This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and setup is what happens), but it covers our ongoing games.
Slaying the Hydra
01/07/2025
THISIUM
News from the doomed city of Thisium! Four adventurers headed for the Temple of the Unknown God, with a detailed battle plan to slay an eight-headed hydra they had fled from previously. To clear up any danger, they first had to remove another obstacle: four alabaster gargoyles in the NE corner of the temple. The battle was successful, the gargoyles falling under the company’s magic weapons, although not before Sagittarius the crossbowman perished by their claws. The monsters’ room was decorated by bas-reliefs of polygons, one of which looked both 3- and 20-sided depending on the angle it was view for. This was the place of a secret door, with a slightly protruding stone, but it could not be pushed in, nor smashed with weapons, so they found now way to open it. It was time for the hydra, dwelling in the pool in the central chamber. One part of the party positioned themselves by the gargoyle room, while thieves drew forward to lure the beast from its lair. This went successfully as the hungry reptile came forward in pursuit. It followed through the passages, right into a trapped intersection. Four portcullises slammed down around it and the ceiling started to lower slowly. The adventurers sprang out, peppering it with missiles. Angered, the hydra charged a portcullis, and with a superhuman feat of strength, bent the bars! It was now coming for the party, and caught up with them. In the ensuing melee, they fought heroically; Toxotes the crossbowman and Grumio the porter were torn apart, but all eight heads were destroyed and the beast was slain.
They could now investigate the central hall. Its ceiling stretched up to infinity, and above blinked the uncaring stars of space. This was a place of cold and emptiness. By an empty altar rose a massive hoard of treasures, but only as a shadowy simulacrum. Figuring out a sacrifice at the altar might work, the hydra heads were brought, and their blood spilled on the stone. Improbably, something did happen: a Presence, barely there, yet bringing darkness with it. A hollow voice spoke, demanding to know who had awakened the Unknown God, and what did they seek here in his temple – for he has slumbered here since before Men, and the new gods, and shall still be there once their time will have passed. Seized by fear, the adventurers told the Presence that they would disturb it no longer, and decided to withdraw while they could. From corners of the hall, they could see faint shades watching them, and felt the scrutiny of the god, older than men. They left behind the temple, whose secrets they could not solve, and rode back to Villa Cardone. At this time, the city had 29 days left...
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| Art courtesy of EscapeFromZardoz |
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| Ugolino |
03/07/2025 KASSADIA
News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! The Lion Pack delved once more into the Undercity of Viaskar, seeking the patrician tombs of the lower levels. They descended into the depths via two deep staircases, finding an old, abandoned storeroom. From even further down came sounds of human conversation, and lights were seen. Two scouts ventured down, but were surrounded by rough-looking men demanding to leave their turf. They returned to the storeroom, but from the spiral stairs, they heard the voices of another company. It was a group of men in yellow robes, and three iron-masked clerics of Titus Malformatus, Viaskar’s patron deity! The newcomers were eager to have found these „escapees” beneath the city, but were soundly trounced, only a few of them able to flee. Now the men from below came up in a more friendly way. They were proscribed outcasts led by Tarkoth the Panther, a young barbarian, and the priestess Claudia, who maintained the fire of Vedius as an aegis to protect them – for now. It was agreed that the adventurers would help them escape the city, but for now, they continued exploring. Above the hideout, they found a room of antique, magical statues, but could not solve its mystery. Further up, a frescoed room was the dwelling of Ugolino, a ragged hermit. Ugolino tried to adopt Jovial Faustulus as his son, but his insanity was soon revealed – he wished to do so to kill and devour him as he had done to the others. He was thus slain – “I acted for the weal of the Empire”, Faustulus noted.
The way onwards
led to the deserted underground arena. As they were contemplating returning to
the hideout, the company was beset by a pack of ghouls, who killed and dragged
off Septima the light footwoman. After reorganising their ranks, the
adventurers followed in pursuit through stairs and the lepers’ caverns.
Finally, they emerged much higher, in a massive domed chamber from the imperial
age, with mosaics of ancient patricians and a massive brazier of stone. The
ghouls were put down and Septima’s body saved from a grisly fate. From here, a
short flight of stairs led to a smaller chamber decorated with astrological
motifs, with multiple stone doors for exits. In a side-chamber were five
lookouts – they worked for the Imprisoners, one of Viaskar’s feared
gangs, but once they learned the intruders weren’t affiliated with their hated
rivals, the Drowners, they proved fairly agreeable, showing a spiral stairway
leading to an exit from the Undercity. There was time for some more
exploration. Returning to the great domed chamber, the company investigated a large
rubble pile near a place where the walls have collapsed, revealing a cavern
passage. While the others checked if the pile held anything of interest, Publius Varro went forward to scout and
was surrounded by eight ruffians who tried to rob him. In the resulting melee,
the men proved to be wererats, and Publius caught the curse of lycanthropy!
