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Erkonin (Campaign #2) [Session 45: Rajalmin's Agent]
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<blockquote data-quote="prabe" data-source="post: 8224745" data-attributes="member: 7016699"><p>Session 35: Deputized and Doing Research</p><p></p><p>Dramatis Personae:</p><p>Aldalómiel - Wood Elf Ranger (Hunter Conclave)/Druid</p><p>Elama “Lamie” Galanodel- Wood Elf Cleric (Tempest)</p><p>Vinya Anar - Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Sun Soul)</p><p>Elderon - High Elf Wizard (Loremaster)</p><p>Marxine - Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Champion)/Paladin</p><p></p><p>GM - Everyone Else</p><p></p><p>(Note: This session was held on Discord.)</p><p></p><p></p><p>10 Bluzzimin 749 (Campaign day 161)(immediately after)</p><p></p><p>After the last of the Sons of Kyuss dropped, we searched the room in the basement of the temple of the Last Doorway. Toward the far end of the room, where the two puffy worm guys had been when we arrived, we saw an incomplete summoning circle made of blood, viscera, and grey matter. We also saw a couple of corpses, one wearing the robes of a priest of the Last Doorway, that had been partially torn apart and turned into the foul raw materials for that summoning circle. (The other partially disassembled corpse was wearing ordinary street clothes.)</p><p></p><p>Elderron looked at the circle and realized that the puffy worm guys were attempting to summon Orcus himself.</p><p></p><p>We looked back over at the remains of the puffy guys -- with the worms destroyed by the radiant and fire damage they’d taken, what was left was a skeleton inside (basically) a skin sack. With the worms killed, there was nothing like muscle or meat or inside-stuff between the bones and the skin.</p><p></p><p>The temple was completely empty and obviously desecrated -- the circle to summon Orcus being a large part of the desecration. Also the puffy guys appear to have an inherent ability to unhallow places.</p><p></p><p>Elama did a sending to our innkeeper Bultir asking if he knew of anything else that might be going on.</p><p></p><p>Bultir (through the sending): I knew the worms were rising and where, and that they were a threat to Erkonin. Further information I do not have. Sincerest apologies.</p><p></p><p>After making sure that the temple was clear, we left, talking about where we should go and what we should do next. As we walked out of the temple, there was a group of guards arriving at the temple. They were being led by a dragonborn woman in a breastplate. She introduced herself as Sgt. Khalixi.</p><p></p><p>We explained that we’d heard about problems with corpses breaking into worms and something happening at one of the crematoria when we were sailing into the, so we came to the Last Doorway looking to talk to people about that incident and found the temple empty and desecrated -- and wormy undead in the basement.</p><p></p><p>We led her down to the basement, Aldalomiel keeping some distance from the dragonborn, while we showed her the remains of the Spawn of Kyuss and the puffy worm people -- including that one of the puffy people had been wearing the robes of the Hearthkeepers and the other was wearing tattered robes from the Last Laugh. Elderron showed her the summoning circle and pointed out the elements that made it clear it was a circle to summon Orcus.</p><p></p><p>Marxine: When we first arrived, I could sense that something had desecrated the temple. Then we came downstairs and found all of this.</p><p></p><p>While we were talking to her, we mentioned that we’d come to Dhaqi because we’d heard that there was some trouble with cabals and that the city wasn’t as peaceful as usual.</p><p></p><p>We went back upstairs.</p><p></p><p>Khalixi: I’d like to take you back to the guard house so you can explain what you fought and why you were in the temple.</p><p></p><p>We agreed to that.</p><p></p><p>Khalixi (to Aldalomiel): It’s clear that you are uncomfortable with my presence. Have I given offense?</p><p>Aldalomiel: It is not you. I have a history with one of your kind.</p><p>Khalixi: Would you prefer my corporal accompany you?</p><p>Aldalomiel: I need to work through these issues. It is fine.</p><p></p><p>Khalixi then gestured the gnome, her corporal, over and gave him some instructions about checking the neighboring temples.</p><p></p><p>She then started leading us on a walk through Dhur. During the 10 minute walk Vinya spoke to her.</p><p></p><p>Vinya: We’re concerned about other temples with crematoria.</p><p>Khalixi: My corporal is checking them out and will report.</p><p>Vinya: Good. Good.</p><p></p><p>We arrived at the guard house after about a 10 minute walk and were taken to a nice and quiet anteroom. Khalixi pointed us to a table with tea and other beverages and to a wash room in the back.</p><p></p><p>Khalixi: Please feel free to refresh yourselves and wash up. Someone will be back for you shortly but you will have time to get your breath back.</p><p></p><p>Vinya washed her face and hands and got a cup of tea.