D&D 5th Edition Campaign Log – Pyria, Half-elf Warlock

This blog post serves as a campaign log for my Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition character, Pyria Almareth.

Pyria is a half-elf warlock with a pseudo dragon pet.

• Session 17 (12/05/2019)
• Session 16 (11/16/2019)
• Session 15 (10/24/2019)
• Session 14 (10/10/2019)
• Session 13 (9/26/2019)
• Session 12 (9/12/2019)
• Session 11 (9/5/2019)
• Session 10 (08/22/2019)
• Session 9 (08/15/2019)
• Session 8 (08/08/2019)
• Session 7 (07/18/2019)
• Session 6 (07/11/2019)
• Session 5 (06/27/2019)
• Session 4 (06/13/2019)
• Session 3 (06/06/2019)
• Session 2 (05/16/2019)
• Session 1 (05/09/2019)

Pyria’s Backstory

“I think I’m starting to like him.” Pyria confided to her tiny companion, Pip.

Pyria Almareth, the only daughter of Baron Bogardus Almareth IV and his wife, Winona. Her mother was an elf, the old race and her father was human. The Almareths ruled over the city of Carse, a major trading port west of Merkemia. The city was autonomous with a respectable army of 300 men. Forces across the kingdom of Merkemia were mobilizing. War was coming. King Argamir of Merkemia and Baron Bogardus, in a political move, arranged for the marriage of Pyria to one of King Argamir’s sons, Prince Locklier Argamir. Their wedding takes place in a few days.

Pyria knew the day would come where she’d be sent off to marry someone so her family could gain power. She just had not expected it to come so soon. However, the thought of marrying Locklier was growing on her since getting to know the king’s son.

Locklier was about a year older than Pyria. He was skilled with swords and enjoyed reading. He wasn’t spoiled or rotten, and treated her with great respect. Of course it could all be a mask for the betrothal period. However, Locklier seemed genuinely interested in her growing mastery of the arcane. Plus, the two shared the common hobby of sneaking past their guards to explore their cities freely without chains.

In fact the pair have snucked out a few times together already. Disguised, Pyria gave Locklier a tour of the city and showed him some of her favorite city establishments. There were some areas in Carse that Pyria would normally avoid, but with Locklier at her side she was more willing to visit some of the shadier spots of the city.

“Did you hear that?” Pyria asked Locklier.

“Yes, it sounded a like scream?” Locklier replied.

“Sounds like someone needs help! Shall we check it out?” Pyria asked. Locklier looked unsure, but reluctantly agreed. As the pair approached the alley where the cries originated from they overheard three men talking as they pommeled another man laying curled up in a ball on the cold ground.

“Stop!” Pyria yelled as Locklier reached out in a failed attempt to stop her outburst.

The men looked at the pair, surprised and angered with Pyria’s interference. One man took out a knife. Another pointed his club and said, “if you were wise, you have kept your mouth shut.” Pyria responded, “and if you were wise you would not have threaten me.” Locklier drew his sword and Pyria’s hands began to glow.

Locklier and Pyria fought the men with little difficulty, allowing them to escape once the men realized they were losing battle. As they helped the man who was ganged up on stand to his feet, the he spurted out, “You shouldn’t have helped me. You shouldn’t have let them go. They’ll find you and kill you.” The man hobbled off down the alley.

“We better get back,” Locklier said tugging Pyria’s arm.

“Yeah,” replied Pyria as she watched the injured man fade into the darkness of the alley.

Adventure Log

Session #1 – 05/09/2019

Three days prior the wedding, Baron Bogardus hosted a dinner at the palace for close family and friends. Pyria sat next to Locklier and listened quietly as Locklier and her father discussed politics such as raising taxes for improvements to the army. These kind of conversations bored her. She sighed and looked around the room. A goblin sat next to her mother. They were discussing something but Pyria couldn’t hear their words. She caught a glance of Jessicat. The Tabaxi seemed to be observing Sagrath. Sagrath was not engaged in any conversations. He was a wizard and a close colleague of her father’s. Pyria returned her attention to Locklier and jumped at the sound of the bathroom door swinging open.

An elf waltzed into the room. “Sewer Knife?!” she was surprised by his arrival. How did he get into the bathroom unnoticed?

The guards already had their swords drawn and at the elf’s neck. Locklier tried to intervene but failed to convince the guards that the elf was no foe. Pyria stood, “Mel, Amigo, drop your weapons. He is no threat.” The guards withdrew their weapons and reluctantly stepped away.

Pyria’s father and mother looked confused and alarmed by Sewer Knife’s presence. Sewer Knife carried a warning for Locklier. A warning of an
impending assassination attempt orchestrated by the Guild of Death.

Sagrath was quiet the entire dinner. He rose from the table and left the room without a word. Jessicat left the table too. It looked like she was following Sagrath.

