[CR] Dungeon Crawl Classics - Vornheim (MAJ 05/12/17) [IN ENGLISH]

[Sammael99]

Un magicien et un nain ... Majax et Tyrion ...

Comme ils ont disparu après la première séance, on ne les pleurera pas ;-)

[Sammael99]

In case anyone is interested, this is the stats for the Thorn Golem:

Thorn Golem
Init +2; Atk thorny embrace +2 (1d8); AC 12; HD 4d8; MV 30′; Act 1d20; SP embrace, regenerate, fire vulnerability; SV Fort +2, Ref -1, Will 0; AL N.
Regeneration: recover 1d8 HP at the end of each round.
Vulnerable to Fire: Damage from fire does not regenerate. If a fire attack brings total HP below zero, Thorn Golem dies.
Embrace: Each successful attack entangles the victim. Ref save DC 15 to be able to act again.

It would have been a serious opponent to the group had Wistul not been in giant form. As it stands he just hacked it down to 0 hp with Jack and Zeera's help in a matter of 2-3 rounds. It would have regenerated, but also would have made for a dissatisfying end to the combat. I decided that Thorn would rather not see her golem damaged anymore and instead face the intruders.

[Sammael99]

Session 2: A Buried Mystery

Following the band's encounter with Thorn, Sabrina is understandably anxious about locating an ophidoscope. After a few days of research, she hears of a strange shop in the upper reaches of the Tower of the Starred Ribbon. The owner is an old Dwarf called Dwimberg who specializes in unique items. He insists all of them are of a mysterious nature, and he has an ophidoscope for sale, recently acquired. He is asking for a thousand crowns in order to part with it, and amount that is nowhere near within the current means of Sabrina and her acolytes put together.

Valya spends his time researching the nature of ophidoscopes rather than finding one. Early in his apprenticeship, his master forced him to learn the sinuous script of the Ophidians, and ever since this long-lost race has been a fascination of his. Spending long days in various libraries around Vornheim, he manages to trace rumours that suggest that books were a human invention: the Ophidians who reigned upon the world in eons past had no use for books for they encoded information in the skin of snakes. Ophidoscopes were designed to decode that information. Valya does not manage to understand if the information would be on the skins of live snakes or dead snakeskins.

Understanding that a significant amount of money will be needed if Dwimberg's ophidoscope is to be acquired, Jack and Wistul start looking around for opportunities. Jack learns that the Count of Versheim is seeking aspiring adventurers to clean up the catacombs under his out of town manor. The pay offered is rumored to be ridiculously low however, and the manor is four days walk away, so Jack isn't convinced it's the right opportunity for them given that Sabrina needs to have given the ophidoscope to Thorn in about two weeks time.


Illustration by John Grumph, used with authorization

Wistul hears something from Blind Grunsten, a beggar that he frequently meets in the sewers where he sleeps. Another beggar has recently been found dead in the sewers under the Panjandra District. His face and body were raked as if by some claws. The interesting thing though is that the guy who found him found a golden bracelet next to the body. The beggars are worried that something unnatural light roam the sewers. Since Wistul is a mighty warrior (he owns a sword!) they would like him to investigate and eliminate the threat.

Wistul tells his companions about this, and they decide to pursue that lead hoping that the bracelet will lead back to more riches, hopefully enough to pay for the ophidoscope. Early one morning they meet near one of the entrances of the Viscera district (entering the sewers from the Panjandra district is tough because the militia tends to monitor those) and enter the sewers.

After an hour of navigating the sewer hallways, the party reaches the spot where the raked beggars body was found. This part of the sewer network could be described as luxurious: large canals and narrow but walkable sidewalks. Wistul examines the floor where the beggar was found, and there is an unmistakable trace of dried blood, not more than a few days old. Valya also spots something shiny in a crack between two cobblestones. He manages to extract it; it's a tiny translucent gemstone.

Excited by the prospect of cold hard cash, the party searches the area nearby and notices on a wall not too far from where the beggar was killed an engraving in fancy lettering that says "Long and slender, fast and silver". No one knows what that may mean, but Wistul is instinctively convinced that there is a secret passage under or next to that engraving. They start poking the wall and area nearby, but to no avail. Valya asks them to stand back, and points to one of the larger stones in the wall where the passage should be, muttering under his breath. Suddenly the stone grows in an awful screeching sound and knocks over a large portion of the wall. Once the dust has settled, there's clearly an opening visible on the other side. Sabrina shines her lantern, and can see a rough corridor carved in rock.

Jack theorizes that perhaps some deranged nobleman gets his rocks off by killing beggars and uses the passageway to access the sewers. "If we can prove it", he says, "we may be able to blackmail him and earn our keep for the night..."

The group quickly pulls out some of the stones in the wall and a passage into the corridor is thus created. Jack enters first followed by Sabrina, Wistul and Valya. The wizard looks back briefly as he passes the now destroyed secret door and notices, on the other side of the sewer canal, a fat granary cat looking at him fixedly.

The corridor leads to a larger cave like structure. The floor is covered in old skulls and bones. On the right there's a masoned corridor exiting the room, straight on the carved passageway continues. They decide to enter the masoned area, but as they exit the cave Valya and Wistul see a flash of movement behind them.

Valya moves forward so that Wistul now stands between him and whatever moved. Wistul turns around to face two animated skeletons that have just formed from the bones strewn on the floor. More Skeletons are animating behind the first two. He manages to avoid their first rakes and takes his sword out. Valya starts chanting in a loud voice and a diffused red light appears in his hand. He points it at one of the skeletons and a red flash darts from his hands onto the skeleton which is burned to a crisp and falls to ashes. At the same moment a loud thunderclap is heard and a flash of lightning emanates from the wizard's body(1). Wistul is temporarily blinded, and the second skeleton attacking him manages to injure his arm.

