Session 2: Storm of the Century
General Summary
The Heroes
Emet-Selch {Vedalken Artificer}
Eralyse Sarrallon {Aasimar Paladin}
Jon Mastiff {Human Wizard}
Mala {Aarakocra Monk}
Mellow Leaf {Tabaxi Ranger}
The group spent the rest of the day following up on the leads they had. They questioned the Tabaxi named Tabby that they captured but she had very little useful information.
She didn't know where the blood was being sent, but knew that her boss couldn't oversee the kidnapping himself because of something he had to take care of. She didn't know where he went but she did have a name, Zadkeil. A search of local records showed that a Zadkiel recently purchased a property in Dustshore, an old run down theater. Additionally, a small package had been sent by courier in his name to said property.
Because it had taken most of the day to gather this information the group decided to rest at a local inn for the night. However, at around midnight bells began ringing throughout the city. It became easy to recognize the locals as they responded to the bell immediately, shuttering windows and making hasty repairs to windows and roofs where needed. A passerby was asked what was going on and he was quick to inform the group that those were the storm bells and that heavy rain would arrive within the hour, before returning to his task. Looking out to sea, the group quickly realized that this was no normal storm. Crimson lightening crackled through the sky and a towering wave of water could be seen rushing forward. In response a few spell casters raised up walls to act as breakers. While warforge scrambled to do something similar using crates, bags and other non-magical means.
Then a crimson bolt of lightening struck the ground nearby and left in it's wake half a dozen creatures with sharp teeth and spindly legs. Nearby screams let the group know that they were not the only ones having to deal with creatures like this. The group was able to fight back against the ever increasing swarm of creatures before a steady rain of salt water began falling upon the city.
Witnessing the group dispatch the creatures a woman came out of the inn and asked that they head to the nearby town of Dustshore. A cousin of hers lived there named Gregorio. As payment she offered them a set of 5 enhanced potions of catnap that once consumed would restore them as if they had taken a long rest. The caveat being that they go now and that in addition to reporting his status, that if they should find Gregorio dead, to bring back his corpse as well.
The group set out but the raging storm made it difficult to travel to Dustshore. They arrived a few hours later, exhausted beaten by the harsh road and weather. Upon arriving, It looked as though most of the town had been smashed and dragged out to sea. Only a single stone structure remained though it's design was strange. But before the group could contemplate this further, they saw a frightened human child dash across the road and swiftly climb a tree. They then soon see what he was running from. Three creatures were in pursuit, each of them is roughly humanoid but with a prominent pig like head. They squealed in frustration seemingly unable to get at their prey. Then one of them noticed the group, snorted and and charged.
The pig men were viscous but it soon became apparent to Jon that they weren't goblinoids and that for some strange reason they were wearing peasant clothing. Emet-Selch took in the situation and concluded that these were most likely residents of the town that had been subjected to some sort of failed polymorph effect. Mellow Leaf climbed the tree and discovered that the boy had been similarly changed but in his case he had been bisected down the middle with half of his body becoming that of a lamb.
Armed with this knowledge the group made sure not to kill anyone and instead tied them up after subduing them. Mellow Leaf then communicated with all 4 using a speak with animals spell. They were confused about where they were and told the group that they had seen a posting for the local theater and had gone there to audition for some new play that was being put on. Unfortunately, after arriving the director used some strange device on them and put them in cages. Some time later there was a great rumbling and a crash that shook the whole building and the cages suddenly came open and so all of them fled. Their memories however, were hazy at best surrounding the events that happened. What's worse, they would return to their animalistic natures once the spell wore off. So the group restrained each, including the lamb boy, such that none of them would be able to interact with each other in a meaningful way.
The group then headed into town. In front of the only remaining building someone or something had built a bonfire. Three figures sat around the fire. Two of them were similar to what the group had already seen. In this case each of the unfortunate creatures appeared biseceted with human features on one side and dog like features on the other. The third humanoid however was covered from head to toe in grey fur with a matching set of lupine features across his body. He said a joke of some sort to the other two in common. Who only seemed able to respond with timid barking sounds. As the group approached one of the half-dog creatures perked up and bagan to growl and bark. The third one yelled for them to back down and they immediately whimper in response to his voice. The wolf thing crossed his arms and spoke.
"who are you and why have you come, I suggest you give me a good reason to not kill you where you stand"
The group tried to explain who they were and that they didn't mean the werewolf any harm but their exhaustion got the better of them and they ended up antagonizing him instead. Which resulted in a fierce battle. While the grou pwas able to deal with the dog men the werewolf was substantually harder. He eventually yelded to them. But the whole ordeal left everyone bloodied and bruised.
