Session 19 – Wrapping Up Rats and Blink Dog Manor
Campaign I, session 19. Previous: Session 18. Next: Session 20.
The session begins with the PCs finishing up their raid on the Shrine of the Horned Rat, discovering a wizard-locked door (hacked down with their magic weapons) that led to a smaller room with another chest of coins, along with a table, partial map of the Vedycaer undercity, and diary of the lead rat-magus containing notes on their ultimate goal – finding some kind of “nethercity” below even the sewers that this magus is convinced contains the secrets of immortality.
Dreyfuss (PC Sakkalin Watch-hound) has one of the spellcasting wererat bodies (now of course appearing fully human) brought up and carried back to the Tower of Knowledge for identification. Given the late hour, and their surprise at being presented with a corpse, the guards refuse entry. When Dreyfuss insists on speaking to the provost, the guards retreat into the Tower and close the doors, calling for assistance. Dreyfuss waits outside, though the other party members are nervous. Several minutes later, the commotion inside quiets a bit, and the doors are thrust open, and a half-dozen mages are casting sleep spells. Thranator (dwarven vaultguard hench) is the only party member to stand with Dreyfuss, calmly stating “you really should listen to the doggie detective here”.
The Towers’ lieutenant rolls his eyes at the two guards. “You idiots,” he mutters, as a half-dozen sleep spells complete in unison. Thranator slumps to the ground, but Dreyfuss (passing all six saving throws) pushes through the drowsiness and remains upright.
The lieutenant immediately calls for some apprentices to be sent down as scribes and begins taking notes on Dreyfuss’ claims and filling out a receipt acknowledging chain of custody of Terkinos’ body to the Tower. Several of the mages who have already gather recognize the body as belonging to Terkinos (who had been mentioned in the diary as leader of one of two wererat “packs” searching for the undercity). During the commotion, the Tower’s Provost appears and insists on receiving copies of all this paperwork. Dreyfuss catches a slight whiff of something familiar in this crowd of people, but is unable to discern which, if any, of the people in this group might also be wererats.
After all the hubbub, Dreyfuss delivers his report to the Levonday family (the parents of Pashlatine, PC venturer). “Your son appears to have run afoul of a wererat cult that had made its home in the sewers beneath the Old District. I cannot say for certain whether he was turned before he was slain, but it seems likely – strangulation is one method that might bypass the lycanthropic immunities. He may even have chosen to destroy himself rather than risk infecting the rest of his family. I hope you may rest easier knowing that our investigation has put an end to the shrine causing that caused the infection, though some of the vermin may have escaped.”
At this point, the party agreed it was time to break from this sewer action and continue pursuing their map to the Wandering Inn. They spent a bit more time in town awaiting full identification of their ‘Caduceus staff’, which as they suspected was a healing item, capable of casting a cure light wounds once per day per target. Singil (PC orcblooded shaman) and Hugo (hench mage) learned a new spell each, and Alwyn met his full time requirement for the spying hijink against Lucius Furlan – the throw was unsuccessful, unfortunately, but not by enough for Alwyn to be caught in the attempt. Meanwhile, Pashlatine found as many light horses as possible in Vedycaer, and the team plotted a course through Metrol towards the Wandering Inn.
Finally the team departed with all due haste. They briefly stopped at Metrol (Class II market) to park their slow cart and purchase light horses for the remaining PCs and henches. From there it was off into the Bloody Talenta Plains and (with luck) the Wandering Inn. Along the way, they met some merchants, slew a small throng of zombies, and encountered a herd of Tribex that could be a substantial source of food and hides if hunted or domesticated.
When the PCs get close (according to their map), they begin searching for signs of this Wandering Inn. Within an hour of searching, Dreyfuss is able to sniff out an area that the wildlife seems to be avoiding. They spot a run-down manor house in the distance, and at the same time notice that the skies behind them are turning dark with clouds and the wind begins picking up, as if driving them forward…
The group is able to tie up their horses in a bleak-looking stable beside the manor house before rushing into the manor itself. Dreyfuss waits outside for a few extra moments, but is buffeted into the house by the winds, suffering some cracked ribs. Singil (PC orcblooded shaman) bonks him with the staff of healing to help him out.
The party crowds into the foyer, noting a desk with a coin slot and signage indicating that the common area costs 1cp per night, a private room costs 1sp, and the master room costs 1 gp. Casino (PC reforged spellcarved soldier) and Pashlatine roll initiative to see who can get their 1 gp coin into the slot faster, which Pash wins quite handily. The sign-in ledger indicates some odd dates, either hundreds of years in the future or on a foreign calendar system of some kind. Also, sometimes names were signed out in different handwriting than they signed in – often many entries on the same date.
Pash finds a seat in the chapel room of the house, instructing Ardingle (Hench mage) to find any employees and insist on being served properly and promptly. Singil is able to recognize shrines to an old pantheon known as “The Sovereign Host” but is unable to recall specific details about them.
Brief exploration of the first floor reveals that the latrine has not been used since it was last cleaned, there are several sleeping cots in the common room, and the kitchen and pantry have not been used in some time – all the food is soiled in some way by rodents or rot.
In the dining area, there is a place setting with a candlestick and a scrumptious-looking meal set up. Suspicious, the PCs ask Hugo to cast discern magic, revealing the meal to be an illusion. Hugo continues to concentrate on his spell as the group moves from room to room, helping the party to discover a secret door behind a false painting that leads to some kind of cellar. Through that door, Dreyfuss can smell vinegar, rancid oils, and sulphur.
At this point, Alwyn (PC thief) asks Tassi (hench gnomish elementalist) to use her speak with animals ability to ask Alwyn’s emotional support cat how it is doing. The cat calmly replies, “You’re all going to die here” before curling up on a random piece of furniture and grooming itself.
The party decides to wait on exploring the basement, and instead heads upstairs. Hugo continues to concentrate, detecting false mirrors in the master bedroom, and more false paintings in the private rooms (which have secret doors behind them as well).
Dreyfuss also explores out the back patio, where some sweet-smelling firewood has been stacked. The wind has calmed, but there is still heavy rain. Dreyfuss experimentally puts some paws “over the line”, but doesn’t trigger any further wind blasts before eventually returning to the house.