The dinner continued on without incident. About an hour passed before Jessicat returned animated about something saw. She described a vision. Something about a castle in flames in the snow. Pyria wasn’t sure what to make of Jessicat descriptions.

Session #2 – 05/16/2019

Sewer Knife insisted that Locklier follow him. The elf knew of a safe place. A secret place, so hidden and private that he wouldn’t share the location. Locklier replied, “I trust you with my life.” Sewer Knife responded cheerfully, “I’ll protect you, buddy.”

Pyria’s mother, Winona, looked to the goblin she had spoken to earlier, “Ohana, can you protect my daughter?”

Ohana acknowledged the request and shared a warning in regards to Sewer Knife’s plan, “It is in my experience, actions in such haste have negative consequences.”

Baron Borgadus agreed, “It is not wise to leave the castle in the middle of the night with a credible assassination attempt. Let us not rush into action.” Consensus was met. They would rest tonight and investigate the threat first thing in the morning.

“Goodnight mum, dad.” Pyria said before exiting the dining hall. As she made her way down the hallway and outside of earshot from the dining hall, Pip asked, “do you trust this Sewer Knife? Something seems off about him.” The pseudodragon crawled out of Pyria’s pocket and onto her shoulder. Pyria glanced at the creature, “Yes. He hasn’t given me any reason to doubt his intentions and I trust Locklier’s judgment.”

The following morning a few people gathered in front of the courtyard. Pyria waved to Locklier as she entered. He was flanked by the goblin, Ohana and Sewer Knife. Jessicat was also among the group. Pyria’s father entered the courtyard and a few minutes later Winona joined them from the chapel. She greeted everyone before she turned her attention to Pyria and Locklier, “I made two prayers to Dagon. One for my daughter and the other for my future son-in-law.” Pyria nodded and smiled at her mother.

The task at hand was figuring out what the Guild of Death was doing in Carse.

Locklier was against the idea of fleeing or hiding from the Guild. “What if I took you to where I fought him?” Sewer Knife suggested.

Now, they had a plan.

As they were getting ready to leave, Sagrath entered the courtyard. He was carrying a scroll. He looked at Jessicat and said, “You are too well known in Carse.” He handed her the scroll. “Disguise self,” he replied.

“Brilliant idea,” Pyria thought. She had casted the spell on herself few times before. It made sneaking out of the castle easier. Who should I look like, Pyria wondered.

Once they exited the castle gates, Pyria noticed Jessicat took the form of an elven man. Pyria looked like an old human woman. Sewer Knife lead group to where he fought the assassin. As they traveled through the city, Pyria noticed a group of priests transporting a wagon. Worshipers of Bahamut, she mused.

“This is it,” Sewer Knife said. He found the spot where he engaged the assassin the night prior. Pyria looked around. There was no signs of blood. “Can describe what happened here,” she asked.

“Well, I went like this,” Sewer Knife said with hand gestures. “And then he did that. I was like whoa. And then he did this.” Sewer Knife continued to narrate how the encounter unfolded.

“Hmm, you know Pyria,” Locklier said, “if we weren’t at the dinner we would have been in this alley.”

“OH! You’re right,” Pyria exclaimed. “Interesting… Hey, Sewer Knife, you stabbed him right? Why isn’t there any blood here?” Sewer Knife suggested the group look for witnesses of the incident. The spot of the fight was surrounded by several businesses.

Jessicat knocked on door of a business with a shipping wheel adorned on its door. “You didn’t have to knock,” a man said as he opened the door. Jessicat, still disguised as an elf man asked, “did you see a kerfluffal?” “A what,” the man asked. She clarified, “An incident the other night?” The man pointed towards Lambert & Gross, a money lender. “Yes, there was a thief trying to rob Lambert & Gross. City guards came by and took away his body.”

“Body!?” Sewer Knife exclaimed. “That didn’t happen, nobody died.”

“Where would the city guards take the body,” Pyria asked. The man suggested they visit Administrative Complex. Duh, Pyria thought, why hadn’t she thought of that.

The party made their way to the Administrative Complex. Inside the main room were three desks. The one on the right was empty. A man slept soundly on the middle desk, and at the left desk a man was looking at some papers. Pyria dropped her disguise and approach the man seated on the left.

“Hello,” greeted Pyria. He ignored her greeting as he continued working. “Ahem,” Pyria cleared her throat loudly. The man looked up and his jaw dropped, “M’lady!”

“Hello, I am here to check out a body that arrived here following the events at Lambert & Gross.”

The man nervously glanced at his neighbor before he said, “M’lady, that…that isn’t the kind of thing that you should see.”

“I want to see the body now,” Pyria repeated her request more sternly this time. The man hesitated before reluctantly agreeing. As he rose he tapped the sleeping man’s shoulder. The man jerked up and the other man leaned in and whispered something. Pyria couldn’t make out what he said. The sitting man looked up with an expression Pyria didn’t understand as the other man turned and walked towards a door in the the back.

