ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.

[gideonpepys]

Session 81a - Downtime Week Seven

Marshall Korrigan called a meeting at the start of the week to try to get to grips with the Black Star Mining issue more firmly. He was dismayed to learn that Leon was unavailable - for personal reasons in the first half of the week; involved in a solo investigation in the second half. Leon had been key to Korrigan's plans and as the week went on his absence was felt ever more keenly.

Matunaaga had returned by this point and, although politicking and diplomacy were not his forte, suggested he might make use of his Battalion contacts. Uru, for his part, suggested that the unit come up with more underhanded tactics, as this was no doubt what their enemies were up to. He decided he would try to see what dirt he could dig up on the more problematic mayors.


This also got the unit thinking about direct sabotage, and eventually they decided to see if Gale could be persuaded to target the mercenary ships. (However, with everything that happened later in the week, this idea was eventually forgotten about...)


Korrigan outlined his own plan: to use the contacts he had made through Heward Sechim and Deneric Jayce to launch a publicity campaign on three fronts: a grass-roots 'socialist' campaign to encourage the Dockers and their allies to view the fleet as a threat not an opportunity; a journalistic campaign focused on the middle classes preying on their fears of the Deep Ones (capitalizing on the excellent job already done by Black Star Mining) and suggesting that the fleet would provoke a deep sea invasion rather than prevent one; and a military angle, designed to demonstrate how open the launch would leave Risur should the unthinkable happen and the forthcoming Peace Treaty fail. Funding for all of this would come from the wealthy Ayres residents who had attended his dinner a fortnight earlier (in return for which, Korrigan would back their campaign to install a mayor specific to the Ayres).


Malthusius suggested that the unit get Rock Rackus involved in galvanizing the Dockers. He had already worked the writings of the Grumbler (the now deceased but deep-one obsessed former unit member Karl Krauss) into many of his lyrics and if approached by a unit member he was friendly with, might be persuaded to say/sing more on the subject. Everyone acknowledged that Leon would be the best person to handle this...

Before they dissolved the meeting, the group was put on stand-by - at any moment during the week, they would need to be ready to respond should Doctor Wolfgang von Recklinghausen contact Malthusius, to let him know when and where his recruitment meeting with the Ob would take place. While the operation against Black Star Mining was foremost in their minds right now, it should not be forgotten than Recklinghausen was their only real link to the Obscurati in Flint, and the one they had told Stover Delft they would pursue.


After dividing up the workload, the group went their separate ways:


Matunaaga arranged for Korrigan's contact, Mutya Offendor to introduce him to Pine Island Mayor Roger Pepper. Pepper was ex-military and Battalion-trained and Matunaaga felt they might have a thing or two in common. For his part, Mayor Pepper was keen to meet a maustin caji. It was quickly established that he was already a supporter of the unit's cause, which was great news. Having cracked the second tier of the Palimpsest, Matunaaga devoted himself to his studies this week, and submitted the title for his Battalion thesis: "Strengthen the Mind, Strengthen the Blade: A Treatise on the link between mental strength and martial effectiveness and the power of increased focus through adaptive meditation." This would draw on some of the esoteric concepts he had learned from the stone tablet. As this would no doubt add to the pool of knowledge available at the Battalion, his proposed thesis was accepted with great enthusiasm.

DM's Note: Two things to note here - the Palimpsest is an ancient artifact of Matunaaga's people(who in my campaign reskinned githzerai who live in the Anthras Mountains, and were once slaves of the gidim; there are also pockets in some of the border states). The Palimpsest has unlocked the githzerai racial paragon paths for Matunaaga (a hybrid monk/ranger). Because they are suboptimal, I have offered Matunaaga the bonus of taking both paths, and switching between them with an hour's meditation. Mainly because it's fun and cool. He can't use both daily powers, though! (But we won't have to worry about that til level 20, and if the campaign so far has been anything to go by, that should be some time in 2015). Also, Matunaaga is working towards a dual theme, and has been studying hard at the Battalion to become a martial scholar. We felt that his homebrew theme (maustin caji), while it was interesting and fun to design, did not connect him to the world of Zeitgeist sufficiently firmly. He is spending his entire stipend from level 10 on this improvement.


Korrigan made up for lost time by galvanizing his dinner party guests. Having already convinced them of the rightness of his cause, he now approached the Wardroughs, Heward Sechim and Guy Goodson for funds to support a publicity campaign aimed at convincing the population of Flint that the launch of the mercenary fleet was inimical to their best interests. This campaign would be aimed at the Dockers movement, the middle classes, and Old Faith adherents in particular. This work took up most of Korrigan's time, but in the evening he found time to study the philosophical tome on Triegenes, recommended to him by Ottavia Sacredote, ever more closely. Though he had little or no interest in the Clergy, or in the organised religion that it espoused, the central tenets at the core of the Triegenes myth were very affecting and chimed very closely with Korrigan's own convictions.


