Storm King's Thunder: Session 9. Triboar, a drowned man and a shrivelled woman

The party rested for the night and decided to message Zephyra to teleport them back to the tower using the Sending Stone. A short time after they recieved a reply to wait outside the town walls. While heading out of the town, they bumped into an excited half-elf woman who introduced herself as Celadra. Celadra thanked them for their help during the giant attack and asked what their next adventure was going to be and if they would need help. She described a faction known as the Emerald Enclave - a band of mostly druids and rangers who preserved balance and nature, which the giant activity was placing in peril. She said that in Triboar there is a member of the Emerald Enclave - a drow ranger named Daran Edermath who might be able to help them. They thanked her and headed outside the city and found themselves teleported back aboard Zephyra’s tower. With that - they continued their journey.

A week later, a town came into view. A large tower dominated the central square and people bustled below - they realised that this must be Triboar. Zephyra teleported outside the town so as to not alarm the townspeople and said she would be heading north with the dwarves to wait at Mithral Hall. They still had the Sending stone so would be able to contact her if they needed her in the future. With this they bid farewell to Zephyra, Hewen and the Mithral hall dwarves and head into town.

As they approached they noticed a lot of activity in the town square. A militia was preparing to march, alongside a dozen horsemen. Curious, Maganose asked what was happening. One of the horsemen introduced himself as Callum and explained there was an orc raid on one of the farmsteads to the north - apparently a semi-regular occurrance here on the frontier. He said the militia and the Twelve (Triboar’s elite soldiers) would march one day north and drive them away. When asked where Darathra Shendrel was, he indicated to the tower in the square.

Thirsty and hungry, they briefly popped into the Talking Troll tavern just off the town square and met with Daran Edermath. A somewhat older Drow, they spoke to the ranger regarding the Emerald Enclave. He was disturbed by the news of giant attacks and when pressed for intelligence, he replied that he would contact his sources but they would have to return later. They were approached by a drunken man who introduced himself as Silvanus: a former adventurer and priest of Helm who wanted to hear about some of their stories. He had been terribly burned at some point in the past and marveled at the stories of their adventures. When pressed for his story he explained he and his comrades had been betrayed by one of his friends: a man called Oren. Silvanus survived but all his friends had died.

Eager to get on, they returned back to the tower and met an extremely elderly guard named Merris who led them to Darathra Shendrel. An attractive knight with peculiar golden freckles on her cheeks, the Lord Protector of Triboar was glad to hear that Morak was alive and well (despite recent troubles) but wouldn’t confirm if she was a Harper. She did say she would be more open to discussing such matters if they would help her: two murders had happened in the jail beneath the tower and she needed someone to investigate it. They agreed and were taken down to the dungeon beneath the tower where Merris showed them the bodies.

A man lay apparently drowned but instead of water appeared to be covered in some sort of slime. He was a newcomer to the town named Borrin who was arrested for attacking a local blacksmith. The other body was a young woman named Evelyn who was arrested for murdering her husband Peter Applegate (a wealthy merchant) on their wedding night. Her body was shrivelled, as if all of the moisture had been removed. Closer examination revealed a tattoo of a coin with two heads on Borris’ chest and a small cut on his thumb (?self inflicted). Maganose found the remnants of a ritual circle in the ground: apparently drawn in blood and summoned transmutation magic. More slime appeared around a drain in the floor.

Leaving the tower, they went back to Silvanus, who was still in the tavern and asked about the tattoo and the circle. He said the tattoo represented Hoar, a god of revenge, retribution and poetic justice (very different in tone to his of Helm). After that they visited the blacksmith: a woman named Harriet Uldinath. Harriet could not speak and communicated by writing down on a board. Borrin had asked her for a shield on the wall and when she turned around he hit her head and cut out her tongue. She had no idea why he did it. She gave them directions to nearest opening to the ancient ruined sewers beneath the town.

Heading through the dingy sewer opening Korrak found where the jail drained to and tracked the slime through the sewers, which eventually led to an opening near a small stream outside the town, where a small shack stood quietly and ominously. Recieving no answer at the door, Korrak bashed down the door and inside they found a small and poor home, yet decorated with golden candlesticks, expensive dresses and jewellery and furnishings. A young woman lay dead on the floor: also apparently drowned with slime residue on her. On the kitchen table lay some blocks of lead and a chisel and a shovel stood by the door. Darius looked outside but was unable to find anything remarkable.

