Savage Korvosa Session 29

And the saga continues…

In this session, the party makes good on their escape from the attack on the Gray Maidens, actually take some time to discuss some of the rather obvious changes to their companions, have a prayer answered, sell a soul, and take the attack to–they hope–Rolth Lamm and a potential source of Gray Maiden production. Near the end, things got a bit chaotic and items and/or information of interest was overlooked and Pop was provided a new piercing through his chest and out his back!!! Details below the break.

Everyone was in attendance, but Jen had to hop off a bit early. Although I do not think there are any specific spoilers for elements of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path, there are potential spoilers regarding some of the movers and shakers of Korvosa. As usual, my GM comments are in italics.

29th of Pharast

• Retreating to the sewers, the group connects back up with Stefaneto. The Korvosan Guard with them indicates that if they can just get her near Citadel Volshneyek, she can go on her own from there. This is acceptable to Stefaneto and he leads the group there before hooding and returning the party back to their “camp.”
  • Back in their temporary home, the group takes some time to address the rather significant changes to both Mac and Pop.
    • Mac looks much like a smallish earth elemental…one that is still significantly larger than the gnome he had once been. Mac/Stan explain that they are not sure what happened to them (back in the fight in the Shoanti tomb a few sessions ago), but that he is now Stan with Mac’s memories still mostly intact. Stan can physically feel Mac within him, he is dead and decomposing.
    • Pop is much more pale than he had been before and his eyes are always red and not just in a certain light. He is also rather cold to the touch. Pop hasn’t heard from Tarquin in quite some time and his powers all seem rather different. (This too is a result of the fight in the Shoanti tomb a few sessions back where Pop actually died.)
    • Those discussions aside, Aimar examines the small item he had grabbed out of the Gray Maidens torso.
      • It is shaped like a scarab beetle, much like the one found in Gaedram Lamm at the Temple of Urgathoa, but much smaller. It has a dark blue and green iridescent color and looks to be made of crushed rock…or similar…pressed and packed densely together.
      • It is giving off faint magic, necromantic, that are quickly fading.
      • Aimar also had some of the sand from the torso of the Maiden. It is cream or ivory colored (bone?) and incredibly fine and soft.
        • No one in the group can recall any beaches or sources of sand like this in Varisia. It is speculated that maybe it is from Osirion; the scarab beetle motif seems to suggest such as well.
• Isabella pops back up to the surface to message a few contacts/allies.
  • First up is Elvo. He was able to arrange for a couple of the Midnight Siren gang members to observe the Hospice of the Divine Matron. They have not yet returned. He has to go meet with the head of the Midnight Sirens and this person is not at all happy with him.
  • Next up is Divo. Isabella lets him know that they were at Korvosa Mercy when the attack happened and that the group helped out the Guard and the Sable Company before also retreating. She asks if Divo is aware if other attacks had been coordinated at the other food distribution sites. He was not.
  • Lastly, she tries to reach Captain Vindo but is blocked.
• Back at camp, Aimar, who is suffering at least a small crisis of faith, prays to the Prince of Hell for guidance as to how to proceed in their endeavors. Quite unexpectedly, the prayer is answered.
  • The small brazier at the camp flares up in a pillar of flame. As it recedes, a large devil is standing over it. Aimar drops to his knees.
    • The devil is Kalthrax Dreadspire, a pit fiend who leads legions of Hell’s warriors and serves Asmodeus. A good deal of information is learned (I may not have this in the order it was provided).
      • Queen Ileosa is, of course, supported by certain factions of Hell. The fact that Kalthrax has appeared is an indication that he is not part of those factions.
      • His appearance here, without being explicitly summoned, has been made possible by the small portal that Aimar somehow accidentally opened in Old Korvosa (many, many sessions ago). It shows a potential in Aimar which has garnered the priest some “attention.”
      • Kalthrax can provide information as to which of set of the three smuggling tunnels that Stefaneto found actually leads to the Hospice of the Divine Matron. There must, of course, be something offered in exchange.
        • Aimar quickly offers up his soul and Kalthrax accepts. Aimar immediately feels the weight of the bargain as invisible manacles around his wrists.
      • Darcy starts to ask about other information that they group might be able to obtain from Kalthrax…inadvertently starting to bargain with the devil. When she tries to back out of entering into any bargain, Kalthrax simply states that doing so would displease him and that he is here with none of the normal restrictions or bonds a summoned devil would normally have.
        • Darcy asks if he can tell them where to find Rolth Lamm who, according to Kalthrax, is the source of the Gray Maidens. Kalthrax asks what she will offer in return for that information.
