1 month in Turtleback Ferry & Ilsurian; Sephiria crafts Goggles of Night while Jarrick practices smithing. In Ilsurian the priestess of Abadar tells them that Stone Giants have been seen in the ruins of Sandpoint; the Scarnetti Black Dog mercenaries reputedly fled.
Travel on halfling riverboat to Biston, at night attacked by Marsh Giant & Boggards on the dock, then humiliate some annoying Korvosan royal knights.
Reach the Twisted Door and follow the Halflight Path, defeating an ambush by three Seugathi and their dominated hydra. Reach Kaer Maga, sleep overnight in the city.
NPCs
Wen Histani, Prelate of Abadar in Ilsurian. Seeks return of the Sword of Lust.
Othlo Janke, Halfling Bargemaster of the Lucky Jenny.
Abra Lopati, Duskwarden on the Halflight Path
Gav Nahli, teenage guide, Kaer Maga
Kaer Maga - http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Kaer_Maga
Quillax's Journal 5-march
We received word that the Pathfinders Society was sending a boat to carry us to Kaer Maga but it would not arrive for approximately a month. Jarrick decided to study smithing and was able to secure his journeyman status before we had to leave. While he was doing that, we were able to secure a copy of Sepheria's Googles of Nightvision for a very decent price thanks to her excellent persuasion skills. We gave them to Jarrick to replace his stolen pair.
[In April equivalent] We met with Wen Histani, who reminded us of the task before us and told us of the rumours that the Black Dog mercenaries were driven out by Stone Giants in the ruins of Sandpoint.
We met with our arranged boat, a barge called the Lucky Jenny which ran by way of a magical waterwheel. It was crewed by Halflings and captained by Othlo Janke, who was cheery and talkative, unlike his stand-offish crew. The barge was a bit small for us, particularly Claw, but we were able to settle on desk without disrupting the crew or unbalancing the barge.
A day's travel brought us to Biston (Korvosa border town) located on the shore of Lake Syrantula. Othlo informed us we would moor for the night. Claw headed out immediately for the pub. Jarrick and Sepheria seemed content to lounge on the boat. Neril was nowhere to be seen, so I left Clank with Sepheria and went to keep an eye on Claw, who was working his way through a small barrel of mead.
The publican had rumours to share when prompted for news:
- Bloodsworn Vane and it's evil spirits, to which the Hellknights had been dispatched to investigate
- Rumours of Shoanti activity to which the King Tsadok had stepped up the number of armed patrols. There was some discussion on the King being possibly a half-breed but the publican dismissed that immediately.
Claw spoke to some Trappers just out of Ashwood and was told the following rumours:
- Giants and Ogres heading for Jorgenfist (we know this to be true)
- a riverman reportedly saw a Marsh Giant with a group of frogman (Boggards) at the Southern end of Lake Syrantula, well south of Biston.
Jarrick noticed that the crew of the Lucky Jenny were either freed or escaped indentured servants, which explained their reticence as Korvosans are not known for the tolerance of other species. This was relayed to us upon our return to the barge to sleep after we shared our own news. we were able to get below-deck with some of the crew standing guard on deck.
We were woken when the barge rocked wildly. The Jenny's crew was shouting about monsters climbing and hopping aboard.
Jarrick was the first to make it on deck, and he shouted down to us about a giant dragonfly and spellcaster as he attacked the nearest Boggard. The dragonfly tried to attack Jarrick but missed. Clank was next up on deck and immediately went after one of the Boggard. The halflings on deck escaped to below deck, unharmed.
Sepheria, once on deck, cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on the Marsh Giant, which had climbed on board. The Giant boarding the barge from the water had been the cause of our rude awakening. The Giant, caught in the spell, fell off the side of the boat laughing and floating in the water chortling.
Over the course of the fight, Clank was hit with Bane. Claw killed the first Boggard and nearly killed another (in the water beside the boat - it escaped badly wounded).. Neril made good use of stun on the spellcaster and another Boggard. Jarrick was targeted by both the dragonfly and several Boggards. Clank killed the dragonfly. Sepheria killed the spellcaster with her magics, I killed another Boggard after Claw wounded it. Neril kept the Boggards stunned, allowing Jarrick to finish off the one beside him and Sepheria to kill the last. All the while the Marsh Giant laughed uncontrollably in the water.
We turned out attention to the Giant, with Claw, Neril, Jarrick, and Clank all striking with weapons and Sepheria with fire. I summoned a vine to pull the Giant aboard the barge so we could attack properly. Jarrick landed the killing blow, with the Giant falling off the side of the barge.
As we investigated the bodies, I noted that the Boggards were all diseased. The spellcaster also had a pathfinder's belt with the rune of Open Road upon it and the name of Yando Kline engraved crudely on the inside of the buckle. We know that he was a pathfinder who had been captured and held prisoner by the Boggards but had managed to escape. We gave it to Clank to hold.
