The Humps, The Humps, The Mutant-Zombie Humps - May 27, 2022

 - Raiàn has a meeting with some of her old ladies and finds out from Janice that Juliana Blackmore might have been sick because their monthly parties have been so much smaller lately and that Tabitha who is the Blackmore son's maid but they're supposed to have another party either next week or the week after next

- Osiris has a quick chat with Birel, and then she and Tiff stop at a jeweler's and buy a diamond worth 300 GP for emergencies on their way to the Curlywit Boarding house 

- They all agree to hunt sewer zombies before attempting to maybe talk to the Town Council 

- They make their way back to the sewer entrance they came out of the previous night and let themselves back in and head up the path where the spidery footprints continued past the exit based on Tiff's direction

- They come to a fork and while there's been some water or something that's obscured the tracks they have been following Osiris notices there's different tracks coming (or going?) from the left side of the fork

- They chat and decide to follow the big tracks even if they are different from what they saw before

- After a few minutes of walking, they hear a low groaning sound that echoes off the walls and then they hear one from behind them as well

- The things look mostly humanoid, but they are hunched over with lumps on their back, and their fingers are weirdly extended into claws. They are naked.

ANOTHER SEWER BATTLE

- Lyrielle drinks the potion of Resilience that she got from Tiff (+1 AC), then she moves to the Zombie coming up from behind such that Rusty can easily flank, and the then she readies a defensive stance (Dodge)

- Rusty rages and runs up to flank Z2 with Lyrielle and slices into it for 19 slashing dmg and then slices it again for 14 slashing dmg

- Z2 claws Rusty for 7 slashing dmg and 8 necrotic dmg and then slices into him again 21 slashing and necrotic damage 

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame on Z1 for 4 radiant dmg 

- Z1 moves up to Osiris and claws her for 10 slashing and 6 necrotic dmg then misses with the second hand (Beacon of Hope drops)

- Theophania casts Cure Wounds on Osiris then falls back 10'

- Raiàn casts Misty Step to get past Osiris and Z1 and then she breaths on it for 11 lightning dmg then she falls 10' farther up the tunnel

- Lyrielle bashes Z2 with her enchanted staff for 7 bludgeoning dmg then she punches it in the hump for 9 bludgeoning dmg and then kicks it for 6 bludgeoning dmg and Z2 is slightly stunned (no Reaction until the end of her next turn)

- Rusty swipes Z2 again for 22 slashing dmg and then slices into for 9 slashing dmg (Yay flanking!)

- Z2 slices into Rusty for 11 combined slashing and necrotic dmg and then misses him

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame for 6 radiant dmg then she casts Misty Step and appears beside Raiàn

- Z1 moves forward and attacks Theophania for 17 combined slashing and then misses her

- Theophania casts Melf's Acid Arrow on Z1 since its in her face for 15 acid dmg

- Raiàn moves forward to within 15' of Z1 and casts Burning Hands for 11 fire dmg then she falls back 10' again

- Lyrielle smashes Z2 with her staff for 9 bludgeoning dmg then she kicks it for 8 bludgeoning dmg and it shudders but doesn't fall

- Rusty misses with his first swing then slices into it for 22 slashing dmg and its hump explodes and Rusty and Lyrielle both take 15 necrotic dmg then he moves to flank Z1 with Tiff

- Osiris steps forward 5', casts Healing Word on Tiff for 9 HP, and then casts Sacred Flame on it for 9 radiant dmg

- Z1 slices Theophania for 9 combined slashing and necrotic dmg then slices into her again for 13 combined slashing necrotic and then the acid remaining on his skin for 8 acid dmg

- Tiff Disengages and runs away

- Raiàn moves forward within 15' of the Z and casts Burning Hands again for 8 fire dmg

- Lyrielle moves to flank with Rusty and smashes it with her staff for 11 bludgeoning dmg and he is Stunned until the end of her next turn then she punches it for 13 bludgeoning dmg 

- Rusty swing into it for 21 slashing dmg and it explodes giving Rusty and Lyrielle 13 necrotic dmg 

