Flashpoint: Riddleport

We had an old friend play a cameo appearance with the character of Felix.  There was a bit of confusion as to who would make the character and Proteus' player ended up not having the time so I had to improvise.  Knowing that I could write out a sheet quicker than I could design one, I took a look through the GM Guide but couldn't find anything appropriate.  I then took a look through the Bestiaries and found something appropriate.  As my players read this, I won't tell you just what it is but you'll doubtless have your suspicions.

The people of Augustana found out what the players had accomplished before they finally managed to dock and so they were out in force, thronging the docks and the main streets up to one of the major squares, and the party were forced to parade down these streets while people cheered and the slaves that followed were showered with flowers and other little tokens of acceptance.  This was a major blow against Okeno, after all, who were enemies of Andoren.

Lunjun Siva wanted to get away from it all to do his magical shopping but found a purpose in attendance when it came to the chance to give speeches.  Proteus was a little flabbergasted by it all and only produced a moderate speech that nonetheless attracted the ladies (19 on Perform Oratory and 26 on Diplomacy to charm ladies).  Lunjun Siva gave a speech on the merits of magic and how it would be harder for those magical trained to be enslaved and managed a roll in the low 20s.  Archer gave a speech on the brilliance of the Andoren way and the joys of tea and how it boosts his skill (which is does - it earns him grit points, normally it would be booze but I allowed an aesthetic adjustment).  Lhye rambled on endlessly, confused by the whole situation, but hoping to make the best of it (rolled a 6).

The group then invested half 1000pp into the Bank of Augustana and invested the prize money they earned through the two galleys, the galleon, and the slaves into property.  Lhye invested his share into purchasing land for a small additional suburb along the south western part of the city along the coast and before the Sarenrae Lighthouse.  Lunjun invested in a magic school for adolescents in the same area and after his speech he attracted a retired old scholar and middling mage (Level 3 Wizard) to run the classroom.  Proteus invested in a bard school and attracted a young Varisian woman with a lovely voice (Level 4 Expert) and a cheerful Ulfen bard with a lute (Level 1 Bard) to bring people together.  At the moment it's just a theatre with two staffers.  Archer re-invested some of his prize money into ship engineering and the other part into housing for sailors so there's now some basic slum housing on the land but it's something the sailors can build on.

Lunjun also managed to sell one of the low-level wizard spellbooks he'd found at a hefty price due to the way his speech had galvanised an interested in learning how to cast.

Then they headed to the Temple of Shelyn which was filled with worked stained glass pillars and had prisms of stained glass set into the beautifully painted ceiling to capture the light and play it out across the floors and walls at different times of the day or night.  The chief priestess came to them and led them into a room where a living plant held a crystal flower with seven petals.  Lhye, Lunjun, Proteus, Archer, Mellarius, Haylei, and Arexia touched a petal and were transported across to Riddleport when the priestess touched the stamen. Lenny stayed behind as her player won't be coming back for a short while.  Wellard was left behind as she failed her lieutenant's exams (rolled a 1) and Archer told her to spend the next month studying to re-apply for her exames.

The party arrived in a Riddleport blind alley with close up houses of rickety wood that stand two storeys high with limericks etched into the walls as graffitti and lines of washing strung out across the lane.  Archer's immediate thought was that this was the sort of slum that needed to be cleansed with fire (he's a bit xenophobic when it comes to other poverty stricken people of other cultures).  The laneway led out onto a marketplace that wasn't as thriving as it normally would be.

Felix bought some knick knack bracelets and stealthed after the party.  She was spotted by Lunjun but made her Bluff check and so while he saw her he didn't see anything worth noticing.  They discussed their next course of action and that they should look for Lavender Lil, Lhye's mother, as the Hive (the Calistrian temple).  They sent Arexia to watch Haylei as she made enquiries amongst the urchins and Mellarius to make discreet enquiries around the merchants, just in case there was trouble brewing (which the Harrow deck did suggest).  They set a meeting point for the evening.

