Families and old foes (Session 16)

We started with two new faces on this adventures, Tink the half-orc ranger, and Orzu Fizzlespark the gnome wizard, as well as old allies Mr Chips and Martin Dragonsbane. I left Beatnik in charge of getting the remaining set up in the bakery dealt with.

Our mission was to take us to what we thought to be an abandoned chapel, in search of the supposed beasts that had been attacking people on the trial, as well as finding missing tradesmen. We almost immediately came upon trouble however on the way down Hector's Path, where we ran into a Necromancer called Clay, and his entourage. However what could have been a dangerous foe was immdiately taken out of play by the subtle mental manipulation of Mr Chips, which led to the hillarious sight of the foul necromancer hugging a tree as if it was his best friend


His hired goons were little threat beyond that. We took one as a prisoner, who told us that the Necromancer had come here to lay a poison upon the wood, and this was part of a wider plan to pollute the lands, so anywhere touched by the corruption would cause those buried there to rise again as the undead. We must find a way to counter this and find any places where it has already happened!

The thug also said that the necromancers have stationed themselves on a small island off the east coast of the main landmass. We bound and gagged the necromancer and took him and the thug back to Sanctuary for questioning



With that done we set off on our original mission. On the way we set up camp to rest for the night. However, from what my allies told me, at some point during the night, a pack of wolves and their leader approached our camp looking for food. Martin was able to communicate with them and send them on their way with some rations, but it would not be the last we'd see of them

The next day we made our way towards the old chapel, to discover a pack of clearly violent wolves surrrounding a knight, what looked like a noble and a priest. We attempted to stop the impending battle, but unfortunately my attempted intervention failed and the priest was mortally wounded - a event which pains me to this day. We made our way down the hill to try and help the remaining humans, only to discover the attacking wolves were the same ones that had come to the camp the previous night, but they were out of control and unfortunately before anything could be done the pack leader was killed. The battle ended after that, but the loss was felt particularly keenly by Martin and Mr Chips.

It turned out that the chapel was actually property of the Penny Household of Muran, known to our half orc, Tink, The noble, Hugo Penny, had apparently come with his now dead priest, and the Knight, Rossou, to reclaim the building and restore it to its former glory. This buildling had however been formerly populated by a foul troop which Martin had fought , and traces of their presence remained here.

It became clear quickly that something was amiss though. The wolves had , in their own way, mentioned this place as being a danger to them and other animals, and it was clear from the way they had turned in the short time between the previous night and now that something had affected them strongly for the worst. Martin and I decided to help the noble with burying his priest friend while Tink and Orzu investigated upstairs, and Mr Chips remained outside.

Things only got worse on the discovery of two notes, one detailing the effect of vampires and vampire spawn on the surrounding wildlife, the other much more alarming note from an old foe, Timor Vadaghast, which talked more about vampire spawn and the possibility of restoring them to become one of the living again

Hugo became more agitated the more we made a nuisance of ourselves, and when Martin noticed previously available doors had been hidden he became aggressive, although it became clear the knight was uncomfortable about something. Eventually we convinced them to let us into the lower area of the chapel. Fortunately our wizrd was able to remotely trigger the trap Hugo had laid for us, and by this point my patience had run out, I confronted Rossou directly and she broke her silence , imploring Hugo to let us help them, in a way we did not yet fully understand. The nobel snapped at this point, and threw a spell of surprising potency out at his protector, which fortunately missed, but before we could engage him further, Mr Chips again showed his power of mind manipulation and took Hugo out of the fight completely


Inside we discovered a series of cells, two of which held Dolan Mir, the dwarven merchant, and Pisces Seth, a scout of the Evergreen sect. Between them and the despondant Rossou, we discovered that Timor Vadaghast was in fact a vampire, he was here on the Forged Lands, and had turned Hugo's husband, David, into a vampire spawn. Hugo and the dead priest had kept him here rather than killing him as the Penny family had directed, in the hope of restoring him to life.

Inadvertently we released David, but thanks to a switftly constructed play and Orzu's illusion magic we were able to recapture him without incident.

Hugo and Rossou were taken back as prisoners, and we are talking with various groups on a way to keep David until we can find and destroy Timor, without leaving him where he can cause more distress to the wildlife.

Timor Vadaghast?

He was one of the Seven Merchant Lords of Muraan a few years ago. 

According to library records he was disgraced after making a deal involving the fire god Kossuth, the Red Wizards of Thay and the Drow House Dinal, a particularly brutal branch of dark-elf slavers. 

He uh... wasn't a vampire, according to these records. I guess things have changed.

Timor stole my Captains Gold and I have a quarrel to finish with him. The fact he is now a vampire does not change that but this means I will need to talk to him, rather than kill him right away.

I understand that he will need to be killed to be able to save David, Hugo's husband but I need time with him first and I WILL be the one who kills him when the time comes. His soul owes me a debt and I will make sure that soul suffers as it pays it.

mrow