Things looked dire, until Trupo Gizmegas saved the day with an illusion, making
the unstable cavern „collapse” on the wererats, killing the lot of them. Shaken
by the experience, they returned to the chamber of astrological bas-reliefs,
and emerged through a hidden exit into the daylight near the Upper Market and
the Golden Hand tavern.
The Enchantment of Thuzar Yi
06/07/2025
FOMALHAUT
News from ULTRAREALITY! The Viridian Star sailed through the sargasso to find the mysterious island whose map they found in the belongings of the Sorcerer Opangi Ord – inhabited by men in their likeness! They put down on the anchor on the shores of a wooded island dominated by a large plateau. The woods here weren’t the foetid jungles of ULTRAREALITY, but similar to the gentler forests of Fomalhaut. They disembarked on a sandy beach, and climbed a butte to take a survey of the territory. To avoid being seen, Murat the Etunian alone climbed the summit. On the windswept plateau, he saw movement, a white-cloaked figure looking down into the forests. He reported to the others, and they climbed up together, but the vision was gone without a trace. Looking across the landscape, they saw a lake cradled by cliffs; and right below them, a small tent hidden in the forest. This looked like a good place to investigate, so they descended. On the shore, they encountered five warriors catching crabs, and found them to be the castaways of an expedition from the city-state of Thellas, who became shipwrecked here. They spoke of their saviour, the beautiful Thuzar Yi, who gave them food and drink, and let them dwell in an abandoned village. Choosing to accompany the men, they walked through the forests. A white cloak fluttered among the trees, and they were face-to-face with a beautiful young girl –Thuzar Yi herself! The island’s mistress spoke to them in friendship, graciously offering them to resupply in her domain, as long as they didn’t exhaust what the island had to give – the castaways were already stretching things to the limits. In exchange, she only asked for a small token, and declining gold and jewellery, accepted Ion’s blue cap. With a side-step, Thuzar Yi disappeared, leaving behind their awestruck guides. They continued on along a trail to the plateau, eventually arriving in a village of archaic stone huts, now inhabited by the lost men of Thellas.
They were led to
a longhouse, where they were received by Lyostratos Andromakhos, once
the tyrant of Thellas, but now only the
master of this village. As the grey-bearded fighting-man explained, trouble was
afoot on the island: renegades had broken away from their camp, followed by
Lyostratos’ own son, Meurios. These men acted out of jealousy, seeking
to seize the fair Thuzar Yi by force, a terrible act against her hospitality! Lilith,
as Ishtar’s champion, declared that she would see to it, and Lyostratos
suggested to capture or kill the renegades. But Lilith saw that they seemed
obsessed, or perhaps ensorcelled, by Thuzar Yi’s beauty; so much so that they
paid no heed even to her 18 CHA! Saying farewell to the villagers, they
returned to the lower woods, heading for the small camp, but finding the single
tent abandoned. Leaving a note, they returned to the ship to rest. The following
day, they took a skiff to circumnavigate the island. On its southern side, they
discovered two beached war galleys, stripped of valuables; and further on,
another butte inhabited by enormous pteranodons. From the shore, they also saw
a mound rising from the forest – a place to investigate. It was an artificial
brick structure, but crumbling and overgrown. A group of villagers were placing
five helmets on a makeshift memorial, each to commemorate a fallen comrade –
this was a barrow, and a memorial for the dead. They returned to the skiff,
fighting off a hungry pteranodon. Sailing further north along lush forests,
they saw no further signs of habitation, only a cliff where 4 more pteranodons
seemed to circle around something – this, they avoided. Making landfall at the
bottom of a gorge leading up to the plateau, they contemplated their next step.
Ion froze and stumbled. He spun around in whirlwind-like fashion, and
disappeared from view – all gone! They were one man less on this mysterious
island, and from this point, time was ticking away, hour by hour. The hunt was
on!