DM's Note: His belief in personal sacrifice and duty, his encounter and conversations with Ottavia, and the strange lure he felt from the Holy Avenger wielded by the stone titan paladin Maur Granatha - all point towards an epiphany for Korrigan that we intend to represent with the multiclass paladin feat. However, we don't intend for this to be some great religious or evangelical moment, but something more in keeping with his character and reflective of his personal devotion. So he will be taking a feat that allows him to function as a defender (challenging opponents in the manner of Triegenes; protecting his allies directly) and taking insight as a new skill. Neither he nor I anticipate any major developments here, other than (potentially) retrieving and wielding the sword of Maur Granatha later in the campaign.


Malthusius spent a great deal of time in the North Shore this week, doing his best to fill in for Leon and get a 'feel' for the area. He visited with Bishop Antonescu, who was able to tell him a little about Mayor Aaron Choir, but not much more than they already knew (that he was a politician who would be swayed by public opinion). Malthusius also visited with Isaac dan der Grimnebulin - now mayor of the Nettles - and ensured his support. At the same time he made sure to tell Isaac about what Uru had seen in the Bleak Gate, corroborating Gale's account of the fires of industry beneath Cauldron Hill. Isaac was alarmed and said that he would speak directly with the King and Governor Stanfield on this issue. On the subject of Xambria Meredith and her apparent possession by Ashima-Shimtu, Isaac could offer no further insight. Malthusius was stumped. Isaac also said that Uru should be wary of tackling Tokoloshe without learning its truename. In anticipation of Obscurati contact with Doctor von Recklinghausen, Malthusius went out of his way to try to experience a skyseer vision each night. (Difficult in Flint to begin with, and in Winter in particular.) But he did receive a number of confusing images - warnings of a kind he could not fully interpret. Perhaps time would tell?

Rumdoom shook down Blander Waryeye and got him to explain how he had used his stagecraft to equip a couple of hedge wizards with the means to convince a gullible audience that the 'Avatars of the Icy End' employed by Black Star Mining to replace Rumdoom were the real thing (and able to manifest the same powers). Rumdoom decided that Leon was the best person to help him expose the avatars, and so he would have to wait until Leon returned. Back at the Rumschatology church, Azon was pleased to inform Rumdoom that he had succeeded in persuading Rumdoom's old eschatologist friends (fundamentalist brothers Thered and Thangir Kharngraft) to defect from Black Star. In accordance with Rumdoom's wishes, following the incidents of previous weeks, Thered and Thangir and their Drakran friend Kvartiy Gorbatiy were to form a new security detail and protect the church members from harm. Hildegaard spoke to Rumdoom about her dislike of Azon, but Rumdoom could see that she and Harn were a little jealous of the outsider. Rumdoom's next speech was made to an audience of more than one hundred. Harn reported that their coffers had been greatly swelled, though they were still several thousand gold pieces away from being able to heal Khoomrung Morkanstall.


Uru was keen to get revenge on Tokoloshe, but was conscious that he had not contributed to the Black Star mission as ,much as he made, and so decided to help out while Malthusius tried to find out how best to tackle the creature. Instead, he focused on spying on Rosa Gohins and Griffen Stowe. Uru found out that Rosa Gohins was indeed in the pocket of Lorcan Kell. However, when the unit pitched the idea of using this to discredit her, it was discovered to be a slightly less dramatic revelation than they might have hoped, for the simple reason that Lorcan Kell was not a wanted criminal! Despite his reputation, he had always been able to escape involvement in criminal proceedings, or intimidate and murder his way out of any trial. This was food for thought in and of itself. But while pondering the matter, Korrigan wondered if Kell might in fact be persuaded to do their dirty work for them: If he could be made aware of the connection between Black Star Mining and the mercenary fleet (and the fact that a proposed council vote could thwart, if not ruin, Khaled Valchek) Kell might order Gohins to vote against them. Why? Because Valchek and Black Star Mining had (with help from the Family) tried to assassinate the crime boss several months ago. (It was during this incident that poor Khoomrung Morkanstall was mutilated.) So Uru turned his attention to Griffen Stowe and turned up the fact that he had a predilection for young girls and frequented brothels throughout the city in pursuit of his 'hobby'. It was again decided that the best person to deal with the new information on both Gohins and Stowe was... Leon.