Heading back into town they spoke to the local apothecary, who informed the shack was Posey’s home. They found out that Posey had been Peter’s first wife but the couple had an acrimonious divorce after Peter felt Posey just wanted his money. Posey had been bitter as Peter had married Evelyn just 6 months after their divorce, leading her to believe Peter had cheated on her. The apothecary said Peter’s father was the only one left in their family and they decided to speak to him to learn more.

They found Claude Applegate sad and in his manor. He confirmed the story of his son’s divorce and fast remarriage. He had been happy at both marriages but sad at how everything had turned out. On Evelyn and Peter’s wedding night Claude had napped and woken up to screaming. Rushing to the sound, he found Evelyn covered in blood and Peter dead with his heart cut out. He called the guards and Evelyn was arrested. Evelyn insisted on her innocence, appearing sincere but caught literally red-handed.

Puzzled at Harriet’s part in this they returned to Harriet, who denied any knowledge of lead blocks but informed them that a local stonecutter named Aeron knew all about them. They visited Aeron’s house, which appeared poor but alive with the sounds of children playing. Aeron answered the door, appeared shocked at the question and agreed to tell them but not near the house. Taking them away to talk quietly he told his tale: he was poor and had grown up with Harriet. She gave him tools on credit a few times and always meant to pay but never found the money. He needed a new sledge so went to the forge to ask her with his family but she threw him out and called him a leech. He felt humiliated and furious and remembered an old story his grandmother told him. If you want revenge on someone you carve it in a block of lead and bury it outside. He carved “HARRIET SHOULD EAT HER WORDS” into a block of lead, buried it and a few days later a man appeared. He asked Aeron for more details and afterwards Aeron heard about what happened to Harriet. He was horrified: he had only meant for Harriet to be humbled, not brutally mutilated. He begged them to keep it secret as he had a family to support and he hadn’t meant for this to happen. After all Harriet herself had not reported it.

They then heard screaming from the Applegate manor. Rushing there they found a dead servant on the ground floor. Rushing upstairs they found a foul monster composed of slime standing over Claude. They engaged it in battle and bested it, but Claude was unfortunately dead. Strangely, the slimy remains of the creature held an amulet, inscribed “EVELYN”. Suspecting a link between Borrin and Posey they head back to Posey’s shack and found 2 blocks of lead buried near her home, inscribed with “PETER’S HEART SHOULD BREAK” and “EVELYN SHOULD KNOW THE SAME BETRAYAL I DID”. Speaking to Silvanus again, he felt the monster was a slithering tracker, a slime monster that can be summoned through dark magic, sometimes used by followers of Hoar.

Heading back to Darathra, Carlan revealed the answer: Posey was angry with Peter and Evelyn and wanted revenge so carved her messages in her lead blocks. Borrin arrived and brutally killed Peter, ensuring that Evelyn was framed. Evelyn was arrested and angry that no-one stood up for her, not even Claude. Aeron then carved his block and Borrin attacked Harriet, then being arrested. Something happened between Borrin and Evelyn in the jail cell, but Borrin appeared to want to see Evelyn get revenge for her treatment. Borrin transmuted her into the slithering tracker, but unfortunately for him he was the first victim. Evelyn then proceeded to kill Posey and Claude before being destroyed. The case was solved and Darathra was sad at this turn of events but pleased that no further murders would occur. By now it was late so she would dig out her Harper contacts and they could speak to her in the morning.

They elected to spend the night in “Six Windows” a drafty boarding house owned by a peculiar paranoid woman named Tolmara who told them they were welcome only in their rooms or the common room. They were expressly forbidden from going upstairs. When asked why, she replied it was private and forbidden. During the night, Darius caught her peeping through the bedroom keyhole, making him feel distinctly uncomfortable. Carlan turned herself invisible and thanks to a distraction attempt by Maganose, was able to go upstairs and get past a door that led to an attic room. In the mostly-empty attic was a locked chest. Uncomfortable at facing this herself and lacking Kade and Amadeous’ lockpicking skills she went back to her room, vowing to investigate again later.