Savage Korvosa Session 30

Rolth Lamm caught! That is the big event of this last session. The party also acquired some new items, learned quite a bit about the Gray Maidens and their construction, and got to interrogate a psychopath in the sewers of Korvosa. They established a number of goals for how they want to proceed and started to formulate a plan for what comes next. They are starting to take the reins of proactivity rather than letting the Queen and the Gray Maidens dictate where things are going. But it all seems to hinge on trusting the psychopath to do his part. Details below the break.

Everyone was in attendance, but Adam 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

• Pop had been attacked, grappled, and “reeled” in by one of the creatures emerging from the alcoves. Once again (anyone detecting a pattern here), the group has to come to his rescue.
  • Several are wounded in the process, but the group is victorious. Aimar is able to heal their wounds.
  • The group heads back into the lab and looks a little more thoroughly and systematically.
    • Behind the Zon-Kuthon altar, they find one of the skull coffers like they had found down in the Temple of Urgathoa and in Rolth Lamm’s prior lab. This one is closed and the party leaves it for now, planning to take it on their way out.
    • Darcy spots some scratch marks out in the corridor beyond the lab…much as though a door has scrapped along the floor. Aimar is able to find a small stone which moves on the wall and a secret door opens.
      • Following the passage beyond, the group finds that they would have been able to bypass the creatures in the alcoves completely. This passage eventually leads to a chamber with a shaft and ladder leading up.
        • Darcy climbs up. It exits into a barrel in a small room. A couple of other barrels are standing nearby. She can hear voices coming from a room beyond. The rest of the group quietly climbs up and enters the room.
          • Listening at the door, Darcy can make out a set of two voices. One is angry and is upset that they have not been provided more than they are getting; also implying that something bad might happen if they are not provided more in the future.
          • Another voice responds that research takes time and cautions the first to not threaten.
          • The first voice responds that she is not doing the threatening, the Queen is.
          • The male voice responds that he has more control and power than they may know and to not test him.
        • The footsteps of three or four individuals, armored (Gray Maidens?), sound like they are departing, ascending some stairs. It is then quiet for a moment until another set of soft footsteps comes closer. A nearby door is opened…a moment or two later it is closed. The footsteps are now approaching the door next to Darcy.
          • The group gets into position and the door opens…
          • It is Rolth Lamm. He is carrying a bottle of wine and is taken by complete surprise.
          • He is quickly subdued…knocked out…dropping the bottle of wine. Darcy catches it before it hits the floor. Lamm is then tied up, gagged, and divested of his belongings.
        • The group takes him and makes their way back down the barrel ladder and back to Lamm’s lab.
          • The grab the skull coffer and make their way back into the sewers, carrying Lamm, and to Stefaneto.
          • Their guide and ally is asked to lead them somewhere in the sewers where they can wait for Lamm to regain consciousness and where they won’t be disturbed.
            • Stefaneto gets them to a some chamber in the sewer with only one way in and out and looks like it hasn’t been visited in years.
            • Some of the items that Lamm was carrying on him are magical. These are divvied up by the group.
              • Isabella recognizes a couple of them. They had belonged to Varisian women that she was acquainted with. The group assumes that Lamm killed them and they were turned into Gray Maidens.
            • Lamm also had some notes.
              • Aimar looks through these notes. They are largely about various diseases and it looks like Lamm was researching cures for them. It is pretty clear that these cures were motivated by ensuring that he would not be affected and not for the general public.
              • Other notes are about the Gray Maidens.
                • They are some sort of construct and not undead.
                • A Gray Maiden Captain has a Greater Scarab used in their production. These Greater Scarabs are like the one that the group had previously found in Gaedren Lamm at the Temple of Urgathoa.
                • Gray Maidens with Lesser Scarabs used in their creation are connected to a Captain via her Greater Scarab.
                • The Queen has the “master” scarab, something identified as the Ankh of the Master Hmah.
                • Rolth has been mixing his blood with some of the scarabs used to create the Gray Maidens, apparently hoping to have his own control over them. He has not yet tested this control.
              • The book grabbed from Lamm’s lab, The Complete and Unabridged History of the Pharaohs of Osirion, also gets a quick look. It appears to be exactly what the title states.
            • Lamm wakes and their is absolute hate in his eyes.
              • Just before he wakes, Aimar uses his magic to disguise the entire group as Osirion Pharaohs from the book.
              • Stan takes up position behind Lamm and keeps an eye on his hands as the gag is removed. The interrogation begins.
                • The Queen wants power, to take over Varisia and likely beyond, and Lamm’s constructs are a tool in this.
                • Lamm asks, “What do you want?”
                • The questioning continues with the group asking about how the Maidens are created.
                  • Lamm explains that the magics of the past was much stronger than that of today. He spent some time in Osirion studying some of these ancient magics. (Perhaps this is why the Key-Lock Killer was never found and no more victims were discovered.) He was able to create a ritual which, combined with some sand from Osirion, the shells from Death Scarabs, and a common magic item which creates and controls the Gray Maidens.
                  • Lamm asks again, “What do you want?”
                • Aimar suggests that Lamm should be cooperative if he values his soul, intimating that Hell could be brought into all of this.
                  • Lamm is not impressed. He has no fear of Hell or its devils.
                    • Aimar finds this quite amusing and walks away laughing. (This is when Adam had to leave so he helped come up with a way Aimar bowing out.)
                  • Lamm asks again, “What do you want?”
                • The group asks if others know how to create Gray Maidens. Lamm says that he taught six others how to do this. All it requires are the components already mentioned and a certain “competence” with the ritual.
                  • Lamm asks again, “What do you want?”
                • How can the Gray Maidens be stopped?
                  • There is no way to simply cause all of them to stop functioning. (The players had mentioned and hoped for something like a kill-switch.)
                  • How can they be controlled?
                    • All of them can be controlled via the Ankh of Master Hmah.
                    • If his research bears fruit, he can also control them…again not tested this yet.
                    • Lamm asks again, “What do you want?”
                • Does the Queen have her own abilities or magics?
                  • Lamm says she does. Rumor is that she found something that gave her powers. She has been wearing a different crown since the king died.
                    • The Queen had slowly poisoned the king.
                  • Lamm asks again, “What do you want?”
                • Lamm offers a couple of propositions.
                  • In exchange for his freedom, he will accept nothing less, he can arrange to get the Queen out of Castle Korvosa…perhaps on some story that he has something new to show her.
                    • The Queen will have the Ankh with her as she never lets it leave her possession.
                    • She will also most likely try to dictate the details of any meeting as best she can.
                    • When asked what he would do if freed and specifically if he would leave Korvosa, Lamm said that he would leave and go somewhere else to pursue is particular proclivities.
                • His second proposition is for the group to allow him to complete some of his research. If they agree, he can point them to a cache of treasure stowed by some smuggler who used to live in Rose Point Manor (the ruins above where the group captured Lamm).
                  • He simply needs a couple of days in his workshop and one or two Varisian women.
                • He is asked why his Gray Maiden ritual is required to be done on women.
                  • Lamm answers it does not. It is just his personal preference. (Reminder…he was the Key-Lock serial killer who preyed upon young women.)
                • Another question is regarding the Red Mantis assassins. Why has the Queen brought them in?
                  • This seems to make something click for Lamm and he notes that the group must be the ones that the Queen has been looking for.
                    • He specifically asks which of the disguised group is Pop and what is it about him that has the Queen so interested. Pop identified himself.
                    • He claims that he could find that out for the group after they admit that they do not know why.