</p><p></p><p>After a few minutes, Khalixi came back with a large, heavily built albino man with what we would think of as African features.</p><p></p><p>Khalixi: This is Lieutenant Linnolim.</p><p>Linnolim: Good morning. My sergeant tells me that we owe you thanks and that you have information we need. Please come with me.</p><p></p><p>We followed him into his office -- it was clear that extra chairs had been brought in for us, including one that was distinctly dwarven-sized for Marxine.</p><p></p><p>Linnolim: So you found some Spawn of Kyuss around and under the temple of the Last Doorway.</p><p>Vinya: Yes, those. Also some others.</p><p>Elderron: Puffy-looking humanoids. Undead. With worms inside. They reached into their throats and pulled out handfuls of worms and tried to hit Aldalomiel.</p><p>Linnolim: Oh. You found a couple of Suffragans. Some people who are killed by the Spawn come back as Suffragans. Others come back as Spawn. I have come across both in my younger adventuring days. You used light on the Suffragans, yes?</p><p>Vinya: Yes.</p><p>Linnolim, to Marxine: My sergeant said that you could feel something was wrong there. Unholy. That is a gift that I’m well familiar with.</p><p>Marxine: I’m worried about the other priests and people who should have been there?</p><p>Linnolim: We believe that there was one priest and perhaps one other person there. Fortunately, it was early in the morning so they wouldn’t have been busy. The parsonage for the Last Doorway is a couple of blocks a way -- the off-duty priests would have been at the parsonage and not at the temple.</p><p>Vinya: We’re also worried about the other temples. The suffragans were wearing robes from the Last Laugh and the Hearthkeepers. So something bad must have happened in those temples as well.</p><p>Linnolim: Sgt. Khalixi had her corporal check that out.</p><p>Vinya: We arrived in Dhaqi yesterday morning. While we were approaching the city, we heard from some of the outgoing ships that some undead had attacked and then broken into worms. We came to Dhaqi because we heard about things being less peaceful here than they had been.</p><p>Linnolim: That is true. Where were you before?</p><p>Vinya: New Arvai.</p><p></p><p>Elama got the sense that Linnolim was sincere and dedicated to protecting the people of this izirate, Dhur (and more broadly Dhaqi). The community is his priority. He was very curious and trying to determine how far he could trust us and if he could turn to us to help him.</p><p></p><p>Elama gave Vinya a nod and Vinya then explained about Rajalmin and that we were trying to find and stop him. We’d gotten concerned about Rajalmin being active in Dhaqi, because he’d been active here in the past. And because one member of the party that had stopped him was from Dhaqi and he seemed to hold grudges. We mentioned that we’d used a dragon page to make an inquiry about how things were in Dhaqi, sent to a colleague of the captain of the Ocean’s Blessing. We’d been told that there was unrest in the city and some trouble with cabals and fiendish business.</p><p></p><p>Linnolim: I believe that you might find information about this at the Well of Screams. It’s not as bad as it sounds. During the Fiend Wars it was a portal to both the Abyss and the Hells. Now it is a library.</p><p>Aldalomiel: It’s a weird place for a library.</p><p>Linnolim: It holds the seal in place and anyone chanting will stand out. Also it is mostly only open to members. Here is how I think we can help each other. I can get you temporary guard badges. I can also give you a letter of introduction to the Well of Screams. You can talk to the people there. (To Elderron) Perhaps you can do some research. The people there will probably be helpful as far as providing information.</p><p></p><p>He pulled some folding wallets out of his desk. He opened one and showed us the bronze badge inside.</p><p></p><p>Linnolim: If these badges are out of this building for more than 36 hours, they’ll corrode and turn green. People will know that they have expired, so to speak. I suggest that you come in every morning and let me know what you’ve done the previous day and what you’re planning. That way I’ll stay abreast of what’s going on. And if you don’t check in, I’ll know where to look for you.</p><p>Marxine: That all sounds reasonable.</p><p>Vinya: Have you heard about other cabal problems in the city?</p><p>Linnolim: Not on Dhur. Maybe in the other izirates, though. The badges are technically city-wide, but they won’t have much pull outside of Dhur.</p><p>Marxine: I trust you, so far, but not everyone is so responsible in a position of power. Is there anyone we should avoid or seek out?</p><p>Linnolim: I believe that our Izir would have a better sense of what’s going on in the city overall, She has far better connections with other Izirs and other parts of the city. She is a far more political being than I am. I could arrange a meeting for you. That may take a few days. Where did you say you were staying?</p><p>Vinya: Bultir’s.</p><p>Linnolim: Ah, the Society of Guests. Bultir is a good guy. Pity about his leg.</p><p></p><p>He then handed each of us a wallet with a badge inside.