Soldiers of the Empire
07/07/2025
THISIUM
News from the
doomed city of Thisium! A group of adventurers rode out from Villa
Cardone on an invitation from Valentino La Cava, the commander of the
seaside garrison of Locassum. Not far from the villa, they found an old
stone throne decorated with carvings of skeletons, and lifting some flagstones
out of place, discovered a buried hoard of 30,000 sp. With this bounty, they quickly
returned to the villa to place it in safety, then continued on. Along the way,
they met a gang of bandits lurking in the bushes, but the men, seeing a
superior force, just greeted them awkwardly and let them pass. Further on, the
road led through a gorge, its walls carved with enormous, weird faces. The next
group of bandits were here, calling down from the cliffs to demand the price of
passage. 1000 sp was left here from the hoard, and they were allowed to ride
on. They passed under the arch of a ruined aqueduct, and finally arrived in
Locassum, a tiny legionaries’ garrison on the borderlands. Valentino received
the liberators of Villa Cardone well, and while his forces were small, offered
what help he could: rare suits of plate mail, the garrison’s warship, and his
men if needed be. He spoke of the growing orcish threat along the coast, and Falumfano,
an eccentric musical exile reputedly living in the archipelago, and working on
an enormous water organ. The next day, they headed back to Villa Cardone. A
spot by the aqueduct has been freshly dug up, and a rectangular object removed –
but they did not pursue its trail into the hills. Bypassing the greedy bandits
by mentioning Valentino’s friendship, they continued, just as deftly evading a
group of riders carrying the banner of a six-legged, fire-breathing poodle. Eriberto
Barrella quickly concealed himself and hid among the others: this was the
standard of his former captor, Lady Giacinthe Albiate, whose tower the
company had looted. The furious Giacinthe was headed for Locassum, while they
quickly went the other way.
Picking up their companions, they parted from Ottilio Cardone, still mourning her dead love, who died so young – „If only Adonis Gratianus were still alive, things would be so much easier!” They rode to the Wailwind, and hitched Locassum’s galley to Thisium, where the Sacrificial Calf had just been offered to the gods. Burt their destination was not in the city: the next dawn, they set sail for the Isle of Mortuaries, which they had visited previously. There was a third group of family tombs they had missed then, and this is where they were headed. These four were smaller and less imposing mausoleums. In the crypt of the ALBERGATO family, they fought two carrion crawlers, and found some precious flowers growing from the roots of great cypress trees. The crypt of ACARDOLO was open and looted. Down in the tomb chamber, a grandiose fresco showed a vast cavern, with a black stone bridge spanning a bottomless abyss of fire – a mystery now unsolved. The third mausoleum, of the GAVRILOTTI, was broken into as well, but the bodies were still there, frozen in reddish wax filling their sarcophagi. The wax was quickly melted with Dorvo’s sword of fire, yielding minor jewellery. The final tomb was of the DE ACCORA: it held the statues of a noble family showing them planting trees in Thisium, a mysterious poem, and a precious golden mask in the main sarcophagus.
As they emerged
from the crypts, they were accosted by a group of soldiers – legionaries by
their equipment. Aufidia Corvina, flanked by her bodyguards wearing legionaries’
plate mail from Locassum, bluffed her way through the jam, and the soldiers
escorted them to the villa of the island’s master, Bragan Braxus, a
soldier calling himself The Imperator. Among his legionaries, the
Imperator exalted imperial glory, outlining his plans to conquer Thisium, the
Coastlands, and eventually the Empire in whole! For this, he needed a symbol of
power to solidify his reign: the crown of Pandolfo Barbani, Thisium’s last
podesta! This was a familiar relic: the company had won it in service of
Yldegonda Gremullo, and promptly sold it off in port to shady merchants, where
it was gone. Nevertheless, they quickly promised to seek it for the glory and
resurrection of the Empire, earning the Imperator’s goodwill. Thus they
returned to their ship, and sailed back to Thisium. At this time, the city had
26 days left...
