Arrai Sahazar
Arrai Sahazar
A tiefling gambler of little but growing renown, he can often be seen shuffling cards and rolling dice. When the chips are down and blades are up, he is at the front of the fight with his rapier and magic.
View Character Profile
Alignment
Chaotic Neutral
Age
26
Birthplace
Trabrycg, City of Contracts
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Yellow with Golden Flecks
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Dark Red
Height
5 ft 11
Weight
170 lb
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Needful Things
A piece of parchment detailing a shopping list of eventual things that Arrai is keeping a lookout for.
Pearl Worth 100 Gold
Set of dark common clothes including a hood
Dark Goggles? Contact Lenses?
Healing Potions
Two Dark Cloaks
Tinker's Tools
Forgery Kit
Studded Leather +1
Sealing Wax
Signet Ring
All the Books (Blank or Written)
Ink Pen and Ink
50 feet of silk rope
Manacles for Bounty Hunting
Random Trinkets to Pass Off as Magical Items
Arrai's Book of Strategems
A small leatherbound book detailing various cons and scams that Arrai thinks could be profitable.
Arrai's Mental Wishlist
Amulet that revives it's wearer when they are brought to zero, before which it explodes in a fiery hellstorm. Phoenix Down.
Magical artifact that can contain one willing creature and keep them alive until they're brought back out again, would be useful for mounts.
Magical tattoo that can do Misty Step 1/day or produce thieves' tools 1/day.
Spell or charm that can create mundane darkness, not magical darkness.
A mechanical or magical explosive that ignites when exposed to air after a set period of time.
Spell or charm that accomplishes minor alchemy.
A juvenile mimic.
Arrai's Personal Notes
As the party learns more about Arrai, that information will be summarized here for easy reference.
Arrai's Hometown: Trabrycg
Arrai picked up his magic and swordsmanship from a mentor.
He's not terribly pious but if he had to pray to someone, it'd likely be Sehanine.
Arrai's Notes on Home
The most valuable family names are, in order of importance:
1. Ravenwood
2. Montalet
3. Pasha
4. Lovelow
5. Valrel
6. Alinet
7. Luc
8. Ormyn
9. Skelner
10. Foxsend
#6 Soothing the Worm
The Principal Performers:
Arrai Sahazar, Varis, Sir Martin, Luis
Supporting Cast:
Shalareal - The Healer Natural
Gathan - Bard of Weariness Extraordinaire
Ezrah - Best Bird
That evening we returned to the inn with Shalareal and joined the others at their table. She explained how she would be joining us in our next foray to the Stumps. Out of curiosity, I inquired as to where she had caught sight of the creature she turned in to for her duel with Luis. I know a bit about druidic magics and for her to turn in to such a beast, she'd have to seen it in person. With a bit of surprise at the question from a non-druid, she asks if we had ever been to the Jungle of Fangs. I haven't, but I have heard of it and she adds to my knowledge that there are many beasts there such as the one she turned in to and a city lost to time itself. She suggests we never go there if we can help it.
She asks why we're looking for the Glaistig and if it has to do with the nightmares people are having. I reply that they very likely are connected but not directly. The others ask how long she has been in town, perhaps a bit suspicious of her intent. She has been in Kardan for approximately three years. I mention to the others that there was a man spying on us going to the healer so I believe she can be trusted. And confirmed with Varis that it was most likely the same man who was eavesdropping on us before. The other's inquire about her feelings towards the temple and if Luc's devoutness would be a problem for her. Her response is that she's seen us help strangers with no reward and that from what she's seen, we are decent people.
As we settle in for the evening, I explain to Shalareal about the code words and their need in regards to the Glaistig. Varis seems to be distracted by someone but nothing comes of it that I could tell. I retire for the evening and have no nightmares from what I can remember.
We gather in the morning and everyone passes the test of the code word so it's unlikely the Glaistig is among us. While we are speaking over breakfast, there was an odd exchange between Shalareal and Varis. Something to do with what he poured in to his coffee from his flask? Perhaps Varis has some ties to royalty from what i could glean but it is of no matter at the moment. We decide on a new code word for the day, "Jungle Lizard", and prepare to travel back out to the Stumps.
We traveled to the clearing. As we're looking about the clearing for clues, I notice that the boulder in the center is covered in arcane runes. The same boulder that the Glaistig was attacking the traveler against. It seems that the place is ritual site for severing the soul from the body. Very deep dark necromantic magic. I cast Detect Magic but it doesn't seem as if the boulder is active. Perhaps the two are related.
