06 - 7/13/21 : The Enemy Within

In-game date: 3rd of Freymond - 4th of Freymond, 3521  

“It’s not about the truths you tell, but the lies that people believe.”
Captain Draen Plavrag

  The party, fresh from their defeat in cards by Piece of the Puzzle, were treated to a round of drinks at the bar by their feline friend. The bartender, a gnomish woman named Vellabriadrana, served interesting, striking drinks to the party while Puzzle inquired into the state of Trollskull Manor. As they chatted, a human man wearing dress fit for a pirate sat at the bar, and was called ‘captain’ by Vella as she handed him a drink of his own.   As Reilly began to inquire about the drinks provided aboard the Dead Man’s Hand, the pirate chimed in and clarified that some of the more outlandish drinks were gifts from his own personal stash. Introducing himself as Captain Draen Plavrag, the pirate spoke of his origins in the nearby Buntesveldt city of Bliski; however, he moved to the pirate isle of Providence Bay early in his life, where he learned the seafaring trade. Following the abrupt and unplanned absence of the planned captain of the Sea Maiden’s Faire, Captain Plavrag was contracted by Fortune’s Crossing’s leadership to fill the role.   Captain Plavrag also mentioned that he recognized the name of Trollskull Manor from the latest issue of the Targe, and mentioned that the publication had given the party the moniker “The Red Spirits”, a nickname owed to the fact that each party member had some shade of red hair, and that they owned a tavern that was rumored to be haunted. As the party advertised their soon-to-be-open tavern to the captain (who agreed to visit soon to talk about the delivery of libations), it was announced that showtime was imminent outside. The newly coined Red Spirits made their way outside.   Rosie the Riveting once again addressed the crowd and introduced the play as a Xha’en production, and that tradition outlined that the actors playing the four protagonists of the play would bestow their own names to their characters. The play began, introducing the protagonists of Kalin, Lyra, Aria, and Szifra; four warriors that banded together to oppose the tyranny of King Leo and to free Kalin’s love Princess Cornelia from an arranged political marriage.   As the heroes fought their way through the defenses of King Leo, Szifra revealed herself as a traitor who wished to see Cornelia marry a foreign prince to assure peace between nations. Lyra opposed Szifra’s betrayal and dueled her while Aria and Kalin pushed further into the castle.   Kalin managed to break into Princess Cornelia’s quarters, and the two lovers expressed their desire to abandon the nobility and elope to far off lands. Meanwhile, Szifra reported to King Leo; Leo surmised that Szifra’s betrayal of Kalin could easily become a betrayal to the crown, and executed Szifra on the spot.   However, before the party could watch the rest of the play, they were able to perceive the sound of a scuffle on the edge of the gathered crowd by the outdoor stage. Megumi, too engrossed by the play to notice and too small to maneuver through the crowd, stayed behind. Pushing through the crowd, the party was able to follow a trail leading into the back alleys of the Dock Ward, and Reilly’s keen investigative eye managed to follow said trail to a bookstore called Serpent Books and Folios. The trail led to a secret door that opened to a stone stairway that descended below street level, which Brooke decided to have Violet scout out.   Violet meandered below ground and managed to stay hidden from the passage’s occupants; a cult of Asmodeus led by a frighteningly large man clad in piecemeal armor and dripping with molten metal. The cult chanted in Infernal to their lord, proclaiming their intent to sacrifice both blood and gold to the lord of the Nine Hells:  

“Lord Asmodeus, Prince of Nessus and Ruler of all Baator,
May our humble offerings sate thy endless and infernal hunger.
Accept this offering, that it may delay thine wrath unto the end of Fleet wake.
Upon this altar shall blood spill, and coin shall rain.”

