Entry 7 - CoS: The Marionette pt 1 (Whisper)

VII.  The Marionette (DDAL04-04) part 1

5/5/2016  Nerdageddon, Brighton DM:  Lucas  4113342157

Whisper – human paladin (John), Alaric – elven fighter (Jay), Selene – elven ranger (Lisa), Barney – human fighter (Christian), Zhey – elven wizard (Gina), Bill – dwarven rogue (Jacob), Flint - fighter (Logan), Lylium - wizard (Johnathan), Klock – half orc barbarian (Tanner), Garren - cleric (Brogan)



Draft (session notes only)

While resting at the Seven Tables Inn the evening after the undead attack with Lazlo, the owner Marco approaches the adventurers who helped the town and the new outsiders. He informs them that Vasile and his friend Merle had been sent to a nearby village for supplies and had not returned. He offered to reward the group if they could discover what happened and help if needed. Everyone agrees and sets off at first light.

A few hours out from town the group comes upon an overturned cart with two boys lying near by as a pair of harpies pick over the dead mule. The new cleric with the group does not hesitate to attack the creatures and several others soon attack as well. One of the harpies flys away while the first is felled in short order. Upon inspection the party finds Vasile is still alive but appears to be suffering from an undead attack which drained his life force rather than from the harpies. His friend however is dead.

The group crafts some crude litters to bring Vasile and the body back to the town arriving around mid day. They take both to the hospice where Glovia and Soreena explore the injuries and treat Vasile. Not long after getting settled back in town and notifying Marco of what happened the town crier summons everyone to the town square for an announcement.

The adventurers are called out by name and asked to head immediately to the Burgomeister's home. The crier reasures the town that the party is not wanted for any criminal activities and there is nothing to worry over. After some party members debate the prudence of hiding their coin purses before a meeting with the tax collector they make their way to his home. Outside before being greeted by the butler they walk past a colorful wagon out front. This was pointed out to them earlier as a vargo and employed by the Vistani.

The butler brings them to a sitting room and introduces the burgomeister Ivan and his other guest, a young woman in colorful cloths inlaid with bells by the name of Sibble. After introductions Ivan tells the group that Sibble has just done a reading for him and the results were disturbing and involved all of us. He insists that we too have a reading done and after some trepidation by several of the group we begin and Sibble has us focus on a crystal ball in the center of the table.

Once all have focused on the orb and closed their eyes they feel a falling sensation and find themselves in a large room. In this room is a table with spectacles, a pitcher of cider and glasses. Also in the room is a young girl turned away from the group playing a harpsichord. Next to her is a smaller table with a book. Across the room are shelves with toys and dolls and at the opposite side of the room from the group is a bust on a pedestal and a large painting that appears to be Glovia a man and a young girl.

When addressed the young girl turns and the party sees her as afflicted with boils and lesions of some sort. All but Lylium that is who put on the spectacles. He sees her as normal. However he also sees puppet strings leading off of all in the room and when he glances at the bust the eyes meet his, startling him.  Selene goes through the girl's diary discovering some alarming information about the girl's illness and Glovia's research towards a cure.

The girl is Glovia's daughter and the man in the painting is her father Lucian who was, or is, a toy/doll maker. Someone hands the girl a glass of cider and discovers she is either an illusion or incoporeal in some way as she's unable to hold the glass. Garren checks the room for magic and finds everything around them glows with the light of magic. The girl explains that her mother needs a powder box to help make her better. When asked about the box Lazlo bursts in however he is three times larger than normal. There are also puppet strings leading off of him as if he was a marionette leading up to a huge figure looming above who looks like Glovia. Trailing away up above her however are further strings leading into blackness. As this confrontation begins to unfold the party hears “Wake up!” in increasing persistence and volume.

The party awakens in the bergomeister's home with him in a panic. The town is in chaos. The party rushes out the front door and sees Lazlo in the distance at the foot of the mountain. He shouts out to Glovia asking her what she will do now, throws a torch at the town hall roof and flees. The burgomeister shouts for the group to save the food stores at the town hall before they burn.

The party splits up and successfully deals with the following.

Klock, Zhey and Flint make it out with the last of 5 crates of goods as the building collapses.

Lylium, Alaric, Garren(?) and Bill rush to the jail and free a man who turns out to be a wereraven.

Barney, Selene and Alaric confront and defeat a ghast who appears to be directing the attack and some skeletons.

Whisper heads off alone to hold off several zombies while Oleg escapes with two children.

After the chaos dies down the group heads to the Inn. They had no more sat down when someone bursts in to tell them Serena and her father are missing and the party should look for them up at the manor outside of town.


