Sic Pixie's Carrion Crown Adventure Path

Grembor gets lucky

They all meet up again for lunch; sitting in the dining room and comparing notes; Grembor passes over the information he gained from the Stablemaster while Sayuri fills them in with the information gained from Duristan. Sitting at one of the other tables is the Markiza and her hound Ostovach; Grembor approaches the pair to question the Markiza. Talking to them Grembor is assured that they know nothing of much help to the party.

After lunch they decide to talk to Madame Ivanja after some argument; Grembor is all for storming into her tower and asking them at the point of a dagger while Sayuri is of a more reserved approach and would like to just talk to Madame Ivanja without threatening her in any way. Sayuri wins the argument and Zordlan is dispatched to request Madame Ivanja presents herself to Sayuri to provide a reading.

Pringle heads to the library and speaks to Estovion requesting information on the werewolves of the Shudderwood; smiling he directs him to a set of old journals that have been collected from various sources. Pringle heads to the section indicated and starts reading.

Gembor in disgust heads to the kitchen and grabs a couple of bottles of their best wine; heading to the stables he proudly displays his bottles and requests the Stablemaster (mistress) takes the rest of the day off and spend some time with him. She sadly informs him that her duties prevent her taking an afternoon off but she could possibly take as break in about 30 minutes. Grembor suggests they meet up in the maze where they can have ‘Lunch’ smiling she agrees and Grembor heads off to the kitchen to find some food left over from their lunch and heads into the maze to await the stablemaster.

Knocking on the door to the watchtower; the door is opened by a guardsman. Zordlan is advised by the guardsman that Madame Ivanja does not respond to summons and that if someone requires a reading they should come here. Zordlan returned to the group who were waiting around outside trying to not look at all suspicious; some manage this better than others. Zordlan advises Sayuri who with a sigh nods her head and follows Zordlan back to the tower so she can have a chat with the Madame.

Knocking on the door again it is answered by a stunningly beautiful woman who is dressed in the Varisian Gypsy style. Long dark faintly curly hair with large expressive dark eyes; slender with the sultry curves which undulate across the room and make pulses race. However Sayuri is not affected by this so much as Zordlan is and she is right down to business asking for a Harrow reading. Madame Ivanja looks the pair up and down, then nods and gestures they should enter. Following her swaying form up the stairs to her room Sayuri has to elbow Zordlan a couple of times to keep his eyes on the stairs and not elsewhere.

Slinking into her reading room she sits herself gracefully into a chair at a silk draped round table. Taking out an ornate deck of cards she extracts several and lays them all face down on the table. Passing her hand over the cards she mutters some arcane sounding phrases and then indicates that Sayuri and Zordlan should take a card each. Sayuri picks the Carnival while Zordlan chooses the Midwife. Ivanja looks at the pair closely before uttering the foretelling that “they must face a powerful force yet unseen that is manipulating the current situation, both in the Shudderwood and beyond. This force is steadily growing in both power and malevolence, and has the potential to threaten Ustalav and the indeed the whole world, yet that they are ultimately destined to have a hand in determining its fate.” Sayuri and Zordlan exchange glances then look back towards Ivanja.

Asking her about other people who have visited they are informed that she will not divulge any information regarding the clients of her or others within her employ. The two guards standing behind Ivanja both re-enforce her feelings with admirable conviction; both Sayuri and Zordlan leave feeling very much that they have learnt nothing.

Grembor waiting within the maze with a small hamper of exquisite food and a pair of bottle of fine wine is soon rewarded by the sounds of someone moving through the maze towards his location; turning round the corner is the stable master; her long curled red/auburn hair tucked behind one ear where it’s not caught in a leather thong. Her slight frame corded with muscle from her daily toils in the stables; her legs strong from taming and controlling her charges. The gait is confidant; her dark eyes glinting with amusement to see Grembor lounging on the stone seat swinging a bottle from one hand.

Nudging the hamper with his foot; Quiene (Stablemaster) catches it up in one hand and peeks inside; grabbing one of the sausages within she takes a hungry bite and chews; swallowing the meat down with a swig from the wine bottle. Grembor grins rising to his feet and caresses her cheek hooking a stray hair behind her other ear; Quiene grabs his jerkin and pulls him towards her; as their lips meet a crescendo of music seems to rise around them. Those outside of the maze hear the unmistakeable sounds of enjoyment from within the maze and share wondering glances at the originators of the happy sounds.

Sayuri meets up with Pringle within the library; Pringle has been looking onto information there contained within traveller’s journals which he has been going through for most of the afternoon. They are a confusing muddle of badly written pages bound into a jumble of assorted books and left in a disorganised pile within a corner of the library. However this pile of books does turn up some useful information in the form of one journal; the journal’s author, an unnamed worshiper of Desna, recorded several entries describing his pilgrimage to an ancient, abandoned temple of Desna and observatory in the Shudderwood known as the Stairs of the Moon. The journal includes a description of the temple, but the details of its exact location are frustratingly vague. These pages are bookmarked with a folded piece of paper, scribbled with a faded note reading, “See ‘Halo of Dreams’ on page 322 that’s filed under Religion upstairs.” If this note is current then it would refer to Estovion’s office which resides above the library. Knocking on Estovion’s door Pringle requests if he could see the books in there and is advised that he is too busy to bother with such matters before the door is closed in his face; it is at this time that Sayuri walks in.

