Jaya Locke
Jaya Locke (a.k.a. The Sanguine Thorn)
Jaya is a knight in the Sanguine Ferrum for the Dark Sanctuary.
She was sort of adopted by Captain Calder Locke.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Tall, thin but fit
Body Features
Has vampire bite scars on her forearms that she always keeps covered with her bracers or long sleeves.
Identifying Characteristics
Red Brown Eyes that get more red when she's dealing with Blood Lust or casting Blood Magic.
Special abilities
Sanguimancy
Apparel & Accessories
Corset top, tight black pants, red bracers, red cape, black boots, holster style bag, rose rings (that has a hidden blade)
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Jaya believed she was a blood slave as a child which left her pretty traumatized. She was adopted by Calder Locke and the Sanguine Ferrum became her family, so the Dark Sanctuary is her life.
She works through her problems with learning how to fight. This was encouraged by Locke when he would say he wouldn't tell her something until she was proficient with a specific weapon or wouldn't teach her something until she learned something else. She also draws when she's working through feelings. Brock noticed that she would often doodle when she had a lot on her mind, so he taught her to draw and she's actually quite good.
When interacting with Johanna in JinJaru, she learned that she was actually the daughter of Kragen.
Sexuality
Yes?
Education
She was pretty uneducated when rescued from Kragen, but the Sanguine Ferrum encouraged and helped her to gain a basic education.
When she was learning how to write, she was very unmotivated and most of the Ferrum had no clue how to motivate her. Brock came up with the idea to have a "competition" with everyone in the Ferrum which kicked in Jaya's competitive spirit and she had to win. Nobody else really tried, but Jaya worked very hard and can now write pretty well. Well enough to read at least.
Employment
She's an knight of the order.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Knighthood with a bronze merit of protection.
Failures & Embarrassments
She tried to learn how to fight with a Chakram, but she messed up and severely cut herself. Unfortunately she actually died. Luckily Locke had a favor he was able to call in with the church and she got brought back. He still brings it up. She hasn't been allowed near a chakram ever since.
When she was learning to use the Gravity Hammer, she was really bad at it and bonked many of those in her Ferrum on the head. Every time she trained with the Gravity Hammer, her Ferrum would grab a helmet.
Mental Trauma
Kragen left her quite traumatized from years of abuse and being used as a blood slave. She is self conscious about her scars and is very guarded. She doesn't trust or open up easily and has no idea how to make friends.
One of the things she is most scared of is fish because one day, when she was about 8 years old, she tried to escape the cave. She fell into a pool of water near the entrance where Kragen kept quipper fish. She only got bit once before Kragen pulled her out, but he was infuriated by her audacity in trying to run. So he made her stand and watch when he pushed another captive into the pool and forced her to watch the captive be eaten alive by the fish.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Making Locke proud, Killing Kragen, becoming a Knight of the Dark Sanctuary.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
She's good at drawing. She's good with a sword.
She's emotionally inept. She has a hard time keeping her emotions in check, especially when it comes to vampires and her past.
Likes & Dislikes
She likes good food, a good smoke, a good lay, a good drink.
She's not the biggest fan of formal events.
She hates being called a "Tainted Blood". The first time she was called "Tainted" she got in a big fight with the person and severely injured them (she specifically did not kill them) and got in a bunch of trouble. Locke had to carry her away from the person she beat to a bloody pulp. He says he can see the bloodline she's from by how she fights. She was particularly cruel. He said the individual had it coming to him for calling her that, but she needs to keep her temper in check.
Vices & Personality flaws
She smokes.
She requires Saints Root to keep the blood lust at bay.
Personality Quirks
She has a tendency to sniff the air when she meets new people.
Hygiene
She is very clean.
Social
Family Ties
Kragen: biological father
Calder Locke: Adopted Father
Daughter of Kragen the Sire of Cruelty, saved by the Sanguine Ferrum and adopted by Captain Locke.
View Character Profile
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Knight of the Dark Sanctuary
Age
18
Date of Birth
1935
Birthplace
Land of Night
Children
Gender
Female
Eyes
Reddish Brown
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale white
Height
5'10"
Kuldarian Iced Tea
The group dispersed.
Jaya went towards the man who had the Remedy. Garruk followed off to the side. Silas and Brin looked around.
Jaya asked the man with the remedy to dance, but he was able to get the attention of Mrs. Trollio to assist him. During a partner switch, Garruk was able to swipe the remedy before the goon could pass it along to Mrs. Trollio.
Silas spoke with Jack. Jack made it obvious that he knows who the group is and that they are trying to meddle in his plans. Jack is just about to stab Silas when the Queen announces the start of the Queen’s game.
The Queen’s Game: Each person is either a Jack, Queen or King. A Jack beats a Queen. A Queen beats a King. A King beats a Jack. You can challenge someone who is the same or less than who you are (ex: Queen can challenge a King or Queen) If you challenge someone who can beat you, then you must give them a card. If you challenge someone who is the same as you, you play Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Mr. Dandy took Brin to the side and told him that Pia sent him and the weapons and such that they were not able to keep with them were hidden by a statue in the ballroom, just in case.
The party won the Queen’s Game and won the chance to have dinner with the Queen. They invited Mr. Dandy to join them. There, they got to see just how insane and paranoid the Queen had become. They mentioned a tea that was too strong for Victoria to drink, so the competitive nature had the Queen wanting to try it. A person came in wanting her to sign the declaration of war, but the group was able to convince her it was unlucky to do so without finishing the tea. She mentioned the tea not being warm, so they mentioned it is served the Kuldarian way, Iced Tea. It took a lot of finagling, but she finally drank the tea. She passed out and a weird black creature (daemon maybe?) crawled out of her mouth and shriveled up on the table.
Then the party was attacked by her Harlequin Rose guards who were working with Jack. Once they were dealt with, Mr. Dandy said he would stay with the Queen so that the party could deal with whatever was happening in the ballroom.
When the party got into the ballroom, various Harlequin Rose Anarchists were spread throughout the ballroom, many dancing with nobles. They all were looking towards Jack who had a woman by the neck dangling over the 15 ft drop onto the dance floor. He saw the party come in and said “Ah, you’re just in time” and then sliced the woman’s throat and let her drop. Immediately followed by each Anarchist slicing the throat or stabbing the noble they were with. This included Mrs. Trollio stabbing Mr. Trollio and Geneva stabbing the Florist.
Jack pulled out a sword and it radiated a magik to it. He placed it to the ground and it traced the room with a light and went up the swords of the statues by the door, sealing everyone inside.
The party gathered at the statue where their weapons were stashed and prepared to fight.
Sloegarde's Big Balls
Owl Witch shows up:
Owl Witch: "It seems that you have been doing well since our encounter in the Wicker Woods. Many triumphs you have had. Impressed I am. Knew I chose well, I did. The time for you to face that which banes us both is nearing. No doubt you have met the Wicker Hag's Witch, the one they call Jack. I have come to tell you that which I seek from our deal. Jack's sword. Its handle is made of a substance that I desire, imbued with the power of the Wicker Hag it is. Get this from him and bring it to the edge of the nearby Woods the following night. I shall come to retrieve it. A simple matter of this for that. Do this and you shall have completed your end of the deal and be released from the spell that binds us."
Jack’s sword is essentially his want. It is made of wood with steel filigree. If we separate him from his sword, he will be unable to utilize some of his abilities.
Witches/Warlocks start out with an item that is a conduit of power. It is up to the Witch/Warlock to grow that power. The owl witch’s is an owl. It is one of the owls that she is surrounded by, but she is surrounded by so many, we would never know which one it is.
Ponzworth
Handsome, but single
Boring - deals with the irrigation and agriculture of Sloegarde.
Mr. Trollio does not like him.
Should be at the ball.
To get a hold of Domino, He gave Garruk a code word to give any falconers at the mail places. It isn’t for Domino specifically, it is actually for Mr. Mendez, but the game set uses it. (to redeem a letter, you give the code word and ask if there is any mail)
There is a commoner’s ball near the palace for those who were not invited with the nobles at the palace.
The Trollios and Mr Dandy are attending the masquerade.
The Pope has left the castle. The Queen has become distrustful towards the pope, so he took his leave before she had a chance to develop too much ire towards him. He has been told that he is a capable individual, his hymns are particularly potent, but he does not fancy himself a fighter and doesn’t expect a victory in defending himself against her.
Vanessa did not receive an invitation, but she will be nearby at the commoner’s ball keeping an eye on the palace.
Pia and Ardito are also going to be at the commoner’s ball.
There was a man ransacking one of the rooms, trying to steal the remedies for the Hysteria Root. He was wearing a mask that looked like the Harlequin Rose masks.
He takes a potion vial and takes off. He ends up getting grabbed by a wicker taker and whisked off to the castle.
At the Ball:
Jaya turned in her obsidian sword and dagger, but snuck in 2 boot knives, her garrote, and one of the remedies in an underboob flask.
Silas was able to bring his bible, but handed in his dagger.
Brin was able to convince the guards his rapier was part of his outfit
Jaya can see/smell the blood trail of the person who stole the 3rd remedy.
The group goes into the castle. The party starts in the throne room. Each group approaches the queen who is on her throne and greets her with a bow.
2 harlequin rose come in with a man. The man is pushed towards the throne. The Queen says that the man is a traitor to Sloegarde. He is being accused of sending information about Sloegarde to Queen Victoria in Joan’Stella. He is sentenced to death, but the queen says she is fair and will give the man a chance. If he can land a hit on her in 3 moves, he is free, otherwise, he is sentenced to death. She unsheathes her sword. It is a twin to Victoria’s. He does not succeed and dies.
She says that she has heard of the treachery of Joan’Stella. She says that today, after she signs the papers, Sloegarde will go to war with Joan’Stella. The guards are not present because they are preparing for the war.
Then the masquerade begins in the ballroom. The Queen’s Game shall begin shortly.
Because today is so important, it starts the new regime. If anyone interrupts the night or makes a scene, they will meet the same fate as the man who died, minus the courtesy of the attempt to fight.
Jaya sees the man who stole the remedy. He has a bandaged neck. He is heading towards the ballroom.
He is definitely up to no good.
Brin recognizes that he is searching for something.
The group sees him look at Jack, look at us, then start heading towards Jack. Then Jack backs away into the crowd. The Queen watches the dancing off to the side.
Filler Episode
There was a wretch attack near the castle. All the guards were sent to deal with that. It seems it was a coordinated attack using the attack near the castle as a distraction.
Drekiksyn and Beyrin’s father, Kolya Aleksandrov, came in on the ship that will take us to JinJaru. He said that he got and his friend Kraus were in a shipwreck and made their way to an island somewhere around Escarra. There were natives that were not friendly and they heard a lot of weird things. (sounds kind of like where Brin’s friend might be?)
