So its been awhile since I've done a gaming update for any of the Pathfinder AP's I'm involved in. My life has been interesting of late to say the least. So let's first start getting caught up with the Carrion Crown adventure as more has happened there. (Engage condensed recap button!)
The Players Jess - Nisha (female tiefling fighter(weapon master kit) 10 / combat monster)
Charles - Zuri (male aasimar wizard 10 / varisian wanderer/ harrow reader)
Charles - Dragos ( Zuri's raven familiar / smart ass /
Me - Julian Du Marc ( male human cleric of Pharasma 10 / NPC/PC / stoic)
Me again - DM (DM / rules dude / story mover-along-er)
NPC - Thredorik Trapspringer (male dwarven rogue 10)
When we left off the party finished its assault on Feldgrau and spent a few days assisting Julian tending to the dead and giving the souls of Feldgrau a proper rest they deserved. Afterwards it was decided to head back to Ascanor Lodge to deal with Estovian and his association with The Whispering Way cultists. Cut ahead a few days as the party arrives at the lodge to be greeted by their favorite porter who lets them inside and asks them to wait as he will fetch the new owner of the lodge. Cilas Graydon apparently decided to take matters in his own hands and organized a coup at the lodge, imprisoning Estovian and taking control of the grounds. Then he called in his fellow disposed allies and they purchased the lodge and turned Estovian over to the local government on grounds of treason. All this happened in the 2 weeks that the players were gone.
After resting up for a few more days the party headed off towards Thrushmoor, situated south east along the shores of Lake Encarthan. Over a week of travel and a few encounters on the road the party arrives in the town of Thrushmoor and begins searching of the Whispering Way's black rider that came down through here. From some good gather information checks they determine that the local stable master may know something. When approached the stable master turns out to be a cultist as well and attacks. Combat ensues. Zuri dies! Julian revives him with the Breath of Life spell. Nisha goes on a rampage and annihilates all adversaries in the stables. Thredorik's thorough search of the stables turns up evidence that the rider headed east to the small fishing town of Illmarsh. The party then decide it was easier to just torch the stables then to explain to the local authorities what happened here. First they released the other horses and then set the stable ablaze and quietly snuck back to the inn they were staying at amongst the commotion. The next day they headed for Illmarsh.
A few miles outside the town they come across a strange fishing boat that looks to be in trouble aiming straight for a reef. The boats only crew was one old man named Horace Croon. Zuri used Dimension Door to transport the party onto the ship and they aided Horace and got the ship safely docked at the Lonely Quay where Horace had his shack. Horace thanked them for their help and mentioned that they weren't the only newcomers to this area as a rider in black came through here a 'few days ago'. Horace wasn't much more help as the eccentric old man apparently suffers from.......SQUIRREL......and loses his train of thought. The party moved on into Illmarsh.
The small town of Illmarsh doesn't welcome the party at all. Its not even the typical 'ignore the new folk', it was a glaring mistrust of the new visitors to the town as if they were criminals. This is what happens when a town is inhabited by insular hicks that distrust the outside world. The party did get the feeling something wrong is going on here too. Not by attitude but by how the people physically look......off. Room and board is procured at the only inn for a ridiculously high 'you're new here' fee and then they go off to ask around town. The townies are not friendly at all to the party and around mid day the local sheriff and his deputies come to take the party to meet the mayor and warn them to leave the people alone here.
Mayor Greedle welcomes them to the town and acts gracious in answering questions the party has. It becomes apparent that Greedle is omitting truths and after pressing the issue he gets upset about the conditions in town. Specifically at the local church of Gozreh. He feels there is something wrong there because people are going missing and asks the party to find out what is happening in exchange for a reward and more information later. Reluctantly they agree and head over to the local church in town. When the get inside of the structure they are asked to leave, quite rudely, by the clerics within. After trying to talk to them the clerics attack. Combat ensues. Clerics start to die. On round two of combat a bizarre aberrant creature appears to fight with the clerics, some sort of chuul hybrid. Combat rages on. The party emerges victorious but hurt. Band-aids applied liberally by Julian and then they search the premises. They come across a few disturbing revelations here: first the statue of Gozreh inside looks more alien and octopoid, second the clerics were sporting unholy symbols to the demon lord Dagon (thanks to some ridiculously high knowledge religion checks), third there was a hidden chapel within the church dedicated to Dagon, fourth there was a secret chamber with the bodies of some of the missing townies in it....each of them had their heads torn off, fifth there was a second chamber that held a young couple of townies who exclaimed they gave their infant girl to the clerics for 'fostering' but didn't know that it involved monsters. Yes...they found out the townies have been giving their daughters over to monsters underwater (Dagon worshipping skum dwelling in the bay) for breeding purposes as part of an ancient pact the founder of the town made generations ago. This fact, however, was gleaned over some investigation and clues given but I'm compressing this.
But before they leave the temple they are attacked by four fluke like worms that burrowed deep into Nisha and Zuri's flesh (Julian and Thredorik squished them thanks to a lucky reflex save). Julian went to work quickly casting remove disease on Zuri and then using his medical skills cut the worm out of Nisha in a gory fashion. Julian then began doling out magical healing to fix the intrusive surgeries. Julian then took the young couple out of the church and escorted them home. They all met at the mayors office to discuss their findings but the mayor was gone. The sheriff mentioned that Mayor Greedle mentioned the old Undiomede home north of town (the old ancestral home of the town's founder) and the party headed out to scout out the run down mansion before night fell.
For the sake of everything I'll end it here for now as it gets meatier from here out even in a condensed format. Next up will be the two days in hell at the old Undiomede House and the first time in a Pathfinder game I get to ask the players to "Make A San Check!". Lovecraftian horror comes to Golarion.
