Corvis, City of Ghosts (A WitchFire Trilogy Story Hour)

[A2Z]

I've been very impressed with these adventures and decided to run them when my opportunity to DM came up. This will mark my first time DMing since high school (6 or 7 years ago) and my first time DMing 3E ever so it's a bit of a learning experience. We had our first session last Wednesday though and it went well. I'm looking forward to the next session.

Anyway, to get started I will introduce the players, who before the beginning of the adventure have never met.


Vallan Maelstrom - Male Dwarven Paladin 2: Vallan is a follower of the 13 dwarven fathers, the creators of the dwarven race. Strong and implacable, he and Ethradan provide the party with strength and muscle.

Ethradan - Male Elven Fighter 2: Shrouded in mystery, Ethradan is one of the rare elves of Ios. The race as a whole is shrouded in enigma and he is no exception. Claiming noble birth his reasons for leaving his homeland remain speculation, whether he fled in honor or dishonor remains to be seen. In the meantime he provides another strong sword arm to the party.

Lincon Abayam - Male Human Rogue 2: A quick and nimble wanderer, Lincon provides the group with much needed stealth and, when the situation demands it, cover fire from his bow. Close mouthed about his past he comes to Corvis in the employ of the caravan yet he may be seeking answers in the City of Ghosts.

Mericus - Male Human Wizard 2: Mericus is employed as a scribe at the cathedral in Corvis. His skills may prove useful to the group from time to time.


The Longest Night - Act One

Meetings

Our story opens in the city of Fellig along the border between Cygnar and Khador. Our PC's, Vallan, Lincon and Ethradan, have each been hired individually by Gunnar Wadock, a merchant headed for Corvis. Corvis is one of the largest cities in this area and a center of trade because of its location at the junction of two major rivers. Having never met before the heroes are set to guard the small caravan on the two-week journey to Corvis.

Ambush

On the last leg of the journey the caravan enters Widowers Wood, a swampy fog bound forest that needs to be crossed to reach the city. Getting the wagons through the mud and muck proves somewhat difficult when Lincon notices movement in the fog. Before he can warn anyone the lead horse screams in pain. Vallan, riding on the first wagon, is all too aware of what has happened; they've been ambushed. A spike trap has killed the horse and stopped the caravan. Scanning through the fog he sees small forms converging on the wagons. Ethradan at the back of the train is suddenly assailed by a number of goblin-like creatures. Lincon takes cover between the middle wagons and watches two more of the creatures start tugging one of the chests off the wagon.

Vallan takes action; while Gunnar attempts to cut loose the dead horse he engages one of the goblins. With one swing of his mighty axe he drops one of them, only to see two more emerge from the fog.

At the rear Ethradan has his hands full as a number of the goblins converge on the packhorses tied to the last wagon. Swinging his double bladed sword he kills one of the creatures and moves in to dispatch another.

Lincon takes aim at the goblins trying to make off with one of the chests. Killing one he moves to intercept the other only to see two more emerge from the fog. Taking a couple hits he has to pull back as the goblins pull the chest in to the swamp.

Back at the front of the train Vallan is making short work of the goblins when he notices a figure in the distance. It seems to be holding some sort of contraption that is causing the dense fog. Taking aim with his bow he fires off a shot and wounds the goblin, causing him to drop the machine.

Having dispatched the goblins at the rear Ethradan move to the next wagons where more of the creatures are pulling more chests off the wagons. Managing to kill a number of them and chase the others off without getting too hurt, he moves further along the wagons, checking for more bandits.

Lincon takes a few more shots at the goblins making off with the chest, wounding another. Vallan's bow manages to kill another and, seeing their numbers dwindling the goblins quickly run off.

Gunner is ecstatic that the PC's were able to drive off the goblins, swamp gobbers he calls them, off. However they can't rest yet. Gathering up the chests that were pulled off the wagons and pulling the horse's corpse off the path they manage to get the caravan back in order. Ethradan decides to grab the machine that the goblins had been using to make fog, thinking it could be worth something. Within short order the caravan is ready and they continue on their way.

Getting out of the swamp takes the rest of the day. The PC's warily watch the shadows for another ambush however the rest of the day proceeds without incident. Finally they emerge from the swampy forest, in the distance they can see Corvis, the city of ghosts.

(To be continued)

 

[Desdichado]

You all should have seen cowardly Lincoln hiding in the mud under the wagon, feverish and close to death from his pathetic exchange with the gobbers! Ethradan had a total of five notches added to his belt from this encounter alone, and we did manage to save all of the baggage in the train, something I will not fail to remind Gunnar Waddock of next time we meet.

I'm looking forward to the rest of this: this is actually only about a third or so of our session.

 

[Darklone]

Hmm

Though I didn't like that module too much ...

Nice so far. Josh, why don't you give a summary from the view of your char ?

