Death Stalks the Canny Jackal

Empty Graves

Session 5

Roll Call:

Visceral, a broad-shouldered, half-orc Dark Knight who wields a wicked orcish double-ax (4th level)
Katakama Iga-Ryu, an exiled Ninja from Tian Xia (4th level)
Xavos Darksun, a half-elven Summoner from Varisia (4th level)
Rogan Josh, a frail, dark-skinned human Oracle of Time (4th level)

The rest of the week seemed to slither on by, once the Mighty Ebon Lions returned to the living city. They dropped off the living members of the Scorched Hand to the Grand Mausoleum and collected a handsome reward for their efforts. The rest of the week was spent recuperating, making arrangements for magic item purchases and generally reveling with other adventurers at the Tooth & Hookah.

At dusk on Friday, they were collected by Ptemenib, their Pharasmin guide in the city, and taken to the Canny Jackal auction house where they auctioned off much of the loot they had gained while adventuring in the Necropolis. Thanks to Rogan Josh's excellent diplomatic skill, they were able to garner a rather large windfall for their treasures and each member of the group bought some magic items.

While in the Jackal, the Mighty Ebon Lions uncovered some choice bits of rumour making its way through the city including a mention of a less than savoury group of traders known as the Silver Chain, mention of some gold masked strangers walking about the city, and the fact that the two rival noble houses - the Mahfres and the Okhentis - were at each others throats again. All this juicy gossip was absorbed while the group tasted some vintage 5,000 year old honey unearthed in one of the tombs.

As the party wound down, and the hour approached midnight, a concussive blast was felt throughout the Jackal, followed by a wave of bluish energy passing through the hall. Moments later, there was a loud banging at the door, as the servants went to see who it was, the doors burst off their hinges and 16 zombies ambled into the hall. The civilians panicked, running in all directions, but the Mighty Ebon Lions sprung into action. A judicious use of grease and burning hands spells set half of the entrance ablaze and immolated nearly half of the zombies. The fire began to spread throughout the hall however, so Rogan Josh moved to contain it, while the others began engage with the mini undead horde. Civilians continued to panic and ran into the nearby storerooms hoping to barricade themselves in.

The Mighty Lions were doing a fairly good job of cleaning up the zombies when a swarm of severed hands from the Pillar of Second Thoughts in the market piled into the hall, attempting to strangle people. At the same time, the door to one of the storerooms burst open, revealing a previously inert mummy. Waves of magical fear swept over the crowd, but all of the Mighty Ebon Lions - save for Katakama - were not affected.

Visceral's Doom
by bcpstudio

Visceral valiantly stood toe-to-toe with the mummy while Rogan Josh, a couple of summoned wolves,
and others cleaned up the scurrying severed hands. The mummy mercilessly pounded on the half-orc, cursing and diseasing him, weakening his body, but not his resolve. Unfortunately, in the end the mummy proved too much for the mighty half-orc and he was cut down by the mummy's withered and diseased hands. His heroic sacrifice however, gave the Mighty Ebon Lions enough time to rally and Katakama's attacks combined with Xavos flame spells finally brought the mummy low.

With heavy hearts the remaining members of the Mighty Ebon Lions began dragging their fallen comrade towards the Grand Mausoleum. Outside, they could see and hear that similar attacks were happening throughout the city - as a full-blown zombie apocalypse was in swing. Deftly sneaking down side-streets, the group made it to the Grand Mausoleum without incident only to find it in chaos and disarray. The clergy were completely unprepared for the assault and Sebti the Crocodile was arguing with Nephtfu Shepses - the leader of the Voices of the Spire - about how to contain the threat.

The Lions managed to get the high priestess ear for a moment and she agreed to raise the half-orc back to life for a measly 5,000gp. She then charged them with rescuing her brother from The Whispering Stone - a disreputable tavern on the outskirts of town, and then travelling to the Necropolis walls to find out the situation there.

With barely time to catch their breaths, the Mighty Ebon Lions waded out into the night determined to fulfill their new mission.

Rivals in the Under Crypt

The Half-Dead City

Session 4 Part 2

The Gunslinger Tabitha Gale
by bcpstudio

Roll Call:

Visceral, a broad-shouldered, half-orc Dark Knight who wields a wicked orcish double-ax
Tabitha Gale, a slight, young human Musket Master from across the sea
Katakama Iga-Ryu, an exiled Ninja from Tian Xia
Xavos Darksun, a half-elven Summoner from Varisia

Having surprised the Mighty Ebon Lions, the skeletal champions rushed forward, with their leader causing a grievous injury on the half-orc Visceral. Under threat of a heavy attack, the Lions retreated back down the hall to set up a defensive position. The skeletons followed, but their leader remained at the back magically sending his spear flying into continue the attack. After several rounds of tense combat, the Lions wore down their opponents and finished them off. Collecting the Skeletal Leader's magical spear, they continued on through the under halls.

