Seven strange women appear to the party to make insinuations about Vesper and his brother Christopher. The party returns the changelings to their parents, and Aurora rewards Faile by telling her that Pale Moon and Kasskar can help her. Gwynneth and Vesper outperform Cankerblossom onstage at the Black Cabaret. Roland exposes the harpy Ursula there, and Gwynneth’s sword unleashes an unexpected necrotic power when she kills Ursula. The electrum jeweler Hodges tells the party that he delivers items to Laurel at Ulm’s Monument, where they discover Coven catacombs.
We confirmed that Faile claimed the Necklace of the Cool Appraising Stare the party found on the harpy Hecate in Game 2.
Vesper received an inspiration point for suggesting bombarding the Eyrie with Admiralty cannons in Game 2.
The party finished Game 2 at the foot of Durning Hill in Lofton, with the two rescued children, the two dead harpies, and the three dead devils. Awkwardly dragging the bodies along the base of the cliff and discussing whether to bring one or both harpy specimens to Gregor, they saw seven women standing on the edge of the trees - six young women and one aged crone. The women's patrician dress was out of place in the forest, and Roland felt they didn’t belong even beyond their clothing, in some metaphysical way.
The women called out Vesper:
After goading Vesper, the women stepped back into the forest and disappeared. Vesper told the party he didn't know the women, and Vesper and the party interpreted the women's comments as threats against Christopher.
They brought the harpy and devil specimens to Gregor. Gregor was thrilled and thanked them with 250 gold pieces; the Naturalis Historia, Ruminants and Ungulates of Northern Anhault, and the Domestication Thereof; and the Wand of Herblore.
Naturalis Historia, Ruminants and Ungulates of Northern Anhault, and the Domestication Thereof
Wand of Herblore
The party returned Luna Hollinshed to her parents, Mia and Luther. In thanks:
Coca Powder
The party returned Flora to Zoe Shaw. In thanks:
The party needed a long rest, and Roland suggested they go someplace nice and splurge to celebrate rescuing the children. They chose the Mooncalf and partied with the sailors and girls there, and Vesper discussed blowing up the Eyrie with the sailors. Gwynneth wanted to share her newfound wealth with her family, for a better house or to send a sibling to school, and she dropped her money off with them.
At the end of the long rest, I sent Nick a secret direct message:
Dennis: At the end of Modalye’s long rest, Modalye hears a message in his mind, via a Sending spell, from his patron Ishild: “Now is the time to return the favor I did you. Make sure that Astrid succeeds in her mission. Do not let your party thwart her.” The Sending spell description says that Modalye can “answer in a like manner immediately” if he wants.
Nick: I reply, "Understood"
Dennis: OK, sounds good. If you do want he asks, you might want to be prepared to essentially be another villain in the game.
Nick: yeah, I am assuming that haha. I'm contemplating how to give Astrid some sort of partial success
After the long rest they returned to the Circle to close the loop with Aurora. Aurora said that as a fairy, she didn't have much that humans would find valuable, but to thank them:
She also gave the party a live silvermote for Gregor, without any container, which grossed out Roland.
Vesper went to Admiralty logistics to report the harpy Eyrie in Durning Hill, and the portal to a demon realm that Aardist had seen there. Vesper argued that these were a clear and present danger to the harbor, and should be bombarded.
Admiralty logistics dismissed Vesper's claims as fantastic but said he could appeal to Captain Burns or Parja, the Secretary of the Admiralty. Vesper found Burns at the Braddock docks and described the Eyrie and portal again, and Burns wasn't fazed or surprised at all by Vesper's claims. Burns's ship was the Hedgepeth, a seventy-gun ship of the line, and Burns said that he'd fire on the Eyrie if Vesper came back in the morning.
Modalye left Greg the Owl at the docks to monitor the situation.
The party went to the borough of Rankin to find the electrum jeweler Hodges.
Merrick, the Keeper at the Chapel of Ajana, told the party that Hodges works in the back of a glass blowing shop in the borough of Rankin. In times gone by, Rankin was a small village that did dangerous or noxious work that wasn't allowed in Hollin. Hollin has since grown to encompass Rankin, but glass and leather are still made there. The shop is near Quay and Drew Streets, and you can get there by taking Quay east from Market Square in Braddock.
At Quay and Drew, the party sees a one-story building with an open overhead door in the front, with glass blowers working inside. If the party asks for Hodges, a glass blower points you to a door in the back of the shop.