Sayuri and Pringle talk over the find and Sayuri heads up to ask Estovion about the book; Estovion answers the door and enquires to her business as he is very busy. Sayuri requests if he has a book called ‘Halo of Dreams’ but Estovion denies all knowledge of this book. Sayuri is not convinced however but allows Estovion to go as the door is shut again with finality. Cocking her head to one side she thought for a moment she heard a scream coming from outside. The library is looking out over the maze so it’s likely it came from there. She dismisses it with a thought and returns to talking to Pringle.

Grembor finishes buttoning up his shirt; wincing slightly as it brushes up against the wounds just recently inflicted in the energetic antics Quiene and himself have just been engaged in. Quiene leaves smiling as she walks with a happy stride back to her stables to look after her horses while Grembor takes a joyful though tired walk into the Lodge to look for the rest of his team; Hamper and mostly empty bottle swinging by his side.

DM Note

DM Note: I had Ron (Grembor’s player) roll to see how well he performed; a natural 20 followed by an 18 makes for an interesting session. Let’s just say the stable mistress and Grembor both had a very good time.

Spider squish

Finding them in the library they exchange information on the current events; they all look at Grembor strangely as he seems unusually joyful. After hearing the updated information they now have another place to investigate; they are looking to break into the tower tonight to see if they can find anything in his office as he seems not entirely honest; though to be honest there are many reasons he would not want adventures rampaging around his quiet office so his reluctance is understandable.

The group relax for the evening having had a busy day running around the Lodge; they have a pleasant dinner then afterwards they sit around while Ostovach tells a traditional Ustalavic ghost story. Grembor who is sitting towards the back of the group hears a worrying sound; it’s almost as if the huge spider they fought in the forest is back as he can hear the tip tapping sounds of many large feet on the wooden floorboards. Peering round the corner into the Grand Ballroom he spy’s the huge figure of a tarantula easing its way through the doorway.

Screaming the alarm he jumps to his feet and scoops up his ever present bow loosing a pair of arrows towards the beast. Both arrows seem to bounce off the spider’s hard carapace very much to Grembor’s disgust; Zordlan moves to a better position and draws back his bow and lets an arrow loose which buries itself up to the fletching into one of the spiders eyes. With a squeal and a spurt of ichor the huge spider advances and from a surprising distance away lunges forward and spears Grembor’s thigh on its mandibles. He feels himself go weak as the poison runs rampant throughout his system; his knees feel a little wobbly. Sayuri fires off a torrent of force missile which impact with a soggy squelching sound which makes the spider rear back in pain; Jah advances on the spider and starts circling the creature trying to find a good vantage point to attack from while Pringle dithers for a moment considering the space and damage a fireball would cause and decides on a lesser spell as a bar of flame shoots from his palm and misses the huge spider that is literally the size of the side of a barn.

Grembor retreats firing his bow which causes the spider to try biting him again but thankfully this time it misses and it looks to have pulled some kind of tendon by over extending itself. Grembor retreats out of range of its immediate reach thanking his lucky stars that its bite missed and that one of his arrows found its mark; Jah finding his opening screams as his eyes turn blood red and froth starts dripping from his chin. Greataxe held high he charges into the tangle of legs and begins hewing away at the hairy forest; Sayuri starts summoning something from some plane to help out while Zordlan calmly fits another arrow to his bow and lets an arrow fly; the arrow sinks into the spider’s side causing some damage while Pringle summons forth another bar of flame which is timed exactly right as it strikes the spider in it’s face as its mouth gapes open. Choking on the flames there is a sudden rent in space and from the bar of flame steps out a fire elemental which immediately starts trying to pummel the spider into submission. The spider in confusion strikes out at Jah scoring a minor hit that almost rips his arm out of its socket but the poison misses its mark as it seems there is insufficient poison pumped into the wound to cause a problem.

Grembor standing back finds plenty of room on the spider to aim at and unleashes a volley of arrows which many find it’s mark; one flies perilously close to Jah’s face though and the whole party wince but Jah declines to notice in his blood frenzy. Jah continues to carve his name into the spiders flank as blow after blow falls true; each blow opening a large rent in the spider’s side. Sayuri finishes summoning and opens up three glowing red portals out of which step three fire elementals; they all appear opposite Jah granting him some distraction on the spider’s part and the fiery creatures try repeatedly to set the flammable spider alight; Sayuri noticing how effective they are and starts summoning some more. Zordlan fires another arrow which strikes the spider in a knee joint while Pringle starts summoning more fire elementals. The spider is getting a little worried; well the spider would be getting worried if it had anything like a brain but no; the floor is very slippery due to the ichor of the spider being spread over the immediate area mixed in with blood from Grembor and Jah. The spider not being the most intelligent of creatures tries eviscerating one of the fire elementals with success but in the process burns its mandibles.

