Session 20: SHARN CITY, BABY!


 * We are in a raised area in the marsh and a SHITLOAD (6) giant crocodiles.
 * FIGHT. Mogen fires off a Hot Potato at one of the crocs. Vikrit scrabbles up a tree. Mogen gets her leg nearly chomped off, and we don’t appear to be doing much damage to the crocs. Mogen spots a small army of kuo-toa advancing with a couple of magic-looking ones, one much bigger.
 * They yell for us to surrender and give up Ruven and the Abbot, and to drop our weapons. The abbot says “I told you he’d kill you.” “Are these your people?” “Mavadtorop’s people.” We approach with our hands up but don’t drop our weapons. They cut our prisoners’ bonds and tell us to come with them back to the temple. Ruven is also being treated like a prisoner.
 * We make it all the way back. Demora’s back here, not strung up anymore, covers her face when we come in. The Abbot goes somewhere else, Ruven is kept separately from us.
 * The large underground lake is here, with “fine sand”. A gigantic fishlike creature raises up from the lake - lots of tentacles and bony ridges. The illusion fades - corpses near to the lake, skeletons.
 * We speak with Mavadtorop - it speaks through a goblinoid corpse, mad that we invaded its territory and killed its people. Vikrit admits that we’re working against the Stargazers. It retreats for a bit.
 * Ruven’s pushed into the room. Mavadtorop says Ruven provided info in exchange for allowing him to exact revenge. He says his time is up. Says we must return to the town, tell them the emergency is over, the Abbot is in control, and they must renew their faith in Dol’Arrah. We discuss, decide to bargain - common enemy (Stargazers).
 * Ruven, describing his family being murdered: “They hung them–” Mogen: “Hanged.”
 * We argue with him, about what to do re: enacting its vengeance. Eventually we tell him to sit down and show up, we’ll take him with us.
 * Tork suggests putting up signs with NO TRESPASSING.
 * We agree to Mavadtorop’s bargain. It tells us to follow an inky trail further into the cavern. Mavadtorop is an aboleth… or at least speaking through one?
 * It asks what we know about the Stargazers. We report everything except who has the key, etc. When we say what we think the goal is (Xoriat coterminus), it says “you’re as foolish as the daelkyr”.
 * We see through someone’s eyes (Ton’eno) an image of an elven druid pounding a mortar &amp; pestle, being approached by another (human redheaded) druid. He reads a scroll and takes it while the 1st isn’t looking. “It will be better this way, Lucian, you have to know this.” Phinneas = human. They argue, Phinneas stabs Lucian to death, then turns to the viewer, “Gather the blood. Do it.”
 * Next vision: huge mountains, fire everywhere, a silver dragon overhead. They fall down and scramble up a wall, go around a turn where there is a beholder. Phinneas calls to someone–Ton’eno, the person through whom we’re seeing the scene.
 * Then Phinneas is trying to hold a female druid’s mouth open, the other person puts blood into her mouth while she’s on an altar. Her body warps and catches on fire, then a tail extends. - Mavatorop says: the Gatekeepers were betrayed thousands of years ago. This was the ritual to close all the seals, but instead corrupted. - The gates themselves have been corrupted. Stargazers think it’ll cause coterminus with Xoriat, but it will cause merging of time(“the final conjunction”), which would change the course of time to RETURN the Age of Demons to the world. Which is extremely bad for almost everyone. - One seal has been opened already.
 * It says there’s a Daelkyr manipulating the Stargazers: BRAZEN. We’ve heard them mention that name before. It says there have been thousands of Stargazers. It says it doesn’t NEED to make any of us its conduit, as Cornerio already is. - It says “He is my prophet. You must obey his word as if I…” - “Come on, you need to give us a sign it’s you talking through him.” “Well…” Agrees to give off a glowing purple aura. - We go to leave. Vikrit asks Demora if she wants to tell us what happened, she says she can’t leave. The abbot is smug and we talk shit back at him, making it clear that we don’t give a shit about him. He tries to smack Vikrit but he catches the hand. - We get back to the church.
 * We see the (brewer) dwarf outside. Sgt. Athone is outside practicing with the troops. We tell him we’ve solved the orc &amp; bear problem. We then tell the Constable and Mogen says there was the symbol of Dol’Arrah in the sky that led us to the orcs (and that the Abbot was useless). Vikrit implies the stuff in the cellar was lizardfolk heat craziness to the Constable (ew).
 * We go to the House Orien station and have Selah notarize a letter saying we did what we were supposed to do. We start packing up to go.
 * The innkeeper and his daughters approach and insist on giving us a reward since the Constable couldn’t. - In the bag: 32 GP, carved bone statue of an ettin, gold &amp; silver music box with very detailed embroidery.
 * We ride out!
 * Vikrit tries to convince Ruven he should get training because he has magical potential. He doesn’t seem receptive.
 * On the road!
 * Tork makes a wand. Mogen replenishes hot potatoes. Sarienne and Vikrit hunt. Cornerio cooks.
 * Tork wakes up one night 4 days in to spot some unicorns in the camp (they didn’t set off the alarm).
 * We make it to the next town, with a House Orien post. Ruven leaves the party.
 * SHARN!!! Sarienne gets a bond for completing the quest: party gets 250 gold each.
 * SHARN CITY BABY. LEVEL 6!
 * Mogen calls Yanger and gets Vanesse, who says something suspicious about shadow-worshiping. She is in upper Menthis region - Yanger’s (GIRL)friend’s mansion.
 * We take a gondola. The place is right near the university. There appear to be a lot of rich ex-adventurers’ houses there.
 * Yanger looks super fancy and is super excited to see us. Vanesse is there too, dressed in dark clothing and not acting suspicious at all. Vikrit brings Rhavi, who gets tied up in the back.
 * This is Lady Edna’s mansion - she’s a former student of Yanger’s.
 * Yanger warns us that Vanesse has been acting weird (“shadow”) shit. Timothy (changeling butler) brings us refreshments.
 * Apparently Kalti has been a good research assistant. The cart business is on hold for now.
 * Edna Ir’Tinath comes to say hello, wearing a huge elaborate dress. She introduces herself and asks our names. We imply that she and Yanger are an item and she implies he’s too old, everyone but Yanger thinks it’s hilarious.
 * We tell him what happened in Corinth. He brings up that Jana is an Ir’Tain. We discuss the Dimensional Key.
 * Jana’s family is throwing a gala in about a month.
 * He has a chip in his horn now - he shows us a small sphere with mini arrows pointing in cardinal directions, vibrating slightly. He says House Cannith was willing to pay someone lots and lots of money to ambush him when he tried to buy it.
 * He suggests we shouldn’t stay here. Mogen says co-op will have a place for her.
 * We go to Mogen’s old co-op, where there’s a sign up that says CO-OP OVER. We break in and find Mogen’s old friend Ivan, who tells us he couldn’t afford the protection anymore. We tell him we’ll help him and stay.
 * There are dorms, a workshop, roads to the Cogs (will need to build defenses)… lots to do.
 * OUR NEW BASE!