OttC Session 3: Interview with a Vampire

General Summary

The Drunken Mongoose

The party regroups the morning after the previous session in The Drunken Mongoose. Zgathor Scalescribe is new to the party, so introductions and character descriptions are exchanged. Cyrci is examining the compass on her arm, and sees that it is turning quickly - as though the target is nearby. As they are discussing this Jhaan, the one who they planted the other one on, strolls into the bar and slaps the other one down on the counter in front of Yona. The youth is irritated about "being used as bait", but insists once again that he is not prey and his vampire friend has good intentions. Zgathor Scalescribe tries casting detect thoughts, but isn't getting much of significance that the party is not already aware of. Jhaan is even more resentful of the mind reading, and departs in short order.

The Vigrid Embassy

After catching Zgathor Scalescribe up on current events and explaining the nature of Edward and his position as the city's resident Einherjar, the party goes to the Vigrid Embassy to talk to him. Edward has indeed found Isaac, and the suspect is willing to talk on a few conditions:

• The party will make no attempt to arrest Isaac during the meeting
• Edward DuThane remain present the entire time
• A payment of 200 gold.

This final condition is quickly revealed as a lie.  Isaac had instructed Edward to demand payment and then refuse the interview of anyone in the party started blustering. The party agrees to the remaining two conditions and are escorted into a meeting room.

Interview with Issaac

The party enters a meeting room with Isaac. Some initial hostility between the parties is defused by Krisi, who then asks Isaac to discuss his side of the story. Isaac says his prior encounter with The Window occurred during The Blood Crusades in The Age of Mortality. He was a member of The Crimson Knights, serving underneath Edward DuThane, and stationed with his brother in a small keep in an out-of-the-way corner of Esma. Their home was "invaded" by Doormen, who had arrived without an invitation.
Isaac struggles to recall details of his meeting with the trespassers, but the story largely corroborates what Eesa told the party in Session 2: Searching for Isaac. A deal was struck, involving the exchange of blood for directions, ration, and information, but then there was some sort of spell cast upon the group and combat ensued. The main difference is Isaac claims not to have been slain. Instead, he claims his brother, who was also a vampire and present in the keep, had been slain by The Window. This, alongside the discrimination against vampires typically shown by law enforcement, is the source of his distrust for The Window. However Isaac fled to Sigil regardless shortly after the incident, stating that he was on the losing side of the war and was afraid for his own safety.
The party asks some follow-up questions, but Isaac refuses to disclose the name of his sibling and also claims not to know about the vampiric corpse found in the Temple of Bhaal. He is similarly reticent regarding the topic of how he was sustaining himself in the intervening time, but claims that he had a safe non-criminal means of keeping himself fed. He has apparently sworn an oath of some sort not to discuss specifics, but it involves having a priest on standby to treat the wounds and some form of monetary payments. Isaac claims that he was feeding on the children as part of a mutual agreement, and not as an act of desperation. He offered his assistance to some children in need, but found himself unable to afford to feed himself and all four of the youths at the same time. The elves had volunteered their own blood to help make ends meet, and Isaac reluctantly agreed.
Krisi and the others attempt to persuade Isaac into working with the window, but he is still distrustful and refuses out of hand. He also refuses to talk about the incident related to his brother on any official record. Furthermore, he claims there is Corruption in the Window. A body was found in the Chapel of Chains, and he believes a high ranking member of The Window is responsible, or at least helping to conceal the crime. The death resembled a ritual once performed to serve Vecna, but of course Vecna is now deceased so this explanation seems unlikely.
Isaac intends to continue giving The Window a wide berth, but does agree to contact them regarding any future disappearances that The Window appears to be ignoring or concealing. He also thanks Yona for directing Jhaan to her mother's apothecary.

Cyrci's Junk and Shit

The party wants to be cautious around The Window headquarters, so instead of returning there they elect to meet up in Cyrci's Junk and Shit. They discuss plans for quite some time, electing to split the party three ways. Jennevieve Lancaster will return to HQ to gather information. Cyrci, Aerwynn, and Zgathor Scalescribe will investigate the Chapel of Chains. Yona and Krisi will go to interview Cornelius Humperdink.

The Chapel of Chains

Cyrci, Aerwynn, and Zgathor Scalescribe explore the Chapel of Chains. Zgathor Scalescribe invokes his conduit and finds an abandoned amulet bearing an ouroboros. It has some sort of abjuration enchantment, but its nature is otherwise unknown. Cyrci and Aerwynn investigate the rest of the building and find bits of blood behind some pillars and under furniture. It appears someone had violently expired, possibly even exploded, on a table within the chapel. The scene has since been cleaned up, but the culprits appear to have missed a few spots. Zgathor Scalescribe casts alarm on both entrances and the three return to Cyrci's Junk and Shit.

Larry the Pigeon

Krisi and Yona go to speak to Cornelius Humperdink and his pigeon Larry. They find him at a messenger outpost on the other side of the city. Yona distracts the man with idle banter while Krisi interviews his pigeon by casting both animal friendship and speak with animals. The bird is not very intelligent and has limited information, but Krisi does learn of an incident in which Cornelius Humperdink had apparently set himself aflame in the Temple District and another in which he had discovered the crime scene in the Chapel of Chains. The fire incident appears to have been instigated by one of his his pigeons, but Larry claims not to have been involved.

Gathering info at the Window

Jennevieve Lancaster first considers trying to become a spider and steal a key from captain Whitecrest, but the captain is currently inside his office training the new squire Devdan. After much contemplation, she decides to talk to Jane, The Window's religious expert. Jennevieve Lancaster recaps the investigation, carefully avoiding any discussion of Corruption in the Window, but Jane is unfamiliar with any magic that matches the effects described by Isaac. Instead, she suggests seeking out either Dranmor, head priestess at The Grand Library, or Garfield, proprietor of Warehouse 19.
Jane also expounds a bit on the Chapel of Chains. It was dedicated to Tiamat, the goddess of greed. Tiamat had attempted to assault Avernus, but her attack failed and the goddess found herself unable to escape. Zariel, the ruler at the time, imprisoned Tiamat within Avernus. The Chapel of Chains itself was erected as a monument to that event. Jane says that Tiamat was still a force to be reckoned with even during her imprisonment.

Report Date

25 Oct 2020