Scions of Punjar, Session 1: The Dev'shirs' Dead

After saving the known world from the evil schemes of Malikai the Mad and Skolous the Undying in their last adventure, Corvus, Chiana, Aletha and Regnor were looking for new stimulating work. There was still no word from the members of GoHAC who disappeared investigating a disturbance in the Smoke district. There seemed to be nothing to do for several days until suddenly they received an urgent summons to a meeting with Lady Dev'shir, the matriarch of an influential noble family within the high council of Punjar.

At the Dev'shir estate the party was told that GoHAC was recommended as a capable group by the Vagimmors, who had hired GoHAC to rescue their daughter who had been kidnapped and almost sacrificed by the Skolous cultists. The Dev'shirs were in need of a discrete organization who could investigate a suspected break-in at the Dev'shir family crypt located in the City of the Dead ward of Punjar. Elam Dev'shir, the youngest and last remaining heir to the Dev'shir fortune, had found a necklace that was known to have been buried in the crypt for sale at a pawnshop the previous evening. The Dev'shirs wanted those responsible for looting their crypt dealt with in exchange for a handsome reward. The party was given a key and directions to the crypt and the name and location of the pawnshop and then sent on their way.

When the party looked into the background of the Dev'shirs to determine if they might have any chief suspects among their rivals or enemies, they learned that there were two older daughters, Dugesia and Lakasia, who had both died suddenly in a tragic stable fire 10 years ago. Their suspicions of an unsolved double-murder were immediately raised and Elam as the remaining heir became their first suspect. Yet Elam would have had to have been a very precocious 6 year old at the time if he had planned the deaths of his older sisters. Elam was known to be a bit of a drinker and gambler now, but there would be no reason for him to bring some gruesome trophy out from a hidden past to stir up new suspicions now. Without further clues the party had to go investigate one of the leads. They chose to talk with the pawnshop owner first.

Oskar's pawnshop was on Cuttlefish Way, a twisted alley in the Souk ward known as the center of trade and business of Punjar. A quartet of ruffians were dicing outside the front of the shop. Regnor decided to join in on the game and see if the men had seen anyone suspicious about the area in the last few nights. As Regnor gambled away most of his silver, he gained the group's trust and they told him about how they'd tricked an unlucky noble's whelp out of his coin the evening previous. At one point they to forced the boy into Oskar's shop to sell off some of his finery to pay his debts. The boy matched Elam's description. After they were paid the ruffians had let the boy run home. Regnor also learned that these men were hired by Oskar to keep an eye on the place in case of trouble. Regnor thanked the gang for their time and the game and left with a slightly lightened purse to rejoin the party.

The party entered the shop and began casually browsing the merchandise. Chiana used her feminine wiles and some gold coins to get on the good side of the grouchy shop-keeper. When she'd loosened his tongue sufficiently he told her about how Elam had indeed found and purchased the necklace from him and that'd he'd been able to charge double its value since the boy seem so keen to have it. Oskar seemed more reluctant to tell Chiana who had sold the heirloom to him in the first place, but more gold seemed to ease his mind. He spoke of a half-orc by the name of Latimer who often came in to his shop and sold "acquired" items. Oskar didn't think Latimer lived in Punjar, but he could often be found down at the "Famished Froghemoth" in the Devil's Thumb district outside the city walls. Latimer had brought the necklace in the week before and had seemed somewhat nervous about being there, but also desperate to make some quick cash. The necklace had been rather dirty and smelly at the time, but Oskar had cleaned it up nicely after making a profitable bargain with Latimer. Latimer had not been back since nor had he sold any similar items to Oskar before the necklace.

Meanwhile, Aletha had spied a bargain in among the junk of the shop. A stained cloak was marked 50 gold, but Aletha could detect an aura of magic emanating from the soiled item. Closer inspection revealed its true nature as being a cloak of the walking wounded +1, and that it was worth at least 10 times what was being asked for it. She attempted to convince Oskar that it would barely serve as a horse-blanket in order to reduce the price even further, but the shrewd shop-keeper would not budge on his price. Flummoxed, Aletha reluctantly handed over the full price and left the shop. The cloak's power would allow the wearer to gain additional advantage from using their second wind during combat. Aletha decided to "lend" it to the fighter. Regnor promptly wore it as a bib and drew a crude dire lobster on it as his crest. Everyone was very impressed.

Now the party was starting to suspect that this case was a random smash-n-grab and that they would have the culprit, Latimer, in hand relatively soon. They decide to seek out the "Famished Froghemoth" and wait for him there. They found the place as described in the center of the Devil's Thumb, known as a rowdy entertainment district outside of Punjar proper. The 'Froghemoth was not busy at this early hour and the owner, a man unfortunately named Pinus, was tending bar. The party bought a round of drinks and asked if Latimer was around. Pinus told them that he wasn't but he wouldn't be surprised if he came in later tonight. The group reserved a pair of rooms above the tavern and decided to check out their other lead before it got too late.