</p><p></p><p>Elama: I can pull it out and say ‘I’m Elama. FBI.’</p><p>Linnolim: You could do that.</p><p></p><p>We asked if he had any place he could recommend that we go to check out or people to talk to other than the Well of Screams.</p><p></p><p>Linnolim: In Kalam there is the Truthteller’s Downfall. If anywhere has information others don’t want spread, it is there. Also Feloz. The entire izirate. Except for the Hall of Whispered Blades, that is not a place that has information you need.</p><p>Vinya: What do they do there?</p><p>Linnolim: People there practice using words to kill.</p><p></p><p>He then wrote us a letter of introduction to the Well of Screams. He let us read it before we left -- it asked them to talk to us and then make a decision about whether we should be allowed access to the library.</p><p></p><p>Vinya: Can we hang out in that room for a while and rest before we head out into the city again?</p><p>Linnolim: Certainly. Clean up. Rest. Enjoy the tea.</p><p></p><p>After a short rest, we headed to the Well of Screams, after deciding that talking to Bultir about how he knew things were going on in the Ladder could wait until we were back in the inn.</p><p></p><p>At the Well of Screams we were greeted by a gnome at the door. We explained that we were looking for information about rakshasa in general and Rajalmin in specific, and then handed her the letter from Lt. Linnolim.</p><p></p><p>The gnome went and came back with an albino woman, also with African features like Lt. Linnolim. She had a wad of burn scars on her face and arms. She looked over the letter.</p><p></p><p>Woman: I see my brother sent you to me. I am Jorcha Linnolim. Come in. I have heard of Rajalmin.</p><p></p><p>She invited us into the library and led us to a quiet room where we could speak.</p><p></p><p>Jorcha: When Rajalmin was working in Dhaqi before, creating smaller portals around the city that collectively formed a pattern that was a larger gate. Here, in fact. He was trying to re-open the gate under the Well of Screams.</p><p>Vinya: Could he have anything to do with the Orcus cabal and the Spawn of Kyuss?</p><p>Jorcha: I find the idea of Rajalmin working with demon cabalists is very unlikely, because demons and devils do not get along at all.</p><p>Vinya: I was concerned about that as well. It just seemed weird for him to be involved in a cabal that was summoning demons.</p><p>Marxine: We want to follow through with this demon problem here in Dhaqi, as well as staying on the trail of Rajalmin.</p><p>Jorcha: Well, certainly the Suffragans and Spawn of Kyuss indicate that something related to Orcus is going on. That’s not a good thing. It would be worth finding out if crematoria in other izirates have had a similar problem. It seems as though there might be something there.</p><p>Vinya: In New Arvai we couldn’t figure out how to encounter cabals or cultists. All we had was the sense that people who turn to making deals with fiends are often desperate, or feel they are. Where would be the best places to find people who would fit that description here?</p><p>Jorcha: Well, Alhim and Oldest Dhaqi are the more down-at-the-heels part of town. Maybe people are more desperate there.</p><p>Vinya: Is there an izirate that might appeal to an entity with hedonism on his top two list?</p><p>Jorcha: Alhim, perhaps. That is the izirate where vices are most given in to. It has the weakest vice laws.</p><p>Vinya: You mentioned that there are crematoria in other izirates. How might we find those?</p><p>Jorcha: Every izirate has at least one crematorium. In Alhim and Oldest Dhaqi there are public crematoria for those who can’t pay even the modest rates at the Last Doorway. Every izirate has civil or secular ones, for those who don’t feel a need for a religious gloss on the disposal of their remains. There is a private crematory in the Dojh, the Kul-Izir’s residence and the seat of government, but that is strictly for the Kul-Izir and others in her family. That is probably not going to be of interest to you.</p><p>Vinya: Not now, in any case.</p><p>Jorcha: Bakar has a lot of old/abandoned temples from before the Severance. The neighborhood is called Broken God Lane. Most of the temples are now used for other things, mostly not religious activities, but there might be some religious energy, and that can sometimes linger and go weird.</p><p>Vinya: Can you give us a map or something -- showing where the circles Rajalmin created were when he was active here 200 years ago?</p><p></p><p>Jorcha went to a shelf and pulled out some maps, one for each izirate.</p><p></p><p>Jorcha: No. I do not want to start to create the sigil that he was creating, even on paper. I do have a map of each izirate and will write down for you a description of where they were.</p><p>Vinya: That makes sense.</p><p>Jorcha: There were two in each izirate except Kalam.</p><p>Vinya: Why not there?</p><p>Jorcha: At that time, Kalam was still under construction. One of the ones in Dhur was at the Well of Screams and it was aiming the gate in the Well at the Hells, not the Abyss.</p><p>Vinya: Are there books here that might be useful for our research people?