Greyhawk Dies Screaming! (Orcus-themed Scales of War; Shadow Rift of the Umbra Forge)

[Pour]

This campaign started with Keep on the Shadowfell, largely altered to include a dragon faction subplot and build up to the Free City of Greyhawk, whose six session summaries can be found here.

I thought it best to start a new thread based on this second chapter of the campaign.

I considered buying Thunderspire Labyrinth, but since I had a subscription to DDI, I decided to jump into The Scales of War adventure path with an Orcus theme. We begin with the level 4 SoW adventure, Shadow Rift of the Umbra Forge.

Before getting into it, the cast of player characters is as follows:

• Mike the Mystic, Half-Elf Wizard
• Solux, Tiefling Warlock
• Nahte, Elf Archer Ranger
• Kildain, Dwarf Cleric of Tiamat
• Ruhiel, Tiefling Warlord
• Hossler, Human Fighter (new addition)
• Brugagh, Half-Orc Barbarian (formerly Draxis)
• Velasong, Shifter Bard (new addition, first girl!)

Session 7: A Darkening Future

The Mission
Under the breathtaking vaults of The Cathedral of the Ten, in the offices of High Father Ohgma, old friend and new Inquisitors gathered for a mission of utmost importance to The Great Church. Kalarel was only the beginning, one of many cult leaders spread across the frontiers of the Nentir Vale and regions of Greyhawk. Though the group managed to close the shadow rift beneath the ancient Keep near Winterhaven, others are being opened across the map.

This puzzles the church since the group made sure to spread the Three Scriptures of Orcus, which are needed to pull the dark demon god into the world. Rumor spread of other dark lords attempting to breech the veil of worlds, or discover some other way in which to bring about Orcus's apocalyptic arrival.

The only lead the church has is a brass key found on the intercepted and slain body of a dark creeper, a foul and twisted halfling native to Orcus's throneplane known as the Shadowfell. Father Ohgma gave the key to the group and charged them with finding the importance of the key, for surely it would unlock the larger plots now working in Greyhawk.

In Search of Truth
The group departed the cathedral and struck out into the vast city of Greyhawk, largest and most powerful in all the continent of Flanaess. A daunting task, to be sure, Solux decided to begin at the inns, rumor mills and hubs of information about anything and everything.

The first inn, The Hairy Ape, was a seedy joint run by a greasy man named Quegod. Quite willing to talk, all he seemed to know about was the exploits of Magnificent Mike the Mystic, Crusher of Death Cults and Savior of Winterhaven... and friends... who defeated Kalarel far to the northwest. Some in the group who were present during Mike's heroic exploits thought to set the story straight, but Quegod wouldn't hear it. How twisted truth can become when passed across a few hundred miles...

The next inn tried was The Aloof Puffin, a much finer establishment of rich woods and deep, purple velvets, with a decidedly Wuxian (Chinese) style. Though many in the group were outwardly frowned upon, enough flashed coin purses and mention of knowing Mike the Mystic had the Puffin's owner, Madame Wu, quite willing to serve them. However before she was willing to part with any information, she insisted on a fifty gold coin downpayment, which Hossler gave without much thought.

Next she invited them to a large table and went to fetch some fine wine, a tall red. Pouring everyone a glass, they said a toast to Mike the Mystic (knowing Madame Wu was in love with the local celebrity) and drank. The warlord nearly choked. Another round was poured, this one apparently hitting home as it knocked Ruhiel and Kildain out cold. Madame Wu stared dumbfounded before fetching something stronger, looking black and syrupy in a bottle like a squatting dwarf. She poured another round, asking 5gp from everyone for the rare spirits, and drank. This time the shifter was sent diving into drunkeness. Another round later and the half-orc was babbling nonsense. The slurring warlock and sellsword were all that was left.

Before Hossler forgot how to speak, he pulled out the brass key and asked if she knew anything about it. The middle-aged Wuxian shook examined it a moment and got up, saying she'd be back and taking their only clue into the kitchen. Hossler leaped up to follow, but tripped on the dwarf and fell into the table, breaking it in half. The well-to-do customers at other tables gave their looks, to which the drunk sellsword gave them his. They quickly went back to hiding behind their drinks and menus.

The stumbling warlock managed to follow Madame Wu despite the ruckus, watching as she gave the key to her chef. He gave it a once over and left through the back door! The warlock ran to the group and explained what had happened. Hossler leaped up, even as Madame Wu entered to intercept him. Demanding to know why she'd given the key away, she crumpled and began to cry, saying she was sorry over and over again.

Serving Up an Order of PAIN
Velasong went about detoxifying the group, while Hossler barreled out the back door and down the alleyway after this fleeing chef. In a burst of athletic prowess, he soared through the air and tackled the measily cook. The key leapt from his hands and bounced, bounced, bounced around the corner...

Hossler walked around and picked it up. Then he broke the chef's face, knocking him clean out. The rest of the group caught up and the shifter's majestic word healed him in full. Waking slowly, he let out a scream as the half-orc's ugly mug was pressed close and growling. He stammered his name, Biol. Between Hossler, a broken finger, Brugagh, and another broken finger, Biol divulged someone named Modra was also looking for the key and they he'd pay handsomely down at the wharfs, warehouse 32.

