Difference between revisions of "Nightmare Quarter (game)"

Latest revision as of 13:41, 8 November 2024

The Game

The Nightmare Quarter game started February 2022. Here you can find the latest posts in this game.

Current Events

• What's Your Poison - New to Plateau City, the adventurers answer an advertisement posted at the Catacombs by Berem of the Black Cathedral to investigate the recent poisoning and robberies of citizens of the Nightmare Quarter. Following some basic sleuth work, the team uncovers a group of alchemists and thieves who are developing and using a drow poison to incapacitate and rob wealthy citizens. A local alchemy professor at a necromancy school is discovered to be leading the efforts in Plateau City with a group known as Sharas Tel or friends of the drow. Once accused, they try to trap the adventurers but are outmatched and choose to fight to their deaths, leaving unanswered the questions of whether they are working with the drow, who is the mysterious ring leader 'The Beholder', and what if any larger schemes are afoot to employ the poison elsewhere in New Elenna?

• Mystery of the Scar - Following a summons from Berem of the Black Cathedral the adventurers are sent on a quest to find a mysterious blue glowing cave some two days towards Isen and retrieve an important scroll protected by a 'guardian. The scroll was revealed to Clarisse in a vision and she believes it is vital to the recovery of the Scar and that it is in danger of falling into the wrong hands. Following preliminary information gathering from the Mapmaking and Mining Guilds, the party set off towards Isen. After an adventuresome trip down the cliffs of the three plateaus via magical lifts, the party encounters a deranged dwarf who claims previous experience with the cave and its scroll. He begrudgingly provides the name of another dwarf named Emmet who is mining in the area near the cave and gives the party a coin to verify that he sent them. Emmet agrees after some negotiation to lead the adventures to the cave where they must first oust a band of kobolds who have taken up residence. A magical fountain that once fortified and healed those who drank from it was freed from corruption and the cave's final chamber opened to reveal the scroll in a magical case and an angel named 'Evanthe' left behind countless years ago to guard it. Once the guardian is convinced of their good intent the burden of the scroll is passed to the adventures along with a warning of the heartache accompanying possession of the scroll. The scroll in its case is returned to the Black Cathedral, but only after a fatal encounter with a deranged cleric of Ga'al who also knows of the scroll, desires its power and warns of heartache. Alas, the scroll when opened by Berem is revealed to be undecipherable and is locked away in the vaults. The adventurers return to the Patch frustrated by this turn of events and yet more unanswered questions including what role Clarisse plays in all of this beyond just her vision, who else knows of the scroll, and what of this heartache?

• The Summoning - No sooner had they returned to the Patch from their mission to recover the scroll than the adventures were interrupted by a commotion near the orphanage at Puccinni's. A shadowy figure lured the party into a dimly lit alley with a series of unnerving screams. A desperate fight along with the intervention of a new ally saw to the creature's demise. However, the Cloaker was but a 'herald' to a much more serious problem for the presence of similar creatures before the destruction of the scar was often a precursor to the summoning of demons by followers of Marteus. Some sleuthing around the Hollow Pit interrupted a group of cultists intent on recruiting students from the necromancy school. A map to an outlying farmhouse and a key were secured following a pitched battle and the murder of a cultist by one of their own. Aware of the urgency of the situation, the adventures set off for the farmhouse with little advanced preparation to disrupt the summoning ritual. A hidden basement served as the cultists' lair and the summoning was already underway, aided by the blood sacrifice of three captured children. The cultists were defeated and the ritual stopped just as the demon was about to enter the mortal realm. As it retreated from the portal it fixed its gaze on the adventurers in an ominous portent of future retribution. With their victory secured and the children liberated, the adventurers from the Patch are left to collect their bounty and wonder what any of this has to do with the curse that continues to afflict the Scar.