If you knock on that door, it opens and you see a very large Andre-the-Giant-type man inside, crouching down to look through the door at you. He's wearing a ginormous work apron that's been sewn together from two or three normal aprons. His eyes narrow and he looks you over hard for several seconds, and then he just says "I don't know you."
Despite Hodges's intimidating size, the party pushed their way into his workroom and questioned him. Gwynneth and Faile worked together on Persuasion, rolling a 20 and learning:
The party questioned the morality of Hodges making items for the Coven, but Hodges's attitude was “electrum items don’t kill people, people with electrum items kill people.” They asked how much the Ring of Greater Pulchritude would be worth, and he guessed offhand that it might be worth 10,000 gold pieces.
Vesper went to see his brother Christopher after the seven strange women accosted him at the foot of Durning Hill.
Since Vesper went alone, Rob and I talked 1-on-1 in Discord.
Rob: For later: I'll go to my brother and tell him that I need to talk to him in private (no maids in the room). I'll then take him out to the balcony to try and avoid eavesdropping and inform him that there are people moving against him and I need to know details about his interactions with the coven.
Dennis: That sounds good!
Rob: I'm trying to pump him for information about the coven so we can
learn more about the situation before we go in
and where he fits in it if any
Dennis: Before you go in the Black Cabaret?
Rob: yes
Dennis: In brief, Christopher says he doesn't know anything about any coven or any witches, and finds the whole assertion absurd and alarming.
Rob: I ask him why he got the dagger, if it was for his use or just a toy
Dennis: He says it's just a showpiece, heads of other trading houses have similar.
Rob: Well, I tell him that he needs to choose his partners more wisely as people know about his habits
Dennis: He thanks you for the advice and will move to protect his reputation.
Rob: I ask if I can borrow the dagger
Dennis: Yes, he's happy to actually give it to you as thanks for the head up.
Rob: I thank him and leave to rejoin the group
The party wanted to go to the Black Cabaret to look for Laurel and Astrid. Aurora hadn't actually said where the Cabaret was, and they discovered that it performed in different unannounced venues, typically seedy places like the bare-knuckle boxing bars or the Mooncalf. Roland had seen two men in a horse costume in Game 1, and a man carrying an upright piano on his back in Game 2, both near the docks. They concluded the Cabaret could be at the Whipsaw tavern, also near the docks.
At this point Nick sent me a secret direct message:
Nick: Do I think that portal up in the cave is to Pandemonium? Where Astrid and the coven lead souls?
Dennis: Yeah, that's right exactly.
Nick: while they're talking over how to find the black cabaret, I gaze through my owl's eyes. is the ship staff any lighter in the evening? fewer sailors in the ship?
Dennis: Generally the Hedgepeth is unmanned while it's in dock.
Nick: so my plan is, once we turn in for the day, I'll stay awake a
couple hours extra and have the owl take my fulgurite to the Hedgepeth,
and assuming it's still unmanned at night, use the fulgurite to blow away
most of the gunpowder on the ship. assuming he can do so from a safe
position.
If it doesn't look like that'll work, I have a backup plan. I don't want
to destroy the ship or kill anyone, just prevent that cave entrance from
being collapsed so that might mean the owl cannot use the fulgurite
either. so it may be plan B we can figure this out a little later too
Dennis: Ok, will keep that in mind. :)
Nick: ok, this new info may change my plan. I'm back to thinking about
it
nah, sticking with the plan. I forgot the cave has a second entrance. I
don't think blowing the cave entrance would actually do anything and show
I'm at least putting forward some show of assistance for Astrid
Plan A: use the fulgurite to blow the powder on the ship away; and
hopefully some cannons. Plan B: owl flies around for a couple hours
gathering water in its beak and getting the powder wet
Roland disguised himself with his disguise kit, and Gwynneth and Faile disguised themselves with the Ring and Necklace; Gwynneth chose a suggestive disguise. Going in:
When the party arrives at the Whipsaw and goes to the basement, the revels are already underway. The floor is packed with people eating, drinking, and laughing, and chorus girls mixing with the crowd when they aren't performing.
The Cabaret is a theatre of the absurd. Right now there are two men in a horse costume onstage, and there’s a farce in progress where clowns are putting different things in the horse's mouth, and then surprises come out the horse's rear. For instance, when the clowns put an egg into the mouth, a flapping live chicken comes out the back.
