5.28. Winter in Seagate

5.28.1. Winter in Seagate: Part 1: Fog, with Self-Doubt

Most of the characters were out walking late one very foggy evening, looking for a their favorite late-night tavern. They entered the Little Bazaar, which was oddly clear of the thick fog elsewhere omnipresent, when suddenly a familiar voice yelled out for them to stop. When they do, they heard their own voices coming out of the fog. The voices harranged them for their past deeds, and warned them that now they must be punished. Cormac was offered a chance to join them, and Basgoot was warned that he was selected out for eternal torment. Then a duplicate of each of the characters stepped out of the fog. After a difficult fight they killed all of the duplicates (at least, they thought they killed the duplicates...), but then the fog itself attacked them, and proved impervious to their weapons. (How do you fight fog?)

Noticing that the fog thinned the further from the ground one went, they climbed up to the roof tops above the fog, which they found to be concentrated in a circle around the bazaar. The fog went berserk and began destroying buildings and killing anything in its path. They noticed a thick cord of silvery mist that led away from the fog, and followed it back to a warehouse.

Inside the warehouse were several hundred Arkanian worshipers, kneeling and chanting, led by several priests. From their bodies rose a haze that solidified into fog above them and then twined into the silvery fog cord that the party had followed to the building. Outside, Basgoot drew the remains of Narung (which he had carefully, perhaps obsessively, carried with him since it was broken) and cut the silvery cord of fog. Narung sucked magical energy from the cord, and there was a huge explosion and an earthquake; ninety percent of the worshipers were killed and Basgoot was knocked unconscious. (Again.) The party observed that the stump of Narung was noticeably longer than before.

The party returned to the Bazaar where they disposed of the bodies of their assailants in magical fire in a well, and then returned to their house where they found that the characters who had remained there had also been attacked. Later the party learned that several members of the Court were in the warehouse when it collapsed, and that the warehouse was owned by Suliman Trade.

Note

This adventure was probably gamed in late March, 1989.

5.28.2. Winter in Seagate: Part 2: Mad Mages and Demons Disturbed

Balour Shaw's amnesia and madness continued, and he had to be constantly looked after, a task made more difficult by the spells he randomly cast. Late one evening he was more unsettled than usual, but finally was calmed down by staring into the fire, a pastime he greatly enjoyed. (Ah, how the mighty are fallen.) Suddenly he yelled, threw something into the fire, and peered closely into the fire; whatever he saw frightened him and he jumped back screaming, Come on, come on! We've got to see the Wizard!

Shaw led the party on a wild goose chase through the streets of Seagate and then through the sewers, half of the time giggling and laughing and half of the time screaming something about idiots. They followed him through the sewers till long after dark, picking up Kalo Bibkins on the way, until they finally caught up to him. Shaw pointed them to a secret door that disclosed a trapped tunnel leading into what was obviously an abandoned mage's workroom.

Once in the room a spell was tripped, and it was magically sealed, trapping the party. In the center of the room was a shimmering dome, which turned out to contain a demon, and when the party investigated they found that the dome was about to collapse. Luckily the demon was also inside a pentagram that would hold it for a while longer, but when the characters figured out how to banish the demon they found that the tools they needed were inside the pentagram with the demon. They planned carefully, and when the dome collapsed Gim Torson rushed out and pitched the tools to those outside the pentagram. Unfortunately, the demon caught Gim by the leg, and proceeded to chew it off. An attack by the other characters distracted him long enough for Gim to break free, and they were able to perform the banishment.

Afterwards, they eventually figured out how to get out of the room, and traversed a secret door upward to another chamber and then exited to the cellar of a house, which turned out to be a slum area. They fled the area, dragging the injured with them.

Magic.  The players left the Bell, the Book, and the Candle in the workroom.

Note

This adventure was probably gamed in April, 1989.