| Session Date | February 3, 2024 |
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| Base XP Gained | Carry Over |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
Astraharsis, grateful for the slaying of the assassin, asked that they continue to do so if they found more. She also asked them to take great care when coming to see her that they were not followed. She was not concerned that they were present, merely that they not be followed or otherwise observed. She said that her enemies were very subtle and capable. The party agreed and came up with a plan to help divert attention from this area by pinning his death on the ratmen. Taking their leave, they returned to the level above where they’d dumped the headless assassin’s body. Fortunately, it was still there so they put it in their Bag of Holding and came back down.
Still invisible, they now proceeded to actually explore west, away from the ratmen, first finding a secret door off a main hall thanks to Deaglan. This eventually led them into a room with what they took to be one of the mysterious Dark Masters. He was clearly aware of the intrusion, so the party beat a hasty retreat. Sure enough, a swarm of Dark Folk quickly came rushing their direction from the Dark Market. The party stayed clear of the door and Hans cast audible glamer to send the little thieving people in a false direction.
The party continued a little further west and soon entered a temple to some shadowy demon of unknown name or potency. This temple was quite dark with only the slightest glow emanating from purplish fires from sconces on each of four great pillars holding up the 20’ ceiling. In the northern portion of the temple was the statue of a blackish figure, like a shadow (undead type). The statue in the center was about 16’ feet tall and depicted a black, winged demon of darkness with overly long arms and a lower torso that fades into nothing (i.e. no legs); its eyes glow with a reddish-purple light. At the southern end of the room was a small dais atop which sat a font filled with unholy water. The whole place felt cold and unpleasant, though no dangers were immediately evident.
They began to examine the area and once more Deaglan sensed a secret door. This proved to bring them into someone’s active living quarters, though they were not present. The inhabitant seemed small, perhaps a Dark Folk, and well off. And, per the rule of threes, Deaglan sensed a third secret door from this space, and the party took this rather than the obvious one. This brought them into a series of narrow passages that, after some exploration, they realized honeycombed the entire Inn of the Welcoming Darkness, with secret doors into the guest rooms, including their own!
Not wishing to burn their welcome at the inn, they returned to the shadow temple and expanded their search for additional secret doors. While engaged in this, the lone door into the temple opened and a human priest came out. He could not see the party but clearly had heard them, as he asked them what they were seeking. The party claimed to be charting paths and that they meant no harm and held no hostility. The priest told them that this was the temple of Ikru-Bal, a demon none of them had ever heard of. He told them there was no way from this place and they should exit and make their way to the Dark Market. He ended with a warning that any sacrilege to this temple would be to the party’s great sorrow. The party also noted that he was fondling a necklace which Sirius surmised might be a necklace of missiles.
Departing, the party continued exploring to the west of the Market. They found a fair number of empty places but soon found what was clearly a temple to Mezekai, god of murder, as a huge stone skull with a dagger tuck in it was at the entrance and a statue of the god sat at the far end. The temple had clearly been sacked in the not too distant past, and there was blood on the floors and wall. As they examined all this, a group of rather loud Ogres entered the temple. They poked around a bit, occasionally talking in their own language, and seemed to be poking around for loot in a casual sort of way. They did not detect the party and soon left, one of their number clearly hurrying them up.
The party continued exploring. Nearby, they found more emptiness as if this area had been purged. One room had recent graffiti reading “the Apsis is at hand!” while another appeared to have perhaps been quarters for a priest of Mezekai, now trashed and looted. One room they entered proved to have a Specter! Although the party saw a glint of loose treasure, they opted to slam the door shut on the thing and flee. Fortunately, it did not appear to be interested in pursuit. They speculated that its presence might explain the lack of occupants in this area.
The party now headed back west, eventually reaching their semi-friendly Bugbears and verifying they were present (I forget if the party talked them invisibly or just verified their presence). They then headed into wererat country, spotting a number of stealthy sentries at various points in major halls. Sirius shot one of them down with magic missiles and resumed invisibility using his ring. Now deeper into wererat territory, they used their invisibility to explore the area fully, while Deaglan listened at numerous doors to determine where the ratmen were laired.
Finally they selected one door they heard noise behind. ZZ cast silence on a coin and the party bum-rushed the room. It proved to contain two ratmen and a dozen rats of enormous size. The melee was rather brutal as the rats proved to be rather vicious and hard to kill. But, they were eventually all slain and the enemy still apparently unaware of the party’s presence. Now visible, they attacked a second room, this one with 11 ratmen. They were eventually slain, with none allowed to escape and warn others. The party also liberated a prisoner from them, a dark folk who claimed the ratmen intended to eat him. He further claimed he was merely a simple traveler who’d been waylaid by the ratmen, and that they had become a growing nuisance in the area, allegedly kidnapping and murdering travelers – very bad for market business. In fact, he was thinking of trying to rouse up his people to clear them out. Meanwhile, the party made sure to show the dark folk the dead assassin, telling him the ratmen must’ve got him and decapitated him. They had not seen the head. With that, they released the Dark Folk guy to return to the market, and contemplated their next move…