And that is pretty much where we ended the session.

I got the impression (and shared this at the end with the group) that they seemed to expect to be something of a typical thug. Instead, they got someone more like Hannibal Lector. The cold evenness with which Lamm shared information and how, in many ways, he seemed to be in control of the questioning as much as the PCs was a bit disconcerting. He was cold. He was calm. He is clearly a total psychopath.

There were a number of player discussions. One was where each character fell on a continuum regarding Lamm. One end was not allowing him to go free (likely killing him) despite the cost to Korvosa and the PCs so he could do no more harm. The other end was essentially letting him go free to continue his activities elsewhere and spare Korvosa from him and save it from the Queen. The general consensus was much closer to the second…save Korvosa despite the cost of Lamm being free elsewhere. This actually fits quite well with a Korvosan mindset. Most are quite “patriotic” regarding their city and put its well-being far above the well-being of other locations.

Another discussion was regarding the group’s goals at this point. Three different goals were broadly identified. First and foremost, get the Ankh of Master Hmah so the Queen can no longer control the Gray Maidens. Second is to kill the Queen. The third is to make sure that her new crown that appears to give her personal power not fall into the wrong hands. The players are also hoping that they can get in touch with both the Korvosan Guard and the Sable Company in order to have them involved in the attack on the Queen. She is certain to be well guarded. They also hope to be able to catch her outside somewhere so that the Sable Company could employ their full talents of aerial support and attack.

At one point, Lamm did ask if anyone in the group would like control of the Maidens and he was at least slightly surprised that no one did.

We did stop before the questioning was completed so the players could have some time to think about other things to ask. I do see that there is at least one note to remember to ask him the skull coffers and if the Queen is wanting to start a plague.

I think that pretty much wraps it up. I am quite happy that all of these things are starting to come together in a relatively coherent fashion and that the players have gotten to learn all of this during play rather than sharing as a post-adventure discussion/briefing.