Sir Martin knows from his education of history that this area is important to Ossum, a goliath turned demi-god of sorts in the old world. This is near the area of their succession event, a massive battle that they fought at. An event of that level, a divine ascension, could cause a rift in the environment. They were a necromancer on their way to becoming a lich. So this area is rumored to be very important for undead, very personal. Refer to the “Desolation of Ossum”
Sir Martin and Varis catch scent of rose perfume leading towards the north. We head that direction, which also seems to be the direction of the ring of the stones on the map that Katrine drew.
At the new location, there are rocky cliffs and we notice music playing. The music sounds as if whoever's playing is extremely tired. I nearly fall over the blasted cliff, but I manage to catch myself and cast Mage Armor in preparation. Sir Martin isn't so lucky and falls to the bottom, but Luis is able to cast Feather Fall on them so that they aren't hurt. The ground begins to rumble from the noise, and the music gets desperately louder. Luis ties a rope and they make their way down the cliff to where Sir Martin's at. Sir Martin boldly makes their way towards the music and the rumbling grows louder. I climb down the rope and quietly as possible begin whistling my Bladesong. Unfortunately, my whistling carries in the canyon louder than I anticipated and yet the rumbling.... stopped. We make our way through the brush at the base of the cliffs and come out in to a large canyon. In the center of the canyon on top of a small hill surrounded by a ring of stones is the quarry that brought us to this town to begin with, Gathan. He appears to have gone days without sleep and is playing away on his instrument as if it's the only thing keeping him going. Luis begins to play the song that Gathan is playing and the 'stone circle' moves underground and rises up around Luis... The damn thing is the worm's teeth! Sir Martin arrives at where Gathan is and asks them what's going on. Gathan doesn't answer but keeps playing, motioning for us to leave. Shalareal arrives next after having transformed into another animal to prepare for possible battle.
I go to where the others are and use Message to ask Gathan if he's using the music to keep the worm calm. Gathan says very tersely yes. Rather than try to fight the beast that tore through that other adventuring party like they were nothing, I ask Ezrah to start mimic'ing the bard's music as he flies to the south. After a tense moment, the rocks/worm teeth start following Ezrah. I motion for the others to leave and take the time to search the area for clues. There are a number of skeletons on the hill, leavings from the worm's past meals most likely. Shalareal casts a spell on Gathan that turns him in to mist. And those that came down in to the canyon make their way up the cliff, but that stubbornly brave Sir Martin refuses to leave me behind. I found no clues but managed to gather twenty gold for my trouble which I split with the knight for staying behind as we make our way back to the cliff. Ezrah has done his best to keep the monster's attention but it wavers at times and it has made its way back towards us.
Before it could reach us, Varis stood in the path of the creature. The man changed. His eyes became an unnatural blood red hue with a predatory gleam and the skin began to crack around them, shadows seemed to flow around him and the barrel of his gun smoldered. All of us around him could see this change, but it did not seem to bother the worm.
I commanded Ezrah to sing louder and he managed to distract the worm as we retreat. We make it back to the horses and it doesn't seem like the worm is following us out of the canyon, so I summoned Ezrah back to the safety of my shoulder. He deserves something special once we get back to town. Gathan looks exhausted, like he hasn't been able to sleep or eat for days. The party stops to check him over and it seems like he's about to die. Luis asks Shalareal to use the charm on him. She uses the charm to work her magic on him and he seems better, at least no longer like he's on death's door.
The party decides to set up camp to allow the bard to rest. I cast prestidigitation to clean up Gathan and offer to take the first watch.
Items Gained: 20 Gold (10 to Sir Martin).
Items Lost: None.
The Personas
A piece of parchment contains Arrai's notes on personas he's created for his Disguise Self spell.
Davmar Cross (Human Merchant)
A nondescript human male of average height and build, blue eyes, pale skin, with light brown hair and a mustache. Well kept and middling handsome, his clothes appear to be of higher cost. Not at the level of a noble, but perhaps a successful merchant. Swathed in browns and blacks, the only touch of color is a red cape trimmed in gold. A large pouch on his belt appears to be for coins, and a leatherbound paper case for notes from banks and contracts hangs near it.
Garth Tesren (Human Commoner)
Another nondescript human male of average height and build, dark brown eyes, tan skin, with black hair and a very bushy beard. Pustules and rashes cover this man's exposed skin, what little can be seen between the great abundance of rags that cover him from the top of his head to his swathed feet. His hands are wrapped in rags and they hang about his head from the hood of his garments, obscuring his features even more.
