- You attempted to converse with the half-elf that burst into the tavern, who introduced himself as Choriansky McCestophest Fielliora Ludormstrum Darinsk III, otherwise known as Chomesfield
- Claiming that Renbedar stated the group would help him, he instructed you to meet him at his manor the following night and ran out of the room, prompting Grognock to chase and tackle him
- Dropping various things, Chomesfield eventually left again; Wander tracked him to the east for a time, but eventually lost his trail.
- The next morning, you decided to kill some time before they attempted to meet with Chomesfield
- Grognock met once again with the Mending Palm monks at the Fectern Temple, and further honed the ability he is learning
- After consulting with Quiet, Journey, Phaelnah, Tyerjon, and Leadbelly headed to the Eastern Ward to buy some new clothes and top up their supplies at Burdo’s
- Phaelnah bought a dress suited to her ridiculous pauldrons, Journey got a new set of cloth and leather clothes, and Leadbelly purchased a sturdy, battle-ready cloth set.
- While waiting for their sowing orders to complete, they rummaged through Wander’s haversack, looking at what they took from Chomesfield the previous night
- They discovered a letter from Renbedar, which promised them a single favor in return for making sure Chomesfield didn’t kill himself
- Tyerion bought ten crickets from an insect vendor, and Journey ate a bunch of fried ants
- In the meantime, Wander decided to investigate his apparent connections to some strange goings on in the area
- After making it to the Muck and talking to a loon, he eventually got directions to an underground pub of supposed criminal merit
- Scouting out a tiefling sitting on his own, he bought him a drink and started grilling him for answers
- He learned that due to a portal to a demonic realm opening up nearby, some sort of organization was investigating ways in which they could use the even to help “free” the one known as “Etarus”.
- Wander wasn’t able to get much more out of Finn due to his lower status, and left the bar to regroup.
- Tyerjon purchased a small cage for his crickets
- Leadbelly got his weapons cleaned and sharpened, and bought a nice new handaxe
- Journey and Phaelnah made their way to the Lucid Dove, and bought some magic paper and ink for Wander
- Meeting back up in the evening, you decided to track down Chomesfield
- First following the path that Wander tacked earlier, you eventually found your way deep into the Muck
- The crowd and din of the Muck thinned out as you approached a quiet area where the ground was covered in some fetid slime
- Hearing the hums of Chomesfield, you came upon his rotten, squalid house, filled with rotting pickled eggs, making Phaelnah lose her lunch on the floor
- Journey froze the puke and kicked it out of the house
- Chomesfield started to explain the problem, but became lost in his thoughts
- You managed to get that a local tavern was having an unusual rat problem
- Chomesfield showed you his “plan”, and began to lead you to the tavern
- You passed by a strange obelisk, which was seemingly leaking out the slime you encountered earlier
- Wading through the crap, you learned that the obelisk was a locus of power for Gulchax, the god of filth, who you remembered as Eugene’s patron
- Chomesfield mentioned that the obelisk appeared a few weeks back, driving all the people out, and making the real estate in the area very cheap
- Moving out of the Muck, with Journey freezing the crap off your shoes, you made your way to the Golden Standard pub, owned by the overwhelmed Stellys Archihild
- You learned that the rat problem started a few weeks ago
- Grognock nearly darted a rat that scampered across the floor
- Venturing into the cellar of the Golden Standard, you found that it was filled with a sea of rats, seemingly led by a skinny older man by the name of Todalis Sindria
- Conversing briefly with Todalis, you learned that he had been living in the sewers with his rats and worshiping his rat god, but was forced out by a group of cultists who took his “holy child” hostage
- You decided to venture into the sewers to rescue the holy child and remove the cult
- Making your way into the sewers, you found a large amount of iron bars across the waters, which Journey and Wander worked together to retrieve using their mage hands
- Journeying through the sewers, you were ambushed by a group of oozes
- While the party cut through the oozes like butter, Chomesfield was unable to complete even a single spell
- You snuck up on a cultist, questioning her, and making her agree to keep quiet and help them
- You entered the base of the cult, which had been cleaned up and turned into a sort of shrine
- You met with the leader of the cult, the Lingering Dark, learning that the cultists worshiped the forgotten god Noph
- The cultists used to meet in the Muck, but were forced out by the obelisk of filth, preferring the sewers instead. They kicked out the rats for the “great location” they had.