 

[gideonpepys]

Oh, I forgot: Uru also released a weird fey weed into Flint Harbour, near to the wharfs where the mercenary fleet has been gathering. It's a fast-growing invasive species that he hopes will thwart the fleet's launch plans. It's also very irresponsible (and easily dealt with by Old Faith druids - if somewhat time consuming). I plan to forget all about it until Borne gets into the harbour and then have it feck with Risuri attempts to tackle the golem. Unless Uru has second thoughts in the meantime and does something about it. (It would have been easier to tell the player that this is not what the nature skill is used for, but I think overkill is more fun.)

 

[gideonpepys]

The first major departure

My next post will give details of two important events that happened during this last session (81). They represent the first major(ish) departures I have made from the published adventures (if you don't count the subplots and buffer adventures, which I don't). The first concerns an elaborate ruse on the part of Governor Stanfield to draw suspicion away from himself, and plant it firmly at the door of Lorcan Kell. Stanfield knows that Kell is a liability and would be happy to see the unit deal with him. He will be leading the push to 'Get Kell', while the King and Harkover Lee will further galvanize the unit at the start of Cauldron Born. I also plan to run the Kell operation over five weeks, as opposed to five days - but each action will take a week instead of a day. (I'm throwing an extra challenge/complication into Cauldron Born in the form of a hunt for the golem eye mentioned in the Campaign Guide, so the players will still be stretched. So I guess that's three major alterations. But then, when we get to Cauldron Born, there are quite a lot more.)

The second alteration came about because I had kept Wolfgang von Recklinghause in Flint after The Dying Skyseer. In accordance with the suggestion of the adventure text, he had attended the Gala of the Ancients with Lynn Kindleton at the end of Digging for Lies. Isobel and Andrei had also come to Flint. So I took another idea from the Campaign Guide which never saw the light of day, and had Wolfgang approach the unit some weeks ago and tell them he had been approached by the Ob. They assumed this was the hook for the next adventure. What happened this week served three purposes:it got rid of Wolfgang; it made the unit indirectly responsible for what happens to Andrei von Recklinghausen; and it made the players tear their hair out in confusion, and therefore more desperate for another lead, which will come in the form of the hunt for Kell (and hopefully make them very grateful to Stanfield).

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 81a - Obscurati-related events

Bryn Tomazi - The unit went along to interrogate Bryn Tomazi. They had her file and had learned that she was a 43-year-old unmarried woman who had been a member of Stanfield's staff for many years. Following an internal investigation it had been discovered that she was leaking information from the Governor's office at the behest of a man known as 'Officer Porter' (!) who was particularly interested in the sensitive, sealed communications to which Ms Tomazi had access. Subsequent to her recruitment, she had had little or no further contact with Officer Porter, but sent her information to a man known as Belkin Mirze. Before being sent home following the investigation, she had claimed to be under the impression that she was working for the RHC. When the unit arrived at her apartment in Central there was no answer. Uru opened the door, and they found a crime scene: Bryn Tomazi had been murdered by a single, professional knife-wound to the heart. Before her were two full coffee cups, indicating that she was sitting down for a chat with her killer. When Malthusius tried to speak with her spirit, it was gone, indicating witchoil use. The knife-wound and the witchoil pointed to a Kell/Ob hit. Nothing could be found in the flat to incriminate Ms Tomazi further. Leaving her flat, they looked into Belkin Mirze and could find no record of him. An alias perhaps? Yet another job best left for Leon on his return...

Wolfgang von Recklinghausen disappeared from Flint during the ninth week of Winter (the seventh week of downtime for the unit). Malthusius went to the residence he shared with Professor Lynn Kindleton, concerned that he had not heard from the good Doctor. The lock on the front door was broken; the flat was in a mess. Professor Kindleton was sat on a chair in hte midst of it all, distraught. She sobbed and said that Wolfgang was 'gone and it's your fault'. He had been seen running home through the streets, white as a sheet. He had entered the apartment building via the main door, taken a bundle of vital belongings he kept for emergencies (including false travel papers and foreign currency) and left through the window (two stories up). Despite his apparent haste, he had left an envelope on the table. Professor Kindleton was heartbroken because the note was not for her - it was for Malthusius! The envelope now lay opened in the middle of the floor, with a letter crumpled beside it. Malthusius asked Lynn why she had opened it. She had not, she said: by the time she arrived home, the door had been broken open, the flat searched (clumsily and perfunctorily), and the envelope opened. She had read the letter, she confessed, but it meant nothing to her, except that Malthusius was to blame. The letter, written hastily, read:

