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game_systems:pathfinder:crown:heroes_adventure_journal [2025/04/09 08:15] – [Rooting Out The Cult] Bryan Stephensgame_systems:pathfinder:crown:heroes_adventure_journal [2025/04/11 21:34] (current) – [Agents of Desna] Bryan Stephens
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 ===== 01 The House on Hook Street ===== ===== 01 The House on Hook Street =====
 +{{:game_systems:pathfinder:crown:art:worship_of_the_stone.png?400|}}
 +
 +
 |Campaign Dates|Pharest 06 -10 4721| |Campaign Dates|Pharest 06 -10 4721|
 |Game Date|09/07/23| |Game Date|09/07/23|
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 === Six Months Later === === Six Months Later ===
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 +{{:game_systems:pathfinder:crown:characters:0y3fvrajauyrk29twyq9--1--u9iju.jpg?400 |}}
  
 Six months after the Exaltation Gala, the bloom is off the rose for the Heroes of Taldor. Each is buried in the tasks set to them by the Grand Princess Eutropia I. This may be most true for Cassia Karthis and Corwyn Nethir. Having danced into each other’s arms over the proceeding year, the advance in their relationship has been forestalled by their duties. While their betrothal is formal, they do not yet have a date set for their wedding.  Six months after the Exaltation Gala, the bloom is off the rose for the Heroes of Taldor. Each is buried in the tasks set to them by the Grand Princess Eutropia I. This may be most true for Cassia Karthis and Corwyn Nethir. Having danced into each other’s arms over the proceeding year, the advance in their relationship has been forestalled by their duties. While their betrothal is formal, they do not yet have a date set for their wedding. 
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 === Lunch and an Opportunity === === Lunch and an Opportunity ===
 +{{ :game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:almoril_tersian.jpg?300|}}
 By a happy coincidence, Cassia is visiting Corwyn. She is on a break and mostly slipped her more public handlers, letting her loyal agents cover for her. The two enjoy the lunch as Tersian looks on. It is after, as food is cleared that he presents his report.  By a happy coincidence, Cassia is visiting Corwyn. She is on a break and mostly slipped her more public handlers, letting her loyal agents cover for her. The two enjoy the lunch as Tersian looks on. It is after, as food is cleared that he presents his report. 
  
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 ==== Spiders and Flies ==== ==== Spiders and Flies ====
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 +{{ :game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:hungryfog.png?400|}}
  
 As the pair go towards the parts of the city near the unoccupied areas, macabre shapes coalesce in a thick curtain of fog still hanging heavy on the midday air as muted screams echo off the shingles above. They race to the area and find A foglike ooze now drags the desiccated corpse  through the streets, its form sprouting forth from the corpse’s  disturbingly distended jaws. The creature begins combat  undamaged, and a single surviving member of the  Korvosa Guard flails away at it ineffectively, while another three disabled soldiers are tossed through the air with eyes wide in terror. As the pair go towards the parts of the city near the unoccupied areas, macabre shapes coalesce in a thick curtain of fog still hanging heavy on the midday air as muted screams echo off the shingles above. They race to the area and find A foglike ooze now drags the desiccated corpse  through the streets, its form sprouting forth from the corpse’s  disturbingly distended jaws. The creature begins combat  undamaged, and a single surviving member of the  Korvosa Guard flails away at it ineffectively, while another three disabled soldiers are tossed through the air with eyes wide in terror.
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 Among these revelations in their rapid speech are references to the //Paginarum Lethargica//, the //Clavis Somnus//, the murdered Night Market book dealers, and Madame Carrington, a seer of some sort.  Among these revelations in their rapid speech are references to the //Paginarum Lethargica//, the //Clavis Somnus//, the murdered Night Market book dealers, and Madame Carrington, a seer of some sort. 
 +
 +
 +{{:game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:asnaan_sharoosh.png?300 |}}
  
