Book 1: Burnt Offerings COMPLETE!

Saturday, June 8, 2013 @ Bud’s

Day 8:

After securing the top level of Thistletop, the party spent the night in the chapel of Lamashtu, dutifully wary of the threat below, though they remained unmolested. Some of the neutral party members had unusual dreams in which a whispering voice beckoned to them. A more thorough investigation of the area revealed a few noteworthy items that were not discovered in the chaos of the previous night’s encounter. A goblin “art gallery” contained a crude drawing of an immense goblin looming inside a cave set into the side of Thistletop. The tentamort lair contained a +1 chain shirt among some desiccated humanoid remains. The war room contained notes suggesting that Sandpoint would be invaded by several goblin tribes and sinspawn from the Catacombs of Wrath, “once the whispering beast is tamed.” A secret door in Lyrie’s research room led to a stairway leading down. The party heard a knock at the door leading up to the goblin stockade, and it was Gogmurt, asking for a progress report, and also giving the party a wand of barkskin (9) and a wand of cure light wounds (15)

Upon opening the first door to the lower level, the party discovered that the entire floor was slightly canted to the west, creating a slight uphill slope when traveling east. The first room contained several statues that were damaged both by the upheaval that caused the floor to tilt, but also by deep scratching and by fire.

In the next hallway, statues wielding glaives flanked the hallway, and shiny square on the otherwise dirty floor raised suspicion. Nymeria inspected it further, and discovered that it was the trigger for a slashing cage trap. The floor was a pressure plate rigged to cause two portcullises to drop, trapping people in between while the statues slashed at them. In addition, the floor would drop into a pit 10′ deep. However, Nymeria was able to disable it, allowing the party to pass safely across.

A northern door was locked, and Mackintosh smelled yeth hounds, but Nymeria was able to pick the lock. The party burst in to find Nualia waiting with two of her beasts in front of a fountain of bubbling blue water. Having learned from the previous encounter with the hounds, Echo had a countersong readied to negate the effect of their supernatural baying. The hounds wasted their first turns failing to frighten the party, while Nualia unleashed her fury with a magical bastard sword wielded in her aasimar hand, and clawing with her red demonic hand. Oz animated a chair which assisted the party and provided valuable flanking on Nualia, who was well armored in a magical breastplate, and also had ample opportunity to cast pre-combat spells on herself. Mackintosh killed one of the yeth hounds,  The other hound bit and tripped Lisanji, and attacked again when she tried to stand, but she slew it with a devastating critical hit. During the battle, Nymeria disarmed Nualia, and she recovered her weapon, but the opportunity for her success was lost. In very bad shape, she was just about to channel negative energy to assault the entire party when Nymeria put her ranseur through her face. Oz’s heroic chair got three coats of “paint” from the blood spraying from the bodies of the defeated foes.

The party recovered from Nualia’s body her mithril breastplate +1, her bastard sword +1, a holy symbol of Lamashtu, and a composite longbow. Under the chair that Oz animated lay a locked chest, which turned out to contain Nualia’s remaining fortune, 7000gp. Lying on several tables were Nualia’s notes and several journals, which would have taken hours to go through. The party decided to take them, but not to go through them yet. Mackintosh drank from the fountain, and Oz suppressed the effect once, but Mackintosh would not be denied. He drank again, and experienced the uneasy sensation of viewing the Varisian countryside from the perspective of the sentinel statue that Thistletop was built into.

A southern door led to an L-shaped room with a double door leading south and what appeared to be a floor-to-ceiling round column made of stacks of gold coins to the east. Magical detection revealed the gold to be an illusion cast on a stone column, and close inspection revealed two coin-sized slots in the walls to the left and right of the column. Oz inserted a single gold coin into the left slot, and then the right slot, and the column sank into the floor, revealing a passage into a room beyond, covered in a thick layer of dust, apparently undisturbed for quite some time. The next room contained three doors to the east, north, and south.