- Osiris casts Prayer of Healing and everyone is doing much better

- Theophania pulls an entire bolt of oil cloth out of her bag and they wrap one of the arms off one of the exploded corpses with the extended claws and then it all goes into the Bag of Holding

- Osiris is examining the ground for footprints 

- Raiàn wonders allowed if there are any Black Blood hiding bricks 

- Rusty looks around briefly and sees a brick covered in muck that still manages to have a different texture than the rest of the bricks, and he pushes it and a secret door opens

- It seems like a similar mechanism to the hide outs used by the Black Bloods 

- Osiris sees that footprints like the zombies came out of this secret door

- Rusty pushes open the secret door and the group steps into a small entry room and there are two corpses on the floor that look like they have been ripped apart, DEEP gashes 

- Rusty finds 5 GP total on both bodies, they are holding weapons (They tried.) 

- Theophania calls Osiris to have her look down the dark passageway that extends into darkness.

- Osiris sees a door on the left, which she opens to find a small bunk room and then the door on the right, and it's a storage room with food and wine (Tiff puts some in her Bag)

- At the end of the hallway is a ladder that leads up to the surface, so she climbs it and pokes her head out and can smell the river

- With this information, Theophania figures out they are in the same general neighborhood of the city as Groundswallow Carpentry (it's East of the Curlywit boarding house and north of the Black Dog - the rectangular neighborhood on the map adjacent to the boarding house)

- Osiris tidies the bodies and asks Theophania to mark the secret entrance in the alleyway, so she climbs the ladder and casts Magic Mouth (as a ritual with her device shaped like a tiny megaphone trigger is when someone walks past in Temple Blues "Look for the chalk circle. It's an entrance to a secret space off the sewers with two dead bodies). Then she climbs back down the ladder so they can continue exploring in the sewers

- They come to another fork with heavy zombie footprints from both sides of the fork

- Both sides smell equally bad.

- As they are trying to decide which direction to head, they hear something coming from the left fork

- Rusty takes point at this time

- Eventually they all hear fairly clearly a human-like screaming sound that sounds like the spider-zombie monstrosity 

- Osiris can see off in the distance, she's starting to see movement, but she realizes there's a whole column of zombies heading for them.

- 1,800 XP ea. for 28,290 XP total ea.

Spider-Zombie Does Whatever a Zombie-Does, Will He Eat Your Face? Yes! If You're Prone! - May 20, 2022

 - Retroactively Theophania, during their short rest in the underground safe house, remembers something she threw into her Bag, and attaches what looks like a small tube to the side of her left bracer.

- Before they head out to follow the zombie footprints, Osiris asks Jimmy about Idris and there is a bit of a tangent from Rusty

- Jimmy says a guy came to him and wanted to purchase body parts, so he got Wenton to steal things from the temple

- Idris is tall, broad shouldered, longish dark hair and a lieutenant for Jimmy and the zombies got him in the basement

- Theophania starts thinking about Lord Blackmore and his family, and she remembers that her cousin has a friend who works for the neighboring state said that Lord Blackmore is an attractive man who seems like a good person to work for 

- His wife seems nice and is into painting and gardening and likes animals 

- There is one son of the Blackmore estate who is about 12 years old and the word on the street is that he is a holy terror, you know, the kind who would cause thousand of gold worth of property damage and daddy waves his hands to make the problems go away

- Theophania then casts Detect Magic as a ritual and confirms there's no magic or portals or other effects in the safe house

- She then starts to explain how her goggles work to Jimmy, and Osiris saves him by pointing out that they need to follow the zombie footprints, so T says she'll lead the way with her night vision / magic detection goggles

- Osiris follows directly behind with her 300' of dark vision

- Lyrielle hears a faint animal scream in the distance after they've walked for a few hundred feet

- It happens again and this time everyone hears it, but it is beyond the 300' of dark vision

- Theophania is convinced that is sounds like a bear, Lyrielle disagrees

- Osiris finally starts to see some movement in the distance, and it's vaguely humanoid, but it's walking around on all fours more like a wolf, then it starts moving towards the group quickly