As you enter the room, you see the Cabaret’s emcee there, Cankerblossom. He’s essentially a Russell Brand with a top hat and a long black victorian coat with buttons all the way down the front.
They noticed a beautiful woman at a table near the stage, wearing an electrum broach, with a few men wooing her.
Cankerblossom buttonholed them as they came in and challenged them to a Performance contest onstage, and Gwynneth and Vesper agreed. Vesper sang a "naval song about sailing the open seas and a naval song about Burns's ship of the line," "glory to the Hollin navy," and "spreading our culture far and wide." Gwynneth accompanied Vesper on the flute, playing "a little flirty but lively, a little raunchy, a little teasing, a drinking song" and saying "our culture isn't all we're going to spread far and wide," which drew raucous applause from the crowd. They rolled 20 Performance, working together.
Cankerblossom then performed on the hurdy-gurdy, singing a song about how a four-legged horse can't dance a 3/4 time waltz, and he rolled 19 Performance. Cankerblossom then decided the contest would be two out of three, but Gwynneth and Vesper also won the second round.
As congratulations, Cankerblossom taught Gwynneth and Vesper his own spell, Counterpoint.
Counterpoint
1st-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take in response to a
song
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round
As a reaction, interrupt any ability or spell that’s a song, and replace it with your own spell, by beating the caster in a Performance ability check contest. See Ability Checks, Contests, Player's Handbook p. 174.
As a second reward, Cankerblossom also told them that Astrid and Laurel weren't at the Cabaret that night, but that the woman with the electrum broach was Ursula, the third harpy Duchess of the Wake, sister to the two harpies they'd already killed.
Roland bribed a waiter to go to Ursula's table and as a joke, spill some fine wine on one of the men's shirts. As the waiter spilled the wine, Roland pickpocketed the woman's broach with Invisible Mage Hand. She immediately transformed into a harpy and the Cabaret erupted in chaos.
The party attacked Ursula while Cankerblossom played the Benny Hill theme on the hurdy-gurdy, at Karen's suggestion. Ursula tried to sing a harpy Luring Song, but Gwynneth reacted with the Counterpoint spell she'd just learned and won the Performance contest. Gwynneth cast Command as her Counterpoint spell, forcing Ursula to sit down on her next turn.
Gwynneth attacked Ursula with her sword, and to her surprise:
A swirling black and green aura envelopes Gwynneth’s sword, and jumps in an arc to her target, doing an extra 1d12 of necrotic damage. Gwynith can feel the sword humming in her hands, and the swirling black-green arc to the target continues after Gwynneth’s turn is done, making a crackling humming noise that fills the room.
We briefly discussed how her Winter Wolf employers, Pale Moon and Carrick, had given her the sword. On the second round, the sword's continuing necrotic damage put Ursula down.
They interrogated Ursula, threatening to kill every harpy in the Eyrie if Ursula didn’t tell them where Astrid and Laurel were. Ursula told them that Astrid would attack Hollin in three days using the Penance Stone, which had been absorbing the evil from “silent confessions” for hundreds of years. She told the party to check Ulm's Monument, the same hint Hodges had given them, and they decided to go there next. They left Ursula with the Admiralty.
Since Laurel and Astrid weren't at the Cabaret, the party went to Ulm's Monument, which Hodges and Ursula had both suggested.
You turn south on Market toward the City of the Dead. After a mile on Market you reach Hangman's Gate in the old city wall, which Hollin outgrew a thousand years ago. After another mile and a half, you reach Foundling Gate in the "new" city wall between Braddock and the City of the Dead.
Ulm’s monument is in the Foundling Gate courtyard, on the Braddock side. There’s also a community brick oven there, and the courtyard is usually crowded in the morning with folks waiting to bake their bread.
Ulm’s Monument is a stone building one and a half stories high, with an ornate dome that rises another story. It has a front door facing the courtyard, which is heavy black iron, and has twelve iron panels with relief sculptures on them. If you look closely at the reliefs, they seem to show whaling scenes.
But, it was night and no one was there, so they left for a long rest. In the morning they found about forty people near the oven, but no red-haired woman, so they inspected the monument. They didn't want to break into the front door in front of the crowd, so they went down the alley around the left of the monument.
There are more private alleys on the left and right sides of the monument. On the left side, there's another iron door and two dirty windows. If they clean the first window, you think there's a pile of skulls up against the window blocking their view. If they clean the second window, you can see into the monument interior, which seems to be largely filled up with skulls.