Pyria glanced behind her and noticed Ohana whispering something to Locklier. Locklier’s brows furrowed and he briskly walked off towards the back door as well. He caught up the man and grabbed him by the shoulder. “I think Pyria, myself and my friends here will follow,” Locklier said.

The man and his colleague led the party down a level into a room with several stone slabs. “Stoltis, I’m sorry,” he said regretfully.

They were in a morgue. Towards the back of the room, Pyria spotted a man chained to one of the stone slabs. His body twitched uncontrollably. No, Pyria thought, That man is dead. Why does he move?

Next to the animated body stood a man in plate armor with a green serpent adorned on the chest. Pyria did not recognize the symbol. The man in plate pointed to the two men that led the party to the morgue, “You leave.” The man was surprised by their entrance into the morgue and looked unhappy with their presence.

Pyria stepped forward and asked, “Who are you?”

“My name is Stoltis Carmordren, m’lady.” he replied.

“What are you doing here?” Pyria questioned.

Why was this man here, Pyria wondered. “I think we need to talk,” Stoltis said. He made a few glances around the room. Pyria noticed the other men in the room. They all seemed a bit tense. Pyria sensed something was up. Stoltis was hiding something or up to no good.

Suspicious, Pyria asked, “How long have you been in the city?”

A few of the men moved their hands to their weapons. Ohana eyed the men and warned, “That wouldn’t be wise.” Pyria heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed. These men were definitely hiding something Pyria thought. Something worth murdering someone over. Surprised Pyria exclaimed, “You really are attacking the daughter of Baron Borgadus?!”

These men didn’t care. Chaos erupted and fighting ensured. One man with a spear approached Pyria and lunged forward. Pyria narrowly dodged the attack and responded with a blast of arcane energy. Locklier took out his sword and impaled the man, killing him. Stoltis shouted towards one of the doorways, “My greatsword!” He made his way to the door but Ohana intercepted and incapacitated Stoltis.

Session #3 – 06/06/2019

A dead man! Pyria had fought before, sure, but none of her fights had ever ended with the death of another humanoid. This man’s death was justified however. He did try to kill the Baron of Carse’s only daughter.

Ohana approached the dead man’s corpse and cradle the body. It looked like he was mourning the loss of life. Sewer Knife joined Ohana and rummaged through the dead man’s pockets. The deceased man wore a lapel of a golden snake. Stolis also wore a similar pin, only his was in jade.

The dead assassin’s body twitched. That spooked Pyria. These men were definitely up to no good.

Ohana walked up to Pyria. He wore a suspicious expression on his face and asked, “How much help do you really need?”

Oh no! Pyria thought. Ohana knew her secret. She kept her arcane abilities hidden from her parents. Would he tell them? Would he reveal she made a pact to gain these abilities? Panicked Pyria responded, “What my parents don’t know, should stay unknown.” Ohana seemed satisfied with the response. The group began to discuss what should be done with the men. One dead man and and several unconscious men laid prone on the floor of the morgue.

There were jail cells in the building, one level above. That seemed to be their best option. Before plans could be made the dead assassin’s body began to convulse violently. The corpse spewed out black blood. Sehl whipped out a knife and stabbed the animated body. It stopped moving. How odd and creepy. What was done to this man’s body?

Ohana left to alert the guards. Jessicat followed. While they were away, Stolis came to. The man coughed as he uttered, “the dark arts…the daughter of the Baroness.” He continued, “let me guess, Dagon? Is that who you got your powers from?” Sehl began questioning Stolis.

Ohana returned with the palace guards Mel and Amigo. Mel gasped as she entered the room, “The Emerald Serpents?! My lady how did you find out about the Emerald Serpents?”

Pyria looked towards Mel and exclaimed, “These men accuse my family of awful things!”

“I serve Carse,” Stoltis said.

Mel explained the men were members of secret police unit in the city of Carse known as the Emerald Serpents. Apparently, there have been issues with the Baron and the Emerald Serpents.

Sewer Knife continued his interrogation. Stoltis refused to entertain Sewer Knife’s line of questioning, “I have nothing else to sa-” before he could complete his sentence Sewer Knife responded with a simple “OK” and sliced off the his Stoltis’ ear.

Stoltis shouted out in pain. Defiant he replied, “I’ll tell you this much, you won’t hang out these demon worshippers. Wiona is the one is charge.”

Such terrible things Stolis accused Pyria’s mother of. Was there any truth to his claims? What had her mother done? Stoltis mentioned Wiona was a caught leading a cult of Dagon. Why hadn’t Pyria heard of this. Her mother’s worship of Dagon was no secret.

Stoltis continued talking, “Carolina is dead thanks to your mother.” Who was Carolina? Pyria needed to get back to the castle and talk to her mother. The group decided to lock the Emerald Serpents in the jail. Pyria kept the key. Mel tried to caution against the imprisonment of the Emerald Serpents. These men attempted to kill the daughter of the Baron of Carse and the son of the King of Merkermia. They were getting it off easy with their imprisonment.

