Session 247 - An Eclectic Collection of Books
General Summary
8th to 14th of Nolus (First month of Summer) 725TR
The story so far
Avon, aided by the party, has agreed to clear the "good name" of the head of Coranan's Thieves Guild, Koral the Bloody. The vicious Guildmaster has been unjustly blamed for stealing a cookbook belonging to a famous chef to the city's rich and powerful.
The real criminal is a wizard hiding in the rival Kuseme Thieves Guild. The party is currently assaulting their underground guildhall; in the process, eliminating Koral the Bloody's rivals in a murder spree.
This is the continuation of Session 246 - Den of Thieves.
Location - Kuseme Township in the Thardic Republic.
Part 1 - Hunting Thieves and Books
The heroes make their way towards a common room; however, Avon discovers a shortcut through a narrow side passage. He sneaks into the room, although the remaining characters are mobbed by Caldan One-Eye, leader of the Kuseme Thieves Guild, aided by his two accomplices. Avon's summoned Water Elemental absorbs considerable damage and fire spells from the Wizard Tommas, hiding down another side passage, and is destroyed.
All of the heroes are badly injured. Jolanta puts up a Psionic Negation barrier to offer some protection from Tommas's magic, and the thieves are eliminated one by one. Caldan One-Eye, proves an evasive target, outmaneuvering the party's attempts to surround him, but even his luck runs out, and he is soon dispatched.
Tommas is a formidable opponent, continually retreating before the party can close to melee range. Avon is almost killed by a Power Word Rend and is forced to retreat and snipe from cover. Fortunately, Jolanta's Negation protects the party from the worst of the evil wizards' magic. At a critical moment, Acheron Counter Spells Tommas's Cloud Kill, which would have devastated the closely packed characters.
Then Jolanta delivers two critical hits from her Crown of Stars. Acheron seeing an opportunity, darts in and kills the evil wizard with a Smite from his silver sword. The villains have been defeated.
Part 2 - Looting the Thieves Guildhall
The heroes search the Guildhall finding a small fortune in stolen treasures. More interesting is an eclectic collection of books (listed in the sidebar) and a blank piece of paper on Tommas's corpse.
A magical script appears on the blank piece of paper when examined by Detect Magic.
Search the Library of Lysin Rogar for the Cipher of Atarossa. We must find where he secured the Nest. One of his books may hide a clue.The Daughter insists that it is found.RH
Some of the text in the books are underlined which include; "the Fenland Stalker," "The Cursed Boar of the moor," "the Tesien Moor bandits," "fungi and weeds of the moor," and "Workol's fate." Written on the back page of the Dreams of Utopia is the following commentary;
So that is where Rogar thinks Atarossa fled. Workol knew of him.
The Sable Eye is the Key!
These clues seem to refer to the infamous Tesien Moor, a wetland in the Ternu Heath in the Kingdom of Kanday.
Jolanta knows of Atarossa. He was one of the Twelve Warlords of Kelapyn-Anuz, a disciple of Lothrim the Foulspawner, who co-ruled the City of Kelapyn-Anuz, now known as the City of Tashal. They were eventually overthrown, and most were killed; however, Atarossa was of a few who escaped and was never seen again. Atarossa had a nickname, the Eggkeeper.
Jolanta has destroyed one of Atarossa's compatriots, the undead Warlock Rantucci (refer to Session 197 - Destruction of a Warlock.Location - City of Coranan in the Thardic Republic.
Part 3 - Further Investigations
The party returns the stolen books to their rightful owners and investigates further. On investigating Workol, they learn he was the Astrologer to the Emperor Shorka in the 6th century. This influential figure created the Conclave of the Sable Eye, an assorted collection of astrologers, fortune tellers, and frauds, revering the mysterious planet Mergus. He built an observatory located in the Tesien Moor. In 555TR, the new Emperor Medak had him executed, and the Tesien observatory was abandoned.
Meanwhile, Avon finds a note slipped under the door of his office in Castle Coranan.
Well Done. You have three votes. I look forward to doing business again in the future.
This is a message from Koral the Bloody, the head of the city's thieves guild. Avon has cleared him of wrongdoing with the Republic's rich and powerful and destroyed his rivals. Avon now has some votes for his future campaign to be named senator.
The daughter could be referring to Dyalne Dulye, a very dangerous renegade wizard who goes by the alias of The Daughter of Lothrim.
The mysterious R H could be referring to Jolanta's old enemy Richemanus Hyrdeman a known associate of Dyalne Dulye. This mage betrayed Jolanta and left her for dead years ago (refer to Session 122 - Betrayal Most Foul).
To be continued.
NPC Interactions
Viran Ceredig Yerwold
Challenges Overcome
2 x Thieves, 1 x master thief and 1 x Evoker.
Rewards
Nothing this week.
Created Content
Nothing this Week.
Related Reports
List of Renegade Spellcasters.
Player Character Status
Acheron - Human - Level 6 Devotion Paladin, Level 4 Hexblade, and Level 6 Divine Soul.
Jolanta - Human- Level 16 Evoker.
Avon- Half-Elf - Level 16 Thief.
Avon
Jolanta
Acheron
NPC Companions
Moneypenny
Avon's able assistant
Blaine
Jolanta's loyal and often drunk bodyguard.
The Books from Lysin Rogar's Library
A collection of stolen books recovered by the heroes.Galopea's Recipes of the Gods
This is a holy book sacred to the Goddess Halea, dedicated to the Princess of the Feast, Galopea. It is full of recipes and a few prayers. The book provides +5 to Cooking and + 5 to Divine Intervention checks if Galopea is called on for help.
Any recipes prepared with the help of this book will cost half the ingredient price of a similar quality meal.
Witches of Twilight
A bizarre series of Morgathic poetry.
Songs of the Hunter
A commentary on the noble art of the Hunt, written by Sir Kyle Du Soli.
Using this book grants +2 to Survival Checks when hunting and foraging.
History of Ezar's War
A relatively new book authored by Sir Grolis Chahyn, the Earl of Selvos, and a hero of Ezar's War.
It provides a relatively accurate and well-researched history of that devastating conflict.
The book provides +3 History of Ezar's War and + 1 to History for the Kingdoms of Kanday and Rethem.
Dreams of Utopia
This book is filled with the incoherent predictions and ramblings of Workol, the Astrologer to the inept Corani Emperor Sorka. This book is hard to follow and maddingly confusing.
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