As we were finishing up with our investigations, a small group of armoured men hurried towards us. We called out that the danger had passed. As they approached we could see they were Korvosan knights from the Arabesti house knights. They charged aboard the barge without permission, which Sepheria called them out upon, demanding that they show their manners and ask permission to come aboard of the Captain. Othlo gave it cheerfully when requested, and explained to the Knights what had transpired. Sepheria took up the conversation and explained more clearly to the Knight Captain. Claw offered to fetch the Marsh Giant body from the water and pulled it back aboard when requested. Rather unfortunately, the body rolled onto some Knights, and the Captain uttered a rather unacceptable slur about Claw, regarding leashes which I will not repeat.
I took great offense as did the others and in owlbear form glowered at the Captain for his comment. The Captain, although intimidated, decided to be stupid and attacked us. We dealt with the Knights quickly by simply stunning them with fist or magic - doing little physical damage. I sat upon the Captain to make my point and took his helm from him. We made it very clear that his comment was not acceptable. When he acknowledged that his actions were unacceptable, we let him go - sans helmet - and sent him on his way, chastised for his rudeness. There was some noise from the garrison so Othlo suggested that we head out.
It took five days from leaving Isle Syrian to reach the end of the waterway where we could travel no further by ship. We bid them farewell and headed towards the HalfLight Path with much speed. We were able to reach the gates just before they closed for the night and we were met by DuskWarden Abra Lopati, who would lead us to the city for a small fee. There was also a merchant with his two sons and his cart, who would be making the journey. We were given special crystals which shone like torches and could be used to summon help (the three nearest Duskwardens would be alerted) in the event that anyone got separated from the group. We were also informed that for a period of time we would have to travel silently as possibly when instructed.
The journey was slow but Sepheria had to be nearly forced to keep pace as the caves and walls of the path were covered with ancient languages, runes, and carvings and she could not resist trying to copy them or study them. Jarrick was drafted into making rubbings of anything possible and sketches using the paper and charcoal I carried for this purpose.
We came up to a bricked up archway that was carved with a falling star wreaking havoc on a human populous. This depicted StarFall and the fall of Azlant.
Abra stopped us as he examined the damaged and misaligned bricks, which gave us a small bit of warning before a Hydra burst through the wall. Jarrick could see down the tunnel that there were more odd, tentacled creatures approaching, which I was later able to identify as Seugathi (psychic mindflayer types). Sepheria quickly banished the Hydra to allow us to deal with the Seugathi and she backed off to maintain her concentration. Neril attacked and tried to stun the beasts but was unable to so he quickly retreated around the corner to rethink his strategy. Abra missed with his bow and likewise retreated around the corner.
Claw charged forward to attack and I moved up to use magic but we did not kill any before they were able to attack us psychically. Sepheria and Jarrick were able to shrug off the attacks but Claw and I were not so fortunate and were unable to move. Jarrick moved in to attack and Sepheria threw a fireball, killing two of the three. Neril darted in and was able to stun the last. Abra darted in and attacked with sword while Jarrick laid on hands on Claw. Neril landed the killing blow.
Shaking off the attack, I moved out of the cave to prepare for the Hydra. It took Claw a short while longer but he also regained his senses. After a short discussion, we decided to simply seal up the wall again as we believed the Hydra had been possibly dominated by the others. I cast Wall of Stone and we waited, listening. The Hydra made noises as it ripped apart the bodies of the Seugathi then it grumbled to itself and stomped off away from the wall.
We made it to the concrete bunker at the end of the trail where Abra informed the other wardens of the events and we returned the crystals. In thanks, Abra then gave Sepheria one of the Charm crystals and was able to recommend an urchin guide, Gav Nali.
[4800 xp each, 2400 clank]
Kaer Maga blocks magic, so Jarrick was unable to use locate object. We did find Gav Nali (after being pickpocketed a little) who chased off the other thieves and give us information:
- The Therassic Spire is library mysteriously closed
- Augurs on strike - argument with Ardoch family. Their temple is in Downmarket.
- Ardoch family - This family is known for their sorcery and automatons, as well as being sexist.
Gav eventually leads us to the Wheel Unbroken, an upmarket inn and <>. There are mostly merchants inside, although they have markings of academae ( rumoured to be devil summoners college of korvosa)
We rent two rooms and notice some Priests of Abadar, with whom Sepheria speaks. We later overhear them speaking of us and the missing sword. . There are also priests of Asumedaus in the corner, whom the Abadarians are watching covertly.
Claw, holding the shard of Lust, says that he feels the next shard is below us in the undercity.
[300 xp each for exploration]
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