 That evening, they go to the Rook’s Roost. Wooden stairs crawl up an alley wall toward a second story awning that shelters a stout iron door roughly etched with blackbirds. Strange scents waft from the door’s barred porthole, and a thick haze blankets a large room within that is crammed with cots and couches. They are met by Corwyn poses as a shiver user and the two bully their way in, past the owner, Asnaan Sharoosh, an aging and frail Vudrani with a deeply creased face crowned with a bright red turban. A bushy mustache curls upward, and he speaks with a thick Vudrani accent. It is clear to Cassia this is mostly an act. After a short time, they find that the establishment’s back door opens to an alley balcony above a 20-foot-square pigsty, home to ten fat hogs rooting through a slurry of cracked bones, muck, and other detritus. With a sinking feeling, Corwyn wonders if a dying Frell Tann was disposed up there before his undead “restoration”. A messy check (followed by //prestidigitation// reveals a red scrap of soiled fabric matching Frell Tann’s silk shirt and a partially consumed finger wearing a mud-covered signet ring that bears the Tann family crest. That evening, they go to the Rook’s Roost. Wooden stairs crawl up an alley wall toward a second story awning that shelters a stout iron door roughly etched with blackbirds. Strange scents waft from the door’s barred porthole, and a thick haze blankets a large room within that is crammed with cots and couches. They are met by Corwyn poses as a shiver user and the two bully their way in, past the owner, Asnaan Sharoosh, an aging and frail Vudrani with a deeply creased face crowned with a bright red turban. A bushy mustache curls upward, and he speaks with a thick Vudrani accent. It is clear to Cassia this is mostly an act. After a short time, they find that the establishment’s back door opens to an alley balcony above a 20-foot-square pigsty, home to ten fat hogs rooting through a slurry of cracked bones, muck, and other detritus. With a sinking feeling, Corwyn wonders if a dying Frell Tann was disposed up there before his undead “restoration”. A messy check (followed by //prestidigitation// reveals a red scrap of soiled fabric matching Frell Tann’s silk shirt and a partially consumed finger wearing a mud-covered signet ring that bears the Tann family crest.
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 === A Stake Out and A Seer  === === A Stake Out and A Seer  ===
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 +{{ :game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:madamecarrington.png?400|}}
  
 The next day they stake Out Night Market Fountain. Corwyn investigates the area surreptitiously and reveals a loose stone in the well’s foundation containing an empty leather roll and some broken shiver vial. They witness a dead drop occur.  The next day they stake Out Night Market Fountain. Corwyn investigates the area surreptitiously and reveals a loose stone in the well’s foundation containing an empty leather roll and some broken shiver vial. They witness a dead drop occur. 
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 === Pier === === Pier ===
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 +{{:game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:hydrodaemon.png?400 |}}
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 Cassia and Corwyn awaken much later than they expected, having slept almost 12 hours. They are quite well rested, and it seems as if their sleep was protected, though there is no more moth-dust to be seen. They dress and head down for breakfast.  Cassia and Corwyn awaken much later than they expected, having slept almost 12 hours. They are quite well rested, and it seems as if their sleep was protected, though there is no more moth-dust to be seen. They dress and head down for breakfast. 
  
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 The courtyard has a three story spiral startcase ending at a strong wooden door. There is also an outhouse against the outer wall. Immediately, the three heroes look at one another and say “secret door” and Cassia strolls into the outhouse to find a secret hinged panel at the rear that swings open to reveal a 4-foot-wide, 10-foot-long tunnel bored into the Old Wall, an inner wall from a time when the city was smaller in size. Huge blocks of irregularly cut stone form a happenstance tunnel in the hollow within the Old Wall with the corpses of long-dead rodents hanging from dusty spiderwebs draping the passage. Though crumbling, the Old Wall is considered a part of the city’s inner defensive fortifications, its upper ledge still in use by occasional patrols of the City Guard. The Old Wall is also a key feature in the Brotherhood’s drug trade: its stout facade conceals a hollow, irregular interior that the cult utilizes as a service tunnel. Dozens of hidden holes perforate the wall at sporadic locations, providing means of egress to sewer shafts or through passages opened by prying free loose blocks from the wall. The cult owns several properties built directly against the wall—including their main lodge—creating a complicated network of secret entrances that make it impossible for authorities to effectively track their movements. The tunnel itself ranges from 5 feet to 15 feet in both width and height. The courtyard has a three story spiral startcase ending at a strong wooden door. There is also an outhouse against the outer wall. Immediately, the three heroes look at one another and say “secret door” and Cassia strolls into the outhouse to find a secret hinged panel at the rear that swings open to reveal a 4-foot-wide, 10-foot-long tunnel bored into the Old Wall, an inner wall from a time when the city was smaller in size. Huge blocks of irregularly cut stone form a happenstance tunnel in the hollow within the Old Wall with the corpses of long-dead rodents hanging from dusty spiderwebs draping the passage. Though crumbling, the Old Wall is considered a part of the city’s inner defensive fortifications, its upper ledge still in use by occasional patrols of the City Guard. The Old Wall is also a key feature in the Brotherhood’s drug trade: its stout facade conceals a hollow, irregular interior that the cult utilizes as a service tunnel. Dozens of hidden holes perforate the wall at sporadic locations, providing means of egress to sewer shafts or through passages opened by prying free loose blocks from the wall. The cult owns several properties built directly against the wall—including their main lodge—creating a complicated network of secret entrances that make it impossible for authorities to effectively track their movements. The tunnel itself ranges from 5 feet to 15 feet in both width and height.
 +
 +{{ :game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:moses_greeley.png?400|}}
  
