Darkness on the Edge of Town - Derthaad - 05/01/22
Jan 16, 2022 13:30:00 GMT
Velania Kalugina and Marto Copperkettle like this
Post by Derthaad on Jan 16, 2022 13:30:00 GMT
~excerpt from Derthaad's ledger
Week 1, 1499
6th of Hammer
Well, the chat with Hecate will be even more interesting. We may have a devil invasion.
The day started normally. When I picked the job it seemed to be another "Missing Person" mission. Normally these missions can be handled by the City Watch and you would have a few people searching. The number varies depending on the missing person and the guards' experience, you have an entire squad (or even as much as three) looking for the person if said person is either a child or a person of 'interest' (as in CW got paid handsomely by someone with pockets deeper than the abyss itself), or as few as two people if the guards are experienced enough or are specialized in these cases. Investigators fall under this category. However, you don't send an investigator to just any of these missions, you send investigators when you want to find more than just the missing person.
I found out about this mission from my superior Sgt. Grimmes, three days before the fact.
"Private Derthaad, a moment!" - Sgt. Grimmes called me as I was passing down the hallway on my out - it was my patrol day.
"Yes, sir! Something the matter?"
"Have a look at this, I think it may interest an adventurer like you - a missing person case." - as the sgt. hands me a slip of paper.
"Adventurer?" - I said, confused and slightly intrigued by the fact that he chose the word 'adventurer' for a missing person case, and not investigator. That is until I looked at the name at the bottom. "Commander Jadefist?! That bad?"
"One of our men found it on the Rumor Mill while on his patrol around the city. If it's from Commander Jadefist herself, I believe it's safe to assume that it is indeed. This does seem to match the plead of someone named 'Ashkeeper', they have a farm in the direction described on the note, and their plead arrived shortly before the job appeared."
"I see. Thank you, sir! I'll look into this as quick as possible!"
Fast forward to yesterday, and I met up with the party in front of Fort Daring. Met two new faces, a halfling named Marto and a goblin named Goop (with a strange appetite for onions), a recurring face in the form of map enthusiast Gerhard, and of course, everyone's favorite goliath, comrade Kavel. Kavel, always the one to share stories with friends, proceeded to share his past experiences, most notably he was part of the team that helped defend Daring Heights and Fort Ettin during the chaos by Jack-ston (and also went so Sigil?), helped in the exorcising of Sorrel and freeing her from her demon and infiltrated the Breakers to get more information on their activity. To the latter, Kavel pointed out that my position as an investigator may have been useful for that mission. True and false: my knowledge would have been useful, but not my position. Having a CW uniform is the last thing you want whilst infiltrating a pirate base. Kavel also informed me of an adventurer by the name of Meretoric, which helped Kavel in a legal issue (so he's a lawyer) regarding a door that he broke down. Kavel said that the man helped him lower the price asked by the insurance company from 60gp to 30gp and that Kavel would also be making a new door. Something is off, that price is way to high and even the reduced price of 30gp also seems to be a lot considering that Kavel will be the one replacing the door. This smells like a sham.
"60gp? For a door? That does not seem right. You sure? "
"Yes, but he did lowered the price from 60gp to 30gp." - responded Kavel.
"Comrade, I can furnish an entire bedroom with 60gp, heck even with 30gp that's a possibility. What was the door made out of, mahogany with silver embellishments?"
Our conversation was cut short as we were approached by Commander Cordelia Jadefist herself. Somehow, even when taking into account the height difference between dragonborn and dwarf, she still found a way to look down at me. To be fair, though, I did my research on her beforehand. She has all the rights to claim whatever legendary status one might associate with her. She gave us more information on the matter of the missing person case and it is, as sgt. Grimmes said, from the Ashkeeper farmstead. The cry for help came from Emmon Ashkeeper in regards to his missing husband, Ubric Ashkeeper, and from the description given it sounds grave. Sadly, as before, we don't have any more information regarding this issue and the commander told us that we may find more once we arrive at the farmstead.