Satisfied with the confinement of the Emerald Serpents, the party made their way back to the castle. The group traversed the city streets. At one point, Jessicat broke off and approached the entrance of a nearby alley. It looked like sensed she something, but nothing was found.

The castle gates were in sight. As the group walked through the gates they were ambushed! Men with cloth bags attempted to kidnap Sewer Knife! Fortunately, Jessicat spotted the men and thwarted the attempt.

“Sehl, what have you done?!” one man shouted. “Give us your coin,” he continued.

Session #4 – 06/13/2019

Ohana pulled Pyria aside informing her that one of the assailants on the bridge addressed Sewer Knife by a different name: Sehl. This was odd and a bit suspicious. She had not heard him mention the name before, but the truth was Pyria didn’t know Sewer Knife very well.

Sagrath entered the room. The older man started a conversation with Jessicat. “Any news on the Guild of Death,” He asked. He continued, “Something inhuman is happening in Carse related to the Guild. The Guild of Death is more than just a group of assassins. I believe Orcus is involved.”

Orcus? That name sounded vaguely familiar to Pyria. She asked, “Can you tell use more about Orcus.”

Sagrath sighed, “I’m afraid I am at a lost when it comes to demonology. There is a certain spell I have learned over the years. One that allows me to obtain information from those who are no longer alive. The spell no longer seems to be working well. Did you encounter anything odd on the streets?”

The party updated Sagrath on the situation at the morgue with the Emerald Serpents and the animated body of the dead assassin.

Sagrath asked, “Did it speak? I encountered a similar thing. It would only speak one thing while laughing: Thanotos. That is the name his followers give to the realm in the Abyss.”

Sagrath looked disappointed as he continued, “I was hoping your excursion into the city would have yielded more information instead of increasing tensions between your family and the Emerald Serpents.”

Pyria winced. She had not mean to make a mess of that situation. Hopefully it would just fade away. More important things needed to be dealt with first.

“Sagrath, do you have any potions of healing?” she asked. “We’re encountering foes of great strength.”

Sagrath was surprised by the request and said, “I will see what I can do. However, if you encounter these things I don’t think a health potion will help. I suggest you run.”

Saggrath left and returned a short time later. He brought a few potions of healing. Pyria also received her daily allowance of 20 gold pieces. She thanked him and he left the room again.

Locklier joined the group. He asked, “Where to now?”

Pyria locked eyes with him and said, “Let’s link up with Sewer Knife.”

“He said he had everything under control,” Locklier replied.

Pyria glanced at Ohana. The goblin spoke up, “Your friend, Mr. Knife.”

Locklier said, “oh yeah, Knifey.”

Ohana described what he overhead on the bridge.

Locklier pondered a moment before he replied, “I guess I am not too surprised. He was clearly up to something. He is a good kid though, might be getting into some trouble.”

The party made their way back out the castle towards the moat. There were no signs of Sewer Knife.

Pyria cupped her mouth and shouted, “SEWER KNIFE!!!” The group split up to cover more ground in their search. Pyria walked to the area Sewer Knife was last seen. Nothing. Unfortunately, there were no leads.

(Meanwhile, Jessicat walked off with two sailors towards the city.)

Pyria started to give up on her search before she decided to go where Sewer Knife entered the castle. “Yes! That’s it,” she thought. She made her way to the bathroom off the dining hall. The latrine contained a few gallows of flowing, smelly liquid. Pyria yelled towards the potty, “SEWER KNIFE?!”

Nothing.

Feeling defeated and mildly frustrated with her search efforts Pyria returned to the outdoors. She took a seat in the courtyard and began to formulate a plan for her next course of action. Her thoughts were interrupted once she caught a glimpse of a small person running across the road. Immediately, Pyria took off running after him. She was not sure why she decided to follow but she had a hunch that it might lead her one step closer to finding Sewer Knife.

Ohana also took off running after the small person too. For a short goblin he could move! He ran past Pyria and caught up the the running person too. Ohana was able to maneuver in front of the person blocking the runner’s path.

What? This was Owlie. The same man from the fight earlier at the moat. Ohana gave the man a good wack with his staff.

“Looks like my hunch was right,” Pyria mused. Her thoughts were interrupted before she could complete her mental victory lap. A man in a black cloak called out from behind, “Excuse me!”

Pyria turned around and narrowly dodged an attempted sword attack. That was a little too close for comfort. The cloaked man wore the stench of a sewer. Pyria answered the man’s attack with an attack of her own. Arcane energy accumulated in her hand. She unleashed it, and the man took a direct hit from the blast.

Meanwhile Owlie frantically swung his dagger towards Ohana. Locklier caught up with Owlie. He drew his rapier and plunged his sword into Owlie’s chest. The attack forced Owlie to his knees and then he collapsed.

