Session 335 - Ghost in the Sewer
General Summary
Spring 727TR
The Story So Far
The King is dead. Long live the King.
King Minigath, after ruling the Kingdom of Kaldor well for thirty-three years, has been assassinated. Sir Conwan Elendsa has been crowned King, but the former King's bastard sons have contested this. Meanwhile, in the background, the mysterious Esoterical Order of Lothrim is up to no good.
This is the continuation of Session 334 - The Hag and the Flaming Horse.
Location - City of Tashal in the Kingdom of Kaldor.
20th Kelen 727TR
Part 1 – A Visit from a Surgeon
While staying at Tashal’s Guild of Arcane Lore a year ago, some of his belongings were stolen. His enchanted healing kit and a magical ring. The culprit was a member of the thieves guild who was later found to be part of the cleaning staff at the guild hall. The thief was discovered fleeing the scene and escaped down into the sewers. Using divination magic, the stolen items were revealed to be still in the sewer, specifically somewhere under the wizard's guild hall. If the party can recover the items, Gaerin will happily let Dryueh keep his healing bag of goodies.
To complicate matters, the City of Tashal is currently held by the bastard son of the former king, the Sheriff of Meselyneshire, Maldan Harabor, who is currently in armed rebellion against the rightful King Conwan Elendsa and is under siege. The heroes, disguised as commoners, have enough magical talents to sneak in and make their way to Dryueh’s safe house. They note the town’s folk are concerned, but at the moment, food is adequate as the city is being well supplied via the Salt Route.
Part 2 - Entering The Sewers
As the city bells ring, starting the evening curfew, the heroes sneak into the sewers undetected using an access point they explored the previous year (refer to session Session 284 - A Cursed Locket). As you would expect, the heroes are challenged by their share of esoteric hazards under a place where arcanists experiment and dispose of magical and alchemical wastes. Magically treated bones shamble forward and attack, while strange slime-like fiendish creatures are a significant threat.
Part 3 - Under the Wizard's Guildhall
Soon, the party finds itself directly under the guild hall and spots a pool of glowing water. The fluid ripples, and a huge slime-like horror emerges, a giant blood clot with bleached animal bones and human skulls embedded into its surface. Worse, Valeria senses the area has strange magical properties; magic will be disrupted randomly in this location.
The slime creature slithers from the pool of magical refuse and attacks with life-draining black tendrils and psionic spells, which cause despair and sap the hero’s mental and physical strength. Valaria responds with a powerful magical blast, but this backfires as it triggers a wild surge, summoning a huge, vaguely humanoid creature composed of jelly-like slime. It fights on the horrifying blood clot's side. Several times, Valeria’s magic backfires, and more alarming, the character's weapons are mostly ineffective; however, Rycon’s dual-wielded attacks do chop some large portions of the ooze off, but not enough to destroy the horror before it would likely slaughter the characters. Although Valeria’s magic can hurt it, there is always the risk of backfiring.
The party changes tactics and retreats into the sewers, killing the summoned giant humanoid slime creature on its way. Testing the water, so to speak, Valeria casts a weak spell. Suddenly, it misfires, and the party's stomachs begin to churn. But further back, another spell functions without a mishap. The heroes have retreated beyond the wild magic zone. Soon, between Valeria’s basting spells and Rycon’s blades, the nefarious ooze is obliterated.
Part 4 - The Mirror on the Roof
Searching further, the heroes come to a small series of dead ends, but one is filled with crates, barrels, and general refuse. Behind the crates is a secret door, but it is trapped, and Dryueh easily disables it. This opens to a small room with a ladder leading up to the wizard's guild; on the floor is their target, the missing thief, but this decaying corpse is bizarrely twisted and deformed. His bones are bent, and his skull looks like it has ballooned out. Insure what has happened. Dryueh sneaks in and, too late, spots a strange object set on the roof, a mirror. It is not just any mirror but one shaped like a funhouse mirror and is a deadly magical trap. Dryueh's body convulses, and the sorcery tries to twist his form, dislocating joints and twisting flesh and organs. Fortunately, he survives, but only barely. Then, a ghostly form of the dead thief materializes above the corpse to terrorize the heroes.
The party battles the vengeful poltergeist who telekinetically hurls objects and debris at the heroes. Still in the wild magic zone, Valeria cautiously tests magic again, this time with a much more favorable magical mishap. A positive energy burst heals some of the heroes' minor injuries. Rycon has no choice but to help Dryueh and enters the trapped chamber with Valeria's Shadow Hound animal companion. The stoic and brave knight withstands the magic mirror's curse, but not the Shadowhound, whose limbs are twisted, and he is painfully knocked unconscious, barely breathing. However, Rycon dispatches the ghost, for the moment at least.
Examination of the corpse confirms it is the missing thief, and Gaerin's healing kit and the magical Ring of Wizardry are nearby. Also, Dryueh finds a note that contains only several hastily scribbled symbols. He identifies this as a simple code thieves use to communicate. He determines that this thief has been working for the gang associated with the formidable Perla of Rabeta, one of the heads of the city’s thieves guild based from the sleazy Busted Nut Tavern and gambling den. Wisely, Dryueh disposed of the thief’s body and the note in a nearby pool of acidic slime.
The party escapes the sewers and returns the enchanted ring to Gaerin, thus completing the mission. Dryeuh gets to keep the magical healing kit,
To be continued.NPC Interactions
White hand agent - Gaerin.
Related Reports
Player Characters
Valeria - Human - L13 Shadow Sorcerer
Background - Magical Experiment.
Archetype - Beastmaster.
Rycon - Human - L13 Fighter
Background - Rebel Knight.
Archetypes - Liberator Champion/Dual Weapon Warrior/Swashbuckler.
Dryueh - 1/2 Elf - L13 Thief Rogue
Background - Scout.
Archetypes - Vigilante/Medic/Shadowdancer/Wizard.
Next Session
Rycon
Dryueh
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