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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tukka" data-source="post: 6193481" data-attributes="member: 6668048">Adventure 2* Murder at the Danoran consulate. The players were not quite as thorough as they could have been, being new to the whole "investigation" thing, so I was a little charitable through the early part of the adventure.* However, through Clairette's post-mortum questioning of Nilasa's spirit, they were able to note some inconsistencies in Julian LeBrix's story.* They followed up on Nilasa's criminal friends at the Reformatory, and also started tracking Wolfgang, though they didn't think to ask the consulate for information on Wolfgang until I suggested it.* Alain tried using his wolf to track Officer Porter's burnt-grease odor, which ended up leading them to one of the under-bridge Bleak Gate crossings, where they found a rusted iron ring and some odd runes. With some Arcana and History checks, they were able to speculate as to a possible connection with the witches of Cauldron Hill and the Bleak Gate, and the mayor of the Nettles is traditionally among the most-informed regarding such lore, so they went to Macbannin's manor to schedule a consultation with the man.* Detective work reveals that Nilasa was involved in some sort of plot, probably at Gale's behest, and Heward Sechim offers to put them in contact with his uncle, who may be able to arrange a meeting with Gale.* The interrogation of Nilasa's former accomplices at the reformatory was handled somewhat clumsily (they didn't separate the men, or make much effort to soften them up), but with some good rolls they managed to get one of the men to give up the intel on the House Elf in exchange for visitation with his family.* On their way up to see Nevard, the party helped foill the Kell-Guild's kidnapping attempt. Clairette used her pixie dust to fly Renard's girl out of danger. There was a collective shout of "NO!" when they saw the woman flee towards her apparent attackers, before the party realized the truth of the situation.* The party met Nevard and agreed to help him.* Sora was frustrated at having been blinded and dominated in the course of the fight with the Waryeyes, and killed one of Danisca's guards in her frustration, a decision which would have some implications later. With some interrogation the party learned some of the details of the smuggling plot.* The party went to meet Macbannin. They had their brush with Nico. The impression they got of him was of a commoner who wants to make a difference, but doesn't think he can. He will remember the party as being somewhat idealistic and patronizing.* The party asked for permission to ascend Cauldron Hill with Nevard Sechim in tow. Macbannin worked himself into a faux froth, "Let me get this straight, you want me to compromise the security of the most haunted and evil locale of all of Risur, so that you can bring this decrepit skyseer with rumored ties to fey terrorists to the Hill's summit, just so he can look at the stars and see gods know what?" -- he pauses dramatically, waits for the party to start to protest/explain themselves, then smiles brightly and says, "Fortunately, I have no problem with that! What else can I do for you?" Cyrus's player makes a note: "Macbannin = awesome."* While camping on the hill and describing the chill and various creepy events, the players expressed dismay, fearing that perhaps they had not prepared adequately for this trial. Then they were visited by Nilasa and Creed. I staggered the appearance of the stronger Cauldron Hill monsters, and they managed to drive off Creed and throw away all of the light sources before the vestige of Death could make a fatal appearance.* Eberando and Valando threw a scare into the party with their potent attacks but then managed to escape. The party toppled the water tower to save Sechim's factory.* The party met with Gale not long before the smuggling plot was scheduled to go down, and for reasons I'm not clear on, they decided to tell and ask her about the smuggling plot. Gale sent a few Cloudwood brigands to the Silvo's dock to reinforce/abort the mission, but the party still managed to put down the sailors and extract some info about the rendezvous location, and they were able to capture the shipment.* Cyrus and Clairette met with Cippiano and politely declined his overtures.* Alain's Docker contact reported feeling some "bad mojo" in Bosum Strand on the eve of Nevard's announcement, and the next day the party went to investigate. They found the warehouse, fought the golem, and took down the technicians before they could destroy much evidence, and used the "obey" trick to turn the ambush on Nevard into a relative cakewalk. The party did not put two-and-two together with regard to the incriminating note in Macbannin's hand (I decided none of them had ever seen Macbannin's handwriting), but a day or two later they would present the evidence to Delft, who made the connection and set the wheels in motion for a warrant, but wanted a little more evidence before making their move on the mayor. The party was bowled over by the fact that Macbannin was the apparent villain.* Meanwhile, they were running thin on leads to track down Wolfgang. They had questioned Lynn at the station early on (I strongly hinted to them that they'd have go above and beyond to get her cooperation, but decided I was making it too easy on them if Lynn gave them Wolfgang on a silver platter, so she was kidnapped by the Ob shortly thereafter). They started canvassing the Nettles in search of the Doc, starting with Cyrus's contact in the area, a smith named Glansir Shalefounder. After a day of searching and mediocre skill checks, however, they found themselves no closer to Wolfgang.* The canvassing effort did put the party on Lorcan Kell's radar, however, and the next day he sent his agent to lure them into a trap. The party fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Glasnir was the victim on the stage. Cyrus surrendered his magic sword to pay the bribe to Kell -- a decision which would have some implications in the next adventure.* Ambush at the abandoned church. The party managed to drive off Creed and sensed that the Steelshaper had them outclassed. Clairette flew out through the chimney (I decided it was too narrow for the rest of the party to get through) and summoned some reinforcements from the local PD, who set up on the roof/hill above the Cathedral. The party discovered the secret passage out of the cathedral, but the Steelshaper's gang spotted them as they emerged, and a brief chase sequence ensued. The party managed to escape with Recklinghausen and his documents in tow.* The final act. The fight in the manor garden went down pretty well. Macbannin's curses were used to good effect -- he used the "treat everyone as enemies" curse on Alain's wolf, which had some nice synergy, since it meant the wolf made adjacent PCs grant combat advantage, the doppleganger curse caused the heavy-hitter Sora some problems, and Cyrus was hammered by the gross centipede hex. None of the witchoil geysers ended up happening near combat though. The party had the fight pretty well in hand throughout most of it... a PC or two went down, but they emerged victorious.* They dragged a mage-cuffed Macbannin around with them into the lab. They were ambushed by a couple flayed jaguars (this time without collars) and then Creed and the knife-fighters. I also had the roof in above the reservoir collapse partially and introduce another flayed jag. The party had come prepared with some necrotic-resist armor and holy water, and they won without too much trouble. With Macbannin's assistance they were able to avert a major catastrophe, although the jaguar attacked Macbannin so they had to heal him (they were a bit at a loss about the function of the various contraptions and how best to operate them to mitigate the damage, so I guess it's a good thing Macbannin was there).* Lynn was occupying the prison room in the lab instead of Wolfgang and the party decided to check on it quickly before leaving. Sora was in a rush so she recklessly put her hand in the obviously-trapped hole, but fortunately for her, the trapped missed, and they liberated Lynn (who had been questioned about Wolfgang's philosophy and politics).* Wolfgang unhooked himself from his resuscitating gadgets and modified them so the party could use it as a one-off rezz if used shortly after a person's expiration (I've banned most resurrection magic until mid-paragon, but will give the party a single one-off rezz mechanism every other adventure or so).</blockquote>

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