• The Great Sampson's Robbery - Forwarned by one of the local orphans that Sampson's Inn was being targetted for a heist, the Patchers went to investigate. No sooner had they arrived when an explosion blew out the back room wall and a band of undead thieves began stealing the Inn's earnings. A pitched battle against cigar-smoking skeletons and a couple of ghouls ensued. The thieves attempted to bribe the Patchers with a share of the loot, but the heroes stayed true to their values. As a last resort, Roscoe, the leader of the thieves, called in a skeletal minotaur of questionable intellect named Tiny Tim, however, the battle was already decided by that point and only Tiny Tim walked away after being convinced to drop all the treasure. With the financial future of Sampson's secured, the adventures could only wonder who was behind this strange band of thieves and what would become of a lone skeletal minotaur wandering the streets of Plateau City.

• A Night at the Crypt - The Patchers received a surprise invitation to attend an evening at The Crypt, a local gaming establishment. Zolbur, the owner of the Crypt sought to hire us to investigate and stop a shady dwarf named Duncan's fraudulent attempt to seize ownership from him. After engaging Duncan's lieutenant Ardreth in a few games of chance, the adventures were invited to a more exclusive room in the basement where a fighting arena had been established. Despite some moral reservations about mortal combat for sport, the Patchers agreed to wager 1000 gp against Ardreth on the outcome of the fight between themselves and an opponent to be provided by Adreth. Unsurprisingly, Ardreth cheated and one opponent turned out to be a pair of Oytughs enraged by having acid thrown on them. A fierce battle ensued and when the last of his creatures fell dead. Ardreth fled to a nearby warehouse where he was followed by the victorious adventurers. Ardreth and his remaining henchmen holed themselves up in an upper-floor office where they were eventually overpowered and captured by the Patchers. The keys to a wall safe and a locked desk safe were discovered on an unconscious Ardreth and the Patchers were able to gain entry and find a cache of paperwork implicating Ardreth in a thieves' ring which used the warehouse to store and re-merchandize stolen goods. Documents backing Zolbur's legitimate claim to the Crypt were also discovered along with a large hoard of ill-gotten cash and gems. While nothing directly implicating the mysterious Dwarf Duncan was discovered. the Patch did come away with a tidy sum of money, the winnings from their wager against Ardreth, the agreed-upon payment from Zolbur, free membership to the Crypt, and the proceedings from those recovered goods in the warehouse that had no obvious owner. As for Duncan...one can only assume he now knows who the Patchers are and if his reputation is true, he has something nasty in mind.

• A Hero from the Past - Some mysteries have innocuous beginnings, or maybe it just seems that way. On returning to the Patch, the heroes find it occupied by a band of excited orphans carrying on about a treasure they had uncovered beneath the rotting floor of an abandoned stables near the orphanage. Unable to reach the buried chest, they called upon the adventurers for assistance. After much sweat and toil, the heroes were able to free the chest from its muddy hiding place and return it to the patch for further examination. Much to the surprise of all, the chest contained not treasure, but rather the mummified remains of a dog, along with a number of trinkets, mementos and potions. The dog (Vandy) was believed to have been of celestial blood had given its life to protect its master, one Talbert Gravelden from a necromantic uprising many, many years earlier. A renowned hero of the day, Vandy was reinterred in the back garden of the Puccini’s, there to protect the orphanage from any future evils.

• Murders Most Gruesome - While Vandy was being prepared for his reburial, the Patch was visited by a trio of Beastfolk seeking assistance. A number of their folk had been murdered in the Outcast Quarter in most gruesome ways. Examination of the bodies and the crime scenes led to the belief that some form of monster was at loose and preferred to hunt at night. The City Guard was suspiciously too tied up on other matters to help the downtrodden of the Outcast Quarter and had referred them to the Patch. Using Naithi as bait, the various alleys and byways of the Outcast Quarter were staked out, only for our plan to be interrupted by thugs intent on taking advantage of the situation. They were quickly dealt with but delayed our monster hunt until the following night. Only then were we able to lure in the two creatures responsible for the previous attacks; a skin stitcher and a choker. The skin stitcher fought to the death but we captured the choker. We were able to backtrack the pair to the Guild Quarter where the trail was lost. The guard were able to later confirm that the monsters were tied somehow to the owner of a leather shop in the Guild Quarter.

