Session One: Urbem
Plot points/Scenes
Characters start in different places and make their way to the Nightly Candle Guesthouse.
Arrivals and Introductions
The Achers
They arrive at Southgate at 4 pm.
Iccim is a bit. . . underwhelming. You've spent time in Calpi. This city is barely more than a town, thoug it is very clean. As you pass through the city gate, on your left you see a massive colonnaded temple to Seleda. On your right is an ornate basalt structure. Beyond them, the city, such as it is, lies before you.In the distance, you see the Fortress of Fupet rising above the city atop its artifical mount.
Asking around for an inn will require an investigation check on a 15 or better, they get directions to the Nightly Candle. On a 10-14, they are sent to the Townhouse Inn, just beond the Gallery of Atr̂oncu. Any result below 10 sends them to the Drowned Rat Tap and Lodge.
Asking around about Kaldor will depend where they ask. If they just ask someone on the street, it will require a DC 30 Investigation or Persuasion check to get a useful answer. If they ask at one of the temples, they will need a DC 20 check. If they ask at the Gallery of Atr̂oncu, they need only succeed on a DC 12 check. Once they succeed, they learn that he was here two weeks ago. He tried selling something to the Gallery but was turned away. An old, untitled noblewoman named Evbila of Urbem invited him to visit her townhouse. He did so, and then he left town the next day via the Siegegate.
Yamtator
Yamtator does not approach the city by any road. Instead, he comes directly across the croplands to the west of town.
If he goes north:
You walk around the city walls until you finally find a gate. The guards ask, "Who are you? Gods, what are you?". . . . . . . . . As you enter through the gate, the hammering sounds of a bronzesmith at her anvil ring out to your right. To your left there is a large building with a sign reading "Cabaum Theater." The broad, paved street leads into a surprisingly clean town, bustling with work gangs, merchants, and tradesfolk. In the distance the Fortress of Fupet rises above the city.
If he goes south:
As you pass through the city gate, on your left you see a massive colonnaded temple to Seleda. On your right is an ornate basalt structure. Beyond them, the city, such as it is, lies before you.In the distance, you see the Fortress of Fupet rising above the city atop its artifical mount.
Asking around for an inn will require an investigation check on a 15 or better, he gets directions to the Nightly Candle. On a 10-14, he is sent to the Townhouse Inn, just beond the Gallery of Atr̂oncu. Any result below 10 sends him to the Drowned Rat Tap and Lodge.
He will inevitably cross paths with the Acher's who definitely look like they need emotional support.
Drayh Hinnamag
Drayh approaches Iccim from the east on the road from Schtu, arriving at Goblingate at around 4 pm.
It's bright. Luckily the sun is shrouded behind the leaden blanket of an overcast sky. You approach the wall of a city upon a river. The gate is open and two guards eye you strangely. They call you "lysælfen," which is a bit insulting, when they ask your business, but they allow you into the city without significant issue. About three hundred feet straight ahead, there is an intersection. On one corner, you see a jeweler's shop and across the cross-street from it, you see an inn with the sign of a crescent moon and a candle. Beyond the intersection, some distance ahead, you can see a wide causeway rising up from ground level to the top of what seems an artificial hill, where there stands a fortress overlooking the city below.
Drayh should have to trouble booking a room in the Nightly Candle, which is the inn he sees from the gate. What other things he finds depend on what he does once he enters the city.
Hip Pocrates
Hip arrives at the Siegegate around 4 pm.
You are standing before the gate of this so-called city. Compared to Khumrong, this is barely a neighborhood. Regardless, the gate guards let you through, but not before one of them remarking how he's "never seen a real cathead before." As you enter through the gate, the hammering sounds of a bronzesmith at her anvil ring out to your right. To your left there is a large building with a sign reading "Cabaum Theater." The broad, paved street leads into a surprisingly clean town, bustling with work gangs, merchants, and tradesfolk. In the distance the Fortress of Fupet rises above the city.
Asking around for an inn will require an investigation check on a 15 or better, she will get directions to the Nightly Candle. On a 10-14, she is sent to the Townhouse Inn, near Southgate, just before the Gallery of Atr̂oncu. Any result below 10 sends her to the Drowned Rat Tap and Lodge.