The person in charge of the ship is Boomstick Bri. The party was able to book passage on the ship to JinJaru at the end of the month for 40 gp.
La Machera has a celebration/event to raise money for repairs and helping those who lost their loved ones.
Madam Fortuna - blind fortune teller
Jaya: Questions unknown about family -
Upright Wheel of Fortune: Change cycles, inevitable fate. Destined to end up where you did. Could imply that it was orchestrated by willful volition or force.
Upright Devil: Addiction, materialism, selfishness. A game?
Upright Justice: It is in your fate to more direct encounter the answers that you seek.
Garruk: Questions unknown about life - if you are unwilling to change, due to this loss of balance, it will eventually lead to your own demise. If there is anything you are holding onto that doesn’t benefit yourself, you need to let it go. Be wary and trust in those around you. If they tell you to move on, heed their words.
Upright magician: a strong willpower for creation and manifestation in some kind of way.
Upside down Lovers: Strong determination. A great strength, but can be turned into a weakness. A desire to help others is good and noble, but if you do not help yourself, you cannot help anybody in the end.
Upside Down Death: Death comes for us all.
The Harvest: Will play a significant role in events to come.
The Hanged Man: Sacrifice, willingly or not is unclear.
Upright Death: End of cycle, beginnings, change, metamorphosis.
Upright Judgment: Reflection, Reconning, Awakening
Ardito
Arm Wrestler, Devon Larratt
Silas
Kolya Aleksandrov aka Papa Muscles
Special guests to help with dinner
Guga, Joshua, Roger, Nick
Spicy Steak challenge
Chip Challenge
Last Dab
Eat it or Yeet it
Ilia trains with a boy named Luke and they go to the training grounds. She is starting to learn how to use Pia’s signature weapon, the fan, but she isn’t too great with it yet so she sticks with daggers.
Drekiksyn says there is a fighter in the Garden Club that is on the smaller side, wears an escarran mask and has a move where he uses the ropes to kick him in the side and it’s tough to deal with.
The True Born Son of Dreki
Mr. Mendez has departed for his next adventure. Domino and Ace are still around.
The group gets together at La Machera to recap their day and have dinner together. It has been 2 weeks since they got back from Redemption.Vanessa has gone off for her nightly training.
All of a sudden a scream is heard along with breaking objects and glass. Then a bunch of wretches burst into the tavern and start attacking. Those who were scratched become zombies. A vampire comes in:
“I heard about your little vision. I am not here for that. I am here because you have been interfering with the plans of the harvest for far too long. When this day is done I will rise into the realms of nobility.” - Lorcan
“You will not get in his way” - Lorcan
Lorcan (the vampire) is the trueborn son of Dreki (one of the Dark 10)
Ace died from being Iceploded.
They defeated Lorcan
Jaya kept Lorcan’s fangs, but sent Garruk to Talbot’s with the head and arm.
Jaya found a scroll written in Feratu in the pocket of Lorcan
"Father,
the plans with the Harvest are coming along nicely. The Wicker Hag has made good on her promises and has collected what she needs to amass a large contribution to His return. The war will bring us a large steady supply of souls to fuel the seal breaker. These interlopers who believe that God sent them a message are fools. Her empty throne will not save them, but I do believe someone sent the vision but it matters not who. Tonight I prepare to bring glory to your lineage. I shall strike these would be saviors from this world and He will be that much closer to his return. Blood shall flow as wine when the King walks among us again and the plague of humanity shall be made clean. Then the true mission shall begin. When all is ash and dust, the Humans will beg us to save them, but the farmer does not heed the word of cattle. Death and worse shall spread and the King will be the bastion."
Garruk wrote a letter to Tommek and learned:
Lorcan has an older brother named Isfuaire the Final Frostfall.
He wields a powerful enchanted weapon Winter's Bite.
Last sighting of him was in Kuldar near the Woods
Dreki line vampires share a common weakness, fire.
The Journal Entry’s title
Begin writing your story here...
The Ocean Sucks
Chieftain of the Sirens of the Sea (named Skrelak) and has been made to be a servant for Jack. She cannot get out from under the control of the Wicker Witch. The wicker witch came to her asking for help, tricked her, stole her scales and bound her to Jack. Jack wears a necklace of her scales. If he dies while wearing her scales or wills her death, she dies. If they can get the necklace away from Jack, return it to the shoreline and toss it into the sea.
Saving her would benefit the group.
A token that is granted from a chieftain that provides safe passage once while at sea. A scale with a scintillating rainbow color. There is a faint humming coming off of it. When it is needed, snap the scale and toss it in the water.
One of the reasons that the Wicker Witch came to the sirens, she needed a plant that only sirens had access to. It is called Siren’s Call/SeaSong. It is a type of kelp. It gives off a faint humming sound that can open up humans’ minds to certain influences. The herb, peppermint, can disrupt the effects of SeaSong. (must be fresh peppermint)
She promised that the sirens would protect the lighthouse as they have always done. It is important to them that the boats do not crash because “when they crash, they clutter”.
The Island of Pain:
It is indeed a real place.
Not as many sirens populate those waters because the men are cruel.
If we come across a school of sirens that belong to the Sea Queen, the token cannot help you. Only her followers deign to go near the island of pain. (you will know them if you see them)
Siren traditions change based on the whim of the leader.
Sirens are not too different from the people of the land. They have different races. Sirens can come in the form of sharks, jellyfish, etc. The Sea Queen is no exception. She doesn't like to be talked about. She is one of the more rare types. She is half octopus/half kraken.
They never named their race before the humans named them and they just kept it. They are named after their siren song. So they just call themselves sirens when they are half humanoid half sea creature.
The Lighthouse Keeper (old man) definitely had sex with a siren and Jaya definitely thinks that it was Skrelek.
Talbot’s:
20 gp for finishing the mission at the lighthouse.
Arm Wrestling
Gambling:
Mendez, Domino and the party.
Prize: Potion of Minor Regeneration: 1d4+2 then 1d4 per round for 1 minute
Domino convinced Silas and Brin to put their “fancy books” up as a bet. He put one of his guns on the table along with some fancy silver bullets.
Domino won. He didn’t keep the books, but only signed “domino was here” and drew a picture of a domino inside of them.
Performance Contest:
Mendez did an escarran dance
Ardito did an acrobatic performance with knives and fire
Brin told a story (he won 50% off entire purchase coupon at Talbot’s)
Going through Julio’s notes: There is a mention of the Wicker Hag planning to contribute to “The Harvest”.
Jaya's Nightmare and Brin's Comfort Zone
A town Called Redemption
Village got approved for Township. The name of ‘Redemption’ was Pavel’s idea in honor of the prisoner who helped the town out. The town adopted the idea as it will be a place where people can start over.
The trip back:
Mendez taught Brin some fencing style fighting with 2 weapons and gave him a rapier. He also taught him how to fight smarter, not harder.
Ace spent time with Garruk and Mendez taught him a few tricks (exploits).
Domino spent time with Jaya showing off.
Candlelight Service:
After the service, the land of the town was consecrated.
Accepted the part of himself that inspires hope in others.
Back in Sloegarde:
The Game set: They say there is more of them, a total of 6 people in their group.
Ace, Domino, Rook, Gold General, Dolly/Roulette, Yahtzee
Group of dark hunters. They don’t always travel together.
Ace and Domino are currently waiting to see where the others will be going next.
Mendez and the Game set buys the group drinks
Escort Mission:
Daniel III requests an escort to a location near the coast.
He doesn’t go to church often, has sensitive skin to sunlight, and likes juicy meat.
His father, Davvin III, lives in a lighthouse and needs supplies. Davvin’s apprentice, Leonard, went on a supply run to Sloegarde and never came back. Not sure what happened. This is why Daniel didn’t feel safe coming on his own.
Davvin has seen sirens and heard their songs at night.
A siren’s song is not inherently bad, it is the intention behind it. Sometimes it could be just a simple song.
He has met good and bad sirens.
He has befriended sirens before.
Sirens were made before the war in heaven.
Sirens live longer than humans.
In their family, they alternate names, so 1 generation is Davvin, next is Daniel, next is Davvin II, next is Daniel II, and so on.
Last name: Fairbreeze. Brin knows a different Davvin Fairbreeze from a while back. His friend had been taken by a hag at one point and has been gone for a while since being taken by the crew of the Skinned Alive ship.
There is a place that is as much an urban legend as the ship itself. It is an island not too far off of Escarra that is rumored to be their “base”.
The crew left in search of an island with treasure. Davvin Fairbreeze was with them. When they came back they were all in bad shape, Davvin wasn’t with them and their ship was not there.
After Brin spoke with Davvin III, Davin III asked to be alone but asked Brin to tell his son that he loves him. When Brin gets back, they hear a thump from upstairs. They go up there and see Davvin III laying dead.
They bring the body down and go to burry him (put him in a boat with a hole in the boat).
Daniel III plans to stay until a replacement can be found.
The group is thinking of going to Pia’s and seeing if any of the people that were working for Jack wish to take over the lighthouse.
They leave and while they are in the boat, they end up surrounded by sirens. Jaya is looking over the edge and gets grabbed, but makes like a cat in a bathtub and escapes and hisses (her fangs even extend.)
The Chosen of Abaddon
The group kept fighting, but it wasn’t looking great and more possessed were coming inside. Then the priest jumped out of the window and ran off. As it started to look like the battle was going to overwhelm the group, Mendez and the Game Set came and took over so that the group could follow the priest. The priest ran through the mine and down a hole that landed them in a cavern. Inside the cavern there was a crevice that they were able to crawl through and got into a large place that looked like a church/cathedral.
There was an engraving on the wall that said, “And they should be made to crawl on their bellies to enter the Kingdom of Darkness.” in old Stellan.
There was a symbol of Abaddon on the door
It was definitely desecrated land (but worse than the cemetery)
There was a sound similar to what the kid told Silas they hear at night..
The priest is chanting and slits his throat and individuals appear out of the ritual circle
The first one, Zaishin says, “So you are them. You are the ones that we have been chosen to kill.”
The second one, Seyhdi, says, “Special yes, special in regards to ones chosen by God. Some would say the most special of people. Where you are the chosen of God, we are the chosen of Abbadon.”
When asked what they were chosen for, Seyhdi says, “Sent to kill you, to stop you from completing the mission God sent you.”
During the fight another one showed up named Lillith. She is a beast of a fighter. She can use fire, she’s quick, and she can parry attacks.
Seyhdi is a priest like magic user who can heal others.
Zaishin is a good fighter who can become ethereal/ghost like.
When the group defeated Seyhdi and Lillith went down, Lillith said that the Priest screwed up the ritual, so they were not at full strength or full numbers, then she died and Zaishin decapitated himself
As the group made their escape from the church, it crumbled, looking burned.