Hossler crushed the man's face a second time and stripped him (minus the crapped pants). Dawning the effects of a chef, he handed over his fullblade to Brugagh and decided to go undercover. The rest followed at far enough a distance to see him, but not so close as to draw suspicion, and so they went down to the wharfs and warehouse 32.

However it seemd Brugagh, Ruhiel and especially Velasong were still drunk, kicking up enough noise and even waving so as to perfectly blow Hossler's cover. He examined the open street only to find a multitude of crates, sacks and barrels... and one horse. He stole the rations from its saddlebags and wandered for the warehouse door.

Revenge!
Disguise seemed not to matter, though, as a familiar voice demanded the key from behind the majority of the group. It was the Vengeful Pirate! The only survivor of the Burial Site battle, he'd vowed revenge, and so it was that vengeance was nye. He and a hulking human berzerker charged, even as the pirate whistled up for a few of his mates that had been waiting in ambush at the other end of the alleyway. A pirate, a berzerker, three bodyguards and a mage. Easy as goblin pie... right?

Not so much. The stunning prowess of the berzerker, coupled with the force of numbers coming from behind the group, sandwiched them into a tight and desperate spot. Ruhiel nearly died if not for the healing power of Kildain, only to die not long after thanks to the twain-cleaving axe of the berzerker, who roared his name with every kill, the name of Greevang. Poor Solux was the next to die, knocked unconscious thanks to the charging wall of guarded. Once helpless, one of them dragged his halberd over the cobblestone, drawing up sparks and severing the tieflings head! Not long after Brugagh met his maker, Greevang cutting the barbarian in half at the waist. Hossler was barely standing and it was looking grim.

Though they did manage to kill the damned Pirate, they also decided their best option was retreat. Picking pieces of their fallen friends enough to raise dead, Velasong, Kildain and Hossler ran from the roars of Greevang and the commands of the backline mage, who instructed them to clean up the bodies before the watch came and to get that key!

Raising Dead
Fearing going back to The Cathedral of the Ten in such ruinous defeat, having gotten the vibe from High Father Ohgma that failure was unacceptable, the bard and cleric racked their brains for another solution. Their combined knowledge revealed two other alternative religious outlets in the city, The Cult of Tiamat (which the dwarf would be welcomed with open arms) and The Church of the Nine Hells. Though Velasong was certain she could trace her way to either hidden locale with minimal effort, the three ultimately decided to have Hossler, an observer of Kord, take the bodies to the High Father of Kord and hope Ohgma didn't find out. Such rituals for three people would take a full twenty-four hours...

And so Velasong and Kildain decided to continue their investigation of the key and the one called Modra, pressing on to The Inn of the Impromptu Penguin. The shifter innkeeper took a shine to Velasong and ended up revealing some very juicy information, that the dark creepers were in fact arms dealers, pushing high-quality and even magic weapons and armor around the city. Yet no one knew where they were getting their wares from, who they were selling them to or how they were dealing them under the noses of the competant authorities of Greyhawk.

The Warrior's Guild
Kildain decided them needed more help and went to The Warrior's Guild of Greyhawk, having respected Captain Ron back in Winterhaven (who was a member of this continental guild of warriors). It was wellknown the Greyhawk Regulars were the premiere fighting force of Flanaess, without doubt the best soldiers. Their headquarters were situated in The Grand Collesium, one of the largest buildings in the city. In the open pit dozens and dozens of warriors sparred, and below even more slept, ate and went about the inner workings of their order. Kildain made his way through the shallow rings of the guild until he came to a dwarf drinking by his lonesome amidst the weapon racks.

Hud was his name, and beastmaster ranger his calling. Missing an ear, he fit perfectly the image of his stout, grizzled people. He and Kildain went back and forth, swapping information and some rather awkward banter (Kildain accidentally propositioned Hud for sex about three different times during the conversation), until which point Hud offered his services for a mere 10 gold a day. The cleric agreed, despite the ranger's sudden thought to increase the easily-achieved price. He promised he and his pet would be ready to work tomorrow.

The Gold Dragon
That night, Kildain and Velasong slept at the most famous inn in Greyhawk. The Gold Dragon was legendary for launching the most famouse adventuring parties on quests that fast became legend. The owner and innkeeper was one such legend, Bigby, who had long-since retired from certain death and realm-wide politics to live a simple life as master of the house. For a mere 5 sp, he allowed Velasong and Kildain room and board, amidst a large quantity of other adventurers, mostly independents without the mission or resources of something like The Great Church backing them.

Regrouped
Twenty-four hours later, in the afternoon, Hud and his trike hatchling pet in tow, Kildain and Velasong returned to the cathedral and met Hossler with the revived warlock, barbarian and warlord. However, Ohgma was all too well aware of what had transpired and demanded to see them. The group was in for a real reeming as the High Father angrily expressed his shame, embarassment and fury over his Inquisitors fairing so poorly. He kicked them out of the cathedral with a cruel ultimatum, uncover the meaning of the key and prevent whatever evil its linked to, or they'd all end up wishing they were dead.