#5 Safewords and Giant Lizards
The Principal Performers:
Arrai Sahazar, Varis, Davric, Sir Martin, Aidoneus Luc, Luis
Supporting Cast:
Shalareal - The Healer Natural
Shady Elf - Blonde Elf Male Spying on Party
We awoke at the Hungry Fool (the inn) none the worse for wear, though some didn't sleep particularly well. The party discussed our next steps over breakfast. I decided it best to point out before we began planning, that one of us may have been taken over by the Glaistig in our sleep. Questioning each other about our first meeting seemed to be prudent to ensure that we all had our memories and I thought it best that we think up a password of some kind for the next morning, something that we can keep secret and change after each rest to ensure that we haven't been compromised. Inspired by one of our dreams, the nonsense word "Pyramidpickles" was decided upon, which I proceeded to Message each party member with to ensure that it would not be overheard by the creature if it was indeed around.
I shared the adventurer's note with the others, and I stressed that I believed such a creature would likely kill us in one bite if we were to try to fight it at our current strength. Luis shared what they learned in the night. When I met them after leaving the archives, it seems they were scouting around the temple. They discovered a strange bulge in the architecture at the back of the temple that connects it with the town wall. Perhaps a secret entrance of some manner. They also discovered the timing between the guard patrols. As we deliberate on what to do, Varis abruptly chooses to leave to do some research of their own. One of the others mention that there likely had been someone listening in to us who left when the temple was brought up. I attempted and failed to see where they or Varis went and returned to the common room. Sir Martin decided to leave to try to catch up with Varis, they were now clad in the dead guard's plate mail hidden beneath their cloak and tabard. Before they left, I asked if they needed their old chain mail or if I could sell it for the party. They acquiesced, so Luis, Davric, and I headed towards the market to sell what random items we'd picked up so far. Before we arrived at the blacksmith, I paused in a nearby alley to cast Distort Value on both sets of chain mail that we did not need. A bit of magical spit and polish never hurt anyone after all, and our party would need the gold before long.
Luis managed to get a good deal for the armor and the other dead guard supplies that I felt it safe to part with. I divvied up the profits, making sure that Davric got their horse fee paid back as I always take care of my debts. We met back up with the others at the inn where I handed out the gold, after parting with some of my own to make it a more even split. Varis and Sir Martin were back at the inn and we moved to a private room to discuss our next steps to lessen the chance of being spied on. Sir Martin and Varis explain what they found out, namely that Greater Restoration (or Shalareal's charm) is the only way to kick the Glaistig out of a host. And that the temple had recent renovations done that might be explained by the adding of an entrance. While I'd prefer to take care of the more immediate threat of the Glaistig, I also pointed out that the Worm is attracted to music, and that we might be able to lure it away from it's nest to rescue Gathan using it. Luis, Davric, and I choose to head to Shalareal's to see if she'd be willing to part with her charm before we head back to the clearing we found Katrine at. If she kept bringing people there while under the Glaistig's influence, there is a possibility that the creature's lair is near there and that we can defeat it for good before moving on to the Worm.
At Shalareal's, Luis greets her as she's closing up her shop for the evening. I and Davric are formally introduced and Davric produces a bottle of rum which piques the healer's interest. As we enter the building to speak with her more privately, I took a careful look around the street and discovered that we were being spied on. I sent Ezrah in a wide loop around to land over the shadowy figure's hiding spot, and through their eyes I was able to see a male elf in common clothes. Their hair was blonde and fairly long, about midway down the back. They had tanned weathered skin like a laborer and wore a brown coat. After we entered the building and had closed the door, they waited around for about ten minutes or so before they headed towards the temple. Rather than alarm the healer, I've chosen to wait until the party is back together to tell the others.
As Luis, Davric, and I settle in with Shalareal, Davric produces a number of collapsible cups which he fills with the rum. It is quite good and Davric says it is from the Night's Shore. I wonder and then Shalareal confirms with a question of her own that Davric is originally from that area. Luis broaches the topic of Shalareal's charm and tries to convince them to part with it. They do not want to as it could possibly save someone's life at the town while we have it. Rather than parting with it, they suggest that they come with us to deal with the Glaistig. I am against taking someone who cannot defend themselves out with us and say as much. When pressed, Shalareal reveals that she is proficient with a wide array of already on hand weaponry and Luis suggests a friendly duel. Davric believed that would not be a good idea but I'd prefer someone tested than a potential liability. We moved out to the city street where they squared off for their duel. Shalareal promptly changes shape in to a large and quite frankly terrifying lizard and did quite a bit of damage to Luis before Davric and I intervened. This was after Luis made a magnificent leap on to Shalareal's lizard back in the alleyway, which nearly made the entire situation worth it in my opinion. With that cleared up, we headed back to the inn with Shalareal to meet the others and get more drinks.
