Session 2 Recap – October 3rd, 973
After a commendable amount of planning — and an even more commendable amount of procrastination disguised as planning — the party finally set out for the municipal bowel system of Manchester. They presented themselves at the appropriate government building where they were ushered into a basement room. There, four burly workmen (two human, two dwarven) and three city guards under the jaundiced eye of Corporal Constantine worked at opening the sewer.
The Descent
At the heart of the operation squatted a rusted, thousand-pound manhole cover — Archea’s answer to a welcome mat. With ropes, pulleys, and bureaucratic resolve, the workers and guards lifted it up and moved it to the side, revealing a perfect black five-foot circle that exhaled the earthy scent of free-flowing sewage and civic neglect (a perfume known locally as ‘Manchester Morning’). A rope ladder was secured to concrete pilings placed for that purpose and lowered fifteen feet to the stone below.
As they worked, the veteran Corporal explained the procedure. “Normally that cover is in place all the time and we check on routine patrols to make sure it stays there. The cover, you see, keeps people out and the sewer in and we like it that way.”
“However, when people have to enter, we lower that ladder and down they go and up the ladder comes. While we expect you back in six hours, we’ll keep the cover open for three days and a careful watch up here. If three days go by and we don’t hear from you, the cover goes back on and you’re written off as the sewer’s latest victims.”
Close questioning confirmed that while most parties that descended into the depths came out with most of their members still alive, the occasional party (such as the last one) were never heard from again.
A brief debate followed over the wisdom of tossing a torch down to see what awaited. Constantine, professional that he was, had to suggest it. The party settled instead for a Light spell cast on the ladder. Hunkle jumped in while Wolfgang climbed the ladder. Two giant rats were discovered feeding greedily on the corpse of a third and were dispatched while the party members on the surface contented themselves with watching and cheering them on.
Early Encounters
Further in, the heroes met three giant rats and an accompanying swarm of ordinary rats. The fight was memorable mostly for the number of bites Hunkle received before victory was declared – the swarm and one giant rat were killed while the two other giant rats fled the light that the party was bringing, preferring the Stygian darkness beyond.
Still further along, among the debris and detritus that characterizes ill cared for sewer systems, the party found a corroded forearm still wearing a corroded ring engraved “GH.” It was deemed potentially useful for notifying next of kin or for unsettling tavern patrons later on and, accordingly, promptly pocketed.
Later, Ironbark opened a door directly onto a gelatinous cube happily feeding on the city’s wastewater. While he suffered a severe surprise (along with concomitant acid burns), the cube was swiftly eliminated, though, in the process, the acid demoted one of Hunkle’s axes from “sharp” to “sentimental.” Ironbark was promptly healed and prevailed upon to open yet another harmless appearing door, narrowly dodging a gray ooze from above. The ooze was similarly dispatched — the party by now growing quite efficient at cleaning the cleaners.
The Tomb of the Teacher
One crumbling wall gave way to something altogether older: a sealed chamber whose mica-flecked ceiling shimmered with constellations. “The Tomb of the Teacher,” as someone promptly named it, contained murals, ancient teaching tools, and the faintest magical breath that kept its air fresh, its murals colorful, and copper scrollwork un-tarnished. In the middle was a stone sarcophagus which was opened to reveal a similarly well-preserved orc. Although the orc appeared to have been buried with considerable honor, no weapons or crowns or other ornamentation suggestive of the burial of a warrior or a ruler were found. The group explored respectfully, took copies of all of the writings, and settled in for the night, talking about how this tomb flew in the face of what they had previously been told about orcs. It seemed the only savagery here had been in the stories told about them. In the morning, they restored everything to its previous arrangement — heroes, but tidy ones.
The Druid of the Sewers
Not long after, they encountered a most unusual figure: a lizard-folk druid who referred to himself (herself? itself?) only as “this one” and “the Druid of the Sewers”. Its speech was halting, punctuated as it was with pauses to sniff or taste the air or to devour some tasty morsel crawling about its person. Conversation alternated between cryptic and amphibious and upon learning that the “above dwellers” were here to kill giant rats, the Druid’s facial features assumed a configuration that the party chose to interpret as mild relaxation of tension. The Druid explained that giant rats normally served a purpose in the sewer’s ecosystem, but the new, aggressive strain was throwing everything out of balance. It could not reach their nest himself and suggested that the adventurers join it to do what nature evidently could not: kill the aberrations, spare the rest. It led the party to the main nest of the rats and sketched a map of that area, though with frequent disclaimers that conditions may have changed since its last visit. Thus briefed, the party prepared for the final assault — to be continued next session.