- As it gets close they can all see it is trailed by two of it's friends and they are have the head of a human, but the teeth have been implanted from some kind of predatory animal and the torso is human , but limbs from the elbows and knees are the legs from that of a giant spider

SEWER BATTLE

- Rusty Rages and rushes for the lead Monstrosity (1) and slices into it with his greatsword for 7 slashing dmg 

- Lyrielle rushes forward next to Rusty whacks M1 with her staff for 12 bludgeoning dmg and then she punches it for 5 bludgeoning dmg and then her kick misses

- M3 runs forward and stabs her with its spider claw for 13 piercing dmg and she is knocked prone

- M2 climbs the wall and ceiling and then drops behind Rusty and stabs him with a spider claw for 14 piercing dmg but Rusty manages to stay on his feet

- Raiàn casts Fireball over all the Monstrosities and Lyrielle and Rusty for 27 fire dmg to M3, 12 for M2 and M1, 6 fire dmg to Rusty and Lyrielle on the ground managed not to get singed

- Osiris casts Spiritual Weapon (scissors) over Lyrielle but misses M1, then she casts Turn Undead and M2 and M3 are Turned

- M1 bites Lyrielle for 22 necrotic dmg

- Theophania runs around Osiris's legs so that she can see Lyrielle and casts Healing Word on her for 7 HP, then she shoots M1 for 7 piercing dmg with her crossbow

- Rusty slices M1 for 11 slashing dmg and then again for 12 slashing dmg

- Lyrielle stands up then whacks M1 with her staff for 8 bludgeoning dmg then she gets that kick in for 6 bludgeoning dmg right into his guts and the guts burst and it crumbles in place

- M3 runs away down the tunnel because it is Turned

- M2 starts to run away but gets three opportunity attacks for 6 slashing, 6 bludgeoning, and 5 slashing dmg it moves up the tunnel until it is adjacent to Lyrielle then it tries to stab her, but it misses

- Raiàn casts Magic Missile for 11 force on M2

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame on M2 for 11 radiant dmg then the scissors (SW) miss then she runs up the tunnel in the same direction M3 ran, M2 misses on its opportunity attack pinging off her shield

- Tiff shoots M2 with her crossbow for 8 piercing dmg

- Rusty moves up the tunnel towards Osiris just past M2 and slices into it for 13 slashing dmg and then again for 9 slashing dmg which slices off the head and one shoulder / arm killing it!

END OF COMBAT

- There's another scream from down the tunnel

- They haven't seen any grates in a while, so they must be pretty deep

- They come to where the tunnel forks with most of the footprints going to the left fork with only the pointy weird tracks of what is probably the fleeing monstrosity ran and there's a distinct smell of rot and decay coming from the left-hand tunnel.

- They try to go quietly, and they walk another probably 1/4 mile, and they come to a location where there's been a cave-in where and there are damaged, empty coffins. There's even one still lodged in the dirt with the bottom broken out like the dead thing broke out from the inside 

- Theophania realizes they are now outside the city walls under the settlement just beyond the Hauflin Gate where there's a good-sized graveyard

- They make it to the nearest exit just inside the city walls and only a few blocks away from the Black Dog and there's still smoke from where it's burning and the bucket brigade is working to prevent the spread of the inferno judging by the commotion and cacophony

- They trudge back to the Temple to wash and sleep and recharge since it's like midnight

- Osiris and Tiff head to the Temple and everyone else goes to the Curlywit Boarding house since it's closer

- Theophania drinks her Elixir of Flight so Osiris can pull her along like a balloon which helps the trip go faster

- Osiris slides a report summarizing what they found under Birel's door then heads to the baths

- 1,800 XP ea for 26,490 XP total ea.