Sewer Knife emerged. It wasn’t clear where he came from, but he jumped in and joined the fray.

The man who attacked Pyria attempted to hit her with his sword. His attack missed again. Frustrated he took out his crossbow and fired a bolt aimed at Locklier. His aim was as good as his swing: lousy. The bolt missed Locklier, but it caught his attention.

Pyria fired another arcane blast towards the man. The attack landed. The cloaked man kept his focus on Locklier. He dropped his crossbow and swung his sword towards Locklier. His blade sliced clean into Locklier’s shoulder. Blood spewed everywhere. The man was subdued by Ohana.

Ohana tied up the cloaked man and removed his poison ring. It was the same ring Sewer Knife retrieved from the first assassin days ago.

Sewer Knife approached a kid associated with the assailants. Pyria had not noticed the child before. The kid looked panicked and spoke to Sewer Knife. “I have no idea what’s going on! This is weird,” the kid said. He kept going on, “But Owlie’s dead! I–I have to tell the man! He has to know.” Sewer Knife handed a letter to the the kid before the child ran away into the city.

Ohana approached Owlie’s body. He whispered what sounded like a prayer and then Owlie’s body engulfed into flames. Ohana’s chanting grew louder as the body burned into a crisp husk. Pyria watched in horror.

She yelped, “Ohana what are you doing?!”

Ohana replied, “I beckoned to the gods and there was a reaction.” He continued, “something is amiss.”

Pyria’s eyes lingered on the remains of Owlie before averting her attention towards Sewer Knife. She spoke to him, “So, you know these guys and they know you.”

Sewer Knife replied, “I have a little explaining to do.”

Ohana joined in and said, “Yes, Sehl.“

Sehl began his story, “My real name is Sehladoor.” He looked towards Locklier, “I didn’t know about this death cult. I knew Owlie. I had no idea he was caught up with the cult. I’m a scoffer. We do petty crime just to get by. But Cult of Death? No! We’re not part of this.”

Locklier ponder a moment before he spoke, “We had a shipment for the wedding lifted.”

“Ah,” responded Sehl. He handed Locklier a bag. Locklier pushed the bag back towards Sehl and said, “You can keep this. However, we need your help in tracking down the Guild of Death. I say we make an alliance with the scoffers. If what Sehl says is true, they are not in league with the Guild.” Locklier looked towards Sehl, “right?”

Sehl nods.

“I say we meet with their leader and make an alliance,” said Locklier.

Sehl pointed towards Owlie’s remains. “He was the closest I knew of a leader with the scoffers,” replied Sehl. He had heard of some rumors though.

A few moments passed before everyone looked around and wondered, where is Jessicat?

Session #5 – 06/27/2019

Jessicat walked towards the party with a brilliant spear strapped to her back. It sparkled and glowed like the sun was right on top of it. Pyria’s eyes widen. She recognized the spear as one worn only by the Crusaders of Talos. The Crusaders of Talos were a group of devout Bahumat worshipers created by Talos Dragor, a member of the 42nd. The 42nd was a great and mighty adventuring company well know for their deeds at the Battle of Maroldrun.

Pyria exclaimed, “Jessicat! I didn’t know you were a member of the Crusaders of Talos! That’s amazing. I’ve read about them in the books. Pip is going to flip when I tell him this.”

Jessicat shifted uneasily, “There is a lot you don’t know about me.”

A group of guards approached the party cautiously. They saluted and one guard spoke, “My lady, we must clear the streets quickly! A large group of nobles should be arriving any moment. We can’t let them see the streets like this.”

Locklier said, “I believe my father is a member of the envoy.”

The cloaked man groaned as he began to regain consciousness. Sehl punched the man knocking him out again and replied, “Where should we take this guy? Who do we trust? Can we trust your parents?”

Pyria nodded, “I think so, we have a small dungeon.”

Locklier and Sehl lifted the man and carried his body as the party made their way back to the castle.

The dungeon was near the guard barracks. There was a cellar in the barrack. Pyria led them down towards the cells. There were two cells, both empty. They secured the cloaked man in one of the cells.

Locklier sighed, “This does not bode well. Some of the most important leaders of Merkemia in Carse with an assassin on the loose. All these important people gathered in one place. Cancelling the wedding brings it own set of problems. Our marriage alliance is of great importance. Especially in light of the Emerald Serpents drama.”

Sehl suggested they meet with the scoffers.

Groaning came from the cell. The assassin squinted his eyes and grabbed his head. The man was greeted by Ohana. The goblin stared the man down. Sehl immediately ducked around corner once the assassin regained consciousnesses. The cloaked man sat up, his eyebrows twitched with amusement.

Pyria approached the cell and asked, “who are you and what are you doing in the city?”

Silence.

Locklier drew his rapier and placed the tip of the blade under the assassin’s chin and said, “if you don’t start talking, we don’t have much use for you.”

