TWiki > CouncilOfThieves > AgainstTheBastards	TWiki webs: Main | TWiki | Sandbox
	CouncilOfThieves . { Changes | Index | Search | Go }

Against the Bastards

NPC Roll-call

• Arael is the official leader as well as a elven cleric of Iomedae.
• Janiven is a skilled urban archer who served as Arael's agent. She died while trying to defeat the Bastards of Erebus. (deceased)

Hellknights

• Paralictor Chiwetel Khorelos is a hellknight officer who arranged the heroes release in trade for eliminating the Bastards.
  • Kern is a tiefling hellknight who works for Chiwetel.
• Signifier Armiger Shanwen is a human armiger cleric who captured the heroes during a unsuccessful prisoner rescue.

The Bastards of Erebus were a gang of tiefling thugs who prey on the citizens of Telflamm in their homes after it grows dark.

• Palaveen was the leader of the Bastards. (deceased)
• Dravano the Digger was a powerful tiefling with claws powerful enough to tunnel through solid rock. (deceased)
• Vethamer was a cruel tiefling mummy and brother to Ostengo (deceased)
• Ostengo is a cruel tiefling mummy and brother to Vethamer

Locations

• Rego Cader, or "Dead Sector", is the ruined most northerly section of Telflamm, mostly abandoned.
  • Old Temple of Erastil, secret hideout for the Bastards of Erebus

Parego Spera, or "Hope's Altar", is the still prosperous section of the city where trade trumps politics.

• • The Drunken Pope, a tavern and often too public meeting place of many Scions, Vrok rents a room upstairs and regularly receives mail from (the barkeep). In addition, Isa is employed as a cook here.

• Rego Scripa, or "Scribe Sector" is the location for the Hellknight garrison and many scribe businesses.
  • Taranik House, the city garrison of the Order of the Rack Hellknights, housed in the ex-scriptorium, is located close to the junction of Rego Scripa, Rego Pena, and Rego Sacero. A single-story stone building, Taranik House is nonetheless intimidating in its squat and imposing presence - part castle, part bunker, part icon of the Order of the Rack. A pair of Hellknights stands guard before the building's front gates.

Creatures

• Guard Dog
• Hell Dogs
• Hellknight Armigers
• Rot Grub, Giant
• Tiefling Thugs
• Zombies

Part 1 - 3-25-11

• Brian playing Toras and Vrok.
• John playing Arvin.
• Rachel playing Tengu.
• Tom playing Granthor.

Captured by the Hellknight Signifier Shanwen during their ill-fated rescue attempt for Arael, the heroes are questioned by Paralictor Chiwetel Khorelos as to their organization. Chiwetel frees the Scions on the condition that they will eliminate the Bastards of Erebus for him.

Part 2 - 4-08-11

• Brian playing Toras.
• Jason playing Lem.
• Jeremy playing Vrok.
• Jesse playing Granthor.
• John playing Arvin.
• Rachel playing Tengu.
• Shauna playing Janiven.

Alerted to the Scions presence, a large force of Bastard thugs, led by the twin mummy's Ostengo and Vethamer as well as their leader Palaveen, emerged from three different boarded up buildings to attack the Scions from three sides. The staggering number of opponents made the Scions chances look bleak indeed.

During the pitched battle with the Bastards, Granthor, Tengu, and a halfling bard named Lem dived into a water sinkhole formed by a busted large pipe in a effort to escape what seemed to be inevitable death at the hands of the Bastards. Lem died and Tengu was knocked unconscious as the force of the water battered the three of them against the sinkhole's walls. Granthor was the only one that managed to stay conscious and then save Tengu's life.

Vrok, Toras, Janiven, and Arvin were captured by the Bastards. During the interaction with Palaveen, Arvin ended up killing Janiven to save his own life. Arvin leaped into a chasm to avoid being in turn slain by Toras. Vrok and Toras were then forced to descened into the chasm to find and bring back the head of a wererat who plagued the Bastards. Vrok and Toras discovered Arvin at the bottom, still alive but badly wounded and unconscious. They chose to let Arvin die, rather than save him, after seeing what he had done to Janiven.

