Kadrashal

21 May 2018

The session began as the party looted the corpses from the last battle. They found a letter from someone called "Nadab" sent to Abdul, which led to a discussion about who "Nadab" could be - Nijaat translated Nadab as "scar". Also, they found gold.

They returned to the caravan, having safely rescued Jira, and explained things to baldric and Varrek before they continued on their way. Earl successfully stole some booze, and passed out behind a dune, which led to him being left behind accidentally as the caravan moved on. (His player will go on to play Morbash, introduced shortly).

After arriving in the small town of Havatan in the evening on May 11, they were greeted by captain of the town guard KaRynn Mohs, noting the scar on her left cheek. They showed her the letter they found, and KaRynn had a scribe make a copy. They also got paid wages for the trip.

After that, David? and Nijaat began running around town looking for an acquaintance named Raylin (David?'s player was switching characters, as well, and this is his new one), Breccia headed to the mayor's house, and Valadon headed to the Desert Rose Inn. Upon entering, he saw a cheery room, with several patrons at the tables and Tahirah, the innwife, behind the counter. Morbash, a burly looking half-orc, was playing a dice game called Baker's Dozen with a handful of off-duty guards. Val paid for a room, unsuccessfully trying to haggle the price down, and wound up in a shared room. When he entered, he met Raylin, his roommate; after a very awkward first meeting, first Raylin and then Val left the room; Raylin to continue reading, and Val to chat with Morbash, who had unintentionally run the other guards off by getting too lucky. Breccia came in a little later, and requested one night in the cheapest room (shared with 4 others), staying there. Finally, David? and Nijaat arrive, and David? fulfills his contract with Raylin after several awkward moments with Valadon.

Going back a bit, when Breccia went to the mayor's house, she asked to see him, however she was informed that the soonest appointment would be May 13 at 2 PM. She then asked if they would be willing to hire an alchemist, and Ismail, the elderly butler, said he would look into it.

That evening, to avoid the inn (which was run by a high tiefling couple), Nijaat talked Raylin into patrolling with her. Morbash also went patrolling. Breccia snuck out and scoped out the mayor's house around the same time. Towards the end of their patrol, Raylin noticed a suspicious figure, and the figure rolled a nat 1 on the next stealth roll, resulting in him getting caught. He claimed to be on business for the mayor, so they brought him to KaRynn. The suspicious person was able to talk his way out, using a letter that appeared to bear the mayor's seal.

Before that, Val had been wandering around, looking for either a rogue or thieves' tools. He was directed to the Lion's Pride, where he had a less-than amiable discussion with the shopkeep, a large man with a flowing mane of hair and beard, and a scar over one eye. Valadon left without buying anything, leaving the shopkeeper very suspicious of him.

At around 2 AM, Morbash heard the distant sound of a wail and rushed outside, waking and bringing along Nijaat and Raylin, who were also bunking in the guards' barracks. They talked to the frightened villagers, who described the wail and mentioned madman Imran. Morbash charged on over to Imran's house, knocking several times before busting in with Nijaat and Raylin. Nijaat was the first to enter the back room, where she found a number of arcane symbols scrawled in blood; two corpses, a woman on an altar and a man on the floor; and a semi-transparent figure of a woman glowing with a soft blue light, holding her knees and crying.

This turned out to be a banshee, whose face was missing on the left side. Raylin soon after, and after drinking in the scene, he asked, "Who did this to you?" She mutely indicated the dead man on the floor. He then tried to ask the banshee girl to enter into a contract with him, as a good-aligned necromancer, but she declined. Raylin asked if there was a way to earn her trust, and she suggested several things, including taking care of her corpse on the altar. Also, side note, Morbash had tried to enter the room earlier, but had failed the saving throw against her terrifying visage, and so had gotten terrified and resolutely stayed out of the room.

The trio took the two corpses, learning from and old man en route to the town church that the girl was most likely one of Mayor Rajad's newer servants. they arrived at the church of the Radiant Queen (goddess of the sun, light, fire, etc.), and met with the priestess. After a brief explanation, Raylin returned to the banshee to ask for her name and family, learning that her name is Naja and that she has a brother named Divyansh, but that she doesn't know what happened to him since she saw him last. Raylin reports this information to the priestess, who then conducts a funerary cremation for her.

The next morning, Val buys his thieves' tools and Breccia fools up on the job offer, and gets hired as an alchemist at the mayor's house. The date is currently May 12.