February 26, 118
Calanon and Elvish arrive at the Merry Bowman, which is a small but well-appointed establishment. It's the afternoon, so there's only a few customers around, along with a bartender and a barmaid. Approaching the bartender, they learn that he is actually the owner of the tavern.
They start by asking him if he ever rents out the building, to which he replies that he does, for a price. They discuss the terms and conditions, but as they talk they try to steer the conversation towards the last time he rented the tavern. He explains that the last renter had desired a private evening, so he and his staff left the building for the duration of the rental.
Eventually, Calanon and Elvish cut to the chase and explain that a man was last seen entering his tavern a few weeks ago, and has not been seen since. The owner explains that, when a private rental occurs, he does tend to stay nearby to keep an eye on things, and he did see Therian enter, and never saw him leave. However, he had assumed that he simply didn't see Therian's departure, or perhaps he left by the back door. He gives the two adventurers a short tour of the entire establishment, in order to prove to them that Therian is not here, and therefore he must have left.
While the owner's story mostly just corroborates Emmerson's story, he does let slip one new piece of information. When renting his building out, he requires a reliable reference vouching for the client. In Malegar's case, this reference was provided by a priest of Vorn named Abbar.
Calanon and Elvish are convinced of the owner's sincerity, and figure that, since Malegar is a wizard, he must have somehow magically spirited Therian away. Elvish returns to the Greasy Thatcher with the rest of the party, while Calanon returns to Aralakk's temple in order to ask about Abbar. There, he learns that Abbar is one of Gorith's sub-prelates.
February 27, 118
The next day, the party continue their investigations. Dark Star returns to the Eminent Cathedral in order to update Severn on their progress again. Elvish and Calanon also head to the Cathedral to see if they can learn anything about Abbar. Ellyanna asks around the various magical and alchemical shops in the city to see if anyone knows anything about Malegar. Finally, Ash-Daughter asks around her criminal contacts to see if any of them know anything about Malegar.
Ellyanna and Ash-Daughter are unsuccessful, learning nothing of value about the wizard. Calanon and Elvish arrive at Gorith's headquarters, but they find that his staff are much less helpful than those of Severn or Sahril, possibly because they don't have Aralakk greasing the wheels for them this time. The best they are able to do is securing a short meeting with Abbar in three days' time.
The only person who has any real success in the morning is Dark Star. Severn has apparently become resigned to the fact that the party are going to keep investigating even if he tells them not to, and agrees to share what he's learned. Severn tells him that his agents have also been investigating Malegar and have been more successful than the party. He's learned that Malegar is apparently a wizard for hire, who specializes in Conjuration magic. He has a home in the New City, but in the last month or so, he hasn't been seen in the area; instead, he's mostly been seen in and around Gorith's mansion in the Old City.
The party regroup at noon as usual, where they find a message from Zorlac waiting for them, informing them that he has finished transferring minds between the two Kaplans. They head to the Cathedral to pick up Severn, then return to Zorlac's tower to see the results.
Back down in Zorlac's laboratory, he shows them the two Kaplans, who look the same as when they last saw them, but Zorlac assures them that the minds have indeed been switched. Talking to the two men, they both continue to protest their innocence, and in the end the party are still not able to decide which one to trust.
They have an idea that could finally pinpoint the real Kaplan with certainty. Zorlac previously explained to them that, during the process where the Kaplans switched bodies, the fake managed to copy the real Kaplan's memories, which allows him to lie with perfect accuracy. They ask him whether he could reverse this process, essentially excising the copied memories.
Zorlac considers this proposal, before telling them that he thinks it could be done, but he doesn't know how long it will take, because he's never done anything like this before. It could be a matter of days, but it also could be a matter of weeks or even longer. They ask him to try. Severn agrees to this delay, as this will give them more time to rescue Sahril's son and break Gorith's hold over her. His plan requires her to be free of Gorith's influence once the Arch-Prelate's murderer is returned to them.
For the rest of the day, the party continue investigating different leads. Elvish heads to Gorith's mansion to case the area out, although in such a short time he isn't able to learn much. Calanon and Ellyanna ask around the vicinity of the mansion about Malegar, and confirm Severn's information - the wizard has frequently been seen in this area recently. Finally, Ash-Daughter prowls the streets near the mansion, hoping to run into Malegar, but cannot find him.
Dark Star, rather than joining the rest of the party, returns to Demon's Gift's shop, hoping to patch up their relationship after the fight with Corsica caused so much damage to the shop. He presents his minotaur skull helmet as gift and offers his apologies. Demon's Gift accepts both, and Dark Star spends the rest of the day reading in the shop.
February 28, 118
On the last day of February, Dark Star and Ellyanna continue their respective readings, while the rest of the party head to Gorith's manor and casing out the building. Ash-Daughter, an experienced thief, is particularly successful here, and after spending the morning observing the building, she is able to provide them most of the details they'll need - number of guards and their locations, guard shifts, entrances and exits, and a rough floorplan of the building. With this information in hand, the party begin preparing to break in and find Therian.
Friday, September 18, 2015
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Note: Session 18 Posted
Just a quick note that I finally went back and wrote up the report for Session 18, since I still had my notes from that game. I dated it between Session 17 and Session 19 so that everything is nicely in chronological order in the archives.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Session 21: All We Ever Do Is Investigate Things
February 25, 118
The party arrive late at Zorlac's tower; Severn arrives with them to see the results as well. They search the area where they were last admitted into the complex and Ash-Daughter finds the opening mechanism, bringing them into the geography library. There, they meet Eero, the same librarian who escorted them into the building last time, who leads them to Zorlac.