"Malthusius - he has found me and I must fly. Earlier today Norm made contact:
62nd Winter, Jackanapes theatre, three after noon.
Sorry I cannot help you further, but you brought this on us both."
​

Malthusius summoned the unit, who were on stand-by for such an eventuality. Uru made a beeline from the Nettles to the burned-out Jackanapes theatre - once occupied - according to local legend - by a rival of Lorcan Kell during turf wars in Parity Lake some twenty years ago. (A third theatre, the Dreaming Harlequin, also stood to the north of the district, empty and charred, as a reminder of the fate of Kell's enemies. Only Kell's headquarters, Theatre of Scoundrels remained, and that had been saved from a similar fate by the unit!)

By the time the others got there, he had scouted the building and found it empty. The time for the meeting had passed about an hour previously. The unit approached and investigated. They spoke to some rough sleepers who occupied the nearby buildings, sifted through the physical evidence, took inspiration from the skyseer visions of Malthusius, and used his object loresight on the teeth of a low-ranking Ob heavy, to piece together the following, alarming facts:

Andrei von Recklinghausen had followed Wolfgang home, having spooked him in the street. What drew him out of the Cloudwood was anybody's guess. Curiosty? Restlessness? Finding the note Wolfgang had hastily written for Malthusius, Andrei pursued him to the meeting place, unaware that Wolfgang had decided to flee the city instead. There, Andrei had met with whomever Wolfgang had been supposed to meet, and had been overpowered and abducted. "They were interested in the skills and knowledge of the doctor, but now they have possession of his greatest achievement," said Malthusius, shaking his head sadly, wondering at the same time what it would take to subdue Andrei, when the Pyrecat could not.

What had become of Wolfgang was unclear, though in the months to come, the unit would hear rumours of a foreign doctor working miracles of healing in the hinterlands of Ber...

 

[gideonpepys]

What happened to Leon in downtime week seven.

(With apologies to HP Lovecraft.)

Rumours of strange goings on in the Bayou had been passing through Lilly's brothel for weeks. Leon had paid them little heed, partly because there were always rumours of strange goings on in the Bayou, and partly because the business with Black Star mining, and his induction into the Vekeshi Mystics laid greater claim to his attention.

But in the ninth week of Winter, Inpsector Legrasse of the Pine Island police came to see Leon and request his help. The orginal inhabitants of the area, the Swampers (whose culture prexisted the westward expansion of the nation of Risur) were notoriously level-headed and unflinching. Yet even they had become unnerved by the nightly beat of tom-toms deep in the swamp, and the occasional, otherwordly screams that pierced the darkness. Of late, folks had begun disappearing. At least twelve had yet to be accounted for, and Legrasse and his colleagues had come to talk to the Danoran tiefling whose occult powers had become widely known and at least feared, if not respected.

And so it was, when Korrigan called for a meeting on the third day of the week, Leon was already deep in the Bayou, in the company of some twenty officers, having become convinced that something really was amiss in the swamp. He sent his apologies, but having visited a number os Swamper encampments, he was concerned for the welfare of their relatives - wives, children and old folk, mostly, taken from their homes while their menfolk were out fishing or trapping. He would try and get this business over with quickly, but the twists and turns of certain parts of the deep bayou were unfamilair even to the aborginal swamp folk. They had a guide with them now, and he spoke of a deeper part to the swamp, an area around an ancient cave so fearful even the fey did not go near. It would take all of Leon's wiles to track down the hideous beat of the drums.

Until quite recently, Leon had had a pact with the fey entity Avagdu that held sway over this portion of the bayou. A servant and avatar of the Voice of Rot, this obese, jealous toad-creature was reluctant to truck with Leon. But he was a warlock of the Unseen Court now, and has some right to command Avagdu's help. Guided by the whispers of Avagdu, fed to him by his spirit companion, Leon was able to bring his demoralised troop - weary from lack of sleep in the rain-drenched bayou - closer and closer to the drumbeat, until they were eventually able to see a strange ceremony taking place in the middle-distance.

Around a stone obelisk, a subhuman rabble cavorted. In wicker cages the captured swampers huddled in fear: three of their number were already impaled on stakes around the obelisk, witht he top point of the stakes thrusting out of their open mouths. There was no need for an intsruction to attack. As a man, in response to the hideous scene before them, Inspector legrasse and his men advanced, discharging their pistols. Leon used his psychic powers to render some of the subhumans unconscious, and in a few minutes the fight was over.