</p><p>Jorcha: Of course. I am happy to assist whoever would like to be here with research.</p><p></p><p>Elderron stayed to be Team Research in the library.</p><p></p><p>He found a good deal of information about Rajalmin specifically. He’s a good deal more scary than the average Rakshasa as far as being vengeful and unpleasant, and being somewhat more powerful than the norm. He found that Rajalmin has only a few, like five, plans that he’s done. He repurposes plans, or recasts the basic idea into new forms, He hasn’t done any of the ones that are known and showing up in the library’s materials about him less than twice. (For example: He used shape-shifters in Kiranamakir 200 years ago, creating discord and dramatically increasing the number of duels. And the duellists didn’t follow the normal “rules” -- so people were hurt and the professional class of duellists were substantially reduced. The details were different but the general idea of using shape-shifters to copy people and break down a social fabric was re-used in Torm Brinnom.)</p><p></p><p>DM’s NOTE: It turns out there are seven tactics that Rajalmin has used repeatedly, in varied combinations:</p><p></p><p>Using shapeshifters to sow social discord.</p><p>Running one or more cabals</p><p>Opening one or more gates to the Hells.</p><p>Pitting potential opponents and law enforcement against each other.</p><p>Blackmailing people in positions of power.</p><p>Impersonating one or more authority figures.</p><p>Defaming organizations that might interfere.</p><p></p><p>Team Walking Around decided to head toward Oldest Dhaqi, to go to the secular crematory there (as it is the largest one in the city) by way of Broken God Lane in Bakar, because Vinya really wanted to see that.</p><p></p><p>Bakar is the most opulent part of Dhaqi -- the buildings openly display some luxury and glamorous touches, though it’s still pretty restrained. In Broken God Lane we could see that the pre-Severance temples were mostly still in pretty good shape -- at least the architecture was still there. Though the things that were specific to individual gods have been removed or altered.</p><p></p><p>We did see a big temple near the Dojh. The building was clearly one of the ancient temples, but it had been turned into a temple of the Enthroned because it was the temple closest to the Dojh. The temple statues had been modified to suit the iconography of the Enthroned.</p><p></p><p>We decided to go in and talk to them a little bit. We were greeted by one of the priests. Vinya asked about the new teachings of the Enthroned in New Arvai. The priest said that those teachings sounded interesting, but didn’t seem as necessary in Dhaqi because the powerful had a different sort of relationship to those with less power, and less of an inclination to self-indulgence.</p><p></p><p>Marxine asked about undead. We could see that the priest was upset by that -- her teeth were clenched and she seemed completely scandalized by the idea of undead.</p><p></p><p>Marxine: Have you heard about anything like that elsewhere in the city?</p><p>Priestess: Not in Bakar. Or in any of the other izirates with Enthroned temples. Or at least the word hasn’t gotten to other Enthroned temples. It’s extremely disturbing that this could happen in the temple of The Last Doorway -- they have extensive wards to protect against undead, as I’m sure you can imagine.</p><p>Vinya: Do you know what god this temple was dedicated to before the Severance?</p><p>Priestess: Marduk, the city’s patron. Many of the temples on Broken God Lane were to Marduk -- though other, less majestic aspects of him. I know there’s at least one to him in his role as god of water and agriculture. One for him in his role as god of judges. There are undoubtedly others to gods related to him.</p><p>Marxine: Do you know about Orcus?</p><p>Priestess: People who deal with demons seem completely deranged. People who want to be undead are deranged. People who deal with a demon whose main promise is undeath...I’m not sure if that’s deranged times two or deranged squared.</p><p></p><p>We agreed with that, then thanked her and took our leave.</p><p></p><p>We walked along Broken God Lane. Vinya was looking for any Elven architecture among the ancient temples. Marxine, who was much more focused and on point, was looking for former gods that might have had anything to do with death, Perhaps funerary gods or gods particularly in opposition to undeath.</p><p></p><p>We didn’t see anything that fit either of those. So we got to The Shining Avenue in Oldest Dhaqi, where we’d been told there was a large public crematorium. There were also cafes and restaurants. The cafes had people brewing coffee over the hot sand (as they do it in Turkey and other places).</p><p></p><p>We went to the large public/secular crematorium and were met by a couple of civil servants.</p><p></p><p>Civil Servant: Hello. Forgive me but none of you people look dead.</p><p>Marxine: For better or worse. We did run into problems with undead in this town.</p><p>Civil Servant: Ack! That sounds bad and unfortunate! You killed them, right?</p><p>Marxine: Yeah. Have you heard of anything like that here?