Zorlac is in an adjacent room which is an anatomy library, full of models, diagrams, and of course books. He escorts the party into an underground room which seems to be a laboratory of some sort. Books, notes, and magical reagents are scattered throughout the room, and two magical mirrors hanging on the walls show views of the two Kaplans in cells, presumably somewhere else in the building.
Zorlac explains to the party that he is an expert in magically modifying the mind and body of living creatures, and he has discovered that both Kaplans have undergone extensive magical modification. In particular, the tattooed individual has received very many magical "grafts", which provided him with superhuman and magical abilities. He does not appear to be a spellcaster, but the modifications done to him have provided him with the ability to create magical effects. In essence, it's almost like an arsenal of magical scrolls or runes have been inscribed onto his bones.
The other, non-tattooed Kaplan also shows signs of magical modification to mind and body, but in this case they are much older. While the tattooed individual has been augmented fairly recently, Zorlac estimates that the modifications to the non-tattooed individual are at least ten years old. Because they are so old, he cannot determine their purpose, as the body's natural healing has muddled the evidence.
Finally, Zorlac reveals the most important fact: the evidence in the minds of the two men show that a magical mind transfer did occur, and the mind of the Kaplan that the party know is currently in the tattooed body. It seems that during this process, the other individual was able to copy Kaplan's memories and therefore imitate him with complete accuracy. However, it also seems that all of the latent magical affects bound to that body were expended during this transfer, and no usable magical augmentations remain.
The party are not completely sure whether they can trust Zorlac's information, although Severn informs them that he doesn't think the wizard is lying. They interrogate the apparent impostor in the non-tattooed body, but he continues to protest his innocence. The party ask Zorlac whether he is able to undo the mind swap, and he says that he can, although it will take him several days. The party ask him to do so, figuring that while they wait, they can investigate Sahril's son's kidnapping, as well as decide what to do about Kaplan.
As the party leave Zorlac's home, Severn tells them that he has something else to discuss with them, and invites them to the headquarters of the Inquisition. When they arrive, he explains that he's had an idea. As he's previously stated, the only candidate for the Arch-Prelate that he would support is Sahril, but she would not be able to win without the vote of a third prelate. However, they could use the same strategy that Gorith planned to use to force the other prelates to vote for her. If they claim that Sahril, with her knowledge of magic and magical threats, was the one who captured the Arch-Prelate's killer, they should be able to drum up enough popular support that the other prelates will essentially have to vote for her, or face riots in the streets from the common people.
Severn, of course, is not aware that Sahril is being blackmailed by Gorith, but Ellyanna accidentally lets this information slip as they discuss his idea. The party try to dissuade Severn from investigating this himself, but he insistent, assuring them that the Inquisition can be very subtle when necessary. Eventually, he convinces them to provide the list of names of Therian's friends, and tells them that he will handle the investigation himself.
At this point, it's past midnight, so the party rest for the night in quarters provided by Severn.
February 26, 118
The next morning, the party split up and pursue various aims. Ellyanna returns to the College and continues studying there, while Dark Star returns to the Greasy Thatcher and studies his book as well.
Calanon, Elvish, and Ash-Daughter decide to run interference for Severn, making very public inquiries about Kaplan in order to attract Gorith's attention away from his investigation. Calanon and Elvish do this among the common people, while Ash-Daughter does this among her criminal connections, reasoning that Gorith probably his criminal contacts that will pass this information along.
Around noon, a messenger arrives at the Greasy Thatcher and hands Dark Star a message. Opening it in his room, he finds that it's the list they provided to Sahril, with a single name - Emmerson - circled. A note underneath simply says "works for Gorith" and provides the location where he works.
The party regroups at the inn, and decide to investigate for themselves rather than waiting for Severn. They head out to the location given by Sahril, which is a large administrative building used by Gorith's branch of the church. Dark Star and Elvish disguise themselves as an old Orcish man and his young page, and go to the door.
They convince the doorman to send for Emmerson, and when he arrives, they discover that he is a well-dressed, well-groomed, and overall clearly well-to-do young man. He doesn't recognize them and doesn't want to talk with them, but when they mention that they're here regarding Therian, he reluctantly invites them up to his office on the second floor.
Arriving at the office, they note that his title is listed as "Senior Administrative Scribe" on the door as they enter. Once inside, Elvish opens the door and Dark Star conjures an illusion of Gorith storming into the room, furiously demanding to know where Therian is. Emmerson protests that he doesn't know, and when the illusionary Gorith presses the issue, he realizes that the figure is not real, and breaks the illusion.
Emmerson demands to know what's going on, but Dark Star and Elvish switch tactics and intimidate the man, claiming that Dark Star (under the fake name "Vanderheim von Regulus") is a powerful wizard, and demanding that tells them everything he knows about Therian. Emmerson cracks under the pressure, and tells them all he can.
He explains that he received a direct order from Gorith to invite Therian to a certain tavern at a certain time. He did so, and at the tavern he met a grey-robed wizard who, according to Gorith's orders, he should obey unconditionally. The mage went into a back room and ordered him to lure Therian into said room, then leave immediately afterward and say nothing to anyone about the matter.
Emmerson followed his orders, luring Therian into the room then leaving the tavern. He has not seen Therian since. Although he is worried about his friend, he is too terrified of Gorith and the potential consequences of disobeying his direct orders to investigate what happened to him. Satisfied that they've learned all he knows, Dark Star and Elvish intimidate Emmerson one last time, claiming that they'll kill him if he speaks of this meeting, then leave.
The party spend the rest of the afternoon following up on what they've learned. Dark Star returns to Severn to update him on the situation. He is not happy that they disobeyed him, but the fact that they gathered such useful information makes him reluctantly accept their actions. Ash-Daughter continues her work from the morning, making very obvious inquiries about Kaplan in order to attract Gorith's attention and distract him from their true investigation.