The werewolf told the group that his name was Gregorio. He was awoken when a tidal wave hit the town. His curse for some reason was trigged even though the moon is not currently in the right phase. He primarily survived though because of his curse. If that wasn't bad enough he was also assualted by some strange creatures that came with the lightening. His description matched the things the group had fought eariler in town. As for the stone structure, He'd never seen this building before, but he was fairly sure that it stood where the old theather used to be. He had seen strange creatures wandering about. For whatever reason these dog men had attached themselves to him and looked to him as their leader. He had otherwise avoided the pig men since he wasn't sure how much of a threat they represented.
Gregorio was shocked to learn that these creatures were former neighbors. He confirmed seeing posters put up recuiting people to the theather. He hadn't gone because it didn't interest him. The group decided to camp for the night and recover. They could take on the building tommorrow.
After examining the stone stucture Emet-Selch realized that the building was Vedalken in design but not a real design that was actually used. It was those kinds of buildings you see in childeren's books. Pretty to look at but not structurally sound or practical. The stone structure had a pair of sturdy looking doors. With a set of runes on each that glowed, with electricty occasionally arcing along the door. Each door was set with a semi-translucent handle.
Emet-Selch tried to see what he could do about disarming the trap and instead ended up setting it off. Causing a sizable burst of electricity that not only struck him but eveyrone else that was nearby. But since the trap didn't reset right away he took advanage of this work the opening mechanism. The handles were impossible to grab (his hands simply passed through them. But he could manipulate the mechanism that the handle was attached to inside the door. After some fiddling he got the door open which automatically shut off the electrified door.
The doors creaked open and smoke immediately billowed out. The inside of the structure looked as if it once contained a myriad of artificer like devices. Cages of varying sizes lined the walls, originally capable of holding all manner of creatures. However, everything inside was twisted and burnt. All of the cages layed open and in one portion of the building a discolored circle was present with drag marks leading away from it to the main door. A shattered glass tank sats in one corner of the room, it's contents splashed on the floor. The pools of liquid suddenly lurched forward toward the group and attacked.
Mala had the misfortune of trying to punch the creature only to discover that it's mere touch caused horrific burning. It then whipped him with one of it's tendrils brining him low in a single hit. Thankfully the deadly oozes were uninterested in eating, acting territorial instead. They also were unable to keep up with anyone allowing the group to very slowly kill it at range after Eralyse got Mala back up and both switched to bows.
Once the creatures were dealt with Emet-Selch investigated the stucture and found there was some ancient Vedalken text. Mostly these were nothing more than labels though. The cages having some kind of numbering system and the tank that contained the oozes being marked "waste disposal". There were a number of smashed fish tank enclosures labeled "information".
Jon used an identify spell on the circle to determine it's purpose. But discovered that it wasn't a magical circle at all. Instead it was merely a discoloration left behind after something with a circular base had been removed from the building. He did discover that a spell of some sort had been upon the building its self but he was unable to identify what the spell was as it was rapidly fading. The group theorized that perhaps the spell is what had disguised the building as a theater. A spell that was wrecked by the tidal wave that had destroyed the rest of the town. The group investigated the drag marks and concluded that they had come from a large object that had been disassembled into parts and likely been loaded onto a cart of some sort. However, between the rain and the wave no evidence remained to indicate where the cart had gone.
Heading back outside the group found a two story stone tower in the middle of the ruined village. While it lacked any adornments there were two armed guards standing outside dressed in full plate emblazoned with the royal insignia. One of the guards had a glowing mancatcher which he was presently using to keep Gregorio pinned to the ground. Upon seeing the group the guard announced
"Your presence is requested within the tower."
However, the group had a bit of an issue with the way Gregorio was being treated and asked that he be released. They were told that since they cared so much, he would be released when the guards left and that no harm would come to the beast before then. Mala was a bit suspicious but agreed since the guard's words seemed to ring true. Eralyse asked the guard for his name which he informed her was Warwick.
