The party, now with Marina Gale, sneaks into the secret police prison to free Christopher Cotton. They find the prison is in disarray, and everyone there is infected with a mysterious psychic illness; prisoners and secret police Inquisitors attack the party and feed on their minds. They find a trove of secret police mail implying that the secret police chief Durer had the previous Master of Revels Ella killed, that the secret police Spy chief Guilder is the Hobnail kingpin Lars, and that the secret police monitor the party and their friends.
Tracy joined this game, playing Marina Gale. Marina was in Game 1 with a different party, and we switched her to this party alternative universe style, without any in-game explanation.
Gwyneth's necrotic sword Nadim critted on a 19-20, and with Gwyneth attacking twice a round at level 5, Nadim was critting and firing up its necrotic powers in almost every encounter. So, I asked if we could nerf the sword by having it crit on a 20 instead of 19-20, and Karen agreed. However, read on.
At the end of Game 1, the party was talking with Vesper Cotton and Kazola about the Company Stakeholders. The party agreed to rescue Christopher Cotton from Hobnail Prison, the secret police prison, if Kazola would introduce them to the Stakeholders. Now Vesper and Kazola referred them to the Hobnail Ulrike, who knew how to sneak into the prison.
Hughe had run with the Hobnails as a child, and I rolled a 25% chance that Hughe might know Ulrike, but no luck. The party took a long rest, then met Ulrike the next morning at the Halfpenny tavern. Ulrike told them that he often snuck into Hobnail Prison to get direction from the Hobnail boss Lars, who was a prisoner there, and that he wanted to make a special trip in to resolve an issue with Lars.
Gwyneth (I believe) asked why Ulrike would help them. Gwyneth rolled very well on Persuasion, and Ulrike said he suspected that Lars and his lieutenants actually worked for the secret police, and that "resolve an issue with Lars" actually meant "kill Lars." Ulrike said if the party would help him with Lars, he could help them free Christopher. The party agreed.
Ulrike told them that Hobnail Prison was four towers on the Volm River east of Hollin, which had originally been boom towers protecting Hollin from ships coming up the river. He said the Cisterns, Hollin's underground storm drain network, serviced the north tower. Lars's cell was in the north tower, and Lars normally snuck into the prison through the Cisterns. He said that a tunnel connected the north tower to the east tower, the secret police Inquisitor's base, where Christopher would probably be.
Hobnail Prison towers
Ulrike said that the Cisterns serviced different places throughout Hollin, including fountains, and that they could get in through the service door of a fountain. They decided to go in through a secluded fountain in the Shipyards. It was mid-morning, and residents were still getting water from the fountain, and they waited until the scene was clear to go in. They noticed some children, urchin types, were doing the same and went into the service door ahead of them.
Inside the fountain they took a rusty stair down to the Cisterns, and found themselves in cistern 5.
The Cisterns
They were headed for 8, and moved from 5 to 4 to 7. At each step they saw urchin children who scurried away. 7 was the Grand Cistern, which had high vaulted ceilings and columns of pillars. In the middle of 7, they saw a large island of found objects, with four throne-like chairs at one end, and some folks near them. They elected to skirt around the south of 7 and avoid them. But Roland asked Ulrike who they were, and Ulrike thought they were Millicent, the Rat Queen, and her family.
They arrived at cistern 8 and climbed up the rusty ladder to the basement of Hobnail Prison's north tower, into room 1. Roland sent his owl Oz to watch room 3 and let them know about anyone coming. They went east into 2, where Ulrike said Lars's cell was, but all four cells there were open and empty. The players asked how "empty" the cells were - had they been deliberately cleaned out? No, the cells still looked lived in, with blankets and dinner trays and things, as if the occupants had left abruptly.