Shadowing the Wolves
09/07/2025 KASSADIA
News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! The Lion Pack decided to do some shopping on the market by the Pyramid of Pantaxus Superbus. While looking around the merchants, they spotted an old acquaintance – Colmazio, who had sold them fake tear salts, now peddling his wares to a group of Northmen. They surrounded the swindler, but a crossbow bolt aimed at him missed, and he disappeared behind a door. Another stray shot hit one of the Northmen, who attacked the „assassins” at once until half of them were trapped with a hypnotic pattern. They chased down Colmazio, and dragged him into the back streets before the open altercation would bring the law down on them. “You have not harmed us, but the good reputation of Mur!”, growled Jovial Faustulus. The petty cheat crumbled, parting with his meagre coins, and offering the location of a hidden entrance in exchange for his freedom. After making sure the place he described existed on the Plaza of Faceless Statues, he was ultimately let go with a stern warning. The entrance opened to a downwards stairway, trapped with a pendulum trap, dutifully triggered. The way lead to a secret shrine of Rualgar, God of Secrets, one of the three Imperial cults. A hiden niche hid a cryptic message and a crystal-tipped arrow filled with gas which broke while handling it. Worse, Trupo Gizmegas stood on the altar, and was struck by Rualgar’s punishment, losing all his belongings, including spellbooks! In a less good mood, they departed, heading for Viaskar’s western walls, where they hoped to help the outcasts in the Underworld flee the city. In a crumbling tenement, Publius Varro met two youths, members of the Drowners, and strongarmed them into showing him around the rooftops to survey the surroundings. They didn’t dare knife him, but the party was soon attacked from the rooftops by archers brought by the lads. The ambushers were killed or fled across the rooftops, and they returned back to the de Marco palace for the night.
Their rest was
interrupted by the barking and howling of dogs in the alleyway. Peering
outside, they saw a ragged man with a dog pack, and chased them off with a
crossbow bolt and magic. However, this was a good time to get a lead on the
werewolves hunting for Cornelia de Marco, and they set out in pursuit
after the mysterious figure, leaving Leonio, Lazio and Asinus as bodyguards for
the noble maiden. They followed the tramp and his dogs across dark streets
through the sleeping city, into the port area, listening to him talk to his
hounds, and learning his name, Zanothio the Enchanter. The trail led to
a crumbling waterfront palace, where Zanothio started fumbling with his keys.
They attacked him and the dog pack. Zanothio turned and growled as he
transformed into a hulking wolf-man! Trupo Gizmegas used his spectral
force to „summon” an ape demon, distracting some dogs, but failing to fool
Zanothio, who retaliated with his magic wand, shooting several magic
missiles at the party. A desperate melee ensued, where the dogs were
eventually dispatched. Just as Zanothio was about to tear Publius Varro apart,
he was caught by a last-ditch colour spray, and executed while
unconscious. Throwing the bodies into the dark water, they plundered the madman’s
palace, finding it an abandoned wreck. The bedchamber contained several bunches
of wolfsbane, some coinage, a crystal ball with a miniature figure trapped
within, and an old, ugly toga. They packed them up and returned to the de Marco
palace as they came, but too late. The servants who opened the door were
weeping. Mistress Cornelia had been kidnapped while they were out, and Roma
was laid out dead on the dining table, having given his life to defend her
safety. Leonio recounted what transpired: a purple-robed werewolf entered from
the rooftop terrace, and put the guards to sleep while carrying off poor
Cornelia. There were now two nights before new moon – and the hunt was on!
The Blood-Drinking Horror of Thuzar Yi
20/07/2025
FOMALHAUT
News from ULTRAREALITY! As Ion the Fighting-Man disappeared from before his companions, a grim foreboding filled the adventurers’ hearts, and they knew deep inside time was now of the essence. Bocephus produced his new crystal ball, and peered inside to find the warrior. He saw a dark, splendid palace room; Thuzar Yi, the mistress of the island was sitting in a throne on one side of a table, and the smitten Ion on the other, both drinking from the same cup. Noting the lack of windows, they surmised the palace might be underground - after all, they saw no such structure on the surface. They set out to find a way to their companion. The search took them to the wooded island plateau, but they could find no entrance, although they saw many odd things: a small amphitheatre probably frequented by the island’s castaways; a circle of small stones around a large stone bowl filled with purple liquid, with shambling fungal zombies around it; and a cliff where a struggle had taken place, where they found the bones of a warrior, broken weapons, and a broken conch-shell horn on the rocks below. It was getting closer to night. Bocephus did another look into the crystal ball: he saw Thuzar Yi’s bedchamber, the beautiful girl dancing seductively before Ion next to a poster bed. At sunset, they arrived in a small garden of fountains and songbirds in the NE of the island, when Nycterphila the Thief recalled something – a reference to Thuzar Yi dwelling in a spring cave, and a stream cascading down from a plateau to their east. Could this be her lair, and so close to them? It was night, so Nycterphila and Murat the Etunian bravely set out in the dark night to do some recon. They evaded a mountain lion ambush in the last possible moment, and climbed down the cliffs to the source of the stream, a small cave mouth. A woman’s song came from inside, and they saw Thuzar Yi singing in a simple, but pleasant cavern of vine-covered walls, although no sign of Ion.
