Session 01
General Summary
Camero spilled the beans about his encounter with Dhorlot the Dragon Father. Dhorlot was able to
confirm that he was in fact Camero's father. He also told Camero that his mother was an Eladrin
called Vaerila and that she escaped his clutches when Camero was nearly ready to be born. But
she returned to the dragon after the birth of Camero. She told the dragon that she was heading
north to the Cauldron region to set up an adventuring company called the Travellers. Dhorlot also
told Camero that his mother was a priestess of Fharlanghn.
Back in Cauldron word on the street was that the frost giants of the southern mountains were
growing restless and were considering an attack upon the northern settlements. Also they heard
that the Storm Blades had been into the Underdark for Lord Vhalantru and were soon to be
officially named the "Champions of Cauldron".
During the next few weeks it became clear that there was much disquiet and unrest in the city due,
at least in part, to the increasing level of taxes and the increasing numbers of half orc which the
city guard were employing. These half orcs were constantly seen out and about guarding the tax
collectors and also forming special patrols on the streets. Rumour also had it these brute squads
were breaking into people's houses to claim unpaid taxes, but these rumours were unconfirmed.
During this period Morgan and Braken were summoned to the Church of St. Cuthbert by High
Priestess Jenya. She told them that the High Inquisitor of the whole Church of St. Cuthbert,
Shebeleth Regidin, was coming to Cauldron to oversee the running of the Church for a few
months. She stressed that he was a very important person who demanded respect from the
worshippers of St. Cuthbert. He was due to arrive soon.
She also told Morgan and Braken that she was worried about Alek. She said that he had not been
behaving like himself recently - the party remembered his strange actions at the Demonskar Ball
and agreed. Jenya then told the full story of Alek Tercival. She told them that Alek and her have
been friends since childhood. When his father died, destitute, leaving Alek a title (he is actually
Lord Tervcival but never uses this title), a dilapitated manor house in Redgorge and huge debts,
Alek fell into dispair. Jenya managed to bring him back to his senses and in the process convert
him into the service of St. Cuthbert where he eventually became a paladin. He worked tirelessly to
help others, even when his household was still in debt. But due to some fortune on a few
adventures he made enough money to pay off his family debts and bring the manor house up to a
reasonable level of repair. Alek has always split his time between Redgorge and Cauldron but of
late has not been seen in the city much at all and has been much more unlikely to spend his time
helping the poor and needy. She explained that she was very worried about him.
Concerned for his cousin, Morgan took Sharpbeak and flew off to Redgorge for the day. He
arrived in the town square amidst the usual excited crowd of people as he landed on eagle back.
He asked for the location of his cousin's house and was shown the way, but it turned out to be
empty and no one was home. It looked like a dilapidated house which was slowly being fixed back
up. Heading to the inn he asked around there for people who knew Alek and he met the innkeep, a
smiling man called Mikimax, and also a very enigmatic minstrel called Ekaym Smallcask, also
known as the Honest Minstrel. He posed Morgan a riddle which the paladin could not answer and
told him to come back once he had figured out the answer. He also hinted that Morgan and Alek
would soon meet but that it would not be quite yet. Morgan returned to Cauldron somewhat
frustrated at his failure to find his cousin.
Meanwhile Camero went to speak to Vortimax Weer and asked him if he knew anything of the
adventuring party called the Travellers. A slight smile crossed Vortimax's lips before he hid it
quickly. He told Camero that he should go the the Academy to look up such information. Camero
duely did so and was able to find out that the Travellers were in fact an adventuring party made up
of five people, lead by his mother. And that the party wizard was none other than Vortimax Weer!
He was distraught to find out that the Travellers were also reported slaughtered fifteen years ago
by an evil blackguard known as the Slayer. The Slayer was a famous hunter of good adventurers
in these parts and was considered to have been the casue more deaths of adventurers than any
thing else in the last twenty years or so.
Returning to Vortimax with this news, Vortimax chided Camero for taking so long to find out
about his relationship with his mother. But Camero could tell that a barrier had finally been
broken down and that Vortimax's demenour had softened considerably. Camero asked about the
Travellers and what had happened. Vortimax told him that the Slayer had lured the party into a
trap and had single handedly killed all of them. Only Vortimax escaped and that was only just. He
showed Camero a huge scar which he told him was his reward for escaping. He said there was no
chance any of the Travellers had escaped as the Slayer was known for making cloaks from the
skins of his victims. Vortimax told Camero he had been unable to find any indication as to where
the Slayer might be found now, but that he had found a name. His name was Alurad Sorizan.