Ellyanna returns to the College of Celestial Thaumaturgy, but instead of studying as usual, she asks around about the wizard from Emmerson's story, using a sketch of him that Elvish drew based on Emmerson's description. She finds out that, although he is not a member of the College, several members do recognize him, having seen him around the city or in various magical reagent shops. She learns his name: Malegar.
Finally, Calanon and Elvish decide to head to the tavern from Emmerson's story, the Merry Bowman, and check it out directly.
The party arrive late at Zorlac's tower; Severn arrives with them to see the results as well. They search the area where they were last admitted into the complex and Ash-Daughter finds the opening mechanism, bringing them into the geography library. There, they meet Eero, the same librarian who escorted them into the building last time, who leads them to Zorlac.
Zorlac is in an adjacent room which is an anatomy library, full of models, diagrams, and of course books. He escorts the party into an underground room which seems to be a laboratory of some sort. Books, notes, and magical reagents are scattered throughout the room, and two magical mirrors hanging on the walls show views of the two Kaplans in cells, presumably somewhere else in the building.
Zorlac explains to the party that he is an expert in magically modifying the mind and body of living creatures, and he has discovered that both Kaplans have undergone extensive magical modification. In particular, the tattooed individual has received very many magical "grafts", which provided him with superhuman and magical abilities. He does not appear to be a spellcaster, but the modifications done to him have provided him with the ability to create magical effects. In essence, it's almost like an arsenal of magical scrolls or runes have been inscribed onto his bones.
The other, non-tattooed Kaplan also shows signs of magical modification to mind and body, but in this case they are much older. While the tattooed individual has been augmented fairly recently, Zorlac estimates that the modifications to the non-tattooed individual are at least ten years old. Because they are so old, he cannot determine their purpose, as the body's natural healing has muddled the evidence.
Finally, Zorlac reveals the most important fact: the evidence in the minds of the two men show that a magical mind transfer did occur, and the mind of the Kaplan that the party know is currently in the tattooed body. It seems that during this process, the other individual was able to copy Kaplan's memories and therefore imitate him with complete accuracy. However, it also seems that all of the latent magical affects bound to that body were expended during this transfer, and no usable magical augmentations remain.
The party are not completely sure whether they can trust Zorlac's information, although Severn informs them that he doesn't think the wizard is lying. They interrogate the apparent impostor in the non-tattooed body, but he continues to protest his innocence. The party ask Zorlac whether he is able to undo the mind swap, and he says that he can, although it will take him several days. The party ask him to do so, figuring that while they wait, they can investigate Sahril's son's kidnapping, as well as decide what to do about Kaplan.
As the party leave Zorlac's home, Severn tells them that he has something else to discuss with them, and invites them to the headquarters of the Inquisition. When they arrive, he explains that he's had an idea. As he's previously stated, the only candidate for the Arch-Prelate that he would support is Sahril, but she would not be able to win without the vote of a third prelate. However, they could use the same strategy that Gorith planned to use to force the other prelates to vote for her. If they claim that Sahril, with her knowledge of magic and magical threats, was the one who captured the Arch-Prelate's killer, they should be able to drum up enough popular support that the other prelates will essentially have to vote for her, or face riots in the streets from the common people.
Severn, of course, is not aware that Sahril is being blackmailed by Gorith, but Ellyanna accidentally lets this information slip as they discuss his idea. The party try to dissuade Severn from investigating this himself, but he insistent, assuring them that the Inquisition can be very subtle when necessary. Eventually, he convinces them to provide the list of names of Therian's friends, and tells them that he will handle the investigation himself.
At this point, it's past midnight, so the party rest for the night in quarters provided by Severn.
February 26, 118
The next morning, the party split up and pursue various aims. Ellyanna returns to the College and continues studying there, while Dark Star returns to the Greasy Thatcher and studies his book as well.
Calanon, Elvish, and Ash-Daughter decide to run interference for Severn, making very public inquiries about Kaplan in order to attract Gorith's attention away from his investigation. Calanon and Elvish do this among the common people, while Ash-Daughter does this among her criminal connections, reasoning that Gorith probably his criminal contacts that will pass this information along.
Around noon, a messenger arrives at the Greasy Thatcher and hands Dark Star a message. Opening it in his room, he finds that it's the list they provided to Sahril, with a single name - Emmerson - circled. A note underneath simply says "works for Gorith" and provides the location where he works.
The party regroups at the inn, and decide to investigate for themselves rather than waiting for Severn. They head out to the location given by Sahril, which is a large administrative building used by Gorith's branch of the church. Dark Star and Elvish disguise themselves as an old Orcish man and his young page, and go to the door.
They convince the doorman to send for Emmerson, and when he arrives, they discover that he is a well-dressed, well-groomed, and overall clearly well-to-do young man. He doesn't recognize them and doesn't want to talk with them, but when they mention that they're here regarding Therian, he reluctantly invites them up to his office on the second floor.
Arriving at the office, they note that his title is listed as "Senior Administrative Scribe" on the door as they enter. Once inside, Elvish opens the door and Dark Star conjures an illusion of Gorith storming into the room, furiously demanding to know where Therian is. Emmerson protests that he doesn't know, and when the illusionary Gorith presses the issue, he realizes that the figure is not real, and breaks the illusion.
Emmerson demands to know what's going on, but Dark Star and Elvish switch tactics and intimidate the man, claiming that Dark Star (under the fake name "Vanderheim von Regulus") is a powerful wizard, and demanding that tells them everything he knows about Therian. Emmerson cracks under the pressure, and tells them all he can.
He explains that he received a direct order from Gorith to invite Therian to a certain tavern at a certain time. He did so, and at the tavern he met a grey-robed wizard who, according to Gorith's orders, he should obey unconditionally. The mage went into a back room and ordered him to lure Therian into said room, then leave immediately afterward and say nothing to anyone about the matter.