I'm a Sleazebag, Not a Fighter! - May 6, 2022

 - On their way down the stairs into the basement, Theophania hands Lyrielle an alchemical potion of Boldness

BASEMENT BATTLE

- Flesh Monster 1 moves up to Osiris and hits her with a boneless fleshy arm for 19 bludgeoning dmg

- Osiris activates her Channel Divinity - Twilight Sanctuary then casts Spiritual Weapon (a rusty, dirty, jagged pair of old scissors) adjacent to the FM1 and hits it for 11 force dmg

- Lyrielle moves up to FM1 and smacks it with her quarterstaff for 10 bludgeoning an then punches it for 8 bludgeoning dmg

- Theophania casts Enlarge on Lyrielle

- Rusty jumps over the banister about 15' to a table and them moves to Skeleton2 and slices it for 11 slashing dmg then slices it again for 12 slashing dmg

- FM2 moves up to Bystander2 and whacks him with a boneless arm for 6 bludgeoning dmg and then hits him again for 10 bludgeoning dmg

- Raiàn casts Hypnotic Pattern on all the monsters except FM1, and everyone fails except SK1

- SK1 moves to Rusty and bites hit for 12 piercing dmg

- FM1 hits Theophania for 10 bludgeoning dmg and then hits her again for 11 bludgeoning dmg and then hit envelops her and crushes her for 15 bludgeoning dmg

- Osiris hits FM1 with her SW then casts Sacred Flame on it for 9 radiant dmg then she switches places with her SW to flank with Lyrielle

- Lyrielle hit FM1 with her quarterstaff for 5 bludgeoning dmg then she kicks it for 9 bludgeoning dmg killing it! (She sticks the quarterstaff in between it and T and then rips T out of its grasp and it explodes.)

- Theophania moves 25' towards the incapacitated bystander and then shoots SK1 with her crossbow for 10 piercing dmg. She yells to the bartender (Rosella), "Get out!" and points back at the stairs

- Rusty slices his greatsword into SK1 for 11 piercing dmg and then slices into it again for 19 slashing dmg

- FM2 is incapacitated 

- Raiàn casts Firebolt on SK1 for 10 fire dmg

- SK1 claws Lyrielle for 16 slashing dmg and knocks her prone

- Osiris moves her SW to SK1 and smacks it for 15 force dmg lopping off it's head (Theophania requests that someone grabs her crossbow bolt) and then she casts Toll the Dead on SK2, but it doesn't find purchase in its brain or whatever, then she yells at Jimmy "You gonna help or what?"

- Jimmy picks up a random bottle moves forward a few steps then throws the bottle at FM2 at hits it for 1 bludgeoning dmg

- Lyrielle stands up then moves to FM2 and smacks it with her quarterstaff for 16 bludgeoning dmg and then she she punches it for 6 bludgeoning dmg and then kicks it for 5 bludgeoning dmg

- Theophania moves 25' deeper into the bar away from the hole in the wall where the undead presumably broke through into the bar then she misses FM2 with her crossbow 

- Rusty slices SK2 for 14 slashing dmg and then misses with his second swing then moves to put himself between the skeleton and Theophania

- FM2 misses Lyrielle then hits her for 9 bludgeoning dmg

- Raiàn hits FM2 with Magic Missiles (level 3) and it explodes all over the bystander

- SK2 claws Rusty for 15 slashing dmg

- Osiris moves her SW to flank with Rusty and chops into SK2 for 10 force dmg then it moves 5' further with its swing and then she runs along the bar in Jimmy's direction and casts Sacred Flame on SK2 and it misses

- Lyrielle runs back over to SK2 and whacks SK2 with her staff for 10 bludgeoning dmg and then she kicks it for 8 bludgeoning dmg which gets him right in the spine crush it so he falls into two halves

END BATTLE

- Osiris is salty that Jimmy didn't warn them about the undead in the bar, but they appeared just a minute or so ago

- Raiàn opens the door and looks out and the entire bar is now "fully engulfed" in fire. Blazing inferno.

- Jimmy knows that the tunnel where the undead enters the underground bar leads to the sewers and then to a safe house, so they gather the bartender, the bystander and Jimmy with Rusty taking point and Lyrielle covering the rear

- Osiris grants her 300' of dark vision to Rusty and Raiàn and Theophania dons her goggles

- The tunnel comes to what used to be a doorway but that has clearly been destroyed and it opens onto a sewer tunnel and Jimmy directs Rusty to go to the right

- As they are passing through from the back of the line, Lyrielle and Osiris see that all the footprints and tracks are coming from the left

- Jimmy says that you go to the right until you find the rough brick

- Once they find it, a short rest is had

 

- 2,000 XP ea for 24,690 XP total ea. - LEVEL 7!!!

