Stormreach Investigations

[Fricko]

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Waldhorn - Gathering and Sharing... What Now?

The group of friends listened to Ashja's disturbing report, delivered in almost a whisper to avoid the ears of other patrons of the Rusty Nail. There was a long moment of silence, as each considered this new evidence. It was actually only troubling and suspicious, when coupled past observations, and with the other information they had uncovered recently.

"We need privacy", Waldhorn spoke grimly, tilting his head toward the occupied table near the knife throwers. "I have items from Friar Rolie's bag of holding to share as well. Maps, research documents, jotted musings in the margins of a history tome. That is best not done in public."

"We have privacy assured on the ......," Curissa made bird wings of her hands, blue electrical sparks forming, to circle them in a manner informing each that she was referring to their Airship, the Windspyre Sparrow.

Kory nodded, and Ashja stood.

"An hour, then?"

"Bring what information you each have gathered so far, and we will start putting the pieces together." Ashja spoke, then made her way around the edge of the room, slipping in and out of the shadows, to disappear near the exit to Jester's Haunt.

The rest followed soon after, with Koryx rising last, due to an inability to leave his tankard with perfectly good ale still in it.

Waldhorn entered the airship tower at the north end of the Marketplace, nodding to the Lady at the wheel, Captain Anceia d'Lyrandar, and the untalkative First Mate, a Kobold named Ziksquik, on his way to the hatch leading below decks.

The young Paladin of The Sovereign Host had rearranged crates and boxes to form a small living space in the cargo hold in the airship bow. The area held a low slung hammock for a bed, with porthole above his reclining head, two lockable chests for clothing and personal items, a pair of armor racks, and a weapon rack. His quill and ink pot rested on a sturdy table, fashioned from empty crate lumber. His single chair was made from cutting away portions of an empty barrel, then padding a seat and backing with discarded cloth, covered in soft leather. Light was provided by the porthole, and a shard lamp with blackout hood that hung from an overhead beam.

He carried a cloak sling of scrolls, tomes, and assorted parchments up the narrow ladder from his 'room' in the cargo hold. These items were then carefully spread over the end of a long table across the passageway from Three Fingered Thad's 'bar', and their onboard traders on the first lower deck. In truth, Thad's establishment on the lower deck was not really a bar, but more of a general vendor in nature. Waldhorn suspected that Koryx had much to do with the fact that Dwarf approved beverages were available on the side.

Curissa and Koryx both had training and experience in worldly business that Waldhorn and Ashja lacked, so supplementing their income with Thad's friends, traveling traders in Armor, Weapons, and Clothing, seemed a good idea. Where the Sparrow took them on investigative missions, the Traders went as well, doing business and sharing the profits with them to offset the costs of owning an airship. It was working out quite well for all, if you did not consider the thrice cursed parrot that came with the deal.

Waldhorn settled into his chair at the long table, and carefully held a very old tome in quiet contemplation. The wooden covers were originally wrapped in leather, the front once ornately painted, and gilded in gold. There were only leather tatters now, with faded colors in spots to show there had been a painting illustrating the content. The gilded edges now held only miniscule flecks of gold, but where the leather remained, one could see the gilding had been very detailed, with twisted thorn vines and wickedly spiked leaves.

It was one of many scholarly references he'd found in Friar Rolie's bag. It appeared to be a tome published by the Host, dealing with techniques for eliminating evil entities. From use stains, wear, and margin notes, his friend... a Missionary of the Flame, who would be put to the question for possessing a Tome not approved by the Mission Board... seemed to have a particular interest in the undead, Vampires in particular, and in Demon kind. Unconsciously, the Paladin twisted the old Friar's Sovereign Host ring around his finger, drawing comfort from an emblem of the Host, strangely worn by a most devout member of the Silver Flame.

Lost in thought, he waited the arrival of his friends.

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[DrowsworD]

Questions and answers concerning the Overlords, and what it may take to release one.

http://keith-baker.com/dragonmarks-3...lords-of-dust/

[DrowsworD]

Koryx was listening to Sister Bernadette, giving him alesson on the history of the Necropolis. She spoke in low tones about all these strange things started happeningthe last few years. Suddenly she gasped,crossed herself in the way some pious folk do and whispered “Oh Holy Ones saveus from evil.”

Koryx looked in the directionshe was facing and saw the procession; poorly dressed ‘knights’, with tatteredcloaks and mismatched armor, surrounding a group of hooded ones in great darkrobes. Koryx had not seen these before.

In a hushed voice the Sistersaid, “There are ancient scrolls hidden in the secret places of Stormreach. Some members of the Host, and the SilverFlame know of these writings. Perhaps theyhold clues to what is happening within the Necropolis and Stormreach."

“Sister”, Koryx turnedBernadette gently from the group now disappearing into the Necropolis grounds,“do not speak of this to any but the most trustworthy of your sect. A word in the wrong ear could spelldisaster. I must be off to find myfriends now. Good day to you. Be blessed.”

