Session 45, Rediscovering Frosthaven
Paldegora
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Session 45 – 2025-01-18
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Summary
The session began in the courtroom in Frosthaven, where the group had just received a letter from Allistar Fynch, informing them that they were no longer members of the Adventurers Guild and are now enemies of the Council of Spires, with a significant bounty on their heads. They discussed their options, including leaving their credentials with Elmer or burying them in the bag of holding. Elmer offered to write to Allistar on their behalf to try to change his mind.
Concerned about their safety, they decided to find a second way out of the building in case the Seaspire guards came to arrest them. Symon and Eryn remembered a hidden trap door in the last cell that could lead them underground and out of sight. Elmer informed them that the caves are closed off to the outside, but Eryn checked the trap door and found it still available for escape. They planned to meet Harris at the Dogg Butt, but Elmer offered them the courtroom to rest for the night.
As they headed to the Dogg Butt, Eryn broke off the invisibility spell and encountered a cloaked man who handed her a bag and warned her that they were being hunted. Inside the bag, she found a small wooden box and an envelope with her name on it. The envelope contained an iron key with the symbol of a broken lance and a note inviting her to join the Broke Lance Mob by passing five trials. The box contained a round metal container labeled “Grimm Alchemy and Tinkerage, Port Ahn”.
At the Dogg Butt, they met Harris, who bought them several rounds of drinks. They shared their experiences since they separated at Stonebridge, discussing the changes in people since the wave and the area below Mott's office in the prison. Harris mentioned that he didn't want to be in charge of the prison. Eryn checked the room for anyone paying extra attention to them but found nothing unusual.
After Harris turned in, the group returned to the courtroom to spend the night. Eryn examines the steel container from “Grimm Alchemy and Tinkerage” and found a folded note and a powder resembling a salt and pepper mix. They speculated on its purpose but were unsure. Eryn went out to see if she could find the person who gave her the bag or any other members of the Broke Lance Mob. She noticeed Seaspire guards working at Cassandra's forge and a broken door to Cassandra's home.
The next day, they visited Dan Longmire at his manor, passing through two layers of guards. They met with Dan and Bruno there. They caught up on what had happened since they'd last seen each other, including Blackmoor's relationship with his sister Shea, who was in prison for life. Blackmoor had found a secret way in and out of the prison and had taken Shea on trips. He resigned as warden and went south with Shea, giving Dan 10,000 gold pieces to help rebuild the town. Dan was now the Mayor, trying to keep the town from falling apart after a strange wave came through.
Eryn informed Dan that they killed Theo at Nordain Hold, where he was working with a Wyvern. They had Goblin slaves digging for gold for the Wyvern, which was getting the gold for a Dragon. After breakfast, they discuss their plans to head south and west toward Port Ahn. They set out into town to get supplies and disguise materials. Cassandra found her smithy broken into and the sword that she and her father had made, gone. It was mentioned that this might be where Cassandra might want to return to her normal life and leave this group. Despite the dangers, she decided to stay with the group.
They fixed the doors to the smithy and boarded up the windows before heading to Randal's Mercantile for gear and disguises. They also visited Kira's shop for hair dyes and glue and fur for use as facial hair. They return to Cassandra's to spend the night, where Symon identified the special items they'd received. Eryn decided to search for a lock that fit the key she received. She broke into the prison but found no suitable locks. She returned to the smithy in the morning and recounted her findings to the group.
The group decided to ask Lieutenant Harris for a tour of the prison to find more information. They used sneezing as a code word to indicate when Eryn needed a distraction. Harris took them through the prison, showing them various rooms and the warden's office. Eryn tried the key on different doors but found no matches. They entered Mott's bookkeeping office where they discovered a room at the bottom of some stairs with a foul-smell. Their were bodies and body parts, indicating Mott's experiments. Angelique blessed the room and destroyed evil markings on the floor.
They encountered two shambling creatures made of body parts and managed to defeat them. Eryn found a secure chest with 2,000 gold pieces and an ornate box containing a silver dragon amulet.
That is where the session ended.
Please start the recorder.
Exp: 2833 + 283 = 3116
Detail
They began this session in the courtroom in Frosthaven, having just received and read a letter from Allistar Fynch. This letter notified them that they were no longer members of the Adventurers Guild. That they were, instead, enemies of the Council of Spires and that the Council of Spires had put a significant bounty out on them. They discussed their options. They discussed leaving there credentials as members of the guild here with Elmer or taking them but burying them in the bag of holding. Elmer said he would write to Allistar on their behalf to try to get him to reconsider. He might be able to sway him.
