Session 0040 - Off to Xen'drik!

Roster

List of characters who's player was in attendance

Player characters who's player is attending the game start with 1 Hero Point, and can get more during the session.

Absent

List of characters who's player was absent

Player characters for missing players do not start the session with a hero point, and can not get any more during the session.

003-Ferdinand Blackvenner: James

Session Log

As a recap: on the evening of Olarune the 2nd, Alicia, Eriana, Ferdinand, and Hrovard were all enjoying an evening at the Golden Hilt Tavern. The rain has returned after a few welcome days of sun, and now the steady beat of water falling on the roof and nearby suspended walkways fills the air with constant noise. A side door opens, and one of Sharn’s gargoyle messengers enters the room. Rain runs in rivulets down the creature’s stony hide, reminiscent of the way it cascades down the stone towers of the city. A House Vadalis signet hangs from the harness around the gargoyle’s chest.
The gargoyle asks for each character by name, and the party are quick to identify themselves.
“The Lady has need of you,” the gargoyle says in a raspy voice that sounds like stones being scraped together. He reaches into the pouch slung over his shoulder and drops a sealed envelope onto the table. With a nod, the gargoyle turns and disappears back into the rain-filled city.
Eriana grabs the sealed envelope and rips it open then reads the letter within aloud to the group:
"Friends,
Another opportunity to earn gold and perform a service for House Cannith presents itself. Please meet me at my town house at the sound of the second evening chime. Come to the Parlan Tower in Middle Central, Town House 19.
Lady E."
Everyone resolves to head to the town house the following afternoon in response to the letter.
The following day is a cold winter day with strong South Easterly winds blowing some snow around in the Middle Wards as the party arrive at the site of Town House 19. They have Harbek with them - the dwarf having agreed to join the party with whatever they have next in mind, noting that he has had signs that it is the right thing for him to do. As they approach a woman screaming suddenly cuts through the wind from up ahead. Both Alicia and Ferdinand are certain that the scream is coming from the town house.
Ferdinand is the first to react, racing up to the house to find that the front door and foyer doors stand open to a dining room 40 feet wide and 30 feet across. There appear to be House Cannith guards that lie scattered around the room, cut down by weapons and magic. Three zombies have a woman cornered at the far end of the room, trying to hold the creatures off with a thin dagger.
He runs in and stabs the nearest zombie with his runic rapier. Hrovard follows right behind him, entering a rage and charging another zombie. Alicia comes in behind the half-orc, taking a shot at one of the undead with her arbalest but she misses.
Harbek runs into the dining room, but he is much slower than the others and only manages to get into the room and take stock of the situation.
Eriana was the slowest to react, but she is much faster than the others. She manages to race into the dining room and put herself between two of the undead and the woman who they now recognize as Lady Elaydren.
The zombies have distinctive garb that reminds them of their recent trip to Karrnath, suggesting that these are Karnnathi zombies. Each holds a shield and a longsword.