While Inspector Legrasse and his men freed the Swampers, Leon interrogated the surviving cultists, who were divided into roughly three groups: three or four who babbled inanely and made no sense whatsoever (or had some solipsistic motive such as the cursing of a rival or increased fertility); a handful of inbred Swampers who claimed the ritual was to protect them from the 'waters'; and a half-a-dozen sailors from disparate ships gathered under the Black Star banner. They were adherents to some strange faith cobbled together from superstition and half-baked lore, and had found their way to this place under the guidance of one of their number who now lay dead along with several more. They believed that partaking in the ritual would defend them against the Deep Ones.

Leon wanted to take these men back to Flint, which sparked a debate with Legrasse, who was used to dispensing summary justice this far into the swamp. They reached a compromise: all of the other degenerates would be executed here and now for their crimes, while the six mercenary sailors would be taken back to Flint, once the rescued Swampers had been returned to their families. His men were not happy with this arrangement, but they were both graetful to and afraid of Leon in equal measure.

Finally, Leon inspected the monolith - formed of a stone which could not have been quarried nearby and brought here by unknown means. On top, quite out of proportion with the size of the plinth it was sat upon, was a poorly carved representation of the jade idol that had once been in Leon's possession, this one in a softer, lighter stone. It had none of the evident puissance of the original, but when Leon touched it, for a moment he felt as if the terrain and foliage between him and the mysterious cave the Swampers had spoken of, ws stripped away, the distance truncated. The cave mouth yawned, beckoning him closer.

It was an invitation Leon chose not to heed at this juncture. He took the idol with him back to Flint. There, Malthusius used his spirit medium abilities to inspect the object. He saw it being carved by large, scaled claws, and estimated that this must have been done quite recently. Both he and Leon sensed the same nauseating but oddly seductive ambience that had been associated with the original, and felt sure that it must have come into contact with the jade idol at some point...

 

[gideonpepys]

A deep breath before the plunge

That last entry was cobbled together at the gaming table quite hastily to explain Leon's absence the previous week, and reintroduce a plot element that had lain dormant. (Hence its over-reliance on a Lovecraft story that was fresh in my head having recently reread it.)

A few days ago I set about writing another post to briefly explain the subplot that has developed over the last two years of years of our campaign, realising that - with no official adventure to consult - readers could not be expected to remember the details. It swiftly became apparent that a couple of paragraphs would not do! I had another go, using bullet points but at every stage remembered additional details which I had all-but forgotten entirely.

So I started from scratch, using this thread to refresh my memory and was astonished to discover how elaborate the subplot had become. What began as an attempt to briefly summarise the story to anyone following this thread became a lengthy effort to remind myself what has happened, so I can find it all in one place in another year's time!

Be warned, then, this next post is LONG. Normal service (and a full account of our latest sessions) will be resumed shortly!

 

[gideonpepys]

SUBPLOT SYNOPSIS

At the start of the campaign, Rumdoom is a member of a an eschatologist cell with a secret: they believe that a dwarven hero known as the Avatar of the End will reclaim the lost Stone of Not and thereby… well, opinion is divided on that. Maybe he will bring about the end of the world, maybe he will prevent a ‘false ending’.

The cell members are: Rumdoom, brought in by Khoomrung Morkanstall to get him ‘back on his feet’ after the death of his betrothed; Khoomrung himself, an avuncular dwarven politician, easily led; Khaled Valchek the leader of the cell and prominent industrialist; Thered Kharngraft, a zealous eschatologist from Drakr; Thangir Kharngraft, his all-but-mute brother. The Kharngraft brothers are both undertakers – a prominent position in dwarven society. (The cell was invented by Rumdoom’s player when asked to design his contacts.)

As a result of recent tragic events – in particular the loss of his wife who was with child when she died – Rumdoom is obsessed with good endings, or at any rate, avoiding bad ones.

At the climax of Island at the Axis of the World, Rumdoom goes toe-to-toe with eladrin dreadnought Asrabey Varal in defence of his fallen comrades. Convinced his time has finally come, Rumdoom suddenly finds himself manifesting the icy end of the earth. This incredible power enables him to fell Varal, but greatly disturbs Rumdoom. Back in Flint he hits the bottle once again and begins to keep his eschatologist friends at arm’s length.

During the buffer adventure, the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, the unit discovers that a tribe of lizardmen are buying firearms from a group of smugglers. Leon adopts Rahu-Ketu a pseudodragon pet belonging to a lizardwoman shaman, and the group frees a merfolk scout from the bilges.

