Trollopulous Adjusted Session 145 (Machodor #96): Cthugarak, City of the Firenewts PART 2

 

Make sure you have your heat cloaks

      

Introduction

I mentioned in Part 1 of this session report that it seemed unlikely anyone was wondering why the party had not returned to the firenewt city for over two years. In contrast, I would be interested to know if anyone has been wondering why nothing has been done about the fall of Castle Inferno, formerly Irish; the monsters have it now, so they get to name it. Knowledge of the occupation had reached the heroes; yet to all appearances they were ignoring it. 

This is not a conventional campaign with a "story-beat" pre-planned where the heroes retake the castle. 

Something was being done, though perhaps not even all the characters involved fully understood it. The recent sessions had been driven by three aims: obtain the shards and re-forge the holy sword Sanctus Draconis Interfector, find a new route to Lord Inferno’s lair, and, while the firenewts’ forces were stretched across Castle Inferno, strike at Inferno himself.

This session also saw a completely unplanned convergence between the downtime actions of a group of other characters and the party’s exploration of the volcano.

Timekeeping

This session began on January 29th, with the player characters adventuring until the 1st of February. Downtime for these characters begins on the later on the 1st.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 10 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and the Rod of Lordly Might, wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchman Thomas (C7), Poindexter (M6), and Rabbit (FMT556)

Fluid the Druid (Level 9 Druid, "Scourge of Trollopulous", former wearer of the Ring of Kings, current wearer of the Cloak of Druidish Awesomeness)

Sheamus (Level 9 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade)

Giuseppe (Level 8 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of Sanctus Draconis Interfector and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy (F6), Tawadros (F6), Steelvein (F6), Rhoikos (M6)

and surprise guests

Slippery Pete (Level 10 Thief, wearer of the Hat of Disguise and wielder of the Black Dagger)

Karshe (Fighter Level 6, wielder of the Military Trident, Machodor order of the rising sun)

Marty O'Tool (Level 5 Cleric, wielder of the Mace of Saint Patrick and the Aegis of the Dire Wolf)

Downtime

Apart from those characters in Part 1, there were other characters whose downtime actions since the end of November became important and relevant in Part 2. Having survived Day 1 of the takeover of Castle Inferno: Slippery Pete, Karshe, Marty O'Tool, along with Karshe's henchman I.T., continued to protect the secret location of the Hawkman technology in the basement of the brewery. It was vital that the energy transmitter kept sending power to their various weapons and items, particularly the rocket cycle of Sheamus, which was top priority. 

Not content with merely playing defence, however, they also went about various missions which I adjudicated using the Spying rules in the DMG. Slippery Pete, using his Hat of Disguise to pass as a firenewt, was very effective here. Gradually as time passed, they found out more about the occupation forces and eventually that human prisoners were being taken back to the firenewt city as slaves. The method was unknown; all they knew was that prisoners brought up to the castle from the town were never seen again. 

This was one update among many, and I had no particular sense of what they would do with the information, or if indeed they would take any particular action at all; but the players locked onto the issue with prisoners being taken away and committed to investigate. 

While thinking on this, they suddenly remembered that in session 10 they discovered that the castle has a secret escape tunnel. It was a treat to read that in the discord channel. The facts supported a hypothesis that the firenewts were using that same tunnel to extract slaves, and quite possibly had used it in their initial attack as well. 

There was a lot of back and forth on exactly how they would investigate and prove this, as any DM can imagine, culminating in the decision to leave I.T. to keep the lights on while the three PCs planned to:

"...wait for nightfall and begin to sneak your way through the town with all your gear, until you reach the gate, then somehow get past that, then up the road past the Arena, all the way up to the heavily guarded castle and inside: then look for the way prisoners are being moved out of the castle."

I evaluated this order as a "difficult" Spy mission, and here is how it went:

Disaster! The spy mission failed and you were discovered and captured! 

 You awaken groggily, heads pounding, the acrid tang of some alchemical gas still burning your nostrils. Your hands are bound tight behind you. A filthy hood cakes your face in sweat and grime, but your ears catch the groans of many more like yourselves, their voices echoing off the close walls of what you sense is an underground passage. You are dragged to your feet and soon realise that you are being marched somewhere, under heavy guard. 

 You begin in what you guess must be the escape passage under Castle Irish. After a while it gets a lot colder, but you do not feel that you are outside; the guards hurry you along and prod you with spears to make the point. Soon, the air warms again. After what seems like hours there is a short break. You are given water and allowed to lift the hoods to drink. You see your fellows looking worse for wear and other prisoners. It looks like you are in the process of discovering what happens to them...

Slippery Pete whispered, "This is great, they are taking us right where we want to go. Just play along with them."

Session Report

Some time later in Cthugarak, the party, in their guise as fire giant emissaries, had settled into adjoining rooms in the Drake's Ember Inn. The casters rested, Sever tasked Rabbit with exploring the city, and Fluid went with some of Giuseppe's henchmen to mingle in the bar.

A note on timing. The players knew at this point that they had a couple of hours of real time left in the session; the characters knew they had one day before the full moon sacrifice on the 1st of February. The real-time pressure would naturally arrive before the in-game deadline, and yet they had barely scratched the surface of the city.

