Session 4 5/28/21

 The Hero's Tale

The party was hired by Jorm Stormgate in the College of Art, who was writing an epic ballad about the life of Alleah Babwa, a famous dwarven barbarian. Amongst her accomplishments is singlehandedly taking down a hundred mounted bandits, saving the king of Gambuldar from an assassination attempt, and defeating the necromancer Grizelda Deathwhisper. What she is most famous for is being a dwarven feminist- she was one of the first dwarven women to cast off her beard and wear revealing clothing, advertising her femininity in a way unheard of in dwarven culture- inspiring many other women to do the same.

Jorm has been carefully detailing her deeds, but he worries that she will outlive him, accomplishing great deeds he can never write about or- worse yet- retire and peter out like an untended campfire. He arranged for a rematch between her and Grizelda Deathwhisper by reconstructing her necromantic artifact and arranging a meeting between them for a final showdown- which he wanted the party to watch and report on. 

When the party got there, they realized that Grizelda was not an evil necromancer, but that she was possessed by the dark artifact that controlled her mind and used her to raise armies of undead. Alleah arrived and was heartbroken to see that the artifact was reconstructed. She began battling the undead and was brought to tears at the prospect of having to kill Grizelda- who was, in fact, her lover. 

The party intervened, and helped heal Alleah and climbed to the top of the temple to shatter the artifact, freeing its control on Grizelda. They convinced them of the importance of true love, and both of them faked their deaths- giving the College of Art a great story, whilst allowing them to run off incogneto and have a life together. 

Pending got himself added in as a co-researcher on the book, giving him extra credit at the College of Art. 

The Princess and the Frog

Julietta Rosen, hearing the tragic tale of forbidden love lost to time, approached the party. She is a separatist cleric of Naderi- the goddess of tragic suicides due to forbidden love- though she focuses on Naderi's original portfolio- being a patron to forbidden lovers. 

She had received a vision that two people were doomed to not be with their true loves: Zirule and Glenn- but were they to work together, they may find that they each have what the other needs to find true love in their lifetimes. 

She asked the party to facilitate this cooperation. Vesper, having a relationship with Zirule already, reached out to him.

Zirule had long been courting Missandei Emmanuel. However, she was a princess of a desert tribe, and her family would be pressuring her to marry royalty if possible. Zirule had a plan- he had heard of a ruined castle on a small swampy island that was overrun with swamp trolls. If he could get a group to help him clear it out, he could declare himself king of the new nation. That means Missandei would be queen if she marries him, and he would become a great suitor for her. 

Meanwhile, Glenn- a grippli knight, was in love with his princess and charge: Leene Guardania, an elf. He had long resigned to love her from afar, as many knights do with princesses, because her family would never allow the marriage- he is a short lived grippli, and she would require an elven royal. 

However, the noble Glenn believed in the cause of true love, and agreed to help Zirule gain his castle in the name of his own true love.

The party took a ship to the swamp island covered in swamp holly bushes, and began clearing out the trolls with Zirule and Glenn. The trolls called for help and a green hag appeared, disabling most of the party. She was about to kill Zirule when Glenn sneak attacked her and killed her- saving the day.

Zirule declared himself king of the Nation of Holly, and made Vesper, Pending, and Nantar lords and ladies. Glenn, for his exemplary service, he declared a blood brother, performing an ancient elven blood brother ritual- giving him a very small amount of elf blood, and making him a legal prince. 

Back home, at a tournament for Leene's hand, Glenn won, and declared his love for Leene- at Zirule's encouragement. When the family denied his request for not being an elven prince, Zirule publicly stood up for Glenn, arguing that as his adopted brother he is a prince, and as a person who has a tiny bit of elf blood, he can be legally considered an elf in law. Julietta started the crowd chanting in favor of Glenn, and King Janus Guardania blessed the union, allowing Glenn and Leene to marry. Missndei- moved by Zirule's actions to help the noble Glenn find true love, found herself fallen in love with Zirule, and accepted his proposal as well.

 

Session 3 (5/14/21)

Mission 3- Continued

The party continued towards Twoshirts. They got to a large chasm spanned by a sturdy bridge. They saw the people who stole the necklace crossing the bridge (towards them) on horseback. The people were spooked, and the party shot their horses to prevent them from escaping. 

The thief indicated that he sold the necklace to someone who lives in a hut outside Twoshirts and they were allowed to leave.

