Deep Carbon Observatory adventure log - Session 05

Session 05
Monday the 1st, from 8.00 to 17.00

Player characters and Retainers present at the beginning of the session:

• Ash - North, Level 1 Elf
• Deryn - Oobl, Level 2 Mossling
• Marcus - Melysee, Level 2 Human Knight
• Peter - Sahra, Level 2 Human Mage
• Ythan - Clement, Level 2 Human Enchanter

• Retainer - Fiona, Level 1 Fighter
• Retainer - Fenrich, Level 1 Fighter
• Retainer - Finn, Level 0 Torchbearer
  
  

Tham Ruesie, bishop of the Optical good

The party arrived in Carrowmore in the aftermath of a devastating flood. Water to the waist. Refugees streaming away. Drowned people and livestock floating past. The central gridwork twisted into rambling warrens. In the north sky, a huge column of water vapour rising. The adventurers accepted several quests and recruited new companions.

They were honest with some - but others were robbed and tricked into serving for a meagre wage. The Seekers won the favour of the locals by saving schoolchildren and preventing a clash between the citizens and the sailors of the Latipan.

They also learned that not all bodies in the current were fresh - some were old, mummified corpses, appearing seemingly from nowhere, each with strange coins in their mouths.

The group discovered and confronted a conspiracy of cannibals from the hamlet of Pollnagollum, who worship someone - or something -called the Mother.

A small child from the same hamlet shared with them a few fragments of obscure knowledge. They established friendly relations with the Church of the Optical God, an ancient and peculiar branch of the Pluritine faith. The clergy seem to know something of the strange happenings in the north.

But not everyone could be saved. Desperate men drowned themselves; others were crushed beneath collapsing buildings; and a child, after failing to steal some scrolls from a scholar, was shot dead by a mysterious sniper armed with a crossbow.

Finally, the Seekers faced the Eagles and their retainers - a proud band of adventurers preparing their own expedition north - and intimidated them out of Carrowmore’s centre, winning the sympathy of the Mayor in the process.

Lore

From a kid from Pollnagollum that you saved from a raft:

“There was a bad old woman who lived in the corn.
Only children knew that she was real.
She had seven souls and couldn’t die the same way twice.
So all the children poisoned her.
Then they stabbed her and smashed her and sliced her
and burnt her and drowned her.
And then they threw her in the well.
Thats Six And Seven Makes All..”

From a scroll found inside Tzani Spilios' bag

Above the golems path,
where stone meets stone,
seek the door that is not.


Local geography

The town of Carrowmore rests at the base of a V-shaped valley, where the land narrows between steep cliffs rising to the east and west. To the south, the valley opens onto the sea, while to the north, it stretches inland toward the hamlets of Pollnacrom and Pollnagollum. The River Lock winds through the glen, flowing south from the dam that once held back Reed Lake, passing through Carrowmore before emptying into the sea.


Open quests:

• Bring the body of Sorla Ghyll to her tomb (Curtis Ghyll).
• Accompany Selminimum Tem to the old church (Selminimum Teml). 
• Discover what happened to the dam and neutralise any threat to the city of Carrowmore (300gg - Mayor Stary Hrad).
• Map the area - minimum between Carrowmore and the dam, an extra if you go after the dam (500gg - Captain “Snail Shell” Zarathusa).

Session 05 XP

Feats of exploration:

• Badly weakened the cannibal faction (collapsing the roof of the black cellar).
• Discovered lore about the Mother of Pollnagollum and the Church of the Optical God.
• Winn favour with Carrowmore townsfolk (finding a home for the stranded class), the Mayor Stary Hrad (repelling the Eagle) and Captain “Snail Shell” Zarathusa (Saving Max and preventing a clash between the sailors and the townsfolk).
• Recruited many folks.

Opponents defeated:

• Uli Guria and his crew were scattered.
• Terbil Tem was knifed and burned.
• The black cellar had collapsed over much of the Cannibal Conspiracy.

Treasure recovered:

• A golden coin of weird design (10gg),
• Scrolls, SO MANY SCROLLS! (5.000gg total)

Totals:

• Melysee gains 1262 XP and reaches 3985 XP; they have 77% of the necessary XP to ascend to level 3
• Sahra gains 1262 XP and reaches 4555 XP; they have 82% of the necessary XP to ascend to level 3
• Clement gains 1262 XP and reaches 3754 XP. LEVEL UP! Character ascended to level 3
• Oobl gains 1262 XP and reaches 3754 XP; they have 70% of the necessary XP to ascend to level 3
• North gains 1262 XP and reaches 2947 XP; they have 84% of the necessary XP to ascend to level 2
• Fiona gains 631 XP and reaches 2010 XP. LEVEL UP! Character ascended to level 2
• Fenrich gains 631 XP and reaches 2010 XP. LEVEL UP! Character ascended to level 2

The new Retainers' expenses in terms of treasure and XP will be calculated from the next session.

Retainers

Let's try to summarise all the retainers, assistants, companions and random nobodies who have joined the crew:

Curtis Ghyll is dragging the body of his wife, the fortune teller Sorla Ghyll. You promised you would help him reach the cemetery up north. He does not need to be paid; he does not take a share of your XP. He can carry some stuff for you, but can not fight. He can give accurate information on how to reach the cemetery.

Selminimum Tem is a friar of the optical Good - a different denomination of the Pluritine church. You promised to bring him to the old church up north to look for survivors. He can fight (not very effectively) and cast spells, but he will not require payment or XP sharing as long as you are bringing him to the church, as promised. If he continues to travel with the group after that, you will need to renegotiate things.

Wit Tamdoun is a cheeky, amoral scamp, 13 years old. He is brave, competent, deeply anti-authoritarian and a high-functioning alcoholic. He is a companion. Treat him as a thief who has put all his skill in SLEIGHT OF HAND and SNEAK, and can back-stab very effectively. You are not exactly paying him, but coins vanish mysteriously when he is around. He takes a 1/4 of a share of loot and XP.

Tzani Spilios is a magician, scholar and explorer. This bookish lass can read and speak the language of the dam-builders (Laxian) and the Reed-People. Not an effective fighter. She knows the area and the town. You negotiated a 1/4 of a share of loot and XP, and she is salty about that.

Fiona, Fenrich & Finn followed you from your previous adventure. The two older siblings are effective fighters, while the small one is slowly learning to become an enchanter. The rate has not changed: you negotiate 1/2 share for both of the old siblings and 1gg/day for the young one. If Fill will become a proper Enchanter, this contract may have to change.

In total, you are paying 1 and 1/2 shares to your retainers +1 gg/day. I just noticed that you are above your retainer cap of 5 (4 + the higher charisma bonus between the party) - next session, you may choose to abandon some of them, or, if you keep them all, I will assign a loyalty penalty if you find yourself in a situation where retainers may desert you.



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All the details about Deep Carbon Observatory belong to Patrick Stuart - Buy the module - His Blog - My Review - Video Review

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