Session 25 recap
The party:
Hector, a 6th level Archontean fighter
Coco, a 6th level Archontean magic user
Julia, a 6th level Archontean cleric of Lucreon
Melnax, a 6th level Elf
Batengis, a 6th level Khumus acolyte of Tingri
Susarra, a 6th level Archontean fighter (retainer)
Scylla, a 5th level Archontean ranger
Kallion, a 1st level Archontean illusionist
After spending a few days settling into their new villa and recovering from their previous adventure, the party set out on the morning of the 28th of Fidios. Deciding to return to the large crypto they had found in the Minotaur Level but not explored, they brought along Julia and Kaolin, who had just recovered from being raised from the dead and finished his studies to become an illusionist.
After spending a good amount of time cautiously probing the room to see what might provoke the enemies they knew lurked within, Chert entered the crypt. Pushing the lid off of the nearest sarcophagus he was less than surprised when a ghoul emerged from it. Kallion proved himself in his very first combat by slaying the (slightly scrawny) ghoul with a dart to the forehead. A handful of ancient coins was found the now empty sarcophagus, and they continued opening sarcophagi, finding two more ghouls and a few wights.
Realizing that it would take hours if not days to open the remaining hundreds of sarcophagi, the party turned their attention to the mausoleums. A wight emerged from the mausoleum that Susarra opened and was quickly dealt with. Inside the party found a moderate amount of treasure and a plaque indicating that the inhabitant had been Quintus Gnaeus, and the iconography indicate that the inhabitants of this crypt had been worshippers of Thanatos, a proscribed god of death in the old Archontean pantheon. Two more mausoleums, containing inanimate mummies of Lucurus Trask and Hecubus Varus, were opened.
As the party opened the fourth mausoleum, all present could tell that it was different. The smell of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and other exotic spices assailed their nostrils, and an overpowering feeling of dread turned their blood ice cold as the corpse of Pannius the Discordant, head priest of the cult and now risen as a Greater Mummy, rose from his resting place and asked in Mithric who had dared to disturb the Everlasting Brotherhood’s crypt, as all around the sounds of dozens of sarcophagus lids scraping and falling could heard as the rest of the Brotherhood awoke from their long sleep. All but Hector, Batengis, and Coco found themselves prostrate and paralyzed by fear of his terrible visage. As Batengis used his Acolyte powers to remove the fear from his companions and Coco threw down the Rug of Instant Access, Pannius called upon the powers of his god to cleanse the interlopers from the crypt with unholy fire. With three party members felled by the Flame Strike and the rest grievously wounded it was decided that discretion was the better part of valor and the survivors reached grabbed a fallen party member and retreated through the rug.
Arriving at the villa the last party member through immediately rolled up the rug to prevent Pannius from following. Attending to the fallen it was found that only Kallion, being less experienced in a fight and not knowing when to duck and cover, had succumbed to his wounds. As the party rested and healed the next day, Coco used a scroll of Reincarnate to bring back Kallion who was reborn as dwarf, at which Chert just rolled his eyes and shook his head, muttering that Kallion would “never be a true dwarf”.
Returning to the crypt, the party decided to continue opening sarcophagi, leaving the mausoleums for later. After uncovering and ealing with another ghoul, the familiar mocking voice of Pannius the Discordant echoed in the chamber as he stepped from his tomb, casting Flame Strike on Hector and Scylla. The party retreated and, seeing that Pannius was unwilling or unable to leave the crypto, decided to consider another course of action.
As Capdoffer had rejoined the party they decided on another trip to visit the goblins. Having lost one half of their pair of magical rugs the party was forced to travel from their villa to the Halls on foot, “like a bunch of peasants” as one party member bitterly remarked. On their way they spied a large winged beast circling the sky above them. The creature began flying lower to investigate, and when it got low enough they recognized it as one of the mated pair of wyverns that consorted with the dragon Craastonistorex. Instead of engaging with the party the wyvern flew off to the southwest. Fearing that the wyvern had gone to fetch the dragon, the party hurried underground. Seeing that Capdoffer was with them there was a general sense of excitement from the goblins they encountered and the party was quickly brought to meet Killik, the goblin lieutenant in charge if the halflings’ former territory. Killik related that Weskenim, Grand King of the United Goblins, was much pleased by the service that the party had rendered to the goblins by eliminating the halflings and wished to speak with them. The party agreed to this and as Killik sent a messenger to arrange the meeting, the party spent an hour enjoying the hospitality of the goblins.
When the messenger returned and said that King Weskenim was ready to receive them, Killik accompanied the party down a level to the main hall of the goblins. This massive chamber, carved and finished by the Archonteans at the height of their power in the halls, was a bustling hive of activity some 70 by 170 feet. Small white lizards teemed across the floor and walls and were eagerly sought after by the goblins to be cooked and eaten. Many goats wandered here and there, with splashes of paint to indicate to which goblin tribe each belonged. A large fire pit full of burning wood, trash, bones and other refuse occupied the western half of the room while a large pool of cool clear water lay in the eastern half. In addition to the the many goblins, the party saw other visitors to the goblin market including three varumani, seven lizardmen, one of Kerbog Khan’s exploration automotons, and visiting merchants with their guards.