As thieves, they
snuck forward and struck. „Thuzar Yi” folded apart into a mass of tentacles and
gibbering mouths; Nycterphila was presently torn apart and devoured by
the blood-drinking horror, while the horrified Murat fled, relating the
terrible events to the others. They had walked right into Thuzar Yi’s trap –
but now, to find Ion! The next morning, they headed for the island’s tall
northern peaks. Here, in a barren stone waste, they found another cavern, with
the statues of youths and a misty pool, which looked suspect, and was avoided.
Even higher they went, finding a small, semi-completed rock garden on the
tallest peak, and two playful kittens, who devoured the meat thrown to them
with suspiciously ravenous appetite. Still no way in. A new crystal ball
scan showed Ion sleeping contentedly in the bed, while Thuzar Yi was not to be
seen. There was an enormous cave on the isle’s western side, a promising
target. They made their way through the wilds, looking through a massive
opening into a lit garden of fruit trees, a small spring, and walls covered
with abundant moss. Remembering an item in her possession, Lilith tossed her wand
of true direction in the air, which pointed right inside the cavern. After
an embarrassing detour due to misreading the portent and superfluous
rock-climbing, and having to use the wand again, they returned to investigate
the cavern with more attention, finally finding a secret door under a thick
layer of moss. A dark cavern passage led deep into the island. After a while,
they emerged in a cavern filled with a pleasant garden of red flowers, lit by
artificial lights. The way led on, through more long cave passages, and another
large (now unlit) cavern filled with a dark lake, fed by the mouth of a great
stone face, the magnetic ores in the walls drawing in their weapons. On they
went, through another garden cave, and even further. And as they went, the
hours passed.
Following the Swimming Crate
22/07/2025
THISIUM
News from the
doomed city of Thisium! Resting at the Pickled Carp, the company awoke
to the clamour of fighting in the harbour, and rushing outside, saw that the Swimming
Crate, an ugly trading vessel, was exchanging missile fire with the city
guards while rapidly pulling out of port. Under disguise, the notorious pirate Burlagon
the Halfway-Orc had audaciously infiltrated the city once again, striking
its warehouses and patricians! The company quickly boarded the Comely Lass to
pursue from a safe distance. Out on the edge of the archipelago, they were
spotted, and the Swimming Crate disappeared behind an islet, probably to lure
them close. They approached from the other side, hiding the small Comely Lass
under a phantasmal force spell to mask it as a protruding rock. The
pirates gave up and headed deeper into the archipelago, the small ship pursuing
at distance, still appearing as a rock. In the afternoon, they were spotted
again – the pirates turning back to investigate the strange vision – but they
made their getaway. Thus they sailed to the Wailwind to rest up, and returned
to Thisium the following day. Things in the city had taken an even darker turn.
Attacks by black dogs had grown more frequent in the last days, who had mauled
and even devoured citizens, and nobody knew where they came from. News came
that an army of orcs had descended from the northern mountains, and besieged
the fortified manor of Egmont Mouseburg – unsuccessfully, but at a great loss
of life and property, and a blow to the city’s food supply. Meanwhile, the
Measurers, the city’s august wine tasters, held a session in Flandevole’s
cellars. Someone had unknowingly mixed poison into the noble vintages, and most
of the Measurers were now dead.
Hestia Tamburello
Giacomo, who had been smitten in the Forest of Verrilli by a vision of Hestia
Tamburello, the daughter of Thisium’s richest nobleman, Mornalt Tamburello,
decided to pay her loved one a visit. He paid a hefty fee to Puccio
Malatesta, a minor nobleman and known rake, to introduce him, and after
receiving tips and advice on wooing pretty girls, they walked to Villa
Tamburello, a rambling, eccentric palace of cupolas, galleries and colonnades.