Arriving at Twoshirts they found the town deserted, houses were smashed in as if the place was attacked, but there were no bodies. They started following the tracks of the attackers and identified that they were most likely hill giants with a large wagon to haul away the people. 

At this point they decided to abandon following the tracks and search for the hut. That night they saw an mind-controlled hill giant walking through the woods and followed it. At one point it bypassed another mind controlled hill giant walking in the other direction.

They followed the giant to a witch's hut where she was wearing the necklace and casting dominate person on the hill giants. They waited an hour to see if she went to sleep, and Vesper snuck into her hut. Inside she saw that townsfolk were being drained of blood for some kind of ritual. She snuck past the crow familiar into the witch's room, where she was not asleep, but was projecting her eyes elsewhere. 

Unskilled in stealing, Vesper snatched the necklace and ran wildly out of the room. Kotkin distracted the hill giant and led it into the forest and hid from him, while Brody and Vesper fled the crow who was watching them and leading the witch to them. They attempted to lose the crow but Brody gave away their position. Realizing he couldn't escape, Brody led the crow and witch away from Vesper, getting captured so that Vesper could escape.

When Vesper regrouped with Kotkin, Kotkin devised a plan to go back to the witch and offer the return of the necklace in exchange for their lives. Vesper warned him that this plan was suicide, especially with his weakness to mind control, but he went anyway. Vesper went back to town to wait for them, but they never arrived. 

Vesper returned the necklace to Zirule, who was saddened to hear of the tragedy and gave an extra 1000 gp to try to make up for it- he had no idea it would be so much trouble. 

Session 2 (5/7/21)

 The Slave Girl

The party was hired by Thrain Horsemaster (a friend of Zirule's) to disrupt the buisness of a rival, Kazmut Charterer. Kazmut owns a shipping company that sometimes moves slaves, and he's had a run of bad luck- many of the slaves he's been sent to pick up have been freed before he got there. He is now trying to enter into a partnership with Walder Baelish of Cheliax in order to gain a more lucrative contract and stay above water. If the meeting can go south, Kamut's debts will come due and Thrain can purchase his ships at tremendous discount.

The party tried to enter Kazmut's estate and found themselves mysteriously back at the Pan Kowalski an hour later. They found that they had been mind wiped. Witnesses saw them leave the estate earlier as if in a daze. Suspicious that Kazmut had psionics or a psion on retainer, they did some research and found that sometimes Kazmut acted strangely, as if he himself had been manipulated at times. Michael paid for a memory modification to restore his lost memories, and remembered entering the estate and telling some slaves that he was there to rescue them. At that point, one of the slave girls had used a psionic suggestion on them to leave, and modified their memories as they left to maintain anonymity. 

Rather than confront her, the party spread the rumor that one of Kazmut's slaves was actually a psion in disguise and was manipulating him (which was true), ruining his reputation as someone who can control slaves and souring the deal with Walder

The watch came with Kazmut to remove the girl, who turned out to be an agent of the Bellflower network- she was undercover as a slave and using her powers to identify slave trade pickup areas, and was sending communication to her other agents so they could disrupt the pickup and free the slaves before delivery. She was arrested and send to a prison somewhere that could handle psionic prisoners.

Thrain was pleased and rewarded for their efforts.

Mission 2:

The party was hired by Zirule to recover an necklace he had purchased, which was pickpocked from him as he watched a street performer. He wants it returned so he can present it as a gift. The watch has been searching for weeks and has been unable to uncover it.

The party learned that a belly-dancing performer was distracting crowds so her accomplice could pickpocket them. The Thieves' Guild was also after them for unlicensed thievery. Vesper used a contact at the jewelry store to identify that the man had a Twoshirts accent- a mining town four days away. They left town.

They saw that they were being watched at a distance by a couple of orcs, but they were not bothered by them. The second day they saw a wounded bear guarding her cubs. Vesper healed her wound and the went on. That night, the orcs, impressed by her healing of the animal, led her to their camp, where they met the chief, Arcus Woodsplitter, who invited them to feast and drink with them, which the party did. Kotkin found himself drinking and being courted by Bonks With A Club- an ogerkin orc with a vestigal fetal head growing out of her neck. After a night of alcohol, he was able to be courted. Vesper and Brody went with the chief to smoke and go on a vision quest, where they astrally projected to a distant world where the sprit of nature was being hunted by local humanoids. Despite being incoporeal, Vesper was able to affect their magic net, and cut the net, allowing the spirit to escape. They earned the respect of Arkus and were named Friends of the Tribe. Arkus said he would watch the stars for signs, and may contact them again in the future. 