King Weskinim greeted the party in his throne room, attended by his advisors Skimmel and Reeflik, major-domo Palestrim, and a large, obese, and hairless ogre guard. He told the party that he had summoned them so he could personally express his gratitude to them for solving his halfling problem, and said that left him (ever so slightly) in debt to them, and asked if there was a service he could perform for them. With the encounter with the wyvern fresh in their minds and no wanting to tempt fate and possibly encounter the dragon they told him that they were looking to establish a base of operations in the Halls and asked if perhaps they could have quarters within the goblins’s domain. King Weskinim considered this for a few minutes and replied, somewhat shyly, that he had heard of these marvelous creatures called “cats”, and that if the party could procure a few for him, he could arrange for quarters to be made available to them. The party readily agreed to this and they took their leave from Weskinim, with him exerting them to visit the market one their way out.
The party browsed the wares of the assembled merchants but found little that interested them. An unassuming young goblin, named Temrin, introduced himself as an artist and claimed that he could paint “anything”. The party decided to commission a group portrait to have framed and hung over the hearth in their new villa, and Temrin had them pose as they wished to be portrayed. He slowly scanned the party from left to right, and told them to return the following day with one hundred gold coins. The party agreed to this and were about to leave when they noticed a hush had fallen over the crowd of goblins nearby, with quite a few of them looking over the party’s shoulders.
Turning to see what had caused the commotion, the party was met with an imposing sight; a sturdily built woman, standing over six feet tall, dressed in ornate and solid armor that encased her head to toe and was even more impressive and imposing than Hector’s newly refurbished Imperial field plate. She carried a short lance, composed entirely of metal, and a two handed sword was slung at her side. The visor on her helmet was up and the party could see that she was scarred on both cheeks, one an image of the full shining sun, and the other that of an arched doorway. Introducing herself as Sir Sorrow, she said that she was a member of the Sun-Scarred Knights, sent as an envoy to King Weskenim. She said that tales of the party’s exploits had begun to reach the ears of many in the Halls, and she desired to have a private talk with them in her quarters. The party suggested the time for their conversation as two o’clock the next afternoon, and she took her leave. With their heads fairly spinning after such an eventful day, the party ascended to Lankios’ basement and spent the night in his chambers.
The party arose on the 1st of Molivios and after a quiet ceremony by the Archonteans in the party celebrating the arrival of a new year, returned to the goblins’ domain. Their first stop was at the artist Termrin, who had finished the painting and the party was astounded at the craftsmanship on display, with their likenesses captured perfectly and the overall effect making them even more heroic. Batengis asked if Termrin could craft a painting from merely a description and he said yes, but it was harder and so the price would be five hundred gold coins. Batengis and the party agreed, and Batengis described their battle with Tuolicha the mummy from the previous week. Temrin listened intently to the description and immediately began work.
As the party turned to leave they were greeted by a well armed and armored Archontean fighter accompanied by three guards. The man introduced himself as Tredgeris the Dapifer and said that he worked for the Arena Lord. He said that the tales of their forays in the Halls were becoming somewhat legendary and that he would begad to have them fight in the arena. The party declined for the moment as they had other business to attend to. Tredgeris said that if they changed their minds he could be found at the arena or at the Inn of the Lost. The party pretended that they definitely knew how to get to those locations, and left for their meeting with Sir Sorrow.
After knocking on the door of Sir Sorrow’s private quarters they were greeted by Sir Sorrow’s varlet Huguette who was equally tall, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and although Archontean, clearly of Wiskin descent. She ushered the party into the room, which had been appointed with enough cushions for everyone to sit on, with a mid afternoon spread of sausage, cheese, and fruit, along with wine.
Sir Sorrow explained the party some of the Sun-Scarred Knights philosophy, saying that they attempted to keep the status quo in the Halls to prevent undo bloodshed and suffering. Her particular job was to keep the goblins from becoming too expansionist (“always a problem with such a fecund race; no offense intended Master Capdoffer”) and to shore up their defenses as well. She thanked the party for dealing with the halflings who had become a bit of a wild card in her estimation, but did request that if they decided to take any actions in the future that might have wide ranging repercussions on Arden Vul’s power structure to let the Sun-Scarred Knights know beforehand. The party agreed to this, and then asked her what other factions the Knights had contact with. Sir Sorrow has happy to provide the party with a rundown on the current factions:
Beastmen: Currently no envoy, but there had been in the past. They were not expansionistic and were very capable of protecting their territory.
Fishmen: A small faction with no envoy.
Kirbog Khan: No envoy, but the Sun-Scarred Knights respected his complete neutrality.
Set Cult : No envoy but the Knights were able to easily keep tabs on them by visiting the Forum, which was a valuable market for the inhabitants of the Halls and, along with the Goblin Market, kept the Varumani from having an economic monopoly.
Lizardmen: No envoy. A minor faction with little power.
Varumani: The Knights were were worried that the current thegn was getting advice that may lead the Varumani to become more expansionist.
When asked about the hoppers Sir Sorrow said that the Knights considered them to be tool-using vermin to be hunted and killed on sight.
Pleased with the mutual respect each had shown both groups parted ways amicably.
On their way out of the goblin domain, they decided to visit Temrin and see how the painting was coming along. He apologized profusely for not being able to paint exactly what they had described and them showed them the finished painting; a perfect map from the goblin market to where the sarcophagus of the mummy was located. Astonished, the party began to ponder how to best use the talents of the prodigy before them.
RIP:
Kallion, Flamestruck by Pannius the Discordant, a greater mummy (Reincarnated as a dwarf)
Foes defeated:
2 ghouls
4 wights