Session One Hundred and Six Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)
Session 106, September 14 2022
Introduction
We continue at 12:30PM on the 19th of Denrilden (00.000.09.12 on the Apocalypse Clock) with the party setting off from the Haberdasher's Guildhouse to continue their hunt for Bavmorda. Their next stop is the jail from which the half-orc assassin escaped, hoping to find some clue about where she went or who might be aiding her. Is there a conspiracy amongst the admiral's council against Lysander's seer? Can the group trust anyone in Armada? Is Velkin's hat cursed or just really ugly? The correct answers are: maybe, no, and all of the above.
Larry's Summary
We work our way towards the jail from the Haberdasher's Guild Hall.
Along the way we get lunch. Khelratha buys some onions, but can't find hot peppers or lemons.
Going to the market Khelratha sees a mother with a child and a sign indicating her husband is missing and they have no food. Khelratha gives her his 2nd loaf of fresh bread and the gold and silver for his change from two loaves of bread and onions with a 60 gp gem. She gives her husband's name and her name and their child's and tell us he was doing unsanctioned salvage work in the Dead Forest. Khelratha tells her we have a friend lost there who if we have time to seek him, we might find her husband but make no promises.
We then go to the market looking for a mortar & pestle and a hand bellows. The orc alchemist Cresida offers to mash up the 4 large onions from Khelratha and put the juice in two vials we provide and wraps up the mush. At Velkin's suggestion she adds a caustic agent that could be used in a topical treatment for arthritis or to strip paint.
We then visit the jeweler Caspar and pay one year of rent so he doesn't lose his place and he agrees to go with us if we can keep him Safe. Khelratha seems to think we can to this by putting he and his family in the portal. Caspar has a bellows and is OK to let us borrow it so he doesn't have to pack it. Khelratha accepts it.
On the way to the jail, a yellow hat in a long snoopy type hat acting like he is fishing stops us and tells us they know we are going to the Inquisitorial Library and wants to know if we have plans to interfere with his mater, Beelzeubub's control of Gharmarost. If we don't they are amenable to giving us free passage through the city to the Inquisitorial Library to make Belial look bad since the library was taken from Beelzebub's authority and he wants to make Belial look bad. Belial is tasked to find us and can't seem to do it.
The yellow hat is here by chance and when he learned of Bavmorda's presence knew that Bavmorda could be a useful weapon, just ask Asmodeus, since it was Bavmorda who struck the blow to free him.
Bavmorda is a killing machine to use when people need killing. The yellow hat wouldn't say who needed to be killed, but gave enough clues we suspect that it is the Seer.
If we stop Bavmorda it will make the yellow hat look bad and he will tell his master to not welcome us and they will kill us on sight. If we don't stop Bavmorda we might get help to get to the library and only have to fight there.
Yellow hat urged us to sign a contract and not stopping Bavmorda must be in the contract.
Yellow hat mentioned that he is staying with Admiral Krungma, who is the one against the deal with the Admirals to provide us ships to the mainland.
When Yellow hat left we got to the jail, after Velkin popped into the barber shop for some beard oil for Jardin.
At the jail we found the cell difficult to escape by shadow stepping. We questioned one prisoner who described a noise and manacles falling off and doors being unlocked, which sounds like a knock spell.
The first prisoner mentioned another prisoner, Tomas, who is the last one to see Bavmorda and she met up with someone who led her away.
Tomas heard someone who said that they were a priest of Lysander sent by the seer and told Bavmorda about her impending execution, etc. but then got quiet and whispered. The guard we were dealing with saw this priest and said he wor a hat under his hood, which is unusual. We suspect the yellow hat. The priest gave a name, brother Lagi.
It is now about 5:00 PM with an hour till sunset. It is about 20 minutes to the temple at the center.
Velkin Scrolls 70 - Session 106
12:30pm, Denrilden 19
00.00000.09.12 Apocalypse Clock
This hat… This feels like having to put up with the Priestesses back in Vilgrim. I’m unsure that humiliation is a good look. A short time is all.
Baklum Chaum is our guide.
We head to Elchior’s ship that was holding Bavmorda. Maybe there’s a clue there.
While Jardin and Khelratha are gathering ingredients for the blinding stuff, they over hear that the Armada is running low on foodstuffs. Without plunder and trade, things are going to get scarce very soon.
We pass a rowdy, rough bar and decide to pass it by.
Khelrratha does some charity work and gives a Alpia haggard orc lady with a baby boy orc, Mara some food and gold. She says her husband, Gurum, has been gone 2 weeks. Never returned from a salvage job, beware of those jobs if you’re offered one.
Baklum says the salvage jobs are independent contractors at night over in Garankh’s area, the dead forest. Dangerous work but lucrative.
Cressida mashes the ingredients for the blinding spray, adding Cresselwort for extra irritation at her suggestion, and Khelratha loads his small bellows borrowed from Caspar. Cresselwort is an astringent, helps arthritis and will strip paint.
There’s a Yellow Hat as we continue around. A woolen snoopy cap that’s bright yellow. He talks around some business they have here with the Armada. He helped Bavmorda escape to go kill the Seer, and the Armada will deal with the DVL’s. That’s his goal here, Beelzebub will be happy. He advises us not to stop that from happening. He also offers that Beelzebub will help us get passage to the Citadel to make Belial look bad.
I ask Baklum about a barber shop and he says to mention him and the guy will wait on me. I swing by and pick up a tin of beard oil for Jardin. It makes up for my ‘Devil we know comment’ during our group discussion on working with Lysander and Beelzebub. Beelzebub controls Garmorost while Belial controls the Citadel awaiting our arrival.
Prison ship. One of Garankh’s guys: Says all the locks opened at once and the prisoners escaped, killing a number of guards and disappearing into the city. Their cells appear to be well secured. And I don’t see any marks where tools were used to open the lock to Bavmorda’s former cell. After speaking with the prisoners, we learn that Bavmorda was visited by what he assumed was an Acolyte of Lysander according to his robes. The name in the logbook is Brother Lagi. The breakout was weird, all their shackles and doors opened at the same time and then Bavmorda led them out violently, killing some guards then going their separate ways. One of the prisoners saw her with an Acolyte that had a funny hat, maybe yellowish, underneath his cowl.
Bavmorda struck the blow that free’d Azmodeous with the Probability sword. If we stop her from killing the Seer, we can expect to be stopped in our tracks in Gharmarost. If we allow it to happen, Beelzebub will offer safe passage through the city to get to the Library. He urges us to sign a contract and reiterates leaving Bavmorda to her business.