Session 1 (4/30/21)

Mission 1: The Date

 The group met up and found Laplace Johnson who introduced them to Zirule Liadon.

Zirule had arranged an upcoming date with Miessandei Emmanuel from Qadira, and he waned to make sure that the date went well, so he hired the party to attack them on their date, so he could fight them off and look good.

The party set up the attack. Little did they know Miessandei was able to defend herself, and she was an accomplished battle dancer. As confusion grew in the combat, the lights went off, as thieves guild members attempted to kidnap her. In the darkness and fog there was no visibility, but Kotkin got off a lucky shot and blasted a kidnapper, while Zirule stabbed another one, his bravery enhanced, thinking it was all part of the act. 

By the time the watch showed up, Miessandei had been saved, and it appeared that Zirue had driven off six attackers. He was very happy with the party's performance. 

Mission 2: The Package

Brody met with Dibbler, a contact with the Thieves' Guild, to try to get the party involved with the guild more. Dibbler wanted the party to retrieve a fragile package from a watch warehouse before Sparhawk, the paladin to whom the package belonged, could get it. Brody disguised himself as Sparhawk and was able to obtain the package, when they discovered that it contained a small cassian angel. They decided to free the angel rather than turn it in to Dibbler. As it left, it revealed itself as an imp, and Dibbler's familiar, who came in and told him all about it. Dibbler revealed that this mission was really a test to see if they could be trusted to complete a mission without being distracted by moral issues- one that the party was proud to have failed. Brody relinquished his affiliation with the Thieves Guild. 

The PCs

Michael Tuk

Human (F)

A friar of the Monastary of the Whispering Winds- a monastic order based on perfection of self. Wandered away from the party out of the blue, citing that she felt the call of her creator to focus on book learning. 

Brody O'Duff

Half-Elf (M)

An associate of the Thieve's Guild. Killed in action distracting a witch away from the rest of the party. 

Kotkin Davieth

Aasimar (M)

A soldier here to defend the city. He died attempting to negotiate for the return of Brody O'Duff from a powerful mind control witch. 

Lady Vesper Nightrune of the Nation of Holly

Aasimar (F)

A woman looking for her lost childhood friend. 

Lord Pending of the Nation of Holly

Tiefling (M)

A bard from the College of Art looking to expand his celebrity.

Lord Nantar of the Nation of Holly

Blue Goblin (M)

A blue goblin with an interest in human religions who focuses his psionic ability on healing others. 

Psionics

 

Psionics is, in many ways, the 3rd type of magic (besides divine and arcane). Unlike magic, which is based on the environment, psionics is comes mostly from within, from your own spirit. In many ways it's the same as magic, in a few ways its different:

How is it the Same:

Most things that detect magic detect psionics also. Same with dispel, spell resistance, etc. Spellcraft is used as "Psicraft" and knowledge arcana can identify certain psionic elements. 

To your average peasant it's the same as magic (especially like spell like abilities that don't have components), so anyone who doesn't trust magic (like certain barbarian archtypes) would also distruct psionics. Most feats that affect spellcasters or casting defensively are equally usable against psions. 

How is it Different:

While there have been wild magic zones, psionics has been mostly unaffected. Likewise some magic dead zones may not affect psionics (though there may be separate psionic dead zones or areas where both are inhibited). 

While there is a huge mage's guild, which studies the "science" of magic, psionics are based more on the internal mind and spirit, and is harder to teach. As such, there are fewer guilds and schools that focus on it. True, there are psions in the mage's guild, and there are some that study at monasteries, but socially it is hard to teach in a classroom setting, so psions are still more rare.  

Thematically, divine magic comes from the gods. Arcane magic comes from the world (though having certain bloodlines may help you access the magic more easily). Psionics comes from the self. Divine magic can go anywhere your divine source is recognized (so certain alternate primes could suffer from a lack of faith in a god). Arcane magic can go anywhere that magical energy exists (so certain worlds may not have magic at all). Psionics can go anywhere you can go. 

While a psion can be mythic, there aren't as many mythic abilities that compliment a psion as there is a mage, and there doesn't appear to be mythic versions of psionic powers, so there's a negative. 

For creating magical items, psions create psionic items and spellcasters make magic items. 

