Author: Dennis

Previously, the heroes made their way through the ancient waterways and into Grimsdown where they found where the Steady Hand was holding Hamish; the cellar of a local orphanage from where the guild was dealing in dark delirium. The operation was overseen by two aberrant lords who stood in the way of Hamish’s liberation. A fight ensued and one of the aberrant lords managed to escape with Hamish by enslaving the mind of the troubled mage.

Second Day, First Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waxing. Bloodmoon in high sanction. Darkmoon in high sanction.)

As Luca regained his faculties and saw that the aberrant lord had disappeared together with Hamish, he immediately reached for Blackstar and used it to sense the souls around him. Doing some quick accounting of the various people he knew to be in his vicinity, he ultimately could not determine whether Hamish was still within range. He used Lauriel’s earring to reach out to James, who was in the middle of disguising himself with clothing taken from the fallen as well as the people who were under the influence of dark delirium that would not be able to resist.

Quentin, who had run out of the front door of the orphanage, came back inside to find matron Myrtle’s body. He took a brief moment to compose her body close her eyes. James and Emrys went down to find Luca and James asked aloud why humans were so stupid; it was unclear to what James was referring, but it was not the first time he rebelled against his mother’s heritage and the culture he was raised in.

In the waterways, Luca was still attempting to discern which direction the aberrant lord had taken Hamish. Close to the ladder leading up into the orphanage there was a large junction of canals which lead to different parts of the city. Panicking, he picked a random corridor and started following it. By the time Emrys and James were in the waterways they heard Luca heading off. Before following Luca, Emrys noticed that James was very uncomfortable in being in the waterways, something he had not noticed before as they had both been invisible to one another. James had mentioned dreams about being chased through the waterways and Emrys felt like his friend was connected to these corridors in some way. As Quentin came down to join them, James took a shot of liquor from his bag in order to steel his nerves.

Before the others could catch up with Luca, the young warlock had found tracks suggesting that he was heading in the wrong direction and he turned back. Once the group was reunited. James was eager for Luca to explain what happened and why Hamish had disappeared. Luca told them that when the aberrant lord came down he had been incapacitated and that Hamish had developed a crown of diseased flesh around his head just before the both of them simply disappeared.

Quentin felt guilty; had he not been stunned, the knight reasoned, the situation would not have escalated and they would have gained the upper hand over the aberrant lords. Luca, out of conviction or annoyance, did not believe that it was the right time to discuss blame; he wanted to press on and catch up with Hamish. The heroes rushed down the corridor they felt was most likely going to lead to Hamish, though none of them could clearly explain why that corridor was any better than the others. Doing something was preferable over doing nothing.

The dash through the waterways was a frustrating one, with dead ends, filth, slime and stench making it difficult to make haste. Occasionally they would hear street sounds coming from grates and pipes leading into the corridors. With every passing minute Luca’s frustration grew. Eventually their choices lead the heroes to an exit underneath the bridge over the river just outside of the Corbray gate.

Third Day, First Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waxing. Bloodmoon in high sanction. Darkmoon is waning.)

Emrys prepared a spell that allowed the ability of flight, casting it over himself and his companions. This allowed them to fly out over the river, up to the top of the bridge and over the ramparts to get into the city. Luca reminded everyone that Astrid might still be out in the alleyway they left her behind. Emrys decided to fly directly towards Lewisham and investigate, but Astrid was nowhere to be found.

On the way back to the Careless Wanderer James noticed by the watch fires that it was probably two or three hours after midnight. He also noticed that about half of the normal watch fires were lit, probably due to a lack of fuel in the city.

Upon arrival at the Wanderer it took a while for Durham to open the door. Drenched and cold, the heroes walked in to find that there was a lot of equipment set up around the tavern; fishing rods, boots and rain-resistant cloaks. It turned out that some of the fishing teams had returned to Kingsport in time for the end of the competition.

Before everyone retired, Luca spent some time channelling radiant energy to heal Quentin of his wounds. Quentin saw that Luca radiated a soft golden glow while doing so, he the knight could have sworn he sensed the celestial energy of Aurion. He leaned in and whispered into Luca’s ear; “Did you choose him, or did he choose you?” Luca played dumb and didn’t answer the question. It did leave people wondering what happened to turn Luca the Destroyer into Luca the Healer.

As James entered his room he found Astrid asleep on a cot she had set up next to his bed. She stirred and retrieved a hot water bottle from underneath her blanket and gave it to him before turning over and continuing her slumber.