The southern door had no handles, but an elaborate sihedron rune carved into them where the handles would be, its shape covered by hollows and slits. The door was magically sealed with a spell strong enough to stun Oz when he detected magic on it. The smell of burning hair emanated from behind the door.

A voice could be heard from behind the northern door, speaking in what seemed to be Thassilonian, but not loud enough to be distinctly heard. Interestingly, the voice repeated itself in a loop.

Mackintosh burst into the eastern room through an unlocked door, and leapt on to a table covered with surgical implements and other sharp tools, but managed to avoid injuring himself. A thorough search revealed a freakishly mutated skeleton in the corner of the room, which radiated faint transmutation magic. An unusual item lay among the tools, a silver-and-gold seven-pointed star, one surface studded with nodules and blades, the other side featuring a smooth curved handle. The group decided to try it on the magically sealed door.

In an unconventional tactic, the party opened the northern door and the southern door simultaneously. The northern room contained a throne standing on a raised dais, with a ghostly figure seated on the throne, issuing the looped message: “…is upon us, but I command you remain. Witness my power, how Alaznist’s petty wrath is but a flash compared to my strength. Take my final work to your graves, and let its memory be the last thing you…”

Inserting the tool into the sihedron-shaped depression in the magically sealed doors caused them to open effortlessly. The room beyond was lit by a 10-foot-long pit of flickering fire that filled the room with a strange humid heat and the smell of burning hair. Mackintosh entered the room and began to prod at the fire pit with some of the tools from the transmutation room, when he was attacked by a large creature who had been invisible until then. This creature was Malfeshnekor, a greater barghest, a powerful, evil, extraplanar creature with strong attacks, damage resistance, and magical abilities usable at will. He lashed out viciously with a bite and two claws, reducing Mackintosh to low health. The party quickly moved to surround Malfeshnekor, Oz in particular moving to protect Mackintosh who had been badly hurt. However, the party was having trouble connecting with its attacks. The barghest wasn’t particularly agile or tough, but he was blinking in and out of view, causing many attacks to miss. Nonmagical attacks were especially ineffective, so Wanga cast magic fang on Tini so that he could assist.

Malfeshnekor fought relentlessly, communicating with the party telepathically, expressing gratitude for their presence, and interest in eating their souls. For thousands of years had he been imprisoned here, insane with rage and hunger. He knocked Nymeria unconscious, and also dealt heavy damage to Lisanji, but they never wavered. Echo was quite busy in her healing duties, bringing both Mackintosh and Nymeria back into the fight. After quite some time of the party whittling away at the barghest, and him dealing significant damage in return, Lisanji dealt him a devastating critical blow. Malfeshnekor whispered into Lisanji’s mind, asserting his paternity: “LISANJI, I AM YOUR FATHER. JOIN ME AND WE CAN RULE GOLARION.” Lisanji refused, but Malfeshnekor attempted to charm her into betraying her companions. She was steadfast, his blink effect wore off, and he was carved to mincemeat shortly thereafter.

A search of the room revealed sixty eternal candles and a silver coffer containing a ring of force shield, which manifests as a seven-pointed star, the sihedron rune.

The double doors from the large L-shaped room opened into a crypt with no apparent exits. A thorough search was interrupted by three shadows rising from their sarcophagi, filling the party with dread. These incorporeal undead were completely immune to nonmagical weapons, so Lisanji and Nymeria shared the bastard sword once belonging to Nualia. Mackintosh hit one hard, and the shadows missed Mackintosh and Echo with their clumsy touch attacks. The third one hit Nymeria, dealing significant strength damage, which Echo channeled to heal some of. Mackintosh dealt a killing blow to one, and the shadows failed to connect on any more attacks while the party beat them down. Lisanji dealt killing blows to the remaining two. Resuming the thorough search, the party discovered a secret door leading west into a damp, underground chamber that seems to have been a treasury at some point.

