Session 23: Garrin Ashcopse Report

General Summary

Picking up immediately after the events of the last session, the party decides to go and find Quranis for answers. Unfortunately, they did not have a way to contact her, so they went to Kiria Evensong since she seemed well-connected. When they arrived at her home, her butler told them she had gone on the lam while current events worked themselves out. Not sure what else to do, they left a note for her.

Clowning Around

On the way home, Azid suggested they watch the raid on the Red Masks' guild house. Everyone agreed that sounded like a fine idea. As they watched the magister guard take their prisoners away in manacles, they noticed a juggler with an amused look as he watched the scene. Remembering that the Jugglers were a rival gang, they thought they'd approach to try and make an ally.
Glebnor approached the juggler and mimed various things to communicate. They ended up juggling in tandem with the street performer. Finally, Azid asked if he could speak, and he responded that he could indeed speak. With that out, they begin to ask about the Jugglers. The street performer was coy at first but eventually was convinced that they were okay to speak to and led them back to the theater and asked them to wait there. After a minute, Kiria Evensong, leader of the Jugglers, came out and asked what the group was doing there.
The party had more questions about Quranis which Evensong did her best to answer. Quranis was currently away, supposedly on Collier, on another one of her quests for some random artifact. When asked if she knew anything about Zagar, Evensong did not know who that was. Finally, when asked who stole the diamond from Ashcopse, Evensong told them again that she had thought it was one of the Rat Pack who did it. She admitted that whoever did it wasn't a member of her thieves guild, or she would know about it.
Before they left, Evensong suggested they get a bite to eat at a halfling restaurant called The Small Plate. It was as if she was implying something important about the place.

The Small Plate

In the Halfling neighborhood of The Burows, the Rat Pack located the family restaurant. A lovely lady named Rita seated them and took their order while her brother, Rizzo, cooked. As the group waited for food, Glebnor noticed a portrait on the wall showing a younger Garren Ashcopse with a wife and two children. They pointed this out to the rest of the group.
When Rita was asked about it, she said it was her family in the painting. Rizzo was more forthcoming and said that their mother had died a few years ago, and their father had cut them off and gone down a dark road. Rita finally asked why they were there and if this was about Crucelia. Curious about who Crucelia was, they asked about her and learned that she was a tiefling that had stolen something from Ashcopse because it would supposedly make him better. They had discovered who stole the Doom Croaker from Ashcopse.
Azid told them they were not with Crucelia but were interested in helping their father. Through some persuasion, they managed to get a key to the cellar door of the Ashcopse Manor. It was the only other entrance to the house besides the front door.

A Basement in the Basement's Basement

The next morning, the gang went to Ashcopse Manor. They entered through the cellar at the back of the house. Once down there, Azid began looking for secret rooms and found a staircase. Geasle barred the doors into the rest of the house and from the cellar entrance so no one could come behind them without alerting them.
The staircase led to a nondenominational chapel. Once inside, the candlelight was snuffed out while devils attacked from the shadows. The party made short work of the fiends. They relit the candles and began to search the chapel. They once again found a false wall that led to a spiral staircase going down.
In this bottom level, the walls were carved from the stone of the asteroid. They found a large chest and made their way toward it. As they did so, they heard someone cackle and a fireball exploded around them! Ashcopse was there waiting for them with a devil at his side. Geasle managed to incapacitate the devil, and the party began to attack it. However, That was a mistake, as Ashcopse launched another fireball at them.
Nearly defeated, only Geasle managed to stay up. He shot Garrin with an arrow through his mouth as he was about to say something more, killing the warlock. Meanwhile, the rest of the party had managed to get up, and they finished off the devil.

Stinkbreath's Curse

Stinkbreath has 27 days left until he turns into a werewolf.

Rewards Granted

+1,287 experience to Geasle, Azid, Glebnor, and Kouvian. +90 bonus experience to Geasle for landing the kill.