After Luca left for his room, Emrys and Quentin spoke about Myrtle dying; Quentin cautioned Emrys to show restraint, feeling that Myrtle did not have to die and only did so because Emrys used his telekinetic powers to hurl debris towards the aberrant lord. Quentin made sure to explain that he did not feel like Emrys was to blame, but that caution was necessary when innocent civilians were around.

After about five hours, certainly nowhere near getting a full night’s rest, the heroes were awoken by the rowdy banter of people in the tavern. All but Luca decided to go downstairs to have breakfast and see what the ruckus was about. Several teams of fishermen, all in the employ of lord Peregrine Blackwell, had converged on Kingsport. There was a team from the Tiverton Glades, who had gotten stuck behind the orc horde. Another was a team of dwarven fishermen from Ard Thoradun who lord Peregrine had poached from lord Aberforth Dunkeswell during the course of the competition. Then there was a combination of two teams under the leadership of Ser Liam of the Cloakwoods, who had come from Eastmarsh and Dunashire, and some of the heroes remembered seeing them in Rivermeet, as they were being held up by the Red Custodians. The only team that was still outstanding was a team from Southernhay, under the leadership of lord Peregrine himself; they were still en route.

Luca stayed in his room and decided to take a crack at transcribing the spell scroll they had found in the dragon’s lair. As he was readying his things he found a small wooden statuette in one of his pockets. It was widdled into the shape of a wizard holding a staff, and Luca knew it to belong to Hamish, as it matched the same style of widdling as the other figures they had found in his room and brought to Vydia for her to use in her scrying.

Reinvigorated, Luca went downstairs to get everything together. While having breakfast Luca explained that he either wanted to go to Vydia, or somehow confront the night master. It was clear that the warlock was not ready to give up on the fate of his friend, whether he was bound by a crown of flesh or not.

Previously, the heroes found a member of the thieves guild that was willing to bring them to a safe house where they could get dark delirium. They were lead through the ancient waterways into Grimsdown and emerged in the basement of matron Myrtle’s orphanage. The group was split up, with James and Emrys remaining behind in the waterways, while Luca and Quentin went into the orphanage where they found that the Steady Hand held Hamish against his will and had set up a dark delirium operation under the supervision of two aberrant lords, the tentacle-faced humanoids they had also encountered in Dr. Arkenward’s inner sanctum.

Second Day, First Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waxing. Bloodmoon in high sanction. Darkmoon in high sanction.)

After Garvan mistook an invisible Emrys for a possible skaven ambush, the gnarly guild member called for the aberrant lords to be informed. When the tall and thin creature hovered down into the sewers below the orphanage it became clear that, despite wearing a veil to hide its ghastly tentacles, it was one of the creatures the heroes had encountered in Arkenward’s sanctum. Despite Emrys’ invisibility enchantment, the creature targeted him and assailed him with a psychic force that set his nervous system on fire. James, who had snuck into the orphanage under the cover of the same enchantment quickly jumped back down into the waterways to assist Emrys.

Quentin sprung into action and got up off the matrass he was given to make himself comfortable in preparation of him taking dark delirium. He marched towards the well and was quickly followed by Luca, who warned Myrtle and Coral that they should leave to find safety while commanding Hamish to follow him. The matron and halfling made their way to a staircase leading up in order to rescue the orphans, which were being held upstairs. A commotion could be heard upstairs as well; shouts, scuffles and small explosions could be heard.

Quentin had jumped down into the waterways and together the three heroes continued to fight against the aberrant lord, who was being accompanied by a strange quadruped creature with a fleshy torso. Upstairs another aberrant lord appeared, equally accompanied by the dog-sized monster. Things escalated quickly and Luca grabbed Hamish’s arm and dragged him through a hastily constructed portal, sending them into the waterways below.

The heroes managed to defeat the aberrant lord that was down in the waterways with them. In death, it repeated the same thing the heroes had heard the other aberrations mention; “Xarrombus will not be denied.”

Once again, when Luca landed the killing blow to the aberration, the heroes could see a jolt of pain shooting up the arm in which he wielded Blackstar, but despite that pain Luca looked reinvigorated and strong. Using the short moment of respite, Luca reached out to Aurion and asked for a blessing of healing to be bestowed on Quentin, who immediately felt a warm feeling rise up from deep within his chest, bathing him in feelings of contentment as his wounds rapidly closed and the broken flesh knitted itself shut.

James went upstairs to confront the two guild members; the situation had escalated and he felt the only way to keep his involvement a secret from the rest of the guild was to eliminate Garvan and the thug. To his surprise, Garvan turned out to be amenable to James’ suggestion to make himself scarce. The old rogue said that he felt it was time for him to disappear into the waterways like no other could and let the heat die down. He had no problem with James taking care of the thug in any manner he see fit. As far as the old rogue was concerned, he still owed the heroes for rescuing him from the carceratum. It did not take long for Garvan to disappear into the tunnels of the ancient waterways.

