The Collective - Session 53

This is the fifty-third session in The Collective campaign and the second session in the In The City storyline of the Current Arc. Player feedback ranks this session at a 7.6.

Notable Events

 * The party received their first real assignment from Levin, the king's spymaster.
 * Rosanhi hallowed the estate, protecting it from evil outsiders and fey.
 * OTIS met Vega, and the rest of the party learned of Vega's plight.
 * The party met with Sergeant Eric, a member of the guard.
 * Gorrn and Cedric met Rodrick, of the Teetering Horseman tavern.
 * The party identified Gnorbitt as the culprit of the murders and arson.



Summary
MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1001: Under the guise of a peasant woman, Badger intercepted David as he left Calhoun's house and offered him employment with her "boss", Badger. Giving no clear answer but taking the business card that she procured, David left down the road while Badger returned to the group headed the opposite way. Upon returning to the estate, the party sat down with Rosanhi (who had taken a long morning to recuperate from the events of the past day) to fill her in on what had happened with Enoch the tubermancer and Levin, the king's spymaster and their new handler. Initiating his "wake-up protocol", OTIS stopped "sleeping" and learned about the wonders of the biological process of eating.

Having mentioned Vega during this conversation, Rosanhi prompted OTIS to head into the kitchen to meet her. After some brief introductions, Vega quickly grew upset with OTIS's mentioning that the party had told it to come meet her, stating that "Now they start paying attention to me, when it's convenient!". This agitation quickly grew into uncontrolled anger as the flames of Vega's body erupted into a pillar of fire, lighting the corner of the room on fire. Panicking, OTIS alerted the group to the growing inferno, where Roscoe quickly stepped into action, extinguishing the flames into puffs of smoke and fireworks, aweing OTIS and saving the estate from any further damage. Following a brief discussion with the party, Vega accompanied Badger through the city (managing to avoid any excess attention of the peasantry to the walking being of fire) where he discussed her feelings towards her treatment and purchasing her a dagger and a lockpick from the blacksmith at the Triangle market and promising to let her tag along in the future, as well as purchasing firewood to avoid using her as the source of their fire.

Rosanhi spent the rest of the day in deep meditation, communing with Arabella to Hallow the estate and protect it from evil, having made the proper preparations by lighting special incense in all the focal points of the home to aid in her concentration. Upon Badger's return, he and Gorrn shared a humorous conversation about seeking a job as a cook in a tavern while on horseback, which prompted them to retrieve their horses from the Agate Stables near the southern gate and for Gorrn to pursue employment in a tavern. Almost convinced that the old woman who owned the stables was dead in her chair, it was revealed that she was merely sleeping and she yelled for her husband Howard to bring the duo the party's horses. Convinced not to enter an incredibly seedy looking tavern outside the stables, Gorrn instead headed to the Triangle Market with Badger, entering a tavern called the Teetering Horseman and meeting the owner, a snively man by the name of Rodrick (with cousin Hugo). Attempting to win over his favor by throwing Badger out of the tavern, Gorrn was instructed to return in a few days to complete Rodrick's test if he wished to be employed there. During these events, OTIS expressed its wonder with Roscoe regarding his fireworks, thanking him for giving him the experience of the dancing colors.

TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1001: In the morning, Gorrn was alerted to a knock on the door by an unidentifiable source. After opening the door and searching for the culprit, he found a small burlap sack pinned to the door, with two message spheres inside. Calling to the party and beginning the message on the first sphere as they gathered round, listening as the now familiar voice of Levin, the king's spymaster, crackled through. Prefacing that he had an assignment for the party, he first addressed the information given to him by the party in their first communication. He took note of the existence of OTIS, Enoch, and Gnorbitt, expressing both dismay and distrust towards the party that one of their own had turned rogue. He instructed them to report anything that they learned of him and called into question their loyalty and sanity before dropping it. He enquired further about what OTIS was, suggesting that it may be a golem or an elemental construct, but saying that it seemed harmless enough but that they should continue to keep tabs on it. Regarding Enoch, Levin mentioned a potential correlation between another mage, whose magic was based around meat, that had been spotted in the city before. He then told the party their payments would be handled on a case by case basis, that they would have clear and easy access to the king's resources if necessary during an assignment, and that they would be paid handsomely and have looting rights where applicable. Not understanding a word of OTIS's ramblings, he had little further comment on them, and also addressed to Flynt's concerns that while he does not decide when bad things happen in the kingdom, their quick and competent solving of these problems would prevent further issues from arising in the future, giving them ample time to rest.

Levin received reports that several houses in the western slums had recently burned down. Normally, this should not be an issue, but considering Gnorbitt's convenient disappearance and the fact that there were missing bodies not located in the wreckage, he believes that something foul is afoot. The party's assignment is to head to the slums, investigate the cause of the fire and the location of the missing people, and to alleviate the fears of the peasantry; if it was simply an accident, then all is well, but if the houses were burned down intentionally, the peasants are not to be informed of it. Heading to the slums, the party introduced themselves to the guard in charge, a short goateed man named Sergeant Eric, who acknowledged that he knew so someone would be coming but did not expect people like them. Given full reign to investigate the burned homes, the party got to work assisting the peasants in locating their misplaced items (a sword, located by Cedric, and a shovel), healing injuries, locating a missing daughter who had gone to play in the wreckage (as well as her doll, which Rosanhi had found snagged on a splinter of wood where the girl had fallen through a broken floor), and determining the cause of the fires. A window broken from the outside, several overturned lampposts, and various other clues were located.

After some mostly fruitless investigation despite the location of the clues, Roscoe happened upon a body that, unlike the other victims, was mostly unscathed by the fire, instead showing a dark burn solely around her neck. Asking some nearby guards (who had previously mocked them) they learned that the woman's body was found outside of a house in the dirt, unlike the other bodies that had been located in the houses. Convincing the guards to go take a break, the party watched as Cedric momentarily resurrected the victim to ascertain how she had died and who the culprit was. After receiving cryptic answers from the tortured corpse (fire, torture, hat) the party came to the conclusion that Gnorbitt had committed these acts. The party, having now located the old man's shovel, returned to where the corpse had been found and discovered a fresh mound of dirt next to the wall of the house. Clearing the dirt revealed the entrance to a dark cellar, clearly darkened by magical means, the magic quickly dispelled by Cedric after Rosanhi attempted to illuminate the room.

Descending into the cellar, OTIS, Roscoe, Gorrn, and Badger discovered a horrific sight. Four bodies, chained to the walls and covered with fiery whip marks, their flesh sloughing off the bone, lay within. After brief investigation of the room, they determined that these were likely the missing bodies that Levin and Eric had mentioned, and decided that they should bring the bodies out to the cart to be disposed of. Upon touching one, however, Gorrn was assaulted by a terrible amalgamation of flesh as the rotting, burnt guts and remains of the bodies leapt off the bones with malicious intent, engulfing him and covering his face and torso. Prompted by this terrible abomination, the other fleshy creatures leapt off the bodies and immediately attacked the party.