Session 2: “Monkey Business”

(Running Paizo Publishing’s AP: Curse of the Crimson Throne #1: Edge of Anarchy)

Pint Hornswaggle – Halfling Rogue/Wizard 1/1

Imilio Phillips – Human Cleric [Cayden Cailean] 2

Smog Whisprunner – Human Spell-less Ranger 2

Beebop – Gnome Summoner 2

Finding Zellara’s head amongst Lamm’s other ‘keepsakes’ immediately introduced a round of speculation amongst the PCs. The most common conjecture was that some woman in disguise or illusion had hired manipulated them into killing Lamm . . . but they didn’t know why.

Torn between storming back to Zellara’s and confronting the traitor or returning the most important piece of the wealth they found, the Queen’s brooch, the PCs opted for answers first and money second.

Emerging from the filth of the old fishery, the PCs were nearly overwhelmed by the chaos that tumbled down the avenues and alleyways of Korvosa. Buildings burned, mobs chanted, and guards, Hellknights¹, and Sable Company members², strove to limit the rioting. 

In the hour it had taken the PCs to rid the world of Gaedren Lamm, the King of Korvosa had passed.

Shouts ranged from doing away with the harlot queen, to calling for a return to Cheliax³ . . . all in all, the city was not handling the news well, and they definitely not handling themselves in any orderly manner.

This was driven home as the PCs approached Zellara’s. A young foppish noble was cornered by a half-dozen dockhands. The laborers swung clubs at him and with each increasing yell and swing their bloodlust increased.

The PCs, showing some measure of restraint⁴, managed to intimidate the upset workers into a retreat, but not before drawing scowl’s from the group and accusations of being Queen’s men. The noble, one Amin Jalento, thanks the PCs profusely and gives them 5 platinum as a show of his gratitude.

The PCs wind their way through the streets a bit more, asking for info about the King’s death (heart failure or assassination, the rumors run rampant) and helping out where they can.

When they arrive at Zellara’s, she is waiting and tells them the truth the instant they show up.

“I’m a ghost.” The news is a bit of a revelation to say the least, but she explains she thought that sympathy was the best way to get their help. The PCs take it in stride; the whole night is full of odd portents they decide. Before she disappears, Zellara promises to keep an eye on the players and assist them as she can.

The PCs hole up over night and hope the rioting dies down.

Before visiting the Queen to return her brooch, the PCs sell off some of their items. Along the way they meet Grau, a guard so drunk he’s mistaken Smog for a friend. After settling this confusion, the PCs help the young man get back to his station, but also learn of a love triangle involving Grau, Sabina (the as-of-yet unmet bodyguard to the Queen), and an unnamed 3^rd person.

The PCs pawn what items they can, but it is tough going as the riot has caused most vendors to close shops. Though the immediate chaos begins to dwindle by nightfall, the PCs still spend most of the day at the stores.

After arranging a meeting with Queen Ileosa, the PCs show up to her audience hall. Sabina expresses her gratitude on behalf of the queen and praises the group as heroes . . . immediately leading Imilio to flirt with her. She rebuffs him quite rudely.

As the meeting goes on with the stunningly beautiful queen, she thanks the PCs and asks for their help during these troubled times. Smitten by both her good looks and the 1200 gold pieces she’s just given them, they immediately agree to be of aid.

Again, Imilio flirts with her⁵ . . . the Queen whose husband passed the night before. She ignores the invitation and leaves the PCs with Sabina to work out the details of what needs to be done. Sabina is kind at first, making sure the PCs are comfortable before assigning them to Citadel Volshyenek to work under Field Marshall Cressida Kroft.

However, before they leave, Sabina turns to the gnome and all of her affected charm disappears as she leans in closely and says, “If you do not bow in the presence of the Queen next time, I shall immediately slice the hamstrings that allow your child-sized legs to bend.”

Refusing to bow to such intimidation, the PCs let Sabina in on the fact they know about her Grau . . . to which she gives little concern and ushers them out. Their relationship is cool, icy even as they part ways.

As the PCs make their way to the Citadel they are interrupted by the body of a guard flying past them and smashing into a fruit stand.

APES!!!⁶

With a small crowd running from a pair of escaped apes, the PCs jump into the rescue. Despite Imilio dropping an obscuring mist that hindered the PCs more than the apes, the PCs made short work of the rampaging monkeys thanks to a peppering of arrows and Rocksteady’s ability to hold the frontline.

As our session ended the PCs spoke with Cressida Kroft, beautiful⁷, if tired woman, who was friendly to the PCs and glad to have them aboard.

“Adventurers are just what I need right now. My guards are stretched thin, and if you’re up to it, I’ve got more than enough work for you.”

With the promise of room and board at a local tavern and steady, payment (they’d seen how the crown paid once already), the PCs readily agreed.

“Good. How do you feel about hunting down a traitor?”

And so session 2 ended ---

One thing I need to mention though is that during this session the PCs met:

1. Queen Ileosa, ruler of the city.

2. Sabina, Queen’s bodyguard and leader of the Palace forces

3. Field Marshall Kroft, a general-type in charge of overseeing the forces that keep the city safe.

Smog linked these together and tried to sell the group on the idea that some Amazonian plot was afoot . . . they ignored him. Hilarious.

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Dream spiders are native to the jungles of Golarion; however, thanks to their hallucinogenic venom, these spiders have found a home in drug dens all across the Inner Sea. The drug (detailed in Edge of Anarchy) causes its imbiber to enter a blissful stupor, where they see flashes of insight, madness, and ecstasy.

When pressed into combat, these creatures prefer to lure opponents into their webs. Often times an opponent becomes drugged and disabled, allowing the dream spider to devour its prey at its leisure. A dream spider, like most animals, will scamper away if threatened, however.

