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Keys from the Golden Vault Session 49
Starring
Chéri Powder, level 9 human Illusionist WizardElowen Fernwhisper, level 9 wood elf Circle of the Moon Druid
Stayzie Diamondz, level 9 orc Champion Fighter
Taveen, level 9 aasimar Warrior of Mercy MonkVarrow, level 9 gnome Thief Rogue/Gloomstalker Ranger
With no other Shadow Crossing in sight, the party heads off toward the marketplace, which in Evernight, is the Corpse Market!
The Corpse Market is a bustling, relatively peaceful open air marketplace filled with undead patrons. A night hag fortune teller. A vampire shopkeep. A mummy running an auction for magical items. A pair of ghasts chopping up bodies for fresh meat.
The party’s goal is to get information, and hopefully not get eaten or enslaved.
(This mission is taken from Chapter 1 of Vecna: Eve of Ruin. The alternate dungeon map is from Tessa Presents 56 Maps for Vecna: Eve of Ruin.)
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Chéri approaches a nearby merchant, who appears as a friendly elderly woman… who’s smoking a severed finger. Sangora the vampire is selling blood and brain recipes, but when Chéri, who’s disguised as a lich, asks about Shadow Crossings, she knows information can be worth a lot of money.
But she wants to be paid in fresh blood.
Chéri casts Suggestion on her to get the information right away, but the elder vampire is immune to his charms.
She points out several caged humans in the Meat Market, and requests the party purchase one and bring them to her.
Chéri is disturbingly totally okay with this exchange, but Stayzie and Taveen immediately push back! Chéri even snatches Taveen’s beloved Griffon Grease as further incentive. Sangora takes the Greease, but insists on fresh blood payment.
Taveen sees a skeleton holding a sign, and is directed toward a tent where a blue-skinned, troll-like figure sits in front of a cauldron. Madam Claira, a night hag, runs some kind of clairvoyant business, and requests some blood, skin, or personal liquids to start the ritual.
Taveen extends his arm, but when she reaches with her nasty claws, he jerks back, and pricks his own finger to add the blood.
Then he asks the important question: “Where can I find more Griffon Grease?”
Wait — what!?
She sees through the vapors and notes that they’ll be back in Neverwinter soon enough, where he can find more of what he needs. But then the vision grows dark and ominous. She sees a powerful figure lording over them, and a screaming skull bursts forth, destroying the cauldron!
Taveen isn’t frightened, but the hag is clearly upset, and snaps at him to leave at once.
Meanwhile Stayzie wanders over to the mummy’s magic item auction. The creature has several magical items for sale, and a few undead patrons have gathered to bid on a dark cloak, a skull mace, and a ring on a severed hand.
Stayzie passes on the cloak, but the mace piques her interest. She strikes up a flirty conversation with one of the buyers, a handsome vampire named Dario, and even agrees to go halvsies on the mace, paying 600gp each.
He amusingly agrees, and lets her take possession of it (a mace of terror!) — though he asks about who she is and when he’ll come to collect! She gives her name as Bryseis, which is very interesting indeed!
Chéri ambles over just as the auction is ending with one final item. The mummy possesses a magic wand that controls an ogre zombie named Chonk. Good for labor, not great for dancing.
Stayzie half-heartedly bids a few 100 gold, and, humorously, Chéri raises the bid! The two go back and forth for a second before she relents, and he pays 500gp for Chonk’s Femur, which lets him summon and dismiss the controllable ogre zombie.
The party reunites as a trio of tough-looking wights struts down the street. They haven’t seen Chéri’s group before, and explain how they keep the streets safe and orderly, but require some money for their services.
Chéri throws it back, asking if they know of a Shadow Crossing. They huddle up and reveal that they’ll take them to one for the price of 500gp.
Chéri the lich brazenly claims he’s rich, but doesn’t trust them. The wights mainly heard the term ‘rich’ and pull out their weapons!
The party is forced to defend themselves. Since the wights don’t realize they’re living creatures, they don’t use their life drain attack, sticking to their necrotic swords. They get a few hits in, but Taveen and Stazyie strike true with every hit, nearly taking out two of them before the orc warrior calls out for their surrender. The wights quickly agree and get the hell out of there.
Sangora calls the party over, having witnessed this battle, and realizes that the party is much more than they seem. She can smell the blood of a celestial in Taveen (an aasimar), and wants just at taste of that sweet, sweet honey! In exchange, she’ll reveal the location of a permanent Shadow Crossing (or, Crevice of Dusk as they say here).
Taveen reluctantly agrees, especially if he gets his Griffon Grease back. Unlike with the hag, he fully extends his arm and finger, offering it to the vampire.
She gleefully bites into him, suckling him for 10 necrotic damage. He’s unable to pull away and she continues to feed, this time for 19 necrotic damage. Chéri screams out with a nat 20 Intimidation roll, and she jerks back sheepishly.
Thankfully the monk is resistant to necrotic damage!
But she’s more than satisfied with his smoky flavor. She reveals her knowledge about the Dolindars, a living family who was exiled to the Shadowfell. They were obsessed with the Crossings, and one can be found buried in their tomb in the Graveyard.
So it’s back to the Graveyard, and hopefully a swift and easy escape out of the Shadowfell…
Live post-session discussion:
Next session: The Dolindar Tomb!
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