After a little more searching, Katakama came across a group of adventurers looting the place - adventurers they recognized as the Scorched Hand, led by one Velriana Hypaxes. When Katakama was spotted sneaking around, he tired to engage in conversation and negotiate with the rival band. Unfortunately, Velriana was having none of it and demanded that the Lions turn over any loot they found, for she believed as followers of Nethys, it was their right to claim all that lie within the temple. As Katakama and Visceral stayed to negotiate and buy time, the rest of the group tried to sneak around behind the Scorched Hand and engage them from two sides.

Velriana Hypaxes
by bcpstudio

Combat was joined from two fronts and the battle was fierce. Aziz, the Scorched Hand's wizard magically greased the entrance that Sir Pounce, Xavos, and Tabitha were trying to enter and lit it on fire with a flaming sphere, causing massive damage to Sir Pounce. Idorri, the Scorched Hand's muscle, tripped Sir Pounce with her Khopesh which landed him further in the flames and forced Xavos to send him back to his home plane.

Meanwhile Katakama and Visceral entered from their side and began hacking into Khelru (the Hand's cleric) and Aziz. It wasn't long before Visceral's merciless pounding brought the cleric low. A couple of well placed shots from Tabitha soon felled Idorri as well. Xavos summoned a fire elemental which took to burning Velriana and Katakama took out Aziz after being hit with a shocking grasp spell. Velriana continued to fight on despite being the only one conscious and managed to fire off a couple of scorching rays before Tabitha put a bullet through her skull and dropped her dead.

The Lions bound the unconscious members of the Scorched Hand, looted their magic and prepared to leave the Sanctum. On their way out, they came across a secret room which housed a statue. The statue looked like it at one time wore a mask, but it had recently been removed. After consulting the tablet they had found earlier, it was guessed that the mask was the dangerous artefact alluded to therein. Upon questioning, the Scorched Hand admitted to no knowledge of the secret room or the mask. It appeared as though a third party had entered the Sanctum before everyone else and taken off with the artefact.

Not ones to be daunted, the Mighty Ebon Lions headed back to the living city of Wati to catalogue their finds and prepare for a princely haul at the auction to be held later that week. There were more than a few itchy fingers in the group that wanted to use their newly won gold to purchase items of powerful magic.

The Under Halls of the Sanctum

The Half-Dead City

Session 4 Part 1

Roll Call:

Visceral, a broad-shouldered, half-orc Dark Knight who wields a wicked orcish double-ax
Tabitha Gale, a slight, young human Musket Master from across the sea
Katakama Iga-Ryu, an exiled Ninja from Tian Xia
Xavos Darksun, a half-elven Summoner from Varisia

Visceral returns via the scroll of "Switcheroo"
by bcpstudio

Feeling uneasy about treading deeper into the Sanctum without the necessary muscle, The Mighty Ebon Lions utilized a transference scroll given to them by the priests at the Grand Mausoleum and had Rogan Josh teleport out to be replaced by Visceral.

Thus better equipped with muscle, they continued their search of the Sanctum. On the main floor they came across a dormitory filled with musty bunks and bedrolls. Inside one of the rooms, they discovered the half-destroyed bodies of undead acolytes, once again indicating that someone had preceded them into the Sanctum.

They then found access to the lower levels of the temple. Katakama skillfully identified that the corridor leading to the staircase was trapped, but was unable to disable it. Most of the group were able to acrobatically by-pass the trap, but Sir Pounce was unable to and set off a scythe trap, wounding the eidolon.

On the stairs down, the group discovered a trail of fresh blood, indicating that whoever had passed by this way had also set off the trap. At the bottom of the stairs they encountered a statue of Nethys which animated and cast haste upon itself before moving in to attack. Though the statue was speedy and attacked furiously, it was unable to land many blows and was eventually brought low by the combined efforts of the group. The Lions gathered up the statue's magical quarterstaff and continued on into the catacombs.

They next came across a burial room wherein were interred the remains of the Sanctum's highest ranking priests. Looting the sarcophaguses took some time and yielded little in the way of treasure, as the priests of Nethys believed that material wealth was not needed to pass on to the other world. The Lions also came across the dead body of a tomb robber who had met his end at the hands of the statue they had previously destroyed. As they approached, the body came to unlife and struck out at them. With one mighty blow Visceral was able to fell the creature and the group prepared to move on. When they got to the end of the chamber however, the creature rose up again and surprised Katakama, wrapping its rotting hands around his neck, trying to strangle the life out of him. A wave of magical fear swept over the group and Visceral and Tabitha buckled under it, high-tailing it back up to the surface. Fortunately, the effects of the fear wore off just before they reached the corridor trap and they managed to prevent themselves from setting the scythe trap off again. The others who remained tore into the undead creature strangling Katakama furiously and were able to make quick work of it.

The Skeletal Champions in the Chapel
by bcpstudio

Once they regrouped in the chamber, the group continued on east, only to be confronted by a locked door. Katakama failed to pick the lock, but Visceral was able to eventually batter it down with his portable battering ram. The Mighty Ebon Lions then found themselves in a small chapel. Four skeletal warriors led by a fifth, blackened skeletal champion with glowing blue eyes awaited them, having prepared themselves for the group after hearing them beat on the door. Having taken the Mighty Ebon Lions by surprise, the skeletal warriors clattered across the tiled floor, closing in on the group, their glistening spears poised for the kill…