When they got out of the mine and back to the town, they are greeted by Mendez and the Game Set. It looks like anyone who had been possessed has reverted back to normal. The party, having been gone for maybe about 30 mins total, saw that in that short time the possessed had begun to run rampant and were attempting to set whatever they could on fire along with attacking anyone who wasn't possessed. It seems that no one died but there are many with a good amount of injuries, however they will heal with time.
Mendez: "You have returned, and in one piece too. This makes me happy, I am pleased to see you all unharmed. The ones here have been dealt with. As to be expected from the Great Andres Mendez! All the villainy has been defeated! My senses tell me so. It seems you all have done well to root out the evil that had taken hold of these people."
Domino: "Indeed. Well done."
Ace: "What happened to the Priest?"
the people of the Village are starting to come out of their hiding places and homes. The Mayor seems to be gathering the people for a headcount and perhaps for a chance to explain/understand what happened
Beware the Bonefairy
RP Chat over the weekend:
Sheriff Pavel:
Some strange occurrences here and there. Most take it for coincidence or just a random happening.
"My deputy? Yea, he left several years back. A good man and honestly I saw it coming. He was too good for this little place. He needed to be part of the bigger world, said he wanted to help on a larger scale. I wish him all the success. It was a shame though and it left me without support, I would be lying if I said it has been easy to cope with his absence. I am not what I used to be and I spent a lot of years training him. The selfish part of me feels like it was a waste, but the God loving man in me says he is likely doing good work elsewhere. Either way though, it has left me in a bit of a predicament.”
Prisoner:
Said him and his gang never did anything to the Priest.
When he tried to steal from a person, the person showed more strength than they should have had and growled at them in a way that didn’t fit their appearance.
When Garruk looked around town, he found a strange lack of thieve’s cant.
Luke the weapons shop owner:
Said that up until last year when the priest did a “cleansing ritual”, the town would have lesser dark beings attack (lupidregs, wretches, screechers, etc) but ever since, they have not had any problems.
Session:
Silas feels targeted ever since town
Children trying to snatch his book
Unfriendly look from others
Priest’s living quarters:
Seems unused
The church:
It doesn’t seem like the attack on the priest was done with the intent on stealing from the church.
Freshly dug grave outside
Headstone looks like it is getting ready to be chiseled.
There are bells at each gravesite.
Crypt:
Mayor’s name (the 1st)
Children outside:
Said there is a monster below the town in the mines
Parents don’t believe them when they talk about the monster.
The monster comes out at night when they are supposed to be in bed.
After the sermon:
The priest talks to the group and seems to be testing the waters to see if the group would join the forces of darkness.
He ends up scratching the symbol of abandon into his forehead.
He says “I see now what he said is true”
“He has sent me the one that dwells within”
“In order to save my flock, we may be damned, but we will not suffer”
He doesn’t speak to Abbadon, Abbadon speaks to him.
The bells in the cemetery start ringing and 2 daemonically possessed people come through the broken window. The 4 people still in the church are possessed and the priest orders them to attack the group.
Holy Water deals extra damage.
Jaya cut off the ear of the priest.
Silas is down, but pushed over the vat of holy water onto a possessed that Jaya had thrown into a wall and he reverted back to his normal self.
Once a possessed has been dealt enough damage to them, they revert back.
Up and Coming
Ace is part of a Dark Hunter group called the Game Set (Ace and Domino are both part of it)
The person that is possessed acts as a doorway to Hell.
As long as the person is possessed, there will be minor daemons that come through.
The bigger the door, the better the thing that can come through
It seems like this is an Intelligent daemon
Silas does an exorcism
The lady retches back and screeches, her voice coming out as 2 voices and a black cloud comes out of her mouth and goes toward the ceiling leaving a black spot there.
Mendez has never seen an exorcism be performed before.
Mendez suggests the party go ahead to the town and Mendez and Company stay with Debbie to not arouse as much suspicion.
The Town:
Mayor Churchill of an unnamed village. They are calling it the “up and coming” until they name it.
Their rustic lifestyle did not meet the standards of Sloegard, so they are waiting for the letter from Joan’Stella approving their township.
Mayor Churchill gave the party a tour of the village/town
They don’t plan to grow it beyond a town. They want to maintain the integrity of the country vibe, but would like to open up other towns in Fidem so that people can get more country living between the big cities.
They have their own gunpowder stash
Tavern:
Tilly and her father, Travis. - owners
Tilly and Travis told the party that the Priest had an accident the night before. They had to bring him to the doctor’s office.
Travis traveled with the merchants guild to Sloegarde then found this village and decided to stay. (originally from Joan’Stella. Left when Tilly’s mother was pregnant with her)
Say they don’t want for nothing and they don’t starve, they don’t need anything more than that.
Sheriff’s former deputy left, the townsfolk are not sure why.
Luke: Owns the weapons shop
Has a really nice collection of guns that he made.
Priest was found in the morning drenched and bloodied. Looked like he fell out a window?
The priest says he was attacked by 3 thieves in the night. They were hooded, but it was too dark to see any other details. They did not have an accent, so they weren’t locals
It happened when he was packing up everything from the church.
There have been accidents happening to different members of the congregation. Either farming accidents or uncharacteristic falling.
Most long term residents are in favor of the expansion because it means a more comfortable life for them.
The banker is a newer resident who also seems to be in favor of the expansion.
The banker’s arrival coincides with the strange occurrences that started happening.
He has not missed a single night since he started services and says he will not start today.
He has noticed a few diminished numbers in attendees, but he says it is not unusual, especially with the weather.
The Sheriff: Pavel
Also called Ironsight
Quick on the draw, short on the forgiveness
Love is what keeps back the darkness
Powder, Liquid (water consistency), Liquid (gravy consistency)
Silas believes he can make a counter agent, the only thing he is missing is the ability to remove the cursed property.
He thinks that there is some way to remove it with holy means.
Julio’s journal:
His name is actually Samuel/Sam.
He was just a worker/day laborer in Sloegarde, was approached to make more money and thought it was a good way to raise his station. Being mute, it was hard to procure good paying jobs.
Him and the people at the Farm were around a circle, it made him nervous, but went with it. (he’s a bit naive). Everyone was supposed to recite a phrase, but he couldn’t because he is mute. He is unaware of anything else going on.
Items found in an office:
Kris Knife (Quick Bleed)
Journal with contact names that have been doing deliveries
Kept track of who had what and when it was delivered.
Next to each name is a bloody thumb print
Small set of scissors
Wicker Doll (Legitimate woven wicker humanoid shape doll)
Storm outside gets bad so the group goes in search of shelter.
They find a home and are greeted by an old lady that says she had many visitors today. Her name is Debbie. Her husband is the village priest, Father Henry, and he has not been able to make it back because of the storm.
Ace is there. Another man named Domino who flourishes his pistols as he introduces himself, and the other man presents a rose as friendly affection and introduces himself as Andres Mendez
Large home, but modest. Family home, but not of status.
Andres Mendez is there because of Daemons. He believes there are daemons in town.
Debbie says there are strange things she has noticed, personality changes and the like. Sometimes their eyes change, attitudes change, etc. Things moving in the shadows at night.
He says he does not have evidence of daemons, but he says he knows they are there because “he just knows”.
He came specifically for this reason. He sensed a gathering evil. The Mendez family can sense the presence of daemons even from great distances, but it is more a general area. Cannot pinpoint a specific proximity or numbers, just knows they are in the area. He suspects there are many or 1 powerful one.
Priestess Minami: Came from a long line of priestesses. There was once an old tale from her family. The Tale of Two Lovers.
Priestess Minami is a special lover to Mendez, but his work and travels keep them apart.
Mendez lost his wife 20 years ago.
Jaya tells them their tale of Mr. Hat, the vision, and the Harlequin Rose.
When told about the wicker creatures, Mendez asks about a large hunched creature wearing a drapey shawl and a masked face, long spindly fingers and a sense of horror about them. The Wicker Hag.
If you met them, you would know it.
Witches draw their power from hags and crones
Daemons are straight forward, they are matters of heaven and hell. You can expect daemons to be hellish, they are natural to hell. Hags are natural to this world, but wrong.
Hags will always be evil. The opposite is a Crone. They are primal force
Miss Debbie offered everyone hot chocolate (and a little alcohol to add to it if desired). Everyone accepted, but Jaya refused stating she’s not a big fan of chocolate.
Everyone gets settled in for the night. Miss Debbie offers Silas a room near hers.
In the middle of the night, he hears her calling for help. He goes to check on her but she seems fine. When he leaves her room, he waits to ensure she is okay.
The lights start going out in the hallway and he hears a skittering sound.
From the darkness, creatures appear that are humanoid-ish but crawling on the walls and ceiling (there are 2) and then he hears Miss Debbie behind him and her appearance has changed to a more monstrous one.
Silas calls out and Jaya wakes up. She tries to wake up the others, but they don’t wake up. She looks at the hot chocolate and surmises that they were drugged. She uses Smelling Salts to wake up Domino and tells him about the hot chocolate and the trouble, he helps wake up the rest of the people.
Silas looks around and the creatures and Debbie are gone. She runs into the room where Mendez, Domino, Ace, Jaya, Garruk and Brin had stayed in and they discuss what to do.
Silas hears “Come on out dearie! Play with me!” In Miss Debbie’s voice then in a deeper scarier voice he hears “Get out here now!” Then a thump on the ground and the sound of something being dragged. The group decides to go out together and check the room where the 3 men from the woods and Sam are staying.
We Are Bad Botanists
The group was able to track the wicker three and defeat them, obtain the pinecones and twigs, create the little pseudo voodoo dolls and drown them. Once that was done, they were able to navigate the woods with the map that they were given.
The group gets to The Farm. The people that they encountered in the woods agreed to join the ploy. The leader said that the group was there to gather more Hysteria Root because “Stick lost a big portion of the last batch”.
The group pretended to be “gatherers” and collect the Hysteria Root, but purposefully did it poorly (trimming the last buds of the plant to kill it type of thing)
Jaya was able to use their bumbling idiocy to obtain a journal from the greenhouse area.
Silas overheard them talking about setting up an ambush, especially in Area D where the best stuff was located.
Jaya and Garruk wandered a bit pretending to look for the bathroom. Then once they found the bathroom, they put on masks and pretended to be doing a supply run check list which let them wander around a bit more. They got into Area D.
Area D felt different. Like there was a pressure in the air and the Hysteria Root was especially dark and had a wispy black stuff coming from it.
There was an area that was locked that they couldn’t get into.
On the group’s way out, they overheard the people in charge talking about dinner, so Jaya told them that Silas was very good at making Stew. They asked the group to stay and make dinner. The group agreed, the people from the woods agreed to meet up later on with the carriage.
When the group got to the makeshift kitchen area, they had set up a prank of making it seem like the group needed to use human meat for the stew.