Luca and Hamish were the only ones who remained behind in the waterways while the others had gone up in order to find out what had happened to other aberrant lord who was still on the prowl. Luca took a moment to talk to Hamish, who was babbling, confused and panicked; he was certain they would come for him again. Luca only had limited time to interrogate his friend, and made some strategic mistakes in doing so, which left him with a limited understanding of what Hamish was talking about; the guild was trying to create their own dark delirium without the need for Hamish’s help; the aberrant lords were in charge of the operation and the guild was supporting it; there had been people dressed like plague doctors who had been experimenting with the concoctions, adding strange worms to it.

The commotion upstairs had also become more pronounced and turned out to be Brandomiir, the dwarven demolitionist that the heroes had met months ago working for the Sheridans. He had been waging a guerrilla war against the Steady Hand since the lockdown in Grimsdown was introduced and the guild had taken control of the ward. His intention was to liberate the orphans.

Quentin had engaged the aberrant lord, but found himself overwhelmed by a wave of psychic pain, leaving him temporarily stunned and unable to engage the aberrant lord. Matron Myrtle had been dominated by the aberration, a strange crown of putrid flesh had covered her head and made her strangely compliant. Just how compliant became clear when Emrys used his telekinetic abilities to hurl some furniture at the aberration with incredible speed; Myrtle stepped in the line of fire and took the hit. Her frail body was unable to withstand such a force and she died. The aberrant lord had previously shown capable of teleporting short distances and it did so again, vanishing in an instant.

While upstairs the heroes and Brandomiir were shocked to see the aberrant lord disappear, as were Luca and Hamish shocked to see it reappear down in the waterways. Luca was quickly incapacitated and he watched as a crown of putrid flesh appeared on Hamish’s head. The dreadful aberration calmly floated towards Hamish and extended its hand, which Hamish took. Unable to react or intervene, both Hamish and the aberrant lord disappeared in an instant, translocating deeper into the waterways.

Previously, the heroes had ran some errands and eventually followed a hunch that Luca had and spoke to mistress Minna Terlane, the woman who ran the boarding house that Luca had stayed at after his initial arrival in Kingsport. While she did not know anything about Hamish’s whereabouts, she did know where the heroes could go to find dark delirium; a young associate of the Steady Hand named Jeroen, who operated out of an alleyway in the centre of Lewisham.

Second Day, First Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waxing. Bloodmoon in high sanction. Darkmoon in high sanction.)

The heroes were standing at the entrance to a cobbled alley between two large buildings, several doors down from the infamous Hoxton, the rowdy tavern that was the epicentre of the Lewisham ward. Halfway down the alleyway stood a slender young man, wearing fancy black clothing, flanked on either side by two thugs. They had taken refuge from the rain underneath the roof of a doorway; two of them were chatting away, while one of them was attempting to light a pipe.

It was decided that Quentin and Luca would approach Jeroen, while Astrid, James and Emrys would stay back and turn invisible so that they could follow discretely. Once Quentin and Luca spoke to the smirking Jeroen and asked him if he could provide them with dark delirium, he told them that he could and instructed them to follow.

He lead them down the alley to a double trapdoor on the side of the building whose doorway he had stood in to hide from the rain. The two thugs followed in their wake and one of them unlocked a padlock which held a steel rod across the doors. When the trapdoors were opened a staircase leading into a basement was revealed, and Jeroen lead Quentin and Luca down. There they found a filled store room belonging to the building they were beneath. In the centre stood what looked to be an indoor well which accessed the ancient waterways underneath the city. Jeroen, one of the thugs and the heroes climbed down the well and into the waterways, while the other thug went back up and closed the cellar doors and returned to his post in the alley.

It was at this point that Blackstar started nagging Luca; it wanted to be fed. Luca tried to block out the dark voice that was emanating from the staff while simultaneously making small talk with Jeroen and surreptitiously scratching markings in the phosphorescent moss that coated the stones of the ancient waterways. It was as much a way for Luca to memorise the way back as it was indicators to the others who were following on which direction they had taken.

Above ground, in the alleyway, Emrys and Astrid managed to distract the guard long enough that James was able to pick the padlock on the trapdoors and gain entrance to the cellar. Astrid continued to distract the guard so that Emrys could join James. Together, the two half elves descended into the waterways and quickly picked up Luca’s trail.