More arrows are launched from Grembors bow some even hit while others go wide; he winces and massages his shoulder as the last arrow seems to have torn something there. More Elementals appear which causes some confusion on the spider’s part as it thinks it’s seeing double; repeated smackdowns by elementals, Jah and the occasional arrow soon reduce the spider into a steaming and very smelly pile of discarded spiderparts. Jah comes out of his rage and is feeling very tired; Sayuri sends all her summons home before they can burn down the place while Zordlan and Grembor grab some water to douse the small flames licking at the dead spider. The smell of scorched spider is bad enough but burnt spider would be worse. The other guests start cheering and clapping very happy that they did not have to fight off the monstrously huge spider themselves.

Out of the corner of his eye Grembor notices the footprints of the spider as it came in through the double doors from the patio; noticing that these footprints are red with blood he hastens to the doorway to make sure no-one has been killed by the wandering spider. Outside he notices what looks to be an artificial trail that has been laid to the patio doors; a trail that has been made from fresh blood. Following this trail they find it leads to the strange little hut they discovered on the grounds with the large re-enforced doors. The entranceway beyond the doors looks to be carved from the natural stone as it descends sharply for a ways before opening up into a large cavern which looks to be partially natural. They follow the trail down and find it leads to a large cage where there is evidence a very large spider used to reside; checking the other cages they find a variety of other creatures there all set to be the basis for a hunt to entertain the patrons of the Lodge. The current collection boasts a grizzly bear, a juvenile dire boar, a dire wolverine, an elderly and arthritic dire wolf, a lobotomized ettercap with its web glands removed, and four large wolves. The party leaves this how they find it.

Heading back to the Lodge they find everyone in the main room examining the dead spider. It is an impressive specimen fully 15ft across when alive; now closer to 20ft across when dead; 30 if you include the gore splattered walls and the odd leg that was cut off and ended up in the corner of the room. Estovion is there overseeing the operation and congratulates the party on saving his lodge and guests from the monster.

Sneaking around the Lodge

Sayuri noticing that everyone is present slips away to see if she can get into Estovion’s office while everyone is pre-occupied. Getting to the trapdoor she finds it locked; coming to the conclusion that without resorting to violence there is no way she can bypass this door without it leaving a permanent and lasting impression she retreats back downstairs and catches Grembor’s attention. Using hand gestures she indicates she has issues with a lock and that he should follow her which he does.

They find themselves back at the trapdoor; Zordlan is monitoring the stairs while Pringle is staying with the cleanup crew to make sure they are not missed; Jah is at the bottom of the stairs trying to look innocent. After several attempts Grembor manages to get the lock open and they both slip inside to investigate the office.

Sayuri takes the desk looking for a ledger of visitors which she finds but is unable to find anything relating to strange and secretive visitors in the middle of the night. However she does find Estovion’s journal which she sits down to go through.

Grembor investigates the rest of the room to see if he can find any hidden compartments or secret doors; these he concludes are either not there or very well hidden so he turns his attention to the bookcase. After a short time he finds the book they were looking for called ‘The Halo of Dreams’ and leaves through the pages till he finds the part they found reference to in the journal downstairs; it makes for some interesting reading.

The Halo of Dreams

Halo of Dreams

The origin of the Dusk Moth can be traced back to pre-Thassilonian Varisia, though the role it played in those ancient times has been lost to history. During the Age of Enthronement, Desna’s priests recovered the relic from the ruins of Thassilon, and carried it into the Shudderwood during the founding of Ustalav. There the priests constructed a temple to the goddess of dreams and disassembled the Dusk Moth, incorporating its parts into a great observatory atop the temple, which they dubbed the Stairs of the Moon. High atop the observatory, during the twilight hour, the faithful enacted a sacred ritual of communion to activate the power of the Dusk Moth, placing them in a heightened dream-state in which they could commune directly with the Song of the Spheres.

Grembor reading this is somewhat confused as to what this has to do with the werewolves problem or the Whispering Way but he notes it down word for word then goes to join Sayuri who is also furiously jotting down several entries from Estovion’s journal.

Estovion’s Journal

Estovion’s Journal

Just Over Two Weeks ago:
It appears that my past has come back to haunt me, in the form of unexpected visitors who arrived last night. Ostensibly nobles from Courtaud, they bore invitations from Adivion Adrissant in Caliphas, and Belik admitted them to see me. Their leader, a disturbing man named Auren Vrood who carried a sinister-looking, twisted homunculus on his shoulder, confided to me that they were agents of the Whispering Way, come to finally collect the debt I owe them for helping me with the spirit I discovered at the Stairs so long ago. Vrood “requested” that I arrange a meeting between him and one of the werewolves of the wood. Though I would prefer to have nothing more to do with them (for my youthful indiscretions were just that), I saw no choice but to acquiesce to their demands, lest they reveal my secrets to the Palatine Council. As Mathus is my sole ally among the packs, I will speak to him and arrange a meeting, and hopefully I can wash my hands of this whole sordid affair.

