Sun 08

While out shopping Olosus receives an invitation to meet Malkeen Balacazar at the Onxy Spider pub. Disturbed, but seeing little choice, he leaves a note for Carsten and goes to the pub.

Olosus meets with Malkeen and another individual with red hair and pale skin. Apparently Malkeen is interested in Olosus' information on Slave City and wants to know more, but Olosus uses the excuse that he is under employment of someone else and cannot reveal anything. Olosus does admit that he does not have much information on Slave City. Malkeen then makes a deal with Olosus for information that is not privy under employment, which Olosus agrees to. Malkeen then uses the deal to find out how Olosus got the friendship band from Castle Shard. Realizing the trap he just walked into, Olosus tells about Linech's investigation, but only states that they were investigating Linech's dealings and nothing else. Malkeen is curious to know why Castle Shard was interested in Linech but asks for nothing more. Olosus is paid 50gp. Later, Olosus meets with the companions (minus T'chour) and informs them about the meeting with Malkeen. He suspects that T'chour will be approched next.

Also during this time, Dessa informs T'chour that she is able to learn more about the rumors of the Lost Lore. She states that the Lore has fallen into the hands of Ealistar Fallingeye, a Harrow elf who had a bad reputation. Rumor has that he is selling the chest to Kelis an Faymar, a Uraqi merchant. The chest will be delivered by 2 orges.

March 03 2007

The companions decide to inform Castle Shard about Olosus' meeting, concluding Est is the most diplomatic one to tell them.  They break from the meeting, and Est decides to approach Castle Shard via Mand Scheben, cleric of Ash, whom they have met before.  She reasons that this is the more diplomatic, more proper (for a noble) and least suspicious way to warn Castle Shard.  She meets with Mand at the Temple of Asche, who appears friendly and courteous.  Est gives him a letter requesting an audience with them to "discuss several points of magic and other important topics" as soon as possible.  Est is attempting to hide the truth with a seemingly innocuous meeting, so that watching eyes won't take much note of it.

Sun 09

The companions gather at Olosus' Workshop, where T'chour informs them of the Lost Lore.  The delivery of the item will be tonight.  Although the companions agree to help T'chour liberate the chest, they are not so certain that they should keep it.  T'chour wishes to see what is in the chest, thinking that it might be related to his quest.  Carsten is fine with that, but wants it returned to the rightful owners if the items have nothing to do with T'chour quest.  Olosus is very interested in the “Unopenable chest” and wish to see for himself.  Kraylock and Est go with the rest of the group agree to assist. 

Around midnight, the fellowship takes position along the courier's route, which is along an allyway somewhere in midtwon.  Olosus takes position on the roof, T'chour behind a corner of a building and the rest behind some creates.  Carsten reminds everyone to attempt to capture the couriers rather than kill.  The couriers eventually show up, one ogre and one bugbear armed with weapons, traveling down the narrow pathway.  However, before the companions act, the ogre senses their presence.  A fight ensues; Kraylock attacks the ogre immediately and is injured to unconsciousness.  Fortunately, Carsten is able to help with a cure spells.  While that happens, Est is able to cast Chill Touch spell on the ogre and Olosus is able to ambush from the roof.  T'chour manages to provide cover for Carsten as the bugbear attacks Carsten.

The fight is ferocious; despite Est’s spells the bugbear uses barbarian rage to gain more strenght and heavily injures T’chour.  Carsten manages to revive Kraylock, but the ogre continues to attack.  Eventually the ogre is felled, but the heavily wounded barbarian still stands due to his rage.  Seeing the bugbear could be killed by his companions, Carsten uses Calm Emotion spell which ends the combat for the companions and negates the barbarian’s rage, making him fall unconscious.

Carsten examines the bugbear and manages to stabilize him.  Olosus examines the chest: about three feet long, two feet wide, and two feet tall, weighing 350 lbs. The chest is bounded with bronze plates, engraved with winged horses.  When Olosus attempts to pick the lock, he finds that the lid is sealed and that the lock's tumblers are melted.  It is physically impossible to pick the lock and open the chest.  T’chour attempts to open the chest and fails.  As agreed, the fellowship takes the bugbear to the Brotherhood of Redemption, but decides to drop of the chest at the Workshop first.

At the Brotherhood, they accept the bugbear with little fanfare (one of them states that “he would make a fine addition to society”).  Back at the workshop, the companions discuss the puzzle of the chest.  Then Olosus remembers reading some lore in the Delver’s library about Neveran’s All-key, a pick that could unlock anything.  Carstren also remembers hearing about the item from writings. All agree to do more research on the key.

