#graspingthorn

Joined by their newest member, Pyre, the Party received a request from the City Government of Guldoon to aid one of the largest businesses in town, Eckhart's Apothecary, that was going through a tough time. Aside from the promise of a substantial financial reward, the Party was promised an amazing opportunity if they completed the task. With Jason pointing out that this could be their "ticket to the big leagues", the Party decided to accept the request.

Heading to Eckhart's Apothecary, they learned from the Proprietor, Dell Eckhart, that monsters had recently infested the harvesting grounds for the ingredients he needed for his Premium Potions. While Eckhart himself was a retired adventurer, & quite capable, he couldn't handle all of the threats himself, especially while protecting the assistants he'd hired to help him with the harvesting. One of Eckhart's assistants, Eve, a young & lovely Owlin woman, offered to be the Party's guide, leading them to the harvesting sites so that they could deal with the monsters. She also ended up being very quickly seduced by Jason, & the two spent the first several hours of their journeying together getting intimately acquainted.

"Fareem? Fareem, are you in here? Are you awake?"

A new quest found our party investigating a mysterious plague that had fallen upon the city of Guldoon. While it hadn't proven deadly (so far), it was certainly unpleasant, reducing dozens across the city to invalids, barely able to get out of bed. Clearly, a problem that needed solving.

Through careful cross-referencing, the party managed to track the LIKELY source of the illness down to a series of pop-up food stalls. However, none of them stuck around long enough to be properly investigated, making pinning down the perpetrator difficult. Fortunately, a visit to the Department of Agriculture, & specifically a bugbear by the name of Reginald, provided a lead (via matching handwriting) to the likely next location, a newly opened piroshki stand.

Not long after their arrival, Jason was able to deduce that the proprietor of the stall, a sweet old woman by the name of Prashkoviya, was under some sort of enchantment (a discovery that spared the poor dear some otherwise unavoidable violence), & Fareem noticed that there was a strange magical being hidden within her hair. A dangerous situation for the poor old woman.

Fortunately, some quick thinking managed to coax Mayhem, the Pixie/Fairy behind the illnesses, our of Prashkovita's hair. And, while she was hostile at first, diplomacy won the day as the party (mostly Fareem & Jason) managed to convince her to stop with all the mischief & put her talents to better use elsewhere. Specifically, as an entertainer at Coochie's.

While the details were sparse (due to magical fuckery), the party was able to deduce that Mayhem had been put up to this by a "Sisterhood" that had promised her great power if she proved herself worthy. Why they were so interested in causing such trouble remains unknown. But, for now, the plague is gone, & the people of Guldoon are safe once more.

((Also, we have a new party member, though they don't have a tumblr blog for their character.))

Oh!

Hello there!

((Just a silly little adventure))

@magicsugarbaby @graspingthorn

It took several weeks for the party to reach the location of their quest, ancient ruins far to the South West from where they'd met. Said ruins had purportedly been taken over by some sort of mixture of Fiends & Undead, which had been harassing folks traveling along the road to the nearby city of Guldoon. A hefty reward had been offered for dealing with the problem, &, seeing a chance to make some money, test their mettle (& their newest member), & perhaps travel to a place where they could find more work, the party gladly accepted.

Upon arrival, they found their targets far more organized than one would have thought. Groups of Manes & Crawling Claws patrolled the perimeter, working far more effectively together than one would expect from such simple creatures. It took some time to find (or rather create) an opening & slip past them, at which point the situation became a little clearer. The Fiends & Undead weren't simply working together naturally, but were instead being controlled by some sort of bizarre cult. To what end wasn't really clear, but then again, figuring that out wasn't part of the quest.

After several battles with mixed groups of Skeletons & Dretches, it became readily apparent that actually fighting the entire cult was probably not going to work out very well in the long run. Especially after an admittedly impressive casting of Shatter by Fareem wiped out nearly half a group, but resulted in the poor girl passing out from exhaustion, leaving Jason to drag her to safety & provide covering fire while Korinna tanked the rest of the encounter. Fortunately, afterwards, Jason had the bright idea to try something that would make the rest of the quest quite a bit easier: Unionizing the Goons.

A few particularly motivating speeches from the salacious Warlock (with backup from the Dragonborn Paladin & a very practical financial advice from their brilliant new Half-Elf), & most of the Cultists controlling the Fiends & Undead realized that they were getting a raw deal. Soon enough, they'd laid down their arms & formed a picket line, demanding better pay, benefits, & the cancellation of some of their more unpleasant sacrifices. This made it much easier for the party to travel deeper into the ruins.

Of course, it couldn't really be THAT easy. While the vast majority of the Cultists had gone on strike, there were still some stronger, more Fanatical members that remained loyal to the cause, & had much more powerful Fiends & Undead at their command. Another hard-fought day, & the party was nearing the final stretch. However, running low on spell slots magical reserves, they opted for one more long rest before confronting the leader of this bizarre Cult.