Experience: 200 xp (3950 total)
Money: -55 gp (Hossler), -5gp from everyone, -5sp (Velasong and Kildain), -10gp/day (Kildain)
Loot: The Brass Key (given by Father Ohgma and "key" to the hidden plots of the Shadowfell in Greyhawk), chef's outfit and utensils (Hossler)
Magic: None

NPCs:
High Father Ohgma, Head Priest of Melora at The Catherdral of the Ten (HQ for Great Church)
Quegod, Human Innkeeper of The Hairy Ape
Madame Wu, Human Owner of The Aloof Puffin
Chef Biol, Human Chef of The Aloof Penguin
Vengeful Pirate, Human Pirate from the Burial Site back near Winterhaven (dead)
Greevang , Human Berzerker that killed Ruhiel and Brugagh
High Father Hextor, Head Priest of Kord at The Cathedral of the Ten
Tergander, Shifter Innkeeper of The Impromptu Penguin
Bigby, Human Innkeeper of The Gold Dragon

Open Quests:
1. Uncover the importance of The Brass Key (who wants it and why, given by Father Ohgma)

• The key is sought after by someone called Modra, willing to pay a high price to anyone who brings it to the wharfs, specifically warehouse 32. (Chef Biol)

2. How are dark creepers forging, dealing and transporting weapons and armor under the notice of normal city security (followup quest, important to The Great Church)

Completed Quests
1. Uncover why dark creepers are out of the Shadowfell (important to The Great Church)

• Dark creepers are dealing high-quality and magical arms and equipment to the darker organizations of Greyhawk and the surrounding regions. It is unknown where these weapons and armor come from, who makes them, or how they're transporting them in and out of the highly-secure city and region. (Tergander)

 

[Pour]

OOC: A new player and our second girl, Lia the Elven Druid!


Sunday, June 14, 2009

Session 8: Shadow Hunt

The Cast: Manfred, Velasong, Solux, Brugagh, Ruhiel and Lia

The Return of Mike... err Manfred
It was true that Mike the Mystic was a local celebrity and pride of The Great Church. However, his reputation proceeded him, nay overshadowed him, for when the church sent him on a mission of utmost importance and which pitted him against the likes of a Pyramid of Shadows, he screwed up royally. Truth be told, he couldn't even find the entrance to the place.

Defeated, he was summoned back to The Cathedral of the Ten where he got the berating of a lifetime by the merciless Father Oghma, fresh off reaming the group out for their incompetence in the alley. At that point Mike the Mystic was demoted and his true name revealed. Manfred! Oh, the humanity...

Meeting former companions and new on the steps of the Cathedral, Manfred tried to save some face by adding the oh so subtle title of Monster Cock to the end of his name. Few were convinced...

Regardless, the beloved wizard had returned to help aid the Inquisitors on their most important mission yet:Find Mm.... Mahh.... to find Mooooderrr... to find the guy looking for the key.

Lia
But Father Oghma wasn't so sure he'd put the right Inquisitors on the job. Mother Mirabella, high priestess of the Melora, eased his worries by sending one of her up and coming pupils to watch over Manfred and the others. Lia the elven druid tentatively agreed, having overheard enough title proclaiming on the church steps to wonder if this wasn't a suicide mission...

Word on the Streets
Velasong, having already proven herself incredibly street wise, did so again, rubbing shoulders with bar goers, pressing her connections on the street corners, and otherwise working her budding information network. Word took the group to Tradetown, a depressed district of shoddy tenements and forgotten warehouses, where the poor mixed with the refuse left on the street. It smelled of horse dung and stewed laundry.

Cheap Beer
The group was told to find a guy named Gurdle, who knew quite a bit about Tradetown from his years of making it home. They found him while happening down a street crossed and crisscrossed with laden laundry wires.

He was a "pretty" dwarf, truly a handsome guy for his species, down on his luck and peddling cheap beer from a stand. A round cost a silver piece, quite a lot to him though laughable to the well-paid Inquisitors. It wasn't even worth it, the brew tasting of dirty drawers. However, resolved to get on his good side, Solux did a masterful job of faking his taste for the stuff. Meanwhile, the druid nearly wretched and Ruhiel might have even gotten slightly tipsy.

The warlord bought another, then another, suffering for the sake of information. The group eventually found out, through no help from Manfred's sexual advances, that Modra had passed through the neighborhood and often frequented The Happy Beggar Poorhouse. Gurdle also noted that Modra looked kind of sick for a halfling, pale and hunched.

The Happy Beggar
A few blocks down, the group came upon the Poorhouse, looking as down and depressed as its intended patrons. Fading whitewash masked splintering wood, a sinking roof with missing shingles, and landscaping which consisted of wild weed patches. Still, it was somewhere for the poor to go for meals and watery mead, thus making it well-populated.

