Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Nightwick Abbey - Session 60 - Dealings in the Sewer

Previously, on the road to Lychgate...

Session 60 - 29th of Leftember, 1392

This week's adventurers:

Blossom (Rogue 5)

Mayfly (Magician 4)

Cherwe (Cleric 4)

Liminal Space (Changeling 3)

Verinka (Changeling 3) 

Yevegniy the Coward (Cleric 3)

Ulf (Magician 3) 

Franz Croakenbell (Frogling 1) 

Herk (Fighter 1)

Hirelings: Menczel

Downtime in the Big City

It's been a few weeks since the party reached Lychgate. We've been staying at an inn in the city the past few weeks while preparing for the heist and gathering information.

Ulf spent his time carousing, and reached level 3 in the process! He learns the spell Knock and spent the rest of his time scribing a scroll of Magic Missile. 

Liminal Space continues his months long search for a "battle-butler," a request that baffles the common folk of Lychgate and the DM alike. The fighter Fidl answers his advertisement. However, he sports a "C" branded into his flesh - the mark of a coward who once abandoned his post. Seeking no further explination, Liminal immediately spits on him and casts him out. He will have no coward for a Battle-Butler!.

Verinka goes carousing, gaining 500xp, but gets fleeced of her remaining money. The only thing she remembers from her drunken bender is the vague promise that her "investment" will be returned with great gains. 

Liminal Space also spent time investigating rumors, specifially seeking to learn more about the Brotherhood (of Theives and Assassins). He learns that their main cache of treasure is stored in a secret room near where they sleep and that they are led by a secret group of anti-bishops who lead the brotherhood in their strange ways.

A new player joins the party as well, rolling up Herk the Fighter!

Big Trouble in Little Lychgate

Mayfly suggests approaching the Brotherhood (of Thieves and Assassins) and offering to trade some of our loot for the Blindfold of St Candace of the Night, which will allow our rogue Blossom to see in the dark as if it were day. We still have the frog bandit's seemingly working eye. He thinks that this might be preferable to fighting them, especially with the news of the anti-bishops.

We know from last session of a sewer grate (poop sewer, not rain sewer) near the inn that leads to the Brotherhood (of Thieves and Assassins) and gather in the street around it the night of the 29th to perform our heist. Verinka peers down through the grate and sees the hint of a torch's flicker, but we don't notice any lookouts at street level.

Worried about lookouts within the sewer, Mayfly kicks over his money pouch with 50sp in it, letting it scatter around and drop down through the grate. The Changelings hear murmuring down below, but don't see anybody.

A Performance of a Lifetime

Liminal calls out into the sewer, "Oh no, you stupid wife! You've spilled my coins everywhere, now I've got to reach my long arms down this grate and I've narrating everything."

"My mother told me I should have never married you with your weak, weak money carrying hands," he continues as he puts his hands through the grate as if reaching for the coins, and he hears the murmuring down below cease, but still no one appears.

He changes tactics and pretends to walk away from the grate loudly and we hear sloshing and walking down in the sewers.

Befriending the Guards

We see two men, both wearing mummer's masks and black leather armor, one as a deer and one as a fat friar, come forward. Mayfly quickly casts Charm Person on the one in the deer mask.

The deer-man welcomes Mayfly, Liminal, and Herk down into the sewer as old friends, while the friar-man is confused.

Mayfly introduces us as the group from Nightwick and an old friend of the deer-man. The uncharmed guard visibly recoils when hearing that we come from Nightwick.

"We have important business to discuss; you must take us to your leader."

"Leader?" he asks, growing suspicious when we use the singular noun.

He raises his crossbow to us, turns, and bolts back deeper into the sewer.

Immediately Losing the Guard's Trust

Verinka sees in the darkness that his is running towards more masked figures standing on some scaffolding at the end of the room, all wearing masks like these two.

The friar-guard shouts "intruders! intruders!" as he runs towards them.

We move into fighting positions and Mayfly tells his charmed friend to tell the guards to stand down.

"Brothers, stop. Stop this madness," he runs forwards shouting at them.

The guards seem very confused by all that's going on, but they're not attacking at the moment, which is pretty good by our standards.

Negotiations and Reaction Rolls

Liminal steps forward and tells them we have things to trade from Nightwick Abbey.

Mayfly casts ESP to read the lead guard's thoughts. He's interested in gaining favor with the anti-bishops if he brings them a relic of Nightwick. The image of three anti-bishops flashes in his mind as he thinks of them.

Mayfly approaches him.

"It's interesting that your trio do not wear the vestments of the true masters of Nightwick."

Mayfly pleads to his golden skull for help and the Master reveals that he doesn't know much of these men but he knows that they serve St. Death.

Mayfly tells them that the true master of Nightwick is Armadeus, the Lord of Hell.

We ask them for the blindfold in exchange for the magic eyeball of Hoppin in the Hood, which Mayfly believes is fueled by the demon lord's magic. (We killed Hoppin back in session 24!)

"It will allow you to see as Aramdeus sees," Mayfly informs them.

An Unholy Trade Offer

The guard leaves the room to go consult with someone or something and Mayfly uses his ESP to track his thoughts as he goes, but he also picks up the broadcast of a fractured mind, full of anger at existing, somewhere else in the sewer beyond our sightline.

Mayfly gets the feeling that it is spying on his mind!

After a moment, the guard returns to the room... with the three anti-bishops in tow!

And that's where we had to end off the session, with the rare cliffhanger.

Tune in next time, on Dragonball Nightwick Z!


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