Following the events of Dying Skyseer, Rumdoom’s alcoholism worsens. Encouraged by Khoomrung he demonstrates his new power to the rest of the cell (breaking a rib in the process). They are amazed. Khaled Valchek persuades Rumdoom to take part in a series of fundraising demonstrations in which he is flogged with a cat-o-ninetails until he manifests the Icy End. But it doesn’t take long before Rumdoom realises that Khaled is more interested in drumming up interest in his own business ventures (using eschatology as a front). Despite this, Rumdoom accepts Khaled’s offer of lodging in his mansion on North Shore, and Valchek reveals more about his plans to expand Black Star Mining beyond Risur and claims to have the support of the King.

At this point, Oolsholeel, the merfolk scout they rescued from the smugglers’ ship, arrives in Flint with a request from the town council of Saltmarsh to help oust a local tribe of lizardmen who have transgressed their boundaries and attacked local shipping. (Buffer adventure Danger at Dunwater.) These boundaries had been set by the fey, and so Oolsholeel, and a fey lord would accompany them on their mission. The fey lord in question is a belligerent pixie named Azure Lord Blackthorn.

Carnage ensues at the lizard man lair, making negotiations with the lizardmen difficult, once an impasse is eventually reached. It is during the early stages of this raid that the party find the Jade Idol, which radiates a disturbing power. The lizardman chief is a modernizer, counselled by a wise and and elderly minister. It emerges that the lizardmen have been ousted from their coastal home by sahuagin, who now send raiding parties into the swamp. The sahuagin are in pursuit of a Risuri man whose balloon crash-landed in the swamp, and now languishes in the lizardman prison:

Silas Fennac tells the unit that he is an associate of Black Star Mining, and was prospecting far to the south. Incredibly, he was able to make contact with the ‘Deep Ones’, mysterious masters of the sahuagin and was allowed to visit their underwater city. There, he strayed into areas he was not intended to see and learned that the Deep Ones were preparing for an invasion. So he stole the Jade Idol and fled, with the sahuagin in pursuit.

While the rest of the unit is tasked with slaying a dangerous crocodile that has plagued the tribe – in reparation for the number of warriors they have slain – Leon has a private audience with the elderly minister who greets the pseudodragon Rahu Ketu with great affection and claims to have raised and trained her. The minister asks Leon to take the Jade Idol and study it, but exacts a promise from him, on their shared pact with the fey entity Avagdu, that he will return it to the minister having done so. The minister reveals that he is wary of the idol and does not have the arcane knowledge to fully understand its purpose.

When they have dealt with the crocodile, the unit negotiates for Fennac’s release and escorts him back to Flint, having promised to return and help the tribe drive away the sahuagin. Azure Lord Blackthorn departs in disgust, unhappy at the unit’s decision to parley with the ‘savages’.

Back in Flint, the unit is joined by expert on the Deep Ones, Karl Krauss, whose eccentric reputation precedes him. Many years ago, he escaped imprisonment at their hands (and now believes that they control the upper echelons of Risur). He predicts that where the sahuagin go, the Deep Ones will not be far behind and agrees to accompany them on their mission.

Rumdoom takes part in more fundraisers (during which his Icy End manifestation is shown to be even more powerful). At one such meeting he encounters Hildegaard and Harn, a wealthy dwarven maiden and her father. Silas Fennac takes up residence in Valchek’s mansion, and Black Star Mining begins to lobby for action to be taken against the Sea Devil menace: His influence is such that a naval task force is put together to drive out the sahuagin once their strength and numbers have been established.

Leon learns that the idol is extremely powerful, and grants amazing powers of stealth and ease of passage to the wielder. But there is something seductive, even addictive, about its power.

Oolsholeel returns to Flint with the rituals needed to operate underwater, while Valchek supplies the group with a fast ship. Along with Krauss, seven marines from Saltmarsh, and an equal number of lizardman warriors, the group sets off to reconnoitre. (Buffer adventure the Final Enemy.)

They find that the lizardman lair has been hugely altered and a great gathering of forces is underway. Fighting their way in, with Krauss acting as guide, the strike-force eventually comes face-to-face with one of the sahuagin’s masters – a Deep One (or aboleth). It reveals that it has caused Krauss to lead them here, and that Krauss has been dominated by the Deep Ones since his long captivity. It says that they have no plans to invade, but have come in pursuit of Fennac and ‘what he stole’. The unit assumes it means the idol, but the aboleth dismisses that as a ‘mere toy’: they want Fennac’s notebook (which contains all of their secrets). It says they will leave if both Fennac and the notebook are returned to them. Overwhelmed, Krauss shoots himself in the head (though it later transpires that he has merely cauterized the part of his brain which the aboleth have used to dominate him).

