Campaign Journal: Layin' Low

Who's up to no good tonight? 

• Jax
• Frederick
• Slick
• Rondel
• Orzu

After their murder-heist, the party promptly left the artificer's shop the way they had entered. As they exited into the sewers, the sounds of alarms rang from above, followed by the breaking down of the workshop's front door and some poor city guard succumbing to a buzzsaw trap.

Oops.

They collected themselves and prepared to backtrack out of the sewer, bereft of their deceased guide. A roiling in the water warned them that another hazard approached, and they tussled with another chimera, this one fungal in appearance. It got in a couple of attacks, and entangled Slick with its tongue. There was much panicked hacking, along with Torvald falling headlong into the muck after dropping his trident. Eww.

The monstrosity vanquished, the party returned to their entry point. The streets were alive with guards and commotion as the word spread that the artificer had been killed and his shop ransacked. Slick invisibly scouted, seeing the city gates slamming closed and patrols heading toward the harbors.

The gang made it back to the Chalice & Cock by stealth and luck. Outside, patrols were breaking doors, arresting people, generally being rude. The proprietor Burgah stashed the party in the cellar and managed to dissuade a patrol that broke down her door that her business was closed and unoccupied.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Time to lay low until the heat wears off. Slick completed some scouting of the area for the disposition of the city. The city was in lockdown, with no one leaving by the gates or harbor. While out, he spotted Serafina Rissanen and a number of other Paragons reenter the city on blown horses. Again, Rissanen confronted Prior Messina that Chaos was active, and that two villages had been found depopulated. Messina replied that they were obviously not worthy of Khador's protection (shocked Pickachu face). Serafina raged back that Khador was a sworn protector of her believers after intercepting the comet sent by the Chaos god Medeg. And how was the network of towers that the Council claimed to be protection not functioning after the Paragons had been forced to give up their relic for its construction? Messina coldly replied that he had seen new visions from Khador, and that the Paragons were to stand down. As they angrily returned to their barrack, Slick flashed his ring off so Serafina would spot him. He nodded, acknowledging her and disappeared again.

With that, the party agreed to stash their stolen items on the ship, hoping that it would be released once the patrols were satisfied that it wasn't associated with any artificer assassinations. Slick crept on board and secreted the comet shards, modified lens plans, and artificer's forge parts into a hidden compartment belowdecks. He then revealed himself to the crew, and told them to meet the party in Scaldwater once they were released by the guards.

Back to the Chalice & Cock to plot escape. Options were discussed such as bribery, illusion, stealth, large fires, and/or reaching out to the few allies available in the city. Patrols seemed to be dying down, although evidence of random arrests and kangaroo court-type justice was seen. Perhaps more heads appeared on pikes. Someone needed to be blamed. Meanwhile, a ship was seen leaving harbor, which was a positive sign. The party agreed to hold out for one more day, then attempt to leave on their ship.

The party split up, using various invisibility and other stealth methods to reach their ship. They hid belowdecks or elsewhere, as their navigator cleared the ship's release with a heavy bribe. Away they went.

Of course, an alarm immediately went up, followed by a few catapult stones from the City's harbor keep. They caused moderate damage, but the ship fled behind a wall of fog cast by Orzu.

They reached Scaldwater without incident and laid in to repair the ship. Time to check in on the home front. Back to Neuforde. Well, good news – All was still standing. Walls were intact, Bonk's Tower still  guarded the north gate, and the brewery was doing good business.

Thefri and the the druids, perhaps sensing that the party was near, sent a missive via bird to let the gang know that they were still holding their tower, thanks to a lot of aggressive trees. And that Ashryn Tower was still held by other adventurers. Good news.

Also, time to pay a visit to Victor Matui and his peers. The old “Banshee's Tower” walls were rebuilt, along with a small manor house. Several craftsmen and laborers had settled around the stronghold. And a number of older “family friends” had joined Victor. People with the air of old campaigners, gnarled individuals both scarred and wise. The party caught them up on recent developments. The newcomers seemed to have some knowledge of the Keeper of the Light, perhaps more than a passing knowledge. They recognized that conflict was coming, and that things along the frontier would be helped by re-establishing the Barrier. Especially with the erratic behavior of the Theocracy to the north. And any allies would be valuable. The party mentioned the undead knights, and it was told that undead may persist due to unfinished business, whether for Chaos or Law. The revelation that the party also held the relic "Sister Sowena's Gauntlet" caused some excitement. Although the old campaigners weren't familiar with the glyphs and designs of the Barrier plan sheets, they affirmed that the Chained Library in Athenard may contain more records and intelligence.

Where next?

There are materials, especially the comet bits, to drop off with the Sea Dwarves. But more ruby is needed, so the rumored ruby sands in the southern desert might be calling. Which means intelligence gathering from the Desert Elf exile at Cobalt Lake. And we'll need library cards. So many directions....