9.2: Obligatory giant spider adventure

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 9).

Bradley Weatherby (Human Dervish Dancer 9/Knife Master Rogue 7/Duelist 2).

Johann Kressmann (Hobgoblin Barbarian/Paladin 9). ABSENT PLAYER

Veldi (Drow Oracle/Sorcerer 9).

"Jake" (Human? Wizard/Rogue 9). Still unsure on race and name because I'm a bad DM.

Phox's replacement, otherwise known as the PC that will probably be dead before the end of session 10 (Human? Sorcerer (Sage)/Wizard 9). Unsure of name and race as player kept the sheet to finalize for next session, but given the lessons history has taught us, it may soon become unimportant. Anyway, Phox 2 is a freelance wizard that is mere months away from his retirement. In order to get the mad moniz before that he has decided to come to the Desolation and join in the big adventuring boom in the area. He will probably be retiring earlier than he expected to his, and only his, surprise. But who knows, he may go the distance and live his twilight years on the beach somewhere... Nah, he's totally screwed.

Unnamed future BW victim (Human Fighter/Rogue/Shadowdancer/Something 9). A temporary character for a temporary player who was invited to join in because Johann's dude was indisposed at game time. Originally wanted to play a Kender (because he's that guy) but decided not to after the Camp is the kind of place where normal citizens torture and murder people who steal from them. Decided to make a human and DM provided why he was there to fit him in quickly and easily. He's a freelancer from Bard's Gate sent by a client to acquire a certain Dwarven artifact that is supposed to be in a subterranean command post used during the war; a command post that is now the home of a nest of horrifying arachnid horrors! Dun dun dun.

Obligatory giant spider adventure, Session 9.2 - 7/5/14

Walking, walking, still walking, but what's that in the distance? Through the haze the party makes out what appears to be some sort of massive hole ahead (insert innuendo if necessary). Looks like a spider lair, whatever those are supposed to look like, thinks the party and they advance. They get closer and see the ground steeply drops off down to a hole about 20 feet across that seems to lead into some sort of infinite abyss of both time and space. No ones knows what could possibly slumber in its depths or where it leads. It could be a portal to hell or the darkness between worlds for all the party knows. The enormity of all they don't know and can't possibly know descends upon the party and the burden of such un-knowledge holds them paralyzed. The pit consumes 1d6 adventurers per round.

Or more accurately, a light spell on a pebble thrown down the pit shows ground about 60 feet down, and an bloody skeleton is pushed down a couple seconds later to see what happens. It splats and then stands up. Nothing. With that settled the party gets ready to head down with Jake providing a teleportation taxi service and the undead plummeting. But before they can begin:

"Hail, travelers!"

A merchant of some kind, seemingly lost in the Desolation approaches them... and the party gets ready to kill as it is in the Desolation. Jake immediately teleports behind him and puts his sword at the man's spine and demands to know who he is. The merchant is in fact the unnamed future BW victim, disguised with his Hat of Disguise or something similar. Why? Because. He had watched the party approach the spider den, the place where his goal rests, a fist sized gem with some sort of vaguely defined and totally situational magic, as per the book. Seeing they weren't obviously monsters (though they had undead) he decided to step out disguised and travel with them long enough to steal the thing he wanted, figuring the party would be receptive to helping a lost traveler. Hahaha.

Future Victim ignores Jake and addresses the party and BW immediately thinks he's a trade consortium agent, and they and he don't necessarily see eye to eye nowadays... and they would certainly know he was here if his new friend Marcus was setting him up. FV tells the party he was looking for an item on behalf of a client from Bard's Gate (another red flag for BW). BW asks who he works for and FV, knowing it's more than his life is worth to give away such details, names the first rich person in Bard's Gate who is not his client that he can think of: Pep Siton, an NPC named by looking at the drinks on the table as the DM was taught is the proper protocol by DM BW. BW knows the name and points out that Pep Siton deals in art, not artifacts and says he finds it suspicious. Things escalate and initiative is rolled.