Items Gained: None.
Items Lost: Black Chain Mail, Sir Martin's Chain Mail, Ruby and Peridot both worth 5 Gold Each, Backpack, Bedroll, Mess Kit, Tinderbox, 10 Torches, 5 Rations.
Party Fund Distribution Notes:
232 Gold Total from Selling Items
8 Gold from Arrai's Funds are Added to Bring it to 240 Gold, or 40 Gold for Each Party Member. 3 Extra Gold is Given to Davric to Cover Arrai's Horse Fee from Earlier.
#4 A Healer's Nightmare
The Principal Performers:
Arrai Sahazar, Varis, Davric, Sir Martin, Aidoneus Luc, Luis
Supporting Cast:
Gonethin Laranonel - Kardan Guard Escort
Eris Dlaralthor - Kardan Guard Escort
Dulbin Rarnohu - Dead Guard Associated with Rhosyn
Katrine - The Unfortunate
Galiel - Random Mostly Dead Traveler
Shalareal - The Healer Natural
Angharad - Half Elf Musician
Egos Mithmirelen - Guard Captain of Kardan
After receiving our directions, our party made our way to the healer's shop. There was quite the line of people outside of it and amongst them was Luis, who came over to greet us. Some polite questioning of the townspeople waiting outside the shop revealed that many were sleep deprived due to nightmares. Nightmares involving loved ones who were meant to be dead and were acting abnormally. The dead who do not die? Perhaps related to the strangeness of the temple. Luis made it to the front of the line and got the healer's attention for us, directing her to our mortally wounded traveler. The healer's name is Shalareal, a no nonsense sort that seems brusque but I believe that she cares more than she'd like others to know. She does not charge for her services which either indicates a longer con or a genuinely caring heart.
We brought Katrine and the still unconscious traveler into the healer's shop and she began her ministrations. As she was working on the unconscious man, I spoke up about the possibility of them being possessed still and that she shouldn't disturb their bindings. This brought her up short and she refused to continue working on them if they were, but she herself had no way of discerning if they were or not. She has a single charm that could remove such a possession, but only one. The party discusses what to do and after much discussion, our only course of action seems to be to question them about their memories. If they are in fact the Glaistig, then they would have to lie to us about what they remember and hopefully we could catch them in such.
The unconscious man is awoken, his name it seems is Galiel and as we ask him questions about his past, he begins to ramble. A lot. About his past loves and not-so-loves. I'm not sure if the situation unhinged the man or if he is just normally this dense but he did not seem to be lying as far as we could tell.
Luis leaves to find Angharad and upon returning we question Katrine with her help. She seems to have no trouble remembering things that the Glaistig should not have knowledge of, so it is almost certain that she is not possessed. As the party gathers the two up to take them to the guard station, Luis and Sir Martin get in to a discussion with Shalareal about her overabundance of patients. It seems that she's preparing a sleeping tonic to help them get rest, but it is mostly just booze that she brews herself. The healer shows some interest in the dead guard's body that is still outside with the horses, and Luis comes to an agreement to trade the body to her for a couple bottles of booze if Sir Martin gets to keep the plate mail. The rest are amenable to this and the trade done, we strip the body and place it where the healer asks.
The party takes the two now most likely not-possessed captives, still bound to be safe, to the guard station on the other side of town to give our findings to Egos. Angharad is sent by Luis to give the news to Morgan that we've brought back his daughter. Varis, Luc, and I entered the guard station where Egos was waiting for us inside. We took our captives in to a separate room and explained the situation to Egos, stressing that it did not seem as if the two were possessed anymore. Egos, unfortunately, could not let Katrine go. Regardless of whether she was not in control or not, a man was dead and there would have to be a deeper investigation. It was also revealed that the meeting the guard captain had been in was concerning the temple, which he explicitly told us that we were not to mess with as they were waiting on people to investigate them at the Lord's behest. A cleric was also meant to be on the way to ensure that Katrine was no longer possessed, but until then she would remain in custody. The two guard escorts were brought in to verify what we told the captain and the rest of us were dismissed. Varis chose to stay behind as the rest of us headed back to the inn to rest after our exhausting trip.