Entering, the group found around two dozen poor souls with their faces in their mugs or in their meals, barely mustering the energy to sustain life. It was a sorry sight, but the gloom was balanced by the sudden cheerfulness of an older, heavy man limping down the stairs. His name was Prashant, owner of the Poorhouse, who welcomed the group inside for meals and devotions. Apparently he was a religious type, one who often and randomly began singing gospel. His wife Ausma was equally so, feeding wood to the wood stove behind a counter, humming and smiling.

Beating Up Old Folks
Manfred immediately went to the wife, intent for gleaning information about Modra. He put the moves on her with such skill that she grabbed him by the collar and tore him over the counter and onto the floor. That happy act was apparently a secret cry for help, as she was slave to an unhappy marriage. But Manfred would make it all okay, she knew, as she gave into passion with the young half-elf.

But Manfred really just wanted to cuddle is all, somewhat skeeved by the heavy, older woman grinding on him so. Still, one had to make sacrifices, and so he let her have her way whilst questioning her beyond the sight of the others.

Unfortunately, her husband Prashant saw his wife's outburst and looked ready to make Manfred pay. The rest of the group decided to jump Prashant and knock him out cold. They dragged the old man to a table and propped him like one of the passed-out patrons. And once Manfred learned that the old beggar in the corner was just asking about Modra, he knocked her out and propped her next to her husband.An Unhappy Beggar
The patrons hardly noticed a thing, except for that one beggar in the corner, who laughed histerically as the group approached him. His name was Bernat and Modra owed him money. He didn't want the money anymore, but the little bastard's head. He confirmed Modra was indeed a dark creeper, and a shadowy little liar, too. The group shouldn't trust Modra at all, despite what deal he might try to make. Just take his head and bring it back to him. The group didn't have a problem with that.

Cellar Secrets
A highly accute sense of perception revealed muddy footprints as of yet uncleaned leading from the front door into the kitchen. Cautious of cooks, the group sent Lia in the form of a gnat to investigate. She found three volunteers stirring soup suspiciously, but also that the trail led to a boarded-up cellar door. Slipping through a crack in the cellar door, she found a storeroom with a collapsed cieling... though there might have been a narrow passage leading down...
Reporting her findings to the rest, they exploded into the kitchen ready to fight. The three volunteers dropped their spoons and ran out the back door. The boards over the cellar were loose enough to pry off barehanded and they entered inside. It looked like a dead end, but Lia, being an expert of rocks, realized that the pile of rubble was in fact NOT a pile of rubble, but a carefully stacked pyramid meant to LOOK like rubble. Manfred used his mage hand to clear it all away and the group carefully crept down a steep, crumbling slope into pitch black.

Bats!
Brugagh went first, the most athletic of all of them, and slipped on the first stone, sailing head first into the unknown and crashing with such a clatter it woke a multitude of shrieking bats. Manfred followed just after, suffering a similar falling fate, as did Ruhiel, as did Lia, as did Velasong. Solux muttered under his breath, actually taking his time down the narrow passage and landing safely on his feet.

However the noise had been far too great and four great beasts soared in the darkness for the blind group. The warlock fired, missing but illuminating the cavern long enough to see four giant bats with messes of fangs for faces. They tore into the group, but once Manfred cast his light spell, the beasts were weakened and death came soon after, death involving eldritch blasts, thorn whips, ice spells, catchy tunes and good old steel.

Don't Get to Close to the... yeah...
Manfred's light spell also revealed a collection of over-sized fungi like warped, green mushrooms, which collected on the edge of a cliff. As Lia went about identifying the fungi as Doomspore, Brugagh accidentally wandered too close, provoking a mushroom into spewing a nasty yellow spore cloud in his face. The poisoned half-orc coughed and stumbled back, even as the rest of the group backed away from him. Of course Velasong eventually took pity on him, inspiring him to cough it all up and out of his system with a few slaps on the back and a dirty limerick or two.

While the warlock readied a fire spell, the druid warned it would create a gigantic cloud of poison fumes. Leave it to the wizard to leap to the forefront, casting his icy terrain to crystallize the fungi and render it powerless... and slippery... Yet the ice hardly hampered the Inquisitors at all as they threw ropes over the edge and performed all manner of impressive acrobatic feats to get down... all but the poor druid who, so distracted by the sweating limestone formations, slipped and fell.

Manfred demanded they look for loot before moving on, but all the group could find was bat guano, ankle-deep at the bottom of the cave. Everyone cringed as the wizard ordered them to pocket and pouch the stuff, which was, among other things, excellent fertilizer, and could be used to make a nasty stink bomb. Six pouches were filled before everyone got fed up and moved on.

The Inventory
A savage howl welcomed them to bottom of a stairwell carved into the stone, one which emptied into a dilapidated temple. Now it was converted into nothing more than a storeroom, barrels and crates of weapons heaped into every corner. Though the place looked half-crumbling, it hardly deterred three dark creepers and an ashen-skinned witch, what the knowledgeable recognized as a shadar'kai, from taking inventory. Two shadow hounds rested in an open cage, pets and guardians.

Manfred used his mage hand to close and lock the dogs in their cage, which drove them nuts. The busy Shadowfellians hardly took note as they continued their counts and stock of the arms. The group surprised them then, Solux blasting the witch against the back wall with an explosion of alien-born black tentacles. Ruhiel followed with a charge, cutting across her midsection so as to speed her toward a Bloody Ending.