A member of the Harlequin Rose was sniffing around, but couldn’t speak. He signed. Jaya called him Julio since he couldn’t tell them his name. The group decided to add the wyrd glass/knock out gas into the stew and hand out wine as well so that the pass out isn’t too out of place. They tried it out on the mute person first just to see how long it takes for it to take effect and how deep the sleep is. Jaya took the stew to him and he fell asleep within a few minutes and slept hard enough for her to rifle through his pockets and obtain his keys. The group finished up with the rest of the stew and wine and handed it out to the rest of the people at the Farm.
The Owl Witch
Before the forest:
They come upon an archway that had dead bodies hanging around:
Jaya smells pine on the bodies
Does not seem like there was a sign of struggle, dead on arrival.
Inside the Forest:
Forest critters scurrying, see an owl here and there.
Jaya and Garruk hear: Distressed voices - discordant and sounds far away. Direction shifts around.
The group found 3 individuals (humans)
There were 10, now there are 3. Dave, Steve, Craig
They have been lost for days. They don’t have food and there is nothing to hunt.
Something is taking them.
They have a map, but it isn’t taking them to the right place. It was given to them by a masked individual at the farm.
They were trying to make some moves to make enough money for travel. They weren’t there for delivery or retrieving anything. The 10 of them had taken it upon themselves to return to the farm to steal
They help diagram the farm with Jaya.
There always seems to be mist around the forest.
They had been chased periodically and lost their way. They aren’t even sure where they are anymore.
While talking to the people, Plant creatures come bursting out of the trees. Movements like a scarecrow come to life. 1 took Dave.
Plant creatures are called Wicker Beasts and the Wicker Takers
Larger twig creature (15 ft) not fully formed. (Wickerman)
The smaller twig creature jumped into it and became part of it.
Dave ended up being inside a cage inside the large twig creature.
The people said that the Wicker beasts harass them, the Wicker takers take them and bring them to the Wickerman and then the Wickerman sets itself on fire and they die that way.
The wicker 3: 3 individuals that disapperated after the Wickerman burned. The sounds of the forest came back after they left.
Owls and a lady with tea appear on a branch.
She does not like the wicker beasts.
She acts very much like an owl.
She says there is a trick to getting out of the forest/defeating the wicker 3.
She is a witch.
She says she needs a favor done, a task to be done once we are out of the forest. She won’t tell us the task, but she guarantees that it won’t harm anyone that we don’t wish to harm. In return, she will tell us the way out of the forest. If we don’t make the deal, the party will just wander around the forest until they are whittled down by the wicker creatures. Jaya and Garruk agree to her deal.
The trick to being able to get through the woods is when the Wicker 3 disappear, they leave behind pinecones and twigs. When that happens, take the pinecone and tie the twigs to them in a cross shape then drown them in the stream where we saw the Owl Witch.
The Wicker 3 are the ones who create the Wicker beasts, takers and man.
To track the Wicker 3:
Jaya can follow the scent of pine.
Isamu can follow the lack of forest creature noises.
A Priest Walks Into A Brothel
Serralyn the courtesan, Pia and Ardito join in the raid at the church.
The back of the church opens and out walks a duo talking to each other. It is Mrs. Trolio and Cardinal Asmerus speaking in hushed tones about an agreement of sorts and finalizing some sort of partnership.
When discussing the whole situation with the Cardinal, Silas finds out that the Cardinal does not actually know about the curse on the Hysteria Root or the reasons for it being purchased other than for money. He believes he is just working with Mrs. Trolio to get money to get the church fixed up. The Cardinal says that Mrs. Trolio is fed up with the lack of ambition Mr. Trolio is exuding, she believes that Mr. Trolio is spending too much time with the orphans and not enough time on business.
Information found out from the delivery drivers and clergymen:
Delivery for Jack
The Farm is in the Woods to the North West of Sloegarde
After a lot of back and forth with the Cardinal, he cast a spell/prayer against Silas and Brin that burned and blinded them then told the church that he got attacked.
The group goes to Pia’s courtesan house where she takes them to a room where the captives are being doted on by some of the courtesans.
Information Pia got from the clergymen and delivery men:
They have made a couple of journeys over the past few weeks (at least 1/week) varied amounts each time.
This delivery was on the larger end for some reason
Farm is large enough for 15-20 people to live and work.
Not sure how they are using it or administering it.
Talbot smuggles Silas back to La Machera in case the Cardinal sends someone after Silas.
The Sound of Silas
Things bought at the general store:
Special rope (with a cable woven in it)
3 hooded lanterns
3 Climber's Kit
5 carabiners
Pitons
Gloves
Grappling Hook
Grapple claws
Sketch Book
Soap
2 sets of vials
2 vials of lantern oil
Ardito’s song about Silas: The Sound of Silas
Nickname for Talbot: Momentamorii
There is a piano in Talbot’s that is special. If you lose a companion during a mission, you can carve their name into the piano. It is a secret special Dark Hunter ritual.
Dimitri the Dark Hunter (the one Jaya hits on): May meet up with Jaya later for some night time fun at the Inn.
Isamu notices that there might be little tunnels under the floorboards of Talbot’s.
Preparing for the Interception Mission:
Silas and Brin in the church (distraction?)
Jaya and Garruk on the roof (commandeer the transportation of the delivery people and apprehend a delivery person)
Pia will be set up in case there is an additional delivery person that needs to be pursued.
Things we want to find out:
Location of the Farm
Who is involved?
Information on Jack’s power and the power of the underlings.
Try to grab who you can for interrogation.
The Loss of a Friend
Begin writing your story here...Inside the coroner's notes:
Notes about a malady that made their blood black, Stretched fingers and such. There was no name for it, so he called it “the black malady”
King Arthur Pentallon
Also known as “The Mad King”
He wielded the blade Excalibur. He was a good king for a long time. He led a journey past the Woods of Night. When he came back from the woods of night, he came back insane. He was eventually killed by one of his personal guards.
A necromancer, Elianzo, comes out of the shadows and says that Arthur was a great king and will be again soon someday.
He says King Arthur was a good king before and after the woods. Doing what he needed to fight back evil.
The rule of the vampires will end one day one way or another.
The rule of the vampires shall come to an end and the rule of the undead shall reign.
He is able to take a zombie and separate the skin and bones to make a skeleton undead creature and a boneless undead creature. Pushing the boneless onto the skeleton turns it back into a regular zombie.
After killing the necromancer, the zombies were still coming. The statue of Arthur Pentallon was glowing black and radiating spiritual energy. Jin was able to shut it down, but at the expense of his own life. Once the statue was back to normal and Jin was gone, the zombies were gone.
Pia:
Her and Ardito are part of the Harlequin Rose. (Balad and Highwire)
They are part of the Tricksters
They no longer have the ability to fight back the Anarchists. There has been a secret war between the two factions. Lately they have been pushing back in a way they are unable to handle.
Many of them seem to have an unnaturalness to them. Not to the level of Jack Hearts, but similar.
They have only ever wanted the betterment of Sloegarde and fairness for everyone. It was their goal to even things out between the nobles and the common folk.
Jack Hearts came out of nowhere, no one has ever seen his face. He became advisor to the queen and leader of the Harlequin Rose.
They did not wish to reach out to Joan’Stella because they were worried the order would just execute the queen, maybe not right away but it could be an eventual conclusion.
They tried to speak with the Queen about Jack Hearts, but she became upset and ended up killing the person who went to speak with her.
They cannot see any end goal for the Anarchists aside from destabilization.
At this point the Tricksters only make up 30% of the Harlequin Rose.
Most of the “old blood” in Sloegarde are influenced by the Anarchists.
She knows about the delivery going through the church. She said it would be good to set it up where the group is able to follow the delivery and figure out where it is going and to who. From there, we can make a move.
Desecrated Land, Wretches and Zombies
Upon entering the cemetery, the group has a bad feeling.
Most recent tombstone date 50 years ago
Finally understanding the feeling they felt, Jaya and Silas realize that the land was desecrated. It was once a holy place, but has been perverted/distorted.
They find 5 wretches dragging humans through the cemetery.
A weirdly semi-intelligent wretch shows up
Could speak Feratu and Stellan.
Was stronger than a normal wretch.
Said the group couldn’t stop his master’s work.
As soon as the wretches were all dealt with, the ground started rumbling and the fog got thicker and zombies came rushing at the party. (yes, rushing. They were fast)
There was a mausoleum that the group took shelter in.
Inside there was a man sitting in the middle of a pentagram drawn in blood. It was glowing slightly.
The man also said the group couldn’t stop his master’s work.
Anarchy Will Reign
The group meets Genevra who is the Rival of Mr. Dandy. She is the sponsor of the fighter going up against Drekiksyn.
The Florist is 1 of the owners of the Garden Club. He says the other owner is a Silent partner and it is not the florist’s place to say who it is.
There are a few fights before Drekiksyn’s. When his fight is announced to start, it appears that he is up against a fighter who was retired for a while, a man named Alenski.
Brin noticed Alenski had an old injury in his shoulder which helped him in his match.
The match was who could push the other out of the ring.
Drekiksyn won.
The group speaks a lot with 2 masked individuals. 1 man with a guitar and 1 woman. The woman seems rather interested in the group and asks how they feel about the state of Sloegarde.
When she is asked how she herself feels, she says she is concerned about the aggressive acts happening and the stories of the queen acting strangely. She also mentions a hysteria root problem that is of concern.
After the fight, Jaya spouted a bunch of nonsense about being able to defeat the best fighter there. Everyone acted like she was insane. She threw out some facts that were heavily exaggerated. She claimed Mr. Dandy as her sponsor (even though it was definitely not agreed upon beforehand. Poor Mr. Dandy)
A man named Jack Hearts came out and said he accepts her challenge, that it could be interesting.
Everyone warns Jaya that Jack Hearts is no slouch and will probably destroy her.
Jack Hearts is the one who injured Alenski and put him into retirement.
The fight was an interesting performance, mostly the 2 fighters making it look interesting for the audience while chatting.
Jack Hearts recognized Jaya’s abilities and wanted to know her story. She told him about Kragen.
He used some abilities that weren’t normal either, when Jaya asked about his story, he said it was best suited for a less bloody atmosphere, but she might learn it if she stays in Sloegarde long enough.
Jack Hearts throws the fight at the end telling Jaya to “make this one convincing”. He pretends to go down, and is very convincing at it.
The fight earned enough to get the brothers out of debt and even made Drekiksyn some money.
Silas overhears a conversation between a woman (the group later finds out is Mrs. Mary Troilo) and a waitress. They are discussing a delivery that is to be made from “the Farm” and is to go through the church in 2 days time. The server tells Mrs Trolio that her husband appreciates the gunpowder. They say “Anarchy will reign”
Silas’s ex-wife, Tamara, shows up masked and is called Vilomah by the people who seem to recognize her. She approaches Silas after the group leaves the club. She explains that the party is being watched and to not trust Jack Hearts or the Troilo family.
