Curse of the Crimson Throne Notes
Current Book: 4
Regular Party Size: 4
EPL: 13
Current Location: Kallow Mounds
Current Quest: After meeting with the Shoanti Skoan-Quah tribe, it has become apparent that in order to score an audience with the Sklar-Quah to discuss the origin of the Midnight's Teeth (Queen Ileosa's Crown of Fangs), they must earn their trust by performing a great feat in the midst of a "Truthspeaker". Although, the only "truthspeakers" Thousand Bones knows of that would be willing to talk to the party are from the Lyrune-Quah. But to even secure audience with the Lyrune-Quah, the adventurers must delve into an ancient Thassilonian ruin known as the "Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers". Those who follow in the footsteps of an old Shoanti priest and touch an artifact globe deep in the ruin are said to receive the Sphereseeker’s Mark. The mark is considered so sacred to the Lyrune-Quah that they would welcome even their most hated enemy were he carrying it.
Event History:
January 28, 2015
Posted by: Jon
Book 3 Sysnopsis:
With the end of the blood veil plague, Korvosa settles into a wounded silence. At first, it seems as if the city is healing and recovering from the tragedies she has suffered, but it soon became apparent that the damage done to Korvosa during the riots after Eodred II's death and the plague itself might have been even greater than anyone feared. The streets are dull and muted, strangely empty except for when markets quietly open. People seem to be more interested in staying home than going out, and when they do, they shamble quickly and quietly to their destination and conduct their business swiftly.
The Order of the Nail has withdrawn from Korvosa's history - some whisper the Hellknights are planning a full-scale invasion of Korvosa to seize control, but more knowledgeable sources know that dozens of Hellknights perished or failed to uphold their charges during the recent events, and that Lictor Severs has recalled his troops to punish them for these failures.
City temples have their hands full tracking down the last remaining pockets of sick in the city or disposing of the dead, and the Academae has kept its doors shut and resources ensconced for the duration, apparently hoping to wait out these troubled times. Both the Korvosan Guard and the Sable Company took staggering hits to both their personnel and morale. The commanders of both organizations talk about recruitment drives to replenish their ranks, yet helping Korvosa recover remains their primary goal - a goal made difficult by Queen Ileosa's reduced support.
Yet the queen is not ignoring Korvosa. The energy and support once lent to the Korvosan Guard is now funneled into a new of peacekeepers - the enigmatic Gray Maidens. Even as the number of Korvosan Guards on the streets seems to dwindle, the presence of these armored warrior women increases. Regular patrols of Gray Maidens march along the major streets, and rumors of strike forces breaking into homes and buildings reputed to house those who voiced dissenting opinions of the monarchy are growing. Old Korvosa remains under tight quarantine, with troops of Gray Maidens stationed along the Narrows and patrolling the Jeggare in swift warships to ensure that no one gets off Endrin Isle - the plumes of smoke as buildings burn and the periodic roars of riots that echo down from Old Korvosa alone are enough to watn away the curious. No one mentions the words "martial law" yet, but they hover on every tongue.
The adventurers began the book helping to have found a cure to the blood veil, and were even thanked by the queen. A few weeks pass by and the party heard nothing, until finally a letter arrived at the Three Rings Tavern from Cressida Kroft. The letter summoned the adventurers to a private conference with the Lieutenant. In this meeting, Cressida tells of what events had befallen at the queen's public address.
Many spoke of how ill-at-ease Marcus appeared at the public address, as if they knew at the time what the desperate commandant had planned all along. Queen Ileosa announced triumphantly that the plague has been defeated, although unfortunately at the cost of Doctor Davalus' life. The good doctor's body, she goes on, has already been shipped back to Cheliax for burial in his family vault, and the order of the Queen's Physicians has been disbanded as well. Yet Korvosa remains wounded. She goes on to report that the Order of the Nail has shown its true colors and fled like cowards into Citadel Vraid. Worse, both the Korvosan Guard and the Sable COmpany have suffered terrible losses over the past weeks. Neither group is fully capable of continuing as Korvosa's protectors, and thus, to shore up this fault, Queen Ileosa names her newly created order of Gray Maidens as the new protectors of Korvosa, appointing Sabina Merrin as the new protectors of Korvosa. As a ripple of concerned whispers spread, Queen Ileosa continues her speech, saying that she has decided to dissolve the Sable Company and the remaining marines will be folded into the Korvosan Guard. At this point, she asks Commander Endrin to step forth to surrender his badge of office.