Emmerson followed his orders, luring Therian into the room then leaving the tavern. He has not seen Therian since. Although he is worried about his friend, he is too terrified of Gorith and the potential consequences of disobeying his direct orders to investigate what happened to him. Satisfied that they've learned all he knows, Dark Star and Elvish intimidate Emmerson one last time, claiming that they'll kill him if he speaks of this meeting, then leave.
The party spend the rest of the afternoon following up on what they've learned. Dark Star returns to Severn to update him on the situation. He is not happy that they disobeyed him, but the fact that they gathered such useful information makes him reluctantly accept their actions. Ash-Daughter continues her work from the morning, making very obvious inquiries about Kaplan in order to attract Gorith's attention and distract him from their true investigation.
Ellyanna returns to the College of Celestial Thaumaturgy, but instead of studying as usual, she asks around about the wizard from Emmerson's story, using a sketch of him that Elvish drew based on Emmerson's description. She finds out that, although he is not a member of the College, several members do recognize him, having seen him around the city or in various magical reagent shops. She learns his name: Malegar.
Finally, Calanon and Elvish decide to head to the tavern from Emmerson's story, the Merry Bowman, and check it out directly.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Session 20: Negotiating and Investigating
February 24, 118
As they make their way down the stairway, the party are surprised by someone else making his way up the stairway. They encounter a man dressed in lavish and comfortable-looking robes heading up the stairs with a stack of books, and immediately surmise that the man is Zorlac himself. The wizard is middle-aged, with fairly dark skin, black hair, and a close-cropped beard. He is not happy to find intruders in his home.
Demanding that they explain themselves, the party explain to Zorlac the basics of what has happened to Kaplan and why they need his help. Zorlac is unmoved, and doesn't see why he should care or get involved. Switching tactics, they tell him that they have been sent by the church to get his help, and if he doesn't help them, the church will cause a fuss. It will be easier for him to just help them now than to deal with the consequences of not helping. Zorlac considers this argument, then invites the party into the sitting room to discuss the matter at greater length.
The group explain everything they can to Zorlac, including everything they've tried so far. They also show him the copy of the tattoos that Elvish made. Eventually, they are able to persuade him to help, but he has two conditions. First, he never leaves his home, so they will have to bring the two Kaplans to him. Second, once he has determined which of the two Kaplans is real, he wishes to keep the other one in order to study him.
Given that the fake Kaplan is most likely the Archprelate's murderer, the party aren't sure whether they really have the authority to hand him over, so they tell Zorlac that they must consult with the Church of Vorn. They set up a meeting with one of Zorlac's librarians later in the day so they can relay the Church's decision, they head out to talk with Severn.
Once they've arrived at the Prelate's office, they explain the situation to him, and Severn is not particularly pleased by either of Zorlac's conditions. He feels it could be unsafe to transport the Kaplans across the city, and does not wish to give up the fake once he has been identified, as he should instead face justice. Severn decides that, given how important this issue is, he'll go meet Zorlac and negotiate himself.
Severna and the party meet with Zorlac's librarian, who guides them in near-silence back to the tower. He reveals to them a secret entrance that is much lower than the ones they'd previously identified, requiring no climbing to reach. This entrance leads them into another library, and a secret passage hidden behind a bookcase takes them into the same set of stairs where they first ran into Zorlac.
They make their way back to the sitting room, where Zorlac awaits them, and Severn attempts to negotiate more favourable terms. Elvish helps out by trying to support Severn's arguments while distracting Zorlac. In the end, after a long negotiation, Severn manages to wring only one a few small concessions out of Zorlac: he agrees to allow the church to keep the fake Kaplan for a few days before turning him over, and he agrees to accept the fake dead or alive. While not thrilled with these terms, Severn agrees.
Severn and the party return to the Eminent Cathedral, discussing how they will handle transporting Kaplan as they go. They ask Severn about what magical protections they have, but Severn explains that the anti-magic devices they have are not mobile; they are fixed enchantments in particular areas. If the fake Kaplan is a spellcaster, they can prevent him from casting spells by gagging him and binding his hands, but if he is some sort of innately magical creature, this may not be sufficient.
Eventually, the settle on the low-tech solution: in addition to binding and gagging both Kaplans, they knock them both out with blows to the head before transporting them across the city, the idea being to heal them back up once they arrive. This idea works out, as they successfully transport the two men across the city and into Zorlac's home without incident.
Zorlac goes to begin his investigations, but the party have one last request: they want to leave Dark Star with him to keep an eye on things, and so he can notify them when Zorlac is finished. Although the wizard isn't happy with this idea, they convince him to allow Dark Star to stay. Since it's nearing the end of the day, the rest of the party return to the inn to rest for the night.
February 25, 118
In the morning, Grrrr Yip tells the party that, as a Druid, she can no longer stand staying in the city. She also feels that she needs to expand her knowledge of nature in order to be of any real use to them, and to grow as a Druid. She wishes them luck, and leaves to pursue her own mission.
Since they need to wait for Zorlac to finish his investigation, the rest of the party decide to pursue their own investigation of Sahril's son's kidnapping while they wait. They have the list of Therian's best friends that they got from the temple where he worked, so Ash-Daughter heads to the streets to find out if any of the names have underworld connections. Elvish and Calanon head to the Reliquary of Vorn in order to ask Sahril herself about the list. Dark Star is still watching over Zorlac, and Ellyanna decides to leave the investigation to everyone else, while she returns to the College of Celestial Thaumaturgy to continue her studies.
Ash-Daughter spends the entire day exhausting all of her sources, but in the end she is forced to conclude that none of the people on Therian's list have any sort of criminal connection.
