Rossano Calabro

• Almogavars are blocking the gates, preventing any refugees from Elturel from entering
• Red and Yellow, castle emblem (Gules, Castillo de tres torres Or)

Open inside the city at a piazza near the Smiling Boar tavern

Eliseo (Niko) – Brown haired Spanish man

• Willowy, unkempt stubble, pissed off, hot
• On patrol with fellow Almogavar, Isabella – Female Dwarf
• 3 cloaked individuals come up from behind and attack, Isabella is killed but Eliseo manages to avoid

Following behind the cloaked figures is Vigil (Harrison)

• Tiefling, fairly tall, dark red skin, black eyes, travelling cloak, ramlike pair of horns, tail, chainmail hauberk, kite shield, longsword
• Draws a sword and moves to join the fight

By the fountain in the piazza: Hayate (Jonny) is sitting at a table

• Blue scaled, white soft underbelly, short slight straight horns, ornamented
• Gets to his feet, picking up a shield and heads over to investigate

Inside the tavern, discussing Giant with a large goliath is Strum (Ross)

• Pinky human red, horns arching backwards but have been cut then joined together with a hoop
• Ornaments dangled from horns
• Hearing the commotion he heads outside

Up on the roof of one of the buildings, having also been following the cultists is Marco (Greg) of the Sconosciuta (scon-o-shoota) Giustizia (Jew-ste-zia)

• An elf in suede black trousers, thin shirt, owl with amethyst eyes, plus actual owl
• Jumps down from the building

The fight in the piazza is over quickly with the cultists dispatched with blasts of magic from Hayate and Strum

• There is the sound of many footsteps and a squad of Almogavars arrives in the piazza led by a Captain Deslaur
• He takes control of the situation, takes a report from Eliseo and orders the proprietor of the inn – Smiling Boar – Felix to take care of the bodies, they are carried in an laid on the tables
• Informing the party that these are cultists of the ‘Dead Three’, who have been attacking people in the city over the last few days and that he needs some capable people to find and deal with them
• He drafts the party into service, he will pay them 200gp each once the job is done, but doesn’t look like we have much choice in the matter
• Tells us to go to the Elfsong tavern tomorrow evening to meet with a spy Tarina who may have information on the cult
• He and his troops then leave to assist the troops at the gate

Felix offers free room and board - make use of inn

Marco and Vigil take a look at the bodies

• Identify each as being a worshiper of a different demigod:
• Black glove – Bane – tyranny
• Skull flail – Myrkul – necromancy
• Cuts on the face – Bhaal – murder

Marco makes notes in his book

• Introductions between Vigil, Marco, and Hayate
• Eliseo recognises Marco’s broach as marking him to be a member of the Sconosciuta Giustizia
• A group that opposes the ’Vars rule in the city

That evening Strum puts on a show in the tavern

• Hayate and Marco can tell that it has been magically enhanced

That night Marco goes out after meditating to fight crime…

The next day Vigil heads out to get the lay of the city

• Upper city gated off and cannot be accessed without an invitation
• Lower city, containing taverns, harbour, shops
• High walls, battlements, few gates
• Outer city: Slum area outside of city gates

General population – fairly metropolitan, people are quite decadent, but huge wealth inequality

• Almogavars somewhat corrupt: City in some chaos as unruled

Party heads to the Elfsong that evening as directed

• Tavern has a reputation – haunted by elf maiden, routinely sings within tavern song about lost at sea lover
• In a rough neighbourhood
• ‘Half-ogres’ bouncers at door
• Bustling inn with booths and tables of people

Vigil heads to the bar, asks the barman about Tarina, and is told she’s upstairs

• Also warned that the inn has ‘protection’ and not to start any fights

Party heads up to the 2^nd floor

• Table of people dicing
• Human M, halfling F (Rodents), human F, human F (wealthy drunk)

Eliseo approaches and asks for Tarina, a human woman with her feet on a chair, clearly drunk, turns to him and accuses him of being sent by the pirate ‘Deadeye’ to kill her