Notable NPCs

 

Laplace Johnson

Any runner who knows anything knows about Laplace Johnson. Mr. Johnson seems to know things- that's his job. One of the big things he knows is people- and how to help people find other people. One of the other thinks most people know about Mr. Johnson is how much he DOESN'T know. He might introduce an "adventurer" to someone who "needs something done", and afterwards he seems to know nothing about it. This strange ability to know exactly where to find people, except when nosy people are asking questions, makes him quite a valuable ally. 

Bellis Zoophile

Anyone looking for Honest Work could do worse then Bellis Zoophile. She runs one of the most impressive zoos in the nation, with various strange animals and beasts, as well as a large museum called the "Companion Menagerie" with rare figurines. Supposedly each figurine is a petrified beast. She calls them her children, and she's always willing to pay top dollar for a new adoption. 

Foul John

It's a rare beggar who becomes somewhat of a minor celebrity. This guy is a beggar by trade- and he's proud of it. He's turned up opportunities to move up in the world, and he refuses to ally himself with the nefarious sorts who find him useful, as well as the lawful sorts who find him useful. Some say he's insane, others say he's brilliant. One thing we can all agree on though, is that he's a good place to go if you're desperate for information. I say desperate, because few people can stand the stench, or stomach the way he picks at his diseased boils when he speaks. And of course when he sneezes one gets the urge to get a remove disease done in a hurry. But still, there's very little that escapes his detection.

Lady Angelica Daedelus

There are the merchants, then the nobles, then the very rich. And then there's Lady Daedelus (or Lady Dee Dee to her friends). She hosts the most elegant parties and despite not being affiliated with any guild, has hosted city officials as well as guild leaders. Rumor has it that for some reason, thieves refuse to do any job related to her or her property. Is she affiliated with the mysterious Thieves Guild, or is her house so well protected that no one dares break in? Or is it that she has the means to get revenge on anyone who's wronged her? All we know for sure is that her family has various business interests outside of Druma that keep plenty of cash flowing in. 

Rogar Hornbreaker

Governor of Garn is Rogar Hornbreaker. While most Druma cities are protected by the Blackjackets, Garn is far enough away from the capital and has too much guild influence for him to keep as tight a grip on things like you'd see in other cities like Kerse. Despite the higher crime, and his apparent inability to keep the guilds in line, the High Prophet Kelldor has made no signs that Rogar is to be replaced. Perhaps he's found some kind of delicate balance that allows him to make enough profit to secure his position, or maybe he's found some way of keeping secrets from the capital. What we do know is that most people who have a meeting with Rogar leave that meeting happy- happy that they were allowed to leave the meeting. As far as what they were meeting with him regarding, they often seem to forget what they were demanding and are happy just to be going about their business. Rumor has it that no guild leader likes Rogar, but that they all fear that any alternative would be worse for them. 

Julietta Rosen

A cleric of Naderi and the leader of the Naderi Player's acting troupe. Julietta puts out tragic plays of love lost, usually ending with the suicide of the lovers who society kept apart. Her plays are quite popular, and usually end with some kind of poem about the power of love and encouragement for people to find acceptance for all kinds of love. 

The Minotaur

Rumors have begun surfacing of a strange vigilante known as "The Minotaur". A sprawling city's streets can easily look like a maze to foreigners, and the Minotaur knows the streets like none other. Some criminals have been found gored, or chopped up brutally with an axe. Sometimes there are witnesses, but accounts are foggy. All we know is that the minotaur seems to only target people in the act of committing a crime- innocents seem to have been left alone during Minotaur sightings. Despite the minotaur helping to clean up the streets, the watch have issued a bounty for his capture. 

Captain Belmarnis Grimes

Captain of the City Watch is Belmarnis Grimes is a runners worst nightmare. While the watch may not have the numbers of the fighter's guild, or authority to enter some guild property for investigations, she knows that criminals have to use her city streets to get from place to place, and she is happy to capture criminals and bring them to justice. She has a major grudge against the guilds, especially since she knows that they (from time to time) are known to hire disreputable sorts to get things done. It's said that the Assassin's guild has stopped taking contracts for her after some unfortunate accidents that resulted in missing assassins. She may be a watch captain, but don't expect much quarter. The law grants her a great deal of discretion in regards to use of force, and she's not foolish enough to yell "Halt!" when a bullet to the leg will get the same thing done.