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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mikeawmids" data-source="post: 6314021" data-attributes="member: 6776411">(Savaged) Rise of the Runelords Final Session (Part Two of Two) The next morning, once Ben has staggered back from his drunken tryst and Karrack has scrubbed the goblin sick off the curtains (Snot had drunk almost as deeply as the human ranger the previous night, and the party are determined to get the deposit back on their rooms), the envoy of Mayor Grobaras arrives to check on the progress of their investigation. After fobbing him off with half-truths and vague assurances, the party head for the Seven's Sawmill - but they do not go alone! Krogg returns to the Crabby Lady and gathers up as much muscle as can still stand after the last nights epic bender. Recalling the Mayor's promise of martial aid when the dung hits the wheel, Ben visits the Magnimar garrison and recruits a small contingent of armed guards to back up their assault on the Skinsaw cult's lair. Once the militiamen have established a perimeter around the sawmill, the party and their allies breach the door. The men within immediately don masks and draw blades. The cult leader emerges, swearing to flay the skin off their faces and frame them for his dark Mistress. A chaotic battle ensures, by the end of which, 6 (out of 10) Skinsaw men, the cult leader, two half-orc thugs (Geoff and Dave) and one of Karrack's miscellaneous goblin lackeys lie dead. Unmasking the cult leader, the party are surprised to find the face beneath belongs to Ironbriar, the elven Justice whom the city put in charge of the murder investigation (which explains why it was going nowhere fast, before Grobaras involved the party). Deciphering Ironbriar's coded journals, Aereon learns that the villain had been living a double life for years, misdirecting any enquiries into the cult's activities in Magnimar. Until recently, Norgorber (the God of Murder, Deception and Poison) assigned the cults targets to Ironbriar via disturbing dreams, but recently, a creature described only as 'Wanton of Nature's Pagan Forms' has been manipulating the Skinsaw Men to prioritise specific victims, specifically; the greediest ones. This scheming succubus has made her lair in the crumbling Shadow Clock, a major landmark of the city's destitute Underbridge district. Having ended the threat presented by the Skinsaw Cult, Ben summons Leis Nivlandis to the sawmill, while Rast is sent to dislodge Grobaras from his mansion. Once the two political candidates arrive, the party reveal how the killers were being led by the very man Grobaras had put in charge of rooting them out! Handing Ironbriar's journals over to Nivlandis, the party pretty much guarantee the man a landslide victory in the imminent mayoral elections. Once the information contained within those pages is made public knowledge, Grobaras will be ruined! Understandably, Grobaras is not best pleased by this turn of events and refuses to pay the group the rest of their money. Most of the party accept that this is not an unreasonable reaction, considering how they have just completely buggered his political career, but Aereon stubbornly hounds the fat man's carriage all the way back to the Alabaster District. Over the next week, Leis Nivlandis circulates pamphlets throughout the city, revealing how the incompetence of the current Mayor enabled the Skinsaw murders to continue right under his nose. Grobaras resigns from his office and his rival runs unopposed. Nivlandis well remembers the party's roll in his success and rewards them generously. Karrack forgoes all material recompense in exchange for a voice on the city's new governing council, the rest of the group seem perfectly happy to take the gold. This brings Week 8/8 of the Rotation to an end, though the Rise of the Runelords saga is only just beginning! I hope to resume this adventure path later this year. In the meantime, please find below a list of loose ends - dangling threads of fate that have yet to be resolved.... The mysterious woman ("Wanton of Natures Pagan Forms"), whose unseen hand has guided the murderous actions of Aldern Foxglove and Justice Ironbriar is still at large in Magnimar. Clues uncovered in the Seven's Sawmill indicate she awaits the heroes at the summit of the Shadow Clock in Underbridge. Why are only the greediest souls being targeted for ritualistic execution - and what is the significance of the seven-pointed Thassilonian rune being carved into the bodies of the dead? Did Aldern Foxglove survive his confrontation with the party and if so, will his dangerous obsession with Karrack yet result in further tragedy and bloodshed? For how much longer will Ben be able to resist the demonic compulsion to harvest more delicious eyeballs to appease the infernal parasite squatting in his brain? After his drunken fumble with a hideous, half-orc wench, the girl's brothers are now scouring Magnimar for a man matching Ben's description, to 'persuade' him to do the honourable thing and ask for their sister's hand in marriage. Does (former Mayor) Haldeem Grobaras nurse a grudge against the party after they sabotaged his campaign and cost him the governance of Magnimar? To be continued... in a future rotation!</blockquote>

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