FV, built all for mobility and shit, smacks Jake with the butt of his short sword, dealing 1d6+2 nonlethal damage. Jake is supremely not concerned. BW cuts FV in response, non-non-lethally. FV moves away and BW and Jake engage him while the others watch. Getting tired of the show, one of the casters decides to Hold Person FV to stop the fight. He makes it. More fighting with FV clearly being outclassed; Jake decides to try one more Hold Person and if it doesn't work decides to just go for the kill and end it. FV fails. Lucky for him. The party ties him up and takes his stuff away before he breaks free of the paralysis and then they have another conversation.

By then the Disguise Self was shattered and everyone knew what he really looked like. They come to an agreement as only PCs can for other PCs joining the party, in that FV could join and help and even most likely get the thing he was after (and he might have actually believed them, hahaha), but if he ran away from them the party would murder his ass and take his stuff. He agrees and FV joins the party. Yay.

Down the hole they go! Once they are down the party realizes they had come through a hole in a dome over some sort of large subterranean hall. Dwarven by the look of it. Darkness in every direction and only a small circle of light from Light leaves them with the unknown in every direction... except for those with dark vision. Veldi steps out of the circle of light as FV does, who promptly disappears due to Hide in Plain Sight and a stupid high stealth mod; Jake and BW consider this running away and out of game decide to kill FV when they find his treacherous ass. They find him soon. There are four tunnels running in the cardinal directions in the hall, with three seemingly collapsed. Between each two tunnels is an elaborate shrine of sorts, though three seem mostly destroyed. The last one is intact and has a gigantic statue of the Dwarven god Mordin, and from his shield comes a faint glow.

FV goes straight for the statue and the glow, and when he gets there stops hiding and becomes visible to those with dark vision. Veldi leads them over. BW tells FV he ran and FV denies it and they put their differences behind them peacefully. Really. For now anyway. On Mordin's shield they see a large dusty gem, about the size of a fist, imbedded in the shield and it seems to glow faintly. FV realizes that is what he came for, but the party stops him from taking it, reasoning it's not a good idea to piss of whatever is here besides the spiders until they are ready to leave. They're familiar with how this "archaeology" shit works.

Speaking of spiders, the party investigates the one non-collapsed passage. They climb a staircase up to the opening and find web, lots of web around the doorway and on the floor. Just might be what they are looking for. The party gets ready and sends the undead in first with commands to attack on sight, which is difficult due to the strands of web everywhere... only Gurg notices something deeper into the room and he charges and is hit with a blast of web. Initiative!

The undead move into the room and break Gurg out while multiple Ashborne Arachnae descend from the walls and columns of the room to join battle. The living dawdle a bit near the entrance of the room except for Jake, BW, and FV. Jake teleports BW with him into the room and they start slicing some arachnids. FV moves into the room and the web, thinking his Hide in Plain Sight will protect him (touching the web, so it won't) and looks around. Clutches of eggs, everywhere. Thousands maybe. Looking up toward the vaulted ceiling, more web, more darkness, and lots of hanging cocoon looking things. Wait, why is the wall above the doorway all squiggly? And that's when the two amped up spider swarms (1d4 str poison, higher DCs, higher HP, intelligence: The benefits of being baby Ashborne Arachnae) swarm their way down the walls and into the entry way.

Eww spiders! Phox2 and Beltin backtrack and Veldi, riding her giant undead lizard, advances into the room. Once she is in a large blast of web seals the doorway behind her, and the brood mother descends into the fray. Right next to Veldi, who promptly gets bitten for 12 strength damage and goes unconscious. Well shit. Trapped outside with his archers and Phox2, Beltin does some bard song and they stand impotently at the web trying to figure out what to do before deciding on casting Spark and waiting several rounds for the web to burn up... it doesn't occur to them until a few rounds later to have the archers attack the web and break it, but when they do they see the brood mother and the swarms engaged with all of the living party members while the undead mostly fight more spiders.

One of the archers gets a full round off and mostly misses due to the brood mother's 31 AC and then Phox2 reseals the whole with more web, correctly deducing that the DM was about to swarm their asses again. BW and Jake engage the beast but improbably manage to avoid the 2d8 strength poison to the DM's disappointment, and then FV jumps on the back of one of the large undead fighting the brood mother and gets in a good stab. Already hurt, when he does so the beast screams the kind of scream you can only hear in your head (bitches love psionics) and the whole party feel some nosebleeds coming on. And now a good portion of the eggs are shaking violently, as though those that are mature enough heard their mothers call and are trying to come to her aid. Oh shit... and who knows how far that call went out.