  The party slowly snuck into the passage and remained hidden; however, as Violet investigated further into the passage, she discovered the cult’s captives and also triggered a silent alarm, eliminating the possibility of surprise. The party leapt into combat, with Reilly and Renaer leading the charge.   The cultists proved to be deft and deadly unarmed combatants, using their infernal teachings to deliver precision blows that tested the limits of Reilly’s arcanomechanical armor. Yilani transformed into a giant snake, Lacky launched inky blasts of dark magical energy, and Brooke inspired the party with glamorous displays of showmanship. Leading the cultist was a deadly, fiery Hand of Asmodeus, a towering humanoid figure that struck with great strength and zealous conviction.   The force of the cultists nearly overwhelmed Reilly, who was stricken to near unconsciousness several times. Renaer bought her some precious time and caught several of the cultists off guard with a cast of burning hands. In a fit of desperation, Reilly rose from a debilitating blow and unleashed a powerful thunderwave spell that slew many of the cultists and nearly brought the Hand of Asmodeus low. In a last show of devotion to his dark lord, the Hand rushed at the party and threw himself on his own sword, causing a fiery explosion that seriously harmed but ultimately did not slay any of the Red Spirits.   Yilani discovered that one of the cultists was still barely alive, and nudged him into consciousness to interrogate him. However, the cultist was prepared for the eventuality, and bit down on a fake tooth that flooded his mouth with a poison that shriveled him to a corpse-like appearance within seconds, killing him almost instantly.   Meanwhile, Brooke and Lacky (just outside of the main chamber) were approached by a masked woman who identified herself as the Black Viper. The moniker was an interesting choice; Lacky remembered the Black Viper as a common bedtime story hero for the commoner children of Revelmoore, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and also covertly assassinated the most corrupt of nobles.   Renaer, however, recognized the masked woman and pulled away her mask, revealing her to be Esvele Rosznar, the missing noble daughter whose absence had spurred the quest to investigate the Dock Ward disappearances in the first place. Esvele had adopted the persona of the Black Viper out of protest against the noble lifestyle and the poor state of the Dock Ward, and had tried to solve the disappearances in the Ward herself before realizing that she had gotten herself in way over her head when realizing that she was up against a cult.   Esvele stated her intent to keep stealing away from her restrictive parents and their plans to have her take over the family wine business, and asked the party not to reveal her secret; the party agreed on the condition that the ‘Black Viper’ take credit for busting the cult, to keep their names out of the broadsheets. Brooke also secured an interview with the Black Viper, promising to keep Esvele’s identity a secret in exchange for a scoop.   Together with Esvele, the party freed the captives, which included the eccentric and strangely named chef Bepis Flavorburgh. Bepis told the party that he was merely watching the play to dampen the blow from being fired from his previous job for over-spicing the food when he had been accosted. He mentioned that if they were looking for a cook, he was available for hire, which the party took him up on. Before leaving, the party discovered and opened a chest that contained over three-hundred gold pieces.   As the party returned to the surface, Lacky began to express her own horror at her first time taking a life, even though their enemies had been irredeemable devil worshippers, and that the act of killing had resulted in her making more money than she ever had at once. The party made an effort to calm her down and assure her that the right course of action had been taken. Brooke and Reilly also gave some of their share of the treasure to the common folk they had rescued and sent them on their way.   Reilly called to mind the debt she owed to Raeziel as they went over the gold received, to which Renaer offered to put his own resources as a noble scion to cover. Reilly initially refused, saying that she could not do such a thing without returning the favor in full, as was fae tradition. Renaer expressed that all he wanted from Reilly was for her to be his friend, something that meant more to him than “all the gold in Revelmoore” given his tendency to be reviled for his father’s crimes. Reilly processed this offer for a time before nervously accepting. Renaer happily asked for her to visit him at his home of Brandath manor to take care of the details.   Finally, the party returned to Trollskull Manor and prepared for bed. Just as they had become settled, they heard the scream of Emmek Frewn from across the alley just as the Rat Catchers returned to the tavern. The Rat Catchers explained that they had followed Yilani’s suggestion that their giant rat catch ‘needed friends’, and dropped off a bunch of smaller rats in Emmek Frewn’s taphouse as well. Yilani, disappointed that the Rat Catchers had acted on their own initiative instead of following her orders to the letter, requested that they once again procure for her a bunch of rats; this time, Reilly made it known that it was for Yilani to eat them, an idea that the Rat Catchers found strange but acceptable.   On the morning of the 4th of Freymond, the Rat Catchers departed to the Dock Ward to search for their quarry; Squiddly was briefly separated from his friends as he looked down into a quiet and obscure alleyway, where he spied Captain Draen Plavrag adjusting a feathered hat on his head. As he finished adjusting the hat, the hat vanished, and the captain turned to Squiddly. With one hand he held up a finger to his mouth to indicate silence, while with his other hand the captain flipped a platinum coin over to Squiddly. Squiddly looked at his new treasure, and then looked back up to see that the captain had vanished.