As Endrin does so, he trembles. He reaches for his badge, but instead of handing it over, he throws it at the queen, striking her in the cheek. Everyone (queen included) is shocked into paralysis for a few moments, long enough for Endrin to bellow out, "Your shameful reign ends now! Korvosa will be free again!" An instant later, his crossbow is in his hands, aimed at the still-shocked queen. Endrin pulls the trigger. His aim is true. The bolt strikes her in the temple.
Yet she does not fall.
With incredible speed, she regains her composure and yanks the bolt from her skull. Before the blood from the wound has time to run all the way down to her shoulder, she's standing before Endrin. Her free hand whips out and seizes him by the throat, lifting him off the ground as she holds him up for all to see. An instant later, she buries Endrin's own bolt between his eyes with a single powerful blow.
As Endrin's lifeless body crumples to the ground and Ileosa imperiously shakes his blood from her hand, she cries out in a strong, clear voice - "This shall be the fate of all enemies of Korvosa! Mark well his death! It is only the first!" A moment later, Togomor steps forward, taking Ileosa's hand and teleporting her back into the Castle. The resulting riot is quelled quickly and brutally by the Gray Maidens.
After Cressida tells the party of these events, she voices her own distaste for the queen, but admits she will not do anything to comprimise herself or her guards' lives. She also tells the adventurers that a missive came to her from Vencarlo, who asked for the party to meet him in Old Korvosa.
The party secretly entered the quarantined Old Korvosa by turning invisible and swimming across the Narrows. Once there, they successfully evade patrols that notice their wt footprints. When exploring the streets on their way to Vencarlo's house, Roslyn notices a flock of children singing a morbid rhyme while playing with a model of a guillotine and doesn't like what she sees. Roslyn lets loose an arrow, killing a child holding the model guillotine. The children scream and scatter, which prompts an enormous mob to form to find the killer. The party retreated while a group of Gray Maidens quell the rowdy crowd.
The group finds Vencarlo's house in decent condition, though Vencarlo was not at home. The door was closed, but unlocked, so the adventurers explored his home. They did not find any clues as to where he could be, though it seemed that someone had been there recently. Then the party was ambushed by a couple of Red Mantis assassins, who started Vencarlo's house on fire. The adventurers fought and killed the assassins and even saved Vencarlo's home from destruction.
Afterwards, they're approached by a pupil of Vencarlo's, saying he has not been seen for days, but that he has been seen in conference with an infamous artist named Salvator Scream.
The party ventured to find this Salvator Scream. They found his home in rough shape, and looked as if it had been broken into. When inspected further, they found an unlikely ally, Laori (aka Pixiestick). She too was looking for Salvator Scream, but for different reasons. Her search prior to the party's arrival found a scrap of a noble's clothing, which Roslyn identified as the Castle Seneschal's coat of arms, and also a lead to the "Emporer of Old Korvosa", an unofficial mob ruler.
The party tracked down the "Emporer of Old Korvosa" to his hideout on the Eastern side of Old Korvosa. They were allowed audience with the "Emporer" by feigning wanting to join their cause. They played a game of Blood Pig, and after winning, they were allowed to ask one thing of the "Emporer". They requested to speak with Salvator Scream, and the "Emporer" agreed, but only in his presence. Salvator showed anxiety when asked questions and around the "Emporer", so the party quickly killed him, and quietly escaped the hideout with Salvator Scream.
Salvator explains everything, saying that the Castle Seneschal showed up at his house one night after an attempt on his life. Salvator nursed him back to health and conferred with Vencarlo about his appearance in his home. Salvator arranged for the Seneschal to hide with the Arkonas, an equally dangerous noble family, but a safer alternative than his assassins finding him. The Arkonas would use him as a power play versus the queen, instead of killing him. Salvator realized that he should not have sent him with the Arkonas, and talks to Vencarlo. He attempted to infiltrate the palace but was captured. Laori took Salvator and escaped to safety while the party headed to the Arkona palace.
The party secured an audiance with Glorio Arkona who denied possession of Neolandus. He said he could connect them with someone who did know if they would deal with the "Emporer of Old Korvosa". The adventurers explained the current state of the "Emporer". Glorio's disposition changed immediately, telling them that Neolandus was hidden in the palace labyrinth. Glorio gave them the password to descend into the labyrinth, and even told them the secret of the labyrinth. That it spins.