Given the time issue, in my view it was elite play to send henchman Rabbit out to scout the place and pick up rumours. This mission was essentially a session's worth of recon handled by an NPC with a roll on the Spying table to determine success or failure, and then a Brig style 2d6 result to determine the knowledge gained on a success and then the same for Fluid in the bar. Because session time was running short I was happy to use such a method. Though it was not a very difficult mission, it carried real risk and could have resulted in disaster for Rabbit — and might next time.

He returned safely the next morning.

The combined intelligence gathering allowed them to establish:

- The city was abuzz with the imminent full moon sacrifice.

- Slaves were required by sponsors to participate in the sacrifice.

- A licence from the Blazenewts in the Slave Quarter was required to purchase slaves.

- A licence from the Ignisalam priests in Temple Quarter was required to participate in the sacrifice.

Although they knew of two ways to get to Lord Inferno's lair, it was only the Island of Sacrifice that seemed like an achievable option with the information they had, and this remained within reach. They decided to go for it before the session ended.

First they went to the Slave Quarter. And here is where the convergence happened. The party just needed to buy some slaves — any would do.

In Discord I sent this to the Irishtown Underground group chat:

After some more days of travel, finally your hoods are removed in the sweltering heat of a firenewt city!

Now the party of Sever, Sheamus, Giuseppe, and Fluid had a choice of buying the random slaves on offer, or ones that looked rather familiar: Karshe, Marty O'Tool, and, of all people, Slippery Pete. The decision was not instantly agreed upon — particularly by Sever's player, the only one at the table who did not know what was going on.

There were other buyers as well; an Efreeti took a particular interest. The heroes managed to outbid the competition and gathered their "slaves." Now they would need a licence for the sacrifice ceremony itself. This was obtained with some difficulty in the Temple Quarter; Sever literally bumped into a high-ranking priest, who was forced to acknowledge that the ranger's Ignisalam brooch gave him the right to be there.

Finally, the day of the full moon arrived. The heroes, their "slaves," and a multitude of others went out through the Gate of Sacrifice and onto the causeway to the Island of Sacrifice. Once they had shown their pass, all formality appeared to be over. A seething mass of nobles and others, with their slaves in tow, sought to push their way out onto the island and throw them into the pillar of "Living Flame" that climbed from the centre of the island straight up until it disappeared in the heat and some haze above.

Downtime begins here.

Once close, the adventurers observed that the sacrifices had their heat-cloaks removed before being thrown into the flames. Weapons and equipment that might have belonged to them before their enslavement were also thrown into the fire. Apparently the firenewts considered the weapons and such part of the sacrifice as well.

The party made use of the chaos and rushed into the flames as soon as they were close enough to do so. This would not otherwise have stood out, but "Gorvak, the giant emissary" was certainly noticed throwing himself in. Nearby firenewts could be heard exclaiming their admiration for the act. The party disappeared into the rising column of fire.

Just as they had been told to expect by Giuseppe's informant, the flames caused them no harm, and in moments they found themselves somewhere else entirely — Lord Inferno's lair, they assumed. But this was no dragon's hoard, and there was no dragon. Instead they were inside a cube of black basalt shot through with seams of lava, sealed on every side with no way out. A brazier of the same living fire sat at the centre of the floor. Along with them were other unfortunates who had also been sacrificed — humans like themselves, and even some firenewts that must have fallen foul of the authorities.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  33 Miles

Downtime begins on: 01/02/26
Combats: 0
Rooms mapped: 
Combat rounds: 0
Losses: none, yet.

Treasure & Items

Monsters

Rating (), 0 XP & 0 GP Assignment

Sever (E)

and Thomas (E)  

and Poindexter (E)  

and Rabbit (E)

Fluid (E) 

Sheamus  (E)

Giuseppe  (E) 

and Bishoy  (E) 

and Tawadros  (E) 

and Steelvein  (E) 

and Rhoikos  (E)

Karshe (E)

Marty O'Tool (E)

Slippery Pete (E) 

Graveyard

Oblate (Illusionist Level 3), killed and eaten by the Nathruk in the Skalrath in session #140

Eniac (Magic-User level 1), killed by a poisoned Grothak spear in session #137 

Rhoikos (Henchman Magic-User level 4), smashed by a Mummy fist in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Thomas (Henchman Cleric level 6), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Josef Ironbeard (Dwarf Fighter level 1), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126.

Matthias Steelvein (Henchman Fighter level 4), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Sever the Wrathful (Ranger level 9), Killed by two pains in the Annis in session #122. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Anri (Henchman Magic-User level 4), found dead with a ghastly chest wound in the Ice Castle, with her heart missing she was unable to be revived, in downtime after session #122 

Symeon (Henchman Cleric level 2), Only strong enough to wear studded leather, he was torn to shreds by Troglodytes in session #121

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 3) Effected by the Imprisonment spell touch attack from a Styx Devil in session #117. Might not be dead, but is definitely at least six feet under for all intents and purposes.

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3), killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe to the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39