Anyway, I painted several new miniatures just for this session. The characters entered the House and chose, in the end, to have their memories wiped. They gained experience, of course, and are left with a lingering need to complete the quest for the Succubus. She is an interesting character; the players' Insight checks were enough to tell that she was telling the truth. This suggests a couple of things: Either she has somehow turned to the side of good, or she was lying and is simply very, very good at it.
Whichever the case is, it didn't end in violence, which is a shame in a way because I'd taken the time to create the map in Roll20 as well as in reality.
I have two players, Futch and Ostardva, who play remotely most weeks; they connect via Skype and are able to see the players and me, able to read our faces and glean emotions that way. We initially used Skype for both but found it incredibly complicated when I made a set; Chris and Phil couldn't see what was going on and couldn't therefore easily get immersed. Now, they use Roll20 to see the tabletop. I think it's incredibly useful, especially in combat; there was plenty of options for combat in this week's adventure. Had they gone in all guns blazing the women would have turned on them as minions; had they decided to attack the Madame they would have found a succubus, two minions and two rattlesnakes as their enemies; to be honest, it could still happen, though I'm not sure it would make much sense story-wise for them to fight the Madame now.
I live in hope.
Hillrest music: Sarutabaruta
The town of Hillrest is the only town between you and your
current destination: Fennica. You are almost within sight of the town.
Knight’s Delight inn.
Nothing of note happens in the town; in fact, the townsfolk
are welcoming. They are also entirely female, a town of mostly human people
with some half-elves mixed in.
·
The women explain that, without warning, the men
upped and disappeared about six months ago, one or two a day. They never
returned, but each time it felt like ‘the right thing to do’.
·
They don’t particularly care much about the lack
of men; they’re briefly puzzled that the adventurers should consider that they
worry about men. Are they not able to take care of themselves? They say that
since the men left there have been bumper harvests, the animals have yielded
lots of milk and produce, no fights have taken place and everything has
generally been fine. The leaving of the men came to be known as ‘the blessing’.
·
The children were unaffected. Boy and girl
children have been growing and playing entirely normally and don’t seem to
notice the lack of adults.
·
It is a boy’s sixteenth birthday. By Lyrian law,
that boy is now an adult male.
Staying a night at the tavern gives the adventurers a +2
bonus to all their next rolls because they feel so good. It’s almost as if the
air of Hillrest has some sort of rejuvenating character to it.
The next morning, the adventurers leave town. They are
joined by a party of villagers who are waving goodbye to Efric, the boy who
turned sixteen the night before. He is leaving town. He’s got no things with
him apart from a notepad and pencil.
·
Efric doesn’t know why he’s leaving. He just
feels called to leave.
·
Everyone else is in total agreement about this.
·
He feels called to walk the road to Fennica. He
says goodbye to his parents.
The adventurers don’t leave before Efric does. He says that
he needs time to prepare the rituals he needs, as he plans to record his adventures
using mental impressions on pieces of wood, jewellery etc. so that his parents
can hear about them first hand.
Only one building is on the road between Fennica and Hillrest.
It is a large mansion a few hundred yards off the road with high walls. Efric
moves towards it. He says it’s where he’s heading for, he can feel it. The sign
says ‘Madame Mercurio’s House of Pleasure’. It is a brothel.
Continuing on, the adventurers come to Fennica. They are met
at the gate by an armed detachment of guards who ask them if they are the
adventuring party who were at Oakedge. They are asked to accompany the guards
and they are ultimately lead to the antechambers of the Duke of Fennica, Duke
Fennic.
The palace of Fennica: Mikami Concertino
They are met in the antechamber by one of the Duke’s
officials, a hooknosed man by the name of Reynolds. He says that information
about the tragedy at Oakedge was sent out by carrier pigeon and the Duke has
been informed, but he wants to debrief them personally. Unfortunately he is…
indisposed at the moment.
Then Reynolds asks the man to leave them. He takes the
adventurers into his confidence; a terrible problem has arisen. The Duke is
married to the Duchess, but it is not a happy marriage. A week ago the Duke
visited a nearby den of vice; perhaps they passed it on the way in? The Duke is
prone to fits of madness and the papers are desperately important. Moreover,
Reynolds is certain that the papers were left in one of the upstairs rooms
while the Duke was being served by one of the ladies. He offers them 600gold to
recover the information, and gives them another amount of gold ‘to cover their
fees to get into the place; I’m sure what they do with it is no concern of
his.’