The party delved down into the labyrinth, and found who they thought to be Vencarlo wandering in the labyrinth. After splitting up, they eventually found a second Vencarlo, and ran into Sivir, the labyrinth guardian. After deafeating her, a battle erupted with both Vencarlo's. One Vencarlo then removes his disguise to reveal a shapely female Rakshasa. After the heated battle, the real Vencarlo lead them to where Neolandus was being kept, and tortured. The party broke Neolandus out by killing his monstrous captor.
After obtaining both Vencarlo and Neolandus, they escaped Korvosa through use of a barge below the palace. They made their way up the coast under cover of night, and after a day and a half, reached Harse. Along the trip, Neolandus spoke of the queen finding something she was looking for, the Midnight's Teeth. And since the relic was found below the castle, Neolandus suggests speaking with the Shoanti in the Cinderlands.
September 22, 2014
Posted by: Jon
Book 2 Synopsis: Seven Days to the Grave
Cannon-fire rings forth in the night, a fiery glow emanates from the Northeast. The adventurers staying at the Three Rings Tavern were close enough to the disruption to rush to the wall and catch a glimpse of a broken ship sinking into the Jeggare River. Immediately, the adventurers began asking questions. They were met with disdain from the Korvosan Guard. Asking other residents in the proximity, however, revealed that a sinister looking ship refused inspection as it sailed into the river. When it continued to refuse to make its intentions known, the Watch fired upon and destroyed it. The adventurers found access to a rowboat, and made their way out to the wreckage. They dove in, and inspected the wreckage. They found nothing but a bunch of closed and opened empty coffers, adorned with skulls. Only one body was found in the ship's hold, and it was wearing a doctor's mask. The crew brought a couple of the coffers back to Field Marshal Cressida Kroft to have them analyzed.
A couple of days after the odd event, Sergeant Grau found the adventurers and asked for their help to figure out what ails his niece. Eventually, the group makes their way to Tayce Soldado's home in Trail's End, a small community on the opposite shore of North Point. They find out that Brienna had been playing down by the river, when she found a strange-looking coffer with dirty coins in it. It was more money than she has ever seen before, so she took it and bought some new toys and shoes with it. As it turns out, Brienna was infected with what was to be known as one of the deadliest plagues Korvosa has seen, Blood Veil. The coins she found, were doped with the disease, and after being spent at multiple merchant shops, the coins exchange fingers, quickly spreading the plague through the city. Within a week, whispers of the Blood Veil were starting to grow around town, but not so far as to ignite panic, yet.
Within that week, the adventurers were contacted by Blackjack, the masked individual who saved Trinia some time ago. He left a note telling them to seek out Vencarlos Orisini, the master swordsman, as it was where Trinia was kept hidden all this time. The crew met with Vencarlo, and he explained to them that they needed to get Trinia out of town to her Great Uncle's place North of Korvosa some ways away. They smuggled her out of town, and escorted her to her Uncle's farm town.
When the adventurers returned, the town was beginning to descend into turmoil. Field Marshal Cresida Kroft meets with them and ponts them to seek out Ishani Dhatri from the Bank of Abadar, as he has a job for them. The group was forced to make their way through a panicky crowd looking for healing from the plague. Ishani met with them and needed to be escorted to Citadel Volshyenek in order to converse with Cressida, in person. The adventurers agreed to escort him, and when they arrive, they find Kroft in session with a group of platemail-wearing women, her own Guard, and a group of Queen's Physicians, led by one Dr. Reiner Davaulus. The Guard was to be bodyguards for the Queen's Physicians, while they perform their work.
While in council with the adventurers, Cressida and Ishani both have jobs for them to complete. They were tasked with dealing with lazy plague carters, and investigate a perfume shop called Lavender, that claimed to have some sort of cure for this Blood Veil.
The adventurers first dealt with the plague carters, but in doing so, they happened upon a small group of vampire spawn, who were making their home in an old toy shop. The adventurers eventually found their coffins underneath the floorboards in the toy shop, and proceeded to kill them for good.
Next the adventurers went to investigate Lavender, finding a long line of hopefuls looking to buy a cure. The players confronted Vendra, the owner of the shop about the supposed cure, and she agreed to talk with Ishani Dhatri the next morning. The next morning Vendra did not appear to talk with Ishani, and the adventurers set out to bring her in. When they arrived, the shop was closed and empty. They found a couple of her lackey's in the back of the store packing stuff up. After some leverage, the y gave up where Vendra was heading. The players tracked her down and brought her in for questioning.