Felix overheard this and hurried up to them.  "Lhye?  Is that you?  It's been awhile.  Have you seen your mother?  I heard that she got married and wanted to give her a wedding gift."  She presented the little hand-made bracelets.

"Married?" asked Lhye, flabbergasted.  He didn't recognise her but as he hadn't been to Riddleport in ten years that wasn't surprising.  The young woman would have been about twelve the last time he'd been here.  Perhaps younger.

Felix gave him a sympathetic look.  "You've been gone a long time, haven't you?  She got married two years ago."

"Yes, ten years.  When did she get married?"

"Ooh, two years ago.  I came as soon as I heard but I can't find her."

"Who'd she get married too?"

Felix didn't seem to know.  "I missed the wedding and she's not at the Calistrian temple anymore."

So they all went down to the Hive and learned that some very dodgy types who smelled of brimstone and upset Pammy's pooch had come along asking after her.  They hadn't given him any information.  Each person he spoke to gave them a different response as to how long it had been - from a few days to two and a half years.  They didn't know whom she had married other than that he was a handsome fellow with a gentleman highwayman vibe to him.  Lavender Lil wasn't married by the church or in the church because it might give the other prostitutes the wrong idea - she had married in a fancy tavern by a priestess of Sarenrae.

So they went along to that tavern which was posh enough to have a nice second storey and its own stables.  It was worked by two very anxious-seeming dwarves whose bar had blood stains and holes in it like someone had been nailed to the bar.  Proteus managed to confuse them into giving him two gold pieces to repair it and tried to work on it with Mending.  The dwarves offered for Lhye to see the honeymoon suite for further information and gave him the keys.  After all, it was only three days ago that they arrived.  Lhye asked to see the hotel registry but the conversation was derailed by other chats and they forgot about it.

While Proteus worked on the bar counter, the other four went upstairs to the honeymoon suite.  The two dwarves went into the kitchen and Proteus heard the bar being pulled down to bar the kitchen door from the other side and he realised there must be an ambush.  He ran upstairs.  The others were ambushed by three lemures from the right alcove of the honeymoon suite and two imps in the left alcove.  The imps were invisible and the first one tried to use Suggestion on Lhye for him to sit in the corner and cry (Lhye passed the save).  Felix ran over and stabbed it with a silver short sword.  The second tried to use Suggestion on Felix to hide under the bed and stay there but she also passed her save.  The imps were readily despatched through the clever use of the Slumber Hex and Glitterdust (to make it visible).

Well, one was killed.  The other downed.  It took awhile to take out the lemures but they got it in the end.  Finally Proteus went downstairs to loot the till out of spite and Archer went down with him.  Lhye tied up the imp and tried to get it to talk and managed to get a few tidbits before Felix threw it out of the window as a useless influence, Lhye tortured it by taking off a wing, and Felix turned into a tiger and fled with it in her mouth.  The imp changed its tune a few times but here are the tidbits:

• The devils are keeping Lavender Lil hostage in a warehouse on the corner of Flower and Fifth Street.
• The devils are looking for Lavender Lil and her husband.
• Its just the husband they're after.  They're willing to team up with Lhye to find him.
• The devils have a Gelugon (Ice Devil) for a boss who is staying in that warehouse and coordinating search attempts.
• The happy husband is some kind of Evil Outsider - possibly a daemon or a demon.
• They don't know why Lavender Lil is missing.
• They can't track them down despite having access to Commune for unknown reasons.  It is thought that some ancient technology / artefact is being used that was left behind by the Rune Lords.

Thus far their leads are:

• Temple of Sarenrae.  The priest who conducted the ceremony.
• Hotel Registry (if they have one).
• The dwarves.
• The warehouse on the corner of Flower and Fifth Street.
• The Cypermages who study the relics the Rune Lords may have left behind.
• Haylei and Arexia's information.
• Mellarius' information.
• The tiger's trail - where did it go?  Who is it?  What is it?