Harlequin Rose is separated into 2 factions.
Tricksters
Anarchists
The newest member of the Harlequin Rose is Jack Hearts.
Tamara says if she is needed, she can be found at the cemetery.
The group returns to La Machera. Jaya is sore and bruised pretty good, but she gets some ice and a strong drink and celebrates with the brothers.
Pia is not there, and Ilia has gone to bed. Tonight there is a new face she hasn't seen before. A more classic barkeeper. A large older man with greyish hair who looks like he has some stories from his youth.
Talbot's Oddities
There has been a sudden uptick in violent crimes in Sloegarde.
Talbot’s Oddities
Owned by Talbot
Talbot is a Dark Hunter. In his younger days he was kind of a hot head and got greedy with the types of monsters he would hunt, but started collecting interesting things. Then he realized he had quite the collection and became a merchant and it became a whole thing.
Received 25 store credit from the Screecher Hide
Any Dark Hunter worth their salt visits Talbots at some point or another
Can find all manner of things there. Weapons, scrolls, nicknacks, potions, books, etc.
There is a GIANT screecher skull. Said to be the biggest one ever found. There are rumors that some noble vampires (and higher) can tame and ride some of the larger screechers.
Aspian looks at a chest that has 6 different symbols that represent 6 different pirate ships that plague the seas. One of them she recognizes (a screaming face)
Garruk picks up 2 Jobs from the job board. They say what you take you must complete.
Wretch killing: They have taken refuge in an abandoned cemetery
Escort mission
Things the group purchased:
Health Potions 2d6+3 (3),
Poison 2d6+3 DC14 (3),
Remedy (2),
Blind Poison 1d6+3 DC14,
Warmth Potion,
Cold Potion,
Knock Out Gas 10ft radius DC13 (1),
Sticky Monkey (2)
Health Potion 4d6+5 (1),
Poison 4d6+5 DC15 (1),
Knock Out Gas 20ft radius DC14 (1)
10 Saint’s Root
Compass that doesn’t point North
Bandolier of Knives (Med)
Bouillon Cubes (5)
Book of Folklore (The Land Beyond)
Decorative Pipe
Star Chart
Ghand Tea
Super Soap (4)
Waterproof Matches (10)
3 Gemstone Pendants
Tiger Pelt
Blood Sorcery Book
278 gp after Store Credit was applied (from the Screecher pelt)
The group meets up with the brothers at La Machera and they take them to “the Water Garden” where they meet up with Mr Dandy. He seems nice enough. He takes them over to a statue of a naked man. He presses the nipple and pulls the “lever” (he really dislikes doing this) and a stairway appears which leads downwards to an underground club called “the Garden Club”
Sitting at a desk is a man reading a book and drinking something out of a mug. He is lounging at the desk and doesn’t seem particularly interested in working. He is introduced as “Mr. Lounge” and he provides the group with a gold coin with a black and red rose circled by thorns etched on it. He says that if they want to return, they must have the coin. If they lose it, they cannot get back in unless they are with someone who does have the coin.
Stick and Twig
The Rat Man:
Pierce it with Silver!
Stick the courier
Found delivering a crate to a siren in the sewers.
Jaya followed him and tortured him (just a little bit) and finds out that he was hired by “the masked man from the Harlequin Rose” to deliver the goods to the Siren. She also learns the location of the Water Garden (even though he insults her for not knowing that before hand).
He says that all the food and items in the sewer were things he was stock piling that he would sell or trade to others.
The Rat Man was his former partner, Twig, who recently was afflicted with the wererat condition.
“I may be Stick, but I’m a stick that don’t break!”
The root of the patterned rose that the florist gave Jaya is actually used for Hysteria Root.
There’s another with black stems and purple roots
These were being held there as a favor to the Harlequin Rose.
Sewers and Roses
Jaya heard some stuff in the tavern:
she gets the impression that the one man, who stated 'gonna regret', his wife had cheated on him with a person of a less reputable lineage and he blames the man for sleeping with his wife. The other man is intending to help by bringing a club. It is clear they intend to harm this person
Jaya followed the men to a florist shop. She was able to get them to leave without it leading to a brawl. She wore a mask, leading the florist to believe she was part of the Harlequin Rose. He gave Jaya a rose-like flower with red petals with black spots on them, almost in a pattern-like formation. He said, “If you adorn this on your lapel, all will know you have my favor."
The florist also said, “Mr. Hearts did say that there were more and more people joining up all the time.”
She learns that there is a Masquerade coming up soon, a big one, perhaps THE one of Sloegard. Coming up in a few weeks. They seem to be talking about who one of them has their eye on, she was embarrassed to be called out but doesn't deny it. She also learns that there is some kind of game that is played by those that are invited as well, with some big prize to the winner.
It seems that the couple's friend was killed while within the city, discovered by the docks. It looks as though he had escaped who/whatever killed him but he was covered in fecal matter and died from his wounds and infection shortly after being found. They are holding a private service for him in a few days. Gergorio was his name. He was an early morning fisher that worked privately for the premier seafood chef of the upper side.
Visiting Mancio Barbaro:
He had collected some fur from the body. It is brownish black. Jaya smells it and it does not smell like anything she has ever seen before, but it does smell like shit (literal shit).
There were some defensive wounds
He died from infection, not the wounds themselves.
Whatever killed him had 5 fingers, larger than a human.
Seance:
Georgia requests that we tell his brother to check under the floorboards underneath his bed. He can have that.
He says he was killed by something large, has teeth fast, hairy, and smelly. He was walking down the streets and was pulled into the sewers by his heels.
He saw a glowing green light. That is what he followed. It led him out of the sewers. When he got to the green light, he didn’t spend much time looking at it, but it looked like some weird fungus or mushroom growing on the wall.
He was heading home from work. He was dragged through a pipe. It was a good amount of distance, then he escaped up a ladder which led him to the docks. He emerged from a manhole cover. He came out into an alley. He was already succumbing to the sepsis.
Something that struck him as odd was as soon as he was getting close to the pipe that led him to the ladder, he could have sworn he heard people laughing as if they were at a table at a tavern.
Inside Sloegarde, the Harlequin Rose are known to help out the citizens. In terms of trouble, it is usually just minor acts of vandalism that is not often too costly (at least not more than the individual can afford)
The Queen’s Game: The Game of Cards
The game tends to change from year to year to keep things interesting. It usually involves people receiving a card.
The prize is called The King of Hearts and they get a dance with the Queen of Hearts (which is the queen) and they get a one on one private dinner. Those that win the game tend to rise in station afterwards.
You have to be invited into the game itself, but most people are able to attend the event.
The group gets in the way of a carriage that happens to belong to Mr. Trolio.
The Salty Searing
Small boat at the docks
Brin talks to the Dock Supervisor named VIliren:
He said that there were 3 men who found the man coming out of the alley.
Micirida (Dock Master)
Drekiksyn & Bayrin:
Brothers that found Gregorio
Gregorio’s brother should be coming by tomorrow to pick up Gregorio’s boat.
Bayrin and Jaya hit if off. Bayrin claims he caught a 50 lb tuna with his bare hands. Jaya didn’t totally believe it, but Drekiksyn claims it’s a true story. The boys say they will meet up with the group at La Machera after they get off work.
The Sewer:
There is a grate that covers the opening of the pipe. It looks like it was shoved there from the opposite side. It doesn’t look like it fits originally.
There is a pile of food stuff. There are barrels of grain, produce and cheese. No meat.
None of it is rotten. It seems all of it is edible. None of it is fresh, but only about a day or 2 old.
It looks like it is placed in a temporary spot.
The rat swarm acts strange.
Lots of trash.
Kitchen Knives (Jaya picked up 4)
They get to a certain point and see a creature that looks like a rat human thing.
Message from beyond the grave
Pia knew Queen Victoria before the Crown’s Contest. They were both friends with Queen Ludocelia. She says that Victoria was always more serious and lacking in humor.
Pia’s brother owns a boutique, Maurizio’s Mysterios, that sells some lovely masks and overheard some customers talking about how these masked individuals had come back from Joan’Stella after pulling a prank and they had accidentally injured someone who didn’t make it.
Maurizio’s Mysterios:
When shown the symbol that was left at the defaced statue, he does recognize the emblem. He says he made the pants that a group had put them on. The emblem itself was made by the blacksmith, Remy.
He said that many of the people who get those symbols put on their clothes and buy the jester masks are described as wearing fancy clothes, have handsome faces, dark hair, average height. Some slender, some well built. Well developed legs.
It is a great crime to make a forgery of a maker's mark.
His symbol is an MM stacked on top of each other inside of a diamond.
The people he overheard speaking about the person getting injured were bankers. Bankers are often very concerned with crimes against travelers as they are often targeted by bandits on the road due to their occupation.
He requests the party deliver a hat to Mr. Troilo for Mrs. Troilo
Ildefonso Troilo:
When perusing the bookshelf in the entryway, Jaya sees business and philosophy books, a couple different Books of Joan, and a book of Sermon Suggestions
The mansion and belongings scream Old Money vibes.
The Troilo family was one of the original founders of Sloegarde. They found the gunpowder mine that helped Sloegarde gain wealth and power. Each head of the household must spend time working in the mine. Ildefonso himself worked 10 years in the mine and forged many firearms that he has hanging in his home.
When Ildefonso Troilo was checking the hat, Jaya noticed the jester symbol on the back of it.
The lady of the house: Fair skin, long blonde hair, green eyes, purple and gold colors, Mary Troilo. Favorite place to go is the Water Garden. (Jaya payed the house guards 10 gp to get this information)
Blacksmith:
Name: Remy
She says there have been a lot of requests for the jester symbol being made. They have been requested recently to be put on the inside of a coat, the back of a hat, etc.
She is not a fan of making the symbols because it’s boring and easy.
Azurite: green material that Jaya brought in. It is a mineral that grows around a meteorite impact site.
Jaya came up with the excuse of getting a Dark Hunter symbol made for Garruk for the sleeve of his jacket.
Vanessa came into the tavern:
She was ordering some hard liquor.
She is not the happy personable person that she used to be described as.
Jin provided her with the scroll that Master Setsu had given him to deliver to her.
She says that the place in JinJaru from the vision looks like it could be Mt. Sutōmupīku, but it could be any of the mountainous regions. It isn’t a temple she recognizes, but if it is a mission to find something lost, then most likely it is not a temple that is known.
Master Setsu does not believe his death was an accident. He said the spirit should not have broken free. He says he thinks that he saw that Kazuma (the now leader of the temple) was behind it. Perhaps a power grab. Kazuma was always angry about Setsu’s choice to join the order without passing on leadership of the temple. He requests that justice be served.
