Pelagan 1425
1st Pelagan 1425
Kaldir finishes scribing Knock into his spell book.
2nd Pelagan 1425
Kaldir begins scribing Invisibility into his spell book (200gp for materials – half price due to deal with Ephes Payne).
3rd Pelagan 1425
Kaldir continues scribing Invisibility into his spell book.
4th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir finishes scribing Invisibility into his spell book.
5th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir begins scribing Mirror Image into his spell book (200gp for materials – half price due to deal with Ephes Payne).
6th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir continues scribing Mirror Image into his spell book.
7th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir finishes scribing Mirror Image into his spell book.
8th Pelagan 1425
No recorded activity.
9th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir attends the League of Enlightenment newcomers' meeting at the Half Moon Inn. He meets with Alicia Rynem and Cadasa Serachi, between around 7pm and 9pm. Kaldir accepts a mission to retrieve letters from Bryant Fenn's mansion for Cadasa. It is heavily suggested by Alicia and Cadasa that full membership of the League could occur if this is successful. He scopes out Fenn's mansion from around 10pm (as it gets dark). Through a window, he notices a strange creature working in a room on the top floor of the house. A slender, dark green humanoid with scaly, hairless flesh, it appears to be engrossed in its work, apparently creating potions using the alchemical facilities in what must be some kind of laboratory.
10th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir pays Bryant Fenn a visit at his Alchemists' shop in Ventelas. Whilst here, he learns that Fenn also deals in poisons as a side line. Kaldir also discovers that Fenn is planning on being out of town on business on the 12th. Kaldir spends the afternoon and evening attempting to Gather Information about Bryant Fenn. In the afternoon, he concentrates his efforts in a tavern close to the merchant district, where Fenn's shop is based. In the evening, he moves onto a venue near to the wealthy district where Fenn's mansion is located.
He fails to learn anything new about Bryant, but he does hear some other rumours:
- Duke Irasmus Parvellian is due back in the city within the next week or two, and rumours suggest that he will be organising a special tournament at the coliseum upon his return.
- The Order of the Burning Sword has apparently seized control of the Ardonian church, and therefore its government. The Order of the Stalwart Justicars had previously held control for centuries, and there are concerns regarding how the seemingly more militant faction might deal with the already strained relations between Ardonia and Granthis.
11th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir attempts another Gather Information but learns nothing new. He visits the sage, Artip Earhart, to see if he can shed any light on the strange creature in the window. Artip's initial feeling is it could be from an outer plane, possibly Infernal in nature. He will need at least a week to research in more detail, at 2gp per day, to which Kaldir agrees.
12th Pelagan 1425
Kaldir arrives at Bryant Fenn's mansion around 9am, and watches the house from a hidden position in the bushes (around 20’ away) for an hour or so, hoping to see Fenn leave. Based on previous guard patterns Kaldir would have expected to have seen all four guards by this time (either patrolling outside or through the window into the guard room). He therefore surmises that Fenn has already left for Gloradin and taken a guard with him. He decides to cast Invisibility and sneak into the mansion via the back entrance, which takes him into the kitchen. Here, Fenn's housekeeper is startled to see the back door open by itself. Kaldir is able to remain unheard as he sneaks into the room, but the housekeeper heads outside to investigate. Kaldir makes his way out of the kitchen and into the main hallway, before heading up the main staircase to the landing. He is able to easily evade the patrolling guards. He finds a couple of locked doors upstairs which he is unable to open, but does manage to pass undetected into the laboratory where the strange creature is oblivious to him. Kaldir takes a few potions from a shelf in this room. He ignores the labelled vials (some Anti-toxins, Alchemist's Fire and a few Acid Flasks) but takes three unmarked potions - one vial of purple liquid, one of black liquid and one of white liquid.
Realising that he is unable to pick the lock to the room he believes the letters are in, he notices that each guard has a key ring hanging from their belts. He attempts to pilfer a set of keys from one of the guards as they walk past, but his attempt is detected. The guards are now alerted to his presence, but they flail their weapons wildly in a vain attempt to strike him. Due to the narrow walkway on the landing, the guards keep bumping into Kaldir so he struggles to shake them off. Disturbed by the commotion, the strange potion-creating creature leaves his work for a few moments and shouts at the guards in an unrecognisable language, seemingly telling them to deal with the intruder or at least to keep the noise down. Eventually, using an Expeditious Retreat spell, Kaldir is able to put enough distance between himself and the guards that they are unsure of his location. Before too long, he is in a position where he is able to have a little uninterrupted time to try once again to open one of the locked doors. This time he is successful and enters a dusty old bedroom which doesn't appear to have been touched in years, apart from some signs that a chest on the floor may have been accessed more recently.
Searching for traps here, he finds that the chest has some kind of gas releasing mechanism in place. He also detects a hidden bypass switch which he uses to avoid the trap completely and then picks its lock. Inside the chest, sat atop a pile of a few hundred gold coins, are the following items which he takes with him:
- 1 amber gem
- 1 black pearl
- 1 bloodstone gem
- 1 short sword
Kaldir is able to use a Knock spell on the other locked door without breaking his Invisibility, but a guard realises what he is up to and takes a position in the doorway to the room, which is revealed to be a study. Kaldir realises that he won't be able to get into this room and search it while the guard is in there, so he decides to sneak up on him as quietly as possible and strike him using the new sword he has just acquired. To the surprise of both parties, the new weapon proves to be particularly effective in this situation and deals a large amount of subdual damage, including sneak attack. Although the guard does not drop unconscious immediately, Kaldir is able to strike again before the guard is aware of what is happening and the follow-up blow is enough to put him on the floor. Kaldir catches the guard as he slumps to the ground and quietly lowers him so as not to alert the other inhabitants.