Along the way to the City of the Dead they party had to pass through the Black Gate bazaar, a crowded beggars' market situated in front of the Black Gates which divided the Souk ward from the Commons ward. It was an open-secret that this bazaar was really a training ground for young pickpockets who practiced their art fleecing the unwary traveling about the city. The party was careful and kept a tight fist on their purses while hurrying through the area. After that they passed along the Soot March which got its name from the many fires that had started there, due to the hundreds of melted candles lining the street. This was the main promenade running alongside one wall of the City of the Dead, and people often left offerings and paid their respects to the dead here. A sleepy guard at the gates to the necropolis queried the party as to their purpose, but seemed uninterested in their response and waved them through. The City of the Dead was a tumbled mess of elaborate tombs and gravestones, many covered by choking vines and others slowly being swallowed by the rising salt marsh. Winding paths spider-webbed between the tombs and statues in a tangled labyrinth. Luckily the group had directions which although complex, unerringly led them to the Dev'shir family crypt. The crypt was set into the side of a hillock distinguished by a tall portico and stairs of marble. An inscription declaring the final resting place of the Dev'shirs sat above a pair of stone doors. Aletha took a few moments to walk the base of the hillock and search for other openings. She found the entrances to other family tombs sharing the same hillock, but no other entrances to the Dev'shirs'. They found a lock and chain laying cast off on the stairs apparently broken off from the doors. Chiana examined the doors and found that someone had placed an Arcane Lock on the doors, barring them with magical energy. She was not able to break the charm with her thievery skills so the party decided to use brute force, in the form of Regnor. Regnor threw his significant bulk against the barrier several times until it finally gave under his onslaught, but not before he bruised his shoulder.

The stone doors opened with a groan and revealed a chamber dimly lit by suspended globes of light hanging from the high ceiling above. The center of the room was occupied by a ever-flowing fountain in the shape of of a serene scholarly looking fellow. Farther back was a ceremonial altar where bodies were prepared for entombment. Beyond that was a pair of stone doors carved in the shape of a massive tree trunk. The branches of the tree extended beyond the surface of the doors and spread out along the back wall. Opposite each other were a pair of smaller stone doors on the sides of the chamber. The party cautiously entered the crypt and began to look for clues. The first clue was a trail of reddish clay tracked across the floor leading to both of the side doors. This clay was not common to the area, in fact Aletha thought she had heard of this kind of clay only being common to a specific area outside of the city that was riddled with abandoned iron mines and brick pits. The chains and locks on the side doors were also broken and cast aside. Chiana attempted to listen for noise behind the doors, but the thick stone effectively muffled any sound. Next they focused their attention on the altar. They spied a keyhole at the base of the altar and attempted to fit their key in it, and that's when the two side doors burst open and disgorged a horde of undead.

The first wave of creatures were several skeleton warriors armed with swords, led by a wicked looking skeleton with spiky shards of bone protruding from it and arm-bones carved into wicked looking scimitars. Following them were a pack of decrepit skeletons dressed in rags and throwing rocks and stones at the party. Last out of the side tombs were half a dozen zombies slowly shambling toward them. The party was severely outnumbered. The skeletons attempted to surround the party and cut off their escape, while the bone-shard skeleton launched necrotic bone darts from its body at them. Regnor stood his ground by the fountain and held back the tide on one side where only two skeletons at a time could reach him. Corvus stood in the center of the chamber and called forth waves of radiant wrath to wash over the undead, destroying most of the weaker creatures outright and softening up the rest of them, yet the remaining horrors fought on and backed the invoker into a far corner of the room. Chiana was quickly overwhelmed. The skeletons' blades and zombies' claw-like hands cut her deeply, forcing her to give ground and heal herself as she was driven away from Corvus and back toward the entrance. Aletha was surrounded at first, but easily fey-stepped away to the entrance and shot bolts eldritch magic at her foes from a safe distance.

Chiana and Aletha decided to retreat and take the monsters one at a time from outside, this tactic worked for awhile until Chiana ran out of steam and was struck down. Aletha cursed everything in sight and blasted anything in range. Regnor planted his feet and repeatedly cleaved into skeletons and zombies as they tried to push past him. The bone-shard skeleton continued to launch deadly darts at him from behind a wall of troops. Regnor was forced to use every last exploit and power he had to stay standing while defeated foes piled up at his feet. Corvus took many wounds and made a break for one of the side doors that was still ajar. He barely got through one and slammed it shut behind him, while zombies pounded and scratched at the stone door trying to get to him.

Corvus decided it was time to pull out the big guns and summoned his faithful fire-angel to guard the door, while he crept away to a dark corner and tried to hide behind a shattered sarcophagus and catch his breath. The zombies forced open the door only to be burned by blasts of fiery righteousness. The angel destroyed several of the zombies before it too was torn apart. The last two zombies entered the now dark room and began seeking their escaped quarry. Corvus assaulted them with blasts of divine magic as they shambled inevitably closer. When we was finally cornered he made a last mad dash for the door again, only to be grabbed at the last instant and dragged unconscious to the cold stone floor.

