Session 4 - Of Wizards, Water, and a World Full of Walking Dead

General Summary

The afternoon after the temple cleansing saw the ragtag group go their separate ways for a few hours. Some dedicated their time to research, others in exploration of the neighborhood, but most everybody eventually found their way back to the brownstone. Was it a sense of duty that brought them back together? Security in the only “familiar” faces in this gigantic city? The thrill of adventure? 

  Deltair wrangled who was available at the apartment together in the common room and gave a rundown of the situation. They defeated the undead, but a priest remain trapped in a vortex of seawater. They discussed options, Marty’s research, there was a brief (rightfully-halted) experiment on pasta and tablesalt, locals shared the history concerning the haunted oceans, and eventually a plan was set into motion. The ever-curious Marty wanted to use her vial she surgically removed form a zombie to try and attach it to a spirit, but she was stopped after protest from the others.   Back at the temple – Tris, their water-bending (not a wizard) druid, with the support of Nira’s divine presence, altered the barrier just long enough for Deltair to yank the priestess, Dolly, free from her prison. The “knight” would have been consumed by the vortex as well if it weren’t for Fen’s strong grasp. The group didn’t have much time to collect themselves before a skirmish broke out with a watery simulacrum of the captured priestess. Again, Tris shined, her mastery of the seawater practically evaporating the foe as it split into various water sprites the others would battle. Divine light from Sehanine obliterated Dolly’s salty doppleganger, and the conflict soon ended.   Dolly had been dead for some time. Masaki would make arrangements while the party continued to question him and investigate the temple. The first suggestion, from Marty, of course, was to reanimate Dolly and experiment, which the group outright objected to – Nira was particularly offended. The first useful revelation was that some handwritten notes Marty couldn’t read weren’t Masaki’s, they were her own! Embarrassment aside, her research contained information on two potential leads on who was responsible for the sabotage – kobold contractors or a tiefling paladin by the name of Wren.   -Kobald Pascual Binh: accessed 2 days ago. Part of a contracting firm out of Kekra’s Refuge to repair pipes in the main floor. Accessed this subtemple and 3 others for related work not originally speced out but discovered during work   -Tiefling Wren Traci: accessed 3 days ago. A traveling paladin, Wren had no prior clearance to enter this subchapel but was granted access to rest over night here.   The quiet Fen voiced concern over Wren and the rest of the group agreed he was the prime target. The team went about the temple looking for more information on this paladin. With the presence of Peiskos, it was noted that various wards were placed around the temple warning of the infernal, abyssal, and dark forces. This didn’t stop Peiskos, Tris, and Fen from looking about the subchapel and discovering more vials of seawater, bigger than previously-recovered. Niranen had a very pleasant visit to the temple’s record-keeping god interface, a stark contrast to Marty’s, while others asked temple workers for clues. It was clear the Paladin’s next stop was Underwood, through portal 4.   After a quiet evening (and finishing the pasta from the afternoon’s experiment) the group settled down for a full night’s rest. Everybody went through their morning rituals and assembled in the wagon to head out of Junction.   Unlike the rest of the world, Underwood’s undead problem didn’t come from the ocean. It was a relatively new problem, as something in recent years caused the neighboring forest of Concordia to become haunted. It was enough to cause concern but not enough to stop the lumbertown from hauling our convoy after caravan of wood through Junction’s portals.   Deltair, his hometown being only a couple days away, had made frequent trips to sell livestock and horses to Underwood. He knew a stableowner, Sigfried, who was very kind and happy to inform the group that a tiefling clad in plate armor rented a horse and left just a couple hours ago, heading north into the cursed wood of Concordia. The group left the wagon with Sigfriend, Maks and Bryn staying with it.   The party’s own tiefling Peiskos lead the way into the woods, shaped as a dire wolf. It wasn’t long before the paths disappeared and they were confronted by pixies who “wanted to play tag.” Tag involved the spellcasters and Tatil chasing after the pixies as Fen and Deltair engaged three huge ogres who were also in on the game. Thankfully, the game only lasted a few minutes and the party won. This also meant the pixies were happy to show the group to the loser of their last game – an armor-clad tiefling who was in a magic sleep!