Session 112 - Conflicts Hidden From View

General Summary

11^th Morgat (Third Month of Winter) 722TR
The story so far

The Heroes have rescued the young boy Tedrik from a psychopathic Artist. This impressionable, traumatized young man has a skeleton tattooed on his back. A perfect initiate for Quazzy's secret cult.

The continuation of Session 111 - The Artist Macabre.

Location - Peran Wilderness a days travel from Quiso Keep in the Kingdom of Rethem.

Part 1 - The Cult of the Twisted Elf

Desridaen, art by Emiroth

While traveling back to Ithiko after freeing the captives, Quazzy notes the now-familiar signs of time seeming to slow down, and suddenly she notices that her Warlock Patron Desridaen is standing behind the boy Tedrik. "This one has potential," he says, "His mind is broken, but he has many latent psionic abilities. See that he gets trained. That awkward wizard you know should be a suitable teacher."

Quazzy travels back to the City of Coranan for the boy to be tested by her friend Wilcock Suddicke, a talented Psionicist.

Location - City of Coranan in the Thardic Republic.

Part 2 - The Jesters

High Deacon Dandalus by saltimbanco

At Coranan, Yureb and Quazzy decide first to meet with the Order of Rydequelyn and tell them all about the villainous Raven Woman and her clones. The Heroes hope to enlist the Rydequelyn's to locate the Raven Woman's young clone in the Kingdom of Melderyn.

At the Rydequelyn Temple, the Halls of Satire and Wit, High Decon Dandalus Keir implies that he is aware of much of what Yureb was up to in the Kingdom of Rethem, but he is astounded to learn about the Raven Woman. He promises to look into it.

Viewing the acolytes training in the arts of entertainment, stealth, acrobatics, manipulation, and deception, Yureb volunteers to act as a teacher. Being a legendary skilled thief, the High Decon will likely take up his offer.

Part 3 - Where is Wilcock?

At the Guild of Arcane Lore, Wilcock is nowhere to be found. After some investigation, the Heroes learn that he was in the hall this morning. After touching a lute belonging to one of the apprentices, he muttered, "this man is in danger," and rushed away. The lute was crafted by Amat Firzaka, a Harpist with a talent for making superb stringed instruments. The Yureb and Quazzy head over to his workshop near the cities Pamesani Arena to investigate.

Part 4 - The Harpist's Workshop

Nothing appears out of place around the Harpist workshop; it is located opposite the Gladiatorial Arena and a statue of the Emperor Saurach, a fanatical Agrik worshiper from the glory days of the Corani Empire. Seated nearby, Yureb recognizes a pair of old retired gladiators, one being the famous Serill the Swan, famed for his elegant fighting style with the spear. Both men are drinking. Yureb learns from them that a man of Wilcock's description ran into the Harpist Workshop a few hours ago. The drunk men then complain about the strange noises, including some insane babbling, coming from the building over the last few days.

Quazzy sends her familiar into the workshop, finding a sleeping man, presumably Amat, and down in the cellar is Wilcock bleeding from the mouth and unconscious. Yureb and Quazzy Dimension Door in and apply medical aid to Willock. He has internal injuries and appears in a trance. Quazzy immediately recognizes this is a sign of Disembodiment. Wilcock is ethereally traveling. With her body guarded by Yureb, she enters a trance and investigates the Ethereal Plane, a misty, fog-bound dimension that coexists alongside the Material Plane. Objects such as walls or people in the Material Plane can be viewed but will appear insubstantial and cannot be interacted with.

Through the haze, Quazzy spots Wilcock's ghostly form, floating in a trance or unconscious. Nearby is a strange babbling Gargoyle like humanoid wearing a mask. She recognizes this as a Umbathri, a rare form of magical Ivashu, which dwell on both the material and ethereal planes.

Stranger is an electrical dome surrounding the statue of Emperor Saurach. The Emperor is holding a spear, and hanging from that is a lute.

What she sees around the Arena is much more interesting. The Arena appears surrounded by a wall of Balefire. Within are small humanoid demons she recognizes as Vii, the lowest tier of Agrik's Demons, and Fire Elements confronting Wraith-like undead emerging from a murky field of darkness directly below the Arena. Quazzy recalls that the Arena is a shrine to Agrik built over a former temple of Morgath. Last year Quazzy sent her familiar to investigate the sewers and cisterns under the Arena and every time it was destroyed.

Quazzy blasts the Umbathri with a Psychic Scream, and the creature appears vulnerable to her magic. Wilcock is woken and initially dazed. The Umbathri transitions to the material plane and Dominates the two Gladiators. They enter the Harpist Workshop and attack Yureb and Quazzy's helpless physical body. The Umbathri attempts to scramble Quazzy's mind, but she resists and then unleashed her Flesh to Stone magic, which slowly petrifies the creature. The Umbathri, now a statue, is smashed into pieces by the Gladiators, now free of the domination. However, Quazzy takes the opportunity to recruit the drunk and confused Serill the Swan into her ever-expanding cult.

The grateful Harpist Amat informs the Heroes that the Umbathri has been haunting him for the last week. He thought he was going mad. The creature was interfering with his crafting process and stole his latest creation. He offers the Party payments if they recover his lute, which he was making for one of the influential Nordaka Senators.

Part 5 - The Statue of the Emperor Saurach

Athena joins the Heroes late, after dealing with some unwanted distraction. Although still recovering from his injuries, Wilcock links minds with the Party, and together their spirits enter the ethereal plane.

Athena seeing a large wraith-like creature battling the fire demons, and Vii decides to intervene. Shooting a crossbow bolt at the Wraith, it abandons the conflict with the Vii and attacks Athena and bringing with it five smaller apparitions from the darkness below. The Heroes quickly deal with these but suffer some life draining damage.

Yureb decides to attempt to jump through a magical dome protecting the statue of Emperor Saurach. He passes through but is hurt by the electrical discharge. As he garbs the lute, three ghostly horsemen appear riding undead horses. Yureb jumps back through the Electrical Dome while the Ghost Knights attack Athena and Quazzy. Athena is severely injured, but they are quickly dispatched.

Aftermath.

The Heroes return to the real world with the lute. A close inspection shows that the Umbathri has put a powerful enchantment on it, although neither Quazzy nor Wilcock detects any curse. The Harpist Amat decides that he will keep this treasure and make another instrument for Senator Nordaka.

Wilcock tests young Tedrik for Psionics and finds he has considerable innate talents, including Charm, Clairvoyance, Mental Bolt, and is very strong in Sensitivity. He agrees to take him on as an apprentice.

As the year comes to its end, these Heroes take a short rest period while the campaign catches up with another group of Heroes currently in the Dwarven Kingdom of Azadmere.