Shattered Star #41: Following the Entrail Trail

The party confronts the rogue golem crafter and rescues the kidnapped troll. Things do not fare well for our heroes, however, and it is time to say goodbye… –GM

9th of Erastus, 4712 AR

Our resources were too exhausted to deal with Berkanin himself today, so we decided to leave the manor and recuperate. In the morning, we approached the entrance once more. From the outside, it appeared as if Berkanin had not taken any additional precautions to defend against us. Perhaps he was obsessively working in his laboratory, unable to spare any attention towards intruders? Sadly, this proved to be quite untrue.

The second we stepped into the doorway, a massive cloaker dropped from the ceiling and attached itself to White Fang. We attacked it to the best of our ability, but it was very difficult to damage the cloaker without damaging White Fang. But then the cloaker became too greedy, and lashed out at El Serpiente with its tail. The strike was so forceful that it let go of White Fang in order to deliver the blow. Now detached, it was quickly dispatched.

There were no other surprises until we got to the top floor. Berkanin was waiting for us, with an army of clockwork machines at his side.

“You think you can barge into the home of the most skilled golem-crafter in the city?”, he shouted at us. “Think again!”

 

Shattered Star #40: Divide and Conquer

In a missing chapter, an archer named Big M who was also hunting Berkanin Ardoc joined the party as they burgled the golem crafter’s “Hanging Manse.” The residents lurked upstairs as the party dealt with dangers below. The party’s gumshoe-cum-Runelord of Lust continues their story. –GM

8th of Erastus, 4712 AR

“The adventurers took out Berkanin’s goons by splitting them up and using their connection against them.”

Our heroes were still on the case of this missing troll, and all the clues so far had led them to Berkanin’s mansion. Inside the manor, the adventurers keenly uncovered a variety of traps and sentries and, more importantly, valuables. There were so many goods to be ‘reclaimed’ that they couldn’t even hold all of it, but somehow, Cutthroat Craig Cunningham PI had predicted just such a situation, and pulled out some saddlebags fitted just for Nithral’s giant mangy mutt.

 

After ‘repurposing’ all of these valuables, the party set off again to continue searching the house and found several more clues. In the indoor greenhouse, they were able to decipher a note, proving that not only was Berkanin here, but he had two underlings who were unsure of their loyalties.

 

With this new insight, our heroes decided to finish their search and confront their foe, but not before getting attacked by even more poorly constructed opponents. With his lightning kicks, Serpiente was able to make quick work of them. They followed the trail farther into the house, leaving each room a little poorer than before they had entered, and came upon Berkanin’s henchmen. Our heroes were assaulted from the sky by the harpy Herifax, as well as from the room across the bridge by the rogue Kanya, but they knew just how to handle a situation like this. It proved difficult and was almost too much for many of them, but the adventurers took out Berkanin’s goons by splitting them up and using their connection against them. When Kanya was taken down, Herifax surrendered, and even agreed to help us fight Berkanin.

 

With the last of Berkanin’s traps passed and underlings out of commission, there was nothing left between our heroes and the end of this case.

 

-Cutthroat Craig Cunningham (Zander)

==============================

Big M, dwarven ranger 7
Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 8
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 8
Jaskier, elven bard 8
Nithral, elven druid 8
Sorcerella, human sorcerer (draconic) 8

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Shattered Star #37 + 38: Warmth, Sunlight, Fresh Air

After their climactic confrontation with the “Runelord of Lust” where they wrested the next shard of the Sihedron Star, the party got a vision that the fourth fragment, the Shard of Gluttony, was in the City of Strangers, Kaer Maga. –GM

8th of Erastus, 4712 AR

The next Shard lay in Kaer Maga

I could hardly believe my eyes. For the first time in weeks – or was it months? – we looked up and saw the open sky instead of the dark ceiling of a cave. For a few moments I could do nothing but stand in stunned awe at the rediscovered miracles of nature. After I regained my composure, it was time to return to Magnimar.

The newly acquired shard pointed us toward Kaer Maga, a walled city several hundred miles inland. To get there, we hired a trader with a magical ship that rowed itself upstream. He wouldn’t be embarking for a few weeks, so we had time to recuperate and prepare. Unlike the others, I wasn’t interested in spending my time holed away in the confines of the city. I walked in the open grassland for a long time, until I found a hill that suited my purpose.

