Session Summaries; Vol. 05: Terror in Freeport @ 26 Nov 2006 09:22 am by Kevyspice
Rewards Earned
- Experience Points: 2270
- Treasure: Ring of mind shielding, amulet of natural armor +1, rapier +1, potion of cat’s grace, 2 potions of cure light wounds, masterwork longsword, masterwork short bow with 10 arrows, 5 flasks of alchemist’s fire, 20 pp, various incriminating documents, various Valossan books, The True and Secrette Historie of the Brotherhoode of Free-Port
Met Vivian in the sewers.
Found the “trap†– a rock crusher beneath Crocker’s Brick and Mortar.
Found the new temple to the Unspeakable One. Defeated several serpent men, a low-level temple attendant, and the “messenger†who had gotten away during the orc ambush. Found Egil bound to the altar. Also found a copy of a speech addressed to Sea Lord Drac, implicating the temple of Tinel, Verlaine, and the party as members of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, and painting the party as Verlaine’s murderers. Egil reported that he thought the real Brotherhood was planning to strike the temple of Tinel this very night.
The group followed a secret passage behind the altar up into a wine cellar containing numerous empty crates marked with the Bierce Vintners stamp. While investigating the first floor of the house above, the party heard a scream of agony from the upper floor. Chow ran up the stairs to find a puddle of blood seeping beneath a door. He burst into the room and was immediately stabbed in the back. While the party fought the assailant, another fellow emerged from an adjacent room and engaged Chow, who knocked the guy out with some drow sleep poison. The first assassin, mortally wounded by the rest of the party, attempted to flee through a window, and then smashed a flask of alchemist’s fire at his feet when it became apparent he could not escape. Gor-bob, who had attempted to knock the guy out, managed to put out the fire and stabilize the assassin.
While catching their breath, the party discovered a document signed by Councilor Verlaine deputizing the party and authorizing them to investigate the temple of Tinel. They checked for other samples of Verlaine’s writing and determined the document to be a forgery. The group also discovered a map of the Scriptorium of Tinel, with all the entrances marked.
The group made their way out of Verlaine’s house and took a couple of rickshaws to the Temple. On the way, they dispatched messages to Lady Elise Grossette and Stennis Alensin, informing them of the developing situation at the Temple. Also on the way, the group noticed a distinct lack of city guards in the streets.
Upon arriving at the Temple, the party and Egil informed High Priest Thuron of their various discoveries and theories about the Brotherhood and their imminent attack. Will, under the effects of a mind-reading spell, also asked Thuron if the name K’Stallo meant anything to him. Thuron wasn’t able to prevent a reflexive mental reaction: “Oh crap, they know.†He said that the name was indeed familiar, and promised to unravel that mystery if they all survived the night.
The party barricaded the two side entrances and took up positions near the main entrance as Brother Egil woke the other priests. After a few minutes, a group of bloodied Tinelites arrived the front door, reporting that they had been accosted while purchasing supplies for the Temple. The party and Thuron ushered them inside, while a couple of the priests went off to summon the city watch.
Gor-bob cast a minor spell of cleaning on one of the bloody priests and discovered that the fellow was unharmed. The atmosphere tensed when the half-orc knocked the priest unconscious, and only got worse when another priest yelled, “Here they come!†from the street. Within moments, a squad of serpent folk attacked the priests and the party stationed at the front door. Meanwhile, the bloodied priests positioned themselves oddly about the Temple. Soon enough, the tension broke as one of the priests attacked High Priest Thuron.
The party engaged the “priests†in a brief, confusing fight, defeating the imposters without much injury to themselves. The actual priesthood did not fare so well, as a few of the Brotherhood managed to get into the priests’ cells and slit a few throats before they were slain.
After the fight, Thuron escorted the party and Egil to the catacombs beneath the Scriptorium. There, he revealed himself as K’Stallo, a serpent person and a priest of Yig. At the final resting place of the true Thuron, the serpent man told the story of how he had found Lucius during the librarian’s wanderings, followed Lucius to the temple, and assumed Thuron’s identity upon finding the High Priest dead of a heart attack several years ago.
That mystery solved, the party discussed what to do about the larger riddle of the Lighthouse of Drac, and about the Sea Lord himself.