 

[Desdichado]

Well, I would, but all the interesting stuff happened after we arrived in town. There, we kinda departed from the module and just wandered around town and developing our characters a bit. I'm waiting until we get a little more up to date on what happened in the first session, then I can step in and fill out stuff from my guy's point of view.

Or, Adam, do you want me to help update here? Second session tonight -- we're going to forget what happened before long... I'll talk to you tonight about it.

 

[A2Z]

The Longest Night - Act One

That's okay Josh, I've finaly gotten the rest done. Wow! I had no idea there'd be so much work in writing up a story hour. Well I hope someone besides myself gets some enjoyment out of this.

It's a good thing I got this done now. We play in a few hours and I really didn't want to get behind from the start. Well, here's the rest of our first session. Enjoy.


Arrival at the Church of Morrow

The sun is low in the sky as the caravan rides through the city gates. Gunnar has business at the Church of Morrow so he leads the train through the winding city streets and canals to the local cathedral. Arriving in the yard Gunner rushes in to the church, leaving the PC's to help the caravaners unload the chests.

Soon after Gunner exits the church with a grey haired man in the robes of a high priest of Morrow. Gunner introduces the man as Father Dumas, high priest of Corvis. He also tells the PC's that Dumas was impressed with their handling of the ambush and he would like to offer them some work. They express interest, and after they've finished unloading the churches packages from the wagons they collect their pay from Gunner. Having finished all their duties with the caravan they decide to find out how they can help the church.

Father Dumas leads them in to the church and tells them that all he can offer is room and board as pay. Having no place else to stay and having some time to waste the PC's accept. The priest then proceeds to explain his problem. It seems a number of parishioners have come to him in the past month. Each one has had the body of a family member stolen from their grave! He has been unsuccessful in enlisting the aid of the city watch with the local festival, The Longest Night, coming. Dumas believes the PC's are just what he needs to conduct a quite investigation of these events.

The PC's proceed to find out all they can from Father Dumas. Unfortunately he can't give them anything more than basic information.

(When I get home I will add in the information the PC's got from Dumas. I'm at work now and don't have it on me.)

[Edit: The information the PCs receive from Father Dumas consists of the names and locations of the bodies taken.

• The Sylva and Monsonata families had bodies taken from the northern graveyard.
• The Gadock family had a body taken from the family plot.
• A member of the Sunbright family was taken from the family tomb
• The Hopless and Burkett families had members stolen from the eastern boneyard just outside of the city
• The Fullet family lost someone from their farm]

During the interview Ethradan notices a young girl peaking around the corner of a doorframe. She quickly disappears when noticed. When he asks Father Dumas about the girls the group finds out that she is his niece. Her mother died years ago and he has taken care of her ever since. When the PCs press him for more information on her mother's death they find him very reluctant to discuss it further. All he will say is that her death was very tragic and it is not an event he wishes to dwell on.

Having given the group all the information he has Father Dumas then leads them to their rooms in the dormitory. Before he leaves them for the night the PCs get some information on the city so they can go out for the night. Armed with this information the group heads out for (where else!?) the seediest part of town, the waterfront.

A Night on the Town

They arrive at the docks as the sun is setting. Most of the workers are getting off work for the night. However they are treated to the sight of Steamjacks (large mechanical golems) finishing up some of the work moving crates into the warehouses and the like.

Choosing a likely tavern they see what they can find. Ethradan pulls up his hood and follows Lincon into the tavern (elves are a less than common sight in the lands of humans). Vallan stays behind the group and sticks near the door (while dwarves are more common than elves they still a rare sight). Moving towards the bar Lincon decides to strike up conversation with some of the locals. They are less than friendly to the stranger, although, once Ethradan joins Linc at the bar and flashes a gold coin to the bar keep they seem far more attentive to the pair. They are disappointed to find that no one around here has even heard of the grave robberies and after finishing their drinks decide to leave.

On exiting the establishment they notice a group of men leaving right after them. Seeing they've been spotted the group moves down the street in the opposite direction. The sun has set by now and the PCs see lamplighters making their way dawn the streets. Asking one of them for directions to the Quad (the area of town that Father Dumas had suggested they visit) they head towards the merchants district.

It's not long before they notice the previous group from the bar shadowing their trail. Ducking into an alley the group decides to make a stand. Lincon hides in the shadow of a doorway while the other two set themselves up in the center of the alley. It's not long before the thugs show up at the mouth of the alley. They are a little surprised to see the party prepared for battle but the leader doesn't let that faze him. Pointing out that the group is outnumbered he demands they hand over their money. They refuse and the leader orders his group to charge them.

The alley is narrow and only two people abreast can fit in. The first to enter Vallan's range is cut down viciously in one blow! All of a sudden none of the men seem too anxious to close with the foreigners.

