The Horror at the Fountain

From The Griffin's Crier
Jump to: navigation, search


About the Saga

The Dark City is threatened by nefarious followers of a demon god, while a Guild of Messengers initiates a crackdown on its competitors.

Timeframe

Cast of Characters

Notable Quotes

No quotes are available.

What Has Come Before

Kerth and Prug came across a monstrosity being born in the Mudsitters District. Driven off by Follows of the Earth Dragon, they later returned with their allies and several members of the newly minted Pursuaders Association in tow. They again came into conflict with the Earth Dragon, who nearly defeated them before the heroes were joined by Koronia Sethowen and her Maidens of the Shield, who had been shadowing the Earth Dragon templars for weeks.

The Saga

Harvester 19, 591

The Journal of Seabeard

Absalom heads to the Library, where he uncover a journal written by Khorora Seabeard, a sage who spent years researching the aquatic elves of the Azure Sea. In it, he discusses an ancient legend about a demon named Ylerys.

The legend says that the demon was either a herald, a lord or both.

He was apparently ruled an underwater realm filled with aquatic demons. The elves fought him and destroyed his power. They could not kill him, but they were able to quarter him, separating his body into several pieces, each of which was placed in some sort of mystically protected jar.

The prophesies that he will find a way from his prison some day, once again bringing about a terrible rule ... and possibly a portal to a water-filled level of the Abyss.

He attempts to locate his fellow adventurers, but finds they are otherwise occupied with some sort of incident in Darkdweomer End

Harvester 21, 591

The Sallow Ones

While continuing his investigations in the city Absalom is confronted by two cloaked, hooded individuals who ask to speak with him. They explain that they are working for the greater glory of Ylerys, and claim that Absalom is a herald who must help them bring about a change to the city's water supply. No agreement is reached, but they tell the druid to look for a sign to appear among the people of the Dragon.

Harvester 23, 591

The Golden Swordsmen

At breakfast on the 23rd, Gruffud is sought out at Fireeaters by Gilidan Treesword, master of the Golden Swordsman Academy. The regal looking elf askes the paladin if he'd be interested in working for him as a trainer at his academy, which specializes in offering marital training to nobles and rich merchants. Treesword also asks him to participate in an dueling exhibition he's arranging at the Amble Theatre on Brewfest 3. Gruffud says he'll consider the job offer, and agrees to join the exhibition.

The New Recruit

The heroes of the Dark City decides to further investigate the Temple of the Earth Dragon through clandestine means, but find themselves short a rogue after Salsar explains that Largo is laying low for a while with a fiction broken leg. The halfling messenger had drawn the ire of the Messengers Guild for working as an independent, and hired Salsar and his Persuaders to 'discourage' him from such work. Salsar explained the situation, pretended to break Largo's leg, urged him to lay low for a while, and then split his Messenger Guild "persuasion fee" with the halfling.

In need of a rouge, they head down to the Dagger Down Inn -- Salsar remembers seeing someone sneaky who wanted to join the Persuaders. He finds a half-Baklunish, half-elf rogue named Wind, who is eager to join the Pursaders.

Secrets of the Earth Dragon

Prug leaves the Dagger Down to go find Gruffud, and to let Temple of Zodal knows that there's a problem brewing with the Earth Dragons. Gruffud and Thom decide to go to Dagger Down.

There they and the others decide to further investigate the Earth Dragon. While the others --Gruffud, Salsar, Vargas, Corash, Thom and Kerth--head to the Drunken Fly and take up drinking outside on its porch, Wind sneaks into neighborhood, barely evading an Earth Dragon patrol.

Wind scouts the Earth Dragon Temple seeing main entrance and back entrance, with two guards on each. Sets a fire as a distraction, trying to draw off guard, but only gets one guard from front and back, leaving guards behind. He slips onto a rooftop, watches while two guards try to hunt him down while a wandering patrol deals with the fire … a cleric apparently summoning water to put out the flames. He evades the guards who investigate the fire, and quietly falls back to meet with his fellows.

Harvester 24, 591

Poison Dreams

The next day Wind consults with Thom and Corash about someone who might be able to provide him with paralyzing poisons. They suggest he meet with L. Dass, an expert -- and fairly paranoid -- poisoner based in the Strange Quarter whom Corash had contacted seeking poisons to incapacitate the polymorphed monkeys he and the others had been chasing a few days earlier. They tell him to travel to Jorn's Herbs, where he should buy powdered white lotus leaves as a sign he wants to meet with L. Dass -- the meeting will happen the next morning.