Some of the group are held as collateral, while others teleport back to Flint and use the idol to steal Fennac’s notebook, leaving a note from the Kell Guild demanding ransom for its return. Fennac panics – the journal is his meal-ticket – and begs Rumdoom to accompany him to a meeting with the thieves, whereupon the unit kidnaps him and take him back through the teleportation portal. A screaming, pleading Fennac is handed over to the aboleth along with his notes, but before anything else can happen, a massive naval bombardment of the sahuagin lair begins. Having not heard from the unit, Valchek has given orders to destroy the sahuagin!

By the skin of their teeth, the strike-force escapes the devastation and returns on foot to the lizardman lair. There they are horrified to find that the tribe has been overwhelmed and captured by a group of Black Star Mining mercenaries led by Azure Lord Blackthorn. They are looking for the Jade Idol (which remains in Leon’s possession, a fact he does not reveal). The lizardman minister is nowhere to be found.

Livid with Valchek, Rumdoom refuses to help him against the Kell Guild (whom Valchek believes are responsible for Fennac’s disappearance). He leaves Valchek’s mansion, and will have nothing further to do with him. Valchek swiftly replaces him with half a dozen ‘avatars of the end’ who have been discovered throughout Risur. Rumdoom’s manifestations are far from unique, it turns out. Valchek’s publicity campaign rides on the success of the action against the sahuagin, and despite the loss of Fennac and his journal, the public of Flint (and Slate) are soon appraised of the threat the Deep Ones pose. During one furious exchange with Rumdoom, who has to explain his own failure to guard Fennac, Valchek reveals that opening up trade routes through the Cold Claw Sea is not his sole motive for assaulting the Deep Ones: Fennac’s lost journal confirmed that the Deep Ones have the Stone of Not, and use it to power their underwater citadel.

Despite this strained relationship, the unit decide that it would be in their best interests to link Black Star Mining up with the Family and between them they plan a hit on Lorcan Kell (who responds violently to all of Valchek’s demands, making no attempt to deny his involvement in Fennac’s kidnapping).

During Digging for Lies, another alien menace raises its ugly head. Unbeknownst to the players, the Deep Ones are inimical to the gidim, and the monstrous kraken-hydra that attacks the RNS Impossible at the end of the Snatchers in the Night encounter is in fact under aboleth control. Due to Leon’s possession of the Jade Idol, as soon as the group enters the waters near the sunken seal, the aboleth know they are there. When they come to investigate they sense the presence of a gidim and unleash the sea monster to sink the ship and kill it. Only Rumdoom’s heroic action, sacrificing himself to defeat the kraken-hydra, allows the unit to escape.

The team chases Sijhen back to Flint. An RHC audit sees the unit’s possession of the Jade Idol revealed, creating animosity between them and Khaled Valchek (who has contacts in the RHC). The idol is taken off them, and Valchek sues for its possession (but before it can be handed over Leon steals it back, during the chaos caused by Sijhen at RHC HQ).

At Rumdoom’s funeral Uru overhears Khoomrung talking sadly about Rumdoom, and how he had never known what really happened to his sweetheart Moraga. While Rumdoom was away at war, Valchek had made his move, for he had always coveted the fair dwarf maiden. When Rumdoom returned, and she chose him over Valchek, Valchek became enraged. He invited Moraga to his home and forced himself upon her. Moraga feared what would happen if she told Rumdoom, and over the next few months, her spirit broken, she pined away and died. Rumdoom had never known the truth of why she sickened so, and always believed that the child she carried when she died was his... (At this point the character of Valchek spilled over into pantomime villain. I am trying to think of a motivation for Khoomrung to have lied about this.) They also learn that Valchek is building a huge mercenary fleet to sail south and deal with the Deep One menace.

During the last act of Digging for Lies, Krazy Krauss is killed by the Thing from Beyond. Only then do the rest of the team visit his compound in Parity Lake and realise the true extent of his paranoia. He has a ‘conspiracy chart’ pinned to his wall which includes the King, Governor Stanfield, Lady Saxby and them! Under a tarpaulin they find a huge machine he was working on, but cannot work out what it is.

Meanwhile, a joint Black Star Mining / Family hit squad, including Azure Lord Blackthorn and a very reluctant Khoomrung Morkanstall, make their move on Lorcan Kell. They are subject to a double-cross and are defeated hand-to-hand by Kell himself. Kell blinds Khoomrung, and cuts off his hands and tongue, and sends him back to Valchek with a pair of pixie wings in a bag around his neck.