Valya is jubilant: "Haha!" he says, "First time that this Mighty Luminescent Assault works so well!" Jack moves forward to come in front of Valya and protect him from the Skeletons. In the light of Sabrina's lantern, now pointing in the right direction, they can see that there are four skeletons attacking them.

Sabrina slams her staff (at the top of which the lantern is attached) on the floor and starts intoning in an authoritative voice: "The Black Mists of Drojafin I search for assistance. Hear my call, denizens of the astral realm. Take shadows and flesh. Take will and word. I bind you, creatures, to my call and my need!" She drops some cat fur as she speaks, and a black mist forms in front of Wistul and Jack. Two felines looking a lot like lynxes appear from the mist and screech at the skeletons. With adequate light and the assistance of the supernatural felines, the warrior and the elf do short work of the remaining skeletons. "So much for the deranged nobleman theory..." Jack muses.

The group swiftly leaves the cave now littered with charred and broken bones and skulls. Through a long masoned corridor they enter a high ceilinged and ornate room. On their right, a flight of stairs going up. On their left, a door decorated with a coat of arms representing a silver fish on a field of white.

- "Haven't we encountered this recently ? A fish rings a bell..." Sabrina asks.
- "Well, it certainly explains 'Long and slender, fast and silver'" says Jack.
- "Wasn't Spade designing a garden for the Whitefish family ?" Valya asks.
- "Yes, but this is a silver fish", counters Sabrina.
- "In heraldry, silver is called white, isn't it ? Or is it the other way around ?" asks Jack.
- "Good point. So we're in the Whitefish family mausoleum... Do we go up and rob the living or left and pillage the dead ?"

They finally decide to investigate the door first. It doesn't seem to be locked. Sabrina blinds her lantern, and Jack manages to open the door in absolute silence. It opens onto a vast space with a central sarcophagus and several side alcoves. Torches light the central area of the room. Behind the sarcophagus, against the far wall, stands a large iron statue of a warrior with many details in his armor or shield reminiscent of the Whitefish emblems. In the open sarcophagus, a man is seated, reading a thick piece of paper. His clothes are faded and rotten but clearly used to be rich. His skin is flaked and bits of it are falling.

- "Finally I received it!" he says in an excited yet grating voice, looking longingly at whatever it is he's reading.

Jack quietly recedes, and the group discusses next steps in hushed tones. Sabrina suggests they could hide at the top of the flight of stairs and let the astral lynxes attack the suspected necromancer in the mausoleum. For lack of a better plan, everyone agrees.

At Sabrina's murmured order, the two felines rush inside the mausoleum. Cries, screeches, kerfuffle. After a few moments, things quieten down. Then the group hears the voice of the man they have dubbed 'the necromancer': "Someone must have intruded! You and you, investigate! Check every corner! And close the door, I need some quiet to ponder dressing arrangements!"

From the door below the hidden group emerge two shambling cadavers (2). One leaves towards the passageway they arrived from, and the other starts checking every corner, literally. Wistul and Sabrina are somewhat horrified by the undead monstrosity, but Jack and Valya act all blasé about it. Wistul tries to open the door at the top of the stairs but realizes that not only is it locked, it seems to be barred from the other side.

An unspoken exchange of looks and Jack and Wistul position themselves to jump the undead creature from above. As Jack prepares for his jump, he hears Valya murmur behind him and a hand touches his shoulder. As he jumps, his size increases to about twice the usual. Thankfully, the ceiling of the room is high. "Why did you do that?" Jack murmurs in an angry rasp. "I find Ixam-Orko's Aggrandizement to be a most versatile formula", Valya says to Sabrina matter of factly.

Jack and Wistul hack repeatedly at the undead, even chopping bits off, but it takes a long while before all the dark sorcery that animated the creature fades and the various hacked limbs stop moving. Jack suffers from a leg injury where an independent undead hand squeezed his calf muscle to the blood, and Wistul suffered a bite on his chest. Jack is now quite riled up and the group decides to rush the necromancer and take him by surprise.

Wistul kicks the door in, and runs towards the startled man in the sarcophagus. He barely has time to register the apparently paralyzed lynx standing immobile by the tomb. Both Valya and Sabrina intone at the same time. From Valya's fingertips spring forth red flashes of light accompanied by the usual lightning flash and thunderclap. Meanwhile, Sabrina's hands seem to project green blobs of acid. All hit the necromancer straight in the chest.

Wistul and Jack both swing their swords at the flaky skinned creature. The ceiling is just tall enough for Jack to stand, and hampers his style so that he misses. So does Wistul. The creature turns around, dropping its piece of paper and yelling "Protect me!" It runs away through a narrow passage at the end of the large room. Simultaneously, other shambling cadavers emerge from the alcoves and attack the party.

The confrontation, which had started so gloriously well, turns sour. Sabrina attempts the same sorcery that burned the decaying skin of the alleged necromancer on the shambling cadavers, but fails miserably. Instead of erupting from her fingers, the acid blobs seem to melt with her skin, and her hands and forearms turn sickly green. Valya manages to damage one of the undead with his own magical projectiles, but a blow from another one of the creatures takes him down.

Sabrina is not far behind, and when two of the shambling cadavers slam her with their claws, she falls unconscious as well. Jack and Wistul now face the remaining creatures and slowly grind them back to oblivion. By the time the last undead falls in a rotten heap of cadaver flesh and bone, Wistul is barely standing.

Wistul and Jack revive their companions who, as luck (3) would have it haven't sustained any fatal injuries. The group then proceeds to check the various alcoves, tombs and (of course) the sarcophagus. They collect coins, bracelets, necklaces and various small gems. They also pick up the piece of cardboard paper that the necromancer was reading. Written in golden letters, it reads:

"To Lord Reginald Whitefish. You are cordially invited to the Undertaker's Ball on the 7th day of the Serpent's Moon. It will take place at the Grand Mortuary alongside the St Hildebord Cemetery. Reminder: this is a costume party, plus one welcome."

