Session 45: Fun With Dolls

General Summary

Our adventurers start off after killing the Master of the Bladed Pouch and make their way to Eschbach.

There they get to rest up and and Magnar gets up first. Looking at the bag he put the Shadow Daggers in. Finding it empty and a puff of smoke coming from it. Going to Arne, he can't explain how it happened.

Archi at the apothecary finds that Hilda hasn't touched Edwardo but has two new friends, a couple of jumping spiders. She tells him that a 'friend' cut open the spider silk covering the basement's grate. She never seen who it was but appeared small & feminine voice. She said the 'friend' will be back at night.

He goes to find Magnar & Arne who are in the Eschbach Shields.

As a group, they go to the council, who are having breakfast without Bjorn who is seriously ill partly due to his advanced age. The Shadar-Kai had visited the town during the night to talk to the Burgeaters to see if the Shadow Daggers were recovered. The council is able to contact them the once to tell the Shadar-Kai that they were retrieved and disappeared.

They go to Archi's apothecary and examines the grate, and find it was finely cut from the outside.

At that point, Arne & Magnar fall ill, and notice a few others around this part of the town. Asking these others, including a 6 year old girl, they find all of them had drunk the morning ale from the Eschbach Shields.

Rushing back to the council, they find them ill too, and they are told that the ale was obviously poisoned. Our heroes are informed that a fire was set off at the back of the brewery.

Making their way there, they find that a fire had been started as a distraction, and the brew master brings them in to say that they think the brewery was deliberately broken into and at least one keg of morning ale tampered with some type of poisonous salts. He shows them the keg, and the salts are sticking to the inside. Magnar looks and can see the plug had been battered into place by something small instead of the usual mallets that are used.

They also talk to 2 Halflings & 2 humans repairing damage to Reolus' cottage. They are known around town for being labourers and happily let the heroes look around Reolus' cottage in the off-chance there is anything.

From there they think it may be the Bladed Pouch considering the attacks and the Shadar-Kai taking an interest.

Asking members of the council and Baldwin, they get a general overview at the moment with the Bladed Pouch. Archi thinks there may be one that may be of use.

Breaking out Chuckie, the new doll he has with the soul of the Master of the Bladed Pouch, Archi starts asking her questions. She replies that she's basically not going to tell where there is any Bladed Pouch hideouts in the area.

They find also that the Master had made bargains with the Dark Gods that exist in the Shadowfell.

Chuckie does tell them that they are all going to die, but then, they may live if they're lucky.

At this point, Archi also gets her to speak to Hilda after the latter doesn't recognize the doll. Hilda tells them that Chuckie has the voice she heard.

Arne & Magnar eventually persuade Archi to take Chuckie to Granny Barrowbye to destroy Chuckie.

They get there and Granny examines the doll, telling them that the spells used in it's creation has been warped and not fully reformed into the 'correct' forms yet.

She also tells them that it will be a ritual to get rid of it, maybe completely.

They go into a room which is locked and darkened, with Arne casting Alarm spells, Magnar standing to one side ready to strike. candle are lit, and Granny Barrowbye starts to mark up the ritual.

When the time comes, Archi who is holding Chuckie, gets stabbed in the hand by Chuckie to try to escape.

He survives, and place Chuckie in the centre of the room. She turns invisible, and they start the ritual.

It starts of fine but the part that Archi has to read is fumbled leading to what sounds like giggling and movement in the magic circle.

They try again in the off-chance, but Granny Barrowbye fumbles her part.

Afterwards, it turns out that Chuckie survived and escaped. She used invisibility, and had the ability of the Shadar-Kai to jump through shadows. The noise during the ritual, was Chuckie using it to escape, and now...

Chuckie is now loose around town.