Two Weeks ago:
Vrood and his fellows have returned. Though I made my office available to them, they declined and requested a meeting with Madame Ivanja instead. Mathus arrived shortly after and went straight to Ivanja’s tower as well. I was somewhat surprised by their choice of location, but I suppose even necromancers and werewolves have their needs. I spoke briefly with Mathus after the meeting, but he was unusually withdrawn and gave no hint of what was said at the meeting.

Two Days ago:
A grave threat has befallen the Shudderwood, and I fear its origins lie at Ascanor. Unknown forces, almost certainly agents of Vrood and the Whispering Way, have attacked the Stairs, butchered Kvalca Sain, and stolen her heart for some dark purpose. Although their motives remain a mystery, this single act has thrown the entire hierarchy of the Shudderwood’s packs into disarray and violence.

I know that it is customary when a packlord dies for her successor to consume the fallen packlord’s heart. With Sain’s heart gone, the position of packlord shall fall to whoever can claim the title, either by recovering the lost heart, or more likely through force, by slaying the leaders of the four rival tribes and adopting the surviving wolves into his own pack.

Mathus has spoken with me before of his desire to become packlord, and I now wonder if his secret meeting with Vrood was the impetus behind these events. Without Sain’s heart, however, I doubt the other tribes will accept Mathus as their leader. He might find allies with the Sczarni or the Broken Ones, but the Vollensag and Jezeldans will never bow to his rule.

Mathus’s concerns doubtlessly lie with his pack, not with me, however, and I worry my alliance with the Mordrinacht shall soon be forfeit. I fear greatly for the safety of the lodge, for if Mathus moves to take Highthrone without Sain’s heart, or if it becomes known that his ascendance is due to the Whispering Way’s interference, civil war will soon erupt among the packs of the wood, with Ascanor caught in the middle.

Sayuri advises Grembor of what she has found and Sayuri decides it’s time to leave. Grembor however wants to search the room some more. Sayuri leaves taking Zordlan with her as she heads to her room to relax before they confront Estovion.

Grembor finds nothing of much interest however so he leaves and locks the door behind himself. Well he tries to lock the door however something brushes his elbow as he tries to turn the delicate tumblers and his hand slips on the thin wire. The lockpick is firmly jammed in the lock which will just not do if they wish to have a clean getaway. Heading down the stairs he motions Jah to come up leaving Pringle to watch for Estovion returning.

Jah follows Grembor up the stairs and he is shown the offending piece of metal in the lock. Grembor can’t manage to pull it out so Jah attempts to. Jah however is a very strong individual so as he pulls the lockpick snaps off leaving a large portion in the lock. Grembor groans to himself knowing his perverse luck is functioning normally.

Little do Grembor and Jah know but Estovion is at this very moment walking back to his office; Pringle however steps up and approaches him asking him some questions and wishing to take up some of his time. However Pringle is no diplomat and manages to stutter out a hollow sounding request which Estovion banishes with a frown before heading upstairs.

Enter the bad guy ...

Grembor is busy with the lock trying to leave find a way to remove the offending article before anyone notices. His keen ears however pick up the sound of the singing boards of the stairs as the creak under the pressure of someone’s light step. Looking around there is no-where to hide himself let alone the massive Jah so they lounge on the furniture to await the arrival of Estovion. He appears at the top of the stairs closely followed by Pringle.

Approaching the library Grembor stands and steps before Estovion; “We need to talk Lodge Warden” he tersely says. Jah moves to the side ready to erupt into violence if this is needed as Jah’s response to anything seems to be violent. Estovian with a sign looks up myopically at Grembor and with thinly veiled exasperation in his voice demands; ”What is it now; I’m a very busy man you know!” Grembors grins and states “we need to know about your dealing with the Whispering Way.”

Estovion looks startled for a moment before his eyes flicker to the trapdoor which from this distance seems to be un-touched but he assumes they have been up there poking around in his things. His eyes flicker to where Jah is standing almost close enough to touch; Grembor looks on as Estovion seems to be muttering or talking to himself under his breath he looks sideways at Jah who shrugs and grips his axe as a cloying yellow fog erupts around them; they both manage to hold their breath as the fumes try to seep into their mouth and nose. Damn thinks Grembor this guy is a spellcaster not just a harmless old man; Jah steps up and tries swinging a hit at the old man; it connects but he feels bands of force resisting his blow otherwise he would eviscerate the thin stick of an old man in one hit. His second hit somehow misses the suddenly agile old man.

Grembor closes in and strikes out with his sword missing Estovion by a long way; Pringle moves in to cover his escape route while intoning a spell of his own; this is a spell he ahs not used before but considering the opponent it should work well as it strips out a portion of the victims mind rendering them less than they were. Turning your normal person into an idiot; he lunges forward attempting to place his fingers on Estovion to release the spell but he misses as the spry old man moves out of his way. Estovion scans those around him and with a brief thought he disappears using the very useful conjurer’s trick of stepping between dimensions to avoid these sort of sticky situations.

