City of Dread

The party was in the middle of a battle with some Cultists and Minions as we left them last week.  Alhellara kept her "Moment of Glory" active so that all members except Mara still had resist 5 for all damage through the encounter.  Lythandar kept using Wizards Fury to provide a second Magic Missile attack each round which eliminated several Minions.  Pretis and Mara kept up their attacks on the enemy while Melisana fought the enemy while trying to keep Marit safe from attack.


Soon the cultists were overwhelmed by the party and the last cultist tried to run away but Gofin tailed him and cut him down with "Targeted for Death" and then the party could take in a view of the carnage.  Lythandar did an Arcana check and found that one of the cultists was wearing a belt that glowed with magic.  Marit was holding a wound on her forearm which Alhellara and Melisana checked for poison or disease but the wound looked like a normal knife wound.  Pretis picked up a couple of the rune covered knives and the party settled down for a rest after moving the dead bodies into a thicket of trees.  

Morning came and the group ambled on down the pathway coming out of the mountains and seeing the town of Tor Gorak.  Once again Melisana performed the Comprehend Languages Ritual and with aid from others in the party found that she could now speak some of the local language.  From the distance they could make out two gates, a castle on a high plateau in the center of the city.  The city was surrounded by a stout wall and a slime covered moat.  The wall was higher at the "east" side of the city where a river flowed past.  They saw farm lands on the plain outside the walls and noticed several wagons entering the city with food stuffs.  Since it appeared that no one was stopping anyone entering the city the group marched in, heads held low, and passed the guards and the barracks just inside the gate.  According to Marit the local law enforcers were the Daggers, identified by a dagger emblem burned into the right cheek.  Asking Marit where her uncle lived they made their way to his house.  The building all seemed similar, made of cold dark stone with thatched roofs.  The party noticed that there were very few men in the city.  Most of the people on the streets were women, several of whom were pregnant, and children.

As they arrived at Vocar's residence Marit hurried into the house and an aged man, bald with a long gray beard appeared and repeatedly thanked the party for returning Marit.  He said that her husband Victor had died several months ago but that she sometime "forgot" this fact.  He had sent out search party but they had found no trace of Marit.  Vocar inquired about the party's origin and when Melisana said that they just arrived in the mountains from the Shadow Rift he seemed suspicious but interested.  When asked about the lack of men he said that most men went off to fight the Whispered One.  Vocar also indicated that yes many of the women were pregnant and that Lord Kas needed lots of "new recruits" to fight the Maimed Lord.  As to how this happened he said "Didn't you know Marit is 12 years old and 4 months pregnant which is about term."  To the party she looked about 22 years of age and 9 months pregnant.  Vocar indicated his age was around 30 even though he looks to be 60.  Asked about an Inn, Vocar suggested Lefty's which is east of the Castle as the only Inn in town.  


The party left Vocar's and decided to check out the docks to see if they could catch a boat out of here.  They went by the castle and a tall building which had a sign out front with the laws of Tovag.

  The words of Kas are supreme, and the Daggers speak with his Voice

• No citizen is allowed to read
• No citizen is allowed to write
• No citizen is allowed to hoard food
• No citizen may own books
• All able bodied men must serve in the Army

As the group made its to the northern gate an man with charcoal-colored clothing over dark metal armor approached and they heard sounds of weapons being drawn from all sides as the shadows disclosed more darkly garbed soldiers.  Each had a dark dagger-shaped emblem on his right cheek.  The leader said that the party must come with them to the Sheath  After some discussion the party followed the soldiers back to the tall building with the sign of laws.  They were led down to a dimly lit chamber where three soldiers remained accompanied by two figures in dark, loose-fitting clothing.  One of them two stepped forward and began asking questions.

• What are you doing in Tor Gorak?
• Where are you from?
• How did you get here?
• What do you know of Cavitius?
• What do you know of Tovag?
• Do you mean to harm Lord Kas?
• What do you know of the Sword of Kas?

The party answered as best they could, we are from Saltmarsh, we appeared in the mountains from the Shadow Rift.  We know nothing of Cavitius or Tovag,  who is Lord Kas, sword, what sword?  The interrogators were convinced the party are spies from Cavitius, they kept asking about the parties goal.  They asked to see the parties swords.  One soldier became angry by the responses slaps DeminVirianis had demanded the release of the party.  They work for him as caretakers and he is to be allowed to leave with them immediately.  


The party gathered themselves and exited with Virianis and upon leaving the sheath the group heard a voice in their heads that said,  "I apologize for any pain or inconvenience that you might have endured there.  Such, I am afraid, is the way of Tor Gorak."  Virianis explained that he cares for the less fortunate souls of the city, in a place given the unfortunate name of the Madhouse.  The Daggers released the party into his care thinking that they work for him.  Virianis indicated that they would not be welcome now at Lefty's and so was took them to meet Larossa Baru.  She takes in visitors.


Scorecard:  In the cultist battle the party found 7 cultists and 7 minions, they also retrieved a Belt of Lucky Strikes.  They earned 313 XP for this encounter.  For successfully avoiding a fight with the Daggers on the streets of Tor Gorak the party earned 343 XP.  They have now gained 956 XP and are at 12,556 XP and need 444 more XP to make it to level 8.