Nymeria took the lead, and saw a huge golden helmet submerged in a pool of water. The helmet rose, and started to turn, but instead of some sort of aquatic giant, it was a giant hermit crab that had made its home in an ancient Thassilonian artifact. The party benefited from a surprise round, in which Nymeria pierced the crab, and Mackintosh leapt on top of it, trying to ride it. Lisanji put an end to the silliness by ending its life before it even got a chance to act. In addition to the valuable golden helmet, the party found assorted coins and gems in the water, along with an amulet of natural armor +1.

Time was running short on the session, so the party did not get a chance to go through Nualia’s notes and journals. We will cover that next session when we recap Book 1 and review treasure accumulated so far.

TL;DR: The party fully cleared Thistletop, defeating not only Nualia and her minions, but a greater barghest named Malfeshnekor, who had been imprisoned in Thistletop for the thousands of years since the fall of the Thassilonian empire. Sandpoint should now be safe from the threat originating in Thistletop. Book 1 of Rise of the Runelords is complete.

Treasure gained in dungeon level 2 of Thistletop:

sihedron medallion (Oz)
+1 chain shirt (Echo)
+1 bastard sword (Lisanji)
+1 mithril breastplate (Nymeria)
masterwork composite longbow (+4 STR)
gold holy symbol of Lamashtu (worth 500gp)
7000gp
several antique surgical tools (worth 100gp)
60 eternal candles (worth 1500gp)
silver coffer (worth 400g)
Ring of force shield (+2 shield bonus)
Amulet of natural armor +1
piles of mixed coins and gems (worth 1400gp)
A huge golden helmet (worth 7000gp)
wand of barkskin (9)
wand of cure light wounds (15) – some got used

Thistletop is now complete, and Pathfinder Society chronicle sheets have been distributed. The 3 XP, 4 Prestige Points, and 4800 gold may be applied to a character between levels 3 and 5. As a special item, the sihedron medallion may be purchased for use in PFS.

Book 1: Burnt Offerings

Saturday, May 4, 2013 @ Bud’s

Day 5, continued:

Beyond the prison room lay a torture room and an ancient study, with cells containing skeletons of deformed humanoids, possibly the result of experimentation and research. Amidst the rubble in the study was a scroll of flaming sphere (CL 5th)

Beyond this lay a large room with numerous frameworks of wood and metal on the floor. On the other side of the room was a three-armed goblin wielding a red glowing longsword, a handaxe, and a dagger. Mackintosh charged the creature, but fell crashing into a pit containing a zombie. The others learned from his error, and stepped around the covered pits. Nymeria tried to help Mackintosh out of the pit with a rope, while he fought with the zombie in the pit, and the others jockeyed for position to attack the goblin, who was screaming incoherently about serving “the Queen” They exchanged a few blows, and the goblin vomited vile acidic blood on to some party members. Echo channeled positive energy to harm the zombies in the covered pits, Oz guarded the room exit, and Nymeria helped by shooting some of them in the face. The goblin was no match for the party, and he went down without much fuss. His weapons turned out to be a +1 longsword, a masterwork cold iron hand axe, and a masterwork cold iron dagger.

The party reinforced the pit covers and continued exploring. They found a spiral staircase leading down, but it had been collapsed, rendering it impassable. They also found a strange spherical room, crackling with lightning and enchanted with levitation magic. The room contained several curious items floating about: a scroll of burning hands (CL 3rd), a wand of shocking grasp (38 charges), and a bestiary of monsters written in Abyssal. Mackintosh ran into the room and floated headlong into the opposite wall, but other than some static electricity making his fur stand on end, nothing else happened.

Exploring another section of the catacombs east of the statue of Runelord Alaznist, the party encountered a pair of floating, disembodied demon skulls with tentacles known as vargouilles. Both of them shrieked loudly upon the party entering the room, but everyone was able to resist the paralytic effect that would have enabled their secondary ability of turning a helpless opponent into a vargouille. Having avoided the chief danger of the vargouille, the party was able to kill them easily. Beyond the vargouilles lay another collapsed stairway, this one leading up.