Deep beneath the city in the underground cistern that both the chasm and the sinkhole lead to, the Scions must find one another and survive the wererats lair long enough to slay the wererat or find another escape route.

The view from Toras

The Wererat Warrens

Part 3 - 6-03-11

• Jason playing Shadow.
• Jeremy playing Vrok.
• John playing Huk.
• Rachel playing Hunter.
• Shauna playing Isa.
• David playing the npc Arael.

The Scions regrouped after escaping the wererat warrens. They lured a Bastard strike squad with Vrok as bait, then defeated the Hellknight and Bastard team that showed up to capture Vrok. One of the Bastards was taken hostage.

The view from Huk: Have just discovered that Small Boar is afraid of the dark. Not natural dark, but the magical kind. I can't see why this distinction should really matter, and I am determined to train him out of it. Today, we really needed to get through a door that had a darkness cast in front of it by a tiefling, and I could not get Small Boar to follow me there. However, we did capture a tiefling in this encounter - perhaps when we are done with it otherwise, we could induce it to make a darkness or two for Small Boar to investigate in a safe space at leisure, so he can see that it is after all nothing.

Isa's View - I have, with Arael's assistance, joined the Scions. While my desire to free the city from an undercurrent of evil is genuine & strong, I have joined the fight for another reason as well. I will share that reason with my new companions as I learn to trust them.

Part 4 - 6-10-11

• Brian playing Toras.
• Jeremy playing Vrok.
• John playing Huk.
• Rachel playing Hunter.
• Shauna playing Isa.

After questioning the captured Bastard, the Scions setup a raid on the Bastard's lair while the Bastards were raiding a herbalist shop.

The view from Toras: After taking care of business in the city, the Vrok caught up with me and said that they had captured a Tiefling when they were trying to discover where Tengu was being held. Given that the Bastard had no fear of physical punishment, we decided the threaten its very soul. I masqueraded as a soul stealer, and using the Jade dagger we were able to convince the Bastard that we would capture her soul in the form of small boar. The Bastard was scared but still recalcitrant until she tried to ensorcell me. After providing us with details of the lair and the probable plans for a heist and Tengu I granted her a merciful death. As I dragged my blade across her neck, pain exploded in my own. As the pain subsided I realized that I was blind. Not knowing the nature of the enchantment, we asked Arael to lift the affliction. Despite his best efforts, I am still subject to this malfeasance.

In preparing to assault the Bastard's lair Isa was gracious enough to be my eyes. While distilling the necessary reagents to mend wounds, I discovered that Isa has a natural affinity for the art of alchemy and I quickly pushed her to learn to make a simple healing draught and even a bomb. Working together, we quickly learned to infuse energy into an already unstable combination of reagents, however we had very little luck with her acting as a spotter for me while I threw my concoctions. (Personally, I think that her relaying of directions is a bit off, but she claims that my aim is like a will-o-wisp, rather than like the gaze of a beholder that I know it to be.)

After our planning came to completion, and Isa and I were able to recover from some errant explosions, we set off to invade the Bastard's lair. We chose a path that had fallen into disuse do to the infestation by a gigantic rot grub. After quickly dispatching the rot grub through an unusual display of teamwork, we descended into the lair. Once in the main tunnels of the Tieflings, we made quick work of a mummy and two Tiefling thugs, although one did escape. The mummy was carrying a book with interesting runes, which I now hold, but have yet to be able to attend to. I find myself seething at my inability to act independently, and continue to curse the departed spirit of the Tiefling and dark forces that conspire to keep my vision from me.

Not wanting the escaped Tiefling to raise an alarm, we quickly followed it into a room that is clearly Palaveen burrow. Despite the crude nature of the tunnels, it was appointed nicely with thick woven carpet and a nice wooded desk. There was a caged hollow that sounds as if it keeps the hell hounds at bay. As we entered the room, we found the librarian sitting calmly behind the desk, while the escaping tiefling was cowering behind him. He turned and asked Vrok "Do you have an appointment".

