Thursday, August 19, 2010

Online Session 5 Notes (8/17/10)

Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.

PCs: Doorjamb

NPCs

Brand (human male): A twitty, slender serving boy at the Seven Flood Inn. He is known for a precocious attitude of superiority towards the guests, and harries them to vacate their tables so he can keep ahead with his duties. He is also known for his witty repartee with the clientele, and has exchanged words with Doorjamb Grizzlebeard. Brand is about 5'8" with curvy dark blond hair and a straight, expressionless face unless he becomes heated. He's about 15 years old.

Polk (human male): A somewhat illiterate courier at Floivin Keep who has seen no more than 11 summers. Polk is short, with moppy black hair and twinkling brown eyes. He's usually short of breath and has trouble reading the names and addresses of his charges, thus he can often cause confusion when the addressees must hear him out. Polk will press for compensation if it seems a recipient is not going to tip.

Private Teckle 'The Tickler' (human male): A competent soldier serving under Captain Tarl Treadmyr of Halehusk, Teckle is roughly 5'10" and has short brown hair, a slim moustache and glaring blue-green eyes. He is known as 'The Tickler' because of his skill with a crossbow. He is assigned to guard the Old Pager's Farm after the PCs assaulted it to drive out the Skull Collar goblins and free the prisoners being held there, and encounters Doorjamb Grizzlebeard during his investigation.

Rath Mangator (half-orc male):
A bumpkin of a half-orc who performs odd tasks for anyone willing to pay him. He generally hangs out in the mornings and afternoons at Market Square outside the east gate of Floivin Keep, dressed in nothing more than a pair of battered sandals, a loincloth and an improvised fishnet shirt. Despite his rather poor appearance, Rath is quite fit, with taut, muscular arms, chest and legs, and may excel in many physical tasks. He's got long, ratty dark hair which is very rarely kept in any semblance of order, and a rusted brass hoop pierced through the top of his left ear. Rath has some difficulty pronouncing words in Common properly.

Vondort (human male): A man nearing his twilight years, with a slender frame, whitish hair and a large, brush-like moustache. Vondort has a fondness for ale, and spends a considerable amount of time each day drinking the poison. He allows Odd Jon and Doorjamb to hole up in his cellar during their indefinite stay at Floivin Keep, provided they guard his supply from local hooligans.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Session 5 Notes (7/30/10)

Essel, Clairis 21st, 868 ID.

A week has passed since the PCs assaulted the Skull Collar clan and freed Attican Vlad, Pinyon and an unusual goblin from the Old Pager's Farm east of Halehusk. The PCs have been recovering in Floivin Keep, distributing and dividing their spoils, and have received a cash bonus from Attican Vlad himself, along with much praise. Mudghol has decided to release Mordecai from his punishment service, but the elf decides to stick around, since he wants revenge on the crook Cheeky. Lexxi runs into a pair of halfling environmentalists from the Tooth Marsh, and gives them a generous donation. Lt. Banghorn has instructed the PCs to meet him at the rear entrance to an old spinster's shop on Dreamer's Row. After splitting up to take a meal at the Fiery Rat tavern and perform other errands (like Ogeir visiting the Cathedral of Blades), the PCs arrive to meet Banghorn.

Banghorn has decided that its time their company was given a safe house for operations in the Keep and surrounding area. He offers them the keys to half of a brick townhouse, with two stories and a basement level. The place is completely unfurnished, but there's a hearth on the main floor, and six smaller bedrooms on the top floor. He grants them 100gp to furnish the place and an additional 25gp/month to hire help, instructing them to be careful who to trust. While he's showing the PCs about, they share with him the latest information, seeking out the place known as 'The Hold', which Pinyon overheard in the previous week.

Tundra Wolf puts himself in charge of acquiring the basic furnishings while the PCs scatter once more to gather some information and carry out other tasks throughout the city. Mordecai and Lexxi are unsuccessful in finding further dirt on Cheeky or the black market dealer 'Scoundrel', the latter of which is supposedly located in the Keep. They do, however, run into the informant Derelech, who instructs the them to have Imperion meet with him at the Fiery Rat the following noon, for he has some information for sale. The PCs turn in to retire for the night, when they hear a knocking on the door outside. It's the hideous spinster, who hands them a sign that was painted and left on her door with the misspelled words "Dgi on fruethr". The PCs figure out that its an illiterate attempt at either a warning "Dig no further" or an encouragement "Dig on further".

Ivric, Clairis 22nd, 868 ID.

Several of the PCs decide to hang about the Fiery Rat until the noontime meeting with Derelech, but others are out performing random errands. Imperion runs into a few guards seeking Lt. Banghorn. Apparently a pair of bondsmen have come to extradite Fancy Nan from Floivin Penitentiary to the province of Nobbish, where she is wanted for murder and prostitution! Since Banghorn is in charge of her, it falls on Imperion if the Lieutenant can't be found, since he's the next in line for Banghorn's special operatives. Imperion agrees to stop by later, and to seek out Banghorn himself, who could be anywhere, disguised as anyone.

