Ears to the ground and fingers in the wind reveals that there is some serous poop meeting rapidly whirling fan blades. Sorcerers are being kidnapped off the streets, earthquakes are ravaging the upper city, children are being tattooed with runes and sacrificed to nameless gods, the barbarian army is on the move and the city is mobilized!
Attempts to finds alternate lodging are unsuccessful given the crush of refugees flooding in city as they flee the advancing barbarian horde. Indeed, prices skyrocket on food and lodging. There are apparently a number of players who look to take advantage of the chaos and reports of a war between crime families indicate there are movements being made on the behalf of shadowy interests.
Against this backdrop of swirling intrigue, the charismatic Bayga and his stalwart axe-weilding companion manage to tease out an item of interest. Apparently, one of the ladies working for the White House brothel is also on the books as a temple prostitute at the Pythoness House. Coincidence or not, the group moves to investigate and they return to Oldtown. The destruction is widespread, but the business is still brisk. Inquiries reveal that the person they seek is off work for two days, apparently making offerings at the temples of the gods of chance.
This precipitates a slew of carriage rides and then an extended period of watching and waiting. It seems they have found their target. The temple interior is cased by two of the group and as the ones outside stand watch, they see their target make a mark on the temple steps. When she leaves the area, the group trails her and takes advantage of a sleep spell to subdue her and whisk her away. It is a little dicey getting the prisoner back to the South Side house, but they do so.
Some interrogation about the doings of the White House starts off as though the party is planning on robbing the place, but some skillfully applied bard talents gives them information about a cult-lich connection, but the lich appears to be using the cult for its own ends. It was the lich’s machine they destroyed, which appears to have set back his plans to tear a rift between the planes and unleash an army of undead into the city, so there is that.
The cults also have a presence in the temple district and she was delivering a message, but doesn’t know what it means of who it is for. The message was given to her by the lich owner of the brothel. Getting crazier and crazier by the minute. The prostitute reveals that there is a secret door guarded by a demon below, but that is the extent of her information. Or, so she says. Just to make sure, Bayga kills her and eats a part of her brain, sifting through the memories for signs of falsehoods. Looks like she was telling the truth after all. Oh well.
A plan is hatched and implemented and before too long the invisible party storms the temple and under the cover of an illusionary screen, the elven mage knocks the door open with a spell. They clatter down the stairs that lie beyond and close the door after themselves. A second round of stairs leads them to a chamber – oh wait, there’s that demon thing!
The mage unleashes a lightning bolt at point blank range. Aided by Kegdrain’s magic missile and Digin’s savage axe blow, they manage to convince it to retreat. It shrouds itself in darkness and runs towards a table upon which lie some wooden rods. Zaal manages to slay the creature with a timely arrow shot before anything untoward can happen.
Some magical detection leads to some exploration and a small stash of loot is uncovered. The group fans out to guard the exits while they send the fleet-footed Fingers ahead to scout the way. Exploration leads to a doorway behind which bickering is heard. The other way leads to a large meeting hall with multiple exits. Single door for the moment.
Approaching a stealthily as possible they post up and crash through the door, surprising the occupants. A partially clothed human and a lizardperson are seated on their respective beds. The pair is recognized as being among the raiders that ambushed the party and stole all their loot from the Pythoness mission. Bastards! The duo is slain in a matter of seconds, then some more looting is undertaken. One of the chests is stubborn and must be bludgeoned open, but Bayga has a silence spell to mask the noise.
They exit the room in silence and go to the meeting hall. Exploration shows smaller corridors that end in doors and a broad set of stairs that slope downwards. The keen eyes of Zaal reveal a secret passage and the group piles within, shutting the door behind them. T hey investigate and find two exits – both seemingly concealed from the other side, given their odd shapes and choice of materials. They decide to open the furthest door and post up in standard fashion. When they swing the door open…
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