Staggered, she summoned a cloud of darkness and fired a bolt for the bard. The wizard countered the witch's cloud with his trademark light cantrip, revealing her once more for a barrage of attacks that brought her to her knees. She surrendered, allowing the group to turn their attentions on the creepers.

One didn't have a chance, leashed by a thorn whip and flung through an open portal in the center of the room. The other fell between a combination of bard's blade and druid-turned-Dire-Chipmunk. A traditionally cute woodland critter became giant and deadly... and then there was one, who threw down his sword and surrendered.

During the massacre of the creepers, the witch thought to escape by turning insubstantial and flying for the next chamber, but Manfred froze her in her steps. Then began the questioning...

Torture, Torture, Kill, Kill
Inquisitors by name, the group became so in action, beating and torturing the surrendered creeper for information. He revealed Modra was in the next chamber and that the Brass Key was the only way to unlock a gate into the Shadowfell, which also rested in the next chamber. He also revealed that Modra was weak against radiant light. No longer of use, the Inquisitors executed him to the savage chantings of the bard as she called for his head.

Velasong revived the witch and then began her questioning. Flustered and frightened, she offered the same information the creeper had given. The group threatened her life if she didn't tell them more, provoking the witch into spilling juicier morsels. Modra was on the run from his former master Sarshan because the creeper's side business was threatening the secrecy of a much more important arms deal. Modra could also command ghosts.

When Manfred began making his usual sexual advances on the helpless witch, she grew irate and cut her own throat with a sharpened nail before the wizard could ravage her.

Shut Those Dogs Up!
The Inquisitors moved for the next and presumably final chamber, but the dogs began to bark furiously after the killing of their mistress. Solux roasted them alive, tired of their barking anyway, and the group continued on in blissful silence.

Kill vs. Word of Friendship?
They found Modra banging frantically against a large, black archway with swirling, repellent, force inside it. He cried all the while, "Let me in, damn it! Let me in! Master's nearly found me! Let me in!"

He turned suddenly, scared witless by the appearance of the group. He asked if they were sent by Sarshan, which the Inquisitors cruelly said they were. This only frightened the dark creeper more. He begged a deal, offering them money, magic and anything else they wanted. The group debated what to do, remembering Bernat's warning.

Lia used her whip to drag the creeper closer, but Velasong wanted to try a different approach, much to the anger of Solux. The two had it out in the middle of the chamber, giving Modra enough time to conjure five wraiths. Eventually Velasong offered a diplomatic hand in friendship which tricked the creeper closer AND convinced him to offer the deal once more.

Agreeing to make a pact, if only to get Modra even closer for an attack, the two parties began hammering out the finer details of the arrangement. They would go and get the key if he came with them to the surface, but the dark creeper demanded they leave someone with his wraiths in case this was a trap. It went back and forth until Manfred stepped forward, looking like he would stay. However, once Modra was close enough the wizard blasted him with a sleep spell. Two of the wraiths appeared to deflate and fall to the floor, but the resilient creeper cried foul and attacked.

Manfred managed to erect his guardian blades, even as Brugagh became a maelstrom of steel and cut down both incapacitated wraiths. Spells were hurled and songs sung, steel flashed and dire radiances burned as the remaining ghosts swooped in. Modra tried to run through the group for the exit, desperate and crazed, but the Inquisitors made him pay every step of the way until he was nearly spent. Almost to the door, Lia directed the pin pointing pain of a small tornado on top of the creeper, tearing him apart and swallowing the wraiths up in the process. In a gale the lot of them were destroyed, leaving a victorious party and a dark gate.

Always the Heads...
Velasong collected Modra's head, Kildain (and perhaps the evil of Tiamat) obviously having rubbed off on her since their time together at The Golden Dragon.

Ruhiel inspected the gateway more closely. He found through exceptional historical scholarship that this gate led to a Shadowfell outpost called Umbraforge, a planar meeting ground for mercenaries of all kinds, and more so a great forge and foundry powered by a violent volcano. Its leader was Sarshan, Modra's former master and the darker force working at large.

You will be Kings
The group took Modra's head back upstairs, only to find the entire Poorhouse empty but for the expectant beggar in the corner. He began to laugh and clap on sight of the head, even as it was tossed onto the table in front of him.

"Oh, Modra... Modra, Modra, Mondra...," He laughed, planting a wet kiss on the creeper's lips and kicking the head into a corner.

Bernat began to change, growing taller and more muscular, his black hair knotting into dreadlocks and extending down to his waist, his skin coloring to ash and his eyes flooding black as spilled ink. This was Sarshan, Lord of Umbraforge!

The half-orc in his brutish directness asked what reward Sarshan offered for Modra's death, to which the shadar'kai arms dealer proclaimed, "Come with me and you will all be kings!"

Manfred's keen perception assured the group Sarshan was sincere and they followed him out into the city. Thusthe group opted to infiltrate Sarshan's operation at Umbraforge, deep in the Shadowfell where the demon god Orcus is worshiped as supreme, to uncover just what this larger, more important and more secretive deal was.