Reynolds begs the PCs to use some sort of subterfuge to get
in to the place; a martial attempt can’t be made because it would bring to
light the problems with the Duke’s marriage, and there are far too many enemies
in the city of Fennica for the Duke’s name to be brought into ill repute. He
gives them a little time to discuss their plan and leaves them alone.
A short time into this ‘planning time’, the door opens and a
young lady enters the room. She is dressed in finery and she curtseys neatly
before them.
“I am Lady Lyra Fennic. I am the Duke’s daughter.” She sits
down at the table with you. “I know what you are here for; I want to help you.”
She frowns. “My father is gravely ill and I cannot trust anyone here. I have my
suspicions about what is going on out at the mansion, and if it pertains to my
father it’s of my concern.”
·
Lyra has been undertaking her own investigation.
She just smiles if they ask about it.
·
She is able to get in and out of the brothel
without their aid
·
She begs them not to tell Reynolds about her
visit as she cannot entirely trust him either; something is killing her father
and she cannot place it.
She leaves after answering any questions they have; she
agrees to meet them there, stating that she will meet up with them.
Reynolds returns. He insists on hearing their plan before
continuing and adds to it ideas of his own, specifically suggesting they
pretend to either be prospective workers there, or paying guests.
Fennica has a store for every adventurer’s need. Fine
clothing is available at a stall if they wish to buy it; fruit, adventuring
equipment, unmagical armour, an enchanter who they cannot afford, a gemstone
appraiser and seller, a scroll stall, a potion stall, etc.
At the mansion; they find the gates either open for them or,
if they have a poor plan, a tree at the back allows them entry with a suitable
athletics check. The gates are wrought iron and through them they can see the
entrance to the brothel. There are several people heading either in or out of
the brothel; it seems to be doing good business. One soldier looks up as he
sees them, then quickly looks down as if embarrassed. He is wearing a purple
cloak.
The entranceway to the brothel has a coat of arms over it;
two large snakes reaching in to bite an apple. It seems that the concept of a
serpent and an apple representing sin and innocence are synonymous.
Mercurio’s music: Honeybee manor
There is a desk with a quill, a large ledger, a couple of
small drawers and a paperweight on it immediately inside the entrancehall at an
angle; it is manned by the Madame.
The Madame, a tall severe-looking woman with her grey hair
tied up in a bun who manages to still be beautiful, approaches them whatever.
She has a long blue dress in an oriental style which is embroidered all over
with small gold designs. She wears only a single piece of jewellery, allowing
her natural beauty to talk for her; it is a pair of snakes toying with an
apple, much the same as the crest. She is varying degrees of welcoming or
hostile. If she is hostile, she tries to smooth things over and sell her girls’
services. A young girl comes in and whispers in the Madame’s ear; though she is
wearing a very low-cut top and a skirt sewn in with sequins and she is just
about recognisable as Lyra! The Madame nods, says “See to it,” and Lyra
withdraws; the Madame is welcoming to both genders and all races, as any
sensible businesslady should be.
If the PCs ever check the guestbook, they find that the Duke
has not been. However, an entry for a week ago cites one John Reynolds as
visiting.
There are several features of the terrain. All floors are
carpeted: +2 to stealth rolls. Every upstairs room has a bed. The adventurers
are offered a night’s rest at the house for a reasonable price, with a meal as
well, and are led to different rooms. Every single room has a bed in it and a
cupboard. It also has what appears to be copper railing or thick wiring which
fixes the bed to the wall. If any of the PCs indulge in sex, this begins to
glow with a purple light which does no harm and has no apparent effect. There
is a window in each room, each one tightly curtained with purple velvet.
If they choose to fight at any point, each of the women is a
human rabble. There is one per room. The Madame laughs and vanishes in a puff
of sulphuric smoke, leaving them to solve the mystery anyway.
The men are lead to the rooms upstairs. The women are lead
into downstairs rooms. The Madame goes into her room.
