Chapter One: The Iron Sphere of Sthombo

The Pater stands up, suddenly grave. "No. They were here for the morning lecture, but they were missing from the nighttime symposium."

The acolytes exchange a glance with each other. "The Devil of the Sewers strikes again?" one of them suggests.

Pater Ligbone dismisses this theory with a wave of his hand. "A fable. Now is not the time for lurid speculation." He takes a step closer to Leth. "A crown, you say. A six-pronged crown. Where did you see this symbol?" His eyes fall on Felor. "The outlander. Yes, I thought you looked familiar. You three were at the execution. You are the last friends of Edvers Kells." His mouth pulls back in a taut grimace. "By Nethuns' Fork, boys, what trouble did you drag those poor women into?"

[I'm trying to stick to present tense, but slip-ups will occur...]

Aug 16, 2015 4:18 am

Leth glances quickly at his companions, trying to decide how much they should tell the old man. So far, talking about their experiences to anyone they come across seemed to be working against them... and it was beginning to look like whoever was after them had ears everywhere. They were definitely willing to get their hands dirty, at least. While they sorely needed some insight into the situation, if Leth started explaining it in full to Pater and he turned out to be in league with their enemies as well... things would get even worse.

Is there some kind of check I can do to see what Leth thinks of Pater and/or the acolytes? Whether or not they seem trustworthy?

Aug 16, 2015 5:03 am

Insight!

Aug 16, 2015 5:04 am

Insight it is.

Rolls

trustworthifulness - (1d20+2)

(15) + 2 = 17

Aug 16, 2015 5:07 am

The old cleric and his acolytes seem guileless to Leth, if a bit suspicious of the party.

Aug 17, 2015 9:42 am

Felor frowns at the acolyte's comment.
"A devil you say, brother acolyte?"

Aug 17, 2015 4:20 pm

"An infernal being is known to inhabit the underdark of the city," the acolyte says, "long suspected to be the author of many unspeakable crimes."

"Tales that swell with each telling," Pater Ligbone says reproachfully, "spun by wine-soaked housematrons and excitable children. Two women are missing. I would prefer to hear the mundane facts of the situation right now."

Aug 17, 2015 6:17 pm

Leth sighs.

"Yes, it's true we were all friends of Edvers, but before I get any further, I should make it clear that we know absolutely nothing about the disappearance of the Sphere - a fact that continues to be a source of great frustration." He says, speaking as quietly as he can without being inaudible. He continues,
"After the execution, we carried the body to the burial site, where we first saw the crown symbol - freshly carved into the wooden beams of Edver's ransacked house... We were also ambushed by assassins. They killed one of our gravediggers and would have killed most of us, too, if we hadn't defended ourselves. We were able to get some information out of one of the assassins - they were hired by a middle man to kill all but two of us and bring the survivors back to a rendezvous point to hand us off to the men who hired them.

We found the rendezvous point and waited there in the hopes of finding the hirers and learning why we were being hunted... and we were mostly successful. However, they weren't really in a talking mood - they also attacked us. In the chaos that ensued, one of the men got away and the other was accidentally killed, but not before he told us that they were looking for The Sphere and thought that we knew where it was, or could at least point them in the right direction - which is not true. We later discovered the man was carrying a dagger with the same crown symbol in the pommel, and a scallop shell with a portrait of Edvers' Daughter, which we can only assume was a personal belonging to Edvers himself. How they got their hands on that, I don't know.

At that point, it was late in the night and we tried to set up camp and get some rest... and we actually had one other chance encounter that night where we learned a little bit about the symbol itself, but I actually wasn't present for most of that, so Felor here could probably tell you more than I could..." Leth says, looking at Felor.

Last edited August 17, 2015 6:19 pm

Aug 17, 2015 6:26 pm

Felor nods. "Aye. I spoke to a forest spirit who divined that the crown symbol belongs to some.. 'witch-men', she called them. The prongs of the crown represent tenets of their pact with someone or something. As for young Zora, she is said to be camped on the banks of the Ophid. That is where we intend to head next - to seek her out and attend to her safety."

Aug 17, 2015 6:32 pm

As soon as Felor mentions Zora's location, Leth's eyes widen and he tenses up, looking around the area to see if there might be anyone else nearby who was listening in or could have heard him.