While preparing to bed down, Jason discovered a "terrifying" Mimic nearby. Oddly enough, it didn't really seem connected in any way to the Cult they were dealing with. Most likely, it had just sort of... been there when they moved in, & they hadn't bothered dealing with it. Jason "courageously" volunteered to "deal with" the creature on his own, so that his companions could get plenty of rest. Sounds of their "battle" could be heard even with the door closed, though it didn't exactly sound unpleasant. Nevertheless, the next morning, Jason emerged relatively unscathed & well rested, though walking with perhaps a bit of a limp.

As the final confrontation began, it was revealed that the Cult had not one but two leaders, Sozeb the Necromancer & Nolë the Fiend Pact Warlock. Well, at that explained the strange composition of their various summoned minions. The battle was fierce, with each of the Cult Leaders aided by truly powerful minions. However, the Leader's teamwork fell apart over a disagreement about what their Cult would actually be called, with Nolë insisting upon the moniker of X. Distracted by their own squabbling, the duo didn't notice that their minions had been dispatched until it was too late. Left without sturdier underlings to hide upon, they didn't last long against the party.

A quick search of their belongings revealed quite a bit of treasure, a Bag of Holding to transport it in, several other magical accessories, & an odd note. It seemed that actually STARTING this cult wasn't either of the Crypt-o Bros' idea. Someone else had been pulling the strings all along, giving them explicit instructions & promising them vast riches & power. And that someone was still out there... Of course those hacks couldn't come up with anything on their own.

After arriving in town, it doesn't take the party long to find where to turn in their Quest. Upon providing the details, as well as physical proof, they are handsomely rewarded, their names recorded & distributed amongst the city for future business, & directions given to the many local establishments at which they might find lodging, supplies, & more. Soon enough, the party finds themselves as the Commander's Arms, an Inn/Tavern very popular among those in their general line of work. Meals are purchased & enjoyed, & the largest room in the house is rented out for the foreseeable future so that the party might rest comfortably together.

Said room, once inside, could easily be mistaken for a luxurious hunting cabin. With ample space, cozy furniture, a snack station, & a private bathing area, it was a far cry from most Inns that they'd seen before. Things were looking up for the party.

As winter set in in the city of Guldoon, crops & livestock had been long since harvested & stowed away. After another bountiful year, there was more than enough to get the populace through the winter, no matter how harsh it might be. At least, until food started going missing from the storehouses by the crate-full. Even with the surplus of supplies, such rapid & repeated theft could have led to the starvation of the masses if something wasn't done...

Enter the party. After an official request was submitted to the Adventurer's Guild, the party was assigned to investigate (because are you really going to trust law enforcement with this? No. You're not.). Heading to the nearest storehouse, Jason took the lead on interviewing the staff, first speaking with the Storehouse Manager, Onyx, a gruff but kind female Earth Genasi who was relieved that someone was FINALLY doing something to help. Afterwards, Jason & Fareem inspected the Storehouse for clues. Poring over the various staff logs & cross-referencing them with the various thefts, Jason discovered a pattern of workers who had missed work due to sudden illnesses, then picked up extra shifts on the days when things went missing. Further interviews with a few of these workers revealed a likely pattern of them being poisoned during after-work drinks, as well as a likely culprit-a human worker named Johan.

Some less than stealthy tracking led to an impromptu interrogation of the suspect, which in turn led to a surprise date at Coochie's Bordello. Meanwhile, Fareem, using her keen eye for details, managed to figure out which routes through the Storehouse were being used to smuggle out the stolen crates, &, though she wanted to be a fly on the wall for Jason's date, she decided to set up in a corner for a stakeout. A wise move, in the long run, as she managed to catch Johan sneaking back in after hours (but before his date) to apply an Arcane Mark to a crate, as well as a magical rune that would make the eventual theft even easier.

Later that night, Jason & Johan met up at Coochie's. There, Jason employed some less than savory seduction techniques to overwhelm Johan, who promptly folded, spilling all the details of the operation (or, at least, everything he knew). His employers, a quartet of mysterious men from Feywild settlement of Ärlen, had hired him to drug/poison random coworkers for them to impersonate, so that they could get in & out without raising suspicion. Said employers would be meeting him the following night to get the details for the next theft. A perfect opportunity for another stakeout.

The following evening, as the party hid nearby, Johan met his employers in an alleyway near the docks. There, he gave them the details, both real & fake, for the next theft, & they were on their way, with the party in pursuit of the would-be thief. After some expertly stealthy tracking, the party managed to subdue their target (It helps to have a 7 foot Dragonborn powerhouse sometimes), &, through the ancient art of "just talk", Fareem & Jason managed to convince him to help them talk his friends down. And, after picking up some beer & steaks to aid in their diplomatic efforts, the party managed to talk down the others, learning that they themselves were just hired help for a mysterious benefactor from out of town. Said mysterious benefactor was likely, given some documents uncovered, tied to the Cult that they had encountered the previous summer. But those details are for later. For now, Quest Complete.