I gently took out the preserved remains of my bird companion, Connor. He was scouting one of the many passages in that cave, only to be instantly killed by the ravenous beasts lying in wait. I knew that the path of the Pathfinder is a dangerous one, but I still wanted to die underneath the stars. Connor, being a creature of the skies, undoubtedly wanted the same.

 

Shattered Star #36: Embracing the Lie

When we last left our heroes, a cryptic puzzle stood between them and the Shard of Lust and its “Runelord” guardian. –GM

6th of Sarenith, 4712 AR

Embrace the lady and the lie, eh? This mundane request was proving trickier than initially anticipated. The lady was obvious: We’d seen her face in more than half a dozen paintings and had a life-size replica of her heaving her guts up in the boat a ways back. But who was the lie?

After thinking a little longer, Serpiente was struck by a rare flash of genius and realized that the Runelord of Greed would never willingly offer up a gift as shown in his statue! From there we connected the dots and activated both statues, teleporting us into a new, mysterious chamber. 

There we were greeted by a woman who seemed a little bit on edge. Claiming to be one of Gray Maidens, she told us a woe-filled tale of torture and despair and asked us if we had seen any of her cohorts. After placating her by assuring that some of them were probably still alive, we inquired as to how to reach the Lady of Lust herself, as we were sick and tired of crawling around in this city-sized dungeon. We were informed of how to proceed and promised that the coast would be clear within an hour. 

Before greeting the lady, however, I thought it prudent to dress our motley crew in our Sunday best. I cast a veil over the party, making us seem to all appearances a spiffing sailor sortie. With that finished, we teleported to the lair of lust. Waiting for us was Sorshen in all her splendor. The room was a lavish display of decadent debauchery, and some of her former visitors were littered around the room, toys past their prime.

Naturally, we decided that the best course of action would be to play along with her before springing our trap. Serpiente was initially rejected, but after another round of oil he was glistening and ready to go. He took her into his strong embrace and held her close. Sorshen noticed too late that the embrace was a little too strong and a little too close. 

“Runelord Sorshen”

The crew began our signature beatdown. Serpiente wrestled her to the ground while Sorcerella began to spew bolts of lightning. Nunya and I supported the team with his healing and my melodies, ensuring that we would not falter before her counterattack. Sorshen was a competent caster and nearly killed some of the crew, but nothing that a light touch of the back couldn’t fix. And just as quickly as the battle had started it was over, and all we were left with was one more piece of the star and a clue as to where to find the next.

-Jaskier (Zack)

==============================

Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 7
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 7
Jaskier, elven bard 8
Nithral, elven druid 7
Sorcerella, human sorcerer (draconic) 7

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Shattered Star #35: Too Weary for Riddles

In missing chapters of our tale, the party defeated more Gray Maidens and tried to rest in their barracks, only to be attacked by the “Runelord of Lust” herself. They then explored a well-hidden secret door… –GM

6th of Sarenith, 4712 AR

How long were we in these caves? Days? Weeks? It was hard to track time without any sunlight. Instead of offering the comfort of the skies, the next room was adorned with intricate columns depicting intertwined limbs. The far wall opened into a cave with the floor and walls only partially smoothed. We had little time to wonder what had stopped the architects from finishing this room, as four hideous demons covered in blood sprung from the shadows and attacked us.

They didn’t seem to be too bothered by my arrows, so I decided to focus on healing the more effective combatants. After a while one of the demons took notice and charged me with its barbed spear. I felt a sharp pain in my kidney and collapsed, overcome with agony. It took a while and a spell from Jaskier before I was able to fight again. I stood up and saw Sorcerella blast the demons with lightning before getting knocked out. I cast my most powerful healing spell, but I could tell the demons were going to outlast us regardless.

“Wait a minute,” one of the demons asked in a raspy voice, “Aren’t we supposed to be allergic to healing?” The demons looked at each other with horror, and exploded.

(The demons came out of mural depicting caverns beneath the pyramid of Korvosa, with a giant Runelord Sorshen drinking blood dripping down through the caverns. Of extremely-high interest to the Pathfinder Society… -GM)

After resting for a short time, we went to explore the next room, but there wasn’t one. This level of the dungeon had been completely explored. At long last, we ascended the stairs to what would hopefully be the Shard we were looking for.