</p><p>Civil Servant: No.</p><p>Vinya: We heard about something a couple of days ago -- about corpses objecting to being burned at one of the crematoria. That was a separate incident from the one we dealt with this morning.</p><p></p><p>The two of them looked at each other, then one spoke.</p><p></p><p>Civil Servant 2: Perhaps Alhim? The Street of Shades. The crematory there is troubled.</p><p>Vinya (flashing her badge): If you hear of problems, please contact the guard in Dhur. We’re working with them.</p><p></p><p>We decided to go collect Elderron at the library before heading to the Street of Shades.</p><p></p><p>And there we ended.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="prabe, post: 8224745, member: 7016699"] Session 35: Deputized and Doing Research Dramatis Personae: Aldalómiel - Wood Elf Ranger (Hunter Conclave)/Druid Elama “Lamie” Galanodel- Wood Elf Cleric (Tempest) Vinya Anar - Wood Elf Monk (Way of the Sun Soul) Elderon - High Elf Wizard (Loremaster) Marxine - Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Champion)/Paladin GM - Everyone Else (Note: This session was held on Discord.) 10 Bluzzimin 749 (Campaign day 161)(immediately after) After the last of the Sons of Kyuss dropped, we searched the room in the basement of the temple of the Last Doorway. Toward the far end of the room, where the two puffy worm guys had been when we arrived, we saw an incomplete summoning circle made of blood, viscera, and grey matter. We also saw a couple of corpses, one wearing the robes of a priest of the Last Doorway, that had been partially torn apart and turned into the foul raw materials for that summoning circle. (The other partially disassembled corpse was wearing ordinary street clothes.) Elderron looked at the circle and realized that the puffy worm guys were attempting to summon Orcus himself. We looked back over at the remains of the puffy guys -- with the worms destroyed by the radiant and fire damage they’d taken, what was left was a skeleton inside (basically) a skin sack. With the worms killed, there was nothing like muscle or meat or inside-stuff between the bones and the skin. The temple was completely empty and obviously desecrated -- the circle to summon Orcus being a large part of the desecration. Also the puffy guys appear to have an inherent ability to unhallow places. Elama did a sending to our innkeeper Bultir asking if he knew of anything else that might be going on. Bultir (through the sending): I knew the worms were rising and where, and that they were a threat to Erkonin. Further information I do not have. Sincerest apologies. After making sure that the temple was clear, we left, talking about where we should go and what we should do next. As we walked out of the temple, there was a group of guards arriving at the temple. They were being led by a dragonborn woman in a breastplate. She introduced herself as Sgt. Khalixi. We explained that we’d heard about problems with corpses breaking into worms and something happening at one of the crematoria when we were sailing into the, so we came to the Last Doorway looking to talk to people about that incident and found the temple empty and desecrated -- and wormy undead in the basement. We led her down to the basement, Aldalomiel keeping some distance from the dragonborn, while we showed her the remains of the Spawn of Kyuss and the puffy worm people -- including that one of the puffy people had been wearing the robes of the Hearthkeepers and the other was wearing tattered robes from the Last Laugh. Elderron showed her the summoning circle and pointed out the elements that made it clear it was a circle to summon Orcus. Marxine: When we first arrived, I could sense that something had desecrated the temple. Then we came downstairs and found all of this. While we were talking to her, we mentioned that we’d come to Dhaqi because we’d heard that there was some trouble with cabals and that the city wasn’t as peaceful as usual. We went back upstairs. Khalixi: I’d like to take you back to the guard house so you can explain what you fought and why you were in the temple. We agreed to that. Khalixi (to Aldalomiel): It’s clear that you are uncomfortable with my presence. Have I given offense? Aldalomiel: It is not you. I have a history with one of your kind. Khalixi: Would you prefer my corporal accompany you? Aldalomiel: I need to work through these issues. It is fine. Khalixi then gestured the gnome, her corporal, over and gave him some instructions about checking the neighboring temples. She then started leading us on a walk through Dhur. During the 10 minute walk Vinya spoke to her. Vinya: We’re concerned about other temples with crematoria. Khalixi: My corporal is checking them out and will report. Vinya: Good. Good. We arrived at the guard house after about a 10 minute walk and were taken to a nice and quiet anteroom. Khalixi pointed us to a table with tea and other beverages and to a wash room in the back. Khalixi: Please feel free to refresh yourselves and wash up. Someone will be back for you shortly but you will have time to get your breath back. Vinya washed her face