• The Basement of Horrors - A few hours rest and we were off to the Guild Quarter to investigate any shops that dealt in furs, leathers and the like. Our inquiries led us to the Ivan's Leatherworks. Ivan's suspicious behaviour following our visit gave us cause to break into his shop where we discovered him barricaded in his basement. Two huge vats of urine-based tanning fluids made it difficult to breath. Ivan summoned a large blob of goo from one of the vats to attack us. This ‘blood golem’ was eventually defeated and the shop searched thoroughly. The city guards were able to confirm that the choker and skin stitcher were in fact under the control of Ivan, presumably bringing him exotic skins to tan, and perhaps fluids to grow his golem. We also found paperwork indicating that Ivan had acquired supplies to build his golem courtesy of Pyramid Industries. Every rock we turn over seems to hide Duncan's bootprints beneath'

• The Blue Curtain Antquities Shop - Thinking the attacks were over, we were surprised to be informed by the guard of yet another murder of a monstrous nature. A toy store owner had been killed in a particularly bloody fashion. We began our investigations anew and in the process spooked Winona Kane, the owner of an antiques shop when Paige began asking questions about an ancient book about Ga’al. We were all asked to leave the shop which was then locked up with all the employees still inside. We broke down the door when we herd a summoning ritual underway. Only the death of the Winona Kane brought the ritual to an end. Interrogation of the other employees led to our discovery that Winona had at one time been in league with Duncan as they sought a scroll that would provide them exercise over the powers of the Scar. Both she and Duncan each possessed a scrap of the scroll and searched for the third and final portion. She had grown wary of Duncan and had assumed we were sent by him to relieve her of her portion of the scroll. We were also informed that She had previously summoned another creature, one which had escaped her control and now roamed freely about the city. The fragment of the scroll recovered from Winona Kane was unintelligible just like the first fragment, so we turned it over to the Black Cathedral for safe keeping and headed towards the Scar to see what we might learn.

• The Bogeyman - On our way to the Scar in search of whatever creature had been summoned by Winona we came across Musetta, an orphan from Puccinni's cowering in fear along the way. After some consoling she was able to reveal that a strange creature with long claws had attacked the orphanage and was terrorizing the children. On arriving at Puccini’s we quickly discovered a Bogeyman had invaded the place, perhaps drawn by a cursed pendant worn by one of the children. The aura of fear was palpable and hindered some of our party, but a concerted attack destroyed the evil fey. Walid lay unconscious on the floor but was revived and the children were eventually calmed. Alas Naithi, one of our newest Patchers picked up the amulet and was instantly cursed. Only after several attempts by Paige to remove the curse failed, did we approach Berem at the Black Cathedral to help us out. It is good that we did for the cursed item seemed to grow stronger and required considerable effort from Berem. We assume that this bogeyman is the creature summoned by Winona Kane. If not, a nasty surprise might await us still.

Characters

These are the characters, past and present, that have been featured in this game.