In the chambers the adventurers are left alone for a moment
or two, each one in sequence. A careful search of the rooms finds: A few gold
in one of them, a jewel in another, some underclothes, some fine clothes, a
dagger and, in one of the rooms, a mental image left on a man’s gold ring by
Efric.
‘I can’t believe my luck. The day after my sixteenth
birthday and already I’m a man. Rose, for that is the name of the angel who
just now left this room, is beautiful. I am in love. It can’t be coincidence
that she offered me a discount; it must be the stirrings of the truest love in
her breast too. And, such breasts. I hear her coming back now, with wine;
she’s… oh, by the One Tree, what is this? Rose? Why are you holding that
dagger? What’s happened to your teeth? Rose…?’
Meals are taken in the dining area with an open-plan
kitchen. The Madame has a woman chef. The Madame also tells the adventurers
that their money has paid for an overnight stay and they should avail
themselves of the facilities as they are a good half day’s travel from the
town.
Both male PCs have a dream that they are watching Efric,
naked, being charged by a naked woman holding a dagger. She stabs him; he
stumbles and gets away, out of the room. Other women, also naked, step out of
their rooms; Efric stumbles to the railing and looks down. There is nothing
there; suddenly, the impression changes to one of intense pleasure, Efric
happier than he has ever been, and he enjoys his final moment.
The female PCs have a dream of extreme foreboding regarding
the room in the north-west corner of the map on the top floor. It is as if the
fireplace in the corner of the room is a vortex pulling them in, but it’s ok;
in the dream, they want to go down there, almost as if they’re being shown the
way. Toofi is woken up by Lyra; she is still in her courtesan outfit and has a
small book under her arm.
“Quick; now’s the time if we want to investigate this place.
It’s deadly quiet at night; all the women go to bed and the Madame goes…
somewhere. And all the patrons are asleep. Quickly, gather the others and meet
me in the ground floor hallway.”
A very low sneak check gets everyone into the kitchen.
Strangely, though some of the adventurers went to bed with a girl, the girls
are gone.
The hallway is quiet and empty and cold. The party can share
information.
Lyra tells them that it’s really important that, as she already
has a cover story here, if they are caught they should try and play it
naturally.
If the adventurers choose to go into the room, they find it
empty; the fireplace has a hole at the back of it which leads to a ladder. The
ladder leads down into the fireplace, thankfully unlit, in the Madame’s room.
She has the important documents on her desk that the adventurers have been sent
to find. She appears not to be around, neither do any of the girls.
Also in the Madame’s desk are several other important scrolls,
including a recipe for a love potion (with the word ‘failed’ scrawled over it),
the bill of ownership for the mansion, a handful of gems, a scroll called
‘Madame Mercurio’s Charm Offensive’ which appears to be a spell of incredible
strength for charming someone, and finally the book with the dragon. This is
lying on the top of the desk. It is called ‘On the Dragonflight Union’. It is
unusually heavy. Opening it reveals that it is blank, a section of it cut out
to reveal a piece of metal inscribed with a key. It is also trapped: a
half-powered Glyph of Warding. The book has a glowing sigil surrounding its
cover. It explodes soundlessly if opened without deactivating it. A DC21
Perception allows them to notice the glyph. Arcana DC20 allows them to see it
and provides a +2 bonus to Thievery checks made to disable it. It can be
disabled with a DC21 Thievery check. Failure does not set it off on the first
attempt, but does on the third.
It targets all people in front of it within 3. It attacks
+8vs Reflex. On a hit it performs a 2d6+4 acid damage and ongoing 5 acid
damage. However, 300xp is available for successfully deactivating it. The book
falls open no matter what if they win or lose.
The office itself is plushly appointed; a big seat, two
smaller armchairs, a sofa, velvet curtains, a bonsai, large desk, fireplace,
three large bookshelves on one wall which are lined with books which are in
order of subject rather than author. There are five gaps in the bookshelves.
One is between ‘Astral beings’ and ‘Angels and Demons’. One is between ‘Sharks
and their habitats’ and ‘Kraken of the Southern Seas’, one is between ‘Dragons:
Fact or Fiction’ and ‘On Wings of Steel’ and the last is between ‘Societies of
Lyria’ and ‘The Porton Pirates: Terror on the High Seas’. The Dragonflight
Union book goes in the last one as it is about a society.