The farmstead was a humble one, it was small, nothing opulent, but it was large enough for it to be self-sustainable. The only opulent element in this entire farm was a black steed. The steed was beautiful... too beautiful... in fact it felt out of place here, it looked as if it had belonged to a noble or a wealthy merchant. Interesting
At the house, we are greeted, rather enthusiastically by the halfling Emmon, and enthusiasm that was replaced by what seemed to be disappointment. Upon entering he greeted us with a large pile of scones (too large, almost) and the house was spotless (too clean, even) - he was stressed. Marto, trying to appeal to the halfling, started the conversation complementing the house, the farm and the horse. Upon hearing that last word, Emmon froze with a mixed expression that read both fear and anger, but he composed himself. He said it was a gift from Ubric. Speaking of which, Emmon said that he's been missing for 5 days. He also explains that before the incident, Ubric was behaving strange and erratic; he would be more aggressive, start fights more often and from small things. Initially I was going to dismiss this as another case of infidelity since this type of behavior is very common in these cases, but then Emmon said that Ubric would spend nights drawing weird symbols on paper and then would burn it immediately after. When Emmon approached Ubric on this topic, he would lash out in anger. Okay... guess this is not a case of infidelity. Sadly, there were no paper remains in the fire place - Ubric was indeed thorough and made sure no one would be able to see what he was drawing. We were also told that while drawing he would mutter in a language that neither of them would have known or encountered. This sounds a lot like possession. After Emmon imitated the mutterings, I got the idea to use my little wizard book (this little thing ends up being quite handy) and use Comprehend Language to try and discern what language Ubric was speaking.
Whilst casting my ritual, my colleagues asked Emmon for more details regarding their relation, lives and lastly the horse. I don't recall the exact word, but I did catch Emmon's tone as he snapped, blaming it all on the horse, stating that this all started happening after he brought the horse home. Interesting. Correlation doesn't equal causation, but, as Jadefist puts it 'This is Kantas'. I also couldn't but chuckle a little upon hearing Marto's praises the scones and the jam. My colleagues decided to go outside and scan the area for some information while I remained inside to complete my ritual, and have Emmon recite Ubric's words. He does so, and although I wasn't able to discern the language - it was Infernal.
The horse was a damn fiend!
Around this time I hear a small ring increasing in my ears, followed by Marto's voice "The horse is gone!" - unsurprisingly - "Any luck on that language?"
"Yeah, it's infernal." - I replied with the same spell - "The horse is a fiend."
"I KNEW IT!" - came a shout from Emmon that almost made me jump. He clearly had is reservations about the horse, but had no way of proving it.
So, with promises of bringing his husband back, and basket overflowing with scones, I left and joined my colleagues.
After two hours in which we reached the edge of the Angelbark forrest and another hour following Gerhard, our tracking expert, we were met with a smell of embers and soon after we arrived at a clearing. But the clearing wasn't ordinary, it was burned, it was a circle of ash and charcoal surrounded by debarked trees engraved with a symbol, and in the middle, on a pile of somldering embers stood a figure, roughly 5 foot high with ruffle and lightly charred ginger hair, Ubric. After Kavel shouted, asking if he was indeed Ubric, he turned towards us, with eyes and tears that looked like tar. From behind him appeared the horse and Ubric spoke, but in a voice that was not his own:
The horse than shifts into the shape of a man, with parts of his skin matching the tarry looks within Ubric's eyes.
"I am one of the five. And you will be our heralds." - the 'angel' that we later learned his name was Adhyël.
After almost losing Marto to Adhyël's influence and just barely breaking his grasp onto both Ubric and Marto with my magic, after a fight where Kavel, the absolute unit that he is, through sheer force, decapitated the 'angel', Adhyël was defeated. But sadly, both me and Gerhard knew that fiends cannot be killed in the material plain. So, we will be expecting a return from this lunatic. What's more satisfying is Adhyël's expression the entire fight was one of disgust, as if we were mere insect that dare to strike down a 'perfect' being such as himself. Sorry, looks onle get you so far.
Upon returning Ubric home, and after a short respite, he let us in on what he has experienced. He said that it all started when he went to the market to buy a gift for Emmon, but due to their lifestyle he was a bit short on savings and didn't have much that he could buy. That is until he spotted a man with the horse Adhyël, who offered Ubric the horse not for gold, but for a favor. In his excitement at such luck, Ubrik accepted, and since then he was enthralled by Adhyël. He was also able to redraw the symbols that he was constantly drawing under the 'angel's' control. Although Marto was under Adhyël's control for a couple of seconds, he agreed with the dwarf that whoever these angels are, they are indeed coming.