They discussed how safe they were here. First thing to do was find a second way out of this building should the Seaspire guards show up to arrest them. Symon and Eryn remembered the hidden trap door in the last cell that could lead them underground and out of sight at least. Elmer said that the caves are closed off to the outside so they wouldn't be able to exit that way. Eryn checked the trap door and found it still existed and was available for escape. They were supposed to meet with Harris at the Dogg Butt. Elmer still had some work to do here and offered them the courtroom as a place to rest for the night. He told them that the Dogg Butt was likely booked up.
They set out for the Dogg Butt. Eryn broke off the invisibility spell before she checked the path to the Dogg Butt. As she approached the tavern, a cloaked man approached her. He said, “I have something for you!”. He handed her a bag. He added, “By the way, you're being hunted! You need to be careful!”. He walked away and quickly disappeared. She opened the bag finding a small wooden box and an envelope with some writing on it. She moved away from the tavern and looked at the envelope. It had her name on it.
She opened the envelope to find an iron key and a note. She looked at the key. It was a simple iron key but it had the symbol of a broken lance engraved on it. Eryn immediately remembered the Broke Lance Mob. She knew what this meant! The note inside read, “This key unlocks the door to your future with us! You may use it to join our guild, if you are able to prove yourself worthy by passing the five trials!”. An invitation, it was exactly what she had thought it was.
She opened the box and looked inside. There was a round metal container within. Written on it in very small print was, “Grimm Alchemy and Tinkerage, Port Ahn”. She closed all of that up and moved back to the group, letting them know what happened. She also let them know that the way to the tavern seemed clear. They set off for the Dogg Butt where Harris bought them several rounds of drinks.
They filled each other in on some of what each had been through since they separated at Stonebridge. Harris mentioned the change in people since the wave, or whatever it was that came through there. They talked about Mott being the only person missing from Theo's group. They talked about the area below his office in the prison. Harris told them that when they opened the door, what they saw sickened them. He agreed to show it to them later. Harris did say that he didn't want to be in charge of the prison. Eryn looked around the room to see if anyone seemed to be paying extra attention to them. She didn't see anyone that seemed out of the ordinary.
After a while, Harris turned in. The Company returned to the Courtroom to spend the night. Elmer was just leaving. They began to settle in. Eryn pulled out the steel container from the bag from “Grimm Alchemy and Tinkerage”. She opened it to see what was inside. There was another folded note and a powder. The powder resembled a salt and pepper mix. She opened the note. It read, “I thought your group might find this interesting!”. They speculated on what it was but no one had every seen anything like it.
After everyone settled in, Eryn went back out to see if she could find the person who gave her the bag, or any other person skulking about that might be a member of the Broke Lance Mob. She noticed that there were Seaspire guards working at Cassandra's forge. They were likely using it to make or repair equipment. She also noticed the door to Cassandra's home or shop was broken in. Other than that, she found nobody and eventually gave up and returned to the Courtroom.
The next day they went to see Dan Longmire. They arrived at the manor, passing through two layers of guards. The first layer consisted of town guard. The second layer consisted of some of Dan's men from the woods. They recognized the Company Clandestine and told them to go on in. Once inside, Dan and Bruno greeted them. They had breakfast and visited for a while. They caught him up on what had happened to them since they saw him last. He added a little more to the story of what happened since they'd left.
How Blackmoor was smitten with his sister Shea. They had gotten close. Since she was in prison for life, he took care of her. He even brought her up to have dinner at Sir Charles. He offered to help her escape. She felt it would be wrong to do that. She'd been sentenced to life so she was going to serve the full sentence. She was happy to spend it with him, there. He'd apparently found a secret way in and out. They'd told Dan that he'd taken her on trips a couple of times. Dan said, it was all a shock to him. He'd never really trusted Blackmoor. He's probably not really trust worthy. His sister told him that there was a side to him that you just don't know. Love is a fickle thing.
Blackmoor did get his men together and they fought a hell of a battle together to clean this place out. He resigned from being the warden. He wanted to go back south. Shea went with him. Blackmoor did give him 10,000 gold pieces to help rebuild the town. If I have to judge people on their actions, I have nothing against him. He is my brother-in-law. He did say that he wouldn't be doing anything up here anymore. I didn't pry into all the things that he's done. I didn't think Shea would appreciate me grilling him.
