The elf cleric that assists them at the temple is chatty, and asks where they are going. They tell him that their eventual destination is the city of Prosepilis, but that they're going to Summercrest for now in order to make their way downriver to their final destination. The cleric says that, if they would like, he can send them to Cornosis, a city that is a little better than halfway between the two cities. The party agrees, hoping to shave some time off their trip.
They arrive at the temple of Avandra in Cornosis, and waste no time making arrangements for their trip downriver. As they are heading for the docks, they pass a cloaked human. Suddenly, Jaden stops, does a double-take, and exclaims, "Berekhan!" It is an old friend of hers, another star-pact warlock. He doesn't quite recognize her at first, but then it comes back to him. They catch up for a second, and Berekhan says that he is kind of drifting at the moment, looking for work. Jaden asks if he'd like to join them; their little quest keeps snowballing, and some extra hands would be good. He accepts, and heads down to the docks with them.
Cornosis is a port town - you can't spit without hitting a riverboat captain, and so securing decent passage takes almost no time at all. The two day trip downriver to Prosepilis is uneventful. Upon arriving at their destination, the party wastes no time tracking down Dayman. The word on the street is that he frequents the Dragonbeard Inn, so it is there that the party heads. The innkeeper tells them that he is not there at the moment, that he kind of comes and goes, sometimes he'll just disappear for days at a time. The party decides to get rooms of their own, and wait it out.
In the meantime, though, they sneak up to Dayman's room, and easily break in. Rummaging around, they find a lot of maps and books, and one map in particular catches their eyes - it is a map of Prosepilis and the surrounding region, with an area to the northwest of the city circled in a dark red. They figure it's as good a lead as any, and that they'll head that way. However, since it's already dark, and it's probably a couple of miles away, they settle in for the night. Rougi decides to spend his trance hiding underneath Dayman's bed so he can't come and go during the night and escape their notice.
The night passes uneventfully as well, though, so the next morning the party gathers to head out. They all show up but Jaden, and after an uncomfortable amount of waiting, they go up to her room to see what's going on. She's not there, but all her stuff is. Going back downstairs, they ask the innkeeper if he's seen her; he says, yeah, she headed out last night. They figure that there's no point in looking or waiting for her, that she must have had something she needed to do, so they leave a message with the innkeeper and head out.
The area around Prosepilis is hilly and thickly forested, so by midday they are only about halfway to the location on the map. As they break for lunch, they hear someone approaching, someone not making any effort to be stealthy. Before long, a figure comes into view from around the trees, a skinny Eladrin male. At the sight of him, Maivera leaps to her feet and cries out, "Dayman!"
Dayman takes one look at the group before him and bolts. Kava is too quick for him though, and pounces, grappling him and holding him in place. He thrashes and shouts things like "why did he send you?!" and "he's not what you think!" It takes a while for Maivera to calm him down and ask him what he's talking about. He had thought 'Vizen' had sent them, and when he realizes that the party is also looking for Cabal, he calms down considerably. He still seems very jumpy and not quite all there, but he makes no other move to escape.
After a little more talking, they all figure out that the place on the map that they were heading to was a series of caves rumored to be a stronghold for 'magical thieves', as Dayman puts it. He said that you need a certain incantation to get through the cave gates, and he has it, but it is written down on a piece of paper back in his room. He is unwilling to let one of the party go back for it without him, and they are not willing to let him out of their sight. So they all head back into town.
Dayman talks non-stop on their trek back. Apparently he has been on the trail of Cabal for many years, and has become more than a little obsessed and paranoid. He does offer one useful piece of information though - the prophet to the Kobolds that the party learned about during the battle of Joff was in fact Cabal! Dayman is relieved that the party has encountered them, for some reason.
Arriving back at the Dragonbeard, the innkeeper says that there was a bit of a commotion earlier; apparently a dead Tiefling female was found at the waterfront today. Kava, Maivera, and Kriv head down to the beach, while Berekhan, Rougi, and Dayman head up to his room to retrieve the paper he needs. The girls arrive at a grassy knoll that slopes down into the harbor, and see it littered with the corpses of several sea-creature looking humanoids. A tree stands in the middle of the knoll, and slumped against it is Jaden. Some unknown cleric is crouched over her, and her friends realize with a start that she is still alive! They rush over to her, pushing the other cleric out of the way (he didn't know what he was doing anyway). Kriv calls Jaden's name, and she looks up at them blearily, uncomprehendingly. Suddenly, her eyes widen, and she appears to summon the last of her strength to grab Kriv's arm. "You're next," she croaks. She coughs a mouthful of blood, and then collapses. Kriv tries to cast a healing spell, but it is too late - she is already dead. Her last words expended the last shreds of life she had left in her.
Mournfully, Kriv casts Gentle Repose on Jaden's remains, and they take her body away.
Back at the inn, Dayman easily locates the paper he needs, which Berekhan promptly takes. Dayman is angry, but Berekhan points out that there is less risk this way; if Dayman is somehow killed, the knowledge of how to get into the caves will not be lost with him. They also inform Dayman that he won't be sleeping in his own bed tonight; a decoy of pillows will, while Rougi trances underneath it again. Dayman is livid at these interferences, but he cannot do anything; even though he's furious, he's afraid they're right.
When the girls return with Jaden's body, Berekhan tells them that a warlock would want to be cremated, and they give her a final send-off. With this somber mood, they turn in for the night.
The next morning Rougi, Kava, Kriv, Berekhan, Dayman, and Maivera gather to head back to the caves. Dayman suggests a slightly quicker route to the caves that goes through the marsh at the edge of town. The party sees no reason not to, so they follow him.
As they are passing through the marsh, they hear something moving in the water, and then a sea creature like the ones Jaden killed steps out of the water onto the road in front of them. He snarles at them in Abysmal and then attacks Kava with his trident. At this, four more like him swarm onto the road behind the party. Dayman, seeing this threat, turns and runs for his life.
A fierce battle ensues, the party and these creatures slashing and shouting at each other in a chaotic interchange on the soggy road. Maivera and Kava both take beatings, but Kriv's healings keep them on their feet, while Berekhan blasts them with deadly accurate spells. Rougi and the pseudodragons methodically picked off the four in the back while Kava pounded away on the one in front. Kava's opponent was quickly disarmed and fighting for his life. He began to plead with her in Common, but she did not stop till he was K.O.ed. A few short rounds later, the other four enemies lay mouldering in the marsh.
The party bound up and then resuscitated the leader to question him. He was guarded and unfriendly, but Berekhan threatened to melt his skull, and that got him talking. It came as little surprise to the party that Cabal had hired them, a deal they accepted because he promised them power over the people of Prosepilis. After questioning him, they make him promise to leave them be, and then release him. He makes as if to walk off, but as soon as he reaches his dropped trident, he picks it up and hurls it at Kava. He misses badly, but is left with no time to mourn his inaccuracy; Rougi's blades and Kava's greataxe pierce him, and he crumbles for the last time.
As the party loots the bodies and recovers from the fight, Dayman wanders back to them, sheepishly applauding their good work.
XP: 1350
Money: None
Treasure: Kelp Robe (magic cloth armor) (Lvl 8, Armor Bonus +2, Market Price 3,400 gp)
No comments:
Post a Comment