Two of them turn to attack Ferdinand and Hrovard, respectively. The other continues to attack Lady Elaydren, bashing her with a shield then slashing her with it sword. She screams and collapses.
Both Ferdinand and Eriana manage to tumble past the slow moving zombies and cut into them with their weapons. It is obvious that Eriana's kukri is having much more effect than the enchanted rapier. Hrovard also slashes into the zombie he is fighting, and his axe leaves massive gashes in the undead but they fight on.
After Lady Elaydren falls, Alicia runs in and stands over her prone body. She uses her healing power to cure Lady Elaydren and tells her to stay down while she protects her. The zombie then turns on Alicia.
At one point the zombie attacking Ferdinand runs up and attacks Harbek, bashing the dwarf with its shield and slashing at him with the sword.
Each of the zombies are very tough, but slow. They take a great deal of punishment before being destroyed but they are cut down fairly quickly once the entire party is engaged in melee. Nobody is seriously wounded from the fight except for Lady Elaydren.
When the fight is over she gets up and sits down on one of the chairs at the large dining table.
She says "Once again I am in your debt,” Lady Elaydren says as she tries tocompose herself after the brutal ordeal. “The zombies were only part of the larger force that attacked my guards and household staff. There were armored warriors wearing the symbol of the Emerald Claw, and a warforged fighter with a wickedly curved scimitar. The worst of these, however, was their leader. He appeared first as a smiling merchant, rotund and jolly, who used so innocent a form to gain entry to my town house. Then his form seemed to melt and flow, and he appeared as a tall, emaciated man with white skin, red eyes, and sharp fangs."
She pauses to calm herself, accepting healing from Alicia.
"They killed my guards, my servants . . . they smashed my pre-Galifar memory urn . . . and they took the schemas,” Elaydren recounts with a heavy heart. “By the Great Forge, the Emerald Claw has the schemas and the creation pattern!” She pauses again, and a new resolve sparkles in her sapphire eyes. “There is still time to retrieve the schemas and keep the Order of the Emerald Claw from gaining whatever power the completed creation pattern may possess. Time is of the essence, and there isn’t a moment to waste. Will you undertake this mission for me?"
There is no hesitation from the party, with everyone immediately agreeing to help - with considerable enthusiasm at the prospect of getting rid of the rest of the Emerald Claw heretics.
Lady Elaydren offers to pay 500 gold pieces to each party member - half now, and the rest when they return with the items. The schemas and the creation pattern belong to House Cannith, but more importantly, they must not allow the Order of the Emerald Claw to use the completed pattern.
It is suggested by Eriana that it might be best to destroy the patterns, but she does not like that idea. Lady Elaydren admits that she has not quite determined what the pattern can be used to create, but the reputed power it possesses cannot be allowed to fall in enemy hands.
She also adds, "I was given the schemas and the creation pattern to hold and keep safe, and I have failed. I must recover the items through the efforts of my own resources, or my standing in the house will be in jeopardy. You have served me well in the past, and I turn to you again in this hour of need."
The party is convinced that she is very sincere and looking quite desperate for their help.
Lady Elaydren goes on to say that they had enough time to decipher the journal the party retrieved - a document believed to have been penned by her ancestor, Kedran d'Cannith. For some reason he left the fourth schema at the where he found it in Xen'drik, in ancient ruins once populated by giants and their elf slaves. Kedran's notes clearly identified the place, and she is confident she can replicate the clues that were among his writings.
Unfortunately, the notes were stolen along with the schemas and creation pattern. She thinks it will take time for them to decipher it all, but admits they have a head start and time is of the essence.
She tells the party that they must prepare for a journey to the mysterious continent of Xen'drik.
Everyone stays with her while she uses sending stones in the town house to call for aid. Within the next hour or two numerous Cannith guards and additional servants show up. They begin to secure the building and see to the corpses and damage to the building.
At this point the group take their leave to being preparing for their journey. They are allowed to stay at the town house overnight, getting their advanced payment later that night.
Over the next day the party quickly begin to try to provision themselves for the journey.
They do a quick search for useful items in the city. They find a few Sulfur Bombs (Moderate) that Eriana purchases. Ferdinand manages to locate and purchase a Glamorous Buckler, which can be used to enhance his skill at making a feint in combat. Harbek comes across a very good stonemasonry artisan's toolkit (sterling) that he purchases.
Alicia is able to obtain some vials of Holy Water and the party manage to find a small collection of Healing Potions that equip everyone with some handy magical healing.
They also stock up their Spacious Pouch with numerous useful gear, including two four-person tents, a 10-foot long pole, numerous rounds of crossbow bolts, arrows and darts, a couple of additional waterskins and plenty of extra rations.
While they are all out and about in Sharn shopping, Lady Elaydren makes arrangements for transport. When the party return to the Town House on the morning of Olarune the 5th she tells them what she has managed to put together.
“I have secured you passage on a new form of transportation recently developed by House Cannith,” Lady Elaydren says. “It is called an undersea ship, for it travels secretly beneath the waves. Three such vehicles have been constructed. We built them for various intelligence agencies, but only one such group has had the vision to purchase one of the ships. The other two remain in Cannith hands. Take this letter of passage to Byam, in the Grayflood district. He can be found in the vicinity of the Stone Docks. He will make sure you get safely to Stormreach and back again.”
“The undersea ship will take you to Stormreach, the trading town located on the northern coast of Xen’drik. You might be able to pick up the Emerald Claw task force’s trail in or around Stormreach, but if that doesn’t seem to be working, head directly for the ruins. Kedran’s notes place the ancient site about four hundred miles up the Rachi River. Here is the clue from Kedran’s notes to finding the site once you reach that stretch of the river: At the turn in the Rachi River, where the land rises and the hands of stone reach for the sky, look toward the giant’s left hand for guidance to the schema’s resting place.”
“Collect the four schemas and the creation pattern, return them to me, and an equal amount will be yours on your return. Good luck, and may the fortunes of the Houses and the Nations smile upon you.”
Making haste, the party head to the Grayflood district and locate Byam. They are a bit surprised when they meet him - a gnome who introduces himself as Captain Byam once he has taken and read over the letter of passage from the party.
He understands the urgency and quickly summons up some help to prepare for the journey. After about an hour and a half of waiting the party are taken to some steps and a lift down to a pier on the water below the cliffs of the lower wards.