A decent amount of time later, I awoke in the inn and grew restless. Checking in on the others, I tried to use Detect Magic to see if there were any spells being actively cast against us while we slept. These nightmares have piqued my interest some and I wonder if they are connected to the Glaistig in some way. Finding nothing, I decided to go to what passes for the town's archives to do some research on the worm that took Gathan. If it is something that has been around in this area for quite some time as we keep hearing, then there may be some mention there. A bit of searching through the stacks and I came across a torn bit of parchment. A note from an adventurer who not only encountered the worm, but was able to detail what they found after returning to the town. It does not appear that they are around for questioning though as it looks like they went back out to avenge their friends and likely never made it back. I'll include a copy of the note at the bottom of this entry. On a whim, I cast Detect Magic again while in the stacks.... and discovered two magical scrolls! They will certainly serve us better than they would laying about gathering dust so I pocketed them for later study. One is a scroll of Thunder Step that I believe shall prove quite handy once I've added it to my spellbook. The other is one for Divine Favor, not something I can learn but may prove its worth against the undead. I believe as long as a party member has some aptitude for casting spells then they should be able to make use of it.
I made my way back towards the inn and ran into Luis who was also out and about. I mentioned the adventurer's note in passing but they seemed to be busy so I left them to what they were doing. Returning to the inn, I decided to purchase a new set of dice from the innkeeper as I had lost my personal set at one of my stops during my journey, and retired to my room. I catalogued the bits of equipment we gathered from our foray out to the Stumps to set aside what we could sell for a bit of extra money, and then called it a night and went back to sleep after reading some more of my book. I've read it from cover to cover of course, but it is good to remember where one's come from sometimes.
Items Gained: Adventurer's Note, Scroll of Thunder Step, Scroll of Divine Favor, and a Dice Set.
Items Lost: None.
More Item Details:
Adventurer's Note Plaintext
"made it back to town. Barely. That thing ripped through us like we were nothing.
We had set up camp to the north of Kardan. Gavius thought it best to rest up as soon as darkness fell. When we stopped at Kardan to pick up supplies, he had heard rumors of the things one could run in to during the night. But nothing could prepare us for what found us.
The first watch was uneventful, I was on second watch with Qilue when it attacked. I don't know why it chose then to come out but maybe it had something to do with Qilue playing her lyre? She always liked to practice it when on watch and it got her first. It focused on her first, then the lyre when it made a discordant noise after it fell from her corpse. There... was just so much blood.
It was massive, gargantuan in size as it reared up out of the earth. The sounds it made as it made short work of Qilue woke the others. I tried to hit it with my crossbow but couldn't get past its thick hide. Yenzor barely managed to finish his spell before it was upon him. The crash of thunder would have woken us up if the monster didn't but didn't seem to faze it other than making it sway some. Sensitive hearing perhaps? Our barbarian, Dugzaf brought their axe down on it's head as it rushed towards them but didn't make much of a dent. I threw that bottle of stinking pigswill Yenzor liked to drink at it thinking maybe I'd try to light it on fire, it swayed again after it doused its head with it and... I ran.
I'm writing this in the hopes that maybe others will be able to kill it. The worm out in the forest, it's real and it is terrible. I will go back there in the morning. I don't know how I got away from it, but I can't live with myself if I don't try to avenge my friends. If I do not return, then please know that Sarun Hohra died with some scrap of honor if not the entirety of it intact."
#3 Between Grease and Sleep
The Principal Performers:
Arrai Sahazar, Varis, Davric, Sir Martin, Aidoneus Luc
Supporting Cast:
Gonethin Laranonel - Kardan Guard Escort
Eris Dlaralthor - Kardan Guard Escort
Dulbin Rarnohu - Dead Guard Associated with Rhosyn
Katrine - The Unfortunate
Random Mostly Dead Traveler
Shalareal - The Healer Natural
We traveled for half a day towards the area known as the Stumps. It is a rocky cliffstrewn area where the soil is barely covering rock. Many of the trees there cannot find purchase and fall over, leaving stumps behind for a namesake.
