Post date: Sep 01, 2016 11:21:48 PM
These session summaries were originally posted to The Piazza in June and July 2013, and have been edited to remove spoilers for future sessions. Out-of-character commentary is in italics.
Session 19 (6/1/2013)
We had our last session a few weeks ago, but I've put off posting about it because it was one of those sessions that illustrated the axiom, "No plan survives contact with the PCs." I've finally figured how to progress from where we ended the session, so here we go...
After disposing of their loot from their night at the Opera House, the party decided it was time to go scout out the Crimson Weal again. Harissa asked Randal if he wanted to join them, but he'd heard just enough about the place to think she was crazy, and begged off. The PCs went to Dreaming Street during the day, when they knew there would be next to no activity at the Weal, and climbed up to the roof, where they encountered the gargoyles again--this time, all four of them. After a long and very noisy fight, they slew them all.
Harissa and Inacio were just about to try the back door when it opened mysteriously. They entered, and were attacked by the same drow they had seen the first time they spied on the place. After he hit Inacio with confusion and Harissa with bestow curse, they retreated to the yard and the drow pursued. Larkspur and Marisol returned from their running battle with gargoyles about then, and after a long, bloody battle, the drow fell.
This is where we stopped, because I hadn't anticipated them taking down the drow (Gulimar, from Cults of Freeport), who is several levels above the party. I had intended him to scare them off, perhaps even killing or capturing a PC or two if they persisted in the face of a far superior foe--and reinforcing the idea that they weren't ready to take down the cult at the Weal yet--but I played him very poorly (and not nearly as ruthless as he should have been). Therefore, I needed time to work out contingency plans for what the PCs did next.
Session 20 (7/6/2013)
The party allowed their summoned creatures to tear Gulimar to pieces. They then used detect magic on his gear, and kept scanning as they searched the first and second floors of the Crimson Weal. Apart from the drow's possessions, they found little of interest, so went down to the basement. Here, they had just enough time to take in the former slave auction room before a pain mistress [The Book of Fiends] materialized before them. Two of the party were already rather injured, and claw attacks from the fiend nearly killed them. This was their clue to flee with all possible speed, and they managed to escape the building as the pain mistress was squeezing up the stairs. As they fled, Larkspur spotted a winged figure flying up from the vicinity of the Weal and heading towards the Old City. [This was the pain mistress, polymorphed into a flying form so that it could more quickly report the intrusion to its mistress.]
The PCs returned to their ship to rest and heal. The next day, the visited the Valiant Weasel, the magic shop they frequent. They had their new magical loot identified, and finally met the owner, Amanashaya, who wanted to see a scroll they had tried to sell last time, when she wasn't in. [Shaya is a retired PC from my previous Freeport campaigns; she is a cleric of the god of magic, as well as a mystic theurge and loremaster. She's usually too busy with research to manage the shop's day to day business, so delegates that to her two apprentices--one a cleric and one a wizard.)] Shaya also identified the drow's holy symbol as that of Lowyatar, Bringer of Painful Delights. She had not been aware of any temple to this goddess in Freeport, so her curiosity was piqued. She also identified the pain mistress from their description.
The PCs are now 6th level (and most of the way to 7th, thanks to taking down Gulimar by accident). Harissa can now take the Leadership feat and recruit a crew for their ship, which will make seafaring adventures more manageable. However, thanks to the impeding hiatus, we have much to discuss about when and how the campaign will continue. FWIW, Marisol's player (the only one of us NOT moving to KY this summer) acknowledged that it may be a lot easier on the rest of us to recruit a replacement rather than try to continue the game with her online, and is OK with that.