There is noise downstairs from several guards running up the stairs; Grembor, Jah and Pringle head to meet them. They come to a head halfway down the stairs; drawn swords and uncertainty evident. Grembor soon diffuses the situation somewhat by advising on the actions of the Warden but they have no proof to support these claims; the guards allow them to head downstairs and talk to the rest of the lodge guests.

Grembor again takes the lead and explains the events to the lodge guests; they are somewhat convinced but not convinced enough without some tangible proof. So they all troop up to Estovion’s office to try to provide this proof; they walk in and the room is pretty much how they left it bar the fire burning in the grate. A quick scan of the room they notice that the documents they were looking for seem to be missing; sudden realization hits them and all eyes dart to the fireplace. With an anguished cry Sayuri draws out her rod of flame extinguishing and thrusts it into the fire swiftly drawing the heat from the burning papers. They draw out the surviving papers and they are shown to the collection of lodge guests who accept the party’s explanation when faced with the evidence.

Grembor looses it ...

However the party are still interested in Madame Ivanja’s involvement in this clandestine affair so the whole lodge troops downstairs to her tower and Jah is instructed to knock on the door. Jah takes out his greataxe and proceeds to knock gently on the door making its hinges rattle and a large axe shaped gash appears in the door. A couple more knocks and there are shouts from inside demanding to know what they think they are doing and if they don’t desist right now they will be forced to respond in kind.

Grembor demands Ivanja’s presence and he is told no-one demands my lady’s presence. She goes where she pleases and it does not please my lady to be accosted by base classless ruffians who ‘demand’ her presence. This response infuriates Grembor who directs Jah to continue his gentle knocking which he starts again with splinters of well aged oak starting to fly.

Since the group outside seem to be persistent the guards inside agree to open the door if they stop trying to hack it open and guarantee they will not cause them or the occupants of the tower any harm. Sayuri steps forward and rests an hand on Jahs shoulder stopping him from swinging at the door any more; “I will cause the members of your residence no harm” she says through the once solid door; Grembor grins to himself as he finds this acceptable while the guards inside do not seem to appreciate the comment. “What about the others out there will they swear not to harm the occupants of the tower?” The guards seem strangely calm throughout the exchange not panicking or flustered like many amateur guards, these seem to be guards of quality. Sayuri sadly shakes her head however even though they can’t see her. “I can only vouch for myself I don’t control these others. It’s the best you’re going to get I think right now; people are angry and frightened by the recent events”

There is the sound of heavy bars being lifted and bolts being drawn back; the door is opened and the party see 4 well armed guards standing inside. Each has their swords drawn and seems ready to use it should anyone be foolish enough to rush inside. Grembor growls at them to go fetch their ‘lady’ which has overtones of extreme menace. The guards seem somewhat cowed by Grembor’s attitude but hold their ground demanding that they sheath their weapons before their lady’s presence is ‘requested.’ After some more growls the party sheath their weapons and the guards do likewise while one of their number is sent upstairs to ‘request’ their mistress joins them.

Several minutes later Madame Ivanja undulates down the stairs and slides across the floor in an excruciatingly sensual walk. Grembor can’t prevent his look of appreciation even through his anger and frustration of the day’s events. “This is the enemy” he keeps saying to himself as Madame Ivanja smiles at the assembly outside her battered door. “I don’t usually have so many men ... and women trying to gain entrance to my ... chambers all at once” she says with a small smile and a twinkle in her eyes. “Although most of my … clients are more cultured and accept when a lady says no she means it; your not so much of a gentleman are you?” Grembor snaps his mind back to the task at hand having had the verbal equivalent of a slap across the face. “Tell us about the Whispering way woman” he demands; to which Ivanja looks a little confused on the subject for a few seconds then responds; “well they are a supposedly secret cabal or cult interested in using undeath to gain immortality” She pauses for a second as if thinking “Although to be honest I think once your undead your mortality is already extinguished so I think that’s possibly the wrong route to that goal” Looking at Grembor’s face hover she seems to see something there and continues “however I don’t think you’re here to discuss history or local politics; so in answer to the implied question I have not had any dealings with the Whispering Way … to my knowledge.”

Grembor looking on the verge of loosing his admittedly short temper almost screams at her but controls himself before his outburst. “No; you had a visitor here about two weeks ago as evidenced by the notes in Estovion’s journal” which he shows her “You can’t deny your involvement in this conspiracy” Taking the journal she reads through the relevant passage before throwing it back at him. “I don’t discuss my client’s activities as I think I have told the lady to your right before; however I may be able to introduce you to the person they saw for a price; I am a business woman after all.” Grembor shakes his head and seems to begin loosing it again while Sayuri notices the growing sounds of discontent from the massed nobles behind them; most of them having used Madame Ivanja’s services and are very ‘friendly’ with her and her associates.