For Calanon and Elvish, getting an audience with Sahril turns out to be much more difficult than getting an audience with Severn, probably because she doesn't want to be associated with them. They spend the morning fruitlessly attempting to arrange a meeting. In the afternoon, they change up their strategy and instead focus on getting a meeting with Xanavar, the sub-prelate who they met previously. They are eventually successful, and they pass on the list of names to him. Xanavar agrees to give the list to Sahril and let them know anything that she can tell them.
In the evening, everyone returns to the inn as usual. There, they are met by Dark Star. Zorlac has finished his investigation and he's ready to announce the results.
As they make their way down the stairway, the party are surprised by someone else making his way up the stairway. They encounter a man dressed in lavish and comfortable-looking robes heading up the stairs with a stack of books, and immediately surmise that the man is Zorlac himself. The wizard is middle-aged, with fairly dark skin, black hair, and a close-cropped beard. He is not happy to find intruders in his home.
Demanding that they explain themselves, the party explain to Zorlac the basics of what has happened to Kaplan and why they need his help. Zorlac is unmoved, and doesn't see why he should care or get involved. Switching tactics, they tell him that they have been sent by the church to get his help, and if he doesn't help them, the church will cause a fuss. It will be easier for him to just help them now than to deal with the consequences of not helping. Zorlac considers this argument, then invites the party into the sitting room to discuss the matter at greater length.
The group explain everything they can to Zorlac, including everything they've tried so far. They also show him the copy of the tattoos that Elvish made. Eventually, they are able to persuade him to help, but he has two conditions. First, he never leaves his home, so they will have to bring the two Kaplans to him. Second, once he has determined which of the two Kaplans is real, he wishes to keep the other one in order to study him.
Given that the fake Kaplan is most likely the Archprelate's murderer, the party aren't sure whether they really have the authority to hand him over, so they tell Zorlac that they must consult with the Church of Vorn. They set up a meeting with one of Zorlac's librarians later in the day so they can relay the Church's decision, they head out to talk with Severn.
Once they've arrived at the Prelate's office, they explain the situation to him, and Severn is not particularly pleased by either of Zorlac's conditions. He feels it could be unsafe to transport the Kaplans across the city, and does not wish to give up the fake once he has been identified, as he should instead face justice. Severn decides that, given how important this issue is, he'll go meet Zorlac and negotiate himself.
Severna and the party meet with Zorlac's librarian, who guides them in near-silence back to the tower. He reveals to them a secret entrance that is much lower than the ones they'd previously identified, requiring no climbing to reach. This entrance leads them into another library, and a secret passage hidden behind a bookcase takes them into the same set of stairs where they first ran into Zorlac.
They make their way back to the sitting room, where Zorlac awaits them, and Severn attempts to negotiate more favourable terms. Elvish helps out by trying to support Severn's arguments while distracting Zorlac. In the end, after a long negotiation, Severn manages to wring only one a few small concessions out of Zorlac: he agrees to allow the church to keep the fake Kaplan for a few days before turning him over, and he agrees to accept the fake dead or alive. While not thrilled with these terms, Severn agrees.
Severn and the party return to the Eminent Cathedral, discussing how they will handle transporting Kaplan as they go. They ask Severn about what magical protections they have, but Severn explains that the anti-magic devices they have are not mobile; they are fixed enchantments in particular areas. If the fake Kaplan is a spellcaster, they can prevent him from casting spells by gagging him and binding his hands, but if he is some sort of innately magical creature, this may not be sufficient.
Eventually, the settle on the low-tech solution: in addition to binding and gagging both Kaplans, they knock them both out with blows to the head before transporting them across the city, the idea being to heal them back up once they arrive. This idea works out, as they successfully transport the two men across the city and into Zorlac's home without incident.
Zorlac goes to begin his investigations, but the party have one last request: they want to leave Dark Star with him to keep an eye on things, and so he can notify them when Zorlac is finished. Although the wizard isn't happy with this idea, they convince him to allow Dark Star to stay. Since it's nearing the end of the day, the rest of the party return to the inn to rest for the night.
February 25, 118
In the morning, Grrrr Yip tells the party that, as a Druid, she can no longer stand staying in the city. She also feels that she needs to expand her knowledge of nature in order to be of any real use to them, and to grow as a Druid. She wishes them luck, and leaves to pursue her own mission.
Since they need to wait for Zorlac to finish his investigation, the rest of the party decide to pursue their own investigation of Sahril's son's kidnapping while they wait. They have the list of Therian's best friends that they got from the temple where he worked, so Ash-Daughter heads to the streets to find out if any of the names have underworld connections. Elvish and Calanon head to the Reliquary of Vorn in order to ask Sahril herself about the list. Dark Star is still watching over Zorlac, and Ellyanna decides to leave the investigation to everyone else, while she returns to the College of Celestial Thaumaturgy to continue her studies.
Ash-Daughter spends the entire day exhausting all of her sources, but in the end she is forced to conclude that none of the people on Therian's list have any sort of criminal connection.
For Calanon and Elvish, getting an audience with Sahril turns out to be much more difficult than getting an audience with Severn, probably because she doesn't want to be associated with them. They spend the morning fruitlessly attempting to arrange a meeting. In the afternoon, they change up their strategy and instead focus on getting a meeting with Xanavar, the sub-prelate who they met previously. They are eventually successful, and they pass on the list of names to him. Xanavar agrees to give the list to Sahril and let them know anything that she can tell them.
In the evening, everyone returns to the inn as usual. There, they are met by Dark Star. Zorlac has finished his investigation and he's ready to announce the results.