The bookshelf slides to one side and the adventurers can
enter. Inside is a chamber where all the copper piping seems to lead; it comes
down the walls from upper floors and meets at a throne, on which is sat a
beautiful naked woman with wings; it is a succubus!
Music: The Illusive Man
She opens her eyes as the adventurers approach; she stands
from the throne and narrows her eyes, saying that there was something different
about them, which was why she didn’t have her girls finish them off last night.
She sighs and flickers, turning back into the fully-clothed Madame.
·
If asked about Efric: she knows nothing. There
is a blanket ban on killing in the House; she allows her girls to feed but not
to take more than their clients are willing to give. In this way the place
continues to have a good reputation and a clean sheet.
·
If asked about the menfolk from Hillrest: She
becomes sad. This was a terrible accident. A long time ago, three years or
more, things were not as they are now. A tremendous battle against a dragon
lead the succubus here and she was forced to drastic measures to defeat it
before it could destroy much of the surrounding landscape. Unfortunately, as a
by-product, many of the men in the town of Hillrest were drawn in and consumed
to support the battle. Having made a conscious effort many years ago to be on
the side of good, this was unsustainable. In order to try and salve her conscience,
the Madame has since ensured the town enjoys the best life can offer in all
things.
·
If asked about the Duke, she’s never met him.
Reynolds came, though. He left a thing; there are several uses for the
knowledge that someone cheats on his spouse, most popularly blackmail.
·
She also promises to open her own investigation
with her girls about who is murdering people still.
She also offers to let them go. She can erase their memories
of this adventure, replacing it with the idea that they came into the brothel,
whereupon she gave them the paperwork and they left. No-one will be any the
wiser, including her. She has no real reason to fight, and she points out that
neither do the adventurers. They personally haven’t been affected. Efric was
food, yes, but do they weep for the cows and pigs they slaughter to feed
themselves? Life is hard, and he was happy at his last moments.
She goes on to explain that a rather zealous Paladin has
been up to no good in the town; though Paladins are virtuous and right, and can
in fact do no wrong or they face becoming fallen Paladins – she mentions that
Ostardva should know all this… - but this particular Paladin, by the name of
Lord Malfis, has been upsetting a lot of people in Fennica.
Lyria is, unbeknownst to most, home to a fair number of
supernatural beings, not unlike Succubi. Though they’re mostly shunned by the
living populace, it’s the home of a number of liches, vampires, lycanthropes
and so on. Generally they are law-abiding; some are even considered ‘good’ and
they generally want to be left in peace.
Lord Malfis has been on a mission of extermination for his
god, Bahamut; he justifies each one of his kills as being that the target is an
abomination by its very existence and must be slain. For the most part he is
right; occasionally he is wrong. On behalf of the law-abiding supernatural of
the area, and on behalf of ‘doing the right thing’ to obtain this information,
the Madame asks that they go and stop this Paladin in some way. She also points
out that, if they are able to prove they have destroyed or otherwise stopped
this person, the supernaturals who are thinking, intelligent beings might well
be more disposed to helping them in the future. Also, think of the information
or use they might get from such people that will be lost if this man’s crusade
continues. She suggests possibly shaming him, having him defrocked, causing him
to do something that would cause him to ‘fall’ etc.
She calls Lyra forward, calling her ‘Vals’; she asks why she
has brought these outsiders in? Was the money not good enough? She can consider
this her resignation; leave. Do not be seen working here again.
As the next part is largely led by the PCs, some notes on
Lord Malfis:
Lord Malfis attends the Purity Club every day for lunch and
dinner. This is, in fact, a club which has only the best spirits in town and
serves an almost exclusively clerical or paladin clientele, mainly because they
can afford it.
In the afternoon he mainly journeys out by horse and disappears
to a nearby tower; it seems that there is an astral gateway there that can be
redirected into almost anywhere. It is a mirror with a glowing boundary. His
tower is locked with a sturdy key.
He is back at the club by 7pm for dinner.
He has a large house in the Ducal Quarter of Fennica; it has
a small staff but no guards.
He is a very well-to-do and talented paladin. His home is
full of artefacts he has plundered from liches, vampires etc.
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