Both Jin and Vanessa are angered by the news of Kazuma.
Vanessa found out that the Jester/Clown people call themselves The Harlequin Rose
Newer group (past couple months) but well organized. Perhaps there was an old original name and they came from somewhere else?
Acts of vandalism/humiliated nobles. Most recent reports of it escalated to random violence where the person did not survive.
Originally thought it was a small group, now it looks like there might be a small army of them.
Feels like something is building up towards something.
Hysteria Root: A drug that is supposed to be used for pain, mental and physical or to help those passing on not care as much. A controversial medicine but it does the trick and enough people benefit from it for it to still be legal. Used in the wrong way or combined with the wrong herbs can turn it into a highly addictive drug that poisons the mind
Cheers to new friends
The group kills the Batman fairly easily then heads to Sloegarde.
Ardito: old friend of Silas’. He is a bard that also is working at the general store. He says that the queen has become a little funny lately
In the store, the group meets 2 people who also had the vision the party had. Their names are Brin and Aspian. Brin is a cartographer from Escarra that has been in Sloegarde for a few days. Brin is from JinJaru who has been in Sloegarde for about a year.
The group comes upon 2 nobles attacking 2 men. 1 of the men seems to be protecting the other (who has a kid with him). The man who was protecting the other ends up being the Pope. He says that there are people coming down with a sickness of the mind. At first he thought it could be a bad batch of hysteria root, but he said it looks a bit off and hasn’t wanted to say anything until he was more certain.
People would seem normal, then go into a fit of madness, something out of character (fits of yelling, harming someone else) then they don’t remember anything.
That’s why he doesn’t think it is hysteria root. Because with Hysteria root, they still remember their actions.
He says that the queen of Sloegarde has even displayed some unusual behaviors.
Jin brings forth a spirit that is around the Pope.
Minnie: She came to say that the pope came to take care of her during her final days. Didn’t leave her bedside for an entire week and made her transition to death the most peaceful she could ever hope for.
She gives her secret cookie recipe.
The pope asks that the group helps him figure out what’s going on.
After saying goodbye to the pope (aka Pal), the group went to La Machera Inn/Tavern which is owned by a woman named Pia. Garruk got in trouble for cutting up the table.
At the Tavern, a girl that was a server there, named Iliria, was an old friend of SIlas. Her brother also worked there (as a dish washer.) The group got rooms for a week while they investigate things in Sloegarde.
Batman Smells
Little creature: Creehoul
Ritual to unlink the creature from a person. Takes an eyeball, bones, and blood. Make a cage of bones, smash an eyeball on the creature and use blood to draw a pentagram on the forehead of the skull used for the cage and recite an incantation.
When linked to someone, it makes the person take damage that it takes.
Jaya remembers that Kragen used these or at least similar creatures to torture people.
It only takes the creature and a person to lock eyes to be linked.
This creature: Only the person who is linked can harm it. There are variants though where if the person who is linked harms it it will harm it back or all damage it inflicts will be inflicted upon the linked.
The hag said that she was locked in the mine for a long time by humans. She only had the Creehoul which she called Chitters for company Found the witch’s book and a bag of herbs. The book had a spell for curing the rot and a spell called rot flies. It also had information on the Creehoul.
Items found in the water:
Ore: A bar with a bit of a hum to it. Lime greenish glow. (Enough for a weapon, armor or shield)
Obsidian: 2 bars worth
Gold: worth 42 gp
3 diamond
Desk Clock w/ wind mechanism (Pretty nice, does work)
Magnifying Glass (Pretty nice)
Letter opener w/ family crest made out of silver
Wax Stamp w/ same family crest on the letter opener (Bird holding a quill)
25 Silver
The group moves onward and searches for Batman.
Jaya and Garruk argue about whether it is called a Batman or Manbat.
He smells so Garruk’s survival was extra good.
They found the cave at around 4 pm.
There were 2 dead bodies. One of the bodies looked like the mercenary seen in Jin’s Seance.
Does Everyone Have Their Toes?
The group finds the mine and there is a camp set up in front of it.
Jaya and Garruk check and there is no sign of life except for a squirrel.
There is a place that looks like something was buried.
There is a sloegarde engraving on the lock on the mine. It’s a very serious lock.
The Mine:
Silas finds materials for health potions and Remedy materials
There are bioluminescent plants that Silas recognized.
Jaya puts some rocks in her pocket (12)
Jaya finds 2 diamonds
There are Zombies!!!!
Garruk gets bitten and ends up with Rot.
Jaya and Garruk got a pickaxe, Jaya got a shovel
Silas finds 19 Twilight Ivy
There is a little creature running around that is munching on a toe.
The group finds a pretty fast moving stream. They find a section of tracks that was pushed up by foliage, so Jaya creates a ladder/bridge type thing using that and Garruk’s rope. Garruk almost falls in, but notices there is a cart inside the water and it looks like it has more unrefined diamonds inside of it. The group decides they will probably try to get it out of there on their way back out of the mine.
Bandits, Lupidregs, and Frenzied Friends
The group destroys the bandits (1 bandit gets away)
Loot:
2 short bows
10 arrows
5 daggers (For Garruk)
14 darts (For Garruk)
Can throw multiple darts at a time (Garruk can practice this)
Dex save DC 13
One creature within 20ft
on fail, creature takes 2d4+2 pierce dmg or half on success
Studded leather armor (Vinny took this)
3 Empty barrels
2 Empty chests
Key with a map
Map of DeuSolis w/ markings that leads to a destination 5 days away, but still closer to Sloegarde.
Key, bigger than a door key. Dual pronged. Keyhead goes out in different directions. Very strange looking.
These are the keys used to lock up mines that were searched for gunpowder when Sloegarde was searching for good mines.
5 gp
1 vial of standard poison
Vinny made the bread that Mother taught him to make. It seems magical.
The group decides to follow the map the bandits had.
Foraging: 6 ingredients for HP recovery
Danger awareness: Perception 16
Order of Watch:
Jaya
Silas
Vinny
Garruk
Jin
During Garruk’s watch, Lupidregs attacked.
Vinny goes down from the Lupidregs and the creature inside him answers the call of the full moon that night. He rises from the group larger and more wolf-like. Garruk and Jaya hit him and knock him out. Once knocked out, he turns back into Vinny.
He's Not Dead
Jin bonds a bit with the 2 Dark Sanctuary members that are from JinJaru (Feng-Hu and Dai Yu). They do morning prayers together and drink tea.
Dai Yu explained to Jin the Dark 10 and mentioned the vampire that had Jaya was Kragen (one of the dark 10)
Feng-Hu spoke about how spirits are different here from the ones in JinJaru.
Jin says his abilities are more like being a bridge between the living and the spirits. Sometimes being able to call upon them for help.
If you find yourself afflicted in the woods by a ghost, you can say they have hit and run tactics. If you call upon them through your seance, even if they do not heed your call, it makes them easier to find and pin down so that they can be vanquished.
Increase in wraiths and banshees due to the increase in deaths across the land.
The group leaves Joan’Stella towards Sloegarde.
It will take 44.5 days to get to Sloegarde from Joan’Stella
Came upon a traveling merchant named Janice who sells wyrd glass.
Wyrd Glass: A volatile substance. One that goes boom (10 ft radius DEX save DC 13. 4d8 dmg), one that puts something to sleep (sleep spell) Throw range 30 ft.
She also sold Garruk some poison on the DL
There were some interesting individuals that she passed about a week back.They were dressed like jesters without face paint or masks.
She did talk to them a bit. They seemed a little less than savory. They asked if she had any alcohol rub because their fingers had some paint on them.
Name: Chester. 5’6” medium build dark hair. Just a bit older than the party (Mid 20’s)
There were 3 of them.
They seemed to have gold to spend.
They bought a forgery kit.
She gave Jaya some weed
Jaya gave her some silver for the information about the Jesters. Jaya gave her some extra silver and Janice said she would make a note in the guild that Jaya is not a narc.
Jaya sees wolf tracks and hears howling.
Jin does a seance
The spirit of a man appears.
Jin learns that he must ask a question for them to remember something and give relevant information.
Spirit’s name was Aiden, a mercenary that was escorting Janice the merchant. He was hired out of Sloegarde to escort Janice to Joan’Stella.
Aiden was getting ready to relieve his brother for the night watch and they heard large beating wings and a screech. They went in search of the area around with their weapons drawn. They saw a shadow fly by really quickly. Aiden heard his brother scream and looked around and saw his brother being dragged away into the sky then dropped. The creature flew into the trees and then Aiden panicked and tripped over some logs and never saw it coming. All he remembers is talons and pain. Thinks it bit him, but also thinks it latched its claws onto him first.
As he answers the questions, incorporeal blood trickles down his neck and slash marks appear on his torso.
He swears the creature was about the size of a man.
He says he saw a silhouette and it looked like it had wings, head, tail, and legs. He said it looked like a giant man bat.
It was carrying him and his brother North. It seemed like it was getting ready to land, so not too much farther off the road, but he doesn’t remember seeing the merchant road from his vantage point. Perhaps a mile or two off and 60 ft above the treeline.
He requests that if we find the body of him and his brother to bury them.
He did have a small bag of money and a longsword made by a master smith.
The group comes upon a cart in the road with a man laying down on the ground unmoving. Jaya can sense he is alive and starts nudging him with her foot (kicking him). SIlas comes up and checks on him to find he is totally fine. Then other bandits show up and say the group must pay 10 gp to get around them or they will attack. Garruk noticed that the arrows seemed covered in poison.
Jaya used Bleeding senses to blind one of the archers, Silas attacked the man in front of him with his dagger then the arrows flew. Luckily only 1 hit Garruk and the poison did not take hold.
A Holy Quest
Visited Remus on the way back to Joan’Stella
Jin and Vinny go to return the donkey. They bought the donkey for 5 gp.
Jaya’s meeting with Locke:
He tells her about some Vandalism: a small statue of Joan was defaced to look like a clown. This was in the market area of Joan’Stella.
Locke gives Jaya her letter of invitation to the castle for her knighting ceremony.
He tells her he’s proud of her.
Jaya got knighted as a knight of the Dark Sanctuary. The Queen also bestowed to her the Merit of Protection.
The Queen’s sword is different, makes a sound. When Jaya asks Locke about it, he tells her it is made out of meteorite.
Vinny is made a researcher of the Order
Silas is given a silvered Book of Joan.
Jonah and Johanna come bursting into the throneroom asking if it was true that the group had a vision from God. He doesn’t accept that it is true. Jonah has 2 different gauntlets.
He places a gauntleted hand on Silas’ chest and says he is planning to ask questions. It is rumored that if it is placed on someone and you lie, it burns you.
Jonah asks:
What is your name?