The view from Huk: Forgot to get the tiefling to make some darknesses for Small Boar to play with before they offed it. Today another unpleasant surprise from him. While looking for more tieflings, we met with an admittedly unsavory creature blocking the way, and Small Boar had such a strong reaction to it that he refused take part in taking it down. I am beginning to be quite concerned about his attitude. While I can appreciate his sensitiveness to unnatural sights and smells, I now foresee I have some work to do to instill in him a proper sense of duty and priority!

The view from Small Boar - Oink, oink.

Part 5 - 7-01-11

• Brian playing Toras.
• David playing Amaya.
• Jason playing Shadow.
• Jeremy playing Vrok.
• John playing Huk.
• Rachel playing Hunter.
• Shauna playing Isa.
• Tom playing Granthor.

From the view of Amaya I slipped into the library thinking I was unnoticed, but after finding that book -- well things are blank from there. Next I knew I was in the dark, bound to a surprisingly comfortable chair, with the sounds of screaming in the background. The room was dry, and the air was still-- I figured from this I was either in a cave or a castle, not much mattered. Soon I heard the voice of my captor, chastising me for breaking the sanctity of his library. His library but my book, in my anger I let go and gave him everything -- if he would so dare as pronounce my heritage as his property then he could face the power of my blood.

Shots into the darkness against stone walls, I found myself trapped without any real hope out of this mess, the screams in the next room marking the time until my inevitable fate.

A click changed everything. The Scions came for me, I was overjoyed on the inside for my rescue. Without hesitation the dwarf cut me free, there was an exchange of words with the librarian and then chaos erupted. Light flickered into existence magically, a demon appeared with a hole in the ground. The scions charged but the demon tossed them aside like flies, I didn't know what to do, I tried and then hid down the hole to hide.

I found myself on top of an armored man -- strangely that was the first time anyone had spoken to me or at least about me in this entire time. After being helpful for once, I got brave I asked to be hoisted above so I could give further aid.. and then it went black.

Before I was planning to run from all this trouble. I'd only joined the Scions because I hated the court, but they came out for me and saved me, for my family I must help them in their fight.

The view from Huk: My heart is broken. I cannot hear it beat.

They say you fought without fear to the last, that you held off the demon long enough to permit the others to overcome the minor minions pinning them down - that, in short, you saved the day. Small Boar, I should not have doubted you.

The view from Toras: Well, it turns out that Vrok didn't have an appointment, and we didn't dwell on the pleasantries very long. In short order the Librarian revealed himself as a Dravano (a demon), or so I am told. A great fight broke out, devastating the room and even causing part of the ceiling to collapse, although that smelled of a trap. The librarian was quite put out that we had recovered the book of the damned from the mummy, and as the fight was slowly going against us, Isa and I "returned" the book, alchemist style. While I may be in the dark about some of the progression of the fight, I am confident that the explosion from the book was what turned it in our favor. Finally, we were able to defeat the beast of a demon, but then we had to contend with Palaveen, who was hiding in plain sight. Once we were able to reveal where Palaveen was on the battle field, we were able to make quick work of him and rescue Tengu.

Before we left the warren we found / took the following items:

• Magical +1 Masterwork Breastplate (Vrok took it)
• Magical Masterwork Morningstar (shaped as the holy symbol of Asmodeus) (Unknown special property for those who serve Asmodeus)
• A key
• Papers detailing the Bastards raids
• Potion vials of disguise self
• Wand of cure light wounds with 6 charges
• Palaveen's head and some vials of blood
• Masterwork silver dagger (Amaya took it)
• Masterwork Rapier (Granthor took it)
• Jeweled short sword (Shadow took it)
• Pouch with 6 platinum pieces (worth 50 GP each) and 30 gold
• A crumpled note from Dysmis
• 100 gold in change
• Masterwork Breastplate (Huk took it)
• Potion of cure moderate wounds
• Silver ring (worth 50 gp)

We also recovered lots of stolen jewelry and gems that we returned to the rightful owners.

Next episode

Feel free to add descriptions from your character's point of view or added comments of any kind.

Attachment	Action	Size	Date	Who	Comment
BastardMap.jpg	manage	369.8 K	2011-07-26 - 12:07	JosiahKnight

Parents: WebHome

Copyright © 2008-2012 by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors. Ideas, requests, problems regarding TWiki? Send feedback