At noon Derelech appears in the Fiery Rat, surprising the PCs. In return for some hefty coin, he instructs Imperion and company that to find 'The Hold' they must 'check the rush beneath their feet', and nothing else. He leaves, and the PCs decide that the hidden lair they seek must be in the sewers beneath the Keep, where the Udders weave through the great dam wall. They venture to Mooring Way, but are told by a Sergeant there that they will not be permitted to access the Sewers, as the government keeps them sealed to all but the most essential personnel. The PCs need to find another way, so they determine to ask about and see what they can find. Back at the Fiery Rat, Mordecai gets some information from a filthy, vomiting drunk dwarf named Bulgoth, who tells the elf of the 'rat man' who has access to the sewers. After being puked upon, Mordecai decides to drag the dwarf along, perhaps he can be of some use.

Meanwhile, Imperion heads to Floivin Penitentiary where he meets the guards and the bondsmen Bread & Butter, who work for the Talonsguard Bond Co. out of Toul Tabor. They've got a writ of extradition for the prisoner Fancy Nan to Nobbish Province, and they need it signed off. Imperion refuses to sign it, instead taking the writ to General Gurd Gnarlbottom. Gurd has not the time to speak with the elf, but he passes it on through Captain Kennel. The General adds his signature, and much to his dismay, Imperion must let the pair take Nan. They do so by loading her up a cart with a steel cage fastened to it, then gagging her and covering it up. The pair heads out of the city due east.

Back at the safehouse, Bulgoth is chained to Mudghol's bed, upon which he vomits. Mordecai and Lexxi have decided that the dwarf, who is looking for work, might make for a decent watchman for the PCs if he cleans up and straightens up. However, Bulgoth makes Ogeir and Imperion quite nervous, and they are hesitant to offer him the work. Bulgoth demands that the PCs bring him spiked knuckles and some playing cards if he's to work for them. Mudghol departs to fetch these while Mordecai tells Imperion of the 'rat man'. The monk and Ogeir head to the prison to speak to Zinsk, who is clearly the 'rat man'. In a fit of unprovoked violence, Imperion punches the creepy pervert right on the nose, but the wound heals almost immediately after the peeping tom chants something briefly. Then they press the gnome cohabiting Zinsk's cell to extract the information about 'The Hold', and the gnome obliges, growing very angry. However, Zinsk transforms into something out of sight and manages to wrest free of the gnome, delivering some nasty scratches. The guards move the gnome out of the cell, and Imperion and Ogeir leave in anger, since Zinsk has demanded they bring him two girls with a fine meal.

The do-gooders can not go along with this, but Mordecai convinces Imperion to bring him back and talk to Zinsk. Mordecai then contacts Derelech at the Twin Lizard Tap to see if the man can procure hookers for Zinsk, and he takes one of Derelech's cold meals to feed the 'rat man'. Imperion returns to the safehouse and then fires Bulgoth, who he does not trust due to his potentially criminal, abusive past, but not before Mudghol has returned bearing a pair of spiked knuckles, a casket of ale and a deck of naked gnome female playing cards for the dwarf. Dejected, Bulgoth leaves into the night with a few coins from the PCs and his new toys. Mordecai and Imperion return to the Penitentiary, where they offer a third hooker to the guards so that they can bring the other two to Zinsk. The guards oblige. Zinsk makes small talk while his rats creep around the 'guests', but makes no obvious advances towards them. He enjoys the cold meal despite his initial complaints, and soon the hookers are dismissed. Imperion wrestles with his inner demons for allowing such a strange perversion to transpire!

Zinsk tells the PCs that he'll lead them to 'The Hold' the following day, but he will legally require two escorts. It is at this time that the PCs realize Zinsk could probably leave the Penitentiary whenever he really feels like it. Eleste knows, the rats can come and go... The PCs return to the safehouse to sleep it off.

Evelais (Saint's Day), Clairis 23rd, 868 ID.

The city awakes to turmoil. The bells of the Cathedral of Blades ring loud, sweeping across the morning din. Rushing out into the street to a commotion of soldiers moving rapidly about, the PCs discover that the Regent has been found in his quarters that moment, a nearly desiccated corpse. Imperion thinks he spots a man in the street pointing his fingers at him as if aiming a gun. The people of the Keep are instructed to remain inside, and not panic. The PCs do not dally, choosing to gear up and head straight to the Penitentiary and retrieve Zinsk while the city is distracted elsewhere and are less likely to notice they're activities. They arrive, and Zinsk is led out of his cell, soon to transform into a large rat!