Session 1: “Something Fishy”

(Running Paizo Publishing’s AP Curse of the Crimson Throne: Edge of Anarchy)

·         Pint Hornswaggle, halfling rogue

·         Imilio Phillips, human Cleric of Cayden Cailean

·         Beebop, Gnome Summoner

·         Smog Whisprunner, human ranger (archery)

Curse of the Crimson Throne starts off interestingly enough . . . the PCs all have ties to a despicable, vile old rogue named Gaedren Lamm. Each of these connections comes through in the form of a trait that grants the player a small bonus, but a large hook into the game world. This sure beats the hell of starting off in an in.

The hooks for the PCs were:

·         Beebop – Despite studying in the Acadamae¹, Beebop has developed a nasty shiver habit. Shiver is a hallucinogenic drug that is derived from dream spider venom . . . it is also a drug that Gaedren Lamm pushes, and has caused much strife in our gnome summoner’s young life (see also: expulsion from school).

·         Imilio – Imilio’s father was duped by Gaedren Lamm into selling fenced goods through his auction house. Once the law caught on this led to a swift reprisal . . . effectively ruining Imilio’s family name, family fortune, and causing the young rake to find his way. This way has led to four things: an intimate knowledge of Korvosa’s many taverns, an intimate knowledge of Korvosa’s young ladies, Cayden Cailean, and a burning desire to avenge his family name.

·         Pint – Despite visiting spending more times amongst Korvosa’s criminal element, Pint always avoided the temptation of shiver and other drugs. His brother did not. Falling quickly into debt and addiction, Yuril Hornswaggle became Lamm’s lackey . . . a move that has caused the halfling to steal from his own family. Yuril has gone missing, but Pint knows who is truly behind the disappearance.

·         Smog – Smog grew up as one of Lamm’s Lambs, a group of child thieves and cutpurses. His early years were filled with beatings and berating at the hand of Gaedren, they were also filled with nights sleeping on cold streets, and the death of too many friends, most fed to Gobblegut, Lamm’s pet croc. Smog finally escaped Korvosa but the damage had been done. Growing increasingly angry and insular, Smog mastered the art of killing so he may one day revisit the injustices he saw back upon Lamm a thousandfold.

To pull these hooks together, each PC receives a mysterious Harrow card². These harrow cards contain messages that promise the PCs their shot at revenge on Lamm, if they meet this evening. The PCs of course do follow the instructions, meet the message-writer (a fortune teller named Zellara), and promise to vanquish Lamm that evening³.

Zellara’s instructions lead the PCs to an old fishery that abuts the Jeggare River.

The fishery is rundown and decrepit. On either side it is bordered by abandoned warehouses; a rickety dock wraps itself around the building leading to the back. Despite these options, the PCs, of course, jimmy open the front window and enter.

This would have been fine – Pint was scouting ahead and making excellent stealth rolls; so good in fact the guard dog did not even here him – but, then the halfling abruptly opened a door without listening on the other side and startled a middle-aged man scribbling papers and his guard dog.

The man immediately began shouting for help, while the dog lunged at the halfling.

So began a long encounter encompassing much of the building. It essentially went down like this:

1.       Dog holds off PCs for a few rounds while the middle-aged man, Lamm’s right hand guy, rounds up his thugs and the children.

a.       The dog was ultimately killed by Imilio, but not before it had dropped Rocksteady, Beebop’s eidolon. Of course, it had a lot of help from a critical fumble from Smog that planted an arrow in the eidolon’s back . . .⁴

2.       The PCs rush into the back room and engage in battle.

a.       The right-hand man lobs a few acid flasks to little effect before being put down by Smog’s arrows.

b.      A half-orc bandit nearly crushes a wounded Imilio, except for a critical fumble leaves him dazed . . . long enough to be put to rest by Smog’s arrows.

c.       Imilio convinces the kids to turn on the last remaining bandit, a gnome named Hookshanks. Between the party ganging up on him, and Beebop’s steady supply of summoned monsters keeping him locked in one position, he finally met his end at the tip of Imilio’s blade.

3.       The PCs spoke with the children to learn of the Gaedren’s whereabouts . . . they pointed downwards, as in underneath the fishery. They showed the PCs how a series of chains lowered into Gaedren’s room.⁵

The PCs regrouped for a second before clambering down the chains into Gaedren’s lair. This did not work out so well for the big guys in the group; while Pint and Beebop landed safely on solid ground, Imilio and Smog landed in the drink . . . a pool of water containing Gobblegut, an ornery croc.

Gaedren Lamm stood at the far side of the room firing off shots at the short heroes (including a nasty critical that resulted in a bout of filth fever for Pint⁶), while Gobblegut tore Smog and Imilio a new one, including knocking Imilio out of the fight with one powerful clamp of its jaws.

However, the battle soon turned as the Smog freed himself from the pool and added his bow to the attacks . . . Gaedren, cursing the hero’s names the whole time, tried to make a run for it, but the old man was much, much to slow to outrun the dog, summoned by Beebop, that tore out his throat.

The rest of the night went quickly as the PCs checked the rest of the fishery (disturbing some centipedes that nearly killed them . . .) and scoured the place for treasure.

In the end they found quite a haul⁷, including Zellara’s harrow deck, but they also found Zellara’s severed head . . . we ended the night with that WTF moment.

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Crystalkind Racial Traits

Sidebar: Why the 6 Int Minimum?

Because the livecrystals sustain themselves by feeding on the psychic energies of their host, they require a certain level of cognizance before they can grow.

Should the host's Intelligence drop below 6, the crystals grow brittle and break up over the course of 2d4 weeks, during which time the host still has a chance to raise its Intelligence and revitalize the crystals.