Date
26 Apr 2022
Primary Location
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