Session 50: The City Secrets

General Summary

Timble has secretly slipped through the portal at the same time as the rest of the party. Following them, he had took up a position in one of the abandoned ruins at the edge of Lindwurm. He does notice the abundance of snakes in place of other predators in the region. Speaking to them he picks up the city is disturbed by the arrival of the "Outsiders" and two prisoners they are keeping below the townhall.

Keller gets up and goes around the city seeing many different spices & food sellers. He notices the hall and attached buildings north & south of it. He also interacts with some type of animal controller.

The rest get up and go for food in the tavern. Archi goes to speak to the guard leader outside. He notices Timble sticking his head up and giving him a wave before vanishing.

Archi finds that the guard knows nothing about the snake cult mask.

Going back Archi mentions that he talked to the guard, and Magnar goes up to talk to him instead. Archi decides to read the guard's mind, and accidentally reads Magnar's as well. Archi gets the impression of a sacrifice and a strange knife or dagger getting used. Magnar notices the eyes of the guard seems to be snakelike twice.

They meet up with Keller outside the townhall, and Timble appears behind them, and both Archi & Magnar have found out from the guard there is a town meeting later that night. They notice the inner townhall is guarded and inaccessible. Timble wanders off and finds the north building is the city's treasury with two treasurers and the door straight in to it is heavily fortifies. The door sits as well in a frame of an open snake's mouth carving, with a large lock with one smaller lock above & below.

When standing there the team find children are around along with pet snakes - all being vipers and adders. Another snake appears and, slowly tasting Magnar, and climbs up him. Timble tries to talk to it, and it can mell Anselma's Egyptian Cobra and Magnar recognises this is one too.

They then decide Magnar is disguised as a young boy with Keller Wild Shapes into a viper. This done after the cobra slips off and goes into the hall, and others saying it is auspicious that it approached Magnar.

They do this and manage to get into the town hall.

Looking round there is an exceptionally heavy door to the north with 6 locks obviously leading to the treasury. At each corner of the room are statues. Each is humanoid and an animal's head - a bird, a snake, a crocodile, and a baboon. At the centre of the room, carved into the floor, is a design of a snake's head with the mouth open. Sitting at the southern end is a bald man with lines painted around his eyes. The cobra appears and settles down by him. He is dressed in a mix of Germanic, Slavic, and Middle Eastern one piece down as far as his ankles. He is also wearing sandals.

They ask if he knows anything about the snake cult mask. He replies he does have it in the treasury, and is precious to his people so he's not giving it to them. Asked for further information, his people were primarily from the Levant with a couple of powerful families in the city is from Egypt. Forced out of there they made their way to the ruins of Lindwurm, and are suspicious of outsiders due to being constantly attacked and forced to move so much.

Again they ask if anything can be done to get the mask, he refuses.

They leave and work out what to do next.

Deciding they need to get into the treasury, they work out that they wait till the meeting and a supposed feast afterwards and break into the treasury.

Waiting till night-time, they go round and make out that the initial room in is empty, Magnar smashes his way through the door and they set about the door. Archi uses magic to break down the door into constituent parts, setting off a trap that a pit opens up after the locks disengage, which is a pit that disappears at an angle somewhere below the building.

Jumping over, Timble runs past piles of gold and gems grabbing the mask from a separate dais, and a book on another separate dais. He stops to look at the treasure and see there are gems mixed in with the gold. A click comes from the two dais, and the room starts to fill with poison gas. Timble immediately runs and jumps across.

Archi flies across and randomly grabs treasure using his Bag of Holding and flies back while being poisoned.

He is healed and they use the remaining Sphere of Travel, appearing in Eschbach's town square just as a gigantic snake comes out of the pit.

They go to bed before going to see Father Tossil, and Archi checks to see if the Purple Worm is still about the Plateau.

Getting up they share out some treasure, and each getting 145 gold from Archi who keeps some for his debts. The three ivory statues are handed out, a Ring of Strength is doled out, along with a Ring of Constitution, and a Necklace of Feather Falling, along with two rough diamonds to Timble.

It turns out the book is a rare Coptic Bible.

Going round to Father Timble, who is impressed with their find, and completely wipe out Archi's record. He offers Timble something for the bible and all Timble wants his a camouflage cloak that needs repaired.

Rewards Granted

1000 gp Coptic Bible, 726 gold, 2 rough Diamonds worth 500 gold each.