Sun 10

Carsten and Olosus both research the key, but it is Carsten who finds the most information. Neveran’s All-key was last in the possession of an organization calling itself the Cult of the Crimson Coil. The cult is secretive, with it’s members disguising themselves in hooded red cloaks, basing themselves in remote temples and ruined structures. They only appear in great numbers to commit large heinous acts such as slaughtering an entire family, destroying a building or defacing a monument. Lawful societies have attempted to root out the cult’s bases, only to find them well defended and heavily trapped. Besieging these bases cost many lives, and it is not long after driven out that the cult re-establishes themselves in the area.

The cult kept the All-key in Ptolus, in a brothel called the Pythoness House, which currently is abandoned. The cult and it’s fiends were driven out 3 years ago by the Knights of the Pale. However, the knights did not do a through search the ruins, merely sealing it with a ward to prevent cultists from returning.

Carsten and Olosus informs the companions about their findings. All agree to talk to the Knights to see if they have more information (and to get their permission to enter the Pythoness House). They arrive at the Blade Chapel and are greeted by Stillis Covenrow, majordomo of the house. He usurers them to a meeting room, where they eventually met Derna, leader of the Knights. They inform her of their plans to search the ruins and request permission to do so. Unfortunately Derna does not have the authority to grant permission, but states that to do so, a council would have to be convened, whose outcome isn’t certain. She informs Carsten that if his group wants to search the ruins, then they are responsible for what ever they find (ie: if the companions make a mess, it’s their fault).

The companions decide to investigate the house further. Caresten and Est gather more information; from their contacts they find out that the house predates the nobles quarter and has changed ownership many times. Each new owner made a new addition to the house, resulting in a building with sections that look like they were added on as an afterthought. 20 years ago the Elf owner left the city for the forests, leaving the house to vagrants and squatters.

The house was then obtained 5 years ago by two women, Maquent Delisara and Radanna Scalth, who turned it into a brothel, with a unique twist: the prostitutes claiming that they could see the future during intercourse. Current rumors hold that the house is haunted.

As the companion dwell on this information, the city enjoys the cellebrations of the Day of Joining, a special day for most religions and many weddings are held during this day. Olosus decided to use the day to give gifts to the companions: a special night lamp that he has been working on to sell around Ptolus. Each lamp has carvings on them, appropriate to each character.

Sun 11

Next day the companions prepare themselves and gather at the house. The manor sits on a hill amongst unkempt grass, with a poor, rusty iron fence. High walls surround the house. They enter though an archway, but upon passing though it they hear a haunting voice that says "Come to me... Stay with me..." Est then looses her empathic link to Vord. They check and they are able to see Vord outside but an invisible barrier prevents them from passing back though the entrance archway.

Standing in the open coutyard, they note to the east a set of narrow stairs leading to a landing above, and to the south another archway with no doors, leading into the house. They decide to head to the archway but as they approach, they are ambushed by ratlings perched on a ledge above them. They hold grenades (bombs) with fuses lit.

March 24, 2007

Kraylock manages to fire his crossbow at the 2 ratlings on the ledge, but misses. T'chour is only able to jump up to the ledge, while Est attacks a 3rd ratling on the same floor. Then the 2 ratlings toss their grenades which explode, injuring Olosus, Kraylock and Carsten. But before anyone can respond a 4th combatant, a rat brute, steps out from behind a curtain and attacks Kraylock, severely injuring him.

Est, locked in her own battle, manages to combat cast Chill Touch and take out her opponent, but not before getting injured. T'chour encounters some bad luck and battles the ratlings on the ledge longer than anticipated. Kraylock is injured to unconsciousness, leaving Olosus to deal with the rat brute. Fortunately Carsten is able to revive Kraylock, only to have him eventually knocked out again and infected with a disease. Olosus is heavily wounded. Est attempts to assist with the ratbrute, but it is T'chour who manages to bring the monster low.

Carsten examines everyone and find that Kraylock is infected with Filth Feaver. Examining the curtain the brute appear from behind, it leads to another hallway, with a black iron staircase in the corner. The hallway continues to the south, leading to a statue of a medium-sized fat, naked man standing on a pedestal. Upon seeing him, the haunting voice comes again saying "Chaos is the key…"

The companions discuss how to proceed on further. They decided not to spend too much time thoroughly searching, as they have spells up that can run out. Olosus gives the statue a once over; he finds scratch marks on the floor running northward as well as a secret compartment in the abdomen. When opened, it appears that the compartment was made to hold a very specific disk.

Despite the unchecked door near by, they decide to head upstairs. The stairs end up in the room above they find it to be another hallway, lined with several paintings, all of them portraits of the House's previous owners. Est notes first, that when looking at the paintings, the eyes on the paintings appear as if they are looking back at the viewer. Olosus turns one of the paintings over, to see if there are any adverse effects, but there is none. There is also an arrow slit that gives a view back to the main courtyard, and to the ledge the narrow stairs led to. It appears that the ledge is for a cistern.

