Date:
Tothsday 2nd Jelenios, 2994 AE
Weather (Gosterwick):
Cool, overcast
Weather (Archontos):
Cool, rainy
Player Characters:
Ioannes Grammatikos Byzantios, Archontean cleric of Demma (Demented Avenger)
Uvash Edzuson, Dwarven cleric of Zodarrim (Cosmo)
Vael Sunshadow, Half-Elven mage (Kyle)
Vallium Halcyon, Archontean fighter (Greybrown)
Significant NPCs:
Basil, Right for Riches employee
Akla-Chah, Rudishva AI psychologist
Stone Nataraja
Basil Choumnos, Castellan of Pol
Several librarians and clerks at the Royal Library
Many Imperial Guards
Cosmas, mapmaker
Niketas, guide
Baris, half-elven magic seller
Tychios, weapons and armor seller
Leto, shoemaker
Hypatia, alchemist
Bellicus, professor, College of Macrina
Baldwin Greenore, dwarven priest of Zodarrim
Craster, dwarven metal worker
The Plan:
- Go to the Tower of Pol in the Drowned Canyon
- Give a Longevity Potion for Basil Choumnos for the use of his gate to Archontos
- Explore Archontos and go shopping
- Use a Bead of Rescue to teleport to Narsileon and get a reward for Kerbog Khan's head
- Return using the Mirror of Life Trapping and the Pol's Recall spell
What Happened:
Everyone gathered at the Beacon, then went through the Rudishva teleporter to the Secure Vault. From there they took the teleporter to near the Engine Room. Vael brandished the yellow Rudishva identify plaque to keep the Stone Nataraja from attacking, and they went north through the engine room they west through the former vampire lair. Vael cast Levitation on himself and Walk on Air on the others so they could all cross the small chasm, leading to a passage down to near the Tower of Pol.
As they neared the Tower, Vael sent a Message spell to Basil Choumnos telling him they were nearby. They dropped a Teleport Rug and took turns going back to the Beacon and changing into their travelling gear, leaving anything they didn't want to bring to Archontos. When properly equipped, they went down to the cavern near the Tower of Pol. Choumnos was on the roof, and yelled down, asking if everyone was able to fly up. They were. Vallium gave Choumnos the agreed Potion of Longevity. Choumnos magically opened the trap door into the tower, then led everyone down the stairs to the level with the gates. He pointed at the southeastern gate and said that one led to Archontos. He handed Vael two books and asked him to return them to the Royal Library. He said that if the librarians gave him a hard time, to just say he found them, but if the librarians were happy to have them returned, he should say they were being returned by Basil the Wizard, his "library name."
Vael used a Scry Gate, but the other side was featureless, with no differences in heat discernable with infravision. They went on through, entering a dark basement. Vael cast The Bracteros Effect on his Continual Light rock to make it less noticable. They searched until Uvash found some a door. Vael used Glass Door to look through it, and saw stairs up. They went up, Vael used Glass Wall again, and found another basement room, holding some boxes of rotten old books and some cleaning supplies. They went in, then up some more stairs to another door. Glass Wall on that one revealed a better-lit room with library stacks. Vael cast Invisibility on everyone, then they all snuck in.
They walked around the library for a while, all holding hands because they couldn't see each other and didn't want to make noise. After finding the front entrance and information desk, they went back to an empty area and formulated a plan. Vael would dismiss the Invisibility on the others and they would just act like library patrons, asking questions and reading books. Meanwhile Vael would try to sneak out invisibly, holding the Mirror of Life Trapping that he didn't want anyone to see.
The first part of the plan worked. Uvash and Ioannes asked questions about various books and got shown to the right part of the stacks. Vallium said he needed to step out for some air, and opened the door for Vael. Once outside, Vael and Valllium headed for the bridge connecting the island that was the Emperor's Palace to the main city.
There was a guard gate before the bridge, and at first the guards just watched Vallium with routine boredom. But then a guard wizard came running up, blowing a whistle and yelling "invisible!" Suddenly about a dozen guards appeared, surrounding Vallium and (still invisible) Vael. Realizing he was caught, Vael dispelled his invisibility and started apologizing. He was just carrying this mirror and didn't want to get in trouble, but it was his, not stolen or anything. Also it was magical and dangerous and if he removed the sheet covering it, someone might get hurt. The guard sergeant summoned an officer, who asked more questions, but eventually they let Vael and Vallium go. They went across the bridge, through another gatehouse, then asked a guard where a hotel was. He pointed to a nearby building and said "that's the Golden Horn, if they let you in."