Session 19: The Hunt for Zorlac
February 23, 118
The party awaken the next morning and begin making their plans to contact Zorlac and gain access to his knowledge. Ash-Daughter knows a bit about the secretive wizard and she shares her knowledge with the party. She tells them that he lives in a large complex that consists of five towers, with no obvious entrances anywhere near the ground. The only visible doors are high up the towers, where bridges link the towers together. Zorlac himself is rumoured to never leave the tower; instead, he employs several librarians, who seek out and acquire new tomes and knowledge for him. She doesn't know who the librarians are or how they get in and out of the building. The party decide to split up and pursue several different avenues of investigation.
Ellyanna returns to the College of Celestial Thaumaturgy and spends the morning asking the various wizards and scholars whether they know anything about Zorlac. Unfortunately, she is not able to gain any useful information - the people she talks to don't seem to know much about him.
Ash-Daughter heads to the area around Zorlac's home, accompanied by Grrrr Yip, and asks around with some of her contacts to learn about the Undercity in this area, as she is not familiar with this part of the Undercity. Specifically, the party are wondering whether the entrance to the towers is actually somewhere in the Undercity. The two adventurers spend the morning asking around, but learn nothing of value.
Calanon begins canvassing the city's bookstores, asking if any of them know about Zorlac or his librarians. During the morning, he does not learn anything more than what Ash-Daughter told the party, but many more stores still remain to be investigated.
Finally, Dark Star and Elvish decide to set a trap for Zorlac. Elvish heads out to the streets of Vornheim and starts spreading rumours about a powerful tome of eldritch knowledge recently acquired by Demon's Gift. At Demon's Gift's shop, Dark Star places the book that he traded to the shopkeeper earlier in a prominent location and keeps an eye on it. A few customers do come in and take a look, but none of them decide to buy it. Dark Star memorizes their faces just in case.
During the afternoon, most of the party continue the same avenues of investigation, except for Ellyanna who decides to return to studying Kaplan's tattoos at the College. Elvish continues spreading rumours, and Dark Star continues keeping watch at the shop, but there are still no bites.
Ash-Daughter and Grrrr Yip are more successful in the afternoon, eventually learning about the layout of the Undercity in the vicinity of Zorlac's home. They learn that the area directly underneath the tower, spreading about 100 meters in every directly, does not seem to contain any Undercity tunnels, except for very deep ones. Essentially, there seems to be a roughly hemispherical area underneath the towers with no Undercity. This supports, but does not confirm, their theory that Zorlac has his own tunnels that he uses to enter and exit his home.
Calanon also manages to gain some potentially useful information. Asking around some of the more minor, obscure shops, he talks to a herbalist who sells field guides and books of herb lore, who mentions that several similar stores have been robbed recently. The shopkeepers compared notes and discovered that the same woman was seen in the vicinity of the burglarized stores shortly before each was robbed. He describes the woman to Calanon as a tall, thin human who is always seen in the company of a white cat and goes by the name of Bridgit. Calanon realizes that this is potentially one of Zorlac's librarians.
Finally, in the evening, shortly before the store's closing time, Dark Star and Elvish's trap yields results. As he has been doing all day, Dark Star is lounging in the store near the book that they're using as bait, keeping an eye on it. Suddenly, he hears quiet footsteps moving across the room, even though he sees no one but himself and Demon's Gift in the store. Realizing that this is most likely an invisible thief, he makes his way towards the source of the sound and lunges towards it.
He manages to grab hold of the figure, which seems to be humanoid, but it slips out of his grasp and runs for the book. When the figure grabs the book, it vanishes as well, but Demon's Gift casts a spell which dispels the thief's invisibility. With the spell gone, they see that the thief is a young woman, dressed in a hooded cloak. Dark Star and Demon's Gift attack her, and she responds with a spell directed towards Dark Star. The effects of the spell cause him to become tired and drowsy, but he fights it off.
Dark Star realizes that the woman will most likely attempt to flee, so he moves to block the door, using his Eldritch Blast spell to knock her away as she approaches. Realizing the she can't get past him, the thief switches tactics, and pulls an alchemical concoction out of her robe and declares that, if they don't let her out, she'll burn the whole place down.
Dark Star and Demon's Gift both try to talk her down, Dark Star by intimidating her and Demon's Gift by reasoning with her, but she is unmoved. She lights the top of the flask with a match and reiterates her threat. Dark Star shoots another Eldritch Blast at her, hoping to knock her away from the flask before she finishes priming it, but he's too late. As the woman goes flying back from the force of the blast, she drops the flask, which hits the ground and shatters, spreading flame all over the room.
Demon's Gift screams and runs forward, attempting to save his books, while the woman vanishes once more. Dark Star holds his position in front of the door, reasoning that, even invisible, the thief will need to get through him to escape. He casts Armor of Agathys on himself, anticipating a coming attack.
Dark Star is correct; the woman reappears in front of him with a dagger in hand, and thrusts it into his chest. Fortunately, his spell absorbs a large portion of the impact, but from the part of the knife that does manage to get through, he feels a numbness radiating throughout his body. However, he manages to fight through it and remain standing.
Demon's Gift finishes casting a water spell that puts out the flame, as the thief, incredulous that Dark Star is still standing, flees towards the shop's back room, hoping to find an exit there. As she fumbles with the door, Dark Star and Demon's Gift keep attacking her with magic, and finally, badly hurt, she drops to her knees and surrenders.
Dark Star ties up the woman and sends a message back to the Greasy Thatcher, requesting that the rest of the party come to the store. Several hours later, once they've returned from their various tasks, they join Dark Star and interrogate the woman.
With her hood off, they realize that the woman she is actually very young; a teenager, in fact. She introduces herself as Corsica Nyne, one of Zorlac's librarians. She pleads with them to let her take the book, as Zorlac is extremely intolerant of failure and could very well kill her for her failure and capture. The party suggest various ways she could avoid his wrath, but she explains that all of the librarians are placed under a series of spells that allow Zorlac to control and monitor them, and she doesn't think she'll be able escape or trick him.