Jake has had enough of the motherfucking spiders in the motherfucking cavern and teleports around with Damnation Stride; fire erupts all around the brood mother, the swarms, and his allies as he explodes around her stabbing repeatedly. She shakes off the fire and the swarms put up a valiant effort before burning into nothing. The last of the lesser spiders in the room heeds its mother's call and rushes away from the undead it was holding at bay and sinks its fangs into BW. Too little too late. It gets cut up and then, desperately fighting for life or at least someone to die with it, the brood mother falls as well. The eggs continue to shake ominously and some begin to crack; Jake, remembering his previous commitment to having enough of the motherfucking spiders, blasts them into oblivion.

As not all of the eggs were at the hatching stage, BW finds a large clutch of several hundred or so that weren't shaking and takes them and then the rest are destroyed: Genocide mostly complete. Eventually he seals the eggs in an alchemical apparatus with air holes and they make one of the undead carry it. Veldi and everyone get some strength back from Beltin and then everyone remembers what every last person had forgotten: Beltin had cast Communal Delay Poison on everyone before leaving the surface. Well shit. No, you're not getting a retcon.

No casualties and Ding! Level 10.

9.1: Desert walking simulator

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 9).

Bradley Weatherby (Human Dervish Dancer 9/Knife Master Rogue 7/Duelist 2).

Johann Kressmann (Hobgoblin Barbarian/Paladin 9). ABSENT PLAYER

Veldi (Drow Oracle/Sorcerer 9).

"Jake" (Human? Wizard/Rogue 9). Still unsure on race and name because I'm a bad DM.

Phox's replacement, otherwise known as the PC that will probably be dead before the end of session 10 (Human? Sorcerer (Sage)/Wizard 9). Unsure of name and race as player kept the sheet to finalize for next session, but given the lessons history has taught us, it may soon become unimportant. Anyway, Phox 2 is a freelance wizard that is mere months away from his retirement. In order to get the mad moniz before that he has decided to come to the Desolation and join in the big adventuring boom in the area. He will probably be retiring earlier than he expected to his, and only his, surprise. But who knows, he may go the distance and live his twilight years on the beach somewhere... Nah, he's totally screwed.

Unnamed future BW victim (Human Fighter/Rogue/Shadowdancer/Something 9). A temporary character for a temporary player who was invited to join in because Johann's dude was indisposed at game time. Originally wanted to play a Kender (because he's that guy) but decided not to after the Camp is the kind of place where normal citizens torture and murder people who steal from them. Decided to make a human and DM provided why he was there to fit him in quickly and easily. He's a freelancer from Bard's Gate sent by a client to acquire a certain Dwarven artifact that is supposed to be in a subterranean command post used during the war; a command post that is now the home of a nest of horrifying arachnid horrors! Dun dun dun.

Desert walking simulator, Session 9.1 - 7/5/14

Day 11 still. The the girl from the tavern tries to embrace her hero, BW, while the rest of the party and the bloodthirsty crowd watches on. Seeing the violence is over, the crowd begins to go back to their business, but BW has had enough. He tells the girl to relax and let it happen, Charm Monsters her again, and tells her she is nothing to him, never was and never will be, and to get the fuck out of his face.

She seems confused for a second, as if trying to get the joke. Then there is a couple seconds of stunned disbelief. And then she runs away crying. BW seems satisfied that she won't bother him again, so the party heads back into the Sip of Blood to continue planning. So they are down a man now... Going recruiting says Yohann and he heads out to do so. Great, says the rest of the party, so about dem rangers. Lucky tells them that Skeriber and his rangers just got back from some long excursion into the wastes; in fact the majority, including Skeriber, had been out for the last two weeks or so. Perfect timing, thinks the party, and off they go.

Near one of the Camp's edges they find another shitty shanty looking building like all the rest, but one that actually large and looks fortified against attack. Around it they see a fenced in area with actual green things growing in the Desolation. As they approach the two men in front of the door, rangers by the look of it, ask them their business and get a dodgy response about wanting to know about some spiders, and then BW asks what they are growing.