Vael and Vallium went to the Golden Horn, a very ornate building featuring a lot of marble and glass. When they entered, a snooty clerk asked who they were and if they were representing someone better. They were not. He informed them that no rooms were currently available, but he could recommend another hotel. He gave them directions to the Hippo House, two fora east then a bit north, near the Arena of Ferricus, funny animal on the sign.
Vallium and Vael walked through the city following the directions to the Hippo House. Vael indicated that they needed a room for four people with good security. The clerk recommended the Imperial Suite on the top floor, at a rather high price, but said they could only have it for three days as it was reserved afterward. Vael agreed and dropped a bunch of platinum coins on the desk. They went up to their room, where Vael set down the huge mirror and then sent a Message spell to Ioannes telling him where they were. He tried contacting Basil on the Rudishva command bracelet, but got no answer.
Ioannes and Uvash finished their reading and followed the directions over to the Hippo House. The group went downstairs and asked the clerk if a guide was available. He said he would contact one for them. A bit later, an older man named Cosmas came in. He said he was a mapmaker and could sell them maps of the city, if they agreed not to resell them or make copies. Or he could provide the services of one of his sons as a tour guide. (Cosmas regretted that he was no longer a fast enough walker to make a very good tour guide.) Vael indicated that he would like both a map and a tour guide. Cosmas asked if he wanted a fancy map suitable for framing, like the one that he had given to the Emperor, or a plain paper map that he didn't mind getting rain on. Vael said he would take one of each. Cosmas thanked Vael for his purchase and said that his son the tour guide would arrive in a few minutes with his maps.
The tour guide was named Niketas. He said that he knew every part of the city and would take them wherever they wanted to go. What did they want to see? A discussion ensued, but they mostly wanted to go shopping. They wanted a magic item store, a shoe store, an alchemist, a fish market, and a source of seagull feathers. Niketas led them through the wide streets and narrow alleys while pointing at various buildings.
At the shop of Baris, a half-elven magic broker, they found a Ring of Free Action and a Ghost Weapon broadsword, They paid cash for both, as they didn't like the price Baris offered for the magic shortsword and sling they wanted to trade. Baris gave them a tip that they might find a magic belt at the shop of Tychios.
At the shop of Tychios, they indeed found a magic belt, a huge gaudy Belt of the Ogre that fit both Vallium and Uvash. He also had some dwarf-sized magic scale armor, but it wasn't light enough for Uvash's taste. Once again, they paid cash as Tychois didn't offer enough for their items.
At the shop of Leto, a humble working-class shoemaker, Ioannes found a pair of shoes for his girlfriend Pelteon. Leto then talked him up to three pairs.
Niketas took them over to the Galeta Grand Harbor and Fish Market, where there were a lot of seagulls. He said he could find them some feathers, or a whole seagull if they preferred. They bought some salted fish snacks, and a fishmonger told them that if they wanted the freshest fish they should buy first thing in the morning when the boats came in.
Eventually they wandered over to the Great Library (different from the Royal Library), and spent most of the rest of the day doing research. Vael researched Vul and the Bridge of Wisdom and found something about supplicants spending three days on the bridge reciting Vul's Insight every quarter hour, but failed to find the words to Vul's Insight. Uvash researched Zhorak and his Forge and found that the great smith Zhorak had indeed moved to the human city of Arden Vul and established his Forge there, for some dumb reason, and had never returned to dwarven civilization, so he was presumed to have died there. Ioannes researched bringing dead constructs back to life, and found that it was not possible. Vallium looked up the Ligareon family, and found that they were one of the Five Families of the Empire, and that they had an estate here in Archontos.
As sunset neared, a clerk carried a sign around saying that the Library would close soon. Vael used the Copy spell to copy a few pages from books, then they left and went back toward their hotel. Niketas asked if they were ready for bed or wanted any evening entertainment. They decided to watch the Arena show. Tickets were sold out, but Niketas said the Hippo House probably had some for guests, and was correct. Their tickets in an upper-middle-class box let them see three different bouts.