"Okay, well, I wouldn't have actually mentioned where she is..." Leth mutters, before continuing to Pater, "Anyway, we came back to Sthombo the next morning to get some rest, and that's when we started asking around to see if anyone knew anything else about the crown symbol. The rest I've told you."

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+4)

(16) + 4 = 20

Aug 17, 2015 6:36 pm

As Leth describes the party's first encounter with the crown symbol, the old priest's back stiffens, and the color visibly drains from his face. The acolytes notice this too, and exchange a worried look. "When you asked them about the symbol, were you in the common room of the inn? Did anyone overhear you?"

Aug 17, 2015 6:38 pm

Felor frowns. "There was one fellow, he perked up when Leth mentioned the symbol. He left the inn and I tried to follow, but..." he trails off.

Aug 17, 2015 7:08 pm

The Pater seems to deflate like a punctured air-bladder at this news. "I see. We cannot pretend that their fate remains any great mystery, then. I can only pray to the Lord of the Waters that their passage from the living realm was swift and not cruel." He nods at the acolytes. "Fetch my raiments." They seem unsure which of them is to carry out the task, and as they hesitate, the Pater snaps at them: "Both of you! Go!"

The acolytes hurry off to one of the nearby outbuildings. Pater Ligbone glares at the three of you. "Kells' daughter has the Sphere. She must. But I cannot fathom why it was stolen. In the dreams Nethuns sends me, not once have I seen the Sphere. It is inconsequential to him. Nor can I guess why the sign of the Six-Pronged Crown should coincide with its disappearance." He looks away. "I don't know what the symbol means, or who these men are who bear it. But I have seen it before. In the catacombs beneath this temple, in the deepest parts carved out when this was a house of many gods, there is a crypt whose sealing-stone is engraved with that symbol. It has perplexed us for generations."

He sits back down on the bench. "A year ago, two men from Hazard came to the temple and asked to see the crypt. They called it by the same name as you know it: 'we wish to see the tomb of the servant of the six-pronged crown,' they said. They seemed decent folk. They brought offerings to Nethuns. And so one of our priests led them down to the catacombs. He said afterwards they did nothing but stand before the crypt for the longest time, staring at it, saying nothing. And that was all they did. When they were finished he led them back up, and they left, and we never saw them again."

Vad Fekete

szemely

Aug 17, 2015 9:36 pm

"Who just stares at a crypt?" Vad thinks to himself as he awaits the acolytes to return.

Aug 17, 2015 10:06 pm

The acolytes hurry back with the Pater's green-and-gold robe and scaled miter. One of them makes lingering eye contact with Felor as the old priest dresses himself.

Aug 17, 2015 11:51 pm

BullOctorok says:

We cannot pretend that their fate remains any great mystery, then. I can only pray to the Lord of the Waters that their passage from the living realm was swift and not cruel.

Leth hangs his head. "That's what I was afraid of..." I have to be more careful from now on. My carelessness got two innocent women killed... who are we dealing with?

Leth perks up a bit when Pater mentions his dreams. "You've been having dreams about this?"

Did my perception check accomplish anything?

Last edited August 17, 2015 11:52 pm

Aug 17, 2015 11:56 pm

"The Lord of the Waters sends me visions in my sleep of that which he would have me set my waking mind upon. But of this, the Sphere, the symbol of the crown, this strange business Edvers Kells got involved in...I'm afraid Nethuns cares little for these things."

There was nothing to perceive, really. Ligbone seems to be dealing straight with you, and there's nothing else going on near here.

Aug 18, 2015 12:12 am

"Well, it seems as though our next course of action should be to find Zora Kells. She may have more answers for us." Leth bows respectfully. "Thank you very much for your help... and I cannot say how sorry I am for my careless actions last night. We shall do our best to get to the bottom of this and avenge those two women... perhaps we will return to examine that crypt for clues as well.

Is there anything else you would say to us before we leave?"

Aug 18, 2015 7:37 am

Felor's heart sinks as the fate of the women becomes evident. He turns to Leth, "I think an examination of this crypt might lend us some clue as to what we're dealing with. Maybe we should take a look before we leave."

Aug 18, 2015 4:16 pm