Ohana began reciting a prayer. The goblin didn’t like killing and it seemed his prayers eased his discomfort. The assassin shook his head.

Locklier continued, “I know you are either plotting to kill Pyria or to ruin this wedding.”

The assassin’s eyes went wide. His face twisted into a chaotic anger. The man ran up to the bars of the cell and yelled, “SILENCE THAT ONE!” Locklier took a step back in shock.

Ohana approached the assassin and placed his hands on the bars of the cell. He was still reciting his prayer.

The assassin yelled in horror, “No! Master help me! Help! Help your servant!” The man’s yelling turned into incoherent babble.

Concerned Pyria warned Ohana, “Ohana?! Are you going to burn him? Don’t burn my house!” The assassin fell to the ground. He crawled to a corner in the cell and curled into a ball. Ohana stopped praying and stared at his hands in wonder and confusion.

Pyria also confused asked, “What just happened? Is this a follower of Orcus? Sagrath talked about Carse being invaded by aliens forces.”

The assassin seemed to regain some of his composure. He started to crawl back to the front of his cell. The man propped himself up and said, “Do it.”

Locklier put his rapier away and replied, “sorry friend.”

Pyria turned her attention to the assassin and asked, “Are you going to start talking now?”

The assassin replied, “I have nothing to say to you.”

Pyria glanced at Ohana, “So more praying?”

“I will suffer,” the assassin replied.

Pyria asked, “Is he worth it.”

Silence.

“Is Orcus worth it?” Pyria asked. She started to suspect there might be a connection between the man and Orcus based off the man’s reaction to Ohana’s prayers.

The question triggered a response from the assassin. He asked, “What do you know?”

Pyria replied, “Start sharing info and I’ll share info.”

After a long moment of silence the assassin replied, “Yes, it is worth it. We worship the one who answer our prayers. Ours are stronger than yours.” The man looked towards Ohana. Ohana wore a stoic face.

Pyria asked, “What are your prayers?”

The assassin replied, “I used to say my prayers to another. She would not hear me. The true one of death, not the old one, he will restore balance.”

“What will balance this world?” asked Pyria.

“There is a way to things. Good things, evil things. Alive things, dead things. In the end, it doesn’t even matter. For in the end it will all be balanced,” said the man.

Pyria continued her questioning with, “And what role do you play in this balance?”

The assassin answered, “I have embraced death.”

Sehl joined the conversation with, “How did you get mixed up with Owlie?”

“How about Owlie got mixed up with us, ” the assassin replied. “I’ll give you this much,” he continued, “Owlie is just the beginning. There are many of us.”

Sehl continued, “Are you with the cult of death? I guess that was an obvious, dumb question. How many other scoffers have you twisted and turned to your evil ways you bad guy!”

The assassin was no longer willing to speak and said, “I have nothing more to say to you all.”

“I tried my best, I couldn’t get anything out of him,” said Sehl.

“I am ready to die,” continued the assassin.

“Well that’s too bad!” replied Sehl. Sehl turned around and headed towards the exit of the cellar. At the top of the stairs stood Sagrath. The old wizard made his way down the stairs.

Surprised by his presence Pyria said, “Sagrath! What are you doing here?”

Sagrath replied, “I saw you from the Eagle Tower and I had a feeling something interesting was going on here.”

“Well you asked for intel on Orcus and we have what we believe is an agent of Orcus,” said Pyria.

Sagrath glanced at the assassin in the cell and asked, “what has he said?”

“That he embraces death,” replied Pyria.

“Your father pays me a lot of money to help with matters like this. What do you need?” asked Sagrath.

Pyria responded, “There’s a correlation between these agents and Ohana’s prayers.”

“Ah, so a weakness to divinity,” Sagrath assummed, “I have ways of extracting information from people.”

“Let’s do this,” Pyria said.

Sagrath continued, “Well, the first thing you need to do is kill him.”

Pyria exclaimed, “What?!” Sehl was also shocked by the suggestion and said, “did, did you say kill him?”

Sagrath confirmed his request and said, “Yes, he needs to be dead to extract the information. The spell does not work on the living.”

Pyria looked at the assassin and sighed before saying, “Let’s give him what he wants, but I’m not going to be the one that does it.” She glanced at Locklier. He nodded and drew his sword. “We need to be fast,” he said as approached the cell. The assassin ran to the bars eager to embrace death. Ohana began reciting his prayers. The assassin started to hiss at the sound of the goblin’s prayers. Locklier readied his attack. He started to swing but was interrupted by Sehl. The elf grabbed Locklier’s arm and whispered, “Dude hold on a second. I got an idea.” Sehl looked at the assassin and said, “if you don’t do what he says, he’s going to make you immortal.”

The threat of immortality broke the assassin’s will. He uttered out the words, “Temple! Temple of Bahumat.” The assassin cried out to Orcus, “I am sorry master!”