You received a vision, correct?
What made you believe that everyone else shared this vision, everyone else referring to the people in your shared party?
And you saw, no one else in your shared vision?
Jonah says it doesn’t make sense because his daughter (Johanna) is the reincarnation of Joan and if there is a Holy Quest, it doesn’t make sense that she wasn’t a part of it. Johanna got upset finding out why he brought her there and admonished him for acting like she should have been part of this quest. She said he needs to remember his place now that she’s the High Inquisitor and she can handle herself.
The queen says they will be spreading work that the group is embarking on a Holy Quest and provides 30 gp for the journey.
Locke pulls the group aside to tell the group:
The statue of Joan was defaced in the marketplace a few days back. Locke asks the group to keep an ear out for information while in Sloegarde. It is thought that the vandals are from Sloegarde. Princess Vanessa went to Sloegarde to investigate this (alone, against the advice of the others)
He provides a charcoal rubbing of a crest that looks like a jester face with a harlequin pattern on it.
The people who ran off (the vandals) were dressed as Jesters.
The queen does ask if we spend at least a week in Sloegarde investigating. They just ask that they send information we find via messenger hawk. We are given specific ribbons for this information.
Shopping:
Jin and Silas buy Holy Water, Silas also buys an upgraded healer’s kit
Jaya finally gets her Chakram
Vinny gets a whip
They're Coming
This Mr. Hat is not as strong. (AC is lowered from 16 to 14)
Mr Hat has Vulnerability 1 to Radiant
“This is only temporary. I will be back eventually. If you can only send me to Hell, I will see you there. I’ll be watching you from Hell as you’re all reaped like corn. They’re coming, and you can’t stop them!” - Mr. Hat
Garruk unlocks the cages and the kids are now free.
The person that Mr. Hat had possessed in the cave was Rikkon’s brother.
Inside one of the caves was a desk and bed with 2 journals. 1 written in a kid’s handwriting, 1 written in an adult’s handwriting. The adult’s journal gave more details on the ritual that he was trying to complete. The child’s journal was Rikkon’s brother writing about being trapped in the cave and missing Rikkon.
Contrary to lesser daemons, it seems Mr. Hat was not serving anyone but himself. It does not seem like he has any other affiliations with higher evils. Seems he was trying to get a more permanent physical body on this realm.
The party gets back to town and it seems they had a rough night.
The townspeople gathered the children into one place protected by the parents. After the sun went down, an eerie melody played through the air and they sang the Mr Hat song and pulled out knives they had on them and started attacking the adults. They did have a bit of unnatural strength about them, but they are children, so the guards were able to restrain them and put them in a room. The kids tried to get out, when they seemed they were almost able to bust out, they stopped.
Only 2 casualties.
The doctor did die.
After a long day and a good meal. The party looks around the table at each other and suddenly all feel inexplicably tired, perhaps this past week catching up to them. They all decide to call it a night and go to their respective rooms and don't even remember falling asleep.
You each awaken after what feels like forever and just a moment a the same time. You are in a place that doesn't seem real, like a dream but you're awake. You look around and see this is an empty place, like a void of sky and nothing. It feels strange but not evil. You look back across a place you swear you just looked at and there was nothing there but now you all see each other, something makes you feel like there is no need to speak. A moment later the empty place begins to shift and swirl. Filling the space with a new image...
"The final calamity is upon us. Travel across the land to places lost and obtain the forgotten artifacts. Darkness shall fall on the people and test their souls. When the night seems darkest, always remember even the smallest light shines through. Find the Church of God in Eden but beware the King of Blood as he rises. Close the doors to Hell to bring salvation. Whatever you do, don't..."
Then the vision starts to flicker and fade and the party members awaken in their rooms. Unlike a fading dream, they remember everything they heard and saw very vividly. The party members have never heard the voice in their life, but they still feel like they know them.
The group gets to the Governor's office.
The Governor gives the party 25 gp for the work they did.
He got a messenger hawk from Joan’Stella saying that the new permanent priest is on his way. The group decides to wait with Silas to accompany him back to Joan’Stella.
Vinny explains he was part of an experiment done on lycanthropy that gave him the lycanthrope curse.
Jaya explains she was captive of a vampire for years as a kid and fed upon giving her blood magic.
Dr. Prettleborn and Mr. Hat
Mr Hat attacks. He is trying to get his book back.
When the party kills him, he burns away and the doctor is revealed. The doctor slumps against the wall, seated on the ground. His eyes open and he looks around. He starts to speak but then the voice of Mr Hat says, “ENJOY!” as the talons of Mr Hat start to go towards the doctor’s chest, but Silas stops the talons. The doctor is still seriously injured, but not dead.
Jaya and Silas were able to classify Mr Hat as a daemon.
Mr Hat and the Doctor were working together for a year.
The doctor was sick, doomed to die until the daemon came and said he could live if he agreed to its terms. He wouldn’t even have to know much about what it does.
Sometimes the doctor would see through the eyes of another (another host?) that was young, or small. There was a desk and a bed with only a candle to light the area. The area was earthy. He remembers the sound of dripping water and an echo.
Need to destroy the book while it is changed and Mr Hat at the same time.
With the information from the doctor and the investigating that Garruk did the other day, Jaya suggested that there could be a cave the bats were living in that the children could be kept in.
After some preparations, The group makes their way to the cave in question. There are bridges and rope ladders that need to be crossed. There are 2 cave entrances. Vinny and Jaya hear the sounds of children whimpering down one of them, so they follow it. Inside, there is a pentagram of blood with candles, cages with children inside and a Mr. Hat that is smaller than the one before.
RP Chat Investigations
Jaya speaks to Wilkard and his wife is Usimi, parents to one of the missing children
"It was a normal night like any other. We said our goodnights and tucked him into bed. He has his own room and we made sure the window was locked tight."
no sign of forced entry of struggle within his room. It's like he just vanished.
Wilkard believes that Rikkon is to blame for the children disappearing. He has no proof, Just the circumstantial fact that he showed up right as the first child disappeared.
They do not know where the children learned the rhyme the group heard earlier.
Jaya roams the rooftops at night looking for strange things.
She sees some teenagers hanging out behind an under construction building near the edge of town
She notices a late night guest of the inn connected to Swillshot's enter from outside of town. He is wearing a long coat with the hood up. He is inside before she has a chance to see much else of him.
Jaya goes into the Swillshot and the man working the counter (early 20’s, his name is Davvy) is asleep. She lays on the charm and asks him some questions.
Rikkon is staying at the Swillshot. “I see him come in and out every now and then.” It was most likely him in the coat. He is staying in Room 8.
“Haven't seen any foul creatures in Hemsfirth since before the expansion and I was just a kid back then."
Linsey is friends with the owner of the Swillshot. She helped him get it up and running and sometimes has breakfast with him.
Vinny wanders the streets at night singing the little children’s rhyme and someone comes out of a dark alley and says, “Quiet! Don't sing that! Or HE will come! He will come I tell ya!" shifting out from the alley is a ragged looking man who can barely walk straight, he quickly stumbles towards Vinny, he can smell the booze on him long before the man ever reaches him. "Shhhshhshhh!!! Must be qweuiett!!"
Silas meets Captain Gremis
Garruk searches the nearby woods for tracks. He does find some, several different kinds. Some he notes each type: Civilians (as on not armored or signs of formation), Guards, Wildlife (Deer and perhaps some kind of fox or dog) Other than these tracks, he does not find anything else of promise. So he takes the opportunity just to simply familiarize himself with the area. He notes a few landmarks of note: Stream (he doesn't actually see it, but finds signs that would lead him to believe one is in further away and know it's direction, East) Path (it leads Northeast, it looks like a not often traveled or very low traffic beaten path) He sees a flock of bats presumably returning to their cave as the day fully breaks (West)
Of Drunks and Doctors
Silas: Captain Gremis: Believes that a foul creature of some kind with a degree of intelligence about it is the culprit. Avoids detection and leaving a trail. Can leave quickly, quietly and unnoticed. A theory is that the children go willingly and go outside and then are taken. Dale the town drunk in the alleys always has something to say, it is often crazy. Captain Gremis doesn’t like talking to him, he scares the children with his stories. “Take what he says with a grain or two of salt.”
Educated in monsters. He measured lupidregs which isn’t commonly known about.
Jin sees some hunters/trappers going off to gather food for the day. The morning isn’t jubilant, but it is busy as people get ready for the day.
Jaya in the Swillshot, Room 8: Rikkon
He contacted the order last year when he needed them after his little brother went missing in Scientia.
He started investigating himself because the order wasn’t fast enough.
No other children went missing in Scientia.
He tracked the creature from Scientia to Hemsfirth.
The creature is not human. He describes it as a vaguely humanoid figure, arms too long for its body, razor sharp claws. Almost wanted to pass as human. Long cape and top hat. Looked at him over its shoulder with glowing eyes and smoke coming out of it then it vanished. Definitely not a wretch or werewolf.
He heard the children’s rhyme back in scientia before his brother went missing.
He let the dad of the missing kid hit him because he did the same thing when his brother was taken (hurt someone out of anger)
He tracks it, he sees signs of it, nobody knows what it is, nobody really believes him. He is very passionate and frustrated.
He feels it’s almost good the priest got killed because it brought help into the town to figure out the issue.
He usually goes out at sundown and doesn’t stay out much past midnight.
Drunk Dale:
He sees the children play during the day then the shadow comes and swoops them away. He tried to help, but couldn’t stop it. It was outside the building, then it was inside the building.
Bedrooms: Where dreams come and go.
He never sees the shadow during the day. Only at night. Shifting from here to there, never in a straight line.
He saw the lanterns go out and the shadow grows, a shadow within a shadow. It reached its arm out, a silhouette of something that isn’t there. Then it faded away and it came out of the corner of the dark room, reaching over the bed, coming down over the bed and then the child was gone.
Silas, Vinny and Jin @ Doctor’s Office:
Asked the doctor for help brewing tonic with herbs they foraged on the way into town.
Coroner came through with a large bag he was dragging. He says it is his laundry.
He did not cure the virus, but treated the symptoms until the body fought it off.
Doctor came from Scientia. He left because he was not an inventor. Also, his stutter annoyed people. He came upon Hemsfirth on his way to Joan’Stella. He liked how small it was and was able to help them, so it just worked out for him.
Jaya and Garruk @ Doctor’s Home:
Comfortable, lived in.
In the kitchen: Garruk finds an alchemy set in the cabinet similar to the one in the clinic. Also finds a second set of boots tucked away in the back. They are destroyed, not wearable, the front is very worn and dirty. Leather roll of tools: similar to priest pack but mixed with stuff, chalk, flint striker, small candles, scalpel, forceps, definitely custom made for whatever he is doing. (Vinny says that perhaps it is made for house visits. Jin says that the things -other than medical tools- remind him of things used to have a ceremony)
In the bedroom:
Foot Locker has casual wear, slippers, other side is empty.