Kill It with Fire #WellYouTried - April 15, 2022

 - Retroactively, Osiris approached Headpriestess Rowan to ask about getting her weapon blessed, but it would take like a year, so nothing comes from that meeting.

- Rusty grabs someone and asks what's going on and he just yells "Skeleton!" and continues running

- Osiris just runs into the bar, and Theophania pulls out her crossbow and immediately follows

- There are three skeletons with fangs and whose fangs are sharpened into like claws, and one of them is attacking the half-orc barkeep who is stuck behind the bar with one of them.

BATTLE AT THE BAR

- Lyrielle moves over to the nearest skeleton (S2) and smacks it in the skull with her quarterstaff for 12 bludgeoning dmg, then she misses kicking it

- Raiàn uses Misty Step to teleport behind the bar and then steps behind the skeleton and grabs it and casts Shocking Grasp on it for 8 lightning dmg, then she backs away 25'

- Skeleton1 is enraged and murders the barkeep by ripping his chest open, then turns and runs over to Raiàn

- Osiris steps forward and casts Bless on Theophania, Lyrielle, and Rusty

- S3 moves over to Raiàn and claws her for 16 slashing dmg

- Theophania moves up next to Osiris and casts Ray of Sickness on S1, but it is unaffected. She curses and it is adorable.

- The barkeep is dead.

- S2 misses Lyrielle

- Rusty moves over to flank S2 with Lyrielle and his eyes go red in an instant with rage and swings his greatsword into it for 12 slashing dmg, so he hits it again for 10 slashing dmg

- Lyrielle smacks S2 for 11 bludgeoning dmg and it crumbles into a pile of bone as it's skull goes flying across the room then she moves to flank S1 with Raiàn and she hits it for 5 bludgeoning dmg and then hits it again for 6 bludgeoning dmg

- Raiàn casts Fireball, Carefully centered on herself protecting herself and Lyrielle, and both Skeletons take 10 fire dmg (Consequences: The nearest table, the short L of the bar are on fire now, the wall behind her, and the "secret" stairs which were open are on fire. A portion of the roof is blown AWAY, and the perimeter of the roof hole is burning.)

- S1 stands up and misses biting Lyrielle

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame on S3 for 11 radiant dmg and then casts Healing Word on Raiàn for 8 HP

- S3 claws Raiàn for 19 slashing dmg and she is knocked prone

- Theophania moves forward 25' more feet and shoots S3 for 7 piercing dmg

- S2 is dead

- Rusty moves up to S1 and misses twice

- Lyrielle smacks S1 for 11 bludgeoning dmg then she kicks him for 8 bludgeoning and he crumbles into a pile of bone shards too then she moves away from the burning bar

- Raiàn breathes on S3 for 4 lightning dmg 

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame on S3 for 11 radiant dmg

- S3 bites Raiàn for 13 piercing dmg

- Theophania moves forward 15' more and shoots S3 for 8 piercing dmg

- Rusty moves to flank S3 grabs the burning table and smashes it into dust, burning dust

ENCOUNTER OVER

- The stairs down are definitely on fire

- Theophania yells at Rusty to grab the giant caldron of badly seasoned soup and pour it on the burning stairs, which more or less put those up

- He does so, and notices that the fire is spreading, but doesn't have time to notice much more before Osiris uses Misty Step to teleport to the bottom of the stairs

- Downstairs is total chaos with two skeleton and three strange looking flesh-blob monsters that look like a humanoid without a skeleton 

- There are some people ducked behind the bar and behind tables trying to avoid the monsters

- Osiris yells to the people behind the bar that it's safe upstairs now, it's only a little bit on fire

- 2,000 XP ea. for 22,690 XP total ea.