We found ourselves in a circular room with eight alcoves. Seven of the eight alcoves held statues depicting what we recognized as the Runelords of Thassilon prior to Earthfall. An inscription was written on the floor: “She who desires to ascend the Lady’s Light must deign to embrace the Lady and the Lie.”

The Lady was obviously Sorshen. Serpiente decided to hug the statue of her, and the empty alcove glowed with a golden light. Hugging a second statue caused the light to flicker, and a third made it disappear entirely. We tried several different combinations, but none of them worked. Who was the Lie? When the statue of Alaznist, the Runelord of Wrath, was hugged, several elementals appeared out of thin air and attacked us. Maybe one of them held the shard?

-NIthral (Nate)

==============================

Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 7
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 7
Jaskier, elven bard 7
Nithral, elven druid 7
Sorcerella, human sorcerer (draconic) 7

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Shattered Star #32: The Masquerade

A sorcerer with dragon in her veins joins the party and their quest for the Shard of Lust. –GM

4th of Sarenith, 4712 AR

Helanda Mertien

I lay splayed out on the ground in a pool of entrails and blood. I’m dizzy, and surrounded. A man with his chest cavity ruptured open lies beside me, and what I’m assuming are his friends stand above us both. One of them, a stinky one with white hair who I later learn to be called Nithral, starts stuttering, “B-b-b-bossman…” His voice trails off in terror. The other man, a fellow human who is called Jaskier, bursts into laughter. The last companion shrugs and beckons everyone to move on.

I stand up, wipe the blood off of my face, and look around at the room that we’re in. It is in a long hallway with slightly gold walls and black marble statues of a beautiful woman holding one of her hands out At the end of the hallway there is a door. On the floor of this hallway there are 3 golden plates. As I continue to investigate this mysterious new place that I find myself in, I overhear the 3 others discussing how to find their lost comrade, El Serpiente Silencioso.

“Jaskier disguises us as nobles and we step into the ball…”

Jaskier was clearly the intuitive one of the group, “We ended up in the perfume room, but he wasn’t there.” Nithral bursts in: “We need to save him! What if he’s in trouble?” The other woman was relatively quiet, somebody they rescued I’m assuming. After a bit of bickering they explain to me what the golden plates on the floor are, and how when they activated them, Serpiente went missing. I suggest that we check behind the door at the end of the hallway. It is a decrepit thing, as is most of this new place I find myself in.

The stoic woman opens it first. As soon as she enters, she falls into a somewhat large hole, and a loud hissing noise followed shortly by screams of agony begin to fill the room. We leave her to die and then promptly stand on the plates that teleported Serpiente away from the group. I am suddenly surrounded by bright lights, and I fall down onto the ground to a harrowing scene.

Serpiente is clinging onto a wall and three lustspawn are poised with long glaives in front of me. I stand up and do my best, while Serpiente flies downwards and strikes one of the women on their head. I have barely met this beefy man, but his muscles glisten in the light and I am awestruck.

Lustspawn

Soon after I teleport in, Jaskier and Nithral fly in and we make quick work of the lustspawn and their glaives. We lick our wounds and move forward until we come upon a door from behind which a loud party can be heard.

Jaskier disguises us as nobles and we step into the ball. As we step, in everyone becomes silent, and after some heated discussion between our party and the party goers we realize it is one giant illusion.

One final lustspawn steps forward as the illusion disappears and she launches a fireball towards us. After scorching us with her fireball, she turns invisible and runs into the shadows. We look around frantically and I throw a fireball in a random direction thinking she’ll be there. As soon as my fireball lands against the wall and shakes the room, a giant worm-like creature arises from the pool in the center of the room. We flee immediately since it is a tough foe.

-Sorcerella (Nick)

==============================

Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 6
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 6
Jaskier, elven bard 7
Nithral, elven druid 7
Sorcerella, human sorcerer (draconic) 6

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Shattered Star #31: Let Loose the Dogs of Shadow

Now with free reign to explore the Gray Maidens’ quarters, the party finds an altar hidden away in a secret room…  –GM

3rd of Sarenith, 4712 AR

The altar glowed with unholy light, as black fog emanated from its hand. These wisps collected together until suddenly we were face to face with a pack of vicious shadow dogs!