Amidst the bits of jewelry and other valuables, Valya also finds a strange looking crystal phial containing a purplish gas (4). He shows it to the rest of the band but no one has any idea what it might be. They decide to take it and exit the mausoleum.

The minute Jack crosses the threshold of the door, they hear a massive wrenching sound from behind them. They turn round and see that the iron statue seems to have activated. It is now brandishing its sword and marching heavily towards the party.

Valya slams the door shut and utters the formula for the Agency of the Rigid Condemnation. The door shimmers for an instant and magical sigils appear on its surface. "Run, you fools!", Valya says to the rest of the group. Heavy pounding and hacking can be heard from the other side of the door as they exit the entrance to the Mausoleum.

As they run into the cave that leads to the sewers, two of the walking cadavers await. They lunge out at Jack and Valya, but the warrior pushes the wizard out of the way and takes the blow that was meant for him instead. Jack is now severely injured as well, but the group continues to run and soon exits into the sewers. The cadavers are too slow to catch up.

Without wasting any time in case the Iron Statue follows them outside, the group rushes as fast as Valya's stunted leg will allow to a sewer exit in the Viscera district that Wistul knows is rarely under militia surveillance. As they climb up the rungs leading back to the surface and fresh air, Sabrina looks down and sees, two granary cats staring at her from the bottom of the ladder. She mentions this as they exit the manhole into the frozen street, and Valya mentions his own feline sighting. "What does it mean?" asks Wistul. Everyone shrugs and they decide to convene instead at the Bleak Beaver to discuss their adventures.

***

(1) Each spell may have different manifestations in DCC. This is rolled once and for all when the wizard or elf learns the spell. Valya has a less than discrete version of Magic Missile at his disposal.
(2) The players had clearly understood these were zombies, but we decided not to call them that since the term didn't seem adequate for the vibe we're after. Shambling cadavers they are for now.
(3) Normally in DCC you roll luck when you reach 0 hp to see if you're dead or not. I houseruled that you could burn a point of luck to avoid death. It's a scarce resource though...
(4) All magic items in this campaign will be unique. Just feels better that way.

[Sammael99]

Session 2: Epilogue

In the days following the exploration of the Whitefish mausoleum, the four explorers rest and recuperate. All except Valya notice that the cadaver wounds heal faster, but the scars and the skin around them turn a nasty taint of brown.


Illustration by John Grumph, used with authorization

Jack contacts a fence he knows, a woman going by the name of Ariana Vertdegris. He brings the jewels and coins to her and she asks him if he wants maximum value out of them, which would imply leaving recognizable medals and pieces of jewelry as they are, or if he'd rather be less traceable and melt what could be identified. He goes for the second option. Ariana tells him that she believes the loot will be worth upwards of a thousand crowns, an amount of cash she doesn't have with her. She tells him to come back two days later.

Meanwhile Sabrina visits Dwimberg in his Cabinet of Curiosities shop, to ensure that the ophidoscope is still available. The dwarf gently informs her that it is but that he will have to auction it off: several influential have asked him for it. He cannot simply turn them down, so an auction is the most elegant way to go: the winner gets the ophidoscope fair and square and the losers don't blame Dwimberg. Sabrina enquires as to the identity of these interested parties, but Dwimberg apologises, saying that he can't divulge them.

As the discussion goes on, Valya examines the ophidoscope. The contraption is formed of a long brass tube on a stand with clamps at both ends, presumably to immobilize the snake or snakeskin. The upper part of the tube is made of a translucent material that doesn't look like glass. About half a meter above the tube is a lens fixed to tense metal string. The lens can slide up and down the length of the tube. There is also a crank that Valya supposes is used to rotate the tube, but he dares not try it. Valya notices that the stand is engraved with ophidian religious prayers, but he's convinced these were not written down by ophidians, but rather by someone who was copying some holy text without necessarily understanding it.

Sabrina also asks Dwimberg if he knows anything about the phial containing purple gas that they retrieved from the Mausoleum. Wistul for the last two days has been trying unsuccessfully to ascertain it's magic (or non-magic) nature, but to no avail. Dwimberg offers to answer these questions for a fee or in exchange of a favour. When told the fee, the group decides on the favour.

After a couple of days, Ariana comes back to Jack and offers twelve hundred crowns for the valuables they are trying to fence. Jack manages to negotiate up to fourteen hundred and the deal is struck.

Finally, Wistul meets again with Blind Grunsten to inform him that while some of the dangers in the area the first beggar was murdered may have been thwarted, the area is still dangerous and should be avoided. Grunsten suggests that, should the problem be dealt with in a more definitive manor, the Beggar King would be indebted to the group...

In our next installment, some of the following questions may be answered:

• What happened to the alleged necromancer that fled from the Whitefish mausoleum?
  
  
• Why are granary cats to be found in the sewers?
  
  
• What exactly is this Undertaker's Ball and will our heroes want to venture there?
  
  
• Who are the other auctioneers interested in the ophidoscope and can the party counter their financial means?
  
  
• Are the Versheim catacombs worth exploring and why is the Count paying so little to get it done?
  
  
• What are these strange cadaver scars and should Wistul, Jack and Sabrina be worried about them?
  
  
• And finally, perhaps most urgently, will Sabrina be able to deliver an ophidoscope to the witch Thorn before the moon cycle is out?
  

[Dante 059]

Merci pour ton CR, c'est vraiment inspirant et ça donne envie de ce plonger dans Vornheim.

[Sammael99]

Merci pour ton CR, c'est vraiment inspirant et ça donne envie de ce plonger dans Vornheim.

Merci Dante 059.

Pour le moment je m'éclate, et même si la dernière partie a été très Donjon, il y a maintenant plein d'options pour que les joueurs prennent leur destin en mains, ce qui était mon but.