Stepping forward Sayuri again diffuses the situation by laying her hand on Grembors arm and asking “how much would it take to meet up with your associate Madame?” to which she is told the extravagant sum of 250 gold … Blinking back her shock at this price she feels Grembor’s arm tense as if he is ready to leap at the harlot so she swiftly tells Zordlan to pay the woman while gripping Grembor’s arm tightly to prevent him from doing something he may (or may not) regret later. Zordlan with a surprised expression starts counting out the gold and then tosses the bag to her. The bag disappears into some hidden crevice in her bodice without any signs of bumps outside of the ordinary impressive figure. She turns keeping an eye on the door and whispers something to one of her guards who nods and disappears upstairs.

Turning back to the party she smiles grimly and steps back a step “I can only introduce you to the person who did entertain them while they were here; past that it’s nothing to do with me” Sayuri nods tersely and they wait for a few minutes. Soon a slender partially clothed figure is led down the stairs; she stumbles a step or two in her drug induced daze but she finally stands before the party with her glassy eyes roaming over them all. “We going to have a party” she slurs out of heavily rouged lips. Grembor shoots a look of disgust at Ivanja; “you drug your harlots? That’s no way to treat someone” Ivanja smiles at him before stating “she drugs herself; I have no interest in that part of her life. As long as she can perform and the clients are pleased then I don’t care what they do. This is Naima one of my girls and the one who the people your interested in were entertained by; ask your questions then get out of my house.”

Grembor looks the girl up and down she is a pretty Vudrani woman, wearing heavy eyeliner and clad in nothing but a pair of translucent silken scarves; she looks up at Grembor her eyes glazed over from too much smoke. She smiles at him and sways her hips at an attempt at seduction while running her hands over her scantily clad form. “What can I do for you” she slurs. Grembor grabbing her arm looks deep into her eyes before asking about the men she entertained.

She divulges that three nobles from Courtaud hired her that evening, and can confirm that one of them had an evil-looking, implike pet. They waited in her room for some time, but strangely, they only requested that she dance for them. Eventually a new guest arrived, a silver-haired woodsman with a full beard who smelled like a beast. At that point, her clients requested that she leave. She returned to her room about an hour later and found that they had disappeared.

Grembor looks on in total disappointment at the lack of information he worked so hard to find. Looking into her eyes beneath the haze of the drugs he gets the faint inkling that she knows more. With a growl he mutters into her ear which seems to cut through her drug induced daze as she pales before him and starts shaking uncontrollably. Sayuri looks on is disgust at the weak willed girl; while Ivanja looks on with newfound respect for someone who can reduce a girl to a wreck with a few choice words.

Naima has had enough; she has been pulled from her nice warm room and is being abused by a nasty man while everyone she knows and thought of as friends watched on and does nothing. Shaking her arm free of Grembor’s tight and painful grip she staggers back a step; tears running down her face in shame and fear. “I have had enough experience with clients from all over Ustalav to recognize that although the nobles claimed to be from Courtaud, their accents clearly marked them as southerners, possibly from Caliphas.” There is some more that she knows which she also divulges through the tears. She also caught a glimpse of a strange amulet worn by one of them, depicting a gagged skull. Niama has no idea of the business her guests discussed, but as she was leaving the room, she did hear them mention “the Stairs of the Moon” and something called “the packlord’s heart.” She does not know the meaning of either phrase, or any other information about the visitors, and frankly does not care.

Thanking Ivanja; Sayuri drags Grembor away and the broken remains of the door are forcibly closed behind them; Sayuri is stopped by Duristan who looks inordinately excited about something. “Your going to the Stairs of the Moon; can I come?” he blurts out excitedly. Sayuri nods; “early in the morning we will be leaving so be ready or be left behind.” Duristan jumps for joy at another hunt with the party; his white faced fear from the last outing apparently forgotten; “don’t worry I know where it is, I can lead you there;” with that he is off calling for his thugs to start getting everything ready.

Delgros and Quiene also express an interest in coming along to help guide them to the Stairs of the moon; they both look meaningfully at the departing noble who is berating one of his thugs for sitting on his hat. Grembor is more than happy to have the stablemistrss along for the ... ride while Delgros is an accomplished hunter his advise and bow would be most welcome.

The party has a peaceful night with rotating watches; there is some distant howling in the woods which set everyone on edge but there are no incidents. The Morning breaks with a bright crisp sunny day the peace only broken by the sounds of joyful birdsong.

DM Note: Here ends the Part 2 of the Broken Moon adventure. We will be picking up again in Part 3, the Stairs of the Moon …

Setting out

Broken Moon

Part 3

The Stairs of the Moon

No major changes, Kat’s player is still absent as they are busy with work; Jah’s player didn’t turn up for a couple of session so this character will be leaving us next session.

Setting out

It’s a large group that rides out from the lodge this morning; leading the way is Duristan a slender foolish noble with ideals of being a great hunter. He is followed by his four surviving thugs who set up his camp and serve his meals; they are paid well for an easy time of it so they are loyal; … for now.

Riding next to Duristan is Delgros; he is a hunter; tracker and the hunstmaster of the Lodge. Very skilled in woodmanship and the environment of the Shudderwood his knowledge of the area is hard to beat. He is a rough looking man in his early 30’s; he has a bow over his shoulder and a large hunting knife at his hip. He sits astride his horse confidently and his steed moves surely beneath him controlled only by his knees.