We came across the corpse of a man in platemail attached to a tree. There were burn marks around his mouth and his skin was withered like Quarion's. Another victim of the Glaistig most likely. Investigating the area netted us a backpack of supplies, longsword, black chain mail, a pouch of valuables, a signet ring, and a letter. The pouch I pocketed until we were no longer under the watchful eye of the town guard. I cast Detect Magic to see if any of these items were magical, rings always warrant inspection after all, and you don't see black chain mail very often either. Only the sword was magical, so I cast Identify on it, which revealed that it was the Sword of the White Rose.
I gave the ring and signet letter over to Luc as they might have more luck identifying it, or reading it if it happened to be in Elvish. The signet ring was determined to have come from the Rhosyn family, a well to do family in Dolonde itself. The letter was a letter of leave for a "Dulbin Rarnohu" which I suppose we can assume is the name of the dead guard. What was curious about it is that it had been altered, a forgery attempt to make it seem as if the man had more time on leave than he truly did.
The Sword of the White Rose went to Sir Martin as he is the only member of the party who uses such a weapon at the moment, and the rest I placed near where we were hobbling our horses until we'd leave. Davric returned from scouting ahead and he and Varis led us deeper in to the Stumps.
We navigated a cliff by tying rope to a tree after Ezrah scouted out the depth for us. 60 ft down so we tied a couple of ropes together and made it to the bottom easily enough. Further on we came across a clearing with a large stone in the middle. At the stone was a woman kissing a man, the woman matched the description of Katrine we had been given.
Sir Martin charged in to the clearing, and the others moved quickly as well. With a sigh as I could see where this was going, I dashed to the side to try to cut off her escape. Sure enough, the arrival of so many people scared her and she tried to run away. Using a bit of magic, I managed to catch up and lay a pool of Grease in front of her and tried to convince her to stop and speak with us. Her response? She charmed me! Me! I am the one that does the trickery, I am not the tricked!
In any case, I turned my attentions to the guard who was close behind us, I believe it was Eris? And shortly after I heard a great splash and groan as 'Katrine' fell face first in to the Grease. The other members of the party caught up shortly thereafter and between them and a spell of Sleep from Luc, we managed to restrain her. Someone kicked me back to my senses and Davric had the brilliant idea of placing a sack over her head, which rendered her charming eyes useless. Varis interrogated the girl and Luc uses some magic to make it more difficult for her to be possessed if that were the case.
The girl seemed like she was no longer possessed but I counseled caution. Better we get them back to town than be attacked on our way by someone we thought a friend. Katrine tells us that she and Gathan had met up at the Stumps when a giant worm attacked, left her for dead, and ran off with Gathan. While she lay there, the Glaistig took advantage and over her as well.
The man that she had been attacking over by the stone was still alive. Checking his possessions, it seemed like he was some sort of traveling herbalist perhaps? I do not steal from someone already so down on their luck, so I left his coin pouch intact. We gathered him and Katrine up, ensured that both were bound and blindfolded, and then headed back to the horses. We managed to climb back up the cliff with them, though one of the guards had an absolute horrendous time trying to climb up the rope. The guard captain really should invest in some sort of obstacle course if this is what the best of the town has to offer. On top of the cliff, we gathered up the items we found, the dead guard's body, and our horses. As this was the area that Katrine said she had met Gathan, we checked for signs of the worm and found none, so we headed back to town. Rather than camping out in the dark where we might be attacked while we had prisoners, we opted to force march back in. Better to be exhausted than dead.
We arrived back in town and headed straight to the guard station, garnering quite a few strange looks from the townsfolk. Not every day you see an exhausted party of adventurers with two people in bindings and a dead body in platemail I suppose, but the presence of our two guard escorts was enough to dissuade anything more than looks. When we went into the guard station, of course the man was in yet another meeting. When asked about non-temple healing, the woman at the front directed us to a natural healer on the other side of town that goes by the name of Shalareal. On our way across town, I discovered that the pearl I use for identifying objects had gone missing! I must have dropped it in the woods. And that is where we shall end this part of the story.
Items Gained: Black Chain Mail, Coin Pouch (30 Gold, a Ruby and Peridot both worth 5 Gold each), Backpack, Bedroll, Mess Kit, Tinderbox, 10 Torches, 10 Rations, Waterskin, and 50 feet of Hempen Rope.
Items Lost: Sword of the White Rose, Rhosyn Signet Ring, Dulbin's Letter of Leave, My Pearl!