[Sammael99]

Session 3: Against the Taxidermists

Sabrina, Wistul and Valya decide that if they want to win the auction for the ophidoscope due to happen in five days, they need to know more about the other potential purchasers.

Wistul heads out towards the District of the Desperate. He knows that Blind Grunsten tends to beg near the Cathedral of the Rusted Lady and indeed, despite the snow that has been falling heavily since the day they explored the Whitefish Mausoleum, Grunsten is seated on the steps of the rusty building with an iron bowl in his hands. His skin is flaked and he looks truly miserable.

- "Have pity on a poor man..." Grunsten says as Wistul approaches.
- "Hey Grunsten, how are things ?" the elf enquires.
- "Who is this?" Grunsten asks.
- "Aww, come on, I know you're no more blind than I am..."
- "Shhh! Will you shut it? Are you trying to destroy my livelihood?"
- "Alright, alright... It's me, Wistul."
- "I know it's you dammit. Let's move out of the way to talk in peace..."

Grunsten heads out hesitantly towards a side alley. Wistul follows.

- "So, how are things?"
- "Good, I guess, although I am concerned that you didn't really make the sewers safer for us. You told me that things in the Panjandra district were still dangerous..."
- "Yes, I'll have to address that soon..."
- "As I think I have hinted at already, the Beggar King will give you an audience if you do secure the area, and he can be a good ally to have on your side..."
- "Yes, that's true. Meanwhile though, I have an urgent need of services you might be able to provide. We'd like some of your inconspicuous brethren to stake out the Cabinet of Curiosites and follow people who visit the shop. There's an object in there called an ophidoscope that I'll describe in a minute. We are particularly interested in people inquiring about that object."
- "How many of my friends do you need ?"
- "Not sure... How about 10 ?"
- "I can provide that, for a price of course..."
- "How about two copper bits a day ?"
- "Two a day? You are trying to destroy my livelihood! I thought you were a friend! No less than ten".
- "Three"
- "Seven"
- "Five is my last price."
- "Let's go with five. Ten beggars, inconspicuous, and I want to meet with you every evening at sunset."
- "Deal".

Meanwhile, Sabrina goes to talk to... a cat. Intrigued by the presence of granary cats in the sewers, and since she conveniently speaks their language, she spots a large tomcat lounging under a ledge to protect itself from the snow and engages in conversation: "Hello, Master Tom. How are you today?" The cat stretches and meows softly. It opens its eyes and looks at Sabrina.
- "Do you have fish?" it asks.
- "I do have fish! Do you want fish?"
- "I want fish!"

Sabrina takes a small fish from her bag and gives it to the cat who proceeds to munch on it.

- "So, Master Tom, what can you tell me about your brethren in the city?"
- "Nice fish!"
- "As above, so below they say. Why are your brothers walking the sewers?"
- "Do you have more fish?"

As Sabrina takes a second fish from her bag, she notices a little blond girl looking at her with her eyes wide.

- "Are you talking to the cat?"
- "I am. I happen to know their language. What's your name?"
- "I'm Lydia."
- "Well, Lydia, would you and you little friends like to learn how to speak to cats? I can show you the rudiments now, and the we could meet perhaps once every five days for lessons?"
- "That would be fantastic!" the little girl says excitedly.

The next half hour is spent with Sabrina teaching Lydia the fundamentals of the feline language. She explains the hierarchies in Cat society and the necessary respect towards all cats. She also explains that lowlier cats aren't very smart, as demonstrated by the one they are practicing on. Throughout the lesson, Sabrina's chicken repeatedly tries to peck the little girl as if to drive her off.

***

The next day, the beggars are in place. At the end of the day, they come to meet Wistul at the appointed hour and place. They have spotted one person showing a distinct interest in the ophidoscope. They followed said person, "a nobleman, for sure!" back to what they believe to be his home in the Eastern part of the Panjandra district.


Illustration by John Grumph, used with authorization

Sabrina and Wistul go there, and ask questions around. They learn that said house is the palace of the Brittleshins family. Viscount Edgar Brittleshins has a rather better reputation than most nobles in Vornheim: no one knows of any particular cruelty he would have inflicted on servants or lowly neighbours.

Valya decides to pay a visit to Magisterus Putin who is as usual to be found at the Red Library. Putin is pleased to see Valya and particularly pleased to see that he is not in Sabrina's presence. Valya asks him about the Brittleshins family and in particular about any connections between the family and arcane arts. Putin says that the Brittleshins are very respectable, probably too much so: they lack the necessary cruelty and ruthlessness to rise within the ranks of the Vornheim nobility. Nonetheless, they are of ancient stock and amply rich. He doesn't know of any interest they may have in magical matters.

Valya then asks the Magisterus about the Whitefish family, and particularly, about the last patriarch of the family and his passing away. After consulting a few of his genealogies, the Magisterus tells Valya that Reginald Whitefish was the head of the family when he passed away three years ago. Hercule Whitefish, his son then took over the Whitefish mantle. Valya asks if Putin has heard anything about the mausoleum under the Whitefish mansion. "They no longer use it" the scholar responds. "They have brought in a foreign thanatopractor who performs aerial burial rites on a platform at the top of the Whitefish Palace. The family dead are cut to bits and left to the carrion birds."

"And do you know anything about the Undertaker's Ball?" Valya asks. The Magisterus doesn't know anything particular about it. Undertakers have notorious difficulties to find spouses, he explains, and the Undertaker's Ball is a lavish affair designed to attract "marriage material".

Around the middle of the day, one of the beggars assigned to the surveillance of the Cabinet of Curiosities comes to find Wistul. He is visibly agitated, and tells him that a man they recognized entered the shop and yelled at Dwimberg while showing the ophidoscope. The man is Three-Knuckled Porlo, the enforcer of the Taxidermists' Guild.

