Session Preface:
The excursion from the Wink & Kiss back to the discovered remains is a direct but tense journey as Kestrel walks by your side with an effortless silence. A stride's length behind you, Naaren and Haliyra's glares could drive daggers through your skulls. The two crossbow bearing Hands walk behind them with a handful of other Hand members, anticipating an ambush or other assault.
Returning to the scene of the earlier encounter, the air still reeks of a putrid blend of burnt fur, melted flesh and the rancid gurgling liquid rolling steadily beneath the narrow stone bridge. As you lead the way, you are the first to arrive before the ruined stone wall leading into the hollow stone column. Your gut sinks as you look into the darkness and see only the disgusting stone floor and a single flick of a tail from a half-scorched rat scurrying on a ledge above and then out of sight. No signs of the bodies found only an hour before, bones or otherwise, remain in this dark, foul place.
"Tymora save us." Kestrel gasps, as she overlooks the empty corridor. "Hands, to arms!" The remaining members of Hand fan out around you, weapons drawn and their eyes wide darting between the three of you and any other potential assailants.
Kestrel draws a slender dagger from her belt as she takes a step back from you, her small stature assuming an air of ferocity and indignation. "You have about six seconds to explain why you have brought us here, to tell me where you got this bloody sash, and to answer me where my girls are or I swear to the gods you'll regret every stepping foot in Yartar."
Session Summary:
Following a tense exchange between the dissenting Hands of Yartar and the party, the now familiar telepathic voice reaches out to Emmyth, promising to teaching him arcane secrets if he and the others follow the rats deeper into the sewers. The party climbs through an illusory stone ceiling, discovering a series of shafts which lead to another opening and further below the city surface.
When the sewer descent finally levels off, the party finds a pair of caved in walls, one leading a series of four jail cells, the other to a room of storage. In the latter, scrawled messages written in Deep Speech with rat blood and brains depicts a series of strange connections between various individuals and organizations throughout Yartar, as well as disconnected musings and a list of organizations which have been infiltrated. While trying to make sense of the symbols and pairings, the party discovers dozens of rats and several wererats all silently and motionlessly watching them make their way through the subterranean complex.
Through the next corridor, the party approaches a fifteen foot chasm, on the other side of which is the creature which has been telepathically offering its knowledge to Emmyth in exchange for Thaust. Emmyth feigns interest in the deal long enough to gather more details about this entity, who introduces himself as Nalynaul the Shriveled, though he prefers himself to be Nalynaul the Liberated. Following his exile, this creature, which was once a proper mindflayer, seeks to gather influence within the city of Yartar to put an end to the infighting which keeps it from rising higher in the ranks of the Lord's Alliance and thus to position himself to aid the city and gather the arcane secrets he desires in the process.
After Hawk barks out a sarcastic insult belittling Nalynaul's efforts, the alhoon decides to make an example of Hawk, casting a powerful spell which burns a hole in his chest through to the rib bone and nearly knocking him unconscious from the sheer pain of the force. After this inciting incident, rats and wererats alike begin to descend upon the party. With the use of Zeus' divine blessings, Thaust quickly disposes of many of the lesser threats while Emmyth animates the stone rubble around the party to hinder Nalynaul's path towards them. Even with this hindrance, the powerful alhoon manages to fly towards the party and use the powerful arcane abilities it has already accumulated to knock Thaust unconscious and severely injure Hawk and Emmyth. In the process, Emmyth is burdened with vivid and near-crippling nightmares of those he loves and cherishes meeting terrible and disastrous fates - drowning in strange seas, pierced with countless arrows, and other gruesome ends.
Even so, the party manages to rally against the creature, forcing its eventual retreat, but not before it promises to "make an example" of these meddlesome heroes.
The party catches their breath and recovers from the battle, Thaust embracing Emmyth as the nightmares continue to weigh heavily on his mind while Hawk tends to the human child who was just moments prior a wererat. When the boy regains consciousness, the party discovers him to be Samuel, the older brother of Simmon, who Hawk met the night before. Hawk helps Samuel to his feet and the party continue on their way, coming to a stone archway blocked by a smooth massive stone, which Thaust quickly shatters.
On the other side of the archway, the party find themselves in the Shield Keep, the prison and military stronghold beyond the southwest wall of Yartar, much to the prisoner and guard's surprise alike. When the party is taken to speak to Captain Tholzar Brenner, Hawk offers to stay as collateral so that Thaust and Emmyth can go back into the city, ensuring the safety of Emmyth's family. Running straight to Lorelei's home, he finds Gerard and Gwynnestri playing and Lorelei taking care of daily chores at the Fishyard.
During this time, Hawk exchanges questions and barbed responses with Captain Tholzar, who prods at Hawk's intent beneath the sewers and the extent of his knowledge of the creature they encoutered. Hawk notes Tholzar's lack of surprise as to a mindflayer working beneath the city and the captain's use of unenforceable threats of arrest and detainment for questionable charges before the party is eventually reunited and allowed to depart the keep on the condition they are out of the city within two days.
Upon returning to the city proper, the party sees Samuel off to find Simmon with gold in his pocket and make their way to a much-needed bath to remove the remnants of their delve into the sewers. Emmyth and Thaust pay the premium prices at the Dragonclaw Bath, while Hawk's indignation at the pomp and pretentious clerk finds him diving into the river to wash off instead. Following their respective baths, the party meets up once again and decides to follow a lead provided by Nalynaul's strange writings which claimed "Kolbaz knows!" and head towards the Lemonbark Villa where he resides to discover exactly what it is Kolbaz knows and where it might next lead them in the thickening plot.
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