OOC:  Group received the story rewards "Trust of the Burgomeister" and "Eye of the Raven".  A rescued child told the party that the floor in the front room of the manor is weak and could break or be broken easily.  One party member (Garren or Barney I believe) has a key with a stone set into the top.  0 renown 0 down time days, 600 exp, 14gp each

Entry 6 - CoS: The Marionette pt 1

VI. The Marionette (DDAL04-04) part 1

5/1/2016 Get Your Game On, Ann Arbor, DM: Aaron 4511659554

Tale - tiefling warlock (John), Dale – half elf bard (Kirk), Gaven half elf sorcerer (Zach), Ahnfred – human druid (Chris), Selvan – wood elf cleric (Chris), Thraek - half orc fighter (Alex)


Draft (session notes only) 

After the events of “The Executioner” the party finds itself at the Seven Tables Inn owned by Marco. One of the boys who makes their supply run is missing. He was suppose to have returned in a wagon by now with supplies from the blacksmith Graylon in the next village over called Coral which we are told is frequented by the Vistani. The boy, Valkie was familiar with the run and never encountered any problems he couldn't deal with previously. The party agrees to head towards Coral and see what they can find out.

Gaven rents some horses and a cart for the trip and the party sets out. Less than half way down the road to Coral the party sees a pair of bears and an ogre. The ogre appears to be standing watch as his bears chew on the carcass of two horses tied to a wagon. The party seeing this approaches calling out to the ogre asking if they can tend to what looks like a boy buried up to his neck in the snow. The ogre tells the group the boy is food and after Selvan attempts to trade for the boy, the ogre decides our whole party would add to his food stores and releases his tethered bears.

The group defeats the ogre and his bears and finds the buried boy is dead but there is another boy tied up in a blanket in the back of the wagon. This turns out to be Valkie and the other boy was a friend of his. Valkie appears quite ill likely at the hand of some life-force draining undead creature. The corpse of the other boy in fact turns undead and the party dispatches it. After some arguing over whether to press on to the next town the majority finally convinces the others to turn back to Aransnod and get Valkie to the hospice.

Once they get the boy settled with Glovia and her apprentice at the hospice the party hears the town crier making an announcement. He calls all the adventurers out by name and asks that they meet at the burgomeister's home while reassuring the town that these individuals are not wanted for any criminal misdeeds. Walking up to the burgomeister's home the party sees a wagon out front guarded by two heavily branded shirtless men, which strikes them as odd in the middle of a snowy cold winter where every other local is wearing warm clothing.

At the door they are met by the butler who invites them in cordially and introduces them to the burgomeister Ivan and his gust Sibble, a Vistani seer. Ivan greets them heartily and invites them to sit at his table. There is a chair for each member of the party with that person's name carved into it. As soon as everyone sits servants dressed in the fashion of each party member's respective homelands bring out one of their favorite dishes. After the meal Ivan tells the party why he has called them.

Sibble did a reading earlier for him and saw the town in flames with us in the center of it attacking his citizens. He demands to know why we would do such a thing as if it was a certainty we would do so. When the party explains they have no intention of attacking anyone in the town unprovoked Ivan requests we submit to a reading as well. Sibble produces an orb and once the party joins hands around the table the experience some sort of vision, which seems real while it is occurring.

They find themselves in a home of sorts with a large ballroom lined with some sort of clockwork dancers and music coming from seemingly nowhere. One wall is battered and scratched as if something was attempting to escape, unsuccessfully. Once the chandelier is lit some of the clockworks appear to be in distress but only from a distance.

Another room has glasses that once worn allow the person to see strings leading up from people as if they were marionettes. There is also a scrying bowl in the room much like the one found in “Death House”. In the room is a young girl who's back is to the group. When some get close she turns to show her face in ruins from a claw wound of some sort stunning one of the party from the sheer horror of it. The girl seems normal and unaware of the injury and talks to the group while playing with dolls.

She tells the group about an item her mother is hiding from someone. The party sorts out that this is the child of Glovia from the hospice, the item is being hidden from Lazlo and seems to be the powder box he was looking for. As she shows the group it's hiding spot Lazlo smashes through the window, rakes claws down the girl's face and steals the item before the group “wakes up” finding themselves in Ivan's dining room with him yelling.

The town is in chaos, he claims never to have met us and demands to know what we are doing in his home. The group briefly describes meeting with him and the Vistani seer and that seems enough to shift the blame of any wrongdoing to the Vistani rather than us. Besides, there is a town to save!

Zombies are running around town chasing people. Two stay in the windows and attack undead from there while others run outside to aid others. The group outside notice a man in the window of the now burning jail calling for help. They manage to free the man who promptly turns into a raven after throwing them a bag in thanks. Eventually the group rallies and fights off the remaining undead in town.

OOC:  Group received the story rewards "Eye of the Raven".