Since then, they appointed me the Mayor. I don't expect it to be permanent. I just want to get this town back on it's feet. We were just starting to when that strange wave came through here. Since then, it's just been nuts. I've just been trying to keep everything from falling apart. Elmer has been a great help, Lieutenant Harris too. I'm hoping to hear back from Captain Wright and the group that went north to find out what is going on up there. Hopefully they'll show up in the next day or so.
Eryn mention that if they went north to take care of Theo, he is already dead. “We killed him!”, she said. Dan was surprised to hear that. So you ran into Theo, we've been looking for him. Eryn told him that they'd run into him at Nordain Hold. He had been working with a Wyvern and we killed both of them. Dan said, “Well that explains the weird things like all those Goblins!”. Eryn told him that they had a bunch of Goblin slaves up there helping them dig for gold for the Wyvern. The Wyvern was getting the gold for a Dragon.
They finished their breakfast and moved to the sitting room and talked a little more. He asked them what their plans were. Symon told him that they were headed south and west toward Port Ahn. Dan had never been there but heard Port Ahn as a very large city and the center of the Valdornost navy. That's where they project all of their power across the oceans from. Symon told him about the chickens and the goblins and Grish-ta-nak and their involvement with all of that. He told him how they were unraveling all of that when Sir Charles was killed. Dan finally had to leave to go to court.
The Company set out into town again. They discussed getting some more supplies. Eryn wanted to pickup some materials to use for disguising everyone. Cassandra wanted to check on her home and smithy business. They found the doors broken down at Cassandra's smithy. The swords that she and her father had made for the town were gone. Symon told her that she was not originally a member of this Company. He told her that we'd love to have her come with them but with the prices on their heads and the looming task ahead, she might want to stay here and let the group continue without her. She told them that she was in this now. She must see this through. Her life as a smithy, was her life. Her life with Company Clandestine, is her life now.
They fixed the doors to the smithy and boarded up the windows that had been broken out. They set off to Randal's Mercantile. They picked up some gear, clothing and shoes to replace their worn out clothes. They also looked for some clothes to wear as part of a disguise. They got rations and a few other odds and ends. Symon asked about buying horses but Randal told him that they were very short on horses and they would likely not be able to find anything in town. They'd considered getting a wagon and draft horse and use it to disguise themselves as a caravan with a couple of them as guards. They weren't going to find a wagon or a horse in this town though.
By the time they got to the market, it was getting late and they were shutting down. They shifted to Kira's shop. Upon entering, Eryn apologized to her and Fran for scaring them earlier. She told them that she really felt bad about that. They looked around a bit and told her that they were looking for a way to disguise themselves. A way to dye their hair and skin. She told them, they could help them create some hair dyes. She took about an hour. Symon asked her about some kind of fur that they could use to mimic hair. She did have a glue that they could use to hold facial hair on. She gave them three of each color that they wanted, black, brown, light brown.
They left and returned to Cassandra's to spend the night. They fixed up enough space to comfortably rest. Symon identified the special items they'd each received. Angelique's bracers were Bracers of Defense AC 5. As he cast the spell on them, the jewel on the Bracers glowed and the ring on her finger glowed, They were a set and as such gave her an AC of 1. Xor's horn was a Horn of Blasting. Cassandra had a Ring of Regeneration. Cal-El got a Ring of Free Action. Symon had a Dagger of Throwing and Returning, +2. Eryn had a Vial of Magic Detection, with 10 uses. Symon was wiped out after that and rested.
Eryn was going to head out to see if she could find a hole for the key. Cal offered to join her. Eryn thanked him for the offer but told him she felt that this was a task that she was supposed to complete by herself. She did ask to borrow Cassandra's ring feeling that if she got hurt, she could hide someplace while the ring healed her. Cassandra let her use it. Symon wanted to have a password for when Eryn came back. This would let them know that it was her returning. Symon came up with the passphrase, “Please fondle my buttocks!”. Though that seemed a bit much, he was correct in that it was highly unlikely that anyone would stumble onto that phrase and get in.
Eryn looked at the key and decided that the only building in town where she had seen a lock of the size and style that might go with this key would be the prison. She went there, staying to the shadows and making her way to the eastern most side. From there she could see no guards so she climbed the wall. There were two large bay doors for moving wagons into and out of the prison. She tried the key on both of those door. The key went in but wouldn't turn in the lock. There was a singular standard door and it didn't work there either. She moved around to the front of the prison and found a partially opened door close to the cemetery. The only other outside doors were at the main entrance on the western side. There were guards there and no chance of trying the key there.