Let in by the guards after Giacomo declared that he was bringing Hestia an
important omen from the forests, they met the beautiful girl on a high gallery
overlooking the city. Throwing caution to the wind, Giacomo declared his
undying love to Hestia, and his intent to wed her. Her response was filled with
sorrow and sadness: alas, she was doomed along with the city, and would soon be
dead along with everyone else. Her father, Mornalt Tamburello, was lost
in grief after the city mob murdered his sister, Lucia Tamburello, who
was accused of witchery by vile rumours. Lucia’s only love, the poet
Chiaffredo, has just been found dead a few days before, after starving himself
to death in his house. All was lost. Giacomo reassured Hestia that they would
help, and, gifting her his glove, asked her to let them into the small
outbuilding in the palace gardens to visit Lucia’s crypt. They came to the
conclusion this dark tale might be directly related to the dooms in some
fashion. Thus they parted, Hestia throwing her arms around Giacomo. On the way
back out, they met another lady, older, but with a hint of familiarity. This
was Iacynthe Tamburello, Mornalt’s wife and Hestia’s mother. She was
inquisitive while the company was evasive, and they departed – Puccio Malatesta
all the more hastily because his tryst with the lady of the house had gone sour
once, and he feared for his hide. However, the way lay open to the passages
below the garden.
Beneath Villa Tamburello
Descending from
the vintner’s cottage, they encountered guards demanding their purpose. Saying
they were sent by Hestia, they were even given directions to the crypts. Lower
down, they found a room inhabited by four scantily dressed women in a love den.
Once again, name-dropping Hestia worked, and they got a key for the lower
passages. Going through a large domed chamber with a steaming pool, lit from
the gardens above through an oculus, they opened an old iron door, and
descended further. A passage led east, while peering through a door to the
south, they saw an artificially lit garden filled by all manner of expensive
birds. Proceeding east, they found themselves in a long hall of columns – a
familiar place. A large group of brigands came forth, along with their leader,
the cocky Pierluigi Piscitello. Alas, Heraclitus was recognised
as one of the adventurers who had met and fought the robber captain before, and
a vicious melee ensued, where Stephanus Fry and Madruga, heavy
footmen, were both killed. The brigands were all slain, netting them their food
(noble fare, quite fresh), a key, and a treasure map. Wounded, they decided to
do some prep work. They descended one level below to the large underground
garden, using Heraclitus’ knockspell to open a wizard locked
secret door for later use. This done, they retraced their steps to the aviary.
Entering, the birds scattered, except for a talking peacock, and a motionless
owlbear in a glass display case with a golden jewel around its neck. The
peacock was hostile towards the intruders, until Racha Ducka showed him
his enchanted ducks’ feet. The peacock spilled the beans on Mornalt Tamburello,
who had brought „pretty hens” down here, and promised a secret in exchange for
bringing him a new she-peacock. They returned to the surface, disturbing a
decadent orgy in the steam pool chamber, but defusing the alarms quickly. Thus
they left Villa Tamburello. At this time, the city had 23 days left...
Finding the Trail
24/07/2025
KASSADIA
News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! With Cornelia abducted by werewolves, it the de Marco palace fell under a dark spell. The next morning, silver weapons were delivered, but where the cultists of Lykophron took the girl was a mystery. The only clues they had was the palace of the werewolf they had fought the night before, and a sealed tomb in the Undercity belonging to Vidibius Memor, the lycanthrope god’s champion. Out of other options, the Lion Pack ventured out, followed by the page boy Leonio, who could not bear to wait until her mistress was sacrificed. First, they visited the hidden shrine of Rualgar where Trupo Gizmegas sacrificed two unknown magic items to the god of secrets, and regained his lost spellbooks. Finding nothing to help them in Zanothio the Enchanted’s ruined palace, except an old sailor’s confirmation that he had been visited by a purple-robed old man – the same one who had been seen abducting Cornalia – they headed for the Undercity to seek the tomb of Vidibius Memor. The gate had no keyhole or other known way of opening it, and two ominous-looking griffin statues to the two sides with traces of dried blood on their beaks and talons served as a warning. Finally, a reduce spell was used to gain entrance. Looking at the sarcophagus and five more griffins, the place seemed like a trap, but an inscription praising the fallen champion for building the drinking hall next to the temple of Lykophron seemed like a clue worth following. The hall, known for its mineral springs, was located just a bit north of the de Marco palace, and it was a building left over from the old empire. This is where they sought next – a place of charlatans peddling miracle cures, and washing-women using the healing waters for their laundry. But behind the main hall, in a pump room, they met an old gnome repairman, who complained of the incessant foot traffic going through the place, especially recently: and the purple-robed old man who had kidnapped Cornelia!