Here there is a small vessel with a single mast covered in tarps. A second gnome helps with some gear and accompanies Captain Byam and the party down to the vessel. They lift up the tarp and climb up into the ship under the covering.
From here they all move down into the lower hold of the ship. The other gnome opens a trapdoor at the bottom of the hold that reveals a round metal door. He raps on the metal several times and shortly afterwards the party hears the sounds of gears on metal and the round door pops open.
There is a narrow round shaft with a metal ladder leading down. Each party member climbs in after the two gnomes. It leads into a metal room roughly 20 foot square fills with gear. The ceiling is not very high, perhaps about 6 feet, forcing some to crouch slightly.
Inside are five other gnomes, making for a crew of five gnomes and Captain Byam.
They are led to a small chamber a little under 10 foot square with small chairs. Above them is a glass bubble ceiling that is dark.
After a short period with lots of discussion among the gnomes they begin moving - leaving the city in the early afternoon on Olarune the 5th. There is a steady hum from the ship and they see a whitish ring of energy appear above them in the window. They can see the bottom of the pier above them move underwater and sail away from Sharn.
Eventually they move to open water and pick up speed. The Captain joins the group and answers a few questions.
The journey to Stormreach covers a distance of roughly 1,500 miles. The underwater ship travels at about 15 miles per hour and with a rotating shift of crew they can travel continuously, making the journey possible in just over 4 days.
He admits that it travels a bit slower than an air ship, which he believes can move at up to 20 miles per hour. By comparison, the lightning rail trains can move at 30 miles per hour.
Still, it is much faster than a conventional vessel and has the advantage of letting them travel without being observed by normal vessels.
With nothing else to do but sit tight, the party settle in for the next several days.
For the most part there is not much to see in the observation room but murky water above. Occasionally the ship surfaces briefly for the crew to get their bearings and make sure they are on track.
On the third day they begin to see land - a large number of small islands known as Shargon's Teeth. Captain Byam tells them that they need to navigate through the islands to reach Stormreach in a timely fashion. If they were to go around the islands it would add at least another day to their journey, and he is aware time is of the essence.
However, he warns that the islands are occupied and possibly dangerous. He asks that the party remain quiet and stresses that nobody knock against the hull of the ship. Apparently certain sounds travel really well underwater, and they wish to move as quietly as possible. Not long after this the ship becomes noticeably quieter - likely moving with some kind of stealth.
Beyond the clear dome of the observation blister, a breathtaking vista reveals itself in startling hues of phosphorescent color. Thousands of glowing fish, some in schools, some alone, flit through the dark water. Great columns of stone, painted in luminescent yellows and greens, punch up from the darkness below and extend toward the surface, slowly narrowing as they reach upward. Some of the columns are only tens of feet across, but those farther away in the hazing distance could be far, far broader, perhaps supporting small islets of rock on the surface.
Captain Byam says, “The Teeth, as seen from a different perspective. Beautiful, don’t you think?”
After a couple of hours moving like this it is all quiet until the party notice a massive dark shape move silently into view above them through the observation window...