Savage Korvosa Session 22

We had to take a small break from this campaign due to the winter holidays and so this session was three weeks after the prior one. More than enough time for all of the players to come up with some plan for getting out of there current predicament. This predicament resulted from the party having to attack a relatively recently opened hospice to save Pop (who had taken it upon himself to be taken in as a patient, prisoner, experimental subject or combination of the three. This assault led to the death of more than one member of the Queen’s Guard and of “physicians” purportedly working for the Queen.

The group had successfully fled the scene of this “crime” and had taken shelter in the Old Fishery. After a fitful and briefly interrupted night of rest, there was a knock at the door. That is where we will pick things up.

Everyone was in attendance for this session. I don’t think that there are only spoilers, but just to be safe…there are potential spoilers for elements of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. Although we are not playing the adventure path, I am borrowing elements and locations from it. As usual, my GM comments are in italics.

Before jumping into “play,” we spent an hour or so talking about the predicament and potential paths forward. We laid out different approaches that the characters might take and any obvious consequences…including ending the campaign at least as we have known it (e.g., fleeing Korvosa as fugitives for lives elsewhere). It was agreed that we wanted to continue the campaign as is…folks didn’t want to give up on the already ongoing stuff like the Shiver Killings. Thoughts of turning in Pop or faking his death (or the deaths of all members of the party) were rejected. A general idea of trying to confront or blackmail or otherwise directly deal with the Queen or an appeal to a relatively similar authority figure (e.g., the King) was the path tentatively agreed upon.

To do this, they’d need either some direct evidence or some other “power” to use on their behalf. It was suggested that perhaps they could recruit the Green Lady to their cause…the only Shiver Monster with whom the party had been able to communicate with any degree of success. Plus, it might further their investigations into the Shiver Killings as well. And so that is the direction that we started with as we set to “playing” (playing in parens because many may not consider this actually playing the game, but I certainly do consider it such. It is playing just as much as any other elements of a TTRPG in my opinion.).