North tower basement
The circular room 3 had a spiral stair going up, but they continued to east to 4. They found that the four cells there were mostly empty, but the southeast cell had a little group of people crowded around someone laying on the ground. They went into the cell and the standing people gave way. Some of the standing people looked like prisoners and some looked like prison guards, but they were all passive. They examined the person on the ground; he roused, putting his hand on Gwyneth's shoulder and looked deeply into her eyes, but he just said:
I was in the water, and it was cold.
They turned to one of the standing people, who similarly just said:
Yes, the water was cold, and dark. The water was...the sea.
I believe that Gwyneth rolled a successful Medicine check, and determined that the downed person's illness was psychological. Gwyneth asked Roland for an Arcana check, and Roland determined that the illness was magic or maybe better described as "supernatural." Roland studied the guards' uniforms to use with Disguise Self later.
They continued south to 5, and the cells there were also empty. In the mouth of the tunnel south of 5, they found rubble, then remnants of a blown-down brick wall that had been blocking the tunnel, and then beyond, a cannon. We clarified that the wall had been blown down from the south, blasting the rubble north into 5. The players asked if this all was recent, and I said that some of the dust from the blast still seemed to be lingering in the air, so possibly recent.
There was another person laying on the ground there, who said:
Yes, the sea! I woke up in the sea. No...I was born in the sea.
Roland did now cast Disguise Self to appear as a prison guard. They went south down the tunnel, to an interchange leading to the other towers.
East tower, basement level 2
In the east-west tunnel west of 5, they found another blown-down wall that had been blocking the tunnel. The found another person laying on the ground there, and when they examined him, he said:
The sea was full of life, so much life, and I journeyed and I learned.
They continued into the circular room 6, which had a spiral stair going up. This room appeared to be a desk officer's station, with a desk and mail slots. The desk had a log book and keys. They looked through the log book, which said that Christopher Cotton had been taken from his cell for interrogation a couple days ago, and they also noticed that log entries stopped a couple of days ago. Roland took the keys.
They searched the mail slots and found two messages:
Durer: Roland and Gwyneth, but also their new friend Hughe Lane, all three of them. --Guilder
Durer: Vincent reports that Ella had an unfortunate poisoning incident this weekend and died. --Lavinia
The players said that they knew Durer (the overall secret police chief) and Guilder (the secret police Spy chief), but they didn't know Lavinia.
They quickly explored the east wing, rooms 7-13, which were largely workshops. In the order they investigated them (I believe):
They explored the north wing, rooms 1-4. They first went north into 3, where they found another prisoner who said:
I learned from the creatures there, and I fed. I fed...and grew strong.
They went into 4, but coming back out they were attacked by two Inquisitors and two prisoners who'd come out of 1 and 2. One Inquisitor attacked Roland with a syringe full of truth serum, doing minimal damage, but compelling Roland to tell the truth; Scott soon received an Inspiration point for volunteering embarrassing truths. The others fed on the party's minds with psychic attacks, which almost brought Marina down.
Gwyneth attacked with her sword Nadim. Nadim was nerfed during the game's warmup to only crit on a 20, but Gwyneth indeed rolled a 20 on her first roll, critting and killing one of the prisoners. Later on the third turn she again rolled a 20 for a second crit and killed one of the Inquisitors. Although it's not normally how Inspiration works, Gwyneth received inspiration for conspicuously defying the nerfing of her sword. Under the influence of the truth serum, Roland said that he was afraid of Gwyneth's sword.
Hughe killed the other prisoner and Roland killed the other Inquisitor. After the fight, they took a short rest and healed up by rolling hit dice.
They checked 1 and 2, and they found another Inquisitor with a prisoner strapped to a gurney. The two told the party:
After an age, Company fisherman caught me in their...mesh of ropes and pulled me out of the water.
The mesh was a net.
They explored the south wing, 14-17. Here they found that the doors between 14 and 16 had been walled up, and one was blown down like the others. There were eight cells in 16, and most were empty, but two of the cells still had people in them who intently watched the party as they came in. The party discerned that these people weren't diseased, and one told the party that Christopher had been there, but was taken away for interrogation a few days ago. Roland released them using the keys he'd taken from the desk officer's station.