More Item Details:
Sword of the White Rose:
Weapon (Longsword), Rare (Requires Attunement)
This magical sword has a pommel of ivory carved with a design of roses. Further work down the center of both sides of the sword depict thorns and roses intertwined. The roses on the pommel have been painted black, though the paint is beginning to wear away in places revealing that underneath they are white roses.
The sword provides a +1 bonus to attacks and damage. In addition, on a critical strike, the sword sprouts wicked thorns, doing additional piercing damage equal to twice the wielder's Charisma modifier.
#2 A Raven's Departure
The Principal Performers:
Arrai Sahazar, Varis, Davric, Sir Martin, Aidoneus Luc, Luis
Supporting Cast:
Gathan - The Tragedy
Angharad - Half Elf Musician
Katrine - The Unfortunate
Quarion - Barrel Surprise
Morgan - Katrine's Father
Egos Mithmirelen - Guard Captain of Kardan
Gonethin Laranonel - Kardan Guard Escort
Eris Dlaralthor - Kardan Guard Escort
Creepy 'Raven Queen' Priest
Another day rises. The guards that specialize in forensics showed up and went over the scene. They found an elvish earring around the barrel. The party decided to split up and do some more investigating before we headed to the Stumps. Varis, Davric, and Luc go to Morgan, Katrine's father.
Sir Martin, Luis, and I head to the Raven Queen's temple to try to find divine assistance to handle the undead. We stood briefly in the entrance as it appeared to be some sort of sermon in progress. Listening in was startling to say the least, they did not have the typical message of the Raven Queen. Instead they were speaking of life after death rather than it being a proper end, and how your loved ones will be there for you after death, and so on in the same vein. Possibly to the point of encouraging undeath without outright saying it that I can recall. It was a very different, if not directly opposite set of beliefs to what normally it is said the Raven Queen espouses. I warned the others that something didn't seem right, we agreed to go back to the others since if we confronted them then we'd have been severely outnumbered.
As we walked towards where the others were, Sir Martin asked me about my beliefs because of my knowledge of the Raven Queen. I explained that I'm not particularly pious, just well learned. And if there was one of the pantheon who I might cast a prayer to on the rare occasion, it'd be Sehanine and not the Raven Queen. I have some measure of respect for the one that looks over the acts one might take in moonlight.
We gathered back up with the rest of the party and the others discovered some more clues at Morgan's. It seemed Katrine was normally quite demure but recently became flirtatious overnight. She did have a rose perfume, and her brother Petor revealed that he had seen her and Gathan kissing at the Stumps. We took our new knowledge to the guard captain, a man by the name of Egos Mithmirelen. Varis and Luc went in to brief him on all we had found out. The captain was in a meeting with some sort of lord, so the briefing was short. He assigned a couple of guards to assist us with our investigation. Their names were Gonethin Laranonel and Eris Dlaralthor.
On our way to leave the town, we stopped in at Quarion's to do a quick look around. We found a table set for two for dinner in the abandoned home. Luis and I checked the bedroom which looked like it had been prepared for a night in, but not been used. Luis found a pocket watch, and I managed to pick up some loose change. The whole place seemed like a date that had been interrupted.
We continued on to the temple after we explained to the others the strangeness there. Luc is a follower of the Raven Queen and wished to speak with the priest. Luc and I talk with the priest and Luc asked for a tour, which the priest gave, though it was but a quick walk about the very public area rather than deeper in to the temple. He asked the priest for some holy water, which the priest gave us freely. That alone is strange enough, but then he said that it might not work on this particular undead. I believe the man was lying to us and gave us just plain water. As we were leaving the temple, Davric quickly walked up to us and followed us out. I hadn't seen him enter with us.
We met up with the others and the guards near the town gates. Davric had snuck deeper in to the temple while we kept the priest occupied and ran in to something decidedly unpleasant in the dark stairwell leading down below the temple. The guards were fairly new to the town and didn't know if the current priest is new or anything else noteworthy about the temple. As we left the town, Luis opted to stay behind to keep an eye on things while we were gone.
Items Gained: Some Loose Change from Quarion's (5 Silver).
Items Lost:
#1 A Cursed Meeting, The Journey Begins
The Principal Performers:
Arrai Sahazar, Varis, Davric, Sir Martin, Aidoneus Luc, Luis
Supporting Cast:
Gathan - The Tragedy
Angharad - Half Elf Musician
Katrine - The Unfortunate
Quarion - Barrel Surprise
Morgan - Katrine's Father
The road had been fairly rough, but I made decent time and walked into Dolonde about midday. It would have been much a easier road to travel if I hadn't lost my horse in that last dice game. Dice are so much harder to influence than cards. Dolonde was a pretty prosperous looking place, they were setting up for a festival it seemed, heard whispers of a Blood Rose Festival as I made my way to a local inn. If I can't drum up a card game for some extra coin, maybe I can find some work I thought.