Vortimax told Camero that he had something for him. It was a ritual developed by his mother and
the ritual would allow one to transfer the enchantments from one magical item to another. Camero
thanked him profusely and promised he would find the Slayer and make him pay. Vortimax
warned Camero to be very careful as the Slayer was a legend in these parts and extremely
dangerous.
Vortimax told Camero to tell Gotrek that he had achieved a breakthrough looking into his
condition. He said that he has discovered that Gotrek had a wereboar as an ancestor and that when
Tongueeater, the werebaboon, bit him it triggered some form of Ancestral Lycanthropy that
doesn't appear to be the same as other forms and as far as he can see it is under control so far.
However he believes if left unchecked it will get worse until Gotrek is no longer able to control it.
He said this powerful curse was not going to be curable using common magical rituals and that it
would take something special. He said that he would continue to research into a cure.
Meanwhile Harley was having an interesting time. He woke one morning having had another one
of his vivid dreams. In this one he found himself trapped in a cell with a hexagonal mirror for one
of the walls. Inside was a being with massive knowledge what Harley wanted to get but was
unable to quite reach. Instead the being told him to "Search for the Smoking Eye. For it searches
for you."
Harley was told by Fenby that it was time for him to be placed into a crew in the Last Laugh. And
the good news was that it was Fenby's crew that he was to be placed into. On top of that the crew
was led by the second in command in the crime syndicate so it was an important crew. Harley met
the crew and they turned out to be Jil, Fenby, a halfling named Finch and two twins called
Mokaius and Xendro. And in charge of the crew? Jil! So it turned out Jil was in fact second in
command of the whole of the Last Laugh. Jil gave Harley a special gold coin minted with the face
of a Jester on each side. This coin was his membership token of the Last Laugh.
Harley was also to go on an important mission at this time. He was told that four crews were doing
a big joint mission. His crew's job was to open the doors and then keep a look out. The target? The
Bluewater Academy. Harley and his crew got the doors open and then stood guard as the Jester
himself and three crews went into the Academy. A while later Harley heard the insane laughter of
the Jester coming from deep inside the Academy - a haunting and evil laugh.
The next day word quickly spread around the city that the Academy had been hit by thieves. To
everyone's dismay the librarian Google was found dead, her body stabbed from front and back
simultaneously - the trademark of the infamous assassin known as the Jester. And what was
missing? A powerful ritual for summoning fire elementals to do the users bidding. Camero
checked for specifics and found that the ritual would summon a pair of Magma Brutes -
elementals from the planes of fire.
Harley spoke to Terri, the Chancellor, and she told him that she had heard that the captain of the
town guard, Lord Terseon Skellerang had announced special security measures against a sect of
dangerous anarchists believed to be plotting to overthrow the government. She didn't know who
this organization was. She went on to say that her work load was increasing with the increased
taxes Lord Mayor Navalant had asked for but said the Lord Mayor himself had been quite absent
lately, only rarely showing up in public and leaving most of the running of the city to his advisors.
It was quite annoying and frustrating for her and also the members of the city council.
Camero tried to research the Smoking Eye but was unable to find anything out in the Cusp of
Sunrise's library and the Acandemy was shut for the moment due to the break in. None of the
party nor Vortimax had heard of it. It was an unexplained factor in Harley's vivid dream but all
were sure it meant something.
As Morgan returned to the city on eagleback he saw a hugh crowd of angry people moving up
Obsidian Avenue in the direction of the town hall. Flying low over them he saw they had banners
protesting against the tax rises. He flew on ahead and warned the guards at the town hall and then
sent Sharpbeak on his way. He stood his ground in front of the town hall and before long was
joined by the rest of the party who had followed the crowd up the Avenue after they passed the
Drunken Morkoth Inn.
