Shattered Star: CSI: Magnimar

Game Date: 1/10/2015
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Shattered Star, Session 12
System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Bjertha (Matt) - Dwarf Fighter
Carlie Nackle (Chere) - Gnome Wizard
Kelson (Ben) - Half-Elf Warlock
Maruca (Daniel) - Human Ranger/Cleric/Rogue/GodKnowsWhatElse
Shemus (Cliff) - Elf Ranger
Slancio Brioso (Thomas) - Human Bard

The Session:
After a long holiday break we resumed our campaign.  Our characters experienced a similar downtime - having recently found the second shard, we took a few weeks to discover its power and research the location of the third.  During our break, our characters practiced professions, gained renown, caroused, and basically did whatever they could to pass the time.

Today we got a visit from the Magnimar Watch, asking for assistance with a case.  Someone has been murdering clerics of Sarenrae, the goddess of healing.  These murders have been particularly brutal, the victims suffering from multiple stab wounds before having their hearts cut out.  The Watch had few leads.  They'd even tried using "Speak With Dead" spells on the victims, but the attacks had been from behind.  The only clue they had was that the murder weapons had a strange symbol on them - a white feather dipped in blood.

We split up and went to various taverns, churches, and shops around town.  Our investigations eventually led us to an old abandoned shrine, and its graveyard out back.  The tiny cemetery only had three graves, and it looked like the dirt had been displaced recently.  We dug up one of the graves only to find it was now empty.  We were about to try going through a door when a red skinned Gargoyle attacked the party.

We attacked the Fiendish Gargoyle as it swooped in and out of range.  It was extremely difficult to damage, so after a round or two we fled through the door.  The door led to some stairs, at the bottom of which was a passageway.  Bjertha was the first down the stairs, where she was attacked by three Wights around the corner.  Slancio hit one of the Wights with a Fairy Fire spell, giving us advantage when attacking it.  The rest of the party tried to enter the door, but there wasn't enough room for all of us to get inside.  Stuck outside, Shemus continued to fend off the Gargoyle, taking a lot of damage from the creature.

Eventually Carlie hit the Gargoyle with a sleep spell.  Once it lost consciousness, a few of the party members worked on tying it up while the rest of us dealt with the Wights.  They didn't take a lot of damage from melee attacks, and it was difficult to maneuver in the close quarters. We finally took them out, but we almost lost Kelson in the process.

After the battle, Shemus performed a coup de grace on the Gargoyle, and we took a short rest.  We ended the session there.  Next session we will explore more of the passage under the shrine.