Session 23 – The Plots Thicken
Campaign I, session 23. Previous: Session 22. Next: Session 24.
Damonos presses Pash to meet with Lucius Furlan, but “perhaps you can do this on your own terms. You need to know what he knows.” Also, “You have to think about what’s best for the estate, you know…”
Pash asks Luli to “pretend” that Luli is being forced out of the Levonday townhouse so that Pash can meet with him to pump him for information. Without hesitation, Luli responds, “you think he had something to do with it don’t you? I knew it! And he was wrapped up with Vason too! You burn that motherfucker’s balls to the ground!” Within a few days, the gossip among the high class of Vedycaer is all about how “that sicko killed my parents, and now he’s trying to seduce my sister with his lies! It’s all a scam! A plot!”
In apparent response to this, a new-ish face appears: Maxwell Silvermane, head of one of the leading gladiatorial schools, to appear at the Levonday house the morning before Lucius’ scheduled appointment with Pash. Maxwell is charming and affable, proclaiming his desire to meet “Vedycaer’s newest eligible bacheloress,” and “I can’t just let Lucius Furlan snatch you up unopposed!” Pash finds herself swooning over him immediately. Alwyn flees the building upon hearing Maxwell’s voice.
Pash agrees to meet Maxwell at the Silk Pony Inn the following evening, and after a bit more small talk, he takes his leave. Singil is able to recognize that something is wrong with Pash – she’s planning wedding details and constantly gushing about this amazing figure of a man and so forth, having trouble focusing on anything else around her. Athelia is able to use discern bewitchment to definitively determine that Pash is under a magical compulsion. Singil is unable to counterspell it effectively, so Dreyfuss rushes off to the Temple of Numilvara to bring a cleric able to use dispel magic. The cleric charges a bit extra for discretion but is able to dispel the effect and confirm that Pash is free from hostile influence.
After this commotion, Alwyn returns and explains that Maxwell was the lover of his former boss, Nicolai Selenium (who leads the sewer rats). Alwyn fled the Sewer Rats because Maxwell lost his temper over the documents that Alwyn had stolen from Mentenus.
Knowing that Lucius will not speak freely while “the law” is present, Dreyfuss decides to scope out Maxwell during the evening. Singil spends time at the local hospitals, helping with healing. Alwyn listens from the kitchen.
When Lucius arrives, he acts as a bit of exposition fairy, speaking (in plausibly deniable terms of course!) about the encroachments on his territory by a gang of wererats as well as a gang calling itself the “Brotherhood of Knives”. He also knows that the Sewer Rats are looking for any sign of weakness, to potentially start a turf war that could kill many people. Lucius’ “family” has had to “amputate” members for suspected infection of lycanthropy.
Lucius suggests that the Brotherhood of Knives had been hired by a third party – “possibly you or your compatriots have made a powerful enemy?” – to kill the Levonday parents. He also suggests that a “loyal employee” was able to secure the parents’ bodies and store them for appropriate burial.
Lucius also shares his agreement with Damonos that Pash is the right choice to lead the Levonday estate and, “to clear the air”, produces the original will, which shows Luli as the sole inheritor. Pash may do with this document and her parents’ remains as she wills.
Lucius asks for Pash to use her associates to strike down at one or more of the groups threatening his “family business”, and if they are successful, he will “accept that our ledgers are balanced” – and not seek additional leverage over Pash. Pash shows some interest in striking out at both the Brotherhood (if they truly are her parents’ killers) and the wererats (which the party had already agreed to remove when Abiyir was restored earlier).
Pash shares with Lucius that Maxwell has powers of ensorcellment, which “of course, I was able to resist.” Lucius narrows his eyes at this. “Thank you for this gift of information. that may explain many of the difficulties we have encountered thus far.”
Meanwhile, Dreyfuss and Metri are keeping an ear out at the Silk Pony. They learn that Maxwell had, during his time as a gladiator in Metrol, had a girlfriend, unpleasant in appearance and nearly as large as his own 6’6” and broad frame. Under her influence, he had performed acts in public that he now sees as shameful and rages any time someone mentions it. Additionally, Maxwell is known to take personal responsibility for interring the corpses of any beasts or gladiators slain in the arena.
Towards the end of their meal, an incorporeal shadow reaches out from behind and clutches Dreyfuss’ haunches! He is enervated, losing a couple of max hp. The other patrons begin screaming and shouting; Metri is lacking in silver weaponry, but Dreyfuss is able to slay the creature with his silvered spikes (losing about half his max hp in the process!)
Harried, Dreyfuss makes his way to the temple of Numilvara to seek healing. Unfortunately, this kind of wound would require ritual magic to heal! And the condition has not ended; Dreyfuss must save vs. Death every night or continue losing his essence. Fortunately, the sanctified inner chamber of the temple offers a substantial bonus and Dreyfuss passes his first save. Three in a row will remove the condition, though the HP loss will remain until a character levels up.
The next day, Pash prepares to meet with Maxwell, hoping to feign compliance with his compulsion. She brings Renard as “a dear friend” and Metri as “someone who can help with all the legal agreements for our upcoming wedding.” Pash initially is able to fake it; eventually Maxwell suggests “let’s have a bit of privacy” and waves away his own servants. Pash asks Metri and Renard to step back as well, though of course they try to listen in.
Maxwell asks Pash about her sister, Luli, at which point Pash begins gushing random made-up details. Maxwell begins to ask more pointed and specific questions, and, unsatisfied with her answers eventually uses his power once more to compel Pash’s servitude. Once he is confident that he is getting proper answers, he shifts topics and draws out all of Pash’s knowledge of the wererats (which is far less than anyone else in the group has, though not nothing).
Letting a bit of frustration show, Maxwell orders Pash to call her servants back in. She obliges, and Maxwell attempts to use his powers on Renard and Metri, both of whom pass their saves. When they fail to respond to his orders, Maxwell starts to go red and insists that they “LEAVE. NOW.” And releases Pash from his enchantment as he does so.
On the way out, Metri drops off an “invoice” for the costs incurred in removing bewitchment from the earlier encounter.
In the meantime, the rest of the group does a quick sewer incursion to check whether the rats might still be using their hideout or not. They find no recent signs of activity…
On Pash’s return from her meeting with Maxwell, she suggests that Luli return to the Levonday estate for safety - Maxwell may be out to get her! She obliges, and in keeping with the earlier agreement, makes a big public stink about being “shoved off by my wicked sister, don’t you think that we’re done with this!”