and hands and got a cup of tea. After a few minutes, Khalixi came back with a large, heavily built albino man with what we would think of as African features. Khalixi: This is Lieutenant Linnolim. Linnolim: Good morning. My sergeant tells me that we owe you thanks and that you have information we need. Please come with me. We followed him into his office -- it was clear that extra chairs had been brought in for us, including one that was distinctly dwarven-sized for Marxine. Linnolim: So you found some Spawn of Kyuss around and under the temple of the Last Doorway. Vinya: Yes, those. Also some others. Elderron: Puffy-looking humanoids. Undead. With worms inside. They reached into their throats and pulled out handfuls of worms and tried to hit Aldalomiel. Linnolim: Oh. You found a couple of Suffragans. Some people who are killed by the Spawn come back as Suffragans. Others come back as Spawn. I have come across both in my younger adventuring days. You used light on the Suffragans, yes? Vinya: Yes. Linnolim, to Marxine: My sergeant said that you could feel something was wrong there. Unholy. That is a gift that I’m well familiar with. Marxine: I’m worried about the other priests and people who should have been there? Linnolim: We believe that there was one priest and perhaps one other person there. Fortunately, it was early in the morning so they wouldn’t have been busy. The parsonage for the Last Doorway is a couple of blocks a way -- the off-duty priests would have been at the parsonage and not at the temple. Vinya: We’re also worried about the other temples. The suffragans were wearing robes from the Last Laugh and the Hearthkeepers. So something bad must have happened in those temples as well. Linnolim: Sgt. Khalixi had her corporal check that out. Vinya: We arrived in Dhaqi yesterday morning. While we were approaching the city, we heard from some of the outgoing ships that some undead had attacked and then broken into worms. We came to Dhaqi because we heard about things being less peaceful here than they had been. Linnolim: That is true. Where were you before? Vinya: New Arvai. Elama got the sense that Linnolim was sincere and dedicated to protecting the people of this izirate, Dhur (and more broadly Dhaqi). The community is his priority. He was very curious and trying to determine how far he could trust us and if he could turn to us to help him. Elama gave Vinya a nod and Vinya then explained about Rajalmin and that we were trying to find and stop him. We’d gotten concerned about Rajalmin being active in Dhaqi, because he’d been active here in the past. And because one member of the party that had stopped him was from Dhaqi and he seemed to hold grudges. We mentioned that we’d used a dragon page to make an inquiry about how things were in Dhaqi, sent to a colleague of the captain of the Ocean’s Blessing. We’d been told that there was unrest in the city and some trouble with cabals and fiendish business. Linnolim: I believe that you might find information about this at the Well of Screams. It’s not as bad as it sounds. During the Fiend Wars it was a portal to both the Abyss and the Hells. Now it is a library. Aldalomiel: It’s a weird place for a library. Linnolim: It holds the seal in place and anyone chanting will stand out. Also it is mostly only open to members. Here is how I think we can help each other. I can get you temporary guard badges. I can also give you a letter of introduction to the Well of Screams. You can talk to the people there. (To Elderron) Perhaps you can do some research. The people there will probably be helpful as far as providing information. He pulled some folding wallets out of his desk. He opened one and showed us the bronze badge inside. Linnolim: If these badges are out of this building for more than 36 hours, they’ll corrode and turn green. People will know that they have expired, so to speak. I suggest that you come in every morning and let me know what you’ve done the previous day and what you’re planning. That way I’ll stay abreast of what’s going on. And if you don’t check in, I’ll know where to look for you. Marxine: That all sounds reasonable. Vinya: Have you heard about other cabal problems in the city? Linnolim: Not on Dhur. Maybe in the other izirates, though. The badges are technically city-wide, but they won’t have much pull outside of Dhur. Marxine: I trust you, so far, but not everyone is so responsible in a position of power. Is there anyone we should avoid or seek out? Linnolim: I believe that our Izir would have a better sense of what’s going on in the city overall, She has far better connections with other Izirs and other parts of the city. She is a far more political being than I am. I could arrange a meeting for you. That may take a few days. Where did you say you were staying? Vinya: Bultir’s. Linnolim: Ah, the Society of Guests. Bultir is a good guy. Pity about his leg. He then handed each of us a wallet with a badge inside. Elama: I can pull it out and say ‘I’m Elama. FBI.’ Linnolim: You could do that. We asked if he had any place he could recommend that we go to check out or people to talk to other than the Well of Screams. Linnolim: In Kalam there is the Truthteller’s Downfall. If anywhere has information others don’t want spread, it is there. Also Feloz. The entire izirate. Except for the Hall of Whispered Blades, that is not a place that has information you need. Vinya: What do they do there? Linnolim: People there practice using words to kill. He then wrote us a letter of introduction to the Well of Screams. He let us read it before we left -- it asked them to talk to us and then make a decision about whether we should be allowed access to the library. Vinya: Can we hang out in that room for a while and rest before we head out into the city again? Linnolim: Certainly. Clean up. Rest. Enjoy the tea. After a short rest, we headed to the Well of Screams, after deciding that talking to Bultir about how he knew things were going on in the Ladder could wait until we were back in the inn. At the Well of Screams we were greeted by a gnome at the door. We explained that we were looking for information about rakshasa in general and Rajalmin in specific, and then handed her the letter from Lt. Linnolim. The gnome went and came back with an albino woman, also with African features like Lt. Linnolim. She had a wad of burn scars on her face and arms. She looked over the letter. Woman: I see my brother sent you to me. I am Jorcha Linnolim. Come in. I have heard of Rajalmin. She invited us into the library and led us to a quiet room where we could speak. Jorcha: When Rajalmin was working in Dhaqi before, creating smaller portals around the city that collectively formed a pattern that was a larger gate. Here, in fact. He was trying to re-open the gate under the Well of Screams. Vinya: Could he have anything to do with the Orcus cabal and the Spawn of Kyuss? Jorcha: I find the idea of Rajalmin working with demon cabalists is very unlikely, because demons and devils do not get along at all. Vinya: I was concerned about that as well. It just seemed weird for him to be involved in a cabal that was summoning demons. Marxine: We want to follow through with this demon problem here in Dhaqi, as well as staying on the trail of Rajalmin. Jorcha: Well, certainly the Suffragans and Spawn of Kyuss indicate that something related to Orcus is going on. That’s not a good thing. It would be worth finding out if crematoria in other izirates have had a similar problem. It seems as though there might be something there. Vinya: In New Arvai we couldn’t figure out how to encounter cabals or cultists. All we had was the sense that people who turn to making deals with fiends are often desperate, or feel they are. Where would be the best places to find people who would fit that description here? Jorcha: Well, Alhim and Oldest Dhaqi are the more down-at-the-heels part of town. Maybe people are more desperate there. Vinya: Is there an izirate that might appeal to an entity with hedonism on his top two list? Jorcha: Alhim, perhaps. That is the izirate where vices are most given in to. It has the weakest vice laws. Vinya: You mentioned that there are crematoria in other izirates. How might we find those? Jorcha: Every izirate has at least one crematorium. In Alhim and Oldest Dhaqi there are public crematoria for those who can’t pay even the modest rates at the Last Doorway. Every izirate has civil or secular ones, for those who don’t feel a need for a religious gloss on the disposal of their remains. There is a private crematory in the Dojh, the Kul-Izir’s residence and the seat of government, but that is strictly for the Kul-Izir and others in her family. That is probably not going to be of interest to you. Vinya: Not now, in any case. Jorcha: Bakar has a lot of old/abandoned temples from before the Severance. The neighborhood is called Broken God Lane. Most of the temples are now used for other things, mostly not religious activities, but there might be some religious energy, and that can sometimes linger and go weird. Vinya: Can you give us a map or something -- showing where the circles Rajalmin created were when he was active here 200 years ago? Jorcha went to a shelf and pulled out some maps, one for each izirate. Jorcha: No. I do not want to start to create the sigil that he was creating, even on paper. I do have a map of each izirate and will write down for you a description of where they were. Vinya: That makes sense. Jorcha: There were two in each izirate except Kalam. Vinya: Why not there? Jorcha: At that time, Kalam was still under construction. One of the ones in Dhur was at the Well of Screams and it was aiming the gate in the Well at the Hells, not the Abyss. Vinya: Are there books here that might be useful for our research people? Jorcha: Of course. I am happy to assist whoever would like to be here with research. Elderron stayed to be Team Research in the library. He found a good deal of information about Rajalmin specifically. He’s a good deal more scary than the average Rakshasa as far as being vengeful and unpleasant, and being somewhat more powerful than the norm. He found that Rajalmin has only a few, like five, plans that he’s done. He repurposes plans, or recasts the basic idea into new forms, He