Finally, the party decide to let her return to Zorlac with a book of lesser value in return for her help. Corsica is still worried that Zorlac will be very upset with her, but given that she's the party's captive, she has little choice but to agree. She explains to them that she doesn't know much, as Zorlac's spells cause her to forget any details about the other librarians. She only really knows how to get into the library that she manages, which is Zorlac's magic library.
The party agree to release her, and in exchange she will show them how she gets into the building. She leads them across the city, back to Zorlac's tower, then begins climbing, explaining that her entrance is not on the ground floor. She climbs about 100 feet up and opens a secret entrance, which the party make a note of. She disappears into the entrance and closes it behind her, and the party head back to the inn, intending to return the next morning.
February 24, 118
The next morning, the party return to Zorlac's complex and prepare to enter via the secret door that Corsica revealed. As she is the best climber, they send Ash-Daughter first, who ties ropes behind her as she goes so that the rest of the party can climb more easily. Grrrr Yip doesn't want to climb and stays behind, but the rest of the party make it up without difficulty.
Through the secret door, they find themselves in one of the towers, in a huge cylindrical room that's about sixty feet from floor to ceiling. The walls are covered in bookshelves and books, and a giant rolling ladder allows access to them all. The center of the room contains a desk and some chairs. They see Corsica in the room; she is huddled against a bookshelf and seems to be moaning in pain.
They talk to Corsica, and she is able to respond, though only slowly as she is clearly in great pain. She explains that she is being punished for her failure to return with a tome of value. They ask her how to leave the room and find Zorlac, as there are no obvious exits, but she reiterates that Zorlac's spells cloud her mind and prevent her from remembering anything except how to get into this specific library. They decide to investigate for themselves.
Elvish tries making the loudest possible noises that he can, in order to attract Zorlac's attention, while the rest of the group search the room. Eventually, Dark Star discovers a switch on the bottom of the desk. When he flips it, a section of the bookshelves slides open, revealing a secret door. The secret door leads to a brief passage that opens into a different tower in the complex.
In this tower, they enter what appears to be a lavish sitting room, furnished with fine chairs, tables, rugs, and other furniture. A reading desk near one of the chairs holds a few open books. Two doors exit the room; one of them opens into a spiral stairway that leads up, which the other opens into a passage that connects to yet another tower. They decide to follow this second passage.
This passage leads to a large entrance room, mostly bare except for a few coat racks, hat racks, and floor mats. There are three exits from the room. One of them is an exit from the entire complex, although just as high up as the spot the party entered from. They mark the outside of the building with chalk so they can find this entrance from the outside if they need it. The other two exits lead to stairways; one goes up and the other goes down. They decide to take the downward stairway.
The party awaken the next morning and begin making their plans to contact Zorlac and gain access to his knowledge. Ash-Daughter knows a bit about the secretive wizard and she shares her knowledge with the party. She tells them that he lives in a large complex that consists of five towers, with no obvious entrances anywhere near the ground. The only visible doors are high up the towers, where bridges link the towers together. Zorlac himself is rumoured to never leave the tower; instead, he employs several librarians, who seek out and acquire new tomes and knowledge for him. She doesn't know who the librarians are or how they get in and out of the building. The party decide to split up and pursue several different avenues of investigation.
Ellyanna returns to the College of Celestial Thaumaturgy and spends the morning asking the various wizards and scholars whether they know anything about Zorlac. Unfortunately, she is not able to gain any useful information - the people she talks to don't seem to know much about him.
Ash-Daughter heads to the area around Zorlac's home, accompanied by Grrrr Yip, and asks around with some of her contacts to learn about the Undercity in this area, as she is not familiar with this part of the Undercity. Specifically, the party are wondering whether the entrance to the towers is actually somewhere in the Undercity. The two adventurers spend the morning asking around, but learn nothing of value.
Calanon begins canvassing the city's bookstores, asking if any of them know about Zorlac or his librarians. During the morning, he does not learn anything more than what Ash-Daughter told the party, but many more stores still remain to be investigated.
Finally, Dark Star and Elvish decide to set a trap for Zorlac. Elvish heads out to the streets of Vornheim and starts spreading rumours about a powerful tome of eldritch knowledge recently acquired by Demon's Gift. At Demon's Gift's shop, Dark Star places the book that he traded to the shopkeeper earlier in a prominent location and keeps an eye on it. A few customers do come in and take a look, but none of them decide to buy it. Dark Star memorizes their faces just in case.
During the afternoon, most of the party continue the same avenues of investigation, except for Ellyanna who decides to return to studying Kaplan's tattoos at the College. Elvish continues spreading rumours, and Dark Star continues keeping watch at the shop, but there are still no bites.
Ash-Daughter and Grrrr Yip are more successful in the afternoon, eventually learning about the layout of the Undercity in the vicinity of Zorlac's home. They learn that the area directly underneath the tower, spreading about 100 meters in every directly, does not seem to contain any Undercity tunnels, except for very deep ones. Essentially, there seems to be a roughly hemispherical area underneath the towers with no Undercity. This supports, but does not confirm, their theory that Zorlac has his own tunnels that he uses to enter and exit his home.
Calanon also manages to gain some potentially useful information. Asking around some of the more minor, obscure shops, he talks to a herbalist who sells field guides and books of herb lore, who mentions that several similar stores have been robbed recently. The shopkeepers compared notes and discovered that the same woman was seen in the vicinity of the burglarized stores shortly before each was robbed. He describes the woman to Calanon as a tall, thin human who is always seen in the company of a white cat and goes by the name of Bridgit. Calanon realizes that this is potentially one of Zorlac's librarians.