Eryn moved inside the prison. This was the ground level of the prison. It was not the part of the prison containing the cells she had searched before. She had been to the ground level section on the eastern side where the big bay doors were. That was where she'd listened in on Blackmoor, Theo, and the boy. She had not been in this side on the ground floor before. There was a hallway where she was now that went all the way around a section of the prison with a lot of closed doors.
Eryn tried door after door as she went around it, being careful to be silent. The only person she came across was a guard sitting in a breakroom eating. Many of the doors didn't have locks. The key fit none of the doors that did have a lock. She had tried the southern hallway, the easter hallway and the northern hallway. The western hallway had two guards standing watch. There was no way to check those doors. She checked the salt and pepper looking powder, trying it and it did nothing to her. She even tasted it. It didn't taste good and seemed to have no effect.
She went back along the northern doors and in the northeast corner, found a door that led to the stockroom area where supplies were brought in by wagon. She checked it thoroughly but found no locks that fit her key. She did find a set of stairs that led down to the lower part of the prison. It was a mirror of the stairs that she'd used to get into the stockroom area when she last visited the prison. She searched the rest of the stockroom but found no other doors. She went back to the north and out of the stockroom area and back to the big square hallway. She started opening doors, She found two latrines, a storeroom with food and wine. She found the kitchen. She found a guards chamber with no one in it. She checked another door and found a bed with a guard in it.
Eryn backed away quickly from the door and moved back to the northeast corner and back into that hallway. She moved quickly to the other end and through those door, and the next set of doors to the stairs going down. She went down those stairs and found a door. The door matched the one way door she had entered and searched the prison from before. She opened it and it opened into the same lower area of the prison, where the prisoners were held. She realized that this would be a great way to bring in guards should a riot occur and they lose control of the prison. Eryn figured that she had run out of options here and left the prison and returned to the smithy.
She made it back to the smithy at about 7:00 in the morning. Everyone was awake. Eryn said, “Something about buttocks!” at the door as she opened to enter. Cal drew his sword as that was not the exact passphrase. Symon also challenged her to tell them something that only she would know. She added tried again with 'Fondle my buttocks“. Symon said, “You still didn't use the word “Please”. Eryn said “Please”. Symon said, “Well, that's too late. I already told you the word “please”. He finally accepted “Fondle my buttocks!” as enough of the phrase.
She told them that she started searching the town and realized that the key wouldn't fit a standard house lock. She thought of the prison and broke into it. She searched what she could of the prison. She relayed what she saw and found. But she gave up when she ran into guards that blocked her access. Symon asked if she saw the top floor. Eryn said she did not see any stairs going up to another floor. Maybe that's in the other wing but the presence of the guards gave no opportunity to search that area. There was no way to continue. She told them that if the guild wanted her to join, then they'll tell her where to start.
Eryn suggested that they could talk to Lt. Harris about giving them a tour of the facility. Symon said, “He did offer to take us through there. I would like to see this top floor and see Motts place and whatever else we can see there. They may be the same location. Motts office may be on the top floor.”. They agreed to get Lieutenant Harris to show them the place. They would distracted him while Eryn tested the key on different doors. Symon suggested some sort of code word to indicate they need to distract Harris. Buttocks was mentioned but Symon pointed out, that would not work here. It needs to be something you can drop in a casual conversation without drawing attention. They landed on sneezing as a sign she needed a distraction.
They headed up that way, passing the Dogg Butt, and up ahead Lieutenant Harris was outside the jail talking to a couple of guards. They approached and talked to him about seeing Mott's area within the prison. He told them it was a gross sight and that if they've eaten, they my toss their breakfast. They assured them they'd be okay. He took them to the prison and escorted them in past the outside guards. From the main door, they walked down the hallway directly toward the guards in front of the a door made of bars. Beyond it was a hallway going downward into the cell area that Eryn had been in before.
Eryn made a point of stopping at each door and seeing what she could see, asking what each room was for. The first room was for processing in new prisoners. None of the doors so far appeared to have locks that might work with the key. Another room was an interrogation room. They passed the guards and headed south toward the door Eryn had entered into the prison last evening. The reached the first door past the guards and the sign read “Warden”. He started to open his door but turned to the door across the hall. The sign there read “Bookkeeping”. He pointed to that and said, “It's not locked! You are welcome to go in there. If you need me, I'll be in my office.”.