Between Digging for Lies and Always on Time, the unit cross over into the Dreaming. (Buffer adventure the Wrath of the River King.) To leave they need to secure the help of Tatzel, a green dragon who has survived the death of his brethren in Ber. Tatzel reveals that he was the lizardman minister Leon dealt with, in polymorphed form, and demands the return both of Rahu Ketu and the Jade Idol in return for his help. With great reluctance, and in accordance with the terms of his pact oath, Leon agrees.

Rumdoom is waiting for the unit when they leave the Dreaming, with a tale of being washed up on the shore of Ber, bereft of weapons and armour. He is a changed dwarf: gone is his fear of water, his manic-depression and alcoholism. Instead, he has an evangelical gleam in his eye and unexplained aquatic powers (which, oddly, no one bothers to question). Rumdoom visits Heward Sechim, and persuades him to fund a small meeting house in Bosum Strand which he hopes to build into an eschatologist group to rival that of Khaled Valchek, to whom Heward Sechim is strongly opposed. Two of his first devotees are the dwarf maiden Hildegaard and her wealthy father Harn. They have parted ways with Valchek already, and are overjoyed to see Rumdoom hs returned safe and well. To replace his lost arms and armour, Harn gifts Rumdoom with three family heirlooms: a shield, a hammer and a suit of armour, intricately etched with ancient Drakran runes.

At the beginning of Always on Time, the unit is aided by merfolk during a naval battle. The merfolk know of the Risuri plan to launch a mercenary fleet against the Deep Ones. They fear that this would be the equivalent of stirring up a hornets’ nest, and plead with the unit to intercede if possible (in return for their help disposing of the enemy vessels and their crew). The unit is only too happy to agree, though they are doubtful of their ability to help.

Later in the adventure, Rumdoom gets to meet Vlendham Heid, who has heard of Rumdoom and is fascinated by his manifestations. Through Vlendham, Rumdoom promises to aid half-orc businessman Damata Griento to avoid a bad ending. Rumdoom goes up against the Family and defeats them single-handed, cementing his private conviction that he cannot be killed. One survivor of the encounter – a dwarven clergy priest named Azon the Stoneforger – recognises the runes on Rumdoom’s blood-spattered armour. He tells Rumdoom that he is an adherent of eschatology too, and also well-versed in runic lore. But Rumdoom does not have time for lessons now – he needs to catch up with the others in Vendricce! And so Azon agrees to travel to Flint, arriving shortly after the group’s return.

Having been intercepted by a merfolk ambassador on their way home, the group is now determined to prevent the launch of the mercenary fleet. This forms the basis of their current buffer adventure. They have discovered that the fleet is partly funded by Pemberton Industries and has the tacit backing of the Risuri government.

Working with Azon, Rumdoom has learned all he can about runic lore. He also learned about the ancient runepriests who once guarded the fabled Stone of Not, which disappeared following a cataclysmic tidal wave thousands of years ago. Putting the clues together, they realise that the Deep Ones must have been responsible!

This brings us more or less up to date. The most recent developments are as follows:

Rumschatology has grown in popularity. Khoomrung Morkanstall has been rescued from the home Valchek has placed him in and a fundraising campaign is underway to restore him. Azon has succeeded in drawing Thered and Thangir away from Black Star Mining, along with Kvartiy Gobartiy. Rumdoom has learned the ways of the runepriest, and has also begun to investigate the compound of Krazy Krauss, fascinated by his connection to the aboleth.

Finally, Leon has discovered a revolting cult in the swamps near Pine Island, centred around an ancient cave, and a poor plaster copy of the Jade Idol.

 

[gideonpepys]

[MENTION=63]RangerWickett[/MENTION] - Quick question: Given the campaign world's disconnect from the rest of the universe/multiverse, whatever you want to call it, who or what would a star pact warlock derive his powers from?

I ask because Leon wants to dual pact in paragon, and I'd like to work that into the storyline somehow. (Some entity inimical to both the gidim and the aboleth would work nicely.)

Please feel free to say 'dunno'. I'm only asking in case you have a suitable entity lurking in paragon/epic tier, but if not I'm happy to make something up.

 

[RangerWickett]

We have nothing planned for 'star pact'-y entities in epic tier, aside from the Gidim returning. And even then I've got only a vague "they show up and do bad stuff in either Ber or Danor" plan. Feel free to come up with something new.

 

[gideonpepys]

We have nothing planned for 'star pact'-y entities in epic tier, aside from the Gidim returning. And even then I've got only a vague "they show up and do bad stuff in either Ber or Danor" plan. Feel free to come up with something new.

That's great. Thanks, Ryan.