No, the Porn is Not Magical #IWishThisConversationHadHappenedWhileIWasStillOnCodeine - April 1, 2022

 - Osiris finds Cassandra at her door first thing in the morning, and there are more body parts missing despite the guard at the door of the Rites Wing

- Osiris sends Cassandra to get Theophania and drags Rusty's things out of her closet so he can re-equip himself

- Osiris gets Lyrielle from where she is practicing her flute in the garden

- Raiàn is in Theophania's room, so they join the rest of the group in the Rites wing

- Tom, the guard at the door didn't see anything, but he only replaced Dave a few hours ago

- The body that's missing its eyeballs is a small, ten-year-old(ish) girl who looks emaciated, like she died of a wasting disease

- Rusty and Tom go to get Dave

- Osiris casts Detect Magic and looks around the room for portals, but she doesn't find anything

- Meanwhile, Rusty grills Tom as they walk

- Birel, Cassandra, Ayen were the only three people who arrived for work this morning, that he let in

- Rusty does not grill Dave as the three walk back

- Once they are all in the Rites wing, Osiris gathers everyone and casts Zone of Truth on literally everyone, and every single person either allows it to happen or fails their save.

- Dave doesn't remember anything strange happening during his shift, he remembers Birel, Ayen, and Arrana were working, at some point Wenton came by too at some point, but he's not sure why - Also he had a sandwich made with stale cheese for lunch - Wenton and Ayen left last a bit after sunset

- Ayen is having trouble with the body missing eyes, but he never touched her. He's squeamish, but did not take her eyes

- They just go around and ask everyone directly if they stole the eyes, everyone says no.

- That leaves only Wenton and Arrana to question as people who were known to have been in the Rites wing last night.

        - Antonia's catch phase is officially, "I didn't prepare that."

- Tom and Rusty go and collect Arrana and Wenton

- Neither of them look exhausted like they stayed up half the night

- Osiris casts Zone of Truth again, but Wenton is unaffected by the spell

- Wenton examined the little girl and a few of the other bodies to verify if their bodies were still contagious 

- Arrana didn't touch the little girl at all

- Arrana had a salad for lunch yesterday and Wenton had a piece of chicken

- Wenton probably stole Dave's lunch

- Wenton has some low level magic, but Marta is the only other person on the list in the hospital wing who is anointed by Mishakal with magic

- After Wenton heads back to work, they also go over to the hospital wing and ask Marta to gather everyone in one room (her office), which she does, so it only takes one more Zone of Truth spell

- Rina was also in the Rites wing

- Wenton is suddenly being very dodgy and refusing to answer questions and may have separated the eyeballs, so Rusty grabs him in a suplex position and Lyrielle guards the door 

- Everyone else is excused except Wenton, since we're in her office Marta stays to witness the rest of Wenton's questioning

- Wenton finally admits that he took the little girl's eye balls to sell to pay off a debt (500 GP)

- He also took the heart and tongue from the previous cadaver

- Wenton likes to gamble, and he's had a bad run of luck at the Black Dog

- He was delivering the organs to Idris at the Black Dog, and he dropped the eyeballs off last night

- The only things left on the list he was given are a liver

- Idris is tall (for a human), thin, with a pointy nose, brownish skin, brown hair, darker eye color, dresses kinda nice, no notable jewelry or anything, last name unknown

- The group goes to Wenton's room to find the list and have a look around

- There was also a spleen on the list that was delivered and nobody noticed was missing

- While Theophania is casting Detect Magic as a ritual, Rusty finds drawings of naked elves

- There is nothing magic in the room, including the pornography

- Osiris Sends to Jimmy, "Jimmy, it's Osiris. Unrelated to previous business, need to discuss something with you. Meet us at the Onlookers Fountain in River Park this evening.

- Jimmy responds, "If you've got business to discuss, just come to the Black Dog.  I don't have time to run all over the city.  We'll be waiting."

- A little after sundown, the party heads over to the Black Dog, but as they are approaching it, there are people running out of the building screaming. None of those people match Idris's description, and none of them are Jimmy.

- 1,500 XP ea for 20,690 XP total ea

Good Trip, Bad Trip - March 11, 2022

 - Everyone has dinner together (almost - April's was a bit late)

- Norman says that Vianola's Herbs north of the city provides many of the herbs in the apothecary

- While the group is waiting for Marta and Birel to get the list of names of the people who have the skills and access to cut out tongues, they head to Vianola's

- They arrive at Vianola's cottage midafternoon. 