Exploring the last remaining tunnel, the party found an altar filled with filthy water. Wanga purified the water, but it immediately began to become impure again. Mackintosh, ever the bold and brave cat, scooped some of the water into his waterskin. Upon touching the water, he felt the familiar feeling of rage well up within him, but it subsided. He noted the effect with glee, and looked to take advantage of the effect if the opportunity presented itself.

The opportunity would present itself very soon, because on the other side of the door in the cathedral, a quasit was busy using her blood to create more sinspawn using some strange translucent orange water. Mackintosh drank the water he had collected and went into a rage as he expected. What he did not expect was that the rage would cause him to lose control and attack his companions. The quasit took advantage of this by casting hold person on Nymeria, but the party protected her from a coup de grace by moving her aside and interceding on her behalf. Lisanji and Hildabrandt engaged the sinspawn in melee while Echo inspired courage and Wanga grappled with the enraged feline. The quasit disappeared again, but continued creating sinspawn. While fighting the sinspawn, Lisanji stepped into a pool of water, and went into a rage similar to Mackintosh. However, Hildabrandt managed to disarm her, which reduced her threat considerably. Hildabrandt was badly injured, and made toward a side room, which was safe, but which contained nothing of interest. The quasit began screaming obscenities in Infernal, stopped trying to create sinspawn, went invisible again, and flew toward the door. However, she did not count on Mackintosh smelling her as she passed by, and taking a swipe at her. Oz managed to block her path out the door, and get her into a grapple and finally a pin, which she could not escape from. She attempted in vain to put Oz to sleep, but he was immune to her hex. Eventually, she succumbed to death by a thousand cuts, despite her fast healing and damage resistance. She possessed a handy haversack, a +1 cold iron returning dagger, and a +1 silver ghost touch dagger.

The party determined that the quasit was motivated to escape rather than deplete the resource that was allowing her to create sinspawn by bleeding into the water. The party discussed their findings with several of Sandpoint’s citizens. The Sheriff concluded that there must be a connection between the catacombs and the “recent unpleasantness” and would like to put an end to it. Father Zantus had no special insight into the catacombs, but recommended asking Brodert Quink, who identified the magical water as coming from a minor runewell, which is a magical artifact that feeds on sin. The locations of the runewells had been lost since Earthfall, the event which ended the Thassilonian empire 10,000 years ago. This particular runewell, once belonging to Runelord Alaznist, is powered by the death of nearby beings that are affiliated with the sin of wrath, and there has been a lot of that around Sandpoint lately. This runewell’s power can be used to create sinspawn, but this requires a few drops of blood, and also depletes some of the runewell’s power. As the party explained to Ameiko, they do not know how to permanently destroy the runewell, if that is even possible, but they did secure the area by blocking the passage with stones borrowed from the collapsed stairs.

TL;DR
The party cleared the Catacombs of Wrath, walled up the active runewell, and escaped with an assortment of items. A collapsed spiral staircase leading down may warrant further investigation, but it set off the party’s Threat-O-Meter with a reading of HIGH.

+1 longsword
+1 cold iron returning dagger
+1 silver ghost touch dagger
masterwork ranseur worth 1000g
masterwork cold iron handaxe
masterwork cold iron dagger
Scroll of flaming sphere (CL 5th)
scroll of burning hands (CL 3rd)
a wand of shocking grasp (38 charges)
handy haversack
bestiary of monsters written in Abyssal (It is written up as a 100g treasure, but I am going to make it give +1 to identify monsters)

Again, I forget who took what, or whether it was all decided.

Everyone gained enough experience to reach level 3.

Book 1: Burnt Offerings

Friday, April 26, 2013 @ Debbie & Barney’s

Day 5:

The party explored the catacombs under the Glassworks. A long tunnel led north to a secret door that opened into a cave on the side of a cliff overlooking the Varisian Gulf. A side tunnel led east, but ended in a collapse at the Turandarok River. Another side tunnel led west, and curved north leading into the Catacombs of Wrath.

Upon entering the catacombs, the party defeated a group of creatures (sinspawn) that seemed to be standing guard.

A statue of Runelord Alaznist stood in an intersection, and it possessed a masterwork ranseur, which was as much a work of art as a weapon.