Guess I'll have to bring this up to my hag friend and see what she knows about this.
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Week 1, 1499
6th of Hammer
Well, the chat with Hecate will be even more interesting. We may have a devil invasion.
The day started normally. When I picked the job it seemed to be another "Missing Person" mission. Normally these missions can be handled by the City Watch and you would have a few people searching. The number varies depending on the missing person and the guards' experience, you have an entire squad (or even as much as three) looking for the person if said person is either a child or a person of 'interest' (as in CW got paid handsomely by someone with pockets deeper than the abyss itself), or as few as two people if the guards are experienced enough or are specialized in these cases. Investigators fall under this category. However, you don't send an investigator to just any of these missions, you send investigators when you want to find more than just the missing person.
I found out about this mission from my superior Sgt. Grimmes, three days before the fact.
"Private Derthaad, a moment!" - Sgt. Grimmes called me as I was passing down the hallway on my out - it was my patrol day.
"Yes, sir! Something the matter?"
"Have a look at this, I think it may interest an adventurer like you - a missing person case." - as the sgt. hands me a slip of paper.
"Adventurer?" - I said, confused and slightly intrigued by the fact that he chose the word 'adventurer' for a missing person case, and not investigator. That is until I looked at the name at the bottom. "Commander Jadefist?! That bad?"
"One of our men found it on the Rumor Mill while on his patrol around the city. If it's from Commander Jadefist herself, I believe it's safe to assume that it is indeed. This does seem to match the plead of someone named 'Ashkeeper', they have a farm in the direction described on the note, and their plead arrived shortly before the job appeared."
"I see. Thank you, sir! I'll look into this as quick as possible!"
Fast forward to yesterday, and I met up with the party in front of Fort Daring. Met two new faces, a halfling named Marto and a goblin named Goop (with a strange appetite for onions), a recurring face in the form of map enthusiast Gerhard, and of course, everyone's favorite goliath, comrade Kavel. Kavel, always the one to share stories with friends, proceeded to share his past experiences, most notably he was part of the team that helped defend Daring Heights and Fort Ettin during the chaos by Jack-ston (and also went so Sigil?), helped in the exorcising of Sorrel and freeing her from her demon and infiltrated the Breakers to get more information on their activity. To the latter, Kavel pointed out that my position as an investigator may have been useful for that mission. True and false: my knowledge would have been useful, but not my position. Having a CW uniform is the last thing you want whilst infiltrating a pirate base. Kavel also informed me of an adventurer by the name of Meretoric, which helped Kavel in a legal issue (so he's a lawyer) regarding a door that he broke down. Kavel said that the man helped him lower the price asked by the insurance company from 60gp to 30gp and that Kavel would also be making a new door. Something is off, that price is way to high and even the reduced price of 30gp also seems to be a lot considering that Kavel will be the one replacing the door. This smells like a sham.
"60gp? For a door? That does not seem right. You sure? "
"Yes, but he did lowered the price from 60gp to 30gp." - responded Kavel.
"Comrade, I can furnish an entire bedroom with 60gp, heck even with 30gp that's a possibility. What was the door made out of, mahogany with silver embellishments?"
Our conversation was cut short as we were approached by Commander Cordelia Jadefist herself. Somehow, even when taking into account the height difference between dragonborn and dwarf, she still found a way to look down at me. To be fair, though, I did my research on her beforehand. She has all the rights to claim whatever legendary status one might associate with her. She gave us more information on the matter of the missing person case and it is, as sgt. Grimmes said, from the Ashkeeper farmstead. The cry for help came from Emmon Ashkeeper in regards to his missing husband, Ubric Ashkeeper, and from the description given it sounds grave. Sadly, as before, we don't have any more information regarding this issue and the commander told us that we may find more once we arrive at the farmstead.