hasn’t done any of the ones that are known and showing up in the library’s materials about him less than twice. (For example: He used shape-shifters in Kiranamakir 200 years ago, creating discord and dramatically increasing the number of duels. And the duellists didn’t follow the normal “rules” -- so people were hurt and the professional class of duellists were substantially reduced. The details were different but the general idea of using shape-shifters to copy people and break down a social fabric was re-used in Torm Brinnom.) DM’s NOTE: It turns out there are seven tactics that Rajalmin has used repeatedly, in varied combinations: Using shapeshifters to sow social discord. Running one or more cabals Opening one or more gates to the Hells. Pitting potential opponents and law enforcement against each other. Blackmailing people in positions of power. Impersonating one or more authority figures. Defaming organizations that might interfere. Team Walking Around decided to head toward Oldest Dhaqi, to go to the secular crematory there (as it is the largest one in the city) by way of Broken God Lane in Bakar, because Vinya really wanted to see that. Bakar is the most opulent part of Dhaqi -- the buildings openly display some luxury and glamorous touches, though it’s still pretty restrained. In Broken God Lane we could see that the pre-Severance temples were mostly still in pretty good shape -- at least the architecture was still there. Though the things that were specific to individual gods have been removed or altered. We did see a big temple near the Dojh. The building was clearly one of the ancient temples, but it had been turned into a temple of the Enthroned because it was the temple closest to the Dojh. The temple statues had been modified to suit the iconography of the Enthroned. We decided to go in and talk to them a little bit. We were greeted by one of the priests. Vinya asked about the new teachings of the Enthroned in New Arvai. The priest said that those teachings sounded interesting, but didn’t seem as necessary in Dhaqi because the powerful had a different sort of relationship to those with less power, and less of an inclination to self-indulgence. Marxine asked about undead. We could see that the priest was upset by that -- her teeth were clenched and she seemed completely scandalized by the idea of undead. Marxine: Have you heard about anything like that elsewhere in the city? Priestess: Not in Bakar. Or in any of the other izirates with Enthroned temples. Or at least the word hasn’t gotten to other Enthroned temples. It’s extremely disturbing that this could happen in the temple of The Last Doorway -- they have extensive wards to protect against undead, as I’m sure you can imagine. Vinya: Do you know what god this temple was dedicated to before the Severance? Priestess: Marduk, the city’s patron. Many of the temples on Broken God Lane were to Marduk -- though other, less majestic aspects of him. I know there’s at least one to him in his role as god of water and agriculture. One for him in his role as god of judges. There are undoubtedly others to gods related to him. Marxine: Do you know about Orcus? Priestess: People who deal with demons seem completely deranged. People who want to be undead are deranged. People who deal with a demon whose main promise is undeath...I’m not sure if that’s deranged times two or deranged squared. We agreed with that, then thanked her and took our leave. We walked along Broken God Lane. Vinya was looking for any Elven architecture among the ancient temples. Marxine, who was much more focused and on point, was looking for former gods that might have had anything to do with death, Perhaps funerary gods or gods particularly in opposition to undeath. We didn’t see anything that fit either of those. So we got to The Shining Avenue in Oldest Dhaqi, where we’d been told there was a large public crematorium. There were also cafes and restaurants. The cafes had people brewing coffee over the hot sand (as they do it in Turkey and other places). We went to the large public/secular crematorium and were met by a couple of civil servants. Civil Servant: Hello. Forgive me but none of you people look dead. Marxine: For better or worse. We did run into problems with undead in this town. Civil Servant: Ack! That sounds bad and unfortunate! You killed them, right? Marxine: Yeah. Have you heard of anything like that here? Civil Servant: No. Vinya: We heard about something a couple of days ago -- about corpses objecting to being burned at one of the crematoria. That was a separate incident from the one we dealt with this morning. The two of them looked at each other, then one spoke. Civil Servant 2: Perhaps Alhim? The Street of Shades. The crematory there is troubled. Vinya (flashing her badge): If you hear of problems, please contact the guard in Dhur. We’re working with them. We decided to go collect Elderron at the library before heading to the Street of Shades. And there we ended. [/QUOTE]
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Erkonin (Campaign #2) [Session 45: Rajalmin's Agent]
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