Session 13: Prisoner Pursuit

23rd of Snowmelt

General Summary

With their new task to find the escaped wanna-be lich Cerval Orfalx, the party heads back to the Red Dragon Inn to look at the documents they found in the United Order Mansion yesterday. They relate some of the information on the documents to the Cult of the Night Veil, followers of Aphia, who have apperently been tracking multiple people around the city. In order to find Cerval, Killian also wants to visit The Bloated Bounty in regards to the note the party got not too long ago from Malekith. She gives the party a full overview on the rules, the people that work there and mostly the solid advice not to talk to anyone inside. This explanation happens in two parts, because it is interrupted by a visit from Norfaed, with whom the party has some lunch. They also ask Norfaed to investigate the Cult of the Night Veil, which he will happily do for the party. The party also receives a note from the Grand Overseer with a total of six leads to help them in their search for Cerval.
The LUKI Four decide to follow the leads on Cerval, starting with the closest at the City Barracks. According to the note they received, the last person who got contacted by Cerval before his escape is waiting for them at the Barracks. It turns out to be Belkoris from Gildenwharf, and both him and the party are positively suprised. He tells them that he got sent a message to "discuss a more permanent solution to the problems that have been arising in the Order", along with some directions to find Cerval to discuss this. He needs to follow the river one hour into the mountains, until he finds rock with a rune in it. This needs to be hit by lightning, after which he needs to follow the sound to its source. He makes it clear he has no intention on actually going there himself, as he has a meeting with the other Grand Overseers to discuss the state of the continent and what they can do to strengthen the cities. The group thanks him for his information, bids him farewell, and moves on to the next location.
This brings the party to the now partially destoyed Deephold Prison. Inside, they meet Conrad, the warden of the prison. He is understandably on edge, which is only worsened by the large amount of paperwork he has to do. He tells the party he has no idea how Cerval escaped, as he is behind multiple defensive layers and anti magic fields. In fact, he should have drowned on any attempt at escaping, as by design of the prison itself. To make things worse, several guards around the prison seem to have been magically influenced, as when Conrad brings them in they have misty eyes and franticly try to scrawl some kind of collection of symbols into the floor. The party tries to understand the symbol, but are unable to make out its usage.
Wanting to investigate further, the party accepts the potions of waterbreathing from Conrad and decide that Killian and Indra shall head down into the depths of the prison towards the cell of Cerval. In the meantime, Leaf watches for any suspicious behavoir, and Uthal takes the time to read up on the history of the dwarves, discovering Am Galar to be the 'birthplace' of Dwarves. The two dive down, and skillfully manage to navigate the now flooded passages to the cell, managing to only get slightly harmed as they clear a piece of debris blocking their way. The two find some of the guards down there, who seemingly died of drowning. They also notice that the cell of Cerval has some kind of magical barrier in front of it, through which the party cannot go. Deciding to risk structural integrity, Killian and Indra use their combined might to blow a hole in the wall of Cerval's old cell. On the inside, they discover that he had inscirbed the walls with a map of the stars, and that a single symbol, that of the Feaster, is the only repeating symbol. It seems Cerval might have been tracking the symbol in some relation to the stars. Before they can completely finish the location however, a Cerval possessed guard corpse floats to the party and asks them what their business is in his old cell. Not wanting to risk confrontation, Indra and Killian quickly flee the submurged prison without any additional harm done to them.
The next stop is the old home of Cerval. Though the place itself seems to be rather dull and without clues, Cerval again shows up, this time in the form of smoke from the small hearth. The party briefly talks with Cerval, but after he (mistakingly) learns that the party might be working together with the feaster, he simply mentions that he "has heard enough" and sets the entire building ablaze. The party quickly gets out, and though they get badly hurt, none of them perish in the flames. The party decides to take a rest nearby, after which they head over to the Bloated Bounty. Once there, Killian leads the party inside, has some small talk with Zamina, after which he starts talking to Rajiv. The two of them converse for a while, and it becomes clear that he wants the party to investigate a place called "Marble Meats". He mentions that this place is the destination of a shipment of gem-infused chalk and diamonds in his name, though he did not order them. Once the task is explained, Rajiv calls the rest of the party over, inviting them to enjoy the food dislayed on the table and to play a game of Devil's Dice.
Next session: Session 14: Marble Meats Butchery

(Noteworthy) Characters Interacted With:
Norfaed Steelbeard,
Grand Overseer Belkoris Wilthorn of Gildenwharf,
Cerval Orfalx,
Warden Conrad "The Bloody" of the Deephold Prison,
Rajijv, owner of the Bloated Bounty,
Zamina & Squawk, hosts at the Bloated Bounty

Report Date

26 Mar 2023

Primary Location

Brothers' Crossing

Conrad "The Bloody", Warden of the Deephold Prison