 The quickly finds that the wall’s interior is the lair of a pair of dangerous ogre spiders, which cult members avoid by minding their feeding times and through liberal use of vermin repellent—the jars of which litter tunnel entrances regularly used by the cult. The repellent is normally used to deter swarms, but the dealers have found it also keeps the ogre spiders at bay for the time being. Those who enter the tunnel without applying vermin repellent face eventual attack by the spiders. Unfortunately for the spiders, Mikhael summons Lysanthir to kill and eat on spider, while three bolts from //Dignity’s Barb// and a stab from Corwyn eliminates the other.  The quickly finds that the wall’s interior is the lair of a pair of dangerous ogre spiders, which cult members avoid by minding their feeding times and through liberal use of vermin repellent—the jars of which litter tunnel entrances regularly used by the cult. The repellent is normally used to deter swarms, but the dealers have found it also keeps the ogre spiders at bay for the time being. Those who enter the tunnel without applying vermin repellent face eventual attack by the spiders. Unfortunately for the spiders, Mikhael summons Lysanthir to kill and eat on spider, while three bolts from //Dignity’s Barb// and a stab from Corwyn eliminates the other. 
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 Within, the house reflects several generations of devout inhabitants. The family acquired the property nearly 200 years ago, when only a small crumbling temple to Desna stood on the grounds. In those days, the Caligaro family’s patriarch was a devout follower of the Tender of Dreams and a fanatical collector who built the home to incorporate and protect the ruins of the shrine. Later generations offered supplication to Gozreh, constructing the home’s unique underwater ballroom to pay homage to the god of the sea.  Within, the house reflects several generations of devout inhabitants. The family acquired the property nearly 200 years ago, when only a small crumbling temple to Desna stood on the grounds. In those days, the Caligaro family’s patriarch was a devout follower of the Tender of Dreams and a fanatical collector who built the home to incorporate and protect the ruins of the shrine. Later generations offered supplication to Gozreh, constructing the home’s unique underwater ballroom to pay homage to the god of the sea. 
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 +
 +{{:game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:myra_lombroso.png?300 |}}
  
 The house’s exterior doors and windows are heavily boarded or barricaded to prevent intrusion from outside (, with the exception of the balcony entrance to area. The back of the house is directly against the Old Wall, and its exposed stone facade stands in dark contrast to the manse’s wood-paneled walls.  The house’s exterior doors and windows are heavily boarded or barricaded to prevent intrusion from outside (, with the exception of the balcony entrance to area. The back of the house is directly against the Old Wall, and its exposed stone facade stands in dark contrast to the manse’s wood-paneled walls. 
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 The elevator comes down to a long tunnel. Wispy spiderwebs hang like curtains along this tunnel’s width, their bottoms stained from wicking dirty water from the slippery floor below. The 10-foot-wide, 180-foot-long tunnel is constructed of thick stone blocks, and runs beneath the Old Wall and below the shoreline basin to an old underwater ballroom. The tunnel is punctuated by patches of thick spiderwebs. With his //see invisibility// Corwyn is able to see two phase spiders lurking in the ethereal plane. The spiders don’t seem alarmed, perhaps because they are being escorted and are in cult regalia. The tunnel ends in aging temple to Gozreh.  The elevator comes down to a long tunnel. Wispy spiderwebs hang like curtains along this tunnel’s width, their bottoms stained from wicking dirty water from the slippery floor below. The 10-foot-wide, 180-foot-long tunnel is constructed of thick stone blocks, and runs beneath the Old Wall and below the shoreline basin to an old underwater ballroom. The tunnel is punctuated by patches of thick spiderwebs. With his //see invisibility// Corwyn is able to see two phase spiders lurking in the ethereal plane. The spiders don’t seem alarmed, perhaps because they are being escorted and are in cult regalia. The tunnel ends in aging temple to Gozreh. 
 +
 +{{ :game_systems:pathfinder:crown:npcs:idol.png?400|}}
  