Current Roster

Past PCs

NPCs

• Berem - (Human Male Cleric) A large balding man, Berem is the head of the Bureau of Administrative Affairs for the Black Cathedral. He is charged with maintaining good relationships between the Black Cathedral and the denizens of the Nightmare Quarter and with seeing to the rehabilitation and recovery of the cursed ground of the ‘Scar’.
• Bersei - (Human Male) A member of the town guard, Bersei arrested Musetta and then released her into the custody of the adventurers, warning that he would be checking in on them.
• Clarisse - (Human Female Cleric) A lean blonde woman often cloaked, Clarisse works for Berem of the Bureau of Administrative Affairs and acts as his eyes and ears on the ground. Clarisse is often the first point of contact for the adventurers when they are working for the Black Cathedral.
• Emmut - (Male) A solid and serious badger folk from the outcast Quarter
• Garrick - (Male) Captain Garrick is the captain of the guard
• Lars - (Male) Lars is a portly rabbit folk from the Outcast Quarter who sought the aid of the Patchers
• Mavros - (Gnome Male Necromancer) A middle-aged gnome with a long gray moustache, Mavros leads the school of necromancy at The Hollow Pit. He claims that necromancy is not always evil and studies ways it can be put to good use.
• Musetta - (Elf Female) A small insolent elven child rescued from the town guard and an eventual prison sentence. Musetta stays at Puccinni's Coffee Shop, an orphanage in the Nightmare Quarter. She and her fellow orphans have a network every bit as extensive as any of the thieves' guilds and have fallen under the protection and favour of the adventurers.
• Sister Bonny - (Human female) Sister Bonney is a tall, lean woman in her 50's with sharp but not severe features. She has the air of someone who had seen it all before. She has been hired by the orphanage to assist Walid in caring fo the children.
• Tobrel - (Half-Elf Male) Master Tobrel is a lean half-elf with a small amount of gray in his hair. He has been (a? the?) Master Martial Artist (Monk) at the Temple of Pantheon in Plateau City for some time, and became Kwarsk's (see above) teacher of Pantheon's Justice not long after Kwarsk arrived in Plateau City with some of the adventurers who would become the Patchers. Master Tobrel recently agreed to take in Musetta as a resident student at the Temple after the Patchers rescued her from being a sacrifice in a demon-summoning ritual of the cult of Marteus. (Pantheon's Law is comprised of attorney-clerics, and Pantheon's Justice is comprised of protector-monks)
• Walid - (Human Male) an older man with a gentlemanly disposition and manner, Walid runs the orphanage in the Nightmare Quarter. Formerly a low-level thief and pickpocket, he has taught some of these same skills to the orphans out of necessity.
• Zolbur -(Gnome Male) the owner and proprietor of The Crypt, a gaming house in the Nightmare quarter. Zolbur took over what was once a notorious establishment associated primarily with the criminal element and turned it into a destination for tourists and a broad swath of Society.

Geography

• The Nightmare Quarter

• The Patch - This two-story warehouse formerly known as 'The Pumpkin Patch' is situated in an alley running northeast from Nightmare Street towards the Scar and previously served as the headquarters and hideout for the Poisoners Guild, a band of alchemists and thieves who poisoned and robbed the citizens of Plateau City. When the adventurers dispatched the Poisoners Guild under the authority of the Black Cathedral, the title to the building was granted to the adventurers. Renamed 'The Patch', the building now serves as their headquarters and a source of assistance to the poor and downtrodden of the Nightmare quarter.

• The Blue Cave - This cave was carved into a hillside near Isen in a long-forgotten time by dwarves and elves. An antechamber glows with blue light caused by sunlight reflecting off the blue crystals that line the walls. The antechamber houses a fountain with a female statue that seems to watch those that enter. Any who drink from the fountain gain sustenance and improved health. Other chambers lie deeper within the cave including a library, sleeping chambers, etc.

• The Crypt - A gaming house in the Nightmare Quarter run by a gnome named Zolbur Once a den of thieves and criminals, it is now a mostly respectable gaming house known for running a clean set of games. Tuxedo-clad ogres man the doors, the bar and many of the tables. Zolbur has a large palatial office in a back room and a fighting arena has been established in the basement. The Crypt now provides gambling and entertainment to a wide cross-section of Plateau City's society.

• The Hollow Pit - A large multi-story building with a central tower situated in the Nightmare Quarter near the Black Gate. This building houses a school of necromancy unaffiliated with the Star Mages Guild.

• Lemmy's - A small beer cellar in the Outcast Quarter with a walled-in garden/courtyard that can accommodate larger folk. The food is wonderful as is the beer.

• Puccinni's Coffee Shop - Once a pub and then a coffee shop, the expansion of the Scar drove away business and forced its closure. The building now serves as an orphanage for the Nightmare Quarter but has kept the name Puccinni's.

• Sampson's Place - A tavern in the nearby Trades Quarter overlooking the riverfront known for good beer and plain but hearty food.

Standard Marching Order

Inside:

Kwarsk

Fingers

Burton

Paige

Zarsellet

Rhys

2x2:

Kwarsk - Rhys

Fingers - Burton

Zarsellet - Paige

Standard Nightly Watch

20:00 - 22:00 : Paige, Fingers

22:00 - 01:00 : Kwarsk, TBD

01:00 - 04:00 : Rhys, TBD

04:00 - 07:00 : Burton, Zarsellet