- The “holy child”, a ratling named Ketrup, was being cared for by the cultists.
- You prevented Chomesfield from successfully attacking the cultists
- Taking Ketrup with you, you ventured back to meet with Todalis, and happened upon a morbid scene, where two tiger-like beings stood over a pile of rat corpses, one standing with his arms crossed and the other ripping apart and eating the rats.
- You recognized the shaggy, decrepit one as the being that had attacked you the day before in Rest Assured
- Eavesdropping for a bit, you learned a few things about the creatures:
- They are brothers
- The one wearing fancy robes appears to have some important position in the city
- The name of the one that attacked you is Hjesta
- Hjesta was killing the rats as a way to vent his anger
- You learned that the creatures eat humans
- A spectral hand reached out to the party, warning them to remain quiet until the creatures left
- The force revealed itself to be Rodariost, a demigod of rats.
- He reached out and revived Toadalis, who remained silent in the presence of his god
- He explained that they creatures were known as Rakshasa, and the one in fancier dress commanded considerable power
- He thanked the party for resolving the situation without bloodshed
- He told you that he would attempt to discuss the matter of the obelisk with his father, the god Gulchax
- You helped Toadalis create a new shrine to Rodariost elsewhere in the sewers
- Returning to Stellys, Chomesfield announced that he had solved the problem, running out the front doors while making “flying” noises.
- Tired and smelly, you made your way across town back to Rest Assured, where you bathed and took a much needed rest.
- In the morning of the 16th, you headed to the Mad King’s Arena to sign up for the tournament on the 17th.
- You passed by a colorful group of people heading out of the arena from the registration desk.
- You signed up for the tournament, with the assignments as follows:
- Grognock – Bareknuckle Boxing
- Phaelnah – Casting
- Seamus? – (Horseback) Racing
- Tyerjon – Strength
- Wander – Archery
- Leadbelly – Wrestling
- Journey – Trivia
- On your way out, you encountered the fiend that had attacked you from before on your way in to Madrioc, currently in human form
- Splitting herself into multiple clones, she signed up for the tournament
- She wrote her name as “Yyk Sen”
- Ignoring most of your questions, she mentioned that you had something that belonged to her, and that she would eventually retrieve it, but not yet.
- As she made her exit, Leadbelly began to track her movements across town on his own.
- Splitting up, the party spent the rest of their day in various other ways
WARNING: It’s been a while, so I don’t quite recall all of what everyone did. I didn’t take very good notes, sorry!
- Journey and Phaelnah went to the IngrediENT, but I forget why
- They later went back to the muck and were able to dispel the enchantment on the obelisk of Gulchax, directly “angering” the god, who “blessed” them with an enchantment of their own, causing them to secrete slime in the same manner the obelisk did
- Phaelnah was only able to dispel one of the enchantments before she ran out of spell slots, making so she had to rest in the muck in order to dispel the other one.
- Grognock returned to the Fectern temple and continued his training.
- Tyerjon did something? I think he got his pay, but other than that, I don’t quite remember. Something with weapons I think?
- I think Wander went to a pub or something, and sold the iron he was carrying, maybe?
- Leadbelly continued to track Yyk Sen across town until dusk, witnessing her doing all sorts of mundane things. Eventually, she led him to a back alley in the Willows, entering a magical hidden entrance in the brick of the back of the alley. Following through before the bricks closed, Leadbelly made his way down a dark staircase and put his ear up to a closed door, hearing the voices of Yyk Sen, Abrax, a woman, and the muffled voice of his son.