Monday, February 19, 2007

Ptolus 4

Greg (Carl who could not be here) is summoned for a day of reporting in to the Lothian church higher ups on events. Apparently after the ship being blown up in the harbor they are curious what is going on.

In the meantime El (Joe) and Nes (Dani) are left to their own business. At breakfast Nes notices a strange figure across the way in the market who seems out of place. El doesn't notice anything as he is staring up at the Nobles Quarter. Nes sends Coz (her animal companion) to sniff the stranger. Coz obliges and El notices the wolf sneak over and sniff the lady. Then he recognizes her as someone he's vaguely met before. It turns out it is the young female Silver dragon he met at House Dallamothan. He notices a pickpocket about to attempt to steal from her and intervenes (nicking the pickpockets own stuff) and offers to take her around the city.

He finally gets her name: Yavanda and also learns that the House is trying to protect him by keeping their distance while the other Houses (primarily Vladaam) look for who is behind all the mess. She suggests that El look up a figure in the Necropolis who might be able to aid the party in protecting them. She seems to enjoy El's company though.

Nes goes for a swim in the bay and afterwards decides to go look up a druid who her masters in the Viridian Lords mentioned. Oddly enough he lives in the Necropolis. Both she and El head over there and meet Andach the Druid who lives on Clasthamus Isle. He decides to help protect the party if they are willing to help him defend the Isle on the next Godsday (coming up in a month or so).

Afterwards they visit the Dark Reliquary or at least look at it from the outside. Then the two head home and El runs into a Longfingers Guild contact who warns that the Balacazaars are closing in on whoever did the damage to their drug network and that House Vladaam is looking quietly for him as he helped steal something from them so that the Longfingers Guild would help him escape. The contact suggests that El might want to look into what he stole just for his own protection...

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Ptolus 3

So the party opts to follow up on the information that maybe the crates they found in the sewer came from a ship in the harbor. Specifically according to a ship's ledger, the SS Andalusia. El and Greg visit the harbormaster and after a subtle exchange of coinage are given more info on said ship. It unloaded some cargo then withdrew to off Beacon Island under a self imposed quarantine. El spends some time in the bars and learns that oddly that ship's crew is all ashore at the moment. Thoroughly suspicous the party rents a boat and heads out to the ship the next night.

On approach they see several figures dropping crates off the side into the water. They look scalyish. The party slips their boat around to the island side of ship (opposite of the figures) and El stealths aboard. He then gives the all clear and slips behind some of the crates on deck to ambush the scaly creatures (who are sahaugin but the party never IDs their race). Greg hoists up Ness's wolf while she takes cover behind the mast. El manages to sneak attack one of sahaugin from behind the crates but doesn't quite finish him off. Luckily in the confusion of that creature's attack Ness's wolf finishes him off. Greg attempts to push the remaining couple of sahuagin off the side but they manage to keep their footing. Greg, El, and Ness's wolf do manage however to overwhelm the two aboard the ship and drop another climbing up. However one of the sahuagin in the water ducks down and swims under the ship to sink the party's boat and trap them.

El figures this out and heads over to the other side of the ship pulling out his gun to the shoot the sahuagin before he can do any damage. Then El drops his gun and starts a fire in the crates. Ness in the meantime falls down onto the boat and lands square on it giving the sahuagin a concussion but not before he badly damages its hull integrity. Greg and El realize that there is a good chance one of those crates contains gun powder and prepare to abandon ship along with Ness's wolf. El and the wolf make graceful exits. Greg in full plate goes over the side like a 500 pound pile of scrap metal hits the party's dying boat, goes straight through (Ness barely jumping aside into the water), and proceeds to the bay bottom luckily sloping up as it is close the island. The party swims/walks along the bottom in eerily glowing fashion to the island. Halfway there the ship explodes and sinks rather quickly.

The lighthouse keepers arrive to find a soaked party. They warily help out but refuse to lend their boat unless the party cleans out the haunted old lighthouse on the opposite end of the island. The party initially is unhappy, they want to pursue the drug-runners in the sewers and further hit their supply lines. They persuade the lighthouse keepers that they will return to clear the place out as soon as they finish their mission. However after some thought while drying off the wonder if the old lighthouse might be a front. So they investigate.

El sneaks around the lighthouse and sees evidence of a recent work done on the far side. He sneaks in a back window while Greg and Ness make a more direct entrance through the front door. The party searches the first floor and in one of offices finds a used looking trapdoor. But before they can do anything Ness's wolf detects something going up the stairs. The party pursues and searches the second floor. As they are looking about the new lighthouse's light passes over the old lightouse its light half illuminating the second level. Right in the middle of the party is a displacer beast. Despite it's ability to be concealed and the less decent lighting in the old lighthouse the party manages to subdue the displacer beast so that is sues for peace. It is bound by its master to gaurd this place. But it will let them go about their business if they let it live. Eventually they decide to let it go demanding its service when they have defeated its masters. Greg would rather kill it now.

The party explores the trap door and finds the real SS Andalusia ledger which is all illicit materials. They also discover that the area under the lighthouse leads to a sea cave that seems to be a staging area for the material. While they'd love to destroy the whole place right down to the old lighthouse the party lacks the ability to do that so opts instead to withdraw to the mainland. After saying the old lighthouse's haunting is over but to keep away from it the party returns to shore.

On shore Greg reports to the church and El attempts to report to House Dallimothan. The House major-domo shies him away being wary of either side being seen with each other at the moment as the entire city is in an uproar over the exploded ship.