They easily picked the lock on the door on the left side, bashed it open about a foot, and found there was an opening above the skulls about five feet up inside the door. Gwynneth gave Roland a hand up and he climbed in. He took ten minutes or so to clear away enough skulls to open the door for the others. Karen and Scott described the interior as a “skull ball pit” in “the world’s most horrific Chuck E. Cheese.”
They found a the casket inside - its calligraphy said:
Ulm started the trading house that introduced both whaling and opium to Hollin. The young Ulm was a golden god of a harpooner, and he landed his harpoon Hosingen in the primordial bull whale Huhner. But Ulm couldn’t finish Huhner off, and Hosingen is still in Huhner’s side, waiting to be recovered by an even greater harpooner who can bring the immortal whale down.
They decided that Ulm was unrelated to the Coven, so they sidestepped the casket. They found a 2'x 6' iron trapdoor in the floor and went down; below, they found more caskets, and a hole in the wall, leading to an underground tunnel beyond.
Going through the hole in the Ulm's Monument basement, the party enters a long, roughly straight tunnel which is clearly not part of Ulm's Monument. The tunnel's floor and roof are packed salt. The tunnel's sides are lined with neatly stacked skulls and femurs, sometimes stacked in geometric patterns that seem overly flamboyant for human remains.
And they remembered:
Cemeteries in Braddock and Dunham filled up a few hundred years ago. So, a salt mine on what was then the edge of town was converted to an ossuary, and thousands of skeletons were moved from Braddock and Dunham to the mine. That's probably where you are now.
About a quarter-mile down the tunnel, they found:
About a quarter-mile down the tunnel, they find a door on the right. Looking in, they see a room with two bunk beds (4 beds total), some bear skins with blankets on them on the floor, end tables with glasses of water, and some women's incidentals here and there.
Several similar rooms branch off of this one, with forty beds and twenty bearskins total.
Another quarter-mile down the tunnel:
Another quarter-mile down the tunnel, they find a small room to the left. It contains a bellows, a fire pit, tongs, some casts, and some workbenches with a lot of tools on them.
There are some bits of partially-finished jewelry. The silver, gold, and jewels in them would be worth about 100 gold pieces.
There are also some finished items. There are a breastplate and ten crossbow bolts here, made of a strange metal alloy you don't recognize.
Modalye claimed the crossbow bolts.
Aardist went down the hall to scout, invisible. He found:
Aardist stayed at the T intersection, while the party moved up the quarter mile to the door on the left. Inside they found:
They inspected the curious circle device, a cipher disk.
Cipher Disk
The cipher disk is a circular device with a large outer disk and a smaller inner disk that rotate relative to each other, with the alphabet and the digits around the circumferences of both disks. For any relative rotation, it seems like you can encode text by replacing letters on the outer disk with the corresponding letter on the inner disk. It also seems that if you had a cypher word of say five letters, those five letters would give five rotations that you could loop over to create a more complex encoding - one that could only be decoded with the cypher word.
Roland realized that they had two decoded Detect Fey spells, so if one of the encoded tomes was Detect Fey, they could figure out the cipher word and decode all five encoded tomes. But, it would take at least an hour short test.
For the spell tomes:
Hollin spell tomes are typically bound books with one or two pages being the actual spell, and the rest of the book logging the research and experiments performed developing the spell, and the ongoing history, lore, and apocrypha of the spell. Often lose notes are glued or stapled into the tome like a scrapbook. Developing some spells requires a wizard’s entire career, or multiple wizards’ careers, so the books can grow to hundreds or even thousands of yellowed pages.
Black Lung
1st-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
The target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target can’t breath and is incapacitated. The target can use its action each turn to make a Constitution saving throw to end the spell.
Death Spiral
1st-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
Targets you choose in range fail death saving throws for the duration.
And for the Detect Fey spell scrolls:
Detect Fey
1st-level divination
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
At higher levels. When you cast the spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the range increases to 100 feet at 2nd level, then 300, 1,000, 3,000, 10,000, 30,000, and up to 100,000 at 8th level. At 9th level, the range is infinite.
Aurora was supposed to tell the party that Laurel was a pale-skinned, red-haired woman, so I mentioned that a little later, before the party went to Ulm's Monument.
The "demonium" the breastplate and crossbow bolts were made of was supposed to be the "strange metal alloy" from Faile's character background.