The inn was named the Cursed Candle. I made my way in and a bit hoarsely (from the dust of the road) asked for some mead and announced a game of cards if anyone was interested. The table was set and some likely fellows took seats. Coin was tossed and the cards were dealt, much to everyone's surprise it was a three way tie! Even with a bit of trickery that would have been nigh impossible to accomplish, but so it was. Those involved were good natured though so the coin was split back out and a round of drinks brought over. Turned out that one of them was a bounty hunter by the name of Varis, and they were looking for some extra hands to track down someone named Gathan for the city. They were in debt and the city wanted them to pay off the debt by helping with the festival so we'd need to bring them in alive. I'd never worked as a bounty hunter before and the gold seemed decent for the task so I agreed to give a hand. New experiences are always welcome in the life of a traveler. I explained that my talents lie with the arcane, magic hands, and my rapier. The others chose to join as well. A swarthy short man who goes by the name of Davric, a scout of some kind. A heavily armored fighter, a knight, by the name of Sir Martin. And a fellow who was at a neighboring table, a scholar by looks, perhaps a practitioner of the arcane like myself named Aidoneus Luc. Luc, they must be from Trabrycg, they spent time going over the bounty contract as is prudent when dealing with such things. As we left the inn to head towards the local livery, another person showed up to join our expedition. A somewhat bold one that's named Luis, perhaps a bard?
We arrived at the livery to rent horses. Our destination was to be a place called Kardan, where Gathan was last seen, a couple of days travel to the north. Unfortunately, I did not have money for the fee, but Davric paid the 3 gold for him. Make sure to pay him back. The first leg of the journey was uneventful, we settled in to camp and a group of hobgoblins interrupted our rest. The party successfully intimidated all but one who ran away in to the night. Sleepily, I walked up to the one hobgoblin left behind, scorched them to death (magic hands), and walked back to my bedroll after finding nothing of value on the charred corpse.
The final leg of the journey was also uneventful, we arrived at Kardan and split up to investigate what we could find out about Gathan's whereabouts. Luis and I headed to the local inn which turned out to be a mostly elven establishment, was a bit disconcerting to have my horns looked at so hostilely. As most seemed to be speaking Elvish, I cast Comprehend Languages and we attempted to get information from the bartender. They pointed us in the direction of the musician named Angharad who is playing at one side of the inn. They sang a song in Elvish which I was able to understand thanks to the spell.
At twilight a girl sings with longing
In the wood, in the wood
She sings of love and death
In the wood, in the wood
She lies down in the deepest sleep
In the wood, in the wood
And dreams of the renewal of hope
In the wood, in the wood.
Luis suggested that they take the lead, and they go to speak with them as I claim a table. And they fail quite spectacularly. The others arrived at the inn and as we compared notes of what they discovered, an overarching theme emerges of Gathan being quite the flirt, much to the local populace's frustration. Eventually, after multiple varied attempts by different members of the group, we gathered from Angharad that her friend Katrine and Gathan have gone missing together. They haven't been seen for several days, and were most likely at a place called the Stumps.
Gathan had been staying at this inn, so Varis and I headed upstairs to his room to take a look about. Didn't find much of interest, but I noticed a barrel positioned strangely below the window of the room on the ground. Something seemed off about it so we went outside to find out what was in it.
The rest of the group joined us as we made it to the barrel. An overpowering smell of rose perfume undercut with the scent of death greeted us as there was a man stuffed inside it. Dolonde smelled of roses, but Kardan is not preparing for the same festival. Examining the dead man's body, we discovered extensive burns around it's mouth, and the flesh was wrinkled and dry, like a drained husk. Varis seemed to be unsteadied by the sight and took a drink from his flask. Thinking back on my studies, I knew what killed this man. An undead monster known as a Glaistig, a particularly devious foe as it takes over a living host that it uses to move about and feed. Luis left to get the guards, the pair at the gate returned with him, and they recognized the body as a man named Quarion, someone who worked for Morgan, Katrine's father. We chose to wait at the inn until the guards were done with the body and to answer any questions they might have.
Items Gained:
Items Lost:
Comments