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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mikeawmids" data-source="post: 6314019" data-attributes="member: 6776411">(Savaged) Rise of the Runelords Session Seven (Part One) - 12/04/2012 Player Characters Val : Karrack (Lizardman monk-turned-revolutionary, hero of goblins and founder of Hope/Stinkpoint) Cariryn : Krogg (Brutish half-orc garbage collector, has traded his wheelbarrow in for a life of adventure) Mal H : Ben (ludicrously wealthy ranger with a fetish for all things oriental... and eyeballs) Crusader Hank: Rast (sausage-fingered dwarven rogue with an embarrassing rash, constantly scratching, one eye bulges comically from its socket) Steboucha : Aereon (Antony's super-magical uncle) Josh: Snot (some random child, guest starring as Snot the Goblin for one week only) The eerie sound of weeping continues to haunt the party from the mansion's unexplored attic. Ascending the creaky staircase, the first door they try opens into a drafty observatory, an expensive brass telescope pointing out of a broken window overlooking the storm-wracked Varisan Bay. Soon after Rast enters the room, he begins to feel uncomfortably warm - and within moments, the delusional dwarf is convinced his entire body is ablaze and the only way to douse the flames is to hurl himself through the unbroken window and plunge into the sea! Fortunately, Super Magical Uncle Aereon tackles the suicidal alchemist before his stubby legs can carry him to the brink. The next room is being used for storage, although it was definitely here that the party heard the sound of a woman crying. They discover the body of a woman hidden amidst the clutter. The dead woman's unquiet spirit rises from her discarded mortal shell and shrieks; “Aldern! I can smell your fear! I’ll be in your arms soon!” Having inadvertently released the vengeful spirit of Iesha Foxglive, the ghost ignores the party (who are mostly browning their britches anyway) and glides through the wall in search of her murderous husband. Exercising what little initiative he possesses, Krogg follows the spook down into the dark, creepy basement of the haunted mansion, where a hole has been excavated, descending into the sea caves below the Foxglove estate. Pursuing the spectre, the party traverse the shaft. The all too familiar stench of rotting meat rises to meet them. Exploring the lightless depths, the party find the tunnel walls are covered with a unwholesome yellow fungus. They enter a large cavern and notice a huge, black cocoon suspended from amongst the stalactites. Being Ben, Ben shoots at it. The cocoon unfolds what transpire to be its tattered wings, revealing a giant ghoul bat! The group have interrupted the creature's lunch and it drops the tasty morsel it had been gnawing on - which Karrack is dismayed to note appears to be his giant gecko (which fled down here after the group abandoned their mounts to escape the carrionstorm). Despite being undead and about the size of a bull elephant, the giant ghoul bat still navigates its surroundings using sonar, so if the party stay still, it can't attack them. This doesn't occur to Snot the Goblin, who scampers this way and that like a headless chicken, until the winged nightmare swoops down and snatches the little bugger up in its claws. Super Magical Uncle Aereon tries (and fails) to bring the bat down with magic missiles. Rast manages to knock it out of the air and the creature pierces one of its ragged wings on a stalagmite protruding from the ground. Before the flying monster can take to the air again, Ben entangles it in magic rope and Snot clambers up onto its chest to deliver the coup de'grace (shooting a crosbolt through its exposed ribcage into its shuddering, undead heart). Once the giant ghoul bat has been vanquished, the heroes are free to loot the bodies of those the monster had preyed upon in the past. Moving on, the party enter a partially flooded cavern guarded by a gaggle of zombiefied goblins. Snot's attempt to befriend his undead kinsfolk is doomed to failure, as the animated zomblins seem more inclined to eat his brain. Several rounds into the ensuring combat, the Skinsaw Man (aka: Aldern Foxglove, aka: that pompous git from Week One) makes his appearance, emerging from the tidal pool with a whole troupe of ghoulish puppets. While the rest of the party engage his minions, Karrack launches a lightning-infused, flying dragon kick at the Skinsaw Man, the sheer awesomeness of which catapults Aldern back into the water. His Lordship does not resurface from the foaming depths. After defeating the Skinsaw Man and his undead lackeys, the party ransack his sanctum. Karrack is disturbed to find one whole wall of the room has been covered with crude, charcoal sketches of his scaly self. Clearly the grudge Foxglove has been nursing since the whole boar fiasco has deteriorated into a lunatic obsession. Rast uncovers correspondence between Foxglove and his 'mistress', certain passages indicate further clues might be found at the nobleman's townhouse in the city of Magnimar. Attached is a list of greedy souls that this unnamed mistress wishes claimed for her own (yet more mysterious) master, upon which are the names of the men already murdered by the Skinsaw Men, as well as those who would surely have been targeted next. While the rest of the group poke through Foxglove's stuff, Snot finds himself drawn inexorably towards the far wall of the sanctum, where the yellow mould prevalent throughout the dungeon has formed what almost looks to be a face. Coaxed closer by hungry whispers, the stupid goblin is ensnared by a pair of fungal arms! Super Magical Uncle Aereon blasts the mould man into a cloud of choking spores and the group are forced to flee. Where the yellow mould made contact with exposed skin, Snot's flesh has erupted in delightful, pus-filled tumours. Super Magical Uncle Aereon immediately prescribes leeches. Leaving the Foxglove mansion, the group are disappointed to discover the horses they left to fend for themselves (when the carrionstorm attacked) have been devoured by the undead birds. On the plus side, the ravens are now too fat and lethargic to bother the heroes as they trudge back to Sandpoint afoot. Poor Snot is taken to the cathedral, where the acolytes of Desna pray to their Goddess to do something drastic about the goblin's nightmare-inducing appearance. Sergeant Krogg resumes his duties, though his pay has been docked to compensate for the loss of the horses he borrowed from the garrison's stable. Rast continues his headlong descent into madness and synthesises an elixir (from the blood Aereon's leeches sucked out of Snot's tuberous face) that transforms good, god-fearing people into flesh-ravening ghouls. Finally Ben decides to do something about the list of greedy souls they found in Foxglove's lair and recruits Father Zantus to help implement his ingenious scheme. With the elderly priest in tow, he visits local lumber baron (and greedy bastard) Titus Scarnetti. After making the wealthy lumber magnate aware that his avaricious nature has bought him to the attention of dark forces beyond his comprehension, Ben convinces him to make an unnecessarily generous contribution to the church collection box. However, when Scarnetti agrees to donate a staggering 10,000gp, Father Zantus' old ticker gives out and he suffers a fatal heart attack right there in the merchant's reception room. Oops. To be continued....</blockquote>

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