On the basis of this revelation and suspecting the guild to be the second interested party that Dwimberg mentioned to Sabrina, the three decide to visit a nearby taxidermist and ask for a preserved snake. They find a pleasant shop not too far, and see weasels, pheasants, even a badger, but no snakes. They talk to the shop owner, explaining that they saw a beautifully preserved snake at the house of sir Edgar Brittleshins and would dearly like the same kind of decoration for their home. The owner explains apologetically that no such work can be performed by him, all requests for serpents are to be directed at the Taxidermists' Guild itself. He gives them the address of the head office of the guild.

Sabrina, Wistul and Valya head out there. The office is a small dingy place with a desk and few bits of paper lying around. Sabrina serves the grumpy clerk the same story. The man asks them if they have the serpent, live or dead, in their possession. They answer that they don't, and he tells them very abruptly that the guild does not provide preserved snakes to their customers. He literally pushes them out of the office and slams the door in their face.

Puzzled, the three come down the tower where the headquarters were, and buy some drinks to try and interpret what just happened. This is when they spot the clerk leaving the tower precipitously. They decide to follow him, all the way to the North of the District of the Forked Tongue. There, the clerk starts climbing the stairs up a tower. Sabrina manages to follow, but Wilbur is winded by the quick ascent. Valya doesn't even try. The man takes a footbridge to another tower, and then again another. He doesn't seem to have spotted Sabrina following him, and she manages to see that he enters an apartment high up on a tower she doesn't know. The wizardess commits the place to memory and meets up with Wistul and Valya who have finally caught up.

They then go back to see Grunsten and ask him to stake out the place the clerk just went to and follow whoever comes out of it. They part with a little more cash.

***

The next day, Sabrina, Wistul and Valya decide to find out more about Viscount Brittleshins. They seek high and low in his neigbourhood for a digruntled servant and finally hear about a man called Mop who was sacked from the household a few months back. They manage to track him down in a grotty pub and offer him liquor to get him talking. It doesn't take much: Mop was fired because he inadvertently left a bar of soap on the floor of one of the washrooms, and the lord of the house slipped and fell on the soap. He didn't injure himself, but it was enough to lead to Mop's expulsion.

Mop is torn between resentment and a lingering admiration for Edgar Brittleshins. When asked to share scandalous gossip about the nobleman, he finally confesses that their was a rumour he'd heard about during his employment, but that he simply could not accept was true: it was murmured that Lord Brittleshins had an unnatural fondness for the intimacy of goats. A few weeks ago, he saw some scribblings on the wall of the gents at the Pickled Gibbon to that effect, but he still can't believe it's true. "I do remember seeing one morning some hoof tracks in the kitchens after some flour'd been spilt", he adds in a slur, "but that was probably just a goat..."

After Mop collapses in a drunken stupor, the two wizards and the elf make their way to the Pickled Gibbon. They have been careful not to drink too much, but they are tipsy. Valya heads out straight to the gents, and amongst multiple scribbles and graffitis, he finally locates the piece of slander that Mop mentioned:

'Lord Brittleshins Shags Goats!' it says. 'And if you want proof, go check the children's footprints at Mrs Dandyspleen's Finishing School where his daughter is taught.'

It's the middle of the afternoon, when children who are lucky enough to attend school generally go home. The band walks out in the snow again, and stakes out the entrance of Mrs. Dandyspleen's Finishing School on the eastern edge of the Panjandra district. Once the little girls and their governesses have left, they examine the footprints left in the snow, and indeed spot a set that looks distinctly like hooves.

They follow the governess and the little girl that seems to create those prints. The little girl looks perfectly normal. "Do you know much about Illusions?" Valya asks Sabrina. "Not really my area, I'm afraid", the wizardess responds. "You?" Valya shrugs.

They decide to distract the governess so that one of them can have a chat with the girl. Wistul overtakes the girl and the woman and, running back in the opposite direction bumps into the governess who falls into the snow with a squeal. Sabrina rushes to help her up. Meanwhile, Valya goes towards the little girl and speaks to her:

- "Are you OK ?"
- "Yeeeees", she answers. Her voice is nasal and furiously reminds him of a bleat.
- "Is this your governess?" Valya asks gently.
- "Yeeeees"; the bleat again.
- "Are you coming back from school?"
- "Yeeeees".
- "Do you like school? What did you learn today?"
- "I like it a loooot. Today we learned our humanities. Aaaaand we had a greeeeeat big laugh in Manners claaaaass."
- "What was so funny?"
- "Mrs Dandyspleeeeeen had to bow down to pick up a piece of chaaaaalk, and her corset ripped open! It's to smaaaaaal for her!"
- "That is funny!!!"

The governess is finally back on her feet, and after thanking Sabrina for her help and cursing these damned foreigners with no manners, she turns back to the little girl. She thanks Valya as well, and the two of them walk home towards the Brittleshins Palace.

Once Sabrina, Valya and Sabrina are back together, Valya simply says: "The girl bleats."

- "Don't you think", Sabrina muses as they secure themselves in the warmth of yet another tavern, "that Lord Brittleshins might only require the ophidoscope for a one-off operation? What if he's trying to cure his daughter of some affliction?"
- "Or finalise her transformation..." Valya objects.
- "Well, not that we'd care. Either way, he might only need the ophidoscope to decipher one snake skin. Once he's done with that, we could buy it off him on the cheap..."
- "But how do we know he'll be the one to win the auction?"
- "How about we pit him against the Taxidermists before the auction?"

That evening, Sabrina finds a taxidermist and buys a stuffed crow. In the middle of the night, the group heads towards the Brittleshins Palace, with the intent of nailing the crow to the door, as a "warning" from the Taxidermist's Guild. The idea is that hopefully this will generate animosity between the two other bidders for the ophidoscope and maybe cause one to pre-emptively eliminate the other.

As they arrive in front of the palace, though, they spot several militia men in front of the main door. One of the side windows is broken. Valya walks to one of the guards and casually asks what is going on. The guard says that masked men have broken into the Palace, but they were gone before the militia arrived. At this moment, a man with a prominent nose and deep black hair walks out of the Palace and starts examining the ground in front of the broken window.