Sehl turned his attention to Jessicat and said, “Temple of Bahumat? That’s your order.”

She responded, “Sure, that might be.”

Sagrath sighed. He limped back up the stairs. Before reaching the top he paused and turned to speak, “if you need to talk to his corpse, let me know.”

“Alright,” Pyria said, “Let me get Mel and Amigo on this and then we can head to the temple.” She didn’t feel comfortable leaving an assassin unattended on the castle grounds. Pyria searched for her personal guards but she could not find either one any where in the castle. She stopped another guard and asked if he had seen Mel or Amigo recently. The man informed Pyria that neither one had been seen since the morning. “Since the morning,” Pyria wondered. “Oh no!” she thought. They were at the Administrative Complex. Worry crypt to her mind. “We have to go to the Administrative Complex,” she told the others.

The envoy with special weddings guests arrived at the Baron’s estates as the party left.

As the group made there way to the Administrative Complex discussed a game plan on what to do with their new information. Locklier said, “We need to eliminate the threat before any harm can be done.”

Pyria replied, “so where to?”

Locklier looked towards Jessicat and asked, “Jessicat, why do you think they’ll attack the Temple of Bahamut?”

The tabaxi shrugged, “I have no idea.”

“We need someone with more info,” replied Locklier.

Pyria suggested they should speak with the Emerald Serpents. They were bound to know something. They were doing something weird with that body of the first assassin. Locklier nodded, “it sounds like a plan.”

The Administrative Complex was closed for business and the doors were locked. Fortunately, there was someone inside. Shortly after attempting to open the door, the door slowly opened and they were met by the scribe from before. He ushered them in and said, “this way.”

Mel and Amigo were sitting in the jail cells. The same cells where the Emerald Serpents should have been imprisoned. Shocked Pyria ran to the key hole, “Mel what happened?” Pyria disengaged the lock and released Mel and Amigo.

The party returned to the morgue. Inside a man equipped with a spear greeted them, “Stoltis is below.” The followed the man to the level below. It was a large room. Pyria was surprised to see the room filled with rows and rows of bookshelves. Several scribes were busing reading and writing on pages. Surrounding the room stood 11 armed warriors. Sitting at an oak desk was Stoltis. He was wearing a full plate of armor sans the helm. The man was writing something.

“Stoltis,” called out Pyria from the doorway.

He turned, “well, well what do we have here? My little warlock.”

“We need to talk,” replied Pyria.

Stoltis stood, “Yes, yes, I believe we do. I don’t expect to yell at you all day long.” He motioned for her to enter the room.

Pyria glanced at the armed men and then returned her gaze to Stoltis. She cautiously entered the room. The others followed. The armed men move to block their only exit from the room.

Stotlis continued, “Yes, we have a lot to discuss. You are under arrest for treason. Plotting to assassinate Bogardus Almareth.”

“What?!” exclaimed Pyria, “I have no motive to kill my father!”

Ohana took out an empty poision ring and presented it.

Stoltis observed the ring, “Yes, the one we were interrogating had the same ring. What of it?”

“You are mistaken. We have a common enemy,” replied Ohana.

Stoltis paused to consider this.

Pyria said, “we know they are worshipers of the Prince of Death, Orcus. And I would be willing to take you to one that we have captive. He is alive.”

Ohana produced another ring and a component pouch he retrieved from the assassin. Inside the pouch contained nightshade and cyanide. Stolits extended a hand and grabbed the pouch. He started to open it, stopped and then handed it to one of the scribes.

Pyria agreed be searched for poison in an effort to gain Stoltis’ trust. Two guards approached and patted her down. One jumped back, “what’s this,” he exclaimed, “what’s this creature?”

“This is my friend Pip, and he won’t hurt you,” she assured the guards.

Stoltis wore a disappointed look on his face, “hmph warlock, what is it? A demon?”

In draconic Pyria said, “alright Pip, it’s time to reveal yourself.” Pip crawled out and perched himself atop of Pyria’s shoulder. Pip was a pseudo dragon. She kept him hidden to keep her powers hidden.

Stoltis said, “Very well, I’ll make you a deal. We will investigate these claims of yours and postpone your arrest. But until your name is cleared we will keep Locklier here.”

“What?” asked Pyria.

Stotlis continued, “if you agree to this, we will share information.”

Locklier said, “if this goes south, find the scoffers and do what you need to do.” Pyria nodded.

Stoltis regarded Jessicat and said, “okay, I take it you learned about this while you were stealing that spear from Shigga.”

Pyria glanced at Jessicat and the brilliant spear she had adorned on her back. Annoyed by accusation, Pyria said, “What? Jessicat is a member of the Crusaders of Talos! They’re awesome. I’ve read about them in books.”

The party updated Stoltis on how they obtained the information about the Temple of Bahamut.