The party encountered another group of sinspawn in a room with wooden catwalks and prison cells. They started the fight hanging from the underside of the catwalks, and though the arrangement of the room was inconvenient, they were dispatched without difficulty.

Book 1: Burnt Offerings

Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ Bud’s

Day 3, continued:

The party returned to Sandpoint from the boar hunt, and delivered the boar meat to the Rusty Dragon. However, the night was rudely interrupted by Lonjiku Kaijitsu, a Sandpoint aristocrat of Tian descent, bursting in the door to start a fight with his daughter Ameiko. No one else in the interfered, but Nymeria stood by her, and when Lonjiku laid his hands on Ameiko, Nymeria tested his aerodynamic qualities through the front door. Lonjiku left in a fury, having been publicly shamed yet again.

A distraught woman, Amele Barret, holding a baby and with a young boy in tow, sought out the party. A goblin was in her house, and attacked her son Aeren. When her husband Alergast attacked the goblin, Amele panicked, fleeing the house with her children to get help. The party arrived in time to dispatch the goblin Gresgurt, but it was too late for Alergast, who had his throat cut and his face partially eaten. The party delivered Gresgurt whole to Daverin Hosk, the goblin-hating stablemaster, who preserved him in a jar to put on display. Daverin also agreed to pay 5 gold per goblin ear, 10 if it came with the goblin’s name.

Upon leaving the stables, Mackintosh drew the attention of Shayliss Vinder, the daughter of Ven Vinder, the proprietor of the general store. She lured him into the basement to take care of her “rat problem” but as soon as they were alone, she got naked. Ven returned to the store before anything further could happen, and Mackintosh was able to hide for the time being. However, his escape plans were less than stealthy, and a melee ensued. Ven chased Mackintosh outside the store, but was tripped in the street while the cat continued to flee. Nymeria laughed her head off throughout the encounter.

Day 4:

Morning came early for the adventurers, as Sheriff Hemlock had some urgent news regarding the goblin threat from Sandpoint’s unofficial town guard, scout, and peacekeeper Shalelu Andosana. Shalelu confirmed that the goblins are growing more organized, and that unless something is done about them, they will further threaten Sandpoint and the outlying areas.

After giving more details over breakfast back at the Rusty Dragon, Shalelu took her leave. Bethana, the halfling maid, appeared visibly upset, and explained that Ameiko was missing. She found a note from her brother Tsuto asking her to come to the Glassworks, which Bethana found deeply suspicious, and asked the party to investigate, and please find Ameiko.

The party found the Glassworks locked, but had little trouble getting in. As it turned out, Tsuto, leading a group of goblins, had killed the workers, and also his own father, Lonjiku, encasing him in glass. They dispatched a large group of goblins in the glassworking room, and found Tsuto in the basement. Tsuto was defeated, but left alive to stand trial. Ameiko was rescued, and will be Sandpoint’s newest noblewoman, and heir to the Kaijitsu fortune.

Tsuto’s defeat revealed the connection between Sandpoint and the goblin threat. He is infatuated with Nualia, the aasimar daughter of the priest who died in the fire. He has been working on behalf of Nualia, stealing the priest’s body to accomplish her transformation into demonhood, and has been planning more raids on Sandpoint to further this end.

Under the Glassworks, near where Tsuto was found, there is a long passageway into the catacombs under Sandpoint, which warrants further exploration.

TL;DR
The party found out more about the goblin threat, and rescued Ameiko from her brother Tsuto, who was behind the goblin raid on Sandpoint. Next up: the catacombs under Sandpoint, found under the Glassworks. And Thistletop.

Each PC gains 1200gp total (200g each from selling random loot and turning in named goblin ears to Daverin Hosk, and 1000g reward for rescuing Ameiko)

The group also found the following items to distribute:

Ring of protection +1
Amulet of Natural armor +1
Handy Haversack
masterwork thieves’ tools

I forget who claimed what.

Everyone’s still level 2.