Aletha knew that if the skeletons got past Chiana she would be their next target. She found Chiana's potion of healing and forced it down her throat bringing her back to consciousness but not by much. Chiana needed more energy and there was only one way she was going to get it. Aletha gave her consent and Chiana let her vampiric heritage take over as she bit down on Aletha's arm and drank deeply of eladrin blood. With an effort Chiana tore herself away from her hasty meal and leaped back into the fight with renewed vigor just as the skeletons were beginning to emerge from the doorway. Together Chiana and Aletha dispatch the remaining guards before diving back into the crypt to try and rescue their companions from a fate worse than death.

Regnor, meanwhile, had managed to cleave his way through the rest of the skeletons in the crypt and went toe-to-toe with the bone-shard skeleton. They traded blows until finally Regnor was the last one still standing, and then pulled several bone shards out of his tough hide. Chiana and Aletha came into the room in time to see the last pair of zombies emerge from a side room, covered in blood and gore. The party called for Corvus but got no answer. Regnor and Chiana charged the walking corpses and finished them off. A quick search turned up Corvus, crumpled onto the floor, badly bloodied and beaten but still alive. The party rested for awhile as Chiana's song of health brought them all back to fighting strength. The undead they had fought did not seem like they came from here, but were more likely created and left here at a later date. Things were starting to look a bit more complicated than a simple grave-robbery.

Later the group returned to the altar to investigate the locked compartment. Inside were a pile of narrow stone bricks and a set of masterwork engraving tools. The side tombs were both obviously looted, all the sarcophagi lining the walls had their tops removed and contents emptied. The tree mosaic on the wall showed the names of Dev'shir family members each carved on one of those narrow stone bricks set into the wall. They located the names of Elam and his parents but where his sisters names should be there were only blank bricks. The door at the trunk of the tree was still chained and locked.

Chiana, suspicious of more traps, checked the door and found a glyph of warding on it. She took notes on the specific glyph, in case she ran into it again, before carefully disabling it. The key unlocked the chain and they opened the door. Beyond was a low ceiling and a narrow hall lined by short sealed stone portals, apparently individual tombs for important family members. Near the back of the hall was one stone portal which had been smashed open and defiled. The chunks of stone when reassembled showed that this tomb belonged to Dugesia. A cataloging of the names of the other tombs showed that her sister Lakasia was either not buried here or was buried in an unmarked tomb. Inside the tomb was a stone pedestal, on which a body would be laid out, but the body was thrown like a doll into the far corner of the room. As Aletha entered the tomb to investigate further she was suddenly pelted by stones which seemed to be thrown by some unseen force. Then a ghostly figure appeared and hovered in front of the party. She was in her early 20's and very beautiful, but her gown and hair were a wreath of fire, and her arms and legs showed signs of horrible burn scars. She howled in agony at the party and approached them menacingly demanding they leave her tomb alone.

Aletha was very insulted from being pelted by stones and demanded an explanation from the apparition. Chiana attempted to apologize for her friend's rudeness and asked what they could do to end the spirit's suffering. The ghost pointed at the stones at their feet and said "I have been removed from the wall". Piecing the stones together revealed that it was once one of the narrow stone bricks engraved with "Dugesia". The ghost asked them to fix it and reinstall it on the family tree. The party asked how they could do it the ghost replied that when she was alive she had a spell that could remake the brick, but she did not know where her spell-book was anymore. She mentioned that they may have to carve a new brick.

Before the party fulfilled her wish however they asked her how she died. She told of how she was burned to death in a horse stable. Corvus used the Last Sight ritual on the corpse in the corner of the room to see her last moments and confirmed that she had been locked in the stable with many horses, but otherwise was alone when she succumbed to the smoke and flames. They asked her about her sister and she told of how Lakasia was a cruel girl and always jealous of her older sisters position in the family. Dugesia stood to inherit the Dev'shir fortune when her parents died. She did not know if her sister killed her however, or where she was now.

Chiana and Corvus challenged each other to a carving contest and each took turns attempting to carve new bricks with Dugesia's name. Corvus won by default, because Chiana accidentally misspelled "Dugesia". When they went to replace the brick in the wall they found a folded piece of paper in the gap behind the blank brick. Aletha took the paper and felt its oily texture a moment before she was struck blind. The paper had been covered in poison. She reeled in agony for a few minutes until her body fought off the effects and her eyesight was restored. On the paper was scribbled a ranting message about how "They will all pay! You who have found this note will die the way Dugesia did!". It was signed by someone calling themself "Cadavra".

The quick thinking party took the note to the ghost before replacing the brick and asked if she recognized the hand-writing. Dugesia's ghost admitted that it did look like her sister's hand-writing. When they replaced the brick in the wall the ghost gave a sigh of relief and faded away.

At the base of the pedestal, the party found a cleverly concealed drawer. Inside was a silver comb, a platinum tiara, a slim volume of bedtime stories, and a thick ritual book containing many rituals. In the back corner of the drawer, almost overlooked, was a brilliant red gem. Aletha detected strong magic from it and determined it was a jewel of power which would allow someone to recall and reuse one of their own powers that they had already recently used. The group decided that Chiana should have it so she could heal more effectively.

After fully exploring the crypt the party decided to head back to their rooms at the "Famished Froghemoth" and rest there and wait for Latimer to show up.