Session #3: The Ivory Faces  8/8/21

Day 3 STILL Continued: Before we could rest, I had to know more about what was going on.  First, we examined the body of the assassin.  I had been fearing that it was the dark elf that had dropped off his cloak for repairs earlier, but it wasn’t.  The human was a mess of scars mixed with tattoos.  Squish recognized the tattoo on his shoulder, the Ivory Faces, which they said was a secret group of thieves and assassins and they knew a way into their underground lair.

I knew we needed to rest, but first I wanted to see what this lingering effect was on Anna and my friends.  I pulled out my spectacles along with one of the pearls I had purchased earlier and did a quick Identify spell.  The pearl was pulverized as I gazed hard at it, and I blew the dust out over Squish.  Then runic script on my glasses told me everything I needed to know.  The enchantment was called Immolation and it acted more like a curse which burned the target continuously until they were dead.  We had already discovered that as long as the victim’s head was covered, the flames would be suppressed and the curse would fade after a few days.

Knowing they weren’t any immediate danger, I got everyone settled down to rest.  Squish curled up on the foot of my bed while Morchid curled up on the floor.  Though I offered her the use of the bed, Elairiel insisted on sleeping on the living room couch.  If we spend more time in the city, I will have to set up better sleeping arrangements.  Once everyone was settled, I contacted Anna’s husband, Luther and told him that Anna needed to be taking someplace safe.  He insisted on being her home so he came to get her.  I explained what I could about what had taken place and that I would make sure everything was taken care of.

Now I am finally going to lay down to get some sleep.  If I can.

Day 4: Duvin 40:  I did manage to sleep, but not well.  Too many thoughts about what had happened and what was going to happen, kept me from relaxing fully.  I was up early, drawing up plans for future designs, cleaning my gear, and prepping my various devices and concoction.  I also used my last pearl to identify the magic ring we recovered from the assassin and it was enchanted with a strong affinity for fire magic, giving resistance to and enhancing the power of fire.  I gave the ring to Morchid as Elairiel, Squish and I don’t currently use fire magic and he was the one who took the most fire damage during the assassination attempt. 

Since we were heading into the lion’s den, I wanted to leave a little insurance.  I left a note with Anya, Anna’s stepdaughter and apprentice, with the instructions that if we didn’t return within 12 hours, she would give the note to a guard.  The note directed them to the shop, where the body was lying on the floor.  There was another note there that identified the body as the man who killed Storg and burned down the Hero’s Legacy.  I added an implication for the assassin’s guild and who I suspected of hiring them.  I added our names so they would know we were missing.

Once everyone was ready, Squish led us to the secret entrance to the lair of the Ivory Faces which turned out to inside an abandoned house on the southern edge of the market square.  They referred to the lair as the Cistern so it makes sense that it was linked somehow with the sewer system beneath the city.

After Squish deciphered a cryptic clue, we found a secret door in the house which led to a rough-hewn passaged leading down.  First, we ran into some animated skeletons.  Morchid immediately changed into his cat-form and did most of the work of smashing them to pieces.  The passage led into a man-made chamber with a deep channel filled with a rushing stream of sewage.  Floating in the air above the channel was a glowing orb.  Morchid tried to leap out and grab the orb in his jaws, but he yelped with pain as the orb projected an invisible force field around it.  Morchid fell into the foul water below which he didn’t seem to mind but I still used my magic to clean him. 

After a lot of struggle, we managed to get the orb tethered like a balloon which I gave to Squish to light the way.  Unfortunately the passage beyond was blocked and the only way through was too small for Morchid’s large form.  He changed back and we squeezed through to move deeper into the maze of natural caverns, roughly carved tunnels and man-made passages.  Moving the orb proved to be a challenge and at one point, the bindings I created were shattered.  Trying to move them with bare hands caused an alarming amount of damage. Morchid came up with an uncharacteristically brilliant solution of shoving it into the backpack of holding, though it did take up a tremendous amount of space inside. 

We found more orbs, a lot of twisting passages and sealed doorways that were only opened by maneuvering the orbs onto magical pedestals.  At one point, we were attacked by an animated suit of armor.  Unfortunately, it was quite hostile and severely injured Squish before Morchid and Elairiel smashed it to pieces.  I only managed to recover the helm, gauntlets, and boots.  Who knows?  They may come in handy someday.

Once we finally got the orbs in the correct places, the final passage opened and were able to go down into the Cistern itself.  The passages there were cleaner and more colorful than the maze above and no one seemed to take any notice of us.  We passed a strange floating statue of three massive carved faces that obviously represented the namesake of this organization.  Then we walked through a small market area with a smithy and various vendors.  Squish informed us that they mostly dealt with stolen goods.

The passage led to a large circular room where we met with the leaders of two factions, the assassins and the thieves. The man in charge of the assassins, named Gregori, was an arrogant prick, to put it nicely.  He told us in a smug tone that nothing would stop the kill order from being carried out and that if the first person failed, who he called Salamander, then others would continue until the contract was fulfilled.   The only way to cancel the contract would be to pay the amount of the contract, a sum of 21,000 gold!

I had suspected that Olvar Snodhoffer was the man who took out the contract, but after hearing how much money was involved, I have some doubts.  Unfortunately, I can’t think of anyone else that would have a grudge against me.  The man reneged on a contract with me for some specially designed lockboxes.  When I tried to deliver the items, he said they were all wrong and refused to pay.  I reported the broken deal with the Commerce Guild and the last I heard; they blacklisted the man.  Squish even knew of the man and his bad reputation, but was he really wealthy enough to pay over 20,000 gold to settle a score?  And why go after three people close to me instead just killing me?

Even the potential consequence of being wiped out by the combined might of the city and all three nations did nothing to cause these people any concern.  They said it happened before and they always survived and came back, just like cockroaches.  The assassin did say that he would give us one week to come up with the money to cancel the contract, but he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do more than that.  They let us leave with no further issue.

I barely remembered getting back to my apartment.  The body was still there, the note still resting on its chest. Morchid offered to dispose of the body and though I shuddered to think of how he would do it, I left him and took Squish and Elairiel to check on the Vareshi family.  Anna was awake and reading a book in bed.  After introductions, I checked her temperature and found that she was still feverish.  I tried to convince her to rest for a few days but she was determined to get back to the shop.  She only agreed to stay home for one day, so I felt lucky to get that much.  I stopped off at Anya’s house nearby and let her know we were okay and I reclaimed the note.

When we got back to the shop, I was greeted by a nightmare.  Blood and gore covered everything and a massive canine creature looked up at us with an arm hanging from its mouth.  After everything that happened in the last 24 hours, I was completely done.  Speaking harshly, I sent Morchid outside.  He vomited some bloody meat at my feet and then forced his way through the door, breaking it even worse than before.  Without a word, I set to using my magic to clean the shop.  It took hours and in my dazed state, I don’t know where the others went.  As I was working to repair the door (again) Elairiel returned with a very bleary-eyed Morchid who reeked of alcohol.  Before heading upstairs, the druid paused to vomit in the doorway and all over my boots.

I cleaned my boots and the floor, reset the door, and went upstairs to fix some stew.  I must have fallen asleep in the workroom because now, everything is dark and quiet.  I felt the need to write this but my brain is whirling with ideas and I need to do something to put the events of yesterday behind me.