Stoltis took a moment to consider the new intel and said, “Here’s what we know since you kept your side of the bargain.” He nodded towards one of the scribes. The man took out a scroll and began to read a section of it.

The Temple of Bahamut was a means to hire an assassin.

The party return to the castle to retrieve the captured assassin. As they passed the castle ground, Pyria noticed King Argamir engaged in a conversation with four other nobles outside. She approached and greeted the king. The pair exchanged pleasantries. King Argamir noticed Locklier was not near and asked for his whereabouts. “Oh he’s exploring the city,” Pyria answered. “Ah,” said the king, “well make sure it doesn’t go out and get too much to drink.” Pyria nodded and caught up with the rest of the party. They dragged the assassin back to the Administrative Complex.

Stoltis seemed pleased with the delivery and said, “I see, so it appears that you did have a member of the Guild of Death. So what do with do with.” He gestured towards the assassin.

Pyria mentioned Sagrath and his means of obtaining info from the dead.

Saggrath considered this and said, “So we have options. Use Sagrath or use the note to our advantage. We don’t want the Guild of Death to know we’re onto them. They are very elusive. If they know we are onto them they will change their game.”

Possession by the Prince of Undeath

Mel and Amigo left to retrieve Sagrath. After some time had past, Sagrath limped into the morgue. The assassin was secured to one of the beds in the morge. Stoltis drew a curved knife and slit the man’s throat. Blood dripped down the dais and the man’s body went limp. Sagrath approached it and removed a pouch. Inside the pouch was a powdery substance. Sagrath placed the powder around the dead man’s body and ignited it.

The slit head of the corpse rose. Sagrath looked toward Stoltis and said, “alright, you have five questions.”

Stoltis nodded and looked towards the corpse. He asked, “who is your target?”

The dead man replied, “the Argamir family.”

“When will the assassination take place,” asked Stoltis.

The corpse leaned back for moment before it rose again. Corpse’s tone changed to an otherworldly one. It replied, “Leave my servant alone.” One of the corpse’s chains started to pop as the corpse started break free of the restraints. It’s arms flexed and bulged. Ohana started his prayers and the body dropped and screamed. Ohana paused his prayer to say, “answer.” He then resumed praying.

The corpse started to burn. Pyria turned to Ohana and said, “Ohana, don’t burn him!” She looked towards the corpse and asked, “where will the assassination happen?” She noticed more the chains breaking from the force of the corpse and yelled, “Guys! We need more chains in here!” The corpse was inhumanly strong. Jessicat hopped onto of the body to help restrain it.

Stoltis mentioned, “we had to do that with the last one.” Two guards chopped off the corpse’s arms. Despite being detached from the body they remained animated. The fingers crawled trying to approach the dais.” The corpse no longer talked. Pyria looked towards Sagrath and asked, “what is happening?”

Sagrath responded, “I am afraid I don’t know. Perhaps necromancy isn’t the best tool against the Prince of Death.”

Ohana continued his prayer.

The corpse utter its final words, “You can stop the wedding, but it won’t matter.” The body engulfed into flames.

Pyria looked towards the others and said, “We have to get back to the castle and warn the King and Baron.” Everyone agreed and the party returned to the castle.

It was dark and most of everyone had already retired for the night. The party woke the King and Baron and they met to discuss the day’s events and the Intel they had gathered. Baron Borgardus gave Pyria a hard time for associating with scoffers. She continued the update and warned that in light of the Guild of Death infiltrating the ranks of the scoffers the same may be true for the guards among the King’s and Baron’s forces. Once the King and the Baron where caught up, Baron Borgardus asked, “Do you know how to root them out?”

Pyria nodded and replied, “we’ll use Ohana’s prayers.”

King Argamir said, “Let’s do this! Let’s line them out in the courtyard.”

They gathered everyone out in the courtyard. Nervous, Ohana began his prayer. Pyria’s mother, Winona, joined Ohana in reciting the prayer:

“Blessed Corellon and his holy Seldarine, your servant Ohana asks you humbly:
If it be your will, turn your gaze to this spirit. Forgive them. Bring them home.”

Two men in the crowd dropped to the ground. Sehl announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, we got ’em!” The men tried to fight back, but they were having trouble. Ohana beckoned for more people to join him in reciting the prayer. Soon everyone in the party was chanting the words. Five more men dropped down and clenched their heads. They started to get subdued. The longer the prayer when one it seemed like the less it affected them. They were gaining an immunity.

Pyria shouted, “restrain them!”

The King and Baron looked concerned as the watched the men get dragged to the cells below the barracks. Back in the audience chamber, everyone’s exhaustion became apparent.

King Argamir said, “Well it appears we do need to be careful. I don’t know if we should cancel this wedding either. What should we do?”

Locklier replied, “We find this guild tomorrow and we stop them out. We will search this city with any means available to use. Jessicat, how do we deceive this Guild of Death and root them out?”

Session #6 – 7/18/2019