After this rides a pair of people, Grembor and Quiene ride side by side comparing notes on the surrounding flora and fauna; she is very attentive and surprises Grembor with her knowledge of the area. Her knee keeps brushing up against Grembor’s as they ride along; it’s the best trip he has had in a long time. Grembor is dressed in his usual dark leathers with his cloak over one shoulder and weapons close at hand; hands encased in tight leather gloves and his feet in sturdy though still soft boots. His eyes usually roaming all over the surrounding area keep returning to Quiene for some reason. For her part Quiene is also dressed in very functional leathers with a cloak, sturdy boots and a longbow on her back. Attached to her saddle are a pair of finely wrought axes which seem to have well worn leather wrapped grips and her Auburn hair is swept back and tied with a strip of leather with stray curls framing her attractive face. Her green eyes are also roaming around the surrounding but return frequently to her riding partner.

Behind the happy couple rides Pringle; Pringle is not happy as he has to leave the library and he had only managed to read a small fraction of the books contained there. Any collection of books he has not read is a waste in his opinion. However he has been researching a new spell in his spare time and he feels it’s almost ready for it to be scribed into his spell book so he can amaze the party with his awesome magical skills. Pringle is dressed as a normal outdoor traveler with a sturdy cloak and a plain though well made tunic and trews. He is wearing a pair of finely made boots and gloves and his hair is drawn back into a que at the nape of his neck; his staff is tucked under his saddle.

Sayuri follows; her mis matched eyes roaming the surroundings making sure they are not being watched; her eyes drift occasionally to the pair in close conversation ahead and she can barely contain her chuckles of amusement. No wonder Grembor was looking so happy yesterday afternoon; hopefully it will not cause any problems or friction in the group. She toyed briefly with the idea of seducing Zordlan but brushed the idea aside as the mirth struggled to break free again with this added hilarity. She was sure that would not be a good idea in such a small group to take advantage of her bodyguard in such a fashion. She is wearing her usual outfit, (she thinks she should really get some new clothes in the next town) they have been repaired a few more times since and they are starting to show the wear and tear. Only having a few outfits makes for not the best threadbare look when all you do is travel all day split up by getting doused in blood on a regular basis. It’s not like Kat or Grembor who wear mostly leathers or Jah who does not care if he looks like he bathed in blood. Silks and cottons don’t like the constant washing; at least her sandals and gloves are still looking good. I wonder if there is a spell to create a wardrobe she thinks to herself. Her hair is swept back in a topknot to keep it from her face and tied off with another strip of silk, the bells at the end of the silk make a happy jingling sound and she rides along that makes her smile.

Zordlan heeling his well trained horse behind Sayuri is however not as impressed with her hair adornment as she is. He has enough trouble hearing with his helmet on without the constant ringing in his ears; after a while he resigns himself and removes the hot device and hangs it off his saddle; his sweat damp hair plastered to his scalp and neck until he shakes his head and runs a hand through it shaking out the droplets. Stretching himself back over the rump of his horse he can see Jah following him. Jah grins and waves in a simpleminded way which makes him smile a little. Zordlan is dressed in his Elven full plate armor; while not as heavy and restrictive as its human counterpart it is still a weight on his shoulders but a comforting one. Taking out his sword he examines the edge again making sure it’s as sharp as it could be and free of any damage; it would take something special to damage it but habits are a hard thing to break. Sliding the sword back into the sheath on his back he removes a glove and takes out a dagger and starts trimming his nails as catching a nail in the middle of combat is another distraction that could have you killed.

Jah following behind is having a good day; he helped kill a huge spider yesterday and the memory of it crunching under his axe still entertains him. He can still smell the ichor from the spider and this is also making him smile. The most amount of humor however is being produced by Grembor and the Stablemistress which he can see from his position following up the rear. Finding a mate in an Orc camp is a simple affair; killing the mate of the one you want makes for a certain simplicity and it also makes sure that only the strong breed which improves the whole tribe. Jahs thoughts of Large breasted Orcish women is dashed by crashing sounds in the woods which he spins towards; axe in hand and blood pumping through his system; he is disappointed to find a large stag bounding from the woods across the path with some foliage tangled in it’s antlers. He returns to thinking of breasts and scanning the surroundings as he follows up the rear; only occasionally glancing towards the pair and holding back on his laughter.

Wolves are people too ...

The forest seems very quiet as if it’s holding it’s breath in anticipation of something. The large party move unhindered towards the Stairs of the Moon and it’s only until a couple of hours out when the stairs are just becoming visible between the trees ahead that the party runs into any trouble.

Duristan at about a quarter mile from the Stairs of the moon clearing calls a halt. He and his party are going to circle the clearing to gauge the strength of the occupants if any and approach from the other direction. They ask that the party waits for an hour before approaching the clearing so they can both arrive at about the same time. The party agrees and they sit alert for any intrusion into their makeshift camp; Delgros and Quiene are both quite nervous as they are only there to escort the party to the Stairs but refuse to enter into the clearing so they are making sure they have everything they need to return to the Lodge safely. They have to live here when the party has gone so they don’t want to rock the boat so to speak; they are stopping for the moment but will soon be off.