• She points and fires a hand-crossbow but the bolt goes wild
• Strum’s mage hand stops her from aiming the bow again
• Persuade her that we were sent by Deslaur for info on the Dead Three

Strum attempts to gamble with her for the information, she agrees, and they play a dice game

• Strum wins, without even having to cheat, taking the pot of money and getting Tarina to agree to give us the information

As the game ends can hear a song start in elvish, the tavern falls silent

• Elvish singing – Hear Elturel within words – Vigil hears elvish form of Hellriders

When it ends the halfling says that it was a different song to what she normally sings

• Tries to recount and translate what she can remember of it

  “I sing a song of Elutrel…
  A feels dream and still, land of long abiding joy…
  Renowned by all across the realms…
  I sing a song of Elutrel.
  When foes are at their door, infernal shore, arise the mighty Hellriders, charge hellish fray, scatter devils hordes, sleep safe beneath companions light”

Moments later we can hear a commotion from downstairs, someone shouting over the crowd and offering free drinks to anyone who knows where Tarina is

• Looking down the stairs, can see a group of pirates led by a man with one eye

Vigil blocks them at the top of the stairs and a fight breaks out

• Hayate blasts the first ones up the stairs with Lightning Breath

Tarina flips over the table and crouches behind it aiming her crossbow

• Eliseo snipes from across the room, pinning several pirates to the wall with well aimed shots
• Marco’s sword blazes with an amethyst flame as he strikes them from over the balcony

Believing the fight is in hand, Strum continues to talk to Tarina, pausing only to offer some healing to those in the combat, including Marco who went down to a bad hit

Unable to get up the stairs and with most of his men dead, Deadeye makes a run for it

• Hayate gives chase, pulling him back in with a Lighting Lure
• Vigil follows up and is injured as Deadeye turns back to fight for his life
• The pirate tries again to run
• Vigil shouts at Hayate to let him go

They return upstairs and Tarina informs them that she has heard that there is a bathhouse owned by the Bandiera family where cultists have been seen coming and going

• Party gets her to lead them there, still late in the evening
• Can see that the place is open

Vigil, who is still battered from the fight, suggests that they return the next day

• Hayate argues that they should not allow the cultists another night to attack people
• Party decides to wait

Strum, Vigil, Hayate return to the Smiling Boar

• Marco goes out to fight crime
• Eliseo keeps watch on the bathhouse, sees it close and the staff leave and then, later, two cloaked figures enter

Next day

• Strum buys a component pouch
• Marco picks up a rapier
• Eliseo reports to his captain

Meeting back in the tavern that afternoon

• Vigil suggests they go have a look whilst it is still open to see if they can get a look around

The bath house is surrounded by gardens

• Has a few customers and a couple of staff
• Hayate, Vigil, and Eliseo take baths, Strum and Marco get massages in a couple of side rooms
• Vigil looks around the place, it’s quite small, there is clearly no place for cultists to meet
• Mentions this to Hayate, who decides to cast Detect Evil and Good
• Senses something fiendish outside
• Mentions this to Vigil, who gets up, dressed, and heads outside to investigate
• Using Divine Sense, picks up something invisible in a tree
• Casually wanders over (critical nonchalance!) and then rushes the tree, lunging for the creature but missing and falling as it flaps away
• Returns inside and describes it to Hayate who identifies it as an imp

Discussion by message with Strum, who comes out of the side room

• Vigil asks him if there was any other exit in the room
• Strum says that he didn’t see anything
• Hayate goes outside, can still feel the imp, in a different tree this time

Marco looks for any secret doors in the side room, does not spot anything but when questioned by the masseuse he confronts her

• She’s clearly lying and he is able to intimidate her into giving the location of a door

Outside Strum casts Friends and attempts to talk to the imp, persuades it that they just want to talk and offers it food

• He and Hayate use meat to lure it inside before trapping it in the bath house
• Trade jerky for information
• He was sent by Gaetano, one of the sons of the Bandiera family to spy on the bathhouse and on the cultists
• Watching out for his brother
• The family are clearly involved with the cultists somehow
• Estimates 10-20 people downstairs
• Make a deal, giving him the rest of the jerky in exchange for his silence