Game summary for August 1, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk) and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).
The team went to the Karb Isle Sanctuary and poked around the old ruins. They discovered a heat-warped iron strongbox and delicately forced it open with a hammer… Inside they discovered charred papers that they could not make any sense of, so they tucked them away for later. Gnok then noticed a dark hole leading down into what appeared to be a cellar or sublevel, partially collapsed. It appeared to be about fifteen feet deep with several bodies within. An iron candelabrum adorned with severed charred heads dangled from chains.
The team secured a rope and dropped into the cellar where they “bodies” rose up to attack! As they approached, Gnok got violently sick from their stench and spewed all over the room. Repeatedly. Moments later, Irnadette did the same. A brutal fight ensued, but Irnadette’s fiery and electrical psionics proved too much for the four ghasts. Having defeated the undead, the team searched the room and discovered a glass container labeled “Vorkstag and Grine Chymickal Bleach.” They then examined the severed heads and found one resembled the missing and presumed late Dr. Brada. Their new companion, Heidi, happens to be a trained medium, and she agreed to cast speak with dead.
From the whispering head (it has no lungs), they discovered it was indeed Dr. Brada, and he had been betrayed by Vorkstag and Grine over a business deal gone south. He had demanded more money for the prisoners he had been selling the merchants, and Grine brought his “monster” to kill Brada, which is what resulted in the Karb Isle fire. Dr. Brada described the beast as seven feet tall with a scarred shoulder and chest and patchwork flesh.
The team returned to Lepidstadt to speak with the Barrister. He was intrigued by their findings and was able to make out the words Vorkstag and Grine in the charred ledger they had discovered. The group went to talk with the Beast who denied ever being at Karb Isle and seemed to know nothing of Vorkstag or Grine. The Beast did not react to seeing Dr. Brada’s head other than to remark he was ugly.
The group then went over to the Vorkstag and Grine Chymic Works, a small brick factory with a massive chimney dumping pollutants into the air. As they got close, Gnok (a trained alchemist) recognized the smells of bleach and acid. They rang the bell at the gate and were greeted by a gnome with orange hair and horrible scars on his face. The little man was not friendly. Gnok tried to intimidate him, but he called a flesh golem hound to his side! He then slammed the door in the parties’ faces. They rang the bell again, and he yelled at them.
Gnok did not feel good about the idea of breaking and entering, so they used the law to their advantage. As officers of the court, the spoke with a judge and made an argument based on their evidence that they should have a warrant to search the factory. The judge grudgingly agreed but would not commit any guardsmen to enforcing it. He simply stated as officers of the court, they could serve the warrant themselves which suited the team just fine.
The group returned to the chymic works and were denied entry by the gnome, so Gnok smashed the gate open and was promptly savaged by the terribly dangerous flesh golem! Fortunately, Heidi was able to cure his wounds as quickly as the hound mauled him. Irnadette discovered she could slow the golem with fire magic, and the girls slipped around to a door and picked the lock under the cover of a silence spell while Gnok kept the hound busy. They went in to a large room filled with choking, nauseating chemical vats, and Gnok came running in behind and slammed the door. As the flesh golem hound clawed at the door, the party looked around and saw eight horribly scarred humanoids wearing gas masks standing in shock around the room. A trio began advancing on the team!
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