"Food."

With that curiosity sated, the party is led in to see Skeriber himself. Undead have to wait outside. Inside they find a rather roomy, though shitty living area with several rangers milling about doing various things, seemingly ignoring the newcomers. Sense motive says they are actually paying quite a bit of attention. At the far end of the long room is a desk with three people standing around it and one man sitting behind it; there are no other chairs near it. The man behind it is obviously Skeriber. The four seem to be having an intense, hushed conversation but, of course, BW interrupts and spots a familiar face. Why if it isn't Georgia, one of the rangers who had saved his life. BW expresses how it is a joy to see her again, and with a diplomacy check gets a small smile, which is as much as the situation can afford. The two standing men look at the party impassively, as does Skeriber, but a sense motive check says he doesn't like the party at all. And he is not making much of a show to hide it. Perhaps he knows more about the party then they of him.

The pleasantries end quickly and BW gets down to what he wants. The party wants to find the nest of some spiders and the rangers know where it is. Georgia asks why and BW explains they owe him some money; an obvious lie for people who would obviously expect one anyway. There is a few seconds of silence and then Georgia turns and looks at Skeriber. He doesn't seem to react beyond staring back, but she seems to take it as an affirmative and walks over to a chest in the corner. She returns holding a map with the spider lair marked and the party is allowed to study it, but not take it of course.

A low DC intelligence check is made by those who made their sense motive versus Skeriber; he doesn't like you at all, so as long as you aren't trying to take his people into it, on this occasion he is willing to point you to certain death for free. Well, almost free.

As the party begins to leave (BW does his best to make another good impression on Georgia and does), Skeriber stops him and says they have business in private. BW remains behind. Skeriber reminds BW of his motive for seeking spiders and says that is awfully convenient as someone owes he, Skeriber, money as well. Remember way back in session 2 you got your ass saved by rangers and didn't pay? 500 bits. BW, being the obnoxiously rich type, asks if he would take 2,000 gold instead. Skeriber would and does and then BW is dismissed.

Back at the tavern, the party thinks the ranger meeting went better than expected, though they wouldn't be surprised if they did it just so they knew where they would be for an ambush. Oh well. Yohann shows up with his hand on Phox2's shoulder, pretty much leading him to the party. He announces that this elderly gentleman is a master of the arcane arts and has joined up with the company. And there was much rejoicing as Phox2 joined the party. As he gets acquainted with the rest, Yohann walks down the bar and starts loudly and almost violently soliciting more people to join the cause. You go, Yohann, you may need to conveniently find new recruits for next session.

The party debates the merits of leaving immediately and spending some time in the open at night, which the DM backs out of game, unsurprisingly leading to the motion's defeat (one of these days those fuckers will face some "sunlight powerlessness" badass creatures); they decide they will sleep the night and then head for that peaceful cemetery to rest before hitting the spiders.

Day 12, morning, they are off. They cut off the road almost immediately and begin the long, slow journey ahead. Wooooooo goes the desolate wind. Step step go the feet. "Enjoy the sunburn, assholes," the sun would say if it could speak. But what does the monster say?

"..."

No encounters... at least yet. Veldi begins to think everyone has just been overstating the Desolation. I mean, come on, it's just a desert. BW tries to explain how it's an awful, awful place where everything wants you dead, but she seems unconvinced. And then through the haze of sun and powdered bone, the party sees a large group a ways off, just standing, swaying slightly, in the desert. Veldi makes the perception check to notice them while Beltin fails. The way they move gives it away: Undead. Lots of them. But they don't appear to have noticed them yet and they seem inclined to stay or meander if their small area, so the party sets off around them, keeping an eye out. It seems as though eventually the group begins to notice and slowly starts moving in the party's direction, but as the party quickens the pace they seem to lose interest and go back to their pointless, unmoving vigil.