The PCs spot Lt. Banghorn and several guards heading to the Imperial Court, but when hailed, he seems distraught and uninterested in them. Imperion and Ogeir also notice a fancily mailed, fat dwarf, mounted, riding slowly to the Court, whom they suspect to be General Gurd Gnarlbottom, who in this time of emergency must take over command of the Keep until another Regent is elected back in Carbadi. Zinsk leads the PCs about the city, following a series of smells. Mudghol notes that each of his smells corresponds with an arcane symbol that only he and other members of the Arkana Arkiva can recognize. These are the symbols used to mark where and when the mysterious, porting Flabbergast Manor will appear. Zinsk stops at a fountain, and tells them to jump in, and not to wait too long, for 'Mistlethroe' awaits them. Imperion and Ogeir return Zinsk to the Penitentiary, while the other PCs are confronted by an elderly man who thinks they are stealing coins from the fountain. Once they return, all have jumped into the fountain and disappeared.

The party arrives in a gaudy, colorful parlor, somewhat wet from the fountain. They have been ported into Flabbergast Manor, where they are met by a gaudy, colorful gnome from Melethesz. Mistlethroe makes small talk about Zinsk, who he is familiar with and refers to as 'Grandfather'. He also speaks with Mudghol, a fellow member of the Arkiva, and warns him that a rogue Re Wizard named Maravhos Tha has been seen in the province, at the Hud Horrn settlement in the Vernal Wall. Mistlethroe offers them sugar sticks, and speaks with Mudghol about the possibility of training as a mystic theurge under the gnome should he so desire. He also speaks of the Dead Spot, a location under the Keep where the Flabbergast Manor can manifest itself in the tunnels. Soon, the Manor stops, and the PCs are let out into the Dead Spot...

PCs: Imperion, Mordecai, Mudghol, Lexxi, Ogeir

NPCs

Bread (human male): An incredibly broad shouldered man, standing well above 6' in height, with a great hammer hanging by his side and chain mail armor. He's got a scar slashed down his right cheek and green eyes, with tightly cropped hair. He dons a green cloak and an armband with a griffon symbol on it. Bread is one of two bondsmen working for the Talonsguard Bond Co. who arrives with an official writ signed by Regent Krispin Bowyerson of Nobbish, to extradite the criminal Fancy Nan from Floivin Penitentiary back to her home province.

Bulgoth (dwarf male): Filthy, drunken dwarf with a number of questionable vices and habits. He is first met by Mordecai at the Fiery Rat, giving him some information. Later on, Bulgoth is brought back to the PCs' safehouse after vomiting on the elf, and briefly hired as the safehouse guard, which lasts all of a few hours before he is fired by Imperion. Bulgoth seems to have a dark past concerning women, and may have committed some foul acts against them. He's got a bald scalp circled by gray, smelly hair and a very blunt nose. Bulgoth seems to favor spiked knuckles as his weapon of choice.

Butter (human female): Tall and of strong build for a woman, Butter has her hair tied back into a pair of braids that dangle down her back. She has a cruel looking, barbed longbow slung across her back, and several quivers of clearly marked arrows about her person, with different colored fletching. Her green eyes and stern countenance look similar to those of her companion, Bread, but she is not unattractive. She is also working for the Talonsguard Bond Co. out of Toul Tabor.

Flake Falloway (dwarf male): The extremely bright orange-haired, bespectacled dwarf who is the proprietor and barkeep at the Fiery Rat tavern in Floivin Keep. Flake is a decent source of information and is always sparring with Tundra Wolf over the sign to the tavern, which is lit with burning pitch for 'effect' as patrons access the drinking hole.

Mistlethroe (gnome male):
A gnome of Melethesz, Mistlethroe is the bursar and receptionist of the Arkana Arkiva, usually found in the foyer of Flabbergast Manor in Floivin Keep. He bears a traditional turban of his home province atop his bald pate, with thick white nosehairs looped into a braid beneath his chubby chin. His eyes are bright blue with flecks of dancing flame, and his robes are cobbled from multi-colored patches. He has a bright red-orange hummingbird which he feeds small crackers. Mistlethroe seems to have the knowledge on how to 'jump' the Manor to specific locations, and must be one of the higher functionaries in the Arkana Arkiva, answering only to Spurr the Meticulous. He likes sugar candy sticks, and shares them with guests. He is also the mystic theurge prestige class trainer.

Mulky Hosspotch (halfling male): A chubby, wealthy halfling of the Hosspotch family who is known as a bit of a partygoer in Floivin Keep, usually found most hours at one of the local drinking holes like the Twin Lizard Tap. He's rather nondescript, but handsome for his weight. He hits on Lexxi when she and Mordecai are gathering information at the tap.

Randalf & Killiber (halfling males): A pair of halflings often found at the Fiery Rat. They claim to be environmentalists trying to round up funds to further their preservation acts and research in the Tooth Marsh. They do appear to be covered in some mud-stains, but they are otherwise rather average looking. Lexxi makes a sizable contribution to their research.

Spinster (human female):
A decrepit, elderly woman with thick white, straw-like hair who operates a weaving and sewing shop on Dreamer's Row, in the same building as the PCs' new safehouse. She speaks with a creaky voice and seems to have a displaced jaw, in addition to being impossibly thin, almost skeletal.