Legacy of the Patriarchs: Family and Politics
The party confronts the secrets buried within their city and its past. The map is from Dyson Logos.
Previous adventures:
See The City of Jimos. for more information.
Party:
Aliedar: Elf (demon blooded) Rogue
Edain: Human Bard
Siberius: Human Monk
Terramor: Human Cleric
Vall: Elf Ranger
Zodian: Elf (demon blooded) Warlock
At his home Aliedar noticed that the medallion from the shrine and the medallion from the cult were missing. The next day he returned to the bathhouse with Vall to look for answers. Examining the chest in his changing room provided no clues. Aida, Twyla’s oldest daughter, said she would keep an eye out and ask around.
The group took their primal glass shards to the Glassworker’s guild and ordered new weapons from a particularly short halfling named Weriuso Gull. The weapons would take a week to finish. While Vall and Aliedar went to the bathhouse, Zodian headed to the Burns & Boils alchemist’s shop owned by Zustia Aser. He had her examine the glowing moss from the cave, and purchased supplies to craft more healing salves.
The group hired Delvin Icebeard and his workers to clear the tunnel form the cave in so that they could gain access to the library again. They were paid to finish in a week, and managed to finish on time.
The group took the next week to rest and recuperate after the days following the cave in. The first shipment from the mithril mine arrived on the 12th with 22 gold pieces worth of mithril ore. The group didn’t see Zodian for most of the week as everyone went about their own business. Edain took the time to purchase a scroll to help Aliedar look for the medallions.
After picking up their weapon orders, the group went looking for the medallions. Edain cast a tracking spell in the alley behind the Beacon Tavern. Unsurprisingly, the spell indicated that the medallion was beneath the tavern.
Aliedar and Vall tried to start a bar fight as a distraction and Edain tried to sneak downstairs. Aliedar started by punching the town drunk, and Vall shoved a few people around. Then half the room collapsed unconscious. Tully spoke up from behind the bar and told everyone to leave. Aliedar refused and was hit from behind by a breath weapon from Dreyin Faist, the town drunk who apparently was now sober.
Weighing their options, the party left the building and encountered a group of city watch coming to investigate the problem. Aliedar made accusations about thievery. The captain, Henrik Thorn, said he would look into it. Deciding to regroup and try a different tactic later, the party left.
With the warning from the city watch, the group took a few days to cool off. They spent the time dealing with personal matters, research, hunting, and various other activities. (The party advanced to level 4)
After cooling their heels for a few days, the party was summoned by the city council. Council members Karl Fastus and Selene Travers spoke with the group about putting their energy to good use. Citizens delving beneath the plateau in search of mithril were reporting strange whispers and a few had been attacked by a creature they couldn’t quite remember.
Taking the night to prepare, the party set off the next morning and headed beneath the plateau. The path led to a cave entrance covered by a membrane of thin flesh. The party cut the membrane away, revealing a chamber covered floor to ceiling in a thick sludge that looked like melted flesh. Clouds of spores floated through the air, filling the chamber beyond.
The group entered apprehensively, finding that the sludge made movement slow and noisy as their feet sank and pulled out with sick sucking noises. Aliedar saw a door behind another membrane and went to investigate. As he tried to cut the membrane a fleshy arm with long talons stretched from the wall and cut him.
The creature that emerged from the sludge of the floor looked superficially like the gibbering mouther that the party encountered in tunnel beyond the hidden library, but it had a humanoid form. The body was continually shifting, with arms melting off and new ones forming in their place, and hundreds of mouths devouring one another to leave space for more mouths to appear. The face continually created and lost mismatched features.
The chamber itself was as deadly as the creature. The walls came to life with claws, teeth, and bony fists. The floor seeped acid and released poisonous spores. The party slogged through the muck trying to defeat this strange foe.
Something unexpected happened when Vall struck the last blow. Most of the flesh from the creature melted away. The face shifted once more, revealing an elven woman. Most of the party didn’t know the face, but Aliedar recognized his missing mother. Her melting lips breathed out a whispered ‘thank you’ before she sank into the muck of the floor. The muck began to dry and crack immediately, but Aliedar was too busy leaving. He didn’t even care to check the shine of an object buried in the muck by the door.
Siberius tried to stop Aliedar, but it was no use. Aliedar headed home. The group rested and checked what they had found. Buried by the door was a bow and a journal belonging to Aliedar’s mother. Vall and Zodian read through the journal, and Vall held onto the bow.
Haggard and unnerved by the experience, the party went their separate ways for the day. Vall and Zodian went to the Relaxing Embrace bathhouse. Siberius and Edain went to Aliedar’s place to commiserate and drink.
Aliedar shared the story of his mother disappearing when he was a child, and his father's dead body as the only hint of what had happened to her. He revealed that sometime during the last week a young member of the city watch had arrived with a package containing the missing amulet. He said the watch had uncovered it during their investigation, but didn’t go into any more details.
About the Author:
Stephen Mayo lives in Montana with his wife, daughter, corgi, and three cats.
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