After completion of these tasks, the adventurers were approached by a frail looking fishmonger woman who happened to be a wererat, and pleaded for them to cull an impending uprising by a group of wererats, lead by an overzealous warrior, Girrigz. The players agreed to help. The next morning, the adventurers descended into the sewers and swiftly destroyed the uprising, as well as Girrigz. However, Girrigz was able to get a successful bite attack in on the paladin (Travis), unknowingly infecting him with the curse of the wererat.
Three days later, the paladin had a vivid dream of being a rat. Diving into trash bins, scurrying through sewer tunnels and eating rotten delicacies, were just a few of the excerpts he could remember from his weird dream. The oracle smacks him to wake up, and the paladin finds out that it wasn't really a dream at all, he is now a wererat!
Later, Eries Yelloweyes rewards the players with information of a young patron of the arts, Deyanira Mirukova, who was asking around about her missing brother Ruan. Eries though that investigating this lead might offer some insight into the origins of the Blood Veil. The players conferred with Deyanira, and found out that her brother was to play for a ball held at the Carowyn Manor. When they investigated further, they found that everyone at the ball had been killed or turned into zombies by a somewhat psychopathic woman name Jolistina. Finally cornering her and interrogating her, they gleaned the name of Rolth, a necromancer who tasked her with this atrocity. She also told of delivering a man who met Ruan's description to Rolth and his bodyguards.
The adventurers brought this information to Cressida Kroft, and both parties arrived at a similar suspicion of these Queen's Physicians, and Grey Maidens. Field Marshal Kroft tasked the crew to continue their investigate at the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden, the current headquarters of the Queen's Physicians.
Investigation of the Hospice found that they were not helping to cure victims of the Blood Veil, but experiment on them, and offer improvements on the current strain, and help propagate the disease further! Eventually, they found a secret elevator shaft that lead down into a Temple of Urgathoa. Fighting their way through the temple, they had encountered Rolth, and a group of test subjects that were being experimented upon. It was found that these individuals had an uncanny ability to resist the disease. They had also found that Rolth was even taking orders from someone above himself, a fanatic Cleric of Urgathoa, Lady Andaisin. In her arrogance, she claimed her orders for creation and spread of the Blood Veil was commanded to her by Queen Ileosa herself, as well as Urgathoa. After Lady Andaisin's defeat, her corpse seemed to be reanimated and burst forth into a hideous form of a Daughter of Urgathoa, a writhing mass of flesh and undeath. The adventurers dealt with this new threat, though exhausted from so many battles that lead to this point.
The adventurers also happened upon Ruan, who was being experimeented upon by a nosferatu named Ramoska Arkminos. After failed bargaining with the adventurers for Ruan, he managed to slip away. Ruan happened to be another of the individuals who was resistant to the Blood Veil.
The players reported back to Field Marshal Cressida Kroft with their findings, and presented her with a bunch of notes relating to the Blood Veil outbreak, and it's creation. Eventually, Korvosan alchemists were able to concoct a cure from these findings. Kroft awarded each adventurer a piece of equipment out of the Guard's armory as payment, and recognized them as official members of the Korvosan Guard. The queen sent an official writ to the players thanking them for their service to Korvosa. The guard questioned the queen of her involvement with Lady Andaisin, as her name came up, although she denied all of it. She stated that she was manipulated into helping Dr. Davaulus and the other physicians, and did not know their true intentions. The Grey Maidens the queen appointed claimed to have had no knowledge of the true goings-on under the Hospice, in the temple.
Within a couple of weeks, the plagued has been slowed to little more than a crawl, and dispersing quickly. Also, research into the individuals who were resistant to the Blood Veil, found that they are all descendant, though far removed, of a similar bloodline. They are all distantly related to a woman named Kasanda Miromia-Foxglove, wife of the failed lich Vorel.
April 6, 2014
Posted by: Matt
Update: although brief we have finished book 1. Riots rolled through the city from the slums to the keep. Many were killed through mob justice or just because of their race. We did what we could to quell the riots and in the end took in a young woman who was said to have been the deceased kings mistress. She was sentenced to public execution. The legend of old arose once again to surpress the evil wrongs and saved her as she was to be executed. We aided in the chaos with her escape by distracting the guards and executioner. Through the chaos this was not noticed by anyone notable.
Last session:
A ship in the night was taken out by the armaments on the walls as it approached the bay. No one alive was aboard the ship. After a thorough unofficial investigation by yours truly it was discovered to be a plague ship sent at the city. Looks like there may be more to this unrest than ifrst met the eye.