          • Aimar gives her a look to be very, very careful.
          • Darcy is not willing to give up her soul and struggles to figure out something that she can offer.
            • Kalthrax makes a suggestion. In exchange for identifying which tunnels lead to Rolth Lamm’s new “hideout,” Darcy simply needs to agree to kill Aimar at a time and place of Kalthrax’s choosing.
            • Darcy agrees and she too feels the weight of the bargain.
      • Pop also made mention of possibly trading his soul for something, but Kalthrax noted that it already belongs to someone else and is not Pop’s to bargain with.
      • Kalthrax makes his departure, noting that he had a virgin to visit before he returned to Hell…possibly in reference to the thirteen virgins sacrificed to consecrate Korvosa’s Church of Asmodeus.
• The group decides to use the provided information to go after Rolth Lamm.
  • Stefaneto gets them to the smuggling tunnels that will lead in to Lamm’s location.
    • A door opens into a passageway. One direction slopes down quickly. A breeze and an earthy aroma wafts up and Aimar believes it leads down into the Underdark.
    • The other direction ends in a door. It opens into a closed standing sarcophagus. The exit would be hidden from anyone looking in the sarcophagus.
    • This leads to a short passage with a door and set of curtains.
      • Heading to the curtains, Darcy takes a peek in. Beyond is a larger chamber with various furniture such as a table with food scraps and a bed roll. There are also some larger tables that appear to have bodies strapped down.
      • The group heads in and spread out. Darcy checks out a bookshelf while Aimar takes a quick look at an altar in a little side room.
        • The shelf has half a dozen or so books. All but one are about anatomy. The last book is The Complete and Unabridged History of the Pharaohs of Osirion. The author is Dr. Alviano Kasensius of the University of Korvosa.
        • The altar is to Zon-Kuthon, the Midnight Lord, and has nothing on top of it.
      • Aimar then checks out the bodies on the tables.
        • There are three tables and three bodies. All are female, Varisian, and have had their torsos cut open and all insides removed. There is no sand or anything else replacing what would normally be inside.
      • Pop sense something dead nearby or approaching. The group retreats to back behind the curtain to wait. Nothing happens. Darcy peeks in again and nothing has changed.
        • Aimar disguises everyone as Gray Maidens…including making Pop and himself of the right shape and size.
        • Pop’s sensation does not fade.
      • The group decides to check out the door that was across from the sarcophagus though which they entered. It too has a small room with a standing sarcophagus. This one starts to open as the door is opened.
        • Exiting from within is a gaunt creature with chains, barbs, and hooks wrapped all around its body and piercing into its skin. It has a look of intense pain on its face. It holds are sword that has various serrations and hooks and barbs itself.
          • The fight is rather short, but does make no small amount of noise.
      • The group heads back into the prior chamber.
        • Pop still senses death…maybe from the altar.
        • The group checks a door leading out of this chamber. It opens into another passageway. It turns and continues with four alcoves, two on each side.
          • Pop rushed ahead. As he gets closer to the alcoves he sees that they have standing sarcophagi and each opens. Creatures much like the one just fought exit. Instead of a sword, each of these has a a number of chains whipping about.
            • One of the creatures lashes a chain down the corridor at Pop. It strikes him, passing all the way through him and hooks him.
            • The creature pulls the chain and Pop back and re-enters its sarcophagus.

And that is where the session ended.

Unfortunately, the chain had done three wounds to Pop. RJ rolled a crit fail on his attempt to soak. The creature “reeling” in Pop was the result. It was not the first crit fail of the night. I think RJ might have rolled three in a row! Yikes and ouch…that’s horrible luck!

As the night went on, the players started rushing through things. Tokens were moving all over the map and I had no opportunity to elaborate on what was happening. I should have made everyone stop, take a breath, and slow down. It was late. I was very tired and I didn’t. As a result, they’ve missed a good bit of stuff.

On the other hand, I should not have to make them stop. We’ve had multiple discussions about this in the past. The map on the VTT is not what we are exploring. Rushing to reveal it is not productive; it is just a crude representation to provide relative positions in space. The exploration is the dialogue between myself as the GM and the players. I describe, they question and explore. As they question and explore, I elaborate more or we move on to the next location. If players are moving all around the map, I cannot focus on every movement they take. Nor can I provide that additional detail. At this point, I think I’ve made me approach on this pretty clear so all I can assume is that the characters are only giving things a cursory look…at best…and let things fall as they may.