So they're walking and talking, and hey is that a survival check ahead? No, never mind it's just some quick sand, about a 30 foot across patch. As the party saw it before they stepped into it, it's not that big of a deal and they begin to walk around. And that's when they see the glint of sun on steel. On the far side of the patch, mostly submerged in the sand, both quick and regular, the party sees bits of weapons sticking out like someone brought a weapon rack here and knocked it over long ago. Sensing the possibility for loot, the party mages start mage handing one out. It meets resistance at first but then it comes easy. Too easy. And then it's coming on its own along with many more of its friends. The weapons rise and begin to swirl around as if in some kind of whirlwind, ready to slice and dice anything stupid or unfortunate enough to be near. A wild Searing Wind ("I dunno, some kind of construct," says the only person who kinda makes the knowledge roll) has appeared! Roll initiative!

The Searing Wind wins initiative and some people and undead start getting sliced. The party is unhappy with this, especially when they speculate it may be some sort of weapon swarm complete with the swarm subtype; they are happy when the person who sorta made the knowledge roll knows that is not the case. Smack go the undead! Its AC is 30 says the DM! Nevermind, it didn't smack, says Beltin and Veldi! Undead bat swarms go! Oh it has Dr 10? Fffffff. The high AC and DR only protects it for so long, but after slicing and dicing mostly everyone at least once (and sometimes twice), it begins to show signs of not being well, as the weapons begin to chip and rust and then eventually corrode into more dust coating the party: It's only recognizable as different than the inescapable bone of the Ashen Wastes due to the reddish tint. The DM considers a roll versus tetanus but decides against it. Yay, no loot!

Soon after, it is approaching dusk, but in the distance the party sees the border fence and the monuments of the cemetery beyond. They approach the area of tilled earth around the fence and while in it they begin to fill a rumbling approach! Quickly they step over the fence and get ready, but then nothing. Huh, that was weird. As soon as they step inside everyone feels just ever so slightly safer, though Jake notices signs of some sort of magical battle here not long ago. This feeling of well being intensifies as they move inward toward the fountain, well for Jake, Phox2, and Veldi at least. Beltin and BW feel an air of disquiet and anger as they approach the destroyed crusader tents, almost as if something has set its will against them. The new three notice the tents and wonder what happened, but still don't manage to feel unsafe, so the plan to rest there for the night stands. Jake makes some magical accommodations and brings forth his loyal magical hound to stand guard.

The area interests Jake though, so he makes some knowledge checks and remembers hearing about how there are all sorts of monuments in the Ashen Wastes from the Army of Light, created when it seemed that good must obviously triumph over the evil of Tsar, before it became clear that failure was more than a remote possibility. He remembers hearing how a powerful angelic being fell and the ground where he fell was consecrated by his death, leaving behind a small amount of his power and his will to protect. It seems like a good guess to think the cemetery was built on said area to honor him... perhaps the rumbling they felt was some kind of defense mechanism that let them pass.

Day 13. The party sleeps well (or a little fitfully in BW and Beltin's case), but all wake ready to face the exciting, obligatory giant spider adventure ahead. They head south to exit the cemetery the way they came in, but at the fence they see a slightly disturbing sight: Dozens of corpses, broken on the ground in and around the tilled earth, but with none beyond the fence. Pretty sure that wasn't there last night, thinks the party. They look closer and recognize them as undead. The undead they had seen in the distance the day before; they must have been drawn to the sounds of battle with the construct and then just kept walking that direction until whatever happened here happened. The party remembered the rumbling the night before and Jake summons some sheep. He sends one onto the tilled earth.

They hear rumbling approaching and the sheep seems mildly disturbed and then suddenly a giant hand of earth rises from the tilled ground and slams the sheep down, crushing it. What the hell was that, wonders the party as they hear and feel the rumbling move away. Jake commands his other sheep onto the ground and they watch again. Rumble rumble, but instead of a fist, this time the whole body of a gigantic earth elemental rises and smashes the sheep back to nothingness. And now we know, thinks the party, and knowing is half the etc. etc. When the rumbling moves away again they quickly pass the tilled ground and are back into the scenic Desolation, ready for another fun-filled march to "certain" death.

TO BE CONTINUED...

8: Pointless violence, i.e. business as usual

Dramatis Personae

Beltin (Aasimar Dirge Bard/Cleric 9).

Bradley Weatherby (Human Dervish Dancer 9/Knife Master Rogue 7/Duelist 2).

Tarl (Aasimar Inquisitor/Paladin 9).

Phox (Kitsune Rogue/Ranger 9).