Moving down the corridor they enter room with a ladder which is the base for one of the towers. Heading up the ladder, they reach the top, but they do not have access to the outside. The room does have more arrow slits. T'chour tosses a rock out one arrow and the companions are surprised to find no barrier. A door leads to a hallway, which happens to be the over the archway entrance. There are rusted crossbows and a hidden murder hole as well as more arrow slits. Walking across, they enter another tower with a ladder up. They reach to top which is exposed to the outside. Examining the surroundings, Olosus sticks his hand over the battlements; at first there is no barrier, but then a tremendous gust of wind knocks his hand back causing some damage. However, when Carsten tosses a copper coin over the ledge, it lands on the ground outside, unaffected. Vord can be seen over head, but Est still has no empathic link.

The fellowship retraces their steps back to the 2nd floor with the paintings and examines a closed door. Upon opening it, they enter into a dusty dining room filled with cobwebs. The furniture is decorated with moldy cloth and a chandelier hangs above the table. T'chour locates the rope that the chandelier is tied to and lowers it; Olosus finds 6 gems still on it.
Treasure: (room 12)

20gp gems x6

The next room from the dinning room appears to be a bedchamber, with shelves of tiny figurines. As Olosus and Carsten go to collect them, the figurines animate and attack. They are easily defeated. There is nothing else of interest in the bedroom.

Returning to the 1st floor, they decide to check the northeastern most room. As they initially note it as another dusty bedroom. But as they step through the door, the room changes into a beautifully decorated room, with 3 three beautiful women. Everyone successfully disbelieves except T'chour. The women are in fact animated corpses; as Carsten attempts to turn undead, they attack. They win initiative and Olosus is grappled by one, with it’s hand choking his neck. Then he feels his life beginning to drain, and suffers -1 level loss. Carsten is then able to turn; the corpses flee to the corner of the room, and the rest of the companions destroy them. Searching, the companions find jewelry, perfume, and paintings. Initially the paintings appear to be of beautiful women, but upon closer examination, the women have bat wings or small horns.
Treasure: (room 6)

20 gp Gold Rings x5

50 gp Bracelets x 3

230 gp worth of Perfume

250 gp Necklace

75 gp Wind-up Musical Jewelry Box

Examining the next 2 boudoirs reveal nothing. The southwestern most room is the base of another tower. Climbing up they enter a room filled with refuse, with a pair of old boot lying in the junk. There is a door leading to the causeway, the one running across the main foyer.

Crossing the ledge, the group enters another room with more debris. But before the companions do anything, they are attacked by a swarm of rats. Fortunately the companions attack first and manage to disperse the swarm. There is nothing else of interest. The companions then check the narrow steps in the outside courtyard that lead to the cistern. Olosus and T'chour examine the well which extends almost 50ft down. Olosus drops a sunrod down the well; it lands in water and something reacts to it. Olosus manages to warn everyone, just before a man-sized figure of slime springs out and attacks Olosus and T'chour. The battle is short and difficult because of the slick surface of the cistern. However, T'chour attacks manages to drive the creature back, despite it having some damage resistance. Carsten notes that it seemed like the creature was the manifestation of a spirit in the well. The companions head back inside and head to the southwestern tower.

The ladder in the tower reaches the 3rd level. The companions enter another room with 3 chairs and a desk. On the desk, there is a book, a candle and a sealed jar with a yellow liquid in it. Olosus attempts to read the book and his head is filled with bizarre images; he loses 1 intelligence. The candle appears ordinary, but has a name etched into the wax: Segginal.
Treasure: (room 20)

Candle ("Segginal")

Jar with liquid [polymorphed Eldrin]

Magic book (Enchantment, Evil) [Destroyed]

Since there appears to be no way up to the rest of the manor, the companions plan to head back to the roof and try to jump across to the other open roof. As the group head through the hallway above the main entrance archway, a ghost appears. It makes threatening gestures and the crossbows begin to rattle as if trying to animate. Olosus uses a tanglefoot bag to glue some of them down; however Carsten, seeing that the ghost appears to be a human cleric, tries to use diplomacy to calm the spirit down. Since the ghost cannot speak, it gestures to possess one of the companions in order to communicate; Olosus volunteers. The spirit possesses him and initially he has some difficulty since the human spirit is not use to an assari body. He manages to introduce himself as Taunell who was once the guard of the house for the family Kollotis, who originally built the house. He asks the party if they are here to steal from the Kollotis’ but Carsten informs him that the Kollotis family is long gone.