After the Siege of Mouseburg Manor
28/07/2025
THISIUM
News from the doomed city of Thisium! As their companions were delving into an Underworld, a different company of adventurers chose to check out a ruined tower on the southern edge of the city. While walking the streets, a lightning bolt struck through the roof of a nearby house, causing fire and commotion. Boldly, Captain Spezzaferro rushed upstairs, finding the charred body of a young man in a poor garret, amidst scattered documents. The man destroyed by the gods was Palladio, a young astronomer, and his studies focused on trying to figure out the exact date the four dooms would destroy Thisium. References returned again and again to the name Raniero Galasso, one the company was familiar with – they discovered his villa on the Coastlands a while back. Continuing to the ruined tower after deciding the villa would be next, they investigated the ruins. This was once the domicile of Harpang the Wizard, but it had long been a ruin. A sundial amidst the rubble fluctuated oddly, the shadow jumping rapidly from numeral to numeral on a 26-unit scale. While examining the oddity, Maglor the Elf noticed something out of the corner of his eye; a group of tiny humans, the size of mice, trying to filch their valuables. A spell put them to sleep before they could return to the rubble pile, and the minikins were gathered while their companions watched in terror from the gaps. The little things were eventually freed, and in gratitude, dragged a gift from beneath the stones – a splendid, gold-headed warhammer +2! With this find, the company mounted their horses, riding out of Thisium into the Coastlands.
Bypassing a group of bandits roasting a stolen sheep, who were too cowardly to attack them, they first visited Mouseburg Manor, where Sir Egmont Mouseburg had just withstood an orcish siege. The orcs were driven off, but Sir Egmont’s forces were decimated, and the lands around the estate, supplying Thisium’s food market, had been burned. More worryingly, the orc attack was better coordinated than previous raids. The pig-faces used a pincer attack, some arriving from the coast by boat, and had superior weaponry – the captured specimens came from two sources, one stamped with the symbol of a hand grasping a sheaf of wheat, and one of unknown non-human make. Contemplating the scouring of Mouseshire and the help they might recruit in the task, they parted with the old knight, and headed for the Villa of Raniero Galasso. The abandoned estate stood in the middle of a hedge maze decorated with abstract geometric statues, but Illyrio the Magic-User navigated the twisting maze expertly. They arrived at the entrance, an inscription asking visitors to pay respects before the master of the house. Spezzaferro bowed while entering, avoiding a neck-level blade trap in the doorframe. From the dusty atrium, they went west, finding a small locked prison cell. A captive inside introduced himself as „the real Raniero”, imprisoned by a gang of hobbits. He turned out to be a ghoul trying to get close to someone, and was put down.
Death Hobbit Doom
However, the
noise also drew the attention of the hobbits themselves – little killers in
servants’ liveries, raining slingstones on the party. The attackers were
eventually killed, and one survivor, Otho Pikefoot, captured. The
squirming little chap was asked to identify a part of the manor known from a
treasure map, and pointed out the western part of the manor. They made their
way into an abandoned sculptors’ studio filled with partially completed statues
and the statue of the sculptor himself, surprising and killing a gang of orcs
while Otho tried to flee. To the east, they found a door with the image of the
grim reaper they could not open, but they knew a secret door was also nearby.
While searching, one of the half-finished statues attacked in hysterical
laughter, a doppelganger! Secundinus Faustulus the Fighting-Man was
strangled, and the wily Otho slipped away. The treasure room was nearby. They
pressed on into the servants’ quarters, where Ser Narvi detected the treasure
under the floorboards with his magic sword. Just as they set out to pry open
the wood, screaming hobbits ambushed them from the other rooms, wounding
Illyrio grievously and knocking out Maglor. However, the attackers were
massacred. The space under the floorboards contained a few blackened corpses,
and several large burlap sacks. A wealth of 14,000 gp and 30,000 sp was buried
here, so the company filled their sacks to capacity as they could. It was time
to get out before Otho Pikefoot would return with more of his kin. A group of
squat, ugly humanoids came from the east, but they were repelled with flaming
oil suppressing fire for enough time to slip out. They returned to their
mounts, leaving Villa Raniero and heading back to Thisium. At this time, the
city had 23 days left...