Illustration by John Grumph, used with authorization

- "Who's that?" Wistul asks.
- "Oh, he's the big guy at the militia right now. It's a new role, although he's the only one who has it. Calls himself a 'de-tective' or something like that. Name is Rulius. He thinks he can find the culprit of a crime by looking at where it happened or something..."
- "Ha!" laughs a nearby militia man. "Everyone knows that you find the culprit by cracking heads together until someone tells you they did it..."

Meanwhile, Wistul is approached by a begger from Grunsten's team who tells him that four men left the place in the Forked Tongue that the beggars were staking out and came here, broke in and left a few minutes later apparently empty handed. Porlo was not amongst them.

Later that night, once the militia has gone, Sabrina slips a letter under the Viscount's door. This is how it reads:

'Dear Sir,

We do not know each other, but for the sake of transparency, let me just state that I represent one of the parties interested in the ophidoscope that the dwarf Dwimberg will offer at auction in two days.

I have information on the third party. It was this party that broke into your home last night. If you want to know more about this and discuss a mutually beneficial arrangement concerning the ophidoscope, we will be at the Cup and Moon tomorrow evening. Look for a small and pretty woman, a tall, pale elf and a club-footed man.'

***

The next evening, Sabrina, Wistul and Valya arrive at the Cup and Moon early. They settle on a table that is away from prying ears but still visible from the entrance. As they look around the place, Valya notices a customer whose face looks familiar, but he can't quite place him. He points the guy to Wistul, who immediately says: "that's Rulius, the detector guy. He's badly disguised..." Valya and Sabrina think he's rather cleverly disguised, but do not comment.

A little while later, Lord Brittleshins walks in, escorted by two bodyguards. He walks to the table and sits down, looking a little puzzled and a little apprehensive. They wait for food and drinks to be served, and then Lord Brittleshins says:

- "What if you told me what this is all about?"
- "Well", Sabrina responds, "let us be transparent with you. We need the ophidoscope, and are willing to put a lot of money and effort into obtaining it. But we do not believe we can outbid you. However, we were wondering if you needed it for the long run or just to solve an immediate problem."
- "Go on..."
- "If you need it for good, then fair play to all, we will bid tomorrow and may the best man (or woman) win. If however you only need it to decipher one particular skin, we could come to an arrangement and share the costs..."
- "Let's say I agree to that, how can you guarantee that the third party you mentioned in your note doesn't outbid both of us?"
- "The third party is the Taxidermist's Guild. They are well known for their criminal activities even though there is a legitimate front. I don't know what they want it for, but they broke into your house, maybe to discourage you from participating. I'm thinking that we should be able to convince Dwimberg not to let them bid considering they attacked your property to try and rig the game..."
- "That may work..."
- "So you agree?"
- "Let me see if I have it right: we go to see Dwimberg together first thing tomorrow morning. We explain to him that the Guild has been trying to intimidate me into not participating in the auction and argue they should be barred from it. I believe he will trust me on this, and as a reliable dwarf he may even agree to it. But then if we associate to purchase the device, he loses potential revenues. Would you agree to a higher price of say fourteen hundred crowns, split halfways?"
- "Yes, that would be agreeable, I believe. There is one last thing. We need the ophidoscope in 6 days and not one more. Can whatever you wish to perform be done in that timeframe?"
- "I... hoped to have more time... I don't have all the elements necessary at hand to interpret the..."
- "I read ophidian fluently", Valya interjects. "I will happily assist you in your endeavours for the sake of expediency, and also to satisfy my own curiosity about the device and its workings."
- "That would be... extremely useful" the viscount says, looking greatly relieved.
- "So it's agreed then", Sabrina concludes. "See you tomorrow morning at the Cabinet of Curiosities."

Edgar Brittleshins stands up and puts his coat on.

- "By the way", Valya adds at the last minute. "Will you please pass on our salutations to the good detective?"

[Sammael99]

Session 3 Epilogue

In our next installment, some of the following questions may be answered:

• What happened to the alleged necromancer that fled from the Whitefish mausoleum?
• Why are granary cats to be found in the sewers?
• What exactly is this Undertaker's Ball and will our heroes want to venture there?
• Will the plan hatched by Sabrina to collaborate with Edgar Brittleshins work?
• What mysterious activities is the Taxidermists' Guild a cover for, and will they accept their defeat should Sabrina's plan work?
• What is Edgar Brittleshins' secret and is his daughter really part girl, part goat?
• Will Valya be able to read the skin that Brittleshins needs him to read, and what will he find there?
• Are the Versheim catacombs worth exploring and why is the Count paying so little to get it done?
• What are these strange cadaver scars and should Wistul, Jack and Sabrina be worried about them?
• Will Sabrina deliver the ophidoscope to Thorn in time, and how will her relationship with the witch evolve?

[Sammael99]

Pour info, j'ai rajouté des illustrations de PNJ Made in Grümph. Quand il aura le temps je vais également lui commander des portraits des PJs et peut-être certains PNJ également.

[Sammael99]

Frankly, I am asking myself what it is the utility of Ducros decarcassing himself if zhere is nobody to make commentaries. Shit alors!

[Ravortel]

Of course there are readers. But I do not feel like wasting your novels with my comments

[Lotin]

It is not because you are...

Sorry, ton last post m'a immediatly fait thinking that !

edit : et je lis tes cr quand même...

[Dante 059]

Je continue à suivre aussi, c'est toujours aussi intéressant !

[Sammael99]

Of course there are readers. But I do not feel like wasting your novels with my comments

I do!

It is not because you are...

Sorry, ton last post m'a immediatly fait thinking that !

edit : et je lis tes cr quand même...

Ha! J'avais oublié cette chanson. C'est carrément drôle quand même.