The throng reached the town hall and one man climbed onto a pedastool to address them. He
introduced himself as Maavu Arlintal - the merchant whose warehouse was flattened by the umber
hulk attack earlier in the month. He gave an impassioned speach to the gathered throng about how
the city leadership was at best incompetant and if not outright corrupt. He told how there was an
old law in the city which allowed one of the five major noble families to challenge the captain of
the guard for his position if he deemed the captain to be incompetant or unjust. And he said that
one person, Lord Alek Tercival, had in fact laid down such a challenge but the Lord Mayor had
kept it quiet - which was in fact another illegal act by the government. The crowd were by now
very angry when Maavu had to stop his speech as along the main Obsidian Avenue from the
direction of the barracks came Sergeant Skylar Krewis, surrounded by a half dozen half orc
guards. He stopped Maavu's speech telling him that he was arresting him on behalf of the Captain
of the Guard. Suddenly one of the crowd shouted out "Lets kill these half orc skum!!!" and drew a
dagger, killing one of the half orc guards protecting Sergeant Krewis. Within seconds the half orc
guards were dead and the crowd had turned from an angry rabble to a full scale riot! Harley found
himself confused as he realised that the youth who had actually started the riot was his crew mate
Xendro. And some of the other half-orc guards were in fact also killed by other members of his
crew! They had slipped back into the crowd and disappeared before he could do much about it
though.
It was rapidly clear that sergeant Krewis' life was now in serious danger. The Last Laugh
provocoteurs had struck and faded away but now there was a full scale riot going on and he was
the only figure of authority around. The party acted quickly to save his life. Morgan and Harley
used their considerable presence to calm the rioters immediately around the group to allow them
to be able to act without getting buffeted and pushed and pulled all over the place. Camero quickly
made Sergeant Krewis invisible and the sergant survived the initial onslught by the rioters. The
hugh crowd now began to start smashing up the buildings in the region of the town hall. Camero
noticed half-orc archers appearing in the top window of the town hall and was concerned they
would start attacking the rioters, making things worse, but instead they fired on Maavu who was
still atop his pedastool, trying to stop the riot he felt he had accidentally started.
Camero was able to put the mob around Krewis to sleep with a spell and the sergeant took the
chance to run for the town hall doors. As the party continued to try and save Krewis from the mob
suddenly a large air and fire elemental known as a firelasher flew out of the town hall doors. It
rushed through the crowd, burning all in its path to a crisp as it tried to reach the merchant Maavu.
Maavu turned out to be a bit more than just a merchant however when he jumped off the pedastool
and blasted the elemental with icy magic! Magma Force saw the destruction the elemental was
reaping and rushed to Maavu's aid. Surprisingly, so did Sergeant Krewis, battling back through the
mob to help attack the elemental. Meanwhile the half orcs in the town hall windows continued to
fire crossbow bolts at Maavu!
With the combined might of Maavu the wizard, Sergeant Krewis and the entirety of Magma Force
the firelasher was soon put down. The mob then looked like it was about to turn on Krewis again
so they party once again helped him to get to the town hall safely. Maavu ducked behind cover
and quickly grabbed Morgan. He thanked them for saving his life and said he felt responsible for
the riot - something he never meant to happen. He told Morgan he had to flee before some other
member of the local watch or another of his enemies caught him, but that if Morgan believed there
was evil at work in the govenment then he should come to the Redgorge Miner's Inn for a meeting
there with like minded people. His cousin, Alek, would be there. And he should bring all of
Magma Force. Maavu gave Morgan a cloak as a thanks and said the password at the inn was
"mortar".
Inside the town hall Camero was thanked by Sergeant Krewis who realised that his invisibility
spell probably saved his life. He handed Camero his magical spear as a thankyou. Meanwhile, as
the party watched a large number of brute squad half-orcs moved into the area firing their
crossbows into the crowd. Many rioters were killed before the rioters attacked back, swarming
over the half-orcs with bricks and torches. Chaos reigned outside the town hall for an hour with
much damagge being done until Lord Skellarang mobilised the entire town guard to put down the
riot. Many townsfolk were beaten and arrested but there were no more killings.
As sunset over the city the Lord Mayor himself appeared on the town hall balcony and declared
that all taxes would be suspended for three months. This information was distributed around the
city via town criers. Between this and the huge presence of the city guard (without half-orcs this
time) on the streets eventually brought order back to the city, but tensions remained high.
What exactly had gone on in the riot? Why were the Last Laugh involved and what was their
intent? Who had summoned the Firelasher inside the town hall? What had happened to the
challenge of Alek against Lord Skellerang? Who were the people Maavu wanted the party to
meet? There were many questions arising from the riot. What would the party do next?
Report Date
11 Apr 2024
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