Entering the Temple of Lykophron
01/08/2025
KASSADIA
News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! On the trail of the lycanthropes, the Lion Pack descended into the passages beneath the drinking hall. The way led through ancient passages left over from the age of the Empire. Some way down, they found a secret door to a vantage point above a large hall where rough men were eating and drinking around a campfire, but surmised they might not be the followers of Lykophron. They went the other way, under a cascading waterfall from the drinking hall’s warm mineral springs, and eventually, up again into a large, empty hall built from enormous stone blocks. From up the spiral staircase, they heard conversation and saw torchlight, and Publius went to investigate, bumping into two werewolves wearing monks’ habits, who chased him back down. One was pinned and killed, but the other ran back up. This was the place they were looking for. The stairs led upwards, above street level – to dark, dusty, windowless corridors of great antiquity, decorated with friezes depicting running dogs and bunches of wolvesbane. In a side-room, they encountered a group of wererats engaged in prayer. In the melee, most were slain, but a few could once again make a run for it deeper into the unlit complex. In the other direction, a recon party ran into three werewolves in a corridor lined with bronze doors, wearing the antique helmets, cloaks, and axes of imperial lictors. In this fight, Lazio the crossbowman was torn apart by one of the werewolves, and others were bitten. The passages echoed with distant cries of penitence and perverse joy as the followers of Lykophron confessed their terrible crimes against men in the hidden sanctum of their god.
Sanctum of the Lycanthropes
The company withdrew a little to heal and get themselves in order, but were soon interrupted. Flanked by three werewolf temple acolytes wearing dark robes, a regal werewolf wearing imperial finery and a purple cape announced himself as Aulus Naevius Litumaris, a patrician of the Imperial Capital, come to avenge the slayers of his kin. Behind him, in purple robes and human form, was an old man, the Cornelia de Marco’s kidnapper, Zalomort the Werewolf-Mage! This fight was relentlessly brutal, and consumed a lot of the company’s resources. Publius Varro, sneaking behind (and seeing more wererats in the passages debating whether to close in or let the werewolves handle things) ran into the retreating, wounded Zalomort, and finished him off with a backstab. Finally, the lycanthropes were put down, Asinus the heavy footman delivering the killer blow, and naming himself Wolf-Slayer. The Lion Pack once again stopped a little to heal, and were once again interrupted, as two more werewolf monks came to fight. Asinus the Wolf-Slayer stepped forth to fight them, and was killed, dying as Asinus the Wolf-Slain. Nine more wererats came in a new wave, but seeing the carnage, turned and fled back into the temple to raise the alarm. Pressing on, the company went forward, seeking the cell where Cornelia might be kept. They emerged in a vast, empty and dark hall with a fathomless pit in the middle, surrounded by crumbling stone balustrades. More to the east were six more wererats, whom they fought. More could be heard through a door, but Publius Varro quickly jammed the lock to slow them down, and they could not batter it open. The rats brought a crowbar, but a shocking grasp cast at the door dissuaded them from their plans. Wererats were killed and one, knocked out with colour spray, captured for interrogation. It turned out the cell was right in the entrance corridor guarded by the lictors.
Voices were rising deep in the temple, the angry chorus of a congregation which has now learned of the blasphemers in their sanctum and the death of their high priest and Imperial guest. Rushing back, wounded and exhausted, they found four more wererats, and unleashed a monster summoning spell from a scroll to keep them busy while they sprang the locks. Cornelia de Marco was in one of the rooms, hiding under an old wooden bed, while the other was occupied by scared commoners, handsome young men and women kidnapped for Lykophron’s rites. A wolf-woman, a matron, raised a hue and cry, spotting the intruders. They fled the temple down the spiral stairs, and through the passages, the howling of the mob echoing behind them. They came to the waterfall room, hastening across. Quintus the heavy footman, Trupo’s faithful companion in many ventures, slipped and fell, disappearing down an angled water chute into the darkness of the Underworld, his fate unknown. They thought of lowering a rope, but the lycanthrope-cultists were drawing close. Entrusting Quintus to the will of the gods, they ran, leaving behind the Undercity. Back in the fortified palace of the de Marcos, a discussion was held. Cornelia de Marco and the page boy Leonio decided to leave the city for a good while, travelling to Leonio’s modest manor in the provinces, now united by love rather than fealty. The Lion Pack would still have to decide where to go from here. They had won magic and treasure from their defeated enemies, but Cornelia was too poor to reward them with anything but a written letter of recommendation to the city’s high nobility, and the Temple of Gladuor. And they now had enemies hiding in Viaskar’s shadows. „The wolves are among us”, Cornelia said darkly. Two of the survivors –Jovial Faustulus and Arden Oakbark – had been bitten in the temple of Lykophron, and yet another, Publius Varro, bore the lycanthropic curse in his blood from an early encounter.
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