Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Shattered Star: The Search for Gluttony

Game Date: 4/4/2015
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Shattered Star, Session 22
System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Bjertha (Matt) - Dwarf Fighter
Carlie Nackle (Chere) - Gnome Wizard
Fellany Mertien (Cliff) - Human Fighter
Maruca (Daniel) - Human Ranger /Cleric/Rogue
Slancio Brioso (Thomas) - Human Bard
Tai Lindro (Angela) - Human Monk/Warlock

The Session:
I couldn't make it to the session, so here's a recap courtesy of Thomas:

We were in Magnamar and made our final preparations to leave town.  Sheila Heidmark booked us passage on a riverboat to make the journey to Kaer Maga in search of the Shard of Gluttony.  The riverboat was captained by Othlo Janke and his crew of halflings.  We had the boat to ourselves as Sheila had booked the entire thing.  The boat had a magic paddle-wheel that allowed it to make the journey upstream in 2 weeks instead of the months it would normally take.

On the way when we were making camp less than a week into the journey, we came under attack by some bullywugs and their king, Krugulk Throatcaller.  He had a pet giant dragonfly, Chuggie (?) who was the most formidable of our opponents.  Bjertha and Slancio were on watch when the attack happened.  Chuggie nearly took out Slancio in the first round, but then the other party members awoke and made quick work of him.  The rest of the bullywug attack party fell shortly thereafter.  Slancio and Maruca provided some emergency healing to the halfling crew members and thankfully none of them died.  

When inspecting the bullywug leader's body, his belt had the name Eando Kline engraved on it.  This is the name of the Pathfinder that found the ioun stone that goes with the Shard of Gluttony.  We have heard tales that he's no longer associated with the Pathfinders, but no one knows of his ultimate fate.

We made two stops other stops on the journey, one at Wartle and another at Whistledown.  The party took the opportunity to go carousing all night on these stops.  At Wartle Carlie turned up unconscious and pickpocketed and Tai somehow came into gambling winnings.  Coincidence?  Then at Whistledown Slancio made even more money gambling, though Bjertha and Felony's night took a different turn.  They both ended up drinking with members of the Aspis Consortium, a prominent trade consortium.  Felony could not help but make crude mis-pronunciations of their name, which they did not take kindly to.  Then on the way out, Bjertha added to the insults by making some crude gestures of her own.  We're pretty sure that the whole Aspis Consortium will soon learn of that night.

When we finally arrived at Kaer Maga, the city itself is on a very high, sheer cliff over the lake.  To get from the port to the city itself, we had to traverse the Half-Light Path under the guide of the Dusk Wardens.  While waiting in line to see about passage, Abra Lopait, a Dusk Warden Ranger, pulled us aside and offered us a discount on passage if we would help as guards along the path.  And by that, he meant that he would be the only Dusk Warden to accompany us.  We also had a man (Bolga) and his two young servants (Tugus and Marro) pulling a cart to protect.

The path itself wound up and up, sometimes underground, sometimes along sheer cliffs.  At one point of the path, part of the brick that had blocked a side passage exploded and three creatures out of nightmare rushed at us.  We quickly found out that they were Seguthi and had a crippling confusion aura that made most of us staring blankly into space.  Slancio got turned around and ended up decapitating one of the boys pulling the cart.  He's not sure which one, he could never tell them apart.  Tai put her new magic bracers to good use during the fight.  However, she soon found out that while they provide a significant armor bonus, they are cursed as to where if she does get hit, it's always a critical.  Abra proved to be an able-bodied fighter and stood alongside Bjertha.  Carlie made good use of the Wand of Lightning Bolts and once those started flying, the fight ended quickly.  Abra was so thankful to Carli that he gave her a Dusk-Light Charm that would call him to her side once a year, instructing her to only use it in dire circumstances.

We finished going up the path and then entered into the city proper.  Of course, the way in was through the slum shanty-town with children crowding begging and offering to work as guides.  One particular person, Gavnally (not a child) locked eyes with Tai and seemed to be a knowledgeable person to show us around.  He led us to one of the finer inns, the Sorry Excuse, to stay for the night.

Inside the Sorry Excuse, a troll by the name of Vargun was nursing a tankard of ale.  Having heard of a troll clan that had skills in divination, Slancio struck up a conversation with her.  She was indeed a member of the Augers who were said to be mystics.  Her brother, Argustille, was one of those who possessed the gift, though he had recently been taken by Berkanin of the Ardoc family.  The Ardocs were the most powerful family in Bis, a section of Kaer Maga.  Vargun doesn't know what Berkanin wants with Argustille, though Berkanin is known to be kind of like the red-headed-step-child of the Ardoc family.  And so perhaps the party may be able to talk to other members of the Ardocs to shed some light on Berkanin's intentions or to negotiate for him to release Argustille.  However, Tai's first stop will be to help her remove the cursed bracers.
 

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