An hour passes and they continue on their way; with only a short distance to the clearing they walk into their first obstacle. This obstacle is in the form of a 9ft tall hybrid grey werewolf with a large 2 handed sword which turns to look upon the noisy party as they follow the trail. The party unlimber bows and fire a few shots it’s way but they seem to bounce off it’s tough hide; Jah is currently taking point and is the first to receive the charge of the hulking hybrid; there is the clash of metal on metal as the two bodies hit; Jah is forced back a few paces but manages to keep his feet under him. The sword however smashes through his unprepared defenses and impacts with a glancing blow to his shoulder which draws the first blood.

Grembor and Zordlan exchange glances and draw weapons. Zordlan drawing his trusty Elven curve blade; trusting in the solid hits to get through the creatures defenses while Grembor opts for the silver hunting knife they found in the dead body. Zordlan hits and is rewarded with a small wound while Jah swings low and gets his axe bloody on the Lycanthropes thigh. Grembor sidles to the side and tries with his knife but misses. Sayuri finishes off a summoning and pulls from the plane of fire a pair of fire elementals which start tying to burn the hard to hit Lycan.

The Lycan throws back it’s head and lets loose a deafening howl which the party hears taken up at several other points in the vicinity; they know they need to finish this fight quickly and get out of here before re-enforcements arrive. Spinning its large two hander as if it weighs nothing the hybrid catches Jah on his hip opening the flesh to the bone in a spurt of bright red blood; Jah stumbles and lets his guard down briefly but it’s what the lycan was waiting for as it lunges forward and rips Jah’s shoulder open in another torrent of blood in a vicious bite. Thankfully the wound is not as severe as the amount of blood would suggest as another large Lycanthrope rounds a bend in the path and charges Zordlan with its sword held high. With an ear splitting howl it brings the sword down and across Zordlan’s chest and the clang of it as it strikes his breastplate reverberates around the clearing. Zordlan is driven back a step but retaliates with a blow of his own which scores a minor hit on its forearm.

Pringle stepping to the side for a better shot fires off a bar of fire towards the Lycan attacking Jah while Grembor having the distinct advantage of a fire elemental to distract his prey strikes like a snake his silver knife sinking into the lycan’s side with the hiss of a hot knife in butter. The Lycan howls in pain turning its red eyes upon Grembor who gulps; he pulls back on the knife and a torrent of red pours from its wound. Jah swings his axe at the creature and lands a solid blow but it seems to shrug off most of the damage and ignores Jah for the more dangerous prey.

The Lycan on Zordlan strikes again with it’s sword creasing a line in his shoulder plate and knocking it loose; taking advantage of this it snaps it’s teeth down upon his shoulder driving it’s teeth through the protective leather and deep into Zordlan’s muscle. Howling himself he bashes the creatures face with his fist and it releases its bite grinning through blood red soaked teeth at Zordlan. The Lycan who has a large bloody gash in its side from Grembor’s silver knife swings its sword and catches Grembor’s ribs with a bone breaking blow causing him to double over in agony. Following through with a bite to his back the werewolf sinks its teeth into Grembors backside and savages his meaty cheeks before letting go in obvious distaste; its bloody mouth shaking from side to side spraying blood over the combatants.

Drawing in a ragged breath Grembor leaps at the werewolf and strikes twice in quick succession driving the knife into its chest and then neck; the sharp silver blade sinking in and hissing as if hungry for its blood; the last blow with a vicious twist in the neck severs it’s carotid artery and when withdrawn a long stream of deep red blood follows it and covers the surrounding foliage and Grembor with it’s iron scent. The creature drops to its knees its heavy sword falling from claws too weak to lift it now; slumping, it plants its face in the dirt and expires with a small puppy like whimper and a blood frothing gurgle.

Pringle recalls his spell using his staff and fires off another bar of flame at the remaining werewolf missing it completely. With only the one of them and everyone concentrating upon it this one also soon dies with blood frothing on it’s maw from a punctured lung.

Grembor, Jah and Zordlan all look at one another; each knowing the problems with being bitten by a werewolf and each dreading what may yet come. The rest of the party all have worried expressions as the three main combatants may now all be infected werewolves; time will tell I guess if any, all or none are indeed infected.

Shrugging they quickly grab their stuff and say a hurried goodbye to Delgros and Quiene as they have done what they said they would as they can see the tower of the Stairs of the Moon just ahead. Neither of them carry any silver weapons as they both believe that it’s better to be considered not a threat to the local werewolf tribes so they were unable to contribute much to the last fight. Delgros and Quiene mount up and start the hazardous journey back to the lodge. Jah decides to explore the surrounding area before joining back up with the party and moves off into the surrounding forest trusting to his wood skills to keep him hidden.

DM Note: Jah’s player has been absent for a few weeks so he is being dropped. Hmmm what to do with a possible werewolf 7th level ½ Orc Barbarian …