Sarshan bought the group darkly-colored horses from the best stable in the city. Like an oncoming storm they rode, Sarshan in the lead, out of Greyhawk and to a place known by many as The Black Hills. There a cairn circle of strange, black stones stood. Having always been a mystery, it was not surprising now that shadar'kai witches hid in its shadows. On Sarshan's behest, they began a ritual to transport all within the circle... to the Shadowfell!


Experience: 679 xp each (4629 total)
Money: +200 gp each, -1 gp, 1sp and 4 copper (Ruhiel)
Loot: 6 pouches of bat guano, 2 black garments (dark creepers), 10 daggers (dark creepers), black coat (Modra), Chainmail (Modra), 6 darkly-colored horses
Magic: Witchleather Armor (Shadar'kai Witch), Modra's Blade "Gambler" (Modra), The Brass Key (Ruhiel)

New NPCs:
Gurdle, dwarven peddler of cheap beer in Tradetown
Prashant, owner of The Happy Beggar Poorhouse
Ausma, Prashant's wife and head server of The Happy Beggar Poorhouse
Bernat/Sarshan, an old beggar whose true identity was that of the infamous shadar'kai arms dealer Sarshan
Modra, a renegade dark creeper who tried to make some extra coin peddling weapons to Greyhawk's underbelly and who drew the ire of his master Sarshan [dead]


Open Quests:
1. What important arms deal is Sarshan involved in? (follow up quest, important to The Great Church, Greyhawk and perhaps the whole world)

• Modra was dealing weapons on the side for his own gain, which jeopardized the secrecy of his master Sarshan's larger and much more important operation (tortured witch)
• Considering word that new death cults are popping up in the region and the fact Sarshan is a native of the Shadowfell, there is a good bet his deal has something to do with the demon god (going off Father Ohgma's information)

Completed Quests:
1. Uncover the importance of The Brass Key (who wants it and why, given by Father Ohgma)

• The key is sought after by someone called Modra, willing to pay a high price to anyone who brings it to the wharfs, specifically warehouse 32. (Chef Biol)
• The key opens a gate into the Shadowfell, Modra's home (tortured dark creeper)
• Modra tried making some extra coin peddling weapons to Greyhawk's underbelly, but was noticed by the Church. His small schemes jeaopardize his master Sarshan's much more important arms deal. (tortured witch)
• Sarshan is close to finding Modra, making him maddened and desperate to return to his home in the Shadowfell by whatever means necessary (Modra)
• You now hold the only known key to the Shadowfell portal beneath The Happy Beggar

2. How are dark creepers forging, dealing and transporting weapons and armor under the notice of normal city security (followup quest, important to The Great Church)

• There is a portal to the Shadowfell beneath The Happy Beggar Poorhouse, which empties out into the slums of Tradetown. Guards are lacking in the depressed district and no one has accurately mapped or surveyed the many rat traps that make up its neighborhoods in years. It's the perfect place to store and distribute black market items. (the transportation)
• Ruhiel discerned through expert historical knowledge and deciphering that the portal beneath the Poorhouse leads to a place called Umbraforge, a planar outpost where mercenaries and, more importantly, great forges and foundries are fueled by a massive volcano. It is run by the infamous shadar'kai known as Sarshan. (the forging)
• Modra was dealing on the side for his own gain with a small collection of greedy associates, much to the fury of his master Sarshan. (the dealing)
• You not only uncovered the details of Modra's side business, but you've also shut it down entirely.

 

[Pour]

Session 9: Den of the Druglord
The Cast: Manfred, Velasong, Brugagh, Kildain, Hossler and Malachi

Umbraforge
The group was whisked away to a shadowy reflection of the Black Hills they'd stood upon in the real world, except this place felt wrong somehow, evil. Instead of a blue sky, there was a stormy night without a moon or stars, a rocky wasteland flooded with shadows, all of it leeched of color and left barren, withered and cold. It was the fate of all worlds should Orcus have his way.

Two mountains stood before them, ones that had no reflection in the real world. One was a raging volcano that seemed in a constant state of eruption, pumping ash in an enormous plume over everything. It constantly rained the stuff like chalky, gray snow. Lava, bright red-orange and the only color that seemed to keep its vibrancy, spilled along the mountain slopes and into a man-made canal. There it ran under the second mountain, which was carved into a great fortress with massive pillars, spiraling walls, high turrets and citadel domes in the likeness of titanic skulls. One particularly large skull dome at the bottom of the fortress swallowed the molten river through its gaping mouth.

And at the base of the two mountains and along the lava river was a vast encampment with thousands of varying-sized tents, pavilions and a few structures of stone, bone and clay. This was Umbraforge, seat of Sarshan's power.

Missing!
The group suddenly realized that Solux, Ruhiel and Lia were missing! One of the witches, who'd crossed over with the rest of you, explained that there must have been a slight hiccup in the teleportation ritual. She was almost certain the missing inquisitors were in Umbraforge, she just couldn't say where.