Inside the tower there was a large table surrounded by chairs and a set of stairs in the corner leading up to the 2nd floor. Seated at the table was a half elven woman dressed in fine white silk robes and a silk cloak. A pseudodragon, was curled on the table before her, lightly dozing. She looked up when the group entered and said
"Very good, I'm glad to see that I've chosen well. My name is Zewyn and I am the one who hired you to recover Cassie. I appoligize for the cryptic letter but my normal channels have been badly compromised. I also appoligize for having you go through Captain Gravemore, but his lack of diplomacy made him a safe choice."
she laughed
"As you can see, dark days are upon us, I am doing what I can to fight back but it is more than I can handle on my own. It is for this reason that I've assembled several groups like yourselves to find and destroy these dark forces. I have questions for you and my time is limited but first I will try answer any questions you have"
The group asked her what she knew about Zadkeil and she admitted that they knew more than she did at this point as she didn't even know that was his name. But she promised to look deeper into the matter. She just knew that if his plans came to pass, whatever they are, that many people would suffer and die.
The group asked if she could send a message back to town on their behalf to let Gregorio's cousin know that he was still alive. She stated that she could try but gave no guaruntees it would arrive since her messages were generally being intercepted. That she was only able to send the letters to them because she had used some back channels to do it.
It was at this point that Eralyse spoke up and asked the question that she was shocked none of her companions had asked yet. Who was Zewyn? what was her position in the kingdom?
Zewyn responded that she was the magistar's primary apprentice. one of many, but the one given the most authority. That she was dealing with these matters because Aleus was too busy to do so.
Having answered each other's questions Zewyn then said
"very well, it is clear to me that we are at a crossroads, I would like to continue to fund your group to deal with. I have some leads on what's going on, the pay is the same but I'll need to know which one you plan to pursue so that I do not waste resources doubling up"
Emet-Selch {Vedalken Artificer}
Eralyse Sarrallon {Aasimar Paladin}
Jon Mastiff {Human Wizard}
Mala {Aarakocra Monk}
Mellow Leaf {Tabaxi Ranger}
The group spent the rest of the day following up on the leads they had. They questioned the Tabaxi named Tabby that they captured but she had very little useful information.
She didn't know where the blood was being sent, but knew that her boss couldn't oversee the kidnapping himself because of something he had to take care of. She didn't know where he went but she did have a name, Zadkeil. A search of local records showed that a Zadkiel recently purchased a property in Dustshore, an old run down theater. Additionally, a small package had been sent by courier in his name to said property.
Because it had taken most of the day to gather this information the group decided to rest at a local inn for the night. However, at around midnight bells began ringing throughout the city. It became easy to recognize the locals as they responded to the bell immediately, shuttering windows and making hasty repairs to windows and roofs where needed. A passerby was asked what was going on and he was quick to inform the group that those were the storm bells and that heavy rain would arrive within the hour, before returning to his task. Looking out to sea, the group quickly realized that this was no normal storm. Crimson lightening crackled through the sky and a towering wave of water could be seen rushing forward. In response a few spell casters raised up walls to act as breakers. While warforge scrambled to do something similar using crates, bags and other non-magical means.
Then a crimson bolt of lightening struck the ground nearby and left in it's wake half a dozen creatures with sharp teeth and spindly legs. Nearby screams let the group know that they were not the only ones having to deal with creatures like this. The group was able to fight back against the ever increasing swarm of creatures before a steady rain of salt water began falling upon the city.
Witnessing the group dispatch the creatures a woman came out of the inn and asked that they head to the nearby town of Dustshore. A cousin of hers lived there named Gregorio. As payment she offered them a set of 5 enhanced potions of catnap that once consumed would restore them as if they had taken a long rest. The caveat being that they go now and that in addition to reporting his status, that if they should find Gregorio dead, to bring back his corpse as well.
The group set out but the raging storm made it difficult to travel to Dustshore. They arrived a few hours later, exhausted beaten by the harsh road and weather. Upon arriving, It looked as though most of the town had been smashed and dragged out to sea. Only a single stone structure remained though it's design was strange. But before the group could contemplate this further, they saw a frightened human child dash across the road and swiftly climb a tree. They then soon see what he was running from. Three creatures were in pursuit, each of them is roughly humanoid but with a prominent pig like head. They squealed in frustration seemingly unable to get at their prey. Then one of them noticed the group, snorted and and charged.
The pig men were viscous but it soon became apparent to Jon that they weren't goblinoids and that for some strange reason they were wearing peasant clothing. Emet-Selch took in the situation and concluded that these were most likely residents of the town that had been subjected to some sort of failed polymorph effect. Mellow Leaf climbed the tree and discovered that the boy had been similarly changed but in his case he had been bisected down the middle with half of his body becoming that of a lamb.