Nightstand has been moved, There is a floorboard that is able to be opened up but is currently empty. 5”wide 1 ft long 1 ½ ft deep. Smell of leather. (reminded Jin of a big leather book that was on the Doctor’s desk that fit the dimensions)
Timing of Child disappearances:
Verfini 5, 12, 19, 26
Priest Died:
Verfini 19
The group pays Drunk Dale to fake a medical emergency to get the doctor out of the office so they can snag the book out of his office.
The book contains information about the doctor’s experiments with viruses.
Jaya slips a note under the door to Rikkon’s room to let him know that they are going to be patrolling in case he wishes to join and not have to go it alone this time.
Jin meditates over the unconscious body of Dale.
The book Vinny is holding starts to change. Almost like it is burning, but in reverse. The words and text change into a language Vinny has never seen before. The texture of the cover changes. There are images in the book of a ritual sacrifice that requires 5.
There is a scream down the street. The group gets there to see a dead(?) guard and down the alley comes Rikkon who has a large slash across his armor and side. He falls unconscious. Vinny and Silas go to help him as Jaya takes a defensive position. Then the lights start going out and the creature that was described comes down the alley scraping his claws across the walls and clicking his jaw.
Lifting Spirits
Remus’ Recipe: Can only benefit from it once every 2 weeks.
No sign of wretches going towards the town.
The wretches that retreated (there were 2 of them) moved towards the coast.
Silas found herbs that he can brew into a tonic that can cure someone of the poisoned condition and make them immune to the poisoned condition for 10 minutes.
Getting to the Town of Hemsfirth:
The city is still in expansion. The outline area still has dirt paths and structures look less permanent.
There is no check in station to get into the town, but there are town guards.
Everyone seems to have a job. Don’t see any beggars or ally people.
It’s the size of a town, there are several hundred people that live there.
Don’t see people working on the incomplete buildings.
More towards the town center, the streets are paved, the buildings are complete and it looks rather nice.
There are kids playing, people are dressed nicely.
Silas goes to a guard station to ask about where to go.
Kids going missing, death of the priest.
Nobody has seen the monsters
Only body they have found was the priest, no sign of the missing children.
Priest was murdered just outside of town.
They have increased security as best as they can. The people who were working on the expansion enlisted in the guard because of the missing children. They refuse to continue working on the expansion until it is figured out.
Guard captain is a good old veteran. (Captain Gremis)
Kids are singing a little song while playing jump rope:
"The lights go out, The hat comes out
Tickety tickety tock
The clock resounds, No hope is found
Tickety tickety tock
The sun is here, The children appear
Tickety tickety tock
If you turn your back, the world goes black
and all the ins come out.
So close your eyes, shut out the lies
and find safety where we dream!"
Meeting with the Governor Wallam Tallintal:
There are a couple guards at the door.
There is a grandfather clock in the room which signifies a level of opulence.
He has a taxidermied peacock on the wall.
Children disappear at night. They go to bed with the children in bed and in the morning they are gone. No sign of struggle.
No specific area of town. First 2 were on the outskirts, but the most recent disappearance was in the heart of the town.
4 children have disappeared.
Priest had been part of the town since Hemsfirth was a humble village.
The murder of the Priest was quite the violent scene. Lots of blood. No bite marks. Lots of long slashes and gashes. Didn’t look like the goal was to eat them, just an act of violence.
The governor believes it was wretches, but Jaya thinks the lack of bite marks on the priest and no bodies of the children found would make it seem unlikely that it is wretches.
It’s been a cold night lately
Ticket locker #4
Doctor Franklin Prettlebom:
His mind goes faster than he talks so he has a bit of a stutter.
There are beds for patients, a work space area, some closed off rooms.
A door that leads to an outside area, go down a hallway, it starts to get colder and the stone walls get thicker.
Came to town about a year ago.
Does not interact with people often.
Devon Dilbert the Coroner
Priest found in the early mornings. Quickly covered him so there was no scene.
Imported ice to keep the body fresh.
When he gets something to light a candle, Jaya peers into the drawer. It looks like a junk drawer, mainly embalming tools and such.
Jin speaks to the body of the Priest.
Drop in temperature in the room.
The Bonsho bell, out from underneath comes a wispy mist that swirls over the body and takes on a humanoid form, but there are no distinguishing features.
It is clear the priest cared very much about the children and wants to find out what happened.
What does the Spirit wish to share the most?
It wishes that the children be found and be safe.
What killed you?
It doesn’t know for sure, it was following someone in the woods, then heard a sound behind him. When he turned around there was nothing, then he died.
Why was he following something in the woods?
He suspects the culprit is in the village/town
Go to where he lived.
He had several people he was investigating but nothing conclusive.
New stranger that came to town more recently, hadnt had a chance to investigate too much before he passed.
Devon, Doctor Franklin, Governor Wallam
Why not bring the suspicions to the guard or governor?
Nobody was above suspicion, he wasn’t sure who to trust.
Jaya sniffs the body:
Definitely not a wretch.
She picks up the smell of the creature that attacked him.
Silas medically checks the body. Hands on:
Some of the scratches go around to the back. There is a nail embedded in his back. 1 ½ inches thick, 2 inches long. Definitely came off something bigger than a normal human or wretch hand. Came off pointer finger
Wound starts on the back and goes around to his chest.
Garruk and Jaya do not recognize what the nail came from. (Vampire, Werewolves)
About a year ago, the town came down with a sickness. Nothing lethal. The doctor came to town, found a remedy and most people recovered. If someone contracts it, they recover rather quickly because he has the remedy on hand.
Fatigue, naustea, headache, cough, many defecations, fever. Nothing life threatening. It was manageable, just very contagious. The people didn’t put too much effort in keeping the sick away from the non sick.
Not a single death, just very inconvenient. Especially for those who were trying to work on the town expansion.
Stranger came to town a month ago.
The church/Priest’s home:
Priest was in the town for a long time and knew everyone very well. He made an effort to improve the lives of everyone in the town.
He even had notes on how to help the children of the town.
Bedside Table:
Book of Joan, Oil Lamp, Glass cup
Silas finds in a drawer, a personal journal/collection of notes.
The governor can be cheap
A lot of people are wary of the coroner
The people who have a stronger sense of community do better
They do frequent the tavern/inn in the nearby area. It is called Lindsey’s
He frequents there to be amongst the people, get a feel for their mental state, etc.
Jaya notices that the depth of the drawer doesn’t match the size of the exterior. She breaks the drawer to get into the hidden compartment.
There is a leather bound journal.
This is the notes he was keeping for his investigation into the missing children.
Nobody was above suspicion. There are several pages about certain people (the doctor, the coroner, the governor, the stranger (He says his name is Rikkon), a guard (Ben), Captain Gremis (not a lot in there about it though), Chef works at the tavern (Samantha) - Older lady, kids have always been afraid of her.
Top 4: Stranger (Rikkon), Chef (Samantha), Governor (Wallam), Coroner (Devon)
Jaya asks the kids:
Did they know the kids who were taken?
Yes, they knew Patrick
Do you know what took them?
The man with the hat
Another kid tells the girl to shush, it makes him come!
Lindsey thinks it is messed up that whatever is targeting children.
The 2 sets of parents in the tavern have missing children.
1 of the parents confronted Rikkon, even struck him. Rikkon just took the punch. It was a good minute before the guards broke up the fight. He didn’t try to say it wasn’t him.
Rikkon, the stranger, is dressed in armor most of the time. Has a wolf pelt that he keeps as a coat. Doesn’t have an order sigil. Not a dark hunter. Keeps to himself. Doesn’t talk about his business in town. Edgy boy. People say they see him leaving the town at night and he comes back in the morning. He showed up after the first boy went missing. Never gave a last name.
A Wretched Night
The group starts off on their travel.
Garrik hunts and gets enough food for today and tomorrow.
He also finds a path that leads to a cottage.
There is a humanoid that is dragging something wrapped in a tarp towards the cottage. The tarp wrapped something does leave a blood trail.
The party checks out around the house, it ends up being the owner of the house named Remus and he was just dragging in a deer he hunted.
Remus is a former Dark Hunter. He used to live in Hemsfirth, but bought the cabin to be alone.
Vinny snooped around in his room and found a journal about Remus’s travels. It shows that Remus was a Dark Hunter, used to travel with someone, was with that person, that person died, then he became a hermit.
He has lived in this cottage for 20 years and has never had a problem with Lupidregs or Wretches.
He had a journal of monsters he encountered. It had details of a Mananggal.
Mananggals are similar to vampires, but they drain their victims from the inside out with their tongue.
They separate from their lower halves at night to hunt for prey (humans)
They do fly and are fast.
They can do fly by attacks.
It is suggested that you use nets, projectiles, and arrows to catch and attack.
Remus believes that they are not originally humans, but actually a monstrous race that evolved to better hunt for their prey.
Remus gives Garrik a Dark Hunter’s journal.
He says every Dark Hunter worth their salt writes their adventures down in a journal.
Vincenzo sees a pale face staring at him from outside. Silas confirms it, so they wake the rest of the party.
They are wretches. The party kills enough of them for some of them to run.
The Journey Begins
Jin and Silas travel into Joan'Stella together.
-Silas goes to the church to be officially switched to the Circuit Clergy. The Cardinal, Asmaris, sends him to a village called Helmfirth whose priest recently was killed. It was suggested that he join with the Dark Sanctuary initiate who was tasked with the same mission.
--He was told to meet the initiate at the Tavern: Uplift Spirits owned by Bilsworth
-Jin goes to the Palace to deliver a message to Princess Vanessa. He is stopped by the guards asking if he had an invitation, but alas, he only had an obligation. He was turned away.
--Silas finds Jin wandering around. Silas says that he thinks that the person from the Order might be able to get him into the palace, so Jin joins him.
Jaya tells Vinny about the mission and that they need to go. Locke says that if Jaya dies, he'll kill her.
At the Lifted Spirits
The group all gets together and Jin shares his tea. They all decide to head out to Helmfirth together.
The Bartender lets the group rent a donkey for 1 gp, but they must bring it back in good condition or it will cost 25 gp. Jin seems to have a way with the small angry horse, so he is mostly in charge of it.
Half a day out of Joan'Stella, the group settles in and makes camp for the night.
Mission Letter - Dark Sanctuary Knighthood
1953
"The expanding small town of Helmfirth that is outside of Joan'Stella to the West has reported that their Priest has been killed three weeks ago. Suspected to be Wretches or Lupidregs. Since then in the weeks following, there have been several disappearances but no bodies have been recovered. Investigate the area, if it is a person responsible, bring them to justice. Otherwise, eliminate the threat."
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