Attack on the Forges
Sarshan had little time to invite the group to make themselves at home before a dark creeper scurried up to him. Though it tried to whisper, several in the group overheard that there had been another attack on the forges. Apparently a reoccuring problem, Sarshan made a hasty exit to investigate the matter personally, along with the witch and creeper.

Ask the Dealers
Left to their own devices, the group wasted no time exploring Umbraforge for their friends and information about the deal. Moving down into the ash-coated streets, mixed with mud, blood and other liquids, they found a sprawling marketplace atmosphere. Everything and anything related to war was being sold and bought. Food, drink, whores and drugs were plentiful.

The group couldn't help but feel a little out of place in it all, well except for Brugagh. The encampment was packed with monsters: warty trolls, hulking ogres, scurrying goblins, regimented hobgoblins, shaggy bugbears, brutish orcs, pallid dark creepers, ashen-skinned shadar'kai, snarling barghests and a few races the group couldn't rightly name from across the breadth of the multiverse.

Hossler had the bright idea to try asking the drug dealers, who usually knew everything about everything in their territory. The group split up, looking for various dealers with varying success...

Malachi
A few in the group found a pale elf on a shady corner, dressed all in black leathers. His name was Malachi, and he had just about anything a person would dare to put into their bodies, from devil's weed to gulvorg bladder to pixie dust.

Swearing he'd seen the elf before, Manfred eventually deduced Malachi was in fact a Pelorite of the Great Church, a specially-trained inquisitor called an Avenger. The elf admitted he was undercover, working the Viper Tong drug cartel for information that might be helpful in taking down Sarshan and his operations. United by a common goal, the group welcomed Malachi to aid in their own investigation.

The Viper Tong
Velasong, with her keen streetwise, was able to find the big fish in the drug cartel at a place called The Black Pavilion. Guarded by ogres and patrolled by pudgy, green demons whose faces were all jaws, she couldn't figure a way to gain audience until Malachi and the others showed. The elf had had prior dealings with the Vipress of the Viper Tong, as he was employed by her, and he eventually got them an audience. Maybe she would know something helpful.

The group was escorted into a large, open area covered in pillows and blankets. Great braziers like dragon mouths blazed, casting an orange light over the rich, indigo curtains encapsulating a dais. On a silver throne coiled a twelve-foot medusa with the upper half of a scaly woman and the lower half of a massive rattlesnake. Upon her face was a silver mask with shuddered eyes, framed by the dozens of vipers that were her hair.

She introduced herself as Lahidea, Vipress of the Viper Tong and Druglord of Umbraforge.

Hookah Chat
Lahidea questioned why they felt a need to talk with her if they could just as easily buy from her dealers, unless they were buying the good stuff. The group agreed to purchase some expensive products in order to talk with her. She summoned her hookah, in the likeness of a hydra with a dozen hoses like snakes, and everyone got to puffing and chatting.

Asking about Sarshan and his operation foiled their appearance as mercenaries, but Lahidea didn't much care what the group was, so long as they were customers. She explained he was gathering the largest force she had ever seen in her time here with the tong. His exact contract elluded her, though it was obvious to some in the group she simply wasn't saying.

When asked what her relationship was to Sarshan, she explained purely business. He drew customers to Umbraforge, she benefited from that, and paid very reasonable kickbacks to the fortress in order to operate in its shadow.

She also mentioned he wasn't the first lord of Umbraforge. There was another before him, a shadow dragon named Taranshus, that carved the fortress and designed the special forges powered by the volcano. Taranshus gathered the wandering tribes of dark creepers and shadar'kai in order to operate the facility, incidentally creating a budding town and military outpost in the process. And for a time he lived well, his hoard growing fat through the many contracts and sales. However, near a hundred years ago Orcus was poised to be freed from his prison. Taranshus refused to aid the demon god, unwilling to risk his enterprise. In actuality he doomed himself, when one of his underlings, the blacksmith Sarshan, betrayed him to Orcus in return for new lordship of the Umbraforge. He slew Taranshus with a magic item known as the Bane of Dragonkind, but when it killed Sarshan's wife in the using he quickly gave it back to Orcus and promised anything the demon god wanted so long as he left Umbraforge in peace. The demon god agreed, and has been supplied whatever weapons and armor his followers need ever since.

The Unicorn
Lahidea slithered over to a trap door and beckoned the group close. Shifting and scraping noises echoed from within. They warily approached, provoking the medusa to laugh. Manfred conjured a light at the bottom and revealed the source of the noise and anxiety, a unicorn. Still a colt, the poor thing was bruised and cut in a number of places, with a spiked chain collar around its neck tethering it to the wall. It looked up with pathetic eyes, provoking the medusa to laugh again.

Lahidea confessed the Viper Tong extracted the unicorn's blood for its most potent drugs, as it gave them an uplifting sensation. When some of the group asked how much for the thing, Lahidea grew protective, wary and ultimately annoyed. She lost her buzz and ordered them to leave.

Your Hair Looks Like Wieners
Annoyed with her lack of pertinent information, Hossler angrily muttered "Well, your hair looks like wieners," on his way out. That was the last straw and the ogres pounced, drawing the gnaw demons and their xorn watchdog into the fight. Luckily, Lahidea herself had been out of earshot...