Johann Kressmann (Hobgoblin Barbarian/Paladin 9). Picture a pre-WW1 German officer in full dress regalia, complete with ridiculous hat. Now picture that officer as a hobgoblin. Johann was an officer in several of the mercenary free companies in the south and also worked as an independent drill instructor for various city states and "nations." He has an impeachable record for efficiency, success, professionalism, as well as for bursts of stunning brutality in the field against his employer's enemies.

He has now been hired to raise a warband to compliment the official forces of the crusade in their quest to cleanse the Desolation, and he has been offered a ridiculous sum to help in the undertaking. He built his forces and headed toward the Camp. Once there he committed many of his men to reinforce the (doomed) crusader camp and after acquiring as much (faulty) intelligence as he could, sent the rest to scout the outskirts of Tsar and setup a forward outpost. The men in the camp were slain to the last and those sent out into the wastes never returned and are now assumed dead, leaving Johann to rebuild his army the best he can using the freelance adventurers of the Camp.

Veldi (Drow Oracle/Sorcerer 9). Yay... two undead menageries to deal with now, but this time in a slightly more literal sense as it includes some actual undead animals, including a Fast Zombie Bat Swarm. Veldi is from a Drow enclave and from a young age demonstrated unusual skill with the magical arts, specifically with necromancy. Her elders were well aware of her talents and eventually it became clear the use they were going to put her: She would create and control them an army of the undead for their wars of conquest. Veldi decided "fuck that" and GTFO'd. Now lost with nowhere to go, she heads toward the Camp, mistakenly seeing it as a "safe haven" for a necromancer, as opposed to a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

When she arrived she met Johann, who, like her elders, recognized her talents and wanted them, but with two distinct differences in that this time it would be her choice and secondly, it would be to fight the all encompassing evil of the Desolation. Veldi decided to join up with him.

"Jake" (Human? Wizard/Rogue 9). Don't have the sheet so don't have too much to say (including the character's actual name) except he Dimensional Dervish slices and dices all day, everyday. He's an unaffiliated freelancer from the South looking for work and mad loot and has decided to join up with the party due to their growing notoriety.

Pointless violence, i.e. business as usual, Session 8 - 6/21/14

Day 11, afternoon. Tarl, Beltin, and BW go to see the Usurer and report in on their success with the mission, and the Usurer is pleased. He tells them that the merchants in town will be inclined to gouge them less at his behest and that he will offer his services for some high quality magical crafting. Yay! Beltin then trades in some loot of the arms and armor variety for some in-store credit with the Usurer... no idea how much they actually got yet because we didn't stop to do it then and I haven't thought about it since. Oh well.

The three head to leave, but Tarl stays behind with a proposition for the Usurer. He asks him to allow him to build a jail to bring some civilization to the Camp to reign in the murder in the streets (and backrooms of taverns, not that he knows that); he would of course recognize the Usurer as the legitimate authority and lawmaker of the Camp. The Usurer is thoughtful and eventually agrees on the basis that the Camp could use a thin veneer of respectability due to its growing, no where near peaked, newly found prominence. It's harder to justify massacring a town than a bandit camp after all. With their deal made, Tarl leaves the party to begin preparations to become the Camp's first official sheriff.

And now we have "Jake," the replacement character. Having heard of the party Jake finds Beltin's and BW's crude stone shanties and investigates. He finds them not home and lets himself in (teleporting past the undead guards who have orders to stop people from walking inside, which has nothing to do with suddenly magically appearing). From there he rummages through their things to try to get a feel for who they are and leaves a copy of his adventurer/mercenary resume on the door for their consideration and then heads to the Sip of Blood. He nails a copy of his resume on the door their as well, with a note that anyone interested should find him there in a few hours. Jake stops to rob the pockets of the maimed gunslinger hanging outside the tavern, but finds him already robbed but still alive. With that, he departs to look around the Camp, his new home until his inevitable death.

Though he feels he is making good progress rebuilding his forces now that he has a necromancer on his side, Johann is smart enough to know that two necromancers are better than one. He has heard about the party and their exploits and realizes they are probably up for hire. He and Veldi approach Beltin and make their introductions and head to the Sip of Blood (Beltin asks the maimed gunslinger if he learned his lesson and once he is satisfied he has, he cuts him down and lets him go) for a drink and to talk business. Johann explains about his contract to help cleanse the Desolation of all evil, which causes Beltin to laugh in his face and politely suggest he may be crazy, but they hit it off well enough and an alliance is made between the two great organizations of the party and Johann's mostly non-existent free company. Johann and Veldi have joined the party!

