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.