Worshipping the Dragon

Salsar and Wind go to the morning service of the Earth Dragon. They speak with an acolyte, and tell him of the "visions' they had. They are invited into the service, where they hear Corog Nemgard speak of the will of the dragon, its good works, etc. Ask acolyte to arrange meeting with Brother Dursen Gallohavo, who says he will do that and tell them of the meeting the next day. That night, they return to the temple, and learn that an appointment has been scheduled for noon the following day.

The Taint of the UnderOerth

Vargas goes to Guild of Wizardry. Steward tells him of Vanthia, expert on demons and occult. Says he'll send a runner, but instead Vargas offers to do. Finds her tiefling apprentice, Minwyrr. The apprentice says his mistress is indisposed, but is able to help him somewhat. After listening to his tale, he says that he has never heard of that particular kind of demonic taint, and thought it was not impossible, it sounded like something more like what you'd see among humanoid slaves belonging to mindflayers or aboleths in the UnderOerth.

Harvester 25, 591

Meeting with the Poisonmaster

The next day Wind met with the poisonmaster L. Dass and arranged the purchase of several paralytic poisons, which he would be able to pick up at Dorn's later that day.

Disturbance at the Earth Dragon Temple

The following morning brings the sounds of near-riot echoing through the Mudsitters District as hundreds of Earth Dragon followers rally outside of the temple. Details are sparse, but it seems that the followers believe that the mutant child the Temple had brought in the day before had been kidnapped by the Guild of Wizardry. Hearing this, Vargas immediately left for the Guild of Wizardry. There he is instructed to again seek out Vanthia, who's counsel would be needed to figure out exactly what was happening with the strange baby.

On his way to Vanthia's Strange Quarter residence, however, Vargas finds himself followed by three unsavory individuals. They catch up with him, and in threatening tones explain that they've been sent by the Messengers to teach the Guild of Wizardry a lesson or three about using non-guild members to carry messages. Vargas is able to evade the thugs using his shadow magic, and travels to Vanthia's residence, where Minwyrr reluctantly agrees to speak with his mistress. The mage is clearly exhausted from some arcane ritual, but agrees to help her fellow wizards determine exactly what is happening. She also advises him that to her, it sounded like the child had been transformed by some sort of illithid or aboleth mutagen, rather than demonic worship, and suggested that he check the wells near where the child was found. After hearing of his run in with the Messengers' thugs, she then summons a horse -- a black stallion with red eyes and smoke curling from its nostrils -- for Vargas to use to evade them and carry her own message back to the guild.

Overly Persuasive

After doing so, he headed to the Dagger Down, where he explain to the others his problems with the Messengers. Hearing this, Salsar confronted Wulfstan Turoc, the leader of his newly formed Persuaders Guild. Wulfstan enthusiastically explained that the Messengers had proposed expanding the Persuaders contract to go after the Wizard Guild's messengers as well, and he'd eagerly accepted. Salsar and Wind, realizing that tangling with the Guild of Wizardry was not a good idea, advised him to run all such contracts past Salsar before accepting them, which Wulfstan reluctantly agreed to do.

The Horrors at the Well

Absalom finally catches up with his companions at the Dagger Down, and tells them of the legends of Ylerys and the cultists he'd encountered in the city. After hearing about the possible contamination of the wells from Absalom and Vargas, the Dark City heroes headed to the Mudsitters District, where they found that the local fountain -- which the district relied on for its water -- had indeed been contaminated with some sort of evil, lingering poison that had been augmented by a power that was neither arcane nor divine. Tracing the fountain's water supply back to its source revealed a cistern that had clearly been contaminated. Kerth's detect poison spell was unable to reveal the exact nature of the poison, but it seemed to be comprised of some sort of deep-earth mushrooms combined with an odd sort of crushed crystalline material.

As the heroes investigated, they were attacked by three mutants, one of which pummeled them with a surprising array of mental powers. Worse still, this individual seemed to have four holes drilled into his head, which was filled not with the normal grey matter of brains, but with some strange, green plasma. It expelled this plasma in a gruesome explosion that coated several of the combatants, incapacitating one and weakening the wills of all. The heroes were able to destroy the creature and the two mutated humans that fought along side it and found several 'magic items' that seemed not to actually be powered by magic, but rather by some other force. The party then burned the bodies, and began debating what to do next.

Experience & Loot

  • 4th level characters: 457 xp
  • 5th level characters: 429 xp