Not to be denied a prize however, the leader continues to lead the group further into the alley. No one notices Lincon in the shadows. Stepping out as the group's leader passes by he strikes with his blade, severely wounding the man.

At the same moment Ethradan attacks his nearest target. Another bandit drops! Suddenly the alley is a mass of panicking figures running for the nearest exit, the group's leader stumbling along behind them clutching his side.

Proud of themselves the group decides to let them go, "they've learned their lesson", they think to themselves. Bandaging the wounded thugs (not wanting to have dead bodies on their hands with the watch around) they leave them to their fate and head off again for the Quad.

They arrive in the merchants quarter shortly and choosing an inn they sit down for a meal. Lincon presses the serving girl for information; unfortunately she knows nothing about the grave robberies. Discouraged by the lack of information they finally head back to the church and call it a night.

(To be continued)

 

[Desdichado]

Coming soon! Ethradan is crapped on (literally) by a crazy old man!

 

[A2Z]

I may get an update up before the end of the day, we'll see how much time I can find to work on it. We had no combat whatsoever this session. Unless of course you count the crazy old man. Lots of fun, though we were missing another player this time. Hopefully next week we'll have everyone there.

I was going to post this in my first post but I'll add it now. I'm not sure how much information I can post about the setting without stepping on copyright infringment so instead of writing out an overview of the setting I'll just direct people to the Iron Kingdoms site. There's a lot of good information there if anyone wants to find out a bit about the world. I can't wait till the setting book comes out though so I can get more.

 

[Desdichado]

Ehtradan of House Ivellios

OK, I didn't have time to post this last night because I was kinda tired, but here's a brief character summary of Ethradan, Scion of House Ivellios, Lord of the Northern Marches and last surviving member of the Household of Ivel, a god of the elves.

The city of Ivellios is dead. The god Ivel is no more. According to many, the entire race of the elves is doomed. From out of this ruin comes Ethradan, a curious fellow who never hesitates to assert his heritage, yet speaks no other word about his history. In truth, House Ivellios was always somewhat estranged from the rest of the world even before the crisis of the elves started. Because of his relative young age (born much later than the beginning of the crisis) few elves would even know if he truly is the Heir of House Ivellios or merely the assistant pig-keep. Since the city is in ruins and the inhabitants all dead, no one can really dispute his claim either. Something happened at Ivellios other than the gradual decay of the population: something horrible that winked out the existence of the House overnight. What that is, is anyone's guess. Even Ethradan doesn't know (unless the knowledge is buried deep in his subconscious.)

However, it has had a profound effect on the elven lad. He certainly can adopt the airs of a noble: in general, he is scornful and bemused by the humans he associates with in the Iron Kingdoms, and although he has a little more respect for the dwarves, he thinks them generally uncouth as well. At times, he can be diplomatic, but he rarely has the patience for protracted politeness. However, he takes genuine joy in tackling a foe in the mud, taking on guard duty for a caravan or doing other tasks that should be beneath him if they fit into his concept of "a worthy cause" or one that advances his self-interest.

Even more enigmatic is his reaction anytime he sees an elf. For some unknown reason, he has an innate hostility and hatred for other members of his race, percieving them all as traitors, wastrels and pathetic. His belief, which is still nascent in his consciousness, is that the future of the elven people is to abandon any hope of salvaging their gods or their culture and ennobling the human race. If he ever meets a half-elf (not likely given the setting) he will be startled and delighted, for that is sorta what he envisions for the future.

There are some hints that Ethradan isn't playing with a completely full bag of dice. He not only doesn't speak about what happened to House Ivellios, he genuinely doesn't seem to know, and he's not entirely sure of his claimed heritage. He seems to have little regard for his own life, laughing when engaged in combat, and -- although respectful of skill and not genuinely looking to die -- willing to take on fights he know he shouldn't be able to win. His reaction to other elves is certainly paranoid and probably partially delusional, but exactly what it is that he fears is unknown.

 

[Krellic]

Nice to see this adventure appear on the boards, I've got it, haven't run it as yet and may not get an opportunity too soon. I'll be interested in how it pans out - good luck!!!

 

[A2Z]

The Longest Night - Act One

The Investigation

The next morning finds Vallan rising early and, after grabbing some breakfast he decides to get an early start on the investigation on his own. Ethradan and Lincon are both nowhere to be found this morning. Seeking out Father Dumas he finds him in his study. In order to facilitate his search Dumas suggests a guide. Taking Vallan to the library he introduces Mericus, a scribe in the employ of the church. Mericus has been in Corvis a few months now and knows the city more than well enough to guide the dwarf in his investigation. After being given a talisman marking them as being on church business, and filling Mericus in on the robberies the two decide to set off for the Northern Graveyard, the closest of the sites.

Vallan manages to find Ethradan in the church courtyard and after introducing their new comrade the three set off for the graveyard.