17 Pharast

• Fede is at the door carrying a picnic basket filled with breakfast food and coffee. When asked if she’s sure that no one spotted here, she notes that no one pays any attention to a prostitute as old as she. Fede makes it clear that she’ll do whatever she can to help the party, they just need to ask…both because Pop reminds her of one of her deceased sons and because the party killed Lamm.
• The party laws low at the Old Fishery for the day, waiting for dark.
• One by one, they head out for Old Korvosa in the hopes of contacting the Green Lady.
  • Pop realizes that a pair of Queen’s Guards are following him as he reaches the main bridge leading to Old Korvosa. He takes a brief moment to message Mac and, perhaps due to the stress, instead sends the message to one of the guards following him. (We typically handwave the rolls for cantrips unless time of is of the essence or a stressful situation is involved. RJ rolled a critical failure and the players suggested this as a good fumble.)
  • After hearing, “Darcy, they are following me,” the guards start to run towards Pop. It is clear that he can’t outpace them so he appeals to Tarquin for aid. The mercurial elemental agrees in exchange for a favor and Pop leaps off the bridge into the Straits of Alinka, sinking and losing consciousness.
• The rest of the party had successfully made their way up on the roofs of the Shingles, finding the roofs more empty than ever before. It is not too long before the Green Lady shows up. She does not attempt to hide her approach or to position herself in a defensible position. She is still struggling or learning the words to express what she is feeling and thinking. (The following conversation was pretty free-form so I might miss some details here as Rachel was so engrossed in it that her notes are uncharacteristically sparse.)
  • The Green Lady has had to take her predation into the buildings as the roofs have been empty. She still seems to be struggling with needing to feed.
  • She asks if she and the party are friends. The answer is that it is not quite clear yet.
  • She had continued to ponder their prior conversations about creators, creation, good, evil, and so on.
    • She shares that she has fed earlier and so can speak and interact more freely.
    • She shares that she was created by love but shaped by fear.
    • She has learned the identity of her mother and grandmother. They are Elda and Suria respectively.
    • She knows where they live.
    • Before sharing those last two bits of information, I made sure that the players were comfortable with learning this information in this fashion. I did not want to hand them something that they wanted to determine on their own. They were fine with learning it this way.
    • She asked if she should love her creator…yes…and indicated that she would protect her mother and grandmother if it came to that.
    • The Green Lady takes the party to the home of Suria and Elda. It is in the Shingles in the territory of the Black Claws, a gang that the party has not really dealt with much (if I remember correctly).
    • The Green Lady is able to sense people and so the group makes it to the flat without being spotted. Suria and Elda are not home…she can sense that. She offers to either “clear” a nearby apartment or find an empty one in which they can all wait. The party, of course, opts for the latter.
    • Later in the evening, Suria and Elda return home…per the Green Lady. Isabella goes and knocks. After no response, a second knock elicits a rather defensive response. It is clear that Suria is not interested in conversing with anyone. (I don’t think I specifically mentioned this…I think everyone assumed it…but Elda definitely resembles the descriptions of the “ghost girl” responsible for the “infections” of the addict each week.)
    • Isabella convinces her to speak with her and the door is opened. The party immediately recognizes the pair…Suria and Elda were the mother and daughter that they saved from a mugging on a prior night.
    • Suria is much more comfortable after realizing that the party are those same people. She is, however, still defensive and protective as the conversation turns to the Shiver Killings.
    • Then the Green Lady, who had remained behind at first (after Aimar had made it clear to her that she did not have to meet her mother and grandmother at this time).
    • The conversation starts to flow more freely and the following is learned.
      • First, the Green Lady reiterates that she will protect her mother and grandmother.
      • Suria shares that she and Elda both work at Eel’s End.
      • Mac notices that Elda has small nubs on her head…likely nascent tiefling horns…and reddish eyes in the right light and angle. It is also noticed that there is the paraphernalia of a shiver user near the larger of the two beds in this one-room flat.
      • Eventually, Suria shares that she does use shiver but only once a week…every Oathday. She has it under control.
      • She shares more information and is fearful of “him” finding her and/or taking Elda. Suria insists that they leave her home as the walls are very thin in the Shingles and others may have heard all of this conversation so far.
        • The pair are ready to go within moments. It is clear that they’ve been prepared to leave quickly.
        • Suria moves a panel of wall and a small shaft with a ladder leads up. It goes straight up to the roof. The group makes their way to the roof and down to the streets. They then proceed to the Old Fishery…unseen and without incident.
        • Once there, Suria shares a bit more. The “him” that she is afraid of is none other than Volshyenek Ornelos, the “Immortal Lord” and that Volshyenek is still alive as she starts to break down in tears.
• Meanwhile…Pop awakes as he is being hauled out of the water in a net. He is hauled up into a boat.
  • Pop is one the other side of Old Korvosa and was just hauled up from the bottom of the Jeggare River.
  • His “rescuer” is concerned that Pop is not alive despite Pop’s claims otherwise. Some cuts and blood satisfy the rescuer.
  • Said rescuer is Ovidus, better known as Ovvy, and he runs Unholy Diver, a salvage company. Ovvy wants to know if Pop saw anything down on the river bed. Pop says he had not.
  • Ovvy is obviously a bit touched in the head…not that Pop isn’t as well. Ovvy drops Pop off on the shore and can, apparently, see Tarquin or at least someone who is with Pop.
  • Pop messages Mac, successfully this time, to let the party know that he is okay and he needs meets up with them.
  • The Green Lady offers to go get him. She discorporates into beetles and flies over to get Pop. As the beetle swarm, she picks him up and takes him to the rest of the party.

Somewhere in there, we ended the session. I think it was after Suria shared that Volshyenek is not dead.

Lots of information learned this time around. Not much direct progress with the Pop Predicament but possibly some indirect progress. I’m happy with the session since: 1) one player said “goosebumps” at one point during the conversation with the Green Lady; and, 2) I didn’t have to say who Suria and Elda were once I said the party recognized them. The realization in the eyes of the some of the players was beautiful to see.

At one point, I also took out time to remind Adam of the oath that Aimar had sworn after seeing the jellyfish abomination in the hut of Silas. He swore to make sure whoever was responsible for all of this would pay for it. It is looking like a young girl is the source of the shiver monsters. Oh dear.