Interlude: A Breath of Fresh (Surface) Air
With time waning, play shifted to the following day’s journey to Dolven’s Hollow. Having slept, bathed, and performed several small exorcisms of odor, the group set off. On the way to Dolven’s Hollow, they met slavers on the road, managed civil conversation without homicide, and departed with a chit for “future employment” and a collective sense of moral indigestion.
At Dolven’s Hollow, they sought out the local blacksmith — a barrel-chested human named Barin and his son Phineas. Their shop smelled of honest labor and quiet subversion: ordinary horseshoes up front, and, perhaps, whispered weapon orders in the back. When talk grew serious, the “Closed” sign went up and so did the tension. Although the party came away with the sense that the pair were members of the Ebon Blades, Barin, perhaps suspecting they were royal spies, would not confirm it. Even when confronted with Nelson’s letter, Barin would not admit to ever having met him.
When the party expressed sympathies for the peasants laboring under the boot of the monarchy, Barin mentioned a friend named Kenning imprisoned for “malicious interference with state property” — apparently for dimming the Governor’s lantern. Five years for a flicker; truly, Archean justice burns bright. Legal aid would be appreciated, but “quiet aid” would be even better. Left unsaid was the subtext that action in this setting would do far more to engender trust than talk.
Roadside Rescue
The return trip brought violence once again – just as the party crested a hill, they saw four masked riders ambushing a government carriage. By the time the party reached it, four guards and their horses lay dead, but they managed to save one survivor — Private Ellison — who repaid them with useful gossip. Nelson’s family, he said, had arranged for the captain’s exhumation, Gentle Repose, and transport north to Manchester for reburial. Whether this presented an opportunity or a trap was left to Vren’s more suspicious imagination.
And there the curtain fell — the smell of the sewers still faintly clinging, the mystery of Captain Nelson freshly unearthed, the question of Kenning’s fate now in play, and several players now quietly wondering whether “ratcatching” was really worth the hazard pay after all.
Homework
- Consider writing a player’s journal entry recording what you remember of the session and your suspicions at the close of it. This could be as simple as a brief outline if you like but with storylines multiplying like rabbits, you’ll be happy to have some written notes available as we get deeper in the game!
- In the next day or so, I’ll put the additional requested online forums up to permit further discussion amongst the party off-line – they will be a general party chat, a chat to plan combat coordination (e.g. what will the party do if ambushed again?), and a chat to talk about game mechanics. Further forums to be created as the party desires.
- I forgot to gauge the party’s progress with the Internet Maze; I’d like to know where you are so I can decide whether I need to build more Maze now or maybe a bit later. Shoot me a message and let me know if you’ve gotten to the room with the five scrolls in it.
- We didn’t have a chance for me to poll the group about what I should prepare for next session so do send me your thoughts over the couple of days. That way I can put together some preliminary information to guide your off-line pre-planning.
- We’ll definitely be finishing the sewer crawl and, as you plot strategy, let me advise you that the Druid of the Sewers MUST survive the battle… if not, you have no hope of finding your way back to the surface!
- Should the party spring Kenning from the lockup and get him back to Dolven’s Hollow?
- Should the party plan on intercepting Captain Nelson’s body with a Speak With Dead scroll? Such scrolls are expensive but you need not worry… as it happens, the giant rats dragged the bodies of the previous party back to their nest to feed their young. As you clear out the nests, you’ll find the jeweled rings/necklaces/etc that party was carrying and the value will be sufficient to pay for that scroll.
- And, although this will happen offline, you should know that when you return to the Hero’s Respite, Vreynar will help get you in touch with the Society for the Study of Orcish – an academic society based out of Manchester’s university that very, very, very quietly is studying ancient orcish history and language.
- Reminder – no session next week due to GM distraction and the next week we’ll meet at B #1’s house as B# 2 will be on vacation.