Session 22: War! Report

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion at Appleton's grocer, The Rat Pack went to see what they could do to help. Pedestrians filled the streets to see what had happened. Stinkbreath scanned the crowd, looking for whoever cast the fireball, but he saw more panic at the end of the road. A group of Red Mask thugs were attacking civilians in the street!

Wasp Street Rumble

Stinkbreath and the others immediately addressed the brigands in the street, even though they were still weakened after their battle with the hags. Kouvian made it to their apparent leader first but was stunned by her skill in battle. He tried calling on his divine abilities to smite her but failed again. His theory that it was a problem from the demi-plane was wrong, and he would have to adapt.
To add to the chaos, one of the Red Masks' threw a Molotov cocktail into their tavern. Azid quickly got his undead minions to start putting out the fire. With that underway, he began casting spells from his vantage point on a building wall. He couldn't stop Kouvian from being cut down in the streets but was instead able to entrance a group of attackers.
Meanwhile, down the street, Stinkbreath and Glebnor were busy fighting more Red Masks and a golden devil. While Stinkbreath's curse protected him from many of the attacks of the bandits, it did nothing to stop the magical barrage of attacks from the devil. Gesale, seeing that combat had stopped thanks to Azid's spellcasting, made his way to help his brother. He lunged for the devil and began to eat him. This gave Glebnor the opening they needed to get to Kouvian and revive him. At the same time, Azid's minions finished putting out the fire and went outside to join the fray.
The battle finally turned in favor of the Rat Pack. With Geasle and Stinkbreath dealing with the devil and his allies and Kouvian fighting again alongside Azid's undead, the group put down the last of the Red Masks. Geasle and Stinkbreath even managed to shoot down a fleeing bandit.
The Magister's guard arrived shortly after the fighting had ceased. With the information about the Red Masks and all of the witnesses to back the Rat Pack, the guard said that they would handle things from there and raid the gang's headquarters. With nothing more to do, the group decided to turn in and rest after a difficult battle.

In the Aftermath

The following day, the group was surprised to see that some of the residents of Wasp Street had come together and started making repairs to the tavern. However, this was not the only surprise as Kiria Evensong arrived with her bodyguards. She approached Kouvian and asked to speak with him in private. Kouvian led her and the others upstairs.
Kiria admitted that she had given the property to the Rat Pack because she believed that they would disrupt the dealings of the Red Masks. When questioned about her motives even further, she only hinted that her business was similar to the Red Masks but assured them that she was not running an operation of killers and thugs. Feeling partially responsible for everything that had happened, she offered the group secret information about the true leader of the Red Masks: Garrin Ashcopse.
Ashcopse was a halfing obsessed with collecting magical artifacts, believing they would somehow restore his dead wife. One such item was the Doom Croaker, which Kiria said was stolen from him. Like Kiria, Ashcopse believed the Rat Pack had stolen it from him. Kiria offered to keep the guards away so the Rat Pack could directly deal with the crime boss, but she warned them that he would be expecting an attack and that it would not be easy getting to him.

A Moment for Prayer

Kouvian took a moment to pray to his god, Veles. He needed to know what was wrong with his magic but admittedly did not expect a response for the god. He was surprised when a booming voice filled his head, accusing him of forgetting his true purpose.
Caught off guard, Kouvian asked how he had done so. Veles told him that he had sworn to defend the world from threats from the Void. Even then, a threat had been growing near Kouvian; he had not even caught on. Surprised and unaware of the threat, Kouvian asked for details. Veles warned him that a dragon had come into some power that could destroy entire spheres. Veles told Kouvian that the truth would reveal itself to him very soon.

Stinkbreath's Curse

Stinkbreath now only has 28 days to deal with his curse, or he will become a werewolf.