Staf opens the door to the room with the machine where the two jaguars are located. He positions himself in the doorway so the others can attack from a distance. Our fighter takes some more damage, and Kane has to keep him on his feet with healing magic, but we win the fight.
In a back room, we find bandages. Ayleen examines the machine, which is still warm—it has been active recently. Several pipes are warped, but Ayleen repairs them with
mending and restarts the machine. It runs normally. When Ayleen turns the corner, she is surprised by a kind of shower of radiant water. Perhaps a control mechanism for the jaguars?
Downstairs, the pressure on the pipes has not decreased. In a back room there are still numerous levers and gauges. Ayleen studies them. Here too, one can control pressure and pumping speed, but currently no pumps are active. Ayleen activates the pump leading downwards, and we hear liquid flowing. Raising the setting increases the flow. In the other pipe, the one leading upwards, where oil had previously been gushing, the pressure gradually decreases. A few minutes later, the level of oil in the flooded rooms also starts to drop. Only the faucet continues to spray, and it does so even when we set the lever to “off.” We switch it back on and let the faucet flow slowly.
Ayleen goes to the faucet; from the back it is not connected to anything, resembling a black void. The faucet itself is not broken. With arcana, Ayleen manages to close the void. The oil continues to recede. We succeeded! While we wait, we investigate the corpse of agent X and the rest of the complex. It is clear more people have been active here recently.
When we want to leave, Kane removes his amulet at the bottom of the stairs. He is immediately and forcefully pushed out of the dimension. We return to our own dimension. Staf goes back briefly to retrieve his maul, but it is completely rusted. He does not throw it away, fortunately, because later he will discover that his weapon now also deals necrotic damage!
When we look at the front of the villa, we see that Macbannin has already been taken away. At the time we entered the house, our colleagues saw five people leaving from the back.
We return to the RHC, bringing the bodies of the gardeners and of X. The earthquake was felt in the city, but the fault line did not extend here. Macbannin has been imprisoned in the courthouse. Tomorrow we must also go there—we will have to present our account to the judge. The chief has filed the necessary paperwork for a reward for us: 500 gp or a wand. Available wands include magic missile, grease, burning hands, enfeeblement, secrets, invisibility, guiding bolt, jump, web, detect magic, and fear. Only Sarïa chooses the wand of invisibility; the rest take gold.
--Players get to level 4 --
Kane goes into the basement and speaks with the dead Kell gang member.
- What is the nature of your cooperation with Creed and Macbannin?
We get paid when we do what the boss says.
- What is the nature of the boss’s cooperation with that organization?
We don’t know. We were sent there.
- Who else do you know from Creed and Macbannin’s organization?
What organization?
- Where and when is Kell at his most vulnerable?
He is untouchable.
- How many people work in Kell’s organization?
More than a hundred.
After lunch, we return to Macbannin’s villa for further investigation. Macbannin has many archaeological objects dating from before the age of Risur, several thousand years old—Felix estimates six to seven thousand—and extremely valuable. They originate from the time of “The Ancients,” a civilization that lived here before the Eladrin.
There are also ledgers with records of suspiciously large financial transactions. We also find books on necromancy and witchcraft. In Creed’s room we find nothing; the space is perfectly tidy. We collect much evidence.
That evening, Ayleen visits LeBrix to learn how to make a
vendetta bullet.
16 Spring 500 AOV
That night, Staf commissions a fancy suit. True to Overflorijn style, he spends far too much money on it.
Liana Orelis is the judge we are summoned before at the courthouse. She used to be a well-known lawyer, often handling corruption cases, and comes from a merchant family in Flint. She has a reputation as a tough woman.
We meet her in a large hall where others are also present, including the governor. The intention is for us to question Macbannin. He has a halfling lawyer, Mr. Consor Underheart. Suddenly, a guard rushes in, distressed: Macbannin has committed suicide in his cell. We follow the guard downstairs. Macbannin lies on the ground, blood smeared on the wall, his head shattered. Alongside the smell of blood, there is also the scent of Nicodemus. The guard says Macbannin had been talking to himself. Then he requested a specific Nicodemus cigar. The guards bought one (though not exactly the one he asked for). Macbannin smoked it—his mouth still smells of smoke, though his teeth are not stained as with a frequent cigar smoker. The stub lies on the ground. Ten minutes later, when the guards came to bring him upstairs, they found him dead.
The cell is secured against magic, so an invisible intruder cannot have entered—such a person would have become visible and could not have passed through the door magically. The guards confirmed that in those ten minutes, no one entered or exited physically.
A spirit could be possible. Was Macbannin possessed? During the initial questioning the previous evening, it became clear that he sometimes simply could not speak, as though his tongue were cut off whenever he tried to say certain things. Was he magically compelled to silence? It seemed he was forced not to talk.
The judge suggests that
raise dead could be an option, but this is not a simple procedure and cannot be arranged quickly. Given the death of the witness, the hearing cannot proceed at this time. The judge cannot do much more for us, but we do inform her that we have gathered a large amount of evidence.