Little did I know that these scrappy beasts would prove to be a fight like no other. Serpiente was the first to leap into action, slapping one dog on the muzzle and squeezing another between his meaty thighs. However, the insubstantial nature of the dogs meant that it was hard to land a good hit or keep track of them, much to our annoyance.

Suddenly I was hit with a flash of inspiration. I told Nunya that before him there were three doors, numbered appropriately 1, 2, and 3. I told him that two doors had shadow dogs behind them but one was concealing a brand new bag of holding! I told Nunya that if he guessed the correct door, he would win the bag. Guessing randomly, he picked door 2. Before revealing the result, however, I opened door 3 to show that behind it was a shadow dog! I then asked Nunya if he would like to switch his guess. Before he had time to answer, we were swept back into the melee.

I was torn between utilizing high power spells with the risk that they could miss and do nothing, and using low power spells with a smaller potential upside and downside. I almost came up with another game theory thought experiment, but sadly there just wasn’t enough time. One of the dogs was clearly tougher than the others and we decided to try and take him out first.

The fight was brutal: Each of us was nearly killed at least once before being healed, and our fear increased every time someone fell. But in the end, we powered through and triumphed, reducing the mutts to nothing but piles of ash.

Afterwards, we briefly examined the surrounding area trying to find where to go next. We found a room with multiple statues with glowing hands and pressure pads. After taking a moment to be sure we weren’t going to be attacked again, I found a possible solution to the puzzle and directed members of the party to touch the hands of the statues and stand in certain areas. When I thought we had it right, we all activated our respective triggers.

There was a flash of light, and Serpiente was suddenly nowhere to be found…

Signing off,
Jaskier (Zack)

==============================

Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 6
Bossman Slim, aasimar-human swashbuckler 6
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 6
Jaskier, elven bard 7
Nithral, elven druid 6

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Shattered Star #30: Never Surrender

During three missing chapters (ahem!) of our story, our heroes traversed a subterranean lake, fought undead horrors and a night hag, and rescued Helanda, a former Gray Maiden, who was kicked out for questioning the so-called “Runelord Sorshen.” –GM

3rd of Sarenith, 4712 AR

We eased open the secret door, and quietly entered an empty workshop. After observing the various tools scattered across the room, as well as the obscene artwork on the walls, we carefully walked across to the next door and ever so slightly eased it open. With naught but the utmost caution, we stepped into the room and found seven Gray Maidens with their weapons drawn.

Helanda attempted to get past the Maidens without a fight, but the Maidens weren’t buying it. “Sorshen told us about your betrayal. You and your friends are here to steal from us.”

“Your Sorshen is fake!” said Jaskier. “We have the real Sorshen waiting over by the boat.”

“We won’t fall for your trickery. Sorshen told us to look out for people pretending to be her.”

“Oh yeah? Well our Sorshen told us to look out for people pretending to be guards!” Jaskier eyed the Maidens suspiciously.

They attacked us despite our efforts at diplomacy, and proved to be formidable combatants. We defeated them after a long and bloody exchange, and decided to interrogate them about the whereabouts of their leader.

“Look, let’s be reasonable here,” I said to the first one. “All you have to do is answer a few questions and we can work something out. Okay?”

“I will never betray my mistress!” she shouted back. We cut her head off.

Helanda Mertien

Bossman took the severed head and thrust it into the face of the second Maiden. “You’re about to suffer the same fate as your friend here unless you TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW!”

“Ha! I will gladly die in Sorshen’s glorious name!” Her head was removed as well.

We tied the third one to a rope and threw her into the lake. If she wanted to cooperate with us, all she had to do was tug the rope twice. The rope was never pulled.

We put the fifth and sixth in separate rooms, and gave them two options: Either stay silent or betray the other. If they were both silent they would be imprisoned for a short amount of time; if they both betrayed the other then the imprisonment would last longer. If one chose betrayal and the other stayed silent, the betrayer would be freed while the silent one would be imprisoned for a very long time. Strangely, instead of choosing either option the Maidens just babbled something about Sorshen. We had no choice but to kill them both.