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Koryx looked at the pile of scrolls and sheaves of paperWaldhorn laid out on the table. “I don’tknow much about the Flame, only what we were told in our history lessons. And, not much of that I remember. Something about a Paladin and a coatl,fighting a demon.”

“That battle, if I remember correctly, was the result of therelease and re-capture of an Overlord. The paladin and the coatl sacrificed themselves in the Flame to seal theOverlord in its trap. I don’t think a ‘shadow’in the Flame was ever mentioned; at least not in my teachings. Sounds like something the high priests would wantto keep hidden, from everyone.”

“So, what do we know?” Without waiting for Waldhorn to speakKoryx continued. He was on a roll. “Overthe years, monsters and undead have been gradually increasing in numbers withinthe Necropolis. Undead priests andnecromancers have joined together in performing ancient rituals at the altarsburied within. Although we have stoppedsome of these events, others are on-going and we have no knowledge of what theresults will be. And now, dark priests and their knights are seen entering thegraveyard.”

“It seems we know what has happened, and what we haveprevented, but we have little knowledge of the why or what lies in the future. More investigations and study are warranted.”

Koryx sat back down, took a pull at his beard and emptiedhis tankard. This was probably the mosthe had spoken, and the most serious he had been, since Curissa had beenkidnapped.

[DrowsworD]

Finishing his ale after such a long speech, Koryx looks over some of the maps Waldhorn has spread across the table. "It seems the twists of this tale may spread throughout Stormreach, perhaps even further than."

A commotion at the door of Thad's tavern starts, whispers of "How'd you get onboard?", and then louder voices of "...must speak to Prior Koryx..." brings all to halt as they look toward the noise.

One of the ship handlers is holding the arm of thin, young child, trying to keep him out of the tavern. The girl skirts out of the man's grasp, her quick dodge tagging her immediately as a Halfling, not a Human child.

Koryx pushes back his chair and, taking his mug with him, approaches. "Hold!", Koryx says, as the man reaches for the girl - woman again. "Sister, what is so important that you find your way to our home this time of night?" After a few quick words, Koryx motions for the woman to follow him. "You there", directing his voice to the sailor, "Good work, sort of. Good to know an assassin would get only halfway to their goal with you on watch. Get Sister Yeets a glass of wine please."

As they sit at the table, Koryx introduces Sister Yeets Shimis, "You may have met my twin brother, the scoundrel, though he does mean well in his own way. But enough of that. Prior, a new, or rather, old and unusual, document has been found. It details much of what is taking place, or will take place. Some who have studied say it is a fake, others, that it is prophecy. The High Sister thought you might want to search it for information regarding", lowering here voice to a whisper, "the strange events at the Necropolis."


https://www.dropbox.com/s/klqtexnd3g...paign.pdf?dl=0

[Aeryyn]

Ashja lounged in the space she had created for herself in the cargo hold of Storm's Reach, the airship the Investigators had recently purchased. When she saw what Waldhorn had done with a few boxes and crates in the bow, she decided to follow his lead – she created a little niche of her near the stern. She figured it wouldn’t be long before Koryx joined them, if for no other reason than to save himself the coin. Curissa, on the other hand, enjoyed her luxuries and the half-elf wasn’t sure the Sorceress wanted to continue living in such close quarters with the rest of the group.

Like Waldhorn, Ashja had rearranged some of the leftover boxes and crates, and created a small, but private, space in which she could meditate and recharge her energy. She lay back in her hammock and thought about what they knew. It wasn’t much.

First: The group from which Ashja escaped was some kind of cult within the Church of the Silver Flame. Second: An artifact was stolen by unknown persons from a Church-sanctioned expedition in the Mournland.

She couldn’t help but think that all of this is connected to what Koryx said earlier in the day: “Over the years, monsters and undead have been gradually increasing in numbers within the Necropolis. Undead priests and necromancers have joined together in performing ancient rituals at the altars buried within. Although we have stopped some of these events, others are on-going and we have no knowledge of what the results will be. And now, dark priests and their knights are seen entering the graveyard.”

It certainly did appear as if dark priests were entering the graveyard. And why would the Flame-ites let them pass? Events still didn’t add up. How were the cult, Waldhorn’s missing artifact connected, and the Necropolis connected? That bore thinking about.

Her mind kept going back to the robed group that had entered the Necropolis last time she had visited. Something about one of them struck a chord with her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. Rolling out of her hammock, she prepared to meditate.

Sitting on a cushion before her altar to the Host, she lit a candle. Chanting softly, she lit a bowl of ritual incense using the candle. Breathing deeply, she inhaled the cleansing scent clearing her mind as her chest rose and fell in measured time. As thoughts came, she acknowledged them, then let them go. Random thoughts began to take on a theme. Walking. Something about a walk.

That was it! The robed group in the Necropolis! Petrik! One of the robed ones was Petrik! Brother Varn’s pet acolyte! She should have recognized it immediately. What was HE doing here? Wait, does that mean that Brother Varn is here, too? A chill ran down Ashja’s spine. Brother Varn scared her a little. No, Petrik scared her a little, Brother Varn scared her a LOT!