 A wrought iron framework supporting thick glass panels creates an imposing dome, though sediment from the dirty harbor above blocks most of the light that might otherwise stream into this underwater chamber. From the apex of the dome hangs a gigantic fossilized spider, which swings from a thick rope of roughly woven, silver silk. The cult’s main temple is this underwater chamber, built decades ago at great expense by a Gozreh-worshiping member of the Caligaro family. The presbytery shows signs of age: puddles of leaking seawater form on its tessellated floor, and its glass panels are clouded between webs of rusted framework. The chamber looks like a refugee camp for cultists as much as a place of worship. The petrified idol itself dominates the chamber, hanging suspended and upside down above the water-damaged pews and makeshift cots of the assembled cultists. Similarly suspended are three sacrifices: webbed cocoons of drugged and paralyzed victims prepared in area and moved here, where the idol/would be god, Mog-Lathar consumes their dreaming minds.  A wrought iron framework supporting thick glass panels creates an imposing dome, though sediment from the dirty harbor above blocks most of the light that might otherwise stream into this underwater chamber. From the apex of the dome hangs a gigantic fossilized spider, which swings from a thick rope of roughly woven, silver silk. The cult’s main temple is this underwater chamber, built decades ago at great expense by a Gozreh-worshiping member of the Caligaro family. The presbytery shows signs of age: puddles of leaking seawater form on its tessellated floor, and its glass panels are clouded between webs of rusted framework. The chamber looks like a refugee camp for cultists as much as a place of worship. The petrified idol itself dominates the chamber, hanging suspended and upside down above the water-damaged pews and makeshift cots of the assembled cultists. Similarly suspended are three sacrifices: webbed cocoons of drugged and paralyzed victims prepared in area and moved here, where the idol/would be god, Mog-Lathar consumes their dreaming minds. 
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 In the waning light of the day, the crowd seeing people pour from the House on Hook Street are amazed. There, three heroes of the realm stand, two of whom are the noble they live under. Mikhael sends a water elemental to retrieve the idol, which Corwyn orders taking to a local temple, the largest being to Abadar. The group decides to get things sorted out. In the waning light of the day, the crowd seeing people pour from the House on Hook Street are amazed. There, three heroes of the realm stand, two of whom are the noble they live under. Mikhael sends a water elemental to retrieve the idol, which Corwyn orders taking to a local temple, the largest being to Abadar. The group decides to get things sorted out.
  
-==== Agents of Desna  ==== +==== The Final Piece ==== 
-|Campaign Dates|Pharest 13- XX 4721 | +|Campaign Dates|Pharest 13- 14 4721 | 
-|Game Date|09/12/24|+|Game Date|04/10/25| 
 + 
 + 
 + 
 + 
 + 
 + 
 +===Myra’s Confession=== 
 + 
 +With things in motion, Cassia and Corwyn interrogate Myra after she has had some sleep and regained some semblance of coherence. The woman seems less crazed, but is still has been driven insane by the strange petrified monster that seeks to become a demigod. 
  
  
 +//“20 Years ago, Nahum found the Paginarum Lethargica in his family library. We were in love and I would follow Nahum anywhere. Stainton had the family money to sponsor us, so we headed out to try to find the Dreamstone, never suspecting it was back at Nahum’s home all along. Wd did not find any fragments, but we did find Mog Lathar. Mog Lathar awakened and began whispering in our minds of us, its saviors, promising immortality in exchange for freedom. It was a deal the three of us accepted. We chiseled the fossil free and packed it for return to the city , where it was to be put on display at the Khazun City Museum. Well, that was Stantion’s plan. Nahum and I wanted immortality promised. Look at me, I received it! We left the fool Stainton and the others and secreted Mog Lathar away and we built Brotherhood of the Spider. Both of us could be young and together forever!”//
 + 
 +She devolves into some cackles at that, while weeping. She is tended too by a priestess and continues.
 + 
 +//“When Nahum started to experiment with the Dreamstone, Mog Lathar grew jealous and feared Nahum might use the stone’s power to destroy the Leng spider’s remains. Secretly, it ordered me, as High Priestess, to betray Nahum by disrupting an occult ritual meant to awaken the Dreamstone. I did not want to do it! But, my god commanded me. It was a disaster!”//
 + 
 +She shrieks and wails and buries her head in her hands.
 + 
 +//“There was a great tearing sound, Nahum, his initiates, and the Dreamstone itself just … vanished. Mog Lathar said they were drawn into the Dimension of Dreams. We still had the Book and the Key, but could not protect them. They were soon stolen by our non-believing new hired enforcers, Barvasi’s Band. That was Nahum’s call. Nahmum is seeking revenge on us! Nahum is using the stone’s power to reclaim their old cult by murdering its acolytes within their nightmares. He wants the book so that they may return to the and become a god himself!.”//
  
 +She shudders and holds herself.
  
 +//“I discovered that nightmares cannot reach us within the submerged temple. That is why we fled there.”//
 + 
 +Myra signs, less frantic tears falling down her face.
 + 
 +//“I cannot hear the idol. My mind feels more free than it has in years. Like the lifting of a cloud.  Mog Lathar is silent. Mostly. //
  
game_systems/pathfinder/crown/heroes_adventure_journal.1744200927.txt.gz · Last modified: by Bryan Stephens

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