Trouble in Heligabalus (or To the Gate)

General Summary

Ches 27, 1373 (Year of Rogue Dragons)

So we meet and delivered the goods and did a little celebrating at The Adventurer's Rest Inn. Jinx invited everyone to stay at his place. We were all feeling pretty good from the upgrade in beverages we could now afford and we headed out at the closing of the tap room. I guess it was wishful thinking that the Tightpurses wouldn’t put together the returning creates and casks, because everyone was told to be careful and we were not back long enough for anyone to spill the beans.

A figure slinks out of the darkness and introduces himself as Benny and tries to engage in a witty repertoire with Jinx. During this exchange there is a tingling in our heads and a voice from the darkness says something about us and the casks and “make it look like a mugging, kill them all”… Yep, we made the freaking List.

It was dark and there was many figures coming out of the shadows. Nasty thieves, but lucky for us they didn’t bring enough people frothing with bloodlust. However, we did, I am still a little taken aback at the joy the Hin and Gnome show when drawing blood. Actually when things started going bad, some of them tried to cut and run. Most of them didn’t make it and there was some street justice employed that evening. In retrospect, it is most likely they were just hired thugs and killers.

Well Benny, as he ran started yelling for the City Watch and sure enough the whistles started blowing. It was time to go, but everyone started discussing what they should do or who would tell the story. This didn’t look like it would end well, I told Reed I would see them at Jinx’s the next morning and slipped back to the Magician's Guild.

When I arrived at the Guild Hall, I requested an audience with Guild Mistress Avondel. I reported our success in regards to the aid supplied to the Chicane Guild. I also present her the torturing implements of Slaughtergarde. She informs me that it is Abyssal Steel and it will prove useful after melted down and gave me 500 gold for the metal. She also explains how dangerous it will be in Heliogabalus for me now. As always I will be safe at the tower and most likely during the day, but don’t go out at night unless it is in a group. She also suggests it could be a good time for travel.

I head to Jinx’s place in the morning and meet up with everyone. It seems that they were put to the question under a Zone of Truth and let go. I share with my companions the information about the Abyssal Steel, that I traded the religious spell scrolls for two potions of healing and the advice that an excursion out of Heliogabalus might be in order. Buckthorn mentions his desire to go to the Vaasan Gate in Bloodstone Pass to seek Fame and Fortune. Everyone is for it and you can’t get farther from Heliogabalus without leaving Damara. I think about the Surinak Hunting Lodge that leads to the Slaughtergarde Temple, but that can wait a bit since we don’t know exactly where it is and I have heard that the folk in Ostrav don’t cozy up to strangers and we are a strange group indeed.

Ches 28th – Tarsakh 3rd, 1373 (Year of Rogue Dragons)

It is a six-day journey to the Vaasan Gates through pleasant picturesque farm land where people seemed happy to just be back outside after the long winter. The Vaasan Gates are massively impressive; this place could truly house a city’s worth of people. We find ourselves at the Muddy Boots and Bloody Blades and talking to Telmuth the bartender. He enlightens us to how things are done here and tells us about some of the Inns other adventuring parties.

• Auric’s Warband

• Snow Leopards – Wearing snowcat cloaks and look like rangers

• Gutruggers – Mountain Men

• Chuklo’s Ravens

• Unhuman’s – Two half-orcs and two half-elves. Hate orcs and elves and none to friendly to anyone else

• Varmint Patrol – A group of Hin sewer workers from Heliogabalus

• Arcane Auriga – Group of elves supposedly exiles from Aglarond

There is also a bounty on the ears of goblinoid and giant-kin, specifically the right ears.

• Goblins (2gp)

• Orcs (3gp)

• Gnolls (4gp)

• Hobgoblins (4gp)

• Bugbears (7gp)

• Ogres (10gp)

• Giants (50+gp per type)

We are then informed that we need to put our name of The Board to get jobs. So we need an official company name. Ser Buckthorn puts forth ‘Crossbows and Roses’ and I counter with ‘Anklebiters’. Neither seems to excite anyone. I rather like the Anklebiters, Ser Buckthorn thinks it’s insulting, I guess he can’t see it from my perspective. (Ha, I do make myself chuckle.) Reed, with the pure exuberance he shows in everything he does shouts out ‘Magnificent Seven!’ and everyone starts to nod. So on the Board it goes, we are The Magnificent Seven.

Tarsakh 4th, 1373 (Year of Rogue Dragons)

The next morning we see how this all works. The groups that are here the longest have their names placed on the top of the list. Telmuth then calls out missions and they are accepted or passed on by the groups on the list, simple, fast, and efficient. We get the left-over mission of clearing out hobgoblins from some tower ruins 12 miles N/NW of the Gate.

We head out after breaking our fast and after some travel sure enough there are some hobgoblins occupying tower ruins. There is also some stairs descending into the dark belly of the ruined tower. We clear the ruined tower and the first room of the basement and our bag has five ears in it with a closed door beckoning us to open it and travel deeper.

Notes

From the December 19, 2016 session.

Report Date

19 Dec 2016

Primary Location

Heliogabalus