- Vianola is an elf and her front room has a counter like in a store, but it is absolutely packed with dried herbs.

- She remembers a tall, broad-shouldered, human fellow with brown hair from a few weeks ago who bought wurmwood and murgwort which she doesn't sell a lot of. He did not give a name

- Vianola grows or gathers all of the herbs she sells herself, so she doesn't have any of the exotic ingredients Theophania wants for her magic items

- Vianola has a magical ring when Osiris uses Detect Magic, which is enchanted to help with gardening

- V has been in the area for a couple of hundred years now and likes it in the forest. 

- Osiris wants to go, but Theophania wants to stay for tea and a chat

- Lyrielle doesn't trust V

- Rusty is bored and not interested in gardening at all.

- V is originally from the Emberwood west(ish) of Mistverge whereas Osiris is from the Shiverskin

- Rusty remebers being from Kunzhak, which Raiàn knows is the Dwarven name for the old Dwarven civilization southwest of Rhoanor. Most humans knew it as Laufberg.

- V offers Rusty some Lionsmane mushrooms which are good for focus and memory since his memory is kind of patchy 

- Raiàn encourages Rusty to try all the drugs

- Spotted Purple nightcaps are mushrooms used in Druidic rituals for spirit quests

- Rusty asks for a sampler pack, so she makes him up a satchet that if he steeps it in some warm water and drinks it might have some fun effects

- Rusty makes the mistake of asking Theophania what she wants all this stuff she was asking about for

- Lyrielle plays her flute quietly for herself to drown out Tiff

- They get back to the Temple just after dark

- When they get back the list of names are ready:

    - From the Rites wing:

        - Birel

        - Osiris

        - Cassandra

        - Ayen

        - Arrana 

    - From the Hospital wing:

        - Marta

        - Rina

        - Jassan

        - Wenton

        - Harry

        - Kitty 

- While they are reviewing the people on the list, they realize that the description given to them by Vianola matches the description of the guard Henry who chased them down a hill away from the Blackmore estate on the Winfair Hillock

- They decide to start interviews in the morning.

- Rusty brews up his concoction in Osiris's room with the idea that she can trance in Theophania's room if he needs the room overnight

- They lock his weapons in her closet too just in case

RUSTY'S TRIP

- Rusty looks like he is sitting in a chair staring into space with opposite of dialated eyes, but to him he is floating in a black void, but then there is a lot of light that almost hurts his eyes and he is surrounded by people who are much shorter than him all with beards (dwarves) and also other mechanical people like himself some of whom are also short

- It seems like they are doing something with or two him, but then he is hit from behind and it all goes black again

- When the light returns there is a lot of turmoil with monsters with too many legs and tentacles attacking, and he knows its important to kill them all

- In the real world, he becomes agitated and starts punching Osiris's furniture.

- Rusty in his dream gets injured, knows he's injured, and then he keeps fighting anyway, and more and more stuff keeps showing up until it all goes black again

- The third time the light returns and he is still underground, but now he's alone and he wanders around with no where to go or knowing where he's going until he just sits down somewhere and fades to black again.

- While protecting her bookshelf, Osiris gives him a shield smash and he falls on his back and doesn't get up again.

THEOPHANIA'S TRIP

- Tiff takes the rest of the tea to her room and gets ready for bed and waits for Osiris in her fluffy jammies

- She closes her eyes and she smells flowers and when she opens her eyes she can still see Osiris but she is sitting on a giant flower 

- As she watches the flowers keep spreading until it looks like she's in an idyllic meadow

- She looks away from Osiris, but when she looks back she thinks it's her great-aunt Thessalie standing there posted against a tree

- She asks Osiris-Thessalie where she went, and Osiris knowing that Thessalie went to Laufberg to try to destroy the sword of Lellzutho, but Osiris just says she went back to Laufberg to take care of something

- As they are having this conversation, it looks to Theophania like Thessalie has vines growing up and around her as she slowly gets older and older until she's covered in vines and disappears

- Theophania then curls up on her bed-flower and the petals close up around her and she drifts off to proper sleep.

