Our First Ratling Regicide
General Summary
With treasure in tow, the debtors make questionable deals to free new friends and find old enemies. In Emberwood Village, they finally pay off their monthly debts and quickly find themselves embroiled in a dangerous rescue mission on behalf of not one, but two, major factions.
Session Notes
- Tracking his allies to the shipwreck, Sarlen reunites with the wounded group
- Unsure who Thorak was, he witnessed the Horror capture the ogre
- He notices magic and at least one invisible ally aiding the bone-beast
- At first ready to leave Thorak behind, Sarlen changes his mind when learning that he and his brother were enslaved by the Ironhelm Dwarves
- His enemy, Vikari, often finds able-bodied slaves for the Scar Mines
- Once a Queen's Man, Vikari had a violent falling-out with Blackjack Mel, resulting in the deaths of his entire crew
- The tracker works with the Hooded Lanterns, likely through Petra
- While Peter contacts Lestheris to negotiate, Kragan hides with the treasure
- Enticed by potential delerium, the sorceress arranges a meeting at the docks
- Jedar, the Horror, and several skeletons arrive with a chained-up Thorak
- On a nearby rooftop, Sarlen is surprised by the invisible Halorin
- The Grave Order are unimpressed with Peter's offers for delerium locations
- Jedar was "quenched," branded with a golden mark and sentenced to death by the Church of the Sacred Flame
- The controversial practice is used against apostates or maleficents and strips away the ability to call upon divine magic
- Jedar makes a request, although he and Halorin angrily argue beforehand
- He wants Cecito, the man who ordered his death, assassinated
- The Grave Order still want the delerium, now that it was mentioned
- They intend to use Thorak for mining in the meantime
- "He is no use to us mutated. We will allow him to rest briefly outside of the Haze."
- Peter counters, saying the group can deliver the man to Jedar instead
- The blood-mage accepts, noting two possible locations for the ambush
- Slaughterstone Square in the Inner City
- The Sanguine Gala at Fresser Estate in the Outer City
- He gives the group an stamped invitation to Fresser Estate
- "The Gourmand has items of interest to the Amethyst Academy."
- While escaping the city, the group finds a tear in reality in an old warehouse
- Sarlen is hunted and taunted by a crueler, more callous version of himself
- "You haven't met him yet, have you?"
- Peter is attacked by his reflection, which turns into an eldritch abomination
- Tim grapples with an eyeless version of himself, crying bloody tears
- Eldemir sees himself wearing purple mage plate and carrying a sword of light
- "There you are. This is where it all changed."
- Present-day Eldemir receives a vision of Redgaard's clocktower
- It stopped 111 years, 11 months, and 11 days ago, at precisely 11:11:11
- Before the starfalls, an enormous delerium deposit rested there
- It now houses a massive wyrmen nest and their leader, a woman with a crown of thorns and a red-feathered dress, bearing the Steward's Seal
- The voice in Eldemir's head calls him to the Inner City
- The group returns to Emberwood Village and tends to their serious wounds
- They exchange the dammer pelt to Erlen for more sealskin boots
- Aldor appraises the contents of the recovered treasure chest
- One bottled comet, a rare explosive device
- Two potions of aqua expurgo, which can restore spell slots
- Only Oscar knows the recipe for the potion
- One scroll of contaminated power, an 8th-level spell that amplifies magic based on the user's contamination, among other effects
- The druid Neldor Willowweep is known to research such spells
- The Cataclysm broke Yogan Ghostweaver's druid circle, but spellcasters like Neldor and Oscar saw delerium as potential
- Aldor believes the Queen's Men will sell the scroll to the Amethyst Academy
- "Mages have funny way of getting most out of consumables, eh?"
- The group sells the other items to Aldor for gold, health potions, and his recommendation of them to River
- The group appeases Blackjack Mel with the remaining treasure
- He pays ten platinum pieces each and suggests offering it to the Queen
- "At that point, you're basically an employee. We protect our own."
- Afterward, Jorvan intercepts the group, suspcious of Blackjack Mel's plans
- The group sees Silver Order horses waiting outside Emberwood Watchtower
- Dickless, veteran of multiple wars and an old friend of Sarlen's
- He escorts the group to the meeting between Ansom and the knights
- Also, he warns that Ansom is furious because Petra was captured
- After being healed, Euclid arranged the meeting with the Hooded Lanterns that the group requested of him
- He and Yusuf, apologetic but firm, refuse Ansom's pleas to save his sister
- "She isn't innocent."
- Before tensions rise again, the group arrives, and the knights take their leave
- Ansom, regretting his fight with Kragan, asks the group for their help
- Petra's unit was ambushed by ratlings in the Sprawl earlier that day
- Ansom broke Hooded Lantern protocol and tried to rescue her himself
- Too wounded to try again, he believes that Petra is being held underneath the Rat's Nest Tavern, south of the Hooded Lantern base
- River's imp familiar invites the group to meet her at the Red Lion Hotel
- The mage requests a piece of the original meteor from the Rat's Nest Tavern
- Her colleagues require a large delerium shard for their experiments
- She promises 1250 gold pieces for a successful mission
- Peter and Kragan march ahead, to distract the ratling guards
- The rest of the group travel to Stick's Ferry to cross the river
- Oleg, mysterious butcher who answers questions for any kind of meat
- The group moves slowly through the Sprawl, where the ratlings swarm
- Barkers gather ratling corpses in front of the Rat's Nest Tavern
- Sarlen drinks a potion of invisibility and scouts the building
- The meteor punched a hole in the ground, and the ratlings constructed a huge tunnel network outward, where they scurry and carry messages, recovering after the recent attack
- The group suffers heavy wounds from the ratlings' hit-and-run tactics
- Eldemir pushes a large table as a shield, while Sarlen fires well-timed arrows and Tim senses skirmishers with his divine sense
- The group finds opened cages, as if the prisoners were recently moved
- Eldemir charms a messenger, compelling it to lead them to the Rat King without having to discard their weapons
- "Rat King ate old kings! Will feed until whole world eaten by Rat God!"
- The Rat King, corpulent mutant sitting on a throne of cobbled-together filth
- It threatens to eat an unconscious Petra, unless the group kneels
- When they refuse, it commands its many minions to swarm
- Tim's protection against evil and good saves Eldemir from the hordes
- Sarlen mutes the Rat King with an arrow through its bloated throat
- Eldemir "concedes" to the Rat King and swiftly heals Petra with a potion
- Petra activates her Hooded Lantern sigil to brighten the entire room
- Tim kills the Rat King with a smited javelin, becoming the new Rat King
- While escaping, the group finds an effigy of a bloated rat with gemstone eyes
- It gifts Sarlen a boon, six medium-sized shards of delerium
- When Tim tries to destroy it, he is rebuked and mind-controlled
- As his allies are charmed, Eldemir senses a nearby "witch"
- Squeakers the Seer, tiny mage with an array of powerful spells
- Unable to find the slippery spellcaster, the group finds the delerium shard River mentioned and flees from the Rat's Nest Tavern
- Petra expertly guides the group through the streets, as ratlings pursue
- Near Shepherd's Gate, bombs and crossbow bolts thin the chasing horde
- As Petra removes her hood, the gates swing open for the group to enter
Report Date
27 Apr 2024
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