A furious battle on the streets just outside the Black Pavilion commenced, pitting the strength, magic and courage of the group against the enraged Viper Tong. The ogres hit hard, but were hit even harder, as their guts were spilled across the ashen streets and their mighty frames brought down time and again. The gnaw demons had a little more success, snapping where they could and nearly taking off Manfred's leg. The xorn, for its party, harried Hossler till near its end, when it fled under one of the group's stallions. Brugagh charged across the battlefield and split the horse in two, cutting down further and spliting the xorn in half as well. Hossler growled at what he thought a stolen kill.

Street Cred
The fight was not for nothing, though, as all throughout it a growing crowd lent cheers and support. Afterward, the group attracted a large throng of admirers of all sorts of monstrous races. Patting backs and congratulating the group, whom the orcs and trolls and goblins thought fellow mercenaries, they began to happily divulge information about the massing army, information they assumed the group already knew.

Sarshan was gathering an army for the followers of Maglubiyet the Mighty One, demon lord of Goblinoids. It was no wonder so many goblinoids comprised the army (goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears and barghests). Their target was a city in the central Nentir Vale called Fallcrest, though none of the sellswords knew why. The soldiers were ready to go, but they were waiting on supplies from the fortress's forges, supplies that have been taking a long time to make and distrubute.

Laying Low
Laying low for a bit, the group moved around the markets incognito, restocking on some needed supplies. They discussed what to do next, whether to go to Sarshan's and what to do when they got there. There was also the matter of the missing group members.

Lahidea the Vipress
On the groups way back out of the markets, they found themselves in a dead-end alley. Turning to leave, they were confronted by Lahidea herself. She quickly removed her mask, emerald eyes like fire in the distant shadows. Feeling outmatched, the group braced themselves to likely be turned to stone.

Yet never ones to give up, the group rallied. If they were going to die, let them die fighting. Brugagh held back an all out attack, quite a feat for a half-orc barbarian, so that Manfred might try a long-shot of a gambit. The half-elf extended his wiry arm and cast Sleep...

By the Ten, it worked! Truly the group was blessed, as Manfred the Magnificent Monster Cock succeeded in knocking the snake women out cold. Brugagh wasted no time charging her and hacking off her head with one fell swoop. Everyone cheered and stripped her of her valuables.

New Managment
After the defeat of Lahidea, the group returned to the Black Pavilion and counted their ample loot and treasure. They were rich! And powerful! But could they hold onto it...

And so with the sudden inheritance of the Viper Tong, Solux, Ruhiel and Lia still missing, and Sarshan's deal with the followers of Maglubiyet still a go, the question became... what now?


Experience: 1000 xp each (5929, LEVEL UP 5)
Magic: Orb of Sanguinary Repercussions +2 (Manfred), Skald's Armor +2 (Velasong), Wallwalkers (Hossler), Dwarven Throwers (Kildain), Cloak of the Walking Wounded +2 (Brugagh)
Money: 1000 gp each, -100gp each in expensive drugs
Loot: Lahidea's Head (wrapped in a spare cloak), temporary control of the Black Pavilion of The Viper Tong (the Den of the Druglords in Umbraforge)

NPCs
Dark Creeper Messenger
Witch of the Black Hills
Viper Tong Ogres (dead)
Gnaw Demons (dead)
Xorn Watchdog (dead)
Lahidea the Vipress, Medusa Druglord (dead)
Mizlt, Drow Poison Maker
Maglubiyet the Mighty One, Demon Lord of Goblinoids (mentioned)


Completed Quests:
1. What important arms deal is Sarshan involved in? (follow up quest, important to The Great Church, Greyhawk and perhaps the whole world)

• Modra was dealing weapons on the side for his own gain, which jeopardized the secrecy of his master Sarshan's larger and much more important operation (tortured witch)
• Considering word that new death cults are popping up in the region and the fact Sarshan is a native of the Shadowfell, there is a good bet his deal has something to do with the demon god (going off Father Ohgma's information)
• Sarshan offered you positions as mercenaries in his latest contract, which you earned by killing Modra and his traitorous followers, then by showing your strength against the Viper Tong out in public
• Sarshan is nearly finished building and supplying an army for the followers of Maglubiyet the Mighty One, Demon Lord of Goblinoids (mercenaries in camp)
• They are going to attack a city in the central Nentir Vale known as Fallcrest. (mercenaries in camp)

Open Quests:
1. Find Solux, Ruhiel and Lia!

• There was a hiccup in the teleportation ritual that brought Sarshan and the group into the Shadowfell. They likely cross over, but could be anywhere in Umbraforge...

2. Stop the army from marching. (follow up quest, important to The Great Church, Greyhawk and perhaps the whole world)

• The troops are gathered and awaiting the final supplies of weapons and armor from the forges. It won't be long now before the army marches (mercenaries in camp)
• Someone or some group has been attacking the forges of late, delaying the armies from receiving their supplies and preventing them from marching to war. (dark creeper messenger)
• The forges are powered by the volcano and its flow of magma, which is canaled into the bowels of the fortress. (Lahidea)