Game summary for June 22, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, The Haunting of Harrowstone adventure conclusion and beginning of Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Malthus Brightray (half-elf cleric), and Stoella Carter (human evoker), accompanied by NPC companion Thorkatla Foamflagon (dwarf cleric).
After resting and preparing, the team returned to the depths of Harrowstone Prison to see if Stoella’s magic could repair the portcullis mechanism. While there, they encountered Gibs Hephanus, possessed by Father Charlatan. He slashed with his war razor and opened Stoella up. She and Malthus retaliated with burning hands while Dinendal fired arrows. He collapsed unconscious, and Father Charlatan possessed Stoella. As she struggled unconscious, the party pumped positive energy and spells of protection onto her to drive out the spirit. Eventually, they disrupted the vengeful haunt. Stoella then used mending to repair the lever and get into The Nevermore cell block.
The final cell block was partially flooded and a bit unstable. The team moved in and bloody letters began appearing on the walls spelling out the characters’ names! They quickly began smashing the letters and soon brought the roof down on themselves. As the rubble settled, the ghostly form of the Splatter Man rose up out of the flooded oubliette in the center of the block! Stoella launched a flaming sphere at the ghost, but it passed through harmlessly. The Splatter Man then cast maximized magic missile and hit every party member! He then began moving through the cell walls forcing the party to scramble to keep up. Fortunately, Stoella had force missile and was able to blast away at the spirit. Dinendal used enchanted arrows to whittle away and Malthus and Thorkatla channeled positive energy to harm the spirit or heal injuries. For his part, the Splatter Man conjured fiendish dire rats to further keep the party off balance and released a barrage of magic missiles. The fighting was truly intense with the heroes nearly dying; however, at the last moment, they vanquished the Splatter Man!
With the ghost defeated, the party used detect magic and found a number of powerful magic items at the bottom of the oubliette. They used a rope and Dinendal’s diving skills to retrieve them all. They then went to the first floor and met with Vesorianna Hawkran. She was ecstatic with the party’s achievements and was able to use the power of the warden’s badge to completely eradicate the spirits of Harrowstone. She gifted the party with the badge and crossed over into the afterlife.
The group returned to Ravengro as heroes and were treated to the cheers of the crowd. The council delivered the promised gold, and the team settled in to pass the next 25 days guarding Kendra as requested in the Professor’s will. They passed the time brewing potions, scribing scrolls, and crafting items. Amras courted inn owner Sarianna Vai and got engaged! The team spent time and money purchasing horses and gear for their upcoming travel to Lepidstadt. Once the month was up the team set out on the Old Mountain Road toward the city.
Along the road, they met some travelers and learned there is much uproar in the city ahead. The Beast of Lepidstadt (thought by many to be just a bogeyman) has been captured and is soon to be on trial! People are coming from far and wide to see this supposed murderer and monster tried and burned!
The party continued on the road and after two days of travel came upon a circle of garish Varisian wagons surrounded by a number of bizarre individuals. Across the side of the wagons was painted “The Crooked Kin—Ustalav’s Greatest Traveling Cabinet of Curiosities!” The party approached and was greeted by an albino man in a red top hat introducing himself as Kaleb. They also met a 7-foot-tall bearded woman named Lidia and a crying hairy boy called the Wolf Child. The entire group was upset because one of their number, Aleece had disappeared into the marsh. They found her tracks but were too afraid to go in after her.
Dinendal and Amras had no trouble tracking the woman’s progress about a half mile off the road to a clearing. They discovered where the tracks ended and it appeared something had been dragged into the bushes. The team heard a bizarre screaming that sounded much like a human woman, but something was a bit off. The screaming continued as they stumbled upon the desiccated corpse of Aleece. Looking at the tracks on the ground, the fact that the screams seemed to come from different copses of vegetation, and the vocalization was a bit off, Amras figured out he had heard of creatures that could cause all three—phase spiders. The team started to spread out when a phase spider erupted from the ethereal plane and bit Stoella! Deadly toxin flowed from its fangs into her petite form. The team scrambled to fight the spider, but it kept shifting into the ethereal plane and moving across the battlefield to ambush again and again. Malthus and Amras found this particularly vexing with their slower armored movement.
Arrows hissed from Dinendal’s bow while Stoella hurled spells. Malthus channeled energy to heal his allies while Amras used true strike to setup some deadly attacks. Thorkatla used the Lopper’s handaxe to attack the spider as well. Although the fighting was intense, the spider stood no chance against the party. After a frustrating battle, Amras spun about and decapitated the spider with Warden Hawkran’s enchanted keen blade! The team gathered the body of Aleece and the head of the spider and returned to the Crooked Kin. The group was devastated but thankful for the party’s assistance. In gratitude, Kaleb gifted the party with an enchanted dagger.