The entire underground journey took about fifteen minutes, during which it took the heroes and their escort through narrow slime-filled corridors, down wide canals with footpaths on each side, along walls that had strange mushrooms and spores growing among the colourful moss, and past narrow pipes that belched putrid human waste into the waterways.

Eventually, Jeroen and his thug lead Quentin and Luca down a large corridor and up ahead the heroes noticed several figures standing underneath a ladder which seemed to lead up into a similar well that they descended back in Lewisham. With a couple of signals, Jeroen informed the figures what Quentin and Luca were interested in. During the walk he had explained what their options were; they would be given a concoction which would allow them to experience a very vivid dream. It could last fifteen minutes, an hour, or even as long as half a day, depending on how much they were willing to pay. It was also possible for a courier to bring the concoction, but that was generally quite expensive and only available for the the very privileged.

Jeroen and the thug turned around and went back the way they came while Quentin and Luca met with the people standing at the bottom of the rungs leading up and out of the waterways. It was a group of three; two humans, one was bald and built like a brick shithouse, while the other was thick limbed and somewhat hunched and looked awfully familiar; it was Garvan the Tunneler, whom the heroes had met in the carceratum when they had liberated the rebel lords only several rides ago. Garvan was quite surprised to see them and he exchanged some pleasantries, including asking after lord Fabian and lord Szymon. The last person at the bottom of the ladder was a halfling woman dressed in simple commoner’s clothing. Her hair was flaming red and she had a face full of freckles. She introduced herself as Coral.

Coral brought Quentin and Luca up the ladder, out of an indoor well and onto the basement floor of a home. The room that the well was in acted like a store room and was filled with old furniture and crates. The solitary door in the room stood ajar and a soft light spilled through. The room on the other side of the door was larger and had its floor lined with straw-filled, jute sacks which were acting as make-shift mattresses.  Small tables and chairs were lining the walls and one wall seemed to have faded chalk marks on them, leading Quentin and Luca to realise that this once acted as a classroom of sorts.

People were laying on the mattresses looking like they were either asleep or barely conscious. Some of them were murmuring, some of them were lazily reaching out to things that only they could see, but none of them were lucid. Coral lead Quentin and Luca to to free mattresses and asked how long they wanted to be under the delirium’s spell. Luca said that it was his first time and so settled on a short experience. Coral walked to the entrance of the room, a door leading to a space beyond, opened it slightly and announced their arrival. Both Luca and Quentin noticed that the halfling gave a visible shudder as she closed the door behind her and went to find a seat on one of the small chairs lining the walls. She pulled out a half-finished piece of crocheting and continued working on it to take her mind off of whatever it was that she had seen behind that door that had disturbed her so.

In the meantime, Emrys and James, still invisible, had made their way to the ladder leading up. Emrys caused a distraction while James slipped up the rungs and into the room adjacent to where Quentin and Luca were waited to be served. The distraction caused Garvan to get startled, peer down the tunnel with trepidation and turn to the thug; “The skaven are coming. Tell the aberrant lords,” he said, and the thug hurried  up the ladder.

While this was happening, James had sneaked into the classroom just in time to see Hamish and a woman he recognised come out from the doorway beyond. James knew her as matron Myrtle, the head of an orphanage in Grimsdown that James had donated money to after the carceratum work. Hamish and Myrtle walked over to Quentin and Luca carrying a tray with a cup on it. Hamish looked worn, with dark rings around his eyes and sunken cheeks. He gave Luca a look that warned the warlock with an almost imperceptible shake of his head, though it was unclear what he was trying to say.

Luca and Quentin listen to Myrtle explain that they could take the concoction and they would sink into a vivid sleep. Quentin held back as Luca masterfully faked drinking it, sinking back onto the mattress and mimicking some of the behaviour that he had seen some of the other around him display. Quentin was having a harder time faking it, and it seemed as if Coral had noticed, but did not care enough to raise any alarms.

At that point the thug had made his way up the ladder, across the classroom, and through the door. Moments later he returned, this time with a strange figure in his wake; slender, tall and clothed in fine flowing robes of blue and silver. Their face was masked in a long veil that and there was something odd about their gait. James followed them back to the well leading down and watched as the strange figure gentle descended down the well, not using the ladder to climb. It came to hover half a foot above the filthy corridor floor and scanned for intruders.

While it could not see Emrys, for he was still cloaked in his invisibility spell, the figure spoke to him;

“I can sense you. The Upright Man will not be denied. Xarrombus will not be denied.”

And then a wave of distortion erupted from the figure and travelled in a cone down the corridor, overwhelming Emrys with pain, and James jumped down the well.