Desperation or Daring

Written by Chrundle_the_Great

General Summary

Returned from the Rat's Nest Tavern, the debtors receive more contracts from the major factions and more demands from their infernal overseers. With their sights set on Buckledown Row, they witness firsthand the ugliness of factional politics and the cost of retribution against an old terror.

Session Notes

• Grateful and impressed, Petra promises to reach out within a few days' time
1. Shepherd's Gate was taken because of the nearby guards' garrison
2. Although quarters are packed tightly, some areas, like the cell blocks, are strangely unaffected by the Haze
• Wearing the Rat King's head on his belt, Eldemir is called by a nearby figure
• Garrick Faulkner, Hooded Lantern quartermaster and former merchant
1. "The Rat King has returned before. I can give you ten silver pieces."
2. Intrigued by the group's intel, he offers a bounty on Squeakers
3. Recruits are fewer and far between, so there is a surplus of greencloaks, which can function as either cloaks of protection or elvenkind
• Garrick notices Peter's "stolen" von Drakken ring and offers ten gold pieces
1. The von Drakken heir distanced herself from the Hooded Lanterns after failing to reclaim her family's estate from the occupying mutants
2. Peter refuses and learns that the heir is often seen at Buckledown Row
• The Lord Commander sends a messenger to speak with the group
1. "Because the rescue was unauthorized, you will not be permitted entry into the garrison. You are trespassing and must leave."
• Sergeant Thorne Keller agrees to guide the group to Emberwood Village
• Lieutenant Ada Frey offers them an authorized, time-sensitive mission
1. "Petra wants to help you, but she can't say no to the Lord Commander."
2. Oscar sells potions, but his weekly shipments recently halted
3. The soldiers' opinions on the maleficent are split, but the Lanterns lack the magical skill and/or resources of the Academy and Colony
4. They will pay 250 gold pieces and a special weapon if the group goes to Reed Manor and investigates the missing deliveries
• Without alerting any monsters, Thorne escorts the group to their home
• River pays the group for returning with the large delerium shard
1. Satisfied, she offers the group another quest
2. She will pay 250 gold pieces and a magical item if the group goes to Reed Manor and steals Oscar's research
3. "I sat in the judiciary committe who voted to exile Oscar for his unethical experiments. Kragan, he is your enemy, not me."
• Peter gives River the research saved from Ellara's burnt laboratory
1. Oscar paid Ellara to grow eldritch lilies for potions of aqua expurgo
2. "If this is freely given, then I will protect you from what is to come."
• Melchior, well-dressed devil who steps out of a fiery portal of ash and smoke
1. "I strongly suggest investing in a base of operations. Redgaard has... items of certain interest to my associates. You have until next month's collection date to comply. Good luck."
2. He compels the group to kneel and collects their debts for the month
• River drops major image, which hid the confrontation from onlookers
1. As another reward, she will scout Outer City locations for a stronghold
• Buckledown Row's basement and sewers were made into fighting pits
1. The Queen of Thieves watches matches on Fridays and Saturdays
2. Winners are invited to duel her champion in a secret arena
3. No one has ever won, and the prize is a boon from the Queen
• The group plans a path through the Spokes, all the way to Buckledown Row
• A Silver Order knight and his squires crush a delerium shard with hammers
• A Falling Fire priestess leading pilgrims intervenes, and tensions quickly rise
1. "These ignorant brutes traipse through the city and destroy relics of the very Flame we all worship."
• When the knight pushes the priestess away after warning her, a young man with a greatsword throws down his gauntlet in challenge
• The knight is reluctant, but the pilgrim refuses to back down and is killed
• As the group intervenes, the knight and priestess shout at one another
1. Knight: "You heretics radicalize these youths, send them to die!"
2. Priestess: "It was your blade that killed him, not his faith!"
3. Knight: "Why did you empower him if you didn't want him to fight?"
• The priestess paralyzes the knight, while the pilgrims rush the delerium
• They defend their priestess with burning hands, killing two of the squires
• Tim heals the two surviving squires, the knight, and his horse
• Peter calms and comforts the spooked horse, which broke one of its legs
• Eldemir and Kragan scare away the priestess and the remaining pilgrims
• The group offers to the escort the knight back to Emberwood Village
• Sir Autumn, knight of the Silver Order from Westemär, not Elyria
1. He grimly accepts their aid, so Peter summons his own horse and creates a makeshift sled to drag Autumn's horse and the slain squires
2. The group avoids a slumbering haze hulk and safely find the village
3. Grateful, Autumn pledges to hunt Squeakers on the group's behalf
• After resting briefly, the group follows a different path through the city
• Unfortunately, they are spotted by a cabal of twelve roving trolls
1. "You are bad men who took our food. You are under arrest!"
2. Peter summons bright light to stun them, and the group flees
• Kragan turns a building to rubble with his maul, burying the trolls
• Dozing on a nearby building, the Consort opens its eyes and swoops in
1. Surrounded, Eldemir sees the same blade of light from his vision, hanging from the Consort's necklace of corpses
• Kragan uses a scroll of thunder step, putting himself and Eldemir on its back
• The Consort breathes rancid corpses and slashes with contaminated claws
• Kragan suffers contamination from the bile breath and begins to mutate
1. Otherworldly fungi erupt from his body, ruin one of his eyes, and wrestle to control his mind when he is unconscious
• Tim heals his allies and launches guiding bolts to assist Eldemir
• Peter keeps his distance and shoots rays of frost to slow the Consort
• Eldemir hangs from the Consort's necklace and inspects the strange sword
1. The hexagonal hilt is inscribed with Y-S-T-R-A-M
2. The delerium shard inside glows and forms a purple longsword blade

Note: It's Star Wars Day, man. You've gotta throw a lightsaber into the mix.

• As the Consort terrorizes his allies, Eldemir clambers onto its back to attack
• New spells (melf's acid arrow, levitate, combine) enter his mind as he cleaves
• As the group strikes the Consort with ranged spells, random magical effects pulse outward from its body
1. Peter and Tim carry a mind-controlled Kragan to safety as an aura of zero gravity radiates within 100 feet of the Consort
• Eldemir finally strikes true, the blade surges, and the Consort is beheaded
1. The delerium shard explodes, and the paladin is slightly contaminated and mutates from wielding the weapon
2. Also, he cuts off the creature's tongue, as proof of the kill
• The group retrieves a knight's corpse and flees as mutant hordes stampede to the Consort's headless body
• As the group travels to Camp Dawn, to have Kragan cleansed, he wakes up and instead wishes to rest and take the Falling Fire's Sacrament

Character(s) interacted with

Petra Lang
Garrick Faulkner
Sergeant Thorne Keller
Lieutenant Ada Frey
River
Kosta Stavros
Melchior
Sir Autumn
The Consort

Report Date

04 May 2024

Primary Location

The Spokes

Related Characters

• Eldemir Barling
• Kragan Blacktusk
• Peter von Drakken
• Tim Ward