- 1,200 XP ea. for 19,190 total ea.

The Necromancy Was Coming from Inside the Temple - February 18, 2022

 - Two trancing elves and a halfling in a warm bed.

- Osiris drags Theophania out of her warm, soft bed and drags her to the Curlywit Boarding House for a planning session

- They can't decide between talking to the neighbor that Raiàn knows as a client, research at the library, Rusty reading the necromancy book to find out some ingredients they could see if anyone is buying in bulk, or more investigations in the sewers

- Theophania goes upstairs to purify Magnus's experimental waste bucket and asks him what he knows about portals, which is probably less than what she knows.

- Also, he has been really taken with fire magic lately and exploded a few small animals trying to imbue them with fire magic

- Tiff and Osiris head back over to the Temple while Rusty and Lyrielle go to the Hall of Justice

- Osiris speaks with High Priest Birel about whether the Speak with Dead spell is too evil to use

- Birel also tells her that the acolyte Cassandra who has assumed many of Osiris's duties found something disturbing that morning - the corpse she is currently preparing for rites, Warren Timison the halfling, who is missing his tongue and his heart - what's worse is that Cassandra is pretty sure he had those bits when he was delivered to the Rite wing.

- Osiris runs to the library to get Tiff who is still discussing book options with the librarian

- Tiff's examination of the body shows that the cuts where made with a very sharp knife and very precise cuts - to the point where very small incisions were made in the joint joints to allow the mouth to open wider for easier cutting out of the tongue. 

- They realize they may need a list of people from the Rites wing and Hospital wing who 1) had access to the wing and this body and 2) the skills to make surgical incisions - They start working with Cassandra to get this information

- The city guard brought Warren's body to the Temple, and the assumed cause of death is a head injury, though whether from a fall or a bashing Cassandra can't say

- Theophania may know a Starrly Timison, and they could go talk to her, but she doubts who he was in life has anything to with his organs in particular 

- Osiris and Tiff go to Headpriestess Marta to ask for a list of people in the Hospital wing who have the capabilities to do such surgical precision 

- Rusty and Lyrielle go to the Hall of Justice to ask Captain Swinson for some kind of documentation that will prevent beat patrols from trying to arrest them for entering the sewers, and she gives them a badge - It is the first time the party has seen her without barging in rudely, and she gives him a badge of sorts that will allow them into municipal places like the sewers without being immediately arrested if seen

- Raiàn spends some time writing notes to her clients who may live in or around the hill to see what invites to houses she can get in the next day or two

- Rusty and Lyrielle find Osiris and Tiff just outside the library and conference about what they have achieved. 

- Rusty recommends some security measures to prevent more body parts from going missing, so they go back to Birel to talk about guards on the doors and not letting in anyone who isn't on shift, etc.

- The keeper of the archives lets them in and shows them the things they ask about

   - Tiff asks about some correspondence Great-Aunt Thessalie had with a few people where she may have mentioned details about the undead and necromancers she fought in her adventuring days, Lyrielle helps since Thessalie had so many friends - They don't really learn anything useful

   - Rusty and Osiris go into the locked vault where they are hiding the book turned in just the previous day - They gather a list of several herbs, some of which are easy enough to get from a shop, but there are a few that will only grow wild that you would have to have good knowledge of plants to find, some would be available in the apothecary, but not all as not all the herbs have medicinal uses - They will have to check if any are missing from the apothecary

- George in the apothecary says they are low on belladonna, lavender, and lemongrass, which are from the short list they show him

- They check with Norman and he says that they purchase small amounts of the herbs on a monthly basis to rotate the stock, and the amounts George said were on hand are too low based on usage and how much had been purchased.

- They go back to George and ask who has been around and asking for / using belladonna, lavender, or lemongrass, but he's not observant (total stoner) and Sophia isn't here today (George responds to the question, "What number comes after six?" with "I mean, a lot of them.")

- 1,000 XP ea for 17,990 total ea.