In 15, another ill prisoner told them:
They pulled me up in a net. They took me to Gregor the naturalist. Gregor studied me. Gregor had a strong mind, and he resisted me.
Geoffraie asked who Gregor was, and the rest of the party said they knew him and would introduce them.
They backtracked to the circular room 6 and took the spiral stair up to another basement level.
East tower, basement level 1
In the circular room 3 where they came up, they found another desk officer's station, again with a desk and mail slots. The log here recorded arrivals and departures of the secret police chiefs, and their meetings. They deduced from the logs that Lavinia was the head of the "Black Rose" - which they said was ominous - and that Alisandre was chief of the secret police Inquisitors. Like the log book downstairs, the log's entries stopped a couple of days ago.
In the mail slots they found the messages:
Durer: Vesper Cotton told us Christopher Cotton was “consorting with witches,” but we’re still working to extract Christopher’s confession. Christopher has a surprisingly strong will, but our new friend will break him. -- Alisandre
Durer: Increasing numbers inside Hobnail are concerned about Alisandre and the effect her “new friend” is having on the Inquisitors. I’m at home, but I can come back to Hobnail if I’m needed. -- Lavinia
Guilder: Roland Gray is deft with a disguise kit, but so is his comrade Gwyneth. Maybe the Spies should connect with them. --Durer
They went west to 4. Here they found a combined living and work area, with a desk in the front, and a bed and safe in the back. Roland failed to lockpick the safe, but used his Inspiration point to try again and succeeded. Inside he found the message:
Alisandre: Burbage’s tontine bought Volstead House’s coca powder business, so I can take personal control of it by surviving the tontine. So as Lars, I’ve ordered the Hobnails not to interfere in Hollin’s coca traffic. The two of us are going to be very wealthy. -- Guilder
They discussed Guilder and Lars, whether Guilder had always been Lars or had killed Lars and assumed his identity.
They continued to 6. Here they found another combined living and work area. A table in the living area had several white roses on it, and some had been put into a vase of black water and had absorbed the ink and become black. They also found the messages:
Lavinia: See that Ella, the previous Master of Revels, has an unfortunate accident this weekend. -- Durer
Lavinia: I was in the water, and it was cold. There was life there, and I learned from it. I fed on it, and grew strong. One day, Company fisherman pulled me out of the water in...a net. They took me to Gregor the Naturalis and he studied me. Gregor had a strong mind and he resisted me. After a few days, secret police Inquisitors came and took me from Gregor, and took me to Hobnail Prison. -- Alisandre
Lavinia: A new arrival in Hollin, Marina Gale, is familiar with druidic circles and could help with the Grove. -- Durer
I believe that at this point Tracy deduced that Lavinia and the Black Rose were the secret police's assassins, and received an Inspiration point.
Geoffraie led them into 5, another living/work area. On the desk, they found three +1 disguise kits. Looking inside them, they found that each already had a specific disguise inside it, two male and one female. Gwyneth, Hughe, and Roland claimed them. Roland also lockpicked safe there, and found the message:
Guilder: Quinton Smith, a trade ambassador from the country of Tharldon, is in Hollin. We are working to locate Tharldon and infiltrate its government.
We’ve also connected Quinton to an “Artimus Gordon.” He is highly perceptive and reads people well, and has a weakness for worldly delights, which we should exploit to recruit him as a double agent. -- Gower
They continued to 1, yet another combined living and work area. Here they found three messages:
Durer: Vesper Cotton has been associating with one Kazola, daughter and smith in a family that has long smithed for Cotton House. Given smiths’ dark arts and associations, we should monitor her and investigate her family’s history. -- Guilder
Durer: The former Master of Revels, Ella, has not been seen for a few days. -- Guilder
Durer: The Whipsaw tavern hosts illegal bare-knuckle boxing and betting in the basement. We’re allowing them to continue as long as they pay the Hobnails half their take. -- Guilder