Je continue à suivre aussi, c'est toujours aussi intéressant !

Merci Dante !

[Sammael99]

Session 4: Auction and Reaction

On the morning of the auction, Dwimberg sends an invitation to Sabrina. The auction is to take place in a rented salon on the 10th level of the Tower of the Starred Ribbon. Sabrina, Jack, Wistul, Valya and Zeera will attend. Zeera decides to come in separately: neither Dwimberg nor the parties interested in the ophidoscope have seen him/her, so it seems like a wise course of action in case something happens (which is likely).

Sabrina also gets a message from Lord Brittleshins stating that the militia has advised him not to inform Dwimberg ahead of time of the wrongdoings of the Taxidermist guild. Instead, everything should proceed as normal, so as not to alert the criminal organisation that their game may be up.

At the appointed time, people flock into the auction room. The ophidoscope is not the only item on offer that morning, so there are about forty people seated in front of the low stage. Looking around, Valya notices several uneasy customers, and an old lady dressed in conservative attire which he realizes quickly is actually Rulius, the detective from the militia. The disguise is rather good, but he's seen through it (again). At the last minute, just before the auction is about to start, a man walks in escorted by the largest bodyguard anyone's ever seen. This giant of a man (he has to bow under the doorframe to get in) has two missing fingers on his left hand and so the group guesses this is Three-Knuckled Porlo. The gentleman he is escorting is well-dressed (but with muted colors) and sports an elaborate gray moustache. Our heroes assume that he is the head of the Taxidermist Guild.

The strategy devised ahead of time by Sabrina is for them not to bid and let Lord Brittleshins and the Taxidermists fight it out. The first few items go up for auction: an old artefact thought to be of Selenian origin, a statue of the Rusted Lady excavated from a dig site not far from Vornheim, a silvery sword said to originate from the now defunct Marbelle noble family. Then the time comes for the ophidoscope to be carried to the center of the stage. The velvet drape is taken off, and Dwimberg describes the item:

"One of the fabled Ophidoscopes, an item of great scholarly import to those who study the ancient Ophidian civilization. It is said to allow peering into the troves of knowledge inherited by these long dissappeared beings, although how that is achieved exactly, I cannot tell you. The asking price is Five Hundred crowns."

The crowd oohs and aahs. A hand goes up from the back, an old gentleman who Sabrina thinks may well be Head-Librarian in one of the city's libraries.

- "Six Hundred", Dwimberg intones.
- "One Thousand", the man from the Taxidermist Guild says sharply.
- "Fifteen Hundred", Lord Brittleshins responds.

The librarian at the back sits down dejectedly.

A hand shoots up from the left. It's Veera.

- "Two Thousand", Dwimberg yells excitedly.

Sabrina's eyes shoot darts at the priest/ess who smiles slyly in his/her corner of the room. But the auction keeps going.

- "Twenty Five Hundred", Lord Brittleshins attacks, more slowly than before.

The man from the Taxidermist guild shoots a dark glance at the nobleman, and after a quick hesitation, speaks up again:

- "Three Thousand!" he snaps with an air of finality.

Lord Brittleshins seems to hesitate, but backs down in the end. Dwimberg, looking very satisfied, points to the man from the Taxidermist Guild saying: "This fine item goes to the gentleman here."

Just at that moment, a portly woman dressed in faded crimson and black stands from the back of the room and, in a very deep voice says: "Not so fast! Gendall Tso, head of the Taxidermist Guild, you are hereby accused of wrongdoing, burglary and other assorted crimes. Men, arrest the accused!"

Four militia men dressed in various disguises take their hidden blackjacks out and run towards Gendall Tso. Three Knuckled Porlo stands up and grabs one of the men, throwing him swiftly against the wall.

Jack runs towards Porlo and stands between him and Gendall, allowing the militia men to chain Gendall's hands. Porlo swings at Jack but misses. Jack swings at Porlo and hits him square in the belly... doing not very much at all except hurting his own fist. Sabrina and Valya are weary of using their magic too blatently in public. Valya stands behind Jack and touches his shoulder, making him grow a little, but in front the immense Porlo it's hardly a noticeable change.

Veera stands and starts praying under his/her breath to the Lascivious Vorn, asking for Porlo to be paralysed by the divine will. Unfortunately, with all the excitement around him/her, he/she gets his/her prayer wrong and inadvertently insults his/her deity. Sensing the divine displeasure, he/she immediately falls to his/her knees and starts whipping his/her own back in contrition (1).

Porlo swings again at Jack and this time his fist connects with the warrior's face. Jack's nose cracks and he is catapulted to the other side of the room, smashes into one of the windows and falls outside unconscious. Thankfully, he lands on a ledge and not ten stories below.

Sabrina decides that things are getting out of hand and magic is now the only solution. She intones the formula for Ekim's Mystical Mask. She covers her face with a mask of terror and looks straight at Porlo who blanches and immediately runs to the window, climbing out onto the roof.

Most of the attendees have now fled the room. The disguised Rulius walks towards his men to congratulate them on having arrested Gendall Tso. On his way, he slides by Sabrina and in a low voice, says:

- "I saw what you did there. Don't go using such tricks willy nilly in my City..."
- "Of course", Sabrina responds. "But please pardon me for a minute, my companion seems to have taken a short trip out the window."

Valya hobbles to the window but Sabrina gets there before him and both of them drag Jack's unconscious body back inside before he slips off the ledge. The wizard slaps the warrior gently to bring him back to consciousness.

- "Ugh!" Jack grunts in a nasal whine. "That was some uppercut... Thank Vorn he was only using his fists..."

A few minutes later, Zeera having finished his/her acts of contrition, kneels in front of Jack and, laying his/her hands on his face, asks for the grace of Vorn in healing Jack's wounds. Sure enough, when he/she takes his/her hands off, Jacks's shattered nose is whole again.