Book 1: Burnt Offerings

Saturday, April 13, 2013 @ Bud’s

Day 2, continued:

There were some speeches at lunchtime, and at sunset, when Father Zantus took the central podium in front of the cathedral to begin the consecration, the town was attacked by goblins who kept pouring into the square. Between the disorganization of the goblins, and the party’s heroic efforts, minimal harm came to the people of Sandpoint. They rescued one noble named Aldern Foxglove, and even revived his pet dog, for which he seemed very grateful, and promised a reward. They were on their way back to the Rusty Dragon when sheriff Belor Hemlock asked for further assistance. Apparently, the goblin raid was a distraction for some mischief at the cemetery. They investigated the mausoleum, and encountered several skeletons, which they defeated after a mild scare to Lisanji. It was discovered that the mischief was the theft of the body of the priest who died in the fire, by a medium humanoid and a half dozen goblins. When the party returned to the Rusty Dragon, Aldern Foxglove was very interested in hearing all about their exploits, and honored his promised reward, giving the party 50 gold each, and inviting them to a boar hunt.

Day 3:

In the morning, the party accompanied Aldern Foxglove to the Goblin Squash Stables, where he gifted them with one horse and a ranseur each. The ride to the Tickwood Forest was uneventful, and the boars were easy to find. The party was tentative in engaging the boars, and Wanga even began to befriend them. Aldern was baffled at Wanga’s druidic hunting technique, but before long, a large, threatening dire boar arrived to disrupt the boar-love. Lisanji boldly charged the dire boar, and her horse was gutted by sharp tusks. After Wanga managed to get one of the smaller boars to flee into the forest, Mackintosh charged with a devastating greatsword blow, nearly felling the dire boar, who managed to fight on with incredible ferocity. Lisanji finished it off from the prone position, and the other boars fled, with one tasty exception. Nymeria masterfully field dressed the boar meat, which was far more than Aldern promised to bring back to Ameiko. Maybe the meat market in Sandpoint is buying.

TL;DR
Somebody organized some goblins to screw with the festival while they stole a body. Some rich noble they helped gave them money and horses. By protecting Sandpoint, the party gained the town’s trust, and will probably be asked to do some more.

From the goblins, everyone got a potion of cure light wounds, but Lisanji used hers. The goblins also had a lot of semi-salvageable equipment that ended up being worth about another 50g per character.
From Aldern Foxglove, everyone got 50gp, a longspear, and a horse, but Lisanji’s horse was killed by the dire boar. Maybe Aldern will consider replacing it.
From the skeletons in the mausoleum, Hildabrandt and Lisanji got masterwork greatswords.

Everyone got enough experience to attain level 2.

Book 1: Burnt Offerings

Friday, April 12, 2013 @ Mikie & Lisa’s

Day 1:

The party began the day traveling, and introduced themselves to each other on the way to Sandpoint for the Swallowtail Festival, for the consecration of the new cathedral. Upon arrival in Sandpoint, they were warned by the town guard not to murder anyone, or else be arrested to stand trial in Magnimar. Several buildings in town feature damaged woodcarvings of birds, which they learned had been carved by an eccentric named Jervas Stoot, the real identity of Chopper, a notorious murderer. Over the course of a month, Chopper took the lives of 25 people and finally, himself, in a horrific offering to a vile demon lord. Within a month of Chopper’s murder spree, a fire burned the Sandpoint Chapel and several other buildings in town, leaving the town’s beloved priest Ezakien Tobyn and his adopted daughter Nualia dead. The tragic fire and Chopper’s rampage have come to be known as the “Late Unpleasantness,” which the people of Sandpoint are hoping to put behind them with the Swallowtail Festival. The party stayed at the Rusty Dragon Inn, an establishment friendly to adventurers, run by Ameiko Kaijitsu, a former adventurer herself.

Day 2:

The party enjoyed the Swallowtail Festival, impressing the townsfolk with their unnatural prowess at the festival games, including a tug-of-war won in mere seconds, and a dethroning of the reigning caber toss champion, Das Korvut, the surly smith.