At this point we had grown tired of killing, so we simply tied the remaining two to the rock next to the dead hag and explored the rest of the dungeon.

There was little of note left on this floor except for a secret door that led us to an altar to Nocticula, the demon lord of succubi. The furnishings looked to be of some value, so we entered the room and prepared to loot. Unfortunately, the shadow dogs guarding the altar sensed our ill intentions and attacked us.

Signing off,
Nithral

==============================

Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 6
Bossman Slim, aasimar-human swashbuckler 6
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 6
Jaskier, elven bard 7
Nithral, elven druid 6

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Shattered Star #26: Terror from the Deep

Horrible creatures from above and below stand between the party and the Shard of Lust. The party investigator narrates. –GM

2nd of Sarenith, 4712 AR

This worm was unlike anything seen before, the hideous space monster fought harder than a drunk at a 10 cent show, but it was no match for us. Serpiente had the creature between his thighs for more time than I’d care to recall, somehow wrestling the enormous beast to the ground. After we took care of it, it was time to continue my investigation, starting with the room with this mysterious flame. Something about it didn’t sit right and we soon discovered a secret passage leading to a statue of some broad. We had to exchange feet pics for further passage, but when we did, we were magically transported to a strange place.

We found ourselves in some sort o’ underground sea, so without any delay I commandeered us some seaworthy vessels and we sailed onward towards adventure. Me and me first Nate each commanded a ship but we were soon beset on all sides by infernal sea-ghouls. They attacked us and me first Nate fell o’erboard and sunk down to the depths below. We blasted those pitiful dogs out of the water with help from Serpiente who kept jumping from boat to boat kicking every foe in his path. After rescuing me first Nate, (who it seems still can’t swim) we sailed to shore and found some self proclaimed “giant”. He fell to our steel as we secured our plunder.

-Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye (Zander)

==============================

Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 6
Bossman Slim, aasimar-human swashbuckler 6
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 6
Jaskier, elven bard 6
Nithral, elven druid 6

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Shattered Star #25: Looking for Lust in All the Wrong Places

The party knows that the Shard of Lust is somewhere in or under The Lady’s Light (the giant statue of Runelord Sorshen), but where? –GM

2nd of Sarenith, 4712 AR

Our search for the shard has driven me from weariness to near insanity.

We have combed caves, delved into dungeons, and investigated every interior we could find. Yet still, it eludes us. Have we come too late, and some other has claimed our prize? No, I must not think about such things. We will find the shard, or we shall be damned.

We continued our hunt deep within the confines of the Lady’s Light. Rooms filled with decadent ornamentation and fine beds were quickly ransacked but revealed nothing of use. At least they provided us a nicer place than usual to have our rest. We came upon a room with a star insignia in the center, and although we sensed magic within we could find no use for it. Beyond, there was a room with a small pond with three doors.

Behind one door was an alchemy lab. Within the lab, there were implements of science and mysterious vials. However, a careless mistake broke an urn, and out came a gray ooze! The beast put up quite a fight, but while our party was weary we were still as deadly as ever. The ooze was reduced to slime, but not before it mildly injured me and caused a vial to explode.

Pushing onwards, we swept through room after room, yet seemed no closer to achieving our goal. A room with six stone slabs awarded us with some scrolls for our trouble, but not the object of our quest.

Then, up ahead I saw something that could perhaps yield further insight. There was a large room before us, and at its center was a conjuration. Craig’s inquisitive nature got the better of him and he activated the circle, summoning a Seugathi. This foul creature had a myriad of weapons and deadly talents to use against us, but we were prepared to take on any foe.

I cast a circle of protection from evil, causing the creature to have quite a hard time advancing upon and attacking us. Serpiente decided to introduce the worm to his own that lingered between his legs and grappled the seugathi with his meaty thighs. Dekkar stabbed the beast from the side, while Nithral kept us all on our feet. Yet this foe was unlike any we had seen before, and I started to realize it was going to take a miracle for us to prevail…

-Jaskier (Zack)

==============================

Cutthroat Craig Cunningham Pirate Eye, tiefling-ratfolk investigator 6
Bossman Slim, aasimar-human swashbuckler 6
El Serpiente Silencioso, human monk 6
Jaskier, elven bard 6
Nithral, elven druid 6

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