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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 5763046" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 16<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arriving early at RHC HQ on day 7 of their investigation - planning  to meet with Morgan Cippiano for breakfast - Korrigan and Malthusius  found a note from Uru telling them of Searil Shortankard's news that a  doctor was hiding out in an old Clergy church in the Nettles.  They  dropped their plans and, with Rumdoom and Leon in tow, set off at once. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They arrived and found several sick and injured people waiting  outside the church, which was dug out of the bedrock of Cauldron Hill.   Inside, several slum dwellers were keeping the mendicants at bay.  Leon  paid them off and they departed.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The whole place was riddled with cracks, and signs of instability.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Leon entered the dark church, calling out for a doctor and claiming  to need help.  There were sounds within and a gruff voice telling him to  '<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> off'.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The unit did not <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> off, but set about capturing the inhabitants -  three kell guild thugs and Doctor Wolfgang von Recklinghausen, who had  set the church with a number of cunning traps.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Recklinghausen was a skillful foe, a practised swordsman, with all  manner of tricks up his sleeve, not to mention a magical sword, and  Nilasa's Canary in a Coal Mine pendant, which granted him the  ability to fly.  Still, after a long fight, all of his fancy tricks  couldn't save him from Rumdoom's relentless hammer.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">But then a strange electrical field awoke him.  Suddenly, he was back on his feet, and had to be dropped all over again.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">During the fight, the unit discovered Uru - bound, gagged and beaten  unconscious.  His curiosity had gotten the better of him, it would seem  and, though he had successfully stolen past the mendicants and the  slum-dwellers, he had been caught setting up one of his clockwork toys  in the chapel.  Malthusius undid his bonds and tended to him.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">With Recklinghausen cuffed, a quick search revealed precious little  save for his personal effects.  So Korrigan set about earning  Recklinghausen's trust.  In the end, having heard his side of the story  and shared their own, his cuffs were removed, and the doctor agreed to  hand over the bundle of documents Nilasa had died for.  They were hidden  at the very top of a crumbling pillar.  (The whole building was unsafe,  hence its abandonment.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When they made to leave, the enemy struck: the Shadow Man they had  seen on Cauldron Hill - Nilasa's killer and Recklinghausen's assailant -  stepped out of the gloom accompanied by two nethermancers and two  knife-fighters, each able to control the gloom of the chapel to some  degree, all with the stench of the Bleak Gate about them.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Their appearance was accompanied by a terrible grinding, squealing noise, the sound of metal on stone, from the entrance beyond.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Shadow Man made a beeline for Von Recklinghausen, who he quickly  dropped - but again, the doctor was brought back to life by a strange  jolt of electricity.  So the Shadow Man used a silver syringe to inject  him and knock him out.  Then he phased through the wall and tried to  escape with Von Recklinghausen over his shoulder.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Malthusius caught him with a beam of radiant light, and his shadows  were stripped away, revealing a hideously scarred face.  Pounded by a  barrage from Leon, Uru, et al, he dropped the doctor and fled.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They revived Wolfgang and scouted out the exit, discovering that it  had been barred by several stout steel bars which had somehow been  embedded, with great force, into the bedrock.  Beyond lay three shadowy  carriages, only half-visible in he daylight, two of which were swiftly  dispatched by their master:</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A hunched, bearded man, with a thick head of unruly brown hair and a  voluminous purple cloak now addressed the unit.  He told them they had  an hour to hand of Von Recklinghausen and the bundle of papers, in which  case he would leave them be.  After an hour, he said, the 'easy option'  went away.  He had a Crissilliyri accent, but was not Morgan Cippiano.   The unit tried to bargain but were told firmly, 'this is not a  negotiation'.  He appeared able to control metal telekinetically, and  drew up a metal chair and a metal platter and goblet, on which he placed  some fine bromagio cheese and some expensive wine.  Then he sat down to  wait.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The unit heard him talking to a man matching the description of  Officer Porter (and who now, tellingly, dripped black blood). Porter  told him that 'according to Kell, there is only one way in and out of  that church'.  He replied, 'Go tell your boss that the situation is  under control.'  Porter departed.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The unit played for time, claiming not to have found the bundle  yet.  (Wolfgang, of course, was thought to be unconscious.)  Meanwhile,  Malthusius began the process of trying to memorise the documents. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The others searched for a way out, but found nothing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After an hour, one carriage returned.  Inside was Lynn Kindleton.   The metal-master threatened to kill her unless Wolfgang and the bundle  were handed over.  Wolfgang did not trust the man outside, and was  unwilling to trade his life for another, no matter how much he cared for  her. Wisely, the unit chose not to try to persuade him, but left him to  his thoughts. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Time ticked on, and the third carriage arrived.  Barrels of firedust  were unloaded and placed around the entrance.  The whole place would be  brought crashing down upon them if they refused to cooperate.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Now Wolfgang's conscience got the better of him.  He handed over his malice-wrought rapier and Nilasa's canary in a coal-mine pendant, took the bundle of documents which Malthusius had done his best to memorise, and exchanged himself for Professor Kindleton.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The shadow carriages departed at once, and the fuse to the firedust barrels was lit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The unit ran for cover as the chapel was brought down around their ears...</li> </ul>This session took place two weeks ago, and served as a fantastic cliffhanger before our Christmas/New Year break.  I successfully convinced the players that they had missed a trick, or played out the whole encounter wrong (by intimating through Delft that they might have pursued the Recklinghausen link sooner or drawn him out of the lair).  In other words, when they failed to negotiate their way out of the Chapel, and Leone lit the fuse, ending the session, they went away thinking they might have been TPKed... (All except for El Perro and Saaladoor whose players weren't there.)The way the investigation has proceeded is interesting: the players have not yet met Cippiano.  He had been waiting now for two or three days.  This is day 7 of the investigation and their plan to meet with him was interrupted by Uru's contact discovering Wolfgang.  (I threw this in to reward the development of the contact, who is now one of my favourite NPCs, and also because the unit had refused to co-operate with Kell.)  But they are now trapped on the morning of the Dawn Square event , which means they won't be on hand to discover the warehouse, or to provide proper security before Nevard takes to the stage.  Also, today is the day that Gale should contact them, so I'm thinking of having the canary find them in the cave-in - revealing the hidden exit in the process.During play, a nice moment came when Malthusius got to use the perfect recall power his player chose for his level 2 utility to spend an hour memorising the documents before handing them over.  The character is supposed to have a photographic memory, but I don't think he ever expected it to be quite this useful. It's good to find ways to reward a player for making 'suboptimal' but flavourful choices. One word of advice to DMs: I crossed out the name Cillian Creed in the text and wrote SHADOW MAN whereever it came up, knowing that in the heat of battle it would be all too easy to say his name and give the game away early.</blockquote>

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