Armed with this knowledge the group made sure not to kill anyone and instead tied them up after subduing them. Mellow Leaf then communicated with all 4 using a speak with animals spell. They were confused about where they were and told the group that they had seen a posting for the local theater and had gone there to audition for some new play that was being put on. Unfortunately, after arriving the director used some strange device on them and put them in cages. Some time later there was a great rumbling and a crash that shook the whole building and the cages suddenly came open and so all of them fled. Their memories however, were hazy at best surrounding the events that happened. What's worse, they would return to their animalistic natures once the spell wore off. So the group restrained each, including the lamb boy, such that none of them would be able to interact with each other in a meaningful way.
The group then headed into town. In front of the only remaining building someone or something had built a bonfire. Three figures sat around the fire. Two of them were similar to what the group had already seen. In this case each of the unfortunate creatures appeared biseceted with human features on one side and dog like features on the other. The third humanoid however was covered from head to toe in grey fur with a matching set of lupine features across his body. He said a joke of some sort to the other two in common. Who only seemed able to respond with timid barking sounds. As the group approached one of the half-dog creatures perked up and bagan to growl and bark. The third one yelled for them to back down and they immediately whimper in response to his voice. The wolf thing crossed his arms and spoke.
"who are you and why have you come, I suggest you give me a good reason to not kill you where you stand"
The group tried to explain who they were and that they didn't mean the werewolf any harm but their exhaustion got the better of them and they ended up antagonizing him instead. Which resulted in a fierce battle. While the grou pwas able to deal with the dog men the werewolf was substantually harder. He eventually yelded to them. But the whole ordeal left everyone bloodied and bruised.
The werewolf told the group that his name was Gregorio. He was awoken when a tidal wave hit the town. His curse for some reason was trigged even though the moon is not currently in the right phase. He primarily survived though because of his curse. If that wasn't bad enough he was also assualted by some strange creatures that came with the lightening. His description matched the things the group had fought eariler in town. As for the stone structure, He'd never seen this building before, but he was fairly sure that it stood where the old theather used to be. He had seen strange creatures wandering about. For whatever reason these dog men had attached themselves to him and looked to him as their leader. He had otherwise avoided the pig men since he wasn't sure how much of a threat they represented.
Gregorio was shocked to learn that these creatures were former neighbors. He confirmed seeing posters put up recuiting people to the theather. He hadn't gone because it didn't interest him. The group decided to camp for the night and recover. They could take on the building tommorrow.
After examining the stone stucture Emet-Selch realized that the building was Vedalken in design but not a real design that was actually used. It was those kinds of buildings you see in childeren's books. Pretty to look at but not structurally sound or practical. The stone structure had a pair of sturdy looking doors. With a set of runes on each that glowed, with electricty occasionally arcing along the door. Each door was set with a semi-translucent handle.
Emet-Selch tried to see what he could do about disarming the trap and instead ended up setting it off. Causing a sizable burst of electricity that not only struck him but eveyrone else that was nearby. But since the trap didn't reset right away he took advanage of this work the opening mechanism. The handles were impossible to grab (his hands simply passed through them. But he could manipulate the mechanism that the handle was attached to inside the door. After some fiddling he got the door open which automatically shut off the electrified door.
The doors creaked open and smoke immediately billowed out. The inside of the structure looked as if it once contained a myriad of artificer like devices. Cages of varying sizes lined the walls, originally capable of holding all manner of creatures. However, everything inside was twisted and burnt. All of the cages layed open and in one portion of the building a discolored circle was present with drag marks leading away from it to the main door. A shattered glass tank sats in one corner of the room, it's contents splashed on the floor. The pools of liquid suddenly lurched forward toward the group and attacked.
Mala had the misfortune of trying to punch the creature only to discover that it's mere touch caused horrific burning. It then whipped him with one of it's tendrils brining him low in a single hit. Thankfully the deadly oozes were uninterested in eating, acting territorial instead. They also were unable to keep up with anyone allowing the group to very slowly kill it at range after Eralyse got Mala back up and both switched to bows.
Once the creatures were dealt with Emet-Selch investigated the stucture and found there was some ancient Vedalken text. Mostly these were nothing more than labels though. The cages having some kind of numbering system and the tank that contained the oozes being marked "waste disposal". There were a number of smashed fish tank enclosures labeled "information".