Beginning the Adventure
Movement
DaytimeDuring daylight hours, the streets are crowded and movement is slow: 100/125/150 feet per minute. If asking around about directions, sights, looking for work, etc. that rate is halved.
EveningFrom 6-10 pm, the streets remain crowded and movement remains slow. The streets are dark, and personal light sources (lanterns, candles, torches, etc.) are the predominant forms of illumination. 100/125/150 feet per minute.
NightThe streets largely empty after 10 pm. Movement is 200/250/300 feet per minute, but there is a 10% chance per hour of being challenged by city watchfolk.
Lodging
There are several options of lodging in Iccim.
- The Townhouse Inn
- The Drowned Rat Tap and Lodge
- The Pilgrim's Pillow
- The Nightly Candle Guesthouse
Finding Work
- The Achers should be able to find out that Evbila bought an item from a shifty human about two weeks ago. They simply cannot get to her before the 31st.
- Inquiring about available work for adventurers requires an investigation check. On 18 or better, characters learn right away that a noblewoman named Evbila is entertaining applicants for a job. She will be receiving interested parties at her townhouse on the 31st between the 3rd and 8th hours.
At Evbila's Townhouse
Evbila is interested in a book of geneology that was last known to be in the tomb of her great-grandmother, Ter̂ua Uta, The Estiada of Urbem, in the Fields of Rest outside of Urbem Village. She is hiring capable people to enter the tomb, find a way to secure the book, and return to her with the book in exchange for their pay. She offers 30 gp each, but is willing to pay up to twice that. In the case of the Achers, she is willing to pay 5 gp each, plus the Tome of Īlā, which has begun to make her very uncomfortable, but she will not share that detail with them (DC 14 Insight to see she is nervous whenever there is mention of the book).
The Tome of Īlā
Evbila bought the Tome of Īlā, not really believing anything was special about it. She gave the sum of 1,500 gp for the book, but she is ready to be done with it. She will, however, seek to find some means of benefit to herself in the course of ridding herself of it, so she will offer it as part of the Achers' pay. Under no circumstances will she part with the book without something of value to her in exchange for it.
If the Achers attempt to steal it, doing so will require a DC 18 Stealth check to enter and exit her residence undetected, and a DC 18 Investigation check to locate the book.
Travel to Urbem
Enroute to Urbem, which is about sixty miles' travel distance southwest of Iccim, the party encounters two crocodiles (Encounter: "Enroute to Urbem")
In Urbem
Obviously, Teruus Belral won't want anyone poking around the family tomb. Aside from him, apparently, occasional visits to various tombs are not unusual, so villagers are happy to point the way to the Fields of Rest, which lie an hour outside of Urbem, to the northwest, on a low rise where the marshy wetlands won't corrupt those buried there.
The Greasy Hen
During the day, this taven is closed. At the ninth hour, it opens for business, and by the thirteenth hour, there are twenty or so villagers here. They are happy to share gossip. DC 12 Investigation learns about The Fields of Rest. DC 18 Investigation learns about the Drowning. DC 20 Investigation reveals that "Old Lady Evbila, now, she's a strange one. They say that she's been lookin' into things that ought not be looked into over there in Iccim. I wouldn't know nothin' 'bout that myself, you understand. It's just what I heared."
Ale is cheap - only about 2sp per mug. The only thing to eat here is either bread (2 cp/loaf) or cheese (1 sp/hunk). There is no lodging to be had here.
Shrine of Bermedicus
Whatever priest or priests normally tend this shrine, they are not present at this time. There are a few offerings on the altar, left there by one farmer or another.
The Drowning
As long as characters stay out of this pool, all is well. If the venture fifty or more feet into the pool, two meenlocks respond (Encounter: The Drowning). In the unlikely event that characters defeat both meenlocks, a DC 21 Investigation check will reveal 11 gp and 22 cp at the bottom of the pool.
The Fields of Rest
This is a simple item retrieval, at this point. Two skeletons and three zombies will defend the tombs.
Returning to Iccim
Once the characters return to Iccim, Evbila will gladly pay them whatever they all agreed to beforehand. If pressed, she will also offer an unset deep blue lapis lazuli worth 10 gp as a bonus.
Upon completing their mission and receiving their pay, the Achers will have to make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw if they look into the book. If they fail, they are beginning to fall under Īlā's sway.
Finally, the party can level up to 2nd level.
2/17/2024
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