The farmstead was a humble one, it was small, nothing opulent, but it was large enough for it to be self-sustainable. The only opulent element in this entire farm was a black steed. The steed was beautiful... too beautiful... in fact it felt out of place here, it looked as if it had belonged to a noble or a wealthy merchant. Interesting
At the house, we are greeted, rather enthusiastically by the halfling Emmon, and enthusiasm that was replaced by what seemed to be disappointment. Upon entering he greeted us with a large pile of scones (too large, almost) and the house was spotless (too clean, even) - he was stressed. Marto, trying to appeal to the halfling, started the conversation complementing the house, the farm and the horse. Upon hearing that last word, Emmon froze with a mixed expression that read both fear and anger, but he composed himself. He said it was a gift from Ubric. Speaking of which, Emmon said that he's been missing for 5 days. He also explains that before the incident, Ubric was behaving strange and erratic; he would be more aggressive, start fights more often and from small things. Initially I was going to dismiss this as another case of infidelity since this type of behavior is very common in these cases, but then Emmon said that Ubric would spend nights drawing weird symbols on paper and then would burn it immediately after. When Emmon approached Ubric on this topic, he would lash out in anger. Okay... guess this is not a case of infidelity. Sadly, there were no paper remains in the fire place - Ubric was indeed thorough and made sure no one would be able to see what he was drawing. We were also told that while drawing he would mutter in a language that neither of them would have known or encountered. This sounds a lot like possession. After Emmon imitated the mutterings, I got the idea to use my little wizard book (this little thing ends up being quite handy) and use Comprehend Language to try and discern what language Ubric was speaking.
Whilst casting my ritual, my colleagues asked Emmon for more details regarding their relation, lives and lastly the horse. I don't recall the exact word, but I did catch Emmon's tone as he snapped, blaming it all on the horse, stating that this all started happening after he brought the horse home. Interesting. Correlation doesn't equal causation, but, as Jadefist puts it 'This is Kantas'. I also couldn't but chuckle a little upon hearing Marto's praises the scones and the jam. My colleagues decided to go outside and scan the area for some information while I remained inside to complete my ritual, and have Emmon recite Ubric's words. He does so, and although I wasn't able to discern the language - it was Infernal.
The horse was a damn fiend!
Around this time I hear a small ring increasing in my ears, followed by Marto's voice "The horse is gone!" - unsurprisingly - "Any luck on that language?"
"Yeah, it's infernal." - I replied with the same spell - "The horse is a fiend."
"I KNEW IT!" - came a shout from Emmon that almost made me jump. He clearly had is reservations about the horse, but had no way of proving it.
So, with promises of bringing his husband back, and basket overflowing with scones, I left and joined my colleagues.
After two hours in which we reached the edge of the Angelbark forrest and another hour following Gerhard, our tracking expert, we were met with a smell of embers and soon after we arrived at a clearing. But the clearing wasn't ordinary, it was burned, it was a circle of ash and charcoal surrounded by debarked trees engraved with a symbol, and in the middle, on a pile of somldering embers stood a figure, roughly 5 foot high with ruffle and lightly charred ginger hair, Ubric. After Kavel shouted, asking if he was indeed Ubric, he turned towards us, with eyes and tears that looked like tar. From behind him appeared the horse and Ubric spoke, but in a voice that was not his own:
"I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign:
Five angels with the five last plagues—
Last because with them Godess’s wrath is completed.
They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Worthy are you, our Lord and Godess,
To receive glory and honor and power."
The horse than shifts into the shape of a man, with parts of his skin matching the tarry looks within Ubric's eyes.
"I am one of the five. And you will be our heralds." - the 'angel' that we later learned his name was Adhyël.
After almost losing Marto to Adhyël's influence and just barely breaking his grasp onto both Ubric and Marto with my magic, after a fight where Kavel, the absolute unit that he is, through sheer force, decapitated the 'angel', Adhyël was defeated. But sadly, both me and Gerhard knew that fiends cannot be killed in the material plain. So, we will be expecting a return from this lunatic. What's more satisfying is Adhyël's expression the entire fight was one of disgust, as if we were mere insect that dare to strike down a 'perfect' being such as himself. Sorry, looks onle get you so far.
Upon returning Ubric home, and after a short respite, he let us in on what he has experienced. He said that it all started when he went to the market to buy a gift for Emmon, but due to their lifestyle he was a bit short on savings and didn't have much that he could buy. That is until he spotted a man with the horse Adhyël, who offered Ubric the horse not for gold, but for a favor. In his excitement at such luck, Ubrik accepted, and since then he was enthralled by Adhyël. He was also able to redraw the symbols that he was constantly drawing under the 'angel's' control. Although Marto was under Adhyël's control for a couple of seconds, he agreed with the dwarf that whoever these angels are, they are indeed coming.
Guess I'll have to bring this up to my hag friend and see what she knows about this.