The Northern Graveyard

The trip through the city is uneventful. Arriving at the graveyard they find it pretty quite. Wandering around a bit they come to a small stone building. Nocking on the door they are greeted by the graveyard caretaker, Gum Brocker. They proceed to question him about the robberies. Unfortunately he knows very little, he can tell them only that he found the graves the next morning dug open and missing bodies. He left them the way they were until someone finally came to investigate. That was a week ago. Mericus decides to take a closer look at the graves and finds that the caskets where forced open, whether by someone on the inside or outside is hard to determine.

Asking if anyone else might have seen anything they find out that the only other person working today is a young man named Dordris who is apparently worked on the east end of the graveyard. After looking over both graves, and finding discouragingly little, they decide to talk to Dordris.

As they are walking over to the other end of the graveyard they spot a man in the armor of a city guardsman standing over a grave. Deciding to speak with him they go over and introduce themselves. It turns out he is none other that the captain of the city guard himself, Julian Helstrom. The grave is his wife's who died three years ago. Introducing themselves as agents of Father Dumas, they ask him if the watch has any information about the robberies. Unfortunately, not having the man power to spare with the coming festival, the watch hasn't done any investigating and have nothing to help the heroes. Wishing them luck the captain makes his goodbyes and leaves the group.

Finally making their way to the other end of the graveyard they find Dordris (what else?) digging a grave. After a short series of questions they find out that Dordris didn't even find out about the robberies until later the next day when he came in for work. As far as he knows Gum Broker didn't do anything to disturb the site. Finding the man less than a wealth of knowledge the party decides to move on.

On the way out they pass Gum Broker, sitting on a bench with his lunch and a bottle of… something. Making comments along the lines of "tying one on a little early isn't he?" they chat with him a few minutes before leaving the graveyard.

Standing in the street they go over their somewhat meager findings and decide to head to the bone yard, outside the eastern gate of the city.

The Eastern Bone Yard

Making their way out of the city and through the small collection of homes and establishments belonging to the poorer folk who cannot afford to live in the city, the group travels a mile down the road to the bone yard. They find the place a muddy collection of randomly placed graves and markers with no attendant in sight.

The bone yard is where the poorest element of Corvis bury their dead. Unable to afford fancy markers and caskets the bodies are simply wrapped in shrouds and buried in a shallow grave with whatever can be found to mark the site. Searching this site is time consuming task but after a half hour the party comes upon a muddy hole in the ground. A small stone marker reads: Ham Hopliss. They've been lucky enough to find one of the graves they were looking for. That's as far as their luck takes them though. Apart from the hole in the ground there's not much else in there besides some scraps of cloth that must have once been a burial shroud. Deciding that the bone yard is a dead end the group chooses to head back to the church and see if they can find any information on the families of the stolen bodies.

A little ways down the road they notice a man near the path. Coming up to him they see a dirty old man, one who has certainly seen better days. Mericus calls him over, hoping he may know something useful. Reluctant at first he eventually comes to them when Mericus flashes a silver coin. Attempting to get information from him proves difficult though. The man is obviously mad and he responds to their questions with answers that are far more likely fabrications then truth. Apparently he'll say anything if it means he'll be given some coin.

Frustrated with the man Ethradan grabs him by the collar and attempts to threaten him. Screaming and kicking he manages to break free. Chasing him a short distance Ethradan tackles him to the ground. Covered in mud now he pulls up the man and drags him back to the group. Both Vallan and Mericus advocate realeasing him. "Obviously he knows nothing." they argue. Ethradan's not convinced and, adopting his most terrifying demeanor attempts to intimidate the little man. Apparently the sight of a white haired elven man with a two bladed sword strapped to his back yelling at him is a little much for the old man. Screaming in terror and trying to pull free the man loses all control of his… shall we say, faculties. Disgusted, Ethradan finally lets him go. The crazy man wastes no time getting out of there.

Not smelling very good at this point Ethradan is surprised when Mericus uses a minor spell to clean him up. Both Vallan and him were unaware that Mericus was anything more than a church scribe. As the dirt and muck fall away from Ethradan's clothing the group discuses their next stop. With the sun starting to set they decide to head back to the church and see if Father Dumas has any records on the families affected by the robberies.

Back at the church they find Father Dumas in his study again. Asked if the church would have any records on the families Father Dumas tells the group that he'll set one of the initiates to look in to it tomorrow. Tired after the long, and somewhat fruitless day, Vallan and Ethradan decide to head to bed. Mericus decides to do some research in the library. Searching through the library's tomes he tries to find out if the coming festival of the Longest Night (a lunar eclipse) might have any bearing on the grave robberies. After a few hours work he is forced to conclude that there is really nothing to support his theory. Feeling tired, he heads to bed.

(To be continued)