While this is going on, a little ways down the bar Phox is loudly and playfully arguing with Lucky about how his rock can't be lucky, but after losing a few coin flips in a row decides apparently he was wrong. For completely unknowable and meta-gamey reasons, Phox then turns the discussion with Lucky toward the possibility of getting one of his girls as a live-in maid. Specifically the one BW murdered a guy for propositioning (which Phox doesn't know about). Phox offers a lot of money to Lucky, who accepts and gives his blessing, but who also explains it's not like he owns them so Phox has to make his own arrangements with the girl. Get a weekly salary that's more than hooking for easy menial domestic tasks? Yeah, she agrees and Phox gives her a list of things to pick up for him, including a special package from Griswald she is not supposed to look in. Spoiler: It's human meat. Phox has decided his character is, and has always been, secretly a cannibal from time to time. Why? Because. And apparently the Griswald arrangement was made in the past, but it's not like Griswald would disagree for the amount he's being paid. And he understands discretion.

The girl leaves on the errands, thinking she will tell the love of her life (i.e. the ruthless murderer who is still effecting her with Charm Monster) about her exciting new job with his business associate if she sees him. With the girl gone, Phox heads to the roof of the Sip of Blood and waits for BW to approach. To ambush him or hide from him or something. Why? Because.

Speaking of BW: After the Usurer meeting, he decided to go check at the Bard's Gate Embassy to see if he got a response to his messages sent to the trade consortium. When he hasn't come yet and he gets agitated. Sammar shrugs and tells him he can't control the mail; there hasn't been a courier since before the party arrived in Camp, but he should be there anytime now. And he reminds BW he, Sammar, still has like three letters to the trade consortium still sitting in his desk: Still want those sent or...? BW takes them back and sits down to write another strongly worded letter to his employers, this time denouncing them for the faulty info about Rupert Smitty job and demanding new negotiations be opened for the contract. He finishes it, hands it to Sammar, and heads out of the embassy and begins to head back to the Sip of Blood.

On his way back a stranger in a trench coat steps out of an alley nearby and beckons to him, complete with a "pssss over here." BW cautiously walks over to the man, who introduces himself as "Marcus," a purveyor of fine and exotic poisons. He opens his trench coat (BW flinches because he was more in mind of flasher than "watcha buyin'?") to reveal many tiny and assorted vials. He tells BW he can spot a man who recognizes and appreciates fine wares such as his and offers to do business. BW is interested and asks for some common, run of the mill poisons and gets a contemptuous stare in response. Did he not understand that this man is a professional who caters to an elite clientele? Eventually he gets there and asks for some Death Blade. Marcus compliments him on a fine choice and asks if he used his last dose when he murdered a man in the tavern last night.

BW's hand goes toward his kukri, but Marcus says that is not necessary and that he has a business proposition. Please follow me, he says, as he beckons further into the alley. BW walks after him, clearly ready to cut his throat. Before he can decide whether or not he should, Marcus introduces himself as a fellow member of the trade consortium and tells BW that he has a problem. And that BW has a problem.

He explains some consortium politics, mainly BW's former associates (handlers) have fallen out of favor, which means by proxy their agents are out of favor. He tells BW that he was told to expect him and another agent, a talented young upstart, but one trained by the infamous Feron Amathy (i.e. Rupert Smitty). He didn't know what he looked like but would know him by the contract he was carrying. BW was meant to be a decoy and lead the real assassin to Amathy, at which point BW would die in the attempt, preferably after weakening Amathy, and the younger man would finish the contract. So, Marcus concludes, that's your problem: You are worse than expendable; you are a loose end. But that can be changed.