He recalls that he injured a woman several years ago and deeply regrets it, saying "sometimes the sin of anger overwhelms me". He goes on telling that he was vaguely aware of what has transpired in the house (but has little sense of time). He knows of a man who allowed himself to be sacrificed in a horrible ritual to have his spirit fused with a statue. His spirit now guards the house. He also states that when he was alive, he failed to prevent a theft and was killed while he tired to stop it. Although his remains are buried in the Necropolis, his spirit is still attached to the house, "until Lothian tells him that his time has come".

Taunell remembers that when the red robbed men came, there was a woman who resisted them. The woman had a key that she dropped by a ledge, which happens to be over where the companions were going to jump from roof to roof. He also warns the party "watch for the Cobbled Man", which is a type of undead fused with another undead body. Apparently the Cobbled Man has something we need and is in the house. Taunell finally releases Olosus and disappears. The companions continue down the hallway to the other tower, where they noticed a trap door that they missed. The door leads to a room which has a secret door leading to the ledge mentioned by Taunell. Amongst the refuse is a key.

March 31 2007

"Come to me… stay with me…" the voice comes again.  Since the east roof does not drop down as far as the west roof from the southern towers, it is decided the group will use the east roof to get to the northern section.  Before heading over, T'chour tests the archway with the key just found, and is not able to pass beyond the barrier.  Moving over the east roof to the north section, the companions enter into an archway that leads to a hallway with doors on the left and right.  Taking left, they enter a large bedroom with a lot of furnishings, all dusty, full of cobwebs and molding curtains.  2 books are found in a desk, one appears to be a ledger detailing some of the clientele that frequented the brothel.  The other is a journal of Maquent; the last journal indicates that the Pale knights were on their way to the house.  Maquent tried to stop Radanna, but she has killed most of the girls and the house spirit prevents anyone from leaving.  Further searching of the room turns up a spiral stair case in the corner, leading down.

Returning back to the hallway, the companions take the right door.  However, as Olosus opens the door, several arrows fly at him (most miss).  In the room are many skeletons, one of which appears more intelligent and has flaming red eyes.  This "chief" skeleton stands in front of the others near the door.  Combat is initiated; Carsten is fortunate to (almost) go first and thanks to his heightened turning attempt manages to destroy almost all the undead.  Only the chief skeleton remains, but flees as it is also affected by Carsten’s turning.  The combat with the skeleton is one-sided; although it runs around the room (and uses a secret door in it’s flight), the other companions are able to make enough glancing blows to destroy it.

Est, curious about this undead, examines it's remains and finds a very expensive bracelet. Also interested in the undead skeleton, Carsten takes a sample of it's remains. The heroes now turn to examining the room. It is another bedchamber, scrumptious and large, well furnished with a bed, tables, padded chairs and other luxuries. All are dust-covered and the room is filled with cobwebs. A search turns up a crimson rob with symbols suggesting chaos, which Carsten takes, making it pretty clear that he plans to destroy it.

Bracelet [Est]

Ring

Crimson Cloak [Carsten]

Masterwork Armor

Masterwork Shield

Masterwork Battleaxe

Returning to the first room, Olosus leads the party down the stairs.  However, half way down, he sees 2 ratlords, riding large dire rats in the room below.  He advises the others back to the room upstairs.  Skittering can be heard at the base of the stairs, but the fiends do not follow.  Not waiting for a plan, T'chour bravely charges down the stairs and attacks the rats.  The others follow, but must to fight their way into the room.  Since T'chour lands in the middle of the room, he bears the brunt of the enemy's attacks; he is heavily wounded, but Carsten and the others manage to fight their way to him.  The rats are finally defeated.

Victorious, the companions examine the room, which is empty except for runes on the floor, suggesting some sort of chaos ritual.  It is also noted that the ratlords had shaved patches of their fur off to mark themselves with chaos symbols.  One rat lord has a ring while the other holds a scrap of cloth, written on it "hail the rat god". There is a door leading from the room, but the companions decide to hold up and attempt to recover, since Carsten and Est are almost out of spells.  This is a risk since Olosus is still suffering from level and ability drain, but they deduce that they should have sufficient time in the morning to get to another cleric who has the proper healing spells (assuming they can leave).

Ring

Carsten casts Detect Magic and Detect Chaos, while Est casts Detect Undead.  She senses the entire house having the presence of a single but strong undead, and Carsten detects the same for Chaos.  Retracing their steps, they detect the statue on the 1st floor with magic (Abjuration and necromantic), chaos and undead.  For the items they found, the jar detects magic (Conjuration and Transmutation) but no chaos.  The book that Olosus read detects as strong magic (Enchantment) but nothing else.  The candle, boots and cloak do not detect as anything. Before retiring, Est casts Control Undead, her last spell, on the house.

As the companions rest, Est reads the rest of Maquent's journal. Through out the night the disembodied voice comes again, repeating the same phrases, but out of sequence.