Finally, in the evening, shortly before the store's closing time, Dark Star and Elvish's trap yields results. As he has been doing all day, Dark Star is lounging in the store near the book that they're using as bait, keeping an eye on it. Suddenly, he hears quiet footsteps moving across the room, even though he sees no one but himself and Demon's Gift in the store. Realizing that this is most likely an invisible thief, he makes his way towards the source of the sound and lunges towards it.
He manages to grab hold of the figure, which seems to be humanoid, but it slips out of his grasp and runs for the book. When the figure grabs the book, it vanishes as well, but Demon's Gift casts a spell which dispels the thief's invisibility. With the spell gone, they see that the thief is a young woman, dressed in a hooded cloak. Dark Star and Demon's Gift attack her, and she responds with a spell directed towards Dark Star. The effects of the spell cause him to become tired and drowsy, but he fights it off.
Dark Star realizes that the woman will most likely attempt to flee, so he moves to block the door, using his Eldritch Blast spell to knock her away as she approaches. Realizing the she can't get past him, the thief switches tactics, and pulls an alchemical concoction out of her robe and declares that, if they don't let her out, she'll burn the whole place down.
Dark Star and Demon's Gift both try to talk her down, Dark Star by intimidating her and Demon's Gift by reasoning with her, but she is unmoved. She lights the top of the flask with a match and reiterates her threat. Dark Star shoots another Eldritch Blast at her, hoping to knock her away from the flask before she finishes priming it, but he's too late. As the woman goes flying back from the force of the blast, she drops the flask, which hits the ground and shatters, spreading flame all over the room.
Demon's Gift screams and runs forward, attempting to save his books, while the woman vanishes once more. Dark Star holds his position in front of the door, reasoning that, even invisible, the thief will need to get through him to escape. He casts Armor of Agathys on himself, anticipating a coming attack.
Dark Star is correct; the woman reappears in front of him with a dagger in hand, and thrusts it into his chest. Fortunately, his spell absorbs a large portion of the impact, but from the part of the knife that does manage to get through, he feels a numbness radiating throughout his body. However, he manages to fight through it and remain standing.
Demon's Gift finishes casting a water spell that puts out the flame, as the thief, incredulous that Dark Star is still standing, flees towards the shop's back room, hoping to find an exit there. As she fumbles with the door, Dark Star and Demon's Gift keep attacking her with magic, and finally, badly hurt, she drops to her knees and surrenders.
Dark Star ties up the woman and sends a message back to the Greasy Thatcher, requesting that the rest of the party come to the store. Several hours later, once they've returned from their various tasks, they join Dark Star and interrogate the woman.
With her hood off, they realize that the woman she is actually very young; a teenager, in fact. She introduces herself as Corsica Nyne, one of Zorlac's librarians. She pleads with them to let her take the book, as Zorlac is extremely intolerant of failure and could very well kill her for her failure and capture. The party suggest various ways she could avoid his wrath, but she explains that all of the librarians are placed under a series of spells that allow Zorlac to control and monitor them, and she doesn't think she'll be able escape or trick him.
Finally, the party decide to let her return to Zorlac with a book of lesser value in return for her help. Corsica is still worried that Zorlac will be very upset with her, but given that she's the party's captive, she has little choice but to agree. She explains to them that she doesn't know much, as Zorlac's spells cause her to forget any details about the other librarians. She only really knows how to get into the library that she manages, which is Zorlac's magic library.
The party agree to release her, and in exchange she will show them how she gets into the building. She leads them across the city, back to Zorlac's tower, then begins climbing, explaining that her entrance is not on the ground floor. She climbs about 100 feet up and opens a secret entrance, which the party make a note of. She disappears into the entrance and closes it behind her, and the party head back to the inn, intending to return the next morning.
February 24, 118
The next morning, the party return to Zorlac's complex and prepare to enter via the secret door that Corsica revealed. As she is the best climber, they send Ash-Daughter first, who ties ropes behind her as she goes so that the rest of the party can climb more easily. Grrrr Yip doesn't want to climb and stays behind, but the rest of the party make it up without difficulty.
Through the secret door, they find themselves in one of the towers, in a huge cylindrical room that's about sixty feet from floor to ceiling. The walls are covered in bookshelves and books, and a giant rolling ladder allows access to them all. The center of the room contains a desk and some chairs. They see Corsica in the room; she is huddled against a bookshelf and seems to be moaning in pain.
They talk to Corsica, and she is able to respond, though only slowly as she is clearly in great pain. She explains that she is being punished for her failure to return with a tome of value. They ask her how to leave the room and find Zorlac, as there are no obvious exits, but she reiterates that Zorlac's spells cloud her mind and prevent her from remembering anything except how to get into this specific library. They decide to investigate for themselves.
Elvish tries making the loudest possible noises that he can, in order to attract Zorlac's attention, while the rest of the group search the room. Eventually, Dark Star discovers a switch on the bottom of the desk. When he flips it, a section of the bookshelves slides open, revealing a secret door. The secret door leads to a brief passage that opens into a different tower in the complex.
In this tower, they enter what appears to be a lavish sitting room, furnished with fine chairs, tables, rugs, and other furniture. A reading desk near one of the chairs holds a few open books. Two doors exit the room; one of them opens into a spiral stairway that leads up, which the other opens into a passage that connects to yet another tower. They decide to follow this second passage.
This passage leads to a large entrance room, mostly bare except for a few coat racks, hat racks, and floor mats. There are three exits from the room. One of them is an exit from the entire complex, although just as high up as the spot the party entered from. They mark the outside of the building with chalk so they can find this entrance from the outside if they need it. The other two exits lead to stairways; one goes up and the other goes down. They decide to take the downward stairway.
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