His Invisibility spell now cancelled, he quickly proceeds into the study and moves to the desk. On the desk itself is a small pot of ink and a pen, with a few sheets of paper alongside. A few of these appear to bear rough notes including some alchemical symbols. There is also a brass mug with jade inlays which Kaldir stuffs into his backpack. A bookshelf on the wall holds tomes on such matters as history, warfare and alchemy. One of the desk drawers is unlocked and contains a few copper and gold coins, which Kaldir ignores. The other drawer is locked, and Kaldir conducts a very brief search for traps, fearing that he is soon to be detected. Finding nothing, he immediately begins to pick the lock. Although he is successful in doing so, he also sets off a poison needle trap which he failed to detect. The poison begins to take effect immediately, making Kaldir feel extremely light headed and in fear of passing out completely. He grabs the stash of bundled letters from the drawer, thrusts them into his backpack and then lowers himself from the window, tumbling to the ground below. Moving as fast as possible to the bushes on the edge of the property, he grabs the purple potion and quaffs it, hoping it may contain something to fight the poison in his system. Unfortunately, this contains arsenic but Kaldir somehow manages to fight off its initial effects. Now dangerously close to losing consciousness, and realising he needs to get away from Fenn's guards before he passes out, he spots a member of the city watch not too far away. He chooses to run towards him, collapsing in his arms.
Kaldir regains consciousness a few hours later, finding himself in a cramped jail cell. He is mocked and chastised by the jailer, who tells him how pathetic it is to get into such a disgusting drunken state at that time of the morning. Kaldir apologises, and gladly pays the 7gp fine to reclaim his belongings and his freedom.
13th Pelagan 1425
Using his contacts within the Black Tendril, Kaldir visits a forger and pays for a copy of the letters to be made. He meets up with Cadasa Serachi and passes her the copies, retaining the originals for himself. He also visits Bertrum Reed and pays 800gp for an Analyse Dweomer spell to be cast on the short sword he has recovered. It has the word "Silencer" inscribed upon its hilt in the common tongue.
14th Pelagan 1425
The party are introduced to Valyn Malkeenian through their mutual friend, Rodan Jard, and meet up with him for breakfast at the Lucky Lady. Valyn tells them a strange tale of vivid nightmares which are drawing him back to the horrors he experienced a few years earlier. Valyn was then serving in Duke Parvellian's army and was stationed at a remote outpost. Whilst on a routine patrol nearby, Valyn's squad was attacked by Necromancers and he was the only survivor - forced to fight against the cruelly re-animated corpses of his former allies. His nightmares are once again fixated on this outpost, and both he and Rodan are convinced that something terrible has occurred there. This theory is reinforced by the revelation that the nightmares started on Orcus's Unholy Day.
Despite some misgivings, the party agree to accompany Valyn to the outpost, which is around 5 days' travel on foot to the south east. Rodan takes his leave from the party and returns to other duties. The group plan to set off the following day, and spend the rest of the day doing some investigation into trolls, which Enris tells them are still causing problems in the Inglewood area. Kaldir leaves this with his usual Sage contact, Artip Earhart, to research, after questioning at the Mercenaries' Guild and the Temple of Pelor proves fruitless.
15th Pelagan 1425
The party get an early start and set off on foot towards the outpost.
16th Pelagan 1425
The party continues travelling on foot towards the outpost.
17th Pelagan 1425
The party continues travelling on foot towards the outpost.
18th Pelagan 1425
The party continues travelling on foot towards the outpost.
19th Pelagan 1425
The party arrives at the outpost by early evening. As they approach, they notice that the fortifications are in a state of some disrepair. As they get closer, it becomes evident that a large group of approximately 40 undead (skeletons and zombies) are shuffling around close to the perimeter. The party are able to use a mixture of stealth and Invisibility to Undead spells to evade the creatures, and find their way into the outpost through a collapsed wall. This passes directly into what would have once been the Quarter Master's residence, although the building is most dilapidated. The same holds true for the other small buildings close-by, including the old blacksmith's, a general store and a purposefully defiled shrine to Pelor. The latter has the now familiar crude skull-altar in place.
Having previously been posted here, Valyn is of course familiar with the layout and leads the group down some steps in the courtyard to a small area underground which was previously used as a barracks, mess, armoury and a sparring area for the troops stationed here, as well as a few cells. Exploring this area, the group make a grim discovery. Former occupants, some of whom Valyn recognises, have been experimented upon in the most foul of ways. Various parts of undead anatomy have been "grafted" onto them, almost certainly while they were still alive. For example, Dayton Winfield the blacksmith had a Bodak's eye forced into a gouged-out eye socket. Beldon Studron, the former quartermaster, had a Mohrg's tongue forcibly grafted into his mouth. Some other poor soul, now unrecognisable, had what appears to be the mottled, grey skin of a Ghoul grafted to much of her body and the arm of a Zombie in place of one of her own.