Jon used an identify spell on the circle to determine it's purpose. But discovered that it wasn't a magical circle at all. Instead it was merely a discoloration left behind after something with a circular base had been removed from the building. He did discover that a spell of some sort had been upon the building its self but he was unable to identify what the spell was as it was rapidly fading. The group theorized that perhaps the spell is what had disguised the building as a theater. A spell that was wrecked by the tidal wave that had destroyed the rest of the town. The group investigated the drag marks and concluded that they had come from a large object that had been disassembled into parts and likely been loaded onto a cart of some sort. However, between the rain and the wave no evidence remained to indicate where the cart had gone.
Heading back outside the group found a two story stone tower in the middle of the ruined village. While it lacked any adornments there were two armed guards standing outside dressed in full plate emblazoned with the royal insignia. One of the guards had a glowing mancatcher which he was presently using to keep Gregorio pinned to the ground. Upon seeing the group the guard announced
"Your presence is requested within the tower."
However, the group had a bit of an issue with the way Gregorio was being treated and asked that he be released. They were told that since they cared so much, he would be released when the guards left and that no harm would come to the beast before then. Mala was a bit suspicious but agreed since the guard's words seemed to ring true. Eralyse asked the guard for his name which he informed her was Warwick.
Inside the tower there was a large table surrounded by chairs and a set of stairs in the corner leading up to the 2nd floor. Seated at the table was a half elven woman dressed in fine white silk robes and a silk cloak. A pseudodragon, was curled on the table before her, lightly dozing. She looked up when the group entered and said
"Very good, I'm glad to see that I've chosen well. My name is Zewyn and I am the one who hired you to recover Cassie. I appoligize for the cryptic letter but my normal channels have been badly compromised. I also appoligize for having you go through Captain Gravemore, but his lack of diplomacy made him a safe choice."
she laughed
"As you can see, dark days are upon us, I am doing what I can to fight back but it is more than I can handle on my own. It is for this reason that I've assembled several groups like yourselves to find and destroy these dark forces. I have questions for you and my time is limited but first I will try answer any questions you have"
The group asked her what she knew about Zadkeil and she admitted that they knew more than she did at this point as she didn't even know that was his name. But she promised to look deeper into the matter. She just knew that if his plans came to pass, whatever they are, that many people would suffer and die.
The group asked if she could send a message back to town on their behalf to let Gregorio's cousin know that he was still alive. She stated that she could try but gave no guaruntees it would arrive since her messages were generally being intercepted. That she was only able to send the letters to them because she had used some back channels to do it.
It was at this point that Eralyse spoke up and asked the question that she was shocked none of her companions had asked yet. Who was Zewyn? what was her position in the kingdom?
Zewyn responded that she was the magistar's primary apprentice. one of many, but the one given the most authority. That she was dealing with these matters because Aleus was too busy to do so.
Having answered each other's questions Zewyn then said
"very well, it is clear to me that we are at a crossroads, I would like to continue to fund your group to deal with. I have some leads on what's going on, the pay is the same but I'll need to know which one you plan to pursue so that I do not waste resources doubling up"
- Lead 1: A messenger of mine was delivering a message to the city of stagfall to the southeast, but never arrived. His last known stop was Hazelreach a small outpost situated along the Aqueduct that runs between Stagfall and Staris. This road should be the safest road in the land and yet her messenger bird was intercepted
- Lead 2: As I'm sure you'll agree, the storm raging outside is un-natural. I've managed to ascertain that it blew in from the western sea but not much more. I have some contacts within the Silverahade druids they might have a better idea what we're dealing with. Head northwest to Grimford and make contact with the druids to see what they know.
- Lead 3: If you follow the main road to your destination you will come across the village of Bromwich. My sources indicate that the drugar you encountered came from this place and so you may be able to find additional information regarding the events surrounding the kidnapping of cassie.
- Lead 4: However, if you take a detour and follow a branch that leads away from the main road you will come across the ruins of the village of Grasmere. It was a thriving community up until a week ago. But some mysterious force seems to have wiped it out. Please find out what happened to the village.
Rewards Granted
- 2 platnum coins each
- The gratitude of a werewolf
- Lots of information on Zadkeil's recent actions
Missions/Quests Completed
Discover Gregorio's Fate
- Found and subdued Gregorio
- Sent word back to his cousin
- Preserved Gregorio's secret
- Found the location of the Theater
- Found and questioned it's performers
- Discovered the Theather's Secret chambers
Character(s) interacted with
- 11 angry lightening rail passengers
- 1 concerned citizen
- 1 lambchop stage hand
- 3 piggy performers
- Gregorio
- 2 hounding roadies
- 2 very irate sanitation workers
- 2 seriously over protective goverment employees
- Zewyn
Report Date
28 Jul 2021
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