The Cultists Of Sel-kai: Part One

General Summary

Before they return to Sel-kai, the party decide to try and wrap up some loose ends, prompted in no small way by Ugnan's musings over all they have discovered. Returning to the village of Bajorkham, they speak to Dirn about the two riders who fled the Orgillion Estate weeks before T'Chagga wiped out the slavers in the manor house. Dirn tells the party that the two men arrived in Bajorkham late one afternoon and then headed up the house that evening. Both riders hurtled back through the village in the small hours, a little before light and almost trampled Dirn. One of the riders swerved abruptly and an amulet he was wearing got tugged off by a small branch on the old oak that stands in the centre of the market square. Dirn is quite happy to trade the cheap metal amulet for a few silver coins; the amulet bears the emblem of a palm. Both Cherry and Sylke spot the significance of this, the "palm" is an emblem used by the dangerous criminal syndicate known as The White Hand. The party can recall that in one of the chambers, they came across a bed and the tell-tale sign of a poisoning: tiny threads stretched down from the ceiling above the bed and the threads smelled quite acrid.
A return to the house to gather the last of the books that Ugnan is keen to recover allows the party an opportunity to identify the ghostly apparition (Chapter One: Part 12) they encountered in one of the upstairs chambers. A study of the family portraits that still hang in the manor eventually identifies the spirit as Loanal Orgillion (4306-4396).
Returning to Sel-Kai, the party report what they have learned to Eloen Para; the party keep what they have learned about The Harmony quiet but share what they know of the strange cult, The Iron Bell. Ugnan and Sylke spend time both at the city's administrative headquarters and at the University of Kalingen. Their research into the cult draws a blank but they do find out that the Old Sword Inn sits on the very same site occupied by the Spice Merchant's Guild Hall. They also uncover details about the infamous Cruciform Murders that rocked the city shortly after Larkrise and Sunset escaped from Hadeshill. With Cran and Cherry's help, the locations of each of the twelve murders is carefully mapped out and Ugnan concludes that the ritualistic killings seem centered around an old part of the city.
This part of the city used to boast fresh pumped water from deep cisterns but these were abandoned long ago. These cisterns, the party decide, could be where The Harmony battled and lost, leaving one of their number behind. Investigating The Old City district, the party learn that all the old entrances to the cisterns (long forgotten it seems) have been sealed and most have been built on rendering them inaccessible. However, as luck would have it, Cherry finds a still standing maintenance and inspection point near a large residential complex that sits at the heart of the old Cruciform Murders.
An ancient rusted iron door and an impressive lock block the way but with skill and patience, Cherry manages to get in ….

Report Date

25 Nov 2018

Primary Location

Teaque Island

Secondary Location

Sel-kai