My problem, he explains, is that he was to be that agent's handler for the mission and now that agent is dead. He says they obviously underestimated BW, as he sniffed out and murdered the competitor mere hours after he arrived in Camp. BW totally pretends it wasn't a complete and utter accident and stares at Marcus, waiting for him to continue. Marcus seems to be impressed and asks how the agent died. BW explains how he went down like a punk in a fairly obvious trap and Marcus seems thoughtful at that and says he thought a man trained by Amathy would be capable than that. Apparently not. Anyway, the assassination is considered a high priority contract; the Amathy had been a top problem solver for decades and knows too much to go rogue. He offers BW a deal: He will give him all the support meant for the dead agent while concealing that anything is amiss in the operation from the consortium so they won't interfere. BW will finish the mission and be welcomed back into the consortium with open arms. Win win.

BW rolls his sense motive like a good problem solver and realizes Marcus has his own agenda for helping beyond what he said, but hey who doesn't? One more thing says Marcus. By doing this for you I'm putting myself on the line, so before that happens I need to know you're really the man for the job. He pulls out a clear vial and asks BW if he knows what it is. BW pulls out the stopper and sniffs it (and then wonders what if it was an inhaled poison) but smells nothing. Marcus tells him it's venom from the strange giant spiders in the Desolation and it's incredibly potent. In fact, it may just be the next top product on the poison market, but the scarcity...

Marcus got that sample from one of Skeriber's rangers who apparently know where the spider lair is located. Find out where it is and procure as many spider eggs as possible; there are people in the consortium whose job it is to "domesticate" dangers creatures for their biological wealth. Get eggs, Marcus will pass them on, and the consortium may just have a top new product. In exchange for doing so, BW will have the full resources of the consortium meant for the dead agent at his disposal, though the entire operation should be deathly secret. Marcus tells BW to keep the venom sample free of charge as a sign of good faith, even though it's an expensive item.

Seeing the sense in this arrangement (and knowing a set of railroad tracks when he stumbles upon them), BW agrees and heads back to the Sip of Blood to tell the party. Phox silently watches from above as he walks in, but does nothing. Why? Because. Around now is the appointed time for those interested in hiring Jake to be in the tavern so he arrives and meets the party. After learning he is for hire, Johann and Beltin accept. Jake has joined the party!

BW sits down and explains what happened to him on the way back, including the parts Marcus wanted to keep between them, and says it looks like a good deal; kill these spiders to make a fat profit while also building some "good guy" rep for putting a stop to a serious threat in the Desolation. Win win. Johann especially likes it. They decide they should try to make contact with the ranger who sold the venom sample to Marcus and get ready to do that as they heard from Lucky the rangers are finally back in town after a long excursion into the wastes. Before they head out Lucky mentions Phox's new hiring arrangement to BW... yeah. BW says they will wait on talking to the rangers for a little bit and he walks outside.

Phox stands up on the roof and asks BW if they're cool. Why? Because. BW casts Innocence and says yeah, they totally are, and that Phox should come down so they can talk. Sense motive check? Failed? Excellent. Phox climbs down and slowly, warily approaches BW, repeatedly asking if he's really not mad. BW assures him he is not, but that all this yelling in the streets is unsuitable for gentlemen of their caliber: Just come a little closer.

Much can be said for the denizens of the Camp. They may be cruel, lazy, vicious, and opportunists, but they always have an eye for knowing when something is going to turn violent. And at those times they get ready to watch as long as it doesn't involve them. A small crowd begins to appear to watch the upcoming spectacle.

As he nears BW, Phox suddenly goes back to Kitsune form and the crowd starts yelling and cheering, thinking he has gone into his battle form. BW agrees with this assessment and dances his way over. The party watches this with an air of bemusement and inevitability, but Johann thinks some good sparing practice is good for company morale and Beltin sighs and gets ready to cast Breath of Life. The fight doesn't last long. Phox gets gutted. The crowd laughs. BW slits his throat when he's on the ground. Beltin thinks better of bringing him back to life.

Day: 11. Time in Camp: 71 hours. BW related party deaths: 5.

BW's girl, done with her errands, is returning to the tavern and sees him standing over another dead body, apparently someone slain to protect her honor and she runs over to embrace him. He brushes her off and disdainfully tells her not to touch him, and the party walks back into the Sip of Blood for another drink, leaving her staring misty eyed after them.

Casualties: 1. Phox. Antagonized and tried to pick a fight with BW. Why? Because.