Meanwhile, Lord Brittleshins and Sabrina walk to a devastated Dwimberg and propose to pay to him the last bid that Brittleshins proposed, ie. Twenty-Five Hundred crowns. Dwimberg reluctantly agrees, not wanting to lose the opportunity to sell the ophidoscope (and also perhaps, secretly not wanting to be in possession of it if and when Gendall Tso leaves jail).

Sabrina hands 500 crowns to Lord Brittleshins, and she confirms the promise of Valya's collaboration that evening in deciphering the snake skin that the nobleman wants deciphered.

***

That night Jack goes on a bar crawl, getting drunker and drunker, telling everyone the story of how he fought off Three-Knuckled Porlo and made him flee out of the window. He also learns that Signor Rallentando's Halfling circus is soon coming to town! It will apparently feature the famous fortune teller Mme Sosostris.

Zeera, still disturbed about having angered the Lascivious Vorn decides to overcome, at least in part, one of his/her greatest fears. He/she heads out to the Bleak Beaver and goes to the top floor where the orgies are regularly held. Instead of fleeing the scene once things get serious, he/she forces him/herself to stay and watch, if not participate just yet.

Sabrina and Wistul spend some time with Dwimberg who has tried to understand the use of the phial filled with gas that they asked him to expertise. He tells them that the phial is undeniably magical, and that he has been able to ascertain that what appears to be a gas is a materialization of a human soul, or a fragment thereof. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how the phial is used and didn't dare open it. The wizardess and the elf spend the rest of the evening sorting through the remaining funds from the expedition in the Whitefish Catacombs and allocating it according to who participated. Sabrina, Wistul, Valya and Jack will each earn two hundred crowns from the operation, which will leave about one hundred to finance the group's needs for gear.

Back in his underground hovel, Wistul focuses his will on understanding the multiple brown scars he has that are starting to concern him. He casts Allaskobe's Wonder Identification formula to identify if the scars are magical. He sees that not only are they magical, but they seem to radiate magic into his blood stream. He goes to sleep deeply concerned.

Valya heads out to Lord Brittleshin's mansion. He is led to the nobleman's vast private library which has dozens of leatherbound books on display. The ophidoscope has been installed in the middle of the room.

Lord Brittleshins carefully closes the door of the library, then turns around to speak to Valya.

- "Before you start deciphering the skin that I have secured, I need to explain what I am after, and why. I trust that whatever I share will you will not leave this room, and should that happen, I'm sure you understand that I would have to retaliate. Let us make sure we remain friends."
- "Of course."
- "Excellent. I will proceed then. Nineteen years ago, I met the woman who was to become my wife. She was at the time a Vestal of the Rusted Lady. Our love was strong, and we were young. I suppose also that my upbringing led me to arrogance and the mistaken belief that nothing could stand in the way of what I wanted. That led us to consummate our love despite the vows of abstinence my wife had sworn. The Rusted Lady punished her for breaking those vows by changing her appearance. She gave her the head and lower limbs of a she-goat."
- "Ah..."
- "Now I pride myself in being a man of honor. Vorn knows it has cost me enough political capital in this city where corruption reigns, but that's besides the point. I had promised my eternal love to Cabrella, and despite the curse that afflicted her, I married her. It was complicated to live together, I had to secure charms from some of your colleagues to conceal her appearance from the staff. She dared not set foot out of the house and has not done so ever since we married. For a long time we dared not consummate our love again for fear of further divine retribution. But in the end, we wanted to start a family and I foolishly thought that having a child would cheer Cabrella up. Sadly for us, the curse was carried over through my wife's womb, or blood, I do not know. Our daughter was born with the head and legs of a goat as well. That is when I decided to find a solution. It has taken me all these years to finally trace down solid leads, and I have it on reliable authority that the snake skin that I procured at great cost from the ruins of an ancient Ophidian temple high in the Northern mountains holds clues to solving our predicament."
- "Let's see, shall we?" Valya answers with a cheerful tone.

The two men stretch the snakeskin carefully so as not to rip it apart, and clamp it down on the lower portion of the ophidoscope. Valya then scans through the lens at the top of the contraption, and sees that the scales form tiny interlaced sentences in written ophidian. Curbing his excitement, he starts to read:

"Of late I have concerned myself with matters of divine retribution. The Gods are of a fickle nature and prompt to righteous anger when they feel they have been slighted. Of particular interest to me have been occurrences of Divine pardon and how they came about. Amongst the arcanally inclined, the legend of Vendel Re'Yune is well known, and his story, which I deem to be true, shows the extent at which the Gods will lash out against those who would offend them. But the Wrath of the Gods can also be unleashed on less puissant characters. I unearthed and confirmed (as far as historical and arcane means allowed me to) the story of Ssusson of Ch'ssoossch. Lord Ssusson was a notable of the third ring of our Second Empire. He became famous by affirming the preeminence of the people over the will of the Gods, arguing that while the existence of the Gods could not be denied, that did not in itself mean that mortals should follow their commands. He rose to prominence and was cast down by a Divine Curse. His body was bent out of shape and warped into an unnatural comingling of Ophidian and Hairless Ape. Over the next decades, he climbed the five Pillars of the Sky and on each of them sacrificed a hairless ape to show both his contrition and refusal of his adopted form. It is said that this act of humility combined with a genuine detestation of his hairless ape side led the gods to forgive him in his old age."

Once Valya has written the whole thing down and verified the translation, he reads it out to Lord Brittleshins who immediately gets very excited. He starts taking out atlases and ancient maps from the library, trying to locate the Five Pillars.

Valya returns to examining the snakeskin and notices an additional piece of information in the form of a magical formula to bind oneself to Vendel Re'Yune the Cursed Immortal. A Patron Bond spell that he promptly commits to memory.

At the end of the night, Valya takes his leave while Lord Brittleshins is still looking for information on where the Five Pillars of the Sky are located exactly.