Session 001

General Summary

Jamie's Notes 2024-12-28

Day 1 Notos 37, Year 352

• Arrive at murder victim's house: Samir Es’Inlas.
• Akito: Determines something ritualistic. Reminiscent of old Orcish gods.
• Vasia: Someone stabbed him in the sternum, body pieces just fell apart. Really weird death. Not how her cult kills.
• Neesja: Figurines. Two carved figures and a campfire. (Wondrous items? Grow larger.)
• Northwest. Thassalkine.
• Nothing on our map in the Torvian Wastes. Just a circled area.
• Studying a book.
• “Access to Abydos continues to prove difficult - though the sighting of bonebursts is a sure sign of the Destroyer. We must ascertain whether their stirrings are the cause or yet another byproduct of the Bane."
• “Narqiba is, itself, largely free of other threats of the desert. The automata surrounding it, however, remain intent on keeping out any trace of magic. I was able to enter by divesting myself of gear - though I found other problems inside. I’ve sent my findings to Astaron Storm in Kurakesh; hopefully he can make some sense of them.”
• “Increasingly, I believe our scope may have been wrong. We seek to treat another symptom, rather than the cause. I’ve found an ally - a member of a local cult. Strange bedfellows in strange times, but if even such as they are concerned, I can dismiss them as the cause of the Bane. I suppose there is that.”
• “Finally, something concrete. The bonebursts remain impassable, but we were able to recover a fragment of ancient bone, perhaps from . I’ve heard them referred to as ‘shards of self-destruction’. Something stirs in the Bane, and we can use that to gather more interest. Once I meet with the Justice, I can send my findings to Kurakesh.”
• Cirina: Detect Magic pings off some pieces of little shards of bone (fingernail sized). Places them into a false bottom piece that Radjic has.
• A lizard shows up on Vasia's back.
• Dragon lizard. Species introduced in the last 30 years. Not invasive precisely. Young, grows to monitor sized. Originally from Alauket.
• Fungus on the wall seems to be spreading.
• Some kind of rat beetle attacks. Cythnigot.
• Also attacked the guards outside. Only one.
• 'Things that came before demons/outer abyss'. Weird, half-formed creatures of chaos. Rare things. Qlippoth, the class of creatures.
• Likely related to the desk. Something spoken about that triggered.
• "They can't be here too. Hiding in the usual place. Please help."
• Lieutenant Ishaq arrives.
• Part off a zealous order. Very judicial. Golden Dawn.
• Head off to meet with Remzi in order to buy an autoscribe. Also stock up on potions.
• Apparently Eser Pree bought up all the alchemist's fire.
• Ask her about the assistants that were missing.
• Apparently the lake has some singing coming from it? Sirens?
• Locate Eser's apartment. Dusty. A thing for all Iggeret cultists.

Evan's Recap (Dec 28, 2024)

Notos 37, 352: A Corpse, a Cult, and Cythnigots

Our heroes arrived at the estate of Samir Es’Inlas, the stamp of Justice Sina Al'Torif in Radjic’s hands - and a large glass of mead - granting them passage by the guards. Inside they found an absolute mess; blood sprayed at pressures not normally contained within a body, and a corpse severed into four unequal parts.

They set about checking for information - Vasia finding a single ragged stab wound a chunk of torso, Neesja turning up a journal, and Cirina’s magical detection turning up several shards of bone left within the wound.

A dragon-lizard from Alauket, the fabled draconic homeland, also began to hitch a ride on Vasia’s shoulder at this point. Deeply venomous, Vasia immediately planned to begin inoculating herself with its toxin.

The journal detailed Samir’s travels within the Torvian Wastes, his working with a member of a cult, and several strange terms that, at the moment, lack particular context. Bonebursts, ‘the Destroyer’, and ancient bone called ‘shards of self-destruction’ - like as not, larger pieces of the tiny fragments found within the stab wound. Also found was a map, familiar to Cirina but with an area circled labeled ‘Thassalkine’ that didn’t match up to any known Waste landmarks.

Before they could process this information further however, a strange fungus that had begun to grow as the group investigated deposited several strange creatures into the room; creatures that promptly tried to consume the party. Our heroes were able to slay them, though several took wounds; wounds that immediately festered, becoming spiked and strange.

Unfortunately, another Cythnigot had pounced on the two guards outside, and Neesja was unable to save the surviving one. In the moments after the battle as the group caught their breath, Cirina identified the creatures as a type of Qlippoth: an ancient, mythical creature said to inhabit the Outer Rifts before demons took it over.

The commotion brought more guards, including Lieutenant Ishaq, Sina’s second-in-command. He was dismissive of the party, largely focused on trying to get the area contained, and passed along a list of suspected hideouts of Eser Pree.

Leaving the murder scene behind - and realizing that Ishaq’s orders are to contain and quiet the murder scene so the issue can quietly be considered resolved - they traveled across town towards Eser’s hideout. On the way, they visited the Artificer Remzi’s store to pick up a few autoscribes to copy the journal in case they need to hand it over.

Remzi, something of an adventurer herself and wanting to take an expedition into the Wastes, agreed to let the party have the autoscribes in exchange for taking notes on the world as they saw it. Stocking up on a few other things - notably healing potions and poisons for Vasia - they headed on to Eser’s house.

There, they found a tremendous amount of dust in a house that was strangely hard to find. Vasia recognized it quickly: one of the higher blessings of the cult, an emergency spell meant to conceal one’s escape. She was able to find, further, a key to which of the hideouts that Eser would be located in. Cirina, meanwhile, doing her arcane reconnaissance, learned that whatever magic had happened here was incredibly potent. Not quite on the level of the divine, but… not as far off as one might hope.

With the group increasingly curious as to why Vasia’s so dang knowledgeable about this strange cult they seem to be investigating, they left Eser’s house behind to pick up supplies and head into the Waste.