The Land of the Endless Sky [Pathfinder Campaign Journal]

[Lappy9001]

Session 12: Downtime
From this point, we enter a bit of downtime that I had planned for the party. Unfortunately, it stretched too long and might be the weakest point of the story so far, but I hoped I learned from the experience; the campaign has a distinct sense of urgency, and spending too long in town seems a little...odd.

Also, the map of Illium has had some issues, should be fixed now.

A Nasty Surprise

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The party arrives in Illium early on Thursday morning and proceed straight to the Grand Cathedral to meet Thurion about this “urgent business” and maybe find out some information about the mysterious tome they acquired in the Inner Earth. As per usual, Carn meets with the group promptly to introduce them to Thurion, although Carn notes that the god is difficult to get an audience with. Walking amid the bustle of the Grand Cathedral, the party sees a crowd surrounding an extremely tall middle-aged half-orc adorned in impeccable finery. He seems to be speaking brusquely to individuals in the crowd, signing and reading various documents. The party shares the information about the Nature of Divinity with Carn, who catches Thurion’s attention with an uncharacteristic shout across the hall. The crowd parts as they pass and a clearly annoyed Thurion asks Carn (my boy) what is the meaning of this? Nervously, Carn gives a quick introduction as Lago procures the tome to show to the god. Thurion holds the book in one hand and points at it the other as the pages quickly turn reading the massive tome from front to back in a mere minute. The god reveals that he only recognizes the names Asmodeus, Pithos, and Garnaron, and notes the missing page. He suggests that they show the book to Satorias and tells them to meet with Arlessa at a prison in the Garrison. Clearly impatient, Thurion gives the party a nevertheless polite farewell before resuming his business, and asking Carn to come with him. Carn silently mouths “I’m sorry” before taking off with Thurion and the crowd.

At the Garrison, the party stands before an imposing three-storied square structure build of solid stone, attended by guards at the front entrance. Upon seeing the Crystal Order approach, the guards nod and call for the iron entrance doors to be opened. Inside, they are directed down two flights of stairs through several more guarded iron doors. Before the final threshold, four heavily-armored watchmen stand in a spartan room with only a wooden bench and lighted sconces. One of the guards speaks to the party that Voyager Arlessa is taking a break from interrogating the prisoner, but they are free to give it a shot themselves. Somewhat confused, the party agrees as the door is opened. Inside is a square cell with four more men attending to the other side of the door. Chained to a wooden chair, bound and gagged, is Sin!

Standstill

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A wide grin spreads across Sin's bruised face as he sees the party enter. They immediately and aggressively question what he is doing here and his motives, to which he replies, "It's all part of my plan of course. I'm here to spy on Illium. Or I'm to kill my enemies. Or I've come to turn around my evil ways. Or maybe I'm just on vacation, who knows?" Arlessa arrives a moment later and wearily tells the party of how she was tracking Sin's whereabouts under the pretense of a secret mission, and encountered the demon who surrendered immediately without a fight. Knowing of his seeming immortality, Arlessa brought him into custody (not without some rough treatment, she admits) but is positive this is some sort of trap. The gods she has questioned have apparently been at a standstill on how to deal with this; Tuskanna wants him killed, while Wendolia and Thurion feel it would be better to keep him alive. Arlessa admits that she agrees with the latter, at least they know that he's not killing people if he's locked in one of the only anti-magic cell in the city.

Beinlein posits that Sin may have fallen out of favor with the Dark Queen, and fled to the safest place he could think of to escape her wrath. Or even worse, something big might be coming that he hopes to stay safe from. Regardless, Sin continues to be infuriatingly difficult and reveals no further information despite the intimidation of Nualia and Garo, or the motive sensing of Vosen and Beinlein. This is, apparently what Arlessa has been putting up with for three days. She tells the party that they are welcome to help her interrogate Sin if they want, but can go about their business in the city; she will contact them if she learns anything. Disgusted at their demonic nemesis, the party leaves the prison.

Stake-Out

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The party quickly splits up to run some errands; Vosen and Garo bring the orichalcum to Bronce, who is commissioned to make them some armor out of the material and maybe find a buyer while Nualia returns to Maester Tyrannus at the university. Beinlein and Lago search for some bounties to claim. At the bounty office, the front room appears empty, with the back door leading to the cell block propped open with a rock. Lago can hear voices in the other room, and the two cautiously proceed inside. They find Hilda and a large human male standing before a cell with a dead body, splattered with blood. They catch the end of a conversation "-and we have to catch that bastard at all costs." Seeing the two familiar faces, Hilda introduces them to her partner Skylar and explains her predicament. A halfling named Israh has been killing bounties brought in, denying Hilda payment from the parties who took out the bounties. She thus far has been unable to catch Israh in the act, or even find out how he's getting inside. Beinlein proposes that they stake-out the night to guard the only bounty currently in custody, a dark-skinned elf named Sabulla. Even more, Lago will serve as bait, since he technically still has a bounty on his head. Hilda agrees, and offers them the entire 5,000 gp reward for Israh if they are able to catch him (but to let her kill him herself). Beinlein also picks up a few more bounties including a 3,000 gp bounty on the sisters Jade and Rhinestone, last seen in the Smalls, wanted for Theft, Blackmail, and "Inciting Rebellion"; a 1,500 gp reward on an otherwise unidentified man named Dorc wanted for Kidnapping; and a 4,500 gp reward on a dwarf named Khurukthizid wanted for Horse Theft and Murder.

The party regroups at the bounty office that night with Lago imprisoned, Beinlein and Hilda in the office, Vosen and Nualia watching the perimeter, and Groot posing as a tree alongside with Garo at the entrance. The hours pass by uneventfully until late evening when Garo hears singing in the otherwise abandoned streets. The singing is coming from the tall silhouette of a man, drunkenly sauntering through the streets. When he comes into the light, Garo sees that the man is Gregor! Noticing the dwarf, Gregor loudly greets him a good evening and invites him to have a drink. Garo declines and asks what Gregor is doing this late at night. Gregor tells Garo of his family mansion which is being sold to Lord Elrath who has moved into the city. Belonging to a noble family, the house can only change hands to another set of nobles, even though Gregor lacks the money to maintain the manor. Normally, he wouldn't mind having it fall into the hands of another noble family, but Elrath was apparently responsible for driving his family's fortune into the ground, and indirectly causing the death of Gregor's parents, his father being lost while adventuring to recover money and his mother committing suicide. Gregor beseeches Garo and the party's help to discredit Elrath, causing him to lose face publicly which will affect his status. Gregor has even discovered some dirt on the noble which will help in their endeavor. The present party agrees, and Garo helps Gregor back home. Realizing their stake-out may have been ruined in the commotion, Lago and Vosen take up the watch for the remainder of the uneventful night.