The first was two teams of gladiators, red versus green, in a fight to the third serious wound. Eventually the third green gladiator went down, red was declared the winner, and red- and green-robed healers ran out to treat the wounded.
The second bout was one blue-clad gladiator against six large wild cats. He easily and showily defeated all of them.
The final fight was Braticles, the champion of the purple team and the number three ranked gladiator in the whole arena, against a dozen captured bandits, in a trial by combat. Any bandits who defeated Braticles would be declared innocent of their crimes by the gods, and released. Braticles dispatched three of the bandits at range with javelins, then closed in and killed the rest with his spear, then his sword. Guilty as charged.
After the fights, the group went back to thier hotel. Vael sent a Message spell to Basil, then another one to Pelteon for Ioannes. He used extra mana to make the Messages travel faster, since they were so far from Gosterwick.
The next morning, they met Niketas again after breakfast. He took them back to Leto's shop to pick up the shoes, then over to the College of Macrina. The students at the door said that entry before noon required bringing food, so they sent Niketas out to get some food. A student then took them to Professor Bellicus, who taught a course on constructs. Bellicus mocked them a lot for being from Narsileon (though they were not actually from there.) They showed him Kerbog Khan's petrified head, and he pulled out a wanted flier for a rogue wizard named Cerbactos and some stolen highly classified magical books, and told them they could get a reward back in Narsileon for that head and the books. He opined that the reward would be cows or sheep, though, since that's all there was in Narsileon. Vael and Ioannes tried to get information about reviving a dead construct, and Bellicus said that was impossible, or at least dangerous and illegal, because dead constructs tended to go crazy and kill people if revived. It was better to start over and make a new one. They talked about the Emperor's re-acquisition of the book The Art of Becoming (found by the Archon of Narsileon, after it was given to him by some minor noblewoman, after it was given to her by some goblin, who presumably found it under a sheep) and the possibility that the Emperor might hire the College to make Imperial Stone Guardians for him.
Giving up on Bellicus, they went over to Dwarftown, where Vael managed to eat some spicy mushrooms and drink the chunky beer without obvious stomach upset, impressing the dwarves. Uvash talked to Priest Baldwin in the Temple of Zodirrim, who referred him to a metal worker named Craster, who Uvash hired to make a bronze statue for his future temple. Vael went looking for a trap-finding kit but offended a dwarf with limited comprehension of Archontean, who told him to stay away from his daughter.
They went back to the fish market, where Niketas gathered large numbers of seagull feathers like his tip depended on it, while Ioannes bought a large piece of a huge tuna. They went to Hypatia the Alchemist and purchased recipes for a couple of potions, while dropping off three more potions for her to attempt to reverse-engineer.
Finally they went back to the Hippo House, paid Niketas, and went up to their room. Everyone but Vael stripped down and put all their clothing and gear into their various magical bags, then looked at the Mirror of Life Trapping until they were sucked inside. Vael picked up all the bags and the Mirror, then, while straining under the weight, cast Pol's Recall, and was teleported back to the bridge of the Beacon. He released everyone from the mirror, as Basil burst onto the bridge, brandishing a laser rifle and reminding them to call him on the communication bracelet before teleporting in, to avoid scaring Akla-Chah.
Vael cast a Seeker spell, looking for the corpse of Zhorak, but didn't get a hit.
GM's Comments:
That was an exhausting session. Mostly improvising a city for four hours is much harder than running a detailed megadungeon.
Despite it being a mostly safe trip, Vael almost managed to get himself in deep trouble by trying to invisibly sneak past Imperial Guards. He was saved by some very good die rolls.
Achievements:
None
XP:
- Exploration: 0 XP (Being led around a peaceful city by a tour guide doesn't count)
- Loot: 0 XP (Shopping doesn't count)
- Achievements: 0 XP
- Total: 0 XP
Next Week:
If they have a full party, I expect they'll go hunting for the Bad Neighbors, the group that ambushed them. If not, I'm not sure. They've been talking about finding the Forge of Zhorak, but don't have any solid leads on its location.
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