Cal looked at the wardens lock and thought the key might fit but Eryn had tested it on the other door to the wardens office and though it fit, it did not work. They entered the bookkeeping room finding it full of books, paperwork, scrolls, and inkwells. There was a bed and it did sort of stink in there. There was some food on the desk and some plants on the desk, maybe from Kira. There were weird Symbols around as well. There was a metal door in the back. Eryn moved back to the door avoiding the weird symbols on the floor. There was a keyhole in the metal door but the key didn't fit it.
Eryn tried to open the door. It was locked. She had a tough time picking the lock. On the third attempt, after squirting some oil into it, she finally got it to open. When they opened that door, they were hit with a vey foul smell. There were dried bloodstains going down the stairs. They searched the main room before they headed downstairs. They didn't find anything but records of the jail, inventory records, and budgets. There were a few esoteric things about gods and stuff. There was nothing of any use. Symon was looking for records on Theo and Blackmoor but didn't find anything on them. Angelique looked at the symbols around the room and she said, “These are definitely symbols having to do with Sahn.”.
They went down the stairs where they found a room from which came an awful smell. There were bodies and body parts. Decaying tissue with bodies lying on tables and in the corners on the floor. There were bloodstains everywhere. As Lieutenant Harris had said, the smell was almost more than some of them could bear. A couple of them felt sick to their stomachs but steadied themselves and continued to look around, trying to figure out what Mott was doing down here. Eryn and Cassandra took some cloth and poured a little wine over it and wrapped it over their mouths and nose hoping it would mask some of the smell. This was definitely Motts laboratory.
There were some books, one of which was a book of Sahn. Angelique looked through it and found that it detailed a plot for Sahn followers to go underground and infiltrate everywhere. They were to call themselves members of the cult of Ahn to hide their movements. It appeared this plot had been going on for at least 50 years. They'd guessed that these guys were everywhere now. There were papers and they showed that Mott was experimenting with body parts. It was unclear why he was doing this.
Angelique began blessing the room, destroying markings and alters and any religious materials. The room reeked of evil. She doused areas in holy water, trying to push away the feeling of evil. There was a door in the north wall. Eryn checked the key on that door but it wouldn't fit it. The door was unlocked. She pushed it open and saw another room with more tools and body parts. There was a small wine rack. He must have enjoyed wine while performing whatever sick work he was doing.
In the north side of the room was another door and this one had a lock. The key did not work in it. She checked the door for traps and picked the lock. She opened the door and saw a few more bodies. There were three door on the western wall. Each of the doors was made of metal. There were no windows they could use to peer beyond the doors. Eryn tried the key on the first door. It did not work. She picked the lock and opened it anyway.
Inside she found a cadaver up against the wall. She moved to the second door. The key didn't fit there either so she picked the lock and opened the door. From inside came a shambling creature that appeared to be a mish mash of body parts from different bodies. Eryn was hit. She backed away calling out for help. Symon fired a magic missile at it. Angelique moved up and attempted to turn it but it failed. It was a Zombie of sorts but not your normal Zombie. Xor came in and moved around Eryn and attacked it. He did a lot of damage to it. Eryn missed. The Zombie hit her with his fist again. Cal-El moved in and hit it with one of his weapons. Cassandra found a space to hit it with a bow shot, twice.
The third door in the room flew open and another of those creatures came out and attacked Xor. Eryn successfully hit the first one the next round and killed it. Angelique cast a Magic Missile at the second one and hit it. Xor turned and attacked it but missed. These things stunk even more than the outer room smelled. That smell began to get to some of them making it harder for some of them to hit them. It hit Xor twice. Cal-El hit the remaining Zombie and did a lot of damage. Cassandra fired and hit it. Xor and Cassandra both hit it a second time and this time it went down.
They noticed a small, chest in the back of one of the rooms, Eryn went it and checked it out. It was a really secure chest with a keyhole. Eryn checked it for traps and determined there were none and then picked the lock. While turning the lock, there was an explosion and fire engulfed Eryn. She took quite a lot of damage. Cal just barely avoided getting hit by it. Cal rushed in to check on Eryn who was badly singed but otherwise okay. She was still wearing Cassandra's ring so she started healing.
Eryn finally opened the chest and found a leather bag full of gold pieces., There was also a very ornate box. It was about 2,000 gold pieces worth. The ornate box looked more like a really ornate jewelry box. Eryn opened it and found an amulet. It was a very ornate pure silver amulet with the motif of a silver dragon on it. They all thought that was odd. Symon was curious that Harris had not found this already.
This is where the session ended.
Please start the recorder!
Exp: 2833 + 283 = 3116